Anyway, I think it's noon, and therefore I'm going to call this notice meeting to order and begin with introductions. Michael Boylan, District 6. And, of course, Ken Amaro, City Council, District 1. Thank you, Mr. Boylan, for accepting and attending this notice meeting. I asked for the meeting for a couple of reasons. Number one, this being your last year, I think, on service, I want to acknowledge, first of all, the service that you've given to this city. And I'm just completing my first term and have found your work to be extremely commendable. Always focus on the public, public purpose, best interests. I probably don't have to tell you that, but I just wanted to acknowledge that while we're here. I am interested in what would you like to accomplish as you wind down your service here in City Hall? First, thank you, Councilman Amaro, for that question. But before answering, what I really want to do, first of all, is to commend you and the other colleagues who put themselves forward. Thank you. As you know, I've tried a couple times myself to get down the road. And I'm very much encouraged by the fact that we actually have a bona fide race this time, that, you know, candidates are putting themselves forward, hosting these kind of meetings. So it's not a foregone conclusion on day one of the opportunity to make commitments. Yes, I feel really good about what I've been able to do and my leadership style in terms of engaging council members, Article 21, CQLI, last year with the JSO Primary Facilities and the work we do. My focus, specifically going into the last year on my term, is the civic engagement project I've undertaken for the Mandarin to come up with. When I say Mandarin, I mean District 6 overall, because it's a very broad district. It's a very broad district, which is to say how I can help bring that community together under one voice and one entity, much like San Marco Preservation and SPAR and RAP. But those are neighborhood focus. I'm looking to try something a little bit bigger because of the diversity of my community that we serve. So I will – that's where I'm going to put my time and my energy. Certainly, and I will look to support whatever priorities Councilman Howland assume – assumptive precedent, if you will, of the council. So that's where it's at, and wherever I can be helpful in trying to bring this body back to a more collegial level. I'm more focused on moving the city forward as compared to vying for whatever's next, either individually or collectively. Before I continue, we've been joined by Councilman Paloussa. Would you introduce yourself? Thank you, Chair. Councilmember Paloussa, District 7, and it's going to be a fly on the wall. Happy to be here. I'm curious, especially in committees, you have expressed a commitment for – or passion for public service grants. So do you have any objectives, obviously, beyond making sure that the funding remains the same in this budget cycle? Any other thoughts? Well, I think – PSG's? Yeah, it's beyond PSG's. One of my main motivations for joining the council six, seven years ago and running eight years ago was the idea of trying to get some of my colleagues on the council to appreciate the value of the nonprofit sector as a whole. A lot of folks look at it as a black hole and don't appreciate it. I think I made the comment recently with respect to PSG's when Ms. Diamond, or I think it was Ms. Diamond, mentioning that we shouldn't be doing these things. I said, well, you better stock up the JSO budget all that much more because the city is going to be absorbing a lot of costs and expenses associated with the care of our underinsured and others in our community as a result of that. So the nonprofit sector is always one of the main catalysts for me for joining the council to begin with. This particular year, my focus has been on that. I was not initially signed as the liaison for PSG. That was to Mr. Landon. He asked Council President Carrico if he could be relieved from that as he picked up some other responsibilities, and I gladly embraced the idea of doing it. So merely my focus and championing for PSG is in line with my responsibility as its liaison to the council. You know, well, just my personal perspective, I reflect on when Lincoln said government of the people, by the people, for the people, NGOs have kind of fit in and delivered to the people, for the people. So they do have a very fundamental role. My – what I hear from some of the participants are – the complaints are mainly about the process of, you know, application, reimbursement, things of that nature. And so somehow I think there needs to be a little streamlining there to where they're probably more efficient, yet fulfilling that fiduciary responsibility and making clear the public purpose. And that's what I'd like to see going forward. Yeah, and I think you're going to be seeing that. If you see the work of the nonprofit center of late, they're looking at that. You know, the gargantuan loss of funding at state-level, public sector, private sector funding for the nonprofits in our community is forcing them to become much more aligned in their work so that we don't see the kind of redundancy. But we digress here on a separate topic. Let me circle back and ask a couple of questions of you. Sure. Number one, I thought of the four presentations we had that marathon on the introduction of the – it went on the first day of March or whatever it was. I thought your comments, frankly, were the most inspiring and most compelling, with respect. And you could tell the forethought that went into it. So obviously the vice presidential, as you said, I won't be on the council, assuming you become vice president and president