City Council - Jun 09, 2026

all right i'm being told we officially have a quorum all right good evening everybody i'm calling to order the city of jacksonville city council meeting for tuesday june 9th 2026 it is 5 p.m on the dot i am your president presiding officer kevin carico and we are officially um we're officially starting the meeting mr floor leader how's that sound very good mr president our first order of business is the invocation and pledge of allegiance please recognize our council chaplain council member kinemar sounds off thank you mr floor leader tonight our invocation is being delivered by eddie hatcher a jacksonville native a graduate of ribalt senior high school or as the principal would say ribalt he earned a master of divinity from gordon conwell theological seminary and he's a retired u.s army veteran with more than 20 years of honorable service eddie currently serves as a community pastor at chet's creek church's hodges campus where he's passionate about helping people grow in their faith and connect with their community he's been married to his high school sweetheart jacklyn renee hatcher for 42 years together they're the proud parents of two children antonia and alicia please receive pastor eddie hatcher thank you councilman god word says to us if we would acknowledge him in all his ways and his response to us would be your direct our path and so that's what we want to do this evening as we uh move forward with our meeting so let us pray heavenly father we do thank you for this amazing privilege of gathering this evening for this opportunity to serve the people of jacksonville we ask for your wisdom your guidance discernment upon every council member city leader and public servant represented here grant them clarity of decision making integrity and leadership and a sincere commitment to the welfare of this fine city help them to work together with respect unity and a shared desire to promote justice peace and prosperity throughout our city we pray for the families here in jacksonville the businesses the schools the first responders our policemen our neighborhoods and our communities of jacksonville may your hand of protection rest upon our community and may your grace guide us toward solutions that strengthens and uplift all who call to this city home lord bless the meeting and the work that will be accomplished here tonight may it be conducted with wisdom and a spirit of service of others in your holy name we pray amen amen and amen amen pledge allegiance do you have any announcements uh one announcement uh i am noticing a meeting tomorrow it's going to be at four o'clock two weeks from today prior to our last council meeting of the year to do our awards ceremony a lot of times that takes up a lot of time in the evening so i'm just going to bump the meeting uh ahead or bump it back an hour so we can get started give out the awards and celebrate some accomplishments of community leaders and community members and some of the members of this body so we'll have that meeting at four o'clock right before the council meeting in two weeks thank you mr president next up is approval of the minutes from the regular council meeting of may 26 i move the approval i think i'm gonna call for roll call first and then we'll get those approved all right roll call 16 present all right mr floor leader all right now i'm back at the right spot i move the approval of the minutes from the regular council meeting of may 26 we've got a motion and a second by council member areas all in favor of the meeting minutes signify by saying aye aye any opposed say nay the minutes are approved mr president we have six communications from the mayor's office and others would you like them read or filed with legislative services uh we will get them filed away very well sir we have two presentations tonight the first is by council member ken amaro a resolution honoring and commending tim cost for his service as president jackson university and congratulating him on his new role as chancellor of jacksonville university mr teal please read the resolution resolution 2026 409 tim cost has served as president of jacksonville university since 2013 becoming the first alumnus to lead the university guiding it through an era of transformation and growth during his tenure president cost led ju through significant expansion growing the institution from three colleges five schools and two institutes to five colleges nine schools and three institutes along with the introduction of new in-demand major fields of study including speech language pathology clinical mental health counseling occupational therapy accelerated nursing business analytics engineering law data science ai cyber security and robotics in 2022 president cost oversaw the establishment and launch of the jacksonville university college of law which expanded access to legal education and the development of the legal workforce in northeast florida and whose first graduating class achieved the second highest bar passage rate in the state president cost advanced the partnership with lake erie college of osteopathic medicine to create the region's first four-year medical school scheduled to open in the fall of 2026 under president cost leadership jacksonville university strengthened its financial standing and philanthropic support by increasing the endowment by more than 50 percent leading the investment of a hundred million dollars into the university's campus completing the aspire campaign that raised more than 120 million dollars launching the florida epic program to support steam education regional economic investment and job creation and spearheading the university's historic 175 million future made comprehensive campaign since tim cost became president of jacksonville university the university has consistently ranked ranked as a premier institution for students return on investments and outcomes with the university being selected as one of america's best colleges by u.s news and world report and named one of the top 500 universities in the country by forbes magazine after 14 years of distinguished service as president of jacksonville university tim cost will transition to serve as chancellor of ju where he will focus on partnerships fundraising alumni community and government relations to advance the university's the university's mission now therefore be it resolved by the council of the city of jacksonville the city council hereby honors and commends tim cost for his exemplary and invaluable leadership as president of jacksonville university and his lasting contributions to the city the city council congratulates mr cost on his appointment as chancellor to jacksonville university and offers its best wishes for his success in this new role colleagues in community it's an honor for me to present this to tim for his work as i stand here and reflect a couple of thoughts come to mind that while some men use words to inform tim uses his words to transform while some men seek affirmation before achievement tim has always sought achievement before affirmation he's just that kind of individual he he he collaborates he looks for where he can be part of how he can make a difference when he came to ju as president one thing he said ju will be integrated and not isolated and today ju is one of the most catalytic transformative force in the arlington community and it's all because of the work of tim cost so i'm glad to present this to present this to him ron salem uh you have represented the area as well if you want to say some thank you councilman um i met tim probably 12 15 years ago when i got on the arlington cra and uh my seven years here on the council we've worked very closely together he's become a great friend and as i've said publicly many times i shudder to think where the arlington area would be without tim cost he has been the the catalyst for all the development that is occurring out there and we are very grateful that he continues to serve us at ju so thank you tim thank you to uh councilman saleman for these kind words today thank you to uh council president carrico council vice president howlin a lot of friends sitting around this room today um i have a lot of thanks to give on behalf of our university for the belief you've placed in jackson university we've been here 92 years we've come before this group a number of times for help and you have never let us down most recently my only item today was when we decided we would try to build a college of law and councilman amaro you will remember we asked for a few million dollars and 14 students came in four years ago this august the university's college of law will double it will be 215 students in just four years it'll be the second ranked again university college of law in the state of florida number 14th in the country we could not have done it without this body so we will continue over there to try to be a positive relevant force for the economy and for the students and their families and we'll be back hopefully soon to talk about youth sportsplexes and other things that can help arlington but i've great thanks to this body the entire city of jacksonville thank you and good evening all right there uh i'd like tim's wife stephanie uh to come up she has been a very important part of this journey as well all right while they pose for picture i do have a council member in the queue that wishes to speak so you'll have to just listen with your back turned council member uh freeman past president would you like to say a few words to president cost uh thank you uh mr president to the president to president cost one uh good to see you and and thank you so much uh for your service uh to the community to the university and to our city um what was laid on my heart to share with you is that the impact that you made will create ripples that will last for generations um i for one have been one that has come and visited and sat on that couch um and talked life talk politics at times talk business at times talk life and i want to thank you for that and i want to thank you for sticking around um you could be doing so many other things right now you've lived a very successful life to this point and you're still choosing to serve here in this community and i want to thank you and i want to end with a fun fact that uh many of you all here i'm sure you know that he is a baseball aficionado as well and i believe it was a lefty uh pitcher and and had some type of an accomplishment at ju uh many many i won't say i won't add the third many but a few years ago um and that was one of the draws that i had with them initially when i was sending kids there so thank you for that and then your vision with lacrosse and what's happening with that sport across our city and our state you're just such a visionary so thank you so much for your leadership thank you councilwoman pitman councilwoman pitman to the chair and dr cost i just wanted to personally thank you because i have a personal relationship um with you my son just graduated i think which most of you all know with a double major from ju but the first day i met you riding on the golf course cart in the school you knew the students names you don't find too many presidents that knows each of the students names and i was impressed with that impressed with how you take the suggestions and recommendations from the students and you pour into them and you make the initiatives that they want on that campus and to make it their own so i just want to say thank you for giving my son winston an opportunity and to even take some of your holiday pictures um as well and i really appreciate that how you pour it not only to him to the many um students that have graduated from ju all right no other speakers so i'll just add my congratulations for a great career being uh on the mount rushmore leaders here in the jacksonville area sir you've certainly made a impact on my life as a as a mentor and as a friend so thank you again for coming down and uh enjoy your retirement thank you all right our second presentation this evening is by council member jacoby pitman pitman honoring the honorable henry lee adams jr for his distinguished legal career historic accomplishments and lifelong contributions to the city of jacksonville mr teal please read the resolution resolution 2026 404 the honorable judge henry lee adams jr was born in jacksonville florida and raised in the historic east side community where his early life and experiences helped shape his commitment to justice service and community judge adams a proud graduate of matthew gilbert high school earned his bachelor of sciences degree from in political science from florida a m university received his juris doctorate from howard university school of law in 1969 and married his high school sweetheart elaine while on their lunch break at the duval county courthouse judge adams began his legal career serving the people of jacksonville through the duval county legal aid association as a public defender and then in private practice demonstrating a dedication to equal just equal access to justice in october 1979 under the leadership of governor bob graham judge adams made history as the first african-american judge appointed to the fourth judicial circuit marking a transformative moment in the judicial landscape of northeast florida judge adams continued to break barriers throughout his career becoming the first african-american attorney invited to integrate an all-white jacksonville law firm the first african-american judge in florida to preside over a white on black homicide case and ultimately the first african-american appointed as a u.s district judge in florida when nominated by president bill clinton in 1993 as the united states district judge for the middle district of florida and later as chief judge judge adams has exemplified fairness integrity and dedication to the rule of law earning a widespread respect across the legal profession and in the broader community beyond the bench judge adams has served as president of the dw perkins bar association and has contributed his leadership to organizations such as communities in schools and the jacksonville public education fund demonstrating his enduring commitment to education mentorship and community advancement judge adams's life and legacy represent perseverance excellence and the courage to break down barriers opening doors for future generations of legal professionals and public servants in jacksonville and across the nation now therefore be it resolved by the council of the city of jacksonville the city council hereby honors the honorable judge henry lee adams jr for his trailblazing legal career the city council extends appreciation to judge adams for his decades of outstanding service on the bench and for serving as an inspiration to future generations colleagues and guests i just want to say judd adams you are a trailblazer come on up here come on up here way before your time and you were never afraid to do what you did you are deserving of this resolution and i'm glad your family is here with you i know you lost your wife recently but i know she was here she was here she was here she would be standing right beside you and we want to let you know that we are proud of everything that you have done in this community and you know what they said good folks come from where east jacksonville east jacksonville they call it out east so tonight we want to let you know that um we appreciate what you have done in the past and you continue to pour and give to this community and we all just wanted to let you know and stand with you to let you know and give you your roses while you're here and we love you i just want to thank you for thank you for this opportunity which was basically from the city of jacksonville uh than a few years ago but uh i thank you for that to give me the opportunity to do what i've done so welcome mr president while they're taking some pictures i want to recognize tonight's pages we have lingston bartley and victoria grissom they are both homeschooled students here in our community thank you for serving with us tonight right and before we move on while they're taking the picture let me acknowledge we do have dcps superintendent christopher bernier the doctors in the house as well as the uh speaker pro temp for the florida house wyman duggan is back there i think so welcome both of you glad to have you we'll now take up quasi judicial items the first of which is pound found on page five these items we're now taking up do not include public hearings as they were thoroughly reviewed at the committee level where public hearings were part of the decision making process council members are reminded to declare any ex parte communications we'll start with item number one twenty twenty six zero three four five mr president i'll go ahead and declare my ex parte i received three emails all in support of this appeal all right i'll call on the vice president president elect howland you're recognized thank you mr president i also rise to declare ex parte communications i met with miss nancy powell to speak about this bill um on memorial day in memorial park and then we also got received an email from her we also spoke with cindy trimmer yesterday june 8th at 3 p.m about the bill we'll make sure they're filed thank you all right that seems to be it i move the amendment to deny appeal got a motion second on the amendment to deny the appeal all in favor of the amendment signify by saying aye aye any opposed say nay the amendment carries with the bill as the amendment carries carries i move the bill as amended to deny appeal we have motion second on the bill as amended to deny the appeal so if you want to vote with the luz committee then you would vote yes is that correct all right open the ballot record your vote 16 yeas zero nays by your action you voted to amend to deny twenty twenty six zero three four five i'm two twenty twenty six two seven four i move the amendment have motion second on the amendment all in favor of the amendment signify by saying aye aye any opposed say nay the amendment carries with the bill as amended got a motion second on the bill as amended there's no one in the queue please open the ballot record your vote 16 yeas zero nays by your action you've approved twenty twenty six dash zero two seven four i'm three twenty twenty six zero three hundred i move the amendment have a motion second on the amendment i have no one in the queue all in favor of the amendment signify by saying aye aye any opposed say nay the amendment carries with the bill as amended have a motion second on the bill as amended no one's in the queue please open the ballot or record your vote 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0300. Item 4, 2026-301, I move the amendment. We've got a motion and second all on the amendment. No one in the queue. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. I have a motion and second on the bill as amended. No one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0301. Out of 5, 2026-302, I move the bill. Got a motion and second on the bill. Councilwoman Clark Murray, you're recognized. Thank you. I rise to declare ex parte. I spoke with Travis Moss, the applicant, on May 26th here during the city council meeting, and we discussed how he proposed to use the existing building, and I did express my concerns about a smoke shop. Moss said that he grew up in the Woodstock community and was considering some type of coffee shop, and the ex parte has been filed with legislative service. All right. Thank you for that. No other speakers? We have a motion and second on the bill, so open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0302. And before we move on, school board member Cindy Pearson is in the house. I see you out there. Sorry, it's like a sea of people out there. I missed you when I was giving my shout-outs. Any other school board members, former city council members, elected officials in the building? I think we're good. Mr. Floor Leader? Item 6, 2026-303. I move the bill. Got a motion and second on the bill. There's no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0303. Item 7, 2026-305. I move the bill. Got a motion and second on the bill. There's no speakers in the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0305. Item 8, 2026-306. I move the bill. I have a motion and second on the bill. There's no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0306. Item 9, 2026-310. I move the bill. Got a motion and second on the bill. There's no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0310. Item 10, 2026-375. I move the bill. Got a motion second on the bill. There is no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0375. We're now on page 9 to take up the consent agenda. Colleagues, if you wish to be added as a co-sponsor on any item, please reach out to legislative services as council rules prohibit items from being pulled for this reason. Mr. Thiel, would you please read the bills? 2026-379-380-388-389-391-394-398-399-400-401-402-415-470-471. I move approval of the consent agenda. Got a motion and second on the approval of the consent agenda. