e e e e e e e e e e [Applause]
that's loud that's loud good evening everyone and welcome um Marne would you please call the role council member Steve fredman here council member Deb Gillis here vice mayor Don Horton here and mayor Sharon
Mahoney here we have a COR okay um I heard we have a colonel in our presence tonight retired Colonel Mr dor will you please do the pledge thank you IED aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the repu
for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all play thank you okay Council any uh emergency deletions or additions ma'am Deb Don no
ma'am Steve okay all right so moving on we're going to open general public comment Marne okay we have uh van Cen head followed by Joe wishm good afternoon Council I'm van
Caden H um I'm here tonight and I'm really sorry I am because I wish uh things had been more settled in the village and I wish we still had our our old uh no OB
but uh our old manager and I wish we had Mr Pender in to give his opinion but apparently he decided uh to ghost us and uh leave us with uh a a tough night tonight to decide amongst the people who
are here and I just uh hope that you will give your um consideration to the the future of Isa marada and to the direction that you want Alam marada to take and uh I hope that you
will allow uh whoever the candidate is that gets your approval uh to be uh fair and and balanced in their uh approach to the development of alam marada and I'm a
little bit taken aback by the fact that uh AEL cities east was hired in September one of the the reasons being given was that they could start immediately well here we are coming into February and we've not had one Workshop
charet nothing not a word from concerning able cities east and I think that uh whatever kinds of uh decisions that are made in the LPA and by the council should be uh put on the back
burner until the public has a chance to speak at the public workshops that are upcoming and the shereet that is upcoming I don't think any important decisions should be made uh by you or anybody else until the public has had a
chance to voice their opinions in those forums thank you very much Marne who's next please Joe wishm Joe wishm Plantation key mayor and Council I'm speaking to you tonight regarding the vacant Council seat
filling the seat is very complicated and will affect the entire Community for years to come first The Village Charter infers that a vacant seat with more than 50% of the term remaining would require a special
election the public voters should have a say in this decision if your village attorney concludes that rule does not apply then you should consider all factors involved in this DEC ision the most recent election the question came
up about Mr Pender being a full-time Isa marada resident as is required to even qualify to run for councel if this is true then Mr pener would have been disqualified and his opponent van Cadenhead should be awarded de seat if
not then the public not the council should decide whether they prefer a pro-development or pro-environment Council member to fill the seat having only four council members may actually force you to compromise with each other
and work together on decisions affecting development until the new comp plan and ldrs are completed to make sure they comply all of you were voted into the council by us we deserve the right to fill that
seat only knowing all of the candidates for a couple of days and then hearing a three-minute spe spee hardly seems like enough time to make such an important decision some of the current candidates ran for counsel in the most recent election and were overwhelmingly voted
down by your constituents the voters appointing one of them with the exception that I stated earlier would be a slap in the face and an insult to all of us who voted and those of you who defeated those people imagine how that would look especially for those of you
who won your seats fair and square public perception and your legacy are writing on your decision do the right thing and consider the consequences of your futures in our village thank you Mr wishm um I let you go on because I
didn't want to be rude but public comment is supposed to be for things that aren't a tab and fulfilling this seat is a tab and just so I would like to have Mr Quick clarify number one buddy Pender did live in the keys so he went on vacations whatever and I had a
conversation with Mr quick about how filling the seat Works cuz trust me I wanted this to go to a general election I don't want to be the person making these decisions so I called Mr Quick would you like to explain so there's no we're transparent and people can know
yeah absolutely the the charter is is clear on this and if you look at uh section mean from me now section five of the charter and subsection 7D 2 it says if however the remainder of the unexpired term is equal to or
exceeds 50% which is the scenario we're in the remaining council members shall within 30 days following the occurrence of such vacancy by majority V vote appoint a person to fill the vacancy until the next regularly scheduled
Village election if you look in Section 8 of the charter where it talks about the schedule for general elections it says the regular Village ction shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each even
numbered year so the next regularly scheduled Village election is November of 2026 which also happens to be the last the the end of the this term as well um honestly the way it's set up with the 50% more or less that's really a hold
over from when when the village had four-year terms that's when it made a difference right now they both mean basically one and the same so it we The Village Council does have to appoint and that appointment goes until the rest of the term because that's November 2026
mayor go ahead I'm just wondering I mean because it does seem to be redundant isn't that something that we could maybe clean up for the for the future yeah certainly I mean that that's something that um uh you know I think could be corrected through a uh it would have to
be done through a charter uh vote but could be corrected to to make make it um consistent with twoyear terms as opposed to you know basically being one in the same and a hold over from four yes definitely thank you and I just want to make sure everybody understands we
followed the rules and trust me I I wish it was the other way around myself so okay Marne anyone else um yes Barry Ray Sharon I appreciate your comments and Mr attorney I would like to commend you I
noticed the same redundancy uh as well today when I went to read it so it is a little confusing that it says the same thing twice but again we're getting ready to clean up the comp plan so you know we've got a lot of work in front of us again I seem to remember telling you
this is a tough position and uh commended you for taking on that challenge and thank you all again because I want to make a comment to those who are going to speak after me who are interested in serving it is
extremely hard um some of you know what it's like two of you at least up there two you are learning what it's like it can be very rough it can be very mean and it's unfortunate because normally our town is very nice and people are
very caring but when it comes to things that become frustrating and they feel like they're unrepresentative or things go bias that's when bad things happen you know what parts were appropriate you know that you accept it as appropriate Sharon you know from what van just said
you know are really about you know this whole debate thing having a different set of viewpoints is so important to good decision making without debate without original thought without different points of view and different
experiences you'll make poor decisions unfortunately you need that debate sometimes it'll convince you well I didn't think of it like that so I encourage you as as you consider these candidates you know two things you know Joe talked about the fact that he looks
at it from the point of view that there was one race here you know that we're talking about what is really you know to me I go back to what I said the last time I was here about the priorities of EOS systems and environments if you read the very
front end of our comp plan every different separate passage in there talks about protecting the environment talks about the importance of the environment but yet our actions have not always been consistent
with that have not been defensive enough of our environment have not been proactive enough so I implore you as you go through this think about those things those important things the balance the fact that we had a very
recent election this is unfortunate I feel bad that you know it has happened this way I wish buddy would have realized hey maybe I don't want to continue here before that happened that's probably a tough decision too I'm not condemning anybody I'm just saying we really have an opportunity to do
something good this evening and I think you have a tough job and thank you for taking it thank you Marney we have two more signed up but I do believe that they're signed up to speak during the public comment on the
agenda item Miss singles yes so that would be all thank you okay all right Sheila do you want to say anything or we moving on to the filling in of Mr Pender's seat uh no I'm good um okay do we want to go over the process I would
like maybe to please explain how this is going to work sure so um the way it's set up is that uh each candidate will have 3 minutes to speak um and express their interest um uh to uh to the council um
the candidates will be called in alphabetical order uh I will mention that um there is one candidate who who does have a um a conflict later and has asked to be to be moved up so I know that the the mayor is going to uh uhu mention that to you all in terms of uh potentially moving that person up as
well Council you will be able to ask any questions that you might feel of the um uh candidates as you feel is necessary then once that is completed then we will have public comment um on that item so as a reminder for anybody who may be new to Council meetings um make sure if you
want to speak at public comment get you need to have your um uh sign your cards in um before the um item is called um after we have the public comment Council will by written um uh vote vote for up
to three uh candidates that means you can vote for anywhere from Zer to three um now you will also need to write your names on the um the your uh pieces of paper um while it can be done in writing it cannot be it cannot be a secret vote
for public uh records and Sunshine Law purposes so you will need to write your name on that and that will that will become a public record and anyone can can request it going forward um the staff will then tally up the um uh the votes and provide the top three
candidates from there then you will discuss and deliberate um at those top three and you will vote for one at there to try to whittle it down um ultimately um whenever you all do come to a consensus a majority consensus on
who it is it will need to be done by formal uh verbal motion and second and and formal vote to to make it official um whoever uh is selected um will then be sworn in and he or she can take the seat on the dis and join you all uh for
the rest of the meeting as a uh as a full-fledged council member um so any any questions did I miss anything mayor go ahead I just want to clarify the final the after the initial vote the other votes will be paper votes
also uh yes yes sorry about that yes so it'll be done again again you'll have to write your names on it and it'll be done that until like I said at some point we will ultimately have to have a formal uh motion and and vote on that and there's no limit to the rounds so we'll do one
round where we pick three and if this there's a a tie then we go and then only those people that are tied will then move on to the next round so so others that weren't voted on they're out yes correct yeah and and then those rounds
continue until we have a majority until at least three people vote out yeah until there's three or yeah exactly I mean I I joked I brought my pillow and my toothbrush so I'm here Don anything I'm good okay um Mr rafanello did ask if he could go first I
do not have a problem with it how do you feel Steve everybody okay all right so I guess we are ready to start does anybody have anything first or no I just wanted to add one thing that um one of the candidates did resend oh yes their um
intent uh it was uh Stephanie scad did resend her um letter of in okay thank you for that so we'll be after Mr rafanello then we will go in in alphabetical order thank you do we do can we do questions after each candidate
yes very good sorry thank you very much and thanks a lot for the consideration I have two young teenage children and a wife who's working today tonight so if I don't get home I might not have a home by 8:00 my name is Tom rapanello I'm an Isa
marado resident have been for 15 years I have run for City Council Office in the past all of you are familiar with me but many of you are not children one in PKS and one in Coral Shores I'm a
34-year DEA special agent retired 20-year executive service in the management realm and I'm going to go to management experience because these are executive management jobs you handle a $28 million budget you handle a manager
who's got over a 100 people in his staff so without the kind of necessary experience you don't want to do this on an OJT or on the job training I'll give you my uh my last position in federal service I was a member of of the senior
executive service and that equates to the rank of Brigadier General I had 10,000 employees 6,000 of them were agents I supervised 60 Executives worldwide 20 attorneys
worldwide had a budget of between 200 million and $250 million I had 200 domestic offices and 58 foreign offices and if there's a problem out there that's ever been hatched I had to handle it in that
particular time period back to my qualifications and back to where I stand as far as what's going on here I'm dedicated to protecting a unique environment that comes right next to the fact that I support and I will put
residents and their families at the top of my list everything I do will match your vision statement and our mission statement which many people look at nobody really executes I'm a decision maker I'm a fiscal conservative and will spend your
tax dollars wisely in 1996 President Bush gave me a presidential executive award for my administration of tax money and my administration of the dea's operational
section uh that same year I got a like a distinguished service award from attorney General bar for doing exactly that so I've got some executive experience and I think that should really enter into the equation because you've got a lot of different things at
play here I'm not a Korea politician if I get this term that'll be it for me because if you can't do it in the first year you can't do it uh residents and their needs will set my agenda I will do whatever it takes to
make sure that we're transparent that the residents speak that we do more workshops that everybody in this Village contributes to what we're doing we're at three minutes thank you thank you any questions anyone have any questions from
the council Deb Don um Tom H how many committees have you served on with the village been appointed to or or I sat on a committee with Deb Gillis that had to do with the uh freebie and it turned out to be bo we did make some
suggestions on what to do I'm I'm very fil familiar with different committees chaired a committee with the international Chiefs of police chair to several committees with the joint narcotics task force chair a committee with the FBI's joint Terror I I know how
committees work I'm a good team player I know you have lots of other committees here my wife sits on the LPA I listen and I read so I'm very familiar with how you do things thank you Steve anything so so that committee we sat on was a RFP
committee it was RFP okay it wasn't a thank you Mr was for fre thank you very much and thanks for your consideration I got to split thank you Barney who's next next is Van Caden head evening again Council I'm van
Hunter Caden head I've lived in the key since 19 1956 I rode on the school bus with uh mayor Mahoney back in the day and uh this is my home this these are these are my people and I'm seeing uh I think
unbridled growth happening and overdevelopment happening and has been happening for quite some time and I'd like to bring my experience uh as a Navy veteran and also as a a graduate of uh
Indian River College with a business degree I believe I can uh handle that I was a sonar supervisor for the Navy between uh 1967 and 1970 and I had 20 people working for me I understand how that works and to go to
Mr uh uh Horton's question uh I served three years on the LPA and I also served a year on the uh land acquisition uh committee um I have uh no I I successfully sidestepped running for
