Good rainy couple of days we've
had, which is well, well
received by the folks at Tampa
Bay water and all of us, of
course. But anyway, welcome to
our. SEPTEMBER 20th. SEPTEMBER.
AUGUST 25th. AUGUST 25th
Commission meeting and glad to
have you here today. If you're
online, welcome as well. And we
will get started with our
invocation and our pledge
Commissioner Scheer, please.
>> Dear gracious GOD, our
father, we thank you for the
gift of this day, for the
community we share, for the
privilege and responsibility of
serving our neighbors. As we
begin this meeting, we ask you
to grant wisdom to those who
lead, clarity to those who
speak, and understanding to all
who listen. Where there are
difficult decisions, give us
discernment. Where there are
differences of opinion, give us
patience and respect. And in
all that is decided here, help
us to remember the people whose
lives are affected by the work
we do. Teach us to seek what is
just to love mercy, to walk
humbly, and to use whatever
authority and influence we have
for the good of others. We ask
your blessing upon our
community, upon those who serve
it, and upon all who call it
home. In the name of Jesus we
pray. Amen. Amen.
>> Commissioner Scott, will you
lead us, please?
>> I pledge allegiance,
allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to
the Republic for which it
stands. One nation under GOD,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
>> We have one proclamation
today. And before I do that, I
wanted to again welcome and
thank Corporal Clyde Thornton,
deputy Mike Winnecke, Deputy
Kevin McSweeney and Deputy Jeff
Atkinson for being here and
taking care of us as they do
every meeting. So thank you,
gentlemen. Absolutely. Thank
you. They don't always get an
applause. All right. Today I
get to talk to about a building
department appreciation day.
Probably one of the departments
that I spend a lot of time with,
with Kevin McAndrew and company
and always appreciate the work
that they do on so many levels
as changes occur and technology,
as changes occur in their
business, they always stand up
and do the job for our
residents. And even sometimes
our residents don't realize
you're doing a job for them,
but appreciate the safety that
you all look out for all of
them every single day. So with
that, Jim McMillan, our
building official, please come
on up. Cami Vasser, deputy
building official. Robert
Dryden, customer operations
manager. Bo Cunningham,
building inspector Mark Roberts,
plans examiner. Barbara Metcalf,
permit technician, and Tausha
Snead flood desk. And did I
forget anybody? Okay, good.
Welcome. Good to have you here.
Thank you, thank you, thank.
>> You, thank you. Good to see
you.
>> Okay. I'm going to read this
proclamation. And then you all
can decide amongst yourselves
who would like to say a few
words or you're chosen. Okay.
All right. And if somebody else
wants to, you can join in as
well. The safety of our homes,
businesses and public
infrastructure relies on the
dedicated professionals of the
building department, including
building officials, inspectors,
plans, examiners and permit
technicians. Florida's unique
coastal environment and
vulnerability to severe weather.
You've had that in the last
couple of years, require
rigorous construction standards,
and our local building
departments ensure these
standards are met through
strict enforcement of the
Building Florida Building Code
and building safety
professionals are largely
unsung guardians of public
safety, ensuring structural
integrity, fire protection,
electric safety, electrical
safety, plumbing compliance and
accessibility for all residents.
These professionals foster
community and economic growth
by reviewing building plans and
conducting inspections that
keep construction projects
running efficiently while
minimizing risks. Building
Department Appreciation Day
informs and educates the public
about the critical role of our
community's largely unknown
protectors of public safety.
Our local building code
officials who assure us of
safety, sustainable, energy
efficient and livable buildings
that are essential to Pinellas
counties prosperity and now
therefore, be it proclaimed by
the Pinellas County Board of
County Commission that
SEPTEMBER 1st, 2026 be
recognized as Building
Department Appreciation Day in
Pinellas County. And again,
thank you.
>> Go right ahead. Hello,
everybody over here.
>> They won't.
>> Hear you.
>> Hello, everybody. My name is
Jim McMillan. I'm the building
official for Pinellas County as
well as the manager for
building and Development Review
Services, Building Division. I
am here today on behalf of the
building division's entire team,
to give a heartfelt thank you
for your support and
recognition of our mission,
which is to protect the health,
safety and welfare of our
citizens and the built
environment. Recovering from
Hurricanes, Helene and Milton
have presented our department
with unprecedented challenges.
Our staff faced damage
assessment operations, complex
documentation reviews and
assisted anxious residents
desperate to rebuild. Staff
worked exhausting hours under
immense pressure to keep our
community moving forward with
recovery efforts, which
continue to this day. Data
collected in MAY of 2026 show
5800 storm repair permits had
been issued. As their manager,
I am incredibly proud of their
resilience and dedication.
Commissioners and executive
management. You have validated
their sacrifices and given them
a well-deserved morale boost.
Thank you for your leadership,
your support and providing us
with the technology and tool
upgrades. Allowing our team to
work as efficiently as possible.
We thank you all for the
resignation recognition.
>> I appreciate. That. You're
smart guys in the back.
There
you go.
Thank you. Thank you,
thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you, thank you so much. I
appreciate it. Thanks, Robert.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
Okay.
>> All right. Okay. We have a
couple citizens to be heard.
We'll start with David Ballard
Geddes JR. Followed by Lisa
McMurray.
>> Hi. Good afternoon, David
Ballard, Geddes JR. I live on
Georgia Avenue in Palm Harbor.
The Federalist Papers again
reveals three constitutions the
former, the latter and The Last
Resort. One and one and one is
three. Got to be good looking.
It's just so hard to see. Tip
your hat to the new
Constitution and pray you don't
get fooled again. The change.
It had to come and you knew it
all along. Even Mick Jagger at
Madison Square Gardens in 1969,
he stated in front of the crowd,
welcome to the breakfast show,
lunch, dinner. Okay. The
Federalist Papers were not
written by Hamilton, Madison or
John Jay. The Federalist Papers
were originally drafted by a
shoemaker named Jacob Boehme.
Shoemaker, stick to thy last.
The Declaration of Independence
again counterfeits itself as
preamble to a second
constitution seen as the
capture of water in article one,
section eight, clause 11
birthing unwarranted 14th
amendment water jurisdictions
as declared, thus revealing the
methodology of the prints in
the Declaration of Independence,
written by Niccolo Machiavelli.
