Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the City Commission. Hello, can you hear me? Turn it up a little bit. Turn it up. Can we hear you better now? Okay, thank you. Good evening, everybody. My name is Dean Trantalis, the mayor of our beautiful city, and with us tonight we have our members of our City Commission. I want to thank you all for being here tonight. We appreciate it. We have a number of important items to discuss tonight. For those of you who are here for the first time, thank you and welcome. Thank you so much. This is true of the flag of the United States of America, truly public, for which it stands, one nation, under God's is for all. We're going to take a picture. Wait, is your family here? Mommy, come over here. Mommy. The whole family's here? Very nice. Very nice. Perfect. Yes, you guys can sit down now. Thank you. Thank you all for participating in that. At this time, we'd like you to join the commission in a moment of silence. Thank you. At this point, we also take a moment and announce any recent retirements of individuals who have served the city for more than 20 years. And tonight, we have three such individuals. I'd like you all to please recognize, first of all, David Williams, who's been a firefighter paramedic, who's been with us for 21 years. Thank you so much for your service. And now we have Stephen Kraft, who's been a police officer with us for 21 years. Thank you so much for being on our city staff, protecting our community. And Eric Sweet, also a police officer who's retiring after 29 years with the city of Fort Lauderdale. Thank you so much. So, Mr. Clerk, please call the roll. Commissioner Herbst. Here. Commissioner Glassman. Here. Commissioner Busey-Pittman. Here. Vice Mayor Sorensen. Here. Mayor Trentos. Here. So, we have full attendance tonight. I'd like to announce that while we do have full attendance, as many of you know, and I'd like to also recognize Commissioner Herbst. This will be his last meeting tonight. And I'd like to thank him for his service and the four years he served on the city commission and his 16 years as honor of the city. That's it. 20 years and three months. Okay. Well, thank you so much. We appreciate it. So, there are a couple of agenda announcements. Because of the interest in the subject matter we're going to discuss tonight regarding the Hemershee Street, I thought it might be best if we jumped that up at the head of the agenda. So, after our presentations and after we've gone through the consent agenda, which shouldn't take too long, I'm going to take up PH 5 and then OSR 1 at the head of the agenda so that those of you who have come here tonight don't have to sit through the rest of the meeting. So, I just want to bring that to everyone's attention. So, we have R4. This is an agenda item revision. Resolution header was revised on Exhibit 4. And OFR 4, Exhibit 3, the actuarial impact statement was added as additional information. So, with regard to the agenda, would someone like to move to approve the minutes and the agenda as amended? Moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Please call the roll. Commissioner Klossman? Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman? Yes. Vice Mayor Sorensen? Yes. Commissioner Herbst? Yes. Mayor Trenton? Yes. So, the agenda as amended and the minutes are now approved. So, at this time, it's a pleasure for the community to now participate in four presentations. These are presentations as an opportunity for the commission and the community to recognize individuals, events, or organizations that are meaningful or have a particular moment in this point in time in our year. And so, we have four, and so we have four tonight. The first one, I'd like to invite Rich Walzer, who is from the Florida Inland Navigation District, Briarwood County Commissioner of the Intercoastal Waterway. He has some exciting news to present to us tonight. So, Mr. Walzer, please push the button at the bottom of the speaker. Tell us what you have tonight. Well, first of all, thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Interim City Manager, hopefully soon-to-be City Manager. I really appreciate being here. I'm here to present some checks for the city. I have checks for our amazing police department. And I don't know if Chief Schultz is here. No. Chief Schultz could not. We have the next best thing. What I would like to do first is present a couple of grants that I've written for the Marine Unit, boat engines, and a boat vessel for the Fort Lauderdale Marine Unit. So, if you can come up. I was going to ask, instead of checks, could you zell that to us? Absolutely. This way I know they're good. Yeah. I'm definitely going to do that. Okay. All right. So, our first check for, I'm sorry, we have two checks. Our first check is going to be for $48,500 for Fort Lauderdale Police boat engines. And I also have another check of $125,000 for the new boat that I wrote a grant for for the police department. Thank you. Thank you so much. And let him not stop there. Keep going. We're just getting started. We've got to have District 1, Commissioner. Yes, sir. So, this is a check for $75,000 for George English Park floating dock. Yes. This is going to be for District Commissioner 2. Yes, I do. Smart man. As Commissioner Pittman said, please don't leave anybody out, especially her. So, this next check, or checks, is for the ISHOF International Swimming Hall of Fame Public Dock and Promenade Phase 1, Part 2, for $282,500. One more. Again, the International Swimming Hall of Fame West Promenade Phase 2, $407,500. Yeah. You have one more. Bill? You won't. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. I have so many checks, I'm just getting frazzled up here. So, we also have, for District 2, another check, the Seville Seawall Replacement, $206,985. Come on down. This is like, let's make a deal. Commissioner 3. So, this next grant that I've written for our amazing city of Fort Lauderdale is for the North Fork Park Promenade Kayak Launch Phase 1. When Commissioner Pittman came to me and said, hey, we're underserved here. We've never had access to the waterways. Is there any way that our community could get a grant from you? And I said, absolutely, Fought in Tallahassee, made this happen. We have a check for $85,000 for District 3 for North Fork Park Promenade. So, District 4. Four. Come on down, my spare. So, as we all know, the Riverwalk needed, in desperate need of a replacement. So, I've written a very large grant to the city for infrastructure for Riverwalk North Replacement Part 2, $2,967,000. So, in total, basically $4,198,199 for the city. So, over the last three years, I've written grants to the city of over $15 million. And hopefully, next year, another $7 to $10 million. Awesome. Thank you, Commissioners. Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Walzer. It's really important for the city to continue its efforts to reinforce its infrastructure and to maintain the quality of life, especially in our highly visited areas on the Riverwalk and along the beach. So, thank you so much. These come at a really important time for us. Yes. Now, I'd like to invite the Vice Mayor to present a proclamation declaring 2026 as Briar County Guardianship Awareness Month here in the city of Fort Lauderdale. And I'd like to invite Peter Layton, Cindy Kramer, and Holly Thomas from the Broward County Guardianship Association. Come on up. Come on up. Thank you, Mayor. I appreciate it. And I want to celebrate Guardianship Awareness Month. Thank you all for being here. I'll share a little bit of the proclamation and then love to turn it over to you to share more words. So, whereas Broward County Guardianship Association was founded in 1990 to promote excellence and professionalism and guardianship through education, advocacy, and community engagement. And whereas for more than 35 years, BCGA has worked to protect the dignity, rights, and well-being of incapacitated individuals while supporting those entrusted with their care. Whereas Fort Lauderdale is home to many seniors and individuals with disabilities who may require additional assistance and advocacy to ensure their needs are met and their rights are protected. And whereas BCGA provides education, resources, and professional guidance to strengthen the quality and accountability of guardianship services throughout our community. And whereas the City of Fort Lauderdale recognizes the dedication and compassion of guardians, the leadership, and the vital role they play in preserving the dignity, independence, and well-being of those they serve. We, therefore, as City Commissioners of the City of Fort Lauderdale, proclaim October 2026 as Guardianship Awareness Month. Dated this day, the 20th of October, signed, your Mayor, Dean J. Trantelis. Thank you again, Ben. Thank you to the Commissioners and thank you to our Mayor. You know, we have been around since 1990. We do a lot of the work for incapacitated capacity issues as well as vulnerable adults. Just realize, in Broward County, there are 552,000 seniors and potentially vulnerable adults for one reason or another. And a lot of times, you don't hear about the stories. We're out there every week, every month, educating, providing advocacy, and providing education. This board works as volunteers to make sure that we give back to Broward County and our seniors. And thank you for all your support for the community. Thank you. Thank you, folks, and for all the good work you do for our community. Now I'd like to invite Commissioner Beasley Pittman to present a proclamation regarding National Code Enforcement Appreciation Month here in the City of Fort Lauderdale. And I'd like to invite our Community Services Department Director, Director Portia Garcia, Assistant Director Katrina Johnson, Code Manager Antoine Lohr, as well as Code Supervisors, Senior Officers, and the Administrative Staff of the Community Enhancement and Compliance Division. Did you bring them all with you, Portia? All righty. Y'all look good. So good afternoon, everyone. As the mayor said, I have the honor of presenting the proclamation this afternoon. And it reads, from the Office of the Mayor, City of Fort Lauderdale, Proclamation and Recognition of Code Enforcement Appreciation Month. Whereas in the City of Fort Lauderdale, Community Enhancement Compliance Division plays an essential role in protecting the health and safety of our community. Through the enforcement of applicable codes and regulations, they address matters involving building and zoning standards, housing conditions, property nuisances, and environmental concerns that affect residents and businesses throughout the city. And whereas in 2025, Fort Lauderdale, Coal Enforcement Team conducted 41,572 inspections throughout the city. This work, yes, wow. This work reflects the team's continuous commitment to addressing violations and ensuring properties meet established city requirements. And whereas timely attention to neglected properties, unsafe conditions, and other neighborhood concerns can be prevented, can prevent problems from worsening and affecting surrounding properties. Through their daily efforts, code enforcement professionals contribute to the appearance and the liability of Fort Lauderdale's neighborhoods while protecting the quality of life of those who live and work in the City of Fort Lauderdale. Whereas a vital part of code enforcement's responsibilities involves educating property owners about city requirements and encouraging voluntary compliance. Through direct communications and guidance, these professionals work with residents and businesses to resolve violations and promote proper property maintenance. Whereas Code Enforcement Appreciation Month provides an opportunity to recognize the officers, the administrative personnel, and the support staff who serves our community with dedication and professionalism. Their contributions reflect a strong commitment to public service and the continued well-being of Fort Lauderdale neighborhoods. Now, therefore, we, the City Commissions of the City of Fort Lauderdale, do hereby proclaim October 26th as Code Enforcement Appreciation Month in the City of Fort Lauderdale, date it, ha, ha, ha, ha, the 20th day of October, 2026, by our Mayor Dean Trantellis. Let's give them a hand. Would you like to speak? Good evening. Well, thank you for that. And we didn't have to write anybody in violation to get it. So we appreciate it. This is for all of our code enforcement staff. When you walk into the 700 building, you're greeted by our front counter staff. We answer the phones. We go out and do the inspections. We educate the community. And we're here to make sure that this community stays a vital part. I'm sorry, stays vital. So we appreciate everybody. We appreciate our city attorney's office. We appreciate the city manager's office. And we also appreciate our director. It's with her guidance that we are here and we appreciate it. So thank you. I'd like to invite Rhonda Montoya Hassan, who's our code enforcement attorney, along with our city, acting city manager. Thank you all for your good work in keeping our community safe and clean. Our last and final presentation, I'd like to invite Commissioner Steve Glassman, who will be presenting a proclamation regarding Energy Month in the city of Fort Lauderdale. And I'd like to invite Barbara Martinez Guerrero, executive director of Dream and Green, as well as Glenn Hadwin, Laura Tellez, and Luz Ramirez of the city of Fort Lauderdale Sustainability Division. Thank you, Mayor. I'm very pleased to present this proclamation from the office of the mayor, city of Fort Lauderdale, in recognition of Energy Awareness Month, October 2026. Whereas, October is recognized nationally as Energy Awareness Month, highlighting the importance of energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy in protecting our environment, reducing costs, and strengthening communities. And whereas the city of Fort Lauderdale recognizes that access to safe, reliable, and affordable energy is essential to the health, safety, and economic well-being of our residents and businesses. And whereas, investments in energy-efficient technologies, renewable energy, and modernized infrastructure help lower utility costs, conserve natural resources, and strengthen our community's resilience to extreme weather events. And whereas, the city remains committed to promoting sustainable practices that protect our waterways, coastlines, and natural resources, while supporting a more resilient future for generations to come. And whereas, through educational initiatives and community partnerships, including a residential energy efficiency workshop with Dream and Green at Carter Park on October 10th, the city is empowering residents with practical tools to conserve energy and reduce household expenses. And whereas, Energy Awareness Month provides an opportunity to encourage residents, businesses, and community partners to embrace energy conservation and work together toward a more sustainable, affordable, and resilient Fort Lauderdale. Now, therefore, we, as city commissioners of the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, do hereby proclaim October 2026 as Energy Awareness Month in the city of Fort Lauderdale, and dated this the 20th day of October 2026, and signed by our mayor, the Honorable Dean J. Trentalis. Thank you, Commissioner. Thank you to the mayor. Thank you to the entire commissioners here. I'm Barbara from Dream and Green. We're a local environmental nonprofit that's been servicing the community for over 20 years, and we provide environmental resources to our local community. As mentioned, we did do an event on October 10th for residential energy efficiency workshop with the city of Fort Lauderdale's Sustainability and Special Projects Division. So, thank you for hosting us and for having that. And I just want to highlight just a couple of points that were mentioned about the importance of energy efficiency. Residential and commercial buildings account for almost 30% of the total U.S. end-use energy consumption. So, improving the energy efficiency of homes and buildings is an important strategy for reducing energy consumption that's associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Switching to efficient lighting, managing air conditioning, and reducing energy waste can help households lower their environmental footprint so small actions can have a collective impact. And just to finish up, energy efficiency is a practical way to protect our environment while helping families save money and maintain comfortable homes. By combining affordable home improvements with everyday behavioral changes, we can reduce energy waste, lower greenhouse gases, and build a healthier, more resilient city of Fort Lauderdale. Thank you. Great. Thank you. I also would like to mention Dr. Nancy Gassman, who is participating in this moment. Thank you so much for being here and for your contribution to this effort. Okay. Okay. At this point, we will now proceed to the consent agenda. No one has signed up to speak on any of the consent agenda items except for questions. We'll start with each member of the commission to see if they would like to pull a consent agenda item. If an item is pulled, it will be discussed and voted on separately. Otherwise, the consent agenda items will be voted upon all at once. So, Commissioner Herbst, do you have any consent agenda items you wish to pull? Can you come on back to me, Mayor? I just got to check one item, please. Thank you. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman? None. Commissioner Glassman? None. Vice Mayor? None. Back to you. None. Okay. All right. So, do I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda items? Move to approve. And seconded. Please call the roll. Commissioner Glassman? Yes. Commissioner Beasley-Pittman? Yes. Vice Mayor Sorensen? Yes. Commissioner Herbst? Yes. Mayor Trent Hollis? Yes. And all the consent agenda items are now approved. So, if you are here on any of those consent agenda items, just to recognize your item has been approved, you're welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting and enjoy what will continue to happen going forward. But your items have now been approved by the commission. At this point, as I mentioned earlier, we're going to jump ahead and we're going to discuss, starting with moments, starting with PH5. This is a public hearing regarding a first reading ordinance approving the decertification of the Special Entertainment Overlay District for 111 Properties, Inc. Now, we have a number of people who signed up to speak. We have a number of people who signed up to speak on this. And I know this has been an important issue for a lot of people, not just those that own these businesses, but also those that work here and patronize the businesses. And we appreciate everyone's interest. We're always all trying to make Fort Lauderdale the best place that it can be. And tonight, hopefully, the city commission will consider what we're going to do going forward. So, I'm going to ask that each person take two minutes to provide us their opinion. And I will call three names at a time so that you're prepared to step up when the person before you has concluded their remarks. So, is there going to be any sort of staff presentation first? Is there going to be a staff presentation first? There's not a presentation for this item. So, I'm happy to go through the information in the CAM as to why staff believes this district is out of compliance. Yes, please go ahead. Sure. So, the special entertainment district ordinance provides that if a special entertainment district is found to be non-compliant with the code of ordinances for over 180 days, staff will present an ordinance to the city commission to consider decertification of that district. So, as you'll see in the CAM, we cite several items that we believe show us the district is out of compliance. First, the 111 properties incorporated was administratively dissolved by the state in September 2019, and no successor was assigned or identified. The last executed agreement that the city received was in 2013, and it included a 10-year lease agreement with the properties that were part of the SCD, and that has since expired. And then real properties within the 111 properties, special entertainment district, and owned by 111 properties were sold in 2024, and therefore no longer under common ownership. In addition to that, we as staff have cited several trends and issues related to police calls for service and issues related to public safety, fire data, as well as code enforcement infractions. So, based on those findings, we are recommending to the commission, through ordinance, that the 111 properties' SCD be decertified. Okay. All right. Does that complete your presentation? It does. Okay. So, I'm going to begin announcing people's names, and please, again, try to keep your comments to two minutes. Start with Jenny Moore-Hohn, followed by Ina Lee, followed by Kate Lockery. I've never seen you wear glasses. I'm getting older, Mayor. Stand in line. I'm sorry. I'll be part of the aging committee for assistance soon. On behalf of the DDA, I first want to thank Fort Lauderdale Police Department and the partner agencies, and acknowledge with recent press conference, but also the efforts that have been taking that aim to really create law and order in the Himershi District. These actions are long overdue to address the negative impacts of the district and the privileges that the businesses in the Himershi Special Entertainment District have been enjoying illegally for years. I also want to acknowledge that the memo for this item is definitely one of the best and most concise correspondences I've seen in the past 10 to 15 years. That states the long-standing non-compliance of the 111 properties. The facts in the memo demonstrate that the district has and continues to operate illegally, and there has been no proactive effort from the businesses who enjoy these SED privileges to attempt to come into compliance on their own since at least 2019, if not longer. Promises from business owners and their representatives in June of last year, 2025, and again in January this year, that they would organize an oversight group and sign a new SED agreement and, quote, be better didn't work. Removing the ability for open container and open consumption in January of this year did not work. Over the summer, the recent history of shootings, violence, underage drinking, and recurring disorder in the district, all widely documented on social media, leaving Fort Lauderdale to the worst reputation that it might have, shows that it is not working. And moving into an alternative framework that allows individual businesses to get late-night permits, by the way, in an area that's larger than the original boundaries of the original SED districts, is not the appropriate way to go. Granting special privileges to businesses in an area that no longer serves a public purpose, even with accountability measures, institutionalizes an unacceptable risk to residents, visitors, property owners, not to mention our city and region's most significant cultural institutions. So, therefore, we request that you move forward with the immediate decertification, no further delay. The 180 days moves us into well past spring break next year. Thank you. Thank you. Ina Lee, followed by Kate Lockery, followed by Charlie. Mayor, Commissioner, et cetera. So, you're going to hear from a lot of people today. But what I want to talk about is the impact of tourism. Between the Museum of Discovery and Science and the Performing Arts Center and the millions of dollars that they generate and the thousands and thousands of visitors that come there, presidents and obviously people from around the world, and the money that you have invested in the Riverwalk area. This detracts from what we're trying to create down there. When people are afraid, when images go out on national media showing shootings and things that we don't want shown out there when we're spending millions of dollars to change the image of this destination, this has gone on long enough. We need to protect it. We need to be able to take our families and go to the theater, go to the museum, be able to go out and dine and have a great time after that, rather than be afraid and go right back home. So, you're going to hear from a lot of people. I've said what I need to say. But this is not only a detraction from the residents, but from the visitors that are coming here from around the world. This is not what we want to portray. Thank you very much. Thank you. Kate Lockery. Hi. Thank you, Honorable Mayor and Commissioners. And I do also want to recognize and thank the police enforcement and the recent activity with police in the last couple weeks, increasing awareness and enforcement in the area. I'm here this evening speaking on behalf of the Fort Lauderdale Historical Society. I am a volunteer and a board member there. I also live in Tarpon River, just over the 4th Avenue Bridge. And I walk about four or five times a week along the Riverwalk and have for the last 28 years. So, I've seen a significant change. The original vision behind him or she had very interesting, unique chef-driven restaurants like Criolina's. There was a coffee house called the Mud House that had wonderful art and jazz music and lots of other things in that area. And over the last, especially 10 years, I'd say five to 10 years, I've seen a significant downturn in just the safety of the area. And sharing some stats from Patricia Zeiler at Fort Lauderdale Historical Society, we have seen in the last 10 years, which we believe is a result of the issues on 2nd Street and the perception people have of 2nd Street, we have seen a 90% decline in wedding and event rentals. We've seen 55% decline in student field trips and a 50% decline in membership. The wedding rentals is especially notable because that often would take place in the evenings. So, 5, 10 years ago, 15, 20 years ago, we had a steady, healthy wedding rental business in the evenings, on the weekends. And now, locals are afraid of the area after dark. So, thank you very much for your time. And I am please asking you to decertify the district, the SED district, decertify. Thank you. Thank you. Charlie Ladd. Charlie Ladd, followed by Ty Sutton, followed by Ian Lowe. Good evening, commissioners. I'm Charlie Ladd. I'm a board member of the Downtown Development Authority and a long-time developer in downtown Fort Lauderdale. By my profession and nature, I'm an optimist. I've watched this city change. I've watched hard decisions be made on spring break that allowed the redevelopment of Fort Lauderdale Beach. I've watched tough decisions be made around the Federal Corridor and Flagler Village, the edges of Victoria Park. And change is hard. It's hard to make the decisions. It's hard to shift. People are affected. However, when you look at the positives, you look at a Huizenga Park changing, you look at the power of that Performing Arts Center and those museums and those historic districts, this can be another jewel in Fort Lauderdale if we take the painful step. There are displacements. It's hard. It's hard for businesses that have thrived off of a different nature. But the core of Fort Lauderdale is pretty well full. And we have a chance with the Brightline Station, the museums, et cetera, to start to make this area special. And hopefully, the commission will help and decertify this area. Thank you. Thank you. Ty Sutton, followed by Ian Lowe, followed by Bonnie Barnett. Ty Sutton, President and CEO of the Performing Arts Center Authority, an independent special district of the state of Florida and the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. I know you're going to hear from a lot of people tonight, and I'll be brief. There was a vision many years ago, and some of the original creators of that vision are here tonight, for a thriving arts and cultural district here in Fort Lauderdale. And we have amazing, world-class, some of the busiest cultural institutions in the world right here in Fort Lauderdale. But this district needs to be decertified and reimagined, because it does not contribute to the overall quality of life. I think the statistics bear that out. So on behalf of the many volunteers, the hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, the authority, and all the patrons that come from around the world to enjoy these things, I ask you to decertify this district. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Lowe. How are we doing, Mr. Mayor, Commissioners, Vice Mayor? De-certification of the SED and taking away ability until stay open until 4 a.m. will serve the opposite effect of what you're trying to achieve. The problem in the district is the loitering and the underage drinking and the bars that allow it. The crime stats are down in the area, and the two SEDs across the tracks from us have equal amount of calls to service. By dissolving and not reestablishing our past 21 and up districts, you will be giving the underage bars more freedom. Under city code, it's 18 and up out of an SED. So now, all these bars will be 18 and up. The bad actors don't care about the hours. They've made that clear. Creating a set of rules that help enforce against those bad actors and help address the problems is what's going to clean up the district. I can say with complete certainty that if you take away two hours on the weekdays and one hour on the weekends, Original Fat Cats, who has had nothing but good support for the city and none of these issues, will lose 50% of its business, of our sales with the reduced hours. The majority of these bars aren't open seven days a week, like we are. Only a few of us are. So you will be negatively impacting just the good actors. I implore you not to do this. However, if you are going to, I beg at this point that you at least give a path forward for those of us that want to do the right thing and be able to apply for an extended hours permit we've been talking about for quite some time and give us the opportunity to apply for it before you cripple our business by enforcing and removal of these hours. I agree with sound ordinances. I agree with the ID verification. I agree with security requirements. I agree with the need for police detail officers, and I agree with needing to keep the sidewalks and street clean. And we're happy to support all of those efforts, but taking away the extra hours is not going to solve the problem. It's only going to cripple the good actors that are trying to keep the district great. Does that conclude your remarks? I could add one more thing. One more thing. Well, as Jenny said, or originally the first person that spoke said about the crime stats and nobody from the district trying to get this resolved, Jack Seiler, Tim Petrillo tried before COVID to get a new SED contract in place with no movement. I tried three years ago, two years ago with Riverwalk to get another SED contract in place with its 21 and up rules with no movement. So we have been working at this. And it's not over yet? And I'm still here, and I'm going to keep going. Okay, very good. Thank you so much. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Ian. Bonnie Barnett, followed by Sandy Faye, followed by John Millich. So my name is Bonnie Barnett, and I am on the PACA board of the Performing Arts Center. And I want to recognize the DDA and the Discovery Center. We are all volunteers that are coming here to talk to you. And I would like to tell you that what is going on in Hermoshee is awful. We have been talking about it for two years and addressing the city commission and addressing all the people in Fort Lauderdale. It's wrong. Guns, drugs, and underage teenagers, wrong. Nothing good can come out of this. Now, what do we do? We have to decertify the area. But the most important thing that I hear from a lot of the city commissioners, everyone's going to lose jobs. What can we do? What can we do? When you have a business that's not working, change it. Change it. Make it good. Because we have over 600,000 people that come to our Performing Arts Center. Number one Performing Arts Center in the state of Florida. Number five in the country. You all should be very proud because you have helped us, and thank you. You're very involved with the arts, and I appreciate that. I'm an arts person. What they can do is they can change the criteria, and change the people that come to this area and make it lovely. So the people that leave our center won't be afraid to go down on Second Street and stop and have a drink, have a hamburger, be involved with the city. And that depends on them. And no one will lose a job. No one will go hungry. And we will have a better area for the arts district. Thank you. Thank you. Sandy Faye. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. Thank you for your time today. When we were discussing this for two years now and the potential decertification of him or she, it was with under the construct that if him or she was going to be decertified, there would be a substitute plan and path, as Mr. Lowe mentioned, so that these businesses would be able to still operate under the status quo. This is the extended hours permit ordinance that we're going to be discussing later, I believe. And we would urge the commission to consider that, to not punish the people that are doing the right thing in the district. We want the same thing you want. We want clean, we want safe streets. We want clean streets. We don't want underage drinking. The people that are hanging out in the street, do you want all that? Those are not our customers. They're not patronizing our establishments. They are hanging out in the street, not buying our goods. These are people, kids, whoever they are, that don't belong there. We want the same thing they do. We want them out. We want only people who are going to our bars, to our restaurants. Let's do that. Thank you. John Milledge, followed by Dev Motwani, followed by Richard Mercedes. Thank you, Mayor John Milledge, General Counsel, Downtown Development Authority, and board member of Performing Arts Center. You know, here we go again. I feel like we're in a movie, Groundhog Day, with Bill Murray. We've been doing this over and over again. I've attended several meetings at the old City Hall, which was demolished, maybe three or four meetings regarding this subject. We had at least two in the PACA, didn't resolve it. We're now here. You know, next we're going to be in the new City Hall and not resolve this. So this really needs to end, really, tonight. And I think there's been some well-intentioned people really trying to solve the problem. So I'm not making a joke about that. But I think this really gets down to the core problem here, and that is that the Entertainment District was drafted by Jack Lose and, I believe, George Hamburger, the city manager, to allow Riverfront. And it was specifically tourism-related to have a large-scale mixed-use project really to attract people there. I remember it was a movie theater, a number of restaurants, Mark's, Marino's. It had retail. You had different things. You had a promenade there. And that was the really purpose, and it had common control. And the purpose for the ordinance was to allow these uses, and if you did it, you had the amenities, which means the flexibility on the alcohol licenses. That was the incentive here. But really, this has turned into a bar district, which never was anyone's intention that that happened. And number one. And number two, there's no common control. And so I think when the folks say they have every intention of cleaning it up, there are a number of good-faith actors that want to do that. But if there's some pirates mixed in, it can't be regulated. So this thing needs to be decertified. It hasn't worked. This commission really has bent over backwards to try to help and solve this. But really, it's a round peg in a square hole. It never should be for this purpose, and it's failed accordingly. So we're asking the board to decertify. We don't believe you need the ordinance itself moving forward. I believe the staff and the city attorney will come back to you with some good-faith efforts for the good actors to have a process moving forward to protect their rights for them to continue operating. And the others, there will be a process for them to either clean up their act or do something else. But it's time to move forward. Thank you, Mayor. All right. Thank you. Mr. Marwani, followed by Richard Mercedes, followed by Alan Hooper. Good evening, Mayor and Commissioner. Thank you for your time tonight. I am a board member of the DDA as well as a board member of PACA, as well as the chair of the Broward Center Foundation. In wearing all of those hats, we continue to get complaints about public safety in this area from our constituents, from our patrons, from our staff and our volunteers. At the end of the day, for me, this is about public safety. It's about what's doing right and not promoting underage drinking. And to be honest, I think decertification tonight could actually result in a better outcome for those businesses. As many of you know, I grew up here in the spring break era, and the city kicked out spring break. It was a tough decision. Our family lost 90% of our business overnight. But we worked hard. We came back, and our businesses thrived and came back better by cleaning that up. I think your decision here tonight will have the same result. At the end of the day, decertification, from an hour's perspective, cuts back one hour on the weekends. It's not a significant change. It's not 90% like we witnessed. But we came back, and we thrived, and we made this city better and safer through those efforts. You all have listened to this for a year and a half now. I think you've all been diligent in giving opportunities for the district to clean up on their own. They've made promises. I'm assuming they held true to those promises, yet nothing has changed. We were told that open container was the issue. You revoked that from all the districts. Nothing has changed. In fact, if anything, things have gotten worse. I appreciate the police's efforts to improve enforcement. I think they should do that in addition to decertification to make that area safer, not only for the patrons, but also for the workers that work in that district. They shouldn't have to endure those unsafe conditions. But we've waited long enough. It's been a year and a half. You all have been patient. You've been fair. But you have in front of you a staff memo that tells you the district is operating illegally. It has been for many years. And you're putting the city at risk. You're putting liability in the city's hands by allowing it to continue. So tonight, I think you have the only option you have is to decertify immediately. You've been patient enough. Thank you. Thank you. Richard Mercedes, followed by Alan Hooper. Is Alan here? Good evening, Commission. Thank you for having us here. I'm sorry. No, go ahead. Go ahead. About two years ago, we had the opportunity to get involved with Emily's Garden and convert it from a breakfast place to a garden for families and kids and so on and so forth. I was nervous because of all the issues that we heard about on Second Street. But I was assured by a lot of people in this room that we're taking steps to clean all this up. So we made the investment and we're there. We're having a great time. But a lot of people that we know will not come to our restaurant past 9 o'clock. They just don't want to come downtown. They're afraid. Please help us. Please decertify. Do whatever you need to do legally and so on and so forth. We don't want to see anybody lose their businesses. That's not what we want to see. We just want to see it safe and secure for people who come to the theater, I don't know, five, six times a month, whatever it might be, and they can come down and have a great time on the Second Street. It's not happening. We need your help. We need your all's guidance and your help. Please. Thank you. If anyone's interested in speaking on this or any other item, please see the clerk at the entrance of the room and fill out a card. That's the way we have to do it so I can call upon you. Mr. Hooper. Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners. I'm the chairman of the PACA. And by that, I represent the largest business in the area. And this area was never intended. I heard somebody on TV today say that the intent was what it is today. No, the intent was a restaurant and food and beverage district. Okay? The parking exemption, the city ordinance that established serving alcohol within 300 feet of another alcoholic establishment required that you provided 50% food. What does that mean? That means you're a restaurant that has a bar. Okay? And that's what it was. And we can talk about how Betsy Cameron went around and got subleases on all, started spreading the entertainment district out beyond a single owner entity and how they circumvented the distance rule for alcohol. So, this was not supposed to be a nightclub district. It's a nightclub district. It's not really an entertainment district except for Revolution Live and the poorhouse who have live music. Other than that, it's a red light district. That's the way I see it. And we can talk about the local restaurants that closed because of the infection that Betsy caused. You can talk about Tarpon Bend. We didn't want to close. We wanted to stay open. But our customers were driven out, and we started losing money. Creolinas, Rock Burger, Taco Craft, OB House. All of us had money. We all had invested. Just like all these other folks have money invested, we had money invested. We had two decades of effort invested. And who was there to help us? Nobody. We just bit the bullet, closed our doors, and moved on. So, today, what do we have? We have crime, shootings, massive brawls, underage drinking, drugs. And I don't see why we want to preserve this. I don't understand it. It's a shame that this area has come to this. I think that there is an opportunity. You said it. This is a jewel. It's a jewel of a neighborhood with so much potential. And there's an opportunity to change the model of these businesses and start selling stuff that's more expensive. Instead of a four-for-one shot, sell cocktails. I mean, change your business model so that we can bring in the more affluent, the folks that are coming to the Broward Center, the folks that are going to be moving into that area because there's going to be residents coming in the future. So, as the chairman of a $500 million asset that deserves the same protections that these businesses do, the time for talk and for promises is over. After the recent shooting, after the finding that some of these people are catering to a lot of underage drinkers, it's time to close down this entertainment district, decertify it. I don't think we should give them 180 days. I say decertify it tomorrow, and then let's just start figuring out how this thing goes back together. But four o'clock needs to end. And if we don't do that, if we don't decertify, if we don't take away the four o'clock, if we don't clean this thing up, you might as well be stepping over a $100 bill to pick up a penny because that's all you got. Thank you. Thank you. Joe Cox, are you here? There you are. Hey, Joe. Followed by Connie Brown, followed by George Hanbury. Mr. Mayor, Commissioners, Joe Cox, I'm President and CEO of the Museum of Discovering Science, and here tonight to add the museum's voice in support of decertifying the Himishi Special Entertainment District. Last year, the museum saw a record 526,000 visitors to downtown Fort Lauderdale, representing an annual economic impact to our community of over $37 million. That extraordinary attendance was driven in part by our partnership with the Florida Panthers on an amazing exhibit, Hockey Faster Than Ever, and the AutoNation IMAX Theater being the only theater in Florida presenting the Odyssey in 1570, selling a record-breaking 72,000 tickets, apologies to anyone who couldn't get in, with literally people flying from around the world to Fort Lauderdale. And I share those because they're not simply attendance figures. They represent families dining in our restaurants. They represent moviegoers going to our bars, visitors staying in our hotels, and people discovering everything that the amazing downtown Fort Lauderdale has to offer. They represent jobs, tourism, educational opportunity, and a significant economic contribution. But that success and our continued growth depends on something fundamental. People must feel safe coming downtown. Families must feel comfortable walking their children to restaurants. They must feel confident walking between the Broward Center, the restaurants, the bars, the parking facilities, and Riverwalk. And our reputation as a welcoming, family-friendly destination must never be compromised. I do want to acknowledge and thank the Fort Lauderdale Police Department for their recent enforcement efforts. But enforcement alone cannot compensate for a framework that has demonstrably failed over and over again. The museum supports a vibrant downtown, including our neighbors, and a vibrant, thriving nightlife economy. We urge the commission to decertify the existing special entertainment district and ensure that the investment Fort Lauderdale has made in your cultural community continues. Please protect that investment, protect our visitors, and protect the future of downtown. Thank you. Thank you. Connie Brown, followed by George Hambury. Good evening, Commissioner, Mayor, Commissioners. Connus Brown of Brown-Robert, LLP, here on behalf of Dicey Riley's. I am opposing both ordinances, actually, tonight, both the decertification and the alcohol regulations. At the moment, I'll stick with the decertification. One of the biggest problems with the decertification is it shouldn't be dealt with in a vacuum. What's going to wind up happening is, I heard the proposal of let's decertify tomorrow. I see it's written as 180 days. But I think that it has to be dealt with hand-in-hand with the alcohol ordinance so that there is a transition for businesses rather than creating a chaos. And certainly, if there's a decertification before we have the opportunity for businesses to transition and businesses to function in a different role... Hold on a second. So, changing the closing time from 4 to 3 is going to create chaos? No, but if there's a decertification, what will the alcohol rule be? We need to put them both together. Well, we're going to discuss that tonight, right? Yes. But the issue here is that there's no grandfathering in for anybody. We're talking about something that took a long time to establish, and Dicey Riley's has been on 2nd Street since 1994. It's one of the original members of the 111 properties. And it's had the same husband and wife ownership. They are still deeply involved with the business. Mike Brennan over here is here tonight. That's the husband. And they have to have a way going forward. And for Dicey's, Dicey will not fight to the death for 4 a.m. at all. But what we do need is what we started out with before any of this was done. We need the ability to function as a normal bar. And in Fort Lauderdale, that means 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock. And the problem we have is that without that, we're in a situation where we're not competitive with any other bar in town. Knocking this down to the current proposal of 1145 for last call, you might as well put these businesses right on out because you can't have a bar at that level. And I understand the desire for the theater district and all that to grow and have a place for them to eat and so forth. I used to eat at Dicey Riley's with my wife in the 90s and before we were married. We used to have firm events. I was at a large firm. And we had them at Dicey Riley's. And was that my timer? I'm sorry, no. Okay. I just wanted to be short. 13 seconds. Because I realize I digress a little bit. But the point is that Mike Brennan has been around through the whole thing. He's served nice meals. He knows how to do that. But he's got to have a regular bar license to do it. And a regular bar license is competitive means, there we are, means 2, and 3. Okay. And anything more, if it helps others, that would be good. Okay. All right. Well, thank you. I have a question for you, sir. Yes. Thanks. Let's talk about last call time. So, what time is last call for other bars outside of the SED? Well, the normal limits would be the 2, 3. So, it would be 2 o'clock, basically Sunday to Thursday, and then Friday, Saturday would be 3. Yep. And there are, look, there are bars in this town that are in neighborhoods in areas that don't stay open that late that could. It's an economic decision. But at the same time, you have to provide the economics so bars can be competitive. I see this in neighborhood bars all the time. Some new bar comes in, they have a tradition of closing early at an existing bar, they go ahead, they keep it open a little bit later to keep customers. Okay. And so, would you say competitive? I mean, if this is uniform throughout the city, then who are we competing against? Well, I think the issue is that we're trying to compete against other 2 and 3 o'clock bars. Okay. And the issue is, the way we got here is the whole relaxation of the distance restrictions. And I think what should be allowed, again, for the bars, and especially for the original seven that are still there after all these years, which did serve the purpose of stabilizing the community, it was pretty run down, to be honest, at the start of all this. I think everybody agrees that was no pillar of the community there. And what we have- What, Hemershey Street? I'm sorry? What was run down? What was no pillar of the community? No, the whole west end of Las Olas didn't look like the east end. It never did. Because I've been here since 86. And I used to spend a lot of time. I worked downtown. I've been downtown ever since. And when I was younger, yes, I used to go out. And so I would see these various things. And west Las Olas, it was a great thing. You may remember back when Wally Brewer came to the corner on west Las Olas with the chop house, set up a nice restaurant there. Same thing we have here with Mr. Brennan. Mr. Brennan goes, he's got an enormous amount of money invested in a beautiful pub. But in order to stay competitive, especially during COVID, a lot of things had to change. COVID made a huge difference for everybody in the restaurant business, everybody in the club business. And a lot of clubs in outlying areas shut down. And some of those clubs were less poorly funded than that type of thing during COVID. And what wound up happening is they couldn't reopen. And so we have now kind of a core of clubs made up of people that were former patrons of other places, especially to the west. Okay, so what was the 1145 last call you were referencing? Well, this is in actually the second ordinance. And I wasn't going to dig into it this deeply. But what's being proposed now is that basically there's an option to go two ways. Either apply for, if you are within the special entertainment district, you either apply for the four o'clock license and see if you get your permit, or you have to shut down at 1145 under the current ordinance. And what will wind up happening, everybody has to be out by midnight. And so what you're going to wind up with is you'll have people. Okay, thanks. You don't have to go into it. That's all good. So, yeah, I know. So what I'm hearing you say is if it was normal operating hours as with bars outside of the SED, that there would be some disadvantage in competing with them. Absolutely. Okay, but you're competing on a level playing field. No, we wouldn't be. We compete basically throughout the town. We have other people with the late night standard hours. When you go to the SEDs. So the only people that have late night hours are you right now, the SEDs. Well, the two and three o'clock is what I'm referring to as late night hours as compared to 1115. Other bars. 1145, excuse me. Right, I agree. 1145 is not acceptable in my view. So the two o'clock and three o'clock on the weekends I think is the more viable option as we consider all these options. Okay? Right. And what would wind up happening as it is, all you have to do is grandfather in the existing establishments just to take away that business. Well, that's another issue on another topic. Right. So we'll get to that. Thank you. You're welcome to speak on that. Okay, thank you. Mr. Hanbury. Followed by Adam Peterson on behalf of Tim Petrillo and Robert Lockery. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the city commission. My name is George Hanbury. I'm a member of the Broward Workshop, but more importantly, a proud citizen of Fort Lauderdale and probably qualifies one of those venerable or senior citizens. You've heard Mr. Millage talk about the history and I definitely won't talk about that, but it was the Arts, Science and Entertainment District with the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, the Museum of Science and Discovery and something else nobody's talked about is NSU's Museum of Art right on Andrews Avenue. That district goes all the way to include that. It was to be those three anchors to attract, to attract business like we were trying and working to bring an aquarium and negotiations were to bring a hotel to be there for the, support the entertainment area and food and beverage just like Mr. Hooper talked about. But times changed and circumstances change. But y'all are faced in the same fork in the road that the city commission and the mayor were faced 40 years ago and that was they heard from small hoteliers, owners, such as Mr. Motwani's parents who owned several small hotels and felt that if the city commission ever did away with spring break, they would be ruined financially. But the reputation of spring break not only was so negative for the city in Fort Lauderdale but in the state of Florida, in the nation, and worldwide. No new hoteliers, major hoteliers wanted to come in. No new businesses, no corporate headquarters wanted to come in with such a reputation that this city had. Now, that entertainment district that was created now 25, 35, almost 40 years ago here, it's time the city commission, you've tried to make little modifications to make this work because you've heard merchants say the same thing, we're going to lose business, we're going to go out of business. But for the good of the city, for future economic development of this city, you need to do what the city commission did 40 years ago. You've got to rip that band-aid off and you've got to say this has got to stop. We've tried, we've tried, but for the good of this city and the economic development, we need to decertify it tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Hi, Adam. Good evening. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. That's a hard act to follow. Sure. I mean, what a captivating story teller. Maybe you can change the accent. I don't know. I don't know if we want to do that. I've got a radio voice, but I can't do that. My name's Adam Peterson. I'm general counsel for the restaurant people and urban street development, both stakeholders of the Hemershee district in the city of Fort Lauderdale. Tim Petrillo, founder and co-principal of both companies, asked me to read a statement on his behalf because unfortunately he wasn't able to attend this evening. My name's Tim Petrillo. I started my restaurant career in the Hemershee neighborhood in 1997, spent many years operating four restaurants there. Today, I'm proud to be one of the largest restaurant operators in the city of Fort Lauderdale with our corporate headquarters located right next to this district. I also own several buildings in the Hemershee district. Despite my deep roots and continued investment in downtown Fort Lauderdale, I would not put a restaurant in the Hemershee today. That should concern everyone. The ongoing shootings, stabbings, violence, and criminal activity have created an environment that is unacceptable for residents, visitors, and businesses, and employees. We fully support the recent law enforcement efforts by the city of Fort Lauderdale and their partner agencies. These actions are long overdue. However, enforcement alone will not solve the problem. The fundamental issue is the concentration of alcohol-only businesses combined with an extended operating hours that were created through the Hemershee Special Entertainment District. We've tried other solutions, removing open containers, privileges, and these privileges did not work. Promises from business representatives that conditions would improve did not work. The problems have continued and many cases have gotten worse. Meanwhile, some of the most important cultural institutions, including the Broward Center of the Performing Arts, the Museum of Discovery and Science, sit just steps away in the area that has become known for disorder and violence. That is not the image we should be presenting downtown Fort Lauderdale. We respectfully urge the commission to take four actions. First, decertify the Hemershee Special Entertainment District. Second, restore the same operating standards that apply throughout the rest of the city. Third, reject the proposed extended hour permits district ordinance. And fourth, maintain a dedicated public safety task force that is finally bringing accountability to this area. Extended hours are a privilege and not a right. When those privileges are no longer serving a public interest, the city has both the authority and the responsibility to act. We believe the time is now. Thank you. Thank you. Fort Lockery, followed by Carol Henderson, followed by Alan Bogdanoff. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. Robert Lockery, a resident of Fort Lauderdale, a business owner in Fort Lauderdale, also a member of the Formula Arts Center Authority, Broward Foundation, and Museum of Discovery and Science. I think you've already heard a lot of anecdotal stories starting with my kid's sister, Kate, so I won't repeat all those, but I do want to talk about some of the specifics and how they, well, I'll tell one anecdotal story, and that is the folks from Dicey Riley's. You know, a lot of us who grew up in Fort Lauderdale grew up at Dicey Riley's and spent our evenings there, and it was great. I think it's important to note, though, that that was before the Special Entertainment District. So Special Entertainment District came in in 1999. Long before that, we were able to enjoy the bars there and go out afterwards, long before Alan Hooper and Tim Petrillo even conceived of the Hemershey Bar and Grill. So we don't need a Special Entertainment District to have a robust place to have fun. But what I want to turn to is two specific independent reasons why it's appropriate to decertify the district with all these stories you've heard. The first is the very purpose of the district in the language of your ordinance is why it was created in the first place. We've heard the stories of why it was created. Let's look at what the language says. The purpose of the district is to promote the cultural, economic, educational, and general welfare of the people of Fort Lauderdale. Is that happening today with this district? I would say no. Secondly, it's designed to promote the redevelopment which will eliminate deteriorating conditions in areas which are found to be detrimental to the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Is it contributing to getting rid of those elements or is it actually adding to it? And finally, and this is where Performing Arts Center and Museum of Discovery and Science and Museum of Arts and History of Fort Lauderdale come into play as you've heard. It's intended, this is in the ordinance, intended to enhance the visibility of the public and public awareness of publicly funded projects that create incentives for the public to use and enjoy these properties. So again, the very nature of what's happening there today is no longer meeting the purposes of this district and should be decertified. A second reason, real quickly, is it does not meet as your staff report indicates the very criteria for meeting an entertainment district and it provides that if that hasn't existed for 180 days, you're authorized to decertify it. Your own staff report shows it hasn't been, they haven't been meeting those requirements for over six years. Not 180 days, over six years. We would encourage you to decertify and also strike the provision on the additional 180 days and let's, when the ordinance becomes effective, we can look at how we grandfather people on but no reason to extend this any further. Thank you, Mayor. Okay, thank you. Carol Henderson followed by Ellen Bogdanoff followed by Johnny Farino. Mayor, commissioners, good evening. I'm Carol Henderson and I'm representing the 15 board members on History Fort Lauderdale. I'm here to tell you we support the decertification of the special entertainment district. Thank you. Okay. That's going to be hard to follow. Ellen Bogdanoff, resident, and I represent several of the bar owners including Sway and Fat Cats on Himershi and I guess if I've learned anything in the last 30 plus years in politics, I can read a room. So I'm just here to set the record straight. First of all, there's a lot of things that have been said that are just simply not factually accurate. Crime has gone down since you took away. I have the statistics from the police and there are less. There are also as many calls in the Riverwalk area as there are in Himershi because if you look at all the little dots on the map on all the calls, there's problems all over the area especially where you're going to have people who are out late at night and drinking. I will say this and I hope nobody here takes offense but I'm representing my clients. The DDA and the Performing Arts Center has done an excellent job blaming the bar owners for what's happening on Himershi streets and quite frankly, I applaud it. It's a good PR message as if they have something to gain by people getting shot and beaten up in the streets because that actually increases business and it doesn't. So it's ridiculous. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What did you just say? I said they have done an excellent job of blaming as if the bar owners have something to gain. They don't have anything to gain from it. Nobody has anything to gain from it. Of course not. So the blame is misguided in my opinion. I don't think that we need to blame the bar owners any more than we would blame the Museum of Discovery and Science for the pickup truck that was parked in front. But you have to understand, Alan, that this is, they accept this conduct as a cost of doing business. The rest of the community does not have to accept that. And I understand that, but we had a meeting Thursday and I'm here to applaud the city manager and the police chief for doing what the bar owners have been begging them to do for years. And that is what was told to us is they're going to increase enforcement, they're going to bring out the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and really get a handle on the underage drinking. They're going to increase the power washing of the streets. They're going to make sure all of the lights are on. They're going to trim back the trees. They're going to work with the people who are taking over the garage to make sure that they close the third floor, they stop the tailgating, they put in cameras, they put in lights. So all of this is a tremendous burden on the taxpayers of the community. Why should we have to pay for their improper behavior? But it's not the bar owners that are creating the right, why are the bar owners creating the right? That blows my mind. The street has been, over time, the street has cultivated a culture of licentiousness which we're trying to pull back on. And you and I are going to respectfully disagree. You and I are going to respectfully disagree. If the enforcement is there. You're going to tell me that when Tarp and Ben was a restaurant that we had shootings and bullying and we had this kind of behavior going on. When the enforcement was there, when you have people drinking, you need to increase enforcement and I don't care where that is. Why don't the bar owners increase their... They have. They have. And unfortunately, what's going to happen, they're no longer going to need the detail if you decertify. So they're not going to have that extra detail. They all have extra detail, off-duty police officers plus their own security. If we decertify, if we decertify and this behavior continues, it's going to keep going. Here's what I would say. I just want you to know that. For the first time, for the first time, we are seeing the type of enforcement on the street and the type of activity on the street from the city because it is the city's obligation to make sure people are safe. For whatever reason, the people that felt that it was okay to come down and create this behavior was not created by the bars. It was created by the outside. But Ellen, okay, we have a responsibility to keep people safe. Of course. But it's not just reactive, it's being proactive. If we find that the source of the misbehavior comes from the businesses themselves, then we have to do something about those businesses. Absolutely. Okay. We're not debating that, but the lights on the street are not being created by the bar owners. Okay. Okay, you and I are going to disagree on that. I'm just here to say I wanted to set the record straight. What businesses are invited? Why does a young kid come to him or she who's 16 years old with a fake driver's license to go drinking? What other business in Fort Lauderdale? Ask their parents. What other... Ask their parents. No, let me finish and don't interrupt me. You interrupted me. What other business? What other business in Fort Lauderdale? Do they have problems like that at the Galleria Mall? No. Do they have problems like... They did at Riverwalk. Do they have problems... Did I say Riverwalk? No, but they did at Riverwalk. Do they have it now? No. Do they have it at the Coral Ridge Shopping Center? No. It only happens there. Why? Because it's created a culture that seems to create... It's a magnet for kids who want to come there and conduct themselves in this way. We've got to figure out a way to change it. We tried to do it by eliminating the open container law. We tried to... And crime reduced. Right. And crime reduced. And we're doing our best to nibble away at the behavior that's now that we're trying to figure a way without closing these businesses down to make sure that we're able to keep not just the patrons safe but the people that visit the area safe as well. Understood. So to come here and say that these businesses do not encourage this kind of behavior I think is being a little disingenuous. I'm not telling you I'm not telling you that some of them don't but you have a lot of good actors on that street. The people that I represent good actors on that street who are doing the right thing. You have to attack the problem not a broad brush where you put good people out of business who invested their hard-earned dollars. What I'm saying to you is this is a little premature. You finally have the city stepping up and doing what they've been begging for them to do. Give it some time. Why decertify them one week after you made the commitment? There's violent conduct happening. It's one week. You've been increased enforcement for one week. It's just one week. May I comment on that? Because I had the pleasure of riding with my officers and spending time down there with them at night. And the problem that we have with it is yes, the chief is flooding 2nd Street with officers. And you know what that means? You want to know where there's no officers? I understand that's the argument. There's no officers in District 1. My district is left unprotected so that 2nd Street can be safe. So we are impacting every other neighborhood in the city. The beach, District 1, my area is being left vulnerable for the benefit of a handful of bars on 2nd Street. So what the mayor is referring to is the extraordinary burden on every single neighborhood in the city because of bars on 2nd Street. There are great operators over there. I recognize that and I know that they are going to be negatively impacted by what we do tonight and that's unfortunate. But I can't have District 1 suffering to benefit the bar owners downtown. Whether they're the good ones or the bad one is irrelevant to me. We've created an environment that has become known throughout the county and our neighboring counties as this is where you come to party. And it doesn't matter why and we can't fix that. It will continue to be a place where we party until we make it a place where you can't party. But I can't have the chief take every officer in the city every Friday and Saturday night off the street and put them down there. That's not a solution. I think sometimes you have to take extraordinary measures for a short-term basis to send a message. Once that message is sent that we are no longer going to tolerate that type of behavior and parents take the responsibility to get their underage kids off the street then we can clean up that street. That'll never happen. But you're not giving it a chance. Kids are always going to come out and go drinking if they have a place to go. We've never stopped underage drinking in the history of drinking. You arrest the kids? By the way, the kids have never been arrested. They call their parents. That's what they say. They pull them aside and they call their parents. You start arrest. They did it in Tampa. They started arresting the kids and it stopped. The behavior stopped. Let me back up because I've had this discussion with people, right? So number one, if my police officers go to arrest a kid and take them down to jail, they're off the street for three hours. Now I don't have 14 officers down on 2nd Street. I have no officers left on 2nd Street because they're all down at the jail or taking them down to Broward General because they have to run down there because the first thing that happens when they get them to the jail is they take their blood pressure. Their blood pressure is through the roof so now they have to be transported down to Broward General and that's a three-hour visit to Broward General. I have no officers on 2nd Street now and I have no officers left anywhere else in the city. Second thing is we have diversion programs so we don't actually arrest anybody anymore. We take them to community court and everybody gets let go. There was just an article in the New York Times that said any child that gets arrested is more likely to drop out of school to wind up having negative impacts for the rest of their life the first time you put them in handcuffs. So do we really want to do this to kids? I think the answer is no. Societally, I think that's a bad outcome. The better outcome is to recognize that the source of all this problem is that we have created Bourbon Street in Fort Lauderdale. The answer to that is get rid of Bourbon Street. We can't change the behavior of underage drinkers. It has never happened in the history of humanity. It's not going to happen now. We are not going to solve that problem. I know because nobody in this room has underage drinkers. Commissioner, I think you know that I was elected for many years and I understand that it's your prerogative. It is here for me to express to you that I feel like the answer is a little bit drastic. You're not allowing this to be incremental. You got rid of Open Container. We saw the drop in the calls. We saw the drop in the crime. Now you've stepped up and you've really done an amazing job and you've got this robust plan. They said they're going to do it for three weeks. I don't think three weeks is a very long time to ask you to kind of do a robust enforcement effort to potentially save businesses that have invested their hard-earned money. I realize that you and I might disagree. No, I just want to express one thing too. So that got rid of Open Container, guess what? We haven't. I don't know if you've been down there at night but everybody is still serving out the window. I don't know if you knew that. That shouldn't be permitted. Well, that's part of their cafe license. Get rid of it. They're still serving out the window. Get rid of it. Because they're still operating as if they're cafes. There's other solutions. Remember, Tarpon Bend had tables out there. Rock Burger had tables out there. The taco place had tables out there. They're all still operating as if they're restaurants but they're not. They're bars with tables outside so everybody's drinking outside right now and the problem is the police officer doesn't know if they got that drink at Munchies and walked down the block with it because it doesn't say Munchies on the cup. They're sitting outside drinking and we're thinking that we solved this problem and I find out when I'm standing out there everybody's standing out on the sidewalk with a drink in their hand. We haven't solved the problem. And I understand. I just feel like we're taking a shotgun when we could take a laser. There are absolute solutions. There are absolute solutions for these problems. I agree with you that this is that we are taking a hammer to this but I think it's a nail. So, you know, when you're telling us we're taking a hammer to something I think it's a nail. I don't know how we stop this problem until we solve the fact that we have become the most desirable place in all of Broward County for people to come party until 4 o'clock in the morning. And beyond. And beyond. And again, my biggest concern is I've got a problem child bar in my district too and now that I know that they don't have coverage out there I can tell you the folks in Coral Ridge are not happy. I'll just leave it at that because they expect that they're going to have the same coverage for the bars that I have in District 1 that we have downtown. And it's not fair to my residents that they don't have the same degree of coverage because everybody is in 2nd Street. I can't have that. That's my problem. But it's not long term. It's a short term robust enforcement effort to send the message to people don't come here you're not welcome. And that's what I believe it was. That's what the chief said it was. He was doing it because he was worried about Halloween being on a Saturday night and that it was going to hopefully send that message. And I think you can but, you know. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Ellen. Johnny Farino. Is Johnny Farino here? Stephanie Toothaker. Did you want to comment on this? Stephanie Toothaker followed by Phil Purcell, Robert Pignone, and then Bill Brown. Oh, excuse me. Michael, I cannot read your last name. I'm from Fiesta Way. Can you read that last name? Morea? Okay. Anyway, good evening. Mayor, Commissioner, thank you. My name is Stephanie Toothaker. I have the honor of serving as this year's chair of the Downtown Development Authority. But Jenny and other members of the DDA spoke eloquently about the position of the DDA, so I'm not going to speak to that. But I am going to share with you my perspective as a mother of a 17-year-old because I think it's really important, especially in the context of some of the discussions that have been happening. So before I start, I want to thank the police for the effort and what they've been doing and stepping up the enforcement efforts in the district, but there's a well-known doctrine of torts called attractive nuisance. And the problem with that is that, you know, when a property owner creates a situation that invites others in, and it's well-known in legal circles as it relates to children, and we're talking about children here, we're talking about children that know that they can go down to the him-or-she district and they can drink without a fake ID. They don't even have fake IDs. They don't need them. They walk around, they hand out free shot cards to kids, and the kids go in and they drink and they're walking around and they're creating havoc, and the bottom line is when the police come in, which we want them to do, but when the police come in, these kids are getting arrested, and you've ruined the rest of their lives. But we're inviting them in with bad behavior. I'm not saying that every bar owner down there is a bad actor, but there are enough of them that it creates a situation where young children believe that they can go down there, and it's true, and they're coming from all over Broward County, and an arrest record can ruin the rest of a child's life. And it's very concerning to me as a parent, and I really believe that with all of the chances that you have given this district, it's just time now to decertify. Decertify it now. Don't let this happen anymore. I know where my son is, but not every parent is aware all the time where their child is when they allow them when they start driving and they allow them to go out and hang out with their friends. This is where they're going. We can't allow this to happen anymore. I'm asking you to decertify. All right, thank you. Phil Purcell. Phil Lee. Robert Pignone. Robert. Oh, there you are. Good evening. I own the poor house downtown, and I was listening to everyone, the Performing Arts Center, the Discovery Channel. Everyone wants everything gone. If we go back to 2 o'clock and 3 o'clock, we don't pay a detail. So if they want to pay for the detail, because this isn't going to stop. I hear everyone, the outside drinking, no open containers. That's coming from the parking lots. There's people setting up bars and grills in the parking lot. Now, I talk with Jeff Jenkins. He doesn't control the detail in the parking lot. That's ASTOR. It should all be under one, because I brought it to the attention, people putting in, opening up the back of their SUV and selling booze. All right, now we don't have a leg to stand on with the 4AM, because Betsy's not there. It's not under one thing. I told Erica, you know, girl, I gave you a plan on how to go about doing it, and if it was implemented, we wouldn't have that problem right now. You know, everyone would be happy. But if we do go back to the 2 and 3, please have the Performing Arts Center and the Discovery Center and Historic, have them pay for the detail to clean it up, because we're not liable for it after that. Right now, under the 4AM, we have to pay it. So, I mean, that's what you guys have to face. Are you saying these pop-up bars are happening in the parking garages of the Performing Arts Center? No, no, in the parking lot. In the parking lot. Across the way, yeah. Across the way of what? From the poor house, from America's Backyard has the parking. Oh, back there. They just open up their, either slide their van door open and they're serving booths. And our police don't. That's the problem with the outside drinking right now. And our police don't notice that? I don't want to say anything bad for them, because whenever there's violence, they are right there on it. Tell me tonight that this is going on on the streets of Fort Lauderdale. It's going on in the parking lot. And, yes, it's on the streets. It's been going on. And you're telling us that the police officers don't see that? I don't know what they see. Come on. Okay? Well, I'm not going to blame them. They walk by it, they wink at it, and say, oh, well, we don't really see that bar where they're selling booze off the back of a truck. It's on a bar. They open up their SUVs and they're selling booze. Okay. They open up a makeshift bar in between me and America's Backyard. Okay. Okay? And, you know, nothing's happening inside of my bar. Everything that's happening is outside of my bar. Okay? Okay? I pay a detail to take care of that. But what I just found out, he doesn't have access to control on what happens in the parking lot. Asta has their own detail. That has to come under the same thing. You take care of that, it's going to take care of most of these problems. Okay. But if we do go back, someone has to pay for the detail. I agree. Okay. Well, everyone in here that's complaining, should put their money in and pay for it. Okay? And then put us back. You know we don't have a leg to stand on. I don't know what you guys are waiting for other than trying to figure out how to make us pay for a detail and take away the hours. All right. Well, thank you, sir. If I could ask you, you know, anytime you see unlawful behavior, please call. I have. 911. You know what would take care of that? 911. It's cold. Just put a cold officer down there. If someone's drinking illegally in an illegal location, please call the police. Well, all the open container that you guys stopped, that's where it's coming from. Okay. Nothing comes out of my place. Okay. I don't know who sells outside. By the way, what is your place? The poor house. Yeah, you don't hear it. You don't know it because there's no trouble. You know? Okay. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Michael. Mayor, just a comment about that. Yeah, go ahead. Just to the vice mayor. So one of the things that I've noticed when I've been out writing with our guys, so calling 911 for underage drinking or open container is not going to result in a response. They're holding 45 minutes to an hour's worth of calls on a regular basis. So I don't think they're going to, and I'm just being practical about it, I don't think they're going to prioritize that. So I don't know that that's going to address the situation. I think if we have officers out on the street, I'm hoping that they're responding to that when they see it. But I don't think from a practical level calling for that is going to result in a timely response because I know for a fact that they're holding calls 45 minutes to an hour because, again, we don't have enough manpower out on the street on these shifts at night. And so I just, again, I don't think that's going to resolve that issue. Sure. So we need a better solution. We absolutely need a better solution. But we have a fantastic police force. They do amazing work. And I want to encourage all residents, if you see illegal activity, call 911. That's what we're here to do to provide public safety. And our police force does it with excellence. And they will address it appropriately and accordingly in a triage base of calls, as they do. And I've written along many times as you have. And we want to encourage all residents to call when there's issues. Thank you. And they do a great job when they know. I mean, and correct me if I'm wrong, Chief London, I think, is here for chief. But I think in one establishment in Hemisphere last week, there was 60 arrests for underage drinking. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the report that I got. 60 underage drinking arrests in one establishment. Thank you. And I want to say this after the conversation. What we're hearing tonight, you know, we do have an excellent police department. They're doing their job. But we need to realize that this is not also unique to Hemisphere. These are things that we are experiencing in District 3. The gentleman spoke about establishments where others come up and open their trunk and begin to sell alcohol out the back of their trunks. This is happening over our city. And it's something that we need to overall address. Not saying that, you know, what's being said tonight, not to take the value away from it, but it's also happening all over the city. And we as a commission need to address the city as well. Is this my, is it Michael Mateo? Yeah. What is it? Marco. You didn't, you didn't do very well in Hemisphere. Yeah, definitely not. Little, little damaged here. But I think from what I'm hearing too, and because I'm in a little bit of discomfort myself here, is this is a complex issue with a lot of parts to it. And if you look in the room, the representation of it, here's people that it affects economically in this city. Right here, right here, right? And it's not the interest of just somebody who's able to send, you know, someone else to represent them. And, you know, ongoing with the, when, you know, we have them bring up points about these calls and stuff like that. I work down in that area for the last decade. I see these issues of these fake IDs. They might as well be made at the DMV. They look as good as mine. You know, the enforcement is great. Jeff and them do excellent work out there, but we're not getting the full support. I mean, as you said in the beginning, Mayor, there wasn't even a presentation prepared for this. So this isn't really getting what it deserves then to have the proper things where people up here calling each other pirates and affecting this. You know, you're right. Pirates don't go places. Navies go places. And people got to get together and figure this out and defer this so we can properly address it with everybody because it's unfair to a couple bad actors because we're astonished. 60 arrests for underage drinking. That's, we won't, nobody would support that. You know, but to blame all of the area for that and everything is just, it's not right and this needs to really be taken on with the proper presentations and the proper support with the business owners, with the representation, whoever it might be, but to actually get real statistics so everyone's just not throwing numbers out there and, you know, and just making narratives up. All right. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Samantha, Samantha Coslow here followed by Jeff John and then we'll wrap it up with Bill Brown. Good evening. Good evening. How are you? Good. Good. Senator, I was there for the meeting in January and I'm here again to once again defend the businesses and business owners because honestly what's happening is not fair. Saying that the promises made by the business owners in January did not work is unfair when the promise was also given to the business owners that law enforcement would enforce the open container policy starting in January after the initial meeting. Senators, I was downtown almost every single weekend pregnant and incredibly sober, obviously. My observations are intact. I think I can speak for every single owner when I say after the meeting spirits were high. It felt like a family. Everyone had a common goal and every single bar complied. Not a single bar that I observed allowed a customer to walk out of their bar with a drink. Sway, Fat Cats, Capone's, Munchies, not a single one. Like I said back in January, the issue are not the containers that are brought from outside sources but by people looking or by people looking to have fun inside the bars but by people who are bringing outside containers and then hanging out around the area. That is not the responsibility of local business owners. On multiple occasions within those first few weeks, I witnessed head of security from these businesses and four police officers of the open containers and officers response me, that's not my problem. And if you put into, and I put into perspective a little bit by that saying that the officers can't tell, you know, which drinks are being served by the outside, whatever, that puts it into perspective a little bit. But the easy fix to that is having barricades around the outside seating areas where patrons can't walk out of there, not shutting down the entire district. That makes no sense. This effort in the last two to four weeks of ATF to harass the inside of these businesses who were left hanging out to dry and call it trying to make it a safer spot is insulting to the business owners who genuinely want to make it a better place. That's not fair. Senator, I agree with you. If the sources of the chaos is found to be by the businesses, shut them down. But ATF rated the local bars over a dozen times in the last weekend alone. Not a single strike was given to any of them. No fake IDs were found inside the bars because the problem is not inside the bars. It's outside of them. I ask that we stop setting unrealistic expectations for the businesses to act as law enforcement and instead of focusing on the fake IDs that no officers can seem to find, please correct me if I'm wrong in the last weekend that no officers can seem to find inside of the bars, use the same resources you've used in the last weekend to genuinely enforce open container policy and see how your entertainment district transforms. Saying that we want to stop the underage drinking but then saying that we don't want to arrest them when they commit a crime because we don't want to negatively affect their future but we're okay with affecting the future of the established taxpayers and these business owners who have nothing to do with it, that's not fair. Saying that downtown is a bad behavior district because it invites kids in, no bar owner is letting a kid in without an ID. That's a lie. This is an adult area. It attracts 17-year-olds because 17-year-olds want to pretend like they're adults not because there's some weird voodoo spell calling all the minors to downtown Fort Lauderdale and I'm glad you know where your son is. I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and if he was 17 and out drinking I would be placing blame, I would not be placing blame on the bars. As a parent, it is my responsibility to control my kid. If other parents are not as aware, it is not the bar owner's problem. Thank you. Thank you. So I'm going to respond to that so Commissioner Glassman brought it up and I'm going to echo that. We pulled 60 underage drinkers out of one of those bars two weeks ago. Munchies. No, it's not. No, it's not. No, it's not. No, it's not. All right. Respectfully, no, it's not. All right. Okay. All right. Jeff, John, Jeff, are you here? I did ask the chief. 60 underage drinkers. All right. Let's not yell from the audience. Let's stop. We finished. Thank you, Mr. John. Good evening. Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commission. Thank you for the time. It's been interesting listening to a lot of people speak tonight. I tend to agree with a lot of things that were said. I disagree with a lot of things that were said. At the end of the day, this district, I've been down in this district for 25 years. I have police detail at our door every single night we're open, whether it's a concert, whether it's a nightclub night, or it's a private party. 20 years ago, when we opened, we lobbied. We got a sign-off by Chief Roberts to hold concerts, partners with one of the largest entertainment companies in the world. We do hundreds of thousands of tickets every year. We've abided by the law. We have no problems. You know, it was said by somebody over here that we don't bring culture or education to the district anymore. Well, I would take an argument to that at any day based on the artists that we bring in, based on the parties that we bring in, in corporate parties, private parties. We bring in artists. We have art shows. We bring, for 25 years, we have brought numerous education, cultural events, multicultural events. You look at Day of the Dead that's coming up, and behind that brings thousands and thousands of peoples out. It's family, it's culture, it's education. We do the same thing with many, many events. Now, I agree a thousand percent. There are bad actors on this block, and I'm going to be the first to admit it. I, over the years, have asked for help. You guys had a nighttime economy manager named Sarah Spurlock that was in this city. Met with her maybe ten times, dates, times, I have written down, why is there underage drinking? Why is our district not cleaned up? The grates, the trees, everything that's been neglected in this area has been brought up for years. I don't understand why that is coming to a head now. Now, I do understand why there are certain people that are promoting 18 and up parties should be shut down immediately. The district was always 21 and up after 11 o'clock. I don't know where that went wrong. Yes, Betsy Cameron got old. Betsy Cameron got sick, and unfortunately she's not with us. She sold the building. They tried to ratify the new district. I know Jack Seiler was involved. I don't know what happened and why that never got ratified. I know Greg Berkowitz sold the building and we have, I think as Ian said, we have been trying to get that back on place, on track for a long time. If there was a way we could do that, I think there were plenty of people on board if that's what we're going after. But I do think, I think God bless the police and what they do and the job they do with especially the times that are in today's age. They do a great job. Are they being directed in the right way? Because to Bobby's point, you know, you look at PACA, who's the biggest complainer here, well go to their garage, go to the second or third floor. They're having parties in there on Friday and Saturday nights. Is the PACA or any of their great wealthy board members paying police detail? All right, let's conclude your remarks. Conclude your remarks. Why are we, why are we, and I understand there are bad actors. Let's go after those bad actors. Okay, that's what the commission is trying to do that. But again, maybe the whole district for people that have been there, Bobby's been there longer than me. I've been there 24 years. Bobby's been there 30 years. We followed the rules. We've had no problem with any of the police or authorities. No one's accusing you of being a bad actor. So thank you for coming tonight. But can I just say this? At the end of the day, the people that are coming here that aren't here to party or to go into the restaurants or go into the bars, those are the people that are causing the problems. It's like when South Beach, and this is the last point I'll make, when they were having their problems a couple years ago, it wasn't the spring break kids that were going to cause the problems. It's the people coming to harass those kids and sit in the street that are causing the problems. So I'll leave it at that. I appreciate it. Thank you. Bill Brown, did you sign up to speak? I did, yes. My name was called, but I was awake. What's your name? John Farino. Okay. Go ahead. Go ahead. Okay. So I just overheard that Mr. Herbst was inside of Munchies and 60 people with no IDs were removed and you were there? No, this is what my, this is what my police officers told me. Yes. Oh, they told you? Yes. Okay. Well, that didn't happen. When did that happen? Two weeks ago. Okay. It did not happen. So ABT and Fort Lauderdale Police have been in front of our place and inside of our place every single night that we are open. They rate us. They come in. They check IDs. Everyone screams about underage drinking at Munchies. Yet where are the citations? Why are we still open for business if there's underage drinking? Good question. Why are we still here? I don't know. Yeah. Because it's not happening. Okay. We're in a scapegoat. Everyone's trying to blame us and it's BS. Okay. We do everything. We are more strict than anybody else on that block. We wristband. We mark. We have ID scanners. We increase security. We increase camera footage. We have everything. We have double what some of these bars on the blocks have. Okay. The underage drinking is taking place outside of the bars because when we turn them away when they try to get in and these other bars turn them away they have they're empowered to stay grab their bottles hang out in the alleyways drink. The police do nothing. Everyone's afraid to say it. I'm going to say it. The FLPD does nothing. We turn in fake IDs to them. They say oh we're going to call your parents. They tell them to get lost. What do they do? They come right back into my line. I kick the same 17 and 18 year olds out of my line and 16 year olds out of my line sometimes seven, eight, nine times per night. We tell them to get lost. We can't do anything. We can just yell at them to leave and they don't listen to us because they know Fort Lauderdale police will not arrest them will not even call their parents will not do anything and you guys want to blame us for it. Okay. You guys it's your fault. Okay. Empower your police to do more and help clean up our street. Where are the violence calls being called? Where are the underage drinking ambulance calls being called? Are they even called to munchies to go inside munchies to stop the violence or to stop the underage drinking or they'll be called to the street out on Himersi Street to be picked up or where are the gun where's the gun violence happening? Are these people with the guns and the knives getting into any of our bars or coming? No. They're not getting past us with their guns. They're hanging out in the street. They're loitering. They're drinking their own booze and police do nothing about it and you blame us. Okay. It is not our fault. We have done I've been at every single one of these meetings for the last three years. Every single suggestion you make every single suggestion that a performing arts center makes we make it. I've spent over $250,000 last year alone on increased security. Okay. More cameras everything. I'm doing everything that you guys ask and you still point the finger at me. Okay. ABT. Is the ABT chief here? I just had a meeting last Thursday with them and he said that the underage the AI technology for the driver's license they're getting past their scanners also. So how are we expect to stop them to get through out? Please conclude your remarks. It's nonsense and I'm tired of hearing this. I'm tired of being blamed for this. Okay. I don't recall your I don't recall Munchies being mentioned at all by anybody. I'm sorry. I didn't hear you. I don't recall Munchies the name Munchies being stated anywhere. He did. I did. So I did because this is what police officer told me. And at the end of the day respectfully if I have to choose between believing you with a financial motive or believing my police officer I'm going with the police officer. That's fine. All right. Thank you. What happened was police came inside and they started asking all of our patients for IDs waving their flashlights around causing a disturbance in our business. Some patrons refused to present their ID. They asked am I being detained because they don't have a legal right to present their ID. They said as soon as they said am I being detained or I don't have to give you my ID they were kicked out of our club. That's why they were kicked out for failure to present their ID which they already presented to us which we scanned which we have record for they were legally allowed to be in there and if they had a drink in their hand then they legally were allowed to have a drink. We do things the right way. You guys are blaming us. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Sounds to me like our FLPD were pretty proactive. Would you say that Commissioner Herbst? I'm sorry. Sounds like our FLPD were pretty proactive. They were pretty proactive and honestly if they have probable cause if they think somebody is underage then they actually do have the right to ID them. Right. So you have that probable cause to ask for ID if they think somebody looks underage that's probable cause. Mr. Brown. Good evening Mayor Vice Mayor Members Commission Bill Brown President of the Council Bring this home. Council of Civic Associations. Yes. I come before you in support of the immediate neighbors in the downtown area that live in the high rises and the neighborhoods that surround the Hemerish neighborhood in the special entertainment district and I sat here tonight and I'm thinking wow this is deja vu. Let's go back a year and a half ago one of the attorneys that spoke tonight said give us some time we'll fix this. Another attorney I think six months ago Mayor when you held up or showed the video and to put it mildly you were troubled but I think you were more than just troubled when you saw that video that made national news and they asked for more time and said we can fix our own problem the business could fix our problem but guess what they have it and we can't keep kicking that beer can or that bottle of whiskey down the road any longer it's time to do something that's right for the right reason that you are elected to represent this community and your constituents as Commissioner Herb said he's losing police officers down out of that neighborhood his neighborhoods to support the downtown district district three same issue the beach we have the same same issues so you know I heard we heard stories tonight but there's some real statistics that we haven't heard how much is this costing the taxpayers in overtime to fund the police officers that are having to work overtime or the officers that are responding from other districts or the fire rescue that are tied up for an underage drinker or a legal age that's passed out intoxicated only to either be transported or not be transported or taken away by his friends when that rescue vehicle could have been used elsewhere in a time of need and I think if you don't know the statistics you should be asking that tonight of the police and fire of what it's costing us and how they're being tasked for those services so again please and as one of the owners said he didn't have a leg to stand on well that tells me that if he didn't have a leg to stand on he's not meeting the standards set for special entertainment districts so with that mayor please do the right thing for the right reason thank you thank you so much is there anyone else who wishes to speak on this subject there being none did you sign up no what's your name I didn't hear you I couldn't hear you did you sign up to speak and what is your name again come up and speak yes yes your name yes my name is Riste Sikoloski I'm here representing Bundleros Tacos LCSO Cafe Blue's Garden as well I don't know where you signed up but go ahead I signed up on OFR1 oh well we're not on OFR1 put the wrong one sorry I won't be long did you want to speak on PH5 or OFR1 PH5 yes the one we're currently on right now go ahead so thank you for your time commissioners mayor I want to take you back to June of 2020 during time of COVID when this street was boarded up and there was no businesses on him or she at all me and a couple other individuals came on the street and decided to take a chance on a couple of the buildings there to turn them into restaurants one being Bundleros Tacos one being El Tiesto Cafe and we've been there ever since the street was a great street before that and even after that I've been there since I was 21 years old working from bar bag to promoter to manager to now an owner the street has definitely taken a bad turn with some bad actors coming to the street and opening up businesses but I'm trying to understand if we are to go back to 2am and 3am how does this affect the underage drinking how does this affect the loitering because how does this affect any of this because none of that has a time loitering happens at any time of the day the underage drinking happens at any time of the day all this happens at any time of the day 3 to 4 2 to 3 I don't see how it's going to make any drastic measures on that street I think the problem here comes down to the fact that we need to go to what we used to be before which is a 21 only strict district that's it that's the only solution here once you make that a 21 district there will be no underage kids hanging out well we'll take that up in OFR1 then yes so but there won't be any of that and I remember that street back from 2014 when I I think I had a BlackBerry back then that's how long this SCD was written so to give you an idea I looked at in the world of AI I was able to look at sales on the way here from 3 to 4 at night and I can tell you as a restaurant we rely a lot of that late night traffic that's actually eating at our establishments and if this does pass we're not going to be able to stay open at the economic times that we're at right now where people are not going out to eat like they used to everybody's on peptides nobody's drinking as much we gotta look into what we gotta look into this is a very tough time tell those 11 restaurants that are opening up on Las Olas Boulevard this year that no one's going out they close at 12 no they don't close at 12 I've yet to go to a restaurant on Las Olas it's open at 4 all right thank you so much sir thank you all right that concludes public comment commissioners what's your pleasure commissioner glassman this is your district it is my district thank you mayor and first of all I want to say thank you to everyone that has shown up tonight it's taking a lot of your own time to be here and I find that the most important part of my job is to listen to everyone and I really do appreciate everyone's perspective everyone's opinion but I will tell you that over the last couple of years I believe that this commission has bent over backwards to accommodate everyone without accusations but I'm of the opinion that it really is time to decertify the district I just think that we have to move on from here I believe that the behaviors that I'm witnessing nothing upsets me more than to see videos that are sent to me from my constituents in and around Sailboat Bend in and around downtown in and around the historic district and I will remind everyone also that Hemistry Street is a historic district there's a lot of importance assigned to this street and we forget that we forget the importance of what this street means to our city and we have let it go way too long I believe that when I see videos and I get them a lot of the fights of folks defecating on the sidewalk of people urinating on the sidewalk in the streets I will tell you that just this weekend I got a report from Fire Rescue that a gentleman was found knocked out on the sidewalk taken to the hospital and suffering a brain bleed this behavior just cannot continue it's not what our city is about folks have spoken tonight about things that they're hoping that might see in the future in terms of economic development in terms of really cleaning up this area in terms of trying to bring people to invest in our city and I think that our economic development should not suffer because of what's happening on one street I just believe that we've given this our best shot and it is obvious that this district is not living up to its intention we've heard tonight what its mission statement was supposed to be what its enabling legislation was supposed to be anything but what that intent was when this district was created I'm one of those people that remembers walking on that street either having lunch at Creolinas when I worked downtown or actually on the way to the theater having dinner at Himishi Bar and Grill Top Bend wonderful establishments it was a great great feeling to see that street activated daytime and nighttime that's what I want to see again I do not want to see what I'm seeing now you know just last Tuesday we had a press conference Mayor you and I and the police chief and the fire chief held a press conference on the street and I took a long walk around because I get complaints all the time about alleyways and trash and dirt and debris and I was really surprised and I know that a lot of this is the city I believe is responsible for the streets but the businesses are supposed to take care of the sidewalks in front of the businesses and what I saw on the sidewalks and someone alluded to the fact that we used to have a city manager who was always saying we need to scrape that gum off the sidewalks well yeah because I saw just all of the brick pavers covered in that in that gum I saw on the grates around the trees on the sidewalks I saw nothing but broken glass and cigarette butts and trash and the whole street just has a very very unappealing look to it it feels dirty it feels greasy it just feels uncomfortable and I can see why people don't want to spend time there so I'm of the mind that we do need to decertify the district because the shootings the violence the underage drinking just the public disorder in general is unacceptable it's unacceptable not just in this street but also in the entire city before we go any further I need to have a motion to close public hearing I forgot moved second please call the roll Commissioner Glossman yes Commissioner Bisa-Pittman Vice Mayor Sorensen yes Mr. Herbst Mayor Trothas yes I'm sorry go ahead no problem so I do not want to see the continuation of the late night violence I do not want to see this disorder and public safety challenges like this that we're experiencing they not just affect that immediate area but it also sets a reputation for our entire city for any kind of economic vitality any kind of economic development that we're looking to see in the downtown it really is something that we have to look at holistically we have to look at the city downtown holistically this is a very pivotal piece of that downtown area and I just believe that this street should operate just like any other street when it comes to bars and restaurants I do not feel you know Dev made a good point about how he opposed the spring break crackdown because of the problems that they saw in terms of going out of business years ago but he's right you adjust you figure out what's going to work and you make it work and I believe that the good actors on this street will continue to be successful and they will figure out a way to work others might not but we have seen what has happened in our city since spring break was shut down years ago and we brought it back in a very different way and a very different behavior in a way that was not detrimental to the city so mayor as the district commissioner I'm going to recommend that we support the decertification of the district I also believe that we do not have to wait 180 days I would like to see that happen much quicker and I believe that we can do that so you're introducing the ordinance to decertify I'd be very happy to introduce the ordinance to decertify but again asking us to not wait the 180 days and I would also like to make sure that as we move forward and we have another agenda item this evening I do want to make sure that we are figuring out a path to success once we decertify this district I'll also speak to the item about extended permits when we get to that but I believe that we do have to find that pathway to make sure that the good actors are able to figure that out and whether that means grandfathering in we do know those seven businesses that have been there for that length of time I want us to be able to extend that kind of a consideration to them but without a doubt I'm pleased to introduce the ordinance to decertify the district thank you okay excuse me any other members of the commission wish to comment I would actually to the city attorney please would you address the issue of implementing this right away as opposed to the 180 days I'd just like to understand the impact of that please the 180 days contemplates the time it would take for a business to obtain a waiver or to even potentially convert to a restaurant because once you enact this they they would be in non-compliance relating to the obligation to be 300 feet apart so the need for the 180 in this ordinance contemplates an opportunity to cure that so if we were to crash out of this so to speak which is I think what's being contemplated if we don't have that what could that mean for us in other words does that expose us to liability is there is there an expectation from any of these businesses that they would be able to say detrimental reliance you know they've been operating this way under these guidelines help me understand what we'd be looking at from a liability perspective yes commissioner and this is why it's proposed 180 days in this ordinance decertifying we would also if this is what the commission chooses to do recommend that we prepare a an ordinance addressing the transition which would would address those very issues that you're raising so you could include it in here with 180 or whatever day that you choose and we can also bring back an ordinance which would address these transition issues so I was just going to say something that was brought up earlier because they've been out of compliance for years are we subject to having to what's the due process risk if we don't do the 180 days that is why 180 days is recommended in the ordinance we anticipate and I think Chris could answer this better than I we anticipate that the time period it would take to obtain a waiver to make them compliant okay yes so mayor with the decertification of this district there's really three things that these establishments either lose or don't have the ability to take advantage of anymore it's the extended hours till 4 a.m. it's the extended sound levels for music and things like that amplified sound and it's the distance separation which is you have to be 300 feet from another establishment licensed to sell alcoholic beverages unless those establishments are a restaurant with a bar or a hotel with a bar so and the restaurant has to be 50 percent of the proceeds right so there's a definition for a restaurant they have to maintain that you know maintain compliance with that definition so what's contemplated is time for somebody to come into compliance with the new rules that they would be subject to as not being part of an entertainment district so with any type of code procedure where we're seeking compliance from somebody there's usually a period of time to become compliant with the ordinance or the new law so thanks city manager so for clarity so we're on the first reading of this right so our process requires two readings so if this is passed the second reading would be at the first meeting in November it's actually November 17th is when we have it scheduled great so November 17th would be the second reading yes if it's passed today to do decertify and it's passed on November 17th to decertify then two things would immediately happen correct me if I'm wrong immediately as a result of the decertification the establishments would all establishments would have to come into compliance for hours in other words 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. yes right and sound levels yes all right okay what would not be forced on immediacy with that second vote on November 17th is a distance separation requirement that we would allow the due process for whether it's 120 180 days for that to be addressed appealed addressed and solutions found yes so that's our recommendation in the ordinance right now as you mentioned it's 180 days certainly we can have a conversation and provide some feedback on whether or not some of those processes that businesses could avail themselves of may take a different amount of time but but we're recommending in this ordinance is 180 days so what my suggestion would be is between now and November 17th staff work with the establishments to try to narrow that down to lessen the number of days needed for that process to make that process as efficient as possible for them to explore solutions for distance separation so mayor is that making sense where we're heading okay so completely agree commissioner glassman where you're heading I just want to add those details thank you um question um if I may have missed it in the backup is there any um what is the fee or cost for them for these businesses to come to compliance application fee application fee yes it would depend on what what path they choose and what they might need to do to come into compliance there may be some that are are situated right now where they could continue to operate as a as a bar or nightclub and just have to adjust the hours of operation um Anthony Fajardo is coming up he may know the uh cost for a special exemption to the board of adjustment but that's it's probably a nominal fee in the grand scheme of things to do so to get try to get that um special exemption we're talking hundreds not thousands of dollars correct yes mayor sorry Anthony Fajardo director of development services so we haven't established a rate because there was a lot of this was in flux on how we would handle it based on the conversation we're hearing tonight but I think what we could do is charge our basic hourly rate to do it which I think is around $140 or something I'd have to go back and look but it's it's pretty nominal so I think the question Anthony is the special exemption process for distance separation with the board of adjustment that that's the current application so yeah so that I would have to look it up that's more but in the hundreds uh no I think it's about 1400 I have to go check Anthony while you're up there okay the the oh I'm sorry I'm sorry um this is depending on which way we vote with this um this is an additional I'm gonna say hardship for the businesses is that a that a dollar amount something that could be um negotiated or changed we have options to use our hourly rates um so there's a little flexibility there I don't think there's anything in the ordinance that that gets us puts us in a position where we couldn't do that um the other thing is if you wanted to consider how you want this to move forward because if they do go for a variance there is a board and you know as part of that process if you wanted to set up a permit process which is what was also anticipated by some of the recommendations we could do that as a separate process for this particular district okay thank you thank you my my thoughts on that city manager just let's let's work on that after this meeting with the staff stakeholders and Anthony and try to figure out the the process for that compliance around distance separation Anthony is the distance separation issue uh able to be taken care of by the board of adjustment yes it is something that you can request um anywhere in the city so if you're in a part of the city that's not in one of the special entertainment districts currently you can request the distance separation waiver through the board of adjustment so that is an option because they have total purview to deal with