Good morning. So my name is Mickey Steinberg. I'm the County Commissioner for District 4 and I'd like to welcome you to our service awards for March 305 day. So it's a special day. Please join me in welcoming Chief Arnold Palmer, Office of the Mayor, who's up here with me. And today we take an opportunity to recognize the efforts and achievements of the most valuable assets, all of you. Now, please take your attention over to the screen as I believe we have a message from Mayor Cava. Congratulations to all of our employees receiving service awards today. Whether you're marking five or 35 years with our county, this incredible career milestone is something to celebrate. Your years of service reflect dedication, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to our residents. Every day, you help make our community stronger, more connected, and future ready. And for that, we are forever grateful. People will always be our greatest asset. You are our hands and our hearts, delivering excellence every day. Because of your hard work, we're building a government that responds compassionately to our residents' needs and puts customer service first, building public trust in local government. You're part of a proud workforce shaping a future that's vibrant, affordable, and ready for the challenges ahead. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your service. Congratulations again on these special anniversaries. And here's to many more years of building a better Miami-Dade together. Thank you for that message. And so some housekeeping. When we call your name, please come forward to receive your special plaque of appreciation. And, you know, we'd like you to take a brief moment to tell us a little bit about yourself and your experience with the county. We also ask that your department representatives accompany you to say a few words. And, of course, family members who are here are welcome to join us for the picture. And so with that, we're going to start it off. And today, we're going to kick it off with Brent Simmons, Operation Senior Agent from Aviation, who is not here, Mary Hill. Sorry. Mary Hill is a dispatcher with Animal Services. Wait, and we are celebrating five years, 35 years. That's incredible. Is Annette Jose, the director, or someone from Animal Services here? Please come up as well. You're retiring this month. We're going to be congratulations so much. And this is your class. Margie from my office is our Vanna White today. So we are so excited to celebrate Mary Hill. Mary has been with Animal Services 35 years. She's been with one department and done many roles. But most recently, she has just been helping wherever she can. And she's started with dispatching for service calls. But now she works wherever she's needed. She's really a team player and has lifelong friendships at the department. You know, seeing people get married, babies being born. So we are so happy for you. And congratulations on your retirement. Congratulations on all the achievements you've had with the county. Okay. And now I heard that we do have someone who is here. Brent Simmons from Aviation, who is the Operation Senior Agent, is celebrating 30 years of service. Thank you for your service to MIA. And, oh, great. It's, we have wonderful representatives here. Good morning. So just a little bit about Brent. 30 years, congratulations. That's a big deal. Brent began his career at the Aviation Department in 96 as an airport, airfield operations specialist on the airside division. He was responsible for escorting vehicles and personnel throughout the AOA area. In 98, he was promoted to airport operations agent in the gate control section. He was responsible for, in gate control, he managed the assignments of MIA gates, airlines, and maintained the FIDS, the flight information display systems. That's the primary source of passenger information throughout the terminal. He was promoted in 2002 to the airport operations senior agent for construction within the airside operations area. And during this time, he played a key role in the major capital improvement projects, including construction of one of our runways, 8L-26R, and the north and south terminals, northeast corner and the central base. Mr. Simmons later returned to gate control, where he contributed to rehabilitation of Concourse D jet bridges and the installation of more than 40 new jet bridges, including the first two all-glass bridges. He also oversees Miami's three gate towers, and he actually gave me my first tour of the gate towers when I started there. But coordinating daily aircraft movements. So his loyalty is to his supervisors, coworkers, and our character traits of Mr. Simmons, and they exemplify his career. His hard work and team efforts are a positive image on Miami-Dade Aviation Department, and because of your continued commitment, we'd like to commend you for 30 years of service. Thank you. As much as I can say. Thank you very much for the honor. A man of few but important words. Anybody else come up for the picture? Okay, another member. Now, this one is outstanding, and I don't know if he started when he was five years old. But we are about to celebrate Jairaj Rudy, as some call you, Raghunandan, Raghunandan, there, I did it, for, okay, you ready? 