##VIDEO ID:3ZbRysoWT5U## ready the broadcast is now starting all attendees are in listen only mode good evening first of all let me apologize for uh us starting a little bit late we were at the County Commission meeting regarding the waste energy facility and it ended at 5:05 or 510 so traffic was a little hard getting here but we're here now for our our special council meeting for the second reading of the budget today's Tuesday September 17 2024 um it is now 6 46 p.m. and we're going to rise I'm sorry madam clerk please call for the Pledge of Allegiance I'm sorry for the roll call councilwoman Marine poras here councilman Rafael Pino present councilwoman nna present vice mayor Oscar pu corve I believe he is virtual pres and mayor hear me okay mayor CHR Fraga pres so I think we have to have the City attorney um read the rules before we accept any virtual participation Mr City attorney be be with me one moment let me bring up the U the exact rule um having a little difficulty I don't have any Internet on either of these phones all right let me explain it in in the most generic way possible I'm having an issue reading the exact code uh basically in your code uh you all have adopted and have codified what are your rules of procedures in those rules of procedures it outlines what is uh considered um a person to be present in a meeting or absent and it requires a person to be physically present and not only physically present uh during part of the meeting but for during a substantial part of the meeting uh if the person is not uh uh present during the substantial part of the meeting uh or they're absent completely then you have to take a vote whether to decide to make that person's absence excusable or not excusable now excusable under your code means an emergency uh and it needs to be something that's exent a circumstance um also your code does provide that under those rules you can suspend them by a majority vote of the of the council um what I believe you have before you is something that's a little exent in the sense that and not the absence itself of the individual he is on travel is my understanding uh but the fact that you do need to pass the second budget and it's necessary to be passed by a Time certain uh based on Florida statute that's one thing the other thing where your code is not uh doesn't permit expressly permit is the issue of virtual participation virtual participation is something that is allowed under floral law provided that you have a quorum in order to have Quorum you have to have physical presence which today you have physical presence of Quorum so you can allow virtual uh participation if you did not have uh Quorum established Again by physical presence then you would not be allowed to have uh anybody participate virtually so what my suggestion would be is you should decide first whether to make this person's uh absence excusable or not because if you don't excuse their absence then obviously if their absence is not excusable then you may have an issue uh in in how you you proceed from there on forward and allowing that person to participate especially in fact in light of the fact that your code is the the D code is silent on Virtual participation something that I will bring to you uh for your consideration October is adding and allowing for virtual participation going forward but in this instance um what I would suggest is that you you make a formal vote I think it's important uh to have the council fully participate since this is an important meeting and it is something that is required you know the Florida law is very uh specific as to certain meanings that uh municipalities have to have and one of them that is mandatory is that you have a budget hearing and this is one of those that is a mandatory uh meeting that you have to uh meet and and and uh and take a vote so that is uh that is my suggestion thank you uh Mr go at this point we would need a motion to accept um vice mayor P cor's excused absence to my understanding if that motion is not adopted then he would not be able to participate because the record would reflect that he is absent that's that's a wrinkle in in your ordinance based on the fact that it's silent on Virtual participation if he's absent and he's not excused then he's not excused that's a problem okay so I'll need to have a motion at this time to see if he'll be able to participate motion motion to excuse the vice mayor's absence and allow him to participate virtually due to exigent circumstances second okay there's a motion on the table and a second is there any discussion just a quick question so he would be able to vote participate means voting participate means voting yes okay at this time I will not be supportive of an excused absence since this new meeting was pre- notified and it is known that our budget hearings are in September therefore and a Leisure Travel trip is not an excused absence if there's no other comments we'll take a vote I have motion to excuse a vice mayor's absence and allow him to participate virtually May by councilwoman por second by councilwoman councilwoman yes Council yes councilman Pino no mayor frag no motion fails okay so at this time um vice mayor P cor's absence is not excused therefore he will not be able to participate in the meeting thank you vice mayor uh we hope you have a good vacation okay um we'll move on now to the Pledge of Allegiance please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by councilman Pino Ali to the for the United States of America to the republ stands one nation under God indivisible withy and justice for all all right agenda order of business I don't believe there's any additions or deletions to this agenda we'll now there's no other comments there we'll open up to public comments the public comments portion of this meeting is now open if you have any comments please approach the podium you have 3 minutes to speak in a respectful manner to this body body please say your name and address for the record and I have lar Garza it is my understanding that this portion of the comments um is in addition to the other ones I can make on the other statements I would like to let you know on uh September 13th under number Dr 24913 17212 apparently I have been banned from the downtown Dural parks for one year because apparently I was camping even though I am homeless even though I am a writer even though I'm retired and even though some people stay up at night and they go to sleep during the day and I find it the hubris of you denying me to be able to enjoy my park for a year like you did in 2021 when somebody Banned Me from City Hall for a year and then sued me because I told the truth resign resign resign I am banned for an entire year I would strongly suggest you go make this go away mainly because you offer camping under the stars for people who have homes and for those that don't have homes you baned them from Parts shame on you and I would hope that you would Rectify this immediately thank you thank you Miss Garza any other comments at this time I have no more comment cards okay being none public comments is now closed Madam clerk would you please read the instructions into the record for today's meeting yes Madam mayor good evening everyone these are the instructions for the public hearing items you will first open the discussion on the proposed military which is item 5A resolution then you will go ahead and allow the administration to make the presentation and announcement and then table the millage item then you would open the discussion on the tentative budget item which is the ordinance item 5B discuss the budget and reach consensus on changes and then table the ordinance then you will go back to item 5A and take it from the table continue discuss open public hearing on the item and approve the milit rate then you would go back to item 5B take it from the table discuss it have public hearing on the item and approve the final budget I will read the first item into the record item 5A a resolution of the mayor on the city council of the city of D Florida establishing and adopting a final military rate and Levy Borum taxes for fiscal year 2425 in the amount of 1.71 66 Ms which is 9.93% greater than the roll back rate to balance general fund for fiscal year 2425 EST establishing the roll back rate to be 1.5 615 Ms establishing and adopting The Debt Service millage rate for fiscal year 2425 in the amount of 481 Mills for the general