Regular Meeting @ 11:30 a.m. - Jun 23, 2026

Okay. Good morning, everybody. It is 1130 on June 23rd. And before we get started, we're going to go ahead and invite Pastor Chris Coleman with the First Lutheran Church up to give the invocation. If everybody could please stand. And then at the conclusion of the invocation, if you'd join me with the Pledge of Allegiance. We begin our meeting this morning in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Let's pray. Almighty God, Heavenly Father, we thank you for watching over us today. We pray that you would bless our meeting today, that you would guide our commissioners as they discuss the issues we are going to talk about, and pray that you give them wisdom, and that you would help them to be a blessing to our community. All these things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Pastor. The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, and indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay. So, first of all, colleagues, I'm wearing these earbuds, which are like hearing aids. I'm trying it out, so you're all really loud today. So just bear with me. I may be taking them in and out, but we're giving it a little try before I go permanent hearing aids. So, anyways, a little information probably that y'all didn't need. All right. So, first item on the agenda is the approval of the agenda. So moved. Second. Any changes, Madam Manager? Okay. We've got a motion and a second to approve the agenda and the consent agenda. Any comments to the agenda? We've got a number of guests here today. We're excited to see you all. Back to the board. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion is unanimous. Okay. So, first up is the announcements. And Mr. Sexton, you are recognized. Good morning, Mr. Chair. We have several announcements this morning. First, as you can see on the screen, the Disability Awareness Expo is coming up. That is an annual event, and it's very well attended. This one is taking place on Wednesday, July 29th, from 2 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the MLK Multipurpose Center on 8th and Waldo Road. It is a celebration of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed on July 26th, 1990. The expo is an opportunity for government and public agencies and private businesses to showcase their products, services, and resources for people with disabilities and to educate them on their rights. The event is free and open to the public. The community is encouraged to come out and attend and visit the vendor booths. The deadline for vendors to sign up is July 17th. And if you go to the county's website, you'll see all of the information and phone numbers. Um, then, Mr. Chair, uh, I'm very happy to announce the, uh, unveiling of our community hub. Uh, that is a project that has been worked on for quite a while. It was led by Andrew Kaplan and Brett Bostock on my staff, as well as a number of county departments. It was a true collaborative effort. Uh, the community hub is part of our continuous effort to find new and innovative ways to communicate with our residents. Uh, on the website, you'll see our press release, and I'll just give you a quick view of the hub itself. Uh, it is something that is ever-growing, but it is kind of a, a new way to kind of organize, uh, finding things of interest. And of course, we showcase things that we think of, uh, are of particular interest to the residents. So, for example, if you click on the general government hub, you'll find our Sense and Sensibility budget book, uh, which we just got some good news from NACO. We won a NACO Achievement Award for Sense and Sensibility this year. Well done. I don't have the certificate yet, but we will, uh, show that off when we get it. Uh, Employment Opportunities is one of our most, uh, visited sites on our website. Uh, the Strategic Guide is on there. Um, if you go, to example, for food access, we worked with Bailey on a great microsite that gives you lots of quick information right at your fingertips, uh, that is really useful. Um, and of course, one of our most popular sites on the hub already, um, is no surprise. It is our transportation site. And that's where you will find our transportation capital improvement program, including all of the things that we're doing, uh, like the 33 projects we've completed since the year. Uh, so, uh, surtax came into effect. 17 projects under construction, 34 in progress. Uh, so, although, you know, for many of our residents, they're, they're, uh, anxious for us to, to get road projects done. And it is good to be able to steer them right to a place where, although it may not be the road they wish at that particular moment, there are a lot of projects being done. Um, so, anyway, we wanted to, uh, to make sure that you knew about the transportation, or excuse me, the community hub. And, uh, we hope our residents will take advantage of it. We will be pushing out individual sites over the next coming weeks to showcase the hub. And then, um, finally, Mr. Chair, um, I wanted to share that County Manager Michelle Lieberman was recently selected to serve a two-year term as District 2 Director on the Board of Directors of the Florida City and County Management Association, FCCMA. And she was sworn into, uh, office at the conference on May 29th. And as you know, FCCMA is a professional local government managers and administrators organization. Uh, all Florida's 67 counties and more than 400 municipalities participate. In her role, she will represent local government leaders from North Central Florida and Northeast Florida. Uh, the direct, uh, district directors serve as representatives for their regions and help support the statewide efforts on important issues and leadership, uh, uh, development. And I would just say on a personal note that, you know, one of the manager's strongest ethics is personal development and keeping on top of things. And she demands that of her staff, but she also models it for her staff. So just wanted to say congratulations. She hates this when you do that. Congratulations. Anna, uh, Mary, you want to talk about the community hub? It's been something that's been a priority of yours. Uh, have you had a chance to see it? Yeah. Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you. I know it was a labor of love to get that up and running, but I think, I mean, since I've been in office, I've been really impressed with how our team across the county has embraced the idea of community engagement in a broader way and really incorporated into all of the strategic ways we do from our comprehensive plan and growth management to now this really comprehensive site that I'll give people an easy way to navigate because so often our website is daunting because it's so big. And I think this, because it's topic oriented rather than department oriented, I think it's a really easy way for people to navigate through to the issues they care about most. And I just, I really appreciate the time and energy and excited to see how it gets used. Yeah. And Mr. Chair, if I may respond quickly. Um, yes, this hub came out of the conversation that you led Commissioner Prizia about dashboards. I will tell you we've, we've had long talks with Donna Bradbrook and she made us promise we wouldn't use the word dashboard because as you know, she has the strategic guide based dashboard that is close to unveiling also. Uh, but the two things are very interactive. We will be referring to that dashboard on the community hub and vice versa. Great. That's fantastic. Yeah. And I, I think the other, uh, big point to make is transparency. We talk a lot about how transparent this particular, um, commission is, but I think that, um, by making it easy to find that transparency, we make it so much, um, it's, it's so much clearer to the residents that we are, uh, freely sharing information that, um, about everything from budgets to roads. Very information. So that's right. Thank you, commissioners. Mark, well done. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Next up, we've got the approval of the recognitions. Could I get a motion to that? So moved. Recommendations approval. Okay. A motion is second to approve the reckon or the recognitions. Is there any one that would speak to the motion back to the board? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion is unanimous. All right. Madam Clerk, first one. First one. Alachua County, 2026 Alachua County Citizens Academy graduates. Okay. And the recommended actions, we're going to recognize the graduates of the 2026 Alachua County Citizens Academy program, present the graduates with a certificate of completion and a copy of the class photos. And Shannon, you are recognized. Welcome. Thank you, Mr. Chair, commissioners, Shannon Hahn, Alachua County Manager's Office. I'm here today as your Citizens Academy coordinator. Today, we recognize the graduates of the 2026 Citizens Academy class. The Citizens Academy invites citizens to participate in a series of presentations, hands-on activities, and tours to learn more about the operations of all county departments, special districts, and constitutional and judicial offices. Before we recognize the graduates, I would like to thank everyone who helped make this program a success. It is truly a cooperative effort among all county-level government offices and their staff, including the county constitutional and judicial offices, as well as the library district, the school board, and the health department. To graduate, participants must attend seven of the nine weekly sessions. This year, 36 people attending the program met the requirements to graduate, and 14 had perfect attendance. We congratulate you for your dedication to this program. As we call up each graduate, after receiving your certificate, please remain standing over here for a group photo after. We do have a number of folks who were unable to attend, so we do ask you hold your applause until after everybody is called up. So we will start with those receiving a certificate of completion. Alexis Klepper, Carl Van Ness, Charlie Jackson, Christina Bridwell, David Leedsma, Freddie Jones, Jeffrey Giles, Gina Duncan, and Gary Duncan, Karen Kelly, Ida Altman, Kali Fordham, Kitora Bailey Acevedo, Leonard Wayne, Maria Johnson Green, Patricia Vargas Newton, Patty McKee, Soria Lindbergh, Tamana Ayub, Taylor Worley, Tien Doan, Tina Days. These next participants achieved perfect attendance. Andrew Robinson, Debbie Carter, Jennifer Carr, Kim Robeck, Kimberly McKinney, Leah Jones, Leslie Jerome, Lex Shelton, Mark Robinson, Michael Cook, Richard Iskowitz, Sandra Gottschalk, Thomas Marisi, and the last graduate is Valerie Folder. You guys did it. I'll just say quickly, the Citizens Academy is what made me, one of the things that made me decide to run for office, so maybe a few of y'all would like to become county commissioners someday. I remember taking it as well, so it's definitely a threat. Yeah, she, she, oh, here she is. Manager Worley. Kim. Kim, thank you for being here. Yep, okay, well done. Okay, Madam Clerk, next item. Next item will be presentation of proclamation recognizing June 12th as Paul's Remembrance Day in Alachua County, Florida. Okay, we've got Commissioner Offer, who's going to be giving the proclamation. I'd like to invite anyone from the LGBTQ community that would like to join me up here for the