it is four o'clock do we have or need a quorum we good all right good afternoon and welcome i officially call this meeting to order this is the 2026-2027 special council meeting on leadership vote so let's do roll call council president we have a quorum with 18 present we have 18 present we don't we don't need any introductions so i'm going to turn it over to the council secretary to get us in order oh thank you mr president this is the council leadership vote of may 26th 20 on mute thank you mr president this is the city council leadership vote of may 26 2026 uh the council rules require paper ballots for leadership vote you should all have your ballots in front of you uh the council president vote is first and the council vice president vote is second uh the council president will open the floor for nominations once the nominations are closed for president designate you can make your selection sign your ballot and legislative services staff will collect them each signed written ballot shall be delivered to the council secretary who shall read each ballot orally after all ballots have been received and shall total and announce the results thereof when no nominee for an office receives a majority on the first ballot the two nominees receiving the highest number of votes shall be voted on on a second signed written ballot all other nominees being dropped from consideration in the event of a tie vote for the position of second nominee the members involved in such tie vote shall immediately be voted on separately by all council members voting to break the tie with the person receiving the most votes therefrom being the second nominee the process will be repeated for the council vice president designate following the leadership votes for both offices of council president designate and council vice president designate the president will extend the privilege of the floor to the newly elected officers turn that back over to me all right before we open the floor for nominations i see uh past president carlucci in the queue did you have a question or anything to add before we open oh all right yes we got you okay so i officially opened the floor for nominations for the office of city council president dr johnson you're recognized thank you mr president colleagues members of the council first of all it's good to be here today i turned 50 i just got to say it it feels good y'all feels good three years ago i got to know uh the person i'm going to nominate as a friend nick howland and i met him standing in line with royalty uh now to be clear the royalty that we had been visiting that particular day had been passed on for more than a tri-millennium we were at the king tut exhibit surrounded by gold antiquity breathtaking art and just an amazing experience however the other royalty that i stood with was our uh the person i'm nominating his mother because even though we were in awe of the artifacts i got to know someone who was just as beautiful as the jewels and wonderful things that i saw i met this woman in line and she asked me about my family and i told her about my mom who had passed away a few years before it's only had only been three years at the time and when i was at it something inside me she could tell that i had a moment when she asked me about my mother now anybody who's ever lost a mom knows that it is not an easy thing at all those moments come back however even though her son was there and her daughter-in-law and her grandkids she stood with me and stayed with me as we walked through the entire king tut exhibit sharing anecdotes and laughing and just enjoying a really special moment and at that moment she saw what i needed i needed humanity and i said to myself as i walked away that absolutely there is no way this kind of woman could have raised the bad son and i got to know her son better year by year and in these last three years nick howland has proven exactly who he said he was not through slogans or theatrics but through steadiness and discipline and service he's a navy veteran and i could name all the things that he's done in the ships he served on a businessman a husband a father raising sons that attend duval county schools a leader whose resume reads like a mission of driven excellence but titles and those things are not the most impressive what impresses me about this individual and what i've come to admire is that he understands the difference between politics and purpose because anybody can win an argument but real leadership is what it means to win trust anybody can dominate a headline but real leadership is knowing how to hold the city together when the headlines fade now i'll be honest nick and i do not always agree let's just go ahead and set the room with that he's a republican i'm a democrat and there are days when we arrive at the same destination carrying maps and coming from different directions but the beauty of mature leadership is that we don't have to agree on the how but we certainly agree on the why the goal is not for the party to win the goal is for jacksonville to rise and that's what i believe nick howland will bring to this council coming forward i saw it in our work when we honored the legacy and memory of a woman who was taken away from us far too soon johnny may chappelle nick showed something increasingly rare in public white life and that's