For it is better to be feared
than it is to be loved. Even
George Washington, claiming to
be of greatest rankness and
truly one's worst enemy in his
Farewell to Christianity,
address states that we are
being given a useful lesson on
our heads, seen as a useful art
for limited times. In article
one, section eight, clause
eight. Our current constitution
is unconstitutionally being
used as a bill of attainder, a
letter of marquee, an ex post
facto form of reprisal seen as
inexcusably defective in
Federalist Paper 64, using
water as their weapon of choice,
deaf to the voice of justice,
and consequently, as written in
the Declaration of Independence,
Abraham Lincoln. He did not
write the 14th amendment. He
amended the 14th amendment to
include the rebellion Clause
denouncing the Book of Common
Rebellion, such well bound Book
of Common rebellion, as
possibly referenced in statute
298.36. London Bridge is
falling down, London Bridge is
falling down and they can take
their wayfaring mercenaries
down with them. Welcome to the
bond market. Thank you.
>> Okay, as Lisa McMurray comes
up, I just wanted to take the
opportunity to introduce her.
She is the chair of our
employee advisory council,
which she'll tell you. And I
just wanted to give her a sense
of appreciation from the
commission for her being on board for.
>> 25 years and CHAIRMAN 20 of
those years. So she is a
trooper. So thank you for what
you do for our. For our
employees every single day. So
thank you. And the mic is yours.
>> Thank you, Commissioner
Eggers. Good afternoon,
commissioners Barry Jewell. My
name is Lisa McMurray. I'm the
chairperson of the Pinellas
County.
>> Lisa, could you pull that
down so we can hear you?
>> Thank you. Lisa.
>> Yep. That's perfect. Thank
you.
>> I currently work for
utilities where our department
helps ensure that our residents
have safe, reliable drinking
water. I'm here today
representing the classified
employees of Pinellas County. I
listen to the board of County
commissioners meetings, and I
understand the budget
challenges facing the county. I
also believe Pinellas County
has historically been a good
steward of both general fund
and enterprise resources. I
understand the difficult
decisions are being considered,
including reductions in
potentially elimination of
entire departments. I
appreciate the Commission's
recognition that Workforce
Relations and the Office of
Human Rights provide critical
services and are necessary for
the county's operations. But
today, I want to speak about
the people behind the services,
the dedicated employees who
keep Pinellas County moving
forward every day. Our
employees are the people behind
our award winning beaches, our
nine over 11 operations, our
traffic signals, mosquito
control, utility services, road
maintenance, sewer repairs,
passport services and so many
other services our residents
rely on. The list is extensive,
and our commitment doesn't stop
when the workday ends or when
circumstances become difficult.
During hurricanes, County
employees leave their families
to serve our community. Some
sleep on cots at county
facilities. Others work in
shelters. Answer calls at the
Emergency Operations Center,
assist residents who are
frightened or uncertain, and
clear roads after the storm so
people can get to work, obtain
supplies and begin rebuilding.
Some of these employees are
dealing with the catastrophic
losses of their own, yet they
still report to work to help
their neighbors. That's who
Pinellas County employees are.
We show up a few years ago on
Christmas Eve, some of our
employees were called away from
their families to repair a
broken water main in Pinellas
County neighborhood. It MAY
seem like a small example, but
situations like this happen
regularly. County employees
routinely put the needs of the
community ahead of their own
personal time. These employees
are not just county workers.
Many are also Pinellas County
residents. Their friends,
families and neighbors live
here too. They are the people
residents encounter every day,
and they are the face of
Pinellas County in our
communities. At an Employee
Advisory Council meeting,
delegate meeting, a
representative from Visitors
and Convention Bureau made a
statement that stayed with me.
We are all stewards of Pinellas
County. This is something I
have understood throughout my
20 years, 28 years of county
service. Not long after that
meeting, I was at the beach
having dinner. While waiting
for a table, I overheard
visitors talking about where to
watch the sunset, how far
certain attractions were, and
what they should see in
downtown Saint Petersburg. I
found myself answering their
questions, telling them about
our community, and sharing some
of its history. They didn't
know about some of the movies
that were filmed here. I was
proud to let them know. That
moment reminded me that many
county employees feel the same
way. We aren't simply doing a
job. We take pride in the place
we live. Most of us didn't
choose public service because
we expect to become wealthy. We
chose it because we have a
calling to serve, to help
others, to protect our
environment, to maintain our
infrastructure, and to make our
community better. The work can
be rewarding, but it can also
be stressful, difficult,
overlooked, and sometimes, yes,
thankless. Yet despite these
challenges, county employees
continue to come to work, do
their jobs, and serve our
residents with professionalism
and dedication. This is why I
felt compelled to speak today,
especially in the midst of
budget discussions. Pinellas
County workforce is not aligned
in the budget. We are dedicated
professionals. We are your
neighbors. We are the people
who keep the county's essential
services open, operating every
day in good times and in the
most difficult circumstances. I
respectfully ask that as you
make these difficult budget
decisions, you recognize the
value of the people behind the
services and consider the
impact these decisions have on
the workforce and the residents
we serve. In light of football
season, I thought of this quote,
the achievements of an
organization are the result of
the combined effort of each
individual. Thank you for your
time, your cooperation and your
service to Pinellas County.
>> Thank you Lisa, appreciate
that.
>> MR. Chair. MR. Chair, yes,
if I MAY. Lisa also serves on
the office for Human Rights
Board, and she was also an
integral part when we were
doing our selection process for
the new director of the
department. So I just wanted to
echo it's been a pleasure
working with her.
>> Thank you. Thanks, Lisa.
Okay. Greg Powell.
>> Yes. Greg Pound, the issue
that I'd like to bring to the
county commissioners is 2019. I
was on my way to courthouse, as
I've been doing for
approximately 15 years,
exposing the corruption in
Pinellas County Courthouse as
the people went to court every
day. And on my way to court, I
was rear end in the back of my
car. Car totaled out. And so
what happened is I was exposing
the child molestation, the, the,
the government's destroying
families for money and all the
things that's going on Pinellas
County, that's, that's got us
in a situation we're in today
with the suicide rate, the drug
problem among our youth, just
destroying our families because
of federal grant money that
comes into this county in order
to destroy our families. It's
called cooperative agreement
contracts. You'd have to read
them. I've explained it over
and over again. And so what
happens is now I'm being fined
for man smashing, for young man
who was in so many wrecks, he
couldn't even count him in the
deposition. And the guy smashes
in the back of my car, towed my
car out, and the courts put a
judgment against me for $18,000.
So I have to file in the
appeals court. I'm in the
appeals court. I file in the
appeals court, and they want to
supplement my record, my appeal
with the transcript that they
did at our at a hearing for my
attorney. And and, and I asked
the judge, I said, Your Honor,
I said, did you read my
pleading, my motions, pleading
you not to dismiss my attorney?
And she said, yes, I said no. I
asked her, did you receive it?