public office for 25 years I've been up here at this Podium trying to make things better but it came to a point uh at the last election when I saw we were slipping off into the darkness and I think there's very little of Isa marada maybe 30% left to save and I think we
really need to stiffen up and and uh uh uh examine what we're doing as far as uh develop vment goes and I'm not against Redevelopment and I'm not against reasonable development I mean I've worked as a as a carpenter and as a
laborer and landscaper here in the village and I've also been a a treasure diver and a salvage diver and and disc jockey and I've had my own band from uh from the Caribbean Club to Key West so I mean I know these islands I and I know
these people I think and uh I I would do my utmost you know if you would would choose me to sit in that seat that I challenged Mr Pender for and I I'm really sorry Mr Pender left I say that again because I
look forward to uh back and forth with him for another couple of years but uh if if you want to put me in there I will definitely be a voice for the environment and for the residents because uh they they uh represent the
goal that I I strive to uh attain which is having the sport fishing capital of the world be a friendly uh laidback place which is where I grew up from the age of seven so thank you very much for your
consideration and uh anybody has any questions I'm here Steve Deb Don oh thank man okay thank you Marne next up is Greg doly
excuse me my doctor tells me I'm the poster boy for allergies so and they're killing me tonight good evening mayor council members Village staff and fellow Isam Mar residents uh my name is Greg dully and I'm honored to be considered for the
opportunity to serve the village of Isam marada as a council member I want to thank each and every you every every one of you for your service and for taking the time to carefully consider myself as well the other as well as the other qualified candidates before you this evening Isam Rod is more than just a
place where I live it is my home it's my community and it's a place I deeply care about over the past 10 years I've been fully invested in this Village not only as a resident but as a professional and Community servant with over two decades of experience as a realtor I understand the
intri intri intricacies of land use economic sustainability and the responsibility of preserving our village unique character while addressing its evolving needs a significant part of my career has been dedicated to Bringing people together even when they start from
opposing positions I've built a successful career negotiating with some of the toughest clients out there not by taking sides but by finding common ground and proposing solutions that satisfy the needs of both parties I believe that the best Agreements are those where both parties
walk away feeling like they receiv received what they needed this approach listening understanding different perspectives and working towards balanced Solutions is the same approach I would bring to this Council governance much like negotiation is not about winning or losing it's
about building consensus and making decisions that move the community forward in a way that benefits everyone and not just a few beyond my professional experience my commitment to serve has been demonstrated through my work as chairman of the land acquisition committee and a member of the affordable housing
committee for this Village these roles have given me firsthand experience in addressing critical issues such as protecting our fragile environment and our valuable Water Resources there's been one question that's come up several times from residents who have reached out to me
over the past few weeks that is whether I'm affiliated with any particular group organization special interest of this appointment process and the answer is a big no a big no I'm not backed by any group nor do I represent any special
interests I a neutral candidate that stands before you this evening I believe my neutrality is one of my greatest strengths for this position and if appointed I will serve with fairness integrity and without bias making decisions based solely on what's best for the residence of Isa
marata at the core of everything I do is a strong moral and ethical Foundation as a deacon at the First Baptist Church of Isam marada and a long-term member of its board members I've been Guided by the principles of honesty and Integrity servant leadership and I believe that
servant leadership is not about personal gain but about stewardship it's about listening working together and making responsible decisions that serve the best interests of our entire community and not just a few if given the opportunity to serve my priorities will be clear protecting our
environment and our Water Resources maintaining the character of our village and finding practical Sustainable Solutions to the challenges we face thank you it's three minutes thank you sir thank you for your con wait don't go some you may have a question I'm sorry does anybody have any questions for Deb
no Don I don't think so Steve um I was just wondering you were on the land acquisition committee correct yes sir were you on that when we acquired the church the island Christian Community Church when we what when you recommended that we acquire the the that
property I was yes uhhuh do you do you I'm just wondering if you have any sort of ideas or thoughts in terms of what we might do with that piece of property uh I would like to see it as a community center in one way shape or form um there's been a couple of different
entities within the uh community that have expressed an interest that need a place to meet that was one possibilities it's a great building um in fact I actually had that building sold as many of you may know uh prior to the to the church and it didn't work out so um and I'm very happy for the church and I'm
happy for the village I think it's it's a great piece of property it's a great building and I think it's big enough to accommodate a lot of different activities um I'm not really sure who has interest in in occupying the place but um I I would definitely use it for a community service building thank you
anything else I do you have a question go ahead so the uh the church didn't run through the land acquisition committee no it did not uh I didn't think so I answered his question I was on the land acquisition but that particular purchase did not come up during our it started
with May so thanks for the CL anybody else thank you Greg very much thank you thank you gentlemen ladies Arie next up is David Epstein good good evening um first if you don't mind can we get one moment of silence for the 67 Souls we lost last
night I I just got notified I lost a friend on there so um last night was obviously pretty big impact I think don't count that towards me thank you hi my name is uh David
Epstein as most of you know me um we're really lucky to have long-term residents that that care and donate their time yes people receive a a basic stien expense but I know you all Do It For the Love of of the village and um
and Community public service at all levels um is a true gift to the residents of our Paradise I know of Al Mara um living in Paradise is one of the United States and we have one of the greatest treasures um it brings huge responsibility to all of us um to everybody in this room to to you folks
um and it take it requires an intense amount of homework and due diligence so um uh growing up on an implantation key n marada was a blessing and still is for all children and young young adults um in the 70s and 80s I was lucky see both
sides of how this works uh my mom was a building coordinator for the for Upper Keys and then became the building coordinator for for Monro County um and my dad unfortunately just passed away last week and he was um as you know environmental side of it um he was all about catching fish but make sure we
release them make sure we bag our trash make sure we take photos make sure no name key you know had solar energy um I as many young adults um I left the keys um to do to grow um through schooling the military learn the outside world get
off the rock my military and Civil Service took me around the globe I always always took my experiences as a tool that one day I was going to come back here um and serve um and is very important to me um I was the Department of Defense emergency manager and
director for first several years of the Pentagon um I responsible for 1,800 emergency managers worldwide and had a $ 1.5 billion budget that was executed um with no problem and we saved lots of money doing that um when it was time to
move to my final position um I made I really chose Homestead Air Force Base so I could retire there and work here first thing I did my first priority was to get EMB bedded into the county and into the village and several of of the members here have asked for you know questions
so forth um I serve on the park and wreck committee which I love it's fantastic I think it's going to be a huge huge deal coming up um I've taught many courses over for local state federal elected officials to allow cross talk coalitions to help communities um
in every facet uh for safety environmental concerns fiscal responsibility taking care of our people um the next several years in Al marada as we all know are crucial they require strategic strategic thinking as a team with our future Village manager and then
get dedicated professionals who work for our Great Village um we definitely need to be thinking you know development safety protecting mitigation Insurance all the things that we're already doing here um and please
look at your evacuation zones I know there's a lot to that they're 10 years old it will change How We Do building in Monro County talk to your National Weather Service talk to National Hurricane Center thank you um can I can I just have a closing Mark I'm sorry
well I I've skipped a bunch but I've y studied what before you tonight I've concluded in the speed reading I want to emphasize I see myself as a strong candidate I believe though that Anna Richards is really the right person to immediately step in she received 45% of the vote thank you I can't and so I'd
like to make sure we left on that all right anybody have any questions thank you D no no thank you all right there we go next next is Beth Camin and please remember when you hear that buzzer don't make me do that I hate doing that to people
that's it's painful is it isain hi my name is Beth cmenin and I'm interested in um filling empty uh Buddy's empty seat uh I have been a resident since
here I've been a resident since its Inception I've been a village resident since its Inception haven't owned a house here since the 80s my late husband Ron Levy spearheaded the Go Local Island
marada incorporation movement and I was involved in all aspects of that political plight supporting Ron the whole time I'm aware of the necessity and the power that look governing our village can bring to the lives of our
neighbors and I seek to restore faith in the possibility of a government that cares about the environment we all live in both physically and psychically I have been involved with many creative projects in the Upper Keys beginning
with a playground and if you remember behind the library which um I got monor County because we were still part of the county then to build um and then went on to build the mon monor Island School in
tavanir which along with Ron and two other friends and then we I wrote the charter for it to become the monor island Charter School which is operating now as treasure Village Monas um and that Charter by the way was
the second Charter uh approved in uh Monroe County um I then wrote another Charter along with a friend for ocean studies charter school which now exists at my
marker 100 I'm a founding board member a proud founding board member of that school and I sit on the art in public place committee which is a government organ a government committee for Monroe County and I was nominated by our
commission my commissioner David Rice and I've been on that for more than 10 years and I'm also a founding board member of the friends of the pool which is now taking on the restoration of alligator
Lighthouse as well as a board member of the good health clinic I'm an artist with a flexible schedule and will commit my time and energy to the fullest I have nothing to gain financially and by sitting on this
Council and will act respectfully intelligently and responsibly if given the chance I'm putting my name in the Hat because the only way self-governing works is if we all participate in it and now is my time in my opinion the job of
sitting on the council is to provide vision it's not to be a manager it's not to you know any of that sort of stuff we have a manager it's to be the boss of the manager and to oversee that is that my time yes okay thank you thank you
wait before you leave does anybody have any questions Deb no Don no I'm good thank you Steve thank you okay thank you sure Marne next is Anna Richards hello Anna Richards as most of you know I grew up here I graduated from corl
Shores and I didn't leave here I've served on multiple boards throughout the years with PKS Coral Shores Little League I'm currently the president of the Upper Keys Rotary Club I'm a licensed realtor a certified flood plane manager and hold many other certificates
through FEMA my family's land surveying business has been located in alamada for the past over 30 years actually now with that I'm able to work on many different sides real estate transactions conservation properties Wastewater
projects storm water water quality construction Insurance legal UNAM it we've worked with local municipalities all the cities the county I've pretty much covered I think every Department in the village here um we have worked with
the state of Florida with d and Dot on projects along with Federal us fish and wildlife on the national Kia Refuge I think with all of that being said it gives me the ability to have different perspectives and see all the different sides of what goes
on I know the codes I know how to follow the codes and most importantly I think all of that is very important when it comes to the new comp plan that we are about to Embark upon I think it's extremely important to protect our designation as an area area
of critical State concern um just a little other bit is I have four adult children they all raised um still here living here plan to raise their families here my husband works for Florida Keys Electric he's also a certified Arborist
and a licensed captain and I think the most important thing too is I didn't just decide to do this this last week I've been working on this for almost a year and committed to doing so that's it thank you uh and anybody
have questions for Anna Deb Don no thank you okay thank you and uh Miss Marney next is Larry zok how's that new knee that's why I stood up so it would
work when I came up here uh thank you Madame mayor and counsel um for this opportunity um I just kind of followed the script that we were given you know I'm a longtime resident V Mara actually I started working across the Great
Lawn 35 years ago I think it was 1990 91 Cent around there it's my first job down here when I was working part-time um I followed the village where it's been going and now I'm my concern is
long-term resident and the environment down here and in my history I've seen a lot 32 years with the air force uh I started off flying and ended up the last 10 years recruiting for the Air Force
Academy I flew for commercial for a long time retired from there and then when I retired the second time I came down here and started volunteering for the fire department as a first responder and now primarily as an instructor
I've probably taught 25% of the people in Isam Mara because we've been teaching the same class for a long time um my grandson graduated from Co Shores and the College of the Florida Keys my daughter worked 15 years at the uh at
Mariner she still carries a card there and now she's a doctor so I get input from young people I get input from people a lot younger than me unfortunately that's middle-aged and I'm way beyond that um and I wasn't going to do this because
she knows cuz she knows when my knee was done but I started getting phone calls about 7even days ago that I needed to do this um I have no agenda you know I'm I'm pretty much self-sufficient I'm not influenced by a lot of things
um but I do want to represent the residents and I want to represent the environment for years I was in the water every day either scuba diving or boating one or the other and I want to protect both of those I've proven to be reasonable and a listener um as my
nonprofit has worked I mean I'm I'm involved with the friends of the library been there for a long time working as an not that my work past president of the farman benevolent Association and so my pledge would be to
