##VIDEO ID:HLuLIhyUX7I## the broadcast is now starting all attendees are in listen only mode okay we're calling this meeting to order today is September 30th 2024 the time is now 7:42 p.m. and we are starting our budget hearing our second budget hearing which was recessed on September 17th Madame clerk please call the role I have councilwoman Marine poras here councilman Rafael Pino pres Council here vice mayor corve here mayor FR president thank you please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by councilman Beno the United States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation indivisible with liy and justice for all okay agenda order of business is there any additions deletions to this agenda there should not be nothing ma'am okay we're going to go into public comments Mr Richard glit please approach the podium you have 3 minutes to speak state your name and address for the record we're talking about the budget sir okay problem all right Richard glad via Durell condominium all right I'm going to read something from the uh James in the New Testament third letter of James I think this iser very appropo to our situation here not only in Dural but the United States and all over the world we've just seen a little microcosm of what really happens who is wise and understanding among you show by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom excuse me Marine are you still on the phone there or are you paying attention thank you please could you put put your phone away but if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts do not be boastful and false to the truth such wisdom does not come down from above but is Earthly unspiritual devilish for where there is envy and selfish ambition uhoh envy and selfish ambition o there will also be disorder disorder and wickedness of every kind but the wisdom from above is first pure then Peaceable gentle willing to yield full of mercy and good fruits without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy imagine this is in the Bible and a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace those conflicts and disputes among you imagine they already knew about you guys where do they come from do they not come from your Cravings that are at War within you you want something and do not have it so you commit murder well that hasn't happened yet but you never know and you covet something and cannot obtain it oh my God so you engage in disputes and conflicts you do not have because you do not ask you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly in order to spend what you get on your pleasures remember the love of money is the root of all evil submit yourselves therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you draw near to God and He will draw near to you the word of the Lord amen amen thanks be to God Amen Brian kintana you're welcome commity mayor vice mayor council members city manager City attorney city clerk Brank inana 202 Southwest 110th Avenue Sweetwater Florida 33174 as Abraham Lincoln once stated A house divided against itself cannot stand I say a deral divided against itself cannot stand as elected officials you are gathered here today to conclude a solemn agreement whereby the residents rely upon each of you to ensure the survival and the success of this city every September Council gathers here in order to finalize the agreement of the city's budget an annual event that must take place in order to fund the government and to continue and renew the city's services for its beloved residents it is evident that only a few days ago this governing body did not and could not result in a conclusion which satisfied all requests made by each council member of said governing body instead of promoting respectful disagreements and establishing a line of effective dialogue in order to move the city's budget forward there Came Upon Us grave political differences that set us apart rather than bring us together for the common good of this city instead of promoting our self interests then and personal Ambitions let us put our Eagles aside for the good of this great City let us continue to work and serve the city of D with dignity honor respect and integrity the torch has been passed to a new generation of leadership born in the hearts and minds of the people of this community and they shall Prevail let us uphold the better angels of our nature as well as destroy the petty differences that tear us apart and forment Division let us come together as one people to dissolve the hatred the petty comments the disastrous examples and come together to prove ourselves as mature leaders that are capable of having healthy discussions and fostering responsible attitudes instead of seeking votes and short-term gain renew your oath your pledge and your commitment to the Future generations of this city by sacrificing towards one common goal to serve the city of the ra I'm convinced that the political machine the political operatives on either side of the aisle are quite satisfied with the divisions that have allowed them to divide and conquer but let us destroy these malicious motivations with pure with a pure heart in search of the best to the city to the residents of the city you have an upcoming election Choose Wisely and demonstrate that you care at the polls this November 5th 2024 you'll be choosing between political machines and political operatives with evil intentions or pure-hearted individuals with a Heart for Service I pray you choose a latter in close let us leave our petty differences at the door let us act as the mature adults that we are and let us finalize what we have the What the residents have sent us here to do to approve and ratify a budget that best serves the people the residents of the city of theal and I'd like to State for the record I do not represent anyone up here this is my opinion I worked for the city I'm glad I work for the city and I don't like seeing what's going on here so I like to state that we need Unity I know the election is coming up I understand politics I live it I breathe it but we need to have have unity in this city thank you any other public comments at this time I have no more comment cards okay being none public comments is now closed and we will hear from the clerk on the instructions for this meeting thank you Madame mayor as you know this is a continuation of the September 17 meeting so those items were taed both the millage resolution and the ordinance were tabled so now the instructions will be as follow take take from the table the proposed item which is the resolution have a public hearing on the item discuss the item and vote on the item then you would take the resolution from the table public hearing on I'm sorry the ordinance the budget ordinance from the table then do a public hearing on the ordinance discuss the ordinance and vote on the ordinance and then finally you would have item 5C which would be the positions okay everybody understands I need a motion to take from the table item a as soon as the clerk reads it item 5A a resolution of the mayor on the city council of the city of dout Florida establishing and adopting a final military and Levy of avalor taxes for fiscal year 2425 in the amount of 1.71 66 Mills which is 9.93% greater than the roll back rate to balance a general fund for fiscal year 2425 establishing the roll back rate to be 1.56 one5 Mills establishing and adopting The Debt Service millage rate for fiscal year 2425 in the amount of 4810 Mills for the general obligation bonds Parks and Recreation project series 2019 and 2021 providing for implementation and providing for effective date okay I need a motion as we said to take from the table motion to take to the take from the table by councilman P second by vice mayor P corvy now I need to open a public public hearing for this item public hearing is now open for item 24- 5875 anyone who would like to speak on this item please approach the podium at this time okay being none public comments is now closed and now we will have a discussion on this item if there is any I believe staff has presented several times on this item do we need a refresher if not I need a motion this is second okay there's a motion by councilman Pino second by vice mayor P corvey Madame clerk motion to approve the final milit rate and the RO and the U general fund FIS year 20242 made by counil Peno seconded by Vi corv counc Pino yes vice mayor yes Council yes Council M yes mayor far yes motion pass okay we've approved our military read Item B please Madam clerk Item B ordinance number 202 2426 adopting the budget for fiscal year 2425 an ordinance of the mayor and the city council of the city of D Florida finalizing and adopting the budgets for the general fund Transportation fund people's Transportation fund Park impact fee fund police impact fee fund developmental Services technology fee fund building fund the public Arts fee 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 storm water fund the other post-employment benefit funds retitling the infrastructure replacement fund to Capital asset Reserve fund on 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 and 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 transmittal by the city clerk implementation severability conflicts and an effective date all right I need a motion to take this item from the table please motion to take the item from the table by vice mayor P corvey second by councilman Beno I'm now going to open up public hearing public hearing is now open for item 24- 5862 this is our budget anyone who would like to speak please approach the podium at this time being none public hearing is now closed and we will hear discussion item on this okay who's going first who the mayor councilwoman poris so as presented last meeting I'm presenting again a proposed a memo proposing budget requests for this fiscal year you all should have received it from the clerk I don't know if Conor you emailed it but you should have it in front of you so with that it's it is revised from the last time that we met the 17th I would say a little shortened and with that I would again ask for your support for the entire Proposal with any suggestions changes that you want to see the chair yes councilwoman kab I was reviewing your proposal and um I would like to see if if it will be possible for you to amend it instead of being a 3.5 to go up to four like the county and um and the married to be a six and and when you said here to conduct a review of the of the actual uh comp ation pay range with the um with the classification plan I would like to see if aside from having it from the uh Evergreen that we always have I would like to see if there's another company that maybe we will be able to bring in so it will be able to give us another valuation by focusing on the on on the different municipalities on the county Miami day County and maybe going into Brower so we can compare and and if there's any changes later in the future but I would like to see that too are you referring to one B correct I'm okay with that I'm fine with the 4% Cola and you said 6% [Music] Merit are we sorry just one are we able to do um half percentages for merit if I I mean I would I would like to keep it at a total of 10 and a half as presented so are we able to do 4% Cola and an up to 6.5% Merit I'm assuming we are that would be my only change can we get someone from Finance to through the mayor should not be a problem uh we can factor in uh half points half percentages okay are you okay with that yeah okay okay I'm I'm okay with [Music] that mayor yes Council P I would like to if it's possible to go over each of the recommendations since the especially the people are here they don't know what we're talking about right we got the memo today but they don't know and the resents are watching they don't know what we're discussing so I think they deserve you know what what we're talking about yeah I can I can go through them if you all have any addition again this this is just my recommendations so if anyone else has any other recommendations please feel free this is what I proposed um during the last meeting with some with some revisions based on my conversations with staff so my first recommendation is approve with the changes that councilman cabal has just offered approve a 4% Cola and up to a 6.5% Merit increase based on individual performance evaluation for General employees additionally in October bring to a vote the 7 and a half Cola reopener contract with the PBA for police officers with and that increases would apply retroactively to October 1st with that also conduct a review of actual compensation and pay ranges within our current pay and classification plan focusing on Frontline and support staff positions this review should Encompass job classifications typically considered non-managerial or operational roles an example positions that involve direct interaction with the public often in service or maintenance maintenance roles and the evaluation should also assess the impacts of any proposed adjustments addressing potential issues of compression or inequities and provide recommended Solutions and with the additional um remark from councilman cabal and I'm not sure exactly how this would be evaluated but have an independent or an additional evaluator help I guess HR with this evaluation if that's my understanding is that correct okay in the mayor and council's budget remove funding for the Outreach coordinator in the city manager's F office remove funding for one of the two prisions of clerical Aid 2 public affairs department remove funding for the sponsorship coordinator position B remove funding for the $45,000 that's being asked for the state of the city and replace it with 3,000 Economic Development Fund a sponsorship coordinator position it include funding for best practice realignment include funding for continuous independent monitoring Public Works work on a regarding the sustainability program work on adding funding for either clerical Aid to under the sustainability director to help oversee the implementation of initiatives approved by Council and to perform other clerical administrative tasks under Parks and Recreation add 40,000 to the pp Fork funding for their after school program and under General government under sponsorships add 5,000 donation for toys for kids Miami tfkm and if can we make a copy of this available to the public absolutely yeah if we can do that so that way they also have this paper and those are the proposed changes and I will make a motion to approve these proposed changes the councilman still has the floor so councilman P thank you thank you Council pz here here's my thing um I'm I don't feel comfortable in removing funding for for positions especially positions that already filled we're not talking about freezing positions since I go back to the city managers duties and administration duties we're we're now the city managers and I would like to hear the feedback from the directors or the city or through the city manager if they're okay with these changes because again once a budget is uh is is proposed by the city manager and the administration is based on need is based on the vision that we all discussed back in when we had the strategic planning session we have it here now