[7:21] >> good evening and welcome.

[7:24] this is a big crowd, wow.

[7:27] for those of

[7:28] you who have not attended a city council meeting,

[7:35] recently or ever before, just a couple

[7:36] of basic housekeeping roles. I

[7:37] ask you to check your phone right now

[7:41] . Make sure that it's not going to

[7:42] ring, okay? And

[7:45] then the second thing is there's

[7:46] only one conversation going on at

[7:47] a time. It's either going to be up

[7:48] here amongst

[7:49] councilmembers or it's going to be

[7:51] whoever has the floor up here

[7:55] with that microphone so if you feel

[7:57] the need to have a side

[7:59] conversation, that's fine. Just get

[8:00] up and exit

[8:02] into the lobby, please. That is the two

[8:03] basic rules. With that,

[8:06] this meeting is now called to order.

[8:09] there are plenty of seats that I

[8:10] still see vacant if anyone wants them.

[8:15] this meeting is called to order.

[8:17] we will be starting with the invocation

[8:18] given by councilmember jackson.

[8:21] and that will be followed by the pledge

[8:24] of allegiance, so please rise.

[8:27] >> hi, everyone.

[8:30] my invocation this evening is a quote from

[8:31] bob where who recently

[8:33] passed away.

[8:36] I think if

[8:38] people value democracy they had done well

[8:39] get out

[8:42] and exercise their right to vote while

[8:43] their

[8:44] vote still means something. [ applause ]

[8:48] >>

[8:50] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america

[8:51] and to the republic

[8:52] for which it stands, one nation under god,

[8:54] indivisible, with liberty and justice for

[8:57] all.

[9:06] >> I just

[9:09] need to make mention,

[9:12] I

[9:13] appreciate that the invocation went

[9:15] over well but also in this dais we

[9:18] do not who or clap. We zip it.

[9:20] I know a lot of people don't know

[9:21] that so I'm not trying

[9:23] to be--that's the way the rules are.

[9:27] with that in mind, rollcall

[9:28] please?

[9:29] >> on some of jackson? Here.

[9:30] council member earley?

[9:33] councilmember shaw? Vice mayor thanos?

[9:36] mayor love? City

[9:39] manager? City clerk?

[9:42] present.

[9:43] >> with that, tonight we

[9:45] have a special presentation. If any

[9:48] of you have ever donated to

[9:51] operation santa we have had one person in charge of

[9:54] this

[9:57] running the show for a very

[9:59] long time. I imagine she will tell me exactly how

[10:00] many years. I only know 22

[10:03] for sure but I think you might insist

[10:04] that it

[10:05] be more so I'm going to ask francine

[10:06] whitten to come up

[10:09] and she will receive an award.

[10:12] [ applause ]

[10:34] >> how many years?

[10:37] >> 34. [ applause ]

[10:52] >>

[10:54] 34 years of making sure that kids

[10:55] in gulfport

[10:59] had christmas and that a special gift from your

[11:01] staff that said you would

[11:04] understand. From the clerk.

[11:10] >> may I talk?

[11:18] >> yes. >> it's been 34 years and it's not

[11:19] just me. I

[11:20] cannot do it without the police department,

[11:21] the fire department, and all the people

[11:22] that donated.

[11:23] gulfport, we are a good, hard group

[11:28] . A loving group, and

[11:29] next year will be 35 years. So, we've

[11:31] got to do it.

[11:32] >> thank

[11:34] you. [ applause ]

[11:40] >> all right. That's great to

[11:42] start out that way. Even though I

[11:44] said no applause I'm trying to make

[11:45] the point no applause and no booing

[11:49] , that was an exception.

[11:51] moving on then, we are proud to have

[11:58] cheryl

[11:59] from the homeless leadership alliance

[12:01] and she is going to

[12:04] give us a presentation on

[12:05] where we are at, what she's doing and how

[12:07] we can make a difference. Thank

[12:10] you for being here.

[12:13] >> thank you mayor love and

[12:14] councilmembers for allowing me to

[12:15] speak on the state of homelessness

[12:16] in pinellas county tonight. I have

[12:19] got to say that

[12:21] the energy and enthusiasm in this room is pretty amazing

[12:22] and I

[12:23] don't know that I can match it I'm going to

[12:25] try.

[12:28] I came in tonight to talk

[12:29] about the 2025 point in time count

[12:31] held annually and is

[12:33] required every two years by the housing and urban development

[12:37] , us department of

[12:40] housing and urban development.

[12:42] kathleen beckman who is our chair

[12:43] could not be with us tonight,

[12:49] so you have me, but who are we?

[12:58] >> left click.

[13:01] >> who we are, the pinellas continual care

[13:04] and homeless leadership alliance ,

[13:07] for the

[13:10] coc, is a

[13:11] countywide network throughout pinellas. It

[13:13] can be in all kinds of

[13:16] configurations, not all

[13:19] our county

[13:21] but there is one everywhere throughout

[13:22] the nation and we bring together funding,

[13:23] providers,

[13:24] community members who care, anyone

[13:25] who has a

[13:28] desire to reduce and

[13:30] end homelessness. We establish local policies

[13:31] and priorities

[13:34] that go across systems

[13:37] and that is where we focus,

[13:39] on that systems level with all that input

[13:40] . We also

[13:43] have elected officials on

[13:45] our board as well so the homeless leadership

[13:46] alliance, we serve as

[13:49] the lead agency and apply

[13:52] for funding on behalf of the coc and pinellas county which

[13:55] is typically an annual process.

[13:57] this year we've had three different notices

[13:58] of funding opportunities

[14:03] since thanksgiving so it has been

[14:04] a very interesting holiday period.

[14:07] I am due for a vacation.

[14:10] but three of them so far, the first was withdrawn,

[14:13] major priority differences from

[14:16] the past. Major changes,

[14:19] I really have no comment about that

[14:20] other

[14:21] than just the timing. Pretty disruptive and quick

[14:25] . That was

[14:26] withdrawn, the second was under court

[14:28] review and could not

[14:33] really be fully put out there and

[14:34] it still hanging over us and then

[14:35] we

[14:36] have a third one recently that came through the

[14:37] first week of

[14:40] january that will revert back to

[14:42] what we were expecting to begin with

[14:43] and that is basically

[14:46] to not have to do an application so

[14:47] we can

[14:48] get on to the business of planning.

[14:49] we also as a lead agency house

[14:51] all the information across all providers

[14:52] who serve

[14:54] people who are experiencing homelessness

[14:58] and again,

[14:59] it's a coordinated effort. We coordinate the

[15:03] point in time count every year which is january

[15:04] 29 all day.

[15:05] many shifts available and we also support

[15:07] providers

[15:10] . We support funders

[15:15] too, we get them together but we support providers

[15:16] through federal and state funding

[15:18] and some local funding processes.

[15:20] so, the 2025

[15:23] point in time count,

[15:26] I want to say pinellas is

[15:29] special. We have an extensive

[15:30] and in-depth report that we create every year.

[15:32] we work

[15:33] with a consultant, a researcher and author

[15:35] who

[15:36] is part of our continue one. Very active

[15:41] in our data performance committee

[15:43] and he helps put that together in

[15:44] conjunction with our team.

[15:47] hud

[15:51] in our reports so it is something

[15:52] that others talk about, they look at,

[15:59] and incredible information.

[16:00] it is pretty lengthy right now and we are going to work on

[16:01] that some more but it is available

[16:02] on

[16:04] the website if you want to look at that in

[16:05] more depth. But other

[16:07] ways we go above and beyond in this

[16:10] annual snapshot, it's like a census

[16:11] of

[16:14] homelessness in the community. Includes

[16:17] not only what is required,

[16:20] who

[16:21] is in an emergency shelter, who is

[16:23] living on the streets on

[16:24] sheltered, but it also includes jail

[16:26] data and school data as well

[16:32] so

[16:34] it is a very big effort and we are

[16:35] proud of it. But we

[16:36] take that information understanding

[16:37] it is a census, it's not going to be

[16:38] exact,

[16:40] like any census would not be and in fact it's actually

[16:46] an excellent way for community building, to

[16:47] get in front of somebody that

[16:48] you may not have a conversation with.

[16:51] you have a structured conversation so

[16:53] you don't have to think

[16:54] about what to say, and meet a neighbor

[16:55] and learn more about, getting past

[16:59] some stereotypes and myths

[17:01] that may be out there and connect

[17:02] with an

[17:04] individual or a few. That is something

[17:05] that

[17:08] we are proud of. So overall findings,

[17:09] for sheltered homelessness, those

[17:14] are people who are

[17:15] in transitional housing or emergency shelter.

[17:16] they are not in a permanent housing situation.

[17:18] they are still in the crisis homelessness

[17:23] system.

[17:26] we had 1325 people back in 2025 and

[17:29] for on sheltered homeless that literally

[17:31] means living in a place not suitable for human habitation.

[17:35] 538 people were surveyed

[17:40] so that is a total of 1863 people

[17:41] that the hud and

[17:44] the state of florida considered

[17:47] to be literally homeless.

[17:52] in pinellas county there were 125

[17:53] people and they follow the

[17:54] same criteria that we use for hud.

[17:56] and ellis county schools which

[17:59] is a little different

[18:00] because this is cumulative, it's also

[18:02] very telling because it is a cumulative count.

[18:05] and it

[18:06] is reported by teachers and counselors,

[18:08] people who have relationships with

[18:09] students and

[18:10] families, where people may not be hiding.

[18:14] the

[18:15] important thing is I want to note

[18:20] that it's not the same type and doesn't cover

[18:21] the same type of criteria as hud requires. Not

[18:23] only is it

[18:25] cumulative but includes any student

[18:26] who is

[18:29] doubled up, couch surfing

[18:32] . No, it's number of

[18:34] students, sorry. So we would not consider

[18:35] them literally homeless but for these purposes, definitely

[18:41] unstable

[18:42] housing. There were 3623 students and

[18:44] that's 4% of the student

[18:47] body in pinellas county. And 113 were on sheltered

[18:53] --on

[18:54] sheltered and that was between august

[18:56] 10 and january 27 which was the day

[18:59] of the last count. So,

[19:01] some interesting news. When we hear

[19:05] these days about what homelessness

[19:08] is, who is unhoused

[19:11] , what the reasons are, and

[19:16] the on affordability of housing across the nation,

[19:19] it's really interesting to see that

[19:20] there has been a decrease

[19:25] from last year, and again, census,

[19:26] not perfect.

[19:32] there's a 12% overall

[19:34] decrease from 2024. There was a 25% decrease of

[19:35] the number of on sheltered

[19:38] and a 5% decrease of sheltered

[19:41] but there are some caveats

[19:44] and that is that we had 122 viewer

[19:50] --fewer volunteers. We

[19:52] had two hurricanes, a lot of volunteers

[19:53] work in emergency management, for

[19:54] providers and

[19:56] for the county so they are on task during that time.

[20:02] as

[20:04] we are, as well. That was one thing.

[20:05] we also had the anti-camping bill

[20:07] that was passed so you had people

[20:08] who may not

[20:11] have been as visible

[20:14] and may not have been able to answer

[20:15] questions. We've done

[20:16] a lot of education and listening this

[20:18] last year

[20:19] for people with lived experience trying

[20:20] to get out into the community and

[20:21] people

[20:22] that are connected, to make sure people understand that

[20:27] their data

[20:28] are not being shared, they can refuse to answer any question

[20:30] and still move on,

[20:31] and to participate because it really

[20:33] does help bring

[20:34] funding into the county and into this area.

[20:42] on the positive side, those

[20:43] are the what could be, what have resulted

[20:45] in lower numbers but on the

[20:46] positive side we have been consistently

[20:47] trending down since 2016. We will

[20:48] see if that keeps up

[20:51] but we have been

[20:52] consistently trending down and a lot

[20:54] of that has to do with programs,

[20:57] better street outreach now,

[20:59] and we had significant increases in

[21:00] funding from the state

[21:03] for prevention and

[21:05] diversion which, that makes all the

[21:06] difference. Once someone is

[21:09] evicted or they've been living

[21:10] on the street for a while it takes

[21:12] a lot more

[21:15] work to get someone re-housed

[21:18] . We also had more

[21:20] rapid rehousing projects out there

[21:21] which was very

[21:22] helpful. And then finally hurricane displacement.

[21:24] ever

[21:26] since covid we've noticed there has

[21:27] been

[21:29] a drop of people like who may have left

[21:30] and we haven't

[21:33] seen them come back. So

[21:35] for various reasons that may exist. On sheltered

[21:39] by municipality.

[21:41] I'm not going to go through all of

[21:42] that

[21:43] because we only care about gulfport tonight

[21:45] but nearby

[21:46] areas you can see everyplace has gone

[21:48] down except for clearwater

[21:54] has ticked up a bit.

[21:57] 2018

[21:58] four individuals, did not have account

[22:00] in 2021 and the last two years

[22:03] 0 have been counted.

[22:06] some of that has to do with where we

[22:07] have

[22:08] deployments and volunteers and all

[22:09] of that but also note that there

[22:12] are some good street

[22:14] outreach efforts and good work with

[22:15] providers that

[22:18] have resulted in good change.

[22:19] but that just shows you from 2018 - 2025.

[22:27] so who is affected?

[22:30] we've definitely

[22:31] seen an increase in older adults. At 62+,

[22:33] and in

[22:36] fact we have targeted

[22:37] 62 - 65 to really track that because

[22:42] it is at

[22:43] that age right before social security

[22:45] may or may not hit

[22:47] , when people are beginning to show

[22:48] up more in these

[22:51] shelters or on the streets.

[22:54] we had an increase

[22:59] in sheltered and on sheltered veterans. However we are

[23:00] almost at functional

[23:02] 0 when it comes to people coming in

[23:03] versus going out. This year

[23:06] there is a surge event with

[23:08] the veterans administration and other

[23:09] providers and partners

[23:12] on the same day

[23:14] so if someone is being surveyed at

[23:15] that

[23:16] time and they are a veteran immediately they

[23:18] are going over, they are going to be

[23:19] given like rapid housing, very quickly.

[23:24] there were 189 survivors of domestic violence

[23:27] , black and african

[23:30] american individuals make up 38%

[23:32] of the homeless population in pinellas

[23:33] county but only 11%

[23:36] of the population. 76%

[23:42] were sheltered families. Some of that could

[23:43] be because of where our targeted outreach is.

[23:48] it

[23:49] happens to match up with where we

[23:51] see other disparities ,

[23:56] and that correlate with race. 41%

[23:57] of homeless students reported by

[24:00] pinellas county schools are

[24:03] black or african american, that large number I

[24:06] gave earlier.

[24:08] and then 494 people experiencing chronic

[24:09] homelessness, that means

[24:11] being literally homeless for at least

[24:12] a

[24:13] year or having multiple episodes that

[24:18] equal out to be 12 months.

[24:21] but also most of the homeless

[24:26] , unhoused neighbors that we encounter

[24:27] are males and all of this checks

[24:29] out with data that we collect throughout

[24:30] the year and not just in the census.

[24:39] 76% were on sheltered and 62% were sheltered.

[24:48] we think about

[24:51] primary classes.

[24:54] it's drugs, it's alcohol,

[24:57] it's mental illness.

[25:00] chicken and egg in some ways

[25:03] , but there are people with

[25:05] substance use issues who are housed,

[25:09] many, actually.

[25:11] the primary causes, and it's not that

[25:18] those don't play

[25:20] a part but the primary causes are

[25:21] financial and job loss, number one

[25:22] at

[25:23] 40%. Number two, medical issues and that

[25:24] does not include mental health, it

[25:26] has to do with you can't work because of a medical

[25:27] issue or because of

[25:30] debt. Family issues, 14%

[25:33] and 10% because

[25:35] of eviction or foreclosure. Those

[25:36] with the primaries 1 1/5 one would have been

[25:37] natural

[25:38] disasters from the hurricanes. It's

[25:39] just interesting that what we think

[25:41] or what we hear doesn't always play

[25:43] out in the data.

[25:46] so some housing market pressures

[25:51] , there are fewer than 26 affordable

[25:54] housing units per 100 extremely low income renters.

[25:58] that

[26:01] in our area

[26:02] is incredible. We just don't have

[26:04] enough housing

[26:05] stock and especially not for the group

[26:10] of lower income folks that we

[26:11] have. 46% of households in pinellas county live below,

[26:16] if you've heard of alice, the

[26:17] asset limited income constrained and employed.

[26:21] the alice report. Suncoast of united way put it out

[26:23] along with another group and what's interesting is

[26:28] suncoast and all the

[26:29] counties that it covers, pinellas county

[26:34] is the most income constrained

[26:36] and the highest cost for a family of

[26:43] 4 to live to make it

[26:44] with their budget, no savings, no

[26:46] vacation, just to make it. A family

[26:49] of four with a baby

[26:50] and a toddler is $108,000 a year so

[26:52] when

[26:53] we are looking at an actual survival budget, we

[26:55] are not looking at people who--

[26:56] these are nurses, these are teachers,

[27:01] retail workers. Think

[27:04] about where our jobs are

[27:06] and where the economy is at. Where

[27:07] the

[27:09] workers are, and there's not housing

[27:10] for the workers.

[27:13] that's one reason why

[27:16] as a continuum we've been very

[27:17] intentional reaching out to chambers

[27:18] of commerce, to business leaders and

[27:19] we finally have made some movement there

[27:22] very recently because it

[27:23] really is going to take more than just

[27:25] the crisis

[27:26] homeless system to solve this. It's

[27:28] a full community effort.

[27:31] and then we also know

[27:34] that rising rent place working

[27:35] households at increased risk of housing instability.

[27:40] what is working?

[27:43] strong street outreach

[27:45] . We have street outreach workers

[27:48] who have behavioral health backgrounds

[27:51] with behavioral health providers ,

[27:52] who also

[27:54] partner with law enforcement. We have

[27:55] a very

[27:56] good relationship with law enforcement

[27:58] is especially with the county

[28:01] and we have

[28:03] more case managers at safe harbor which

[28:04] is a jail diversion shelter

[28:10] and we are just still

[28:13] trying to figure out,

[28:19] are you jail diversion or

[28:20] emergency shelter? But it serves as the

[28:22] lowest barrier shelter that is available right now

[28:23] and there

[28:24] are more case managers and supports

[28:25] being provided there are.

[28:26] through a contract with the county

[28:27] we were supplying one diversion specialist

[28:31] and then the strong coordination across providers and funders

[28:37] and something we've

[28:38] experienced lately, local governments getting

[28:40] together as well as funders

[28:41] and people with lived experience.

[28:43] when I talked about those

[28:44] opportunities that came out we had

[28:46] to have many emergency meetings over the holidays

[28:49] to

[28:50] really iron out some details and backfill

[28:52] some funds that may go missing and

[28:53] put some people with disabilities

[28:57] unhoused, really. Chronic disabilities.

[29:00] those are areas that are working and

[29:04] that will continue to work

[29:06] or at least reduce harm if there are major changes

[29:10] that come along the way.

[29:16] I talked about this a little bit earlier but I'm going to recap

[29:19] it, hud

[29:21] is the priorities and funding policies,

[29:26] they may drastically change and we

[29:28] did get wind of it and started to

[29:29] do

[29:30] some planning around that but we didn't

[29:31] know exactly what we were looking

[29:32] at until

[29:33] the funding opportunity dropped november 13.

[29:37] it was a

[29:39] lot more restrictive than what we

[29:40] thought. So

[29:43] 70% of our portfolio

[29:49] goes into programs for survivors of domestic

[29:51] violence or it goes into permanent supportive housing

[29:52] or rapid rehousing.

[29:54] those were considered permanent housing

[29:55] options and limited to 30%.

[29:58] they cover 76% of our portfolio

[30:04] . So we've

[30:06] had to quickly switch and figure out ways to backfill

[30:12] and now there is stronger emphasis

[30:13] on public safety, coordination with

[30:14] law

[30:15] enforcement, transitional housing or shorter-term crisis

[30:19] support, required supports and services

[30:20] and rejection of harm

[30:22] reduction strategies

[30:25] and housing first principles

[30:30] which we have found, work. So some

[30:31] things to take note of.

[30:34] we will see. Things change. All the

[30:36] time now we are living in a period

[30:37] of rapid change and

[30:40] disruption so opportunities

[30:47] , my last slide.

[30:48] opportunities for partnership and

[30:49] representation. We have two board

[30:53] seats

[30:55] reserved for those who don't have funding

[30:59] coming correct

[31:00] -- directive from hud. We have two seats

[31:05] and would love

[31:10] for gulfport, if they are appointed,

[31:11] and we

[31:12] just have a vote of confidence. If

[31:13] anyone would like to represent gulfport

[31:14] from

[31:15] this body that would be amazing and

[31:17] we would love to welcome you and we

[31:18] need your voice. And it's a way to

[31:20] have a voice along with

[31:22] the other players making those policies.

[31:28] >> are you only looking for elected

[31:29] officials

[31:30] to be on your board? Because we've

[31:32] got a whole room full

[31:33] of peers.

[31:34] >> everyone can become a member.

[31:37] >> so be sure to be clear when you say

[31:40] your phone number, how they reach

[31:41] out to you?

[31:42] >>

[31:47] so

[31:50] pinellascoc.org\join.

[31:58] we have sliding scales for individual

[31:59] memberships but if someone has lived

[32:00] experience it goes down to 0. For

[32:02] this particular board seat it is for

[32:03] elected officials so it's a little

[32:05] bit different but it does

[32:06] cover the entire municipality, as well.

[32:12] that's odd that there are no questions

[32:14] and if

[32:15] there's any questions we welcome them.

[32:17] >> we appreciate you coming out

[32:19] and explaining it to us and I am serious when

[32:20] I

[32:22] say we do have a room full of potential volunteers even if they

[32:23] can't

[32:26] sit on the board, want to

[32:27] make sure that they can reach out to you.

[32:32] >> how do you count people

[32:35] living in their cars?

[32:36] >> they are on sheltered.

[32:38] literally homeless.

[32:41] >>

[32:44] I volunteer for the food

[32:47] reach program for kids, I don't

[32:49] know if you've heard for it but I deliver

[32:53] to a lot of the same people. A lot

[32:54] of people tell me they recently quit

[32:56] their job because the level

[32:57] of help that they can receive based

[32:59] on what they make just cancels

[33:02] it right out so they could be home

[33:03] with

[33:04] their kids instead of sending them

[33:05] to daycare. Is the threshold of your paycheck

[33:08] too high to account

[33:11] for any help such as

[33:14] vouchers?

[33:15] >>

[33:17] so,

[33:19] there are various programs because

[33:20] it's government, they all come

[33:22] out with different levels, but typically 80%

[33:26] of the area median income is where it tops out.

[33:32] if you look at the alice report

[33:34] it looks like it needs to be a little bit

[33:38] higher.

[33:39] >> thank you. >> thank

[33:40] you so much, cheryl. My email address is up

[33:46] there as well.

[33:47] >> thank you. >> if

[33:48] you have an

[33:49] open seat next to you these raise

[33:50] your hand because we still have people

[33:52] standing in the back. Very good. All

[33:53] right, our

[33:56] next presentation will be chief mary

[33:57] farrand

[33:59] on bicycle safety.

[34:05] >> good evening.

[34:08] >> good evening.

[34:13] >> so, we actually put together a

[34:14] video for bike safety.

[34:20] justin

[34:21] did most of the heavy lifting. Forgive

[34:23] me, I'm just recovering from

[34:26] a cold. And donovan, I think he is here,

[34:32] he did a lot of the heavy lifting for

[34:33] this video. So without further

[34:35] ado .

[34:36] >>

[34:37] hello, my name is mary farrand. I

[34:38] am the police chief with

[34:39] the city of gulfport police department.

[34:41] whether you ride for

[34:43] fun, fitness or transportation your

[34:44] safety is our top

[34:46] priority. E bike riders have the same

[34:51] rights and responsibilities as bicycle

[34:53] riders. So ride smart and

[34:54] stay alert. Make yourself visible. Wear

[34:56] a helmet use front and

[34:59] rear lights.

[35:04] where light-colored and reflective

[35:05] clothing especially at dawn, dusk, or

[35:06] night.

[35:08] never assume that drivers see

[35:10] you. Wait until all lanes have stopped before crossing.

[35:11] look

[35:13] twice, then look again. Drivers are required to stop

[35:19] but not everyone is paying attention. Follow

[35:20] the rules of the road. Stop

[35:22] at stop signs, ride with traffic,

[35:23] obey speed limits, and remember. Motorized

[35:26] vehicles including e bikes

[35:28] are not allowed inside city parks.

[35:32] bike smart, ride safe.

[35:35] safety starts with you.

[35:38] >>

[35:41] very nice.

[35:44] >> any questions? >> we will go in speaking order.

[35:50] >> I have no questions, thank you.

[35:51] >> I don't,

[35:52] either.

[35:53] >> so what's the illegal thing

[35:54] about riding on the sidewalk?

[35:56] >> on the

[35:59] sidewalk you have to

[36:01] act as though you are a pedestrian

[36:02] .

[36:05] >>

[36:08] okay.

[36:14] >> what do you

[36:15] mean act as if you are a pedestrian?

[36:16] you mean follow the same rules?

[36:17] >> yes.

[36:18] >> so like

[36:20] , pedestrians don't have to stop at

[36:22] a stop sign. But they have to look both ways.

[36:23] >>

[36:25] there aren't very many stop signs

[36:26] on sidewalks.

[36:27] >> well

[36:28] I can see them from the sidewalk.

[36:32] got to be in

[36:33] the car, okay.

[36:34] >> I think the general

[36:35] rule of thumb in my mind as a bicyclist

[36:40] is that ultimately your safety is your responsibility.

[36:44] you can have an expectation that cars are

[36:46] going to stop but unless they see you

[36:48] ,

[36:49] and just because you can see them, doesn't mean

[36:51] they can see you

[36:53] , I think ultimately your responsibility

[36:57] is to keep yourself safe.

[37:00] >> anything else?

[37:03] >> I'd like to say thank you

[37:08] to all who participated in that and what you

[37:09] just said was good, too.

[37:10] >> the fire

[37:12] chief also took a role.

[37:15] I said donovan.

[37:16] >>

[37:18] thank you to all of you

[37:21] . Personal experience that I had

[37:24] , I was turning

[37:25] onto gulf boulevard from 49th street

[37:27] and it was nighttime

[37:32] and there is a bite coming and I didn't

[37:33] see

[37:36] it. Everything was stark

[37:39] -- was dark

[37:42] and I thought I was going

[37:45] to have a heart attack.

[37:46] >>

[37:48] if I heard you write you said that e bikes

[37:51] are not allowed in parks. In our parks?

[37:53] >> that's where we are at tonight.

[37:57] >> we are getting there.

[38:02] I may have put the cart before the horse.

[38:03] >>

[38:05] when you said they are not allowed

[38:06] on sidewalks, are

[38:08] there any speed limit limitations

[38:09] when

[38:12] they are on sidewalks?

[38:14] >> I didn't actually say they are allowed on sidewalks.

[38:18] >> okay, sorry. >> they are allowed on sidewalks

[38:27] but I believe the

[38:30] language is safe and prudent.

[38:39] you

[38:41] have a duty to be mindful of pedestrians on the sidewalk.

[38:48] you don't own

[38:51] the

[38:52] sidewalk, I guess because you are

[38:54] faster than the pedestrians.

[38:57] wheels yield to heels .

[39:00] >> that's a good one. That was not

[39:06] created by me. That name wolfgang,

[39:07] he taught me that.

[39:15] >>

[39:17] they are allowed on the sidewalk .

[39:18] >> and

[39:19] they are totally allowed in the street.

[39:26] >> totally allowed in the street?

[39:27] >> I'm saying that

[39:30] in terms of as a bike rider

[39:32] when I am on the sidewalk people tell

[39:33] me to

[39:35] get off the sidewalk and if I'm in the street people

[39:36] tell me to get out

[39:37] of the street. My understanding and

[39:39] I am asking you , is

[39:41] that a bicycle, and I am not talking

[39:42] and e bike but

[39:44] a bicycles a lot on the sidewalk and

[39:45] in the street both.

[39:53] they must follow the rules of a pedestrian on

[39:54] the sidewalk and a vehicle in

[39:55] the street.

[39:56] >> yes ma'am, that's correct.

[39:57] I'm

[40:00] sorry that that happened.

[40:03] >> what about the motorized

[40:06] skateboard things and all the

[40:09] things that kids are on.

[40:12] or bold adults.

[40:16] >> I think they call those hover boards

[40:18] and those are still legal. I

[40:20] would not say those are legal on the street

[40:21] but

[40:24] people have definitely used them on the

[40:25] street

[40:26] but they are not illegal on the sidewalk, either.

[40:33] >> and two police right

[40:38] tickets to bicycle. For not adhering

[40:39] to traffic rules when they

[40:41] are on the street?

[40:42] >> yes, we do.

[40:45] >>

[40:48] thank you so much.

[40:51] with that we are going to move

[40:53] along to public comment. Let me be

[40:54] really clear. Because I

[40:57] see a lot of faces that have

[41:00] not been here before.

[41:03] when you come up to speak it's

[41:04] about, you can speak about absolutely anything

[41:06] that is not on the agenda. Okay? You have

[41:09] three minutes to speak.

[41:12] you must

[41:15] use to coram and

[41:17] besides that you can pretty much say what you want.

[41:19] if you have not done this before you

[41:21] may not know it is not

[41:23] a conversation. You come up and you

[41:24] are speaking to the

[41:27] board as if we are one but we don't respond to it

[41:30] at that point.

[41:35] when we get to do our council comments,

[41:36] if we choose to

[41:37] respond at that time, we will, but

[41:39] we don't do it while you

[41:42] are standing up here.

[41:47] and because council comments take a

[41:48] long time which is okay, I want

[41:50] everyone who wants to be heard to be heard,

[41:51] but please if you

[41:53] are in the back of the room and you

[41:54] know that I'm going to call on you

[41:55] next,

[41:56] start getting toward the front so

[41:57] that we don't lose a lot of minutes.

[41:59] people say council meetings go long

[42:00] but have you ever noticed that sometimes

[42:02] public comment can go over an hour?

[42:06] so don't be shy. Raise your hand. Yes, right here.

[42:13] and

[42:14] when you come up you need to give your name

[42:16] or address.

[42:19] >>

[42:25] 6060 shore boulevard south

[42:28] . Good evening,

[42:30] mayor, city council members and fellow residents. I

[42:34] am here tonight because

[42:39] I care deeply about the city, transparency in

[42:40] local government and about

[42:41] the kind of community that gulfport

[42:43] chooses to be. I want to begin by

[42:46] saying this clearly. Gulfport

[42:47] has a stellar police department. Officers are

[42:52] professional, responsive,

[42:56] and deeply connected to this community

[42:58] and the work they do each

[43:00] day is appreciate it. Nothing I say

[43:01] tonight is

[43:02] a criticism of our officers. Recently

[43:04] I became aware of

[43:05] gulfport's relationship with ice and

[43:06] wanted to better understand what that

[43:10] meant. In doing so I

[43:13] learned about this statute

[43:16] and under that statute

[43:17] local law enforcement agencies must cooperate

[43:19] with certain federal immigration

[43:22] requests. Gulfport pd

[43:25] is required to comply.

[43:26] however the statute is not the same as a

[43:28] 280 7g agreement.

[43:36] that is a voluntary agreement between

[43:37] a local government

[43:38] and the federal government that allows

[43:39] local officers to take on certain emigration

[43:41] enforcement roles on behalf of ice.

[43:44] cities are not required to sign these.

[43:49] it's a choice. Yet on february 27

[43:50] of last year, an agreement was signed

[43:54] on behalf of the city of gulfport

[43:55] without being brought before

[43:57] city council, without a public vote

[44:00] and without notifying residents .

[44:03] there was no opportunity for public comment.

