e great you ready all right good morning good morning I'd like to thank everyone for joining us today Tuesday February 27th for the 2024 uh commission meeting it's always a privilege to have so many people to join us especially members of the public and residents and business owners um I ask you uh to please take into consideration that we have time for public comment you can get involved via Zoom also it's a feature that we have we look forward to even if you cannot attend the public meeting like today's Commission meeting we ask you to please engage uh your comments your Insight your guidance even your complaints are welcome we're here um so we'd like to get out we' like to start today's meeting with our invocation and to start us off this morning is Father Andrew tomono from St Teresa Catholic Church Father good morning as always thank you for being here and always and like I mentioned to you before thank you for always praying on behalf of the city and being a strong figurehead here in our community thank you thank you good morning let us pray Almighty and eternal God you have revealed your glory to All Nations God of power and might wisdom and Justice through you Authority is rightly administered laws are enacted and judgment is decreed let the light of your Divine wisdom direct the deliberations of this city commission and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our Rule and government we pray for our mayor for our commissioners for all of our city officials for our law enforcement officers who are entrusted to guard our political welfare may they be enabled by your powerful protection to discharge their duties with honesty and ability we likewise commend to your unbounded mercy all of the citizens of Coral Gables that we may be blessed in the knowledge and Sanctified in the observance of your holy law may we be preserved in Union and that peace which the world cannot give and after enjoying the blessings of this life may we be admitted to those which are Eternal we pray to you who are Lord and God forever and ever amen amen thank you Father you know please send our best wishes to your congregation it's always a privilege to have you we look forward to having you you come back to the commission thank you so much moving on in regards to the Pledge of Allegiance commissioner Castro will you please lead us in the pledge absolutely I pledge allegiance the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you very much moving on to presentations and protocol documents item A1 good morning morning good morning mayor vice mayor Commissioners uh we are here to present an award that keep Coral Gables beautiful received from the Florida um Florida recycling partnership Foundation we received the 2023 Innovation impact award for our reverse fending machine program Inc rewards incentive program that was housed at the war memorial Youth Center which ran for one year from November 2022 to November 2023 um this was the recycling machine that collected containers of plastic bottles and cans for proper recycling uh Matt will let us know what our final numbers were for that program good morning everyone so yeah we were really excited because we were able to uh recycle over 18,000 containers uh at the war memorial use Center uh thank you to community recreation we always come to them with a bunch of ideas and they're always uh receptive to them and and and having it at the war memorial Youth Center where we get a lot of foot traffic there uh we were also excited that you know a lot of the kids that were at the youth center got very excited uh we heard that there was no uh plastic bottles or aluminum cans in any of the recycling containers uh throughout the youth center because they would all go find them and then put them in the machine so just uh and then the beauty of this story was is we partnered the company that we partnered with were former um students we obviously housed it at the wamore you Center and the businesses that we partnered with to provide the incentives were Local Coral Gables businesses so it was all local uh impact that we were having and um we have a lot of exciting things coming forward through keep CG beauti and other Innovative program so thank you all for your support and we really do appreciate it and I wanted to recognize our team here uh Diego and Nicole who also helped out with the program and um again thank you all for your support and helping us with this program we want to thank the six businesses that partnered with us throughout the program providing um rewards for those top 10 recyclers every contest cycle cuz that really it really engaged people to to want to go and collect at home as many cans and bottles um and and then take it over to to the machine so yeah so Lan as always U and the entire team thank you so much for your hard work in regards to this when is the next when is our next uh downtown cleanup effort April 1st April 1st so I I've become accustomed to to sponsoring that event in one form or another financially personally I ask my colleagues on the commission to engage it's a great opportunity uh to not only attend the event and and and uh clean up our downtown U but also to to send a strong message that we as the commission you know we we do our part in regards to motivating people sometimes it takes a financial reward uh but it's very interesting to see how many people come out especially young kids and how much garbage is picked up and how how much better our downtown looks uh after after these downtown cleanups but I want to commend commend you for coming up with the idea that's amazing uh how many I think we had how many people the last one it was probably record breaking the last one was around 45 48 48 around 48 participants it was our second largest event yeah so congratulations well deserved you guys do a wonderful job thank you very much thank may just would also commend you mayor uh mayor I got to say the area around the youth center never would look cleaner because when you incentivize something and make it a game or or have some sort of fun Associated whether it be you know clutch Burger Burgers afterwards or or you know any other type of Prize or incentive it really gets people out there so thank you for all that you guys do thank you Vice want to take a quick picture yeah yeah [Music] two before we take the item A2 I just wanted to give some time for some guests to arrive I want to recognize mayor snic um the mayor has been a longstanding um participant a person who has been engaged through leadership through philanthropy and we've recognized him through and through of his involvement with the community but today today we recognize his family and their friends because we're recognizing the mayor's mother uh the mayor and like I mentioned to you a few moments ago um the mayor's had a few a tough two years but he's done it with a level of Grace and dignity that is to be commended which has always been the way you conducted yourself so I wanted to I wanted to ask you to come up here and I before I read the resolution or maybe I should read read the resolution first into the record um I wanted to have you speak a little bit about about your beautiful mother um and her engagement here in the city and any of your friends that maybe want to come up and speak also resolution of condolence whereas longevity of life is a blessing for an individual and the community which benefits from the knowledge creativity and experience this individual brings to us all whereas the city of cor Gables recognizes with respect and admiration the contribution by senior citizens in our community and whereas an lesk liell was born on September 2nd 1922 and has resided in the city beautiful for 50 years and whereas after moving to the city of cor Gables and became a very active member of the community at large serving as president of the Women's Golf Association member of the Country Club of Coral Gables member of the women's board member of the ravlin Barton Cancer Association at the University of Miami loyal parishioner at St Philips Episcopal Church along with K finger founded the Granada and buil more women's golf groups and whereas along with her beloved Son Don cesic Senor and made memorable trips over the years on behalf of the city to get to know our sister cities in Kito Ecuador and kahena Colombia and whereas Anne is the proud mother of former city city mayor Don cesic Senor and mother-in-law to former City Commissioner janess cesing as well as mother to daughter Luan RIS RAR along with her two wonderful children and his also grandmother great-grandmother great great grandmother and whereas United States has the greatest number of centurions in the world and on September 2nd 2022 an celestic lell was honored for 100 years on this planet now therefore be resolved by the commission of the city cor Gables that we extend our heartfelt sympathy to her bereev family on this occasion of their great loss mayor please join us Mr Mayor vice mayor Commissioners thank you so very much for taking a few minutes today to recognize my mother's uh passing and to uh commemorate that this is my sister Lan come on this is my sister Lan Who's down here from North Florida helping uh with the uh process that we go through of uh addressing the house possessions and other things that that need to be done in fact we'll be uh burying my mom tomorrow morning up at uh the Memorial Garden it's next to my dad and uh down the road we'll have a memorial service at St Phillips but I just wanted to and I'm not going to take much of your time I know that there is much business to be done today but I did want to say on behalf of the family and uh we really appreciate you all thinking about her recognizing her she was quite a citizen she you know I was thinking today that after spending 10 years at in the dis that not one once did my mother ever lean on me talk to me about what I should be doing what I should be thinking what I should uh do as the mayor the only time she really ever involved herself in that was when we had to close the country club and take it uh from the members of the club because of their AAR and back uh uh payments and my mother didn't speak to me for 6 months but uh but other than that she uh stayed out of politics but she I mean she had been a member there for 50 years and um I I think I said this in Howard Cohen's particularly nice article he wrote about my mother that you know whatever I am and nobody needs to make judgment about that but whatever I am was due to my parents a very traditional family that raised Lan and I in a way that we appreciated family home Friends Church God school and um and the United States and eventually our our city and um she she was the reason for that I mean and as I watched her decline these last four years I knew it was time for her to go to God she was ready willing and able to do that and U and she left very peacefully but uh I just wanted to say thanks to the few people that could come out today at the last minute because uh they represent some of her interest uh we have uh Marlon Ebert and Brenda Mo from the cinema my mom was one of the founding contributors to the cinema as she was for the museum and of course I saw chip Withers earlier but he's not here right now active with the museum and um we have also where is oh there he is in the back he sides on you George korus and Chip uh of course two of The Main Stays of early museum days and uh my mother was one of those contributors because of respect for people like that uh she loved the mer house and uh gay bondan is here uh who works with you on the Amica house and she appreciated that one of the reasons is because she was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and they met there all the time and and that so it was a very special place to her and um one of her adopted daughters-in-law uh janette's partner Ginger jok is also here so we have uh anyways I just want you to know that my mom loved the city like the rest of the family but she instilled that in us and she loved the commission what it does for the city what it does for its citizens and uh we thank you say then I thank you for all the you that um honoring my mom l it's a true blessing and it's it comes easy for this commission and for the city what the slins have done and I've mentioned it before especially when we honored and we continue to honor Janette um well thank you the people the people that love the sasic family and your reputation proceeds to itself and you have a a legacy that will be will be felt for generations to come and it continues it continues with your son and his wife who are very engaged in the city and this all hearkens back and this commission as a whole has mentioned it before we always give tribute to our grandparents I've mentioned it before I know my colleagues in the commission have it always goes back don't worry about it it's perfectly fine don't worry about that um but it's honoring her today comes easy for this Commission because it always goes back to the grandparents it always goes back to the great-grandparents who work so hard to push people like Don who served this great country who became an attorney who became mayor uh that's that's her Legacy that's her Legacy and to me it's a beautiful beautiful one you can see look at look at the incredible ladies who are here before us very active in this community engaged uh they're at the Forefront I can go down the list of the women who are here today uh on her behalf because she touched many many people in this community and when I say when I tell you that I tell you because I think about my grandparents who live two blocks away you know that that's what and I know that my colleagues feel the same way because they think about if it wasn't for them you know what we wouldn't be here today we wouldn't so I congratulations thank you mayor and I would add one thing just because I think it's instructive for the people that this her story was a true American story as I had as was reported but most many people didn't read that but I mean she grew up in absolute poverty in a place that is still there but it's a Crossroads it's Lita hatche Alabama it just it's a Crossroads it's and she was absolutely poverty stricken in the Great Depression a single mom two brothers and her and she ended up living in Carl Gable Florida on geralda and uh I mean from that to that and just it's an amazing story but so thank you all it truly is thank you thank you thank you [Applause] while I'm here if I could beg your attention for one more minute this is about your uh Charter Review Committee uh which you have kindly asked me to serve on and I know Tom Wells was here there he is he's on the committee too I was talking to commissioner Mendez one night and uh he said that I had brought a little bit of new light to his thinking about what we're doing as City attorney will tell you we've been pretty delayed in getting started started on your behalf because of cancellations of meetings and at least at one time if not two I was told that we were canceling because all the Commissioners couldn't be there and what I wanted to do was assure you that you have entrusted us with this Mission you you are always welcome first you're citizens of cor Gable so you're welcome secondly you are our um leadership and our government and so you're welcome for that reason too but understand that when we hold these meetings there will be a record for you and we will be uh putting into a synopsis form the recommendations so if you can come great but if you can't come please don't worry you will have the full impact of whatever said at that meeting given to you in records and in our uh synopsis of those that's all I wanted to say was just please do not worry if you can't those meetings were not designed to have the whole commission mandatorily there may u mayor if I may as the chair of that board that as my appointment to that board um we have full faith and conf confidence in the entire board uh to achieve the task at hand and I we want to just I would I would be remiss if I didn't say thank you to Tom who's here and to everyone thank you for suring I know that everybody's extremely busy and you give up of your time you have a full legal practice ongoing so so so does Mr just know how much you all have to do and I didn't want you to think it was compelling that you be there if you're there great but if you're not you all here you are all day today you'll be here many more times and so that's all I wanted to say will you honor us with a photo yes please well thank you thank you mayor [Music] [Music] Mr manager if you would be so kind with the support of the of the commission I'd like to publish that photo in our next uh Weekly Newsletter just to make sure we we obviously acknowledge and provide the necessary respects and once we have more information from mayor sesk in regards to to the cere excuse me to the U to the burial and to any services that may be provided you know please provide it to the entire commission thank you moving on uh Mr clerk to item A2 morning mayor members of the commission Chief how are you sir good I believe the Gaggle is coming in now we have a lively bunch out there right yes we do is it all for you guys not for me I mean they work for me but they're not for the stages yours no firefighters today no it's all us all you guys today we let the rest of the crew come in I'd like to bring Sergeant Bo Williams up to the podium Commissioners on December 11th 2023 at approximately 108 in the morning our units were dispatched to a burglary in progress in the area of gallano Street and norca Avenue um again Sergeant Bo Williams who actually is a supervisor on the shift on our day shift responded in about uh 10 15 minutes into it observed a subject that was attempting to hide in the intersection of gallano street and Zamora approximately 33 seconds later I I don't know how we Ed that but Sergeant Williams also uh observed that he saw other subject fleeing on foot and gave foot pursuit of that and also was able to radio to other detectives and officers in the area uh officer Tannis was also responding to assist in the perimeter that while running and setting up a perimeter which is not easy to do Sergeant Williams did the three individuals were taken into custody just prior to using our City Trolley to exit the area the juveniles were then detained and subsequently arrested uh after uh a brief search in the area where the subject was last seen Lieutenant Lance in the canine unit actually searched the area and the individual was found hiding in one of the electrical closets in the area of where the perimeter was set up and because of Sergeant Bo williamss quick response and decisive action while on the scene resulted in the arrest of a vehicle burglar and three other subjects he was nominated for and was awarded the officer of the month award for December 2023 [Music] sir the floor is yours congratulations thank you mayor logo thank you Commissioners for having me here today uh thank you Chief Hudak and thank you uh lieutenant carasco and Lieutenant Lance for n nominating me for this uh but once again like we many officers have said before me that it's always a team effort and I couldn't have been able to apprehend this subject subject without them on this day how we like uh the chief said it was a burglary in progress where some subjects were trying to steal some vehicles uh a description was given of a of a subject wearing a green um uh Jersey and so I was able to observe the subject and uh when I tried to detain him he took off running from me um and it's been several years since somebody's actually Tred to run from me usually they they cooperate they sit down but this kid was young he was fast and he was faster than me cuz now I'm in my mid to late 30s and so it's been a while probably since uh since I was in the city of Miami um I started my career in City of Miami my first 5 years were there and then 12 years here in the Gable so I would have to admit he was faster than me but one thing that you I can admit that today were you hoping he got on the trolley so you can get on the trolley at least he take a break but not only was he faster he was more athletic so once he jumped over two fences I got on the radio and uh thankfully I had my um my my partners around me to and my and the younger officers who were there and we're ready to set a set up a perimeter and that just goes to show that not only that that the not only the officers but the detectives as well to do a follow-up investigation actually got a confess a confession not only out of the the subject that ran for me but the other subjects that were apprehended by the by the motors unit so uh they were able to get confessions from all four subjects and um the case was closed but like I said it wasn't just me and it wasn't just me but you can't you what you learn in in the academy is that you cannot run uh you cannot run the officer but you cannot run the radio and behind that radio is a backup and I'm proud that where this uh corate was patched to know that that they're backing me up and uh thank you once again and I I have [Applause] a i l any words no you want to say anything Sergeant Williams congratulations obviously I mean you're you're an amazing officer and you know we hear it a lot from the residents you know that you're committed to the city it's amazing you have a great demeanor about you which brings a lot of peace and calm to to people um so I just want to congratulate you every every time that I turn a corner or I'm involved in something that has to do with police and you're the front and center uh along with all the individuals who are here but you know people speak very highly of you you know and we're very proud to have you here in the city but your family is amazing by the way you know we're celebrating you today but we need to celebrate you you have a beautiful beautiful beautiful family and you know I want to bring them front and center because this is this is again a representation of who the department is who our employees are um you have an incredible wife who I know that every single day when you're out there working she's nervous she's nervous she's nervous and you have few you know four beautiful beautiful children um but we just want to say thank you for your commitment uh to law enforcement into making sure that this community is safe and you put the you put this community before you put your own family and that has to be commended over and over again so I just want to say thank you to your beautiful wife and family thank you so [Applause] much picture take a picture come on thank you I wish I wish my [Music] girls get to your dad get next to your dad this [Music] is let's take one with the chief and [Music] [Music] thank you so much congratulations conat Chief moving on to item A3 mayor with your Indulgence I'd like to bring Sergeant Risa Martis to the prodium please it is with great my great pleasure that I introduce to you once again a two-time winner of our officer of the year award for 2023 Sergeant Martis uh is no stranger to this Podium as both as a detective as an officer uh and as as an officer of the year um just a moan of privilege I I I will tell you that you know we have talked in this de many many times about looking for the right people to control our streets and to do our investigations and if I had a few people to pick one of the poster children that I would take because she's much younger than I am is Sergeant Martis because not only has she been exemplary as an officer as a detective but just as a recently uh newly promoted Sergeant has taken what she's learned and imparted it on our you our newest members within the department uh as a supervisor takes it upon herself to kind of mentor at a young age and continues to show what it means to be part of the Coral Gables police family and for that I'm int entirely indebted to you for this so thank you riser for what you do every night uh detective Martis at the time was working uh and really kind of worked with a federal state local groups and was able to U not identify but also pick out and break up what we call an organize crime sprayed with a South American theft group uh she worked day and night with many different agencies including the burglary apprehension unit our property crimes unit the mo the homeland security investigations HSI and task force members and was able to arrest the ring leader of this International theft group uh and which had subsequent charges from HSI the FBI uh her tenacity is has been shown throughout the years how her compassion goes above and beyond for her victims uh it is important to note that she still is actively pursuing members of this group to this day she still has uh gives information uh and forwards it on so she still has a lot of detective in her which I think we always do um she continues to work with her colleagues uh and other areas to help thwart the crime in the middle of the night which is really kind of remarkable uh she also if you remember back in 2021 which she was awarded for already was able to identify the first little set of hate crimes that have proliferated our city at the time against the Jewish Community um again in 2023 she was able to observe a mail that matched the description of offender walking away in the 1200 block of Douglas Road and maintained a a visual on it until the individuals were actually able to surrounded and detained it's because of her everpresent supervision her commitment not only to the cor Gables police family but also as her husband who is also a member of our department so do we bring the kids not this time not this time okay well I don't know if you can compare Williams has definitely have there's more of them they are they I don't think any of us can keep up with Bo Williams and his family uh but but what it brings to amplify what a police officer of the year is and I am honored and extremely proud to present to you our officer of the year for 2023 rise of Martis [Applause] thank you everybody I actually can't prepare this time uh thank you chief for your kind words thank you to senior staff that's here today thank you Commissioners um thank you to my two nominators this year they're also here if um I call your name please stand lieutenant guasto and sergeant baina and the award selection committee for selecting me a second time for this prestigious award the officer of the year I want to thank um a very special thank you to my unit while in property crimes unit Sergeant baina detectives Flores Taha Gonzalez Diaz and miso uh some of them are here today as well as our crime analyst Julian poso um especially during the summer I sustained an injury I had surgery and I could not walk for uh 2 months they really took in the cases that would have been a to me while our unit was already um running short I also appreciate the support by our C supervisors uh Lieutenant lemon at the time lieutenant caranel and now interm Chief pedroo um Homeland Security investigations for this investigation that lasted approximately 9 months um he's not here today but special agent Eric Moreno and the El Dorado task force members Brower Sheriff's Office bat team the burglary apprehension Team without them surveillance and intelligence into so many subjects could not be possible Diplomatic Security Services special agent Tony Bogden who whose assistance in obtaining information on this ring leader and the acquaintances and Associates of this group from Colombia Mexico and other countries he's here with us today and he assisted after the local state AR us to uh put together an indictment package for federal charges on this individual so thank you Tony FBI special agent Rob gigie he's not here today um FBI TFO detective Tommy Weber Customs and Border Protection Officer Ericson Santiago he assisted in identifying approximately 30 individuals linked to this group and we would look into one subject and three more names would pop up so we started with about four and it ended up being around 30 individuals um immigrations and Customs enforcement officer Danny Rellis who assisted with immigration holds and detainers to successfully Deport six offenders back to Colombia and one to Chile on an unrelated U Rox step case from jce jewers uh sometimes we don't get the outcome we want we don't get the arrest but we at least get the deportation and we get these individuals out of the country assistant State Attorney joro Foreman he's here today and assistant State Attorney aroka they signed off on so many warrants U throughout these investigations approximately 15 cases each requiring a minimum of two to three warrants so thank you um the victims of these cases that put their trust in me and have cooperated throughout the investigation I have one of the victims here today um Miss VI I would also like to thank u a role model and friend she's not here today Sergeant Christensen I worked with her in CID and currently working with her on the midnight shift after promoting um she's kept me grounded on the midnight shift it's someone I could speak freely with and definitely big shoes to fill in um right lieutenant as I take on her responsibilities as the crisis negotiations Sergeant um Lieutenant guo thank you for your nomination in November for the arrest made on the midnight shift and to all the patrol officers especially the alpha shift which is the graveyard shift the midnight shift um those are rough hours to work especially if you have kids family and these officers um come to work and work with me uh finally to myself and my family um I really don't give up I don't take no for an answer uh you could ask my husband who's here I'm I'm very goal oriented especially with cases um and my husband John and my children they're not here today U one wanted to come one didn't so I I couldn't you know bring only one uh but these investigations do take time away from family um holidays weekends and John has been very understanding of that in the last three years um as a detective and in the last 10 here with cor Gables um so I I appreciate you all I thank you all for coming and I'm always going to give in my 100% to all of you so thank you Sergeant [Applause] congratulations we're blessed have you on our side thank you may the immense the immense Pride that you take in your job is again evidently clear by the way you conduct yourself so we're blessed to have you showing the next future police officers that you know joining Coral Gables is an honor and that the way you conduct yourself is just amazing and I and I and I you know I see it in the way that you prepared yourself you know that the fact that you've been nominated so many times that you have all your peers here and they look at you as a person who they'll go into any box hole with they'll jump over any fence like Bo was mentioned they'll call any backup on a phone and that they're not worried because at the end of the day you know you're on the other side so um I before we hear from my colleagues I know that everybody would like to probably say something if I may be so forward i' like to ask your husband to come up and speak because at least and and I'm going to tell you and I'm going to tell you why I'm going to tell you why I'm going to tell you why cuz when you were speaking when you were speaking he was looking at you in a way that I you know I thought was it was very beautiful and it was very touching in the sense that he looked at you with such a sense of Pride that it's something that again that you know he may not want to say it but um he really looks up to you so come on come on come on take the take the moment take the you're going to thank listen you're going to thank me later officer no I'm not no I'm not I'm all ears here we go here we go oh we're very proud of her uh our kids are very proud of her um and we have a good working relationship where you know she picks up the slack and where I you know so it I don't know what to say to be honest with you you completely caught me off card okay um I and the children are very proud of her and she does a great job that's perfectly said it it's a beautiful thing mam vice mayor so I'm going to add to your comments that you know without the teamwork without the teamw work at home we can't shine in our own job and I mean I I did that to my husband for decades uh as I took cases out of the district and so forth so um the support that you offer each other is critical and we appreciate what you do together so I'm going to add to your your comments just a little bit because you know because of the background and experience I've had both in criminal and civil litigation I understand what HSI is I know what it is to be you know to have an agent in charge that's great can make or break her case okay I also understand that once you have someone deported it's not like oh well we didn't get a chance to put a scar on them you've also scarred them with if they come back in this country they're going to be serving not just you know whatever crimes they do they're going to have an additional charge for illegal re-entry an additional Federal sentence so whatever state law violation they they do it's going to be federalized at that point and they're going to have a much more difficult time uh doing anything they'll serve time here and then they'll get to go back home to wherever they were so thank you for what you did I mean without your leadership this wouldn't happen the same thing for the officer without your leadership this team can't work its best so thank you all thank you just just a couple words um I think the chief said it during the swearing in of our three new three new officers last last week importance family has in the life of a police officer and I've always seen what a great mother you are as well and I wanted to congratulate you for that as well because the shift that you work is not easy as you said and a lot of people out there don't understand you know we're protected 24 hours a day because of people like you who are dedicated at whatever time to keeping us safe so thank you thank [Applause] you if you don't mind everybody that I invited please absolutely we can go outside plenty of room [Music] the in the back's [Music] yes sir oh got we're not done we're not done we're not done back I think they're walking wait we [Music] got I got you I got you see [Music] that put in shower before we move on to to um public comment because there is no approval of minutes I've asked the chief chief Hudak to give an update uh in regards to our officer that was in the hospital I've gotten several phone calls and I'm adding my colleagues in the commission have also emails requesting uh an update on how the officer is doing from residence uh I'm happy to to announce or to report that he is doing very well he's at home resting uh he had one surgery uh for some constructive work on his face uh he continues to see uh Baskin Palmer uh some double vision uh from a CTE type of injury if you will uh again I think this is why we train for these things the actual the escort that was being done that day was something that we do uh as part of our agreement with the University of Miami Athletics so ourselves FHP uh but we use it really as a training situation because when we our motorcycles officers don't get enough training and this is part of it um so he was uh again his abilities to Swerve when the when the individual kind of turned uh probably saved a lot more of a a devastating injury um again I can't say enough for the for our fire rescue people uh we did not they did not take a chance they we flew him out uh from Jack to Jackson from the youth center um I met with him the next day he had surgery following that and then was released uh he is from what I understand resting comfortably I talk to him like every two days uh but again it's you know it's a it's a reason why we we train but it's also the the difficult part of of the job on a motorcycle there's a couple things I've never done I didn't have a K9 and I was never on a motorcycle I just so uh David is doing well and he has everything that uh I've expressed to him from your all concern that day uh and our HR director and I have been in contact on a regular basis about anything else that that's needed so physically he's got a bit of a road to recovery um but we are very very happy to announce that he is recovering well thank you Chief uh just so my colleagues on the commissioner aware uh I went to visit the the officer at Jackson uh he was in good spirits little groggy prior to the surgery he was having the surgery two hours before I visited him I got to meet his wife and his mother and I relayed on behalf of the Commission in the city that we know obviously we support him 110% uh that we're looking forward to his speedy recovery and that uh we'll provide any any assistance necessary uh to ensure that he is 100% And um I said it on behalf of the commission that um that there will be brighter days ahead for him MH uh he's got to you know obviously he was heading into a surgery at that moment and uh that we'll see him on the other side and we look forward to him returning U Back to the city of cor Gable because he does a great job wonder he does listen I I the motorcycle guys I mean this is why we train like that in the SWAT team because you know we we have to do these escorts on a regular basis whether it be a special event type thing and this is the easiest way that we can get as much training as we can other than their training days there's a benefit between us and the University to get out the our just say no to drugs or our our DUI campaigns that you see at certain sporting events uh you know the athletic department has put that forward so some of those secure uh escorts if you will back and forth to the airport because once they've been screened we have to make sure that we don't lose contact right onto the airport so it's an ongoing operation that's been in place for years uh but that training part of it is is exactly uh why we do it why we do it so uh and I will make sure I express to his wife and family as well everyone's uh sincere uh thoughts from here thank you Chief all right thank you Mr clerk there is no approval of minutes there's no past minutes to approve uh we move on to public comment Mr Mayor first Speaker today is Richard L good morning sir good morning morning morning Mr Mayor good morning vice mayor good morning Commissioners City attorney as well as City cleric and the residents of Coral Gables my name is Richard Lara and I reside at 101 Coral Way if I may be permitted a few minutes to provide a brief background my family moved to cor Gables in 1983 my parents Alberto ins Sonia fled Cuba 1961 as Exiles escaping a totalitarian regime and came to this country seeking Freedom with little more than the shirts on their backs like so many of our citizens here in the city beautiful my father worked two jobs as a maintenance man for the apartment building that we called home on Valencia avenue where I shared a bedroom with my brother throughout my teens my father knew that his sacrifices for his family were worth it by making cor Gables our home as a proud Coral Gables high school graduate and a former silver Knight I went on to earn my BA at the University of Michigan and I earned my law degree at Boston College Law School I've been happily married to Bertha for 26 years and we are proud parents of three daughters Gabrielle Victoria and Alexandra we are all so very proud to call Coral Gables our home I've dedicated over 30 years to the practice of law owning my Law Firm for 14 years before becoming Executive Vice President and general Council for Spanish broadcasting system I've served with Honor on judicial nominating commission for the Third District Court of Appeal served as chair of the Florida bar grievance committee proudly serve on the board of directors for Easter seal South Florida and currently serve on the anti-crime committee for Coral Gables have been appointed by commissioner Menendez as a seasoned Problem Solver I've always counseled individuals and businesses with respect civility and professionalism throughout my career these are the very principles that sadly are sorely missing at this commission over the past two years I've witnessed the Steep decline of due process transparency and professionalism at our commission by way of example the sitting Commissioners voting for themselves a 101% compensation increase without public input or consent is unprecedented and reflects the lack of Integrity in our current governance also the cruel and arrogant manner employed by these Commissioners in firing the city manager at the last commission meeting without regard for the overwhelming public opinion or due process or a basis in fact or law is but another example of the chaos running rampant in this Commission Coral Gables Commissioners were the gold standard The Shining of example for all other neighboring communities of how to best govern effectively with dignity integrity and professionalism but not anymore we simply cannot permit this actions have consequences and here the stakes have never been higher enough is enough I would have never imagined standing here before this commission under these circumstances which for me are nothing more than a call to action and I've been overwhelmed and humbled by the growing encouragement I received from so many of my fellow citizens who have approached me to act now for Coral Gables as a concerned citizen fueled by civic duty and an enduring love of our city I've decided to run for commissioner of coral Gable's group three specifically challenging Mr Mendez today we enthusiastically begin the race to restore order civility professionalism and integrity back to this commission I am excited and eager to help restore these values as a commissioner and put a laser focus on the growing need for improving the quality of life for our citizens including a much-needed taxpayer Relief by lowering the millage rate while ensuring that we always Main maintain fully resourced and staffed police and fighting forces to ensure a safe environment for our families and for our businesses as well as the preservation and expansion of our green spaces and the walkability of our great and unique City I promise to be the true representative of all the citizens of Coral Gables we must never forget it's all about the citizens and bettering their lives in the city for us all to prosper and enjoy all the beauty and wonderment that the city has to offer I am supremely confident that the best days for the city Beautiful Lie ahead when we all work together I look forward to you all joining me on the campaign Trail to usher in a positive change in Coral Gables thank you Mr Mayor Madame vice mayor Commissioners City attorney City Clerk and the acting city manager and citizens for your attention mention today thank you thank you sir Mr clerk Maria Cruz good morning Miss Cruz good morning Mrs Cruz Maria I don't know if I have to give address because I've seen people that do not give addresses here but I will uh Maria Cruz 1447 Miller Road where I've been since 1976 and I do have a family and I do my kids who grew up there and I believe I've been involved but I'm not announcing that I'm running for anything I didn't think that was the appropriate place to do it uh many times I have been asked why employees come to me and why they call me why they drop off stuff in front of my door why I guess some many Anonymous uh messages and I'm going to tell you why I'm going to tell you that the reason why employees do that is because they do not trust their supervisors their directors the people that should come to their rescue including HR I can tell you it was funny when somebody told me that there was a director recently who would go walk around the department and say I wonder who's going to get fired today because that was a permanent threat okay so our employees come to me because they're afraid of getting fired simple as that but let me tell you much to some people's chag greine I guess I've had time to think about how our city has gotten where it is and I know the people claim that we never had scandals before this is something new we have scandals let me tell you we've had scandals in this city many times I was trying to remember how many but I also know how many times things have gone wrong and they've been covered up and this is what uh has made me come forth many times to say how bad it is when somebody like me that could be home and so po press and game shows has to come here to talk about what has gotten us here let me start by giving you I four examples so bear with me employee who deposited checks made out to the city into her own account bank account guess what the superiors knew but the elected officials didn't I was the one that exposed that and then she was prosecuted I never knew whether she paid back what she was supposed to pay back because we don't talk about those things you know cor gaes we don't talk about those ugly things finance department knew they knew because once I open the door they knew about it well then we have an employee recently who wanted to get another job in another municipality and was offered a letter but it was less than what he wanted so he fixed the letter brought it here and was going to get a race because he had a better offer when I opened the door he was fired okay but we would have gone along with it nobody was checking as a matter of fact I was told that they had checked with the other city which was not true because I checked okay then we take that takes us to the cash train that were found recently cash trays the city hasn't been accepting cash for some time but yet there were cash trays found I believe one of them still had money but you know what it's not a big deal it's not a big deal because it was little money you know when I grew up five pennies was a lot of money it doesn't make any difference how how come the people that issued the trayes did not know they were not back how come the traes were not picked up how come the the traes would not return you know we don't worry about little things okay and then if you remember not long ago I spoke about the unsupervised uh expenditure of money for Frills things that we do not need in the development services department guess what I spoke here January 23rd January 24th we spent $166 189 on paper hot cups on January 26 we bought capuccino kit again for 285 February 4th we bought K cups for $64.98 for the dark magic I don't know what that means and 6980 for the original C Cups why am I saying this because you know what you can bring the what is it the horse to water but you cannot make him drink it hello if it's still happening obviously the message has not gotten so I came up with a solution you know I never come that I don't have a solution a few meetings ago I saw one one business that was here to get permission to open aita nearby so I said to myself the coffee machine is being leased by us the taxpayers we pay for it the supplies for the machine is been paid by us the taxpayers so we the taxpayers own the building so could one of us come here I'll be willing to get a permit so one of the windows facing BMA way on the 427 building could become our ventanita and the residents could come and get their free coffee free tea because you know it has tea coffee cappucino you name it anything you want and it's free so can we do that for a residence if you want me to if you give me the go ahead I'll apply for the permit I just looked there's a nice door window that we could open and that way it will not be going to 60 employees okay so guys guys seriously something has to happen and you know what the people that are involved with this they know who they are and the supervisors know who they are and we feel very sorry because they've been signaled out you know what enough is enough and then my last comment is I have a name for the ventanita already it's not going to be Maria it's going to be tsamis thank you Tom Wells good morning sir good morning my name is Tom Wells I live at 1310 Coral Way I request the commission avoid approving a seance pay as part of the compensation package for the city manager this is $105,000 problem per resolution 2 2018-28 Mr glaces promoted from a city for assistant City manager city manager with the following compensation package $235,000 in 2018 tied to an annual CPI increase it's over $294,000 in 204 2024 additional retirement contribution 25% of his current base salary that's uh over 7 $73,500 th000 $73,500 currently a monthly cut car allowance health insurance for himself and his family and in addition 20 weeks of severance compensation if he's terminated for any reason other than misconduct per section 443-0036 that's over $105,000 Mr glaz is over 60 when promoted from to city manager he only gets a severance if he's terminated by the city commission that's why he would never resign sections 8 and 11 of the city Charter provideed the city manager serves at the will or pleasure of the commission this Severance imposes unnecessary costs on future commissions exercising rights per the city Charter it could be argued that city does not owe Mr glaz Severance because of potential acts of misconduct so I'm going to disagree with one of the prior speakers these are the acts of misconduct violating city code sections 277 and 281 as to the rules of Corum and debate by making subjective opinions not related to the motion being considered violating City Charter section 155 requiring the city manager to keep the commission fully advised as the condition of the city at 6:17 this January 23rd meeting he said the city had lost 20 $4,000 on this particular lease referring to Fritz and fron causing one commissioner to falsely State there was a $24,000 back due rent violating citizens Bill of Rights A2 stating that the