reading of this proclamation, please, please come up and join us. Thank you for being here today. And I realize that this proclamation is a few days late, but we are joining many other cities and counties across Florida that are recognizing this day. So thank you all, all of you for being here. So today I'm reading a proclamation declaring June 12th as Paul's Remembrance Day in Alachua County, Florida. Whereas 10 years ago, on June 12th, 2016, a horrific act of violence at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, claimed the lives of 49 innocent people and injured dozens more. And whereas the tragedy at Pulse Nightclub was at that time the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history and continues to be the deadliest act of anti-LGBTQ hate violence in modern U.S. history, and whereas June has historically represented Pride Month to recognize the uprising of LGBTQ Americans at the Stonewall Bar in New York City and now serves as a solemn month to recognize the lives lost at Pulse Nightclub and the terrible cost of hate. The tragedy deeply impacted the Orlando community, including the LGBTQ and Latino communities, as well as families and communities throughout the state of Florida and the nation. And whereas Pulse Nightclub served as a place of community, friendship, and belonging for many people in Central Florida, and whereas the Pulse tragedy remains one of the deadliest acts of violence against LGBTQ people in the United States history and occurred during Pride Month, and whereas in the aftermath of the tragedy, people across Florida and the United States came together in grief, compassion, and solidarity to support survivors, honor the victims with action, recommit to building a world free of anti-LGBTQ hatred, and comfort those affected. And whereas law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, health care workers, and countless community members responded with extraordinary courage and service in the wake of the attack. And whereas the state of Florida has designated June 12th as Pulse Remembrance Day to honor the victims, survivors, families, and all those affected by the attack. Remembering the lives lost at Pulse provides an opportunity to reflect on the importance of community, public safety, and standing against violence and hatred in all forms. And whereas Gainesville, Alachua County, joins communities throughout Florida in honoring the memory of those lost and recognize the resilience of all those impacted by the tragedy. Now, therefore, through the authority vested in me by the Board of County Commissioners of Alachua County, Florida, I do hereby proclaim June 12th as Pulse Remembrance Day in Alachua County, Florida, duly proclaimed this 23rd day of June, A.D. 2026, and signed by all the appropriate people. Many people that are part of our community remember this day just like they remember 9-11. It's a day that was extremely personal to most folks. You know, as I'm going to be a little personal here, as someone that was in a relationship with someone who didn't want our LGBTQ relationship to be public, I felt both very conflicted about that because I felt like this was a day when I wanted everybody to know who I was. And I think many of us felt the same. While we felt the danger, we also felt like we needed to stand up and be recognized. And so that's what we're doing today. And I want to thank all the people that joined us here today to honor this. And I have a few folks that have a few words to say. But first, I think it's appropriate that we spend a few minutes and read the names of the victims. And we have Casey Willits from the Gainesville City Commission. And I'm sorry. Patricia Ringhill from the Hispanic Caucus. Yeah, so Patricia Ringhill from the Hispanic Caucus is going to make sure that we get all those Hispanic names read correctly. So I'm going to let them tag team it here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. As we read through the names of the victims of the Pulse Nightclub massacre, you can hear syllable by syllable how many Hispanics were lost in this tragic event on June 12, 2016. We utter their names today, 10 years later, as a way to honor each of their lives, loves, and dreams. About 90% of the victims were Hispanic, mostly of Puerto Rican background, like myself. An evening of S.O.S. An evening of salsa, merengue, bachata, and reggaeton music turned into una tragedia, a tragedy. The pain, the pain still reverberate, and the LGBTQ plus, 49 brothers, 49 brothers, sisters, accountants, pharmacists, drag queens, sales clerks, a bartender, bouncer, musician, educator, friends, died violently and senselessly. What has not faded in this decade is the love and community sustained by their family. In the wake of this tragic moment, there is some hope. Resistance and progress can emerge from calamity. Remember that the night of terror, when 33 suffragettes from the National Women's Party imprisoned in Virginia in November of 1917, galvanized the support for the 19th Amendment. Remember that the Civil Rights Movement emerged after the murder of four African American girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963. Remember that the outrage over the murders of three voting rights activists on June 21st, 1964, helped pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Remember that the murders of Harvey Milk and the San Francisco Mayor Moscone in 1978 led to activism against systemic anti-LGBTQ plus violence and discrimination. Remember that hope is still in the air, even after 10 years. Let's honor this historical moment with a message of hope. Who better to say this than the salsa singer, Mark Anthony, Vivir Mi Vida, as he sang in his song recently with President Obama's library inauguration last week. Pa que llorar? Pa que sufrir? Why cry? Why suffer? Empieza a soñar. A reír? Start to dream. Start to laugh. Que la vida es una sola. There is only one life. Siempre pa'lante. No mires pa'trás. Always move forward. Don't look back. Eso. Yes. That's it. Thank you. We have several folks here from different community organizations. Would you like to come up and talk about the organizations that you represent? Feel free to just briefly talk about why you're here. My name is Jane Spear, and I'm with PFLAG. I want to tell you my 44-year-old son came out when he was 14. And when I spoke of him, I have always said it was much harder when he came out, you know, 30 years ago than it was for today. I can no longer say that. I can no longer say that because were he coming out today, it would be just as difficult as it was for most people 30 years ago. He's not trans. He's a young gay man. And I just thank this body for speaking out, for coming out, for all of the citizens in the state of Florida, in Alachua County. Because, believe me, even when the opposition is talking about the trans community, that quickly devolves into fear among all of the LGBTQ plus communities. So thank you all. Thank you. We're going to come down for a photo for when those are done speaking. Do you want to talk about Stonewall real quick? Yeah. Okay. My name is Linda Basham. I'm currently treasurer of Stonewall Democrats of Alachua County. We're a Democratic caucus of the party. I just want to say that I'm old enough to have lived through the times when most of us felt that we needed to be closeted. And I have seen so much progress in the last three, four decades. This is not a time to be afraid. This is not a time to go backward. This is a time to stand our ground and go forward. That's my job here. Okay. Madam Clerk, I think we'll go ahead and call at 12 o'clock for public comment. And so now this is an opportunity for anyone that wishes to address this board on anything either on the agenda or not on the agenda. If you'll come forward, introduce yourself. We've got a little light system. Green means go. Yellow means 30 seconds. Red means next person. Mr. Connish, when you get yourself set up, we'll go ahead and start the lights when you're ready. Can I get the overhead, please? Mr. Chair, Jim Connish. Mr. Connish, there is little chance that the reform of the governance of GRU will be reversed due to recent legislation. And I think it's time for the county to take a very close look at its relationship with GRU. This is a bill for a restaurant in the county. This is an April bill. This is a low bill. This bill will go up to almost $30,000 a month. If I can give you a brief history, it was originally believed that utility tax could only be charged within a municipality when it was first promulgated. In fact, it was called a municipal public service tax. And the PSC approved a surcharge for customers outside the city limits to equalize the bills. The surcharge, of course, goes to the municipality that owns the utility. Subsequent to that, the county sued, claiming we're providing urban services, so we have to have all the powers that a municipality has. So then the counties were able to impose the utility tax. And as I've explained to you, the way you computed, it's pyramided. So it's not 10% and 10%. It actually works out to 22.5%. So I'm making a proposal to you. This item is coming up. I'm asking you to stop allowing free, unregulated use of the county right-of-ways when people want to go further and further and further out to raise money and to give you control over a county asset. I would also ask you to try to make a deal with the GRU authority, and this is important. By definition, the surcharge must be equal to the city's imposition of utility tax. So you can't lower your rate, but you could not charge it at all. It is an optional 0% to 10% item, but since the city's doing the utility tax, the surcharge will have to be equal. But GRU doesn't have to impose a surcharge, and you don't have to impose a utility tax. So if you can figure out some way to stop taxing these back-breaking GRU bills, which will not be solved with resetting your thermostat, they're off the charts, sir, which is why the authority was formed. Plus, the utility is insolvent. There's no chance of it going down. It can only go up. But that would reduce GRU bills outside the city limits by 22.5%, which is a game-changer. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker, please. Mr. Morris, welcome back. Thank you. Thank you. If you'll get in front of that microphone, that way we can hear you. There you go. Yes. Thank you. It's pretty clear by now. My name is Tom Morris. It's pretty clear by now why I have been speaking to you and what I've been asking you to do. What I've been asking you to do is to commit yourselves to managing growth in Alachua County without damaging the lifestyles and property values of current homeowners. I want you to know that I realize that you're constrained, and I know that you're constrained by a legislature who cares more about development than it does about homeowners within the state of Florida. There is, however, within every constraint, some wiggle room, and I am asking you, within the constraints that are put on you, to use every bit of wiggle room you have to commit and accomplish the goal I've been asking you to accomplish. That's possible. That's doable with negotiations. That doesn't have to violate the law. Now, I am ready to ask each of you on behalf of myself and the rest of your constituents, whom of you, by individually, are willing to commit yourself to what I've asked. I see Mr. Chestnut is missing this morning, so he's not able to respond, but I'm asking each of the others of you, are you willing to do that? And I think your answer is going to tell us, going to tell the entire community, what team are you playing on? What team are you playing on? Now, Ms. Wheeler, are you willing to respond? Mr. Morris, if you'll just address through the chair. Yep. Yeah, we don't do separate individuals. Everything goes through the chair. But we can respond after. Yeah, after public comment, we'll allow everybody to respond. Yes, sir. Okay. Absolutely. I'm sorry. Say again, please. After we conclude public comment, everyone will have an opportunity to respond if you'll just stay with me. That would be wonderful. I would appreciate that very much. And I'm hoping very much, and you probably are too, that it is my last visit with you. You're always welcome, Mr. Morris. You're always welcome. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. All right. Next speaker, please. And we'll go ahead and respond when we're done with public comment. Come on up, Mark. Yep. I think you're the last one in the chambers, and then we'll go to the phones. No, we've got – there's somebody else out there, too. It's very quiet. I mean, whatever. But my name is Mark Van Suisbergen. Mr. Konish has – You're not the last one. I see people rising behind you. Oh, hold. That's okay. Do you want to go first? No, go ahead, Mark. Sorry about that. I didn't realize that. Okay, so it is a regular day. Mr. Konish does bring up an interesting point because, you know, for every electric vehicle, there's less gas. And one day, you could be like Norway. We have 60% of the cars are electric vehicle. Yeah. And then what do you do with your road tax infrastructure, gasoline tax income stuff? So, really, it's about soils. I know you're probably thinking, is he going to talk a whole year about soils? And I'm thinking I might because I've been looking at all these YouTubes and learning more about it. And it's just fascinating. It turns out all these soils are like, you know, there's roots and they talk to each other. There's all these organisms that are like, hey, the water is over there. And they actually, like, coordinate their activities. And so, there's this whole living ecosystem underneath the plants that basically, you know, are the reason that we have food, that we have trees, that we have, you know, everything that flies. Soils are like the mamason of life on this planet. Basically, the reason that we have life on this planet are soils. And so, they're really, really important to maintain. And it made me think of, like, a reset button. And, like, we've gotten used to, like, the whole two-inch thing and it's got to be short and there's little flowers must die and we throw stuff at it, et cetera. Well, it's kind of like, you know, reminds me of, you know, my dad when he told me this story where back when he was growing up, you know, the teacher, he was left-handed, would come by and have a ruler in his hand and just smack him as long, you know. So, he started using his right hand. But back in the day, that was, you know, normal. And probably these days, you would lose your job if you did that or something more would happen to you. But it's the same as, like, for example, so we ended up doing stuff culturally that we have no reason for. We don't even know how we got there. Like, you know, of course, the black people are in the back of the bus, you know what I mean? Aren't they? You know? And so, why do we cut at two inches? We don't know. Because the grass wants to be, like, maybe this tall. Well, is that bad? Because this tall also means that, you know, it also has much, much longer roots. There's also way more life going on. It retains water much better. So, when a drought happens, you know, the soil can actually, like, survive longer and shares the water with the trees and so forth. So, I was thinking a reset. And maybe start with your own people. You know, invite them over to, you know, First Mag in one afternoon. You know, two hours, first rounds on us, here's a coupon for the food truck, and just kind of relive this. And maybe there's a, you know, a ten-minute PowerPoint that explains why. Because there's no downside to having longer grass. Or free beer while you're learning. Exactly. And the deer like us, too. Thank you, Mark. All right, next speaker. Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Rochelle Reber-George. I'm a Gainesville longtime native. For nearly 80 years, the Boys and Girls Club has been a pillar of Alachua County, since they first opened their doors to youth programming back in 1949. This facility has been a second home to many generations of local Gainesville and Alachua County youth. The core mission of every single Boys and Girls Club in America is to make sure all young people, especially the ones who need us the most, get the chance to reach their full potential. It's supposed to be a safe haven where every single child who walks through the door has the opportunity to discover who they are. The very melting pot of what has always made Alachua County such a special place to grow up in. For our kids, that discovery happens every day through sports, life skills, emotional support groups, and financial literacy programs. Right now, the northwest location in our county is facing something that will completely strip our children of that chance and our future children of that chance. It's something we all had when we grew up. Recently, the organization's CEO put out a letter announcing that our location, our Northwest Boys and Girls Club, is for sale. We have been good stewards of that property since the beginning of time. They are selling it for $2.5 million. They received this property in good faith from the Northwest Boys and Girls Club, and they are now wanting to sell it for $2.5 million, or the highest bidder. Our children should not be for sale, ever. No in-person conversations, no town hall, no explanations. To make it worse, the staff who pour their hearts into these kids every single day found out their jobs and their club was being sold by reading about it on social media. Our families, our staff, all of our community sponsors, our supporters should be valued and respected, and we deserve better. Finding out our community sanctuary is being sold, completely unacceptable. The organization always talks about its formula for impact, a promise to ensure our kids achieve academic success, build good character, and lead healthy lifestyles. The history and memories at this location cannot be replaced at another location. You can feel the magic in the history on those fields. When you sit in those bleachers, you know it's the same bleachers your parents sat at in the 1970s, the 80s, the 90s, the 2000s. It is generational. You feel the magic. It has given our youth an opportunity through sports, middle school football, to go on to high school football. Many of our players have gone on to college ball and NFL success. And those same people want to invest back in. The leadership in Jacksonville claims the club has been running at a deficit. They are ignoring the massive amount of community support, and the children's trust is one. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you, Rachel. Thank you for bringing that to everybody's attention. Yeah. Appreciate it. Okay, next speaker, please. Come forward. Good afternoon. My name is Ethan Maya Denny-Dell, and I help to coordinate the Gainesville Immigrant Inclusion Initiative. We came to you all in May with a community petition which demands a response to the violation of our neighbors' rights by immigration enforcement, the encroachment of concentration camps into our region, and a recommitment to the safety and inclusion of our immigrant community. We submitted for your approval an accompanying resolution we are requesting you pass as soon as possible. Each week that goes by is another week where your community is being abused and separated from their families and homes. In less than a year, over 160 of our neighbors have been arrested by ICE as part of Florida's immigration enforcement efforts. The majority of those booked into our jail have committed no crime. The majority of those with a crime committed a minor traffic crime that normally does not result in being booked into our jail. You will hear today just a few stories from faith and advocacy leaders on behalf of those who cannot share or are too scared to share themselves. The statements within our resolution are not extreme. They do not violate any laws, unlike the rights of our neighbors being violated by immigration enforcement. In fact, the resolution follows the language of other counties and elected leaders throughout our state, including six of the eight sheriffs appointed by DeSantis to the Florida State Immigration Enforcement Council. In the words of Sheriff Grady Judd, the current immigration enforcement model is casting way too far wide a net and catching folks who are a benefit to our community, people who make a critical part of our county and who provide taxes and labor that allow us to thrive. Please place the Virginia resolution for a vote on your next county commission meeting August 11th. Thank you. Thank you, Ethan. Thank you for bringing that up. Next speaker, please. Hello. My name is Abigail Fletcher, and I'm a volunteer with the GINI Initiative. In our region, Gainesville and Alachua County more broadly serves as the base for employment, medical care, and more with individuals living in other counties but working and visiting our community regularly. Or Alachua County residents traveling in and out of our county for work. Unfortunately, traveling is no longer safe in our state for many of our immigrant neighbors now that FHP can pull people over and turn a mundane traffic stop into an immigration arrest. Too many of our neighbors who are commuting to and from Alachua County are being put at risk of getting intercepted and placed into jail for ICE to pick up. For example, an Alachua County resident with status was arrested while working outside of the county in his work vehicle. He was a licensed driver who was stopped by Florida Agricultural Law while driving on I-75. He was pulled over, his license ignored by the officer who told him it was false, and that his immigration status was fake. It's critical to point out that though FHP is deputized to serve as immigration enforcement, they're in no position to determine the validity of his immigration case. Only an immigration judge can make that call. Here, a hardworking member of our community was deported, cutting off economic support critical to his family. Also, two men from a work crew were stopped and arrested by FHP after a long day of work as they were on their way to pick up some food at Walmart. They were all VISA'd workers under the H-2A program, harvesting watermelons in the scorching Florida heat for a few months. Despite having legal status to work and live in our county, after getting picked up from our jail by ICE, one man has since disappeared from this system, much to the fear of his family, and the other was transferred to a detention center in Texas where he has decided to sign his own self-deportation rather than risk continuing to experience the dehumanizing and brutal treatment reported out of these sites. Hardworking people who are coming to your county, who pay taxes in our county, who rent homes, send their children to schools here, who play a critical role in making Alachua County the place that it is to visit and live, are being taken away, ripped from their lives here, their rights violated, and all they get in response is silence from our leaders. Please do not allow these actions to go unanswered. Vote on the Geneva resolution at your next county commission meeting on August 11th. Thank you, Abigail. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good morning. Good morning. You can pull that right down. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. I'm the Reverend Rebecca Lawson Putman. I'm the pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Gainesville. I'm speaking here on behalf of our neighbors who can't be here to speak for themselves. At a gas station in our county, a work vehicle with five men was on their way to a job and was stopped by Florida Highway Patrol for a faulty brake light. The driver had a valid driver's license and a pending immigration case, yet the officer took the better part of an hour demanding to see the identification of everyone in the car. During this time, one of the passengers called his 18-year-old daughter to observe the arrest. Her traumatic experience involved seeing her father taken into custody while he shouted directions at her to care for their family and particularly to care for her little sister. At least three of the five taken left behind their spouses and children, ranging in age from 14 months to 18 years. These men were deported within days without an opportunity to say goodbye. All had lived and worked in our county for years, some for over a decade. They were taken having committed no crime and having received no due process. How many stories of Alachua County families are we unaware of? We need our elected leaders to have the courage to speak out when the rights of its residents and neighbors are being ignored and violated. Earlier this year, there was an arrest of an entire painting crew by the Florida Highway Patrol as they were on their way to a job. The business owner was among those deported, and the family was traumatized by the abduction of their father. But without his help, they had to shutter their job, lay off all their employees, and then leave their home of over a decade here in the city of Gainesville. Their children were uprooted from their schools and were taken from the only home they had ever known back to their parents' home country with the hope that they would soon be united with their father. The trauma experienced because of our country and state's mass deportation agenda does not only affect those who have been taken. It is shared by our neighbors, by hard-working business owners, by essential workers, partners, those who have lost their jobs at some of the places that have closed, and our thriving public school students. These experiences are repeated weekly in Alachua County. We must speak out and make it clear that this cannot continue in our name, not with our tax dollars, not in our jail, not in Alachua County. Today, I ask the county commission to stand on the side of courage and justice and vote on your next meeting at the resolution presented to you in May. Thank you, Evan. Thank you for being here. Next speaker, please. Welcome. Hello, all. Good afternoon. My name is Veronica Robledo. I'm part of the Ginny Steering Committee, and I'm also speaking to you today as the director of the Rural Women's Health Project. Through our organization, we have an immigrant helpline, and I'm going to share a story of a local high school student that came through our line. A local high school student who turned 18 two days prior to his arrest. Despite being one of many others in traffic not to do so, Florida Highway Patrol pulled him over for not turning his lights on in the rain. It was around noon at the time. Even though it was his first offense, he was placed under arrest by the trooper and brought to our jail where he was held for ice. He originally arrived in our city over three years ago with a pending asylum case. While here, he studied in our district, made friends with his classmates, and helped his parents with their work. Now he's facing deportation to a country that he left through no decision of his own, where he will remain separated from his family. 160 individuals and their families have been directly impacted by family separation in our county in less than a year. Over half of those that have been taken have no criminal charge, many passengers in these vehicles. The majority of those arrested for a, quote, crime committed a minor traffic infraction that would normally not result in being brought to jail. What immigration enforcement looks like in our state is the indiscriminate stops and blatant racial profiling taking away our neighbors. The rights of our residents are being violated regularly and without reproach. We need you, our county leaders, to stand up for the rule of law, stand up for all its community members, vote for the passage of the GINI resolution on August 11th, and make it clear that we do not accept the violation of our constitutional rights, and that we are a community that watches out for each other, and no project or concentration camp that threatens our neighbors is welcome anywhere near us. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next speaker. Hi. Good afternoon, counsel. My name is Michaela George. I'm a 16-year-old student athlete at Buchholz High School and a proud product of the Boys and Girls Club. As it was mentioned earlier, we are at risk of losing this. Now, I'm going to focus more so on the mental health aspect of what this community could lose. Mental health is so important, especially amongst youth. Boys and Girls Clubs, I'm a proud product of it. It's a sense of community. You meet others. You connect with others. Losing that vital aspect will essentially be losing a hole in the heart of this community. I recently wrote an essay for my AP seminar class, which regards how mental health aspects of Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the loss of the funding for them affects communities. Through my findings, I recently found out that the Attorney Surgeon General released a declaration of the youth lowliness epidemic. Anyone aged 13 to 17 has experienced higher cases of youth lowliness. The only answer to that is third places and places that advocate and encourage this connectivity. Without having the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, so many youth will lose the opportunity to connect with their peers, make valuable friendships, and learn how to socialize in a healthy and safe place where they risk no fears about anyone harming them while they're there. I implore the council and anyone listening to here in this room to advocate for the youth and our mental health. Without this, we're losing a big part of who we are. My mom got to grow up going to those games, watching that. I got to grow up with that. But it's an unfortunate fact that my kids might not be able to grow up and live with that. And that's something I will not stand for. I'm here in advocacy for having someone to help out to help save our Boys and Girls Club. Thank you. Thank you, Michaela. Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Vincent Hampton. I served nearly a decade on the Boys and Girls Club board in Alachua County and currently serve on its advisory board. In 2020, our club merged with Northeast Florida with the promise of greater resources, stronger organizational support, and expanded opportunities for the children in Alachua County. Many of us supported that decision because we believed it would strengthen, not diminish our local impact. Today, I am deeply concerned that the Boys and Girls Club property in Northwest Gainesville is being marketed for sale, yet parents, donors, staff, and community members will still have very few clear answers about what comes next for the children it serves or any guarantees that that money will stay in our area. This is not just a piece of real estate. This is a community asset built through decades of local investment, volunteerism, fundraising, and sacrifice. We are asking for transparency from Jacksonville. We are asking for community engagement, and we are asking that every possible option be explored before a permanent decision is made, including restoring local governance. So decisions affecting Alachua County children are made here in Alachua County. Once a community asset like this is sold, it is gone forever. Our goal is not conflict. Our goal is accountability, local involvement, and ensuring that resources built by this community continue serving the children of this community. Thank you. Thank you, Vincent. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good morning. Thank you. My name's Adair Garrett. I am also on the board at the Boys and Girls Club. I just wanted to take a minute. I think everything's pretty much been covered by the others, but just to let you know what the club meant to me. I was born here in Gainesville in 1947. At the age of 10, I started the Boys and Girls Club. It made a difference in my life. I am the person I am today because of what happened to me there. Lots of ways to go in life. The choices you make determine where you're going to end up. The Boys and Girls Club was the safer. I feel like we are being dealt with from people in Jacksonville that only came with us to this club to sell it down the road and make a quick buck off of it. We know there's two offers already, one for two and a half million dollars. We don't know what the other one is, but we try to talk to these people. Nobody will talk to us. We're on the board, but we haven't even had a meeting in two years with these people. So we feel like that fiduciary stuff that's supposed to be there is not there at all, and we feel like they're dealing in bad faith all the way around. So we're kind of stuck. We don't know what to do, so we're asking the board, whatever you can do to help us, that's what we need right now. Also, we are the only Boys and Girls Club in the state that has a tackle football program. They canceled it last week. No reason why. That's $30,000 to $50,000 that goes into our pocket. So why don't they care where that money's going? Also, we lost our Railing for Kids golf, sorry, fishing tournament, Doug Johnson. That's $100,000 that we make. That's $150,000 that we're not going to get, and they won't even give us a reason why. So I'll probably be short on my three minutes, but I just want you to know the Boys and Girls Club is an institution in this town, and letting them take it from us. And they gave us no money for this club. They actually just came in as a merger to help us run it, and now we feel like they're kind of flim-flamming us, and we just would like some action to try to take care of it. Thank you, Adair. Next speaker, please. Hello, Commissioners. My name is Sage Syrah, a long-time Gainesville resident. You've heard today many harrowing stories of the trauma experienced by our immigrant neighbors from the wonderful members of the GINI initiative. So I just wanted to come up and reiterate the ask, which is please put on your next agenda a vote regarding the GINI resolution, and at that point, please pass it. Thank