[44:07] I believe this is

[44:10] the kind of

[44:13] and that should have come before

[44:14] city council. It's controversial, ethics taxes

[44:16] and affects

[44:17] how safe people feel interacted with local police.

[44:24] our taxes paid for the time for those

[44:25] officers. I

[44:28] understand some cities signed--

[44:31] chose

[44:32] not to sign 287g agreements at all

[44:34] and others are withdrawing.

[44:35] our questions are straightforward.

[44:37] why was this agreement sign without

[44:39] a city council vote or public input? Who authorized

[44:42] that decision and what options if

[44:43] any

[44:46] exist for council to

[44:49] review or consider the agreement

[44:51] now. I believe this issue must be brought

[44:52] before city council for

[44:53] open discussion. If the agreement

[44:55] is not legally valid without a

[44:56] formal vote, that should be addressed immediately.

[45:01] if

[45:02] it is valid residents deserve to hear

[45:03] council openly weighing pros and cons

[45:04] including whether withdrawal

[45:06] is advisable or even possible. Gulfport

[45:07] has always been a

[45:09] peaceful and welcoming city. It's a city

[45:10] where

[45:11] people should feel safe calling the

[45:13] police and confident in local government.

[45:16] transparency matters, public input matters

[45:19] and on an inch shoot

[45:20] --an issue like this democracy matters.

[45:22] we are the people-- thank you.

[45:25] >> absolutely no applause.

[45:31] that's the way it is,

[45:33] it's been run this way since the day

[45:34] this council came in which of

[45:37] course was not in session february of last year.

[45:43] >> my name is karen, 6020 shore boulevard

[45:46] in gulfport. I'm a

[45:48] proud resident and a voter in the state of florida.

[45:49] I

[45:51] do not support the disruption of innocent

[45:52] lives of

[45:54] our families, our cherished immunity

[45:55] members and citizens of the us

[46:04] or those who have come to this

[46:05] country seeking safety and freedom.

[46:07] I do not support the violence perpetrated

[46:08] by ice

[46:09] agents who have repeatedly shown disregard

[46:10] for civil rights and the laws of this

[46:11] country.

[46:12] they have shown themselves to be untrained, highly

[46:13] discriminatory and have undermined

[46:15] the principles that make us a functional democracy where equitable

[46:19] human rights and justice are the tenets of our constitution.

[46:25] what is to be considered is a memorandum of

[46:26] agreement between the gulfport

[46:27] police department and ice, one that suggests

[46:28] compliance with the actions of ice

[46:33] as described above. The question,

[46:34] is this a reasonable thing to ask

[46:36] of our local police department and is

[46:37] this what we as a peace loving

[46:38] community that embraces diversity and equity,

[46:40] what we

[46:43] want to stand for?

[46:48] my experience with the police department has always

[46:49] been positive. Respectful, helpful,

[46:51] their work is acknowledged and appreciated

[46:52] but to set them up as the

[46:54] first line in the performance of specified immigration officer functions

[47:04] by filtering individuals with whom they

[47:05] have

[47:06] contact into a system that is unjust,

[47:07] highly unregulated, it is unfair and

[47:09] unreasonable to do that. At this point

[47:10] we can discuss the challenging path

[47:11] to citizenship

[47:12] that faces immigrants in this country and we can

[47:17] cite specific examples

[47:20] of

[47:21] those legally on that path being interrupted

[47:23] by detainment and deportation.

[47:25] we could speak of residents providing

[47:26] valuable services to communities, people

[47:29] who enrich our lives daily and

[47:37] deserve the respect that we expect

[47:38] others

[47:39] to offer us. I can offer examples of

[47:40] lives rudely interrupted by ice and

[47:41] violently interrupted under the guise

[47:43] of community safety. What this amounts

[47:44] to is a miscarriage of

[47:45] justice. Actually a lack of the justice we

[47:47] pride ourselves on engine

[47:50] during as a country

[47:52] but rather than distract from the issue

[47:53] at

[47:54] hand let's go back to the consideration

[47:55] of local police departments cooperation

[47:56] with ice.

[47:57] I think more highly of our community

[47:59] and what we represent. Why people

[48:02] move here, why they find peace

[48:04] and enriched lives and the mutually

[48:05] respectful relationships that we

[48:08] support. Let us not

[48:10] ally ourselves with a group that dehumanizes

[48:11] the lives of others.

[48:14] we are better than that.

[48:15] thank you, mayor love, city council for

[48:17] this opportunity to

[48:20] speak.

[48:21] >> perfect. Who's next?

[48:23] I am sorry I don't

[48:24] know every persons name tonight.

[48:25] >>

[48:26] my name is kate and I live at

[48:29] 2613 beach boulevard.

[48:32] first I just would like to thank

[48:34] council for being here and doing such

[48:36] a wonderful job.

[48:37] >> just one minute,

[48:41] I'm sorry. One conversation only, right here.

[48:44] >> I

[48:47] am moved to gulfport

[48:49] 10 years ago and have been so happy

[48:50] I did. Gulfport

[48:53] is a dream community. Gulfport

[48:55] is an amazing town. We voted in and

[49:02] --and all women

[49:03] city council and mayor. I think there

[49:05] are only five others in america. I came to

[49:06] speak tonight because when I heard ice

[49:08] was in our

[49:11] town, I was shocked. Equally so when

[49:13] I heard that our police force will be backing ice

[49:16] supporting their actions, following orders from trump

[49:20] . Maybe that's not true. That's what I heard

[49:23] . I have been too many

[49:25] anti-trump demonstrations this year in gulfport

[49:29] and saint pete. Just

[49:32] today there was one

[49:34] in clymer park. I am so grateful to

[49:35] have grown up

[49:36] in a country that has supported free speech.

[49:41] I have been able to speak my mind without fear

[49:44] or retaliation. But after the

[49:47] shooting of

[49:53] renee good I am very

[49:54] concerned for all of us who oppose

[49:56] what trump is doing

[49:59] not just by sending his brown shirt troops to

[50:01] my town but by his international takeovers.

[50:02] I don't know

[50:03] the answer, but hopefully we as a

[50:05] small town can come together and

[50:08] find solutions as we act locally

[50:10] for our own good. Thank you very much.

[50:14] >> thank you, kate

[50:17] . Who is next? Donovan?

[50:24] >> good evening, everyone. I live at

[50:28] 2806 49th street south and I will

[50:29] go over some bicycle information real

[50:30] quick.

[50:31] the first thing is, e by analysis

[50:38] . In pinellas

[50:40] county they will be partnering with hospitals

[50:41] to develop recommendations to improve

[50:42] education, safety and

[50:43] policy considerations. This project

[50:46] is anticipated to be completed june 30 of

[50:47] this year. And also,

[50:55] they will be collaborating with pinellas

[50:56] county

[50:57] working with the center for urban

[50:58] transportation research at the university

[50:59] of south florida on a safety study.

[51:01] last but not least the legislation

[51:02] they are going to be proposing

[51:08] is going to introduce

[51:10] new requirements to include the electronic

[51:11] motorcycle category which basically means

[51:14] any bike over 750 w

[51:17] or 28 miles an hour is

[51:20] going to be considered

[51:22] an electronic motorcycle and therefore

[51:23] would need an endorsement.

[51:25] with that being said they would also

[51:26] require bikes to

[51:27] yield to pedestrians referring to

[51:29] electric scooters and also

[51:32] electric e bikes . They

[51:35] would mandate law enforcement--

[51:38] mandate crash reporting which would

[51:41] help file police reports in the

[51:43] event of a fatality or serious injury

[51:44] and require the drivers license to operate

[51:46] a class iii bike which is anything

[51:47] that goes beyond 28.

[51:50] they would require

[51:56] bicycle and pedestrian safety as well

[51:58] as establishing penalties for tampering with

[52:02] motors and speed limiters. That is

[52:03] all the

[52:04] information I have regarding that and

[52:05] I will give you more as the year regresses

[52:11] regarding

[52:13] house bill 243 and the action committee is scheduled for

[52:14] next monday which is

[52:18] january 26 in clearwater.

[52:26] if you have any other information

[52:28] let me know and I will talk to you

[52:30] after the meeting. Thank you for

[52:31] your time.

[52:32] >> for those of you that

[52:33] do not know, donovan is our representative

[52:34] for fort pinellas when it comes to

[52:35] bicycle safety so if you have questions

[52:36] he is

[52:37] the expert.

[52:38] >> good evening, scott lindy.

[52:39] representing gulfport chamber

[52:41] of commerce this evening. These are serious issues

[52:48] that we are here to

[52:49] discuss that I am hearing being discussed

[52:50] but I am here to hopefully make it

[52:51] a

[52:53] little bit fun. I want to first of all

[52:54] tell everybody who was not

[52:56] there that we had an amazing first of many art

[52:59] openings at the welcome center on

[53:00] gulfport

[53:01] boulevard this past saturday and it

[53:03] was

[53:04] very exciting to see people coming

[53:06] . This particular

[53:07] artist had a large following from tampa,

[53:11] they came and were going back and

[53:14] we talked them into touring the rest

[53:15] of the town and going

[53:16] downtown. I saw some of them there

[53:20] a bit later so strategy is working.

[53:24] that effort is due in great part

[53:26] not to me but we have a new arts committee

[53:27] had

[53:30] on the board meeting

[53:33] , backed up by julie armstrong

[53:36] who really made that happen so

[53:39] think you to them .

[53:45] coming up we have

[53:46] very shortly our gulfport fine arts festival,

[53:47] the 11th annual in clymer park again.

[53:50] we moved a little bit south to be more centralized.

[53:57] we are going to become a

[53:58] grown-up art show and have cash awards

[54:00] which makes us the real deal

[54:02] and we will attract artists of a higher

[54:06] quality from farther away and will continue that butterfly

[54:09] effort which was well received

[54:12] last year which will

[54:15] help.

[54:18] any excess proceeds

[54:20] will benefit gulfport food for us

[54:26] so we are excited about that also

[54:28] and there will also be music and food like

[54:30] there was last year. Coming up

[54:32] right around the corner after that, the pink

[54:33] flamingo home tour which

[54:38] councilmember earley brought to our attention

[54:39] at the last meeting.

[54:41] march 7 we finalized, we have 14 stops

[54:42] and many

[54:45] of us know us

[54:48] as ward 4 but also the garden district

[54:49] or the northeast section of our city.

[54:51] it is a unique area

[54:57] and was challenging

[54:58] to find something that was going to be

[55:00] of interest. We've combined a number of gardens like

[55:03] the blueberry patch and community gardens

[55:05] along with some old cottages which

[55:06] is what

[55:07] the neighborhood mostly looked like

[55:09] but we have a new bill to see how the evolution

[55:12] of the neighborhood will look

[55:14] . I encourage you to come out and

[55:15] tickets remain at the low

[55:18] price. We will have both the trolley

[55:21] and

[55:24] the looper and

[55:27] a map that is worked out

[55:29] so we will have doubled the transportation

[55:30] along with walker's and bikers, golf cart

[55:31] and drivers.

[55:34] all of these details and buying tickets

[55:39] visit gulfport florida.com. Thank

[55:42] you very much for your time.

[55:45] >> next overhear a show of hands? No public comment?

[55:51] right here , please.

[55:58] >> hi everybody. I am emily smith

[56:00] , I

[56:03] have been john to

[56:06] gulfport, I have many friends here,

[56:07] I've

[56:09] recited poetry here but I

[56:12] am a law-abiding citizen and a member of indivisible.org

[56:15] and I am an advocate

[56:17] for social justice. I wrote this about program

[56:21] 287g. I'm

[56:24] not sure how this bogus

[56:28] 287g agreement ever arrived in a sleepy

[56:30] little town like gulfport.

[56:33] where in gulfport

[56:36] are thugs,

[56:42] , drug running gangsters for which the

[56:43] administration was recruited to round

[56:45] up and incarcerate or murder? Here's where they are.

[56:48] one can simply

[56:51] view and ice agent on live tv who brutally attacks women

[56:54] , elderly gentlemen, harmless

[56:57] gardeners

[57:00] and sprays pepper spray into a car

[57:01] full of

[57:03] toddlers. One can view

[57:06] the crushing of a young student on

[57:07] the

[57:08] ground kneeling on his neck. Zip tying

[57:13] innocent, terrified

[57:16] children and throwing them into

[57:18] vans and garbage trucks. One can view on live tv

[57:21] the point-blank shots to the face

[57:24] of an innocent protester who leaves behind

[57:28] two children.

[57:29] listen, dear friend, to the words

[57:33] spoken in our generation that we cannot ever forget.

[57:40] I can't breathe. I'm not mad at you.

[57:43] the word partner implies

[57:48] to me, shared goals. A blending of resources

[57:51] for the common good. This is not a meeting

[57:52] of the minds or

[57:55] anything else

[57:56] resembling positive social change.

[57:58] to me it is

[58:00] a band of power-hungry, angry, disillusioned

[58:04] social misfits

[58:05] daring to disturb the equilibrium

[58:10] of a warm

[58:13] and vital bohemian village that

[58:14] has done just fine by itself. By the way

[58:19] I love policeman.

[58:22] I am a law-abiding citizen, I have

[58:23] a good driving record, I love policeman

[58:25] and to me

[58:28] they are doing a fine job.

[58:30] just fine. Anyway I ask you to look

[58:31] at the

[58:34] crime rates in gulfport .

[58:36] I ask you to look at the plethora of

[58:37] community services offered by

[58:38] gulfport. Way over the norm for most

[58:43] small town america.

[58:46] gulfport recruits volunteers for daily welfare calls

[58:49] to lonely elders

[58:52] in this little beach town. Ice

[58:55] , you have no business here or any other

[58:56] peaceful and law-abiding community.

[59:01] >> thank you very

[59:04] much. Who is next? Sorry, I don't know your name.

[59:10] >> hello, everyone.

[59:13] my name is mary winstead and I live at

[59:16] 1809 60th street, gulfport.

[59:18] I've lived there for almost 36 years.

[59:20] I normally don't come to meetings because

[59:25] there doesn't

[59:27] feel like a need for me. I used to

[59:28] when I first moved here

[59:30] but then I let it slide. Then I was

[59:31] looking at the minutes from last

[59:33] week and I saw some things that disturbed me.

[59:36] being a black person living in gulfport

[59:37] and on

[59:40] the other side of 58th street,

[59:46] I was

[59:47] the first recognizable black person living

[59:48] there. I had a neighbor who is black

[59:51] but no one knew it because he was

[59:52] very fair complexion. So

[59:55] yes it was a

[59:57] sundowner. I don't expect you want

[59:58] to apologize for anything

[1:00:00] because it doesn't mean anything .

[1:00:06] when I first moved here the first thing I had to do

[1:00:08] was go down to the police department

[1:00:10] and

[1:00:11] let the chief know that I lived in

[1:00:13] this town because that happened

[1:00:16] right after a black professor

[1:00:19] from stetson college had his arm broken

[1:00:22] because it's a boy,

[1:00:23] what are you doing on the street? That was

[1:00:25] our police department.

[1:00:28] now the police

[1:00:29] department has radically changed but

[1:00:31] not to acknowledge--

[1:00:34] thank you, april,

[1:00:37] thank you nancy, thank the other people who did

[1:00:40] and are willing to acknowledge that

[1:00:42] this is what happened. It wasn't on the books.

[1:00:43] races

[1:00:45] and very rarely is on the books. It is just

[1:00:46] something

[1:00:49] that gets done. It becomes

[1:00:52] status quo.

[1:00:55] not any more. So I

[1:00:57] am here to say that which was said last week

[1:01:01] , well we never codified it. It doesn't

[1:01:04] matter. It gets codified by

[1:01:06] people doing what they do and unless we acknowledge

[1:01:07] it and

[1:01:08] move forward, it will happen again

[1:01:10] so I encourage you all

[1:01:12] who are elected officials to acknowledge.

[1:01:13] I don't need your

[1:01:16] apology but to acknowledge that

[1:01:19] this did happen and it's not

[1:01:22] going to happen again. And when

[1:01:24] I say I came down to meet the police

[1:01:25] department the chief

[1:01:26] at that time was a very, very good

[1:01:28] man. I don't remember his name.

[1:01:31] this is

[1:01:34] how long ago it was. But

[1:01:36] I'm proud to live in this town but

[1:01:37] I am not going to

[1:01:39] be a person here who has sat here

[1:01:40] and watched things that have happened

[1:01:43] in gulfport. I used to be afraid to

[1:01:46] drive down 22nd avenue south

[1:01:49] for fear that I was going to get stop.--

[1:01:55] stopped. I did one time, and I was speeding

[1:01:56] to get

[1:01:58] to the golf course. The police, he was

[1:02:01] not so nice. But, I acknowledged

[1:02:04] that I was wrong.

[1:02:07] but I want you

[1:02:10] to be aware that yes we have had a racist town

[1:02:13] and it was known as that and we

[1:02:15] don't have to be that any more.

[1:02:16] >>

[1:02:17] who is next? Charlotte and

[1:02:19] then you will be next after that.

[1:02:28] >>

[1:02:32] I have a blinding headache.

[1:02:35] >> me, too. I live

[1:02:38] on 13th avenue south and if

[1:02:41] I can get this -- there we go.

[1:02:51] first of all, I want to appreciate, I

[1:02:53] haven't been able to attend the meetings

[1:02:54] but I want to appreciate this council of

[1:02:56] wonderful women and I've noticed the

[1:02:57] work you've done together. You don't always

[1:02:59] agree

[1:03:00] but you disagree respectfully and

[1:03:02] you support each other.

[1:03:05] and

[1:03:08] the

[1:03:09] mayor does not bully other council

[1:03:10] members. I'm not afraid to say that.

[1:03:13] I particularly appreciate your efforts

[1:03:17] of environmental issues

[1:03:22] and taking better care of our city

[1:03:23] finances so thank you all for that.

[1:03:24] I'm sure you've all seen the video

[1:03:26] of the murder of

[1:03:28] renee good and you know the last words

[1:03:32] she

[1:03:34] heard before her killer shot her four times was

[1:03:41] --.

[1:03:44] that is well known to women

[1:03:47] and I've-- I've nearly

[1:03:50] -- I am 80

[1:03:53] years old almost. Sometimes the people

[1:03:54] who said it were very sorry. Thugs

[1:03:56] and violating the constitutional rights

[1:03:59] of free speech

[1:04:02] , to

[1:04:03] protest, to assemble, they are carrying out

[1:04:07] illegal orders of a white nationalist maniac president

[1:04:11] . The cowards

[1:04:12] aren't going after drug cartels. Do

[1:04:14] we have drug cartels

[1:04:18] --if we have drug cartels in this

[1:04:20] town, get them. For sure.

[1:04:22] in america it was the gang members and

[1:04:26] that the president wanted to eliminate. None of that

[1:04:29] . They

[1:04:30] are taking people away from their

[1:04:31] jobs and off the streets and it's wrong.

[1:04:35] I want you to protect

[1:04:37] our police department. I don't know about

[1:04:43] this thing that whoever signed it signed it agreeing to

[1:04:44] work with ice but I want

[1:04:47] it

[1:04:48] rescinded. I want our police department,

[1:04:49] our chief and her crew protected from having

[1:04:50] to participate in

[1:04:53] unconstitutional and

[1:04:56] illegal activities against people

[1:04:59] in this town. That's your job.

[1:05:01] you are our city council. Protect

[1:05:07] our police chief who I think is doing a

[1:05:08] great job,

[1:05:09] and protect our police officers. Please.

[1:05:14] I'm

[1:05:17] not mad at you , was the last

[1:05:21] words that mother of three spoke. And

[1:05:23] the man could not stand

[1:05:29] that he had been

[1:05:32] -- by her , that

[1:05:35] she drove away from him. And

[1:05:38] he couldn't stand it.

[1:05:41] >> thank you, charlotte.

[1:05:47] >>

[1:05:49] my name is julia, I am a homeowner. I spoke several

[1:05:50] weeks ago

[1:05:51] asking city council to renew their contract with

[1:05:53] the--. The contract as existed was

[1:05:54] not renewed and instead the budget was cut

[1:06:02] dirty percent and advertising dollars were

[1:06:03] routed to

[1:06:04] a contract with gulfport living. For those

[1:06:05] unaware, gulfport living is an

[1:06:06] unsolicited glossy photo laden monthly

[1:06:07] advertising direct mail or otherwise known as

[1:06:11] junk

[1:06:12] mail. Gulfport living is distributed

[1:06:14] by best version media, a conglomerate based in wisconsin.

[1:06:17] last year best version media was required

[1:06:20] --acquired by

[1:06:21] a global investment firm managing

[1:06:23] $72 billion

[1:06:25] of capital and I ask why is this council

[1:06:29] using taxpayer dollars to support an out-of-state

[1:06:33] billion-dollar empire at the expense

[1:06:35] of a

[1:06:37] local, family-owned business? Of why

[1:06:38] are members of

[1:06:40] this historic all-female council legitimizing a

[1:06:44] junk mail circular with a column

[1:06:47] of councilmember submissions and advertising

[1:06:48] dollars

[1:06:50] at the expense of a historic woman led publication?

[1:06:53] gulfport living

[1:06:59] bills itself as an exclusive magazine serving the

[1:07:00] gulfport community but let's be clear, it is

[1:07:02] not exclusive

[1:07:04] to gulfport. It is exclusive by algorithm

[1:07:05] to single-family homes valued

[1:07:08] at $400,000 or more.

[1:07:11] this

[1:07:14] circular is not distributed to multi family

[1:07:15] dwellings.

[1:07:17] one third of

[1:07:18] households in this city will never

[1:07:19] receive it as defined by company policy.

[1:07:20] based on print

[1:07:23] distribution it costs

[1:07:26] 60% more to advertise with gulfport living

[1:07:29] than it does the gabbert.

[1:07:32] it supports

[1:07:35] a global enterprise,

[1:07:38] excludes constituents and costs

[1:07:41] taxpayers more money.

[1:07:44] this does not look like a marketing plan.

[1:07:47] this looks like a plan of

[1:07:50] retaliation for unfavorable coverage from the newspaper

[1:07:51] and

[1:07:52] favoritism for favorable coverage

[1:07:57] in a junk mail circular.

[1:07:59] it looks like a plan to defund and

[1:08:03] replace our local news

[1:08:04] all at taxpayer expense. City advertising

[1:08:05] dollars are not to make councilmembers look good or fund

[1:08:09] vendettas.

[1:08:10] they are to provide information to residents

[1:08:12] in a way that is

[1:08:13] cost effective, efficient, inclusive, and

[1:08:18] accessible to all. I again

[1:08:21] call for leadership to build

[1:08:23] and strengthen our local stakeholders, businesses, and most importantly

[1:08:29] democratic institutions whether we like them or

[1:08:33] not. That is your role. This

[1:08:34] is exactly the reason we need independent journalism and

[1:08:36] not a message curated by

[1:08:39] council.

[1:08:42] I have a

[1:08:45] handout for council, if I may,

[1:08:47] a cost analysis on where I get my

[1:08:51] figures from.

[1:08:52] >> thank you very

[1:08:54] much. Who is next?

[1:08:57] suzanne,

[1:09:00] I am sorry.

[1:09:03] I've done that more than once in

[1:09:06] the last 15 years. I apologize.

[1:09:13] >> suzanne -- I just started. Very quickly, I just

[1:09:15] wanted to say that

[1:09:18] scott

[1:09:23] forgot one event and I thought I would come up and remind you that get rescued is

[1:09:24] also

[1:09:26] coming up and that will be saturday, february

[1:09:27] 28. Thank you.

[1:09:28] >> thank

[1:09:30] you. Who is next?

[1:09:36] >> thank you. My name is

[1:09:39] christine and I live at 2617

[1:09:42] , 52nd street south.

[1:09:45] I want to urge city council to

[1:09:48] support our local news source

[1:09:49] by maintaining the annual expenditure

[1:09:54] for

[1:09:56] the city information to be publicized in the

[1:09:57] newspaper. I believe that

[1:10:00] the gabber is important to

[1:10:03] both residents and

[1:10:04] tourists and as we know local papers are at risk and our

[1:10:06] democracy is at risk.

[1:10:12] in a new york times article this

[1:10:13] past weekend about local newspapers, I found this quote

[1:10:15] .

[1:10:16] when communities lose their local news outlets

[1:10:18] ,

[1:10:19] civic engagement drops, corruption rises, government waste increases,

[1:10:24] and political polarization rises. We

[1:10:27] need the gabber and the

[1:10:30] gabber is probably facing

[1:10:31] really hard financial times. Having

[1:10:35] gulfport, the city of gulfport pull funding and not maintain

[1:10:39] it at full funding

[1:10:40] could mean that it goes away and we

[1:10:42] don't want that to happen. Thank you.

[1:10:43] >> thank

[1:10:45] you. Who is next?

[1:10:53] >> my name is joe, 1419 59th street

[1:10:54] south. I would like

[1:10:57] everyone to think of

[1:11:00] , when the current president went into

[1:11:03] the white house and started attacking the free press. When he started

[1:11:04] attacking broadcasters whether it be on tv, radio

[1:11:06] , or print.

[1:11:09] and calling it fake news.

[1:11:12] it was a horrific moment for us.

[1:11:15] so

[1:11:18] for me to not be able

[1:11:20] to read our mayor's column in our local

[1:11:21] newspaper

[1:11:24] really makes me sad

[1:11:27] we

[1:11:30] are supposed to go after this authoritarian government starting at

[1:11:32] the local level and that's what we need to do.

[1:11:40] I want to be able to read our

[1:11:43] mayor's column and

[1:11:45] to know what's going on through our newspaper, not

[1:11:46] something I don't have access

[1:11:49] to. I do have access to gulfport

[1:11:50] living but I've never read it. Junk

[1:11:51] mail goes in the trash for me. I don't

[1:11:52] to social media

[1:11:54] because we all know what the sewer

[1:11:57] is so I'm just asking you to put our mayor's

[1:12:01] column

[1:12:04] in the gabber so we don't

[1:12:06] look like we are following the playbook of what's happening in

[1:12:10] dc. And on top of that

[1:12:11] it is being funded by the people who

[1:12:13] own it,

[1:12:15] the people who saved it. The gabber was about to go

[1:12:18] under with our hurricanes but a couple stepped forward

[1:12:24] and put an enormous amount of money into saving

[1:12:25] an independent newspaper that has

[1:12:28] been

[1:12:31] in this town for 57 years. When

[1:12:32] I would walk around gulfport years

[1:12:34] ago when we bought our house, people were carrying

[1:12:37] the gabber because

[1:12:40] it was everywhere.

[1:12:42] tourists would pick it up and that's how they

[1:12:45] would find out what's going on in

[1:12:49] this town and that's how they could read the

[1:12:51] mayor's column. You could do spectacular

[1:12:52] things for this town

[1:12:54] but what's going to happen is people

[1:12:58] will look at the worst

[1:13:00] thing and say her column is not in our

[1:13:01] local newspaper and they are going to

[1:13:04] condemn

[1:13:05] you for it. You shouldn't be condemned for that one thing.

[1:13:07] so addressing the council

[1:13:10] as one.

[1:13:16] we need to fix this

[1:13:19] and I'm going to quote the

[1:13:21] best present we've had in my lifetime. Take the high

[1:13:25] road.

[1:13:28] >> thank you.

[1:13:37] >> thank you, council

[1:13:40] members. Vice mayor

[1:13:43] thanos, distinguished guests, my name is benjamin

[1:13:45] and I live at town shores and I've

[1:13:46] lived there for two years. I'm embarrassed

[1:13:52] to say this is

[1:13:53] my first council meeting. Won't be my last,

[1:13:55] this is been absolutely fascinating. I'm

[1:13:56] not here to speak about the gabber but

[1:13:58] I will.

[1:14:00] I support the gabber and I agree with those

[1:14:01] who

[1:14:03] have spoken up for that and I really appreciated the woman's remarks about

[1:14:06] if not apologize at least acknowledging

[1:14:10] our history as a son downtown

[1:14:13] and

[1:14:16] our determination to do better.

[1:14:28] this is in response to the police

[1:14:29] violence taking place there,

[1:14:30] a similar call went out this week

[1:14:34] from the clergy and the people of

[1:14:37] minneapolis

[1:14:39] . I and other clergy are answering that

[1:14:40] call and going there tomorrow.

[1:14:46] and the violence responding to

[1:14:48] this time is the violence perpetrated by ice which

[1:14:49] my neighbors have already spoken about.

[1:14:58] the murder of renee good is just the latest and most dramatic impact

[1:15:01] of ice's

[1:15:04] violence.

[1:15:07] they don't behave like law enforcement do, they behave like lawbreakers.

[1:15:13] if we leave the 287g

[1:15:16] agreement in place I didn't

[1:15:19] --

[1:15:21] I don't feel right as a citizen and I feel

[1:15:22] my

[1:15:24] hands are stained by the blood of

[1:15:25] renee good and others . However, we

[1:15:27] do have an opportunity right now to take leadership,

[1:15:31] moral leadership

[1:15:40] thank you for your work and I will

[1:15:41] be

[1:15:43] back another time. Courtney?

[1:15:46] >>

[1:15:49] 15th avenue south in ward

[1:15:52] 4

[1:15:55] I moved to florida five

[1:15:57] years ago to care for my grandmother. She was

[1:15:58] strong, smart, artsy,

[1:16:01] independent. Dementia took that away from her.

[1:16:04] when

[1:16:06] I could no longer keep her safe, home

[1:16:07] health aides and later a memory care facility

[1:16:09] held her through her night terrors

[1:16:10] so I could sleep.

[1:16:13] they

[1:16:15] did the hard work when I could not. The majority

[1:16:19] of them came from haiti

[1:16:22] under temporary protective

[1:16:25] status following the instability of the 2010 earthquake.

[1:16:28] that protective status

[1:16:34] ends on february 3

[1:16:36] not because conditions have improved, but

[1:16:37] because of a decision by the department

[1:16:38] of homeland

[1:16:39] security. Watchdog groups like amnesty international call haiti

[1:16:47] a humanitarian and human rights

[1:16:48] crisis. Sending people back now is a near death

[1:16:50] sentence. I cannot catch her

[1:16:51] --capture the full callousness of

[1:16:52] ending protective status. There simply

[1:16:54] is not enough time. But know this.

[1:16:59] it ends february 3 and many other neighbors

[1:17:02] here in the us under tps

[1:17:05] with

[1:17:06] equally unstable conditions in their home

[1:17:08] countries are next in

[1:17:09] line. Ice is escalating enforcement in

[1:17:11] florida.

[1:17:15] this is not abstract. Ice is staging operation

[1:17:17] tidal wave right here, right

[1:17:18] now. Hundreds of hotel rooms are booked across

[1:17:20] tampa bay. Ice has

[1:17:23] quotas. 3000 per day. Tampa has

[1:17:26] a field office. There are 1.3 million haitians

[1:17:31] under tps in the united states. Nearly

[1:17:34] 10,000 are our neighbors. They are caregivers,

[1:17:38] nurses, there are

[1:17:41] neighbors.

[1:17:42] on february 2 they're going to go to bed. On february

[1:17:44] 3

[1:17:45] they're going to wake up and nothing

[1:17:47] about their lives has changed,

[1:17:50] but if one of those people is

[1:17:53] driving through gulfport and

[1:17:54] they have a broken taillight or a

[1:17:55] minor fender bender on their way to

[1:17:59] work and gpd runs

[1:18:01] their id, on february 3 that's going to

[1:18:02] flag ice. Police officers did

[1:18:03] not create this policy and I cannot believe I am saying this

[1:18:05] ,

[1:18:08] I love our cops.

[1:18:11] they should not have to enforce

[1:18:14] this agreement. I adore them. I want to see

[1:18:17] the chief make goofy

[1:18:20] videos. We loved it. We applauded,

[1:18:25] we laughed and cheered so it crushes

[1:18:26] me when I

[1:18:28] hear people I genuinely love and respect in

[1:18:29] this room, on this

[1:18:32] dais say ice won't affect us.