city employee um shall that no C employee shall knowingly provide false information or knowingly omit significant facts when giving requested information to members of the public the C MERS page currently on C's website for Fritz and frons say the 10 is required to replace equipment at end of life per current per the current lease that provision doesn't exist per the current lease that's false refusal to file the direction of commission at the March 8 2022 meeting to reopen Burger Bobs May logo stated that it will reopen on December 22nd on December 2022 burgo Bob is still not open after two years Mr gla's windfall severence windfall was approved by only one commission one current commissioner I am hopeful this mistake WIll not be repeated in addition on later today you're going to talk about replacing in the search committee for the city manager it should it should be done by independent committee not by the staff thank you thank you sir Mr clerk that's it Mr Mayor all right moving on to the consent agenda before the vote adopting the consent agenda is taken is there anyone who wishes additional discussion or or review of any item on the consent agenda yes I would like to pull item D4 please anything else I would like to aull item D2 okay may I please have a motion on the amended consent agenda motion second all in favor I thank you moving on to item D2 uh I just wanted um I've had questions from residents about um this issue uh and I know staff gave me uh an explanation as to why we we're at this point so I wanted to see if you could just um let residents know how we got to this point and what we're doing to to try to address it sure commissioner so the uh unit that is located one of the two units located in the public safety building has a a failure of a component which is called an Adaptive frequency drive we still on the process of fact finding uh with qu really happen and and you know working with our legal with our attorney but the fact is that we have to go ahead and fix the unit because it's it's causing problems on chilling the the building so we the reason why this here is it because it it passes the threshold and we I had to get approval from the commission to go ahead and fix it while we do fact finding and and issues with it secetary so basically we're we're trying to find uh trying to get the warranty to cover the expenses but we have to pay the expenses up front basically we are at looking at the installation and some of the fact involved on that yes whether the unit is part of a major component Etc so we have again City attorney and outside counil involved in that okay thank you that was my understanding of it too we don't allow the the building condition to deteriorate so who will fix it first and continue you know doing the necessary steps to get reimbursed from uh you know train or whomever had the faulty component in there okay with that I'll move the item second before before we move it Mr manager will you do me a favor will you you know when the building was turned over there should have been a warranty package that was submitted by the contractor to the client it usually provides a one-year warranty from the contractor to the client and then the subcontractors provide warranties underneath the contractor and then what they also do is they provide obviously for larger larger pieces of equipment like HVAC Plumbing electrical switch gear they provide the actual warranty items with the manuals can you do me a faig can you pull the warranty the warranty um manual that was provided in the closeout documents for the public safety building and go to the tab that shows the subcontractor that was given the contract to do this work and see if we have if we have uh the warranty item necessary I'm pretty sure we do in regards to this specific um piece of machinery and then dig in to see if there's a five or a 10e warranty for parts and labor and then move on back from there and then when we call train we can actually tell them listen this piece is covered under the five or 10 year warranty based on the on the on the on the L was provided so looking at the facts on on on the this issue and the original installation it's something that we're looking into it and and we referring to as one of the components of the of the of the system but there are other actions that took place uh during the process of repairing the equipment in different occasions where when a component is removed and it's and you know once you alter the original composition of it then then there's some issues there that I mean I I just I would like to see the warranty package sure for this Division and for for this component for this for this item and then I get a better understanding is when there's been maintenance provided there should be a maintenance log right and whatever was done on this machine will be will be detailed in that maintenance log right and then we can move on and just cross reference to see exactly if if the warranty has voided in one form or another it's the same thing that happens in a roof if you have a new roof and you penetrate that roof you void the warranty so I want to see if if you know kind of see if I can help out in any way uh and understand because this is a pretty significant cost right we talked about this in our meeting corre thank you all right we will provide a uh briefing to each commissioner on the latest that we have I'd appreciate that thank you okay vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner for Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes mayor logo yes I'm moving on to item D4 um I pulled this item uh because this is part of my four initiatives that we passed here a few years ago where we provide $25,000 uh to consulates in the City of Coral Gables and it's something that I wanted to highlight because again it draws a lot of people here to to our downtown and it's just like the moros from Mexico and it's it's a beautiful event that really highlights uh the Colombian culture and it's an opportunity for us to continue to to bring people to our downtown which benefits the businesses um will I will ask my colleagues in the commission to please speak with belis and speak and speak with our staff uh to see how we can continue to add onto those two remaining slots uh we had talked about potentially there's two other consulates multiple different consulates that are that are interested in in in um in in having you know finishing off the four events that we're supposed to have every year we've grown it slowly but in this third year I'd like to see see we can add a third event and then maybe in his fourth year at a potentially a fourth event uh the of moros has grown into something where thousands of people go to it it also coincides with the great Halloween event that belis and her team did this year along with parks and everybody all hands on deck but I think that we could potentially add um another Consulate in the city of cor G to take advantage of of this money that was that was placed there in the budget uh to continue just to invite people to the City of Coral Gables so just putting it out there and asking my colleagues to work uh with buy to see if we can find another consulate I have two that I'm already working on that are interested but you know maybe we can convince uh one of the over 20 consulates here in the city that are interested that doesn't take much convincing because we're providing some good seed money to cover for expenses like police infrastructure permits and a few other things very very interesting um and I think this also can be you know showcased as part of our Cultural Arts uh strategic plan going forward so if no one else has any additional matters I just move it you got a second commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor L yes uh before we move on to F4 we'll take a 10-minute break we'll be here at 10:30 and we'll move on to the 10:15 time C thank you [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] move on to item F4 time turn for 10:15 uh this is an item I asked to be called to better inform the residents and there's a very uh short presentation that's been put together by our city manager and uh we're blessed to have Dennis Oly here today uh so I'm going to ask for the city manager to do his a very short presentation to show what our P file mitigation program is and then I'll have U Mr OE follow up with the benefits of uh um what it does for our environment here in particular butterflies and I do have a couple pictures in the front here these are extremely rare M blue butterflies uh we're trying to ReStore Habitat um in various areas by putting in the host plant for these butterflies and in Camp mahachi we put in 150 host plants there and hope to bring these butterflies back but there's a lot of peacocks down there so without anything more said uh because I know we have people waiting here on other items city manager can you proceed thank you vice mayor so um have we have a technical problem with the PowerPoint while you have a technical problem mommy blue butterfly only exists in one Island in a keys it is one hurricane away from becoming totally extinct and this is the only place that survives it would be a shame that we bring up larae and have them on these plants and they get consumed by 40 lb birds that are don't belong in South Florida just because we have an overpopulation and no natural predator to them so uh mocking birds and Cardinals do not consume as much as a peacock can so are we ready yeah almost ready uh we're getting the PowerPoint so if I may begin we do this so the county passed a an ordinance regarding the palls mitigation and allow the cities to modify the the the ordinance and as such the city of corag passed resolution 2022 d285 they set the uh ground rules for mitigation of people Falls in in the city to that effect we contracted with a a proper and to uh comply with these regulations and humanely capture and remove the Pees from different area of the Gable we have a substantial population of people on the Gable and and they continue to you know incur and and migrate to other areas where we had never seen them before they're all the way basically from H3 All the Way South to the farther south portion of the of the city and if you could see on the pictures that we have they Roost on on roof are very loud they scratch Vehicles there the uh the uh they cause diseases by the feces etc etc they become very aggressive during mating season and continue to be a a nuisance and some sort of danger for a lot of people that complain about them again Vehicles being scratched Etc other municipalities that have adopted resolution have done a little bit different than what we do in the city of cor Gable like I say we could remove them from public rway or on Parks or areas that are controlled by the city and residents have the right to contract Trappers and remove it from from their resident area and we very active engaging on on doing this process we have captured approximately 15 to 20 of them uh in different locations that we have put the traps and basically the Trapper um opens the gate monitors the gate through cameras and know when they're there and then he comes and close the Trap and remove them and like I was saying all the municipalities like Palo Bay has in institutionalized a a a different program they basically capture the people they have a a um veterinarian retainer pay every month and they basically capture the pickup they um sterilize them and then they put them back in the community now PS live approximately 30 to 40 years in captivity or when they are in a domestic environment so this is not a short-term solution and to to our problem we will continue to work with the resources that we have to continue to try the people's avoid the damage that they do to the you know to the population of butterflies and other insects and and lzard within our community so well I called Dennis Oly up to do his presentation I've also received complaints from resence that they're breaking roof tiles that they're attacking the the cats that roam the neighborhood um aside from the damage that you've talked about you know you to cars and so forth Mr Ry we're blessed to have you here um I'm a fan of yours of course because I I like to try to restore native habitats and what you can you Enlighten us about with regard to um your interactions with the U native butterflies uh sure uh Mr Mayor U Madam vice mayor Commissioners Dennis Ali longtime resident of Carl Gables 934 Andre s uh for these purposes is uh I'm currently the president of the Miami Blue chapter of the North American butterfly Association I sit on the board the national board of that organization uh we're not for-profit organization our mission is to promote the public enjoyment and conservation of butterflies specifically in nature in general um I'm also a longtime burer bird watcher 60 plus years thanks to my mother started at an early age and we all love beautiful birds they're great our problem is invasive species and frankly South Florida is one of the epicenters for that we have animals from everywhere and that's a problem and unfortunately Indian poul we call them peacocks but that's just the male Indian peow are a dramatic example of the wrong the wrong species in the wrong place it's important that we take action to limit their growth and their population and this policy will do that uh as we know among other things U invasive species have upset the Natural Balance and we as humans have already done a pretty good job of doing that our built environment is already resulted in decline in Native species and this only exacerbates that problem butterflies and other insects which enjoy butterflies enjoy a a positive reputation other insects do not unfortunately what we're seeing is a massive decline in pollinators and frankly that will be a huge problem for the world and it's something that we need to address at the local level eliminating invasive Predators is part of that effort as I said earlier with the butterflies already have challenges M pointed out we have native birds that take them and that's part of the natural process but we've sort of skewed that process in the wrong direction so this policy would frankly be a first step in what I'd like to think is the rewilding of Carl Gables it's really important that we think about all the spaces in the gables what's owned by the city and our own backyards as important places where we can increase the native population of pollinators and part of that step is to eliminate unnatural Predators the Pou or those uh again I encourage you to take act this action uh I'll let you I'm not a politician so I say politicians there's one word you need to learn and that is no and in this case no to peacocks it's really important I also take this opportunity to invite you all to uh field trip we're having in caral Gables at the corner of Toledo and alava there's a little small pollinator site that we ask the city simply to stop mowing they did that a couple of years ago we're having a field trip there just to identify the insects that are there we've counted over 100 different species just in a very small SP plot so it's this Saturday morning you're welcome to join it's open to the public I thank you thank you very much that's it that's it it was just information session well listen again I support you on this I think it's important that we take a stand this is a political Hot Potato nobody wants to address it CU again they're beautiful creatures when we talk about invasive species something has to happen because there is no natural predator so um whatever technique is used to rain rain in peacocks uh something that has to be really really in my opinion has to be considered um because if not you're going to end up pushing out sensitive species here um and I I think again as you look at it every single day we have less and less natural habitat that's why here in the city what we're trying to do is buy as many homes as possible make them into Parks you know allow for pollinator Gardens and stuff like that so it's critical that we we we we we get engaged in this this political conversation in regards to pile because again we can't compromise on our in my opinion we can't compromise on our natural habitats which are less and less by the day and I think this is something that even those who tried to protect them in the past um the County Commission passed an ordinance I think it was about 30 years ago 20 years ago uh protecting the pfal and the commissioner who sponsored that item is today one of the biggest advocates for resending that because she has seen the negative impacts that it's had uh on our native habitat so I agree it's something that we need to find a solution um the question is what is that solution okay thank you very very much anything else moving on to item E3 10:30 time certain E3 is an ordinance of the city commission providing for a text amendment to appendix a site specific zoning regulation section -94 Snapper Creek Lakes of the City of Coral Gable's official zoning code to include all types of accessory uses in the rear yard ground coverage calculation to remove outdated section -94 D2 and to remove and to provide consistency with the Snapper Creek lak's protective covenants by increasing various setbacks providing for severability Clause repeal provision codification and providing for an effective date this is a public hearing item m Russo welcome back thank you good morning Mr Mayor members of the commission for the record Laura Russo with offices at 2334 ponon Boulevard I am here this morning representing Snapper Creek Lakes homeowners association I have with me here today Mr Ed William Willams son a longtime resident of Snapper Creek lak's neighborhood along with uh don fine who is a member of the board of directors and Heather quinland who is the dock Master as well as the administrator of the homeowners association we are here this morning to request a text Amendment to the site specific section of the zoning code entitled Snapper Creek Lakes so the Amendments we are requesting is to have those site specifics that spell out setbacks uh for main building setbacks for accessory uses Etc to match our protective covenants while that section is um different from other parts of the zoning code the Snapper Creek protective covenants are more restrictive than even the site specific um as an example the front setback is 50 not 25 ft um a side street setback is 50 and in the site specifics they are listed at 30 and so what we wanted to do is clarify uh and just have them be equal to the protective covenants which is something that Gable's Estates has cocoa plum has jurny and their protective covenants are embodied in the site specific section of the zoning code another change um in the the text amendment was just to clarify in the marina portion of the property there was a a typo the number of slips and docks are the same it's just one had one extra and one had one minus so it's a typo correction and the other change is to specify that accessory uses are uses listed in the Coral Gable zoning code so a little bit of background Snapper Creek Lakes was established in 1955 it it um is one of three neighborhoods that was annexed into the City of Coral Gables in 1996 of the three it is the only one that has protective covenants that means that when someone buys property in that area they voluntarily agree to be subject to the rules and regulations that might be and usually are more restrictive um than in the rest of the city um at the time in 1997 the city passed an ordinance um setting forth the site specifics um specifically for um Snapper Creek Lakes and in that ordinance it recognized the unique character of Snapper Creek um the Lush Landscaping the changing topography and the classic contemporary architecture which is very different from a lot of portions of Coral Gables and and so this ordinance then became embodied into the site specifics um the reason we are here because up until I want to say prior to covid there were no issues and I think Co caused a lot of issues just in general and how things were done and the homeowners association started noticing that plans were being approved by the zoning department that did not meet the zoning code um and they were catching it and they were also catching some things that did not meet the protective Covenant setbacks and so we the um HOA administrator Heather and myself set up a meeting with the development services director zoning um and we and the city architect because the city architect was being blamed for everything and so we sat down and and figured that the best way to address this would be to incorporate um the actual setbacks into the site specific so that if someone went to look at Snapper Creek they would see it there um And to clarify that the rest of the zoning code that was not mentioned there would be in effect and for example that pertains to the accessory uses as with all text amendments or all legislation notice was sent to Residents within Snapper Creek but also to Residents within 1,000 ft out outside of Snapper Creek and that's within the city and 500 ft outside the city limits um we held a neighborhood meeting uh at at the Snapper Creek Marina and a room they have um and we had mostly residents from outside of Snapper Creek who were very concerned that the changes might be made to their site specifics and we assured them that was not the case this was strictly for um the residents of Snapper Creek uh the Board of Governors of Snapper Creek voted on uh pursuing this text Amendment and in an abundance of caution an email was sent to all the residents of Snapper Creek and we got separate emails from them acknowledging their support for the amendment and I have copies here that I can give to the clerk which show all the houses that responded saying that they weren't in favor just to give you an idea this is over 70% in favor of the text amendments so um you are going to hear in a few minutes from a property owner um who has an issue with the homeowners association and I want to make it clear that that is has nothing to do with what we are doing here um the issue with that homeowner and this goes to the accessory structures that I was talking about before the section of the the the zoning code of Coral Gables lists accessory uses in a single family Zone you're allowed to have a gazebo you're allowed to have a cabana if you're over an acre and a half you can have a guest house they're all Limited in size and in snapper Creek there is a restriction they have a much smaller footprint which is something that they brought with them they're only allowed a 15% lock coverage versus the rest of Coral Gables has 35% lock coverage um they have 5% rear yard um coverage that you're allowed to have while the rest of Coral Gables has 10% of your entire lot so the rest of Coral Gables except in sight specific areas can have 40% law coverage in Snapper Creek it's 15% and then 5% of your year rear yard not your whole yard um and since this since the annexation in 1997 swimming pools were included in that calculation sometime and that was from 97 until approximately 2013 when a an architect wrote a letter to Jade County wanting to know whether or not pools had been counted when they were in the county the um zoning official for the county responded saying that when the properties were part of Jade County pools did not count and um at that time Martha Salasar Blanco was the zoning administrator and she was copied later on that letter was given to staff and and they were instructed that if a pool was being proposed in one of the three annexed areas that pools would not count as part of that rear setback in Snapper Creek pools were counted despite that fact in fact I've worked with Snapper Creek since 2007 on their zoning issues and never knew about the existence of that letter so you are going to hear from someone who thinks that the changes that we are making with respect to the pools um is to stop him from doing what he's doing that is not the case it's to make it clear for people in the future so there can be no misunderstanding this is what it has been from 97 to 2013 and we know that pools have been counted in Snapper Creek since then we have no issue if the other two subdivisions don't want to count pools because they weren't counted um in in Dade County you know Dade County also allowed wooden fences we don't allow wooden fences the residents of Snapper Creek wanted what was best of Dade County which was this the small lot coverage and they want what's the best of the zoning code of Coral Gables so we want you know I know you will hear from this neighbor but from our position in terms of the text Amendment the issue that this property owner has is something that's being handled by the Association attorney their litigating attorney their Association attorney and has nothing to do with this text Amendment and the Planning and Zoning Board actually said it when they uh passed the mo the motion approving the text amendment that they said from the Gable standpoint it would only apply for cases or houses that had not um received Port of archit taex approval all right so from my perspective I know you're going to hear from this homeowner now it has nothing to do with our application here for the text Amendment that's a you know separate and entire um situation and um I'm happy to answer any questions and I respectfully request that you approve our text Amendment and I'd like to reserve some time for rebuttal thank you very much so so one quick question just to yes clarify it for the for some of the public I I understood what you meant from Board of architect approval board essentially what you're saying is from the effective date the effective date will be for those the effective date for the Amendments it doesn't impact us because it's Snapper Creek Snapper Creek has the right to enforce its covenants so someone could not build a house with less setbacks even though the new setbacks will go into the code would be for any houses built um since when they become a member of Snapper Creek Lake they sign that they will abide by the rules and regulations and the bylaws of Snapper Creek allow them to enforce um the zoning code of Coral Gables as well as their protective covenants so so it won't have a retroactive effect it was my point yes that is correct okay thank you are there any further questions for the applicant good morning thank you for being here our zoning director good morning J Garcia Cent official I have a PowerPoint that briefly talks about the application and the area um just so you can idea where we are so again this is an amendment to the site specifics of our zoning code our zoning code has our usual um zoning U regulations for anyone in the in the city but SI specifics is at the very end um and this is what they're amending so the staffer Creek is in south of cables it's kind of in between Red Road and Old Cutler Road um the single the single family uh low dens city is the future land use of the nation and the zoning is single family residential again so we're just amending the side specifics to our Snapper Creek Lakes um so in summary um what we proposed there's basically five different things um the first one is what we talked about is um to count all accessory uses and structures including pools and that 5% Max maximum rear yard ground coverage maximum um also mirroring the setbacks that are in their Covenant 50 ft and 30 ft um increasing the setbacks of any various accessory structures from 7 1/2 ft to 8 ft um updating the Marina boat slips to be consistent with the County permit and also removing their repetitive uh zoning code section A- 942 so a little bit of graphic um right now in this of cor Gables outside of those three annexed areas um a pool is counted towards the maximum um accessory uses of any property um however when they were annexed in as I explained earlier um the the city took the position to count and calculate these accessory uses the same way that County did so what we proposed is that the 5% would also include any accessory uses or structure as counted by the rest of the city of cor Gables um includ including pools again mirroring the setbacks of 50 ft and 30 ft um again consistent with the r covenants of SN Creek Lakes um increasing the setbacks from 7 and 1/2 ft to 8 ft for various um accessory structures gazebos uh Cabanas um and then two more things um just tweaking the maximum Arena boat slips and also removing that repetitive language and our zoning code so the neighborhood meeting the applicant had was back in December a Planning and Zoning Board was last month in January and here we are for first reading they had sent out letters to Property Owners um twice the property was posted the toer Creeks area was posted I think by the entrance where the neighbors to be able to see what was going on um it's posted on the website twice and also advertise newspaper once so have determined that most of the um proposed proposed txt amendments are consistent with the comp plan and St recommends approval of conditions um the two conditions um is the um 7 and 1/2 ft to 8 ft side setback is not consistent with uh the County zoning that that was annexed in um it would make a lot of um uh legal non-conforming properties in the area um and then also the 5% calculation of the pool would also be inconsistent with comp plans our policies and our comp plan however of course the change of policy is on the commission the commission has every right to change that policy that's it thank you thank you very much are there any comments from the commission none none okay so I'd like to open up for public comment I have no members of the public requesting to speak on this item Mr Mayor then we'll close the item and the commission the commission have any any comments anything else they' like to add any questions anything as as far as can we can we do something I'm trying to follow Robert's Rules as you notice being very very strict on that so i' like to everything to go through through the mayor through the chair of the commission Madam City attorney correct yes mayor our our city code provides that um in order to be recognized in order to speak and have the floor a member of the commission should be recognized by the mayor so I think that's what you're getting at thank you very much would you like to speak sir okay then please sign up thank you let's wait for let's wait for the gentleman before we close the public the public comment section so the first speaker is Raphael Pondo Mr Pondo please thank you for being here with us good morning morning good morning sir um this is I'm not presenting architecture today I'm representing my client hangan Lewis um and so U bear with me in terms of the legal ease of things one of the things that I typically do as Architects well Rafel pandoo Pando The Architects 5717 South Street um is we go through the process and meeting with all the uh important parties and we move forward based on their decisions when we went to present a project in Snapper Creek uh we met with this the the appointed architect and the appointed architect gave us the regulations of City Coral Gables that were signed off by Jim buers and by uh ramonas um in terms of clarification of pool this this came from Snapper Creek we proceeded with our preliminary submittals we um we made in we put in bold letters pull not part of the rear uh setback 5% calculation which was something he told us to do um the Exel structure was was part of that and we we know that um so we proceeded with that we got the preliminary approval we proceeded with the design of the house just to be clear in what I'm saying the pool was not included and it was approved by Snapper Creek and the auxiliary structure was accounted in the 5% rear yard and it was approved by Snapper Creek we then went to the board of Architects and we we got the board of Architects approval with the approval from Snapper Creek stamped signed approved and we proceeded to working drawings um once we finished working drawings we were actually we resubmitted the project to Snapper Creek it was stamped approved and as we went to go pick them up the someone uh Heather picked them up and actually signed them off and said that it was not approved it was weird for the first time in 37 years we've been practicing we've never gone through a situ ation where the association is approving us and at the end of all that work they're disapproving us we ended up setting up a meeting with the city attorney we ended up the with the head of architecture with the assistant City attorney with with uh Douglas and we went over what happened and the and the City of corable said that we agree with the interpretation because it's it's the rules and regulations of annexed parcels and Annex you know uh in terms of hamek slapper Creek and we use D County regulations in the D County regulations the pools don't count and the auxiliary structures count as part of the rear setback and so we I heard Laura today saying something that and and the in the city itself saying something that resonated to me which was the clarification of the code is that we're clarifying that the pools are counting into 5% they're clarifying that which it wasn't clear before and the city does acknowledge that the 5% counts for the pool and so one of the things that is a challenge for us is that we were approved by sniper Creek and we were approved by by City Coral Gable's Board of Architects the city of Coro Gables told us to submit our plans to lock in your position and that you're in the the pipeline of getting approved so you don't lose that so the owners wanted to design basically a one-story home so we took advantage of the maximum lot coverage the pool didn't count the pool is like 890 Square ft um the the auxiliary structure is part of the 5% in the meeting that we had prior to this um a lot of the board a lot of the Homeowners Association members of Snapper Creek came up to us and said we're really really sorry we didn't know that you went through all of this and even one of them asked me what it would take to redo the drawings and I said well it's going to take $500,000 because it's a throwaway so it's in a we're in a very difficult situation because we've designed a home that was approved by Snapper Creek we we designed a home that's the city of the city is telling us submit the drawings because you're okay and then we we resubmit to Snapper Creek and we get rejected knowing that we were taken off the list of proceeding moving forward with our project because the city of corab was telling us we're okay one of the things that happens with annexations and and and I'm not an attorney but I I feel like this is something that I'm very passionate about is when the cities Annex an out parcel Snapper Creek hammock Lakes the reason they go to Dade County and keep the Dade County rules because they would in essence create an existing a huge existing non-conforming and so I'm not really sure that the homeowners of sniper Creek understand that they were annexed without counting the pools they were annexed with a 5% and so it doesn't really matter what they've said for so many years if they were saying it wrong and the CED C was agrees with us and that that's the way it was not only approved by Jim buers which was day County but it was also approved by the City attorney as a ruling so it's interesting to me to sit here with someone I truly love Laura Russo and she's saying and the city saying we're clarifying the code to make sure that the 5% is now counted for the pool when we were in the previous hearing board Robert bear asked Laura um so Laura is the pool part of counted in Snapper Creek and her answer was no and so which is which is why this is so bizarre so we we we go through the process we get approved by Snapper Creek we get approved by Coral Gables we are now in a hearing which is clarifying the zoning code which we have no problem because they're doing it now not when it was actually when the city attorney made a ruling on it which was 2013 they could have that next day they could have clarified the code and all this here is stemming from the fact that our complete guidance came from Snapper Creek everything that we did moving forward was because Snapper Creek appointed architect gave us the rulings handed us the rulings that we should follow which was the the reading of ramonas the ruling of Jim buers etc etc we got nervous I know my last comment I know I'm repeating myself we got nervous because we didn't understand if we we misunderstood the code so we met with Zeke Guilford and the city attorneys and they said you're correct you're you're interpreting it correctly so I'm glad for Snapper Creek that they're here to clarify the code I'm sad that they were here reinforcing something that they shouldn't have reinforced for 50 years but this is reality it's my reality and so my goal is I need to get my project approved with the blessing of City of Coral Gables which is doesn't count the pool and counts the auxiliary structure in the 5% that's it and nothing else at this point is fair to my client thank you thank you Mr ban Mr clerk Kenneth Damas good morning sir good morning Mr Mayor commissioner I represent the homeowner my name Kenneth Damas 300 cevilla Avenue sweet 36 Coral Gable Florida 33134 um Ralph did a perfect presentation just to add I reviewed the Covenant the restrictive covenant of Snapper Creek there's absolutely nowhere in the restrictive covenant where it would count the pool as a necessary structure that's the only thing I have to add to his comments that's it thank you sir thank you the mayor just want to thank you all for your efforts to have to bring this to to us to clarify this piece of the code that was overlooked yeah could I just make a rebuttal statement please no of course we're going to of course I'm sorry okay but in the process I just want to make sure if I may just to try to adhere to the process are there any more public comment no Mr Mayor anybody else would like to speak okay homeowner you're more than welcome to speak you can speak and and then you can fill out the card after no no come speak first English Spanish English okay good morning everybody good morning um thank you for help us in many ways um my name is wano I'm part of the whole community in K GES we own a new restaurant 105 we're super excited with my background is work in a Resturant industry for many years 1995 G designer and everything was like great because all the process and everything we earned is amazing in this beautiful city of coros one of my dreams come back to Kos now we live in coros we built a house in ponon like almost we live for two and a half years uh we sold the house and we moved to a beautiful neighbor getn Creek we have a old house stay there for a couple of years and then we renovate or we build a new one is that we're talking about we feel like it's some we wasting time and energy because I know we always follow the rules and regulations to me that's the most important because I'm built almost 10 restaurants and all my life and I know what means rules regulations plans approvals and work in a good means everything for us so the way I see a dream come through build a new house in next to the marina K Snapper Creek with all situation plans and time you know investment time you know time energy money and now after whole process they say it's not we have to renew then don't accept it so it's a lot of money involved we don't want legal problems with anybody because at the end of the day it's wasting energy so in my understanding they already accept everything why we have to still waiting spending and inves in time that time is the most value thing ever so as a part of the community snaer cre I feel like in a way disappointed because we had a great relation with the neighbors and everybody says wow I I don't we don't understand what's going on why they stop you I can think many many many things come to my mind one of my one of those to me is like discrimination I don't want to say that word because sounds no right but in a way it's kind of and I don't see why so I will love the neighborhood we love the area we love the projects we're very familiar with projects because we're trying to improve the community creating some beautiful house with our amazing architect Rafa Port so thank you for your time hope I hope you we can put anything together make the best decision for everybody and thank you thank you in reference to your comment at the end I just want to tell you actually we actually agree the plans approve the plans and start working because we actually delayed for almost 6 months because we already have the idea to build the house in a year and a half and then start a new project so we have a Old Land old space and it's not we can see grape right there so we thinking about building another house to to get the neighborhood better and improving in reference to your comment I just want you to know that this is a very inclusive community and we're blessed to have you here not only as a resident but also as a business owner you've made a massive investment in this community I just want you to know that we're we're grateful for that thank you much we want you to stay in our community we want you to continue to expand invite your friends and I want you and your partner to understand that we we take that kind of statements very very seriously here in the city in this commission and that our our doors are always open you know that I'm a phone call wng city manager the City attorney the city clerk whatever is that you may need any type of representation Snapper Creek is a wonderful community of very upstanding residents I know them personally I know every single person who's here today and they're Advocates on all fronts on inclusion on you know anti-discrimination and you're moving into a community that is the Envy the Envy of every resident uh it is a beautiful place to live so I'm telling you we're going to figure this out I promise you uh let us just have a few moments to to uh to IR kind of iron this out and um we're looking forward to getting you started okay thank you very much all right thank you um through the mayor City attorney what are his options whose options I'm sorry the the homeowner's options if I mean how other way can can you move forward if it's not accepted so the recommendation from Planning and Zoning um which I concur with would be that if if the commission adopts this ordinance as presented by the applicant that um Property Owners who've received preliminary Board of Architects approval which they have they're going through the process but they have preliminary board of directors approval that they be Exempted from the ordinance okay does the commission have anything else they' like to add to this I I just I want to just what no no my my comment is is this is a good example how ordinances that are on the books when put in practice you identify things that are inconsistent and I'm um pleased that you brought this to us sorry you had to go through this process unfortunately to um clarify something that's been needing fixed for some time well I just want to I just want to put on the the record that Snapper Creek counted pools and still counts pools they counted them from 97 and even in 2013 um when the letter came out that was shared with staff the unfortunate thing is that staff did not think enough of it to make it a rule they could have made it at that time an additional condition of site specific for all three neighborhoods and then Snapper Creek could have said we don't want it for ours keep it for the other two as happened some of you were here when hammock lakes or hammock Oaks wanted to increase the lock coverage from 15% to 25% and they got their neighborhood to be in acquiescence but Snapper Creek did not um Snapper Creek did not want um the 25% loot coverage and so they came out and said hammock Lakes hammock Oaks that's good for you it's not good for us um so I I just want it clear that in Snapper Creek they've always counted the pools because since it wasn't part of the site specific it went pursuant to the zoning code the zoning code is always counted pools as part of their accessory uses and then in the actual ordinance that passed the site specific it says as according to the Florida building code were repairs and alterations amounting to more than the prescribed percentage of replacement value of the existing building area made during any 12-month period the building or structure shall be made to conform to all zoning code requirements for a new building or structure so it was always anticipated that anything that was a non-conforming use in the county at some point would be made conforming wood fences would not be allowed chain link fences would not be allowed they were allowed to exist as legal non-conforming but they would not be but I just want the record to be clear that Snapper Creek has always counted pools so this the change we made was to avoid a scenario where someone was relying on you know a letter that never got shared with the community the actual architect for the community now it's a different one the prior one passed away designed three houses in Snapper Creek all three of them counted pools one of them was built with the pool counting so I just wanted to make that clear are there any commission um just a quick question um that you gave us the map 73 of the properties are in favor there's 48 that I guess you did not hear from were there any other concerns well no and the some that we have not heard from um are because they're elderly there have been a few uh deaths in the community so some other properties are owned are currently controlled by Estates um we handed all the emails and we made them part of the record we handed them at the planning and zoning board meeting where the question was asked in and explain to them the and their response so we wanted you to have the X is not just an X you actually have um paper documentation responding to the question I guess what what I would like to see between first and second reading is maybe have a second neighborhood meeting uh just to make sure there aren't any other issues that may not have been addressed um just to make sure everybody's aware before we finalize this that everybody understands what's going to happen what the changes are going to be um and everybody's on the same page anything else no my colleagues in the commission do you have any further comments no I move it okay before before we move it I want to make my comments I have to follow follow the protocols that I was explain sorry I I I know so you have a motion I do have and let me have a second and then we'll would would you amend that to include staff's recommendation or the Zing board recommendation it was the Planning and Zoning Board recommend sorry the plan so staff's recommendation was a little bit different staff was recommending that those two aspects meaning the calculation of the swimming pool and the setbacks not be included um so I think what you're getting at is the exemption for those properties that have already seen preliminary Board of Architects approval that came from Planning and Zoning Board correct no I would agree with that I think it was out so now we have the opportunity for debate is there anything anything else further from the commission he seems nervous I just want to clarify the board actually um was recommended approval of was a presented by the applicant which is different what staff had recommended correct yes thank you zoning is different so I think you're approving what Planning and Zoning put in as a condition correct I want to make sure I understood the motion that that was the motion okay so so mayor sorry so just for purposes of clarification it's to approve the ordinance as presented by the applicant with all of the changes yes okay so we have a motion and a second now we can have debate is there any would anybody like to add a little bit of uh further color to the discussion anyone else no okay so then I will I will have the last word um what I would like to have Mr manager possible please with the support of the commission is that you meet with the architect and the applicant after this meeting I want to make sure that before this comes back on second reading that there's no further questions or issues with this gentleman's plans again it's got to go through the process the approvals but I want Iron CL Clarity that there's no issues no zoning issues that everything has been addressed that's my number one concern this is pretty simple uh pretty simple legislation probably one of the easiest ones I've seen come before the commission right yes nothing you know the community is predominantly in favor do you have one negative person that it was oppos it we have not heard of anyone that has this is not an issue this is not this is not an issue about objection or further discussion but I'm more than willing to have as much discussion as You' like uh this is just making sure that you know things that fall through the cracks like this scenario are addressed this is needs to be addressed I'm in support of the legislation but I want to make sure that this gentleman who has made a huge investment not only personally but in his business capacity I want to make sure that we address this along with anything else in the same vein that we may find of anybody who's in the process that has already gotten the boa approval the key here for my my my colleagues to understand is something that's a comment that was made here that as long as you've received boa approval that's been The Benchmark for since I've been here this is nothing new so what we're applying to this gentleman here Mr bondo's a world- class architect and he can tell you