Good afternoon, everyone. We'll go ahead and get started with the Wednesday, August 19th meeting of the Finance Committee. Introduction starting to my left. Brittany Norris for the administration. Colleen Hampsey, Council of Research. Mary Stifopoulos, Office of General Counsel. Heather Reaver, Council Auditor's Office. Philip Peterson, Council Auditor. Good afternoon. Chris Miller at Large Group 5. Will Lane in District 3. Terrence Freeman at Large Group 1. Mike Gay, District 2. Randy White, District 12. All right. Good afternoon, everyone. And Council Member Freeman, as a reminder, you now only have one excusal remaining for the entire council year. So I just want to make sure you are aware of that. So looking at the agenda for today, the first order of business, we're going to have Dustin Freeman present his quarterly single source presentation. Then we have a couple folks here. I believe we have two folks here for CPAC presentations that we'll talk through. Then Mr. Peterson is going to go over his quarterly summary for the nine months into June 30th, 2026. Then public comment, and then we'll get into the agenda. So with that, I'll have Mr. Freeman, the chief of our procurement division, come up here. I'll note that he has passed around his report. Mr. Freeman. Good afternoon. Dustin Freeman, chief of procurement. Mr. Chair, committee members, the report in front of you is the third quarter single source report for FY26. This report reflects all the single source purchases over $50,000, and the using agency's justification for each are attached. In Q3, there was a total of 17 single source purchase orders, totaling a little over $2.4 million, and five purchase order agreements, totaling a little over $1.3 million. There were six purchase orders that I would consider unique, which is outside of the normal maintenance and warranty agreements. Item one, or excuse me, item two, natural and marine resources, a little over $62,000. Item three, from KHA, Office of the Director, $60,000. Item four, animal care and protective services, $300,000. Item six, sports and entertainment, a little over $58,000. Item 11, sports and entertainment, a little over $62,000. And the last is item 17, from Homeland Security, a little over $303,000. This concludes my report. Happy to answer any questions related to procurement in regards to single sources. However, we'll defer to the using agencies if you have specific questions on the technical aspects of the scope. Thank you, Mr. Friedman. Colleagues, I don't see anyone in the queue, so with that, we'll move on. And thank you, Mr. Friedman, and what your team does for the city. CPAC presentations. So I see Mr. Barr out there from CPAC 6, I believe. Do we have any other CPAC representatives in the audience? Okay. I'm going to go with Mr. Barr first, and then we'll go with you, ma'am. Which CPAC are you from? Northwest, got it. Mr. Barr, we will give you 20 minutes based on our conversation. I do not think you will need more than two minutes, but you got it if you want it. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Councilman. You know I don't need 20 minutes. Good afternoon, all you other council persons and the rest of the board. Good to be here. Charles Barr, Chairman CPAC 6. I'm going to read from the – I'm not going to read the whole letter. But from February 25th, that's when the North CPAC sent in their request. And basically what they were wanting to do is if there were any availability of funds to do some renovations over at Ray Green Park. Ray Green Park is kind of located between Dunn Avenue, Leonid, and Pina State, which is where Pina State and what was Highlands Junior High is located. And they were wanting like a community center. There's no indoor things for kids to go to, no indoor community center. Now, I haven't been down there in a while, so I'm not sure of the status of Pina State's elementary school right now. However, the suggestion is that utilize some of that school, renovate it for the center and for the youth to have something to go to. So that's what – in essence, that's what this is for. And I have copies if you guys want to see any of them. I've got five or six copies here. You may hand them up, Councilman? Yes, please. And if you could make sure one of our council auditors gets a copy as well. But we would ask, if it's possibly in the budget, to do some renovations to Ray Green Park. Again, those of you who live on the north side, I know Councilman Gay knows where it's at. It's a big park. It's probably one of the oldest, biggest parks on the north side, and we need to renovate it. I don't know if it's when the last time there was renovations done to it, but we do need that community-type center, especially for the youth, and that's what we're asking, Councilman. That's all I have, unless you have a question. All right. Thank you, Mr. Barr. I don't see any council members in the queue. Mr. Peterson, if you could take this letter and maybe circle back with us in the next couple days to see if there is anything for this, either the CIP