always work for the good of alam marada thank you thank you Larry anybody have questions Deb no thank you Don I no I'm good thank you Steve thank you Larry okay thank you very much okay I believe that's everyone and
now according to my little sheet we're supposed to open public comment correct oh everybody's nodding so I got that right Marne okay first public speaker is Joan sches good evening Council Joan scholes Plantation
key yes you do have a difficult decision to make tonight and I think it is extremely important that you make it on behalf of the best interest of the residents uh I couldn't even Drive South
during the holidays because of all the traffic so to keep building and building and building I can't agree more that Redevelopment and sensible development is the way to go instead of more development I did have a question for
John quick uh and that is that and this is not I know it's a one-way conversation up here just so everyone knows that but uh when people run for a seat there's no question about conflicts
of interest and and those types of things but if people have a significant business relationship with any of the candidates then I think that they should recuse themselves and I'm not sure how that works in this
situation um van spoke about Redevelopment and reasonable development I can't agree more and as far as the question about being on committees I think it's important but I think that working
across having your own ideas and the diversity of ideas is extremely important thank you thank you Marney next is Jamie Angel good evening mayor council members
and fellow residents I stand before you tonight as a concerned member of our community who values the Democratic process and the voice of our citizens the matter at hand which is for this Council to appoint someone to fill the Council seat vacated by councilman buddy Pender raises significant concerns about
fairness transparency and the Integrity of our election process as we all know seat one was contested by two candidates in the last election buddy Pender and Van clay Cadenhead Mr Pender won the election by securing 65% of the votes
while Mr Kaden had received 35% Mr Pender assumed office attending a few meetings and then unexpectedly resigned now rather than allowing the voters to have a state and who fills his seat the remaining council members will T are tasked with the appropriate I'm sorry
with appointing a replacement this in my view is neither Fair nor reflective of the will of the people the decision to open applications for this seat rather than appointing Mr Caden head the only other candidate who ran for seat one in the last election raises serious
questions Mr Caden had qualified campaigned raised funds and earned the support of over 1,400 V voters he's the candidate whom the public has already vetted furthermore two other individuals who ran for Council seat Tom rafanello
and Anna Richards they are among the applicants hoping to fill seat one and while I appreciate the remaining other applicants stepping up to apply they did not subject themselves to the scrutiny of a campaign nor have they been evaluated by the voters of this
community it is also important to consider the performance of the other candidates in their respective races Tom rafanello received 40% of the votes while he ran when he ran against Don Horton who secured 60% Anna Richards received 46% of the votes when she ran
against Steve fredman who gained 54% if any of these candidates including Mr Cadenhead had faced a different opponent we did not know what the percentages of the vote would have been and they would have received given the structure The Village election and the Council seat selection the only fair way
to fill a vacant seat should be by appointing the candidate who lost in the general election for the specific seat if there had been multiple candidates the decision should be limited to those who ran for that seat in this case the fair decision would be to appoint Mr Cadenhead to the vacant position for the
seat he ran for if the council decides not to do so then the next best course of action would be to only consider the three candidates who actually ran for the Council seat the fundamental question is this should the council appoint someone unknown to the electorate by bypassing those who
stepped forward in the last election engaged with the community I'm strongly believe the answer is no the fair and transparent course of action would be to restrict eligibility for this appointment to those who actually ran for the seat or at least in the election
this ensures that the appointee has already I'm almost done demonstrated their commitment undergone public scrutiny and earned at least some degree of voter support I very strongly I feel very strongly about this Council only
considering van Cadenhead Anna Richards and Tom rapanello who were the three candidates that originally ran for office to be considered to fill this position thank thank you Marney next is Joe wishme yes Joe whar Plantation
key you know I do kind of have to agree with the last speaker that those three candidates did undergo the scrutiny and we do know quite a bit about them and what they stand for and what they would represent um regarding another one I
will admit that I don't know too many of the other candidates but I would like to give you a little bit of my background I am familiar with Beth Camin she was active into school advisory meetings and supporting teachers while her kids were in school even though her daughters
graduated years ago Beth continues to give back to the high school and Community by awarding a scholarship every year in memory of her husband Ron Levy one of our first Village Council Members she is also a strong supporter of the pet Founders Park and values the
land and the people of our community and would honor our mission statement this is the type of person that we need and deserve to represent us on the council I believe that the other three candidates mentioned would also do that and I certainly hope that you take all this into
consideration when you're writing down your three available candidates thank you thank you Joe thank you Miss Marne next is Barry Ray I appreciate being able to talk to the council again about this this again tough decision guys
um I agree that uh there's only been three candidates that went through the most recent election and were exposed to all the rigors of going through a campaign um it's tough and those of you that got elected
this time and three of you that are new on the council for this session and you know it it means a lot to the community to say we had some type of say in this and that is one way to provide that I do believe that each race
is unique that you can't co-mingle the circumstances and go well this one got the next most votes that I think that each race is unique and you don't know what those outcomes are going to be I honestly feel that van ran for this seat and if circumstances were different if
Buddy had left a month later there probably wouldn't be much of a question that hey the only fair thing to do is to go that direction I really don't think the time of two months is any different so uh I think we have wonderful people
that stood up here and talked I of the three candidates that I consider eligible which are the three that went through the scrutiny of running for office I think they're all fabulous but I do believe that the fair way to go is
to select van that's an opinion you guys have to make this decision but I do also know that of all the people that I've seen in here that's the man that I've seen it every single Village council meeting I've ever been to and I believe
he's been to every single one that's quite a testament that's quite a history book that's quite a value and that's quite Mr Isa Mara right there so that's what I have to say good luck guys thank you thank you thank
you Marne there are no other speakers okay I'll tell you when I write my Memoirs years from now it's going to have a whole chapter I'll tell you all right so oh go ahead
go ahead Deb I just want to make short statement thank you that um first of all I want to thank all the candidates that put their name in this is not an easy position and I for all of you to step forward and want to be considered for
this job is commendable right there um it's it's actually a shame that we can't vote for more than one uh and have more than one uh set but we're tasked with only putting one on Council
so um please remember if that we will have an election in a year and a half and that um if you're serious about this please come back to that and the other thing I wanted to say is that um we have
a tough decision up here and uh before the night is over I think we're going to end up compromising I guess is the best word uh we need to come together and maybe this will help us draw together in in
picking somebody to help sit with us and make these important decisions so I appreciate that Deb and and again I wish you guys voted I I mean I do I kept trying to John read that again please please read that again Steve do you want to say anything no not
really uh Deb I just think that was well said um absolutely same sentiment and again I I hope everybody who showed up for this puts sir hat in uh in two years from now Don okay not really U thank everybody
for putting their name in it uh it's awesome I I've been in that position before when the last council person uh quit I sat out there and had thrown my name in in hat to do the same thing and I think that U was one of the things that helped me deci decid that I was
going to run for Council so uh um it's a I I thank every one of y'all and and all y'all that stood at that counter and uh uh talked about your uh uh service with our military thank you for your service we appreciate that thank you okay
so how next steps would be uh uh Jamie passed out um uh a voting sheet um next steps would be to mark up to three names please like I said make sure that your names are on it um as I always tell my
my son uh when he turns his homework if your name's not on it it doesn't count make sure your name's on it um and uh and then um we'll come and collect it and then Marne can um read the uh results of it do we need to take
a break or anything or I mean you you can if you'd like start our engines go start our cars well she's working on that I'll I'll add on that I was years ago now I was first appointed to council and it is part of
what helped me decide that I wanted to try to do this job on a more regular basis so um this can be a stepping stone just running is a stepping stone so thank you Kathy walk out
middle you know ultimately the process is yours yeah yeah yeah ultimately the process is the staff's is the council's process this was just obviously staff we wanted to recommend something so that we're not just coming in where's that at it's
yeah yeah I thought so what do you want to say okay are you ready okay we've tabulated the results and the top three vote Getters are Greg dully Tom rafanello and Anna Richards
okay um um so I'm writing down names first okay um so have another sheet no not yet we need to discuss each one I mean uh any suggestions on how we just start
talking yeah I mean you know if uh yeah I mean it's like I said so we're we're down to three names in based on this process and um uh The Next Step that that we had proposed is for Council to discuss those three so that uh we can see if you all can uh start narrowing it
down to uh can I but at least two can we ask what the percentage was or something I mean no I wouldn't do that you wouldn't okay you don't it'll it'll be made public who voted for later so um
I was going to ask something though [Music] um would it be possible to do another uh another vote with just those three and see where that is rather than I I don't know that and just take the top two and
see and then take the top two okay let's do that because this where it goes I mean they're all they're all good candidates so vote for two out of the three two out of so you're going to vote one vote right no do two out of the three it's up to you guys if you want to do just one or two three I want to do two out of the three this is cutting it
too close you want to do two out of three up two two up two two up two two up to up to two up two two up to two two including two did you make enough copies for this he um did you burn a whole did re
of paper thank you so oh lookie Crossing up and actually if you all wouldn't mind writing maybe at the top two the number two so we know this is the second round and again name on it so instead of one two you can you can
vote one or two people mhm [Music] like turn around say m [Applause] yeah we'll find kchen we're going to hunt buddy down and kill
him you I'm telling you you ready okay the top two votes were for Greg Dolly and Anna Richards okay so did you guys arm wrestle
no no I I would think we I think we should discuss each one and and and uh I mean to be honest I'll start I did not know Anna until she uh decided to run this year and that's the first time I've I've met her
um and I met Mr Dolly just recently and uh both of them are wonderful people um I don't know I don't know where to go from here go ahead Don take over you have anything to say Deb
I mean they're both great candidates yes they're both absolutely uh perfect for you know sitting up here and being able to uh work with us and I think that I could work with uh we could all work with either one of them I think there'll be
um I think they'll be good for the villain either one of them absolutely I also met Anna during the campaign and then I recently well actually I think I met Greg during the campaign also um and they're they're
both very qualified candidates and I would be um pleased to set with either one um can they share a seat yeah can we that's where we need a six can they sit in the chair together maybe we can do every other month never mind Steve you
you don't want to say anything no no okay you're making this easy are you all right so I guess if that's how it's going to go okay let's just play the devil's advocate here two to two what does that do just out of curiosity we got to you
you have to pick somebody under the yes what I said I brought my toothbrush in my pillow so yeah under the under the charter it says it shall be chosen within 30 days so admittedly the 30 days is up on sun I think it's no Saturday of next week but you all had conflicts like
next week week and so this was the date you could meet so for all intensive purposes it's today so at some point you know you guys will have to come to a uh an agreement with at least three of you um
uh at least while four present yes and and the four is not a possibility just moving on with four counsel no you'd be you'd be in violation of the charter because it says that you shall shall choose um that was brought up to me today as well that can't it just stay
the four of you and I was like what so that's a violation I was told so so um I just want to clarify that yeah thank you um so I guess are we going to go down to one now well
so you want to S I would suggest a paper ballot again one more and we either end up with three or we know it'll be a t it's got to be one of the
two and then we can figure if it's a tie then we can decide where to go I'm does one of them want to drop out BR a quarter I think I have a quarter that's how they do a lot of Elections let's take the vote but I
would say one more paper ballot I don't think we need to put a number on how many let's just start with the next one we'll try let's try one yes all right I'd love it to be one thank you it'd be nice if this is it and I assume you'd like this one
labeled number three yeah I think they wrote R3 on the top um no they did I did did oh over there and just a reminder put make sure your names are on there okay come on
vanana and then while she's uh collecting them just as a reminder also if if and when you know whenever we get to three whether it's now or later um there will need to be a formal motion and it would be a motion to uh appoint person X to uh fill seat one and uh
there'll be a second and and a formal vote we have a tie of course of course we do so before we do do this again um um
we got to find another way to move on here instead we're just going to keep going back and forth all night does anybody want to suggest something different to do Talent contest between them or something you you got you want to
say there was there were several speakers that talked about those that ran for election and those that hadn't run for election and I I guess if we go between the two that we're left with um Anna had the highest next highest
number of votes in the election uh ran for you know however many months it was I put her name out there and ran for election uh she has extensive experience um uh and and I guess you know the struggle is because Greg also has
extensive experience uh long-term relationship been on committees I've served on the affordable housing committee meeting or orable housing committee with him and I that's why this is a difficult you know it is a difficult decision because they're they
