I now call to order the regular session meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs on Tuesday, April 8th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. Miss
Jacobs, roll call, please. Mayor. Yes. Here. Vice Mayor Giuliani's here. Commissioner Eisner. Here. Commissioner DiDonato. Here. Commissioner Banther. Here. Thank you.
Tonight's reflection will be given by Cathedral Dean, Father Athanasius of Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Please remain standing for the presentation of colors that will be presented by the Tarpon
Springs Public Safety Honor Guard, as well as the Pledge of Allegiance, and then the National Anthem, which will be performed by Felicia Fowler. Thank you. Before I begin, just
a. A more of a reminder for everyone. You may hear the cathedral bells ring every morning and evening as we're doing services inside the church. I want everyone to know
that at every service and every day, we pray for our city and our city leaders. I, of course, will give a more specific prayer this evening. In the name of the
father and the son and the Holy Spirit. Let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy. Oh Lord our God, you created us and brought us into this life, and have said that apart from me, you can do
nothing. In faith we embrace these words as we gather this evening and entreat your blessing upon your servants. Look with mercy upon the Board of Commissioners of Tarpon Springs. Grant unto them the
grace to know and to do your will. Let them serve all the citizens with truth and righteousness. Inspire them with the courage to make and uphold the laws for this glorious city,
and for the good of all who reside therein. Give to our city officials the spirit of wisdom, patience, love, and understanding that they may
discern. Discern the truth, and impartially administer. Keep them safe and healthy in mind and body, so that they may fulfill their responsibility. Grant to all the civil
authorities and residents of Tarpon Springs, as well as all those who labor for the city. The power to make this government continue to work so that all may prosper and live
together in peace. For you are the King of peace, and to you we send up glory to the father, and to the son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and to
the ages of ages. Amen. Amen. And now we will have the
presentation of colors.
With the.
Roll. To help the. Present. Or. I 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 liberty and
justice for all. Thank you. And now we will have the national anthem performed by Felicia
Fowler. Oh, say, can you see? By
the dawn's early light. What so proudly. We have at the
twilight's. Last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars
through the pair. Pride. O'er the round. While we watched. Was
so God. Live streaming. And the roar. Glad flood in. The bombs
burst. In our. Gave proof. Through the night. That our
flood. Was still there. Oh say.
That all bang bang. The way.
O'er the land of the free. And
the home of the. Brave.
Please. Mark. You want to say. One.
Thank you. If everyone could please be seated. We have a few announcements. Item four. Ordinance 202501 second reading
Land Development Code amendment amending article four. Special regulations. Special regulations section 5605 mobile food dispensing vehicles. Has been
deferred to a date certain of April 22nd, 2025. Item five ordinance 2025-02 second Reading Land Development Code amending
article four Special Regulations Section five nine docks, piers and shoreline stabilization structures has been deferred to a date certain of April 22nd,
2025. And item six, ordinance 202503 second Reading Land Development Code amending article 11 Sign Regulations section 19202 temporary banners
has been deferred to a date certain of April 22nd, 2025. I also want to recognize some dignitaries in the room tonight. We have the Honorable Thomas
Collins. Can we please give him a round of applause? We have the Honorable Robin Sanger here. Can
we please give her a round of applause? We have former chief of police, city manager, Mr.
Mark Lacourse. Can we please give him a round of applause? We have the honorable mayor, Anita
Protas. Can we please give her a big round of applause? We also have the Honorable and Mrs.
Norman Hill. Can we please give her a round of applause? We. And we have the Honorable Jacob Carr
and Missus Carr. Can we please give them a round of applause? If there's anyone I miss, please forgive me. We're now going to
go to public comments on anything discussed, not on tonight's agenda. If you come up to the podium, we'll have four minutes to speak. If not, you'll have two minutes to speak by
zoom. Sit down for any. All right. You're right. Hello. My name is Lisa George and I live at 351 South Ross Avenue in
Tarpon Springs. And I'm here to ask for Parks and Recreation to install a few swings for children with special needs and playground equipment that is suitable for their height, for
the children with special needs that will be safe for play. Sorry, there's no playground in Tarpon Springs that has equipment for special needs. So
I'm asking for you to consider this not only for my son, but for other children of his population. And remember, it's a simple things we take for granted that are needed the most
for children with special needs. So please consider installing playground equipment that's suitable for the population of my son, and many more so that they can enjoy what other
children's can enjoy. We thank you. Thank you. Ma'am, if you can, there are a couple of our cards. All of us emailing. Any one of us will get interaction with the city manager and staff
to be able to help address those needs, ma'am. So thank you for letting us know as a community,
I appreciate it. Thank you. Yeah. I Rick Morales, public
information officer with the SBA, the Office of Disaster Assistance. First of all, congratulations to you all for the transition, for the new
positions. I'm here for multiple things for obviously for Milton, Helene, this this county is one of the most affected with Hillsborough. I want to give the thanks for the city clerk and
emergency management departments for the opportunity. Also shout out for the mayor Department for having our information on the website. So I came here for
today for the updates. I know that this is recorded and the people is watching and for all the people here. So we are still boots on the ground. The deadline to apply with the SBA
for fiscal damages is April 27th. That's the latest update that was requested by the state and approved by the federal agency. So all those homeowners, renters, non-profits and
businesses that were affected by Milton, that's the deadline that is approaching. We are still here. The center that we have right now for the county is in
the epicenter. Saint Petersburg College. That's in Clearwater Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. To 5 p.m. On the phone number for the people that is watching live and
from the for the people that is here. 800 65 nine 2955 865 nine 2955. So that's the customer service center number. So the
people that apply with us, the people that want to know the status, if they want to complete the procedures, to look documents, to reconsider, to appeal for any kind of questions. Of course we can also
so you can keep sharing our information. And for the people, the constituents here keep sharing and disseminating that to friends and family. So that's what I have to say. We are going
to stay here until the end. Yeah. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Yeah. Thank you for your comments. Good evening.
Mayor, deputy mayor or vice mayor as it is here. Board member. Senior city staff. Robert Rockline, 755 North Lake Boulevard. I guess a lot of us will have the honor tonight of
speaking to two mayors in a matter of minutes, but I'm here to thank the current one, because you exceeded all my expectations and I expected a
lot. And you rose way above that. I just want to thank you for your public service. You kind of unified a lot of elements of the community, and I
hope you don't go anywhere fast because you're well needed in this town. So and your podcast, your recent little podcast was very enlightening. And I respect for you. It's almost like you
were dropped in the middle of the ocean and found your way to shore. Through perseverance and strength. So you you have myself and my wife's eternal thanks.
Thank you. Thank you, Mister Rockland. Are there any other public comments? Come on up,
Mister Doby. Call me Tom. I know you tell me that. And I keep referring back to Mister Doby. I'm sorry. You're like the youngest mayor I've ever seen.
That's it. I'm just so happy. I was born and raised, and I just met the new administrator at the hospital. I was born there. My mother watched the roaches grow
up, crawl up the wall and need a protest. Was there at the same time? Where's the need at? Yep. She was there at the same time. But I, you know, being born and raised here and seeing all the
folks here this evening, I'm a politician. And lady said to me, she said, Tom, why don't you run for office? I said, no, I'm Doby's funeral home. Half the people like me, half won't. So I
want everybody to like me. But I want to thank all you elected officials for what you do. I would not want your job. I would not. Thank you very much. And thanks, everyone, for being
here. And did I miss anybody under 18 because I give $10. Come up here, son. I give $10. There's a lot of kids in here
under 18. Take advantage of it. I've got a I've got a pocket full here. How are you, son? I'm good. How are you? You need a job. I do need a job. Yeah.
Thank you. And the manners. Did you hear that? Yes. Thank you. I'd like you. You come to work tomorrow morning at 6:00. We'll
wash cars. Good evening. Anita, produce 901 Bay Shore Drive. I wasn't going to say anything, but your job now is a lot different. When? When Tom
Collins was mayor and I was a commissioner and mayor, it's gotten more complicated. Frank has stood up over all these commissions. He's done well, and
so has David. But please, let's not forget our historic preservation in this town. Let's not forget what we have been given by our parents, our
grandparents, our nunas, our godfather's aunts and uncles. Preserve what we have because I see it slipping away every day. It's very important that we keep
our character and our ideals in this community and keep the beauty that we have. We are so fortunate to have been born, raised and lived in this
community. The diversity in this community is beautiful. Between the Greek community, the black community, the Spanish, all of them here were one big family.
And we're proud of our heritages and we're proud of everything that tarpon means. But let's keep tarpon clean. Let's keep it bright. And let's keep our
historic preservation, sir, that we know about in this town. It's very important to all of us. Let's not lose what we've got.
Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Ann Todd King Eisner, and my husband and I have lived here for almost 14 years. And I have been blessed
by the leadership that you all have provided, and so grateful for how you work together and how you represent our community. Everybody loves and adores Tarpon Springs, as do I, and I
thank you all for what you do for us. Thank you ma'am. Hello, my name is Yoda Francis. On
behalf of the Panhellenic Federation of Florida, I would like to thank you, Panagiotis, for your excellent work all this month and would like to welcome the new mayor, Mr. John
Koulianos, to our Greek American community. We're very proud of having a mayors of Greek heritage, and we're very proud
of Tarpon Springs. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Are there any other public
comments? Yes, sir. Mike Cuda, 623 East Tarpon Avenue. For those commissioners and mayor
coming in, we live in a beautiful community. I expect it to remain beautiful and to preserve as as Miss Proto said, our heritage and our beauty. One
thing I would say to all of you sitting there is politics can be politics, and we don't always agree on everything that is
done. But when you disagree, disagree with grace. Thank you. Are there any other public
comments? It are there any zoom comments? There are no comments at this time. Thank you. We will now go to agenda item one,
resolution 2025-28 ratification of election results. City attorney, can you please read the title? Yes. Mayor. Resolution 20 2528, A resolution of the Board of Commissioners of
the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, ratifying and confirming the results of the municipal general referendum election held on March 11th, 2025, and providing for an
effective date hereof. Thank you, City Attorney. Are there any public comments on this item? It. Are there any zoom comments? There are no comments.
Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion to approve resolution 202528. So moved. Second. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll
call please. Commissioner. Panther. Yes, Commissioner. DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Mayor. Coolio's. Yes. Item two.
Resolution 202530. Ratification of Executive Orders 202526 and 202528. Extending a declaration of state of emergency for this for Tarpon Springs due to
Hurricane Helene. City attorney, can you please read the title resolution 20 2530? A resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs,
Florida, ratifying Executive Order 20 2526, extending the declaration of local state of emergency to April 8th, 2025,
and ratifying Executive Order 20 2528. Extending the declaration of local state of emergency to April 15th, 2025, and providing
for an effective date hereof. Thank you, City Attorney. Are there any public comments on this item? I t are there any zoom comments? There are no
comments. Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion to approve resolution 202530. So moved. Second. There are no
further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes. Commissioner DiDonato. Yes, Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes, mayor. Yes.
Thank you. Item three resolution 202531. Ratification of Executive Orders 202527 and 202529. Extending a declaration
of state of emergency for Tarpon Springs due to Hurricane Milton. City attorney, can you please read the title? Yes, mayor. Resolution 20 2531 a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of
the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, ratifying Executive Order 20 2527, extending the declaration of local state of emergency to April 8th, 2025,
and ratifying Executive Order 20 2529. Extending the declaration of local state of emergency to April 15th, 2025, and providing for an effective date hereof.
Thank you, City Attorney. Are there any public comments on this item? I t are there any zoom comments? There are no comments. Thank you. The chair
will entertain a motion to approve agenda item three, resolution 2025-31. So moved. Second. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll
call please. Commissioner. Panther. Yes. Commissioner. DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Mayor. Giuliani's mayor. Yes, yes. And now we are
going on to agenda item seven, presentation to outgoing mayor. Money and be presented by Vice Mayor mayor elect John
Koulianos. I don't think we did. Okay. Let's go.
To ratify city. I just. Okay. And. Mayor Coleus, I'm going to
give you this last. I'm going to hold on to this. I'm going to put it over here. Don't break. All right. As you know, I have
notes, right? Sure. So, you know, I watched you on flapjack. Jack. What was his name? Yes. The what was his name? Jake.
Pancake. Jake. Pancake. Jake. So I watched. I'm going to call him Banayoti. Okay, if you don't mind. So I watched Banayoti on this podcast, and, you know, I
know his story. I knew him before he was born because his mother worked for my mother and father at a gift shop on Athens
Street. Right. And I knew him as this little smiley young man, like his aunt said at the last meeting, always smiling. And he
would always light up as soon as you saw him. He would make you happy to see him. He always had that smile. And but I was watching the podcast. And even
though I know your story, you did a really eloquent job of other than a couple of your your f bombs. But but that was cool. But it was all. Yeah, but it
was, it was a youth thing. So you know and trust me, he has nothing on me. So. He knows that. So but he, he did such an
eloquent job of describing his journey. And he's come such a long way. And I know it sounds patronizing for me, but I've I've kind of been Theo John most
of the time with him. There's times where we're not Theo John, but most of the time I'm Theo John. Once the politics happen. Yeah, politics. Theo John was out the door. But now that we're back off that we're back to Theo
John. And as Theo John, you know, I, I always would tell him that I was proud of him. You remember when you were running
for commission and we spent time together. We went on the street together. I even wore one of your shirts. And when you were running against me, I was afraid you were going to pull one of those out and post it like, hey,
hey, he's wearing my shirt, which I was wearing his shirt, but I want to thank you anyways, so I'm very proud of you. I know it's patronizing to say you know that, but it's just the truth
and but more so, you should be proud of yourself. Thank you. Okay. And as the community wants to thank you for stepping up,
you know, the former mayor resigned. We were in a hole. We needed somebody to fill that up. And you stepped up, and you've done an excellent job. Thank
you. The meetings have run so smoothly. I've learned so much. I've been taking notes, watching what he does. He. It's just he knows how to. He just was a born
leader. And you did an excellent job. Really did. You know, when we were up opponents for a short
time, you know, we got together and we talked about the city needing both of us, and that it wouldn't be the same if one of
us was gone. And he graciously. Because I'm an old man and he's a young man. He's got lots and lots of time. He stepped out and, you know, let's be let's be
honest, we wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for the two of us because we held on. And how things are good or bad, how things are today. A lot of
it is because he and I hung tough together. So I appreciate, you know, being a teammate of yours. And obviously we've got three more years to be teammates
and we're going to do some good things, great things. We're great things. You're right. So now with that said, I will give you this. I'm going to present
you with the gavel. Now, the city clerk has told me you don't get another one of these. So and I know you're I know you're
going to be back here again. So you need to hold on to this. Yes. She's not giving you another one. Okay. All right. Got it. Thank you so much. This
is awesome. Congratulations. Thank you. Mr. Grant.
Thank you. I'm going to actually. I'm going to go back
to my seat and say my words. Thank you.
So. Very. Being my last night, you know,
as mayor, I went that evening and I spent a couple hours in the mayor's office, and I just got to enjoy myself and just
soak it all in, because it's been a crazy journey. And as I try to write a speech, I just wrote up a whole bunch of different parts. And so who knows, I may go over all over
the place. It's definitely one of the more tougher, if not emotional. But proudful moments in my life to be where I'm at
and to be able to speak in front of everyone today. And I just I want to thank everyone in attendance tonight and at home watching this board. Is thankful
for you all to be here and share this moment with us. You know, I say Tarpon Springs is the most historic city on Florida's Gulf Coast. We are a small town with
historic, with history and a makeup found nowhere in the world. The photos you see up here are the makeup of my family and who I am. I have one photo
which is my father's family in Kalymnos, Greece, and he's eight years old in the picture. The other is my mother's family here at Hellas. At Hellas restaurant
with all of her siblings and my grandparents. The other two photos are my father and my brother, who have passed away. I was just so happy to have those
pictures here. That way they could be able to share this moment with me. I also have an icon of the Virgin Mary. Bonnie
and Jesus, which sat in my office that my mother had given to me. You know, I kept these in my office with others to remind me of the old and new world that I come from. The adverse,
turbulent, tragic times of my life and the faith my mother bestowed upon me to keep praying and to never give up. I'm a flawed man, I make no mistake
about it. But running for office and looking out for the community was me paying homage to the people that made me. I
always knew I could do. I could always do what was best for them because that's how I was raised. You know, the chair you see me in, it didn't come easy. It took
blood, sweat, tears, prayers for me to be in this spot. It took courage I didn't know I had.
Only by God's will am I sitting here today. I used the pain that I felt, but my confidence that I could do better. And turn it
into a positive energy for this community. Many nights I pondered how I could make a difference for it, and one day I knew I was going to come up to
be vocal. I hope to one day have a new wave of Tarpon nights that will come to the political scene, because it is hard, but
it's not that hard if you put the passion behind it all to look out for your community. If you come at every meeting and try to look out for the best interest of this community, it's
no different from the second job, the second hobby you have and or you know that extra person that you take care of throughout your life. And I just
want to try to get a message that to educate more people, to be able to participate, because government is for everyone and we do want we do run one of the
simpler forms of government and the council manager form of government, in which we have great staff and with our policies that we help set up here, they they make the best
professional decisions. And for us to come up here and analyze everything and give our yeses or nos for approvals. So I just want to try to encourage a new
wave of individuals in the future. That way, they can help bring ideas and perspectives to the community, as they are the ones who've recently grown through here, and so they can
help make decisions for the community moving in the forward. And so I want to talk about a few people, and I do want to thank Mayor Vatikiotis. I know
it a lot has happened from three years when I look back. But he brought a structure, a structure and an understanding for me when it came to the comprehensive
plan and the strategic plan. When we were able to update these documents and have a plan set out in direction that we could all work together for, for the near, you know, 3 to 5
years, it helped build building blocks for that. This board and future boards should be able to go by when making some of the toughest decisions for our community. So I was very proud
to be part of that workshop back in early 2022, when we started the inception of redoing or updating the comp plan and the
strategic plan. He also taught me values and being able to use those and making those toughest decisions. A wise man, but this was a tough arena, no doubt. And
so I do have to recognize him as an individual who. For whatever reason, it did open up a door of opportunity for me. And with
that opportunity, it gave me an opportunity to shine for my community, for the people that raised me. Where I come from, my family, my friends, my mother's
friends who were immigrants that grew up with her in the sponge docks fish town as they, as they call it. My brother's friends, who, you know, was a generation
that were were tough, smart, charismatic people that helped motivate me and shape up my life. The Greek community in
which, you know, I'm from. And so just our everyday lives and the culture and the activities just through the church or just us as friends and being, you
know, our parents, knowing one another and just growing up in town and, and living in the sponge docks, it was just so great. But I was also thankful because it gave me an
opportunity to speak out for people who just have been misunderstood, doubt, doubted, or just had some misfortune from
their past or struggles that help. Push them through adverse times. I want to thank the former city manager, Mark Lacourse, because everybody
assumed that it was just going to come in and we were just, you know, it was going to be bad times. But the staff, this board especially, you know, Commissioner Eisner being from the beginning with us. We worked
well with Mr. Licorice, and we had a very good relationship. Being able to move the city forward, make some good progress, have a lot of respect
for one another. I know I can call the man during anytime I want and be able to give me some great advice. So he was a big part of portion of guidance and
advice for this time and during my first term. I want to thank the city staff. I mean, Trish is our our assistant to the Board of Commissioners and the city manager, and I just want to give
her a huge shout out. Trish is one of the best people. I would love going in there. Just having some coffee with her, going over different lists of what she would have for people calling. You know, they want to talk to
the mayor. They want to try to try to have you help them out. And so it was a great feeling being able to walk in there and talk with her for a little bit during the day and truly, truly
enjoy my time. She's a special person in this community and for city staff. The clerk's office, you know, the clerk's office is the best. And we have our deputy
deputy clerk, Michelle, we have our city clerk, Irene. We have we got Desiree, Carol, Maria, Angie, Bobby and Matthew. Did I
forget somebody? Michelle. No, they're a great people. And I really enjoyed going in there to talk with them about just events of the day. You know, not so
much policy and enjoying it all. And so public services big shout out to them. They do so much public works, all the departments and public works, all the stuff that goes around
in day to day operations you don't see and enjoy. Project administration, IT, cultural arts, recreation, the cemetery,
finance, planning and zoning. Human resources. Our police department and our fire rescue. And if I forgot any departments, please forgive me. And you all
make the city. You all put it all together. We. You know we can't do this without you. And you know, from every aspect to
enjoying life to the necessities of it. This full self-service city is powered by some of the best people there is around here. And so we're so honored. And I was so thankful that, you
know, having the mayor's office, I can go from around, around and see a lot of the staff and just motivate them, talk with them and have a good time and just appreciate some of the work that
those guys do that I couldn't even come close to doing. So staff has been great. If people want to remember, try to
remember me as a as a politician during this last three years, I would try to remember how we brought more awareness to the community. I mean, not too many
people were really paying attention to local government or just involved. And if you can, if you look on some of the social media platforms and you see how some of the meetings are
shared, we get thousands of views a week now. And, you know, we there is an uptick. And so the blessing with that is more people are aware, more people are involved with politics.