[1:18:35] I am so tired of hearing that

[1:18:37] because it rips apart systems we all depend on.

[1:18:40] you all said elevate florida was worth funding if it

[1:18:43] helped save one resident. If ending 287g

[1:18:44] protects one

[1:18:47] caregiver or home health worker

[1:18:53] or family you know what

[1:18:54] to do. We the people are giving you

[1:18:55] permission to end this.

[1:18:56] >> thank you very much.

[1:18:59] laura?

[1:19:08] >> laura,

[1:19:11] ninth avenue south just adding

[1:19:14] thoughts to the things

[1:19:15] I've heard discussed here tonight.

[1:19:17] excellent information about

[1:19:22] the gabber and this other magazine if that is

[1:19:23] true.

[1:19:26] from my perspective,

[1:19:28] I want to see my money go to the locally

[1:19:29] owned, more democratically oriented

[1:19:30] the

[1:19:31] gabber which feels more in line with

[1:19:32] the quirky, inclusive spirit

[1:19:35] of gulfport

[1:19:38] than an exclusive

[1:19:39] billionaires supporting magazine like whatever lifestyle gulfport

[1:19:43] that is. For someone who spends a

[1:19:47] lot of her time talking about boycotting billionaires

[1:19:49] I am definitely down with doing more of that.

[1:19:53] similarly or

[1:19:55] relatedly, the comments tonight about acknowledging

[1:19:59] our history, I

[1:20:01] think that is so important. I really appreciated

[1:20:05] that first comment that raised

[1:20:08] the issue tonight and I want us to

[1:20:11] look around in this room because

[1:20:14] the demographics of gulfport

[1:20:17] are 10% - 20%

[1:20:20] people of color

[1:20:22] and we rarely ever see that in this room.

[1:20:26] I think that acknowledgment

[1:20:29] , it's not the whole reason but plays a part.

[1:20:32] if we look at this room right now

[1:20:35] the

[1:20:37] one person of color here doesn't even live here and

[1:20:38] is representing our

[1:20:41] newspaper.

[1:20:44] so again, just the importance of that

[1:20:47] acknowledgment. I live in north

[1:20:53] gulfport where I see more

[1:20:54] faces of color but I never see them down

[1:20:56] here for these meetings are

[1:20:58] at community-oriented events and I

[1:20:59] would

[1:21:00] like that to change. I think and it

[1:21:02] knowledge meant like that play a role

[1:21:04] in that. And then of course with ice,

[1:21:11] I did not realize

[1:21:13] that agreement had been signed. All

[1:21:14] of that agreement was new

[1:21:16] to me tonight so if there is a way to

[1:21:18] get gulfport out of that agreement, I agree with that.

[1:21:19] >> who else?

[1:21:23] lauren.

[1:21:29] >> hello. Lauren stern 55th street south. First

[1:21:32] I want to add my support of the

[1:21:35] gabber and for gulfport spending full local

[1:21:37] advertising money with their publication.

[1:21:38] I am here to speak on

[1:21:41] a few pieces of

[1:21:44] context. First of all we cannot hang our hats on

[1:21:45] hurricane money no

[1:21:47] matter our compliance with this or any other proclamation.

[1:21:53] for an article by the guardian, in july 2025

[1:21:54] ron

[1:21:55] desantis was under fire for spending

[1:21:56] $20 million that he diverted from

[1:22:02] disaster funding awarding contracts to

[1:22:05] his friends and donors. We

[1:22:07] are clear who the bad guys are. Next, the state mandate

[1:22:13] . A senior staff attorney with community justice

[1:22:15] project,

[1:22:16] a miami human rights organization is clear that these agreements

[1:22:18] are not mandatory in this

[1:22:21] state. What we see is

[1:22:22] the governor and attorney general

[1:22:24] using intimidation to force

[1:22:26] cities to engage in conduct that far

[1:22:27] exceeds

[1:22:29] florida law requirements. The same

[1:22:30] bad guys.

[1:22:32] what can actually be done? One report found

[1:22:37] that prison policy.org presents evidence

[1:22:39] that arrest data show the power

[1:22:40] of state and local governments to curtail mass deportations. Despite

[1:22:45] overwhelming displays of power

[1:22:48] the federal government relies

[1:22:49] heavily on state and local collaboration to

[1:22:51] enact mass deportation

[1:22:54] agenda. This administration

[1:22:58] goes beyond merely limiting sheriffs

[1:22:59] and police from deputizing officers

[1:23:00] to work for immigration.

[1:23:03] this is

[1:23:04] evident in the data which shows jumps

[1:23:08] in states where advocates have aggressively worked

[1:23:12] to reject collaboration

[1:23:14] . Why am I wearing a jewish start

[1:23:15] tonight?

[1:23:18] I spent a few hours

[1:23:19] visiting the holocaust museum. I read every plaque

[1:23:27] , looked at every photo.

[1:23:28] historical context matters and you know what? How did

[1:23:29] that begin? Government mandates implemented

[1:23:30] town by

[1:23:32] town and we know how that ended. We

[1:23:33] know

[1:23:34] it's wrong then and we know it's wrong now.

[1:23:37] are we too afraid to hold the line

[1:23:38] against the bad guys? We are not being

[1:23:42] asked to hold that .

[1:23:45] they are not the in my

[1:23:46] metaphor tonight. They show up every day

[1:23:48] to do their jobs.

[1:23:51] I know they want

[1:23:53] to serve and protect. Let's change the

[1:23:54] job description back to what it

[1:23:57] was

[1:24:00] so they can focus

[1:24:01] on that priority. Let's revoke our agreement

[1:24:03] of

[1:24:06] --finding our friends and neighbors.

[1:24:07] >> who else?

[1:24:09] is there anybody else?

[1:24:15] you will be next, back row.

[1:24:18] hi.

[1:24:23] >> eliza sydney, jersey avenue gulfport.

[1:24:26] I had something prepared with data

[1:24:27] and

[1:24:29] stats and figures around the 287g

[1:24:32] agreement but I decided to speak from my

[1:24:36] heart tonight .

[1:24:38] at the christmas tree lighting care and you mentioned that

[1:24:39] many

[1:24:40] young families are now moving to gulfport.

[1:24:42] I am one of

[1:24:43] those families mentioned earlier with a baby and a toddler

[1:24:48] and hearing of our resources going to

[1:24:49] a 287g agreement

[1:24:51] doesn't

[1:24:54] make us feel safer.

[1:24:57] we've seen enough

[1:25:02] verifiable evidence, we've seen data

[1:25:03] and

[1:25:05] statistics about abuses of power going on

[1:25:08] and I'm sure many of us in this room

[1:25:09] have

[1:25:10] may be dealt with someone who has abused

[1:25:12] power before.

[1:25:15] like one presenter earlier

[1:25:18] mentioned, what you are told , there's

[1:25:20] what you told is the reasoning and there's the

[1:25:21] actual date.

[1:25:23] there's also what you can see as evidence with your own

[1:25:27] eyes.

[1:25:30] I've seen gulfport come together

[1:25:31] as a community in the face of challenge before

[1:25:33] and gulfport will

[1:25:34] stand up for our neighbors and make

[1:25:36] sure they are safe.

[1:25:38] we are proud of our leadership and we

[1:25:39] encouraged you

[1:25:42] to act with courage and clarity over fear.

[1:25:45] thank you.

[1:25:48] >> thank you.

[1:25:57] >> hello. Matthew galvin 15th avenue south.

[1:26:00] I've heard a lot that I agree with,

[1:26:03] I am specific coming to

[1:26:06] talk about the 287g issue.

[1:26:09] I've heard very well

[1:26:12] presented

[1:26:14] arguments about it and I'm not going to try

[1:26:16] to say anything more than that, I am

[1:26:17] a citizen who would agree with I think

[1:26:21] ,

[1:26:22] the necessity of rescinding this agreement,

[1:26:24] stepping back. My general sense of this town is that

[1:26:36] I think of it as

[1:26:38] small and insular apart from the rest of the country and there is a

[1:26:39] sense of

[1:26:42] dark clouds looming

[1:26:45] when we listen to the news and we are worried

[1:26:46] about

[1:26:47] this. One thing I would just observe is that

[1:26:48] this agreement

[1:26:51] as I understand it is a direct

[1:26:56] link between our small town we are trying to

[1:26:57] keep safe and protected,

[1:27:00] and some

[1:27:02] of these larger looming dart clouds.

[1:27:06] that is a link

[1:27:09] that I would like to see

[1:27:12] severed. Thank you.

[1:27:13] >> I think

[1:27:15] I saw one more hand. We've got quite

[1:27:18] a few more. Amy?

[1:27:24] we will do amy, wolf and susan.

[1:27:30] I cannot see you at all back there.

[1:27:31] >> hello everyone.

[1:27:32] gulfport resident 20th avenue south

[1:27:34] midtown business collective.

[1:27:37] a couple things. Yes,

[1:27:40] please consider

[1:27:45] rescinding the agreement with ice.

[1:27:47] I know you were not the ones who put it in

[1:27:49] place. Our officers should not

[1:27:52] be subject to making those

[1:27:53] decisions and harming people the way that we've seen.

[1:27:58] we've heard all the things,

[1:27:59] we know what the right thing to do is

[1:28:01] so I urge you

[1:28:02] to change that agreement and get rid of

[1:28:04] it. Number two, as

[1:28:07] far as the the gabber goes, I

[1:28:10] write for gulfport living

[1:28:15] as the voice of the town business

[1:28:16] collective to share what's going on

[1:28:18] in the midtown area. I have no dog

[1:28:19] in the

[1:28:20] fight whether that gets funding or

[1:28:21] not. I do agree it is a smaller publication

[1:28:23] that does not go out to everyone and

[1:28:24] have had many conversations about

[1:28:25] expanding

[1:28:27] that-- the word is escaping me. Circulation.

[1:28:34] that's out of our

[1:28:35] control. However I do believe in fairness so

[1:28:37] if you're

[1:28:39] going to support any publication you should support

[1:28:40] all the publications

[1:28:43] and I also think

[1:28:46] the gabber should be fair

[1:28:48] in their reporting and articles and

[1:28:49] who they allowed to write and

[1:28:52] the vibe

[1:28:54] that is shared. I moved here five years ago

[1:28:55] and I used

[1:28:58] to save every issue

[1:29:00] like a weirdo and I loved reading

[1:29:01] it.

[1:29:02] I would get it every weekend it was

[1:29:03] the highlight and now, you know, not

[1:29:04] so

[1:29:05] much. Things have changed. I think

[1:29:07] we all need to look

[1:29:09] at what is in the gabber and maybe

[1:29:11] come together on some agreements there.

[1:29:12] enough about all that. Onto some good

[1:29:16] stuff . As a reminder

[1:29:19] on february 1 gulfport pride is putting on

[1:29:22] for the love of gulfport . It is a community day

[1:29:30] of charlie market square so we encourage

[1:29:32] everyone to come. It's from 11 -4:00.

[1:29:33] the senior center foundation is hosting

[1:29:39] a jazz, blues and folk festival concert series

[1:29:43] on the 24th which is a fundraiser

[1:29:44] for

[1:29:45] the foundation as well as january

[1:29:46] 31, our

[1:29:49] casino night and another

[1:29:52] fundraiser

[1:29:53] for the foundation which we know supports

[1:29:54] our senior center so we encourage everyone

[1:30:01] to

[1:30:03] come out and get tickets for that. It's a fun night of

[1:30:04] casino gaming,

[1:30:05] poker tables, slot machines, all for

[1:30:06] charity, all for a great cause and

[1:30:07] keep doing the good

[1:30:10] work. Thank you.

[1:30:11] >> wolfgang?

[1:30:16] susan you will be next.

[1:30:17] >> thank you, mayor and council.

[1:30:19] gulfport grassroots

[1:30:22] . We do the

[1:30:23] monthly beyond the beach cleanups

[1:30:25] and

[1:30:26] I told you at the last meeting that

[1:30:28] I was at

[1:30:30] , last year we collected over a ton

[1:30:31] of trash and debris

[1:30:34] from our waterfront and

[1:30:36] downtown areas. I thought that was a great accomplishment.

[1:30:40] our first

[1:30:43] cleanup of this year was on january 10

[1:30:46] . 32 people , volunteers

[1:30:49] showed

[1:30:52] up and they gathered a total of 242 pounds of trash

[1:30:55] from the beach area and

[1:30:58] downtown area.

[1:31:01] we had volunteers going out in the water

[1:31:07] beyond the casino

[1:31:09] area, dragging in large pieces of steel

[1:31:10] that attributed

[1:31:12] to those 200+ pounds. A great accomplishment.

[1:31:19] we have two events scheduled

[1:31:20] for february. We have our regular

[1:31:22] beyond the beach cleanup

[1:31:25] on february 14, valentine's day,

[1:31:28] and also on the seventh

[1:31:31] we are going to join in cleanup

[1:31:37] of the lincoln cemetery.

[1:31:39] we will be cleaning up and manicuring that area with

[1:31:43] a councilperson

[1:31:46] and the group

[1:31:48] he has put together. So I am excited about

[1:31:52] that. Looking ahead into march

[1:31:54] of course we have our regular beyond

[1:31:55] the

[1:31:57] beach cleanup and will also have a bayou cleanup.

[1:32:04] I'm not

[1:32:05] sure of the dates yet, I don't think

[1:32:07] it has been set from the city of

[1:32:09] gulfport. And then looking further

[1:32:10] ahead into april,

[1:32:12] april is going to be a fun month because

[1:32:13] we are going to be doing the

[1:32:16] swap and drop april 11

[1:32:18] . That is essentially the same thing

[1:32:19] we used to do

[1:32:22] and call junk in the trunk

[1:32:25] where people can just bring trash

[1:32:28] and the city

[1:32:31] will gather it up

[1:32:33] . Also anything good, and it's good timing because

[1:32:37] a

[1:32:38] couple of weeks before then we have

[1:32:40] a citywide yard sale so folks will be going

[1:32:42] through their homes for the yard sale

[1:32:43] and I

[1:32:44] remember anything left over they can

[1:32:46] bring and drop off ,

[1:32:49] we will have tables

[1:32:52] and be placing those things out on

[1:32:55] tables so other residents can go through it

[1:32:58] and gather up things they might

[1:33:01] need around their homes. That's

[1:33:05] as far as I'm going. Thank you.

[1:33:08] >> thank you. Susan?

[1:33:14] >> thank you.

[1:33:16] good to see you at the mlk parade, mayor.

[1:33:20] >>

[1:33:23] it was great and a very good

[1:33:25] parade. I was with the interfaith group.

[1:33:29] being engaged is

[1:33:30] critical to democracy and democracy is messy.

[1:33:35] I am going

[1:33:36] to take a position people will be

[1:33:37] surprised by. In my opinion the 287g

[1:33:41] of course

[1:33:44] --the horse is out

[1:33:45] of the barn. Having a signed agreement

[1:33:47] puts

[1:33:48] the city, like others, in a position of attempting

[1:33:51] to sue the federal government and

[1:33:54] that is not going to work. My point

[1:33:59] is more, how did this happen?

[1:34:02] how did city council not get

[1:34:05] advised or informed or educated

[1:34:08] and have an opportunity to

[1:34:09] represent the people who elected you?

[1:34:14] because you do care, and

[1:34:17] we care, and you work hard at this. So how did

[1:34:20] this happen? And

[1:34:23] what can be changed

[1:34:28] to change the way small town business

[1:34:29] as usual has happened

[1:34:32] here for years and years?

[1:34:34] and a number of the topics we've heard. Trust

[1:34:38] requires accountability.

[1:34:41] third point, knowledge is power.

[1:34:47] preparedness. This

[1:34:48] council has done one heck of a good job

[1:34:50] working toward preparedness for future

[1:34:53] hurricanes,

[1:34:56] but knowledge is only power

[1:34:58] if you believe something is possible. Hundreds

[1:34:59] of cars were flooded

[1:35:05] in

[1:35:06] the town shores parking lots and elsewhere

[1:35:07] not because people didn't know the

[1:35:08] hurricane was coming but

[1:35:10] because they did not believe it could happen here.

[1:35:11] and

[1:35:16] I would make the analogy, if you do not believe ice

[1:35:20] can come here,

[1:35:23] you are thinking you control hurricanes.

[1:35:26] so

[1:35:29] what can council do? If you are

[1:35:30] not going to attempt to rescind and attempt

[1:35:35] to sue the federal government,

[1:35:37] I believe knowledge is power and workshops that are

[1:35:38] information based

[1:35:41] ,

[1:35:42] that provide information and insight

[1:35:47] into what is in the memorandum of

[1:35:48] agreement,

[1:35:50] which I have read and it is scary,

[1:35:51] and

[1:35:53] to inform citizens of our rights of expression, of

[1:35:56] free speech, of

[1:35:59] free assembly and what we can

[1:36:01] legally do, is critical. Because to

[1:36:02] say

[1:36:05] it can't happen here

[1:36:08] is to not believe in hurricanes.

[1:36:14] >> I think everybody who wanted

[1:36:15] to speak up, I'm sorry, mary. I don't

[1:36:17] know why everybody is so timid. It's

[1:36:20] 7:30. We in

[1:36:23] here an hour and a half. If you want

[1:36:24] to

[1:36:26] speak, come on up.

[1:36:29] >> we all want to be the

[1:36:31] last. Mary henry seventh avenue south

[1:36:35] and I also want to speak

[1:36:38] about it so I will

[1:36:41] summarize my points.

[1:36:45] I am concerned about how this agreement was signed back

[1:36:47] in february of last year without

[1:36:50] council being involved in the policy

[1:36:51] decision.

[1:36:53] I'd like the police

[1:36:56] or

[1:36:57] council to explain what the current status and

[1:36:59] process

[1:37:02] and procedure is in

[1:37:05] gulfport if someone is stopped.

[1:37:08] how does that work?

[1:37:11] they

[1:37:13] explained something to us but I'm not sure

[1:37:14] that stands from last year. I'm concerned about the city

[1:37:17] paying

[1:37:19] for police time to go to training for ice

[1:37:20] which, and

[1:37:23] I would like to compliment amy for

[1:37:24] her excellent first

[1:37:26] speech

[1:37:27] because she summarized so beautifully

[1:37:29] all the points of

[1:37:31] why we don't want a 287g and why we

[1:37:32] don't want ice,

[1:37:35] and how we would

[1:37:37] like the city to be. So I would request

[1:37:42] that

[1:37:45] a workshop is a

[1:37:46] good idea, be the police can educate us

[1:37:51] . We have copies of that,

[1:37:54] it's 14 pages of legalese

[1:37:57] which is hard reading.

[1:37:58] and also what that means in practice.

[1:38:00] if I am stop

[1:38:02] , what are my rights and responsibilities?

[1:38:06] and I think

[1:38:08] council should also understand all of 287g

[1:38:11] before they decide whether or not to rescind.

[1:38:14] personally I would like to rescind it

[1:38:18] but I understand the risks

[1:38:19] for doing that. So appreciate it and a workshop

[1:38:24] where all of us can learn

[1:38:27] would be a good idea.

[1:38:28] >>

[1:38:29] we are going to go to e comments. City clerk?

[1:38:34] >> I did have a total of 77 comments.

[1:38:39] 12 were residents, one

[1:38:41] was here this evening and three of those

[1:38:45] are identical in nature so it

[1:38:48] looks like a form

[1:38:50] letter to me so that would take it

[1:38:51] down to

[1:38:53] about nine. 65 nonresidents , 76 of

[1:38:54] the

[1:38:57] comments were about ice and

[1:39:00] did not want us

[1:39:03] to sign.

[1:39:04] one comment was about lincoln cemeteries

[1:39:06] so it's

[1:39:09] up

[1:39:12] to you if you would like me

[1:39:13] to read any or all of these.

[1:39:14] >> I think you should read,

[1:39:15] I'm going to respond, I think that

[1:39:16] you should

[1:39:18] read the comments from

[1:39:23] our residents that are not here. I

[1:39:24] thought there might be two people here

[1:39:27] that you had

[1:39:28] comments from but if you think just one?

[1:39:30] it's okay, it's okay. Not worth arguing about.

[1:39:33] on the other, you are

[1:39:36] telling us there are

[1:39:37] 60 something from people that do not

[1:39:39] live in gulfport and who do

[1:39:41] not want us to sign the 287g? I think

[1:39:42] we've

[1:39:44] heard that enough. I don't want to spend another minute.

[1:39:48] I feel

[1:39:49] differently about residence than folks from out of town

[1:39:51] and I believe

[1:39:54] that the lincoln

[1:39:55] cemetery is from someone from both port

[1:39:57] and

[1:40:00] that should be read, as well.

[1:40:06] >> are we going to

[1:40:09] do that? Comment whether we

[1:40:10] want the public comments read.

[1:40:11] >>

[1:40:12] okay I will

[1:40:15] agree with the mayor to read gulfport

[1:40:18] citizen comments.

[1:40:19] >> that's fine, that's good.

[1:40:21] >>

[1:40:24] I understand that

[1:40:26] we have a lot of time but I think

[1:40:30] it's a bad accident to

[1:40:32] set that when we set this procedure to have people

[1:40:33] be able to email

[1:40:36] their comments and then

[1:40:42] not read them.

[1:40:45] >> number one we have

[1:40:48] a consensus on it .

[1:40:49] >>

[1:40:51] checking papers.

[1:40:52] I know I'm out of line.

[1:40:53] >> I know

[1:40:54] I'm out of order

[1:40:57] . I am not

[1:41:00] a citizen in this state

[1:41:03] .

[1:41:04] >> what I was trying to say before

[1:41:06] I was rudely interrupted,

[1:41:08] we've heard a very clear consensus at this point.

[1:41:14] we've heard what the people had to say and

[1:41:15] what

[1:41:17] residents have to say. We've heard it

[1:41:18] loud and clear

[1:41:20] and we are going to have a response

[1:41:21] to that but we do

[1:41:23] not need to hear it for another and a half

[1:41:24] worth

[1:41:26] of time so that's why I feel that way

[1:41:30] and we have a consensus

[1:41:33] already, thank you.

[1:41:36] >> that system

[1:41:37] then, isn't working.

[1:41:38] >> that's exactly

[1:41:39] what we voted on.

[1:41:42] if it

[1:41:44] was redundant over and over and over

[1:41:45] that

[1:41:47] we would not read 70 something comments.

[1:41:48] >> I support

[1:41:50] the council decision to end its agreement

[1:41:51] with ice. I believe the

[1:41:54] separation of ice and local

[1:41:56] police of that residents remain safe

[1:41:57] regardless of

[1:42:00] citizenship status. Thank you.

[1:42:03] this was the same one

[1:42:06] submitted by patrick doyle vicki doyle and sarah

[1:42:07] fleming. I urge the city of

[1:42:09] gulfport to end its 287g

[1:42:15] agreement with ice. Local plea should not be

[1:42:16] entangled. When police

[1:42:18] take on the role of ice it blurs the

[1:42:19] purpose

[1:42:20] of local law enforcement and undermines

[1:42:21] the trust that keeps communities safe.

[1:42:23] residents who fear interaction with police

[1:42:29] are less likely to report crimes,

[1:42:30] seek help and cooperate with investigations.

[1:42:33] that makes everyone less

[1:42:36] safe. Debra commented tuesday,

[1:42:37] january 20, 2026 from gulfport citizen

[1:42:42] , gulfport mayor

[1:42:44] karen, please be honest and transparent with constituents

[1:42:47] that april 24, 2025 you met for a

[1:42:48] scheduled meeting with

[1:42:51] the senior resident and

[1:42:54] resident at city hall and were

[1:42:55] provided the gulfport city records

[1:42:57] you

[1:42:58] obtained documenting lincoln cemetery

[1:43:00] annex petition is

[1:43:03] not dated which is not legally compliant

[1:43:07] with state law.

[1:43:10] melissa, ice has no place

[1:43:11] in our city working with gulfport pd.

[1:43:13] they are

[1:43:15] unconstitutional and go against everything gulfport stands for.

[1:43:17] we need to end any agreement with

[1:43:22] this abuse

[1:43:24] of power.

[1:43:25] >> I do not want gulfport to sign an agreement with ice.

[1:43:28] I do

[1:43:30] not want my taxes to support training for police

[1:43:31] or any type of

[1:43:32] agreement that facilitates their presence. I

[1:43:34] urge council to vote no

[1:43:35] on any proposal to cooperate with ice.

[1:43:37] >> mj hodges.

[1:43:40] please

[1:43:42] keep ice out of gulfport. I do not support police

[1:43:45] having any involvement whatsoever

[1:43:47] and I hope we can encourage local businesses to support

[1:43:52] or

[1:43:54] be the cause of keeping ice out because ice is

[1:43:55] acting unconstitutionally and

[1:43:56] taking people who are indeed us citizens just

[1:43:58] because of how they look.

[1:44:01] I'm worried about my

[1:44:02] stepdaughter who is asian american and hope

[1:44:04] she can stay safe

[1:44:05] as she rides her bike to and from work. Thank you.

[1:44:10] and

[1:44:12] mcmanus, I would like to go on record opposing 287g

[1:44:13] and ending cooperation between gulfport

[1:44:14] and ice. I believe our police department

[1:44:16] is more than capable of handing the

[1:44:17] needs of our city. The politicization of

[1:44:21] the issue is creating unnecessary

[1:44:22] damage

[1:44:23] and I would hate to see this occurring.

[1:44:24] please stand up for true democracy.

[1:44:33] lori estes, local law enforcement should focus

[1:44:34] on protecting us,

[1:44:35] not enforcing federal immigration

[1:44:36] law. I want 287g ended for the sake

[1:44:37] of

[1:44:40] our immigrant neighbors and to support

[1:44:41] local

[1:44:42] authorities addressing and maintaining peace

[1:44:45] in our community. Local police must

[1:44:46] be

[1:44:47] trusted, not feared by gulfport residents.

[1:44:51] neighbors and friends, this undermines

[1:44:52] trust and depreciates

[1:44:54] our sense of community. In person comments.

[1:45:09] marian, I am opposed to the use of our

[1:45:10] city of gulfport

[1:45:11] police to work in any capacity as

[1:45:13] agents of ice and they are our public defenders. That is all

[1:45:16] the residence. -- that is all

[1:45:19] residents.

[1:45:20] >>

[1:45:22] it has been a very long public

[1:45:24] comment and we are not going to break

[1:45:25] it this time so if anyone needs to make a run I

[1:45:27] understand. We are going to proceed

[1:45:31] into staff reports because

[1:45:37] I think the

[1:45:38] city manager has a lot of things he

[1:45:40] might be able to answer and clear up.

[1:45:41] being

[1:45:43] that this council was not

[1:45:46] on the dais ,

[1:45:49] all six of us, I think two people may have been.

[1:45:52] you were on

[1:45:55] council by february correct?

[1:45:58] there were

[1:46:00] a lot of things said to me tonight

[1:46:03] and I wrote down notes especially

[1:46:04] on the things that

[1:46:07] I'm like wait, what?

[1:46:09] that doesn't mean that they are true

[1:46:13] . I

[1:46:15] understand there's people that believe

[1:46:16] they are true and I don't know if they

[1:46:19] are true or not yet . So I'm going to

[1:46:22] call on city manager on the

[1:46:24] things I heard tonight that are now the questions I would

[1:46:25] have as well

[1:46:28] . Number one, I am not aware

[1:46:31] of our officers training for ice

[1:46:33] , and it will be up to you with you

[1:46:35] want to have the chief address that

[1:46:37] or not. Number two, I

[1:46:39] was disturbed to hear people say that ice

[1:46:42] lives in our town and we have troops

[1:46:46] in our city.

[1:46:48] I am on the streets every single day talking

[1:46:49] to people every single day,

[1:46:52] I drive

[1:46:53] through town a minimum of twice a

[1:46:55] day. I have not seen ice. I have seen people, residence post

[1:46:58] fake photos

[1:47:01] with an

[1:47:04] ice vehicle in it

[1:47:07] and brag about the fact well it

[1:47:10] could be a reality but it has not been

[1:47:11] to the best

[1:47:12] of my knowledge. But I want to hear

[1:47:13] what you have to say.

[1:47:16] the third one I wanted to hear was

[1:47:18] when people said we are giving our resources

[1:47:22] to 287

[1:47:25] I am unaware of that

[1:47:27] and would like to be educated if that's the case.

[1:47:31] and

[1:47:33] I would like you to answer the question how

[1:47:34] did it

[1:47:37] happen that we signed the agreement?

[1:47:38] because

[1:47:39] all these people say they don't want

[1:47:40] us to sign, I know this happened nearly a year

[1:47:42] ago so I would like that addressed.

[1:47:43] and

[1:47:46] last but not least,

[1:47:49] if it has changed,

[1:47:52] to

[1:47:54] address what the status and process is that the city

[1:47:55] of gulfport agreed to.

[1:47:58] does that sound good?

[1:48:01] >> I have a copy for each of you

[1:48:04] .

[1:48:07] there is also a copy

[1:48:13] of the letter

[1:48:16] that the city of key west received

[1:48:17] from

[1:48:18] the attorney general and it's very similar.

[1:48:25] >> if need be because we have a lot of concerned

[1:48:27] residents in our city that don't have

[1:48:29] a copy of this.

[1:48:32] even if you are going to

[1:48:33] reference the letter which I have

[1:48:35] seen, I would appreciate it

[1:48:43] if you did read it so that they know because they would

[1:48:44] like to hear

[1:48:46] what was said from the state attorney general office.

[1:48:53] >>

[1:48:55] whether we agree or not is one issue.

[1:48:56] whether we

[1:48:57] are transparent or not is another

[1:48:59] issue.

[1:49:02] >>

[1:49:03] mayor for clarification purposes as a requirement

[1:49:05] , we

[1:49:08] did have seven officers attend

[1:49:11] training.

[1:49:14] chief

[1:49:17] farrand was one of them and I

[1:49:20] will let her

[1:49:24] respond when she returns from the

[1:49:26] training.

[1:49:27] >> was that specific to

[1:49:29] working with ice?

[1:49:30] >>

[1:49:33] it's outlined in the agreement and was

[1:49:35] a requirement that your officers

[1:49:37] would entertain that training. We

[1:49:38] did not pay

[1:49:39] for that, yes it was on our time,

[1:49:42] but we did not have to pay for any

[1:49:44] costs associated with it

[1:49:47] other than to attend and that

[1:49:50] issue when it's

[1:49:51] resolved I will have her speak to that.

[1:49:56] >> thank you. >>

[1:49:59] and you are correct, mayor. We

[1:50:00] are unaware of any ice activity within the

[1:50:02] city.

[1:50:05] there

[1:50:06] was that photo shopped picture at the library

[1:50:08] where someone showed a vehicle

[1:50:11] in the

[1:50:12] library parking lot with the gentleman

[1:50:14] standing behind it .

[1:50:15] that was a superimposed superhero.

[1:50:17] the vehicle was never

[1:50:20] in the parking lot and that's

[1:50:22] been verified by library staff and the police department.

[1:50:26] how did we get here?

[1:50:29] last february as you are aware,

[1:50:31] the state of florida, the governor

[1:50:35] governor of the state of florida issued a directive

[1:50:38] that all law enforcement

[1:50:41] agencies

[1:50:44] state city

[1:50:45] municipal, sheriff's departments,

[1:50:47] were required.

[1:50:50] was required

[1:50:53] to sign the agreement.

[1:50:56] the

[1:50:58] governor said such order. This is

[1:51:02] an agreement

[1:51:03] that was basically a task force model.

[1:51:08] if

[1:51:10] you look at the title of it we do

[1:51:11] task force all the time

[1:51:12] with different agencies. Chief when

[1:51:14] we get to this point could you speak to training please?

[1:51:17] subsequently the chief

[1:51:20] and I discussed it. It

[1:51:23] was an administrative task,

[1:51:26] I accept responsibility. It was

[1:51:29] not a policy decision it was a directive from the governor

[1:51:32] and

[1:51:34] I am unaware of any agency within pinellas county who has

[1:51:35] not entered into

[1:51:38] it or who has

[1:51:39] sought direction from their elective body.

