I know, but I'll start. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. My name is Vicki Lopez, and I'm the County Commissioner for District 5, and I'd like to welcome you to the Service Award Ceremony of May 7th, 2026. Please join me in welcoming Chief Arnold Palmer, Office of the Mayor. Today, we take the opportunity to recognize the efforts and achievements of our most valuable assets, our county employees. And now I ask that you please draw your attention to the screen above for an important message from our Mayor, Daniela Levine-Cava. Congratulations to all of our employees receiving Service Awards today. Whether you're marking 5 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. I ask that you join me in celebrating the dedication and excellence you offer to the citizens of this county and every day for the past 30 years and some for 35 years. Give yourselves a big round of applause. When we call your name, please come forward to receive your plaque of appreciation and please take a brief moment and tell us about your experience with the county. We also ask that your department representative accompany you to say a few words. Family members may join you as we take a picture and you celebrate this important occasion. With this, we'll commence the service award presentations. So we're going to call up first. I don't know if Jorge Olazabal is here today, but if someone is representing communications, information, and technology department, come on up, gentlemen. The first award is going to be presented to Veronica Visera, software developer. Veronica, Veronica, we are presenting this plaque of appreciation to you on behalf of our mayor, Daniela Levincava, our chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, and on behalf of the board of county commissioners for your 30 years of dedicated service to this community. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyal and continuous service to the county. Good morning, everybody. My name is George Mederos. I'm an assistant director at CITD. Unfortunately, our director was not able to join us today, but I did speak to the director and he really wanted to congratulate you on this amazing accomplishment. Thank you. And by the way, we know him as Nick. Nick is our guy, right? So Nick has been with us for many, many years. I am approaching my 30 year and I've known Nick for all of these years. And I have to say he's the epitome of a, of the, of the perfect county employee. And more importantly, he's really involved in the community. I know he's a community leader. He's always looking out for his community and he's a really dedicated individual for, you know, the county and, and his community. So thank you for all that you do for us. Hopefully you're staying a little bit longer. We appreciate all your efforts and, uh, I'd like to turn it over to his, uh, management team as well so that he can, they can say a few words. I'm looking at another 30 years. Fantastic. Uh, good morning. My name is Otto Contreras. I'm the division director for public safety, criminal justice. I have the privilege to have Nick in our team. Uh, Nick, I've been in the county for only three years, so I won't have the privilege due to age, uh, to be able to actually, uh, have the privilege to actually celebrate as you're celebrating the 30 years today. Uh, I want to say in these three years that actually, uh, you're being in my team, I'm, uh, very grateful for the team that I have. I think the contributions that you do, uh, in all the systems that we actually support, uh, help all the constituents that the, uh, the county serves. So thank you very much for that. Thank you. So Nick, I just wanted to recognize your service. Um, Nick joined us, the county IT in 1996, and he's worked on several systems, including the, the value adjustment board, which is the, the system that manages all of the petitions for property taxes. He's worked in the court system. He's worked both on criminal, on civil, and now on the traffic, uh, case management systems. And he's contributed a lot over the past 30 years, including some special programs like the driver license assistance, um, task force. And Nick, I just want to say it's been a pleasure working with your last three years. Mine too. Can I say a bit about your experience? Yes. Uh, I'm lucky to have my supervisor speaking in behalf of me, so I don't have to do that. But, you know, after 30 years of service, uh, you bet I could say that I love our county and I'm so privileged and happy to have work for our residents and from out of my little things that I do from my little cubicle, I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve our county. And thank you very much commissioner for your presence this morning. I feel so honored and humbled to have you in this ceremony. Yeah. We're going to take a, uh, I'm sorry. I missed, uh, you know, a very important thing. Uh, I'm so lucky to have, you know, uh, uh, to work with, uh, you know, fascinating and very guiding directors, uh, uh, and also, you know, uh, to have work with Philippe, you know, this last, uh, uh, past years, you know, uh, thank you very much for your guidance. And also thank you very much for, you know, uh, helping me along the way. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Nick. Thank you so much. Thank you for your service. So our next, uh, County employee is Lon Walcott, HCD technician. And I don't, so we get the, so on behalf of the, perfect. So we present this award, this plaque of appreciation to you on behalf of our mayor, Daniela Levine Cava, our chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, and on behalf of the Board of County commissioners for your 30 years of dedicated service to our community. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyal and continuous service to our community. Good morning, everyone. Uh, my name is Christina Salinas-Cotter. I'm an assistant director at housing and community development. And today I have the honor and the pleasure of sharing in this important milestone with Lonnie and all of the team members here today, uh, to recognize you and congratulate you. I have actually, uh, worked with and known Lonnie off and on for about 12 years now. And, uh, currently I have the pleasure of being Lonnie's, uh, assistant director. And I just have to say over the years, uh, Lonnie has been one of the folks that is the most dependable in our department. Everybody knows that he, they can go to him, uh, whether it be from fixing a printer, uh, right as a report is due to a director, getting somebody a new chair, ordering office supplies, or firsthand dealing with the residents that, that we serve in our community. Um, I actually have witnessed Lonnie who worked our front desk for many, many years and still works our front desk occasionally, but he worked our front desk and witnessed him handle all of the residents or all of the developers or attorneys that come to, to our front desk office with such grace and with such poise and with such professionalism. And one of the things that I always remember that I've told Lonnie about, and this is how he is so helpful and how his customer service skills are so phenomenal. Um, when he sees us coming through the door, we all need our IDs to get into, into the office, but he sees us on the phone. He sees us busy. He sees us fumbling to find our ID and he never lets us use our ID. He always ensures that he pushes the button and, you know, make sure that the door opens so that we don't have to fumble around. And it's just those little things that Lonnie does that, you know, a lot of people may take for granted, but Lonnie, I want you to know that those, it's those little things that make a huge difference, make a huge impact on our organization and make a huge impact on the residents and the community that we serve as well. So I want to thank you for that. Um, just a little bit about Lonnie's history. Lonnie Walcott began his career with Miami-Dade County in 1996 as a commission aid in 1997. He moved in 1997, he moved into the role of telephone console operator with the office of community and economic development. And in 2010, he became an HCD technician where he continues to serve today. He's also known for his baking and for sharing tasty treats with his coworkers, which is always very much appreciated. His, his, his rum cakes are phenomenal and they're also really strong. Um, so Lonnie has built strong relationships throughout the department has been a steady presence for both staff and the public for so many years. So today Lonnie, on behalf of director Kogan, on behalf of deputy director Brown and the entire HCD team, I want to congratulate you and thank you for your 30 years of service to our organization and to the community that we serve. Congratulations. Good morning. My name is Brett Phillips. I'm the manager of the operational support services section, uh, under Christina. Lonnie's been on my team for a couple of years, but he's been a presence in, um, the department as we went from, uh, well, he went from the office of economic development all the way through to when we were public housing community development to where we are now is, uh, now named housing community development. Uh, when you talk about smooth operator, look in the dictionary, you'll see his photo. He is just an amazingly cool, calm and collected individual, no matter what the situation is and no matter what the pressure. Um, thank you for that, Lonnie, because that really, uh, is the icing on the cake of what we're supposed to do is operational support. We never give up. We never say no. We always find a solution, no wrong door. And he is the epitome of that. So, um, I just want to personally thank you for being so instrumental in what we do every day. Um, nobody really notices. He does his job. He does it before anybody needs it. He's got this sixth sense. It's incredible. I'll be like, Lonnie, I just heard he said done. Like, well, what about done? Really amazing. So Lonnie, thank you so much. Another 30 years would be great, but keep those rum cakes coming. I, I did not know that Lonnie was a commissioner's aid, but I want to say this, that he stayed with us after that experience is the miracle. Thank you. Thank you for those great 30 years. Thank you. Of course team HCD team. Come on down. Yes. So as they're coming down, um, we wanted to hear a little bit from Lonnie. I mean, we now know him. Rum cakes are definitely coming. I'm waiting for mine. Um, he's had an incredible career. So maybe you could tell us just a little bit about how that career has affected you and, and, and obviously your team is here, which is really a blessing. Um, for the past 30 years, working in housing, community development has been great for me and learning, learning a lot, um, new faces or the changes and experiences and stuff. And it's been wonderful. And I'm very grateful for all the people back here with me, including the management and, um, the County itself for the 30 years. I never thought I made it this far, but I did, but I had a lot of help and great friends to help me get here. So I'm truly blessed and I'm, I'm very happy for ACD. Thank you. I said, get in. She said, Oh, she didn't miss her mind. No problem. Big smiles. Big smiles. Big smiles. Two, three. Hey, let's do something special for him. On three, let's say rum cake. One. RUM CAKE. One, two, three. RUM CAKE. Oh, my gosh, thank you. Thank you all for coming for lunch. So our next employee is Frederick Williams. He's our risk management safety officer with internal compliance. And I'd ask for the risk compliance risk management team to come down with Frederick. Frederick, bring your family, bring your friends. It's a big celebration. Come on down, Frederick. Thank you so much. Hi, how are you? Nice to meet you as well. So, Frederick, we are presenting you with this plaque of appreciation on behalf of Mayor Levine Cava, our chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, and on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners for your 30 years of dedicated service to our community. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your loyal and continuous service to this county. You have made it a little better with your service. Thank you. So on behalf of? Thank you. Yes, for spending. Good morning, everybody. My name is Bonnie McConnell. I'm the Division Director of Risk Management. And it is an honor for me this morning to recognize a man who has given 30 years of dedicated service to the people of Miami-Dade County. And I always say, Fred, because my grandfather's name was Fred, and that's how my grandmother used to call him. So a little back story. Fred's story began in March of 1995, not in an office, but as the part-time park attendant, he was restoring natural habitats across South Miami-Dade, working with endangered species in rugged conditions. He built something from the ground up one day at a time. That work ethic carried him through promotion after promotion, landscape supervisor, beach maintenance supervisor, safety training specialist. And then in 2016, he joined our risk management division, which I think at the time was ISD. Then we went to PIOD, and now we're over in Internal Compliance Department. Today, as our lead countywide safety training officer, Mr. Williams protects employees across every department in this county through safety inspections, incident investigations, OSHA, and first aid training. What makes Fred's journey especially remarkable is he carried alongside with it while working full-time, earning both an associate's degree from Miami-Dade County and a bachelor's degree from Florida International University. He is a devoted family man, a deacon in his church, a goodwill ambassador, and a colleague who shows up fully every day for everybody around him. What I can say about him is he doesn't seek the spotlight. He earns it through consistency, integrity, and unwaiving commitment to the people he serves. Fred, 30 years is more than a milestone. It is a legacy. And on behalf of the risk management division, the Internal Compliance Department, and all of Miami-Dade County, thank you for your service, your leadership, and the example you set every single day. Thank you, Fred. I started in NAMM, 1995. It was a rough job at the same time. I was like, do I want to stay here? I used to always apply for jobs like every two weeks. I'll be looking in the paper. I'll be at that building. You guys remember that 140 building, West Flagg? I'll be looking on the wall, and my supervisor said, hey, Fred, I want to give you a full-time position, man, but are you going to stop applying for jobs? I said, man, I'm going to give you a little bit of time, but I'll slow down a little bit. I'm not making any promises. So I dedicated a few years there without looking for positions. And I just thank the county for all the different opportunities that most definitely gave me. Thank you for my family. Thank God for being here. I just want to thank all you guys for continuing to be in dedicated service for the county as well. Thank you so much, Fred. Such an amazing legacy you have so far and so dedicated to not only yourself but to your family, your community, your church. It's a beautiful thing. Thank you. Everyone come down. The team. Good morning. Black is going out. Black is going out. Thanks, team. All that laughing's going, man. So our next employee is Michael Wiggins, our trash crane operator from Solid Waste Management. Come on down. Perfect. Good morning, Michael. We're presenting you this plaque of appreciation, Michael, to you on behalf of our mayor, Daniela Levine-Cava, our chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, and on behalf of the board of county commissioners for your 35 years of dedicated service to our community. We would like to thank you for your loyal and continuous service to this county. Well, first of all, good morning to everyone. My name is Anisha Daniel. I serve as the department director for Solid Waste. Michael, congratulations. 35 years. Where's your mom? Where's your mom? Where's your mom? Tell mom to come on down. Come on down. Mom. Right here. We have a spot. Is there anybody else you can be sure? It can all come down. The more the merrier. It's a big account. 35 years. Mom. Right here, mom. Next to your. It's okay. Good morning. Good morning. Happy to have you here. Thank you. Big celebration. Yes. So 35 years of service. We want to thank you. I mean, for those that don't understand, Michael actually is a trash crane operator. And so what that is is those boat pals that sometimes you guys don't want to go to the TRC. You put them out in the front and it disappears mysteriously. It's not a mystery. It's people like Michael that's going out there and using the crane to make sure we pick it up. Those guys are pretty good. Many of them are pretty good because they can pick up just the littlest leaf that's left on the ground. Let me tell you a little bit more about Michael and what he's done the 35 years he's been here. So he started in 1991 as a waste collector. Throughout his career, he's advanced through several roles, including a trash truck driver one, a waste truck driver back in 2000, and then most recently his current role in 2014, progressing up to a trash crane operator. And with over three decades of service, Mr. Wiggins has demonstrated