She said yes. I said, did you
read it? She said no. So what
happens is now. They
supplemented a transcript into
my appeal in the second
District appeals court with a
bunch of lies. So you've got
mass, you've got out of control
corruption. I mean, when I run
for sheriff in this county and
I get beat up, I get beat up,
my head smashed against the
wall where I should have went
to the hospital. They took me
to PIMs. You go read the
newspaper articles and read
what they said in order to
discredit me as a candidate for
sheriff against Jim Coates. And
then when I run against his his
attorney, Robert Gualtieri,
who's still an attorney, who's
an illegal sheriff in this
county that's working with the
corruption in the courthouse
and what you're doing to people
just like you did to this, this
plastic surgeon, the stuff
that's happened to him and he
reacted to it. And this is the
corruption. We've got massive
corruption in this county.
They're destroying our families.
I mean, these people are out of
control. The Bible shows
corruption always starts from
the top down. It's been that
way since the beginning of time.
It's always top down corruption,
not bottom up. It's not the
poor people you see on the
street that's raping and
robbing our system, destroying
our republic. We've got out of
control corruption. We've got
we got the city attorney here
who doesn't know whether it's
right or wrong for an attorney
to be the sheriff of Pinellas
County. We've got we got we got
problems here. You people are
looking the other way for your
jobs and your money.
>> Thank you. All right. We are
moving on to our consent. And
as we do that, I did want to
draw attention to item four and
five, which is division of
Inspector General two. Two
reports that came out. Just to
reiterate to our residents that
our Inspector General has a
report or two, seemingly maybe
even more, on every single
report that we do, every single
meeting that we have, which
means that they're looking over
operations, they're looking
over procedures, they're
looking over all aspects of our
county to make sure that we're
abiding by the rules, that we
have procedures in place. And
when we don't, they call it out
and and we take action. They
take action on that. So I just
wanted to give a special shout
out to our division of
Inspector General for the work
that they do. That's all I had.
And do we have anybody who
wants to pull anything from the.
Was that.
>> Number 11?
>> Number 11 you wanted to pull?
Okay. Anybody else? All right.
Do I have a motion to approve
the rest of the move? Approval
from Commissioner Peter. Second
by Commissioner Flowers. All in
favor, say aye.
>> Aye.
>> Any opposed? Motion carries
unanimously.
>> Item 11. And this is just a
question. Bury the language
says that we're spending. We're
matching 2.7, I think 8.8
million on this. Where's the
money coming from.
>> That I'll let Cathy's
already on her way up, so I'll
let her answer that. These were
pre-approved projects.
>> Yep. Cathie Perkins director
for Emergency Management. Thank
you, Commissioner, for your
question. So emergency
management had penny for monies.
We had 1.25 million in a
mitigation fund for projects
that we could do. And then the
Lealman cra would contribute
1.76 for.
>> Okay. So I support the I'm
supporting this. I'm voting for
it because I know we need the,
the shelter. But when we when
we do that, can we itemize
where the money is coming from?
Because nowhere in here did it
say it was from the Lealman cra.
Got it. And I read the Lealman
cra minutes and saw it in the
minutes and then looked at that
and didn't see it in that. So
for continuity's sake, can we
be clear in the future where
the money is coming from? And
then I want to talk to you
later about the cra. So in our
next meeting, make sure that's
on the list. Thank you.
>> Need a motion. Second motion
by Commissioner Flowers. Second
by Commissioner Peters. All in
favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion
carries unanimously. We are on
to a regular agenda item 14.
>> The award for airport car
rental or rental car
concessions for Saint Pete
Clearwater International
Airport.
>> We have a motion by
Commissioner Peters, second by
Commissioner Flowers. I noticed
five vendors, three contracts.
There are somewhat different
eight and a half, 9.4 and 10.4
million each. What's the
difference in the contracts
themselves? Could somebody just
speak?
>> That sounds like a mark
question to me.
>> Yeah, I was just thinking
there might be one for all of
them, but there's three
separate ones. Thank you. Mark.
>> Mark Sprague, director of
the Saint Pete Airport. There's
no differences in the contracts
themselves. The reason why
there are different monies is
because the square footage that
they have actually in the car
rental lot.
>> So otherwise they're.
>> The same identically the
same. It's just the square
footage.
>> Thank you Mark. Appreciate
it. MR. CHAIRMAN. Yes. Did you
have a question, Commissioner
flowers.
>> If I can. Yes. I just want
to say, because I use it
frequently. Yes you do. I just
want to say I really appreciate
I call it the contactless
service that they now have,
because before you had to go to
the counter, stand in line and
wait to get all your stuff, but
now if you make your
reservation, you can go right
out to the lot. And so I've
noticed for the traffic and
because you get your luggage
right there, and then people
are standing in lines for their
cars. And so it kind of gets a
little crowded. But by having
that service, it has really
thinned out that area. So
people get straight to, to
catch the, the busses out to
the beaches, or they can, you
know, go straight out and get
their cars. And it kind of
moves people more expeditiously
through the airport. So I
wanted to say thank you for,
for that. However, they came up
with how they do it, but thank
you.
>> It's a big collaboration.
We're always looking at
customer convenience.
>> Thank you. Thank you, Mark.
Appreciate it. Pull up the
voting card, please. Motion
carries unanimously. All right.
Let's move on to number 15.
>> This fiscal year 2026 event
funding recommendation. This is
for the Clearwater Offshore
Nationals. I think you had a
question and Brian sent you an
email regarding it.
>> Yeah. Thank you, Brian, for
that. Any other questions on
that move.
>> Approval.
>> Second. Motion by
Commissioner Peter. Second by
Commissioner Latvala. Pull up
the voting card, please. Motion
passes unanimously. Item 16,
please.
>> This is an amendment to add
a a Career connect, which is an
electronic information exchange
platform to this contract. So
this is the same for 16 and 17.
>> Okay. Motion by Commissioner
Peters. Second by Commissioner
Scott. Any questions comments.
Bring up the voting card please.
Motion carries unanimously.
Number 17 again.
>> Yeah same thing. This is for
the permanent supportive
housing and for safe haven with
Boyd. Yeah.
>> I should have done those
together, but I didn't.
Commissioner motion by
Commissioner Peter. Second by
Commissioner Flowers. Assuming
no questions. Bring up the
voting card for item 17. One
more motion carries unanimously.
Number 18.
>> This authorizes me, as
county administrator, to be
able to adjust for pre-approved
Arpa projects to where we are
underspent by a few dollars on
one, we can move it over to an
existing already bid project
that we're currently
implementing to be able to
maximize the use of those Arpa
funds that we have to spend
those by the end of the year.
So at the end, time will
tighten. We can we can move
funds around appropriately.
>> Second.
>> Motion by Commissioner
Peters. Second by Commissioner
Scott. And that voting card
from the last one was still up
there.
>> Yeah.