just like Miss Miss Russo is an exceptional attorney the standard has always been if you get through boa you have some with to hand your hat on right correct so there's nothing new and um I just want to make sure that moving forward moving forward that we address whatever needs to be addressed before this comes back to the commission because that's the way that I can hold my hand that this is going to get resolved because this has been going back and forth I've seen emails I've seen conversations about this and we got to get this finalized for this for this gentleman here okay as long as my colleagues approve that and they're fine with that I just I request that so we can help this gentleman out absolutely yeah okay we have a motion a second unless there's any further debate that needs to be had commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor logo yes thank you very much uh moving on to item E1 which is time certain thank you very much no thank you sir E1 is an ordinance of the city commission providing for text amendments to the City of Coral Gable's official zoning code Article 2 zoning District section 2-43 geralo Plaza District overlay by allowing a television screen on the inside of a window on the pedestrian street of geralo Plaza providing for separability Clause repeater provision codification and providing for an effective date this is a public hearing item Madam director do you have a presentation for us um no so the only changes have happened since first stream as discussed um the spacing to be allowed um every 25 feet or as what's deemed to be appropriate for the for the area um um requiring a um outdoor dining permit as well um I think those are the main the main changes and frustrating um before we move on um Mr clerk do we have any public comment yes Mr Mayor I entertain public comment first speaker is Maria Cruz uh second speaker speaker is llo duraso morning sir morning morning uh before anything I want to thank you very much for your uh hard work and efforts in uh working in this wonderful City that uh I've been doing business here for close to 15 years 16 years and it has always been amazing support for us so I I want to thank you so much for everything uh second we have an issue on geralda where uh I think about a couple of years ago they asked us to remove the plants that we have in the Terrace and those plants obviously we put them trying to make an amazing Hospitality experience for our guest and uh recently they were asked to be removed and when the plants are removed our neighbor across the street has three large TV screens that especially at night it they project a lot of light uh sounds and images that are not in line with the type of experience that we've been known for the last 15 years in Coral Gables so understanding the needs of our neighbor and not uh wanting to get into a you know we thought that a great solution was to put uh screens that it they act exactly the same way as you have an umbrella when the sun is shining to your guest when the sun shines you put an umbrella the sun doesn't shine and then problem is solved so we did the same thing we have at night we have light and images that don't match so instead of having the umbrellas horizontal is like having umbrellas vertical we did it with a a designer very tasteful quality it was a high cost and so far uh it's not as good as it was before with the plants but at least we're operating so uh we ask in this process where we have two different needs and two different business in the same street to please uh consider us uh a restaurant that has been there 15 years providing a certain experience for our dining guest that if we change that obviously our business is going to is suffering and add on that the competition that we're facing with new restaurants opening constantly in the area with very very large Investments with people that are very professional committed to make amazing experiences to the citizens power grbl that we need to keep up and there's no way we can achieve that if we don't count with your support understanding and hopefully meeting a middle ground where we can all uh live harmoniously and doing good business that's it thank you for being here thank you very much Mr Clerk thank that's it Mr Mayor do I have a before we start debate and we have a conversation unless unless you have any questions for staff um I do have a couple questions for staff and it has to do with um one with the screens is that something that a permit was pulled for the current screens are there the the screens that were put being put up between I referring to the a different property not not the subject of the ordinance you I am not sure I'm not sure if edas knows the details of that good morning Mr Mayor vice mayor Commissioners uh assistant City attorney and City prosecutor gusa biles if you're referring to the screens across and the the T of eras that you're referring to screening So currently that is not a perable item um that has recently gone to code enforcement and they were cited for that the board believe gave them time to seek compliance and possibly seek an amendment to the code to either allow the screening or to allow those Planters to be reinstalled in order to create that screening between the two properties but currently no that is not permitted under allo so since you're here I have a few more questions sure we I know it was either a resolution or discussion that we should have a clear walk space down the center of coral de Plaza not just for pedestrians for also Ada accessibility for folks to be able to get through the plaza and walk um are those screens assuming that they were approved impeding that type of movement I'm not an an expert in that but from my understanding and what I've seen of those screenings they're built into the umbrella so I don't believe that they increase the encroachment so I don't think accessibility is an issue but I'd have to defer to to staff and experts on you know Ada Mobility through the if that would caus an issue no it has to be at least a 36 in wide um unobstructed path and and through restaurant spaces you have to have rooms between the tables in order to be able to be move a wheelchair you know including the depth you bring the chairs back and plus you have have room for servers Etc but the main thoroughfare is a is has to be left open for for life safety issues be able to get someone in and out of there um so you can't have that impeded so that's one issue that I know needed to be looked at with the screens asides from Aesthetics which I'll get to in a moment um has there been any exploration by staff with regard to alternatives on how the TV screens can be mounted to where they don't cause that glare that the believe it's a tal Vera restaurant is has brought up as an issue I'd have to defer to staff I don't have the answer to that question not sure if anyone's looking as far as how to the you mean the actual images and the the light coming from the glass not necessarily just the glare of the the window but also just the amount of light coming from the TV screens yeah and I mean if I face the screen directly at you it's brighter than if I tilt your view of it light goes that direction I'm not sure whether or not that's an issue my husband and I have discussions about that every night when he leaves the TV on flashing and it dri drives my eyes crazy because it's a strain um on my eyes when I'm trying to you know work on certain things and he plays it regardless of whether or not he's actually watching it or not so but that's a personal issue um the other issue um you know hasn't looked into that that's something that I would like to have looked at to see if there's a balance and I know staff has arranged for a meeting to occur on March 20th in order to be able to have all the stakeholders Express desires and so forth but I'm also concerned about Aesthetics because I can't imagine a project such as umbrella Sky ever coming there again and the great magnet that it served was with these screens up you know the partition between the various uh restaurants is just not going to be aesthetically pleasing so being a practicing lawyer for 37 years and having mediated you know hundreds of cases I know that if you bring parties together around a table most of the time we're going to be able to come out with a resolution between folks to resolve issue so um that would be my position that we need to get folks around the table um I believe the last date I heard was March the 20th that's not far from now and see if we can have a meeting of the minds that keeps everybody happy provides Ada accessibility allows for wonderful art projects to come to that Plaza and attract even more business for our folks in our community not only the restaurants on that street but also the rest the hotels nearby cuz I mean braw of sky was a big hit the moon was a big hit and we have great opportunities here that if we don't deal with them carefully are going to be a detraction in that Plaza rather than a positive impact so um is there any other information you can provide us with regard to the process and what was done um on this on this item I can only speak to the code enforcement aspects of it so both properties were cited at different times for different issues and they're going through the process to either bring them into compliance with the code or at the end of the day they'd have to remove the screens both the visible ones and the TVs okay well thank you any other further questions for staff does anybody know how long the TVs have been there for I I don't you know four years and and in the four years this is the first time the brightness is bothering the restaurant I'd have to defer to the property owner he he can't speak to that I guess for I don't I hate to interrupt that why don't we have why don't we have discussion after but let's ask questions to staff and then we'll finish with staff and then we'll make a motion to have discussion amongst the commission and we ask any other questions that you need you have any questions for staff Madam commissioner I do mayor just real quick commissioner So based on the comments the glare the issue is When the Sun Goes Down primarily at nighttime that's my understanding the glare go ahead I'm sorry through the mayor uh the glare is mostly at night yes okay and based on Sports you know they have a netting I think Coral Gable senior high school has a netting when when there's baseball and I don't think the netting has if there is a mesh or something doesn't have to be permanent it can go up at night and be put away during the day so in my opinion I mean there's Solutions we just had Snapper Creek here and we found a solution I think this is an opportunity again as a commission to find a solution so I'm hoping we can find something that you're satisfied the other property owner satisfied and hiala can Plaza can continue to be a place that everybody wants to go to very good just two things I think that the the what we have right now is not permanent it can be taken up and down and the second is that we're doing it not because we want to put the screens is because we need the screens and that need comes from an element that was not there before that came and disrupted our business so we should not be uh concerned that this will apply for the rest of the businesses because the last thing you want is to block the view from the public because that creates potential for sales so the rest of the restaurants are not going to have the need to have the screens so because they it's much better to have it open and show it do you prefer the plants or the Planters or a screen which of the two would you prefer either one either way either one works but if we put the Planters then we that applies to the rest of the street you know the Planters will have to go back to Street which I don't mind at all but the screens I think only apply to us because we have a need of blocking something that disrupts the experience of Our Guest okay thank thank you very much thank you very much commissioner you have anything do you have anything else that you'd like to add commissioner mandes no no I'm good thank you commissioner Fernandez just as a point of order Mr Mayor when somebody sponsors an item under Robert rules they're the first to speak Madam City attorney so mayor and uh or commissioner in our code um once there's an item is called you know the presentation is made by staff correct but I'm not talking about staff came up but the mayor went to the vice mayor first should have been commissioner Castro who spoke first um I I do think the vice mayor has to be recognized and so I don't know that the commissioner has to be recognized so you know we can I think we need to have a serious training on Robert's Rules uh I have recommended to you an individual who trains Miami Lakes every year uh on the process of Robert's Rules so that everybody understands how Robert's Rules work because applying Robert's Rules only when it's convenient is just not the right way to do things as far as the item at hand um Mr D I I received your email I don't know if you received my email back I want to go on site and see exactly uh what you you have there I've seen the uh the the the the partitions that you've placed there but I agree with you I think what you had there with the trees before was something that was more natural and it presented a better option for for the area um to the vice mayor's question about accessibility I don't think like like uh um assistant City attorney Sao said it's not impacting because the the it's where the natural barrier already was and people always had to walk around uh in order to get through so that that's not impacting in fact more people probably walk on uh the sports bar side than on the taliva side um so I don't think that that's an issue um this issue has been kicked down the road now for a couple of months and I think it's time that we bring it home and deliver I think we need to work with Mr dzo and with the neighbors and with other businesses on the street who may have similar issues that are affecting them uh in order to have somewhat of a designated space we see it on Lincoln Road all the time you know restaurants have a different uh theme a different design and things that only apply to them and I think we've talked about it many times on this day is we want to make sure geralda is successful if we want to make sure geralda is successful every individual business on geralda has to be successful in the type of theme that they are um so those are just my comments I appreciate you coming out I appreciate you coming out and staff for the work you've put in through through the mayor I know that there are some concerns with the Planters and as far as when it comes to like hurricane season and and um and weather right weather conditions so what I was thinking if the commission agrees um on this if we do like a uh a c Like An approved category of certain planters that would be safe for for that section for that District that are not going to fly away so basically if you do want a plantern then these are the approved ones that are safe for that type of setting yeah I think it's also the material I think there was some rusting of the pavers maybe having some kind of plastic um as far as the p as far the planter might work as well and I guess that could be part of like the permitting um approval so my understanding is that part of the decision to get away from Planters both on Miracle Mile and Geraldo was specifically the damage being done to the uh Services okay so let's figure out a way that those Planters aren't going to affect this the the the floor understood and then let's with the support of the commission move forward with that mayor M vice mayor a few last last comments I did have the opportunity to meet with the owner of the U the bar okay and I saw some of the footage from the surveillance cameras and you know the I'm going to call them the curtains were going up day night automatically whether they had customer theirs or not or whether or not the TVs were on or not and aesthetically it wasn't pleasing planners also present a problem as well and we've had this issue you know long um Mir mile where planners were used to create like an exclusive area um it's an impediment to accessibility uh we do have somebody in the audience that um has had accessibility issues you know when you have to deal with it and in planters themselves you know it's not a self-contained item if you have dirt you have a PL potted plant in there you're also going to have some drainage from that you're going to have some dirt from that and I know there's some maintenance things that can be can be done but when I met with the owner of the 77 bar he was very willing to meet with the other business owners um and in order to avoid um having friction between our business owners there I think it would be beneficial for us to thoughtfully have a meeting with business owners to try to resolve these differences of opinion and have a cohesive environment on Geral praza rather than something that is in Conflict all the time March 20th is not that far off I think we will come out with a better solution and a better result if we don't try to um do something without hearing from all the stakeholders on grala Plaza and what they would like to see these are the two leading businesses that are right on Pon own uh that lead into the view of the entire Plaza what you do with these two businesses will impact the the uh the I would say the welcoming view for individuals that want to look at the rest of the plaza let's get people around a table let's see if we can sort these things out together and not rush to do something that we will regret later on let's get their input let's hear their input and then make a decision thank you vice mayor are there any further comments from the commission Mr Mayor before I'm sorry before you move on okay I did have one additional member of the public who signed up to speak after the fact perfect uh Mr Fernando jannis good morning uh thank you very much Commissioners about this issue that has been rolling out for months as far as I know I've been working here for seven years um very hard as my business my family business owner um we put all our savings in city of Kos the one I've been living for almost 20 years and I truly believe is a is a city that we can do something for it um when we put this um TVs back in 2018 we start going there with a permitting and everything um back in the days he shouldn't ER with all the issues that Jal has as a renew pedestrian area has a lot of regulations that doesn't apply anymore for that and this is type of Regulation that we've been dealing to back in the days I was the first one to apply for a permit for the seating the first one in the Hall Street the first one there and they make me change seats change tables because the bers and everything and and we are willing always to work we have to bring tables and chairs from Las Vegas has because there was the ones that helped to to take care of that so we did we spend more than we were supposed to just to comply with all the situations so that's my whole life I run all the permits and the whole construction all my business myself okay I went and sit with every of the inspectors every of the city boards everybody know me because I was there every day at 88 or 9 in the morning so I've been hard workking for this after a few years uh we comply with the planter we comply with everything uh there a lot of misunderstandings and issues with permits here for geralda many many uh I came to apply for the a seing that I believe was very highend by m they told me yes you can put it after I got cited no you cannot put it when I came back the architect it wasn't there anymore so nobody can put a word on me for that so I have to take it out I take it out no problem after spend uh $15,000 I take it out no problem I have in my house right now so now with the Le TVs is something that affecting directly my business completely as a sports bar as the only sports bar in the city the only one that identify as a Sports World we have been bring people from all over the world artists football players everything for the enjoyment of the community as many of you know we put in there the city corago geralda on the spot through our channels we are in SPN we've been broadcast for all over with the sports teams restaurant that we have there so we came here we appli for the L TVs as the obus man uh CIO told her hey you have to apply they're going to deny you and then you go a motion to try to change this because this regulation is no working it doesn't apply anymore to this to the to Jala Plaza we follow that instructions after we put the regulations we came here with my landlord and say he tell me hey let's go to the mayor he going to sponsor he sponsor it you all of you approving the first reading went back to Sony Sony gave their recommendations and now they got stuck and now there's a big mess for that and everybody start pull streams and all the situation I don't want to mention about it and now my business is affecting with all this situation my landlord now put me in a spot then if you don't get approv that you're going to have to get out from there so now we're in that point so all the situation all the problems that created around that's is affecting me directly my income my family because of this so as the people mention is because my TVs I total understanding if they don't want people stay in their place and watching my TVs totally understanding but don't say that they put there for me because as you got proof right there you got the videos 11: in the morning on Mondays I don't open Mondays for the last four years the screens are up so it's not for my business don't blame on my business it's your Des and your needs totally understanding respect for that uh I truly believe they has been long enough working back and forward with this and and I really appreciate if you guys can watch the video can ask yourself we're going to continue with this fight because now we're going to put involve more people more businesses that maybe are in favor or maybe are not but whatever it is is affecting myself my business and they are making their money too nobody blame with that it's many issues here I don't want to brought out but this point of view this is January 29th 11: in the morning and close February 5th 11: in the morning and close the screens go down so this is not part of my TV situations February 12th and I have at least six uh 3 months of that so they can blame on my TVs that happens because if this for this for the viewer and everything well you got a team I got a team another people got a team everybody have a different teams and that's why the people come here to geralda they come in the to get lunch they come at night to watch a sport they come on the weekends to watch a sport with the family and this is part of the jalda diversity inclusive that they mention this is this is where you have to do it and I really believe this is more than enough proof then we need to get done with this that would be all thank you very much quick question through the mayor quick question what were the problems why why is there so many problems or what is causing the problems well um what's the hiccup here um as you as you know we got before a beautiful sofas right there then everybody love it we have to take it out now there's a different layout I'm working on that and people love to be outdoors love to H sitting outside under the stars and watch any sport they want we're try to commit to don't put any other kind of sports than is uh aggressive or anything it's just basketball football baseball whatever they want to it's going to be their golf tenis you mentioning so my issues is directly to my people cannot be there in peace outside of my dining area just because now the people want to take it out the TV yeah so mainly my question here was this this um ordinance was sponsored by the mayor and now it's sponsored by me let's let's give the viewer a better understanding of why that that is well um I don't know what Happ that I don't know why that happened okay I don't know why uh I understand after that we get a very heated situation and by heated you mean what uh very arguing very very complicated between who uh between the mayor my landlord and me so all that situation there is kind of political and I don't want to be in that uh I just want to be sure that my business is working as it should be if nothing changed down where we're proposed to now nothing has been changed so that's why I don't understand why they keeping trying to pull more people and and asking for delay this situation when has been very three months working on that MH so so it was approved by all of us on the first ordinance then it was approved by planning and zoning and then it's coming back now but the mayor didn't want to bring it back he was originally the sponsor so I decided to bring it back because actually he sent me a message saying that if I didn't have enough and I'm not going to say the word I would bring back the legislation so here I am you know why because I was elected to represent the own the the the small businesses and the residents of this community and I am here to give the little people and the people that don't have a voice a voice okay so I am going to be here representing you and I think this is the most the this shouldn't be political this is your life this is your business appreci and you shouldn't feel threatened I just I let me let me gu something clear here this is not a strong mayor government okay all of us here have the same value and the same vote okay so the mayor cannot bully or threaten any business owner and if any business owner finds himself in that situation come see me um I really appreciate it thank you Fernando another yes the mic please in all du respect uh the comment that he is referring to where we have the the shades or the screens during the day and he is taking that information to uh kind of make you or convince you that uh the issue is not are not the TVs that the issue is that I want to put those screens for my personal uh benefit of my business I just want to make sure that that is not the case the reason why sometimes during the day the the screens are there is because they leave them up if you want them me to take them down and have them only up at night I can do that no problem I'll give the order right now and that's what it's going to be okay but please don't uh I just want to make sure that that is clear thank you very much thank you very much another thing um vice mayor Anderson was suggesting that we wait until we talk to the business owners to see how they feel since I was sponsoring this ordinance I thought it was my responsibility to talk to the business owners right to firsthand see how they feel and if they would be affected by this ordinance so on Friday I went to Geral and I stopped by every re at every store every restaurant and I spoke either to managers or to owners in fact I even spoke to I'm sorry your last name duraso okay um from all the ones that I spoke to and I spoke to um Rino candan clutch kalista the sand Taco Sweet green stem craft and the sushi place pastro Vita which just opened by the way and all of them all of them are in support of your TVs if that was not the case I would not be here supporting you because it's not only about your business but it's about all the businesses together okay he was the only one that obviously he's right in front of you that had some concerns but um your I think we should handle separately from what we're we're dealing with you and talking to the owner something did come come up and now this is a little out of subject but I want to um bring it up and Nicholas CA is doing a little market there they're actually very happy but some did share a concern that um maybe screening and this is for belus if she's here no maybe yeah right there maybe screening the vendors because I know that there was a vendor there that's selling knockoff purses and that is completely unacceptable not only on dra it in fact it's illegal yeah thank you belis Perez economic development director we were made aware of that um the vendor is not a City of Coral Gables run event it is as you said by a a third party special events did go through the permit process we do get a list of vendors but it's only when we're there that we see it we did reach out already to Nicholas C who was putting on the market and told him he cannot have that and we've also corroborated that with our um with our um merchants on the street to make sure that they knew and then that what was going on so um that's been taken care of thank you so much belus and any if I may any further comments not for now yes sir go ahead sorry uh I think that on the walk through that you did with the owners I think there was a survey done formal survey I'll be covering that right now so I think that should be quite I'll be I'll be covering that right now thank you sir is there any other questions for staff before we go into the we have actually for the City attorney I'll go back to what I said we've been very effective in finding solutions to issues this isn't rocket scienti this isn't rocket science it's very simple we can come come to a solution my concern is based on what I'm hearing today and other comments that have been made over time I don't want the public watching this to get the impression that we're doing things the way other cities in South Florida do uh other cities that have been accused of targeting residents targeting businesses uh we don't do that in Coral Gables so I hope we can rise above whatever differences we have here and my question for the City attorney God forbid we ever get into that situation where we're accused of targeting what are the ramifications to the city in terms of targeting a resident targeting a business owner commissioner that would that would wholly depend on the circumstances of any particular situation I think what you're you're getting at is if we were sued or challenged in a lawsuit um again it would depend on you know the particular facts of the of of that scenario I think we can and you know targeting I don't know exactly what you meant by targeting so that's that would have to be fleshed out with the facts of whatever challenge was brought I hope we can find a path forward where differences are set aside we find a solution it's a win-win for everybody including our community obviously number one those my thoughts Madam vice mayor do you have a question for staff um has has the staff looked at some Alternatives as to whether or not the screens can be positioned in such a way that the glare is not flashing over to the restaurant across the way such as tilting in One Direction or another so that it doesn't become a flash point on the eyes has that been looked at at all we have not but we can look into that okay how long would it take you to look into that I think ideally should look at that before we meet with the with the the business owners okay and for the owner of the the bar is that something you're willing to consider tilting the screens just a little bit so that they're not directly hitting the eyes it's a it's a a challenging technical situation because we just have thousand feet inside no I I understand I have that same situation with my TV in my house my house is not Taj Mahal you know I just if I tilt that screen just a little bit it makes a a huge difference and we're talking about an inch or two you know just doing a a tilt on that I'm trying to do something here that satisfies the needs of both businesses without having Planters and so forth obstructing from the Beauty and the openness of the r PR so that we can all enjoy it so it's welcome not only to your business but everybody's business there because you are the gateway to the rest of the businesses there and the last thing we want to have is you know screens and Planters obstructing The View you want it welcoming and open okay so if you're willing to do that I think we can reach a happy medium for all the businesses as always has been I always trying to help and follow the instruction that has been done for me always so I appreciate the time you spent with me on Friday we we were hit here I think we left at 7:30 at night yes so thank you for the time you spent I got to understand much more greatly the issues that that you're facing any further questions first stop um yeah this is the first I hear of this March 20th meeting who scheduled the March 20th meeting the meeting hasn't been uh the date hasn't been confirmed because there's a slight issue with um everyone's availability so it hasn't been um finalized yet that is the proposed date that we're looking at once the date is confirmed we'll Sunshine it and put it on all of your calendars now at whose request was that meeting scheduled I'm not sure valky had to step out real quick but she'll be back in I'll give you further information on that now when I present you with a memo with detail but I I need an answer to that question because as far as I know this commission never requested that meeting Mr Mayor um if I may commissioner um there was a meeting that with the with the mayor and attended by the business owner and the property owner and the manager's office and that meeting part of part of the takeaway from that meeting was that there would be a meeting scheduled with the business owners and the property owners on Geral so staff resources are being used at the request of the mayor alone the mayor can request that a meeting be scheduled um that the mayor can certainly request a meeting be scheduled I think staff and um also had an interest in hearing from all of the property owners and residents and the rest of us were noted I I believe that they were all going to be informed I don't know what the men you know this is being scheduled by economic development and through the manager's office so I don't know what the the plan was I believe everyone would be included no this is a continued issue that we're having with staff where meetings are being scheduled without taking into consideration the commission's schedule only the mayor's schedule and we're we're the last to find out what's going on may may I I'm I would like I mean again I know I have to reserve myself for after we have the actual motion but I would like for Bel to respond used the one coordinating the meeting I have I have all I have a detailed response that took me two weeks to put together and I'll be providing it for you now so um there was an additional initial date that was set up so we did a survey of our of our community of our businesses and we asked what date is beneficial so there was two specific times and days of the week that that the businesses were available and so um March 5th and March 20th have been set aside and I believe it's in all of your count calendars y this is the first I hear this I will double check but all of you were supposed to it was supposed to be put on all your calendars the way I found out was by Mr Fernandez so March 20th is not on your calendars no no I if I put it on my calendar was because I found out by him it was March 5th and then it was changed to March 20th and it wasn't by the city that I got this information it was by the business owner Mr Mayor can I just clarify one point um for for commissioner Fernandez each of you individually can request a meeting and that can be scheduled if it's so at the time the mayor was the sponsor of this legislation he had the meeting with the business owner and the property owner and he requested that a meeting be scheduled so each of you can request that if if that's something that you know you ever have an issue that you're working on and you'd like this you know staff to assist with scheduling a meeting that's something that you can certainly request our former manager made it clear that I could not I had to get it up here and and a vote from the commission so I guess that was more of his politics mayor may may I suggestion if you have your city phone with you right now look to see if you have a hold on your calendar for this meeting I do not have you looked I have looked I just checked my calendar before I got here so unless it was added now as I'm sitting here and I'm saying that it's not on my calendar wasn't on my calendar this morning because I went through my calendar check this morning then I'd ask for in fact we don't even have the um Don sesk was here speaking about the uh meeting for uh the charter Review Committee I had asked that that be added to our calendars it's still not in our calendars and that was scheduled five four or five weeks ago commissioner if I may vice mayor if I may just want to apply the rules if we could have a mo if there's no other further questions for staff CH sir will you mind will you mind taking a seat thank you very much I appreciate you being here um if there's no other questions for staff we I entertain a motion and a second and then we'll move into to discussion amongst the commission and debate any other questions from staff uh will will will the sponsor of uh this item move the item I'll move it I'll second okay Mr clerk all right would anybody like to start the discussion sure goad okay um Mr clerk I cenal document and it was if you could please present that document if cable TV share my zoom on there you go that's perfectly fine that is a letter that U Mr Fernandez went and spoke to the business owners and he had it signed regarding the TVs if they had any inconvenience and this was at the beginning this is a letter I believe that the City Attorney Peter Iglesias the the city manager back then and um and I believe our mayor also saw and this was right there they're all signed I may I did get a copy of that by email oh beautiful beautiful um after this I wanted to get some confirmation myself and I as I said before I went on Friday and everybody in fact in fact let me put on the record some of the comments of the places I want to go see so that we could understand a little better okay um okayo spoke to manager Claudia she doesn't care if they even have five TVs when people go watch things there they drink and they go eat in their restaurant so they're greatly in support of the TVs candle land um she doesn't have any reservations and okay Janelle Bader from coo Taco everything anything that brings more clientele they are happy with so they're in support of the TVs and basically that was the that was like the basic common they feel most of the the store the the restaurants and stores there feel that you bring more clients and when there's events and people don't eat in your restaurant they seem to drink more the rest of the staff the rest of the restaurants are getting more clients and I know this is something that we've been dealing with trying to bring more people in and thank you very much Fernando for being part of that solution anyone else on the commission would like to make a statement no comments Madam vice mayor you know I'm in favor of the TVs but as most things and someone taught me a long time ago the devil's in the details so we have a business owner here that's willing to sit down and talk about some of those details and how we can reach a resolution that keeps both business owner happy so we don't have screens in the middle that obstruct the view for everybody I think there is you know measures that we can take that will be beneficial for both businesses and all businesses and get more foot traffic in there so as written I I can't support this but if we tweak this a little bit to resolve these differences of opinion um I believe that uh we're going to be in a better place so um and commissioner Fernandez you know all of us were reached out to with regard to the um scheduling you know and I asked specifically to put a hold on my calendar you know and when I look at the invite list you know commissioner Castro is also on there so I mean I you know I understand that there's some issue with scheduling but to blame someone that else other than the scheduling person themselves um you do need to look at these things and ask that to be placed on your calendar sometimes if you're interested in participating I don't participate in every single thing because I don't have time to possibly participate in every single thing I I participate in the ones that I think are the the most important I can't make it to every ribbon cutting it's impossible so um so yes I'm favor of the TVs however we need to have a meeting in order to determine if we need to tweak the ordinance to tilt the screens or put other measures on there that will keep everybody happy and benefit all the businesses on G Plaza commissioner mandez I have no comment commissioner Fernandez um I want to thank both of you again for being here and Mr dzo I thank you for also trying to find a solution that works for your business and does not not impact the business across I think that's what we need to see more of people who are willing to find solutions that will will take care of the issue for them and I think the next step has to be finding a way to codify something that solidifies the solution that you have um what I would also like to do I'm going to be meeting with you maybe the three of us can meet at some point on site and just talk through some of the of the issues and and maybe just work through any other issues that that may be taking place so that we can find ath PA forward the other thing I would say is this March 20th meeting I think should not be specific to a TV issue but should be related to all issues affecting geralda um commissioner Castro has brought up the issue of business on geralda uh many times I've been approached by many of the business owners about trying to generate more uh traffic I know we're uh cutting the ribbon for the uh new art uh piece I think it's March 22nd um so that should start bringing some people back I saw the final rendering it looks like it's going to be a great piece to to add to to geralda for for those two months um but we have a very dedicated group of business owners on geralda that are all looking forward to making each other successful because they understand each other's success means their success as well and vice mayor you mentioned this is the focal point that attracts people to geralda I've seen many people walking by they see the TVs and they're attracted to walk to geralda and to to see what's going on there I've mentioned it before I'm somebody who I'm a sports fan and I love to sit have dinner and watch a sports uh match that's something that I do and in the past I have been at your establishment to peek through to see the TVs at his so you know I'm I'm one of those anomalies that is attracted to yours because of of his so I'm in favor of this I think that this is a first step towards improving what has kind of been left left out there for business owners to fend for themselves next issue we need to tackle is yours and March 20th what I would like to see is a meeting that addresses all issues affecting res uh business owners uh on geralo anything else I have no objection to a meeting on all issues go ahead sir I think that a lot of the people in geralda are not in front of the TVs so so I appreciate going out and asking everybody but nobody is in the same position that I am I'm me very respectful of Fernando's business and that's why I have never ever went to his business and asked him to do anything because I know he has a formula he has his TVs he has to you know make it work and I respect that however the way I responded was respecting his needs I never did anything against him and find a solution that doesn't affect anybody and at the same time protects my business so in the process just have that in mind that you're affecting a business that has been there 15 years if you change the experience of my guest I'll be going out of business thank you thank you thank you very much um please pass a please keep a memo and pass it along I don't Mr manager I apologize I owe you one if not I wouldn't have one before me so Mr Clerk and I apologize I've never handed a memo on that I can remember in a long time on the commission floor I just been working on this for some time Mr clerk I want to answer a few things first that were that were stated that were stated here on the record uh number one the issue of Robert's Rules I welcome uh refinement of Robert's Rules sitting down having a conversation uh you know bringing somebody in I think it would be great we could only get better in the process uh I spent uh how many meetings did we have I think at least two meetings this week to address Robert's Rules and the process to make sure that we we ran through it as seamlessly as possible here uh number two in regards to the Planters and the trees and that discussion this has been going on since the moment hi was constructed uh along with along with uh Miracle M the issues are very clear it's a maintenance issue it's the fact that I am 100% in opposition of Planters and screens and all that kind of stuff because it just puts people in silos and it doesn't allow the free flow and the beauty of why we spent over $20 million in h to Showcase itself to me having everybody confined in their own little space in a box and owning that box to me is not the intent and I think it becomes it just takes away from the beauty of of U of these two spaces I think it also becomes an a Ada issue as mentioned um by by the vice mayor in regards to the sponsorship of this item this is the first time in the city's history that that I'm aware of that I'm aware of that an item was sponsored by an elected official and I tried to find through the through the clerk and through the city attorney that an item was sponsored by an elected official and in between first and second reading it was taken away we don't have in the charter the same Provisions that the county has which requires respect amongst Commissioners on that front you can just go and take somebody else I've never seen it done before this is the first time it happens but this this this piece of legislation and and I will ask the City attorney uh to basically provide more guidance is less than 6 months old we've been working on this we we have legislation here that took years and years and years to come to fruition because it was ever evolving you know these things evolve certain things that you present today and that you review today maybe you don't want to actually enact into legislation in the future because just doesn't make sense or it doesn't work out the way you think it was going to work out that happens all the time so to say that a piece of legislation takes time it's normal um but I welcome I welcome the conversation so let's let's go over this memo I think it's important to memorialize this because there's been a lot of things that have been said that are inaccurate and that they're not correct and I want to put them on the record and I don't blame anybody I just think again people maybe are confused on the issue I don't think there's uh any malice or intent uh to get to to do something so Mr clerk if you could so and by the way I'm going to make this part of the public record so that everybody can have a copy of it recently there's been a slew of misinformation disseminated by paid online blogs the purpose of this memo is to debunk inaccuracies published by these blogs the downtown business Community stands at a pivotal stands at a pivotal component of the city's overall health and vitality I apologize I don't want to wear glasses but it's time I start wearing glasses that's true I I'm actually waiting to go pick them up over recent years I have made a concerted concerted efforts that have been channeled into into legislation and initiatives aimed at invigorating our downtown area and I'd like to give you a few these initiatives include downtown cleanup events the upkeep of storefronts window wrap ordinances to maintain our City's aesthetic integrity and uniformity outdoor dining and legislation which is very key for hiala and for Miracle Mile the hiring of additional police officers to ensure safer downtown and the renovation of Miracle Mile hiala that happened when I was recently elected during my tenure these efforts underscore my commitment to creating a vibrant attractive downtown that benefits both businesses and the community at large I want to stop there my colleagues on this commission maybe outside of commissioner Mendez and the vice mayor they don't remember the way that Miracle M was commissioner Mendez they don't remember having 30% vacancies they don't remember having empty storefronts on har they did as as patrons as residents they did but not in regards to an elected capacity that doesn't exist anymore we have invested money and we have invested time so however maintaining this vibrancy requires more than just promoting businesses it is also necessitates addressing complaints and violations in a fair and constructive manner a case in point involves a location at 180 hiala known as 77 sports bar has experienced a series of code violations since 2022 ranging from unauthorized projection screens to TVs and windows and I will show you now the pictures these these issues have not only drawn complt from residents but also from fellow Merchants highlighting the need for a balanced approach to maintaining both business interest and Community standards similarity similarly excuse me concerns have been raised regarding the property at 2299 ponon also known as talaa such as instances remind us of the importance of engaging all stakehold holders in dialogue and problem solving efforts it is crucial to act in a fair manner thoroughly Gathering all relevant data and direct directly communicating with the businesses