thereafter. What do you see, number one – and it's easy to say, I get it – with respect to supporting the incoming president? And what are you going to be doing, assuming that you are the vice president, in setting the table for your year as leadership of the council? Thank you for the question. I think you – you jumped my question to you. I was going to ask you, what are your thoughts on the leadership now? But I will answer your question and come back to that. I honestly believe that this body, this entity, is at the critical intersection as to how it is seen within our community. And the gap of trust between our elected officials and our constituency has just seemed to widen. I offered up myself for the position of vice presidency, not in desire or political position or power or anything, but to bring a credible face, bring some integrity and kind of right the ship, if you will. My hope is that if I do indeed succeed, that the first element that will be noticed is that that's an individual of character, of trust. Beyond trying to assist the incoming president, I stand firm on some of the things that I've been committed to from day one. Dealing with public safety infrastructure, you know, the needs of not just our constituents, but the needs of the 7,000-plus employees that are employed by the city, city government, which we as the city council has a responsibility for that. And I think sometimes we don't hear their voices, and they're right here, and sometimes we don't hear their voices. So I'm committed to moving in those directions. I'm committed to remaining objective to truth. What do I mean by that? Well, as I've stated from the dais, that if there's a bad policy that I deem, interpret to be bad policy, it doesn't matter who brings it. You know, I've always embraced a quote from LaGuardia, the former mayor of New York City. He says there's no Democrat or Republican way to pave the streets or clean the streets of New York City. And I think we often overlook that in this capacity, this place that we're in, the folks out there, they don't care what you are as long as services are delivered. And so we're at that crucible or that intersection where there has to be a restored integrity in the leadership of this body. I hadn't thought about it that way, certainly that, but in the context of the fact that you may be the best person to help that happen. Given your reputation, you're already recognized as a man of character in our community. People see you as a champion for folks over the course of time. And that certainly lends to, you know, an asset to you and a benefit to the council with you in the leadership position. So I certainly do appreciate that for sure. Well, that's why I'm in. You know, everyone has their motive. Mine is very simple, just to bring that ethos to that capacity, that position of leadership. And, you know, there's some somewhat unethical things that have taken place that I'm just like, you know, not just no, but hell no. You know, it should not. It's a further violation of the public trust. And I didn't come here to be called names or to break that public trust. It is what I've held in my previous capacity for the last 40 years, just being someone you can trust and being a voice for those who don't have a voice. And so my hope is that while I'm here serving District 1 and serving the community as a whole, that that will continue. I think I found along the way, and obviously looking at this very closely, you know, how do I align with those who are putting themselves forward in terms of their voting records? And I think in many respects that you and I follow the same path. So there's a lot of reasons for me to support your campaign. Well, thank you. I'm not going to offer formally a pledge at this point in time. I'm not comfortable with the idea of pledges. But I want to give you encouragement to stay in the race. And I think you have a very viable chance of becoming the next vice president of the council. Well, and I appreciate your kind remarks, and thank you for the encouraging word. I, you know, this process has been interesting, where, you know, and I get it, that, you know, the paradigm is you go and you secure 10 votes and you get pledges and you move forward. I really like where things are, that there's a choice, you can vote for more of the same, or you can vote for a change. And I believe that change is necessary if this is going to be a very credible body that serves the public as a whole. And so thank you for your encouraging words. And my ask of you is very simple, and you basically confirmed that just to give my effort serious consideration. And so I appreciate that. Very much. Very much so. I would offer, assuming we don't get this done in the first ballot, I think a lot of us are going to be looking at where Council Member Howland lands with respect to that first round of voting. And I think that's going to impact a lot of us in understanding where we may ultimately end. So let's get you through that first round. All right. Thank you. I don't know if I asked the question. Any thoughts on where, I think your comments are pretty obvious, but just for the record, where we are right now as far as the direction of this body? I'm hopeful that Councilman Howland recognizes, I don't say I'm hopeful. I know he recognizes much of what you characterize as the gap between this community and the body as a whole. And recognize that he has some responsibility as a priority in building some of that trust back and getting away from some of the missteps we've seen this past year in this process. So I'm counting on that. I'm counting on that person who's at his wingman, if you will, or wingwoman, if in fact someone else gets into