[1:51:41] it

[1:51:43] was an administrative task. With that said I

[1:51:44] hope I addressed it.

[1:51:50] it is my responsibility, I did authorize the chief

[1:51:52] to sign it because we looked at it

[1:51:53] as an administrative task. At

[1:51:56] that time it was in the media

[1:51:59] and such that this

[1:52:01] was happening but I go back to the idea

[1:52:04] and if you look into it, the governor directed

[1:52:05] all agencies to sign.

[1:52:11] >> and

[1:52:13] so I am clear that was signed by only the chief?

[1:52:14] that was not

[1:52:15] signed by the city manager or council?

[1:52:17] >> that's correct. Subsequently to that,

[1:52:26] and

[1:52:27] let me touch on it, there were some

[1:52:28] other questions. I got distracted,

[1:52:29] I apologize.

[1:52:32] >> I asked about the training. I asked if

[1:52:35] I was shocked when they said ice

[1:52:38] lives in our town, troops

[1:52:41] are in our city. Not aware of that?

[1:52:43] I don't know if our police chief is aware

[1:52:47] .

[1:52:48] >>

[1:52:50] she would advise me.

[1:52:51] >> asked if there were any resources

[1:52:53] , any of

[1:52:56] our city resources. I asked if , how

[1:52:59] did we get here? That one you have answered,

[1:53:02] and what is our current status and process?

[1:53:05] >> city resources

[1:53:08] are strictly for

[1:53:11] our officers and chief farrand to attend

[1:53:19] training.

[1:53:20] >> so we are told we had to

[1:53:21] go to the training

[1:53:22] and we had to pay for it?

[1:53:23] >> there is

[1:53:24] no paying for it,

[1:53:25] the resource would be the hours spent as

[1:53:26] part

[1:53:29] of their daily employment.

[1:53:35] in regards to any other resources

[1:53:37] by the city there has not been any exhausted

[1:53:42] other

[1:53:43] than myself and chief discussing it

[1:53:44] and preparing this information for today. Subsequently,

[1:53:48] and the reason I gave you

[1:53:49] the key west, a copy of the key west

[1:53:53] letter that they received from the

[1:53:54] attorney general

[1:53:56] in the state of florida is that the

[1:53:57] scenario is very similar.

[1:54:03] it's in the

[1:54:04] media, widely talked about in the media. The

[1:54:06] chief of

[1:54:09] police of key west

[1:54:12] signed the agreement

[1:54:15] and

[1:54:16] subsequently city council, the city commission excuse me,

[1:54:18] of key west

[1:54:19] wanted to talk about it in regards

[1:54:21] to

[1:54:22] the public. They subsequently then

[1:54:27] directed staff

[1:54:30] to leave the agreement.

[1:54:33] so they voted and took

[1:54:36] that off the table. The

[1:54:39] attorney general then appeared in a letter of correspondence and

[1:54:42] said you need to reconsider.

[1:54:45] I

[1:54:46] will let the city attorney speak to

[1:54:48] what the penalties are to that

[1:54:51] and I'll be happy to answer questions

[1:54:53] that I do have the knowledge of. Chief

[1:54:55] farrand can you speak to training and what

[1:54:57] type of training you received?

[1:55:03] >> it

[1:55:06] was actually online training

[1:55:08] through the federal law enforcement

[1:55:12] training.

[1:55:18] we did 40 hours of

[1:55:20] online training.

[1:55:21] >> so we did not go anywhere.

[1:55:24] >> there was no travel cost

[1:55:27] or anything like that.

[1:55:29] I did the training in my office. Some

[1:55:30] of that I did from

[1:55:32] home. The training involved the procedures and

[1:55:38] how someone is able to get citizenship should they choose.

[1:55:45] among other various topics.

[1:55:47] I was not prepared to speak to this today

[1:55:48] otherwise I would have repaired

[1:55:51] a better curriculum explanation.

[1:55:54] >> I understand it

[1:55:57] wasn't on the agenda.

[1:56:00] >> chief?

[1:56:03] >> do you want to go

[1:56:05] to speaking order?

[1:56:06] >> I don't think she's done.

[1:56:12] >> if we could touch on that,

[1:56:13] this direction to reiterate if you

[1:56:15] look at the key west

[1:56:18] scenario as I was discussing,

[1:56:21] they subsequently

[1:56:24] had taken that action

[1:56:25] but this has been utilized throughout

[1:56:27] pinellas county.

[1:56:30] I am unaware of any agency

[1:56:33] that does not participate and

[1:56:36] I think it lays out

[1:56:39] that the scenario is very similar

[1:56:40] to what we

[1:56:42] are here discussing tonight.

[1:56:43] >> I have

[1:56:44] a question for mary. Are we going

[1:56:45] to

[1:56:48] go in speaking order?

[1:56:51] >> yes but

[1:56:53] this was the city manager's reports I

[1:56:54] was going to go

[1:56:57] to the city manager.

[1:57:00] >> you asked me a

[1:57:02] question and I was answering it. Just let me

[1:57:03] finish my answer.

[1:57:04] >> so, protocol.

[1:57:09] I understand you have

[1:57:11] answered the things that I asked you with

[1:57:12] the exception of I know you are

[1:57:14] going to defer to the attorney to address the repercussions

[1:57:21] of let's say, reneging on this

[1:57:27] signing of the mandate.

[1:57:29] we can go there, but mary before you sit

[1:57:30] down-- nice try but

[1:57:33] the

[1:57:35] vice mayor had a question. Let's see if anyone else

[1:57:36] does,

[1:57:39] in speaking order.

[1:57:40] >> I had one

[1:57:41] of your statement I would like the chief

[1:57:42] to address. Once again if she

[1:57:45] would reiterate the process that if an individual

[1:57:48] were not out

[1:57:51] seeking anyone but the process

[1:57:54] ,

[1:58:02] we may interact with an individual

[1:58:03] if they are breaking the

[1:58:05] law or if there is a reason to. Do

[1:58:06] you want to talk to that?

[1:58:12] >>

[1:58:13] that's correct. We don't have any

[1:58:15] lists, we are not accepting any lists,

[1:58:17] we are not going to go looking for

[1:58:18] people. If we encounter someone who

[1:58:19] has some

[1:58:20] kind of detainer or a hold then we

[1:58:21] call a phone number and

[1:58:24] an agent will respond.

[1:58:25] >>

[1:58:27] I will ask my question.

[1:58:30] >> I have no questions.

[1:58:33] >> so I understand all of that. I know that

[1:58:38] it talks about how you work with a

[1:58:39] supervisor at ice so what did

[1:58:42] the training say about that?

[1:58:45] >> I'm not sure I understand. >> into

[1:58:48] 87 it talks about

[1:58:50] how people who are trained will have

[1:58:52] a supervisor that directs

[1:58:55] --

[1:58:58] it may not have been

[1:58:59] in the training but that's what is in the agreement.

[1:59:06] did they talk about how you dealt with a supervisor

[1:59:09] or what a supervisor could ask you

[1:59:10] to do?

[1:59:11] >> I'm not sure

[1:59:12] I understand the question.

[1:59:13] >> could an ice supervisor,

[1:59:16] because you're supposed to be

[1:59:19] --

[1:59:20] >> we are not reporting

[1:59:22] to anyone at ice.

[1:59:24] we are not reporting to anyone at ice.

[1:59:25] >>

[1:59:26] that's

[1:59:27] different than what this agreement says.

[1:59:34] if a person

[1:59:37] told us

[1:59:38] to do something, instead of them coming here

[1:59:40] what did the training say about

[1:59:42] what our response would be?

[1:59:43] >> I don't

[1:59:44] believe they would

[1:59:45] do that. That's part of the agreement.

[1:59:46] >>

[1:59:49] but it is

[1:59:51] in here.

[1:59:52] >> I hear what you are saying

[1:59:53] but those agreements were almost

[1:59:54] a year before the training even came

[1:59:55] out. So

[1:59:57] a lot has changed. Were not following that

[2:00:04] to the letter. No one is

[2:00:06] calling us to ask us to go do anything

[2:00:07] for them. If they

[2:00:08] want something done the either take

[2:00:10] care of it themselves

[2:00:11] or they get someone who is actually

[2:00:15] on the task force to take care of it.

[2:00:16] the gulfport police department

[2:00:19] is not going to do that.

[2:00:20] >>

[2:00:21] I'm very glad about that but I'm worried

[2:00:25] that it says in here that we could have to

[2:00:28] do that and

[2:00:29] if we sign that even though the training is changed

[2:00:31] --

[2:00:34] because this is what we signed,

[2:00:37] and did they ever cosign?

[2:00:42] >> I think they have since we did the

[2:00:43] training

[2:00:44] I think they have--

[2:00:45] >> but what the document says

[2:00:46] and what you are

[2:00:47] saying the training says is different.

[2:00:49] and that worries me.

[2:00:55] but

[2:00:56] I know if they didn't say anything in

[2:00:58] the training that's all you have to--

[2:01:01] >>

[2:01:02] and we are not trying to ask you to speculate.

[2:01:04] we are asking you what

[2:01:07] our process is today. And

[2:01:10] --I don't

[2:01:11] have a question at the moment for

[2:01:13] the chief but

[2:01:16] I will have comments

[2:01:19] in my report.

[2:01:20] >> my only question is have we called

[2:01:25] ice for any

[2:01:26] stop we made for whatever reason?

[2:01:31] but if we did,

[2:01:33] because it was my understanding and

[2:01:34] please if I

[2:01:35] am wrong correct me, it was my understanding

[2:01:37] that if we pulled

[2:01:40] someone over for speeding or drunken-driving,

[2:01:41] shoplifting

[2:01:42] and ran their report as you do for everybody

[2:01:49] and we found that ice had a warrant for their arrest,

[2:01:52] it was my understanding

[2:01:55] we would then call ice and are required

[2:01:57] to hold them for 30 minutes in case

[2:01:58] ice decided to show up

[2:02:01] . That was some time ago

[2:02:04] that I heard that so

[2:02:06] if that is no longer correct information I would appreciate

[2:02:09] any way you can correct it and the

[2:02:10] second part of that

[2:02:12] would be have you had to call ice at any point

[2:02:16] and have they come in to our

[2:02:19] town to get someone pulled over for

[2:02:22] some totally other reason?

[2:02:25] >> so the first part of that question is

[2:02:30] if we had contact with someone and there was

[2:02:33] a criminal charge that we have put on them,

[2:02:37] we handle that and they go to jail.

[2:02:43] if

[2:02:44] there is a detainer, ice would have

[2:02:46] contact with them at the pinellas county jail. Does that answer the question?

[2:02:49] >> I think so.

[2:02:52] so we don't call ice

[2:02:54] from the potential traffic stop?

[2:02:55] >> no,

[2:02:56] we do not.

[2:02:58] we

[2:03:00] would resolve that traffic stop in

[2:03:01] the example you are

[2:03:04] providing,

[2:03:07] transport them to jail

[2:03:10] and contact ice to let them know that

[2:03:13] they are there.

[2:03:14] >> okay. And

[2:03:16] do you know,

[2:03:22] have we called ice, and you've already said

[2:03:24] no.

[2:03:25] >> we have not, no. >> okay, thank you.

[2:03:26] that

[2:03:28] was the questions for you so now we

[2:03:29] will switch over

[2:03:31] to the city manager.

[2:03:32] I would like an opportunity on this

[2:03:37] subject only of course, any

[2:03:39] clarifying questions of anything you

[2:03:40] said in speaking order.

[2:03:49] did you have anything else to add?

[2:03:50] >>

[2:03:55] I think the chief was clear that we

[2:03:56] have not had an interaction that was

[2:03:57] anticipated or anything like that

[2:03:59] but I cannot stress enough that

[2:04:02] there are three aspects.

[2:04:03] the city of st. Petersburg, we will use, has not.

[2:04:07] you saw the issue the other day that

[2:04:11] they have not opted out.

[2:04:13] there is no level in this county that

[2:04:17] has reached that.

[2:04:18] now the sheriff may be doing something

[2:04:20] but we have been not

[2:04:23] --we have not been made aware

[2:04:26] of it. The arrests the

[2:04:27] other day during the protest were tied to individuals

[2:04:31] trespassing inside of private property.

[2:04:33] those were not immigration arrests

[2:04:38] so there are different

[2:04:40] things happening here getting all lumped together.

[2:04:46] but I will be the 1st to acknowledge that

[2:04:47] based

[2:04:48] on the governor's direction, that

[2:04:50] I did authorize the chief to sign it because

[2:04:53] it was determined

[2:04:56] that the

[2:04:57] government was requiring each agency to participate

[2:04:59] .

[2:05:02] as far as the penalties

[2:05:05] outlined in the

[2:05:06] key west correspondence I will defer

[2:05:07] to the city attorney unless council

[2:05:08] has

[2:05:11] any further questions.

[2:05:12] >>

[2:05:16] let's see if there's anything specific

[2:05:17] to the city manager before

[2:05:19] we move on to the city attorney.

[2:05:20] >> no questions.

[2:05:22] >> I understand the governor may have

[2:05:23] said it was required

[2:05:26] that in fact in 287

[2:05:28] it is not mandatory. It's mandatory

[2:05:32] for counties that have a jail

[2:05:33] but not for cities and apparently what

[2:05:35] I was reading today

[2:05:38] it may not be totally up to

[2:05:39] date but there's at least 100 cities

[2:05:41] in florida that have not signed one.

[2:05:43] I understand it could be more complicated

[2:05:47] to rescind one then to not

[2:05:50] sign it in the first place.

[2:05:53] I'm

[2:05:54] probably the sheriff was putting pressure on things but it

[2:05:55] was never mandatory to sign this. Personally

[2:06:02] >> is this a question?

[2:06:04] >> are you doing your public comment

[2:06:08] now?

[2:06:09] >> do

[2:06:10] you know if ice has cosigned our agreement?

[2:06:11] >> I have no idea.

[2:06:14] we will go on and locate it.

[2:06:19] >> let me see if I have anything else here.

[2:06:22] the only other thing that was different

[2:06:26] is that the chief

[2:06:28] was saying that we send people directly to

[2:06:29] jail. You had said earlier

[2:06:31] that we hold people, we let ice know them

[2:06:38] --know we have them and hold them

[2:06:39] for an

[2:06:40] hour and if they don't come we release them.

[2:06:41] >>

[2:06:42] we are talking about are we

[2:06:43] arresting someone for an immigration violation?

[2:06:50] >> as opposed to a

[2:06:51] traffic stop?

[2:06:52] >> chief was speaking if they have

[2:06:53] a criminal

[2:06:54] violation they will be arrested based on that and

[2:06:55] then taken to jail and we would then

[2:06:57] tell the federal government hey, this

[2:06:59] person is in jail. That's where the difference

[2:07:02] is coming about,

[2:07:05] --

[2:07:08] >> I am confident

[2:07:11] that when I say we are not

[2:07:14] out soliciting or arresting based

[2:07:16] on someone's immigration status ,

[2:07:17] we

[2:07:20] are making contact with them as the mayor spoke of,

[2:07:23] law enforcement activity.

[2:07:26] >>

[2:07:28] so one other question. This is the

[2:07:29] first time I saw this letter.

[2:07:32] they said by rescinding that,

[2:07:40] , they were automatically making key west a

[2:07:41] sanctuary

[2:07:43] city which is illegal. But as I understand,

[2:07:47] we have to comply with

[2:07:50] 908 - 104 which

[2:07:53] says you can't impede any procedures

[2:07:56] going on but by rescinding

[2:07:59] 287

[2:08:00] you are actually not impeding anything

[2:08:02] that ice is doing, you are just not doing something

[2:08:05] additional. So it seems to me that key west

[2:08:08] would have had a good case for not

[2:08:09] being a sanctuary city . And again,

[2:08:17] I

[2:08:18] know that the governor and the attorney

[2:08:20] general are trying to strong-arm people

[2:08:21] into doing this stuff so whether it's fair

[2:08:23] or constitutional or legal may not be the point.

[2:08:27] and

[2:08:28] I realize if we resend it, we could

[2:08:30] risk

[2:08:36] that same thing but technically

[2:08:37] we are not a sanctuary city and we would

[2:08:39] still be following 908.104.

[2:08:42] so

[2:08:43] that would be I guess for the city attorney, too.

[2:08:48] marlene has to--

[2:08:49] >>

[2:08:55] councilmember shaw, any questions for city manager?

[2:08:56] >> no,

[2:08:57] I am still

[2:08:59] holding my comments for later.

[2:09:00] >>

[2:09:01] okay, that's fine. I don't have any additional

[2:09:03] questions.

[2:09:05] I appreciate you clarifying why both

[2:09:06] of us

[2:09:08] who were paying attention a year ago and heard this

[2:09:11] will hold them for whether it was 30 minutes

[2:09:12] or

[2:09:14] an hour and now I understood from

[2:09:15] the chief that that is not

[2:09:17] the process we are doing. So that's where there was

[2:09:21] some confusion.

[2:09:22] >> I was

[2:09:23] told recently that we are holding them.

[2:09:28] >> I misunderstood. Go ahead, andy. >> originally

[2:09:30] that came about because it

[2:09:31] was a direction that the sheriff was saying.

[2:09:35] after 30 minutes the recommendation was to let

[2:09:36] anybody

[2:09:38] go because they said technically the office was in tampa

[2:09:45] and no one was coming over in 30 minutes

[2:09:47] to pick anybody up . So if they didn't have a

[2:09:48] criminal

[2:09:49] charge they weren't holding them.

[2:09:51] >>

[2:09:54] so I do have a question now because

[2:09:55] it

[2:09:56] was a week ago on monday I was told

[2:09:57] we do hold them for an hour and if ice does not come,

[2:10:00] that is that. So

[2:10:03] what is the fact?

[2:10:04] >>

[2:10:05] do you want to clarify the difference what we

[2:10:09] are talking about?

[2:10:10] >> we actually do hold them for an hour

[2:10:15] in the

[2:10:16] case where and ice agent says they

[2:10:18] are coming. If

[2:10:19] they say no one is available then we

[2:10:21] release them.

[2:10:24] >> and I was telling you

[2:10:25] what the sheriff-- when this first came out

[2:10:27] and

[2:10:30] suggested to everyone at that time.

[2:10:33] >>

[2:10:34] thank you.

[2:10:35] >> so would that be, you

[2:10:36] are holding somebody that

[2:10:39] you learn is on a list

[2:10:42] that did not commit any

[2:10:50] crime like speeding or drunk driving

[2:10:51] because those people

[2:10:53] you were sending to jail.

[2:10:54] >> right, speeding is not a

[2:10:55] crime to be clear but yes that

[2:10:57] would be someone who has a detainer.

[2:10:58] >> so if someone

[2:11:00] was speeding or went through a

[2:11:03] stop sign which is

[2:11:04] not a jay leblanc offense, we would

[2:11:06] check and if they were on the list we

[2:11:09] would hold them for an hour?

[2:11:12] >> you are saying list but

[2:11:13] that is not at all how it works. We

[2:11:15] don't have a list.

[2:11:16] >> right but you

[2:11:18] check the system.

[2:11:19] >>

[2:11:21] we check their records to

[2:11:22] make sure their drivers license is valid

[2:11:24] and ultimately that's

[2:11:25] what we are trying to do.

[2:11:26] >> if they

[2:11:27] do something that is not

[2:11:30] a jay leblanc offense and we checked

[2:11:33] the records and they have a hold

[2:11:36] from ice, we would hold them for an

[2:11:38] hour and if nobody came we would release them?

[2:11:39] >> that's

[2:11:40] not actually

[2:11:42] accurate. We call the

[2:11:48] ice office.

[2:11:51] we are not going to stand on the

[2:11:53] side of the road and wait for an hour.

[2:11:54] >> if someone

[2:11:57] is coming how long do we wait?

[2:11:58] >>

[2:11:59] we

[2:12:00] wait for an hour.

[2:12:01] >> that's

[2:12:03] were the biggest issue is.

[2:12:06] to clarify

[2:12:09] they

[2:12:11] have to do something to interact with law enforcement

[2:12:15] and that's were the issue becomes. If it's a jay leblanc

[2:12:18] fence they are notified. If

[2:12:21] they say they are coming

[2:12:22] --we would do that for any law enforcement

[2:12:24] agency of someone had a hold

[2:12:27] but not to say --I guess the

[2:12:30] number one thing is

[2:12:33] we are not doing what

[2:12:36] people are seeing in the media. We are not going out to a construction site

[2:12:38] and rounding people up or anything like

[2:12:39] that. We

[2:12:42] are doing it based on

[2:12:45] if we have a reason for law enforcement to

[2:12:46] interact with them.

[2:12:48] >> and to clarify we

[2:12:51] are talking about gulfport

[2:12:54] so when we get 75 comments from people

[2:12:57] outside of gulfport

[2:13:00] we are not addressing what they are

[2:13:01] doing

[2:13:03] and that is not the focus of the gulfport city council, it's to

[2:13:04] address

[2:13:06] gulfport issues.

[2:13:09] should we

[2:13:12] move to the city attorney?

[2:13:17] >> mayor, this is a relatively short letter but

[2:13:18] I think

[2:13:20] it's important for the people to hear because it

[2:13:21] does affect council.

[2:13:23] this is from the attorney general

[2:13:29] dated july 2, 2025 which I think is

[2:13:30] also important because

[2:13:33] the action taken by key west

[2:13:36] was on june 30

[2:13:39] so I don't know how the attorney general

[2:13:40] new two

[2:13:43] days after this happened.

[2:13:45] but it says dear city commission. On

[2:13:46] june 30,

[2:13:47] 2025 the key west city commission voted to avoid

[2:13:52] the 287g agreement with

[2:13:57] immigration and ice. In doing so you

[2:13:58] directly violated florida law.

[2:14:03] for the statute prohibits law enforcement and local government

[2:14:07] entities from adopting or having

[2:14:10] in effect any sanctuary policy

[2:14:13] as the vice mayor referred

[2:14:16] to. Sanctuary policy means law,

[2:14:18] policy, practice, procedure or custom

[2:14:24] adopted or allowed by state or local governmental entity which

[2:14:25] prohibits

[2:14:26] or impedes a law enforcement agency from complying

[2:14:34] , which is a federal law or

[2:14:36] which prohibits or impedes a law enforcement agency from

[2:14:39] communicating or cooperating with federal immigration agency

[2:14:45] so as to limit such law enforcement agency

[2:14:48] in or prohibit them from participating

[2:14:49] in federal

[2:14:50] immigration operation with a federal immigration

[2:14:55] agency as permitted by

[2:14:58] federal and state law

[2:15:00] referring to section 908.1026 and additionally section

[2:15:04] 908.1041 requires

[2:15:08] state and local jurisdictions to use best efforts

[2:15:13] to support the enforcement of federal

[2:15:14] immigration law. By declaring the existing

[2:15:16] 287g agreement

[2:15:19] void, key west

[2:15:22] has made itself a sanctuary city

[2:15:23] prohibiting police officers from receiving

[2:15:27] the necessary federal training to

[2:15:28] adequately

[2:15:31] enforce us immigration laws and not

[2:15:32] only prevent city police

[2:15:34] from enforcing current

[2:15:37] laws but effectively prevents the

[2:15:38] police department from participating

[2:15:40] in federal immigration operations.

[2:15:43] in

[2:15:44] this instance however it's even worse.

[2:15:46] the commission

[2:15:47] did not merely prevent the police

[2:15:48] department from entering the agreement,

[2:15:52] it voided

[2:15:54] the existing agreement under which the

[2:15:55] police

[2:15:56] department was actively operating.

[2:16:00] bad policy, and illegal. It goes on

[2:16:04] to talk about key west

[2:16:07] specifically and

[2:16:13] illegal aliens representing a significant danger

[2:16:15] giving examples of arresting offenders

[2:16:18] but I think the last paragraph is

[2:16:22] what is disconcerting.

[2:16:23] florida law unequivocally forbids

[2:16:25] sanctuary

[2:16:26] policies and requires local governments

[2:16:28] to use quotation,

[2:16:31] best efforts,

[2:16:33] to assist with federal immigration enforcement.

[2:16:36] your recent action violated both laws.

[2:16:37] the city commission must

[2:16:40] immediately reverse the june 30 kind

[2:16:43] , 23

[2:16:46] five action and allow resumption of

[2:16:48] cooperative engagement with ice . Failure to take

[2:16:52] corrective action

[2:16:53] will result in the enforcement of all

[2:16:56] applicable penalties including removal from

[2:16:58] office

[2:17:00] by the government -- by the governor

[2:17:07] and the florida constitution.

[2:17:10] >> thank you.

[2:17:13] do we have any questions of city

[2:17:15] attorney in speaking order?

[2:17:16] >> my

[2:17:17] only question is did key west

[2:17:19] reverse?

[2:17:20] >>

[2:17:22] that is my understanding.

[2:17:25] >>

[2:17:27] I have no questions except to say

[2:17:28] I once lived in a sanctuary city and

[2:17:31] we don't want that.

[2:17:34] >> I understand what happened in key west

[2:17:40] but I haven't heard whether any of the

[2:17:41] cities

[2:17:42] who did not sign the agreement in the

[2:17:43] first place--

[2:17:44] >> whether they have

[2:17:45] received anything?

[2:17:46] >> I would have

[2:17:47] to research the answer to that

[2:17:49] because they went on to say well what

[2:17:50] you did was

[2:17:51] worse than that but we don't know

[2:17:52] if they did anything

[2:17:58] other than, it sounds like they can

[2:18:00] declare them by not doing something. Now again,

[2:18:04] --

[2:18:05] >>

[2:18:06] because you aren't saying you aren't going

[2:18:07] to comply with 908.104

[2:18:10] --?

[2:18:11] >>

[2:18:13] if you become a

[2:18:16] sanctuary city, you are.

[2:18:19] >> but I mean,-- >> trust me I'm not defending

[2:18:22] .

[2:18:23] >> but it seems to me

[2:18:25] that what he is saying is not right and now

[2:18:26] whether

[2:18:29] it went to court

[2:18:32] and what

[2:18:33] would happen, who knows but it would

[2:18:35] be a hassle and I totally get

[2:18:36] that.

[2:18:37] >> I'm more concerned about, my

[2:18:38] job is to give legal advice for council

[2:18:39] and I

[2:18:41] don't want to see council

[2:18:43] removed by the governor coming in. I

[2:18:44] don't know

[2:18:45] how they knew about this vote within

[2:18:46] two days. That's very disconcerting.

[2:18:50] >> and again

[2:18:52] it's not saying you are not complying with

[2:18:56] the law, because you are.

[2:19:02] the other

[2:19:03] part was not mandatory. So I don't

[2:19:05] know how they can--

[2:19:08] >> I don't know why

[2:19:11] they did this but I think it was

[2:19:17] to send a message to cities--

[2:19:18] >>

[2:19:19] to intimidate.

[2:19:20] >> and it's like you said,

[2:19:21] all the counties had to do

[2:19:22] it, all the sheriff's in the entire state

[2:19:23] have all agreed to do it

[2:19:26] .

[2:19:27] >> because they

[2:19:28] have jails and they were required.

[2:19:29] >> you're right. State-mandated

[2:19:32] so there was no decisions

[2:19:34] and when this first came out as I said, I was

[2:19:35] telling the councilmember we were

[2:19:38] told how

[2:19:40] the sheriff was going to deal with

[2:19:41] this and a

[2:19:42] lot of municipalities were like okay well

[2:19:43] of no one's coming in a half an hour

[2:19:47] --I'm not saying it wasn't

[2:19:49] in effect, I'm saying it wasn't effective. That's the

[2:19:53] only distinction. But

[2:19:54] you are right this has been pushed

[2:19:56] from the governor's office,

[2:19:59] from the attorney general,

[2:20:02] from federal. That's what

[2:20:04] every municipality has hanging over

[2:20:06] their heads.

[2:20:07] >> other states are not

[2:20:08] doing this but--

[2:20:09] >> I looked at that

[2:20:11] and

[2:20:14] it said at least 40+ states

[2:20:17] , it looked

[2:20:19] like a little over 40 states have signed

[2:20:22] and some states already had state

[2:20:23] law

[2:20:25] that said they couldn't. California,

[2:20:29] oregon,

[2:20:34] but our state is apparently going

[2:20:35] the other direction.

[2:20:36] >> thank you. >>

[2:20:38] councilmember?

[2:20:39] >>

[2:20:43] you answered the question which was

[2:20:44] one of

[2:20:45] mine as well as the vice mayor's question,

[2:20:46] I just heard something about jail.

[2:20:50] did you say

[2:20:53] key west has jails?

[2:20:56] >> it's just mandatory,

[2:20:59] any county or city

[2:21:02] that has a jail, they have

[2:21:05] to sign it by state law.

[2:21:08] >> I was aware of that but I'm also aware that

[2:21:09] we

[2:21:11] do have some holding cells

[2:21:14] that are not in use right now. Does

[2:21:17] that come into it at all?

[2:21:18] >> no, I

[2:21:19] think it has to be a jail where someone

[2:21:20] is being held for a

[2:21:23] more permanent time as opposed to

[2:21:25] temporary.

[2:21:26] >> we no longer use our holding cells.

[2:21:29] >> mandatory

[2:21:32] with a county jail facility.

[2:21:33] >>

[2:21:35] I just wanted to make sure those didn't come into play.

[2:21:37] >> can answer question? There are jails managed

[2:21:40] by the monroe county sheriff's office.

[2:21:44] >> are you done? >> yes, thank you.

[2:21:47] city

[2:21:49] attorney did you have any other reports?

[2:21:50] >>

[2:21:51] no ma'am.

[2:21:52] >>

[2:21:53] I did have one question for you and

[2:21:56] I said again

[2:21:59] , there has been so much controversy out there

[2:22:02] and I would like

[2:22:05] to calm things down.

[2:22:08] could you give a very brief

[2:22:13] clarifying, the meaning of a nonpartisan race?

[2:22:17] >> thank you.

[2:22:23] >>

[2:22:26] I wrote it down so I should have

[2:22:29] it

[2:22:30] >> in layman terms, please.

[2:22:31] >> [ laughter ] okay, here it is.

[2:22:35] so gulfport ordinance

[2:22:40] adopts the state of florida election

[2:22:41] law and florida statute 100

[2:22:44] which is the state election law

[2:22:47] , 100.3605 regulates conduct of municipal

[2:22:50] elections and florida statute 97

[2:22:53] provides

[2:22:56] elections are nonpartisan

[2:22:58] which is defined as an office for which a candidate

[2:23:02] is prohibited from campaigning

[2:23:05] or qualifying for election or retention in office

[2:23:09] based on party affiliation.

[2:23:11] that is the definition of nonpartisan

[2:23:17] so you cannot use your party affiliation

[2:23:19] or run under party affiliation in a nonpartisan election.

[2:23:29] it is something that is supposed to

[2:23:31] be completely excluded.

[2:23:32] >> thank you. Social

[2:23:33] media has not been good to us in the

[2:23:34] last

[2:23:35] week and that was another brouhaha

[2:23:38] about residence being angry that our candidates

[2:23:45] are not going

[2:23:46] out there and promoting their party affiliation and

[2:23:48] I am saying you can't do that.

[2:23:50] it's illegal. So if you hear anybody saying

[2:23:54] that, it's illegal. Don't you

[2:23:57] hate when laws get in the way?

[2:23:58] but that's the law and that's what we

[2:24:00] are going to follow.

[2:24:03] all right, thank you.

[2:24:04] >>

[2:24:05] mayor before we move on can I have one other topic

[2:24:06] to cover? Council had asked

[2:24:09] us

[2:24:12] to look into the feasibility of

[2:24:14] waiving fees, permit fees to properties

[2:24:15] that have been demolished and

[2:24:18] individuals

[2:24:20] are waiting on. We set some basic criteria

[2:24:22] , that they needed to be homesteaded

[2:24:26] and they were in process, things to

[2:24:27] that

[2:24:30] effect. We identified 25

[2:24:33] final demolition permits.

