County Commission on 2025-10-07 10:00 AM - Oct 07, 2025

two three four five that's pretty it's almost pink lamar it's almost pink you almost got there i think i got there with sammy that's as close that is as close as i could get

he now he's pink it looked pink this okay good morning everybody good morning this is a broward

county board of county commissioners meeting of tuesday october 7th 2025. if you would please rise for the pledge of allegiance and vinnie if you would please lead it lead us in the pledge of allegiance allegiance to the flag of the united states thank you to remain standing please um it's customary to that we observe a moment of silence in honor of notable persons from our community who have recently passed we'll start with commissioner davis okay the wife of senator

christopher smith desiree jowes smith and i'm sure hazel is going to say something but a friend of this community born and raised and her work speaks for itself and it will live long long after the burial and the memory of her life of celebration wonderful wonderful person but i must say we all need to take time out for ourselves get checked commissioner bogan talks about the heart deal but it goes over and beyond even today pink for awareness even today purple for alzheimer's even today as we celebrate having the owners of the panthers here education health health you must examine your body each and every day in july she discovered she had pancreatic cancer and in september she was gone in her memory

we love you thank you commissioner again just constant prayers for christmas family uh this is

the two-year anniversary of october 7th and i just think it's important that we uh keep in our prayers all of the uh the the people that lost their lives and hopefully we hope and pray that our hostages come home soon uh i know the federation did a big event sunday i was there representing the commission uh at the federation uh at the federation it was great i got to see bertha and bobby they were there too so it was cool to hang out with them but uh on october 7th i think we need to remember this somber day uh and uh stand for peace and for love and for moving forward uh in unity senator gillor i was also

going to mention october 7th and i have planted uh through jewish national fund planted trees in israel

in memory of desiree smith that's special good morning everyone just wanted to add to our comments about former past um city manager desiree giles smith and just to say she was just awesome she knew what she was doing she ran that city well and she knows how to collaborate she knows how to come to tallahassee and get whatever there is for her city and so she will be missed but i will miss her most because she was humorous she had that peace and that love and affection for people but don't take that quiet smile meaning weakness she can be strong and she was strong to leave lorda hill so i just wanted to add that to all of the discussion she was a really special special lady so thank you mr mayor okay there's one more marjorie loretta walters a strong community advocate strong kiwanian and you know kiwanis is all about service so she you know she was all about our children and she has invested in our children in our community and we just know she too will be missed gone too soon is what we

say for both of them thank you okay and amen to all those and uh just the thought to jane goodall who made us think uh and see the world in a whole different way that uh we probably wouldn't have um with that if we could have a moment of silence thank you if you take your seat i want to welcome everybody to the meeting today um at the last meeting we passed a budget millage rate but the pace isn't slowing down at all um i hope the residents in our community watched the budget process and saw the transparency and efforts to lead in an innovative way uh the music today was selected by commissioner davis she she selected sitting on top of the world and last last both by burn a boy uh incredible young artist from nigeria and also thank you for the wonderful breakfast we have three proclamations today but we are going to do something special first and with that i'm going to hand

it over to our county administrator good morning mayor and commissioners thank you um as uh as you just mentioned we have um some some very special guests we have many special guests in the audience today um but today um as the panthers begin their next uh regular season um the um ownership of the panthers and the um leadership the executive team of the panthers join us today and um the viola family uh vinnie and theresa and michael are here um with their executive team to bring a special um presentation i think uh that might be your cue to bring in that special trophy into the room um and they would like to share the stanley cup um with everyone um and and uh general manager yes so general manager bill zito is uh bringing in the stanley cup thank you uh mr zito i thought you were going to give it a special kiss i think you may have done that already but uh mr mayor i i believe uh the viola family would like to uh say a few words and and we want to welcome them warm welcome to

broward county yet again as a great partner thank you we have been blessed by this partnership from the moment we bought the team quite frankly so the folks in online can hear you thank you so anyhow anywho we've been blessed uh by this partnership from the moment we purchased the team and uh someone mentioned i guess michael seeing bobby and bertha so please send them directly our love i've been meaning to uh reach out and say hi to them but both uh you support us we we uh this is a symbolic i guess you would say gift to the county and the county leadership and i want you to know that we bring it with humility thanks and hope for the future continued partnership we have with us uh the architect of these great victories but first i'm going to open up the ring i don't know if anybody's seen it yet but my son michael will hold it but it has uh some simple symbol symbolic importance to us anyhow um we had a we had to fit two stealing cups on the face of the rings it's a little bit bigger maybe than people might have wanted it to be but we took that liberty so a little bit of uh but to each commissioner i mean i we seem like we got to know everybody in a very special and deep ways as well the senior staff so from the bottom of our hearts on behalf of all of the fans and the community who i think have rallied around our panthers in a way that quite frankly yeah please do come on bean put it on the public's here you're the mayor for the next couple of months put it on

big please here we go like it's stuck sorry sorry

i'd like to have the architect i'd say a couple of words uh i would have the architect of these great magnificent victories bill zito just say a couple words then rob rob stevenson will represent our senior staff uh who are here we have uh uh uh james shu lauren cochland and mark sarazow so those are our four principal leaders that work every day to make sure that the panther brand and the panther spirit comes through to the fan base and to the community but thank you all from the bottom of our heart bill

thank you vinnie and thank you to to everybody here and uh an appreciation from all of us to all of all that you do for us i know before we came in uh vice mayor bogan had referenced a situation where he needed some help and one of our players stepped up and they're very aware our group is very aware of the community um i urge everybody if you haven't seen the cup or had occasion and that opportunity presents itself to look at it as far as the rings somebody asked me last night how to describe them and i i was a little bit at a loss and i said they're bold with grace at the same time and i think that means elegant and it's so powerful um so please enjoy um and i can tell you that last night when everything calmed down and the kids went to bed i sat in the back room of my house and i just looked at it and i cried so it's it's that powerful so please uh please enjoy it and thank you very much for all you

do i i i would like to just thank you all for bringing broward county together in ways that i don't

think only sports can do sometimes well we we're you guys are champions the people should know that the elected leaders of this county are bold courageous responsible quite frankly you all are a collective body of champions the people should know that rob stevenson's our uh sort of uh helps michael in this interim period while we're trying to replace another champion who's not here but it'll be here next week matt caldwell so rob stevenson's going to speak on behalf of the all of the employees and there are many in the panthers so uh thank you again from the bottom of our horns thank you

uh it's a it's a pleasure to be here i'm humbled um when i look at this group the first word that comes to mind is purpose and you can't have purpose without passion right and passion i believe is derived i didn't take latin past like sixth grade but i think it's derived from pathos uh which is suffering so purpose is inseparable from passion and therefore inseparable from suffering and if anybody knows that it's the players um it's the staff uh that that work night in night out to bring the best to broward county and when i think about the viola family it's uh tenacity it's purpose it's passion and the best partnerships are when the people that are around the table with you share those and i will say without a doubt the tenacity and the purpose and the passion of all of you is unmatched and we're super grateful and we're looking forward to the future thank you

thank you thank you so is this going to stay here all day unfortunately it can say the word uh you're

very kind mr viola uh what i will say is i believe that the cup has a few other important stops today including uh the beginning of their home opener today they have some things this afternoon but i believe there'll be a few moments if you guys would like to get around it and take a photo um before we move on to the rest of the agenda today thank you

well i know i know it's i know it's normal this year

that's good okay guys ready here

one more right here all right one more right i said little

Okay, we're going to go ahead and get back to business here.

Hate to spoil the party. I know, I know. What's that? Okay. We'll make time for the judges. That's a good one. This is non-fartal. They usually can't get in pictures, you know? That's the one picture they can get in. Looking good, Chief Judge. Looking good. I know, I know. It's pretty hard to reel this one in. There's no real way to go. Okay, thank you, everybody. That was definitely special. And like I said, it's one of the few things that has brought this entire county together. I know, I know. I know. But, however, however, let's get back to business. It's one of the few times I've seen the judges actually being able to be in a picture. So, nice to see. With that, thank you, Monica, and thank you, Vinny, and the whole family for bringing all this to us. Very special. You see everybody's smiles when they get around that. So, it's good. I didn't want to break it up. However, we do have some business to do. We have three proclamations today. The first is for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. For those wondering, this is why everybody here is wearing pink. This presentation will be presented by Vice Mayor Bogan to Elisa Lovett, the founder of the Broward Chapter of the Positively Pink Foundation, and Dr. Lauren Karkas at Baptist Health Cancer Center. If you guys would please make your way to the podium. And Jennifer O. Flannery. Oh, there's a lot more. I have a whole other list here. Jennifer O. Flannery from the Community Foundation. And, oh, I think that's it. Okay. You ready, Mayor? Did I miss anybody? Anybody? Whoever else is involved. Come on up. I have the pink here to match. Right. I have the pink here to match.

All right.

Okay. Here we go. Whereas breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers among women in the state of Florida and across the United States, impacting not only the individuals diagnosed, but also their families, friends, and the broader community. And whereas, according to most recent statistics from the Florida Cancer Data Center, breast cancer represents more than 13% of all new cancer diagnoses in Florida. And whereas in Broward County, nearly one-third of those diagnosed with breast cancer are diagnosed at advanced stages, highlighting the importance of awareness, education, and regular screenings. And while early detention remains key to improving survival rates, breast cancer can also affect men, and a concerted effort is required to raise awareness of all forms of the disease. And whereas throughout October, we honor the courage of breast cancer survivors, stand in solidarity with those currently in treatment, and remember those who have been lost to the disease. And whereas Breast Cancer Awareness Month provides an opportunity for all Broward County residents to commit to the fight against breast cancer through charitable donations, volunteer efforts, and participating in community fundraising events that support innovative research programs and care for cancer patients. And whereas during the month of October, we recognize the tireless efforts of all who provide care and support to those affected by breast cancer, including doctors, nurses, and all health care professionals, and all support organizations, foundations, and volunteers who offer crucial services, resources, guidance, and emotional support to patients and their families. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners, that the Board hereby proclaims October 2025 as Breast Cancer Awareness Month in Broward County, Florida, as we urge all residents to recognize the importance of regular cancer screenings, early detection, and to support the individuals and organizations working to combat the disease. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Can you? Is that the case, ma'am? Sure, I'd be honored. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, Mayor Furr, Mayor Bogan, Commissioners, Monica Shapiro. It is really an honor to be here with all of you here this morning. This is extremely meaningful for me because in April, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Early detection caught it on a regular mammogram. A great system of care and doctors and nurses who treated me and got me in right away. And so all that done right here in Broward County in South Florida. At the Community Foundation of Broward, we just did a $1 million cancer research grant to support research at Memorial and also at Nova Southeastern for melanoma and for a tissue bank. And then in honor of Breast Cancer Month, we're doing a $200,000 grant cycle for education and awareness right here in Broward County. So this is personal and meaningful and that you all took time out today to recognize the importance of breast cancer and early detection and treatment. It just means the world to me, to the Community Foundation of Broward, to our board, and to some of our staff who are here today. So thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Good morning. Thank you so much for having me here today. I started Positively Pink about six years ago. I have never been affected by breast cancer. I've had some scares, but unfortunately a lot of family and friends I saw around me were affected by breast cancer. So I wanted to do something that was going to be able to make a difference. So we are in official 501c3. We actually have a brick section as well on the New River that is dedicated to Positively Pink where you could buy a brick and part of the money goes back to breast cancer. So every year we have an annual luncheon which raises money and little things throughout the year. So I am so thankful to be here today and to be able to raise more funds to stop breast cancer that is affecting so many of us everywhere and especially in this community. So thank you so much for having me here today.

I echo everybody else. Thank you so much for having us here today. My name is Dr. Lauren Karkas and I am a breast medical oncologist and I serve right here in this community. I am part of Baptist Health, but I work out of plantation. Not only do I work there, I live here. So I get the distinct pleasure and opportunity of caring for my neighbors as we journey through this very difficult diagnosis. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and I never knew that that is where I would end up, but that is kind of exactly where my calling led me. And I think that it really is a calling to be able to care for people during a very tender and frightening moment. But it has been my pleasure. I think that we need to make sure that we bring continued awareness, but also to encourage patients and families to talk about the diagnosis. It is not anything to be shamed of. It is something that you need to be aware of. Talk about it so that your family members might be able to be tested early or understand their risks so that we can make important decisions. I also think that we should take a moment during any cancer awareness conversation and talk about the role of clinical trials. We can only move medicine forward by really looking and evaluating what treatment options we have for people. And we have made strides. Most women survive breast cancer and are cured from breast cancer. And that is a testament to researchers and physicians and nurses, but most importantly, the patients that are willing to enroll. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Thank you. Good reminder, too.

You guys want to come down for a quick picture, please? You want to come?

Yeah.

Ready? Max.

Okay, our next proclamation. Thank you all very much for being here at first and all the reminders that you gave for everybody. Our next proclamation is for Domestic Abuse Awareness Month. Commissioner Rich is out today. So, Commissioner Lamar Fisher will be presenting it to Mark Douge, the President and CEO of Kids in Distress, Dr. Linda Parker from Women in Distress, Detective Alyssa San with BSO, Stephanie Newman with the State Attorney's Office, and Tony Lima, CEO of SunServe. If you all would please make your way to the podium. And everybody else. I think it is. I think you're going for a record here. This is fantastic. I only had four people on my list.