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved the consent agenda. Mr. President, we're now going to go all the way to page 34 and take up item 76, 2026-414. I move the amendment. Got a motion and second on the amendment. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. Got a motion and second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0414. Mr. President, please recognize Council Member Freeman. All right. The Vice Chair of the Rules Committee, Pastor President Freeman, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. And if the following individuals are here, if you please rise so we can acknowledge you. Ms. Carmen Martinez, Robin Sinazal, Scott Thomas, Jeff Youngblood, Heather Rios, and C. Douglas Lane. I want to thank you all for putting yourselves forward and volunteering at the city. If we can give them a round of applause. Thank you. Colleagues, we're now going to go to page 36 and take up item 78. That's item number 2026-335. I move the amendment. We've got a motion and second on the amendment. No one's in the queue. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. We've got a motion and second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yeas, 0 nays. By your action, you've approved 2026-0-335. Councilman Arias. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. So, colleagues, last week I had actually two community meetings. One regarding the school board measure that we took a vote on last week, and the other one was for ACPS. I'll talk about the one on Friday that I had here at City Hall. Last Tuesday on finance, we decided to defer a measure that would actually send the mill extension to a ballot in November. I was one of the ones that decided to defer it as well, too. I voted in favor of that, because I wanted more time for clarification. Last time this was voted on was years before me. And so, consulting with OGC, they said, yes, we have enough time to extend it, should we need to for another two weeks or a month, whatever the case is. Regardless of the fact, I made my calls. I met with individuals, and then on Friday, I held a public notice meeting, a meeting where so many school board members, I'm going to just call them out right now, Ricardo, Pearson, Bolduc, residents from our community, school superintendent, educators, paraprofessionals and staff, Duval Teachers United, Mr. Meek. So many people were there in that room, and I took pictures of it. It was a packed house. A couple things came out of it. Number one, my heart really was moved. It was an emotional meeting. For me, realistically, the biggest thing was that I wanted to know exactly what would this mean, should we take it to November? The answers were clear. It was all clarified. One of the things that really stood out to me the most was the fact that, at the end of the day, we are representing our community, the community that voted us, but at the end of the day, they also have a right. They have a right to vote. Let's not take that away from them. That's one thing that other countries don't have the right to do, but we do have that measure here. So tonight, I'm going to ask, Mr. President, if you don't mind, I would like to make a motion to discharge ordinance number 2026-0387 from Neighborhoods Rules and Finance Committee, pursuant to Council Rule 2.205, and I'm looking for a second. Second. All right. Thank you for that. I heard a lot of loud seconds, but I also want to clarify one more thing. Ms. Tyrona Clark-Murray was also in attendance. Thank you so much, Ms. Clark-Murray, for joining me as well last Friday. And this, what we do simply is this, letting this go on the ballot, let us take a vote on it eventually after we discharge it, and let the community decide on what they want to do. Simple as that. So now that we have a second, I'm going to recall, actually, this is up to you now, Mr. President, but deciding on that, we're going to call for an electronic roll call if that's the case. Yeah, there's no one else in the queue. Actually, Council Member Howland. Sorry. President-elect Howland. Thank you, Mr. President. I would like to ask, through the President, if I can, Ms. Defopolis, I was not in finance last week. Can you please read the Florida statute that addresses our responsibility with respect to school board military actions? Sure. Through the President to Council President-designate Howland. So yes, the type of millage that they're pursuing to be placed on the ballot for referendum for continuance is a four-year millage for operational purposes. And that's, the process for that is under, is described in Florida statute 1011.73. And it does state, and I'll quote from the statute, the district school board, pursuant to resolution adopted at a regular meeting, shall direct the county commissioners to call an election at which the electors within the school district may approve an ad valorem millage as authorized under Section 1011.719. And so they did supply that resolution, which is attached to the legislation pending before council or being discussed at this moment. And so it does direct that the council, acting as the board of county commissioners in this instance, would place it on the ballot or direct the supervisor to place it on the ballot for November 3rd. Thank you. I appreciate that. With that knowledge, I will support the motion to discharge. All right. Councilwoman Clark-Murray. Thank you, President Carrico. It goes without saying that I support this discharging the bill from the finance committee so that we can take action on it today. If I'm not mistaken, that is what we're doing at this time. I have some people looking at me like they're not sure. So our duty as a council is to simply pass this bill on so that the voters in Duval County can vote on it. It's not our job to decide whether or not they should have that right. They have that right by Florida statute. And so we need to fulfill our duty, which is simply to pass this bill on to the supervisor of elections so that it can go on November's ballot, so that the people can decide whether or not they want to continue this amount of money to supplement for teachers, for art, and for PE. But ultimately, if you say no to this, you're saying no to children, and not just one or two children, but over 100,000 children. So consider that. Thank you. All right. And we are still on the discharge. No one's in the queue. All in favor of the discharge, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed say nay. The discharge passes. Can I get a motion in a second? All right. Motion in a second on the bill. On the floor, any discussion on the bill? All right. Dr. Salem's first. Past President Salem, recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I was one of those in finance that initially deferred this bill. I was not comfortable at that time with the bill. I had an hour meeting with Dr. Bernier, who was very persuasive on the statistics that he presented to me on the improvements in our school system that I think are secondary to this bill, to the mill, such as decreased turnover, decreased vacancies, and I believe this system will be a school system again, secondary to this one mill. As I've stated before, I don't have a ministerial button, and I feel strongly about that. I have a green button and a red button, but I have been convinced that I am going to vote yes and put this on the ballot, because I think the evidence is there that this mill has made significant improvements in our system, and I want to give the residents the ability to vote on it themselves. Thank you. Council Member Arias. Thank you, Mr. President. Now that we discharged it, thank you, colleagues, for that. I'm going to talk about the actual bill itself and what it means to our community. So, Ms. Clark Murray, Mr. Salem, you guys hit it right on the nail. Realistically, we're looking at, out of 100%, this is just a mill extension. We're putting it on the ballot. We're not voting on whether we're going to extend it or not. Let the voters decide on that. But here's what this measure will do for the voters and for the teachers sitting out there and for the staff members and the paraprofessionals and everybody out there. There are people that are starting at $15 an hour. Their last raise was five cents. That touched my heart. Now, there's survivors of breast cancer that are using these bonuses. They're not even including their salaries. This is just a bonus of $7,000 to $8,000 a year for them. They're using it to pay their medical bills. These teachers, these educators, these staff members, they don't need to be wasting their time right now here at City Hall. They need to go out in their summer, spend time with their families, or focus on the curriculum for next year. They need to focus on their classrooms. The longer we prolong this, the longer we extend this, the less work they have and the less time they have with their families. They already have a short enough season as it is. So obviously, I think we're going to get this across the board today, but the significance of this is larger than just a vote yes or no. It's about the livelihood of these people over here, the livelihood of the people that take care of our students and our family members. So I really encourage all of you guys to get a unanimous vote yes across the board because ultimately we owe this to them and we owe this to the community. Let the community decide what they want to do. And come November, hopefully, they'll get the answers that they requested. So that's all I have, Mr. President. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Councilwoman Clark-Murray. President-elect Howland. Sorry, I keep getting tied up saying that. President-elect, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Four years ago in 2022, I voted no to put the one mil in the ballot for the school board. And I did that for one specific reason. There was another funding source available immediately for teacher compensation. A nearly $300 million funding source that could have paid teacher bonuses then to address the critical teacher shortage then, as well as increase compensation for the next four years. That funding source was the American Rescue Plan, the ESSER II funds. I was told at the time by the district that it could not be used for teacher compensation. But I read aloud on the day it's a United States Secretary of Education letter that said it could. The Florida Department of Education told me it could. But indeed, other counties were doing so and planning to use that source in lieu of having to increase the millage rate until 2026. So the one mil increase then was unnecessary. And I felt voters were being misled and teachers could have immediately received a bonus or a compensation then. But now, ARP funds have been depleted. And I'll leave it to the school board to research how those funds were used. Perhaps they serve a critical use. But they've been depleted. And I've had several conversations with now Superintendent Bernier over the last few months on this issue, on the cuts they've made, the consolidations, the cost savings, everything the school district has done. And I'm confident this time we're not being misled. There is no other funding source. So tonight, I will support putting this measure on the ballot. That's what we're voting on here. We're not voting on extending the one mil, but putting it on the ballot. The one mil extension, that's for voters to decide in November. I'll be a yes tonight. Thanks. Council Member Gay. Thank you, Mr. President. In rules, when it came before us there, I supported it then. And I'll be supporting it tonight as well. Because I believe in the fundamental of giving the people a choice to vote for a tax or not vote for a tax. And this is putting it on the plate of the people that when they come up to make that decision, they will vote their circumstance. And so this is the American way. This is what we should be doing. We should be getting it out to the people to vote on a tax like this. And as I said in rules, this us pushing the green button doesn't mean that there's a one mil tax coming. It means it's going to the people. And I support anything that puts it on the people's choice. Thank you, sir. Dr. Johnson. Okay. He's in the queue, but he's not in his chair. Councilwoman Pittman. The chair and to Dr. Bernier and all of the school board members and guests and voters who are out there. I supported it in finance. I seconded it tonight. And I just want to say what matters to you all, it matters to me. And I want to make sure that we continue to do the best that we can for our teachers and for our students and to make sure that we don't hurt them, but an opportunity to give y'all a chance to vote what matters to you all. Thank you. Mr. Amaro, the councilman from Arlington. You're recognized, sir. Thank you, Mr. President. I hesitate to get up because a lot has been said. I supported this measure in committee, and I'm going to support it tonight. Having educators within my family, my wife is a retired college professor. I've got two daughters that are teachers. I know firsthand how educators are underestimated, undercompensated, underappreciated. And I think this measure needs to be put to the voters so that they can express their values of educators. And that's what we're doing. We've always been a pass-through. And we're going to let the community decide if teachers are worthy of this. And I am convinced that when they go into the ballot box, they will remember their teacher. All of us. If you ask us who was your favorite teacher, we can all name someone in our journey because we would not be professionals without educators. So I'm going to support this. All right. No one else in the queue. Please open the ballot. Record your vote. 15 yays. Zero nays. Bye. You're actually approved. Where are we at? 2026-387. Colleagues, with that, we're now going to go all the way to page 59 and take up unfinished business, which is item 147-2025-0872. I move the amendment. Got a motion and second on the amendment. Is that the floor amendment or do we need someone to move that? All right. Should we take the floor amendment up first? All right. Motion and second on the technical amendment. I'm assuming, Ms. Clark-Murray, you're in the queue for your floor amendment. So we're going to vote on the technical amendment. All in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed say nay. The technical amendment from the committee passes. Councilwoman Clark-Murray, you're recognized. Thank you, President Caracote. This has been a long time coming, so wow. I know that the introducer of this particular bill has gone through several aspects to, in a sense, check and balance it. I have examined this bill in several ways as well, financially, and when it comes to the actual charter, and when it comes to the ordinance, what it says in regards to appointments for KHA and for the library trust committee, yeah, library trustees. So one of the things that I see, and I also had a question, which I'm not asking him to answer it today, but I did have this question because this is not the first time this bill has been presented before us. This is like maybe the second, possibly the third time, if I'm not mistaken, Council Member Arias had also sponsored this bill at one time. So with that being said, and just the fact that KHA was established by the previous mayor, and the setup as far as the board was established by him. He has a right, or Mayor Curry at the time, and he had the right according to Chapter 50 in our ordinance code to do that. So what the council member here is proposing to do is to change the board. And so he's well within his right to do so, and we know that based on Mr. Fackler's result of his, basically the result of him doing, I'm going to use the term study, but I know it's not a study. But what I want to do with the floor amendment, because so many people have a tendency to need to recuse themselves when it comes to bills that regard KHA and some of the other departments and organizations that are established under the executive branch, you have the floor amendment before you. And what it does is that, say for example, if the council president has connections to any entity that receives funding from KHA, then it seems to be, I don't want to use the term misleading, but it seems that he or she should not be allowed to appoint any board members. So then the power to do so, or the authority, would defer to the vice president. And in the case that if the vice president wasn't able to do so, then that board member would stay on the KHA board until there was an opportunity so when the vice president or the president would no longer have any connections to KHA. So that essentially is the floor amendment that I'm proposing today. Thank you. And I'll take any questions. Dr. Salem, are you on the amendment? On the bill, Mr. President, I was hoping we could get an explanation of the bill in general before we got into the amendments, but I guess I lost that opportunity. All right. As to the amendment, no one else is in the queue, but I'd like to speak to it. So I guess I will relinquish the chair to the president-elect. Mr. President, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. Thank you, Mr. President-elect. I rise just to ask a few questions to OGC. Why not just call it the Carrico Amendment? I am the president, and I do have a connection to KHA, obviously, through my employer, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida. So do I have, as just a sitting council member, not as the president, do I have a conflict in voting for board members of KHA? Through the president-designate to Council President Carrico. I believe any time we've looked at that for you, the determination has been that, no, you're not precluded from voting on appointments to the Kids Hope Alliance board. All right. So as a council member, I can vote on members of the KHA. It's already cleared through ethics. Because through ethics, I've voted on several KHA board appointments and their CEO over the years, and it's always been cleared through ethics. So I don't currently have a conflict in voting for a KHA board member, so I don't think I should have a conflict in nominating one, because I'm just one person nominating the board member. The body decides, as 19, who goes on that. So if you don't agree with someone, if I were able to nominate them to KHA, then you can vote it down, and that's your freedom. And I think this amendment, for that reason, is irrelevant. So I would vote no for it, and I would ask you to do the same. Thanks. All right, rolling through the queue. Dr. Salem, you're still up there. I think you're just on because you want to speak on the bill first. I will call on you first. Councilmember, past president, Matt Carlucci. Thank you, Mr. President. I support the amendment. I think it makes sense. And I don't support the bill. I don't think anything's broken. I don't know what we're trying to fix. We already have. I'll talk to that in a moment. But I support the amendment. And after what I've seen this year, I think it's needed. And I think it's almost a self-policing measure. That's the way I look at it. And I'm tired of the mud puddles we keep stepping into when it comes to not-for-profits. And so I support it, and I would urge my colleagues to support the bill. Thank you. All right, Councilwoman Clark-Merry. Thank you. So through the president to the body, it's a way, this floor amendment is a way to avoid the appearance of impropriety. It's a way to avoid the things that this council may not necessarily do, but there's a perception that we do. So this is, in a sense, a protection. If we want the people to trust us, we need to do things that allow the people to have trust in us. And so I'm asking you to vote this floor amendment up. Once again, if the person who sits in the chair of president doesn't have any connections with KHA for at least five years, and you can look in the floor amendment, then that person can vote freely. And we can, in a sense, make the assumption that there won't be any sense of impropriety. But just the fact that there are connections, there's that view. And once again, the authority goes to the vice president. And once again, if the vice president is in that same kind of situation, then that board member will continue to remain on KHA until we have a person in the vice president position or president position who has no connections to KHA. I ask that you vote this up. Councilmember Vice President-elect Joe Carlucci, recognized. All right, thank you, Mr. President. I'm not going to support the amendment. I think there's more ethics laws in place right now that prevent this. There's no voting conflict that we've just heard, not to mention the floor amendment says it prohibits the council president from appointing a member of the KHA. That's not a unilateral move. So I don't know who drafted the amendment, but it's actually worded incorrectly anyways, because the council president doesn't appoint anybody. They nominate a person, and then the full body appoints, the full body votes for that. So that in and of itself, this whole floor amendment should be voided just for that one reason, or it can be amended. But I'm not going to support it either way. I think the ethics are covering us in the full clear of this, so I'm not going to be supporting it. Thank you. All right, Dr. Salem on the amendment. Thank you, Mr. President. As a past president, it really bothers me that we're infringing on the appointment process of a president. And my question would be, where does it go from here? If it's KHA today, is it something else in the future? So I will not be supporting the amendment. Thank you. Once again, Councilwoman Clark-Marie. Thank you, President Carrico. To respond to Councilmember Salem's question, it's not going to various places. This particular floor amendment is about this particular bill. In the same way that it was established by the previous mayor, that all of the members of KHA would be appointed by the mayor, because KHA is under the executive branch of our government, in the same way that you just make a decision that you want to change it. So there's no role, like anything snowballing. This is this bill and this bill alone. So it's not going to any other bills. Just like you've made a decision to want to change the board for KHA, I am asking, proposing a floor amendment for simply to look at the aspects or the aspects that may arise as a result of all 19 of us may have some connections to KHA. And so that may solve that problem that may arise. Thank you. All right. President-elect Howland, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilwoman Clark-Marie, I admire the intent behind this, but I also think it's unnecessary. I have no connection to KHA, and I'm the next president. And the next vice president has no connection to KHA, so there will be no need for this for the next two years. And I really don't think it's necessary. It could be part of a larger bill separate than this, but I'm going to vote no. Thanks. All right. Councilman Carlucci for the second time. All right. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'll be brief. The other reason I don't – I appreciate the intent of this. I do. And I get the safe measure. But the reason we have a local ethics department, we have a state ethics department, is because it's widespread, and it covers all of our boards and appointments. So if it's just KHA or if it's JAA or DIA or whatever, ethics covers all of those boards altogether. So that's why I think we have safe measures in place right now that are being followed, and that's why I will not be supporting the floor amendment. Thank you. Councilwoman Clark-Marie for the fourth time. Thank you, President Carrico. I appreciate your comments. The one thing I do want to respond to is the fact that you put a particular name in there or a particular person, this bill is not about – it is not about President Carrico. He happens to be sitting in that seat now. It is not about Vice President – or President-elect Holland. It is not about Vice President Carlucci. It is not. It is about whomever sits in those seats in the same way that this bill shouldn't be about this mayor. It should be about mayors. Not this mayor, but mayors. Thank you. All right. Pastor President Carrico for the second time. I can certainly understand why some people wouldn't support it, but I'm going to support it just because I'm tired of some of the things that are going on. I'm just tired of it, and I think we need to sometimes put a shot across the bow and say, look, no more of this nonsense. That's what we've had this year, and I'm tired of it. I believe in the institution of this body, and I think the integrity of it needs to be held up. And sometimes an amendment like this may not pass, but it does send a message. And that's what my vote on this amendment is doing. I didn't suspect it would pass, but I'm supporting it because of the message it sends. And we need to be serious about our jobs up here and what we do. Thank you. Thank you, Pastor President Carlucci. No one else is in the queue, so all in favor of the amendment, raise your hand. Those who oppose, raise your hand. The amendment fails. I move the bill as amended. Motion to second on the bill as amended, Pastor President Salem. Thank you, Mr. President. As we discussed, Mr. Fackler, could you come forward and just give a brief two- or three-minute discussion on how you got to where you are today, and then I'll take it from there. That's okay, Mr. President. Yeah, let's just have Mr. Fackler come down. We'll give him his own time. How's three minutes, Mr. Fackler? Three minutes is great for me. All right. I don't know if it'll take three minutes. So through the chair to the body, this issue arose when Councilman Arias filed his bill on this point. We looked at it. We had some concerns whether it complied with the charter and the separation of powers. We gave a preliminary opinion regarding that in preparation for a vote that was to occur. We then had a little more time and did a deeper dive. I appreciate the input of some outside attorneys, some former general counsels giving some input and asking us to make another look at the issue. And so we did that, and we took a deeper dive. We engaged other attorneys in our office. The result of that, and I don't think study is the wrong term, Councilman Clark Murray, we did our research and our studying of that. And it's a little more nuanced than we originally preliminarily indicated. And so there's a nuanced approach. It's not categorically that appointment power is purely an executive function. It's much more nuanced with an analysis of what power is being used and the interplay between the legislative and an executive body. So we issued a memo. One of my brightest attorneys issued a memo. I believe it was dated last month. I don't have the exact date off the top of my head. That provided an analysis of that, and that summarized the thinking of the OGC attorneys working on that matter. And in short order, for both of the issues for KHA and the library board, using the four factors from a case in Bennett that we also used in a previous binding opinion, we determined that it was a very close call, meaning that it was close to a violation of the separation of powers enshrined in our charter. But based on the fact that the mayor retained a majority of the appointment powers and the interplay on how the appointments get confirmed, the nature of how it was brought to here, we thought it was a close call, but we thought it passed the chartitutional test. I'm still trying to get that word adopted, so I'm going to use it again. We thought it passed the chartitutional test, and that it is something that, if passed, would not violate the charter. And I'd be happy to take any questions from the board, I mean from the council. All right, thank you. Now we'll just go through the queue. So, Dr. Salem, you're first. Thank you, Mr. President. First of all, I want to thank Mr. Fackler for going through the process he did. We have worked on this for about six months, and several past general counsels have interacted with him, and he came to the conclusion he did, and I appreciate that. Why these two? Why KHA and why the library board? KHA, if you watch KHA, there are issues at KHA, and we have no appointments to that. It's almost a $65 million budget, and I believe the city council should be engaged in that beyond passing their budget and be able to, during the year, have some input through the president and those appointments. Number two, the library. Again, $40-plus million as we face the budget we're about ready to get into. We have libraries all over this community. I believe the city council, through our president, should have appointments to address issues within the library system. I have raised them in the budget process for several years. We've got the Internet. We've got ChatGPT, and we are still using the same library system, essentially, that we've used for the last 50 years. We've got small libraries. We've got big libraries. We've got big decisions to make on our library system. And I want the city council to have the ability to make appointments. Both these bills respect the strong mayoral form of our government. That was very important to me, as Mr. Fackler said in his analysis. The council president gets three of the seven for the school board and five of the 12 on the library board of trustees. Number two, we don't get those appointments until somebody rolls off. I'm not trying to disrupt KHA or the school board or the library. Gradually, the council president would get those appointments as people rolled off. And I think that's important to recognize as part of this bill. We are not taking power away from anybody. I keep hearing that. This bill is forever. I have one year left on this council. I'm not going to make any appointments. And it's for future mayors as well. So this is not a one-year bill taking power away from this mayor. This is legislation that will go on past this. All future mayors will abide by this, whether they're Republicans or Democrats, and the same with the city council. I think it's a good bill. It's a fair bill. It's a fair bill to the mayor, and it's a fair bill to the city council. We should have these appointments. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you, Pastor President Salem. I'll spend tomorrow. You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you to Dr. Salem for bringing the bill. Thank you to Mr. Fackler for his diligence in defining responsibility and the fact that concluding the legislation does not violate the city charter. If I can speak anecdotally, when my dad was 93, he was having some visionary issues, but he would get in his car and drive. And I asked him, why are you doing that? How are you able to do it? He said, son, I just stay between the white lines. I'm one of those who believe in staying in your lane, and for some reason, in my spirit, this bill seems like it's one of those that because we can, we should. I'm just the opposite. Because we can doesn't mean we should. So I'm going to vote no. It's probably going to pass, but that's the reason for my no vote. Thank you. That's President Carlucci. I don't think I could have said it any better than Councilman Amaro. But what are the next boards we're going to delve into? And by the way, we do have checks and balances. We, there was an appointment that came up to the library board, and we didn't appoint her. So the mayor had to go back and find somebody else. And I think the mayor reaches out to us for help in putting appointments in to these committees and so forth, commissions. But something about the Kids Hope Alliance last year or two also doesn't make this bill feel right. And I don't want to go into detail on it, because I don't want to. But I just, it just doesn't feel like it's the right thing to do. And it'll pass, but I think it's a mistake. I don't think it's fixing anything. It's a little bit, I think we're going to start looking at, you know, what we're going to, what we're going to have appointments to. We should look at all of them. This is a little willy-nilly to me. Well, we're going to do these two. Well, what's it going to be next? This is not our lane. We're always trying to reach over and get in the executive's lane. And that's what we try to do, certain people try to do up here. We just need to stick to our knitting and do our job. And when we do that, we do a good job for the city. But we're always trying to investigate. We're always trying to get somebody else's business, the mayor's business. That's what we're doing here. I'm just kind of over all that mess. Thanks. Councilman Clark-Murray. Thank you, President Carrico. I'm very glad to hear that the introducer of this bill has changed his rhetoric. Because when he first talked about it some months ago, and it does seem like six months. I don't think it's been that long. But it does seem like a long time ago. He exclaimed that the mayor was taking away our power without considering the fact that, once again, KHA, the KHA board was established by Mayor Lenny Curry. It goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway. I'm not going to support the bill. I'm not going to support the bill for many of the reasons that Mr. Carlucci, excuse me, Councilmember Matt Carlucci mentioned. It seems unnecessary. And it concerns me in looking at the five-year term data that we use in the education realm. The amount of money supplied to KHA has gone from $35 million to $60 million plus. Yeah. Thank you, Councilmember Lenin. And with that comes extra concerns, in my opinion. And I think the fact that the mayor gets to appoint and we get to confirm is a perfect setup. It gives us that check and balance. So we as a council, we do have a say-so as to who goes on the board. And I think that's fair. It's fair as it is. So with this particular scenario, it's going to be the mayor appoint and we confirm, and then we appoint, the president appoint, and then we confirm. That seems to be out of balance, in my opinion. The other things that were said is that we're not engaged. We are. There are several problems in regards to the library that the council, excuse me, the introducer of this bill mentioned. Those problems can be solved without changing KHA. In fact, those problems could have been solved in the interim since you've been on council. So once again, I will not be supporting this bill. Thank you. All right. No one else is in the queue. Please open the ballot. Record your vote. Nine yays, six nays. By your action, you've approved. 20-25-0872. Mr. President, it is time for public comments. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to speak, you should have filled out a green public comment card. No cards will be accepted after 6, which we already passed. Council rules call for an allotment of 90 minutes for public comment. We did get a good number more than normal cards tonight. So due to that, each speaker will be given 1 minute 30 seconds so that all those wishing to speak will have an opportunity to do so. I'll announce five speakers at a time. When I call your name, please come down to the reserved seats in the front row while waiting your turn to speak. Your time will not start until you arrive at the podium. And remember to state your name and address before beginning, or you may say my address is on file. A speaker may be invited to the green room for further discussion at a council member's discretion. I'll read the first five names now so they can begin to make their way down. And then I'll have Mr. Teal read council rule 4.505 regarding disruption of meetings. First five speakers, John Meeks, Deonna Newell, Katie Hathaway, Kathleen Pereira. We'll go with the first four then. John Meeks, Deonna Newell, Katie Hathaway, and Kathleen Pereira. Mr. Teal, may you please read the rule. Council rule 5.05, disruption of meeting. Any person who disrupts a regular meeting of the city council, standing committees, special or select committees, subcommittees, or any other public meeting presided over by a city council member may be forthwith barred, removed, or otherwise ejected in the discretion of the presiding officer from further attendance at that meeting. If necessary, due to the nature of the disruption, the audience may be cleared from the council chambers or meeting location in the discretion of the presiding officer. Any person who refuses to leave the city council chamber may be subject to arrest. Thank you, Mr. Teal. Legislative services, please note the start time as 6.10. And Mr. John Meeks, you're up. Good evening. I am John Lewis Meeks, Jr. My address is on file. I am the teacher first vice president of Duval Teachers United, AFT Local 3326. And as a 23-year social studies teacher, I would like to say this is what representative democracy looks like. I thank the educators and education staff professionals of Duval County for speaking out in favor of the resolution regarding the windmill, and I'm very grateful to our city council for listening. This is how I want us to move forward and keep the momentum for our A-grade school system and keep the momentum moving forward for teacher retention and for our students in our community. Thank you, city council. Thank you. Next up, Deanna Newell. Hi there. I'm Deanna Zastrow Newell. My address is on file. I am a resident of Jacksonville. I'm a Duval County school psychologist, and I'm one of the hundreds of student support professionals who recruitment and retention depend in part on the millage funding. So school psychologists and other specialists like social workers, speech language pathologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, provide critical services to students and families in private schools, charter schools, and home education. We serve students in hospitals, residential treatment, and juvenile justice settings. We provide early intervention to preschoolers throughout the community, and we serve military families, many of whom come to Jacksonville specifically for the supports for students with special needs. The work we do impacts the broader Jacksonville community and not just our public schools. So tonight, I want to thank you for giving voters the opportunity to consider this measure and giving us the chance to make our case directly to the community we serve. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Katie Hathaway. Good evening. Katie Hathaway. Address is on file. I'm here as a frustrated resident watching politicians from Tallahassee come to our city and recycle talking points about wasteful spending while offering no specifics or solutions. And let's remember how our local government works. Jacksonville has a 19-member city council. This council controls the budget process. They review it, amend it, and ultimately approve how taxpayer dollars are being spent in the city. So if we're going to have an honest conversation about spending, let's have one that's based on facts, not political theater. And let's also remember that the people of Jacksonville elect local people, leaders, to make local decisions, and local control matters. The people who live, work, raise families, and run businesses here understand our community's needs better than politicians dropping in from Tallahassee for a press conference. If investing in youth programs, parks, libraries, neighborhood improvements, housing, senior and veteran programs, and services that help families thrive is considered wasteful, then I think most Jacksonville residents would disagree. Jacksonville is growing and thriving because of the work being done across this city. And I appreciate the investments being made to contribute to our quality of life and helping Jacksonville become one of the best cities in the southeast. Yes, we still face challenges, and we should absolutely have conversations about how to spend taxpayer dollars wisely. But those conversations require facts, transparency, and solutions, not political stunts designed to score points while providing no actual plan to move Jacksonville forward. Please go out and advocate for our public schools, our teachers, and our kids. Please help get the Duval Schools referendum across the finish line. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Kathleen Prayer, and then the five after that. Please come on down. Brian Jefferson, Robert Stafford, Dutchie Stevens, Brian Lipinski, and Teresa Myers. Go ahead, Ms. Prayer. My name is Kathleen Prayer. My information is on file. All citizens want prudent and honest city planning. It is neither prudent nor honest to keep changing zoning codes and land uses whenever an owner demands it, especially when it will suit only them. Just as the city would not allow me to build a 5,000-watt radio station or pig farm on my RLD-zoned property, the city should also not allow any developer to build a 15,000-seat soccer stadium multiplex on property currently zoned for CRO and RLD, especially when this project will detrimentally impact two residential neighborhoods. The stadium developers obviously don't care that the purpose of CRO zoning is to develop smaller commercial venues as a gradual transition from residential to major commercial projects. So it's up to the city to first look at how a project like the Saka Stadium will impact the surrounding areas and deny the application at its start since it will drastically harm the character amenities that make neighborhoods like Fox Chase, Willen Station, and Windy Hill attractive. If, however, all these city authorities have no problems ruining communities like this, how can we trust them for anything else? Move the soccer stadium to another location that will not affect residential residents. Also, no to 2026-0364 and yes to 2026-0227. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Pereira. Next up, Brian Jefferson, followed by Robert Stafford. My name is Brian Jefferson, and my address is on file. I'm going to keep it quick. In 2025, there were over five JSO-involved shootings related to a mental health crisis. The community deserves a guaranteed precautions, ensuring that the actions of JSO officers will not result in their death when they are experiencing a mental health crisis. A mental health crisis should not be a death sentence, point blank, period. JSO's officers are not trained to de-escalate and respond to a mental health crisis leading to these incidents again and again. And we see that JSO's budget is continuing to grow and grow, being the lion's share of the city's budget every year. But we do not see any additional care put into mental health responses. And one of the victims of this lack of care was Rashad Martin. He was 32 years old, and he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. His family called 911 in October of 2025, and his mother didn't want him arrested. She wanted him helped. Martin ran and tripped and was detained. He showed signs of medical distress, and he was Baker-acted and died in the psychiatric facility. His mother, Vanessa, is still waiting for answers from JSO. She is asking for trained mental health professionals on the scene of mental health crises and not police. So the JSO's, excuse me, the JCAC's demand are simple. We want to see the creation of a permanent mental health emergency response team of professionals instead of police officers to respond to these situations. We want to see the enforcement. Thank you, sir. Next up, Robert Stafford, and then Dutchie Stevens. Good evening. My name is Robert Stafford. My address is on file. The Duball County Public School System, aye. He's going around and advertised construction costs per square foot, construction rate of $335 per square foot. Down from $516 for Reebok, down from $516 for Reebok, down from $473 for Hogan Spring Glen. That rate of $335 came out of the sales surtax of the site committee. The SSOC informed DCPS that in 2022, the Florida Department of Education stated that construction costs had risen by 21%, resulting in a rate of $264 per square foot for elementary schools, $325 for middle schools, and $360 for high schools. The COO acknowledged existence, so I haven't seen that website, and the rest is history. They went back and applied construction escalation rates from 2022 to present, and that's how we got to $335. We could have been here three and a half years ago. We could have been there the day the referendum was passed, and we tied the cost per student station to the number of students in school. We used that metric. That metric has been used ever since 2000. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Dutchie Stevens, and then Brian Lipinski after Ms. Stevens. Yes, Dutchie Stevens, and address is on file. Now, I'm getting sick and tired of that mowing and cutting, doing this illegal dumping. They came out yesterday, these two Caucasian bullies that look like a cheap Ryan Lomo they probably got from a thrift shop. They don't know how to take the blades off and get them shopping, and they keep hitting that fire hydrant. I don't file something with the Federal Fire Marshal in Washington, D.C., because, baby, I don't play. You can't touch the Dutch, but I can show you the butts. And they's leaving all that cut-up weeds all on the sidewalks. Sidewalks, people can trip and fall off of there. You didn't find it on the sidewalk. Where's the blower? They don't even come out there with the blower. First time they did it was last month in March. They ain't never blow that off. You know, I mean, excuse me, last month in May. And then they came this month, June, and doing it. So it's, I don't know where they're getting these bullies from, the mowing and cutting department. It ain't the city that's doing it. It's who they hire. Well, that show this federal government funding, too. Now, I bet you don't cut it like that in Mandarin. But when they shoot that weeds and leave it on the driveway, that's a good way to get some big shooting. They better stop it, because we finna sock it, because enough is enough for putting them weeds on our private property called dryways. You ain't cutting our property. You're cutting the city's government. And they have cut it. That don't even look like the city government. I ain't never seen the city government right away looking like that when John Pattis was the executive director of the Department of Public Works. But that dirt won't work. Thank you. Thank you. Brian Lipinski. My name is Brian Lipinski, and I'm here to speak in support of the Freedom to Garden Act. My address is 9363 Old Plank Road, 32220. I am the owner-operator of Down to Earth Organic Farm on Old Plank Road on the west side. My wife and I started our farm nearly 20 years ago, and we're amazed at the demand that people had for a source of local, clean, organically grown food. There were not many local growers 20 years ago, and fast forward to today, and there still are not very many growers for a city of nearly a million people. There are likely lots of reasons for this, but there are examples of small-scale growers having to deal with various bureaucratic and code problems that are too arduous or complex to navigate or are unevenly applied. My farm is blessed to be zoned ag, but we need to create a better environment for micro farms and community gardens to thrive. A group of us are here to ask for a meaningful reform. It will help small growers and community gardeners alike have a clear path to helping us feed ourselves as a city. Please push forward and support the Freedom to Garden Act. Thank you. Next up, Teresa Myers, and then the five after that will be Susan Grandin, Barry Cotter, Monique Sampson, Tammy Wynette-Brocks-Evans, and Donna Westridge. Teresa Myers, are you here? I'll save her card. Susan Grandin. Is Susan Grandin here? Oh, I see her there. And then after Susan, it will be Barry Cotter. Good evening, Council Members. Susan Grandin, and my address is on file. I'm representing Scenic Jacksonville this evening and in opposition to Ordinance 2026-363 as it's currently drafted. We think that there's some room for improvement on this one. We really hope that you guys will defer it tonight or postpone it, whatever the nomenclature might be, because Scenic Jacksonville really does want efficient and accountable development plans, review, and inspections. And the 363, what it does, if you don't know what the number means, it allows private providers to review plans that are submitted to development services and to do building inspections. While that's good in some disciplines, I believe that the bill goes too far. The state statute that it's patterned after limits the private providers to architects, engineers, and building codes administrators. It doesn't go as far as landscape architects or arborists, that type of thing. So, it does go too far, and I really think it needs some more clarification and some more work, which I think the Public Works Department is working with Council Member Diamond, who's not here tonight, to work on that. So, we really hope that it could be postponed and even go back to committee. In looking at the substitutes from LUZ and rules, which were, the bill was hard to get a hold of to begin with, because things weren't up on the web. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Barry Cotter. And it'll be Monique Simpson after Mr. Cotter. Okay. My name's Barry Cotter. Address is on file. Now, I was going to talk about asking you to take the steps to pass the teacher bill, but I guess now I'm just going to say thank you. I had a long thing to say, but now I'll just say thank you. I'm going to make a comment about the other big tax cut that we'll have from Tallahassee. If that passes, I'd hate to be any of you working on that budget. So, thank you. Thank you. Next up, Monique Sampson. And after Ms. Sampson, it'll be Tammy Wynette, Brock Sevens. Okay. That was a little strange, but I had to, sorry about that. I had to place my bag there. Hi, my name is Monique Sampson. I am a civics teacher, mom, homeowner, community member, and a proud member of Duval Teachers United, as well as a union steward. And I came prepared to ask y'all to put the mail in the ballot, and thankfully y'all did. So, I wanted to kind of talk about how it has impacted my family. So, my daughter, Atala Sampson, she has autism, and she goes to Garden City Elementary in the preschool disabilities program as one of the school psychologists I was talking about earlier. And she had a teacher and a speech-language pathologist and a para the entire year. And for some people, that's not a big deal, but it was a super-duper big deal because in DCPS, before the mail, by December, five to six teachers would be gone. By March, another two to three. And the reason, because they couldn't take the low pay, the long hours, and the lack of respect. But after the mail, our schools are really well-staffed, okay? I can go on vacation. I can do all this stuff and not have to worry about staffing. And for our household, because a lot of people think it means getting rich, it meant expanding our family, welcoming our son a few months ago, it meant establishing a college fund for our daughter through Florida Prepaid, it meant catching up on bills, being able to buy pencils, candy, and most importantly, deodorant for my students without worrying about breaking the bank. The mail has changed so much for our family, and it's worth keeping. And as a homeowner, I can confidently say that I don't mind paying a little bit more on the front end to save money on the back end. And we will save money by having fully-staffed schools. And we do that by making sure school staff is appreciated. Also, on another note, as a community member, I say let Connor speak and support a mental health emergency response team being fought for by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee. Thank you so much. I'm going to grab my purse now. Thank you. Tammy Wynette, Brox Evans, and then Donna Westrich. Is Tammy here? Okay. Donna Westrich. Hi there. My name is Donna Westrich. My address is on file. I am a marine science teacher at Fletcher High School. I'm just like everybody else here wearing red. I came here to ask you to put the one-mil referendum on the ballot. You did that. Thank you so much. So I just want to remind everybody what the one-mil means. It's not only a teacher salary supplement. It also provides a supplement for our JSO officers and our school guardians. It also pays for band uniforms, track updates, football fields. So thank you. Thank you from all the teachers. Thank you from the JSO officers. Thank you from the students. Appreciate your efforts. And let's tell all of our friends to vote for the referendum. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Last call here for Tammy Wynette, Brox Evans, or Teresa Myers. Are you out there? Ms. Brox Evans was here to speak about the referendum, and Ms. Myers did not fill out anything. Next speakers, please come on down. Ms. Cindy Pearson, Frank Wallmeyer, Tiffany Clark, Carrie Baggs, and Nathan Ballantine. Ms. Pearson. Hi. Cindy Pearson, address on file. I stayed to say thank you. First of all, I want to say thank you to Councilman Arias and Councilman Matt Carlucci and Councilwoman Tyrona Clark-Murray for the meetings on Friday. I think that was an example of good governance and of us being able to work together. You had questions. We came. We answered questions. We put the call out to the community to come, and they showed up. And so I really appreciate you voicing your questions and then listening to the answers and letting it move your heart and your minds on the topic. Secondly, I want to say thank you for the unanimous vote. That's really, really important, and I appreciate that. Thank you for the unanimous vote. The third thing I want to do is try to persuade you to join me in November of voting for the one mill when it comes, the renewal when it comes on the ballot. I'll give you a few fast facts on that. Per statute, we share the one mill with our charter partners based on student allocation. So 80% of what's collected goes to DCPS. 20% goes to our charter partners. Of the portion that DCPS gets, 75% go for salary enhancement. You've heard it's for teachers, but also for SROs, for paras, for other workers in the schools and in the school system. 12.5% goes for arts enhancements. 12.5% goes for athletics enhancements. The board votes on the expenditures. Wow, that went fast. Thank you, Ms. Pearson. Man, that went fast. Okay. Mr. Frank Wallmeyer. All right. Good evening. My name is Frank Wallmeyer. My address is on file. My current job title is steward at Standard Feed and Seed, an 80-year-old Jacksonville business located in the nearby rail yard district. I say steward and not owner because a steward is a caretaker who has a responsibility to do what is right and what is good. Similarly, as esteemed public servants, y'all are stewards of our great city. I know you take very seriously your responsibility to do what is right and what is good. I'm here tonight to support and encourage the Free to Garden Act, which will make community and market gardens permissible by right in our great city of Jacksonville. Gardening is good. Fresh fruits and vegetables are good. Growing food in food deserts is good. Food resilience is good. Eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic red tape is good. Supporting beneficial uses of personal property is good. The Free to Garden Act is good. That's why last night at its monthly meeting, the Duval County Farm Bureau, one of the leading advocates for agriculture in Duval County, voted unanimously in support of the Free to Garden Act. I sincerely thank y'all for the time and consideration and hope when the Free to Garden Act is put forward, it will have 19 sponsors. Thank you. Tiffany Clark. Good evening. My name is Tiffany Clark and my address is on file. As a parent of two graduates of Duval County Public Schools, a solopreneur, a wife of 30 years to someone who has also matriculated to Duval County Public Schools, as someone who volunteers on a weekly and a monthly basis in our schools, I absolutely support this referendum and I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you so much for your unanimous vote. Tonight I'm wearing this shirt. Let the voters decide. Thank you for allowing that. Have a good evening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Bex. Good evening. Thank you for having me. My name is Carrie Bags. My information is on file. Monday, June 12, 2026 at 930 p.m. I'm sorry, 930 a.m. Mayor Deegan would be at the George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier State Park and we are extending an invitation to everyone to join us there. We need everyone to come out and support the reconstruction at the historical bridge. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Nathan Ballantyne. Good evening. My name is Nathan Ballantyne. Our farm grows at 125 East 7th Street. On January 22, 2026, nearly two years after first applying, Overalls Farm 3 secured its certificate of use from Jacksonville to operate legally as a neighborhood farm. Winning a COU granting us permission to grow took two years, three citations, four meetings with city officials, the backing of five operational nonprofit partners, 11 letters of support from neighborhood business leaders, 125 neighborhood UPIC farm members, 500 plus families on our farm member wait list, over 1,350 signatures on the petition for permission to grow, and over $50,000 in lost revenue. Not to mention having our USDA farm serial number and state-level greenbelt exemption, three state-level legal presumptions against local limits of bona fide farms, being honored as the Outstanding Agriculturalist at Farm City Luncheon, and ultimately a legal request for dismissal of the citation. We won our COU, but the fight for permission to grow food with and for our neighbors goes way beyond Farm 3. For example, our journey took half as long as that of Claire White Mission to secure a COU for Earth is Farm and Market back in 2014. They began growing food for the community in 2010. Stepping back even further, the IFAS Ag Extension Community Garden has been providing gardening plots for members of the community since 1977. It does not and never has had legal permission to operate under the zoning code. It should not be this hard to grow food with and for our neighbors. That's why... Thank you, sir. Thank you. Our next five are Alex Weist, Denise Scott, Joseph George, Ruth Thompson, and Jennifer Leggett. So, Alex Weist, you may go when you get to the podium. It's Alette Weist, but that's okay. Good evening. My name is Alette Weist, and I'm representing myself and the Just Food Network. My address is in file. I'm here tonight to support and encourage the Free to Garden Act, which will make community and market gardens permissible by right in Jacksonville. Community gardens provide fresh, healthy food to neighbors who need it. Right now, Nathan Ballantyne has hundreds of families on his waiting list who want to patronize his community gardens, including myself. Even though I'm not currently patronizing Nathan's community garden, I do rely on market gardens and our farmers' markets need more market garden vendors. I rely on market garden vendors for my organic produce because USDA Organic is no longer reliable. As organic food becomes unreliable, grocery store prices go up, we need to rely on market gardens and community gardens that cut down costs and have healthy and sustainable practices. We have seen global supply lines disrupted, food prices on the rise, organic produce at grocery stores becoming increasingly unreliable, and local community and market gardeners would be well-positioned to help insulate us from these problems when they arise. Please help us pass the Free to Garden Act. Thank you. Thank you. Denise Scott. I have not other issues. Good evening. My name is Denise Scott, and my address is on file. Thank you, Arius, because in that meeting Friday, you said you was going to bring it before the president, so I appreciate that, and I thank you all for voting for it. But to be honest with you, you wasted a lot of time because your only job was to put the referendum on the ballot. That's it. And let the people decide. He and all, I mean, you just did too much. And the people see why you all won't support that floor member from Clark Murray. A hit dog surely will holler. You don't want checks and balances. Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching. This ain't no different than when Carrico sent that message to a JEA board member. You all love drama. You're corrupt. Let's see. What else? Oh, I realize that this council and JEA are at odds, it seems like it. So, Councilman Salem, since you're the liaison, you need to remind that board that this is the public-owned facility, and the people want them to collect those overdue fees. Now, when the working class people can't pay their bills, we have two options. We either make a payment arrangement, and when that payment arrangement isn't done, they disconnect our services. So, get JEA to make a payment arrangement for those millions of dollars that's owed so we don't have to be, have a rate increase in October. Joseph George. Good evening. My name is Maceo George. I'm the president of North Florida Central Labor Council. My address is on file. In Jacksonville, voicing concerns at city council meetings may cause consequences. Individuals exercising their First Amendment rights have, on occasion, faced forceful responses and arrests by JSO for merely expressing the truth. In recent years, JSO has arrested four community advocates, Ben Frazier, Connor Carley, Leo Grady, and Tegan Beloit, at council meetings. Such incidents have reinforced concerns regarding the treatment of individuals exercising their First Amendment rights. City council, your actions regarding First Amendment rights have caused concerns among the community. The public is observing council's decision and will participate actively at the ballot box in 2027. Turning to another important matter, I wish to address the ongoing negotiation with Leauna, local 630. The North Florida Central Labor Council expressed the hope that negotiation will yield the following outcomes. That fair wages will be established to keep pace with current economic conditions. That workers doing the same work will be paid the same wages. Furthermore, when the recommendation is before you, please approve it. Thank you. Thank you. Ruth Thompson. And then it'll be Jennifer Legge after Ms. Ruth Thompson. Good evening. My name is Ruth Thompson, and I'm with Be Grateful Apiaries. We're urban beekeepers that manage about 100 hives throughout Jacksonville in the urban area. My address is 1605 Osceola Street, Jacksonville, Florida. I'm here tonight to support the Free to Garden Act, which will make community and market gardens permissible by right in Jacksonville. I had a longer speech, but for one minute, I'm going to make it concise. This is a win-win situation for Jacksonville and for urban farmers. Farms, urban farms provide community outreach, community building. It provides food for especially our food deserts. Many of the farms are on abandoned properties. And this month is Pollinator Month, with the week of June 22nd through the 27th being Pollinator Week. During Pollinator Week, 4 million social media posts are given. 