in May back in May and then follow up meetings in June July not July August so I just want to make sure that the directors and the administration are okay with these changes that are being proposed and speaking about directors I don't know how we're going to deal with the mayor council section which is removing a person that works under the mayor's Direction so pretty much we're telling that person that works right now we're terminating your job that's what we're doing you're forcing me to Terminator but yeah so I'm not okay with that and that's why I wanted for residents to hear and to understand what we're doing because we're not in a budget crisis unless that I'm wrong and we're not facing any we are not so I think that especially targeting someone that works directly for an elected official I think is a direct political attack against an elected official that's how I will take it especially when we just increased three months ago the salaries for our chief of staff 40% I voted know so how you justify that we had an increase in our budget 40% in our department and we're cutting terminating a position that only pays what 60 60 $69,000 same thing goes to City manager's office removing funding for one of the two positions do do you need two do you need one I don't know so we're terminating people that's what we're doing and I'm not okay with that I'm obviously I'm okay with the calling increase I was I was in favor of the 7.5% call increase that the city manager and administration proposed at the beginning I'll be okay with four even though it's not what I would like to see but they the staff deserve to know that we're supporting then as well but I'm not okay with terminating people that's not my duty that's not my job here that's why we have an Administration that's why we have a city manager so other than that I'll be okay obviously I want to approve a budget but I cannot approve a budget that sends the wrong messages this wrong message to the staff and to the residents because pretty much what we're doing is telling the residents that we're terminating staff so that's that's my position and if I may also CU to go on that um not only are we terminating positions that are filled uh with these recommendations there's being it's being recommended through the budget process of which to my understanding Lorenzo please correct me if I'm wrong it's outside of the authority of the council to add for example you're cutting these positions but you're adding a position for a sustainab sustainability program to add funding for a new clerical Aid to there under Public Works which you know may be someone's pet project so we're cutting in other positions we're adding where we benefits us or it's our projects in this case the presenter of the of the of the memo um and then my greater concern is there's recommendations to move positions from one Department to another which also I understand falls under the city manager's Authority like moving the sponsorship coordinator from one place from one Department to another department those are decisions that the city manager makes Lorenzo so this evening Madame mayor um what you the the action that you you can take um is definitely it's everything within the budget so if you want to delete a line item from the budget you are free to do so if you wish to move monies and allocate them for a future use you can do that I I agree that you tonight is not the time and this is not the uh the venue the the proper time to be adding positions or or or deleting positions uh that's uh not uh proper for a budget now to to reserve funding for future consideration uh through the processes that exists in the city you can do that but not today thank you for educating the Council on that um I understand some people are doing this only for the second time and it's important to understand the process um additionally today we have to approve a budget so that means we need dollar figures there's two items item five and six which don't have dollar figures attached to them it just says include funding for best practice include funding for what is the amount we have to have a balanced budget tonight which means when we come to an agreement to this staff has to go back to their office they've got to calculate the numbers based on these changes we've just made and now they've got to come to us and we have to vote on the budget on the balanced budget we can't just vote on fugazi like can't it has to be numbers set numbers that's how accounting works I I I can't approve a budget that doesn't have figures attached to it second I think it's become a habit and it's very concerning to me because it's actually in my opinion a violation of our Charter um section 4.10 of our Charter which says you can't have laid down items because the public has the right to know what we're voting on to be able to come in a pine so to councilman Pino's point we're looking at a memo that we got at 3:00 in the afternoon sure we got a similar memo on the 17th as we were walking onto the de today we got it at 3 a new memo we're making additional changes on the de when we've had since May to have these discussions so that this doesn't happen so that we all have the ability to be prepared because we all have that responsibility to our residents so it's really unfair and you know really insulting to us as elected officials as your colleagues to do this at last minute when we've had the opportunity to have multiple conversations with staff to then make the the the changes so I have a really hard time approving this addition to that um there's request for granting grants here i' I've noticed another Trend which is that we are including a lot of funding for nonprofits that apparently can't do their own fundraising so does that mean that these nonprofits will now no longer be able to apply for the CBO grants because I see here in line item 8A this organization received $5,000 I believe or close to $5,000 from us last year for the CBO Grant now we're putting it in the budget and already in the budget in the first hearing which I was not I did not approve of we included $150,000 $150,000 for dcam for the D I don't know what the acronym is but the dcam museum who is a 501c3 and whose 2022 IRS filings showed that they only raised $109,000 so that means we are now becoming the sole income source of this nonprofit that to me is concerning especially when we have a cultural center that we buil right across the street that is for our cultural programming so and we're asked to approve this $150,000 without knowing what the money is being used for so we don't know if it's to pay for their lease if it's to have programs is it to have a art exhibits is it to do a big show just approve $150,000 to a friend or an organization because there's no backup zero backup we've received to today on this item so this is extremely concerning to me this isn't fiscally responsible this isn't you know again I I I concur with councilman Pino the positions that are being cut are directed at a certain motive so I won't be supportive of this I think that it's um it's clear what's happening here I'm not going to pretend to not know you guys have the three votes I think everybody knows but just remember that just because you have the majority on the council doesn't mean that you represent the majority of our community so those are my comments through the mayor yes so I I want to clarify two things one the one of the positions for the clerical Aid to has been vacant for an entire year right that that is correct uh at least since my tenure here uh yeah it's wide open so thank you so the two positions and and also a question to Lorenzo is it within the city council's authority to remove funding for positions which would be certain line items as as I previously mentioned councilwoman uh you can definitely remove line items okay um that that's your function is is to take a look at the budget and yes okay so I just want to clarify that well first the two positions that I I have here where I I'm proposing removing the funding were actually created last year they have not been part of the years of the City Administration and I cannot in good conscience support social media activities for the mayor I don't think that the city should be paying for those Services I think mayor you have enough funding private funding through your campaign elections committee to fund those activities I don't think it h it's going to be a burden that um should be on the community so that's why I am proposing that and as far as again the other position it is currently vacant it's been vacant for probably a whole year and it was created last year during last year's budget now I do want to point out that if Loreno if what you're saying is that we cannot fund for positions right now I am happy to remove the number four which is fund a sponsorship coordinator position for economic development the sustainability program program as well that's no problem if that's outside of our purview I'm fine with doing that and I just want to remind people last year's budget passed with three votes too so there's always going to be a difference issues and this is what I feel is the most fiscally responsible that we can offer to our residents and under the sponsorship I mean I have no problem with your request to fund the deral Chamber of Commerce so I'm not sure why you would have an issue with me funding the same amount for another an actual nonprofit so I mean I'm I'm going to keep it there so those would be my changes it yes no value oh an it I think it we we funded we already placed the value a number on best practices right uh I don't have an exact figure uh it's something that we are going to engage with uh ERM once they finish the current audit but I do not have uh can you uh do we have a set figure on that or yes sir uh good evening for May assistant city manager CFO uh in the budget proposal that you already approved once uh there's $80,000 for the best practices already included as for the second item um we've spoken to to our vendor we don't have a proposal from them regarding a number um they said generally maybe 100,000 but you know my suggestion would be to keep that in reserve until we actually have a proposal and then we would still have to bring it back to council for approval okay yeah and I'm I'm okay doing that yeah I'm fine doing that um just know that with that funding I was trying to ensure that we had independent monitoring of Our IT department after the Fiasco that happened here so but if you don't want it right now that is okay too I think we can bring it next month during the council meeting so instead of making this harder I'm just going to remove a five 5B since it hasn't been funded and keep 5A which we've already placed about $80,000 for have a question yes yes L mayor uh Public Works number six uh clerical Aid to do you have a number that we can add to the position and there's no position created you can't do okay that's fine so just to just to confirm and reiterate some of the changes one um I'm okay accepting the 4% Cola and up to a 6.5 Merit increase let me see remove four remove 5B remove six and that's it so I'm going to I'm going to move to approve those the recommendations With The Changes motion second okay there's a motion in a second shocker um just one more comment the position that is being removed from the mayor and council's budget which is the position that's under my office is a community outreach coordinator it's not a social media person she handles community and engagement and constituent services but that's no problem you guys can take away my conference room or our conference room you could take away my chair my office you could take away my ability to sign certificates and proclamations and keys you won't stop me from doing my job so it's by all means um additionally I want to just mention that the state of the city because the what the recommendation is here first of all the state of the city is required by the charter um last year when we did it I raised $30,000 of private funding to be able to pay for it so it was not um all a taxpayers expense the previous mayor had the budget at $22,000 for several years and also had sponsorship that covered most of it which is why there was um only an expenditure of about $1900 so to cut that down to $3,000 it's basically just putting us back in a closed room where 50 people can come we had 500 people at our state of the city last year because people want to know what's happening people want to get out that's part of the constituent services that I've been doing but it's fine um I'm sure we'll find tons of sponsors who are willing to make sure that our community is engaged and knows what's happening so so I I have no problem with cutting that because again my my intention is never to use um the the Public Funding when possible we always try and find sponsors and make sure that it's not at taxpayers expense so I have no problem with that but again I still cannot be supportive of uh these decisions that I believe are not in the best interest of the city but rather in the interest of sole individuals particularly and more importantly as well as that $150,000 that I still haven't gotten an answer as to what it's being used for and I want to just say ultimately we're at the same amount of increase to the residents or to the um employees that was proposed by the administration so okay if there's no more comments Madam Madam manager if I just um Madame mayor I'm sorry uh for the sponsorship coordinator just for clarity purposes I do want to just uh put on the record that it is a position that is currently filled and is currently funded I think the proposal that was listed on what uh woman P has provided was to Move It from one Department to another right so I think at this point we're just saying leave it funded but it's up to the manager where what department he wants are in that's that's at the manager's discretion so I think now we need yeah we can leave it it's fine I think now we need to have staff go back okay go ahead Fernando yes sorry thank you um I I just want to recap to make sure that we have it correct so that it doesn't take too long to go back and kind of move all the money around so 4% Cola uh for all employees of course knowing that we're going to be coming back with the PBA agreement 6 and a half% merits up to 6 and a half% merits um remove funding for the Outreach coordinator in the mayor council budget remove funding for one of the vacant clerical AIDS in the manager's office uh remove funding for uh state of the city and make it $3,000 instead of 45,000 uh we already have the best practice realignment in the budget at $80,000 we're going to leave money's in the reserve to cover whatever additional uh independent monitoring uh we get from our vendor uh we're adding a clerical Aid to uh for the sustainability director no not that one's cut glad glad I did it and then 40,000 for PP for k for after school programming and $5,000 for toys for kids Miami is that correct correct yes you okay what I would ask for is for you to recess [Music] for hopefully less than an hour so that we can run these numbers and come back and we can pass a balanced budget Yep this is what happens when we don't do it ahead of time we need a 1 hour