the race. Is there to support his initiatives in moving the city forward? Well, you know, many of us share the same initiatives, which is a lot of times I find it laughable when we declare. But many of us share the same initiatives. It's a 19-member body. We all support public safety. We all support infrastructure. We all support, you know, trash collection, meeting the needs of this community. And I think, unfortunately, some of us find a different path to accomplish it. But we're here to do one thing, and that is serve the public and not serve our own agendas. And so at least that's been my position, and it will continue to be so. I appreciate your time today. Thank you for asking for this meeting. I look forward to voting. I don't know if I want to give Councilman Peluso a – Yeah, go ahead. You can weigh in, Mr. Peluso. Thank you, Councilmember Amaro. Yeah, I wasn't expecting to speak for a while, but I don't know, just listening to you two, it just genuinely dawns on me. You two really – for you to both become public servants is such a great value to this community and to this city. You both had a large amount of time working with everyone in this city because of your time in media. And so the experience and the real-world touches that you guys had for decades to be able to come into this body and be able to speak so eloquently and genuinely about what you've learned during your private life, during your personal experience doing your work, to be able to bring that here to this body is so valuable, and I'm genuinely grateful to you both. I'm so sad that you're not going to be with us in the next term, Councilmember Boylan. Hopefully I'll be here in the next term. But the point is, as I sit here, it really dawns on me that we have – there's such a value add to what you bring to this body, both of you. And you both come into every debate with a pretty open mind, which is very important. And you're always trying to make bills better, and you're trying to make compromises happen. And I look at that as a major leadership trait that you both share that I'm grateful of. I like to think that people sometimes think I'm a little bit off the cuff sometimes, but I do believe people think I'm genuine too. And I genuinely enjoy serving with you both. And the three of us also are fortunate to represent some really old neighborhoods and some really strong neighborhoods where people have a lot of civic pride and love where they live and want to make it better. So as we do discuss, and I think some of the things we're alluded to today are, you know, we've had some bills and fights that were so unnecessary and so not in what the voters have asked us to do. I know my constituents could care less about some of the things that we've had to talk about up here. They care about housing, affordability, their streets getting repaved, their streets getting repaved. Like, that's what they want. They don't always know what government does, but they know that when their trash is picked up, when a JSO officer shows up within five minutes, or when their road, you know, and their drainage ditch gets fixed, like, that's how they see city of Jacksonville coming to their aid. And I think both of you understand that. I know I understand that, given the old neighborhoods that I have. And if that's where your head is at, like it is with me, then I'm very grateful to you. Because this body, you've probably heard a few things that I've said about this body in general, but, like, we, I have such a respect for the city of Jacksonville's city council. And I want to make sure that we remain in a posture that we do have people in the community say, oh, I see what you guys are doing, and it's good work. Thank you for that. And sometimes I'm not seeing that, and it's really upsetting. I say a lot, so I'm grateful to you both for a lot, and for also being kind to me and my staff in my office. So, yeah, didn't expect me to say that, did you? But thank you, thank you for being here, and I'd miss the opportunity if my ask is not the same of, that I did of Mr. Boylan, that if we go through the process, that you give my effort serious consideration as you deliberate who you're going to vote for. It is a very serious consideration. You should know that. Okay, thank you, sir. Mr. Boylan, thank you again. With that, we're going to, what's the public comment? Okay, you got one minute, sir. Yeah, one minute. You can keep the time. All right. Speak into the mic. All right, well, one minute. Yes, sir. You know, all of you have been on waterways, and let me just say public access on our waterways is, yeah. But, well, gosh, that's going to cut into the one minute, you know, name and address is on file. Look, you know, you know, at waterways, you know, K.E. Haas called me out, you know, about, and this is the map of downtown vision. You know, I just want you all to know, I'm going to the Ethics Commission meeting later at 4 o'clock. And, you know, here is the kayak launch that's supposed to be at Chelsea. It's not even on here. So, anyway, the point I just want to get at is we have three fine Florida Inland Navigation, you know, projects. One is in your district, one's in Boylan's, the other's in Carrico. And right now we're marketing to the world. Public access. You know, you have an opportunity, and if it's leadership, then, you know, let's fund those land acquisition projects immediately with 2026-004. And that is our trust fund. And I'll tell you. All right, Mr. Nooney, your time is up. I thank you for your commitment to participating in the process. Mr. Boylan, again, thank you for accepting the notice meeting. Mr. Peluso, thank you again for your kind remarks. And we'll see what happens come May.