and ask everyone if you could take your seats. We're going to get started. Good morning. Today's September 14th, 2026, and we have an amazing meeting scheduled. This is going to be the best way to start your Monday, awarding and recognizing long-term county employees for these incredible careers. I welcome you all. I welcome the employees and your families. And first, I want to introduce myself. I'm Brenda Newman. I'm the Chief Integrity Officer for Mayor Daniela Levine-Cava, and she wants to personally thank all of you for being here and all of our employees for your incredible public service. And we have a short video greeting from her. 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.
Wonderful. Yes. Thank you. All right. So this is for the thank you. Yes. And the thank you is for all of you for being here. Absolutely. This is how we're going to do this. We're going to call the employee's name and we'll tell you the department. We'll tell you how many years they've served this community and the employee will come up. We're going to give you an award and your supervisor and colleagues will also join you up here and you'll all get a little chance to, the employee will get a chance to say something. And so will their supervisor. And then the family is welcome to also join us down here and especially for the photo. Okay. So today we are going to start with an employee who has 40 years of service with Miami-Dade County. Let's just linger on that for a minute. 40 years and he's not ready to retire. He's still sharp as ever, dedicated as ever, and he's still serving our transportation and public works department. Will you please come down Mark Warren and also his colleagues and supervisors. Mark is a rail vehicle electronic tech. And thank you, Mr. Warren, for your 40 years of service. This is for you. On behalf, this award is given to you for your 40 years of excellent service to the people of Miami-Dade County from Mayor Daniela Levincava, Chairman Anthony Rodriguez, and the Board of County Commissioners. Thank you very much. And I'm going to let your supervisor say something about you and then you can go ahead. Congratulations,
Mark. Good morning, everybody. Ozzy Fernandez, Mark's co-worker. So, wow, what a major achievement. 40 years. That's incredible. 40 years. I think I was probably, I was 11 years old 40 years ago. Okay. Things have really changed in Miami. I think they were building the metro rail system or getting finished to building the system while you started the county. And later on, you came on board and I believe in 99, right? Around that time? Yes. To the metro rail side. That's wonderful. Mr. Warren's a rail vehicle electronic tech. He's one of our senior techs. And he's got a special skill set, right? Because he's allowed to pick as a mainline technician where he troubleshoots vehicles, gets cars back in service, and minimizes any delay time on the system. And I really appreciate your hard work and effort that you put in through the years. I hope you continue to put some extra years for us because you do really great work out there. So, I just want to congratulate you again and thank
you very much for your service. Thank you very much. You know, what you do is so important. We put the members of our public on our trains, on our buses, and you keep them safe every day. So, thank you so much for that. Would you like to say something? Sure, yes. I'd like to say thank you to
all for this recognition. It's been an honor and a privilege, and I'm very grateful for the time that I've been able to serve. Looking forward to many more years ahead, whatever that deadline may be. I don't know. But I've met a lot of really interesting people out there. I consider everybody family, friends, co-workers, and I'm just very grateful to have been able to be on course here for the last 40 years. But we'll see what comes up next. Thank you. Amazing, right? 40 years.
There's got to be something about transit keeping its employees for so long. This next employee has 35 years of service with Miami-Dade County. This person is a facilities equipment tech with transit, transportation, and public works. Will you please come down? Neville Millis, Jr. Mr. Millis? I'm sorry. Mr. Minnis. Excuse me. This is for you, Mr. Minnis. This is your award for 35 years of service to Miami-Dade County. On behalf of Mayor Daniela Levine-Cava and the Board of County Commissioners, thank you so much. We're going to let one of your colleagues say a few words about you, and then hopefully you will give us some of your wisdom.