All right. All right, Lamar. All yours. Thank you so much, Mayor. And it's an honor, Senator Rich. I'm sorry to be here today, but I am so honored to stand in her presence to be able to present this incredible proclamation to so many wonderful folks behind me. Says, whereas Broward County Office of the State Attorney defines domestic violence as a pattern of behavior used to establish power and control by one family or household member of another family or household member through fear and intimidation, including the threat of use of violence. Whereas the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence reports that the United States, more than 10 million adults experience domestic violence annually, and nearly one in four women and one in ten men experience sexual violence, physical violence, and or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime. Whereas the Florida Department of Children's Families reports that in 2020, 106,615 domestic violence crimes were reported to the Florida law enforcement agencies. As the Florida Department of Law Enforcement reported that in 2020, 217 individuals died because of domestic violence homicide, representing approximately 20% of all Florida homicides. As the Florida Department of Health reports that in 2023, the rate per 100,000 of domestic violence offenses in Broward County was 132.1, an increase of 9% over the previous year. That's horrific. Whereas the Broward County Board of County Commissioners recognizes its domestic violence community partners in the Human Services Department, Community Partnerships Division's Health Care Services Section for their commitment to meaningful changes to assist victims in reduced instances of domestic violence. Now, therefore, it be proclaimed by the Board of County Commissioners of Broward County, Florida, that the Board hereby designates October 2025 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, right here in Broward County, signed by, of course, our mayor being for, and again, this is something that not needs to talk about in October, but year-round. You heard the statistics, and it's just mind-boggling. So, prayers for those who are victims, but let's be strong, let's be committed to ending this violence. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Let's speak. Let's speak.

Good morning, Commissioners. On behalf of State Attorney Harold Pryor and the entire State Attorney's Office, we want to thank you for recognizing Domestic Violence Awareness Month. We want to thank you for the support that you give to the courts and the resources that our survivors use every day to get out of their situations. Domestic violence is ballooning. It's exploding, and we need the resources to get our victims' help so that they can survive and get that help for their families to break the cycle of domestic violence. Thank you.

Good morning.

Thank you so much. I'm Dr. Linda Parker. I'm the President and CEO of Women in Distress. I'm going to apologize. I'm a little emotional. I picked up a lot of proclamations in my time, but this is the largest group of people I've ever seen. And I just want to say thank you so much for the support. Thank you all so much for the support. Domestic violence is a community problem. It's not a women's problem. It's not a men's problem. It's a problem for our community, and all of the people who stand here with us today are in support of that. And I appreciate your support. And here's looking forward to ending domestic violence in Broward County.

Good morning, Commissioners. Mark Dogie from Kids in Distress. The good commissioner shared a couple statistics with you, but I'd like to share a couple more. In Broward County alone, there are over 18,000 child abuse cases that are reported every single year. Eighty-five percent of those cases involve domestic violence. So if you want to solve child abuse, you have to solve domestic violence first. That's why I'm here. Thank you for this recognition today. Again, it needs to be a year-round conversation, as Dr. Linda said, not just a one-time only. Thank you. Thank you.

We're going to go all this way to take a picture, okay? Come on.

Thank you again, Commissioner Fisher and everybody who is here.

Thanks for all the work you do. Our next presentation will be for National Church Safety and Security Month. It will be presented by Commissioner Rogers to Dr. Clive Porter, Pastor Gary Gordon, and Reverend Dr. Bancroft-Williams. If you guys could make your way to the podium. Thank you.

Good morning. I'm truly honored to be presenting this proclamation, this—am I still mourning? 11th. Okay, today. And I have with me Pastor Gary A. Gordon, Lauder Hill Seventh-day Adventist Church, Reverend Dr. Bancroft-Williams, Pastor Meryl United Methodist Church. Dr. Clive Porter could not be with us, and other members of the clergy. And the proclamation reads, Whereas churches and other houses of worship have long been known as places of refuge, faith, and fellowship, opening their doors to those who seek comfort, guidance, and community. Whereas the safety and security of churches and other religious congregations are vital to preserving their ability to serve their members and the broader community. Whereas there are increasing reports of theft, vandalism, violence against religious organization, and persons of faith. And whereas, as we repeatedly witnessed, including last week in Manchester, England, where members of a synagogue attending Yom Kippur services were brutally attacked and several were killed. Whereas houses of worship are encouraged to develop and maintain comprehensive safety plans, including establishing clear operating hours, training staff and volunteers in crisis awareness, limiting entry points, reinforcing doors and locks, and engaging with local law enforcement to access, and where required, guards are asked to be there. We are protecting lives. We are showing love. We must continue to do so. Whereas Broward County, in collaboration with our law enforcement agencies, remain steadfast in promoting public safety, including for local churches, synagogues, and other houses of worship. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the Board of County Commissioners of Broward County, Florida, that the Board hereby designate October 25th as National Church Safety and Security Month in Broward County. And this is signed by our Mayor, Beam Furr, witnessed today October 7th, 2025, from my colleagues and Broward County in general. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Good morning, Mayor Furr, and Commissioner Rogers, and all the commissioners. Thank you for recognizing this important matter. I'm happy to receive the report, but with a little bit of sadness, where we have so much violence in our community. And we just pray for more coming together, whereby all who serve in our community can find strength knowing that together we make ourselves stronger. And so thank you for the recognition, and we want to work together for safety, love, and peace.

Thank you, Mayor Furr, Commissioner Rogers, commissioners. Thank you for this recognition of the importance of safety. Being born and raised in the UK, my heart goes out to those impacted in Manchester. And, of course, we know that at this critical time in our nation, safety and security and place in the house of worship is something that is very important. I want to thank those in Broward County sheriffs who have worked in collaboration with many of our local congregations to provide training and also support. And also the local police departments in the county have also been part of that security for our congregations. It is our hope that not only through this proclamation, but through continued partnership, that we will be able to provide that sense of security and safety for all of the residents and constituents of Broward County. Thank you so much. Thank you.

Thank you, pastors, and thank you, Commissioner Rogers, for that. With that, we do have an 11 o'clock time certain, but I'm going to get through the consent agenda first. We're going to start by reading the Tuesday morning memo. If the reading clerk would please read the memo.

Broward County Board of County Commissioners, October 7, 2025, Tuesday Agenda Memorandum. The following are submitted for your consideration. Consent Items 1 through 52. Public Hearing Items 53 through 59. Regular Items are 60 through 69. I request the following withdrawals and other modifications to the agenda, and note the following additional information. Withdrawals, number 8, withdrawn for further staff review. Item number 26, withdrawn by the sponsoring commissioner. Item number 60, withdrawn for further staff review. Other modifications. Number, item 37. The board's consideration of this item is based upon the item as amended by the substitute exhibit 1 submitted by county administration as additional material, number 37A. Item number 69. The board's consideration of this item is based upon the item as modified by the substitute motion statement distributed as additional material, number 69A. Scrivener's errors, item number 28. The board's consideration of this item is based upon the item with the corrections shown on the attached page, attachment A of Scrivener's errors. Move to consent. Items 66, 67, 68, and 69. Move to regular. Item number 2B, be moved to regular. It's time certain. Item 61, time certain at 11 a.m. Additional material, items 1B through 1C, board appointments. Item 37, substitute exhibit 1 submitted by county administration. Item number 61, memo to the board submitted by public works and environmental department. Item 69, substitute motion statement submitted by county administration.

Thank you very much. With that, are there any pulls from the consent agenda? I'll start with Commissioner Rogers. No pulls? 27. Commissioner Udine? Vice Mayor Bogan?

Okay.

Put some thought into that one. Okay. Commissioner Davis? No. Commissioner McKenzie? Any pulls?

No pulls.

No pulls. Okay. With any from the public? Oh, Commissioner Rich? Commissioner Rich might be on. Oh, Commissioner Rich, are you on from the public? Numbers 50 and 51. Say that again. 50 and 51. Okay. Okay. Okay. With that, I'll entertain a motion for the consent agenda. We have a motion from Commissioner McKenzie.

Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor, Senator. So today's consent agenda consists of items 1 through 52 minus the following items. Item 2B is moved. So 2A and 2C are staying on consent. Item 8 has been withdrawn. Item 26 has been withdrawn. Item 27 was pulled. Item 50 was pulled. And item 51 was pulled. And added to the consent agenda are items 66, 67, 68, and 69.

With that, we have a motion from Commissioner McKenzie, second from Senator Geller. All those in favor? Any opposed? Okay. That passes unanimously. With that, we're going to go to item 61, which is a time-certain item. This is a motion to direct regarding vehicle standards, taxi vehicle standards. This, oh, I'm sorry. We have Judge Phillips and Judge Gottlieb and Judge Alperstein. I just wanted to recognize you all. Where'd you go? There you are. Okay, good. There you are. Thank you all very much for being here, and thank you for what you're going to be doing for this. Appreciate it. Okay. This item on the vehicle standards came out of the TDC, out of the Tourist Development Convention Center. And knowing that we were going to be hosting the IPEW in, I think it's next November, next May. Ooh, even faster. Okay. Okay. So in 222 days, we have a whole lot of people coming from here. It's a huge event, the biggest in the tourist industry. And I think what the Tourist Development Committee wanted to do is make sure we put our best face forward. That's kind of the gist of it. So today, we are going to be looking at one of the things that the first impressions of people when they first come to Fort Lauderdale and to our county is when they hop in a cab, or they hop in an Uber or wherever. But when they hop in a cab, and I think what we wanted to do is make sure our first impression was the best. So with that, we've asked Lenny Villopondo to give us kind of an overview of where we are with taxis. And is Lenny here? There's Lenny. Good. Lenny, you've got a couple slides, I think. If you could walk the commission through, you know, what are some of the issues from both the tourism industry as well as from the taxi industry itself, small and large. And let's see if we can kind of knock this one out.

Okay. This is Nan. I'm on the call.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Senator Rich. Let me – one second. Senator Rich, did you – I know we've just done the consent agenda. Yeah. We've just done the consent agenda. Can I find – can I make sure that you didn't have a poll?

I did have a poll. Item six. I just was having a hard time getting onto it. But item six, I needed to abstain for our behavioral health because I serve on the board of our behavioral health, which will be impacted financially by the outcome of item six. I don't receive any compensation for serving on the board, so I have no actual statutory voting conflict. But to avoid the appearance of a conflict, I'm abstaining on item six. I'm going to ask to be reflected – have that reflected in the minutes.

Thank you, Senator. I'm going to ask the county attorney. Do we need –

Mayor, if Senator Rich wants to be shown as voting in the affirmative on everything on consent except for item six and showing that that item passes 8-0, everything else is 9-0, that's fine. If Senator Rich was not on the call and is not going to be shown as voting, then it's okay to read that into the record, but she wouldn't be shown as voting anyway. So we're –

I guess that's – No, I would be voting. I just – I just couldn't get into the call until now.

Okay. So I think the cleanest is just to say that Senator Rich is not shown as voting on any of the consent agenda items. Senator Rich can vote on items going forward, but then the abstention doesn't matter because she wasn't present.

Okay. Are you okay with that, Senator?

Yeah, fine. Okay. I mean, otherwise I would just vote on the consent agenda, but it's too late. I mean –

Okay. So we'll go ahead and proceed.

Fine. Okay. Lenny, all yours. Thank you, Mayor, members of the board. So, yes, as the mayor pointed out, we were asked to meet with the tourism industry and members of the large taxi companies as well as the small taxi companies and the drivers and basically ask them about vehicle age and vehicle standards. And then also every two years we're required to come before the board and make a recommendation regarding taxicab rates. And so we took this as an opportunity to go ahead and do that study and then ask those same groups about their opinion on the rates as well. And so we have for you just a quick overview of what the feedback was that we got from those entities, and then we're here to take any direction that you might provide so that we can draft the ordinance amendment. And Phil McChesney is the Director of Consumer Protection Division, and he'll be going over the slides with you.

Thank you.

Thanks, Lenny. Welcome, Phil.

Good morning, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, County Administrator. Just as a quick recap, again, we met with representatives of the tourism and hospitality industry, which included travel host Fort Lauderdale, the greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, and hotel and restaurant operators from the area. So the information that's in the extensive Exhibit 1 is recapped here just briefly regarding vehicle age. The industry recommended vehicles be no older than five years of age. In standards, they were looking for improved standards, including a uniform color scheme and logos. You did actually approve that change during the April 22nd meeting. So that's already been placed in the ordinance. They also were looking at digital displays of driver's ID and taxi licenses. The industry did not have a position regarding taxicab rates. However, they were open to a consideration for higher flat fares between Fort Lauderdale Airport and Port Everglades for vehicles that met a higher standard, including vehicle age. They also had some other recommendations, which included driver recruitment and training, performance monitoring of drivers, and then the usage of various taxi technologies and quality insurance, including the inspections and licensing, which we currently do. Mayor, as you indicated, we also spoke with members of the taxi industry, both large fleet operators represented by Yellow Cab, United Cab, and InterCity Taxi. They had a position recommending a phased-in approach of vehicles to be not older than 10 years, but beginning perhaps at a 15-year point, and then recommending that newly permitted vehicles be 10 years or less. For vehicle standards, they recommended adjustments or improvements regarding cleanliness, including working or operating air conditioning, which is not currently contained in the ordinance, and posting rates on vehicles. And then with regard to taxicab rate increases, they were opposed to any rate increases. Currently, the transportation network companies account for about 80 to 85 percent of the motor carrier at the airport and port, as indicated by them. And so they were concerned that raising rates might end up pricing them out of a dwindling market already. We also met with members of independent owners and drivers of taxis, represented by the Broward Taxi Association. They did not particularly have a position regarding vehicle age or vehicle standards, but they were focused on a rate increase, which they requested. And you'll see their request included in Exhibit 1, requesting a rate increase. As Lenny indicated, every two years, by ordinance, we're required to review taxi rates and make a recommendation to the board regarding whether or not to increase rates. At this time, the division does not recommend increasing rates. In 2023, the board approved a 20 percent increase of taxi rates for Broward County. Of the 19 municipalities of similar size that we review, it places now Broward County at approximately number seven, still above some of the larger cities, such as Boston and San Francisco. And it's in more parity with Uber and Lyft, depending on whether they're peak or off-peak times. As indicated a minute ago, the large taxi operators were opposed to a rate increase, whereas the independent operators and drivers are in favor of an increase. The last slide here is just at the request of the mayor for kind of a talking point discussion for yourselves and subject to any questions. That concludes my recap.