resilience, dedication, and a strong commitment to his work. His career progression reflects his ability to adapt and continue contributing to the department's operations over time. Mr. Wiggins' experience and longstanding service has made him a reliable member of the team, supporting the department's mission and daily operations with consistency and professionalism. I want to thank you for those 35 years because I know 35 years is not a small feat. And so the Department of Satellite Waste, we recognize you and we honor you for 35 years of service and dedicated service to all of the residents of Miami-Dade County. And thank you, Mom, for being here. If it's okay, just can I have a... Yes, absolutely. Good morning, Mike. I don't have too much to say, just congratulations on those 35. And it may be a little longer than 35, right? It started as a temp, that $3.35, so he'd go back a little further than that. Yeah, yeah. $3.15 an hour, back there. Appreciate you, Mike. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. So we'd love to hear from you. You know, your experience has been amazing. And I can't even believe that you were an intern. No one said that, but... Yeah, a temp. A temp. Yeah. Well, I'm happy that you were made permanent for these last 35 years. So let us know a little bit about how your service was. Okay. I started in 89 when my first child was born. And, you know, I've been here, what, basically 36 and a half years, kind of my temp service. But I, like you said, I started as a waste collector, moved over to a waste truck driver, and then a trash truck driver. Well, trash truck driver, then waste truck driver. But I took all of the classes. But I enjoyed my years of service. It's been wonderful. 35 years of service. It's been very, very good. So, you know, with me, I always, you know, I worked on the garbage truck with this young man here. And he can tell you, I always believe in delivering excellence, you know. I always had it in my mind, nobody's going to outwork me. And no one's going to ever outwork me. So that's how it's been, you know. Me and him were very small at the time. He was about 120 pounds, 30 pounds. You know, what I enjoyed, they kind of, I appreciate all of y'all coming. I very much appreciate it. I must say that I'm sure he got his work ethics from this great mother that's standing next to him. Thank you so much for lending him to us. And thank you for your service, honestly, Michael. Thank you. More for solid waste. So we have one. You can stay up. Yeah. Everyone stay up. You included, Michael. You're part of the team. So Derek Williams. Derek, and have your family come down. Derek, have your family, have your family come down. Come on, come on down. So Derek, we're presenting you this plaque of appreciation to you on behalf of our mayor, Daniela Levine Cava, our chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, and on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners for your 35 years of dedicated service to our community. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your dedicated, continuous service to us and for making our community better. Thank you so much. I'm going to support. Okay. So Mr. Williams, I've seen him over the years. You know, we have 1,200 employees, so I don't get to see them all. But I do remember Mr. Williams. And that smile, that calm demeanor is the same person I've always seen. So that's awesome. But thank you so much for 35 years. You know, it's not easy to stick with something that long. And so the services that we all provide in solid ways is so critical. You know, making sure that the safety of our communities, our communities are clean. So I want to thank you for that work that you continue to do every day. So let's go back in history. Let's go back a little bit. Let's take a walk back and talk about how it's been. Well, I can tell you he started in 1991 as a waste collector, similar to Mr. Wiggins, followed kind of the same track as most of them do, went on to TDD-1, Trash Truck Driver-1, and then also went on up to the waste collector, and then now in the current role as a trash crane operator. And so he's been faithfully in that role for quite a few years. His phone went dead, so, you know, I'm going by memory now. But what I can tell you by memory is it has been reliable service. He's been dedicated. And like I said, the smile, the professionalism that we've seen over the years has been consistent. And so I want to thank you for that consistency. I want to thank you for the service and the dedication that you provided for us and all of the residents of Miami-Dade County consistently for so many years. So thank you for all that you do, and I wish you the best. So it's the same thing with Derek. I think Derek started a little before actually the 91. He had temp time in as well. And I think the one thing that we do know, that, you know, you do deliver service, excellent service across what you have done. The one thing that we do not want to miss is that both of these gentlemen have served as trainers and mentors to the younger crews that come up. So that's the one thing that we, you know, we did not mention. My apologies, Mike. I'm giving it to you now. Mike and Derek have helped train persons behind them coming up through the ranks, which is very much needed within the department. So thank you. Congratulations on your 35 years. I know neither one of you are going anywhere soon because y'all just love us. We love you too. So I'm Larry Wilson, assistant director of collections operations. Sorry. But, yes, thank you. Thank you. I just want to say to both of you and to the team, solid waste is one of the most important essential services in this community. You know that the first thing people will complain about is that the garbage didn't get picked up. Yes, it