don't say it don't say it don't say it it's not my fault it's my colleagues no it's my fault too I guess everybody put together thank you good morning my name is Juan Carlos Bermudez commissioner of district 12 and I'd like to welcome you to the service award ceremony of October 8th 2026 please join me in welcoming the good-looking guy to my left the most important guy from Alabama to come to South Florida Deputy Mayor Roy Coley Office of the Mayor so today we take the opportunity to recognize the efforts and achievements of our most valuable assets which are you guys our county employees I know you hear that all the time this is not a political speech I'm not running for anything truthfully you do represent us and every time you know politicians including myself sometimes take themselves too seriously you are the front line you are what people see when they see Miami-Dade County and they are you are a reflection of us so you are the most important asset now I ask that you please draw your attention to the screen above for an important message from our Mayor Daniela Levine-Cowell 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 to the Mayor Roy you want to say anything sure okay so I asked me I asked all of you to join us in celebrating the dedication and excellence you offer to the citizens of this county each and every day for the past 30 years I know you guys don't like to applaud for politicians so applaud for yourself give yourselves a round of applause we're just so you understand how it goes 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 which I know some of you are here may join you as well because the families are the ones that get impacted by whatever we do join you as well to take a picture as you celebrate this important occasion so now we are going to commence and the first one I believe I'm going to start on number two because number one's not here yet right okay so Hilda Battle Mooney projects chief cultural affairs and Ashley Thomas her director congratulations how many years is it 30 30 all right okay here you go thank you thank you thank you very much uh for the um it's thank you uh for the folks at cultural affairs who came out this morning to support me thank you my my husband thank you for coming today um um so public services sounds corny but public service is the only thing I ever wanted to do and I've been blessed to have been at this department for 30 years and meet wonderful people along the way and had incredible mentors along the way as well so I just want to thank everyone and um and I'm very proud to be here today thank you well no I I have my husband and my my fabulous team here thank you for coming this morning I really appreciate it all of them yeah come on yeah come on in come on up don't be shy her husband is very quiet very quiet but he's oh no he's not quiet yeah okay do it here on this side just take a 10 step forward on this side one more 10 step perfect all right there you go thank you Hilda okay next is number three right Julius L. Brown clerk number two housing and community development that's a tough one and Nathan Kogan is his director Nathan Kogan wow you know I know Nathan Kogan by the way how many years is it Julius well you started at 10 look how young this guy looks congratulations here you go you want to say some words well I just want to thank God for keeping me and allowing me to serve Miami-Dade County thank God for all the people I've met all the people that helped me down through the years thank God for my housing family um that I work with every day that you know we shared many many many experiences I just thank God for you know all the years that uh all the experiences all the growth that I've gained down through the years and just just happy I made come down with family staff uh co-workers all right Julius next is Antonio Mateo golf irrigation manager parks recreation and open spaces uh Antonio you get to spend a lot of time on the golf course how many years 30 you two can but uh he's got a great gig well he can speak first good morning everybody um well as I look around the county I'm just so impressed with so many unsung heroes and it's just a great opportunity to be able to tell a little bit about Antonio or Tony as we call him um he obviously 30 years but he's a one he's a one-man band uh for 90 holes of golf he's our only irrigation manager um yeah I when I first met Tony I didn't know how tall he was because he was always in a hole every time I saw him he was down in a hole and I was also convinced that he had some kind of bugs bunny magical powers because I would be at Palmetto he was in a hole at Country Club Miami's in a hole Crandon he's in a hole so I figured he had some kind of tunnel connection to all the golf courses but uh but seriously Tony has been a huge instrumental part to what we do in golf um 30 years he's seen it all from the PGA Tour that happened at Crandon uh for all the different renovations that we've done out through the years running countless of miles of irrigation line and changing it from you know to hydraulic and then also to a two-wire it's just impressive what he does so um I know our director is really sad she was texting me even at 10 30 last night wanting me to give you her best and she's sorry she couldn't be here so um anyways we love you and thank you for all your service and I know Jose wants to say a few things too sorry yes um I would like to extend my immense gratitude to Tony on behalf of Mr. Rolando Molina which is our leader I'm here to represent him and tell him we from a battle our hearts we thank you for all you have done because I've been a long journey not easy you know with as a normal person with ups and downs but you made it through these days which is awesome and it's a privilege for us to congratulate you and um you know well deserved well done thank you Tony