that what would they would the businesses be basically claiming a hardship so it's not the same criteria uh you you basically go and you make the argument for what it is you're doing why you're doing it and and then there's i'd have to read the the criteria again to be certain but it's not the same hardship criteria i don't think okay so that is one of the remedies so i and i guess maybe if we could actually have more than just one remedy if it's possible or is that the only path we just can offer i guess whatever we can offer in terms of options we could definitely talk with the city attorney's office come up with some you know a menu maybe and then present that at the second reading okay that's great thank you okay any of the further comments or questions there being none please call the roll i'm sorry commissioner glassman i want to be sure that we're clear about what exactly your your motion is because the ordinance talks about the 180 days you made a comment about that so i want to be clear what the direction is relating to hours applicability and the days well yes i am moving forward to decertify but i again i i think we can do this with less than 180 days i don't know if you need to change what's in front of us as an agenda item but i would recommend that we are able to after the november 17 second reading to come up with those options for the businesses in terms of either vote of adjustment or whatever the remedy we might see but i do believe that we need to move a little quicker than six months um that's all understood um i'm sorry i have an additional question um with the number of um businesses that are on hemistry street going before the abort board of adjustment is it gonna be um do they have some time to you know to speak to each one of the businesses are we you know we reduce the time are we giving them that opportunity to apply for what they're asking so that was somewhat factored into the 180 days if you're looking at what it takes to get an application ready um do the public noticing and all those things are associated with an application you know 120 180 days is probably sensible i think we should stick to the 180 days yeah commissioner glassman i i think you can gauge from my comments tonight that i'm strongly supportive of what you want to do but i think the 180 days is a much safer approach i would i would encourage us to consider that um i think it's imperative that we have something that's defensible uh again i i think you can sense from my conversation of where i'm probably going to be but i agree with you i think let's let's just stick with that i'm okay i'm okay stick with 180 days as is yeah and mayor i just want to say so a lot has been said tonight about performance and behavior both on on behalf of the establishment owners and operators as well as our staff and flpd what the ordinance includes is as the reason for decertification is the lack of common control and the failure to maintain that for at least 180 days if not six years so i just want to make sure for those that are here and those that are watching you know we understand all those other concerns but the basis for this decertification is really the common control element not being complied with which is basically how the statute was originally intended it was intended to address or to contemplate common control operators that's correct and that and that was important as part it was really the crux of it right okay all right any further comments or questions and again okay mr just to mayor just to clarify again with city attorney city manager so commissioner glassman's motion he's introducing the ordinance as proposed right which includes upon final passage hours and sound levels are to be adjusted and adhere to the there's no exceptions that there's no exceptions and that's not part of the um kind of applicant um appeal process so i would just want that to be made clear in the motion that those two aspects are upon adoption and final the distance separation and being compliant with that is within 180 days from adoption if that's the will of the commission right but i think vice mayor is also saying something else in addition to that he's also talking about the fact that it should be specifically mentioned that we're dealing with this with the extended hours and also the sound levels so in other words the hours upon final passage hours revert to 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. correct okay upon final passage which is could be november 17th so make sure sound levels return to the normal standard state upon final passage november 17th correct the only thing that has that 180 day allowance is relating to distance non-compliance that's what i'm hearing from the that's what you're hearing right just in separation yes in separation correct correct great thank you no thank you excuse me my pleasure okay let's move on uh mr clerk please call the roll and ordinance to the city of fort lauderdale florida certifying special entertainment overlay district established through the execution of a special entertainment overlay district agreement with 111 properties inc in accordance with section 5-57 of code of ordinances of the city of fort lauderdale florida providing for conflicts providing for severability and providing for defective date commissioner glossman yes commissioner beasley bittman yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbst yes mayor trentales yes and that and that ordinance passes on first reading um folks we need to take a 10 minute break it's a little stressful right now we'll be back in 10 minutes let's resume our meeting if i could ask you all to please take your seats thank you at the beginning of this meeting i had indicated i was taking two items out of order first was ph 5 which we just discussed and voted upon the next was of r1 uh this also affects district 2 so district commissioner do you have any comments you'd like to make before we begin yes thank you mayor so i'll i'll defer to the city attorney on this one but i really think that this is a moot point now considering that we just decertified the district and i i really would recommend that we just simply table this issue in terms of the extended permit um until we figure all that out but i i just think that our previous action has made this a moot point well that would be your decision to make given the fact that this one would uh do basically the opposite of what you've just done by decertification well that's why that's why i'm saying that so i'm going to move that we table uh this item mayor uh all right second okay uh so um there's a motion and a second on the floor to table of r1 uh at no to no indeterminate to no determinant date okay all right any questions or comments with regard to this item um well it's a motion to table it's not we're not taking up the item itself well i'm not opening the floor open i'm not opening the floor to discussion on the table um city attorney do i have to open the floor on the item to table i think you can address the motion that's at hand i'm sorry you can address the the motion that is at hand all right if you'd like to come up and speak to the tabling of the item please identify yourself thank you mr mayor commissioners sandy fay representing riverwalk center which is on the property in himbrose district since 1986 as i discussed when we were talking about the previous agenda item the concept of the certification was always under the construct that there would be a substitute avenue for these establishments to continue to operate under the status quo that was the ordinance under lfr1 that was that's what was promised to the establishment to the community that we would have that ability to operate under that and now you're taking taking that away thinking that the certification we're just not taking it away we're just not discussing it tonight okay well it will be discussed in the future or yes well will that be discussed and implemented before the certification goes into effect you're asking a lot of questions i don't have all the answers to them right now because that and i can't speak on behalf of the commission because we haven't discussed and voted on it all i'm saying right now is that the nature of the motion and the second on the floor is to table the item different at some future date because all we're discussing right i understand that but if the desertification goes to effect prior to the implementation of that second path then the establishments are kind of the chaos that you all wanted to avoid well i don't think it's going to create chaos i think we're going to go back to the rules of existing bar hours and and uh and uh hours of operation and and and a manner of conducting business so it's not like it's a free-for-all there are already rules in place with regard to operating a business right but don't say it's chaos and don't say don't try to create hysteria that doesn't exist our community is is well suited to knowing how to do how to do business without the without the certification of a of a of the special entertainment overlay district so i don't know what you're talking about no it was we've we've had multiple meetings with with commissioner glassman the staff that we worked for months and months to develop this extended hour permit ordinance that was of r1 right to develop an opportunity and a path but we're not discussing it tonight right it's very simple right but the objective is that was supposed to be contemporaneous with the serve with the implementation of the desertification and the commission has an opportunity to make that decision to do to make it contemporaneous or not and that's what the nature of this motion is and your in your statement tonight is you're asking us not to table it correct okay thank you all right um any further comments from the commission there being none please call the roll commissioner glassman yes mr beasley-pittman vice mayor sorenson yes mr herbst mayor trentales yes and or for our one is is now tabled um instead of for tonight's consideration all right let's move back to the regular agenda uh we're going back to m1 motion approving the execution of an interlocal agreement with briar county for the monitoring of development activity and enforcement of permitted land uses in the uptown urban village activity land use activity center land use designation um no one has signed up to speak anyone have any questions commissioner herbst do you want to make the motion second been moved and seconded please call the roll commissioner glassman yes mr beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorenson yes mr herbst yes and m1 is now approved m2 motion approving a comprehensive agreement and design build agreement with david mancini and sons for the riverland neighborhood stormwater improvement project in accordance with section 255.065 florida statutes and authorizing the city the acting city manager to execute the comprehensive agreement and design build agreement we have two people sign up to speak but all one person signed to speak but only for questions um this is in district three i believe yes it is would you like to move to approve um i have um well i want to talk about something are we approving the person then open up a question yeah let's put the motion on the floor um move for approval do i hear a second do i hear a second second second been moved and seconded open for discussion okay thank you um i was looking over the comprehension agreement there is an item um 10.14 that talks about the um limitation or lump sum um regarding to i'm sorry regarding to change orders lump sum um conversation and i want to talk about that a little bit more um when we had my conversation with pre-agenda um conversation we talked about this a little bit more the auditor mentioned it and we talked about it and i just want to go back over it so i can have clarity clarity pertaining to it and that was um item number item line 1014 miss two dacre thank you commissioner stephanie toothacre on behalf of dmsi there's actually two um companion items on i represent dmsi ellen bogdanoff represents um the other the second one man con so the city attorney my understanding is that um the auditor raised an issue that had a concern the city attorney called i believe both ellen and myself and asked us if we would agree to a change that the auditor was asking for in the contract and we both agreed to that change all right and um thank you yes thank you no other questions thank you anyone else have any comments or questions they're being done there's a motion on the floor and it's been seconded so please call the roll commissioner glossman yes mr beasley pitman yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbst yes mayor trentals yes and m2 is now approved uh m3 motion approving a comprehensive agreement and design build agreement with mancon incorporated for the melrose manors neighborhood stormwater improvement project um let's see no one has signed up to speak someone like to move the item so move second remove the seconded please call the roll commissioner glossman yes mr beasley pitman yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbst yes are you trying to tell us yes and m3 is now approved you know this is a significant investment in these neighborhoods yes i know it's about time but i think you know everyone should understand we're spending you know almost 200 million dollars between riverland road and melrose manors and we all know how how difficult those neighbors had to suffer through the flooding that has occurred over the years and um um i'm very thankful that the commission is moving forward to assist these neighborhoods uh in trying to deal with uh with the with this uh problem and then also the direction we're going in is going to expedite yes exactly the opportunity to finish faster so thank you the p3 approach yes okay r1 appointment of board and committee members um mr clerk would you like to please read the names into the record thank you mayor for the november 6th resolution public garden placement board jacqueline garcia ortega nominated by vice mayor sorenson jody tanner nominated by vice mayor sorenson and for tonight's resolution cemetery system board of trustees tracy bunting early nominated by mary trantelis central city redevelopment advisory board kimber white nominated by commissioner glassman and we received one name after uh publishing that their uh term expire before the next meeting and that's for nuisance abatement board mark dickerman nominated by commissioner glassman and that rounds it out okay thank you so much any other modifications or additions to these nominations they're being done someone like to introduce the resolution introduced resolution has been introduced and that's as amended as amended yes thank you a resolution city commission of the city of fort lauderdale florida appointing or nominating if a local board or committee members has set forth in the exhibit attached here to made a part here of commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst mayor trantelis yes and i want to thank all those individuals for their their sacrifice and volunteerism and helping the city move forward on these board and committees thank you r2 resolution levying the fiscal year 2027 operating millage rate of 0.6271 and debt service millage rate for the excuse me the millage rate of 0.3568 for the downtown development authority of the city of fort lauderdale no one has signed up to speak would someone like to introduce the resolution introduce the resolution has been introduced any questions there being none please call the roll a resolution city commission of the city of fort lauderdale florida levying and ad valorem tax for fiscal year 2026 2027 on behalf of the downtown development authority of the city of fort lauderdale florida pursuant to chapter 2005-346 laws of florida commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst mayor trantelis yes and uh that resolution is now approved moving on to r3 resolution approving a 23rd amendment 23rd amendment to the landscape maintenance memorandum of agreement for state road a1a that's seabree's boulevard and the florida department of transportation for landscape improvements within the right of way of state road a1a and assumption of liability and hold harmless agreement with saline condominium association no one has signed up to speak someone like to introduce the resolution introduce the resolution has been introduced any questions please call the roll a resolution city commission of the city of fort lauderdale florida approving and authorizing the execution of amendment number 23 to a florida department of transportation district for inclusive landscape maintenance manner of agreement between the city of fort lauderdale and the florida department of transportation for the installation and maintenance of landscape improvements within the right of way of state road a1a and an assumption of liability and hold harmless agreement between the city of fort lauderdale florida and the saline condominium association income providing for defective date commissioner glassman yes mr beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst yes mayor trantelis yes and r3 is now approved moving on to r4 resolution appointing the law firm of greenberg trorig as special counsel to represent the city of fort lauderdale with the faa regulatory matters public private partnerships federal tax laws condominium laws construction laws real estate and development issues okay uh no one has signed up to speak uh would someone like to introduce the resolution introduce the resolution has been introduced please call the roll a resolution city commission of the city of fort lauderdale florida appointing the law firm of greenberg charg pa as special counsel to provide certain legal services to the city fort lauderdale prescribing the compensation to be paid to such special counsel providing for an effective date commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst mayor trantelis yes and uh r4 is now approved r5 city auditor annual performance review i have 300 people who sign up to speak but they're all in support they're all in support okay okay um all right someone like to uh just uh open the discussion yeah happy to uh pat and you and i've spoken one-on-one i think you're doing a fantastic job um proactive in nature and identifying um you know opportunities to improve efficiencies so just thank you for that work um as you and i've talked about i think one of the opportunities is continue to develop your team and your staff so that you're developing people uh in alignment with a strong succession plan so ask you to continue to do that continue doing the great work that you're doing for the city i appreciate it so um vice mayor there's a there's a blank in the resolution section one the city auditor patrick riley's base salary is increased by are we looking at a three percent yep so he he got a cost of living at three percent and i'd suggest mayor another three percent increase for him okay all right anyone have any comments or questions i concur someone like to introduce the resolution it's been resolute it's been introduced with a three percent um increase effective october 15 um mr clerk please call the roll a resolution the city commission of the city of fort lauderdale florida providing for a three percent merit salary increase for city auditor patrick riley effective october 15 2026 commissioner glassman yes mr visa pittman yes vice mayor sorensen yes mr herbst yes mayor trentals yes and our five is now approved uh thank you pat for all the good work that you do we appreciate it um i know we wish we could give you more but you know we're cutting