the willingness to lead with conviction and compassion even though it was something that happened long before we were both born and let me say plainly in an era where public service has become what we know is a blood sport nick has remained composed now we've all been called names up here we all know the names that we've been called and you know i've heard nick smile at those names every last one of us has had those issues but you see he has been pragmatic and disciplined and smart and patient politics will test your patience your character and sometimes your humanity itself but this gentleman has found a way to preserve dignity and all of that and that we must respect maya angelou the wonderful poet once said that people will forget how what you said they will even forget what you did but they will never forget how you made them feel and nick you allow us on this council as president he lets us feel enough to be seen because there's something about a disciplined elegant sophisticated way of being seen and he makes sure that he supports that even though he may not agree now we are 19 people up here who get to make changes and decisions for more than a million we do and make decisions that change lives and history is watching at what as what kind of leaders we choose to become but what i know is that the kind of leader that nick is i believe he will carry forth what presidents before as we look at that back wall and uh council president your picture will be added to it very soon as we look at that wall and the legacy of presidents of this council since 1968 i believe that nick howland is the right person to lead us into this next movement and generation of what it means to lead the city council so today mr president with enormous respect deep admiration and sincere belief in the future of this institution i proudly place into nomination my friend my colleague and the current vice president of the jacksonville city council nick howland to serve as the 2026 27 president of the city council because i believe his leadership will challenge us to be the best versions of ourselves and when we are challenged to be the best jacksonville gets even better thank you mr president all right thank you dr johnson we have a motion on that do we have a second thank you council president i rise to second all right thank you you rise a second i'll give you your time he basically took all your time uh there was two minutes on the clock uh we have at least four more possible nominations for first and second so uh you i know you won't take the time and it's his birthday so i gave him some uh some leeway so uh everyone else doing a nomination or a second you're going to get two minutes thanks i've crossed out the middle section that had all the nice stuff about nick in it so i'll get to the point uh second this nomination uh it's an exciting day for the howland family uh nick just came here from stanton college preps graduation so your son lucas has been a stanton grad like myself like joe and a number of others uh we have stanton grads and dads in here so congratulations to lucas and uh that really is a true measure of a father the success of their sons and so just so awesome to see uh bennett and lucas graduating from stanton and now going to the university of florida which is like harder to get into harvard than when i graduated stan uh but again a council member johnson uh said a lot of the things i was going to say but uh one of the things i just want to say is that you really are the common experience leader that i think we need right now your navy background you're the right guy to bring us helm orders we may may need some course corrections and just really looking forward to the leadership that you're going to bring to this council in the next year so with that i second the nomination all right so we have a nomination and a second for nick howland for the office of president do we have any other nominations council member peluso uh you're not recognized we have the ballots let's go ahead and pass them out while we're getting those collected i want to thank everyone for joining us today i've never seen so many government affairs and lobbyists in one place at the same time welcome we're glad to have you go ahead mr secretary council member boylan votes nick howland council member clark murray nick howland council member salem nick howland council member diamond nick howland council member gaffney jr nick howland council member freeman nick howland council member gay nick howland council member carlucci joe carlucci nick howland council member howland nick howland council member carrico nick howland council member areas nick howland council member lanon nick howland council member miller nick howland Council Member Pittman, Nick Howland Council Member White, Nick Howland Council Member Amaro, Nick Howland Council Member Johnson, Nick Howland Council Member Peluso, no vote Council Member Matt Carlucci, Nick Howland You want to announce the winner? Mr. President, by a vote of 18 votes in favor, no votes against, and one abstention Vice President Howland has been chosen as Council President-elect We're going to go ahead and recognize Vice President-elect Vice President Nick Howland Thank you, Mr. President, thank you, colleagues I'm honored to have earned your trust I'm so deeply honored And Rockman