45 years with the Aviation Department. That is incredible, incredible. Thank you, thank you for your service for all those years. Like I said, he must have been five. 45 years. You all should give him another round of applause. So, Rudy began his career, and we're going to start with the Aviation Department in 2014 as a construction manager, too, within the facilities construction and maintenance division, where he oversaw maintenance projects throughout N-DATS facilities, both at MIA and our general aviation airports. He's responsible for managing contracts in electrical, mechanical, painting, public works, and the plumbing trades, covering really all of the functions of the maintenance division, and has always managed with high-volume work orders with dedication and attention to his detail and professionalism. Throughout his tenure, Rudy demonstrated a strong willingness to take on additional responsibilities, and played an important role in training and supporting new employees. His positive relationships with his supervisors, colleagues, and partners reflect his strong teamwork and leadership qualities. With more than 45 years of construction-related experience across four county departments, Rudy has built highly productive teams and delivered outstanding results. His early four-and-a-half years with the Ministry of Housing and Public Works Road Division in British Guyana laid the foundation for a long and successful career in Miami-Dade County. His U.S. career began in 1979 as a senior materials testing technician with the Task Engineering and Materials Testing Laboratory. He joined Water and Sewer in 1980 as a utility construction inspector and became section chief afterwards. In 1998, he transferred to the Public Works Department, where he advanced to the Construction Manager 3 before joining MDAT. We extend our sincere appreciation to Rudy for his decades of dedicated service and outstanding contributions to Miami-Dade County. We did find out that he has filed his paperwork. We were trying to keep him, but I think he figured 45 years was enough. Thank you. Hi. Good morning and thank you. Thank everyone for being here today. Thank you. Thank you. Country Agency dating back many years, decades ago. And I'm thankful for that. And I'm thankful for everyone that's here again today to support me. God bless America. God bless you. And my son is here. I don't know why he said it. My son, my son also is a civil engineer that works in the Florida Department of Transportation in the design section. So he's been here for eight or nine years. Here's my son, Ryan. Oh, by the way, I've just mentioned to him secretly that my date of retirement will commemorate with his birthday, which is March the 27th of this month. Good morning, everyone. Again, as my father had said, I'm Ryan Raganandon, also with a very difficult last name. I like to keep speeches very short and sweet. I'm very proud of my father. 45 years is older than I am, and I want to say that his love for engineering doesn't just run through work. It's his entire life. He loves it. My father used to look at me as I'm playing video games, and he would say, Ryan, the train is traveling at 40 miles for an hour, and because of those questions, that's what made me say, I need to do these calculations. I got to answer my father, and I became an engineer too, so his love, it came into us all, even all his kids. We all want to do well. We all love math, and we all look up to him to become an engineer just as much as he is. Love you guys. Sure, sure. Can I say something now? Okay. My name is Dorothy Brown of Farrah, and every year, Rooney has told me that he wants to retire, and I'd say, no, Rudy, don't leave. You know, stay, and he'd push it back, push it back, but you've been a phenomenal construction manager for me and my company and all the other small business, and I'm sad to see you go, but I will be staying in contact with you in the future, and I wish you well, and I love you, Rudy. Thank you. We love you, too. Our next awardee is Kepler Lewis from the Correctional Officer, from the Corrections and Rehabilitation. He's a corrections officer, and he has been, we're honoring 30 years. Another 30 years? Oh, okay. I just heard he started when he was three. Okay. Good morning. Good morning. It is truly an honor to be standing here before you as we celebrate a remarkable milestone, 30 years of dedicated public service by Correctional Officer Kepler Lewis. Officer Lewis began his service with Miami-Dade County in 1995. Born and raised in Haiti, he came to Miami as a young teenager, later attended South Miami Senior High School. Like many who come to this country seeking opportunity, he built his future through determination, hard work, and faith. He began his career, his county career, with the County Community Action and Human Service Department, formerly known as the Community Action Agency, where he worked with the Greater Miami Service Corporation. Even then, his commitment to service was evident. Through perseverance and his strong work ethics, he climbed through the entire county chain from public, from public works, personnel, human resources, his transit family, which they're also present. That's love. That's love. Okay. Thank you, transit. And now for the best. In 2017, he entered Miami-Dade County Corrections Department of