you. Sage. Next speaker. How many more speakers do we have? Okay. Here's the last one in the room, and then we'll go to the phones. Hello. Soria Lindberg. I didn't know about the proclamation for Pulse. Thank you for doing that. That was very touching in how you did it. I knew I had to be quiet. I wanted to cry. My first job in Orlando was at the restaurant that became Pulse Night Club. I know every corner and closet of that place. When we woke up on June 13th, we were calling all our friends. We were here last night. Where was this person? Where was that person? So thank you for that moment 10 years ago. So I want to come up and say thank you to Shannon for doing our Citizens Academy. We went all around this town, and she always brought snacks and drinks. It was very well organized, and it was really cool to see different parts of the county, like great presentations from county attorney, assistant city managers. My favorite day is when we got to talk to judges informally without the robe. No one was in trouble, so I thought that was really cool. And I also want to thank Public Works. As you know, my neighborhood, Santa Fe Hills, you manage our water. Last Friday was a holiday, and my water pressure went out. Middle of the day, 3 o'clock, and I'm like, oh, darn. It's Friday. It's a holiday. I went through the commission inbox and found Mr. Guevarete's cell phone number, sent him a text. It's public record, right? And he responded right away. I'm sending a crew out. I said, thank you so much. I know it's a holiday. People probably had plans. And within two hours, my water was back up. So that was just so cool to see how the government works in general for those seven to nine weeks. I did not have perfect attendance. I would like to know the ratio of who's retired versus perfect attendance. And then seeing it, how they responded, too. It was just so cool because we were like, it's Father's Day weekend. We need our water. And it went back up. So it was really nice, too. So I just wanted to give them the props, and I'm not here to ask for anything. So thank you. Thank you. Well done, Ramon, and Public Works for getting the water back up last Friday. All right, Mark, let's go to the phones. Ms. Lindberg, thanks for sharing that. Mr. Chair, we have one caller with a hand raised. And for some reason, their phone number is not showing. So I'm pressing the talk button and caller. If you can press star nine, you're in the room, and you're the only caller. So I'm talking to you. Go ahead and state your name and begin your comment. Okay. Hi. Can you hear me? Yes. Hi. This is Moksha Zee. Hi, Commissioners. I was trying to be there in person, but you know. I'm calling to speak as an environmentalist and member of several environmental groups, which some of you are members of. And a couple meetings ago, I'm sure you all know, it was passed the issue that we worked on for so long, Parker Road, Lee Property, Hickory Sink. And a lot of us are in shock because, you know, the title of Latchewa Chronicle and Main Street reads, Latchewa County gives the green light to UF, you know, to pump two million gallons of water and do that golf course and the members only country club. And my understanding was that we were going to meet again with Commissioner Mary Helen Wheeler, who is a hardcore proponent and advocate for the environment. We all are. But Mary Helen really cares about this water and the environment. And again, I know you all do. But those of us at Sierra Club and these other groups that we were very active for, what, like three years now, this is like a slap in our face. And also, I want to remind everyone, just in case maybe some people forgot because we had some recent rain, we are still in a severe phase three drought. We are still under the water tablet of where we need to be. And I'm sorry, but I do not agree with UF doing anything like that. And I want the plug pulled on that. And I also want to see, you know, Surya is in the room right there. Alachua, the city of Alachua, a lot of people were at that meeting last night. I was not able to be there. But I want to see the county really say, no, we are not going to allow you to destroy 60 acres for another Butler Plaza Walmart. If those lazy people want to go to Walmart, they can get in their cars and drive to 441 Walmart. Or they can drive to Butler Plaza and spend all day there if they'd like. But we do not need another Butler Plaza. So I would like to teach you and implore you to stop this development, stop the destruction of the last little bit of habitat that we have left. And this aquifer cannot take any more. So I'm requesting on your agenda for, like, the people that are asking for the immigrant issue to be on there, which I totally support as well, please bring Hickory Sink back on here. Bring us back to the table. And I know Mary Helen came up with, like, I don't remember the exact number, but she really worked to buy that property. And those greedy people did not accept her offer. And I'm sorry, that is ridiculous. And UF, we need to stop the little underhanded table favors to UF. They are just a detriment, in my observation, to this community as far as their school. As far as their health care, I think it's great. But please, we cannot allow this to go through, Commissioners. Please hear me on this. Thank you. And I want to make stricter, I also would like added on that town hall, stricter regulations around water for the golf courses, the car washes, people washing their pavement. Thank you, Mo. Thank you for your call. Anyone else, Mark? No. All right. We're going to go ahead and close public comment. Now we'll have an opportunity for us to respond, Commissioners. Commissioner Prizia? First. And then Commissioner Wheeler. Yeah. I just wanted to talk to my colleagues. You know, we had committed to doing the immigration resolution. I brought it forward when they initially introduced it. And then there was a desire to wait, I think primarily until legislative session was over, to be honest with you. And the sheriff had asked us to wait so that they could have time to have input. There's now been months for them to provide some substantive input. And I know our attorney has worked to make sure that we have language that reflects the fact that we understand that we are statutorily limited and what we can and can't do. And so I would ask that our board, I would make a motion that our board agree to put the resolution on our next upcoming regular agenda. August 11th? Sure. And we only have one in July and I think it's full. August. Okay. Do I hear a second to that? Second. Second. I motion a second from Commissioner Wheeler. All right. Any discussion? We've already had public discussion regarding this. Back to the board. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion is unanimous. Okay. Thank you. So that's asking for that to come back to us on August 11th. All right. Do you have anything else? No, except to say that to the gentleman who asked us to commit ourselves to protecting our neighbors and working on developing our county in ways that are responsible, I say to you, of course I will. That's our mandate. It's something that we commit to. Our comprehensive plan is very clear in that regard. And while I know you don't think it is, that's a matter I'm happy to debate with you one-on-one. But I think our comprehensive plan and the work that this county has done and our commission has consistently done shows that we care deeply about our neighbors, about the way that development is happening in our community, and strive to bring a balance of increasing the opportunity for affordable housing and development within the urban services boundary, while also ensuring that our local residents that have lived here for decades still have the quality of life that they've come to expect. I accept your offer for debate. Mr. Morris, thank you. Yeah, we're not going to go back and forth. So I think the idea really here is prioritizing current homeowners over new growth. That's really what the commitment is asking for, which I believe we all support that position. Commissioner, I think that's what he's asking for, as opposed to a balance. I think he's asking for really prioritizing current homeowners versus new growth. So, Commissioner Wheeler? I have it signed. I'll hand it to you on the way out. All right. I have it signed. You've got another signature, Mr. Morris. And I will hand it to you on the way out. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Mary, did you have anything to add? No. Did you conclude? No, no. No, I want to respond to our concerns about our immigrants here in the community that have been taken. I don't know if we, as a body, can ask to know who the people are that have been removed from our community and know where they have been taken to. Is there any way that we can get that information as having people locally? Particularly, Ethan shared with me that when a student from UF had been picked up for a traffic violation. And so I just want to make sure that if there are people, particularly students, that are coming into this community, we need to be able to have access. Any of the folks at the Jenny Group or any that we know that have been taken, who they are, who their families are locally. So that we, because I know that we've advocated for people in the past. I've gone directly to Kat Kamek with them. They have advocated for people in other communities in North Florida. That somehow we have an active part in understanding who these people are and where they've been taken to. And the responsibility that the welfare of their families are met by at least information. So, Madam Attorney, is that something that we have access to as a county commission? To the names of what I heard was 160 folks have been arrested under ICE. Do we have access to that information? Mr. Chair, I don't see a place where you are entitled to act. I think the question is whether it falls under the definition of sanctuary policy, which were prohibited from adopting. And asking probably doesn't. The definition says which prohibits or impedes law enforcement agency from complying with what it's required to comply with. And I don't see how asking a question would impede. Would it fall under the Freedom of Information Act for us to put in a public records request? We can certainly put in a request for the information. If we do that, they would be able to tell you whether there's an exception for it or whether it's controlled somehow. Is that what you're looking for, committee? If they're going through our jails, we should have access to this information about them because it's our jail. Right? If I can, I mean, so I have had some interaction on these issues for some time. And what I've found, and I, you know, perhaps the Ginny, anybody from Ginny that wants to could address this as well. But my understanding is that when they're at our jail, they are not being booked in as our, like they're not being arrested by our folks. They're like a hold. They're like a transfer. So they're in the system, but we don't, so we can get their names for sure. But we don't have information on, like, the status of their ICE. It seems to me we could demand that, especially if they're living in this community. Listen, guys, I've worked on, I ran for Congress in 2016 on this very issue. But you're the one who deferred it and said you