involved moving on to the next page I understand that it is important to strike a balance and seek solutions that accommodate the needs and concerns of all parties involved I still continue to stand and support of having outdoor TVs in businesses that has not changed but my ideas have evolved with regards to 77 sports bar on hiala the landlord came to meet with me on various occasions during my Open Door office hours and explain the issues that they were experiencing relating to Code Enforcement issue citations for outdoor television on Windows as a good faith effort I asked our city Administration to pause the running fines this property was occurring while the matter was being investigated and we refined our legislation I sat down with the building owners I sat down with the tenant I sat down with staff and I said listen I don't know what's going on here they've had these TVs for some time now they just got fined I thought that they were legal let's sit down and find some sort of common ground to see if we can either legalize this and have it go through the process we stop Their fines this is not heavy-handed this is not threatening this is not pushing somebody to do something we stopped Their fines over six months ago notably our approach to addressing these concerns has been both direct and inclusive for instance on Saturday October 14th 2023 economic development director belis Paris engaged in person with Mr duraso at talaa regarding the placement of screens in his Sidewalk Cafe area this was followed by a meeting between Mr duraso and myself remember on Friday October 20th 23 that's on my calendar additionally from December 21st 2023 to January 8th 2024 The Economic Development Department conducted a poll and this is where we get lost this is the this is the Crux of the matter this is why facts matter this is why statements like threats and statements like um going back on your word or the things that were said those are not the reasons why you look at a piece of legislation like I have done before in the past and I can point to my colleague on the left just recently did in one in regards to one of his pieces of legislation you got to take a step back reassess and say what do we do moving forward that legislation I'm talking about is shutters on existing homes we had a good debate on on the on the floor we talked about it the item will come back or it won't come back depending on what how that legislation evolves so as I mentioned let me find my spot I apologize economic development director engaged with Mr duraso and I met with him okay additionally from December December 2021 through 2023 through January 8 2024 The Economic Development Department conducted a poll among hiada Merchants to solicit their feedback on the Aesthetics of hi Plaza further demonstrating our commitment to inclusive decision making the result of the city Administration poll concluded that hi emergence were not in favor of allowing television to screens to face out towards the hiada plaza contrary to this poll the owner of 77 Sports bark disseminated their own poll as my colleague showed a few moments ago which presented conflicting data so why did we have a meeting the meeting that was mentioned before so recently on February 5th 2024 I called for a meeting the city manager the assistant city manager the assistant excuse me the City attorney the economic development director 7 77 sports bar owners Fernando jannis property owner Fernando narango and I met at the city manager's office to discuss the use of the TV screens by 77 sports bar we wanted to compare the two the two um documents that were provided one by the owners the polls one by the owners of 77 sports bar and one that was done by the city which I have attached this and we wanted to come to an understanding and a conclusion why do we have conflicting information why do we have conflicting information how do we move forward on second reading with a with a legislation that I have his document was about 80% in favor and our document Bel please correct me if I'm wrong I have it on another page here you'll see it now was around 85% against the TVs so how do you move forward knowing that you have 85% of an entire street that was explained by our staff by our staff and they say we don't want the TV and I have also spoken to people on on on H as as of latest as yesterday that I ran into one of the owners and I'm not going to mention the name because I don't because people are nervous about putting their names out there and they said look at the poll conducted by the city it's very clear where people stand presently staff has scheduled a meeting for March 20th with all stakeholders on hia to understand the concerns of the merchants and business owners from that area and work together to address any issues as we move forward and let me take a step let me just stop there when we were in that meeting with the gentleman who in standing in front of me everybody left that meeting happy we're going to have another meeting we're going to get to the bottom of it we're going to say he even told me please don't take away my TVs for Super Bowl and I said we would never do that to you that's the biggest day of the year we would never take that away from you and he was able to have his his TVs up for the Super Bowl so I said let's sit down with staff let's have a conversation let's sit down with the with the other business owners because we got to find out why we have competing polls as we move forward it is imperative that we continue to Foster an environment where businesses can Thrive while also respecting the standards and expectations of our community the upcoming meeting with Merchants represents a valuable opportunity to reinforce this commitment encouraging open dialogue and collaborative problem solving by doing so we not only address immediate concerns but also lay the groundwork for a prosperous vibrant downtown that benefits everyone not just one person in conclusion the Vitality of our downtown business Community is inextricably linked to how we handle complaints and violations by approaching these issues with fairness thoroughness and a spirit of cooperation we can ensure that our downtown remains a thriving Hub of activity and Community Pride let us continue to work together and embrace both challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the betterment of our city and all its inhabitants so now I'd like to continue moving forward with the presentation here we have very clearly is the list of the violations from 77 sports bar they're all right here every single one of them okay and then here you have the list from talaa everybody's included I will give you a copy of this this was taken from public record and it was done by given to me by staff and then you have both tala and you also have our friends at 77 sports bar okay let's move on to the next I would like for you to see this at night and see how it looks this is what was sent to me by a resident this is where I think commissioner manand this is correct and where we make where we make a possible finding of a solution maybe we don't allow the TVs at night maybe after a certain time they turn off and they that alleviates your concerns and also ensures that we don't have a wall which is not going to be shown in the next photo but to me seeing what hiala is that to me is not representative of what I want to see on hia imagine if all the businesses started doing that or started doing that with advertisement now I think it would be a nightmare it would look like New York and I don't think that that's what we want for our community and as you can see you can see the screen here I know it's a little difficult you can see the screen from tala and you'll see it in the next picture so you go to the next picture this was sent to me by a resident and that is where people are walking along with what commissioner Fernandez said on the other side of 77 sports bar but if that wasn't there you would have multiple different walkways which I think was the intent of H we want to make it something where air flows where people can walk freely where people are welcome not something that again they said Lincoln Road with all due respect to Mii Beach I don't want to see boxes I'm not about boxing I'm about seeing something great open that highlights the beauty of our city that to me when you throw in 77 sports bars uh umbrellas which are perfectly perfectly fine over along with the wall it just doesn't look good in my opinion and I think in the opinion of many moving on to the next item here are more pictures that you can see of the light along with the wall next photo and I think this is one here is even you know demonstrates even further how intrusive the light is for not only tala but to anybody who's walking by I'm 100% in favor of the TV you want to have the TVs on Saturday during the game you want to have it during the week watching soccer that's perfectly right we'll figure out a way turn them off at 5:00 we'll turn them off at 6:00 we'll turn them off at a certain time again this is nothing to do what I'm against the TVs this is about doing things the right way when you're presented with two competing polls and while I respect the gentleman from 77 sports bar he handed me a poll handwritten belis Paris works for the city and she handed me a professional poll that was done and was filled out by almost all if not every single one of the members of Hira next item here is an example of the poll that commissioner Castro put up and here's moving on to the next item here's an email that's talking with staff in regards to the brightness on on on requesting that we have the meeting and after the meeting excuse me this is after our meeting and I apologize because I can't see that close this is an email that talks about about the you know in response to after our meeting and it's gives you a synopsis of what we talked about and it talks about where do we go from here and what is the intent who was in the meeting what came out of the meeting what's our next step let's go to H let's get together with all stakeholders let's have a conversation if commissioner Fernandez wants to include a conversation about other issues that are concerning on I welcome it I have about 10 that I will add to that we should if we have everybody together in a room it should be open Forum but first let's at least address this issue so if you see there all the proper protocols were followed we're trying to memorialize and do everything in a way that addresses the concerns and finds a a path moving forward that builds community that doesn't Peg you against him or him against you cuz that's the conversation that we had remember in my office exct that conversation we had that I said I support but we need to find I didn't know that you were going through this and I literally that day was I think was the day you and I met was the day that I got that photo from a resident and I said look I just got this so I understand what you're going through and at the end of the day people don't want to sit outside because I've spoken to people they said I don't want to sit outside at tala but again that's his business model his business model is different than yours and by the way what you're doing is against the code and what you're doing is against the code bottom line even if nobody caught you for 4 years it's still against the code it doesn't matter so if I do something and I break the rules in my house and I build a structure that's illegal guess what you still got to take that structure down even if I built it and nobody caught me for four years Madam zoning director am I correct or am I wrong please put it on the record if you don't mind if I build an illegal structure and nobody catches me for 10 years and it's encroaching the set back my neighbor sat back what has to happen well you have either tried to permit it and Z but I want to I want to prove something on the record because it's been an argument that's been used multiple times that says no but it's been there for four years and no one has said anything it's still wrong correct still against the code right okay so I lost control of this legislation when my fellow colleague to my to my right decided to to to basically appropriate that legislation from me while I was still working on it I think the best thing is we move forward in a way that finds consensus doesn't use blogs doesn't disseminate information that's false I never had any intention to taking this gentleman's TVs away it's proven I told it to you very clearly Mr owner of tala and I have one last statement that I want to put on the record okay something that I was thinking about and some things that we drafted this morning in recent times our community has has been navigating through a sea of misinformation from online blogs the purpose of the memo was to clarify the misunderstandings and to reaffirm our dedication to transparency and accuracy in our Comm in our community especially in our Communications the challenge Faces by business such as 77 Sports par and talaa have underscored the necessity of engaging in a dialogue and finding balanced solutions that respect the diverse perspectives within our community our strategy has constantly been to include all stakeholders in these discussions striving for outcomes that uphold the values and expectations of our community it's undeniable it's documented in emails we've spent time with staff to make sure we get everybody has a voice the intent behind the memo and the ethos guiding our Administration is to highlight the critical need for scrutinizing the information we encounter just because you sent me a document says that everybody's in favor and I contact certain people on that list I'm not going to read their names out out of respect for them tell me I am not in favor of that but certain people were in favor of it you're correct and by the way almost everybody's in favor against against what you what you have there so I'm not siding with anybody but I know that you're reacting to this gentleman's thing and that's I respect that and I understand that but we can't just fight fire with fire at the end of the day we destroy the beautiful asset that we have misinformation can undermine the unity and progress of our community making it an imperative that we approach information with a critical eye as we look to the Future our aim is to sustain the vibrancy and safety of our downtown area ensuring it remains aligned with the aspirations and values of our community this endeavor calls for ongoing dialogue March 20th and if March 20 doesn't work for my colleagues we'll do it in April we'll do it in the end of March collaboration and a mutual commitment to transparency honesty and in addressing the issues we face what I'm asking my colleague the sponsor of the legislation on second reading cuz I sponsored it on first is coordinate with staff look at your schedules let's have one final meeting with h which is already in the books since the beginning the thought the processes I'm not bringing anything new let's have this conversation like commissioner Menendez says and let's find a solution for something that has become a problem that is unnecessary Thank you very much and I appreciate you listening to me thank you the mayor I just have one question for all of you including commission Castro so that we can try to try to reach at least an interm solution that will satisfy the needs of both businesses and in mediation you may I just say something and I'm sorry to interrupt you and I know the attorney going to get mad for me interrupt you she told me you can't interrupt anybody don't interrupt anybody but there is a solution there they can move on as they go they can stay as they go until we resolve the is issue I'm going to try to split the baby so to speak sorry for interrupt you I apolog she's going to she's going to reprimand me later the city attorneys and re me later no no no I mean no not you the City attorney sorry this is this is an effort to try to find a happy medium until we can meet and really flush out the issues and look for longer term solutions that keeps the intent of what we're trying to accomplish in mind without distracting on the overall Beauty my suggestion is you know and I and I would need input from you all is an interim because what we're talking about here is you know these glaring lights at at night okay and it's mainly a night issue correct me if I'm wrong if we can put to work if until we can have this meeting on March 20th or any other day because we have our next commissioning meeting right after that is April 12th use the TVs during the day and turn them off at night would that work is that an interim solution for this next it's less than a month we're talking I think it's less than a month a little over a month you have your March 20th meeting unless you all have time to do it earlier um let's flush out these issues let's see if we can do the best for all of our businesses in the interim and then after that meeting see if there's something that we can do with the TVs even at tonight that resolves this issue mayor um one of the points then has been busy in this conversation is talaa Clos at 10 p.m. M I'm stay over 12: and 2 a.m. right so the issues that they have if they have it for a couple hours is a is a situation that maybe you can address and point it out right there because it's not like he had been suffered the whole day because the lies and whatever they I appointed on that and another point I would like to leave on the record is and the pool where were conducted by uh the city came after I bring my pool handwriting by business owners or business managers uh as a ananymous Anonymous I never received it even so is it will about Waring and say 80 85% of that pool that is 12 people Anonymous say no until 14 people handwriting and bring it here is 100% they two then they have 16 people from the 26 and were asking in favor of this situation so I just want to leave on the record that too so it's clear we have two competing polls okay and I think when you get everybody around a table we can flush those things out so you're playing the TVs from 10 p.m. on yeah and and I believe this I hope you the majority of this have the the conscience to be really have a find a happy medium and work it out for both of us which is are the the ones on by your statement we are the one that welcoming uh everybody in jalda but not be shutting down and treating as I be shutting down for this situation okay it's really important yeah no no desire to shut you down of course you know I it's not your desire I don't know if you replay games that started a certain hour earlier because some of us don't always have time to go watch them at the time that they're playing uh I don't all the time and looking at the the games afterwards it's it's fun but I don't know if that works for both businesses if you shut down at time Jesus vice mayor if I may let's let's keep the debate amongst the commission and then let's make a decision I'm of the belief that we leave it the way it is and we have a conversation with the community because I I think we're not we haven't been able to find Middle Ground that's we're going to have to find the middle ground we're going to have to say listen this is the way it's going to be and the only way to do that is by just like I said speaking to all the businesses in an open form and by the way belies should come up here because and I I think it's important to respond to the gentleman uh in regards to the the the poll that was done I think it's important go ahead sir go ahead that's why I asked questions the kitchen at 10 at 10:00 yes the restaurant stays open until the customers are there okay the other is the the the poll should be with the business owners not with the managers managers are employees that be there today might not be there thank you sir belis will you please who did you use to who did you use to to uh the survey in regards to the poll that we did we have a database of geralda merchants that is how we communicate with them whether we have meetings with them which we have monthly meetings with them um anything we do we we communicate through that database and we sent it five times to everyone on that database and owners owners or business owners okay good and property and and managers also it wasn't it's it's not just one person for example I think Thea has the owner and a manager as well uh Fernando only himself but they received it five times this came up in the meeting we told you that it was part of another one that sometimes we group things together so we have information we had the poll uh information as well we had um a meeting that we set up with our draw the merchants and you you came that day to the draw the merch mer meeting so that it's it's under that same email so he says he didn't receive that email do you have proof that he received that email I don't have receipts I don't have uh email receipts but we do have emails that show that and how many people responded we had 12 two at the poll yes 12 okay and the outcome was 80 something it was 10 it was 10 uh for it and two against it and for it in sense of I'm sorry 10 against for it so 10 against the TVs two four yes so thank you very much so commissioner um so this is an ordinance first reading second reading second we're on second already um have the two of you had the opportunity away from government and away from elected officials to sit down have a be or tequila and try to find a solution amongst the two of you without the circus I strongly suggest that you try that because it's like planning a vacation for two people and you're trying to get everybody in the city to be involved to plan your vacation and I would love for the two of you just to sit away from all of us and see if you can work it out I am all for it I have not done it because you know I leave this decisions to the authority because it has to do with code enforcement and all those things so I mean I I see your demeanor see your demeanor but both gentlemen I think away from the cameras or the spotlight you two can probably come up with option A and option b correct and we don't interfere with the two of you and then that we get an answer and we move on commissioner if I may just to while I value the the the option this is a Code Enforcement issue this is an issue where the code needs to be changed MH or upheld correct again like I said in the beginning I'm not against the TVs but why are we we always we always say constantly let's get as much input from the community as possible we have dueling polls I'm of the belief that like commissioner fernandz said let's sit down with everybody and let's use this opportunity to have issues dealt with with alleys issues with cleanliness issues with lighting issues with whatever that may be parking you know concerns safety whatever the concerns may be you can flush those out in a meeting with all the merchants and the business owners I think that is the right way of doing things commissioner uh could we go to um the mayor's presentation to figure number two I know there's two figure number two so it would be the second one know what page that's on uh there's no page numbers I think one two three so it's one behind the graph or the the chart the Excel sheet next page no there can you zoom in on that a bit there the lights are off MH I think the biggest issue that we have in this area is not the brightness of the TVs but the lack of brightness from the lights when you have Lighting in the area if we were to turn off the lights in this room right now those TVs would be extremely bright but the fact that there's Lighting in this room we can all tolerate the lighting from these TVs I think that's part of the problem and it's a problem throughout geralda as a city we're not lighting geralda properly and I think that's our problem that's something we need to fix because we're relying on you and you as business owners to turn on your lights to light up the street for people to walk on and saely I think it's a safety issue and I think that's something that we're going to need to look into to make sure that it is properly lit Ada uh you know these are this is not a flat surface these are tiles uh or or bricks so I think lighting is the is the number one issue that picture is showing the lights on geralda off mhm so it's not accurate with but a lot of times they are off because I I know I've been there A lot of times and especially in this strip here there's less lighting yeah this strip here closer to you guys there's less lighting there's more Lighting on the other end of geralda that was the night there was an fpnl issue there was an fpnl issue and I used this photo I used this photo because it it it shows you the brightness the brightness there are other when you drive by when you drive by and I've walked it and you see the lights when they're on even with that that's the reason why you put up that wall because even when the lights are on the TV still bother you at right and that's what you told me your clients and that's what other individuals have said is the issue I'm I'm totally open to anything and I I'm also empathizing with my my neighbor the only thing I have to protect are my customers that they've been there for 15 years with a certain experience and that experience has has we changed that experience to not to the better but something they don't like so that's as long as I can protect my customers and maintain that experience I'm totally open but I wasn't done go ahead you interrupted um there's a tree stump there close to taliva I've tripped in that tree stump because of inadequate lighting right there if you look at where that person is standing there's a beam of light coming out of tala there's a tree stump right there that the tree has never been replaced I had asked the manager to look into it I don't know if he ever got got to that point but lighting is a problem on geralda at night uh and that's something that as a city we need to to look into because using this picture to show the amount of light knowing all too well that FPL had lighting issues at night is disingenuous because what you're trying to show is how bright the light is on the day that there's no light all over the place I mean come on commissioner if you may commissioner if you may just one second listen Mr Mr clerk yes Mr Mayor can you go there's other there another picture so just to test it well now they have that have the screen back up to the to the picture cuz now it shows a dark room again you can see the brightness there's no there's no there's no need we're trying we're trying to find a resolution here the idea of the idea of insulting somebody as i' all I've been is to try to be up front and put something everything together we could do a night meeting that would that would you can you can call it whatever you want at the end of the day trying to keep this as profession Prof as possible this is easy this the per the reason I was very clear I'm the one that said we use this picture but I wanted to show you how bright it was with everything this gentleman came to me again if you don't want to if you don't want to address the issues perfectly fine then let's just vote on the issue let's move forward but you came to me and said my clients do not want to sit outside due to the brightness don't take it from me take it I want you to tell them what you told me not me why did you say it why did you come to me and say Hey listen people do not want to sit outside because how bright it is is that the case when the lights are on outside does it still an issue when the lights on are on in hiala is it still an issue the gentleman's TVs yes of course okay so doesn't it's not an issue about being disingenuous or not I'm the one that told you about it was an fpnl was out for 15 minutes my point is you have concerns and 10 Merchants have concerns as per the poll if you want to move forward then let's you have a motion on the floor we can move forward you have a second if there's there's no other conversation that's it but then keep going I'm not done keep going Yeah you mentioned you mentioned a couple other things that I just wanted to touch upon you like to say that you know we're attacking you but you were the one that just a couple minutes ago said in your remarks that two of us up here don't even remember what it was like I was on the property Advisory board at the time that this was approved so I do know what it was like and I was part of the process of advising the commission on how to proceed with this the second item was that you have never seen in your time here somebody take a piece of legislation that's not correct either two meetings ago the vice mayor placed an item on the agenda on leaf blowers because I hadn't brought it back and she had a presentation done a second time so this is something that's happening the problem is you don't like it when it happens to you with all du respect two meetings ago outside in that chamber you said I needed to stop co-sponsoring the item that you have later in this agenda regarding whiteway lights because I was writing your coattails I'm sorry Mr Mayor I don't need your coattails I have my own now Mr commissioner Fernandez with all due respect this commission prior to you being elected had brought a leaf blower issue and that was merely an update on that leaf blower issue and to provide us additional input so we can make a decision whether to move forward I did not sponsor your legislation I did not move your legislation legislation one way or another that was a factual update as to what our city has done and input from other communities it's the same issue it's all about leaf blowers you can decide whether you want to bring it back I didn't put it on the agenda for a vote it was an update for our commission because we hadn't heard back from from staff who said they were going to come back to us on our City's progress going on to leaf blowers and information that would be valuable for us you in particular as the sponsor of the one that would apply to Residential Properties as to whether you wanted to move forward on it no attempt to appropriate your legislation it was the intent of the the commission prior to your election to go step one let our city change how it does its practices first just like we did with Roundup okay and we stopped using Roundup but we haven't taken the second step to prohibit it throughout our city because of other concerns that exist just like we've had with plastic B bags on preemption and things of that nature so I think you've mischaracterized a simple update into something that it's not so I won't answer to it all I'll ask is for the clerk to Ping back to the comments that the vice mayor said during that item when I asked when she said you hadn't brought it back that's why I did so that's all I'm GNA ask for the mayor if I may let me Madam Madam commissioner let me just respond to my friend um commissioner Fernandes I ask you I ask you to not please co-sponsor because at the end of the day what I'd like to do is for you to stand on your own two feet I'd like for you to be here after one year and pass your first piece of legislation I I've been this is something I've been working on for five years for five years and I just said let me handle it you know obviously we see we do not see eye to eye I want to be as respectful and professional as possible again this is the first time I I see an actual piece of legislation on second reading in almost 11 years from somebody who was working on a matter and we were proactively working on it cuz you know that we said we left that meeting saying we're going to have a meeting with all the hi owners correct did we not leave that meeeting saying we're going to have a meeting with all the hi owners and you were perfectly fine with it that's why you as to but you were fine with it Fernando was fine with it also it's nothing about fine or n that's your decision may but the issue is very simple you have two polls that are conf that are conflicting you have the city you have the city saying that 10 out of 12 oppose how do you say that you are residents first and then say I'm not I'm not going to listen to the business I'm going to go against the business and do something that benefits you but hurts this man I can't do that yes so but hold on one second excuse me so that's one thing so if you look at if you look at some of the items on the city commission today pile the vice mayor let's let's pick on the vice mayor the vice mayor has that was a joke pick like the peacocks I guess nobody like my joke it's okay just trying to I'm hungry um so let's pick on the vice mayor Pou I probably put that on the agenda four or five times out of frustration not legislation but discussion items to see how we can move the ball forward I don't get actually like the fact that she put it on it maybe we'll take some action maybe we'll push the county into doing something uh commissioner Castro has an item that deals with the issue of um of a gentleman a gentleman who's been in a tug of war here in the city for a long time I put that item on the agenda multiple times actually voted against the height on that project but it's great that we put it back on the item because it's good that we clarify issues that were stated there in regards to leans I have no concerns if somebody put something what I do have a what I do have an issue with is after working on something for years and years and years and years and bringing it to fruition and then having someone come in on the 11th hour and just attach their name to legislation in perpetuity that's my comment and with all due respect all due respect you know the issue of the fpnl was not an intent to mislead I'm the one that just put it on the record we had other pictures also that we can include and he says it when the lights are working I don't want to I don't want to put words in your mouth when the lights are working is it still bright yes okay so we have a business that's been there for 15 years if you're a business that's been there for a lot of years we need to work together let's build let's build consensus listen to commissioner Mendez you guys sit down have a coffee and then we come back and we have this meeting amongst all the we shouldn't be afraid to have a dialogue with all the businesses we can find out a lot about a lot of things maybe you turn off your TVs at 7:00 at night what does that hurt you you know you can watch you can watch it all day but at the end of the day you know you're not within the code you're outside the code you code and so did you in that point mayor I came here many times to ask for a permit and when I put those TVs on that was Mr Carlos mro he specifically told me hey you can do it this way until they change all the regulations it has been 7 years the same time then the Street opens and change the layout sir but I'm trying to explain to you and I've told this to you that's why I decided to embark on permitting this and now we heard from businesses in that street that said we are not happy with this don't do this we heard from residents who send pictures that's what I'm telling you I took the Baton to make you whole because but if I have businesses that are telling me that it's a problem I'm going to make you very happy but then I'm going to make him very unhappy it's just common sense it's just common sense so why are we why can't we have a conversation I'm trying to be as thoughtful as possible in the process we should want to do this commissioner please can you sit down for a second please we've I think we've had enough let's let's discuss a debate here amongst the commission respectful and and professional hope I I I would hope that you behave the same way outside of here I mean and here you don't you're not really respectful and professional except for when you decide to but outside you don't behave that way in fact um number one let's respect our residents and our business own owners the way they take data is the way they take data and you don't have to be condescending to them show a little respect and I think that's part of the civility code okay number two you're not taking into account that I also went to geralda and spoke to everyone myself as an elected official so if you're not giving that any value there's a problem there okay I'm not going to bring an ordinance without knowing that everybody is okay with it or at least the majority okay um the poll was after the altercation or before the altercation the one we did that's a question belus the poll the poll was before the altercation there was no altercation I'm sorry okay so then then then something's conflicting here because I'm hearing that you're threatening business owners I mean am I wrong I'm not threatening anybody I'm not threaten anybody Fernando all right okay well and the reason I am so passionate about this because this is completely unacceptable if you want to put a a Persona a different character up here and pretend that you are a certain way go for it I'm not really a politici I'm a normal person and I'm not going to take this from you okay you respect the business owners did you not feel threatened or did he not threaten your landlord yes okay how did he do so he say my landlord is statement when he call a he call the mayor to try to finish this and they're going to sh chug me down that he's going to shut the business down going to sue me for that and he's going to sue him for that so we're going to go ahead and put this whole character on like I'm so you know polite and respectful and professional no like break break the act right now okay number two can I respon no because I'm not done talking don't interrupt okay number two you didn't have any intent of bringing the legislation back okay you didn't so I did and the reason I know he has no intent of bringing the legislation back was because of the communication he had with the landlord and the business owner you don't bring legislation back telling them that you're going to bring their business down I'm sorry that's very conflicting okay and um and I did and when I bring and I I brought this legislation back because I did speak to the City attorney and she said I could okay and that's that's about it is there anything else you would like to say on the record of what happened um no right now okay if I may respond excuse me okay first off if you go back to my memo the memo is memorialized when I was going to bring this back it's very clear in an email from my staff stating who was there and what our next step is it's very clear you told me something on the phone and you said it very clearly when we spoke the reason this gu on the blog was because Melissa Castro and Ariel Fernandez called political Calito and they would put pressure on me by smearing my name you told me that that you didn't do anything but that the you did and Fernando told me the same thing on the phone that said and I asked you why would you run to a Blog and I tried to be a gentleman about it I said I can't have any part in this she's going to sponsor it then we'll discuss it but I think we should have a community meeting to discuss this you were very clear and you unequivocally said Melissa said I will call political and will put pressure on the mayor by basically destroying his reputation uh she didn't say that I would no no let me explain no no no don't rephrase my sit never never threaten you you know that let me response let me respond to you as we get out from that conversation then you statements were there I called Melissa KAS and say listen this is very concern to me this situation with with the mayor W of the charge okay there was people there was everybody was in the room and they not about it they are not about it was I off the charts in the meeting mayor tell me you're you're tell me I I I don't know what off the charts me I don't know what that means so I don't you know and did I threaten anybody so I don't believe there were any threats made I would you know there's been a lot that's been said here and a lot of um assertions so because I protect the best interest of the city I am not going to say that anyone has ever threatened a business here that I'm aware of um so I I don't you know I I I don't think it's appropriate to go into that and and C attorney let me ask you if he say talk to your friend Melissa kasan say she have coones to bring that this back she he say again I'm going to once [Laughter] again but apparently I have this is on the record this is on the record excuse me EXC never know excuse me sir sir sir the City attorney said I never threaten you you said that I threaten you in front of the city that's the ACM the city manager Bel you you call you talk to narango and threaten us I did not you did I did not what I said was very simple the same that you say that this is this is misinformation when we went there and you my statement was the same that happened that day you say call your friend Castro to see if she have H to bring this back sir oh no sir when I spoke that's nice it's on the record when I spoke to the business sir I don't have nothing else to talk to when I spoke to the own you are liar they all said you a liar they all said the same thing about you and they said that you are one of the biggest bullies on hi why are you attacking why are you attacking him to to slur me to slur me is is it's embarrassing to defend yourself you have to attack others you're you're the sponsor you are the sponsor and you can move forward sir did I treat you did I treat you with respect how did I treat you when you came to see me how was it tell me the first time I went to see you you were totally supportive of Fernando and I still am and I still have supported of you you responded really uh understanding his needs and I have not been there before so now you are listening to me and you were totally non-bias objective listening to both and encouraging us always to find common ground and a solution where we can all you know have I just want you to understand that's my experience I support you having the TVs that I continue to support it but now without having a dialogue amongst the amongst you st I do have one more question about the uh about process cuz we've been hearing about two different polls but one thing that caught my attention was when we were told that there are multiple people in businesses that are receiving the poll so did multiple people in businesses vote vote I sent the list to the exact same people that are on our list so there are multiple people yes there are and I did it anonymous because I didn't want anyone to feel that they were um that they were being called out so if there might be multiple from one I would assume that only one would have uh filled it out for the team um regardless there's conflict because right it just doesn't show up so I think that was the the reason why we wanted to have a meeting I mean doing polling for a living that's not a poll that you can trust because if you're sending out a poll where each business should technically have one vote and multiple people in the business can potentially be voting the vice mayor mentioned that we shouldn't take the word of a manager it should be the owner we don't know if it was the owners or the managers that took this poll because there are managers on on the list from what you said correct so I I don't see it commissioner Castro you say that you went to the businesses personally and they were supportive we have another document which was handwritten by the individuals at these businesses I agree with you I agree with you on the poll 100% on the I mean but I but I don't interrupt you so I can see it both I see both ways I just don't understand I don't understand if we have so much conflict in data and we have two parties that when we when we finally deliver here we're going to hurt one versus the other why not have more conversation we always you just said it you said it with with our friends on all color I want to have another community meeting I want to have another community meeting while we had massive amount of support from Snapper Creek residents but I want another community meeting why are we so afraid to have another community meeting amongst businesses I don't understand why this is a huge Revenue generator again I'm I'm I'm fine let's just vote on it I'm okay I'm perfectly fine with it I just we're ready to move forward you want to vote on it we vote on it it's okay move forward given the fact that I also when I spoke to every almost every business owner there and I got a very posit I got very positive feedback I am moving forward with this motion um I know commissioner Fernandez seconded it so please city clerk um just give me one second that's that's my job so is there any other further comment I just want to make sure the commission is okay we're good I just want to add that you know going forward when we have a discussion and um the flame is lit that we throw water not gasoline on it going forward because um it's not good for anybody not good for the folks in the audience not good for the folks watching not good for us let's try to bring the temperature down not try to escalate things and I think we can do better thank you sirce mayor anything else no I would I would second that comment and that's why you know I urged us to get folks in the room to be able to reach an applicable solution that resolves all issues I mean most of time the first thing you have to do when you do that is you you're going to have to make the past the past whatever words were said we got to forget that and just try to do the best for the businesses and that's why I said let's it's me maybe we can do an interim uh Solution that's why I ask you the questions that that I did as to whether or not the TVs could run during a day when it's not going to be flickering can we tilt the TVs is there a middle ground until we can have our meeting I'd love to meet you meet a middle ground but I I don't really don't know if I have a clear answer from you on that so we have a motion unless you have anything else You' like to add this is to the best interest of all the business owners according to their point of view and how they manage their business most of them just as a point of clarification this applies to all businesses on geralda correct so the ordinance applies on geralda Plaza you have to have an open air dining permit in order to be able to have the TV screens on your property got it and and I'm sorry to interrupt also 25 ft of storefront if you don't have more than 25 ft of storefront you don't qualify for this permit okay so we have a motion and a second it's a one clarification commissioner unless the um development review official determines that it's appropriate correct commissioner Menendez yes vice mayor Anderson I'm torn a bit on this one because we don't have an amicable solution between these businesses so at this time it's a no commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes and I want to sit down with um you uh at at your location to see how we can move forward with a solution for yours as well mayor loo I support the TVs but I can't support it this way I'm all about the process and having as many people have a conversation I have to say no thank you all right moving on to item thank you for everybody being here moving on to item 21 time starting for 12 and I apologize I know you've been very patient sorry about that thank you go sorry about that good afternoon mayor Commissioners Raa HR Director as you know I also serve as a City's Ada coordinator in that in that function I am the secretary for the city's Advisory board on disability Affairs as you all know that board is a very active Ro uh an very active board and the city relies heavily on the expertise and the recommendations made by that board um regarding all issues regarding um affecting individuals with disabilities to support the city's inclusion and accessibility um the board like most boards is made up of six members um to be confirmed by the the commission with each each commissioner appointing one member and there is also one ex-official member from the coral Gable's Chamber of Commerce recently there was a nomination um and those res um those board members must be residents unless the resident waiver is is approved by this commission by a 4 fth vote and there in on during the December 13th meeting there was a resolution requesting the approval of of a residential waiver for Justine ch ch chitester um to serve on the board and that um motion or that resolution was not approved um during our last board meeting the board made a resolution for this commission to reconsider um granting the residential waiver for Miss chitester to serve on the board um although she is not a resident of the city of corab she does work the city of cor gaes and she works for dig dig is disability Independence group and it's a nonprofit organization um whose mission is to expand opportunities and participation for um individuals with disabilities um and so this board is asking the city commission to reconsider granting um the residential waiver for Miss jit Chester I believe she is here I have not met her um she is here and I think she's asked to speak and I think we do have some other um members of the board who would like to speak thank you will you please join us or we can or we can go to you whatever you'd like whatever you feel most comfortable a little slow no worries please outside of a few hungry Commissioners I think we have more than enough time for you I think you've waited long enough there's no no hurry please can I use this one Cher one hi good afternoon okay thank you so much for entertaining me today and and listening to my comments my name is Justine Chichester I know that many of you have been approached by um friends and