Board of County Commissioners: Regular Meeting - 11.10.26

mosquitoes because they are a threat to public health. There are many mosquito born illnesses that they can pass on to humans and other animals, therefore we want to mitigate their populations and we're only spraying whenever we have justification and that could come from our surveillance data or from our inspectors who go out and are looking at different larval production sites every single day. We don't have a spray schedule because everything we do is based on data that we collect. So it's based on the number of mosquitoes that we find in our traps every day. It's based on what the inspectors are finding out in the field. If they're finding a lot of breeding, they'll obviously treat then, but we don't have a set schedule because everything is based on data that we find. We don't do any individual spray requests. You can always submit a request for a spray, a request for a property inspection, or report any standing water that you have around your house and we'll come send out an inspector. They'll come look at that area, see if it's breeding, and then based on the data that they find, we'll see if that area is eligible for treatment, but we don't do treatment based on special events. We're spraying right at sunset because dawn and dusk are the most active times for mosquitoes, so in order for our treatments to be the most effective, we obviously want to treat when the mosquitoes are most active, and we're going to be able to mitigate the population best at those times. Most people to the untrained eye are going to sit here and say that this owner starved for dogs. We're going to head up to that dog hall right now. So we'll go out, we'll assess the situation. I'm looking at these dogs. I'm like garbage. I mean, that's just like, did you see those bags through there? She was very upset about losing all of her cats. She called me up a few times in tears. I need my photos. I need to be able to paint this picture for the judge so that he sees what I see. Welcome to the works. In today's episode, we're taken to the skies with Hillsborough County Mosquito Control to find out how they combat the spread of disease and the rising mosquito population. So when it comes to mosquitoes, how exactly are we combating them in the sky? Nobody complains about larvae. They complain about mosquitoes and specifically adult mosquitoes, female mosquitoes, the ones that bite you, right? But it's a lot easier to control adult mosquitoes by controlling the larvae. What we do is we use a larvicide product that attacks the larval in the swamps of the mangrove areas along the coast here. We stop their growth so they never grow up and become adult mosquitoes. Welcome to a meeting of your Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. Representing District one, Harry Cohen. Representing District two, Ken Hagan. Representing District three, Gwen Myers. Representing District four, Christine Miller. Representing District five, Donna Cameron Cepeda. Representing District six, Chris Bowles. Representing District seven, Joshua Wostel. The county administrator is Bonnie Wise. The county attorney is Julia Mandel. Time is set aside at the beginning of each meeting for citizens to speak on any issue. So we have time for everyone. Speakers are asked to limit their comments to three minutes. Today's meeting is brought to you with closed captioning by Hillsborough Television. Good morning and welcome to the November 10, 2026 regularly scheduled board meeting of the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners. Everyone please rise for the pledge and invocation given by our chaplain commissioner Gwen Myers. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Oh, gracious Heavenly Father, I come to you again, thanking you for your grace and mercy that has sustained this county. Father, I ask that you will continue to bless our staff and our first responders. Bless this board and our administration as well. Father, I ask a special blessing for our two colleagues who will be leaving this board that you will continue to buy the wisdom and God and that they will continue to serve your people with character, honesty and integrity. In your holy name I pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Commissioner Myers. Thankfully, we do not have any proclamations or accommodations to hand out today. So, Bonnie, would you like to review the changes of the agenda? Yes. Good morning, commissioners. We have one item that has been deferred. It is item G1. This is to receive a report on the hill. Hillsborough County Firearm purchase ordinances deferred to a date to be determined. We have several items for time certain today. The first item is item D1 at 10 o'clock. This is related to item B1, which is to conduct a public hearing to approve the proposed ordinance relating to e-bikes, bicycles, motorized scooters and other micro-ability devices. And then item B1 related to item D1 is to adopt an amended resolution to incorporate the violations of the county's micro-ability devices. Ordinances into the civil citation framework. Item D2 at 10 o'clock is to conduct a public hearing to consider amending Hillsborough County Synthetic Drug Ordinance. Item D3 at 10 o'clock. This is related to items B3, B8 and B9 are all related with D3 to conduct a public hearing to receive public input and discuss amending the approved list of infrastructure projects for the renewed community investment tax. As mentioned, approved a resolution amending the adopted fiscal year 27 to fiscal year 31 capital improvement program to add the Tampa Bay Rays ballpark and to appropriate $90 million within the CIT extension project fund. Item B3 also related approved a resolution amending the county's fiscal year 26 to 27 tourist development tax plan to include the Tampa Bay Rays ballpark projects as recommended by the Tourist Development Council. And finally, item B9 also related is to adopt a master bond resolution providing for Hillsborough County's issuance of not to exceed $263 million of its sixth and third cent tourist tax revenue bonds. Item G2 at 10-15 is related to item B2. This is to receive a report regarding potential framework for land use regulations for future data centers and item B2 also at 10-15 related to G2 is to receive a legal memorandum by supermajority vote declaring zoning in progress for temporary moratorium on the establishment of AI data centers within unincorporated Hillsborough County. 1145 is a recess for lunch. Those are the changes to the agenda. Can we have a motion to approve the changes? Move to approve. Motion to Commissioner Myers. Second to Commissioner Miller. Please accord your vote and changes the agenda. Motion carried 7-0. Okay, the board will go on the public comment portion of the agenda. The board welcomes comments from the citizens about any issue or concern. Your opinions are valued in terms of providing valuable input to board members. However, at the same time, it is requested when you address the board that comments are not made directly at staff or the board, but rather the issues. The chair will call on speakers by name in which the order in which the request to speak had been received. When addressing the board, please state your name and speak clearly into the microphone. We have 11 speakers this morning. The first three, Rani Karnick, virtual, followed by Linda Reed, and then Denise Herndon. Is Rani on the line? Rani, can you hear it? Good morning, commissioners. Yes, I am. Good morning. Please proceed. Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for having me. My name is Rani Karnick, and I'm calling as a resident of Carolwood in Tampa. I'm calling in to speak with you in regard to item D2 on today's agenda, which is the ordinance that would ban the sale of 7-OH, a concentrated synthetic derivative of kratom. And our understanding is that this will exclude natural whole leaf kratom products. I did want to mention that citizens, like myself, are not advocates of the synthetic and dangerous derivatives of kratom, which is a many thousand-year-old plant used in this way. We fully support the regulation of those synthetics, but we would like to speak a little bit to natural kratom and help educate those who may not be in the know as things unfold in the 50 states, just like it's close to home, because it is where I live and have lived for the last several years. I think a lot of folks may not know much about kratom, but if we were to examine the demographic as to who might regularly imbibe kratom, I'm confident that you'll find among us veterans who serve the country, postpartum mothers overcoming mood disorders, college students who don't drink or use dangerous drugs and may want an alternative in social situations that are of age, of course, grandmothers with chronic illness and chronic pain. You'll find heavy bay laborers, which is how the plant was traditionally used thousands of years ago to support those working in the field, and today's modern construction workers, farmers, the backbone of the American economy. When I did relocate from Manhattan to the Tampa Bay area several years ago, one thing struck me. It really wasn't the beaches or the great weather or being close to my mother who had been here for 30 years. It was a sense of freedom here in Florida, and I believe that our freedom could be at risk, and one of those freedoms would be the ability to buy a product in its pure form that has been used for thousands of years without issue. So that's why I stand before you today, not just as an attorney, a taxpayer, a citizen, a wife, a mother of a one-year-old, but just as someone who really cares about this long-term and hopes that you keep these types of comments in mind. And thanks also to the American Kratom Association for helping to share the word about this hearing today. Appreciate your time. All right, thank you, Ms. Karnick. Next three speakers, Linda Reed, followed by Denise Herndon, and then Elizabeth Braden. Ms. Reed here. Okay, Denise Herndon, followed by Elizabeth Braden, and then Betsy Covell. Good morning. Good morning, I'm Denise Herndon. We start with a pledge of allegiance, one nation under God, and then we pray. You need to get that plaque outside this conference area in the window or that thing with the shovel. It says, may God bless you, not may God bless you. Now, this is the second time I've brought this up in the meeting, and somebody needs to do something about this. These are simple things. We had Robert E. Lee or whatever taken away from stuff because of a racial. This is not racial. This is you county commissioners putting up with the word gob spelled wrong on a plaque. Please remove it. Our short-term rentals. We're supposed to have a 6% bed tax on all the motels, but in hotels. But all these short-term rentals that are taking up single-family homes. I'm not talking about just a garage that somebody needs extra income. In my neighborhood, I have a well and a septic tank. One whole property. They turn their garage into livable space and the whole house. There is no family living in there unless it's a caretaker. Are we paying this company that we're going to pay over $91,000 to do stuff with these short-term rentals? Are they going to make sure they're paying the 6% bed tax? Because all the hotels and motels are losing, not just fire safety, but the 6% sales tax. That's money that we're losing for our roads and infrastructure. The e-bikes that are going to be voted on, the CIT wasn't for the Ray Stadium. It was for roads, sidewalks, fire stations, and you guys, it's hospitality workers that can't afford to live here. I saw on the news this morning two commissioners approving or commemorating USF and TGH building an affordable house. 80 to 120% of median income. That is not your hospitality workers. And that's who you guys want the Rays to come here for. Because they are the ones doing the work, the 20-some thousand dollars or 20-some thousand jobs to build the Ray Stadium. That's all it is, is the Ray Stadium. And we taxpayers will put up the bill for the rest of it forever. Thank you, Ms. Herndon. We've got Elizabeth Braden, Elizabeth here, followed by Betsy Coville and then John Marinello, who's virtual. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Elizabeth Braden. Thank you for letting me speak. And I'll do a shout out for the Kratom Awareness Network. I feel really bad for the children that are dying from, not children, but adults that are dying from Kratom. So it's really awful. All right. But I'm here to speak about zoning. I'm here standing tonight, today, to peel back the layer of confusing bureaucratic jargon and explain to every resident watching at home exactly what is happening to our community land on Dale Mabry Highway. For decades, the ground beneath Hillsborough Community College has been legally designated as a public and semi-public space. To a layperson, that classification means one simple thing. That land is a permanent public asset purchased with your tax dollars and strictly reserved to serve the long-term educational and civic needs of our community. It's supposed to be a stable, safe environment for public higher education, not a bottomless land bank for private real estate developers. The text amendments before local government right now are a calculated attempt to strip away that protective public status and replace it with an intense urban mixed-use 60 designation. What does that mean? It means developers want a green light to run a literal wrecking ball through seven active academic buildings, erase the campus library, and clear-cut 80 acres of open campus green space solely to build a multi-story concrete parking garage and a private baseball dome, squeezing a massive commercial entertainment district directly across the street from the quiet single-family homes of Drew Park is a violent violation of the master plan's compatibility rules. Zoning laws require a gradual downward step in density to shield local families from light, noise, and traffic, not an immediate drop-off from a massive stadium dome directly onto single-family residential borders. Furthermore, this development is a logistical environmental nightmare. Squeezing intense commercial hardscapes into a historically documented low-lying flood basin will generate millions of gallons of unmitigated stormwater runoff, completely overwhelming our drainage networks, forcing thousands of displaced students onto an unbudgeted daily shuttle routes will cause an absolute infrastructure collapse along Dale Mabry Highway Transit trunk that is already operating at a failing level of service. Tuesday's landslide passage of a Constitutional Amendment 3 means local government property tax bases are entering a permanent contraction. Neither the city or county has the public capital to independently fund the $188 million high education deficit required to replace the buildings on Hillsborough College. Thank you, Ms. Braden. Appreciate your comments. Next three speakers, Betsy Coville, followed by John Marinello, and then Tom Cobert. Good morning. Good morning, Dr. Betsy Coville. I'm hoping this beginning will work. Maybe not. Oh well. Okay, what you just didn't hear was 30 seconds of manic barking from overcrowded dogs. Not only did the dogs endure this, but also the public, who cannot hear themselves think in the pandemonium and chaos. Nonetheless, trying to pick out their forever dog. But today we can finally talk about the site plan. The last meeting established a pathway to solidify the capital. 43 million plus the 2.9 million in unallocated funds. The same four scenarios have been on the books with the audacity to add the old shelter as a possibility. Really? We wait with bated breath and will be extremely lucky if we do not have another fire before a new shelter is done. Time to stop hunting and start building. Scott has been in this business for over 30 years. He single-handedly brought our save rate into the 90 percentiles, despite all the obstacles. You need to trust that Scott knows what we need for the site and the construction. The only suitable plot is on Falkenberg Road with the proximity to the current shelter, not at a dead end road to an industrial park and not where a sports complex will compete for weekend parking. There is water on the site, which will need remediation and planning. We need shovels in the ground yesterday. We have the architect and it won't be the Taj Mahal, but it will bring us into the 20th century and secure us for the next 40 years as a population doubles again. It will be our PRC shelter, one we can be proud to welcome in the public. We look forward to it. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. John Marinello, who is virtual, followed by Tom Cobert and Cynthia Schellbarger. Hello. Hello. Yes, sir. This is John Marinello. Yes, sir. Please continue. First, I want to acknowledge and thank... I'm sorry, what? Hello? Please continue. Hello. Okay. First, I want to acknowledge and thank the commissioners for the progress we've made towards getting a new shelter. We've come a long way and we appreciate it, but quite honestly, it's time to stop going in circles and start moving forward. For the past couple of years, we've been looking at the same properties, discussing the same option and revisiting the same questions. How much more time do we need? I also want to point out that we have an outstanding resource right here in our own shelter director. When he arrived more than 13 years ago, our shelter had a horrible save rate of just 34%. Through his leadership experience and dedication, he has helped turn that around to an incredible 94%, putting our shelter in one of the very best in the country. I would think someone who has accomplished that deserves a seat at the table. The commissioners should be sitting down with him, listening to his expertise, his recommendations, and his evaluation of the best location for our shelter and the best architectural firm to design it. He's the person who knows this shelter, understands its needs, and has demonstrated that he knows what it takes to save life. His experience should be guiding those decisions. Now let's look at the locations we've been discussing. Betsy said, one option is at the end of a very long dead-ed road, backing up to an industrial park. Another is directly across from the baseball fields that attract huge crowds. But there is another option that makes far more sense, the Forkenberg property. It's close to our existing shelter, offers ample parking, and has convenient access. It is a practical location that deserves serious consideration as a path forward. We cannot keep spending months and years revisiting decisions we've already been discussing. And going back to trying to repair our 40-plus-year-old shelter is simply not an acceptable solution. My hope is that by the December presentation, we are not looking at the same list of properties again. We're looking forward to a decision to move forward with Forkenberg and begin the process of building our new shelter. We've done the talking. We've done the studying. We've heard the options. Now it's time for a decision. Now it's time for action. Our animals, our staff, and our community have waited far too long. They need a new shelter, and they need it now. Thank you very much. I thank you. Next three speakers, Tom Cobert, followed by Cynthia Schellebarger, and then George Neiman. Good morning. Morning. Mr. Chairman, commissioners, staff, and deputies. Good morning. My name is Tom Cobert. Wow. On the 3rd of November, the sleeping giant that is the American people woke up and roared enough. The American people have had it with the lies and the corruption that is coming from the federal government and the president. The American people have had it with the Republicans and the corporate Democrats that are owned by the billionaires. They serve the billionaires first, and if it benefits their billionaire masters, they may serve the American people. The Republicans made a huge issue that Americans have the Second Amendment right to arm themselves with as many guns as they want. The Chinese have an ancient warning that states, be careful what you wish for. You might get it. Doesn't sound bad on the surface, but the Republicans and the corporate Democrats have over 150 million well-armed Americans, Hulk-level mad, coming for them. They are starting to realize the jig is up and they are running to find a deep, dark hole to climb into. I can't change anything at the federal or state level, and I don't get upset over what happens there. In fact, I love to watch what is happening. To quote Mr. Spock, I find it fascinating. I learned being involved with the juvenile justice council that I can change things at the county level. So that's where this community activist operates. When all the winners of the races across the nation and here in Hillsborough County are sworn in, the work will start and the American people will stop digging and climb their way out of the hole that the president created to throw our democracy into after he's finished strangling it. We have a long way to climb out, but we will deal with it. We need to get busy and bring America back for the sake of the children. We must do it with the attitude Aquaman had at the end of the first movie. This is going to be fun. To quote my brothers in Nob, lock and load, rock and roll, this old veteran is going to do his part. I'm a six-mile Krieger, a Vietnam mirror veteran, and a martial artist, and I love a good fight. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Mr. Cobert. Cynthia Schellebarger, followed by George Niemann, and then Alfred Johnson. Good morning. Hello. My name is Cynthia Schellebarger. My testimony today focuses on a deeply alarming pattern of institutional evasion, compressed timelines, and outright assault on public transparency surrounding this multi-billion dollar stadium deal. We are being told that this project is a transparent, community-driven partnership, yet every single procedural action taken by local government over the last two weeks proves that the administration is actively running a shadow game to jam this deal across the finish line before everyday citizens can catch on. Look at the record. Look at the record. The Tampa City Council explicitly manipulated its calendar, moving a major contract vote forward by two weeks, solely to satisfy a resigning representative so he could lock in political perks and public funding for New Tampa before exiting his seat. Just last night, the Hillsborough County Planning Commission pulled an identical maneuver. After our coalition filed a devastating 18-point technical deposition proving the stadium violates our master planning constitution, the applicant and staff executed a last-second continuance on the exact same day of the hearing because they were completely unprepared to answer our legal evidence. Moving meetings forward to secure backroom votes and then instantly delaying meetings when citizens show up with facts is a direct subversion of the democratic process. In fact, the desperation to shield this private real estate deal from public scrutiny has trickled down to the planning staff itself. Last night, after executing that last-second continuance to dodge our coalition's technical objections, a senior planning supervisor chose to condescend local citizens in the hallway. He explicitly told us that our efforts were completely meaningless because they could legally demolish the college campus tomorrow under existing commercial-intensive zoning. If that is true, I ask this board, why is the applicant spending millions of dollars on legal teams to force these comprehensive plan text amendments through right now? The technical truth is that zoning cannot override the master planning constitution. They are using empty hallway intimidation tactics because they know our technical record has them completely boxed in. This institutional bullying is a flat-out disrespect to community organizers, workforce students, and local taxpayers. This total lack of transparency extends directly to the stadium's own operations. When I physically confronted the Rays' own lead consultant at a recent public forum and asked a simple direct question, when is the Board of County Commissioner's community benefits agreement hearing scheduled? Her explicit response to me was, I don't know, it hasn't been scheduled yet. How can this board responsibly advance a multi-million dollar development? Thank you, Michelle Barter. I appreciate the comments. The last two speakers, George Neiman and Alfred Johnson. Good morning, commissioners and constituents. Congratulations to the new board and all the people that were elected. I want to give a special thanks to Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda. You, commissioner, demonstrated what a commissioner should do. You listened to your constituents and voted down some bad development. I can't say the same for a lot of other commissioners. I look at this new board as a new beginning. We can do things differently if we want. Most of us felt that we've continued to be sold a bill of goods with regards to hundreds of plan changes, which allowed higher density development pretty much everywhere in the county. And we're suffering for it, especially in East Hillsborough. I would urge this new board to look carefully at all of these privately initiated plan changes. Rubber stamping is not what we want. We need to replace land development industry people on the planning commission with community-based leaders that have no connection to land development. We have highly trained planning staffs doing the analysis, so we don't need one-sided development industry people making recommendations to the board as planning commissioners. One last thing. If the county charter has to be amended to implement the increase in the number of districts and county commissioners, let's finally fix the term limits loophole which has allowed district jumping for decades. All it would take is a sentence or two in the charter. District jumping is not what the original framers of the charter ever intended or what constituents want. Thank you. Thank you. Last speaker, Alfred Johnson. Good morning, sir. Good morning. Thank you very much, commissioners. I'm just here to give a brief report, but before I do that, I want to show appreciation to some very good friends on the commission. Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda has been just invaluable in terms of our work there in the Grant Park area, a work I will describe momentarily. Her support has allowed us to do a bunch in terms of helping the lives of the children in our area. I really appreciate you, commissioner. Thank you for what you do. Also, I'd like to thank God as well for commissioner Gwen Myers. She has literally opened up her office on a variety of occasions to communicate with her, to hear from us. She's also been out to our site to check on the citizens. What a passionate woman. I really appreciate you. Thank you very much. Commissioner Bowles has opened up his doors to speak with us and to talk with us about the program. He's very encouraging. He also came to our office and was able to tour our works. And just one more only because I know him as a deep friend, Commissioner Wastel. I was able to speak with him as well, but I didn't have to speak with him too much. We agree on about a lot. We agree on a whole lot, a whole lot. I appreciate you standing on what you believe, commissioner, and it's inspiring. The Faith Action Ministry Alliance is a not-for-profit organization that works in low-income neighborhoods. It's just what we do. We primarily work in Grant Park. We act based on four pillars. There's pillars that we operate on. The first one is education. We have Grant Park Christian Academy over there in Grant Park. Very nice. K-8. Some of the results of that school, because I need that to preface some of the monies that you guys have voted for us to do some special things with. There at Grant Park Christian Academy, we have one of our students that just graduated. Her name is Smyra Douglas. This was a tough one. This was a tough girl. She'd been through some tough stuff. She went through our mentoring program and through our school. I can't mention everything about all the trouble that she went through, but I want to tell you this. I just got a report card from this girl. She takes Spanish 1, U.S. Government honors, anatomy and physiology, cosmetology 4, English honors 2, algebra 1. She went through some severe stuff. You wouldn't expect her to even be in school. They sent me her report card straight A's for that girl going through our approach. She goes to Blake High School right now. Also, one of our students, very tough. His name was Farrakhan Cannon. He came to us. He was on the spectrum. Farrakhan was kicked out of a school, kicked out of a park, came to us. He came with those very same behaviors, flipping over tables and everything else. We were able to help that young man through our mentoring, through our education. Farrakhan now is on a full ride scholarship to Virginia Union College. He's doing a very good job. These are big things that are going on. In terms of a small report concerning some of the revenues that we received from the taxpayer through this commission, our community cleanups, our environmental care program, we have picked up nearly 85 tons of garbage over the last three years as a result of the investment. Beautiful stuff. Also, we were able to mentor about 334 students, and we really appreciate the commission. Thank you for our investment. You'll be voting on our homeless initiative next month. I hope that you remember FAMA. Thank you, sir. Appreciate the comments. All right, that closes public comment. Can we have a motion to approve the consent? Move to approve. Second. Motion by Commissioner Meyer. Second by Commissioner Cohen. Approve the consent agenda. Please accord your vote. Motion carried 7-0. All right, Bonnie. Want to introduce the first item? Yes, we're going to go to the regular agenda and knock out as many of these as possible. So the first item is item B-4. This is a resolution for a kid's place for $150,000. John Muller will present this item. Morning, John. Good morning, Chair. Good morning, Commissioners. John Muller, Director for Facilities Management and Real Estate Services. Today's request is approval of $150,000 for a kid's place of Tampa Bay for hardening improvements to their new activity center and new water heaters for their campus on Lithia, Pine Coast Road, and Brandon. The improvements will ensure they have a safe central shelter area during weather emergencies and power outages. As a reminder, both this funding request and another you approved last year in a similar amount are all part of their $8.1 million expansion they've been working towards since 2022 raising funds from a variety of sources. This item is being presented as a regular item consistent with board policy for outside agency funding requests. And Brad Gregory, the CEO, and Samantha Mellon, the Development Director for a kid's place are both here today to express their appreciation. That's all I have. All right. Thank you, John. Commissioner Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm requesting approval of item B-4. This is my flagged item for this year for this great organization. All right. We've got a motion to approve. Commissioner Bowles, second? Second. Second, Commissioner Cameron Cepeda. Please record your vote on B-4. Motion carried 7-0. Thank you. Thank you. B-5. Our next items are all related to CDBGDR. So item B-5 is regarding a sub-recipient agreement for the city of Tampa for $73 million, $983,000. Rob Hendrickson will present B-5, B-6, and be part of B-7 as well. Our commissioners, Rob Hendrickson, Management and Budget, CDBGDR Program Manager. You may recall that our total allocation for infrastructure projects with the grant is $355 million. Of that amount, $241 million has been set aside for county projects and $94 million for projects for our three cities. The $94 million for the cities is distributed based on a population formula with the city of Tampa receiving $80 million, Plant City and Temple Terrace receiving eight and six respectively, all on a reimbursement basis. Today we are here to ask for your approval of the city of Tampa's projects in the sub-recipient agreements that will bind them to our shared HUD requirements. Note that our team has collaborated extensively with the city's team since early spring. All projects hit their LMI targets and support our overall strategy to build resilience across our region and mitigate the impacts of future storms. Brad Baird, the city's administrator of infrastructure and mobility, will take you through each of these projects being proposed. Note that they total $74 million, not $80 million. We specifically asked the city to leave room for the chance of cost overruns downstream. I'll hand this over to Brad to summarize each project and we're here to answer your questions after. All right. Good morning, County Commission. Good morning, Chair. Brad Baird, administrator, city of Tampa. Project one, if I could go to the next slide, is 28 wastewater pump stations. Thank you. So, of which, 12 are flow capacity improvements, 10 resiliency improvements, six dry pit・wet trip pit rehabilitations to convert them into submersible pump stations. All twenty-eight pump stations will add a permanent generator for standby power, raise the electrical control panel above the floodplain and replace the pumps. Each pump station area meets or exceeds the 51% LMI threshold, some going up to as much as 89%. Project completion is targeted for June of 2029. Second project is fire station improvements. Project approximately 1.2 million will strengthen two city of Tampa fire stations against severe weather, protecting critical public safety infrastructure, and they're known to us as fire stations 4 and 11. And improvements include replacing overhead apparatus doors, exterior doors, and windows, which will withstand high winds and minimize water intrusion, serves communities with an average of 69% LMI, and project completion targeted for January 2029. The last of the three projects is approximately $4.8 million for resiliency improvements to two city of Tampa police facilities, known to us as districts two and three. Improvements include hurricane-related doors and windows to withstand high winds and limit water intrusion, building restoration, and replacement of critical emergency power infrastructure or generators. Serves communities with an average of approximately 56% LMI, and a project completion targeted for June of 2029. And with that, I'll open it up for questions. All right. Thank you, sir. I don't see anyone in the queue, so can we have a motion? Move approval. Second. Motion, Commissioner Cohen. Second, Commissioner Myers. Please record your vote on B5. Motion carried 7 and 0. Thank you very much. Thank you, sir. Thank you. We can now go to item B6, which is approving of CDBG dollars for a behavioral facility hardening project. Vendrix and management budget. I think protocol is I have to say that, so I'll do it again. Again, good morning, commissioners. The purposes of this item is to seek your approval to use DR funding to upgrade and harden the county-owned property at 1109 East 139th Avenue in Tampa, so that may be used as an inpatient treatment behavioral health facility for women experiencing homelessness, substance abuse disorders, or other behavioral health needs with preference afforded to veterans and an overall requirement that all patients meet HUD-LMI income thresholds. The facility was leased to the nonprofit Phoenix House Florida in 2024. The need for substantial water utility upgrades paused their renovations. DR funds totaling $2.6 million would be used to cover these upgrades, along with permanent backup generator, the hardening of doors, windows, and a roof. And then Phoenix House, on their own dime, will fund an additional $2.2 million required for interior renovations. In addition to helping an underserved population, Phoenix House has agreed to operate the facility as an emergency shelter for residents experiencing behavioral and or mental health challenges during future declared emergency situations at their cost. Such a use correlates to storm preparedness and overall recovery and the intended use of our DR grant funding overall. Should you approve this item, our goal would be to bring the facility online by the end of 2027. Of course, we would keep you apprised as that date nears. I'm happy to field any questions you may have at this time, and I'm joined by John Muller and Kevin Wagner, who have helped me prepare this item. Thank you. Can we have a motion? Move to approve. Second. Motion, Commissioner Myers. Second, Commissioner Cohen. Please record your vote on the B-6. Motion carried, 7-0. B-7. And one last CDBG-DR item. This is item B-7 regarding a budget amendment. Good morning, Commissioners. Kevin Brickey, Management and Budget. Item B-7 seeks approval of a budget amendment to realign $71.76 million within the CDBG-DR project fund for previously approved CIP projects into four consolidated infrastructure categories. No changes are occurring in approved individual project funding levels. This realignment is due to changes previously approved by HUD and the board. Additionally, the budget amendment appropriates $2.35 million to implement a public service workforce training and certification program and for ongoing planning and execution of the overall program. Rob Hedrickson is also here with me if there are programmatic questions. All right. Thank you. Can we have a motion on B-7? Move to approve. Second. Motion, Commissioner Myers. Second, Commissioner Bowles and Cohen. Please record your vote on B-7. The motion carried, 7-0. Bonnie. Thank you. We still have some time before our 10 o'clock, so we can move to the Commissioner's section. The first one is Commissioner Bowles' item, item F-1, regarding a non-advalorum assessment for fire protection services. Commissioner Bowles. Thank you. We'll keep this short and brief. On June 17th of this year, we had an open discussion regarding the possibility of diversifying our revenue sources inadvertent to what may or may not have happened on Amendment 3. I think we need, certainly as a board and for the sake of transparency, to always consider how we're looking at these things. And I would ask that we consider this and adopt this. This would not implement anything but preserve our right to explore the option for next year. So we are not, just to be absolutely candid and open about this, we're not asking to implement a tax. We're asking to preserve our right to do so for the next fiscal year. And if there's any questions about my intent back in June, it was to act as an offset, not to add an additional tax. So certainly considering all those options is what we need to do in looking forward. So I would ask that we make a motion that we adopt F-1 and to have something that we can publicly advertise for the next four weeks and look at for December 16th. Second. We've got a motion, Commissioner Bowles. Second, Commissioner Miller. Commissioner Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just wanted to clarify that for the record, that this is just allowing us to pursue it in the future and have the discussion around it. So I'm happy to second you. Correct. This is the President. All right. But we have to publicly advertise that we're going to have a resolution come our next public meeting, which would be in December. We only have that. And we have to do it before the end of the year. Happy to do so. Yeah. And along those lines, I mentioned during our last meeting that I'd like for us to consider doing the same thing for parks. And so would you mind including that? Again, it doesn't – we're just preserving the right. It just absolutely preserves the right to have further discussions. It's not making any decisions. No. And I think the next step, Julia, please correct me, is consultants to study the issue. Is that how it plays out? That's correct. This is a notice of intent to proceed forward with investigating the legal's ability to do these types of assessments. And so including, you know, fire, park, we would need to do the studies, but this would allow us to proceed forward. Okay. Commissioner, are you okay with that? Yeah. Okay. Commissioner Wollstall? So this is just a move to circumvent the governor's special session that he called to prevent the local governments from trying to usurp Amendment 3, right? That's why we're rushing it? No. I would say – and may I respond? Yeah, please. Yeah. Commissioner Wollstall, if you recall, back in June, we talked about this, that we had to make a decision before the end of the year to do something to even have any considerations and couldn't prognosticate that one would happen or that the governor would do what he's about to do. So this is not an overt act to subvert anything. It's essentially to preserve our right to consider these options moving forward. If we don't, we'd have to wait until fiscal year 29 to do so. And it's to diversify with an offset. That's how – that's my approach, sir. Okay. Got a motion and a second. We'll see anyone else in the queue. Please record your vote. Motion carries 6 to 1. Commissioner Wollstall voted no. Bonnie. Thank you. And our next two items are Commissioner Cameron Cepeda's items. The first one is item F2 regarding the DOGE report. Commissioner Cameron Cepeda. Thank you. So I'm requesting that the board schedule a workshop to review and discuss the DOGE report. The purpose of the workshop is to provide commissioners with an opportunity to receive information from county administration and discuss the report's relevance to Hillsborough County operations. And the reason I'm bringing this forth is because when I'm out speaking, you know, I'm hearing from constituents that they would like to have this – the DOGE report come public. And so for that reason, I'm making a motion to direct the county administrator to schedule a board workshop to review and discuss the DOGE report and receive a presentation from county administration regarding its relevance to Hillsborough County operations. Okay. We've got a motion by Commissioner Cameron Cepeda. Do we have a second? A second. Second, Commissioner Wollstall. Commissioner Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Commissioner Cepeda, I'm not sure exactly why you're asking this. I know you said the communities asked for it. Well, the report was released in June and the rebuttal by the county staff was released in July, all available to the public. So I'm not exactly sure. Are you having trouble understanding the report? Absolutely not having any trouble understanding it. It's the constituents that want to see this brought out before the board in public. So you can vote yes or you can vote no, but I'm telling you what the constituents want. Yes, I hear. I hear what you're having to say. So let me – Please, folks. So I appreciate that, that you want to. What I have also done and kind of find it striking that one of your last acts as a commissioner is to show disrespect to another commissioner because this report was closed out. I met with the majority of the members of the committee. They were – they respected the fact that I was trying to respect their interests because the report was really self-serving for the main person that's going out in the community and using it. It was rebutted and refuted by our own staff to be very one-sided. It was a lot of policy. There was a lot of things around that. And so what I need you to understand is that the chairman of the committee released a graphic showing that the budget contains 6.5 and potential savings opportunities. In other words, he found that it was 93 percent of the budget is already being managed responsibly, allocated effectively, and aligned with its intended purpose. The committee failed to understand that we can't just automatically move budgets and do things like that. For example, the committee believes that we're spending too much on an indigent health care fund. We can't simply move those dollars. The report is available. It has been responded to by our county staff and anybody that wants to see it. I'm not sure that we need to have an additional waste of taxpayer dollars to have a full meeting on it. Well, thank you for bringing that up, Commissioner Miller, because it really is not meant to be any disrespect to you or anyone else, because it's actually for that reason I never brought it up before, was because I was trying not to be disrespectful to you because you originally would be the one to bring it up. But because I did hear from constituents as I'm out speaking, and they're publicly asking the question in large groups of people- Did you let them know that I sent a letter to all of the Board of County Commissioners that this measure had been ended and that they could look at the report on their own? Yes. Yes, I did. And they still want it brought forward. So for that reason, that's why I'm bringing it before the Board today. All right, Commissioner Cohen. Yeah, I just want to say that I actually voted against the creation of this committee originally because it did exactly what I anticipated it would do, which was come back basically and tell us to get rid of the indigent health care program, which this Board had a workshop on back in January, had an extensive presentation about the finances of that program, and decided to leave alone, which I think was the correct decision. I have told the people on the committee that have talked to me that I would be happy to meet with them personally if they have concerns that they would like to express. But for me, I felt after the report came out that it was not appropriate to bring it to the Board because I think we've already made the decision that we're not going to follow what I thought personally was an irresponsible recommendation. So I don't want to discuss it any further. Okay, Commissioner Miller, and then we're going to... Okay, last thing. I did want to say I did meet with the members of the committee. They were satisfied with how I was concluding it, and I made sure that I met with them individually, in person, and they were completely comfortable with me closing out the report being available to the community, and with the letter, and not necessary any additional actions. With that, I'd like to just call... And I'll just... I'll close by just saying I'm not going to support the motion. This report came out, I guess, five months ago, so I haven't reviewed it in several months, but I recall it had... It was wrought with errors and inconsistencies, and I always give deference to a commissioner on their item, and Commissioner Miller is the one that brought it forward. I did support establishing the committee, and after review, she believed that proceeding further wasn't necessary, and so for that reason, I'm not going to support the motion on the floor. All right, got a motion by Commissioner Cameron Cepeda, second Commissioner Vostel. Please record your vote. That motion failed, five to two. Commissioners Bowles, Miller, Hagan, and Myers voted no. Okay. Bonnie, next item. Thank you. The next item is item F3, Commissioner Cameron Cepeda, your item as well. Commissioner Cameron Cepeda. Okay. So my next item that I have is I'd like to bring forward as a concern regarding Environmental Protection Commission's Noise Pollution Rule, specifically Rule 1-10.047, which currently provides a broad exemption for sounds occurring at places of religious worship. And I've received repeated complaints from residents concerning prolonged high-volume, amplified sound extending into neighboring residential communities, and this raises a legitimate concern about protecting the peaceful enjoyment of residential property while respecting the constitutional protections of religious liberty. And I'm not proposing that we restrict religious worship or the content of religious expression. My concern is that the current exemption does not distinguish between traditional bells and chimes and sustained amplified broadcasts that would otherwise be subject to established noise limitations. So my motion today would be to move the board to request that the EPC board consider initiating rulemaking to amend the exemptions in Rule 1-10.047 to clarify allowable sound levels for places of religious worship and related activities. Thank you. Okay, we've got a motion by Commissioner Cameron Cepeda. Do we have a second? Thank you, Commissioner Wollstuhl. Commissioner Myers. Thank you, Mr. Chair. As chair of the EPC, we will have to close out our board meeting in order to discuss this item. So I'm going to move to deny this item today. Julie, you would like to comment on that? Yes. The way this motion is drafted, you can just go ahead and vote on the motion because the EPC isn't taking action. And you'd be taking action as the BOCC for that. But the only way rulemaking can be initiated is through it. Well, not the only way, but I believe the way that is being requested is to ask the EPC to take an action. You cannot serve as the EPC in today's meeting. So. Okay. So Commissioner Myers, what's your, are you okay with the motion the way it is then? Yes, I'm okay with the motion. Okay. All right. Commissioner Cameron Spader, do you want to add anything? Yes. Thank you. So it's really just, this is initiating, like she said, the rulemaking that's going to just take it before the EPC board. Thank you. Okay. Got a motion by Commissioner Cameron Spader saying Commissioner Wilson. Just to clarify, so that means the EPC will take it up? Is that the issue? Okay. Well, let me clarify. You would be sitting as the Board of County Commissioner, if you were to approve this motion, you would be requesting the EPC, I know it's kind of an awkward thing because you're going from the same board to another board, but you're legally sitting as a different entity when you sit as the EPC, and that action to initiate cannot occur today. All you can do is request yourselves, and I, again, get that's awkward. All right. Commissioner Merlin. So we're making a motion to make a decision in a different meeting? You know, we're going to just do this regularly or confused? This is not, I will tell you candidly, this was not, this is not normally the way it happens. No. I did consult with the EPC general counsel, and he helped to prepare the motion so that we at least could take a proper action, because you can't take action today as an EPC. But you're correct in saying this would be you asking yourselves in another capacity to take an action. All right. Commissioner Bowles, and we're going to vote. Thank you. Commissioner Cepeda, the motion that I'm reading before me, at least that was written in the agenda, says that we endorse the proposed amendment. Because we can't have discussion on that, would you consider amending that to at least that we are not endorsing it? Because I don't know through our public comment what we can do to may change my mind on what it is. So I'm certainly willing to consider. Yeah. This is not saying endorsing it at all. It's just saying let the EPC, which is the ones responsible for this originally, anyway, so we're just telling them to go ahead and have it before the board. It's not saying that we're, you know, you're just asking for the initiative in the process. Yeah, let me just make a statement on that. After this came out on the agenda, that is when I brought that to the attention of the EPC General Counsel. And the motion that was read by Commissioner Cameron Cepeda is not the motion that's on your agenda. It's been revised to be in line with where you're sitting as a legal entity today. So... It's benign. All right. We've got a motion in a second. Please record your vote. Motion carried. 