obligation bonds Parks and Recreation project series 2019 and 2021 and providing for implementation and providing for an effective date thank you madam clerk all right we'll Now open up the discussion on the proposed millage raate Mr city manager do you have any um any presentations at this time I do good evening Madame mayor esteemed council members uh on the the July 29 2024 special council meeting the proposed operating millage rate was set at a responsible 1.71 66 Mills with a roll back rate of 1.56 one5 The Debt Service millage rate is 4810 for the fiscal year 2425 at this time if there are no questions for staff the administration is requesting a motion to table this item thank you Mr manager do I have a motion to table the item motion to table motion to table by councilman Pino second second by councilwoman poras Madame clerk I have a motion to table a millage item made by Council Pino seconded by councilman Bas Council Pino yes councilman Bas yes councilman Cal yes mayor frag yes motion passes okay next item next item item 5B second reading ordinance number 202 2426 adopting the budget for fiscal year 2425 an ordinance of the mayor and the city council of the city of dra Florida finalizing and adopting the budgets for the general fund Transportation fund people's transportation plan fund the park impact fee fund the police impact fee fund the developmental Services technology fee fund the building fund the public arts program fund the American Rescue plan act fund The Debt Service fund the capital Improvement fund the infrastructure replacement fund the park General obligation bond series 2019 Capital project fund the vehicle replacement fund the park General obligation bond series 2021 Capital project fund the stormwater fund the other post- employment benefits fund retitling the infrastructure replacement fund to Capital asset Reserve fund of the city of D for the fiscal year beginning October 1 2024 and ending September 30th 2025 as reviewed modified and approved by the city council at the meetings held on September 3rd 2024 and September 17 2024 authorizing the expenditure of funds appropriated in the budget authorizing the levy and collection of taxes on real person or property and other revenues necessary to meet the expenditures provided in the budget specifying the methods by which grants and gifts are addressed in the budget providing for transmittable by the city clerk implementation severability conflicts and an effective date this was approved on first reading on September 3rd okay we will now open up the discussion of the tentative budget item we'll go ahead and start with the city manager's office good evening Madame mayor City Council Members I am pleased to present the city of dalal's proposed operating in capital budget for fiscal year 2025 beginning on October 1st 2024 and ending on September 30th 2025 the proposed fiscal year 2025 budget is Guided by and is consistent with a vision mission core values and goals and objectives of the city of derell the overall budget is prepared to meet the criteria of the council strategic priorities it also reflects the administration's commitment to sound financial and operational practice that realizes our growing community's needs and expectations of exceptional services on September 3rd 2024 the mayor and city council heard this item on first reading the fiscal year 2025 budget item was approved with changes with a vote of 3-2 the proposed budget has also been updated for changes in Revenue projections and expenditures detailed in exhibit a as your city manager I would like to express my sincere appreciation to the members of the city council for the continued guidance and support throughout the development of this proposed budget before I turn it over to Michelle Gillan I'm going to go off script for a minute we were recently notified by fitches rating that the city's Bond rating was upgraded to triaa they cited sound and prudent management practices strong financial policies and practices and strong budgetary performance and conservative budgeting practices this Suess this success can be attributed to solangel Michelle and Megan all under the leadership of our Chief Financial Officer Fernando casamayor who has proven to be a valuable Ally to me and to the city and to the residents of the city thank you thank you Mr manager congratulations good evening mayor City Council members Madame clerk City uh City attorney on August 14th 2024 city council conducted a public Workshop to discuss the proposed budget and on September 3rd 2024 the mayor and city council heard the item on first reading the fiscal year 2025 proposed budget remains a balanced budget with the use of reserves only for Capital outlay and transfers out to Capital Improvement funds the budget is balanced with an in use of reserves in the amount of 13, 38,6 56 the total general fund proposed expenditures for fiscal year 2025 decreased by a net of $2,146 to a total of1 10,537 1858 this includes transfers outs of 1, 227,00 and capital outlay of 12,211 456 the total general fund proposed expenditures for fiscal year 2025 are 87 m992 2,000 uh do this excludes transfers out and capital the recommendation of changes made at the first budget hearing are included in the proposed budget and are as follows the reduction of the the cost of living adjustment from 7.5 to a 3.5 Additionally the proposed budget was updated for changes and revenue projections and expenditures which are detailed in exhibit thank you thank you m okay at this time we'll take the changes that will be adopted we're going to do this in this reading we'll then table this this item and then take up the last two there's been uh memos that have been circulated there's two uh backups from one from the previous meeting with changes one that was given this this uh just yesterday I believe um was centered this morning so let's have the discussion now of the proposed changes so that when we take it up from the table next time and we go to public hearing we'll make any minor changes but um you know yesterday we had had the opportunity for a budget Workshop where we would have the ability as a body to discuss these potential changes and only two of us showed up putting our staff in a very difficult defi uh position to have to be here today make potential drastic changes and then have to go balance the budget and come back for us to actually vote on a balanced budget therefore and please correct me if I'm wrong Mr uh city manager or Mr kasay therefore in an effort to bring forward a changes that may be that may be agreed to here and bringing back a balanced budget we need to have this discussion now not in the second part of this meeting so that they can go back and do what they need to do if they need to that's the way we're going to conduct the meeting so let's go ahead and have discussions now of any changes that may come forward through the mayor yes Council Boris yes so can you clarify whether the either the attorney or um Mr casamayor what exactly the procedure is whether we need to have a discussion on this now and can we make a motion during this discussion or do we have to wait until the the final this is the proposed budget that you have before you um what you need to do is have a discussion as far as what changes you you wish to make you can go line by lineup make the changes and make the Motions um and think it'll be approved or disapproved and once the final budget has been either amended or it's not you you you accept it as is uh then you make a motion as uh a final a final vote um if you cannot reach a vote today uh then as we had previously discussed uh the proper procedure would be to table it to a date certain I think the question was more along the lines the discussion when it needs to take place and I'm recommending we take it takes place now during this item we can then table bring back the millage rate have the public hearing and then bring back the final budget and have but that gives staff enough time to go back and make any additional any changes that may need to take place Madame mayor that's absolutely fine you can do that you can go line it by line item corre vote on all the changes that that you wish to to be made uh and then make a final determination yeah procedurally at this point I am asking asking for the changes that you all are recommending I mean we're like at the last string so let's hear what are the proposed changes we're going to