is. It is. But more importantly, it is a safety issue. You have no idea how important each and every one of you is here and everyone who's not here who works for solid waste. I would be remiss if I did not say that today because it is such an important essential service that I'm always saying we always got to support that, that is solid waste. So thank you all as well. And so, yes, ma'am. And, Derek, why don't you just tell us a little bit about your 35-plus years since you were also a temp? Well, my year started with the county. I was a waste attendant, and I moved up to trash truck driver, garbage truck driver, 18-wheeler, and now crane operator. But all those steps, believe it or not, they integrated with each other. I learned from each step that I was in and each step that I went up, I learned from the previous steps. And also my supervisors and the people that I work with, all of us had a camaraderie of brotherhood. We wanted to help each other out. We were always looking out for each other. That should be around the county. Everybody should look out for everybody else. If you see something, a person going a different way, because, you know, I did the mentorship also, certain ones that were coming up behind me, I saw them going in a bad direction. So I'll pull them to the side just one-on-one between me and the person, and I would tell them, listen, this is what's going to happen if you keep going this way. And this is what's going to happen if you correct your dealings that you're doing now. So it's all about helping each other out, not sitting back and letting the person make a mistake. If you can stop them from making that mistake, stop them. Tell them, you know, be boisterous. Listen, man, I want the best for you. Do this and do that so that won't happen to you. So my time at the county is wonderful. I love coming to work. And when you love coming to work, it's not a job. It's actually a place that you love going to because you got to admit that we're at work more than we're at home with our loved ones. So our work people that we work with are actually our second family, and we need to take care of family. Family takes care of family. We have to take care of family. So it's 35 years, and I love it. I love it. And thank you all for coming today. For me and Wiggins and the other participants, thank you so much. Thank you. All the supervisors are here. This is amazing. At MS, a lot of supervisors are here. They got the right guys and then they came here. I appreciate it. Thank you all. Let's clap for y'all. Big smile. Get y'all back out there. One, two. One more for good luck. Trash name. Thank you all. Thank you. They can take that picture. Thank you all. So our next employee is Bernard Engrand, our Metro Mover Technician, Transportation and Public Works. I don't see Stacey, but I'm sure someone from her team is here. Bernard. Bernard. Bernard. We're presenting this to you. A plaque of appreciation on behalf of our Mayor, Daniela Levincov, our Chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, and on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners for your 30 years of dedicated service to our community. And we'd like to thank you so much for your continuous service. 30 years is a lot. And we appreciate you very much. Thank you. Yes. Hi. Good morning, everyone. And congratulations, Bernard. On behalf of our director and our entire department, we want to congratulate you on these 30 years. It is a great pleasure to have you work with us and be part of our family and of our team. And that's something that we really appreciate because what you do every single day, it impacts a lot of our community. You work now at the Metro Mover. So by being a technician there, you are able to provide a lot of transportation to the folks that even work in this building. And sometimes we take that for granted because we don't realize all the work that takes place whenever we get in a Metro Mover vehicle and we get off at our destination, whether it's for work, for pleasure. That is all done by people dedicating their lives 24 hours a day to make that happen. So we thank you for that. I know you started as a bus mechanic and you were then promoted and you went into our radio room where you did radio technician as well as now the Metro Mover. So we thank you very much for your service. Good morning, everyone. My name is Oscar Pineda. I'm a senior chief supervisor at the Metro Mover. I've known Mr. Bernard for over 25 years and I've been very pleased to work with him. I've only seen him upset one time in 25 years and that was pretty serious. Now, he did come in. He told me what the problem was. He gave me a couple solutions and then he let me do what I had to do. So I thank him for everything that he does. He's one of our senior techs. A lot of the classes that come out from training depend on him, on guidance, on how to troubleshoot effectively. He's got a very technical background in electronics and we're going to miss him when he retires. Hopefully, he stays a little while. So thank you, Bernard, for your service. So, Bernard, I want to tell you that people who ride the Metro Mover, we hear from them all the time, right? I mean, it's such an important part of our transportation network here, but oftentimes people don't know what's going on behind the scenes. And we know because of people, good employees like you who take your job seriously, you are the reason that it operates seamlessly to the obvious residents who take it. So I want to personally thank you because a lot of the Metro Mover moves through District 5 and it's used by so many people. And so thank you for being that technician that no one might see but everyone should know exists. Thank you. So tell us a little bit about your time. Hello, everyone. I don't have a