People understand that the biggest differences can be made on the local level, as opposed to us fighting against each other for national level stuff. For on the local level, we can
make the biggest difference as a community. And so I just. I hope to help bring more people awareness to the community. And
I know I was very pointed at times, but I wanted to make sure that there was a lot of people spoken for in this community.
Just please try to remember me as someone who tried to do their best every night, to look at each agenda item, try to look out for each and every community in which I could try to use the
mission statement and the vision statement of this community to make it an overall better, better place. And so also all
the organizations, including but not limited to the Merchants Association and the Chamber of Commerce and so many other organizations like the Garden Club or or so many of that. I
just can't think of off the top of my head who help bring activities and stuff for individuals to do, who help bring great work and
volunteering for this city. I want to thank the city manager, Charles Rudd, and I know we talked about mayor elect. Brought up a couple of moments,
but I'm thankful we ended up selecting Mr. Rudd. He's been a great guy. The guys moving around, he does his best to talk to each and every person there
is. He's got great ideas. You know, if this board just has an open way of accepting and trying to move forward and give things a chance, I think this community
is going to be great. And we have a great leader who's receptive to everybody. So I'm very happy to work alongside City manager. I hope as I got
in, I just wanted you to get your flow and, you know, not not so much. Be as policy driven, you know, from from our end. So I was happy just to have our cups of coffee every time I
would think about something just off the top of my head, I'd go in there and just, hey, City Manager, can you can you think of this as a, you know, a resident reached out to me and
he would be on it. And so the mayor's office, as being a commissioner and the mayor's office is it's a it's a little different. It's a little different because the mayor's going to sign off on documents
on different things. They're also going to see the heart and soul of the city. All the department heads come in speaking with the city manager at times. There's a lot of fluid
activity in there. And so for me to be able to be part of that and look back and see the journey that I've on, that I was on, I would constantly just say
how thankful I was. And. I think, like I said, my. I mostly ran to uplift myself and a lot
of things that I had faced in life. When my brother passed away, it was a big deal for me. Obviously, it helped push me in a direction that I said that,
you know, I was going to make a stand and as much anger as I had in my heart, I also knew that I was going to turn that into a positive. Positive energy to
help out the community. And so my brother was one of many, many people my age, people younger, his generation, as I said, they were very charismatic to the
community for whatever reasons, whether it be just addictions and struggle. We lost some really cool and great people and
I made sure that I tried to keep them in my mind when making decisions. I tried to always be a voice to for the overall families. And you know what they
experienced and know how much they loved Tarpon Springs, that it's, you know, it's in our hearts. We all love this community. We know that. And so
I try to be a voice for them to in a representation that really helped give me a good foundation
and just wanting to do good. And my mother, how much I love you, mom. You know, when my mom and
her siblings moved here in 1971, she, you know, she would tell me how some of the, the local neighborhood kids, they would they would make fun of them, you know, and, you know, because they were immigrants and they
would say the words like deep deported persons, which, you know, we're familiar with. And I would be lying to you if I told you that didn't motivate me.
That motivated me throughout so much that, you know, I made sure I wanted to step up for the children of immigrants. And, you
know, not that the people that have been here been longer were, you know, it was just a way of culture, of life. And so I get it. But that I use that as
energy to show that, well, you family's been here 50 years, ten years, or just came right off the boat. You weren't better than us, and we were all together in this community to
take care of this city. So I look back and, you know, they can't say those mean things about my mom. Now, she's very
successful. And how she brought a faith in me and a and a will to never stop, you know, I know my mother's proud. But I
couldn't have. I could have done nothing right in my whole life. And she would have been there to support me 100%. And that means the world to me. And so with a
mother like that and the faith that she had through a lot of troubles that, you know, we had faced in our life, I used that as energy and fuel just to keep
moving me forward. So. And as I said, as I wrote some of these notes down, I'm a little hodgepodge all over the place because I would just start thinking and different ways to
write. And sometimes you get writer's block, you know. So I just want to thank everybody for being here. I want to thank everybody for being on this this
journey for myself. It's I know this city is it was very unique. The journey, the campaign, the ability to try to look out for people. I know it was something
different, but like I said, that was the energy that was created through God's work and faith. And so I never take any moment for granted. I plan on just keep
doing the good work and being there to support mayor elect. You know, one thing, being in this position, it did it did help mature me. It did help
mature me in a spot that I needed to. So when I do go back to the seat that I do a better job, and in my professionalism
and patience and pointing out arguments and moving forward. So this was a development for me that has given me confidence throughout life. No matter what
I plan to do with, no matter where I plan to go, it's been truly one of the greatest blessings for myself, my family,
everyone. I can't put into words how how this all happened within three years and I just I thank you all for being part of it. I
thank you all for giving me an opportunity. This board, especially this board, gave me an opportunity that. I just
can't thank you all enough. And the eight nine months was was great. It was a great opportunity. We obviously had the hurricanes that came through. And you know, I just
tried to use my patience and understanding through a lot of chaos that I'd been growing up, to just try to be a positive reinforcement to the community, to the staff, workers. And
behold, we did such a great job compared to the rest of the county and nearby Tampa Bay areas. And I am so proud of public works and staff. And, you
know, this board. And so there's a few moments that I'm very thankful of. And I just want to thank this whole community, the
people. Thank you all, this board, the staff, and I'll be around for another three years. But this was an opportunity for me to showcase who I am, where I
come from, what makes me, what drives me, and. I just can't say thank you. Thank you, Tarpon Springs. Thank you, Tarpon
Nights. I love you all. It's been great. Thank you.
We will now go to board comments or staff comment or public comments. Anybody? Argentina?
Would you like to say something? For public comments? I know you're you can't see anybody. Alright. You're good. All right. We're good. That was perfect. All right. I t are there any
zoom comments? There are no comments. Thank you. Board members. Here, Commissioner Banther. Yes. Thank you. Mayor, I want to just thank you for,
you know, stepping up as you did. It was in very short notice. You know, I it's probably not very often that somebody in their first term would have the courage to do
that. I know it's a title and an office, but it does have work and responsibility that I think you performed well. You ran the meetings very efficiently, which
is very important to me. You kept control of the board. You helped the public and the board. Work together. You did serve as a good leader during our two
hurricanes. You kept in touch, helped coordinate. So again, we appreciate how you how you stepped up on short notice. I don't think you could have done a better job behind the dais than what you did. So we are all
proud of you, and I wish you best in your next three years of service. Thank you. Commissioner Banther. Commissioner DiDonato. Well, I to echo that I, for one,
have had the wonderful experience that you've had, and I can see your pride in the job you've done, and it's well deserved. You step forward when we needed somebody to lead us.
And I appreciate that. And I don't have three more years, but I have got one. So we'll continue to work together. And thank you for stepping forward.