Good morning. I'm Frank Irem, the Assistant Director over Operations and Maintenance for Transit and Public Works. Mr. Minnis has performed incredibly. You speak to the folks that know him and trying to learn about him before these awards, you hear a lot of great things about him. He's been with the county for over 35 years from what I saw. I'm not going to say a lot because I want to pass the microphone to his beautiful wife. She has an incredible story to tell for him. So thank you for
your service. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Today we're here to celebrate the career of Mr. Minnis. Mr. Minnis began his Miami-Dade County career on April 26, 1988 at the tender age of 21 when he joined the team as a Waste Attendant 1. Little did he know that this would be the beginning of an incredible 35-year-plus journey filled with hard work, determination, growth, and of course, plenty of jokes along the way. On February 26, 1990, Mr. Minnis was promoted to Waste Attendant 2, but after spending a year in that position, he decided he was ready for the next challenge. He obtained his CDL, Commercial Driver's License, and was promoted to Trash Truck Driver 1. Not one to sit still for long, Mr. Minnis set his sights on becoming a Trash Truck Driver 2. Say that three times. He accomplished that goal in February of 1994. At that point, Mr. Minnis probably thought he's in the money now, or so he thought. Life, as we all know, comes with its ups and downs. In May of 1995, Mr. Minnis experienced one of those downs when he was demoted back to Trash Truck Driver 1 in lieu of layoffs. However, rather than allowing that setback to discourage him, he remained grateful to his job and continued moving forward. He understood that the title might change, but the determination never has to, and move forward he did. January 1996, Mr. Minnis began a new chapter when he became a Miami-Dade Transit bus operator. He truly enjoyed his years as an operator and became known for being polite, courteous, hardworking, and perhaps most importantly, always ready with something funny to say. Over the years, Mr. Minnis received numerous accommodations, recognizing his outstanding service as a bus operator. He was also known for keeping his uniform neatly pressed and always smelling good. In fact, he was looking so good and smelling good, he managed to meet his wife, Chantel. While they were both working as bus operators. And as they say, the rest is history. With me by his side, the message was always clear and the same. Let's keep moving. What's next? On January 2017, he was promoted to DTPW Transit Equipment Facility Technician, beginning yet another successful chapter in his career. Right, guys? Mr. Minnis consistently received outstanding evaluations and earned the respect and admiration of his co-workers, whether he was working hard, helping someone out, or making everyone laugh. Right now, Mr. Minnis still has not stopped, even though he is ready or not ready to retire. He has earned his certified locksmith certificate, and he is now the locksmith of the team. So, in short, I would want to thank you for being exactly who you are, hardworking, funny, determined, and always ready for whatever comes next. We love you, and we are so proud of you. Congratulations. Well done, Mrs. Minnis, also Stuller
County employee. Mr. Minnis, would you like to share with us some of your wisdom? My wife said it. Oh, a smart man. Very wise man.
Well, just on behalf of Facility Maintenance, our chief, Vanessa, desired to be here, but unfortunately, she was unable to due to interviews. But we just want to say thank you for all that you do and what you bring to the table. And what we can say about you is that you do have a can-do attitude where you push forward. And at the times I've interacted with you, you don't tell me no, you tell me, all right, I'll figure out how I get it, and I'll get back to you. And I thank you for that, because it sets the examples for others as to how to move and how to keep going forward. So, congratulations on 35 years, and keep pressing forward.
All right, and with a third employee from Transportation and Public Works, this employee has 30 years of dedicated service to Miami-Dade County. This person is a manager of grants resources. Mia Maran, will you please come down? This award is given to you, Ms. Maran, on behalf of Mayor Daniela Levine-Cava, Chairman Rodriguez, and the Board of County Commissioners for your 30 years of dedication to the people of Miami-Dade County. So, thank you so much. And I'm going to let one of your colleagues.
Good morning. I'm Assistant Director Lisa Colmenares. I really, Mia has really a county illustrious career. She started her county career with the Department of Justice Assistance, supporting newly entrants youth programs. Over the years, she brought her talents to Miami-Dade Transit and the Paratransit Division to certify applicant eligibility. Later joined the Management Services Division to assist the budget teams with crucial audits. Her expertise led her to the County Commission's Legislative Analysis Division under the Commission Chair, Gwen Margulis, where she spent several impactful years serving as a legislative analyst for District 6 Commissioner Rebecca Sosa. In 2012, she returned to the Department of Transportation and Public Works, and she has been growing in her career. Not only the career, we have really been able, under Mia's leadership, to transform a grants administration department into a grants development administration under our planning division. And we're so proud of Mia and what we have been able to accomplish and grow grants under her leadership. So we want to thank you, Mia. You really are a collaborator, a developer, and we want to thank you for your illustrious career. We do have her prior supervisor here. If you want to say a few words, Mr. Valar. You're good?
Okay. And Mia, a few words. I'm going to make this short and sweet, but I'm so grateful for being part of the County County County family for 30 years, over 30 years. I'm also especially grateful to my co-workers, you know, for their hard work working alongside me. I'd also like to congratulate and be grateful for Lisa and her guidance and unwavering guidance and support in our grant endeavors. I would also especially like to thank my husband, Wilson Fernandez, who I met here in the county, who's been, who has supported me professionally and personally, has provided a loving home along with our children, Madison and Maddox, who are all grown up. So we're kind of empty nesters now. And, you know, they're out in the world doing great things. Thank you. Congratulations.