recess motion to recess second motion to Recess by councilman por second by vice mayor P corve all in favor say I I all right we'll be back in an [Music] hour m --------- ##VIDEO ID:ju-0jHiU1TU## podcast is now starting all attendees are in listen only mode good evening we are now calling calling this meeting to order it is September 30th the time is now 5:14 p.m. this is our special council meeting please uh call the RO Madam clerk councilwoman poras here councilman Rafa P councilwoman vice mayor Oscar May CHR fro present may you have thank you please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance led by vice mayor P Cor to the FL of the United States of America the rep it stands Nation indiv okay is there any changes additions or deletions to the agenda order of business okay being none we'll move into public comments all right good afternoon everyone um we're going to go into the public comments portion for our first meeting if you're here to speak on the items regarding the resource recovery facility or the city manager evaluation and S salary evaluation it would be prudent to do it during this public comment portion I'm going to go ahead and start with the comment cards I have please remember to speak in a respectful manner you have three minutes to address this Council we're going to start with Richard gutad please remember your name and address for the record and make sure everyone's phones are on silent thank you okay Richard glad VI Durell Condominiums uh this is how I see the uh situation with the resource recovery it's really not our biggest environmental threat what's our biggest environmental threat is is the landfill I was on the environmental Advisory Board uh due to the fact that I had a lot of uh upper respiratory issues I basically couldn't breathe that's how bad it was and everybody said it was from the uh from the uh incinerators but it it really wasn't it was from the landfill and I I really got involved in it all I know is that it's it's much more dangerous than than the incinerator did you know that in Ireland uh landfills are against the law that's what they think about landfills but they allow uh recycling plants because they consider it to be much safer now as far as what we should do with resource recovery I think we should move it to the airport West like like our mayor wants to do I think it would be better for us but then it wouldn't be very good for all the little animalitos and the Everglades would it uh I wouldn't sue the county yet I think it's you know much too soon to do that we we really need to see what they're going to do first just sit quietly and see what they're going to do you know keep your eye on the ball but but don't uh get so excited that you uh you know do things prematurely and then later you'll say oh God why do we do that we should awaited all right but if they must uh put it here I don't think it would be that bad because the new technology is is really terrific and there's very little uh environmental harm involved with with the new technology the problem is the old one was basically Running on Fumes and it had an older technology that was appropriate for the time that it was constructed when there weren't so many people or again of course the county approved all the zoning to put uh houses right there it's unbelievable those guys in the county they'll do anything so don't believe anything they tell you nothing has changed no matter what they tell you it should go in this ear and out the other they're very disingenuous people generally speaking all right just if I were you guys I just call their bluff if if they you know say they're going to do something call their Bluff you know everything at the end of the day is like a big poker game anyway keep your poker faces on and see what they come up with in this call their Bluff that's that's the way life Works anyway everything works like that just call their Bluff all right keep the pressure up downtown we have to keep going downtown to the meetings with the t-shirts and speaking if if we disappear they'll do whatever they want thank you that's my uh spin on the coana thing and let's keep our eye on the ball thank you Mr glat you're welcome Fernanda Gomez hi my name is Fernanda Gomez 874 Northwest 502 Terrace Doral today I want to appeal to some of you about the responsibility that you all have towards our city a responsibility that extends until the last minute in which you exercise your position each of you must fight for us and represent our community regardless of whether you know you might be leaving soon I have noticed that some of you are present at all the events in the city participating in all activities such as the 5K race or the silver club events that's perfect I love it always um always a big smile and ready to take pictures however what we really need need is to see that same dedication and commitment at crucial moments because I don't see all of you defending our city fighting for the inator not to return during the long hours meetings held in the Miami date Government Center so my question is the decisions here are done by five but the responsib the responsibilities out there are just for two as the saying goes all the glitter Is Not Gold many times used to say that people many times uh this saying is used to say that people stay uh with the superficial part of the S leaving aside the true meaning it is also used to recommend that we should not trust appearances I believe the residents are quite are quite capable and thoughtful I believe um we can see uh photos on social media and also we can see actions in the bad times we see the true faces of our leaders it is in these difficult moments that we residents need your support and Leadership the most I ask you to continue working for well for the well-being of our community remember remembering that every action counts and that we are all watching thank you for your time thank you krina Valdez Bishop good evening Madame mayor vice mayor and members of the city council for the last three and a half months my father Ray Valdez has dutifully served our community as city manager it was not a role he sought but he came out of retirement again because he felt compelled to serve again a community that our family has lived in and loved for the last 25 years and what has turned into a complete NOA certain members of the city council are now attempting to run this beautiful city into the ground and my father a true public servant through and through will not abide by their Banana Republic Playbook tonight's discussion about the city manager isn't about supporting his role this is about ensuring dalal's elected officials know that their constituents the people that have elected them and most importantly the people that you work for I'm sorry the people that they work for are paying attention thank you for your time thank you very much is there any other public comments at this time regarding these two items please approach the podium uh I'll do Juan Carlos esel first and then we'll take caros mes yes IM merits good evening my fellow residents Council I stand before you today as a concern sorry name and address for the sorry Juan Carlos esel 3725 alcanta Avenue for over 21 years we have watched theal growth flourish into the Vibrant Community we share is we as business business people this is damag okay we as business people uh better have planned their rots our city has become a place proud to call home for many of us over the last two decades our city has gone through more than 10 city managers and assistant managers more than 10 changes in leadership just in 21 years each of them of these changes through perhaps Drive political differences have disrupted the ability to continue our city needs that truly uh deserves constantly refer in a leadership heightens the progress it places a burdens on the city's employees on our businesses and most importantly on the residents who rely on strong consistent leadership to go forward Dalal is not just a stepping stone for political ambitious it is a home as a resident we deserve stability leadership that trans sense political differences and focuses more than truly matters if if okay I'm here to say enough is enough gentle ladies and gentlemen the residents want a government who works for us not against himself we want leaders that can set aside differences find common grounds and work together for the benefit of the ra we need a balance and stability not just in words but in actions we need leaders who are willing to prioritize the future of this city over political disagreements I urge you our counil to listen to the voices of these people we deserve a leadership that is steady focused and above commitment on long-term success right here in theal thank you thank you hi good afternoon um Carlo Eduardo Hermes uh from the 4760 Northwest 83rd Avenue um thank you for giving me this opportunity I'm going to be quick there is not much time to say the things um this year we have seen in three different times the different ways the council managed to change and move uh important employees from important you know positions city managers we have seen this year three different city managers first the council with three votes decided to get rid of Barbara later the same council with three votes decided to name a temporary city manager that didn't comply with these three votes requirements and later this same three votes named Mr Valdez who has been doing a good job so far that's what I know and these same three votes wants to review and revise his uh work and uh as I see here they want to evaluate his salary and uh it's going to be a discussion about his employment agreement which I see it as a way to get rid of him as well so I do not understand why there is no continuity if the people you are putting in those important places you are trying to remove them um when they might not do what you might want uh I urge you all all to take care of the community no to political interest on the community because we have a chance a beautiful chance to change that in November 5th so I urge you to keep the continuity to respect what you are doing and to respect us thank you for the [Applause] time all right any other public comments please approach the podium state your name and address for the record please let's remember not to clap but to shake our hands hold on ma'am ma'am ma'am we're going to have Selma and then you can wait right there yes you can speak next thank you Salma Garcia 6306 Norwest 100 F place um essentially what I want to do is just to remind you as our uh Representatives that the city of dado is facing an incredible opportunity to get rid of the incinerator in here the county has paid for studies that demonstrate that Dural is going to be really really affected if the new incinerator is built in the previous side where the older one burned to ashes three% of our population is going to be facing risks of non-cancerous diseases according to the study if we consider that the wind blows from the East most of the time we are talking about the communities that are in the Northwest and Southwest of our city that is one 2third of the population that is if we have 85,000 people living here that is more than 60,000 people affected by the emissions of the new incinerator and 3% of that is almost 1 18800 put an name to those 1800 put the value of those life and go to the city to the to the county essentially to negotiate the value of those lives it cannot be based on values it cannot be based on cost and the county cannot continue playing games with us we need to be there as a one solid block of represent sentative of a city that has been facing the problems that arises from the emissions of a facility like that you need to convince the county and the Florida institutes according what we saw last week is giving us a chance please give us the citizens that chance thank you thank you s Selma Selma and see the clerk okay no problem please P Podium thank you name and address for the record good afternoon my name is Lisa monano and my address is 7439 Northwest 103rd Court Dorell Florida 33178 good afternoon council members mayor thank you for letting me have a second to talk um as a resident in Dural I've lived here over 20 years and I love Dural um but it really saddens me with what's going on with um the incinerator and we have already suffered so long here with the Landfield incinerator and many people when they purchase their home right next to incinerator thought that the contract was over and they proceeded to buy and there were other people that didn't even know about the incor um which is Hispanic people that come from other countries you know Venezuela Colombia um cuz we are a Latino City and um also I find that very Injustice that they are like trying to put the incinerator again in Dural which it's a Hispanic City and I know also they do that with the also the brown cities and things like that um but my point is I heard in the Commissioners downtown they were saying that they want Dural to pay I don't know I can't remember if it was 46 bil million doll or something like that um which I I find absurd because I would like to ask them how much are they going to pay each citizen of Dural breathing this air they should pay us honestly instead of us paying them I find it absurd I really do and also the Landfield and everything else we're dealing with I think it's out of the question Dural medley and I think there is another solution I think we could go zero waste if they really tried um $1.2 billion dollar that's a lot of money for a building that trucks go through I mean I really I find that very high and I think there there would be um if they would want to when there's the the will there's the want there's a will there's a way um and I think there would be a way zero waste and even if I mean each resident can help with that um but there does have to be um I think a way to do that instead of doing the incinerator thank you thank you Lis anyone else would like to speak hello good afternoon my name is Rano 10465 or west 69 teras in D Florida and my English know so well I'm trying to to explain in Spanish for [Music] me it's okay okay yep gra you need to speak at the mic thank you I want to tell everyone together is the only way we can look solid before we have present and one of the things we want is that have the whole D Community to be together and that's why you have to be together so you can request us to be there um to participate in the events are you talking about meeting okay so uh in the events you guys want us to participate that is why you right now has to use all the Medias for the community to know uh many of them doesn't know the problem we have now and that it's the TRU many people doesn't know that we're going to have an incinerator if we do not participate and if we do many social events uh where we invite many uh people that can bring some other why don't we speak with the truth uh speak that we have a problem it speak that we have to say and do something because that's the truth we didn't be there uh and and make presence as other cities did and that was only because we were not together and we were not called and that's why I request uh for you to use all Medias and look at us as a citizens the way