700 official registered events. 36 state governors and more than 140 mayors will issue formal proclamations. And $120 million are spent on pollinator themes. The greatest thing for pollinators are gardens to promote eco-friendly practices. Thank you, ma'am. Please support the Garden Act. Ma'am, you and anybody else that's here to talk about the Free to Garden Act, Councilmember Arias would like to meet with you in the Robert Johnson room. So if there's anyone here for the Free to Garden Act and you'd like to talk to a Councilmember Arias, he'll be in the Robert Johnson room to talk to you right now. Next up, Jennifer Leggett. Good evening, Councilmembers. My name is Jennifer Leggett. I live at 8128 Concord Boulevard West, which is in Lake Forest. I am here tonight to ask for your support for the Free to Garden Act. I am the chair of the Duval County Agricultural Council, and I am a member of the Duval County Farm Bureau Board. As someone who has spent decades running a small business in Jacksonville, I understand the importance of having clear rules that protect neighborhoods while still allowing people the freedom to create, build, and contribute to their community. The Free to Garden Act creates clear standards and clear expectations. It addresses concerns about noise, parking, lighting, composting, hours of operation. It supports small-scale locally owned efforts while ensuring they remain compatible with surrounding neighborhoods. What I appreciate most about this proposal is that it strikes a balance. It respects private property rights while respecting neighbors. It encourages local entrepreneurship while preventing large-scale commercial operations from moving into residential areas. The Free to Garden Act is practical, balanced, and good for our community. I respectfully ask for your support, and thank you for your time and your service to our city. Thank you. Next up, John Scott, and then after Mr. Scott, Dana Moll, Lisa Dawkins, Samantha Ceres, and Addison Patrick. Mr. Scott, the floor is yours. Thank you, Mr. Floor Leader, Mr. President, members of the council. My name is John Scott. My address is on file. Well, Jacksonville residents are making incredibly difficult financial decisions every single day. Families are dealing with rising property insurance costs, housing expenses, utility bills, and the increasing cost of everyday necessities. They expect their local government to exercise the same level of discipline and accountability, and the property tax amendment that will be on November's ballot is a catalyst to ensuring this body has the very tough conversations and be ready to reduce and significantly reduce funding and practice and prioritize core services. Public safety, roads, infrastructure, parks, libraries, drainage, and other core services should remain the primary focus of city government. This body has taken steps forward to make sure under your leadership, Mr. President, that we head in that direction. I am confident that under Mr. Vice President's leadership, we will do the exact same thing. Taxpayers deserve confidence that their money is being invested in the basic responsibilities of a government before it is spent elsewhere. Let me repeat that for Mayor Deegan. Before it is spent elsewhere. Make, mark my words, Florida will pass relief as they historically have. Will this body be ready? Thank you. Next up, Dana Moll. Good evening. My name is Dana Michelle Moll, and I'm your Northside neighbor. My address is on file, and I work in District 10. I'm the founder of Northside Pride of Jacksonville, and tonight I came to show some gratitude to a few council members. First, I want to thank Councilman Matt Carlucci. Earlier this year, Northside Pride launched a youth mentorship program with nine students. Standing next to me is Shiloh Davis, and she's a graduate of Rewalt High School, and she was just accepted to Clark Atlanta University for the fall. Our students got a chance to meet Councilman Matt Carlucci at Mayor Deegan's town hall meeting, and he invited us to his office for a fireside chat about the students' perspective on local government and the conditions of their neighborhood. All of them live on the Northside. We took photos with him, and I just wanted to tell him thank you for making himself available to them and for sharing information about the PAGE program. Please publicize that program more. Thank you, Councilman Carlucci, and to your ECA Jamie. I also want to acknowledge the council members who voted yes for Resolution 2026-0356, a bill introduced by Councilman Jimmy Peluso of District 7, protecting historically red-lined neighborhoods from the jail of the future. Thank you again to Councilman Matt Carlucci, Councilwoman Tyrone Clark-Murray, Councilman Reggie Gaffney Jr., Councilman Rockman Johnson, and Councilman Jimmy Peluso, who introduced the bill. I think I speak on behalf of all of my neighbors. When I say thank you, you showed us that what matters to us matters to you. Thank you. Next up, Lisa Dawkins, and then Ms. Sears, you're after her. Good evening. I'm Lisa Dawkins. My address is on file. Scenic Jacksonville supports efficient development, but we don't want it to come at the expense of our natural environment, and therefore we have serious concerns with Ordinance 2026-363. The ordinance appears to expand beyond what the Florida statute allows by extending private review authority into zoning and site review functions, not just limited to the building code review. We're especially concerned about the tree mitigation review. As drafted, certified arborists could approve mitigation plans while also financially benefiting from tree removal work on that same property, creating a clear conflict of interest that threatens the integrity of Jacksonville's tree protections and mitigation fund. We respectfully urge the council to defer this legislation to require appropriately licensed professionals and exempt the tree mitigation and landscape review from the ordinance. We plan on sending more detailed follow-up with the statutes to your email. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Sears. Ms. Sears, address is on file. I just wanted to make sure we have the correct facts about the jail and courthouse. I know at the last city council meeting, it was mentioned that, you know, a majority of court is held via Zoom. That is absolutely incorrect. There are some opportunities that are through Zoom, which is first appearance and then mental health court that is through Zoom. And attorneys can do a motion to appear by Zoom, but usually their clients are out of jail and they are private attorneys. If you are a public defender who works as someone that goes for many of the people that are inmates at our jail, they do not get the opportunity to do via Zoom. And during COVID, their case numbers skyrocketed. You might wonder how I would know this. I actually used to work for the public defender's office and I still know people there. Mr. Kofor and I did speak about this issue and he agrees that it is not smart to put the jail out at the pea farm, anywhere that is in a far distance. I am glad to hear that the, you know, consultants did speak to him a few weeks ago. So at least they are doing some movement there. I just think it's really important. You guys do know the facts that the jail should not be far from the courthouse. The courthouse was over a billion dollars. Let's make sure we're using it and not making our inmates and citizens have a more difficult time meeting with their public defenders and attorneys. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Addison Patrick. And then the five after that, please go ahead and come on down. Ronnie Burris, Daniel Kersey, Monica Gold, Lydia Bell, and Shane Tremblay. Is Addison Patrick here? Okay. Ms. Patrick. Good evening, everyone. So we were out there talking about the Freedom to Garden Act. Name and address, please, Ms. Patrick. Oh, I'm sorry. Addison Patrick address is on file. I want to mention zoning laws are too complicated here. We talk about a lot of things in zoning seems to get in the way. I am not in support of 2026-0489 regarding the Homelessness Committee, and they're sort of asking for extensions. I'll explain why at a later time. I want to support voluntary association here. There's a good model out of Washington, D.C. H-I-P-S dot org is an organization that does a whole lot with homelessness, and they do that voluntary with private donations, and that's something that I'm seriously looking into with other people in the community on how to make that happen. In terms of the housing shortage and housing issues across the board, a very important issue right now, just want to bring attention to the ship and noticing all of the housing bills and things on this agenda. We're rushing to spend all of this money before the state pulls it back. We need to be more effective with how we spend our money so we can spend what's actually being allocated to us. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ronnie Burris, and then Daniel Kersey will be after Mr. Burris. Hello, my name is Ronnie Burris, and my address is on file, and I'm the business manager of Local 630. Liana and all of you have heard from me talk about the situation that we currently are experiencing with negotiations for a year. We've been in negotiations. But what I want to talk to you also about tonight is that I'm not just a business manager. I came to work for the city of Jacksonville slash JEA August 26, 1983. I retired May 1, 2010. So I live the life of an employee of JEA. I was offered the job as business manager in 2015. I came back to work. I came to work as the business manager. And I know, and you've heard me tell you that how important these people are, the people that I represent, are to this city. But when we sit down to negotiate a contract, we take you into consideration as the governing body. We take the public into consideration, and we also take in the public, because everybody pays that bill. And so it's important to us that thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Burris. Daniel Kersey, you're next. And then Monica Gold. Good evening. My name is Daniel Kersey, address on file. I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you all and your attention this evening. I'm a field coordinator with LIUNA's regional organizing department. We cover nine states. I work closely with Local 630 and the hardworking women and men that are highly skilled professionals dressed in orange here in the back of the room. As you've heard, JEA and LIUNA are at an impasse in negotiations, largely regarding wages. I've worked with union members around the region and around the country, and I can tell you the situation with LIUNA and JEA is not that complicated. Our members in the workforce aim to close an ongoing pay disparity. The situation is our members perform nearly identical tasks and duties as some other employees with the utility, except our folks earn between $5 and $19 an hour, less per hour. The special magistrate process begins here in a couple of weeks to address this impasse. After that, this council decides what happens next. What we're asking is simple. Please look at the facts. JEA's own data can show you that the wage disparity exists. The proposal on the table is reasonable. What we're asking is that you recognize that Jacksonville deserves a utility whose workforce feels respected, and before long, this council is going to be able to make that happen. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next up, Monica Gold and then Lydia Bell. Hello. Hello. My name is Monica Gold. My address is on file. I've just concluded my seventh year teaching in Duval County Public Schools. I've been an ESE teacher, an English language arts teacher, and an ESOL teacher, and this year I was honored to be a district finalist for Teacher of the Year. When I began working at my school, it was deemed a turnaround school, meaning it had a failing grade. My school is now just points away from being a B school. I would attribute this growth to the teacher retention at my school, and I would attribute the teacher retention to the mill rate referendum. The teachers in my building are some of the smartest, most resourceful, and multi-talented people I know. They could successfully pursue any career path, yet they have elected to teach year after year, despite Florida being last in the country for teacher pay. I urge city council to do more than just allow this to be voted on. I urge city council to help this referendum pass in November. Please show up in a meaningful way for your public school teachers and students. Also, as a proud union member and building steward, I extend my solidarity to my union siblings here tonight, demanding better wages and conditions. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Lydia Bell. Good evening. Lydia Bell. Address is on file. On my way down, I asked myself, what would make a better Jacksonville? And I think a better Jacksonville would be elected officials, better elected officials. Connor Collin is sitting in jail, doing 60 days in jail, three years probation for coming to a city council meeting where he almost got his neck broken. It is a shame that you have allowed this to happen. And then last week, you all voted on the resolution to not place a jail in the redlining area. You say, let the process pass. Process already passed. You already paid $75 million for people dying over there in the north-south. You already brought a morgue over there. You already brought all the liquor stores over there. So the process has already passed. What you could have done is stop the redlining process of people having a jail over there. There is no place on the north side. If you really wanted to say, this is what's going to happen. You pay $750,000 to an outside source where you should have got somebody from Jacksonville. Then you're going to say, well, they selected the north side. Then you're going to say, well, if they selected the north side, it has to be over on the north side. Then you're going to start voting. Then the jail will be over there on the north side. But like I said last time, we need the parliaments. Because if you're going to bring that jail on the north side, we're going to turn this mother out. Next up, Shane Tremblay, and then the five after Shane, Neal Hendricks, Wells Todd, Dragon Beloit, Ryan Delaney, and Ashley McKenzie. Go ahead, Mr. Tremblay. Shane Tremblay, address on file. I'm here today to speak about my concerns about safety and free speech and also a waste of city resources. For anyone who is not aware, you can go to jackspsn.org slash freeconnor. That's Connor with one end to see a video of him getting brutalized in these chambers. That same person, Connor Colley, is in jail right now. Connor is not only an innocent man, he's a union member. He serves the community. He feeds the homeless. Upon his trial, we were able to get 50 character letters speaking to the goodness of Connor Colley. Connor was made an example of that night, and in his trial, made an example of what happens when you speak against this counsel, not for doing anything actually wrong. And that example shows us that you can get 60 days in jail and three years of probation. Instead of recognizing the real issue, which is violent officers serving as sergeant of arms in these chambers, Officer Aliaga in particular, who has a previous domestic violence injunction against him. Instead of the real issue, the city council added insult to injury by requesting a ban of Connor from city council chambers. Jason Teal did this specifically. It's really interesting that he's an attorney, and this is a flagrant constitutional violation of Connor's rights. This year-long trial is also a huge waste of money. Thank you. Neil Hendricks. Neil Hendricks. My address is on file. I'm here today to show my support for Connor Colley, as he is currently wrongfully serving his sentence of 60 days with time served, three years of probation, an abundance of court fees and fines, on top of 150 community service hours, all being ordered to stay 1,000 feet away from the cop who grabbed and flipped him over a set of chairs. 60 days of being completely uprooted and removed from society due to bogus and trumped-up charges for speaking out against something people are too coddled to acknowledge it. That's something being the genocidal ethnic cleansing and ongoing erasure of the Palestinian people, their land, and all living things that have called Palestine home for decades. Two weeks ago was my first time attending a city council meeting. What I saw was not surprising, but largely disappointing. Playing on your phones, leaving your seats, eating, deep sighs, rolling your eyes, while having sidebar conversations as your constituents bring to you their thoughts and concerns for what we believe is best for our city. If you want to keep your seat, I highly suggest you start looking at us. Highly suggest that. I highly suggest you start looking at us when we speak to you and pay us the attention that we deserve, because we put you in these seats and we will have no problem snatching that seat from underneath you. The hard-working people at Jacksonville deserve better. Thank you. Next up, Wells Todd. My name is Wells Todd. I'm part of Take Them Down Jacks. The question here is who do you work? Mr. Todd, address, please. On file. The question here is who does the city council work for? You as the city council members need to have town hall meetings to support the one mill. Just the fact that teachers are struggling to make ends meet shows the rot that is the economic system that we live under. Is the needs of the teachers and children more important than the developer class? Because it seems like that's who you favor in this town. When teachers have to work two or more jobs to make ends meet, when they have to go into their pockets to buy supplies for their kids, that really shows the economic situation that we live in in this country. And it's happening all over the country. When I look around at different countries that have free education, that have universal health care, those countries put the needs of the people first, not the needs of the rich. You talk about taxes, tax the rich. Dragon Beloit. And then Ryan Delaney and Ashley McKenzie. Hi, everyone. Dragon Beloit, address on file. I've got a couple of topics I want to hit on today, so I'm just going to list them real quick. One, I have seven flat cameras within a half mile of my house. I cannot leave my house without being tracked by a private corporation that we know not only uses their Raven systems to track the voices and speech, but also to use AI-assisted facial recognition data to keep a model of you and your habits and activities. And I'm freaked out by that still. Free Connor Colley. That was crazy. I've never seen a guy get flipped over a chair and then arrested for battery before, but I guess that's what battery is. I'm shocked that I didn't charge with battery to the chair. And finally, love the garden thing. I would have talked to Mr. Arias personally, but I had just too much to say to everybody. Freedom of the Garden Act, very good. Corruption here, very bad. I think that it's really sad that we have a bill that should, one, bill shouldn't be there. We know that that bill got passed because there's a Democrat mayor now, right, guys? Like, let's just be real. Well, but secondarily, it really disappoints me that we have an anti-corruption measure that could have been put in place, and we didn't put it there. Maybe you guys think that the ethics board is doing well enough right now, but, I mean, the fact that the current president has a couple of investigations open, let's just measure that one. See you guys. And after Mr. Delaney, it'll be Ashley McKenzie. Brian Delaney, address on file. I'm here representing the Jacksonville-Palestine Solidarity Network. I am here to inform the city council that it is their obligation to remove Aliaga as a sergeant of arms at city council. This is because Aliaga's continued presence in these chambers will be a clear violation of Connor Colley's First Amendment right. After Judge Borrell, on the recommendation of Mr. Teal, had him sentenced to stay 1,000 feet away from Officer Aliaga, that has effectively represented itself as a way to bar Connor Colley from these meetings, which he has a First Amendment right to attend. You can be upset that this situation is present. You can say that you don't want to remove Aliaga as a sergeant of arms of city council. The only people to blame in this situation are Judge Borrello and Mr. Teal for making that decision and trying to use a backdoor attempt to flagrantly violate the First Amendment rights of Connor Colley. I would also like to say that I want to support the demands put forth by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee. We need mental health training, and we need mental health professionals to handle mental health crises, and I think we need to stop playing games with our JEA employees. They break their backs to make the city work, and they deserve fair pay. Next up, Ashley McKenzie, and then the next group come on down. Jamie Travis Leonard, Felix Bonventure, Avery Holbrook, Sarah Haddad, Dina Zakaria, and Sarah, I believe that's Sarah, Moussin. Ashley, go ahead. Ashley McKenzie, address on file. Well, it's evident now more than ever that city council members uphold an almost unanimous commitment to attacking the constitutional rights of their constituents. In the case of my friend Connor Colley, a judge used Jason Teal's testimony to ban Connor from being within 1,000 feet of Officer Aliaga, a ruling that effectively restricts Connor from exercising his right to public discourse at City Hall whenever Aliaga is present since he serves as your sergeant of arms. This weaponization of an officer's presence is a destructive measure to Connor's right to free speech. Now I want to compare Connor's character to the heavy-handiness of his sentencing. Fifty people wrote letters calling Connor a compassionate and caring human who spends his time advocating for better living conditions for everyone sitting in these chambers and fighting against the genocide of the Palestinian people, which is at odds with the pro-Israel stance this council has cemented itself in. City council, the judges, and JSO's response. False testimonies by city council members during the trial. 