>> It's showing recorded on my
end that I'm preparing for the
next voting card. But let me
know if there's any issues.
>> Okay. Try bring up the card
for 18 if you can and see if we
we can't move our. Yeah.
>> Does it look correct for 18
currently?
>> Motion carries unanimously
and it's still there. I can't
move mine. Am I the only 1.
>> Or 1718 popped up but 18 is
gone away.
>> 17 now 17 is back up. Yep.
Perfect. Got it.
>> Okay.
>> Thank you. Thank you for
taking care of that. Yours is
still up.
>> Yeah.
>> Everybody else's still.
>> I can't maneuver.
>> Mine's fine.
>> I can't maneuver the screen
until it goes away.
>> You don't want to take
longer on this meeting, so we
have less time between.
>> I've got to stretch.
>> I'll just turn it off and
start back over. I can vote on
this thing.
>> Okay.
>> So we can keep.
>> You're good to go.
>> Did you try hitting another
part of your screen? All right.
>> If it's not working, you can
let me know whether you're yes
or no. I can record for you.
Okay. I do show unanimous on 18
though, as well as 17.
>> All right. Item 19, please.
>> It's the Third Amendment to
an agreement with precision
sidewalk safety for. This is
for our trip hazard prevention
and maintenance. Move approval.
>> Motion by Commissioner Scott,
second by Commissioner Latvala.
Any questions or comments on.
19 bring up the voting card,
please. Motion carries
unanimously. Item 20.
>> This is a Resilient Florida
grant program application. This
is for our South Cross Bayou
Reclamation facility for high
service pump station
improvements. There we go.
>> No motion in a second.
Motion by Commissioner Peters.
Second by Commissioner Scott.
Question on this. Are these
grants that come in as other
income. Are they registered as
expenses on the on the
department.
>> On the capital.
>> On the capital, or are they
are they zero out outside the
operating statement?
>> Chris, come on up and answer
the question.
>> I just want to make sure I
kind of know the answer. I want
to make sure that the point
being, when we get a lot of
grants and we try to get grants
it, we get the revenue. But
sometimes it's and it shows up
as expenses. I just wondering
if that was the case.
>> Yes, sir. Chris Rose Office
of Management and Budget. They
do show up as expenses in the
capital budget.
>> And the capital side. So it
doesn't show up at all on the.
>> That's correct.
>> Okay. That's right.
>> Thank you. You're welcome.
>> All right. We have a motion
and a second on item 20. Bring
up the voting card, please.
Motion carries unanimously.
Item 21.
>> This an agreement with jp
Morgan Chase for our banking
services.
>> Motion by Commissioner
Peters. Second by Commissioner
Scott. Any questions? Bring up
the voting card, please. One
more motion carries unanimously
I County attorneys reports.
>> On item number 22. I am
going to ask that this item be
deferred until your SEPTEMBER
10th meeting. No action
necessary on the part of the
board. We will simply put it on
the agenda at that time.
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Under item number 23,
requesting authority to file
suit in the referenced case,
this will be a foreclosure of a
special magistrate lien arising
from a code enforcement
proceeding.
>> Second motion by
Commissioner Peters, second by
Commissioner Flowers. Any
questions? Bring up the voting
card, please. One more motion
carries unanimously. Item 2424.
>> I'm seeking a ratification
of the chair's authority to
file a petition to maintain
custody of a cruelly or
neglectfully treated animal.
>> Second motion by
Commissioner Peters, second by
Commissioner Scott. Bring up
the voting card, please. Motion
carries unanimously. Item 2525.
>> I'm asking that the board
approve the resolution that is
attached to the agenda item.
This is a resolution approving
the early extension of the 2026
tax rolls. This will allow your
tax collector to get the tax
bills out on time. While the
Value Adjustment Board process
continues.
>> Motion by Commissioner
second by Commissioner Peters.
Bring up the voting card,
please. Motion carries
unanimously. Any other reports?
>> No reports today.
>> Thank you. County
administrator reports.
>> No report. We're working on
budget. That's all I have to
report.
>> Okay. Well, good. Keep
working hard. We got some
meetings coming up, so we do.
All right. We're going to jump
into county commission comments.
And we will start with
Commissioner Scott.
>> Thank you, MR. CHAIRMAN.
First of all, I want to thank
Lisa for coming up to public
comment today and just speaking
on behalf of the Pinellas
County employees and and
personally, I've always been
very impressed with the quality
of staff we here at Pinellas
County and, and they certainly
have my support and appreciate
everything that they do every
day. I mean, working for
working for the government
isn't always necessarily a sexy
job, but it's one that is
necessary. And they make life
livable here in Pinellas County.
So thank you for all the hard
work that they do. So a couple
items here on just some update
community events. I was at the
Upper Chamber Tampa Bay Chamber
Legislative Luncheon along with
Commissioner Nowicki, and we
did some q&a with with the
crowd there a lot, a lot of
discussion on amendment three
as you can as you can imagine,
among some other things, I got
to experience our special
magistrate process firsthand
with the result of the short
term rental that is just two
doors down from me. It's very
interesting to kind of watch
that process and see how that
how that play out played out.
And I thought I would
understood it pretty well just
from my interaction from code
enforcement, but actually
seeing it in real in real time
gave me even a deeper
appreciation for the hard work
that code enforcement has to go
through to make sure they check
every box. And there's a very
methodical process that they
have to follow to make sure if
they're going to take something
before special magistrate that
it's actually going to stick.
So in this particular case,
code enforcement had
recommended a $1,000 fine,
which was the was knocked down
to $500, but they were fined
$500. And immediately following
my case was, was Hillary
Simpson, who is also a
regularly complains about a
short term rental adjacent to
her home. And she had the exact
same result as well. So I just
want to hats off to the code
enforcement team for all their
hard work and following through
on on a very detailed and
thorough investigation to get
the result that we got and
being able to see, you know,
the types of questions that
were asked and the types of, of
defenses that the attorney
representing the short term
rental tried to come out with
gave us a little better
understanding of how to
approach things differently in
the future. So, so thankful to
go through that process and
that we were able to get a
positive result. Was that the
Tunnel to Towers home
dedication in Pinellas Park? I
think it was Friday last week,
and Representative Luna's staff
was all down from dc last week
as well, touring the entire
county. They took a bus all
over the county, even up into
Pasco County, and toured her
entire district. So I met them
for coffee. Nice to to meet her
entire team, even the folks
that were down from dc. Also, I,
I think at our work session
last week, I looked at a, a
line item that was in the
public defender's budget. That
was $767,000. And then there
was another that was for Public
Defender Special, and then
another $939,300 in public
defender mitigation, advocacy
and treatment. And I just
wanted to have a line of sight
better understanding of what
that money was actually being
spent for. And I had a really
great conversation last week
with Sarah Marlow, and I very
much appreciate everything that
she does and her passion for
her job. These monies are not
they're not required under
title five. They're not
required that we spend any of
these money by the state. What
they're for is basically
they're providing social
services to people that are in
the in the criminal defense
situation and trying to keep
them from getting rearrested,
trying to connect them with
social services, helping them
out with transportation, things
like that. And it supports five
FTEs, all non-lawyers.
