##VIDEO ID:IhoB_55ZjKo## [Music] [Music] [Music] all right we are needing some Commissioners so if you're listening come on back in there we go um okay we will now convene our public hearing uh scheduled for 6 p.m. and it is 6: p.m. Mr County Administrator thank you Mr chairman uh the item before you item number 25 is the first and only public hearing to consider an ordinance amending chapter 4 Article 2 of the Leon County code of laws regarding Animal Control to prohibit the sale of dogs cats and rabbits the item requested the board conduct the first and early public hearing to adopt the ordinance that would prohibit the retail sale of dogs cats and rabbits in the unincorporated area of leyon County currently there are no pet stores in the unincorporated area uh that sell dogs cats and only one that sells rabbits animal control and Humane Society uh have been engaged with one pet store to ensure that they're aware of the proposed ordinance we're recommending option one to adopt the ordinance and I do have we do have several speakers card cards uh on the ordinance Mr chairman yes sir go right ahead thank you first speaker is Savannah Vic to be followed by Samantha jeles a't it cold in here yeah Miss vicory please put say your name and address for the record my name is Savannah vicory and I live at 4830 lamos drive go ahead all right good evening Commissioners my name is Savannah vicory and I'm here on behalf of Redemptive love farm and rescue we are a 501c3 nonprofit that takes it care of um three main components um we provide animal therapy we've V visited 51 facilities this year we do agricultural education which has educated over 5,000 students in the past year primarily in leyon county and we takeen we take and rescue livestock animals that are neglected abused and unwanted which has been the total of 235 animals in the past year now the biggest number of animals we see is rabbits and we are seeing an increased number of rabbits that come from these pet stores um because they these people who get these rabbits don't re end up getting the proper information that they need um and they end up not providing the correct housing and they bring them to us now in 2021 when we first started taking in rabbits we saw 15 it was followed by 27 and 2022 35 in 2023 and 80 in 2024 in the last week we have had five requested schedules for um rabbit owner surrenders this is uh as an intake coordinator I am seeing an increased amount of rabbits being surrendered that were brought from pet stores we have tried to partner with pet stores to adopt out the rabbits we have looked for to adopt out the rabbits we have looking for new homes and it could help them bring the supply sales but our proposition was declined we are not anti- breeders we are hopeful that they will change their minds in the future we are pro ethical and responsible breeding and pro- adoption we are pro consumer concept protection we want the best for our community and the rabbits in it and we thank you for the um we thank you for considering this ordinance thank you Mr vicory Samantha jeles to be followed by Katie Striker name and address for the record miss jeles my name is Samantha jeles my ADD addresses 1910 Sunset Lane thank you good evening Commissioners my name is Samantha I'm a law student at Florida State University College of Law I'm the president of the student animal legal defense fund and I'm a member of the Florida bar I would like to thank you for taking the time to hear us speak as well as supporting us in protecting consumers and protecting animals this ordinance is a good policy decision for protecting us and our pets thank you thank you m jeles Katie Striker to be followed by our final speaker on this item Kate McFall thank you Mr Striker your name and address for the record M Cher quick I just want to recognize Kitty Striker is one of our appointees to the shelter board thank you for that I know you look familiar yeah M Striker go ahead my name is Katie Striker and I live at 2124 Trimble Road I stand before you as a representative of Leon County Humane Society I thank you for considering this bill for the welfare of animals uh similar to Redemptive love we get many inquiries on um surrendering rabbits and we're not even able to keep up with them or take in as many as we'd like to so I hope that this bill this ordinance uh lowers the number of unwanted rabbits in leyon county and appreciate cats and dogs being on there as well thank you thank you Mr triker fin final speaker on this item Kate mcf chairman point of personal privilege I yes sir number number of um citizens are wearing overcoats are here and I was pondering could we turn the air down is it chilly second we have a motion in a second to turn the air down a scos all say yes thank you Miss McFall go right ahead name and address for the record thank you Mr chairman and Commissioners hi good evening Kate McFall 1206 Walton Drive very briefly I want to thank you for considering this ordinance and I also want to thank you for taking time to meet with me and talk with me over the last several months about this very important issue it's you will be joining if this indeed passes 85 other local municipalities cities and counties with similar ordinances just here in Florida and 500 almost 500 Nationwide so we appreciate you looking out for our consumers and for pets so thank you so much for your efforts and time on this very important issue thank you Miss McFall and I forgot to say I'm representing the Humane Society of the United States you're doing great so much thank you uh Commissioners uh uh do we have a mo or commissioner ke if you recognize to make a motion thank you I move that we uh take option one adopt the ordinance after this as public hearing okay we have a motion we have a second Mr chair second from commissioner Cummings we're in discussion any discussion commissioner Miner thank you Mr chairman I I appreciate it I first of all I want to thank commissioner o'keef for for bringing this up uh and i' I've spoken with a number of different people on the issue and uh appreciate their attention to it and and their interest in in the policy um I support option one with with an exception and uh let me explain let me explain why and then I'm going to make a substitute motion um there's as U the County Administrator mentioned there there's one retail store that sells rabbits in the unincorporated area and there are no uh stores that that sell dogs and cats retail so it's just that one store selling rabbits um I went and when this issue came up a few months ago I I went and visited that store twice and I spoke to the owner and the uh and the manager and uh I asked him the question you know what what do you have a rabbit Mill uh how do you get your rabbits you know what what is the issue are there any issues there and and he and they told me that they've had a sole supplier of rabbits for 20 years it's a woman in Lake City and uh when she heard about the ordinance being proposed she was despondent because she had some damage with uh I think um a hurricane Milton had damaged her Barn if this goes through she's not going to rep her barn and and you know this basically has Ripple effects to a lot of different things um these mom and pop pet stores and these pet supply stores operate on a razor thin margin and as our business impact study said um the potential loss for this policy change to this one business would be between $558,000 and $98,000 a year um this business by all appearances is following the law is doing everything right is caring for these animals uh and so what I'd like to propose is supporting the motion at hand but but having an exception for rabbits uh if it becomes an issue if it com if it becomes an issue with the store having issues with uh with with rabbits coming in that are that are um that are are that have health issues diseases that type of thing uh I'd like to address it I'd like to address it here but this supplier and and this store have been working together for 20 years and and the the manager told me out of the 20 years they've had maybe a less than a handful of issues with the health uh of the rabbits and so my my motion is to uh is option one with the exception of the uh rabbits in the ordinance like to make that as a substitute motion so we have a substitute motion from commissioner Miner is there a second second have a second from commissioner command we are in discussion on the substitute motion ex staff recommendation excluding rabbits M Comm command question the reason I'm supporting the substitute motion and I I support the original motion too I remember when this came back the first time I don't really like uh imposing new ordinance that put people out of business and um as long as you know we are um I'm sure we have inspectors that go and inspect you know these businesses and and how they operate as long as they're operating legally and under um High morale and not mistreating animals I really have no problem with it um and I don't think uh local government should really interfere with existing business practices especially if they're not breaking the law so that's why I'm going to support the motion um o'keef are you in the you were in the queue or okay let me get to commissioner O'Keefe and then we'll come back to you commissioner for a followup thank you Mr chair yes sir um on the substitute motion um my concerns are this is not this ordinance is not only about the the impact um an R we of a one particular business and whether or not at that store they are humanely holding animals or rabbits as laid out in the analysis and the background provided by the humane society when this was created we're talking about other effects we're talking about the uh number of people who buy a rabbit at a pet store who don't realize how much of responsibility is how long they live and then our shelter and our rescue organiz ations get those rabbits dumped on them now that's not this business's responsibility that that happens um but I did want to clarify that the only reason this ordinance does not only relate to the Humane treatment of animals in the store that they are located um it relates to the whole supply chain and the result on our community um and then as far as I do have sympathy for the supplier of the business that's somewhere else but I would have a hard time explaining to someone why we believe the same standards for dogs and cats that we have chosen in this County that we approve are not the same standards for rabbits which are in the same retail and and population environment that's my objection to the substitute uh okay uh commissioner Miner then commissioner Cummings thank you Mr chairman I appreciate it yeah I I I appreciate commissioner oie's comments um my my response to that would be um there's there's no business right now in the unincorporated area that is selling dogs and cats retail so there are no businesses that will be that could be potentially be put out of business by this policy um what the manager and and owner told me of the store is that it's not just the loss and revenue from the loss of of being able to sell rabbits it's a it's a pet supply store predominantly so not only are using losing the revenue of selling the the the rabbits you're also not having customers come back into the store to buy rabit supplies like bedding food and clothing users that type of thing which is a sign significant part of their business it it's not just selling the rabbit it's it's all the it's it's that Customer Loyalty that you form by having the rabbit purchase there that has uh uh many years of of Revenue coming into that store because of that connection that the owner has made with uh with the pet with the with the store um and then what I would what I would recommend in instead of I'd recommend keeping the the Rabid exemption here and instead of punishing this business for which has done everything right according to what I've been told and by all appearances let's let's manage this issue on the front end let's have our Animal Service Center do a a PR campaign helping to educate potential rabbit owners about the all the all the work they're getting into um I think that's probably a smarter way to go about it um the money we would spend on a PR campaign through the Animal Service Center educating potential rabbit owners is much cheaper than the loss of revenue for for this store between $58,000 and $98,000 a year so that would be my recommendation um granted and mark my words if we see any issues with rabbits in the coming future I be happy to support this ordinance coming back to include rabbits but I don't want to put I don't want to take Revenue away from a business that's doing everything right by all appearances um which hires employees in this community um and and punish them for something that has not been defined yet as as a problem through that store so that's my comment thank you commissioner M commissioner Cummings uh thank you thank you Mr chair I certainly appreciate the individuals that came and spoke in support of this uh of this ordinance and I understand um commissioner command's concern but since we have only identified one business that selling rabbit rabbits very lucratively um looking at their annual estimated annual revenues I'm I'm wondering and maybe this might be a question for our County attorney if we could perhaps grandfather this business in and then still allow this ordinance as prohibitive for sales of rabbits great question Madam County attorney I am so I was having a sidebar with one of the assistant County attorneys can you repeat your question for me yes since we've only in the analysis only one business has been identified as selling RAB rabbits and they're making quite a lucrative uh business through the sale of rabbits could we perhaps pass this ordinance but grandfather this particular business in as far as they're continuing to sell rabbits yes you could we could do that you could okay absolutely well I know we have what a substitute motion on the floor but perhaps with a friendly with a substitute a motion uh except a friendly Amendment and that way it doesn't adversely affect this business but we still have this ordinance as it relates to the seller RS Mr chairman yeah commissioner Miner I would be in support of that suggestion my only concern and it's a slight one is let's say over time that the store has a change in management and and it's no longer a store that has a supplier that is providing healthy rabbits I don't mean to complicate the issue but it's effectively by exempting and grandfathering in that one store you're giving giving them a pardon uh which you know basically exonerates them from anything they might do in the future a preemptive pardon so I wouldn't want to I don't I don't know if if the I'm okay with the with the motion with the change uh that's my only concern I have um listen these these people are are this is a pet store that really cares about about the animals that it raises and sells and so it's I I've Got Confidence in them but uh as a matter of policy it could be something it could be an issue in the future all right so we've got a a substitute motion and a second did you yeah you didn't amend your substitute right no no okay so the substitute is essentially the same as the ordinance is written with the exclusion of rabbits um commissioner Maddox did you want to hop in on this sorry that was a totally accident no it wasn't you you you're the tiebreaker oh man was but just CL yes ma'am commission yeah just for clarification on commissioner Minor's uh comment so you're not in favor of Grandfather this particular business in because of something that might haveen I'm sorry Mr chair I'm I'll support it I'll support it I it may not be it may not be perfect but I I think it gets to where we want to go uh in in in my mind and I think it probably satisfies commissioner o'keef so I I would support this uh this amendment commissioner Miner is your concerned that like in the future these folks could just like let rabbits run wild because we've Exempted them we could turn into Australia around here uh I'm always of the opinion though it's better you get more with a carrot than a stick so um car commissioner Maddox did you want to chime in definitely getting late ain't it got a long way to go man um so as I understand it the substit motion with the amendment being accepted commissioner uh o'keef you would you would you could support that yes uh accept as written with rabbits but ex but grandfather the one existing store and and and that was the amendment that was accept it I'll accept that from the amendment specific to rabbits specific to rabbits yeah okay Madam County attorney do you do you does that track you got it okay so we've got a motion uh a substitute motion that's been amended um uh we have a a second from commissioner comman you cool with that the second are still cool with it all right um all those in favor signify by saying I I I I I'll oppose passes unanimously thank you uh Mr County Administrator next item I'm going to take this one oh yes ma'am uh Commissioners you have before you uh the continued first and only public hearing to consider an ordinance amending chapter six section 6-32 and 6- 34 and chapter 14 section 14- 56 of the Leon County code of laws relating to hearing procedure and administrative fines and leans uh at this continued public hearing staff has recommending that the board approve changes to the county code to address the following substantive issues to create an opportunity for a property owner to request a second code enforcement hearing to contest whether the property has been brought into compliance the validity of the fine amount and or the imposition of a lean and this would happen prior to a fine being assessed and a lean imposed uh also o for consistency with State Law changes uh it it proposes to change the date that a f begins to acrw for repeat violator uh which is when a property owner commits a violation within 5 years of a prior violation of the same code section and that change would be from the date of the repeat violator is notified of the violation to the date designated staff validates the repeat validation the proposed ordinance also extends the time frame for someone to appeal the entry of a nuisance abatement order from 15 days to 30 days uh which is consistent with the time frame to appeal a code enforcement board order and the Florida rules of civil procedure to file an appeal in other types of cases additionally whether there is a there are different competing versions whether to retain the current language in the code that permits the county to lean personal and other real property of a violator uh this was discussed at the initial hearing uh in December um this has been authorized in state law since 198 6 and the county code was expressly changed to permit this in 2017 um the code Provisions in 50 other Florida counties mirror this provision in state law um and it is also notable that the county can never foreclose on Homestead Property that's not a change that's just something as a baseline for uh the commission to understand and that the County's foreclosed on less than five properties since 1988 uh so for foreclosure is utilized very very rarely uh compliance is instead always the goal uh and the but the ability to lean personal and other real property violators is another tool in the toolbox um as an enforcement mechanism that staff would like to retain in the code uh therefore staff is recommending option one which would retain this language in the code if the board does not want to retain that existing language about the ability to lean personal and other real property uh that would be option two now not to confuse you but the two versions of the code uh option one mentions that that if you retain the language you would be approving attachment one that's actually attachment two in your agenda materials um if you approve option two and you take out the language then you're actually approving attachment one so if you have any questions about that or about the proposed uh changes to the ordinance happy to answer any questions you may have staff is also here uh to answer any questions as well okay Commissioners uh commissioner Proctor you got it uh County attorney uh why does a fine a fine a mere fine uh is by law that it translate to a lean and why does our fines uh constitute a lean against the property and is that State statue it is um in fact violations of your code that are addressed by the code enforcement board all pertain to violations related to the underlying property itself which is why initially when there a violation is found by the code enforcement board the the fines start to occur on a daily basis and if it's not remedied timely only at that point is a lean assessed against the property many times after Property Owners come into compliance or maybe the property is sold and a subsequent owner comes in they will go back to the code enforcement board explain the circumstances and they will request a reduction in the amount of the fine or the lean that happens very commonly you um you consider the building behind the courthouse uh does it have any code enforcement against it it's been in eyesore um how does the fine the leans work and is that uh the fines against that building that that's incomplete uh does it translate into a lean and does it give them first position uh in the lineup of leans um City well I can tell you anecdotally that is actually governed by the city's code enforcement we only govern the unincorporated areas because the city has its own C code enforcement um provisions and its code but I do know anecdotally that there are leans against that property for um various violations but I couldn't provide you any detail because I haven't looked at that that's the city's purview well various um subcontractors have not been paid and I I I get those um those those those types of Lings but in terms of the uh actual uh code enforcement for an unsightly uh site sit um um I Ponder how that would work um our County's office is often um run in my opinion Rush shot over uh residents in this area and specifically uh we don't have a relaxation uh once these leans from the county um you know go up against these people in their mobile home and you you know you Trot up a uh multiple thousand dollar and people can't sell the property until they pay the county uh and it may not be them you know a major piece of property like Outback but for them uh $7,000 $4,000 $3,000 lean that they would have to pay first before they could go to closing is uh very oppressive and I've always um been concerned but uh your office temperament uh over time uh pre predating you uh attorney oin has not been empathetic in my opinion to to uh the county uh dropping a noose around the necks of those who've been charged uh with a with a with a lean from the county and I just don't really quite understand what's so holy about you owe the county some money um um I know you can go to jail for child support I get that that's kind of sacred uh but just because the County's um people wrote around and said you old for you know car around the back of the yard or the grass needed mowing uh we just absolutely suffocate and I hate this policy and I'm going vote against it because it uh goes much too far to cut off the property rights of citizens that the county believes that you owe me some money for your whatever it is uh grass is Too Tall uh uh the house houses need fixed or whatever it is uh but we should not uh stand in the way of people's uh transferability of their property and they should definitely have the capacity to alienate or to pass on uh their property but what we do we stand at the gate and block a uh uh this provision will stand at the gate and block uh a closing that people can't have until they come and see the county and I just don't think that what we charge in people is all that sacred and we just shouldn't lift ourselves that high and mighty above the public Community thank you thank you commissioner Proctor before I go to County attorney I don't think we have a motion so before we go into any further discussion can we get a motion on the item okay we've got a motion for staff recommendation one is there a second second second from commissioner Maddox okay now we're in the proper posture uh Madam County attorney you can respond um just point of information um code enforcement complaints come in from constituents staff then investigates them if they're determined that they actually do violate the code those complaints go to the code enforcement board which decides whether violations have occurred and whether to start to aess assess fines those are not prosecuted by the the county attorney's office we represent staff County staff which prosecutes the cases and the code enforcement board has its own Council just wanted to clarify that for the board thank you m thank you madam attorney um so we have a motion and a second any other discussion I'm sorry commissioner Cummings and commissioner O'Keefe is in the queue so commissioner Cummings go ahead commissioner Maddox you were in the queue are you good okay commissioner Cummings I'm sorry uh thank you Mr chair uh uh just first of all a clarification Madam uh County attorney uh attachment number two um proposed ordinance amending that chapter where the language was removed to place leans on all property owned by the property owner is that the one that we're dealing with now number two so so that language is actually in what we talking about Mr proor please hold on and let Madam County I need to know what we talking about what what provision the Amendments attachments where say I'm under two I'm on page three of six where are you I'm on J I'm on the first page of that particular ordinance it goes all the way down to the bottom and then we've got attachment one and we've got attachment two that the County attorney explain just go all the way down where it says recommendation option one then we have the attachments 1 two 3 4 five okay which which attachment so I'm looking at I'm I'm trying to verify that we are voting on attachment to that remove the language that says the county was permitted to place a lean on any property that the property owner owned other than the property that has the Code Enforcement issue all right what's the answer so so the only difference between attachment one is attachment one removes the language that allows a lean to be placed on personal or other real property of a violator staff has recommending that the board under option one adopt attachment two which retains the existing language in the code that currently allows a lean to attach to personal property or other real property of a violator that's currently in the code but it was raised as a concern at the last meeting um and the direction was to bring it back without that so we're laying out both of those options for the board to make that policy call so we are so what's before the board we are mending that language that excluding the ability of the county to place a lean on personal property or other property other than the violated property corre that that's that's attachment one that's correct that's attachment one correct yeah the agenda item says option one an attachment one but the attachments got flipped that's what I was referencing earlier so I just want to make sure you're looking at the right version that while we're talking about it and so that you know that if you approve option one you're actually app approving the version in attachment to so so it maintains the status quo no attachment for the so for the sole issue of whether to allow personal or other real property to attach but that's really not the purpose of why we brought it to begin with it was all the other things I talked about allowing someone to request an additional hearing before a lean or a fine is assessed to challenge whether a viol occurred uh or whether um the amount of a lean before anything is actually assessed which is not currently in your code um also to again allow um to extend the time frame for the nuisance of basement board for someone to file an appeal um from 15 days to 30 days you know again we're extending it for people giving them more time uh and then um basically uh changing the date that a fine begins to acre for a repeat violator uh the the statute says that the the violation or the the the violation starts to or the fine for the violation starts to acre upon the date that the violation is validated that's what the state statute says we want to make our code consistent with State Statute it currently says that it's from the date the repeat violator is notified and so it's inconsistent with State Statute we want to bring that for consistency want to change make that change hold on commissioner Proctor I've got three people ahead of you in the que yes sir um commissioner O'Keefe U I'm sorry M oh is it still with you I had I hadn't finished I'm sorry go right ahead commissioner cumings yeah I had a couple of more questions for for uh of the County Attorney uh one of my concerns my first concern is the initial hearing that's called by the board administrator for the code uh m board I don't see where the property owner is even giv notice of that initial hearing is that intentional or is that consistent with state law that they not be given notice of that initial hearing oh no they get notice they are given notice uh by certified mail at least 20 days but it's I don't see it in this section here at all it's it's there um I mean I'm looking at hearing procedure section 6-32 the administrator may call the cold enforcement Board hearing da da da and at that hearing they can set future hearings or they can conduct a code compliance hearing at least every o every two months but nowhere in there do I see initially where the property owner is given notice now after they determin in violation I see where they're giv notice by certified mail but not I don't see before that's because this is just an excerpt of the code this isn't the entire provision related to The Code Enforcement board process this only pertains to that proposed second hearing that we're talking about that would be new oh okay but but I can assure you that everybody gets notice of every hearing before hearing is held if if it's been asserted that they have violated the code and that the code enforcement board is going to take up that issue at a code enforcement Board hearing okay so M so this particular provision deals with the hearing after a violation has occurred after the initialing yes after the initial finding and what this does is it actually gives them a second bite at the Apple to request another hearing to to again say I'm we're not in violation or the amount of the the fine is wrong or um you know to assert that that that there is any sort of an issue before a fine or lean is assess so this gives him again a second bite at the Apple okay and my last last question in concern Madam County attorney is once a determination has been made that there is a violation the property owner is given 20 days he's notified by certified mail and given 20 days the language says from the date of the notice and not from the date of receipt of the certified mail and we know certified mail can linger around for 10 15 20 days so that's one of my concerns yeah the problem for staff is and I don't want to call it the US Postal Service but um it is very common for us to just not get proof of return receipt um and sometimes that takes months to get something sometimes we never get proof of return receipt certified mail um so they could get it late um but again it's not un commmon uh the code enforcement board someone could come to them after the fact and say hey I got this late they can ask for a continuance if they do that if the board's already taken action they can ask them to pause on that um they can request an extension of time to come into compliance uh I can tell you in practice the code enforcement board um really does try to work with people because what they want is for people just to come into compliance to address the complaint that many times these people people's neighbors have filed against them I mean that's they really try to work with people so it's imperfect for sure but that's the way it's written and that's why I I I appreciate that the only thing that bothers me is this directional language that it says the Violator shall didn't say may shall have 20 days and that might be some flexibility on the part of of the board uh but having represented a lot of clients where we have to look at at the dates and look at whether or not we fall within the parameters of those days I it just gives me concern that uh property owners are going to be adversely affected by that language well again and that's existing language that's how they operate now um and the problem with putting May in there as opposed to shall is that creates uncertainty for staff I mean cuz that's that's directive for staff I see what you're saying that's how they know whether to schedule something or not just even for a hearing so um I do understand your your concern though and why you raised that issue and and just so you know section 6-36 of the code is what addresses and um notices to your first question that you had um it says all notices required by this article shall be provided to the alleged violator by certified mail return re seat requested or there there is another option by hand delivery by the sheriff code inspector or other persons designated um so they they sometimes try to use hand delivery when it's feasible and they can do that but code enforcement people do not go on people's personal property many times that's not permissible um that's why they use certified mail a lot when they can um and when they don't have the option of handle dely and that's section 6-30 which consist we're not amending that we're not amending that that still applies and again uh every alleged violator would get notice before any hearing is held uh thank you Mr thank you commissioner Cummings um commissioner o'keef you're in the queue followed by commissioner Miner and commissioner Maddox thank you Mr chair um I am uh good with keeping the language um as I moved because the uh I recently read through a Year's worth of County Code Enforcement cases for another reason and one thing that pleasantly surprised me is so much of the our code enforcement decisions our board is quite lenient a lot of the actions are coming back and saying well I didn't get notice or Well turns out getting this fixed took longer can you wait Can you wave it um often the exposure we get or I'll speak for myself to code enforcement is a constituent calling to complain about a neighbor uh that is out of out of code or they don't like the way uh how many cars are in their yard or or whatever it is for example and they hope they're out of code and and we we don't push or or deny that for our office we just tell the person calling here's how you file it and then we just file F follow that case through to keep them informed and it's a it's a slow process in that folks get a lot of time to fix it and the our code enforcement board that we appointed um is is quite accommodating now it gets confused because this originally came up and then um with way back when and then we started asking more questions that we saw it so there's more things come up with it but the way I look at this now is um and support the change suggested by staff is from the from the current in place rules and ordinance what we're changing here is how many times uh people can come back and get uh another hearing and as it comes to the language we've questioned now about attaching leans to people's other real estate and personal property is this was what gives me Comfort because I never wanted to do something that can make someone's primary residents in at risk of being no longer their primary residents and that's not what we do uh we do not attach uh leans to people's primary residence is that correct a lean may be attached but we can never foreclose we can't so the lean just sits there on the property so we don't foreclose anyone's primary residence this language is talking about people's other property that's by definition not a primary residence um and again our code enforcement board is their posture seems to be uh we want to get things cleared up and fixed we don't want to collect the fees that's just a way to try to get it cleared up and so from the current standard we're not increasing penalties we're not um making it harder for people to get accommodations who have had code complaints against them and we are not adding anything that adversely affects someone's personal private property uh so I support this based on that thank you thank you commissioner O'Keefe commissioner Miner and then commissioner Maddox thank you Mr chairman I was in the queue from before but I just want to say I'm suppor of the okay of the option thank you commissioner madx Point clarification second the proposal on the motion on the floor makes the changes that we originally asked for uh when we when we sent it back to to sta option one which is attachment two would make all the proposed changes but it would retain the current language that allows us to lean personal or other real property of a violator is that what we asked for no thought we wanted it but that is our recommendation so we brought you back to two different versions one that takes it out which is attachment one related to option two uhhuh and then we have attachment two which retains the language under option one okay what's the motion on the floor uh I think that motion for staff recommendation option one that retains the that retains which is outlined in attachment to okay so I remember last time we had this conversation there was a big conversation around uh that one piece and that's why we said it back but now we're going with staff recommendation which is the I'm going to vote against motion on the floor we did all that work it say staff to the table to to take that piece out cuz that we we felt really strongly about that then we bring it back and now we're back to where we were cuz this is the original um language that we had that you had us with the first time correct Madam attorney yeah it's a continued public hearing so we're just laying at all the options for you but of course policy of the board whatever your will is right okay thank you all right commissioner thank you Mr chairman um I feel like we're going to um um I'm disappointed um the notice issue uh is a due process issue and I I realize I'm at a disadvantaged because you all are working with computers and I'm working with sheets of paper um but the six uh -3c um is not referencing attachment number two and I have looked for the U notice uh issue because uh the issue for me is in subsection J um Madam attorney uh under your attachment to that gets down there and see upon receipt of the Affidavit of non-compliance um in confirmation that the Violator wave the right to request a hearing to contest yep then the vality of find him out and the imposition of a lean my question is how is this determined uh if the person is not receive nothing what you go by to know that they waved it do they send in a letter I hearby me Rick Miner I wave my rights to this right here uh uh simply that you didn't get any response then that's a waver that right there is um um cloudy and it's not clear here and we really ought to know what constitutes the waiver um that the staff determines before they set a price and determine what the lean amount should be and then they impose the lean and then the chairman executes an order imposing the lean and then um a certified copy of an order of the imposition of the fine is recorded in the public records and and uh this remains as a permanent state of bondage that people cannot at some point sell their homes uh because Leon County uh is blocking the transfer and we don't have uh any language that allows a waiver a relaxation uh an understanding of circumstances there's no flex and that right there is uh dead wrong and uh all these people with green shirts on know the value of uh Mercy uh forgiveness uh Second Chance and even if the board wanted to wave uh at some point said well we understood that they lost their job we understood that they sleeping in the car they didn't have and they should be empowered to take that lean off the book uh by the same order of some process we this thing is not ready uh is just not gain ready until we have uh armed the same board with a possibility of withdrawing the lean and being able to look at the human human being circumstances of uh ordinary regular people in your re review of the last year of U measures uh I I Ponder to know the people who appeared uh were those house hous olds earning above $43,000 a year uh were they households that earn less than 43 uh sociologically um ending up in this position more often than not the weight of it falls upon people who have less and I I believe that our government um we being too um adamant and we ought to give the code board or some process to withraw that lean because right now County attorney if I get a call uh from from constituents and say proor we can't we're trying to sell our trailer we can't why code enforcement lean and she can't do anything there's just nothing zero she can't do until it's satisfied is that a correct Madam point of information um so once a lean attaches to the property F start to AC crew and then ultimately over time if the the fine isn't paid or if um they don't request a reduction and pay it or whatever a lean will attach we have had cases actually where people have come and said hey there's this amount of this lean on this property will you work with us to reduce it uh once a lean attaches it's no longer under the jurisdiction of the code enforcement board it's then under the jurisdiction of the County and in fact the county has worked with people to resolve those issues specifically in the context of the sale of property so we actually do address those sorts of concerns this is very honorous it's unneeded um it should have stated uh explicit language for um the withdrawing of lanss and and more importantly even this board the board of County Commissioners uh