the Commissioners look at us in Miami date they do not pay attention to us they simply stand walk and they do not care about the health of our residents and that's the truth and that's why those they use those significant numbers and that's why they didn't take care even care about the um um inform inform reports report days uh right and that's why they defer and defer this problem they don't read that and for them we are only the city of golf and the city who has money but we are a City full of kids and families who deserves a a better environment that is why you have to communicate this to everyone to schools and all institutions in every event now more than ever you have to work together and as uh previous people say before you have to work together and on the side all political interest that way you will show us what will be the the good decision the correct decision the day of the elections take the appropriate decision thank you any other public comments at this time yes please approach hi good afternoon my name is Mario Mullins and I live in Dural Lakes 97th and 52nd uh I've lived in Dural since 1988 it's 36 years ago the incinerator was already here before the city was the city so I don't think that the county can just put on the city all the costs of removing or transferring or whatever they want to call it all that whole process has to be shared countywide it's a countywide facility owned by the county and services the whole County and I think that the city council should make that very clear to the county that this is a county facility regardless of what they want to burden us with we're just part of the county and that facility is supposed to serve the entire County so we cannot foot the whole bill um I think that the most important thing that I hear from my neighbors and that I agree with as well the message that I get when I talk to almost anybody in this on this issue is we want the incinerator away from the not in the we don't want anything rebuilt in that location uh nor in medley because it's too close and nature and air doesn't recognize any City boundaries it's just too close uh we would prefer the location on the far Northwest and the extra cost of moving the facility out there has got to be shared by the entire County cannot be put on the city and whatever facility is built has to give guarantees to all the population of both day and Broward that it's going to have new technology that it's not going to have odor and that it's going to be safe for the environment and for public health and it's going to take the truck traffic away from theal and populated areas the other issue that we're discussing that you wanted to hear about today is um in terms of city managers um I'm a political science major and um I also teach at Miami dat College I don't think it's fair to change the rules after the fact I think that once you make a deal with someone you stay to that deal or you get together and come to a joint mutual agreement but it should not be that the new rules suddenly apply to something that already happened thank you very much thank you Mar please see the city clerk any other public comments please approach the podium thank you which one you'll be next hi my name is Ralph Rivera 10355 Northwest 48 Street um um like my colleague said I am a political science Professor from college I've been living here since 1999 um I've seen Dale develop go through its best times and we're a good Community I mean we live in a great City we don't ask for a lot but what we don't what we like from our government is Effectiveness and efficiency we've burnt through three city managers and the last year we don't like drama this is bringing up that drama from Luigi boria and Joe Coro we're a laughing stock in Miami when your students my students start bringing that up in class that's a problem we don't ask for a lot but again why not the continuity there's a lot of political interests and a lot of you are just playing politics and the city deserves better and again like my colleague said you already made a deal stick with it we've had great he has has done a great job I'm not one as hypocritical as it might sound I'm not one to show up to City Council meetings as I should but if I show up that means that something's bothering me the good thing is and as bad as it sounds if you don't see a lot of people showing up to City Council meetings that means you're going doing a good job but again the community is asking you to get your stuff together thank you please see the clerk please the clerk good evening hi good evening I'm S I reside at 6812 Northwest 113 court and welcome back vice mayor congratulations on the graduation of your son we know that your absence was well documented and welcome back I'm going to take um a moment first of all and I'm sorry my neighbor my hopefully friend um and I know that your family is here also your your lovely U mother who I've known and I totally respect her but when we when we talk about continuity and we talk about respect some of you have come up here and you're asking an entire city council to speak with one voice to respect but when the leadership at a past meeting basically turns to the manager and says he's not my manager I didn't vote for him he's not my city manager that doesn't send a United voice that's not a United message that weakens Mr Valdez that weakens him before the county if you guys are speaking with one voice and you are encouraging your Administration through the attorneys and through the city managers to go out and negotiate on our behalf on what I really wanted to speak of which is the incinerator issues you have to empower them you have to empower the leadership you have to empower your lobbyists and you have to empower your staff to be able to go and speak with one voice I commend myar for having shown up at a public meeting completely organized which is what one of you or two of you have mentioned it was it was disgraceful quite frankly for the city of Durell after having placed their trust in the chair of this committee to go and speak on behalf of the of the city and we didn't accomplish anything what we accomplished was a 60-day deferral on an item that's been lingering for many many years so I think this pause of the 60 days may give the administration and the elected body along with the community um the young lady who spoke Selma in the back who I know has taken a great leadership ship role IET petrovich the attorney who sued the county to address this issue who I don't I don't see her here tonight but she doesn't have to be here to actually for her community to know that she's working on our behalf so I encourage all of you as you take your vote on what the next step with the county is going to be don't antagonize the county simply because you weren't prepared don't antagonize the county because when the County Commissioners asked with what what's the dollar amount what are you willing to come to the county with you guys didn't have a number so I would take a step back I would instead of antagonizing our County Commissioner the founding member and mayor of the city of derell try working with thank you very much for your comments please see the clerk to fill out a comment card anyone else would like to speak on public comments any yes Patricia good afternoon Patricia giral 6301 Northwest 109 Avenue H I'm a resident of Doral since 1990 um okay for me communication is very important my major is advertising and I notice Instagram you have 54,000 followers I think this is a good place where you can post the things that are going on like here I don't see the meeting of today you should post something please we need you I don't know I mean this is good I think you have a delay you know like the web page and the Instagram you should use this for example for the November 6 you should be posting hey we need you like in mamar they we 300 people with their green chair we need our 600 people with our blue share even if it doesn't have it can be just blue share so right now we should start I have my my side El Camino el you know and I'm posting hey please be active be active so I just forget about the system you need to put a priority in communication because we need even that November 6 the city shouldn't work that they should plan to go to the meeting the schools this should be a major scene of the city so I just want to say please improve communication use Instagram and use the web page to communicate this if you need help I can help you because that's something that I can do thank you Patricia please see the clerk any other public comments at this time any other public comments are we filling out a public common card over there good afternoon Council good afternoon mayor councilman city manager City attorneys my name is Bradley caban my address is 1 14560 Northwest 78 Street Apartment 30 9 D Florida 33178 so I'm coming here real quick to speak um about everything that's going on in the city um cator and just currently what I've been seeing going on lately about the city manager situation um number one the incinerator I'm going to tell you thank you mayor and councilman for always being president at the County Commission I think they have really fought for our interests um really I'm going to just be honest the county has been holding again against our heads residents so I just really want to thank mayor Christy froga for her leadership into this and um just keep on fighting and let's just spread the word I tell all the residents to just spread the word and just keep on fighting um I'm going to be very honest it was disappointing the last meeting and even the town hall I just think more people should be up here um it's our community it's our health and um let's just make the best out of it and um again I just want to thank the leadership of councilman Rafael and Christy for being very active and and just keep on fighting for us also I want to you know talk another point about the city manager I just find it very unjust that they want to do this just the three same votes that want that put him in now want to revise his contract and just revise his salary and possibly just take him out I just feel like that's unfair and um that's just a stab in the back and unfortunately this is I feel like this is just a political move because somehow um he's not doing what they want want them to do what they want him to do um so I just want to pass that point to know make everyone realized what's going on and what's up for stake this election and um it's unfair it's unfair what's going on we have been through six city managers and this year and three different attorneys this year and um that's just very unstable just that's we don't want this to happen um it's been very continuous over other administrations I don't want to talk about that but um this can't keep on happening and um I just hope Council can make a better decision and hopefully this November something changes thank you thank you any other comments any other public comments I have a Miss Gina Romero okay Gina Romero good afternoon sorry for be late but um I'm fighting with this condition with the interet of first with the Gina name and address for the record please Gina Romero 10933 Norwest for Lane Florida 33178 thank you I fighting for the Landfield long time ago and now with incinerator um I attend to the Past meeting in Miami day County I I support not just D Miramar too because we have to be conc that anybody deserve have some incinerator in sub okay I invite to all Commissioners to be together because it's the same issue for our residents okay I invite to listen different organization different people that are involing this I want to help you okay if you are listen to people that have expertise in this please meeting with them I have a group but it's not just Florida Rising different group that I we can work with Co with them okay no not only the Scientifics um this is a lot people that are want to be I don't know if you know air Justice that air Justice have a different different H results in this issue and then at the moment I think that anybody deserve have inin I don't know why this city if this city is free plastic why not C waste we have to start thinking that this is the best solution we don't need more incin around our residents thank you thank you any other comments yes sir please approach the podium evening Marcos Vasquez 4640 Northwest 84th Avenue Apartment 17 uh so the uh I have a few comments and and one of the one of them is I need Clarity uh because we do hear values of between I've heard 40 million and I've heard 400 million and I mean 400 million I don't even want to imagine what that would do to property taxes and I mean it would be a mass Exodus out of out of D because there's there's just no it's just not sustainable um the other thing that I'd like to understand is the time frame so how long are we talking about like what is the time frame that we have in in terms of negotiation with the county and then also uh the time frame of actually getting uh something working right um I also want to make sure that um I know that there were some talks about transfer station I personally would be in favor of a transfer station if that would be if that were like part of the part of the bargain but one of the things that I do want to mention is that the transfer station I mean traffic in Dural is is very bad already as it is okay um transfer station with trucks going back and forth it would be a nightmare so I think we would have to consider that as well um as far as you know what the county is doing with us I think one of the things that we should definitely look at is not just the I mentioned this during the last Town Hall not just looking at it from a local standpoint in terms of uh you know the uh the local local laws and and and local avenues that we can take to to to combat at the county but look at it as from a state or a federal level okay because I'm sure there are federal regulations and state regulations that um on air quality and in terms of proximity to to people that are that are living in the area Okay and then the other thing that I want to mention is I do I do agree that uh we should do more in terms of you know social media and getting the word out but I also think that it's everybody's responsibility to to also speak to your neighbors and get people get people to come out I personally was able to get one of my neighbors out here who had no idea that this was even happening but once I once I mentioned it then obviously it's a it's a very important cause so thank you thank you sir please see the clerk to F out a card any other public comments at this time okay being no more public comments the public comments portion of this meeting is now closed and we will now move on to the discussion items discussion item 5A update on resource recovery facility okay um I'm going to hand it over to the City attorney in just a second uh I called this meeting at the request or at the um recommendation of the City attorney after the September 17th BCC meeting that uh was held in regards to a location for uh the potential rebuild of the incinerator um I did hold a town hall last week I know some of you went where I explained a lot of the questions that were asked so that people could be uh informed