are both vastly qualified to be able to do that I I guess you know if it if it comes down to that one thing that the you know that that several folks in the audience said it it was um uh it was
Anna that went through that struggle of running for the election uh and and and that's something that I want to talk about in mayor and counsel communication of of of a of a different option down the line but um that's why this is a
really tough decision for this this group it is and um I I don't I don't I I we're just going to have to vote until somebody switches one or the other just going to have to do so I'm I'll make a couple comments so they are
both extremely qualified absolutely um Anna has a lot of of of background in in um dealing with government entities and things like that um Greg has a lot of background in negotiation
um Greg did not go through the election and Anna did that's all true Everything Don says is true um but I I'm not sure that that's always a deciding factor is if you go through an election
um sometimes it's not good timing when an election comes along and you might think that yeah okay maybe I should run maybe I shouldn't run but you it's just not good timing and when a position opens which we don't have them open very
often we were trying to count up earlier I think we came up with three four three or four that we've replaced in in all the years that the council's been in in existence four four maybe four I think so
um and um so I I don't necessarily give waight to somebody who won and I don't mean this offensively and
lost um because Anna you you were the one that lost you are a great person and I'd love to sit on council with you also um I'd like to to find some other people
that are willing to step forward and this is an opportunity to for the public to get to know some other people so that is votes for for Greg uh people have already known Anna um so anyway um they're both good
people they they they would both work very well on Council I don't think that there's really anything that I can say that's really going to maybe sway or be a convincing and and a wonderful um eloquent uh delivery in terms of uh who um I think
we should favor in this case uh I have to be very careful here so um I uh I'm going to say that I'm I'm going to stick with the the the vote that I've been casting so um I I I don't know where we go from here because I think both of them are more
qualified than um it's it's a horrible decision to have to make this and I know going through the election process is hard that I know but just because someone didn't run I do agree with Deb
it doesn't mean they're taken out of consideration but at the same time uh I have a fishing tournament next week and Valentine's Day so I don't want to be here all night so we have to figure out something we have to figure out something that we can all live
with it's going to be um let's vote again F trees are I'm trying to figure out another way we I'm trying to figure out another way we can do this the charter doesn't allow for f
coin flips it doesn't allow for things like that so can we ask them if they're both still [Music] interested I think we know that answer too I'm sorry oh she doesn't want to walk around
anymore please only oh you don't want to start all over again and just reminder names again how about can I how about the three of us let's just well can't can't we if if there's three of us who
are I don't know how to do this if there's three votes it's over I know oh okay well you have to make the motion well yeah yes tell you it's going to be the exact
same again we have a two two tie so well if it's any consolation I remember a few years ago we went through the same thing and it took several votes before they finally came up with a decision
so okay so where do we go from here Mr attorney um we have to keep going do you want to take like a five minute break um five hour but ultimately we need to have something that would be supported a motion that would be supported by three I I would like to talk to you so yeah
let's take a five and I do mean five I'm not like buddy in his 55 minute breaks 5 minute break okay e e e e
e e e e e e okay everybody let's get the party started again please um first of all I would I'd like to invite each of the two finalists to
come back up and talk again for let's just say two minutes not three but also I want to ask if either one of them wants to say next year because I don't know what's going to happen here so I did I was going to leave that door open if someone wanted to uh say I'd drop out
yeah hey I'm trying to find the easy way then I said let's flip a coin but not everybody agree so well that's IL legal okay so um Marne do we I guess there's no order who we'll start with uh Mr Dolly would you like to come back up
again please sure you can say something different if you want you don't have to read the same thing uh well I kind of got cut off because of the three minute thing so maybe I'll just finish up um I was talking about at the core of everything I do is a strong moral and ethical Foundation um I'm deacon at the First
Baptist Church of is marada and I'm a and I've been a long-term board member um I'm Guided by principles of honesty integrity and servant readership leadership um I just don't talk about that my actions and you can talk to anybody that knows me I follow through on what I say um that's a very strong
core personality tradeit of mine um I believe leadership is not about personal game but about stewardship listening working together and making responsible decisions that serve the best interests of our community and just not a few um I'd like to point out you know I believe in transparent government
governance uh fiscal responsibility absolutely and most importantly always put in the uh residents of Isam first that's that's who put everybody in your seat there and and uh if I do get appointed to this position the people didn't but uh the people that voted for you gave you the power to do that and I
am absolutely 110% committed to voting whichever direction that the residents want not what I want um so just want to make that clear um I'm not here for any personal ambition um I'm here out of a deep deep deep love for
this community um I've got no dogs in this fight I have no commercial property that needs to be resed or uh any special favors I don't have any special interest groups it's really just the sort of the citizens back here that really care um so that's it thank you for your
consideration thank you Anna is she back there I couldn't see you I couldn't see you still here where's Anna can't get rid of me that easy um I don't know what else you
really want me to say I mean I've been involved in this community my entire life I've not my kids are here my family's here uh we all have businesses I mean I think I've stressed as pretty much as much as I can that my business you know entails
everything in which comes in front of this this Council you know so I'm I'm very well versed in all these issues and there's no learning curve for me really um I want this to remain just as beautiful
as it was when I was a kid for my kids for my future grandkids you know my husband and I spent a lot of time on the water fishing and doing that stuff I would never do anything that's going to harm this environment and matter of fact in our work we're out um surveying
conservation pieces all the time um we were just at a big one yesterday um other than that I mean other than that I I stand by what I say I do what I say I'm going to do and follow
through thank you thank you so is the towing cost out I'd like to say a few words oh go ahead so in in an attempt to try and convince you I'll um full transparency I'm supporting Mr dully um I think that you all agreed at
the begin beginning that both candidates are very good and very qualified and um you know in that respect uh you know Mr dly and I had a great conversation when he was interested in this position and uh and I really appreciated his uh his professionalism and cander and reaching
out to me and and asking for his support um and and I I don't see him having any sort of um conflict of interests here and I'm not sure I can say the same um uh for Anna um she did not reach out to me to talk to me about um gaining any
support uh now nor did she do that after the election so uh and I think there might be a potential conflict of interest I think she has interest as a real estate agent in um in some of the parcels that she's selling uh I think she has an office close by to you Don so
I just think that um to me it seems like um uh Greg would be a great asset to this Council as a as someone that's going to um bring his experience and and um wealth of knowledge and uh understanding of what this community needs
[Music] um I um uh what someone does for a living to me should not dictate how they would be up here that to me that's I don't I don't see where you find that a conflict of interest I just don't um and that's just
my opinion I um I like Mr Dolly I met him but uh I don't know him that well and uh I voted for Anna just solely because I know her better and I know she went through the process and I know you have
a problem with that and I know there's issues all over the place but I I'm I'm looking for I would take either one of them up here and that's I'm being totally candid I would I feel equally the same about both of them so I'm probably the worst person to be in this situation because
I'm literally torn what to do so Deb anything from you sure I will also divulge that I voted for Greg Deli I've been met him during the campaign and talk to him off and on and I believe
that he does have the the heart of Isam marada in his heart I agree um I believe that that he would make the right choice um to the best of his ability we all are committed
to making the right choice I believe so don't take any offense on that statement um and and I don't mean that offensively to Anna I do not because I think Anna would make a lot of the right choices
too but my heart tells me that that Greg is a good choice for this Village in that he he wants to step up he cares he gets lots of good reviews from his circle of
friends it's not always the circle of friends that is me um we all have our own circle of friends or and when you start reaching out to people sometimes it's hard to get outside that Circle um I've managed
to dig hard enough to find some information outside of the Circle that convinces me that Greg's the right choice for this seat Don this is a small community just because somebody works next to me or
close to Sharon or owns a hotel uh or um uh is not is not a reason for there to be not have somebody vote for somebody body or
not U as a matter of fact we've had several realtors that uh that have been um up on this DS the many times and it hasn't harmed a thing
um I I um I said I I voted for Anna because she ran for the spot she went through the challenges of running for a spot um I will tell you that um I um Greg is a good friend of mine
extremely good friend of mine I I he and I are going him and me and Carla and and Roseanne are going to go to the Bogan Villa ball together um um they're good people awesome great people uh the the
only thing that that that between those two that that was was because of the election because the if I mean if everything in this world was perfect we wouldn't even run for seats we would take the five top vote Getters and those would be the one and if somebody dropped
off then the sixth vote vter would move themselves right back up and the highest person would do that and I spoke to that about Jamie today um and I hope that we can during Council communication convene talk about convening a a charter Review
Committee so that we can go back and and fix some of these deficiencies in our Carter in our Charter um it's it's a it is a very difficult decision to make and um
um I don't I don't know I don't um I guess selfishly I still want to go to bville B with gra you can do that either way yeah no because if he wins then we're not going to be able to sit at the same table I hate that it's it is tough
it is tough so the only thing because both are exemp people that would sit up here the only thing was the the only tie that breaker of mine was that election part was that that there were months and months of of having to talk to people and raise the
money and go through all of that and it's not it's I mean in so many aspects it's a wonderful thing to do to be able to meet with people in this community and talk to them and and it was awesome when I got to meet with these 20 and 30 something year olds when I was running
for election and and and see what their long-term goals are cuz work decisions are going to be their their lives here coming up soon so um I I don't I don't know what else to say want to do another vote
Yes all right you know sling it at me I know John can we do a to a coin Kass please I make a motion we toss a toin huh I I'm listen
um I think that's important does anybody want to make do the toy cost to coin toss no of course no this isn't supposed to be easy that's not it's on The Who and again we have a two of
course it's it's kind to stay that way right now and you know I to be totally honest here here's transparency I'd like Greg but I know the people I sit on council with and I knew if I didn't vote for Anna it'd be
done real quick and I don't think that's fair I mean I know this is crazy but I like either one of them and I I know you say the chemistry I I pride myself as somebody that I think I do get along pretty much with everybody and I try to stay the middle of the road and I could
work with either one of them and I think they're both an asset but I know how you feel and I know how she feels and I know how he feels cuz it's it's not difficult to read and I did not want to shove Anna out because she did run and it is brutal
to run but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have done well if he would have ran so I'm still up for that to coin toss something because it's not going to change you guys have dug your heels in the ground I could easily switch but I'm not gonna because I don't know oh my
goodness gracious can I have a drink I mean my goodness there's some liquid death in there I think I might have to have a liquid death all right so where do we keep keep going from here seriously you guys I mean the way that I see it is
that yes she did run a campaign it was a good campaign and she got a lot of votes and again it's not a slate of 10 where the top five get in so so the amount of votes to me is insignificant I think it's the fact that the voters did not vote her in when she had that chance
um I don't know if I agree with that totally Steve it depends who runs against you and I'm just I'm just trying to you might be you're a really like AR you're a really likable guy so that's why maybe she had a tough time but I'm just saying it depending she could have run another races and beaten the people
probably so she would be up here but I I understand your point and I understand his point and go ahead but we will never know who would have won that race we would never know whether Greg would win or if we put Greg and Anna together we
don't know where that would be we already did they're they're in front of four of us so um I think I don't I don't have a good answer
I I I truly believe that that Greg can do good things I I believe Anna can do good things too I I would want to to see either one who does not end up here tonight actually I want to see both of them two years from now
run for Council I would like to see that I would like to see the newer faces appear on Council I would so um I don't know I don't know a good
answer but I does anybody have another solution or we just going to St until somebody decides to change their minds yeah you have to you have to weigh it out is who can you sit with who's your best
um allies the wrong word but who who can we get the most accomplished with I think either sitting on that Council I think either or well so there's your answer I know that's why I'm here I'm either or Don turn your mic on if you
talk I'm still okay with the coin time I I there are tied elections all over this nation that are that are settled that way and I I think there's enough there's
there is enough uh comments that have been made it that that give the attributes of both of those those folks and and I am 100% okay with doing what we've done for years in
this is by the flip of a coin and I would live by the decision whichever way the coin flipped I make a motion we do the toin cost because I I like them both and I'm okay with either one so that's where I am public
comment no no they just no so you guys are dead set against not doing that you I am I'm I'm I'm learning something each round so what do you mean you're learning something each round I mean we're having we vote we have another discussion I'm you know I'm gaining more