5-2. Commissioners Miller and Myers voted no. Okay. One more item for the council. Okay. One more item. One staff report. Item G3. This is to receive a report from the board policy work group. And Brandon Wagner will present this item along with Commissioner Bowles for comment. Good morning, Commissioners. Brandon Wagner, Chief Administrator for Government Relations and Strategic Services. We brought this issue before you at the October 21st board meeting and the board at that time asked for more time to consider the information provided herein. I'm simply returning with that report and available for any questions you might have. Okay. Commissioner Bowles. Mr. Chairman, thank you. This board directed us to the committee and this commissioner to do a comprehensive review of 251 policies to modernize how we govern, not diminish our authority or weaken our accountability. In fact, the goal was to strengthen oversight, improve transparency, and ensure that this board remains firmly in control of its policies. I was involved from day one. And just as a prop of this is what we reviewed over the last year. So we've done the work. We provided additional time for review for all of you. And we retain this board. We'll retain the authority to make those changes. So I would request that this board move forward, adopt those recommendations, and in the future, if there's any specific concerns that we address those individually. Second. Second. So we can always amend or change. There are policies. Yes, sir. I appreciate your work on that. I can tell it was quite time consuming. Motion, Commissioner Bowles. Second, Commissioner Cameron Cepeda and Miller, I believe. Don't see me in the queue. Please record your vote on G3. Motion carried, 7-0. Thank you. Bonnie, I know you're going to introduce the first item, the first public hearing. I just, board members, we have three public hearings this morning, a total of 69 speakers. So I would ask for a motion for each person to be given two minutes. So moved. Second. Motion, Commissioner Cohen. Second, Commissioner Myers. Please record your vote. Commissioner Cepeda. Motion carried, 6-1. Commissioner Walsh will vote no. Bonnie, will I introduce the first item? Yes, our first item is a public hearing. This is item D-1. This is to conduct a public hearing regarding proposed ordinance changes regarding e-bikes, bicycles, motorized scooters, and other microbiality devices. And Cherie Murphy is here from the County Attorney's Office and Colonel David Arthur from the Sheriff's Office. This is a public hearing. This is related, then, to item B-1, which will follow. Morning. Morning. Good morning, Commissioners. Cherie Murphy with the County Attorney's Office. So hopefully this will be a good news item. We've been working hard with Commissioner Cohen on this item. So we're honored to bring this to you today. So this is a public hearing to consider adopting an ordinance relating to e-bikes, motorized scooters, bicycles, and other micromobility devices. The proposed ordinance imposes safety and operational standards, as well as mechanisms for enforcement. So what's important about this is that it lays the foundation, like a framework, for future expansion. I know there are people that are here that have an interest in this item. So this will give us the opportunities to engage and educate citizens regarding this item. This item has been properly noticed, and all legal requirements have been met. And I'm here today with support of the Sheriff's Office, Tampa Police Department, and their legal counsel, which is April Cushman with the Sheriff's Office and Mike Smith. Colonel David Arthur is present. I believe he's here to speak on this item, and I would ask him to approach, and he's going to provide additional details. For ease of reference, we've also included an outline that includes the key provisions. So again, this is a public hearing. I'm going to ask. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Administrator Wise, Commissioners. My name is Colonel David Arthur, and on behalf of Sheriff Chad Chronister, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to address the board today. E-bikes and scooters have changed the way people travel throughout our community, but the law, unfortunately, has not kept pace with technology, leaving gaps in how we address the dangerous riding. State law establishes basic safety requirements. This proposed ordinance builds on those protections with clear local speed limits, restrictions on dangerous stunts and street takeovers, and additional enforcement tools to ensure public safety. The need is clear. Our crash data shows e-bike and scooter crashes, including those with injuries, have already doubled last year's total, and we still have two months remaining in 2026. Behind those injuries are children, families, and neighbors whose lives can change in an instant. As the graphic shows, these devices come in different forms and have different capabilities. This ordinance establishes expectations for how they can safely share public spaces. It sets maximum speed limits of 10 miles per hour on speed on sidewalks and 15 miles per hour on shared paths and trails, unless otherwise posted. It prohibits towing, dangerous stunts, and street takeovers, and requires riders to respect restricted areas and yield to pedestrians. It also incorporates existing protections, including helmets for riders under 16 years of age and required lighting. This extends our ability to address unsafe riding beyond the roadways to the sidewalks, paths, and trails families use every day. If approved, we will partner with our schools and local retailers to have a coordinated safety education campaign so riders are aware of the changes. Once in effect, education will be the centerpiece of our approach, but deputies will have the enforcement tools to use when necessary for the safety of our community. Our goal is straightforward, prevent injuries and make these shared spaces safer for everyone. We ask for your support and thank you for your time. Thank you, sir. This is a public hearing. Yep, this is a public hearing. We've got seven individuals that have signed up to speak. First speaker is Paula Flores, followed by Emily Hinsdale, and then Frank Santini. Please come forward to the person who will be given two minutes. Good morning. My name is Paula Flores. I'm here on behalf of Walk Bike Tampa. We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the proposed bike and micro-operability ordinance. We all want safer streets, trails, and shared spaces. Walk Bike Tampa supports responsible policies that improve safety. However, regulations must be practical, understandable, enforceable, and fair. Safety cannot be achieved through just enforcement alone. Our greatest concern is the creation of what we call collateral riders, everyday people who could unintentionally become violators simply because they don't understand the rules or have no reasonable way to comply. So I want you to consider the following scenarios. Consider a traditional bicyclist riding downhill who unknowingly exceeds a speed limit, or somebody traveling where bicycle speed limits are unposted. Many bicycles have no speedometer. How can riders reasonably be expected to comply? What about a commuter who relies on their bicycle to get to work but must lock it up to a pool because no bike rack is available? Should someone protecting their primary means of transportation face a citation? Or a rider using the permitted throttle on a legal classified Class E bike who suddenly finds themselves violating regulations because they stopped pedaling? Seriously? So we are asking the County Commission to really think about some of the statements in it, clarify them, clarify the definitions and classifications to ensure they are consistent with the law, eliminate ambiguous or unposted speed limits, and ensure all limits are reasonably posted and enforceable, provide meaningful public education and outreach, prioritize education and warnings over punitive enforcement, particularly for minor and non-dangerous violations, and address bicycle parking deficiencies before penalizing riders. Thank you. Appreciate the comments. Next speaker, Emily Hinsdale, followed by Frank Santini and then Alexandra Roeder. Good morning. Good morning. My name is Emily Hinsdale, and I'm here today to ask you to amend the e-mobility ordinance before you pass it. I'm the president of Sidewalk Stompers. We are a Safe Routes to School nonprofit with the goal of providing all children with safe access to education, health, and a connected community. We work with over 6,000 Hillsborough County children each year through our programming. This has been experiencing student e-bike use, its positives and negatives, closely and frequently. E-bike safety is a critically important topic for anyone working to ensure children get to school safely. We're in favor of making sure children are using electric mobility safely and appropriately. We also want to make sure this ordinance serves to protect children. However, there are some critical weaknesses in this ordinance, as written, that will harm, not help, children and their families. For the ordinance you consider today, we suggest the following amendments to make this ordinance effective and to avoid legal challenges or unintended consequences that target specific racial or socioeconomic groups. Mandate, not plan, mandate an education period for this law that includes outreach to schools, neighborhood and community groups, county and municipal communications, and organizations connected to e-mobility users. Require and fund speed limit signage targeted toward bicycle riders and e-mobility riders to ensure that no one is penalized by laws they don't know are there. Amend the speed limits to apply to bicycles fitted with speedometers, as higher equipped e-bikes are. Otherwise, this law punishes bicycle riders for not purchasing speedometers. Amend the parking section to be limited to areas where adjacent e-bike parking is provided by businesses or public spaces. For example, a child by this law could be ticketed for locking a legal e-bike to a fence when the school's bike parking area is full. Thank you for taking the time to review these suggestions. Thank you. Appreciate your comments. Frank Santini, followed by Alexandria Roeder, and then Denise Herndon. Good morning, sir. Good morning. Attorney Frank Santini, 7269 Bucks Ford Drive, Riverview. I spoke back in October, public comment here as well. You know, I think what the board's doing is great today. You know, based on my personal injury practice as a lawyer, I see a lot of accidents coming through my door, and then I'm sure law enforcement has seen, you know, 10 times more than I have in terms of what they have to deal with from a personal perspective on enforcement. So this is great. I've been dealing with Ms. Murphy. She's been a pleasure. I've interacted with her a little bit. You know, I think that in my role, I started looking at the data behind e-bike accidents. I'm not going to bore you with all the numbers because I think we're all clear. You know, e-bike, micro-mobility accidents are up, and the injuries are devastating, especially to children. We shouldn't also forget that adults are being injured too. You know, some of my most devastating cases are older adults just commuting to work. A couple comments I wanted to make on the ordinance itself. You know, just an intentional, be intentional about gathering data. Where are these accidents happening? You know, how many impoundments are happening? What kind of citations would be an issue? We want to keep getting better at this because the great comments, we want to make sure there's mobility. We also want to make sure there's safety. I also noticed, you know, a comment here that there's parental notification built in the ordinance for, like, stunt driving and those kind of things, but why not have parental notification for simply speeding or failure of the yield? It doesn't mean there has to be a pound-minute or fine around that, but parental notification is critical. I talked last time about e-motos, these much faster motorcycles that are not really e-bikes, but, you know, parents think they're e-bikes. So, you know, an educational campaign for parents to know what they're buying their kids. You know, they know that this is not a bicycle that goes up to 28 miles an hour, which is what the e-bike is. Some of these are going 40, 50, 60 miles an hour, and some of the parents do not know. Thank you, Mr. Santini. Appreciate the comments. Alexandra Roeder, and then Denise Herndon, and then Pierce Guarantano, who's virtual. Good morning. Do I go? Yes. Awesome. Well, good morning, commissioners. My name is Alex Roeder, and I'm a nurse, and I represent the Tampa General Hospital's Trauma, Injury Prevention, and Outreach Program. So, thank you for the opportunity to speak in support of the proposed ordinance addressing micromobility devices. At TGH, our injury prevention is guided by the injuries that we see in the communities that we serve. In 2024, from January 1st through September 30th, 2026, we had 842 patients with micromobility injuries that include e-bikes, bikes, e-scooters, and all of these met inclusion criteria for our trauma registry. What does that mean? All that means is that these patients, these 842 patients, sustained significant traumatic injury rather than simply all the patients who sought emergency care following one of these incidences. What is particularly concerning is how quickly the injury burden is growing. When we compare the same January through September period each year, the number of patients meeting trauma registry criteria increased from 145 in 2024, 218 in 2025, and then 317 in 2026. That represents a 119% increase or over doubling in just two years. These injuries also affect people across the lifespan, including children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. Some patients require intensive care, surgery, and other advanced trauma services. This data set also includes fatal injuries. I want to emphasize that our goal is not to discourage the use of micromobility. These devices are valuable transportation, recreation, independence, and mobility throughout our community. Our goal is to make them safer. And I ran out of time, so that was fast. Thank you very much. Appreciate your comments. Denise Herndon, followed by Pierce, Girantano, and Toby Cummings, both virtual. Good morning. Good morning. I'm Denise Herndon. Not many people know, but over seven years, I've been wearing purple for the royalty of God, brown for everything on his earth. You county commissioners are doing everything you can to make sure that the Ray's stadium, just like the Buck Stadium, and many other places, Glacier is owned by the county. And I have here sample ballots of 24 when we had voted to increase the half-cent sales tax of the CIT. It was voted in. And Commissioner Kemp specifically said- I'm sorry, is this related to the ordinance? I think public comment has to stay related to the ordinance. And it is going to, eventually. Okay, well, let's get there. So here, here, we just voted to increase in 29, one and a half cents for schools AC. Right here, as of April 2025, the population of Hillsborough County is over one and a half million. You county commissioners are going to increase things. What's going to happen for these mobility devices? Because they're going to increase. There's more adults using these mobility devices than kids. We need large sidewalks. We don't need a Ray's stadium. The county is paying for enough. Ad valorem taxes will get a tax break. Non-ad valorem will not. And so now you guys are voting. Let's have the fire stations. That's what the half-cent tails CIT was supposed to do, not the Ray's stadium. 500 million was taken out of sheriffs, indigent, or not indigent, but- Thank you for your comment. Thank you for your comments. Care for the incarcerated for the Ray's stadium. Next up, we have Pierce. Next up, we have Pierce Garantano virtual, followed by Toby Cummings virtual. Did Pierce check in? Did not check into the meeting. Next up, we have Toby Cummings, also virtual. Toby, can you hear us? Yes, I can. Good morning. Are you able to hear me? Yes, please proceed. Great. Thank you. My name is Toby Cummings. I'm a resident of Hillsborough County in Lutz, Florida. I've been an avid cyclist for 20-plus years. I want to thank you and commend you for the ordinance you're putting in place. You're probably beating the state to something that needs to be done as a driver and as a cyclist. I think the e-devices that you're addressing are critical. One of the things I'd like to ask you to do is to strike the word bicycle in line four of the draft proposal. As a cyclist, I got up this morning at 5.15 a.m. and rode 20 miles. I'm 58 years old, and it's critical to my health to be able to ride. I ride with a group of other bikers, cyclists actually, throughout the week, four to five times a week if possible. And the ordinance that you're proposing does limit bicycles for different speeds. As folks that get out and ride a lot, a lot of times we are over the speed limit that you're proposing in the ordinance. So I would ask that the impact not affect the cyclists that are actually safe in sharing the road and doing the best they can. Thanks for the consideration. Thank you, sir. All right. That closes the public comment. I'm going to board discussion. Commissioner Wollstel? I think that there's probably, I'm sure Commissioner Cohen's going to agree, there's probably some language that is going to need to be adjusted, maybe unintentional, but it's gotten out of hand. I'm perfectly at peace for facilitating the death of our nation's enemies, but I think I'd feel quite awful running over a kid, especially there on countryway and racetrack. If a sheriff just posts up at that 7-Eleven, I mean, they're just going to have a filled day with these kids gone wild on their electric scooters, doing willies in the streets, driving in blind spots, and you can't see them. And it's going to be awful. So I think that we have to do something today. And then if there's adjustments later on, then that's what's going to have to happen. But I think that it's the right thing to do. We're not trying to make it more difficult to get around. We're just trying to prevent unnecessary loss of life. Commissioner Cohen? Thank you. And thank you for those comments, Commissioner. I want to just start by saying that, you know, the impetus for this has been safety. And it has been this particular ordinance will apply in the unincorporated area where the lighting is oftentimes not as robust as it is within the city of Tampa. So that is something that differentiates different parts of our community. And Tampa City Council will be taking this up, and they may make some tweaks to it that make more sense in an urban environment. But I wanted to ask the sheriff's office, if they wouldn't mind just coming up and talking a little bit about what type of educational strategies are going to be used to inform the public, and particularly kids, about the need for this ordinance and how it's going to work. We're seeing in the last year a little rise of 61% on injury crashes, 35% on non-injury crashes. Unfortunately, the fatalities are now at six, or sorry, five over the last two years. So the education campaign, and I heard someone speak about something earlier, there will be a pause before this goes into effect. So it's not like we'll vote and say yes, and then it's going to happen the next day. As with any type of traffic enforcement, it's always education and prevention. Always education, prevention, and then finally enforcement. But we do plan to work with our local retailers, our PAO's office, and also our community affairs division, along with our counterparts, and trying to roll this out. So the students know, the people know, it's not some law that comes upon them, and they weren't aware of it. And we can work with the schools as well. Absolutely. We have a fantastic relationship. Yes, sir. What about the issue of a bike or a device that doesn't have a speedometer? How is that going to be? I mean, it may be that we need to come back and tweak certain things down the road, but how do you envision that being dealt with? Well, I mean, that's the whole education campaign. I think one of the stipulations in the ordinance is, unless otherwise posted, so those folks who are recreational riders who are going on some of these trails and do those rides, you'll be fine as long as it's posted and people are aware of it. If it's actually posted, but you're not going to go around fining people if it isn't, at least at the beginning before they're educated? No, absolutely not. It's always education, prevention, and enforcement. No. And even with our regular traffic stop, I can show you the guys the data. When you get pulled over by Hillsborough County, overwhelmingly, your odds are in favor of getting a verbal or written warning. So I would just like to assure the public that I am going to move this ordinance forward today, but we're going to bring back a report probably in six months. Yes, sir. And we can talk about whether or not we need to tweak anything if something comes up before then that's of concern. We can do that, and we'll also pay close attention to what the city does when they take this up, which I believe is going to be in about six to eight weeks. So I'll go ahead and move approval. Second. Got a motion by Commissioner Cohen. Second, Commissioner Wollstall. Commissioner Bowles. Madam Attorney, just wanted to confirm that we've crafted this ordinance that the city could adopt it if they want to as well, so they don't have to do all the hard work that's been going on behind the scenes with the sheriff's office and all. Is that correct? The way it's drafted, it would be adoptable in the city if they choose to adopt that, or they can adopt their own version. And I believe Tampa Police Department and Tampa City Attorney representatives are here. Do you all want to make any comments about this before we close out? Sure. Good morning, commissioners. Deputy Chief Patrick Messmer, Tampa Police Department. First, I'd like to just thank Sheriff Chronister and his office and the county attorney's office for everything they've done about this. The city fully supports this ordinance as it's written. We're seeing the same issues that the sheriff's office is seeing regarding the injuries associated with these devices, and we believe that continuity throughout the county would be beneficial for the citizens, so they're not facing different rules when they enter the city limits rather than the outside. So we are fully in support of this, and we believe it will be adoptable within the city, or excuse me, it will apply in the city as long as this commission adopts it. And you're certainly willing to provide any data to back up any changes that may need or tweaks as we go along, along with the sheriff's office? Absolutely. We'll work hand-in-hand with the sheriff's office. The public education is the exact same. I echo everything that Colonel Arthur spoke about. We're going to do things the exact same way in the city. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. And the deputy made an excellent point. Historically, the city, I'm going to say usually, but many times, they go along with our ordinance for uniform purposes. Sometimes they'll tweak it, but many times they just go along with ours for that very reason. Okay, I've got a motion, Commissioner Cohen, second Commissioner Wilstle. Commissioner Cohen, I just want to thank you for your leadership on this item as well as the sheriff's office. So please record your vote. Motion carried, 7-0. And then B-1 is amending the resolution to accompany this item. Move approval. Motion, Commissioner Cohen, second Commissioner Wilstle. Please record your vote on B-1. Motion carried, 7-0. Next item. Okay, our next item is D-2. This is regarding amending Hillsborough County's synthetic drug ordinance, and Whitney Green will present this item, and Joe Gross is here if needed as well. Thank you. Good morning, Commissioners. Whitney Green, County Attorney's Office. This is a public hearing to consider amending Hillsborough County's synthetic drug ordinance to prohibit certain Kratom products, provide for exemptions, provide for public awareness signage requirements, and provide for misdemeanor criminal penalties. Pursuant to the board's direction, our office conferred with relevant stakeholders, including the sheriff's office, state attorney's office, and county code enforcement. The draft amendment aligns with the state of Florida's emergency rules by addressing concentrated 7-0-H and other potent mitragynine derivatives while exempting whole leaf botanical Kratom. It further requires public awareness signage to be posted at locations where lawful Kratom products are sold and clarifies the applicable misdemeanor penalties. All advertising and other legal requirements have been met, and this is a public hearing. Thank you. All right, we've got 52 individuals that have signed up to speak, so I want to call your name if you'd please line up just so we can move as quickly as possible. First three speakers, Karen Buckner, followed by Justin Pitts, then Ellen Snelling, and then after that's Mary Ho. Karen Buckner, Justin Pitts, Ellen Snelling, Mary Ho. Come on down. Each person is giving two minutes. Good morning. All right, good morning. My name is Karen Buckner, and I am speaking on behalf today of the family of Frankie Ortiz and his 42-year-old single dad of 19-year-old Gianni. Oh, sorry. Okay. So I'm speaking on behalf of Frankie, a 42-year-old single dad, and his 19-year-old son Gianni and Jace. And I got to know Frankie through my former husband's family. He genuinely loved people. He made people laugh. He had a way of making people feel good. I'm one of those people. And although he seemed to be happy on the outside, he had some struggles, and one of his main struggles was with his weight. And his employer at the time felt very highly of Frankie, and he wanted to help him. So he actually paid for his gastric bypass surgery. Soon afterwards, Frankie became addicted to the medication he was taking. Frankie, and he felt bad about it. He wanted to get on some help that he felt was more natural, and he fought his way off the meds, and he turned to Kratom. He thought that something that was sold openly in the smoke shops and marketing as something natural would be a safer choice. Frankie and his 9-year-old son Jace were living in the home of Frankie's mother at the time, helping to take care of her. And the night before Frankie died, his son Jace was sleeping next to him, and he awoke to find his dad dead. And this, of course, is very traumatic for a 9-year-old son, and for the rest of the family as well. I mean, he leaves behind, you know, sons, mothers, grandparents, other family. Appreciate your comments, Ms. Bucker. Okay. Next three speakers, Justin Pitts, followed by Ellen Snelling, and then Mary Ho. Good morning, sir. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Justin Pitts, director of business development for Soft First Recovery. A veteran-owned addiction treatment provider serving Tampa Bay. I'm also a person in long-term recovery. I'm here today to urge this board to strengthen ordinance C2 by prohibiting the retail sale of all forms of Kratom, with no exemptions for natural or whole leaf products. Over the past two years, Soft First Recovery has documented approximately a 400% increase in clients testing positive for Kratom or presenting with Kratom as their primary substance of concern. At our Tampa facility, new clients seeking help for Kratom dependence increased from 102 per month to as many as 5 to 10. But behind those numbers are real people. In March, a client attending group therapy at our Tampa facility lost consciousness after consuming a Kratom product purchased at a local gas station. Our clinical team administered two doses of Narcan, and emergency services responded. Think about that for a moment. A man actively seeking recovery nearly lost his life after consuming something he purchased at a neighborhood gas station. I have personally known people in Hillsborough County who have lost their lives to Kratom. Commissioners, that's unacceptable. You will hear arguments that natural whole leaf Kratom is different from concentrated 7-0 products. While their potency differs, natural does not mean safe. Whole leaf Kratom contains opioid receptor active compounds and carries risks of dependence, withdrawal, and serious adverse effects. As concentrated products evolve and new formulations emerge, we are constantly trying to regulate a moving target. I respectfully urge you to expand Ordinance D2 to prohibit the retail sale of all Kratom products throughout the Pillsborough County, with no exceptions for natural or whole leaf Kratom. Thank you for your time and commitment to protecting our community. Thank you, Mr. Pitts. Ellen Snelling, followed by Mary Ho, and then Olivia McDonald. Good morning. Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Ellen Snelling. I've been a substance abuse prevention volunteer for 25 years. I know the heartache of losing a loved one to drugs. My brother, Andrew, died 10 years ago from fentanyl poisoning. Now, I'm meeting heartbroken moms who lost their children, not to synthetic fentanyl, but to a natural supplement purchased in smoke shops and gas stations, a product the moms never even heard of until they got the dreaded call from the medical examiner, a deadly drug, not synthetic, but whole leaf Kratom, also known as gas station heroin. Colorful fruit-flavored gummies and seltzers and shots. I have examples here. This one almost got me stopped by security, and he goes, oh, it's just candy. It's actually full of Kratom. And this one, I've been told by the opioid task force, the sheriff's office, that has been found at death beside someone who had died, and it's called HEAT. I can't support item D2 as written because it adds synthetic drugs that are already illegal in Florida. How will that protect Hillsborough County families? I'm imploring you to eliminate all the exemptions for natural leaf Kratom products. Natural is not safe. Opium poppies and cocoa plants are also natural plants. Listen to scientists, not Kratom consumers, smoke shop, and lobbyists. Dr. Andrew Kolodny published a recent article that says Kratom is an opioid. It meets both the pharmacological and functional definitions of an opioid, and states that prohibit Kratom have experienced substantially lower rates of Kratom-related poisonings, adverse effects, and deaths. In 2025, there were 11 deaths caused by Kratom in Hillsborough County, according to the Medical Examiner's Office. The last time I spoke, it was 31 deaths. In this two-week period, it's jumped up to 37. We are in the midst of a new wave of an opioid epidemic. Commissioners, it's up to you. We elected you to protect the health, safety, and welfare of our residents. Look at these grieving moms. Listen to their heartbreaking stories, and make your decision. Please eliminate the exemptions. Thank you. Mary Ho, then Olivia McDonald, Teresa Miller, and then Donna McDonald. Good morning. Good morning. I'm Mary Huff. I'm here today representing Kratom Danger Awareness and families across the nation who have lost loved ones to Kratom. The poster board my brother is holding shows loved ones from across the country who died because of Kratom. They are not just faces. They represent lives cut short. Among them is my son, who his life was taken on February 2nd of this year. So far in 2026, Hillsborough County Medical Examiner has counted 31 deaths, and Kratom was determined to be the cause of death. Manatee County has recorded nine. Sarasota has recorded two, despite banning Kratom in 2016, because neighboring counties have not enacted similar bans. 708, Pseudo-indoxil, MGM-15-16 are already illegal at the state and federal levels. Adding them to the ordinance would have little effect on public health and safety. The real concern is Kratom itself. Whole-leaf Kratom is the source material used to create these substances. A comprehensive ban on all Kratom products, including whole-leaf Kratom, would save lives, reduce health care costs, and make enforcement easier. We asked the BOCC to close the whole-leaf exemption and adopt a comprehensive ban similar to Sarasota counties. I respectfully ask the board to consider who benefits from the whole-leaf exemption. It is not the families represented on this board. It is not the people who have lost loved ones. The primary beneficiaries are the businesses that continue to profit from selling these products. It is too late for my son and for many individuals whose faces appear on this board. But it is not late for the next son, daughter, brother, or sister. Please close these loopholes, take action, and save lives. Thank you. Next speaker is Olivia McDonald. Good morning. My name is Olivia McDonald, and I'd like to thank you for your attention for the next two minutes. On the morning of January 8th, my father called me to tell me that my brother Cade had passed away in his sleep due to acute nitrogen ion toxicity caused by Kratom. This is what killed my brother, Kratom. But I want to address something that's getting lost in this conversation. Banning synthetic Kratom is not enough. My brother Colt spent his 21st birthday, his first birthday without his twin, in rehab due to natural Kratom. People may argue it's safe because it helps people come off of harder drugs or manage chronic pain. But if this substance is being promoted as a tool for recovery, why is it being sold along candy bars and energy drinks in our gas stations? Did you know babies are being born addicted to Kratom because their mothers took it while pregnant? These aren't people seeking out drug dealers or illicit substances. They're often young adults walking into a convenience store that happens to be the lion's den of an industry that profits from their vulnerability. If you don't believe me, I urge you to speak to the families who have buried their children. Speak to those who now have to avert their eyes while they walk into a gas station for fear of relapse. We need to ban all forms of Kratom. If there are legitimate reasons for medical use, they should be addressed through appropriate medical oversight and not used to justify unrestricted sales in gas stations and smoke shops. Don't allow another mother, father, brother, or sister like myself to have to figure out how to live in a world without someone they love because of Kratom. If Cade were here today, he would tell you how much he hated that drug, how it ruined his college career and it stole his future. And he would beg you to listen to our brother Colt and what he has endured. But Cade is not here, and that is only because of Kratom. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you for your comments. Next up is Teresa Miller, followed by Donna McDonald. Good morning. I want to thank all those that were veterans, as my dad was a veteran from 1953 to 73, and served our country to protect our country. And as elected officials, you're here to protect our county. And that's why a full ban on Kratom is necessary. And I'm going to give you some reasons why. Hopefully, we've learned from the pill mill crisis that many of you who were in elected office or at least lived here in Tampa remember. And what happened when the state delayed, more and more people died. But unlike the pill mill crisis, which involved an FDA-approved pharmaceutical, Kratom is an unapproved and unregulated substance, yet it acts on the same opioid receptors as opioids. The widespread availability, aggressive and false advertising strategies, and money behind Kratom are deeply reminiscent of the opioid crisis. If unregulated medications caused all these deaths, how can you vote not to exempt Kratom today? The natural plant, which many people have said, you're probably going to hear them say, oh, it's safe, but don't confuse natural with safe. The raw plant contains active alkaloids that pose real risk of addiction, dependency, liver toxication, overdose, and tragically death. And you'll probably hear a medical examiner doesn't know what they're doing. I've heard that up in Tallahassee. The truth is, we have one of the best medical examiners in this nation. If they determined Kratom caused the death, it was Kratom. A partial ban places unnecessary burden on our local emergency rooms and creates a real nightmare for our police to enforce. How are they going to be expected to determine between what's exempt and what's not exempt? A total ban without exemptions makes this ordinance straightforward and easy to enforce. But more importantly, behind these numbers and statistics are real lives that could have been prevented if Kratom were illegal. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next up is Donna McDonald, followed by Colt McDonald. Got this, Mama. I apologize. Good morning. I'm Dana McDonald, the mother of a beautiful forever 20-year-old son, Cade, who died from acute metrogeninine toxicity, the primary accolade in Kratom. Today, I ask you one question. What happened when you ban certain derivatives but leave the original source available? A 2023 U.S. patent, Metrogeninine Analogs, documented how metrogeninine extracts from Kratom can be chemically modified into numerous related compounds. The patent's numbered compounds extend to 70. Yeah, 70. And the chemistry doesn't stop there. How will you protect us from the next dangerous compound? Florida's emergency 7-OH ban took effect in 2025. My son died in 2026. Who did that ban protect? Not my son. No mom here. A University of Florida study found that 85% of 44 Kratom and Kratom-related products tested had chemical concentrations inconsistent of their labels. Who's verifying these products? The practical realities of enforcement is limited at best. Who's paying for the testing? Must we continue relying on autopsies and toxicology reports to discover the dangers? Kade's death reminds us that the risk isn't limited to synthetic derivatives. Kratom leaf itself contains metrogeninine, which the body can metabolize into 7-OH. How many more parents must receive that phone call? Commissioners, don't build a policy around a list of compounds while overlooking the source. You are elected to protect our community. Be brave. Lead. We should not accept addiction and death as the price of keeping a product on the shore shelves and in the street. Kade's life mattered. He deserved better. And so do the next lives that you can save. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next up is Colt McDonald, followed by Wendy Cummings. Hello. My name is Colt McDonald, and I'm a kratom addict. I first tried natural kratom at a cafe August of 2024. I was told it helped people relax. I felt euphoric. All worries vanished. Everything I found online said it was all natural, non-addictive, and impossible to overdose on. I felt safe to continue. I began to use it more and more as I grew more tolerant. I could buy it, not 70H, in many forms and flavors at gas stations, smoke shops, cafes, etc. All prevalent here. Soon, all I cared about was kratom. I didn't think I was addicted at all. I was wrong. I soon found myself completely isolated, depressed, and failing all classes. January of this year, I woke up to learn my brother's roommates couldn't get to his room. I drove over to see cop cars and an ambulance. I brushed past paramedics to see my childhood friend white in the face, only able to mouth. I'm sorry. Upon learning of his death, my first thought was needing kratom. We learned Kay died of a kratom overdose. In rehab, I turned 21 alone with addicts and criminals, and my twin brother stayed 20. I was on the same protocol as fent addicts. The three weeks of withdrawal were torture and the most painful thing I have ever experienced. I met many kratom addicts. One said it was worse than heroin. The doctor said kratom is a different beast. Kratom helps handling pain or getting off drugs because it's just another opioid. It's not medicine prescribed by doctors. It's sold in smoke shops next to weed and nitrous oxide. It's profit over lives. When I say kratom, I mean natural kratom. 70H is stronger, but it's the same devil. Any student can walk into a store or cafe and walk out an opioid addict. I didn't get here because of pain pills or terrible friends. I got addicted because of a strawberry flavored tea. The rest of my life, I will be fighting to stay clean. If natural kratom didn't exist, I would be graduating next to my twin brother. Instead, I'm going to AA meetings and planting flowers at his grave. This, my story is not special. It's happening right now and will continue to happen. How many more need to suffer? Thank you for your comments, Colt. Wendy Cummings is next, followed by Stephanie Pratt and Tyler Daughtry. Good morning. My name is Wendy Cummings. I'm here today to request a broadband of all forms of kratom with no exemptions for natural whole leaf kratom. This is my beautiful son, Cody Cummings. Cody passed away on April 17th of this year at the age of 30. His death certificate and toxicology report list his death, his cause of death, as toxic effects of mitragynine. Mitragynine is the primary psychoactive chemical found in the leaves of the kratom tree. I had never heard of kratom or its synthetic derivatives until I got the call from the medical examiner's office. I had no idea how long he'd been using it, in what form, where he got it, nothing. I was totally blindsided. Since then, I've learned everything I can about this dangerous substance that took my son from me. The kratom community insists that kratom doesn't kill, but it's right here, in black and white, on his death certificate. Yes, Cody was on prescription medications for depression and anxiety, which he'd used for several years under close psychiatric care and monitoring. It was only when he introduced kratom, which he obviously thought was safe since it was sold legally, into the mix, that he met tragic results. Cody left behind a wife and a seven-year-old daughter who will grow up without her father and many family and friends who loved him. Not a day goes by, not a minute goes by, that I don't think of him and miss him. He was truly my best friend. Again, we're calling for a broad band of all forms of kratom, with no exceptions for natural whole leaf kratom. If by being here, I can help save other mothers from the heartbreak I've suffered, then at least my son's death will have meant something. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Next up, we have Stephanie Pratt, followed by Tyler Daughtry. Good morning, everyone. My name is Stephanie Pratt, and I stand before you today as a mother who has experienced every parent's worst nightmare, losing a child. On September 6, 2026, our lives changed forever. We lost our beautiful 19-year-old daughter, Kylie, a daughter who had her whole life ahead of her. And today, I want to tell you how quickly our world was shattered. Kylie was simply out enjoying some time with her friends, something millions of young adults and teenagers do every single day. She wasn't expecting that a decision made that night would cost her everything. At some point, Kylie and another person decided to stop on the way home at a smoke shop and take a seven-stacks kratom mint chocolate chip pill labeled 80 milligrams. They split that one pill in half, half a pill, just 40 milligrams based on the amount listed on the package. And within approximately 20 minutes of taking it, our beautiful daughter became very disoriented and lost all body control. When she arrived home, she fell out of the car when they opened the door. She couldn't even walk to the front door. She had to be carried. While approaching the door, Kylie had begun struggling to breathe and was gasping for air. Think about that for a moment. In just 20 minutes, a young, healthy girl who was just laughing, smiling, enjoying life with her friends was now fighting for her life. We had no idea that morning what we would wake up to. Her unresponsive, not breathing, no pulse, no heartbeat, pale as it goes from lacks of oxygen to our brain. This has destroyed our entire world. We are here because kratom products are being sold in places where families shop every day, gas stations, smoke shops, products with dangerous and deadly risks can be purchased without even people fully understanding what they are putting into their bodies. People see these products sitting on store shelves. Kratom has all different kinds of packaging. Please take this into consideration for our daughter. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Next up, we have Tyler Daughtry, followed by Joseph Petrie and Andrew Schroeder. Good morning. Thank you for having me here today. I do support restrictions on synthetic 7-OH, but not actual kratom plant extracts as a whole. To establish common ground, an extract by definition is a substance physically pulled out of a natural plant. A synthesized compound is built or recreated artificially in a lab. The natural yield of 7-OH from the plant is so incredibly low that the products being sold are not made by extracting natural 7-OH. The products in question are synthetic and are made in a lab. They are not natural and are actually not coming from the kratom plant at all. Our laws should reflect this difference. The 34 deaths in Hillsborough County that involved kratom over the past few years seem to be what brought us to this precipice. Every one of those deaths deserve serious investigation and every family affected deserves compassion. However, we have to consider all the data. In 2023, the Tampa Bay Times published an investigation examining Florida medical records. They identified 587 kratom-related deaths over 12 years. Of those 587, 92.2% involved other substances contributing to overdoses, including fentanyl and other hard drugs. Of the 46 remaining cases, the deaths were also linked to underlying medical conditions alongside 7-OH and other synthetics masquerading as kratom. Therefore, one could argue kratom most likely didn't cause any of those 34 deaths. There is enormous difference between a substance being present during an overdose and that substance being solely responsible for causing it. I believe this board must also consider the unintended consequences of prohibition. Many adults use kratom as an alternative to more dangerous substances, including illicit opioids. Some use it to manage discomfort or to help ease withdrawals. I myself was able to get off harder drugs, get back to a normal life, and avoid the downfalls of addiction by managing my withdrawals with kratom. Kratom saved my life. We need to focus more on harm reduction, education, and addiction prevention. If we eliminate access to traditional kratom extracts, consumers will be forced back into the streets to buy real drugs. This will definitely result in far more deaths. We should be reducing harm, not relocating it to a more dangerous market. And if you ban kratom, you should ban alcohol, too. Let's reframe. Next up, we have Joseph Petrie, followed by Andrew Schroeder. Joseph Petrie? What's going on? Okay, proceed. Thank you very much. Thank you, Commissioners. My name is Joseph Petrie. Thank you very much for this opportunity to speak. For the last 20 years, I've worked to get people off of drugs and alcohol. I'm the CEO, former CEO, of a large mental health and substance abuse treatment center in Florida, very prominent center. And I've worked with the Florida legislature through all prior waves of the opioid epidemic. I'm here because kratom is part of the solution, not part of the problem. But there is a distinction here. Obviously, you've heard it. And before I say anything else, my heart goes out to all the family members here today. What I learned helping people get sober was that just about every single family knows somebody with a substance use disorder, some problem with drugs or alcohol. If you would do me the kindness, please think of some person in your family, someone you know. I'm here for that person. I'm here to prevent death. I'm here because kratom is part of a solution that might help us avoid the worst of a fourth wave of the opioid epidemic. I'm concerned that if legislative bodies prohibit kratom in its natural form by conflating the risks with those of the synthetic isolates and all the products. Kratom is not a product. Right? That's the distinction right here. If you go to a gas station and you pull out a tab or a gel pack or a gummy, that's not kratom anymore. Leaf. That is kratom. And that is part of the solution, not part of the problem. Because I don't have much time, I'm going to just read a couple things. As far as safety, there are studies that show it's safety. In fact, an FDA-funded study, a pilot placebo-controlled single-ascending dose clinical study to determine the pharmacodynamics and safety of kratom's alkaloids in partnership with the Food and Drug Administration. No deaths or serious adverse events occurred, even at dosages much higher than taken customarily by experienced kratom consumers. Other studies on the safety and tolerability of kratom leaf in humans support the FDA's findings. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Appreciate the comments. All right, next three speakers. Andrew Schroeder. Folks, let's please keep it down. Kenneth Hoyumpa. And then Dottie Groover-Skipper. And then Elizabeth Kasparov after that. Good morning, commissioners. Thank you for your time. My name is Andrew Schroeder. I am the general manager and partner at Adobe Cava down in Manatee County in Bradenton, Florida. And I wanted to talk about our impact locally in Bradenton with the kava bar scene selling kratom and kava tea. I've entered into the record a packet. And I would like the information. So the first packet is a kratom typical morning dose, and it shows that it's a small study, and it shows it's self-reported, what a typical person goes through when they take a kratom. The research finding shows that it has a mild effect. The main piece in this is going to be from Painty Associates. It's an eight-factor analysis done for the FDA. And it found that kratom has an addiction profile related to caffeine, nutmeg, and St. John's wort. And it is not at all as potent as a traditional opioid. The last thing I would like to show is our impact in Bradenton. So the green line and the blue line, these are DUI's arrests per 100,000. Green line is going to be Florida. Blue line is going to be Manatee County. And yellow is going to be Bradenton. There is a declining trend with all three, but there is a departure from when my establishment, as well as another cobble bar, opened in 2019, and we had a 72% drop in DUI arrests locally. I really appreciate you taking the time to hear me out, and I hope you have a great day. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Appreciate the comments. Folks, folks, not going to put up with all that. All right, let's be respectful of each speaker, regardless of their position. Kenneth Hayampa. Kenneth here. Then we got Dottie Gruber-Skipper, then Elizabeth Kasparov, and then Misty Brown, which is virtual. Good morning, sir. Good morning. Thank you, commissioners, for allowing me this time to speak. My name is Kenneth Hayampa. I represent Grassroots Cobble House, located here in Tampa. We have been in operation for six years. I have personally been serving kratom tea, which is just leaf, water, and lemon juice, in the Tampa Bay area for nearly 17 years. I'm in strong support of the current Florida law, the Kratom Consumer Protection Act, that allows safe and responsible access to kratom. I also support the current emergency ban on the highly concentrated 7-0. I'm advocating for the continued access to pure leaf kratom tea, which, as a tea, is available in bars across the county, and its access is limited to individuals that are 21 and over. We also, in all of our stores, have signage that says 21 and over. So this is something that's only available to adults. We have served thousands of residents by giving them access to a product that has proven helpful in reducing dependence on highly addictive prescription pain medication. We believe in personal responsibility and individual liberty, since this is a product only available to adults 21 and over. I implore this commission to continue to allow responsible access to kratom, as outlined in the current Florida law, and urge stringent enforcement of this law, instead of creating more laws that put a strain on responsible residents and small businesses. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Dottie Gruber-Skipper, followed by Elizabeth Kasparov, and then Misty Brown-Virtual and Jennifer Gillis-Virtual. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. To truly protect our children, our public health, and our safety in Hillsborough County, we must implement a comprehensive ban on all kratom products by eliminating the whole leaf exemptions in the proposed ordinance. I stand before you today as a mom who painfully watched my son spiral down an opioid addiction. When he couldn't get his normal opioids, he easily found his high in our neighborhood gas stations, convenience stores, and smoke shops. I remember going to his apartment when he was at his lowest and counting over 50 empty kratom packages strewn about his apartment. I am beyond grateful that after a 16-year nightmare of opioid addiction and kratom addiction, which are the same, and years in rehabilitation facilities, my son is finally sober and thriving today. But right now, other families are at risk. Fruit-flavored kratom gummies, seltzers, shots, and tablets are sold in bright, child-friendly packaging right down the street, all over our community. Marketed deceptively as natural supplements, consumers assume they are safe, but they are not. The FDA has not approved them. Kratom functions as an opioid similar to heroin, and its consequences are devastating and fatal. So I ask you to truly protect our children. Thank you, Ms. Grover-Skipper. Eliminate the whole leaf. Elizabeth Kasparov, followed by Misty Brown, virtual, Jennifer Gillis, virtual, and then Cassie Leonard. Morning. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Dr. Elizabeth Kasparov. I'm an emergency medicine physician currently completing a fellowship in interventional pain medicine under the leadership of Dr. Noman Azeem, representing Florida Spine and Pain Specialists. Thank you for the opportunity to address the growing public health concerns surrounding kratom and its concentrated derivatives. Throughout my emergency medicine training, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating consequences of opioid misuse, addiction, and overdose. I've seen patients fighting for their lives, families desperately waiting for answers, and lives forever changed in moments. Kratom is frequently marketed as a natural supplement or safer alternative to opioids, but natural does not mean safe. Kratom contains mitragynine and 7-hydroxymetragynine compounds that act on opioid receptors and carry risks of dependence, withdrawal, and potentially life-threatening toxicity. Concentrated products containing elevated levels of 7-hydroxymetragynine are particularly concerning because they can cause profound sedation, respiratory depression, and potentially fatal overdose. In emergency medicine, patients with kratom-related toxicity may present with seizures, altered mental status, or respiratory compromise, while routine toxicology screens may fail to identify kratom exposure. And these concerns are not merely theoretical. According to Hillsborough County Medical Examiner data, mitragynine-attributed deaths increased from 6 in 2024 to 11 in 2025, with 31 provisionally reported through October 2026. Florida Poison Information Centers reported that kratom-related exposures increased from 66 in 2022 to 255 in 2025, nearly a 300% increase. These figures encompass creative exposures broadly, not specifically concentrated 7-hydroxymetragynine products. Behind every statistic is a patient, a grieving family, and a potentially preventable tragedy. As a pain medicine fellow, I recognize that patients with seeking relief from chronic pain or opiate withdrawal deserve compassion, evidence-based treatment, and protection from inadequately regulated products. I respectfully urge the board to prioritize public safety, responsible regulation, and access to appropriate medical care. We should not have to wait for another preventable death before acting. Appreciate the comments. Misty Brown, Jennifer Gillis, and then Cassie Leonard and Wesley Donner. Is Misty on the line? I am. Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Hi, my name is Misty Brown. I'm a 47-year-old mother of three, grandmother to one. I want to start off saying that FDA-approved does not mean safe nor safer. From 2008 to 2019, I was trapped in the cycle of FDA-approved pain pills, benzos, and muscle relaxers prescribed for my chronic pain. When I was cut off from pain management in 2019, my life spiraled. I turned to the streets and even cocaine. Then during withdrawal, I watched a leaf of faith and discovered botanical kratom, not synthetic 7-OH or its derivatives. That moment changed everything. Botanical kratom quieted my cravings and gave me space to heal. I haven't returned to pain management over seven years. Today, I'm a thriving mom, a proud first-time grandmother, and an active kratom advocate, consumer, and activist. Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to speak. Thank you very much. Jennifer Gillis, followed by Cassie Leonard, Wesley Donner, and Rhonda Willis. Jennifer on the line? Yes, hi. Can you hear me? Good morning. Yes. Hi. Thank you for allowing me to speak. Today, my name is Jennifer Gillis, and I'm speaking today on behalf of myself and the countless everyday people from all walks of life who are benefiting from botanical kratom. One of the biggest things that gets overlooked in these conversations are the countless chronic pain patients who rely on botanical kratom to manage their chronic pain. For many of us, this plant has made a difference between simply existing and actually being able to live and participate in life again. We're moms, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers, and responsible tax-paying adults. We are just ordinary people who are simply trying to live our lives. Sometimes that means being able to do something as basic as doing the laundry, cleaning our house, spending time with our families, and making memories with our children without chronic pain holding us back. Our voices matter. Our voices matter. Our lives matter. Because of the 70H industry coming in a couple years ago and falsely marketing these synthetic products under the name of kratom, it's caused confusion among consumers, lawmakers, and communities across the country. Follow what the DEA is doing now that these products are at Schedule 1, clean up the smoke shops and the gas stations, get the 70H products and the chemically altered products off the shelves. Make retailers aware that they will be charged with federal action if they continue to sell these substances. Thank you so much for the time to speak today. Thank you, Ms. Gillis. Cassie Leonard, Cassie here, followed by Wesley Donner, Rhonda Willis, and then Susan Eppert. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you. My name is Cassie Leonard. I'm the manager and head cov-attender at a cov-in kratom lounge here in Hillsborough County. I'm also a wellness coach, mother, and PhD student in psychology. Serving my community is a life mission for me. Because of this, I ask that the bill be amended before it is passed. For the past eight years, I have served kratom and can do so with a clear conscience as our shop and many like us stay vigilant in serving clean, true-to-plant products that keep our community safe and healthy in mind and body. For this, I applaud our state for acting swiftly in the ban of 70H. This product is synthetic, designed to introduce poison and increase profit margins in an industry that's purpose is to heal. In the eight years that I have been serving it, I have never lost anyone to kratom, be it rehab, incarceration, or death. Every day, I interact with people who are here, alive with us today because kratom was available to them. These people are the statistics we should also be considering when regulating the plant. There is a way to use the product safely. This alone is proof that we need to utilize those who are informed about the plant when regulating it. When the bill was passed to ban 70H, we lost zero products in our store and we are acutely aware of how dangerous it was. This bill to extend the ban of 70H and other synthetic extracts claimed to be kratom can help support our cause to protect our community. However, I ask that as you create legislation around kratom, you make the clear distinction between extract from the plant and synthetic extracts. We use kratom plants extracts that are well within safe recommended use of the plant. Regulating kratom products moving forward is necessary and should be done through consulting with professionals in the industry as we have many who are truly brilliant and hold the health and wellness of our community above all. I would be happy to recommend them by name. Extracts are not the issue. Synthetic garbage designed to create addicts and those who value the dollar over the safety and well-being of others are the issue. We are not the same. Thank you. Thank you. Wesley Donner, followed by Rhonda Willis and Susan Eppard and Laura Romney, both virtual. Good morning. First of all, I'd like to say my mic six months later, my nephew to drugs. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Wes, and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak on item D2. I'm here today for a personal reason. I'm a military veteran, and during my service, I suffered a back injury that I have continued to live with long after my military days. Anyone who lives with chronic pain understands that it doesn't just affect your back. It affects your sleep, your ability to work, your family, and your quality of life. For me, natural kratom has made a tremendous difference. It has helped me manage my pain and stay away from prescription pain medication. I'm not standing here claiming kratom is a miracle cure. I'm certainly not asking the commission to ignore legitimate safety concerns. I support taking action against dangerous synthetic kratom derivatives and highly concentrated 7OH products. These products deserve attention and regulation, but I want to address one particular word in this ordinance, extract. That word matters. Not every kratom extract is the same. There is a significant difference between a concentrated synthetic chemically altered 7OH product and a lab-tested extract made from natural kratom leaf. If we use language that fails to make that distinction, we risk sweeping responsible natural botanical products into a ban that we're never intended to face. I'm asking this commission to use clear, precise definition that distinguishes natural leaf-derived products and properly tested botanical extracts from synthetic and semi-synthetic derivatives and dangerous concentrated 7OH products. I believe the ordinance should pass as written without amendments that expand the ban to natural kratom leaf or traditional kratom tea. Please preserve the whole leaf exemption. Florida has already established 21 and older requirement and taken any action, taken action against concentrated 7OH products. We should follow that direction rather than create unnecessary restrictions on natural botanical kratom. We should also follow the science. A peer-reviewed article published October 22, 2026 in Frontiers in Pharmacology involving researches. Thank you, sir. Appreciate the comments. Rhonda Willis, followed by Susan Eppard, Lori Romney, Misty Brown, and John Brown, all virtual. Good morning. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Rhonda Willis, and I'm here because there's an important difference between natural kratom leaf, pure leaf extracts, and synthetic or highly concentrated products when we need to stop putting them all in the same category. After losing my son to fentanyl poisoning, my world fell apart. The pain was unbearable, and I turned to alcohol to numb it. But alcohol didn't take away my pain. It made everything worse. It took me down a destructive path that I was losing myself. I honestly don't know where I would be today had I not done kratom. For me, natural kratom became a turning point. It helped me walk away from alcohol, manage my physical pain, and cope with the emotional pain I'll still carry. I even reached a point where I no longer felt I need antidepressants. I did not stop at simply finding something that helped me. I took the time to educate myself. I researched the natural leaf, learned about potential risks and medication interactions, and eventually began brewing my own kratom tea at home. For me, making tea from natural leaf is a choice I feel more comfortable with than using highly concentrated or synthetic products or alcohol. I understand that even natural kratom isn't completely risk-free. That's my message to others. Don't blindly jump from one quick fix to another. Educate yourself first. Know what you're putting in your body. Understand the risks and make informed decisions. I support restricting dangerous synthetic and highly concentrated 7OH products, but natural kratom leaf and responsibility manufactured leaf extracts deserves to be evaluated separately. When discussing kratom-related deaths, we must distinguish between kratom-causing deaths and simply being present in someone's system. We need responsible regulation, testing, honest labeling, and education, not a blanket ban. Alcohol nearly destroyed what was left of my life. I believe natural kratom has helped me rebuild it. I'm asking you to listen to our experiences, look at the facts, and make informed decisions. Regulate responsibly. Restrict dangerous synthetics, but please, free to leave. Appreciate your comments. Next four speakers, all virtual, Susan Eppard, Laura Romney, Misty Brown, John Brown, and the next speaker here in person is Cynthia Schellabarger. Cynthia Eppard on the line. Yes, I'm Susan Eppard. Good morning. And it's been, my son died, my son died on November 10th of 2021 from kratom, all natural botanical kratom leaf powder. It was ground up and he didn't know it would kill him. He would believe the lie that it was safe as coffee. And toxicology shows he died from the toxic effects of mitragyny, which is found only in kratom. He was perfectly healthy, according to autopsy. And he had no other substances in his system besides a minuscule amount of coffee and caffeine, or coffee. And I'm sorry, it's a bad day for me. And nicotine. He didn't ingest that 708, any synthetic. It was a 2021, long before 7-hydroxymitragyny or mitragyny and suiting bagful hit the market. And I believe all kratom should be banned because kratom is a main ingredient in semi-synthetics, including 7-hydroxymitragyny and mitragyny and suiting bagful. And, well, without them, without kratom, them can't be made. And if it remains readily available to anyone with internet access, we will only continue to see more deaths from holy kratom products and we'll fuel the creation of even more dangerous drugs with the semi-synthetics and the synthetic. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate your comments. Next three speakers. Deputy, will you please escort Ms. Herndon out of the room? Thank you. Laura Romney, is she on the line? Yes, can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. Yes, can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. Please continue. Thank you. Yes, my name is Laura Romney, and I'm a 56-year-old pain patient. I have a severe facial nerve disease called trigeminal neuralgia. I'm also a naturally kratom consumer for the last nine years. And let me tell you something. Pain patients have absolutely been abandoned. Pain patients like me absolutely have no access to medication that helps with pain, especially when we have failed on all of the typical pharmaceuticals like gabapentin. We are left with nothing. And now we find a natural solution, like natural, literally the leaf, the powdered leaf, not any of the synthetics, not even the extracts that have helped us to control that pain. It's been a godsend for me and so many others throughout this country. My life matters just as much as the lives of all of those who've lost a loved one. I do want to make you aware, though, that the DEA is scheduling all of these synthetics. In fact, this Friday, we expect the scheduling of the final one, 708. The DEA took over a year to look at this really closely. Their scheduling request on the Federal Registry is 38 pages long. It shows distinctly that synthetics are a problem and natural leaf should be preserved. There's no way the DEA and the FDA would have left scheduling alone on natural leaf kratom if it was dangerous to the public. All of the poison control numbers that you're hearing, those increases are true. It's because the synthetics entered the market. That's when all of the additional reports started coming in. This plan has been used for literally decades in the United States with no problems. In fact, four years ago, basically no one even knew what kratom was. Now the synthetics come in, and that's when all the problems start. And so I just, you know, I've asked you to consider poly-drug use, look at the toxicology report. Thank you, Ms. Romney. Look specifically at the federal government. Is Misty Brown on the line? I am, but I already spoke. Sorry about that. Thank you. All right. How about John Brown? John Brown did not join the meeting. Okay. Thank you. Next speakers are in person, Cynthia Schallabarger, followed by Adam Nelson, Brooke Eddy, and Tiffany Stoltzing. No? We'll keep going. We've got Matthew Lowe, and then Susan Cave, Jeff Regan, and David Torgard, all virtual. Good morning, sir. Good morning. Let me know when you're good to go. My name is Matthew Lowe. I'm the executive director of the Global Kratom Coalition. Thank you very much for having me here today to speak on this ordinance. We end here in complete support of the action that's being taken before us. It draws a bright line between synthetic drugs and natural kratom leaf. I want to be very clear. Natural kratom leaf is not new. It's been around in the U.S. for about 50 years. What is new and what changed the market with the introduction of dangerous synthetics, like synthetic 7-OH, MGM-15, mitragynone, pseudondoxil? That is what's changed, and that's what's driving the difference. That is exactly why the DEA, HHS, and FDA have drawn that bright line. In 2025, HHS and FDA held a joint press conference with the DEA and recommended the scheduling of concentrated synthetic 7-OH. They made it very clear they're not targeting natural kratom leaf. Very quickly after that, A.G. Uthmeyer of Florida moved forward to emergency schedule concentrated synthetic 7-OH, decisive action which we completely support. He's extended that emergency action through to 2026. What we're seeing now at a federal level is the feds have moved and scheduled MGM-15, MGM-16, and