wanted to kick it down the road until the fall. No, no. Yes, I am. Abigail. So let me ask Abigail. Veronica. That's Veronica. I'm sorry, Veronica. It's okay. I just wanted to say it's public, it is public record. There's been some issue with that, with the folks that have no criminal charge. But the numbers we got were through a public records request to the sheriff's office. And would it be helpful if we had the names of the individuals and their families? Or would that be not helpful? I mean, I think what would be helpful, what maybe Commissioner Wheeler's getting at, is in the, once, if they are in our jail, and they have no criminal charge, and they have a pending case, and this is something where elected officials have gotten involved, not necessarily right now, but over history, you know, to help us advocate so that they don't get deported, that's a whole different thing. And so we can talk further outside of, you know, not in a public meeting, but it is public record. I have a question for you, Commissioner Wheeler. It is all connected. No, the deferment, Anna, came from the sheriff's department. That's where the deferment, not me. It came from requests from the sheriff to wait. And so that's what we were trying to do, is to make sure we knew who all the players were and where the power was in this community. No, I don't know why you're scoffing at me. This is really... Because you said you didn't mind if it even got killed at the time. You said you didn't care if it ever came back. That was literally what you said at that meeting. I can... It was what you said at the meeting. And I just... I... You know, it's... It feels... It just feels revisionist and it's frustrating to me because I don't... I'm just... It's my... Okay. I reclaim my time. This is something that's really personal to me as well. All right. And I don't remember saying anything that callous or that flip. I would really like to see where you found that because if I said that then I truly lost my mind and it is time for me to come off this board. Because this is a group that I've worked with for a very long time, very intensively through Marion County and this county and all of North Florida where I directed that campaign for immigration reform now. And I work with those people all the way to the Georgia line. So this is real... We have to make sure that we're doing it correctly and if the sheriff is the one who was asking us to hold back on it, that's where I came back on it. But these are people that I care about and these are the folks that are doing the work that I started working with them a long time ago before there was a Jenny, before that happened. So I feel like that it's our responsibility if there are people living and working in our community, we know who they are, and advocate for them at every opportunity we have from this board. So Commissioner, would it be okay if you have an opportunity to speak with Jenny offline and see if gathering that information or request from this board would be helpful before we actually instruct ourselves to do that? Okay. That would be great. Okay. And I have one more. Go ahead. Derek called me yesterday about the Boys and Girls Club is in my backyard. I hear those kids play football every evening throughout the fall event. Who did you talk to? Adair. Adair has been a neighbor of mine and a friend for 30 years now. Anyway, my concern is that these people made an agreement not understanding what they were giving away. And if there's anything we can do at Parks and Rec to get the information to demand from these people in Jacksonville who are trying to abscond with our Boys and Girls Club, that we have somebody from our group interact with that group, especially if the Children's Trust is involved with them as well. Yeah, I'll speak for that. Thank you. Yeah, just please give it every consideration because it is an iconic spot in our area and it's in my backyard, in my district. Thank you. May I ask before I go back? So, on your comments, Veronica, you had mentioned that six of the eight sheriffs, I don't remember who mentioned it. It's okay. Yeah. From the governor appointed advisory board to the Florida Board of Immigration. How many counties do we have that have passed a similar resolution to what you're requesting? Well, I know that Orange County has passed it. I'm not aware of other counties. Any other ones since that one? Not that I'm aware of. I know that they're looking to pass one in the city of Orlando and we have also presented one to the city of Gainesville. Yep. And so, they're going to bring that back as well when they get back from their recess. Okay. So, could you get the city of Orlando's resolution to our attorney prior to that August 11th meeting and anyone else in the state that's passed, I think? Yes. Thank you. On the Boys Club, Commissioner, Doug Johnson and I have had numerous discussions. I believe he's got a right of first refusal on any purchase. I know that he is active in wanting to try to acquire that property for a separate nonprofit here locally to save the Boys Club. I did speak to the CEO and received their appraisal. It's currently zoned as, I believe, institutional. Like, it would require a zoning change in the unincorporated, which I'm not in favor of any zoning changes. I told that directly to the CEO. So, whoever's looking to acquire it, I just wanted them to hear that from me. I know the mayor also wrote a letter for the city of Gainesville because there was some discussion about if the county wouldn't change the zoning, they would annex into the city. I know the mayor wrote a letter specifically to the CEO saying that he's not in favor of a zoning change as well. So, I would love to open up a dialogue with this Boys Club formally for them to keep it in its current use and have local control as opposed to it being transferred to Jacksonville to essentially sell and then fund the Jacksonville Boys Club. And I've had that discussion directly with him as well as with the Children's Trust. Thank you. The Children's Trust is currently funding some programming. If this needs to come back before that board, I'm happy to bring that back to them because like many of the folks that spoke, when I was, it's similar to the West End story. When I was four, I was hitting balls off a tee at the Boys Club. And it's where I literally spent my entire life up until going to Buchholz and playing for the Buchholz baseball team at the Boys Club. And I was a baseball kid. There's football kids. There's cheerleaders. There's all of my friends that I played baseball with at Buchholz worked at the Boys Club in the summers. Like this to me is really, really personal. It is an institution that I believe Alachua County treasures and cherishes. And I would like to see it stay that. You know, I can't control a nonprofit. All I can control is land use when asked. And so that's where I am as a commissioner. I don't know where my colleagues are, but I sense many of them have roots as well. And here, and I do not want it to ever become an apartment complex or whatever they think the highest and best use is. So that's where I am. And I've said that to him privately. I'm now saying that to him publicly. And we'll see if that does anything. I don't know if it will. Commissioner Alford? Yeah. I'll say my kids went to Boys and Girls Club in the summers too. My boys did. So I think a lot of us have a lot of history there. Yes. I wanted to address the Jenny thing just briefly. I support everything that is in that resolution fully. But I do want to be aware. We do need to be aware that there may be unintended consequences to bringing this forward and putting it out into the news. I'm looking at a graph of ICE arrests in the Alachua County and detentions in the Alachua County Jail. In January, we had 11. In February, we had 10. In March, we had 10. In April, we had nine. In May, after we brought this resolution forward, it jumped to 22. And so I'm just concerned that there may be unintended consequences. And we just need to be aware of that as we go forward. Because I feel like there are people out there that may feel like, you know, they have to make points. I just want to point that out. I fully support the resolution. But we just need to understand that there may be unintended consequences. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Commissioner? Commissioner Prizia, do you have another comment? Yeah. I mean, I agree with you. I mean, I think there could be unintended consequences. My feeling from the get-go and my expression to our fellow advocates was that that was the case. And they are the ones who are closest to the immigrant communities. They are the ones serving them and providing them with resources and support, both legal and everyday hands-on support for their families when they are forced into separation. And so I feel like if they understand the potential consequences and feel it's still important to have a public statement of support and understanding that their local government does not support the detention of non-criminal immigrants in our community who are here and supporting our community, I'm more than happy to do that. And, you know, that was what my kind of thought process was when I went into this. Yeah. You know, I've always taken the approach of trying to listen to the people who are closest to the problem. Yeah. And that, to me, without an immigrant themselves standing up here and risking their own lives or their own safety, I feel like listening to Ginny and listening to the Royal Women's Health Project is sort of like listening to the immigrants' families. Oh, absolutely. I do agree with you there. That's kind of where I came from when I brought the resolution together. Yeah. And I do think that, you know, we do have statutory limitations. There are laws that we have to follow or potentially face removal. And I understand that. And I think that our attorney has worked to make sure that, you know, we're following both, that we're listening to the will of our community and that we're letting our immigrant neighbors know that they're important to us and that we want to protect them and their rights. And at the same time, recognizing that we want to be here to continue to serve them. And so we need to make sure we follow all the applicable laws and rules. Absolutely. And I think that that's the case for all of the constitutional officers that are working on this. Yeah. Here in Alachua County. Okay. Commissioner Wheeler. And then we're going to get back to our agenda. We can talk this to death. And there are words we put on paper and we put it out to the public. But it's not as effective as the work that Westminster has been doing over the years. Where are you? Are you still here? Minister from Westminster? No. Because Westminster was really active for a long time back in the day, 10 years ago. And they put their talk into action. And this is what I was trying to do by offering up a closer relationship with our jail and with our sheriff and with the highway patrol, so that we could actually be active and engaged in the protection of these people and not just putting out pretty words. That's all. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Okay. I think we've touched on everything. And it only took us an hour of public comment. So thank you all for coming and expressing your thoughts. We've got some movement on some things from Mr. Morris to the Boys Club to the folks that spoke on the immigration issue. Do we get a vote on the motion? What's that? A vote on the motion to hear in August 11th. Yeah, we did. We voted on it. Yeah, we voted on it. It's going to come back on August 11th. So we'll have more data from other counties that have taken action. We'll see what has happened with the city of Gainesville in their July meeting. We'll have an opportunity to speak to our sheriff. And we'll have an opportunity this week to speak to our fact colleagues about this issue and see how they're addressing it, as well as we'll have the Orlando resolution hopefully forwarded. And so it's on the agenda, unless it's not. Okay? All right. Do you have anything or are you good? You did fine. Oh, yeah. Give that to Mr. Morris, please. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Morris. Could I make one more comment to Mr. Chairman? And stay on behalf of the people who have just spoken? What we're doing to migrants in this country is an affront to human decency. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Morris. Appreciate that. Okay. All right. I believe we are on F3. Is that right, Madam Clerk? Yes, F3. All right, so we've got the Alaska County Crisis Center American Association of Suicidology Re-accreditation. The recommended action is to recognize the AAS accreditation, and I believe I see Director Tuck making her way to the podium. Claudia, you are recognized. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Mr. Morris. Happy again. I thought we'd get to it before one, but here we are. Happy to hear it all. Yes. Okay. I'm sure. Work on it, too. Commissioner, I'm happy to be here this morning to, again, celebrate another accreditation. Community Support Services was challenged last year with going through two very major accreditations. Happy to say we sailed through both of them. Today we're here for the Crisis Center, and we have a proclamation and another set of pins, so I'm going to turn to Ariel Drescher to tell you about what they went through and what it means. Excellent. Ariel, welcome. Chair, commissioners, and county manager, we are all today honored to present the board with a certificate of accreditation and accreditation pins recognizing the county's continued commitment to excellence in behavioral health services, specifically today the accreditation of the Alachua County Crisis Center. Our crisis center provides a comprehensive continuum of crisis intervention, suicide prevention, behavioral health support, and community response services for residents of Alachua County. We operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We provide a lifeline to our community through our local crisis line, the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline, emergency mobile response services, walk-in crisis counseling, short-term counseling services, community response following critical incidents, suicide bereavement support, and public education programs. The American Association of Suicidology is the primary US organization that establishes standards specifically for suicide prevention and crisis intervention services. AAS is the only US-based accrediting body focused exclusively on suicidology and crisis services. For a crisis center, AAS accreditation means that the organization has undergone a very comprehensive review and demonstrated that its operations meet nationally recognized standards for crisis intervention and suicide prevention. So this accreditation reflects the board's ongoing support of both high-quality behavioral health services and the dedication of county staff and volunteers who work every day to ensure that our programs meet the highest professional standards. And I'm thrilled to have some of those staff and volunteers here today who I'd like to introduce. First, we have Amanda DiLorenzo Garcia, our clinical supervisor. We have Yakin Alker, our MRT coordinator. We have Kelly Pace, who is our 988 in Crisis Lines program supervisor. We have Randy Humphrey, who is our MRT peer specialist. And we have Jerry McDade, who is currently serving as our crisis center trainer, but I would also like to note, this has a very storied history of over 45 years of volunteering for the crisis center. Why don't we go down and accept this? We could also invite the manager to join us for a pin and Missy Daniels, assistant county manager. And I just, to my colleagues, I want to let you know they just had a documentary. I don't know if you all have gotten to see it, but there was an opening at the Matheson not too long ago for the crisis center specifically. Not everything that's done in this amazing division, but it's definitely worth catching if you haven't seen it yet. It's really, really amazing. Okay, Madam Clerk, I think that gets us to our action items. Yes, this will be our action item, certified local government program follow-up discussion. Okay, and the recommended action is to receive the presentation and do not pursue certified local government status for Lester County at this time. I move staff's recommendation. Second. Okay, great presentation. We've got a motion and a second. Anything that you wanted to add? No? I'll answer any questions that you have. I'm Mike Casting with Growth Management. Thank you, Mike. All right. Any public comments to the motion? Back to the board. All those in favor say that. I did have one comment. While this isn't the right time for us to pass this, I do think it's something that we should look at again maybe in a couple of years if we're in kind of a different situation. Yep. The world changes fast and you never know what happens after November, so thank you. All right. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? That motion is unanimous. Mike, probably the best presentation. Thank you. And well done. Thank you for all your work. Just kidding. My pleasure. Okay. That leads us now to our public hearings. Madam Clerk. Public hearing to adopt an ordinance to amend Chapter 22 of the Alachua County Code of Ordinances known as the Alachua County Procurement Code. Okay. The recommended action is to adopt ordinance 26-07 to amend Chapter 22 of the Alachua County Code of Ordinances known as the Alachua County Procurement Code. D.J. D.J. D.J. D.J. D.J. D.J. D.J. D.J. D.J. D.J. D.J. D.J. Well, Commissioner Prezy, you gave her any questions. I just have a comment on the language that's being proposed, the edits. It's just that for the businesses – the local businesses, I appreciate that we've added the headquarters and the definition of headquarters, it says currently that it's principal office as designated in its articles of incorporation initial filing are in our county. in our county, I would like for us to add to that definition that their principal office is a bona fide establishment for the transaction of business on a day-to-day basis, not just like a P.O. box or something, because they can still use a P.O. box or just an address that exists for somebody else's businesses. I wanna make sure they're actually operating a business here. We understand that at Pitt and what I did. Yeah, but with that change, I would move the adoption of the ordinance as presented. Second. Okay, T.J., any problem with that change? No, none whatsoever. All right, so we've got a motion and a second. We've got Dave over there nodding. With Dave nods, that means it's okay. Any public wishes to speak to the motion? Back to the board, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed, that motion is unanimous. Thank you, Commissioner. Wouldn't mind me one second up here. I don't give many times to say thank you. Chair, Commission, I wanna say thanks to my staff, Sylvia, County Manager. For the third straight year, we just found out that we have a 2026 Achievement of Excellence in Procurement, so that's from you and everybody out there, so I wanna say thank you, follow your commitment to what we do here for Alachua County, so thank you. Good work, good work, good work, well done. Okay, items pulled from consent are none. This meeting will not reconvene at 501. Okay, closing comments, public comments. Is there anyone from the public who wishes to address this board? Yep, come on board. We finished our first round of public comments at one. We're gonna start our last round at 107. Good job, Commissioner. Hi, I'm Trey Asner. I am the Chair of the Historic Preservation Board, sorry, the County Historical Commission, and I'm just here as a private citizen to support this county seeking CLG status. I meant to make a comment after the presentation, but it looks like... We didn't do it. You didn't do it. Give us your comment now, we'd like to hear it, because this may come back to us in a couple years. Yes, I've come to speak on the matter of our county pursuing a certified local government status. Alachua County has been at the forefront for decades in protecting the resources that help tell our county's story. We have a landscape that features a beautiful intertwining of historical and environmental resources to create the unique and special place that we all call home. So I think it's very important that we do everything to protect and interpret those resources and the associated diverse stories with them. Achieving CLG status will help us better interpret, document, and preserve these places that have a resounding impact on the well-being of our citizens through funding, technical assistance, and program support. If the time isn't now, we need to come back to this in the future when it's viewed as more feasible. CLG status should have been approved decades ago. Florida's Certified Local Government Program was created in 1986, 40 years ago. And there's close to 100 counties and municipalities that have achieved CLG status. Alachua County should be one of those places soon enough. The Alachua County Historical Commission was established in 1972 with the mission to promote, preserve, and protect Alachua County's historic resources. CLG status is an important part of this mission. Now, there are challenges. There's concern about historic preservation experience and expertise. Being part of this program will provide access to such, and we have members on the board who have wisdom and knowledge to help us guide through these preservation concerns that this county faces. I want to assure you that I have seen the cost of not pursuing CLG status when there's no infrastructure in place to protect our historic resources. It's time, at some point, that we pursue this vital preservation tool to protect our past and build a strong foundation for the future. Thank you, Trent. Thanks for allowing me to give a comment. Of course. Yeah, and I think after November we'll see where we are, and I think we'll be able to have this discussion again. Appreciate it. Melanie, do you want to speak? Come on. I'm sorry I didn't connect it. I didn't either. So I apologize, but I'm glad you're here and you sat through all the rest of it. Let's hear from you. Hi, Melanie Beyer. I was actually here to listen to the staff presentation because I really wasn't sure what they were going to say. So I thought they were going to mail it to us. Maybe they did email it to us. It's online. It's online. Okay. So why didn't you listen to it? Because I sat here an hour and a half through all those presentations. We've listened to it