as to what happened I know that it's hard to get out to the BCC meetings they're far they're really early in the morning and that particular day we were there for about eight hours waiting to hear our topic be discussed so um this is something that we have obviously been advocating for and have been um dealing with for over a year uh now actually a year to the date almost the the the date that the County Commission took a vote to negotiate with Dural a potential payment for relocation was September 19 2023 and if anyone has questions about what this city council particularly myself has done regarding this issue there's an entire timeline that's available to the public and I've email blasted it a couple times too along with the information as to what steps we've taken to advocate for our city to have a position um how many times we've gone to the county um I myself have tried to communicate as best as possible with the Comm Community to get together to go out to support um because it is important for all of our voices to be heard and for us to be seen I do want to clarify yes Maramar has done a lot and they've been organized in their own uh way as well but they also bust their city employees to the county on that day so there was lots of green shirts there many of them were city employees that they had bus there um so yes it's important for us to show our force and for our community to be together understanding that there's limitations and responsibilities and obligations and it's it's difficult so I think it's our responsibility to try and get as much information to you all in a very uh in in an easy way and an efficient way and so just briefly before I turn it over to the City attorney who's going to give us a little bit of a recommendation and also what steps we should really be taking I do want to address some of the questions that were asked about the amounts so there has been a couple different uh Renditions of this potential contribution that the city would give originally on September 19 2023 the County Commission adopted a resolution that said that the city would be required to pay a 3.5% on top of incremental property values for one mile radius around the plant for 40 years when we did those numbers based on the 7.8% growth we've had year over year consistently it was to the tune about $46 million plus some other small conditions it did require us to still have a transfer station in our city which at first we were reluctant to um because if we are going to pay to remove this from our city well then we should get all nuisances out of our city for it um and as someone rightfully said earlier and I've said several times who's going to pay us for the 20 you know 30 years that we've been dealing with this in our backyards um and if you're saying that our property values are going to go up well then we should have been been accounting for those property values for 20 years now so how do we make up that lost time um but I digress we we had these discussions there has been several negotiations back and forth with the county they're all documented several meetings with the different different administrations I have been a part of uh some of them as well um some were just Administration to Administration some were with myself and the mayor and the chairman and others involved uh but the resolution required for the county to First make a decision on the location that they were going to choose and then the city of Dural would negotiate final terms and we would have 60 days to come back with a final deal unfortunately at the last that was September 19th 2023 unfortunately at the meeting that took place on September 17 2024 they changed the rules of the game mid game we did everything they asked us as a matter of fact this Council met on September 3rd 2024 right before they were going to meet to go a step further and adopt a resolution saying we agree within some limitations and some final um negotiations to your terms and even cumb to the fact that there would have to be a transfer station we conceded to those terms halfway at this meeting so halfway they decide to change the rules of the game and now are asking the city of Dural to pay the Delta of what it would cost to really locate this plant to the tune of about $400 million and we would still need a transfer station if they were to choose Airport west if they were to choose medley we really don't know so basically they are now asking us to come back within 45 days in November 6th with a blank check because we don't know what the Delta is and on top of that they want us to pay for the construction of the transfer station and the ongoing operations and maintenance to the tune of about 50 million for construction and 12 million a year for operations it is appalling and uncalled for for those of us that were at that meeting that day we felt ransomed it was disheartening it was hurtful it was unfair it was unjust we walked in there thinking that and the um ass assumptions ass assertions I should say that were made to us was that there was the um there was the desire to make a decision that day and move go go forward with the plant to airport West which was the recommendation of the mayor and has consistently been the recommendation of the county mayor for several reasons for those of you who have read the report which is long but I will shorten it to very three very basic points one it's the largest location to build the campus that they need because the county is not dropping in population it is growing in population and as much as we want to get to zero waste any master plan for solid waste in the county is going to include some type of incineration there is no modernized civilization in the world right now that doesn't use incineration and therefore being a county that has doubled the national average of waste there has to be some type of incineration so being realistic and having an opportunity to sit with the County Commissioners multiple times and talk to them about this I understood that we needed to come up with a realistic solution we couldn't just say go towards a zero waste plan although we want to support that and we do want to try and get there at some point but they need to build a campus that will withhold the needs of this County that will meet the needs of this County as we grow so Airport west has been recommended by the county mayor because it is the largest site and really meets the needs of the county for future years for future generations for future growth whereas D's location is I think less than half the size it's 160 Acres so and if you look at the air quality reports D is compromised D and medley are compromised now Airport west has its challenges too and we can all discuss those challenges and we've we've been at the County Commission meetings and heard them and um and we understand them the city of D also took an initial step on September 3rd all of us together we made sure that the administration hired a professional engineer environmental engineer to defend our position at the County Commission meeting they were present and spoke on the record as well as a complete legal team who specializes in environmental Injustice environmental justice one of them used to work for the DP and is on our on our team we have retained him to to fight for us to defend our position so we were very prepared for that meeting we did the best that we could two of us were there we spoke we wish everyone could have been there but we were there and there was many of us that went and spoke as well as our entire legal team our city manager was there our Deputy city manager our assistant city manager and the entire legal team from uh gessi mastre and I forgot the last Lopez Lopez thank you I wanted to leave anybody out so I appreciate first of all every single one of you that did take the time to come out I appreciate every single one of you that went to the town hall meeting that was called the night before by the county mayor and I appreciate every single one of you who came to my town hall meeting in an effort to help you all get informed and I want to also appre appreciate and thank our city manager and our City attorney for coming to the town hall meeting that I called because at the end of the day it wasn't about me it was about all of you being prepared informed and ready to act and be a voice for our community so I just wanted to put that on the record because I think there's a lot of misinformation going on unfortunately it's a campaign year and that's going to happen but I'm going to make sure you're all equipped with the right the honest and the true information because that is how we are going to get out of this that's how we are going to come together together as a community and fight this till the end and make sure that that incinerator is not rebuilt in this community so with that I'll turn it over to our City attorney who will discuss which we all discussed during uh we we also discussed during the town hall potential options of where we are today and what we can potentially do moving forward because it will require action from this Council thank you Mr gessi hello okay I'm rul gessi uh our Law Firm is are the city attorneys for for uh dout I can tell you that since we've been involved this the incinerator has been one of our top priorities and we'll stay that way this is a huge problem that is being imposed upon the residents of Dural that's actually a countywide problem like the mayor said we have assembled a team a national law firm Consultants we are ready to go there was a time when I believed uh that the county uh had essentially gone silent on us when we saw that we immediately acted and put together a team and showed uh how serious we were and how this was uh basically the city's top priority as far as as far as the environment and the quality of life in the city since that time I believe the city has gotten the message we are ready literally have prepared all of the documents necessary to initiate the intergovernmental dispute resolution procedures there's a Florida statute you can't just run into court and sue another government you have to go through certain procedures uh to do that uh it takes the procedures take north of 6 months before you can file litigation it is our understanding that the process from our Consultants to build something like this just to get the permits could take five years we don't have a gun to our head but we need to be serious and focused and this has to remain our top priority since then I believe uh the county got the message through the different Communications that we've all had with the county not only elected to elected but administrators and attorney to attorney they got the message uh they know we're ready nobody wants to litigate if we don't have to it's an unnecessary tax burden on everybody on Friday uh we had a meeting a very highlevel meeting meeting County Manager County attorneys on our side manager assistant managers attorneys the people who would really hammer out an agreement were all on that call and it was serious we've agreed to meet anywhere between every seven and 10 days our next meeting is next Monday we agreed that after every meeting we would set up another meeting with a date in hand this will not fall through the cracks this will stay a top priority and if it doesn't uh and the other thing I'm going to recommend is that we we address the Council on this every 15 days hey here's where we are here's what's going on believe me if I ever feel again that the county is dragging their feet or that there's no hope of a settlement you won't have to wait the 15 days we will be you will each hear from us hey we are at a standstill there's nowhere else to go let's let's initiate the dispute resolution procedures the problem I've had in the past when you initiate these dispute resolution procedures all negotiations tend to stop they don't want to talk anymore it can only be through attorney to attorney Everybody's scared to discuss anything Everybody's scared to discuss things off the record on the record have uh an open discussion it just stops that's been my concern in the past with the dispute resolution procedures if we don't have a a choice I will be the first one to tell you let's go we're ready I mean we literally just have to sign the letters and send them out and that starts the process right then and there so my recommendation is give us a chance and give them a chance I tend to believe them when they told me that they were serious I don't know that we will ever like the number that they give us that's going to be the problem at that point make a decision and go forward the number of $400 million is absurd is ridiculous will never happen you'll never hear us even trying respond to a number like that that's ridiculous I don't think they're going to come back with that number but if they come back with anything remotely close to that you'll be hearing me say let's go let's let's start because I can't in good conscience even consider negotiating with a number of that Source this is a countywide problem this is not D's problem these this uh garbage facility is going to handle the entire County there is no reason why we should have to share the entire burden of building it somewhere else all by ourself or even in proportion that's ridiculous and no one on that call or any call has in any way acknowledged or even uh put forth the notion that this is something that that we are in agreement with this is not D's problem the county has changed things change the population changes when that facility was built and I'm sorry if I'm off mik when that facility was built this was a completely different Community they now have a chance to put it in the right place the mayor believes that it should be put out there the county staff recommends that it should be out there so it's not like dalal's whining and crying and has come up with this of thin air all of the people in the Know believe that this is where it should be and we'll fight and we're going to fight hard we will unfortunately if we have to this will end up in court and it it may it may well be that way based on some of the comments we heard was it posturing was it political pandering we'll soon find out if you've got any questions please let me know thank you Mr gessi is there any I have some question questions but is there any questions from the council through the mayor yes okay well first of all thank you to our attorneys for bringing this forward explaining um exactly what it would do and you know I I've had conversations with with um Mr COA about it about this and about how we really should approach it um I also want to thank the residents that are here today because I really think your message of unity really resonates with all of us um and I really think that it's important to clarify for the record and address some of your comments because I feel that if there's any issue here on the council where we have all been United it's actually this this issue and so for me it's extremely disappointing disheartening to have heard several false and misleading statements made during the mayor's Town Hall last week made today and honestly since the fire at the incinerator first started last year the city council has actually given the mayor