Rehabilitation Department. Thank you. Today, Officer Lewis serves in the Intake and Release Bureau, one of the most critical areas of the department. In his role, he receives newly booked inmates, completes the intake process, including photographing and fingerprinting, and ensures close observations until individuals are safely assigned to the housing area. This position requires a patience, patience, professionalism, vigilance, and sound judgment, qualities he demonstrates every single day. But beyond his duties and responsibilities, what truly defines Officer Lewis is his character. His supervisors, his immediate supervisors, and I could validate this because I'm the captain, I oversee the Intake and Release Bureau, describes him as an embodiment of professionalism. He carries himself with integrity and dignity. He is kind, loyal, and always willing to assist. I could attest to that. Thank you. Within the department, he is known as go-to professional. The go-to professional. That speaks volumes. Some colleagues trust and rely on him. When guidance is needed, he steps forward. When assistance is requested, he is there and is always, what can I do for you? He does not turn away. He leads by example. And that speaks volumes. On behalf of Director Green, the leadership team, and the entire department, Officer Lewis, thank you. Thank you for your dedication. Thank you for your integrity. And thank you for your length of service. Thank you, sir. Good morning, everyone. Officer Lewis, today we celebrate you. This is a huge milestone and 30 signifies commitment and legacy. And I would express that is exactly what you represent. He's quiet today, but he is the spokesperson for intake. And actually, he has been very instrumental in ensuring that several improvements have been facilitated in the intake area, not only for the staff, but for the inmate population as well. So let's give him an applause for that. So we thank you. We thank you for coming to work with your heart. This is what this is all about. And for your dedication and for all that you have given us. You're not just a name. You're not just a worker. You're not just an employee. You are a family. And we love you. And we wish you Godspeed. The best is yet to come. Okay. So, Officer Lewis, as Captain Perez and Director Green has mentioned, he is that go-to person in intake and release, meaning he's a spokesperson. Nobody else wants to talk, but with him, when we come around, Chief Lord Fields, come here. Let me talk to you. Even this morning, I've been on vacation for a couple of weeks. When I saw him in the parking lot, he said, Chief Lord Fields, where you been? I need to talk to you. So I'm honored to be here to celebrate this day with him, even though he's been with us for nine years. In intake, he's been there for five. Like Captain Perez said, it could be challenging in that area. You know, newly arrested individuals coming in, we know what that means. They're not happy. You know, they come in, they're disgruntled, but with his interpersonal communication skills, he brings them down. He calms them down and let them know that everything is going to be okay. So we really appreciate him, really, really appreciate him. And I know, like Captain Perez said, he's been at different departments, but he is retiring with Miami day corrections. I'm kind of a little shy now. First of all, I take this honor to thank God. Without God, I wouldn't be here. And I thank God, I've, you know, going strong, working over 30 years. And it's been a great journey. You know, good, bad or ugly is a lesson to learn. And I have been blessed with many, many, many good friends that become family. And I thank God for that. And from 1995 to present, you know, I have met some great people, great supervisors, great co-workers that become part of, you know, part of my family. And today, I thank God for my families and, you know, my parents. You know, without my parents, I wouldn't be here. You know, they give me an opportunity to be here. And so my mom not here, and it seemed like she got caught up in traffic. But, but I think, you know, I think everything what she has done for me. And, um, my heart is, you know, is always to serve, you know, to help others. And wherever I go, you know, that's, and that's what I will continue doing. And you see, um, but one thing for sure, you know, transit, you know, you got my heart. I love you guys. And, and, you know, I miss you guys. But, you know, the journey has been accomplished. When I was at transit and, and the Lord sent me to correction and my next family, and it has been great, um, being with correction and the county has been great to me. And I thank God for that. You know, I hear different stories. Some people complain, all that, but I love my job, whatever I go, whatever I apply for, if I get it, you know, you're not going to get, I mean, you're not going to make everybody happy. The main things that always make yourself happy, you know, make yourself happy, you know, like my chief say, if you can make a change, just make the effort, make an effort. Thank you, everybody. Love you. Can I have the family member join us, please? All right. Our next honoree is, I want to make sure I say this right. Leo Gude. Good. Leo, good. Sound technician with parks, recreation, and open spaces. Um, and