[2:24:34] of those, seven were homestead properties.

[2:24:39] of that, four

[2:24:40] have already started the process.

[2:24:43] two have conveyed to us that they

[2:24:44] are either holding up on their own

[2:24:48] benefit or

[2:24:50] they are in the process of doing it themselves.

[2:24:52] there's not a delay. One property

[2:24:54] we identified

[2:24:57] we had no knowledge of it.

[2:25:00] a lot of the properties have been sold in the last

[2:25:03] year

[2:25:06] and we

[2:25:07] came down to as I've said, there were

[2:25:09] seven homesteaded properties on the

[2:25:12] final demolition list and

[2:25:14] four of them have new construction

[2:25:15] permits which brought us

[2:25:18] to three. Two we are

[2:25:21] knowledgeable of that aren't

[2:25:24] looking for anything

[2:25:26] and another met the criteria. Homesteaded, no permit,

[2:25:30] and we just

[2:25:33] hadn't heard anything yet. Another property you identified

[2:25:38] was for sale. We know it's for sale. We narrowed it

[2:25:41] down to that point but there have been

[2:25:45] 25 demolition permits that were fine old

[2:25:48] --'s

[2:25:51] that were final

[2:25:54] .

[2:25:55] >> thank you.

[2:25:57] any questions clarifying

[2:26:00] on that, in speaking order?

[2:26:03] >> just one.

[2:26:06] >> would we need

[2:26:07] to have a consensus whether we wanted

[2:26:09] to

[2:26:12] waive the fees?

[2:26:13] >> the seven

[2:26:15] , of the seven

[2:26:17] there were seven homesteaded. Four

[2:26:18] already started the process and

[2:26:19] are not looking for anything. We've got

[2:26:21] it narrowed down to one property

[2:26:24] that have not made

[2:26:27] up their decision. The others

[2:26:30] have advised us

[2:26:33] you have one

[2:26:35] property you would be waiving fees for.

[2:26:42] >> so we would have to decide whether we

[2:26:44] want to waive it for just one.

[2:26:45] >>

[2:26:48] and you are picking out a person

[2:26:51] and they are realizing a

[2:26:52] benefit that is not available to others.

[2:26:54] >> thank

[2:26:55] you for clarifying and bringing that back to us.

[2:27:02] city clerk report?

[2:27:03] >> no report this evening.

[2:27:04] >>

[2:27:05] it is 8:19 and we will be starting our

[2:27:06] council meeting very soon,

[2:27:09] that I think that I would

[2:27:11] like to maybe take a five-minute bathroom break

[2:27:12] and then we will

[2:27:15] get back and get

[2:27:17] council comments and if we are going past

[2:27:18] 10:30

[2:27:21] we will take another break at how

[2:27:22] about

[2:27:24] five minutes right now? I think

[2:27:26] most of you may want to hear the council

[2:27:29] comments. Party me? I'm just saying

[2:27:33] it. We will resume at 10:25.

[2:27:38] >>

[2:27:41] the meeting has resumed. Thank you very

[2:27:45] much, have your seats.

[2:27:46] we will now do council comments and reports

[2:27:48] and

[2:27:51] we will go in order

[2:27:52] starting with councilmember jackson.

[2:27:53] >>

[2:27:54] okay.

[2:27:57] I

[2:27:58] attended the cmp see. I think that's

[2:28:00] the right acronym.

[2:28:03] while we were there they had

[2:28:04] some speakers who were speaking about first contact

[2:28:06] formerly

[2:28:11] known as 211, tampa bay cares which goes in

[2:28:12] line with what we

[2:28:13] saw earlier forgetting housing access,

[2:28:17] disaster response and skilled assistance and

[2:28:18] resources

[2:28:19] for what is needed if you are needing

[2:28:22] financial assistance, experiencing homelessness

[2:28:24] or food insecurity.

[2:28:29] so I'm looking for consensus on council to make

[2:28:33] february 11

[2:28:36] 211 day.

[2:28:39] 211 for first contact day

[2:28:41] within the city of gulfport so that

[2:28:46] first contact provides financial assistance

[2:28:48] such as overdue rent,

[2:28:51] and you have to

[2:28:52] have eligibility to get the benefits

[2:28:55] . They spend about $100,000 a month on

[2:28:57] financial assistance

[2:29:01] and they have specialty help lines

[2:29:07] for multiple needs within the city for anyone

[2:29:12] who needs something.

[2:29:15] >> what does that mean?

[2:29:20] to publicize the concept?

[2:29:21] >> and we

[2:29:22] will

[2:29:24] have things on the website

[2:29:27] to have resources.

[2:29:30] >>

[2:29:33] a proclamation for resolution.

[2:29:36] thanks.

[2:29:39] >> absolutely.

[2:29:42] they provide help with

[2:29:45] utilities because

[2:29:48] if your water is shut off, they

[2:29:50] can take your children.

[2:29:51] >> we do refer individuals

[2:29:57] and teresa if you

[2:29:59] want to speak to that--

[2:30:00] >> it is something

[2:30:01] that utilities does hand out quite

[2:30:02] often but councilmember jackson got

[2:30:03] that info and I have passed it on

[2:30:05] to utilities to make sure they update

[2:30:09] information

[2:30:10] because they are doing a lot more

[2:30:12] now than what they used to do whereas

[2:30:14] if you cannot pay your utility bill

[2:30:15] we would give you this information.

[2:30:17] they have so many more services now

[2:30:21] and

[2:30:27] council

[2:30:29] manager jackson has put them in touch.

[2:30:30] >>

[2:30:31] so people know you can dial 211 to get

[2:30:32] the information you need and the help

[2:30:33] you need depending on what

[2:30:36] your needs are. Great resource.

[2:30:39] >> that's my report, thanks.

[2:30:42] >> I

[2:30:45] don't have any report. My favorite

[2:30:48] thing is the boomerangs .

[2:30:54] for those of you who

[2:30:55] have a saturday morning you should

[2:30:57] really check out the boomerangs.

[2:31:00] not only is it fun and a great group of guys, but

[2:31:02] they are always collecting food. They had so much

[2:31:05] food that they collected the other

[2:31:06] day and it

[2:31:08] was wonderful. That's it, thank you.

[2:31:12] >> so

[2:31:15] the gulfport environmental team

[2:31:18] have their

[2:31:20] first larger meeting and did a training

[2:31:21] on how to use

[2:31:24] our software so

[2:31:26] we are going to be setting up a date

[2:31:30] to actually measuring trees

[2:31:32] and probably by neighborhood. The

[2:31:33] goal is to have

[2:31:36] people who live in various neighborhoods going around

[2:31:42] and if somebody

[2:31:44] knows someone or someone is doing their

[2:31:45] lawn and they want us to

[2:31:48] measure their trees we will gladly go and

[2:31:49] measure trees. We are not going to

[2:31:51] be invading people's property.

[2:31:54] just want to make sure that is clear. We are primarily

[2:31:55] doing

[2:31:56] public trees and also palm or bamboo

[2:32:00] planted someplace public.

[2:32:03] that means they don't really

[2:32:05] call for canopy cover but you can't plant

[2:32:06] a

[2:32:08] tree because there's already something there.

[2:32:11] we will just kind of be measuring all of

[2:32:12] that

[2:32:14] and the more help we can get the better.

[2:32:15] later we

[2:32:16] want to look at planting trees, doing

[2:32:18] some coastal things,

[2:32:21] but

[2:32:24] we are starting slowly.

[2:32:27] I wanted to ask ,

[2:32:28] now that we are doing permitting different,

[2:32:33] could we get a report similar to what we are

[2:32:35] getting that tells us how many permits

[2:32:39] a contractor is doing, what the time

[2:32:42] frame is,

[2:32:45] and how much money we

[2:32:47] are collecting compared to the total so

[2:32:48] we can see what the revenue difference

[2:32:52] is and how many

[2:32:53] we are doing in house and how long those are taking?

[2:32:56] and especially if they could do a differentiation

[2:32:58] between simple

[2:33:01] things like a fence as opposed

[2:33:03] to someone who's doing a homeowner permit for

[2:33:06] something bigger, that would be great.

[2:33:07] >>

[2:33:10] >> we

[2:33:11] are only doing homeowner permits in

[2:33:13] house, right?

[2:33:16] and then I listened

[2:33:19] to the florida league of cities this morning

[2:33:28] . Some really distressing things

[2:33:29] besides the property tax which people

[2:33:31] are probably

[2:33:32] aware of, but they have a couple of bills that would make it so

[2:33:33] that you don't have to get a permit as

[2:33:37] long as

[2:33:39] a residential person is getting, for $7500

[2:33:43] or less.

[2:33:45] you can do a lot of plumbing or electrical

[2:33:47] work for $7500 and to not have to get a permit

[2:33:49] or have an inspection, not

[2:33:52] necessarily a great idea. And

[2:33:53] another is instead of having our own

[2:33:57] community developer who deals with

[2:34:01] zoning and board of adjustment

[2:34:03] in the planning and zoning board,

[2:34:07] cities have to have

[2:34:13] contracts

[2:34:14] with private contractors and did not

[2:34:15] specify what kind of contractors those are,

[2:34:16] who would do your zoning

[2:34:19] and board of adjustments

[2:34:20] so do your quasijudicial board of adjustments

[2:34:25] and could also change

[2:34:30] zoning and other requirements and the city

[2:34:31] under 10,000 people would be required

[2:34:32] to

[2:34:33] have three on retainer. More than

[2:34:34] 10,000

[2:34:37] people. You have to have six.

[2:34:40] so that is a big not

[2:34:43] paid for mandate that we

[2:34:46] would have to do and

[2:34:48] it would mean you get to choose those contractors

[2:34:49] but they can change

[2:34:52] our zoning if they wanted to.

[2:34:55] they are also talking a what-- talking

[2:34:58] about taking away business

[2:35:01] --and

[2:35:04] there's also talk of zoning fees

[2:35:07] and how you can increase or

[2:35:09] not increase them. And there's one about firefighters

[2:35:13] and the health insurance which

[2:35:16] I did not totally get but it's especially

[2:35:19] important if they have a

[2:35:21] cancer diagnosis.

[2:35:22] >> we provide that.

[2:35:25] we do have a cancer policy.

[2:35:26] >> I didn't totally understand that. >>

[2:35:31] we

[2:35:34] do purchase the extra additional insurance.

[2:35:35] >> the other

[2:35:36] thing for firefighters was

[2:35:37] about foam which has p fas in it

[2:35:40] and they are talking about

[2:35:43] banning it and

[2:35:45] the union apparently wants to ban that immediately because it's horrible

[2:35:49] and can be a cause of cancer.

[2:35:51] so there's one thing about not using it

[2:35:52] any more but then

[2:35:54] departments have a stockpile and how

[2:35:58] do you dispose of it? Do we have and

[2:35:59] are we using it?

[2:36:04] >>

[2:36:05] more of that foam has been disposed of.

[2:36:06] >>

[2:36:07] I'm glad to hear that because

[2:36:10] apparently it is expensive and a

[2:36:12] problem to dispose of it so that is good to know.

[2:36:16] and

[2:36:17] then sovereign immunity. There's a couple of bills. That is the amount that

[2:36:18] people can sue the city for. Right now

[2:36:22] it's

[2:36:25] --

[2:36:28] $200 per person or $300 per incident.

[2:36:32] >> they want to potentially change

[2:36:34] it. More

[2:36:37] moderate one is 300

[2:36:40] and 450 which kind of matches

[2:36:42] what cost-of-living changes would be appropriate.

[2:36:48] the other one is $600,000 and $1.2 million and

[2:36:50] you can sue above that if you want to.

[2:36:52] that would be devastating for small cities.

[2:36:55] so those were

[2:36:56] some scary things that I learned.

[2:36:58] and another thing is,

[2:37:01] our tree committee team

[2:37:04] needs tree kits

[2:37:10] and I think we need them for the

[2:37:13] city

[2:37:14] because as our horticulturist plants trees he

[2:37:16] will be plotting them

[2:37:19] so

[2:37:20] he needs a caliper, those are fairly cheap.

[2:37:25] and

[2:37:26] there's a measuring tape so instead of measuring by their

[2:37:28] circumference which

[2:37:30] you can use any old tape measure they do

[2:37:31] it by diameter meaning you have to

[2:37:32] take the circumference and divide

[2:37:34] it by pie.

[2:37:37] maybe your

[2:37:40] calculator on your phone doesn't have that any more

[2:37:43] so they have tape measures

[2:37:49] that have inches on one side and then inches divided by pi on

[2:37:52] the other side. Those are around $40.

[2:37:55] what I'd like

[2:37:58] to do is make sure we have a kit like

[2:37:59] that for the city

[2:38:00] to use and if we could purchase several kits

[2:38:08] and he to

[2:38:09] keep them at the library so people can check them out when they

[2:38:11] are going to do

[2:38:12] some measuring, or have a few with

[2:38:14] the

[2:38:15] team so when we go out we could have them

[2:38:17] it would probably cost

[2:38:20] less than $500 to do that

[2:38:23] so I'm asking for a consensus

[2:38:26] to do that.

[2:38:29] >> I'm sorry how much money? >>

[2:38:32] it's about

[2:38:35] $45 for these measuring tapes

[2:38:38] so if we got 10 of

[2:38:41] those

[2:38:42] , that would be $400 approximately

[2:38:47] and if we got a few of these

[2:38:49] it would be a maximum of $500.

[2:38:50] >> this is for the

[2:38:53] all volunteer group?

[2:38:55] >> some could be kept at the library

[2:38:56] and some kept with

[2:38:59] the team so

[2:39:00] that when people are going out they have them.

[2:39:01] >>

[2:39:02] I'm okay with them.

[2:39:05] >> same.

[2:39:08] >> I

[2:39:11] don't see why not.

[2:39:12] >> can you send me the details

[2:39:14] of what

[2:39:17] exactly do you want?

[2:39:20] >> yes I will send that to you.

[2:39:22] >> so we have a consensus that we can

[2:39:23] use money set aside

[2:39:25] in the tree budget to help this all

[2:39:26] volunteer

[2:39:27] group perform the activities to create

[2:39:29] the survey

[2:39:35] so that we know what our tree canopy is and

[2:39:38] what the starting point is.

[2:39:41] >> okay.

[2:39:44] well first

[2:39:47] I would like to cover

[2:39:49] something that I did not comment on before because

[2:39:53] there was a consensus already and that

[2:39:56] is the e communications.

[2:39:59] first and foremost with me it is always

[2:40:00] important

[2:40:01] to me to hear from residents , of course,

[2:40:05] but I want to make sure

[2:40:10] we are not setting precedent as to handle

[2:40:11] future communications.

[2:40:14] I understand this one

[2:40:20] so I am

[2:40:22] not refuting that but I am expressing

[2:40:23] concern about a precedence

[2:40:25] and while on that topic I wanted to

[2:40:27] say thank you to everyone who provided

[2:40:29] input at the workshop

[2:40:31] . It was really informative and pretrade

[2:40:34] --portrayed the past consensus remains

[2:40:38] strong so thank you again

[2:40:39] to everybody who participated in that.

[2:40:45] it was uplifting to see employees

[2:40:46] recognize that the employee appreciation

[2:40:47] luncheon and

[2:40:49] more so to see so many staff in one place

[2:40:59] talking laughing and

[2:41:00] enjoying time together. The mutual respect shown

[2:41:01] amongst many staff members was also palpable. It

[2:41:04] was really quite wonderful. Attending the arbor day celebration

[2:41:05] and seeing children participate

[2:41:08] including planting a tree was a beautiful

[2:41:09] scene

[2:41:10] and indicative of our future. Council

[2:41:11] member

[2:41:12] earley already mentioned the boomerangs

[2:41:14] , the food bank

[2:41:17] collection for the senior center

[2:41:20] and it was such

[2:41:23] an event. They are always

[2:41:24] so full of camaraderie and warmth

[2:41:28] and they also reported that as far as the

[2:41:32] cancer fund, they raised

[2:41:35] $3000

[2:41:38] that council member earley

[2:41:39] and I attended a couple months ago

[2:41:41] maybe?

[2:41:44] I've continued

[2:41:49] to attend weekly webinars in preparation for

[2:41:50] going to the legislative

[2:41:53] session in tallahassee and

[2:41:56] the vice mayor reported on a number of those things.

[2:41:59] it was approaching 2000 bills

[2:42:05] and

[2:42:07] it really shocked me to hear that

[2:42:08] one day alone 700 came in.

[2:42:11] it

[2:42:13] is going to be a riproaring time there.

[2:42:14] I'm enjoying

[2:42:16] the community art openings. There

[2:42:17] were three on

[2:42:20] friday night and if you missed

[2:42:26] the play

[2:42:27] beyond therapy, you missed a lot of laughs.

[2:42:29] the gabber

[2:42:34] debate was a great opportunity to meet

[2:42:35] and speak with

[2:42:37] candidates. Next we look forward to

[2:42:38] the league of women voters candidate forum

[2:42:41] on january 29, 6:00 p.m. And I

[2:42:43] hope everybody can get to that. There was a

[2:42:47] good showing last night and I hope

[2:42:50] the hickman venue with even more seating

[2:42:53] that everyone

[2:42:55] could not make it last night can make

[2:42:56] it to this one.

[2:42:59] and by the way they are all recorded.

[2:43:02] one is on youtube and I believe

[2:43:05] they are going to record at the hickman as

[2:43:08] well.

[2:43:11] I will follow up on that.

[2:43:15] while on the

[2:43:16] topic of candidates I am not code enforcement

[2:43:18] but

[2:43:19] I am just asking everyone to help their

[2:43:21] candidate

[2:43:23] by adhering to the sign codes regarding three--

[2:43:33] 3' from

[2:43:34] sidewalks and 10' from the streets and not

[2:43:35] on right of ways. I drove down 57

[2:43:36] street

[2:43:38] and turn left on 15th avenue and there

[2:43:39] were numerous signs that could be

[2:43:40] removed

[2:43:41] by code enforcement so I am hoping that

[2:43:42] the

[2:43:43] friends of those candidates get those

[2:43:46] addressed. For those that asked about lighting

[2:43:50] particularly near the tiki , staff

[2:43:53] is working on this. As a revenue source,

[2:43:57] a resident suggested we

[2:44:00] move the boat lifts

[2:44:02] now rather than waiting for the new

[2:44:03] ones that

[2:44:06] the city manager's advice

[2:44:08] that it's cost prohibitive but great

[2:44:09] to

[2:44:10] know that our residents are trying

[2:44:12] to think of ways

[2:44:18] to raise

[2:44:19] revenue. For those inquiring about

[2:44:20] the orange fenced area work had begun.

[2:44:21] I did not make it there

[2:44:23] to see the progress yet but I am anxious to

[2:44:24] do so as I know

[2:44:26] that others are. Considering the numerous property tax bills introduced

[2:44:30] this

[2:44:31] year every one of us needs to understand

[2:44:33] the effects that these could have on

[2:44:34] our city and be able to vote accordingly.

[2:44:35] an excellent user-friendly source

[2:44:41] is on the homepage under top news.

[2:44:42] very easy to find.

[2:44:45] I found it just like that

[2:44:46] even though I am still familiarizing with

[2:44:48] our new

[2:44:50] website which, thank you by the way. There's a breakdown

[2:44:54] of where taxes are budgeted down to

[2:44:57] the scent, for example the

[2:44:58] police department $.25 and there's

[2:45:00] a breakdown of how

[2:45:03] they receive money, how to read your tax bill

[2:45:06] and see what part

[2:45:09] comes to the city.

[2:45:12] how taxes are calculated,

[2:45:15] and even a

[2:45:18] city tax allocation calculator.

[2:45:21] it is all simple to

[2:45:22] read and it doesn't take you an hour,

[2:45:24] is what I am trying to convey.

[2:45:26] everyone please take a look at it.

[2:45:27] even without the legislature

[2:45:29] submitting bills it is informative and interesting.

[2:45:30] in

[2:45:32] regards to the website I also want

[2:45:33] to say that the adopt

[2:45:36] a dream program

[2:45:39] , there is already a

[2:45:42] map connected but soon the map

[2:45:47] will be active so people can go on and look for the area they want

[2:45:48] to adopt and

[2:45:51] select that

[2:45:54] and go on from there.

[2:45:57] in conversations with residents

[2:46:03] on a wide range of topics

[2:46:05] , excuse me, getting tongue-tied trying

[2:46:06] to

[2:46:09] get it all in. Two issues have been predominant. Acknowledgment

[2:46:12] of

[2:46:15] our sundown history and even an mlk

[2:46:17] memorial and then concerns regarding

[2:46:18] ice

[2:46:20] as we heard earlier. The first of

[2:46:21] these

[2:46:24] is included under discussions

[2:46:29] . On the topic of ice I don't think I

[2:46:30] need to go

[2:46:32] into a lot of the details that I put

[2:46:33] into it and what I was going

[2:46:36] to recommend is that we have a workshop or a

[2:46:38] forum and we did have some residents

[2:46:42] speak to that and make some suggestions as well but

[2:46:45] there's a

[2:46:47] lot of questions about it and a lot of

[2:46:48] misinformation and I think

[2:46:51] that

[2:46:54] could be a really positive thing

[2:46:57] for us. There is so much fear and

[2:46:58] so much

[2:46:59] information out there being discussed

[2:47:03] and the only way we can fully

[2:47:05] understand these things is to communicate

[2:47:06] and talk about it.

[2:47:12] I won't go through the

[2:47:13] examples of questions because I think

[2:47:15] we had plenty of those earlier. With

[2:47:16] that, that is the

[2:47:18] end of my report and thank you.

[2:47:21] >> very thorough.

[2:47:24] >> I hope I get to reports but first

[2:47:27] I wanted to address

[2:47:30] some of the public comments. I would like to say

[2:47:33] I get many emails from deborah

[2:47:42] about a number of things but one of the

[2:47:43] things, and it was red tonight by our city clerk,

[2:47:45] says I never know because she doesn't

[2:47:48] talk in sentences but yes I did meet

[2:47:49] with her in

[2:47:54] april 2025. Absolutely.

[2:47:57] yes

[2:47:59] she talked about the lincoln cemetery. She talked about many things.

[2:48:04] probably about 15 minutes

[2:48:05] into the conversation I'm not sure what

[2:48:07] we were talking about

[2:48:08] but it did happen. She says in her statement

[2:48:10] that

[2:48:13] I do not acknowledge

[2:48:19] that when we got the deed

[2:48:21] for the cemetery-- that's not right. When

[2:48:25] the lincoln cemetery was

[2:48:28] d annexed

[2:48:31] , that document is signed

[2:48:34] and she is absolutely correct it

[2:48:37] is not dated.

[2:48:40] I don't know what the

[2:48:41] policies were in 1967. I wasn't here. That's

[2:48:43] when this happened. How did I

[2:48:46] know that?

[2:48:47] when the mayor's office sent me those

[2:48:49] documents at my request

[2:48:50] and I shared it with everybody up here at

[2:48:52] council,

[2:48:56] debra never gave me those documents.

[2:48:58] she likes to say

[2:49:00] she gave it to me. I've also asked

[2:49:01] my staff if

[2:49:02] it's a problem that was not signed

[2:49:04] and

[2:49:07] dave said no but I don't know

[2:49:10] because I wasn't here so

[2:49:12] I just want to clarify yes I did meet with

[2:49:13] her and she did talk about the lincoln

[2:49:15] cemetery, and she did not give me

[2:49:16] documents

[2:49:19] and it's true that that transfer

[2:49:22] there, when the deed,

[2:49:25] I keep saying deed

[2:49:28] because I come from real estate and

[2:49:30] it's a different thing but when we annexed that

[2:49:31] property and everybody signed it

[2:49:33] in fresh, blue ink , there's no date on it.

[2:49:37] that is true. The second thing I

[2:49:40] wanted to address was

[2:49:43] ,

[2:49:46] the budget for advertising with the gabber .

[2:49:49] that was never handled by

[2:49:51] city council nor was it discussed in years past.

[2:49:57] that has always been handled by the city manager and has

[2:50:00] been in years past and it did happen again this year.

[2:50:04] in terms of joe's statement

[2:50:07] somehow

[2:50:10] that I should be writing for the gabber doing

[2:50:12] --I've only lived here 15 years but

[2:50:16] in my 15 years,

[2:50:17] I have not seen a single mayor in any

[2:50:19] of our cities routinely right

[2:50:22] for the gabber. That

[2:50:24] was never given to me as a job description

[2:50:25] so I never saw that.

[2:50:28] I am doing a lot

[2:50:30] of communicating, I think , compared

[2:50:31] to what I ever

[2:50:34] saw in the past,

[2:50:36] and I'm sorry you choose not to go

[2:50:37] on social media and that's okay.

[2:50:40] because on the website there is a

[2:50:41] weekly--

[2:50:43] let me back up.

[2:50:49] on the website all of us can write

[2:50:50] our monthly reports. I do that. You

[2:50:52] can read them

[2:50:55] any time. On a weekly basis

[2:50:58] there is a newsletter

[2:51:00] emailed to anyone who signs up and

[2:51:01] it takes about 10 seconds.

[2:51:04] in that I will

[2:51:09] tell what happened. I am not required

[2:51:10] to write but I routinely do.

[2:51:12] it's rare that I miss a monday like I

[2:51:13] did

[2:51:15] this monday but rare that I miss that so there's ways

[2:51:18] for you to know what's going on even

[2:51:19] if you

[2:51:21] don't use social media. When people

[2:51:22] say I don't write

[2:51:25] for the

[2:51:26] gabber again I don't see another mayor

[2:51:28] writing for the gabber and interesting

[2:51:31] enough when I look at the gabber

[2:51:34] , I don't see a single city that is advertising

[2:51:35] and

[2:51:36] spending advertising dollars besides gulfport so

[2:51:40] I don't understand why there is anger

[2:51:41] about

[2:51:43] how much we do or do not spend

[2:51:46] and

[2:51:48] is that directed at the other cities

[2:51:49] as well? I don't really understand.

[2:51:50] that is an

[2:51:51] administrative decision that was made.

[2:51:55] susan?

[2:52:01] I will always

[2:52:04] hold onto believing it

[2:52:06] couldn't happen to us is the same as

[2:52:09] believing that hurricanes can't come our way.

[2:52:12] I think that was a really potent analogy and with

[2:52:13] that in mind,

[2:52:16] you don't know how much I

[2:52:17] appreciate that we do have people

[2:52:21] speaking up and who are watching and being proactive lives.

[2:52:25] I do appreciate that

[2:52:28] . That is not the same as

[2:52:31] making decisions based on that.

[2:52:34] and the last response

[2:52:37] that I heard was

[2:52:40] the workshop on

[2:52:41] ice I think would be an excellent

[2:52:43] idea to do that. It

[2:52:45] would have been so much better to

[2:52:46] have done that tonight

[2:52:49] but we were kind of hijacked and we didn't know

[2:52:55] this was going to happen and took a long time.

[2:52:59] I

[2:53:00] definitely, all of us would have been

[2:53:01] better prepared if it had been a workshop.

[2:53:04] the things that I wrote that I wanted

[2:53:07] to say is this. My job is to take

[2:53:10] care of local issues. That's what

[2:53:12] I was voted in to do and what I intend

[2:53:14] to do. I am

[2:53:17] on this--when I am on this dais

[2:53:20] my opinion should be

[2:53:25] what I feel is in the best interest

[2:53:26] of the city

[2:53:28] after listening to my staff and residents.

[2:53:29] it is not to move

[2:53:32] forward any personal opinion. I

[2:53:34] have to bite my tongue, or any political party.

[2:53:38] the agenda of any political party. I

[2:53:41] wanted to say that. And then

[2:53:44] I want to drop down and say

[2:53:46] while I encourage free speech, I do not appreciate

[2:53:49] people stirring the pot by creating fake posts

[2:53:53] with photos of ice

[2:53:56] in it , ice vehicles

[2:53:58] in it who want us to believe that

[2:53:59] we are being invaded.

[2:54:05] people do that, we are

[2:54:06] not going to believe them when it

[2:54:08] really happens. So let's stick

[2:54:11] with the truth and figure out

[2:54:13] what we are going to do if that should

[2:54:14] come

[2:54:15] our way. Is kind of what I want to say.

[2:54:17] in terms of reports

[2:54:20] I did attend

[2:54:23] the ford pinellas meeting.

[2:54:26] we

[2:54:29] have a ford pinellas meeting

[2:54:36] what they are working on right now,

[2:54:41] they are trying to do this because

[2:54:44] they want to as opposed

[2:54:46] to, there's a suggestion the state is

[2:54:47] going to require

[2:54:50] that the three counties merge

[2:54:52] and that their only be one planning committee

[2:54:57] for the whole metropolitan and tampa bay area.

[2:54:59] it

[2:55:00] would combine the counties that I just

[2:55:05] said. So there's a lot of talk about

[2:55:06] that. I

[2:55:07] expressed to the director of that group

[2:55:08] that

[2:55:09] I had real concerns because even when

[2:55:11] I attend the meetings there is

[2:55:14] so little information

[2:55:17] about south pinellas. So much more

[2:55:18] is

[2:55:20] about the north side

[2:55:22] and if we go to a larger planning

[2:55:23] commission that I

[2:55:25] have real concerns we are going to

[2:55:26] get lost unknown is

[2:55:27] going to knowledge the issues that

[2:55:29] we have going on.

[2:55:32] so I

[2:55:33] appreciated I was able to say that

[2:55:35] to him and he said yes

[2:55:37] he has heard that from other cities

[2:55:38] and small cities as well. He

[2:55:41] did invite me to, there's going to

[2:55:42] be another

[2:55:43] meeting where the people are going to

[2:55:47] meet with one other

[2:55:49] larger planning councils outside of orlando

[2:55:53] but don't quote me were they've

[2:55:54] done exactly what they're talking about doing

[2:55:56] here and

[2:55:58] he would like for me to attend that

[2:55:59] because I have

[2:56:02] an opportunity to speak

[2:56:08] to some of the mayors and the people from smaller

[2:56:09] cities and

[2:56:11] see what their reaction is going to

[2:56:13] be. That to me would be an important thing for me to attend

[2:56:14] and then to come back and tell

[2:56:17] you what I think. Though there will only be one

[2:56:19] vote whether a merge happens or not,

[2:56:20] I

[2:56:21] don't know if donovan has heard anything

[2:56:23] like this but definitely what I

[2:56:26] am getting the read on is that

[2:56:29] if

[2:56:30] the three counties do not decide to

[2:56:32] do this amongst themselves and how

[2:56:33] they

[2:56:34] want to do it, the state may tell them

[2:56:40] they have to do it and how they are

[2:56:41] going to do it. So just another

[2:56:44] case where state might be

[2:56:46] trying to tell us what we need to

[2:56:47] do and I will keep you as informed

[2:56:48] as

[2:56:50] I can, thank you.

[2:56:53] >> can I add one quick thing?

[2:56:56] >> no. You

[2:56:58] can under new business if you'd like.

[2:56:59] >>

[2:57:02] let's move to consent.

[2:57:23] >> consent item 68. Consider approval of

[2:57:24] meeting minutes from meeting held

[2:57:26] january 6, 2026. 6b, resolution 2026

[2:57:27] - 02, a resolution authorizing

[2:57:28] the city manager to approve the purchase

[2:57:29] of advanced metering infrastructure

[2:57:30] gateway equipment and support

[2:57:31] services from neptune technology group.

[2:57:32] >>

[2:57:33] resolution 2026 -03 a resolution authorizing

[2:57:34] the city

[2:57:35] manager to enter into a contract with

[2:57:36] kirms communications llc for the installation

[2:57:37] of four advanced metering infrastructure polls

[2:57:39] and mounted hardware.

[2:57:42] >> motion to approve?

[2:57:45] >> I second.