take them up one item at a time who would like to start there the mayor I'll start so I have circulated a memo with all of my proposed changes I think Connie you passed them out right okay so you should all have them it's very self-explanatory and at this time I will make a motion to approve with these changes okay there's no second to the motion this was just circulated if you want to try and take them up one item at a time we can do that if you guys want have questions on each item just let me know but it's again it's pretty self-explanatory I I summarized it as best as possible and if you have questions feel free to ask for is there any comments on anything on the list um if I may sure go ahead councilwoman councilwoman for do you also reflect here in your memo the um uh co- compliance like the uh also the ones that are on the ground is that the ETC that you add here so in the recommendations under under number one 1 a uhhuh 1 a yes it would yeah I mean we can include you know whatever essential workers we discussed before or now but certainly the custodians laborers um we can include the Code Compliance officers I think building inspectors anyone that was under um their salary and I had a discussion with HR about the specific ones so we can include you know all the essential workers or we can have also a discussion coming back in October where we list all all where where we categorize and identify exactly who they are okay yeah I would like to to go over that I think that the ones that are out in the field um they deserve also a better pay and um and also I definitely would like to re to to visit the um the parks employees the ones that are also on the field that I think that they get paid 38 $36,000 a year or so so that is something too I think if what we can do if it works is we can have um we can bring a separate item through the manager with HR in October um and have HR identify exactly who those workers are and we can approve and and move on from there yeah I I actually have the uh for the Evergreen study that we that we receive I was going over with Frank when it comes to those um workers uh labor facility janitors and some of them in the 75 percentile through the mayor if I may how are we going to Define essential workers that is a slippery slope if you could uh so can you bring the HR man director here please because we had the discussion Maria we had this discussion last week right on Friday I wasn't here last week hi good good evening the discussion was referenced the employees that were in pay grade 101 through 103 which is are the labors and the janor which is the Evergreen study said that they would be upgraded to the the next step and those were the ones that we discussed yeah and we can add additional ones right we can add a discussion on other employees as well and reference to because they're underpaid or is is in reference to the cola to exactly what we were going to do without those categories but add them to Code Compliance workers um parks and re workers building inspectors but how are you determining that they're underpaid that wasn't on the study the study related to the 101 through 103 if I'm no I I think there was more in the study so this is what I would suggest in October we can bring something back through HR that can you can include I mean if you want to meet with councilen cabal so you can get some of those um staff members then we can bring something back the one with exibit five I'm sorry I'm going through the uh when I'm refering with the exhibit 5 if I can um through the through the mayor U so traditionally here what we've done is worked with a paying class consultant to ensure that any of these modifications have the appropriate impact or the impact that we're looking to achieve the study you have before you had a specific goal which was to place a city within the 75th percentile so the recommendations that you see there were draft recommendations for the city to consider to work with the Departments through the HR department to ultimately find tune those and bring them forward uh with what you're recommending today what my recommendation would be to give direction back to the HR department to work with that paying class consultant to specifically Target those positions that are easily either defined through through uh the classes as essential which would be certain Public Works positions that are your first push positions that would be your police Personnel um that that are non-administrative and that could be some other positions including code enforcement and then bring back a proposed scope for them to to then go back back and and refine that um that study um they could be here for the October meeting to go over that with you and you guys could give them Direction uh but that would be the recommendation to ensure we we maintain the Integrity of the pay plan right yeah I mean that does that work yeah that works very what I what I just wanted to propose was to do that speak with the Evergreen people and then just bring something back in October that we can understand so we're here today to approve a budget here's my recommendation we're going to going to take one item at a time in form of a motion if you have support for the motion it'll get adopted into the budget if you don't it won't that's how we're going to take it up so what it sounds like you're asking for today should come back as an item that you can work on with staff and then bring back a budget amendment if that's needed but I am not comfortable moving forward picking certain items without having the full analysis and how it'll impact morale and other positions at this time so do you have a motion on how we're going to take up the first item which is the issue of cola so that's the suggestion the suggestion is to separate the cola that we hold on one from 1A and then the 1A come back in October and look at that's what I'm suggesting so they're separate I appreciate your suggestion you can work on your suggestion for the October meeting with staff at this time I will take any motions that have to do with a proposed Cola to adopt into the budget that is what is on the table so again I have separated it so I wasn't including it in the motion I was mentioning that we should bring it back great we'll hear it in October so what's the motion for the cola so there is no motion for the cola my motion is the entire proposal as is because that's my right and that is what I'm proposing so my motion is an entire recommendation that I have proposed I as appr that motion has died so we'll take any new motions at this time regarding Cola so that we can move on is there any new right now the budget is approved at a 3.5% Cola which is what was approved in the first reading so unless there's an option to change that or to find consensus on a middle ground we either stay with Cola as it is and we move on to the next item or we adopt something else there is a proposal here for an approval of 3.5% Cola with up to a 7% Merit increase based on individual performances um with an understanding that we'll be voting to approve a 75% Cola for PBA officers in the October meeting because that's what was taken back to their um to their membership so that could be one motion if that's what you all want to move forward with the suggestion is great work on it come back in October with that proposal so we can analyze it right now we need a motion on either this first item or we are going to move forward with the 3.5 the way it was adopted in the first hearing the the motion has die I me I haven't been able to talk well it did actually she made a motion it has not so I I second I I was checking this you're going non-stop so you had to give the opportunity for us to talk so I was checking also part of The Proposal that she was giving us so I I second okay so you second what motion the motion that she originally made that there was no answer answer to which was to adopt this entire memo to adopt the memo to adopt the memo okay there's a motion and a second Madam clerk please call the RO I have a motion to adopt the entire proposal provided by councilwoman Bas May by councilwoman B second by councilwoman Cal councilwoman poras yes councilwoman Cal yes councilman Pino no mayor Fraga no motion dies motion dies okay so now let's try this again is there a motion to come to a consensus on a cola if there's no motion okay I'll make yes I thank you I want to go over the because I received