thank you Devin thank you Jose uh first of all Jose uh first of all Jose uh first of all Jose uh thank you God for for not easy three 30 years make me cry but thank you and everyone here you know we do the best service for our community but uh you know part of the uh my job it's uh done the best I can for this division uh I love it that that's what I mean so thank you for you guys for Devin for what you said and Jose and thank you everyone you want to say anything about the park we're going to turn into okay you forget your wife you're going to be put on double secret probation do not do that no thank you okay come on no way the wives are testing there you go it's important that very few people know we have golf courses uh the residents I'm talking now not necessarily you guys the wings are really good at the uh country club of Miami one by the way have you ever played golf out there in the bar area very very good just paid political advertisement Guido L Mendoza light equipment tech people and internal operations department PIOD for short and Danny Danny Boiz is uh not wearing his pink suit today though but the other day was wonderful hey good morning a director legado extends his congratulations but he was not able to make it so you got me instead today we're proud to recognize Guido Mendoza for 35 years of dedicated service to Miami-Dade County Guido began his career in 1991 with fleet management and has spent his career supporting departments across Miami-Dade County through his technical expertise professionalism and commitment to excellence as an ASC certified light equipment technician Guido has built an impressive career maintaining and repairing a wide range of county vehicles and equipment his knowledge reliability and strong strong technical skills have made him a valued member of the fleet management division through his many years of service Guido we sincerely thank you for your 35 years of hard work dedication and contributions to Miami-Dade County congratulations on this remarkable milestone and we wish you continued success and many enjoyable days ahead with your family and of course plenty of time for boarding and fishing and I'm gonna pass it over to uh his supervisor Jomel good morning everyone on behalf of the fleet team I'd just like to express your gratitude 35 years of service and it's not it's not just any service it's hard work right it's manual labor it takes a toll on the body um as an automotive technician I don't think the engineers always really think about the service that needs to get done just putting the vehicle together um so you work you know sometimes you get cuts in your hands you get burns they put things in very tight places like alternators etc so for that and doing that 35 years um you know as a colleague co-worker friend I really appreciate it and I just want to say thank you for everything you do on a regular on a daily basis yes sir yeah I just want to also uh mention that not only is Guido uh an outstanding employee but he's an outstanding person altogether um I just wanted to throw out a fun fact that uh when I first started the county as his manager walking through the shops I hear this amazing voice off in the side in the in the bay and come to find out Guido is a very good singer he sings offer very well um not to mention as a person he's he's really outstanding as well I had some things going on in my life that he took the time to just uh set me aside and you know ask good questions and you know genuinely want to know you know more about it so I really appreciate you being on the team we you know as fleet management uh we we appreciate all that you do so thank you well um yeah yeah 35 years it's been a long time as as most of you that have been in county careers uh so if you drove here or if it got to your house chances are myself and my team worked on it and you know uh it's it's a great career and the county roles uh because of the work that you know I've done and my colleagues and the rest of the guys and all the shops in Miami-Dade so you know shout out to them too and uh I just want to thank uh you know everybody for this award and that's it that's all I got to say now we're gonna take the pictures anybody else want to come up you got family here here anybody okay that's good yeah the the better half you better say the better half and now you're gonna be on trouble you can tell by his voice that he has got a voice for television and radio I have a face for radio so I understand that you know that's uh congrats you great uh and by the way I one of the things that was said is very important the friendships that people make while they're here is very important too I just want to point that out because that was mentioned next Anita M Shade security supervisor from PIOD also and Dan he's gonna stay up there with us Anita how are you first of all the director Delgado sends his congratulations but uh he couldn't make it today so again you also have me today we're proud to recognize Anita Shade for an extraordinary 35 years of service in Miami-Dade County Anita began her career in 1991 and has dedicated more than 33 years to the office of security management throughout her career she has been a trusted leader whose professionalism integrity and commitment to public service have helped safeguard our employees visitors and county facilities her service has spanned some of the county's most challenging and significant moments from major public demonstrations and emergency situations to operational changes of the COVID-19 pandemic through through it all Anita has remained dependable composed and committed to excellence Anita your 35 years of service represents a remarkable legacy and a lasting contribution to Miami-Dade County we thank you for your leadership your dedication and the example you have set for many congratulations on this incredible