or the parks budget. And we'll make sure that is brought up at those appropriate times. So, thank you, Mr. Barr. Thank you. Councilman, someone left their phone up here. Might have been the guy ahead of me. Okay. Is anybody missing a phone? I think it's the procurement chief. All right. Yeah, Mr. Gay, if you could just grab the phone so it's off the podium for now. So, we have the Northwest CPAC rep. Ma'am, if you want to come up. Go ahead, ma'am. Can you start off with your name and address, please, so we have it on the record? Yes. Good afternoon. My name is Rhonda Yvette Boyd. My address is 9381 Arbor Oak Lane, Jacksonville, Florida, 32208. Go ahead, ma'am. Did you have anything to present to us? Okay. Thank you. I was just getting your permission to speak. And thank you. You got the full 20 minutes if you want. I definitely will not take your 20 minutes of your time. But thank you all for allowing me to represent the Northwest CPAC, which I consider is the best CPAC in Jacksonville, representing Jacksonville, Florida. As the chairperson for the Northwest CPAC, I did not bring any pertinent information that we need to hand out. I would just like to represent and let you know that we're very proud of the north side of Jacksonville. And as the chairperson, speaking for them for the various neighborhoods under the mayor's neighborhood services, we just want you to know that we feel that our voice matters and that we are important as any other part entity of Jacksonville, Florida. And what we would like to mention, well, what I would like to mention, we just had our CPAC meeting on Thursday of last week. And there's an issue that was brought up, of course, representative for District 10, which is City Councilwoman Jacoby Pittman. And there were others there that were representing their development. And there seems to be an issue of notification to the community, to the neighborhoods, in reference to things that are being brought forth to the north side. Things that I'm mentioning are neighborhoods, developments that are coming forth. So, of course, we are always looking for public hearing notices, so on and so forth. And the lack of information that is being brought to the north side when there are going to be buildings erected on the north side is a great concern, a great issue. Of course, financing come into play, I would assume, for developers coming forth, asking for permission and approval to develop whatever it is that they're going to do. Specifically at this time, I would like to speak on a developer that is proceeding to ask for neighborhood rebuilding, erecting 40 to 60 homes right off of US 1, New Kings Road is what I still call it, and Richardson Road. And what the neighbors are asking is that it just not happen. The area is a one-way in and a one-way out. So they do not see what the need would be to bring in their property level tax purposes to bring it down. So they're asking that that neighborhood, Richardson Road neighborhood, they do not want it. So that's something that came before the CPAT. So I'm going to represent them at this time, if you will, just asking that someone will look into developments that are coming on the north side that the neighbors are notified. This is an area where A. Philip Randolph, there was the first African-American golf course that was back there. And so it has prominent history in that neighborhood. But going in and building 40 to 60 homes on very small lots, if you will, is just unacceptable. And the other issues that I find as chair that come before the CPAT, Northwest CPAT, are just basically being represented, being notified. Those are the issues that the neighbors would like for the finance committee to know. And if there's anything that can be done here on behalf of this committee that would assist the northwest side, we truly would like to be notified of it. Whatever the assistance may be, we are asking for your help in doing so. And the other thing, real shortly and quickly, would be anything that is under the finance committee board, anything that could assist us with being, representing neighborhoods, associations in our various locations. If there's any money to be found, we would like to massage the idea that you all consider the northwest. And I thank you for your attendance, your patience. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am, for spending time out of your day to come here and talk to us today. I appreciate it. Thank you so much. Do I have any other CPAC representatives in the audience? Ma'am, are you from the same CPAC? Okay. Did you wish to say something as well? Aye. Okay. Come on up, ma'am. And let's start the clock at 15 minutes. I think the other speaker took about five minutes. And if you could just start with your name and address so we have it on the record. My name is Vanessa Cullens Hopkins. I'm part of the Northwest CPAC. I serve as vice chair. I stand here to represent the vice chair position of the CPAC and to also give more information as it relates to observations around notification of changes that are