colleagues since my residential waiver was uh uh denied in December and um also by members of the disability Affairs board um encouraging you all to uh approve me for the board um I suffered paralysis in 2014 and I uh was in a wheelchair for 9 years and I was told I would never walk again and uh through a lot of therapy and if you follow me on social media commissioner Castro I sent you and commissioner Fernandez emails about my my uh social media about my journey and recovery and um I'm obviously now walking again um it's a little difficult for me to be here but um it's important because now I'm working advocating for people with disabilities as you mentioned in the City of Coral Gables my husband and I um my husband owns a business a law firm in The Gables he sits on the Coral Gables Bar Association uh board of directors as well um so a lot of our um activities are in the city and um I now work for dig as she mentioned disability and dependence group advocating for people in with disabilities and we do a monthly supper social club which is a fabulous event that I hope all of you will attend um in the City of Coral Gables we're now at Anthony's coldfire Pizza um we're up to about 50 guests it's a neurodiverse dining experience for uh those of us who have uh neuro isues if you want to say and um I feel it's important for me to be on the board because I have a unique perspective about um accessibility issues um challenges that people yes in wheelchairs but also with Walkers I now have a walker and I'm using a cane as well um I I was able-bodied now I'm disabled and I provide a unique perspective that I think no one on that board actually has right now and I think it's important so that's why I'm here today um advocating for myself as well as uh people with disabilities so that's it I think thank you guys for listening to me thank you so much thank you for your comments thank you thank you for joining us thank you thank you so much vice mayor so as I've mentioned to you all I did many years of litigation just like mat Deets um at advocating for individuals with disabilities from neurod Divergence um establishing standing for individuals who cannot speak who could not express themselves due to brain injuries but uh had to take it all the way up to the court of appeals to be able to get that that ruling established that you know you you don't have to be have to be able to utter your expression of wanting to go somewhere uh in order to be able to have the right to bring a lawsuit because you you lack accessibility to an area because you can't use the bathroom in the area there's a unique perspective that's brought from somebody that's in a chair versus someone who is not I've walked and inspected probably I've lost count of how many properties from and I've been from Key West to Jacksonville working on cases and every single property is unique every single property has something different I've even been on a Yankee Freedom vessel which goes between Key West and his right toward hugus and there's nothing from that will replace me bringing my client on that vessel to identify additional issues as much experience as I had I always respected the perspective of the individual with the disabilities because there's always something out there that you're not going to see that the person who has lived that experience will do so so that's why I picked Mr ran previously because she not only W was respectful to the commission and asking for things because I've I've represented individual disability that are angry that they don't have access and rightfully so because it's been since 1992 that the law has been in place that businesses need to make their facilities accessible and it's been a long time but for our city to be able to do a better job we need the expertise and we're getting it free of charge absolutely free of charge I can't tell you the dollar value of what Mr Chester brings because I had to pay the experts to go through with me as well as the client and we identified you know what was compliant with a code what was readily achievable when you couldn't quite meet the code on historic structures and alternatives to be able to make that happen um so I I really appreciate your efforts and your time to get here our elevator wasn't working yesterday so I was very concerned that you were not going to be able to make it up the stairs the automatic door isn't working at the front just so everybody knows the one at the facing builtmore way yeah because we yeah somebody has opened the door for me just just no to mention that no no I I have issues with our parking lot as well and I'm going to ask for your help hopefully my colleagues will agree to appoint you to try to advocate for those and the importance as to why those issues exist but I've done a lot of historic facilities you know including backel restaurant and um there was one across from the Federal courthouse in Key West that I did and there was always a a way that we provided accessibility even in those facilities for historic reasons that we didn't want to deface you know I hope and I pray that my colleagues open their heart up and understand what a valuable asset Mr just I can't I'm sorry I can't pronounce your Christine provides us this is a gift you know that we can't purchase or other than saying thank you for donating your time all our board members are valuable they bring wonderful things to our city but the perspective that she brings is unique and is irreplaceable I don't know of a better qualified person out there other than Justin to do this this work is hard thank you I understand you have a few comments here oh just straight to the point I've been blessed to know Justine and and and her husband um for some years now and I've uh watched her journey to the point of where she is now from where she started and I can't think of anybody um more inspirational and our city our government needs more inspiration and more inspirational people like you so to me be we'd be blessed to have you serve and we need more people like you so I am completely in support of you being part of our family thank you are there any other further comments yeah uh yes Mr Mayor I'm sorry I do have one more member of the public requesting to speak apologize uh Jennifer Ward Sando how are you good morning good afternoon excuse me yeah afternoon um I want to thank all of you for the opportunity for letting me speak here today um my address is 601 mayorca Avenue Coral Gables I am a member of the Coral Gables Advisory board on disability Affairs I am very excited about um the makeup of the current Commission because we have Miss Anderson with excess like extensive disability background Miss Castro who's worked with people with disabilities um commissioner Fernandez who was of great assistance on the school community resource committee when we were putting forward um movements to make the schools more inclusive disability and um I was also very excited when I learned that commissioner Anderson had appointed Justine to our board because I've known Justine for a while and I thought what an amazing opportunity for the city like she's got this point of view that I don't have and I don't think anybody else on our board has I if I could take myself and put myself in her brain I would but I can't I I understand sensory issues but I don't understand mobility issues um also she um our board has five people on it and prior to me being on the board sometimes I would attend the meetings sometimes they had trouble making Quorum because if more than two people are out you can't make Quorum and the one of the previous board members couple of them because they have disabilities had trouble making it to meetings physically and then you can't vote I know Justine um is always around the city she's always at City events in fact I had no idea she wasn't a resident of Coral Gables because she's always in Coral Gables Works in Coral Gables works for the city and loves the city so in interest of time um I will wrap it up and I humbly request that you guys reconsider and put her on our board thank you thank you very much for the mayor yeah I want to thank you foremost for coming here and um and for providing me that beautiful email very informative that you sent me I stand very very strong with I I don't like to to approve resident waivers but you're going to be my exception okay because I feel in my heart number one that it's the right thing to do okay and um for the city clerk there was no other applicants and um and there's no other person in there that uses a wheelchair so I think you would be a great asset and that's it I thank you for having the change of heart you understand now why I was so strongly in favor of having Justine join this board I think she's going to bring a wealth of information and value to our city and be able to make us provide us amazing recommendations on how to move forward so um first thank you for wanting to serve um I've heard from a lot of people over the last few weeks uh advocating on your behalf um and like uh commissioner Castro I have always been staunch about making sure that we have residents serving in our advisory boards uh because that's what the point of The Advisory Board is to incorporate members of our city uh to serve on these boards um but one thing that I was able to find out is we don't have a lot of people in our city who would have the the knowledge that you do and would a be able to help this Commission on this advisory basis so like commissioner Castro said you will be my one exception okay bothered you so much can I have a may I have a motion I'll move it Mr clerk I'm sorry may have a second I'll second thank you vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes mayor logo yes thank you thank you thank you R I appreciate you thank you for being here and I apologize for the weight uh moving on to item E2 uh I just want to catch this one before we go to uh before we go to lunch E2 is an ordinance of the city commission amending St Phillips School site plan approved under ordinance number 3576 to replace an existing building with a new prek building located at 1109 Andalusia Avenue cor Gables Florida all other conditions of approval contained in ordinance number 3576 shall remain in effect providing for severability Clause repeater provision codification and providing for an effective date this is a quasi judicial item so anyone who is wishing to speak today should be sworn in by the clerk okay those who will be appearing before this item please stand and raise your right hand do you swear or affirm the testimoni will provide was about to say good morning but actually good afternoon Mr Mayor members of the commission I'm here this afternoon representing St Phillips Episcopal School and church uh you may recall that we were here a few weeks ago with a request to do a modification to our site plan to demolish an existing building and replace it with a building um of almost equal size the only difference being that a current awning connection was going to be enclosed for the safety of the children um the the new structure is to replace the prek-3 and prek4 classrooms as you know one of the conditions in between first and second reading was that we meet with the neighbors uh Mr and Mrs doos and I want to let you know that we did meet with Mr and Mrs toyos we had a very successful meeting um we have come to an agreement on the sale and that is that that we will each landscape our own side of the Swale so St Phillips will landscape the west side of Cordova in front of their house and the doy will landscape theirs we've agreed that we will match whatever Landscaping that doy want and during that meeting we also discussed that we may have future disagreements if the school should ever decide to expand and we've agreed that we will disagree but that we will keep them posted on any plans we let them know that there were no short-term or long-term plans for that but that to be honest if something were to happen where the house next door became available we might be able to buy it we might not but that we would let him know and that any process would involve them and we would always keep them posted we also agreed that when there are special events and I just let them know of a funeral that's upcoming tomorrow that there will be extra traffic circulating in the area and so he uh the toyos and miss this is Norma Perez who is head of school have exchanged cell phone numbers so they now have direct access to be able to deal directly with um the school should there be an incident so we look forward to working with them on their landscaping and we respectfully ask you to approve it on second reading with a condition modified as we and the toyos have agreed to Yes um Jennifer Garcia apping official so just to clarify the ordinance draft ordinance in your packet today does not reflect this change we got that change a little too late after we had uploaded the draft ordinance so we will make that amendment that the school will um uh improve the Swale on the west side and the owners will improve it on front of their on the east side thank you are there any questions for staff or for the applicant for clerk are there any public comment yes sir uh Mr uh Waldo and JC toyos good afternoon thank you for being here again good to see you it was going to be good morning but we thought it was going to be good morning thought we had communication issues it will be good it will be good morning soon sorry we have to lighten it a little bit um we met with St Philip School administrators and with Laura and we reached an agreement that uh we would you know obviously we're going to incorporate into the ordinance and I think we're both on the same side and like she said we agreed and we disagreed but we all left happy so um how do you call it as my wife tells me every once in a while in Spanish and I let them know we all know where we stand you know what I mean but we've agreed to be respectful in our disagreement and that we will meet with each other many times before that having nothing to do with that but should the time come when that comes we will we understand their position and we will try to persuade them with whatever position there may be but not in the foreseeable future and hopefully after my retirement we tried to make it after her retirement thank you very much thank you for finding a solution so basically um we did agree on the both sides the landscaping and they're going to match us and we're everyone's paying for the own side and we're good with that we're all moving that along beyond that now we did tell them you know and we've spoken with the neighbors um some of our neighbors and we are on the same page on this that any future attempt to reone any single family homes to institutional zoning or any further expansion of the current campus footprint will be opposed by us and the neighbors that we have spoken to we are in support of the vision that Georg marriage had for this area especially on Cor way within the single family District and that's what we're going to tra stay true to in that area and they know that we know that we're good with that good good to hear all right any other any comments anything else well I I think it's a beautiful example of what happens when he take the time to sit down and me you guys were at each other's throat practically the last time and you came to a resolution and just takes a little effort a little time it's a beauty of mediation that's you know it's a lot less painful when you can sit down out of the Arena so to speak and have an off- the record conversation so I'm I'm glad you all worked that out and I hope I hope that more issues in our city are able to be worked out that way thank you little miscommunication but we're beyond that for your always always isly yeah I just wanted to thank both sides for having the the conversation uh and for forging a path forward of communication dialogue which I think is going to be beneficial to both so thank you thank you I just want to add uh the fact that the room wasn't fulled with people must have been a good sign that uh you know you all came to an agreement appreciate it greatly it's a good sign thank you can I have a motion I'll move it second CLK commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson yes mayor logo yes thank you very much R so thank you for being here thank you to thank you uh we have a 1: p.m. time St for lunch obviously we didn't catch that so we will be back at 2:10 perfect thank you for for [Music] e [Music] e e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] e for e [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] all right Mr clerk welcome back moving on to item F1 update on the blue Road Bridge um Mr manager just I want to try to run threes as quickly as possible I wanted I wanted to see if we had any any news not only on the sidewalk but also I saw that it was recently maintained I appreciate that so thank you thank you to the county commissioner uh for for that work um you and I are are working on a funding strategy for potentially new projects that are coming online from the county I wanted to speak with Hermes one second if possible in regards to this how are we looking for the sidewalk so um we're finalizing what we hope is the last comments from the county um the one little hiccup that we have they're they're insisting of we extending a guard rail adjacent to the bridges I'm sorry I went up the stairs no worries catch your breath yep is that is that the 18 in required by the Ada or no it's a metal G rail the thing is that are buing the bridges okay um so I mean it's it's doable the plant show that it's just going to look a little you know we we can share the plans for everybody to see so what I would like to do possible through through the manager is I don't want to get cost I don't want to get excuse me Lost in You know the manua here I I want I know the guard rail's ort is fine right but I I really need to get that moving so absolutely so we can hopefully present it to the to the uh County Commission of the area for funding as a funding strategy as we discussed last week in the meeting with the manager um so please please just move on that uh Mr Mr clerk yes sir had a photo that I wanted to show on Blue road that I took okay this is why this is why this sidewalk is important okay so this is an individual with a dog and a young child um I took this picture myself people either go on the street or they go on the grass you know this is a person who's able-bodied but I've seen people who are elderly who have to who don't get on the grass because they're they're scared of tripping or or or entangling themselves in one form or another so that bridge doesn't look doesn't look like that anymore it's nice cleaned up you know they they they worked on it about two weeks ago so I want to say thank you to the county commissioner Raquel regalato and our team here at the city for doing that thank you herming thank you Mr manager um so this is why this is important so if you can through the manager please uh get me that information as fast as possible so we can include it in the memo that we talked about working on yes we're working on and then we'll C we'll circulate that memo before we send it out to to both commissioner regalato and commissioner Cabrero um in reference to the the the projects that we're talking about as potential funding options uh with County so please absolutely you could help me on that through the manager it would be really nice okay no not a problem thank you my friend um item F2 discussion regarding Cur maintenance welcome back how we looking so the this item I understanding that was in relationship there was a photo that was shared at the time I believe um was I think it's a Mercedes or deily trip in that area yes um so that curve right there as you can see so my understanding is that there's a current code enforcement uh process involved um with this with this location yes the the condition of the curb is not really a daytoday kind of wear and tear there's clearly some kind of operational uh feature they're going on that's damaging this curb and based on a conversation with Douglas um from uh development services the the developer actually came they try to apply for a permit but they apply for the wrong permit so they reach out to them and they're trying to help them out so they can go ahead and fix that curb so this is what I would like to see through the manager sure my colleagues have anything they like to add I welcome it one that there should be a shade tree there of some sort some sort of shade tree it shouldn't just be a hedge like that should be some sort of you know an opportunity to put something that potentially offer a little bit of hedge excuse me of of shade I leave that up to to the team um that's been like this for 3 or four years I've been sending this as the ACM can tell you you know this for three or four years already and it's only getting worse right I I really really this needs to be addressed this needs to be addressed just like on the corner of Bon Leon and um B and leun on the where the where the on the Metro Rail side where the little parking area is adjacent to the underline there's a huge curb that is my understanding it's it belongs to the city it's completely demolished okay destroyed okay um so you know this is something that's got to be done they've been working on this for four years it's a life safety issue someone's going to get hurt there it's really sunk and again it's their responsibility I don't want to say find them I don't think I don't know we were finding them or not but it's it's time that we got to take it to the next level and I need you to deal with this with the manager and just figure out a way to before somebody gets hurt my biggest fear is that somebody gets hurt there and then later we're like hey absolutely there's 50 emails saying that we should have gotten this fixed understood all right anybody else have anything for this no um I I do have a question is that the North or South side of the infinity that's the South Side okay on on the North I think is the north no you're right it believe he's a Southside southide trust me I've been doing this years while you're at it take a look on the north side of the building there's one tree that almost looks dead and it might be because it gets shaded too much or it might be just fine but since you're going to be in that area and looking at trees it's a good opportunity we we can definitely do that anything else not on that one moving on to item F3 um Mr manager will you give give our team I put this on because I've been hearing from a lot of the businesses about cleanliness in regards to our downtown and the issue of street sweeping and the amount of garbage and stuff like that that so I went I went yesterday evening after I had an event to go to and I and I walked around and and look this is an example of what of what I'm seeing so this is I was going to say this for later but let's talk about it now so these are every day I take pictures and I send them correct to the team and the team sends it to you the manager code enforcement and I've been doing this for years and I asked my colleagues on the commission to do the same thing this is important I give him the picture and I give him the address and location do you have any more pictures or no yeah look at this this is this is constant we have an individual that is putting up these signs everywhere in the city I take them down as much as I see them I scrape off the picture the excuse me the stickers but again this is our our our ponds I've sent this many many times this needs to be clean maintained we got to put on the on just like we're doing with the wiwe lights we have to you know if we don't have it already put this on a rotation to make sure this gets clean continuously keep going there any more pictures Mr Mr is there any else just St that's it okay I have another role that I guess can we put up the email the email that I sent from today we'll do it now since we just did this the email that I sent to uh last night so for further context I was like about 15 20 minutes early to my meeting last night in downtown around 7:00 so I took a stroll and I started walking a few blocks and I just took pictures of things that again need to be corrected and we're seeing a lot of stickers a lot of graffiti this is an email this is this this is what we do in my office every single day I take pictures I send it to Gabby Gabby Gabby uploads them and we send them so this is example these are this is a thing that I've been talking to Kevin keny for a long time you've been battling it you you fix it they come back you fix it they come back and I know that a lot of them are going to be updating them with new with new actual house machines new machines and new housing but I'm just bringing to your attention I it's just getting pretty bad look at this well what I can uh commit to is that you know with the block byblock contract we've got certain areas where these are uh addressed every day every morning when people go out in other locations it happens with a less frequency so this is the area right off alhamra my meeting was a block away from here mhm and you're going to see now the amount of stickers that are on the median by the way the median on alambra is very very dirty and a few years ago the City attorney will tell you I I worked with the new times they had not been refurbished in probably about 10 or 15 years and we got the new time to come in and repaint all the boxes if there are any boxes that are not being used they should be removed like this box is empty constantly so let's get it out of the way you know open up these are this is this is way you know I expect this you know again no disrespect like in Winwood but in our city I don't think this is our look and this is right on our Hamra I you know I give the picture with the address to some this may be may be seen as something ridiculous Vince why does this matter to you you know why do you spend years and years and years sending these photos every single day I do this because I think it's important to to to uphold our brand and I take the time to do it every single day 20 30 40 photos I stop the car I make sure that it gets that that we send it in and staff does a great job but I've been recently seeing it's just I think I don't know if we have the resources to really push through and get this done I mean it's that's right on that's on the median that median right there is in really bad shape it's in really really really bad shape that's a 100 block yeah that's on Al Hamra the amount of garbage in that median that you know that's situation that maybe we need to remove some of those trees and put a lowline brush you know hedge or something that that doesn't trap so much garbage it's a lot um if you keep going to the next the next one do we have any cameras on those streets to see who's doing this graffiti I don't know I think the hedes are there to prevent we have done police reports on occasion especially I don't know if recall the ones that were on the intersections at the crosswalks on the pavement we did a police report and we've done those a couple of times so this is literally on the on the other side that those stickers have been there for years you know just got to take those off you can tell by the condition of the sticker they're weathered um so for some people may think that's is ridiculous why does it matter you know again this is the way that you lose control of of the aesthetic of a city um I take pictures of trees that are missing for example on the colonade right across the street you have like three or four trees that are missing uh in front of the parking those were sent already anything else Billy no that was the last one Mr Mayor okay Mr clerk Mr manager we we've been having conversations about the cleanliness of the downtown and the curbs can you tell staff can you tell the commission um the steps that we're taking to see if we can figure out a way uh to make the curves even more appealing and you know clean things up uh just Mr Mayor so we do a street sweeping uh two or three times a week about three times a week in some of the main areas so so what we looking at it is what days do we do it because if if and what I've been conversation with director is that Friday we need to be prepared for the weekend uh Monday we need to be prepared for what happened on during the weekend and then we do Wednesdays to to fix it out so those are the days that we're going to adjust the schedules to do it and we do it in Pon Leon and the alhamra corridor and we even have somebody that blows the leaves from in between the cars that are diagonally par so we could catch them on the street sweeper um so and again it's like the like the uh graffiti we go and take it off and the next day they put them on because it's a challenge for them and the sticker the same thing so we are very active on that and and we are looking at what do we do for next fiscal year to be able to improve the the enforcement and the cleaniness on this area my issue is that if you look at if you look on ponds there's a lot of less stickers and there's a lot of less graffiti right but when you go to the outskirts for example the the area where buan is the area right there in Al Hambra you see that it's an area which is not getting this enough enough attention and I understand obviously all hands on deck but I think that this new curb maintenance plan the different days that we're going to do I think will make the city look much cleaner we not picking on anybody but I think that we really have to also talk to the business owners for example a colonade I mean I picked up yesterday an entire garbage bag I parked there to walk across the street to the meeting I was going to entire garbage bag full of garbage food cans uh oil cans that are just sitting there I'm not going to leave it there next to my car take that and throw it into into the city garbage they they have to be responsible for for all that waste all that food that people are just throwing there on the street someone's got to go out there and and you know monitor the area I don't know if they're doing that to that point a high traffic area um yeah in fact uh Economic Development just uh reminded all of the businesses downtown that they have a responsibility and it's something obviously Hermes and I talk about all the time they're they're supposed to do the day-to-day stuff we come in some sometimes and we help with the big projects but uh picking up the trash and uh things to Bel keys and her te uh they just sent out a notice to all the downtown businesses reminding them that that that is their primary responsib let me correct my I said the colon I'm sorry it was not the colon I apologize they're they're pretty clean I'm talking about the other side of no Hamra the other hotel where we have the rotary meetings oh the Hi I apolog hi is yesterday on that corner you know that corner of HRA you know as you head to was in very very poor condition yesterday it's very high traffic area and I get it but they got to they got to take responsibility you're missing some you're missing some trees there you're missing a lot of different things that are that are you know and the other thing we do notice is at those kind of major entrances into our city uh right there off Douglas on alhamra uh yes we'll clean it up and the next day the stickers are back um we don't stop we got to we got to I know we can't give up I know I know and and and and I agree what we talk about this because according to a city code the buing property owners are responsible for uh litter in front of the properties all the way up to the parking Lane um so you know even though we come for the street sweeper maybe two three times a week the dayto day that that's on the abing property owners that's their responsibility so it's something that we all got to got to work together on it's also a commitment like for example you look at Alan Morris's property right you know the amount of the amount of care you know the the Agave project the you know certain certain buildings you see there's always a person cleaning in cleaning in the morning and cleaning at night they're really working on the sidewalks for example 2020 s where B is they're always making sure it's clean and presentable but I think that we have to send a message to to businesses like we did when we started the sidewalk campaign right he we got to send another letter everybody listen you remember you're responsible every six months of clean the sidewalks pressure cleaning the sidewalks it's a cost the Endeavor but I I think it it bears fruit at the end of the day we're putting our best fo forward um yes sir to that point maybe there can be a monthly check on all these businesses to make sure that things are clean in front of their of their property uh or maybe a quarterly check um just to make sure that they know somebody's coming around on a routine basis making sure they're cleaning and that might encourage them to take action on a regular basis rather than you know they're just somebody's going to come around to make sure I pressure clean my sidewalk and that's all they take care of just food for thought anything else you I agree that we should have a cycle where we're doing it sort of like a random check right it's already legislation by the way so in the books we'll have a discussion with C enforcement and you know we'll we'll the coordin kind of like what we're doing with the whiteway lights we're going every six months that's part of the legislation every six months to make sure that they're in good shape there you are there was one uh one one slide that the uh the mayor had in his in the first presentation the last one the the slide that had three uh images uh the last one was two trash cans at the corner on ponds I don't know if you can pull that up again I I know which ones you mean it was the recycling bin and a regular bin so yeah and it's dirty on top well actually my my concern wasn't even that I had a resident right that one I had a resident uh drive me through the neighborhood and he has a lower car and what he told me is the trash bin that's closest to the street obstructs the view of traffic so I know we've done a lot about trying to remove those Corner parking spaces to improve visibility is there anything we can do to maybe move the trash cans that are closest to the street on the intersections that could obstruct the the view of traffic we will check absolutely yeah I I don't see any reason why that can't be done I'm looking at the space there you you've got room right beside that blue can between the tree and it well Hermes won't toot his own hor but I do know they've actually moved number of the trash cans already okay you just can't do it fast enough right not fast enough thank you thank you very much thank you tell me what you need me to do I mean I'm I'm going to keep sending you 20 30 photos a day I've been doing it for years it's not a problem tell me tell me how how we can work together maybe if you want to if you want to address it in next year's budget I'm more than willing to listen I just want to be able to to address the graffiti I see it growing a little bit and I don't I don't want to lose focus on you um we did F4 F5 so I I've been meeting for some time now with the people from Camila's house as you can tell you know everybody has decent eyesight as I lose mine every day there's more and more homeless people on the street and it's a big concern um I like for the City attorney well first off let's go through the photos just to give you an idea we had a meeting last week with all the heads heads of of Camila house and we're finding some of these individuals no longer just for example this one right here is an individual who I spoke with who is not not this gentleman that guyy from the gentleman's from Texas but this gentleman here um or at least he said he wants to go back to Texas excuse me this gentleman here was in Act was actually in a residential neighborhood so had a conversation with him the issue that we're facing as we'll go along and I'll kind of give you more more more uh more information this is this is a project that I've been working on for some time with Camila's house and uh several individuals in our community who are very engaged in K house one of them being Paul lenf fall who I've known for some time can you go to the next one our hands are tied our hands are tied on many fronts um and I'm going to have the City attorney discuss it and the issues are existing legislation and court rulings which tie our hands in in regards to you know where a homeless person can be and I'm going to be in the in the I'm going to be in the process of now I'm working with the city attorney to really move forward on stricter panhandling legislation um that deters you know individuals in this community being able to on the street ask for money um a lot of these individuals that I've talked to I've talked to almost every single one of them um are in a situation based on mental health is a major factor by the way just so you know this is uh adjacent to to our parking lot this is in the city right here right spoke to this this this nice lady she was sitting in the bench next door um not next door excuse me across across from the Hedge for a lot of these individuals it's it's um they're down on their luck based on really mental health and it's a tough thing to see because when you go and you speak to them let's stick to on this one for one second when you go and you speak to them and you offer them help so we have two beds at Camila's house something that we did a few years ago we spend I think it's about $440,000 a year from our budget I think it's 40,000 right Mr manager $40,000 a year and we did that I think it was about 8 or N9 years ago where we allocated those funds for Comm house to make sure that go back for a second to make sure Coral Gables has a place to send individuals when I say send individuals that want to get help that want to get rehabilitated in one form or another that that you want to want to get off the streets because I truly believe after working on on this project for a long time they don't want to they don't want to be on the streets these are individuals that have incredible hearts and a lot of them are are D out on their love for many reasons but you know drugs plays a a little bit of place not a little bit of place hand in it but a lot of it's mental health so this is an example of something else that we need to work on this is individual that I drove by a few times and as we drive by on a street we never really we never really take a moment to really understand our surroundings because we're always going from point A to point B and we're trying to get there as quickly as possible and this gentleman was in this in this I don't want to say abandon but somebody owns his property in cor gaes but they haven't done something with it probably in a few years and he was living there he was living but what I talked to Paul lenthal and the team that came to visit us last week was that we need to start putting no trespassing signage on properties and we need to start telling businesses put a no trespassing sign because the police have a tough time dealing with an issue like this uh it's an encampment in the city and Paul was speaking to the City attorney on that front on what we can do to have a little bit more teeth to be able to address this my goal is not to move this person from the city border to the next city that doesn't resolve the problem but the issue is that a lot of these individuals don't want to receive help you offer them the help and they tell you no they tell you just give me money or you know I need some food or but that's not the the intent of the conversation is to get you off the street to get you off the street so we have two fronts here we have a pan handling law that I'm working on with this with the city attorney that Paul is helping us draft with the city with the city manager and then we have also the issue of buildings that are either vacant or are in the process of being built that don't have no trespassing signs so it kind of makes it difficult for the police to take action uh we need to really push that agenda can you keep going Mr clerk please well this is right here adjacent to u to um Pond am America one of the banks Bank of America I think yeah it looks like it mhm that is the that is the property adjacent to Agave that I don't know if it's Bank of America but it's a building which is that's not bank that's um it's another bank it's where mayor snik had his office behind it I forgot the name of they building I can't remember well it's right there it's right off search a I think I don't think it's am but I think it's next one this is in front of Hillstone so I didn't take this picture this was sent to me by a resident uh who lives a few blocks from me and you know this is a situation that we obviously my next besides I kept the photo for today but I immediately called Chief Hudak who I wish was here um and they went to me with the gentleman but the gentleman you can't you offer that person help you offer that person help unless they're inebriated and they're breaking the law there's not much we can do and again what is what is breaking the law do to benefit this individual you take them to prison yeah and they come back out and you the issue still exists I didn't say problem I said the issue CU this is an issue this is an issue where people are in a situation where they don't understand due to their mental health that they have a situation they need to address so this is just a reoccurring the person stands up and just moves on and the the issue or problem is never addressed um next next one is that it Mr clip no again Main and Main next one okay very simple the reason why I put this on is is because we need to bring awareness in the city that we have an issue we have a problem we need to we need to confront this and the issue is to me here look this is at the post office we have literally you know person has moved and is there as as long as as they're allowed to be there so we need to find an answer and I want the the City attorney to talk a little bit about Po and and how H our hands are tied on many different fronts but we need to speak to the county mayor we need to speak to the state legislature we need to make homelessness a priority and I'm and I'm going to speak with the with the with with our our team and I know that we have a great lobbyist who has been at the Forefront of the issue of homeless but it only continues to grow can you talk us a little bit about pottinger so we can put that on the record yes may the pottinger agreement was um in place stemming from a lawsuit against the city of Miami um and it was so was a settlement between City of Miami um in that case and it was in place for about 20 years or over 20 years um essentially it um it it protected the constitutional rights of homeless individuals or individuals experiencing homelessness um and the idea was that there's certain life sustaining behaviors such as sleeping having your personal belongings placed on a sidewalk Etc that should not be criminalized um because homeless individuals also have constitutional rights and so there was a lot of police training that was part the um pajer agreement and many actions that could not be taken by the city of Miami due to the pajer agreement that was lifted I believe in 2019 but the principles you know uh remain and there's so many lawsuits that um challenge ordinances and laws throughout the country um based on the same constitutional principles um and the idea is that there should be other options that are offered or or made available to these individuals that's not criminalizing their behavior that's just basically being homeless so with that being said it's just a call it's a call for action it's a call for action and if you see if you see situations like the ones that I pointed out to you with all the individuals the homeless individuals that we have here if you see if you see a building that's abandoned that maybe it's not abandoned but maybe it's under construction they're about to start it or or there's a tenant missing and you see and you see this what I'm asking you is just to take that little extra moment maybe stop your car and drive slowly and to see if you can make contact with somebody the reason why I say that is because we can invite Camila's house to try to do an intervention they come here and they do an actual intervention with that individual and try to get those individuals off the streets and sometimes they're successful a lot of times they're not because they people don't want to do it because of the mental health issues but if we don't push forward on that you know again it's like what I told you before it's the stickers it's the graffiti it's it you see a slow deterioration of our quality of life and our standards here in the city so I'm asking you to be engage in both engage in helping us identify homeless people in our community that you see to help them because there's nothing we can do we can't remove them right that's not the intent and number two if you see anything graffiti dirtiness anything take a picture of it send it to your staff and get on a daily email sending it to code enforcement and to the public works department and they'll just start doing you know a log of this light is broken this bench is broken and that is a best way to put things on the record and then eventually it gets corrected through the mayor when we were up in Tallahasse this was one of the topics that we touched and I believe this is this is something that the governor is pushing forward or he's passionate about House Bill 1365 and Senate Bill 1530 which would would B would ban counties and municipalities from allowing sleeping and camping on public grounds without a permit um we're not the only ones having this issue and I think it's being addressed but yeah we could be proactive as the mayor was saying so and I just want to respond I want to respond to the issue it's not being addressed because the legislation that you're talking about is not going to address a homeless person and and whether they're you know you know staying somewhere or or panhandling the issue is that Pinger and the City attorney will tell you Pinger protects protects their ability and their right it doesn't go against that ruling and Madam City attorney am I correct Pinger protects their ability to do you know life life important life function sleeping eating you know resting you know getting shade you can't force somebody into to live on in a highway it's not the way that it works uh this is more of what I'm talking about is engaging with Camila's house and finding ways to really speak to people and say we need you off the streets we want to help you and if you have issues with with uh you know issues mental health issues let's get that person a mental health issu I think we should be spending resources on on getting people as much help as possible even if it comes out of city coffers for the for people who are homeless because at the end of the day moving them into a jail cell because you catch them defecating you know in public or Screaming or acting out is not going to resolve the problem like the gentleman that I pointed out to you in Hill Hillstone there's no legislation that's going to resolve that issue the only issue the only way to resolve it is through true true Mental Health treat and I think you're on point on this Mr Mayor um I think the legislation actually is being enacted in order to push municipalities to take action uh because what it will allow is for business owners that have homeless camping outside of their uh establishment to be allowed to sue the city uh and I think it is a growing problem this Saturday um there was a gentleman outside of abachi who was trying to shine people's feet uh when people approached him to talk he just walked away um but on Southwest 8th Street and 42nd Avenue it's a huge issue uh we have several panhandlers there not our our neighborhood um but what I've noticed the ones there are not very aggressive they kind of just mingle in that area during the day and they disappear at night the question is where are they going at night um and as a municipality what can we do you know every single case of these homeless individuals is different and I think Camila's house will will always explain that to you and some do want to seek the treatment others just prefer to live the life that they're living because it's really a stress stressfree to to to them because they don't they have other things that are that are bothering them so we currently have two or five beds at kima's house cuz I thought we had five the chief had said five before told me that too he told thought we had three so I'm not sure how many manager we we currently have four we currently have four beds uh that we have that we're paying for one was added we're trying to find the funding for that now we originally started the program with three we're up to four right now we're trying to find the additional funding for the fifth bed uh we do have a usual census of when those are occupied uh the downtown unit actually lets uh us know when we when we need to either move somebody on or uh we can actually get them to go to our mats if not there's other resources that the officers use to uh get those resources to those individuals our biggest issue uh that I think that the commission is is dealing with and that we're dealing with is um to just call us I mean we have the ability some of the pictures that we saw were on public or were on private property those are issues that the police department code enforced can address uh to to