milestone and we wish you continued happiness as you look forward to another very special role ahead of becoming a grandmother of twin granddaughters thank you sir I'm going to be really quick because I know Anita's dying to grab this mic from me so all the things you know sometimes we think it's overstated committed dedicated all those things that's Anita Anita is a cancer survivor who to my recollection not once asked for any sympathy mentioned it in any way acted any differently when she came back to work and assumed her full duties Anita is surrounded by a bunch of neanderthals the overwhelming majority of our team are former military military law enforcement civilian law enforcement wartime veterans just a bunch of knuckleheads who in the past 22 years got Anita into a lot of sporting events and a lot of extracurricular events that she regretted soon after but there she was and she always showed up with a bucket full of goodies she is an incredible baker for anybody who's experienced it good on you if you haven't too bad for you we appreciate it you are special you know that and thank you not much on public speaking I would like to sincerely thank Miami-Dade County for providing me with 35 years of employment and the opportunity to build a successful and rewarding career this journey has allowed me to enjoy a fulfilling productive and meaningful life I am truly grateful for the experiences opportunities and relationships I have gained throughout my years of service it has been an honor to contribute to Miami-Dade County and to be a part of an organization that has played such an important role in my professional and personal growth as I look back on these 35 years I do so with great pride for more than 33 years I've had the privilege of working in the office of security management alongside an outstanding group of dedicated talented and genuinely wonderful individuals the friendship support camaraderie and teamwork I experienced throughout the years have made my career especially rewarding and memorable the people I've worked with have been an important part of my journey and I will always cherish the memories it created we created together for all these experiences and blessings I am forever grateful here hold that hand let me get to the second page there just one short okay thank you Miami-Dade County for 35 plus incredible years it has truly been an honor and a blessing thank you come on up congratulations by the way I just want you to know that I know what you all thought when he said Neanderthals you were thinking about myself and my colleagues on the county commission but that's okay don't worry about it you can have that thought because they look like a great group they don't look like Neanderthals we on the other hand sometimes may that's the way it goes all right uh well we're going to have another Anita Anita J Jones Special Projects Administrator in Corrections and Rehabilitation here we go 30 years 40 years yeah what did you do started 10. Good morning everybody Anita Jones began her Miami-Dade County career on February 18 1986 with the Metropolitan Planning Organization where she served as a system analyst and planning technician in 1990 she joined Miami-Dade Correction and Rehabilitation Department beginning her career with MDCR that has now spanned more than 30 years today she serves as the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Detention Facilities Division providing administrative and operational support for Metro West Detention Center Turner-Guilford Knight Correctional Center Pre-Trial Detention Center and the Classification and Inmate Management Bureau over the years Anita has worked in nearly every area of the department including budget planning policy records rehabilitation and detention operations as MDCR's budget coordinator from 1990 to 1994 she helped develop and manage more than 518 million in operating budgets and 94 million in capital funding during that time she contributed to many major milestones the construction of Metro West Detention Center the restoration of the training and treatment center the establishment of MDCR boot camp and house arrest and monitored release programs the creation of the correctional chief position which she reminds me of every day the development of information system bureau and the policy and planning bureau and the signing of MDCR's first correctional health service contract with Jackson Memorial Hospital she also preserved the public affairs bureau now community affairs and the MDCR honor guard her contributions continued through planning rehabilitation records policy and compliance she developed plans for inmate re-entry and transitional services and she supported the juvenile assessment center transition plan plan and the continuity of operation plan she secured grant reimbursements through the bureau of justice assistance helped develop staffing schedules and historical record systems and implemented tracking systems for mds mdcr forms under the department of justice compliance consent agreement she also developed policies for fate work after care program and she continued to share her knowledge by instructing lateral accelerated training classes beyond her responsibilities with the department anita has given generously to the community she led miami-dade county recycling initiatives as well as the department spring break and back to school juvenile rap sessions which connected young people with valuable resources she's also a lifetime girl scout leader when asked what has kept her going throughout her career anita credited her character integrity and work ethic after more than 40 years of service to miami-dade county and more than 30 years with mdcr she will retire on october 31st 2026 as she begins her next chapter anita plans to take and enjoy one day at a time she says she will miss everything about