and Will, those words mean the world to me Thank you so much You'll hear more about my plans in the June 25 installation But my aspirations are clear In a time of revenue uncertainty and fiscal pressure We must stay focused on the core Public safety, infrastructure, essential city services While also advancing strategies that make Jacksonville the best city in the southeast To relocate a business and for families to live, work, and play That requires financial discipline Spending smarter, ensuring resources go where they have the greatest impact on quality of life Looking for options to keep growing without using taxpayer dollars You'll learn more about that during the installation We'll also prioritize accountability and transparency So all voices are heard And so government works better for the people it serves In particular, that means the CPACs You'll see the CPACs get a seat at the table And you'll learn more about that at the installation Most of all, we'll focus on job creation over the next year Not government-driven job creation But the Milton Friedman model Creating conditions for private investment and business growth That has guided my work on council so far Including my very first bill in 2022 And my efforts to accelerate great-paying aerospace industry jobs at Cecil Field That matters today more than ever Because we do have an affordability crisis The cost of living has skyrocketed We can't control prices But there are lots of things we can do To spur economic development To create jobs And to help our constituents Afford to feed their families and stay in their homes Because people are truly struggling If you give a family a meal You feed them for a night If you give a family a job You feed them for a career And the jobs are indeed coming Last thing I wanted to bring up I want to ensure that this council this year Operates as a team I truly believe a 17-2 vote Is better than a 10-9 vote Because it means we've worked together I don't want to force outcomes I want to build them through discussion And through consensus Even in an election year That will be a clear objective of mine Over the next year And that's what this city deserves So the installation will be June 25th At 5 p.m. here in the chambers Followed by a reception At the JU College of Law I'm a Navy veteran This is a Navy town And you can expect the Navy to be featured That evening Fitting as we approach This nation's 250th birthday So thank you again To all of you for the trust You place in me And I look forward to a fantastic council year All right And congratulations President-elect Howland Well done, sir All right We have a tight schedule We have a lot to do So we're going to move on To the council secretary Do you have anything to add Before we open up the floor For nominations for the office Of vice president? No, Mr. President All right I officially open up the floor For nominations for vice president Past president White You're recognized Yes, sir Thank you, Mr. President I'm going to let you gain some time here I don't have a lot to say But I want to nominate Joe Carlucci And when I look out in the audience I see his two sons there And that's how long I've known Joe I actually knew him before he knew me Him and his dad goes a long ways And I want to nominate him And I wish I could I could talk as long as Dr. Johnson did on Joe I know that much about him But I won't I'll save that But Joe, I'd like to nominate you As vice president Thank you All right We have a nomination Do we have a second? A second by Councilmember Arias You're recognized Mr. President I too want to nominate Mr. Joe Carlucci As vice president For city council For this upcoming year First of all You look at the family Out there behind In front of us right now That's the epitome Of who Joe is You see his family Over here too On the dais Another great example Of who Joe is One thing's for certain That Joe will put his heart Out there For not only for us But also for the constituents Him and I The first time him and I connected And I talked about this During when I was doing The petition Was when we were fighting Those storage wars That we ultimately lost But you know what Seeing you battle For your community For your district Showed me who you are Your character No matter who Were we up against You still fought hard And that just showed me Like the kind of person That you will be Leading us in the future As vice president And hopefully one day As a president So I have many more words To say about you sir But honestly I'm just proud to be able To nominate you My second nomination For vice president And I know that If you were to become The vice president You will do a heck of a job Leading us Alongside president Elected Howland Thank you sir Alright so we have A motion and a second So we have one nomination Confirmed for Joe Carlucci Any other nominations Mike Gay You're recognized Thank you Mr. President I'd like to nominate Chris Miller For vice president I appreciate your Leadership abilities That you've demonstrated Over the years That I've gotten To know you But I'll definitely Be shorter than Chief White In my Nomination here But I firmly Believe in you And I believe You would uphold The position And be able to Fully Be able to Function as A vice president And I have Total confidence In you Thank you sir Alright there's