perspective it's it's just gives us more time to think sorry people sorry guys let's ask him to spend one more minute at the mic that that gives us time to think and talk no it just gives us time to think I
just want to do you don't want okay no it's just a thought to give us time to analyze what we're doing that's all it was just time I know what I'm doing I'm ready it's I was say if you need time to think
do you want to recess for you can recess for amount of time if you want to do that um otherwise you know the the you would need to continue discussing and debating until we reach a decision so if you're and you well not
you but you said you're fine with both of them why do you object to I have a preference oh okay you just said you didn't know okay I am fine with both of them but I have a preference okay and you do too correct okay
so okay so what do we where do we go from here you want to take a recess or I I don't know what to do at this point can I offer something please oh now you can take public I'm sorry so I've been St sitting beside a a guy that has this
experience that went through this he's too shy to get up and talk but that's all right so he told me they did was and he actually changed his vote all right he really sat there and thought about this whole process of who would bring
the most value what you know think about they're two different people they have two different experience bases both are beneficial to how we make decisions so try and think through those different and if you want to have them come up and and you ask them some questions maybe
you can find some differentiation on hey hey this is going to work better you know if your if your you know primary goals are environment if your primary goals are how do we manage these Financial processes how do we get grants how do we do this then ask them you know
some of those background questions and see if you find one that kind of fills a niche in your mind better okay and that's what thank you Ken for sharing that with me thank you so I want to open public comment I'm
sorry Deb that I did that no I'm going to close it right now can I make a motion that uh Greg Dolly be appointed um new council member yeah motion can be made at any time yeah so
made I'll second the motion oh I'm sorry Marne called the rooll council member Steve freeden yes council member Deb Gillis yes vice mayor Don Horton
no and mayor Sharon Mahoney no okay motion fails okay um can we have public comment now we have public comment already okay so now again should I I mean you guys could get up and say
everything you want all night long I'm torn so if nothing you're going to say is going to change me at this point I I said I I I would still want that how you know that be because van I've listened to you now for going on three years and uh I know what you're going to say so
and I I'm sorry I want to go for that I make a motion we do the to coin toss come on people and you two say no second yeah well Mar you want to call the role mayor and Sharon Mahoney yes vice
mayor Don Horton yes council member Steve fredman no and council member Deb Gillis no you guys are torture motion fails okay does anybody want to hear them speak again I mean I I hear you I hear
you does anybody want to hear them speak again I'm asking the council I'm good I've already I already know how I feel about both of them and what about you now you want to hear him speak again Don oh I'm sorry I left that on yeah we can hear the people again that's fine I
mean maybe they'll maybe they'll say something that would trigger something I I don't guarantee that but maybe it'll you know Sharon I'm asking you to vote for Greg I'm flat out asking you to do it what kind of just I'm just just politely asking just in public you
change your mind you did say that maybe maybe Chang mind not fair you did oh I I know you're asking me you asked me I'm not asking you to do anything I asked for a coin toss I didn't ask you to change your mind you asked me why if I
liked them equally what was the difference and I said I had a preference if you have a preference that's fine I don't I like them both equally cuz I don't really know either one of them I'm being honest and what I've seen of both of them I like you know so well we don't
have a six seat so I I really I'm not ready to give them mine so if you are going to call them back up if I would could suggest maybe maybe you have some questions to ask um does anybody have any question that way um so we don't waste our time you know that way that you know you can get answered whatever
the issues might be that you have do you have any questions no Deb I I'm thinking I can't think of a question that I want to ask okay so
I yeah you're going to need it so where do we go from here just keep going this keep discussing or we can come back another another day oh no no we're not no I'm just giving you what your options
stay here till midnight no if I he public it's up to you what just just let them just let them okay okay okay being beaten up here all right Marty I guess no one's put any papers in so can we if anybody wants to come up and talk
one at a time please don't and how much time are we giving two minutes okay one of the major decisions that you make when you're running for Council is the time element that it takes to do this job and maybe the question you need
to ask both candidates is how much time they have to do this job and then you have to look around yourselves and see what element of expertise does this person bring that we don't have on this
Council or could use on this counil and those are the two things that I think are important are you willing to go to Tallahassee are you willing to get involved with the Florida League of cities are you willing to go to classes and learn to be a good counsilman are you willing to get educated takes time
it takes time away from your family and if you don't have that time then you shouldn't be in that job those are the few questions that I would ask thank you Ken thank you K anybody else oh God this is a
circus I'm really uh disappointed that uh I I applaud Mr fredman's uh comments that uh uh Mr uh Horton and Miss Richards of have had
previous business experiences in the past years and they're located close to each other I think really for all fairness uh Mr Horton should recuse himself from this vote I don't think that he's his his vote his uh opinion is
uh slanted and biased and and Prejudiced for a certain aspect of uh the development of Isam marada and I think she shares that and I think he knows she shares that and I think it's been uh from from before the election started uh
uh Anna Richards and and Don Horton uh discussed um getting rid of the manager and getting both of them in there so they could have a majority and and I don't you know this is this is not uh this is not rocket science and I really
think that I mean Mr Horton is is an expert at construction he knows permit permitting you know he knows how to push permits he's he's been for the village he's been for the county but by the same token for him to to uh uh discount all
that and not recuse himself when when Mrs Richards is so obviously connected to him in a business sense is just outrageous and and and I'm I'm really surprised that uh Miss Mahoney does not recognize uh that conflict lict of
interest and it would be a conflict of interest in the future I assure you thank you very much I do want to speak again Jamie Engle you know I'm I'm sitting here and I'm listening and I totally understand I've dealt with Greg in real estate I
know him I know Anna I've dealt with her because I'm a realtor so I I think that should have nothing to do with what you guys are talking about I think what you should really truly be thinking about is what do the people want and for these
candidates and I appreciate standing up and putting their name in the people don't know them and you can't know them without with a three minute conversation and not one of you there was two questions maybe two questions that came
for every single one of these people that stood up here that wanted to sit up there and nobody asked him a question but now what I'm hearing is me me me it doesn't matter how you're going to get along with them they're supposed to be
here whoever gets that seat is supposed to be sitting there on behalf of the citizens of this community and I think the only way fairly to do it and I said it before and I'm going to say it again who ran who put their time in who made
the effort and if Mr dolly wants to come back and he wants I I wish I hope I thank you to come put your name in for the next election but I don't know him I don't know what he stands for and we can sit here all night long and you can all
sit here and make comments but it comes down to if you didn't have questions to ask these people all of them a list of questions in place to ask each one of these candidates before it's not fair to throw something at these two candidates
now and the only fair way to do it is to say exactly what Mr Horton just said after he we we discussed this before I sent each one of you an email he was the only one that called me about it and all I'm going to say is you need
to think what the people want not what you want thank you I speak yes I think that maybe you got to get to the mic maybe you should find it in yourselves your name for the my name is
Eric epart I think that that is what is most important it's the mission and who you believe would be better at fulfilling that mission thank you thank you anyone else want to say
something hello Kim Parmley I live in MO lower mumbi and I believe that there's some issues with Anna regarding conflict of interest and ethics um she has the this listing uh signed in front of our
property and she has been pushing to get an additional lot there the comprehensive plan is something that is going to be considered and um I think that you know you do need to consider whether candidates have a conflict of
interest thank you thank you Joe whar Plantation key since some of you are you you say you like both candidates but you're unwilling to change and I don't know how you can figure that out unless you ask them
questions my the biggest thought that comes to my mind is the Eagles Nest that was on Department Le estate and that just really sticks with my CLW and I hope you consider that it's please
don't not you not you I was the audience is there anyone else Matt Turk State of Florida um I work for uh CBT construction um and I'm also the vice president incoming for the
rotary um I was also the treasurer for Anna Richards so obviously I have a vested interest here here um I want to say something that during the election it was very uh divisive of you know the
building Coalition and the water stuff and I I want to say that both things can be true and if you understand building and good building practices and how to bring that all about that's something a knowledge that you just don't get over
time you have to be involved in it to understand and that is something that she understands and I think you know as she had stated her husband's a captain been on the water I've been fishing with him several times they love that back there they don't want to see it go to
waste they don't want to see it fall apart so both things are true where she understands both sides of the event and I I I appreciate you standing up and doing that but I agree with the the lady earlier that she put her hat in
there why wasn't he interested at the beginning and put his name in the Hat and run then now there's a vacancy now all of a sudden everybody's interested and I agree with the lady what she said of you know we're interested you know you need to be interested from the
get-go so I appreciate the the time but you know the madness it's this is I've been watching it for a while I haven't said anything for a long time but this is crazy it is the craziest thing I've ever seen so and you know I I think as
far as the democat atic process is concerned it got set on fire and it's here tonight thank you thank you I think I think Captain Jason Richards my blood pressure was down now
it's back up at the doctor's office today but I could feel my heart beaten because I'm sitting here and I'm hearing people bash my wife so 32 years we've been married she's the most eth ethical person I know she uh is very honest even
though you don't want to hear it she's going to tell you the truth um getting bashed about being a realtor and all the other stuff how many Realtors do we have in the keys seriously um I mean
exactly uh she she works with contractors homeowners okay she doesn't fudge anything when it comes to the surveys uh and I worked alongside my father-in-law forever and I could tell you one thing when he when you know what
he did and and that group does it's right all the time um yes she did lose the election uh she only lost by 276 votes and most of those speaking to whoever's watching out there were mail
in votes okay well somebody funded a real big campaign on the mailin so so I mean go to say you got your name captain and you're going for clean water somebody doesn't know the candidates that would be my choice too
but my wife loves the environment she's not going to do anything to hurt the environment our kids grew up here we've fished many multiple tournaments I guided in Everglades National Park for years I've fished in everglaze National
Park since I was a kid I fished offshore I know pretty much every guy down here I got out of the business in 2004 because I had to put my family first and but I still found time to take my kids out enjoy the Everglades and teach them
about fishing well my wife is the very most honest person that I know of and I'm just tired of hearing her getting her name bashed thank you very much anyone else no one else okay
so I'll make a motion for coin toss I'll I second that sorry Mar you call the rooll mayor Sharon Mahoney yes please vice mayor Don Horton yes council member
Steve fredman no and council member Deb Gillis no okay Mo fails anybody want to order pizza what we got I don't know where we go from here John any I'd rather order a drink but yeah I would too any suggestions what do we do um I mean I think you know
you've got two candidates and um what I would suggest is trying to Lobby one of your other council members to to vote to make it uh 3-1 or 40 uh I mean that that's really what it
boils down to in terms of um you know if you don't have questions for the candidates I mean they've spoken twice um you've heard from the public twice uh I would say that you know the the four of you uh should discuss um and and if you need to get into more more in depth
um you know that that's what you're going to need to do to try to to nail this down I wish I had something easier I did too Don you have anything of course de of course of course not okay
you want to take a five minute break we could do that we could also I mean I would say we could move on to the next agenda item and come back to it if you want to do that I mean that unfortunately that would remove that from whoever is going to be you know you're not going to get the input from
the other two council members um be nice it'd be nice to have our new council person sit in on the next item but yes it would you have anything to say no and you no okay so we're just going to sit up here in dead
silence I make a motion for Mr dully to be appointed to the council I'll second it oh sorry Marney yep council member Steve fredman yes council member Deb Gillis yes
Mayor Don Horton no and mayor Sharon Mahoney no the motion fails two two does somebody want to make a motion the other way to see if maybe that would change something it's that's the only other thing I can think of other than you all continuing to discuss I'm not
hopeful but no it's not going to change um maybe maybe a short break might uh might help then because I did hear some others saying they you know discussion might give you time to think so maybe minutes any
e e e e e e e e e e e
17 ding okay during the break our fabulous wonderful lawyer yes found something in our Charter that I am in agreement with so Mr Quick yeah so this is is under the election section so um immediately it applies to general
elections but this is the way we deal with ties in general elections in the village um this is just so the Public's aware I'm under Section 8 of the charter subsection six where it says determination of election to to office the very last sentence does say if the
vote at the election results in a tie the outcome shall be determined by lot and lot is what by lot lot is you know drawing of names coin flip drawing of straws uh so um that is that is in our Charter so seeing how we follow our
Charter sorry is everybody in agreement this is what we're going to do no I'm not in agreement I don't have a choice and Don liquid that wasn't on mic sorry no
I'm not in agreement but you have a choice it's in the charter in the charter I'm reading it okay so for a regular election that is correct yeah what are you trying to say this