we're celebrating 30 years, another 30 years. Incredible. Incredible. Um, oh, I'm like, I know you. Good morning, everybody. I'm Christina White. I'm the parks director and Leo. Yes. Reaching a milestone like 30 years is, is no small feat. It, it speaks volumes of your dedication to public service and, and certainly to the parks department since you've been here for the entire 30 years. Um, so Leo started off as a lifeguard and has had what, six or seven different positions over the years. So it's kept it fun, kept it diverse. Uh, but in the current role is, as you know, sound technician. So Leo is responsible for setting up stage, sound, lighting, making everybody look good. So we want to thank you for that. You, over those years doing this, this job, you have certainly earned the respect, um, and admiration and partnership of our elected officials, our community partners, certain, certainly your leadership team and, and, and the staff that you work with. So thank you for everything that you do for the department. I hope that we too will be celebrating together at your 45th year because he's not leaving. So thank you so much for that. And congratulations on 30 years. Right. So we refer to Leo as the voice of the department because he literally is on the microphone more than he's not. Um, sometimes I question the message that comes out of the voice. Um, but you know, we appreciate everything that he does and you know, there's not an event that goes on in this County that, that Leo hasn't touched in some way. I mean, all the way from events to the airport, uh, special events that, that we host in parks, uh, political events. I mean, really Leo is everywhere and, and runs these events with a professionalism that nobody else has. And so we appreciate that. We appreciate everything you do. And I second the director. Uh, we hope for another 10, 15 years, right? All right. Thank you very much, Leo. Okay. All right. I'm really shy on the microphone. Okay. Um, I just want to give a brief description. Uh, unfortunately a couple of departments left because I was thinking about, man, when I go to take the picture, I should invite everybody I work with. And that's been animal services, airport corrections, transit. So it's like pretty much everybody that was here already. I should invite them up here to take a picture because I've worked with them at one point or another, even the fire department, we provide them, uh, services once in a while police department. So definitely my career has taken me in a lot of different places. Um, I started off as a lifeguard, as she mentioned, uh, I went into management. I went into landscape, uh, throughout the whole entire gamut of parks. And I think what that, the reason that happened was it's a strange little occurrences. I started as a lifeguard. Okay. I'm going to become a paramedic. Then hurricane Andrew hit and that changed my world completely. Hurricane Andrew made me who I am because it made you resourceful and made me realize that within parks, I can do, you name it, I could do it within parks. So I'm very grateful for the parks department. Um, there's two, I consider myself to have had two main mentors in the parks department. The first one was Tim Burns, who's not here now. He's, uh, up north. He moved up north. I wish he could have been here. And the other one was Mr. Collins right there. He's a sound technician prior to me. And he taught me the ropes throughout, uh, all that. And then afterwards I went into recreation and so on and so forth. And I really had a, uh, a lot of fun doing it. Um, along the time, along the path, there was a lot of challenges. I think the last 10 years has been the most, most challenging because I became the sound and stage supervisor and the person, the people I want to thank for putting up with me with that would be my, my wife and my daughter and my son, who's not here because I have the most whimsical hours of work you can imagine. I mean, it's, it's just, there's no pattern to it. So I want to thank them for that. And, uh, also I want to thank the rest of the parks department that's here. Everybody here I've known for, for, I think the youngest ones are my director and my, my AD. Everybody else I've known for, for 20 plus years, you know? Uh, so I want to thank them for that as well. And, uh, I'm a, I'm a park, uh, lifer, you know? And that's, that's what it was. So thank you guys for coming out. I really appreciate it. Thank you everybody for coming out. Appreciate it. All right. Our next honoree is going to be Ralph Fabiano, line production, plant operator two, um, from the water and sewer department. And we are celebrating 40 years of service in Miami-Dade County. That is impressive and amazing. Good morning. You giving me a microphone? Do you know what you're doing? Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Super special to be here. Even more special to be here with Ralph as we celebrate 40 years of service. The man's got lots of stories, but I'm not going to tell him. I'm going to let him tell him. Uh, Ralph began his career March 31, 1986 at the Alex Ore water treatment plant with WASDE as a line plan operator one. In that role, he was responsible for maintaining pumps and equipment, as well as performing both routine and emergency operation within the plant's feed building. In April 91, he was promoted to line plan operator two. His primary responsibilities included operating the lime kiln to produce high quality calcium oxide essential for water treatment operations. From 2017 to 19, Ralph served as interim supervisor. In this leadership role, he established operational standards for the plant and reviewed procedures to ensure compliance and consistency among staff. He was also on call 24 hours a day to respond to mechanical breakdowns and emergencies at the lime plant. Outside of work, Ralph and Joy spent a quality time with his family traveling and participating in amateur radio. I'm going to turn it over to Pablo. You can tell the real deal. Yes. Well, I had a few prepared remarks, but you pretty much covered them all. Uh, but I'll, I'll fill in. Uh, I worked with Ralph for 20 years at the Alexandra water treatment plant. Um, can I see a show of hands of anybody that knows what we do at the water treatment plant? Okay. This is a, this is a unique classification. I'm, I'm going to be brief here, but I want to explain to you what this individual does. We have 12 of these lime plant operators at the Alexandra water treatment plant. Our water comes from the ground from the Biscayne aquifer. That's our source water. It is primarily hard water. So in order to make it potable water for you individuals to drink, the citizens of the county, we have to soften that water. And the primary, uh, chemical that we use to accomplish that process is calcium oxide lime. We are unique in that out of the three water plants that we're aware of that have these kilns that recalcine the lime, Miami-Dade County has two of them. The other ones in Ohio. Okay. So, uh, these are large kilns. Uh, they burn from approximately 500 degrees on one end to 2000 degrees on the other end, 22. Okay. Thank you for correcting me. And, and so what, what's unique about it is that normally if we didn't have the kiln, we would have to purchase this lime, uh, Ralph and his, uh, coworkers, they take our by-product calcium carbonate and they recycle it and make lime for us to use again and again in the softening process. So roughly 10 months out of the year, we are self-sufficient. We don't have to purchase lime. And this is, uh, due to the marvelous work that they do at the lime plant. Um, I've worked with Ralph for 20 years. Again, uh, we're unique in that we're both New York transplants. Uh, for 20 years, I've been holding it against you. You're from Queens. I'm from Brooklyn. I've gotten used to you, but, uh, he also, we also worked in radio together. You worked at WQQAM. I worked at WDNA and then we ended up in water. Go figure. So here we are. Um, he's been married 43 years to his lovely wife, Patricia, and he's got a son that's here present. I'm sure he'll come up in a few minutes, fire chief over at, uh, city of Miami. Yeah. All right. Ralph, Ralph also has five grandchildren. Ralph enjoys, uh, also radio, as the director said, and, uh, travel global traveling. So I rely on him to give me my travel advice. All right. So congratulations. Thank you for your service. Much appreciated. You're outstanding. Ralph, Ralph, Ralph. Oh man, this guy here. Um, thank you for all your service on behalf of the line plant. Uh, being a supervisor for six years, I've learned a lot and I'm going to continue to learn, especially about traveling. You know what I'm saying? I put a lot of stuff on my bucket list from this guy here every year. He, oh man, great traveling. But, uh, yes, I thank you for everything. Uh, who's everyone else on the line plant. We appreciate you, you know, congratulations. Thank you. Okay. 40 years. Well, it doesn't seem that long. It goes by real quick. I still remember my first day working at the Alexander ore plant and, uh, climbing up these two silos that we have and, uh, doing brick work, all that kind of stuff. It was a little different back then, but, uh, time flies. It's just amazing. Uh, great group of people to work with. And, uh, that's why I'm still here and I don't plan on retiring yet. I still got a couple more trips to do. Okay. So thank you all for the award. Taking the mic. Oh, if we can bring the family up for photos. Okay. We have a few employees that we're going to recognize from a single department and we're going to kick it off with, um, Reggio Regino, Regino Hernandez, who's the ops maintenance instructor with, um, transportation and public works. And we are celebrating 30 years. Good morning, all commissioner. Thank you. Good morning. So I have a, I have a little biography here by Regino, but as I was reading it, one of the things that I really identified with it was his story, right? He's a doctor in dentistry. And, uh, and he ended up here with us as, you know, as life has it. And so I identified a lot with it because I think a lot of us are their parents or things like that have been something else and have landed somewhere else just because we gotta make things happen. So I, I gotta say, I identified a lot with you and reading your story, uh, reminded me a lot of my father. Um, so Regino began his, uh, career with, uh, with our department in 1994 as a part-time bus operator, thinking this was going to be a temporary position. As I mentioned, he's a doctor in dentistry, but as life has it, you