don't get to listen to uh we're not an app pellet process for people to come to and if anyone should have some say if we wanted to withdraw a lean um I think the board of County Commissioners should be uh subject as a reviewer of U these matters and we're not so it's very um um very um honorous to the victims of of of of of leans uh I believe that the notice issue uh should be clarified it's not I don't understand how do you determine whether uh the receipt of an affidavit or none compliance I get that the confirmation that the Violator I mean how do you confirm that the Violator wave the right to request a hearing that's not clear uh to me but anyway we've not on this bone and um I thank the board and I thank County attorney for looking at this measure so with the option that's on the table now Madam County attorney uh is it specifically because I got a little confused in the last exchange with you and commissioner Maddox with the motion on the floor now does this maintain the status quo or does it limit the lean to the one property that's in question or does it apply it maintains the status quo so you would not vote in favor of this motion you would instead vote for option two which is reflected in attachment one so in terms of my thinking and what I've been saying option two is closer to what I've been saying that's correct all right what's on the floor Mr chairman option one chairman I move option two all we got substitute motion for option two is there a second a second second from commissioner Cummings we are on staff recommendation option two attachment one uh let's land This Plane we're no longer on staff recommendation oh never mind I'm sorry so option two attachment one not staff recommendation original commissioner command can you uh close it out for us and we'll take a vote thank you m thank you Mr chair I was just asking for it just got cleared up point a clarification of what motion was on the floor I plan to support um commissioner Proctor's motion thank you Mr chair all right uh we've got a motion from commissioner Proctor uh for option two um and a second from commissioner Cummings all those in favor signify by saying I I opposed no got two uh no commissioner o'keef commissioner Miner passes 5-2 uh as commissioner Proctor's motion okay um Commissioners that that ends our public hearing we are now back on uh item 21 which is the Kum item now I would inform you that we have 20 speaker cards for Citizens on non-agenda items after this item so uh you know just keep that in your back pocket as you discuss uh this item so we will we've heard from uh from those folks I'm going to let Vince the County Administrator is going to uh wrap up the County's perspective and then we'll go to discussion okay thank you thank you Mr chairman just very very quickly to uh I know we took a little break from the item but just to sort of summarize and sort of emphasize a couple of points that were make uh were made um in the interest of of of helping the board in your in your discussion um couple things we heard um in the presentation and then the comments uh one of which and and Kum should know from a staff standpoint We join Mark Hendricks and we really appreciate all of their work and it's important to note that we we heard some human stories uh tonight um and I thought I should just point out from staff's standpoint that uh uh we are a direct Service delivery organization we do a little policy analysis on the side uh but galani if you raise your hand back there galani and his housing team work every day all day with clients um in our affordable housing programs so uh we get it uh we understand um the story another thing I heard was do something what have we done of course in the analysis that you have before you it clearly demonstrates um what we've done and we fully intend to to do more and uh again just over the past few years the county has a direct spend of about $5.8 million in direct funding authorization uh of approximately 183 million in bond financing we've secured over 125 million in additional federal state and private financing that will result in 1,200 new affordable housing units over the next 12 to 18 months that is a record that we've not seen in our past history so you're doing a lot can we do more we absolutely can do more and we're trying to do more another thing I heard is dedicate a funding source we have a dedicated funding source it's called ship it's everyone's dedicated funding source for counties and cities in the state of Florida uh we have as you have heard $400,000 in the current budget uh unallocated currently for projects um like the ones that have been proposed um and and uh and we think that money that money we expect to grow to $500,000 next year and as you heard too we'll be working very hard through the legislative process to get additional capacity uh with ship and we'll be joining counties and cities from across the state in doing so um the next thing I heard was about reallocating uh the the C tax and what would that harm uh what would that be that would be about four projects next year but let me talk a little bit about those four projects um uh that that may not sound like a lot and those projects they vary in terms of where they're located what district what neighborhood they serve that sort of thing and we can give you the list of of the projects and they probably won't mean a whole lot to you they'll talk about the road miles to be resurfaced and that sort of thing but that's a very Dynamic list four projects uh and the way that we constantly monitor those projects is based on engineering uh data it's based on access acent data and we were constantly reassessing and stretching those dollars to put them on resurfacing projects where they're needed the most uh and the thing about resurfacing dollars Commissioners is that a $500,000 Pro resurfacing project when you defer it for even a couple of years could become a $5 million project when you're no longer resurfacing but rebuilding a road bed so again just all things to to take into consideration incentives commissioner caban last time around was asking about incentives that's why you heard shon's emphasis on live local again those incentives are up to 100% property tax abatement on these uh uh eligible projects and immediately going to the highest zoning designation in your code that's about all the incentives you could provide for such projects and while we will not be receiving property taxes of course we will still maintain Our obligation to serve those projects with infrastructure and other services in the county uh so that's why we we presented to you at the end that we have the opportunity for a budget Workshop upcoming in a few in a few months where again we could sort of synthesize all this see where we are with uh ship the and and I I think something that is is a point that probably should be made the biggest uh worst case scenario that we could probably commit here is to allocate a pot of money that could not be used for a gap financing project that may come down the pike that's what you heard from Mark HRI Hendrickson essentially um you can remedy that should the board decide to do so in your budget workshops if you want to use General Revenue this board determines again what our budget priorities are General Revenue will be a much more flexible much more fungible source to address those those things again you may we may allocate an amount of the sir tax dollars we may have a gap financing project come down and we may not be able to utilize those dollars because the limitations on the sir tax Commissioners that's all from me I just wanted to hit the high points and hand it back to you Mr chairman thank you Mr County Administrator so we're going to go into discussion I've got commission and by the way the the deliberators are working again so um I've got uh commissioner Maddox was first and then I've got commissioner o'keef and commissioner Miner oh I'm sorry yeah and we need a motion thank you um Mr chair I would make a motion that we um that I spoke of earlier uh that we would have um HFA work with Kum as well as any other stakeholders that can be identified uh to EV one look at the the current pelis proposal along with the needs that we have as a county and um come back with with um proposals The panel's Proposal as well as any other proposal that might be uh for right for us to consider uh that would be part of my motion the other thing is that we will secure additional funds funding opportunities and uh also change changes to the ship uh to increase our resources to address affordable housing as a as a part of our budgeting process County Administrator spoke about us maybe looking at um during our budget workshops how we may be able to use uh some of the ship dollars as well as other dollars we have to to to allocate towards affordable housing that is my motion and then I have a few comments Mr chair okay we've got a motion uh did staff get that motion we did okay is there a second I'll second we got a second from commissioner command now we're back to commissioner Maddox right on discussion thank you uh so here's the thing and I talked to um Robert durar and commissioner th during our break I am familiar with the panel's county proposal um no Ken Welch who was the mayor of St Pete as well as other uh County Commissioners in pelis county and I'm not totally sold on it as a as a as a remedy for what we deal with here and the reason I asked for more discussions on it is to see if we could come up with something more original for Leon County the reason that the panella's proposal was picked is because it's the only model that you have once we allocate those dollars that allocated that's it so if we choose to do what panel is chose is doing that's what we're doing but who's the say that that Kum HFA and other stakeholders can't sit down to address uh this proposal or to address affordable housing in a more a more holistic way and so I'm not I'm not saying today that I don't support uh the penelas county proposal and I'm not saying that I don't support us putting uh more dollars towards affordable housing because I actually do uh what I'm saying is that I'm not well what I'm saying is that I would like for us to take more time to see if we can come up with a model that's unique to Leon County that then people who are looking to to deal with affordable housing can then look and say well pelis is doing this and Leon County is doing this well maybe the Leon County proposal works better for our County than the panel's proposal I'm I I just don't want to say because penel is doing it it works for them then we're just going to take what they're doing cuz I I mean I hon it could work some of it will work but it does it address every issue that we have I don't I don't think so so uh one of the things I heard is commissioner M we've been waiting on this for 3 years and they were sitting here today and you're saying have more conversation and come back with with not only the proposal that the panel's proposal was something different well as I understand it you hadn't been waiting 3 years with the county since you walked into our Chambers since you walked into blueprint the County vote at blueprint was for us to allocate those dollars you walked in here you asked us to look at your proposal and tell us what you thought or tell you what we thought so really you haden't been dealing with us for 3 years what is 3 to six more months more conversation to see if we can come up some with something that's not like pelis that's unique specifically to Leon County and if if if you can't come up with anything then we'll we we'll chew on a panel thing and we can move forward on it but but why do we have to do this today when we waiting when we when we've been waiting for three years when we can wait six more months have the conversation and maybe come back with something that's unique to Leon County that's better than anything the state has ever seen somebody said earlier that the state I think it was Mr Mr Hedrick said the state may not be dealing with this the city may not be dealing with this but you have an opportunity to deal with it well I want to make the most of my opportunity to deal with it and I don't think just by because this is the one we got this is the only thing we got I don't think that's taking full advantage of us dealing with it you have a board up here who wants who wants to put more money towards affordable housing I told a young lady earlier she said should should a crowd stay I said look I don't think this thing fails today worst case scenario there's more conversation than it comes back best case scenario for you guys is that it passes but to me if it passes today I don't think that's the best case scenario because all we're doing is taking something that works somewhere else and we're trying to make make it work for us when we could we could probably find something better there's a lot of Minds in this room and in this County in this city that I bet you if you put them all together we could come up with something that that's better than what pelis did if you guys have no interest in doing that so be it but but I do and I'm hoping that we can wait a little bit have a little more conversation and come up with something different that's all I'm asking for thank you Mr chair thank you commissioner Maddox I've got uh commissioner o'keef then commissioner Miner then commissioner Cummings then commissioner caban Proctor you want to go in after that yeah yes sir all right commissioner o'keef you're up thank you Mr chair and I want to thank all the people who have come to the multiple meetings especially folks who came to bravely tell their story um in asking us to do something that's I was about to say a brave thing but it shouldn't be brave we're put up here to be leaders and because we have not LED in the way that our community demands you have led and it's our time to follow your lead um we can at least do that it was said earlier but for the grace of God there go I and that is something I think whenever I meet somebody who is living outside everybody is one Medical Emergency One lost job one rent increase away from living in a car living on the street um I'm going to tell you about my first day in the office here after I got got elected and Gary zeren was my Aid he had been the aid for my predecessor for um eight or nine years and I think I gave him a question he never heard before that night before some of my friends who live in their car were over on the Southside and a incident happened away from them that brought the police down interacted with them and you know what happens when you don't have income and you live in your car you don't keep up your insurance and so you don't keep up your registration and so that person was in jail overnight and they called me and said I'm scared I don't know what to do and so Gary's first question from his new commissioner was when is the first hearing and what courtroom is it in so we can go um help our friend find out where to go we heard about people who live in who who work have worked in this Courthouse who live in their car my close friend is a a is a senior and he is uh losing where he lives now and he I I went with him with the help of our essential Library initiatives our case worker and got the best list we could of affordable housing and affordable Senior Living for this person who qualifies for many on a fixed income and we spent days going me chauffeuring him around from place to place because many of our places you have to go in person to get the application and return it what do people who don't have a friend who will take days off to drive them everywhere to try to apply for affordable housing that they will be on a wait list for we have done a lot we are doing a lot 1,200 units is not nothing ship funding is not nothing sale funding is not nothing if we won $7 million from HUD that would not be nothing but if you didn't know the federal ministration just froze all financial assistance including HUD grants so I don't think we should be planning for that um it'd be nice if it would come but put one thing in the hand and one the other and I don't think we should count on that one so Kum it it was brought up earlier in the last discussion we don't want to do this without we shouldn't be the only ones to have to do it and we should talk to the city well I didn't run for office and I didn't get voted in to ask the city's permission to meet a need of our community amen Kum started Kum started going to the city for multiple years and amending the request denied denied denied then what they were told to do is go to blueprint they took the objections they incorporated into a change and they went to blueprint they were told no now everyone on here happened to support it but that didn't get us over the hurdle so then they came to the county they were told they were advised to come to the county by our mayor it was a good suggestion because we stand here after other local governments and Joint governments have chosen to say no instead of finding a way to say yes we are the last local government to be asked to show a little leadership and say yes to this proposal because we heard from somebody who is a medical professional who is or and has been homeless and living in their cars when I'm in the hospital the person putting an IV in my arm I do not sit well with them living in their car and working double shifts to pay rent we heard heard all of the specific technical objections and we do a lot we do a lot but if we want to think together and put our heads together as a commission and a government it is not time after Community organization has thought through a proposal to bring it to us that's our job long in advance and long after this today we're considering this proposal from Kum that has been based on a large community input from over 20 multiple Faith organizations and congregants this is not some small group who just decided hey we need something this is the most thoughtful thought out long-term apolitical Community advocacy organization I've seen recently for housing and I see no reason that we shouldn't learn to start finding a way to say yes instead of finding ways to say no if we want to come back and do something different we do we do whether we vote for this or not Kum should not be the reason that we bring back Workshop items about how we can do something that worked for leyon County we've done in responsible for that and we will continue to be but now is the time to say yes to this period thank you Kum these people have worked along time and I'm asking my colleagues for your leadership in putting this program into place giving it up or down and then we still come back and we put our heads together for every new creative solution because that's what we should always and Contin will do thank you you proposed The Substitute motion I would make a substitute motion to uh accept the report and direct staff to Institute the program as proposed by Kum second all right we've got a substitute motion and a second and commissioner Miner you're in the queue thank you Mr chairman I appreciate it um first of all I want to thank the C of members uh for being here and for their work on this um Kum has done an excellent job uh studying the the affordable housing issue and and trying to work to find a solution with with both the city and the county you know I I have to say after the last couple years I've sat down with Kim more often than my own mother um and it's uh it just goes to show for how much how dedicated you all have been in reaching out to your elected officials if I have an issue that I want to have addressed I want to have Kum on my side um I've also I've got some beneficial experience helping people in need of housing um I used to serve as a board member of the shelter the old one on West Tennessee 15 or 20 years ago uh I used to be the CEO of Second Harvest which at the time I was there worked with 135 Partners to provide 10 million meals a year to people in need and then um every year I participate in Big Ben Continuum of cares annual point and time count that's where we go out to the community and interview people who are on the street to get a good sense for uh a snapshot of how many people are homeless so that we can draw down federal funds um in fact even this morning I was volunteering for the pit count and walking around downtown with case managers and other volunteers um interviewing people that are that are homeless um I have supported Kim's uh concept based on the penel penny uh for land assembly and and you know that that I have and you know that many of us have you know in May of last year we all I think we all voted uh to make it as a blueprint project unfortunately in Blueprint you need the city Side to vote as well um I've given this a tremendous amount of thought I think that what we've talked about today with shinon Lamy and others is the way that the land program is set up the restrictions are there where you can only use it for land only use it for land because the fund comes from infrastructure funds at blueprint um had a quick question it related to this uh and I don't know if if if um if if the County Administrator could answer this or someone from from Kum itself but does the does the Kum plan only allow the development of low-income housing in other words would the Kum plan support development of mixed income housing as part of the project shington gotcha we need your mic onal specifically um would set aside units for extremely low and very low yes those dollars would have to be dedicated specifically for extreme low and very low only as we've talked about um could you have a 100 unit development with 40% low income and then have that portion uh pro-rated portion of of land be using Kum funds it's a mixed answered your question instead of to tell Mr dial please don't do that um Mr shington go ahead and try to answer the question please well the the issue is the fact that the way the projects work um the developments work commissioner is that those set asides are already set based on tax credits and sale and other project and other um funding sources that those projects receive um those are the ones that that help to set aside how many units will be um set will be provided for low income as well as very low income and extreme extremely low income those additional dollars would not get us more affordable housing units those units are already established by the funding that those that those projects are receiving through the programs that we talked about so to paraphrase back to you what that means is that when these set asdes are are are codified the funding already has to be in place before that uh mix of low income to higher income is is is determined is that correct those are um they have to be set as you're going to closing because that lets the um the finance you financiers know what is going to be a mix of how many how much dollars you're going to get through subsidies or through actual rent um your rent roles could you at that point use um funds from the Kum plan with revenues produced by the blueprint funds that have been designated for that I'm sorry so so okay I I spoke with um Brenda Williams the tal Housing Authority she told me that um it's it's it's very difficult almost impossible to get financing for just a low-income housing development project because it's just fin not financially viable she told me and she I asked permission for her to con for me to convey this to everyone here she said a project that is only low income would not be financed by the Banks the banks would never accept it so so my my point that I'm trying to make it'd be very difficult for the penel land program to work with just low income housing projects that are 100% low income units um the cun program can work if it's allowed to be part of a mixed income development where the portion of low income but commissioner the issue is that's how our projects work now they do that now commissioner and the thing about it is and and with pelis pelis does not require for projects to provide more extremely low and very low income that is not what they do their project their dollars specifically do what we do our ship rental development project provides assistance with Fi with gap financing that's what they do with pelis County they're not said making making these and we and we have this we talked we met with the um executive director of pelis County and um um HFA because they run it through them they do not require with is Kim's proposal that they set aside more units than is already set by the state for extremely low and very low they do not do that okay um what I what I'd like to propose is something that I think gives us gives us greater flexibility um with with the Kum plan as it's been as my understanding of it goes we all know per state statute the blueprint infrastructure funds 20% of it which would go to the Kum concept could only be used for a land acquisition we know that that's that's well established um but we also know that the County's doing a tremendous amount of work they really are doing a tremendous amount of work as our County Administrator said as shingon lamia said on on producing more affordable housing units it's just a fact we're doing an incredible amount of job incredible job the the Kajun plan would be another tool in our Arsenal it wouldn't be the Silver Bullet that would solve affordable housing in Lyon County I don't think anyone is advoc is is suggesting that it would be one tool of of many what what I suggest we do is instead of of using the blueprint funds that are only restricted to land acquisition what I'd suggest we do is is is is use General Revenue funds supplement that with our our ship levels that right now is at $400,000 we expect it next year to be at $500,000 000 what I'd recommend we do is contemplate whether or not we want to add to the $500,000 of ship Revenue funds next year add $ 5,00,000 to that making it a million dollars of funds that we could use for ship like Gap financing that's a lot more flexibility than this program from Kum might be right because with Kum you can only use it for land acquisition with this by supplementing chip funds with additional money from GR you're actually able to use it for Gap financing Rehabilitation construction you can also extend the land use restrictions that would be adopted on um low-income homes as Mark said before from 50 years to perpetuity you can't do that under the kajam use of dollars you can do it with this idea of supplementing ship does that make sense what I what I what I'd like to do is is and commissioner Maddox touched on this I think we get the biggest bang for our buck by taking ship working as we come up with the budget uh for next year uh identifying an amount that we want to do to supplement chip for that gives us the most flexibility we have the ability then to use all of that money whether it's a million dollars because we're using 500,000 for ship 500,000 from gr to use Gap financing because as we've heard a lot of developers in Leon County don't have land use or acquisition of land as a barrier to development that's not the thing that is an issue here in leyon County it might be in pelis where you're confined to the you know to the to the water line the coastline and and land is a premium there here in leyon County it's just not a strong barrier so I think we all we've all stated we we've demonstrated we all care very much about affordable housing I talk it's probably one of the top one or two issues I deal with on a daily basis the need for affordable housing I think this idea here gives us more flexibility the trick though is to make sure we get the funding that we need right well just a out there right like I what I suggest is that we put something on the books now as a placeholder for when we have budget discussions let's say $500,000 we add that to the $500,000 for ship to give us a million dollars now what will happen what will happen is that we'll then have a discussion you all probably be here then where we talk about whether or not we want the 500,000 to add it to ship and we're going to have to decide whether or not we can you know what what are we going to trade off right what do we give up in our budget to make sure we get $500,000 added to ship so that's a friendly Amendment a it's a whole different proposal yeah no so commissioner Proctor please we have a substitute motion on table was entirely different from what you're suggesting which was closer to the original motion so we are going to have to disperse of the substitute motion first so that we can you know if we pass the substitute motion we pass we don't we don't but what you're talking about commissioner miners is really more in line with commissioner M I know yeah Mr chair on point sure so this is what I'm talking about you got the pelis proposal I think you got a great idea right but even if we make this that decision right here on the spot it's a it's a concept that you have in your head that we have not seen on paper I I agree with it it sounds great but we haven't seen it on paper I believe it's shortsighted I know you got want it to happen right now but why why can't we just take these proposals which is a very good one I sit there and talked to you Robert and you said it yourself the the the panel's proposal does not conquer the whole deal maybe you said because the reason that you chose a panel's proposal was because you were dealing with blueprint dollars and blueprint dollars could only be used for infrastructure and land but if there is another pot of money that you could use that could that could address both sides then that would be better for everybody why aren't we thinking about this why are we pushing for something when we can when we can really sit here use both sides of the pot really come up with something good and push this forward in a way that conquers and de and deals with everything everything thank youx commissioner Miner let's let me let me wrap up please commissioner coming so um commissioner madx I I hear your point um what this would do is is not create something new it basically uses the existing functionality that provided by ship so it it's additional money to to add to ship we use all the flexibility that ship gives us Gap financing you we named it already all of that all those additional flexibility that we have that we would not have with uh the Kum plan with the penel land ass land acquisition dollars so it's it's it gives us much more ability to work with developers in in many more scenarios of how they might be able to have Gap financing to develop affordable housing so it's not creating something new it's it's basically piggybacking off the bank of ship Mr chairman I hear you thank you Mr chair okay thank you commissioner Miner um Commissioners we can't Circle back too many times okay so commissioner Cummings has not had a shot Commissioner caban is next and then commissioner Proctor and then I'll have some thoughts and we are still on the substitute motion so we may have to have a whole another round of this if we go back to the original motion so commissioner Cummings you have the floor thank you thank you uh Mr chair and I I'll try to abbreviate take as much time as you need as much as possible but first of all I want to certainly thank uh the members of the cap area Justice Ministry you know just for their care and concern and compassion for the least of these uh I've met with them um many times over the last couple of years and I feel like I know Reverend Houston and and Reverend Jones and Miss Pitter and and all of you guys that you just P your heart and soul into this issue of affordable housing and homelessness and I certainly uh share the sentiment especially when we think about our children and our families who are living in cars we heard some anecdotal information tonight and reference to that and it's present right now so we are all uh concern we are bothered by the deficit of affordable housing for the low income and the very very uh lowi income individuals but I I you know I applaud you for your consistency your continuity uh your perseverance and to address a major issue in in our community and of course I've got on my green as well uh tonight I don't have the T-shirt but I I have on my green because I share uh I share your your compassion uh Reverend Jones um but I also Mr chair I want to thank our County staff our County Administrator because they did exactly what we asked we asked them to bring back an agenda item um on the cap area Justice ministry's proposal we asked them to do that um and they did and and I appreciate that they did a good job I think shankton uh and Mr what Henderson um for their diligence and for the information they provided to us but as as an elected official I think as elected officials up here I think we have to do our due diligence even in supporting the cap area Justice uh Ministry I think we have to look at impacts shortterm and the longterm uh the proposed funding source 20% of our blueprint allocation uh I've looked at it and while the report didn't give all of the adverse effects clearly County Administrator pointed out some of the pits that we could fall in if we and some of the dangerous situation that could be created on our roadways in the counties with us older people driving with our young newly newly dri license uh children and grandchildren and so there could be um a disservice I think to the citizens if we try to cut back on our our road maintenance and the County Administration administrator indicated you know a simple road paving that's left unaddressed for a year or two could turn into a multi-million dollar project so I'm concerned about pulling allocated funds from one ser from one source to try to resolve a problem uh in in another area um so that that concerns me to the point where I think what we need to do uh Commissioners uh as has been suggested is look at alternative funding sources and I appreciate uh the recommendation but I think we can look at other funding sources through the county we can analyze them uh we can look at whether or not from a board standpoint uh it would be less intrusive to look at at other sources and I'm just concerned uh Mr chair that this might be too indepth for us to go into detail right now to the extent that we need to to the extent that um the citizens of Leon County and our members of the Capital Area Justice Ministry deserves I'm I'm concerned that perhaps maybe um a workshop dedicated to this issue I mean affordable housing uh homelessness is a major issue uh in Leon County and I think it merits perhaps more attention than then we can give it at our County Commission uh meeting uh here tonight uh one of the things I don't think we've ever done uh Mr chair is I don't think we've ever really analyz the panel's county proposal I think we asked staff to to bring back an agenda item um but like commissioner madx said I don't think we really scrutinize that proposal to see if it would fit into Leon County uh much l whether or not we as a majority on the commission want to adopt it as a program here in Leon County I think it would be a disservice uh to the C AA Justice Ministry and to the citizens of Leon County if we as elected individuals didn't more closely scrutinize uh that proposal I mean we could tweak it a little or we might uh in the final analysis determine that hey it is a appropriate for us to specifically adopt that program here in leyon County but I think it merits us specifically looking at it doing our due diligence on it um that in addition to look at other funding sources uh that would be available perhaps to address homelessness and affordable housing in Leon Leon County I think would go a long way in US addressing what we're trying to do tonight uh in this meeting and I think one of the things we have to remember that in the meantime the county is addressing affordable housing for the last 3 4 years the county has invested direct funding of close to $6 million into affordable housing when we have uh developers or the Tallahasse Housing Authority or other entities come for support Gap funding the county has always uh provided it and I think uh Mr lamby indicated that hopefully um next year we might receive more more Shi funding so I just believe um Commissioners that we really need a little bit more discussion I think we need a little bit uh more input and I think we we would do a great service to this beautiful group that's come before us tonight we would do a great service for homeless Community uh those individuals that are are suffering from the lack of affordable housing for us to delve into it and come up with an inform decision I think tonight we're not totally informed but I think if we look at other funding sources look at our attornies maybe to the panel's uh project and in the final analysis we might agree that what cap area Justice Ministry has come forward is the best uh solution for for Leon County but I think we need to look at it first uh and study it Mr um Mr County chair and I think in the final analysis we would all be proud of the decision that we make with the involvement of the community so I think this is government at its best with Community involvement but I think it pushes us to make sure we're the best that we can be and that we have made the best decision for our community the greatest good for the greatest number but thank you and and uh in addition I would certainly go back and support uh Commissioners M commissioner maddox's um motion got a substitute motion I believe that essentially says basically what I'm saying thank you commissioner Cummings um we've got commissioner caban next and then commissioner Proctor and I've got you two guys want to take another round of it or you know you're in the queue just so you know uh commissioner command you have the floor thank you Mr chair um before we get started I would like to address the County Administrator on a question sure um Mr County Administrator if we remove 20% of our current capital Improvement budget how will that affect pedestrian safety in Leon County it would I mean the projects that we we work on some of them are again simply a a resurfacing project some of them are an engineering deterioration project some of them are specifically pedestrian safety projects and again I've got Brent and and and the fall and and Charles R the County engineer they could they could back me up on any of this and provide more details uh should the board want that so would it be fair to say that um by subtracting 20% of our Capital Improvement budget that we would be defunding pedestrian safety in Leon County it'll have an impact and I I will tell you this and again we can provide specifics we want to talk about specific projects that are in this next year's a budget that would be eliminated we could talk about those we've got the staff here to do that um but again to tell you would you feel a 20% reduction next year absolutely would you feel it quickly yes you would sore I I appreciate that feedback before I get started um I I want to say two things one uh shington your team does a damn good job and I and I appreciate all the effort that you've done and to putting together this item all the research that you guys did and the presentation that went along with it I also want to preface this conversation by saying this um affordable housing is something that affected me personally growing up um my freshman year college my family for clothes on my childhood home and I spent the first summer of college sleeping on my sister's couch um so I can tell you firsthand that this is something that has affected me personally um but as we approach this issue listening to some of the feedback and watching the dialogue it's been a little frustrating because in my head I'm thinking okay are we trying to solve affordable housing are we trying to create more housing because if that's what we're trying to do we can't do it in a way that's going to rob Peter to pay Paul because right now we've heard over the last few months residents in leyon County who've been struck by vehicles I know I have parts of my district where folks drive on dirt roads we have kids in my district that don't have sidewalks to go to school and I'm not going to defund pedestrian safety to supply another category in our budget that's that's not the way good government should work um I'm also a little frustrated here with this because there's been projects in Blueprint that that are to create over a thousand single family homes that the same Commissioners that are pushing this voted no on so are we looking to create more affordable housing well there's some simple economics here it's supply and demand we need to create an environment that builds more housing up or down developers in our community aren't passing on projects because they don't have the money to buy raw land to develop that is the smallest part in development land acquisition is the smallest part developers are coming in our community right now and buying land for $4 million an acre so I I don't think that by us acquiring raw land right now I just don't believe it's going to Spur affordable housing I just I just don't believe it um I I I fully respect and appreciate and support the spirit of what we're trying to do here but I want to move the needle to to me this isn't talking points I want to create more housing and to my opinion the the solution to do that is we need to look at Landing use we need to look at zoning we need to look we need to have we need to look at our building department and we need to create a culture that folks and developers want to come in leyon county and they want to build their projects here also I'm going to point this out has anyone looked at their property taxes the last seven years because we want to make a big we want to move the needle let's look at our property taxes because we we had this conversation in our budget workshop and I stood here and said I think we should look at rolling back the millage rate and no one want to jump on that and that affects everybody in this room whether you rent whether you own your home so if we really want to move the needle I I think we need to have robust discussions and look at Solutions but I will will not reduce