All right, we're calling this meeting to order at 3.30 p.m. Please, let's start with introductions. To my left. Councilman Rajon Gaffin, Jr., District 8. Council Member Rahman Johnson, District 14. And I want to deviate from the agenda just a bit. I was just in a meeting, Council Member, and I hope you will join me. I am sad because there was a two-year-old that was shot and murdered a few days ago. And the story really gripped me, but I did not know his name. I now know his name, and I want to speak it. And I hope that we could all in this room, not just for me and you, but all of us, take a moment to just think about this little boy. His name is Amari Robinson, and he was shot due to completely unnecessary gun violence. Please take a moment, and let's just remember Amari Robinson. Thank you. I hope to speak to it tonight. This needless, senseless violence in our community must stop, and you see the byproduct of it. This little boy was two, and I finally saw his picture. I had seen the story, but I finally, you know, I was at Justin Media, and I saw his picture, and yeah, that's all I can say. So my heart goes out to his family and this community because this is a statistic that we must stop. With that, we are here to talk about the 26-27 leadership of the Jacksonville City Council. As you know, Councilmember, I have declared my candidacy for vice president of the Jacksonville City Council, as we did in this room. I am, I believe, uniquely positioned to be the next vice president of the council, and I wanted to find out or just ask questions more than anything, and I've asked everyone for their support, which I will more formally. But to you, what do you think is necessary or the qualities needed for a leader at this point for the council? Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for meeting with me. That's a great question. I think, for one, someone who can bring council together, who can have some type of bipartisan leadership and bring all the colleagues together. I think, for two, someone who can, you know, just, just the tone, I guess, the environment, you know, I think, never disrespect to the current president, but, you know, this past year, you know, a lot of us, you know, scrutinize and ask questions because of our former colleagues. So, you know, maybe just someone who can change the morale and the environment of the current setting, you know, so, but just, you know, just bringing together colleagues, changing the morale, being fair, respect, feeling, having all the colleagues feeling heard, valued, all the colleagues getting a voice to participate. So, which we have heard, everybody don't get a choice. And, you know, most important, I think, well, some of the districts not getting left behind. You know, we hear that so often that, you know, why everything over there and not nothing in my district, you know, so. But it was a loaded question. Hopefully, I gave you a loaded answer. Well, I think it's good. I mean, we needed that. I want to know everyone's perspective. And it's interesting. I know we all have respect for the process and our colleagues, but I know I was just in a meeting with Councilmember Layman, and one of the terms he used, I think, that kind of defined it best was drama. Like, let's move away from the drama. And I think that's important that, you know, I wish we could do more of this, these conversations that we have. Unfortunately, I do believe in the sunshine process, but I do believe that in some ways it hinders us having these real conversations and being closer and more united as a council. What are some of the things District 8 is, one of the other things I want to focus on is making sure that during my leadership tenure, if I'm granted, is to ensure that our districts are taken care of. What are the priorities that you need that are important to not just you, but your constituents and District 8 as a whole? Yeah, well, according to the planning department, outside of District 12, is it a District 12 and District 8? It's the fastest growing districts here in Jacksonville due to the land, proximity to the land. And so, you know, if I hadn't answered that question, I guess the infrastructure, you know, infrastructure and sidewalks, traffic lights, addressing flooding when it rains constantly and continually. And this, not building on top of each other, I understand that we have a housing shortage, I understand that we have a housing crisis, but I still think that we've got to build smart. I'm not sure it's been one piece of legislation when it comes to building when the constituents have came out on top, you know, versus a builder or a developer in the last three years, you know. So, infrastructure, you know, like I said, training and just making sure it's smart growth in terms of, you know, the traffic is addressed, you know, before we just stack 100 homes on top of each other. Yeah. I'm dealing with an issue. I know you're, remember, we serve on OUZ together, but there's an issue in my district I'm dealing with is Morris and Seaboard. It's exactly like that. They want to put more homes. I don't have an opinion. Neither do you. We'll put that out there. But they want to build more homes, but it's not, is the infrastructure there? Can you deal with another 89 homes in this space? And so that's kind of what, you know, our community has addressed, and I've been able to champion at least having a conversation before the decision is made, making sure the developer is in concert and conversation with the community. And that's, last night I was in a meeting, man, about the Neighborhood Bill of Rights, and that's one of the main things about the bill, making sure that people are notified and that they're part of the process. Yeah. Because in many ways, they don't know to even come and say, you know what, let's make sure we're going to do the sidewalk or we're going to do the streets or whatever the case may be. So, yeah, yeah, same page there, you know, so that's the biggest things, you know, for myself and I think the district, the constituents in the district. I got you. Well, I want to, do you have any questions for me in particular? I hope I can count on your support for this race, at least while I'm in it. I do plan to be in it for the long haul. But do you have any questions for me that I can answer? Actually, I don't. Okay. Well, I appreciate it. I appreciate your friendship and also the pragmatism you bring when it comes to this counseling, the work you do. I do hope that this will take me into leadership, and I hope that you will be a part of that leadership team to move things forward. And I pray, while I'm not asking for it formally with those pledge forms, because as I'm reminded, some former council members told me, that don't mean nothing. They said they can just change and vote for whoever they want to. So, but I do hope that you will continue to look critically at my candidacy, and I hope I can count on your support. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. With that, we will call this meeting to order. Or adjourned. Excuse me. I just called it.