60 days in jail, three years probation, and a year ago being thrown over a row of chairs by Aliaga. The city council followed T.K. Waters' narrative to make an example out of Connor and Leah Grady, two glowing members of the community. Meanwhile, the officer they protect has a history of domestic violence and citizens' complaints for harassment. Community members who were here on May 27, 2025, know the truth. The whole chamber was clapping. JSO targeted two organizers for their political views, and the city council did nothing but feel the flames. You are complicit because you, one, habitually refused to speak out against JSO's brutality, whether it's against Connor, William McNeil, or the murder of Charles Faggart. You also helped JSO attack free speech in this very chamber. And three, you promote advice. Thank you. Next up, Ms. Leonard. Good evening, city council members. My name is Jamie Travis Leonard. My address is on file. This feels taller than usual. So I want to start off with some thanks. I'd like to thank everybody that visited the Trout River Food Park a few weeks ago. That's by my house. I love going there. Shout out to Mixon's with Shea if you want some good fried chicken. I also want to thank council members Arias, Matt Carlucci, and Clark Murray for hosting some community public comment opportunities last Friday. I attended both, and also for council member Salem for sneaking in at the end of one of them. We appreciate you showing up, even if it's just for a little bit. Now on to what I think are some priority items. JEA. So I love that you said there's no corruption of trust, but what up, bro? Hey, I owed a big favor to a friend and opted to put him on the JEA board as your term is expiring. Not sure if you wanted to stay, but I need to do this for my guy. Tab is on me when we link up next. Yes, how could we yet ever suspect corruption or favoritism or anything from this council? Goodness, what an odd thing for the public to question. So with that as well, please support fair compensation for our Water and Water Waste Division members. LIUNA, Local 630, they are currently negotiating with JEA and apparently hitting a bunch of road stops, which I think you all could help them with. Thank you. Thank you. Felix Bonventure. And then Avery Holbrook after Mr. Felix. My name is Felix Bonventure, and my address is on file. First, the JTA is about to get rid of free bus rides for university students. What's up with that? Students, we're not the ones who cost the city a bunch of money. Most of us don't have cars, but we still deserve to be able to get around. It's not fair. Next up, Connor Colley. Connor Colley and Leah Grady did nothing wrong. They're facing charges and jail time anyways. And Connor has been effectively prevented from coming back to public comments at city council meetings by the restraining order from Officer Aliaga. I'm sure that everyone up there, all of y'all, you're looking forward to Connor's release, so you don't have to hear about it anymore. Let me put that fear to rest. We're going to be out here next council meeting and the meeting after that and after that. We're not going to shut up about it until something changes. Because right now, an innocent man who did nothing wrong is serving time in jail and is about to get stuck with three years of probation for what exactly? Speaking up for Palestine. This is clearly politically motivated, and frankly, it is evil to sit here and not only support the genocide that continues to occur and say nothing against it and actively arrest and brutalize and police the people who do say something against it. So that's all. Free Palestine and free Connor. Avery Holbrook. And then Sarah Haddad will be after. Avery Holbrook. Address on file. A few weeks ago, Connor Colley was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 150 hours of community service, and a 1,000-foot restraining order from the man who assaulted him, Officer and Domestic Abuser Aliaga. And I think 9% of the people in this room agree with me. That is a complete unjust sentencing and that this officer should not be on JSO at all anymore. He nearly killed Connor, who had done absolutely nothing other than stand up and clap. And I know you guys do not agree with him at all for some absurd reason. You think that opposing a genocide is bad, but that doesn't mean that it is okay for you to try to step over his first-minute rights. Second of all, we need to change how cops work in this whole city. It is not viable to spend $600 million a year on our state-sponsored KKK while we let people be homeless, we let them not have food, they cannot afford gas, they're not able to get jobs. But you think that making people shoot each other is more important. My name is Sarah Haddad. My address is on file. I'm here representing the Jacksonville-Palestine Solidarity Network. And I'm also here to speak out about Connor Colley, who was arrested in these chambers a year ago. I'm sure you're all familiar with the case by now. Your city council sergeant of arms, Aliaga Ruiz, brutalized Connor, and yet Connor is the one sitting in jail. Connor Colley received 50 individual letters speaking to his good character, and he was still sentenced harder than the state even asked for. Four, 60 days in jail, 150 hours community service, and three years of probation for what? This is what happens when upstanding citizens want to speak up for their community. It's just plain wrong. Now compare that to the type of citizen that Aliaga Ruiz is, that he has a history of domestic violence, multiple community complaints against him, and he gets to continue this trend of violence in his work, in these chambers, on Connor, and then play the victim as well. Along with that, sentencing the judge ruled that Connor cannot be within 1,000 feet of the officer that brutalized him, which effectively bans Connor from coming back to city council. This is blatant silencing of one of the strongest community fighters this council has ever seen. So I ask you today to no longer employ officers with a history of violence. There are too many cases of violent officers using excessive force. Let's weed out the bad apples and start out with Aliaga Ruiz. We demand the city council remove Aliaga as an officer of arms and let Connor speak. Next up, Dina Zachariah. And then Sarah, I believe the last name is Huseem. Dina Zachariah, address on file. I'm here to exercise my First Amendment right, the same right that was violated on May 27th of last year when JSO, under the purview of city council, attacked free speech in these chambers. This whole room was rowdy, but two outspoken citizens were miraculously targeted. The only thing setting Connor Colley and Leah Grady apart were that they were regular attendees speaking up for their community. And this comes to no surprise when the city council continuously bloats the JSO budget and wastes city money on Connor and Leah's trials and were left over-policed with things like public infrastructure, mental health resources, and union contracts underfunded. In the same vein, the same city council before us condoned JSO grabbing Connor by the neck, throwing him to the ground just for being a concerned citizen for which he's now sitting in the county jail for 60 days. He is an upstanding citizen, a union member, a good neighbor, and there are people in front of me who have done their best to make an example out of him. I sat through both trials and it was clear this case was never about Leah or Connor or quote-unquote following the rules. It was about silencing people who speak out, like any one of us here at Public Comment, and you're allowing officers with a history, a record of citizens' complaints, and domestic violence injunctions like Officer Eliaga to consistently work at these meetings. We demand that you let Connor speak and that Officer Eliaga be removed as a sergeant of arms. Aliaga's presence prevents the right to free speech, and he undoubtedly poses a risk to public safety. Thank you. Thank you. Next up is Sarah Hussain, and then our final speaker cards. Please come on down. Deborah Patrick, Constance Devon, Etta Etlinger, Lindsay Bauer, Denise Cook, and John Nooney. Sarah, go ahead. Sarah Hussain, address on file. I'm here today as a concerned community member in front of Connor Cawley and Leah Grady, who both were falsely convicted of bogus charges for exercising their First Amendment rights. Connor is sitting in the Duval County Jail as we speak without sufficient access to drinking water because Jason Teal and TK Waters, along with members of this council, wanted to make an example out of him. As evidenced by the 50 glowing character letters Connor received during his trial, he is an upstanding community member, neighbor, and friend who dedicates his time to feeding the unhoused and speaking out against injustice. Connor's been condemned to 60 days in abhorrent conditions in jail, on top of three years probation, while the city throws a billion dollars towards a new jail and continues to expand JSO's budget instead of improving conditions in the existing one or creating a mental health response team. This empowers JSO to continue to brutalize people like Connor Cawley and kill people in mental health crises like Rashad Martin. Make no mistake, the attacks on Connor and Leah are attacks on all of our constitutional rights in an attempt to silence pro-Palestine voices in the community from speaking up against the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Connor's sentencing mandates he stay 1,000 feet away from Aliaga. The officer who dragged him by his neck over a row of chairs in these very chambers, effectively banning him from city council upon his release. Aliaga's presence in these chambers is being weaponized to attack Connor's right to free speech. On top of being brutalized by Officer Aliaga, he is being silenced and effectively barred from chambers. If anyone should be barred from these chambers, it should be Officer Aliaga Ruiz, who on top of his violent conduct towards Connor, also has a documented history of domestic violence. He should be removed from his position as Sergeant at Arms as he poses a clear threat to our safety. Deborah Patrick. Is Deborah here? Okay. Constance Devon. Constance Devon. Okay. Etta Etlinger. Okay. Lindsey Boyer. And then I see Ms. Cook. And I see Mr. Nooney. Y'all will be our last three speakers. So colleagues, if you're in the green room, please make your way to your seats. Good evening. Lindsey Boyer. Address on file. I want to begin by voicing my support for the demands of union members and the JCAC. My remaining remarks regard my dear comrade, Connor Colley. I'm also a member of the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network. Following the egregious miscarriage of justice, sentencing Connor to 60 days in jail, probation, and community service, there is an additional order for him to stay a thousand feet away from the officer who brutalized him, Sergeant-at-arms Aliaga. Connor is an admirable individual with an uncommon dedication to his community. This is behavior more than a few members of this council, really of our whole city, might try emulating. This ban on him staying a thousand feet away from Aliaga is a blatant attempt to silence his voice here in what should be a house of the people, violating his First Amendment rights. Furthermore, retaining Aliaga, who has a domestic violence injunction against him in another county. A sergeant-at-arms in this chamber is deeply offensive to victims of domestic violence. It is insulting to the citizens of Jacksonville and, frankly, also the women serving in this chamber that we are expected to entrust our safety to a known abuser who openly brutalizes citizens exercising their constitutional rights. Let Connor speak. Stop political repression. Free Connor and free Palestine. Thank you. Denise Cook, you're up. The address on file. Just real quick, there's a lot going on. We had a lot of activity this evening. It's great to see, isn't it? It's great to see that we have this opportunity and this ability. We want to make sure we say thank you for the million referendum. We want to make sure that the Free Garden Act is looked at entirely. But I also want to talk about zoning. I want to talk about agricultural zoning. I want to talk about the fact that we are putting in new development next to our agricultural zoning and are we ensuring that we are keeping our 200 feet guidelines that are implemented in our Duval County regulations and zoning guidelines for livestock and penned animals. How does that change? You know, we've got a fairly new subdivision that's next to a gun range, an outdoor gun range. Is that really our best use of zoning guidelines? So I think that's something that we really need to talk about. And before we push through things like 2026-0365, 2026-0366, 2090, 2091, 2089, you know, let's take a look and make sure that the adjoining areas are going to not be impacted negatively by the growth that we're trying to put in place. I appreciate your time. Thank you, Ms. Cook. John Nooney. Hello. I am John J. Nooney. Name and address is on file. All right. Shout out RD, the real Doge, Ron Davis, 600 WBOB, six to nine weekdays. President Trump, Governor DeSantis, James Utmire, Kevin Carrico, Nick Allen, Joe Curtalucci, Charles Barr, Blake Bass, Blake Harper, Wells Todd, Dr. Johnson, Pardon Nooney, 2024-01-07, 2024-0325, that's septic tanks. All right. Support the Free Garden Act. It's great. CIP, Citrus in Pottsburg, Wendy Kahn, OED. All right. Agenda item 88, page 41, 2026-0396. You know, we're making a movie. You know, you're going to be voting on it. Okay. Just down to 40 seconds. All right. If you have a shirt, you're in the movie. And just going forward, you know, right now, you know, we've got not only this legislation for the movies, but we also have three other trust accounts. Okay. 2026-004, that's parks, going to be making a donation to that one. We've got 2026-04-63, that's veterans, donating to that one. 2009-442, that's the Artificial Reef Trust Fund, donating to that one. Tomorrow morning, FWC, Fishing with Crady, FWC, Fish Wildlife Commission, State of Florida Tourism. Thank you, Mr. Noonny. Mr. President, we have a number of cards of those that did not wish to speak. I'll read into the record now. John Dooley, Free to Garden Act. Xavier Green, Jacksonville Needs a Mental Health Clinical Response Team. Constance, I believe this is Catino, Silveira, the city council must remove Aliaga. Sarah Posey, Fire Aliaga. Vanessa Alvarez, let Connor Colley speak. Etta Etlinger, Kill the Tax, I believe is her comment there. Constance Devon was here on the millage referendum. And Deborah Patrick, vote for 2026-387. That concludes public comment. All right. Looks like we have someone who believes they have a card maybe in the deck. Sir, did you fill out a green public speaker card? I filled out a card. My name is John Grant Dooley. Were you speaking on a particular bill? Did you fill out a blue card? Did you fill out a green public comment card? Council President, I have a card here from Mr. John Dooley. He did check. It's actually Grant Dooley. All right. I think he changed his mind. Go ahead, sir. You're recognized. I'm here to support the Garden Act. Name and address. Yes, sir. I live on Meyer Street, right near Five Points. I've lived there 50 years. I've had a garden for 45 years. And gardens, what they do is they bring communities together. When we're working in the garden, people stop all the time. And we tell them, you're welcome to come and pick. So I know you all have common sense. I'm glad they don't have your job. But gardens really do help communities thrive. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. President, it's now time for public hearings. Going back to page 15, council members should declare any ex parte communications. Anyone wishing to speak on the following bill should have completed a blue speaker card, and you will be allowed three minutes to speak. You may state your name and address is on record, but you are encouraged to be more specific with your location as that may impact the weight given to your comments. Like public comment, a speaker may be invited to the green room for further discussion at a council member's discretion. Mr. Thiel, please read the bills. 2026, 372, 373, 374, 376, 395, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 463, 466. 2026, 122, 123, 126, 126, 127, 289, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 311, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, and 371. All these public hearings are open. Item 25, 2026, 0372. I have two speaker cards. Jamie Travis Leonard does not wish to speak but opposes. Samantha Series does wish to speak. Samantha Series, address on file. I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about this one because I did look online and it doesn't have much information. So I was just wondering what are they planning to do with this section? I know it would be nice to have a little bit of discussion. I know you guys talk about a lot of different things up here, but usually it's not about rezoning. So if you guys could, I don't know, discuss or have the person that's requesting this give some information because I saw the North CPAC recommend denial, but I didn't see a letter or anything about it. So I would just love some extra information. That's really all I have to say. I'm not going to take the whole three minutes. I just wanted to know, like, what's going on with this. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing closed. I'm 26. 2026, 373. We have four speaker cards, Michael O'Neill Sr., Jerry Mahaney, Helen O'Neill, and Deborah Mahaney. So please come on down if I called your name and you'll get up to three minutes each. Who is speaking first? I think the first time I called was Michael O'Neill. Go ahead, sir. Good evening. My name is Michael O'Neill and I live at 1299 Norwich Road, which is in the backyard of the local restaurant. The local has moved to change their PUD to increase their seating from 70 to 120 seats and also to serve state liquor license. My wife and I have lived 41 years in the house directly behind where the local is located, and they're in violation of their current PUD, which was granted in 2017. The PUD provided that they can serve outside, which is in the backyard of the restaurant right outside our house. They can serve outside so long as the existing oak tree, vegetation buffer, and 10-foot concrete wall will remain. If removed, they will be replaced by buffers equal to or greater than the existing wall and plant material. In the pictures that are in your packet, you'll see that 10-foot wall lying on the ground. It collapsed Christmas Eve of 2020. They've made no arrangements whatsoever to increase the buffer that was lost when that wall fell. The only thing there now is a privacy fence which we put up on our property. Also, they contend that they have 37 right-of-way parking spaces for that property. If you look at their map, the parking spaces are basically in Miramar Shopping Center, which is a Slayman Enterprises property. If you look at, for example, parking space number 30, it's a black car, and then right on the other side of it is a white car. There's something in the middle. Well, what's in the middle are the signs that are in your packet saying parking for shopping center patrons only. Patrons of the local are not permitted to park here, towing in force. Also, Slayman Enterprises parking for patrons of Miramar Center only. All others will be towed away at owner's expense. So they're using basically areas that the patrons' cars will be towed to justify adding 50 seats. Thank you, sir. Next up, Jerry Mahoney. And I can't tell if this is Mahoney or Mahoney, but I'm sure I'll hear what it is in just a second. Three minutes, yes. My name is Jerry Mahoney. I live at 4562 San Jose Boulevard, right next door to the local restaurant. I'm a 75-year-old Vietnam veteran, esophageal cancer survivor. I sleep in a recliner due to my surgeries in my living room, so I'm right next door to the local, and I hear everything going on. They have an employee that cranks his motorcycle up around 940, runs it for about five minutes. They run their pressure washer, leaf blowers at midnight, 2 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 4 o'clock, 6 o'clock in the morning. Their customers park all over my yard. They've even parked in my driveway. They park across the street at the care spot, Winn-Dixie parking lot, where there's signs everywhere saying parking is for Miramar Center only. They walk across the street, walk through my yard, and there's a path to their restaurant. The restaurant, its employees, and its customers have not been good neighbors to the homeowners and to the businesses across the street. I oppose any kind of them expanding this restaurant. I would appreciate it if they would just move to another neighborhood. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next up, Helen O'Neill. Good evening. My name is Helen O'Neill, and I live at 1299 Norwich Road. Been there for over 40 years. The Archley neighborhood was built in the late 1940s and early 1950s and is a low-density residential neighborhood. It's a friendly, quiet neighborhood with many young families and children and grandchildren. I would like to address the issue of noise coming from the local restaurant. In the 2017 rezoning to PUD issues and restrictions under permitted uses for 5C, it states, and I quote, a restaurant shall not employ outside amplified music or other forms of outside amplified entertainment at any time on any given day or evening during the week, unquote. One way local gets around this is by providing indoor music and leaving the back door open so that the patrons outside can be entertained and we can hear it through the closed windows in our house. I've called the restaurant and not the police non-emergency phone number because the attorney for the applicant in the 2017 PUD told us that after the meeting to contact him, not our city council representative, if there were any problems with noise because the local wants to be a good neighbor. That's what we were told, and it's not been the case. Also, in Section A, Paragraph E, of the permitted uses it states, and I quote again, the restaurant hours of operation shall be no later than 10 p.m. on any given day of the week, no later than 7 p.m. for service in an outdoor dining area, and no later than 8.30 p.m. for seating, end quote, seating, for end quote. They're supposed to close the outside by 8.30. This is a big problem due to the fact the 8.30 curfew is seldom observed, and often patrons are loud up until 9 or thereafter sometimes. It needs to be enforced, especially if there will be potentially 50 more patrons and a full bar open until midnight. Lastly, I'm asking for a deferral for the June 16, 2026 LUZ meeting to give us an opportunity to obtain additional information. Thank you very much. Thank you, ma'am. Debra Mahaney. Thank you. My name is Debra Mahaney. I live at 4562 San Jose Boulevard. I'm right next door to the local. We've lived in our house for 40 years, and we've had several changes of the types of businesses around us, but it's been good up to this point. I want to say that I'm not opposed to the restaurant's existence, and I appreciate that the local businesses do contribute to the community. However, my concern is with the scale of changes being requested, the impact those changes will have on the surrounding residential neighborhood. This property at the local is very unique. It is not surrounded by commercial property at all. In fact, it's bordered on three sides by single-family houses. So we have had to adjust our lives to kind of deal with this whole situation. We experience the side effects of the restaurant every day in a way that most customers and visitors do not. A good example might be one day I was looking out my front window, and I noticed somebody walking through my yard. She was drunk. At a Wednesday afternoon at 4 o'clock, she pulled her pants down and went to the bathroom in my driveway. Then she pulled her pants up, put it across the street, and one of the local employees brought her meal to her, and she left. I called the cops, but they didn't get there on time. Another night, I saw somebody in the afternoon changing clothes in my yard. In the middle of the day, cars are flying by. There's kids in the cars. It doesn't matter. I addressed him and went up to him and I said, Excuse me, what are you doing? He goes, Oh, it's okay. I work at the local. It's okay. It's okay. I don't think it's okay. I don't like it at all. So this application that you're looking at is more than just a request for a liquor license. It is a request to increase the intensity of use by expanding seating capacity, allowing full liquor service, and extending operation hours until midnight. Each of those changes has an impact, but together they represent a substantial change in the scale of the restaurant than what was originally proposed. As neighbors were concerned about the increased traffic, increased parking demand, and the effect of late-night activities on the nearby homes. A midnight closing means that customers leaving the property later at night, there'll be doors slamming, people talking, engines starting, just all kinds of craziness. And these are not theoretical concerns. They're real. These are the kind of impacts that we've had to all deal with up to this point. I would ask for you to consider that you're agreeing to put in a 120-seat restaurant and a restaurant that has 26 parking spots, 26. Anybody else that wants to park has to cross a very busy road. This is incompatible with what we were looking at years ago. And I think compatibility with existing neighborhoods is an important planning principle. And I do believe proposal pushes the site beyond what is appropriate for that location. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. And your council member, Mr. Vice President-elect Carlucci, would like to meet everyone who just spoke on this issue in the Bob Johnson green room. I'm 27. 20, 26. 3, 7, 4. I have one speaker card. Ms. Jamie Travis Leonard does not wish to speak but opposes this ordinance. All right. Public hearing is closed. Just a reminder to the colleagues, we have a quorum right now, barely at 14, with Mr. Carlucci in the green room. Once Mr. Lane exits for a personal matter, we will be locked in with 14. So anyone that has to get up, we'll have to shut down and pause until we have a quorum. Just a heads up for everybody. Thank you, Mr. President. Item 28, 20, 26, 3, 7, 6. I have two speaker cards. Mr. John Nooney does not wish to speak but opposes. Ms. Jamie Travis Leonard does wish to speak. Come on down, Ms. Leonard. Sorry. I'm short. I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get a mic at my level. Good evening, City Council members. My name is Jamie Travis Leonard. My address is on file. So I do tentatively support this ordinance. I came because I was concerned about some of the language in the original bill. I'm assuming it's going to be updated. But for instance, on page 3, line 15 through 17, there's something removed, but it doesn't say reserved. Whereas if you look on page 3, lines 28 through 30, it has reserved and that language is removed. This is in relation to permissible uses by exception. I'm assuming the reserved means that additional language is going to be added to the bill to give more details on what exactly would be permissible uses by exception. But in case that language isn't going to be added, I would like to know some examples of what that classification would be and or what the plan for the City Council is to address that. My other thought on this is I had assumed when I saw this come through that this was about adding in some additional classifications. I know the last few LUZ meetings and City Council meetings, there's been some contention around low-density residential and medium-residential, medium-residential, medium-density residential. I'm sorry, that was very hard for some reason. And I believe there was a recommendation to add in like a low-medium to address where there might be some gaps in the classification. I was just curious if that is being discussed with this. No, thank you for some of the head wavings I've seen. So then I would recommend maybe bringing that into the discussion since we are making updates if possible. Like I said, I know there's been some contention, especially in LUZ, about how some things are classified. So just as a constituent that cares about the development of the city, that's a recommendation I have. So thank you all for your time. And we'll take a few more. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. This public hearing is closed. Additional public hearing will be 6-23-26. I'm 29-20-26-395. I have no speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. I move the amendment. I have a motion and second on the amendment. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. We've got to pause. Someone stood up. Is that right? Mr. Salem, we need you to sit before we can vote. Thank you, Dr. Salem. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to saying nay? The amendment carries. Read the bill as amended. I have a motion and second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0395. Item 3, 2026-0440. I have three speaker cards. Corey Goff, Ryan Goff, and Gary Goff. Come on up, gentlemen, whoever gets there first can kick it off. Good evening, council members. My name is Corey Goff. I currently reside at 4558 Polaris Street, located in 32205. I am one of the owners of Perfeter Act Billiards, alongside my father, Gary, and my brother, Ryan. For nearly 18 years, Perfeter Act Billiards has proudly served the Murray Hill community. During that time, we've grown into a local gathering place and currently employ more than 35 people. We are grateful for the support we've received from our customers, neighbors, and the community over the years. We are requesting your support for this zoning exception, as it will allow us to continue investing in our business and improve our ability to serve the people of our community who have supported us for nearly two decades. This exception will also create additional employment opportunities, allowing us to add jobs and continue contributing to the local economy. We believe this project represents a positive impact in both our business and the Murray Hill community that we serve. Thank you for your time, consideration, and support. We appreciate the opportunity to continue growing and serve in Murray Hill for many years to come. Thank you, sir. And Ryan Goff and Gary Goff are here. They support it, but they do not wish to speak. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. Item 31, 2026, 441, no speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. Item 32, 2026, 442, one speaker card. Samantha Series. Samantha Series, address on file. Again, I just wanted to ask some questions. Obviously, I know we're not going to discuss this right now, but I think maybe when you guys, it does come in front of you that you want to vote and want to speak about it. I think it's just important to understand what's going on here. Again, I looked online. Can't find that much information about what they're actually doing. So I think maybe if we, you know, just ask a couple questions when they come up here, when the representative does maybe an LUC, I guess. Just to keep in mind, like, what is going on here, like, the one required tree to zero trees, the, you know, the landscaping down to zero. It's just kind of weird, so I just want to know what's going on. Thank you. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. Item 33, 34, 35, 36, and 37. Item 20, 26, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447. I have no speaker cards. All of these public hearings are closed. Item 38, 2026, 448, one speaker card. Jamie Travis Leonard. Good evening, City Council. My name is Jamie Travis Leonard. My address is on file. So I do support this ordinance. I think the increase is valid and in line with the statement that this amendment is necessary to accommodate the rising costs of new construction projects and to expand the availability of affordable residential units. I would also request that this council look at affordability in our city. We are continuing to see the housing costs rise, and it is affecting not just low income, but incomes across the spectrum. So that's really my only request with this. Like I said, I do support it, and I hope it goes through. Thank you. Thank you. No more speaker cards. Public hearings is closed. Item 39, 2026, 449, one speaker card. Ms. Jamie Travis Leonard supports but does not wish to speak. Public hearings is closed. Item 40, 2026, 0450. Jamie Travis Leonard supports but does not wish to speak. Public hearings is closed. Item 451, one speaker card. Mr. John Nooney does not wish to speak. He did not check whether he supports or opposes this ordinance. Public hearings is closed. I have no more speaker. Oh, I do have one more speaker card, Mr. President. I believe you need to reopen the public hearing. Open the public hearing. Jamie Travis Leonard does wish to speak on this one. I will be quick. I know we have a lot to go through tonight. I don't get to come up and say I support a lot, so in this case, I'm trying to be more proactive. Name an address, Ms. Leonard. Oh, I'm so sorry. Thank you. Jamie Travis Leonard, my address is on file. So I do support this. I looked at it. I want to thank my council member for introducing it. I think this is going to be a great opportunity for our community, and I hope everything goes through. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearings is closed. I move the emergency. Need a second? Got a motion, a second on the emergency. All in favor of the emergency, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The emergency carries. Move the bill as an emergency. Got a motion, a second on the bill as an emergency. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0451 as an emergency. I have two speaker cards, Ms. Jamie Travis Leonard, and while she's coming up, Mr. John Nooney supports but does not wish to speak. This is my last time up here. Jamie Travis Leonard, my address is on file. I wanted to come up and speak in support of this as well. Thank you again to my councilman for presenting this. I also think this is a great opportunity for our community, so I hope it goes through, and I appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. I move the emergency. Got a motion, a second on the emergency. All in favor of the emergency, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Emergency carries. Move the substitute. Got a motion, a second on the substitute. Voice vote. All in favor of the substitute, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Substitute carries. I move the bill as an emergency, as substituted. Got a motion, a second on the bill, as an emergency, as substituted. No one's in the queue. Open the ballot. Record your vote. 14 yays, zero nays. Fire action, you have approved 2026-0452 as substituted, as an emergency. Item 43, 2026-04531. Speaker card John Nooney supports but does not wish to speak. Public hearing is closed. Item 40, I'm sorry, item 44, 2026-0454, as well as items 45, 46, and 47. Hold on, let me back up. Let's just do item 44, 2026-0454. I have no speaker card. Public hearing is closed. Item 45, 2026-455. I do have one speaker card. Mr. John Nooney does not wish to speak, did not check whether he supports or opposes. Public hearing is closed. Item 46 and 47, 2026-456-457. I have no speaker cards. Both these public hearings are closed. Item 48, 2026-458. One speaker card does not wish to speak. John Nooney opposes this. Public hearing is closed. Item 49, 2026-0459. No speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. Item 50, 2026-460. One speaker card John Nooney supports does not wish to speak. Public hearing is closed. Item 51, 2026-463. No speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. Item 52, 2026-466. I have one speaker card. Mr. John Nooney supports does not wish to speak. Public hearing is closed. I move the emergency. Motion and second on the emergency. All in favor of the emergency, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay. The emergency carries. I move the amendment. I have a motion and second on the amendment. No one is in the queue. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. The amendment carries. I move the bill as an emergency as amended. Motion and second on the bill as emergency as amended. No one is in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have passed 2026-0466 as an emergency as amended. It is now time for public hearings on land use amendments and certain companion rezonings. Item 53, 2026-122. I have no speaker cards. Public hearing is continued until 6-23-26. Item 53, 2026-123. I have one speaker card, does not wish to speak. It's Jamie Travis Leonard, and she opposes this ordinance. Public hearing will be continued until 6-23-26. Item 55, 2026-126. One speaker card, Jamie Travis Leonard, does not wish to speak, opposes this. Public hearing will be continued until 6-23-26. Item 56, 2026-127. I have one speaker card, Jamie Travis Leonard, opposes, does not wish to speak. Public hearing will be continued until 6-23-26. Item 57, 2026-289. One speaker card, does wish to speak, Ms. Denise Cook. Denise Cook, address on file. Just real quick, I wish we had a maybe instead of a opposed or not opposed. The concern is what I brought up in general comments, that we are doing a lot of development in agricultural areas and areas that are zoned one way, and then the development will butt up against these properties, and how does that work? This is a future land use map of 112 acres. We spent about 45 minutes in CPAC last night to talk about 19 acres that are being developed in our area. So we want, I want, I feel like education, and I talk about this often, that education of the zoning, education of how there's pushback on some of the zoning. I know the land use and zoning meetings, the planning meetings, I know those are all available to our constituents and to the people of Jacksonville, but it's a very convoluted process for most people to understand what this all means. And I think, you know, if there was some more talk about how we try to push back on the density, how we try to push back on how many houses per acre, how we try to push back on tying into, you know, public works, that we would have a better opportunity and a better understanding of things. So I just, you know, it's not that I oppose the growth, and I'm glad to see this as a future use, but I just want to make sure that we're doing development of Jacksonville, all of Jacksonville, with purpose, intention, and thoughtfulness, not just to develop something, especially when we don't have the infrastructure in place to support that. I appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Cook. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearings closed. Move the bill. Got a motion and second on the bill. I have no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 15 nays. 15 nays, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0289. Item 58, 2026-290, I have one speaker card. Ms. Denise Cook, she opposes, but does not wish to speak. Public hearings closed. I move the amendment. I have a motion and second on the amendment. On the amendment, Council Member Clark-Murray. All right. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. I didn't really hear that. Let's say it again. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. I have a motion and second on the bill as amended. Councilwoman Clark-Murray on the bill. Thank you, President Carrico. I rise to express the wishes of the Southwest CPAC, of the CPAC in which this particular zoning is also under. And they desire that, they oppose this application based on the fact that they have not seen any environmental impact study on the location. And they are, they continue to be concerned about traffic in the area, that it is known to be a high traffic area and adding more would cause more accidents and possibly more fatalities. And they continue their objection to the concern concerning the total number and size of the requested lots. The estimated 500 plus residences would potentially add an estimated 600 to 700 vehicles in at least twice a day, at least twice a day onto an already heavily trafficked Normandy Boulevard. And so, with this being said, I just want to express the wishes of the Southwest CPAC. Thank you. Thank you. We have President-elect Howland. Thank you, Mr. President. I just missed the opportunity to rise to declare ex parte communications on 2026-0290. Before we vote on the bill, I discussed the issue with Ms. Cindy Trimmer yesterday, June 8th at 3 p.m. by phone, and we'll make sure it's filed with the legislative services. Thank you. All right. Thank you. No one else is in the queue. We have moved the bill as amended, so please open the ballot and record your vote. 13 yays, 1 nay. By your action, you have approved 2026-0290. Item 59, 2026-291. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. I move the bill. I have a motion and second on the bill. No one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0291. Item 60, 2026-292. No speaker cards. Public hearings closed. I move the bill. Motion and second on the bill. No one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0292. Item 61, 62, and 63, 2026-293, 294, and 295. I have no speaker cards. All three of these items will be continued until 6-23-26. And colleagues, I plan to leave in the next five minutes or so. If anybody needs a break, I can stay here for that so we don't have to break quorum, but this is my five-minute warning. Where are we now? So we are on item 64, 2026-296. I have no speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. I move the bill. I have a motion and second on the bill. Councilwoman Clark-Murray, you are recognized. Thank you, President Carrico, for recognizing me. I rise to declare ex parte. I spoke with the applicant, Travis Moss, on May 26. Around 64, which is not the quasi, so no ex parte is needed. Oh, I'm a little early. Okay, just hold on. All right, thank you. You're welcome. All right. So the bill has been moved. Thank you, sir. Open the ballot. Record your vote. 15 yeses, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0296. Item 65, no speaker cards. No speaker cards. Let's go to Councilwoman Clark-Murray. All right. Deja vu. I rise to declare ex parte. Once again, I spoke with Travis Moss on May 26 during City Council, and we talked about how he proposed to use the existing building on the property. He did not have a particular use at the time, and I also informed him of the flooding issues that are associated with Sophia Street. And once again, this legislation, I mean, this has been filed with legislative services. All right. No other speakers. Public hearings closed. I move the bill. I have a motion. Second on the bill. No one in the queue. Please open the ballot. Record your vote. 15 yeses, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0297. Thank you to our floor leader, and welcome, Mr. Boylan. Thank you, Mr. President. And moving on now to page 31, item number 66, 2226-298. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. Move the bill. I have a motion. Second on the bill. I have no one in the queue. Please open the ballot. Record your vote. 14 yeses, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0298. Turning now to item 67, 2026-299. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. Move the bill. I have a motion. Second on the bill. I have no one in the queue. Please open the ballot. Record your vote. 14 yeses, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0299. Turning now to page 32, item 68, 2026-311. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings will be continued to 623-26. Item 69, 2026-365. I have one speaker card. Denise Cook. She opposes this bill, but does not wish to speak. Public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be 623-26. Sorry, Dr. Johnson, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I was in queue for 2026-311. Just wanted to rise to say earlier today, we had a noticed meeting. I know there were some questions about that and the target growth areas. I'm going to do a one-way communication, colleagues, to everyone, so you have it. We discussed it on LUZ, but so that everybody has it. I know there were myriad meetings going on today. I'll send it out once I get it from our team, our public information team, so that way maybe some of the questions that you have can get answered and we can move this on. Thank you, Mr. President. All righty. Thank you. Item number 70, 2926-366. I have one speaker card. Denise Cook. She opposes this legislation, but does not wish to speak. Public hearing is closed. Additional public hearing will be 623-26. We're on page number 33. Hold on a second. I can get there. Again, item 71, 2026-367. I have one speaker card. Denise Cook. She does not wish to speak, but she also opposes this one. Public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be 623-26. Item 72, 2026-368. I have one speaker card. Questions only. Chris Paul. Public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be 623-26. Item 73-369. One speaker card. Questions only. Chris Paul. Public hearing is closed. Additional public hearing will be 623-26. Item number 74, 2026-370. I have one speaker card. Folks, Huxford. I assume I have questions only, folks. Assuming so. It's not here. All right. All right. Public hearing is closed. Additional public hearing will be 623-26. Item number 75, 2026-371. One speaker card. Folks, Huxford. He supports the bill. Both of these he supports, by the way, but does not wish to speak. Public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be 623-26. All right. Mr. President, now we move on to third reading resolutions. We've taken care of those. We're going to move on now to third reading ordinances. We took up number 77, 78, 79. Oh, I'm sorry. 79. We need to postpone. 77. Oh, we didn't do 77? 76 we did. Ah, got it. I'm sorry. I apologize. Item number 77, 2026-327. We need to move the finance amendment, finance substitute. All right. I've got a motion second on the finance substitute. Council President-elect Howland. Thank you, Mr. President. I know we have the blue sheets in front of us, but for the record, Ms. Defopolis, would you explain the finance substitute, please? Yes. Through the council president to the council, this substitute encompasses the neighborhood substitute with a few additional items, so I'll go through both. The neighborhood substitute attached a revised Exhibit 1, which was the BT, to correct an account code. It included details that would be taken on the steps taken by the city in making a determination of necessity and placed the applicable survey, studies, and reports revised on file. It also attached a listing of the affected properties as a new Exhibit 5. The finance substitute included all of those items, and it also removed language authorizing the Office of General Counsel to initiate condemnation proceedings and declarations of taking, and included language requiring city council approval prior to filing a petition for condemnation. It attached a revised Exhibit 3, which was the parcel map to reflect the removal of Parcel 1 from the project. It attached a revised Exhibit 5, the parcel list to reflect removal of the Parcel 1, and to update the project parcel information. And it also attached a second revised on file to include a revised First Amendment that reflected the removal of Parcel 1 from the list of properties. Okay. Thank you, through the president. Because that finance substitute effectively makes the city come back to us before starting eminent domain proceedings for city council, we'll have to approve them before it starts. I will support substitute, and I'll support the bill as substituted. Thank you. All right. No one else in the queue? All in favor of the substitute, actually. We have Council Member Morrow on substitute. Okay. Thank you, Mr. President. Through the chair to Mary Zafopoulos, I'm pretty sure it's legal or it would not be within the substitute, but what is the legal standing for that process that before the government can file eminent domain, it has to come back to the legislative body. Through the president to Council Member Morrow. So, as originally proposed, the legislation would authorize all steps through the process subject to certain guardrails with respect to how much the city could purchase an interest in a property for, et cetera. So, it's not legally affecting the overall condemnation process as outlined in statute. What it's saying is the council is not granting full authority to take a property through the entire process up to the filing of the condemnation action. It's requiring before that last step that it come back to city council. So, there was some discussion in committees with respect to how that might affect the timing of different things and the reactions or responses from the property owners, but legally, it's not that you're not allowed to do that. It's just, you're putting a condition on that final step that it has to come back to council one more time, rather than giving them full legal capacity to go all the way through the process without coming back. And if you want more information or you feel like that doesn't answer your question, Deputy General Counsel Chris Garrett is also here and could address your question more specifically if you feel you need it. All right. I think he's good. So, all in favor of the substitute, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Substitute carries. Move the bill as substituted. Got a motion and a second on the bill as substituted. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot. Record your vote. 13 yays, 1 nay. By your action, you've approved 2026-0327. It's my first time on Diamond Island, I think. Moving on to page 36, item number 78, 2026-335. We've already taken up. So, item number 79, the introducer of the bill has requested that we postpone this to June the 23rd. So, I'll move that as a motion. All right. Mary, would you like to put us in the right posture to get this postponement? I understand there's a... Oh, never mind. That's another one. All right. Sorry. Motion and second to postpone. That's verbal. To June 23rd. Yes, Mr. Postpone to June 23rd. That's a ballot. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you postpone 2026-0363. Page 37, item number 80, 2026-378. I move the amendment. I have a motion and a second on the amendment. No one's in the queue. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay. The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. I have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0378 as amended. Item 81, 2026-381. I move the amendment. I have a motion and a second on the amendment. No one's in the queue. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. I have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. no one's in the queue please open the ballot and record your vote 14 yes zero nays by your action you've approved 2026-0381 as amended during the page 38 item number 82 2026-382 i move the bill i have a motion second on the bill i have no one in the queue please open the ballot record your vote 14 yes zero nays by your action you've approved 2026-0382 item 83 2026-383 i move the bill motion second on the bill there's no one in the queue please open the ballot record your vote 13 yays, 1 nay. Find your action. You have approved 2026-0383. Welcome to the island. Page 39, item 84, 2026-385. I move the amendment. I have a motion and second on the amendment. No one's in the queue. All in favor of the amendment signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. Motion and second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot. Record your vote. 14 yays, 0 nays. Find your action. You have approved 2026-0385 as amended. Item 85, 2026-386. I move the bill. I have a motion and second on the bill. There's no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 13 yays, 1 nay. Find your action. You have approved 2026-0386. And Council Member Gay, welcome to the island. Does anybody have a soccer ball? Item number 86, 2026-390. I move the amendment. Got a motion and second on the amendment. No one's in the queue. All in favor of the amendment signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. I have a motion and second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. Come on, Reggie, join the island. Water's fine. 14 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0390. Item number 87, 2026-393. I move the amendment. I have a motion and second on the amendment. No one's in the queue. All in favor of the amendment signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. Got a motion and second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0393. Turn to page 41, item number 88, 2026-396. I move the amendment. I have a motion and second on the amendment. There's no one in the queue. All in favor of the amendment signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. I have a motion and second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0396. Item number 89, 2026-416. I move the amendment. I've got a motion and second on the amendment. There is no one in the queue. All in favor of the amendment signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. I have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. There's no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 14 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0416 as amended. Mr. President, now we move on to second reading resolutions and ordinances. Mr. Thiel, would you please read the bills? 2026-467, 468, 472, 473, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 438, and 439. Mr. President, we have one public participation card for 2026-467, Mr. John Nooney. He supports the bill but does not wish to speak. All right. Thank you for that. And I think we should all thank Council Member Matt Carlucci for his efforts at last meeting. It seems to have paid off very well. Mr. President, we have already approved the addendum for this evening, but we do have one more item. With item number 117-2026-518, as I understand that there is a – first, we have to move the emergency, correct? Yeah, I move the emergency. Thank you, Mr. Floor Leader. Remind me again of the item number, page 9. 518, page 59. 50 on 50. Page 50. Page 50. 518, number 117, item 117. Got it. I'm there. And I move the emergency. I have a motion and a second on the emergency. All in favor of the emergency, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? I think we have the two-thirds. It's clear. The emergency carries. Mr. President, next we have to waive or slash suspend Council Rule 3.302 to allow for the amendment of the resolution to be included in the first reading. I need a second. All right. We have a motion and second on whatever the floor leader said. All in favor, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? We have waived the Council Rule. Now, Mr. President, we have to move the floor amendment. So I go ahead and move the floor amendment. I think you just hand it out to everybody. We've got a motion and second on the floor amendment. Sure. Would you like to explain the floor amendment, Ms. Apopoulos? That would be great. Through the President to the Council. So this bill was originally filed for regular introduction, and the introducer had intended it for it to be taken up as an in and out emergency, which is why we're going through the process that we're going through with several motions this evening. The floor amendment is to add the emergency language to the bill, and the nature of the emergency is that there's an event scheduled on June 13th to celebrate reunification month, and the intent is to have the Council act upon the resolution in advance so it can be presented at that event. All right, so we have a motion and a second on adding emergency language to the bill. All in favor of that motion, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed to say nay? That carries. Mr. President, I move the bill as an emergency as amended. Now we have the bill moved as an emergency as amended. Councilwoman Clark-Mary. Councilman Salem, the past president. Thank you, Mr. President. Can someone explain to me what this reunification month is before I vote on it? Absolutely. Dr. Johnson has volunteered to explain reunification day. Thank you. Thank you for that, Mr. President. I rise to support this legislation, and I'm so thankful to Colonel Miller for putting this forward and for reunification month. What it is, Dr. Salem, through the president, it's when parents are away from their children, whether it be through the foster care system, and they've had their children taken away from them or what have you. This is this month that they're using, June is the month, to reunify those families back together. And so it's something that nationally, organizations like Children and Family Services, Boys and Girls Club work to help bring these families together. So I think it's really important, and I'm really honored that Councilman Miller put this forward. Thank you, sir. All right. Now that you mentioned Boys and Girls Club, I will say that no dollars will be given to the Boys and Girls Club by the passage of this resolution. Thank you. Does that clarify your question, Dr. Salem? All right. So there's no one else in the queue. We're ready for a vote. Please open the ballot. Cast your vote. 14 yays, zero nays. By your action, you've approved 2026-0518 as an emergency. Mr. President, that concludes our business for this evening. Very good, Mr. Floor Leader Designate. That's all of our business. So what do we do now? Have a roll call? Let's do a roll call. Roll call in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Who are here? 14 present. All right. That brings us to the end. Do we have any announcements or birthdays or fun things to talk about? No announcements from the godmother of announcements, but we do have Dr. Johnson on the queue for an announcement. I do mine are two announcements quickly, and the two, one, I wanted to thank this body. First of all, the Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Augustine, who were sisters that came to the United States from Le Puy, France. They came over in 1866, and they have been working in Jacksonville ever since in the North Florida area. We were honored to have Bishop Pohlmeyer, who's the bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, who came over to St. Pius on Sunday. We honored them with a resolution. The mayor honored them with a proclamation. The sisters, unfortunately, not as many people are going into the order of being nuns, and so they're dissolving their service to Jacksonville. But looking at the great schools they had with Holy Rosary and St. Pius and all these other schools, thank you, Council, for honoring them. It was a beautiful event, a wonderful mass, and a wonderful reception, so thank you for that. And last but not least, I want to thank you for voting for a summer youth experience that we're having. It's a kind of one-of-a-kind thing that we're doing at Lou Brantley Park on the west side. There are no kind of things like that. And when I saw the teen takeovers and how teens were taking over malls and all the stuff, I was a member of something called the Mayor's Team Volunteers back in the day under former Mayor Tommy Hazuri, who's the president of that group. And I'm like, what can I do? So I used the CBA funding to create this summer youth experience program. The younger youth will be able to go in to experience that with STEAM, science, technology, engineering, arts, math. And then the older kids will be like the camp counselors. So thank you for voting for that. It's powered by the Stadium of the Future. The group over with the team has wrapped their arms around this program, so I look forward to it. You just voted for it tonight. And I cannot thank you enough for empowering young people on the west side so that they can be the best versions of themselves. Thank you, counsel. All right. Thank you, Dr. Johnson. President-elect Howland. Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to announce to everyone that yesterday Governor DeSantis signed House Bill 4045 into law, which officially updates the city's charter to specifically enumerate Jacksonville Aviation Authority's responsibility for growing CECL into a regional, state, and national aerospace industry hub. It also requires JAA to bring us an annual economic plan concurrent with budgeting. So I want to tell everyone that started here as the J-bill that we approved unanimously, and then it went to the state, and now it's become a change to the charter. I can't thank you all enough for supporting that. I think it's going to bring great things to our city. I can't thank the state rep, Wyman Duggan, enough for leading it through Tallahassee. And I look forward to the jobs, investment, and innovation that the team at JAA will help bring to our city. Thank you. All right. Thank you very much. Other announcements. We are adjourned. Mr. Chaplin, bring us home. Thank you, Mr. President. Let us pray. Gracious God, we thank you for yet one more time to be able to serve the community that we call home. Thank you for imparting your wisdom upon us. Continue to give us temperance to realize that in so many things we should put principle over politics. Let not our decisions be based on expediency or popularity, but let our decisions be based on what is right. As we depart from this place, we ask you to be with us. I ask you to continue to cover our family members and continue to watch over this great city of Jacksonville that we call home. It's in Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.