isn't a regular election no it isn't an regular election Irrelevant in material big words um what if it's in our Charter can we
how do we well as council member Freeman pointed out that that does that applies to regular elections which this is obviously not this is a council vote um I wanted I just brought it up because if we end up at a 2 two tie and it's you know 11:00 at night or whenever you guys
reach your limit that is in our Charter so it's not unprecedented um to do it that way if you're not going to if you're not going to do it by lot then the only other way is to continue the discussion amongst the four of you um until ultimately you reach a uh determination that's
supported by at least three council members so you're no to that Deb and Don you're no to do by lot by lot I'm no I'm a no by lot okay and you're a no another TI there's something different two two
that's the reason we need five people on Council okay well do we want to move on and then come I mean I know you don't want to but I don't well I'm not opposed to Moving on but I don't know how that's going to change what we do an hour from now
that's all later it's just going to be an hour later right yeah plus Steve's having dinner he's make me hungry yeah right all right so
do do we want to move on and just come back to this Don how do you feel it's not going I don't know that it's it's going to change we can certainly move on I mean I've got other things I need to I'd like to talk about so you want to on the agenda can I say a couple
words just curious is that sure sure you're one of the candidates I'm sitting back here and I'm listening to my name be called out by Mr fredman Mr Freedman you do not know me you don't know my beliefs you don't know
what I do or don't do um this is a small town I've bought flowers from Sharon's Flores before that doesn't make me skewed one way or the other to her yes I've worked with da our businesses kind of coincide once in a while do I see him
all the time absolutely not Deb my family has stayed at your Motel when they've came down here multiple times does that make it one way or the other there this is a small town at some point we all interact with each
other this is crazy I mean you I you can't write this script I you can't no you're right I don't even know what else to say anymore but I keep getting put down because I have a real estate license so does Mr
Dolly that doesn't make either one of us a bad person I have nothing against him personally whatsoever but because I hold one license makes me a bad person because I've worked with contractors makes makes me a bad person I don't think so to me
that brings me into way more different lights of all the different perspectives I have the construction side I have the conservation side I have the state side I have the government side I've worked in all the different angles of this I know the codes I know the laws there's
no learning curve there's no oh what do you think's going to happen tomorrow I don't know but at the end of the day this is a this is a small town and and this has to stop this bickering this fighting having attitudes
towards people everybody out here is having you know oh Anna did this Anna has ethics I did my job and anybody who knows me knows that when I do my job it's 100% there ain't nobody in this
town that is worth me risking any of our licenses or our business's reputation for anybody nobody in this room it's not going to happen thank you so just a couple of words I wanted to say I'd like to respond oh um an I I thank you for
coming up and saying that I I'm I'm really sorry that you're feeling attacked is is I every meeting that I've been in when buddy was here he would Pat me on the back and say nothing personal it's not personal I'm just trying to stick up for my constituents the people that voted for me Don Deb anything
I'm thinking okay if you couldn't smell it I'm thinking I could hear it over the I'm sure you could so we've said this over and over both candidates are qualified both candidates have
um bring their own list to the table of how they can help Greg has a wide range of of
um people that he's in contact with also he he goes everything from the people who have little or nothing in this town in the food banks that he helps manage serve run whatever the
appropriate phrase is there to the people who have so much money that who knows what they're doing with their money besides throwing it away um he has a wide variety of of
knowledge about the village because of that um there's there's been I really don't want to go down this path there's been some nasty rumors out there on both sides of the
coin and people belong to organizations that they they don't belong to people have it's already fixed that how the election's going to go or how the vote's going to go you know um and you're right it needs to quit
this needs to stop and I don't know for sure how to stop it but that's part of the reason I'm back up here to try to help stop it and we need to come together as a
council and start voting for the people not for a group not for a individual but for the people that we represent and that's why I'm pretty stuck on where I'm voting well let me
ask you something can we ask the C the two candidates if they would want to flip a coin I mean why why you want to leave it to them well we still have to live by it don't we we have to live by it well so if we can't agree with it it's not going see okay okay Len I'm
trying to find an answer I said I'm AF well can we ask if they want it are you guys okay with it if they want to are you I'm asking Deb as she's looking um I'm really not okay with a coin flip
I've never have like phone phone coin flips people people oh no okay that's that's 20 or 30 people 20 30 that took enough interest to show up tonight see how that showed up here
tonight yes ma' that's true that's true what about the 7,000 that's out there that are working tonight they're not here to voice their opinions I am here to represent all people in
Isam Rana I am not I didn't say you aren't I am not here to represent just a few that I see all the time or just a few that happens to be in front of me tonight I am here to represent
all corners of this community and I will I will do my vote the best I can to do that you have anything to say of course not Don oh this is
great so if we can't decide if they're willing to do it why don't we let them if I I don't know if they are or not if they're willing to toss a coin because this is clearly not going anywhere are I know you are are
you no so you don't even want them involved they do it it's illegal oh it's not illegal says it right now Charter sorry all right so then I suggest we move to something else for now because this is this is crazy land and I need to
leave Crazy Land so so okay let's move on let's go ahead and move on then because I I think we'll come back to it in an hour and have the same discussion so so what what are you saying we'll just take something else
off the list for now okay it's what I'm saying all right so where does that put us now I think it's a mayor council Communications okay I know both of you guys wanted to say something Don
I think this a perfect example that I make I would like to have a discussion about us having a charter Review Committee I I've asked for probably seven years and maybe longer that this this community has has changed in many
ways the charter needs to be reviewed I think that um um after after going to the last Florida League of cities uh seminar that they put on in Gainesville it was obvious to me that our two-year
terms are are are very stressful in U uh not only at at at the council level but also uh U uh you know at the at the manager level and and trickle down I think that there are many things in our
Charter that that the that the charter Review Committee should look at I've served on two Charter review committees and they've both been very productive um since the village has incorporated and um I think that we
should hopefully they would look at um not only terms they would also look at how we run and we don't we shouldn't I believe we shouldn't run for seats I think that the top five vote Getters should win the election um it stops
people running against each other and this controversy or these feelings about not you know not wanting to work with somebody else because they ran against each other I think that it's running for the good of the people and not against
one person campaigning one way or another but selling them you know their ideas and their thoughts and their beliefs to the town um I think that uh the the one that gets the most votes should end up being the mayor instead of five council
members sitting up here and wondering who's going to be mayor the next next time and the one that gets the second most votes ends up being the vice mayor until the term is up and uh there's other other things in our Charter that I think need to be looked at Community has
changed it's changing it's going to continue to change Chang is not bad um and we need to catch up with that change so I'd like for us to have that discussion about a charter Review Committee and see if we can get that um
come if this if we once we get the fifth council member if we can come to an agreement to at least do that so thanks I like that actually Steve you said you wanted to yeah a couple quick things um I just wanted to uh thank the residents V Mara for sending me to
Gainesville last weekend to the league of cities it was uh very educational for me it's an incredible organization um that uh that helps us as a municipality in terms of uh advocacy um at the state level when the state
wants to change how we do business or or how we um enact their policy so uh anybody wants to be interested in looking at what they're doing they're very easily found online League of cities Florida uh and so it was a great experience um learned a lot um and then
the second thing I wanted to just uh briefly touch on is um you know uh earlier this week the Office of Management and the budget issued a memo announcing an across theboard freeze on Federal Loan and Grant programs that would have a significant impact on the variet of St federal state and local
entities including the village so although uh federal court has enjoined implementation on the freeze temporarily and the White House rescinded the OB OMB memo the White House also uh said that a federal funding freeze remains in full force and effect to give agencies time
to review programs for their compliance with the new uh agenda so it's my understanding that there may be a number of programs um that the village might be impacted on by such a freeze or funding reduction I believe as a council we have an obligation to determine the extent to which the village relies on federal
funds that may be impacted by a freeze of funding reduction what activities The Village would be affected and what plans may be developed to deal with such a freeze of reduction in federal funding to those activities so I asked the council direct the interim uh Village manager to investigate and report back
to the Council on the activities conducted by the council that receive federal funds and a plan for what the village might employ in the event of such or reduction may I come on thata was going to talk I have already reached out to
staff um and asked what any if they had any programs that would be affected by the freeze I can provide you with that information thank you sh go ahead after after that announcement I also reached out to staff and asked if they could
figure out what programs and I got an initial that there was hardly anything that they thought would would be affected but I'd like to see a report on that so great Don anything you're done yeah okay
all right so wait do we need to do we need to direct you just said to see a report on that I don't know do we have to I'll provide it to you I've already I've already reached out I didn't know if we had to like vote on that or something yeah no awesome yeah that's just
Direction okay uh Jamie I see we have uh uh discussion on interim yes um good evening the council directed HR to look at the list of managers in
transition um at the January 9th meeting so um we did look um at that list and I did reach out to the folks on that list to solicit interest I did receive um response from three of the 10 people
that I uh solicited interest from one of which um did provide a resume and expressed interest the other two um basically said they were not would not be interested in going forward um Alan
Cohen um has provided his resume as a person of interest and that's um in your packet we also did uh issue the RFP for the executive Search firm um um uh yesterday on January 29th on demand star
it'll be posted out there for 30 days um the considerations that staff would like you to consider is the candidate that has um expressed interest is not local and would likely need um some type
of housing all allowance um not exactly sure when the candidate would be able to start but likely within two to three weeks I would imagine we would have to come up with an a an agreement um an employment agreement correct John um and then the time that it would take to get
acclimated in in all of that time we would be in the RFP for the executive Search firm and also the position is open right now on our website it's posted on government jobs it's um posted on LinkedIn indeed and some other places
so people are expressing interest in the permanent Village manager positions um so I would um ask you to consider that time frame too by the time that we brought in an interim um we may be well into the
search for our regular um or permanent Village manager um and staff recommends we leave Sheila in the acting Village manager position um she's doing an excellent job
staff has continuity in what we're doing we don't have to bring anybody up to speed um um and Sheil lives very ver verse in in Village policy so thank you um council do you have anything Deb go
ahead your Mike little detail so um I also made some phone calls off of this list and out of um I think I called six people um I found two on there that I I I
personally liked uh one of them recused their themselves because of um what they were doing currently uh one of them that I talked to um already had an interim job and they implied that they could do an interim
job there and here I thought that was unique knowing Isa marada especially um and um in I I did find one gentleman
and it's only coincidental and I did not ask him to come to the meeting it was a surprise uh we have Alan Cohen in our audience and I'd like you to if we could have three five minutes for him to speak
this evening you okay it's I I did not he will I think he will agree that I I didn't have anything to do with him coming here he showed up on his own I'm fine with hearing him yes Mr con would you like to come up please everyone this
is Alan Cohen um think you will man thank you for coming Mr Cohen he drove to come here tonight so yes he lives about two hours from here right now the mic is yours um I didn't come with a prepared
speech I'm really here to be available to you um I'm interested in this on an interim basis uh my family and I live in Broward County I have a 10 and a 12-year-old uh we're not interested in relocating them permanently which is why
I'm not seeking the permanent job um I have a passion for public service and um I'm currently doing work with both public sector and private sector uh I would um shift that and and focus here
and work full-time um more than full-time actually um if if given the opportunity and and pretty much shed or put on hold my other clients um which uh I've I've done once before in their understanding
on that um I I really like I said I didn't come prepared with a speech for you I'd like to hear your concerns or questions and and address
them does anyone you want to when we start do you have Alan currently um hi I'm Don Horton um pleaseed to meet you currently you say you're a managing partner of uh Sage consultant LLC yes sir um a a a generic description of that
company but can you tell me what you do what you specialize and who your clients are um we we work with local business businesses helping them to navigate local government and then uh work with local government on either interim work
or special projects um I I've done interim work for a Miami Dade municipality I did a strategic plan for another Miami Dade municipality um we're a relatively young firm so I can't there's not a lot that
we've done in in that area to date um on the on the private side uh uh have an engineering firm uh a small landlord SL developer uh uh I was working with a
security company uh for a period of time um and uh some of that is dealing with Government Contracting solicitations navigating licensing um just spoke to a Medical
Transport company about a licensing issue that they have so those are examples of the type of work that I'm doing right now and Sage consult is my wife and I okay and then we bring in uhm