a nomination Do we have a second Council member Freeman Are you in the queue To second this nomination Is there someone In the queue To second the nomination Council member Boylan Thank you Mr. President I stand to second The nomination Chris Miller He reached out to me Just a few minutes ago To ask me to do so And I'm proud to do so Chris is a stand up guy I remember the first time That we drove My district together And it was a point in time A moment of contention He reached for his hip I wasn't used to that In Maryland for sure But he's a great guy I think he cares a lot About the well being Of this council And I think he would Serve well President elect Holland In his capacity As his vice president So I'm looking forward To seeing him Being elected Thank you Alright thank you So we officially Have a nomination And a second For Chris Miller Any other nominations Councilman Freeman Past president Freeman You're recognized Thank you Mr. President I rise with the honor Of saying one We have an outstanding List of candidates here And I couldn't be more Proud to serve With each of them I am fortunate To have been asked By one of them To nominate him And with great pleasure I will do so Because he is a good man I stand to nominate Councilmember Ken Amaro He's a member Obviously of this body And I did not come To this lightly As he's a leader Who brings integrity Steady judgment And a genuine commitment To serving every resident Ken who is a retired Five time Emmy Award winning journalist A husband A father A grandfather A faith leader In his church Has demonstrated These qualities repeatedly Through service Through action And through unclouded vision For a stronger More connected community Ken has shown A deep understanding Of the issues That matter most Public safety Responsible budgeting Transparent decision making And opportunities That uplift families In every district He listens Before he leads And he leads With a belief That government Must be accountable Accessible And responsive As we look ahead To the challenges And opportunities Before us We need a vice president Who can unite This council Who believes In the power Of collaboration Supports effective Governance And who has a heart To help guide our city With wisdom and fairness Ken is that person As I reflect on it And I was just googling What was that saying And it's I'm going to tell Ken I'm telling Ken And I'll just give you An example Of my interaction With Ken When he was a reporter Not many of us up here Can say that You know Every encounter With the media Has been a pleasurable one And if you track My journey In this space You know I have definitely grown And it was during COVID And the reporter Asked to interview me Right across the street And it was Mr. Amaro And he asked me About a very close friend Who had passed away And it was a friend Who married us And I thought He was about to tell us All of the bad things That we've done In government And why we haven't Done this And put masks here And this and that And instead What he said to me Spoke to my heart And I'll never forget This Councilman Amaro Look at your eye And I say You should be the one Running one day And so With great honor And pleasure I am nominating Mr. Amaro For Vice President Thank you Alright thank you Do we have a second Councilman Amaro I rise to second The nomination Of Councilman Ken Amaro To be our Council's Vice President Over the past Three years I've appreciated Getting to know Ken Admire his Statementship And the fact That he always Know how he's Going to vote And why On an issue And there's Never a doubt That Ken Is on Jacksville's side In a TEU Committee meeting A while back Councilmember Amaro Implied I was The cheapest Person on council I don't think He realized How much This compliment Has gone to my head We don't always Agree on every Fiscal matter But we certainly Disagree with Civility So it is my Honor to nominate Councilmember Amaro To be our Vice President Alright so we Have a formal Nomination and a Second for Councilmember Ken Amaro So he is on The ballot Point of order Point of order Mr. Diamond Yeah Mr. The chair of our Meeting Mr. President So rule 2.202 Of the council Rule says that Every member of This body must Vote on every Question Quote every Question Unquote Yeah And also rule 2.202 And therefore I think for The election Of council President must Be redone Because a Member chose To abstain With that One declaring What the Conflict was I don't think There is He has to Vote and it Has to be In the Affirmative Alright I Agree with That if you Would give Us the Opportunity to Finish the Nominations on The VP I'll get Legal to Whisper in My ear But point Is received And we'll See how we Proceed So back to Ken Amaro Has been Nominated Any other Nominations on The floor Councilwoman Pittman You're Recognized It is Indeed an Honor for Me to Place into Nomination The name Of councilman Dr. Rockman Johnson for Vice President of The Jacksonville City Council And also Celebrating your 50th birthday Today You know I You know I Just like to Say his Leadership is About transition And navigating Without losing Purpose It is about Being inclusive And moving Conversation And legislation That will keep Our government Working and Getting to The finish line I've known Rockman For more Than 40 Years Long before The title Of doctor Long