mitragynone, pseudondoxil. The final scheduling action on concentrated synthetic 7-OH will be in place, hopefully, by this Friday. If not this Friday, then potentially a couple of weeks thereafter. That rule that's been put in place at a federal level matches the Florida rule exactly. This is not something that's been pulled out of the sky. They've looked at the science. They've looked at all the available data, and they've made a very clear distinction. Deal with the dangerous synthetics that are masquerading as natural kratom leaf and regulate and leave natural kratom leaf available on the market. We support this action. What really needs to happen is significant enforcement, not just in Florida, not just in Hillsborough, but across the country. Get these dangerous synthetics off the market and preserve access to natural kratom. Thank you, Mr. Lowe. Appreciate your comments. All right, next five speakers are all virtual. Susan Cave, Jeff Regan, David Torgard, Tracy Hudson, and Melody Wolfe. Is Ms. Cave on the line? Ms. Cave. My name is Susan Cave, and I live in Havana, Florida, which is in Gaston County. I support a broadband of all forms of kratom with no exemption for natural whole leaf kratom. You will hear him speak about the health benefits of the whole leaf and try to draw a line between 7-0-H and natural leaf kratom, but the truth is natural kratom is a dangerous opioid drug. Understanding that kratom is an opioid helps explain why some people who are in kratom need it up on Suboxone and meth and the exact same medicine that's used to treat addiction to heroin, oxycodone, and fentanyl. Understanding that kratom is an opioid helps explain why doctors are seeing an inquiry of withdrawal syndrome in infants born to mothers who use kratom during pregnancy. And more often than not, mothers who thought kratom was a natural, non-opioid drug industry. My 32-year-old son, William Cave, died while wade fishing at St. Mark's Lighthouse in Wakulla County, Florida, on the 20th of April of 2024. He was moving in a small boat close to shore, saw William fall face forward and not get up. There was no struggle or an attempt to get up, and by the time they got to him and pulled him to shore, he was gone. When William's toxicology and medical examiner report came back, it showed Will had accidentally drowned, and the only contributing cause was mitraginine toxicity. I did not use illicit drugs, drink alcohol, or do anything like that. He took Raleigh, traded him to supplement his prescribed prescription drugs, and hoped to feel better. I was safe because this is safe. Please don't be fooled by the testimonies you will hear from the community who will write the laws that govern its own $2 billion kratom industry. Regulating this industry will not stop deaths. Act that whole leaf kratoms are addictive and can cause overdose and death and are not safe. Thank you, Ms. Cave. Please consider a broad band of all sorts of kratom. Is Jeff Regan on the line? Jeff Regan speaking. Can you hear me okay? Yes, sir. Jeff Regan here, can you? Okay, great. I've been taking kratom for six years, and I think there's a disconnect on what people are calling kratom and the synthetic nonsense that you see in these smoke shops. I don't take anything flavored or in a bottle or tastes like anything. I take the nasty certificate of authenticity stuff you get in a bag, tastes like your grass clippings. If you drink too much of it, you will throw it up. It does not get me high. And this is where I don't understand the people that say they died or got sick on whole leaf. It's such a low dose of metrogenine. I don't understand it, but I wish I had found it many, many years ago. I was a drunk for decades, thought I was going to die a drunk. This stuff helped me drop the cravings. I didn't have to drink anymore. It was amazing. It doesn't make you feel like anything. It's just like, wow, you know what? I don't need that beer. And the stuff just went bad in the fridge. But to say the least, it helps me also with my spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, osteoarthritis from being a shipbuilder. It is good. If it's not abused, keep it away from the kids. Don't dress it up with cartoon language. Don't put flavors in it. I know that's going to make a lot of people mad. But just drink the regular nasty stuff that it is. And that's all I got to say. There is a difference between the synthetic and the natural leaf. And I'll go to my desk saying that. Thank you so much, people. Is David Torgerud on the line? David did not check in. All right, thank you. How about Tracy Hudson? Tracy is not in the meeting. Okay. How about Melody Wolf? I am here. Okay, good morning. Yes, I am here. Thank you for having me today. Good morning. I've been working at the several level for almost two years now to get 7OH and other synthetics off the shelves. So I'm so happy that you're doing this. Back in 2025, I was asked to participate in the nationally televised press conference with HHS secretary and the FDA commissioner. I was asked to talk about the benefits of cradom and to distinguish it from 7OH and the benefits for me. I've been a chronic pain patient for over 20 years, several issues, and eight of those years I spent essentially bedridden. I've been taking cradom for 12 years now daily, and do I still have pain every day? Yes, I did. Yes, I can. But I no longer need a walker or any mobility aid, and even to the point where I can chase my granddaughter around the Detroit Zoo. So I'm going to go ahead and enter cradom when I was a chronic pain patient, and like I said, it gave me that mobility, and I'm just trying to keep it legal for all of the chronic pain patients out there. The federal government has drawn a line between cradom and 708, but as the U.S. healthcare agencies, 2026 keynote speaker was National Institute of Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora Volko. She's used this part of the solution. Every healthcare agency was represented at the symposium by scientists and regulators. Not one person talked about a cradom ban, only the synthetics. There are 75 million chronic pain patients in the United States. That means one in six people are chronic pain patients to where it really affects their daily life. So every person is just one diagnosis or one accident, and suddenly pain is a daily challenge, and their life is pretty much pain forever. And that's kind of available for any chronic pain patient that talks with their doctor, and they decide, cradom for them. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Wolfe. Teresa Beignotti. Is Teresa here? And then we have Allison Smith virtual, Brittany Sefton virtual, and then Leanne Beignotti after that. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you to the chair and commissioners. My name is Terry Anderson Benetti. I'm a Hillsborough County Tampa native. I'm here to advocate that the commission ban all cradom, keep our Hillsborough County residents safe, and ask that you pass an amend this ordinance. I'm a nurse practitioner who has experience prescribing opioids, and there's a process that I think kratom should be subject to as well, because it's a dangerous opioid. We do a risk assessment, we look at the person's medical background, we make sure that it's safe, and lots of actions are taken to try to reduce the risk of opioid addiction. The DEA has a move to place it in the schedule one, the same category as heroin, just in case you're not familiar with what that means. A DEA schedule one shows a high potential for abuse, there's a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and there's no currently accepted medical use. Examples of this are heroin, LSD, and MDMA, or otherwise known as molly. These products, my concern, the reason I would like to see a ban of all kratom products is that I feel like the industry will just go around. They'll find a way to use the natural products and then change something on the labeling that will prevent it from being banned, and it'll be very hard for us to enforce. So, I ask that you pass this ordinance, amend it, remove these products from gas stations and convenience stores, moving them into a prescription-only category. Many people may be on antidepressants and not realize that they can get a life-threatening condition called serotonin syndrome because of the deadly interaction. Cade's life mattered. I'm here to speak up. His life mattered and his death mattered. Please consider banning it. Thank you, ma'am. Allyson Smith and then Brittany Sefton, both virtual. Is Allyson on the line? I'm here. Hi. My name's Allyson Smith, and I just want to start by saying that the bill, as currently drafted, is phenomenal. It follows the federal and state laws that have been passed, and it allows for unified enforcement across all three levels of government. The FDA and DEA have repeatedly distinguished between botanical kratom leaf products and these synthetic derivatives that are responsible for many of the deaths that are being discussed today. And good policy should address the products of concern without sweeping in traditional botanical kratom products. And we can listen and respect the families who have experienced unimaginable loss while also listening to the adults who use botanical kratom and the local businesses that serve them. Their voices matter, too. And good public policy protects the entire community rather than just protects them. The ordinance gives this county tools to address prohibited products and misleading practices. And if you pair those with age verification, clear label standards, and retailer accountability, you have a fantastic method of enforcement. So before expanding into a broader ban, I urge you to assess the evidence and impact that this change could have on local consumers and businesses. There are over 23 million Americans that use botanical kratom, and there have been kratom consumers since the 1970s. We're only just now starting to hear of it because of the rise of these synthetic substances. So, again, I just urge you to listen to these botanical kratom consumers because their voices should be heard and listened to and protect their ability to live freely, be parents, grandparents, and be positive contributors to the society. Thank you. Thank you. We've got Brittany Sefton virtual, then Leanne Vignotti in person, and Jenny Hutchinson virtual. Is Brittany on the line? Hello? Good morning. Can you hear me? Yes. Good morning. Thanks for allowing me to speak today. My name is Brittany Sefton, and I'm here as someone who believes in responsible kratom regulation and protecting access to natural leaf kratom. I was injured in high school sports, which led to 15 years opiate addiction. Through medication-assisted therapy, I was on 215 milligrams of methadone daily when I was arrested. I spent 26 days in jail where I detoxed. Coming home, I stopped at the smoke shop and purchased natural leaf kratom. I've been clean for six and a half years, all because of natural leaf kratom. I know that there are people within the community who need kratom, and it's in natural form. By leaving this plant available, you're giving your residents a vital harm reduction tool. Someone might need to find a better path to wellness. I know that not everyone agrees with me, but think about numbers. What about alcohol, cigarettes, vapes? If those things have actually been proven to cause harm, if those are available, then keeping natural kratom available should be an easy decision. And by doing so, you may just help someone quit a life-threatening substance. Thank you for your time, and thank you for leaving natural kratom available. Have a good day. Thank you. Leanne Bignotti. Leanne here. No. Followed by Jenny Hutchinson, virtual. Chad Corral, virtual. And Chad Spivey. Is Jenny Richardson on the line? Jenny, can you hear us? Okay. Did you guys know where you're dropping my mouth now? Jenny? Jenny? Can you hear us? Mr. Chair, Jenny's not responding. Okay. No problem. Chad Corral. Chad on the line. Yes, I'm here. Good morning, sir. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for giving me a chance to talk today. My wife relies on natural kratom. She has developed an autoimmune condition that was brought on by long COVID. When it happened to her, she went into convulsions. I thought she was having a seizure, but she just kept looking at me and saying, pain, pain, pain. And I didn't know what that meant, but I later learned that it messed up her immune system in a way that's been very difficult on both of us. And naturally, kratom is the only thing that allows her to help me raise my two-year-old child. Obviously, there are a lot of people who benefit from kratom. It's been in Southeast Asia for 1,000 years with zero deaths. Several kids this year died doing a TikTok Benadryl challenge. One of them was a 13-year-old girl who ordered it on DoorDash. She took too much of it and died. It's tragic, but nobody's talking about a Benadryl ban, and that's because we understand that it has a therapeutic benefit for most people and that it's generally safe when taken at normal amount. We don't create public policy based on fringe events. A society can't function if we tried to ban everything that carried any risk at all or we would have nothing left. You have to weigh benefits and risk, and you've heard a lot of people say tonight that they benefit. So tonight is about the 7-OH ban. There are tens of thousands of kratom consumers in Hillborough County who don't even know about this hearing, or if they did hear about it, they heard, oh, it's a 7-OH ban. I don't need to go and defend myself. So some kind of bait and switch here would be really inappropriate and really unfair to Hillborough County crowd of consumers who don't even know that they should fill up to defend themselves. They think of the 7-OH ban. Why would they take off work, right? So if you want to consider a natural kratom ban, which I don't think you should based on what you've heard tonight from people who say you benefit, you would need to have a separate hearing on that and announce it to your constituents. We've got Chad Spivey virtual, Alexander Rivera in person, and then Sheldon Bradshaw and Kayla Kraut virtual. Is Mr. Spivey on the line? Mr. Spivey is not online. Okay, thank you. Alexander Rivera? Is Alexander here? No? All right. We have Sheldon Bradshaw virtual, Kayla Kraut virtual, and then Shonda Roberts virtual. Is Sheldon on the line? I am. My name is Sheldon Bradshaw, and I represent Botanicals for Better Health and Wellness. I'm an FDA regulatory attorney, and previously served as the chief counsel of the United States Food and Drug Administration. Our organization advocates for the evidence-based regulation of plant-derived products and supports the proposed creative ordinance as currently drafted. The primary message that I want to communicate today is that federal health care officials at the FDA, HHS, and the DEA have carefully considered the matter before us today, and have concluded that the natural botanical freedom in the form of pole leaves, which includes crushed and powder leaves and full-spectrum extracts made from food-grade solvents approved by the FDA, is not the same thing as the synthetic and semi-synthetic compounds that Hillsborough County, the state of Florida, and federal health care officials are rightly concerned about. Just two weeks ago, HHS issued a press release, our statement explaining why it has vigorously advocated for the scheduling of synthetic alkaloids, but has consciously declined to make the same recommendation for the natural botanical. Quote, natural kratom and dangerous enhanced opioid products are not the same. HHS is following the science and drawing a clear line between the two, close quote. In short, the science supports the scheduling of synthetic opioids, but does not support the scheduling and banning of the natural botanical kratom. Thank you for your consideration. All right, thank you. Next four speakers are virtual. Kayla Kraut, then Chandra Roberts, Michael Frisano, and Andrew Hardeman. Is Kayla on the line? Good morning, commissioners. My name is Kayla Kraut, and I'm speaking today because this is an important matter of public policy, individual liberty, and responsible government. I'm opposed prohibiting natural kratom lease. This issue is about individual liberty and the limits of government authority. The question should not simply be whether a substance carries risk. Alcohol and tobacco carry serious risks, yet we regulate them rather than prohibit them. Risk alone does not justify a ban. If the concern is concentrated 7-0, address those products directly. Natural kratom lease should not be left into a provision aimed at concentrated 7-0. Florida has established a statewide regulatory framework for kratom under section 500.92. Why should Holesburg County move toward prohibition rather than build upon that framework? Does this proposed ordinance conflict with existing state law? Article 1, section 2 of Florida's constitution recognizes liberty, and section 23 protects privacy. Subject to constitutional limits, I am not claiming these provisions make every regulation unconstitutional. I am asking you to take their principles seriously before restricting adults' choices. Personal tragedies deserve compassion, but they do not, by themselves, justify banning an entire botanical product. Policy should be based on evidence distinguishing natural leaf from concentrated products. So I ask, what evidence specifically supports prohibiting natural kratom leaf? What less restrictive alternatives have been considered? How would a blanket ban fit the Florida's existing regulatory framework? I urge this commission not to expand a proposal concerning concentrated 7-0 into a prohibition on natural kratom leaf? Government does not have to approve of every choice adults make, but disapproval alone is not sufficient reason to take that choice away. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Chandra Roberts. Is Chandra on the line? She is not, Mr. Chair. All right. Thank you. How about Michael Fasano? Michael, can you hear? Yes, I can hear you. Thank you. My name is Michael Fasano. I've consumed kratom tea in the leaf form for on and off over 15 years, mainly for chronic insomnia. I've also found it helpful for my joint pains. In lower doses, I find it helpful for energy. I support the regulation prohibiting synthetics. I know the federal government is taking charge on that, and I want to say, you know, I believe in regulations. I believe in age restrictions. I believe in appropriate marketing. I believe in strict penalties for people that don't follow rules. I just want to say, when I take the leaf kratom, I take the actual powder leaf. We're forgetting, too, that there's these liquid extracts and gummies. I don't do any of that stuff, so that's just my personal testimony. So, I really hope that yourself and other villages in the state proceed with a very comprehensive regulation, going strong and hard on prohibiting all those synthetics, allow natural relief, have the employees educated, require licensing. Say, hey, you need to require for a license here in order to sell it. No inappropriate marketing. So, I just, I believe in sensible regulation, and I want to thank you for allowing me the time to speak today and share my story, and I just want to say, hopefully, some compromisable decisions are made today. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you. We've got Andrew Hardeman virtual, then Genity Dektar in person, Brandon Odom in person, and then Shannon Lee virtual. Is Andrew on the line? Yes, sir. Can you hear me? Yes, sir. Hello? Okay. So, first, I would like to say that I appreciate botanical kratom being excluded from the current event. Kratom is something that helps countless Americans manage pain and maintain functional lives, and there really isn't an alternative for them if kratom is taken away. Many are former pain patients taken off their medications due to changes in the CDC guidelines. I oppose the 7-0-H ban and any potential increasing of that to kratom. 7-0-H is a naturally occurring okaloid, as opposed to, like, a synthetic opioid-like fentanyl. And in general, from what I found, I feel like the evidence doesn't support treating it as a public danger that needs criminal prohibition. The DEA identified 7-H in 85 overdose cases since 2019, 55 of them fatal, but most of those samples contain other substances like fentanyl, benzos, and ketamine. CDC also found that polysubstance involvement was in roughly 79% to 95% of kratom-associated deaths. For perspective, there was roughly 500, a little shy of that, and deaths and 56,000 emergency department visits per year from a set of medicines. But we don't ban Tylenol because it has a lot of benefits managing pain. And kratom bans have been associated with increased opioid overdose mortality. In 2022, University of Louisville analysis estimated post-ban increases of 11% in Vermont, 10% in Arkansas, and 6% in Indiana after kratom bans. We saw the same happen with prescription opioids from 2015 to 2022. Opioid prescribing fell about 44%, yet opioid overdose deaths more than doubled. Appreciate the comments. Involving synthetic opioids. Thank you, sir. Janity Dektar. No. How about Brandon Odom? And then we have Shannon Lee that's virtual. Morning, sir. Thank you guys for your time. My name is Brandon Odom. When 9-11 happened in 2001, me and my brother joined to serve our country. My brother the Navy, me the Army. It was an honor. Both of us suffered numerous injuries. I found kratom. My brother didn't. He died of an overdose. He wasn't on drugs. We don't drink alcohol. Use drugs. But he was given several prescriptions because of our injuries in the military. And I, you know, didn't want to use any kind of pharmaceutical prescriptions. Raw leaf kratom can't kill you. It's been used for centuries. I feel for everyone else who's lost, family members here. I did notice, like, the young lady, as soon as I said, our daughter died of seven stacks. That's synthetic. The other young lady whose son died and she brought the tablet up and the gummy. That's also synthetic. So none of those are raw leaf kratom. Raw leaf kratom is a leaf put into a powder with nothing else. I feel for the young man behind me who went to rehab with a fruit punch drink. That, again, is synthetic, not raw leaf kratom. I believe that this is a matter of education. If we educate ourselves and look to what raw leaf kratom is, that's the natural, unadulterated form of kratom, not synthetic like 70H, MGM, which I believe should not be on the market, just like other NSAIDs and other opiates. But raw leaf kratom, I represent over a quarter of a million veterans at Audie Murphy Hospital who are using raw leaf kratom, who don't drink, who don't use drugs. And if you were to take raw leaf kratom away, you're going to leave them to go to the streets, to go look for other forms, because at the end of the day, we can't cure pain. When we go to the hospital and, you know, the doctor says, what's your pain level? They give you 10 smiley faces, 1 through 10, and you pick where your pain level is. Physically or mentally, pain is measured the same. And just like numerous of our other veterans who serve our country, we want to live healthy lifestyles. We want to get our lives back. We want to get jobs. We can't do that on pharmaceuticals or synthetics. Raw leaf kratom allows everyone to get their life back. It cannot kill you. Just like coffee, you can do your body. Thank you, Mr. Odom. Thank you, Mr. Odom. Thank you, Mr. Odom. Appreciate the comments. Is Shannon Lee online? Hi, yes. Can you hear me? Yeah, we can hear you. Since I stopped clapping. Can you hear me? Yes, please continue. Oh, there you are. Okay. All right. Good morning. My name is Shannon. I'm here today to share my testimony regarding the vital role botanical natural leaf kratom has played in my life and to urge you to consider regulation rather than total ban. I am a healthcare worker. In 2017, I suffered some chronic low back pain. It was so severe. It led to ER and doctors' visits and many days out of work. Being a CNA, as you know, we are the backbone of the medical field. Finding natural leaf kratom powder has been a total miracle for me and many others who seek natural pain relief. It is terrifying if natural botanical leaf kratom is banned. Many who depend on the stature plant, which have been around for centuries, would be forced to turn to opioids. Natural leaf kratom is not an opioid. Synthetic 7-0-H is. It's dangerous. It's extremely addictive and should be totally banned. 