Thank you, Phil. I'm going to hold off. Let's hold off on questions so we hear from speakers. Everybody okay with that? Okay. How many speakers do we have?

Good morning. There are five speakers.

Okay.

The first speaker is Joe Davis. The second speaker is Bernie Friedman.

Good morning, Mayor. And good morning, your fellow senators and commissioners. First, I always want to make sure I thank you for always supporting our industry. And two things came out of the last thing that you helped us with, which was the color scheme. And we've reduced the color scheme in Broward County by about 30 different colors have been out of the system now. And the last ordinance change you provided for us was that we can now do work for rideshare companies through our dispatch system, CURB, which dispatches not only to Yellow and United Cab, which are the two companies that I represent, but it also any other taxicab in Broward County that uses that dispatch system can also get those trips from that system. They're doing about 300 trips a day. And then, of course, always for the Topps Choice, the Late Shift Connect program, from 2022, when we were doing 37,000 trips annually, this year we'll exceed 120,000 trips in the Topps and Late Shift program. And so in reading the industry's comments of the hotel industry, I just wanted to point out that Yellow Cab has been here for 65 years. We are the first company in 1996 to have a dispatch system, fully dispatched, computerized dispatch in our taxicabs. We've got dedicated customer service representatives. We've been taking credit cards for more than 30 years. I started in 1989, by the way. In 2012, we put cameras in our cars, and all of our vehicles are equipped with cameras. And even the third generation that we're installing now records everything inside the taxicab. So, you know, if there's any issues between customers and drivers, we've got something to listen to. We spend millions of dollars annually in maintaining this company. We're a full-service shop. We've got maintenance facilities, call center, the gamut. Over the last four years, I've purchased over 150 cars and added to the fleet. And, or replace vehicles. We've had a rider app in our taxicab company for more than 25 years. This was before apps were even talked about. And we also had the first wheelchair service, and we put our first wheelchair in service in 1967. We do support charities, many charities. The Florida Initiatives for Suicide Prevention, United Way, United Negro College Fund, Jewish Federation, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Women in Distress, Boys and Girls Club. In addition, since the Hard Rock Hotel opened in 2004, we have provided a safe ride home program at no charge. We provide service to take anybody who may have had too much to drink home to make sure that they don't affect our streets. And we would be very happy to work with the convention center, the new convention center, and being an exclusive provider there as well. We have the exclusive at the Hard Rock, and it makes it easy for them. One call if there's any issues whatsoever. I, like the county staff, I don't recommend that we do a rate increase at this time. 85% of the demand response trips provided at FLL are taken now by ride share. We have a 15% market share left there, and I don't support it.

Thank you.

I'll let Bernie talk about the lottery.

We have all questions after we do a file. Is that all right?

Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

The next speaker is Bernie Friedman, followed by Ina Lee.

Thank you very much. Bernie Friedman with Becker Polyakov, celebrating my 35 years at Becker. And I'm here with my colleague, Senator Ellen Bogdanoff, who you'll see a lot more of here at the county. Anyway, Joe has talked a lot about all the great things with Yellow Cab. What I'm here to do is ask you to do a simple resolution and direct your county attorney. We've talked to a bunch of you on a resolution to extend the moratorium on certificate renewal requirements to prevent abandonment of certificates. I had a nice conversation with Anika, your county attorney who works on this, and hopefully she's already working on it, she said, and maybe could even bring it back at the next meeting if you all direct her. Why do we need this? Why is it in the public interest? Because the taxi industry, as Joe has just told you, is rebounding with all kinds of innovative ideas and new work. One, the TOPS program, the overflow, the emergencies with TOPS, 24-7 dispatch, and lots more to come with the TOPS program, as I've been talking to Paul Strobus about utilizing taxis in the TOPS program. So, again, a public interest, a reason why we need all those certificates. The late-night shift program is another great program that we're doing with Broward County, overflowing with Uber and Lyft. When people get stranded, they call taxis, and we pick them up. It incentivizes, continuing with the public record, with the public interest, it would incentivize reinvestment in more technology, digital terminals, all the body shops and all the good things that they're doing. E, it would give more wheelchairs. You know, Yellow Cab is the only, none of the TNCs, none of the other taxi companies have wheelchairs. Wheelchair vehicles are very, very, very expensive. They're hard to get, and they require a lot of maintenance, and you still get the same taxi meter rate as you do on a, you know, regular taxi. So, we need to keep those, and we don't need to abandon those certificates. It's expensive to get them. Also, Yellow Cab proudly has hybrid vehicles. Almost 90% of their fleet are Priuses. Priuses are very hard to get if we abandon certificates. And then we're going to give back the cars, and we're not going to have the cars when we need them for the TOPS program and all the other great things that Broward County is doing. So, for all of those reasons, I would tell, and also, by the way, last mile, first mile, I know we've talked a lot about that. Again, a program that we will be utilizing taxis with, with Broward County Transit. Another important reason why, in the future, we're going to need these certificates, and we don't want to abandon them. Quickly, other issues, no rate increase, no additional taxi certificates, a flat rate to Port Everglades, more wheelchairs. Other people need to step up and do these wheelchairs. And the 10 years on the vehicles is a fair compromise. If you went to five years, you probably wouldn't have any taxis at the airport, sadly. But 10 years, I think, is a really fair compromise, and I think the industry would work with that. Anyway, I'm happy to answer questions when you need it, but we need that resolution, and we need you to direct the county attorney to do so.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bernie. Let me just say one thing. I want to frame this just in terms of what the standards are, because in January, we're going to be looking at all these other things, all the abandonment of certificates, the rates, all those things are coming up in January. Today, we're just looking at industry standards in terms of the tourism and how that is going to present itself. That's the only thing that really is on the table today. Mr. Mayor. The other stuff is all for January.

I have a question on that. I just want to verify from the county attorney's office that on the issue that Bernie was talking about on abandonment, I'm not asking you, Bernie. I'm asking county attorney. Senator, let's hold on. I'm going to do all questions after I do all. It's in reference to what you just said on what we're going to be discussing. I just wanted to verify whether or not we can wait until January on that or whether the certificates would be abandoned prior to January. If they'd be abandoned prior to January, we can't delay it. Otherwise, we can delay it.

My understanding, and I think Lenny can bring that up to us, but hold on, Bernie.

Sorry.

Okay. Let's just go. I'm going to go to the next speaker. Next speaker.

The next speaker is Ina Lee, followed by Tim Petrillo.

Hello. First of all, Mayor, thank you for advancing this as quickly as we could. So, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Monica and her amazing staff, and particularly Lenny and Phil, who I probably is a real pain in the you-know-what too over the last few months. So, anyway, I'm Ina Lee. I am a co-chair of Tourism for the Broward Workshop and serve on multiple boards for the last 45 years dealing with tourism. So, I want you to imagine something. You are a visitor coming in from somewhere, whether you're a resident or whether you're coming in globally or whether you're coming in as a business traveler. After you pick up your bag, that first experience you have is getting in a taxi or a ride share, and that is critical to our destination. So, everything that you've seen that the industry is recommending, the tourism industry, there's a gap between where we are and where we need to be, and there's a time urgency on this. So, when I stood before you, I think it was late spring, IPW, as I just said, is 222 days away, folks. That's in May. We are running out of time. And it is critical to the industry that they have an amazing experience once they get here, that first point of contact, and often that last, is getting in a taxi cab. Now, besides everything and the standards that we've already talked about and been recommended, that taxi driver needs to be an ambassador to this destination. They need to be familiar with this destination. They need to be able to answer questions about this destination to that person coming in. And that's a training program that right now is not in existence. So, we're working on it from a tourism point of view, but we need to get it expedited. So, I'm urging you, you're going to hear from Heiko and Tim and a few other people, we need to act quickly on this because it's urgent. It just is. And we, as you know, when they come here, the economic impact of this over five years could be over a billion dollars. We are showcasing that one point, however many billion dollars of our expanded convention center, Omni Hotel, but we have to make a good first impression. So, thank you for your work. Thank you for all the work that's gone into this. And I just remember, my plane was delayed coming in. I had to go through Miami. Not a great experience. But what was a great experience is walking out and getting a taxi cab. The colors were uniform. The service was uniform. My taxi driver was an ambassador to the destination. And we need to be not only competitive with them, but rise above it and all the other destinations around the country that have been rated first class in terms of taxi experience. So, thank you very much.

Thank you, Anna.

Next.

Our next speaker is Tim Petrillo, followed by William Walker.

Good morning. Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commissioners, and Monica, thank you so much for hearing this and at least taking a look at this. You know, we are on the cusp of a new era in tourism in Broward County. You have invested over a billion dollars into a brand-new, shiny convention center. It is critical that our points of contact for our guests are met with a standard. And that's all we're asking is for a standard. I don't think it is appropriate. If I was calling an Uber and a 25-year-old Uber showed up with no AC in the middle of September, I would have access to complain. Many of our guests don't have that, therefore, the standard isn't raised. If it was an Uber driver, that Uber driver would have the option to either fix up their car or drop in ratings, and therefore, no business would come their way. It's critical that we increase these standards because it is our main point of contact with guests that come into the community, and it's the first and last thing that they see. And, again, we're not asking or trying to overreach. We're just trying to get some sense of consistency, and continuously, Ubers don't have ACs in South Florida here, which obviously you can account on your one hand how many months that you can use a car with no AC. So it's important in our industry. We have this opportunity coming up where we're going to have 7,000 of the world's largest travel planners come into our destination and have real impact in our community and have a real return, our billion-dollar investment. So I encourage you to take a look at this. You know, again, we want to work with the taxis. We want to make sure that we can all work together and make this place a better place to visit and come back to. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Next.

The next speaker is William Walker, followed by Heiko Doberkow.

Good morning, Commission, and thank you for your time today. Good morning. We've obviously been working quite a bit at the Broward Workshop and around the tourism industry at Bolstering Tourism. Certainly the county stepped up with a beautiful billion-dollar-plus expansion, and really we've got to get to the next levels. A lot of the taxi stuff, I believe, can be driven through technology. Look at what the advancements have been made through just tracking, credit card processing, cameras. There's other innovations that are coming out that we consumers are expecting to use beyond just I'm going to get in a cab and pay a fare with some change. This type of thing I also believe, you know, is really, really important for people that are visiting Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, but also our residents. I mean, the amount of people flying in and out of the airport that are going down and taking a cab, I fly in and out probably twice a month, and I always try the cabs. And I do believe we can work together and make something better, and thank you for your time. Thank you. We have one more.

The next speaker is Heiko Doberkow.

Good morning, Mayor. Good morning, Commissioner. As county administrator, imagine March 22nd, National Taxi Day. And on that day, you're going to have a proclamation, and you're going to recognize the taxi industry. Thank you, by the way, Mayor, for really leading the chart. Thank you so much, Monica, for really opening the doors and having the discussion. Thank you, Phil, for really having an open ear and listening to us carefully. Thank you, Joe, for actually leading the efforts on this. You really embrace this, and it's a joy working with you. So if you think about this, you know, that proclamation could be as something like this, supporting a bold, transformative vision for the future and for taxi and shared services in Broward County. Our goal should be clear, establish Broward County as a national leader in safe, reliable, high-quality, and customer-friendly transportation. We must benchmark against the best, like cities of New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, and adopt proven practices that elevate service standards. Our core principles are simple, yet powerful, clean vehicles, courteous drivers, fair pricing, and unwavering commitment to safety and accessibility. To achieve this, we must modernize our fleet, requiring vehicles to be no older than five years, and I'm okay with that compromise of 10 years. I think it's a fair compromise, incentivizing electric and hybrid upgrades, and ensuring every cab is equipped with air conditioning, GPS, and digital payment options. A unified visual identity will make taxis easy to recognize, and every vehicle must display the driver's credentials clearly. We must also launch a taxi driver excellence program, which includes rigorous recruitment, mandatory training, and customer service, and accessibility and performance monitoring through rider feedback and internal audits. Top-rated drivers must be rewarded, while accountability must be enforced. Technology must be a cornerstone of the Broward County strategy. A new rider app should allow passengers to book, track, and rate the rides with features like fare estimates and digital payments, emergency support, AI-powered dispatch systems, and reduce waiting times and improve efficiencies. We must enforce transparent fare pricing, conduct regular inspections, and ensure licensing is tied to performance. Our community focus must be prioritized for the tourism hub support, the labor force as well. My staff relies on the taxis, and even if there could be a better rate for our labor force, that would be appreciated. Finally, Broward County will have to launch a public trust campaign, because this is not only for tourism, this is for the residents of Broward County as well. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you, Aka. Thank you.

That's our last speaker? Okay. Lenny, if you, and Phil, can you put the last slide up? Oh, can you put it on our front ones as well? Thank you. So these are the primary discussion points. If we could, we're trying to do a motion to direct today. So if we can just kind of figure out on these in particular, what we want to ask for. Vice Mayor Bogan, you asked to be first?

A couple quick things before addressing this.

And if you would, just kind of talk, once you make your point, say where you are on these things.