before The television Appearances And long Before you Were elected By the People I've had The opportunity To watch Your journey First hand And I think Now is the Time One thing I Can say Without hesitation Is Dr. Johnson has Been doing The work In the Community For years And now In city Council And committees Such as TEU L-U-Z VI Joint Planning Commission The library Board of Trustees Liaison For JTA Florida League of Cities Mayor Council Of Fitness And Wellness And Throughout His career He has Been a Communicator That has Been your Willhouse And your God Gift An educator An advocate Who is a Bridge builder Leadership Is about Listening Finding Common ground And helping The council Work together And come Up with Solutions Which he Is an Excellent Candidate To do That In addition He is a Champion For neighborhoods He supports Economic Development Opportunities He elevates Culture And history And consistently Work to Ensure that Government Remains Connected To the People We serve He comes Prepared He does His homework And he Makes sure That he Gets The job Done And coming To getting His homework Done Trust me If there's Research to be Done I think we All know Dr. Rockman Johnson Has already Done the Research For these Reasons Colleagues And with Great Confidence In his Character Integrity And commitment To public Servants I proudly Nominate Dr. Rockman Johnson For vice President Of the Jacksonville City Council All right Do I have A second Councilmember Ares Thank you Mr. President I rise To also Second The nomination For Rockman Johnson As our City Council Vice President And while It sounds Conflicting You know I just Talked About Joe Carlucci Here we Have Another Gentleman That I Truly Admire I have A list Of reasons Why To second His Nomination But let Me tell You one Thing Being In Politics It's not About Being A Republican Or a Democrat Being In Politics Is about Doing The Right Thing And this Guy Right Here Has One Of The Biggest Hearts On Council Just like I talked About Mr. Joe Carlucci He has A heart I've seen Him at Luz Every time We're up Here taking Votes He takes All his Community Into the Green Room To talk About What's Going On How to Actually Work The System Out Work The Process Out And figure Out Solution For Both Parties Whether It's The Applicant Or The Actual Community Itself When You're Talking About Us Up Here We Disagree Multiple Times But The Way We Disagree Sometimes When I Look At Him He Takes It And He Says You Know What We Could All Agree To Disagree We Can Agree To Disagree And He Takes It Like A Man But Also He Takes It In Way Where It Makes You Realize Like Hey You Know What Maybe He Doesn't Have A Point Maybe I Should Take The Partisanship Out Of It And Actually Figure Out What's Going On Like I Said I Have A list Of Reasons Why To Nominate Him But One Of The Biggest Things That Really Stood Out To Me Is That During This Process I Been Doing This For Three Years Now And Every Year It's Literally Months Or Weeks Leading Up To This Election That People Start Knocking On Your Door Say Hey Can We Have A Meeting I Haven't Had That Call From Him At All On The Contrary He Showed Up Since Day Number One Showing Me His True Character Which Is Why I Want To Nominate Him As Vice President As Well And I Look Forward And A Second For Councilmember Dr. Rockman Johnson So Everyone Has Ballots In Front Of Them Reflecting The Four Council Members That Were Nominated And Seconded Let's Go Ahead And Fill Those Out Pass Them And We'll Have Legislative Services Read Your Council Member Salem Joe Carlucci Council Member Diamond Chris Miller Council Member Gaffney Jr. Council Member Johnson Council Member Freeman Chris Miller Council Member Gay Chris Miller Council Member Joe Carlucci Joe Carlucci Council Member Howland Chris Miller Council Member Carrico Joe Carlucci Council Member Arias Joe Carlucci Council Member Laynen Chris Miller Council Member Miller Chris Miller Council Member Pittman Council Member Johnson Council Member White Joe Carlucci. Council Member Romero. Canemaro. Council Member Johnson. Rockman Johnson. Council Member Peluso. Rockman Johnson. Council Member Matt Carlucci. Joe Carlucci. Council Member Romero. Two votes. Council Member Carlucci. Six votes. Council Member Johnson. Four votes. Council Member Miller. Seven votes. Mr. President, no nominee for the office of the 2026-2027 Jacksonville City Council Vice President designate has received a majority on the first ballot. Council Member Miller and Council Member Joe Carlucci are the two nominees receiving the highest number of votes, with Council Member Miller receiving seven and Council Member Carlucci receiving six. They shall be voted on on a second signed written ballot, all other nominees being dropped from consideration. Council Members, you're being passed out ballots that reflect Council Member Joe Carlucci and Council Member Miller to be voted upon for the 2026-2027 Jacksonville City Council Vice President designate. Mr. Secretary, are you ready? Mr. President. Council Member Boylan. Chris Miller. Council Member Clark Murray. Chris Miller. Council Member Salem. Joe Carlucci. Council Member Diamond. Chris Miller. Council Member Gaffney Jr. Joe Carlucci. Council Member Freeman. Chris Miller. Council Member Gay. Chris Miller. Council Member Joe Carlucci. Joe Carlucci. Council Member Nick Howland. Chris Miller. Council Member Kevin Carrico. Joe Carlucci. I know. He's got to call for the vote, people. Call the vote. Mr. President, the official vote for council vice president designate for 2026-2027 Jacksonville City Council with 10 votes, council member Joe Carlucci to nine votes, council member Chris Miller. Now we can clap. Mr. Vice President designee, if you'd like to say a few words. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. Man, that was that was intense. So all these other council presidents have had 10, nine votes. That is I do not envy you. I don't want to ever do that again. But thank you. I am so honored and grateful for this opportunity to help lead our council alongside council president elect Hallen. I want to say thank you to my wife and my boys for being here tonight. All right. And wave. Thank you so much for your patience and your support through this. I couldn't have done this without you. To my fellow council members and colleagues who supported me and those who didn't thank you at this at this point. And I want to commend also those who ran for this race. It's it's hard. And I commend all of you who ran. But look, now it's time to build a consensus. It's time to get back to work. And it's time to like council vice or vice president Hallen said, we got it. We got to build this. We got to bring this team back together. Go for it in 2027. And that's pretty much it. Thank you so much. And I look forward to being your next vice president. All right. Back to the unfinished business. Mary, can you please explain the council rule and where we are at with the presidential election and the member who decided not to vote? Can do, Mr. President. So as Council Member Diamond previously indicated during his point of order earlier on the last item, rule 4.602 of the council rules provides that each council member present at any meeting of the council shall vote on each question put. And you and I have discussed, Mr. President, as the ultimate interpreter of the council rules, that you agree that a nomination for a council leadership position is a question being put to the council. Thus, this would apply. Later on, it says, unless a council member abstains from voting because of a conflict as set forth here and above, which references the state statutory and ethical and other types of conflicts, voting conflicts, then any council member who refrains from giving his or her vote when required to do so by this rule shall be deemed to have given his or her vote in the affirmative. So there are a couple of options that I put forward to you, Mr. President. You could take a motion to reconsider the election of the president-designate for the next council year and then take up the nomination and second again and then do another ballot. Or you could confirm with Mr. Peluso that his vote would be considered a vote in the affirmative based on his initial ballot, which he did not complete with a vote, and move forward from there. Mr. Peluso, to save us all some time, can you just say that you're in the affirmative for Council Member Howland, or would you like to do it a different way? I will save everyone time. I do want to speak after it, though. Thank you, Mary. I will save everyone time. Yes, I'm in the affirmative, but I do want something to say once we get to comments. All right, so then that's official. We don't have to redo the vote. Just want to confirm? So yes, Mr. President, and to confirm? Yeah, we're going to give you your ballot. You can just correct it. All right, now. So to confirm, it was 19 votes in favor of the nomination of Council Member Nick Howland as the president-designate. All right, thank you for that, Mary. All right, I see someone in the queue that deserves to speak on this, even though we were trying to hold off on too many comments, but his son just got nominated, and despite no love lost between me and past President Carlucci, I would love to call on you and let you speak and honor your son. Well, I love you, Council President Jericho. Of course I do. I love everybody up here. We just disagree sometimes. Look, I want to say this as we get a little quiet. So for a long time, I have urged this council to have competition for this vice presidential vote, and we did it tonight. And it was a little bit of an awkward position for me as a father in this process, and so I decided as I went into it to say something nice about every candidate in this race because I've had the honor of knowing every candidate in this race very well, and it was easy for me to say the nice things that I did when I was able to speak because it wasn't long after that I had to keep quiet. I couldn't say anything. And so I think this has been one of the best exercises I've seen amongst this council, and this having such four qualified candidates, any of these candidates could have led this council very well this coming year. And I appreciate the way and the camaraderie that there have been shared motions for different candidates. I think that's something I've never seen before, and I thought it was done in such a spirit of goodness and of virtue. I want to do something else that I don't think has ever been done since I've been up here the last two times, and I think it's a good thing, and I hope Councilmember Miller, because I know what a good man he is. He's a