going to be made or that are being contemplated by developers within our communities and within communities across Jacksonville. I suggest that there needs to be a change in the process, meaning wouldn't it be nice if developers met with the community before they actually come before LUZ, before they actually come before the planning commission? So the interaction between the community and the developer is well in advance of them coming to you. Now that's going to require a little bit of money. I don't know what line item will need to be increased, but we need to have additional monies within the neighborhoods department and the planning department to help coordinate these meetings that would be between neighborhood associations, CPAC members, and the developer. Imagine a situation where issues of concern such as that, that my president, my CPAC, Rhonda Boyd, just spoke of, suppose those conversations had occurred three to four weeks prior to the developer even being put on the schedule for LUZ, because what she's talking about is an item that actually has been deferred by the developer and also by the councilwoman because of the uproar that occurred during our Thursday CPAC meeting. Ma'am, if I could just interrupt a minute. The purposes of the CPACs coming down, the reason we invited you was if you had any comments on the budgetary items that were included in the areas of your specific CPAC. I understand your comments, and I know my colleagues are listening to those, but really the express interest, just like the other CPAC rep, was an item in their district they were looking to seek funding for to ask if it was included in the budget. So, I would ask, even though I understand your comments, the purpose was if there was anything in the mayor's proposed budget you wanted to discuss or items that were not in it that you wanted to ask us to consider for this coming year. I believe that my proposal is not budgeted for within the mayor's budget. I'm suggesting that something like this needs to be added within a line item of the appropriate budget, which may be neighborhoods, which may be planning, which may be both. So, I'm actually presenting to you, the finance committee, that an addition, an addendum, may become necessary in the future to create a process that's going to be more unameenable to the concerns of various neighborhood participants, various neighborhoods, and the CPACs. And I thank you for allowing me to put this on the table. And I hope that you truly understand why, when these conversations don't occur ahead of time, it really gums up the works and increases the amount of work that both planning department has to do, CPACs have to do, and additionally, that you all are presented with in terms of your time, hearing issues that could have been resolved ahead of time. Thank you for allowing me to speak. And I leave it to you all to work with the mayor and the mayor's staff to consider my proposal. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you for coming down here and speaking with us this afternoon. I'd like to recognize Council Member Johnson and also joining us, Council Member Peluso. Next up, Mr. Peterson, I'm going to turn it over to you for the quarterly summary. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So our office released a quarterly summary for the nine months, ended June 30, 2026, Friday afternoon. You do have a five-page handout in front of you as it relates to the general fund, and I'll hit a couple of those items. Overall, the general fund is projected to have a favorable budget variance of $29.1 million for the year. It was $30.4 million at quarter two, but as things become more firm, we have landed at $29.1 million. Revenues are outperforming budget by about $1.4 million. You can see that on the first page before you. That's page 19 of the report, ad valorem coming in. $5.3 million just due on higher taxable values than what was approved as part of the budget last year. Utility service tax and franchise fees, both outperforming budget, and that's related to what JEA is experiencing with their increased sales. The expenditures are projected to come in under budget at $27.7 million within the personnel services categories. That's about $12.5 million to the positive. Most of that is within JSO, debt management fund repayments of about $5.5 million. That's also the debt savings that we have spoke about throughout the year. And then the other big item within the expenditures is the general fund loan repayment of $6.5 million, and that's related to the solid waste loan that was partially recaptured this year. And there's an offsetting revenue line item there as well. On page 22 or page 3 of your handouts, there are 11 departments within the general fund that are projected to have a negative balance at the end of the year. Five of those are for a reason beyond the 2% lapse that was approved as part of the budget. Pages 23 and 24 include various explanations. I'll just hit a couple of them. The office of the sheriff is projected favorable at $15.4 million within