know, that's, uh, you know, that's what happens. It takes us twists and turns. And, um, you know, a neighbor of his recommended that he give a try to transit and, um, and here he is. So, uh, in, in his career here, he has been, uh, he has advanced his career from being a bus operator to being a bus controller. And, uh, his latest is being a bus, uh, operations instructor. And that is, uh, a position of great importance to us. Not only does he offer the instruction to the folks that are getting reinstated, but also, uh, keeps up with all the new techniques, all the new, uh, rules and regulations and imparts them to our team. So, you know, Regino credits his, uh, credits ATPW for enable him, enabling him to provide for his family and pursue his goals. After 30 years of service, he reflects on his journey with gratitude, bringing knowledge, experience, and dedication and enthusiasm every day. So we thank you for your service. Well, we are very fortunate to have, you know, as part of our team and we really enjoy the way he works with us and what he brings to the table. So one of the great things about him is that he's always sharing ideas with us on ways that we can enhance our training program in order to help our employees. And the great thing about that is that as he trains our employees is not only something that is seen internally for us in house, it is something that reflects to our customers every single day, because the way he trains them is the way that our operators learn on how to treat our customers for that they can be treated correctly and they can provide service. Our employees can provide service to them. So for that, we're very grateful. Thank you for me. It's my turn. Oh boy, 30 years. It came by really quick. Uh, sitting here are also some of my coworkers. Uh, I'm grateful to have worked with. Thank you guys, uh, for always supporting me and helping me and, and my family. But most of all, I thank God for, for the opportunity to have made it so far. Uh, what can I tell you? I'm not going to be long winded. I just, I'm very grateful for the opportunity. Uh, life, uh, threw me a curveball and, uh, we made it happen. Thank you guys. Thank you. My family. God bless. We'll give it to you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And our next honoree is Angela Houston, celebrating 30 years. She's a property manager with DTPW. Thank you. Congratulations, uh, Ms. Angela. Um, so facilities used to be, when I first got to the county, it used to be under me. So I have a lot of great love for the, for what you guys do every day. So, uh, Ms. Angela began her career on July 17, 1994. Um, very eager to serve. And, uh, as a, as a transportation information clerk in the marketing and communications division. And she held that role into 2003. Um, and, and I, as I was reading her, uh, her biography, one of the things that, that I highlighted was, you know, her mantra, which is get the job right the first time. And, and that, that, that resonated a lot with, with me in 2003, um, she was promoted to rail maintenance clerk, a position she held in 2011. Uh, the same year she advanced into her current, uh, current role as DTPW property manager manager, uh, where she continues to serve with integrity expertise and unwavering commitment to excellence. She's also a licensed, uh, real estate professional and she holds, uh, two businesses and also has a, a, um, a charity. So that also shows, uh, some of the work that she does with the community. So we thank her for that. Um, Ms. Angela's career is a testament to dedication, growth, and service done, uh, the right way. The first time today, we proudly honor her, not only for her accomplishments, but for the lasting impact that she's made in the organization and everyone fortunate enough to work alongside her. Thank you very much for your service. Good morning. My name is Renessa Gordon. I'm chief of facilities maintenance, and I just want to thank Angela for those who know her. She's passionate about what she does as property manager. She oversees a lot of the janitorial service contracts that we have throughout department of transportation and public works. So she is very passionate and diligent about what she does to know Angela is to love her. And you have to know what she means when she, she wants, when she says, get it right the first time. So I just want to congratulate you on 30 years, which you guys be to many blessings. God is so good. And he's also amazing. As I sit on top of this hill this morning with my face to the rising sun. It is bittersweet for me because there's so many people that helped me through this journey. And I'm so excited today. I am really happy that I've made 30 years of service, but I want to first acknowledge my mother, Mildred Houston, who is watching me on live stream in Savannah, Georgia. And I would like to let my sister Crystal and nephew know my Savannah family and my Tallahassee family know that I, um, I love them and I appreciate them. And this is, um, challenging for me today because as I wrote the Metro mover on yesterday, I just did a moment to just reflect. And over 30 years ago, I was here with this agency and Renessa, we have come a long way and downtown Miami is beautiful. And I was just sitting there thinking I had input in this and it wasn't about the