mdcr and miami-dade county but she will carry with her the memories and relationships she has built throughout her remarkable career memories she describes as her sunshine after the rain all right so if so if i would have one word to describe anita i would say selfless you know i first met anita in 2011 when i was a lieutenant and i had a big report to do for the director back then and anita would come up every day and assist me and with those reports and i you know i i thank you for that that you did back then and um 14 years later you came to work with me and was the same thing you continue to assist and give selflessly so i appreciate all the hard work you have done dr anita okay i know you love she fronberg she looks quiet you all but she is not quiet at all i met uh dr anita when i first started the department as the deputy director and she was working for community services at the time but then she later transitioned over to operations and i must say i saw a different anita she i don't know some days i thought she was actually the director she let us know her skill set she spoke up in meetings and she really took care of her chief i admire you you know 40 years is a long time you know that's 40 years of hard work 40 years of compassion and 40 years of love and that's why as you turn around and look at your mdcr family i really want you to bask in that moment because it was really important that we be here today to celebrate you and we hope that you all of the time years in the skin in the game that you gave this department that you feel it today um i looked up the number 40 and it means transformation and i know that you're retiring the end of this year and i just hope that god gives you all that you have given this department 100 fold we love you and you will always be mdcr family good morning everyone um miss anita i would like to say thank you for imparting your wisdom and knowledge and all the and always keeping us on the right track and i know that i can say from all of um detention operations we will miss your favorite sayings those of amen those of real talk um what else she said um and most important thing what does the sops in the post order say we will truly miss you thank you real real quickly um in leaving the office last night some things came across my mind three things the first thing was i remember jose who is now retired our chaplain jose hernandez came to me one day in my office he said anita you didn't tell me i say tell you what and he began to tell me the story when um assistant director um burgess lenny burgess came from mdpd one of the things mr burgess asked staff to do was to submit a proposal so he said that he was up in mr burgess office and his assistant showed him the proposals that individuals had submitted it was a long table and on that table was all different types of proposals he said jose said well how do i do the proposal what do i put in it so the assistant went to the table out of all the proposals he pulled this one proposal he said this is how you should do it and it was my proposal i had did a proposal on the central records bureau making making mdcr have a central records bureau and he said you didn't tell me and so i end up helping him do his proposal that's one thing i recognized last night the second thing i recognized i recognized i had the opportunity to be interviewed by former mayor sterheim to become his administrative assistant and i felt that was a high achievement of me just to sit in the office on the 29th floor with the former county manager of marriage sterheim and i will always remember that and that let me know my path in in in miami-dade county um in miami-dade county the last thing was one morning i came to work and with chief brown and chief brown was sitting at his desk you know chief i i had this thought over the weekend if tomorrow was judgment day and the lord asked me what did i do with my life i want to be able to say i spent it working with you and and i really meant that and still mean it at this moment to end my career with chief robert brown and all mdcr executive and command staff um i believe i leave a legacy every day i go to work i see the work that i have done let the work i've done speak for me and open doors for many people and gave many people opportunities often when i see my co-workers every day i always and i'm going to leave corrections with this um um as they ask me for advice i say stay on the path don't ever divvy from the path stay on the path peace and blessings always those are wonderful wonderful words anita you got a great team to director green knows i'm a little biased because the they're in my district so you know that's the way it goes you know you know it goes so thank you for all the work you guys do guys and gals thank you so much and by the way those who know lenny burgess he was a hell of a baseball player in high school very few people know that but he was so um next we have tommy r ray who works as one of the drivers helping pick up all the stuff that we unfortunately leave too much of it from solid waste management and uh chaya calapanda the deputy director should be here he is a guy that puts up with my difficult questions so uh now he can he has the mic he can say whatever he wants to say about me not only about this great person is it 30 years or this 40 35 and this guy started at five you're too young there's nothing but good things to say about the commissioner so uh good morning everybody the director would have loved to have been here but she had a scheduled day off a much needed break so a little bit about tommy rate tommy rate began his career with public housing and community development before he joined solid waste in 1997 as a waste collector his career included service as a waste attendant one trash truck driver one and waste truck driver with more than three decades