Thank you. You'll let me say something else? Absolutely. First of all, I'm going to just go overboard and say how great it is that Lenny's overseeing this department. Lenny, you're great. You've always been great. And congratulations, by the way, on your expansionary responsibilities. Can't talk highly enough. Also, I wanted to just mention a couple quick things. Taxis versus Uber. We've had so many times where people thought Uber was cheaper. Taxis, I am at the airport at least twice a month picking up clients or going somewhere. Taxis are many times are much less expensive than Uber. And so people should understand Uber is not your cheapest alternative anymore. And also, last, but before I get to it, last but not least is if we're saving money, Lenny, with taxis versus tops, let's continue moving forward with that, even with greater, because we're here about, we just talked about how we can save money for the county. And so anyway, with that said, I want to go along. I thought that you already outlined 10 years is the number, but I would agree that vehicle age of 10 years, I would agree with the vehicle standards. I have no other comments, but I do want to offer a friendly amendment instead of waiting until January. I would like to offer a friendly amendment at the appropriate time to number 61, which basically would, in council, you can help me correct the wording, that would make it so that, well, whether you call to extend the moratorium or not to cancel the unused certificates and let them roll over. So I'd like the proper wording on that and hope that you guys would support that as well. So do I need to make the official friendly amendment? No, I don't. It's not an ordinance. So basically it's a resolution that would be put on the agenda. I think we can just take direction from any commissioner to bring a resolution back on that. So I don't think you need anything formal. So I guess then I would like to bring it back for our next meeting so we can. Yes, we're good. We can do that.

Okay. All right.

Senator Gallo. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I was going to say, but it's not necessary any longer. I checked with the county attorney who said we could wait until January to bring it up, as was your request. But Commissioner Bogans, any commissioner can bring up an item if he's bringing it up. So, okay. In reference to these, I agree with the 10 years. One of the issues that I had raised was the condition of the vehicle. And I'd raised, because at the time we were only talking about the interior, I think it would really be very bad for us, for somebody we picked up in something, in a cab with the rear quarter panel looking, you know, all crumpled in. And so I wanted to make sure that this was interior and exterior. And also in terms of interior, I'd also raise that, you know, we don't want springs coming up visibly through the seats and rips and all of it. I mean, we all know, you know, we all know it when we see it, but we should have clear guidelines as to what's acceptable interior and exterior, which is what you were bringing up. And I agree with what you were saying. And again, Florida working air conditioning is, you know, a requirement, not an option. And I just wanted to close by agreeing with what Commissioner Bogan was saying. I'd been saying for many years that I thought Uber was starting at a price that was undercutting cabs so that people would be taking Ubers. Then they were going to raise it. But I still believe that their goal is to put the cab industry out of business, at which point they'll double the rates once they have no competition other than the lift, I mean, the TNC. So I think that we need to have a vibrant cab industry going to keep rates from going up dramatically, because I honestly believe that if the cabs go away, the TNC rates will go up dramatically.

Others? Commissioner Fisher?

I think this is obviously a universal issue. Everybody agrees with the 10 years. I think now everybody, the industry is agreeing as well, and cleanliness is the most important, in my opinion, as well as the conditions. So I'm agreeing to all these conditions, Mayor, including driver training and online reviews. I think that's very important to make sure that all the drivers are trained. And I know the yellow cab does that as well. So as far as the list here, I'm in full agreement with it.

There are a few things that I know some of the speakers brought up that had to do with the digital aspect of it, digital payment, digital display of the – you want to speak? Okay, go ahead. Thank you, too. Please.

I agree with the 10 years. I agree with the cleanliness condition in interior and exterior and air conditioning. But I agree with what the speaker said, too. There needs to be some kind of basic element of driver training. There needs to be online review. It's very simple to do that now. You could buy apps right out of the package to do it. And I think there has to be a way to pay digitally, because people don't travel with cash anymore, so they would want to pay digital. And I just assume that we do that already. So we need to make sure that we're giving a proper experience when somebody gets in the cab to come to Broward County, especially with what's going to go on over the next year with the different tourism things we're going to have. We're going to have this program. We're going to have the national championship games going to be coming in South Florida. We're going to have a lot going on in Broward County and through FLL, which is the airport of choice for a lot of this. So let's come up with a way to do this right, to show off Broward County. We can be better than Palm Beach and then Miami-Dade when it comes up. We should set a standard here, and I think it's important to do that for the benefit all the way around. I was at the event the other day with the Urban Land Institute. The amount of money that's being invested in Broward County right now is insane with what's going on. Some of the hotel and some of the properties that are coming to Broward County demand this level of service through our airport. Commissioner Rogers.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Did you hear? Discussion point. I would not have supported a five-year recycling of the age of the vehicles, and I can tell you why you're going to put some of our small businesses out of business. They can't afford it.

Are you okay with the 10 years?

10 years, yes, but 10 years. I know someone that has this fancy car, right? We call them antique and all of that good stuff, and he rides around with it all the time. So I don't believe age is the only factor. Cleanliness, I mean, air conditioning, everything. I'm surprised that owners would have their vehicles on our roadway without air conditioning. It just makes no sense to me. So if that's something we know that we need to address, yes, let's go ahead and address it. Taxes and just tourism is everything to all of us. But as a taxpayer and I live here in Broward County, I want to know that whenever I call in for service or to use you, I need for it to be clean, just because that's the way it should be, not just because we are having an event. They should be trained, not because we are having an event. That's what it should be. And, of course, the industry should take care of training their workforce. It's not just the county should be that. Everyone should be involved in making sure that industry have the proper vehicles, the right staffing. We don't want to have any abuse on your transportation, whatever. That's where I'm at. But, yes, I can see 10 years, but I don't know if I'm fully sold on what the impact will be to a small business. I need to hear a little bit more about that and technology, online reviews, and being able to still pay cash. Not everyone has access to a bank, okay? Not everyone. And I know TOPS does not run 24-7, so they are partnering more with the taxi, which is a good thing, because I have someone that is using this service every day and having a timely, you know, you don't want to be waiting forever to get service, to be picked up. Those are problems we're having now, so I'm glad there's more partnership with the taxi company to provide the necessary relief, the long wait, you know? So for me, it's not just tourism. It's everything that we do here in Broward County. Thank you.

Okay. Senator Rich, followed by Commissioner Davis. Yeah.

Thank you. Well, I just, I do agree pretty much with everybody on most of the items they brought up. I do agree with the 10 years, extending the certificates, and all these other things that were mentioned with regard to the impact for tourism. However, I want to just thank Heiko for a statement that he made. He said, 322 is National Taxi Day. He said, but we need to be concerned for residents of Broward as well. And Commissioner Rogers just touched on that, and I had written down because, I mean, I don't know. I think most of you are aware of the times and the years that we've had incredible complaints about TOPS and people being left in stranded places. And I have to tell you the introduction of Yellow Cab, working with our TOPS programs and overflow, and now looking at the late night shift program, these are all things that are so important for our own community, 365 days a year. So I just want to say I am, you know, very comfortable with the other pieces, but I want to make sure that we understand that this is, you know, also something that needs to be considered for the residents of Broward, and particularly those that have handicaps or our seniors, people that don't drive. It's very important what we're doing with the TOPS program now. It's making it a lot better, and we could continue to work. Thank you.

Thank you, Senator. Commissioner Davis.

Thank you. I've had just good experiences using the cab service out of Fort Lauderdale. I'm able to use electronically, make my payments, and the vehicles that I've been in have been been clean. I guess the only thing I would say would be the knowledge of the area, and normally when you go into major cities, you know, folks will point out certain highlights of the community that they're in. So that knowledge base could improve, or maybe, you know, I'm not necessarily a tourist, but maybe they do do that. I'm not sure, but that would be helpful, because folks don't always know about Broward. They know a lot about Miami, and Broward doesn't get enough attention. In terms of the year of the vehicle, I'm not sure if mileage plays a factor, especially in some of the independent folks, because you may have a 10-year-old car that has very limited mileage. You may have just gotten into the business, and you didn't put a lot of mileage on your vehicle, and so I'm not sure how that would come into play in terms of mileage. Some people don't drive their cars much, and they're just as good as new, where you have a car that may be a few years old that has hundreds of miles on it. So to look at that, I don't know if you have any kind of secret shopper program where, you know, folks can take a cab and try to rate it and give feedback. That would be helpful, and of course, online reviews as well. But that's pretty much, other than that, I'm okay with the 10 years, but there may be a mileage situation that would allow somebody over 10 years to also participate, and everything else I'm in agreement with.

Anyone else? Senator Gillum.

While listening to Commissioner Rogers, she actually said something that made me think about one thing on the 10-year thing. I remember, it wasn't in Brower, but there was a company that advertised that they had British taxis. They were all over 10 years old. I don't even think they're manufacturing those things any longer. So if we go with the 10 years, which is what I would recommend, I think we should authorize Lenny to say that in the event that a company should want to locate here that is using a type of vehicle, you know, whether it's British taxis or Model Ts, I don't think it's going to be Model Ts, but something that, you know, would be different and unusual that we should give that discretion to Lenny to authorize something like that without having to come back to the county commissioner while still saying that in general it should be 10 years.

Okay. Commissioner Davis, you brought up something that I think is pretty interesting in terms of knowledge. And one of the things that I think, I think when you think of the London taxis, they have to go through an incredible, I mean, they have to learn the whole history and, you know, so they can point everything out no matter where you're at. There's something to be said for that. There's something to be said for that kind of knowledge base. And I know we're not, we haven't asked that of our taxis, but I do think that it'd be, it would be something that would be good. And that's just, you know, that's just something that I would, maybe the TDC could actually come up with that, with those kinds of things. Here's what people are going to see as they drive down US-1 or on the way to the port or those kinds of things. Those things, you know, I think make all the difference in the world. The customer service makes all the difference in the world. Commissioner Udini, the idea of having an app, I, you know, I think it's, I think it's been shown both on Airbnb and on taxis that if people know they're going to get raided, they respond to that. I don't know how we would do that, but it may be something that we may want to look at. Because it does, you know, that's a pretty instant, people are going to rise to the occasion on that. The taxi driver is probably going to look back and say hello, you know, instead of just driving off. You know, there's something to be said for that. I think we've hit most of the stuff. Commissioner Rogers, you want to add something?

That's like saying welcome to Ross. Every time I walk in, I expect to hear that.

Yeah, but I don't always hear it. Right? I mean, not always.

That's good. But I'm also saying don't rely solely on your navigational, whatever you want to call it. It is taking us to different places. I don't know about anybody else, but I know that's been my experience sometimes.

Well, you would hope that people would know their way around, but some people are totally

dependent on that. And don't know their way around here, and all of a sudden they get cut off, then what? They need to know where things are.

That's why I'm saying we need to take that into consideration also.

But that may be part of our, when we're giving a certificate out, that's part of the process. You're getting a certificate, here's what comes with that. We expect you to know where you're going. We would hope you would know the history of where you're, you know, some of the area. Just some basic things.

Come here.

I would just add one thing. Okay.

Following on what Commissioner Rogers and Commissioner Davis said, I agree with the 10-year provision. I think it should be 10 years. But I think that the default should be it should be a 10-year or newer vehicle. But there should be a robust way of doing some kind of exceptions if, I mean, if it's an 11-year-old vehicle that's in perfect shape, that happens to not be an antique, but that's a perfectly acceptable taxi cab that's clean, that has no damage, that has low miles, that has air conditioning. I don't think that should be shut out. Kind of like, you know, the rule would be 10 years or better, but there's got to be a program to keep those that are in good shape. So I would support that kind of idea. I also support the training or some kind of, like, online thing, kind of like even something that you do just so that I don't expect it to be too burdensome for a driver to get this thing or get this, you know, ability to do it because people have to make a living and do this. But they should have some basic understanding and some, you know, common courtesy and location.

Right.

I just want to add to it, I think, great comments. But I think what Commissioner Davis brought up was important because you heard the folks from tourism say this first impression.

Right.

We talk about cleanliness and standards and that type of stuff, but then we also ask and want to burden the drivers to learn the history. But we all forget about this bilingual, diverse community we live in, and if you're not English-speaking, it's very difficult to understand other cultures. So I'm thinking, and this is up to the people providing the services, how about a video in the back of that cab that's talking about all that we have to offer here with the Venice of America, the Sawgrass, Seagrass, and the things that we offer here in Broward County that I can watch because when I do get in a cab, it's a cold experience, drive to my destination. And oftentimes it's a language barrier or with that driver. So if you don't break the monotony with them, there's no conversations being held. But I don't want that to be a burden of theirs. There's maybe we think outside the box as we move forward to put something there that's showing all that we have to offer. There are pamphlets and things of that nature in the back, and I would like to see some cash, you know, if we can. I know cash is tough now, but some people don't have the technology that we all possess to have an ATM or a credit card or things of that nature. I don't know how they deal with that now, but maybe not this discussion. Many can drill down on it, but just something as simple as a video.

Okay.

That's a pretty good idea. I was using the translator on the phone the other day. I was getting a refrigerator delivered, and the person didn't speak. And he would speak into the phone. Here's what it was. And it was like we were able to communicate entirely. And those kind of things are doable these days. It never was before. But if there's a taxi cab driver that doesn't speak English, then there are options there, and we may want to look at that. Okay. Okay. I think we probably covered enough ground. Lenny and... That's enough. I know. Exactly. So this is a motion to direct. Do you feel like you have enough? You've got enough there?

We have enough, certainly, to work with Lenny and his team. And, Mayor, this is being sponsored by you. So we can draft something. And then if other commissioners want amendments, we can propose those as amendments.

Okay. And I want to thank everybody who came today from the tourism industry. Thank you for the input. I think you're right. We want to make the best first impression. Vice Mayor Boat. Yeah.

Counsel, do I need a separate agenda item, or can I attach mine to his? Yours, Vice Mayor, is already being handled. We'll draft that resolution. And Anika's here and bring that back for the 21st. And we will need a vote on item 61, though, since it's a motion to direct. Thank you.

Okay. So... Motion to approve 61. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Aye. That passes unanimously. Thank you. Okay. With that, we're going to go back to the consent. And our first item there is 2B. Okay.

Mayor, it's just... Yes. It's an airport item, which is why it had to come off of consent.

Okay. Oh, there it is.

Okay.