Thank you. Commissioner Donato. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Well,
I'll be right with you. I have a little short speech that I need to read. Was there a time limit
that we had? Four minutes. Okay. Now, I brought this as a joke, honestly. I wasn't going to read it. But if I didn't do a joke,
you wouldn't know that I'm here. So that's my style. I just want to thank you all for the confidence. The work, the
dedication to helping me. I also matured quite a bit up here. I enjoy working for the town. I've done work for now. It's about
nine years. I said it anyway. Honey. You know, I was six and a half years on the Board of Adjustments. Loved every minute of helping Tarpon Springs. I've done it for three years, and all
I could say is I will continue the next three years. As I've been a commissioner these past three years. With integrity. With honesty. I don't take
favoritism on anybody. I appreciate working with this board. I commend the mayor. For what he's done, and I just I get
an a thrill out of working for Tarpon Springs. And I've said that a number of times. I could have made a lot of choices when I retired 12 years ago. I decided to come here to Tarpon
Springs. It was a place of love. I love the people. I love the town. I love the heritage. I love the Greek community. And I
love their acceptance of me. I ran two elections, both against people that have lived here. And
I chose here. And I just want to thank all of the residents for having the confidence and the
thoughtfulness that they've read in me, that I'm an honest and honorable person. So I do want to thank you all, and I look forward to working with the next
mayor. And I also do appreciate working with the city manager. I don't usually verbally commend him. I do that on the side and he knows that, you know, I
actually brought him two bagels from New York today. It wasn't bribery. It was just a just a little offer. But just overall,
I'd tell you this. I want everybody to know that they're in good hands up here. We all work very well together. We may have differences of opinion. But
usually we come to good decisions and good thoughts. And I will continue to try to convey some of the messages that the department heads come and bring
us. I will always break it down. I will always ask them questions so that the residents know transparency. I ran on transparency. I will continue to
always serve you with transparency. I don't want to hide anything. I want to make sure that you all know what's going on in the city. So thank
you again and thank this board. Thank you. My attorney. I think they left you out before, but I know you've been doing a great
job as well. So I want to thank the city clerk, Irene and her assistant Michelle, who's taking pictures here and all the staff we do, as it's been said
numerous times, when you when you see what the staff does, it is an incredible city and it only drives you to want to do
better yourself. So, you know, it's what they say is the rising tide lifts all boats. And I see this city looking better and
better. So thank you very much. Anybody wants to read this, I'll have. No I'm just kidding. We don't have any more commissioner
banter. Your light's on. Okay. All right, well, with that said. I'm used to the lights. Yes. Vice mayor elect. You're going
to use the lights a lot, too. I'll be short. I'll be. You get four minutes there. I'll be short. Because, Mike, I do have. I actually was going to bring a pillow for you so you could relax and sit back, but. No. And
congratulations, Mike, on your victory. I already have already congratulated you, but you're the only guy that had to run. So I don't know. But it makes you
sharp. You know, it's like the Florida Gators, right? They had all those close games. Duke was beating everybody. Big C they were. He was. They were honed.
So anyways I. Already thanked the our mayor for stepping up and all the things. And I'll have more things to say when in
a few minutes. So thank you. Yes. Okay. Well this concludes this. This ends the presentation for item seven. We're now going
to go to board and staff comments. Police Chief Mayor, thank you for stepping up and serving the city and taking on that last eight months. It's been a pleasure working with you
and look forward to continue working with you and the new mayor and this entire board. It's always fun sitting here and going through everything and betterment of our city, and I
think everybody has their hearts in it here and appreciate everybody, not only as the police chief, but also a resident of Tarpon Springs. So thank you all. Thank you. Chief
city attorney, mayor. I enjoyed working with you as mayor. I appreciate the way you ran the meetings. The questions that you had for me that we dealt with and the issues, and I look
forward to working with you continually on the board. Thank you. Attorney Salzman. City manager. Mayor, I did also enjoy working with you as mayor and
looking forward to the next three years and congratulate the board on reelection. Looking forward to the next three years doing some great things for the city. Thank you. City clerk.
Yes, I congratulate all and look forward to working with everyone. Continue working with everyone. And I just wanted to let you know, mayor, that you're still welcomed in the clerk's office at any time. I'm coming.
I'm coming once a week to chit chat. So, yes. Thank you. Thank you. We're now go to commissioner comments. Commissioner banter. No further comments right now. Thank you, Commissioner Eisner. No
comments. Thank you. No. All right. This concludes the regular session meeting. This meeting will be adjourned at
729. And the official saying is adjournment sine die. We're going to have about a five
minute break. That way we can move some things around, get our seats ready and we'll be good to
go. Oh, nowhere. Great job. Did you get scared? No. Keep that
down. I was hoping to. Oh my goodness. Yeah, I figured that. My name is Janice. And your
husband, Michael keeps meeting with me and my husband here for his answer. That's right. Yes. So I said to him, I'm going to look for. And then when you got
up, I'm like, oh, nice to meet you. Yes. Yeah. Right. I don't
know what he's going to do in the future, but she'll be running in a different
organization. Yeah, I thought that was push
record. Okay. Yeah. Okay. He's coming down to help you. Oh.
Nice. I'm actually closer to you. I know, and you sit too high. She's got a small torso.
Oh, okay. And you got my step stool over there. Oh, yeah. What is that? That's. What is it like? That's my step stool. Like one of these, like, pedal things
for your feet. Good exercise. Now, if I could have mayor elect
and his family come forward, please. Good. I know. This.
If you could raise your right hand and repeat after me. My
granddaughter. Yeah. Oh. She's right. Right in front. Yeah.
Okay. Thank you. I'll step up just a little. If you can raise your right hand and repeat after me. I. I say your name. John. Koulianos. Do you solemnly swear
or affirm? Do solemnly swear and affirm that I will support. I will support, protect and uphold. Protect and uphold the Constitution. The Constitution of the United States. Of the
United States and of the State of Florida. And of the State of Florida. And the Charter and Laws. And the Charter and Laws of the City of Tarpon Springs. Of the city of Tarpon Springs, that I am duly qualified, that I
am duly qualified to hold the office. To hold the office of mayor of mayor. That I will faithfully perform. That I will faithfully, faithfully perform the duties of that office. The duties of that office which I am
now about to enter. Of which I am now about to enter.
Congratulations. Thank you. Sorry I left somebody out. Go
ahead and take some pictures. Okay, I'm going to go over there
and talk. Okay. Thank you. But don't trip. See? We have to tell
them what to do. No. I'm joking. I and just some facts. I as far as I'm aware. Mayor Koulianos
serves as mayor and his brother formerly served as mayor. So I think this is the first time Tarpon had two brothers ever
served as mayor. I can have Commissioner Eisner and his
family come forward. If that's. Okay. I've done this
before. Yeah. If you could raise your right hand and repeat after me. I. I say your name. Mike Eisner. Do you solemnly swear or
affirm? Do solemnly swear and affirm that I will support. That I will support, protect and uphold, protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States Constitution of the United States and of the State
of Florida, and of the State of Florida, and the charter and laws, and the Charter and Laws of the City of Tarpon Springs. City of Tarpon Springs, that I'm duly qualified, that I'm duly qualified to hold the office. To
hold the office of Commissioner. Seat three. Commissioner seat three. That I will faithfully perform. That I will faithfully perform the duties of that office. The duties of that
office which I am now about to enter.
You gotta have fun. Thank you sir. Thank you mister.
Well, what a solo. Yes. Solos are extra.
If I could have Commissioner Coleus and his family come
forward. Hello? Hello. Are you ready? If you could raise your right hand and repeat
after me. I. I say your name. Do you solemnly swear or affirm? Do solemnly swear and affirm that I will support. That I will support, protect and uphold. Protect and uphold the
Constitution. The Constitution of the United States, of the United States and of the State of Florida, and of the State of Florida. And the charter and laws, and the charter and laws of the City of Tarpon Springs,
of the city of Tarpon Springs, that I am duly qualified, that I am duly qualified to hold the office. To hold the office of Commissioner. Seat four of Commissioner, seat four, that I will faithfully perform, that I will faithfully perform the
duties of that office, the duties of that office which I am now about to enter, on which I
am now about to enter. Thank you.
God. Allah. Thank you. If I could please
have Commissioner Panther and his family come forward. I'll
stay over here. A little bit. If I could have you raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, I, David Panther, do solemnly
swear or affirm. Do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support, that I will support, protect and uphold, protect and uphold the Constitution. The Constitution of the United States. Of the United States and
of the State of Florida. And of the State of Florida. And the Charter and Laws. And the Charter and Laws of the City of Tarpon Springs. Of the city of Tarpon Springs. That I am duly qualified, that I am duly
qualified to hold the office. To hold the office of Commissioner. Seat one. Commissioner seat one. That I will faithfully. That I will faithfully perform the duties. Perform the duties of that office, of that office on
which I am now about to enter, which I'm now about to enter.
Thank you. I need to go to. I call to order the regular session of the new
Board of Commissioners at 7:46 p.m, Tuesday, April 8th. Let's have roll call, please. Mayor Giuliani's here, Commissioner
Eisner here. Commissioner Coolio's here. Commissioner DiDonato here. Commissioner Banther here. Can you please have a reflection? All of us
stand for Father Athanasius. This is my fourth before I offer this prayer, I just would like to share with you that it is a
distinct pleasure to be asked to give God's blessings and the blessings of the church upon our city. We do consider ourselves the church for Tarpon Springs,
not just for the Greek Orthodox people here in town. Let us pray to the Lord. Lord have mercy. The name of the father and the son, and the Holy Spirit, Christ our God. We thank you for this
city of Tarpon Springs. We thank you for the outgoing administration under Mayor Kulas, and we ask that your blessings upon the new administration, under the
leadership of Mayor Koulianos, we ask that you continue to bless our city, to keep us safe from all harm and continue to inspire us to do the best, to
glorify you in all things for your holy always, now and forever, and to the ages of
ages. Amen. I 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 liberty and justice for all.
Are. You know, it's so nice to have two former mayors up here with me, because when I get stuck, I can just look. And what
do I do? So I have a distinct advantage. Let me do let me take care of one thing, because my
cousin Jimmy Kalamaras is here. I guess it is great to be a
Florida gator. Yes. And my daughter was very concerned about my granddaughter running around, and my little cousin is
running around and understand that this is a Colombian ceremony. It wouldn't be. It wouldn't be one without children
running around. So they let them run. Thank you all for taking the time out of your lives to attend tonight's swearing in
ceremony. Thank you, Father Athanasios. Thank you, Father Michael Komitas, who I've known
my whole life and love all the former elected officials, former employees of the city, including our former city manager, Mark
Lucas. I'd like to also thank the provost of our of Saint Pete College. Rod Davis is here tonight. I'd like to thank the
CEO of Advent Health North Pinellas, Andrew Santos, for attending. Special thanks to my family, my nieces, nephews and
cousins that I love very much and so happy you could attend. Thank you as well. To City Attorney Salzman, Fire Chief, Young Police chief, Young city
clerk and Assistant City clerk Irene Jacobs and Michelle Munoz, all the department heads and staff. And to our new, enthusiastic and energetic City
Manager, Charles Rudd. First, let me embarrass the rest of my family. I'm proud to follow in the footsteps of my big brother Tom. As the only two brothers to
serve as mayor of Tarpon Springs. You always tell me how proud you are of me. I'm just as proud of you. Trust me, I am.