of county service mr ray's career reflects an outstanding commitment to public service the department of solid waste management proudly recognizes tommy ray for his many years of dedicated service and continued commitment to the organization so a little bit more about tommy when you all put out your bulky waste beside your house tommy makes it disappear and he does this safely every day and he's done it for the last 35 years so tommy thank you for what you do the department truly appreciates you and and i did forget no pressure but i just learned that your father only had 39 years of county service so you've got a little bit ways to go before you call it today so thank you okay i thought i was gonna be last well thank you trying to take a picture uh on behalf of the solid waste trash department tommy we really appreciate your hard work and service every day i witness that for you we appreciate you and this is the multitude you may not see many but just the volume of my words we mean it we thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication from the trash division and we love you i just want to thank god for bringing him through all this time keeping him safe to see him walk back up in the door every day as he walked out god is good and he is in charge first of all i'd like to say i want to thank my lord and savior jesus christ for me being here and um i want to thank him for waking me up this this morning and i really want to thank him for the most important people in in my life because one for them i don't know where i'd be at today and he couldn't have blessed me with no better parents than my mom and my dad when he made them he broke the mold seriously and i want to thank my fiancee for being here supporting me anything i need ever do she's there to help me and i want to thank my supervisor one of the best real nice she believes in god too and that helps me that that helps me to go through my day i got a supervisor i love that and um i just want to say thank i just want to thank the county solid waste for giving me the opportunity to work there for 35 years and um make a career out of it and i'm i'm good and i'm gonna thank god for my help i still got help that's the name right i'm so glad to see well in my case obviously also the recognition of god who makes it all possible by so many of the honorees today that have gotten to the stage and i'm glad to see the families because without family there is nothing else in life so i'm very happy to hear those words next also from solid waste management chalmers vasquez mosquito control research manager he's got a tough job this has been a rough summer last night i could have used them because the mosquitoes really took care of me last night 35 years good morning again so chalmers began his career with the county as an exterminator with housing authority in 1994 he joined mosquito control division as an entomologist beginning a career path that would span more than three decades of service and increasing responsibility within the specialized field of mosquito control mr vasquez continued to advance professionally earning a promotion to mosquito control operations manager in 2009 and in 2017 to his current position as mosquito control research manager throughout his career mr vasquez has witnessed and contributed to the continuing evolution of mosquito control services the department of solid waste management proudly recognizes chalmers for his 35 years of public service for those of you who lived through zika chalmers was on the front lines taking care of it i know mosquito control is not something that we take for granted we have seasons but trust me it happens 24 7 and chalmers truly make sure that the community is safe every day of the year thank you chalmers for your 35 years of service charmy charm good morning everyone i met charmers 2016 when it was zika and he took me under his wings and i want to say thank you for everything he's my work husband i'm the only one that call him charmy charm and thank you i'm going to miss you when you leave thanks thank you uh i'm truly honored to receive this uh plaque of recognizing 35 years of service with miami day mosquito uh miami day mosquito control uh i'm very grateful to god for all the friendships memories and experience that i have made over the years uh i'm very proud uh for the uh allowed for allowing me to serve the miami day county residents for all these years and to protect them from mosquito born diseases thank you again and reaching this milestone means a lot to me thank you very much by the way thank you by the way they are uh every day when i drive to my district office i go right by their office on 58th so one of these days i'm going to walk from my house and draw allows and knock on your door chalmers just for the heck of it but uh they do a great job and people don't understand that in a tropical area that is a very very very important job okay you want me to do it now we're going to recall this is a recall it's not a political recall so i don't want anybody to get uh start any rumors with the miami herald or anything like that we're going to have uh hilda come on up battle mooney because the director is here ashley thomas where ashley where are you oh thank you all so much uh hilda my gilda and a cultural affairs team you know thank you all for being here my name is ashley thomas i'm a new director who will never ever be late to a service committee meeting again i got pulled into a meeting and gilda thank you deputy mayor thank you commissioner bermudez for allowing us to just i want to celebrate you you've done three decades of amazing work for our department and so i would be remiss to not make sure i could give you the kudos you deserved here today so just for everyone to know we're cultural affairs we work very closely with community bringing arts and culture to