I'm doing it right now, 2B. Well, the next one's 27. I'm going in order. Yes. Yes. Well, no. She's... I think we voted on the consent. We already did. Yeah. Okay. So 2B...

Item 2B is a motion to approve threshold increase for open-end contract, job order contract, open market with Lee Construction Group for the Facilities Management Division on behalf of the Aviation Department, thereby increasing the maximum not to exceed threshold amount through January 20, 2026.

Thank you. And this is because it's an aviation issue. So we have a motion from Commissioner McKenzie, seconded by Senator Gellar. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Item 27, Commissioner Gellar.

Mr. Mayor, if I could... If we didn't have sunshine, I wouldn't have needed to pull this, because I need to ask you and Senator Rich a question. Under this proposal, the one area I had some concern on is it says that there are three cities involved, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, and Hollywood. But it gives to the commissioner representing the airport, Commissioner Davis, the ability to appoint the commissioner all three cities. And I just needed to ask whether you, representing the Hollywood portion, and whether Senator Rich, who represents part of the both Pembroke Pines and Cooper City, whether or not if there is three...

Mr. Knight and Miramar.

Mayor Amar, I'm sorry. Thank you, Senator. Whether or not Senator Rich and you, Mr. Mayor, wanted... Because normally in the past, the way we would have done this, if there were three seats, we would have... And three commissioners representing those cities, who would have said, all right, each county commissioner would pick one. This gives... The way it's worded gives the commissioner representing the airport, Commissioner Davis, the right to appoint 03, the one from Hollywood, the one from Miramar, the one from Pines. I'm fine with that if you, Mr. Mayor, and you, Senator Rich, are fine with that.

First of all, you're asking me. First of all, I'm glad this is coming back. When we had established this, I had established this back a number of years ago. And I felt that this committee was pretty valuable. So I'm glad you've brought this back. I didn't even know it had sunsetted, to be honest, once I was out of that district. Because it does give the citizens there an opportunity to speak and the people that are vendors and people at the airport. But I do think that this needs... This is a regional asset. It's not any of our... Even though it's in your district. Just like Fort Lauderdale airports in my district, but it's not, you know, it's all of our responsibility. So I do think... Yeah, he can take it. But I do think that... I think originally this was parceled out so everybody who was touching on that area was able to appoint. And so there was an equal, equal, equilateral amount of appointments there. I do think that's important. That's me. So it keeps... I think right now it's... You agree as well, Senator Rich? I think... I do agree. Yeah. So it's district... My district, your district, and Senator Rich's district. So my thinking is that each one of us would have an appointment on there. That's the way I think...

I mean, I don't... Sorry. I don't have an issue with that. I just wanted to make sure that the district would be Miramar, Hollywood, and Pines, because I know you have outside that district, and so does... I agree with you there. Commissioner Dan Rich. I just have those three cities. No, I agree with you.

It should be someone from those cities. One of... Each one should be someone from those cities.

All right. So then it would just be a matter of which cities. So is... Who is it that city? Marty? Is he here?

Commissioner Davis, in the proclamation, in the ordinance, it says Hollywood, Miramar, and Pembroke Park.

But my concern more so was how to divvy that up. So if there is an idea, because is it one from each...

Just a minute, Senator Rich. I'll call you.

All right, Marty. So do you get Hollywood, do you get Miramar, do you get... You see what I'm saying? That would be the...

Yeah.

It's only one from each, I believe. Was that...

Yeah.

What that said? Right. Marty?

Originally, it did, but I think that when we made some changes to the resolution, it

was based upon where the district was. So...

But then we'd only choose... Like, you wouldn't have two people from Miramar, because both me and Nan represent Miramar.

Right. It was one from each city. Right.

So then each of us would have to decide...

So I could do Monroe Pines, and Bean could do Hollywood, and you could do Miramar.

Right. But that's not spelled out in here, so maybe that's what you would do.

I think however you do it, so it's just each commissioner gets one appointment. Yeah, I don't really care how it happens, but I think what you do is you get... By doing that, you get a broader representation.

Yeah, that's fine. I just don't want two from Miramar and then nobody from Hollywood, since we...

Okay, so we can... Okay, Mr. Mayor, with that understood, I'd like to move approval.

Okay. We have a motion to approve.

Do we need to make a change, or county attorney, can we just conceptually make that change now?

We will bring it back through the item sponsor as revised, and if for whatever reason, when it's published, somebody doesn't like that language, we can propose to prepare an amendment for it.

Okay, great. And again, I'm glad you're bringing this back, because I think it helps out a lot. Commissioner Rogers?

I don't know the airports. Do they have these community advisory boards? No. Just curious. Okay, thank you.

Okay, with that, we will go to item... Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Aye. Yeah, that passes unanimously. Thank you. The next one is... I have 50 and 51. Is that what you have? Okay.

Yes, you can take them together, Mayor, if you'd like.

I take them together? Okay. We have one public speaker. Is that what I heard?

Yes, we have one public speaker, Chris Nelson.

I don't believe he's here.

Okay. Okay. With that, I'll entertain a motion for 50 and 51? Okay.

Just for the record on 50 and 51, those dollars are not coming from the county budget. Thank you. Thank you. I think we should bring that up.

Yeah, let me say that real quick. We are really... Because Broward County has been kind of on the forefront of the climate change and environmental issues for a long time. For a long time. Many places throughout the world, in this case, have been looking at what we've been doing. At our climate change compact. At the way we've been doing modeling on environmental, our resiliency plan. And so the Bloomberg philanthropies actually invited us to go to Rio de Janeiro and be speaking with all these other groups. And I went three years ago to Dubai. It was incredibly illuminating. And what we were able to kind of gather from that. We also brought back from that $200,000 worth of grants. So it was pretty... It was well worth it. And all the kids and students in the county have been able to apply for these $200,000 of grants from Bloomberg philanthropies. Mayor, I hope we don't see a suntan because you're hanging on the Rio beach. I know, I know. But come back with a suntan, you can say something. But the same thing with resilient cities. We've been a member of that. And this one is going to be following that in London. There are people coming from all over the world. And this is right before COP30. And all of COP, and this is from the Kyoto talks and Paris talks, they started to realize that there was more change could happen in cities and counties than on national levels. Particularly like when you're talking about things like landfills and stuff like that. Those aren't governed by federal. Those are governed by local governments. So these are all local governments meeting in places where you have a chance to meet with each other, discuss and hear what everybody's doing. And luckily we are being asked, invited, both in Eurya de Janeiro and London. And those things are being paid for.

Mr. Mayor, I am glad that Commissioner Udeen raised this. I have, in my briefings, already knew that they were being paid for. Is there any way, just because in our current political atmosphere, is there any way that we can put in the record or something or amend these if necessary? It is in the background. Okay. Because I want anybody that looks at this to know that county's not paying for these. And just normally I wouldn't say that, but in our current political atmosphere. No, no, I appreciate that. I appreciate you bringing that up.

Thank you.

Only because Monica brought me. The county's paying $590. Right.

It's largely funded by outside states.

Okay, so just add as an additional, in the backup, when you do the minutes, have your budget department say what percentage $590 is of our general fund budget. I happen to be serious because we keep getting this Doge stuff and they keep mixing up dollar amounts, percentage amounts. I think the percentage is probably going to be .00001%.

Keep going.

And the return on investment has been phenomenal. I mean, the $200,000 by itself blows that out of the water.

So I know exactly.

Exactly. Okay. With that, I'll entertain a motion for 50 and 51. Okay. Thank you. Do we have a second? We have a second. All those in favor? Any opposed? Aye. That passes unanimously. Thank you. With that, we will go to 62. Which one? 62, I think. Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Thank you.

I'm going to drop off now.

Thank you, Senator. Yeah. I'm going to drop off now. Okay. Okay. What is the first one? Thank you. Move it. Yeah. Okay. Here we go. Okay. Item 53. If the clerk could read it, please.

The public hearing on item 53 is now open. This is the second of two required public hearings. The first public hearing was held on September 16th, 2025. Item 53 is a motion to approve Sixth Amendment to the lease agreement between Broward County and the South Florida Wildlife Center, Inc. for a 4.11-acre parcel of land located at 3200 Southwest 4th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, extending the lease term to December 31st, 2026, with up to three additional one-year renewal options. No member of the public has signed up to speak on the item.

Move it. Move it.

We have a motion from Vice-Rair Bogan, a second from Senator Gellar. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Item 54, please.

The public hearing on item 54 is now open. Item 54 is a motion to adopt resolution granting renewal of a non-exclusive unrestricted Port Everglades vessel bunkering services franchise to Kirby Inland Marine LP for a new five-year term. No member of the public has signed up to speak on the item. Move it.

Second.

We have a motion from Senator Gellar, a second from Commissioner McKenzie. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Item 55.

The public hearing on item 55 is now open. Item 55 is a motion to adopt a resolution granting renewal of a non-exclusive unrestricted Port Everglades steamship agent services franchise to Enter Cruises Shoreside and Port Services Inc. for a new five-year term. No member of the public has signed up to speak on the item.

Motion by Vice-Mayer Bogan, seconded by Commissioner Rogers. All those in favor? Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Item 56.

The public hearing on item 56 is now open. Item 56 has two parts. Motion A is a motion to open public hearing required by the Internal Revenue Code. No board action is required on motion A and therefore no vote will be taken. Part B is a motion to adopt the series resolution authorizing the issuance of series 2025 bonds for the purpose of both Florida law and the Internal Revenue Code. Motion A. At this time, the Board of County Commissioners opens this public hearing regarding the approval of the issuance by the county of its series 2025 bonds in one or more series in an aggregate principal amount, not to exceed $145 million. The proceeds of series 2025 bonds shall be used to finance the series 2025 projects, fund debt service reserve accounts with respect to the series 2025 bonds, and pay certain costs of issuance and expenses related relating to the series 2025 bonds. This public hearing is held pursuant to the TEFRA notice, which has properly posted on the county's website on September 22, 2025, at least seven days prior to this public hearing on October 7, 2025, and the requirements of Section 147F of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended and applicable Treasury regulations. The public is invited to present comments on Motion A at this time. No members of the public have signed up to speak on this item.

So we're only voting on 56B, correct?

Correct.

Closed on A.

Seeing there are no additional comments, this public hearing on Motion A is now closed. Motion B. The board will now consider Motion B, which is a motion to adopt a series resolution authorizing the issuance of the series 2025 bonds for purposes of both Florida law and the Internal Revenue Code as presented. No members of the public have signed up to speak on this item.

Sure. Let me get the motions first. Moved by Vice Mayor Bogan, seconded by McKenzie.

Okay, discussion. Okay, discussion. Just a statement, you know, we are talking about $145 million, right? Can we explain who is responsible for remade payment? What is the overall responsibility of this commission?

Sure. County Administrator? Thank you, Commissioner, for the question. So, great question. This is obviously a port facilities revenue bond, so all of the dollars, and I know you know the answer to this, and you want me to put it on the record, so all of the obligations for the liability of the revenue bonds would be paid for from port revenues strictly, which are through all of the projects and tenants and all the revenue comes into the port. It would not be any sort of ad valorem or any other taxes that would be paying this.

Okay.

Thank you for the question.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Item 57.

The public hearing on item 57 is now open. Item 57 is a motion to enact ordinance pertaining to the tax collector creating section 35.5-5 of the County Code of Ordinances. No member of the public has signed up to speak on this item.

We have a motion from Commissioner Fisher, seconded by Vice Mayor Bogan. All those in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Item 58.

The public hearing on item 58 is now open. Item 58 is a motion to enact ordinance pertaining to motor carriers amending Chapter 22.5 of the County Code of Ordinances to modify insurance requirements for motor carriers operating within Broward County. One member of the public has signed up to speak on this item. That is Mayra Vera.

Okay.

Good morning, Commissioner.

Good morning. Good morning, Major.

Thank you, Ms. Davis, for following up. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for all your help and support. I'm here representing private transportation companies in Broward County, and the biggest problem that we have that we're trying to lower the insurance is because we think that we are in the wrong category. In Broward County, it's the only county out of 67 counties in Florida that has us in the same category as taxis, limos, and vehicle for hire. We are completely different in the way that we don't go to the port, we don't go to the airport, we don't go to the hotel, we don't do business with tourists. We only travel with children, and it's a set price weekly. So we only pick up the kids in their house, and we take them to the school, we pick them up at the school, we take them to their house. The inspections are Dade County and Palm Beach County, which are our brother counties, are $75 per vehicle, while for the inspections here, we pay $450 per vehicle, which is a big difference, because we are not cosmetic, because in the sense that we travel with children all the time. So the children have a pencil, they put it in the seat, you know, they're always playing around, they're doing homework. The major problem that I see, if the insurance cannot go down from $500,000 liability, is that we're putting the lives of the kids in Broward County at risk, and it's because none of the transportation companies, we cannot survive with $500,000 liability insurance. And what's happening is that many, I would say probably 85 to 90 percent of the companies are working illegal now. They don't want to pay for the insurance, because they can. So if you go to any school in Broward County, you're going to see many transportation companies. Instead of picking up the kids inside the school, like we do, like the legal persons that are doing legally, like we do, they are picking up the kids in the corners of the school. And then you see the kids walking to the parks nearby, or walking to the corners to pick up those transportation. Why? Because we're going through a big recession right now. Parents don't have a lot of money to pay. And what we charge per child, it's between $55 to $70 per week per child. We only work nine months. We follow the Broward County public school calendar, so we don't work in Christmas, we don't work in Thanksgiving, we don't work in the summer. And parents don't have enough money, they have two or three kids, to pay $200 or $300 a week for transportation. And that's the biggest problem that we're having. The insurance per vehicle right now, for $500,000 liability, it's around $12,000 to $14,000 per vehicle for nine months, which is a lot. We don't make that much money. And only since school started, in one school, three companies have already closed down. So this is not only affecting us, but it's affecting the entire community of Broward County. Thank you.