their expenditures. That's offset slightly by $2.2 million in revenue shortfall within JSO. Excuse me. Fire and rescue projected just over $2 million with a negative variance. Most of that is related to a transition of employees to the defined contribution system because pension costs are at the $1.4 million number. State attorney's office, public defender's office, both are seeing increased internal service allocations from IT. Office of general counsel has had employee turnover, and the new person was hired at a higher salary than the prior employee, so they have a negative variance. And then lastly, the office of the mayor, $132,000 negative variance, mostly related to the council imposed reduction as part of the budget last year. Within other funds within the city, the property appraiser is projected to have or exceed expenditures, and the budget office has indicated that they'll be bringing legislation forward to address that. There are three funds that we are closely watching that right now are projected to end the year with negative cash. That's the special events fund due to prior year's carryovers coming into the new year. The motor vehicle inspection fund, which we'll actually discuss this week as part of the budget hearings, having less fund balance available than what was projected last year to carrying over to this year, which is causing that balance. And then OGC, their main fund is right now looking at a negative cash at year end due to billings, and we've had conversations with them there trying to get that addressed. As it relates to the independent authorities, JEA has a total variance positive of $119.3 million across the three systems, mostly due to less being transferred to capital projects. JTA has an overall unfavorable budget variance of $31.8 million. $17.4 million of that is related to revenue shortfall, and then $14.4 million where they project to exceed budgetary capacity, and if that does occur, they will need a budget amendment. JPA projected favorable variance of $8.5 million, and then JAA projected surplus of $64.4 million scattered amongst three main items. First, they received a little over $19 million in insurance proceeds related to the garage fire. They projected to send $37 million less to their capital projects just due to the timing of capital needs. And then lastly, a budget surplus of $8.9 million. Happy to answer any questions that you might have. Thank you, Mr. Peterson. I do have one comment to begin with, and then I'll get to you, Council Member Johnson. If you look through the report, clearly to me the most disturbing part was JTA's projections. So JTA in one quarter went from projecting to be $2 million unfavorable for this year, up to $32 million unfavorable for the full year. I would ask my colleagues, if you have questions on JTA, don't ask them now, because they will be here Friday morning. And I did talk to their CFO at length, and I said that as part of the presentation, I would expect questions not only on next year's budget, but on this year's budget, as well as what they're doing to address this significantly increased projected deficit from three months ago to now. So with that, Council Member Johnson, you're recognized. Thanks so much, Mr. Chair. And I caught that, too, having sat on the JTA board for the last couple of years. And one of the questions that I had was about that, where they were saying that those gas tax fees, less people were driving, less places, i.e. less money coming in, and thus the reason. But I wanted some specific data on that. So thank you for bringing that up. Question for you, Mr. Peterson, and thank you so much for that report. So through the Chair, too, Mr. Peterson. When there are these unfavorable variances, or if there is a spendover, like in the case of the property appraiser's office, obviously being new to the committee, I'm trying to understand it specifically, does that mean that those funds would be realized from the general fund, or would they come from other places to ensure that those departments or funds are shored up, made whole, whatever we call it? Thanks. Through the Chair to Council Member Johnson. So the departments I mentioned having negative variances are all within the journal fund. So as a whole, we look at the general fund as a whole to make sure that revenues are coming in and expenditures are balancing. The mayor does have transfer authority, so she could clean up some of these unfavorable variances as we get closer to the end of the year, if they so chose. But they're all within the journal fund. As it relates to the property appraiser, they're in a separate fund, and that's the reason that additional legislation would be needed to bring forth if they are going to exceed their budgetary capacity. I have no one else in the queue, and with that, it's time for public comment. I believe I have two cards. And we will stick with two minutes. Ms. Hopkins, I have a speaker card for you. And then Mr. Oliver. Mr. Chair, if I may, I just always want to give credit where credit is due. This is