the memo from the manager's office as well earlier today and I know one of the suggestion is he talks about field personnel and berging unit members 7.5% call with all other General employees at the approved 3.5 Cola my suggestion of my of the discussion that we can have because again I don't I don't want to peek and choose to I mean I don't want to have that conversation today and we have to remember something that city of Dale when we had the covid for three consecutive years the staff only received 1% Cola when other municipalities were receiving 6% 7% 2020 2021 2022 you can ask HR I actually have study that was done well but that is always that that's why it's always good to remember part of the history and why in my humble opinions is needed to move forward and what we're trying is pretty much catching up something that unfortunately never took place in the prior Administration so yes we're dealing with this we have to remember that is the only way to attract attract talented people professional people that are out there and at the same time to retain the ones that we have because we do have an issue retaining good professionals because we know how inflation and cost of living is out there so let's be reasonable about it and I do believe that yes the 7.5% Cola when we speak about field personnel and BG uh bargain unit members cover a lot of what we're discussing but at the same time when we speak about General employees the rest of the staff I believe that in instead of 3.5 we should go to at least a 5% across the board for the rest of them staff as well so that will be my my proposal based on the report that I received from the mayor's office thank you councilman is does that conclude your comments at this time okay um I'm going to pass out I asked staff um after the last meeting to produce a spreadsheet of comparable cities and the colas that have been provided in these cities including this year for the past five years past five budgets so that we could compare where the city of Dural lies in comparison to all these other cities and actually I believe there's more than just there's 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 cities here that we're comparing to after analyzing this and I've said this at the last meeting in an effort to find consensus I also agreed that we could come to a better agreement on the cola I also believe and think that a 5% is adequate I did agree with the 7.5 because understanding the history as well as the last couple years there has not been the amount of cola increases there has been in other cities in addition to the fact that some of our um of our positions are on the lower scale most people that come to work in the city draw start at the bottom of the scale as well and understanding in our law enforcement that we were trying to get to a better more adequate scale in comparison to other other places so I do believe that a better um place to start is in that 5% with the the 3% Merit that we've always given um which is based on performance it's not automatic and in many places it's actually automatic they automatically give the 3% or 5% whatever their Merit is here it's based on performance so I think that this is um you know a fair place to be to be able to make sure that we retain quality employees and um and we make the best decision for our city you know uh I agree that there are some positions that could be adjusted and I made a recommendation at the last meeting as well that we Analyze That and come with onetime opportunities to fix some of those lower paid positions which we've done in the pass we did that after our Evergreen study in 2015 so it would not be the first time that that's done and I think that a proposal maybe in October would be good to analyze that but for right now we do need to get to a budget and we need to balance have a balanced budget to pass today per state statute and I think that that is something that we should all be able to agree upon understanding that there will be a 7.5% that will come forward for law enforcement because they they did vote on it and that'll come forward in in October but we'll take up that conversation when it comes so there is a motion on the table for the 5% with 3% um Merit I think that is a good middle ground it is it is trying to build some consensus so that we can um you know make sure that the morale in city hall there's no disparity amongst the the different departments and and directors that have to implement this we said 5% I fro the before 5% with the 3% C with the 3% Merit which is what we've done in the past and comparable to all cities so just to kind of read off a couple of these for the benefit of the public um this year Miami Dade County for example did a 3% and a 5% Merit the City of Coconut Creek did 4% and a 5% Merit Miami Beach did 3% and 3% the city of Pembrook Pines did 6% Cola and a 4% Merit Hollandale did 3% and 2.5% I'm sorry this is 2023 to 2024 they haven't given us this year's because they haven't passed theirs um the city of Aventa did 4% and up to a 4% Merit Deerfield Beach 3% and up to 3% Merit so it's pretty comparable and if you go back and you look at the Last 5 Years in most of these cities their colas were all were pretty consistent across the board to be between three and 4% some of them are at 2% the city of dado was at 1.8% for fiscal year 1920 2020 2021 2021 2022 1.5 and then in 2022 2023 which is last year we gave the 3% I'm sorry in 2022 2023 and 2023 2024 we gave the 3% so we started to come up after those years that's where we are today through the mayor yes so looking at this chart all of the cities that have a cola higher than three are Broward with the exception of Aventura so I don't know how you say that we can compare the cities if they're not in the same county we compare them based on uh population and size not based on their geographical location if you can show me some cities in the in the county of Miami Dade I think that I would be more open to it I'm not going to be supportive of it I think that when you look at the Evergreen study you'll find that the the comparisons that are made even in the Evergreen study are not based on geographical location but they are based upon the size of the city the population the budget size those are more adequate comparisons versus where they're placed in the state necessarily um when making those decisions but so there's a motion second motion or you made the motion I'll second the motion sorry if there's no further discussion we can try taking a vote on that I have a motion to approve a 5% Cola across the board with a 3% Merit made by councilman P seconded by mayor frag councilman Pino yes mayor Fraga yes councilman poras no councilwoman Cal no Moise okay let's do this why don't you all indulge me for a second I'm going to read a little statement after carefully considering this budget I find myself extremely disappointed I appreciate the efforts of our city staff to present a balanced budget am Miss amidst last minute politically driven and ill-informed opinions from some of our elected officials but I also cannot in good conscience support a budget whose basis fails to provide a fair support and cohesive Vision that is required for our employees our police officers to adequately address the needs of our community and the priorities that matter most to our residents long before I walked into this building in 2022 I resolved to foster a stable professional work environment throughout our municipal government it was by far one of my top priorities Upon returning to city hall because it was essential to put an end to the politically hostile culture that I personally witnessed and experienced here while I served from 2016 to 2020 during 2023 city manager Hernandez worked tirelessly to achieve this goal however since January of this year it seems that we have regressed to the old ways the politically hostile culture and the unfair practices associated with it with it not only returned but they have also managed to penetrate the very fabric of our budget unfortunately accusations are being levied against the administration and employees for political reasons resulting in terminations and unjust salary cuts which is what we've seen through these proposals meanwhile politically politically favorites are highly regarded and are also benefiting from these political favors just last May this Council voted to increase the salaries of council's political AIDS