Up next is an employee with 35 years of service. Amazing. This person is an IT telecom system supervisor for aviation. Will you please come forward, Lorraine Jones. Congratulations, Ms. Jones, on your 35 years of service. And thank you for your service on behalf of Mayor Daniela Levincava and Chairman Rodriguez and the Board of County Commissioners. We thank you for your service. And I see your fearless aviation director is here to speak on your behalf. Thanks, Brenda. So,
Lorraine started with the county, amazingly, as a clerk typist, too, right here in this building in the Employee Relations Division. About a year and a half later, she came over to aviation and she's never left. She started out in the telecoms division, worked her way up, and now she's a telecom system supervisor. And she does a lot of the back, behind the scenes work that nobody sees, but keeps her operation up and running. But most importantly, she does it with that smile, a great attitude, always, you know, with a can-do attitude. She never has a bad day. You can call her at any time. I call her sometimes when I need help. I'm not the most tech-savvy person in the world. And she gets me through those moments when I need her help. So, and like, she does it for me. She does it for everybody in the department. But a little known fact that people don't know is that she's also a great singer. So, Lorraine is part of our MIA Wings of Song Choir. So, I'm not going to put her on the spot and make her sing unless you want to. But she's also a great singer and she's really active in all of our community events, like Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Awareness, Black History Month, and those types of events. So, not only does she do a lot of work professionally, but she does a lot of great work for us and for the community and all of the stuff that we do as far as community outreach in the department. So, we're extremely proud of her. Sadly, I think she's a dropper. She's getting ready to retire. But, I mean, I hope she stays as long as she can because she's really an asset to the department, a gem to have around. And just with that smile, she's a great person just to be around. Great vibe, great energy, and congratulations. Thank you so much.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank God for this opportunity, for this blessing. Everything in my life has been ordained by God and me working for aviation, my extended village. Oh, my God, they are so amazing. If you ever came over there, you probably wouldn't leave either. So, I want to thank you, Ralph, for everything that you've done. This is the greatest director that I've had, and I've had a few. Now, this is, he's number one. I thank God for him, too. I thank God for not just being a servant to my Miami-Dade County family, but to people in general. I want to help, assist, uplift, give a word of wisdom, listen, listen. Whatever I can do to help, that's what I'm going to do, and that's just who I am. Thank you so much for this, and God bless you all.
Hey, next coming up, 30 years of service to Miami-Dade County. This person works for libraries and is a librarian for Miriam Quiroz Lasso. I apologize if I didn't get your name correctly. Please come up for 30 years of service.
Good morning. My name is Lydia Lopez, and I am the library director and Miriam's colleague, and I wrote something up to say to you. So, it is my honor to be here today to recognize someone truly exceptional, Ms. Miriam Quiroz Lasso, for her 30 years of dedicated service to Miami-Dade County. All of it with the Miami-Dade Public Library System, so thank you. Miriam started with us back in 1995 as a part-time employee at our Fairlawn Branch Library while she was still in college. It didn't take long before she moved into a full-time role, and from there, she's never looked back. Over the years, Miriam worked at several locations throughout our system, spending much of her career at the Coral Reef Branch Library. She went on to earn her master's degree in library science, becoming a professional librarian, and later served as a branch manager. Today, she serves in that role at the Coral Reef Branch Library, bringing her experience, her knowledge, and her passion to the branch she calls home. But if you ask me what makes Miriam truly special, it's this. How much she cares about our residents, especially those with autism and other special needs. Miriam has been a tireless advocate for making our libraries more welcoming and inclusive for everyone. In fact, it was Miriam's work that helped make our autism-friendly spaces initiative a reality, an effort that went on to earn Miami-Dade County a NAGO Best in Category Award. But knowing Miriam, the award was never the point. For her, it was always about one thing, making sure that everyone who walks through our doors feels welcome and feels like they belong. Miriam, we are so lucky to have your experience, your knowledge, and your unwavering commitment to our residents. You're always the first to step in, lend a hand, and do whatever needs to be done. Your love of your library, your colleagues, and your patrons shines through every single day. Thank you so much for your 30 years of service. Congratulations. We are proud to call you one of
our own. Miriam, thank you so much. On behalf of Mayor Danielle Levincava and Chairman Rodriguez and the Board of County Commissioners, we thank you for your 30 years of service and, as part of that, doing so much for our libraries to be more accessible. So thank you for that. Okay, our next employee has 30 years of service to Miami-Dade County and the people of Miami-Dade County. Gina Drakes, please come down. Ms. Drakes is a chief in the Pros Division III Parks Department. Oh my goodness, there are hundreds of people here for you. That's wonderful. Okay, we have to give everyone a minute to come down. Yeah. Well, Ms. Drakes, I think the number of people who have come out for you also speaks volume. So thank you so much. On behalf of Mayor Daniela Levincava, Chairman Rodriguez, and the Board of County Commissioners, thank you. And we want to recognize you for your 30 years of service to the people of Miami-Dade County. And I'll let your colleague say a few words about you. Awesome.