funding and Capital Improvements when I have folks in my district who walk to school with no sidewalk folks who drive every single day on dirt roads I will not do that so um I appreciate the spirit of the motion and uh commissioner o'keef if if we have other options to look at I'm happy to support and happy to look at it thank you Mr chair thank you Mr Vice chair um commissioner Proctor you're up commissioner Miner you're in the queue is that correct I'm good for now sir thank you okay commissioner Proctor thank you chairman go ahead and make a state your statement and then we would like to vote on The Substitute motion Sherman I'm going to ride to die uh with a motion um I realized that Kum I don't remember ever seeing any of them over at the U uh Amilia Island uh Chamber of Commerce Retreat um I know you're not those people uh I realize also that um you've probably not seen at the chambers breakfast and um some of the more hallowed places that um that this board with this body we tend to act quickly with you heard today I'm so glad you're here and I wish some students from um Middle School was here to hear Leon County Board of Commissioners act for rabbits tonight act for dogs tonight and then acted an ordinance for cats tonight you heard that you sat there you watch that it should give you some sense of um what uh could in our minds uh the fix for cats and dogs and rabbits um our values um I'm quite sorry to for you to see and feel for yourselves tonight that um people faith and people poverty uh for many years have been I guess they have the least the last and the lost and all of that and frankly uh identifying with those who struggle who struggle for housing who struggle for food who struggled for all those things uh that Christ said um when I uh was hungry or when I uh was impr prison and all of that all those things that he postured himself in the last question uh we just tend to not uh from our distance above you uh see we need to act tonight we need to uh plant our sword in the dirt and I believe that what we do tonight is plant a seed and we uh the journey uh of a th000 miles begins with a single step and that step should be taken tonight and we can perfect and figure out how to get to the moon and whatever next is next Mars or someplace like that and those things begin with a single step that's what the community is asking us tonight to take a step it don't have to be perfect uh a single step and I think that I've heard tonight when our days to concern about the St Petersburg model the model the model and yesterday we um gave a lot of compliments to uh seek of True Blood green for her leadership of the very young Children's Services Council and we started with a proposal it didn't take very long uh as many years of time spent because the right people brought it to us and said we want this measure on the ballot again it's often about just how silky are your stockings so we're able to raise and see about the needs of children uh across our community because the right people brought it and led the charge and it happened I ain't saying you're not the right people I'm not saying that law but um you've seen things that we've done based on cast now I believe that um when we talk about St Pete the model itself is not the point what these people are saying it's the St Pete attitude it's the St Pete embracement it's the County Commissioners uh creativity it's their flexibility it's not the Perfection of some model but it is the perfecting of the willingness to act and to start somewhere and it's sad tonight that among Florida's 67 counties there's only one model or one commission that is acted to give all florans any kind of light any kind of uh uh display of what can occur when Hearts combined with minds and Spirits um HFA man was here tonight and uh he said that we've looked at it and we have measured and that this won't move the needle on the number of units and blah blah blah all of that I would stay here with you but I got a baseball game to go to and if you really want to know to me baseball is a priority over this see I'm not making these words up you heard that but this commission wants you to go back out in clash with that kind of mentality that is well spoken their position and disposition uh to what you're asking I mean intelligence has to stand up somewhere and draw a line and from what I heard I would dare not seek to send you out to be brutalized by someone who told you to your face yeah and if you want to know I put baseball as my priority over this so I don't put baseball over this nor do I think that you have to have a perfect model I think that what we have to have is a willingness to act and empathy and the creativity and we can perfect as we step along and go forward that's why um tonight uh I'm going to support if if if this commissioner is willing to keep option of substitute substitute motion uh I will walk and if it does not pass uh we'll see what happens then but I I pray that it passes thank you thank you commissioner Proctor I've got commissioner Miner and commissioner Cummings uh not so commissioner Miner if you could be brief we'll go ahead and vote on this substitute motion yes sir I appreciate it so I'm not going to support the motion The Substitute motion right now with the intention of should this substitute motion not prevail having a recommendation for the next one thank you sir thank you commissioner Miner commissioner Cummings okay it's malfunctioning no worries no worries all right so we've got a motion for from commissioner Pro from commissioner O'Keefe seconded by commissioner Proctor substitute motion to accept staff uh accept the report and adopt the Kum proposal as written all those in favor signify by saying I I I all opposed no a fails 5 to2 um we are back on the original motion which is commissioner maddox's motion I am going to add a few comments at this point if y'all are okay with that um I don't think we necessarily need to hammer on this too much longer um I have said all along I've been skeptical of this plan um I think there are a lot of issues with it for leyon County I think that we have borne that out and our discussion I think that when our staff gives us an analysis that says this point blank will not create more affordable units and that this will harm an existing program that's a big problem now I think that the good news for our friends at Kum who I do want to commend I told you guys at blueprint when I voted against this at blueprint for very similar reasons that I could not support the substitute motion is that you have made this an issue at the Forefront of everybody's mind you your advocacy has has elevated this issue in the eyes of the public and of the policy makers and I don't think this is the end of the road okay for your proposal I do think that commissioner Maddox who does this very well articulates the idea that I I can't fit in commissioner maddox's suit it would look weird on me it's tailored to him my suit is tailored to me well really off the rack that's why it looks like this but commissioner Maddox would look silly in my suit I think that we have displayed to the community our commitment to trying to work towards improving this problem I don't think you're going to solve this problem but we have shown our commitment to it through the numbers that we project on the screens millions and millions of dollars I would remind you we have $400,000 sitting there right now that we can't do anything with we don't have any applicants for that money so to then start setting aside 1 point however many $2 million a year out of our road Improvement budget which commissioner caban captures very well it comes at a cost is not good public policy in my opinion we have a complicated process for building affordable housing it involves all kinds of different financing mechanisms and authorities and entities and and we would essentially hamstring ourselves by doing this I know it feels good to do this and we can say that pelis county has a program that that works or may not work but to commissioner cumming's point we don't really have any analysis to suggest that that model even works I don't know I I don't I know of any developers who are asking us for money right now which I mentioned at the blueprint meeting when we had this discussion for me you'd have to have a a shovel ready project that needs Gap financing of a certain amount for land lease buyback right now to make that make sense to me right now and we don't have that because it's a complicated process we're trying to simplify something into a complicated process so I think that the most prudent Way Forward and again there are other this is rif with problems right the city's not involved the city gets the same 10% allocation that we get we're right am I mistaken and a lot more dedicated yeah more more money so you know the county is the little government that could over here we're trying to do the best we can with a limited budget and the city and Mr Hedrick pointed this out and sort of said no and because five of the seven of us said yes at blueprint I would remind you that I did not I think commissioner gaban was also in the no on that too at blueprint for these same reasons um I think it's unfair to the County Commission to carry that burden but what I'm telling you is that I can support commissioner maddox's what I think is a very measured approach to say we go through a budget Workshop every year we look at allocating funds for various issues or causes we are I am open to looking at this through our normal budget process our General Revenue process that commissioner Miner outlined earlier I think that's a prudent way to go about it and honestly I think to commissioner maddox's point you may get a better product you may get a more flexible allocation of money that you can immediately deploy into actually creating new units while I'll remind you we are creating 158 new units at Lake Bradford Road that we just learned about yesterday at our Retreat so we are moving the needle in Leon County on on very low and low income affordable housing units but we cannot divert funds from our road maintenance budget to do it I think that's just irresponsible we can we budget it through General Revenue maybe and I'll entertain that and so I can support commissioner Maddox 's motion uh original motion um I would ask Mr Maddox at this time just to to frame the argument as we try to close this out uh to restate your motion and then maybe uh I've got commissioner O'Keefe commissioner Maddox in the queue commissioner Cummings it still says you but not really um so uh in I would like to go to commissioner Maddox right now commissioner O'Keefe let him kind of restate his motion and his intent if I'm not mistaken I think I can support it um and then we'll go from there all right thank you commissioner Max thank you Mr chair so long ago Madam attorney do you have down my motion I said so much stuff I can restate it but I want to say exactly what I said last time um I have a motion to have the HFA meet with uh Kim and address the ship funding use in the upcoming budget process okay HFA meet meet with and other other stakeholders to look at uh the The panel's Proposal as well as other other uh potential um solutions to the problem that we that we face with affordable housing I would like to also include uh in that analysis commissioner Miner's uh proposal as well that he brought up for us and then I also wanted a budget discussion item um specifically using ship funds as well as other revenues that we may have to deal with affordable housing um I think that was the extent of my motion Mr administrator I miss anything I think you got it if we can just get a little clarification on commissioner miners yes in I I'll give him I when he when he speaks I'll give him a chance to to do that um I I did M Mr chair if I can make a comment as well yes sir I got frustrated up here today and I don't often get frustrated I try my best to to especially when I'm on the diet uh be as cool and as as as as measured as I can I think my frustration came from a place of some of the comments that were made by some of my colleagues and it's in a way of almost making it seem like we're not willing to move with Kum on this proposal I asked Robert when we were talking a second ago have you met any resistance since you come in this chamber it was something similar to that was what I asked him he said no it's been a lot different over here than it's been at the city and even at blueprint we we've been the commission and this has been the chambers that you've come to to hear the proposal to send it to to staff to get to get the analysis to to actually have a conversation and dialogue about how we can deal with the problem you even heard up here all of us say that we want to allocate more dollars towards the problem and so when I'm sitting here I'm like why does it seem like we're not trying to work this problem out why is the comments it's almost like we ain't done nothing like you're like you're meeting the same resistance that you've met before and why why is it like like was just I almost felt like I was bad if I didn't just push this by today because I wanted to come up with something that was more holistic like I was just this horrible person cuz I just wouldn't go with it and it's not and and I can understand I even said it before I can understand The Angst that you have because you've dealt with this for so long you've been at it for 3 years I I mentioned it earlier but we've been a commission that I've been on since I've been here and and and the great the blessing that we've had at the county since I've been at the county every time a new commissioner comes in he comes in with a mind that's leveled and he always comes in he or she always comes in with approach that's really holistic that doesn't just rush into things we've been fortunate in a way in the in a way over the years of the Commissioners that we've gotten in the group that we have that we can work together and do these things and come up with these ideas but do it in a way that does not compromise process Integrity in the rest of the projects that we may have here at Leon County we're very thoughtful about the way we do things even commissioner Pro sometimes he can go off but you know he's even thoughtful too but seriously though I I I I I really want I just want us to to all embrace the fact that we are working together this is not a thing where where're we're trying to say we don't want to do it it was it's just let's take our time with it let's take six more months let's let's have more meetings let's get to something new and I think we're going to build something that's going to be a model for everywhere across the state I really do I don't think it's just going to be something that that that we're doing that people aren't going to pay attention to it could be an awardwinning program that that can come out of this once we put our minds together and we'll be thankful that we took the time that we needed to to come up with it thank you Mr chair thank you commissioner Maddox okay uh seeing nobody else in the queue or were you in the queue commissioner minor uh briefly please yes thank you Mr chair uh commissioner madx thanks very much for your comments um and and yes I I think I think what I was talking about before uh will coexist with your motion but just to be more clear though um what I'm what I'm proposing is that we add $500,000 from gr to for for use in ship likee function it right so it's it's it's um it's it's Gap financing it's extending the the low-income land use restrictions like what Mark was saying before from 50 years to imp perpetuity which creates more housing you know which almost doubles the housing um uh by by making that permanently for affordable housing um construction Rehabilitation that kind of thing we get much more flexibility when you have more flexibility you have developers more interested in those funds because they're able to use those funds for their specific Project funding gaps we can't do that with the cinjun plan modeled after the pelis land acquisition so I I I think this is like a much better alternative what I'd like to do uh commissioner Maddox I'd like to have a an amendment which I hope is friendly to add to your motion as a starting point of $500,000 to be input into our budget process so when when the County Commission talks and starts to meet about our budget for fiscal year 26 we have $500,000 as a budget request uh line item that we then discuss now that doesn't mean we're we're committed right now today on $500,000 and I want to be very clear about that what that means though is as we go through this budget process for fiscal year 26 we're going to have to figure out the the tradeoff $500,000 that we're adding to um uh affordable housing on top of ship what do we what else do we give away in our budget what do we balance out so that our budget is is is is balanced that's a discussion we'll need to have um maybe it'll be more than $500,000 maybe some of the federal funding will come through maybe it won't uh maybe it'll be less but but I think that is the best way for us to use these dollars as some people have said here on the dis already I'm also not in favor of taking dollars away from our uh 20% blueprint allocation uh which we use for uh for road projects I think that is very important but I do think this way is is better it gives us more flexibility and we already have the ship type of work that we do with developers uh to make it more accessible develop to developers and make it more likely that money will be used for affordable housing projects uh so um commissioner madx will you accept that as a friendly Amendment commissioner minor can I just intervene here you're going to lose me on that okay I can't vote for that which part adding any money to his we I I'm not comfortable adding a line item arbitrarily why not make it a million why not make it 20 million like we have a budget process that process is designed to examine and analyze these exact things and go hey here are some options for you but by by by preliminarily just putting a number on it that is that's uncomfortable to me I think if I if I might misere what you're asking for is is more specicity specificity in the budget discussion item that I've asked for yes and and so I I think the way we can get to where we're trying to go here is specifically within that budget that budget um discussion item we look at the The Proposal that commissioner Meer has come up with but commissioner Meer can we can we not can you go with that without putting a specific dollar amount to the actual item or do you need it does it have to have a dollar amount my now again this doesn't commit us to the fiscal year 26 number it's a it's a starting point which our County does already you know we take what what the existing budget year is and projected to the next budget year and that's our starting point for that line item commission Miner all due respect I feel like you're setting an expectation then at $500,000 it needs to be we will look at our budget and we will see what we what our revenues look like what we have the ability to fund what we would then have the ability to not fund that's all a part of that process and so just arbitrarily throwing a number at it make gives me great discomfort Mr chair I I I hear I hear your point I hear your point um but uh as I've said twice and I think everyone here has been listening to me it it doesn't commit us it's it's a starting point for us to have discussions now listen listen let me if if it's the will of the board I'm happy I'm happy to go with what commissioner Maddox is proposing right I like the concept of the idea concept yes my my preference would be to have something that we can start with as we have this discussion list Mr chairman you can laugh if you want I mean I'm trying to I'm trying to find something that is US mean listen please commissioner Miner i' I've made it clear my position on that I don't think that's necessary I think that we're muddling it right we're trying to get something across the line here that that pushes this into a posture where we can actually be Co you know be cohesive and take in as many opportunities as possible but we are if we are hamstringing by arbitrarily applying a budget number when we don't know revenues we don't know budgets we don't know anything we don't know where it's coming from I think I think all that is understood well then why do we need that on point I think I think what he's done is is he said commissioner M if I'm not if I'm not mistaken you said that you would take the number out if I'll be willing to to do to add the concept of it and then we would talk about the number maybe even when we get a a better idea of what our our our estimated or potential uh millage will be or or will be revenues will be in the new fiscal year in the interest of moving this forward I I'll I'll I'll basically I'll agree with what commissioner Maddox is suggesting thank you so okay so we're in a posture now thank you commissioner Miner uh I've got commissioner O'Keefe commissioner caban and then back to commissioner Proctor commissioner Cummings you good you want to get in on it or no okay on point what's the is the motion has the motion changed no sir no it's the same motion well well there is a change it's the same motion but the concept of what commissioner Miner brought up will be added to the motion as a friendly Amendment but there is no number there's no budget number to it County Administrator has got a point I think for there to be a budget discussion item yes budget discussion item that includes the concept of what commissioner Miner has asked for which would be a bud budget discussion so commissioner Miner has added a budget discussion item to the original motion commissioner O'Keefe you are up thank you Mr chair um I do uh I do want to Echo commissioner mx's comments we are that commission we um we respect each other uh and I disagree strongly with some of the um other decisions on this but I know that every one of my colleagues is coming at it with the decision they believe is best for the outcome um so that is absolutely what this commission is um that being said on this particular issue I'm disappointed um because we've we've talked a little bit about and one concern has been well we wanted to know will this even work for leyon County we haven't let staff analysis how this could work for L County we actually have been it is we have been um let down in my opinion on that because we did ask staff to analyze this proposal for leyon County in our item and what we have gotten in this report item is not an analysis of what might could work for Leon County it's a simple hey this doesn't work here is what we do here's what we like to continue doing and this doesn't work um I thought I would have thought that it would be in better Faith to say and we would know at this point if we had some information that was a true analysis this doesn't work but if it were like this it would work and we don't have that and and you're right we can't make a decision on that right now because we don't don't have that um and then as far as concerns about moving 20% from the road repaving and maintenance portion you know I just want to separate that um that is Road repaving it's important it's very important um but our sidewalk program is very important targeting the most at sidewalks separate funded separately um and that is something that we need to um consider we're not and and no one is suggesting that we don't need to repave roads but we're Sugg in is a portion to put a program that could double the number of new units for low and very lowincome families it's a small shift um don't worry I'm not going back with it this is this is um you know I'm staying on this motion um and it would have been nice to know if we could customize the penel program that we asked for an analysis of to our County we can't we can't move forward with that um and I am relieved that um we we are all interested in this budget discussion of um coming up with more money for affordable housing and come up with a proposal that works I'm glad we have a budget item this year and I'm not going to mess with the motion with the budget item I think it's pretty easy for us to say we ought to have a budget item every year for how much money and new programs we could add for affordable housing and so I am as frustrated as um I'm sure the kjun folks are and I'm glad we had to Upper or down vote because you deserve that um you deserve that but um as you can see even in um talking about Creative Solutions to the past we find out well it's in this bucket but now it's in this bucket but maybe we can reallocate with this bucket and what your proposal had was we knew where it was going and we could see what was coming out of it um I'm looking forward to more money and more solutions in our budget meeting I do I will support this because I we'll take every discussion we can get and every money we can get but I do feel like we're kicking the can down the road but it is a repaved road uh thank you commissioner o'keef uh commissioner caban you are in the queue so I just would like to have a clear state of the motion um before I comment if I if I need to comment motion on the floor is um the motion on the floor is is for us to for for the cun proposal to be uh evaluated by HFA and staff uh that cun will work with the HFA as well as other stakeholders to bring back other applicable um proposals for our consideration that would deal with affordable housing that we have a budget discussion item come back to us um that's specific to ship funding as well as other revenues that we can use or monies that we can use towards towards affordable housing as a as a part of that budget discussion item that we would we would discuss uh the concept of what commissioner merer has proposed that we that we look at as a concept and and look at uh potentially allocating dollars towards that concept to be able to be used towards affordable housing as well there's my motion on the floor Mr if I may so I I'll we I will uphold my second and I will support the motion I want to just be clear so that way in the future I want the board to know just where I'm at right you know commissioner Keef I want to support this right and I mean that dearly I'm not going to support any discussion or any line item budgets in regards to this in the future if it removes funding from infrastructure in my district infrastructure is one of our top issues uh we get emails daily from folks can't have the mailman get down the road it's an issue we're dealing with right now um and I've been very clear on this and very consistent of the with this over the last three years um with this board as far as like that's a top priority for our office um know right now we're fighting to get a traffic light in front of Woodville elementary school right um because there's not a it's it's a unsafe uh intersection across from a k38 school and so the issues in our district are really just infrastructure uh targeted and I just want to be clear so you guys know where I'm at in the future and hopefully that can help guide you know staff as they look for funding opportunities in the future know what's important at least to us so thank you Mr chair thank you commissioner Vice chair caban commissioner Proctor you are last man in the que you want to close this out before we vote Mr chairman um Robert Kennedy the uh late uh attorney general US senator um said something and I may be off a couple words or so um some men see things as they are and ask why uh I see things that never uh was and ask why not and I thought tonight uh commissioner Maddox that um the motion by commissioner Keef um certainly he sees things as they are he sees things through the HFA eyes but um launching a space program uh it's seeing things and you say why not and tonight uh we had an opportunity I felt to uh and this was not to uh uh excoriate anyone here Commissioners or make anybody feel bad but we can chew bubblegum and walk um we have an opportunity tonight to me to make a down payment you heard you all ever heard of a layway plan the layway you ain't buying it all today but you putting 5% 10% you're putting good faith on it and what this proposal was was a good faith and a layway commitment to perfect and bring the rest of the idea and the other Elemental parts to be shaped down the road somewhere uh Walmart has gotten rid of its Dei but it still has its lay away and they probably going to keep that lay away and people are buying now and laying away all the way till December and I know with the staff that we have um I have great confidence because I know Vince long can perform he can deliver if he was some uh stud of dud couldn't get it done weak um like that we wouldn't put pressure on them we just you know just just give him a break but that's not who he is in his staff and they will perform when given directions and given directions and shown what we want they can execute we we we we got a team that can deliver so tonight we had an opportunity to at least um purchase to um accept receive this idea as lway we don't have to have all the all the all the money tonight all the ideas but these folk would have gone home uh with hope uh and gone home with a little bit more um belief in their own abilities to meet with to move the needle with their government and uh commissioner kaban I understand you don't understand I wish you understood uh Vince long is aware how many times I have left this meeting I thought I saw Cliff there here tonight he was here okay um because I used to complain I've complained that coming to the County Commission was a waste of time for me because there was never nothing on the agenda about the southide about district one about nothing pertinent to the lives of people in my district uh just waste my time i' I stayed angry all the time and I don't know what it was about staff but they only saw the great Northeast and north side of Tallahassee well that's changed some and if I told you that I'm sensitive tonight because a whole bunch of folk here would um probably in my district who are under house are not housed but I dare not say this is about district one and I'm excited because we're talking about my district tonight but if I said this is my district hell all y ought to shut down and walked out the door and say proph to turn his mic off that's always been so I never say anything about district one no more but I know damn well that this right here is district one whether you know or not I know when it's my district so I wanted to lay away something tonight for people who not only 32304 uh 305 uh 310 um that element that's what this is talking about uh I'm I'm sorry that staff didn't say district one uh uh you probably would have just got rid of it a long time ago but I recognize my people um when you use the right terms so uh commissioner madx um I think that we could do two things uh it it's kind of bad that um you desire for these people to go back and talk to HFA HFA is not elected by these people we are uh HFA has a perspective and an analysis but they ain't our daddy they're not we don't have to rely on them and I think that it's achievable uh that we can start tonight and not kick this can down the road you and do what we've been doing to this Faith Community for for a period of time and that's telling them to come back more now is anything that takes water and and and and throw it on top of a candle and that's what I feel that we've done tonight and going back to the same guy who stood there I just don't know why we doing these people like that but if that's the desire of this body um and that we can't make a layway uh payment and give them a win um then I'm stuck in a democratic process thank you sir all right commissioner Proctor uh I think the thing's messing up again so it says I got four of y'all in the queue is that not correct Okay so we've got a motion and a second commissioner madx as motion second by commissioner command all those in favor signify by saying I I I all oppos I passes 61 commissioner proor in opposition all right Commissioners um thank you for the for the robust debate on that and commissioner O'Keefe I know that's that's close to your heart issue and I'm hopeful that we can come back through the budget process and make something happen there but I just want to commend you on your advocacy I know that's important to you um okay Commissioners the next phase of our meeting tonight we have uh citizens to be heard on non-agenda items is our speaker cards are now over 30 we are well over 30 speaker cards so uh I would ask our speakers in the audience I'll let everybody settle down excuse me could you leave the chambers if you want want to chat please um we got to carry on thank you all right so we've got over 30 speaker cards for citizens to be heard on non-agenda items I would ask our speakers to please respect our 3 minute per speaker rule if you can cut it shorter than that that would be great but please cut it off at 3 minutes that's an hour and a half of citizens to be heard on non- agendered items and it is 8:20 at night so uh Mr administrator please announce our first speaker thank you Mr chair commissioner the first speaker is Eric Draper I was looking for Eric I thought we might have lost him saw him earlier yeah okay I'll do the next uh speaker uh Tito WL uh leader excuse me if I've got that wrong Tito please state your name and address for the record good day um I'm T Leen um I live in Tallahasse and I'm here representing and a lot of us are representing um talasi community action committee um and well if you you could do like a show of f like everyone who came for for teak cool yeah that's a lot of people okay so we came because yesterday the ice raids umu started and they attacked a lot of um talasi community members so um we wanted to have you put a resolutions for talashi to be a sanctuary City for undocumented immigrants you know because these these people are very important to our community um they have jobs they have lives they have kids they have families and they don't deserve to live in Fair and they don't deserve to you know have to worry every day and a lot of them went to their jobs yesterday and they had to leave they had to lose money you know so that's not right and that's what we're here to speak about so we demand um talasi and you know Leon County be uh Sanctuary City and for um the police to deprioritize um arresting undocumented immigrants So yeah thank you thank you next speaker Emily Lewis to be followed by summer Hartman or summer uh Miss leis hi this is Emily okay if you could please hold your applause till the maybe the end of the speakers that would be great Miss Lewis go ahead name and address for the record please Emily Lewis I live in Tallahassee good afternoon Leon County Commissioners and community members earlier this morning my mother sent me my C certificate of citizenship during my Neuroscience class I called her after receiving it asking her why she sent it over to me I'm a legal immigrant she told me she was at work but forwarded me an email detailing ice raids happening in talahasse go to sa and sorry right my name is Emily Lewis I am 20 years old and I have been a citizen of the United States of America for 19 years adopted into this country by my parents I'm an American citizen I have my papers at home I'm lucky the people in Jefferson County are not as fortunate as I on Tuesday January 28th in Jefferson County there was an Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid conducted by the Florida Highway Patrol and the homeland security investigations division of the United States Department of Homeland Security 12 people were detained 12 hardworking people who came in searched for the American dream the naked fences around our houses the Buick we drive the her as Min car Kelly we carry the golden retrievers at our house 12 people who work and Aspire for what we have over were detained 12 people with families who wish upon shooting stars for a better life a better life for their children their husbands their wives their mothers who they love with a whole being 12 people who dared to dream were detained for trying to survive so as an immigrant as an American citizen I beg of you lead with empathy have mercy on undocumented immigrants make Tallahasse a sanctuary City for undocumented immigrants deprioritize arrest for undocumented immigrants and offer them protections don't punish people for daring to dream hold kindness in your hearts thank you m thank you next speaker summer Hartman to be followed by Haley Purdue Miss Hartman name and address for the record please um hi I'm Su Hartman I'm from Tallahasse Florida any me like my actual address yes ma'am okay it's uh okay um okay by making tahasia a sanctuary City we are helping our friends and our neighbors feel safe in their own homes as a community it is our responsibility to look out for each other in our moral obligation to do everything in our power to keep our community safe no one should have to live in fear of persecution or fear that their family will be separated from them undocumented immigrants are not dangerous criminals that we need to pursue most people come to the United States for a better life and more prosperous opportunities there are hard workers who not only contribute to the economy but to our community and our lives by making Leon County a sanctuary City we are helping to ensure the safety of our community we are ensuring that our students are not afraid to go to class we are helping to ensure that people aren't afraid to go to work we are making sure that when in need of medical attention our immigrant friends and neighbors are not afraid to go to the hospital and seek out the care they need I can't speak for everyone but me personally I care deeply for the safety of my community what I don't care for is instilling fear in innocent people I don't care for the persecution of my friends and Neighbors in fact I detest it and anyone who truly cares for their city and local community would detest it as well for the safety of Leon County we ask that you consider our requests to make this city a sanctuary city thank you thank you Mr chair uh please hold your applause until everybody's done thank you commissioner Maddox you have question i' I've heard City a few times and I and I do appreciate these well uh meeting folks and passion behind um their their calls but I I wanted to address the County Attorney if you might please um can Leon County Commission create a sanctuary City we do not control law enforcement we do not exercise any jurisdiction over FHP FDLE tpd lcso I or any other law enforcement entity nor do we exercise jurisdiction over the state attorney's office so there is really little meaningful action that the board can take to limit Isis activities in Leon County can speak out we can't tell the sheriff that anything no can't Mr chair I if I can I I appreciate again I appreciate the passion that you guys are speaking with but I want you to understand the limitations by which this government operates under and what we have the jurisdiction to do and not do and your frustrations that you may have may be well placed we're willing to listen but those frustrations can't be with us because we have no jurisdiction over anything we don't even have any jurisdiction over the Sheriff's Office the sheriff is a is a is a separate elected official who makes his own decisions about what he does and how he operates the sheriff's department so we're not like the city where the city police is a sub is a is a is a division of the city no it's not even that we're Leon County government the sheriff is the sheriff the tax collector the the the uh constitutional officers all of them they operate their own offices so we can't do anything to make them do anything we can ask them we can't do anything to make them do anything and for that reason too we can't make the city do anything nothing we can't we can't we can't force them to do anything especially when it comes to enforcement law enforcement in particular I just wanted to put that out there but I do appreciate the passion I will sit here and listen to every speaker who wants to speak thank you Mr chair thank you commissioner Maddox next speaker haly Purdue followed by Justin Jordan hello name address for the record please Hardley Purdue 1227 North Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard Commissioners and heard having heard commissioner maddox's words and understand them I speak to you today as influential people in our community and as representatives of our community Florida Highway Patrol assisted Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ice yesterday in a raid in Jefferson County last week the Florida Department of Education indicated they would cooperate with ice in executing orders to detain and Deport alleged undocumented individuals are we going to allow ice in our schools should don't our children deserve to learn without fear ice is doing what it was built to do criminalize and terrify immigrants like my ancestors and many of yours who are trying to build a better life for their children this is being done to deflect blame of what is going wrong into this country onto people who are already less fortunate people who are here fleeing unlivable situations in their countries of origin the administration inflames blame and outrage at immigrants to dist distract from the harm coming from the top down it is our duty as citizens of a democracy to speak up when we don't see our values being upheld by our government that is what it means to be a citizen I urge you to carefully consider your own values and what kind of person you want to be and exemplify while many of our state politicians battle to see who can bow lower at Trump's feet real harm is being inflicted on real people many of whose worst sin is wanting a better life for their families I'm not comfortable with that are you this is an attack on our community and on our neighbors these are acts of Terror meant to divide us and make people turn on each other or turn a blind eye rather than speak up for those fortunate than them Leviticus 1933-34 and if a stranger dwells with you in your land you shall