big crowd like everybody else, but anyway. It's good. I want to thank Miami-Dade Transit for the opportunity. I got hired by Miami-Dade Transit in 1996. I was a bus mechanic one. I can't believe it's been 30 years. I know. How time flies. Time flies. Anyways, myself and JJ. Hey, JJ. How are you doing? We were in a class, what, what, 10 months? Yeah. I spent five years as a bus mechanic one and moved on to the radio shop for 12 years. And after that, I came to the Metro Mover in 2014. Yeah. It's been a good ride. And I just want to say thank you for the opportunity to serve the public. That's it. Thank you. We're very grateful. Very grateful. Hold on. We're going to get a picture. Anybody else want to come up? Well, we're going to get the microphone. Come on. We're going to marry. Everybody. Everybody for the department. Perfect. Can we move up just a tad? And can we shift over just a tad, please? Perfect. Anybody else? Yes. Man, they've seen that. All right. Perfect. All right. Big smiles, big smiles. One, two. You used to work in the Metro Mover? Yes. Let's do bad boys on three. One, two, three. Bad boys. That was a great one. I'm a movie book. Transportation, stay up here. Okay. Stay up here. So everyone from transportation, stay up here. Come on. So our next employee is John Sherwood, who's an ops and maintenance training supervisor. John? Or affectionately known as JJ now. That's JJ. I have learned. JJ, let me just tell you something. We're presenting this plaque to you in the spirit of appreciation on behalf of our mayor, Daniela Levine-Cava, our chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, and on behalf of the Board of County Commissioners for your incredibly dedicated and continuous service. I can't thank you enough. Transportation is a huge deal. In District 5, God knows, we all know that. And if not, for all of you, and I say this again, as I did to Solid Waste, in my district, transportation matters every single day. And what you do is impacting every single one of my residents. And I'm so proud of the work that you do and absolutely, incredibly grateful. And so it goes for JJ and his continuous 30-year service, but it also goes for all of you standing with him. Thank you. So now you get JJ. So on behalf of the director, JJ, we want to congratulate you on your 30 years of service. JJ is a person that I get the pleasure of working with myself. So he has a very important role right now, although he started as a bus mechanic, and I can relate to that because I started as a bus mechanic. And then he moved into an instructor capacity, so he played an important role training our new hire mechanics for that they can be efficient and they can work on our vehicles and make them safe and reliable, which is what it's all about. Because that's how our customers can feel safe whenever they ride a bus, because they realize that someone that was working on it not only knew what they were doing, but they cared about what they were doing. And JJ played a critical role in that. Now he's taking a promotion where he's become a supervisor of that area. So that allows him to work with us from the purpose of planning what we do every single day, on how we plan for the future, on how we come up to become more innovative, to provide better solutions for our customers. And we're very grateful for that. So JJ, thank you and congratulations. And I know that his immediate supervisor- No, and I think you have family. So bring him down. My grandfather. Oh, come down. You know what? My communications director can help. You come on down. She, come on down, Dad. John Sherwood, Sr. Yep. Very nice to meet you, Mom. Very nice meeting you as well. Very nice meeting you. Yes. All right. So we'll get all, so JJ, you should talk to us a little bit about this. I'm really proud of how you started with, uh, Bernard and here you are being so important in terms of the future, your training and making sure that everyone follows in your great footsteps. And I appreciate that. So, so first off, I'd like to thank God without him. We wouldn't be here. You know, thank my family, my immediate family, my work family, everybody. Thank you. Without you, I wouldn't be able to do what I can, what I'm doing now. So, you know, um, again, 30 years of service, started off as a bus mechanic, moved up to bus technician, then became a bus, uh, the instructor for the, for, for Metro Day Transit. And now I get to proudly run one of the training department for one of the largest agencies in the nation. So thank you for everything. I appreciate you guys. You're welcome. Yeah. I also want to recognize JJ. If you notice what he just mentioned, he just said Metro Day Transit. You remember when we were called Metro? Yes. So that's just shows how old he is. Well, I had the privilege of actually working alongside JJ for, for 29 years. He actually started a year before me, but it's a great honor to, to recognize him, to be here aside from him, watch him as we all did grow up within transit, start from bus mechanic one, uh, and then all the way up to training supervisor. If you think about his role right now, for example, right now he has some of his employees, his direct reports, they're here. So the fact that they're here and you're the supervisor, that says a lot, uh, but, and any, any person that comes in through Miami through, to become a bus technician or anything in maintenance, they have to go through his area, through his training unit. So we're talking, teaching people how to work on buses, teaching people how to drive buses. So also he serves as a third party CDL tester. So, um, anybody that comes in, they don't have their CDL. If you go mechanic on the outside, you don't know how to drive a bus. So his area actually trains them and they give him their permits. I mean, well, at