Basically, it's providing case
management is what it is, was
not a program that that she
started. It was a program that
Bob Dillinger started back in
the day. And the I'm sure this
is helping people out. The
challenge that I had with it
and have with it is that how do
we define success with it? And
there weren't any metrics on
that. I mean, how many people
are not getting rearrested? How
many people, you know, how is
this affecting jail population?
You know, how is this affecting
recidivism? And none of that
data is available. And this is
kind of a situation I look at
almost like Pinellas hope. It's
like if you got rid of it,
there's going to be a problem.
We don't really know where the
problem is going to go
necessarily. And I kind of view
this as one of those social
services that is great
intentions and probably started
as one thing and probably got
some mission creep. And now
it's probably doing a lot of
different things that it
probably never intended to do,
perhaps at, at the start. And
I'm not, I'm not really
suggesting we have a specific
call to action on this this
year, but it's just another one
of those line items that I
think is probably being
duplicative. There are a ton of
not for profits out here that
do these exact same things.
Connecting people to homeless
services, mental health
services, substance abuse
services, and basically, you
know, public Defender's office
is a law firm that's providing
social services completely
outside the mission of what
they're what they're really
their core function is. But if
we didn't do it, there would be
people that probably would get
rearrested. The jail population
MAY go up, and that costs us
money too. So what I would just
like to see in the future is
that if we can, if we can try
to get some metrics on this,
you know, how is the money?
What's the return on that
investment? And it's really,
really hard to know right now
because it's just not being
tracked. So that would be
something that I would request,
you know, from Sarah and from
our Health and Human Services
team, if we could try to get
some understanding in the
future of what are we getting
for that spend? Because you
look at that, there's $1.7
million. Then you look at Safe
Harbor, there's another $2.4
million, and we could probably
go through the Health and Human
Services budget and probably
find a lot of other line items
like that, too, that, you know,
health care for the homeless
and dental van for the homeless.
And, you know, there's a lot of
those types of things where I'm
sure it's doing good in the
community, but it just seems
like there's a lot of overlap.
And it's a very decentralized
system, very fragmented system
that I think could be a lot
more efficient. We just have to
figure out different ways of
doing it. So that is my report,
MR. CHAIRMAN.
>> Thank you. Okay. Thank you,
Commissioner Scott.
Commissioner Nowicki.
>> Thank you, chair. First, for
new business. You know, I was
wondering maybe, you know, I
could connect, you know, Barry
could help me maybe connect
somebody with staff with
Sunstar to, you know, I've been
hearing a lot of things about
priority dispatch, and I guess
that was kind of relatively
implemented in 2019, you know,
before my time. And so I've
just been hearing kind of some
complaints about it that, you
know, Sunstar MAY not have the
resources that there's like 20
minute call wait times, and
then there's an emergency and
then it's elevated to like
emergency 911 response, kind of
defeating the whole priority
dispatch system. So I don't
know, you know, maybe we could
get a report on, you know, how
many times priority dispatch
calls come in, and then Sunstar
then has to elevate those calls
to 911 emergency responses.
Instead of using the priority
dispatch system. So maybe we
could get some more numbers on
that.
>> Those numbers are readily
available, so we should those
should be there's, you know,
there is the transport between
facilities and, you know,
places like that that does not
have that time frame, but they
usually follow our first
responders out. I think they
have a ten minute target time.
I'm not sure what it is, but
Barry.
>> There's a there's a lot
going on with that. We
certainly can get you more
information. I'd love for you
to meet with staff and kind of
go through that, because
priority dispatch just is, is
really on the fire and ems side
versus. And it's integrated
with Sunstar and Priority
dispatch really is talking
about how, you know, how many,
what sending the appropriate
response to the situation, you
know, rather than, you know,
two Sunstar and two fire trucks
and to.
>> a.
>> Stubbed toe, you know, and,
and trying and trying to make
some of those calls, happy to
go through that. We can get
choked up with staff. And
they've got all kinds of data
on that type of information.
>> Okay, great. Thank you. And
then I wanted to bring up I
didn't know, you know, the
proper, you know, format on the
administrator review. You know,
I guess I didn't understand why
we set a date and then the date
was pushed back. And I guess I
also didn't understand on why
like it's not televised, but
last year the administrative
review was televised, so I just
didn't know if there was any
clarity because those are only
my you know, I did one last
year, it was televised and then
I saw this year it's not
televised. So I guess.
>> There was no no particular
reason. But we certainly can if
the will of the commissioners
to put it on the on the you
know, we can do that. That's
not it.
>> It has changed depending
upon the. Chair yeah.
>> Preference. Yeah. No, no
particular reason.
>> We haven't even had that
conversation with the chair
with the current chair yet.
>> So, I mean, my, my, my issue
has always been about
transparency. So more than
likely will be on the, on the
agenda somewhere.
>> Okay. And then I just wanted
to also thank Julie and Jewel,
you know, for the canvasing
board. You know, I know they
had a really close election, so
they had to, you know, Jewel
and her staff was working
really hard along with the
supervisor of elections staff
working really hard. And I
thought, you know, they had a
clean election and Jewel
working hard on the canvasing
board. So I appreciate that.
And then lastly, you know,
there was the good Florida Tax
Watch article that was sent out
and it was, you know,
interesting to see how, you
know, Pinellas County ranked
number six as the most highest
millage rate out of 67 counties.
So I found that interesting.
You know, so there's definitely
some good information in that
Florida Tax Watch article. So
thank you, Commissioner Flowers.
And that is it. Chair. Thank
you.
>> Commissioner Peters.
>> Yeah, I just want to
congratulate Jewel and Julie on
that election. That's two
elections in a row with a
mandatory recount. Wow. That's
incredible. And the fact that
it was a difference of two
votes in the beginning and then
turned out to only be seven
votes. So clearly every vote
counts. And it's really good to
have a supervisor of election
and a team that is so good.
It's the the redundancy that
they do that they make sure
they don't have errors and they
do a great job. I don't have a
lot to report except for I went
to the Tampa Estuary meeting
down at Port Manatee. It was
this year. They're they're
going all through the estuary
for their meetings. Would have
been nice if they let us tour
it, but they didn't. But
anyways, what was one of the
presentations was very
interesting is back in the 60s,
the way that this country
decided in this state to get
rid of tires because we didn't
recycle tires back then, and
burning them was very dangerous.