Good morning. Brian Eichler, Deputy Director for the Parks Department. On behalf of Christina White, who our director desperately wanted to be here but unfortunately couldn't make it, I want to say congratulations, Gina. As everybody can see, Gina is certainly a big part of our department. She's worked in many different areas within the county, but she definitely found her home with us. And so we're so glad that you did. I met Gina about five years ago and she was working on our FEMA exercise for Hurricane Irma still in 2017. Anybody who's worked with the federal government before knows how much fun that is and how collaborative they are. So Gina is definitely the right person and the right temperament to handle that. So we certainly appreciate that effort. She's always been the person that stepped up for us. So whenever we've had transitional change in the department, Gina's stood up and taken those leadership roles on. And certainly most of the people here know that and know her leadership. And that's why they're standing here with you today. So Gina, thank you so much for 30 years. I know we're getting a lot more out of you. You promised. So thank you so much
on behalf of the department. So good morning and congratulations, Gina. I started in prose 11 months ago, yesterday. And two weeks before I started, I had a binder about that thick from Gina with my homework assignments. So Gina has been very thorough and I see a couple other folks who she was in that supporting role for in the room. And so I want to just say that without your support, it would be impossible for us to do our job. So thank you very much and congratulations and welcome to the
family. Thanks for sharing. Well, good morning, everybody. Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to be here today. I want to thank the leadership of Miami-Dade County. What a ride. 30 years. It has been amazing. I started in Water and Sewer as a temp and I have my supervisor that hired me from Water and Sewer 30 years ago here with me. Thank you, Lance, for believing in me 30 years ago. I have a representative also from Fire Rescue that I work very closely. She's very bad at Barreto, retired. Thank you for your leadership and my Park family. For the past 15 years, you guys opened the door to me and we have fun. We have gone a long way together and I thank you for being patient with me and for all your support. So thank you so much to every single one of you guys and I look forward to continue working many more years with every one of you guys. Thank you.
All right. Thank you so much for everyone's patience. The next employee has been here for 30 years. This employee is a fleet management facility supervisor, Daniel Irving, with our people and internal operations department. Please come down. Mr. Irving, on behalf of Mayor Daniela Lavincava, Chairman Rodriguez and the Board of County Commissioners, thank you for your 30 years of service to our community. And I'll pass the microphone. Good morning. I'm Ray Delgado. I'm the
director of PIOD. These are some of the best things that we get to do as directors. There's nobody more important than the people that are giving the services out in the field, the frontline people. Daniel started 30 years ago as an automotive mechanic, has worked his way up to facility supervisor. Every single vehicle that comes through the county has been touched by this man's team. He does the new car, get ready, make sure it's got the fuel, the sun pass, all the little bells and whistles so that later we don't lose them because that happens. Like I said, it's these type of stories, 30 years. I told him when he got here, I goes, I can't wait to grow up and be just like him and be able to retire. But I still have many years. And a wife that spends too much. But with that, I want to thank you. And I've only been here with you a short time, but I've always heard positive things. And it's just
absolutely wonderful for you. Sir, first and foremost, I want to say congratulations. I'm extremely happy for you. And we're all a little sad in that fleet, you know, your fleet family to see you go, but you reached your goal. I'm ecstatic for your congratulations. Selfishly, I also want to thank you for spending all your time at fleet management and not going anywhere else because you were one of the best assets, friend, teammate, coworker, colleague, you know, you name it. You've been amazing. Anytime you hear your name is, oh yeah, you know, dancer to help. And the words come, come out of your mouth or like, Hey, we're going to don't worry about it. We'll take care of it. You've been amazing, super easy to work with. And, um, you're, we're going to miss you. We're going to miss you dearly. Congratulations. We're here for you. Good morning. Thank you for
having this event. Wow. Um, I remember filling out the County, uh, application downtown and a little metal desk, that's a school student desk and a number two pencil. I got lucky. I actually was honored to meet Edwin with my first ID GSA. And that came to me horizontally with my social security number on it, believe it or not. Yeah. But this is a dream come true. I always wanted to work for Metro Dade or Miami Dade, but, um, I could not have done it without the support with coworkers, the assistant facilities, the managers, the directors, all that teamwork really helped me. This was a dream come true. And thank you. Thank you so much.