commissioner Castro's uh comments on what the state legislature is working on and the Florida police Chiefs has been addressing it as well is we are not going to allow encampments in public areas certain uh cities have allowed uh encampments to be built on public rideways and that would actually preempt us that's what that legislation is about our biggest concern is that as soon as somebody sees something that they call us call the non-emergency number calls permitting we will have officers respond and offer services immediately um I hate to say the guy in front of Hillstone and I remember talking to the mayor about it he overslept apparently when the officer got there he immediately knew to get up and and and walk right out of our jurisdiction thank you Chief mad if I just may suggest something maybe we can have a workshop to discuss this issue in Vite Camila's house and and maybe other stakeholders in this industry uh Chapman Industries which is also involved in in South aade uh but maybe they can provide us with some suggestions on other things that we can potentially do um you know obviously reaching out to Camila's house having the intervention is one but maybe there's some other things that we can do maybe legue of cities can make some recommendations on best practices that have been applied by other municipalities um because I think this is not a discussion that we can have in 15 minutes today cuz I think there's there's it's a it's a large issue and we're going to have to put our thinking caps on and find a long-term solution so so response that if I may I've been working on this issues for a long time I'm bringing to your attention not because you know I I would love to have a workshop with Chapman and I've done all that already we've done I've met with with our with our lobbyist in Tallahasse who is the Premier the eminent person when it comes to homelessness as Naomi can tell you I've had all these conversations I've investigated everything with with with our police chief um the issue that the reason why I bring it to your attention is is is twofold number one is the issue of no trespassing signs that's key we need to really start pushing that agenda forward so that our police officers have teeth if somebody is in a property that for example that one that I showed on na she doesn't have a no trespassing sign so when they get there they're well versed they said oh there's I can be here there's no you know there's nothing stopping me from being here and and the second thing is is to really start really start the idea of of getting and pushing forward I've spoken to our League of cities and I've had multiple conversations with them and they all tell me the same thing Vince goes back to pottinger and it goes back to the simple fact that we have our hands tied what we need to work on is you know there's a there's there's a conversation that needs to be had on on the treatment of people or homeless and the idea that in the mornings people rise and then they're moved off and shov and shoved away into another area is to me it's inhumane it's and it's and it's and it's something that's happening it's happening and instead of dealing with a problem it's just basically being swept under the rug so I think it's a mental health issue and I and I think that we need to have a conversation with with State leaders and say and make it part of our lobbying effort to say you know we need to find real dollars real dollars I know that mayor Cava was working on it to build a facility that would hopefully house a lot of these individuals so they can get the help that they need but the conversation is to be honest with you nobody wants to have that in their backyard it's a tough thing to talk about you know and and you also have to get these individuals to go to these facilities to to get that type of treatment and some of them don't want to get that treatment they'd rather be on the street yes Vice May so um early my career I had the opportunity to deal with folks um during my internships and so forth that found our way into the jail system because they they needed a home and those people chose to commit crimes in order to get shelter and then we've had the folks that have lived in our community for for decades uh some of which have already passed on now and underlying all that whether they were Vietnam Vets or whoever it is or the person that was in my front lawn handing you know trying to feed the squirrels harmless individual but it was going to be a cold night and I made this woman aware that we have beds available and she didn't want it is it is a mental health issue it gets down to your own personal integrity and pride and that we need to address it and to the chief I mean I called in uh an encampment behind public that completely covered the entire sidewalk it was a cold night again and I wanted I called it in I had somewhere else to go but I said please send someone out there and offer them a warm bed and a warm meal tonight and see if we can please get them some shelter at least for this evening time passed I came back around after my meeting and the encampment was still there and you could see they had blankets and layers of blanket looks like it looked like a temp but it wasn't a temp but they did what they could to retain the heat it was one of the coldest nights that we had here this season we've had colder the dollars need to be invested in mental health this is not this this is not a group of folks that can call up tell Health this is a group of f folks that were probably and based upon my experience I'm no by no means an expert be more responsive to someone who has gone through the system who was just like them and say Hey listen you know give it a try it worked for me take the first step you know anyone who has a major issue in their life and used to be someone that didn't have these issues before takes with it an enormous sense of Pride because where they came from and where they ended up is a dramatic Journey it's a big fall from from where you were to where you end up and whether it's mental health or drug addiction whatever the source is a major tragedy in one's life post-traumatic stress disorder there's a thousand different causes Vietnam Vets it's a cry for help when they're out there that they need this help but it's been something that's been not appropriately dealt with on a state level by funding or and even on a county level by funding so I do think it's appropriate for us to make this part of our legislative agenda to try to help move this ball forward because our voices are needed in Tallahassee and with the county let's get mental health professionals and some of those folks out there that have walked the walk that have done it that can reach these people people the best because me dress me coming out of my home and stuff is not going to be able to relate to those folks no matter how what words I choose is not going to be the same as somebody that actually had walked the walk and made the journey to go from homelessness to something in between they need that help they need that bridge to hope we're not going to be able to save them all and I realize that but if we can save more you know we know we have a housing problem we know we have an afforded building hous and that goes Nationwide no matter what state we apply this to there's a housing affordability problem everywhere that goes beyond housing and also Transportation they go hand inand you know cost of transportation is high Insurance gas maintenance of vehicles this is not a city that has readily available transportation on a free basis so it makes it much more difficult if you're building home uh housing Way Out West but you have no way to get to a potential job you have to have a car and you can't have that job if you can't get Transportation so I applaud this effort I I hope that we go beyond just talking about it and taking stride in action coming forward yes ma'am if we're going to send the message of maybe that trespassing signs could be a POS possibility um let's let's make sure that there's no zoning restrictions um and that these signs are allowed right I don't know if there is right now I Jennifer is not here but that's that's somewhat of a concern commissioner on that point just so you understand and we would have to uh do an agreement with a private property owner and run that through legal as well uh the only real stores that we have commercial businesses has been the 7-Eleven chain where we have an interlocal agreement if you will with that chain that our officers can issue trespass warnings on those property but that would have to go through the legal process for trespassing as it is on a property after hours if it's during the day uh most of these businesses would have to tell the officer in front of the individual that you're trespassing you have to move on so that would be the overnight hours that we could address that and to put those signs up on the on the private property businesses thank you Chief why don't we add it to the legislative agenda already yeah that's the suggestion here I think I think we have a consensus here that we need to have this on our legislative agenda you know it's a little late this session but moving forward so if I may Naomi through the we'll go through the manager think it's getting a little late can you can you do me a favor through the manager or the City attorney yes the City attorney I just want to just want to be careful again um craft up some language in regards to legislative priorities that really encompasses our interest in addressing issues of of uh homelessness the mental health issue getting away getting away from just putting a bandaid on something that that just moves the person on to the next block okay you know because the idea that someone can tell you hey you know I want to I want to I want to live behind the 7-Eleven or um laara or whatever that is on E Street what it used to be I don't remember what it was it was likea or something um that person doesn't want to be there you know that person's you know obviously would love nothing more to take a nice warm shower get a warm meal and feel the comfort of home but they're relegated due to either addiction or mental health you know or past traumatic traumatic incidents that uh that they that they're they're in a situation that we need to do something to address it and that's where Pinger comes in and you're the attorney I'm not but I I just want to see I want to I want to start pushing in a direction where seems to me when I talk to all the elected officials and I leave it at this everybody seems to have their hands tied you know we've talked about it like we've talked about the level of frustration your hands are tied oh you can't do anything about it the person you know just gets up on on hillstones there and then just walks away and it's perfectly fine I'm talking about arresting them talking about really finding the room and the necessary resources to to to to address this person there has to be a way to address it our society as a society we're civil we're civilized society we just cannot continue and the problem is from the first moment I got into office 11 years ago to the moment today it's the worst I've ever seen it yes the worst I've ever seen it maybe maybe it's not about idea to have maybe a social worker engaged with them and they have other resources and they can pinpoint um what the the person's going through so I'll give you a little bit of information on that so when you engage with Camila's house I recommend that you go and speak to Paul lenal camilas house will tell you that they send a team to engage with this individual I'll give you an example I don't want to I want to be very careful what I say people have rights there's there's a family of individuals that car gave us home and we have engaged with them through Camila's houseal on multiple occasions to the extent that the Commission in the past actually even paid for housing at one point in a hotel Pon very generously donated that housing years ago for them to stay for a few months so we've engaged with these individuals and have said listen I know you don't want to live out on the streets come come and let's take you to Camila's house and they've denied the assistance so again they have social workers that engage but there has to be more than we can do to really stem the fact that it's an the issues only growing more and more and more and by the way people want to be in Coral gaes why because people here are really civilized people here are kind they're thoughtful there's a lot of reduced crime the police officers treat them with respect you know there's there's a level of of comfort here uh the businesses sh give them food um you know it's kind of a situation where they feel comfortable here we can definitely work on Crafting language for a legislative priority we're very fortunate because Ron book is one of our lobbyists and as you all know he is been a Mainstay um in the homeless trust so we'll use his expertise to inform that priority and I'm assuming this would be for next legislative session and what I would yes and what I would like to do with that with the help of the commission is I would like to then take that and pass it on to other cities and then say listen let's come together I know that maybe We're Dreaming maybe we're being very ambitious right you know maybe like a lot of things that we've tackled here like for example the underly plastic bags you know the largest electric car Fleet all the things that we've done in the city that are big deals um but maybe maybe we we are ambitious maybe we say look these are priorities that we should attack over the next 5 years to really address homelessness because the problem is only growing there's no problem with dreaming this is a this is a good dream so and who knows maybe we can get some funding for it yeah maybe we can assist the county mayor maybe we can assist the county mayor in her efforts if we can build a coalition of cities that say listen we we're we're in here we we we'll match we'll put a percentage we'll do something I think it's a topic that's right for collaboration I think there are policy implications and there's a funding request to be added in there as well so I think it it's it will be a very um appropriate addition to the legislative agenda this was some this is something two months back I was in Denver and um this is an issue that they are combating right now and I think their solution here was to provide housing right it actually becomes a little more economical to provide housing now than to keep on funding different systems so maybe that's something to look into but that's more State commissioner you have something to say okay thank you very much I appreciate you thank you so much uh F6 F6 is an update regarding quota enforcement matters on 2915 Coconut Grove Drive this is the house well go ahead hi hi uh good afternoon again uh Mr Mayor vice mayor and Commissioners gusa bios so 29:15 uh Coconut Drive in terms of updates as of today their permit is ready so they were able to submit some final materials that we were pending um I believe it was at the end of last week it's been reviewed and has been approved so they're ready to move forward the only thing that's pending is they need to make the payment for the permit and get the work done uh in terms of Code Enforcement as of today there is no violation there is no running fines and there is no lean on the property can you tell us what the permit is what's the permit for for the tarp on the uh the carport okay that's the only pending item so the original violation that went to code board back in June of last year had a couple different items uh fence that was in disrepair there was some trash there's some tarps there was an issue with the um the windows had canopies over them that were also missing the canopy so the only thing that was on the actual walls was just the frame uh Mr capot did resolve those relatively quickly those items were removed the only pending item that's been taking frankly months is the actual cover to the carport and that has been approved and uh it's just pending uh payment and the work to be done beautiful beautiful so I guess it's really to put on the record that that property does not have a lean right now it never really had a lean there was a confusion I can go over the timeline if you prefer yeah absolutely so it the property went to the code board back in June of last year as I stated it was cited for a couple different violations it then they were originally given by the board 30 days to comply they did not achieve compliance in July August came and went they made a request to come back in September to the code board request for additional time they came before the board the board gave them an additional 38 days retro active to the June meeting so they had originally back until about October 18th or oo October 20th to comply with everything on October 18th their attorney reached out to the city attorney's office and asked for an additional time frankly a couple days to finish closing everything out we granted them an additional 30-day extension so their date to comply was some around November 20th they did not achieve compliance by November 20th the next thing we find out is two or three months down the line we they reach out to us in regards to a notice of intent to lean so the issue with that was just that the Code Enforcement Officers the system basically Flags an item once it went to code board back in June and we had multiple extensions that the city gave the resident and their attorney and the system simply just didn't flag it so it popped up on their notice they filled on notice intentionally and they sent it out so once they reached out to us knowing that they've been going back and forth trying to procure the right material and something that's you know amendable to the city and that would be appropriate for the location we did gave him an additional extension through February 5th and uh we spoke to the attorney again and they had an achieve compliance we gave them an additional 30 days kind of a hard stop of March 5th if they were required any other extensions I didn't Fe feel appropriate to give them any additional extensions since frankly last time they went to the code board was in September so they had the opportunity if they wanted to request an additional extension it'd have to go to the code board um but thankfully I think they were able to complete all the the uh the required work and we're just pending them to pay for the permit and uh hopefully install it and close it out in the near future thank you for granting those extensions and and sending the message that we're here to work with the community and with our residents thank you for the update and uh through the mayor just um uh about I think it was a year or two ago I had codified procedure that informally was done with the city attorney's office but residents weren't aware of it because it never had been included in the code and that is there's this mitigation procedure where you subtract days for a violation so I'm just taking the opportunity to remind the residents as well that there is a mitigation procedure procedure you're not going to have running fines during periods that you're proactively seeking a a permit where you're trying to solve the problems there are extensions like this in addition that will stop fines if they exist from running and um you know that's just to better inform everyone here as well as the res residents uh viewing that this procedure does exist okay we're here to help thank you very much anything else yeah okay just just to put on the record there's no fines there's no lean and there's nothing Mr kapota needs to pay correct just the besid the permit the permit that's it just the where was where was the statement made that they were fines I forgot the issue was that they I know I just don't remember what was the media outlet that said there was fines I heard there was some one of them I think Channel 10 Channel something I think I'm not sure what channel was I said it I got like three phone calls and I said listen they're not they're not getting fined like I said it's it stemmed from issue with the system basically not flagging we didn't they code enforcement didn't enter in our extensions we didn't through emails we were dealing directly with their attorney and simply our code enforcement system didn't it's honest mistake it's an honest mistake but it it flew like wildfire so thank you sir I appreciate pleasure thank you very much F7 uh very simple I just put this on the agenda to kind of uh everyone knows you know the tragedy that happened uh in Kias SK uh we offer our our neighbors Kias our condolences on that front I actually knew the individual who passed away through family I know I men some of you also did um i' I haven't seen this issue really be a problem in the city at all I've only seen for example maybe sometimes you'll see a bike rider riding on on on Miracle Mile as an issue uh I just wanted to kind of being in the sunshine maybe have a conversation if if you've seen that be an issue Madam vice mayor uh when I was running there was a professor that was walking on North Greenway Drive who sadly passed away and it wasn't a KNE bike it was a regular bicyclist and it gets down to you know respect for the road and respect to the bicyclist being sufficient distance away if you have a line of people walking on a street and then they suddenly you know you know take a step to the left and you're riding too close to them yes you can knock them over it's also happened to me with the golf carts um you know entering on a narrow bridge that that that is for a bike lane and all you know it's a young driver young driver on the on the U golf court there was no room for me to go around them so I I think it gets down to education um you know uh as well as looking at some of the age restrictions um going forward on some of these uh as as they would call in the law dangerous instrumentalities I mean how fast you're riding and how close you're you're writing to pedestrians is a is a critical issue we know that Miracle Mile has been an issue time and time again and it's very difficult to catch people because they're moving and by the time I call it in and by the time the police uh get it and show up there uh we can't identify them so some solutions there deal with cameras but ebike safety is not just unique the ebikes is really my message it's regular bicycles golf carts you know um we we just need to be much more careful going forward and educating folks on how to respect pedestrians yes sir uh just maybe I don't know if we've ever done a PSA um I know we do PSAs for different issues I don't know if one has been done on um driving around pedestrians and B uh bicycles maybe something to consider and send it out through our enus as an awareness campaign right that would be consistent with what I'm basically saying and what are the recommendations 6 feet away from a pedestrian so you have reactive time I know that when I see children on bicycles I steer way around because they're unpredictable they don't know better and you know the younger the person is the less aware they are of the consequences of their actions so it's an important important uh informational campaign that I think that we can take on okay all right moving on to item f8 yes f8 um last week we had a sunshine me Workshop regarding education primarily um I think historically the relationship between the City of Coral Gables in our area schools and um we had a great turnout a lot of parents a lot of residents attended uh it was great because we had a lot of I think back and forth ideas suggestions on how to move forward and develop strengthen our relationships our involvement and our presence in the education of our youngsters in Coral Gables um there are a lot of areas that we touched upon uh one had to do with the Arts the other had to do with the city helping promote or inform families about what the opport unities are for education in Coral Gables um you know quite honestly I know in the real estate industry when folks are moving into Coral Gables they want to know the quality of our schools the quality of our hospitals the quality of you know what they want to know and I think education I think we all in agreement is a pillar of our society and one of the areas I touched upon and I think we all touched upon uh because there was a need was for example at Coral Gables Preparatory um they basically cut the funding for music and other Arts programs um and we brainstormed about the possibility of the of the city uh creating a music program through our community recreation department whereby it'd be available to not only all residents but the kids at that school to make up that Gap the other area that was discussed was again um and I was informed afterwards that we have on our website the city website uh an area page or section having to do with schools and education um the fact that some of the folks that were there didn't know it I think if we have it which I was informed we do we need to do uh find a way to better communicate with the schools and the ptas and the ptsas about this opportunity we can schedule uh we can announce their open house for prospective families uh large events community events um that's where I'm headed and I you know uh my you know pretty much everybody was there and I'd like to turn it over to my colleagues to you know carry on with the discussion well uh commissioner you you've summed it up fairly well I mean I also wanted to put the word art in there because I'm I'm not one of those musically inclined um but I do think that there's a need we had a great engagement with the administrative director alette uh Rodriguez Diaz about a number of topics and uh I agree that we need to showcase our schools more you know having raised my children through the public school system as well as myself through the public school system people just aren't aware of some of the the gems that we have here and some of the ones that uh carry a reputation from many decades ago have magnet programs now that folks are not aware of so putting this on the website is is one of the steps having a table at the lit Fair fairs and another um having a table at at the farmers market and other City events so so when you're bringing the children to the pumpkin patch for instance you you can also learn about that because we start planning our educational paths for for our children not just when we move in here but when they're in the womb so to speak in diapers we start choosing this educational path and it was you know during that time period of my life that that I I put my daughters through the lottery of getting into westlb uh Carver Middle and all these educational choices because I knew it was out there on the landscape there ponts has come a long long way since the days that my girls went to ponds and it's something I wasn't aware of but I and it probably is something that a lot of folks aren't aware of so I do think we need to do a lot more Outreach through all these different venues uh I was uh pleased pleased that also the 501c3's um uh desire to you know do something for Coral Gable's Elementary School was well received by the principal it was well received by the PTA and it was well received by the um assistant director and they will carry this conversation forward and and do the necessary paperwork that has to be done between a school board and a private entity to make make this this happen in the future and it'll be just one more resource again you know in the physical education field so I'd love to see uh both collaborations Sam Joseph stated it well that when we're thinking about um what we're doing with our open space at these public schools and it is public school property there's a housing shortage but we need to think it out well we don't want to use up all the field space that we need for sports activities for housing if we can better plan our facilities and build it on top of the gymnasium building it on top of the the school facilities or quiet during then a night and could be provide housing for teachers and and service Personnel uh at a reasonable reasonable rate and I think we'll be able to attract better teachers and better Personnel in the long run if we make it affordable for them to live in our community so I'm fully in support of this I thought it was a wonderful meeting it was a long time coming and I'm look forward forward to the next step so yeah what we got from that meeting was that there was 2,911 students that reside in Coral Gables and um one of the one of the things I mentioned is that maybe as a city we could help educate our residents with the programs that are available because we have bagnet schools we have certain programs that are happening in schools and and residents are sending their kids kids to other schools not knowing that these resources or programs are available so as a city I think that would be not a big step for us to take but something that would be very impactful another thing that I had mentioned there was the mental health of the students and the teachers and and to see if we are welld developed in the areas where the children's have disabilities right and as far as teachers maybe they can look into the school board could look into um training like applied Behavior Analysis ABA like the basic fundamentals to know um how to treat their classroom more effectively in a motivating way and that's some of the things that I suggested during that meeting I think that were well received I think it's been well summed up um regarding the uh the city's website I know that uh communication director by thing had already been working on that um part of the discussion was just to try to enhance and add more information on uh the particular schools and maybe work with the schools I don't know if we ever got to that point because that was when I was phasing out of the SCRC so uh uh the folks who were there in the meeting weren't sure what what had ended up happening uh hello Martha panene as you remember when you were a chair of thec uh we did go to committees uh to discuss the website and how we could incorporate the information that you needed uh we did include the information we did go back to the to the board uh to explain uh we enhance the page we en enhance search because we realize once we got the the the website originally when you put schools it the search wasn't uh working as well as it could be so we enhanced the search uh we updated the private school context we revised uh the presentation with pictures for each School uh we created forms for schools to submit events I did go back and did explain to the SCC that schools could submit events that were community events uh the website when you go into each school it has that it takes you directly into uh the school's website because each school has their own website and we added more helpful information about school section we also added uh School Board chairs uh Office contact uh to to to the information uh as of this year uh since we started the submitt form that we have not had any submittals uh we are happy for any suggestions as how we can get uh them to submit the only time that we did looking back through our information was when uh Coral Gable's prep was turning uh 100 they did send some information and we did include that information October on en talking about uh their Centennial uh we have looked at ways that maybe we can enhance right now we only have uh if you go to schools it only has a button for the uh Public Schools page we can put a button for private schools and we can also do a button for events to make it even uh uh higher priority and uh I think you know that that would uh maybe help but we are really open to suggestions as how we can get them to forward us the information I know that you know there are events uh you know like for private schools I know like St Teresa has a festival uh things of that nature we we're very very uh ready willing and able to include we just need the information I was in our discussion at that meeting we talked uh I sort of volunteered staff um it'd be good to have um a liaison I mean everybody's over has a lot on their place but a liaison that regularly connects either with the school itself or the ptas to sort of try to draw announcements and news our way we me I mentioned Gabby that works with all of us uh who's helping me in code Mania she's app Point person for I think we have eight schools this year so she has practice in reaching out and communicating with the school some like that just to be able to draw news or event information towards to to our website um because I think unfortunately like you sort of hinted uh we haven't gotten a lot from the schools but if we have somebody there you know once a month just making a call do you have anything we could when when we've discussed this some schools say that some of their events they actually they don't even put it on their Marquees uh because they actually want to keep them within their school community so you know sometimes there there is that but you know as I said and you know with your guidance we are happy to uh try to enhance this in any way possible uh you know in I don't have school age children but for people that I know they said well you know we we have a a constant Communications with their websites and and you know and today I think parents everything you know they deal directly with the websites but you know any program that that we can help promote we're happy to do so appreciate it yeah just I want to there's a lot of misunderstanding in the community of things we don't get credit for which we do and I want to make those clear so everybody understands that we are taking steps we are doing our our part It's just uh uh times have changed like you said people get their information from WhatsApp or a tech group you know parents teacher but uh no I appreciate it very much and uh I think it's just a constant effort to let more folks out there know that we are participating we are you know and as you look at the at the schools uh page if there's any suggestions that you have for us yeah please let us know my followup on thank you Martin uh is we need to have followup um and I'm I'm thinking that perhaps uh through the um our school Relations Committee and through perhaps a liaison we can schedule something not every month but maybe every other month or every three months a follow-up meeting uh to further move the ball down the down the field including uh music a music program things like that I don't want it to a year later and we're still in the same place so I don't know if you all are interested in at least supporting the concept of having you know four times a year a meeting with those groups so that we can better navigate you know the relationship forward as as collectively I would support that yeah yeah that that meetings always help yeah you break down the barriers and the misunderstandings when you get everybody in the room and we can have a comprehensive discussion so I'm always in favor of that okay okay thank you Mr Mayor oh Mr Sam Joseph yes sir uh I apologize Mr Sam Joseph is on zoom and he has requested to speak on this item thank you very much hello uh thank you very much uh everyone for allowing me to speak on this issue I first want to say um a heartfelt thank you to the commission for hosting the workshop the uh the last week it really was a fantastic event we had representation from uh eight different ptsas at our 11 serving Public Schools but I think for me the conversation was was better because it really was a general conversation around the educational landscape of the city and not really focusing just on one segment of schools it's really about all schools and how do we really achieve the city brilliant um moniker that we're looking to get to and I think that was that meeting was the very first step um to getting there and I appreciate uh all the leadership that were in attendance um and very attentive um to the issues and very thoughtful in the way you engage the subject matter I will just say um uh there wasn't an issue with communication around around that meeting because that room would have been overflowed um had there been more public information that that meeting was happening um it wasn't uh I know for a few of the even Commissioners that were in the room it that they had very late notification about this meeting and and its purposes so we do have to get better at our communication um with the community around important topics like this and it's not just for families with children that attend either public or private or charter schools in our area remember that uh because our schools are tied through ADV valorum property taxes it's in all of our interests every single resident um all 50,000 of us to be interested in making sure that we have the absolute best educational landscape not just in Miami day County not just in Florida but in the nation because as those schools do well our bank accounts do well our property values do well um and I assure you that if you if we communicate better about the upcoming town hall meetings which I think we're a great proposition um to to get everyone in the room to talk about what do you see as your city brilliant and what want us to do to help get to that place you will see a lot more people in the room than you uh think would attend um and a lot of them not having physical students attending those facilities so um there was although a notice was put out for the meeting there was no agenda put out um and that notice was very very um lightly held we need to be publicizing this on every platform that we have at apps City websites um and also all of our other public meetings because there are many many interested folks in this topic and subject matter and a lot of great opinions that I think could come from this but um uh thank you strc uh thank you commission it really was a very fruitful meeting and I look forward to seeing the great things that come out of just the start that we have thank you Mr Joseph anything else for the good of the order on this item thank you okay we can move on thank you uh moving on to F9 mayor F9 is a resolution of the city commission adopting a maintenance schedule for the city's white way lights mayor if I may um I'm very pleased that presenting this item will be our legal intern he's a second year law student at FIU and he's been doing a great job um interning with our office so I'll let him before we get started the City attorney was adamant about waiting till 1:00 and I said just remind me cuz we may but I said you know what we may Blow by it so you'll be fine I make sure get here make sure that I can do this so before you start about the before you deal with a resolution and I know you've been working hard tell us a little bit about yourself so good afternoon Commissioners uh my name is Matthew Gomez as uh the City attorney stated I am a legal intern working here uh for the city attorney's office I'm a second year law student at the FIU College of Law and I'm currently loving my role here were you born in Miami uh no I was actually bornn in New Jersey but I was grown I've grown up here all my life parents parents are also from New Jersey but moved when I was young very nice well we're blessed to have you here and the floor is yours take it away thank you so under the guidance of the Deputy City attorney I actually had the opportunity to draft this resolution that sits before you so I will be presenting it before the board today this is a resolution of the city commission adopting a maintenance schedule for the city's whiteway lights the whiteway lights installed on University Drive between ponon Boulevard and Bird Road and those lights installed along Rivier drive from University Drive to Anastasia Avenue will undergo inspection twice yearly and further will be washed cleaned and generally touched up as needed in accordance with recommendations from conservators and the city staff Commissioners the Public Works staff along with the wut city attorney are available to answer any and all questions I'd like to make sure and just amend amend that resolution if possible with with the assistance of my my colleagues to make sure that once the report is finalized once a year doesn't have to be every 6 months that once a year that report is shared obviously with the commission we email whichever way you'd like can be disseminated through the manager it can be disseminated at a commission meeting but I think it' be important and then we could potentially even even share that report well it'll be a public record but maybe you want to share with historic preservation the board historic preservation board uh you want to you want I also uh founded about a year ago maybe two years ago uh another board which was for uh you know mon monuments and entrance features and all kinds of stuff maybe we could share with that board again these are I think it's something important to get as much input and eyes and ears that people are seeing that we are actually you know making sure that we're protecting that multi-million dollar investment what do you think about that sounds good Mr Mayor I'll make sure to conduct with my uh City training team so it's it's a landmarks Advisory board thank you yeah yeah yeah I get it fixed up with landscape and all the other ones that la be acronym and I just wanted to commend you on your presentation for a second year law student you're doing fantastic perfect great job um heres Mr Diaz I apologize is there anything you'd like to add I know I know I know we're outshine we're outshined by by the by this by the two but you know these are anything you I I couldn't have said any better so I think right I entertain a motion I'll move it I'll second here you go Mr clerk commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yeah yes vice mayor Anderson yes commissioner Castro yes mayor logo yes before we move on this is something that uh we've been working on for the last 5 years and I want to give credit where credit is due Kia carbonel amazing uh she did a wonderful job um you know continued efforts in regards to Historic preservation and she's the one uh that's been one of the strongest Advocates along with the entire department all the employees are historic preservation team but she was been a real vocal vocal voice in regards to the wiwe lights okay thank you moving on to item F10 F10 is a resolution of the city commission directing City staff to engage an executive Search firm for search relating to city manager position M vice mayor well uh I asked to co-sponsor this because it was something I spoke about you know I I do believe in a proper succession plan it was something that I was definitely in favor of um and I I've heard a lot from from residents as well and they do concur that we need to do a professional um search um we need background checks um we needed the suggestions have been made to First Look locally because the at least locally people are familiar with Miami dat County nuances that we have to deal with the county that we have to deal with the state we have to deal with durm we have to deal with all these different disciplines in in South South Dade to deal with and I also think that we need um we had a speaker come here today also suggest that we have you know an independent committee um but like everything you have to have those that are qualified for our departments to be able to move smoothly going forward uh I do think that our department heads do need to um ascertain if this person has the requisite knowledge and experience to be able to you know work on the budget and work on all the various things that come through at that break neck Pace that our former ACM had highlighted so I do think we need to get going as quickly as possible for the benefit of our community so we don't have any further delays um moving forward and we do so in a comprehensive way because a methodology where you just you know someone's leaving somewhere you might inherit somebody else's problems and uh I've seen enough um I have enough experience in life to know that what things look like on the outside may not be what's really going on so we need to have those those probing questions asked of any candidate along with the background checks to make sure we're not inheriting uh someone else's has problems and this is not directed at any particular persons whose names have come up uh this is really just to make sure that we we get the best for our city going forward and uh that we don't have any further uh delays so as the co-sponsor of this item I think I agree wholeheartly with you I just wanted to add a few points I think that um having spoken to a lot of the staff um having met one of the one of the staff from you know an employee who who is um from all walks of life um along with residents and business owners they've all been very clear that you know the the the clear opportunity here is to use an executive Search firm uh we want to hear from staff and see what staff's opinion is moving forward uh we want want it to be independent we want to make sure that it's something that again uh does an in-depth thorough thorough background check on the individuals that are being considered um that doesn't preclude anybody from joining the process submitting their names um from the commission saying I'm I'm interested in this person uh in a very you know you can you can do it in a discret way you can speak with a ACM with with with the current city manager he can speak to one of the professionals whatever whatever way that you think is appropriate uh because again we also have individuals who one of the things that I've heard is that people want to be careful because a lot of people are employed and when you're employed currently um you may have an interest in this position but you also want to be as careful and thoughtful in regards to your current employer you don't want to rock the boat and that that is something that I heard of in the last two uh searches that I was involved in uh where people said listen I'm interested but I just want to make sure that the process is very very thoughtful and that it takes into account a person's current Uh current employment if there are there is interest I have a feeling that we'll have people who are who are interested in this position um I just think that to draw the most people and to send a strong message that it's an even playing field I think using an executive Search firm is something that'll that'll tell people listen we're going to cast a wide net and you know everybody has a fair shot at at this job we're just looking for the best person to serve this community commissioner have a few remarks uh I've also been approached by many residents and there are some concerns in the community I have to start by thanking our interim city manager who stepped up to the plate and uh things haven't skipped a beat uh so appreciate the service you've given us regardless of the time or what you're doing you've answered the calls and uh I appreciate that um last commission meeting this commission voted to begin discussions with a preferred candidate to potentially make that person our next city manager but we had a problem the next day an anonymous text was sent out disparaging that candidate who sent it you're big on transparency would you like to share it with us are you saying that I sent it I'm not saying I'm asking you're looking at me well it's a rhetorical question I think we all know where it came from if anything you're accusing me again I did not send that text message and as as a person who knows a person who knows you very well and it's again it's a continued chipping a continued chipping at my integrity and who I am what we have't what we have here commissioner is a great opportunity leave leave the games behind and move on to find you're interrupting me as as you said we you're not supposed to right you accuse me of I'm ask I asked you a question accuse me I have to answer when you accuse me I also think it'd be important for residents to know the message you sent to the candidate through a mutual friend you said if he took the job you would and I quote make his life a living hell that is again let me just again if you're making the statement I did not make that statement what I said was very clear and I've said it to everybody the best way to do this is to use a national search firm and go in a way that is transparent and it's and it's an open process where everybody can can have a bite of the apple and it's the best candidate for the city you can continue to blame me for something somebody not coming here but at the end of the day it was their decision not to come here I'm going to continue with my remarks please You' been SED for less if I may I can confirm that a message with those wordings was communicated I didn't say that patterns you've been censured for less than that but your hatred clearly makes it impossible for you to think rationally sometimes you think that lobbing threats and trying to intimidate people into doing what you want makes you a strong mayor it doesn't the city's Charter states are your equal to the other four of us who have been elected to this body and no matter how many times you ignore our presence you disparage us when you lose a vote or lie about us it will not change the fact that you were here to serve alongside us as equals however you weren't the only one who disparaged this C candidate the vice mayor stated here on the record that the candidate had been fired and that's why he was seeking this job nothing can be further from the truth he's still working for Miami Dade County and people are very happy that he is there trying to address the