And so they decided to tie them
together and dump them in the
bay. And so we have a bunch of
tire reefs in the bay, and they
are analyzing one that's just
off of Pinellas Point. And
they've done a lot of surveys
with anglers and boaters and
other scientists to see what is
the best approach, how much
each approach is going to cost.
If you totally remove the tires,
how much is that going to cost?
If we remove some of the tires
and put other structures that
will actually create a reef,
like concrete or rocks, the the
tires, things don't grow on it
properly to to create a reef,
although they did find quite a
few species of fish in and
around it. But most of the
coral growth was on rocks and
the cement that got poured into
the tires to keep them sunk. So
it was interesting. But what
they did find when they went
and surveyed the site is that
many of the tires have broken
free, and they're moving, so
they're scattered. Many of the
tires are frayed and are. D you
know, d they're getting you
know, they're not really
dissolving, but they, they're
breaking off into pieces and
they're getting into the water.
And that has a big impact on
water quality. So it was a very
interesting presentation. Both
the scientists, both both the
anglers and boaters all said
that full removal would be the
most optimal. They'll never be
able to do full removal because
of how many tires have moved.
They don't believe they can get
them all, but they can get the
vast majority of them, which of
course is the most expensive
option. So they are seeking
ways in which they can fund
that and they will do it in
sections. So I believe they
have some funding to do some of
it now. And then over time, as
they get grants and things like
that, they will remove that
reef. And then maybe there's a
potential of rebuilding a new
reef in the same location. So
that's it was very interesting.
I really enjoyed the
presentation. Thanks.
>> Thank you. That's
interesting, Commissioner sheer.
>> Oh, thank you chair. Yeah.
I've been going through my psta
meetings. Yes, Mike.
>> Thanks.
>> I've been attending my psta.
Popik's pretty much.
>> I've been focused on the
budget, which leads me to the
the email I sent to Barry
yesterday. I copied you all on.
I've been trying very hard to
get a grasp on the size of our
our departments and how much
money is spent on our
departments, and I have, you
know, become aware that not all
of our departments reflect
exactly what what we're going
to spend in those departments.
It's the budgeted amount. And
that amount that we're given is
lower than what is actually
going to cost because of contra
numbers. Now a contra number,
and I've reviewed this with
Chris many times, if you go to
the public works department and
you study the budget, you'll
see that the budget is $173
million, but that is not the
total cost of that budget, that
that budget is funded by many
by six different funds. But you
won't see the Penny fund in
there. Now, the the Public
Works Department does a lot of
work for the penny and charges
the penny, but it's not
reflected in that budget
because they charge it back.
But what the budgeting process
is, my understanding is you
take the total cost of the
Public Works Department, and
then you. And then they back
out the penny costs or in other
funds. And then that's the
number you see. So if the
Public Works Department was
$200 million, and they back out
the contra numbers for the
penny, anticipated penny
revenues are going to come in
for funding. Then you get down
to $173 million. And so what I
have been asking for is an
accounting of the contra
numbers. So I can add them back
to the budgets and see what the
department actually costs in
total. Now, I'm not saying that
it's wrong. We definitely want
to charge different funds for
administration and expenses,
but as a commission, we need to
know what those charge backs
are, and we need to know what
the total cost of the
department is. And that's why I
respectfully requested and have
been requesting a complete list
of the contra charges that
Chris is using to present the
budgets to us, because those
Contras. If you want to know
what the total cost of the
budget is, you add those contra
charges back. I don't get that.
And you don't get it. I haven't
seen these contra charges. I
don't know how to find them. So
but I've been asking for that.
And then I think as a
commission we should also know
how much have we charged our
different funds for
administration overhead and
expenses for the last couple of
years. I don't I don't know
what that number is. And so
I've been trying to get a
handle on it, and that's why I
requested it. And I know that,
Barry, I know that you guys
have been respectful and you've
met with me and talked to me
about it, but all I get is you.
I get an explanation of what
you're doing, but I don't know
how much it costs. And I'm the
I'm a numbers guy. I want to
know what we've been charging
these funds for and what we're
going to charge them for this
year. And I want to know how
big these what we're spending
actually spending on our
department. So that was the
basis of my email. I'm still
would like it and I would I'm
asking the board to please ask
them to provide it to us,
because I think you should have
these detailed list of numbers
that we're charging to the cost
of our department to lower the
department costs. So that's
kind of where I am. I can't
make an accurate decision on I
don't know how big our
departments are.
>> I think it MAY be a fair
request and that's fine. I'm
sure we can get that
information. What they should
be charging or not should be
charging is that's that's the
discussion we can have. Because
clearly the penny doesn't it's
not just capital, it's people's
correct people working to
implement capital. So that's
expenses. Some of those are
contractor expenses and some of
those are our department
expenses. So to understand what
that amount is, is fair, I
think.
>> And the one of the reasons I
was digging into it is I want
to make sure we're not not just
that we're overcharging, maybe
we're undercharging, maybe
we're not charging enough, but
I don't know because I have no
idea what we're charging.
>> Well, to the same extent
that they have administrative
costs passed on to each
department, I'm sure there are
some of those administrative
costs on the projects that are
being charged to the projects.
>> Right. But you don't see
them in the budget.
>> Understand?
>> It's not all in one spot,
and that's what makes it
difficult. So so our staff has
met with Commissioner several
times. All right. And and so
it's not as easy to produce
that report because first of
all the maintenance stuff is
not a capital project. So we
have a lot that's going on that
is in public works. That's not
going to be charged back to a
capital project. We also have
an indirect cost plan. It's
federally certified indirect
cost plan. That's how we get
all of our administrative back
charges. It's two years in the
rear, and we use that because
that's how that we have to use
that for all of our all of our
federal grants. Anything that
comes through has to be under a
certified federal indirect cost
plan. So that's how you get
your administrative charge
backs. And, and you like you're
asking questions. And when we
started this, I'm like, I was,
I'm and that's why I said in my
email, I'm absolutely on board.
If there's ways, if there's
costs that we're not charging
back to the projects, let's do
that because then that would
lower our, our general fund
costs.
>> Chris has already developed
these budgets, right?
>> The the departments have
already been budgeted. We have
the budget, and Chris has
developed contra numbers to get
to those budgets. And so he has
the contra. I just want the
contra numbers so I can add
them back, you know, and find
out what the Department.
>> Is working on it that the
last one we thought we had
answered previous questions
when.
>> If he has a budget for the
department and it includes
contra numbers, he's already
got the information. He doesn't
have to develop it. It's
already been done.
