City Council - Sep 22, 2026

All right, all right. Good evening and welcome. I call to order the September 22nd, 2026 meeting of the Jacksonville City Council. I'll turn it over to the floor leader, Mr. Boylan. Thank you, Mr. President. As usual, our first order of business is the invocation of Pledge of Allegiance. I ask that you please recognize Councilman Romero, our council chaplain, to reduce the lead pastor of Rivertown Church. Councilman Romero. Thank you, Mr. President. Tonight, our invocation will be delivered by Pastor Dan Adams. Dan was born and raised in Jacksonville. He attended college at Sanford University in Birmingham, Alabama, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in History in 1995. Then he subsequently attended and earned his Master's of Divinity in 1998 from Beeson Divinity School. He also earned a Master's in Business Administration from Liberty University in 2009, and most recently his Master of Theology from Southern Seminary in 2022. He is also continuing his studies as a doctor of ministry student at the Reformed Theological Seminary. Dan is also a member of Sigma Chi, a fraternity he joined during his college days. Dan is also the founding and lead pastor of Rivertown Church in Jacksonville's intracosal and Beach community and with prior services at churches in Birmingham, Orlando, and Jacksville. He's married to his college sweetheart, Amber. In 1995, they got married and have two sons and live in the intracosal area of Jacks. He loves hanging out with his family, his wife and sons, and he enjoys golf and tennis and softball and basketball and working out in his free time. He loves Jacksonville, and he's privileged to live and serve our city. Please receive Pastor Dan Adams for tonight's invocation. We appreciate every one of you who are stewards of the city. God created cities. He loves cities. We love this city, and thank you for what you do for the good of our city. I know that oftentimes it goes unrecognized, and unfortunately you probably hear more negative than positive, but you guys are crushing it. You're killing it. You're killing it. We appreciate what you're doing for our city. Jacksonville is a much better city than when I grew up here. In 91, I couldn't wait to get out of here, right? The city smelled like sulfur water, and we all remember those days, right? Not much nightlife, not much fun to do for a guy in his 20s, right? So I was like, I'm out. I'm dipping. And you have made this city. You have partnered with so many amazing business leaders and nonprofit leaders to make this an amazing city to live in. So thank you. It's not perfect. We know that. Thank you for getting that stadium done. Thank you. Go Jags. And we love you, and we are praying constantly. We're going to pray for you right now, but we also are praying for you throughout the week, throughout the month, throughout the year. So we really, really appreciate what you're doing to breathe life into this city. Let's pray. God, in the name of Jesus, thank you for Jacksonville FLA, good old Duval, and we thank you for these leaders that you have ordained to lead us, to guide us, to shape us, and to direct us, to give us vision, and to inspire us and motivate us. And we thank you, as they breathe life into this city, that you are making this a place for human flourishing, for your glory and our good. And we pray, God, for peace, joy, unity. And tonight, as we talk budget, that's a fun topic. Everybody loves it. But you created money, God. And even in the midst of a money conversation, you can give peace, and you can give joy, you can give vision and direction, and most significantly, you give it unity. And so we pray for just that. We pray for cooperation, civility, and we pray that we would be fueled and led by your spirit, by your grace, driven by the joy that you give us through Jesus. We thank you, God, for the fact that you promise wisdom if we ask you for it. So, God, we're asking you for wisdom. Coming into tonight, we may not have the wisdom we need, but we're asking you to give it to us. And, Lord, when we lack wisdom, you say that you'll give it to us generously if we ask you for it. So, give us wisdom, God. Give us strength. Give us perseverance and grace. And we thank you for the people in this room and for what you are doing in this city, all for the glory of your son, Jesus. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Amen. I pledge allegiance. Mr. President, in order to keep us in proper posture, because of our early start time today, I need for us to move the approval of a waiving council rule 4.102 in order to authorize the early commencement of this meeting to 4 p.m. All right. We have a motion and a second to approve the waiver of rule 4.102 regarding meeting starting time. We'll take this vote by hand. All in favor of approval of the waiver, indicate by raising your hand, and keep it up, please. All right. The waiver passes. Thank you, Mr. Fuller Leader. It's now time for the approval of the minutes from the regular council meeting of two weeks ago. I move the approval. Sir, before we do that, we will do roll call. All right. Thank you for keeping me in proper posture. All right. 19 are present. We have a quorum. It's now time to approve the minutes of the meeting. You got it. I move the approval. We have a motion and a second on approving the minutes of the regular meeting of September 8th. We will take this vote verbally. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no. The minutes pass. President, we have a handful of communications from the mayor and other entities. Would you like those read or filed with legislative services? Let's file them, please. Yes. It's now my pleasure to introduce today's pages. Louis Mendez, Jr., of KIPP Bold City High School, and Elu Subito, I hope I got that right, Jerez, Jr., from the KIPP Impact Academy. Please join me in thanking them for their assistance today. Now, for the benefit of both those in the chamber and those watching online, I would like to convey that, as per your instructions, Mr. President, we'll be taking up all non-public hearing items first in this order. Quasi-judicial ordinances beginning on page 5, followed by the consent agenda beginning on page 8, with public comment thereafter. Should that take us past 5 p.m., then we will proceed with the rest of the agenda in order, with the exception of the budget bills, items 77 through 89, found on page 36 and 44, 244. Again, as per the President's instructions, these budget bills, as well as 2026, 510, and I believe it's 264, 564, which will be pulled from the consent agenda, will be concluding items for tonight's meeting. In the event, we conclude public comment before 5 o'clock, then we'll proceed to page 41, item number 90, followed by the rest of the third ordinances. Again, I will keep you, as best I can, abreast of where we are in the agenda. Yep, and to summarize for everybody, basically what that means is we'll take the budget bills up sequentially at the end of the meeting as the last items to be addressed. Couldn't have said it better myself. We are now ready for the quasi-judicial actions. I would like to remind all concerned that these items we are now taking up do not include public hearings, as these matters were thoroughly reviewed at the committee level, and where public hearings were part of the decision-making process. Council members are reminded to declare any ex parte communications. Our first item on page 5 is 2026, 559. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. That's 2026, 0559. I've seen no speakers in the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. And by your vote, 2026, 0559 is approved. Item number 2, 2026, 566. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. No speakers. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026, 0559 is approved. Reminder, if anyone has ex parte, just get on it before we take the vote. Item number 3, 2026, 618. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. No one on the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. And by your vote, 2026, 0618 passes. Turning to page 6, item number 4, 2026, 619. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. We're on 2026, 0619. There are no speakers. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. And by your vote, 2026, 0619 passes. Item number 5, 2026, 620. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. No speakers on the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. And by your vote, 2026, 0620 passes. Item number 6, 2026, 621. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. We have Ms. Clark Murray on the queue. Thank you, President Howland. I rise to declare ex parte. I spoke with Stephen Wood on September 15th via phone. And simply, we talked about why he wanted to rezone the property from commercial neighborhood to CCG2. And the proper paperwork will be filed with legislative services. Thank you, ma'am. And no other speakers. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026, 0621 passes. Fearing to page number 7. Item number 7, 2026, 622. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. We have no speakers. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. And by your vote, 2026, 0622 passes. Item number 8, 2026, 621. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. No speakers on the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026, 0661 passes. Mr. President, we are now ready for the consent agenda. I want to remind my colleagues that if you want to be added as a co-sponsor, on any of these items, please let the Chief of Legislative Services know via email, as Council rules to prohibit us pulling items for that purpose this evening. Mr. Thiel, would you please read the bills? 2026, 510, 639, 663, 664, 665, 666, 668, 669, 670, 679, 680, 682, I'm sorry, 734, 735, 736, 737, and 738. All right. Mr. President, I move the consent agenda, less item number 9, 2026, 510. All right. Do we have a second on that? Second. Okay. We have a second. I'll recognize Councilman Layton. Thank you, Mr. President. Just the reason that 2026, 510 was pulled, it is a budget bill with multiple council members that have conflicts, so I recommend that we move it to the budget bill section and take it up in a sequential order with the rest of the budget bills. Will do. Thank you, sir. Okay. We have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda, minus 2026, 0510. There are no speakers in the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. And by your vote, the consent agenda passes, minus 2026, 0510. I would like to lay 0510 on the table to come later on the agenda after Bill 2026, 0509 to be grouped together with the budget amendments as the budget bills, as Mr. Layton suggested. And, Mr. President, at this time, would you like to recognize the rules chair? Mr. Rules chair. Mr. Gay, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, we have just approved the following appointments as part of the consent agenda. If you are in the audience, please stand to be recognized. Becky Morgan to the Downtown Development Review Board. Lasekia Hodges to the Jack's Journey Forward Board. Stephen Campbell to the Building Code Adjustment Board. And please join me in thanking them for their service. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, we are now ready for public comment as per Ordinance 2022-475. Council members are reminded that this is our time to hear from the public, and this is not a time for questions or answers or debate. However, a member of the public may be invited to the Robert Johnson Room for further discussion. A council member, subject to approval, the president may ask for that invitation. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to speak, you should have filled out a public comment card. No cards will be accepted after 5 p.m. this evening. Council rules call for the allotment of 90 minutes for public comment. The allowed time of three minutes may be shortened, so all those wishing to speak will have an opportunity to do so. Given at the present time, we have 15 cards. Three minutes will be allotted for each speaker, unless that number changes dramatically. Give me a second here to find the rest of my script. I will do that now. Mr. Thiel, would you please read the rules? Council Rule 4.505, Disruption of Meeting. Any person who disrupts a regular meeting of the City Council, standing committees, special or select committees, subcommittees, or any other public meeting presided over by a City Council member, may be forthwith barred, removed, or otherwise ejected in the discretion of the presiding officer from further attendance at that meeting. If necessary, due to the nature of the disruption, the audience may be cleared from the Council chambers or meeting location in the discretion of the presiding officer. Any person who refuses to leave the City Council chamber may be subject to arrest. Thank you. I'm going to call up the first five people to come up front to please sit in the reserve seats up front. Carnell Oliver, I believe it's Vivicom Capel, Katie Hathaway, Blake Harper, and Frank Cirillo. Again, if you have bags or anything with you, make sure you put them on the table to the right. And please note the start time as 4.20. Yes, my name is Carnell Oliver. I want to just be fundamental. Government spending should give a return on investment with policies that enforce it. This country is built off of two separate Civil Rights Act, the 1866 and the 1964. What Dr. King did was he was, he set foundational Black Americans up for failure. The immigrants replaced us. You want to know how we got replaced? Because I could go to JTA, and I could see in their procurement, their hiring policy, they put immigrants first. So you know what I did? I reached out to Congressman Aaron Bean's office. I reached out to John Rutherford's office to get an appropriation authorization. Where the 1866 Civil Rights Act and the 1964 Civil Rights Act is complied across the board. Because I'm talking about spending. Because I'm going to tell you something. I do support the property tax exemption. Because what you don't know, I went to D.C. When Trump got in office and he cut off that USAID money, I never seen so many NGOs scramble, looking to save their life. You saw the politicians and the fake people behind them started dwindling down because there's no money involved. They're not for the people. All these folks in this room and the conversation of renovating the council chambers needs to go out the door. Because you have an obligation, number one, to serve the people. And what you've done, this council is corrupt. This mayor has failed the people, the administration, and the board of their JTA. They all need to be fired. Y'all ran along with the mayor. She already catches heat. She knows she's going out the door. Every last one of y'all should go out the door with her. Because you knew about this. And the one thing that I need y'all to do with these amendments, all this BS, let's look at cutting KHA funding down and let's redirect that money to JTA. It is critical infrastructure. I don't need leeches. I don't need these crackers that represent nonprofits getting in our business. Because you done pissed off so many people and you done broke so much furniture for a dollar. That's why I'm in support because we go back to segregation. We go back to the old city limits. That's why I support Amendment 3. I get you out of my business. Thank you. Next, we have Dr. Gopal. Good afternoon, counsel. My name is Dr. Vikram Gopal. And I would like to thank all of you for your support for Wilson Children's Hospital and what you do for our community. I'm a native of Jacksonville, born and raised on the west side. I'm a product of Duval County Public School from Normandy Elementary to Stanton College Preparatory School. I raised my family in Arlington. I live there now. And I would just like to bring my two partners who are also in support of your support for us and what we do at Wilson Children's Hospital. Please give us your name and address. Good evening. I'm Sequoia Williams. I'm also here with Dr. Gopal to thank you all for your support funding toward the Wilson Children's Hospital and the future of families here in Jacksonville, creating pipelines for physicians and graduate medical education. And your name, please. Yes, Kalina Sanders, address 13074 Berwickshire Drive, Jacksonville, Florida, 32224. I am also here with my partners as a physician with Wilson Children's Hospital. So, again, thanking you all for your consideration of enhancing our ability to educate and train residencies to fill in a much-needed gap in pediatric care as well as OBGYN. And so, with that, we thank you. Young ladies, if you wouldn't mind taking a minute to fill out the public comment cards we have on record, your information. And, Mr. Peluso, do you want us to like to meet with them in the Johnson Room? Next, we have Katie Hathaway. Good afternoon. I'm Katie Hathaway. My address is on file. I'm here to ask that you restore the $4.9 million investment in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Jacksonville is growing, and there's so much happening in our city that we should be excited about. But that progress means very little if the people who make our city great can't afford to live here. Our teachers should be able to live in the communities where they teach. Our first responders should be able to live in the neighborhoods that they protect. A young family should be able to imagine buying their first home without feeling like that dream is slipping further out of reach. And sometimes the difference between that dream and a reality is simply having a little help to fill the gap. It's a down payment that puts homeownership within reach. It's JEA TAP fees. And it's a real investment in keeping up with the growth and housing needs in our city. And there's another investment in this budget that matters deeply to our community. Please move the full funding for public service and cultural service grants above the line. These are economic drivers that have a tremendous return on investment for our city, and they contribute to our quality of life. So please keep the people of Jacksonville at the heart of every decision you make and restore these investments in the budget tonight. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next we have Blake Harper. Blake Harper, information on file. I feel like a rich man with three minutes tonight. Thank you, folks. So last time you all met, you voted to protect the Second Amendment in the city of Jacksonville. We're going to memorialize that vote. It was 16 to 3. And when you take a look at the prior recorded votes and comments of the three who voted against the Constitution of the United States in Florida, it kind of is no surprise. And I wanted to go through those. First of all, we want to remember that during the Rules Committee at the Disruption Ordinance that Rockman Johnson told us that the founding fathers did not see people of color when, in fact, he did. Then, of course, chronologically speaking, our friend Jimmy Peluso put up a bill called the Hate Crime Ordinance, which would have caused people to be arrested and fines paid for exercising their First Amendment rights. And speaking of First Amendment rights, when I was at TEU talking about the renaming of the street, our friend Jacoby Pittman infringed them and violated my First Amendment rights. So that those three voted against that kind of is no surprise. But here's the part that I think you all need to see and remember. And it has to do with the Democrat Party. You know, I remember Jimmy talking about the fact that the Second Amendment caused, you know, the guns caused blood in the streets and he wanted to infringe on people's Second Amendment rights. Well, we have to remember historically where those gun laws came from. They came from the Democrats in the South as part of the Black Codes. So going back to the TEU meeting that Jacoby Pittman violated my rights, I held up a sign. And that sign showed that Democrats were for white people and Republicans were for Negroes. That's exactly what it said. And this is true today as it was back then. So thank you for protecting the Second Amendment. Thank you for protecting the Constitution and to the 16 city council members who understand their responsibility of to the Constitution, not only of the United States, but of the state of Florida. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next, we have Frank Cirillo. In the meantime, I'm going to bite down to the front. Dutchie Stevens, Denise Regan, Allison Galloway-Gonzalez, Jamie Travis Leonard, and James Schwartz. Hello, city council. My name is Frank Cirillo. My address is 344 East Ashley Street, Jacksonville, Florida, 32202. I was going to come talk to you guys about some minute budget issues, raising JEA rates. I'm in favor of everything Katie Hathaway said. But during the invocation, I was looking down at my phone at the news, and I saw an article that said, how unarmed 9-11 teams are reshaping public safety in nearly 100 cities? And then I remembered Asia Bennett. And I feel like our city council needs to have a lot more creativity when it comes to things we can do with our budget, because the budget is, as the invocation said, how we reflect our society, what God chooses to help people with, and how the city reflects helping its citizens. I was a part a couple years ago. I was in New York City on the subway, witnessed a stabbing right in front of me. I actually got subpoenaed, had to go back to New York, was in a grand jury trial, had to be a witness. I did not feel any need to be in danger when I was in front of this incident. There was people in the car screaming and yelling. And then the NYPD subdued the gentleman, and he got to stand trial. Asia Bennett's not here today. We could have a program like this in our city that actually intervenes to help people, that doesn't require our men and women that are serving this city put their line and draw their gun and make people feel afraid, and also make them subject to liability. We should be having programs that actually help people and intervene and actually put funds towards issues of mental health and poverty, as opposed to reacting to things we should be preventatively trying to help solve problems, not trying to just band-aid over things. I would love for you guys to put an actual budget amendment together to actually put your money where your mouth is during this upcoming budget cycle and propose a program like this. I will be pleasantly surprised if you do so, because I don't think there's any plans to do that right now. But I really hope you consider that. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next, we have Dutchie Stevens. Good evening, Dutchie Stevens. The address is on file. Well, what I wanted to let you all know, we're getting too much illegal fraud with a lot of these city parks, especially Singleton Park right there on Richardson Road. And we've been calling on District 10, but we haven't heard nothing back. We're finding out that a lot of the private teams organizations, they've been coming over using Singleton Park on the north side instead of going to the park they've been assigned to on the west side. They've been tearing up the chain-length fencing. We don't send that to the White House. And I don't call Mr. Darrell Joseph on numerous occasions. We haven't heard anything back. I think y'all better shut that park down, because there's two state retention parks over there. Every time they flush that toilet at that Rufus E. Payne Elementary School, whose property that really truly is, or at the park, it's not going down the drainage. It's going in the retention parks. And that stinks, because I've got the feeling it's going to bring that shooting back out at these city parks like it used to be at Grand Park. Some years ago, because some of them be parking all on the city right away on top of the sidewalks. People can't even walk straight down the sidewalk. I ain't never heard of it called Side Drive. I think it's called Side Walks. And we call District 10, don't hear nothing back. That's the worst council representative District 10 ever had in this life. And, baby, I don't play. You can't touch the Dutch, but I can sure get a bus, because enough is enough. But we're getting sick and tired of this parks and recreation, because I don't understand how Daryl Joseph is still the executive director of parks and recreation. He was arrested for DUI. He must be coming to work at that air ball building with some moonshine in his brain if he don't want to take care of these damn city parks, because enough is enough. Because they be parking all in our dryways. They run out of parking spaces. Ain't nothing but 19 in the front and 19 in the back. Enough is enough, because I had to come out with my gun and tell that joke, you better get that car in my driveway. This is not a part of the Singleton Park. So enough is enough. I think y'all need to shut down a lot of these city parks, because too many of them is not clean. Y'all probably can start some volunteer organization where some of us that live in the community where the city parks are can probably pitch in and help, you know, the city in straightening it out. Because I just don't feel like Daryl Joseph is doing his job and he cares too much about parks like he used to. Because that's not even the parks and recreation lock that's on that gate. Them guys cut that lock off that gate. They put their own lock up there and they come and open the gate and use the park for free illegally. They're not being charged $150 per hour. That's illegal fraud. We got to get the ball rolling. We may have to act like Donald Trump. Thank you. Next we have Denise Regan. Hello. My name is Denise Regan, and I'm the executive director of the Five and Dime. We're a non-profit community theater. We are celebrating our 15th anniversary after having produced more than 90 plays and musicals, and we've attracted more than 28,000 audience members over that time. We have developed a reputation for telling stories that spark community conversations and for staging high-quality artistic productions. We present plays and musicals other theaters just don't do, and we bring new content to Jacksonville. Our productions consistently receive high ratings. 85% of survey respondents rate their experience 5 out of 5. 98% of Facebook users recommend us, and our Google reviews average 4.8 out of 5 stars. According to the Arts and Economic Prosperity Calculator, the Five and Dimes $185,000 in expenses generates another $103,000 in spending by audience members on dining, transportation, and other services. The vast majority of our budget is spent in Jacksonville, supporting jobs for staff, opportunities for more than 90 theater artists every year, set building materials, props, costumes, and more. In the past, the Five and Dime has received approximately $24,000 in CSGP funding, so the city receives a huge return on its investment. Losing CSGP funding, which we use to pay the Florida Ballet, another CSGP recipient, will force us to transfer funds we raise from individuals that pay for programming currently that will drastically reduce the plays we can offer to the public and opportunities for theater artists. It could also curtail our ability to keep ticket prices low and provide pay-what-you-please nights for those who can't afford regularly priced tickets. As the daughter of former City Council member Harry Reagan, who died in late July, I implore you to follow his example and support the rich arts and culture that make Jacksonville an attractive place to live and stay. Please support 100% sustained funding for the Cultural Service Grant Program. I invite you all to attend a show at the Five and Dime, just call me up and I'll be happy to give you a ticket. Thank you for listening, for your service, and for your support. Ms. Reagan, before you step away, could you, your address, or at least mention your name, it's on record. It's on the card that I filled out. Thank you very much. Next, we have Allison Galloway-Gonzalez. Good evening, everyone. Allison Galloway-Gonzalez. My address is on record. I'm a proud resident and business owner in Springfield. Good evening, council members. I am a small business owner. I own two businesses and one commercial property in town, and I'm very proud to call Jacksonville my home since 2009. I came from lots of other cities that have really proud cultural arts amenities, but I found a beautiful home here in Jacksonville because of that. My work supports the nonprofits and the arts organizations that are funded with city council dollars, and I can tell you and testify from deeply going in those budgets and really understand their operational models that they are some of the most fiscally responsible businesses in this city. They have oversight from you and 50,000 other donors, both locally and nationally. They do a lot with a little, but there is a line of how much they can do and I can help them do. But really, beyond my full-time job and my business, I want to talk about being a mom. I'm a Duval County Public Schools mother. My kids go to summer camps, arts after school. They skate at the igloo. They participate in this huge amount of third spaces in Jacksonville, if you will. We take advantage of everything Jacksonville has to offer. In fact, this Monday, my daughter, who is 12, starts the Jacksonville Children's Chorus. She is so excited about beginning that journey. She's someone who doesn't even have a big social life. She's very introverted. So for her to tell me she wanted to learn to sing was such a big deal. You all are going to vote today on whether she gets to start that journey on Monday. It is that immediate. I know some of you have worked hard to make sure that these cuts weren't even deeper than they are now and I want to thank you for that, but I also want to ask you to finish it. I know that the rest of you are fighting for taxpayers to get their money back, but let me tell you where I want my tax dollars to go. I want them to go to this. I know that a fraction of a cent that I give turns into a dollar with you all turns into $20 of benefits in this community. There's no better investment that I can make, certainly not Wall Street, in my community and for my children. I ask you to please consider the amendments that are on the table that would support our programs. Thank you. Next, we have Jamie Travis Leonard. Good evening, City Council. My name is Jamie Travis Leonard. I feel by this point, we're all very well acquainted with each other. I've been coming here regularly for over a year. Don't need your address. Oh, excuse me. Thank you, sir. My address is on file. See, look, I come here so often I forgot. I was here last year when we had a very contentious budget meeting that lasted. Now, I will say I left, I think, about 1.30 a.m. I know all of you and some members of the audience were here much later. Maybe it was 2.30. But the point is, is it was pushing 12 hours, if not over, if memory serves correctly. I hope this budget meeting is not a similar experience for all of us. I do want to give some flowers out, especially for the last City Council meeting. I don't get to do that as often as I'd like. I appreciate the calm with which you all address the public, and so far the calm you have continued to address the public. I know we have new speakers that come. Sometimes they go over time. We know those who come us regularly how we have to stick to a schedule, but I appreciate the grace you gave to a lot of people, and I hope I continue to see that through our Council President, our Speaker, and our Vice President. I was very impressed last meeting, and I hope we have a similar meeting this time. With that in mind, I hope you do listen to the people that come to speak. As I said, I was here last year. Now you all get paid to be here. I do not. The people in this audience do not. We have other obligations. that do not always work with this, so we are having to fight our own obligations, whether financial or familial, to be here on our off time. So when we come to speak to you, listen, because I fear some of you don't. I fear some of you are so entrenched in your own echo chamber that you do not hear what we're saying when we say this is where we want our money to go to. I'm a homeowner. I pay taxes. I'm happy to pay my taxes because I'm hoping my taxes will go to serve my community because that's how this works. So if I come up here and say, I want my taxes to go to this, believe me. That's all I want you to do. I want you to believe me, and I want you to take that and do something with it because you're our stewards. You are the stewards of this city. What you do affects me. It affects my kids. It affects my neighbors. It affects all areas of this city. So listen to us. Be good stewards. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have James Schwartz. I'd like to invite down to the front, please, Amber Kearney, Cecilia Rodriguez, Carolyn Rosaberry, Reverend Madison Hilt, and Carol Hawkins. If you could please come down to the front. Go ahead, sir. My name is James Schwartz. The address is on file. Good evening, city council members. I first want to express my appreciation to the 13 of the 19, 14 of the 19, who have stayed for public comments. I think there were far less that stayed for the comments of the last meeting, and I really appreciate the respect you're showing by listening to people. I want to request that the $4.9 million be restored for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. I had a wake-up call a few weeks back. I was under the impression that in the city of Jacksonville, if there was a homeless person that wanted help and wanted to get to a shelter, they would be able to get to a shelter. Seven o'clock in the morning, I was walking through Memorial Park, and there was a young woman sitting on a bench there who was not one of the regulars. I asked her if she needed help, and she explained to me that her whole life had fallen apart, and she really needed help. And I had my cell phone, of course, and I called three agencies in Jacksonville that I thought were the agencies that could take care of somebody in this situation. And none of those agencies could do anything to help this woman that morning. And that was a real wake-up call for me that things are not, there's not a safety net for people. Now, the $4.9 million is not going to help this woman, but there are a lot of people out there that are one paycheck or one bad situation or circumstance away from being in that same situation. And this $4.9 million can help ensure that somebody else does not end up in that same situation. So I strongly encourage you to restore that funding to the budget. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Amber Kearney. My name's Amber Kearney. My address is on file. So I'm a pastor at Riverside Church. Every month, I inevitably have a conversation with one of my parishioners where they either sit in my office and cry and talk to me about something going on with their lives, or I'm on the phone with them and they're telling me consistently they're struggling to find housing, they're struggling to make ends meet. Many of them are newly working professionals and are thinking about moving outside of our great city. Many of them, well, most of them, they work full-time, sometimes even over full-time with multiple jobs. They're smart. They're educated. They love Jacksonville as much as I do, and they're trying really hard to get by, and they still just can't find a place to live that they can afford to just live within 20 minutes of their own jobs. Many of them are moved in with family members, or I have older parishioners who have kids that are still living at home with them in their 20s and even in their 30s because it's just not, the math isn't mapping. And so I'm a single mother. I have my master's degree and pastoring a church full-time with parishioners of all different ages and stages of life. And if it weren't for the rectory that I'm generously offered, I likely would not be able to live here either. I would take my degree and my experience and find another city to pastor in. But I love Jacksonville. It's where my kids live. It's where my home is. Every person I talk to at my church loves our city too, and we want to stay here, and we want our children to have a future here. Jacksonville's growing really fast, and I just want people to be able to live here that make our city run, our nurses, our teachers, paralegals, seniors who've worked their whole lives and are on fixed income, young families that call Duval home. So that's why I'm asking you guys to restore the $4.9 million back in your budget for affordable housing. I know it's not going to fix everything, but it's a start. And if we think about it as if, like, that idea that, like, oh, we can't fix all our problems, if we apply that to any other area, that sounds kind of crazy. Doing something is at least a little bit of the problem. So I just ask that you reconsider pulling that from your budget. Thank you so much. Thank you, ma'am. Next we have Cecilia Rodriguez, please. Hello. Hi. I'm Cecilia Rodriguez. I live in Riverside. My address is on file. I'm here today to ask you to restore the $4.9 million in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. I've lived in Jacksonville for four years now. I've held several different jobs. I've been the person bagging your groceries, the person making your coffee, the person packing up shipments for the things you order online. And I have always struggled to afford housing here. I've never been able to live here on my own. When I lived with my fiance, we both worked essential jobs. We both worked in grocery. We could hardly afford rent, groceries, car insurance altogether. We pinched every penny. We rarely went out. And when we broke up, we worried about being able to afford rent individually when we could barely afford it together. I now pay for a room in someone's house, a woman I know from my church, and I'm very lucky to know her. I can't afford rent without her and without her and her college-aged kids that are my roommates. Not everyone knows someone that they can live with sustainably. I've had friends with horrible roommate situations, friends who have been locked into living with manipulative partners, friends, exes. I recently finished my four years in college. I have my bachelor's degree, and I have a steady job as a dance instructor, but I don't have benefits or sick leave. I've saved up just enough time to come here and share my story, but I know that so many people aren't here and can't share their story with you because they're out there working, because they can't take the time off because they can't afford rent, because they can't afford their bills. So if we want Jacksonville to be a city that flourishes, we need to invest in the people that make this city run. If we want this to be a city that prospers, we have to care for the people who are doing the jobs that we need that can't afford housing. So thank you. Thank you. Next we have Carolyn Rosenberry. Good afternoon. My name is Carolyn Rosenberry, and my address is on file. As you're hearing, the need for affordable housing in Jacksonville is great. My church shares a building with an organization that provides assistance to homeless families with children. Most of these families are employed, and these working families are trying to provide for their children, but they've lost their housing because their rents were increased, and they didn't have enough income for child care, food, and medical bills in addition to the housing. One single mom was the director of a daycare center and still could not find a place to live that she could afford. Now, an affordable housing trust fund can be used for a wide variety of programs to benefit young families like these, but also senior citizens, health care, and other essential workers, all the folks who make our city run. And once established, an affordable housing trust fund can leverage matching private funds to supplement programs that are directed by the city. This, to me, makes so much sense that with an investment from the city, we can multiply our services. I urge you to return funding for the affordable housing trust fund to the city budget. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Reverend Madison Hilt. Reverend Madison Hilt, my address is on file. I'm here today, like many others, to ask you to restore the $4.9 million for the affordable housing trust fund to the city budget. There have been doubts amongst members on council if this money is worth it. This money would serve as a proof of concept that a plan for affordable housing in Jacksonville is sustainable. Now, I know many of you are astute business people, and an astute business person tests a concept before they put it into action. This is much more than just a concept, though. This is a concept that will help so many families that are underserved in the Jacksonville area. Regardless of political belief, creed, this is something that is very drastically needed. About 50% of people in the homeless community in the state of Florida are working full-time jobs. Would you believe that? Because that's a statistic straight from the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. I'm talking a lot in business terms because I know that that's something that y'all get when you sharpen your pencils and pull out your pocketbooks. Friends, I would suppose that if we are not paying people enough to sustain a life, then we have failed. Not just failed in a practical sense, but failed in a moral sense. It is our duty to make sure that people are safe, that people are fed, and that people are housed. One of the core tenets of Christianity is caring for the marginalized and people that are unable to have shelter are on that margin. It pains me that every week I talk to people in my congregation and in other congregations that are unable to pay their bills because their rent is so high. As a matter of fact, Jacksonville is the most unsustainable rental market in the U.S. That's another statistic. We are the eviction capital of the state of Florida. We need this money so that we can offset those things, have affordable housing, workforce housing in our area, and make sure that folks can be safe. Thank you. Next, we have Carol Hawkins. In the meantime, I invite school board member Melody Bolduc, Brian Jefferson, Emily McMillan, Laura Bayer-Faulston, and Sarah Yates-Gibson to please come down to the front. Go ahead, ma'am. Thank you. My name is Carol Hawkins and my address is on file. I'm also here once again to urge all of you to restore the $4.9 million that our mayor put into the city budget for our affordable housing trust fund. If you look, it's very easy for each one of you to find just a stone's throw away someone who's suffering because of not being able to afford a home. They're in every district. And just last week, I heard two stories and it was just so easy to run into. There was a mother at my church who had been searching for months for a home for her disabled adult son. If they can't find one soon, they'll have to move to another city. The son can afford $800 a month from his disability income. There simply aren't enough homes in this price range in Jacksonville. I heard another story of a man who works with the homeless and he said to me, I work with people who have jobs and who are homeless because they can't find a place that they can afford on the income that they get from their job. It's been two decades since the housing crisis and I remember it because I worked as a business report at the time. I was covering residential real estate so I was talking all the time to realtors, builders, developers, people who went through this crisis. They started at the top of the market when they built again because they were afraid of not being able to earn their money back and they worked their way down. But our private sector by itself still to this day has not been able to bring back the housing supply for people who are living at half of the area median income. There is a role for government to play when this happens and I urge you to please take a look at this. Citizens stepped up nearly 20 years ago when we needed to bail out our banks and I agreed with that choice. I think it was the right thing to do. But now we need to step up for our own people here in Jacksonville. These people have done nothing wrong. They need our help. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have School Board Member Melody Bolduc. Good evening. Melody Bolduc address on file. Council President Hallant and members of the City Council. I'm speaking tonight as an individual school board member and not on behalf of the entire board which hasn't taken formal action on Ordinance 2026-0570. However, our board has discussed e-bike safety as part of our broader work through Be Safe, Be Seen campaign and our joint resolution with the city to protect students on Jacksonville's roadways. I am abundantly grateful for the partnership we have had with the city. Particularly, I'd like to thank council members Boylan and Arias for their work in District 7. They have made our roadways around our schools safer through updated signals, increased signage crosswalks and other practical improvements. I also appreciate Council President Hallant's leadership and his commitment to ensuring that the school district needs are heard during the budget process and this entire council support of it. This ordinance is another practical step toward protecting our children. It establishes clear expectations for e-bike riders including a 15 mile per hour limit on sidewalks and shared use paths yielding to pedestrians providing an audible warning before passing wearing helmets for riders and passengers under 16 and using proper lighting after dark. It also addresses unsafe operation and authorized passengers and modifications that allow e-bikes to exceed their design speeds. Just as importantly it includes education alongside enforcement. The required safety information and QR code will help families understand the law when they purchase an e-bike. While DCPS can enforce that information through our existing health and physical education programs. We already have education on e-bikes for our students through our Be Safe, Be Seen so we will should this pass be adding that education for our students. So we just wanted to encourage you that we will support whatever action you take as a council at the board. And I want to thank Council Member Boylan for championing this legislation. Council President Allen for his leadership and the entire city council for your continued commitment to protecting Jacksonville's children. Our students are safer when the city and the school district work together and I'm deeply grateful to you all for the partnership. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Brian Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson. Emily McMillan. Howdy y'all. My name is Emily McMillan and my address is on the record. A nice little yellow card. I wanted to thank y'all for your time, consideration, and stewardship here today. I've been in Jacksonville almost a decade and I love it here. I love the people here and I want to see all of us thrive. I'm here to ask you today to consider restoring the $4.9 million investment in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Affordable housing is important to every Jacksonville resident, myself included, because it strengthens the entire community's economy, health, and stability, not just the lives of those who rely on it. Our nurses, teachers, pastors, baristas, grocery store employees, parents deserve to live and thrive in Jacksonville and we want to see Jacksonville thrive so we need to make those folks that make this city run thrive with us together. The line between housing security and crisis is often a lot finer than you'd think and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund creates security, prevents harm, and builds a stable foundation where people and organizations in Jacksonville, Florida continue to win. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Laura Bayer-Falston. Good afternoon and I thank you for this opportunity to be able to speak. I would implore you to restore the money for affordable housing. I come to you on behalf of... Your address, please. My address is on file. Thank you. I'm so sorry. As a teacher, a joyful teacher, with 30 years plus a master's degree, however, as when I became a single parent, I spent well more than 50% of my salary on rent. I have now worked myself into a different situation by renting a room in my home and taking on other duties. However, it does occur to me frequently that I could move somewhere else and have a better quality of life. But I love this community. I love Jacksonville. And I know the ability to recruit and retain excellent teachers relies on affordable housing where teachers can live and the communities where they work. So please keep this in consideration as you move forward this evening. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Jefferson, Brian Jefferson, name and address, please. My name is Brian Jefferson and my address is on file. So at this point, it's clear that you are all aware of the longstanding issues in our community and we have not seen any positive change surrounding them. It seems that this council is intent on ignoring them and pretending they don't exist. We still see large swaths of the city have been historically neglected and I've come here to budget hearings for almost 10 years at this point and it must be said that for the council to continue to ignore the growing cries for a people's budget is a disservice to their community members, their constituents, their voters. We are still in a housing crisis and instead of rent caps and houselessness relief, JSO's budget continues to go up, up, up. It seems like city's officials intend to arrest their way to a better Jacksonville. Despite the budget being over $600 million, our city is not any safer. The people's budget stands to provide relief and solutions for the city that JSO simply cannot do. We could put money towards programs that get people good union jobs, public mental health care, and after school programs for kids as well as houselessness relief and just simply fixing the roads. But the kicker is I wrote most of this speech two years ago and the council is so stagnant that I did not have to replace most of it for this hearing today. And yet, we continue to see more effort put into silencing community members than we do to hearing their concerns. We need to reallocate funding towards programs that will provide immediate relief to citizens suffering. We need a people's budget now. And lastly, I would like to add that Israel is an apartheid state and the U.S. supported them for far too long and I stand in solidarity with the people of occupied Palestine and we have to stand up against Zionism and genocide in our own backyard. I want to see the money from our city being spent in our city rather than sent to a foreign entity. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Sarah Yates Gibson. Ms. Gibson. I'm going to invite down to the front then, please, Amber, I believe it's Skyer, S-C-I-R-E on Abbe Street, Samantha Series, Sally Barnes, Nancy Murray Settle, and Marsha Collins. Name and address, please. Sarah Gibson, address on file. I'd like to echo the call for a people's budget. I'm ashamed that JSO has a 287G agreement. I'm ashamed that JSO is engaged in federal immigration enforcement activities in our community. and I believe that the money instead of going to increase JSO's budget should go to the people in this city who need it most. The list of needs in this city is very long and JSO's budget is not on that list. I would furthermore like to say that earlier this year on my street a person had a mental health crisis. Their name was Kian and JSO showed up with no mental health professional and shot that person and then in the hospital kept them shackled to the hospital bed even though they were paralyzed. And so that is why I believe that JSO does not need an increase in their budget. I think that we need to give more money to mental health not only crisis response team but prevention of crisis in the first place. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Amber Skyer I believe it is. Amber of Adam Street. Are you Miss Skyer? Go ahead. I'm Marsha Collins. I'm here to ask the council to restore the $4.9 million to the budget for affordable housing. There are people suffering. I heard some testimony at the I Care Nehemiah Assembly where people have to move in with their families because they can't afford housing in Jacksonville. There was a teacher with a master's degree who was a single mom and she had to really hold tight to her budget and she could not give her kids the things that they wanted. So please have a heart and restore that money to the budget. Thank you. Thank you ma'am. Try one more time. Amber Skyer. Again, when I call your name earlier on I'd like for you to come on to the front so I know you're here. Thank you. Go ahead. Name and address please. Hi, my name is Amber Skyer. Address on file. Thank you. I'm here to talk about the 287G agreement that shouldn't be in this city that JSO shouldn't receive more funds. We've seen what three or four cases of abuse by JSO people that are supposed to be trained to de-escalate and yet we're wondering they're allowed to be at the same escalation as the people that they're visiting. That doesn't make any sense. Okay. And correct with what previous people have said as far as allocating those resources to other areas in the city not only because of that I mean your car gets eaten if you're in San Marco and it's raining out but also because in a world where we make the police also immigration enforcement people that need the police and maybe haven't had paperwork aren't sure where they lie with being able to access the people that are supposed to protect and serve in this city. It feels like a no-brainer to me. to not have those be in the same force but thank you for your time. Thank you. Next we have Samantha Series. Samantha Series address on file. So as many people who spoke before me I would like to reiterate that we should restore the budget for the affordable housing. However if you do want to take 4.9 million out JSO's right there they have a lot of money in this city so if you're so keen on taking some money out of the budget why don't you take it from the biggest piece of the pie instead of the sliver you know unfortunately we have run into a lot of problems with affordable housing and it's hard to say that you know oh this 4.9 million will help so much but it will help people there are different resources people do need in the city and unfortunately they need them because it is very expensive I don't know if you guys have looked around the housing market if you've seen the interest rate of 7% no one's buying a house right now but private equity is that we have a lot of private equity in our city and that's probably a reason why it's so unaffordable unfortunately we give these private equity companies the initiatives the tax relief all the things that we should be giving to the people we give it to them and it kind of goes hand in hand because who else is going to take care of the different parts of the cities besides private equity because we don't have individual business owners anymore being able to invest into the city it's difficult it's not an easy problem that you guys are faced with but it's something that we need to address it's something that a lot of people are affected by because rent is so expensive I mean how many people have said before me they can't afford rent that shouldn't be a common stance that everyone has to say when everyone works full time jobs it shouldn't be common that should be something that oh a couple people are having this issue and we can help them with that affordable housing fund we can help them with those resources many people mentioned JSO you know not really being helpful and I would say shoot first ask questions later isn't probably the best way we should be going about different crisis in our city I know we do have dangerous areas I understand the police are under a lot of pressure but maybe we should be training them a little more because if they're so riled up by someone that has a knife in their hand and they are not close enough in range of that knife but they decide to shoot her first and then ask questions later we don't even know what really happened behind closed doors the person who calls 911 gets deference but we don't know what was happening behind that closed door so I think that we need to look carefully at our budget and do things that make sense and help the city rather than just pushing up the police and bringing down everyone else next we have Sally Barnes good afternoon my name is Sally Barnes my address is on file I'm here for several reasons tonight first of all I've called city council before and talked to you all about the ditch that's near my house I called recently and reported trees that are falling and leaning and I was told that if the tree's root is not showing and it's not old they can't do anything about it and that is not acceptable because there are rules governing stormwater and they've broken them out I brought this issue here before but secondly I have a question concerning meridian waste why are they getting four million dollars per year and sending it to North Carolina when we have all these issues here and it's funded with our tax revenue I looked it up anybody want to look it up look up meridian waste that's not right it's not fair that we're going to pay for something that somebody if we need we have needs here and four million dollars plus this this contract extends to 2033 with raises on us but we're not benefiting from it who made this decision where do we fit in this we're not getting anything out of it nothing so why is this do we supposed to fund everybody else and do without ourselves it's not right and I was at a meeting and talking about some city council people that look as if you're disturbing their peace this person was looking around like this like why are you bothering me and my question was who are you supporting the developer or your constituents they were pouring out their heart to this person and this person was just looking around like this and doing all kind of stuff like you don't even exist why are you here wasting my time but it's not their time it's the constituents time and I want to know definitely about this garbage because it clearly states that it comes from our tax revenue going to North Carolina we got issues here who made this decision and why is it that we have to pay for it thank you thank you ma'am next we have very I'm sorry Nancy Murray Settle in the meantime I want to invite down to the front please Brian Lipinski Catherine McAvoy Addison Patrick I believe it's Jay or Joy V on Hampton Landing and Nicholas Petras please come on down to the front Nancy Murray Settle address is on file good evening the city council as you know is accountable to the people and we've all been hearing the people say that we want a budget that serves our needs we do want safe and healthy neighborhoods that means funding the services that are basic to the human quality of life such as affordable housing affordable health care and a living wage taxes should go to programs for affordable housing and we desperately need a city council politicians who care about Duval workers and their ability to get into safe and decent housing restore the 4.9 million dollars affordable housing line pass the amendments that we store funding to public service and cultural service grants public safety is a concern of life and it does need to be funded but seriously more than half of our budget is going to police and fire a billion dollars honestly that doesn't make us safe it makes us foolish what would make us safer is fully funded youth programs access to mental health services housing jobs and public service grants that fill in the gaps for the emergency in my home I would never spend half of my assets and resources on weapons fire extinguishers insurance and then I wouldn't be able to afford the things that prevent tragedies I couldn't afford locks on my doors I couldn't afford to rewire the outdated electric circuit if I can't afford to fix a broken water system because I spent all of my money on weapons extinguishers insurance that is absurdity there are preventive things we can do in the city to make it safe healthy and increase the quality of life for all neighbors things like access to jobs health care education parks the libraries the arts it is shameful and embarrassing that as a human species we put half of our resources into dealing with the consequences of a failed system rather than addressing the needs of the people who live here I urge you to pass the floor amendments that restore the funding to the quality of life core services the city should be providing to ourselves we need politicians sitting on councils that have understanding of affordable housing education affordable health care and a living wage that creates a safe and civil society restore the housing and the public service grants and I can't believe I had to change my shirt turn my shirt inside out I mean I'm looking in the rules I don't see where I can't wear a shirt with someone's name on it like I just wanted to put that on record thank you ma'am next we have Brian Lipinski good evening name is Brian Lipinski and my address is on file good evening council president and members of the city council I am here tonight as a lifelong resident of Jacksonville I love this city and because I have spent my life here it breaks my heart to watch our neighborhoods become completely unaffordable for the hardworking people who keep Jacksonville running that is why I'm standing here to voice my support for councilman Carlucci's budget amendment to restore 4.9 million into Jacksonville's affordable housing trust fund when the finance committee stripped this critical piece of money from the proposed budget they didn't just slash a number on a spreadsheet they turned their backs on roughly 600 to 700 Jacksonville families who desperately need down payment assistance or a stable place to live we are told that 4.9 million is too much of a lift for our city's reserves we're trying to you know tighten our belt but let's look at what this city council does choose to afford you know when a certain developer comes to the city and asks to build a four seasons hotel suddenly we have 130 million dollars in incentives including a 25.8 million dollar cash completion grant if Jacksonville can afford 130 million dollars in public subsidies and tax breaks to help wealthy tourists sleep in a luxury riverfront hotel we can absolutely afford 4.9 million dollars to ensure that our nurses teachers and first responders have a home to sleep in as councilman Carlucci pointed out we are not asking you to micromanage every single penny before this budget is finalized we are asking you to preserve these dedicated dollars so the funding is ready and waiting when the mayor's office and council authorize these vital programs it's been said that a budget is a moral document let's prioritize the people who actually live work and build their lives in Duval County please vote yes on this amendment and reinstate the 4.9 million dollars thank you thank you next we have Catherine McAvoy Catherine McAvoy my address is on record I'm here I've talked with a lot of you previously about the work we do at the performance academy we serve underprivileged and at-risk youth we work with about 500 youth throughout the year and use the arts as healing for kids that are in diversion or juvenile justice or in foster care or homeless we've had an incredible amount of success in being able to keep the kids off the streets or get them out of juvenile justice help them in the Duval detention center help them find ways to express themselves that they may not otherwise be able to do through the arts and through the programs that you have generously supported in so many different ways through the cultural council through the kids hope alliance I just want to thank you for the work that you all do in supporting our children and our youth because these kids need somewhere to go that is safe and keep them out of trouble if a child doesn't have sports as an opportunity a lot of times they have no way out of the situation they're in and the arts as an opportunity for them to find healing diversion and a means of self-expression so I don't envy the job that you all have in front of you affordable housing is important the budget balancing is important these are all critical things but our youth are the future of Jacksonville and the investment that we make in them is critical so I appreciate the work that you do and the support you give to the cultural council to kids hope alliance and to the funding of programs in the arts and I urge you to continue that at a hundred percent funding thank you very much thank you Addison Patrick good evening city council my name is Addison Patrick and my address is on file a municipal budget is not an abstract spreadsheet it is an explicit statement of our community's priorities this evening as we debate floor amendments we must decide whether we fund general genuine stability or continue pouring resources into other areas public safety begins with housing and mental health I strongly support moving funds out of the public safety contingency and into our affordable housing special revenue fund specifically the 4.9 million amendment for down payment and other assistance the 500,000 reallocation for the United Way eviction diversion program provides immediate cost effective relief to keep families rooted in Jacksonville at the same time we must reevaluate how our public safety dollars are spent Jacksonville taxpayers should not be bankrolling federal immigration enforcement or local crackdowns having ice here wastes municipal resources and erodes trust those dollars belong in front line community care expanding psychiatric crisis intervention community mental health case workers and addiction recovery services that resolve crises before 9-1-1 is even called our discipline must reflect taxpayer reality sorry we can't justify spending five hundred thousand dollars on a city council office refresh while others are struggling to pay their mortgages and utility bills and furthermore while tell it while telehealth definitely has merits when forced to choose between a seven hundred fifty thousand dollar virtual program and brick-and-mortar housing stability telehealth is simply a lower immediate priority for once let's try it this way if it's a catastrophic failure we can go back to the way that we were doing things you know before now we can handle it differently and then as for amendment three let's vote no in november demand better of our legislature than a convoluted discriminatory hard to budget for piece of legislation let's stop passing these costs along to renters and small business owners and in the meantime jacksonville can continue to look for effective ways to cut spending in areas that are not detrimental to the everyday citizens of jacksonville i implore you to consider everyone's comments tonight and the brevity that they have thank you for your time thank you next we have believe it's jay or joy v of hampton landing your name and address please i apologize yeah my name is joy vo and i do live on hampton landing drive three two two five six i want to speak again in support of restoring the four point nine million dollar um uh fund housing initiatives in jacksonville and in support of creation of a public private affordable housing trust fund here the fastest growing population of first time homeless citizens nationwide are folks 55 and older my mother is a 98 year old retired school teacher who receives not only social security but a state pension as well and yet she depends on me financially to stay in her home we members of icare have met with many of you about our dream for increased housing equity in jacksonville for homeowners and renters i want to applaud councilman carlucci matt carlucci's championing this effort personally i'd like to see our fund carry his name as a legacy tribute to his service to our city and his support of the most vulnerable in our community through this effort thank you councilman carlucci we really appreciate your support thanks we have nicholas petros in the meantime i want to invite up to the front please darren daly monica gold ryan delaney john nooney and kiana blaylock go ahead sir my name is nicholas petros my address is on file um i'm coming here again uh as i did a couple weeks ago to discuss the jacksonville police uh fire pension fund uh and its involvement its investments in various israeli companies is particularly the company that we call tiva right this pharmaceuticals company uh and the reasons why i'm concerned about this is the same as i said last uh last two weeks ago is that this company is a terrible investment we're all here tonight to talk about the budget we're quibbling over five million dollars when our pension fund for our public employees the people that keep us safe from fire and crime is really having a crisis as all of you of all of you really know this i'm sure you know this very well um and so we need to invest that fund very wisely and in things that are improving the economy and making money for us especially here in jacksonville and in the united states why are we investing in countries that are uh in wars and doing crimes and not even having good economic growth when we could be doing it here um the second reason is that this company has been fueling uh the opioid crisis here in this country there's been multiple uh lawsuits that tiva has had to settle um and because it has been contributing to addiction uh you know a lot of us said last two weeks ago my cousin and other people many of us know people who have died from fentanyl or opium opioid overdoses it's really been a huge uh problem for people in our community uh across the country but especially here in jacksonville my cousin was a marine and it was a big loss to the country that uh we lost him um and the final reason is that tiva is involved very heavily in the uh genocide and the ongoing war crimes in gaza and the west bank and lebanon um we don't want our money to be involved in wars or in things going on uh in the middle east that are criminal we want our money to be put to good uses here in jacksonville and in the country so that we can all be more prosperous so we can afford very nice things like affordable housing help and to afford to keep us all safe uh and to do even more with our budget i know everyone here at city council um i think you would say to a lot of people here like oh we don't have the money for things well if we have the money for things then we could do a lot of great uh great work in the city so thank you thank you next we have darren daly darren daly address on file i serve as president artistic director of the jacksonville children's chorus the jacksonville children's chorus provides music education and performance opportunities for children across northeast florida last year we served over fifteen hundred participants through jcc programs and over nineteen thousand audience members our scholarships ensure a family's finances don't determine whether a child can participate including the travel opportunities jcc has been around for over 30 years we have performed in 24 countries representing jacksonville around the world recently we performed in italy and at the vatican we performed for pope leo the 14th and we were recognized on national and international news outlets organization and leadership have been recognized with awards from various national institutions including chorus america the telly awards and multiple american prize awards we are not simply an organization located in downtown jacksonville we are actively contributing to the cultural life and activation of downtown in addition to serving our singers and families we participate in downtown events provide another venue rental option for the neighborhood maintain main street and the sidewalk with music videos and artist performances we bring children families audiences activity into the urban core a funding cut to the cultural council what would mean for us is twenty percent in reducing our general operating funds significant reductions would eventually mean difficult choices around programming staffing scholarships and affordability for families we simply cannot absorb significant reductions indefinitely without affecting the children and the families we served we respectfully ask the city council to secure one hundred percent sustained funding for the cultural service program this is an investment in jacksonville's children families arts organizations downtown culture and quality of life sustained funding allows us to plan responsibly retain staff keep programs accessible and continue serving jacksonville thank you thank you next we have monica gold hello my name is monica gold and my address is on file i'm here tonight to encourage city council to reimagine a flourishing city with residents who feel safe seen and cared for in order for this sort of city to be a reality people need to be prioritized in our budgetary decisions this proposed budget allocates additional funding to jso while slashing affordability for the public we are joined this evening by mothers who have lost their sons at the hands of jso's use of excessive and lethal force we are joined this evening by countless people who understand people people in mental health crises need care from properly trained professionals and i believe there are people sitting on this council who agree with the people speaking in opposition to jso's additional funding but year after year they yield to the majority rather than standing with the people i support the affordable housing efforts as i support all initiatives that demonstrate a proactive approach to community rather than a reactive approach to crime can i distribute these to the folks up here all right next we have ryan delaney my name is ryan delaney address is on file i'm here again today representing the jacksonville palestine solidarity network um i first want to say that i want to echo support uh for a people's budget and i want to echo support uh for us reinvesting in affordable housing in this city i think that's something extremely important that we keep jacksonville affordable in order for this city to thrive um but i'm also here to once again talk about the police and fire pension fund and its investment uh in israeli-based bonds particularly teva pharmaceuticals um now a lot of people on this uh city council are very familiar with jacksonville palestine solidarity network we've come here for a long time uh with political demands around uh the plight of the palestinian people and some of you might support those demands some of you might not uh what we're talking about here today however is a pharmaceutical company which uh supplies fentanyl into the united states it is one of the largest suppliers of fentanyl in the united states that company is uh in invested in by our police and fire pension fund the police and fire first responders who themselves are in the front lines of dealing with the horrible ugly fentanyl crisis that the people of this city and cities all over the country have to deal with and so my question to you all here today is do you feel that the the beneficiaries of that pension fund our first responders feel comfortable knowing that their pension funds the crises that they are forced to respond to some of the most dangerous crises that they have to respond to and that on top of all that that this is what financial experts describe as a junk bond that the teva pharmaceutical uh bonds are high risk low reward and that they are a fiduciary irresponsibility for us to continue to reinvest in and so i am here to ask our city council to support our call for the police and fire pension fund to stop its investments in teva pharmaceuticals it has an expiring investment on october 1st and we are asking for your support to call on the pension fund not to reinvest this is good for jacksonville it's good for the pension fund it's good for our budget and it's good for the world thank you next we have john noonie all right hello i am john philanthropic resiliency good boy noonie 8356 bascom road jacksville florida 3 2216 i'm city council district 4 cpac planning district 3 school board district 3. you know when it comes to the homeless you know i'll go back to uh the discussions you know you know with the jail you know you know we've got two big projects that are going in downtown you know just multi-million dollars but you know what that thing was set up for housing from day one and so just you know possibly re-look at that um you know and as far as funding you know there's 27 million in the tree fund you know if you want you know with home just double it and let me just say two you know uh you know and i filled out a bunch of speaker cards but uh you know my big things the waterways and you know in the waterways downtown now here is our downtown jack's map you know and right here visitors 2025 okay you open it up look how big this thing is but you don't have the kayak on mccoy's creek so we got the new one it's a lot littler and you know here it is 2026 and you open it up and you know we got some stuff on on the agenda for this here's the cut it's not on here so we are marketing to the world and we're saying don't visit jacksonville now here's another thing i just want to bring to your attention you know and getting back you know you know you know with the homeless and everything else you know i'm going you know i'm taking the show outside and just so everyone knows i'm down to a minute this is the northeast florida regional council it's seven counties there's ten regional councils in the state of florida so right now you know here's clay county here's st john's county and you know amendment three so all i can share with you is if you don't open up our waterways and i hope you do because we're getting crushed got dozens of examples and not only that potsburg creek public park in district four is going to be one of the biggest cash cows money generators for some community that will immediately benefit their every program that you could possibly think of it's real it's true it's going to happen just down to 15 seconds but uh you know wait until you get to these waterway things but as far as a homeless we got tons of you know what let's fix it thank you for listening next we have kiana blaylock blaylock name and address please uh kiana blaylock address on file thank you um i am here to show my support for the people's budget hopefully um after gold put them on the desk that you actually look through them um i am also echoing my support uh for the jackson of palestine solidarity network and the folks who are also here um to cut some of the money allocated for public safety for their um purposes for affordable housing um i am tired of coming up here i'm happy to be here because it seems like the consciousness of the people are growing to see that jso even though they ask for more and more money every single year that they do not deserve it because of the countless crimes because of the inappropriate relationship with minors because of the um the scandal of the overtime right these are not people who have shown that they deserve it's almost like giving your child who is bad at school candy after they come home um it's it's laughable someone would call you a bad parent for doing that so then also reflect on your uh brain or your career as a city council member for doing that um i am tired of trying to figure out what is the most eloquent way for you all to listen to your constituents i am tired of business as usual i am tired of seeing that the police presence in this in these chambers grow i'm tired of you all silencing community members instead of actually listening to community members i i am tired i am tired uh like the brother up here said a while ago that he is on his almost 10th year being here and it's the same concerns over and over again i don't understand who i am talking to am i