building, but it was making sure the building was presentable to the general public. But when I came on with transit, my dad, uh, being a union man, the first thing he said to me was, you need to take part in your union and make a difference. So that is the bitter part of this. My dad is not here with us today to, uh, celebrate me. But if you notice, I have a man's handkerchief on my bracelet. So he is, he is present with me. I also want to thank, um, I have a coworker here, Reynolds Monastine. When I started with transit, he was the person that took me in and we have been, um, partners in crime from the beginning, but it has, um, been so challenging sometimes, you know, I don't, I don't like to use the term because we're women. And first of all, um, um, congratulations on, on women's month and we are still doing it as women and we are still making an exceptional difference as women. I've kind of lost my train of thought. I probably should have left something towards the end, but I, I'm just truly grateful for this moment and I'm, I'm overwhelmed. I just want to, uh, thank the honey bunch crew for supporting me and filling in the gap today for my mother and my dad who could not be here, but I just want to leave this thought with you. Whatever you do, do the absolute best you can. When you do your best, that's all anyone else can ask of you and let your light shine bright as it can shine. Even if it's the only light in that particular room, thank you so much. Thank you so much. Right. Hey, um, our next employee that we're going to be honoring is Reginald Tewks, who is the operation supervisor from DTPW and another 30 years. Incredible. Mr. Reginald, congratulations on 30 years, a commendable milestone. Um, it's a, it's a family affair for you as it seems. Um, Mr. Reginald, uh, uh, his father dedicated 37 years to Miami day transit as a bus operator. Um, and between the ages, as I was reading in your biography, between the ages of 14 and 18, you held every single job known possible to men and, and you landed here with us. Um, and shortly after graduating, so I just 18 years old, you became a bus operator. Um, and he probably served in that role for, for 10 years and he has, uh, since, uh, you know, risen in, uh, in our ranks and, and become a bus operation supervisor that he has, uh, held that, uh, this whole time. And it's, it's, uh, it's a calling and a legacy for him. And, uh, and, you know, he takes a lot of pride in, in what I read in his biography on, you know, public transportation as, uh, meaning more to the public and being, uh, sort of a legacy to what we can do for our community. So I'll open it up to our team to say some words. Reginald Tooks. This guy act like a little kid every time I come around, but, uh, Reginald Tooks has been one of our, um, outstanding employees. Uh, as you guys know, he started off his career very, very early on with DTPW. Um, he's a second generation employee. Uh, his late father was one of our bus operators, I think for about 37 years or what have you. So, uh, Reginald used to tell me the stories when he used to get on the bus and, uh, ride the bus with his father as well. And, uh, I always used to think it was crazy because he used to get some of our friendly passengers on the bus and he wanted to deal with the same pain, but none of the, nevertheless, uh, he has, um, continued to make an impact on our operation, always giving us good ideas on what we could do to make our system a lot much better. He also is always out there trying to ensure that our passengers could get to where they need to get to always helping the new bus operator employees so they could strive to, uh, make this a career as well. So, you know, I thank you again, Mr. Tooks for all of your passion and your dedication that you commit every single day. And he's always sharp. He always keep his, uh, car clean. Uh, he he's very, very stickling. I really appreciate that. Mr. Tooks, congratulations. Uh, it's a pleasure to have you here and we really enjoy working with you and everything that you bring to us. And like I said before, right, the great thing about our staff is that everything they do impacts our pub, the public. So our passengers are impacted by the activities that they perform every single day when they're out on the field. And for that, we're extremely grateful. Thank you. God is good, man. I waited for this moment. It's like the Heisman Trophy of the workforce, man. It started in 1979. Um, my mom took me to the bus stop one day when I was waiting at the bus stop and, uh, my dad pulled up in a RTS bus, if anybody know what that is. And, uh, when I got on the bus, he had that hat on with the Siori pins at the top. He had his shiny shoes on. And, uh, when school was out, couldn't wait the school to be out. So we're going to ride the bus. I was going to ride the bus with him in, uh, um, various routes, but he mainly frequented 35 and the 70. So, um, when I became a bus operator, I didn't even have to look at the map. So, um, so 10 years after becoming, uh, uh, as a bus operator, um, I actually wanted to be a train operator because, uh, I was in, in, uh, influenced by aviation. If you know that aviation and railroad is the same system. So, uh, I applied to be a train operator and I looked and they were hired for a supervisor. I never