subject matter experts um to work on specific projects okay so the company is your wife and you correct okay anything else Deb do you have anything sure
um so when I found out Mr Cohen's name was on the list I called him because we have this unique um location where we are and um ask him the time frames would you like to address the time frames and the
possibility of how you um might manage uh the fact that you don't want to relocate your family um and anything along those lines and um potentially a starting date assume uh
well commuting is out of the question uh it took 3 hours this evening uh to get here um now I know what time of the day not to drive down um so my wife and I had discussed that um if this opportunity comes to
fruition I would secure lodging down here and and and stay here for uh however many days a week was necessary um uh I I I'm a Believer in the value of remote
work but I wouldn't suggest making this a remote position you need someone in person handson I think some of the work can be done um remotely uh but uh the majority of it would have to be done
here um I'm available to start next week uh of course contingent on securing of a contract and securing of some lodging Arrangement did I answer your question yes sir and
um you explained to me that you don't have high exp no that was going to be worded very poorly I was going to say high expectations on lodging that you're you're not of um
your your needs for your your personal needs for lodging locally are not they're on the water with four bedrooms and what a boat to go with that the time that I spent here would be focused on
getting the job done um you know working on behalf of the community uh while if I if I were going for the permanent position it would my perspective would be very different uh but you know when I take a job I immerse
myself in it um I come up to speed as quickly as I can um and um so my lodging needs are very simple um to to answer that question um
if you tell me what else you'd like to know um I think you and I spoke a little bit about the fact that she you know even if you didn't secure this interim job that you'd be uh potentially available to
help us with I'll call them spatial projects yes um I I have expertise in a variety of areas um so just uh for the edification of all of you and the audience watching um I've I've worked uh
in both the public and the private sector over the years in the public sector I was in elected official in in New York state I was uh the mayor of itha New York uh for two fouryear terms um after and that was after
working in the hospitality industry I worked at a mostly on the food and beverage side after working for a lot of other folks uh I bought a bar turned it into a restaurant had that for 15 years uh so my my hats off to anyone in the
industry uh I know how brutal it can be and my hats off to any small business owner cuz I've owned I've owned several over the years um after uh finally finding my wife at a later stage in life uh and she was worth the waight I can
tell you uh and uh spending a couple of Wonder wonderful years overseas because she was posted there for her job I came back here and decided to go into Professional Management uh because I
love government but I had had enough of your side of the house and God bless you for what you do and for what you put up with but someone's got to do it and its important work so thank you for that uh I was city manager for Sunny Isles Beach
uh which has some interesting uh characteristics common uh to to your village uh the uh City of Sunrise um I worked there for a couple years and then I spent uh seven plus years as the
Broward County uh assistant County Administrator um while uh while City while as mayor and city manager I worked on everything under the sun Broward County I was more focused on uh I oversaw our tourism um uh efforts
because the CVB is a county department I oversaw our sustainability and resiliency efforts uh and work directly with the chief resiliency officer on a variety of different initiatives and I was also in charge um of strategic
County development projects um one was building a new County um facility government center and the other was the expansion of our Convention Center that turned out to be a $1.3 billion project
it's in the final stages of construction now uh doubling the size from 600,000 to 1.2 million feet and adding an 800 room Hotel talk about a hairy complex project um it it had it all and I loved
it and uh I I enjoy challenges um whether they' be navigating the politics of boards or neighborhoods or anything in between um understanding issues and trying to find
Creative Solutions for them um I I F I found that over the years um I I have a love of learning and I don't restrict myself to any one area and sometimes I can get a colonal wisdom in one area having nothing to do with
something else but leverage that insight to come up with a better idea in the other area uh and it's um it's just a a life a lifetime Joy of mine um so I don't I don't know how I got this far in
in my tangent but um uh I'll tell you as far as um since you haven't asked but I'll ask the question answer the question anyhow um you might want to know what kind of manager I am uh I'm I'm
committed dedicated um uh I I think I've already mentioned I'd like to leave things better than how I found them and I I have a track record of every single time doing that I when it comes to style
um I combine different styles of management uh I'm somebody who um I'm I'm I'm definitely a servant leader I'm a situational manager and I'm
what I um I'm I am what I call a highly engaged macro manager so servant leadership I think you probably all know about and that's really focusing on your team and doing what um you can to help them be successful because they're the
ones that are producing the day-to-day results situational leadership uh while I lean towards consensus building you have to at times be able to make the hard calls depending on the situation uh and so it's there's no one style that's
going to fit all of the time and the highly engaged macromanagement is the opposite of a micromanager I don't believe in that when you have good people and you empower them they can get the job done um but you still have a
responsibility to know what's going on to answer your questions questions of the public to also act as a sounding board for them um you might have some of the best most qualified people uh in the State of Florida or the nation everyone
can use a little sounding board now and then or a little assistance uh I focus on staff development I think it's important for people to continue improving them themselves I always do for myself um I it's it's important to
be sharp and uh to stay on top of what's going on uh in in the relevant Marketplace so to speak um now I feel like I'm babbling so I'm going to shut up I probably answer a lot of questions
but what else would you like to know um I can't think of anything right now you've covered most of what I thought was um that I thought needed to be out there if somebody else has some questions Steve do you have any
questions I I don't really have any questions uh I did reach out to Mr Cohen as well and and had um a couple great conversations with him and uh was was very impressed with his um his demeanor his background and um his professionalism can I say something of
course you're the mayor um I think you answered a lot for someone who didn't have a written speech you did a great job so kudos to you and I I spoke to you as well today and uh I think you're more
than qualified uh the question then needs to be for this council do we want to uh proceed with this gentleman or how do you guys want to go well I don't know how long it's going to take us to uh uh you know to pick a
council member so I don't know how long it's maybe maybe he'll have you know how long it's going to take us to pick a city manager e that's a good that's a good one oh that's funny but um you know if if if we uh uh if we can get past
round one I don't I don't really anticipate his taking I hope that it doesn't take us too long to find a city manager um I think right now there's continuity in the staff the staff knows the person that's sitting there is the
interim we would just simply be hiring another interim to take place of an interim or an interim to take place of a temporary however that ends up whatever in the wording U so I mean I I'll leave it up to y'all I think that it's it's
going to the cost is going to be more we're going to have uh you know travel and housing and pdms and all of that stuff um and I I'm I'm hopeful that when we get past round one we can get to round two and pick us the city manager well I will
say since I am the only lucky winner who was here before this last term um it took us quite a long time to pick who we picked and it wasn't a month two months it was more like 6 months but the time
we get them here time we interview them the time we do what we we do best not agree and um um I I think Sheila is more than capable I think she's wonderful but I also think she's uh so valuable in her
job my concern is with all these things we have coming up U the new hopefully Village we're going to build with the new comp plan and everything um my concern is uh is taking her away from something that might be more important
that she can do but again I wish it was a month's decision to find a manager but I guarantee you it's not going to be just because the RFP went out or RFQ whatever it is goes out it takes a long time so um I guess then we need to
decide between us do we want to move forward or do we want to leave things the way they are I'd like to move forward well I would like to move I I agree with everything you just said I think it'd be great well I'm not done yet I was asking their opinion so I had also like to add
that I also think Sheila is very capable but I also know that um we just lost another staff member that is going to complicate her life her
assistant I'm so um I I do not want to lose Sheila I do not want to lose some of our other good staff members um because I think we have a fabulous staff overall and so therefore I would at least like
to try to move forward um and see what we can do with this gentlemen um I if if we can put something together quickly then then he can help start
filling in the gaps um no offense she so don't take this offensively Mr Cohen's got enough experience maybe he can help us with some of this other stuff too and he knows if I speak wrong say so he knows
that this is a temporary position he doesn't want a permanent position so if we hire him for two months and we get really lucky and find that perfect manager that we want he gets to go back to his family
and enjoy his young children so so that's all good uh and he understands that and he he may even be able to um help us through finding that manager
that we're really looking for I agree so that's part of the reason I'm going to lean on him if we go forward with this I'm going to lean on him for those kind of assistances I agree um because we need to do something different than what we've been
doing we all know this so we need to to figure out what's what's right what's wrong and and listen to some other people that doesn't mean you have to take that direction well we need to listen to what's going
on I I I really don't have much more to add um I think everything you say I I agree with and and just for my own well-being it's not not an a front on the staff at all and and their abilities I think they're fantastic I'm hoping that he would actually help alleviate some of their burden and and help them
do what what they do best so Mr Quick a question for you um so let's so we need to make a motion and then vote if we're going to move forward and since tonight was brought out how many Realtors we have in this town maybe
they can help us find a place for this gentleman and uh yeah and uh how what would involve the negotiations with you and him I mean am I assuming this is the path we would take yeah we would we would put together a uh um manage an
agreement with with Mr Cohen for the manager position bring it back obviously for Council for final approval we would work with all now all four of you hopefully by the end of the night all five of you in terms of um you know what you all are you know comfortable with in terms of um what he might be asking for
obviously I don't know what um the requirements are but yeah that's it's a not a problem at all I mean it would shouldn't be an issue so then oh yes sir I I just want to address one concern at the vice mayor Ray I'm willing to
publicly commit right now to um my compensation package not exceeding the total compensation package of every previous manager you're welcome so then council do I have a motion or do we open public
comment first John you can make the motion now and and if there's a second then you can do public comment or you can do public comment before it doesn't matter but as long as you do public comment before the vote yeah I'll make that I'll make that motion no he made the motion do I have a second yes I
second okay Miss Marney call the role please wait a minut comment I jumped ahead darn it Mr Cohen you can have a seat thank you I'm getting Delirious up here thank you Mr I open public comment and I know you I don't know if anybody filled out anything Marne or yes or
no um only Mr wishm has one out I smell burnt poporn good evening Joe wishm Plantation key I believe that taking the head of our building department and tasking her with the added burden of running The Village's day-to-day operations and also
continuing to run the building department is unfair to her and not in the best interest of the residents of the village our building department must already be short staff since last year the village paid a company which was Mt Cy or over
$500,000 to fill in how can it make sense to take away the head of that department having read the resume for applicant Allan Cohen he seems very qualified assistant County Administrator for Broward County 2015 to 2022 city
manager of Sunrise 2012 to 2015 city manager of Sunny Isles from 2011 to 2012 etc etc there's plenty more that even goes with that he sounds overqualified for the job
and held his positions for much longer than the village has been able to employ their own managers this is what we need is stability at that position by hiring Mr Cohen you can return Mrs denor to her full-time
position staff's reasoning that Mr Cohen is not local and will likely require a housing Alliance well that's kind of absurd see how you give away the housing allowance of $4,000 a month for the last couple of managers anyway it could take
3 weeks to start working at Village Hall well he stated tonight that he could do it quicker than that it will take time to understand the process and procedures of the village having served Broward County for 7even years and sunrise for 3 years I believe
he will have no trouble adjusting to our procedures since those communities are so much larger than ours Although our problems seem to be larger than theirs we know how long it can take to hire a full-time manager can we real afford to
lose the head of our building department for that long by weighing these options what makes more sense to you the village and the residents do the right thing since interim Village manager could take a long long time thank you thank you Joe
does anybody else want to say anything and of course yes F of course van Caden head i' just like to point out that uh this whole uh procedure that we're having to go through so painfully now for an interim
manager uh Mr fredman asked uh when we put the severance package in front of Rob Cole uh and and he didn't want to go he he wasn't uh doing anything wrong to the eyes of the public anyway um suddenly uh
he he was not supposed to get a a severance package if he resigned well he resigned and you still got a sizable uh severance package now how this occurred the public of alam marada does still not know the answer to Mr fredman's
questions that he asked the four of you and no one said anything you know and and uh Mr Quick said he had nothing to do with it and and I don't want to bring up four stone monkeys again because it's people get
you know people might get irritated but by the same token the people of aam Morana deserve an honest answer about what happened to our last manager because I think the man that just stood up here uh and and in good faith and
applied for the job should know what he's getting into should know what kind of of uh backstage uh out of the sunshine discussions can take place that may remove him from his job and upset his his life because I don't want
to see something else happen like what happened to Rob Cole Rob Cole was a good man he was an exemplary employee he was a a a transparent to and and gave a a manager's report on a weekly basis to
the people of alam marada which was well accepted and needed and and no one up there has yet said anything about what prompted that the only thing was buddy said well the the there were people were going to quit because of that well if