Thank you for your love and unwavering support. My daughter Joanna. How do I thank someone who I believe has saved my life?
You taught me how to live healthy with compassion. You took me from a middle aged man existing on antacids, heading to
demise to a 70 year old man running marathons. I've not always been the best student, but you have always been a great
teacher. Joanna. I love you very much. My daughter Eleni, you have a big heart and are
fiercely loyal. One moment stands out to me that illustrates and exemplifies who you are. The night you were three hours late coming home
because you stayed past your shift at the hospital to hold an elderly, elderly lady's hand because no one from her family showed up. And you did not want
her to die alone. Thank you for giving us our baby girl, Paulina Kay. And thanks in advance for the arrival of our grandson in
July. You and Mike have told me your naming him after me. I look forward to meeting young Pheidippides upon his arrival
into the world. Melanie, I love you. Thank you to my son in laws, Nick and Mike for loving and keeping my girls safe.
Finally, let me thank the real heart and soul of our family. My wife of 45 years, Kay. The girls
did not become compassionate, loving people by accident. Their mother is amazing. Two of Kay's characteristics are that she
dresses well and loves animals. If you see some strange woman carrying a Chanel bag, feeding cats in your yard, it's probably
my wife. And at one point we had eight cats and a dog living in our house. I'm allergic to cats. But you can tell where I stand
on the pecking order. Okay, I love you more. Enough about me and mine. Let's talk about us. The city of Tarpon Springs. The mayor is only. The mayor is only
one of five commissioners. The difference is that the mayor runs the meetings, cuts more ribbons and kisses more babies. It takes three votes to pass
anything in our government. I want to find as many ways as possible to get to five votes. Governing is the art of compromise. Even if I see that
something is going to pass 3 to 2, I will ask the two if there is a condition under which they could vote, along with the majority. I'm not naive though.
There may be many times when there is no movement on either side. However, I promise to try.
I use the letters P and P to describe our overall approach to governing, preserve and progress. I think I can speak for all of us up here at the
dais, preserving our small town feel, yet progressing into the future is our overriding challenge. I think we have. We all have big ideas about the
future of our town, and projects we'd like to see come to fruition, addressing our infrastructure concerns is paramount to real, sustainable
economic progress. We must find ways to address the effects of stormwater, regardless of how we got here. It's clear that sea
levels have risen. Our streets are flooded for hours following normal summer rains. Water from the drains have nowhere to go
when the river level is above the drainage pipes. This is going to require engineering approaches that are complex as
well as costly. We have aged pipes and a sewer system that must be upgraded. Anyone living or doing business in the
downtown area can attest to the inadequacies of the piping. Many of our roads, especially those that were under salt water for extended lengths of time, need
attention. Sidewalks throughout our town need to be connected and repaired as well. Stimulating our local economy
with major projects. Government can't do everything. He's not bothering me. Government can't do everything. But we can
facilitate things in the private sector. It's going to be necessary to form public private partnerships to do some of the big things. Filling the empty spot on Tarpon Avenue is only
one of the many public private partnerships that can be had. Building a multi-purpose parking garage. That will be the impetus
for real economic growth will require a public private partnership. Finding a willing investor to build a boutique hotel in the right location is
also desired. Assisting in any way possible to see that. Pappas Restaurant Building. The Pappas Restaurant Building location is occupied and or developed will
be a priority of mine. The Sponge Docks will not be complete as long as that building is vacant. Our homeless situation needs to be addressed
with both pragmatism and compassion. The needs of homeowners and business owners, primarily in our downtown areas regarding this situation can't
be ignored. Working with our faith, our faith based local nonprofit organizations, and other assistance programs to service and assist these needy
folks get the help they need to either move towards independence and housing, or getting the health and mental care they need
is a pragmatic, humane approach. Currently, it's been handled as a policing matter. That's not fair to our law enforcement to
be the only solution. A relocation strategy from downtown, coupled with assistance is, in my opinion,
the proper approach. Buildings, garages, roads and sidewalks are great achievements, but they are not the only way to affect
people's lives. Have any of you heard of Blue Zones? They are places on earth where people
live, where there are places on Earth where people live longer and healthier lives, places with the most centenarians, people
living over 100 throughout the world. Two of those places are Ikaria in Greece and Loma Linda,
California. Loma Linda is a seventh day Adventist community. Interesting for us that given that we have a place with a
large Greek population and an Adventist hospital, the obvious common element is diet. The Mediterranean diet of Greece and the Old Testament eating habits
of the Adventists. But diet is only one of the many things that make up a healthy community. It's all about a better sense of
togetherness, people being active and living a part of something is critical to physical and mental health. I've reached out to a number of
individuals throughout our community. The hospital administration, doctors, the college, the nonprofit organizations, city staff, and a
number of residents to figure out what we can do in our town to make a positive health impact. In this regard. There are a number of cities here in
America that have embraced Blue Zone initiatives. I will be reaching out to their mayors to find out what they have done and the success from these
initiatives. Anyone in our community that has an interest in this subject, please reach out to me. The storms of last
summer tested us in ways Tarpon Springs has never experienced. Our community was devastated by water and wind that none of us have seen in our lifetimes. But
in the tough times, we came together in ways that warmed all our hearts. Let me tell you about my street. I saw neighbors
coming together, working and cleaning the mess left by Milton, Helene and Debbie. Silva and Greg lived two doors down
from me. They worked all day for more than a week, going up and down the street, cleaning their neighbor's yards without anyone asking them. They cleaned the
massive amount of debris that had fallen in between us, our neighbor in between is a single
mother and with her daughter, and they had evacuated prior to prior to the storm, and Greg and Silva didn't want to see them
come back to a trauma. Greg and Silva have lived here for about five years. I don't care where they came from. I'm just glad
they're here. Like I've said, I don't care if you've been here. If your family's been here 100 years, ten years, ten months.
The bottom line is we're all here and we're all part of this community. But their actions made me think of something. I'm going to ask the city manager
and the IT department to post acts of kindness on the stream before various city meetings, a place where residents can
acknowledge their neighbors. I want people to be able to. Log in, send us anything that's done in your community, in your
neighborhood. If you're an elderly woman and someone took your garbage down to the street, that's an act of kindness. And I wanted to show and reflect what
we are. And we are a city full of kindness. I'm excited to work with our new city manager, Charles Rudd. He's filled with
energy and ideas to help make our town a better place to live. His Main Street program can play a big part in creating an even better sense of community. It
takes all of us to be successful. This board, the city administration, the staff, the committee and board volunteers,
the various city organizations, and most importantly, the 26,000 residents. Therefore, I will be
going as mayor to every volunteer board and committee meetings and I will thank them
for their service. I'm also giving an open invitation to any resident that would like to share an idea or get involved on our community to, and I give
them an invitation to come visit me at the mayor's office. I promise to have a cup of coffee waiting for you. Let me say how honored I am to serve as your
next mayor. Some look at look at time as seasons and others as chapters. Seasons repeat themselves. Summer, fall, winter. Spring. Over and over
again. I'd like to think we're living the Book of Tarpon Springs. In this case, one chapter is ending and a new chapter is about to begin.
Together, we can build on the story and write a good chapter in the history of our town.
Thank you and God bless the city of Tarpon Springs.
Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Okay, so we're going to move on to public comments. Would anybody like to have a
public comment? I am I so state your name and your address please. I am George Kalogeropoulos. I live at 1013
Peninsula Avenue in the great city of Tarpon Springs, Florida. I would just like to say great power comes with great
responsibility. The reason I would like to tell you guys, the reason why I got that. Because Theo John every Halloween dresses up as Spider-Man. So
that's pretty cool. I know with any responsibility that you have Theo, John and everyone here, you guys can take it with great. Like, well. Like, really? Well,
it's really what I have to say. Thank you George. You're welcome. You know George. Now, George. George says he. George
says he wants to be. Well, let me let me tell you about the Spider-Man thing with George. So a few years ago now, George is, you know, much more mature now.
But when he was very little, his Yaya brought him to do trick or treating at our house. And I did have my Spider-Man outfit on. And as he was walking back to
the street, he goes, Yaya! Thea Kay lives with Spider-Man. So. But George is going to be governor someday, so he'll be mayor and then he'll go up to
governor. Yeah. He's heading. He's heading places. Yes, mayor. Am I in trouble? Am I in trouble? Not yet. Not yet. Okay. Congratulations. Thank you,
thank you. And I want to say your mother would be very proud. Thank you. His mother was a very beautiful lady in Tarpon
Springs. You even to go to the grocery store? She looked like she came out of Vogue magazine. Every hair was in place. Her
makeup was splendid. Always dressed up, and she made sure her sons were dressed up. I used to have lunch every day with his
father at Mykonos restaurant. We would eat Greek lemon soup and the stories he would tell about the old timers that came over here. And when come first coming
to Tarpon Springs. But it isn't just about the Greek people, it's about everybody in tarpon. And one thing. And I won't live
to see this. I don't think we need to move the Safford house on the lot at the bayou to put the corsage as you're wearing
tonight on the bayou. That is everybody's history, and it's wrong. What was said in the paper. People do not go up there to see it. And the city employee that gave the numbers, I don't
believe them. And I want to verify them. There are grants that the president hasn't hit yet in our state that we can go
after money to move that house, and it can be moved as though one commissioner said it wasn't. And I don't do this because he said, I think I'm mayor, I'm a
citizen here. I pay my taxes here. I grew up, as all of us did, and we want the best for tarpon, and that's part of our history, and I know for a fact
that if that house is moved, the people that live on the other side of the street from where they want to buy that property because they don't want anything built there, they want to expand their yards. They've talked
about it, we've talked about it. So please board and Mr. City Manager, let's look at grants. There are grants still in Tallahassee that can be gotten
before our president hits those. And then it will be too late. We need to move the Safford house to the bayou because that's where its glory is, and that's
where it belongs. That will put a good lock on the history of Tarpon Springs. And it's for these children here tonight. They need these things to learn.