[2:57:48] >> all those in favor? I.

[2:57:51] any opposed? Passes unanimously.

[2:57:53] >> that will take us to ordinance

[2:57:57] seven a.

[2:57:58] >>

[2:57:59] ordinance number 2026 - 01 first reading.

[2:58:03] and ordinance of the city of gulfport florida

[2:58:06] amending the city of code of ordinances

[2:58:07] amending chapter 22 zoning, article 6

[2:58:12] supplementary regulations

[2:58:13] for all districts by creating section

[2:58:14] 22 -6.14, certified recovery residences

[2:58:27] providing for

[2:58:28] definitions, providing for procedures for the review and

[2:58:29] approval of certified recovery residences

[2:58:30] and requests for reasonable accommodations, providing for

[2:58:31] revocation of reasonable accommodations,

[2:58:32] providing for codification, severability

[2:58:33] and for an effective

[2:58:34] date.

[2:58:35] >> motion to approve? Second.

[2:58:37] >> third. >> [ laughter ] thank you.

[2:58:40] city manager you want to make sense

[2:58:42] of that for us?

[2:58:43] >>

[2:58:45] this is

[2:58:46] also mandated by the state legislature

[2:58:48] that you

[2:58:50] will facilitate or attempt to facilitate the

[2:58:51] placement

[2:58:53] of these group home types of settings.

[2:58:57] we did have

[2:59:00] abilities for folks to make

[2:59:05] an application for variances and things like that

[2:59:06] but what

[2:59:09] this does, this allows

[2:59:11] a certified operation for lack of a better term.

[2:59:15] which, they have to meet certain

[2:59:16] licensing and state standards and there's categories.

[2:59:23] so this is not just you as in a government body

[2:59:24] saying

[2:59:26] you can operate here. They have to meet

[2:59:27] certain requirements

[2:59:30] and criteria before the

[2:59:32] approach your staff. What this does

[2:59:33] is give staff the

[2:59:35] opportunity to work with them but

[2:59:36] at the same time,

[2:59:37] there are regulations and minimum requirements.

[2:59:41] this is mandated by the state of florida.

[2:59:45] >> okay.

[2:59:48] no questions?

[2:59:51] >> I do have a couple questions.

[2:59:54] like many people here and

[2:59:55] if you've been up solved of that I

[2:59:57] am very happy for you

[3:00:00] but addiction has come

[3:00:03] to my family, right,

[3:00:04] and I know a lot about the group homes.

[3:00:06] the certification is a great thing

[3:00:09] if it

[3:00:11] is kept up with. A lot of people come to florida

[3:00:15] to come to a

[3:00:17] group home because there is a home

[3:00:19] shuffle. You get kicked out of this one

[3:00:24] you go to this one. That being said

[3:00:25] many

[3:00:26] people are helped by them and I can attest to that.

[3:00:33] the florida league of cities one

[3:00:35] of the bills they wanted to put up

[3:00:36] for their support, and it was voted

[3:00:39] on, was to limit the volume in a

[3:00:42] city. So it was

[3:00:45] , I think hollywood

[3:00:48] florida that a gentleman's and he

[3:00:51] is a councilmember there

[3:00:54] and

[3:00:55] has three daughters and they can no

[3:00:57] longer go out of the

[3:00:58] house or anything because he is surrounded

[3:01:00] by group homes with very little oversight to them.

[3:01:06] so the way they are run and how

[3:01:08] many per block, are we able to--

[3:01:09] >>

[3:01:18] >>>

[3:01:21] it

[3:01:22] also gives you the ability to revoke

[3:01:24] the permit

[3:01:25] if it is a nuisance to the neighborhood

[3:01:27] and that is

[3:01:30] outlined entitling talking about

[3:01:33] revoking. So that is there.

[3:01:36] any type of nuisance behavior

[3:01:39] , we would start right away.

[3:01:42] we have had situations like

[3:01:44] this but it was not regulated. And

[3:01:45] I think

[3:01:48] the one we had individuals

[3:01:51] under

[3:01:52] the guise of some type of organization

[3:01:54] helping people. It became

[3:01:57] I will buy your

[3:01:58] beer cheaper and they gathered in

[3:02:00] residential neighborhoods

[3:02:03] and you are talking about

[3:02:04] zoning and intensity, how many people

[3:02:06] are living in the house

[3:02:07] that are not family members, those

[3:02:09] are things

[3:02:12] you have to make application and then maintain.

[3:02:15] >> what constitutes

[3:02:18] a family. Four people

[3:02:19] with different last names, the whole thing.

[3:02:24] >> out of the way

[3:02:26] and a lot of times legislature will say we

[3:02:27] will give you the

[3:02:29] ability to do this and staff will have more

[3:02:32] oversight by implying we are supposed to

[3:02:36] help them have it

[3:02:37] happen but it also makes them put

[3:02:39] on paper

[3:02:41] what the plan is for lack of a better term

[3:02:42] .

[3:02:43] >>

[3:02:45] okay thank you.

[3:02:46] >> my question

[3:02:47] reading this and I understand there was

[3:02:48] a

[3:02:50] lot of discussion in planning and

[3:02:51] zoning about

[3:02:53] this, but you brought up a really

[3:02:57] good point

[3:03:00] and

[3:03:01] I was thinking how big can these be?

[3:03:02] I know they have to follow the height

[3:03:03] and

[3:03:04] setbacks if they were building something new.

[3:03:09] >> you would still have the zoning

[3:03:10] regulations

[3:03:12] in place. Lot size, coverage,

[3:03:13] those things are in place, this is

[3:03:15] operational because

[3:03:18] very candidly this becomes a commercial

[3:03:20] endeavor in a residential neighborhood.

[3:03:21] the

[3:03:24] zoning aspect of slot size

[3:03:27] that does not change.

[3:03:28] you're talking about the operation of

[3:03:30] the activity

[3:03:33] >> most of our houses we have a

[3:03:36] lot of 2-1

[3:03:39] and a few that are bigger so

[3:03:42] again

[3:03:43] you get into how many people can you

[3:03:45] put in a house?

[3:03:46] >> exactly

[3:03:47] and that is what you have to tell

[3:03:48] me your

[3:03:49] business plan so little question that

[3:03:51] if you tell me 10 people in

[3:03:54] a 800 ft.? House that

[3:03:55] business plan we will pay attention.

[3:03:59] we are not making that type of accommodation.

[3:04:04] this was the state said you have to try

[3:04:05] to work with these people because

[3:04:06] there is a need and

[3:04:09] we can do that but

[3:04:11] it is not going to allow you to come build

[3:04:12] with

[3:04:13] a clinic in a residential neighborhood this

[3:04:15] is to say

[3:04:17] you live in the house down the street and

[3:04:18] we have

[3:04:21] these people, but the one thing we did

[3:04:24] is when they add numbers

[3:04:27] , we will call them clients you have to

[3:04:30] add staff.

[3:04:32] so it's not just here are the keys

[3:04:36] get well.

[3:04:37] >> residential or

[3:04:38] daytime staff?

[3:04:39] >> combination of both, they

[3:04:40] lay out in

[3:04:41] the ordinance, it lays out what you

[3:04:42] have to do to

[3:04:45] meet the minimum requirements.

[3:04:48] certify is the whole key it

[3:04:51] is licensed.

[3:04:52] >> my guess is

[3:04:53] that it would be expensive to build a

[3:04:54] new house

[3:04:59] so they probably wouldn't to do that but on the

[3:05:00] other hand

[3:05:02] most houses are too little to be cost-effective

[3:05:03] so probably won't be a

[3:05:06] big issue. Also compared with family members

[3:05:09] if you have staff with four or

[3:05:12] five people living there in the parking

[3:05:15] becomes an issue and

[3:05:16] personally I don't want people to

[3:05:18] pave their whole yard so they can

[3:05:21] put in parking spaces.

[3:05:22] >> those are the questions

[3:05:23] we would ask.

[3:05:24] >> they don't necessarily

[3:05:27] say the person in charge.

[3:05:29] they don't always stay, they don't

[3:05:30] live there

[3:05:35] in many cases.

[3:05:36] >> I am used to one

[3:05:37] with

[3:05:38] residential and we live there.

[3:05:39] >> they do have monitors and that but what

[3:05:40] you are doing

[3:05:42] anything

[3:05:45] your points are

[3:05:47] selling it in the fact that size generates

[3:05:48] revenue. You are

[3:05:51] not really .

[3:05:52] >>

[3:05:53] we don't have eight bedroom house is

[3:05:54] in town.

[3:05:55] >> exactly you don't

[3:05:57] have multifamily , someone buys the

[3:05:58] apartment complex

[3:06:00] I have seen that done in

[3:06:02] affluent neighborhoods , in my other life

[3:06:03] that was

[3:06:06] a big product.

[3:06:07] >> they could do that

[3:06:09] here. Theoretically they could do that.

[3:06:12] >>

[3:06:14] yes, but have to be licensed and certified.

[3:06:17] that's the key that's for the cost

[3:06:18] is, people cost money. And

[3:06:22] what you are doing here is

[3:06:24] two things. One, becoming compliant with

[3:06:27] the state of florida, two approaching

[3:06:28] from

[3:06:31] a regulatory precision.

[3:06:34] that's the benefit you get.

[3:06:37] >> okay thank you. >>

[3:06:40] what you outlined so

[3:06:42] what I appreciate about it, thank you.

[3:06:46] I have no question.

[3:06:51] >> public comment on the matter? Yes.

[3:06:58] >> I have personal family

[3:07:00] proximity to this. I'm really happy

[3:07:04] to hear we are creating this,

[3:07:06] we will have parameters. There are

[3:07:07] some

[3:07:08] organizations that have multiple houses

[3:07:12] , that have like three or four or

[3:07:13] five

[3:07:14] bedroom houses so it's not gigantic.

[3:07:17] they usually have a captain person who is a

[3:07:19] resident but also has some

[3:07:22] privileges of leadership at night

[3:07:28] and this population

[3:07:29] tends to not have cars they are paying

[3:07:30] 200 per week they don't have cars they

[3:07:31] are

[3:07:32] using the bus or bikes so parking is

[3:07:34] less of an issue for these populations

[3:07:37] using a house

[3:07:40] more than any other use

[3:07:41] possible in my opinion. I am excited

[3:07:43] about this,

[3:07:44] I think it is great. I think the housing stock

[3:07:45] we have with the value of the bigger

[3:07:46] it

[3:07:47] is unlikely we will get run over,

[3:07:49] st. Pete

[3:07:50] has more neighborhoods where this could

[3:07:52] happen more. Sounds good.

[3:07:55] >> anybody else

[3:07:58] for public comment on this?

[3:08:00] seeing none, councilmember jackson yes

[3:08:10] [ roll call vote

[3:08:13] ]

[3:08:14] >> that will bring us

[3:08:15] to resolutions.

[3:08:16] >> resolution 2026-0 four,

[3:08:17] resolution authorizing city manager

[3:08:19] where applicable the

[3:08:22] mayor to enter loan agreement

[3:08:23] with the fema community disaster loan

[3:08:25] cdl program and support

[3:08:28] city operations of

[3:08:31] hurricane recovery efforts.

[3:08:34] >> motion to approve. >>

[3:08:37] second.

[3:08:38] >> mayor, thank

[3:08:39] you. We talked about this last summer as

[3:08:40] we were looking at revenues and

[3:08:41] things to that effect and where we

[3:08:43] were with

[3:08:45] revenues coming from the federal government

[3:08:49] and offset insurance claims and things

[3:08:50] to

[3:08:52] that effect, what

[3:08:54] I'm putting is something in place so

[3:08:55] we have a backstop

[3:08:57] because of delays at the federal level

[3:08:58] and

[3:09:00] things like that monies are not coming

[3:09:01] down safely

[3:09:04] , they did close the government

[3:09:06] , we have talked about that. And possibly

[3:09:07] could close the

[3:09:10] government again.

[3:09:12] we have and chris our financial director

[3:09:13] is here.

[3:09:15] we have about $2.6 million in reserves

[3:09:16] today,

[3:09:19] if we have another catastrophic

[3:09:21] event this summer we want to be prepared and

[3:09:22] we have

[3:09:24] to look at the revenue when we start

[3:09:27] planning for the next budget years

[3:09:28] so this

[3:09:30] is a backstop to what we have so we

[3:09:31] are not in

[3:09:34] a dilemma where we have to use reserves

[3:09:36] to make up a revenues that have not

[3:09:37] appeared yet

[3:09:40] or something like this I intend this

[3:09:43] is the last level of expense and you

[3:09:46] would have to approve any use

[3:09:49] of it. This gives us the ability

[3:09:52] to buy the mortgage, not buy if there

[3:09:53] is no cost

[3:09:55] until you use it and then you

[3:09:57] pay whatever the interest rate is set by

[3:09:58] the fed

[3:10:00] and now the interest rate has gone down

[3:10:01] some

[3:10:04] percentage, but it gives you

[3:10:07] a sense of

[3:10:08] security for lack of a better term

[3:10:10] but if you were to use any of

[3:10:13] these monies and take it out you would

[3:10:14] have to

[3:10:16] approve that.

[3:10:19] >> you just

[3:10:21] said we would have to approve use of

[3:10:22] it, I would like to clarify when you

[3:10:24] say we have to approve use meaning

[3:10:25] that there would

[3:10:27] be actual council vote at the time

[3:10:28] you say hey guys we need to

[3:10:30] take money or we are approving how

[3:10:31] the money is used?

[3:10:34] >> well, to me

[3:10:37] it is symbiotic and the fact

[3:10:39] you would have to approve actually

[3:10:40] accessing the home equity loan.

[3:10:43] for the lack of a

[3:10:45] better term.

[3:10:46] >> we are finalizing

[3:10:47] the application we made

[3:10:49] many months ago and I think we have

[3:10:50] been approved many

[3:10:52] months ago but we have never signed

[3:10:53] it.

[3:10:55] >> exactly

[3:10:57] this is authorization to sign.

[3:10:58] >>

[3:10:59] that was $5 million

[3:11:01] so I want to clarify if we need

[3:11:02] money that does not mean we would have

[3:11:04] to change the whole 5 million at one time we

[3:11:05] could say

[3:11:07] we need 1 million, today.

[3:11:08] >> that's correct.

[3:11:10] >> we can

[3:11:13] draw down. Specific questions you

[3:11:15] can draw down any amount of issues.

[3:11:16] >>

[3:11:21] it will act like a line of credit, 5 million

[3:11:22] with access to

[3:11:23] the next three years you can draw

[3:11:25] down as needed as

[3:11:27] the city manager stated we would come

[3:11:28] request approval if we were going

[3:11:31] to access the loan.

[3:11:32] >> good, questions

[3:11:34] in speaking order?

[3:11:36] >> no questions, we have talked about

[3:11:37] this similar to

[3:11:40] the heat lock all good for

[3:11:44] me.

[3:11:45] >>

[3:11:46] I was making sure we do not pay interest

[3:11:47] or anything until we accessed

[3:11:49] the money.

[3:11:50] >> you do not pay interest

[3:11:51] until

[3:11:53] the term is up, if you use it.

[3:11:56] >> if we don't use any

[3:11:57] we won't pay anything.

[3:11:58] >> having the

[3:11:59] backup plan

[3:12:01] is a excellent approach. Certainly

[3:12:04] in favor.

[3:12:05] >> we will sleep better

[3:12:07] at night.

[3:12:08] >> hopefully we don't need

[3:12:11] it.

[3:12:12] >> thank you. Okay.

[3:12:14] public comment.

[3:12:17] thank you. Public comment

[3:12:20] on this? Seeing none

[3:12:22] we will call the roll.

[3:12:23] >> [ roll call

[3:12:24] vote

[3:12:26] ]

[3:12:29] >> carries to passage,

[3:12:32] resolution number 2026-0

[3:12:34] five resolution approving application c

[3:12:38] 25-0 2 conditional use for

[3:12:40] church including related education

[3:12:41] and training

[3:12:44] facilities providing conditions.

[3:12:47] >> all right. >> motion

[3:12:50] to approve.

[3:12:51] >> I second.

[3:12:53] >> city manager. >>

[3:12:54] conditional approval of reestablishing

[3:12:56] a church

[3:12:59] in the property right here

[3:13:02] in the methodist church.

[3:13:05] what this is, previously there

[3:13:08] was a church there and they failed

[3:13:10] to renew the activity by the business

[3:13:14] tax receipt

[3:13:15] . Subsequently it reverted back r

[3:13:17] 2 which is

[3:13:20] conditional use as a church

[3:13:22] as we talked about in the past with

[3:13:23] a lot of zoning

[3:13:25] in gulfport which was there, they put

[3:13:26] it

[3:13:29] on top of it , but

[3:13:30] this basically reestablishes use.

[3:13:32] mark do you want to?

[3:13:35] >> originally the church

[3:13:38] and 58 became the directory

[3:13:40] for the church as a whole then school for

[3:13:41] short

[3:13:44] period of time now they're going back

[3:13:47] to the church usage.

[3:13:49] >> mark, is the applicant here? >>

[3:13:50] applicant is here.

[3:13:51] >>

[3:13:53] so when we say

[3:13:56] they want

[3:13:59] to take it back to being

[3:14:00] used as a church is it the same church

[3:14:03] that was there?

[3:14:04] >> it is and the have outlined the vision discipline

[3:14:05] ministry

[3:14:06] was part of the application process.

[3:14:08] >> so

[3:14:11] this church would be a new group

[3:14:14] of people?

[3:14:15] >> that's

[3:14:17] my understanding.

[3:14:18] >> that was

[3:14:20] my question.

[3:14:22] anything else? I was trying to clarify that.

[3:14:23] >>

[3:14:24] do you

[3:14:25] want to ask if other people have questions?

[3:14:26] >>

[3:14:29] thank you , vice mayor.

[3:14:32] yes. I was trying to

[3:14:35] finish up to see if he was done speaking

[3:14:36] but

[3:14:38] thank you. Okay, so.

[3:14:39] >>

[3:14:41] the applicant

[3:14:44] is here if you have questions.

[3:14:45] >> we will

[3:14:46] have

[3:14:47] public comment, you don't need to

[3:14:48] raise your hand

[3:14:49] it will call on you during public

[3:14:50] comment for sure.

[3:14:55] >> in case you want to ask mark, one of the

[3:14:56] issues that

[3:14:58] came up at planning and zoning meeting

[3:15:00] which was discussed which was the parking

[3:15:02] issue

[3:15:05] and the applicant was

[3:15:06] not there so there were questions raised as to whether

[3:15:08] or not there would be use

[3:15:10] parking agreement, whether or not

[3:15:11] there would be any potential

[3:15:14] conflict between the school

[3:15:18] and the church using parking and that

[3:15:19] was an issue planning and zoning wanted

[3:15:20] to have clarified which they

[3:15:23] did not have in anticipation of

[3:15:26] the meeting.

[3:15:27] >> thank you for

[3:15:29] saying that and we will go in order and

[3:15:32] ask questions to see who can best

[3:15:33] answer.

[3:15:34] I did watch the meeting and found

[3:15:35] the meeting to be very

[3:15:37] very confusing when we talk about the owner,

[3:15:38] the tenant,

[3:15:44] the school and church I found it to

[3:15:45] be quite

[3:15:46] confusing and even though I watched

[3:15:47] and listened a second time there were

[3:15:48] questions I

[3:15:49] have but I will wait my turn. Councilmember jackson.

[3:15:53] >> I have no questions at this time.

[3:15:56] >> I don't have any questions

[3:15:59] either.

[3:16:00] >>

[3:16:02] it is my understanding

[3:16:04] it's not the church on the corner we

[3:16:05] are talking about. It is the building

[3:16:06] to the

[3:16:08] north on 50 fourth?

[3:16:11] and it was not

[3:16:12] really a church as I understand. I

[3:16:14] thought it used to be the old --it

[3:16:17] was also a shop a

[3:16:20] resale shop to make money for the

[3:16:22] church for many years. Wasn't it?

[3:16:26] >> that's on the other

[3:16:28] corner on 50 third.

[3:16:29] >> okay so it was

[3:16:30] the directory not

[3:16:32] a church.

[3:16:33] >> it was

[3:16:34] the church before the school that

[3:16:35] is sunflower originally the church then they moved

[3:16:38] to the larger church and made that

[3:16:39] the directory.

[3:16:41] >> so it was a directory. >>

[3:16:44] a church originally in 1958.

[3:16:47] >> that little building correct.

[3:16:50] >> I had never seen

[3:16:52] it at a church that's why I did not

[3:16:53] know. As I understand, do we

[3:16:55] know who owns the church, the big church?

[3:16:59] >> the sunflower school currently.

[3:17:02] >> to know the plan to keep it? Are they

[3:17:05] using it?

[3:17:06] >> currently using as

[3:17:08] a school.

[3:17:09] >> the church part not the

[3:17:10] buildings

[3:17:11] along the side?

[3:17:12] >> they are using

[3:17:13] the

[3:17:14] larger building

[3:17:16] , that is a school currently.

[3:17:17] >> okay

[3:17:18] I know

[3:17:19] from what I understand about the meeting

[3:17:21] there was confusion about

[3:17:23] whether it would stay part of the school

[3:17:27] or if it would become a church

[3:17:28] and you have the sunflower school

[3:17:30] in the other little

[3:17:31] buildings and then again with parking

[3:17:35] if you have things going on at the

[3:17:38] same time it would be a problem for

[3:17:39] the neighborhood

[3:17:42] with parking. So I think

[3:17:43] we should hear from the person because I

[3:17:45] don't know if he's

[3:17:46] got agreements about making sure they don't have

[3:17:48] you know

[3:17:51] events at the same time.

[3:17:52] >> that is one of the conditions we

[3:17:54] are requesting

[3:17:55] that they make accommodation with

[3:17:57] neighboring property

[3:17:59] regarding parking.

[3:18:00] >> would we approve

[3:18:01] without knowing

[3:18:03] whether they have got that?

[3:18:04] >> it

[3:18:05] is condition of approval they will

[3:18:06] show city

[3:18:07] staff with the permit building and

[3:18:08] business tax receipt with verification

[3:18:09] have figured out

[3:18:10] the parking situation between the property.

[3:18:14] >> so it does not get approved until

[3:18:15] they

[3:18:17] have that?

[3:18:18] >> that's correct. >> assuming

[3:18:19] that you

[3:18:21] pass with the condition.

[3:18:23] and the memo outlines conditions staff

[3:18:24] has

[3:18:27] put on? Would

[3:18:29] you like to hear from the applicant?

[3:18:30] >> understood

[3:18:33] the conditions,

[3:18:34] the parking they kept talking about street

[3:18:36] parking

[3:18:39] and I get that but we

[3:18:42] also have a park near there

[3:18:45] anything that outlines , I know

[3:18:46] it's a lot of families that use the park

[3:18:48] on sundays

[3:18:51] and so

[3:18:53] I am just wanting to have reassurance

[3:18:54] that they would

[3:18:57] not be parking in the park area

[3:19:00] .

[3:19:01] >> the area facing 50 fourth

[3:19:03] on the public side

[3:19:04] does have a total of 19 spots available,

[3:19:06] the church with 45 seats there would be 15

[3:19:09] spots so the amount of people

[3:19:12] would not extend onto

[3:19:14] 20 eighth or 20 seventh.

[3:19:15] >> okay,

[3:19:16] thank you.

[3:19:18] >> the questions that

[3:19:21] I had it might be

[3:19:23] calling the applicant of next and

[3:19:27] with public comment we may have

[3:19:30] to powwow here again.

[3:19:33] so I

[3:19:34] was a little confused on, if you approved now

[3:19:39] , but you give them a year to

[3:19:40] have agreement amongst themselves

[3:19:42] in terms

[3:19:45] of parking , does that mean

[3:19:48] they could open up now

[3:19:49] and heavily they will figure it out

[3:19:51] within a year?

[3:19:52] >> until the

[3:19:54] business tax receipt

[3:19:56] which would not be approved until

[3:19:57] the parking situation was figured

[3:19:59] out between the owners and if they

[3:20:00] want to increase

[3:20:01] parking on the property.

[3:20:02] >> that's

[3:20:03] the part

[3:20:06] that I missed. They have to

[3:20:07] have the parking agreement worked

[3:20:09] out before any activity

[3:20:12] will start.

[3:20:13] >> that's correct.

[3:20:15] okay. And then

[3:20:18] I was asking if it was a new church

[3:20:21] coming in and if they are, in

[3:20:24] any way form or

[3:20:26] fashion related to the sunflower school.

[3:20:30] >> not from my understanding. >> we

[3:20:31] will

[3:20:33] ask them that

[3:20:35] and my next question and we can ask

[3:20:36] the applicant,

[3:20:38] I guess . Why would the sunflower agree

[3:20:42] to parking being used the

[3:20:45] new church? Because

[3:20:48] are we talking about the parking

[3:20:51] in the back of the proposed

[3:20:54] new church ?

[3:20:56] I think that is pretty well designated

[3:20:57] to

[3:21:00] just sunflower.

[3:21:01] >> that is used

[3:21:02] for playground which was last year

[3:21:03] in the

[3:21:06] subdivision 2024 they

[3:21:07] were given variance for parking because

[3:21:08] they were using the area as the play

[3:21:09] area for the

[3:21:12] sunflower school.

[3:21:13] >> okay.

[3:21:15] >> if you will help me before we

[3:21:18] call up the applicant. I think there

[3:21:21] has been confusion.

[3:21:23] so the long building that runs along 27,

[3:21:24] that

[3:21:26] is all used by the sunflower school?

[3:21:27] >>

[3:21:28] that's correct.

[3:21:30] >> when people say the big church they

[3:21:31] are

[3:21:32] talking about the sunflower school.

[3:21:36] so when we see from

[3:21:38] 50 fourth is what looks like a small

[3:21:39] little church

[3:21:42] but if you go drive behind

[3:21:45] there actually when you get past

[3:21:48] the initial area than there is a

[3:21:51] bigger building and they

[3:21:53] are attached and it is painted like

[3:21:54] the sunflower school so

[3:21:55] I'm a little confused when you say there's

[3:21:57] only 45 seats

[3:22:00] , is the church just the

[3:22:03] front part? Because I think it

[3:22:06] is connected.

[3:22:07] >> it is a separate

[3:22:08] building entirely with separation

[3:22:09] from the sunflower school for

[3:22:11] the property lines and parcels not attached

[3:22:12] to

[3:22:14] the sunflower school.

[3:22:15] >> so the sunflower

[3:22:16] school

[3:22:18] is l shaped.

[3:22:19] >> that's correct.

[3:22:21] >> when I went driving I thought it

[3:22:24] was connected. With that in mind the

[3:22:25] applicant would

[3:22:27] you please come up ?

[3:22:36] >> hi. I just wanted to address the

[3:22:37] parking situation.

[3:22:39] we have spoke

[3:22:41] with the sunflower school.

[3:22:42] >> you

[3:22:43] have to give us your

[3:22:45] name and address.

[3:22:46] >>

[3:22:48] we

[3:22:49] have spoken with the sunflower school

[3:22:51] to confirm there's no conflict

[3:22:54] in schedules with regards to the parking.

[3:22:57] they generally use the parking between

[3:23:00] eight on monday to friday dropping off

[3:23:03] and picking

[3:23:05] up they have a aftercare program which is

[3:23:07] really minimal which goes

[3:23:10] until 5:30. The church

[3:23:11] is looking to use the parking on sunday

[3:23:13] they have two

[3:23:16] bible studies

[3:23:17] wednesday evening and thursday evening

[3:23:19] from 7:00 p.m.

[3:23:22] so there is no conflict in

[3:23:25] the usage of the parking.

[3:23:28] >> okay. So,

[3:23:30] we are talking about just the building on

[3:23:31] the front

[3:23:34] , that appears to be kind

[3:23:37] of white.

[3:23:38] >> it's a

[3:23:39] separate building. What used to be

[3:23:40] the preschool.

[3:23:43] with the garden

[3:23:46] , upfront.

[3:23:48] >> again I thought there was a building behind

[3:23:49] that

[3:23:52] which was connected.

[3:23:53] >> there is the playground for the school

[3:23:55] behind that.

[3:23:57] there is no other building behind

[3:23:58] the building, there

[3:24:00] is the long building which is just

[3:24:01] particular which is the

[3:24:02] sunflower school and then there is

[3:24:04] this building which is separated

[3:24:06] not attached to the other building

[3:24:10] >> do we have any questions

[3:24:12] in speaking order of the applicant?

[3:24:16] >> no questions thank you.

[3:24:18] >> who owns the other building not

[3:24:19] attached?

[3:24:20] >> I do.

[3:24:22] >> you on the

[3:24:25] little church building

[3:24:26] and the other?

[3:24:27] >> just one building

[3:24:28] is not attached, the one long building

[3:24:29] owned by the sunflower school with

[3:24:30] one smaller building which I own only

[3:24:34] the two.

[3:24:35] >> how many spaces

[3:24:37] is there?

[3:24:40] in all of the parking?

[3:24:41] >> 19 spaces at the front and then

[3:24:43] street parking which is

[3:24:45] what sunflower generally uses for

[3:24:46] the pickup and

[3:24:48] drop off , I think it is on 27 they

[3:24:49] tend to

[3:24:51] use that pickup and drop off but in

[3:24:52] front of

[3:24:55] this building

[3:24:58] there are 19 spaces.

[3:24:59] >> in front

[3:25:00] of the building?

[3:25:01] >> in front of this

[3:25:02] and there is

[3:25:04] this building and then the edge

[3:25:07] of the other building with 19 spaces in front of

[3:25:09] them both.

[3:25:10] >> I drove by and it did

[3:25:11] not look

[3:25:13] like that. Along the street? Along

[3:25:16] the street?

[3:25:17] >> it

[3:25:19] is not parking on the street

[3:25:22] , it is separate parking at the front of

[3:25:24] the building

[3:25:25] >> I did not see that

[3:25:26] at all.

[3:25:28] >> is the

[3:25:29] city right-of-way.

[3:25:30] >> 90 feet, for

[3:25:31] the building and then 85

[3:25:34] so it is

[3:25:35] 19 spots public right-of-way off the

[3:25:37] street off the front of the building.

[3:25:40] >> appreciate you both coming

[3:25:43] up here.

[3:25:44] >> 175.

[3:25:46] >> how

[3:25:48] wide is the parking?

[3:25:49] >> 5 feet parking

[3:25:52] spot 18 feet long, 9

[3:25:55] feet wide.

[3:25:56] >> that does not sound

[3:25:57] like

[3:25:58] 19 spaces.

[3:25:59] >>

[3:26:01] I had done the math.

[3:26:04] >> the reason I was

[3:26:06] questioning that was I thought what

[3:26:07] it was listening

[3:26:10] to the hearing in front

[3:26:13] of the session

[3:26:15] I thought I heard them say nine spots

[3:26:16] now

[3:26:19] I am hearing 19.

[3:26:20] >> take

[3:26:22] up 107 by the nine it is like 12.

[3:26:25] 11 point eight eight.

[3:26:28] >> 175. >> 175

[3:26:31] I'm sorry. 175

[3:26:34] feet between the lots?

[3:26:35] >>

[3:26:36] total space in front of both on 50 fourth.

[3:26:40] >> understand but I drove by and

[3:26:43] it did not look like that to me.

[3:26:45] >> I have cleaned the sidewalk for

[3:26:46] you, so I know

[3:26:49] it is.

[3:26:50] >>

[3:26:51] we did speak with the city before putting

[3:26:52] this on

[3:26:55] the property to see if

[3:26:56] it would be able to put more parking.

[3:26:58] if needed, if that was going

[3:27:01] to be a condition from the city

[3:27:03] , they are willing to put more parking

[3:27:04] on

[3:27:06] the property if that is necessary.

[3:27:07] >> how they put more

[3:27:10] parking on the property?

[3:27:11] >> on the

[3:27:13] garden area. The garden area it

[3:27:16] has a large garden area around the building.