their legislative analysts which then turn into chief of staffs by 42.5 5% yet in this proposed budget certain elected officials directed the administration to reduce the proposed budget certain elected officials directed the administration to reduce the proposed budget 7.5 cost of living increases for our employees to just 3.5% but for our direct staff they can get a 42.5% increase there are also no new positions allocated for the Police Department I believe that this is demoralizing to our dedicated employees it ignores the urgent need to continue providing exceptional Municipal Services which was one of our strategic goals and it fails to ensure Public Safety and our ability to maintain the 32% drop in crime that our police department has delivered to our residents over the last two years I say this because I do not understand how our employees are expected to deliver outstanding services to our residents while they are being forced to function in an environment where they worry about their jobs being at risk if they fail to Curry favor with a certain political individual that has been D's environment for the past for the last eight months we have become so in ENT torched in the political maneuvering that we have lost sight of our true priorities and our responsibilities to the residents our population has surged from 7 4,000 residents in 2022 to 88,000 in 2024 at a time when our daytime population continues to effectively double School pickup and drop off drop off significantly impact traffic my request for stronger traffic units went unaddressed not one additional position has been funded in the police department this is again political maneuvering it is appalling that we are playing with Public Safety to pursue political agendas this is unacceptable and responsible yet again we find ample funding to raise council's AIDS by 42% lastly I must address the budget's proposed allocation of $150,000 plus the list of things we got today which I'll get to in funding for Dam's Museum operations this donation or Grant onetime payment I'm not sure what to call it is being directed towards an institution whose 2022 IRS filings revealed that in that one year they only raised $109,000 and its expenses also exceeded its re Revenue this is hardly a sound financial practice for our city and for managing any organization as far as I'm aware there have been no vetting to this organization its Financial position its plans on donations what this money is for again all political friends being rewarded at taxpayers expense this city has a venue that was constructed right across the street and is specifically to F Foster Cultural Arts in D it is funded through our parks department it has permanent positions allocated and it is doing a wonderful job but it is work but but it is working hard at fostering its exhibits events and obtaining residents participation in all these events if we want to increase funding for Cultural Arts let's pour this additional funding into the venue's programming and not allow the city to become the number one funding source for one organization and an independent Museum that we don't even know what it does therefore it is again with the with immense disappointment that I must say that I cannot support this budget I recognize that our staff has worked diligently to present a balanced budget aligned with appropriate positions they operate among amongst among amongst immense pressure especially considering that meetings and workshops have been scheduled with members of this Council and they do not attend they were also inundated with last last minute requests and they still try to fulfill them this is not a reflection of our staff's efforts but rather an indicator of the prevailing culture of political favoritism and retribution which create which has been created and is troubling for the city's working environment like I said I can and good conscious support this budget whose basis fails to provide the fair support and cohesive Vision that we all agreed upon in our strategic planning session and that is required for our employees and our police officers to provide adequate services to our growing city I want to lay this one other thing out cuz I went and did some research today in the proposed budget changes because we didn't have the full idea of what changes were going to be made since no one showed up to the workshop yesterday staff didn't really have an idea of what was going to be asked one of the positions that's being asked to cut is in the mayor and council's happen to be in my office so I asked staff to pull from it all the emails received in my office Connie can you in my office over the last year as well as the other council members offices from January 20 from January 1st 2020 23 I really started in December but January 1st 2023 to August 31st 2024 my office alone just mayor Fraga not my chief of staff not the community outreach coordinator that handles numerous constient Services received 92,7 168 emails I answered 27,0 966 of those emails my chief of staff received 47,000 emails 4725 she answered 26583 the community outreach coordinator which handles our constituent services and Communications from my office received 15344 emails she answered 8,862 unfortunately our call logs only go back 30 days but in 30 days my office received 33 phone calls directly to our office that we answered and managed not including our cell phones if I could show you the cell phone calls I get and text messages and the community Co coordinator received five and to put that into perspective it's all right here the next town vice mayor P corvey received 39,9 323 emails he answered 6,899 and received six phone calls his chief of staff received 9 1,836 emails and answered 6,625 councilman beno's office received 4,740 emails his office answered 4534 his chief of staffs received 16,280 emails and answered 7,42 emails Council andora's Office received 41,600 emails her chief of staff's it's split because there's been two received 11,937 and 6,4 emails and answered 7,571 and 2,475 councilwoman Cab's office received 44,000 emails 332 and answered 7,623 and her chief of staffs cuz it was split as well received 270 2,731 emails answered 1,36 and her current chief of staff received 6,400 emails and answered 2424 there's a huge difference in the volume of work in the mayor's office as it rightfully should be there's a differental responsibilities and people come to the mayor's office for Solutions and we provide those Solutions and one of the things that we have attest to and that we have pledged to do is to provide excellent quality service to our residents so to cut positions positions that are filled because you tell me it's a position that isn't filled and you're saying well let's try and consolidate but literally firing people because you don't like them or because there's an attack because I mean we've spent the last 6 months having conversations about should we call the mayor's conference room Council conference room and you know ridiculous conversations about attacking the mayor's position regardless of who is in it the point is to provide services to the community and in my opinion every decision that is being made and has been suggested does absolutely the opposite in this community and it's not what the residents want we are pushing our political will versus the will of the people and it's it's extremely frustrating and sad and I'm extremely disappointed about it I hope that you all will reconsider your positions and your the way you're conducting yourselves to this community we have a obligation to pass a balanced budget for this city it is one of our primary responsibilities it's our fiduciary responsibility and I think it's very sad and a horrible message to our our employees that we cannot come to an agreement about their cost of living adjustments so that they can work in a good environment just before this there was a meeting called a special meeting called to evaluate the manager and his potential salary and contract he hasn't even been in the position for 90 days barely been 60 days it's it just it it's I can't wrap my head around it it's because you can't get what you want or the professional person that you've hired is not doing the op not making the operational decisions or operating as your political operator and and getting rid or doing what they want what you want them to do it's it's it's unfair to the people that work here we need