They need these things to know what tarpon is all about. So, Mayor John, I congratulate you. That's all right. You don't have to listen to me. You never do.
But. But I congratulate you. Tell me the same things over and over. So that's all right, because I'm going to haunt you until you decide to do it. But you will do well, all right? And
I wish you all the luck in the world. Thank you, mayor, and thank you for all you know. I want to thank Mayor Produce. You
know, time goes by and at some point we're going to. Lose those treasures in our town. And our treasures are our people. So I
appreciate you always coming up, coming up and giving us a history lesson. We need to hear it. So thank you. Anyone else?
Good evening again, Robert. Rockline 755 North Lake Boulevard here in Tarpon. I haven't spoken maybe at the last dozen or more meetings. So I think that entitles me to come up twice tonight. But I wanted
to address now the former mayor as well as the new current and offer my congratulations to the new alignment. I'll have to get used to who's sitting where again. But both of you gave very
eloquent and appropriate comments, and the future of Tarpon depends upon people like you and to some degree, people like us. So as I did three years
ago, I did a little wish list called Things I'd Like to See, and some of them were mentioned during the evening by by prior speakers as well as board members. The first thing is an
increase in community awareness that can only go up trend wise. And the same thing with public participation. I know you, you mentioned that there's no such
thing as too much, so whatever information can get out to dispel myths and rumors and get the facts across, that that's paramount to every community. As
a board I've seen lately that you're doing more agreeing. Even if you're disagreeing, you're agreeing to disagree. And that's a great balance. You have great experience on this board, a
matter of opinions and diversity in that. And it's so great to see that that interaction, it really brings forth the best in decision making. I'm confident that you will build better
bridges than you do walls. And when I first moved here, I was a little taken back by what I saw compared to other local governments that I was involved with for just about 40 years
prior to that. So I have I have great, great hope. I'd like to see you move forward for community improvement and community refinement. And the city new city manager is bringing that forth very
promptly and very professionally. I'd like to also see you galvanize the traditions that make this city special, because they are manifold and they need to be as, as was
mentioned, for the for the future generations of the heart and soul of what tarpon really is. So I wish you all the best of health, the wisdom I know God will place in your hearts and
minds and souls and decision making. And as always, your public service is commendable and greatly appreciated. So best of luck to you all. Thank you,
thank you, thank you Robert. Vasily 139 East Tarpon Avenue. And definitely it's great to be a Florida gator, but I do thank
you all, city staff and commissioners, mayor, everybody sitting up there. Congratulations. Thank you for your service. And like Mike said
earlier, we may disagree. Let's disagree with Grace. Let's don't attack one another. Let's work together for a positive and future positive future in Tarpon
Springs. You all mentioned wonderful things that we need to do and we can only accomplish it together. Thank you very much.
Thank you Rasheeda. Any further public comments? It's my turn. Hi, I'm Dina Gilchrist, 124 Athens Street, Tarpon Springs,
Florida. Congratulations, mayor. I didn't speak earlier when my nephew was up there because I wanted you to get used to me. So I said, let me just wait so I
get a grace period, don't I? I I'll make sure you get a grace period. Okay. Well, I wanted to talk a little bit about heritage because I keep hearing it and I keep hearing Greek and the
heritage of Tarpon Springs. And if it's Greek and stuff like that, I'm very proud that you are a Greek kalymnian. I also want to say that I'm very proud of my nephew because he is the
first. I didn't want to say because he knows I'm his fan club. I'm number one. He actually, you know, heritage. It's up to us to take care of
our heritage. Us. We are the individuals who are going to carry up or carry out our heritage. He actually was, you know, the youngest mayor of the
Kalymnian descent to be, you know, mayor of Tarpon Springs, which is a big honor and it is very he was the youngest mayor. Period. Youngest. No. Correction
1917 Mayor Arthur C Brooks was 30 years old when he enlisted to the US Army, and we had our city clerk verify it. So it goes as of right? Correct. I am second
and then Mr. Tom is right behind. So, You know, I'm proud of you guys. I'm proud of my nephew. Now, am I proud of my Kalymnian family that you guys
are keeping the heritage going, and people keep coming up to you guys to keep up the Greek heritage. What are what are you guys going to do the BOC like? Okay, Tarpon Springs, the sponge
docks. Yes. Keep the Greek heritage going. But we, the locals need to support the sponge docks to keep it going. We need to go, not wait for the tourists to go eat there. We
need to go there. There's a lady here that comes every time I see her. That takes care of Rose Cemetery. She goes and takes care of it. I mean, she's keeping up her heritage for Rose
Cemetery. So I feel that we need to do something with our heritage. There's a Greek school here that we need to send our kids. If we want to keep up our Greek heritage. There's a lot of
things that we can do if we want to specify Greek, we need to, you know, do it ourselves. And I know you guys can only as a BOC
can only do events or anything, but it's our responsibility as Greek Americans to attend these events and keep our Greek
heritage going, or the any other event that goes on in Tarpon Springs. So I just want to say that to we need to support our own people and not just wait for
the tourists, support the sponge docks, or support any. I went to First Friday this past Friday and I was amazed. You guys do an
absolutely amazing job. So that's what I want to see with the heritage. And when it comes to Greek, there's plenty of things we can do to support our Greek. I love being Greek, I, I
know the generation now is hard. They don't always want to do, but it's us to push our Greek community. We have an amazing church. They're getting more involved and that's all I have
to say. It's up to us, our individual people, not you guys always. Thank you. Mr. Speaker.
I just wanted to congratulate the new mayor and all the commissioners and on behalf. I'm sorry I didn't put my name. Harry Andropoulos. I'm the
president of the Saint Nicholas Cathedral, and I'm the mayor's neighbor. For many years, I just wanted to say that Saint Nicholas Cathedral, the Orthodox
faithful of Tarpon and I and Father Athanasius, look forward to working with the commission for all the events and everything else that we do here
in Tarpon. We congratulate you. We look forward to working with you as well. Thank you. Any
other comments? Well. I want to say in Greek, good evening. My
name is Maria Kulas. I live in 595 Peninsula Avenue. Congratulations, John Koulianos.
My son is Panagiotis Kulas and I'm blessed to have him as a son. I just want to say, you know, a few words about him. You
know, I don't know if I should have said it before, but I don't know how this works. So I'm coming up now. Panagiotis is a special kid. He was special from
the time he was in my stomach. In my belly. He carries a special name. Virgin Mary's name. They make two people
happy. The time we chose to give him this name, his father, because he was named after his father brother. They had five
girls and no son, and he also was named after Virgin Mary that I love. And I devoted my life to her, and she's protecting him
from a little kid. And I also chose. The day of the 25th is more of the Theotokos to heaven. I chose the day that I was going
to have him, and so he's been protected by Virgin Mary and Saint Michael and all the angels. He's really a strong minded kid. We never, never talk
in the house about politics in our lives. Never. And all of a sudden, and my son is running for city commissioner seat for I
knew at the time it was God's calling him, you know, willing. And I knew he was going to win.
And he won. And by the end of his term, he became a mayor, you know, in the town that he loved so much. He loves the whole
community, no matter if you're Greek or Spanish or black or white or whatever you are. He loves all the people you know, and he wants them, you know, to
all to feel together. You know, nobody is better than the other one, you know. And. I'm really happy that, you know, he has he
served the town for a little while, and God put him back to sit for that. He he has a calling for him. And I want you
all to remember something. This this town is special to God. His eyes. We are called Epiphany City. Every year in epiphany,
God communicate with all of us. Not only the Greeks, not only the Calvinists, but general, the whole world. So God has special
plans for this town, and soon his voice is going to be here. Everybody's going to hear his voice. It's a lot. It's a lot of good things happening to this
town and ahead of us. So the best is yet to come. And I'm very, very happy and very proud of my son. Panagiotis. And
everybody over here. You know, God has a calling for all of you. You are blessed because you are serving in a special time that's coming ahead of us. So
God bless you all. We love you very much and I want nothing but the best for everyone living in Tarpon Springs and the whole
world in America. Thank you. Guys. Good. Katie Taylor, 1991 Douglas Lane, Tarpon Springs.