[3:27:19] >> remove the green space.

[3:27:22] >> there is a provision you need

[3:27:25] to keep at least 20% of your lot green.

[3:27:28] >> okay.

[3:27:31] it is not something I would like them to

[3:27:34] do.

[3:27:35] >> is 19 spaces enough? I understand

[3:27:37] they are 45 seats.

[3:27:38] >> at maximum

[3:27:40] generally between 30 and 35 and members

[3:27:43] of congregation.

[3:27:46] up to maximum of 45.

[3:27:49] >> you never have 30 cars?

[3:27:52] >> I honestly

[3:27:55] cannot speak to that.

[3:27:56] >>

[3:27:58] I am just saying.

[3:28:00] with the people come as individuals

[3:28:01] or families because

[3:28:04] if you need 40 spaces

[3:28:07] we don't have it.

[3:28:08] >>

[3:28:10] zoning requires 15 spaces.

[3:28:13] >> every theory

[3:28:16] -- three seats requires one

[3:28:19] parking spot.

[3:28:20] >> thank you,

[3:28:22] all right. Any other questions before

[3:28:25] we open to public comment?

[3:28:28] >> good luck. >> I

[3:28:31] have no questions.

[3:28:32] >> I

[3:28:33] am listening.

[3:28:34] >> okay, thank you.

[3:28:37] >> yes.

[3:28:41] >> I am

[3:28:44] calling you.

[3:28:47] >> excuse me

[3:28:50] one moment.

[3:28:55] >> go put your side back over there.

[3:28:58] our rule does not allow you to come here

[3:28:59] with

[3:29:02] a sign.

[3:29:03] >> she has got

[3:29:04] it. Okay. Now, you're here please

[3:29:06] introduce yourself and tell us what

[3:29:08] you have to say.

[3:29:09] >>

[3:29:11] first of all ,

[3:29:14] >> your name? >>

[3:29:16] bailey and first of all it was never

[3:29:20] a church. I was never here

[3:29:23] , in 1958 , anyone

[3:29:26] of you all here in 1958?

[3:29:29] >> 1959.

[3:29:32] >> I will give you

[3:29:35] the codes you know

[3:29:36] gulfport zoning ordinance regulations

[3:29:38] focus

[3:29:41] on her lot basis

[3:29:44] and require all uses

[3:29:47] and adhere to setbacks, parking

[3:29:50] and public access.

[3:29:53] one principal use, per lot,

[3:29:56] that means one building per lot

[3:29:59] , one church so

[3:30:02] the main church was

[3:30:05] the big l shaped church

[3:30:08] and that little building, the

[3:30:12] quick shaft building was just a storage/whatever

[3:30:17] it was from

[3:30:20] 1958,

[3:30:23] two 2016 and in 2016

[3:30:26] it became a daycare

[3:30:29] and on that,

[3:30:32] I actually had the fire permit

[3:30:35] on my billboard there and I was

[3:30:38] the contractor

[3:30:41] that actually brought it

[3:30:44] to

[3:30:45] the fire code. So I know that it was

[3:30:47] a storage because I brought up the

[3:30:50] walls to the fire code and

[3:30:53] cleared out a lot of the storage.

[3:30:56] they used it

[3:30:58] for garage sales, you know, and yard sales

[3:31:01] a lot of times throughout the years

[3:31:05] and basically

[3:31:08] it was

[3:31:11] it was never a church like the gentleman

[3:31:14] was saying , they want to convert

[3:31:17] back to a church so that is

[3:31:20] a falsehood that he was making you

[3:31:21] all

[3:31:23] believe. And

[3:31:25] on pinellas and all my billboard also,

[3:31:26] pinellas county

[3:31:32] we have the attorney right here

[3:31:35] minimum lot size , for a church.

[3:31:38] it is 100

[3:31:44] it is 100 x 100 please help

[3:31:46] me out.

[3:31:47] >> just so you are clear,

[3:31:48] bailey just so

[3:31:50] you are clear, we are giving

[3:31:53] you public comment right now

[3:31:54] and we're being lenient because typically

[3:31:56] it is three minutes so use your

[3:31:59] time wisely.

[3:32:02] >> the lot size is

[3:32:05] 90 x 100 so it does not meet the zoning requirements and

[3:32:06] also I'm

[3:32:08] going to put step back and say

[3:32:11] if all of my fax doesn't

[3:32:14] , real quick

[3:32:17] if I request a professional

[3:32:20] parking engineer survey

[3:32:23] on 138

[3:32:26] , 138

[3:32:29] three 602

[3:32:32] alpha you

[3:32:35] know so if I run out of

[3:32:38] time because it does

[3:32:40] not meet zoning codes, parking codes

[3:32:41] ada codes

[3:32:44] and fire safety codes are broken daily

[3:32:47] it has

[3:32:50] 18 parking spots not 19.

[3:32:56] the

[3:32:59] fire hydrant is within 15 foot

[3:33:02] where they parked daily and I had that

[3:33:05] on my thing.

[3:33:08] I would like to talk, I have a lot,

[3:33:11] but you know.

[3:33:12] >>

[3:33:14] okay, public comment you have

[3:33:17] three minutes.

[3:33:18] >> okay,

[3:33:20] hopefully this will be so helpful.

[3:33:23] this lot was subdivided in the last

[3:33:25] three years, that was not in the city

[3:33:29] so it was a church in the big building,

[3:33:30] not a

[3:33:31] church in the creative play building,

[3:33:32] it was a storage room play

[3:33:35] area et cetera so both are kinda right

[3:33:37] the property was a church this building

[3:33:38] never was

[3:33:41] so hopefully that is helpful and has

[3:33:43] a big yard trees and beautiful things

[3:33:46] , that's the building where talking

[3:33:47] about, the sunflower school

[3:33:49] sold it to you a couple years ago

[3:33:52] and it sounds like you want to sublease

[3:33:53] now to church

[3:33:56] it sounds like she wants to.

[3:33:59] that is being discussed I did not

[3:34:00] listen to planning and zoning but

[3:34:01] from tonight if what was said tonight

[3:34:02] was set at planning

[3:34:04] and zoning I can understand the confusion so

[3:34:05] tonight the owner of the little building

[3:34:08] missing church comes to me and

[3:34:10] wants to rent. I understand I go to

[3:34:11] that a lot

[3:34:14] , pickleball, tennis,

[3:34:17] there is high demand on the

[3:34:20] parking, but for all the use of a

[3:34:21] church which

[3:34:24] sounds like it is once

[3:34:25] per week for two hours that's the

[3:34:26] parking for the whole building that

[3:34:27] might

[3:34:28] be less stress on the neighborhood

[3:34:29] than a school which will have parking

[3:34:30] every day

[3:34:32] or some other use that could come

[3:34:34] I've taken a tour of the building

[3:34:36] the creative

[3:34:37] play school building where talking

[3:34:39] about four times because

[3:34:40] I wanted to see a preschool going

[3:34:42] there so I know all about it and

[3:34:45] I know the sunflower school

[3:34:47] will lease the church part of the

[3:34:48] big building,

[3:34:50] they don't use it they leased to a

[3:34:51] theater company and

[3:34:52] they use it so the school part isn't

[3:34:54] the part that's flowery

[3:34:57] on 20 seventh.

[3:34:59] anyway, I personally think a church

[3:35:00] is

[3:35:02] a good use for the space. It is residential,

[3:35:06] the variance was educational

[3:35:09] so I think that lapsed

[3:35:10] now it has been over a year on the

[3:35:12] market. Would be great as

[3:35:14] a school. I don't think parking is a

[3:35:17] huge issue and it makes sense to dig

[3:35:18] up the garden

[3:35:20] for parking you just pull in on the easement

[3:35:24] that for the old food

[3:35:26] pantry used to be in front of the church corner. I

[3:35:27] don't think having cars

[3:35:29] there, it does not block the street

[3:35:33] it's not that serious one

[3:35:35] or two hours per week, one bible study

[3:35:36] we could have worse on

[3:35:37] the neighborhood used for that space. That's

[3:35:39] what I think that should have

[3:35:41] been mentioned I feel about subdividing

[3:35:42] because we

[3:35:43] were arguing about something that happened

[3:35:45] because of

[3:35:48] the subdivision.

[3:35:49] >> linda.

[3:35:56] >> my name is linda bailey I live on

[3:35:57] 54th

[3:35:59] st. And basically the church before

[3:36:00] when it was a

[3:36:01] school there would be the drop off

[3:36:03] of the kids so

[3:36:05] no one actually parked, they let the

[3:36:06] kid get out of

[3:36:07] the car and the cars would go through the

[3:36:09] line. They

[3:36:11] have tennis, pickleball, events that

[3:36:12] go

[3:36:15] to gulfport, all of those people are parking

[3:36:18] in those parking spots. Now even

[3:36:20] all the pickleball, tennis and people

[3:36:21] from the

[3:36:24] dog park, it

[3:36:27] is getting so crowded. To add trying

[3:36:28] to

[3:36:29] get more parking spots to have a church

[3:36:31] when you don't have any handicap parking

[3:36:33] spots over there with

[3:36:35] no paying for handicap accessible

[3:36:39] and you have eight or nine parking spots

[3:36:42] if you put any handicap

[3:36:44] which you probably need in a church

[3:36:47] I don't know if that's required in

[3:36:48] church parking but you are

[3:36:51] very limited on what, before it was

[3:36:54] a vacant when we moved into

[3:36:57] the property close by and it was not

[3:37:00] being used and when

[3:37:02] it was a preschool it was basically

[3:37:03] transitioning with cars moving quickly

[3:37:04] to

[3:37:05] the line and nobody actually parked

[3:37:09] so that is

[3:37:12] the difference.

[3:37:13] >> another hand

[3:37:15] up here for

[3:37:18] public comment.

[3:37:24] >>

[3:37:27] amy costa 20th ave., south. That

[3:37:29] was very confusing but I cleaned it

[3:37:30] all together.

[3:37:35] I would like to say I don't know the

[3:37:36] full story and who is the

[3:37:37] argument what's going on here, but

[3:37:39] I do know we have a plethora of empty

[3:37:41] buildings sitting empty in gulfport

[3:37:42] is very sad,

[3:37:44] very difficult for small businesses

[3:37:45] to lease

[3:37:48] buildings, stay open we are struggling.

[3:37:51] if there is an organization that wants

[3:37:53] to take the building and do good things

[3:37:54] in the community

[3:37:56] I hope they are not a church of evil

[3:37:57] but I

[3:37:59] can see how it could be a bad thing

[3:38:00] to have

[3:38:03] more spaces for people together.

[3:38:06] if you think about other things in

[3:38:07] the city whether

[3:38:08] it is a festival or a gecko ball or

[3:38:09] whatever parking

[3:38:12] we all survive it and we

[3:38:14] all park everyone does okay and we'll

[3:38:15] go home and go back

[3:38:18] to normal. I

[3:38:20] think it is okay I would like to share

[3:38:21] that as a community member.

[3:38:23] >> mary, did you have your hand up?

[3:38:30] >> first of all a

[3:38:32] question for the attorney can I speak

[3:38:33] in public speaking?

[3:38:34] >> because

[3:38:36] you are in the board?

[3:38:37] >> yes

[3:38:42] .

[3:38:43] >> it is advisory and

[3:38:44] a public meeting so as long as you

[3:38:45] are not speaking on behalf of the

[3:38:47] board you can go ahead.

[3:38:48] >> speaking

[3:38:49] as a individual. Thank you.

[3:38:51] I was or I am on

[3:38:53] the planning and zoning board and

[3:38:54] this did come in front of us and it

[3:38:57] was very confusing.

[3:38:59] I have a couple of suggestions both

[3:39:00] for the planning department and

[3:39:03] in general. Maps and diagrams are terrific.

[3:39:06] if we had a map that

[3:39:09] said this building is this,

[3:39:10] this building is this, this building

[3:39:12] is this

[3:39:15] and where the parking would go everything

[3:39:16] would

[3:39:17] be much more clear and for you guys

[3:39:18] as

[3:39:21] well so I would

[3:39:23] like to see that in the future, the

[3:39:24] lady who came up

[3:39:27] whose name escapes me. I'm not sure

[3:39:30] if you are the owner,

[3:39:33] or the person running the church.

[3:39:36] >> speak

[3:39:39] to us.

[3:39:40] >> neither the owner

[3:39:42] nor the church were present and it

[3:39:43] would've

[3:39:45] been nice to hear from them. I am, however,

[3:39:49] concerned about allowing the

[3:39:51] counting of right-of-way spaces toward

[3:39:55] parking requirements because they

[3:39:56] are not dedicated to the building.

[3:39:58] if we allow people

[3:40:00] to park there on the right-of-way

[3:40:01] which

[3:40:03] we do mostly for events than that

[3:40:04] is

[3:40:07] free for all parking.

[3:40:09] so it is not dedicated they could

[3:40:10] not mark it or put

[3:40:12] disabled spots, they cannot do the

[3:40:13] other things that are

[3:40:14] required for parking for the building

[3:40:19] and I do have

[3:40:20] concerns about setting the precedent

[3:40:21] by saying this building for this use

[3:40:22] can

[3:40:23] use public right-of-way to satisfy

[3:40:28] parking

[3:40:29] requirements. I realize downtown we

[3:40:31] have variances because downtown

[3:40:32] is a different area, but I am worried

[3:40:34] about where we are going

[3:40:37] with this. Thank you.

[3:40:40] >> thank you. Okay. I

[3:40:42] think we should , I have a question

[3:40:46] maybe I cannot ask the fire marshal to

[3:40:49] come up.

[3:40:50] >> jim,

[3:40:52] come on up.

[3:40:55] >> okay. Just because during

[3:40:58] public comment it was stated

[3:40:59] there was the issue with fire safety

[3:41:01] codes and I wanted to get

[3:41:04] your take on that.

[3:41:05] >> when the building

[3:41:06] was taken over by the daycare talking

[3:41:07] about separate building that

[3:41:10] they own.

[3:41:11] it was brought up to code the alarm

[3:41:13] system was put in, it was made

[3:41:16] safe for children. Now it has

[3:41:19] been left abandoned ,

[3:41:22] they took the alarm system out

[3:41:24] which will have to be put back into it

[3:41:28] and if you get occupant

[3:41:29] load to see how many people they can put

[3:41:30] into the church for usage. That's

[3:41:31] where

[3:41:34] we are now on the fireside. The building

[3:41:35] next

[3:41:36] to it is the sunflower school and

[3:41:37] they have

[3:41:39] passed recent inspection. I don't

[3:41:40] know if that answers the

[3:41:43] question.

[3:41:44] >> initially are

[3:41:46] you questioning that 45 people

[3:41:49] could exceed the load?

[3:41:52] >> it does have a

[3:41:54] dividing wall and I live to get in

[3:41:55] and

[3:41:56] measure because the daycare is different

[3:41:57] occupancy from a church so we had

[3:41:58] to

[3:42:01] see if they're using

[3:42:03] pews or chairs, how they are using the

[3:42:04] rooms that

[3:42:07] are there.

[3:42:08] >> mayor, that starts

[3:42:09] with the business receipt application?

[3:42:13] it will trigger fire inspection

[3:42:16] and all of those type

[3:42:17] things, they have to get the site

[3:42:19] plan approved for

[3:42:20] the parking and that is what you will see

[3:42:22] in the packet, the pictures are in

[3:42:23] the

[3:42:24] packet. So that trigger when this

[3:42:28] is initially are going to

[3:42:30] grant conditional use?

[3:42:31] >> allow them

[3:42:32] to

[3:42:33] do this use and everything else is triggered

[3:42:34] that

[3:42:37] has to be met.

[3:42:38] >> so,

[3:42:40] if I understand right this went

[3:42:43] before planning and zoning,

[3:42:45] planning and zoning advanced to us

[3:42:46] with a couple of conditions. One

[3:42:49] was that there would be agreement

[3:42:51] between the church and the school

[3:42:52] about parking and

[3:42:55] one is that it

[3:42:58] has to pass fire inspection. So these

[3:43:01] are conditions that

[3:43:03] we have to all be addressed before

[3:43:04] it could be finalized.

[3:43:07] >> before they get final certificate

[3:43:10] of occupancy to operate the business.

[3:43:11] >> correct. We did have a meeting

[3:43:13] with the owner myself,

[3:43:16] community development prior

[3:43:19] just to make them aware.

[3:43:22] >> okay, all right. Do

[3:43:24] we have any more questions, any of

[3:43:25] you for

[3:43:28] the city?

[3:43:29] >> I'm sorry, you go first. >>

[3:43:31] when the business tax receipt

[3:43:33] is generated that's when you go back right?

[3:43:37] >> most likely we will meet before that

[3:43:39] to make sure everything is clarified.

[3:43:40] before they get to that

[3:43:43] point because

[3:43:45] at that point that is pretty much

[3:43:46] the end of the story so I

[3:43:48] would have to say yes, but if I am

[3:43:49] aware and we are

[3:43:51] speaking on what needs to be done

[3:43:52] then it should be

[3:43:55] a smooth process.

[3:43:56] >> mandatory inspections okay.

[3:44:01] >> that triggers everything.

[3:44:04] >> final signature. >> any questions?

[3:44:07] >> not for the fire department.

[3:44:10] >> I don't have any for the

[3:44:13] fire department.

[3:44:14] >> always here

[3:44:16] if you need me.

[3:44:17] >> all right, so

[3:44:19] I think this is the first one

[3:44:22] they have advanced

[3:44:24] from planning and zoning to us, so

[3:44:25] they are the advisory board

[3:44:28] and sorry bailey but you

[3:44:31] get one public comment,

[3:44:34] your hearing is when you could say

[3:44:35] anything you wanted, not

[3:44:36] now. Sorry. They have advanced to that

[3:44:37] to us and I think

[3:44:39] we are now clear on what they are

[3:44:40] asking us

[3:44:43] to do , so

[3:44:46] my understanding is planning

[3:44:49] and zoning has advanced it,

[3:44:52] my understanding the city approved with

[3:44:53] these conditions

[3:44:56] on it, so now it is up to

[3:44:58] us to take a vote, whether we want

[3:44:59] to pass

[3:45:02] or not. Am I clear?

[3:45:03] >>

[3:45:05] the city recommended it. Subject

[3:45:08] to your approval. With

[3:45:11] conditions they placed.

[3:45:13] >> so do we want to have any more

[3:45:15] comments made amongst ourselves prior

[3:45:17] to the vote?

[3:45:18] >>

[3:45:20] you are good? You are good?

[3:45:23] you are next.

[3:45:24] >> just so

[3:45:25] you know personally I don't like using

[3:45:26] right-of-way for parking

[3:45:29] and allowing that

[3:45:32] to be the parking spaces.

[3:45:35] >> what did you want?

[3:45:37] >> it should be street parking like parallel

[3:45:38] parking.

[3:45:39] >>

[3:45:40] we are voting on the resolution to allow

[3:45:41] the

[3:45:44] application to go forward.

[3:45:45] >>

[3:45:48] it has to meet parking requirements and

[3:45:50] do all those things. If

[3:45:51] they do not then they can't.

[3:45:52] >> they

[3:45:53] are counting

[3:45:56] right-of-way parking.

[3:45:57] >> I

[3:45:59] understand. Sorry.

[3:46:02] it is a philosophy versus, yes.

[3:46:05] okay.

[3:46:06] >> seems to me

[3:46:08] this is a sequential process

[3:46:10] so the next step would be for us to

[3:46:11] prove

[3:46:13] going forward and then they have to

[3:46:14] meet

[3:46:16] other criteria so with that in mind I

[3:46:17] am

[3:46:20] fine.

[3:46:21] >> okay so just say.

[3:46:23] >>, boat please.

[3:46:29] >> [ roll call vote ]

[3:46:32] >> carries to passage.

[3:46:35] >>

[3:46:37] all right, so that will then take us

[3:46:38] ,

[3:46:41] that was a resolution eight

[3:46:44] b correct? That will take us to

[3:46:47] discussion items.

[3:46:50] >>

[3:46:53] just to be clear, to everybody

[3:46:56] that is out there, still. These

[3:46:59] are discussion items

[3:47:04] for the city council, the decision

[3:47:05] makers to either decide to advance

[3:47:07] these or not, we're not going to be

[3:47:08] taking public comment on that, if

[3:47:11] we advance

[3:47:12] there would be public comment prior to any

[3:47:14] kind of vote

[3:47:15] but that is not happening tonight, no

[3:47:17] public comment

[3:47:20] on these items,

[3:47:22] this is the only opportunity we have to

[3:47:23] talk about these

[3:47:25] items. So, thank you.

[3:47:26] >> nine eight

[3:47:28] the discussion item on the draft ordinance

[3:47:35] staff

[3:47:36] has prepared ordinance for city council to

[3:47:37] review with their actions given on with a

[3:47:38] counselor

[3:47:39] like to see changes made before bringing

[3:47:41] items to future agenda for roll call

[3:47:42] vote.

[3:47:44] >> okay mayor.

[3:47:47] I tried to gather

[3:47:50] the concerns from council in drafting this.

[3:47:53] remember

[3:47:55] the issues this is under new since

[3:47:59] area so we try to control

[3:48:01] what kind of lighting can basically go from

[3:48:02] somebody's

[3:48:03] property, to another person's property or

[3:48:07] toward the street that would cause

[3:48:08] any kind of

[3:48:11] nuisance. Also when I looked

[3:48:13] at it I tried to look at the compatibility

[3:48:16] issues, not that it would go over

[3:48:17] somebody

[3:48:19] else's yard , but generally where

[3:48:20] you

[3:48:22] can have lighting and the lighting

[3:48:23] you can

[3:48:25] have. Obviously it is just a draft

[3:48:28] for council to do whatever you want

[3:48:31] with.

[3:48:32] >> I definitely have thoughts

[3:48:34] but I would like to hear everybody

[3:48:35] else's, as well. And

[3:48:38] we will see if we

[3:48:39] have any kind of consensus on this.

[3:48:41] councilmember jackson

[3:48:44] if you would start us off.

[3:48:45] >> I

[3:48:47] am okay with this right now.

[3:48:50] >> okay . Councilmember

[3:48:53] ?

[3:48:54] >> it looks a little

[3:48:56] hoa.

[3:48:57] >>

[3:48:59] that is probably fair. Like the

[3:49:02] hoa, the color of your house

[3:49:05] can be this color and your light,

[3:49:07] you can't have a golf cart that is red.

[3:49:08] I don't know.

[3:49:13] >> any time you put in specifics for

[3:49:14] people's residences

[3:49:17] , there are sections in

[3:49:19] here you may want to just remove,

[3:49:20] there's nothing wrong with that.

[3:49:23] >> anything else?

[3:49:26] >> no.

[3:49:29] >> I am pretty okay with it. My

[3:49:31] concern is the house as they are building

[3:49:32] with the long tube

[3:49:35] lighting in the front end of a light up

[3:49:36] the whole neighborhood. I want to

[3:49:38] make sure because they could argue

[3:49:39] it is

[3:49:41] for safety reasons.

[3:49:42] >> you

[3:49:44] cannot shine beyond your yard

[3:49:47] it cannot shine into the

[3:49:49] next-door neighbors or into the right-of-way.

[3:49:50] so you can have

[3:49:52] very nice whatever they are called.

[3:49:56] ,

[3:49:59] they cannot have that kind of brightness

[3:50:02] that will cause a problem.

[3:50:05] it can look nice but that does not mean

[3:50:07] it can be shining and lighting up

[3:50:08] which is what the

[3:50:11] concern was.

[3:50:12] >> I would like to prohibit

[3:50:14] the long lights period because you

[3:50:15] know I

[3:50:17] don't know if they could

[3:50:19] make them I don't know low enough

[3:50:20] wattage that it would kind

[3:50:23] of go as opposed to lighting up the

[3:50:24] whole thing.

[3:50:26] >> honestly when I wrote this that's

[3:50:29] what I tried to get to.

[3:50:32] the problem is you end up being

[3:50:35] hoa

[3:50:38] so I tried to be more general. It

[3:50:39] is hard.

[3:50:40] >>

[3:50:41] I mean it is

[3:50:43] pretty good, I was worried people

[3:50:44] could say I'm worried about

[3:50:46] safety parking on the street walking

[3:50:47] up my walkway.

[3:50:49] >> you can worry about the way this

[3:50:50] is written sliding

[3:50:54] on your property

[3:50:56] for example light fixtures shall not

[3:50:57] be directly

[3:50:59] or indirectly shining toward adjacent

[3:51:00] properties

[3:51:01] fences and public right-of-way. You

[3:51:03] can have your nice

[3:51:06] but not the big wattage bulbs.

[3:51:09] >>

[3:51:10] as long as that's okay because I mean

[3:51:12] it's like

[3:51:13] you have a quiet neighborhood where

[3:51:15] people have little porch lights

[3:51:18] and then you have a glow from

[3:51:20] these things.

[3:51:21] >> we try to make it

[3:51:24] also again maybe hoa ,

[3:51:26] compatible with , in the neighborhood.

[3:51:30] so in the one you described

[3:51:33] you would not expect

[3:51:35] those to have it, that's not compatible

[3:51:36] however in

[3:51:37] a neighborhood that has the big ones

[3:51:41] it's probably okay in that neighborhood.

[3:51:45] >> that's the big part, this is

[3:51:47] not taking lights off the houses ,

[3:51:48] the

[3:51:51] house on 18th ave. This is not

[3:51:52] going to take the lights of the house

[3:51:54] on 18th ave. They are

[3:51:56] there, these people would be okay.

[3:51:59] somebody down the street starts doing it

[3:52:00] then you have

[3:52:02] the conversation. At this point you

[3:52:05] are looking and I guess the best way

[3:52:06] to do it is compare,

[3:52:09] there's language on spotlights.

[3:52:12] if I keep it in my yard

[3:52:15] you may not like it

[3:52:17] but it is still a decorative lamp

[3:52:18] just because it

[3:52:20] does not fit the neighborhood does

[3:52:21] not mean

[3:52:24] it is

[3:52:25] extending the glowing across the street.

[3:52:27] then you are getting

[3:52:30] subjective.

[3:52:31] >>

[3:52:32] that is what I am worried about, the

[3:52:33] whole safety thing

[3:52:36] and whatever being too subjective.

[3:52:39] >> it's not subjective in

[3:52:42] that aspect.

[3:52:43] >> basically I

[3:52:44] totally want to do this because I

[3:52:45] don't want those

[3:52:48] things, but people who have

[3:52:51] those now, could neighbors

[3:52:54] complained that the light

[3:52:56] is, like the people who live next

[3:52:57] door to the

[3:52:59] house had to buy blackout curtains for

[3:53:00] their

[3:53:02] whole house so could they complain

[3:53:05] that it is a nuisance that they should

[3:53:06] turn

[3:53:08] them off by 10:00 at night or something?

[3:53:12] as code enforcement not nuisance.

[3:53:13] >>

[3:53:15] the city permitted

[3:53:18] and approved.

[3:53:19] >>

[3:53:21] I know they did not have

[3:53:24] any reason not to.

[3:53:27] >> trying to do the most we can to protect

[3:53:30] individual property owners

[3:53:33] who did not have it in place, we have

[3:53:34] to

[3:53:36] have something

[3:53:38] to prohibit shining from other people's backyards,

[3:53:39] new fences and

[3:53:42] right-of-way's. That is at least the

[3:53:43] main

[3:53:45] gist I got from council.

[3:53:46] >> in other words

[3:53:47] those were my concerns otherwise it

[3:53:48] is

[3:53:51] okay.

[3:53:52] >>

[3:53:53] in this conversation we brought up discussion

[3:53:54] of wattage

[3:53:58] and I'm wondering if illumination might be

[3:54:00] a factor that we could address.

[3:54:03] I know in projects I have

[3:54:06] worked on , that was a factor.

[3:54:09] >> I did look

[3:54:12] at ordinances with wattage

[3:54:15] and why I did not put it in is that

[3:54:18] it's really specific in different

[3:54:20] zoning areas. I can bring you back

[3:54:21] something

[3:54:23] with that, it will not be a nuisance

[3:54:24] ordinance anymore,

[3:54:27] it would be a lighting ordinance

[3:54:30] and he will start talking about the

[3:54:31] wattage

[3:54:33] per area, it's very collocated.

[3:54:36] I can draft it if you

[3:54:39] want.

[3:54:40] >>

[3:54:41] it's not just the wattage, it is the

[3:54:42] type of illumination that is even driving

[3:54:45] can be a hazard.

[3:54:48] I was

[3:54:51] just wondering

[3:54:54] if I could be integrated

[3:54:57] into a just the feedback.

[3:55:00] you know what?

[3:55:03] thought about it and I

[3:55:04] thought about what you give me direction

[3:55:06] to do and what I heard

[3:55:09] was that the biggest concern was

[3:55:12] the nuisance aspect of it and that

[3:55:13] is

[3:55:15] how I draft it but I will do whatever

[3:55:18] you want, I can draft a

[3:55:19] comprehensive illumination ordinance

[3:55:21] , I looked at some

[3:55:24] and they were going on and on

[3:55:27] and on. Not sure this is what council

[3:55:29] wants, but I will do whatever you want.

[3:55:33] >> I would defer to council, but I

[3:55:34] think

[3:55:36] it is two fold, what it is

[3:55:39] doing to impact the neighbors, but also

[3:55:42] the illumination and

[3:55:45] the glare. It is a hazard.

[3:55:48] >> the other thing I might say to council is if

[3:55:49] you

[3:55:51] pass this let us see how it works

[3:55:54] and we can always amend.

[3:55:55] >> then you

[3:55:56] are

[3:55:57] stuck with houses that have bright

[3:55:58] lights.

[3:55:59] >>

[3:56:00] houses with bright lights that cannot

[3:56:01] illuminate, this

[3:56:02] you can't go beyond your yard which

[3:56:06] is key for us to get in place.

[3:56:09] even if we go the other way

[3:56:12] this is the issue have to deal with the

[3:56:13] issue quickly.

[3:56:15] >> well I am

[3:56:17] always in favor of incremental progress

[3:56:18] so that is fine

[3:56:22] with me.

[3:56:23] >> good?

[3:56:25] okay.

[3:56:26] >> here is

[3:56:27] my thoughts. Number one I really want

[3:56:30] to see some kind of lighting ordinance

[3:56:34] and I feel like sooner is better

[3:56:37] than later because

[3:56:38] as we have more and more residents

[3:56:42] who are finalizing the plans on their

[3:56:43] new homes,

[3:56:46] I would like for

[3:56:48] there to be rules about lighting and

[3:56:49] my

[3:56:51] thinking on that is particularly in the

[3:56:52] cases

[3:56:53] where you have a brand-new to her

[3:56:55] three-story home coming up

[3:56:58] next to a house that might restore

[3:57:00] their house because they were less

[3:57:04] than 50% is now we have

[3:57:07] potentially some lights

[3:57:10] that are way up there

[3:57:12] and if you put them up 30 feet high,

[3:57:13] chances of them going into

[3:57:16] the neighbor bedrooms

[3:57:19] were there backyards is

[3:57:21] extremely good. So I would really like

[3:57:23] for us to work on what I'm calling

[3:57:25] light pollution.

[3:57:28] marlene used the

[3:57:31] word wattage.

[3:57:37] before she is to the

[3:57:38] word wattage which might be the right

[3:57:40] word to use, I had written down intensity.

[3:57:43] >> that's illumination.

[3:57:44] >> I am thinking along the same lines,

[3:57:46] there needs to be limits as

[3:57:49] to how bright the lights can be

[3:57:58] I would be disappointed if we

[3:57:59] came out with something that sounded

[3:58:01] too much like hoa, I

[3:58:03] would not like that I think the timing

[3:58:04] is so

[3:58:06] important with a number of homes that

[3:58:07] are being built and restored

[3:58:10] and all

[3:58:13] of us need to realize many homes

[3:58:15] would be very tall, but they could

[3:58:16] literally be

[3:58:19] looking over the shorter home

[3:58:22] when I looked at it

[3:58:25] the first thing under permitted

[3:58:28] lighting

[3:58:29] the fray should be aesthetically pleasing

[3:58:34] is very vague and subjective.