consistency and we haven't had that and so at some point there needs to be a re Revelation about what we actually want for this city because I truly believe we can find the middle ground and there's more things that we can agree upon that are great for this city than the things that we disagree upon but we continue to focus on the minutia that doesn't drive this city forward so we need to come to some type of agreement today so that we can pass a budget and that our staff is not scrambling last minute we don't look ridiculous in front of the county and the state and then if you want to and you have time to bring back another budget or a budget amendment in October bring it back hopefully everyone will be here and find it important enough to be able to get the votes that are needed so we need to come to some type of agreement there the mayor yes Council so you know I I really don't appreciate the grand standing it's against our code and honestly at at times I have wanted to Express that but then you'll go and claim that we're silencing you for everyone in the room what's grandstanding and against the code the action of behaving in a showy or aane manner in an attempt to attract favorable attention from Spectators you guys or the media you are very used to doing that and in fact I I'm very tired of it honestly and so if you were as responsible as you say you are you would have allowed vice mayor P corvey to participate but you forced this and in fact we had people waiting for this budget hearing because you were still at the county even though we have action that needs to take place here in the city so when we talk about priorities I don't think you have them straight in fact you keep working against the council yesterday's Workshop we couldn't make a decision there's no point in going to a workshop where we can't make decisions so I would say if you truly wanted to work with the council you wouldn't take those things and do what you're doing including grandstanding lashing out at everyone here and in fact I will put this into the record it is our right to evaluate the city manager's budget or salary prior to October 1st which is a big essential part of this budget and that's what we are doing and another thing I did also ask why the the the hearing was scheduled today why the city manager's office didn't check with the council members I mean we check for shade meetings we we check for other meetings I really do think it was um you know a big error honestly no no no I'm not done okay so you know when we talk about these things maybe you should find out what's been discussed now as far as the emails received and answered did you mention Council men boses yeah okay so right now the mayor has a salary of about $80,000 we have a salary of about 20,000 that's 25% right this is your full-time job I have an additional job so yes I hope you answer more emails than I do and in fact with two people I have answered about 35% of what you answer so if I had more Personnel I think I would answer a lot more but the reality is this is your full-time job so it is your duty and your job you have to do it right as far as funding an additional position with your within your office you know last year I was supportive because I wanted to be supportive not because I truly thought that you really needed it I think that you have really turned the city into uh a production Department there's a lot of shows there's a lot of things I mean the city's being used to host some sort of podcast um and I I don't think the taxpayers should pay for that I think that if you want to use private funding you should in fact you have used private funding to try to keep candidates off the ballot I think that you can continue using your private funding to you know produ produce your shows and do whatever it is that you need to do however I don't agree that City and taxpayers should be paying for that so you know as far as who the irresponsible one here is I think it's you I mean we are here we had the opportunity to have the vice mayor participate you declined because I I don't know I guess you were grandstanding again you wanted an opportunity to grandstand again you could have done that after this meeting with the media in front of you that's probably what you should do so just you know as an FYI hopefully next time you don't drag us into the show the political show that you've proven to that you like here so much and hopefully you know we can at some point hopefully once the vice mayor returns and we can find another date because that's what it's looking like we can pass a budget but it's not going to be forced and you know the last thing I'll say is I'm very concerned about knowing that for the past 12 years you have essentially passed a budget as proposed to you because that's what it sounds like for me I'm going to look at every single item I'm going to make sure that the taxpayers funds are being allocated properly and not are not being spent incorrectly and that's what I did with this and I feel confident that I I have done that and in fact to put on the record I was proposing I was proposing to approve a 3.5% Cola for all employees and up to 7% Merit increase it's still the same figure however I think that it's more responsible if we do this based on Merit and also with the understanding that we would be voting to approve a 7.5% Cola contract with the PBA which our attorney has been working on for police officers and bringing back an item in October to approve the increase and it would apply retroactively to October 1st so that was my proposal by the way for you know just to put it in the record and to have you guys know so at this time since it doesn't look like we're going anywhere I'm going to make a motion to recess right that's the proper motion that we need to make so that we can we can recess and come back hopefully with um five council members if if you want to make a motion the correct motion would be to table these uh two items the the millage and the budget uh to a date certain okay so I'm going to make a motion to table these two items and I know that there was like this was a contingency plan right so there has to be a date for my understanding last time we spoke that the vice mayor was back and could participate in one of the meetings so if you can provide some of those dates that we can use so that I can add it to my motion good evening Fernando gamor assistant city manager um yes so the proper procedure is uh to recess this meeting you can table the items in order to get them off the table but yes you recess the meeting I need a date certain the two dates that work I believe uh the vice mayor gets back on the 27th if I'm um correct so there are two dates that work you cannot have a budget hearing on a Sunday so the 29th is off the table you can have one on a Saturday um so the 28th or the 30th which is the Monday um by law you have until October 3rd however again the property appraiser has asked us to please try to have this done wrapped up so that we can turn things over to them by October 1 because again they have uh not only to do ours but every other Municipal and Regional government so the dates are the 28th and the 30th so we had a conversation where we saw this happening what is the date that we can set for a recess to come back from a recess the 27th so either the 28th or the 30th the 30th Saturday the 28th can be at any time it doesn't have to be after 5 the 30th um by Statute would have to be after :1 or 5:00 yeah the 30th for me will be okay so I'm going to make a motion to table these two items recess until September 30th so we can come back and pass the budget second mayor I have a question too yes so before you ask a question I think the manager wanted to make a statement and then councilman B and then I'm going to go again through the mayor uh I want to be clear on one thing I respectfully object to any reduction in my salary that's a direct violation of my employment agreement as well as the city's policy as it pertains to the annual evaluation of the manager which by the way cannot be annual because I've only been here three months thank you thank you very much Council M Pino uh to the manager the the memo that we received today when we talk about cost of leing adjustments options you there there are three options in there that according to the memo it was after you met with each council member correct the first option yeah the first option talks