Hi, Katie. Hi. Congratulations and farewell. But it's been great having you. You know, it was an experience and we kept the meeting short. So make sure you show him how to keep the
meeting short. Yeah, I got I got to learn that one. But I wanted to say that thank you for everything you've done and seem like we have a good team here now that's working toward things
in our community. We appreciate your support. Our communities appreciate you. We appreciate your support group. Appreciate your support. And Commissioner Koulianos, to make sure that you
have on your your first project is going to be the Splash Park Dorset. Don't forget the Splash park. So I'm putting it on record now. Have it part of your
project, the Splash park. Thank you and good luck. All right. Thank you. Anybody else? I think I think someone's coming. I
think somebody's coming, Mr. Belsky. Chris Hrabowski, 1602 Gulf Beach Boulevard, Tarpon
Springs, 34689. I just want to congratulate each one of you and you might not see me much in here. As you know, litigation is
effectively chilled my free speech. And until that has been adjudicated, I won't be speaking much at these meetings. So you'll at least have four extra
minutes or four less minutes taken up of your time. Truly, you guys have done a great job, and I especially want to tell
you sir, well done. Thank you sir. Good job. Thank you. Thank
you. Anyone else? Mr. Jump, is there anyone on zoom? Is that a
yes or no or. He said no. Okay. Zoom participant, please state your name. Board and Commissioner Peter, the lack of
514 Ashland Avenue. We would like to say congratulations to all the new board members. And I would remind you all that even though we are not there, we are
watching. But more importantly, God is watching. So you need to check your moral calendar, your moral character as far as how you make certain decisions going
forward. Thank you, Mayor Koulianos for mentioning blue zones and the ability for tarpon to reach that kingdom, because we're already on the way for
those types of steps. And I also want to thank you for mentioning taking care of the homeless, but moving them out of downtown across the river is not the answer. There are better options
and alternatives. Lastly, you spoke about private partnerships. I would again like to reiterate the possibility of using the Stauffer site as a
boat launch, a dump for our yard waste and mulch and all that stuff, and then a private partnership with a wood manufacturer to find a way to
get resource money out of our resources instead of paying to get rid of it. Thank you for your time. May you all be blessed to have good vision and
good thoughts as to how we direct the city going forward. Thank you for your time. God bless you all. Thank you Peter. Anyone else? Okay, if there's no
further comments, Mr. Jump any more, there are no more comments. Okay. If there's no further public comments, we're
going to move on to agenda item number one, okay. Resolution 2025, Dash 32, Appointment of
Vice Mayor. Okay. Let me start off on this on this topic. You know, when in doubt, I always go back to and I use this word all
the time. I call it clinical. You know, when we had to choose the. Who was going to be our
interim mayor to fill the remainder of the former mayor's time, I used that word clinical and I, I said that I thought we
should pick Commissioner Coolio's at that time. At that time, he was vice mayor because he was vice mayor. And as vice mayor, he should. When the mayor
leaves, the vice mayor should take over. It's just the way it is. I didn't want it to be a popularity contest. I wanted it to just be clinical, and that's
what it was. So with this, and I'd love to start off our term, our new term with A50 vote and
be clinical. And in that case, the vice mayor should be the ranking commissioner on the board. And that should be
Commissioner Eisner. I think he should should be our vice mayor. I think that, you know, he
besides the fact that he attends everything besides the fact that he was the only guy that had to run an election, which, you know, almost just give it to him out of, you know, he earned it.
But but he he is the ranking person. He is, attends everything. He works very hard. He is our representative at
Forward Pinellas, giving him any extra ranking that can help our community I think is well served. So I hope that the five
of us can come together, choose Commissioner Eisner, and move forward with in a positive way for starting our new term. So
with that, I guess the let's go down the row and let's start with with Commissioner Eisner.
So I thank you for your kind words. I would then nominate myself for vice mayor is what I think we have to do, as the rules of procedure. Is that
correct? Yes. Yes, sir. Now let's go to the Commissioner. Coolio's, I, I think we should do and this is something for us to consider. What we did at the
last time, when there was two years left. I don't know about splitting it evenly, but I think we should decide at least these first two years. And I have no problem supporting Commissioner
Eisner for the first year. I would like to be for the second year, and then however you would decide for the third. But it was good that, you know, we did that
even split come last time around where we both we all evenly split it. So if there's no desire, well, Commissioner Banther is not going to be on
after the second or third, but you're right, you're right. But so I would like to support the first two years be decided that Commissioner Eisner gets the one
year. Then I would get the second, just like you supported at the last meeting in which we all had to split it during that time. So these next two years are decided already, and there
should be no issue about it for the time being. Commissioner De Donato, I'm, I would, I would I
have several things I could say. But I'm going to play Switzerland. I'll, I'll be one of your five. Commissioner Banther. Yes. Well, it's no
mystery that Commissioner Eisner are not are not drinking buddies. I can tell you the man's got very thick skin. And when he was here next to me in the previous board, I enjoyed
our our sportsmanship banter back, back and forth. I think everyone up here is qualified to be a vice mayor. I think all of us have done it to my right. I think all of us have been vice
mayor. We got three mayors up here, which is kind of interesting too. I did it for two years. In my previous terms. I have no interest to be it now, so I will go with the mayor's
choice to help clear up with Commissioner. I always want to call you, and I'm sorry. That's fine. That's that's not, that's not, that's not that's not like appropriate. But is that I think
because this is this is only this board is only like valid for one year because myself and Frank will either come off or be reelected in a year. So it'll, it'll, it'll, it'll be a whole
new board. So I don't think you can pick a vice mayor for a future board that's yet to be seated. That's the only and I could be wrong, but that's my interpretation of that. Otherwise I'd have no problem
doing that. Okay, well, just I'm going to be mayor next year as well. Yeah, and I am going to stick with the clinical approach. This isn't going to be
a popularity contest. So, you know, I don't know who's going to be in the two flanking seats. But I'm going to stick to that
approach. So Commissioner Coolio's, obviously you would be the next guy up regardless. So I think we should just have that set in stone for these next two years. I think I agree with
Commissioner. I agree with Commissioner Banther, though I don't think we can that that next board should have a right to make its own choice. So I don't think we should make a
choice for a board that's that may possibly have different members, but I'll entertain whatever motion is made. I'll make a motion that the first
term that Vice Mayor Eisner be or Commissioner Eisner be selected as vice mayor for the first year and for the second year that I be selected as vice
mayor. Mayor, just for purposes, you have two motions on the floor. We have the first motion. We didn't hear if you received a
second. Oh, that's right. Okay. So Commissioner Eisner made the motion. Did we have a second on Commissioner Eisner's motion for Commissioner Eisner to be the
vice mayor for one year? Do I have a second? I will second it if you amend that motion to include that the second year, I will be the vice mayor during that second term, just like we
all agreed. Want some time before. We have I need to have a discussion, and I can't without
seconding that. So how do I get around that? Well, is there a second to Commissioner Eisner's motion for Commissioner Eisner to be the vice mayor for one year? Second. I'll second that.
Okay, so now we can have conversation. So let me just backtrack a little bit, because when we made the last decision,
it was a four month, four month, three month decision. Who came up with that crazy idea? You you
did so. It beat me up. It was so it was a decision that was made for one year. So I don't I
honestly don't have a problem in next year. Speaking and making Commissioner Gulyas a vice mayor
of next year. I just don't think we can vote on it now is my is my only drawback. Like I said, you know, with that we were we
were voting all for one year. What we did. Now we're trying to vote for two years and has been said by Commissioner Banther, you know, we're trying to vote now for two years when we don't
even know who would be on that board. Then I honestly, I as I sit here now, I have no problem, you know, making you the vice mayor next year. I don't know
what the other board members would or wouldn't do, but I would be the first to nominate you. Look, you've been a mayor. You've done a great job. You've been the vice mayor. You've done a great job. I would have no
problem with that. The only problem I had was I didn't really appreciate the transformation that the clerk had to do every 3 or 4 months
with changing the signatures and changing all that within a year, but it served the purpose for the time being. And I think if we went ahead and did the
approval of the vice mayor, now you have my commitment. I'll say it here publicly. I would be the first to nominate you to be the vice mayor on the next board. I
just don't think I have to ask the attorney, is this legally allowed to be done for the second year? Well, if you did it, the only thing I would tell you is that next year, the new
board could do something different. So while it has a basis of saying what you're going to do in the future, it does not bind the next board.
You can't bind. As Commissioner Banther said, you can't bind a future board. Well, that's why I brought this up. So I have no problem. If you want me to change the thing to where where
I nominate or I make a motion for myself and you for the second, if that makes you happy, I'm happy to do that. But as you heard, it doesn't really hold any clout for next, you know,
for the other board that comes in, it will hold clout for me because I'm a man of my word and I would have no problem with you. I had no problem with you being the mayor. I actually
nominated you for the mayor. So, you know, why wouldn't I nominate you for the vice mayor? So. So what do we have? So, as the motion. So what I what? I
had my mic on. You'll see. Mayor, what really happened was Vice Mayor Lunt resigned at the time. So we all ended up getting about five, six months each, which you know, that was a
headache. And honestly, to see somebody else, I mean, we have two potentially commissioners coming up who, unless it's commissioner are running again or somebody very qualified, I
don't know how we're just going to possibly even make them a vice mayor in their first year here. So we've done it before. It's basically just locking in the first year, the first two
years, I think Commissioner Eisner and myself have earned that right, being US members back on the board again and locking it in. And I think it's, you know, transparent. And that
final year, if we'll have somebody who's we'll have two people who potentially had their experience in there. And, you know, if it comes to a point where it needs to be changed, it
should be. But just like we did before to solidify this situation, Commissioner Eisner would get the first year, I would love to get the second year. Then we'll focus on that third one when it comes, just like we agreed upon and we've
done before as a commission. I have no problem amending the motion. Okay. Is there a second on this amendment? I'll second it. Okay. Roll call. Wait, wait.
Can we wait? Procedurally, the second term needs to take the amendment. You have an amendment. You made the first he
made. He amended it. Right. Commissioner Banther seconded. I believe just for Eisner. Right. But then he amended his motion. Right. And the question is, are you accepting that my second
because. Commissioner. Seconded. Okay. Okay. So let's just let's go to roll call. No, wait a minute. Now. We're the water's been muddied. I have no idea what the motion really is. And
the motion is where we are. Commissioner Eisner will be the mayor. The vice mayor for one year. We are, in essence,
recommending Commissioner Gulyas to be the vice mayor of the second year. Obviously, you'll have to be ratified by the next board. There you go. Well, I
just just for the record, this has nothing to do with anybody up here. As Commissioner Banther said, we've all had that, that, that, that title. I don't want
it, I don't need it. But I want to tell. I just want to say I have never heard the term vice mayor mentioned so many times in
the last year, and I've been around in politics as far as seniority, I think longer than anybody else. And I, I just, I just want us all. Mayor, you talked about the five of us
trying to come together. If we're going to do that, let's do that. Let's. Mayor, you have one vote. Each of us have one vote.
And if we're going to come together, we're going to come together. And if we're not, we're not. But we all have a job
to do up here is all I'm trying to say. And let's just like I told you in the beginning when I first got here, it's agree to disagree, but move forward. You know, next year is next year.