talking to city council members that when they see us uh protesting for carmelo anthony's justice uh drives in their car and goes away am i talking to a city council member who at the same um demonstration saw us and then turned around and walked back where they were going am i talking to city council members who try to little girl me outside and say i don't know who i'm talking to or how i'm talking about i don't understand i don't understand what i'm here for i understand that i'm here for the people which i will continue to be here for until my last dying breath but honestly i feel like i'm here more for them than for y'all which is actually the work that i want to do so again i want to end with that i'm happy to see the consciousness of the people growing that they're starting to see your slip because your slip is showing and what you actually care about and who you're actually for and it's for jso and it's for your own pockets and not for these people who come here after work after they work long and hard for a housing market that is crashing for an economy that sucks to talk to you but you don't listen thank you mr president we've got five people who do not wish to speak but have filled out a public comment card barry mcmillan affordable housing basic need shelter in addition to safety everyone deserves shelter monique sampson pass a people's budget now alec statling sterling we allocate funds from lpr budget to official community resources such as mental health response delete archived lpr footage andrea thomas rescind genocide jacksonville's resolution in favor of genocide quit 287g agreement establish community control of genocide at the jacksonville sheriff's office finally kaswana martin financial drain of at 287g jacksonville taxpayer deserve to know the full cost of this partnership before money is diverted from essential city services mr president that concludes our public comments portion were those your opinions or were you just reading from the card just kidding thank you the people's opinions thank you mr president it's now time for public hearings beginning on page 15. council members should declare any ex parte communications and in which anyone wishing to speak should have completed a blue speaker card you will be allowed three minutes to speak if you provide a dry address on the prescribed form it doesn't you don't not and you don't wish to state it on the microphone then you are permitted just to state that your address is on record but we encourage you to be as specific as possible as to your location as it likely will impact the weight of your comments like public comment assuming approval of the presenting officer a speaker may be invited to the johnson room for further discussions with a council member failure to complete a form provided including the provision of an address on the forum will mean your name will not be called for public hearing mr teal would you please read the bills 2026 558 644 657 658 659 660 688 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712 713 714 715 716 717 718 719 720 721 722 724 740 2026 126 126 127 523 524 631 632 647 648 649 650 651 651 652 653 654 654 655 and 656 mr president i ask could you please open up these public hearings these public hearings are open turning down to page 15 as i mentioned item number 26 20 26 5 5 8 i have two speaker cards samantha series and jamie travis leonard both opposed but do not wish to speak its public hearings continue to october 13 20 26 i'm 27 20 26 644 i have no speaker cards public hearing is closed and additional public hearing will be held on october 13th item number 28 20 26 657 i have two speaker cards ed t radliff and steve matchett mr radliff would you please come down to the front followed by mr matchett good afternoon um council members my name is ed radliff name and address on file i'm here uh speaking opposition of rezoning 1.05 acres of land from a pud ordinance 217-0139 to a new pud to allow for the sale of beer and wine this property dates back to 1996 and mr matchett who will follow will have a little bit more history but basically this is a batting cage uh that is located at the roundabout at hartsfield and port caroline road uh this property has had multiple changes and basically has been uh nothing what it was meant to be uh the new owners have come in and now want to sell beer and wine to make it a more family friendly environment uh to host uh parties um sporting events and other um events the problem with this is that this road or this uh facility is within 1500 feet of a school which the planning uh committee uh overlooked and said they'd have an issue with that um this is a very uh dangerous road if you look at this uh piece of property there's 11 parking spots on the property and they're looking to put about 174 seats on the property to host these events um there is no place to park um you're going to sit there and have adults coming in drinking and then driving young children home it makes really no sense um we are for smart development common sense and the problem is if you have this many parking spots there's no place to park and anybody that's familiar with that area knows that at least six times a year a palm tree in that roundabout is knocked over because someone is intoxicated at night so my recommendation coming here is to please deny this on the other hand we five of us showed up thursday for the planning committee hearing and the sponsor of the bill did not show up we were there for two and a half hours waiting to speak on this and when it came up they're like we're gonna have to table it so i wonder how serious these folks are we're here fighting to pursue preserve our area and we're taking time out of our day i ended up losing four hours of my work day to come down and then have to be told we have to come back thank you thank you sir next we have steve matchett mr matchett there he is steve matchett address on file this ordinance is a p pud to pud rezoning request to expand an existing batting cage at the corner of hartsfield and fort caroline roads with proposed food service food trucks and the sale of alcoholic beverages which would also involve a liquor distance waiver from the school directly across the street the original pud was approved in 1996 i was the agent then for the property owner mr sam mclaughlin i wrote the original pud for the batting cage and advocated it for it before this body the original pud was unique in several ways it began with the question how mr mclaughlin could realize his dream and passion as a coach to provide a baseball practice facility for the youth of arlington while accounting for the legitimate concerns of surrounding neighbors who were fearing a commercial intrusion i can answer that in one word covenant the original pud for baseball heaven was a covenant between the owner the city and the neighborhood that allowed the batting cage featuring mr mclaughlin's own inventions he allowed the site to remain natural preserved the many oaks that served as buffers the majority of his parking was for bicycles and his concession stand was just like the one you'd see at a little league ballpark and a strict prohibition against any alcoholic beverages was expressly written into the pud that was part of the covenant it was neighborhood size and scale and we reinforced that by also changing the land use to recreation and open space to further limit any commercial expansion that was part of the covenant this current proposal breaks that covenant its proposed intensifications want to attract corporate gatherings and private celebrations and a size and scale that recast them as the primary use and makes the once central batting cage an afterthought understanding the proposal like this would not allow it to legally exist in the recreation open space land use category and it's hard to understand how the planning department could not recognize this inversion when it was so clearly laid out in the applicant's written description which devotes most of its language to the alcoholic beverage operation and the site plan which is void of any parking or landscaping accommodation for the proposed 172 outdoor seats 99 of which are clustered around an outdoor bar on the extreme northwest corner of the property the petitioner failed to show at last week's planning commission meeting and that will result in more time it should give the applicant in the planning department more time to explain while breaking a 30-year covenant is such a good thing we think it's a sin thank you sir thank you i have no more speaker cards in 657 public hearings closed page 16 item number 29 2026 658 i have no speaker cards public hearings closed item number 30 2026 659 i have two speaker cards but neither wish to speak john nooney wants to know how many units and page johnson does not wish to speak questions only public hearings closed item number 31 2026 660 i have no speaker cards public hearings closed during the page 17 item number 32 2026 688 i have no speaker cards this public hearings closed move the emergency we have a motion and a second on the emergency we'll take this vote verbally no speakers in the queue all in favor of the emergency indicate by saying aye aye all against say no emergency passes move the bill as an emergency we have a motion and a second to move the bill as an emergency no speakers let's open the ballot and record your vote by your vote 2026 0 688 passes item 33 2026 697 i have no speaker cards public hearings closed during the page 18 i'm 34 2026 698 i have one speaker card john nooney hello please stay on the bill as you speak in public hearings tonight thank you let's see you can start locked that's okay all right i am john j nooney jacksonville city council resolution 2023 0819 i'm in city council district 4 c pack planning district 3 school board district 3 and uh the legislation 2026 0698 now we're appropriating 111 000 in fund balance from the environmental protection fund to provide funding for the 19th state of the river report for the lower saint john's river basin you know we're just going to be waving a lot of stuff you know direct contract with ju for the project but what i want to do is you know for those especially that are in attendance just go back to agenda item 17 2026 06 70 and that was 103 000 that was the continuation of the manatee protection plan you know neighborhoods finance but you know not in waterways so you know a lot of this is you know you asked me some double dip stuff and you know again it's waterways you know it should be that is the most important you know commission and so anyway you know uh you know look at this you know again rules neighborhoods finance but this one did go to waterways but then you go back and look at agenda item 17 17 but the environmental protection board fund you know that thing i'll tell you there used to be millions in it it's like a lot of these different funds you know when it gets up into the you know stratosphere if you will that's when you know you you really just change a lot of the rules and just have a free-for-all with some of this so anyway i just wanted to be on the record you know uh just keep in mind manatee public park on pottsburgh creek you know in district four you know uh we had you know manatees baby manatees in the backyard so all right thank you for listening i have no more speaker cards on six nine eight and public hearings closed item 35 2026 699 i have no speaker cards it's public hearings closed i move the emergency we have a motion and a second on the emergency seeing no speakers in the queue we'll vote on this verbally all in favor of the emergency indicate by saying aye aye all against say no emergency passes move the bill as emergency we have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency no speakers let's open the ballot for your vote 17 yeas one nay and by your vote 20 26 0 6 9 9 passes page 19 items 36 and 37 700 and 701 i have no speaker cards it's public hearings closed item number 38 20 26 702 i have no speaker cards public hearings closed and number 39 703 i have no speaker cards it's public hearings closed i move the emergency we have a motion and a second on the emergency for 20 26 0 7 0 3 we didn't skip a public hearing there did we we were going so fast okay um we have a motion second on the emergency for 20 26 0 7 0 3 no speakers let's take this vote verbally all in favor indicate by saying aye aye all again say no emergency passes move the amendment we we have a motion and a second on the amendment no speakers take the vote verbally all in favor of the amendment indicate by saying aye aye all again say no amendment passes move the bill as an emergency as amended we have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency as amended seeing no speakers it's open the ballot court your vote 18 yeas 0 nays by your vote 2026 0703 passes turn to page 21 items 40 41 42 43 704 705 706 and 707 i have no speaker cards these public hearings are closed page 22 item 44 2026 708 i have one speaker card john nooney hello i am john jay nooney jacksonville city council resolution 2023 0819 i thought i marked on there didn't wish to speak but uh anyway this is an ordinance 250 000 from the cip debt service repayment now uh now this is with parks okay blue cypress yeah the golf course you know you tee it up i mean i'm ready you know it's uh you know let's get a scramble going um but yeah this this uh you know uh uh blue yeah oversight by the parks department and uh no i just support the legislation and uh just want to be really on the record for that one all right thank you i have no more speaker cards public hearings closed i move the emergency we have a motion and a second on the emergency no speakers in the queue let's take this vote verbally all in favor of the emergency indicated by saying aye aye all against saying no emergency passes i move uh the bill is an emergency we have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency no speakers let's open the ballot and court your vote 18 a 0 nays by your vote 20 26 0 7 0 8 passes moving on now to number 45 20 26 709 mr nooney who does wish to speak on this one hello i am john jay nooney jacksonville city council resolution 2023 0819 i'm in city council district 4 cpac planning district 3 school board district 3. yeah this this one you know the public trusts you know it's just been absolutely crushed i'll always remember and i still have been going to an ethics commission meeting and i'll ask you know we have six seat packs representing the entire city of jacksonville you have the mayor's disability council you know the the wheelchair gang the council on elder affairs senior citizens why is ogc the office of general council yeah you're not on the bill mr nooney please well it it is it's procedures you know we're amending you know the so right now what we're doing is you know you know we're looking for you know to have a quorum for a standing committee and you know um again you know uh at least we're attempting and trying to do something right now but uh but but as far as you know and you can offer amendments but bring back 2017 160 public participation you know that is what really triggered a lot of the collapse of what has happened you know through the legislative committee process mr nooney you're not on the bill please okay well uh relating the council rules i mean this is part of the the history and uh i just wanted to get it on there and uh uh i hope when it goes through bring okay listen we got a big agenda ahead of us i know you do bring back 2017 160 as an amendment i have no more speaker cards in 709. all right this public hearing is closed item 46 2026 710 i have no speaker cards this public hearing is closed move the emergency we have a motion and a second on the emergency no speakers in the queue we'll vote verbally all in favor of the emergency indicate by saying aye aye all again say no mercy passes move the amendment we have a motion and a second on the amendment we'll also vote verbally all in favor of the amendment indicate by saying aye aye all again say no amendment passes i move the bill as an emergency as amended we have a motion and a second to move the bill as an emergency as amended no one in the queue let's open the ballot and accord your vote 18 a 0 nays by your vote 20 26 0 7 1 0 passes turn to page 23 item number 47 20 26 7 1 1 one speaker card john nooney hello i am john jay nooney jacksonville city council resolution 2023 0 8 1 9 women city council district 4 c pack 3 school board district 3 and this is a fema house you know and uh you know what uh everybody should just remember you know uh and i'm next to one but uh back in the day you know uh these would go to waterways this is a neighborhood's finance but not in waterways so uh just remember you know we had steve whitter todd smith andre you now we have no array and this fema stuff used to be over the environmental quality division and it got transferred out so anyway you know uh as far as the legislation i just wanted to be you know on the record we're next to one it's still real still can happen and go out and do site inspections i mean there's an unbelievable list of this stuff so uh anyway uh it can still be sent to waterways and you know kind of bring back the good old days all right thank you for listening no more speaker cards and 7 11. public hearings closed move the emergency we have a motion and a second on the emergency no speakers will vote verbally all in favor of the emergency indicate by saying aye aye all again saying no emergency passes move the amendment we have a motion and a second on the amendment see no speakers will vote verbally all in favor indicate by saying aye aye all against say no amendment passes move the bill as an emergency as amended we have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency as amended there are no speakers in the queue let's open the ballot and cordial vote 17 a zero nays and by your vote 20 26 0 7 11 passes item 48 20 26 7 12 i have no speaker cards public hearings closed the emergency we have a motion and a second on the emergency we'll take the vote verbally all in favor of the emergency indicate by saying aye aye all against saying no i move the bill as emergency we have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency again we're on item 48 20 26 0 7 1 2 please open the ballot and according to 18 a zero nays by your vote 20 26 0 7 1 2 passes i'm number 49 20 26 7 1 3 i want speaker card john nuni does not wish to speak however he opposes the bill public hearings closed move the emergency we have a motion and a second on the emergency i'll give anyone an opportunity to get on the queue there are none let's vote verbally all in favor of the emergency indicate by saying aye aye all against saying no emergency passes move the bill as emergency we have a motion and second on the bill as an emergency i'll recognize mr diamond who let the record note recorded no on the emergency i did thank you mr chair uh mr president uh i'm voting no on this just so everybody knows it's only 25 000 but they want to spend 25 000 on a museum to the jacksonville city council and i guarantee you in this next election anybody who votes for this is going to find in their neighbors mailboxes they spent your money on a jacksonville city council museum it's ridiculous it is a museum to corruption uselessness and ego i am proud to vote no i encourage my colleagues to vote no i understand the nature of this but it's just completely ridiculous and tone deaf to the people there are two more speakers mr carlucci followed by dr johnson i implore my colleagues to ignore such rhetoric and such nick and such a in such an insult to the city of jacksonville you can call this a museum to the city council that's not what this is councilman diamond this is a museum to the wonderful history of the city that has overcome great obstacles along the way to where we are now that's what it is i'm not building museums myself i don't want a museum to myself and i sure don't want one to some of the members of council that have disgraced certain times of the great city of jacksonville's reputation but i do want a museum that talks about the great history of some of our great city council members members who have helped move this city forward to what we are today who have built this city through the challenges of a great fire who have helped overcome the great challenges of civil rights to this city who have helped overcome the pre-consolidation challenges that like to disrupt and disgrace this city and turned our st john's river into a flowing cesspool as was noted by world news news report the magazine back in the 60s and the city council who brought an nfl team to jacksonville and so that the kids that come with tours through city council and through this chamber can walk right through that hall and into the large hallway into a room that has been sitting vacant for years and they could look at the minutes in the beautiful handwritten minutes that were done uh back in the 1900s and late 1800s that were so beautifully written with cursive which these kids don't even get classes on as i understand it uh to how right cursive this is not a this is not a self-serving uh museum uh what we just listened to was a bunch of political rhetoric that um gins up people's emotions because people generally don't like city council members i get it i've been doing this far longer than you have sir so yeah you can do that all you want to but i'm no politic i have forgotten more about politics than you've ever known so i get it i'm just telling you that this city has a lot to be proud of and what has driven this city has been its people and this museum will talk about our people let me finish please we're honoring three minutes tonight well first time you can get on the queue for another two minutes if you would indulge me this guy you got 30 seconds thank you i appreciate that this city has been driven by its people but it has also been driven by its government and this is a civics lesson for the high school and the middle school and the elementary skids elementary school kids that come through here and i think learning about civics is a good damn thing please watch your language mr carlucci dr johnson followed by mr lane and followed by mr america thank you so much mr president i rise to support uh councilman carlucci this was uh and brought up out of the finance committee and the committee supported councilman carlucci's inclusion of this it's a very small amount but when i think about being here today and i look at that wall in the back and all of those members of city council and they think about the henry cooks and the warren joneses and the tillie fowlers and the alberta hipses i could go on and on and name the names i'm so honored to sit in this seat but what is important is that we remember history because it's been said over and over again i think winston churchill even mentioned it in a great speech that those who do not understand and remember history are doomed to repeat it i do think as councilman carlucci said that just across that hall in this museum unfortunately i do understand that it is important that we interpret the information that is there and it clearly says this is not a museum for city council it's a museum for city hall which preserves the history and posterity of this city so i'm honored to vote for this thank you council member carlucci for putting this forward and i will certainly be supporting it and i hope colleagues that we can remember our city by supporting this small investment in allowing our city to see itself in the best light thank you thank you dr johnson over to mr layman hey mr president just to remind my colleagues of the history of this bill uh councilman carlucci brought this up on wrap-up day and i said looking at all the other requests that were out there we were not going to build it into the budget i said if you could find a alternative funding source i would support it he did that he's using the council contingency which does expire this week so with that identified funding source and only because of that reason i will support it because i said if you found an alternative funding source for this i would all right there are no other speakers in the queue i think uh right now we're in the posture where we have a the motion on the bill as an emergency let's open the ballot 16 yeas 3 nays by your vote 20 26 0 7 1 3 passes during the page number 24 item number 50 20 20 16 20 26 7 14 i have one speaker card john newney hello i am john j new name jacksonville city council resolution twenty twenty three zero eight one nine when city council district four c pack planning district three and school board district three now here we're going to appropriate seven hundred and seventeen thousand you know the riverfront parks and you know we've got the dvi and as i just shared with everybody during public comment you know downtown vision you know here i was going to them and just so you can pick this stuff up but here's the 2025 map and you look at it and here it is uh the kayak launch of mccoy's creek you know with the emerald trail stuff it's not on here so now we've got the new map you know 2026 and you know it's a smaller one same thing kayak launch it's not on here so here now we want to just you know promote and spend all this money the key really in my opinion is wait until everything's built before we create these not-for-profits and just hand out salaries i mean just read through this i'm just down to a minute 30 and what you have to remember and and everybody in this city is you've got 14 council districts five at large you got your cra's dia's all your different over overlay zoning districts so what we have 2014 560 is the legislation that created the downtown area you know from the fuller warrant of the matthews bridge so anyway this is a piece of legislation i mean is it really necessary i would say no you know you can just put it below the line or just you know just say hey wait until we have all these waterfront activation things that are really going to be taking place so anyway just wanted to share that uh thank you for listening i have no more speaker cards in 7 14. public hearings closed i move the emergency we have a motion and a second on the emergency no speakers in the queue we'll take the vote for the emergency verbally all in favor indicate by saying aye aye all again saying no emergency passes move the amendment we have a motion and a second on the amendment we'll also vote verbally all in favor of the amendment indicate by saying aye aye all against say no amendment passes move the bill as an emergency as amended we have a motion and second to move the bill as an emergency as amended there are no speakers let's open the ballot cordial vote 18 yeas 1 nay by your vote 20 26 0 7 1 4 passes item 51 20 26 7 1 5 i have one speaker card jamie travis leonard does not wish to speak but supports the bill public hearings closed i move the emergency we have a фотon and second on the emergency all in favor of the emergency indicate eyeperdade i i all against saying no mercy passes move the amendment we have a motion and a second on the amendment all in favor of the amendment indicate by saying aye aye all again saying no amendment passes move the bill as an emergency as amended we have a motion and a second to move the bill as an emergency as amended there are no speakers open the ballot and member Nehtare 19 yeas, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026-0715 passes. Item 52, 2026-716. I have one speaker card, Jamie Travis Leonard. She supports the bill but does not wish to speak. Public hearings closed. I move the emergency. We have a motion and a second on the emergency. All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against say no. Emergency passes. Move the bill. As an emergency. Thank you. We have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency. Giving speakers a minute here. Seeing none, let's open the ballot and court your vote. 19 yeas, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026-0716 passes. Turn to page 25, item number 53, 2026-717. I have two speaker cards. Jamie Travis Leonard does not wish to speak but supports the bill. And John Nooney. Hello. I am John J. Nooney. Name and address is also on file with the motion picture industry. You know, this piece of legislation is to carry over $400,000, originally appropriated by 2025-720-E. And so the funds will be remaining with the Office of Economic Development. It's the film and television center for Project T. Now, I'm in. I mean, we've got OED, the Office of Economic Development. You've got Ed Rambo, Randolph, Todd, Red Carpet, Ruben. I mean, this is big stuff. And, you know, I'm wearing my Boat Ramp Billy shirt, you know, at St. John's County. You know, they're going to be doing a movie with him. So, no, as far as, you know, bringing the motion pictures and documentaries and anything associated with film, you know, this is positive, very, very positive. So, I'm in. Thank you for listening. I have no more speaker cards for 717. This public hearing is closed. I move the emergency. We have a motion and a second on the emergency. No speakers. Let's vote verbally. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against, say no. Let the record show. Mr. Diamond voted no. The emergency passes. I move the bill as an emergency. We have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency. There are no speakers. Open the ballot. Record your vote. 17 yays, 2 nays. By your vote, 2026-0717 passes. Item number 54. Did Mr. Diamond press his button? 2026-718. I have two speaker cards. John Nooney wishes to speak to this bill. In the meantime, Ms. Nooney, come on up. In the meantime, Jamie Travis Leonard does not wish to speak, but she supports 718. Hello. My name is John J. Nooney, Jacksonville City Council Resolution 2023-0819, and name and address is also on file with the motion picture industry. And, no, this is, again, you know, this is awesome stuff. This is OED, the Office of Economic Development, Film and Television, Todd, Red Carpet Rubin. Let me just say that Astronaut Howland, you know, you're the council liaison for this, for this. And, man, it's just good stuff. I mean, you know, we're going to, it's very good. So, I support it. Thank you for listening. All right. Thank you, sir. We have no more speaker cards than 718. Public hearings closed. And move the emergency. We have a motion and a second on the emergency. No speakers. Let's vote verbally. All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no, emergency passes. Move the bill as an emergency. We have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency. No speakers. Open the ballot court to vote. 17 nays, 2 nays. By your vote, 2026-0718 passes. Moving on now to page 26, item number 55, 2026-719. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. I move the emergency. We have a motion and a second on the emergency. All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no. Emergency passes. Move the bill as an emergency. We have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency. There are no speakers. Let's open the ballot and accord your vote. 18 nays, 1 nays. By your vote, 2026-0719 passes. I'm 56, 2026-720. I have one speaker card, John Nooney. I am John J. Nooney, Jacksonville City Council Resolution, 20230819. I'm in City Council District 4, CPAC, Planning District 3, School Board District 3. Now, this is, we're going to be executing and delivering on behalf of the city intergovernmental cooperative agreement with the St. Johns River Water Management District. And, you know, well, here's the thing, neighborhoods, TEU, but not in waterways. I mean, where's Doug Conkey? You know, it's, you know, this, again, are examples where, you know, it should be and it still can be, you know, sent to waterways. I just wanted to have that on the record. I have no more speaker cards. Public hearings closed. Move the bill as 721. There's no movement on this one. Moving on now to page 27, item number 57, 2026-721. Guess what? I have one speaker card. You'll never guess who. John Nooney. Hello. I am John J. Nooney, Jacksonville City Council Resolution, 20230819. City Council District 4, CPAC Planning District 3, School Board District 3. And, you know, here, does anybody remember the Annabelle Lee, the Lady St. Johns, you know, the Foxy Lady? You know, even you throw the Riverkeeper in there, you know. But right now, you know, we're just going to be subsidizing. This was in rules, neighborhoods, finance, but not in waterways. Again, you know, I want to be one of the biggest cheerleaders for downtown on our waterways. But the way that's only going to happen is if it's opened up and everyone is allowed to participate on an equal playing field, if you will. And that's not happening. So, anyway, you know, as far as with this, it's like get in line. You know, who else needs some work done? And, but anyway, everybody, you know, there should be so many speaker cards on this. But, anyway, I just wanted to be on the record. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards on 721. Okay, close. Item number 58, 2026, 722, Mr. Nooney. One speaker card. Hello. My name is John Nooney. Name and address is on file. Okay, now this one, gosh, you know, I feel like it's, like we're going back to dragnet on this one. You know, ordinance, the Office of Administrative Services, ordinance code, to rename the Office of Administrative Services as Administrative Services, calling it now the department. No, just stick with what it was, the Office of Administrative Services. You know, why are we just changing everything? This is the city, Jacksonville, Florida. It ain't easier here. All right. Keep it the same. Thank you. I have no more speaker cards on 722. Public hearings closed. Turn now page 28, item number 59, 2026, 724. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. And move the emergency. We have a motion and a second on the emergency. Seeing no one in the queue, all in favor of the emergency, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All again, say no. Emergency passes. Move the amendment. We have a motion and a second on the amendment. Seeing no speakers in the amendment, we'll vote verbally. All in favor of the amendment, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All again, say no. Amendment passes. Move the bill as an emergency, as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency, as amended. There are no speakers. Open the ballot. Accord your vote. 18 yays, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026-0724 passes. Item number 60, 2026-740. I have no speaker cards. Public hearings closed. Mr. President, now it's time for public hearings on land use amendments, companion, rezonings, and modifications to the comp plan, beginning on page 29. Item number 61, 2026-126. I have one speaker card. Samantha Ceres does not wish to speak, but she opposes 126. This public hearings continue to October 27, 2026. Turning to page. Item number 62, 2026-127. I have one speaker card. Samantha Ceres, Samantha Ceres, she does wish to speak to this one, I believe, which is not marked otherwise. You good? Ms. Ceres? She opposes this, but does not wish to speak. This public hearings continue to October 27, 2026. Next item 63, 2026-523. I have one speaker card, Samantha Ceres. She opposes this bill, but does not wish to speak. This public hearings continue to October 27, 2026. Turning to page. Item number 64, 2026-524. Again, one speaker card, Samantha Ceres. She opposes this bill, but does not wish to speak. This public hearings continue to October 27, 2026. Item number 65, 2026-631. I have no speaker cards. This public hearings closed. Move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. We're on item number 65, 2026-0631. There are no speakers. Let's open the ballot. According to vote. 18 yays, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026-0631 passes. Turning to page 32, item 66, 2026-632. I have no speaker cards. This public hearings closed. Move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. Give people a minute to get on cue. A few seconds, actually. Seeing none, let's open the ballot. According to vote. 18 yays, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026-0632 passes. Item 67, 2026-647. I have no speaker cards. This public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be held on October 13, 2026. Item 68, 2026-648. I have one speaker card. I'm sorry. Page Johnson. If I could, I apologize, Mr. President, for the interruption. Our thin clients were reflecting a different bill when the vote was taken on item 66. It was reflecting item 53. 63. So I just want to make sure that the appropriate ballot was created and voted on. Do you want us to reopen? I would like to let legislative services first confirm that the vote was accounted for the correct bill. Okay. We'll entertain a motion. Do we need to reopen the public hearing? So what I would recommend you do is finish the disposition of the bill that you're currently on and then somebody make a motion to reconsider the prior piece of legislation so that it can be reopened, closed, and then votes, the motions made and the vote taken again. Let's finish what we're on. All right. I think we're on item number 68, 2026-648. As I mentioned, I have one speaker card, Paige Johnson. She does not wish to speak. She's here for questions only. This public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be held on October 13, 2026. So, Mr. President, let's go back to item number 66, 2026-632. Move to reconsider. We have a motion and a second to reconsider. We'll take this reconsideration vote verbally. All those in favor of reconsidering indicate by saying aye. Aye. I'll get to say no. Reconsideration passes. I open this public hearing. I have no speaker cards in 632. All right. This public hearing is closed. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. For everyone, we're on item number 66, 2026-0632. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. Ladies and gentlemen, we're having a little bit of a technical difficulty here. Just stand by a minute or two. The ballot is open. 18 yays, 0 nays. All right. By your vote, 2026-0632 passes. All right. Turning to page 33, item number 69, 2026-649. I have no speaker cards. This public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be held on October 13, 2026. And the same with items 70 and 71, 650 and 651. I have no speaker cards. Okay. It's back on. These public hearings are closed. And additional public hearings will be held on October 13, 2026. Turning to page 34, item 72, 73, and 74. Again, I have no speaker cards. So 652, 653, or 654. These public hearings are closed. Additional public hearings will be held on October 13, 2026. All right. Moving on now to page 35, item number 75, 2026-655. I have no speaker cards. This public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be held on October 13, 2026. And the same with item number 76, 2026-656. I have no speaker cards. This public hearing is closed. An additional public hearing will be held on October 13, 2026. Mr. President, as per your instructions, we are not going to be taking up the third reading resolutions and or appropriate ordinances. We are going to start with item number five. Ninety. Ninety. Thank you. You got it. Got it marked on everything. This is 2026-570. I move the neighborhood substitute. We have a motion and a second on the neighborhood substitute. I'll give people a minute here. All right. We do have one speaker in the queue. Is it on the substitute? Or would you like to speak on the bill of substitute? I'll speak on the bill. Okay. And Mr. Landon substituted? All right. Then we'll take the substitute vote verbally. All in favor of the substitute indicated by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no. The substitute passes. Move the bill to substitute it. We have a motion and a second on the bill as substituted. Mr. Boylan followed by Mr. Landon. Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to appreciate the colleagues and the hard work that went into the creation of this bill. It's been a journey we started back in October of last year. Two of the major concerns that came out of the discussion with respect to enforcement One was age. We eliminated that. And secondly, it was speed limit. The concern was that we would not have sufficient signage and education of the consumers out there with respect to the limited speed limits on sidewalks and shared pathways. A couple of things have taken place in that regard. We incorporated into the bill a retail requirement of retailers providing information which the transportation planning department will be providing. As you heard from school board member Melanie Bulldog, we also heard from the administration of DCPS. We're going to actively update their education, safety education programs to incorporate the bill. And as I noted last time in TEU in particular, I went back and took a look at the Safe Streets Initiative bill, which we passed three years ago, where we allotted $45,000 to each city council district councilman for the use of traffic calming devices. Very few of our colleagues have used that. The bill I'm introducing provides district councilman the discretion to use these funds or a portion of those funds as they deem necessary to put speed limit signs in their district as warranted. So I think we tried to cover all the bases in putting this bill in place, and I appreciate your support. All right. Thank you, Mr. Boylan. Mr. Lander, you're up, followed by Dr. Salem. Thank you, Mr. President. I was a no on this in committee, and I still have some concerns on the enforcement aspect of this. We're basically relying on 26 signs that are going to be posted on other speed limit signs on major entryways into our city. That will tell us that citywide we have a 15-mile-per-hour speed limit. That being said, I am happy to hear that DCPS is supporting it. I think that will help with the education piece beyond just the signs. Mr. Boylan, you did call it a, I think your exact words were, it was not a perfect bill. I do think at some point we may have to have an amendment or two on there because I still, again, I am concerned about the enforcement. But just given my follow-up conversations with the school board, I will support it. But, again, just something we need to monitor the enforcement of this on carefully as it gets rolled out. Thank you, sir. Dr. Salem, followed by Mr. Matt Carlucci. Thank you, Mr. President. My sentiments are similar to my good friend, Councilmember Lane, and I did not support this in committee. I've had additional discussions with JSO, and I do believe it's a start, and I think we need to start somewhere, so therefore I will be supporting it tonight. Thank you. All right. Thank you, sir. Mr. Carlucci, followed by Mr. Diamond. Thank you, Mr. President. I promise to keep my language squeaky clean here. I want to say, as an insurance agent, this problem was begging for help, and I just want to commend Councilman Boylan. He has the rare ability to latch on to problems in our community that sometimes nobody else wants to take a hold of and grab the bull by the horns, and he did. But there's certainly, we need more signs, and there's probably further work to be done. But you know what? You can't let the perfect get in the way of the good, the old saying. And I just want to thank him for being the councilman who always seems to find a way to tackle these type of things. And if we didn't do that, we'd never get anywhere. I hope that he will continue working on this, and I'd like to pledge to him the support that I didn't quite get to and try to help you with this. And I think I can bring some insights to it from the experience I've had with customers and customers' children who have been injured and hurt, because this is not just a bicycle, it's a bicycle with a motor, it's somewhere between a motorcycle or scooter and a regular bicycle. So if you have your desire to have beatings on it, I would be pleased to join you and to help you. You know, kids get killed on these things, and a life is a very valuable thing. And once you lose it, that's it. And it's not only the life of a child, but I've had a lot of friends who have lost children, and they never get over it, never, for the rest of their lives. So thank you, Councilman Borland. Thank you for always being the unheralded councilman who takes these things on. Thank you. All right, Mr. Diamond, followed by Mr. Peluso. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to echo the perfect sentence of my colleagues, Councilman Matt Carlucci, perfectly well stated. Thank you for doing this. You can record it. It's fine. No, we had a 15-year-old who's friends with my niece and nephew at the beaches die at the five-way on Penman. And every time I drive through the five-way, literally every day, I see a cross there. And we've got to do more. The beaches police officers and police chiefs have been regulating very hard, and it's working. And so whatever we can do, I'm all in. So thank you. Thank you. And finally, Mr. Peluso. Thank you, Mr. President. And to this body, as we've all been saying, I applaud you, Councilmember Borland. There is no such thing as a perfect bill. And with an emerging technology like these vehicles, you don't always know how to begin operating with it. I know in my district, I have a lot of concerned parents, a lot of concerned constituents. And I'm very grateful that somebody really took the bull by the horns on this. I'm very grateful to you and very happy to support it. All right. There are no other speakers on the queue. We have a motion and a second on the bill as substituted. Let's open the ballot and accord your vote. Thanks. 19 yays, zero nays. By unanimous vote, 2026-0570 passes. Congratulations, Mr. Boylan. Thanks for your service. Thank you, Mr. President. Appreciate it. And thank you for all the support from Matt Fall and Milo Corey and Corey Milo and other members of OGC and Bike Club and all the folks who reached out to me along the way and encouraged this bill. Turning now to page 42, item number 91-2026-588. I move the amendment. I move the finance amendment. I'm sorry. We have a motion and a second on the finance amendment. Seeing no speakers in the queue, we'll vote on the finance amendment verbally. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All again, saying no. Finance amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. Let's open the ballot and accord your vote. 19 yays, zero nays. By your vote, 2026-0588 passes. Moving on now to item number 92-2026-624. I move the amendment. We have a motion and a second on the amendment. We'll take this amendment vote verbally. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no, the amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. There are no speakers. Let's open the ballot and accord your vote. 19 yays, zero nays. By your vote, 2026-0624 passes. Moving on now to item number 93. Thank you. And that is 2026-634. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. Mr. Gay. Mr. Gay has to. Do you need to? No? Okay. Motion and second on the bill. Oh, he's okay. Okay. Sorry. We're good. Thank you. Sorry. I had it written there. Seeing no speakers in the queue, let's open the ballot and accord your vote. 18 yays, one nay. By your vote, 2026-0634 passes. Turn to page 44. We're going to table item number 94, 2026-646 because it is a budget bill. All right. Roger that. And Mr. Florida Leader, before we go on to the next one, let me recognize Mr. Gay. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to go on record that I have been cleared through ethics to be able to vote on that. Thank you. I'm sorry. I called you out, sir. Back to you, Mr. Blum. All right. Moving on now to item number 95, 2026-667. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. We're on item number 95, 2026-0667. We have Mr. Peluso in the queue. Thank you, Mr. President. I am very concerned with this bill. I mentioned it during our neighborhoods meeting. I have a couple of issues with the bill as it stands in terms of what this contract and grant is supposed to go towards. There's a company named Peregrine that's supposed to be getting this contract. It's an AI company. We literally heard last week, experts in AI say that there is a 10% chance AI will kill the human race. Now, I am not saying that that will happen. What I am saying is we need to make sure that the city of Jacksonville has a policy on AI that attributes to all parts of the consolidated city and county government, property appraiser, tax collector, public defender, JSO, city of Jacksonville. We need to make sure we know what data is and is not protected, what data is and is not to be sold, what data is and is not allowed to be preserved, and where it gets preserved. I don't know where these servers are for what this company, Peregrine, is going to do with it. I just don't know. I tried to move to defer this bill because I wanted us to have a policy that all the different agencies and departments, you know, again, DCPS, everyone else, could have gotten together and said, anytime any one of us wants to enter into a contract with an AI company, these are the things that we will allow and not allow. That way it allows for our procurement department to kind of have a central policy when something comes in where they have to pay to an AI company. It made sense to me. I have very real concerns about AI, what it means for the economy, what it means for this government, what it means for the rights of our citizens. I am concerned. I tried to defer it. It didn't seem like that was going to work. I am voting no on this tonight. I ask that you do the same. I just don't know this company. I don't know enough about it. I don't know enough about this grant. I don't know enough about AI in general, and I don't think we have expertise on this body who knows a lot about AI either. And I think if we are going to sign away potential rights of our citizens, we should really be aware. So I'm voting no on this. I ask that we do the same unless there is a move to defer. We have Mr. Matt Carlucci followed by Mr. Diamond. You don't want to speak, Mr. Carlucci? No? Okay. Mr. Diamond, you're up. Followed by Mr. Boylan. Thank you, Mr. President. This is a pass-through bill. This is literally a pass-through. $1.9 million given to the city of Jackson. It's a pass-through. We're just saying, thank you for the money. This whole idea, let's be candid. This is entirely political. I get accused of this all the time. That was just a bunch of political garbage. It says something about enforcing immigration law, and I don't want my name on it because I'm up for at-large election. That's all that was. So vote yes on this, number one. Number two, it's a pass-through. Number three, six weeks. Look at all this staff that we have back here. They're brilliant, super smart folks who can answer questions. Six weeks to get your really hard AI questions answered. Are you doing the job or not? Do the job. Answer the questions, and then you can vote. Mr. Boylan, you've got three minutes. Mr. Peluso, you're up afterwards. You've got two. I don't need three minutes. I just wanted to follow up. I did do my homework on this one. I talked to Mr. Clement. He mentioned there were a number of agencies throughout the state already utilizing this program. It made me feel very comfortable that it's a well-established, well-recognized program, and I was comfortable with the fact that we are using something that's been well-vetted. Thank you, sir. Mr. Peluso, two minutes. Thank you, Mr. President. Now, just to retort with one of my colleagues, and just in general, AI is a technology that I am not super familiar with, and I don't believe anyone else is up here. We do have incredibly intelligent staff, but we do not have a policy in the city of Jacksonville, nor do we have one in any of the major agencies within the consolidated city and county. I spoke with JSO. I spoke with our other council members. They clearly have a different opinion than I do on some of this, but I genuinely am concerned, and I do not know this company. And yes, a few other counties have used this company, this AI company, Paraguyn, but truly, do any of us know where this data and this information goes after it's passed off into the ether? I do not, and I have yet to get a great answer. And I have not seen the contract or the information about when we have data, where does it go and where does it get stored? I have not heard that, and I would think that somebody who claims to be such a hardcore conservative would have concerns about people's rights as much as I do. I'm voting no on this. I ask you to do the same. All right, and last up, we have Dr. Salem. Thank you, Mr. President. I understand Council Member Peluso's concern. However, we need to move forward and study this. Entities that you mentioned. Is that better? I'm sorry. I apologize. I have no problem in developing a citywide policy with all the constitutional officers and everybody else, but you can't stop progress at the same time. We just can't stop. We need to continue, and it sounds like a good idea for Mr. Boland to take on. After he finished the e-bikes, he's probably ready for another challenge. Did the jail and did the JEA thing? I mean, you're right. This is his specialty. So somebody needs to do it, whoever. I'm like you. I'm not real familiar with this, but I do think we need to look at it, study it, and have a policy, but we can't stop at the same time. Thank you, Mr. President. All right. Thank you, Dr. Salem. There are no other speakers in the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, 1 nay. By your vote, 2026-0667 passes. Mr. President, I think I have a perfect example of artificial intelligence. Turning to Page, item number 96, 2026-0675, I move the amendment. We have a motion and a second on the amendment. We're on item 96, 2026-0675. No speakers in the amendment. We'll vote verbally. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no, amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. There are no speakers. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026-0675 passes. Turning to Page, page 46, item number 97, 2026-0676, I move the amendment. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. No, sorry, a motion and a second on the amendment. Seeing no speakers in the queue, let's vote on the amendment verbally. All in favor of the amendment and indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against say no, amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. Now we have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. No speakers in the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026-0676 passes. Mr. President, we're moving on now to second reading resolutions and ordinances. Well, 91. Oh, man. 98. We have one more. There it is. Item number 2026-0678. I move the amendment. We have a motion and a second on the amendment. Seeing no speakers in the queue, let's vote on the amendment verbally. All in favor of the amendment indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against say no. The amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. There are no speakers. Let's open the ballot and record your vote for the Manatee Tank Youth Pitch Competition Bill. 19 yays, 0 nays. By your vote, 2026-0678 passes. Now is the time to move on to second reading and resolutions and ordinances. Mr. Thiel, would you please read the bills? 2026-725, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 2026-689, 690, 691, 692, 693, 694, 695, and 696. Mr. President, we have no public participation cards on any of those, so I'm going to move everyone to page 53, item number 127, 2026-768. I move the emergency. We have a motion and a second on the emergency. Seeing no speakers. Mr. Diamond, you're on the bill. Okay, Mr. Carrico, you on the bill? Okay, let's vote on the emergency. All in favor of the cake by saying aye. Aye. All again, say no. Emergency pass. I move the bill as an emergency. We have a motion and a second on the bill as an emergency. See, I'll recognize Mr. Diamond followed by Mr. Carrico. I was just moving a council amendment, and I would like to say the why. My dad used to tell me that you can be a loud guy in the room. You just can't be the loudest guy in the room. And so long as Jake Gordon was around, I followed his rule. So I was very grateful. So he's a great dude. Did great things for Jacksonville. I think council amendment makes sense. Thanks. Thank you, sir. We have a motion and a second on a council amendment. Mr. Peluso, you're on the queue. Are you on the council amendment? Nope. All right, let's vote on the council amendment verbally. All in favor, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All again, say no. Council amendment passes. Move the bill as an emergency, as amended. We have a motion and a second on moving the bill as an emergency, as amended. Mr. Peluso, you recognize? Thank you, Mr. President. And everyone in this body knows who Jake Gordon is. Unfortunately, he's not here this evening. But on Friday, he will be having his farewell at 5 p.m. Where we will be, hopefully, if we all vote this in, which I believe we will, we'll be presenting this resolution to him. So it's 5 p.m. on Friday over at the headquarters for DBI. Thank you. Low risk. All right. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. As an emergency, let's open the ballot and court your vote. 19 a's, 0 a's. By your vote, 2026-0768 passes. Turning now to page 57, item number 146, 2026-5750. I move the emergency. We have a motion and a second on the emergency. Mr. Peluso, you're still on there. Do you intend to be? No? Okay. We will take a verbal vote on the emergency. You want to be on it, Councilman, Dr. Salem? Yes. I want to speak on this bill. This bill is an in-and-out emergency, which I have never, ever been comfortable with anywhere, number one. And it appears to be a budget bill. There are amendments that are dealing with this bill, and I would compare it to one that's coming up next, which is 150, which is an in-and-out emergency. And there are budget amendments dealing with this. Why are we dealing with it here versus during the budget process? Would you like the council chair to address that question? Or would you like the introducer to address the question? Well, this one is Arias, yes. Councilmember Arias, please. Mr. President, if you don't mind, Mr. Popolis, and then I'll chime in after that. Yes. Through the president, Councilmember Salem. So these bills are addressing similar to a floor amendment that's proposed on the spreadsheet for the budget, but it's this year's money, which is why the need for the in-and-out emergency, so that if the funds are appropriated, they're appropriated before September 30th. So it's pulling from this year's funding, and I believe the intent would be, and Mr. Arias can correct me if I'm wrong with respect to his legislation, if this bill passes, he would not be offering his floor amendment to the budget because it would no longer be necessary. If I can, Mr. President, but it could be dealt with a floor during the amendment process. It can be dealt with that way. If it's done through the floor amendment that's for the budget, then it would be fiscal year $27, and it would be money coming out of the public safety contingency versus 2026. $26 coming out of the debt interest savings. So it would just be a different funding source. I'll leave it up to the authors of the bills if they would rather deal with it here or deal with it through a budget amendment. For the record, Mr. Fopolis, I actually have a question very quick. So for this legislation right now, how many votes are needed, and how many votes are needed for the budget portion of it? And not just for this one, but also for the other emergency, the 150. Through the president to Councilmember Arias. So for this piece of legislation, item 146 and the additional in and out emergency, item 150, both would require a two-thirds vote because they are emergency bills. That's where the two-thirds vote comes from. The floor amendments to the budget would only require a 10-vote, simple majority vote to approve. And then that would not adjust or require any changes to the budget's final vote, which currently sits at 10 votes. Okay, and one more question through the president to Mr. Fopolis. If I withdraw this bill, I still have the budget. No, I don't have the budget. I do. So through the president to Councilmember Arias, if you choose to withdraw this bill, you can do so. And if it's withdrawn, you could still offer your budget floor amendment to 504. It would just mean that you're pulling from a different funding source out of fiscal year 27 instead of the residual funds and the debt interest savings from fiscal year 26. To Mr. President, Finance Chair, right now, I'm looking at withdrawing this bill. You guys have to vote it down or up. In this case, just my movement right now, if that's the case, because we're needing 13 votes for this. So you guys have the power to decide on where we take this up. So there you go. I want to recognize Mr. Lehman. Yeah, thank you, Mr. President. And to Councilmember Arias, when I saw this being introduced on emergency, I assume this was from wrap-up day when you again brought the amendment. Someone sponsored it for you on Finance Committee, and it was voted down. Similar to some other items, I know Councilmember Salem, you had one. There were multiple Councilmembers that had items that they found alternative funding sources. I believe that was your intent, because this is with a debt service repayment, which I believe we still had some money that was expiring on September 30th. So when I saw this, my understanding is this is your attempt to use current year dollars that are expiring and keeping it out of the 504 bill process. So through the president to Councilmember Arias, I guess my question for you, assuming if it passes here, the first thing you would do is withdraw your budget amendment to keep it out of 504, correct? That is correct. Okay, so through the chair to Councilmember Arias, my second question is actually to the auditors. Mr. Peterson, we've seen a lot of bills draw from the same funding source. Say we run the table tonight, say everything gets approved, including 150, that's up next. Do we still have the money needed for all those bills in that funding source? I want to make sure we essentially don't overcommit. We approve all this. Next thing you know, oh, there wasn't that amount there. We have to draw from some other source. Check. Through the president to Councilmember Lainon. That is correct. So based on the projections from the third quarter quarterly summary and all the information that we know, the dollars are available for every bill that is on your agenda tonight. Through the president. Thank you, Mr. Peterson. So here's where I'm at. Time and time again, I encourage people to try to find alternative funding sources from City Hall, Hall of Fames, or whatever we're going to call it, to your bill, to parks. So I'll support this to keep it out of having to budget for it. I will say my only commentary really is, again, I got a lot of living relatives that voted for consolidation. It does seem strange that years later we have both League of Cities and Association of Counties, so maybe that's something we can look at to see if we start going to one. But for now, since we do have the available funding source and to keep it out of a 504 bill, I will support it. Okay. We're over to, next is Mr. Diamond followed by Dr. Johnson. To me, this is crazy. Look, just because we didn't spend the money last year doesn't mean we should be spending it irresponsibly this year. Last year's money, if we didn't spend it and we're spending less than we did last year, we should be rolling back the tax rate. That's what we should be doing. Send the money back to the people. So, look, I've never seen this done before. I voted against seven budgets, never seen anyone with a one cycle, pardon me, in and out emergency trying to get around the budget process. And very specifically, when we voted no twice on this very appropriation, why do we go through a budget process at all? Why have a budget committee if we're just going to go around and fold on budget night? The answer was no at finance. It should be no tonight. I'm voting against all these emergencies, and anybody who tries to vote any money into the budget, it's already just below what we spent last year. Spending another dollar is nuts to me. Yeah, sorry. Point of order. Yeah. Mr. Arias, did you make a motion? Are we on the motion? I heard a motion, and I thought I heard a second. What are we on right now? We're on the bill as well. We're on. He. Yeah, emergency. He thinks we're on the withdrawal. You're saying we're on the emergency. We're on the emergency. Okay. Your point is well taken. Right now, we're on the emergency, so we can pass the emergency, and then we can have this debate. Right now, we're on the emergency. I didn't hear you withdraw. I did withdraw it. I did withdraw it. Yes. No, I'm saying I moved to withdraw. No. We're next up is Ms. Clark-Murray. There's a point of order. The point of order is well taken. We're on the emergency right now. Ms. Clark-Murray is up next. You're on the emergency? To the chair. At first, I was going to address his motion to withdraw. Because I wanted him to know that I support the bill, and it makes sense that we have funding now to actually go ahead and take care of this bill now at this particular point in the agenda. So, that's what my comments were going to be, not necessarily the emergency. All right. We are right now on the withdrawal because Mr. Arias introduced a withdrawal, and it has been seconded. I'm sorry. Point of order again. I did not. Maybe someone else heard it. I didn't hear a second. And he was, he's taking a, okay, so through the chair, so does it matter when the timing of the second was? Because there was like, he was talking, and there was debate, but I didn't hear a second, and I'm listening carefully. I checked with Mr. Fopolis. So, the withdrawal vote was made. There was a second. So, withdrawal vote can be made anytime. So, withdrawal vote was made after the emergency was proposed in second and before the vote. So, right now, there is a withdrawal on the table. Now, he can withdraw his, can he withdraw his withdrawal vote? All right. So, since I do have the, I'm sorry. Mr. Arias, welcome to withdraw your withdrawal, if you'd like. I think we need to move on. I already said what I'm doing. So, that's, we'll take it up. All right. I need 10 votes, not 13 votes, and I don't have 13 votes. Well, I could read the room right now. I want to say, oh, ye of little faith. Do you really know that you don't, through the chair, do you really know that you don't have 13? I'm just reading the room. Okay. I don't know about that. I think you're reading it wrong, but through the chair. All right. Thank you, Mr. All right. We have a vote on the withdrawal. I've got a motion on the withdrawal. It's been seconded. I've got Dr. Salem, Mr. Carrico, Ms. Pittman, Mr. Carlucci, Dr. Johnson. Only if you're speaking on the withdrawal. Anyone speaking on the withdrawal? No. I just want to clarify. I tried to get on the, on the queue at the beginning of this process before the emergency was made. You didn't see me. I understand that. But it sounds like we're in the place now where we're dealing with the withdrawal. And that's, I think that's where we need to be. Thank you, Mr. President. On the withdrawal, Mr. Carrico, you're next in the queue. Are you speaking on the withdrawal? Thank you, Mr. President. On the withdrawal, if the bill sponsor wants to withdraw, I think we should withdraw it. He has an opportunity. He's expressed he'd rather go for it with 10 votes. So I'm not going to support the emergency. I'm not going to support this bill. Like Mr. Diamond said, this is kind of hijacking the budget process. Let's let it play out on the amendments. But if he wants to withdraw, I'll support him. Okay. We have Mr. Carlucci next, only if you're on the withdrawal before we take the withdrawal vote, followed by Dr. Johnson, followed by Mr. Arias. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have successfully really confused a very simple issue. The money for these organizations was in the budget. Now, how this bill came around, I don't know. But he's trying to withdraw it so that we can go back and address it to put the money back in the budget with the budget amendment. So this bill should go away, and we should go back to try to put the money with the amendment back in the budget for whence it came. So this bill should go away so we can get back in the original posture. Mr. Chair, I know you're juggling. Yeah, we're adjusting right here. No, there's a... But did you understand what I was saying? You better be speaking to the withdrawal. I've been trying to deal with this. There's a motion to withdraw. This bill needs to be withdrawn because what he wants to do is go back and put the money... The money for these was in the budget, and it was taken out. We need to go back and put the money... Roger. I heard you. ...or it was taken out back into the budget. Yep, got it. Okay, next up is Dr.... That only takes 10 votes. Thank you. Dr. Johnson, followed by Ms. Clark-Murray, followed by Mr. Arias. Speaking on the withdrawal. If you're not speaking on the withdrawal... Yes, sir, it's the withdrawal. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate that. I have a procedural question and a comment. My first question is, if the... And this is through the chair to the general counsel. If the withdrawal of this bill... Or excuse me, if the withdrawal... Can the introducer of the withdrawal withdraw the withdrawal? I just... Yes. Through the president to Council Member Johnson, yes. The introducer can withdraw their motion as long as there's no objection from anyone else on counsel or by the seconder. Then there's no need to move to withdraw the motion to withdraw. Okay. If the introducer... Another legal question. If the introducer withdraws the withdrawal, or it doesn't withdraw it, and it goes to a vote, would the... Or would the bill... Would that person still have another bite at the apple in the budget process, or does this preclude that? So, if this bill is disposed of on emergency, and it passes, it would not... Then you would not need to take up the floor amendment on the budget. You could still choose to do so, and if you take it up on the budget and you pass the floor amendment, you would have to come back and reconsider this legislation to either withdraw it or deny it, because you would have addressed the need for the funding through 504 instead of this bill. But if it fails, another bite at the apple is still possible. So, if this bill fails, and you go to 504, and there's a floor amendment that is approved or not, you can still... Somebody on the prevailing side of this bill can move to reconsider it. Gotcha. And then reopen it if that motion to reconsider passes, and then you go back through this legislation and vote on it again. Thank you for the information. I just want to say, first of all, I want to commend, and I appreciate the work that the general counsel's office and the auditors have done to find and realize these funds. Mr. Chair, I want to, through the chair, to Councilman Arias, thank you. The League of Cities and Association of Counties is a necessary thing. I'd also like to, you know, the finance chair did speak to the fact that he would support it, and you did exactly what he asked to do, to go and find an alternate funding source. And that's what's done, which keeps it from being in the budget. So, I think this is the right place to vote for it. I also agree with Councilmember Clark Murray. I think the tea leaves show that the support can be here. But here's the thing. Push it through. I support, do not support the withdrawal, because I believe that if it fails here, there is still another bite of the apple in the budget if necessary. Finally, I wanted to say, while I do understand the finance chair's maybe not understanding of the difference between the League of Cities and the Association of Counties, we are both a city and a county. While I do sit on the board of directors for the 411 municipalities, towns, and villages in Florida, what I want us to understand is that there are unique needs that the city of Jacksonville has that the Association of Counties addresses, as well as the League of Cities addresses. And as Councilman White so eloquently said, we ain't a bunch of yahoos. So, we need to be at all of the tables all the time, because we are the largest, and we set the trend. Thank you. I'll recognize Ms. Pittman. Well, first of all, I do understand, Councilman Harris, that you wanted to withdraw. I think you should withdraw. Not only that, and I think at last Councilmember meeting, I mentioned to you all that the counties were coming to Jacksonville. They were here last week. And the impact that they had, they didn't realize that Jacksonville was that innovative. And so, we were there, along with Councilman Carrico, went to one of the conferences, and we brought them here. And from an economic standpoint, we did what we needed to do. And we showed up and showed out. And so, you know, I agree with you to have this as a backup, or have it, and win it, and not knowing what we're going to have, because we have a very tight budget. And so, I got to say, I've been on here for several years, and have benefited from being on this committee. And I think we need to invest in it. And so, I would like for you to undo it, and let's start over. Thank you. I'm going to hand the gavel to Mr. Carlucci. Council President Howland, you recognized. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. I am disappointed that there's a motion to withdraw on the table. I will vote against the motion to withdraw. And let me explain why. This goes and points towards the whole point of the budget process this year. The whole point of the budget process this year was to reduce spending. And that's what the Finance Committee did over and over again through six different hearings. We have a budget right now that fully funds public safety, a budget that fully funds critical infrastructure, and a budget that fully funds core services. And the Finance Chair was clear that if anyone really had an opportunity they thought was missed, find an alternative funding source. And that's what I'm seeing in this bill. That's what I saw in the Blue Sky Bill. And that's what I'm seeing in the bill we're about to vote next. I commend you, Councilman Arias. I commend Councilwoman Holder. I commend Councilman Salem for finding other sources of revenue to drive their priorities without affecting the budget. You're using current year money, and you're not rolling this into the budget. And why that's so important is because as we face revenue uncertainty with Amendment 3, we don't want a budget that's so big that it incurs new recurring spend. So you follow the direction of the Finance Chair, which is to find an alternative source in current year to get your priority funded. That's why I think we should vote on this right now, rather than voting on it in the budget. Thanks. Okay. So Mr. Arias, you're recognized, followed by Ms. Clark-Marie. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. So I'll be very quick, and I'll explain to you my rationale behind all this. Last year, during this budget process, the same thing. We found alternative different sources for different initiatives in our city, one of which, which I don't see in this current budget, is Hispanic Chamber, Black Chamber, and the Asian Chamber. However, I do see the Jax Chamber, the regular Chamber. And why is that so important for me right now is because, you know, if we don't solidify these things and bake them into the actual budget that we're currently talking about right now, it will not come into the next year's budget. Right now, if we take this up in 2025-26 current year funding, it doesn't cement the fact that it was taken up in the 26-27 budget. And my problem with that is that I want to make sure that we continue this trend. As Ms. Pittman said, she's going to be here next year. I want to make sure that her legacy stays on in the recurring years. And if we cement this and bake it into the budget now for 27-28 budget, guess what? There's going to be a line item that says, FAC, Association of Counties, League of Cities, and everything else was funded. If not, it's going to show zero funding. And it's going to happen the same thing that happened to the Asian, Black Chamber, and Hispanic Chambers. They're not even in the budget. They're not even in the budget. And so I want to make sure that these things are solidified and baked into our current budget that we're voting on right now, which is why I am withdrawing this bill. So I respectfully request that all you guys, whoever wants to support me on this, support me in the budget. That's it. I just need 10 votes. I cannot get to 13. You guys are saying yes. I cannot. And I'm not willing to take that chance and risk it. But at the end of the day, I want to make sure that this is solidified in our current 26-27 budget, not 25-26. Otherwise, that'll be two times that we paid them in 25-26. That's not right. Thank you. All right. Ms. Clark-Murray. Thank you, Chair. Through the Chair to Mr. Peterson. So my concern is about the funding. So the funding source, it's an emergency because the funding source or the funds itself will expire on the 30th. So if he continues the withdrawal, will those funds expire on the 30th? Through the President to Council Member Clark-Murray, yes, they will lapse on September 30th to the general fund reserves. And so through the Chair to Mr. Peterson, so even with that, we could still pull them for the 26-27 budget. Is that possible? From the general fund. Through the President to Council Member Clark-Murray, you could always introduce a bill in the new year to pull out of reserves for any purpose. It just triggers the two-thirds vote. All right. All right. Thank you. Thank you, President. Okay. Councilman Layman. Thank you, Chair. To Council Member Arias, I'm not going to vote against your motion to withdraw if that's your preference. I will say you're kind of in the unique position. We could vote on this, see what happens, and then we're going to vote on a floor amendment before too long. You almost get two chances, essentially. So, again, I'm not going to fight your motion to withdraw, but just want to throw that out there that you essentially have two opportunities tonight to get this passed. All right. Mr. Matt Carlucci, followed by Mr. Palooza. Okay. The money for these organizations was in the original budget. Is that correct? Is that correct? It was in the mayor's proposed budget. Yes, that was handed to us. So, I say this in all due respect, and nobody's been more complimentary of you and the Council Finance Committee Chairman than I have. Social media, talking to my friends, and platforms I've been given on radio and TV and so forth. And I have truly meant it. But when you start saying that what the Finance Committee did is what everybody else should honor, I can respect that, but I don't agree with it. Because otherwise, if we are all supposed to fall in line with what the Finance Committee did, then that renders the other Council members here without any say-so. And that's not democracy, and that's not fair. There are amendments for a reason for the rest of the Council, who was not chosen to be on the Finance Committee, to have a say-so. So, if this bill passes, I would vote for it, because I think we should be members of these organizations. We always have, and we always should be. They played a big part in the city of Jacksonville at important times. But to vote for it as a separate bill and not in the budget, as we always have, I think sets a very bad precedent. I think the bill, I mean, I think the budget should reflect that these are paid for in the budget, because it shows a real commitment to where our city should be. So, I urge everybody to vote to put this in the budget, to withdraw this, so it looks like we're back to normal. Thank you, Mr. Carlson. Thank you. All right, Mr. Peluso, followed by Mr. Romero. Thank you, Mr. President, to the body. I mean, I think, truly, friend, I believe there's 13 votes right here. I believe the council president and the finance chair would prefer this method, because it's a funding source that doesn't conflict with some of their values. And I am concerned that if we get to the amendment process, that it might actually get voted down. I believe the votes are here. And I think I, for one, would love for you to withdraw your withdrawal, for us to get the 13 votes, which I believe, I'm seeing head nodding, but you have. And then we move forward with a funding source that I think most people concur, not only as what they prefer, but available to us. I know that I'm going to be supportive of it. I want to back you up, but I'm looking, man. I think we're here. And I believe we have council leadership that's on our side with this as well. I want to see these get funded. I think that you're right to do it. I also want to continue the conversation on those chambers. I think you're right about that as well. But what we have before us is a way to make sure we avoid a long discussion on an amendment where we can right now vote something up. If you withdraw your bill and we go for the emergency and vote it up, I think we're in a good posture. And so that's something that I would prefer. And I believe I'm seeing some acknowledgement here amongst our colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Peluso. Over to Mr. Romero. Thank you, Mr. President. Call the question. All right. We have a motion and a second to call the question. This is calling the question on the motion to withdraw. So we'll take a vote verbally on calling the question. All in favor of calling the question, indicate by raising your hand. Is that passed or not passed? Okay. It fails. And there was only one speaker in the Q&As. It was Mr. Vice President and Joe Carlucci. Check, check. All right. Well, yeah. So, you know, personally, if the bill sponsor wants to withdraw this bill, I'm Council Member Landon. I'll support the withdrawal. I'm probably – I don't know where I'm at on the bill itself as it stands right now. But I think the – I think what I'm seeing here is your argument that you made was you saw something important to you in the budget last year get removed, and then you saw zeros there, and you know how hard it is to get something back in after it's zero. So that's what I see your dilemma as from what you've said. Not necessarily – there could be 15 votes here. I don't know, but I do agree with that statement. Once it's in there as a zero, certainly harder to put it back in there. Not sure I would support it in the budget either way. But that's where I'm at. So that's me on the withdrawal. All right. We have no other speakers in the Q&A. The withdrawal is a ballot vote, so let's open the ballot and record your vote to withdraw. Yeah, green is withdraw, red is not withdraw. 