And our final award winner today has 30 years of service with our, with Miami Dade County and is with our corrections and rehabilitation department come commissary specialist, Elise McKnight. Please come down. Ms. McKnight on behalf of mayor Daniela Levine Cava, chairman Rodriguez and the board of County commissioners. Thank you for your 30 years of service. Well, good morning,
everyone. They saved the best for last. We know that corrections does it grand. So Ms. McKnight, congratulations on 30 remarkable years of service. When I think about your time here, I think about three decades of great service, loyalty, support, hard work, but most importantly, love. And we know that buildings and systems may change, but people never do. And because of you, MDCR is who we are. You are that perfect piece to our puzzle that makes us whole. So from my heart and all the 3000 men and women of MDCR to your heart, we say, congratulations. We appreciate you. And we love you for all that you have done for our department. Now I know there's some other folks that want to say a few things. So
I'm gonna pass the mic so I don't get in trouble. Good morning, everyone. My name is Ms. Pye. I'm the materials management manager. I have had the pleasure of working with Ms. McKnight for the past five years, but I would like to share with all of you her career journey with Miami-Dade County. Elise McKnight began her career with Miami-Dade County in 1994 as a board of county commission aid. In 1995, she transitioned to the Miami-Dade corrections and rehabilitation department where she began serving as a clerk one. Throughout her career, Elise has continued to grow professionally, earning promotions to property custodian and ultimately to her current position as a commissary specialist. In her role as a commissary specialist, Elise is responsible for receiving inmate commissary orders from the vendor and maintaining and filling all related documentation to ensure accurate and efficient processing. Throughout her more than 30 years of service, Ms. McKnight has demonstrated a strong commitment to teamwork, professionalism, and building positive relationships with the individuals she serves and the colleagues with whom she works. One of her proudest professional accomplishments has been the opportunity to continually develop her skills, take on additional responsibilities, and grow within the department. Ms. McKnight credits her family as one of her greatest sources of strength and motivation throughout her career. She is a proud mother of two daughters and a granddaughter who she enjoys spending quality time with, cooking, and creating memories. Known for her positive outlook, Ms. McKnight strives to bring good energy, encouragement, and happiness to those around her. Her positive mindset and faith have also helped guide her through life's challenges, while the support and encouragement of her supervisors has contributed to her continued success and dedication to our work. After more than three decades of service, Elise remains committed to her work and to the people she serves. Retirement is not yet in her plans, and she looks forward to continuing to contribute her experience, knowledge, and positive spirit to MDCR for several more years. Elise comes to my desk often with her hand on her hip, and she'll say, Pa, you hear me talking to you? So it's my turn now. Ms. McKnight, do you hear me talking to you? Thank you for your service, dedication, and commitment to our team. Congratulations on reaching this milestone in your career. We love you, and we wish you continued success.
I wanted to say congratulations. Congratulations to my mom and for the times that she has spent with me. I wanted to say I love you so much and keep up the good work.
Hello, hello. My name is Jeffrey DeMond. I want to tell her that we're, the family is super proud of you. We've seen your growth professionally and personally, your hard work, dedication to the job, to the family. I also want to tell you that our daughter, you are a great role model. She sees you go to work every day. She sees you get up days I know that you didn't want to go to work. You were tired or sick, and I would tell you, you know, stay home. Don't go to work. You would say, no, I'm still going to go to work. So, you know, thank you for being a great mother to our daughter. Thank you. I've seen you grow almost 20 years in this department, and from me to you to your daughter, we want to say we're really proud of you. Keep going. Keep striving for greatness. Continue doing great, and we love you a lot.
Really quick, my name is Commander Daphne Moore. I just want to say really quick, don't let that sweet face fool you. She is really the boss, and she tries to boss us around, but we absolutely love the contributions that she provides for Materials Management Bureau. We could not do it without you. We really, really, really, really, really appreciate everything that you do. Thank you.
Wonderful. Let's take a photo. Oh, sorry. Let us let our guest of honor speak.
I just want to thank God for allowing me to make it this far. Thank my family, my work family. Thank you. I'm just happy to be here to receive this reward. I'm following my aunt's footstep. She worked in the gender coordinator's office for over 40 years. Well, county manager's gender coordinator for over 40 years. I told her as a young lady I was going to be just like her,
and I think I'm almost it. I just want to thank everybody. Congratulations, and you're very blessed. And thank you to all our corrections workers. We get to sleep well every night because of the great work that you do. Thank you. Well, thank you all for attending and watching from home our awards ceremony and recognition for county employees for their many decades of service to our community. Thank you. That concludes our program.