not mistreat him the stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you and you shall love him as yourself for You Were Strangers in the land of Egypt I am the Lord your God many of us have forgotten or perhaps never knew what it is to be strangers in a Strange Land wanting nothing other than safety for your family thank you thank you next speaker Justin Jordan to be followed by Regina Joseph Mr Jordan name and address for the record please my name is Justin Jordan addressed exempt tonight I heard a lot about what you can't do but what I'd like to hear is what you can do for the citizens who elected you for the people in the communities who are suffering as this federal government continues its Crackdown on immigrants communities and families this government was designed for the People by the people what I've seen tonight and what continued to hear is that this government is actually owned by the corporations for the corporations we I heard that you can't do anything about illegal immigration or helping people who are actively suffering as the government is increasing its attacks on immigrant communities I've heard that we can't do anything about affordable housing because that would hurt the corporations that would hurt the landlords tonight the people of Tallahasse are suffering tonight the Immigrant community ities of Tallahasse are suffering and as commissioner Proctor said the people of his district many of whom look like me are continually suffering as the little government that could repeatedly and continually refuses to do something so tonight I ask you I call upon you to do something even if it's not meaningful in your eyes come out in support of the Immigrant community that has built America from the ground up immigrants have a history in this country of building this country but now they're comp repeatedly under attack they're repeatedly deemed as criminals or wrong and as someone who's black I know how that feels I know how it feels to have the world judge you I know how it feels to have the world look down upon you I know how it feels to have your ey have someone roll their eyes at you as you speak commission please listen to your communities not your special interests listen to the people of Tallahasse who have come out tonight not only in support of immigrants but also in support of a better future for all in Leon County thank you thank you Regina Joseph sorry about that Mr chairman Regina Joseph to be followed by Christopher sharp M Joseph name and address for the record please Regina Joseph I'm not giving my address um I'm here today because there are actually many Sanctuary counties around the United States and I believe that Leon County can also do the same you can work with the Leon count County Sheriff's Office and demand that de prioritize arrest of undocumented people you can ensure that you educate immigrants who are in this community help them know their rights I believe there are a lot more that a lot more things you can do but right now you're not actually thinking creatively and using your mind to come up with something that can actually address the problems in this community right now we are scared our family are scared our neighbors are scared and it is is your job that's what you are paid to do is to give solutions to the problems that we are giving y'all thank you thank you Mr Joseph next speaker Christopher sharp to be followed by Haley Maguire Mr Sharp name and address for the record please uh Christopher sharp Tallahasse and I understand that there are limits to your jurisdiction but I am here to say that I think that this that the current situation is immensely embarrassing for elected officials uh here in leyon County um and for Florida as a whole having the highway patrol be arresting um people living in Florida in Jefferson County I think is not a good look and these people are integrated into our community they they work they support families and I understand that there is a limit to what you can do but it is but we have also had limits in in what we are doing and we have managed to make it work so I understand many of these people can't vote for you as well as um and many of the people who do vote for you um um may want something else but we also vote for you and these are our neighbors and we do hope that you can um that you can um that you can create a sanctuary for them to create a space for them because they are here they have been here and the and that just needs to be acknowledged thank you thank you next speaker Haley McGuire to be followed by Kaden Rosa M McGuire name and address for the record please Haley McGuire Tallahassee Florida um I am also going to be speaking to you as an individual not just as our elected officials um what are you doing as individuals because you're saying all that you can't do as elected officials I question that but what are you doing as individuals to protect your neighbors to care about your neighbors to show the people in our community who are scared that you care about them commissioner O'Keefe you said tonight uh during I believe agenda item 26 on leans and fines that we shouldn't be going after people's primary residents Leon County are these people's primary residents this is their home why do you only care about certain citizens and their rights to a home in Leon County I really hope you sit with what everything is being said tonight I do think it's really telling um which Commissioners are here and which ones are paying attention um I really hope that you search within yourselves and as a committee on what your power actually is in this community because as other speakers have already said you are leaders you are leaders it does not matter if you don't have power over exactly what we showed up thinking you did but you have power and to deny that is really embarrassing um I really hope you sit with this I hope we're getting through to you I know you've had a long day but this is important and we're here for a reason thank you thank you next speaker Kaden Rosa to be followed by Colton Bostwick name and address for the record please my name is Kaden Rosa and I live in Tallahasse we came here to ask you to deprioritize focusing on the immigration police and to make Leon County a sanctuary County it is your job as much as anyone else's to keep everyone in this community safe you know there were 12 people who were detained and these people weren't being detained because of some criminal action they took it was because of their identity and there's straight out no way to justify detaining people because of their identity and I have to criticize all of you as well because I've watched many of you walk out of the room and go take your own personal time it's not you you decided the time acceptable to do that was during public comment when the people who you're actually supposed to be representing are speaking up you have the responsibility as an elected official to use your platform to advocate for the right actions even if you claim you cannot take them yourself you should be on your social media saying that these things need to happen instead of acting like you can't do anything I seed the rest of my time thank you sir next speaker Colton Bostwick to be followed by Joseph esera Mr Boswick name and address for the record please hello my legal name is Colton Boswick and I am a resident of the city of Tallahassee and as with everyone else I do understand there is a limit of the jurisdictional power of the Lee County can you move closer to the mic I want to be able to hear clear thank you thank you I understand there is a jurisdictional limit to the power of the Leon County Commission however I'm also distinctly aware of the reality for many migrants in the State of Florida regardless of legal status where I'm I lived only an hour way from amach I'm aware that many undocumented migrants are denied the rights of an American to a safe well-regulated and well-paid labor environment and many are subjected to horrendous conditions on on agricultural farms and plantations in Southern Florida and then it's up to people in the medical field to try to do what they can even though there's little they can do given that the people there have to live in fear of deportation for seeking help and there's only so much they can do due to their undocumented status I'm aware that is a problem of South Florida and not North Florida but this is an issue for the entire State this is an issue of an entire State being asked by our state government federal government and generally people above all of our heads to accept brutality and barbarity towards the people who are already being left to face the brunt of American hospitality and exploitation and so while there may be limits to what you can do I can at the very least ask that should members of the state or federal government seek your cooperation in enforcing their policies of mass deportation against undocumented immigrants that you tell them there is nothing you can do thank you thank you next speaker Joseph viscara to be followed by Khloe ilus name and address for the record please Mr viscira hi my name is Joseph asera I live in Tallahassee um and I'm a student over at at Florida State go NES I am here today to ask for the depri deprioritization of arresting undocumented immigrants and the further General allocation of Leon County and Tallahassee as a sanctuary City or at least for it to be pushed to the greatest of your abilities I have had the honor throughout my life to have met many people from many walks of life many countries people who are born here and people who have decided to make this country their home later in their life whether it be in fear for their happiness and health in the countries that they come from or in the hope of the promise they believe this country can bring what I can say about every person I've met is that they were good people who wanted nothing but the best for their family their communities and the place they call home it's very easy to hear anecdotes of fear and danger but when you take the time to listen you quickly learn how these are on the fringes of Fringe cases from there it's easy to say that there are processes they can take things they can do to become a citizen but that can take years or more if it passes at all and due to obstacles such as red tape and during that time people in the worst positions with the greatest fears for their Futures they don't have other things they can do they don't have the options the option to do things the right way while they are simultaneously fearing for their future safety and trying to build that future it's easy to say that these human beings people just trying to survive that they're dangerous they're not it's easy to say that there are paths they can take legally there rarely is it's easy to say that this is inevitable that there's nothing you can do and though I have heard that you you're limited in your abilities you are still in a position of leadership a position of power and I would like for you to search and see within your abilities what you can do because I know there are things you can do if you are concerned about the people the the one struggling the most with the most fear and sadness and being closest to losing it all then you must begin with the community's threaten not only by existing policies but by an increasing and inexcusable hostility from government on all levels that can begin with Tallahassee as a sanctuary city thank you for your time thank you next speaker Khloe ilus to be followed by Sebastian GIS and and I apologize if I if I butchered your last name there Chloe an address for the record please hi I'm Chloe ilus I'm in 32304 so I'll keep it pretty brief because I know everyone probably wants to get back home to their families but that's the Crux of the issue today is um residents of Leon County want to just safely get back home to their families go to sleep in their bed wake up the next morning go to work come home and so on just like we all do but that is more and more difficult with the recent immigration crackdowns I know that there's only so much you all can write into law to to address this but I know you have some sphere of influence in Leon County as the Leon County Commissioners I know that there's something that you can do either using your influence making Leon County a sanctuary County like we've seen all throughout the US um some way to use your position of power that we as Citizens of the United or United States but also Theon County have afforded to you by voting for you um so I'm just here today to ask you to uh do what you can use your position of power to help our undocumented neighbors and undocumented residents of Leon County thank you thank you next speaker Sebastian Sebastian G to be followed by Priscilla Lopez Cullen Sebastian there we go hello my name is Sebastian gares I live in Tallahassee and I would like to keep my statement pretty short but hopefully that doesn't keep it from being as poignant my name is I'm a Colombian immigrant that arrived legally this does not keep me from feeling sympathy for those who are forc to come through other means I believe that deep down we all know that these people come out of pure necessity that they have families to keep safe just as we do subjecting these people to a reign of terror and fear that follows them throughout their life is not something a moral and strong Society does there are plenty of logistical economic and utilitarian reasons to oppose these raids but at the end of the day it's humanity and love that matter and when viewed through that lens the answer is even simpler Leon County should become a sanctuary County and protect its people and deprioritize the raids thank you thank you Priscilla Lopez Cullen to be followed by Oliver cheese hello my name is Priscilla um I live in Tallahasse um I'm a daughter of an immigrant mother and a first generation college student I stand in firm opposition to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement an agency notorious for targeting and violently detaining undocumented individuals their abuse of power is so extreme that even US citizens including veterans have been wrongfully caught in their raids this is not an just an issue of policy it is a systematic failure rooted in racism and cruelty immigrants are the backbone of this nation the United States was built on the hard work of those who came here seeking a better life and today immigrants continue to drive Drive our economy and enrich our communities they fill essential jobs pay taxes launch businesses that fuel Innovation and prosperity many studies show that immigr immigrants do not steal jobs from native born workers but instead create new opportunities boosting productivity and economic growth yet instead of recognizing their contributions our system criminalizes them it subjects them to exploitation denies them basic protections and forces them to live in fear of deportation we must fight for policies that provide Pathways to legal status protect undocumented workers from abuse and expand Sanctuary cities where immigrants can live without the constant threat of ice raids um and acknowledging the limitations of um your abilities for legislation there are some things that you can do such as um Banning County agencies from collecting or sharing immigration status information with Federal immigration authorities or restricting ice access to County facilities and records and preventing them from using County jails offices or databases to detain or track undocumented residents thank you okay commissioner Maddox you're recognized thank you uh to dig a little bit deeper um I do I do understand the sanctuary City Sanctuary County or are some Sanctuary counties actually looked it up in the State of Florida is illegal per 2019 uh Senate Bill 168 took effect July 1st 2019 signed by the governor states that it is prohibited from for any let's see it ensures that the state and local entities and law enforcement agencies cooperate with federal government officials to enforce and not obstruct immigration law I just again I I just want us to all be on the same page on what we can and cannot do here so even if we could do sary counties in the State of Florida there is no Sanctuary counties no Sanctuary cities because by state law we can't have there is no such thing we can't have Sanctuary counties North cities thank you Mr chair yes sir Oliver cheese to be followed by alfredo all right hello my name is Oliver cheese and I live in Tallahassee I say I I absolutely do understand that that there are limits on the power of this board and what it can do and that the State of Florida is putting more and more limits on that however I do think that at the the root of this issue should be a desire on both sides to to work together to protect the immigrants that make up our thriving vibrant communities and the we we have to be willing obviously to look beyond the letter of the law and to be able to to devise innovative solutions which don't just concede entirely to you know these blatantly repressive acts of legislation which may have been authorized by the Florida government but certainly unauthorized or supported by the people of Florida and so obviously there are actions which this commission can undertake obvious you know you can still issue for example recommendations you can work with and you do work with the the county sheriff often and frequently and and on a deep level and you should and I'm sorry and you should do so for the benefit of the people who live here including the the undocumented people and the immigrants who live and work alongside us I think when you turn around and say that you can't take action because there's a bill which because there is um a bill which says this or that or because it's not explicitly written Within the list of things which you can and cannot do I think frankly it's out of a desire more to avoid representing the will of the people rather than desire to confirm to conform to the letter of the law I think it's cowardice it's abandoning your duty as elected officials and it's turning away from the people who represent who you represent who elect you and who ultimately are the source of all power and democratic government thank you I yield my time to the chair Alfredo to be followed by Katie uh kuwi and sorry about that again if I butchered your last name there Alfredo to be followed by Katie K anyone um my name is KW um I live in zip code 32 304 the public safety coordinating Council was established by leyon County Board of County Commissioners in 2001 the council has met regularly since that time to monitor the Jail's population as well as increase efforts of coordination between the many agencies of the criminal justice system this is straight from the leyon County Government website as a state legislator debates a law about dealing with using local jail as overflow for DHS how can you seriously look Us in the face and say you can't do anything I yield my time I believe it's Caitlyn Burns to be followed by uh Thomas Spears it's Carolyn but I have terrible handwriting uh I'm a resident of the city of Tallahassee and Leon County District 3 uh I grew up hearing the stories of the difficulties of immigration and discrimination but I'm lucky in that my family came before the racist immigration acts in the 1920s were passed so by accident of birth I have not had to deal with what these folks have to deal with to find a better life I understand that there are limits to jurisdiction but if we can print out flyers saying know your rights if I understand state laws are different but my mother School in Massachusetts has issued guidance to teachers at selling how they can protect their students while complying with law enforcement we are individual citizens doing our very best to get the word out about what is happening and how to protect oneself and again know your legal rights and the difference between an arrest warrant and an administrative warrant to folks will y'all have the bully pulpit and can spread this message far and wide there are things you can do and I know that when we get through this when future Generations ask me what did you do about it I want to give them an answer I can be proud of I really hope that you all feel the same way thank you I yield my time Thomas Spears to be followed by our final speaker uh Camila munan my name is Thomas Spears I live in 32303 and I'm here with TK along with everybody else to ask the board to make Leon County a sanctuary City and to not cooperate with ice when they want to kidnap working people that they say are here illegally uh this of course is in response to the variety of reports of raids whether it's by ice or DHS or any other department um that was supposed to have happened yesterday in response to the general mindset that is coming from the White House as always with these sort of events and many times on purpose the specifics are always very hard to pin down and that's very much on purpose that's the point these calls coming from the highest office in the lands they aren't policies of protecting people they're policies of Terror these are reports of rais and arrest yesterday's and the the degree of panic cannot we always try to limit it we don't try to spread things that we can't confirm but it's always some is always going to get out because we're trying to get the right information we're trying to get the kind of information that she was talking about knowing your rights and such but then is it this department is it that department is they are they here or there that's always part of the point it's policies of Terror is to make people who are undocumented people whether they are or not which that's always on their on the words of these departments live in fear every day that's no way to live anywhere not only on County not in Florida not it shouldn't be in the US regardless of what the White House may say it's not a policy of protecting Americans which is what the White House has tried to say that's just trying to create a scapegoat to blame the ills of this country on the ills of this country are not the fault of illegal immigrants the ills of this country to find out who is at fault we must all keep in mind that the ill those ills create a lot of profit a very small number of people and when they're trying to get people to us to point the finger at each other because we're not pointing the finger at them this conversation goes of course outside the purview of this board but there is some ability of course there been discussion about what is legal and such it is a fact that you have to do something when people are in panic when people are scared who do we turn to we turn to each other of course we are not on that dis we're not in the city Das we're not at State Legislature y'all are look work within the limits of the law do what you got to do but we need something we want a sanctuary County even aside the law it's what laws are supposed to follow the morals the morals are to make this a sanctuary County should be a sanctuary country that's what we want we want to work with you let's make it happen thank you our final speaker Camila munante it's munante but thank you hello everybody my name is Camila munante and I am a first generation college student at Florida State University I here today as both a proud member of our community and also as the child of immigrants who worked very hard to get me where I am I don't think I need to explain the fear that citizens and non-citizens alike have felt in the last week I want to emphasize what many others have already stated what you guys can do of course there's a limit at the local county level however we are lucky enough to be in Leon County let's think bigger while SB 168 mandates cooperation with ice local governments can still set policies that limit their role in Immigration enforcement for instance the county can choose not to actively assist in enforcing ice detainers unless there is a criminal warrant or judicial order while ice might still place detainers local law enforcement could choose not to honor them without a court order while the law allow ows ice agents to access local jails local governments can set conditions for ice access like requiring judicial oversight this would minimize the ability of ice to operate freely within local jails not to mention Commissioners like yourself can engage in educational efforts to inform the public including your immigrant communities about their rights under the law the local government's stance on immigration and how to interact with law enfor enforcement in a way that minimizes harm as our Representatives use your influence as a first generation student I know the sacrifices immigrant families make to create better opportunities for their children the fear and instability caused by these ice raids undermine not only their efforts but also the values of fairness and inclusion that should Define leyon County I would not have the privilege of speaking in front of you all today if it wasn't for undocumented immigrants D prioritize arrest for undocumented immigrants and offer them protections thank you for your [Music] time thank you Mr County Administrator Mr chair that concludes our speakers thank you and thank you everybody that showed up uh to speak and thank you for keeping your comments brief we appreciate that um Commissioners we're done with our uh agenda except for for uh commissioner time so are there any items from the county attorney nothing Mr chair thank you thank you Madame County attorney uh Mr County Administrator just available for questions on any of the late breaking issues and um a big congratulations to commissioner gaban and Alex I just found out you missed the dinner break you miss a lot so you'll get uh plenty of unwanted uh advice and guidance from us but uh we're going to shower you yeah congrats shower you greatly that's exciting um all right uh commissioner time um commissioner Proctor we're going to start with you at the end of the Das and we'll just work our way back this way if that's cool with everybody thank you Mr chairman um sir thank you I want to say that we've had a very spirited and U uplifting meeting tonight um we're the greatest commission uh in Florida um I dare say that we're the greatest Commission of United States we um had a great um Retreat yesterday and shouts out to you Mr chairman uh thank you excellent job shouts out to um staff uh for the presentation for all of the outstanding work uh that was catalog and present it to us um in the format which we U witness uh a lot of work um indeed I think I lifted up the idea about the national forest which um is compatible if secured to um issues of affordable housing um dirt that would not have a cost um the notion of um um the group um cun um and we had the dirt of the national forest which citizens of the United States ought have first right or refusal and in particular when the federal government has zero plan for the next 20 th000 years to do anything with that property but let it sit there for uh various species Commissioners I've shared tonight a call for Workshop uh on the federal freezing I think racial distributed uh we've had ice raids um in across our nation uh after school programs Title One support Section 8 housing assistance um on free student grant ship funds all of this is Frozen um so I've asked you Mr chairman um support of our board to um uh afford US an advantage through our federal lobbyists uh to understand uh what in the world is going on and then uh of course we've had the uh projected um some committee to study FEMA and its future and uh speaking of recovery I guess we can add what what we need to do purchase uh salt trucks and snow recovery stuff that's not even in the nobody's Playbook so FEMA uh if it's scheduled to go out go out of existence uh who fills those shoes and what occurs but I think that there's been a Litany of public policy shifts uh with immediate impact which if we're to be and stay ahead of the issues which we've heard numerous citizens come in tonight just to talk about uh the caring for um I guess the spirit of U the base of the Statute of Liberty bring me your tired and huddle masses uh that yearn to be free uh yearn to be free uh how many people are yearning to be free uh free from homelessness uh free from poverty just yearning to be free and um so I've shared that Mr Mr chairman it's your discretion you're our chair um mror uh just real quick I think uh the County Administrator has some comments on that and then um I can tell you my thoughts well we we can provide you a little bit of an update with what we know now I have to admit to you that my speaking points on this earlier this this afternoon have changed dramatically uh and and I'll defer to to to chassis here in just a moment about a Judicial intervention that has occurred since we started meeting uh tonight uh but again commissioner Proctor um the White House Office of Management budget as as you know issued a memorandum to all federal agencies to pause the obligation and dispersement of federal funds again uh just yesterday and so this is all very new we're just kind of learning about it as we go now the pause as you mentioned earlier commissioner Proctor was to be effective at 5:00 p.m. today the pause was intended to be in effect until the new Administration can review and determine if funding for specific agency programs aligns with the president's priorities this is what we know um again uh this impacts the issuance of new Awards and dispersement of federal funds under open Awards and I think uh again the County Attorney may have some additional clarification on that we're still trying to determine uh again and probably some of the most urgent issues for our purposes and for our Community Partners to determine if this impacted programs like Wick uh programs like Snap but again I think uh what you'll get from the county attorney's office at least will provide some uh peace of mind at least for the immediate term and with that chassid I'll pass it off to you yeah not much is known but what we do know is that a court has stayed application of uh that particular om memo for the time being not for very long uh just till uh basically arguments can be heard on the request for the injunction that's been filed litigation has already started on that issue as well as many others based on the executive orders issued by uh the White House in the past week so it's going to be a little bit of a moving Target the state only applies to programs that were already authorized to receive funding it's it does not apply to any new funding so so the freeze is still in place for any grants or loans that are new funding and that have not already been appropriated for payment but that is the current status again I think that stays in place until 5:00 p.m on Monday with the expectation that the court will hear further argument on uh the request for the injunction uh that a number of uh organizations have already filed in at least one case other cases may also be filed you know they may have already been filed but we just don't know about them yet but that would not be surprising okay I um I leave you a lot of confidence Trump versus the American Court she's about 12 and zero um and I don't expect uh some core to uh issue a stay to uh do anything but um aggravate um Trump and I suspect that um since he has all power um that if this measure is appealed to the US Supreme Court um again he's undefeated uh I think that we um would do well to begin to U make analysis of um his proposals and ideas Chuck's opposed to uh where uh his measures might leave this community uh very important not only is the ice comments tonight uh brought from citizens very important uh but the effort to uh alter uh all persons born uh in the United States or citizens of the United States and to the states in which they they uh reside uh if birth is altered as a standard for citizenship what then do you go by do you have a BMW car or do you live on the North side in the right zip code uh what standard does citizenship rotate if birth is removed as a universal um same standardness uh it coincides with ice because of if birth don't matter then Nick madx probably is not a citizen couldn't may not be a resident of the State of Florida a citizen of United States because he wears bow ties you know whatever capricious standard might exist so it's a perilous moment in particular for people who've lived and evolved from slavery um such as my ancestors um and I um is not a very comfortable thing when you um delve into the 14th Amendment at all because the 14th Amendment is all black people's U birth certificate as citizens of this country that's our birth certificate from 1868 and to think that uh that certificate of birth of citizenship um correcting uh the notion of child property and slaves um 3 years following the Civil War uh we received that all persones born cuz people didn't know what to do with 4 million black folk who was African slaves they didn't have a status and um the Supreme Court uh precedent is well established commissioner c as you know well um Dread Scott that a black man has no rights which by law a white man is bound to respect these things the preil war mindset of dread God and the uh mindset of Retribution and putting people back in office who were banned from office after the Civil War which is post reconstruction is a hell of a concoction that uh those of us who have evolved and have been created by law as black people have been the only people on the planet created by law in every step in every move in every um Evolution to right the vote opportunity for housing um uh uh the right to not be segregated I mean everything is created by a law for us so when uh executive order can just take our created legal status away uh it's a great concern so my ask as a policy maker in this county is that again from District one's perspective we are straight concerned and we feel very vulnerable and we're feeling very uncertain uh these attacks on Dei um the coming out the uh people who uh you said W VI Wick um Vince Wick is on The Chopping Block um uh Housing section 8 is on the Block CNN ran a long list of them today and when you look at them they are racially imbalance its impact uh the magnitude of the injury is going to be disproportionately injurious to African-American citizens and so I rais this question uh to you Mr chairman with the desire to understand from our federal lobbies they should report their understanding in washingon and I don't care if we put them on speaker phone and they talked to us by speaker phone but that we might know are we are we going back to slavery we see people rounded up and put on military planes I mean are we at War um military plane uh use that against enem and stuff you know u u I went back and asked our officer was were they um participating in Ice Race were they deputized have they been um um incorporated as a as a wing of the federal government uh to deputize uh to raid and to assist the federal government and raid uh someone mentioned the pscc public uh safety coordinating Council um we already got a lot of stuff going on at our Jail uh are we going to house uh ice rated victims for how long do we get a check for them uh what is going on what is our status as a local venue Home Room home rule government uh in relation to the state the state uh 10th Amendment in relation to the 14th the federal government what what is the new orbit and constellation of uh governmental entities of uh who we are that's the kind of stuff that I don't think from the vulnerable evolution of being an African in America that I'm concerned with um the strides of our government right now uh is very serious uh great sensitivity and the hurt of all of these Cuts uh not just the rounding up cuz black people been rounded up hell I jail is 70% Leon County every week every month we feel rounded up all the time so that that's not as frightening as uh cutting off money in food and the prices of groceries and people ain't got nowhere to live and housing cost that part so thank you all um this is the nature this is what is behind every every word on a sheet of paper that quality of fear um that has been expressed by many people tonight just that that is all that I have Mr chairman and I hope that in the coming few days that um your eyes um and heart will stay monitoring uh these Dynamic impacts that are adverse to citizens of district one thank you thank you commissioner Proctor and and I am sensitive to your um your feelings on the subject um as I was talking to the County Administrator I I I'm cool with whatever the will of the board wants to do but the County Administrator was just showing me that these agencies aren't supposed to report back until February 10th 10th of their like what they're doing and progress and meeting on we have a meeting on the 11th yeah and we have a commission meeting on the 11th may I suggest that we have an information item at our February 11th meeting that sort of addresses each of the things you pointed out in your memo um as commissioner Maddox pointed out earlier um and as I believe the legislator's bill that they're moving right now is severely limits our ability as a local government to do much in regards to ice raids and and all these other things but we can certainly get a a better feel of the status of how these things are playing out at our February 11th meeting very good corre okay thank you yes sir that uh up I guess analysis or whatever is going to come back on on the 11th Mr administrator I think most of the funding um pauses were I think somewhere in there talked about um they're analyzing those fun those those uh grants and Loans to see what's in conflict with the executive order that the president put out um can we have an analysis of that original executive order as well yes just just just on the on the 11th absolutely and we and we'll provide what we know I suspect there's not going to be a whole lot that we know even on February 11th the the Administration has been given broad latitude to um wave some of the the the pause on federal funding if if they determine that it is aligned with the president's priorities and with the other ones again we don't know how long the stay will uh last but we'll provide all the information that we have by that time thank you Mr County Minister I would imagine that I mean at the very least we'll know what the state's intention is in terms of their their ask of local government right I just conclude Mr chairman in saying that um every school every school in my district is a title one school and the aim at Title One um schools and after school and lunch programs and all of that that that that feels personal MH personal it is personal to me and the good people of district one that's why I feel this sensitive tonight to uh these concerns I hear you commissioner I hear you and I think the board hears you so we'll get that item back on the 11th and kind of see where we're at um thank you commissioner Proctor commissioner Miner thank you Mr chairman um earlier this evening we heard uh a citizen speak to us um Laura mcnf uh she's the mother of Anthony brona who was killed 10 years ago uh by a distracted driver so um she and the father of Anthony brona um have been advocating very heavily for hands-free device legislation so basically there are there are 31 other states in the country that have passed legislation that prevents uh drivers from texting using their phone interacting with their phone while they're driving [Music] um Studies have shown that uh people using interacting with their phone while they're driving increased risk of crashes by 23 times um so what I wanted to do is I wanted to pass out two things here's an article from the talas Democrat from December about um Demetrius brona uh Anthony's father as well as Laura mcf the mother that spoke today and um I wanted you just to get a chance you may have read this when it came out in December in the Democrat what I'm asking the board to do today is um representative tant has filed legislation in the house to basically uh Implement that legislation making Florida a hands-free devis State like the other 31 last session when she filed that it uh it got really far it passed three Committees of reference uh which is terrific for a house bill if if you if you follow this stuff it didn't quite get to the general body um she has decided to file the legislation again this year um what's happening as we speak is uh Demetrius brona Anthony's father is traveling around the state going to County commissions just like Miss mcfta today um urging County commissions to adopt a resolution in support of this legislation so what I wanted to pass to you is is the resolution that we've been asked to um to to to support and approve this Le this uh resolution will uh support representative tant's bill um and then once we do it should they'll combine our resolution approval with the other County commissions and City commissions around the state and present that to the legislature and hopes that um the bill will be passed so I'd like to make a motion uh for this resolution to be adopted by the County Commission second okay we got a motion in a second for the resolution um is there any discussion it's pretty pretty clean yeah um sorry no no worries um all right well there's no discussion uh all those in favor signify by saying I I I all opposed no uh passes unanimously thank you Mr chairman yes sir and then um I got an email from a community leader Grant gilhart I think many of you know him uh he was urging us to um consider the world cross country championships coming up in 2026 as a sustainable event um I know that our county has been strong advocates for for green event guidelines where a vendor at an event is asked to um use paper cups and and that type of thing to help uh make the event sustainable and so I had a question for the County Administrator and just asking has any have any plans been made yet on the world cross championship event and when whether or not uh that is planned to be a sustainable event I'll let Maggie take good evening uh and we've uh talked with Grant routinely too he's very engaged citizen with our sustainability program um so a couple things the world cross country event as Carrie