the administration the lawyers full support on this issue all special meetings requests for funding lobbyist Services resolutions everything that has been requested by the mayor the administration and the attorneys have been unanimously approved all of them so I'm not sure where the message that we're not United behind this comes from but it's extremely misleading not only that but we've allowed ample and wide latitude for the mayor to lead on this she had told us that this issue was under control she was meeting with several County Commissioners we remember that I met with County Commissioners she brought some of them to tour the incinerator and if I'm not mistaken even gave our state representative and our Senator a tour of the incinerator she's done a lot she she's been constantly telling us that she has close relationships with the Commissioners she's made who actually made very dismissive comments about her City and our residents during the last commission meeting and the mayor has had meetings with our city staff lobbyists County Commissioners and attorneys to discuss ISS issues and strategies as she mentioned that the rest of the council is not privy to nor have been consulted for including apparently a recent one last week on September 24th which by the way I was completely fine with that if the mayor wanted to lead in this I'm completely fine so as you can see the council has not only provided the full support that it needs that this issue truly needs but she that we have given the mayor wide latitude to lead on this issue so I'm very confused and I'm very concerned so while I am very used to hearing the mayor make false and divisive statements and comments blaming us I I really was surprised to hear that somehow this is the rest of my colleagues' fault one of the statements that was made during the town hall is that we wouldn't show up to today's meeting so I want to ask my colleagues did you make that statement councilman cabal did you say you were not showing up to this meeting today no I did not vice mayor did you make that statement nope so unless the mayor wants to answer how she heard that statement I absolutely would please Madam clerk can you please recall the conversation you and I had on Thursday before I left here when the meeting was called for today at 5:00 for the city manager evaluation had we received confirmation of people of uh Quorum you told me you told me specifically that Quorum had not been reached correct for the meeting you called for 5:00 so Quorum had not been reached correct and you had we actually had a discussion about whether I would be able to hold the meeting absolutely and I said I don't need Corum I can call special meeting anytime I want they have the opportunity and the freedom to show up I have asked however no one had confirmed that they would be here no ma'am thank you clerk when was the Quorum confirmed the Quorum was confirmed at the point that you called the special meeting to discuss item 5B on the agenda what day was that that was give me one second that was Wednesday 9:25 okay and your town hall was after that mayor so you had Quorum during your town hall and you still made those statements so again I you know I I understand that you don't want to no no mayor I'm not done speaking you had your I will finish it was just confirmed by the clerk that she told me to was Forum so again so I want to I this is this is my my point you guys here today have been told that we have not been participating that we have not been supportive this has been an issue that we have all agreed on and we continue to agree on and so for me I am going to support whatever again whatever is in the best interest of the city and of the resident so at this time um I would like to make the following recommendations and again this is based on the discussions that I've I've had I've been able to have with our attorney as well as the proposed letter and the proposed resolution solution it's my understanding that the negotiations or the discussion that happened last Friday between the county and our city seemed positive and that our attorney and and you can correct me if I'm wrong feels comfortable that we can move forward this with this negotiation as per um Raul's recommendation as well to continue the negotiations have periodic status checks and then really resort to using this section of the law that we're required to use or that we can use that's correct does that conclude your comments councilwoman through the mayor does that conclude your comments councilwoman yes okay before we go to the vice mayor Madam clerk I'd like for you to pull up any record of the council after I sent the meeting asking for the special meeting for this discussion their confirmation of assisting was there any confirmation received I will I will pull it up and to your recollection and from the conversation we had on Wednesday afternoon before my town hall meeting correct you had confirmed that no quum had been met that's correct the only one that answered was uh as a matter of fact another meeting was called at the same time and I was told I didn't have Quorum for my meeting that's correct okay so I want to confirm I don't make up statements unlike some others I don't make them up that is what I was told that I did not have Quorum for the meeting and I specifically told no clapping no clapping please I specific so if you all did not respond to the email requests that we were having a special meeting clearly no one knows that you're going to be here and you've done it before where I've called a special meeting and you don't show up so we're not making assumptions other than on based of past practices and and um involvement and no one here has made aump ions or statements that you all haven't been involved they've seen it quite frankly so I have not made any statements and most people were there during the town hall and so and it was public I publicized it and yes you have all supported every initiative we've brought forward because we've been United on it but when I asked the administration if I could do a video like the city of miramar's mar did and send text messages I was told no that we couldn't do it like that I had to use my mayor's message to do a uh to do the video and that's not the fault of the administration I understand the direction that they were getting so I took my time and I paid for several text blasts myself to get the word out and I got buses and I bought t-shirts and I have no problem doing that I would do it a hundred times over for this community but to say that there's been support I'm sorry and yes I've LED in these things because the people elected me to be the m May and so I've LED in these initiatives and I have had all these meetings and we've done all these things and unfortunately the county has deferred the item over and over again because of things that have come up which is BAS is what I want to talk about next but I'm going to allow the vice mayor to speak but I did want to clear up the accusations just have a question for the attorney uh if right now as we all know we have the support of the mayor of the county living Cav to move it to the airport site right that's my understanding yes yes yeah if we were to decide to um to move forward with the government dispute resolution process would would you feel that we will still have her support I don't know but if you commence with litigation people tend to get upset right that's all thank you any other comments so much oh sorry any other comments yes Council and P thank you mayor uh first of I want to thank our Administration and legal team for making this happen as well um listen this has been going on for since February of 2023 so to be here and start pointing fig fingers and blaming each other we know it's not going to resolve the problem uh it's like me saying here uh blame it to Mayor lvin CWA or our County Commissioner JC Bermudez which at the end if you think about it that's why they represent us we have County Commissioner we have a mayor and to be fair mayor living Cava since August of 2023 a year ago she has been recommending the airport West so this is no new this has been going on for over a year unfortunately yes we have to call things the way that they are count Commissioners fail to make a decision last meeting that's it I mean we don't control the county we don't control the County Commissioners that's why we have a county commissioner that's why we have a county mayor so bottom line is that we're doing we're doing what we have to do as a city since day one I want to commend the previous administration the current administration because since this happened we have been on top of this matter especially the administration I I agree with that 100% it will be unfair for people to come here and criticize them especially the leadership which at the end is the administration as well because since day one they have been on top of this not only the legal team the ex the expertise as well the environmental expertise the community especially because I personally have been in over six town hall meetings organized by residents sitting here so and they're in that particular Road over there in the back so and they know who they are so to be here and start going back and or hear comments about lack of leadership or lack of the mayor's leadership at the end I know we only have one mayor I mean that's I recognize that and I recognize that's why we have Administration we have a city manager so I do want to commend the administration the especially the legal team as well you guys for moving forward with the conflict resolution under chapter 164 because that shows our commitment to keep fighting for our residents since day one and yes of course I'm going to be in favor but I think that as you mentioned we have to give the county a chance because we have to work together on this this is a regional issue it's not a d issu it's a regional issue and again to be fair I believe the county mayor and our County Commissioner are doing their part as well and they're doing a good job sometimes you don't hear me commending our County Commissioner but I'm doing it today because he's doing what he can and he's using his power as a county commissioner to make sure that the plan is out of the city of the ra so I just want to say that yes I'll be in favor of if we have to initiate the conflict of resolution procedures however I'm going to ask you and I'm going to ask the administration that if you guys are meeting next Monday where you have a follow-up call next Monday yeah to us to receive the update and if we need to call for a special meeting to address that call to please know that I'll be available yeah okay I wanted to put something on the record uh as well and something that M Mr estessi touched upon which is of concern to all of us you know and it's what alarmed us the most and the reason why we're we're here today is that we've been negotiating a certain number that 20 to $40 million range and now we're hearing that $400 million range the that's ridiculous which is ridiculous but the administration did tell us that there would be talking with numbers and figures at our next meeting so definitely if we need to have this meeting next week we're having we'll be back here we're having the conversation we need to have which is what's the number we're not you know there's a whole set of other issues but let's be honest that is the prime concern right now as far as that's concerned is the number and they're supposed to come back to us with a number on Monday let's see through the mayor okay yeah yes perhaps one of the biggest challenges we're facing is that the costs are based on the location not knowing the location is we cannot come up with a number if there are three different locations each different location is going to have a set cost and we don't know the the location so we really can't move until we know the location and until the county has decided on that that's that's exactly what I was going to say to my point I think there's a sense of urgency here I understand trying to play nice and continue to negotiate we've been doing that for a year and a half okay and so I'm at the point where there's nothing to negotiate with and they said it there it's on transcript they said there's seven votes today to put it back in dur so I think that the next steps and you said it yourself you can't just file walk into the court and file a lawsuit you know government to government so for me like this is the next step we cannot sign a blank check I will not sign a blank check for our city and the Commissioners made it very clear we were all there they made it very clear that if dado and and I I the administration is great and the mayor has tried to advocate for the position of for many reasons of airport West being the site and understanding that there's a negotiation with d but the County Commissioners are the ones that are going to make this this you know this decision and my conversation with most of them has been if there's no Delta there's no deal and so that Delta we just don't know what it is but we know it's over 200 million in either site that they choose and if it goes in medle we definitely aren't going to pay for that we're not going to pay that so really the only site where we would have a negotiation would be in Airport west and if site four is back on the table which seems to be like it may however it's very small and I don't think it's going to end up being the right location so I I just don't think that there's a basis for us to for you all to even go and negotiate with there is none it's a bad faith negotiation on their part they have to make the decision first so that then we can come I think the county just wants dado to make the decision for them because it's easier for them to walk in and say oh D didn't pay so let's just put it back in dal and so it puts us in a really in a really bad position and while I think you're saying they haven't put a gun to their head they have because on November 6th they will take a vote and if we come back saying well we're not going to pay you the Delta because we don't know what the Delta is they can turn around and say well we're going to put it back into drought which is why I think the best the best course of action now because it puts us on a restricted on a on a um they it puts us on a time frame per the statute that gives us an ability and a tool to negotiate on and then we've kind of already taken that first step so that if they do decide to do it anyway we now can go in and file an injunction if they decide to take that vote that's just those are the the things I wanted to put on them on on the on the record because we have been and I'm I'm open to you guys having another discussion with the county I just don't think you're going to come to an agreement because there is no number to negotiate on it's a fictitious number because of there's no site I am not going to tell you hey hold off we're this close to making a deal no we're this we're you know we're we're in Central Europe you know they're in Alaska I mean it's you know that that's where we are right now we are not we are not close to making a deal yet are so many things to negotiate yeah but I believe the number is the B is is the most