thought about being a supervisor. Um, I guess I was too young or whatever, but I never crossed my mind. They called me for supervisor first and, uh, God, uh, it's just been good, man. Um, uh, the many people that I helped, the many people I see, I respond to various accidents, um, especially it was city Miami. So, uh, but all the public services that I work with every day, all the police officers that I work with, um, I really want to thank my family. Um, Diane, I'm Bernice. Um, Nate, BB, that's Robert Tooks right here. He keep his foot on my neck. He keep me in line. And I really appreciate that. You have no idea what these guys do. They're very phenomenal. I go into their offices sometime. I see those plaques on the wall and you have no idea what it takes to run the transit system. And I try to model myself behind them. Also, uh, Mr. Dallas back there too. He, I call him boss, man. Everybody. I call him boss, man. Mr. Dallas remind me of my dad. He don't like to hear it, but that's the, that's what keep me in line. And I'm just proud to, that I can, um, be, uh, a model for all the young kids, especially when I started, there wasn't a lot of young bus operators. Um, so I even got picked on. They said, uh, Reggie, you, you got that old man job. I said, I'm finna get this old man money. So, um, I'm glad that I'm, you know, I've been able to, uh, acquire this job, travel the world. Um, you know, been a successful landlord and stuff like that. So when we had a new students, I tried to instill them that and also, and to stay out of trouble. Because, uh, if you want to call it Metro bus or department of transportation, the public works, you will be disciplined if you do wrong. You understand? So I try to stay from that and try to be, um, a role model for, uh, the young, uh, bus operator that's coming up and that's it. Thank you. Um, yeah, my family and all my coworkers and, um, everybody. All right. Last but not least, Gwendolyn E. Thomas from the DTPW department. Please come down here. We're going to celebrate another 30 years. What an incredible, incredible service. Oh, she has the t-shirt. She has the t-shirt. All right, director, kick us off. So, Ms. Gwendolyn, congratulations. Um, you know, and beginning your career here in 1994 as a temporary employee and, and you, you grew, you, yeah, that's quite the t-shirt. And, um, in 1995, she became an, uh, she was hired as an account clerk and revenue reporting. And, uh, you know, with some folks, as I see that are still working here. So it's, it's great. It shows some of the tenure that we have. And, uh, Ms. Gwendolyn afterwards moved to the construction group with DTPW. And today she probably serves, uh, in the account, uh, the accounts receivable group. So most of her biography just, uh, just boils down into, into a quote that, that I would like to read, um, from her, which is, uh, transit has been my home for 30 years, and I am truly grateful for the opportunities, choices, and experiences this career has allowed me to explore. Throughout this time, I've met so many wonderful people who have left a lasting impression on me, just as I hope I've made a positive impact on them. I can tell you that with 30 years here, you've definitely made an impact. So congratulations. Good morning. Um, I just came to transit one year ago, so I only, I only know Wayne for one year, but I just want to say that she's an amazing, you know, employee lady. Uh, she welcomed me very well. And she's always has a big smile, make everybody happy. And I know she's a very hard worker and I'm very happy that I met her. So congratulations. I'm very honored to be here. Thank you. I'm scared. Nobody wants to talk. So, um, I'm even less than one year. I've guessed I'm about six months into transit, but I can echo what Carla said. You always have such a pleasant smile. She's there bright and early, um, great attitude, great disposition and ready to work. Just to give you some insight into Gwen, uh, last month we honored Gwen as an employee, outstanding employee, employee of change. I had no idea. It's just 30 years, but we offered Gwen an opportunity to work over in AR and she didn't hesitate. She jumped right in, took the opportunity. She's training a new person now and most people will be winding down after 30 years. And Gwen did not hesitate at all in learning something new. It's just to kind of tell you who Gwen is. So I know we'll be right back in 10 years to do 40 years. Thank you, Gwen. It's been a pleasure. Well, I want to thank everybody. Um, it's been a long journey and I've run across so many people. I've met so many people. I've learned a lot, taught a lot, but I just wanted to say thank you to the County transit in particular, my family here, some who, you know, visiting me. I see a lot of staying out here. I mean, I appreciate you all. I love you all. I have a brother-in-law somewhere. I don't know where he went, but he was here, but I just want to thank you guys. Let's go. Does anybody else want to join her for the pictures? And so as we conclude the morning's service awards, I just want to, again, thank each and every one of you. You've made a real impact, not just here in our community, but for all our residents and, um, had a wonderful, wonderful time this morning with all of you. And again, thank you for your service.