alluded to yesterday your retreat has a lot of um standards and compliance that are out of our hands one example will be that um the water containers for example that the preeminent athletes utilize have to be closed and sealed to ensure that they weren't unintentionally receiving um you know elicit um fluids so to say so there are some parameters where we cannot say EXP licitly there shall be no water bottles for example just throwing that out but what I will share is within any latitude that Leon County government does have at the event we're already preparing so one example would be um those volunteers that we've already filled up the list for will um be stationed at the uh waste disposal sites where there's a recycling container and a garbage and we will have volunteers that are station there to help people make the best decision when they are at that point of do I recycle or do I dispose uh even if we can't say you can't have that water bottle here just using that as one example where we can have some control perhaps in um like the VIP tent or other areas we will have all the influence that we are allowed to uh during the course of the event and already uh a year out looking very closely at what those can be that sounds great Maggie thanks very much um I don't need to make a motion to this effect or anything but um Mr County Administrator once we get the next time we get an update on the event coming up and I know we're going to hear a lot of about it between now and 2026 would you be so kind to work with staff to have a section in there that talks about uh the efforts we're taken to make this as sustainable as possible working within of course the um the contract and the agreement that we have with with the association thank you sir and may I speak to that on point that point U right go ahead thank you for um I saw Carri Carrie post here I think that um all of our paper cups should have our name Leon County and I don't know what color schemes we going to I know this star I'm just saying when we get a paper just draw on it's getting late uh but paper cups with Leon County in in the World Cup in Leon County it's the world it's not the World Cup World cross country Champion cross country that's right and um we're going to have these cups with Leon County everywhere and leading into and then the tent should have our name right there in front of the World Wide World of Sports coverage this worldwide U event so I would do everything we could to uh create uh paraphernalia uh akin to what we did for the bicentennial but to go all out and take advantage of uh promoting Leon County thank you Mr Miner anything else one more thing um I just wanted to point out that uh Miranda Hernandez uh is is leaving us leaving the county uh uh organization and uh this is her last County Commission meeting so I just wanted to welcome you know wanted to thank her for her work and uh wish you well for your next chapter she she joined leyon County in May 2021 as a management intern uh then worked for the Office of Management and budget then came back as a management analyst for the County Administration office so just want to thank you for all your work uh you've been great to work with and we'll miss you and good luck with your next chapter Mr chairman thank you very much yes sir commissioner O'Keefe thank you Mr chairman um from all the speakers who stayed uh to speak about um protecting and addressing uh and hoping to speak to the fear of members of our immigrant community and their family members and even members of our community who aren't uh immigrants uh you stayed a long time to speak with us and I want to thank you for coming to speak on behalf of people who for it may not be safe safe for them to come speak in a courthouse so that we can hear their concerns thank you for that um I was mentioned before the term Sanctuary County um itself is not uh something that's allow on state law but what I would like to discuss is every creative Avenue we can to effectively prevent and minimize harm to our community members um that is what I believe we are responsible for um as far as deep prizing arrests of undocumented immigrants um we oh I can't how do I rephrase that I don't like to be up here telling you why we can't do something let me tell you in 2017 um before I ever thought I would run for office um I joined a group and that group met with Sheriff Walt mcneel of the Leon County Sheriff's Office to get with him to uh find out what their office could do to make sure that our immigrant community members both documented and undocumented did not have to feel fear that they were going to get uh ex cruel treatment um similar to what directives were coming from higher level of government um and so I would just say I think that is a good Avenue to go that is an elected constitutional officer um that I have just personally found receptive um to doing everything he can within his power to protect the diversity of our community as for us um people are scared and these folks are not the cause of the problem they're victims of a systemic failure another National system of failure to for the long time to have an effective and uh timely proper immigration system that allows people to be uh processed and wait in decades of lines or try to come here another way because that's not realistic um and so some people will say that some of the incorrect excuses for what I would say are cruel actions are to protect crime and what we've known is um there's no evidence that there is more crime committed in immigrant communities than anywhere else in fact the evidence shows that there is less crime other than immigration law the occurred in immigrant communities these are members of our community that um our values as a board have always expressed in our decisions that we value and protect the diversity of our community this is a major part of that so changes and things are going to come fast and furious um from the new Administration and I do want to be careful that we are not strategic are that we are not effective in what we say and do and as we talk through this as a board my go my objective is always to that our words decisions and actions are the ones that are likely to be most effective to prevent minimize harm to our community members and so that may not be a press release um calling us a certain type of City it may be a policy change or community service program that we can help support or it may be advocacy at a federal level maybe all other kinds we need to make sure there is a legal limit but I want to make sure that based on our value of keeping a diverse community that we find out and go all the way to the limit of our legal Authority and do absolutely everything we can for those members of our community I think that's the least we can do um I'm not asking and I don't think anyone is asking us for do anything illegal in our positions but I think what we are being asked to do is to do everything creative and legally possible to do that and so if that means we have to get more attorneys in the County's attorney's office for all these executive orders are going to keep coming then then that would be you know why I would be interested if that means we if that means we can effectively find ways to minimize harm even if they're not things that are loud and all over the news the idea is everything I would like us to do is to be effective and minimizing harm I mean our students we heard the the story that will be too common of someone um a parent weing a student is going to get um yanked out of school and they have enough with school shootings and everything else kids have enough to be scared of when they go to school of them or their friend getting yanked out um and so uh I'm curious one I don't need to make I don't want to make a motion for this yet um because it's going to be very complicated but I want to um plant this in the county administrator's head and perhaps get some advice from his one um it would be helpful for us to know and stay informed of if our Detention Center which we are not in charge of but we fund is increasing the number of detention nights it's it's uh needs to hold based on actions um of uh federal or state Administration what is that doing to our budget it'd be good to be aware of that how is that impacting us um Second and how does it impact our future study right so you don't need to do study today and then the the administration Z Bo changes next week but I think those are things we we do need to be tracking and just be aware of as we make decisions um we are going to have I hesitate because this is we need to be very smart about what we do um if we're going to be helpful here there are going to be these harmful actions that cut try to cut um food assistance and rent assistance and medical funding and uh many of our community members rely on those things and I don't know if month-to-month updates at a meeting on actions are going to move quick enough and I don't even know if that would work so is it as things happen does it mean that we get more frequent briefings as board members on federal actions on between meetings on how they impact us um does it mean that we need a workshop to discuss policies and adjustments that give the County Administrator The Authority or to put him in a position to creatively respond to new things that harm our community in a way that we can help um between meetings is there um is there a way that allows us to move quickly but responsibly to help members in our community and um it's uh I think it's something that perhaps we'll learn more in another meeting if I had a discreet answer that I thought was going to bring back an agenda item next month to do it um I think County administ we talk to you more about it offline and see what we can come back with even even if that stuff out sooner but the idea here is how do we put ourselves in a position where we're not just wait and see where we can plan and think smart about what we do to protect the values of our community and in a way that does not uh do any harm and do more harm um so I think we have a very difficult term ahead of us um to stay committed to the values we espouse for the members of our community and thank you again um uh thank you thank you commissioner o'keef commissioner Cummings you're up uh thank you uh thank you Mr chair just a couple of things um first of all I want to um commend the staff and the County Administrator for their professionalism and their preparedness and and their uh willingness to provide us the information that we need they stand at the podium on a minute's notice but they're always prepared and I think never lead us in in the wrong in the wrong direction and I think that we give credit to the County Administrator for selecting uh U enormously competent staff uh that leads and guides us um fact on information as members of uh of the County Commission I also shared a sentiment of U my fellow Commissioners and I appreciate the individuals that came forth um um and spoke to us about the impact of the the raise on our immigrant immigrant community and I appreciate our County attorney and commissioner Maddox for looking at the law pretty much given us the parameters of of what we can do uh at this point that what Leon County is not a sanctuary City uh County and the entire state is is prohibited from uh becoming a sanctuary state but I think we need to be diligent and uh diligent about what's going on so I look forward to um next month or if not sooner I think if something comes down that's detrimental to the health safety and Welfare of our community before we meet next month I think our County Administrator and our chair can have the authority to call an important meeting or emergency meeting so that we can address address those issues um I I feel strongly I have strong sentiment for the Immigrant Community but I'm just not sure right now what legally and definitively uh we can do uh do we know uh Mr County Administrator if ice is in contact with any of our loal local law enforcement or do they just go in and do what they need to do Madam chair um Mr chairman um commissioner cumings uh we primarily I think the law enforcement again I think you you all noted the separation that we have with law enforcement we're monitoring very closely obviously the the current state legislation um I think we're we're we're like and which is really sweeping bill right now now um entitled the Trump act um uh again I say that just to say the the emphasis they're putting the language in the bill that's currently at the state says that there will be a chief immigration officer created um and that uh the duties of the Chief Information uh Chief immigration officer will be monitoring the compliance of local government specifically related to Federal uh immigration enforcement um and and they will have the power to sue local governments for failure failure to follow the law regarding immigration enforcement and it's again it's sweeping it's very broad um it's very aggressive at the same time I think we're likely to see perhaps uh the governor even vetoed the bill I think we're going to have a contest over whose Bill's tougher uh at the end of the so as sweeping as this is it it may ultimately get vetoed and and and uh for something that's that's uh again even um more aggressive if you will so again we're monitoring all that legislation very closely to see what the impacts will be and I don't think that there's any doubt that there will be a very strong focus on Lo local government compliance um and and I think there'll be some you know incentives on the other side as well I know the the current state legislation dedicates $500 million um to State and local law enforcement agencies uh that are uh perhaps more willing to Avail themselves of of that sort of thing but we will be letting you know we'll be following it very closely and letting you know how it evolves uh throughout the um um whatever remainder of of of this legislative session is or U and then beyond that so we'll keep you very closely posted thank thank you thank you Mr County uh administr and of course I have no doubt that he would keep us apprised um very timely of any any challenges or any immediate issues that we need to address and having said that I also want to commend the County Administrator and his staff for just keeping us up to date last week on on the freezing conditions um on the um the shelters uh to house the homeless homeless people and we basically got a day-to-day update uh and so I appreciate that so I know that you get an up toate update as soon is as we know something more definitive about uh the ice raising and what have you and I've just I've just learned that the bill has passed since we um began our our the legislator's bill the legislator's U while we're in Immigration Bill while we're here yes while we're here we've been here for two weeks yeah so thank you than you uh a a couple of last things let's see one last thing I want to request a proclamation to be given to the Florida NM University incomparable Marching 100 band and it's band director uh Mr Shelby Shipman they were designated as the HBCU bad of the Year recently by ESPN so I'd like to request uh move a motion did you second it yes ma'am okay for U Proclamation for the family Marching 100 wasn't family monitoring family Marching 100 B okay we got to uh are they going to come in here and perform that's okay they were designated as the ban of the Year recently by esum PN and perhaps maybe if it's okay with the commission perhaps they can have a Del from the B when we present the proclamation hopefully next month to come and I want the whole drum section I get a drum line or maybe play some music we got a motion in a second to recognize the family Marshal 100 all those in favor uh signify by saying I I all right passes unanimously uh and uh finally I just want to also just thank the fellow Commissioners for uh the respect and the com comaraderie that we have with each other and the respect we have for each other's opinion but in the final analysis we listen to each other but then we uh I believe we make very intelligent uh thought-provoking and informed decisions that really benefit uh the citizens of this community so thank you Mr chair for your direction for all of us and I just thank my fellow Commissioners as well that's all I have thank you commissioner Cummings commissioner Maddox first of all Mr chair a great meeting tonight thank you you got a lot to go through but you got us through it even though you going to get us out of here one of the latest meetings I've been in a long time I tried yeah yeah um first things first want to um send my condolences out to a family of a great man uh had his Services last week Ted Parker uh was icon in our community not just in construction but in martial arts I heard so many great stories about how many folks lives he's touched not just in business but as their sense say and so I want to take the opportunity to recognize Ted and and his contributions to our community also a fellow commissioner who passed not from here but from Jacksonville Barbara Boone farest farest Boone her husband passed uh I want to send my condolences out to to to their family as well um it's good be back in the chambers had a great Retreat yesterday reflect the comments and of every everybody here that we are a damn good commission I am proud of what we do and who we are as a commission uh so I I did want to reflect that um Mr chair I did want to ask for uh ask County Administrator a quick question when it comes to uh namings Mr administrator um I know that we had we had put in place um some I guess it be ordinance yeah an ordinance that said that you had to be at least 20 years is it 8 16 20 years I think I think we go by terms four terms four terms and it has to be after a person after the tenure of the City Commissioner it had to be after they're they're no longer so I'd have to look at the policy again yeah but I believe generally speaking you're right and these are guidelines for the board to consider yeah um I I have made mention to this a few times a few times I have made mention and and most people probably thought I was joking but I really wasn't um for 20 what 27 28 years commissioner pror yeah about 28 28 years commissioner pror has led district one as as the district commissioner um and by the end of this term it would be 32 correct 30 30 30 30 by the end of this term um and you know most people would say well maybe you should wait until you know dies dies but or or or even or even he's off the diets but I'm just not willing to wait that long uh because I I truly appreciate even though he gives me hell sometimes particularly today you was on you was on you was on me today bill um uh but but for for the contribution that he's made in district one and he may not even be think think this way but I don't I don't want to wait until you know the end of this term or if he decides to run again I would really like for us to consider um naming uh the fairgrounds after William C Proctor second um and for it to be brought back for us for our consideration as a board squeeze my head in it's get whoa um so we got a motion in a second is that an item that would we have to wait yeah yeah but I mean we have to weigh the rules or there our rules there our guidelines we do no no no no that's why that's why I wanted the agenda item because in agenda item I can't remember all the specifications there I know it's 16 years I don't know if you have to be off the diet if you're on the diet uh can you still do it but I I don't I don't care who you are if you're here for 28 years and you're s you're still sitting here making policy and making the noise and causing the hell to build proce causing up here I'm I'm willing to go ahead and give a consideration now so um just an agenda item to to make sure that we're in right standing to be able to do it with the with the ordinance that we have in place and if we're not what we have to do to get there um but I I would I would definitely like for us to consider the fair the fairg ground by the time the next fair comes next year to be the William C Proctor cut the ribbon Fairgrounds and and and and particularly I want to sign right there by the bathrooms uh because he has fought tirle to have indoor they're going to be brand new soon bathroom so yeah that's my motion Mr chair all right we got a motion in a second from commissioner Maddox to rename the north Florida Fairground says William C Proctor got to say Bill he really is serious about that bathroom thing I I'm serious about believe him I believe him oh yeah I think we should wait till the master PL remodeled and everything but um uh all those in favor signify by saying I I all oppos we'll see a uh we'll see an item coming back commissioner Proctor that's amazing that's pretty cool man commissioner that's just uh we ask no comments now you be here all day we try to go home the only caveat can't comment on don't mess it up um Mr chair that's all I got than yes sir thank you uh commissioner caban Vice chair caban wow congratulations to Vice chair caban thank thank you uh Mr chair great thinking uh commissioner Maddox I love that um one of our uh Retreat items yesterday was to incre increase uh pedestrian safety uh particularly in school zones I don't remember remember who if it was commissioner minor commissioner O'Keefe um I've been working on a project in my district uh probably since early spring um this this this issue came before our office from constituent complaints honestly uh we reached out to Florida Department of Transportation to do a traffic and safety study um they actually performed two and on Woodville Highway and Natural Bridge Road the result of their which is right in front of Woodville k38 Elementary School uh the response from floor Department of Transportation was that it is an unsafe intersection and that it's in need of a traffic light and a turning signal um and right now they're evaluating opportunities for funding so what I would like to do is I spoke with the County Administrator and I think there's some funding options um that we could look at whereas we go look front the money and get reimbursed by fdot um what I I don't really want us to you know be stuck in one Avenue but because it is in front of a school and in a school zone I do think it should be a priority um so I'm going to I'm going to make a motion to direct staff to work with fdot to look at funding options to bring back to the board uh for for Woodville Natural Bridge Road Traffic Light intersection and turning lane second got a motion in a second uh any discussion yes sir commissioner um is there any requirement that a study precedes a light our lighting situation with the done yeah the study's done so done they back to us and said it needs a traffic light and a turning and a turning lane let's go for it all right we got a motion in a second all those in favor signify by saying I I I passes unanimously thank you um next um Mr County Administrator you know this one I heard earlier today you know I heard the board talk about this in different aspects but um through our our RFP process um I think what I heard from different commissioners is that there was a little bit of frustration that um a lot of the applicants were thrown out for um paperwork issues or um I I I don't know the the details right but what what I would like to see and you know I'll kind of um point to the County Administrator and see what his recommendation is but what I'm thinking is we ask for an agenda item to come back with some procurement or RFP proposed changes so so that way it um Embraces the spirit of more of a competitive process right and what I would like to see is that when we put out an RFP I I don't want to see applicants being thrown out I want to see applicants being scored and I want us to be able to look at if you know five people apply I I don't want half more than half getting thrown out um and so I I don't know the way to frame it um Mr County Administrator you know what would you recommend here but basically I want we put an RFP I want to be competitive I want to see vendors I want them scored by staff and I want us to have options to come before the board yes and I think I've got the the spirit of of what you said captured I mean well caveat as you all would would imagine it's it's uh you know replete with with with legal determinations that we maneuver and and we have the same goal too we we put out rfps to to not dis but to qualify people and not disqualify them so I of course I'll work with the county attorney's office and purchasing and we'll bring you back an item uh that that provides any additional guidance or ideas or anything we can do to make sure we can streamline that process and and and do as good a job as we can at qualifying respondents commissioner is that something that you guys seem to be interested in we have a motion go ahead okay I like the way fine go ahead you're fine I'm thinking commission if you just asked staff to streamline then arbitrarily they use their thoughts about streamline I think that maybe a workshop is more Universal and opens the whole procurement policy to us then we all get to Cherry pick segments which you know when when was the last time we gone through the procurement have we had a workshop on it in recent years yeah end we just had a purchasing Workshop really when was it month think Nick I've been here a long time Nick I Can't Remember December so you can remember way back but not two months ago but but but is that what you want us to look at that I do have that that um procurement thingy document that you wanted us to ultimately ultimately what I want to see is when we put out an RFP I want to see you know several vendors that have been scored for us to look at I think the last few times we put out RFP processes I've seen that there's been a lot of um what what I believe staff calls it per our policy is that non what's it called nonresponsive non-responsive is that the is that the correct phrase non-responsive because they you know forgot to sign a paperwork or they're missing one component but they're still they still could be good vendors and so I just want to see them I I would like to see them scored by staff still and not considered nonresponsive non-responsive to me means they didn't apply yes commissioner Maddox I I agree with some of that but then I I do think that there has to be a line somewhere I mean when you think about the information so so maybe the seriousness of what we're talking about when we call what what do we call non-responsive versus you know what what we don't yeah right what's what's substantive if all the substantive things are filled out they might have forgotten to sign something then I can get past that but let's say it's something that that we may really need and then they forget to do that and it's like well I don't want I don't want that even scored so so I guess really what I would need to know is what's deemed to be unresponsive and what's not and then we we kind of mess with that to say okay what well if they forgot to sign that one piece of paper I don't deem that to be un nonresponsive and that's more technicalities yeah and it's and jasse will tell you I think I want to take the words out of her mouth it's what the law deems to be non-responsive and and but again I think too you'll find when we bring you back the information that you'll find that we do things that um may go even beyond what you thought we have we have mandatory pre-bid conferences where we make all of the respondents sit at the table and we walk through the document with them and we tell them everything that's required and how to do it and when to do it and in what format and we but we do have legal requirements in these and if and depending on how you solicit a procurement that comes with obligations and interpretations on what is legally required and what's not CH I didn't want to totally preempt if you wanted to jump in yeah I mean many times in it happened in the scenario earlier two different procurements that the board considered contracts for at this meeting uh they failed to to submit a required document again after they were told in the solicitation document itself after they were repeatedly told in the pre-bid meeting all of them uh some of which are literally required by law so you can't you can't wave or deem something of minor irregularity that is required by law right the other reason vendors are frequently found to be unresponsive or non-responsive is they do not comply with the mwbe requirements which is a requirement and policy of this board and is something that this board in the past has very much focused on and been critical of when vendors do not meet those requirements so of course we are happy to take a look at the process but simply saying just because someone it's a technicality in fact many times it's not just a technicality Madam County attorney can I ask a question sure um so like in in an instance when a form is missing and a deadline's 5:00 yes can we call these people at 4:00 no that is the law these are sealed there is a whole missing until it's that's right we don't touch those they could turn them in a week ahead of time or many times what they do is they wait until the last 15 minutes before the Dead line and they turn in their stuff and guess what because they waited till the last minute they forgot something and that's dictated by state law that is dictated by case law we follow chapter 187.5 7 which governs All State procurements okay we're not bound by it but we've adopted it because it is easy there's case law that interprets it so that when we get a protest from a vendor who's trying to assert that we did something that was biased or that was part partial or that was not consistent with law that we can point to the case law that says this is not a minor irregularity because you didn't file a mandatory form that is consistent with case law that we can defend we do get bid protests quite a bit but we can always defend them and many of them don't go to the bid protest hearing because we we explain it the case law is there and they we don't have to go through that process but again happy to bring anything back to the board about ways to streamline our procurement processes cool thank you well on point uh sir what we did tonight uh with um um Loban lobbying thing um we really uh that was not a bid you see there's a professional service and there's the U it's like um um building so Brad you know like opens up a we need we need bid for 25,000 ft County Public Works building what we did today we said look we got $40,000 who want it send me your resume and we evaluated resumes when we do a building um we say we want a 25,000 squ foot building um what can you build it for tell us a price you named the price um who's got the lowest price uh we want 37 windows we need some car garages uh what price that's a bit what we did today was a selection was a beauty contest and um we just didn't have the board didn't have everybody's resume who actually apply and in bidding we typically see the bid scores the bid sheets the bid um submissions of all of the vendors uh when we were bidding but for the beauty contest we saw one applicant period whether he want only the ones that are responsive you don't see the ones that are non-responsive we don't yeah that part yeah so we we will bewildered by the absence of I so many I guess what I'm thank you for the for the um the dialogue Madam attorney um I guess what I want to what I would like to see here is and if it can't happen if it's against the law I understand um do other counties do they when vendors reply do they ever come pro come to the board on on the day of the vote and present um I I guess what I'm looking at is I don't like if you had read the agenda item you would have not seen anyone other's applications right unless we went and asked for it and so and this what I would like to see is just like the spirit of competitive bid process so Mr County Administrator if we could just bring it bring it back does that need board Direction to just Well it can't be competitive if you've already said we're going to pay $40,000 I mean I mean we say we a going to put no price can you do it for 4,000 can you do it for 7,000 that's competing it sounds like we have a lot of information that we can provide to help clarify these these issues because they can get confusing in terms of how you how you decide to what methodology use to procure and solicit services so but we can do that and I I do hear the intent um to try to again do everything we can to attract and and and qualify as many respondents as we can because that's our goal as well but we'll be happy to bring you back an item that that does that wait Mr chair um I feel on M we got can I get commissioner Miner in here man he's uh I'm waiting patiently I'm sorry we're doing the cars again I'm sorry it's all right thank you Mr chairman um I'll try to be quick so um commission Gan I understand the spirit of what you're saying and and I agree with you I think we need to try to encourage as many applicants uh as possible um with this particular case I don't think we got a lot of responses and I think we talked about this before at a meeting is because the the award was I think $40,000 now $40,000 seems like a lot of money to me but some of these lobbyists that deal with hundreds of thousands of dollars you know paying paid by their clients uh I think that probably had something to do with it in this case uh but you're talking about a more General sense um you know I I don't think our staff have a lot of fluff added to the RFP process for documentation that's required um so I understand the spirit of what you're saying I want to have something come back if there are things that we can do to make it easier for applicants to apply so that we get more that are responsive that's great um but I I do not want to remove things that may not be required by law but are still important for us to know the money we have belongs to taxpayers not to us you know if we were a private business we could do whatever we wanted but we aren't um and so I I do not want to remove things like conflict of interest checks um collusion pled you know pledge not to collude I mean those types of things are important parts of the of the RFP process that I don't want to I don't want to lose and I don't think you do either no I agree I agree but I I felt important to say that because um I don't know that there's we'll see I don't think there'll be a lot of stuff that we canare down from the RFP process if there is let's find out and let's let's work on it but um but I want I do want to make sure that we don't sacrifice I want to make sure we don't sacrifice U um you know some documentation we need to see for for brevity and lose something in the process thank you Mr thank you commissioner O'Keefe and then Maddox and then close it out um this we just had a purchasing Workshop October 22nd um this whole process on this issue in this one service has been nothing but as armchair quarterbacking ourselves we started by approving a 2-year extension earlier last year of a lobbyist and then a month or two later saying we want another lobbyist and so we said instead of just picking another lobbyist which we had every right to do we did not have to go out to RFP we put our own restrictions to do an RFP okay and then it came back we didn't like it and so we made a decision the board made a decision to go with who who we thought was better and so I don't think we should spend more of our time on purchasing policies that we did a workshop on last quarter when I don't think our county is doing has done policies that make extra work beyond the legal requirements that we haven't told them to do and the reality is that we ought to just we pick who we wanted that was the we should have just started there and we finished there I don't think we need to break open our policy materials for what is an exception to the rule where the rule allowed us to pick who we wanted anyways thank you Mr ma oh it's been a long night so all right is there any kind of way we could just commissioner kand because sounds like we we I think we had a workshop looking at procurement specifically yeah if we can just get um if we could just get some information about it and and then after we get the information about it if there if there's a specific piece of it that you want to pull out then we can then you can come back ask for the item yes sir you go ahead thank you point of clarification I appreciate the feedback from the board um I didn't come into this with any specific motion I kind of want to hear where the board is at let me be clear I'm not talking about just what happened today there's been plenty of other agenda items such as the the accounting audit uh firm marketing firm for visit Tallahassee there are plenty of rfps that go out and if you read the agenda material it says x amount of vendors were deemed non-responsive that's what I'm trying to get at here I want more vendors at the table for us to look at that are scored by staff that is the goal I'm not just referencing today I think today is the most recent example but we've had conversation as a board about previous items and I just want to a competitive bid process period so that's it all right so if would you like an agenda item or what yeah I mean if can we have a an informational item come back uh Mr County Administrator do I need a motion that yeah make a motion so so moves uh okay we got a uh can you make your own yeah you can uh Motion in a second to have an information item come back on maybe ways we can streamline or cast a wider net in our RFP process all those in favor signify by saying I I I oppose none all right you're still up that's all I got that's that's all I got Mr Mr CH thank you so much all right well I think we are very close I just got a 30- minute speech and we'll Land This Plane we'll bring this uh aircraft carrier into doc um no I got nothing guys I just want to say and and Madam uh Madame previous chair uh just want to say thank you for a very robust meeting um you know I hope you guys don't take offense to my desire to keep it moving and uh commissioner Miner I wasn't laughing at you earlier I was laughing with you but I didn't I didn't realize you weren't laughing no I just find it funny sometimes how we you know we uh man we will beat the snowball snowman to death um and on that note I did want to say a big thank you to our Public Works staff and all of our Emergency Management staff uh I saw director Peters here earlier um you know uh obviously unprecedented event uh last week and and uh Matt and your staff and community relations and events and the updates and the sanding of the roads I saw people complaining about sanding of the roads and I'm like man why you why you complaining about the sanding of the roads man something better than nothing we don't have ice we don't have salt around here n um so I think all things considered uh one once again our Leon County staff really showed out in another unprecedented event um and there is still piles of snow on the ground at child's High School which is remarkable to me a week later so certainly something we'll never see again in our lifetime and once again Leon County staff stepped up and hammered it like they always do so thank you all so much and um and thank you all hope you had a great holiday season it was great to see y all again and uh oh commissioner Cummings uh go go right ahead Mr chair thank you so much just one last thing and it was mentioned at our Retreat yesterday that one of our administrative assistants M Regina Nash lost her husband as a matter of fact she worked closely with the County Administrator uh but she lost her husband Mr Jesse Nash so I want to solicit you know our prayers and support uh for Regina and the loss of her husband yes thank you Mr Regina you know very important all of us answer phone for just a question on ethics um commissioner cumins did you really wear that green suit because you was aligned with Kum that's all I want I think it just makes her look as beautiful as as anybody else in the audience she threaded the needle on there I tell you what buddy you talk about a a a rose amongst the Thorns up here and we going back and forth yeah you and me are you and me are big thorns man thank you'all so much have a great evening thank you we're [Music] Jour we do this every year and we have a breakfast here for the whole Community everyone's invited complimentary breakfast presented by the Legion Post and Leon County it's an opportunity for them to get together with other veterans other service members you know people that they're not going to see on a on a regular daily basis so to get together for a community breakfast to be recognized I think that they really do appreciate it we try the best we can there's a --------- ##VIDEO ID:R9dZrOFP5ew## [Music] good afternoon can you guys hear me all right welcome to uh our January meeting of the Leon County Board of County Commissioners thank you for all being uh thank you all for being here uh we're going to start today with uh the invocation by Reverend Michael price from bethl am Church our new uh our new Reverend at bethl am Welcome to our Chambers is this the first time you've been here yes awesome thank you so much we follow your Le inviting me thank you oh yeah I'm sorry commissioner madx thank you Reverend Price is our brand new pastor at bethl African Methodist Episcopal Methodist Church uh very proud to have him he's doing a absolutely amazing job for us at the church and want to welcome you to the community it's the first time in the chambers picked a great meeting to go to come to with all these great folks here today uh but we want to thank you for your your willingness to come today and for uh the prayer that you're about to give us thank you for the kind words um brother Nick I will not tell them how much I paid you advance to say those words but thank you let me pray if you so choose let me do so in my tradition and then recite a Prayer by Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr at the 1956 um Democratic National Convention in Chicago Illinois gracious and wonderful God we thank you for life liberty health and strength we