difficult thing to negotiate if they Hamond hall or give us a ridiculous number on Monday you'll know and I hear what you're saying we'll bring it right back up in front of you uh there are certain procedures that we have to meet when it gets in front of you I believe it's 34s of you have to vote to initiate the dispute resolution procedures I don't know what three4 of five is but I got the feeling it's four out of five um because we can't cut one of you in half or something um so you know it will eventually come to you to initiate that procedure we could be here next week or you know late next week I'm not asking for months can you can you just elaborate real quick what benefit there would be to filing the dispute in a negotiation well what the statute does for us in protected protection wise yeah what happens with the with the dispute resolution procedure and I'm going off the top of my head I may get this a little bit wrong um but essentially the concept is we send a letter uh to to the county mayor and manager and things like that saying we invoke the procedures then we have x amount of time for our staff at at the staff level to meet if that doesn't result in a resolution then uh there's a more formal meeting eventually there is a a the statutes call for a meeting of the two bodies to try and resolve it itself it it in Miami Lakes we did it but we had to jump there are exceptions to Jumping straight to litigation in other words you have to jump through all of these hoops first before you res resort to litigation it's about 6 months in Miami Lakes We initiated we had to initiate the lawsuit because it became imminent they started digging they started opening a roadway and the traffic was going to start flowing the next day they were trespassing on County property etc etc here I doubt that will happen because because it will take them so long to get permits and everything else so I think we would end up having to go through the whole process then file suit that's my anticipation I think just in summing it up it's formality it creates a more formal process versus the county saying go meet the administration's going to meet it's a more it's a much more formal process oh yes and it's governed by the statutes and and you have to we have to meet at a certain level then at another level then at the then at the council commission level yeah to the mayor yes it is a more formal process but it will stop the negotiations that's if I had to predict and I I believe that we your recommendation from what I heard was that you want time to try and it will not be you know until the day before the meeting at the county you will be you will keep us posted this will and we will make decisions quick this will not approach I believe that we should go with your recommendation and the your meetings just started last week was it yeah and you have another meeting so we started here June 5th right so so um my my belief it's your belief it's let's continue to negotiate but be on top of it keep us up you know um keep keep us informed like um Council man um Pino said if we if you see something that you know it smells that we have to move on and forward with the uh the statute the resolution process then we should we should meet and uh make that decision as quickly as possible if if I make so that's my recommendation I think that's what I hear that you are recommending and I want to go with your recommendation through the mayor if I may ask say say something um several of you when I've spoken with you have asked kind of what do you want to see from from today from today's meeting and something I've discussed also with with Mr gastesi is we want to see the council take the action the initiative it's not to necessarily if you don't want to start the 164 by all means Mr Ro brings up some very very good points it would stall the conversations in the you know two we meetings we have and it would take more of a uh formal posture which may not be the best thing maybe right now when we're trying to get numbers and we're trying to uh act you know again again in good faith because what happened at the commission meeting was was was not nice was to put it mildly mildly but I think if if you don't want to take the step it should be moving the ball forward so set already some type of perspective of meeting again here very soon to discuss what what's going on in those meetings and those conversations so that all of you can have that opportunity to have a discussion as a body and have that united front that's just my two the mayor yes um Council and then Council and then we'll go back to you thank you mayor I I just want to add something else yes by me saying that if you meet next week and for us to get an update of course I'm I'm anticipating that we're going to have to come back and approved this res this resolution I'm going to tell you why what for those of us that were the last County Commissioners to hear from County Commissioners after a year that they still have time they they still need time to review to get more information and asking the mayor for and her Administration to get more details after a year that tells me that they're not going to change their mind in a week so for me they're pretty much laughing on us they're being irresponsible because they're now making a decision and they keep going back to requesting the County Administration to provide more information about it so I know that we're going to have to come back and approve this resolution in order to protect the city and the residents so what I'm trying to say is that I'm I'm I'm okay with moving forward with the resolution today because I think D has paid the price for over 38 years of having the facility here and we have to show the county that we're ready to fight and we're ready to fight for our resing however I understand at the same time that you're you're position but just for the record I know that we will have to come back in a week agree and approve the resolution look yeah if I were sitting where you sit I would bet against me being able to resolve this how's that for honesty and frankness uh but I think you have to give it a shot but I would bet against me as far as not being able to resolve it when I hear a $400 Million number when they jump from 30 or 40 to $400 million it's not like you know they said hey look my bad uh you know we told you 40 but actually we're we're thinking 45 we can have a conversation but when they negotiate in that fashion in other words going backwards or going higher that's ridiculous it's not acceptable but when I'm meeting with the county manager and the highest levels of the county attorney's office and the highest levels of their uh Administration and they're telling us hey we're going to come back to you in a week to talk about this and they're telling us we're going to meet every week or every s to 10 days every time and you had to be there I I don't think anyone who was there can can say in that meeting that they weren't talking to me in good faith in that meeting I understand the complete frustration about dealing this a year and what's going to change because R gastesi all of a sudden had a meeting with them in 10 days and now the county is going to completely come to a different position that's not what I'm telling you at all not even close thank you Council um thank you Mr gastesi for the inform and to presenting the um Florida statute 164 I actually had a conversation with um our City attorney and at that time was President our city manager and Deputy as well and that's one of the questions because I confirm with him um my my and I confirmed with the city clerk at the time that I was able to understand Florida statue 164 I was actually having that conversation with him and I explained to him that before I meet I like to understand what is it that we're going to be talking about so I have a little bit of knowledge and I can bring my questions to him so in no form or sense was that I was not refusing to me to have this meeting but I needed to have understanding and I did not have a time frame that I have to give an answer so I'm here today no to the town hall meeting I was not there because it was not published so it's a Florida statute violation Sunshine violation so that's why it was not there because I was not going to be part of a violation a sunshine one so just to have that clear so I wasn't there not because I didn't want to but it was not published and that by law it is a violation I've been fighting for this since 2008 I'm the one so far in the in this that it's in this body seting that live all North Side so I've been affected since I well my well two properties here in Dural so I've been fighting since then so I've been dealing with uh waste waste management and also Kant both of them so I just want to put that on the record so Mr griel I would like you to talk a little bit of our meeting I met with you and the staff on Friday before the meeting that you had with uh with the county with the uh City man with the manager County manager and also the attorney isn't it and when we talk about we talk about this what I actually ask you if it was something that we should really brought now that we are within negotiations I understand that the county have changed their mind the Commissioners have changed their mind on how they want to handle what they're presenting to us but the meantime we are in the middle of a negotiation I understand that from the 13 people that are there the one really affected because lives here is our City Commissioner Juan Carlos rudis so he is the one that has the most and best interest that this will be resolve but the rest by us going publicly insulting them and talking the way that is being talked outside I don't think that that's a very not smart but just common sense to when you're in the middle of a negotiation I understand and I am frustrated too but that would not give me the opportunity for me to go out and start bashing the people that at the end of the day we are their Mercy I mean they are the one that have the vote we are here to be a voice and yes affect all of us I mean I hear property here I live here my kids grw up here it doesn't mean that when I finish my term I'm going to leave but at the same time we have to be smart in common sense of how we going to handle the situation ation so in my in my sense is that um and I remember you remember that I told you too that I remember your fight with myami when you were in Miami representing Miami Lakes on the bridges I even told you where was one of them because I remember exactly everything that was going on at that time even though I don't live there so I um I just want you to confirm that we did have the conversation that did talk to you that I put my thoughts on on this situation that on this Florida statue too and how I think that things should be handled you certainly did Mr manager did I also Express how and I sit down with all of you and explain what I was thinking about how things should be handled you did okay so I think that what I have expressed here was exactly what U transpired that day that we had the meeting that was never I never had a question I never had an argument with that I'm not saying that you having just want to be in the record that that was the words and what I actually uh transpire at the time that I met with but with all of you actually so uh by that being said I my where I stand is that I think that we should still have the conversation with the county and sure we have to put dates that the meetings should be proed and based on that then definitely we should then to push them to go and uh have the resolution florish 16 four okay what's what's the current um motion on the table Madam clerk do you have it I think there was a recommendation I don't think I don't think a motion's been made Oh I thought there was a recommendation made what was the recomendation I made so I would recommend moving forward with continuing the negotiations for 30 days having a status check within 15 days after your first initial meeting and then during that status check you can give us more or less what your prognostic is of the situation and then we can take up the issue of whether we want to move forward with that statute with with all due respect I think that 30 days is too long because by Charter we can't have meetings if there's a runoff in our in our um in our city so I think 30 days is a lot what I what I would recommend is we have an October 17th I think council meeting okay no we oh sorry the 23rd okay so I would say by that meeting there you should have already had two meetings with the count with the county okay right so by that date okay we should have a response to be able to move forward but you should have the numbers from them at the ne I already saw the numbers yeah there's two offers and I saw it's 200 million or 400 so those are the numbers you're going to get um and and with a transfer station by the way so I think that by the next meeting you're going to have that and then you give them our position on it and we come forward and we decide at that point why I'm I have no problem supporting that I just I don't want to do 30 days because I think we need to do this before by the October 23rd meeting yes because then their meeting is set for November 6 so we have to do it before so we the last chance we would I would say have without having to call special meeting and everything would be I think it's fair enough to say October if everybody's okay with that if the makers willing to I think that's fine I think we should still have a status meeting yes before then and and if since the meetings October 7th the 14th sure or or whatever whichever I think they can they can individually update us and if they feel a special meeting needs to be called then we can do that but for sure put in the motion by the last meeting on October that we have set Monday's the 7th I can assure you at the conclusion of the meeting you will all be informed on a one-on-one basis yes I I would like also profer one thing that maybe is is an is a viable option assuming we get some type of appraisal one of the um um recommendations that came out of my town hall from a resident was maybe they're willing to sell us the land so maybe there's an opportunity if they want a more amount that with an appraisal we can buy that land from them the the facility where it currently is just if everyone's okay with them listen I'm a real estate negotiator that's sure at least see if the if the option is available if it's a if it's something they're open to it doesn't hurt to ask yeah it doesn't hurt to ask wheels are going as to different possibilities all right I think there's a motion I need a second second second by vice mayor P corve Madame clerk please call the role I have a motion to direct staff to proceed the negotiations with Miami day County and bring back the item to council for the October 23rd 2024 council meeting made by Council second Vive Council poras yes VI May Council Council P yes FR yes Mo pass okay thank you very much we're going to immediately go into the next item next item item 5B discussion establishing an annual procedure to evaluate city manager salary and salary evaluation discussion okay um should we take a quick break let councilman I