[3:58:37] okay is that him?

[3:58:40] I

[3:58:43] think the phrase is not good that

[3:58:44] will cause more arguments than anything

[3:58:49] I think the

[3:58:52] section compatibility could be

[3:58:55] very subjective

[3:58:58] acknowledging most things are

[3:59:01] fixtures, I thought that was good where

[3:59:04] it says they shall not be directly

[3:59:05] or

[3:59:06] indirectly shining onto the adjacent

[3:59:07] properties, fences and public

[3:59:10] right of ways. Okay so I thought that

[3:59:13] was good. I was saying,

[3:59:16] you know I did not want it to

[3:59:18] have the intensity of some of the streetlights

[3:59:19] that we have, but in

[3:59:20] gulfport a lot of streetlights are

[3:59:22] not that intense

[3:59:25] I did

[3:59:26] not see anything in here that addresses

[3:59:28] height restrictions

[3:59:31] and if

[3:59:32] you like there should be height restriction

[3:59:33] because you know, the difference of

[3:59:34] if you put

[3:59:35] a motion detector on house versus

[3:59:39] one-story versus two stories versus

[3:59:40] a three-story

[3:59:43] that will affect your neighbors

[3:59:46] quite differently.

[3:59:49] so I think a height restriction in

[3:59:50] terms

[3:59:51] of where you could have a motion detector

[3:59:52] or spotlight should be considered

[3:59:53] just because

[3:59:55] you have a three-story house

[3:59:58] does not mean you need to put a spotlight

[3:59:59] on the

[4:00:00] top story you can still put it on the

[4:00:04] first story

[4:00:07] gulfport you can

[4:00:08] see some are being done the other way.

[4:00:12] and then under prohibited lighting

[4:00:16] b with any light

[4:00:19] or bulb not within a light fixture.

[4:00:21] so are we trying to say you cannot hang

[4:00:25] the bare bulbs, are we getting that

[4:00:28] specific? You cannot , it has to be

[4:00:29] within

[4:00:31] a globe?

[4:00:32] >>

[4:00:34] so, that is a perfect example.

[4:00:37] what if somebody does not have

[4:00:40] a fixture and they

[4:00:43] just put in a lightbulb?

[4:00:44] >> the hoa

[4:00:45] would require it.

[4:00:46] >> I don't know,

[4:00:49] aesthetically pleasing

[4:00:52] I

[4:00:55] don't know,

[4:00:58] I put it in for you to consider.

[4:01:01] my recommendation

[4:01:04] would be to

[4:01:06] remove a lot of these positions to

[4:01:07] get the main part in

[4:01:10] would be

[4:01:12] the compatibility and part of the

[4:01:13] permitted lighting

[4:01:16] so we have the

[4:01:18] nuisance thing in place and then draft a

[4:01:19] lighting ordinance

[4:01:21] which would be more comprehensive

[4:01:24] and it would talk about the issues

[4:01:25] you

[4:01:28] are talking about, but this is under

[4:01:29] nuisance, I would like to

[4:01:31] get the nuisance part in so the city

[4:01:34] can enforce those things

[4:01:37] >>

[4:01:40] you can use the fixture to soften

[4:01:43] the light

[4:01:49] >> even a bare bulb if it is 60 w

[4:01:50] nobody's going

[4:01:52] to care even if it looks ugly being

[4:01:53] outside

[4:01:55] the fixture and then if

[4:01:58] it is 400 w.

[4:02:01] >> that would be more complaints of.

[4:02:04] >> that goes back to what we

[4:02:07] were saying intensity or wattage it

[4:02:08] is not

[4:02:09] the fact that there is a bare bulb

[4:02:10] you know

[4:02:13] .

[4:02:16] it is how bright it

[4:02:19] is. Okay.

[4:02:20] >> the elimination the wattage

[4:02:22] and height.

[4:02:23] >> okay, I

[4:02:24] like what you said the fact we could do

[4:02:25] two steps,

[4:02:30] one is a nuisance and then come back

[4:02:31] with a lighting and in the lighting

[4:02:33] address may be intensity and height

[4:02:35] and maybe

[4:02:36] not talk about it being subjective

[4:02:38] >>

[4:02:41] I would recommend we

[4:02:44] move for

[4:02:47] I would move for part of one

[4:02:53] >> we

[4:02:55] can leave them vacant. I will do it

[4:02:56] so it is the

[4:02:57] nuisance. I believe things that are

[4:02:58] potentially shining into people those

[4:03:01] kinds of things and then I will remove the

[4:03:02] other things and bring

[4:03:04] it back to you in the meantime we

[4:03:08] can work on the lighting.

[4:03:11] >>

[4:03:12] we have enough consensus for you on that

[4:03:14] one? All right city clerk.

[4:03:17] >>

[4:03:26] >> staff is

[4:03:27] prepared to draft ordinance for the council

[4:03:29] to review

[4:03:31] , should be given to staff with accounts would

[4:03:32] like to

[4:03:33] see changes made before bringing item

[4:03:34] to future agenda for roll call vote.

[4:03:38] >> I

[4:03:41] would like to table this, not because

[4:03:42] I don't want to see us do something

[4:03:45] about this I think we need to do something

[4:03:47] about this this is extremely hot

[4:03:48] topic at the state level right now

[4:03:50] and whatever the

[4:03:53] state decides to do would

[4:03:54] end up preempting anything we did

[4:03:58] I think again we should I am not trying

[4:04:01] to take away from the importance of this

[4:04:05] it is potentially the

[4:04:07] number two issue at the state level

[4:04:08] right now in

[4:04:11] terms of in terms of the legislative session

[4:04:14] and what they want to pass

[4:04:23] >> I agree with that and

[4:04:24] we had about bicycle tricycle rollerskates

[4:04:26] or other conveyance of

[4:04:29] any kind

[4:04:30] in an area in a park where the same

[4:04:32] is designated as prohibited.

[4:04:34] if it is designated as prohibited

[4:04:35] you don't need to have

[4:04:37] it in here and it is a whole separate

[4:04:38] thing from electronic

[4:04:39] bikes because they are not electric.

[4:04:44] >> that is the point of

[4:04:47] the mayor. It is how they are using

[4:04:50] it because

[4:04:52] --

[4:04:53] >> this or not electric bicycles

[4:04:54] tricycle skateboards rollerskates

[4:04:55] or

[4:04:56] any other conveyance and you talk

[4:04:57] about electrical things in the

[4:04:59] first sentence , but

[4:05:02] these are not electric things.

[4:05:03] >>

[4:05:04] understand,

[4:05:05] that's where you prohibit them.

[4:05:06] >>

[4:05:07] if it says

[4:05:09] prohibited you don't need it in here

[4:05:11] that would be my thought I would keep ebike's separate

[4:05:12] myself.

[4:05:14] tabling it is fine.

[4:05:17] >> I am not saying no,

[4:05:20] not saying not tonight, let's see

[4:05:21] what

[4:05:23] happens and

[4:05:24] I am always in favor of safety first.

[4:05:26] no doubt about that.

[4:05:29] so we will move

[4:05:32] on then

[4:05:35] to nine c.

[4:05:36] >>

[4:05:38] inclusive or inclusivity

[4:05:41] ordinance staff

[4:05:44] is preparing resolution for city council to

[4:05:45] review

[4:05:47] directions on whether council would

[4:05:48] like to see

[4:05:49] changes made before bringing the item

[4:05:50] to future agenda for roll

[4:05:53] call vote.

[4:05:54] >> okay.

[4:05:59] so the issue on this

[4:06:02] and I know this is a

[4:06:04] divisive issue what I got from the

[4:06:05] majority of council

[4:06:08] at the meeting and

[4:06:10] I know we went back and forth on it

[4:06:11] was to address

[4:06:14] that the city

[4:06:17] is maintaining its status

[4:06:20] on civil rights

[4:06:23] on individual rights,

[4:06:26] on nondiscrimination. And then reiterating that.

[4:06:29] the issue you really need to

[4:06:31] discuss is if you want to make any changes

[4:06:35] to the areas brought up which is

[4:06:38] specific

[4:06:39] apology, I did not get a majority

[4:06:41] on that. So

[4:06:44] the way I wrote it is

[4:06:47] reaffirming city position on all-inclusive

[4:06:50] aspects, protecting and

[4:06:53] promoting civil and human rights regarding

[4:06:56] the city

[4:06:59] if you want to do as I said

[4:07:02] the vice mayor and I talked about this,

[4:07:03] we

[4:07:04] texted each other on this. A question

[4:07:05] of if they want to

[4:07:08] have specific policy included I need to have

[4:07:11] direction on it.

[4:07:14] >> okay so again this is discussion

[4:07:16] where we try to give directive to the

[4:07:17] attorney, so we

[4:07:20] will speak in speaking order for you

[4:07:23] to share your thoughts.

[4:07:24] >> I think

[4:07:25] the all-inclusive

[4:07:26] city looks good and I'm also okay

[4:07:29] with adding an apology.

[4:07:35] >> I couldn't hear your.

[4:07:37] >> I am okay with what has been written here and

[4:07:38] I'm okay with adding

[4:07:40] an apology. We have nothing to lose

[4:07:41] to add the apology.

[4:07:44] >> I think it is very well written

[4:07:45] almost like

[4:07:47] symbolic legislation. It is

[4:07:50] a gesture

[4:07:53] . I'm not sure that's enough, but

[4:07:56] I hope that it is.

[4:07:59] >> s have a problem hearing.

[4:08:02] >> this feels like a symbolic gesture

[4:08:03] which

[4:08:05] is not a bad thing, I think we are just

[4:08:08] coming out to say we want to

[4:08:11] be clear.

[4:08:13] we want to be clear, all-inclusive

[4:08:14] city. That's what we are doing.

[4:08:17] I am good with it.

[4:08:20] >> you are good with the way it

[4:08:23] is written?

[4:08:24] >> I am good with the

[4:08:26] way it is written.

[4:08:27] >> to me this is

[4:08:28] missing

[4:08:29] the point, I think we need to acknowledge

[4:08:30] we

[4:08:32] were sun down city and say we regret

[4:08:33] people

[4:08:35] had to go through that, now we are

[4:08:36] all-inclusive city , that happened

[4:08:39] in the past and we are sorry

[4:08:41] about that or just say we regret but

[4:08:42] to acknowledge

[4:08:45] we were sun down city now we

[4:08:47] are not and we're going in a different

[4:08:51] letter direction.

[4:08:57] >>

[4:09:00] all right. So, I really

[4:09:03] appreciated what you

[4:09:06] wrote and it really appreciated

[4:09:09] the whereas four, five and six

[4:09:11] and I put them in order that way. The

[4:09:12] sections

[4:09:15] that declare firm commitment

[4:09:18] to uphold and enforce but

[4:09:19] there is no mention of acknowledgment

[4:09:21] of any history.

[4:09:23] acknowledging injustices of the past

[4:09:24] or something

[4:09:27] like that, but the human

[4:09:29] rights ordinance defined discrimination

[4:09:33] ,

[4:09:34] addresses protections, freedom policy equal

[4:09:36] opportunity

[4:09:37] other definitions and remedies but the

[4:09:39] resolution has a very different

[4:09:42] tone and

[4:09:45] and so the resolution reaffirms

[4:09:48] that discrimination harassment exclusion

[4:09:51] is contrary to the values of the community

[4:09:53] enters all are welcome and respected

[4:09:54] and

[4:09:55] able to participate the commitment

[4:09:57] to uphold as mentioned

[4:10:00] serving as a statement of

[4:10:01] city values and guiding principles

[4:10:05] for decision-making, policy and public

[4:10:06] service which I thought was excellent.

[4:10:08] there is no specific acknowledgment

[4:10:09] of history which may be

[4:10:10] uncomfortable to some but important

[4:10:12] to others.

[4:10:15] so I drafted a

[4:10:16] couple of different suggestions and

[4:10:18] I

[4:10:21] will read both if you wish the

[4:10:22] first is recognizing the importance

[4:10:24] of acknowledging history

[4:10:26] including moments when discrimination

[4:10:27] or

[4:10:29] exclusion occurs as an essential step

[4:10:31] strengthening trust, healing and building

[4:10:33] a more

[4:10:36] just and welcoming community.

[4:10:38] and if everybody likes that I won't

[4:10:39] even read

[4:10:42] the second.

[4:10:43] >> just so

[4:10:45] I know is that whereas or

[4:10:48] ?

[4:10:49] >> I believe that to the

[4:10:51] legal expertise.

[4:10:53] the second is a firm's importance

[4:10:54] of understanding and learning from

[4:10:55] community history as we recommend

[4:10:57] and recommit ourselves

[4:10:59] to the values of inclusion, dignity

[4:11:00] and equal participation.

[4:11:03] >> I like the first

[4:11:06] one. It says more about history.

[4:11:09] that we were just.

[4:11:10] >> first

[4:11:12] or second.

[4:11:13] >> read

[4:11:15] the second, again.

[4:11:17] >> I don't want to water it down because

[4:11:18] I want us

[4:11:20] to be very clear that we are recognizing

[4:11:21] our history and we are

[4:11:23] acknowledging that. Affirms the importance

[4:11:26] of understanding and learning from

[4:11:27] community history

[4:11:30] as we recommit ourselves

[4:11:32] of the values of inclusion dignity and

[4:11:36] equal participation for all. Recognizes

[4:11:39] the importance of acknowledging

[4:11:41] history, including moments when discrimination

[4:11:42] or

[4:11:45] exclusion occurred as an essential step

[4:11:48] in strengthening,

[4:11:49] trust, healing and building a more

[4:11:51] just and welcoming community. That kind

[4:11:52] of

[4:11:53] fits with what I was saying in the

[4:11:54] previous meeting

[4:11:57] so I do favor that one,

[4:12:00] but I mean I

[4:12:03] don't want to fight anybody

[4:12:06] on it.

[4:12:07] >> they are both really

[4:12:08] well written.

[4:12:09] >> reading them both

[4:12:10] twice again

[4:12:12] I feel they are almost the

[4:12:15] same.

[4:12:16] >> I like one

[4:12:18] better because it actually says

[4:12:21] , for behavior

[4:12:24] of the

[4:12:26] past. Okay? Acknowledging the behavior

[4:12:27] and there

[4:12:30] was another word in there.

[4:12:33] >> one was more direct you

[4:12:36] know apologizing and reaffirming those

[4:12:39] things occurred , but you have moved

[4:12:42] forward that is what

[4:12:45] one of them sounded like.

[4:12:46] >> recognizing

[4:12:47] importance

[4:12:48] of acknowledging our history including

[4:12:50] moments when discrimination occurred

[4:12:53] as an essential step strengthening

[4:12:54] trust, healing

[4:12:57] and building a more just and welcoming community.

[4:13:00] >> I really like that

[4:13:02] one best and it goes alongside with what

[4:13:06] councilmember earley said , that

[4:13:09] I feel like we have done this

[4:13:14] with the ordinance from 20 years ago, but that

[4:13:15] was

[4:13:18] a different council that did that

[4:13:19] so if there

[4:13:20] would be any doubt about the position

[4:13:21] of the city and this council this

[4:13:24] is helping to

[4:13:27] wait for that. To me it

[4:13:30] does not apologize for being a sun

[4:13:33] down city

[4:13:35] it does apologize for the discrimination

[4:13:36] in the history of

[4:13:39] some that were in the city.

[4:13:42] so for me as I

[4:13:43] said before I see that as separate

[4:13:45] things, the behavior of the residents

[4:13:48] versus the behavior of the city

[4:13:50] are not necessarily one in the same.

[4:13:51] >> people might

[4:13:54] interpret differently, but

[4:13:57] however it speaks to people

[4:14:00] and creates healing

[4:14:03] and states clearly we are moving forward

[4:14:06] in language

[4:14:08] the attorney already composed into it

[4:14:12] is even in policy, and

[4:14:15] decision-making

[4:14:16] processes how important that is. That's

[4:14:18] why I asked for a copy

[4:14:21] of what you read about the human rights

[4:14:22] ordinance in

[4:14:24] the last meeting because I really cents

[4:14:27] there was a different tone and a

[4:14:30] missing component and especially after

[4:14:33] rereading it

[4:14:36] and what

[4:14:38] we were trying to accomplish I was

[4:14:39] thoroughly convinced we needed a different tone and

[4:14:40] to be

[4:14:42] more specific and that is what

[4:14:45] I spoke with last time and started

[4:14:46] with healing the

[4:14:48] last time as well so that's

[4:14:50] why I think it is important to include

[4:14:51] that.

[4:14:52] >> give that to

[4:14:54] me or send it?

[4:14:55] >> you don't want my

[4:14:56] scribble notes because I wrote all

[4:14:57] over it.

[4:15:00] >> you came up

[4:15:02] with some really good words we could

[4:15:04] agree on.

[4:15:07] >> I really hope this is

[4:15:09] a point that people understand, we

[4:15:13] are acknowledging

[4:15:16] history,

[4:15:17] however anyone chooses to interpret

[4:15:18] I have my interpretation and you may

[4:15:22] have another, but you know

[4:15:25] I acknowledge

[4:15:28] what I believe

[4:15:29] to have happened here. I was not here,

[4:15:31] but from what I

[4:15:34] have heard,

[4:15:37] I understand

[4:15:38] so that's what I'm trying to convey personally.

[4:15:40] I am also trying to

[4:15:43] speak for everybody.

[4:15:44] >>

[4:15:48] I have my direction unless there's

[4:15:52] something more.

[4:15:54] >> turning to you to say do you have

[4:15:55] direction?

[4:15:56] >>

[4:15:57] I do.

[4:15:58] >> very good. That will then

[4:15:59] take us

[4:16:01] to my discussion. My goodness.

[4:16:04] I just want to go

[4:16:07] to sleep. Okay. So,

[4:16:10] my discussion is

[4:16:13] really not a discussion and it is

[4:16:14] not fair it says considerations for

[4:16:16] downtown area

[4:16:19] and that cannot be blamed on

[4:16:21] the city clerk. I did not define for

[4:16:22] her what I wanted

[4:16:24] to do and I kind of wanted to build

[4:16:25] a

[4:16:26] nice overview of the things I have been

[4:16:28] hearing over the years

[4:16:31] and the consistency and lack

[4:16:34] of consistency

[4:16:37] and how

[4:16:38] we are sometimes all over the board

[4:16:39] but there is general consensus so

[4:16:40] that's because what I

[4:16:42] want to do and I knew it was going

[4:16:43] to be late,

[4:16:46] I did not know this late but

[4:16:47] I did write out some things so I am

[4:16:49] going to read even though you know

[4:16:50] I don't usually like to read, I like

[4:16:52] to talk from my heart more so,

[4:16:54] but when I get tired it gets more difficult.

[4:16:57] these are the things that I wrote down.

[4:17:01] a few years

[4:17:03] ago, the residents of gulfport conducted

[4:17:04] a

[4:17:07] series of meetings to engage and brainstorm

[4:17:10] regarding gulfport , this was

[4:17:13] an initiative of

[4:17:16] mayor love, led by resident

[4:17:21] ingrid, the goal is for neighbors

[4:17:22] to discuss concerns

[4:17:24] and want in a nonthreatening way.

[4:17:28] I did not attend all

[4:17:29] the meetings I was present for one and

[4:17:31] a half of them and I

[4:17:33] read the summary of meetings. Others may

[4:17:34] have heard

[4:17:37] differently, but I saw the

[4:17:40] biggest consensus

[4:17:43] of these meetings,

[4:17:45] let's see, others may have heard different way

[4:17:46] but I saw the

[4:17:48] biggest consensus of these meetings

[4:17:49] around two issues. One,

[4:17:52] the need for affordable housing

[4:17:54] and that kind of included discussion

[4:17:55] of rent

[4:17:57] control and homelessness. Okay? Two,

[4:18:01] environmental issues

[4:18:03] and that conversation evolved around

[4:18:04] rising sea level

[4:18:07] , climate change, alternative modes

[4:18:08] of transportation

[4:18:10] and increased walk ability

[4:18:13] so I am including that into

[4:18:16] environmental issues.

[4:18:18] there was not a lot of problem-solving at

[4:18:19] these meetings, but

[4:18:21] rather, a lot of identifying problems. Okay?

[4:18:25] next section.

[4:18:27] last year I led a meeting called gulfport 2050.

[4:18:30] goal was for the residents to acknowledge

[4:18:31] change was coming

[4:18:34] and how could they

[4:18:36] or how they would like gulfport to

[4:18:37] look

[4:18:40] and feel in 2050, the premise

[4:18:43] was that in order to accomplish the

[4:18:44] 20/50

[4:18:46] vision, we needed to

[4:18:49] break it down where we would be

[4:18:52] in 2030 and 2040

[4:18:54] hard to believe you are only four

[4:18:55] years away from 2030.

[4:18:57] I found the thoughts to be all over

[4:18:58] the board

[4:19:00] and many of them were very shortsighted

[4:19:04] and they did not get 20/50

[4:19:06] let's talk about what 2050 looks like,

[4:19:07] it was

[4:19:10] very shortsighted

[4:19:13] in most cases. The biggest

[4:19:15] consensus I received was the need to

[4:19:16] strengthen and harden the city against

[4:19:19] rising waters. Create more parking

[4:19:20] to

[4:19:22] businesses, especially handicap while

[4:19:25] being more bike and pedestrian

[4:19:27] friendly. Interesting enough there

[4:19:28] was more talk

[4:19:31] of resiliency

[4:19:33] at gulfport on the edge then there

[4:19:34] was gulfport 2050, looking

[4:19:37] at this for a couple of reasons.

[4:19:40] number one, I believe

[4:19:42] the residents should be heard and

[4:19:43] voices matter

[4:19:46] and if they took the time

[4:19:48] to attend these meetings and speak

[4:19:49] up we need to

[4:19:51] revisit this periodically. It's not

[4:19:52] like you

[4:19:55] go to the meeting

[4:19:58] and it does not go anywhere, I

[4:20:00] want to keep using the information.

[4:20:01] and I believe the council must

[4:20:04] provide direction

[4:20:06] for the long-term future, not just for

[4:20:07] today's problems. I

[4:20:10] do believe

[4:20:13] the roll of the council

[4:20:15] is to plan for future. Just as I said.

[4:20:16] I believe if

[4:20:18] we concentrate on the area where the

[4:20:19] most consensus

[4:20:22] we will be working a good roadmap.

[4:20:25] I believe

[4:20:27] this council has clearly communicated

[4:20:30] long-term commitment to stormwater fixes

[4:20:33] and strengthening of shorelines against

[4:20:34] rising water.

[4:20:37] I said it in that order intentionally

[4:20:38] because

[4:20:40] the watershed study clearly shows

[4:20:43] the city has more flooding due to

[4:20:47] over land stormwater than tied.

[4:20:50] which I found surprising

[4:20:52] I was very surprised by that. I believe you're

[4:20:53] ready

[4:20:54] to have serious conversations about

[4:20:56] a.d. You

[4:20:59] which could add some

[4:21:00] affordable housing. I think we're close

[4:21:02] on that.

[4:21:05] it is 2026

[4:21:08] it

[4:21:10] is a new year and we have a lot before us

[4:21:11] as we try

[4:21:12] to complete recovery complain new

[4:21:14] daily services advanced senior

[4:21:17] center expansion and create the

[4:21:20] grand plan for stormwater

[4:21:21] all while under the threat of a huge

[4:21:23] reduction to income

[4:21:25] for the elimination of property taxes

[4:21:29] on homestead properties.

[4:21:32] as mayor of the city

[4:21:33] my focus must be on the issues of gulfport,

[4:21:35] that is what I was elected

[4:21:37] to do. At the next meeting I will

[4:21:38] get

[4:21:41] presentation on plans to

[4:21:42] change parking and traffic flow in

[4:21:44] the downtown area. I

[4:21:47] know I have sat through

[4:21:48] 12 years of council meetings and I

[4:21:50] know change is scary.

[4:21:54] I hope that each one of you will consider

[4:21:56] my plan and provide

[4:21:59] input to improve upon it.

[4:22:00] of course there's plenty more information in

[4:22:01] those presentations to break down

[4:22:05] in the future, as well

[4:22:08] . That is my whole discussion

[4:22:11] >> the only thing I would add

[4:22:13] is people were concerned about giving

[4:22:14] the character

[4:22:17] of gulfport.

[4:22:20] others were quite accurate.

[4:22:21] >>

[4:22:23] I agree.

[4:22:25] >> that's all I had to say we could

[4:22:26] move to new business

[4:22:29] please.

[4:22:30] >> no new business.

[4:22:32] I know I am next.

[4:22:35] >> I will

[4:22:38] go next time.

[4:22:39] >> we have something brewing

[4:22:41] but I don't want to be premature.

[4:22:43] >> I forgot to mention the new gulfport

[4:22:44] environmental team

[4:22:47] is also on

[4:22:48] connecting gulfport on the volunteer

[4:22:50] portal so you can sign

[4:22:53] up for that.

[4:22:59] >> all of this can wait except are

[4:23:02] we recording

[4:23:05] ?

[4:23:06] >> it is a

[4:23:07] private group , that was established

[4:23:08] last year when we give

[4:23:11] it to them but we give them

[4:23:13] the building.

[4:23:14] >> who recorded last

[4:23:15] time?

[4:23:17] >> gabbard did

[4:23:20] >>

[4:23:22] it would be up to the league of women

[4:23:23] voters to do

[4:23:26] the recording?

[4:23:27] >>

[4:23:29] who is coordinating so they can

[4:23:32] be contacted about that?

[4:23:33] >>

[4:23:35] okay.

[4:23:38] .

[4:23:44] >>

[4:23:50] I understand.

[4:23:53] >>

[4:23:56] I understand and I hear your. They

[4:23:57] have

[4:23:59] been recorded before and want to continue.

[4:24:02] >> council last year.

[4:24:05] did not want us to participate.

[4:24:08] >> interesting okay. Moving on

[4:24:12] that could be another conversation.

[4:24:14] I want to

[4:24:16] make sure we are moving forward with

[4:24:17] 287 workshop

[4:24:20] .

[4:24:21] >> I

[4:24:23] think we need to.

[4:24:24] >>

[4:24:28] we have one on the eighth about the

[4:24:29] referendum.

[4:24:30] >> we have

[4:24:31] one on the fifth.

[4:24:32] >> the one on 287

[4:24:33] is you want

[4:24:34] to give time to gather some of the

[4:24:35] documentation like

[4:24:38] the vice mayor brought up.

[4:24:41] I would like to make sure you

[4:24:43] add specifics, when I looked quickly

[4:24:47] they

[4:24:49] said agency and I was trying to figure

[4:24:50] out what

[4:24:53] that meant, there have

[4:24:55] been some that did not sign so maybe we can get

[4:24:56] the

[4:24:57] documentation so you can have that.

[4:24:58] >>

[4:25:00] the school board the pinellas school

[4:25:02] board rescinded

[4:25:06] the agreement I talked to caprice

[4:25:07] edmonds because it had not been approved

[4:25:08] by either

[4:25:11] the superintendent or the

[4:25:14] school board.

[4:25:16] they are a little different because

[4:25:17] they're not a city.

[4:25:20] so they cannot call them

[4:25:22] sanctuary city.

[4:25:23] >> can they take away their funding?

[4:25:24] >>

[4:25:26] yes they could.

[4:25:27] >>

[4:25:29] all of that they can take

[4:25:32] it away.

[4:25:35] >> that has been part of the leverage.

[4:25:38] >> I do think we need to

[4:25:40] give time to gather information with

[4:25:41] information out to

[4:25:44] the community so

[4:25:47] it is timely because

[4:25:50] still there's a lot of concern and fear

[4:25:53] and we need to talk about

[4:25:56] it in the community.

[4:25:57] >> what about

[4:25:59] the 20 sixth? Too far away?

[4:26:02] there is no council

[4:26:05] for that week , that would give over

[4:26:08] a month.

[4:26:09] >>

[4:26:11] if council gives us direction

[4:26:14] if we run into the problem we can always bring

[4:26:17] it back.

[4:26:18] >> I think

[4:26:21] it was really obvious tonight there

[4:26:23] is a tremendous amount of fear and

[4:26:25] I also think that a good bit of the

[4:26:26] fear is

[4:26:29] generated by rumors

[4:26:32] that are not true .

[4:26:35] on the other hand, I need

[4:26:38] to hear more. I know

[4:26:41] what I have been told, but have

[4:26:44] I spent full-time on this, no. I have

[4:26:45] been spending

[4:26:46] full-time on the city of gulfport

[4:26:49] issues we have to deal with every

[4:26:51] single day in

[4:26:54] and day out.

[4:26:56] so I do not so we are necessarily

[4:26:59] well-prepared and I appreciate the fact

[4:27:02] we did get responses on several issues

[4:27:06] without having been forewarned

[4:27:09] on what was happening tonight.

[4:27:11] so I think having it is good so if

[4:27:12] we

[4:27:15] want to pull out a date and

[4:27:17] within the next two days, we can from yes

[4:27:20] we can make it happen or no we can't.

[4:27:24] that way also attorney,

[4:27:27] when people start sending

[4:27:30] us, the council things, yes but what

[4:27:33] about this and what about that?

[4:27:36] at least we can forward that

[4:27:37] to you so you can either confirm yes

[4:27:39] that is accurate information

[4:27:42] or yeah, that was

[4:27:43] one piece of it but that changed 10

[4:27:45] months ago. You know,

[4:27:48] so we are looking at it because

[4:27:51] just like we

[4:27:54] talked about, you can move the

[4:27:57] car for the hurricane, what can

[4:27:59] we potentially do and I'm not talking about

[4:28:03] rescinding the agreement, but

[4:28:06] how, what could we be looking at

[4:28:09] to do our darndest to keep as

[4:28:12] far away.

[4:28:13] >>

[4:28:15] mayor, I would like

[4:28:17] to look at some of that because I

[4:28:18] think, trying

[4:28:21] to say this to the best way I can

[4:28:23] think of. Which is while some communities

[4:28:24] may have

[4:28:27] adopted this or

[4:28:29] were forced to adopt it does not mean

[4:28:30] they are implementing it

[4:28:32] and I think that's what the vice mayor was

[4:28:36] pointing to. You, yes it says it in

[4:28:37] the agreement,

[4:28:39] but

[4:28:40] it does not mean anybody is doing

[4:28:42] it because there was leverage,

[4:28:43] there's leverage placed on this, not

[4:28:45] just criminal aspects,

[4:28:46] it's the financial leverage and everybody

[4:28:48] in smaller cities are the ones that

[4:28:51] are feeling that

[4:28:54] and I think that is a fair statement

[4:28:55] that

[4:28:56] needs to be brought out, too. I hope

[4:28:59] I am not going to be arrested now.

[4:29:00] >>

[4:29:03] we will bail you out.

[4:29:04] >> all right.

[4:29:05] where

[4:29:06] you've done with your

[4:29:08] new business?

[4:29:09] >> someone mentioned

[4:29:10] the 20 sixth.

[4:29:12] january 26

[4:29:14] you will be in tallahassee. Or february.

[4:29:17] >> could not be ready for january.

[4:29:21] >> earlier if we

[4:29:24] can buy just to be fair.

[4:29:25] >> now it

[4:29:26] comes

[4:29:27] to me for the new business and I had

[4:29:28] some

[4:29:29] things here, but I cannot deal with

[4:29:30] it right

[4:29:33] now. I am just out of it.

[4:29:35] I am going to adjourn our meeting.

[4:29:36] thank

[4:29:39] you to all of you who

[4:29:42] hung the in here this long,

[4:29:45] I hope the rest of you don't get

[4:29:46] up at 4:00 every morning. Thank you for

[4:29:48] being here,

[4:29:51] appreciate it.

City Council Meeting

Transcript