thank you for the Democracy that is the United States of America this repu we thank you for the Constitution the Bill of Rights we only pray God that we can live those Constitution and Bill of Rights in a manner that is pleasing with you so that all people who enter the shores of this nation might find dignity grace mercy peace and an opportunity for a better life bless each of our County Commissioners and administrators bless this beautiful state called Florida bless this beautiful County called leyon County and this city we live in called talahasse bless all of our leaders politically Faith leaders bless our corporate entities bless the work of our hands that it may be in your hands and as we deliberate today oh God let Justice be the Triumph card in the words of Dr King oh God our gracious Heavenly Father we thank you for the privilege of assembling here this afternoon we thank you for all the opportunities of life and we stand together today and discuss vital matters confronting our County and city state and this nation and confronting our world as we ask your guidance be with us in all of our deliberations and help us at all times to seek to do those things which are high Noble and good to make our County city state and Nation one that is truly a great nation an a people and a nation and a city and a state and County that follows all of the noble precepts of the Christian religion and all the noble precepts of democracy grant us oh God that as we move on we will move toward that city which has foundations whose Builder and maker is God amen amen thank you Reverend Price uh commissioner madx would you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance sir pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all all right thank you Commission traxs um before we get into Awards and presentations I wanted to ask the board if we could entertain a motion to uh change the agenda and move up items 22 23 and 24 ahead of item 21 which we have a a pretty good crowd here to support that way we can uh get those out of the way anybody that's here for those item Mr chairman second all right we've got a motion in a second for agenda modification all those in favor signify by saying I I I all oppose okay so uh Kum folks we've moved you guys to to the end but we should be able to get through General business pretty quickly and get some folks uh moving um okay we're Mr County Administrator we're on Awards and presentations yes first Proclamation up is recognizing Florida A&M uh and commissioner Proctor thank you Mr chairman um board's uh Indulgence I'd like to ask Florida in graduate uh Leon County uh elected School member uh Daryl Jones to join us uh as Florida andm is a part of his School Board District if this board uh Absolut would allow School Board member Jones if you would please join me at the elect we've very pleased that um Florida M University's uh CEO uh Dr Donald Palm has joined us representing the university today very glad that uh Schoolboard member Daryl Jones uh who was uh Mar Luther King convocation speaker uh Friday ago um we thank you and I know your appreciation for uh the sentiments conveyed by our board are shared by you as well as a uh elected official of our community I want to say also before we share this uh Dr Palm uh not captured in these words but there is an immense uh sense of gratitude to florid and University and its role uh during uh Co vaccinations and uh I can't remember what the final numbers but it exceeded half a million um and what Florida enm university did to us in the time of that uh epidemic uh was that we evolved from a boutique beginning where people receiving the shot for co uh you had to have a car and you had to have insurance and uh fam you interjected and played host to uh the site of anybody uh go walk up car no car insurance and no insurance and I think that uh that will always be to me uh a high point of uh the role of University our Proclamation today reads whereas Florida M University Rose 10 places to reach number 81 among the 225 US News and World Report top public universities and whereas in the latest rankings fam you remained the highest rated public historically black college and university of sixth consecutive year and third among all private and public HBCU whereas fam you also moved up to number 20 on the US News and world report social Mobility index an indication of the ability of Florida's only public HBCU to change the economic trajectory of graduates and their families for generations to come FAMU is ranked number 87 for Best Value among National universities a reflection of the institutions relatively low Coast low cost tuition and the success of his graduates and and whereas the US News and World Report rankings are a reflection of the tireless efforts of our students faculty and staff and establishing FAMU as a world-class institution said interim president Timothy beard PhD who thanked the FAMU Board of trusties the Florida Board of Governors and the state legislature for their unselfish support and whereas fam you entered the US News and World Report top 100 public Universities at number 91 after being 103 the previous year FAMU is ranked number2 among all national universities both public and private if brother Daryl Jones was was was speaking out he would say you may applaud why you number 152 I that me Applause thank you I stole that from you the university has set records of more than 100 million in research Awards annual fundraising which is nearly 27 million and whereas FAMU has seen gains in its retention and four-year graduation rate Florida's only public HBCU boasts more than 9,000 students enrolled in more than a dozen Colleges and Schools the success of Florida university is a testament to its students faculty and administrators now therefore be Proclaim that the Leon County Board of County Commissioners recognize Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University for being ranked as the number one HBCU in the 81st Public University in the country dated this 28th day of January 25 signed by all seven County Commissioners attested to by our County Administrator and also not captured um in I of these renderings of aware as Clause uh is the economic impact that Florida inm has on our local economy no word no mention of that part either Dr Palm we appreciate Florida University uh especially in times such as these we welcome you uh to have a word unless uh uh School Board member uh who shares that District he's good we're good God bless you thank you uh thank you commissioner Proctor uh can can the other can you do me a favor if you are affiliated with FAMU or your graduate family would you please stand as well just to be recognized as well I um chair Welch in uh Commissioners again I want to thank you for this recognition this Proclamation it really means so much uh to us I wanted the uh the audience to stand because the US news world reports actually mentions our Rank and the rankings that's how we're moving up FAMU is on the rise but the proof of FAMU success is in our graduates right we can prove that we are on the rise and we're our best days are ahead of us and so again I want to thank the Florida legislator uh our chair Brian Lamb from the Board of Governors our trustees at Florida University the leadership with Dr interim president Dr Beard and the senior leadership team our faculty staff faculty faculty and staff and students for what they do and family will continue to guys and again as I said before our best days are ahead of us thank you very much for this this means a lot to us thank you very much uh do Dr Palmer you you you you failed to mention but I know that you already know that the chairman of the Florida Board of Governors Brian Lamb is a graduate of famrs I believe 92 or three and um you should also know that this almost got cancelled today when I received notice that the uh Orange Bowl has been rived and possibly fam you want to another little piece of Howard University we almost got cancelled we almost canceled this today all right the uh the next um Proclamation is going to be uh uh recognizing January's human trafficking prevention month is going to be uh presented at an event later this week so we're going to pull that one uh and then I've got the next one can I have the child's volleyball team yall come up here to the podium come here come on up here all right uh thank you guys for the opport to do this behind me and you know it's commissioner Proctor's recognizing the number one HBCU uh in the country and following that we are recognizing the number one volleyball team in the uh division of 5A in the State of Florida so we'd like to reward Excellence around here let's give them a round of applause now you guys know I have a soft spot for child's high school for obvious reasons but I can tell you in the 18 years that I've been there I believe coach Jan correct me if I'm wrong we've only had two team uh sport state champions right we had a soccer team a couple years ago and now our volleyball our girls volleyball team and um 25 and one I'm going to say all that in your Proclamation but uh really impressive stuff and uh and Coach Jan I'm going to give you an opportunity to speak when I'm done but uh we are super proud of all of these ladies and uh and happy to have them here to celebrate them so let me just rattle off a few of these accomplishments for for you whereas the loton child's high school volleyball team demonstrated unwavering dedication perseverance and exceptional athleticism throughout the season overcoming challenges and continuously striving for excellence in their craft and whereas the team under the outstanding leadership of head coach Caitlyn Jan has upheld a strong tradition of athletic and academic Excellence exemplifying the values of teamwork discipline and sportsmanship both on and off the floor and whereas for many years the child's volleyball team has been a dominant force in competitive volleyball earning multiple Regional championships including titles in 2017 18 and 19 and achieving State runner-up positions in 17 and 21 steadily building upon their program success and whereas throughout the season the team demonstrated extraordinary commitment and resilience executing complex routines with precision and skill overcoming rigorous competition at every level and proving themselves as the best in the State of Florida and whereas as a result of their tireless dedication and hardfought efforts the lton child's high school volleyball team secured the 2024 Florida High School Athletic Association state championship a historic achievement that solidifies their place as one of the Premier Volleyball programs in Florida and whereas this Championship Victory not only recognizes the team's physical skill but also highlights their determination teamwork and sportsmanship making them a source of immense Pride for lotton child's High School leyon County and the Tallahassee Community so now therefore be it proclaimed that the board of County commissioners of Leon County hereby recognize the state champion lton child's high school volleyball team we all signed it and everybody's legit ladies all right let's give them a round of applause I'm I'm going to give you guys this in a second we can take some pictures after uh coach Jan and maybe come some of the players say a few words but if you've not been to a high school volleball game lately I can tell you it's a sight to behold and at child's High School it is a especially a sight to behold that place is a rocking and you want to talk about the ultimate team sport I mean you guys can't mess up or you literally drop the ball right so you have to stay on it so uh it is a these ladies are are top tier athletes top tier students and uh and I have had several of them in my class and they are they are really something to be proud of so uh we are so happy that y'all are here thank you for coming downtown we appreciate it and uh coach Jan would you like to say a few words uh thank you commissioner Welch um we are happy to be here um hope to be here again next year as well um but child's is just a a small part for a lot of these girls um you know laying the foundation for them to go continue and play on at the next level um is always our goal of course a state championship's better um when we you know are able to do that um but we're really proud of all of their dedication hard work um we have a great community at child's that supports us um fans and faculty um so thank you all and we're happy to be here we appreciate [Applause] it um I just want to thank everyone for the enormous support we had throughout the season um I know it was always nice when we had a big crowd at our games so and just for this is really appreciative so thank you for everything awesome all right before we all roll okay before we're done real quick we're going to take a picture in a minute over here so we're going to look over here at this nice lady and we're going to try to fit everybody in um I do want to mention and we did not do proclamations cuz this is a team sport we don't do proclamations for individuals but it is important to note that coach Jan was awarded coach of the year right da Farmers co co local Coach of the Year obviously but also Florida 5A Coach of the Year by the Florida Dairy Farmers so let's give her a round of applause for that and then also very significantly the young lady who just spoke to you Kate Stewart come up here Kate Kate will never tell you this but Kate was also the 5A Dairy Farmer uh volleyball player of the year but on top of that was also awarded Miss volleyball in the State of Florida for all divisions by the Florida Dairy Farmers so uh I think it's very important that we give Kate her flowers for for that and remarkable achievement no one has ever done that north of Orlando I'm being told so so we we going to uh we're going to let people know that North Florida we got some volleyball players up here all right so uh thank you commissioner so much did anybody want to say anything are yall good awesome all right we're going to take a photo how you want to do it you want to go up there commissioner cumins did you play volleyball okay y was you on the basketball track I think you got to go right here don't play around don't play around right all right thank you Commissioners for indulging me that uh opportunity to brag on on some uh District 4 kids um okay uh I believe next on the agenda we've got a presentation uh on the Florida Civil Rights Museum from Mr delat Tre Hollinger and Miss Jacqueline Perkins good afternoon we very much appreciate the opportunity to give you this presentation on today at this time it's a pleasure for us to give you a few of our projects and activities that we've completed over the previous two years the Florida Civil Rights Museum is a nonprofit 501c3 that was established to create a space to celebrate preserve and share the legacies and stories of diverse individuals and their roles as educational and civil rights Pioneers in lean county in the state of Florida regardless of race Creed or color as requested by the Leon count by Leon County the fcrm has completed its goal of establishing a database showcasing more than 250 local Pioneers who impacted the progression and advancement of Leon County Citizens and its societal Norms through education research programs and connections to reference materials the fcrm provides a virtual space to explore share and hear the stories of extraordinary individuals whose body of work and accomplishments were historic impact ful and transformational in the areas of education and or civil rights in the state of Florida we want to point out that the Florida Civil Rights Museum is the only fully virtual Civil Rights Museum in the nation the Florida Civil Rights Museum via our virtual platform uniquely displays protects and preserves the rich history stories and Legacies of civil rights and educational Pioneers whose shape the history and Ford trajectory of Florida through continuous and expansive Partnerships and Statewide efforts aimed at telling a comprehensive Story the fcrm hopes to inspire a generation and offer hope and help through the establishment of programs and and initiatives designed to encourage civic participation and motivate all citizens in the summer of 20122 prior to receiving funding from Leon County the co-executive directors sent correspondents to several directors and administrator administrators of museums in Tallahassee they're listed here we wanted to inform them of our vision and Our intention to initiate the Florida Civil Rights Museum subsequently we schedule meetings to discuss opportunities for collaboration and or Partnerships and they're all listed on the um screen there the effort to secure funding to support the fcrm operations is one of the most critical activities we've had to undertake and sustain over the past P two years the co-executive directors worked tirelessly to advocate for funding during the 2022 and 2023 Florida legislative sessions it was an honor for our project to be designated as a legislative priority by the board of County Commissioners it was imperative that we took the lead role as advocates for the fcrm accordingly fcrm staff met with numerous senators and representatives including the Leon County legislative delegation who filed the appropriate budget requests on the Museum's behalf fcrm staff to worked consistent L to educate legislators who were members of the infrastructure and tourism appropriation subcommittee in the house as well as the tourism and economic development appropriation subcommittee in the Senate on the importance of the museum and its potential impact on Floridians the fcrm co-executive directors played a vital role in assisting in the design and development of a unique model that allows a multi-dimensional museum to be presented to the public via a virtual platform in June of 2023 we received a determination letter and formal recognition of the 501c3 nonprofit organization by the Internal Revenue Service retroactive to May 19th 2021 which is the Museum's official date of incorporation the Florida Civil Rights Museum Incorporated launched officially on September 14th 2023 at Goodwood Museum and Gardens the fcr has incorporated youth centered and youth-led components which will Elevate their participation and facilitate learning gains elementary middle and high school students will contribute to the Museum's efforts to highlight significant local and state civil rights and education Pioneers via their participation in the IM series The IM series is an initiative that affords students the opportunity to portray a great civil rights or education Pioneer students conduct research independently on F the Pioneer and subsequently prepare a script for a 3 to 4 minute oratorical presentation which will be filmed and included in the museum this initiative aims to cultivate a Cadre of historians and curators we are involved in a number of activities uh to facilitate operational program development and they're listed on the screen in the interest of time we're not going to read everything but what was most important that we identified 30 local and state civil rights and education Pioneers be featured in our initial virtual Museum Gallery fcrm hosted a launch event on September 4th with family and friends present to honor our Pioneers it is important to note that all of our Pioneers in our initial um gallery they're all deceased so we had their family and friends there highlights for 2023 reviewed assessed and refined various components of Museum website to make it userfriendly developed and disseminated marketing material for Museum and continue to strengthen Partnerships and enhan Outreach efforts to facilitate Community engagement we have some highlights for 2024 to assist the families the fcrm coordinated ceremonies to coincide with the renaming of streets for major James Morgan Jr and former Leon County Commissioner Anita Davis we prepared doc and perform duties and tasks required to accept the State Legislative appropriation planned and developed and coordinated the inaugural signature fundraising event the fcrm black thae fair and Wall of Distinction ceremony which was held on January 16th 20125 we acknowledged and presented 10 living legend honores one of whom is here today no actually three one community champion as well as 22 inductees into the wall of Distinction we secured a facility to house Museum offices and limited exhibit space initiated purchase of equipment needed for traveling Museum exhibits the fcrm planned and hosted the youth service and Leadership Forum on June 25th 2024 planned and hosted the journey to Justice distinguished lecture series on November 15 2024 a panel discussion led by Mrs altoes Barnes and Dr Andrea Oliver and the fcrm coordinated with Bond Elementary School's National Junior Beta Club students who made a major presentation during the fcrm black Thai fair and Wall of Distinction ceremony we're just about done we wanted to provide to you some of the salent outcomes uh We've developed a more effective method to enhance community and youth engagement in the big Benin and throughout the State of Florida we will be leaving Leon County and we have to continue to do what we need to do uh in the State of Florida uh we participated in a number of Bicentennial activities including Leon County and the village squares created equal form we partnered with the Tallahasse Democrat and produced a list of the most the 200 most influential African-American Leon count of the last 200 years we were invited to present at the Florida historical society's 200 2024 conference we partnered with WCTV to film a Weekly News segment entitled tally back then which highlighted several local civil rights Pioneers we researched and presented significant findings on the life of Legacy of e Lilian Spencer a FAMU alumni Tennis champion and the third principal of bond school we initiated a private fundraising effort to place a monument on Spencer's previously unmarked grade Del LA's research showed that this woman who had made all these significant accomplishments was in an unmarked grade uh we launched the Florida civil rights and education her Heritage Trail with the first installment taking place in Leon County someone might ask did we get a return on our investment the answer is absolutely yes I'm happy to announce that fcrm provided services to all residents at a per capita cost of 20 cents 20 cents in 20 2023 and our per capita cost was 19.8 cents in 2024 cost benefit analyses and digital and print analytics will be provided in our final report the fcrm would like to extend our gratitude to the Leon County Board of County Commissioners for your assistance and support and certainly we're available to answer any questions you may have commissioner o'keef thank you Mr chair thank you both um I like to take every opportunity that you get in front of us to get to say thank you uh what you've done is done something that's never been done before you did it on time and early you did it with within the budget that you were given um and you just knocked it out of the park um and I was glad to see that part of your uh initiatives will be to initiate Capital campaign u in addition to County support if you don't know them getting their 501c3 designation means anyone hearing my voice can contribute in a tax deductible donation to their good cause thank you both so much for your work thank you we appreciate finally I want to say that we everywhere we went we made sure that the audience knew that we received our initial funding from the board of County Commissioners and again we thank you we appreciate you commissioner Miner thank you Mr chairman Mr Hollinger Miss Perkins I just wanted to Echo what commissioner o'keef has just said it's it's really incredible what you have been able to do in the short time that you uh that you've had I remember when you first came here and you had the the kernel of a vision uh and yet you've taken that vision and made it something virtually concrete right it's really incredible what you've done and just I want to thank you for the work that you're doing I I'm looking forward to the work that you're continuing to do not just here in leyon County but throughout the state thanks thank you thank you Mr chairman yeah yeah uh commissioner Cummings go ahead uh thank you Mr chair um uh Mr Hollander and Miss ferkins I just want to I guess Echo everybody's sentiment uh for the great job you all have done and of course uh the fact that you all instituted the first virtual Museum in the country I think it's it's just amazing but I like the fact that you all are honoring individuals who were part of the struggle who contributed uh to the struggle regardless of race color creed so I commend you for that thank you for your good work and certainly um we supported you all initially and if you hear the sentiment of this board we will continue our support thank you congratulations thank you thank you commissioner Cummings commissioner Proctor thank you Mr chairman uh M Perkins uh um this holler uh I'm not surprised uh the two of you all uh they like Batman and Robin Shaggy and Scooby-Doo y'all can solve anything and find ghosts and and the ghost from the past U you all are great phenomenal what I would suggest is um I would be willing and I would even ask our board to consider uh writing to the U Smith sonian uh the African-American uh museum National Museum uh given that yours is a virtual uh Museum that your Museum is incorporated uh within the national uh structure of national African-American Museum uh you probably have given a window of thought to how that museum can be presented but they not they're not Perkins and Hollinger so you know the two of you all amazing but I would um be open and would like to um ask our board Mr chairman uh if this board would do a letter of introduction of this Museum uh and seeking through the executive director its board the incorporation of uh the Florida Civil Rights Museum in its totality uh because it's so ready available uh to be uh received now I don't know the standards with which they use for induction and recognition but if they would trust uh our state's 10th Amendment right in that our state can filter uh those persons I would like to offer that as a motion Mr chairman that we uh introduce this to the National Museum and ask it's in cooporation all we can we do take a motion in that in this posture Madam County attorney um this is actually something that would probably come under commissioner discussion time if if the board decides to do it now versus later remember it would require a unanimous vote um I think we probably have a unanimous vote so uh we've got a motion by commissioner Proctor there second I was second a motion Mr chair second commissioner Cummings all those in favor signify by saying I I passes unanimously that's a staff a letter uh from the from the board of County Commissioners all right thank you very much thank You' all so much um Commissioners as of right now our our deliberators are not working our little Q machine so if you raise your card to let me know if you want to speak I'll I'll do my best to see or just scream at me I don't mind um okay Mr County Administrator do we have citizens to be heard on consent and non-agenda items thank you Mr chairman Commissioners we have several speakers to be heard on consent and non-agenda items the first stepen marttin uh virtual speaker can you hear me yes sir okay I'm speaking on consign item 11 about the mikasuki greenway on wani Plantation when I think of development of wani and Greenway another word with the same first seven letters as Greenway comes to mind greenwash the greenway deed was established in 2002 and from the beginning roadway easements were planned to be cut through the greenway yet many were unaware of this till recently one group well aware of it back then was friend of the greenway whom I thought would have sounded alarms and raised red flags from the start but they didn't why not some of those friends were friends with the owners of the plantation Andor those owners friends including former County and City commissioners some were also members of the wani community Advisory Group that I was constantly reminded of when I spoke out against proposed development on wani now known as canopy I was repeatedly told about this group's Pro approval proposed development and how unreasonable my opposition was a 2003 Tallahassee magazine article titled developing trust the area's most outspoken activist this Advisory Group I was talking about helped with a plan everyone is optimistic about for the future of wani Plantation the greenway and this Advisory Group were used as tools to greenwash the public into believing the owners of the plantation were environmentally trustworthy this was well before environmental and controversial development of wani Plantation was made public at this time wani was unincorporated and under the County's jurisdiction the city then went behind the County's back to initiate annexation the County's initial response was to challenge the city in late 2005 exchange between the county and the City December 12th County Commissioners requested an explanation as to why the city adopted an ordinance approving annexation of wani Plantation despite the County's objection the County Commission met the next day on the 16th the County Commissioners authorized the County Attorney to pursue any and all necessary litigation to obey to reverse the city's failure to comply with the comp plan concerning annexation but soon after in 2006 the county reversed its position thanks to two County Commissioners convincing the rest of the commission to back down those two Commissioners were friends with the owners of wani and or developers and both receiv received bundled donations in 2005 and 06 from the developers of canopy here we are 20 years later in hindsight it's too bad the county didn't stand firm and respond differently to what's been happening on wani Plantation I'm surprised Friends of the mikasuki greenway didn't show more concern until it was too late where were those friends when it m in conclusion development of wani is Friends helping friends The mikasuki Greenway promoted environmental trust but it was not was not until long after the greenway was established that most of the public became aware of the full story yet a full few were well aware of it including Friends of the greenway who were as well Friends of the plantation owners Mr Martin your time is up they I'm just almost they and this group serve their personal friends better than the greenway or the land on walani Plantation thank you thank you Mr Mr Martin next speaker Mr County Administrator next speaker also a virtual speaker Carolyn Burns Miss Burns okay we'll see if we can make the connection next speaker next speaker Sarah feedler Sarah feedler to be followed by Laura uh mcne Sarah F or Laura mcneff Laura Sarah I'm sorry Sarah or Laura please come on up M mcth please come on up good afternoon my name is Laura mcneff and I'm here to speak in support of a resolution that I believe commissioner Miner will be bringing up later um on handsfree legislation this session in 2014 my son Anthony was on his way from his part-time job to his college classes when he was struck and killed by a distracted driver he was just 19 years old Anthony was an amazing kid with big heart and a bright future and that future was cut short by one person's decision to pay more attention to their phone than the road when I was notified my world crumbled there's nothing I would get wouldn't give to see his face again we started Ed a foundation in his name and have since pushed for raising awareness for distracted driving and stronger laws in 2019 the texting ban was passed but it's not enough hundreds of families in Florida are unnecessarily losing loved ones each year and traffic fatalities as a result of distracted drivers it's our mission to educate the lawmakers this session about the critical need for life-saving legislation while 46 other states states have already enacted such laws Florida is lagging behind and the cost is being measured in lives and families destroyed the states that implemented hands-free laws have seen immediate decline in fatalities we're on a Statewide tour visiting all 67 County Commissioner boards to ask for support to urge state law to adopt a resolution and urge State lawmakers to pass a handsfree law the session the response has been very overwhelming with counties such as Union adopting the resolution on the spot we're hoping today that Leon will do the same sorry legislation's going to be in sessions soon and sometimes there's a gap between what they think priorities are and what our priorities are we need you to be our bridge to cover that Gap to have our voices heard I want to leave today knowing that I have done everything possible so that you don't have to experience what I had I want to know that I've done everything possible that so my 16-year-old son that's on the road right now will come home safe to me so I'm asking you to be that bridge for us I don't normally do the speeches but our speaker is actually down in Orlando at another meeting like this asking for support so I truly hope you will adopt this resolution thank you thank you Mrs mcnf for your strength and for being here we're tremendously sorry for your loss and commissioner Miner we'll be looking forward to hear from you later on that Mr administrator next speaker Reggie Grant Mr Grant I think I'm supposed to be asking for names and addresses for the record is that correct or we yeah sorry do I name and address yeah okay uh Reginald Grant uh 582 Asanti way uh 32311 thank you okay uh good afternoon um I am here to support uh Demetrius brona and Laura mcnf um I am a professor at Tallahassee State College um and Demetrius previously had presented you with a resolution in support of hands-free legislation I'm here to provide you with a different perspective on the issue of distracted driving my students and I partnered with Anthony Phoenix brona foundation for several years at TSC to promote safe driving as you may know Anthony was a student at my college and was actually on his way to a class when he was killed by a distracted driver several years ago a student Carrie described a distracted driving incident uh he had experienced as a car passed him on the highway he saw the driver was on his phone it was raining and roads were wet soon afterwards the car veered off the roadway slammed into a tree and caught fire the driver was trapped in the burning car carrye stopped to help and it is an experience he will never forget he was a military veteran he completed tours in Iraq and Afghanistan where he was fired upon daily by snipers RPGs and mortars yet Kerrie said he never experienced PTSD until after that wreck now he experiences PTSD whenever he drives in the rain as horrific as that wreck was it could have been so much worse there are so many examples of distracted drivers who who kill others nearby like Anthony research shows that distracted driving can be just as dangerous as drunk driving driving is the most dangerous thing most of us will ever do on a daily basis some of us give it the attention it deserves others need incentive to do the right thing for example that's why we have drunk driving laws I would ask this commission to consider passing this resolution because whatever is on our phones should never be the priority when any of us are behind the wheel thank you thank you Mr Grant Mr administrator next speaker Roberto Reno to be followed by our final speaker on non-agenda items Stanley Sims Miss Renault Roberta Rena okay Stanley Sims Stanley Sims 1320 Avendale way known American citizen we have to say that these days my issue of concern is beyond you Commissioners but I think it would be remiss if I not mention I've got Neighbors who are running because they don't have a shelter over their head not a physical shelter but not a land that they can call their own I've never been in that situation but just imagine being a father with children in schools where the police can just pick you up well not imagine pick up your paper look at the News 12 people just got arrested in Quincy illegal non-threatening non-criminal individuals and commissioner Proctor they pick tomatoes cucumbers and lettuce I like all of that but I ain't picking it I said I like all of that but I ain't picking it my heart is heavy my burdens tears fall from my eyes not for the pain that I am because I read somewhere that I am My Brother's Keeper and even though I'm trying to keep Brethren that has American card or we ain't even got nowhere to stay that's why we all dressed up here in green h why are we looking to find out what's so different about us I I I like your hat and I'm quite sure it's just more about you that I like that if I stop focusing on what keeps us different I'm working real hard today all this year to prove to people that I'm worthy worthy to be respected worthy to be treated like a human being in all times what you see ain't always what you get pray for me and my polar dog I love Prince y'all know I am about a dog if I can have that kind of compassion on an animal we should have it for each other thank you thank you Mr St um Mr administrator any we don't no more speakers that concludes our speakers Mr all right I think we're on consent agenda Commissioners we have one item that's been pulled uh we'll I'd like to set that one aside item 20 and take up the rest of consent uh can we get a motion from commissioner Miner Mr chairman motion second by commissioner O'Keefe on the consent agenda all those in favor signify by saying I I I I'll oppose no show that passes and now we are on item 20 which has been pulled Mr County Administrator thank you Mr chairman item number 20 is the feasibility of a storm shelter in Woodville this was told by commissioner caban defer to commissioner caban we're happy to answer any questions you might have commissioner caban Vice chair thank you Mr chair I'm going to go ahead and and pass a quick uh two-page document um before we get into discussion on this item take mind take two pages one should be two pages oh two page Mr pner you have your copy yes sir commissioner so I asked I guess I need a motion right Mr chair I need a motion um I think you're okay just carent you discussing if you want okay thank chair is out of order no okay okay I'll make a motion to um I'm going to ask the board for a continuation on this item um I want to move for a continuation to have this item come back in three months second okay uh we got a motion a second uh Mr administrator did you want to comment on this or no uh any discussion okay okay okay you want to discuss yeah I just want to say so long story short where I'm at with this U I want to thank staff and I know they worked really hard and and putting to this putting this together very very quickly um you know if you look at the map and the agenda item that was brought forth there is in the southern part of Leon County there is no storm shelter um our office reached out to Florida um Department of Emergency Management and asked them just to kind of weigh in and I think that there's some light um I I think that it would be beneficial for County staff our office to kind of sit with the state and discuss through this so hopefully that we can come to a um a solution that makes all of us comfortable to move forward and with the end goal of identifying a location in Woodville for storm shelter okay that's all I got Mr chair yes sir all right um so we've got a motion in a second for a continuation of three months on this item um and no discussion uh all those in favor signify by saying I I I I'll oppose no passes unanimously thank so much thank you Mr County Administrator I think we're that's done with consent we're on to General business but we're going to go to number 22 is that correct that's correct Mr chairman thank you Mr chairman item number 22 commissioner seeks uh the board's approval to award a contract for the Solid Waste Management Facility class one and class three South landfill closure to tnk construction uh you received a brief presentation on this yesterday to retreat Commissioners your item has a a lot of information on it with it it reflects the fact that this has been budgeted over a a long number of years since we opened the landfill consistent with the requirements to do so and with that we have no speakers on this item we're recommending options one and two and happy to answer any questions you might have move staff recommendation Mr chair all right we've got a motion for staff recommendation second by commissioner Cummings any discussion commissioner Proctor what are the future plans for this Landfield Mr County Administrator thank you Mr chairman uh Commissioners as you know the board approved a master plan back last year uh on this uh item in fact a couple years ago now on this we've uh closed the landfill to uh household uh garbage for many years since 2015 in the meantime of course we've been working on the master plan to include um uh the transformation of that site to a to a regional uh Park of course many people are very well familiar with the cross country trail and a lot of other amenities out there later this year phase two of that master plan will be coming before uh the board of County Commissioners to receive your authorization to move forward with that uh in the engagement of a consultant to finish out the buildout of the entire 600 acres very good I was so impressed yesterday that previously I I believe a part of our Landfield is being used for international Track event cross country and um that was certainly a stellar innovation of U of of landfill and I was pondering what other great possibilities might U um evolve from disclosure thank you very much thank you commissioner Proctor any other discussion all right we've got a motion by commissioner Maddox second by commissioner Cummings um all those in favor signify by saying I I all opposed passes unanimously uh next item Mr County Administrator thank you Mr chairman Commissioners item number 23 um see as you may recall during the board's legislative Workshop in October the board provided direction to issue an RFP to secure additional