this point, you guys actually don't give him the permit, but you guys train him to get the permit and all this other stuff. So I've watched him throughout his entire career. In fact, I know that recently he was telling me that when he retires, he wants to move somewhere up North. Um, I know that you, Patty had worked with, with your mama as well. Uh, you guys got married when 1992, July 22nd, 1992, right? It has two kids, Samantha and Luke. I know you have your five granddaughters, don't know everybody's name, but what makes it even more special for me is that I actually started with the county on June 15th of 1997. And when I started, this gentleman that's right here, John Sherwood, which is JJ's dad, he started with me. So the fact that he's here, he's already retired also, enjoying retirement, but we surely do appreciate the fact that it's not just JJ worked here, his mother-in-law worked here, his father worked here, and right here we have his, his mother, uh, Bonnie as well. So, yeah. So, yeah. So she graduated. I know, I know that she was the lunch lady. Yeah. So, uh, I want to congratulate you, JJ, and it's a truly honor. I'm not sure if any of our employees, do you want to, would you like to say something? We're good? Okay. So congratulations, JJ. So you can see JJ comes from a family of public service, and I want to thank all of you, um, especially, you know, your parents for being here and your beautiful wife. Um, so we're very grateful. So let's get a picture of the team together. So our last employee is Manuel Hernandez, Annie with water and sewer. Let's have the whole water and sewer team come down, your family, whoever's here helping to support you. Have them all come down. How are you? Manny is down right here for a minute. Do this. Manny has a fan club. It's wonderful to see. Thank you guys. Good group of WASDE. So Manny, we are presenting you this plaque of appreciation on behalf of our mayor, Daniela Levine Cava, our chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, and on behalf of the board of county commissioners for your incredibly dedicated 30 years of service. Cannot thank you enough. Your team. Again, when I call, when I talk about essential services in the county, what people actually expect from us, water and sewer is always up there on the top. Solid waste, water and sewer, public safety, transportation. You could not know how important your service is, in particular to my constituents, and so, and throughout the whole county. So I cannot thank you enough for 30 years of dedicated service. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning. Jay Fink, director of Miami-Dade Water and Sewer. As I approach my own one-year anniversary, I can't even imagine what it means to have been here for 30 years. And that is hard to believe because it seems like it was yesterday, but for me, it also seems like it's been a lifetime. And WASDE has just been a tremendous place to work. I'm going to turn the microphone over to a few people that have a little more to say, that have a little more background with Manny. Manny, I'll say congratulations, but let me pass this to Frances. Gee, thank you. Good morning. Frances Morris, the deputy director of Water and Sewer. And Manny, what can I say about Manny? We've been hanging out for about 20 years now. So Manny started in procurement, but because he's such a great employee, he ended up in business process after going through a few positions in procurement over in business process. And what is business process? Business process is where our super users hang out. And what they are able to do is they're able to assist the end users in training them on system issues and getting queries and developing things, making their lives easier. So what we're saying is that this guy here, we can appreciate he's on a team that helped the rest of us look good, you know, and sometimes that takes a lot of work. So, and when he's not doing that, he's out chasing lizards. It's a passion to catch an iguana. Anybody has an iguana infestation? Come check them out. You know, some of those things, they say they eat those things. I'm not sure about that. You have one? Ever tasted an iguana? Yeah. You have? Yeah. Oh, okay. So he'll even cook them for you. How about that? But, Mandy, I want to say thank you very, very much for your years of dedication. You know, you are a very hardworking person. Every time I come by, I see you. You're always smiling. You always seem very happy to be there. So that's a good thing because, you know, sometimes we have some challenging times in, you know, just working every day and keeping things moving, especially when we have system failures and things like that, when we come to you guys and we say we need the impossible done yesterday and what have you, you always take it on with a smile. You're part of a good team there. And we appreciate everything that you do for Water and Soar. Thank you. Thank you. So I wrote something because I just, you know, didn't want to forget anything. So my name is Lewis. I work with Manny, and I have the privilege of working with him for 15 years plus now. And now I supervise him for a couple of years now. So Manny, 30 years of service is an incredible accomplishment. And honestly, after reading and hearing everything everyone else has to say, it feels like you've had like 60 years of experience. It's just, you know, so much gone wrong. Since starting as a temporary employee back in 1994 as a utility supply specialist at the Hialeah Store Room, Manny has worked his way through just about every corner of water and sewer, from warehouses to well fields to procurement, and now even through ERP implementations. Along the way, he's managed contracts, improved services, trained hundreds of employees, including myself, and