they were going to quit because of that and they didn't like to be managed well maybe they should just quit and go somewhere else that they can be omnipotent and and uh in have an autonomous department and and not have to have any oversight and not to have
any management not have to obey anybody's rules because the same thing is going to happen with this gentleman here he's going to come up against the same hierarchy that made Mr uh Cole leave and no one has yet in all honesty
uh come up and and said and don't tell me about a disparagement agreement and a non-disparagement agreement the people have seen this happen and we want to know what happened Mr uh uh Captain fredman asked the question he asked the
right questions and no one said anything and this is not proper and and I think that the man that just stood up here deserves that deserves that kind of I'm gone thank you so much and this is not what I had public comment for for you to
go back in the past this was about us bringing this gentleman here so it's and I did would like to remind the council obviously it was brought up by the speaker but there is a non-disparagement clause so my recommendation is to not respond we're not going to okay so
anyone else want to speak about the intro okay public oh darn it almost darn I just have a couple quick comments there's nothing controversial there but we this is very fast he's the
only guy that showed up I that's plus and a minus right you know it's nothing on him it's just that hey you showed up that's pretty impressive uh you know that it's it's good it sounds like there's a need in both directions but there's a lot of loose ends should I I
say so how do we resolve that I I know you're not going to answer me but I I think that the directions you give to our attorney and staff have to be such that we resolve that and you guys come back together fairly quickly to decide if that's agreeable to you before we go
forward and agree to hire him I think we can agree to go forward and that's encouraging and hopefully it's encouraging for Mr Cohen but I would say that you need to plan for a special meeting because has to be in the sunlight right so let's plan for that in
short order let's make that all comprehensive tonight all right thanks thank you um I believe that uh it would come back in our February 11th meeting yeah assuming everything's ready and I don't see why it wouldn't be in fact when when during public comment I I uh
shared my business card with Mr Cohen so that um in case you know in the event the council wanted to go that way I wanted to at least be able to get that okay so it'll all be transparent and you'll see it February 11th do you have anything that's what I was just going to say this is just an agreement to try to
move forward if we do not come to um a contract uh agreement Mr Cohen doesn't like the terms or whatever that and then that would be discussed that I assume we can get it on the 11th meeting um and uh
we can move ahead with this and and if it it doesn't we we can make that decision on the 11 uh but I would like to see just try to move forward anything okay so I I could see us moving forward I think there's still some more due
diligence that needs to happen other than somebody just show up give us a nice resume and and and uh walk out of here with a job so so I would like for us to have more time for due diligence on Mr Cohen and and we should and we
should um I like I said I did spend some time on the the list that we were given and um I only personally I only found one other person on the list and they were not really available for
um doing the kind of work that we really need so uh I would I would encourage everybody to do due diligence and that we can have this discussion farther down the line okay so then uh we had a motion in a second so now U Marne would you
call the role please can you repeat the motion please it was his motion what was your you can you repeat your motion please John what's the motion it's uh motion to uh direct Council to uh negotiate with Mr Cohen uh
for the position as interim um village manager and then to bring the uh item back to the extent assuming that there was an agreement bring the item back um uh for the at the February 11th council meeting uh for discussion you you
saidoun lawyer lawyer Council as an not C and I guess the the one thing that we neglected to ask if Mr Cohen is willing to at least work towards that thought
work um towards that idea yes uh I I am and uh again responding to the vice mayor's concern um if you'd like to provide me with the the type of information you'd like or the type of
references that you would like um I for example I did inter room work at uh North Miami Beach um you know I can give you the names of the mayor or the manager there uh what whatever specific types of situations you like or the
organizations you have my resume so you know unfortunately a a lot of times when you call an organization they're only going to say yes he worked here yes sir um you know because of of the litigious Society we live in these days but um uh I'm
happy to to connect you with uh you know whoever you like and even folks that don't like me so so you can get both sides are you still a rotarian I am I'm not I'm not active right now you're not okay no um I've been uh meaning to reup
uh I was active for about 15 years um in in Etha okay um thank you thank you okay everybody done yeah so moved as John stated so the motion has been done the second has been done I was second and so Marne please call the rooll council
member Steve Freedman yes council member Deb Gillis yes vice mayor Don Horton yes and mayor Sharon Mahoney yes that motion passes four to zero okay now I can adjourn the meeting thank you Mr I thought you were going to take the unanimous vote and see if you could run with it on the other item s like a good
idea me I'm trying I'm trying here okay nothing else except what's looming over us well you could ask is the village manager or uh attorney has anything else we can finish out those
things if you want I'm sorry I've got nothing darn it Miss Sheila you got no okay back to us Lord I still go for this coin TOS I'm
sorry so have you changed your mind no I I've not I I said from the start where I was and and I think the three of you said that you were kind of fine with with either one so maybe consider coming over to my side or my
side or Dev side what or you you said you'd be fine with either one yes I would nothing in that case it's not fair it's not fair nothing's fair in life anymore I'll make
a motion to bring Greg dully in on the council I'll second it oh my god oh I keep forgetting Mary call the rooll council member Steve fredman
yes council member Deb Gillis yes vice mayor Don Horton nope and mayor Sharon Mahone nope motion fails I'm trying to be fair what you think is fair but quit giving me the evil eye
well okay so what do we do now we sit here and asked for some of that popcorn yeah it smells burnt though I guess we don't deserve it you're right well we could just stand for the rest of the meeting and you know and no
seats and and then the first person that sits down musical chairs so what do we do I mean where do you guys want to go with this does anybody want to drop out you're not going to change your mind right yeah I was
too I want vodka I want I vot for oh yeah I brother have alcohol yeah right all right so where where do we go guys what do we do what do we do
well guess I could sit and watch a heat popcorn so what does the charter say oh okay reading the whole thing well it it kind of would apply to me also but what it kind of would apply
towards me also but um I guess I guess you have your reasons and don't take it offensive I'm not asking you to do de you've never offended me um I'm asking you to
evaluate right why because I sit here and I'm evaluating because this does have to quit but why you don't want to vote I'm not asking you to tell me why you don't want to change your
vote I don't tell me it's none of my business it's your business so what you been asked me for just so you think about it it's a thought question it's not an answer question well I'm sort of on the page of
that Anna did run and Anna did put the time in and and again you know I know that's not a reason and the number of votes you got isn't a reason but uh you know I mean I don't really know either
one of them that well and I just what I know of both of them I like and I think they both would be wonderful up here but I know they're only can be one unfortunately so I'm out of quandre you I know you I'm
wondering why you are so adamant the other way and what makes me wonder and I hope it has nothing to do with the fact that she ran against you or you ran against her or vice versa no okay all right Don do you have anything to say or you're going to keep reading your book
I'm trying to find it in find chart I'm trying to find a way out of okay yeah I don't want to sit here all night guys why would why what do you mean uh I mean in terms of uh why you
are staying with one rather than the other I I don't know you just asked me the same question um probably because I know one better I do know one better than the other and um no other special reason I think again they both would be wonderful
up here I understand that and again everybody keeps saying oh well then Sharon you can just change your mind you know but uh um and I would be okay with Mr Dolly here I'd be okay with Anna here I was just uh I I don't know either one
very well uh no one sought me out during the election to talk to me so you know I don't know neither one of you guys want to drop out I don't know what else to do
okay so we all just going to sit here Don you got to say something word an impact I I the only way to settle this impact would be either a draw or a flip because we're in an
impact and you guys say no to that still right I just think we need we need to come together and not use the luck of the draw as um who we set on Council well yeah come
on come on over here Don yeah okay I could say the same thing Don this is it huh John can you think of any please please I said John thank you
Terry I don't know what we do where he went clearly this is this is ridiculous when you have a conviction to
something I understand how you dig your feet in I also understand that the people who run for councel are what I call what most of us know as a
personalities and we don't like to compromise we don't like to give in I've never heard that before m it's this council is well known for and we've seen a lot of it over the course of the years
and I I guess I'm talking to myself too but um we need we're we're going to have to compromise on this we are and if we can't come up with a good reason why one of them should or should
not and I I don't necessarily want it I want it to be that person's coming up with it then then that person changes their vote if because this this you're right this this is crazy we could have all
gone home an hour ago at least John is there any sort of um example of uh just a a reate revote for all the people that signed up yeah you could certainly do that you guys can start back at at square one and see if
you end up in the same place you could you could absolutely do that yeah so we could do the same thing top three and instead of two votes on the second round do one yeah we may come to an inass again but at least we'd be moving the bus forward yeah or you could you could do instead of top three you could do top
two on the first round and then that way it it maybe maybe changes the the dynamic of the vote the um from the first go around and it could could change how you know where you end where the where you all end up you want to waste some time with a
vote go ahead whatever you guys want to do it's it's just a thought it's just a thought pattern I don't see what's going to change we're going to end up with the same too correct you want to you want to do another P vote I'll save some time and just make a motion for Greg Deli to
be appointed to the council and I'll second that motion morning let's do this again council member Steve Freedman yes council member Deb Gillis yes vice mayor Don Horton no
and mayor Sharon Mahoney no okay the motion fails 2 two it's crazy so we could also John eliminate those two and start over with a new slate other than those two I'm just saying we're looking we're grabbing his straws here yeah it's whatever you got
however you all want to pick wait a second I make I make a motion to accept Anna is our um oh you want to try it that way I'll second that I'm sorry I just I didn't get a complete answer on that so we could do that you could do that if you wanted to yeah I don't want
to okay let's ask who's interested in doing that we have a motion but there yeah there's a motion on the table that's been uh a motion in a second so we have to deal with that first go ahead Barney okay vice mayor Don Haron yes mayor Sharon Mahoney yes council member Steve fredman no and council member Deb
Gillis no that was fun fails you just want me to say a different word right yes sir compromise I don't think I don't think you're going to get different people if we put that list back out here well I'm being honest with you I don't think you are you don't think but
you don't know okay you want to you want to do that and get the same answer that's fine with me let's put for the giggles and that's all it's going to be is for the giggles okay let's put the name the all eight seven
names how many do we end up with seven thank you and we vote for one person on first round and G what do you think that's going to be I don't know you can we stay I'm fine staying with the two and just we can
just keep doing it yeah sure can I just making suggestions what if you rank them instead of voting for one or two what if you rank them you might have a different result I don't think so but we had or you could
do a weighted vote for the two like out of 100 so much for this person so much for that person I'd rather draw a straw than do that but whatever you guys want what do you want to do you want to vote against paper the paper vote's going to come out the same if
it's come out it will okay do we just sit here yep I got all night okay so don't you take another break you
want to take another five minute break I know it's not funny isn't it five minute break I don't know what else to do this is crazy so maybe you should you drink that liid
death weird sit counc you're voted in I know [Music] was used choking on popcorn go ahead really yes [Music] yes
for e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e e e e e
e e e e e e are you in the back come on we ready ready okay um I just had a talk
with our attorney again and I am going to make a motion that we table this until March yep how can we do that be John says we can and that's that's we're going to be in uh you know go ahead and explain it John
well in a pretzel um there's what the charter requires in there's you know what what the result could could end up being for the village so the charter requires the council to appoint somebody within 30 days that puts us to February 8th I think it was
um the reality of I guess is what what I was talking about with the mayor at the break is what would happen in reality if the council doesn't pick within the 30 days and I said well honestly somebody could bring suit against the Village um
they wouldn't be able to recover money I mean you wouldn't be on the hook for for damages or anything like that it would be a um like a rid ofand damus or a deck action and the court at most could tell you couldn't tell you who to pick can't
get out of it that way either but could tell you you have to come back and meet so the reality of it is if you delay yes you would be in violation of the charter and my recommendation is always to comply with the charter but the reality is if if it were there was a
delay then um at most you could be faced with a citizen suit where they are seeking to compel you to come back and meet um and so there would obviously be a cost of Defense of that uh obviously so don come on you guys what do you want to
do we're at an impact you making a motion you make the motion right yeah I second Marney would you call the role please hey mayor Sharon Mahoney yes vice
mayor Don Horton yes council member Steve fredman could you just uh read the motion so it's clear yeah it was a a motion to continue the uh uh the agenda item for the appointment of a council the council
member to the vacant seat until the uh March meeting which I don't have date as to when that is but I think it's after we get back from uh from Florida Keys day so sometime in March 20 something it's oh 18th I'm being told sorry yes okay and council member deis no okay
that motion passes three to one okay are we good we will get this on the March agenda okay move to it Jour excuse me why why wouldn't we put it on the February agenda cuz we have tooo much on
feu go e