lobbying services for the 2025 legislative session uh to assist securing in the securing of State uh Appropriations for County projects this item seeks the board's approval to award uh the contract to the highest ranked respondent to the RFP uh for those Services adequate funds um are available for these additional services say the term of the contract would be for the remainder of the year uh we're recommending option one also happy to uh respond to any questions or or or follow any additional direction that the board may have we do have uh no speaker cards on this item thank you Mr County Administrator Commissioners this is one we had discussed at our workshop for me and County attorney Madam County attorney please correct me if I'm wrong but is it within our purview to just reject all of these RFP all of these bids outright and just pick who we want because um three of the five were rejected correct or technically not accepted non-responsive uh yes it's true that five of the three of five three yeah three of the five firms that responded were deemed non-responsive two didn't meet the mwb mwbe requirements one failed to file a mandatory form uh so they were deemed non-responsive it is within the board's purview to reject all that correct thank you madam County attorney Commissioners my my suggestion would be to based on the conversation that we had before and the sort of intent of this trial balloon of sending a team across the street to go after appropriation specifically you would want a big firm in my opinion and the biggest firm that responded was Southern Group so my suggestion would be to reject all of the rfps all of the bids and just pick Southern Group now we can chew on that as a board All We Want U Mr chair do we need a motion to discuss um yeah we will take we'll need a motion to to discuss so uh commissioner Keef you're recognized sure uh I make a motion to accept staff recommendation to execute uh agreement with Ron book based on the bids all right we have a motion is there a second I'll second that for discussion okay we have a second for discussion all right we are in discussion commissioner o'keef go ahead thank you Mr chair um on this one we talked about it before I opposed it um because it didn't make sense to me that um we in a hurry hire a second lobbying firm to Lobby the same body um and and my understanding of discussion the intention is because we have a uh different party uh in charge of the state legislator Administration that a different firm would change the nature of what they thought of a democratic County or a largely voters there's no Democratic Republican County largely the voters vote Democratic here um so we have a process we went outside of that process uh to have a bid done for a second duplicate firm the staff followed the process that we asked them to follow and they picked uh the best firm that was responsive and bidding and I hesitate to to reject firms that and then in order that can follow written bidding rules uh and that are going to Lobby us at what is I imagine a very technical and rules-based process for appropriation uh couldn't even properly submit instead of firms that could properly submit and were ranked and were the highest if we're going to ask staff what to do to do a process for us to get us a second duplicate uh lobbying firm we might as well follow with the guidance uh in the directions and the results they came from thank you yes sir uh commissioner command thank you Mr chair um I am going to make a substitute motion uh to throw out all recommendations and hire the selling group okay we've got a substitute motion is there a second I'll second that Mr chairman second commissioner Proctor we're in discussion on the substitute motion thank you Mr chair um I want to thank staff primarily for putting together the rfu process and and vetting all the applicants um I do have a little frustration um with the process with some inconsistencies in the procurement process um I I know we can never do things perfect and I know the the intent of our staff is always to do things right and represent us well my frustration is that section 4.9 of the RFP um reserves the right for the county to Rave any minor irregular irregularities in the application process so long that it benefits the spirit of a competitive bid process um and from my understanding some some vendors that applied their application were bounced and deemed non-responsive um for mwsb requirements yet the firm that is Staff recommendation doesn't have an mwbe vendor from my understanding all they did is is send an they sent an email and um was deemed a that was deemed a good faith effort um I think that you know other firms there are plenty of mwsb firms this State of Florida and I think an email my opinion shouldn't really deem a good faith effort when there's plenty of mwsb firms in the State of Florida um but really there's two reasons um why I believe the southern group is primarily the best other than the track record of been able to deliver wins um for Democratic counties such as pelis County um if you look at their endorsements and their reference list on their application which wasn't in the agenda material that's I requested it for it to be sent that was me who requested to be sent to the board three of our four local delegation members have other references and and on their application process Senator Cory Simon representative representative Allison tant representative Jason cha uh three of our four local delegation members who are elected to represent our region um lastly on their endorsement list is the governor's chief of staff and so I know when we talked about in our workshop last fall we talked about where our issue is as far as getting past to Governor veto that seems to be a big problem and so when we're looking to hire firms I think we should look at hiring firms that are going to complement the process and so I think if we have an issue with getting past a governor veto I think it makes sense that we we hire a firm that can complement that process um and ultimately our local delegation they're the ones that are going to B bat with us you know at the state in um in in session meetings and so I think it's really important that you know we are we are picking a firm that we have some um synchron in and so that we can like work together to deliver wins for our constituents and last is listen the southern group is local you know they're around they're around the corner from us it's not a South Florida firm that doesn't really have you know ties to Leon County I want um you know I know we've talked about this the past with other vendors too I think it's important that we hire folks that they live in our community they drive on the same roads that we're trying to get Appropriations on you know they're dealing with the same hurricanes when we're looking to get Appropriations on storm shelters um you know if we're looking to get Appropriations for um security with law enforcement you know they're dealing with the same crime issues that we have they're invested in our community and most importantly they pay taxes in our community um so that's why um I made that motion Mr chair thank you thank you commissioner command uh any other discussion question commissioner Miner thank you Mr chairman um I have a lot of respect and regard for Southern Group um I have a lot of respect in regard for Ron book uh they're they're those two lobbying firms are among the very best we have in the state they really are um I have no problem working with either one um the the issue that I have though is that we have an established process that this body decided to follow and then once we finished that process process not everybody liked the selection so we're now tossing the process out and going with the selection and when you look at that from the public looking at us and watching our actions it looks like it looks suspicious now I'm not saying anything is suspicious uh I think I think that they're people here at the Das that just they they want to have an effective lobbyist that's going to work uh for the people of Leon County I I believe that but from the public looking at us and our actions it looks like there's something funny going on um so what I would recommend is is we either accept the staff recommendation uh to accept you know to to approve the selection of of the firm they selected have them work for this legislative session it's only four months uh after session we then get a legislative wrap up and then at that point the County Commission to decide whether or not we want to go to an RFP for next year then we can open up everything uh we've got a good budget amount for our lobbying Services it's going to attract lobbying firms all throughout the state we're going to be one of the greatest clients that that I think lobbying firms want to get let's open it up after this session and see who applies uh if it's Southern Group if it's Rong book if it's our current lobbyists let's see how that process goes and and what our staff recommends but I again I'm happy working with whatever lobbying firm uh is going to help us the most but when we when we circumvent the process after the process has been concluded and and and go around that and pick someone else without going through the evaluation that our staff have it just it doesn't look right right so uh I'm going to vote against the motion on the floor um I would support a motion to either accept this uh lobbying selection for this session with the expectation that we would basically open it up this fall or and I think it's July when we would basically put out the RFP uh or I would also support a motion to reject the process overall stick with what we got for this session which is starting very soon they're in special session now um and then open it up in the fall thank you Mr chairman thank you commissioner Miner commissioner Proctor thank you Mr chairman uh commissioner Miner I I I couldn't it was a word that I it was something I was looking for to explain uh why I seconded uh commissioner command's U motion and you hit it uh you hit the right word for me you said the word process the process and um on this particular date in history there is no process in America there's nothing normative about process C uh governmentally um article one of our Constitution which is a subject matter I've talked over the years uh at FAMU is suspended and the expenditure of federal dollars is something supposed to be controlled by Congress but there's a new process and that these expenditures and control of dollars flow is occurring out of uh Article 2 out of the executive branch and there's no process so what we need is um and I'm not sure commissioner comman that you know that uh they didn't have a minority uh in today's climate across the street uh a minority will not help Leon County uh that's not even an asset Block in the reality of Republican thought um what we need is connections and uh it's clear more so than anything we don't need a process we need the right people who know and connected the right people uh um County Administrator is um the recommendation that you all made is that uh what is a political um orientation of Ron book Mr count administrator I would defer to Mr book I I don't have that information Mr book could you tell us your political uh registration sir um Mr chair through uh through you yes sir go ahead uh I have been in NPA for 28 years because it serves my clients's best to be an NPA if you want to talk about a lobbying firm that is well accessed in the process I would suggest you do nothing further than to cite to the members of your delegation that commissioner caban is referenced are endorsing uh the Southern Group uh application to the county because I think you'll find that our reputation with Senator Simon uh representative tant uh would uh would go a long way to give you comfort level I think if you pick up the phone and you call James upme which was also cited as the governor's chief of staff I think you'll find that our reputation on the Plaza level at the capital is extraordinary uh much like others at the Southern Group I pay real estate taxes in this community as well I own a unit at 300 South Duvall Street I've owned a unit at 300 South Duval Street for over a decade I was one of the first eight individuals that closed on it when it went into foreclosure I stood there and stayed there we to have a full-time office in Tallahassee and we pay taxes here as well and we're in the process of building out a building uh for new additional offices in Leon County I think when you talk about the budget and successes in the Republican environment both in the house and the Senate and the plaza level our reputation speak for themselves we probably do more budget work than any five firms in this community and we're considered rooted in this community and I've lived in this community and I may not live here full-time today I may have two residences but I'm a part of this community I'm a part of the fabric of this community and you've known me in this community commissioner Proctor for very long time I'm rooted here but I became an NPA 27 years ago because it was what was best for my clients and effective in my advocacy and on the issue of minority participation I can assure you we reached out we reached out to a longtime partner of our firms we started mentoring with minority firms when it wasn't fashionable 40 years ago and Sean Pitman is a partner of ours in a number of other bids he wasn't available we reached out to several others here's what I know we complied with every provision in your process we abided by every condition of your bid application process and we're here in front of you because we want to represent Leon County at the legislature and with all due respect to everybody in the room it is late but we can hit the ground running we are familiar with the people that you have representing the community and I can assure assure you we will be aggressive and we will be effective in representing your interests across the street and more importantly your constituents the taxpayers the people that give us the opportunity Mr chairman thank you for your thank you Mr book Mr chairman my question was what was Mr book's uh party affiliation I didn't ask all of that that was a long answer that was very long was an all long answer to my NPA yeah how many in since you're here Mr book and he's taking over my question yeah how many um how many senators of Florida do we have NPA and how many house members are NPA uh Mr book you know that Mr book you know that off top your head please just one answer there there are no NPA but they like Independents thank you Mr B pro again uh Commissioners Mr book is is not a party affiliate nobody's party uh it works for his clients we need a republican uh base oriented firm uh Mr book is Shar there's no one registered in the party that he's registered and in times like these uh this is connection contact sport uh with all due respect to the process uh that has been mentioned uh by commissioner uh Miner uh there is no process we um note tonight uh as I awaken today to learn that all federal grants have been frozen and there was several agencies speaking to process which uh I called this morning and um Mr book I'm not talking to you if you want to comfort Yourself by resting and sitting down um I spoke with several agencies this morning and um what was shared with me is that I learned through one that Tallahassee housing authorities money are frozen that their account with hug is no longer operative and you're talking about uh process and it was supposed to take effect at 5:00 p.m. but prior to 5:00 p.m there's a shutdown people can't access uh their accounts with the United States government so with all due respect to process what I recognize is there is no process and if you ain't a republican these people don't respect Dei they don't care about Dei they have eliminated Dei so checking that block carries no weight uh what we need to do is to get the firm which has the most um um um gold standard of gold standard uh of reputations and in my opinion to be um represented with a diverse team and I think that the Southern Group gives us that uh that standard and its names uh are as excellent in their work and effective as Mr Mr book is and no no doubt his his reputation is well established we receive in fact Mr book yours is the only uh yours is the only um firm uh whose records from 2020 20 212 3 uh that that I've received from and one of the questions which I don't guess we will get to that uh was u a lot of the the the monies that your firm has acquired I was just pondering how many of those were like our County Democratic based counties recognize across the street and it's easy to get some money for Red County but um a lot of this is a pro- Formula stuff uh that uh on a Prat basis Per County size these formulas that the legislature have to distribute um and disperse money is often formula driven and if you submit a form for it you get some but in terms of the um the game changing stellar um um things outside of uh of U the standard appropriation stuff year after year after year everybody gets the say da da uh I didn't see anything that was necessarily uh that a blue County receive uh that was outstanding to the things that I have an interest in thank you very much uh Mr chairman thank you Mr commissioner Proctor uh Madam County attorney want to weigh in yes just a point of information as a reminder to the commission according to state law section 28705 701 and for Local Government Contracting an awarding body may not request documentation of or conser consider a vendor's social political or ideological interest when determining if the vendor is a responsible vendor and may not give preference to a vendor on any of those bases thank you madam attorney um commissioner Cummings go ahead thank you uh thank you Mr chair um I am concerned about the Integrity of the process the fact that we authorize staff and the County Administrator to uh solicit an RFP and we receive re uh responsive uh proposals but I want to ask the County Attorney uh in the statute we weren't really or were we really required to do an RFP uh is it lobbying Services exempt as far as an RSP is it we could have G so Source this wasn't governed by state law this was this was governed by board direction under the board's purchasing policy based on the dollar amount it would not have required a competitive solicitation but for the board's Direction okay thank you uh thank you madam chair I mean M Madam attorney so since the board um Direction was to go out on an RFP we followed our sta followed the that direction so even though I I am very concerned about the Integrity of of the process at this point I would support my chair and co-chair and the motion that's on the floor but I'd like to hear from other Commissioners as well thank you commissioner chair commissioner Maddox I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to speak on this item because I think it years I've been here it sets a very dangerous president presidence for for us as a commission commissions to come and someon a lot of questioning that happened today make that President even more dangerous Madame attorney I appreciate your comments as far as things we can consider when it comes to how we pick our vendors if we wanted to pick we should have picked before we did RFP now we're in a position where we've done an RFP staff has done their due diligence they followed all the rules those who are were uh petitioning for the RFP has B brought forward their proposals and now we have results from it and I don't think it was by any U I don't think it was on purpose but I think we placed ourselves in the place of of protest or challenge just based off of some of the questions and some of the conversation that we had today there can be very well assumed that we may not go with the applicant who whose RFP was deemed by staff to be most responsive because that applicant is not a part of the party that's in power in the State of Florida um Madam attorney I I don't want you to put you on the spot but I have to ask a question um based off of what you heard today could we be challenged the challenge to this sort of an award is Administrative in nature it would be a bid protest the only entity under the bid protest process that would have standing would be the other responsible vendor which was not Southern Group um could someone assert and file something in circuit court on the basis that based on some of the comments today there's been a violation of state law certainly um that could happen um but I don't know whether that would or what remedy a court would fashion in that case thank you m Madam attorney I'm in a tough spot because I know Ron book does a great job for his clients and he's done so for the city of Tallahassee in Leon County I believe he's been our our lobbyist at time or two as well as the others that work for him I also know that the Southern gunster and others who applied does a great job for their clients and the only thing that would have put them on equal ground to me is RFP process which is what we did um and we have a recommendation from staff it's hard for me because I try my best to be as pragmatic and practical about what we're doing but also staying within um the processes that we have to go through as a county to now say to the process that that process doesn't matter anymore because we didn't get or the the the the the firm who who who we feel like was the most qualified to do the work did not uh respond in a way that will allow allow them to be evaluated and though I I I agree with the sentiments of my my of my fellow Commissioners up here on both sides when I was sitting down and I was thinking about this yesterday you know I was almost at a point I'm like well we're going to put it out well if it's my opinion I think we put we possibly put it out in Spring cuz we hadn't done it in a long time uh and we just see what happens there we don't we don't select anybody today but if I was going to select a firm based off of what I what's in front of me I think I put the county In Harm's Way by going with anyone except for what staff has recommended because of the process um and so I'm struggling I am struggling right now because as much as I agree with both sides how do you how do you un time hands with this I mean we've had conversation about political party up here you know we've had conversation about specific group that that that that's more qualified we had conversation I believe about the fact that maybe even because that there that the the group that that we may want to go with as a local vendor or the folks live here that we will go with them because of because of that as well all of which again being true puts me in a place where it's just like if even if I even if I felt really strongly about it and I thought Ron book wouldn't have done a good job for us it would be hard for me right now so I my gut tells me to throw it all out but if I had to if I had to to to vote in favor of anything it would be staff recommendation because I do believe that a good job Mr Booker do a good job but I also know that everything that this group is saying about the southern is correct as well but do I do do I pit one against the other or do I allow the process itself that we I asked them to go through through RFP make that decision for us I think the reason I wanted to go to RFP is for the process to do it for us because I didn't want to have to be in this position that we're in right now where I'm picking a winner based off of whatever personal biases I may have or thoughts I may have about how the process was going to go or who's going to do a better job so um that's my opinion on it I just I think we need to be very careful and think about what we're doing here because this is this is a spot that I don't think future commissions would want to be in and it set a president to put future Commissions in the way that they can do that and commissioner Pride the last thing I'll say Mr chair a lot of what you said I mean I don't think anybody in here will probably disagree with I mean it's it's it's not anything wrong it's just with the process because we went through that process it now it now it it it takes every argument that you have and makes us makes it almost I wouldn't call it illegal but wrong or unethical in some ways to go with it because it's our process says you can't pick based off of those things so Mr chair uh those are my comments and you know I'm I'm it it kind of is is it's frustrating for me that we're in this position position and um almost in a way too it makes me kind of sad that we're in this position cuz I do I like the idea when we when when we came up with it but now it's it's been made messy it's been made messy in a way because the process was rushed I would say it was rushed and I and and I will say to those firms who were unresponsive I don't think they had enough time to really get through the process to be as responsive so even that part seemed a bit unfair but we did have people who went through the process and were responsive and one thing Mr book said was he had a hard time finding minorities I want minorities I said it I said it here I said here and said it $10,000 I wanted minorities get but then they couldn't they had to go to 4,400 well that's a lot of money for 4 4,400 is a good bit of money and it's it's based off a disparity study that we have but no but the firms that that that would have done it were tied up so it's just it's a lot to consider and and I think we have to think long and hard before we made this decision before we make this decision and probably have more conversation than we want to have right now thank you Mr chair Mr CH thank you hold on commissioner Proctor I want to chime in and we need to land This Plane I appreciate everybody's concern with process I think the point here is the process was flawed this was a short turnaround and three of the five respondents were disqualified on what is largely a technicality while the firm that was that the RFP declared the winner could not even provide the mwsb requirement in the RFP they just technically sent an email that said they couldn't do that and so my frustration is we had this conversation back in the fall you know two or 3 months ago the point here we're not even trying to usurp our current lobbying firm we are trying to hire a firm for a trial balloon to go across the street in the next month and see if they can bring home some bacon through that I have no question that Mr book is highly successful I don't care if he's a Republican or Democrat or a unicorn I'm sure and I know he's highly successful but my opinion as I stated at the earlier discussion at the workshop was that you're trying to hire somebody to go over there and kill a rhinoceros so you need a big gun Southern Group is the largest lobbying firm in the State of Florida they are right across the street they may not be successful they may fail and I think to refer to the process is why I said that I felt like the process was flawed it is well within our rights to throw out that process and just eliminate those biders and pick who we want it's not a commitment for we're going to be considering this whole new contract in 2026 entirely so that is why I tried to frame the discussion around that I don't care about Republican Democrat it's about who can be most effective in a short time frame in which we are trying to hire somebody to go and do something that they may not be able to do so that's why I suggested we throw out the bids and we just pick who we want and then let it ride and if it don't work it don't work if it works it work you've got proof of concept and you move on I don't think there's anything nefarious about that I think if you look at the process the process was flawed people were disqualified on technicalities because they couldn't turn things in or they didn't respond in a short time frame over Christmas when the actual staff recommended response was just to respond that they couldn't do what the RFP asked for so that is where I'm at on it I will support the substitute motion I I do want us to get moving though it's 4:30 so we've is there anyone else that would like to discuss want close it out for us chairman yes sir um you know the process that's bothering to me is that as a commissioner we only get Mr book's uh background credential his firm if we're going to have transparency this board deserve to have seen uh equal information equal resumés equal this and that and that that's not here before me so if there's a I can understand why commissioner madok said he's inclined he's inclined to go with Mr book hell he ain't seen nobody else he ought to that's the only inclination we've been given in the absence of that uh when you out here making we've been blindfolded and we have been blindfolded by our staff cuz typically we get more data from all of the applicants who respond that is not in terms of a process in my opinion my years of experience I've seen better and this has been not the best uh presentation the most uh exhaustive review uh and when it comes to uh our legislative uh roles we have discretion this is not widget these are not uh screwdrivers these are not commod this is not for items and this is for professional service and if we have more discretion in anything Architects Engineers uh public relations firm we have far more discretion in the area of Professional Services than than anything uh any particular area and I think that we're in good uh uh keeping here uh and as the chairman said I mean all of these are highly competent people who know how to negotiate the language of the legislature and that three of them have done something that didn't meet our technicalities then something wrong with what we're doing that many people 60% of the people did not respond uh correctly but I feel comfortable that uh uh we have the power to throw out or to redo the bid process and I feel comfortable that we have the authority for Professional Services area to utilize our discretion for the interest that we deem to be most appropriate for Leon County so with respect to the statute that uh commissioner ostein has read uh those are wonderful words except you don't get nominated to be a judge uh on the basis of those um those um wonderful words uh the judge is the governor is always Mak an appointment on political lines Public Service Commission judicial appointments uh uh Congressman Lawson's District uh was certainly modified based on so I don't even want to hear all that right there so I reserve in my discretion as a policy maker as a legislator to legislate along the basis of my bias or my objectivity or whatever comes in the middle um and I think that we're doing the right thing there's nothing about bad about Mr book he's just not affiliated with a party that works across the street in terms of that affil his affiliation and which is okay with him that might what we all need to do in a few more days but today we're making a decision on what we can best perceived uh that work I wish we could hire all of these lobbies we need every last one of them for a Time such as this thank you very much Mr chair all right we've got a motion by commissioner command commissioner madx you want to follow up just just on briefly there's only two registered Loban firms minority Loban firms one of which is uh gunster um who applied and the other uh is Mr Pitman who is already on contract with us through uh Mr sharkish group so um you can't you can't go too many other places because those are only two that are registered um thank you m I think mwsb also incorporates women owned firms as well not just minority whiches with the southern group had just um that's just point of clarification all right we've got a uh can we can we yes Mr chairman could you restate the motion please yeah the motion is to throw out the bids that we've received and to select the southern group that is the substitute motion we have a motion by commissioner caban a second by commissioner Proctor all those in favor signify by saying I I all those opposed okay so commissioner Cummings were you and I I okay so it passes four to three all right um we are now on item 24 Mr County Administrator thank you Mr chairman item number 24 Commissioners uh seeks uh the board's a full board cons consideration of appointment of four eligible applicants to the affordable housing advisory committee the terms of four members are set to expire on January 31st of this year and uh the only uh only Mr Lawrence uh Toby is uh seeking reappointment uh option one is recommended we have no speakers on this item and your eligible uh applicants are included in your materials Mr chair I think I have a good list uh yes sir I think staff recommendation is uh the way we have one that's seeking reappointment and we have to pick three yep um I move that we reappoint Lawrence Toby and then we appoint Michael Parker Danielle Andrews and chrisy Perkins okay we have a motion on the floor for uh those four applicants any is there a second I I second Mr chair okay second by commissioner Cummings uh we're in discussion is there any discussion Mr chairman this is going to be a very uh challenging time for affordable housing uh I'm not very sure uh how long the United States Department of Housing uh Urban Development um Will Survive I'm not even sure what happens to our ship dollars um this is a tremendous time uh not even sure about the availability for u u certain category of citizens to even get a a bank long um and I wish uh God speak to these folk uh in this area and as I looked at this list I was pondering uh the uh familiarity if you will of any of these applicants uh and have they met the challenges affordability do they know that struggle and um um sometimes people sit on committees uh to contemplate matters which they know nothing about personally as a personal struggle so I hope that there empathy um somehow um um is um laced with the ideas that um uh Mr Stanley Sims uh provided to us uh to open our meeting uh those are very important sensitive Dynamics thank you thank you commissioner proor commissioner o'keef can you restate for me the names you picked I'm sorry sure I sure can um and I can also um give yeah clarify something reappoint Lawrence Toby add Michael Parker Danielle Andrews Christy Perkins okay and then to to commissioner Proctor's Point that's absolutely true and actually um we have this last year at the suggestion of Mr Stanley Sims established a new appointee position on this committee specifically for someone who is a beneficiary of a housing assistance program or has experienced eviction in the past number of years um we haven't filled that spot I believe the Housing Authority um and Housing Services is promoting out to people to recruit applicants for that spot I would love to put that as a qualification for every appointee but at Le we have at least got um one spot that we're getting applicants to fill specifically for that thanks to Mr Stanley STS in this board thank you commissioner O'Keefe is there any other discussion we've got a motion by commissioner O'Keefe and who was the second oh did it get a second I second did I'm yeah I'm sorry commissioner Cummings okay so Mr Toby reappointment M Parker m Mr Parker Miss Andrews and Miss Perkins any other discussion uh commissioner Miner didn't have any more credit on this credit card to offer a second for this you don't know how true that is maxed out um all right so we've got a motion in a second uh all those in favor signify by saying I I I all opposed passes unanimously with commissioner Maddox out of Chambers um and uh Mr County Administrator that takes us to the housing item the Kum item uh can I just say to our our friends in the audience that I imagine there's going to be a lot of speakers on this item um it is 4:38 we have to adjourn a or not adjourn what would you call when you start something commence with our public hearing at 6 on the dot and we only have six speakers and we typically would stop around 5:30 for a break ahead of our public hearing in so I'm going to stick to that 5:30 hard stop which means we're going to have to stop this and restart it after the public hearings which you know shouldn't take that long but you know we'd have to take a little bit of a break so uh if that's if that's okay with you guys that's otherwise we just have to wait till 6 o'clock which I wouldn't recommend us here at 6 o' I'm sorry we're not taking questions I'm just saying um if you are you guys okay starting and then stopping it may be I mean I I assume it's going to take a while so we're not rushing anything we're just going to be a pause in the middle Mr chairman we we only have six speakers that's 18 yeah yeah I think we can carry on we only have six speakers and I appreciate those of you who may be condensing your commentary into a spokesperson thank you um so we'll take up the item thank you Mr chairman Commissioners as requested by the board this item presents the proposal of the Capital Area Justice Ministry to reallocate 20% of the County's infrastructure C tax which is the exclusive funding source for the County's resurfacing program to affordable housing projects the item also details the County's recent and ongoing efforts and commitment to increase the affordable uh increase the stock of affordable housing in our community uh shington Lamy is here prepared to provide a brief presentation uh Commissioners on those efforts as I mentioned we do have several uh speaker cards and we are recommending uh option one but with that I'll hand it off to shington Lamy thank you shington go right ahead Commissioners um as I'll demonstrate with this presentation the County's commitment to increasing the stock afforded affordable housing specifically for long for low-income households has been extensive and methodical in the next few slides I'll tell you why as I talk about the highest affordable housing needs in our community and how we do it not just through financial investment that has totaled hundreds of millions of dollars in direct and bond financing but also policies and Partnerships consistent with best practices and critical to building and sustaining long-term affordability finally I'll touch on the cun's proposal as requested by the board and analizing the agenda item um with the help of Mark Hendrickson who's here with us in the audience Mark is the financial advisor and administrator for our Housing Finance Authority he also serves in that same exact capacity for several other hfas including Jacksonville Hillsboro Pasco and manate Mark has more than 50 years of experience in affordable housing ex executing over5 billion in deals to construct over 200,000 over affordable housing units across the State of Florida and Mark also served as the very first executive director of the Florida Housing Finance um corporation which is the agency in charge by charged by the legislators to over see all things affordable housing in Florida including um funding and policy so Commissioners what I'm telling you here is that I've brought a big brain to help me put this presentation with you guys so so first the why um as you know Commissioners we recognize based on the volumes of data reports and studies that evaluate affordability and our housing in uh inventory that the highest affordable housing need in Leon County is rental units for very lowincome households that's individuals and families earning 50% or less of their of uh of their income of the area meting income for in our community more than 16,000 very low income households are are cost burdened which means they spend more than 30% of their income on housing that's the largest population of income population cause burden in our community and according to the most recent report published by shimberg Center just this past summer at the University of Florida we have a deficit of more than 10,000 affordable housing rental units but Commissioners the need is not unique to just Leon County the same schimberg report indicates that rental units for very lowincome households in the um is the highest affordable H housing needs in local communities small medium and large throughout the state in fact the State deficit is more than 600,000 for that population so it's for this reason hundreds of millions of dollars are awarded annually through State programs for projects that provide affordable housing to lowincome households now want to talk about how these projects get funded all affordable rental projects require millions of dollars in subsidies or financial assistance to work because they offer they offer housing to lowincome households that are well below the market rate so that means the math doesn't math unless there's subsidies for these projects so that's where programs such as tax credits the sale program or the state um apartment incentive uh incentive Loan program or sale and bonds come in they provide the multi-million dollars necessary for these projects to work tax credits and sell is administered exclusively by the state through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation which as I mentioned before Mark used to run for um over a decade but bonds though can be issued either by the state or locally through Housing Finance Authority and it's through the r HFA that the county has been highly successful in recent years in increasing the stock of affordable rental housing the HF was created by the board for the specific purpose of building and investing in affordable rental units in our community upon approval by by the board the HFA can issue that all important tax exempt bonds to finance projects that are building rental units for lowincome households in fact in the past 5 years the board has authorized the HFA to issue more than $183 million in bonds that secured an additional $125 million in private state and federal funding and has has or will build more than 1,200 you um units of affordable rental highness for low-income households right here in leyon County that's more units than in recent history historically tax credit sale and bonds have been sufficient in funding projects and have not required any additional dollars most projects do not require any additional dollars however with in