City Council - Mar 24, 2026

All right. I do have a quorum, right? Yes. Okay, welcome, everyone, to the City of Jacksonville City Council meeting for Tuesday, March 24th. It is 5 o'clock on the dot, so we are officially adjourned. Mr. Floor Leader. Thank you, Mr. President. Our first order of business is the invocation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Please recognize our council chaplain, Councilmember Kenemar. Thank you, Mr. Floor Leader. Tonight, our invocation will be delivered by Pastor Levi Ralston. He is the assistant pastor for River City Baptist Church, which is located in the heart of Arlington. With over a decade of ministry experience, Pastor Levi is committed to preaching, teaching, and supporting the spiritual and practical needs of the community. Pastor Levi is married with two children and honored to have the opportunity to serve both the congregation and the wider community through encouragement, the scripture, and through prayer. Please receive Pastor Levi Ralston for tonight's invocation. Good evening. On behalf of River City Baptist Church, I want to extend our sincere gratitude to each of you who serve on this council. Your willingness to give your time, carry responsibility, and make difficult decisions for the good of this community does not go unnoticed. We are thankful for your service and for your commitment to the people who you represent. Let us take a moment and pause and reflect and center our hearts as this meeting begins. The Word of God reminds us in Micah 6, 8. It says, He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? And in James 1, 5, it says, And if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you with gratitude for this day and for the responsibility entrusted to those who gather here. We acknowledge that all authority ultimately comes from you, and we ask for your guidance in every decision that will be made. Grant these council members wisdom that is clear and discerning. Give them courage to act with integrity and humility, to serve the people of this community faithfully. Help them to pursue justice with fairness, to extend mercy with compassion, and to lead with hearts that seek the good of all. We pray for unity in the midst of differing perspectives, that conversations would be marked with respect and patience and a shared desire for what is right. Lord, guard against division and strengthen a spirit of cooperation for the well-being of this city. We also lift up the people of this community, that they may be supported, protected, and encouraged through the work done here. May this council be a source of stability, wisdom, and good leadership. Lord, we ask your peace that it would rest on this meeting, that all things that are done would be done in a way that honors you and benefits others. We commit this time to you, and we ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance. I'll be united. Mr. President, one announcement for the group. Since there are five Tuesdays this month, next week is fifth week, so there will be no council business next week. We'll pick it back up with committee meetings the week of April 6th. All right. Thank you for that. Mr. President, next up is roll call. Roll call. 17 present. Mr. President, we have, or excuse me, next up is the approval of the minutes from the regular council meeting of March 10th. I move the approval. All right. We've got a motion and a second on the approval of the minutes. All in favor of the minutes, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed say nay. The minutes have been approved. Mr. President, we have four communications from the mayor's office and others. Would you like them read or filed with legislative services? We are going to get those filed. Very well, sir. We have one presentation tonight by Councilmember Chris Miller, commending the Florida Sheriff's Association Correction Officer of the Year. Councilmember Miller, please go to the podium. And Mr. Thiel, may you please read the resolution. Resolution 2026-110. In May of 2025, Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Corrections Officer, Obby Johnson, was working his shift at the Community Transition Center when an inmate alerted him that a woman had jumped from an overpass into Hogan's Creek. Without hesitation, Officer Johnson located the woman floating face down in the water, jumped in to rescue her, and administered life-saving measures for at least 10 minutes until rescue personnel could reach the remote location. Due to Officer Johnson's bravery and his quick and selfless reaction, the woman survived the incident. In September of 2025, Sheriff T.K. Waters recognized Corrections Officer Johnson with the Corrections Officer of the Month Award and a life-saving medal. Each year, the Florida Sheriff's Association recognizes an officer who has demonstrated unparalleled courage, commitment, and sacrifice in the line of duty. The Florida Sheriff's Association selected JSO Corrections Officer, Obby Johnson, as the 2026 Corrections Officer of the Year for his instinct to serve and protect, even at great risk to himself, and for representing the very best of the policing profession. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Council of the City of Jacksonville. The City Council hereby commends Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Corrections Officer, Obby Johnson, upon his recognition by the Florida Sheriff's Association as the 2026 Corrections Officer of the Year. The City Council appreciates Officer Johnson's honor, heroism, and dedication to protecting our city. Thank you, everyone, and thank you for all the support for this resolution. I think it's important that we make the time to recognize and honor our men and women in blue who have gone above and beyond. And I just want to make sure we didn't miss what Mr. Teal read. Two very important things. Corrections Officer Johnson ran toward the concern that day, as our men and women in blue always do, and those of our firefighter force as well. He ran toward the concern, a woman in need, and he saved her life. He saved her life. Had he not intervened, more than likely, that wouldn't have occurred. There would be one less soul walking this earth. But instead of that being the outcome, she's alive and well because of this man taking action. And so I want to make sure we don't miss that and we take every opportunity to shine a light on these wonderful examples that are happening all over our city every day, actually. These types of things are happening. We just want to show our young kids the way forward and what you do when there's a problem. This is a prime example of what you do when there's a problem. You get involved and try to do the best thing you can to help out. And the other thing is, you know how many corrections officers there are in the state of Florida? Over 7,700. And this man right here, again, was named number one out of 7,700 corrections officers for the entire state of Florida. So I want to make sure everyone here and everyone watching, listening in, they understand what we are recognizing today. It's what this man has chosen to do and how he's chosen to live a selfless life of service, as well as the other men and women in blue who are represented here. But there are so many others. And so I hope we continue to take the opportunity to shine the light on the great things that are happening and on the wonderful people of our great city who are serving us and protecting us every day. So God bless you. And I know you wanted to say a few words. Please do. First of all, thank you so much for this award. It's awesome. It's amazing. But just quick, I want to let everybody know, too, that that day, I really, really appreciate it. But there was a lot of other officers that were involved as well. It wasn't just me. It was JFRD, my chain of command, my line officers. It was a bunch of people. So it's a big group effort that saved their life. So thank you. And I really appreciate you. Y'all have a great day. Mr. President, at this time, while they're taking pictures, I wanted to recognize tonight's page. We have Andrew Lee from Bowles Middle School serving with us. All right. And it's now time to take up quasi-judicial items, the first of which is found on page four. These items we are 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. Item number one, 2026-0060. I move the amendment. Before the amendment, we've got some ex parte. Council Member Gay, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to declare ex parte communication on this. I received a phone call from Zach Miller on 3-6-26, and I hosted a community meeting on this bill on 3-12-26. Thank you. All right. Vice President Holland. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, sir. I also rise to declare ex parte communications. I had a conversation by phone yesterday, March 23rd, with the applicant's agent agent. That's Mr. Zach Miller as well, and we'll make sure it's filed with legislative services. Thanks. All right. Pastor President Freeman. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to declare ex parte. I had a call with Paul Harden on behalf of Zach Miller, and he shared with me the details of the project, and this has been filed with legislative services. Thank you. All right. I also want to acknowledge that Councilwoman Pittman is here, and she's late because Joe Carlucci can't fix that situation with the trains in San Marco. So he apologized to you. That's right. He's working on it. All right. So we have a motion and second on the amendments. All in favor of the amendments, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The amendment carries. Do the bill as amended. Got a motion and second on the bill as amended. No one's amended. Not true. Councilmember Gay, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. This is in my district, and so we work back and through with the community and the applicant. I feel like we got to a good place, and so the community seemed to be, for the most part, behind it, and so I will be supporting it. Thank you. All right. Thank you. And the bill has been moved and seconded and amended, so let's open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0060. Item 2, 2026-132. 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. 18 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0132. Item 3, 2026-135. I move the bill. I have a motion and second on the bill. I have no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0135. We're now on to page 5 to take up the consent agenda. Colleagues, if you want to be asked to co-sponsor on any item, please reach out to Led Slave Services as council rules prohibit items from being pulled for this reason. Mr. Thiel, would you please read the bills? 2026-49, 51, 74, 108, 141, 147, 155, 156, 157, 193, 194, 195, 196, 198, and 199. Thank you, Mr. Thiel. I have a pull on item number 14, 2026-194. So with that, I move approval of the consent agenda with the exception of item 14. All right. We have a motion and second on the consent agenda minus the item mentioned for a pull. There's no one in the queue, so please open the ballot and record your vote. 17 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved the consent agenda minus 2026-0194. Item 14, 2026-194. I move the bill. Got a motion and a second on the bill. Dr. Johnson, you're recognized. Thank you for recognizing me, Mr. President. And I rise to support this legislation. I do believe that this should be a council amendment, but let me tell you why. Darnell Smith has been an incredible friend to the Jacksonville community. As not only we've had to see the tough exterior he's put up when he was serving as the interim or chief of staff, temporary chief of staff for the mayor's office, but also the leadership that he brought with Florida Blue. I, while I am a little sad to see him retire, I know that his retirement will not be from work and service in this community. And to see the fact that this little boy from a little small area of St. Augustine rose to the heights of power to lead one of the largest companies on the first coast shows that it is possible for anyone. And so I wanted to also invite everyone, Florida Blue is having a community day on this Saturday, starting at 11 a.m. And it's at Flossie Brunson Park, which is on the east side, 1050 Franklin Street. But it will also be a book drive. There will be bounce houses and painting, and Florida Blue will be investing in the community. And so I urge all of you to join me to honor Darnell, but certainly Florida Blue in the work that they're doing, but to bring a book, because this will be a book drive. And so everyone that brings a book will be able to push forward into the community. And that's something, literacy is near and dear to his heart. So with that, Mr. President, I would move for a council amendment to support this wonderful person who's done such great work in Jacksonville. All right, we've got a motion and several seconds on the council amendment. All in favor of the council amendment, signify by saying aye, aye, and opposed to saying nay, the council amendment has been passed. I move the bill as amended. So we've got a motion and second on the bill as amended. Thank you for pulling that. He really does deserve all the recognition. We could go around the horseshoe, and everyone here has a Darnell Smith story. He's been a friend and mentor to many of us, including myself. So open the ballot and record the vote. 17 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you're approved 2026-0194. Council members, we're now going to go to page 24 to take up third reading resolution. So on page 24, item 60, 2026-152, 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, 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. 17 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you're approved 2026-0152. Item 61, 2026-153. I move the amendment. Got a motion and second on the amendment. No one 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. Got a motion and second on the bill as amended. There's no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 17 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you're approved 2026-0153. Item 62, 2026-154. 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, 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. 17 yeas, 0 nays. Fire action, you have approved 2026-0154. We're now going to go to page 32 and take up item 77, 2026-0200. Move the emergency. Got a motion second on the emergency. All in favor of the emergency, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The emergency passes. Mr. President, I have no public participation cards, so I move the bill as an emergency. All right. We've got a motion second on the bill as an emergency. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 17 yeas, 0 nays. Fire action, you have approved 2026-0200 as an emergency. Going to top of page 33, item 78, 2026-0201. I move the emergency. We've got a motion second on the emergency. No one's in the queue. All in favor of the emergency, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The emergency carries. I have no public participation cards, so I move the bill as an emergency. Got a motion second on the bill as an emergency. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 17 yeas, 0 nays. Fire action, you have approved 2026-0200. 2026-0201. Mr. President, please recognize our rules chair. Rules chair. Colonel Miller, you are recognized, sir. Thank you, Mr. President. We've just approved the following appointments via the consent agenda and the additional items that we've taken up. If you were in the audience, would you please stand to be recognized? Appointed to the Cultural Service Grant Program Committee are Casey Barnes, Dr. Darren Brownlee, Elena Luksha, and Chris Yates. Appointed to the Duval County Election Advisory Panel are Raymond S. Pringle, Jr., Edward L. Williams. And appointed to the Five Points Dependent Special District Board of Supervisors are Alonzo Lon Walton, David Wingard. And appointed to the Sex Trafficking and Survivors Leadership Council is Tanisha Hammett. If any of you are here, would you please stand to be recognized? And let's thank them for their public service. Thank you very much, Mr. President. All right. Thank you, Mr. Rules Chair. Mr. President, it's now 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. Council rules call for an allotment of 90 minutes for public comment. Given the number of cards submitted so far, each speaker will be given the full three minutes. 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. Our first five speakers will be Ms. Kathleen Pereira, Wells Todd, Leo Dawson, Sally Barnes, and Latrice Bell. So please come down to the first row here if I called your name. And, Mr. Teal, may you please read Council Rule 4.505. Council Rule 4.505, disruption of meeting. Any person who disrupts a regular meeting of the City Council, standing committees, or 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. Let's leave services. Please note the start time as 5.23. And Ms. Pereira, the floor is yours. My name is Kathleen Pereira. My information is on file. The most logical place to put Sports Jackson Soccer Stadium is in the already established and city-focused downtown entertainment district. No mitigation is justified when this stadium's presumed location will destroy St. John's Town Center's productive Big Island Swamp and its corresponding wetlands, which include Pablo Creek, resulting in putting two large neighborhoods in immediate jeopardy of being flooded and septic tanks being overtaxed with runoff. Not to mention that the project will blast these same neighborhoods with noise and light pollution. And what about the traffic impact? Sure, the roads could probably handle bumper-to-bumper traffic in all four lanes, but the amount of time to get to or from anywhere in that area would be astronomical. And no mitigation is justified for this project when there are lots of properties that can accommodate a soccer stadium of any size without negatively impacting homeowners, such as the old Regency Square Shopping Mall, Cecil Field, which will also be home to the Jack's Fair, or partnering with UNF's own soccer field. I'd hate to think that the city's hobby is collecting bad ideas like the Oil Depot, Morgues, Chick-fil-A, Slaughterhouse, and a poorly placed, noisy stadium, pleading that it can't stand in the way of progress and development. With such a rubber-stamp, destructive projects attitude, why even have a council, planning commission, or even planning department? Please move this stadium. Finally, vote for 2026-0137. Deny a non-Duval County resident, they're from St. John's County, from being appointed to the Jack's Housing Finance Authority, as proposed by Ordinance 2026-0221. Support the commendable and bravely proposed 2026-0227, and do your share of funding to George Creedy State Park. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Todd. My name is Wells Todd, and with Take Them Down Jacks, just a few points. One is the city council is not supposed to be involved in our school system, from what I've heard from you guys many times. But Mr. Rory Diamond is involved in Turning Point USA clubs that they're forcing on our children. I think he should step back from that. Those clubs were developed by Charlie Kirk, who is a known white supremacist. So that's one point. The other point is somebody asked me, why am I so hard on the city council? I find that to be interesting, because I see the city council being hard on the residents of Jacksonville. Last night, 101 people showed up at a town hall regarding the Neighborhood Bill of Rights. All of you were invited, but only two of you showed up. I say that because when it comes to the business of the people of this town, it seems like you're always missing. And I want to make that point because it seems that the people you really represent is the developer class. The people who were at that meeting last night spoke about the fact that the development in this city is unbridled, and it is running wild. These developers, they come to you telling you what they want to do, and it's done. A lot of times it's done without the notification of the community. A lot of times it's done without the input of the community. So here is where the rubber meets the road. Either you're going to continue to do what you're doing, putting profits before the needs of the people, or the people will continue to organize to see that it stops. Thank you. Leo Dawson. My name is Leo Dawson. My address is on file. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct oppression. Bring justice to the fatherless. And plead the cause of the widow. I want to say this. I've been married for 28 years. In all 28 years, I've been faithful. Never cheated on my wife. Been a faithful father to my family. All that. And the reason why I was like that, or the reason why I lived that life, is first, because I love God. And I love my children. I love my wife. She was here before they came. And I love my wife. And I never wanted to hurt them. And I wanted to honor God in my life. And as time went on, my mindset shifted somewhat. Being faithful still, I started thinking, what kind of legacy do I want to leave for my kids? So my life worked in that area of thinking about what kind of legacy I'm leaving for my kids. I wanted to be knowing that they better was faithful to them all. They better love God. They better love God's people. You know what I mean? That mindset. So I want to challenge y'all, for those that have, that's going to turn out, or those that's in, whatever your future plans are. As you live this life, I want you to think, what kind of legacy you're leaving for your kids? What's going to be said about your name when you're gone? What kind of decisions you make? How did it affect people along this journey? But sometimes people get caught up in what they want and what other people's opinion is, and they forget about the real picture. It's bigger than you. It's about people. And that's the mindset you need to start taking as a whole because whatever we do, we're going to have to be accountable for it. So I just want you to start thinking, what kind of legacy am I leaving? And if your legacy is not good right now, it's a chance you can change it now because you're still alive. You still got a chance to change it. So think about that from the decisions y'all making or you're making in this life, what kind of legacy I'm leaving. My kids are going to be able to say, man, my daddy loved God. He loved people. He did right by people. He honored God with his life. Can your kids say that based on what your decisions you make and how you're moving in this life? My time is up. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Sally Barnes. Good afternoon. My name is Sally Barnes. My address is on file. I'm not here to argue tonight. I'm here to say thank you to those of you that showed up and proved that they are interested in what we're trying to accomplish. I have some people that did talk to me and offered to help with the situation I have with that ditch, and they called me and let me know that they were trying to help me at least. They made no promise, but they said at least I would try. And those people that I go to several meetings and I see a couple of council people there, they're always there. And I can honestly say I appreciate those people. My thing is everybody have a conscience. Everybody know my story. But how many of you other than one that I know of actually reached out to somebody to get some help for what I'm going through? So, you know, like the man said, I do pray, and I will overcome whatever's after me. But I do say that everybody that approached this podium, some people you may not agree with and some you may agree with, but we all have a voice, and we have a right to voice our opinions. We don't always like what you say. You don't always like what we say, but at least you should hear us and respect our opinion. To those of you that offered to help and did help, I say thank you. Kudos to you. Thank you. Next up is Latrice Bell. And then the next five after that, Angela Freeman, Latavia Harris, Bell James, Ulysses Cromody Sr., and Leonard Fritz. Ms. Bell. Latrice Bell, my address is on file. The George Crady Historical Bridge, 1999-2026, least favorable, overlooked. But the Sisters Creek, Folk George, Folk Crench, Jacksonville Beach Pier, St. Augustine, Villano, Juana, Shands, Rodman Dam, Flagler Beach, Daytona, Skyway Pier, Tampa, the Manatees, Jaguars, Enbridge Rail, Fairground, JEA, JTA, overlooked. Governor DeSantis, Mayor Deegan, Rep Black, State Reps, DEP, City Council. Why have you all overlooked us? Why have you overlooked this group? We are important, too. A historical bridge, popular. We've been overlooked for 20, over 20-some years. Taking our taxpayers' dollars, spending them, using them for other use. Least favorable, least favorable. Define it. Least favorable. Overlooked. And it hurts. Next up is Angela Freeman. My name is Angela Freeman. My address is on file. I am here to represent the George Crady Bridge. We have been trying to get the Duval side open for months, and nothing has ever been done. I don't understand why we are not being put to the office. We are supposed to be represented by y'all, but y'all just don't care, it don't seem like. But George Crady Bridge, we worked. We just ain't got nothing done about it. I don't know why y'all don't do nothing about our bridge. We love our bridge. There's been a lot of killings around. There's nothing open, close by. But we can fish. We love to fish. And we just don't understand. Thank you. Next up, Latavia Harris. Ma'am, Council Member Matt Carlucci would like to talk to you in the green room. Ma'am, over here, please. Yes, ma'am, the last speaker. Council Member Matt Carlucci would like to speak with you. Ms. Harris. Latavia Harris, my address is on file. During this whole CBA process, my group and the community spoke for a reason that we wanted a model to be protected. We see the board members. Every board member except two is part of Lift Jacks. The same thing we fought to get away with. We sent President Carrico emails, hey, we even stayed out of the process because we didn't want it to be partial. We didn't want it to be biased. Carrico couldn't say, the mayor can't say, that we reached out and said, hey, we want you to pick those people. Half of these people, well, two of them who I spoke with, they got the call from Travis Williams that they were on the board. I'm sorry, is this not the same thing we asked for was transparency and equity? To be fair, we stacked the whole board outside of Mr. Larry Schrank, who's with Jackson Electric. He does wonderful things for the community. We even have people on here, no disrespect. Cleve Warren, is that the black man that everybody going to get to say they know a black man? Because he don't do nothing for our neighborhood. We have Sean Ashley. Who is that? What, you just got to go to church out east to be on the board to make decisions? Y'all actually had resumes of people who are living out east. Half of the people you pick, all of them. Cleve Warren is the mentor to Travis Williams. Jesus Christ, can we get away from these developers? Or do we just have to eat with them? We have to sleep with them? At some point, we only have two people. Dr. Jameson told me he stepped down from the board. He is an east sider. He's a legacy member. But I guess, Liv Jacks, I mean, I'm just lost here. Like, at these developers, like the man saying, nobody come and vet. There was supposed to be a process. Kim Black, she's not even been living out east in enough time to even have generational say-so. No one that lived out east who went through these trials and tribulations were even picked for the board. I guess we're not eating caviar at the right place. Guess we're not smoking the right cigars. No one up here can say you heard anything from Together Eastside about who we wanted to see on the board. That is how you make things fair. Here, you have people submit their resumes, you submit the outlines, and we have six other members. It's all Liv Jacks. Ariane Randolph, she is Liv Jacks. She was on their payroll. Everybody's falling back to stack this debt in the community. Jesus. I mean, do we win it all? Like, what do we have to do? We have to fight to get it fair. Now we got to fight for people to even ask the community, hey, are these people involved? Don't nobody see Cleve? Who is James? Who is Sean? Like, we ain't never seen these people day in our life. We're sure that they know our east, but come on, guys. Ms. Harris, Councilman Clark Murray would like to talk to you in the Bob Johnson room. And next up is Bell James. Good evening. My name is James Bell. My address is on file. I'm here to represent the George Crady Bridge Fishing Pier State Park. And on behalf of our fishing crew, you heard two of the speakers just now. That's a part of our fishing crew. We are concerned about the George Crady Bridge. We're concerned about the Duval side of the George Crady Bridge. It's not open. But the Nassau side is open. We are concerned that the lock on top of the bridge, there's a gate, and we got the lock on it. We want that lock removed so the other side of the bridge can be open for us to fish on. Now, they say that the bridge is unsafe for us to fish on. Well, if it's unsafe for us to fish on, why are you allowed the boaters to fish up under it? It should be the same thing for them. If it's not safe for us to fish on, it's not safe for them to be up under the bridge sitting in their boat fishing. Now, our concern is getting it fixed, getting it opened up. Now, the last time I was here, I heard a voice say, I said, I'm concerned about what's happening and that please, please don't forget about us. And a voice came back to me and said, well, you keep coming so we can't forget about you. But the main thing is we want action. Thank you. Thank you. Ulysses Cromedy, Sr. Good evening. My name is Ulysses Cromedy, Sr. Oh, thank you. And I'm here for the, my address is 4625, Lanecrest Drive South. I apologize. It's my first time here. And I've been living in Jacksonville for 73 years. I'm here about the George Craven Bridge. Also, it's important, councilmen, ladies and gentlemen, when you see fit to restore this bridge, and the bridge is fishable, it can be fished on. Because my mother has seven boys and one girl, and she took her, all the boys, taught us how to fish. She told us, she don't want us to be a murderer, a robber, a thief, or whatever. I want you to teach you how to fish, how to prepare for your family. Help us to help our family now, that fishermen can take their daughters, sons, grandsons, nieces, and uncles, whoever want to fish. Give us this opportunity, please, to fix this bridge. And the bridge is fishable. So we, Jacksonville, Florida, residents, and above the other counties and cities, we have had people come from Georgia and Ashwell to be fished on that bridge. And please help me, giving the spirit that I'm giving you, because this is my first time. I'm not ashamed or I'm scared, I just want to hear my voice. I want you to hear my voice, because a lot of our fishermen say, it won't make a difference. I'm here to prove that point. I'm here to hear that one voice that I hate, ain't going to be done. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next up, Leonard Fritz, and then the five after that, please come on down. Samantha Siris, James Matchett, Sharon Dykes, Ronnie Burris, and Richard, I believe this is Eckler. Mr. Fritz. Name's Leonard Fritz. My address is on file. First of all, let me thank all of you for the time you put in. I know that there's a lot done before this and a lot done after it, the time and energy that you put into doing this job. So I thank you for that. Let me use the Marine Corps acronym here, BLUFF. I'm going to give you the bottom line up front. Okay, the bottom line up front reason I'm here is to talk to you about the Arab American Heritage Month and why that's in there. And I'm just here to caution you all to not let that recognition creep and creep so that it becomes a fighting within Sharia law. Now, I say to this with some background. I have over 40 years of service and I've been to many Arab countries and I've been around a lot of Muslims. Okay, and I know how they work and I know that there are factions within the Muslim community, just like there's factions of Christians. And there's good ones and there's bad ones. And the differentiation between those is how really deeply they are involved in enforcing Sharia law. And so that's something that you have to be aware of going forward is making sure that we're not creeping in that direction. So I ask the council going forward to be aware as we go forward and recognize the month that we don't get that slow boiling of the frog. And before we know it, we're in some situation that looks a bit like, I don't know, Minneapolis, Austin. That's all I have. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Appreciate the time. Thank you. Next up, Samantha Series. Samantha Series address on file. Enough is enough. We are tired of our politicians putting their own interests for monetary reasons and corporations' interests over the interests of our city. We are tired of being told that so many people are moving to Jacksonville, so we need to build out in these rural areas by making 30-foot, 40-foot lots. If people are trying to move to a rural area, that usually means they want some land, not living on a zero-lot line. That is how people like to move. You know, I understand that we need to increase some development. I completely understand there are plenty of places, like on Landing Boulevard, where there are commercial spaces for sale that a developer could buy and create mixed-use housing. And then you wouldn't have to worry about this additional strain on the communities that are further back, where they don't have a sidewalk to get to their house. They don't have any transit to get there. They have nothing, but if you made a mixed-use house that is near this community, and if you actually were able to have a walkable area in that spot, you know, that actually could help the city. That could actually help people. You know, they are proposing to have these tiny homes. I mean, not technically a tiny home, but it feels like a tiny home because it's on a 30-foot lot in a zero-lot line where you can touch your neighbor. And they are proposing it $300,000, $350,000. First of all, that's not affordable. Second of all, who wants to buy a zero-lot line with no land for that much money? I don't see anyone that would want that. And that's why when these communities get built and they start for sale, they end up rentals, and they're owned by corporations. And they have a constant battle between the residents and the people who live in the neighborhood because, you know, the neighborhood didn't want it, but you all pass it. And they then have nowhere to go ruining their property values or increasing them so much that they can't afford the taxes. So you're pushing people out that live there and no longer can afford it. Or you're putting people there that cannot pay $350,000 for no land and then expect them to just deal with it. People don't buy those houses. There are empty communities because of that. And then they become rental communities. And we have 51% of our residents that rent. I thought you all wanted people to buy homes. I thought you wanted people to afford homes. That's not the way to do it. It is difficult to come up with creative solutions, but I know that some of you want mixed-use housing. You are the ones that talk to the developers. Tell them to do mixed-use housing. They don't listen to us. You are our representatives. You need to represent us. We have you up there because we want you all to take control. Do not let the developers and corporations ruin our city as they try to do. Next up, James Matchett. Mr. Matchett, are you here? Okay, I'll hold on to his card. And Ms. Sharon Dykes, you're next. Good evening. My name is Sharon Dykes. My address is on file. I come, again, to speak to you about the JTA premium service known as Connection Plus. I work at the Center for Independent Living as the executive director. Part of what we do there is to find employment. We have sent out a survey and realized that people in our community with disabilities are giving up their jobs. They can't afford to go to work. And I know that JTA has been in front of you, and I work closely with JTA through the Jacksonville Transportation Advisory Committee, which I have personally chaired that committee for the last six years. Yes, we'll restart the clock, Eric, if you could help her out there. Let's up it up to two minutes when she begins talking. People in our community are having to get up their jobs. I know that the JTA has been in front of you, and I know that they've said things like that the on-time performance for Connection is 90%. But they use words that you don't understand. For example, if you listen closely, they said that it's 93% for appointments. And I'm going to guess that this council has no idea what that means. But if you book an appointment, you're more likely to get there on time. But if you book a ride, you might be there in the next two hours. I work an eight- to nine-hour day. I work 60, 70 hours a week. I don't want to add any more time to my day. And the disability community doesn't either. So I'm asking, please support the disability community. Come up with a better solution. I have written a white paper, and I have emailed it to each of you. It's been almost a week, and I received zero response from this council. I'm a private citizen. I took out my time to bring that figure down. I can, under my plan, and I realize that there's a margin of error, but under my plan, I can say the JTA $4.1 million. And so I would love it if somebody could step up and represent our community. Thank you. Thank you. It's my understanding James Matchett no longer wishes to speak. Ronnie Burris, you're up. Hello, my name is Ronnie Burris, and my address is on file. You know, I'm a business manager for water and wastewater employees at JEA. And Councilman Miller, what you said about the police and the fire being heroes is true. They are heroes, and that was very touching and something that was, I honor you for being able to say. But I want to tell you about some other heroes. They don't wear uniforms, but they come to work every day. They work every night. Back a month ago, a month and a half ago, there was 3,400 water lines busted in Jacksonville, Florida. And my members worked 16 hours a day and got those 3,400 lines fixed in about 10 days. That's a hero. They got you your water back. They got the sewer water back. They got everything running. But where we're at right now with JEA is we're in a standstill. We're in negotiations, and we haven't moved. We have requested to and declared impasse, and we are now at a point of going to the special magistrate. That's the only reason I can still be up here tonight talking to you, because once we get to the point of, from the special magistrate, I can't do this anymore. But we're not there yet, and I hope that JEA will look and think about this and take into consideration what the employees do for this city also, because they work 12, 16 hours a day, sometimes longer. They work as many days as they have to in a row to get this fixed, to do whatever it takes. And we're going to be coming to you, and what we're asking for is nothing out of the ordinary. We've said we would take the 3.5%, but in 2005, there was a 35 cents an hour difference in water, wastewater, and electric, the same company. Today, there's between $5 and $10 an hour, and one job is $18 an hour that the people that represents me, the people that were working on these 3,400 lines, make less than on the electric side. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Next up will be Richard Eckler, and then the five after that come on down. Bobby O'Connor, Dragon Beloit, Blake Harper, Nancy Murray Settle, and Denise Cook. So, Richard Eckler, you are up. Question before my time starts? This is not time for a question, sir, just public comment. I've requested to speak on two different issues. Am I required to fit both those into three minutes? Yes, sir. You need to say your name and address first, and then you get three minutes at this time. Address is on record. Let me speak first to the most important one, and that is the 137th. It seems to me, if I understand it correctly, that if insufficient members attend their committee meetings and there is no quorum, they simply lower the quorum. I'd like to remind everybody here that for a part-time job, you make as much as many Jacksonvillians earn for a full-time job where they show up 40 hours and sometimes 44 to 48 to get that 40 hours pay. It seems to me that many of you own businesses, and you schedule things convenient for yourself. You schedule committee meetings in the middle of the day, often at noon, when travel and attendance is difficult. It seems to me this is simply another perk that you want to add on to the many that you have. I had to pay for my parking. You don't. Many of you have chauffeurs and this sort of thing. Please consider, please consider that every single dime that you send out is a tax on the back of the men, women, and children of the city who are going to be denied services. I'd also like to say, regarding 150, Adam Smith, who some of you may have heard of, is considered the father of modern capitalism, said, Rarely are men of substance and power gathered together, but a conspiracy against the public is not formed. I encourage you to look that up, especially some of those, you sitting here today, who are at least alleged to have done exactly that sort of thing. The company that 150 applies to was formed only in August, and we're going to give them $5 million in a few short weeks. This company is truly owned by Vescor. They have a current capitalization, or at least a portfolio value, of $35 billion. If they can't make a business work on its own without $5 on the back of every man, woman, child in this city, then perhaps they shouldn't be opening that business. And if they can do it without taxing all of us, then maybe they should move forward under their own money and with their own money. This corporate welfare is dragging down this city in a way that everything else has not. And it is probably behind some of the misbehavior that we've been reading about. Thank you. Bobbie O'Connor. My name is Bobbie O'Connor. My address is on file. In January of last year, Take Them Down Jacks pulled together a group of people, and we formed a coalition called Interrupt Redlining Coalition. And we've been working since then. We came to know, as we did the work, and I'm sure that most of you all know what redlining is, that things that were happening in redlined neighborhoods were also happening in other neighborhoods, in fact, most of the neighborhoods. And as other people have spoken, sometimes the city council seems more interested in the developer and the money than they are in the citizens. So I just want you all to know that we've been working really hard. And as someone's already mentioned, last night we had a town hall meeting. There were 101 folks there. A lot of good energy. We have been working with Council Member Johnson, collaborating with him, to create a neighborhood bill of rights. You know that there was a 1995 neighborhood bill of rights. It has not been sufficient. That bill of rights needs to be updated. And in terms of you all, I just wanted to say a special word of thanks to Council Member Johnson and Council Member Paluso, who showed up last night, came to the city hall, I mean to the town hall meeting, in order to hear what citizens had to say. And I think it was in February. I'd have to go back and look at my notes. But I sent every one of you an email and called every one of you and asked, would you please meet with us and let us talk to you about this issue. Matt Carlucci met with us. Jimmy Peluso met with us. And Council Member Johnson met with us. Others of you did call and say, well, we can't do this right now. We're busy. We have a lot on our plate. We need for everything to be completely done before we can see it. And some of you did not even respond to the email or to the phone call. So I wish that, I mean, I don't know, do you all have rules about if a citizen emails you? Do you feel compelled to respond in some way or at least acknowledge that you got the email or that a phone message was left on your phone? I don't know what that rule is. But there were a number of you that I got no response from. And last week, every one of you were sent a flyer inviting you to come to this town hall meeting. And I'm really disappointed you weren't there. And I also want to say, please listen to this good woman who shows up every council meeting to ask you to please don't let the rates change almost double on the ride share. Just don't do that. Don't do that. Please use the money that you are giving JTA. There's got to be a way that you can do that. I don't know the solution. But you all are smart men and women. Please find a solution. Ms. O'Connor, Council Member Paluso would like to talk to you in the Bob Johnson room. Next up is Dragon Beloit. Oh, my gosh, guys. It's me. Hi. Name and address, please. Dragon Beloit, address on file. I'm getting there. I'm sorry. So a couple of things I want to just touch on before we get to the meat of the issue. One, seconded on the whole a corporation shouldn't require $5 million to open, seconded on the whole don't double the rates, seconded on the whole please listen to your constituents. And I was present at that meeting last night. It was great. It was a lot of fun. You guys should have been there. Some of you were, though. My big issue today, once again, flop cameras. They are all over the place. I still have so many of them in my neighborhood. And I know that it's a lot of work to police that, to write it. I emailed some of you. I actually got a response within an hour from Ken Amaro. Great job. Asking for more information, which I provided. I know it's a lot of work to write an ordinance, so I wrote two of them. I didn't make copies because I assume at most one of you is going to read it, and it's probably Jimmy Peluso, but I will give this to the page. I have two options here. One, the Protecting Law Enforcement, Constitutional Rights, and Local Control Ordinance. This one's based off of the Hernando County Ordinance, just regulating how ALPRs work, how their data shouldn't be sold to people. So, just giving the city council the jurisdiction to say, hey, here are the flop cameras that exist. Here's where they are. And it's not legal to sell that information. This one I like a lot more. The Freeing Local Organizations from Camera Kakistocracy Ordinance. I just thought that was funny. I'll be honest. This one says they're illegal. And I'm giving both of these to you. Obviously, I prefer you do this one. You have the opportunity to pass the one that gives you guys clear control. But if I get into office, I'm passing this one. So, you guys have the opportunity now to say, hey, these cameras are a concern. Tracking our citizens is a concern. The people that say, hey, we don't want this. We do care about that. I've written the ordinances for you. I've done the work. You can just pass it. Now, I know it goes through a lot more work than that, obviously. But, you know, I thought I'd get in some practice. So, here are these. I'm going to give them to you. I'm going to email them to you so that you also have them and can edit them at your leisure. But I want you to know, I've done the work already. You guys have the opportunity to do something that is going to be a hit with just about everybody. And you've had that opportunity a couple of times. I beg you to do it. I beg you to please listen to your constituents overall. Please stop building morgues and things in red-line neighborhoods that shouldn't be there. And regulate. Thank you. Blake Harper. Blake Harper, information on file. Tonight, we're going to talk about the First Amendment. Since 2010, I've been coming down to advocate for the Constitution and Judeo-Christian principles on which it's built. That means the Bill of Rights, the First, Second, Third, Fourth Amendment, and so forth. When Aaron Bowman put up a piece of legislation to censor prayer, I fought that. Seventeen pastors came down to speak. While I would find some of those prayers offensive, they have the right under the Constitution to say those prayers. The thing that makes us unique and makes us such a great nation is that no man or woman can take those rights away from us because those are given to us by God. When the hate crime bill came up, I fought that. When the disruption bill came out, you have that panel over there because of the work I did, because of working with you all to get something where people could stand up and have something to show. For seven years, Ben Frazier would come down and attack city council members. Michael Boylan got the brunt of it, and he sat there and he took it. And he was in many, many times situations where he could retaliate, but he didn't because he understands the importance of the First Amendment and the rights that people have for seven years. But when I stand at TEU to document the fact that the Democrat Party is a party of racism, that they're the party of white supremacy going back to the compromise of 1877, my First Amendment rights are taken away from me by the vice chair, Jacoby Pittman. It's kind of interesting. Tyrone Clark Murray's not here. She seemed to think it was all the bomb. Now, there's an easy way to learn a lesson, and there's a hard way to learn a lesson. And I hope the lesson's been learned the easy way this time. Brevard County School Board did not learn it the easy way. They paid $560,000 in legal fees because they violated somebody's First Amendment rights. You guys don't want to do that. The earlier lady said, you all need to hear what we have to say, whether you like it or not. When I stand up and I speak to you, I speak to you based on facts. And those facts destroy a narrative that you hear over and over again. The consequence has been to try to shut that up. I'm not going to shut up. I'm going to keep speaking about those facts. I have the right to do that here, and I will. Next up, Nancy Murray Settle, and then Denise Cook. Nancy Murray Settle, address is on file. I was at the town hall for a neighborhood bill of rights last night, and it was really very energizing and wonderful. I'm thinking of making a movie about it, 101 Citizens. And the villain is going to be Cruella de Javille City Council, because you guys just don't seem to listen to the citizens, the 101 citizens that were there. Cities are built for people, not for profit. Neighborhoods define the quality of a city where we work, where we live, where we play. It is the heart and soul of our city. And we live in community with one another, and we have to learn to get along. And oftentimes that doesn't happen. So that's why we have rules and laws defining expectations and guiding behavior. We're bound by those. Land use, we have rules and laws about how to use property that we might own if we're lucky enough. And we're guided by the comprehensive plan, zoning regulation, design guidelines. And if we are lucky enough to be able to buy a piece of property, we know what those uses and restrictions and guidelines are. I notice that when it comes to amending land use, that developers have a larger voice in Jacksonville than the citizens. We have to, when we set up these guidelines, we hire people, intelligent, capable, educated people, to make sure that they work. Architecture, architects, historical preservationists, urban planning, landscape designers, environmental impacts, biologists. We need to listen to them when they make recommendations and applying their knowledge to land use. Instead of listening to all of these appeals and denials, and then we allow lawyers, a couple of lawyers in this city, to control city council on behalf of these developers. I think people are really, you can hear it. People are tired of it. People see it happening. And it's like we're getting, it's an issue I hear over and over again in city council. We should be playing by the rules. Everyone should be playing by the rules. The zoning is there for a structure. We need to listen to the citizens. We need to listen to planning council, CPACs, and most importantly, the citizens. We need to have council members who are not overriding the will of these bodies and the people. And when, because when that happens, we mistrust government. We suspect money's being exchanged. We suspect that big favors are being called up for redemption. My time's almost out, but please, fix the damn bridge for these people. I hear them come in over and over. Fix the bridge for them. It's a really positive thing in our community, and they've been begging you for it. Thank you. Next up is Denise Cook, and then the five after that are Anthony Brown, Addison Patrick, John Nooney, Jamie Travis Leonard, and Timothy Johnson. Ms. Cook? Hi, Denise Cook. My address is on file. All my thunder has been stolen tonight with all the conversation, but what I wanted to say is I feel very hopeful. You know, I've been in the streets of Jacksonville for over a decade participating with grassroots organizations, jumping through any hoop that I could jump through to try to make a difference, whether it was CPAC, whether it was meeting with my council person, whether it was coming down here. But I'm full of hope because we have demonstrated that there is a movement in Jacksonville. 101 people is nothing to sneeze at on a Monday evening at 6 o'clock at night. And those people represented every part of Jacksonville, not just the underserved, not just the ones we talk about. We had your prominent zip codes, your high-income zip codes represented. We had your low-income zip codes represented. We had Republicans. We had Democrats. We had Libertarians. We had Independents. All of us were together for a common cause of developing a neighborhood bill of rights that can put some accountability and action into stopping some of the things that have occurred in the last few years in regards to land use and zoning. You know, why do we want to pay $1.5 million for a liquor store? We're talking about bridge repair. That money could have went towards that. We've got to continue to work together. I appreciate you all. I offer to work with you every time I come up here and speak. I don't expect any one of us to do this by ourselves. We're a community. We're a city. And, yes, there are things that we don't understand and things that you have to go through that we may not be privy to. But that's why talking to us on a regular basis would help us educate the public and help you and your constituents have a different perspective of things. So I'll continue to do this and come and see you as often as I can. And I'll continue to be in the grassroots organizations. I will continue to be a voice for the people that I can be a voice for. And I want to just say to the people that are in the audience, we appreciate you coming out every, every month. There are opportunities for you to group together. Can you address through the body and not turn around and face the audience, please? You have to speak in the microphone for the record. Okay. I would like to invite all of the communities that are here and represented to the town hall meeting that takes place the third Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at 1405 State Street West. It is a collaborative effort. We are not a partisan group. We are trying to build a bridge and work in the city together. Thank you. Thank you. Next up is Anthony Brown, or ma'am, Council Member Police, I would like to talk to you in the Bob Johnson room. And Anthony Brown, the floor is yours. Anthony Brown, my address is on file. I guess I'm just going to piggyback on what Ms. Denise Cook said. Last night I was honored to attend a meeting in which 101 people attended a town hall meeting. There were two council members from this current city council that attended, and they left early. So even in that, I feel like we should have had more representation at this meeting. If you have not heard, I'm pretty sure most of you, if not all of you, were invited and notified. I was pleasantly surprised at the diversity of the meeting. There were people from all over the city that had a number of different issues. They seem to be extremely neglected, but there is benign neglect that is being practiced here in Durkeeville, Newtown, 45th, et cetera, et cetera. And when you guys two years ago passed that resolution, I understand that it was an acknowledgment. However, it didn't have a lot of teeth. There were plenty of people who attended that meeting last night that were not knowledgeable of the resolution. There are many people who don't know that you guys have talked about redlining, but they have yet to see anything tangible in terms of things that you are doing to rectify it. So I'm not going to stay up for too long. But again, Denise Cook mentioned our meeting. Some of you have attended our meeting. I think they are very productive. We do have action steps, and we are trying to work with this city council. But when the city council is not doing what it's supposed to do, they will be called out as they should. And many of you know you should have been at that meeting last night. So that's why some of you got your head down. You're looking crazy. But moving forward, we would like to continue a cordial relationship with the city council. Our meeting, most of the time, is every third Thursday. This week is on a fourth Thursday, which is 6 o'clock, 1405, State Street West. Pastor Leo Dawson is a senior pastor. He spoke eloquently earlier today. We look forward to all of you or most of you attending. And we want to change the narrative in this city. We no longer want this city to be just a pass-through on 95 or 10. We want it to rival all of the other cities in Florida. And we need you to address redlining the head on, outside of a resolution, and with tangible bills and with tangible policy. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Addison Patrick. Hi. Good evening, everyone. My name is Addison Liberty Patrick. My address is on file. Again, I want to thank everyone who's been working on the revised version of the Neighborhood Bill of Rights. As everyone has said before, we had over 100 people there last night. It was incredible and impressive to see all of the community members across economic, geographic, and even across the age spectrum, to see how everyone was present and interested in being involved in their community and making a better place. The crowd was engaged, asked relevant questions, and the speakers and panelists put together a well-organized event. I left feeling energized. I also want to add again that all three major political parties were represented there in attendance. There were no disagreements, and we didn't need government there to keep law and order. I do want to thank, again, Council Members Johnson and Peluso for attending. And as some are aware, there are other meetings tonight at the same time. There's a JTA meeting over at FSCJ, and then there's a Mayor's Town Hall, I believe. So, appreciate everyone who's here. I would like to commend Council Member Mike Gay for holding meetings for public comment and taking the wishes of constituents into consideration. I attended the Finance Committee meeting last week, and I would like to thank Council Member Rory Diamond for being the only member who voted against a quarter-of-a-million-dollar consulting fee to scout a location for a new jail. As a libertarian, I hear things I agree with from Republicans, Democrats, and independents across the spectrum. I believe that language and delivery are really important. Some of us are building more coalitions purposefully by design, so we are not in our same echo chamber. We want to hear different perspectives and talk about solutions. Jacksonville is a melting pot of ideas, and we hope to see that reflected in the leadership of the next Council. We take Jacksonville back by coming together across party lines and meeting everyone as we are neighbors. Thank you. Next up, John Nooney. Hello. I am John, philanthropic, jelly roll, good boy, resiliency Nooney, 2024-0107, that's JU, 2024-0325, that's the University of Florida. President Trump, Governor DeSantis, Joe Johnson, Raymond Day, Jake Stofan, Kent Justice, Roger Henderson, Ed Dean, Lisa Reinemann, Andrea Wallace, Dean Black, Donnie Olton, Kevin Carrico, Rory Diamond, Parden Nooney. All right, what I just want to do, next one, down to two and a half minutes. You know, FWC, you know, it's a play off the Fish and Wildlife Commission, the state of Florida. And, you know, our chair of waterways is Ken Amaro. And right now, what I just want to be very excited about is FWC, Fishing with Crady, George Crady. You nailed it, Councilman Amaro. You did. And you know what? I'll be speaking to some other pieces of legislation. We got $4.5 million for some trees. You know, I got my Guinness shirt on. You know, we're expanding drinking zones. You know, $35,000 was supposed to be the amount of money that was the Duval County, you know, money for the maintenance of the George Crady Bridge. But you know what? That was terminated, diverted, whatever you want to call it. But you know what? We can make it right. And call it tourism. Call it just straight now. Yeah, Fishing with Crady. And I'll tell you what, you could have one of the biggest, you know, parties, tournaments, whatever you want to call it. Okay, I'm down to a minute for, but let me just change gears. You know, right now, you know, I went to last night's CPAC meeting, CPAC 3. There's six CPACs. Let me just say ethics is gone. You know, I went to the Ethics Commission meeting, and I asked. We have six CPACs representing the entire city. We have the Mayor's Disability Council. We have the Council on Elder Affairs, the Senior Citizens Gang. Why is OGC, the Office of General Counsel, not represented at these meetings? Last night's meeting was like a free-for-all. And I'll tell you something. Get a grip on that one. You know, we got the True Commission coming up. Taxation, revenue, utilization of expenditures. You know, Raymond Day, you know, he's coming after PSG. You know, PSG, you know, anyway, you know, Councilman Boylan, I know, I hope you'll be at the True Commission meeting. I'm sure you will. Seven seconds left. Let's go fishing with Crady. Thank you for listening and tourism. Jamie Travis Leonard, you're next. Good evening, City Councilmembers. My name is Jamie Travis Leonard. My address is on file. It's just really difficult. It's a headline I saw coming out of our Florida lawmakers about affordable housing. I've been up here a few times talking about affordable housing. Many people have come up over the last several months and begged you to do something. And I've had some of you come to me and say, it's really hard. Like, we can't do a lot, guys. And I'm sorry, that's not going to cut it. Because if you can't do it, and our state lawmakers can't do it, why do we have you? Why are we paying your salary with our taxes from our homes if you can't then help us make them affordable? 42.4 people in this city. Renters. There were multiple bills, but I'm just going to list a few, in the state for affordable renting. H.B. 675, S.B. 756, H.B. 703. All failed. And you know what the state lawmakers said? Well, it's really hard. It's hard to come to an agreement. No, it's not. I cannot conceive how you all can have a sitting city council president try to make his BFF a board member on JEA. How we can have another city council member party crash a JEA board meeting. How we can have multiple city council members disrespect public speakers doing LUZ meetings, but we can't get affordable housing out of you all. It's real suspicious, guys. I'm beginning to think there might be some corruption at play. We have begged you. We've demanded. We will get what we want eventually. You can either be on this board when it happens, or you can be voted out. Address the affordability crisis. Give us legislation. We'll work with you. You've heard many people mention our neighborhood bill of rights. I was there last night. We had two city council members there last night. All of you have been communicated to about this, requested to provide some input. We are asking you. We're trying to build a bridge. We're doing the work for you. So we need you to show up. And if you don't, when the time comes, we will, and you won't be in those seats. Thank you. Timothy Johnson, the next three after that. Nick Smith, Amanda Breen, and Eric Stodola, I believe is how you pronounce that. Mr. Johnson. Good evening, everybody, council president and all of the council in this place. My name is Timothy D. Johnson, Sr. Currently, my address is 1800 Denise Court. I am a veteran of the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard, and I'm currently in transition. I did have some specific issues that I wanted to address this evening, but hearing the conversation, I'm going to deter just a little bit and try to stay within the time. Full disclosure, I am an NPA candidate for City Council District 7, and should the good people of District 7 give me the opportunity, I can guarantee you I will be in every town hall meeting, and you won't be disappointed. So, they talked about that, and the Bill of Rights. I am for Neighborhood Bill of Rights. Can you stop the clock real quick? Just for future reference, you cannot come down here and campaign, you can't talk about any office. I'm not trying to campaign. You did. You did. So, I'm just letting you know that's a warning. Thank you. Certainly, certainly. Moving on, I'd like to recognize Councilwoman Jacoby Pittman for what she and Representative Angie Nixon are doing, what's happening in March for the veterans. Again, I am a 33-year veteran of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. Neighborhood blight, it's a problem, and it's something I've been addressing as a citizen and also of a member of some of these neighborhoods. Case in point, right outside the Volunteers of America Veterans Home in Transition, I've called three times this week. It was there before I got there, and it's still there now. Someone told me from the mayor's office that it would be taken care of, and it still hasn't. Also, I'd like to address the area around Macduff, 529 specifically. There are about three churches that are there in that very area, and all of them are suffering blight. They've called, they've written, and they've asked that these areas be cleaned up, and they're not being cleaned up. So I'd like somebody who's a part of that committee to maybe speak with the mayor. We need to make something happen in those areas. Another area, real quickly, I'd like to address is the Citizens Review Board. We don't have one. If there's going to be trust restored between the public and JSO, we need a Citizens Review Board. Finally, collaboration between faith-based organizations, nonprofit organizations that are dealing with the youth and providing them with alternatives to deter them from crime and other things that affect their lives. My ministry, I am the founder and director of Spear Ministries International, LRC, and our focus is to work with young boys between the ages of 7 and 14, 14 and 17, and 18 and 25. We have found five foundational areas. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Next up is Nick Smith. My name is Nick Smith, and my address is on file. Good evening. My name is Nick Smith, and I operate a water and wastewater system at JEA. Let me tell you what that job actually involves, because I think it matters here. We're required to hold state certifications which take years to earn. We run treatment systems that protect public health every hour of every day. We troubleshoot equipment, maintain infrastructure, and respond when things go wrong, regardless of when that happens or what the conditions are outside. During the freeze, we were managing burst pipes and system stress citywide while most of Jacksonville was being told to stay inside. The question I'm bringing to this council is a simple one. What does JEA owe the people who do that work? We have been in contract negotiations for nearly a year. We have brought a proposal that is grounded in JEA's own internal compensation data, which shows a growing gap between what our members earn and what workers in other parts of the utility earn for work that overlaps significantly with ours. We have sat at that table and bargained seriously. We have not seen that the same in return. I am not here tonight because of anything else that is happening around JEA. My member situation existed before any of this and became— Sir, could you talk a little closer to the speaker there for the microphone? My member situation existed before any of this became news, and it will exist after. It stands entirely on its own. Experienced utility workers who feel undervalued make decisions that cost this city over time. I am asking this council to treat our contract situation as the public safety issue it is. Thank you. Thank you. Our last speaker is Amanda Breen—or, I apologize, we have two more, Amanda Breen and then Eric Stadola. Hi, good evening. My name is Amanda Breen, and my address is on file. I am here tonight to offer this city council a perspective that you might not hear often. I live in Jacksonville, and I pay my JEA bill every single month, and I also work for JEA, maintaining the infrastructure that bill pays for. I see this utility from both sides. As a ratepayer, I care about whether JEA has ran responsibility, and as a worker, I care about whether the people doing the essential work are being treated respectfully. And right now, I have concerns on both ends. JEA's own internal compensation data shows that water and wastewater workers have been falling behind the other similar positions within the utility for over years now. We brought that to the bargaining table, along with a proposal designed to address it. A modest raise, a yearly adjustment, nothing that should require a year's worth of negotiations and a complete standstill at this point to resolve. But here we are. The reason I am raising this tonight here with you all is that I do not think that most of Jacksonville's residents know what is happening. They know there's turbulence at JEA. They also know that, you know, they may not know that the workers responsible for their drinking and wastewater systems are sitting in a stall of negotiations that has been dragged on for a better part of a year. This council is asking hard questions about how JEA operates. I'm asking you to include this one question. How does JEA treat the people at the bottom of the org chart who do the work at the top of the priority list? Right now, the answer that's been given is not a good enough one. I thank you for listening. I hope you can consider our concerns. Thank you. Our last speaker, Eric Stodola. Hello. My name is Eric Stodola. I apologize. Ma'am, the last speaker, Councilwoman Jacoby Pittman, would like to talk to you in the Bob Johnson room if you could come on down. And then let's reset Mr. Stodola's clock here. Go ahead, sir. Sorry about that. Okay. Good evening. My name is Eric Stodola. I work in the water wastewater at JEA, and I will try to keep this short. The freeze hit Jacksonville hard earlier this year. My crew and I were out clearing calls for 10 straight days while the city was still thawing out. We did not talk about the contract while we were doing it. The job needed to get done, and we did it. When it was over, we went back to the bargaining table that has not moved in close to a year. JEA's own record documents that our wages have been falling behind other positions inside the utility. We have put a fair proposal on the table. We have shown up to and engaged seriously every time we have been asked to. And the talks are stuck. I'm here because I want the people on the council to know that's not because I expect a dramatic resolution tonight, but because 432 workers showed up for Jacksonville during the crisis and are now sitting in negotiation. That has gone nowhere, and I think that deserves to be said. Out loud in this room. We are not difficult people. We are not making unreasonable demands. We are asking to be paid fairly for the work that this city cannot function without. And that is the whole of it. I appreciate your time, and thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. President, we also had two cards that did not wish to speak. I'll read them into the record now. David Williams, negotiations with JEA are unfair and not in good faith and uninformed, and then Tabitha Byers, redlining, Neighborhood Bill of Rights, and CPAC. All right. Thank you, Mr. Floor Leader. And with that, it is now time for public hearings. Starting on page 11, council members should declare any ex parte communications, and anyone wishing to speak on the following bill should have completed a blue speaker card, and you will be allowed three minutes. You may state your address is on the record, but you're encouraged to be specific with your location, as that may impact the weight given to your comments. And like public comment, a speaker may be invited to the Bob Johnson room for further discussion at a council member's discretion. Mr. Thiel, please read the bills. 2026, 130, 131, 133, 134, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190, 207, 2026, 6, 7, 22, 23, 83, 84, 85, 86, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, and 129. These public hearings are all open. Items 19, 20, 21, and 22, 2026, 130, 131, 133, and 134 have no speaker cards. These public hearings are all closed. Item 23, 2026, 171, I have three speaker cards. Like public comment, please come on down. If I call your name, the first speaker will be Kelvin Lewis, followed by Thurman Young, followed by Darren Ezel. If I called any of those names, go ahead and just make your way to the podium, and whoever gets there first can speak. Just start off with your name and address, please. My name is Kelvin Lewis, 1329 North Market Street, Jacksonville, Florida, 32206. I'm the pastor of Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church at 1329 North Market Street. We are the church that is contiguous to the building at 1341 North Market Street that is seeking the variants. Mount Carmel is vehemently opposed to granting a variant for the selling of alcoholic beverages of any kind on that property. The vacant lot that is between the two buildings is also owned by the church, Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church, in which we are in the process of planning a dining hall addition to our church that is going to move the church building even closer to the property that wants to sell beer and wine. So again, we are vehemently opposed to it. And at the planning commission meeting, an agent for either the owner of the building or the business that operates in the property at 1341 represented to the planning commission that we approved such a request. And I'm here to state again that we made no such approval. Mount Carmel has been a church in that location since 1946. And in fact, this business, as well as the owner of the business, knew we were a church before they acquired this property. The church constantly has to deal with vagrancy, not to be too graphic, but we even have to deal with atrocities like vagrants defecating and urinating on the front porch of our church on a Sunday morning. So we're not interested in increasing the use or the access of alcoholic beverages by any means. So we are asking respectfully that this council deny the request that is made by either the occupants or the owners of 1341 North Market Street. And with that, I yield. Thank you, sir. Thurman Young. And then I believe this is Darren Ezell will be after Mr. Young. Good evening. My name is Thurman Young. My address is on file. I stand here to express my opposition to the requested zoning waiver that would reduce the minimum required distance between a liquor license establishment and a church or school from 500 to 60 feet. The existing 500 foot buffer serves an important purpose. It helps to protect the character, the safety, and the well-being of environments dedicated to education, worship, community development. Reducing that distance to just 60 feet significantly weakens that protection and increases the likelihood of negative impacts, including increased exposure of minors to alcohol-related activity, potential disturbances and conflicts with the intended use of these sensitive locations. Zoning standards are put in place to maintain a balance within the community. Granting this waiver would set a concerning precedence and undermine those standards. The proposed reduction is a drastic change that could have lasting consequences for nearby families, students, and congregations. And for these reasons, I stand here in opposition to granting that waiver. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next speaker, Darren Ezell. I apologize if I mispronounced that. Good evening. My name is Darvin Ezell, and my address is on file. I am a member of Mount Carmel Baptist Church. I'm also a member of the Board of Directors. With that said, anything that is official for Mount Carmel would need to come through the Board of Directors for approval. So, therefore, anything that's on file that's not signed by the Board of Directors is not valid. I would also like to say that when I first saw this request or petition, my first thought was that I should probably run for city council myself so that I would be one of the first to vote no on this petition. Times seem to have changed here recently. People used to love and respect the church, but now it seems as though they want to fight the church, make the church their enemy. Mount Carmel doesn't want to be the enemy to anyone. We just want to be the same Mount Carmel missionary Baptist church in historic Springfield and not the Baptist church that's next to the alcoholic beverage sales on Market Street. I would guess that probably many of you that are attending church, that your church is probably not within a thousand feet of alcohol sales, and you probably wouldn't like it and probably would be standing in my position right now to oppose it if it was to come to your church area. I would say this, a savvy business person developing a business plan would know that location is a priority for its profitability, and therefore, why would you want to move next to a church knowing what the restrictions and the current laws and regulations are regarding alcohol sales within that specific distance? Now that they're in that building, and they realize that they made a poor business decision, and now they want to play bully ball by trying to submit a position to change the rules and regulations. This petition also, or I understand that the current order indicates that this also affects schools as well. What do we want? We already have a problem with weapons in schools with kids, and now we're going to put alcohol sales within 60 feet of a school. What are we going to do? Have kids going to across the street for a six-pack for lunch and then come back and decide that the alcohol made them bring a weapon to school. I've asked that you vote no. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. Gentlemen, Council Member Peluso would like to talk to all three of you in the Bob Johnson room. I'm 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. That's 20, 26, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176. I have no speaker cards. These public hearings are closed. I'm 29, 20, 26, 0, 1, 7, 7. I have two speaker cards. The first is Tori Race and then also Ann Koch. And that's Tori Race and Ann Koch. Whoever gets to the podium first can start. Hello, my name is Tori Race. I'm at 1209 Norwich Road, Jacksonville 32207. I'm here to oppose the frontage variance and subdivision of the property at 4526 Mundy Road. We, as a neighborhood, have come together to fight this subdivision, from what I've heard just from sitting here for the past 90 minutes. Seems to be a theme between developers spreading out across the city, buying up property and land. And this is no different, in our opinion. We've been approached by a developer, along with a land use attorney, to subdivide the lot into three parts and then sell them, not into affordable housing, but into beautiful luxury homes. I have photos, if I'd like to hand them to the page, that illustrate our opposition when it comes to safety and specifically against the frontage variance that adds access to roadway and endangers the safety of the pedestrians that use our neighborhood. Our neighborhood currently has 36 children under the age of 16, and out of 57 homes only, the idea that there's a young child in each of those homes that is walking, biking, and scootering gives us great alarm for the developer that wants to add multiple roadways and car access to this small lot. They are asking for a full waiver, 144 feet down to zero, which would give them ability to do anything they want to the land. And also, they're unwilling to use the current driveway or visible roadway that's already there, again, visible in the photos that I can present to the council. We are deeply concerned about all of the children in our neighborhood that use this specific area for playing baseball, football, scootering, biking. Some of our council members, their children even access this road. My children, four children in my household specifically, three across the street, use this specific area that the developer would like to subdivide and increase traffic. And roadway access to every single day. It is truly disheartening the way they want to put the roadway in. And again, we believe as a neighborhood, it's unsafe. I have over 24 petitions signed from our neighborhood. Again, 24 out of 57 in the past two weeks. And I'm just here to firmly state our opposition and hope that you as a council can review the specific plans for our historical neighborhood and see why the proposed access that the builder would like to use for the three homes be denied. Thank you. Ann Kosh. Well, good evening. I'm trying to do a mic check. Can you hear me? Yes, ma'am. We can hear you. All right, good. My name is Ann Cook. And it is pronounced Cook. I am a recent resident of the Jacksonville area. I am at 4548 Mundy Drive. I am two driveways away from this proposed development. I've been listening and somewhat disheartened by this problem that Jacksonville is facing with developers. Along with what Tori has already said, we have a small community, 57, 59 homes, and we have a developer who wants to change, who has asked for a waiver to change our frontage requirement from 144 feet. And, well, they're changing it from 144 to zero, but we are already zoned in an RLD 90 zoning district. As we've talked with people about what we can do about this issue, we've been told you have to have facts, you have to have facts, you have to have facts. Well, I want to add something to the idea of having facts. Let's apply a little bit of common sense to what's going on here. Changing the frontage requirement in this instance opens up a precedent for multiple applications for waivers in our community. And as I've counted it, at least eight additional homes could go in besides the three that they're talking about. And my property is one of the ones where this could happen. I think that this is a dangerous precedent. I think that zoning and a comprehensive plan were made for this neighborhood for a reason, and that issuing waivers will erode the trust that our neighbors have in the local government if zoning appears to be optional. A variance should only be for a physical condition of the land and not for the subjective desire of an individual potential purchaser. Now, one other issue on my mind that has not come up yet about our neighborhood is that we have very narrow streets. We do not have a park the way other neighborhoods have in Jacksonville, and we do not have sidewalks. So that means that everyone is walking on the street. We have elderly people. My husband's on a walker. We have children. We have pets. Our street is very, very active. And with... Thank you, ma'am. Ma'am, Council Member Joe Carlucci would like to talk to you and the other speaker in the Bob Johnson room. So just move off to your left there and meet him in that room, please. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearings closed. I have 30, 31, 20, 26, 178, 179. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. I have 32, 20, 26, 180. I have two speaker cards. The first, Jamie Travis Leonard supports but does not wish to speak. The second, John Nooney, and he does wish to speak. Hello. I am John J. Nooney, Jacksonville City Council Resolution, 2023-0819. I'm in City Council District 4, CPAC Planning District 3, School Board District 3. And, okay, 2026-0180. Now, it's an ordinance appropriating $4.5 million from the Tree Protection Related Expense Trust Fund. And, you know, here's where I want to go with it. You know, I've been to the Tree Commission. I was there for a number of years, you know, when Dr. Salem was there, Vice President Miller, and now Councilman Arias. And I want to tie it in with this FWC, a play off the Fish and Wildlife Commission, fishing with Crady. You know, when you read this, you know, this is going to be in Neighborhoods and Finance, but not in Rules. I want to say there's over $20 million in this, $20 million. And so, fishing with Crady, you know, these are for tree planting, administered by the Department of Public Works on Public Property. What an unbelievable tourism bonanza. You know, remember that $35,000 was supposed to be the Duval contribution for the maintenance of that bridge. $35,000. The Nassau side is open. Do they have any trees? We're going to have, you could have the greatest tourism attraction, bar none, on this. And so, anyway, I would just, you know, fishing with Crady, you know, and, you know, fishing with citrus. Put a couple citrus trees out there. But, anyway, you know, as this goes through committing, and just think of that. You know, all of a sudden, I heard some of those speakers say that now, on the Nassau side, now the Duval County side, and the Fish and Wildlife Commission, the state of Florida, tourism, wow. Now, there's some, only down to 15 seconds. There's some other pieces of legislation. And I'll tell you, Councilman Arias, you know, get the jet ski ready, you know, and let's deliver some, and celebrate these trees. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. I'm 33, 34, 20, 26, 181, 182, no speaker cards. These public hearings are closed. I'm 35, 20, 26, 183, one speaker card. John Nooney does not wish to speak, but supports the bill. No more speaker cards. Public hearings are closed. I'm 36, 20, 26, 184, one speaker card. John Nooney, he does wish to speak. Hello. I am John J. Nooney. Jacksonville, City Council, District 4, CPAC 3, School Board District 3. You know, here we go. You know, this is an ordinance appropriating $120,000 in grant funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Right here, FWC, Fish and Wildlife Commission, Fishing with Crady. So here we have $120,000, you know, for an artificial reef. You know, 2009, $442,000 is the Artificial Reef Trust Fund, you know, created by ordinance. And, you know, we just also created 2026,0004, you know, which is another parks trust fund. And, you know, again, you know, fishing with Crady on this one, you know, again, when you look at the $35,000, and here we have $120,000, you know, the money's flowing everywhere. There's going to be another piece of legislation. There's a whole bunch of pieces of legislation that I'll be just talking to right here. But this appropriation, you know, don't get me wrong, you know, it's tourism. I support it. But at the same time, let's really just start, you know, realizing that that issue with fishing with the George Crady Bridge, Nassau and Duval, right now, it's going to become, it shouldn't be this hard. So, anyway, I'm just down to a minute. Support the legislation. Imagine a little reef underneath with the bridge. Okay. Thank you for listening. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. I'm 37-2026-185. I have no speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. I'm 38-2026-186. I have three speaker cards. Blake Harper, Kathleen Pereira, and Jamie Travis Leonard, please come on down. Jamie Travis Leonard does not wish to speak but supports this. So, Mr. Harper and Ms. Pereira, come on down. My name is Kathleen Pereira, and my information is on file. The least the citizens can do is extend mercy to the desperate mothers who find themselves that they cannot provide for their newborns. These suffering mothers should know that they will be able to bring their babies to the emergency shelters known as the baby boxes without judgment or punishment. This is the only option, rather than expecting these mothers to abandon their newborns to the elements, or worse, throw them in the trash. Please pass this bill. Thank you, Mr. Harper. Blake Harper, information on file. First of all, I want to apologize for not being prepared to have extensive comments on this today. I've just been too busy with this other nonsense I have to deal with. I want to thank Councilman Diamond for this bill that he's put up. He's got another one he's putting up. He documents, he demonstrates that he has a great value for the human life. We see unborn children and newly born children. I just, there's no respect for them anymore. That's where our culture has gone. I, there was a, saw a TV, a news report in the last week where this 17-year-old girl had a child in the bathroom and left the child to drown in the toilet. Um, I just hope and pray that you all will pass this unanimously. I hope and pray each one of you will get on board and co-sponsor this unanimously with, uh, Councilman Diamond. And I hope once, once you get this done, that you undertake a significant, a serious effort to share this with the city of Jacksonville, with the places where the, the, uh, women who are hopeless are. I also hope that you replace this around abortion clinics, because many times women have abortions because they see nothing, no way to, to, to, to deal with the situation. We have to save lives. We have to put more value on the unborn children. We have to put more value on our children. Our children are the future of the city. Our children are the future of the state and the future of this nation. We have to take this step. Please do the right thing and, and, uh, co-sponsor this every single one of you. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearings closed. I'm 39, 20, 26, one, 87, one speaker card. Jamie Travis Leonard does not wish to speak, supports this ordinance. Public hearings closed. I'm 40, 41, 42, 20, 26, one, eight, one, eight, nine, one, 90. I have no speaker cards. These public hearings are closed. I'm 43, 20, 26, two, oh, seven. I'm going to have three speaker cards, Sally Barnes, John Nooney, and Jamie Travis Leonard. Ms. Leonard does not wish to speak, but supports this ordinance. Ms. Barnes and John Nooney, come on down. Mr. Nooney, how about you go first? Hello. I am John Philanthropic, Jelly Roll, Good Boy, Resiliency Nooney, 83, 56, Baskin Road, Jacksonville, Florida, City Council, District 4, CPAC 3, School Board, District 3, 20, 24, 0, 1, 0, 7, that's JU, 20, 24, 0, 3, 2, 5, that's the University of Florida. This ordinance, 2026, 0, 2, 0, 7, I hope after this one, somebody will pardon me, but right now, we're going to appropriate $355,000 from the Jax Recreation Environmental Land Acquisition Fund, and we're going to be using that, six properties, and where I'm going with it. Again, FWC, Fish Wildlife Commission, Fishing with Crady, the George Crady Bridge, and the reason I'm speaking on this, you know, we're creating another park, and this one is going to be a passive park. Well, the George Crady Fishing Bridge is active recreation, and that is really what is needed throughout Duval County. We have, last City Council meeting, spoke on 2026-0024, which was Montcrieff Creek, over three acres, and we're fencing that one in. And again, dozens of examples that I can just, because when people say to me, Noonie, we're getting all this public access, I say, we're getting crushed. You know, so anyway, as far as this, you know, I'm just down to a minute, and, you know, again, when you just think of these numbers and the countless examples where, you know, Fishing with Crady, it was this $35,000 on the Duval side for not meeting our funding requirements for the maintenance. That's it. And so now you've got a padlock up there. So we've got millions with tree stuff. Now we've got, you've got all this. Mr. Noonie, you're drifting from the bill. Okay. Well, the Recreation and Environmental Land Acquisition Fund. You know what? How about some money for that? You know, to Fishing with Crady. But anyway, again, I don't know how much is left in that fund, but instead of passive, you know, let's, you know, FWC. Make it active. And so it's in Neighborhoods and Finance. Thank you. Next up, Ms. Sally Barnes. Hello again. My name is Sally Barnes. I'm here in support of that. There's a lot been said. I've just heard about this part that's coming up. With all development now and the cars and trucks on the road, any place that can get a kid out of the streets into a safe environment where they can play and be kids, I think it's a given. I've fished on that bridge before. But you got these trucks on the street now. They don't respect the traffic laws. They come to residential areas. They're speeding, all kind of stuff out there. These little kids at whatever park, they need a place to play. They need some place off the street instead of in the street that can get hit. Some of these kids don't have parents that govern their kids. They let these little kids wander off anywhere. But if there's a safe place to play, a park where these kids can go and play and have fun, anyone that wants to go to a park and have fun, I'm asking you to pass this because we need more of that. We got too much traffic as it is. We got too many people driving, looking at their phones, and these kids waiting at a bus stop to go to school or waiting out in the afternoons, running around with no place to play, a park. I say it's welcome anytime. I don't drink. I don't do drugs. I don't do any. My alcohol is a caffeine-free Coke. But these people, I've seen them on trucks with their cell phones like this, pulling truck trailers down a residential area. They come down, the police get them on one area, they go up to another area and come down another residential street to get where they're going. We got speeders on the street. These little kids stand by my house at a bus stop. They playing out there. These cars come speeding by. That's not going to stop that. Well, where can they play if they don't have a park to go through? I'm asking you, if you would, pass this, not just for me or whomever, but for the young people that deserve a nice and safe place to play, or just to go look and be with their friends out there off the street where all these crazy people are. Thank you. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearings closed. It's now time for public hearings on land use amendments and certain companion rezoning, starting with item 44-2026-0006. I have seven speaker cards for this, so if you're here to speak on this bill, go ahead and come on down. Dragon Beloit, James Matchett, Samantha Ceres, Wells Todd, Bobby O'Connor, and then I have two do not wish to speak, Leo Dawson and Jamie Travis Leonard. They both oppose this legislation. So I see Ms. Ceres. How about you come first, Ms. Ceres? Samantha Ceres, address on file. I'm just here to say that I do oppose this proposed small-scale amendment to the flume series of the 2045 comp plan. This area is more of a rural-designated area. I think it should stay in the LDR. I believe the developer that is attempting to purchase this land can make enough money with an LDR zone. You know, many of the people are against this in this neighborhood, and I know this is going to be continued to April 14th, but I will not be here. So that's why I wanted to come and talk to you that, you know, they do oppose it. I oppose it. I think we need to keep some of the rural land rural. You know, it's supposed to be diverse, and if we only have high-density areas, that's not diverse. You are just making it high-density. So I think it's important that we do keep some areas available for people who want to purchase more land rather than a small lot. Thank you. Thank you. Is James Matchett out there still? Okay. He opposes this. Wells Todd also opposes. Bobby O'Connor also opposes. And Dragon Beloit also opposes. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing is continued until 4-14-26. We're now on page 19. I'm 45-20-26-0007. I have the same, I believe the same, seven speaker cards, so I'll go ahead and read them. Wells Todd, Samantha Ceres, James Matchett, Bobby O'Connor, Dragon Beloit. Do wish to speak, and then Leo Dawson and Jamie Travis Leonard, oppose, but do not wish to speak. Ms. Ceres, did you want to speak again on this one? Go ahead. Just real quick. Samantha Ceres, address on file. I know this is for the rezoning part, so I just wanted to speak to that for the PUD. They are attempting to do 30-foot and 40-foot lots. We don't have an updated site plan, but the original site plan was 30-foot lots, 89 units in nine acres. That's tight. So they did agree to possibly do some 40-foot lots, maybe add like a little lot of green space, but at this point it's still not compatible. If you look on the Jacksonville property appraiser, the closest and the most, like the vicinity of this area, this nine acres, the smallest lot, according to the Jacksonville property appraiser, is 0.1 acres. That's 66 feet. The residents of that area said that they would agree to 60-foot lots because obviously that would cut this in half, the amount of units allowed, so if you look, it does not match the area to have a PUD for 30-foot, 40-foot lots. It's just not compatible, and even the planning department recommended to deny this, and they rarely recommend things to be denied, so I think it's important that we kind of look at that, and the fact that these 30-foot, 40-foot lots do not comply with the area, and it is important that we take an interest in making sure that we keep these areas the way that they're supposed to be zoned and the way that they should be developed in a responsible manner rather than just trying to stuff people in there and then charge people $300,000 to $350,000 for these properties, and we all know what's going to happen is they're not going to sell, and then a corporation is going to start managing them and put them for rent. So the residents do not agree with this, and if the developer would do 60-foot lots, they would have agreed to that, so it's important that we look at the exact area, and the property appraiser, you can look on there yourself. The smallest lot around is 0.1 acres, and that's 66 feet, so I think we should do something that's compatible with that. Thank you. Thank you. I do not see these speakers. I'm going to read them one more time. James Matchett opposes, Bobby O'Connor opposes, Dragon Beloit opposes, Wells Todd opposes. Are any of those names I read here okay? I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing will be continued until 4-14-26. Moving on to items 46 and 47. That's 20-26, 22, and 23. I have no speaker cards. These public hearings will be continued until 4-14-26. I have 48-20-26-83. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. 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. 16 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 20-26-0083. I have 49-20-26-84. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. I move the bill. Your motion second on the bill. I've got Council Vice President Howland. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to declare ex-parte communications. I spoke with Mr. Zach Miller yesterday by phone, and we'll make sure it's filed with legislative services. Great to see Eagle, LNG, moving forward. Thanks. All right. Thank you. Council Member Gay. Thank you, Mr. President. I need to declare ex-parte communication. I had a discussion with Zach Miller on 3-17 in regards to this bill, and it's been filed with legislative services. Thank you, Council Member. No one else is in the queue. The bill has been properly moved and seconded. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 17 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 20-26-0084. Item 50, 20-26-85. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. Do 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, say nay. The amendment carries. Do the bill as amended. Got a motion and second on the bill as amended. Still no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 17 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you have approved 20-26-0085. Item 51, 20-26-86. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. Do the amendment. Got a motion and second on the amendment. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. I'm sorry. Ms. Clark-Murray, you're recognized? All right. I'm going to go ahead and announce that the amendment passed. You are recognized. I rise to declare ex parte on March 17th. I spoke with Mr. Hertzberg regarding this particular bill, 20-26-0086. We met here at City Hall during LUZ. We discussed why the applicant was rezoning from PBF-2 to RLD-60. And Mr. Hertzberg explained that the owner wanted to sell the single family home separately from the church and school, and the appropriate paperwork has been filed with legislative services. All right. Thank you for that. The bill has 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. 17 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you will approve 20-26-0086. Item 52, 20-26-122. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. Additional public hearing will be 4-14-26. Item 53, 20-26-123. I have two speaker cards. The first is Jamie Travis Leonard. I do not. Oh, yes, she is still here. Go ahead, Ms. Leonard. Good evening. Oh, God. Every time. Good evening, City Council members. My name is Jamie Travis Leonard. I oppose 26-123 as it currently is. I agree with North CPAC's objection to the lot sizes. Quote, the small lots do not lend themselves well to a family dwelling in terms of space for activities. Mobile homes or trailers, for those of us who have lived in them, can be an affordable option for consideration as long as they are handled with care and within the community. So, I support building a mobile home park in this area. I don't support the current proposal size because I think it is not adequately providing the necessary space for a well-planned, well-loved home in an area. And I've come up here several times to talk to you about affordable housing. So, this would be a project that generally I would support because mobile homes do tend to be more affordable. They tend to be more accessible for lower-income families. But you need to build them right and you need to build them to be homes, not a quick cash grab for the trailer park management. And I say trailer park because I lived in one and that is not an insult. We like to have a negative connotation sometimes of mobile home parks and I won't stand for that. All right? We have a lot of people who live in similar style homes. Okay? Single wide, double wide, modular. Take your pick. I've lived in all of them. So, I would like, which I know this has now been continued because you've added another public hearing, but I would like to see this proposal adjusted so that we are adequately serving the community and the hopeful future residents in this area by giving them adequate lot sizes and appropriate homes for their families so they can enjoy what the rest of us have, especially you on this dais, which is a comfortable home to live in and come home from and come home to. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be... Ma'am, Ms. Litter, I'm sorry. Can you say your address? You didn't say it this time. You can just say your address or it's on file. Oh, my address is on file. I thought I did it. My apologies. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards. All right. Our additional public hearing will be 4-14-26, and that one was closed. Item 54, 20-26, 124. I have two speaker cards. Samantha Series does not wish to speak, opposes, and Jamie Travis Leonard does not wish to speak, opposes. Public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be 4-14-26. Item 55, 56, and 57. 20-26, 125, 126, and 127. I have no speaker cards. These public hearings are closed with additional public hearings on 4-14-26. Item 58, 20-26, 120. I have two speaker cards. Samantha Series does not wish to speak, but opposes, and Jamie Travis Leonard does not wish to speak, but opposes. No other speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be 4-14-26. Item 59, 20-26, 129. No speaker cards. Public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be 4-14-26. We already took up third reading resolutions at the beginning of the meeting, so we're going to start on page 25 with third reading ordinances. Our first is item 63, 20-26, 136. I move the amendment. I've got a motion second on the amendment. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. I've got a motion second on the bill as amended. There's no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you've approved 2026-0136. Item 64, 20-26, 137. Move the amendment. I've got a motion second on the amendment. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. I've got a motion second on the bill as amended. There's no one in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. Would you like to be recognized? All right. Councilmember Johnson, you're recognized. 18 yays, 0 nays. Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to speak to this bill simply because while I did vote for the bill, I wanted it to be understood. I appreciate the sentiment. But I just, and this is something I said in committee as well, I just want to make sure that we are ensuring, I have a belief in our committee chairs and also this process. And so I just wanted to make sure that I put it on record that while I understand the stringent nature of what this is, I do think there should be some flexibility. All of us knows of the life circumstances that happens, and I just didn't want it to be in such a tough place where there's no flexibility for these committee chairs. So I do thank the sponsor for putting this bill forward. I did vote for it, but I also want to make sure that we are doing our part to understand that life does happen. Thank you, Mr. President. All right. Thank you. And I need to call it out. Where are we at? I believe you need to announce the vote. All right. By your action, you've approved 2026-0137. I'm 65, 2026-138. Mr. President, please recognize Councilwoman Pittman. Councilwoman Pittman, you're recognized. Mr. President, I'd just like to say I would like to abstain from this bill because Clara White Mission may apply for this special category for the homeless population. So the bill has been filed. Thank you. All right. That is noted. Council Member Boylan, would you like to speak on the amendment or after the amendment on the bill? On the amendment. Council Member Boylan, you're recognized. I move the amendment. We've got a motion second on the amendment. Council Member Boylan, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I stand in opposition to the amendment. I'm going to take you back a little bit of history for all of us and why I'm doing so. As you recall, last year, the mayor's office proposed $7.2 million for PSG grants. We, as a council, shaved $200,000 off of that to put into the micro-grant program, a program that didn't exist at the time. During the course of six months thereafter, the PSG has been working diligently. I gave you all a copy of it to take a look at, of developing the micro-grant program. And when they were ready to bring it to bear and open it up and get the ball rolling on it, they were asked to pause it by the administration due to the fact that we just picked up on the CBA and the workload was a little more than they could handle. What the council would like to see happen is they fully anticipate, as you can see in the timeline there, they fully anticipate their opportunity, sometimes in July or August, to take up the micro-grant program again. And by doing so, then I've got a bill that's pending that's going to be used as a carryover to take that $200,000 and move the micro-grant program into next year. I say all that because we want to make certain that we have as much money available for the PSG grant program. This past year, in the prevention category of the 33 requests, 18 of them were only fulfilled. And nine of those individuals that were not fulfilled in terms of any kind of funding had scores of 90 or higher. There were 101 applications in total, representing $11.3 million against the $7 million. And so my concern by, and my request that you vote down on the amendment is so that we recognize the fact we're going to continue the micro-grant program with funding from this year into next year. So we can take that $200,000 and apply it towards the PSG programs as we intended to do all along. And that, and the year after that, the commitment on the part of the PSG council is to continue with the micro-grant program thereafter. So I'm encouraging you to vote down this, the amendment offered by the Rules Committee to keep it at 35, 35, and 30 so that we can move forward with the PSG or the micro-grant program, but just use funding from this year to do that, and then come back in a year thereafter and then put the percentage in as we recommended in the Rules Committee on this past week. Hope I make sure, I hope I made that clear, and I appreciate your support in voting down this amendment and let the recommendation of the PSG council stand. Thank you, Mr. President. All right, thank you. Pastor President Freeman, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. And I was hoping I would not have to speak at all on this issue. I think we've belabored it enough in committee, and I want to thank the committee, the Finance Committee, for the good work they did on this bill, and I want to thank the Rules Committee as well. Let me just be sure that everybody understands what the amendment is. Was the amendment explained? Because I know there's some members sitting around this dais that may not have heard it. So I want to make sure that we understand the amendment that is before us right now. So, Mr. President, through the President to Mr. Popolis, can you please share what the amendment is? Yes, through the President to the council. So the amendment would revise the bill to now include the micro-grant category as a fourth category to be funded in the next fiscal year's budget. It provides that the percentages of funding for each of the categories would be as follows. Acute would go from 30% to 29%, as 30% was originally proposed. Prevention and diversion would go from 35% to 34%, and self-sufficiency and stability would go from 35% to 34%, so that 3% could go to the micro-grant program. All right. Thank you. And usually, if everyone hasn't heard of the amendment, it would be announced. So I know it went through my time. So all I want to simply say is this, and I just want to speak truth. Category D has always existed since this body took that action based on legislation that I championed many years ago. So when you hear that it did not exist, that's simply not true. Here's another fact. Here's another fact. Category D is a part of public service grants. So when you hear that we're taking from public service grants, how can you take from something that it's still a part of? So it's semantics. It's a play on words. And as I've shared with many folks, the ultimate goal in the end is we want to help people. Simple as that. Now, to me, it's a bit challenging that in one of the efforts that we put forth as a body, something that I led to help people when the trust was given to the administration. Remember, we do policy. They execute. We can't force them to execute. When we send money to PSG, we can't force PSG to execute. But we sure can on our side. And I will simply say, when it was sent over the first time, they didn't execute what was sent over. What was $200,000 turned into a several hundred thousand dollar project. What was sent over the second time that we fought for and money's left over, we fought for it as a council, not the PSG council. We did, led by my actions. It was said that it was not going to be done in this year. That's fine. We brought the money back. And now what the finance committee did was ensure that they have backfill by just maneuvering numbers, massaging numbers by 1% to get to that 3% that we got to last year. I think it's good legislation. And I thank you. And I'd ask for you to support the amendment. Thank you, Mr. Past President. We have Mr. Councilmember Lehnen. Thank you, Mr. President. I threw to the President, Ms. Tafopoulos. I was not at committee last week. I thought I followed the amendment. Correct me if I'm wrong. We simply, we're not impacting the total budget dollar amount for the PSG. We simply took 1% off the three categories and 3% now is category, I can't remember if it's category D or item four, whatever it is, it's the micro-grant program will now be 3% of the total bucket of money. Is that correct? Through the Council President to Councilmember Lehnen, yes, that is correct. Whatever the total appropriation is to the public service grants program in total, 3% of that would be for the micro-grant category. Thank you. All right, Councilmember Peluso. Thank you, Mr. President. And to the President, is there anyone from grants that can maybe speak to whether or not this is going to be onerous on the grants office? If that's going to be something that is going to be a problem with this new program, not to mention if PSG didn't ask for it, I do kind of feel like, I know that we have the right to kind of jump in, but I still want to give them their leeway. Go ahead, please. If you don't mind, Mr. President. Yeah, we're still on the amendment, so speak to the amendment. Barabelle Figueroa, Grants and Contract Compliance Division. As Chief of Grants, I am opposed to this amendment. The PSG Council members have clearly voiced that they are opposed to this amendment. The reason that they did not include a Category D this year were for two reasons. One was because it was and continues to be their intention to implement the micro-grant program. Because of the timeline involved for that and the delay of a few months, it will go into next year. So it is not something they intended to ask for more money for next year. The second reason was because they did not want funds taken from PSG. Councilman Freeman had made a commitment to them that this would be zero-based as a Category D the two or three years that it was listed or created as a Category D, and that funding would not be taken from the public service grants. Unfortunately, that occurred in the fiscal year we're in now. The PSG Council did not want that to occur again, which is why they made a conscious decision to eliminate that, but their intent was not to discontinue the micro-grant program. I appreciate that. Through the President. So my next question is, how much would some of these grants go for? What's the Garden Variety grant for a micro-grant? Through the Chair, Councilman Peluso, are you referring to the micro-grants? Yes, for micro-grants. Michael, $20,000, so the $200,000 that we currently have will be 10 grants, maximum is $20,000 each. They would be with small nonprofits, which take a considerable amount of time, probably double of the amount of time to manage because of that. And because of time, I just want to make, so to the body, it's my understanding that didn't we make sure recently that we had an amendment on one of our prior grants saying that we wouldn't go beyond, or we would only allow for grants up at a minimum of $25,000. It was my understanding that we wanted to make sure that we weren't going to overburden grants with a ton of smaller grants that are really hard to kind of administer. And so I believe that was a policy decision that we made in the past. It's my understanding that if this amendment is going to go through, it's going to then overwrite that policy decision that we made a couple months ago. Sounds to me like we should vote down this amendment. If it's not what's required or asked for, then I think the bill's fine as it is. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to recognize Ms. Tafopoulos to make sure that we are factual with our discussion. Through the president to the Council Member Pelluso, I believe under the code provision that you're referring to with respect to the minimum of $25,000 was for direct appropriations. So that doesn't apply to the competitively bid grant processes that are undertaken by PSG and the other competitive grant programs. Thank you, Mr. Tafopoulos, for the clarity. Next, we have past president Matt Carlucci. Seems to be a lot of mutual understanding about this. I have to tell you, when I first came back on the Council in 2019, I spent a lot of time with PSG, and I learned one thing, to follow the lead of the PSG Council. And if they don't want this amendment and they have built a consensus on that, then I'm not going to support the amendment. I'm going to support the direction that they want to go. And I think that's the way that we should go, because they are the ones that deal with it. They're the ones that have to divvy the money up and make the tough decisions. So I would urge you to follow the direction of the PSG grant and the Council and the committee. And I thank you for taking her advice. Thank you for coming up and sharing that with us. All right, next, we have Council Member Ares. All right, thank you, Mr. President. So this conversation came up during the Finance Committee last week, obviously. And here's my takeaway on this. When we had this conversation during our actual budget process, we went into this fully funding PSG, keeping it the same as last year. The difference was we peeled off $200,000 during budget hearings specifically for Category D. All right? We had this intention from the start. Now, I heard from Ms. Figueroa that the intention was to get it done, but they couldn't get it done. We did our part. We're waiting on them to do their part. Simple as that. So there's nothing crazy happening here except for us just wanting what we committed to about six, seven months ago. The reason why this amendment came about was because, like I said, this is something that we promised our community, our city, that we will take care of microgrants. It's $200,000. How much manpower does it take to fund $200,000 in PSG from $7.2 million? Now, I get it. It might be a little bit overbearing from the staffing point part of view. But at the end of the day, it's $200,000. We did our part during the budget process. We peeled off $200,000 specifically for this. And now we're saying, let's take it back. No. I want to say, let's keep the amendment as it is. Let's vote this up and move forward next year. Thank you. All right. Council Member Diamond. Thank you, Mr. President. I wasn't going to get up on this one, but this is ridiculous. Absolutely 100% ridiculous. It's the job of the city council to write policy and to decide what money we're going to spend, right? That's what the city council has done, right? The administration is saying this is hard. Yeah, life is hard. But the reason we have microgrants is because big nonprofits with big staffs come in and they gobble up all the money and it's really hard for smaller groups to get it. That's the entire purpose behind the microgrants. I personally oppose the entire thing and I'm voting against it because I think it's not the right use of city resources. But if you're going to do it and you all said you wanted to do it and passed a budget saying you're going to do it, they don't get to get up here and whine and say, I don't want to do it. Sorry. That's the job. You just do it. All right. We're going to go back through speakers that are in the queue for the second time. Council Member Freeman for the second time. We'll do two minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. One, I want to say I love dogs. And so I will continue to support that. Two, I would like to say through the body to one of my colleagues when they had a passion project with affordable housing and monies had somehow disappeared, how grateful they were that someone on this body helped them find the money. I'm in no different of a situation. I created this $200,000. It was supposed to be an incubator. It turned into what was supposed to be 10 organizations at $20,000 or 20 at 10. It turned into eight organizations over a four-year window and almost a half million dollars. That was not what we agreed to. This second tranche of money was going to do coding. They were going to do a dashboard for the city. And particularly the kids that met and took a picture with the mayor standing right out there in the atrium coding. They said they weren't going to do it. Now, does it have something to do with the 2% flat reduction from Doge? Maybe. Does that $200,000 somewhat miraculously add up to that gap that they would have to fill? Maybe. But does that mean that we should make the people suffer? No. So let me tell you the solution. I called JSEP. I said, do you all have the capacity to put $200,000 out for small businesses and small business owners to do the work in the city? We know that small businesses are the backbone of every thriving city. 85% of businesses are over. And they said yes, without a doubt. So this money that they're talking about, instead of it waiting five or six months, they're going to get another $200,000 because of the great work of finance. But instead of waiting five or six months, JSEP said they will have it done. And on the bill that we wrote for it, it's going to have to be done in this year, in this budget cycle. So I'll close. I ask for you to support it. It's very simple math here. Thank you. All right. I'm not sure if my queue was cleared or if some of the members do not wish to speak for the second time. Mr. Borland, did you wish to speak again? Yes. Okay, yeah, you're not on the queue anymore, but you are recognized for two minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. I, let me be clear. The PSG Council has every, has every intention of supporting the micro-grant program. This particular situation is the $200,000 had to be, the program, once they had to develop the program, had to put it on pause. And so all they're asking is, in the coming year, that we keep the entire $7.2 million in the PSG traditional programs, A, B, and C, and then the subsequent year, we'll be gladly to put it back in. Why? Because this money for this year, I'm going to introduce a bill to carry it over into next year. So they are looking forward to managing and executing the micro-grant program in the coming year, but just using this year's dollars to do it. Pure and simple. Pure and simple. That's all it is. By forcing another 3% on top of them to do that, doubles that number and doubles that opportunity. So all they're saying, hey, we want to do this, give us one year to take care of this year's obligations, and then in the subsequent year, 27, 28, to put the 3% back in at that point in time. That's all we're asking to do. They don't, they want to do the program. They worked very hard for, what, 30 hours in developing the criteria for this program. So their interest and investment in doing it is there. And they love the program. They just want to make sure they don't lose that $200,000 next year and find themselves in a similar situation. They're going to have to look forward to carry it over to the following year. Thank you, Mr. President. All right. Thank you. My cue is doing gymnastics over here. So, okay, there, we're back on. I'm going to hold on, Mr. Paluzzo, for the second time. I believe I have two members in for the first time. Council Member Clark Murray, followed by Dr. Johnson, and then we'll go to Mr. Paluzzo over the second time. So four minutes. Thank you. I won't need, like, three minutes. Just trying to get some clarity. So I've understood Council Member Arias' position. I understood what he explained, which made a lot of sense to me. And then Council Member Freeman. Then I understood what Council Member Boylan said. Just confused me a little bit there. So I need a little bit more clarity. So you have $7.2 million in the fund for PSG. And you want to, the amendment is to remove $200,000 from, or to use $200,000 of PSG dollars. Okay. Go ahead and help me then. Help me. Because I, through the chair, she's going to explain a little more. Thank you. Through the chair, the Councilwoman Clark Murray, there's two things that are being confused. There's two pots of $200,000. Okay. The current fiscal year, 2026, they're already, their request was $7.2 million that the administration put in the budget for public service grants. During the finance hearings, during the budget hearings, the Council decided to take $200,000 from that and move it to Category D. There was a Category D, it was zero-based, as it had always been zero-based from the three years that it has been in existence. The amendment that is before you is for fiscal year 2027, where the proposal on the amendment is to do the same thing, and basically carve 1% of each of the three categories for public service grants, whatever the administration brings forth and is approved for public service grants, 3% of that would be another pot of $200,000. So in total- If the administration puts 7.2, right now we don't know what the administration's going to put in the budget. Okay. So now we're talking about, through the president, too, we're talking about this fiscal year, the next fiscal year, and then we're talking about an additional pot of money being moved from the previous, from the next fiscal year being removed. Through the chair to Councilwoman Clark-Murray, so there is no proposal in this amendment to move any money. The only thing that I am aware of where money is being proposed to be moved, I believe I just saw that an item is introduced in your agenda towards the end, where Councilman Freeman put in legislation, filed legislation to take the $200,000 from fiscal year 26 and give it to JSEP. That's the only movement, but that has nothing to do with this amendment. This amendment is for fiscal year 2027. We're asking, obviously, that there is no movement in the $200,000 we currently have, because that is going to be utilized. All right. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you. I have heard a lot of side chatter between everyone up here, so I'd like to take a point of personal privilege to recognize the auditor, and maybe you could straighten us out. Are you following? Because there seems to be a lot of confusion. Through the president to the council. So this bill deals only with the requested funding for 26-27 budget. It's the allocation of percentage of whatever gets approved by council, submitted by the mayor, that would allocate that funding on a percentage basis to the four categories. That's all that this bill does. The $200,000 that's in this year's bill is actually a totally different discussion on another issue related to the 25-26 funding, but this bill is forward-looking to next budget. Thank you for the clarification. Dr. Johnson, for the first time. Thank you, Mr. President. Like Councilmember Clark Murray, I, too, am a little bit confused and concerned, because it's like all this hyperbole all over the place. Let me ask, through the president, to Councilman Boylan, why are you doing – you just said, and I've jotted down, that you are going to introduce a bill to carry over funds to the next fiscal year, but why weren't they spent, or why will they not be spent? Why would you need to do that? That's what's a little confusing for me with this process, because I certainly understand what Councilmember Freeman was saying about why this was instituted, and we started this conversation when I was on the Rules Committee. Yes, you can respond. Thank you. Through the chair, Ms. Councilmember Johnson, the rationale was that it took about five to six months for the PSG Council to come up with the criteria for the micro-grant program. It was a brand-new program. They took a lot of time to vet it to make a determination as to what to do. At the point in time they were ready to kick off the program, the administration asked them to pause it because of the CBA and other responsibilities that they had. So my goal is, ultimately, is to take the $200,000, keep it where it is, but carry over the use of it until next fiscal year. That's why I don't see the need for the 3% next fiscal year's budget, because they're going to be using this year's money in the implementation of that program in next year. I hope that helps. Thank you, Councilmember. It does. And that, again, brings up more questions, because the intent was to help smaller nonprofits. Then there should be, if this money's going to be carried over, there should still be additional funds for next year. You don't just put the money that was for this year and says, oh, well, we're not going to give to it. We're going to give that money for next year. That's not what we're doing. We're not doing that. The question I have through the President, to the Grants Department, could you help me understand why it took six months to develop this criteria? That's a major problem for me. Through the Chair, or Mr. President, to Councilman Johnson, the MVP Committee of the Public Service Grants Council spent a considerable amount of time to make sure that they do this right. This was actually modeled. Initially, obviously, Councilman Freeman had the idea and the 10 grants at $20,000, so there were definitely elements there that were kept. However, this particular program that the Public Service Grant Council adopted and created was modeled after the safety and crime reduction. Safety and crime reduction, as you are aware, had some areas where there needed to be considerable improvement to be able to help these small nonprofits. So they took their time to make sure they understood where there were some areas that needed to be improved to make sure that this covered that. The week that the CBA issue was transferred to us was actually the week that Councilman Boylan was actively working with OGC to draft the legislation because the approved 200,000 did not have the criteria that would align with what the PSG Council did. And the same resource that was going to manage the micro-grant program is the same resource that I had to basically pull to do CBA work right now. Madam Chief, with all due respect to the President, I also have to walk and chew gum at the same time. I get it. We need to be able to do multiple things. I know I have to juggle many balls with what we do here on this Council. I don't think that's a valid point, and it should not have taken six months if I had done that. That's why when I walked into safety and crime reduction, I had to make some changes, which is why we ended up sunsetting it so that it could be proper. But we learned from that lesson, and that should have been a paradigm to move things forward. I have one final question. I know I'm running up on time. Mr. President, please, if you'll indulge me. I need to know if this, and this I'm assuming maybe to the auditor, if this amendment is voted up, does that mean that the PSG will get the funds from this year and next year? And then if it's voted down, does that mean they will only get the funds this year? Can you help me understand that? I'll let him answer the question, but yes, that's your time. Go ahead and answer the question for him, if you would. Philip. Through the President to Council Member Johnson, if this amendment is voted up, all that it does is lay out the percentages for funding that is part of the 26-27 budget. If this amendment is voted down, it just lays out the percentages for the 26-27 budget. The funding already is at PSG for 25-26. All right. Thank you. I think I have one here that is a first-timer, Dr. Salem, past president. You're recognized. I have sat here very quietly on my birthday, but I can't do it anymore because I've heard some things that bother me. We are the policy body. We are the policy body. We, in the budget process, put $200,000 into this program, okay? It bothers me that the administration has decided because of the CBAs, we're going to pull these people over, and they've slow-walked his $200,000 program. If we let this happen, if we let this happen, what's next? What is next, where they decide, the finance committee and the council voted on this, but we don't particularly like it, so we're not going to put staff to make that happen, and so be it. That's a bad precedent. It's a terrible precedent. So, for those reasons, and I agree with my colleague, Dr. Johnson, he is right on on this one. I don't always say that, but he is right on on this one. We need to vote up this amendment and move forward with this, and I hope we can do it soon. Thank you. All right. We're back to second time. Council Member Peluso for the second time. Two minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. I mean, I think I'm a little flabbergasted by some of this. We have a chief of department coming up telling us the difficulties of this program. If we had the sheriff here, if we had the fire chief here, if we had anyone like that come in here and say, guys, I don't have the means to do this. I don't have the means to do this. We would recognize that and say, all right, well, we as the policy body need to make sure that we are aligning correctly. With what senior leadership is asking of us. This is not a crazy thing. I'll tell you, I would love to see this program move forward. And it sounds like it's going to anyway in the future, regardless. But, yes, the CBA is going to add a massive burden on the grants department. And I want to make sure that the CBA is very, very successful. Because I'm very concerned that with it being now embedded within the city, it's going to be very onerous on our staff. Let's make sure we are doing this correctly. And, yes, I understand that the $25,000 limit was from direct appropriations through the process. But I think that the intention, based on conversations during that time, was that the grants department cannot handle smaller grants. Now we're asking them to do that. It just seems odd to me. It seems like we're backpedaling on policy decisions that we made in the past. I'm just saying, like, at the end of the day, you know, I want to make sure that these things can get executed and executed correctly and fairly. We've seen the OIG go after some of these small-dollar grants in the past, right? We've seen accountability issues. Let us trust our staff. Trust your staff. There they are. Vote this down. All right. For the first time, Council Member Amaro joining the party. I'd like to call the questions, sir. All right. Questions been called. We're still on the amendment. Can we call questions on amendments? We can, right? All right. All in favor, calling the questions, signified by, or, okay, throw your hands up. All right. The question's been called now by a hand vote. All in favor of the amendment. Raise your hand. The amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. Got a motion. Second on the bill as amended. Can we clear out the queue and see if anyone still wishes to chime in? No one's in the queue. Open the bell and record your vote. 16 yays, 1 nay, 1 abstention. By your action, you will approve 2026-0138 as amended. I'm 66-2026-139. I move the amendment. Got a motion. Second on the amendment. There's no one in the queue. All in favor of the amendment. Signify by saying aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed say nay. The amendment carries. I move the bill as amended. Got a motion and second on the bill as amended. Council Member Peluso. Thank you, Mr. President. I stand in opposition to this bill, not because I think that it's a bad bill overall, but I just I really want to make sure that we're walking hand in hand with the HIC, right? We want to make sure that like I understand the intention of this is to make sure that dollars are being accounted for correctly. I think we should make sure we have an appropriate process for how the HIC spends dollars and how it comes to us. So I'd prefer that we just sit down and create a new process entirely. But saying anything over $100,000 needs to come to us, I think that's just going to open up the door for some crazy number pushing. I'd prefer we re-look at the process for how they get dollars, spend dollars, and come to us. That makes more sense to me than just sort of adding this $100,000 hoop to jump over. I think the process needs fixing more than just this extra criteria. So I am voting it no. I'm voting it down. However, I understand the intention and I respect it. I just think there's more to this. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Council Member Arias to recognize. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm sorry. Mr. Peluso, but I actually got to go against you on this one because I think this is critical for us as a body to understand what HIC is doing. A lot of us don't have the pleasure to be the liaison like you are. I've attended a few of the meetings, but at the end of the day, they're doing great work. And this bill by Council Member Miller, I think it's a great bill because not only does it protect taxpayer dollars, but also it brings a light of awareness to all of us as to what they're doing. I met with the administration today as to how they plan on using those dollars in the near future. I'm definitely on board for that. So I think, once again, this is just a great bill. It's mainly just to educate us. So nothing really wrong with this bill. And I urge you guys to support it. Thank you. All right. Council Member Joe Carlucci. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, I rise to support the bill. I mean, I don't think we really know what the process looks like at this point because we haven't gotten anything from the HIC. So I think $100,000 is a reasonable number. And look, if it needs to move up or down, I think we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But for now, I think $100,000 is sort of a reasonable number. Anything above that, I think this council would kind of want oversight on that type of figure. So for now, I'm supportive of it. But I'm also open in the future if there's a process change that needs to happen. So thank you, Mr. President. All right. Thank you. No one else is in the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yays, two nays. By your action, you approve 2026-0139. I'm going to go ahead and pass the chair over to the vice president for the next bill. Item 6-7, 2026-142. Council vice president, please recognize the council president. Mr. President, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. I rise simply out of an abundance of caution to abstain on this piece of legislation. It doesn't directly affect my organization that I work for, but I do work for the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Florida. We have in the past been awarded dollars to the Opioid Grant Prevention Program, so I just want to abstain out of caution just so my vote doesn't in any way, shape, or form affect any of these dollars that may end up with my organization. Thank you. I move the amendment. We have a motion and a second on the amendment. Seeing nobody in the queue, we'll take this vote verbally. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no. The amendment passes. The bill as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 17 yays, one abstention. By your action, you have approved 2026-0142. Thank you, Mr. Vice President, for the pinch hit. I'm 68-2026-143. I move the amendment. Got a motion and a second on the amendment. All in favor of the amendment, second by by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The amendment carries. Got a motion and a second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0143. Item 69-2026-144. I move the bill. Got a motion and a second on the bill. No one is in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yays, two nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0144. Item 70, a big birthday milestone. 2026-145. I move the amendment. We've got a motion and a second on the amendment. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. Got 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. 18 yays, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0145. Item 71-2026-149. I move the amendment. Got a motion and a second on the amendment. All in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The amendment carries. Move the bill as amended. Got a motion and a second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0149. I'm 72-2026-150. I move the rules amendment. Got 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. Got a motion and a second on the bill as amended. No one's in the queue. Please open the ballot and record your vote. Oh, Council Member Paluso, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Very excited for this bill. I'm very happy to see it. Affordable housing is incredibly important to me. And to the vast majority of voters in our city, right? It was ranked number one by a UNF poll. Housing is the number one issue. We know that. This is a $5 million loan. Very excited. Believe that this is the right thing to do with $5 million. However, lest we forget, there was an option for this body to look at doing a $10 million loan, again, not a grant, but a loan, and having it matched by $30 million in private funds, a $40 million affordable housing trust. For an extra $5 million, we could have gotten access to an additional $30 million in private funds to help make sure that we are addressing the number one issue in our city. Very happy for this bill. Very grateful for this bill. 240 units. Great. Still, at the end of the day, a drop in the bucket. And what we could have done with $40 million could have gotten thousands upon thousands. I'm just making sure that that's put out there, that had we just done another five, we could have found ourselves in a great position. But instead, we allowed something to get in the way. And so, I'm just making that known. If housing is really as important as we think it is, let's make sure we're doing more and more investments in that. Thank you. Council Vice President Howland, you recognized? Yeah, thank you, Mr. President. I just want to thank everybody for their support of this bill during the committee process and in advance for your yes vote tonight. This is a fiscally responsible low interest rate loan, meaning we're going to get the money back here on this. This will provide and deliver 240 affordable housing units on Beach Boulevard near the town center, a place that it's sorely needed. Most importantly, this is an opportunity for those who serve us, police, teachers, firefighters, to live in the communities that they serve. And what's special about this one is it's very much like Madison Palms. Anyone who's seen that development knows how impressive that development is. Also, a low interest rate loan. This is a proven process. It's a proven developer. Proud to support it. Thanks. All righty. There is no one else in the queue, so let's open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, zero nays. By your action, you have approved 2026-0150. I'm 73-2026-151. Mr. President, please recognize Councilwoman Pittman. Councilwoman Pittman, you're recognized. For the chair, I'd like to stand and oppose, I mean oppose, abstain from this bill. There's a clear white mission will apply for funding for this. Thank you. Amendment. All right. Thank you very much. Got a motion and second on the amendment. On the amendment. All right. So, all in favor of the amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. And you oppose, say nay. The amendment carries. We get the bill as amended. Motion and second on the bill as amended. Councilmember Boylan, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I almost had a heart attack when Ms. Pittman opposed the PSG bill. I thank you for those individuals, Councilmembers, who sat in a couple of notice meetings we had. This really is a continuation in bringing greater credibility to the PSG process. Working with the Public Service Grant Council and the staff over there and just tightening up the requirements to get this done. So, I do appreciate your support of it today. Thank you. All right. Thank you. There is no one else in the queue. So, let's open the ballot and record our votes. 17 yays, one abstention. By your action, you have approved 2026-0151. Mr. President, it's now time for second reading. Mr. Thiel, may you please read the bills. 2026-191. 192-197. 202-203. 204-205-206. 2026-164. 165-166. 167-168. 169-170. Mr. President, we have one public participation card, item 75-2026-192. John Nooney supports, does not wish to speak. All right. Thank you. We also have one action item, 2026-197. 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. And I'll call on Dr. Johnson. Just briefly, I wanted to make sure that we recognize, Mr. President, Women's History Month. I think this is important. I was, as a non-woman, I wanted to make sure that we honor the women in our community. As you'll see in the resolution, I was very intentional. But I'm so thankful to all of the women who have contributed to making Jacksonville better and whose shoulders upon which we all stand. So, to all of the ladies that are watching and in the audience and everywhere else, thank you for the work you do to make our fabric and of our community richer. Happy Women's History Month. Thank you, Mr. President. I move the bill as amended. We've got a motion and second on the bill as amended. Council Member Carlucci. Matt Carlucci. Council amendment, please. Second. All right. Motion and second on a council amendment. All in favor of the council amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Council amendment passes. I move the bill as twice amended. Got a motion and second on the bill as twice amended. Please open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, 0 nays. By your action, you will approve 2026-0197. Colleagues, we're now going to go to page 36, item 92, 2026-0229. I move the emergency. Got a motion and second on the emergency. All in favor of the emergency, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Emergency carries. Council President, please recognize Councilmember Johnson. Councilmember Johnson, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to, first and foremost, I will speak to the bill later, but to propose a floor amendment. You should have all received it, so I moved this floor amendment. And it is because, unfortunately, and I'll speak to it in just a moment, Mr. Sweeting passed away after this was introduced. All right. As to the floor amendment, all in favor of the floor amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The floor amendment passes. Councilmember Matt Carlucci, you recognized. You want a council amendment or speak to the floor amendment? Oh, got it. All right. No one else is in the queue. I'd like to, can I move a council amendment or can someone just do that? Yes? All right. I got a motion and second on a council amendment. All in favor of the council amendment, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Council amendment passes. Move the bill as an emergency as twice amended. Okay. We got a motion and second on the bill as twice amended to bill sponsor, Dr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. President, colleagues. I rise tonight to speak about a man and honor a voice, a voice that entered living rooms across our city, not with spectacle, but with truth. Rob Sweeting was an amazing man. And when I put this in, I ran into his son downtown. We all know his son, Ian, a dear friend of ours. And I said, how's your dad? And I looked at him and his eyes just watered up. And he told me his dad was in hospice. And I hadn't seen Rob in probably a year and a half. He'd been living in Atlanta. For those that don't know, Rob was also a crack actor, for lack of a better term. And if you look closely at the new Coming to America, the Coming to America 2, Rob was an extra in the wedding scene in that movie. So he didn't get far away from TV as he walked away from TV, but he's just a great guy. I know for me, when I started as a young guy and I wanted to be an anchor and reporter, and I was mentored by Rob Sweeting and Joyce Morgan and Ken Amaro and others who, as this little kid running around, following behind them, I created a career because of who I saw. And enduring my career, any time that I picked up the phone to call Ken or Joyce, or most importantly, Rob as well, they picked up the phone and he listened and said, this is what you do. I've been there. Here's how you move it. He certainly is someone that this community can look to as a truth teller. And even on his way out, as he transitioned, I sat with him a few times, he squeezed my hand. And when I started to say names and talk to people, he opened his eyes and he felt it and he felt the love. So tonight, I'm so honored that we can put this resolution forth to honor somebody who spent his life telling stories to make Jacksonville better. And we will forever remember the legacy of this guy who was actually the pioneer of the first morning show that we ever saw in Duval County, Rob Sweeting. Rest well, sir. Thank you, Dr. Johnson. Pastor President Carlucci, are you still on for this? No? All right. Mr. Amaro, you were on and I'd offer you. Okay. Councilwoman Pittman, you're recognized. I think we moved the council amendment, so we're all on it. All right. Thank you for that, Dr. Johnson. And we'll open up the ballot and record our vote. 18 a's, zero nays. By your action, you've approved 2026-0229 as an emergency as twice amended. Council President, we're now going to go to page 46 with the addendum. I move the addendum. Motion and second on the addendum. All in favor of the addendum, signify by saying aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. The addendum has been moved. Council President, we are done with all official business and ready for fifth week. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So I guess that leads us to roll call. 18 present. 18 present. All right. Before we adjourn, we've got some announcements. People in the queue. Councilmember Freeman, the past president. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to bring the attention on the addendum that we just approved, item number 132-2026-0249. That is that $200,000 that I talked about that will be going to JSEB. So I just wanted to make sure that you all were aware that that is on it. And I must say, as I said again, in the end, I will be attending a public service grants council meeting. I fully support the work that they're doing. I hope Ms. Figueroa understands that. We spoke multiple times prior to tonight. I was still a little disappointed that it got to the point that it did tonight. But I look forward to working with them moving forward and doing the good work of this city. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Councilwoman Pittman, any announcements and birthdays? I think I know of one. Today is your special day. So we all want you to stand and we're going to all sing happy birthday to you. How about that? Y'all ready? Here we go. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Happy birthday to you. Man, you should have heard Councilman Miller over here. He got a little voice on him over here. We got to get you to sing that for her, okay? But we also have other birthdays this year. Here, Councilman Reggie Gaffney's birthday is on March 26th. And also, Councilman Ken Amaro, your birthday is on the 27th. And then we have ECA, Rashonda Jackson. Her birthday is also on the 27th. And Andrew Cable, his birthday on April the 7th. So happy birthday to all of you all. Thank you. All right, all right. Dr. Johnson, one last announcement. This is our family. And I've got to ask, and I know you wouldn't do it. So through the president, I want to ask you, first of all, keep the family of Councilman Amaro in prayer. His dad passed away. And I know, no, you've been a good friend all my life, man. So my condolences to you. Also, keep in prayer the family of Councilman Pittman, as you shared your mom's going through something. And we've been going out, and she's doing really good. Those prayers are getting through. So we are sending our love to you. I know this is a very tough time for you. But this is truly a family, and I know we all care about each other. So if you know the word of prayer, please pray for our colleagues. Thank you, Mr. President. All right, with that, we are adjourned. Mr. Chaplain. Thank you, Mr. President. I was doing fine until my colleague mentioned that. But it is what it is. My dad was 93 and spent 50 years on the ocean as a merchant marine and lived a good life. So as I reflect on this evening, what came to mind was a thought that there's no greater challenge as well as no greater honor than public service because of some of the debates that occurred here tonight. And I would encourage us to keep putting the public first in all that we say and do. And there will be a reward at the end of it. Let us pray. Almighty God, we thank you for yet another evening. Thank you for your guidance. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for the breath of life. Thank you for those who are celebrating birthdays with gratitude. God, we ask you to continue to cover each and every one of us. Cover our family members near and far. Give us strength. Give us healing where sickness might be. Thank you for your favor, your unmerited favor. Continue to cover us in our walk as we depart this place. Let us not depart from you. Give us traveling grace. It's in Jesus' holy name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.