mean vice mayor vice mayor po we're gonna wait for you so go go to the restroom and come back says five minutes motion or recess five minutes yes but let's try and stay in our seats [Music] minut [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] n [Music] a [Music] a [Music] n [Music] [Applause] he a [Music] n [Music] [Music] a [Music] a [Music] n [Music] n [Music] oh n [Music] [Music] a a [Music] the [Music] n [Music] a [Music] a [Music] n [Music] the [Music] [Music] [Music] he n [Music] [Music] [Music] la [Music] [Music] it are you ready it okay Madam clerk please read the uh item back into the record item 5B discussion establishing an annual procedure to evaluate city manager salary and salary evaluation discussion all right Council MZ this is your item thank you mayor I was just informed that we received a letter of resignation from our city manager so therefore this item is moot so I'm going to move to withdraw it through the mayor yes Mr city manager uh that is correct I have uh resigned effective uh 5 minutes ago uh there are some words I do want to enter into the record uh as we all know uh the reason this special meeting was called was to conduct an evaluation of the city manager and specifically evaluate his salary I want to go on the record to state that this uh proposed reduction in pay had nothing to do with my job performance but rather this was in retaliation for refusing to be a puppet of certain council members who are present here tonight the financial impact of this reduction would have resulted in some members of my senior staff earning more than myself and frankly this would have been unjust and unacceptable I was directed to terminate several employ employees not due to their job performance but rather because they were appointed by the former city manager this is a direct violation of the city Charter since elected officials are not to be involved in any aspect of the administration including the hiring and termination of employees Behavior such as this by elected officials is something that shocks the conscience and goes against the morals of any and human being holding public office is a privilege that should not be abused by those in power to serve their own agenda shame on you in the past eight months the city of Dural has had four city managers who were either terminated or forced to resign clearly it is not the one it is not the city managers the ones who are the problem let me repeat that four city managers and eight month the city managers are not the problems do you understand that Dural residence I urge you to take a look at those on the days remember the names come November 5th when you go vote and not just this year but in 26 and in 28 I am humbled by the support Dale employees residents my family my daughter who flew overnight from DC to be here and my friends as I said I submitted my resignation a few minutes ago all I need is Clarity from the council as stipulated in my employment agreement I had to give 90 days notice making my last day the 31st of December I asked for clarity from the council do you want me to remain as manager for 90 days or would you like me to vacate the position immediately that's your call thank you Mr manager um I'm shocked to hear the resignation I even know I made it very clear that you had my 100% support to maintain your salary and um I'm sorry for what you have gone through and I personally have had conversations with you uh and I've apologized to your family as well I did not support you coming in for many reasons which you I think now have lived and experienced yourself uh but you turned out to be a very a man of integrity and values and hard work and for that I thank you and you and I have had several conversations about that we had a conversation the first day you walked in and um at the budget hearing when I said you weren't my manager I went immediately after and I apologized to I said out of frustration because unfortunately the budget was being weaponized and at the end of the day by the by by certain people that brought you here and so I just want to put on the record that I would like you to stay until the 90 days that would be you have my full support to stay all the way through at your current salary at your current salary okay I don't know if anybody else has any comments is is the procedurally is this something that's decided upon by the council or or I need some clarity there we will have to take a vote on um the date of your resignation very well but yes councilman Pino I actually place the motion but before I place the motion I would like to to say that I'm I'm also I'm also in shock because I we had had different conversations as well I was not going to be in support of any modifications to the agreement or the salary because as you stated it has been an unbelievable year for dado when it comes to city managers and administration same reason why part of this Council terminated Barbie hernandes similar reasons why Miss Brooks decided not to apply for this that position the city manager position so it's unbelievable to hear from our city manager that part of this council is asking city managers to terminate people I I had the privilege to serve as part of the staff when mayor bermudes was here mayor Bor was here and I have never never heard anything like this it certainly sent the wrong message to the community to the residents because at the end of the day we're here because of the one sitting out here the residents so to hear that maybe because someone doesn't like another staff or director and that goes to the city manager's office to request the termination of that person for just because his friend of or know the mayor or knows me or knows anybody else it's very sad so as I said to you before this meeting and I was actually had requested to play the video when you were selected I'm aware of that thank you and I and I appreciate that I appreciate the support because when you hear those comments less than three months ago and now to hear exactly what what happened and and the reasons why we're having this meeting I'm I'm honestly no surprised so I I place the motion certainly for you to stay the 90 days without any changes because at the end of the day I don't I don't think that you or whoever comes doesn't deserve to go through this through the mayor yes vice mayor Ray I um I I'm shocked of your resignation of course but um I think we should go with the uh contract that you have u in place the 90 days um I respect you fully I do respect you as a as a person and I known you since I came to uh since I got elected uh I do think that the tone for you know I'm I know that you're emotional at the moment I guess and not emotional sort forceful not emotional um the tone was unnecessary but you can still deliver the message um without going through that but I'm going to Second the uh the the uh motion to uh keep you until your contract is over okay we have a motion second the 90 days uh we have a motion and a second any other comments through the mayor yes yes um Mr city manager you know this was a discussion to evaluate your salary it you were not going to at least I was not going to propose lowering your salary less than your your other colleagues that's not something that was planned um I had never heard anyone wanting to terminate you in fact the first and only time I've heard someone mentioned terminating you came from you where you said I know I'm going to be terminated November 5th regardless of who wins so that was your own those were your own words true I also um gave you the opportunity to and offered you the opportunity to keep your salary with the option of making sure we made some you've made some improvements and observations that I noted and you declined well I I I found it through the mayor I find it interesting that just four months ago youed me to the Miami Herald saying I was capable of doing my job I'm still speaking I'm sorry let her finish and then I'll give you an opportunity again absolutely so I want to I want to point that out and I want to put that into the record I I I really do think that um and I did think that you had the experience necessary to to be the city manager um I think that the other the deputy manager and the assistant city manager that we have have been extremely helpful and I do think that um I wanted to see some improvements in that sense too so again I've never mentioned anything about termination that was from you um and I've offered you to stay and keep your salary with some improvements but maybe you don't think that you need any sort of improvement that's okay and so you know I respect your decision and I also respect the fact that you know you want to seek uh your taking care of your Grievances and that's completely you know your option I'm fine with supporting um keeping you for the next 90 days to fulfill one of the parts of your contract but without the severance so I'm not going to be approving or supporting you keeping or getting a severance after the 90 days so I'm fine with supporting that uh through the mayor uh the 90day is a stipulation of my contract in order for me to be able to get a payoff on my PTO on my personal time off my vacation time uh with regards to uh you uh suggesting uh that I go on a performance Improvement plan I may ask may I ask you a question question and and that is that uh on an article that came out on June 4th in the Miami Herald um you were quoted as saying that you were uh you knew that I was capable of doing my job but that uh you felt I needed to uh accept guidance and perhaps listen to things my question would that guidance be uh terminating the people you wanted me to terminate or as you put it uh on May 28th cleaning house I would have never used the words clean house oh no well I don't I don't use those words okay oh no it must be a figment of my imagination then again you can speak whatever you'd like but to answer your question no I want to I I would like to answer your question this was going to be the meeting where we would discuss your performance so you know it was done it was going to be done in the open in public and I think the direction needed to come from the council right and so that's why I put it up here so that we could discuss it as a council and then the direction would come from the you know the five the three the four whatever it is because that's really the proper way to do it right since I I don't want to direct you alone this is why I was brought here today so mayor yes I find it interesting that in a conversation I had uh with councilwoman digna cabal where she insisted that I fire the Chief Financial Officer and when I negated that and I said that I was not because uh he had become a valuable Ally especially in the area of Public Finance and that's how this meeting came to be that was the Catalyst for this meeting when you looked at me and you told me well if you don't fire the Chief Financial Officer I am going to move to have your salary reduced and let me warn you I don't want you to be surprised but it's going to be a severe reduction may I may pleas please no the conversation that I have with you is that I told you that there were several different departments that need to be looked at and one of that it was the administration one because no one except the past um manager had two assistant so we need to really look into our budget to be reasonable and for us to look into the different areas that we need to cut cost and expenses in your case you have two assistance so we have to make adjustments so that was what I expressed to you not just with this department but with different departments that need to be looked at that is my right to be in give suggestion not to fire but look into where the cost is going and how we have to reduce cost especially not that now we have to negotiate with the county and we have to pay them a lum sum where we not even know to this point how much it's going to be so we have to be responsible before the the uh the new Administration came on board the budget was $66 million we're going to be ending this year with 120 or roughly 111 million dollar so almost double of what we expend so when I talked to you I didn't refer directly I said we need to make changes on the different departments and we have to look them thoroughly and see how we can cut costs okay well I then I guess all I can say is don't drink the water because it's causing memory lapses no sir and that's really insulting and I don't think that that's your right to be doing that right now because we are and you're out of order first of all you're out of order and this this Rec coming right now because of what the accusation that you're giving and what you're writing here in your resignation I do accept your resignation but I don't accept that we give you 90 days I think that the way that you're behaving we are were here just in a very unprofessional way we were here like the council woman pora said just to go over an evaluation and see how we can improve and how we can make things better for the entire budget in the city so we were not here I don't know what is it that you were thinking my understanding is that we were having that meeting of what is based on the memo and that's what I was I was waiting for the council woman to speak and say why she called for this and then then based on what she was she brought this information then we will have a a professional conversation okay and discussion so I that is what I am pointed I know that there's a motion on the table on the on the on the on the floor but I I'm asking for reconciliation and I'm pretty sure that uh this might be look into it on the way that this has been presented all right okay there's a motion and a second we're going to call the role on that and then we'll see how that goes nevertheless we I will have to now since he resigned I will have the opportunity to appoint a city manager therefore I would like to go through a process um and I will have to sit with HR and go through that process in the meantime I would like Mr Val does to be to stay on board because it it will be a process that I have to Now open up again the city manager position and go through this uh as per the charter States so I we need that transition process and I think this is the best way to move forward with it so there's a motion on the table there's a second let's go ahead and call the role on that and then uh I think that it's time to bring down the temperature a little bit I have a motion to accept the resignation letter of city manager Ray Valdez and have him remain a city manager for 90 days made by councilman Pino seconded by vice mayor corve councilman Pino yes vice mayor corve councilwoman poras yes councilwoman no mayor frag yes motion passes okay all right so um Mr city manager you will remain with us at your current salary for your 90-day period in the meantime I will get with uh HR and start a process for a search and and going through that uh the Motions as per procedure in our Charter this would conclude this meeting um thank you all for being here I need a motion to adjourn motion to adjourn motion to adjourned by vice mayor pu corvis second by councilman B all in favor say I hi meeting is Jour we're going to start our budget hearing in five minutes thank you [Music]