very good man. I've seen him in action before, and I know where his heart's at. But something back in years past when we've had a tight race for vice president or even president, the one that just doesn't quite make it, and believe me, I've been there before. I've been on the nine end of a ten to nine vote. But it might be a good thing to make a motion, even if it's just symbolic, to make the vote for vice presidency unanimous. And that's just a way to kind of pull the council together, and that's been done traditionally over the years, and it will in a way of good sportsmanship. And I'll leave that to you, sir, but to make that motion that you respect all candidates, but that you'd like to make a motion that the race for vice president be made unanimous amongst all of us. And I think that helps kick off this new coming year in a really good way. And so I throw that out as a suggestion. I don't mean to put you on the spot, sir, but I think I know your heart, and I think that's something you probably would consider. And I don't think it's something that has to get any particular council rule okay. I've seen it done many times before. And I thank you, council president, for allowing me this time. And one last thing, I would be remiss if I didn't say that my son, he's going to do a very good job. He will not disappoint, and he will be fair and square across every council member here. And he's a young man, but I can't tell you how proud he and his mama are. His mother's here tonight. His family is. And as a family, I haven't been able to say anything, but I think I can now legally. And I just want to say, son, I'm proud of you. And just remember, everybody up here is a council member equal with one another, and every council member's got their own particular needs. And I've seen you treat everybody in an equal form and fashion, and just continue to do that. And that will help you launch into a good year next year. I love you, and I wish you the very best. Thank you. All right. Now, we have a hard stop at 4.50, so the room can get reset for the council meeting, which starts at 5 o'clock. So the vice president and president-designate, Nick Holland, is in the queue. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to congratulate Joe Carlucci on being vice president-elect at Jacksonville City Council. We had four great candidates in this race today, between Rockman, Ken, Chris, and Joe, four outstanding candidates. All terrific council members who care for this city deeply. I hope it was one of the last 10-9 votes we have, because, as I said earlier, I prefer a 17-2 vote over a 10-9 vote any day. But I just want people to know I don't play retribution politics. I don't threaten, I don't bully, I don't intimidate. And I want this council to function together as a team. And I'll choose my committee leaders that way. I'm going to choose committee leaders that are team-oriented, that are principled, and that are experienced. And most of all, I look forward to putting this vote behind us and turning our attention to a productive council year together with Joe. Thank you. All right. Dr. Johnson. I just want to say quickly thank you to all the other candidates. Congratulations, first of all, to Council Vice President Carlucci. I want to say, Mr. President, if I may recognize former Duvall County School Board Chair Betty Seabrook-Burney is in the audience. I just wanted to recognize her. Thank you for being here, Ms. Burney. And to the family members that came to support me, just wanted to say thank you for being here. It means so much. All right. One minute to go. Council Member Peluso. Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to stand and explain my vote and explain kind of where my head was at. Congratulations to the council president-designated and vice president. I'm proud of you both. And I believe that next year will be a good year. My concern is this. This body means something to me, this legislative body. And the norms and traditions of this body need to be upheld. Last year, under this current council presidency, Council Member Carlucci and I were singled out. And no vice presidential candidate nor presidential candidate did a thing to try to stop it and stand up. Leadership means something to me. Protocol means something to me. All of you mean something to me as well. Your constituencies elected you to be in this office as they elected me. And they expect me to be on committees as they expect Council Member Carlucci. I believe in protocol so much. Whenever I go to an event and there's another council member in the audience, do I not point them out and say good things about them? Not a single event that any of you have been to, no matter if we're rivals or not or have an issue, I always call you out. Because it's protocol. It's what you should do. It's the norms and traditions of this body. And I just want to say before we break tonight that I hope that we go back to those norms and traditions. Because that's important to me. And it should be important regardless of party. Thank you all. All right. It is officially 4.50. We'll see you back in 10 minutes. 2.050. We'll see you back in 10 minutes. 2.050. 1.420. 1.420. 2.170. 2.170. All right. 2.170. 2.690. 2.170. 2.170. 3.170. 2.170. 3.170. 3.170. 3.170. 2.170. 3.270. 4.170. 2.280. 5.270. 4.170. 4.170. 4.170. 4.170. 6.170.