helped streamline operations that keep this department and our department running efficiently every single day. Having worked with Manny for more than, like I said, those 15 years, while trying to solve these system problems that we've come across, I can say that he has never been shy about sharing his thoughts. Anyone who knows Manny would, you know, can never expect anything less. But what makes him special is that his opinions always come from a genuine desire to do what's best for our users and the department. So it's a very special talent that he has. The fact that he's had received rewards, awards, and recognition for his professionalism and efficiency comes to no surprise to anyone who knows him. But beyond all those accomplishments, what really stands out for me and for everyone else is the person that he is. He's a loving husband and father. He's a dedicated son. And he only knows he's constantly, you know, with his mom, taking care of her, making sure she's going through her health battles. And he's a friend to all of us, yeah? He's always been someone you can count on for support or friendship and probably a story or two about farming, hunting, or catching something that most of us would run away from immediately, all right? So while many of us spend our weekends relaxing, he's out there hunting and wrestling reptiles all sorts of things. And not just iguanas, mind you. Not just iguanas. Anyways, Manny, thank you for your dedication and your knowledge, your humor, and the lasting impact you've made on all of us the last 30 years. Congratulations on this major milestone. And we're all lucky to have worked alongside you. Good morning, everyone. I'm Edith Brown, Assistant Director. I just want to personally thank Manny. When we went into business process or ERP, Manny was the person who helped train my team because we were going to start working on contracts. He was very dedicated to that. Anytime we had a question, he would, you know, have the answer. Even to this day, if we need a query or report or something that we need to give to the public or, you know, information, Manny is the one that we go to. And he never says no. Manny also has worked with me as we try to improve our systems. And as Louis said, he always has constructive criticism, not just the criticism, but he provides other solutions. So for that, I'm very, very appreciative. And just congratulations, Manny. So Manny, now you can tell us about these wild animals that you are somehow attracted to. First of all, you're all going to make me cry. First of all, I want to thank God for giving me health and giving me the opportunity to have this career. I feel lucky and honored to have the job that I have today. And I love my job. I love the people that I work for. I love the people that I work with. And I love service. My pastor once told me that we're all servants and that the servant that doesn't serve is of no service. And that's stuck with me forever and ever. And I've always tried to be better at that. So, yes, I catch iguanas and snakes and stuff like that. And if you guys want to see some videos, I'll show you after that. But it's been, you know, it hasn't been perfect. Like, you know, we always have our ups and downs in the county. And but I know that I've I've tried to do the best I can. I have a I've always had a learning disability. And the way to get away from the learning disability is to learn everything that is not my job. And I guess that is a strength, because now when somebody comes to me with a problem, I already know where he's coming from and I can help them better. So with that said, again, it means the world to me. I see all my my colleagues here and and and the people that that care about me. And I know there's a lot of people that are probably not here that should that wanted to be here. I appreciate everybody and I love my job. That's all I can say. That's so great. Thank you. Manny's an icon. Thank you. So we have one more. We have one more employee. Ricardo Rodriguez. Thank you, Ricardo. With Transportation and Public Works. So if anyone from Transportation and Public Works is still here, come on down, please. Ricardo. So I'm I'm obviously we're giving you the certificate of appreciation. We're doing it in on behalf of our mayor, Daniela Levine Cava, our chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, and on behalf of the entire Board of County Commissioners for your dedicated and continuous 35 years. You know, and I'm sure you're here. I'm going to speak on behalf of Ricardo, and I'm going to speak on behalf of Ricardo Rodriguez from the rail side, which I started 35 years ago. I met him over there. I met him over there, and we worked together as rail vehicle and electronic technicians. He started as a bus driver in 1997. Then he got promoted to facilities maintenance. And then he went to rail vehicle maintenance as a technician, and he grew and learned about the trains. And now he's exposed to the new trains, which are highly electronic and modern. And I'm very proud to have worked with him. And I really celebrate his 35 years of service. A little correction there. I started in 1990 as a bus operator. Then in 1997, I went to facility maintenance. Wow. Since then, I've been an electronic rail vehicle technician. It has been a pleasure. Has it been a good run? Yes. Has it been a good run? Yes. Thank you so much, Ricardo, for your service. Thank you all for being here to support him for 35 years. So let's get a picture. One, two, one more for good luck. Thank you so much. Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. So this concludes our service award ceremony presentations. And we'd like to thank all of you who came and supported our incredible employees who have done 30 and 35 years of service. Thank you all to everyone.