everyone and gilda our chief of grant extra services extraordinary yes shout her out she's celebrating 30 years 30 years uh as a milestone and it represents so much more than just longevity it's your commitment and consistency to leadership you make sure that our community is supported you know um through the grant services that your team provides throughout gilda's career um some on our team can say she has the knowledge sound judgment and she understands our grants programs inside and out she plays an essential role to ensuring that artists and cultural organizations throughout miami-dade county have access and resources to the uh support that they need to do meaningful work she's also major at a major change to our department over the years she's helped modernize the way we do grants we used to be all on paper and gilda got us into the 21st century she learned she launched the first digital grants management platform she has streamlined our process to make it easier to apply to make it more efficient and she's developed systems to support applicants and grantees from technical assistance to corrective reviews to courtesy reviews and as i appreciate you gilda on a professional level i just want to speak to the care and compassion that you bring to your team the openness and that you're always receptive to ideas you know and trying to integrate them to make our work easier behind every application that we have each artist there's a child there's a parent there's a senior that's getting that service so i want to thank you for your connection to the arts i want to thank tom for being here today to support you as well and uh yeah just keep being great i want you to stay with us for as long as you're willing and congratulations on 30 years i'm so honored to be here saying that for you today thank you so much come on down i thought i was at a football game for a little while there next it's not the middle finger okay i'll do it thank you director that was really good i got to feel like uh uh madam director unfortunately part of being a director is they pull you out in these darn meetings that's the way it goes you know i know i'm glad that's that's coming through that's very important so uh congratulations again and tom you got a tough act to follow buddy that's the way it goes uh next uh we are going to have uh jose l garcia instrument control specialist and supervisor from the water and sewer department j fink director 30 years i'm a little concerned about how we're managing the water system right now they're all here no water main breaks right now please good morning um much like um earlier director fink is actually at the point of doing an introductory for our uh some pfos discussion this morning so he um best regards and billy joe so um jesus started us in 1996 i'm sorry jose we confused our numbers all right jose instrument control supervisor with our um meter tech team you know you've done a lot of um evolution over time back in 1996 you started with our sewer flow meters and you make sure all the flow meters coming from our wholesale customers we actually have accurate flow meters coming to us and um so 1996 started as a maintenance repair and then going into 2014 you started doing training our new techs and making sure that next generation actually knew what they need to do make sure the meters are accurate and in addition to that the hardest of the hardest are the ones that they gave you and um you know it's so important for what we do for miami dave county and making sure our meters are accurate because when they're not accurate the phones start ringing and you get them and deputy mayor gets them um and then uh 2016 you rolled into a supervisor role where you're currently monitor maintain and ensure we have 130 sewer flow meters accurate so thank you very much for your service hello i met jose 30 years ago when he first started with us here at water and sewer and it's been a large evolution uh like villageo mentioned technologies change policies change a lot of changes go around and you know meanwhile we still have to keep everything flowing keep everything counting one thing i always like to consider with jose and his crew about 15 or so employees in total manage about 100 million dollars a little over 100 million dollars in revenue every year so when we talk about weight of importance for a very small number of meters a very large amount of revenue that we're responsible for and jose is personally responsible for uh every year so congratulations jose i know you're not gonna do another 30 years but jose uh well actually i got to know you a little bit over a year ago when i came over to the meter division and uh you know i gotta tell you uh getting to know you and who you are and what you're about i gotta tell you thank you i appreciate your passion for what you do um you know jose like like everybody still knows here he's been here now for 30 years and not only has he been here for 30 years as a WASDE employee but he's also been a meter division for 30 years which is you know typically a lot of people jump you know different different divisions and uh but but i what i appreciate the most is your passion you know uh you love what you do you come to work every day you're available 24 7 and uh you know you're really out there making you know caring wanting to make things better and uh you know that that that typically with time people start to decline and with you with the year that i've been here you know you're still you're still climbing so uh you know you make my job easier you make all our jobs easier and i appreciate you and i just want to say thank you congratulations another fun fact about jose that i want to mention jose is actually a horse lover he owns horses and you know in his spare time it's something that he appreciates that he loves and i found that to be very interesting