>> Where are you at, Chris?
Come on up.
>> Good afternoon,
commissioners Chris Rose,
Office of Management and Budget.
Just as the county
administrator said, we have
these in the budget. You are
correct. Both the current year
and next year. It is harder to
pull out than you think it is.
So we are doing that right now.
>> And what's the total amount
of contra charges for the
public Works department?
>> I don't know off the top of
my head, sir.
>> But you've subtracted it
from something to come down to
173 million, right? Yes, sir.
You started at a number. Was it
26 million? Was it 5 million?
Was it 57 million? I don't know.
>> But if it's accurate, it's
immaterial because that's a
charge back to the capital
projects.
>> And that's fine. I'm just
saying what's the top number?
>> Okay.
>> I need a top number for each
department. And then you can
subtract your contra numbers.
>> And then we'll get the
contrast. Then you can add
those to the project to the the
budget. So this is overall what
the department's spending. But
but also remember public works
does capital projects not just
for public works. And so
they're managing several
different funds. They're
managing grants. They bring in
a lot of grants. And so they're
>> Each. Each project is
handled usually through
multiple funding sources. And
so it's got to be different for
each each different area. Just
like I was saying on the
federal grants, that's a
different than just charging
back your administrative costs
to your.
>> And that's another problem.
>> And that's a, that's another
problem I have with this
because we're budgeting what
we're going to be charging
funds in the future, but we're
not. And we're voting on what
we're going to charge these
funds in the future, but we
don't see a list of what we're
charging these funds in the
future. And we're voting to
approve a budget based on that.
>> But they are because they're
all in the capital budget.
Every single project.
>> The charges are not. I don't
see those. I don't know what
we're charging these funds.
>> So it's on both sides.
You'll see both the positive
and the negative. So it is
charging from one fund to the
other. So it is it is budgeted.
It's in the overall budget sir.
>> Not in this book.
>> It's not laid out the way
you're asking.
>> No. He he'll complete that
report and we'll get that to
you as soon as.
>> It's hard for me to approve
a budget when I don't know what
I'm approving.
>> I understand we thought we
had a when when staff met with
you, they thought that they
explained.
>> The process to me, but I
have never been given again.
>> Let's remember that the
budget that we're approving
includes capital and operating.
What you're trying to do is
distinguish the two so that we
fully understand what is being
charged to those accounts away
from the the main account, but
it's no more or less in total.
It's just a matter of trying.
>> To see we're missing
anything or anything. I just I
don't know what who decided
what we are allowed to charge
to these different funds. Is it
us staff? Is it state statute.
>> It depends on the fund.
>> Yeah, yeah. I mean.
>> It's a grant from the state.
They tell you how.
>> Much the the projects. I
mean, if it's if we're if we're
talking about a, you know, a, a
small capital project that just,
just penny funds, that's a lot
simpler than Joe's Creek or,
you know, something that
involves multiple sources over
multiple budget years, grant
funds, state funds, federal
funds and penny funds as
matching dollars. And, and they
have to be I mean, there's
requirements that they be
treated appropriately. So it's
a fair question. We haven't
been able to put it in the
format that you're looking for.
But but it's all there. I mean,
it.
>> I would just be happy with
the close to total number. And
this is what this department
was. And when you count back
these numbers out and get a
total.
>> And we got we. And that's
why I respond to you this
morning. We they're working on
your APRIL or AUGUST 20th memo,
and they'll get that to you as
soon as they can. Okay.
>> Thank you. I, you know, I'm
not trying to I just got a big
vote coming up and I want to
understand what I'm voting on.
>> Yeah. And again, we know
that staff is pretty taxed
right now and no pun intended.
But we're going to we're going
to do our best to deliver what
the commissioners are asking
for. And so, you know, and next
year, that list will probably
grow on what we don't think of
this year. So get ready. You
know, we're all doing our best
to try to scrutinize the budget
right now for, for either, as
you said, under charging from
capital or overcharging. So we
just get a more realistic
number for what's actually
being spent by the department,
regardless.
>> Of if.
>> It's categorized at the end,
we at least get a feeling for
what's in there. And it doesn't
mean that what's been done
allocating out to capital isn't
the right thing to do. So we
just want to make sure you
understand that. We all
understand that. Okay, marching
orders. You got it. Okay. You
finished, Commissioner shear.
>> Yes, Commissioner.
>> Flowers.
>> Thank you, MR. Chair. So I'm
going to start out by just
making a comment. I hope no one
gets offended by this, but
we've had several meetings
where a person from the public
has come up and made some very
strong allegations against the
sheriff and against other
persons that work in county
government. They have an
opportunity and a right to say
whatever it is that they desire.
But I also just want to say
publicly that. Oh, I'm sorry,
but I also just want to say
publicly that. We are not the
court system here. So whatever
has been adjudicated through
the courts and whatever
decision the judge has come up
with, that is the judge's
decision. And this is not a
place, nor do we have the
ability to override, overturn
or to change those decisions.
And I think when some people
hear the comments here, they
are receiving the impression
that we are not acting, we
don't have the ability nor the
authority to act. That's number
one. Number two, the
allegations that have been made
against some of the officers as
molesting children and things
of that nature while we sit and
we listen, those are still very
serious words to say about
someone in the profession that
those persons are, and we never
address it, because I know we
have our unwritten policy that
we don't, you know, go back and
forth with persons when they're
speaking, but just for the
general public to understand
when allegations are made,
there are avenues by which to.
Have that information
researched or have that person
charged. If that is correct
information, and if it is not
correct information. Then it
shouldn't be a continual
talking point. And in the
instances that have been
provided consistently here,
none of those allegations have
been proven to be true. So I
just wanted to say that because
i've gotten a couple of
requests, you know, is what
that person saying accurate?
And so I'm sure they weren't
the only ones to ask that
question.
>> Commissioner, I appreciate
your saying that. And now and
not then.
>> Oh, yeah. No, I wouldn't.
>> Have time like you said.
>> Yeah I wouldn't.
>> That's perfect.
>> Because that's our that's
the rule. So I just wanted to
say that. So moving on to the
things that I have done. The
policy committees for the
Florida Association of Counties
are beginning to meet. I after
we had our workshop about
e-bikes, I did some research as
well. And I know that that is a
big issue. As I shared with our
school safety committee. So I
drafted a policy proposal for
the Florida Association of
Counties to take up at their.
At the next meeting, we're
going to be having in
Jacksonville, and I submitted
it through the application
process and whatnot, and I
believe I copied you guys on it
just so you can see. So I will
be asking that that be taken up
as a policy to move forward.
And I'm sure we're not the only
ones that are having that issue.