issues at the airport so I'll respond to your accusation I can only repeat what I am told I heard that you know he wasn't leaving as well during our break a lot of things are heard I also received a message from commissioner Cabrera expressing displeasure in the manner in which certain members of this Commission and they know who they are went around the County's back directly trying to negotiate away one of their employees so we can continue on with this ganship if you wish or we can get to the matter at hand which is we need to find a qualified candidate for this position you know Grand standing like this does not move our city forward it's embarrassing for our city it may make you feel good it may make you feel important it may make you think that you're doing a wonderful thing for your constituency but you're doing exactly the opposite for our constitu constituency so the question remains how do you want to proceed going forward can I continue with my statement you I'm asking you a question you're you're asking me a question you made an accusation against me that is utterly false there was a lot of things that happened during that commission meeting with utterly false statements and for you to come in in here and accuse me of making a false statement based upon something that I was told and re merely truthfully reporting to you all is a shame for this community it's it's very very disparaging and I would like to move forward with a search rather than you playing this game of trying to make one person look more important or how many times you want to get in front of a camera and preach to the community that you're supposed to be the Savior here trying to save things do you want to search for a new manager or do you want to waste time with this I want to finish my remarks and your answer will be will be we heard in a few seconds this behavior is a clear sign that we need a manager who can deal with threats lies and intimidation tactics and is unfazed by them over the last few months I've come with a come up with a list of qualities I believe a manager would need to have these include respect we don't want to interrupt your call commissioner it was an error I press the wrong button I apologize those include respect for others the ability to handle crisis situations the ability to lead by example would Faithfully follow the charter code procedures and directives of this commission and who has no ties to the special interest or developers who seek to control City Hall as evidenced here last meeting as luck would have it I had someone reach out to me with an interest in the position who meets these requirements this individual has served in leadership roles from the local level to the state level to the federal level this individual also has the knowledge and ability to address the number one concern our residents have today is there public corruption in Coral Gables this is the pressing concern that we must take to the Forefront as this Commission in the 10 months I've been here I've had many concerns myself with the information I've been provided by Brave members of staff and the community who have shared very concerning stories of their experiences with our City's government we must look into these concerns and ensure our city is clean of impropriety and Corruption and that our processes are being Faithfully followed the candidate that I'm bringing to you for your consideration today is a graduate of Coral Gable senior high school he's an alumni of Miami Dade College where he has been enshrined into their Hall of Fame his career has taken him through many key roles in leadership including eight years as the special agent in charge of the Miami Regional operations center for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement two years as deputy director of the South Florida money laundering strike force of the Miami dat State Attorney's office and for 4 and 1/2 years he served under two US presidents as US Marshall of the sixth largest US Marshall Service District in the country the southern district of Florida this gentleman commands respect because he gives respect He commands hard work because he puts in hard work he believes a solution to a problem can most of the time be found in being faithful to the ordained process a man dedicated to service and to his family someone who can lead this city as we end our our first Centennial and ensure the clean start of our second with that I would make a motion for this commission to name Amos roas Jr Coral Gable's next city manager I've asked Mr roas to accompany us today to introduce himself and answer any questions the commission may have I'm sorry can you repeat the name Amos roas Jr okay um thank you for that I appreciate that with that being said um there's a motion on the floor is there a second just to respect the process the way that this works you can do this for discussion if you like please I again I prefer the normal process a background check needs to be run vice mayor I'm sorry to interrupt I apologize I I I don't want to get later say that I give you fair treatment you know I give you more treatment than they do so I want to be very fair to everybody sure we have a motion on the floor we have a motion on the floor we're not going to vote on it we're just going to have a discussion is there can I have a second or just a not there's not they just dies I'll go ahead and second that and I feel that a US Marshall really what background are you going to do I mean that I think sufficient backgrounds as it is but that I'll second that okay so with that being said vice mayor I apologize I just want to be fair that's it CU then they say I'm not fair okay so I'm familiar with the job that the US Marshal does and it's a very different job than being a city toam manager and I've dealt with US Marshall service because I have done asset collection asset Sals those types of things with US Marshall servicing so it goes beyond custody issues it goes more into asset sales as well it's a very different job extremely different job than being a city manager without having a resume without having an opportunity to sit down and speak to this individual on an in-depth level this sounds no different than what happened the last meeting around this is not a thoughtful process this is not a process where we have input from the community which we had a speaker come here Mr Wells came here and asked for that as well it's a surprise and why should it be that way when we should be more considerate about the process that we're doing what experience in background and education does this individual have in finance what education background and experience does this person have with public works with all the different disciplines that we have coming into that's I'm fine it's wonderful it's a pleasure to meet him but I'd like to be able to sit down with him in my office have an interview get to know you I'm very familiar with the criminal justice system I'm very familiar with the asset forfeiture issues ETC but to make a decision without having an opportunity to be able to speak with you on a onetoone basis and and and throw you into the mix of this I don't think it's the right way to do this I think you know my preference is if I was sitting in in standing in your shoes to have the opportunity to speak to every single member of this commission get to know us make sure that you're comfortable with the position and don't regret making a move uh somewhere down the line so that's my preference love to have you once we have this conversation once we go over the various different issues that are presented in a city government that is drastically different than the the federal government um I'm familiar with both and there are different worlds so that's my comments than you vice mayor uh commissioner Menendez you have anything like to add I'm just listening for now okay I don't I don't have any I just want to make sure that you guys are done I don't you have anything else to say before I before I say you have something go ahead no no thank you for coming actually what a surprise I've never met you but I was looking you up and I saw that the picture that I was looking at was a person coming in through the door so what a surprise um I I don't know if you caught this but I seconded that motion um um I'll put on the record I've never spoken to you I've never met you I'm looking here at your LinkedIn and um it's very impressive retired F FDLE special agent in charge um Miami Regional Operation Center South Florida moneya laundering and deputy director very impressive all qualities that I would like the new city manager to possess and to have especially given the circumstances that I believe that we are in so just to are you are you done oh just to answer a couple of the questions that the the vice mayor brought up um regarding the background check U Mr Amos I believe still has an active top secret security clearance that's that's fine again I just said i' prefer to have a face tof face meeting with you than an interview in the middle of a meeting my friend if I may just with all due respect we've never met this has never been done before in this fashion I've never even shaken your hands you're probably a wonderful individual who's competent who's capable and can do a great job but we have a commission meeting that the intent as a regional person who's held the amazing positions that you've held you understand that there's a process when you were hired for your job I'll give you an example when you were hired for your job it was an interview process correct sorry it was an interview process correct sir yes sir and there was multiple people that were were considered and there was and there was a process that again was publicized and people were able to engage in that position and people were able to say I'm interested in that position and throw their hat into the ring all I'm saying is again we don't have the votes I don't have the votes this is a standard 3-2 vote as it's been for the last few months and it's perfectly fine this is the way it's going to be and it's fine but all I'm saying is what I told previous people who consider this position which I met with another gentleman who was also being considered for this position and I took him to breakfast and I said the best way to move forward as a community to build consensus around the city manager is not for having one person pick the city manager it's for it to be done by an outside agency and I request and I ask you to please put your name into the mix get involved you know give us all your credentials give us your resume but to come here today as a person of your caliber you know that you're going to be dealing with five different people you're going to be dealing with a city with over a thousand employees it's a completely different scenario than what you've been in and the best way in my opinion to be the recipient of city manager is to having gone through a rigorous process it's not only about background checks it's about a rigorous process where the entire commission and we come together and we make a decision based on a person's credentials not assigned a person who walks in the door because I don't think you've ever gotten a job like that cuz I've never gotten a job like that in my life walking in so I'm just giving you the utmost respect and I'm just saying that it this is this is more my I'm sorry through the mayor there's a there's a motion and there's a second therefore it allows public comment and I would consider him as public common to be able to come up and express or answer questions commissioner I'm not denying him that I'm not denying what I'm saying is there's a process and I would love nothing more than to not taint the process for you to potentially get involved where one second sir one second one second for you not to taint the process of getting involved as a potential candidate for for city manager with an outside firm that comes in which is the way it's always been done and I think the most ex the most appropriate way that it's been done and rather than going to the prepared speech that I had let me just say this I'm not a politician your process is your process I'm interested in the position because I believe that I can add value to the City of Coral Gables how this process works it's really up to you so what I hear you saying Mr Mayor is you know you're interested in the job but we're going to do something else that's your right I'm just here saying that I'm interested I can do the job I think I'm the right person for the for the for the position at this time but again not being a politician I leave that up to the elected officials thank you very much and I and I would love to me individually with all of you thank you very much and Mr Mayor when you say tainting the process you did that when you threatened our last candidate I did not threaten anybody we we two of us have heard two of us have heard it commissioner I heard and by the way I know from personal experience that's how you operate let me finish hold on no cuz you're you're stating that I made it I made stop for a second commissioner I've worked with you for years I've known every trick every email you send every way that you conduct your you're saying that I do things that you do you're saying that you're threatened but you never put one police one one as a gentleman in law enforcer knows if there's a threat then there has to be a police report now one one police report was done so my point is let's handle the gentleman here you brought before I think that's the least so we can show the respect that he deserves okay my point was very simple I was just trying to move forward to make sure that you when I said taint was that you did not stand up here make a statement and then if we go a different route if we go a different route to go through a standard process where you bring out an outside consulting firm to basically grab as many resumes as possible qualified people to consider them that nobody could come and say hey he got a he got he he got you know preferential treatment because he came before the commission or something like that it's not about tainting the process about I wanted to make sure you were on eil on equal playing field of everybody to be considered but at the end of day like I said before the votes are the votes and you said it's our process you said you wanted you said you wanted to have you want to recognize the vice mayor I have nothing else to say no I I wanted to answer the vice mayor's concerns so the first one was on the background check the second was South Florida connections this individual has been working in South Florida for several decades um through Miami D County South Miami um the FDLE he handled our southern region as a US Marshall he handled the the southern region he's worked with our police chief before on multi- agency uh issues uh he's the one who headed up the uh 91 the 911 um terrorist task force for uh the State of Florida he is the one that created the um Blue Alert for uh police officers similar to the amb alert this somebody who's been dedicated to this community has gotten a lot of things done in management roles for over 30 years so you say he's not qualified to be the the manager which was your third point no I didn't say that he's not qualified we need to evaluate okay and I'm totally familiar with the entire criminal system because I've worked in it for 37 years and I'm telling you it's different working here and I'd like to have a convers ation with you to make sure that you're best equipped going forward because making a decision here wouldn't have an opportunity to speak to you you know I'm happy to sit down and try to educate you on some areas that you would be beyond what you would deal with in FDLE before beyond what we deal with in US Marshall's office and I've dealt with HSI ATF H CBP ttb I've dealt with all the federal agencies and I've been all the way around the country on various litigation matters both civil and Criminal Court of international trade we all bring with us different education background and experience but I think to have the trust of the community if a process is used where it's a it's a normal process there's an application procedure you get interviewed like I said in the last meeting last week I don't know if you had an opportunity to listen to that presentation it would be last meeting this the first time I sign in to listen to any City Commissioner meeting I okay so you know be beneficial for you to listen to that because what I said is I wanted a normal succession plan that I had conversations with our then city manager who was 68 years old that we needed to have a succession plan I wanted him to be able to bring somebody in get them on boarded whether it's a six month a year to where we're comfortable so someone's just not thrown into the Rapids dealing with issues you've never dealt with and never had to deal with working in the positions that you that you did there's so many layers of process Derm EPA other types of issues this is not the place to do an interview I I I can't argue with what you're saying but I can't tell you is this I've always my experience surround myself with professional folks that know to do the job I don't need to be an engineer to know that I can select a good engineer that gives good advice and I listen to the advice and then I make the final decision I'm a consensus Builder I don't make decisions on the Fly you know the days of hurricane disasters and deploying State resources to different areas Sheriff's yelling hey I need more people and I don't have the people how those days are gone I have now the luxury of being able to look at a problem listen to The Experts because I am not an expert I couldn't tell you the traffic pattern and flow of uh the traffic coming through day County what's the transit population or the work population in The Gables how's how is that affecting the the flow of traffic but what I do know is reach out to the individual uals that have the information and put that information to work and then at the end of the day as I understand it in this type form of government you're my boss you come to me and you ask me to do things and we'll get things done that's one thing I always do I get things done one way or the other we'll get it done but if you're asking for uh you know for me to be an engineer or ma a waste management uh you know professional that's not amazing you got the wrong person if you're looking for someone that's going to take a city the Departments that that fall under the uh manager's uh purview and focus their attention on the importance of what needs to be done for the City of Coral Gables basically making sure everybody is rowing heading in the same direction and the rows are going uh the ORS are are or turning at the same rate that I can do for you or I can do for the city I'll be very honest with you I was not looking for a job I'm happy where I was but friends of ours called and said hey you are perfect for this position of course they're biased because they're personal friends of mine so and would you be interested in and here I am I'm I'm fine either way again I'll reiterate what I said earlier this is your process however you all want to do it I'm just a candid no no I and I understand and I'd love to sit down and interview as candidate with all due respect you can be a great manager been trial lawyer on major cases 3 four months in trial you don't become able to try that case in the first week you have to have time to get on boarded and that's part of of the process that needs to be done plus you want the trust of the community okay this commission may not be here tomorrow you need the trust of the community that know that you got hired through a process that they had an opportunity to look at as well because they don't know you okay and I know you're highly respected and I'm highly respected in my field too but I still have to go through an interview process for every single client that I work for okay and they have to have an opportunity to do that not just picked out of a hat that's essentially what this is it's the first time I've heard your name I don't have your resume okay I'm sorry that's the case that's the first time you've heard my name so no listen I've litigated in multiple States throughout the United States including the local venue okay from New York to California to Washington State and Texas Etc and so on so I deal with a lot of different departments and a lot of different agencies but a thoughtful process should be used here why you want the trust of the people you don't want just the trust of this commission you want the trust of the people moving forward because tomorrow someone might say well gez they just picked the name out of a hat and that commissioner's gone so now you know you start to experience say that somebody say that but uh I don't think I'll have any issues not only earning the respect of the community earning the respect of the commission and of the members of the city of cor gors I don't see that as a problem ask that's never been my uh I ask you a question sir just yeah what where's where's your current employment now uh I was retired I retired from the Marshal Service in uh 2018 I was sitting so I'll be honest with you sitting sitting comfortably up in my vacation home in North Carolina having a glass of wine looking at the mountain when my friends started calling me and saying hey this opportunity is coming up I think you can do a good job and I I prayed on it I looked at it and I said you know what I'm going to put my name in the Hat just like I did with the Marshall service when friend of mine called me and said hey put your name in the Hat and I was able to be appointed US Marshal so let's talk about that because I don't want to reiterate what the vice mayor said putting your name in the Hat for consideration I think that's the best thing that you can do for the city I have but the the decision of how you I get I understand but I'm just telling you I'm just telling you the reason why when when you're invited to come here and we have this type of discussion it's again it's the shock the shock and awe treatment of of we want to get an upper hand on on everybody and not give anybody any any any opportunity to even have a discussion on items it's we want to Spring something on somebody that's not the way that I would handle the employment of my manager when you're talking about somebody who is going to be running over a thousand employees who's going to be dealing with a budget of over $200 million who's going to be dealing with major issues across the board not saying you're not qualified probably you're super qualified for the job but we as a five people up here have a responsibility to 51,000 Residents in this community that I'm not going to go out there I have a lot of people who I could bring here right now who are very qualified for the job maybe not as qualified as you again and let to say you're the most qualified guy I've ever met for the position but I'm all telling them you need to go through a process because I'm not going to have anybody first I won't get them through the commission because I don't have any I don't have the votes they're never they would never entertain hiring hiring somebody I bring no matter how qualified they are and that's the first problem that we have bringing somebody that one commissioner prefers over another is where again I think the system breaks down and it doesn't show the level of transparency and the level of open process you bring an outside entity to handle the process you put your like you said your name in the Hat and I think it's an opportunity to be selected but again it is what it is we're moving forward well I'm not sure I I don't know if well as a commission it's also up to you sorry it's also up to you I never by the way I'm I'm the second one in this commission I think that maybe the third I don't want to speak for a commissioner account I've never met you that's what I said I've never heard of you but again I haven't looked at your resume because I don't have my computer in front of me and I and I I want to see it with my I just better eyes so I again I commissioner Menendez wanted to say something so moving forward so it's great to have a Cavalier there thank you last gentleman was a Columbus Explorer so it's now we have a Cavalier a question for the city clerk because lately not this commission meeting I hear it all the time that it's always always a 3-2 vote 32 vote 32 vote how what percentage more or less since the last election of 2023 have we voted 5 Z roughly commissioner the last time I did this exercise was uh in January and it was uh not counting the consent agenda it was right under 90% 90% we vote 5-0 I think there's a misperception in the community that even though we debate we disagree when it comes down to it 90% of the time we vote 5 I want and the clerk just made it clear the other part is um I remember getting phone calls uh some years ago when a new manager was being sought and um remember there was Kathy Swanson and there was Peter Iglesias and if I'm uh obviously I was in a commissioner but I don't believe they were a result of a national search they were selected different way so my understanding is it's not the case no no no no it's not the case there was a process it was a process that we went through and by the way and if I don't want to interrupt you so no no no that was it I mean my point is and and in terms of I think we all agreed that at the very least the gentleman has more than qualific ations uh this for the city's needs and you know it's interesting because the comparison you know I'm an attorney the vice chair a vice mayor is an attorney and you know attorneys can if attorneys can serve as Commissioners then the US Marshal for the sou southern district I think can be a city manager you know it do one thing doesn't exclude a person from being able to do something additional and do it well so I think that argument to me is is inconsistent uh again I'm still listening but I just wanted to make those comments early on so I'm going to add a few more I'd like to answer like just if I may I'd like to respond to to the commissioner when I say the majority of the votes I'm talking about major votes you know simple resolutions and things like that but when you talk about issues like for example annexation you talk about issues like November elections you talk about salary increases you talk about simp things that should be no-brainers like going through a process it's usually 3-2 you know it's usually 32 in regards to U those major items that that are kind of litness test items here in the city I apologize vice mayor no no need to apologize the analogy of of being an attorney to being a commissioner is totally different than being a city manager as far as the background and experience and one of the things that I've taken away from uh um other experts that I've worked with and I've worked with a wide variety experts in federal court is I'm one of the few attorneys out there that understand financial statements balance statements and know how to litigate those matters and that's why I was in the court of international trade as well dealing with you know what is the gross margin on on products and so forth they would always select me in the case to argue the financial figures because we all have different backgrounds and experiences but I'm going to read to you so that you understand the context of where we're coming from here quote from commissioner County Commissioner Cabrera that I was authorized to read into the record commissioner cabera says he's spoken to director cue and he stated that all he agreed to was have a conversation and that commissioner Cabrera finds it very unprofessional to publicly disclose a private conversation regarding potential employment that means employment here while he's the person is still employed by another employer the reason I bring this up to you is that the process was broken at the last meeting with a particular commissioner bringing in name out of a hat this is not a normal process I think that you would come in with greater acceptance from the community if you went through a normal process whether it be a nationwide search or local search but there's more than one name in the Hat cuz anytime you have one name in a hat we went through that back when our um city manager was uh Miss Swanson there was one name in a hat to to and Mayer I think you know these facts better than I do because I was busy with kids and trials at the time um one name and a had to be moved up or brought in as a second Chief of Police there wasn't a normal process done they skipped some of the interview process and skipping those processes automatically uh creates a a shadow or distrust around the name I'm not saying that you're a person that can be distrusted you have an impeccable career and I don't want to Tain it and I'm suggesting you to you you don't want to have it tainted by an improper process as well we have another city commission meeting coming up in the beginning of April I'd love to sit down with you I'd love to have a a great conversation but I'd also like to see one more name in the Hat so that that that you come in with a deliberative process where you come out as being the best between the candidates and you step in here with that integrity and you can lead the employees because the employees will have utmost respect for you if you go through that type of process process as opposed to an ad hoc process that's being done here today so that's that's my respectful suggestions to you I'm I've never been opposed to a good fight in a good uh competition so but I I leave it up to to you all I want to respond if if I may uh something that the vice mayor said in particular talking about one of our County Commissioners I too spoke to that county commissioner and the county commissioner expressed their surprise and uh frustration with how the name of the candidate came up but that county commissioner also spoke glowingly of that candidate and that county commissioner told me that they were ready to write a letter of recommendation for that candidate if that candidate was ready to move forward so it's it's two sides to the entire story but I if I may I want I I want to add something to that while Mr guier is incredibly competent and revered that's also not lie to ourselves that the way that it was presented was flawed because I received a phone call from mayor Cava in my office in front of Staff where excuse me sir where she was not very happy with the way that things played out so and you can have that conversation with her and I put it on the record cuz she told me to say that so there's we're not we're not debating whether the gentleman was competent or not or whether he had done an extremely well job in public life that's not the question question was whether the the way it was presented and that's what I think we have an issue also here but at the end of the day like I told you commissioner men says 90% of the time we vote 5 yes but when you talk about issues for example adding to a list the firing of the city manager the termination City Manager on issues that are true lious test here in the city we don't vote 5-0 we vote 3-2 and the best way for you you to start for you to start here in the city is with the entire support of the commission by throwing your name into the ring and having a discussion with through a through a thorough process and being able to sit down with every sen commissioner and also meeting with other people what if there's potentially somebody that's more qualified than yourself for this position I want to take this opportunity not to just to name you but look at every other candidate that's possibly out there that's interested in this position that's my opinion I I say we take a advantage and we get to know you right now in the most transparent manner this is recorded everybody's listening everybody's hearing so I'll ask you some questions and please stop me Rael if those are questions I'm not allowed to ask okay um number one welcome to Coral Gables but do you live here in Florida do you live in Coral Gables do you live no I excuse me I could never afford to live in Coral Gables uh this true be honest with you uh but I did go to Coral GA High School grew up in the shenandoa area uh went to uh school here uh started my law enforcement career in South Miami Police Department next to our neighbors and basically worked my way up uh did 25 years Florida Department of Law Enforcement started out as a Narcotics agent worked all the way up to special agent in charge of the South you know Miami region operations Center uh which basically encompasses Palm Beach to Key West uh the largest uh FDLE office in in the State uh I was co-chair of the uh uh homeless security task force I was also home chair of the Coast Guard homeless security task force southeast co-chair of that committee uh after I retired from FDLE uh the state attorney's office Kathy Rondo called and asked if I would uh be her deputy director of the task force and I accepted that challenge I did that until my appointment to the US Marshall service so that's my La I went to University of Alabama I graduated from University of Alabama in Huntsville I was a police officer actually Police director there for a while and then came back home do you do you live in North Carolina right now no no no I live in Miami that's just a that was my concern we live in uh in Miami okay am I allowed to ask any family questions no right go ahead may may I just what may I mean if we're going to vote him in let's if we are I think the most information we can have of you the better it is well I I'll tell you I'm married uh I have uh three kids uh all three daughters I have uh five grandkids kids and uh my oldest daughter is a Miami day detective my middle daughter is a nurse practitioner at Miami Children's Hospital my youngest daughter uh lives in North Carolina a student and uh my wife is also in law enforcement so our whole family is is law enforcement uh basically our our philosophy's always been faith family and service to the community and that's what I did that's what my kids did that's my my kids do uh you asked what I was doing now uh when I'm not in North Carolina I'm uh my grandkids Uber driver I drive them to Columbus I drive them to LS I drive them to wherever they need to go that's that's that's my job beautiful and I don't know if anybody else has more questions if we want to look at this as an interview process right here more transparently I the the questions would be quite extensive and I think we'll be here for the next three hours if we continue on yeah on this course I mean it's an important decision so as long as it takes so if I may I mean I we you know becoming city manager is is no tall order okay I mean it's it's a huge commitment um there is a whole list of items that are terms in your agreement with your contract if for some reason you're voted in today as manager you have all the leverage in regards to your to your pay your salary your terms all that kind of stuff what I'm what I'm what I'm going to be asking for as we have a first in a second is for the sake of the city and if you're interested in this job let's go the professional route I think asking you questions about about you is asking I'm asking you to please take your because obviously one of the Commissioners wants to keep pushing forward and pushing forward this is not the right way to do things it's not the we don't we don't do things like this in the private sector I don't walk into my office in the private sector and then have my business partner you know basically having just hired somebody you know we make sure we have a conversation we take it through a process we do a background check we try to find the most qualified person for that position especially a position which is again not a remedial position or an entry-level position it's a position that is the top top position in an organization you hire that through a process that is Ironclad that ensures that we have gone through and taken and dotted every eye and crossed every te so I've said that about 10 times I'm not sure you lost me on the I'm asking I'm ask I'm just being very clear I think that you should you should in my opinion is you should advise commissioner Fernandez he said let's go if you're if you're serious about this job my advice to you is to go through a process not to just come up here and say I want the job I have the votes and I'm moving forward without again having a real in-depth knowledge not saying you can't pick up that knowledge over a certain amount of time you're probably a brilliant man who can probably pick it up faster than anybody else but it takes time you know there's a lot of there's a lot of moving Parts here and I think that the best thing to do I I don't argue with the moving Parts I don't argue with the fact that there's going to be a learning curve and and for me probably a big learning curve when it comes to some of the issues uh like Union negotiations or some of the other things that are going on but I I'm I'm sort of sort of uh you keep repeating if you really want the job if you really want to be professional and I really I take I take exception to those two things I do want the job if not I won't be standing here and I am trying to be professional but if the commissioner wants to do something different I I'm fine by it I'm here to volunteer my services don't want my services no problem thank you very much sir I appreciation thank you I appreciate and I would love to sit down and talk to all of you honestly yeah all I mean it's not it's not to say that you're not qualified it's just what I'm saying is you're going to if you're going to be the person managing a thousand employees in order for them to feel confident in you and the directions that you give them they will be much more able to do so if you do the normal hiring process understood that's my through through the manager I think that a lot of the things the the mayor is saying are are pretty pretty accurate but given the circumstances that we're in I do not trust that he's not going to s ritage this opportunity so I am still SE seconding his motion given the past history of what's happened so we have we have five people on this and I I don't I know that this city manager is not going to sabotage the process I know that I'm going to sit down and spend the the respective time with you and and bring you up to date on as much things as possible okay yes ma'am and make some respective uh respectful suggestions on how to get up to speed the fastest but I think an informed decision by you knowing more about our city would be helpful to you going forward and being that you've gone through more of a process your ability to lead will be enhanced if you go through that process as opposed to a 3-2 vote because you didn't go through through the process understood thank you sir I appreciate you thank you very much um is there any other further comments on the record no okay um Mr clerk Mr Mayor I have a member of the public requesting to speak Maria Cruz please come forward Maria Cruz 1447 Miller Road first let me apologize I am here as a member of this community who has serious concerns about the way things are going and I felt offended by the some of the comments that were made I I'm trying to hold myself because if we were if this was an ideal situation like we had three Commissioners back we had a search did any of the employees meet the person no as a matter of fact the person was hired lasted what one day and then had to let go be let go because something didn't come up in the interview now I'm sorry but what we're trying to do here is the same thing that happened with Mr coutier you know what let's paint it so so bad that the gentleman will say you know what I don't need this take me out of the of the discussion no this is the best city to work our residents our taxpayers will Embrace anyone that comes here to do a good job what I heard remember I he I listen carefully because I'm a retired educator I heard somebody say to you I do not know everything but I'm will willing to have the experts guide me you have an assistant city manager well an interim city manager now who is who was an assistant city manager who is an expert that I'm sure would be very happy to be the resources for this gentleman if we were to uh make him the new city manager I believe that I'm sorry sorry for those of you that are not happy with how this is been handled there was no other way to handle it because you know what as much as we like to say there were no threats there were no bullying I'm sorry I got the text messages I got the phone calls other people have text messages other people got text you know what I didn't send them no but my pack did or my friend did it you know enough is enough this is what is called let's move on let's do it and and and support this gentleman and I'm sorry if I hear anybody else say well you know if you were to take it you need to because you know what that's how the conversation began before if you take it since I didn't select you since my friends didn't choose you you know we're going to make your life hard well I want you to know sir that if you are selected you will have the residents the taxpayers or colat behind you because we want the city to go back to what it was before the best thank you very much that's it Mr Mayor all right so we have a motion and a second on the floor we need any further discussion are we ready to move forward let's move forward yes go ahead sorry mayor some clarification this is is is this merely a motion to appoint without terms or an effective date again the this is this is the way the business is being handled this is what is requested by the commission and this is where we're going to move forward do you think we can have a five minute break to discuss some things I can do whatever the commission direct this is not this is this is this is to negotiate with somebody and bring somebody up to speed takes more than five minutes this is not the way that things are done um it do we have do we have the votes before before I I mean we should just take the vote and see if we have the votes if we have the votes then obviously we move forward um Mr clerk I'm sorry commissioner Fernandez can you please repeat your repeat your motion sir the motion was to appoint Amos Ras Jr as Coral Gable city manager thank you sir uh will a member of the commission be appointed to negotiate on his on behalf of the commission I actually have provided Mr Rous with the current salary structure and as far as I'm concerned he has agreed to continue on the same uh contract structure as the prior city manager that's correct perfect okay all right what about an effective date effective tomorrow so you're suggesting a one vote resolution as opposed to a first and a second and no National search just picking this gentleman and then that's is where we're mov for I I have not seen the terms that may have been provided to him same ones that that the interim city manager signed so that solution was specific to the interim city manager position because there's some nuances associated with that given that he was the deputy city manager and given that it was only for three months so I you know those those details would have to be worked out all right just commissioner just really quick typically the way we do it is we do a resolution appointing the gentleman and then a second one agreeing to the terms of employment so the first the first motion is to uh appoint him as city manager effective tomorrow okay and and nothing on the agenda to notify the residents so they can provide in public input or have an independent search committee that was just if there was a fair playing field where people weren't threatened weren't being try intimidated we could follow the routine process but what we've seen here over the last two weeks is that threats and intimidation are the course of action by an anonymous pack and by individuals on this day right here right now this gentleman got a threat from you and a threat from you didn't get a threat from me I just told him what my choice would be to be a we stop stop stop I mean that's just that's that's just insulting stop thank you stop excuse me excuse me sir please join us with your background in law enforcement I would like a clear answer please do you feel threatened by myself or the vice mayor anything we told you today no there's nothing that you ask simple question there's nothing that you have said that has caused any fear threat I just took exception to the to the issue of that I do I really want the job and the professional side of it that's the only exception I had but no absolutely not my point my point about the professional side was coming into the position coming into the position with over a thousand employees and how the process was handled that's the only way that's the only thing that I meant so so you don't feel threat it's going to be difficult so let me let me explain to you let me explain to you so you don't feel threat I just want to put it on the record because that is being used over and over and over again it's even made Publications and the threats and the whole thing it's being used as as an opportunity to push forward okay so okay it make me want to change my mind I'm just say you don't feel threaten okay all right so we have a motion we have a motion a second commissioner Fernandez would you want to take five minutes to speak to the City attorney to make sure that the terms that he had are going to be the same terms this this city manager is going to have how just just a thought last time with the interim city manager Alberto he was um approved and then you all came back with agreement at the end of the meeting MH yes sir can you can you try to do that to see if you can do that certainly we'll do whatever the commission directs certainly we can do that right all right um so there is no vote I there is a vote can I make a suggestion I'm sorry maybe it's I'm out of place addressing the commission but let me make a suggestions because I like compromise and I like consensus how about I work as a city manager under contract till after the election because you have an election coming up in April that's a year from now and in the meantime or during that time close to the the election before the election you all decide to do a national search do whatever you want to do and I'm on my way Mr Mayor can I just address yeah go ahead so so we cannot do a contract because the city manager position serves at the will and at the pleasure of the commission so at any time the city commission can decide to terminate that appointment if I may interrupt and I apologize for if I did um you've done an amazing job presenting yourself I too apologize that sort of um things have sort of mushroomed into a mushroom cloud um but my understanding is there's a motion second to a point and then the second part would be to instruct the City attorney to sit down with the candidate or and come up with agreement by the end of the meeting like we did with Alberto if that's possible but I think there's two steps right a point and then the contract so there doesn't have to be two-steps it has been done like that sometimes in the past there doesn't have to be but we can certainly do it in the two-step fashion um I do you know kind of suggest to the commission that you do think about the effective date um you know I don't know if if um Mr Amos is ready to just jump in tomorrow as well um but just think about that and possibly a transition um also I think what he was suggesting was maybe we can describe it as an interim city manager you know position or longer term that's something else that I think he was trying to offer as as his you know as he described it a compromise um but certainly we can do it in one step or two steps but if we do it in the one step we should have all the terms in there I'm comfortable with two steps so if the will of the the commission is to appoint get it out of the way that's the way I look at it okay commissioner Menendez um statement first uh the City of Coral Gables is a drift and a cesspool of public corruption and I'm here to help navigate our beloved City out of the muck and to Safe Harbor so I vote Yes vice mayor Anderson in order to have the Integrity of this individual be un question a normal process is necessary and clar classifying assess pull of corruption is not an accurate statement as to what's going on with our current employees to do so disparages their integrity and starts off the tenure of any person that's voted in here at a very high incline dealing with individuals that have been Now disparaged by this Commission a normal process is necessary in order to have the trust of the employees a normal process is necessary to have the trust of the residents and I've asked for a normal process to be done repeatedly the residents have asked for that public comment this morning which sorry you were not here for also asked for that it's been consistent and uniform so on based upon those reasons my my vote is no commissioner Castro I would normally ask for us to go through the normal process of hiring especially with my background in psychological HR matters but I have to override whatever I'm thinking due to the circumstances that we are um traveling through or facing and I am not going to jeopardize this opportunity which I think he's an overqualified candidate so yes my answer is yes commissioner Fernandez considering what we're dealing with in Coral Gables and what we saw over the last two weeks uh it is unfortunate we couldn't follow a different process but you know there's a God up there and