Thank you. We had one more. There's one more speaker.

The next speaker is Joe Renaud.

Good afternoon, board. Good afternoon, mayor. Good afternoon. I'm here on a last minute. I was actually at consumer service yesterday, and I spoke to a gentleman, Rob Apicella. He's a supervisor there. He told me to come because this was going to be heard today. My agency has been selling public transportation insurance here for about 30 years. I second what the young lady there was speaking about in terms of the ability to purchase this type of insurance here in South Florida. There's about 10 carriers, 10 insurance companies that do this type of insurance in the country. There's about five that will do it here in Florida, and only about three or four that will come to South Florida. Once you get up to half a million dollars in terms of insurance requirements, the carriers that will do that amount of coverage reduces to about two or three, and the rates are through the roof. Miami-Dade County, for school bus transportation, vans, 14 passengers, is at about $100,000 in coverage. That's what they want. For tourism, which is, let's see, 14 passengers, they don't go to 28, 14 passenger tourism is about $300,000. That's what they want in Miami-Dade County. The rest of the state were strong here in Dade and Broward. It's been a norm in Dade, and I think the insurance companies have followed that, and that's why they offer that coverage at a pretty good rate. But once you hit that $500,000, it's called a lost cost multiplier, and an increased limits factors just goes to the roof. It's the ability of an insurance company to pool so many people in such a dense population at that higher limit that they basically reach capacity too quick. When you bring that down to $100,000, like they have in Dade County, now you can insure five times the amount of people with the same, call it, reserve. So it's a big, big issue.

I insure probably 80% of the school buses in Dade and Broward, and they're, you know,

it's a problem. We want, you know, we want coverage. You know, you want good insurance limits. But this is the problem here in South Florida. To be able to provide those high limits, the cost is just crazy. And as the lady was saying, they're operating illegally. They're going to county, passing inspections with fraudulent certificates of insurance, misclassified. They're doing everything that they can to survive.

At the $100,000 rate, you're going to have a lot more people being able to purchase that and just not create the habit that's happening. Thank you, folks. Thank you. Thank you very much for being here. Give the speaker a question.

Vice Mayor Bogan first, and then Senator Geller, and then Commissioner Udine. Sir, are you an insurance agent?

Yes.

So what's the difference in cost between $500,000 and $100,000?

It's about, you could insure at $100,000 for about $4,000 to $5,000. Yes. That's weird.

My phone just went off.

Depending on the risk, okay? There's certain factors.

But the rate does. I'm talking about the risk we're talking about right now. This.

Well, I think she said about $12,000. That goes down to about $5,000 or $6,000. Okay.

Is it a guesstimate you're saying?

Well, it's insurance rates. It's different for everyone. But as a general rule. I'm very familiar with insurance in general, but not with this particular insurance.

I'm all for helping business. I'm all for helping business, and I want to help business. I just, you know, what happens, God forbid, what is the whole purpose of insurance? There's an accident, and some kid has to go to the hospital, or some horrible thing happens, and they claim that, you know, there's $100,000 insurance. That's my only concern is, is there an umbrella opportunity? No, there's not. There's no umbrellas. Not for these small operators.

You're talking about folks that own maybe one, a bus, a van, two vans. Those, it just doesn't exist.

Do we have regulations on how these vans are kept? Like we were just talking about the taxi industry, council?

So, these are, yes, these are for higher transportation that are subject to general regulations.

Mr. Vice Mayor, Mr. Mayor, if you'd like, I can have Mr. Villalpondo come, because that's the category that we're discussing, to explain. Mr. Villalpondo. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. So, again, we're not talking about school buses. I know that this lady speaker calls what she does a school bus, but it's not a school bus under the Broward County Code. It's actually a van under for higher transportation, and so they're inspected and regulated just like all the other for higher transportation that would go to, let's say, the port. In the airport, they're considered like, you know, up to 19 passenger vans in that respect.

I'd like to hear what everyone else says. I like trying to help businesses with this is about helping a business stay in business, but I just want to know how you guys feel about the flip side, because the whole purpose of insurance is, God forbid, there's death, injury, or whatever happens. Are they going to say we as a commission are allowing them to be underinsured? If that's, I might be wrong.

I do want to come back on that.

So, I'd love you guys, I'd love to hear your comments.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I agree with what Commissioner Bogan said about I'm concerned if there's 14 children that it may be too little insurance, but the reason I wanted to ask the last speaker question, maybe this should be to Mr. Villopondo, I'm not sure. You were saying 100,000. I don't think that's what the ordinance says. I believe the ordinance would reduce it to 100, 300, which is 100 for each individual person injured, 300 for all people combined. Exactly. Where currently we are at a 500,000 CSL combined single limit. So, the first speaker, the woman who operates, did persuade me that it's difficult for the businesses to survive at what they're paying right now. And I agree if this is driving people to do this illegal, or bad choice of words, forcing people to do this illegally instead of licensed and inspected, if that's a bad idea. If this gentleman says the problem is at 500,000, perhaps a reasonable compromise instead of 100, 300 or 500 CSL is to make it 300,000 combined single limit, which would be halfway between the two. So, it would only be 300,000 for all people combined, but it's also 300,000 for any one injured person. That's called a combined single limit policy. And that might be the compromise. Would that be a lot closer? Commissioner, that's exactly where I was going.

That's exactly a $300,000 limit opens the offers that the insurance companies can do, the carriers that are presently selling insurance here in South Florida.

300 is the number. So, are you saying that a 300 CSL combined single limit would be dramatically lower than what they're paying now?

It would be dramatically lower than the half a million dollar limit that's there right now. 500,000 CSL.

Yes, absolutely. Okay, Mr. Mayor, I want to again hear from the rest of my colleagues, but if we're looking for a compromise, that would be it, the 300,000 CSL.

I'm going to have Commissioner Davis go first. It's her item.

I just want to say, Mr. Mayor, since it's close, Mr. Mayor, it's close to 1230. I'd like to move that we extend the meeting until we complete this and the next item.

All those in favor of extending the meeting, say aye. Aye. Any opposed? We're extending. Okay, Commissioner Davis, followed by Commissioner Dean, followed by Commissioner Fisher.

Thank you. Now, as was mentioned by the young lady who represents a lot of the owners of these vehicles, this would just align with the state statutes, which I'm sure they've looked extensively at protecting children. And the state statute is 100,000 per person, 300,000 per occurrence, and 50,000 for property damage. Miami-Dade County also is 100,000 per person, 300,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, and 50,000 property damage. Again, the same as state law, Palm Beach County, slightly higher, 125,000 per person, slightly lower, 250,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, 50,000 for property damage. And so they align with the state, but they don't overburden small businesses. And I know for sure what she had stated occurs. I used to teach. I don't know how many of you have taught, but I'm a certified teacher. And at the school that I was, because it was a charter school, and the students had to take, a lot of them, private transportation. And yes, there were those that would meet the students across the street, down the street, not on property, and the children would go into that vehicle. And so unless you're out there experiencing, and we're hearing from the folks who are there, I'm a teacher, I've seen it myself. We don't want children to be unduly harmed by having to meet an unregulated transportation person, getting that vehicle with little to no insurance, and get harmed just because of what we thought. I think we need to listen to the folks who are in the industry, but also the state and the other counties. I love children. I've taught them. I'm sure you do, too. I'm sure they're county on Palm Beach. I'm sure the state does. There's something that went into that decision of $100,000 per person, $300,000 per occurrence to protect children, but also to enable these small businesses to exist, and to exist legally instead of illegally. Thank you.

Sir, if you'd have a seat.

Can I say one last thing? During the split-limit policy that we're talking about, the $100,000, $350,000, it saves that operator a little bit more, still offering a $300,000 maximum per aggregate, per accident. So we still have that $300,000 umbrella, if we can call it, but a maximum of $100,000 per person. There's another savings there, and it's still a strong policy. This is why the state goes this way.

Thanks. If you could hang around for questions, that'd be great. Thank you. Commissioner Udine.

Thank you. I didn't mean to jump in front. I thought I was next on line. No, I should have. I agree with Commissioner Davis 100% on this, and the reason that I do that is the last studies that I've seen in the state of Florida is 15% to 20% of the vehicles on the road have no insurance to begin with. When you go up from the 15% and 20% that have no insurance, there is a large percentage that just has a state minimum required insurance for automobile, which is PIP and PD only. It doesn't cover if any child is involved in an accident. It's $10,000 for personal injury protection, which is your own medical, and $20,000 for property damage. There is nothing for if somebody is hurt in an automobile accident. Zero. I think by doing this 100-300, A, you assure that those children whose parents can least afford it at least have some level of insurance, God forbid, there is an accident. There's a better chance that they're going to have more insurance than if they were just in their own private vehicle in Broward County driving to school with their parents. So I think that we should approve this at 100-300. It allows the people that need it the most to get transportation to and from school and after-school activities without putting an insane burden on parents, which it already kind of does, but at least it helps it somewhat here. I support what Commissioner Davis is doing. I think it's correct, and I think in the long run it provides more insurance than less insurance.

Commissioner Fisher.

Yeah, I was going to say that I support Commissioner Davis' efforts here. It should be the 1-300. This is the state law that aligns with it and with Miami-Dade. This is actually a no-brainer, and it helps so many more people. I don't want to amplify on it, which everybody has said, but I'm going to support her as it exists today.

I'll second your motion.

I'll move it. I want the Commissioner to move it first, though.

Was that a motion?

Okay.

I'd like to make a motion to approve this item as is.

We have a motion. Second it. We have a motion. Actually, you had already... I'm going to go with it. He's out. No, no, she made the motion. He's out. Commissioner Fisher, you're seconding it. You had already done that. All those in favor? Any opposed? That passes unanimously. Okay. Item 59. I want to discuss it.

Our final public hearing item is item 59. The public hearing on item 59 is now open. Item 59 is a motion to enact ordinance pertaining to the Broward County Community Redevelopment Agency repealing Chapter 15 of Chapter 1 and Sections 1-292 through 1-298 of the County Code of Ordinances. No member of the public has signed up to speak on this item.

We have a motion from Vice Mayor Bogan and a second from Senator Geller. All those in favor? Any opposed? That passes unanimously. With that, we go to item 62, I believe.

Item 62 is a motion to discuss county's water and wastewater solutions and deliveries. One member of the public has signed up to speak on that item. It's Bernie Friedman.

Okay. And this is brought from Vice Mayor. I'll be 30 seconds. Okay. Go ahead.

Three years ago, we discussed PFAS. Three years later, we haven't signed a contract yet for design. I'm hoping it's going to be next week. Three years to sign a company to get design done. So let's get this going. Thank you that Lenny is now overseeing this department again. I have confidence that he'll be. He's gone. He walked out. No, he's right there. He's the champion, man. So anyway, I hope we get this deal signed so we get the design work get moving. Thank you.

That's the end of the discussion? That's it. I think we're all happy with that. That's fine. Next. 63.

Item 63 is a motion to discuss Broward County's facilitation of a voluntary retirement program for private sector employees. No member of the public has signed up to speak on this item.

Senator Geller.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think we all know that we are in the middle of a retirement crisis, the famous silver tsunami that we're all talking about. I believe that for the average 40-year-old worker today, if they are a private sector, non-union member, that many of them will never be able to retire. They will work until they die. The traditional three-legged stool of retirement is pensions, is private savings, and is Social Security. It's hard to get accurate numbers. They're all over the place. But as far as I can tell, approximately 8% of private sector non-union members currently have pensions, and that number goes down every year. That's because many of the larger companies that used to have pensions still have pensions, but they've closed them off to new employees, and that's why that number goes down every year. With the second leg, Social Security, I'm assuming Congress will do something to keep payments at the current level and not go to the 20% reduction in 2033. However, so many younger people have jobs in the gig economy, or they're 1099 employees. They're not paying into Social Security, and they don't realize that by not paying into Social Security, they will be getting very little or nothing from Social Security. The third leg is private savings. Again, the numbers are all over the place, but as far as I can tell, the average savings is somewhere around $400,000 or $500,000, but the median is somewhere between $90,000 and $120,000, and the reason is, on average, everybody in this building today, and Elon Musk, on average, were all billionaires, but that's not the median. You have to look at the median, which is 50% higher and 50% lower, and not the average, where a small number of billionaires can change those numbers. So we also find a tremendous number of people, the majority of people, about, let's see, well, the majority of people don't have pensions, and according to University of Pennsylvania, 48% of private sector employees have no ability to have any type of employer-sponsored health care. We've also seen that, according to the Georgetown Center for Retirement Initiatives, people are 15 times more likely to save for retirement when they have access to a workplace plan. They simply, the average worker, particularly hourly workers, are not going to take the time, and this has been proven over and over again, to go out and research IRAs or 401ks or anything like that. They just don't. What's happening is a number of states, about 20 states, have set up their own private retirement plans. It's not going to happen in Florida. I mean, I think we know that. It's mostly happening in Democratic states. What I am proposing, and this is a motion for us to discuss and research, is to have the county go out and set up, I would refer to it as the Joe's Pizzeria plan. This would be for private companies under 25 employees only. It would be that the county would meet with and negotiate with Fidelity and T. Rowe Price and Vanguard and Schwab and see if we can find a vendor. I think we will be able to. That would be willing to set up a retirement plan that only Broward County small businesses could join. It would be voluntary for the businesses. Bob Swindell is not here today, but I've spoken with him. He likes it. I think the Alliance supports this. We'll find out when we have it refined. I think we'll find the Chambers will support this. Because I think if this will be something that will permit small businesses to set up plans, which Broward would negotiate on their behalf, not requiring them to join it, but so it's an option that they can have that they can give to their employees, where we would have, again, one of the no-load vendors come in, set up this plan. Broward would act as an advocate, negotiate terms for this plan, and would then permit people to join, to set up an IRA through this plan, through their employer, with employer deductions. And honestly, I expect that where plans like this have been set up, you probably find that the average, they're only two or three years old on average, you only have about 5% of the employees do this. According to the best available numbers we have, there's about 450,000 employees in Broward, small employers. If we get only 5% of that, that's only 20, 21,000 people. If we can get 20 or 21,000 people in Broward to join retirement plans, it'll be helpful. I'm old enough, I don't know anyone else here is, maybe Bob, to remember when in the 1960s, when they were having the commercials on seniors eating cat food, because at the time, before a lot of the things we were doing, seniors were destitute. We've improved that, but I think that we're heading back to that. We're slashing our social safety net. If we approve this, we will have something come back to us. We will have the county investigate this. We'll have something come back to us. If there's liability on the part of the county, we're not going to do it, because that's been one thing that's been raised. I think we can do this without liability on the part of the county. I don't see a downside to investigating this. We've got to do something, or we're going to have an increasing number of people that will never be able to retire. That's what it is, Mr. Mayor. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Okay, thoughts? Commissioner Fisher.