back well thank you and uh i you know honor to continue working as a city auditor for the city of fort lauderdale we appreciate it um our six resolution approving an amendment to an approved planned uh development district pdd site plan and design narrative for the mixed-use project located at 400 north corporate drive um one person who has signed up to speak robert lockery but that's just for is robert lockery still here that's just for comments right okay um section 286 florida statutes generally requires all members who are present to vote but it requires abstention when there is or appears to be a possible conflict of interest in this case about two weeks ago mr burns approached me about uh me potentially coming on board with his company after i stepped down from office uh there is no job offer on the table i have not accepted one but in the interest of making sure that this does not create any appearance of impropriety i'm going to abstain from any vote um this is a project that's been underway in my district now for a couple of years it's one that i certainly support but again uh this is something that i don't uh i don't believe would be appropriate for me to vote on at this time thank you who are we going to get to introduce the resolution okay i'll introduce it okay introduce mayor and that's for approval for approval thank you okay um all right thank you for making that disclosure uh any any further comments or questions there being none um please call the roll a resolution city commission of the city of fort lauderdale florida approving an amendment to an approved site approved planned development district site plan and design narrative for the mixed use project known as the cypress located at 400 north corporate drive fort lauderdale florida in the planned development district zoning district provided for severability and providing for conflicts commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorensen yes mayor trinthals yes and r6 is now approved r7 is a quasi-judicial resolution approving the vacation of a portion of a 15 foot wide by 184 foot long utility easement uh cis trunk view easement vacation at 790 cis trunk boulevard anyone wishing to speak must be sworn in and the commission will announce any site visits communications or extra opinion expert opinions received and make them a part of the record um commissioner herbst do you have any disclosures none commissioner beasley-pittman site visit okay i have none um commissioner glassman none and vice mayor none none um no one is signed up to speak someone like to move to close public hearing so move second they've moved and seconded please call the roll commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbst yes mayor trinthals yes the public hearing on r7 is now closed would someone like to introduce the resolution introduce resolution to introduce please call the roll a resolution city commission of the city of fort lauderdale florida vacating a portion of that certain 15 foot wide retained utility easement per official records book 15316 page 195 in the public records of broward county lying in block 15 north lauderdale according to the plot thereof as recorded in plot book 1 page 48 the public records of date county florida located south of sistron boulevard east of northwest 8th avenue west of northwest 7th terrace and north of northwest 5th street all said lands being the city of fort lauderdale brower county florida commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbst yes mayor trinthals yes and r7 is now approved uh r8 this is a quasi-judicial resolution approving site plan level 2 development permit for an amendment to the site plan with an alternative design request at 616 southeast 4th avenue 317 north federal and 317 north federal why is that redundant okay um anyone wishing to speak must be sworn in and the commission will announce uh any site visits communications or expert opinions received and make them a part of the record um mr martwani you have signed up to speak but is that just for questions and um mr lockery as well okay um would someone like to move to close public hearing oh wait first of all are there any disclosures commissioner uh herbst uh besides driving past the site every day yes i have talked to uh mr martwani and mr lockery beasley-pittman yes i've spoken both with mr martwani and also um robert lockery i have the same disclosures uh commissioner glassman same disclosures and vice mayor same disclosures okay um um someone please move to close public hearing move second move and seconded please call the roll commission commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorensen yes mr herbst yes mayor chantal yes a public hearing on on r8 is now closed would someone like to introduce the resolution introduced the resolution has been introduced please call the roll and that's for approval yes thank you a resolution city commission of the city of fort lauderdale florida approving a site plan level two development permit for an amendment to the site plan with an alternative design that meets the overall antenna of the downtown master plan for the mixed use project known as 317 north federal consisting of two residential towers with 773 residential units and 7821 square feet of commercial use located at 317 north federal highway fort lauderdale florida in the regional activity center city center zoning district having an underlying land use designation of downtown regional activity center providing for severability and providing for conflicts commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbst yes mayor trentals yes and our aid is now approved you can go home now okay moving on to public hearings um this is uh ph one this is a quasi judicial resolution approving a waiver of limitations uh this is for a uh this is for a at 1817 southeast 21st avenue for a finger pier and cluster pilings anyone wishing to speak must be sworn in and the commission will announce any site as its communications or extraordinary opinions received and make them a part of the record um commissioner herbst do you have any disclosures i have none commissioner beasley-pittman um i'm sorry let's speak with you court no no no no disclosures i have none commissioner glassman none and vice mayor say visit and surrounding neighbors okay uh no one has signed up to speak um someone please move to close public hearing so moved and second moved and seconded please call the role of closing public hearing commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorensen yes mr herbst yes mayor trentals yes and public hearing on ph one is now closed um someone like to introduce the resolution on the waiver of limitations before we do that mayor i had some questions on that sure great thanks um city manager uh reached out to the neighborhood to see any concerns and got um email back from a nearby neighbor expressing concern about um access to their property and and um view as well so can we have someone yeah we'll have andrew cubiff with the marine with city staff but liaison to the marine advisory board thanks hi andrew thanks for being here so the concern um is from a nearby neighbor about uh she wasn't real clear in her email but access to her property as well as view impacts can you speak to any of that thanks can you turn on your mic i can't speak to the view corridor issue um however in terms of ingress and egress to uh neighboring properties i did notice 38 neighboring properties right and uh i did not receive any feedback negative or positive yep for both meetings the marine advisory board in this meeting as well okay great in other words noticing sending them communication about this correct and um are you seeing any impediment to access to other surrounding properties based on the proposed design of the pier i am not it's 1100 feet wide uh the proposed design allows for ingress and egress in a perpendicular fashion yep okay great thank you thank you senator thank you andrew um thank you mayor um move to approve so uh the resolution has been introduced for approval for introduced for approval thank you thank you please call the roll a resolution city commission of the city fort lauderdale florida pursuant to section 47-19.3 e of the city of fort lauderdale florida unified land development regulations granting a waiver of limitations of uldr section 417-19.3 c and d to permit charles and angelina evans husband and wife of one finger pier and two triple pile clusters extending a maximum distance of 97 feet six inches plus or minus into the waters adjacent to the upland property such property being located at 1817 southeast 21st avenue fort lauderdale florida three three three one six and more particularly describe below subject to certain terms and conditions repealing any and all parts of resolutions and conflict herewith and providing for an effective date commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley pittman yes vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst yes mayor chantal yes and ph1 is now approved ph2 it's a public hearing quasi-judicial ordinance approving a vacation of a 70 foot long by 20 foot wide portion of an alley at boat campers property holdings anyone wishing to speak must be sworn in and the commission will announce any site visits communications or expert opinions received and make them a part of the record uh commissioner herbst do you have any disclosures i've had site visits i've spoken with courtney crush and with jason crush commissioner beasley pittman yes i've spoken with courtney crush i have the same disclosure commissioner glassman yes site visit courtney crush on may 9th 2024 and october 15th 2026 and vice mayor courtney crush okay um courtney you're there anyone to sign up to speak just for questions correct all right so i'd like to move to close public hearing so moved second move the seconded please call the roll commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley pittman yes vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst yes mayor chantal yes and public hearing on ph2 is now closed would someone like to introduce the ordinance introduced the ordinance introduced please call the roll in orange to the city of fort lauderdale florida vacating approximately 20 foot wide by 70 foot long portion of the alley adjacent to lots 5 6 9 and 10 block 2 called ocean model according to plat thereof as recorded plat book 34 page 16 of public records of brow county florida located west of northeast 33rd avenue north of east oakland park boulevard east of northeast 32nd avenue and south northeast 32nd street all said lands being the city of fort lauderdale browar county florida commissioner glassman yes mr beasley pittman yes vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst yes mayor chantal yes and that uh vacation is now approved thank you ph3 public hearing first reading ordinance approving a public purpose use and structure for 9 014 square foot fire station excuse me no one has signed up to speak um someone like to move to close public hearing moved moved second second moved and seconded please call the roll commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley pittman vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst yes mayor chantal yes public hearing on ph3 is now closed someone like to introduce the ordinance they'll introduce the mayor and just want to uh commend city manager uh fire uh thank you this this ems substation this was set in motion in 2021 and just underscoring the need to have more critical projects move forward more efficiently ems substations may as you know are just critical for response times uh better serving our neighbors and visitors and so moving us forward expediting and providing that reduced response time to the surrounding neighborhoods is just tremendous so thank you all for commissioners mayor and commissioner support for staff for your work on this i know it's a lot of pieces to it so i will introduce for approval okay so ph3 has been introduced for approval any questions comments mr clerk please call the roll in ordinance of the city of fort lauderdale florida approving pursuant to section 47-18.26 of the city of fort lauderdale unified land development regulations the location of a fire station as a public purpose use and structure on property within the residential office zoning district legally described as of all of lot 19 and 20 block for lauderdale according to plot there of recording plot book two page nine of the public records of date county florida located north of the southeast 11th court south of southeast 11th street west of south federal highway and east of southeast fourth avenue all said lands being in the city for lauderdale brower county florida and identified by the united states postal service address 507 southeast 11th court for lauderdale florida granting relief from zoning regulations codified in section 47-5.60.d.1 section 47-5.60.d.6 section 47-20.2 section 47-20.11 section 47-21.13.b.3 section 47-21.12 section 47-21.13.b.1.a and section 47-21.16 of the uldr providing for conflicts providing for an effective date and providing for conditions for the termination of public purpose status commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst yes mayor trentales yes and ph3 is now approved moving on to ph4 uh it's the first reading of a public uh first reading of a public hearing regarding ordinance amending chapter 11 section 11-25 civil penalties to increase the uncontested and contested fine for alcoholic beverage violations um we have one person who signed up to speak oh two people signed up to speak um i think jenny morihone has left uh richard mercedes has left so no one else to sign up to speak um someone like to move the closed public hearing moved second moved and seconded please call the role on closing public hearing commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst yes mayor trentales yes on ph4 public hearing is now closed someone like to introduce the ordinance on first reading introduced the ordinance has been introduced please call the role in north of the city of fort lauderdale floor demanding the city of fort lauderdale code of ordinances section 11-25 to increase the uncontested and contested fine for alcoholic beverage violations along with delegation of staff authority providing for severability repeal of conflicting or provisions codification and correction of scrivener's errors and an effective date commissioner glassman yes commissioner beasley-pittman vice mayor sorenson yes mr herbst yes mayor trentales yes and ph4 is now approved on first reading ph5 public hearing first reading and ordinance approving the decertification of the special entertainment overlay district for 111 properties inc which we've already done yes we have uh of r1 we've already done of r2 first reading ordinance amending the city of fort lauderdale code of ordinances requirements for new development and site alterations to modify sidewalk construction requirements and waiver request criteria um one person to sign up to speak mr lockery i think he's already gone to bed it's not that late um i guess we outlasted him okay don't we know someone like to uh move to close public hearing moved and moved do i hear a second second move the second to close public hearing and of r2 please call the roll commissioner glassman yes mr beasley-pittman yes vice mayor sorenson yes commissioner herbst yes mayor trentales yes and uh public hearing on of r2 is now closed um would someone like to introduce the ordinance introduce the ordinance is introduced please call the roll in ordinance of the city of fort lauderdale florida admitting chapter 25 streets and sidewalks more specifically section 25-62 entitled requirements for new development and site alterations of the code of ordinances the city of fort lauderdale florida to modify sidewalk construction requirements and waiver request criteria providing for correction of scriveners errors severability repeal of conflicting ordinance provisions and effective date commissioner glassman yes commissioner yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbst yes mary trentales yes and of r2 is now approved on first reading of r3 first reading of an ordinance amending division 5 of article 7 chapter 2 of the city of fort lauderdale code of ordinances to establish the homeless advisory board and replace the homeless advisory committee uh no one is signed up to speak someone like to introduce the ordinance introduce the ordinance has been introduced um any questions or comments please call the in ordinance of the city of fort lauderdale florida admitting division 5 of article 7 of chapter 2 of the code of ordinances the city of fort lauderdale florida to establish a homeless advisory board providing for membership qualifications length of term and the purpose of duties of the board providing for correction of scriveners errors and providing for severability repeal of conflicting ordinance provisions and effective date commissioner glassman yes mr. vizley-pittman yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbst yes mary trentales yes and of r3 is now approved on first reading of r4 first reading an ordinance amending chapter 20 of the code of ordinances of the city of fort lauderdale to allow retirees to serve on the board of trustees for the general employee's retirement plan and to clarify certain payment functions uh no one has signed up to speak would someone like to introduce the ordinance introduce the ordinance have introduced any questions there being none please call the roll in ordinance of the city of fort lauderdale florida amending section 20-113 of the code of ordinances of the city of fort lauderdale florida by providing for retired members to be eligible to serve on the board of trustees of the city of fort lauderdale general employees retirement plan as voting members and providing for the city of fort lauderdale finance director to serve as the city's liaison to the board of trustees with authority to participate in all board of trustees meetings amending section 20-114 the code of ordinances by providing for certain payment functions to be performed by the plans trustee in providing for severability repeal of conflicting orange provisions correction of scrivener's errors and an effective date commissioner glassman yes mr beasley pitman yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbs yes mayor trentales yes and of r4 is now approved on first reading finally of r5 this is the first reading of an ordinance amending various provisions of chapter 20 article 4 division 3 of the city of fort lauderdale code of ordinances uh would someone like to introduce introduce the ordinance introduce the ordinance have been introduced any questions or comments there being none please call the roll in order to the city of fort lauderdale florida amending chapter 20 article 4 division 3 of the code of ordinances of the city of fort lauderdale florida by amending the city of fort lauderdale police and firefighters retirement system to implement certain provisions of collective bargaining agreements between the city of fort lauderdale and collective bargaining units representing firefighters and battalion chiefs and providing for severability repeal of conflicting orange provisions correction of scrivener's errors and an effective date commissioner glassman yes mr beasley pitman yes vice mayor sorensen yes commissioner herbs yes mayor trentales yes and of r5 is now approved on first reading mr city manager is any further business nothing further any announcements from city attorney no mayor okay any other questions or comments from the commission can we go home conference for next meeting adjourned thank you