Dr. Vanessa Cullens Hopkins. Just had to say that. OBGYN extraordinaire. Thank you, Dr. Johnson. But it's really not necessary. Vanessa Cullens Hopkins, 3283 Edgewood Avenue West. And my general comment is to please approve the mayor's budget as she has submitted it. In addition, I want to point out 2026-0505 in terms of resurfacing of roads being part of the capital improvement budget. I think that is extremely necessary. I mean, one of the larger issues in terms of community infrastructure really does have to do with filling those potholes, resurfacing roads, and also having sidewalks, which is not mentioned here, but having sidewalks. So, please do look at what the mayor is asking for in terms of the capital improvement budget. Make the changes that are necessary to affect safer roads and sidewalks and lighting in our communities. Thank you very much. Thank you, ma'am. All right. With that, we're going to start getting into the agenda. There are two items we're going to take up first. First off, we're going to get to item 28 since our fire chief is here so he can get back to work. 2026-578, can I get a motion on the amendment? Got a motion and a second on the amendment. Known in the queue. All those in favor of the amendment, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Amendment passes. I got a motion and second on the bill as amended. Known in the queue. Open ballot. Record your vote. Six J's, zero nays. Fire actions, we pass 2026-578. We're now going to go all the way to the second to last page, item 45, 2026-0643. Can I get a motion to withdraw? Got a motion and a second on the withdrawal. Mr. Poluso, do you wish to speak on this or just vote on the withdrawal? Okay. I have no in the queue. Open the ballot. Record your vote. Okay. Sorry. Sorry about that. But, yeah, page 24, item 45, and the motion is moved to withdraw. So a green vote is withdrawing this bill. Six J's, zero nays. Fire actions, we have withdrawn item 2026-0643. All right. We'll go back in order for the rest of the meeting. So item one is deferred. That's 2024-0966. Item two is also deferred, 2025-0361. Item three, deferred. That's 0775. Item four, 0227 is deferred. Item five, 2026-0318. Can I get a motion to withdraw? Got a motion and second on the withdrawal. I have no in the queue. Open the ballot. Record your vote. Six J's, zero nays. Fire actions, we withdraw on item 2026-0318. Item six, 2026-320 is deferred. Item seven, item 2026-0377 is deferred. Item eight is a budget bill. It's deferred, 0501, as is item 9502, a deferred budget bill. Item 10-0503, deferred budget bill. Item 11, 2026-0504, I will open the public hearing. Do I have any public comment cards or public speaker cards on item 11? I do not, so I will close the public hearing, and that meeting is deferred due to it being a budget bill. Mr. Chair, if I could just clarify for the record, that was the public hearing on the DVI budget only. Correct. Yes, that was item 11, 2026-0504. We had open and closed the public hearing, having no speaker cards, and is being deferred. Item 12, 2026-0505, deferred budget bill. Item 13, 2026-506, a deferred budget bill. 0507 and 0508 are also deferred budget bills, as are 0509 and 0510. Item 18, deferred budget bill, 2026-0511, as are items 19 and 20, 0512, and 0513. Item 21, 2026-0514, deferred budget bill. Item 22 is 2026-0541. That one is deferred at the request of DIA. My understanding is they're going to be sending another proposal up to the DIA board, and then it'll get forwarded to us for consideration. Item 23, 2026-0569, finally in action item. Can I get a motion? I got a motion second on the bill. I have no one in the queue, and I believe nearly all of us may already be, or I'm sorry, this is the wrong bill, but I still have a motion second. All those in favor, or let's open the ballot and record your vote. 6J, 0, and A's. By our actions, we have passed item 23, 2026-569. All right, 24, 2026-572. Can I get a motion on the amendment? I got a motion second on the amendment. No in the queue. All those in favor of the amendment, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Amendment passes. I got a motion second on the bill as amended. I have no one in the queue. I'll just make a comment on this. So if you remember, a few months ago, we passed Bill 2026-213, which essentially changed it to now when we have a recapture process or unspent funds. It's not just a matter of making sure our reserves are at a certain level. The next step after that is any excess funding goes towards previously approved completion grants that were unfunded at the time. So my point is twofold. One, great that we have now put about $34 million towards what were previously unbudgeted cash completion grants. However, we still have $62 million out there that we have not budgeted for. And so as part of the annual budgeting process, we now have to budget those coming due cash completion grants. So again, we still have $62 million of outstanding committed cash completion grants that at this point in time are unfunded, and they will hit the annual