You know, obviously, Senator Geller brings up a good point as far as, you know, those who are in the private sector might not have retirement plans, but, and I respect the effort. I just can't support it. I can't support government getting into the private sector. I'm a company with smaller than 25 employees. I happen to have a profit-sharing opportunity for my employees and get involved there, but I just see us acting as a facilitator, partnering with funding institutions, and maybe managing plans. I think the liability is so far out there that I just couldn't support it. Again, I think the private sector has the obligation to do what they want to do with their employees. I just don't see government getting engaged. I understand, Senator, where you're going with it, but I just, just in a simplistic, you know, nutshell, I just, I just think it's just too much liability. I think it's too much that we're getting in, trying to get into somebody's small business. The intention is good, but, again, I just don't think we need to be in the private sector industry. We're government. I think we have a lot to do. What we're doing now, trying to even get plans for our own employees,

but to get in the private sector, I just can't go there. Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Commissioner Fischer, this would, again, be completely voluntary on both the employer and the employee, nor would we be managing any money. Again, the way that I envision this is the county would negotiate a plan, come up with the best terms we can, and then go to the chambers of commerce, go to the alliance, go to groups like that, and say, look, we have negotiated the best plan for your employees that we can. At this point in time, if you're a small employer and you want to do this, you're free to offer it to your employees. We've done the research. If you don't want to offer it to your employees, you don't have to. Your employees, if you offer it to them, they don't have to sign up. It's voluntary there as well. The county would just be doing the negotiation to come up with the plan, because otherwise most small employers, the restaurants, the service industries, aren't going. I mean, I have a 401k at my small firm, but I'm a professional. But a lot of the smaller employees that have services don't have any type of plan. We're just offering to do the research for them. I envision the county never accepting a penny from the companies. And I've discussed with county attorney, we think since we would not have any involvement with this other than the initial negotiation, we believe that it can be drafted in a fashion that we would have no liability. If we can't, I'm not going to proceed. I'm not going to risk the county having liability. But I do want us to be authorized to go out and say, this is something the county is looking at. And if we can do it without liability, and if we can do this where the county's not involved other than in the initial negotiations, and it's voluntary on the part of both the employer and the employee, I just don't see the downside.

And I understand where you're going, but I think right at the beginning, when you talk about the Broward County is going to negotiate the plan. I mean, to me, that is where your liability comes in place. Why are we going to get into negotiating with XYZ company or firm to provide such? I think we're just overstepping our boundaries right from the beginning. I think that's where the liability stands. Now somebody's going to come back and say, well, you didn't negotiate a better-enough deal for me. I could have gotten a better deal here. I just think you're just really into the private sector industry, and I just, you know, when you say Broward County is negotiating something for the private sector, I think right there your hands are open for opportunities for people, unlike you and I, that's going to attack us. I just can't go there. But thank you. Mr. Yee-Dean.

The idea makes a lot of sense conceptually. I would just start it from where Commissioner Geller is talking about. Just tell the local Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance who seem to be in support of this to just do this on their own without having Broward County involved. Every one of these Chamber of Commerce has multiple financial people on there. If you said April is financial preparedness month and told every Chamber of Commerce to have their financial people come in and come up with an idea to get their small businesses to buy into it, they would do it. Personally, I agree with the premise of everything Senator Geller is saying on this, except for one, I don't think Broward County would be able to do a better job negotiating on this whole thing. These plans exist all over the place, Vanguard, Fidelity, anyone, any of these Edward Jones members who are members of the Chambers of Commerce would set this up in a heartbeat for a local small business. That's why they're all there. I'd prefer to stay out of this business, but I'll defer to the will of the board.

I would just say that I would need a little bit more input from the Chambers and speaking to their members. As you go through all of this and then they're not interested and then you're setting yourself up for something that nobody really necessarily wants to participate in, I think I would need more information from the actual sector involved. We're doing something, but we don't know if they want us to do it or they're interested in doing it or, you know, I just don't think we should go there until we find out more from the user, the user end, which may involve the Chambers. So I don't know how much information you've got from these small businesses. Who has what? How many of them already have? The IRAs, you know, I don't get the sense

that I have the numbers, the data to support us going out and doing the research.

I don't know if you have that.

Anyone else?

Do I have to close? Okay. First, the reason that I think that it should be done by the county is just purchasing power. I don't believe that Schwab is going to be really interested in setting up something for an eight-person company of which two might choose to enroll. but if we say, yeah, in Broward County under a plan like this, we, you know, we think that we'll enroll 15,000 or 20,000 people over the first two years, that is something

that I think would get them interested. So that's why I think the government has to do it, number one. Number two, in answering Commissioner Davis's questions or comments,

I'm not asking us today to authorize anything other than to do further investigation. We'd want to hear before we reach a decision from the chambers, we want to make sure we need to hear from, you know, I'm naming these four, I'm sure there's more, Schwab, Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Vanguard, if they're interested in doing something like this, I think they would be. But right now, all I'm asking for is not authorization to proceed on, you know, setting up the plan, it's to do further research with the saying, yeah, the county has voted to determine whether or not this is a viable alternative or not. Can't see why we would not be supportive of doing additional research, talking to the business community further, talking to organized labor further, talking to people and find out I think it will work, but I readily admit it might not. And if it doesn't work, we'll let it drop. If it does work, we will discuss it further. That's all I'm asking for today.

Anyone else? I mean, do we need a commission, vote, or consensus for you to just ask Monica and her staff to research it for you, bring it back, and then maybe we discuss it at that time? We're wasting so much time on something I don't think anyone's going to support government intervening. At least I won't. Your concept, great. It's a great idea. We're trying to help small businesses. Staff is burdened enough with tasks that we give them, and maybe Monica has someone who deals with the chambers or can just reach out, gather more information for you to bring it back instead of us trying to workshop it here today.

I will gather more information and bring this back. Okay. Withdraw the item.

Okay. Okay. With that, we're going to go to reports. We'll start with Commissioner Davis.

Thank you. I'll be quick. I attended a couple of different events. I did the Jamaica Acro Business Investment Forum Conference in 2025. It was just last month, and I was able to be on a panel there on my own dime, but I was able to talk a little bit about FITSI there and the agricultural sector in terms of trade and import-export. I attended the Congressional Black Caucus along with Marty, and that was his first time, and I know he thoroughly enjoyed it. The theme of the conference was made for this moment, Power Policy and Progress. I also did a tour of the two county parks in my district, District 7, and I want to encourage folks to visit the parks, Miramar Pineland Park and Snake Warrior Park in the district. Miramar Pineland Park is at 3600 South University Drive and Snake Warriors Island is at 3600 Southwest 62nd Avenue. Both of those are in Miramar. And finally, I attended the Jason Dwayne Campbell Foundation launch gala, which was spearheaded by former State Senator Daphne Campbell on behalf of her son. And just to talk a little bit about, I'm glad you're going on that trip, Mr. Mayor, and I just want to make sure that folks, we want to make sure that we continue some of these efforts that you've made and the gains you've made in the environmental sector for Broward County. And I know you're term limited, but I want to make sure we don't lose any institutional knowledge that you have garnered. and I'm just offering up myself to be able to continue some of the things you've done and to learn more from you. I do have a background in environmental. I work for Environmental Resources Management in Miami-Dade County. And like you, I was serving on the Solid Waste Executive Board and I've also worked for Miami-Dade Solid Waste. And that goes for every area that we know, folks, we all term out at some point, but we just want to make sure that we make sure we have folks coming up who can learn from people like yourself in various sectors that can continue the good work. Thank you.

Commissioner McKenzie.

I have a report, but I just want to make a couple comments. I know Senator Geller was talking about retirement and we all talk about what we talk about consensus-wise in terms of affordable housing, homelessness, public safety. I mean, we're talking about it and not taking anything away from us not doing about it. But we lowered the middle's rate here recently, but then we get these shots taken about what we're doing here financially and everyone seems to point at the property assessed values as the real issue, the runaway train. And not now. Just put it on record that maybe in the future we look at that because there's a deep discernment and concern. We're not in a recession or anything, but I think it's more deep pressure about the economics, the affordability of this town. And maybe there's something else we can do to drill down to not just what we've already done. I mean, we got the affordability, the lockbox. The lockbox is a incentive for developers, if you will, to do more units. But as I look at the units, whether it's the south end, north end, east end, west end of the county, I don't see affordability. I see people losing their homes right now because of these assessments. I see people, when someone dies, the proper tools aren't in place to transfer that wealth or that piece. And maybe that's where we need to be. And I mentioned it to your staff, Monica, drilling down our lockbox to save some of these houses on the tax roll because if you, and I think you all do know that there's been an entity that's been buying up housing inventory for rental. And they got a big piece of the market. And as Rogers talks about, you know, the condos. And maybe this could be a workshop, but I just want to go on record to talk about the real elephant in the community. and it's economics, not affordable, and these assessments are running wild. And how do we really look at the end users, our constituents, or the residents of Broward County and make this place affordable?

Commissioner Fisher. Thank you, Mayor. Just a couple things. Number one, last month I was able to attend the Stranding Ant House groundbreaking for the transformational capital project. They're going to do a whole new visit center. It's just going to be really dynamic and trying to save our history in downtown Fort Ardell is really cool. I do want to thank Monica and her team members and Senator Geller. What he has is his town hall meetings. He has, you know, staff come and is always there for them and mine as well. But I had a particular meeting with the downtown Fort Ardell Association meeting where Patrice came from the hostie because really the issue was homelessness. And then we had, they also invited Dr. McGuire too from the United Way. So we had the past and present with us. But really it was so educational to understand what we do in the homeless sector. And so I just want to thank them for all they did and really set the record straight. but also there were some issues that came up and, you know, Patrice was right on it. Had a set team there the next day. Don't take care of it. So kudos to your team members, Monica. And thank you, Patrice. I did miss the groundbreaking for the opening for the gallery at Fat Village. I want to thank Ralph Stone again. A tremendous affordable housing project. Commissioner, you were talking about that too. 53 units were set aside for very low income households. 97 units were set aside for moderate. 133 units were set aside for market rates. So truly a mixed use, 263 units in which Broward County provided $2.5 million in gap findings. And so really it was a classic example of how, you know, what we can do in our community. And lastly, stopped by the Brazilian mayor's luncheon up in Deerfield. They landed in Miami. 60 mayors from South America area came up to Broward County and was able to greet them. Maribel, she's not here, but she was instrumental in being part of that program and making sure that they understood the economic developments of our county and what we do. And so I wanted to thank her as well. So that's all I have, Mayor. Thank you. Great, thank you. Vice Mayor Boogan.

Two quick things. Number one, we've scanned over 7,000 people. We've affected the lives of over 3,700 people and helped their lives. Something else, if you all remember Mike Moskowitz who succumbed to pancreatic cancer, do you guys know that there are blood tests that when you go in and get for cholesterol and triglycerides and stuff, your doctors will never do this. You have to tell them, hey, do a CA-19-9 which can possibly show that you have pancreatic cancer or there's other blood tests. And so I'm going to go and I'm learning about it and I'm going to go and bring it back if you have an interest and maybe include it with what we do. But there's a lot of things that could catch things early. So that's it. Have a good week. Thank you. Commissioner Udine.