You know Commissioner Barnier I don't even know if we'll be here. We may we may not. But the point is let's just go forward. Let's let's just work together.
That's all I'm trying to say. Okay. Can I go to roll call now? Let's go. Commissioner Banther.
Yes Commissioner DiDonato. Yes, Commissioner. Coolio's. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes, mayor. Colleoni's. Yes. With
that, let's go to board and staff comments. So let's go to staff. Chief. Congratulations, mayor, vice mayor, board of
commissioners, everybody. Thank you, thank you, city attorney. Looking forward to working with the new board. Congratulations to everyone. Thank you. City
Manager. Just congratulations everyone. Looking forward to the coming year. City clerk again, congratulations. However, we need to do a presentation that
was skipped. We have to do one. Commissioner has to make a presentation that was skipped. Yes. Special presentation. Oh,
yes we do. And here we go. Come on. Forward here. Mayor, please
step forward. We got our mic. Right. Okay. More gifts.
Oh. Yeah. Oh, I don't got to pay to the consent now. Now you do.
You follow. All right. Wow. Nice cool stuff. I know this is the one that goes home. No, that's
not going. No, this is your this is your hammer slammer. I thought I got the generic one over here. No, that was for the. You know, that was for my interim. So that was for the
backup. So it's an honor to present and speak in front as we welcome our new mayor, John Collins. And he's a man of this
community, a family man. We go back way before the politics, you know, as he was my financial advisor, my CPA, you know, so he
looked out for me many times. So this is really a community in which, you know, we all know each other and we're here to support each other. And so we
have a couple gifts to give you. Wow. First is your mayor pin. Nice. Yes. And you probably have to ask for one more because I
lost one and I needed the city clerk to give me another one. I didn't last a week with my commissioner. Right. So we have that. Yeah. And we also have
this is this is your slammer. This is your look at this gavel. I have a feeling I'll be using it on you a lot. I'm so. You ain't got that reach so good.
No, we have the gavel. And thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you for so much. And your willingness not just for, you know, local government, but or not just for the board of commissioners, but many years of
service to the city of Tarpon Springs, through many organizations and many volunteer hours. So it goes a long ways. Thank you, mayor, for being
gracious. It's the office is clean for you. I saw it is ready to go. You know what I mean? So but I'm coming in to have some coffee whenever I want, anytime, anytime. Okay, let's take a
little picture and give him a round of applause, please.
Congratulations. Thanks. All right. Sorry with that.
Drag these things out. Okay. How about board comments, Commissioner Banther? Yes. Thank you. I want to give some
congratulations tonight. I've already said my kind words to the former mayor now, so thank you again. Mayor. It's a pleasure to have you here. I think you're the right man for
the job. I very much liked everything you said. I think the initiatives you have coming forward, especially stormwater, are going to be very important. I think no one in this room will
forget that fateful night in September, when we saw the waters rise on our streets. I'm my streets, not waterfront. And it took on a lot of water. So I think that's a very important thing to move forward. And I
think Tarpons, Tarpons, Tarpon is lucky to have you. So thank you very much for serving. Thank you. And Commissioner Eisner again, I love good sportsmanship and I know you do too. I enjoyed sitting next to you here for the
past six months and our friendly, competitive banter back and forth. Appropriate, of course, and I'm sure we'll still be able to get some some of our
fun times together. And Frank, I know wasn't your night to be elected, but thank you. You, Frank, you ran for mayor. But before I could even vote. Stop,
stop. Okay. All right. Sorry. So I have a lot of respect for you. And I hope when I'm your age, I am. I have half your mental ability, so thank you. And it's a pleasure to serve here for
another year. I obviously, I've been in kind of a substitute teacher role up here. I served two terms prior and came back to fill. Now former mayor. And now
I'm now I'm filling the current mayor's seat. So I'm just following the mayor's around. And in a year time, we'll we'll see what happens. But it's a
pleasure to be here. Thank you. Commissioner de Donato. Yeah. I want to congratulate both of you, Commissioner. Kudos. And you did a great job as mayor.
You stepped forward. I appreciate that, and I know that the city does. As for you, sir, I know where you're going with this. And I will do my part to
support and move our city forward. I'm proud for you, mayor. I'm looking forward to accomplishing every one of those things that you said. Every one
of them. I like the blue zone a lot. It's hard to do. It's not an easy thing, but it's it would benefit everyone in this community. Everyone. So. Proud
of where we've been and proud of where we're going and excited about it as well. So thank you all. Vice mayor. Me already. I
won't bring out that big read that I had, but I do want to thank Mayor Coolio's. You did an amazing job. As everybody has said, I was very proud to work
with you. I didn't know how you were going to start off, but, you know, you did really step up to the plate. I mean, I could count like just a couple of
little errors here or there. Otherwise you were flawless. I mean, and those were like just, you know, just being new, but you really did a good job. And, you know, you've heard that from
everybody. You know, just don't let it go to your head. No, you know I know. Mayor, I appreciate your kind words. I appreciate working with you. I will also
hold you to all those things that you said and make sure that, well, I'll. I'll work with you. Yeah. Listen, you know, I'm at every function, every ribbon cutting. Tomorrow morning I
will. Tomorrow afternoon I'll be at Forward Pinellas. They have a meeting and I'm glad they have it both in the same week. It gives me two weeks off of
meetings every month, so I do want to want everybody to know that I do represent tarpon in. We have now a voice where one of
I'm one of 19 on a board, and I'm pretty sure most of you that know me, I'm not a silent butterfly, so I make sure that
talking is heard and I represent us loudly, and they're good at it. They understand who I am and I understand who they are. I do want to thank my campaign
manager, who was just amazing. I look, I was the only one that had to run. You were there for me and I appreciate all that you
did. We won. So I thank you. I thank all of the people in Tarpon that have had the confidence and the willingness
to help me and help the town move forward. Of course, I think I was the better choice, and I know you thought I was the better choice, and I also wanted
to say that, you know, I don't know if many people know eight days before the surgery, you know, before the surge of water, I had surgery and I really was
not able to do very much except try to advise people who had floods and whatnot, since it's been my history. But my wife, who's been flawless for 19 years
with putting up with me and my campaign manager, just did an amazing job in getting the word out there because I just I just couldn't do that. And I tried to
do what I could do. The cards fell well, and all I could guarantee to you is that I will do my darndest work hard to make
everybody proud and to do and move the city forward to the best of my ability. And I just want to thank this board, the staff, the city manager will be
there for the promotions for the police. And I just look forward to, you know, our next meeting where we actually get something done rather than just all
compliment each other. So but thank you. Thank you for what you know, for the support, I appreciate it. Thank you. Mayor.
Yes, I just want to say first I want to am I going to have to use. Go ahead. You didn't want to try. You almost forgot me. Yeah. Commissioner Banther, I just want to thank you for
running again. You've. You have been, in fact, the utility knife, which is a very great thing. I know it's, you know, as we come on, you got, you know,
moved from spot to spot. We got the one year left, you know, first coming on the scene. You know, I didn't necessarily see eye to eye with, with Commissioner Banther. But I'll tell you what. He's a hell of a
guy. He's a stand up man. He's got whatever he wants. The people respect him in this community. He does a great job looking out for everyone, and I'm happy I can sit beside him,
get some workout tips and some dieting coach on my macro stuff because it's, you know, I haven't been good at it, so I appreciate it. Commissioner Banther Commissioner, Vice Mayor
Eisner, I want to thank you for running another campaign. You know, the people, the people supported you. You know, I openly did as well because I thought you were the best to
help us with this commission and get where we need to go. You know, you've not too many have done what you've done. Do you know. So coming in it's
respected and we can't thank you enough. Frank. You're you're solid as they come, sir. We appreciate that year you got with us, you know. And I know you're going to be good to go.
And mayor, you're, you're you're going to do awesome. It's going to be great. I tell you, the first thing in get a cup of coffee with Trish, I know you're going to have some cups of coffee with all the guests that
are going to come in to speak with you. You know, you'll have those little notes on your desk from residents who they don't want to talk to, the commissioners, they want to talk to the mayor. And so you'll do
your best just to mediate them, get that out the way, and then, you know, you'll be doing all the great stuff. So enjoy that office. I enjoyed it so much. You're going to do so great. And you know, just just let it flow.
Be you and it's all going to work out. So congratulations sir. Thank you, thank you, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Okay. So I think we said
enough I am again proud to serve for the next three years as your mayor. I meant what I said when I said that if you want to see
me, you call City hall. You get on the agenda, you get on my schedule, you come on up. I'm going to have I haven't formulated exactly what my
schedule will be. I don't know, but I'm going to try to block in as many appointments as possible and. And just come up and talk
to me. And again, I don't I don't have all the answers. I don't none of us do. But, you know, the thing is, there's five of us here and even this, you know, you see, it's awkward at
times. Even this thing with vice mayor and the two years and the one year and all that. But that's the way it's supposed to work. It's supposed to be a little messy. That's how government works. That's how we
get stuff done. Even last week, when miraculous, you know, oversaw all that stuff about the food truck. And we went all back and forth and it looked like it was just a mess. But we came
together with something. Commissioner Eisner helped a lot, and we came together and we got something passed. And that's
how government should work. So when you see us getting a little junky up here, that's okay. It's, you know, and you know, and along the way we're going to
try to have a little bit of fun as well, because I think it's important that the community see that we can handle things and that we're calm and that, you
know, we can have some levity because we're going to have tough times. You know, we we're going to have to make hard financial choices. We're going to have to, again, deal with some serious issues like
stormwater and stuff. But along the way, we need to let the community know that we're here. We can make hard decisions and we hear them. And that's the
most important that we hear. We hear you. So always feel free to reach out to any one of us. You know, we're we're all your ears
up here. So anyways, with that, let's go home. Meeting adjourned 856. Thank you. I'm all for
that. You said some very nice things to me, you know.