recent years especially after the pandemic um the increase of construction costs and materials with inflation and the higher interest rates some projects have required additional dollars to get to the finish line and so like most communities in the local communities the county has provided Gap financing when requested in order to Sure ensure that these projects are realized in addition to bond financing the county has invested approximately $5.8 million to assist in gap financing for affordable rental projects These funds have been made possible by the board appropriating unprecedented levels of federal dollars allocated to the county through covid-19 Pro um programs like arpa and the emergency rental assistance program or erra and building on those efforts we continue to pursue Federal grant opportunities but we're not exclusively relying on grants as we all know we can't do that amen our our approach approach to increasing affordable housing um in in our community includes establishing policies that are that are utilizing dedicated funding source for affordable housing implementing Landmark legislation like the live local act and strengthening our Partnerships specifically with our partners over at the city in terms of programs recognizing that some projects may need gap financing in 2023 the board established the ship rental development program to provide financial assistance to rental projects that dedicate units for lowincome and very lowincome households again addressing our highest needs this program was established with ship funding which is the dedicated funding source for affordable housing distributed to local government that's both counties and cities annually through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation we currently have approximately $400,000 available today for projects that can be utilized for a variety of of of needs including land acquisition construction Rehabilitation and they units again I will reinforce it units have to be set aside for lowincome households as well as very low low income households currently statutes limits what we can re we can allocate to in ship fundings for rental development and we're actively working with the Florida Association of counties as well as the Florida League of cities on legislation that would provide us greater flexibility on utilizing ship funds on rental development because as I shared earlier Commissioners other local communities are experiencing a high need for rental unit units just like us for the very lwi income um population and so they also realize that ship is the most appropriate funding source to invest in such projects the dedicated funding source for affordable housing we're also implementing Landmark legislation like the Liv local act to incentivize and increase affordable rental units for low-income households adopted by the Florida Florida legislature in 2023 the live local act provides up to 100% property tax exemption to Developers ERS to construct and dedicate units for lowincome households and it allows new rental projects that dedicate at least 40% of units to low to moderate income households the highest use on development regulations such as density um height and parking just last year during the 2024 legislative session local governments were with a sufficient level of units for Workforce housing also known as moderate income housing were given the ability to opt out of prop portion of the property tax exemption Leon County was one of those counties identified that could opt out because it was determined that we had a sufficient level of again Workforce housing but we did not opt out we recognized that property tax exemption is a resource it's another tool in our toolbox in addressing affordable hous so in partnership with the city the HFA the proper pra office we're promoting the property tax exemption as well as the highest allowable uses to developers through our websites speaking engagements and regular operations to ENC encourage the construction of more affordable housing and speaking of the city we regularly coordinate and collaborate with them on the investment and on the Investments and policies especially when it comes to affordable rental developments and that's because 95% of developments are within the city limits and that's appropriate because it aligns with best practices you want your affordable rental units for lowincome families in the urban core near public transit near Commerce grocery stores and employment centers we also partner with the city because they have the financial resources to invest and address affordable housing the city is recognized by Hud as an entitlement community and therefore they receive approximately $2 million in annual funding from the feds for programs such as affordable housing Additionally the city receives significantly more ship funds than the county since the distribution is based on population so the city receives two times more amount of ship funds than the county that they can that they can invest for opportunities like rental development projects and finally the tallah hassin Housing Authority which is a great partner but also what created by the city and is a special district of the city they provide affordable rental units to low income residents through public housing and federal housing vouchers so as a result the city is a critical partner in our efforts to address affordable housing and has been and that has been effectuated in so many ways Commissioners it's been through our Collective Investments of more than $1 million in direct funding to rental uh projects the establishments of the Tallahasse Leon County Community Land Trust where we're ensuring that affordable housing housings are units are remain affordable in perpetuity and the adoption of an interlocal agreement that allows us to pull our ship dollars on rental developments together on projects within the city limits this is our approach commissioner to increasing the stock of affordable housing specifically rental units again investing unprecedented levels of federal dollars implementing establishing pro programs with funds dedicated for affordable housing implementing landlock Landmark legislation all in lock step with the city this has been highly successful as evident with more than 1200 units that have been been or will be constructed in our community in the next 12 to 18 months including more than a hundred of those for very low and extremely lwi income households so the Kum proposal is a is a different from the approach the county has employed so I'll introduce it and allow Mark to uh come and speak a bit on it but the Kum is proposing and I'll and I'll just give it a little bit of an intro as Mark comes up kjun was proposing that the county as the County Administrator mentioned reallocates 20% of its portion of the infrastructure search hack which equates to $1.2 million and is currently dedicated to resurfacing projects on count on County maintained roads to establish a land acquisition program that would purchase land for proposed rental development projects that must then set aside units for very low and extremely low households I'm going to turn it over now to Mark how now to share why the Cajun proposal would not create more affordable housing units and provide more insight into the pellis county model a program that um that kjm is attempting to uh use as a model Mark uh thank you Commissioners U I'm Mark Hendrickson and I'm happy to be here first thing though I want to say is whatever disagreement we have on some of the detail I really want to thank the people that are advocating for affordable housing this group is incredibly well-intentioned and well organized and has done a great job of doing research into affordable housing and they really are to be commended for that not in in anything that I say is not in any way trying to you know to to cast dispersions on on the motivation and the hard work that they've done to bring this issue forward the the issue that when and shington and and others asked you know the Housing Finance Authority and myself to take a look at this and we had meetings and and basically this is what what we find is that we would all welcome additional funding for affordable housing from whatever Source it could come from and but that's not the Housing Finance Authority's role to decide what you know how much or if or where you get it that's that's a County Commission role so I'm not here to comment on the on the source but we do know that if we had additional funds we could do more units and the key is more units the the issue that I had when I looked at the proposal was that it wasn't going to create any new units any additional that it only was going to take projects that were already going to be built so we know we've we had a 100 unit deal it went to the state it got sale money it got ship money it got bonds whatever and they're going to do 100 units this proposal would say well within those 100 units we're going to shift around a little bit what your income set asdes are so we're going to have fewer 60% Ami units and a few more 40s or 50s there's nothing wrong with that but it doesn't get you any more units and our need is more units not reshuffling between 40 50 and 60% within a deal that's already going to be done so when we look at at what others do and what is needed we see that that uh Gap financing which is just a fancy word f filling the difference between how much money they can get and what it costs to build it's pretty straightforward you know I can borrow this much I get this much from Florida housing but it costs this much and I got to fill that Gap so uh that's where the need can be briefly and and I don't want to take up more time as you know you've got a lot of speakers but um recently the the city of Jacksonville appropriated a million dollar uh for Gap financing in conjunction with a million dollars that their Housing Finance Authority had so 2 million it's not a whole lot but it was like let's see what'll happen and there was a a no fund notice a fund availability put out and what they found is they got a one deal came in that was the Sal Bacher center for the homeless ex a lot of extremely low-income homeless people it had gotten grants from the state from private foundations from everywhere it was doing bonds getting tax credits but it was a million and a half bucks short of what they needed that Gap financing filled that Gap it didn't change around the set of sides within it but it provided just that little in a in a $40 million deal it got that last million and a half to get them over the finish line and then there was another developer that that had you know had gotten sale and and other resource from the state um but they were only going to do a 50-year set aside and with $500,000 of additional Gap financing they agreed to do it in perpetuity so it's not always the same way but what we see is we need more units we need a source of Gap financing to try to get more units and and while I I really celebrate the work of of the organization I think the specific proposal that they have as to how to use the money is not the most efficient one and and there are other ways that would be better thank you and I'm happy to answer any questions or turn it back to shington thank you Mr Hendrickson uh shington you can come back up um thank you are you guys going to stick around Mark you sticking around um I sorry say this I've used this but my highest priority in life is coaching baseball at Capitol Park and that takes priority even over this issue I'm sorry okay I would like to offer Commissioners the opportunity to ask you questions mark if you don't mind yes thank you uh commissioner O'Keefe go ahead thank you uh thank you very much Mark and thank you for your years of work on this issue I appreciate all the education you've given me since I started um you talked about the deal where uh you talked about if we got more money um there's a different way to get more units but you also mentioned this deal where for a half million dollars you you were able to get a developer from only 50 years of guaranteed affordable to in perpetuity can you explain what's the impact in the benefit of that perpetuity in in units over the years yeah it's it's even if you Define perpetuity as 99 years which I it's really longer it's almost like doubling the amount of units if if I have 100 units for 50 years but I can get them forever it it's it's you're you know instead of having to do a new 100 units at whatever Point their their uh their land use restriction ended you you just keep those units and it's people say well it's not going to be the same units they're going to rehabilitate them they're going to but the underlying land keeps a restriction so that on that land you will forever have affordable housing uh you know and and it's just it's a massive benefit Way Beyond a benefit of of you know I could do 10 more at 40 or something the the the most important public policy thing you can get to in in affordability is is perpetuity so that you create a permanent stock of Housing and land that's dedicated for affordable housing excellent and then um that's helpful as we consider this and then uh in that example in jackonville is like a half million do um is there if a commission were to uh come up with you know money if this money didn't go to this proposal came to the Housing Finance Authority uh can that build on things you already have going or how does that new idea that you were suggesting uh work um you would do some kind of of a notice you know a a public notice of and solicit proposals to come in some of them might be deals we don't even know about uh it it also could be a deal that's that's you know under construction or getting ready to go under and they would agree to a difference but you know it's a bottom line it's all you know from a development standpoint you just got to make the numbers work and if if somebody says to me I get a half million dollars more a paid developer fee and I'm already at 50 might as well go perpetuity that's a deal that most developers will take Mr chairman thank you thank you commissioner proor go right ahead I I've heard M Hendrick son um comments and whatnot and uh to a banker um to the F uh HFA and all of that but we're in a room with people whose thoughts are are not congruent uh with your own thinking and they're ask is um simply for the chance for us to take that step in the Foster public policy that would though it would not create any more units in his mind but this is the faith community these people believe you can take two fishes and some Brad these people right here think you can get a a bottle of water and turn into wine and everybody's happy this is a different Essence and you can't put a uh business model perspective on What Faith Can Do so we're well pleased with the sharpened pencils and the measured um analysis that you've offered um but except through the foolishness of preaching those kind of words but I share the mindset of the people people in Green in here and I believe that what they're asking is if we put this on the books take a stance into the U money money community that makes these kinds of evaluations it don't look like none of them but when God steps up if it's on the book what are you talking about don't even you know just don't your measure up so I lean toward faith and I know that the County Attorney read a statute that I can't make religious decisions or decisions y'all heard I read that but um I have faith and it's the same quality uh and dimension of thought that undergirds and makes Impossibles possible and God Specializes in making the uh possible from the impossible so um shington we appreciate you and you're supposed to make sure that all the noted authorities but I'm going to walk with faith community uh because I know that there is a God who specializes in making possible things out of impossible things so thank you very much thank you Miss commissioner Proctor um all right uh if there's no anybody commission madx I'm sorry uh Madam County attorney go ahead uh disappoint of information the statute I previously referenced that with Contracting only it does not apply in this context thank you very good thank you my halo is still shining bright Mark good afternoon how you doing good to see you commissioner thank you um have you have you sat down with uh leadership of Kum to to look over this proposal yes we we talked and I had a meeting I've talked to them multiple times and and we had also a meeting last week with shington set up right so you know we're you know we're clearly of the same mindset that we think an investment of money is right what are the commonalities in the conversations that when you were having those conversations with those folks what were the commonalities that were that were coming out of it that in additional commitment of resources is a good public policy investment okay and but exactly how you would use those resources to get the best impact is where I think we differ as your um has your has your board seen a presentation seen the proposal has has there been conversation I'm sorry my child is calling me off sweetheart I'm in a commission meeting I'll call you back okay you done at six okay bab okay um your train of thought there it happens to me all the time has the board had conversations with with occasion folk here's where I'm getting at um there's two things I said last time and I believe some of you were here there's one first thing is I I didn't want to harm any existing County programs I didn't want to do anything that would do that the second thing was I wanted to make sure that if we were involved that we were able to get the city involved as well because I don't I believe most of the affordable housing we need would be in the city limits and so I wanted us to be able to partner on that listening to to the commonalities of the of the conversations that's why my question is what it is between HFA which is the County's arm that look to do affordable housing for the county in this cun group though you may not be on the same page as far as proposal is concerned I believe there's a commonality that one day will push you towards the the the same uh or or something that works for everybody in a way that can that could push resources that we have towards affordable housing and so I agree with everybody in here we need more money towards affordable housing I also um in my other job understand that when it comes to affordable housing yes land is important but that Gap funding that that money cash money and being able to commit that cash money to the project is probably more important than giving the land and so what I'm in clined to do commissioner pner is not I'm not at all in a point where I don't agree with either party here but I think there's a step that we're missing um one or actually two steps one what is the state going to do as far as affordable housing is concerned two is there a way that uh the leadership occasion can meet and and have conversation with the HFA board who is our arm who's supposed to be helping us do this anyway to come up with a proposal that works for both parties and if it doesn't then I think we take the this back up and we move in the way we got to move but if that hasn't happened that's what I would like to happen Mark has that happened no we've we have not again we're invited by your staff to participate in this as opposed it's not like kjun brought us the proposal and or that we saw this proposal floating and jumped in with an opinion understand I'm not so but yes the board clearly would would welcome meeting with with the group and trying to work through it and and you know I commit to continue to work with them to try to come to a common conclusion so it absolutely understand that my support of The Proposal isn't isn't based off of what the HFA board has to say or or or is going to say but I do believe that if there's a Synergy there with like-mindedness on us investing more money those two this faith-based community mix with the HFA which is professionals on on on this in trying to figure out how we conquer this problem might not be a bad idea and we may push it what few meetings for for you guys to be able to work that out that' be past session everybody will know what the state's doing you guys be able to have a conversation be able to come bring something back to say we could agree on this or we couldn't agree on that and then we can really make a really good decision on on what we're going to do with those dollars I like the pellis county proposal but pelis county is pelis County and in in in the world of Florida Association the counties we believe in what we call uh home home rule which means that what's right for panelas may not be right for Leon County what's right for Leon County might not be right for Miami day what M for Miami D may not be right for what's Jacksonville but what we do that what we do have is we have a group of concerned citizens here that want to see us do something about this invest more money we have a HFA who agrees that we can do more and invest more money why not put those two together and see what we come up with so it is when we get to that point I cuz I don't I don't I don't want to leave you guys hanging on that that's where that's where I would be not to reject the proposal but but to have the the occasion folks work with the HFA see if we can come up with something that that that conquers that that deals with that piece of the puzzle that is the financing that's not the land but the financing piece that's such a that's such a problem for organizations who are trying to do affordable housing while also creating Perpetual plots for affordable housing at the same time thank you Mr chair thank you commissioner Maddox um Commissioners I I think that we're not in the discussion section yet we're a little premature here so we still have to hear from speakers um and then we're going to take a hard stop at 5:30 and we're going to come back so this is more geared towards specific and I would say probably technical questions for Mr Hendricks and if we don't have any more of those let's move on to our speakers let Mr Hendrickson go coach some baseball uh thank you for for your your information and for being here we appreciate it thank you chair and thanks the commission for your interest in the issue and uh appreciate it yes sir thank you uh Mr County Min or shington do you have to close for us yeah I just I just want to wrap it up with just a couple of more key um Commissioners um so one of the things that of course of the cun proposal is utilizing the infrastructure ctax so one of the things that is very um important is that to understand that those dos are significantly restrictive okay those dos have to be used for land acquisition only right as I shared before our program that we currently have in place right now and the things that we've been doing in assisting um projects has been specifically to assist in land acquisition construction primarily construction and Rehabilitation you can't do that with the ctax dollars those dollars have to be used for land acquisition so for example Commissioners a couple of years ago if this if this program as proposed had been in place we could not have invested in Orange Avenue Redevelopment Tallahassee Housing Authority already owns their land so we could not fund land acquisition for that project what we were able to do with those unprecedented levels of of federal dollars was to assist them because we had the flexibility to assist what they really needed and that was the fact that construction costes had skyrocketed as they were trying to build those that property out there on Orange Avenue this project this proposal would not have allowed us to do that so I just want to make bring that um and then of course as um commissioner Max mentioned this program would harm a County uh program and that is a program that is dedicated to our resurance program where we're where we're specifically providing a very core function of County government and that is maintaining our roads our and the safety of our roads that's the program that is funded right now these are not extra dollars these are dollars that are being utilized right now in our community to resurface our our our roads and so that being said we our proposal our recommendations that we don't we um that we don't move forward with this proposal but instead um we accept the report and what we would be providing is an update uh to the board as part of the 2026 budget workshop on the things that we talked about and in the agenda items such as looking at Opportunity where we can get more flexibility in utilizing ship dedicated funding for affable housing specifically so that way we can do more work with rental development and not just us the city also because again as I've shared before the city is a is a um critical partner in throughout this entire conversation when we're talking about building rental development with that point of information um um thank you shington uh you go ahead M commissioner Parker real quick if you can shankton and and and and and um Vince uh for the monies that we utilize with uh T housing U that was doing the covid era correct and um yes wasn't some of the rules relaxed with respect to our flexibility to use some money back then um those were federal dollars and then the board um we we did have flexibility but at the end of the day it it it took the board taking action to say we're going to invest our dollars our arpa doll as well as our ER dollars into um more affordable rental units and and provide Gap financing for that project and that was Gap funding that we did in the city did to believe fill a $5 million hold in Partnership actually in total for the both of us it was $11 million okay very good all right um I chairman you asked I'll be quiet okay let's go ahead we're going to have plenty of time to to gnaw on the bone commissioner procer as you'd like to say um uh thank you shington I assume you'll stick around okay uh uh how we have six speakers Mr County Administrator um that 3 minutes a clip that's 18 minutes that'll take us to like um 333 is uh 335 is uh if we can get through our six speakers I'm sorry I'm sorry what' I say five I meant 533 I'm sorry uh my apologies so uh let's try to get through as many speakers as we can um before we take our our short little recess uh Mr commissioner go ahead shantar Tiel to be followed by Fred Hadley Miss tisdel name and address for the record please thank you hello um first and foremost thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my story I'm sorry I apologize my name is Shanta Tisdale address is 1053 do Street uh Tallahassee Florida 32304 um first and foremost thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my story and shed light on the challenges of finding truly affordable housing the US Department of Housing and Urban Development defines affordable housing as housing that costs no more than 30% of a household's gross income including utilities but for people like me this definition is nothing more than a theory it doesn't reflect the harsh realities of what affordable housing actually looks like in our community let me make one thing clear affordable housing isn't the issue it's the lack of affordable housing that is devastating families like mine to fully understand how unaffordable housing impacts people like me let me share my reality I earn $3,040 a month before taxes according to HUD I shouldn't pay more than $912 a month for housing and utilities combined but here's the truth I pay over 50% of my income nearly $1,600 each month just to keep keep a roof over my family's head I'm a single mother of three with 12 years of experience in the medical field and professional certifications to match I've worked tirelessly to provide for my children I take pride in the career that I've built but none of that matters when it comes to finding housing I can afford a quick search on Zillow or apartments.com paints a clear picture of the problem affordable housing for my income doesn't exist instead of finding options within my budget I get the same message repeatedly edit or remove these filters for better results translation there's nothing here for you now let me with uh that sorry that leaves me with two impossible choices pay over half my income on housing or face instability and uncertainty the consequences of paying over 50% of my income for housing have been devastating for my family to make ends meet I've been forced to work two full-time jobs that's 80 hours a week I've worked every shift available days nights double shifts and even stretches of 32 days without a single day off I've sacrificed sleep my own health and time with my children just to stay afloat but working this much has come at a cost far greater than financial strain my children are suffering I can't nurture them the way they deserve I miss moments like I I miss moments that I'll never get back like helping with homework sitting down for dinner talking them men at night my presence in their lives is sacrifice because I'm trying to keep roof over their heads and despite my Relentless efforts my income disqualifies me from government assistance programs like food stamps or sectionate housing instead I'm penalized for working hard stuck in a system that leaves no room for people like me who are doing everything we can but still can't get ahead even with two incomes housing remains unaffordable yes I pay my rent but at what cost over 50% of my income is gone before I can even think about groceries utilities or the basic needs of my children this isn't sustainable not for me not for my kids and not for the thousands of families in our community facing the same impossible choices this isn't just my story it's the story of so many others affordable housing isn't just a financial issue it's a human issue it's about ensuring that families like mine don't have to sacrifice everything just to have a place to live so I'm here today to speak not just for myself but for every family struggling to survive and assisting that has failed them housing is more than a roof over our heads it's the foundation for stability security and hope no one should have to work themselves to the point of exhaustion just to pay over half their income for housing it's time for a change and it's time for all of us to demand it thank you thank you misso Fred Hadley I'm sorry Mr chairman Fred Hadley to be followed by syvia Jones Mr Hadley please name and address for the record thank you my name is Fred Hadley I live at 2500 Elliott Street in Tallahassee I'm here this afternoon to speak on behalf of someone I know personally who is homeless most of us see people on the corner and we don't know them but I know a person by name not only is that person homeless that individual has been sleeping in a car and I feel that that is very heartbreaking and affordable housing would go a long way to help this individual and others like that person so I'm here to challenge you do whatever you possibly can to help alleviate the less fortunate in our community I'll close with one s but for the grace of God all right there go I all right thank you thank you Mr H syvia Sylvia Jones to be followed by aasaya Fagan good afternoon my name is re Sylvia Jones I live at 4250 Woodbridge Road in Tallahassee I'm a member of Kum through the mount Zam Church in Havana and I'm one of the Kum co-chairs for affordable housing testimonies that you hear are from people that we know they're all personal I speaking today on behalf of my granddaughter who a year ago had a state job making minimum wage in order to make a living wage she would work on the weekends uh so she get tips as a wagerus she was looking for a place to stay after weeks of searching for an affordable place to stay she finally found a two-bedroom duplex in Northwest Tallahassee after paying the $60 application fee you know their fees run from $25 to $125 and they're non-refundable she found the place for $1,095 she had to pass a background check have a credit score of 600 plus and to prove that she had made three times the rent uh uh per month in in order to be considered for the apartment as $3,285 honestly she couldn't make it without us she couldn't make it without her family backing her up she's in better shape now but she's also in better shape than her girlfriend who had been living in a car with her baby she fin she finally got she was looking for a place to stay finally got a job at Amazon while she was living in her car but as as a result of still having to live in the car and do couch surfing someone reported her reported her that she reported that she had the baby in the car with her DCF intervened her child has been placed with one of her relatives in the meanwhile she had an accident couldn't get to work at Amazon lost her job she's still in the car so please help us provide our children children our grandchildren our seniors on fixed income with the opportunity to find a Humane living space that they can afford affordable apartment apartment rentals is the last step before homelessness that us give them the opportunity to lead normal lives with a little bit of dignity thank you very good thank you m Jones uh good afternoon CIA Fagan 1575 Paul Russell Road thank you Miss Sylvia I'm also the embodiment of the women who have helped me to survive um I have been a homeowner in Tallahassee since 2020 a condo for context that I would not be able to afford to purchase right now in 2025 due to inflation and a drastic increase in the cost of living today the testimonies we have just heard have put flesh and blood on this sterile statistic that 16,000 families in leyon County earning less than 43,000 in income per year are severely housing cost burdened spending more than half their income on rent and utilities these are real people experiencing the Grim realities of our affordable rental housing crisis right now friends members of our families and members of our congregations these are working people living precariously while trying to make ends meet a single incident can put them over the edge requiring them to find a new residence move their children to a different school or forego paying for child care food or medical care some lose their job because they no longer have the means to get there some becoming unhoused altogether nationally a $100 increase in rent is associ assciated with a 9% increase in homelessness as we have emphasized repeatedly the experts agree that the principal cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable rental housing Working Families should not have to make these choices Working Families should not have to move every time a landlord raises their rent disrupting their children's education and impairing their emotional health working parents earning more than the minimum wage should not have to live in their cars while they search for housing they can afford or wait for emergency housing accommodations at Hope Community Dr Martin Luther King Jr spoke of Beloved Community as a vision that can be attained by a critical mass of committed people a community where all people share in the wealth of the Earth where poverty hunger and PE and homelessness are not tolerated and where systemic racism and all forms of discrimination bigotry and Prejudice are placed by an all-inclusive Spirit you have before you Kim's proposal to take meaningful action towards achieving Dr King's Vision please act now to do so and vote to implement Kim's proposal as a part of the 2026 budget thank you all and thank you for the folks who have gathered here today to stand in solidarity it's essential that we continue to do so in the coming months and years and ensure our work and advocacy continues to be intersectional and rooted in Community Care thank you thank you Robert dial to be followed by Latricia scriven name and address for the record Mr dial uh my name is Robert dial I reside at 2394 Carefree Cove I am a co-chair of the Kum affordable housing strategy team we are disappointed by staff's response to your November direction to analyze cun's proposal to set aside 20% of the County's blueprint sales tax revenues for an affordable rental housing program several of you have said that you wanted to learn what impact such a reallocation would have on the County's Road surfacing operations but instead as shankton Lamy has repeated today you received descriptions of the County's existing affordable housing programs and a few new initiatives and the simple assertion that these revenues are the only source of funding for Road resurfacing the staff has made no attempt to assess how those operations could be adjusted to accommodate a 20% alloc reallocation we have provided to you by both email and in hard copy our assessment of the ongoing program and new initiatives described by staff in the agenda packet and by uh shingon this evening current and past programs have not made a substantial impact on the estimated 10,000 unit deficit in rental housing that non-student families with very low and extremely low incomes can afford that is the reason why we for the past 3 years have been attempting to get local initiative to motivate rental housing developers to set aside more units for families with these incomes Mark Hendrickson's assertion that our proposal would not increase the supply of affordable housing is absolutely correct that's not the problem we've been talking about for 3 years the problem is that the developers do not not have the financial incentive to set aside more of those units for folks like you've just heard from there is no point in sending us to meet with the HFA board to find some common ground we're talking about two completely separate sets of objectives increase the total supply of affordable housing that's a great idea but our problem of concern is those units are not being built for the folks that need it the most the folks with very very low and extremely low incomes while resurfacing roads is clearly important asserting that any reduction in funding will imperil Road Safety is an unfounded simplification safe and stable housing for children is a more critical need some adjustments in funding for scheduling repaving projects are a small tradeoff to to free up resources to finally begin to address this crisis please vote to implement the cjun proposal and thanks for paying attention thank you Mr dial name and address for the record please greetings I'm Latricia scriven I am the senior pastor at St Paul's United Methodist Church and the co-president of Capitol area Justice Ministry my colle colleages have really laid it out they've said it they've also noted that we have been at this for over 3 years it has been years and we are saying that now is the time we are here today we showed up we stayed we are still here because we have the audacity to believe that our presence our stories our people and even our prayers that they will actually matter we get that there are a lot of decisions that you have to make there are projects and priorities and expectations and even allegiances and also the complexities that come along with budgets and Appropriations but one thing we know that remains clear and that is that people are struggling the people with very low and extremely low incomes need for Action to happen now since we have been here since I have been here today I have met an individual that works at this court house full time that struggles to find affordable housing and has lived in their car for about 3 and a half weeks it is unacceptable and the problem is pervasive we are not asking you to choose one critical issue over another critical issue we are asking that you do both and we believe that both can be done and we believe that a small allocation is a small price to pay for a really big impact on the families who really need us the most for us this is not just a matter of debate it is a matter of survival for some of the most vulnerable among us and whether we accept it or not we really are all together in an inescapable network of mutuality We Are are tied together in a single Garment of Destiny and whatever affects one of us directly affects us all in directly I believe that we can do something not only the 16,000 families that are in this position are counting on you our commissioners but the many people who stand alongside are counting on you to do something to embrace the proposal to make action happen and to bring a change thank you thank you m have one more speaker final Speaker John hendrik John hey John name and address for the record pleas John Hedrick 155 Chris Ball Drive um I'm supportive of the Kum proposal although I'm not an officially sanctioned Kum speaker so I'm but just occurred to me because I've known all of y'all and you've known me and we've been very active in political and issue circles for many many years here in this community just because it's annunciated that the rest of the the state isn't doing something for affordable housing doesn't mean we shouldn't do something for affordable housing here B everyone keeps yammering about the fact let's do something in conjunction with the city or let's let the city Take the Lead because maybe that's where most of the problem is if everyone's been paying attention there's this called a 3-2 divide over in the city and this issue unfortunately is on the wrong side side of that divide at least so far amen and as we all saw at blueprint y'all were willing at the board the blueprint y'all were willing to go forward but once again that 32 from the city styed us from being able to go forward through that venue so blueprint obviously would have been a joint venture that yall collectively could have gone through this is what Kum has come up with they've done the re research they've done their work they've got a model the pelis model it will work here that type of model it doesn't really matter where you are in the state and if you do something maybe then the city will follow and do something some somebody's got to take the lead this time it's y'all to take the lead please vote Advance the Cent proposal and let's do this thank you all very much thank you Mr HRI um okay do we have any more speakers Mr administrator okay we are going to recess until uh 6:00 for our public hearing [Music] oh