13 yays, 6 nays. All right. By your vote, the bill is withdrawn. It's not – okay, explain our posture, Mary. To vote yes on the withdrawal, you only – you needed 10 votes to withdraw. You had 13 votes against the withdrawal, so the withdrawal fails. Oh, can we see the score again, please? No, there were 13 yays, 6 nays. Sorry, I read backwards on budget night. And no one here hired me for my math skills. By your vote, the bill is withdrawn. We move next, Mr. Boylan. And we didn't have 17 people to correct you, as I do. Moving on now to item number 146 on page 57, 2026-750. I believe Ms. Holder would like to be recognized, Mr. Chair. Oh, I'm sorry, turning the page. 1-5-0-2-2-6-7-5-4. Ms. Holder would like to speak to this bill before we move the emergency. All right, Ms. Holder. Mr. Council President, I would ask that you please temporarily pass on this bill until after the budget. I would rather not. You're asking me to table the bill? I'd rather we hear it. I think it's a responsible thing to do to take up current year spend bills prior to finalizing the budget. I think that's why we set the agenda that way. So, I believe you can make a motion if you'd like. Can I make a motion to lay the bill on the table? We have a motion and a second to lay the bill on the table. All right, Ms. Holder? Yes. So, I want to lay this bill on the table to, as we know, affordable housing is an issue that we've heard our neighbors here in Jacksonville speak to as being very important. It's something that's extremely important to me, but I've also heard the request for $4.9 million being restored back into the budget, and my emergency bill falls a bit short of that. So, I want to kind of clear the pathway to have discussion to get to the $4.9 million and honor the request of our people here in Jacksonville. All right, it's not debatable. So, we have a motion and a second to lay it on the table. It's a verbal vote. Point of order, Mr. Salem, address your point of order, please. Mr. President, would you like to do that? All right, Mr. Foplos, please explain the implications of laying on the table. The implications of a table and how it's different from a withdrawal. Sure. Thank you. So, the motion to lay on the table has the effect of, as it says, laying the item on the table. So, you would pass it over to take up other items on your agenda. Before the end of the meeting, if it's the intention of the council to take up the bill, a motion to remove it from the table or move it off the table would need to be made before the end of this meeting and seconded. And that would put the item back before the council for disposition of the bill. So, this has the effect of temporarily placing it on the table until later in the meeting when it could be addressed by the council. Okay. Dr. Johnson, you have another question for Ms. Foplos? A due point of information. The question through the chair, through the president, does this bill, because it has been tabled at this point, does it have to be handled as business before the cessation of this meeting? It has not been tabled yet. If it is. The motion has not been taken up. So, what the rules provide, Robert's rules provide, that you have until the conclusion of the next regular meeting to take the item up before it is considered no longer part of the agenda. So, it would fall off your agenda at the end of the next regular meeting, if not disposed of during this meeting. And at that point, it would automatically, there would be no need for a vote for that? Correct. Yes. Okay. Thank you, Mr. President. All right. Thank you. And the vote to lay it on the table is verbal vote? So, it can be done verbally, and it requires a simple majority. Okay. Actually, let's take this by hand. All those who support laying it on the table indicate by raising your hand. All right. It passes. The number 150-2026-0754 is laid on the table. Mr. President, notwithstanding that item, our remaining non-budget related item is the addendum. Yep. I'd like to move the addendum. All right. We have a motion and a second on the addendum. I'll note to everybody here, I see no speakers, that there's an item on the addendum, item 155. That is 2026-0780. This is something that a bill that was introduced on the addendum worked with the administration and JTA on. It'll go through one cycle, so you'll hear it in committee. And it addresses opening up LOGT for potential operational uses, including paying down JTA's line of credit. And I just want everyone to know that that's on there. It's a way for JTA to begin to address some of its current calamities. With that, I see no other speakers will take a verbal vote on the addendum. All in favor of moving the addendum indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no. Addendum passes. Mr. President, we are now ready to take up the three millage bills beginning on page 36 and the budget items thereafter pursuant to Section 200.065 of the Florida Statute. The Council Secretary, Mr. Thiel, will read a statement immediately prior to today's public hearings concerning the adoption of the first, second, and third millage levies. Mr. Council Secretary. Pursuant to Florida Statute, Section 200.065, the Council Secretary or designee will read the following statement immediately prior to the public hearing on September 22, 2026, concerning the adoption of the first 2026-2027 millage levy. Ordinance 2026-501. The Consolidated City of Jacksonville proposes to levy the following millage rate within the General Fund, General Services District. Go ahead. Go ahead. Keep going. Are you done? Accepting Urban Services Districts 2 through 5, a total millage of 11.1919 mills for operations. This reflects a 3.93% increase in the operating millage rate from the rollback rate of 10.7689 mills. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, I ask you to open the public hearing for 501, please. Actually, before I open the public hearing, Mr. Council Secretary, will you please read the clerk's statement? You just did. Did you have to read the first one? You read the second one already? No, we just read the first one. Oh, okay. This public hearing is open. I have one speaker card, Jamie Travis Leonard. You have three minutes. Good evening, City Council. My name is Jamie Travis Leonard. My address is on file. My apologies. I was expecting more people to talk to this. But you just get me. Yay. So I do support the millage that the mayor proposed. I did not support last year when we reduced the millage during City Council. A lot of people came out and said that they want their dollars being spent on services. And for that, we need the millage that is proposed. So I'm back again this year to reiterate the same thing. So I support 26-501 as proposed by the mayor. Please don't amend it. Please take my taxes. That's why I have a house. It's the only form of taxes I can pay in this city to help fund my community. So thank you. I have no more speaker cards on 501, Mr. President. So I'll close the public hearing. This public hearing is closed. I move 2026-501. We have a motion and a second on the bill 2026-0501. We have Mr. Diamond in the queue. Thank you, Mr. President. I'll just do this once rather than belaboring this over and over again. I was going to introduce a floor amendment to do a rollback rate. But let's be honest. I don't have the votes to do it. I don't have the votes. And so I'm not going to put us through this exercise over and over again. I voted against all the other budgets because every single budget I've ever been part of in the city of Jacksonville has raised taxes on the people of Jacksonville. We went from a $1.35 billion budget to a $2 billion budget this year and last year. And we have not got $700 million of better government from the people. And I agree. There's all sorts of stuff in this budget that is wonderful. There's sidewalks in there and there's pools and there's all sorts of great programs for people. And I love that part. That is the good part of the government. No question. The bad part that nobody ever wants to talk about because the people are not in this room, they're at home or they're at work right now, is they're trying to keep their homes. And the cost of keeping your home in Jacksonville keeps going up. Mortgage rates are high in Jacksonville. Homeowner's insurance is high in Jacksonville. Jacksonville is becoming unaffordable. And the one thing we can do to make it more affordable is to lower people's tax rate and we've decided not to do it. So I'm sorry to the people of Jacksonville. I've never once successfully got you an actual tax cut. We've had a couple of rollbacks and that's great. That's not a real tax cut if you're spending more for your home this year than you did last year. That's a tax increase. So I'll vote no on the budget. I'm voting no on all of these bills on the millage rate because it's a tax increase. We're making it harder on the people of Jacksonville to keep their homes. And for all the people who are working so hard trying to pay their mortgage and to see that huge tax bill come every year and wonder what you're getting for it, you have every right to be mad. This budget, fine. There's wonderful things in there. But we have not recognized the hardworking people of Jacksonville. All right. Thank you, Mr. Diamond, Mr. Kerko, followed by Ms. Clark-Murray. Thank you, Mr. President. I'll try to be brief. I led the charge last year with a lot of support to decrease taxes and to cut the millage rate. And what I told people when I gave interviews is that this is just a start. It's an eighth and I'd like to see another eighth and another eighth and another eighth until we get to a place where our taxes are fair and our budget is not inflated. I think the finance committee did an amazing job of finding waste and finding dollars and putting them in different places. So I think we found enough where we could have rolled it back. So you would have had at least one vote, but that didn't happen. So I just want to go on the record that I'm not going to vote for any of these. I would have supported a reduction, but I won't make any big stink out of it the rest of the night. Thanks. Thank you. Ms. Clark-Murray, followed by Mr. Amara. Thank you, Chair. Through the chair to Ms. DeFopolis, and as you are rising, I'll talk about this. So the last council meeting, I asked questions about this particular bill and if the residents of the beaches had an opportunity to chime in on the bill. Because I think one of the things that Council Member Diamond is trying to express is that the people of Jack's Beach in those particular areas didn't have an opportunity to have a say. So will you just reemphasize the fact that the process that happens out at the beaches to help everyone who is here on this dais, as well as those in the audience, understand that the people do and did have a say? Through the president to Council Member Clark-Murray and the council. So 501 is really with respect to the city of Jacksonville, excluding the beaches in Baldwin. However, your question is germane to 502 and 503. And yes, we did address it at the last meeting and as we discussed then, the trim notices go out, which reflect all of the millages, proposed millages to be assessed against the property by any entity that would be assessing those millages. The notice of the legislation that's required under state statute to address the millage and the budget all goes out and the individuals of the public from whatever jurisdiction they reside in are able to come to the hearings to address those bills at the city council here at the city of Jacksonville, as well as their own councils within their respective jurisdictions with regards to the millage rates to be assessed at the local level in their jurisdictions. So everybody has that same opportunity, that same information to address the legislation on the millage before it's enacted. All right, Mr. Romero, followed by Mr. Arias. Thank you, Mr. President. And through the chair to the finance committee chair, Mr. Layton, I was not able to attend every finance budget committee hearing, but I believe in objective truth. And so what I need to know at any time during any of those proceedings, that the committee increased the millage rate. Through the president to Councilmember Romero, no, we did not make a motion to change within the finance committee 501. I believe that's what you're asking. Did you increase the millage rate? No. So the millage rate that passed through finance committee was the same as last year. All right, Mr. Arias, followed by Mr. Matt Carlucci. Thank you, Mr. President. So I rise to just let people know, and Mr. Diamond, I would have supported your millage cut. You know, last year when we cut the taxes, it was a very minor tax cut. And I said this, you know, not just with this tax cut, but in anything in life, things are about incremental changes, right? Little by little, not a full half a millage cut, not a full point cut. But one-eighth, if we do that every year, we'll be able to continue keeping on with things. I'm going to be more than likely supporting some other initiatives happening tonight. Why? Because our community, our city needs relief, not just taxpayers, but also those who can afford rents. We heard from the community today. So I think there's a world where both sides can work together and actually live and afford things. But just for the record, you would have had a second vote on that one-eighth cut today. Thank you. Mr. Matt Carlucci, followed by Dr. Salem. I was very pleased with the way the budget went this year. I heard some council members through the media and committees that had a great plan to cut $100 million out of the budget. This is my 20th and last budget. I've been part of budgets, and when I wasn't on finance, I tried to attend. And I've heard council members claim, we're going to cut $50 million out of the budget. We're going to cut, cut, cut. But then, when they sit down at the budget hearings, and the budget about that thick gets placed in front of them, and they see where all the dollars have to be applied throughout the over 800 million square miles, or 800 square miles of Jacksonville, well, it just ain't that easy. And all those grandiose plans of cutting the budget, you find out that those cuts affect real people. And so, usually, there's just not many cuts to be made. And all those grand plans to cut the budget, those grand amounts fizzle out. And sometimes what happens, you find out they really need more money in different departments. And suddenly, we have to be grown-ups to make sure that we're budgeting the dollars that are needed to take care of our community. And sometimes people say, well, we're going to cut the libraries this year. And so, there's a big aim at the libraries. And when the people that love the libraries find out, when they come down to City Hall at the budget hearings, and suddenly, the council sounds like Ralph Framden when he's embarrassed by Alice and trying to explain why, why he's doing something. And it turns into a big hubba, hubba, hubba, hubba. And suddenly, the money magically appears back into the library budget. Look, folks, it may not be popular to say it, but the dollars in the budget are needed there for a reason. And I think we struck a good balance. But if you really want to start, we had people upset about 20 million. Try doing that with 300 million council members. It's not going to be fun. And if you're in leadership at that point, it's going to be a miserable year. You've got to explain to people in such a way that hopefully they can understand. And I don't have the time to tell stories. I've got three seconds left. But, Councilman Landon, you did a good job. But don't be afraid to show a little flexibility tonight on the amendments. It won't hurt. It won't actually make you look good. Give you a lot of grace. Dr. Salem, followed by Mr. Diamond. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm going to say this once, as several others have said. I think we've made, as a city, a tragic mistake in not preparing for Amendment 3. I said this in June, and we should have cut $100 million out of this budget and put it into a contingency in case Amendment 3 passes. We've got a train coming at us that may hit us. I've seen the polling like the rest of you. I said it in June. I was hopeful the mayor and her budget would do something for Amendment 3, and it was a normal budget, ignoring Amendment 3. And I know there are people calling, vote no on Amendment 3, and I'll hear it from the civic council, the mayor, and others, but it may pass. And I believe in preparing for something like that, because if Amendment 3 passes, we're going to have a JTA budget situation ourselves here, if not worse. And we missed an opportunity to adequately prepare for it. And I think we've made, as a city, a tragic mistake here. Other communities are preparing. We're going on assuming it's not going to pass. So we'll see what happens. But I think we missed an opportunity. I can guarantee you, if private companies that were facing a 15% reduction in their revenue would be preparing for that. For some reason, this government believes we'll deal with it with a 27-28 budget. It's way too late to do that. I've talked to the auditors. I believe if it does pass, we'll be reopening this budget at some point to try to address it, because we can't do it. We can't wait until 27-28 and adequately prepare. So I wish we would have done more as a city, but it is what it is, and I'm going to just say it once on 501. Thank you very much, Mr. President. Mr. Dallin, followed by Dr. Johnson, followed again by Matt Carlucci. Anyone who's on their second time has two minutes. I'll be quick. I agree with everything my colleague, Councilman Salem, just said. But even though I don't have the voice of God, I do have a belief in objective truth. And so to our wonderful council auditors, I know Philip is busy over there, just a very simple question. If I'm a homeowner in Jacksonville, I owned a house here last year, and I still own that house this year, am I paying more in taxes this year than I did last year? Easy question. Through the President to Council Member Diamond, if the value of your home increased as it turned by the property appraiser, then yes, you would be paying more in taxes. And we could probably assume through the Council President, most people's houses increase in value in the city of Jacksonville. I think we know that from the property appraiser's office. Through the Chair to Council Member Diamond, the logic seems appropriate. All right. That's a tax increase, my friends. Dr. Johnson, followed by Mr. Matt Carlucci. Mr. President, I know, I'm not sure if this is appropriate, but I had a question about, and I know it's kind of not in this space, so I certainly will respect it if you do not entertain this, but I had a question for either the auditors or the CFO about kind of what Dr. Salem said about what happens in the event of Amendment 3. Will you accept me? It's germane. You can ask the auditors. Gotcha. Okay. I may have, for the CFO, I may have a question, but to the auditors, if this Amendment 3 passes based on what Dr. Salem said, would that not allow, would the fact that we have the reserves that we need to, would you recommend having a, just from your fiscal responsibility, obviously I know we are the ones that make the laws, it's not you, but based on fiscal accounting practices, is that something that's recommended to have a $100 million fund or something like that in the event of the passage of that amendment? Through the President, Council Member Johnson, I'm not aware of any recommendations from any entities as it relates to how to address Amendment 3 forthcoming. The recommendations that are out there are to have at least two months of reserves on hand based on your operating budget. At this point, the Council, or the City of Jacksonville, does have that amount set aside in reserves. If Amendment 3 were to pass, our operating budget will go down next year approximately $200 million, and therefore our reserves would still meet that two months requirement because the budget would be $200 million less, and theoretically, our reserves would not have changed. If I could, through the President to the CFO, is there anything specific that's right now the administration is doing to prepare for that, or the CAO that the administration is doing at this point? And I'm sorry to call you all up. I just want to make sure that I understand specifically for my constituents and those people I'm advocating for. Thank you, Representative Weinstein. And thank you for indulging me, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Matt Carlucci, followed by Councilman Lehman. Mr. President, can I ask a question? Oh, gosh, sorry. Yeah, he hit my time. I'm not paying attention. Sorry, Mr. Weinstein. Go ahead. Is that okay, Mr. President? Yes, please. Mike Weinstein, CAO. We have, as we've said many, many times this year in our budget, kept recurring down. We didn't add any positions purposely to get ready for something if, in fact, something happens. We felt all along the vote is early November. We'd be one month only into our budget. If it passes, which, you know, there are a lot of repercussions, and hopefully it won't pass, that we would have 11 months of this budget to begin to get ready for next year's. The hit doesn't come until 27-28. We'd have the vast majority of this year to begin to adjust what it is we will have passed tonight with Council. I've said many times, the administration and Council would sit down and discuss what adjustments we could make to this budget to get ready for next year's budget. So, we've had many conversations about it, but we didn't feel that we should take drastic measures until we know what happened and we have enough time to adjust by it. Thank you, Representative. Thank you, Mr. President. All right. Thank you, Mr. Carlucci, followed by Mr. Lehman. I'd like to do that on what the Chief Administrative Officer, Michael Weinstein, said. We will survive well with this budget, even if there's some amendments. We've not made a mistake this year. I'm convinced of that. If Amendment 3 passes, we have a lot of time between now and then to start putting together some mock budgets. But those mock budgets should not be done without town meetings because we need to hear from the people as to what they would want cut in that budget, which would be so drastically. We should not be making huge cuts right now unless we had had town meetings throughout this complete city as to what are the projects, what are the departments, what are the services that you think we should cut to get down to that first tier of about $200 million and then the next year to $300 million. If we had done that with this budget, we would have been putting the cart before the horse. We need to put all of those different budgets that take up how many millions of dollars and outline them and itemize them and go to public meetings led by our soon-to-be Council President Joe Carlucci, who will be our next Council President, along with you, Council President, with our Council Auditors and all of us who want to be there and face the firing. And I heard Councilman Vice President Joe Carlucci on one of the shows, I think this week in Jacksonville, who said he would want to start putting together mock budgets immediately after November if it passes. I, for one, think the more people learn about this, it will not pass. Thank you, sir. All right, over to Mr. Lehman. Thank you, Council President. I was going to wait until we got to 504, but I just wanted to respond to a couple of things. First off, the Finance Committee, two of our biggest things going into the budget process, you mentioned it multiple times, is it core, is it duplicative, do we have the cash for it? And then I added, hey, let's try to preserve cash, because it may be hard to scale down to $200 million in one year, and we may need cash. Cash is flexibility in the business world. And I said, let's not start anything new. And I'm sure we're going to start this when we get to affordable housing and a few of the other floor amendments. And with regards to being prepared, for the first time in 14 years, we have a budget with less spending year over year. And through the President, Council Member Salem, you were there, you saw, I tried to get a little bit more at times. And again, as Finance Chair, I also wanted to make sure I was balancing what gets us a budget that will also get passed as well. So I feel we are prepared, because we did not grow government like Council Member Joe Carlucci, like Matt Carlucci alluded to. November 4th could be a very busy workday for all involved. And so again, though, that is day 34 of this budget that we're going to approve. So that, if Amendment 3 passes, we've done some things to prepare. I'm sure we're going to talk about public service grants and cultural service grants. Rather than releasing all that money on day one, it's potentially not either released at all, or we wait till day 34. So we did put protections in place to help us get on a potential head start if Amendment 3 does pass. Thank you. All right. There are no other speakers. Have we moved this bill? All right. We have a motion and a second on 2026-0501. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yays, 3 nays. And by your vote, 2026-0501 passes. President, we move on now to item number 78-2026-502, but ask Mr. Tieler, please read the statement. Student to Florida Statute Section 200.065, the Council Secretary or designee will read the following statement immediately prior to the public hearing on September 22nd, 2026, concerning the adoption of the second 2026-2027 millage levy. Ordinance 2026-502, the Consolidated City of Jacksonville proposes to levy the following millage rate within the general fund general services district, including only urban service districts two through four, a total millage of 7.9012 mills for operations. This reflects a 6.24% increase in the operating millage rate from the rollback rate of 7.4373 mills. Thank you, Mr. President. I have no, Mr. President, I have no more, I have no, would you please open the public hearing? This public hearing is open. I have no public, no comment cards for item 502. This public hearing is closed. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. There are no speakers. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yays, 3 nays. By your vote, 2026-0502 passes. Turning to page 37, item number 79, 2026-503. Mr. Tieler, would you please read the statement? Pursuant to Florida statute section 200.065, the council secretary or designee will read the following statement immediately prior to the public hearing on September 22nd, 2026, concerning the adoption of the third 2026-2027 millage levy. Ordinance 2026-503. The consolidated city of Jacksonville proposes to levy the following millage rate within the general fund general services district, including only urban services district 5, a total millage of 9.4208 mills for operations. This reflects a 1.98% increase in the operating millage rate from the rollback rate of 9.2380 mills. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, would you please open the public hearing? This public hearing is open. I have no speaker cards on 503. This public hearing is closed. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. There are no speakers. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 16 yays, 3 nays. By your vote, 2026-0503 passes. Moving on now to item number 80, 2026-504. I would ask that you please open the public hearing. This public hearing is open. Mr. President, we have a number of cards of individuals wishing to speak to 504. When I call your name, would you please come to the forward and sit down in front, please? The first five names are Blake Harper, Ed Molesky, I'm sorry, Ed, Faye Diamond, Paul Giotto, and Alan Mastin. If you please come on down to the front. Mr. Harper, you are first if you're still here. Mr. Harper, are you here? All right. Then, Mr. Molesky, you are first, sir. Ed Molesky. The address is on record. Tonight, I'm representing the Arts Center Cooperative. We operate a gallery and rental studios on East Adams Street. We also have another rental location in San Marcos. We got our first grant in 2018. I would say that the biggest thing that happened from getting grant funding, which we really appreciate, is the ability for our organization to stabilize rather than being on 30-day leases. We were now able to get a longer lease and all of that. One of the things that happens with that, however— Mr. Arias, sorry, sir. Pause this time. Mr. Arias, we have to keep a quorum. Come on back. Sniped you. Sorry. Continue, sir. Continue. Sorry for the interruption. We've got to keep a quorum so you can keep talking. Go ahead. All right. So one of the things that happens in that case is you build your new organization around an anticipated level of funding. Because of the fact that we were able to get repeated funding, our organization grew quite a bit. We went from having a gallery for our members to show and sell their work at the landing to now we do 14 shows a year in four different venues. All of the shows that are done at the library are done jointly with us and our partner, the Jacksonville Artists Guild. We have now taken that stability and turned that into work in the community. We do murals for Title I schools. We do murals for nonprofit organizations. We work with the city. We have for the last three years done a, every Saturday morning for three years, have done a series of classes for teaching different age groups watercolor. So all of this has allowed us, this funding has allowed us to really expand our capability. One of the things that is concerning for us, both this reductions that are happening this year and the fact that we will be facing potentially, as was just talked about, the impact of Amendment 3, we need that time. People are talking about incremental time. We would love to have next year funded fully so that if the amendment passes, we're dealing with one issue at a time rather than trying to do some based on correction that comes from the change in the budget out of here, and then another one that comes on top of that from the Amendment 3. Council members, Paluso and Johnson have put forth an amendment to do that, to take the funding up to 100%, bring it above the line. We would like you to support them in that effort. Thank you all. Thank you. Next, we have Faye Diamond, Ms. Diamond, are you here? Paul Guioto, Alan Mastin. Excuse me, before you start, Mr. Mastin, I'm going to invite down to the front Lisa Heath, Adam Gray, Linda Allen, Reverend Madsen Hill, and Jamie Travis Leonard. Go ahead, sir. My name is Alan Mastin. I live in Riverside, and my address is on file. I walk my dogs nearly every day, and I often stop at La Macaroon in Avondale for a coffee, and I've become friendly with the people that work there. I brought up the subject of affordable housing with one of the young ladies. She told me that she and a friend had rented a two-bedroom apartment for $1,400, basically $700 apiece. The landlord decided to raise the rent to $2,200. That's a 57% increase. Needless to say, neither of them could afford the extra $400 each for the rent. And she told me that she had to move in with her boyfriend, who lives in Callahan. This is yet another example of someone who works in Jacksonville, but can't afford to live here. These people who serve all of us in one way or another. So please, help people like her out. Pass the Affordable Housing Trust Fund amendment. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next, we have Lisa Heath. Good evening. My name is Lisa Heath. My address is on file, and I'm here today, like so many others, to ask you to please vote yes to restoring to the budget the $4.9 million for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. I am painfully aware of some of the situations of friends here in Jacksonville who tell me that they have no choice but to live far away from where they work, they live in small apartments where they still have to go in with multiple roommates, that there are times when they have to skimp on health care, groceries, and other essentials of life just to make sure the rent is paid, and whose dreams of having a home of their own are looking pretty hopeless. When housing costs outpace wages, it puts our local workforce under severe financial strain. Our nurses, our retail workers, first responders, teachers, they all deserve better. These are the people who keep Jacksonville running from day to day, and we need these funds back in the budget to help create a stable foundation for hardworking families through building more affordable units, offering down payment assistance, and more. I'm asking you to please support the amendment to restore this critical item to our budget. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Next, we have Adam Gray. Council President Howland and members of the City Council, I'm Pastor Adam Gray. I'm lead pastor of Riverside Church at 2650 Park Street and co-president of iCare's executive board. Tonight, I ask you to support Councilman Matt Carlucci's amendment, preserving the full $4.9 million for Jacksonville's Affordable Housing Trust Fund. iCare originally asked the city to invest $10 million. This proposal does not reach that goal, but it is a real beginning, an opportunity to show that helping working families find affordable homes is a responsibility that Jacksonville takes seriously. This is not an open-ended expenditure. The amendment preserves these dollars in a dedicated trust fund. The City Council retains the authority to examine the programs, establish safeguards, and determine how the money can do the most good. This is not careless spending. It is careful stewardship. These funds can help families overcome the down payment standing between them and home ownership. They can help builders produce homes lower-income families can afford and assist with utility connection costs that otherwise place homes beyond reach. We are helping people take the first step towards stable housing, with Council retaining the authority to require repayment, recapture provisions, performance standards, and other protections appropriate to each program. Because these are teachers, nurses, police officers, firefighters, service workers, and young families. They work in Jacksonville. They are the heart of Jacksonville. And increasingly, the people who serve us cannot afford to live here. I understand the concern about Amendment 3 and the uncertainty it could create for future revenues. But $4.9 million is less than one quarter of one percent of this budget. Removing it will not solve a possible $300 million shortfall. It will only leave Jacksonville without a tool we urgently need. Council members are right to expect accountability for existing housing funds. So require clear standards, public reporting, deadlines, and council review. Earlier this year, this council voted 18 to 0 to invest $5 million through a repayable loan that will help produce 240 affordable apartments. Tonight's proposal is different, but the principle is the same. Local investment, responsible oversight, and measurable results. We applied that idea to rental housing. Now we can preserve the resources necessary to apply it to a broader approach to affordable housing. Housing stability strengthens families, neighborhoods, employers, schools, and our tax base. It supports every other essential city service. Please support Councilman Carlucci's amendment and give working Jacksonville families a fair path towards a place to call home. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next we have Linda Allen. Years ago, my husband and I went to... I'm sorry. Name and address, please. Oh, I'm sorry. Linda Allen at 1604 Arcadia Drive on Jacksonville, 32207. Thank you. Years ago, my husband and I went to Hyde Park, Roosevelt's home. And we were touring the home, and we got into one wing of the place. And my husband said, I'm not impressed with this place at all. And I said, you're not? Why not? And he said, because it looks like home. And I said, Jerry, we're in the servants' quarters. Most of us are in the servants' quarters. We are the workers. We are the workers. I'm not now. I'm retired or a retired teacher. But, boy, looking around Jacksonville, the trash collectors, the people who make my coffee, the people at the grocery store, all these folks, these make up Jacksonville. We're in the servants' quarters. We're not old, dead, white presidents. So I just hope and pray that that $4.9 million will be back in the budget to help working people. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Next we have Reverend, I'm sorry, Madison Hilt. Madison Hilt, you still here? All right. How about Jamie Travis Leonard? And I would invite Kiana Blalock, Reverend Ken Edmonds, Sr., Andrew Guthrie, Pastor Timothy Johnson, and Rafael Delgado to please come to the front. Go ahead, ma'am. Good evening, City Council. My name is Jamie Travis Leonard. My address is on file. I'm always here with you. So you've heard a lot of people talk about they want the $4.9 million for affordable housing back in the budget. I agree with that. If you look at our budget, I do, you know, I've reiterated this a few times in public comment. I'm going to reiterate it again. 