multiple times. I get to the same presentation. Every year this gets brought to us, and every year we listen to it. Good point. I think it's been in the can down the road for quite a while, but the reality is that the cost and the effort associated with it for the gain of it and the amount of work associated with it is just, at this time, the recommendation from staff is that it's not in our best interest to do. It doesn't mean that it won't be in a couple of years, but at this time it's just not. And so we have seen the presentation. It's the same presentation. I mean, literally, we've had this conversation, I think we had it nine months ago, maybe. Well, it seems like we should just withdraw it from the agenda so we wouldn't bother to come. I mean, myself and Trey. That's an important point. Yeah, that's a good point. We were asked, I think it was asked to be brought back in a year or so. I think that was me that asked to bring it back. Sorry. It keeps getting asked to be brought back. And then they bring it back and they make the recommendation and we sort of say, not now, but in a year, and not now, but in a year. Well, this is really the first time that I'm aware of the presentation. So that's why we came and, like, we're all confused what happened. We didn't know. I said, did I not hear something? Because we were waiting for a presentation. That's a fair concern. Yeah. It's a good concern. It's a valid point. Yeah. Sorry about that. Okay. That's our fault. My fault, actually. I'm running this meeting not very well, as you can see. Thank you. Okay. I didn't realize that there was people here for it. Yeah. Okay. Fair enough. But if we could make sure that SAFS gets the presentation to Melanie and Trey, we really appreciate the work you guys do on the historical commission. And I think once we get past November, we'll see if there's funding for an FTE. And that's really what this comes down to. Okay. I believe. All right. Go ahead. Anyone else? Go ahead and close public comment. County attorney comment. Chair, I do not have anything today. Okay. County manager comment. Yes, Mr. Chair. I was asked just to give a brief update why our legacy project item was not on today's agenda. Yep. Just for the public's information, we became aware of some additional information regarding the property. And we're doing a little bit more due diligence. We fully expect to bring it back in August. And in the meantime, we are still moving forward with the application process that we were doing. I know it'll be back, I believe, at AHAC next month. And also, along with that, whatever process we need to do for the state funding that's potentially available as well. So we're still moving along. And it's not, you know, a project that's not going anywhere. We're still moving along the process. We just have a little bit more to do before we bring it back to the board. And specifically, phase two environmental is what we're working on? Correct. The two proposals were brought to AHAC. They were. Okay. Yes. And I thought I understood they were coming, they had to come back again to AHAC next month in July. Yeah. It was, we got like general presentations about them, but we didn't get the full packets like to be able to review and actually make a recommendation to the commission. But we got like the general, here are the two responsive applications. Right. So that should work with the August. Right. And we got community input about those two. Good. And that should work with the August timeframe, too. Okay. Very good. Thank you. Is that it? That is it. All right. Commission comment. Mariella? Nothing? I have one item. Actually, I have two items. I wanted to report back on the housing meeting from last week. It was well attended. I found the discussion to be rather siloed. We will be meeting again, and I ask that in the next meeting that we spend more time discussing how we can all work together rather than the individual things that each group can and cannot do, which was rather the focus of that meeting that day. But I do think that it's the right group of people to try to move forward on the sheltering. This is for the homeless children. The sheltering. Yeah, yeah. The sheltering. Yeah, yeah. Sorry. And I did see that the chair, the school board sent a chair letter back to us wanting to participate now, which I think is good. Yeah, yeah. They had not had a meeting where they'd addressed it, so they sent the superintendent who was there for a short time, and then she had to leave and left another representative there. But anyway, I think that the next meeting will be more productive for that reason. Thank you. Has there been any introduction of the conversation about the, have we gotten, I know there was a request to have facilities looked at, you know, our facilities, city facilities, county facilities, children's trust facilities, although they don't really have any that would be appropriate for sheltering? Yeah, that was actually the county, so the Coalition for Homelessness, is that the group? The COC? Not the continuum of care, but the larger state group. Apparently did a public records request for all of our facilities and brought a list of facilities they thought that we should be using, which was very interesting discussion. They don't understand why, for instance, we're not using our sports and event center to house homeless folks or metamorphosis or other places like that. Gotcha. So it was, they didn't do that for any of the other groups, just the county, but it was a little odd. But anyway, like I said, I think the next meeting will be more productive. Okay. What's your second item? This, oh, and I did say that I would bring up for possible, since we do not have cold weather shelters available right now, if we are still in this place next year, I said that I would bring up for maybe staff to think about how it might work if we were to offer the cabins in Cuskawilla for cold weather sheltering if there were no other options by next winter. Transportation there is a good thing. Yeah, it would be logistically hard, but it was really the only county facility that we felt like had maybe some possible use in that. I mean, especially for folks down in the Nicanopia area. Right. Yeah. Okay. I don't know, guys. We can discuss it. That would be a hard one. It would be hard. When I told them that, but they asked for me to bring it. Okay. So I'm imagining that. It would be for freezing cold days. Yeah. For anyone's head in some heat is better than none. For sure. Right. Yeah, we can get them there. Well, there are gyms here too. I mean, it's safe like the tornado, I mean, for hurricanes, you know, for that we have or churches that could open up. There's a lot of things that could happen, but the thing is, are they going to happen? Right. And so, you know, we're not in charge of what churches do or what other people do. We can do an RFP for full water sheltering. Yeah. You know, so it's just something I said I would bring up for, you know, people to think about until we, you know, get to that point. So the second item, I've been listening to these webinars, and I think you've probably been listening to some of them too, led by the Council of State Governments Justice Center. It's the, what do they call themselves? CHS, CJS, I think? CAHS. CAHS, yes. Anyway, they had a very interesting presentation last week where they announced a grant, and this grant would provide selected counties with up to 18 months of free technical assistance to improve outcomes for individuals with behavioral health needs who are involved in the criminal justice system. I, this is sort of an AI summary of the meeting for your, you know, benefit if you wanted to read it. It includes some projects that other counties have done that might be applicable to what this grant could provide technical assistance for. But the program focuses on data-driven strategies, cross-agency collaboration, diversion opportunities, treatment access, and reducing recidivism. These are all things that we've talked about and that we've been working on. Other folks that were on the call were Stacy Scott, Claudia Tuck, folks from the Sheriff's Department. And so we are all discussed applying for this grant. Good. And it would require some staff assistance, particularly from the, from court services. And so I need to make the motion so that we can ask for that staff assistance. And refer this to staff. Second. Yeah. And so I, I actually, I think that the place this belongs is under CGMSAG. Um, so, uh, that's where we'll be discussing that in a couple of weeks because, uh, it will, we're, we're, we're, we're thinking preliminarily we haven't, we don't have to have a project in order to apply, but we're thinking perhaps, um, like, uh, there's been some work on, um, medical assisted treatment, um, for folks in the jail, but it hasn't really gotten a whole lot of traction. But if we were to put this data gathering behind it and really push the program, then we would need to work with Meridian and things like that. That might, that might be, you know, one direction we could take this. So anyway, um, so I'm going to make the motion to, uh, I wrote this down. Um, I move that we, uh, direct county staff in coordination with the sheriff's office, um, and any other relevant stakeholders to evaluate the eligibility of state governments, justice centers, counties, aligning health and safety initiative, which is the title of that, um, to prepare and submit an application on behalf of the county prior to the July 31st application. A second to refer this to staff to plan for a grant. Uh, any further discussion from the board? Any, any questions from, you're looking at, be funny, Michelle? Okay. Okay. Just making sure. That's her face of, if Claudia was on the call, then she's good. Okay. I just have a quick question. Michelle, is this the one that I had referred to you as well? Uh, that, you know, I said, you don't remember. I don't. Because they came through in the emails. Uh, Mary, is that how you learned about it? What's that? I don't know if that's the same thing or not. There was an email that came through to us as a county about a grant. Very similar. I don't know that this is the same one. No. Because there's a different one. No. There's a DOJ grant that you were talking about that I forwarded to Ashley in our grant office. Okay. Great. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. All right. This one's safe and one for DOJ. All right. Back to the board. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? I have motioned unanimous. Thank you, Mary. All right. You got anything else? Okay. You didn't have anything? Mary Helen, did you have anything? No. No. I'm going down tomorrow. Are you going down? Aye. Ramone's already gone. Okay. Sylvia, are you going? Tomorrow. Yeah. And I know that the big property tax discussion is Thursday afternoon. Thursday. No, that's it. I didn't. Thank you. Yeah, we'll see. So when we get back from there, we'll be able to give that an update. We've got a special meeting on July 7th. Correct. Regular meeting on the 14th, commission break, and then back in August. Okay. Commissioners, I think we have concluded our work here for the day, and so we are adjourned. Excellent. I'll make no color for my poor. Yeah. This thing worked great. Did you do that? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.