budgeting process if we do not continue to save to put money into this fund as we go. So with that, open the ballot, record your vote. Oh, I'm sorry. Dr. Johnson, you were not in the queue when I started, and I didn't look back. It's okay. I just had a quick question about this. With these funds, and this may be for the general counsel or maybe the auditor, I'm not sure, but through the chair to whomever is most applicable, these funds are specifically for the completion grants. So if there is, and I'm not trying to dig into the office money that the administration has put out, but if there are other initiatives that are necessary, since they are in the account and they haven't been expended and they may be necessary, are there, would a 13-vote majority allow these funds to go and do something else, or are they only restricted to specifically completion grants? Because I couldn't find that as I poured through the legislation. Through the chair to Councilmember Johnson. So these dollars are being set aside to fund future completion grants. They are being put in a contingency. So at any point in time, they're going to take a two-thirds vote, regardless of what they are used for. Thank you, Dr. Johnson. And yeah, I mean, it's fair to say that essentially with two-thirds of a vote, there's very little we can't do to move money from one place to another. But again, it does require that supermajority vote, and there would have to be some extreme situation to where we remove money from this fund for some other reason. Open ballot, record your vote. Six yays, zero nays. Fire actions, 2026, 572 passes. I have 25, 2026, 573. Can I get a motion? I got motion second on the bill. No one in the queue. I'll point out that this bill is District 3 helping out District 13. Open the ballot, record your vote. Six yays, zero nays. Fire actions, we have passed 2026, 573. Item 26, 2026, 574. We got motion second. This is the bill I thought we were on a few minutes ago that nearly all of us, if not everyone, has already co-sponsored. I think this is a great bill, and I appreciate Council President Howland pushing this forward. No one in the ballot, or I'm sorry, no one in the queue, open the ballot, record your vote. Six yays, zero nays. Fire actions, we have passed 2026, 574. Item 27, 2026, 575. I got motion second on the bill. I have no one in the queue. I would like to be added as a co-sponsor. Open the ballot, record your vote. Council Member Freeman would like to be added, as well as Council Member White. Six yays, zero nays. Fire actions, we have passed 2026, 575. We've already taken up item 28, item 29, 2026, 0579. I got motion second on this bill. I have no one in the queue, open the ballot, record your vote. Six yays, zero nays. Fire actions, we have passed 2026, 579. Item 30, 2026, 583. Can I get a motion? Got motion second on the amendment. No one in the queue. All those in favor of the amendment, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Amendment passes. I got motion second on the bill as amended. No one in the queue, open the ballot, record your vote. Six yays, zero nays. Fire actions, we have passed 2026, 583. Item 31, 2026, 584. I got motion second on the bill. I have no one in the queue, open the ballot, record your vote. Oh, Council Member Johnson, let's hold the vote. Dr. Johnson, you're recognized. Okay, he's saying we can vote. Thank you for that. I voted. I'm good on it. I don't know why it's not popping up. I did not vote, so I think we do need to reopen the vote. Do you want to make your comments now, Dr. Johnson? I can't. I can't. My comment, I had a question for DIA, and I've been trying to find this out. Do we know who's here, Wade or Colin? Wait, okay. Do we know what's going to go? Because I'd asked some of the people. Obviously, I know the building. I know the area through the chair. I know the building itself is not historic, but also that's a pretty – I used to sit on the LaVilla Gateway project, which was a part of LaVilla Gateway with your agency. Do we know what we're going to try to do with that space? Because it was a very important space, especially for the LaVilla community. So, Wade McArthur, DIA, through the chair to Councilmember Johnson. The plan is that once we demolish it, we've already had sort of exploratory conversations with the property appraiser's office of combining that parcel with the other 21 parcels that are there on that block. So, we make it clear that that's something that we're looking for as a future – hopefully, another sort of catalytic development project. As you're aware, in the 2019 LaVilla study that was envisioned as the gateway to LaVilla. So, we want to make that just clear that that's something where, you know, once UF comes online and they start coming from the south, if we can put something, you know, really awesome there to the north, we can kind of infill and meet in the middle. We just don't know what that is right now. We just don't know right now. Gotcha. Mr. McCarthy, thank you so much, Mr. Chair. Thank you. And thanks for the work you guys are doing at DIA for this community. All right. So, with that, we're on item 31. I got a motion in a second. We're going to open the ballot and record our votes. Six yays, zero nays. By our actions, we passed 2026-584. Item 32, 2026-585. I got a motion in a second on the amendment. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Amendment passes. I got a motion in a second on the bill as amended. I have no one in the queue. Open the ballot. Record your vote. Six yays, zero nays. By our actions, 2026-585. Five passes. Item 33, 2026-587. I got a motion and a second on the amendment. Knowing the key. All those in favor of the amendment, say aye. Aye. Any opposed, say nay. Amendment passes. I got a motion in a second on the bill as amended. I have no one in the queue. Open the ballot. Record your vote. Six yays, zero nays. By our actions, 2026-587. Passes. Item 34, 2026-588. Is deferred. Then we got a lot on second here. Items 35, 36, and 37, which is 2026-0624, 0625, and 0626 are on second. Item 38 and 39, 2026-628, and 633 are also on second. Item 40, 41, and 42 are all on second. 2026-0634, 36, and 37. Item 43, 2026-0638 is on second, as is item 20, I'm sorry, 44, 2026-0639. Item 45, we took action on, and that has been withdrawn. And then item 46, 2026-0645 is also on second. We are done with the agenda. Colleagues, just a reminder, please let me know. We were not able to start our meeting on time today due to a lack of quorum, so please let me know well in advance if you think you are going to need an excusal. And, again, I don't know all the specifics of what we'll call the Boylan Rule, but there are specific amount of excusals were required. And then also a reminder that bill changed the quorum to five, so we have to have five to start committee meetings, not four. So that's the reason it's so important for me to know ahead of time to make sure we can balance the amount of excusals we have. I will acknowledge Council Member Freeman and then Ms. DeFopolis. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I feel appropriate to apologize for my tardiness. The traffic on 95 was a little more than I had anticipated coming from my lunch meeting, and so I will make sure that my assistant next time gives you due notice. But I do think we probably should make an adjustment for those that may come in a minute late or miss a whole meeting. But, again, please do not put me in timeout. My apologies. Like I say, Council Member Freeman, you only have one remaining excusal for the entirety of the year. Council Member Johnson. While I certainly respect our colleague, and I'm going to say it in this committee, I've been looking at it, there are so many moving parts. As we know, this meeting today was moved because the finance meetings were usually on Tuesdays. While I certainly understand the spirit of what Council Member Boylan was trying to do, I do not know in its practice if it is rooted in a way of understanding the reality of the surfaces and situations that come about with all of us and what we have to do as members of this council. I, too, was in a meeting trying to get here, and the meeting went over. And, again, this is on a day that we had not anticipated, and we only changed it a couple weeks ago. I'm just going to put it on notice now. While I do hope to have a notice meeting with Council Member Boylan, I am going to propose some changes to that because, unfortunately, there's a lot that we have to do as a quote-unquote, and I say this with air quotes in the air, part-time council. This is a triple-time job, and there's so many responsibilities, meetings, conversations, especially with us, the members of the Finance Committee, who have the fiduciary responsibility of this city in our hands. So we can't expect to carry that out by just sitting on this dais and just people being in the room. We need to be in the street and talking to people. So I do plan to bring forth legislation that will hopefully smooth Council Member Boylan's well-meaning legislation so that we can do the job that the people sent us to do. Thank you. Ms. DeFopolis. Thank you. To the Chair, so I just wanted to put on the record that, yes, the Council Member Boylan's legislation did provide that the quorum of the Standing Committee would be raised from four members to five. However, there is an exception that if there are two excused absences for a Standing Committee meeting, it would go back to four. Now, I think that's what you might have been trying to get at, Mr. Chair, is while you receive requests for absences of an entire meeting in advance so that you can approve them for excusal, you're not getting that for the late arrival requests that are coming in. And so to the extent you may want to address that as Chair, as part of what your policy is for this Council year, you may just want to address that with your committee members. Thank you. No, I mean, I feel like I have addressed that. Just let me know in plenty of time, and I'll leave it at that. Anybody else have anything? I'll miss you guys until 9 a.m. tomorrow.