53% of our budget, over $1 billion, is dedicated to public safety, which is split between exactly two entities, JSO and JFRD. The largest price of our pie is going to two people. Now, if you took that $4.9 out of that piece, it would be 0.4%. So we've nickel and dimed 47% of our budget to pull out a total of $23.4 million, which, as our finance chair has said, is 1.2% of the overall budget. But funnily enough, is 2.2% of just public safety. So I ask again, why are we picking at our community services when we have a very large piece of the pie that we could make some adjustments to? It begs the question. Councilman Diamond earlier talked about how our budget has ballooned. He mentioned a budget of, I think, $1.3 billion, which, funnily enough, is very close to the number we are exclusively spending on public safety, on two entities. I mean, if we're really looking where ballooning's happening, that's the piece of the pie that got more money this year. That's the piece of the pie you all have taken no time to review and try to trim. Seems, you know, seems like an easy review to me. So, put the $4.9 million back in for affordable housing. Every, almost every person tonight has come up to talk about it. Earlier, I asked you in public comment to listen to us, to be good stewards. Putting that money back in is good stewardship. Honestly, I think you should put all $23.4 million in, but I've interacted with this council enough to know that that's a pipe dream for me. So, at the very least, you can put back in what the public is asking you repeatedly. They have all stayed. I have stayed. I'm usually here at night, but there's a crowd of people here who are not usually here this late. Listen to that crowd. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have Keanu Blalock. He's still here. Reverend Ken Edmonds. Both of these support 504, I assume, the affordable housing. Andrew Guthrie, followed by Pastor Timothy Johnson. Hi, Andrew Guthrie, 4815 Attleboro Street. I'm the pastor at Riverside Avenue Christian Church. And I'm here to speak in favor of restoring the 4.9 million through the amendment. Wanted to tell you all a story about my church, like many churches, has people who sleep on our property at night from time to time. That's just the reality of being a church. I've been a pastor for nearly 15 years now, and that's happened everywhere that I've been. And so, about a month ago, we had a man who's in his 70s. His name is Billy. And we connected because he moved to Jacksonville from Evansville, Indiana. And I moved here last year from Lafayette, Indiana. So we were both Hoosiers who chose Jacksonville, loved the city, think it's beautiful. And I was asking him about, I had to ask him to move on. We as a church are not equipped to have people sleeping on our property. We have children. We have families who are at the church. It's not sanitary. I can go through the number of reasons why we as a church are not equipped to allow people to sleep on our property night after night. And so I had a very civil, nice conversation with this man. And I asked him, what is your plan? Where are you going? What is your next step? And he told me his income was essentially Social Security. It was about $2,500 a month. And he was having trouble finding a place to live in Jacksonville. There just were not enough options for him to go and find a place. When you think about the deposit, when you think about the cost, when you think about the things that we have to spend our money on to survive, housing was just one that he was having trouble finding enough units that fit into his budget. And I've met a lot of people in this age bracket. Somebody mentioned it earlier that the fastest growing group of homeless folks in the U.S. are over the age of 55. And I always wonder when somebody who's in their 70s can't afford housing, how it is we tell them that you should go back to work. He's retirement age. He shouldn't have to do that. There should be places that are affordable for him to live. And so I always struggle with people in that situation about what do I tell them to do. I don't really know what to tell them to do. And so I'm here tonight because you can do something. You as the city council can put money in this budget. It's not enough to fix the problem, but as everybody has said, it is enough to take a step in the right direction. And so as a pastor in this community, as somebody who sees people who struggle with housing, I am asking you tonight to do something, to put this $4.9 million back in the budget. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next we have Pastor Timothy Johnson. You're here. What about Rafael Degato? I'm going to invite the following up then. Haley Gieser, Giraldo Deloche, and Tom McGuire. Any of you here? Are you one of our speakers, sir? Ma'am, come on up. Good evening. My name is Haley Gieser. My address is on file. I live in the Ortega area. I was born and raised in Jacksonville. I'm here tonight to speak in support of funding affordable housing in Jacksonville. I personally come from the privilege of generational wealth. And because of that, I've had access to affordable and stable housing. However, I recognize that not everyone has had that same opportunity. And I ask the council members to recognize the same. The majority of my friends work multiple jobs just to afford their rent. Some of those friends were unable to be here tonight because they're working. And they're working to afford the very housing that we are here to discuss. Investing in affordable housing is investing in the people who are going to sustain all of the infrastructure and development the city has been pouring into. And I urge the council members to really consider the positive long-term impact affordable housing would have on Jacksonville's economy. Thank you. Thank you. Gerald Deloche, followed by Tom McGuire. Good evening, Council President and council members. My name is Gerald Deloche. My address is 13234 Joandie Road, Jacksonville. Zip is 32225. I'm a veteran. I'm retired. And I'm a homeowner. So I pay property taxes. Because of my involvement with ICARE and the Affordable Housing Trust, I had an interest in how you fund the issues that we want here in Jacksonville. So I attended the finance committee meeting. I was surprised to see that process with my own eyes. People made comments that what was in the budget didn't solve the problem, so it had to be cut. People made comments that there was no new items. We don't want to start anything new. So items had to be cut. The Affordable Housing Trust Fund was an item that was easy cut. It was loaf-hanging fruit. So it was cut. So the question I asked the council is, you can do stuff for the police department, and it is well-deserved. You can do stuff for the fire department, and it is well-deserved. When are you going to do stuff for the city, the people of Jacksonville? I've lived in Jacksonville for 30 years. My encounter with the police has been twice. My encounter with the fire department has been zero, even though a fire station is right down the road from where I live. My encounter with people who can't afford a decent, safe place to live outnumber the number of police and fire departments in Jacksonville. So if we're going to do the most we can for as many as we can while we can, then put the Affordable Housing Trust Fund back in the budget. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Next, we have Tom McGuire. Good evening. I am Tom McGuire, and my address is 4711 Herter Road, Jacksonville, Florida, 322110. Pardon me. These are, indeed, challenging times. We're looking at declining city revenues for some time. Amendment 3 is a threat to the budget, and we're looking at a likely recession and continuing to deal with very bad inflation. With all these challenges, creating a budget that meets city needs is a challenging task. I grant that freely. And while it may be tempting to cut social services and maintain core functions at current levels, that may not be the right idea. The citizens of Jacksonville are already hard-pressed. We see, as I mentioned last city council meeting, we see increased numbers of Jacksonville residents commuting to their work on children's toys. Like I say, very hard-pressed, and these are the people that will be most impacted by the current inflation, the coming recession, as well as any city cuts to social services in this coming budget. As mentioned in the last city council meeting, and just moments ago here, a minuscule cut in core city functions such as police and fire and rescue could fully restore the funds for these social services and, most importantly, could fully fund this affordable housing. I ask you to do that now for the good of those people who are hard-pressed in this city. Thank you. Mr. President, I've got four speaker cards of people who do not wish to speak. Lynn Markle, she supports the affordable housing amendment. Samantha Series does not wish to speak. She opposes 504. Kara Guathley, I believe it is, she supports the housing amendment. And Kalia Jensen also supports 504 but does not wish to speak. Mr. President concludes the public hearing on 2026-504. This public hearing is closed. I guess I'm not going to move the substitute just yet. We'll do it. We'll move the substitute. All right. I'll move the substitute. All right. We have a motion and a second on the substitute. What we'll end up doing is move the substitute, likely pass it. Then we'll take the floor amendments one by one in order of the sheets that we have before we move the bill. With that, let me turn it over to Mr. Lehman. Thank you, Mr. President. Colleagues, thank you for considering this budget. To members of the Finance Committee, thank you for all the hard work that you put into this budget, especially the past couple months. I already said a couple of my comments when we were on the 501 bill. But again, just to emphasize, how do we prepare with revenue uncertainty? For the first time in 14 years, we have a budget here that has less spending than the prior year. We also made changes within the CIP plans where we're reducing our borrowing costs for next year. I want to point out that we found consensus with the mayor in many areas. One of the very few new items that's in this year's budget is the $2 million to Wilson's Hospital to support their OBGYN and pediatric programs. This $2 million is actually going to result in a lot more than that. That's coming back to the community. Meals and Wheels, we're still fighting mistruths a year later. But last year, if you recall, City Council doubled Meals on Wheels' budget, which I always like to point out. And it's kept in there at the same historic high level in this budget. Affordable Housing Trust is a great example of sticking to our guidance of nothing new. Although it was lumped together as a single line item in the budget called Affordable Housing Trust, it was three items that were proposed and not approved last year. And it would have been the first time they appeared in the 504 budget bill. I'll have more to say when we get to affordable housing. But for all those out in the audience that came here to speak on affordable housing, I feel like the part that we're not communicating well enough is the $79 million we've appropriated during this four years of our term, the $15 million additional for three specific development projects going on for affordable housing, and the $9 million in pending legislation if you look at the current agenda. But again, that adds up close to $100 million. We've been stuck on the $4.9 million number for a while now. And again, I'll have more to say to that when we get to that floor amendment. So again, I think we're in a good spot. Our budget's essentially flat. We don't know what November 3rd's going to bring. But I thought the best way that we can be prepared is to not grow government, but rather the phrase I've used is rest on the plateau. Just kind of stay where you were the prior year, and we'll see what happens on November 3rd. So with that, I don't really want to eat breakfast on the way home again like last year. I will be a no on all the floor amendments. It was my committee, my substitute. But I'll speak if needed, if there are any corrections needed to what I hear or if I have input. So again, thank you for consideration of this finance substitute for the next year's budget. Thank you, Mr. Landon. We have no other speakers. We'll vote on the substitute verbally. And then, as I said, once that passes, we'll go to the floor amendments one by one. So all in favor of the substitute, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against the substitute, say no. Substitute passes. All right. With that, we will go to the floor amendments. I'll recognize Mr. Arias, floor amendment number one. Everyone should have the floor amendments in front of them. Thank you, Mr. President. So as we discussed earlier, this is the same piece of legislation, just different. It's a floor amendment to actually bake it into this year's budget, 26-27. And it's essentially the Florida Association and County League of Cities. And I did provide you all a handout as to the last couple years that they've actually had events. We actually had them come this last week to tour. They brought all 66 other counties here to Jacksonville to showcase the innovative initiatives that we've been having here in our city. And so with that, I'm actually going to ask you guys to support this. We just need 10 votes for this. And I will not continue this conversation as we already held it. Thank you. You'll have to introduce – you'll have to move it. And I motion to move the bill. All right. We have a motion and a second. Mr. Diamond. Thank you, Mr. President. And I'm just going to hopefully just speak once, and then there's a couple of these that I'll jump in on. But just to be clear, if you read on these columns, one, two, three, four, five, six columns over, you'll see the account from every single dollar for every single one of these amendments comes from the Public Safety Contingency Fund. So look at the police officers back there, the firefighters, the FOP, JFRD. Ask them whether or not they support this. Ask them if they want money from the Public Safety Fund to go for all these things. Every single dollar, every single one of these things from the Public Safety Fund. All right. Second thing, I'm voting against all these, again, because we actually have a budget that spends less than we did last year. And last year, we did a lot of work on finance, and we just started adding everything back in. And everybody just folded and said, well, if we all just spend, spend, spend, then everything is going to be fine. We still got a cut, which was great, but so much went back in. So I'm just asking, if you were on the Finance Committee and you voted no, please keep voting no, because it made sense. Thank you. All right. Thank you. We'll recognize Mr. Peluso. And then we have Mr. Arias. Thank you, Mr. President. Through the President to Chair Lennon, there is a bill that you have currently moving through the process, correct, that would backfill any of the dollars taken out of the contingency fund that Council Member Diamond had brought up. Is that not accurate? I recognize Mr. Lennon. Thank you, Mr. President. It is, and I'll just go ahead and get this out of the way, and I apologize. It's a lengthy story of where we are with that contingency fund. So I think those on the Finance Committee followed everything. But really, it's a combination of multiple actions on the last budget hearing. We created this fund to combine everything that was remaining, the special council contingency, as well as other items that we said were going to go to the reserves after we made those budgetary changes. So that's what we planned to do, and this was to not exceed $26 million. The $26 million were the three specific items the mayor put in her budget, and we are going to support. My separate legislation is directly funding that out of this, and so every dollar that we go lower, a dollar is going to have to be either debt funded, because one of them is a CIP project, reserves, or some other funding source. The reason that my bill was not submitted to come out of the reserves is that it would have had the effect of reducing the amount available for the completion grant bill transfer. If you recall, my bill was unanimously approved. It was 2026-213. And what it does is, assuming we meet a certain level in the operating reserves each year, the next priority is to sweep that money towards unfunded cash completion grants. The auditors brought this up to me, and they said, rather than having the $26 million come out of reserves, let's have it come out of the difference between what the revenue and the expenditure line ends up. That way, our 930-2026 operating reserves balance is higher, allowing for a bigger transfer into unfunded completion grants next year. Again, I told you this was going to be a lot of accounting. But anyways, at the end of this, where we ended up is the $26 million is going to be fully funded. Again, that's for three specific items that JSO and JFRD requested the mayor put in our budget, and we're going to support. It's going to ensure, yeah, I already said that. It's going to ensure that. And then also, to remind everyone, the Sheriff's Office has a very large favorability in the current year budget that's going to drop to our reserves at the end of this month. So we're pretty much where we were when we began with what our expected operating reserve level will be at the end of this year. So I know that was a lot. I hopefully overanswered your question, but let me know if not. Through the council president, as a fellow Navy man, you would know you just nuked that very well. For those of you who don't understand, if you're a nuclear officer, you may get that. They're good with numbers. No, that sounds fantastic. So basically, it's my understanding that we are meeting our commitment to police and fire regardless if we take dollars out of these council contingency funds. No, you take out. You're taking it from that fund. Through the chair to Mr. Peluso, we will fund those $26 million. It becomes a suboptimal financial decision for the city if we take it out of there. It will still be funded, though. It seems to be the point. And I believe that's the point that I'm trying to make. To that end, if you allow me another quick second, Mr. President, to the body, the finance committee did a great job this year. The finance committee has made it of seven members. This is a 19-member body. This is a policy document that we get to be a part of, all of us. Changes can be made, and they will be made, and that's the way it's supposed to be. That's how we created this government. We even have a new council member that we didn't have at the beginning of this process. Allow for us to do our job. If changes are going to be made, it's up to 19 members to make that change. And I just want to remind people of that. The finance committee did a brilliant job, set us up for success. Now it's going to be up to the rest of us to make changes as we see fit because we have constituent needs to. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Arias, followed by Mr. Matt Carlucci. Thank you, Mr. President. Yeah, I heard the words from my colleagues. Here's the thing. Last year, when I was finance chair under past President Caracol, not only did we have tax relief, we lowered the millage. Not only did we put money towards public safety contingency, $26 million, but we also didn't pull from the reserves. And guess what? We fully funded CSG, PSG, and other initiatives like this. All right? I don't want any of my colleagues to be scared today by any of the buckets that we titled or that the finance committee titled, because that's just a bucket. We're still going to fully fund public safety. So don't be scared by any of those words there. All right? I want to encourage you guys to support this, but not just this one. Let's look at all of these with the same set of eyes and make sure that we do right by what the people want. All right? So with that being said, I encourage you guys to support me and move forward with the next one, number two. Thank you. Okay. Mr. Matt Carlucci, followed by Ms. Clark-Murray. Thank you, Mr. President. I fully support Amendment No. 1. These are dollars that the city has always participated in, the Duval County League of whatever it's called, I can't remember, and the Florida League of Cities. These are valuable organizations that have helped our city tremendously. And to not participate in them makes us a non-collegial city that is a leader of cities in the state of Florida. It's foolish. That's why they've always been in the budget, and it should be in the budget. They were in the budget. They were taken out. They should go back in the budget, and they should be in there henceforth and forevermore. And if we were to add it on by, if we were to join back by a separate budget, it shows a lack of commitment of Jacksonville to its state responsibility to our other counties and pure cities. I say it as simple as that. This is not a hard decision. And I commend Councilman Arias for stepping up with this amendment. I fully support it, and I hope you will, too. Ms. Clark-Murray. All right. Thank you, Chair. So I want to reemphasize what Councilmember Arias said. Don't be frightened by the funding source. If you look at it clearly, it says public safety, contingency, but then you see in parentheses non-union portion. And so I did confer with our Council auditors, Mr. Peterson, in regards to this fund. And if you could just reemphasize, Mr. Peterson, what you said to me, to everyone on the desk. Through the President to Councilmember Clark-Murray. So during the same time as last year's budget, USA Council did approve $26 million to be set aside for public safety, a union-like item. That $26 million is being carried over as part of this budget. Then Finance Committee, throughout all of their deliberations, created a pot that normally would have been called Council contingency, but in their deliberations, decided to fund the, it's unfortunate, but $26 million of projects that are public safety related. And so all those dollars that resulted at the end of the day was $23.4 million, and they put it into a contingency labeled public safety contingency, but it's not related to the union items that you discussed last year. And so that $23.4 million is what is in the budget. And as Councilmember Lainon described, he has introduced a bill to pull that out and fund the difference with reserves to get to the $26 million. Thank you so much for that. So is public safety going to suffer if we use this to fund Florida League of Cities? It is not. And I know that there was some emphasis placed during some of the Finance Committee meetings on, well, what are we getting for our money? What are we getting? Well, I got news for you. Clark Murray is one of the liaisons now. And I sent a long memorandum to President Howland in regards to what I learned and what Florida League of Cities talked about in regards to what we can take advantage of, how we can use our dues to get the information and get resources and to help our city. So it's like just about anything, you get out of something what you put into it. And so I know previously there were some concerns about the liaisons. I went there and I took every meeting seriously, and I brought back information that we can use so that we can make our city better. So I'm asking you to support the Arias Amendment. Thank you, Chair. Okay. We have no other speakers in the queue, but Mr. Peterson, if, for example, $10 million were to come out of that public safety reserve right now or this public safety contingency later to fund projects, that new $10 million would have to be found out of reserves in the future. To the President, to fully fund the $26 million for those three projects would have to come from somewhere. Reserves would be one of the options, depending on debt is also an option because there is a $10 million capital project in that $26 million. So in a time that we're trying to preserve reserves for revenue uncertainty, that would be suboptimal, as Mr. Lehman put it. Okay. Next to Mr. Miller, followed by Mr. Carlucci. Thank you, Mr. President. I just wanted to rise to recognize what our finance chair has led us through this process, which, as many people pointed out, it's been a very good process. And in my opinion, we got to a very good place. And because of that, I don't want to change where that budget currently is by approving these amendments that have been listed here. I'm just not going to do it. We went through a very detailed, deliberative process, and everyone had their opportunities to come and be part of that very extensive process. And some did, and many didn't. And so here we are now, after we've done all that good, hard work, and we're at a point where I think we've come to a very fiscally responsible place. And I'd like to keep us there. So I would have supported, there were people trying to help a couple of our colleagues in an earlier round to say, there's current year funds. Are you listening? There are current year funds, and you saw head nods around the dais, and those leads weren't taken when we could have used some excess funds from this year rather than negatively affecting next year's budget. I can't support that either. And so we say, no, let's move forward, and let's go to an amendment. So I, again, I applaud, not just because I was vice chair of finance this year, but we had a finance chair who this year knows finance. He's worked it, his life. And he led us through a very responsible process. I'm not going to take a vote that does anything to undo this good fiscally responsible place we are with this current budget. So I will be a no on all of these amendments. Thank you, Mr. President. All right. There are no other speakers in the queue. We will take, oh, oh, yeah, you came off. Yep, you're, that's right, Mr. Koehler. In all due respect, Councilman Miller, it's never wise to say and to dig your heels in until the last folks taken. And the, I was so thrown off by that, I kind of forgot where I, what I wanted to say. But you should take every bill up and every amendment up on some merits. And this bill has the merits that it should be, that it should be put back in. It only needs 10 votes. Now, if you're so concerned about undoing what has been put together by a very good finance committee, then take the money that he had from another account and use that to fill it in. But the point I was going to make, I've heard so many times up here that public safety, the only money that should be used in reserves is for public safety until at some point we had to use it for increasing a solid waste contractor. And then it became the only thing we should ever use reserves for is public safety and picking up garbage. So I guess there'll come a time when something else becomes real important, it will add that to the list. Look, we have plenty of reserves. They can be used to fill the holes that may be needed if some of these amendments pass. And I understand there's going to be a bill to fill that up anyway, because reserves are going to be needed anyway to get the $26 million. So I recommend that we pass the bill and get back to where we need to be. Okay, no other speakers in the queue. We have a motion on the Arius Amendment No. 1. We'll take the vote by hand. All in favor of Arius No. 1, indicate by raising your hand. Legislative services or OTC, please count. Item No. 1 passes. Over to Councilman Carlucci with Item No. 2. Yes, please. Mr. President, I'm going to use a little different tact tonight. So I've got all kinds of reasons that I could share with you why putting this $4.9 million back into the budget from whence it came that we should vote for it. I've got all kinds of bullet points that explain the advantages. But they've all been spoken about tonight by the people that have been here by droves. So this is what I'm going to say. Over the last three years, I've seen this council vote to spend hundreds of millions of dollars, hundreds of millions, maybe over a billion, for a new Jaguar Stadium, the stadium of the future, the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, and the offices for Gateway, Jax, for all of the different hotel and apartment complexes here in Jacksonville. And I have voted for every one of them because they play an important role in the future of Jacksonville. And I'm not ashamed to take up for any of those votes. I'm for moving the city ahead, and they are moving the city ahead, and we have some more apartments that are going to beautify our skyline and make Jacksonville more beautiful and add more momentum. We've spent millions upon millions for the University of Florida. That's all great stuff. I'm all for it. But you know what else is great stuff? It's helping workforce people that make $60,000 to $80,000, teachers, police officers, firefighters, working folk that need a little help getting over the gap so they can qualify for a mortgage and move into a home with their families. $4.9 million. And we've got, and we're having problems supporting that. Now, if I'm going to vote for all those big projects, how in the world can I or any of us leave the little guy behind? Now, I have a penchant for taking up for the little guy, and I'm not about to leave them behind while I'm voting full force and being publicly supportive of the big projects. All right. Thank you, Mr. Carlucci. Mr. Landon, you're recognized. I think you get my point. I didn't hear a motion or a second on your bill. Make the motion, please. All right. We have a motion or a second. Mr. Landon. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. So, colleagues, you should have gotten a sheet that looks like this from the auditors, and so I'm going to be addressing my comments from that. And I kind of mentioned this again. We seem to be only talking about $4.9 million and not the vast amount of money that we have devoted to affordable housing the past four years. So, if you're looking at the spreadsheet, first go to the bottom right. You'll see $79 million. And that is the total amount of money looking at all the ordinances on this spreadsheet that have had an affordable housing component we have done on this council term. A lot of it is grant money, but some of it, a good chunk of it, is also general fund dollars. Next, if you look at just fiscal year 26-27, we've already appropriated $15 million. And then if you go down to the left, you'll see these are three specific projects we've approved. The money simply hasn't been appropriated yet because it's driven by a construction timeline. So, that's $30 million. Then, if you look at the agendas, Council Member Carlucci, you've got a $6 million affordable housing initiative, and there's another roughly $3 million one on the agenda as well. That gets us to $39 million right there. Next, I want to draw your attention to the ordinance column. If you scroll down on the ordinance, what you don't see too often is 504. That's because we have not really put specific items as placeholder dollars in the 504 budget bill, but rather a good example of what we have done rather than just grant appropriations are the specific projects. And again, down there on the bottom left, those are three major projects that are going to be about 500 units of affordable housing. Those are items that were bills that were introduced. We debated. We knew where they were going. We knew what the mix of different unit types would be. All that stuff before we took a final vote, very similar to the two items that are pending our approval right now for about $9 million. So, again, drawing your attention to 504, our first year, we had $400,000 for our list contribution. We have that every year. We also had something, $350,000 for the Jacksonville Community Land Trust. The next year in the budget bill, just $400,000. The next year, last year, we had $400,000 when it left finance. Council Member Carlucci, you had a successful floor amendment for $900,000 on that night. And then this year, from the finance committee, the substitute, it looked a lot like it did in prior years in regards to just having the list funding there. So, again, I just want to make the point that we have done. When you add that all up, I think we're getting close to $100 million of affordable housing initiatives. But all we've heard the past couple of months is talking about this $4.9 million, which, again, would be the first time we have specifically budgeted that in the 504 budget bill. That was the conversation in finance going back to let's not start new things this year. We have some revenue uncertainty. Let's get through that. Let's have a flat budget. And that was why, by a vast majority vote, we did not include those proposed line items that add up to $4.9 million. I'm going to pass the gavel to Vice President Cobert. All right. Council President Howland, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. We all just heard Councilman Lane in here. This council, since the Critical Quality of Life Committee's work, has invested $79 million in affordable housing initiatives. These investments, plus hundreds of millions more in tax-exempt bonds, are definitive proof that this council is indeed working aggressively to tackle the affordability issue. In fact, if you look on this agenda at item number 148, our own agenda tonight, 2026-0752, there is an item to support $2.8 million to support 180 affordable housing units. And my guess, it passes. Why? Because this council has always, when it's encountering a targeted opportunity to increase affordable housing, has been willing to do it. We also have in here funding in the east side. It will be the last bill we take up tonight for affordable housing. And we already passed property disposition for certain properties for affordable housing. That was already passed today. Don't say we don't try to take care of the affordability crisis. Saying that is disingenuous, and it's political. I also want to note, we started this whole budget process out saying that what matters to us in an era of revenue uncertainty is defining and supporting the core, protecting the core, so we can fund initiatives that are important to us. We are fully funding everything the mayor asked for indigent health care, Medicare, and Medicaid to nearly $100 million in this. We're also funding everything that was asked in the proposed budget for kids' after-school services, over $60 million. And so when we're arguing over $4.9 million in affordable housing, again, it's disingenuous. The reason I want to hold, and I will also vote no on all these floor amendments, the reason I want to hold is because we have reduced the curve of government spending. And we've done it in a way that still fully supports public safety, critical infrastructure, and core services. Still fully supports nearly $100 million of indigent care for our city's citizens, medical care, and over $60 million for our city's youth. We also, as Councilman Layton said, always support affordable housing initiatives. If you look at what we've cut right now, we just added back $250K, we're standing at about $23.2 million cut. That puts us just below on spending where we were next year. There's no more room. So if we want to say that we're being fiscally responsible and we've reduced the growth curve in an era of revenue uncertainty without taking a bite out of critical core services, we can pass this budget as it stands right now, and we can feel good about it. And we'll probably be one of the few counties in the state of Florida that's actually delivered a budget that's less than it was last year. I think with Amendment 3 looming, maybe we didn't go as far. I would hope that Councilman Salem, who wanted $100 million more cut out, wouldn't want to add anything else back in on these floor amendments. I would hope others wouldn't because I think we've reached a period where we have found $30 million, $23 cut, another $6 plus. That adds up to $30 in the Amendment 3 contingency in the case of Amendment 3 failing or rather passing. And what we have done is gotten this, short up the reserves and put this city in a good position ahead of what could be a dire situation next year. And I'm proud of the budget that's passed, but it means holding tight because we've funded the core. Thanks. All right, next up, Councilman Paluso. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Thank you for those words, Mr. President. I first want to say a lot of people came up here and spoke. Many of you were from District 7, and it warms my heart to see constituents from District 7 who spent the time and energy on a Tuesday evening to come down here and speak to us about an issue that you care about. Many of you are friends and neighbors and community leaders, and you came here tonight to say something that meant a lot to you. To my colleagues, listen, the reason we're talking about the $4.9 million, and you act as if that's not that much money, and frankly it isn't, but the reason we're talking about it is because we haven't done stuff like this before and we need to. Most of the dollars on this list are from state and federal sources. It's because the city of Jacksonville should be the tip of the spear when it comes to these issues. And the reason why we're not applauding, as much as some of us may want to, all of these successes, it's because they're not seeing it. In my district alone, there's not a day that doesn't go by where I don't get a phone call about someone sleeping on the street. You heard from one of my constituents, Jim Schwartz, talk about Memorial Park, people who are sleeping there. It's a tragedy, and to think that we are going to nickel and dime something that is so important to our constituents is just bizarre to me. I mean, $10 million over four years is a drop in the bucket. That is truly nothing. That is laughable compared to what we see in other major counties and cities, truly. The reason we're in financial straits is because of Washington, D.C. and Tallahassee. And the city of Jacksonville, we're the ones who sit through these committees and these city council meetings where our constituents talk to us regularly and tell us what they need. I've been to Tallahassee. Half the representatives and senators don't show up to those committee meetings, and people aren't really able to speak as much as they do here. In D.C., you never see people speak with our constituents. We have to hear from it all the time, and what we hear consistently is, support us. Things are too expensive. Things are too difficult. It's hard to pay rent. And you want to possibly cut the millage rate when there's dollars that go into rental assistance? We are not funding to the level that we should. And we are asking for the bare minimum, $4.9 million, for projects that are well thought out and have been offered by this mayor and the administration, a very popular mayor. We have a new council member who was elected, and one of the things she ran on was affordability and affordable housing. I get it. It's always good to say we invest, and I'm not saying we didn't. But you look at what we put into police and fire and the Jaguars, that's investment. More than $4.9 million would be a massive investment. Let's just do the bare minimum. Vote this up. All right, thank you. Dr. Salem, followed by Ms. Pittman. Thank you, Mr. President. I'd like to offer an amendment, but I want to explain my amendment to Councilmember Carlucci's. I've always been supportive of down payment assistance. I think that's the most effective way to get somebody into a home. And I did my research to make fun of my colleague here and found out over the last six years, through down payment assistance, we have put 620 people into a house. Pretty damn impressive. I've also been very supportive of eviction diversion, which is coming up later. So I would like to modify this bill to put more towards down payment assistance, and I hope Councilmember Carlucci will be comfortable with these. It's fairly simple. So the move, the $1.5 million to $2 million for down payment assistance, to reduce the stack from $2.4 million to $1.4 million. As you probably know, we've got $20 million that the foundation and others are putting together. So I think that's a – I'd eliminate it completely, but I didn't want to change it too much. So reduce that from $2.4 million to $1.4 million and increase the utility tap assistance, which was a new issue for me. I actually called JEA and educated myself. That's a real problem. People can get into a house, but then they can't get the utilities hooked up. And move that from $1 million to $1.5 million. So that would be my – Is that your motion? You need a second. But for clarity on that motion before we debate it, are you suggesting an alternative funding source or still suggesting the public safety agency? Same funding source. All I did was modify the numbers. I've got a queue. You can get on the queue. And I'll ask all of them if they're on the Salem Amendment. Yep. You need to waive a rule. Will you please explain? Mr. Fappos. Yes, thank you. Mr. President, I would recommend – this is a relatively simple amendment to explain. But there is a rule, Council Rule 3.303, that requires that amendments, including amendments to amendments, be prepared in advance. So if you would like to proceed, I can read into the record the changes that would be made. But I would recommend you first waive the rule so that we don't have to table the item while I work with the auditors to actually draft the amendment to the amendment. And if that's seconded and approved, then I can read into the record what the amendment proposes. It's a motion to waive the rule. We need one. Rule 3.303, correct. Who made the motion? All right, we have a motion second to waive the – the rule. We'll take that vote verbally. All in favor of waiving the rule, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against, say no. No. And the reason I voted no, Dr. Salem, is you had six weeks and you attended every single finance budget hearing. I would have expected this to have come up before that. Now we've got to do work on the dais that should be committee work. Mr. Fappos. Yes, thank you, Mr. President. So I only heard two no's, which means you did meet the 13-vote threshold to suspend the rule with the result of that vote. So if you have the Carlucci floor amendment in front of you, so basically in each instance where you see the number $1.5 million or $1,500,000, which is an item number one, as well as at the top, it's also listed in the Interfund Transfer In at the From table. It's listed in the two table under down payment assistance, miscellaneous grants, and aids, and it's also listed under the second revised Schedule A and the second revised Schedule B. In every instance where you see $1.5 million, the amendment would be revised, if approved, to change that to $2 million. Same with each instance where you see $2.4 million for capital stack funding, the amendment would be revised to reflect $1.4 million for capital stack funding in each of those instances. And with respect to attainable housing utility tap fees, the amendment would be revised, if the amendment to the amendment is approved, to reflect that the $1 million would become $1.5 million. And if the council is comfortable proceeding on that, then that is what we would do if the amendment to the amendment were to be approved. Okay, stand, Mr. Carlucci, and give us your point of clarification, please. I just got a sheet of paper from Corey, my council aide, that has those numbers down at the bottom of this sheet, if that would help. Through the chair to Councilmember Carlucci, no. So what I like to do is, whenever we waive a rule to not require an amendment to be in writing, is I like to at least read to the record or to the council how the actual floor amendment document would be changing, which is why I was referring to your floor amendment document with respect to those changes. And if the council, again, if the council is comfortable that they understand that the amendment to the amendment is affecting those numbers only, then you can proceed to take up the amendment to the amendment without me having to put it in writing. What was the last vote? Was it approved to be able to do that or what? Yes, so the last vote that you took was to waive or suspend Council Rule 3.303, which requires these items to be in writing. And so when you suspended that, that means that I don't have to go ask that the council table this item while I draft an amendment to the amendment. You can proceed forward on your amendment with the verbal explanation of what the amendment to your amendment is accomplishing. My question, Mr. Chair, is can I respond as to supporting that or not without using up my term? And since he was asking if I would support that. Yes. Okay. I do support that. And I actually like that because I do like the down payment assistance and the tap-in. Thank you. All right. We're going to go line by line on the queue. And it's got to be to the Salem amendment. It's first, Ms. Pittman. You speak on the Salem amendment or you want to wait? No? Okay. Mr. Diamond on the Salem amendment. All right. Mr. Carlucci already spoke. Donster Johnson on the Salem amendment. Mr. Gay on the Salem amendment. Mr. Arias on the Salem amendment. Mr. Carrico on the Salem amendment. Ms. Stefopoulos, you still speak on the Salem amendment? Okay. Mr. Peluso on the Salem amendment. Thank you, Mr. President. I would just like to say there's a famous scene from the film, the Dr. Seuss's, the Grinch who stole Christmas, when you saw the Grinch's heart grow. I feel like I just saw that in real time. Through the President and Councilmember Salem, thank you, good sir. I very much support this amendment. I actually, while we're still on it, before we take a vote, Dr. Salem, can you repeat how the three areas are shifting? I think you're emphasizing more on down payment assistance, correct? That is correct. The down payment assistance is going from 1.5 to 2 million. The capital stack is going from 2.4 to 1.4. And the utility tap assistance is going from 1 to 1.5. So it still totals 4.9 million. Do we know, I'm not sure if it, since we're doing committee work here, if the administration knows who our vendors are for the down payment assistance and the attainable housing utility tap-in, or do we administer them ourselves? Dr. Yeah. Yeah, go ahead, Josh. Who our vendors are for those three programs? Through the Council President to the Council President. We administer the utility tap-in program in-house, so it's monitored. We also, we do all the programs in-house. The DPA is in-house with area lenders, real estate agents. To get on the DPA list, you actually have to have a real estate agent and be actively looking for housing, and they're the ones who put the applicant on our list. So it's not a free-for-all. You literally have to be going through the process of finding housing. So all three of those programs are run in-house, and we provide that data to the Council yearly. All right. Thank you. Do we have anyone else on the queue who wants to speak on the Salem Amendment? Mr. Amara. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to support the shift in the Salem Amendment for a couple of reasons. Clarence Jordan, who wrote the Cotton Patch Gospel, said, poor people don't need charity. They need capital. They don't need caseworkers. They need co-workers. In my own personal experience, when I was trying to buy my first home with a college degree, earning about $15,000, $20,000 a year, it was one of the most difficult paths. And so with this increase in down payment assistance, and Mr. Salem has already stated the results of how many folks are now homeowners, it gives us the opportunity to put people in homes, those who desire to have a home, to become taxpaying citizens, to create generational wealth. And for that reason, for those reasons, I'm very, I was sitting here very ambivalent and trying to work toward the middle ground, but I like the Salem Amendment. I think it's the right shift, if we're going to support this, to put the emphasis on down payment where folks can actually own a home, those who want to own a home. And so I'm going to support that. Thank you, Chair. I'm just going to echo some of the sentiments that Councilmember Amaro said through the president to everyone. I think about my mom and the fact that we lived in Cleveland Arms, which is a project. It's now called Vista Landing. But how she worked really hard in order to get us out of that project. And one of the ways that she was able to do that was that she got assistance from a program that the city had during that time. So I am a witness to the fact that these programs work and they help to lift people up, and especially when it comes to home ownership. Because once again, she was able to pass that home on to her children, and that helped us financially. So I am going to be supportive of the Salem Amendment. And, of course, we don't want to steal any thunder from the great past president, Matt Carlucci, who's my favorite council representative. You have such a big heart for people, and I appreciate it. Oh, of course, Jimmy, you know I love you. Okay, so thank you so much, President Hallman. All right, thank you, Ms. Clark-Murray. So there's a number of people on the queue. I need to make sure you're on the Salem Amendment. If you are, raise your hand, please. All right, I will go Ms. Pittman, followed by Mr. Gaffney. So I was going to wait, but since this is my last meeting, first of all, I want to thank the Finance Committee, the work that you did. But I would say for the Salem Amendment, this bill is going to help more ordinary people. And I want to say that again, ordinary people. And it will help prevent crisis. Because right now, before that, we were talking, and I want to say that again. We are preventing a housing crisis. We needed more money. We always need more money for housing and utilities. Don't forget that. But I'm going to take the housing tonight. We need places where people can lay their heads in their own beds. And I say that because someone mentioned people living on the streets. You could have a job today and lose your job tomorrow. And a lot of the people in this community don't know. Now, these are great programs. But if you ain't in the know, you don't know about them. So again, as we do this and pass this tonight, I want to make sure that we have a marketing. And I say that every time. We need a marketing campaign to let the community know what we have in place. And if it's not just the city, we need to have churches or satellite offices in the community so our residents can take part and feel that they are safe and know they have a place to stay. Because this is a complex issue. Because if we don't resolve it, guess what we're going to have? More homelessness. And homelessness is real. I've done it for 36 years now. And people that become homeless, they look like me and you. And they don't know all of the places that they need to go to. And I'm going to tell you this. Last week, last Thursday and Friday, one of our largest complexes were handing out eviction notices. And the people had no place to go. So guess what's going to happen? They're going to become what? Homeless. And I want to say this. All right. Please, please, please let me say this. If we vote tonight, which I think we may have the votes, so what matters to the people matters to us. This will be a comeback. I'll say that. A comeback, not a setback. Thank you. Mr. Gaffney. Thank you, President Holland. I'll be brief. I'm not sure if I'm in the right proper posture to offer this. But I want to offer an amendment to another amendment. The only reason I say this, I think what would make this bill whole is utilities. And the only reason I say I think we need to add utilities to this bill, because we all see what JEA is going through. I'm pretty sure you guys have seen it. JEA is rising everyday light bills, AC bills. I think what I'm proposing, the offer amendment to amendment, is take, look at my friend Rory, take, Councilman said, I want you to hear me out. So maybe from $500,000, $100,000, all I'm offering is $500,000, take $100,000 for utilities. And it's one thing to offer housing, but it's a lot of individuals need utilities as well. And I'm pretty sure you guys have seen it. I mean, I think this bill has the votes now, but I definitely think we need to add utilities because JEA is rising. We're talking about affordability. You've got to have utilities now. So you've got down payment assistance. You've got invention diverging if it passed a few minutes from now. You've got capital down stack. I think we need to add utilities. So what I'm offering, and I'm not sure if I'm in the proper posture, I want to offer amendment to amendment that CK, we can't offer utilities in this bill to OGC through the chair. Mr. Fappos, your recognition. Through the president, the council member Gaffney, you can only have one amendment to the amendment pending at any time. So the Salem amendment needs to be disposed of first, and then you would be able to offer your amendment to the amendment. However, you would have to identify where that $100,000 is coming from. And again, the rule would have to be waived to avoid having to put it in writing. Yeah. Okay. So I understand that. So we need to vote on this amendment. But I want my colleagues to hear me out. I do think we need utilities. I mean, you guys have seen it. Councilman Paluso, you say you get a call every day. I get a call every day about utilities. You know, lights, water. I mean, individuals need rental assistance. So I guess I'll sit down and we'll vote on this. And I want to pick this up for debate once we vote on this. Thank you. All right. Anyone else on the Salem amendment? Yeah, there's probably no point. Okay. Let's take a vote on the Salem amendment. We'll do it verbally. All in favor. Actually, we'll do it by hand. All in favor of the Salem amendment. Indicate by raising your hand. All right. It passes. So now we need Councilman Carlucci to move, actually floor leader to move. Mr. President, we are now at a point in time that we need to move the Carlucci amendment as amended. We have a motion and a second to the Carlucci amendment as amended. Now, do you want to address Mr. Gaffney's question again? Ms. DePapis. Through the President, to the Councilmember Gaffney, if you would like to offer that as an additional amendment, you would need to identify where the $100,000 is coming from. If the Council is inclined to take that up as an additional amendment to the amendment, you would need to waive Council Rule 3.303 to not require me to have to draft it. However, if it's more complicated than what was addressed in the Salem amendment, our office and the Council Auditor's Office may recommend that it should be tabled so that we could draft it. Mr. President, can you just put a new initiative in the back burner and address it by legislation after the budget is done, Reggie? Mr. Say that again? Mr. Now is not the time for committee work. I mean, we had to waive rules for Ron's bill. If you can address this in separate legislation after budget, I think that would be the way to do it. Mr. Okay. I could do that, but what I was saying, where the funding source came from and where it came from the capital stack or where it came from the down payment assistance. All I'm saying is taking $100,000 out of that, so it's not a new funding source, so it just came from out of that. So I just think to make this bill whole, we need to have utility assistance in this bill. So like I said, I'm getting tons of calls for utilities. I mean, you could be in an apartment, you could be in a house, but if you don't have lights, it doesn't matter. Yeah, at this point, it's very difficult to bring up. It's a new line item, new funding. All right, we have a whole number of people on the queue. You've got to be now on the queue for the Carlucci Amendment as amended. I've got Diamond, Gay, and Arius. Do you want to speak on the Carlucci Amendment? Can you stand up and make that motion, please? We have a motion and a second to call the question. We have a second motion and a second to call the question. It's not debatable. We'll take this vote by hand. All in favor of calling the question, raise your hand. All right, the motion to call the question passes. We'll take a vote verbally on the Carlucci Amendment as amended. We're going to do it by hand. All in favor of the Carlucci Amendment as amended, raise your hand, please. All right, by your vote, it passes. We'll move next to... Mr. Chair, call for a recorded vote. Sorry, repeat your question. I call for a recorded vote. Okay, let's do that again. Ms. Stapopos, lead us. Mr. President, I believe legislative services could read the roster and call for yay or nay. They usually are the ones that handle that. Yep, let's read the roster call, yay or nay, on the Carlucci Amendment as amended. Legislative services, would you like me to handle it? No, we'll just do the register and people can say yay or nay. Council Member Boylan. Nay. Council President Howland. Nay. Council Vice President Carlucci. Yay. Council Member Layman. Council Member Carrico. Yay. Council Member Diamond. Council Member White. Council Member Amaro. Council Member Arias. 100% yes. Council Member Matt Carlucci. Council Member Tyrone Clark-Murray. Yes. Council Member Pittman. Yes. Council Member Gaffney Jr. Council Member Gay. Council Member Johnson. Yay. Council Member Miller. Council Member Peluso. Yay. Council Member Salem. Council Member Holder. Yes. Thank you very much. We next move to Councilwoman Holder. I believe Council Member Holder can address this, but because the Carlucci Amendment has passed, unless she wants to offer an alternative on the amount of funding for each of the programs, I think she was going to pass on offering her floor amendment. All right. Ms. Holder's floor amendment is not introduced. We move next to Councilman Peluso floor amendment. Thank you, Mr. President. I do move my floor amendment. Would you like for me to explain it more, or do we just want to take me to make a motion and look for a second? Move it. Move the bill. Second. All right. We have Councilman Diamond in the queue. I'm just calling the question if you want to let him speak first. You want to speak first? Yeah. Yes, Mr. President. Sorry. I thought that's what I was doing. For those in the audience and for the body, we're just moving these dollars above the line. I understand the concern of Amendment 3 and the potential uncertainty. I don't believe that that uncertainty should change our posture as a policymaking body. I know the last budget item really brought us all together there. I loved it. Let's continue this. What do you say? Cultural accounts, the CSG dollars, are more than just about the arts. It's economic development and it's public safety. For anyone who's been a recipient of these dollars, and for those of you who have paid attention, you know the ROI is very great. The individual who gave the prayer earlier this evening said, God loves great cities. If we want to be a great city, it needs to be more than just concrete and road. The government cannot instill love or hope in people. Arts can. Culture can. This city has a lot of organizations that rely on these funds, and we heard it this evening. Some of them would have to get rid of some of their staff and certain programs. Their uncertainty is far greater than the uncertainty of Amendment 3. We know Amendment 3 is probably going to fail. And even if it were to pass, it still doesn't affect our budget until next year. We are making all these plans and talking about the train that's coming down the track. That train is on the other side of the country right now. What we can do is do our job and make sure that we are allowing for these organizations that rely on these funds to do things like after-school activities, to do things like ensure that some of our major cultural institutions can have days free for families to use, especially in these economic times that D.C. and Tallahassee have thrown at us. Going to MOCA for free or going to the Cummer for free is a great activity for families. Based on some of the information that was provided by the Cultural Council, $143 million in economic impact. Over 5,000 jobs are supported by these funds. Over 207,000 Jacksonville youth served by the use of these dollars. We're creating uncertainty in their lives, but we don't have to. Bring this above the line. These are dollars that we already expect to spend anyway, and let's give them some real certainty. Please vote yes. All right, Council Member Lanon, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to point out the reason it's at where it is right now on wrap-up day. Council Member Arias came, got support in our final finance budget hearing, and we moved it to the 65%. It was at 50% prior to that. So I just request that we keep it where it is because we did make that change on wrap-up day at the request of Council Member Arias. Thank you. Council Member Arias should recognize. President, thank you for that, Mr. Lanon. But I didn't want 65%. I wanted 100%. But you guys on finance said no. And what I heard earlier was we all had opportunities to come to finance committee meetings. Yeah, we did. Of course we did. Our voices were shut down. So today is the opportunity for all of us, the rest that are not on finance, to actually fight for what's needed in our city. Public safety, infrastructure, check, check, check. We got that covered. But what about the rest of what makes our city our city? We all here say we represent our districts. But our districts are not just comprised of public safety and roads. They're comprised of real people living over there. So if we're talking about affordable housing, everything that we do here tonight is tied together. This money is not coming from a special bucket. This money has already been appropriated. It's ready to move right now. And we're talking about holding money from nonprofits, from the people that are actually doing the work in the community, for what? To say that we put money in a bucket? Go ahead. Walk out tomorrow in District 3. Walk out in your districts and tell that to your people. But I'm not doing that. I'm supporting 100% funding today for CSG. And if PSG comes up, which I've had issues with PSG, I'll 100% support that as well, too. Because today, we're doing the people's budget. Thank you. Mr. Diamond, you're recognized. Please know. I didn't hear a second. Okay. It's non-debatable. Let's do this by a show of hands to call the question. All in favor of calling the question, raise your hand. All right. It fails. I want to hand the gavel to Mr. Carlucci. Council President Howland, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. I just want to respond to something Councilman Ayer said about no one's voice was heard. Everyone was invited to every single budget hearing. On wrap-up day, many who were not even on Finance Committee had the opportunity to introduce items that were important to them. One of the items introduced was one led by Councilman Arias, which was the PSG and the Cultural Council going from 50% held back into the Amendment 3 contingency to only 35% held back. So 65% funded. That was something that Councilman Arias wanted to do. The Finance Committee agreed to do that. And we also got understanding from the Cultural Council CEO that that was something that was absolutely acceptable to them. So we're at a point where something was entirely acceptable to the Cultural Council. They're not necessarily losing their funding. If Amendment 3 fails, they get fully funded immediately. So this was acceptable to the Cultural Council in the final budget hearing. It was something that Councilman Arias led. And just like every single hearing of the Finance Committee during the budget hearings, they let everyone on Council come, everyone speak, everyone's voice be heard, and everyone's priorities be heard. So I, like Councilman Landon, would prefer we keep it the way it is because we're supposed to be delivering a fiscally responsible budget for the city of Jacksonville in the face of revenue uncertainty in the form of Amendment 3. Thanks. Councilmember Paluso, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you, Mr. Vice President. And to the words of the President, I just have to say, of course people can come to those Finance Committee meetings. And certainly our chair did a great job of, you know, making sure that people got their voices heard. However, they didn't get a vote. We get a vote right now. This budget belongs to all of us. It doesn't just belong to one committee. And it can't. It's not what we were elected to do, to cede all of our stuff just to one committee. People voted for us to vote a budget that they cared about, that they believed in. They expected us to fight for those initiatives and those issues. And, of course, the Cultural Council, when you're standing right there as the CEO, they're going to say, sure, it's acceptable. Because what are they going to do? Say, absolutely not. How dare you, city of Jacksonville? No, of course not. No one in their right mind would recommend that to any CEO. They did it because they had to acquiesce because they felt like they were grateful to get anything. But they knew fully well, as we do, that a lot of those nonprofits, some of them are going to have to fold up shop. A lot of great organizations in here. From across the city, the beaches gets a number of different things in here. The Mandarin Museum, the Historical Society, Jacksonville Jams, an organization that we all know very well, which helps at-risk youth after school to be able to be exposed to music and art, as opposed to going back home to a place that might not be as safe. I'm willing to invest in that right now. And I don't know why we're holding back because of a vote in November. Again, let's say Amendment 3 were to pass. Then what are you going to do? You're going to vote this up? You might as well vote it up now. We shouldn't care about something that may not even happen. It's like saying, let's prepare for a hurricane in 12 years. We don't know. What we know is what's before us now, and what we know is that our constituents are asking us to support them. Vote this up. Thank you, sir. Over to Ms. Clark-Murray, followed by Mr. Gay. Thank you, President Howland. Is there anyone here from the Cultural Council? Is there anyone here from—come on up. Hustle, please. I apologize. I know that we don't necessarily want to do committee work during city council, but that's what we're doing today. Hello. Go ahead and give your name. Diana Donovan, CEO for the Cultural Council. All right, thank you. So through the president, just maybe one or two questions. So first of all, in consideration of the fact that this is being withheld in case Amendment 3 passes, do you have the budget or do you have the finances to be able to sustain the Cultural Council until after the election, the general election? I think it's less about that and more about the organizations that would be impacted. We have a lot of smaller organizations that should it pass, and we're future forecasting right now. It's being able to set up the nonprofits to be able to be healthy if Amendment 3 passes. So if it does pass, there will be organizations that shut down. There will be a significant amount of jobs and funding lost that will hurt these organizations in a big way. So you're saying that not necessarily through the president, you're saying that not necessarily the Cultural Council, but the nonprofits that rely on the funding from the Cultural Council. For the Cultural Council, when we were at the 50-50, and we're very grateful for the 65% increase, and when we think about the funding that we have and that we're working with, the Cultural Council would have been reduced to almost two people and staff. So we would have taken a very hard hit with that 50-50, and the 65 increase is helpful. But to be able to sustain the sector and to also weatherproof it for the next year, knowing that if Amendment 3 passes, we want to make sure that we're not evacuating the city for a hurricane when the lightning and thunder is already striking. So for us, we want to future-proof moving forward, and we want to make sure that these smaller nonprofits, who some of them are run by volunteers, some of them have staffing that are minimal pay. It could be devastating to our Tier 3s and Tier 2s especially. Okay. Thank you so much for that. Thank you, President Allen. I'll just note that we'll know what happens with Amendment 3 in about five weeks. Over to Mr. Gay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to recognize Chair Landon and thank you for all his work that he led us through on the Finance Committee. This was one of the discussions that we had in the Finance Committee about putting this in a bucket that if Amendment 3 passes, it automatically goes right back to the Cultural Council to be funded. We're talking 30, what, 30s, 34 days. If it passes, they get fully funded in 34 days. I don't – there's no way that this amount of money would be spent in 34 days right off the bat. So it's not going to impact – there were several of these that we put in a bucket that would automatically trigger to go right back into fully funding. So to say that it's going to impact them, I look at it as – this Amendment 3, I look at it as reality. You know, we say we can't sit here and worry about a train coming. Well, every project that we build here in Jacksonville is required to build to a 100-year flood possibility. And say, you know, that's what – you know, the basis that we've got to logically look at what we're doing here. And I'm a realist, and to sit here and to say, don't worry about it, just go ahead, and then we'll come back. Once the money goes out, it's going to be twice as hard would be to get it brought back in. So, you know, I support what we've done in the Finance Committee. You know, I look at my district, my constituents, and I understand the value of a dollar. But more importantly, I understand the value of their dollar, and I will always hold the line on looking at it from that perspective. Thank you, Mr. President. All right. Thank you. Over to Mr. Boylan. Ms. Donovan, could you please come back down for a second? Most of you probably know for 18 years I was a – my WJCT was a beneficiary and still is of the Cultural Council grants. I looked at this as a responsible step in this process. Ms. Donovan, how many contracts are executed within the 34 days of the fiscal year? Depending upon the amount of grantees coming through the process, anywhere from 32 to 34 nonprofits in the past couple of years. Right. And it takes, what, six weeks, eight weeks, ten weeks before the contracts are typically executed? Depending on – the city of Jacksonville can take that. Yeah. The point I'm trying to make is the money isn't put into their hands on 10 won, and likely it's not going to be in their hands on 11 won, and likely not in their hands until 12 won. Mm-hmm. So, this is a frugal step in the process, and I do appreciate that, and I know that probably I'm going to lose some friends in this process, but I think we as a council, we're very discriminating in terms of making certain that we did this carefully, and I appreciate your answer. Thank you so much. I think, just to further reiterate, the point that we're concerned about is less about the payment immediate and more about the payment long-term, because if it were to pass – Understood. You know, and that won't be an issue if the amendment doesn't pass. It will be an issue if the amendment does pass, and I think we need to be prepared for that. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Boylan. Over to Mr. Arias, followed by Mr. Palousa. I'll be a little bit lightheaded right now, not too hard, but, you know, I said this during committee, and I just heard it again right now. We're using the word if it passes. I'm not clinging the lives of 5,000 workers on an if it passes. I heard that last time, and I don't like that word, because we're taking a gamble. I'm not going to gamble on our city. But I will tell you this. If you guys are so adamantly secure that it's not going to pass, and you're talking about 34 days, then just release it right now. Just release it. But if it does pass, which is the word I hate, if it does pass, the problem is this is a 27-28 problem, not a 26-27. So let's issue them their money, and let's problem solve this together for 27-28 so we can address it properly. But I'm not going to just clean the lives of 5,000 workers times 3 people per household, 1,500 people in Jacksonville on an if. Let's just pass it, release it. And same thing for PSG. Let's just get this night over with and go home. Thank you. Mr. Palousa. Mr. President, ditto to what my colleague just said. He's 100% correct. This whole if notion is very bizarre to me because let's say it passes. Are we going to come back here and probably do the exact same thing anyway and still give them the dollars? Let's just give them the dollars now. It's a grant-making process. They go through a pretty detailed solicitation process. We know these nonprofits that do great work and do what we ask them to do. And in return, we get a massive return on investment. Like I mentioned before, this is economic development. Vote this up. All right. No more speakers. Let's call out the vote on this one like we did last one if we could, please. And actually, let's pause until we get Mr. Boylan back. We'll pause. Are we waiting for anyone else? All right. Sorry, Mr. Boylan. All right. Let's call it out. Council Member Boylan. Nay. Council President Howland. Nay. Council Vice President Carlucci. Nay. Council Member Laynen. Nay. Council Member Crerico. Yes. Council Member Diamond. Council Member White. Council Member Amaro. Council Member Arias. Council Member Carlucci. Matt. Council Member Clark Murray. Yes. Council Member Pittman. Council Member Gaffney Jr. Council Member Gay. No. Council Member Johnson. Yay. Council Member Miller. Council Member Peluso. Yay. Council Member Salem. Council Member Holder. Mr. President, we're just confirming we have nine days. And by a vote of nine to ten, the Peluso Amendment number one fails. We move next to Johnson Amendment number one. Mr. Johnson, are you going to move it or not move it? Your call. You're recognized. Thank you so much, Mr. President. If you will indulge me, I'm going to, if I may, in succession, look at numbers five, six, and eight, and I'll explain as I go through this. The first amendment, thank you. The first amendment would be for the council office initiatives. I want to address this quickly, as I have done already, but I want to do it from this day, since there seemed to be some mischaracterization. I went into explaining, and I was able to see there were issues, as was explained to me by the council administration, with mold, dilapidated some of the equipment, some of those other things. I've since had a meeting with, and let me explain, this was put in because I talked to the administration, so I didn't just arbitrarily, as was characterized, come up with sitting there and just decided to drop in amendments. This had been weeks of discussion, and so it had also been discussed with the council auditor. Nevertheless, I have subsequently met with the council secretary, and we'll be working together. There have been alternate means, so I will not be introducing a number five, which is my number one. Number two, which I had spoken to the supervisor of elections, who also had asked me to introduce that particular one. Since I've spoken to the supervisor earlier this week and last week, actually yesterday, they are going to come in a formal budget, excuse me, a formal process to ask for those funds in a different way. So there will be no need to introduce number two. Number three was the council strategic initiatives. Initially, those funds were put in $10 million from the administration. Those funds, because there are other funds that are pulling away from that, I don't think that we will be able to realize that entire number. What I would like to do is table that, but I think what we could do, I do believe there are the need for strategic initiatives. I've seen colleagues around this day do some really exciting things. I've been a part of them in their communities and their different districts, so I've gone there to be a part of that. So I don't see the need of doing that at this time, but I do reserve the right to bring it up at the end if funds are available. But I do not think those funds will be available, so I will not be moving that. As for number eight, number eight, which is the cultural service grants, that is the initiative that we just voted on. I'm not sure why we put it on twice, but that is not a need to put on, so I want to move to number nine. I do want to move, and I'll be moving the other three in succession. The next one, number five, which is number nine for the United Way eviction diversion program. And I move this and can discuss it if necessary. Do we have a second? Number nine, the United Way eviction diversion program. Did I hear a second? Okay, we have a motion and a second on Johnson number five, which is item nine, floor amendment number nine. Johnson, do you have anything else to say? I'll recognize Ms. Clark-Murray then on the Johnson amendment. Ms. Clark-Murray, are you speaking, do you have a comment on the Johnson amendment, which is item number nine? Yes, I do. So, through the chair to Councilmember Johnson, if I'm not mistaken there, one of our budget bills already has funding for United Way for the eviction program. I've read through, I can't think exactly which number it is, but are these additional funds or is this, okay, please, please, through the chair. So, correct me if I'm wrong to the auditor, through the council president to Ms. Clark-Murray, my understanding, and I certainly will take it because we were going through a lot, from my understanding from the auditor, these funds for the United Way eviction diversion program were in that amendment three contingency bucket, which are below the line. If amendment three fails, they will come back above the line. This action just brings them above the line now. So, I don't think they're anywhere else in the budget based on our conversation. Am I incorrect, Mr., through the council president to the auditor, am I incorrect in that? Am I incorrect, through the president to Councilmember Johnson? You're not incorrect, but I do want to make it a point. Half of it was above the line. So, there is $500,000 above the line. Half was put in the amendment three contingency. This brings it all so it gives them the full amount. That's what we discussed. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Dr. Salem. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Just to clarify, so it was a full million dollars, and we put half above the line and half below. So, what was it in the 25-26 budget? That just seems like a significant increase than what it was before, through the president to the auditors. Through the president and Councilmember Salem, the eviction diversion program was budgeted at zero in 25-26. So, we've gone from zero to a million. Wow. Okay. Thank you. All right. No one else in the queue. So, let's vote on the Johnson Amendment, which, for clarity, we had zero last year. There was a million this year. Finance Committee put half of that into the amendment three contingency and left half funded. So, the Johnson Amendment intends to fund it all at the million, which is his motion. So, the floor amendment will take this vote by roll call as well, by roll. Call it out, please. Councilmember Boylan. Floor leader. Floor leader. Nay. Council President Howland. Nay. Council Vice President Carlucci. Nay. Councilmember Laynon. Nay. Councilmember Carrico. Councilmember Diamond. Councilmember White. Councilmember Amaro. Councilmember Arias. Councilmember Matt Carlucci. Councilmember Clark Murray. Yes. Councilmember Pittman. Councilmember Gaffney Jr. Councilmember Gay. No. Councilmember Johnson. Yes. Yay. Councilmember Miller. Councilmember Peluso. Yay. Councilmember Salem. Councilmember Holder. All right. By a vote of nine to ten, can you confirm that, Legislative Services? The amendment, floor amendment fails. Dr. Johnson, I think you're on item number ten now. I am. I move. This was something that, again, was deleted from the budget. And, again, I want to make sure if they contacted me and they said they wanted it back in, I'm a man of my word, so I'm doing what I said I would. This is $300,000 written in the word international. The administration did put it in. I am asking that you move this. They are building a community service center in the out east community. And I hope I can get a second so we can put those funds back in the budget as they were cut by the committee. And I didn't hear a second. So, oh, I've heard a second. Okay. I see no speakers in the queue, so I'll just note that we're about to approve as a budget bill, very likely, $7.7 million for CBA. That includes at least half of that for east side. So that was part of the reason why this was taken out of the budget. There's plenty of money going into this segment of the community, as all agreed on with the CBA. Seeing no other speakers in the queue, Dr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. President. While I do understand that, I wanted to say, because I didn't speak earlier to, you know, while I certainly understand the budget that we handed out, and this is, I don't want to put everything together, but I got the spreadsheet that was given about the millions that we've given to affordable housing, and I didn't speak to that. I didn't want to prolong the time, because I know in some ways it seems like we're doing apples and oranges and adding in things that we did before and what we did now. I kind of am looking at this while I understand that it's going to the out east community. This group has done some significant things, and I don't think the administration would have put it into the budget if it was not for a specific purpose. And so that's why, as I told the team from there, that I would put it back in. So I don't want it to just seem like I'm just adding it in, but I don't want it to be said that just because we're giving money out east doesn't include everyone out east. That's what I'm putting, why I've asked this to go back into the budget. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Seeing no other speakers, let's call this vote, too. Council Member Boylan. Nay. Council President Howland. Nay. Council Vice President Carlucci. Council Member Laynen. Nay. Council Member Carrico. Council Member Diamond. Council Member White. Council Member Amaro. Council Member Arias. Council Member Carlucci. Council Member Clark Murray. Nay. Council Member Pittman. Council Member Gaffney Jr. Council Member Gay. Nay. No. Council Member Johnson. Nay. Council Member Miller. Council Member Peluso. Council Member Salem. Council Member Holder. And confirm legislative services that floor amendment failed. Okay. We have confirmation that that floor amendment failed. All right. We go next to Johnson, item 7, which is number 11 on the sheet. Thank you, Mr. President. And my final amendment for the evening was for telehealth. It moved 753 quarters of a million dollars from the amendment three contingency to the telehealth program. I think this is important. I know I had a meeting with the administration on it. It was initially there. And I think this should be fully funded. And I'd like for us to bring it back to where it was. Thank you. I'll recognize Mr. Diamond, followed by Dr. Salem. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Oh, so we have a second to the floor amendment. Mr. Diamond. Yeah, just really briefly, we beat this one to death in finance, but they literally said they could do this for 750. One. Two, there's entities that do this for free. That's two. Three, if amendment three doesn't pass, it goes back above the line. And four, the city saves no money if we do this. So, opposed to this, please vote no. Dr. Salem, followed by Mr. Lehman. Okay, Mr. Lehman. All right. With that, seeing no other speakers in the queue, everyone heard how much I mentioned we have in the budget for indigent health care, Medicare, Medicaid, nearly $100 million. With that, seeing no other speakers, let's call this vote as well. Council Member Boylan. Nay. Council President Howland. Nay. Council Vice President Carlucci. Nay. Council Member Laynen. Nay. Council Member Carrico. Council Member Diamond. Council Member White. Council Member Amaro. Council Member Arias. Council Member Carlucci. Council Member Clark Murray. Council Member Pittman. Council Member Gaffney Jr. Council Member Gay. No. Council Member Johnson. Yay. Council Member Miller. Council Member Peluso. Council Member Salem. Council Member Holder. Okay. Floor amendment fails. Is that confirmed by legislative services? All right. And that concludes the floor amendments on 504. So we go back to page 37 of 59. We've passed a substitute. We've now passed, I believe, two of the. Mr. President, I can. 11 floor amendments. I think it's believed. It's the. I moved the substitute as three times amended. Second. Twice amended. I'm sorry. Yep. We have a motion and a second to move the substitute as twice amended. We'll take this vote verbally. All in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against say no. Substitute passes as twice amended. Let the record show Mr. Diamond voted no. That was a ballot vote. That's a ballot vote. Oh, no. Move the bill. Oh, okay. Hold on. We take a ballot vote. Yes, Mr. President. So the final motion. I thought we were rolling the amendments into. Okay. No, we don't roll up at council like we do at committee. So his motion on the bill as substituted and twice amended was seconded. And now you're ready for your ballot vote. Okay. We have a motion and a second on the bill as substituted and twice amended. We're ready to open the ballot and record your vote. I don't have him in the queue. But Councilman Diamond, would you like to speak on this? Okay. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, 1 nay. And by your vote, 2026-0504 passes. President, with the city budget bill behind us now, we are now ready to take up third reading resolution can be found on page 38. That's item number 81, 2026-508. I move the resolution. We have a motion and a second on the bill, the resolution that is. I have no speakers in the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. This will take a second. 18 yays, 1 nay. By your vote, 2026-0508 passes. Mr. President, now we have the nine remaining budget-related bills starting with item number 82, 2026-505. Before I move the amendment, I believe there are some abstentions. Mr. Gay, you are recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to abstain from voting on this as I have several businesses that potentially will do work for JEA. Thank you, and everything has been filed with legislative services. Thank you, sir. Any other abstentions? All right. Seeing – well, hold on one second. Mr. Gaffney, you're recognized. I apologize about that. Thank you, President Holler. I also will be rising to abstain. My dad, who owns CRRC, got a partnership with JTA, which he provides mental health services and paratransit services, so I'll make sure everything gets filed with legislative services. Thank you very much. I think that's all we have in the queue. We're ready. I move the amendment. We have a motion and a second on the amendment. Seeing no speakers, we'll take the vote verbally. All in favor of the amendment. Indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no, the amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. Seen no speakers, let's open the ballot and record your vote. 17 yays, zero nays, two abstentions. By your vote, 2026, 05, 05, passes. Moving on now to item 83, 2026, 506. I move the amendment. We have a motion and a second on the amendment. Seeing no speakers, before we actually take that, let me look, make sure there's no abstentions. No, there are not. Seeing no speakers, we'll take this vote verbally. All those in favor of the amendment, indicate by saying aye. Aye. All again, say no, amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. Seeing no speakers, open the ballot and record your vote. 19 yays, zero nays. By your vote, 2026, 05, 06, passes. Page 39, item number 84, 2026, 507. I move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. No speakers in the queue. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. 18 yays, one nay. By your vote, 2026, 05, 07, passes. All right, item number 85, 2026, 509. I understand Council Member Peluso has a floor amendment. Yeah, let me look real quick here. We have a couple abstentions. Ms. Pittman, you're recognized? To the chair, out of abundance of caution, I will be abstaining from this legislation. The paperwork has already been submitted because I'm the CEO and president of the Clara White Mission, and I'm sure probably one of my staff members will be applying for this grant. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Then we go to Council Member Peluso. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to add a floor amendment, and I hope that I can get a second and a moment. But Mary can read what the amendment is, but effectively it's moving these dollars above the line, just as we try to do with CSG. Looking for a second. All right. Mr. Peluso, as I understand it, this floor amendment you're introducing is basically the same thing that you just tried with Cultural Council that failed? Mr. President, Mr. President, I appreciate that commentary. Yes, that was a different item entirely, and now we're talking about PSG. Because Cultural Council we addressed in 504, and PSG we're addressing in 509. That'd be correct, sir. Okay. Through that end, to my colleagues, we all know these organizations. We know them well. We've seen the work that they do day in and day out in our city. To the point that we consistently talk about financial uncertainty within the city government, we cannot allow for them to have financial uncertainty in these nonprofits that provide services in all of our districts every day. It's been a late night, and I apologize for it. But again, these are dollars that we keep assuming what's going to happen in November. We can give them clarity right now, and I don't see why we wouldn't. There are so many lives that are impacted by these dollars. The ROI is out of control. It's incredibly good. It's incredibly positive. And this is work that government, that we don't want to do. It's why we have these nonprofits doing it. For a fraction of the cost, even if Amendment 3 were to pass, we'd probably still want to make sure that these nonprofits get the assistance that they need. We have a number of nonprofit executives in this audience. They understand the value of this program, of these grants. I ask that we vote this up. I know it's late evening. We need 10 votes. We almost got it with CSG. We should get it here tonight. Council Member Salem, I'm hoping that heart will grow once more. Thank you all. All right. Thank you, Mr. Peluso. Mr. Arias, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. And I'm just curious, is this one halfway funded, or is it also 65%? Also 65%. It's also 65%. All right. Well, I'm going to support Mr. Peluso. Thank you. Okay. On this floor amendment, let's do a call out on the vote. There's no other speakers. We have a motion and a second on the Peluso floor amendment. Council Member Boylan. The PSG is on. It's a difficult way to say nay on this one. It's a yay, please. Council President Howland. No. Council Vice President Carlucci. Council Member Layman. Council Member Carrico. Council Member Diamond. Council Member White. Council Member Amaro. Council Member Arias. Council Member Carlucci. Council Member Clark-Murray. Council Member Pittman. Council Member Gaffney Jr. Council Member Gay. No. Council Member Johnson. Yay. Council Member Miller. Council Member Peluso. Council Member Salem. Council Member Holder. That's eight, four. It passes. All right, floor amendment passes. Well, I'm now, Mr. President, I move the bill as amended. Let's move the bill. Let's see, we have a motion and a second to move the bill as amended. No speakers. Open the ballot and court your vote. What's that? Yeah. Thank you guys for supporting this, but I don't understand the rationale why we couldn't support CSG. It's the same bucket, Mr. Boyden. I just don't get it. I'm grateful for this passing, but I don't understand why CSG, sitting right there, and everybody else out there did not get the same love. So, I'm just really disappointed right now, but I'm grateful for at least PSG having it. You got it passed. All right, let's open the ballot and court your vote. 17 yays, 1 nay, 1 abstention. Mr. President, we now move back to page 8. And by your vote, 2026-0509 passes. Page 8 to take up item number 9, 2026-510, a resolution that was part of the consent agenda. I move the bill. Move the resolution. Yeah, we're on item number 9, 2026-0510. We've had a motion. Do we have a second on the bill? Okay. Before we do that, we have a motion and a second. We will have some abstentions. Let's go to Mr. Carrico. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to abstain from this vote as I have a conflict. My employer, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida, has received in the past and plans to continue to apply for opioid substance abuse grants so we can help kids say no to drugs. So, because of that conflict, I will not be voting. Thanks. We next go to Councilman Gaffney. Yes. Thank you to the Chair. Out of abundance of caution, I'll be also abstaining from this vote. My dad, which runs CRC, I'm in a health agency, may or may not apply for these funds. I'm not sure. But on the safe side, I'll make sure everything gets filed with legislative services. All right. And Ms. Pittman, do you have to abstain? To the Chair, out of abundance of caution, same. I'm at the Clara White Mission, the CEO, and my staff may or may not apply for these funds for the homeless. Thank you. And I've already submitted the paperwork. All right. Thank you. Seeing no one else in the queue, we have a motion and a second on the bill. Open the ballot. Order your vote. 16 yays, zero nays, three abstentions. By your vote, 0510 passes. Moving now back to page 40, item number 86, 2026-511. Before I move the amendment, I think we've got a few folks who would need to abstain on this one as well. Ms. Pittman, you're recognized. Ms. Pittman, you have to abstain? Are we on 0511? 511. KHA. Ditto from before. Submitted the work. CEO of the Clara White Mission, I will abstain from this vote because staff may or may not apply for these funds. Thank you. Okay. Actually, before we go to Mr. Carrico, we're going to have to reopen 0510 because the wrong bill was up during the vote. Move to reconsider 510. Second. We have a motion and a second to reconsider 510. Motion to reconsider, just verbal, I believe. Yep. Motion to reconsider. All in favor of reconsidering, say aye. Aye. All again, say no. We can reconsider 0510. I think we need to announce the abstentions again. Abstaining are Councilman Carrico, Councilman Gaffney, Councilman Pittman. I move the bill. You're not abstaining, Councilman Pittman, on 0510? Yeah. So those three are on the record for abstaining. We have a motion. Do we have a second on the bill? We have a motion and a second on the bill. It's 2026-0510. Are you guys ready? No? Okay. All right. It's 0510. 16 yays, 0 nays, 3 abstentions. It's by your vote, 2026-0510 passes. Now we'll move to 2026-0511. We're in the correct posture. I'll redo the abstentions. First, Ms. Pittman, then Mr. Carrico. Ms. Pittman, we're now on 0511. I think you have to declare your abstention before we move the amendment. Out of abundance of caution, I will abstain from this bill. I've already filed the paperwork because I'm the CEO and president of the Clara White Mission. Staff may or may not apply for funds. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Over to Mr. Carrico. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to declare conflict and abstain from this vote. As my employer, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida receives several contracts from the Kids Hope Alliance, all procured through competitively bid RFP process. And that's my employee, or my employer, so I'm not going to vote on this. All right. Very good. With that, we can go ahead and move the amendment. I move the amendment. We have a motion and a second on the amendment. No one in the queue will take the vote verbally. All in favor of the amendment and indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against, say no. Amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. Motion and a second on the bill as amended. No one in the queue. Open the ballot court to vote. 16 yays, 1 nay, 2 abstentions. By your vote, 2026-0511 passes. Madam 87-2026-512. Before I move the bill, I believe we've got another abstention. Yep, on 0-5-1-0, we have an abstention. I want to. Mr. Gay, would you? You're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. I rise to abstain from this bill. Voting on this as several of my businesses may pursue opportunities with JEA, and this paperwork's been filed with legislative services. Thank you. Thank you, sir. I don't think we have any other abstentions. I'll move the bill. We have a motion and a second on the bill. We're on item number 87-2026-0512. No speakers. Open the ballot. According to your vote. What is it, Mr. Carlucci, can stand to recognize? Fifteen yays, two nays, one abstention. Mr. Carlucci. This doesn't look like the bill, but I thought the bill I was supposed to speak with on a conflict or a disclosure list. Next one. It's the next one? Next one. Thank you. All right. By your vote, 2026-0510 passes. 512. Sorry. 512 passes. Item number 88-2026-513. Before moving the bill. Yeah. Before moving the bill, I want to recognize Mr. Joe Carlucci. All right. Thank you, Mr. President. I'll be abstaining from voting on this matter as I have voting conflict. A portion of the funding from city council salaries goes towards my relative, dually elected council member Matt Carlucci, Sr. I've been advised by general counsel on ethics that it would be appropriate for me to abstain from voting on this legislation. I have filed my AP voting conflict form with legislative services. Thank you. Other Carlucci. Well, I was so looking forward to getting my raise this year, and I've got this pesky son of mine who's on the council with me, and because of that, I can't get my raise because he's my relative, whom I love very much, and he's doing a great job up here. At least when you become council president, I won't be in your way to get a raise, and so I'm just kind of Carlucci-izing the whole thing, and I will be filing my whatever form I've got to file, and so we'll go broke again this year. Thank you. All right. Thank you. With that, Mr. President, I move, hold on, I move the bill. All right, we move, do we have a second? Second. Motion and a second, I guess we didn't need that. In 2026-0513, no speakers, open the ballot court to vote. You're right, we didn't need that. 16 yays, 1 nay, 2 abstentions. By your vote, 2026-0513 passes. On page 41, item number 89, 2026-514. Again, I believe we have a couple of abstentions. Well, I have a floor amendment, but before I take that up, I believe Mr. Gaffney. Mr. Gaffney, you are recognized. Thank you, Chair Holland. I'll be abstaining for this legislation. My father, which runs CRC, a mental health organization, his clients use the paratransit services, so I'll make sure everything gets filed with legislative services. Thank you. Thank you. Any other abstentions? Seeing none, we can move right ahead. Mr. President, I move the, I guess it would be the finance amendment. We have a motion and a second on the finance amendment. Seeing no speakers, we'll take the vote verbally. All those in favor of the finance amendment indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against saying no, amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. Mr. Diamond, you're recognized. Thank you, Council President. I really just, I'm going to support this, but I just wanted to call out to the folks working at JTA. I see Jessica Schepler back there, as always. The new interim CEO, Randall Barnes, CFO. These folks have done, they've had a really bad couple of weeks. Yesterday was a really tough week for them, so I just want to thank them for what they're doing and the hard work they're putting in. There is Ms. Cleveland. He's right back there. I see you. Oh, and Randall's there, too. So I see all you guys back there. So thanks for all the hard work you're doing. There's a board meeting tomorrow. I do recommend you all kind of clue in because they're going to have to make some really tough decisions, that board is, and hopefully start working with us to loosen up some LOGT money. Thanks. All right. Thank you. Seeing no other speakers in the queue, let's open the ballot. I encourage you to vote. We have one more vote. 18 yays, 0 nays, 1 abstention. By your vote, you've passed 2026-0514. We next move. I move to page 44, item 94, 2026, 646, our last budget-related bill. I move the amendment. And let me make sure we have, we actually do have a couple, we have a motion and second on the amendment, but before we vote on it, we have some abstentions. Mr. Carrico, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. President. This one's just out of an abundance of caution, as we do have a few Boys and Girls Club locations in the east side community, so we may or may not apply for these grants. I'm not sure, but out of abundance of caution, I will abstain. And we'll get that filed with legislative services. Thank you. Thank you. I think, Ms. Pittman, you are on the queue as well. Chair, same thing. As the CEO and president of the Clara White Mission, staff may or may not apply. Paperwork has already been submitted. Thank you. All right. Thank you. And, Mr. Gaffney, do you need to abstain on this one? On CBA, no, sir. All right. Very good. We have a motion and a second on the amendment. Seeing no one in the queue, let's take the amendment verbally. All those in favor indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against, say no. Amendment passes. Move the bill as amended. We have a motion and a second on the bill as amended. Seeing no, Ms. Pittman, you're still on there. Are you just left over from, okay. Seeing no speakers, let's open the ballot. Accord your vote. There we go. 16 yays, one nay, two abstentions. By your vote, you passed 2026-05, sorry, 0646. Were we on the right bill with that vote? Yes. We were. All right. Very good. Mr. President, we've got one more item. As you recall, item number 150 on page 58. We tabled that bill. I think we're looking for a motion to untable it. Do we, Mr. Fox, what's the proper posture here? I assume that Ms. Holder is going to withdraw the bill. Should we untable it and then recognize Ms. Holder? Yes, Mr. Chair. Since this was laid on the table by motion, you would call for a motion to take it from the table and get a second and vote on that verbally. Okay. Assuming it just takes 10 votes to approve. And I think you put that motion forward to remove it from the table. We have a motion and a second. We'll take this vote verbally to take it off the table. All those in favor of taking it off the table indicate by saying aye. Aye. All against say no. It's off the table. Why don't you recognize Council Member Holder? Thank you so much for, through the president, thank you so much for everyone for approving the table of this bill. It's no longer needed now that we have successfully passed the $4.9 million and moved that back into the budget. So I just want to thank all of you for listening to our constituents here in Jacksonville who wanted to prioritize affordable housing. So with that, I want to withdraw the bill. Is it a move to withdraw? Motion to withdraw. It's a valid vote. Mr. President, yes. So if she wants to make the motion to withdraw and you take a second, you don't have to take up the emergency or anything in order to do that. Did you move it? She did. She did. Yes. We have a motion and a second to withdraw. Seeing no speakers, this is a ballot vote. Let's open the ballot and record your vote. Might take a vote. Thank you, Ms. Holder. 19 yays, zero nays. And by your vote, 2026-0754 is withdrawn. That generally would conclude our agenda. Yes, it does conclude our agenda as far as I know. However, before we gavel out or take roll call, Legislative Services is confirming one vote was accurate that we actually voted on correctly. They need to make sure that it was right. Mary? They don't know. Okay. Do announcements. While we're waiting, can we do announcements before we do roll call? Yeah. Yeah. We'll do announcements. And Dr. Salem, do you have an announcement? Thank you, Mr. President. On Thursday at 930, we are getting an update on the capacity fee issue at JEA. And then at roughly 945, we're having a notice meeting on JTA. Eventually, I think the president has indicated he's going to set up a special committee on JTA, but the timing of it didn't quite work out. So the meeting on Thursday at 945 will simply be a notice meeting that I'm hosting on JTA. Yep. And to clarify, I'm not going to set up a special committee. I'm going to recharge the existing select committee, the Financial Audit and Oversight Committee, with JTA functionality, the scope of which I'm working out with the administration in JTA right now, because we want to be collaborative, look at how to reconstitute their finances and potentially open up LRJT. I misstated that. Yeah. Thank you. Mr. Gaffney. Thank you, Council President Highland. I just want to commend you for a job well done, and I think tonight and last year was a difference in night and day. You know, I'm a former Council President. Carrico, no, you did a tremendous job, but last year, we was hit at 4 o'clock. I mean, I think tonight it was a balanced budget. We was able to restore some funds in affordable housing, and I think the takeaway from tonight for me, at least, it was some give and take. I think it was some wins, it was some losses. You know, so I think we was able to work together. It was a bipartisan budget, and everybody got something off the table. So I'm still baffled by the, you know, the 50 to the 100,000 utilities bill, but, you know, but at the end of the day, Councilman Highland, I just want to commend you on the job well done. Thank you, Mr. Gaffney. Appreciate that. Ms. Clark-Murray. Thank you. Good evening again to everyone. So it's kind of extensive. So since 2012, the Normandy Village neighborhood has endured water outages, water notices, low water pressure, and bill payment adventures. All the issues came to a breaking point last summer during a town hall meeting I hosted with the community and the utility provider, Normandy Village Utilities. While allowing residents to vent their frustrations, Normandy Village Utilities confirmed that their company had become bankrupt, therefore would no longer provide water service to about 1,500 customers. Soon after, a court order mandated J.E.A. to take over Normandy Village Utilities. J.E.A. is an excellent public utility, publicly owned utility, so whether or not J.E.A. could do the work was not the issue. In conversing with my J.E.A. liaison, Renee Good and Janelle Milton, I learned that it was going to cost between $50 to $60 million to bring the Normandy Village community online with J.E.A. Immediately, J.E.A. started pursuing grants to procure the funds. Then in December of last year, the Florida Department of Commerce awarded J.E.A. a $20 million grant to aid with the repairs and sewer connections. J.E.A. hosted two community meetings to keep the Normandy Village residents informed of their progress. At the most recent meeting last Thursday, September 17th, J.E.A. representatives convened with the Normandy Village residents. The presentation summarized the work completed at this juncture, which included providing a billing and payment office in Kingdom Plaza, where customers could pay their bill that they finally understood and received change. So the previous water utility did not provide change. If the payment wasn't exact, the utility co-op would credit the account. Additionally, J.E.A. discussed the customer service and billing system. Equally important was the fact that Normandy Village residents would have reliable, regular water pressure and almost no boil water alerts at a lower cost as well than their former water provider. Most importantly, the new service takes effect on October 1st. So the bottom line is this. This is the issue that persisted or plagued the Normandy Village community prior to them becoming a part of District 9. So now their water problems have been solved, and it is most appreciative by those who live in the Normandy Village community. And I want to thank the Speaker Pro Tem Wyman Duggins and, of course, Past President Randy White, District 12, for their support of the community because they are so excited about the fact. I know we think about we go to the sink and we cut water on and we don't think anything of it. But when you don't have the proper water and you don't have the proper water pressure and your water looks like mud, it really makes a difference when the service has been corrected and you can access those things. Thank you. Okay, Mr. Boylan, followed by Mr. Carlucci. Very quick, I think we were missing in the announcements at the beginning of the meeting. The note is the fact that next week is fifth week and the committee meetings are beginning the week of Monday, October the 5th, with the next City Council meeting on Tuesday, October the 13th. All right, Mr. Carlucci, followed by Mr. Peluso. I haven't done roll call yet. Thank you, Mr. President. I have seldom made remarks and announcements and so forth at the end of the meeting. Tonight, I would like to do so by thanking my colleagues for giving me a fair shot at the affordable housing amendment and for those 13 who voted for it. I truly thank you for it. And that shows a heart for the little guy or the underdog. The second thing I'd like to announce, which I think we all know, but tomorrow night's a special night for our Teresa Eichner. She has poured her heart into raising perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars for MS. And she is a true champion. And I'm going to be there and look forward to celebrating that night with her. And I hope that you all can make it. The next thing I wanted to announce is Tommy Hazzari, our former colleague, former mayor of Jacksonville, former council president, former school board member, and Duval delegation chair, and 12-year member of the legislature. Well, he had two wonderful brothers, Bobby and Richard. And Bobby passed away. And his funeral was today. And I made time to make sure I went there to support his family. And I've known now close to 50 years. And it was a very sweet funeral. I saw his wife, Carol, and some of his relatives. So I just thought I'd pass that out because some of you all probably knew Bobby. This is my last budget hearing that I've been through. And even though I wasn't on finance, I think I made all the meetings. And I want to compliment, as I have publicly, Will Landon. Chairman, you did a very good job. You treated me very fair. And really, that's all I asked for, to be treated fair. I didn't get everything I wanted. But I got at least a chance to say what I wanted to say. And I think you ran an even-handed committee. And I appreciate that. And the last thing I wanted to ask is, Council President, you've done a fine job. And one of those things was appointing Nick as your finance chair. I wish I could have done that. What did I say? Nick. Well, it's getting past my bedtime. But I do plan to get a drink before I hit the sack. But by appointing Will Landon as your finance chair, the people are laughing. They're going to have a drink, too. But I know that you're going to have a select committee, perhaps, on the JTA. And I just want to ask a favor or a request. And that is my last year of 20. And I hope that you'll perhaps appoint me to that instead of just appointing the same people. That gives everybody a chance. And I'd like to have a chance at that. I hope you'll put that into consideration. And I'd love to hear from you. I'll do you proud. I'll be fair. Because that's the way I operate. I'm fair. And everybody will get treated equally and fairly. And I'll do you a good job. But it seems like all the committees that come out and finance and the select committees and this, that, and the other, I'm kind of left into sidelines or perhaps left field where my office is. All right. Mr. Peluso. Thank you, Mr. President. Just to remind everyone, so 5 p.m. on Friday is at the Downtown Vision office right down the road. That's Jake Gordon's farewell party. It's where we're going to be presenting him with the resolution that we passed this evening. He's been with DVI, I believe, for 13 years. And we owe him a debt of gratitude for the good work he's done downtown. And then secondly, or thirdly, Council Member Lannan, Chair Lannan, you did an incredible job with this budget. I'm very, very proud of you, good sir. And Council President, I'm very proud of you as well. And for hosting this meeting as well as you did. I believe what Council Member Daphne was trying to say is that we got out of here a little bit early. I think that's what he means about night and day. Although I will say the tenor and the collaboration this evening really does bring me a lot of gratitude. It might be my last budget, perhaps. But I'm very grateful to all of you. And, you know, I felt like the 19 of us really got a voice this evening. Thank you, sir. Ms. Pittman, are you doing birthdays? Okay. Oh, okay. Before you do birthdays, I'd like to just do kind of a budget wrap here. No, you're not in there. That's okay. I'll do it. I'll call you and then I'll call Ms. Pittman. So I just want to say you probably noticed the last half an hour, 45 minutes, I've been frowning. Because I figured when I was smiling, you were adding money to the budget. So when I started frowning, I wanted to act disappointed. I thought maybe I'd get some sympathy. And luckily, we stopped the hemorrhage. But by a vote of 18 to 1 over multiple budget bills, we approved the most fiscally responsible budget in Jacksonville in over a decade. And I'm thrilled by that. Here's why it's the most fiscally responsible budget. Number one, it funds public safety. Number two, it funds critical infrastructure. Number three, it funds core services. And when you put public safety aside, when you hold it aside, it spends less than last year. In fact, the largest amount spending less than last year in core government in over a decade. And not only that, but the capital budget is less than last year. And that's only been done once in the last 10 years. So to me, this budget is proof that as we face real revenue uncertainty in the very near future, that government can both rein in its spending and deliver for its residents at the same time. And more importantly, Mr. Peluso just alluded to it, this entire budget was an exercise in civility and compromise. And for that, I am most proud. So congratulations to Chair Laynen, to Vice Chair Miller. Congratulations to the rest of the Finance Committee. And congratulations and thank you to the council auditors for all your hard work and legislative services. Together, you all delivered for Jacksonville tonight. So thank you very much. With that, let me do roll call. Then I'll call on Mr. Dr. Johnson and then Ms. Pittman. So roll call, please. 19 present. All right. Dr. Johnson, you're up. And last will be Ms. Pittman. Thank you so much, Mr. President. I've literally been in queue back and forth all night, so I know we've been having some issues. Because I was wondering, why is the president not calling on me? It's because we're having technology issues. I thought it was something to glitch. You said program it. Don't call on Johnson. But it's okay. Our council family is doing some extraordinary things. And I wanted to share first, number 57, and I'm not talking about Heinz, Council President 57, Kevin Carrico, was in Rome, Italy recently, where he was seated in the Board of Trustees of the World Law Foundation, which is an amazing organization that pulls together jurists, scholars, and global leaders advancing the global rule of law. And when I saw that, I thought it was pretty big. And I thought we needed to talk about it. Congratulations, Kevin. Seated in Rome, Italy. That's a big one. And I want to also say, on behalf, and I know Councilman Carlucci brought it up, but I also wanted to just make sure we gave the specific details, our public information chief and officer, Teresa Eichner. The event is the Multiple Sclerosis Society Dinner of Champions. Colleagues, I hope that you will join me, Councilman Carlucci, and whoever else can come. It'll be tomorrow night at 6 o'clock over at the Florida Blue Conference Center in Deerwood. It will be an amazing event. But I have to say this. There are about a million people who are suffering from multiple sclerosis in America. Here in Florida alone, 60,000 people have MS. And for those that know, it is a very debilitating disease. And even with that, through all of the work she has done in founding her bourbon event, Teresa Eichner has raised over half a million dollars for people with multiple sclerosis. So that dinner tomorrow night, or that event tomorrow night, is dedicated toward her. I thought it was black tie. They said, you don't have to wear a tie. So we need to go over there and support her, raise money, because it could be us, could be one of our family members. It is so important. Teresa, thank you for the work that you do. And I got to say, both of you guys keep serving, keep shining, keep making Jacksonville proud. Kevin, you're bringing the light to the world. You're bringing hope to the world. This is how we do it in Jacksonville. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Well, I want to say a couple of things tonight. First of all, I want to thank the auditors for getting us in the place and the space that we need to do, as well as OGC, Mary, and Colin, all of you all back there. Y'all have done an outstanding job, and I know it's been very stressful. But I think we need to give both of the departments a big round of applause. We appreciate everything that y'all have done for us. I also wanted to share, I had a chance to go over to the Meals on Wheels program. They had a soft opening this week. If you have not had an opportunity to go see their new operations, you want to go see. It is amazing. And Teresa Barton, who retired, they also acknowledged her as well. But I was just blown away with their new facilities. And Sam Hall is the new CEO at that time. And I also want to thank Darnell. Thank you for being here. You've been here with us. You was here last time, but we were, you know, in AM. But thank you. I'm glad that we were able to work on the budget together, although we may have differences. But at the end of the day, it's about the people that have elected us. And so I want to thank you all so much. And President, I appreciate you. I really do. And, you know, although this is my last budget, I'm going to miss you all. It's been nine and a half little years that I've been able. I think I've been on the, I was on the budget until you kicked me off this year. You know, I thought I was going to go out with a bang, you know. But y'all got rid of the women on this. It's okay. But anyway, just joking. But I appreciate giving me the opportunity to serve on the finance committee. And, Laina, and I know you about, you're just like, Ron, y'all got them dollars and cents. And, again, you all did a great job. And I want to congratulate you all on that as well. So birthday that we have is Felicia Austin, who was yesterday was her birthday. So happy birthday, my dear. And it's time to go home. All right. And before I adjourn, I just want to clarify, we took up the announcements early because Legislative Services and OGC were ensuring that we, on one particular vote, that we voted on the right one that was on the ballot. And it was. It's confirmed. We did it all right tonight. So with that, we are adjourned. We'll turn it over to the chat. And Legislative Services, I'm so sorry. Y'all do great work as well. Thank you all so, so very much. Over to Mr. Romero. And JSO. And, uh,