So I'm the designee by the mayor to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance this year and I just wanted to bring some info because I won't be at the meeting next meeting because I'll be in D.C. for the fly-in that they're doing or with the Fort Lauderdale Chamber and whatnot. But this Thursday they're having their annual dinner where they discuss some of their successes. And we had a meeting I guess two weeks ago we had their board meeting for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, their executive board meeting where they go through some of the stuff and I just thought it was important to bring it to this board publicly. And one of the things that they discussed is you know everyone always talks about Miami-Dade County versus Broward County versus Palm Beach County and it's a very big thing because the newspapers always use Miami-Dade County for everything in South Florida as far as it goes. So they brought out a study where they did GDP trends for the three counties and what they count and what they don't count is you know is debatable but they use the same numbers for all three counties so it's an apples to apples comparison. So for the record and I'm not going to bore everyone with the exact details but Broward County's GDP growth over the past five years they go through 2018 to 2023 so it includes pre-COVID, post-COVID was 5.17%. Miami-Dade County's was 5.07%. So Broward County has actually had a higher and faster growth of GDP over the past five years that they studied. If you want to go back 20 years Broward County was 8.3%. Miami-Dade County was 7.4%. So it's pretty good and it's interesting because and I say this all the time when I speak to people when I see people because everyone probably says to you the same thing that they say to me you know why is it always Miami-Dade County that's eating our lunch? A lot of times when they report on these things they say Miami as a region of South Florida and it's just a labeling type of issue. Coupled with that so I think we're holding our own as far as GDP and jobs and as that goes coupled with that I went to the Urban Land Institute event I know I saw Commissioner Fisher pop by there and we were in and out together but I sat and listened through a few of the panels where they talked about how Broward County is really in an enviable position right now as far as growth I mentioned it because I know Tim Petrillo sat on one of the panels so I wanted I mean they're spending significant dollars and making significant investments in Broward County the private sectors and some brands that would never have thought to come to Broward County before are coming to Broward County there was amazing panels on Live Local and they love the Geller Amendment it got mentioned about 10 times in some of these panels as far as you know bringing more housing and bringing more supply on they talked about some of the different projects I will say something that we've talked about before you know streamlining and making these things go faster in many respects was a lot bigger of a benefit for them than financial incentives I mean to a person when they sat on the panel they said deals that take two three years to run through the process they lose their ability to pencil those deals out so as we think about that moving forward those are huge issues that we need to look at that can save taxpayer dollars by coming up with the same issue and then when I said I was going to speak about the alliance I know their team sent me some stuff so they're going to report Thursday some impressive things at their events I'm going to leave that to them for some of the specific things but just to mention some of the things that they told me I could say CTS engines came in they're doubling some of their aviation stuff that they're building in Broward County they were assisted by the alliance creating hundreds of high skill jobs 19.5 million in investment in Broward County one of only two in the world and one of them will be here in Broward County on tick global manufacture of aviation and aerospace parts and we're becoming a big aviation hub in Broward County so they're making huge things the rest you'll have to find out Thursday at their meeting but I just wanted to I thought it was important to bring that to the board because we all hear the same things and I think it's important to say that we are trying we're getting our piece of the pie

Senator Gillard

thank you Mr. Mayor number of things first as I've said before I do town meetings twice a year in every city I represent I also once a year and this was I think just yesterday I take to lunch all of my city commissioners all of my city managers all of my city attorneys and ask staff to attend the county staff and so it was great we probably had 20 or so people there from the different cities that I represent plus a county administrator two assistant county administrators and a handful of staff and it was a one stop shop where the staff where the city commissioners city managers could ask you know I'm having this problem with the county and county senior staff was there to respond it was terrific thank you Monica thank you Mike for being there I also have to and I mentioned this to you before Monica when I have my town meetings Richard Tornese and Rassem Awad always attend them even though they're in the evening and I wanted to give a shout out to the two of them because probably the biggest issue I get from my cities is transit related not road work and things of that nature road building and the fact that Richard and Rassem both attend these meetings you know because I have city commissioners attending all of them as well as the general public is just very helpful and when they show up at night and I'm sure they're not don't get anything extra for this it's really that I'm giving them that shout out some of you may have seen I've been papers and I was on Glen Glen Milberg and I've sent some lengthy emails to my constituents talking about the budget trying to make them understand I'm going to send those to the county attorney so the county attorney can distribute them to you so you have the numbers in writing there because honestly at all levels of government and I brought this up yesterday with the cities we are doing a horrible job of explaining to our constituents where we actually spend our money and how little of it goes to the county again so we're only 25% of the property tax and over I've asked this question over the last 15 years to at least 15 or 20,000 people where they think our money goes local government and the general view is that we're spending between a third and 40% on administration and overhead and a quarter and a third on first responders and the real number statewide local governments is about 8 to 10% on overhead but the public thinks it's a third to 40 and the public thinks we're spending between a quarter and a third on first responders when it's really somewhere between 50 and 70 depending on which city or county you're looking at we've got to do a better job explaining this to people because once something is on the ballot we're not going to be able to do this on property taxes we need to be talking to our constituents now and educating them where the money really is being spent just as an example when we're doged the governor I think most of you are aware of this the governor gave three examples of how we were wasting money one was 44,000 that we sent to the United Nations for you know for a United Nations treaty we sent that 44,000 to FIU not to the United Nations and it was for studies on the status of women which yes the United Nations has a treaty on that but that's not what we spent it on and that was done under the administration of our county auditor you're not part of the United Nations are you sir no sir okay just to verify and they had something that they said oh DEI because they spent 190,000 I think it was on cultural metaverse this was just putting our cultural institutions on the internet and basically it was virtual reality they're just wrong on the things that they're making the statements on and we have to let our constituents know that they're wrong and finally Commissioner Bogan I did not know about these other blood tests but congratulations on the job you're doing with both the heart and just trying to give the county better health care that's all Mr. Mayor thank you

I'm going to start with housing and affordable housing affordable housing that is owner occupied owner owned we call those homes you know you live here you own the property you have a vested interest your families can do well just because you own the property that's what we're asking for and I'm telling you that a lot of people are talking about where we are and coming to the county so if you see them here if you hear from them they are talking about not just rentals and I I'm preaching to the choir but not just rentals that is not helping to keep my seniors in their homes that is not creating wealth for our communities you know all of that but here we are again I'm telling you in advance that we're going to talk to you about it see what we can do to keep our seniors in their homes yes we're helping with the with the insured what do you call it again coast to coast same thing honey thank you very much coast to coast and what they're doing and they're telling us there's a lot of seniors that are walking away they can't afford to live in those homes and I know there's a loan program that Broad County could participate in that helps the HOA that is a nonprofit in going to the bank to try and get the roofs put on we're talking about maintenance of these condos and I can see us going into the same pattern we did in 2010 when we allowed for foreclosures and those properties came back on the market four times more than what was owed to the bank so I'm just saying we need to find some solution have some conversation as to how we can help our seniors do a pilot program Broad County we're bold in doing a lot of other things until I'm even loving my colleague for what he's doing in the healthcare field and helping us to understand what kind of water I should be drinking and all that good stuff I never thought about that I just know government was supposed to take care of those things and not necessarily us because we have hospitals that should do it and the scientists that should do those things but I'm just going to be appealing every time I get an opportunity that we look at spending some of those CRA dollars on home ownership options not rentals there's no wealth created for our communities in the rental community market I'm sorry I have to say it but then there's good things that we can talk about and I want to share with our listeners no one in the audience but I know they go back and they listen to us live as we try to address the tariff that went into effect on October 1st just know these are tariffs across the board increases in thousands of goods that we provide they're already driving up prices on everyday essential groceries gas medicine you know it I'm speaking to the choir but those are the same people that have to buy their medication they have to eat and they have to live and every time I turn around FPNL wants an increase everybody adding two dollars two dollars here and there it's creating an impact on those who are on fixed income and I've yet to see a pilot program addressing all of these additional impacts are they affecting Broward County residents are we pushing them out also onto the street to become homeless are we tracking that how many people are losing their condos losing their homes who is talking about it so Broward County Housing Coalition is having an event I won't be able to make it although I serve on the board but I'm asking that we look into creating an option look to see whether or not what we are finding out in our communities what we are seeing if that is across the board and if not then we need to put something in place but our seniors are losing their homes and we need to help them and the CRA dollars that's coming back to the county 100% should not just go into developers and these high rise rental properties we should look to helping to keep folks in their single family homes build some townhomes okay you can do that density on the property if that's what we're looking for so FITSI is coming up and of course the foreign trade zones will be discussed finally we have found a place where we can talk about the impact of the foreign trade zones and how you can save money or defer paying your taxes until you start making some money on those items so we're excited about the discussion and I hope some of us will attend that session and that section of the program Phil I must say thank you for what you have attempted to do in bringing some of the cultural programs closer to central Broward County and we're enjoying not traveling down to Fort Lauderdale Bob McKenzie we don't like Mr. Robert McKenzie I love your dad and you know it so you should love to hear his name yes I just want you to know we're getting some of those cultural events in central Broward County and we're enjoying this past weekend by the way

would you also like to move the county headquarters to plantation

I know we share that city so that's another conversation but of course the cultural programs this weekend we have carnival and I'm hoping that some of my colleagues will come into central Broward and enjoy juve and if you want to know that what that is you dress muddy and hang out and have a good time but we also have our cultural bands we have the steel pan we call it panorama and we

the kids have a good time and adults also so it's carnival weekend we call it Miami Broward One Carnival because we get support from our tourist

board here

so we say thank you and we continue

to engage with our cities with our communities and just being open and as my colleagues stated most of the information we share we need to speak loudly about it

because they don't know what we know

so we have a responsibility to make sure we are sharing information and it's good to have the county attorney look at some of the language before we take it outside of here so we have some protection thank you and enjoy your vacation thanks Monica great job you and your team and we're coming back to talk about using technology to expedite the process as folks try to register to use Tops services

and we need to get that in front of my colleagues because it's time it takes too long all right so thank you very much thank you guys enjoy your weekend

okay thank you a couple things I was on a panel with South Florida Business Journal down in Miramar a couple days ago I learned a whole lot more than everybody else there it was amazing what some of the panelists were there but like what you were talking about Commissioner Eugene some of the people that were bringing strip malls and those kind of they can't wait to bring stuff to Broward they're saying this is the best place to bring it anywhere right now so there's a lot of stuff going on there I was pretty amazed at that I had a chance to open up the partnership for large election jurisdictions all the we hosted it in Broward County all the cities from all over the country all the large election people and it was they had a chance to tour supervisor of elections I think they were all a little jealous of it but it was nice to hear the nice building but it was nice to hear just the dedication that they you know in spite of all of the stuff that they're hearing and being blamed for and all this the dedication was inspiring I do want to thank Phil Dunlap I think this last iteration of things that came out for each district that showed everything that was happening in each district is a really big improvement it's something we can hand out to our constituents easy just tell them great job this Friday

this Friday

the loggerhead mooring field in Hollywood I think it's the first mooring field opening in the long ages but it's going to be right down by Sheridan Street and the intercoastal where people are coming in on boats they're going to be able to moor right there so it's a long time in coming Dan West did a great job in putting that together there's going to be a lot of action the idea with the property appraiser I think I don't think Marty puts a lot of stuff in letters all the time but I don't think he ever mentions or tells people as a head start if you have property and you know you're going to be giving it to someone who's going to inherit it what's important to be done I think we should try to I think it's important for us to maybe suggesting encourage him to do something like that because we've all been hearing people that have been cut out or having to pay an enormous amount and I agree

he does that because I've attended some events in the community with him

some things when you bring

it to his attention

it drills down

on this fraud

we did one in Tamarack we did one in another city but he comes out and they talk about it people don't know about it so I'm just saying we add something else there that maybe we can advocate for you've got churches now that are leaving these umbrellas of Baptists and these type of things but when they leave their status as a church is not transferring time who's that and they come back as a property tax so there's a lot there's a lot

there's a lot

but that's a good one we do communications and marketing

and I also Senator Geller I think the idea of trying to inform on property taxes now is absolutely important because that is going to be on the ballot at some point I really I think yeah some form or fashion and people do not know where all this money goes and it's up to us that's our job it's incumbent upon each one of us in each one of our districts to get that to let people know how it's spent and how and how we try to spend it wisely as best we can and then lastly one of these executive orders that have been coming from on high has targeted the institute of museum and the library services and the federal grant that it has always awarded for library services and technology act has been terminated I won't go into that but it's federal but it is but it is affecting interlibrary loans those are for those who don't know if we don't have a book then somebody comes into our library we can get that for them through the ILL anywhere in the country actually anywhere in the world and it has been a long standing practice of libraries all over the world that is now being defunded essentially it is not very much because it doesn't happen a whole lot but it does happen I hope that our library can find a way to keep going with what we're doing because we have one of the most active ones anywhere in the state people know our library for this and we should rise to this occasion where we can because we do a great job at it it really just means being able to mail things out two to five times a week that's all it is but we need to find a way to be able to keep that going because I do think Broward County is looked at right now as one of the best libraries in the country because of some of our courage in terms of standing up to freedom of information but Sam Morrison also back in 2000 made sure that we were the library of the year for the United States and we've held up to that same level so let's keep doing that with that Bob anything to add just that you'll have several audit reports coming to you shortly just in case you need something to look forward to thank you it's like Christmas in October Monica

sorry you caught me off guard Bob so I just want to acknowledge I know that you all have already acknowledged but today and this week are both Norman Foster's last week with the county and Keith Bostic our assistant director of our deputy director of human services so I just wanted to publicly wish them well and thank them for their service with us I'm sure they're watching in their offices but this is their last week and their last meeting I also want to kind of give a public kudos to our purchasing director Bob Gleason who is honored with a distinguished service award by the National Association of State Professionals in purchasing so it's the best procurement practices in the country so that's a big honor and we've got a really talented staff and I just want to kind of acknowledge them two other recognitions in short order just for you all to know the supervisor of elections building has received the gold lead certification and it was a finalist for the South Florida Business Journal 2025 structure awards in the category of best public and civic project so I want to congratulate construction management on that big feat and lastly this is customer service week and I just want to thank all of the thousands of county employees and cities and employees but really our county values one of the four core values of county government in Broward County is customer focus so we take that seriously and I just want to thank all of our thousands of county employees that are out there front line every day

you know and I thought when they pointed out the DEI how much was spent there that's training that's training for customer service in many ways in many ways we have people coming from all over the world probably one of the most diverse places anywhere in the world and you know what you need to know how to talk with everybody about everything and to me that is well spent county attorney

thank you mayor just briefly I wanted to remind you or tell you if I didn't tell you before that I'm going to be missing the next meeting October 21st you've probably heard me talk about my India trip for so long some people actually say to me you're going back again well you must have had a great time I'll be back for the first meeting in November Anika will be sitting up here so I'm sure she's going to do a great job hopefully perfect but not so much that you say who is that guy again but anyway I'll be covering some of the briefings this next round and also some of the briefings for the 13th which is the November meeting not all of them I'll send you a memo with details Renee of course will be here and the member will name Renee as deputy in charge all of them out first since I've been county attorney so since late 2017 I'm sure you'll be buying me one way tickets after that to make sure there are a few more thank you commissioner McKenzie always appreciate

anyone else anything else motion to adjourn move it adjourned move it

move it move it