about field personnal is the option that I covered before field personnel and bargaining unit members 7.5% Cola with all other General employees at approv 3.5 Cola I'm assuming that was proposed by one of the council members correct correct it wasn't me so I'm assuming that person might be here right now I'm assuming so my question to my colleagues is if that was proposed by one of you and it's one of the options why we don't discuss it the same way that we discussed the option that Council woman Bas mentioned is the third option of spite of that memo that the manager circulated so I think that I mean we we do have room to work on this I didn't propose that one it was one of you it was you so no it wasn't me so I think you're talking about option three 3.5% col with the 7% no that's that's the option that is that we just covered with uh Council por you said the 3.5% the first option talks about field personal and bargaining unit member 7.5% Cola with all other General employees at the proof 3.5 Cola so I think that came out of the first budget hearing it was it was kind of a discussion but I think the disparity of providing a un inconsistent Cola across the board to all employees was a concern to staff and I I would share that concern through the mayor that is correct me okay so couple things do you have anything else at this time no I just wanted to clar because again that was proposed by council member and certainly I mean we're sitting here and and I think it's you know it's it's our duty and responsibility to to move forward at least on this part of the budget so but if I mean we we going to move forward so a couple of things before we move forward that were said on the record and I think need to be clarified first of all council members make $50,000 a year not 20 that's the budget the the amount that is in the charter but let's not lie to anybody we get stiens in total it's actually more than 50,000 um I choose to do this 100 % because it's it is the commitment I've made to our residents but I do have another job and I stay up very late many times as the manager receives my 3:00 a.m emails answering because I do have other commitments to my family and to my profession um any events or additional opportunities I take to inform the public of what's Happening behind closed doors here that's called transparency is 100% paid for by private funds or funds that I fund raise or out of my own pocket does not cost taxpayers $1 as a matter of fact I said that in an event I held this weekend for our community a beautiful Hispanic heritage event I said not $1 of taxpayer funding has been used for any of them I I I do everything I can either through my own my own money that I get from my stipend or I do it by fundraising every single item that has been proposed okay and and what we can't come to agreements on are exactly what I said in my statement whether you like to hear it or or not councilwoman and let me tell you for 12 years that I've sat up here and on the school board I did my job by sitting with staff and proposing changes did I not do it with you Mr manager yes ma'am how many times I I can't count but I every time I wanted something that I believed was good for this community like the subsidy for the adult day training program like the the freebie program for our seniors like additional programming for our culture arts centers I sat with the manager and I explained my reasons why and it was implemented and then we all have an opportunity to vote it up or down and have a discussion about it that's the way you do this I understand you're new and it takes time to learn but that's how you do it you don't do it up here you don't do it to the employees you don't cut people's salaries in front of their face because they have families to go home to they have children to feed it's unfair it's unfair to all of them that are sitting here in front of us it's unfair to our residents who enjoy all of the amenities and services that we are able to provide to them and today at the count at the county you may not find that to be a priority but I care about the life the health the safety the quality of life of our residents and many residents have suffered for a long time I know you moved to dado just a couple years ago but I've been here for 25 years 255 years and I know some other people have recently moved here that want to be up here but you know what I I understand what the impact of the decision that was being made today at the county is to us let me tell you me not being there could have been bad for D and what they're asking of D is an even bigger problem you think we're having Brer problems now so I think it's unfair to say you may not like the way I communicate to this community but you know what I was elected elected to communicate and do what I do up here and I've been elected several times over to be able to do it welcome to the party any other comments any other comments let me ask the white elephant in the room question what happens if there's not consensus to recess the meeting or to table Fernando Mr attorney I I mean you know they always say there's a first for everything Fernando how many years have you been in government if you don't recess then the meeting continues either continues or recesses now what you cannot do is is end this meeting with either a recess or a vote you you got to do one of the other just those are the your two options right so you're not allowed to adjourn yeah so can't do that so either you know you keep going until you don't keep going um or you recess and schedule for another date all right so motion there was a motion there's no second there was a second there was a second all right let's try this one time I have a motion to table the final millage and budget ordinance and recess the meeting to September 30th 2024 at 5:30 p.m. May by Council por second by councilwoman Cal councilwoman poras yes councilwoman Cal yes councilman Pino Noe mayor Fraga no motion fails all right let's try this one more time I have another proposal Council andas mentioned that she was proposing osing a 3.5% Cola with a 7.5% Merit across the board correct correct okay I'm not necessarily comfortable with a 75% Merit because I think it puts the directors now and the direct managers in an uncomfortable position and you know they're more inclined to to do it unless there's like a really bad disciplinary action but in an effort to try and find some consensus and move forward and approve a budget today today and then you all can bring back a budget amendment in October I would be willing to accept that 3.5% Cola 7.5% Merit across the board we'll we'll adjust for the police the bargaining unit we can move forward with the budget as is as it was approved with this change put everything else into contingency if you want and then come back with an budget amendment if that's what you feel you need to do when you have the support to do so when all of your posi is here but today we need to leave here with an approved budget so correction it's the responsible thing to do correction no 7% Merit increase yeah that's what not seven and a half I'm sorry 7% seven 3.5 and 7% okay are you done 3.57 okay again either the entire proposal or I will not be supportive we have the ability to recess if you choose not to recess then this is on you and also I don't think that it's fair that vice mayor is not here with us I understand that he have prior already I mean way before we have not even said these days that he's out so I think that it's just fair to have him also as an elected official to be here well with all due respect the vice mayor chose to travel in September when we approve a budget in September we all know our responsibilities and when the budget is approved our code is very clear on what an excused absence is so you all cannot put this on me and you can't put it on the manager because for 21 years that the city's been a city the way the budget dates have been settled because they have to go on the trim notices is the county puts out theirs the Schoolboard puts out theirs and then we have to run to grab dates because we cannot conflict with them and there's time limits in between that is per state statute it is not invented by us what is the difference between a few days for you I mean if it is just to have his voice too I don't really don't don't get it it's like there is absolutely first of all there's many reasons why we've never allowed for virtual