7-0-H is not the same as natural leaf kratom. Natural kratom provides pain relief without the risk associated with synthetics or opioids like 7-0-H. The FDA announced on the July 29, 2025 press conference they are not interested in scheduling natural kratom, but rather banning synthetic 7-0-H, which they are, in five days. I ask that you please take my testimony into account and the many others that have reached out to you. A total ban would be devastating, not just to our state, but our entire country. And the many that rely on this natural plant for their quality of life. Please regulate natural leaf kratom to protect our access to natural pain relief and ban synthetic 7-0-H. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. All right. That closes public comment. We're going to board discussion. Commissioner Wilson. Thank you. I just wanted to make a couple of things clear, and I'm very proud and happy to have brought this item as my final item. The federal government and state have not yet banned these. You heard that, but they actually have not. And I'm not going to rely on them, because allegedly on November the 13th, the federal government is going to make it permanent. But they haven't, and who knows if lobbyists successfully intervene and they could just pull that meeting from ever happening. The state was about to ban the synthetic products, and then lobbyists won the day, and they pulled it at the last minute, which caused the attorney general to have to rush in and to do another emergency ban on it. And I don't want us and our residents to continue to have to rely on, I guess, hit-and-go kind of politics of the federal and state. I would rather just ban the low-hanging fruit, which is without debate, all of these synthetic drugs. I mean, I don't want to mince words. Kratom is an opioid, period. It's not even a debate. Kratom is an opioid. However, there is obviously a lot of mixed opinions about whether or not it's appropriate to ban the natural leaf. I do believe that the tea itself and the crushed powders that were mentioned should come with very clear behind lock and key disclaimers, including the highly lucrative 7-Eleven gas store cells that exist in East Hillsboro and throughout the nation. It's a $3 to $4 billion a year industry. So to say that the federal government is excluding it because they thought it was safe, I don't believe that that's true. I just believe that there's massive, heavy special interest groups and lobbyists, including ones that are listening right now, that have intervened on any real look at that. I do believe that it should be much more strict and very clear and not just out of a regular, hey, let me make you a glass of tea, because regular Kratom itself is also highly addictive. It's been proven in multiple labs around the nation. I do agree with some of the counter arguments, though. It's a natural leaf from Southeast Asia that's been used for at least documented hundreds of years for natural pain relief. So for the federal government to allow extremely highly addictive and profitable pharmaceutical opioids and then to come in and step in against the natural products, I think, is just a clear depiction of what the federal government has devolved to in this day and age. But with all of that being said, there is very clear for anybody who said is concerned that we did this today to ban the natural leaf, if you read line items 160 to 164 of the ordinance, it makes clear that that is not what we're doing. And in fact, I don't even know that we could today because today's ordinance is the synthetic ordinance, not a natural product ordinance. We notice to the public a synthetic ordinance change to our drug schedule. So I don't even know that legally they could offer some permanent change today through this legal document because there could probably be a challenge that the community wasn't properly noticed. I feel awful hearing the stories, and I'm sure all of my colleagues fear the same way. Young man, who is unfortunately not there, showed a lot of courage to come, and there he is, and talked to his, about his twin brother, and you showed a lot of bravery today, young man. I'm very proud of you. I am so sorry that that happened. It is tough for the government to intervene on natural, truly natural prohibitions. And I think that doing it off the cuff is probably inappropriate. I do believe that some people who have fallen into highly addictive drug use have used this to normalize their life. I believe that that's true despite the horrific outcome that happened for your innocent brother. And that's where it becomes very complicated from a legislative point to just do a blanket ban on everything and to disclude those people that did seek benefit from it that would probably, unfortunately, turn to some other possibly unhealthy alternative that's available to them on the street. I'm speaking just throughout the history of modern societies as a whole. And nothing that I do today can bring back all of your loved ones that you've lost, and I feel horrible for you. There's no way to empathize with the amount of loss that you have all felt. I believe that, and I don't see anyone else cued. I'm happy to hear debates. I believe that today, probably the synthetics, because that's all that we authorized. Honestly, you could remove, Commissioner Cohen, you could remove from a legal point 160 to 164. It's probably an unnecessary inclusion into the document because we were being so specific on, hey, these are the synthetics that we're talking about. There's really probably no need to mention the whole leaf kratom being in there because we're not discussing those. And if you guys did decide later on that you felt like, hey, the whole leaf product truly has become a problem, you're going to have to come back here and unnecessarily amend this document for no reason. You could probably move to amend 160 to 164 and just leave it as, hey, these are synthetics we're targeting. And if you decide to look into it later on down the road, you can look at the whole leaf product separately and not have this unnecessary disclusion in there. But I really appreciate the county attorneys did a great job. It was a lot of work. There was pushback from the, not our county attorneys, but from the attorneys on the law enforcement sides. There was pushbacks because evidently testing for it is still a, it's still a growing process for them to accurately test for this in the medical standards. So I believe that there's new tests coming out that are going to strengthen their ability to say, hey, without a doubt, they died from the metragynine or the hydroxy metragynine. So I would, maybe you should remove that today for today's debate. But I do, I wish all of their communities well. I do believe that we should strengthen the advertising, especially it's probably not the tea shops that we heard from today. It's the grocery stores. I really think that the grocery stores should be inhibited in some way. They should be behind lock and key for any type of Kratom cell with a clear disclaimer that this is a highly addictive product. And I will close debate there, Mr. Chair. And thank you very much for hearing me out. Did you want to make a motion? Did you want to make a motion, Commissioner Willstall? I mean, there's comments. Does anybody want to comment about removing 160 to 164 today? Because it's unnecessary from a legal point of view. I'm being told that just removing that wouldn't be enough. We'd have to go through and move and move some other things around. So my recommendation is if you want to proceed forward, proceed forward as is. And I want to just reiterate, you're correct. We couldn't add in the natural leaf Kratom into this ordinance without going back to public notice. It's just mentioned more times than that. Well, then I'll move for approval as it's written. Second. Got a motion by Commissioner Willstall, seconded by Commissioner Bowles. Before we went to board discussion, I've got one question for you, Julia. It's my understanding this ordinance is modeled after other jurisdictions. That is correct. So it's legally defensible. We're very comfortable. It's legally defensible. Okay. Commissioner Cameron Spader. Yes, thank you. I'd just like to mention why I'm going to be voting the way I am voting today because I do listen to all the constituents and both sides of the story here. Like we've heard nearly, someone that nearly lost his life after, you know, taking something that he bought from a neighborhood gas station he thought was safe. We, and also, I believe we heard also today that six deaths in the last two weeks here in Hillsborough County that we found out about from the coroner's office. That's just right here in Hillsborough County. Ms. Snelling was mentioning that. And also, babies that are born with addictions because the mother took it and not knowing the effects of it. It's advertised as natural, but people are addicted. It's just really horrific, you know. And doctors are saying that's a different type of beast. You know, we've seen, heard so many stories of mothers have lost their children because of kratom use. 20 minutes after, someone 20 minutes after taking it was devastating for her daughter after taking this product. And someone in the opposition said it's like addiction to caffeine. And we know that that does not happen. People do not get addicted to need to have to go to rehab, you know, from using caffeine. And someone from works in medical emergency care, she explained how deadly things were. It's just, it just really went on and on. We heard these stories that were really just heartbreaking stories of, you know, people that have lost so much life, family members, friends from using this. And those are the reasons why I'll be voting the way I am voting today. You know, I really, you know, agree with what's here, but also I think we should take it another, I would like to see it taken another step with a total ban of Kratom sales. All right, Commissioner Bowles. Thank you, Mr. Chair. You know, one of the things that I want to first is thank Commissioner Wistel for bringing this forward to the board, having served on our front lines of public safety in our streets, dealing with people who are coping with both their own demons and also with their pain out there. We see a lot that has, over the years, where you have people who are addicted to, you know, legal opioids or whatnot. And I think that, at the very least, this is the first step in taking care of something that is hidden, in a way, out in plain sight. So, at the very least, I think this is a great way to get that taken care of. And I fully support that. Thank you. Okay. Motion by Commissioner Wistel, second by Commissioner Bowles. Please record your vote. The motion carried, seven to zero. Okay. Thank you, everyone, for coming down. My honor, next item. Thank you. Our next items are four items that are related. The first one is item D3. This is a public hearing regarding the renewed community investment tax. This is a public hearing. This is related, I'll keep speaking, just give you a second, related to items D3, B3, B8, and B9. Hi, Commissioners. Kevin Rickey, Management Budget. Item D3 is a public hearing to receive input and discuss amending the approved list of infrastructure projects for the renewed community investment tax, otherwise known as the CIT, to add the Tampa Bay raised ballpark to the public facilities category. This public hearing was properly noticed in the Tampa Bay Times. The item includes the adopted resolution, the resolution that would amend to include that. This is a public hearing. The appropriate take comment. All right, thank you. All right, we're going to the public hearing. First three speakers, Elizabeth Braden, followed by Kurt Thorson, and then Doug Batista. Hi, my name is Betsy Braden, or Elizabeth Braden. Thank you for letting me speak. And thank you so much, Commissioner Bowles. You were exactly right last week when you stated that we need to relook at the stadium deal. Since the passing of Amendment 3, we have an obligation to review how the future loss of tax revenue will affect taking on a $2.3 billion stadium deal, a double whammy in the pocketbook. The economic forecast from August of this project is now worthless. The original county commitment to give over $800 million to the Rays for their stadium was evaluated under an entirely different financial environment. To move forward with a contract of this magnitude without recalculating the long-term compounding impact on our post-Amendment 3 budget would be standard political arrogance and gross financial negligence. I strongly urge the rest of this commission to join Commissioner Bowles in hitting the pause button pull this deal back, order an independent comprehensive audit of our county's revenue streams over the next 10 years. The sports franchise's consultants previously claimed this project would generate massive return revenue, but those models are completely obsolete now that the underlying tax assumptions have been changed. We cannot borrow hundreds of millions of dollars or lock up our sales taxes based on ghost projections from months ago. Financial course correction isn't a political failure, it's a basic fiscal responsibility. Show the taxpayers that you are capable of adjusting your course when the underlying economic facts change. Support Commissioner Bowles' call for a full re-evaluation of the stadium contract. Pause the funding and protect our county from a catastrophic long-term mistake. Thank you. Thank you. Kurt Thorson, followed by Doug Batista and then Anne Hartwell. Good morning. Good afternoon. I guess afternoon. Kurt Thorson. First, congratulations to the two commissioners on their successful re-election. These two did not use divisive rhetoric or troll constituents online as others have. These two commissioners were yes votes for the raised deal. The two no votes were voted out. One claimed a supermajority did not support the county's deal with the raise. Well, a supermajority voted against those sentiments. The residents of Hillsborough have spoken. The last time I was here, I brought up the Cobb County Commission vote for the battery back in 2013, passed 4-1. The lone vote is now the county commission chair and she directly oversees the battery complex and has had to eat a little bit of crow and say that it is an economic juggernaut raking in last year alone $40 million. In Arlington, Texas, they have a similar setup with a baseball stadium and a football stadium. Sound familiar? $97 million in tax revenue that wasn't made before last year. Speaking of misinformation, this deal was signed with Amendment 3 in mind. There is so much misinformation out there, it's time to set the record straight. Hillsborough County has a deal that will bring millions upon millions of dollars in the form of tax revenue back to the community every year. Any other county would kill to have this cash flow now within their borders. You think losing the raise will solve our issues, fill potholes like in Montreal or Oakland? You think they're all fixed up? Very doubtful. Most definitely not. As far as Hillsborough College, conspiracy theories can be amusing. The moon landing was staged, 9-11 was an inside job, Illuminati, oh, and the new one. The state is taking it over and moving it off the map. It's laughable. No facts, no evidence, just manufactured outrage masking as opposition to an opportunity for long-term modernization for the college. There are those that are avowed obstructionists. They'll use the college, Amendment 3, maybe even the South Del Mabry Ditch to try to say, we can't lose it. It's got to stay. Don't touch it. This is going to be a... Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Doug Batista, followed by Ann Hartwell, and then Laureen Gulliner, who's virtual. Thank you, Commissioner. I came here today because I see misinformation about the deal that was signed in August. The county has been thorough and responsible. First, regarding the CIT, the county got legal advice to ensure that the CIT funds could be legally used for this project. Second, the county negotiated a great deal with the Rays. The Buccaneers paid 0% for the cost of Raymond James Stadium. The Lightning paid 38% of the cost of the Ice Palace, and you got the Rays to pay 60% of the cost of the stadium, along with all cost overruns. The stadium will be owned by the county, and you got the Rays to pay $4 million per year in rent with built-in annual rent increases based on inflation. If we assume a 2.3% increase per year, that equals $200 million over the life of the lease. And the Rays are responsible for paying for operating expenses, including utilities and maintenance. The stadium will be used for baseball for 81 days per year, and for the other 284 days, the stadium can be used for events that will attract people from outside the area, from outside the country and outside the world, and they'll bring their people and their money into the region. And you got the Rays to agree to a $60 million community benefits agreements. And you put in place an incentive structure to prompt them to move quickly to build a mixed-use development on a parcel of land that is currently generating little or no property taxes. That mixed-use development is expected to drive commercial property taxes of $482 million to the city, $425 million to the county, and $218 million in county sales tax, tourist development taxes, $40,000 full-time equivalent construction jobs, and $9,700 permanent jobs. And now with Amendment 3. The county was responsible and began planning for Amendment 3 in June prior to the deal being passed. And now that it's passed, Chairman Clendenet said it best. Amendment 3 makes projects like this even more important. We can't simply cut our way out of those challenges. We also have to find ways to grow our economy and expand our tax base. I commend the commission for the responsible job that you've done, and I ask you to continue to move the project forward. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Next three speakers, Ann Hartwell, and then we have Laureen Goner and Layla Lilliquist, virtual. Good afternoon. Oh, yeah. I guess it is good afternoon. Thank you for allowing me to speak. The voters of this county have just sent a clear undeniable message. They are angry about overspending, and this current stadium plans to be, needs to be completely unwound. Our residents are demanding fiscal restraint because they expect local government to spend responsibly on actual public needs. I don't know, a stadium is a want in my book. They are tired of watching their hard-earned money get thrown at public or private corporate profits while local officials argue over cutting basic community services, setting aside hundreds of millions of dollars for a sports stadium for a billionaire. If it's such a great deal, why doesn't he buy it himself? When we've given 500 million of our land for free, I don't know about anybody else, but the county doesn't pay for my lot and then pay for half of my house. We need to use these resources for public safety, infrastructure, and administration. And that's what, because the public tolerance for corporate subsidies is at absolute zero. The financial landscape has changed, and it's time for this board to change course, to reflect the explicit will of the people who elect you. Put an end to corporate welfare. Be fiscally responsible and prioritize our community over a billionaire's ballpark. Please unwind the stadium deal today. Please state your name for the record. Thank you. Ann Hartwell. All right, thank you. And nobody bought my lot or paid for half of my house. Thank you, Ms. Hartwell. Laureen Gooner, virtual. Is Laureen on the line? Yes. Hi. My name is Laureen Gooner, and before addressing the main agenda item, I want to take a moment to extend a heartfelt thank you and a public shout-out to Commissioner Joshua Walsall and Commissioner Donna Cepeda. As you both participate in your final meetings on this board, I want to thank you for your dedicated service and for consistently standing up as strong, independent voices for the taxpayers of Hillsborough County. Your leadership has been deeply appreciated. Not really sure why this county voted you out. It really makes one wonder. I'm here today to oppose adding the Tampa Bay-raised ballpark to the renewed community investment tax project list. Difting hundreds of millions of public sales tax dollars toward a sports stadium is a betrayal of what the voters were promised. We are told there is enough flexibility in this tax to accommodate a ballpark, but if we truly have extra revenue to spare, we should look at our desperate public needs. First and foremost, we have severe, unaddressed infrastructure issues in our neighborhoods. Our local roads are crumbling, intersections are dangerously congested, and basic road safety and repaving should be our absolute top priority. Furthermore, if we look at the CIT's public facilities and court categories, the money shouldn't be going towards public building, empty brick and mortar facilities. The CIT allocates millions for courtroom expansion and court land acquisition. If the county is going to invest public money into our court infrastructure, we need to mandate programs inside these courts to protect and support our residents. Right now, what is happening to ordinary citizens inside our local court system is deeply concerning. The environment has become punitive, harmful, and abusive to the very residents of Hillsborough County it is supposed to serve. If we have the financial headroom to consider funding a billionaire stadium, then we have the capability to overhaul our court facilities and implement accountability programs that protect... Thank you, Ms. Gooner. Appreciate the comments. Thank you, ma'am. Is Leela Lelyquist on the line? Yes, I'm on the line. Good afternoon. I would like to also accommodate our outgoing commissioners and I respect their time served on our county commission. I want to address the Ray Stadium and the Renewed Community Investment Tax by amending the Renewed Community Investment Tax to include Tampa Ray's ballpark in the public facilities category to list the list of infrastructure projects is not an acceptable expenditure of our CIT dollars. Now that Amendment 3 has passed, we have less available funds for all county services. You can't turn around and give our the ID dollars, our CIT dollars to this project as it will be the largest expendable to private and largest expenditure to private investors. The amount of funds the public would be giving to the Ray Stadium would negatively impact dozens of other vital community projects that need to be done. While the notice for this public hearing was advertised in the Tampa Bay Times, this notice reached a minuscule percentage of Hill 4 County's taxpaying population. It is unfair for the county's residents to not have a voice for our future. The proposed plan to go forward with this project negates government bodies' responsibility to be responsible stewards of the citizens' tax dollars. There is no current repayment plan for the public funds that are being diverted to a private entity. There will be no return on our community investment tax. All funds for the Ray's insurers as well as other monies will be paid to the private entity and investors while the taxpayers pays duly for many years. The reimbursement of our investment should just a huge rush to push the amendment through without valid studies on the impact this will have on our students at HCC, the heat index, as well as creating another malfunction junction at 275 and Del Mabry. Thank you, Ms. Haley-Quest. I appreciate your comments. Final three speakers, Cynthia Schelleberger. No? Okay, Michelle Dyson. And then final speaker, Marsha Austin. Good afternoon. Hello, my name is Cynthia Schelleberger. Before I address the agenda, let's address the room. This critical public hearing on item D3 should have been a standalone meeting held at night. Jamming a massive financial debate about the renewed community investment tax into a daytime marathon with dozens of other items is a calculated political trick to exhaust the public, bury the news cameras and shut out working class taxpayers who cannot afford to sit here all day. I'm here to voice our coalition's direct opposition to item D3. The text of this item contains a staggering piece of bureaucratic fiction explicitly claiming that there is no financial impact associated with the addition of this project. That is a flat-out insult to our intelligence. If there is no financial impact, why do the related items on this exact page prove otherwise? Item B8 authorizes an immediate $900 million cash grab directly out of our local sales tax revenues. Item B9 authorizes the issuance of $263 million in massive public bond debt. Most terrifying of all, the text of B9 openly confesses that this is not possible to determine the impact of the issuance of the bonds on the county's financial position. You are literally voting to sign a blank check for a quarter billion dollars in debt while admitting you have no idea how badly it will damage our financial health. Following the passage of Amendment 3, this county is entering an era of severe budget contradictions. Essential public services are on the chopping block. How can this commission look our county employees in the eye and tell them there isn't enough money to protect their livelihoods while simultaneously voting for item D3 to fund a private stadium. Reject this deceptive item and vote no on item D3. Thank you. Michelle Dyson and the last speaker will be Marsha Austin. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. My name is Michelle Dyson. I'm here today representing thousands of hospitality workers from both sides of the bay. We know you don't hear it enough but we do appreciate everything you do. I know it's not easy. Today when we're debating the use of the CIT, the C is the most important letter to me. It comes to supporting community. Nothing says community more than providing stable, good-paying jobs. We always spend CIT money on important community things like building, fixing, and repairing which are included in this deal. But this mega-hospitality center along with the state-of-the-art new college partnered with first-class organizations like The Rays that happens to have a diamond in the middle is exactly what the community of Tampa Bay needs. We don't even have to guess. I just worked the World Series. You know how much money St. Pete is dying right now that they lost the team from over there. It brought $22 million in direct cash in five days. Ferg's alone made $4 million. Hotels that are normally at half the capacity for all of us hospitality workers in October were filled. Restaurants. That's how we pay our groceries. That's how we pay our rent. That's how we pay our car. That's how we take care of our kids. We need these jobs. We don't need them to go anywhere else. We don't need to delay anymore because, you know, I have deja vu right now. Since last October, was the roof on the trap going to get fixed? Were we going to even stay in Tampa Bay? Thank God you even, they came, we had new ownership come and come and Stu was great, but, you know, these guys are great also. We need people with money to invest in our community. It will make back money that we think we're losing. We talk about Amendment 3, but Amendment 3, this is sales tax. It's not property tax. This is totally different. This community hub will generate the very cash flow for the next 30 years that we need. You know, God bless each of you when you go to make this decision, but please vote and think of all of us. I hear them, but please think of all of us. Thank you, Ms. Dyson. Appreciate the comments. Marsha Austin. Marsha here. Okay. Well, that closes public comment. I'll go into board discussion. Commissioner Wostel. Thank you, Mr. Chair. And I was very proud to lead the opposition, particularly of the multiple lies that we knew were going to happen and come from the team. The first being that there would be no use of local funds, which of course represents over 50% of the funding, including this item that we're voting today. My favorite was the apology to Commissioner Myers publicly by Ken Babby that, oh, sorry about the affordable housing promise. We lied about that too. And then now, of course, keeping Hillsborough County College centralized in a nest and not displaced. We lied about that too. And of course, now them trying to impede on Al Lopez Park, one of the few natural places that the city of Tampa happens. And this is only the beginning of the lies. Don't you worry, Hillsborough County. And I would just like to mention if you're a middle-aged man that drives from a different county to beg for other people's taxes to be used for something that you have committed the value of your life to, please seek help. The citizens of Hillsborough County deserve to decide what their own money is going to be spent on. In a previous board meeting, the budget office said that they were in the middle of planning the CIT projects at the beginning of the year for the new tax that we begin collecting later on. What projects did you stop planning and which ones will not be paid for out of that meeting? That process continues. It is ongoing. Currently, the only project that has been funded by the renewed CIT is the Zoo Tampa project. this would be the second one. I'm sure that we will try and get that in a public records request later, and I'm sure that that will be considered a personal note. The reality is, is that, ma'am, about the evening public hearing, that was a free commodity to the community that you are right. The raise ordered for that evening community order public hearing to be rescinded after it was approved by the Board of County Commissioners only to diminish public participation in the approval of these funds. That is, without debate, that that is exactly what happened, and that is an unfortunate evolution of this process. But don't you worry. I'm about to have a lot more free time on my hands to ensure that the public is completely protected from this process. Don't you doubt that for a moment. I see that we're about to approve a slew of these items. What date are you going to bond validation court? I will ask Sam Hamilton to respond to that question. Which I really liked the way that that document was drafted, by the way. It's very helpful to me. Sam Hamilton County Attorney's Office. There are a number of issues on your agenda today. Obviously, the Commissioner just spoke to them. We'd anticipate within the next several days to a couple of weeks, one of the items that's on your agenda is a master bond resolution, which authorizes the issuance of bonds, but it also authorizes the County Attorney and Bond Council to initiate bond validation proceedings. Bottom line is that will take, you know, we will need various documents, certified copies that will take the Clerk's Office a few days to put together. I would anticipate subject to the Board's actions today, of course, it would probably be within the next, roughly speaking, two weeks, give or take. Two weeks, perfect. To date, have we received proof of cost of the stadium yet? Do we even know that it's $2.3 billion? It's my understanding that they have been going through that process of reviewing the plans and determining what that financial piece will be related to the plans. So the answer is no. We do not know how much the actual stadium costs. Have we received proof of financing from the Rays yet for their half of the deal? Not as of yet. That is a condition proceeding to us actually providing any financing. And I do want to make this clear. By approving this today, that doesn't mean we start giving the money over. It means we initiate the process because among the conditions precedent of us funding any portion of the stadium is for us to go through a bond validation proceeding. Okay. I just wanted to add one other quick point. There will need to be a subsequent action by the Board where in the process with a trustee, there is an additional document. It's a construction funds trust agreement that actually provides for various deposits by the team entity, the county, and the city of Tampa. All the funds would flow into a trust. That trustee would then control disbursements. So that is also yet another condition preceding. Who's the trustee? Obviously, it would be subject to approval by this board, but I believe what the plan would be would be U.S. Bank. I mean, there are very few financial entities that do that kind of work. They were the proposed trustee in the Pinellas-St. Pete deal and, you know, the county has used them with financial transactions in the past. Again, there really is a small group of financial entities that do that sort of work, if you will. But that would have to come back to this board and the board would have to approve that agreement. Okay, and then on my final question, and this will just be my final one for all of the, so I'm not just re-queuing on each item, Mr. Chair. With the passing of Amendment 3, that's going to drastically alter all of the studies that were done. And it was stated that this agreement was drafted by the county administrator with Amendment 3's passage in mind of the almost $100 million of property taxes that are being used for this. The $100 million of property taxes, couldn't that be used to help you stabilize the county's transition into all of the fallout that you just messaged to the county employees and to the community for the past several months? Couldn't that help you ease into the transition of probably having to more aggressively transfer more from the county-wide millage rate to the unincorporated so that all of our essential services are properly sustained? And you could give the county a softer landing with that $100 million. And there's no arguing that. I don't need an answer. That's just the factual reality is that this deal was not drafted with Amendment 3 in mind. This $103 million or so of property taxes could absolutely be used to stabilize the county's finances as they figure out how to manage the passage of Amendment 3. It could relieve stress from the county's employees, et cetera, et cetera. I'm so happy that Amendment 3 passed because I win in the end. All of my changes will not only be permanent, they will be enhanced and on steroids. There will be no more funding for frat parties with your property taxes. They won't be able to afford to pay for cupcake parties for these fraternities anymore. That is the reality of this deal. It should be canceled. Two of you should be bold and courageous right now and vote this down before it progresses anymore and works against the community and beseeches the promises that were made to them in 2024 prior to both of you arriving. Thank you very much. Okay. Don't see anyone else in the queue. Can we have a motion on the resolution? Move to approve. Second. Got a motion by Commissioner Myers, second by Commissioner Cohen. And I would just say that today's procedural votes are necessary before the bond validation proceedings can occur. It's the next step in the overall approval process and during our next meeting in December, we'll vote on the remaining definitive documents. So again, a motion and a second. Please record your vote. Motion carried. 532, Commissioner Cameron Cepeda and both of them voting no. Okay. Bonnie. Thank you. The next item is item B8. This is amending the adopted capital improvement program. Kevin Bricky will take us through this item. Yes, thank you. Commissioners, item B8 requests approval of a resolution to amend the current capital improvement program to add the Tampa Bay raised ballpark project to the CIP and approve a budget amendment to appropriate the first $90 million of reduced CIT to the project for FY27. All right. Can we have a motion? Move approval. Motion, Commissioner Cohen. Second, Commissioner Myers. Please record your vote on B8. That motion carried. 531, Commissioner Cameron Cepeda voting no. Next item. The next item is item B3. Yaksha Petrovic will take us through this item. This is amending, sorry, approving the resolution regarding the Tampa Bay raised ballpark project for the tourist development plan which is approved by the Tourist Development Council. Sorry. So as Bonnie just said, this item is seeking approval of resolution amending counties FY26 and FY27 tourist development plan to include the Tampa Bay raised ballpark in the plan. This action has been recommended by the Tourist Development Council and no additional county funds are required for such action. Okay. Can we have a motion? Move to approve. Motion, Commissioner Cohen. Second, motion, Commissioner Myers. Second, Commissioner Cohen. Please record your vote. Motion carried. 531, Commissioner Cameron Cepeda voting no. And the last one for Kevin which is the master bond resolution for tourist development tax. Thank you. Item B9 requests the approval of a master bond resolution providing for the county's issuance of not to exceed $263 million of sixth and third cent tourist development tax revenue bonds in multiple series which may be issued as taxable bonds to finance the acquisition and construction of a portion of the ballpark project and authorizing the direct the authorizing and directing the county attorney and the county's bond council to institute the process for bond validation and other related financial obligations described in the resolution as well. Mayor, motion? Move to approve. Motion, Commissioner Myers. Second, Commissioner Cohen. Please record your vote on B9. Motion carried. 531, Commissioner Cameron Cepeda voting no. Okay. Bonnie? Thank you. We can go to the next item. This is a staff report. Item G2. This is a receiver report regarding potential framework for land use regulations for future data centers and Adam Gormley will take us through this staff report. Good afternoon, Commissioners. Adam Gormley, Development Services, G2 is a report on a potential land use framework for regulating data centers. I'd like to just start this by clarifying for the board that currently data centers are not a listed use in the county's land development code. It is not amongst the uses that are listed in standard zoning districts. Therefore, any data center development in unincorporated Hillsborough County would require a planned development zoning specifically providing for such data center development. So right now, there's not a risk that a use can come in the door and receive permitting as a data center. Data centers are an evolving use. They are basically structures that are used to contain computer servers to process, move, and store digital information. The recent development of them have yielded some very, very large structures that have demand and on county infrastructure and resources. A framework for regulating of data centers would deal with the appropriate locations of data centers, appropriate screening, and measures to mitigate noise and other emanations such as vibrations or heat from the facilities. That can be done in one of two ways. It can be done with a planned development requirement with certain controlling elements or it can be done with a standard zoning district with conditions that need to be met for development. The other consideration is a resource draw for data centers. They do have a tendency to consume large amounts of water and that's something that could be taken up as part of the regulation of these data centers used for future land development regulations and options could include limiting groundwater consumption for cooling purposes and or requiring that reclaimed water be used for such purposes. We have a companion item to this and I am available for any questions. All right. So this item is just this is just to receive the report. Yes, sir. Is that correct? All right. We have a motion to receive. So moved. Motion. Commissioner Cohen second. Pretty much everyone. Please record your vote. Motion carries six to zero. Next item. The next item is item B2. This is to receive a legal memorandum regarding a moratorium regarding the establishment of data centers. Cameron Clark will take us through this item. Good morning, commissioners. I'll be very brief. This item includes a legal memorandum from attorney Nikki Day from Gray Robinson who's handled AI moratoria and various jurisdictions across the state. It also by super majority vote allows the board to schedule public hearings on moratorium ordinance at their next two land use meetings. It would be a 12 month moratorium and I'm going to step out of the way to see if there's any questions. I don't think there's anything else I need to address. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Commissioner Myers. I'm going to move to defer to a date to be determined. Okay. Second. I've got a motion by Commissioner Myers, second by Commissioner Cohen to defer until another date in the future. Commissioner Bowles. Is there a particular reason we need to defer? And one of the reasons I ask is that if we're looking to allow maybe some of our new board members to kind of get spun up on this, I think that that certainly is a consideration we should have that while I agree wholeheartedly, which, you know, we came out with it at the same time, I look for more water restrictive kind of a way to capture some of this. Also with the lagoons that are popping up everywhere, additional golf courses, which are closing down, that we consider that under the water restrictive. But I think that trying to push this through with a on the front side of a land use meeting where we have to deal with that and not having the new commissioners that are elected have an opportunity to kind of get educated on some of the considerations through our legal staff is something that we need to consider with this. And if that's the reason why we're deferring it, I support your motion. to do so. Mr. Chair, that's the reason I am deferring because we'll have a new board that will be seated next week and then we can go from there setting a date to be determined. Thank you. Commissioner Cameron Spado. Yes, so when I brought this before the board, we did in my motion and we were discussing then was a five-year moratorium. Could you please explain why this changed from five-year moratorium to one year? Cameron can go ahead and have... Yes, Commissioner, the reason is because in order for it to be legally defensible, it couldn't be for a length of time that long. There is case law where moratoria have been enacted for up to a year, but under Florida law, the reason for a moratorium is to allow for local governments to create regulations to address, for instance, a new type of use while maintaining the status quo. That is not an activity that takes five years to complete, and so the cases in question go to one year. Also, under the Burt-Harris Act, a restriction on use that exceeds a year could be deemed an inordinate burden on private property rights. So the reason for the length of time, and we've had a few moratorium in the past over the last decade or so, that tend to almost be about the one-year period. Okay, thank you. Well, I really would like to see this voted on right now. I mean, there's no reason that the new board couldn't be caught up on anything. There's no reason... I'm sorry, a new... So I would like to vote on this right now. There's no reason that the new board, two new commissioners, couldn't be caught up on this very easily, but I would like to vote on this now, so that would be my second motion. All right, we have a substitute motion to vote on the item that's listed today. Do we have a second to that? All right, motion dies for lack of a second. Commissioner Bowles. Attorney Cameron. May I ask, we have no plan developments, no pending developments, no pending opportunities at this point in the hopper for us to consider for any type of data centers? I'm asking Mr. Gromley to be pending application. Yes, confirmed, Commissioner. We have no plan developments that allow data centers specifically, and we have no pending applications for a data center development, which would not be approved, but we do not have any pending. All right, okay, so the delay of, does this deferment to allow the next commissioners to, wouldn't affect anything that we're pinning before, is that correct? It would not provide any opportunity for somebody to get a permit in to develop a data center. any potential data center developer would need to come to the board and seek approval through a plan development, and we do not have any pending. And that process in itself takes months? Yes. To go through, going through all this to begin with. Minimum of six months from application to the board, so, okay, thank you. Commissioner Cohen? That's fine. That was mine. Okay, so we got a motion and a second. Please record your vote. Motion carries, six to zero. Okay, Bonnie, next item. That was the end of the regular agendas, so we do have future discussion items, and then we have something for Commissioner Cameron Cepeda. Do we have any future discussion items? Commissioner Myers, you're recognized. Thank you. I'd like to have the administration to bring back a future item raising the federal poverty level of the Hillsborough County Health Care Plan from 175% of the medium income to 200% and to bring this item back in February 2027, just increasing the poverty eligibility. Anyone else? Ms. Weiser, you're recognized. Okay, thank you. So, Commissioner Cameron Cepeda, this is your final meeting, and we just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been working with you and really appreciate your kindness and how you have always looked out after all the most vulnerable in our community, and we are grateful for that. So, with that, we have... Sorry, we're unwrapping over here. It's very nice. Would any of my fellow commissioners like to say anything? I would just like to say what a pleasure it has been working with you and what a beautiful demeanor you bring to your work and particularly to your time as chaplain when, you know, clearly you gave us very heartfelt and important words to guide our meetings, and I know that in the future you will continue the work that you've begun dealing with human trafficking and juvenile justice and a lot of the interests that I know you've developed here on the board, and I know all of us expect to see great things from you in the future in public service in one form or another. I echo Commissioner Cohen's comments. I'll just say, Donna. Again, you do have the most heartfelt, sweetest demeanor about you, and I think that as you have said often that God has plans for us, and we all don't know what that is and that you've been put forward on another path, and I hope that you find the success in that that you found here at this board, and we love you, and we certainly commend all the hard work that you put forward for the last four years, and thank you so much. Before I wrap up, I have a few comments, too. Of course, I echo their comments, but I want to especially acknowledge, in light of the holiday tomorrow, your service, not only to this community through your commission work, but your service to this country, and we greatly appreciate that. Commissioner Wistel's, unfortunately, not here, but I wanted to let him know that I do appreciate his service to our country as well. Thank you for being willing to serve and for doing it with such a heart and a passion for the people that came across and everything that you did and very in particular for me that was touching is your work with veterans, and so thank you very much for that, and if I don't have any, what's that? Would you like to say anything? Yes, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for those kind words. I really appreciate that. That was really sweet and kind, every one of you. Thank you so much, and it has been really the honor of a lifetime to be here and serve the people of Hillsborough County, and, you know, it's just been amazing to see you all, you know, at work and doing everything you do, you all do with passion, and I believe you all do have a heart to serve the people here in this county. Most of the things we all agree on, but sometimes there's a few things. We just have a different way of getting there, you know, but I believe you all do really love the people, and I do love you. I know you all do as well, and it's just been amazing, amazing, and just, I mean, even through, you know, Bonnie seeing you through all the emergency situations with, you know, the hurricane, you know, all the things that's happened, and we have the most amazing employees. Our staff is just wonderful. All the directors of every department, every employee, they're just absolutely amazing, and I could go down naming names, but there's so many, and I just love every single one of them, and the people in our county are just so awesome as well. I mean, they're just awesome, and our law enforcement, our first responders. I mean, they're just amazing, so I'm so proud of our county, and I'm proud of our employees and everyone here, and I really just can't say enough, really, and I do love every one of you, and I know we have, we're all in good hands, and we're going to do very well in our county, so thank you all very much. I love you all. God bless you. We wish you the best. Anyone else? With that, we are adjourned. Thank you.