you know what i mean and i just wanted to make sure i mention that thank you and i appreciate you my friend good morning uh i'd like to uh thank uh miami-dade water and sewer 30 years ago i'd like to thank my superiors all behind me for being here but i especially like to thank wampalai for giving me the opportunity thank you thank you guys thank you jose and by the way water is one of the most important things i don't have to tell that to the deputy mayor because he knows but water is one of the most important things that we have let me go back let me go back where does that oh we did we got the pictures done okay well okay we got the picture did you get the you guys get the picture okay you need another one or no okay next oh because you're all staying up here oh wow nobody is working today in water and sewer are they but you you guys are critical by the way you guys are very very critical for what we do and yes we do get uh south florida could not people wouldn't be living here if it wasn't for what you guys do so that's a fact next is jesus well i'm gonna say it's right montezerín service tech number two also so jesus come on up good morning jesus you know i always love these stories someone that's actually worked your way up over the years from i uh started in humble beginnings in 1996 as a semi-skilled laborer and you didn't stay there long did you you were an mr before you know basically passed probation and got promoted after that you um you eventually moved over to our um as a meter tech and you know the meter tech like we're talking about with um with jose making sure our meters are accurate making sure nobody is um bypassing our meters is so essential for what we do and when people think about water and sewer they think about their bill and so you doing your job right ensures that the public make sure that um you know we maintain our trust and credibility within the public after that you decided that meters were too easy so then you started working on our fire hydrants once again a fire hydrant that's not working right is going to be a problem especially when you need it so thank you very much for that and then um 2014 you decided that was too easy so you started looking for that water we can't see and um jesus is one of our leads working on our leak detection program so the water you can't see there's a lot of water that can escape the pipes that we may never see and he's part of our team that's out there looking for that on a regular basis and on an annual basis we find billions of water that we're able to recover due to your efforts and we thank you for that but what's more important when you're not here you're with your family you're camping you're with your three grandkids no more on the way thank you very much for your service and another 30 years all right all right jesus uh you started back in 1996 it's a long time i don't remember many things about those days but i do remember that you didn't have any gray hair and that's me yeah so it's been a long long journey uh like she explained it you move off the ranks and 2018 uh you became to my session uh you were assigned to my session with the current position that you hold as a water technician too uh immediately uh with your talent uh job knowledge hard work dedication you become a a key a key asset to a daily operation uh you make our jobs a lot easier having you with your experience uh jesus is not only uh an excellent employee mr jesus is uh an excellent father grandfather great husband and like she mentioned he loves uh camping and um having quality time with his family especially his grandchildren so thank you congratulations on your 30 years of remarkable career with water and sewer and the wonderful memories that you made uh along the way i don't want to ask you about retirement because as per our conversation uh last week you're probably going to hang around a few more years we probably could retire together thank you again good morning for people that don't don't know jesus is my favorite brother-in-law yeah exactly not just being brief uh i couldn't ask for a better brother-in-law he's great with my sister his kids his grandkids his grandkids anything you want jesus always be there if home depot doesn't have it jesus has it guaranteed thank you for being who you are thank you love you thank you everybody i got to read something good morning everyone i'm truly honored to grateful to receive my award recognized 30 years with miami day water and sewer 30 years has been incredible generally finally we channeled it grow wonderful memory and most important great people i am thank you for all co-workers supervisors and friends who has been part in this journey and made this year so special i also want to say thank you my family for their love support and courage through the through the years thank you for this recognizing and truly means to love to me thank you those are beautiful words i i gotta tell you uh they do keep like i said the county running with this department and both jesus and jose in spanish we have a saying which is is it's rained a lot so 30 35 years a lot of blessings next but not last but not least we also have from the water and sewer department 35 years michael a palacio's projects inspector one michael congratulations thank you so michael's got a couple more years than our uh our last folks started us in 1991 1991 1991 with our survey team so you worked with survey team and then also with our water transmission team um quickly from the survey team you moved over to the uh to our service tech meter shop once he once he figured all that out then he decided he wanted to go to the water transmission team and in 2002 you started as our uh a project inspector with our paving program and um you know this program has really evolutionized over time for a while we had a group relationship that dtpw would