participation many reasons and so we'll bring something forward to fix the code but it is unfair to blame this on anybody other than somebody who did not take their responsibility seriously so Mr casamayor can you come to the podium did you explain to everyone in this Council what would happen if we did not come to a consensus you mean once we realize that we may have we went over a lot of scenarios right yes at least you I so I asked and I made sure to be prepared with the different scenarios which you explained if for whatever reason the vice mayor was not able to participate we would have to recess if we don't come to a consensus correct that would be correct did you explain that to the mayor yes did you explain that to councilman Pino yes councilman cabal yes I believe so so so I don't know why they're acting so surprised now they're acting like they just heard it for the first time so I'm going to say this again I'm not supporting anything that's not the proposal I presented so you can recess or you can do whatever you want I knew exactly what the procedures for today were going to be I just find it extremely surprising that even offering the proposal you brought forward on something we can all agree on there's no consensus but I'm not surprised by that so again I think it's evident the position that the city's being put in it's either you want all of the things that you're offering which again I think are not the responsible thing for this city and hurtful to many people you want it your way or the highway and it's where we are today we're at an impass so would anybody else like to provide a proposal let's give it a try all right right go for it to the manager I go I go back to the same memo that we received this morning there are three proposals correct and according to these three proposals that were provided by a council member correct and I'm assuming the council member is present here tonight I will move forward with any of those three proposals as part of your memo I mean they were proposed by ccil member I didn't propose any of those three options you are correct sir each of these was proposed by an individual council member so by number I'm assuming that council member is sitting here right now and there are three options I'm willing to move forward with any of those three options so for those for the benefit of the public the three options are are field personnel and bargaining unit members 7.5% Cola with all other General employees at an approved 3.5% Cola 3.5% Cola with up to a 5% Merit increase based on individual performance evaluation of General employees or 3.5% Cola and a 7% Merit increase based on individual performance uh evaluations for General employees we've already by process of elimination eliminated two I'll give you guess which one's left still moving the three options so oh okay you're a good sport you have three options I'm okay with any well I think we've done our best to find consensus on the cola so we could move forward um I think everything else is cherry-picking things that could be uh put into a contingency come back there's several options that doesn't put us in this predicament so un fortunately it seems like again there's some stubbornness that we're not going to get through um in an effort to make sure that people get fired so again we're at an impass tell you what it's 8:05 let's take a 10-minute break everybody go cool off think in your office for a couple minutes we'll come back at 8:10 if we really can't come to an agreement we'll consider another opportunity to table the item take it and then recess the meeting no I'm not in agreement with that you can call the role if you want to recess I'd actually just like to use the restroom for a second but go ahead all right well again I can tell you I've been doing this for 10 years now never seen anything like it there's some consistence but I really think we've wasted enough time yeah well so I'm not I'm not in favor of recessing unless it is to come back September 30th I mean no one's chained to the day you can get up and go home is there any suggestions from staff at this point no ma'am uh we will follow the direction of the council uh I think uh both the CFO and the attorney have explained the options that are available uh the things that we can and can't do uh I do want to stress that we are under a stress under a tight timeline uh so I'll leave at that so the vice mayor I believe is in Japan right traveling overseas abroad so what happens if his flight gets delayed we're not back we're right back here on the 30th there are several repercussions uh there could be uh withholding of funds to the city uh there's penalties there there's all sorts of issues that uh and penalties that the cities could face if we're unable to pass the budget by the October 3rd date um so it is very important again I I started my uh comments to this Council and to to you Madame mayor uh by expressing that statute really doesn't require us to have all the meetings that we have but it does require us to pass a millage does require us to pass a budget that is required of all of you by State Statute okay let me start by or maybe let me finish by saying to all of you that I'm extremely sorry for wasting your time today including our residents it's very unfortunate and disappointing that we find ourselves in this situation are for would there be any desire to pass the budget today with the exact same Provisions that were from the first reading so exactly what was passed in the last hearing we pass it again today I will say them that so there's a motion to pass the budget exactly the way it was presented or I guess what we can do is we'll we can table and go back and then take up the last one and if we don't get it then then at that point we'll consider a recess because we can't really pass it right now right Connie so we would need a motion to table got my instructions motion to table the budget item we're going to have to do it anyway before we recess the meeting motion to table so we have motion to table the budget the budget item is there a second okay I'll second the budget item we have to take up two items we have to bring up the millage rate again and then we can recess before passing the budget on the last item okay go ahead Cony I have a motion to table ordinance 202 24-26 on second reading made by councilman Peno second by mayor Fraga councilman Peno yes mayor Fraga yes councilman poras no council no motion fails it's just moving with the procedure of the meeting till the last reading there the mayor so I don't know if I can do my motion again but I will ask or if someone else wants to make a motion to again table the two items and recess to September 30th since we didn't well not we two of my colleagues didn't allow the vice mayor to participate when we had the opportunity this is what I will be supporting tabling the two items and recessing till September 30th I a motion I will make the motion table the two items and recess to September 30th second all right there's a motion and a second on the table again I'm extremely hesitant to move forward with this because I think it sends a horrible message to our community that we are not willing to do what is right for this city instead we're willing to play with the most important part of our community the budget of our community and play politics from this day good to you we'll wait for September 30th that's it so let's vot no right we've offered every single thing that you already had approved it is very evident no what the desire is up here so I'm going to support it because I value the time of our residents and I value the time of our staff that deserve to go home and be with their families and their children Madam CL please call the r i motion to table a fin a millage and budget ordinance and recess a meeting to September 30th at 5:30 p.m. by councilwoman cabal seconded by councilwoman poras councilwoman cabal yes councilwoman poras yes councilman Pino no mayor Fraga yes motion passes hopefully vice mayor P Cory's plane gets here on time otherwise looks like we'll have a government shutdown all right thank you all very much for joining us and uh we hope that uh we'll see you here for a successful meeting on October 30th I mean I'm sorry on September 30th I need a motion to no we can't oh recess sorry yes absolutely right uh do you need a roll call oh no you did already thank you thank all right thank you all very much