sometimes he puts the right people in our paths um this is a man who has extensive experience in leadership and can navigate our city as I said before into the next Centennial ensuring that it is a clean City so it is my honor to cast the deciding vote Yes mayor logo again the decision has been made all I can tell you is congratulations I wish you the best of luck I look forward to working with you on behalf of the residents in the business Community my vote will be no based on the simple process that I had just met you not even an hour ago and I think that the residents deserved an opportunity and the business Community deserved an opportunity to be able to meet you to to have a conversation to see who you are and what you stand for I wish you the best of luck and I look forward to working with you tomorrow thank you moving on to item F1 we have to do we need to make a motion on a contract so we would I I need time to to to meet with Mr Ras and sit down to instruct you too certainly I mean I think if if there's a direction is there I can I have no problem I think the direction was given okay I'll make a motion to instruct the City attorney to negotiate uh an agreement so I don't negotiate um typically the the mayor is the one who negotiates to work to to establish a contract for our new uh with the the man the compensation that was set forth in the inm city manager resolution correct okay um what about the effective date when would you want me to discuss it with him and then come back with something I'm sure he has some thoughts I would imagine oh I'm ready to go right now what time is it I'm ready to go uh tomorrow next week it's it's really whatever the I would suggest depending on on the on the pace cycle as it falls for the city it's probably a lot easier to come in at the beginning of a cycle than it is to mess that up so I mean I'll come in for free and until the cycle comes in so how about we discuss that one-onone when we take a a recess back okay and then the the other issue that we you know I can discuss later will be also the inm city manager and um what he will do yes we'll discuss okay excuse me uh moving on to item f11 f11 is a resolution of the city commission directing the city manager to work with City staff to design and Implement green and white bicycle lane markings for bicycle Lanes throughout the city we have a a photo uh city clerk that we can bring up you have that available I have a photo should be it was you should have the photo no so no one provided it to you okay oh um my apologies um I guess I not not a problem it's pretty simple but we got the direction we know where you're looking for I know but I'm trying to communicate it to the the rest of the folks here um we spoke about having uniform color um I did speak with South Miami's mayor uh because we'd like to have a cohesive color so drivers can identify with a color going from South Miami to Coral Gables to Miami date County and and South Miami's mayor suggested and it it made sense that it uh coordinate in with the colors that the underline is using for their bike Lanes um if you go on builtmore way Anastasia any of these shared Road markings ponts they're not very visible yeah a post yeah I well the wheels are a little bigger just a general concept General concept there's a postage stamp the background color is green okay if you got my last newsletter there is a picture of it in there so if you got my newsletter you got the picture and I'm only referring to the uh postage stamp itself so does everybody know what I'm talking about here I think it's a good idea and I thank you for bringing that up yeah because we're going to be repaving some roads I wanted to get this moving yeah so that we uh put that kind of contrast in for the share of the road symbols going forward because we have them on South Al hamur we have them in front of the builtmore hotel we have them on Riviera we have them elsewhere um but they're so difficult to see for drivers and they they don't understand that bicycles are allowed to be on the road vice mayor my apologies uh B is going to be bringing something up okay well that would be more for the public now at this point since everybody here knows what we're talking about does anybody have any comments do you want to discuss this some more give me a second let me if cable TV could uh share my screen on Zoom Please Mr Joseph you want to talk about bike lines okay so you see the patches well there we go that's the idea it creates contrast because when you have a light gray asphalt the white just doesn't show up anymore this is better is that electric or this is yeah this an ebike it's an ebike that's going to present a problem how we doing what else is going on well I'd like to move it anybody want a second so I guess the question would be um are we going to implement this after we do the um repaving of the roads or what's what's the plan anytime we repaint when we're repainting lines or repainting bicycle symbols when we're doing the repaving we need to have Direction going forward and at a certain point you know uh our directors can say when we able to do additional improvements on the roads but I'd like have a color scheme going no absolutely and and I think the first opportunity we're working on the south amra veling project so that was the first one where we implemented and then we will take a look at the other areas where we have charos on the city maybe come up with a plan to eventually replace him with with something similar to that so yeah I mean we may not need to repay you know Anastasia so right while you have the paint and Equipment out uh you can do the same thing so we we can definitely look into that but for sure you know we'll we'll that into a South Amber biking project mhm and and we'll we'll put together a plan to about tackling the rest so the ones where we have that existing condition already all right put in a specific color other than green and you guys can figure out what shade of green that is that match I think the colors are pretty standard set by the um man I'm sorry the mutcd the mutcd um so we have to follow the it's a pretty standard col I don't know that we have too many options no fine I moved it any seconds want to move forward on I'll second yes commissioner Castro yes commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Menendez yes mayor Lago yes moving on to item F12 F12 is a resolution of the city Commission in support of the one-way conversion of visha terrorist between Columbus and Granada boulevards to facilitate construction of a pedestrian I'm sorry facilitate construction of pedestrian facilities for improved pedestrian safety so I sponsored this item and I've been working on this with our team across from me uh because we had a public meeting there probably about a year and change ago we actually have a couple of slides where where that's detailed how long it's been and this has been something that was uh brought to my attention by several residents who live in this area and it's and it's a great opportunity potentially to finally get some sidewalks in a very very tight area without having to cut down any trees so um this is something that again is um long time coming and uh the residents are really behind so it could be something really special we just need to move forward with a resolution of support so the county can take the next step and um and do what we need to be able to make this a oneway street think it's a wonderful idea mayor uh be happy to move it any comments or thoughts from anyone I do I've actually had a lot of complaints over the last 24 hours about this uh from residents in the area cuz they didn't know that this was the option the city was going with um the con the thought at that meeting and I was at that meeting was we were going to try to find different options and see what would actually work but I don't think we ever went back to the neighbors to figure out a solution so what I found is that the county requires the consensus of the Neighbors in the area or a resolution by the commission um what I would like to see is maybe another community meeting where we can present this to the uh residents in the area because of the amount of traffic that you have cutting through there the traffic study that I saw was done only takes into account Venetian Trail and Venetian Terrace but that traffic also affects Mariana and the streets to the South because about 3:00 in the afternoon traffic starts getting backed up on Granada and Southwest 8th Street blocking Mariana and sometimes coming all the way up to Venicia so if you now now make that a oneway street one way or the other traffic is going to have to find another way to get through to the to the north either direction to the East and to the West we want happy to follow the will of the commission as to have another public meeting put it to a ballot I mean I I've been working on this for some time now all I've heard is positive thing from the residents from staff I mean again have you heard negative things from the residence in regards this we haven't really heard since that meeting we went ahead and got to work on it so I mean I've all I heard is positive things that people say we need to do something about traffic and we need a sidewalk and the only way to really address the issue of of traffic and the issue of sidewalks is to make it one way because you can't encroach on somebody's property both to the North or to the South there's no room there's no room to make a uh you know a lane another lane or or potentially make it even wider it it just doesn't work this is one of the most treacherous areas in the city because of of how tight it is on the road but if it's not if it's not the will of the commission it's perfectly fine I just I'm trying to find options to address issues that we're facing as a community here in regards to pedestrian accessibility there's no sidewalks there I don't want to cut those trees down right you know the other option is we cut those trees down and and we're good correct so so the issue is that the sw's too narrow yeah and you don't have sufficient space to have the minimum clearance so the only alternative will be to remove the trees pull the sidewalk in the back you could potentially plant like skinny Palms in whatever space you have left but that would be about the bulk of it the the thought process behind turnning one way is that will allow us to reduce the payment withd which then will allow us to do a little bit of a more um a bigger soil right with a bigger swellow you could find a way around it uh but you know we're here to listen to Will of commission and whatever Direction you want to give what we proceed with the issue here is that our hands are tied but I mean again if it's not if it's not if we don't have three votes for it then we we move on so okay mayor I'm going to make this suggestion because I mean like I said before when we had other contentious items here and I I tried to urge people to get around a table on March 20th if you educate folks and we weigh out the the options um whether it be through mediation process with a folks on G we end up with a better result because everybody understands what the options are everybody understands what the restrictions are how narrow you know we we sometimes wish for things that are not possible and if it's you know if it's they understand the impossibility of doing anything else here there's some hard choices that have to be made I don't think anybody in that area wants to see palm trees as opposed to shade trees the area needs more shade trees throughout it because you have a very special condition there you have septic tanks all over the place people want these trees but they're restricted from having the trees because they have septic tanks this is extremely narrow and if I may add something to it visit that site over a dozen times as you know on the South Side you can't go onto that green area because that is where you have the trash pits that is where you people have their trash pits they have their their some of them are even entering from the rear there it's basically impossible there's no way of putting a sidewalk on the South say oh just put the sidewalk on the other side you can't then you will get rid of everybody's trash pits and when you mention that to them obviously certain people have no issues with that but certain people do so it's we're trying to find a kind of a you know opportunity an opportunity to make it more pedestrian friendly and safer and um you know this is the only real way that we could do it making it one way and saving the trees at the same time not taking away people's trash pits adding a sidewalk and making it one way will make it a lot safer how much time would it take to notice a Sunshine meeting for the residents in the evening when they can attend when they're not in school when they're not that would be a question for the so commissioner we try to do everything 7 to 10 days prior to the meeting it's not a matter you know if the commission decides that they want to do it tomorrow we can well that's not the point the point is to be able to get the information to the residents give them adequate time to make plans uh you know accordingly or have someone from their family attend or VI assum so that they receive the information so that when it does go in and I've done this traffic calming type of meetings I'm we're never going to come up with a consensus completely there's always going to be an outlier that says oh my god the traffic is all going to be on my street and it doesn't necessarily happen that way the traffic will have to have a a you know learning curve it is going to be a different flow but it's still the same number of cars that transect our community and hope and the idea here is for Public Safety after all we want a sidewalk we and it never was supposed to really be a two-way street to begin with it just got kind of by default made into a two-way street which was really a one-way street so we're trying to restore the condition I was told it was a canal at one point I don't think it was a canal it just doesn't have the appearance there that it was a canal the the the reason that there is a larger impact some of those roads only have access either to Granada or to uh Venicia right uh uh on both sides yeah you have on the Venetian Trail side and on the Venetian Terror side right I know and there's an area where there's a triangular piece that comes through you have a dog park between one side of Venicia Venicia Street or Terrace I I don't remember which one's on the North side or the South side but the effect is the same one is too narrow to accomplish accommodate two-way traffic so it would be best served as a one-way traffic and the traffic study uh I know that we discussed would bear out whether it would be best to make it going east west or west east and you have a bit large tree at the end of Granada that obstructs the visibility which further hampers our ability to make a choice then you know I noticed the arrows were going west because that tree creates a visibility triangle issue but I think if people are informed and I would really love to move this forward for a vote today but I think if every you know if people are informed they would understand the vote okay so we can put it you know can we get a meeting done between now and the next commission meeting I may not be here but welcome it to happen without me we have three weeks I understand what it is moving I know the issue move forward the point is to the commission can handle it moving on we like some direction as to what's the extent of the area that you would like to have included in this Sunshine meeting again just so just so the city knows this is an item that I'm also working on to get it funded by the county which is an opportunity to not money out the coffers so um we'll move on we'll defer I'll defer to uh to the next commission meeting I think I think he needs Direction though as to I would say the two Venicia terroristes would be the most impacted Venicia terrorist Vena whatever it is one's with the same name one's Terrace one's court or Street I I don't remember remember and stre and any streets that connect there that are coming don't have access to 8 street let's go through the the chair let's let's try to so everybody come you know so we're collegial so let's let's let's just do it over the next three weeks whatever you deem appropriate along with the commission's schedule you don't have to worry about me make it about them um I may not be here so just make sure that we can that we can get that meeting done before the next commission meeting and it accommodates the residents I want to make sure there's more residents then commission we can always tape it they you know people can watch it later or what whatever that may be okay okay through the chair uh back to your question uh I would say Columbus I think is where the triangle is yes um so I guess that's where the the largest level of impact would be and all the streets that end on Venicia uh which are the on North and South okay because the South one's also only connect to Venicia so a lot of those people use that road to go west in the morning they're they're going to have to it's going to impact their pattern every day well so you have two parallel streets you have venisha Terrace you have venisha Avenue and they're both connected at Columbus and Granada so the ones that would definitely be impacted by this in our opinion would be the ones that are north of visha terrrace because the street is the streets are closed at a street the ones South that are connecting to Venicia Avenue which is the street that's running parallel to Venicia Terrace those I don't seem to be like they would be as impacted as the others but if you want them included in the meeting we can definitely include them I'd like to hear your recommendation we're not even looking at a map can you take when you go back to office make a recommendation can cable TV put them up back up it's a little hard to see okay so sorry the area that's highlighted in Orange is Venicia Terrace the one that's running parallel to it south of there is Venicia Avenue so our recommendation you know if so so so what she's what she's mentioning is that from the north you have the streets that dead in of venisha Tera from the south venisha still still there so we could do both but definitely the streets to the north will be the ones that are the most impacted because they have to come down right they don't have a choice if you're driving north you can always make it right or left on V Avenue and that's not going to change so follow your recommendation thank you very much okay all right so we work with the city clerks to perfect all right I appreciate that we have uh three three items two clerk just to confirm 22 G1 and H1 correct that is correct Mr Mayor let's take a 10-minute break and then I'm sorry did I miss you I apologize are you waiting which were you waiting for I apologize you mind have I take a five minute break for the bathroom you know what I can wait we'll handle H1 perfect moving on oh okay I thought you were upset about it then we'll take a 5 minute break to go to the bathroom thank you no no [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] it [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] yes Mr Mayor all right at the request of the manager we'll be uh deferring G1 so the new manager can address address this issue at the next commission meting perfect so Mr Mayor while the manager is deferring G1 agenda item 22 which was related it's a resolution that was adopted by the Retirement Board asking the city commission to wave The Residency requirement for the city manager's appointment while the manager has deferred his appointment we have had a vacancy on the city manager seat since last July on that seat and we haven't had any anyone apply to it oh I mean what I think maybe we should do is also defer that item also correct thank you moving on to the last item on the agenda mayor H1 is a resolution of the city commission calling a special election on the proposed non-binding straw ballot question to be held on August 20th 20124 providing for submission of a non-binding straw ballot question to the electors related to the possible annexation of little Gables providing for requisite ballot language providing for procedure for balloting providing for notice providing for related matters and providing for an effective date how are you how are you good afternoon mayor and Commissioners Naomi Levy Garcia assistant City attorney uh late last year the commission passed resolution 20233 66 directing staff to place a straw ballot question on the August um primary ballot this resolution proposes the language for that question authorizes the clerk to take all necessary steps to work with the elections Department to make sure the question is on the ballot and puts and sets forth the other required steps for a special election okay quick question if I may I'd like to have the the zoning director please please join us how are you good thank you thank you for being here what one of the concerns that I have that we've been that we haven't talked about really in depth is the issue of sp102 in this area I know it's ever evolving uh discussion at the state level um can you can you give us just I just want to put this in the record so we have it on the record and something that's important um the current zoning County whether if it was annexed and it became the gables What would be the effects in regards to let's say Workforce housing density intensity just can you give us a quick brief rundown in regards to how s SP 102 could have a positive or A negative effect on that area well so um as currently in the state statute it would be within one mile it affects the height the density and the use of a property so all the commercial properties that are on H Street would be impacted and be able to if the property own was interested be able to utilize the live local um to be able to change the height as far as um one mile of the property as currently drafted and adopted in the state statutes um in the Lal act um and the highest in City within the jurisdiction of the county or in our case in the in the city but if it became part of the city Coral Gables it would be one mile you know adjacent to that property correct yes and it wouldn't the county the county the county would have no jurisdiction you know any of the buildings in the county within one mile would not play into that project or would correct no so if it was anex in the city it would be City jurisdiction not the county so that's one of the reasons why I think it's important uh to really consider annexation because obviously now with s SP 102 um it it it if we were able to Annex this piece of property uh I think that it's something beneficial we would control our destiny in regards to zoning uh if not you look at a a one M radius in regards to sp sp 102 and if it's a county not only could you have Workforce housing there but you could also have a pretty significant pretty significantly large project again I don't know the exact numbers the height the width I have to study that but uh I I bet that the city of cor Gables has more rigorous standards that would in turn in turn limit the height or size or impact on the project just wanted to put that on the record so that my colleagues can think about that uh in the near future and just as s sp102 continues to evolve it's it's it's an opportunity um to potentially you know protect our borders along with the crime issues and a few different things that I think are important to address are there any questions or from U from the commission um no questions but really some comments um as last vote on this I indicated that I wasn't ready at this time um because really I wanted to hear from the folks that live in the little Gables and have their vote take place first it seemed premature to be U expending the the funds on hearing from cor Gable's residence and we don't even know whether the folks in Li Gables really want this so that was my my comment on that um but be that as it may and the vote has been taken to do this ballot uh commissioner men I think this does provide the opportunity to do what you wanted to do back in September and hear from the residents on other issues without spending an additional dollar um and be able to save our city some money to be able to utilize it on other projects or salary increases that have been um you know needed for a long time for some of our our folks that work the hardest in the general employees or in other contracts that are still pending and we always have the issues of you know Capital Improvement projects such as sidewalks and Street prep pavings and many other things that we can use the additional money from so I'm asking you at this time to consider because we don't it is not going to cost us an additional dollar to include you know the the survey essentially that you wanted to do back in September to get the view of uh the residents on whether or not they wanted to move the the vote to November this this would not pose the same problems that the other type of surveys did because no one would be subject to the U foyer requests for their Identity On which person voted this way or which person voted that way um this would be great opportunity to hear from everybody yeah I do for the language that's on the ballot um through the through the manager and with the support of the commission I would like for there to be how much it's going to cost the resence because when you're just asking this question it's not really giving the full picture of that it's going to come out of their taxes so um we are confined and the number of words that we can um utilize for both the title and for the question um it's 15 words for the title it's 75 words for the question so of course this language is up for discussion if you want to modify it that's the will of the commission we'll proceed accordingly we're currently at 52 words so logistically I'm not sure how we include that type of information and stay within the 75 and then what exactly it's really different we could put in a fiveyear term or in a fiveyear term it's going to cost the city this much so everything we currently have is an estimate okay it's estimated then but it's and it's also dependent on the property values of the little Gables properties at the time of annexation you know that determines what comes out of the city's coffers right and what's not kind of underwritten by their property taxes so we could write that it's an estimate but we need to put out the information of what it's going to cost the resident so I'm happy to rework the language um I would need to I would need the finance director to propose they prop something as to what kind of estimate to include I think it's hard to quantify in such a small amount of words um May I make a suggestion thank you very much yeah but they already had an estimate and they went over with us the numbers and a presented to us you could present to the residents may I make a suggestion yes good afternoon Diana Gomez Finance director so um as Naomi was saying it really there's the it is just an estimate it's based on a lot of different factors um assuming that certain things would happen in year one and year two of that five-year um time frame that the the schedule that we presented in the individual meetings and so it would be very difficult to so giving just that number um I don't know that it's it's not self-explanatory just to give a number right um I think it would be very almost misleading I don't know this language right here is misleading because if I were to read this right here I would say absolutely sign it over it's not going to cost anything but we're not being completely trans with it's going to cost us something no yes I mean absolutely when we were when we went over the number we we saw that there was a proposed loss in the first year um and then in the first every year thereafter there was a uh a lesser loss so the first year always has the largest loss because you um have to make an initial in investment um so yes but as to the actual language on I I don't know that you can explain it with a limited amount of characters that we are you could put estimated amount within the first five years may I make a suggestion yeah because having voted on a number of County proposals for ordinance changes and uh different ballot items that I've been doing since I was registered to vote and when I was 18 and now I'm 63 years old I've seen a lot more of these types of things and what the educated voter does is you do do research now we could make a reference where they could learn the information from but there's too much information to learn it would be um improper I think to put a a solitary figure in there without more of a comprehensive discussion which you're never going to be able to fit on any bot item you know and I typically would go through and research the impact of anything whether it um the county had various things where they're taking away rights to do one thing or another and you wanted to know what the impact on businesses were doing uh to to make an intelligent choice on that item so I think if you want to put a reference to um places where people can obtain that information that's one thing that information can be housed there um but to put just a single figure on there um based upon an estimate on whatever economic conditions are at a certain point in time would not not be enough information for voters to be able to make that choice you know we we rely upon voters to educate themselves just like when they vote for individuals on this commission you have a yes or no on whether you not want to name and if you you haven't done your research you need to do your research and people need to do their research on this item in order to be able to understand what the costs and benefits are on everything that they do whether it be a charter item whether it be any other item they need to know what the costs and benefits are if I if I may so maybe the option is we mail to the residents a very simple brochure explaining uh what is the what is the purpose of the annexation and what the cost is is that even a possibility we're not allowed be violating stat State Statute if we did that can make can we make a cross reference to where they can find more information I'm sure the mommy Herold will publish stuff as well I think our website will be fine so I think we'd have to research whether we can put something like that on a ballot question um so we'd have to I think maybe we can come back we can research it and come back we definitely can post information on our website I don't think and we currently have a lot of information posted on our website I think your micr your microphone's off when the this discussion came up months ago um there were presentations I mean it's just basically maybe getting that and doing like an exe you know like shrink it down a little bit so we won't have to go through all that and and make it accessible on the website um and I think that's a way to get there so so like Naomi mentioned there is a lot of information already accessible on the website I think the issue we're going to look at is to what extent we can reference a website on a ballot question if that's the direction of the commission well you know we could put it out in the ews you know we have garbage bills coming you know sending the so just to put things in perspective there was a recent State there was a recent change in state statute that preempts um the city from sending out information on a question that's going to come up on a referendum so because annexation will eventually come up on a referendum and even now a straw ballot question is arguably a a question that's on a ballot right um we're not able to send information to people on that question we can post information we can have it available at meetings you can post it and I think we are not allow if a member of the con we're not allowed to do it either City or elected send out but let's say other groups individuals want to share whatever the WE Post they can yes that would be up to them yeah have you guys read the ballot question yes I can read it in um I can read it l if you want just making sure everybody saw it and you you presented you presented numbers to me and I think you presented the whole commission and that's what I based my decision on some of my decision on so I don't understand why you wouldn't be able to present the same number no no so so just to be clear I'm just saying that it's it's difficult in a one sentence to explain what it would cost that's all I was trying to say the presentation the the study that was done with by George duyos and Associates um we had hired a consultant to he he's the one that did the interviews with the Departments and he did all that um and we came up with a number and so that number like for the five years just was $5.9 million would be the loss or the theoretical cost to the residents for that 5year period And so to just say um that the the cost to the residents over year period would be $5.9 million I don't know that that's giv enough enough of an explanation because it is would have to say estimated cost based on certain information because this was information property tax information that we had at at that point in time and so all I'm trying to say is that it's it is really an estimate it's and that's it I mean but yes we did this study and these are the numbers that we came up with but I think that point would would show the person reading that that it's going to cost process something that it's not free and that's the whole point that is that's the whole point that I'm making here that I feel that the reader will say yes because they don't understand it's going to cost them something right so my my related question we've all voted on whole bunch of ballot kind of questions in our lifetime uh could we find out if maybe uh County ballot question or other cities have had a basic question like this not anex a but where there's a dollar or something in the language I I don't recall ever seeing it but if it's out there it'd be good to know I mean I'm I don't mean you to tell me right now on the spot you know I can we can certainly research that what we're trying to convey is we there isn't an issue with just putting a flat number in the question but we feel that there is probably an issue with that number being fully accurate without an explanation of the assumptions that led us to that number so to just say that number in a vacuum we believe there is a risk that that could be even misleading a little bit even if you put estimated I I think it goes beyond estimated it's an estimate based on assumptions different assumptions yes it it's just it's it's not a it's not very straightforward and that was my only point that it's just it needs explanation I think I can also look at reworking this language to make it more clear that there are costs involved with annexation maybe without saying a specific number if that's if your concern is just making sure people understand this is not just an administrative process there are you know costs involved I personally would like that because I think if anyone is intrigued then they will ask questions it's all about asking questions and getting answers to your questions so if you do something and you know a related cost or cost associated with it I think that at least like you said it's not like uh there's more to it right and then we can post the numbers with the assumptions that were made maybe on the website so that they can find the information readily available because I could agree with it's just it's it's a little more thorough I think that makes sense so we'll bring it back so we'll we'll we'll work on something to include some you know languages suggests or indicates that there are costs and we'll bring it back okay thank you very much approval thank you thank you for your hard work I appreciate that um Madam City attorney the last item on the uh the commission is the resolution of the city commission appointing anamos roas Jr as the city manager of the City of Coral Gables in approving his salary and benefits package um mayor I just I know that um oh I'm sorry here all day I didn't know excuse me no no priority your priority your priority um excuse me I apologize about that M Mr Mr clerk may I sorry yeah want make sure he has your card I do Mr Mayor okay the floor is yours take whatever time you need good evening it's appropriate the last sentence of this resolution H1 says the city commission shall retain the authority to decide whether to proceed with annexation not withstanding the results of the special election here's my question does that mean that if a majority of coral Gable's voters does not wish to spend the $23.6 million on annexation and vote no saying they are against it that their majority vote does not count it's a question that's good question I it's is anybody going to answer it mayor moving forward okay a previous presentation by your city showed that it will cost the Coral Gables taxpayers $23.6 million over the first 5 years I'm under the impression that the residents of Coral Gables would much rather have the $23.6 million spent on their many overlooked needs it is no secret that I am vehemently opposed to the annexation of little Gables many of us simply cannot afford to live in Coral Gables it is no secret that little Gables was never meant to be Coral Gables little Gables does not have the winding boulevards lush green tree Scapes and uniform architecture that is the advertised promise of Coral Gables and make no mistake I am not just here for myself I am here for my many many neighbors that could not attend most of these meetings I speak for them as well why would I sit here all day I am here because you just spoke about homelessness you must know that annexation will create homelessness for many residents of the trailer park I encourage you to think about what you just said and back off your urge to Annex little Gables you just said you need to make homelessness a priority you have the opportunity to not exacerbate the problem please take that opportunity you also just spoke of Music in the public schools I've been playing the guitar for 60 years and it is the Great Joy Of My Life One of the Oscar short documentary presentations is called the last repair shop I saw it at the fabulous Gable Cinema and everyone can view it on YouTube it's about the absolute necessity of music programs in public schools I watched it twice I'm a lifelong Miami resident my father was a police detective my mother was a mighty nurse and may have cared for you or someone you know at the Jackson Memorial Hospital pediatric outpatient clinic or the cardiac Ward at Mercy Hospital I was raised to be in service of my community and I am a good neighbor in close in I would like to say the following Dear Coral Gable's residents when the August 20th election is held please vote no regarding annexation of little Gables if you need a ride to the polls I'll be happy to give you a ride remember that the $23.6 million of your hard-earned tax dollars would be much better spent on your city services for you and the vital repairs that are needed thank you very much thank you very much Madam City attorney so yes mayor this is a non-binding uh straw ballot question um ultimately it will be up to the commission to decide um whether to move forward and indeed um if you are going to move forward the resolution or or there should be a public hearing um that would ultimately um require a resolution to file the application with Miami day County so it's not binding either way the the in other words this question is not binding either way perfect thank you very much okay so let's move that that was the answer that I I said that it is not binding either way because if the the commission were to decide to move forward with the process regardless of the results of this valid question um there would have to be a public hearing and a resolution of this commission before they determine to file the application with miam day County so this is at the direction of the commission is something to um kind of a gather input or or see where uh the residents are on this issue but it's not binding they're using it as guidance essentially yes it would be up to the commission yes right and mayor and if a huge majority say yes it still would have to go through the County Commission and the County Commission would still have to approve it correct me if I'm wrong for little Gable's residents to vote correct but even if there's a a um a big majority in favor on as a result of this question we would still need to have a public hearing where this commission would need to make the determination whether the file the application and then it would go through the county Hearing Pro the county process including hearings it would be one of many factors we would consider MH yes yes okay thank you very much thank you for being here and I apologize for the wait U moving on to the final business at hand the resolution that you just gave us mayor do want me to read it in the deputy C attorney can can kind of go through the just the highlights it certainly you all have before you I'm apologize for the two copies the first one had a bit of a typo there's a copy for you as well um this is a resolution of the city commission um appointing Amos roas Jr as city manager of the City of Coral Gables and approving a salary and benefits package it's set forth with very similar if not identical terms to that of the interim city manager as was previously discussed on this day there are a few details there a little different given the more permanent nature of this appointment versus the interim appointment those are all spelled out in the resolution happy to answer any questions and it's uh the appointment would be effective tomorrow yes okay perfect will I have a motion motion you want to move I'll move it I'll second commissioner Fernandez yes commissioner Mendez yes vice mayor Anderson um for the reasons prevy stated and it's not about you I'm just going to say no but I'll enjoy sitting down and and working with you and and try to help you on board as as quickly as possible commissioner Castro yes mayor L as I said before congratulations I look forward to working with you my vote is no have a wonderful day Madame vice mayor uh let's close the meeting out do you have any items that you'd like to discuss or anything of importance well uh I asked for staff to bring up a couple things which one do you want to bring up first uh sanctuary of the Arts I don't have is having a he says he doesn't have any I asked Gabby to give it to you so we put it up on screen two items music at you know does cable TV have anything to put up you guys haven't a woman's voice is going to be uh occurring March 7th through 10th and I wanted to make you all aware of it you can purchase tickets you can attend but it it has a quite a reflective that's music at McBride I'll get to that one in a minute historical references on how women have been treated over the decades and the changes that have made over time and the purpose of this this meeting there you go sanctuary of the Arts Prince very small Friday March 8th is when is happening and this is to encourage women and Saturday March 9th and Sunday March 10th to help there much better now I can read it anyway to help young women and all women aspire to move forward and improve themselves over time understand where we've come from understand the prejudices that have existed in the past um I had some initial thoughts and advertising that came through to me on this and if you realize that back in in time if if some of you are old enough to realize the advertising that occurred in um the media and television you know you had pictures with the woman over the woman man's lap getting spanked to keep your woman in in shape and in place and things of that nature we need to also encourage women to to run for office it takes a lot more to encourage a woman to run for office than it does for a man a man will take it on a first or second suggestion woman you'll have to be asking seven8 nine 10 times before they'll step up to the plate and and do that so um hope you all will attend uh men are invited too it's a learning experience for all of us but it's really to help Inspire um women to step up and the second thing was again a reminder about the music on McBride Plaza and if we can bring that back up so folks can on that watch this later on our next date will be uh March the 7th and uh then we'll have one last performance on March 21st at McBride Plaza 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. that's a Thursday at 150 Miracle Mile look forward to seeing you there thank you mam Vice May commissioner Castro brone congratulations um city man new city man manager okay no no no I'm not done and another thing is um thank God that we got this accomplished now because I already see I foresee other things coming but I want to go ahead and put in as an example while we were having this discussion the text message that I received can you please put that on the screen City CL if cable TV could share my screen yourself picture me right yeah I don't know if everybody could read it I cannot read it from this far there we go so these are the things and I'm sorry to put you out there commissioner Menendez but I think the residents need to know what is happening that when we make decisions like this it's not because um we just want to make and we're not educated and we're not it's because this is constantly happening in the city and I hope that everybody that was watching out there understands at least for me why I made this decision so rapidly this is this is part of it and I'm sorry you have to go through this because now it seems like they're trying to attack you in specific I guess their strategy has changed I know it's horrible I agree with you wholeheartedly I know it's a bad thing moving on commissioner um no I I want to thank commissioner Castro for bringing to light what I think we've all experienced and um true and those for those of you who think that that's your neighbor across the street sending out the text that's money those are organizations those are groups with money with self-interest and they're trying to poison the way you see and think and experience your your local government I just you know I want to be aware that because of social media because of Technology's development it's not I think what vice mayor Anderson was saying back in the day TV commercials now you're bombarded from all sides and nine out of 10 times it's um as reliable as the national inquires when they said Elvis was kidnapped by aliens so be wary be on your toes and don't lose faith I also want to congratulate our new city manager welcome on um to the city of cor Gables and I want to though I don't have a poster but I think we have a commission meeting after it so on Sunday March 10th at the miracle theater at 5:00 p.m um we're showing the movie ET by Steven Spielberg a classic movie at the miracle theaters Sunday March 10th and I think through uh the actress Playhouse you can access tickets it's a great family movie thank you commissioner uh city manager Amos uh roas I look forward to working with you uh thank you for stepping up to the plate uh and um starting your leadership with the city tomorrow uh Mr interim city manager you have been a true gentleman you have done a phenomenal job in these two weeks um and I hope you'll stay on board um to help uh city manager roas uh in the leadership of the city and to all the staff that's that's still here still watching the action taken today is to help you continue to work for our residents and ensure that our residents are a priority many of you have had concerns many of you have brought them to our attention please continue to do so we're here to work with you on behalf of the residents of the City of Coral Gables and our doors my door and my my colleagues doors are always going to be open and we all need to work together we all need to pull the City of Coral Gables forward ensuring that our process are being followed and ensuring that there is no doubt going forward that the City of Coral Gables is functioning properly and to those sending those anonymous text messages Mees I don't know what you're trying to gain but it's time that you look inside yourselves and see that the damage that you're causing is not to the people that you're attacking on those text messages it's to yourselves so with that I wish you all a great couple of weeks in closing I'd like to thank the ACM it's been a true privilege to work with you you've been the consent leader you're a gentleman as always you know you have an outstanding uh demeanor and uh presence and I just want to say thank you for your service and always put in the city first um talking about employees uh we planned about 3 weeks ago to have a light bites with the employees we'll be doing it here uh that's coming up uh this week uh before I go out of town and I'm looking forward to as many of the employees showing up you don't need to RSVP if you want RSVP perfect the whole point is to be able to uh to come and get together and have a have a nice little breakfast together and and to say thank you for all your hard work as always for 11 years I've been doing open Office hours it's been a it's been a true privilege I continue to do it every Friday I ask everyone to please join us this Friday whoever whoever would like to join us residents employees business owners anybody from the community who has a great idea or just has a concern so thank you all God bless and have a wonderful wonderful week e