do some of our paving and then we would also make sure that any of our water main breaks we had good uh paving repair and then we decided that you know you're too bored so we decided to give the entire paving program where you're now our lead um our lead worker with the paving program and so all the potholes anything that water and sewer has as far as trying to get final restoration whether capital projects sewer projects water projects meter projects now you make sure that we get a program to get all those repaired and we thank you for your service we know it's mindless we know that anytime that there's a pothole someplace someone's going to call you up and say where are we at with that so thank you thank you good morning i want to congratulate you in in the name of the division director that he could make it today i know he would love to be here i think the career was mentioned but i want to talk about the last 24 years you were promoted to uh project inspector in 2002 mainly to work only in canal crossings so that was the start point just to go and take pictures of canal crossings and right now you're the lead inspector for the one of the two groups of inspectors that we have i started the session 2004 so it's been over 22 years that we've been working together when i met you the first thing we were so young we didn't have great hair we didn't have great hair or anything the first thing that impressed me a lot he had two young beautiful daughters i didn't have any yet and he was a wonderful father that was the first thing to mention about michael always now he has three beautiful daughters and one of them worked for water and sewer too because water and sewer is a family yeah uh he come from county family the mother worked for probably was many many years and was very likely and very respected here in this building and now the daughter working water and sewer and we hope it was going to be many years working in water and sewer too uh michael's been 35 years with us he's part of the family yeah i think he make a very good group of friends in meter section and then came to distribution never move again he's planning to retire in four years and i think that four years is going to be 39 so you can wait to 40 for sure so i learned for him that he could take any time of the day to talk to his daughters not only about important things and going to functions and and doing homework but about small talks and small advice and it was all over his daughters always as a family man first a great co-worker and the last 15 years i think i've been using you to train other inspectors yeah you have trained over 13 inspectors that have passed to our section so when promoted so moved to another divisions so stay with us still even the ones that is working also in our section was trained by you that's true and i really appreciate that because you are a great communicator that's why i'm keeping the microphone away till i finish you love to talk and and you express yourself and all the sops and everything you remember all the standards everything and teach everybody in detail how things should be done no matter how they're done how they should be done and and something also impressive about michael is that when he takes a job and he says he's gonna take care he takes care the job can be done his duties and as an inspector investigator and everything and he's still on top of it no matter the time no matter the hours sometimes he sends emails that one in the morning 11 p.m i don't know why but saying oh and remember this customer this is customer that and he keeps the information he keeps in touch he follows up and that is amazing and i appreciate all the help i appreciate all the training you've done for the section that is not part of your duties but you've done it anyway you've been a great teacher for a lot of people a mentor and and that's the i i think that that's not appreciated enough thank you so much and again i know you're planning for years but you jump you can take five and come to 40 here and and we gave on all the plate that's it okay i'm sure i'm gonna keep it nice short and simple um i'm gonna thank you even though you don't report to me but thank you for all your years of service to wasdi um you're very meticulous with your work i like to think that i got that from you yeah um you know runs in the family yeah um nine years in hopefully i make it to 35 yes absolutely but we'll see um i look up to you thank you for all the hours you put into overtime everything that you've shown me you've helped me get into the county as well and i've made it this far thanks to you so thank you thank you baby welcome where do i pass the mic to do i pass pass the mic to anybody else anybody want to speak oh is this mic on okay uh i'm not a public speaker but i would have to say that i can't even talk that in my 35 years of service i met a lot of great people you can see here some as far as 85 that's another day another story but we go back a long ways uh my family my mom she showed me everything very proud and i just want to say thank you for everybody for always being there and i'll always be there and thank you i wake up every day and i'm not a speaker and i'm blessed to be here and to have this job to work with great people so thank you thank everybody for being here and those are beautiful words and a father with three daughters our goal is to have daughters tell us what to do ladies and gentlemen uh this concludes the service award ceremony presentations we thank you all for your attendance and all the honorees on behalf of mayor daniela levine cava deputy mayor roy coley right here with his buddies from water sewer so it was important for him to be here on behalf of anthony rodriguez and the board of county commissioners thank you so much for being here and thank you for delivering excellence every day you