But since I know some of us are
very concerned about it and
it's a concern, I think it will
be a concern in other
communities as well. So I did
do that. And if you have
anything, I know that sometimes.
Commissioner Peters has
submitted stuff, and I think
Commissioner Scott has
submitted things. If it's
something going on that you
think, you know, it involves
all 67 counties, please go
ahead and get that in so we can
take care of it, because we're
usually pretty successful in
getting that as a part of our
policy committee. I was really
trying to see if the the next
innovation conference could be
here, because we have some
wonderful things going on with
some of the corporations that
have moved here that are doing
things with drones, that are
doing things with technology.
So I thought it would be
wonderful. Went through the
whole process. Brian. He's left.
Brian had already reached out
to a couple of hotels. We had
proposals, some middles,
quickly bury myself, Brian and
Doctor Cynthia Johnson were
going to have a meeting the
other day, and then I was
informed that the legislative
conference is going to be here
in 2027. And so it was kind of
like and you're also asking for
the innovation conference. So
I've acquiesced. So we will
have the legislative conference
here in 2027. It will be at the
Hilton in Saint Pete.
>> There's always 2028.
>> Yeah. It will be at the
Hilton in Saint Pete.
Commissioner Scott came for the
last one that was here where it
was really nice. And we had the
after reception in the gardens
at the Woodson Museum and all
of that. So please know that
I'm trying to put together
something really nice to show
off all of the wonderful things
that we have been doing here in
Pinellas County so that our
colleagues can see it. But i
was trying to put something
together because I did have a
special request from our
Commissioner Latvala, and it
didn't work out, but parts of
it will work out. So bear with
me, young man. We yeah, he's
he's not.
>> He's not.
>> Young, much younger.
>> We had a very successful
area agency on Aging Pinellas
and Pasco fundraiser at. In
Tampa at the Pelican. Yeah.
Pelican restaurant off of
Courtney Campbell Causeway.
Very successful in that. And so
I want to thank all of the
corporations that sponsored or
helped to co-sponsor and
everyone who participated,
because we put those funds back
into the pot and use those to
help our seniors. We are well
on our way to the senior living
facility that we will be
building in Pasco County. Of
course, the land has already
been identified. Congressman
Bilirakis has been absolutely
wonderful in getting us money
from the federal government for
the construction. The Pasco
County Commission has been
really wonderful. They're
building department has been
great. So we are moving right
along, and we sincerely hope we
will be shoveling dirt very
soon. So that's going to be the
first project ever that Area
Agency on Aging has done, where
we are providing living
quarters, affordable living
quarters for seniors. I was the
speaker yesterday regarding
amendment three for the
Democratic Women's Club of
Upper Pinellas, and I also
presented the same thing at the
League of Women Voters last
week at Allendale Church. So
it's really nice to get the
questions that people are
asking and only providing
educational information. And I
always give them links where
they can go research it for
themselves and they'll know
they're there, not just the
recommendations from me as an
individual. I have a meeting
coming up with the PRESIDENT Of
the University of South Florida,
Saint Petersburg campus,
PRESIDENT Moise, I hope I'm
saying the right the name
correctly. I went over and
visited the facility the day
after the lightning struck and
burned the research facility.
Well, the lightning struck, it
caught on fire, and it burned
that facility. The professor,
some of them were able to
recoup a lot of the research
material, which we're really
excited about, because if not,
that was going to be years
worth of research. Absolutely
gone. I also want to say thank
you to Eckerd College publicly,
because Eckerd provided space
for the professors in those
researchers to go over there
and work until the facilities
are rebuilt on the usf Saint
Pete campus. So thank you and
shout out to both of them. And
as many have already said,
thank you so much. And shout
out to the Supervisor of
Elections office throughout the
state, a lot of people look at
our soe for the way that we run
our elections, for how smooth
they run. Our results are in by
seven 2740 at the latest. We
did have a recount process, but
that shows that the system
works. And so thank you to
everybody who had to go through
that process. And I also want
to say thank you to the workers,
the volunteers, because that's
a whole day that they volunteer,
almost 16 hours that they
volunteer. I was over at Lake
Vista. There was an issue with
the machine with no sooner than
the person shared the concern.
There was somebody who had
already been called and was
walking up the sidewalk from
the office to take care of it.
So that's what I like. I just
love it. And I'm so glad and so
excited. And I want to thank
everybody for their
participation and support in
those areas. And the last thing
I'll have is there is going to
be a, a wellness day experience,
OCTOBER 10th. I'll just keep
doing a reminder. And it's for
men, the number of prostate
cancer diagnoses is on the rise.
And so this organization is
just really trying to make sure
that men are taking their exams
seriously. I'm sure it's
probably not a comfortable exam,
but it certainly is one that
can detect early because I know
of several men to include one
of my assistant pastors now in
my church who was diagnosed
recently, and it's because they
went to an event like this.
They got tested and it was
discovered. So men, take your
health seriously as well as
women. And that's all I have.
>> Thank you, Commissioner
Flowers. Commissioner Latvala.
>> Thank you very much, MR.
CHAIRMAN. I wasn't going to say
anything, but since you
mentioned it, Commissioner, the
First Amendment does afford
people the opportunity to make
fools of themselves on occasion,
and I will always defend that.
Right. One of the things that I
did not realize when I first
got elected to this commission
is that some of the folks that
would travel to Tallahassee to
speak before committees also
come here on occasion. So it's
kind of nice to get the
Tallahassee perspective from
time to time, but I will always
support our residents and
nonresidents from wherever they
MAY be, from their opportunity
to speak to their government
folks and, and, and give their
grievances to their government.
I have a couple since we've
talked a little bit about the
budget in previous years, I've
mentioned my thoughts on
cutting libraries, parks and
communications. At the time,
that wasn't very popular. Our
administrator had a suggestion
on giving a couple parks back
to the state, which some
residents didn't necessarily
like. I understand where he was
coming from because we talk a
lot about unfunded mandates and
and I might be in the minority
on this board, but I kind of
appreciate where our
administrator was coming from
in that suggestion and
recommendation. One thing,
though, that I am not in favor
of and probably will never be
in favor of, is cutting the
sheriff's budget anymore, and
especially closing down safe
harbor, because that will mean
putting a couple hundred people,
many of which with substance
abuse issues, onto the streets
of Largo and Clearwater, which,
you know, is in Pinellas County,
but more specifically in
district five. And I don't want
to burden my community with
that issue. And if we do shut
down Safe Harbor, I will want
to bust some of those people to
Tarpon Springs, the Tierra
Verde and the Saint Pete and
other parts of the county to
help spread that issue around.
So it's not just in Largo and
Clearwater. But hopefully we
don't have to close down safe
Harbor. As for what I've been
doing lately, on the first day
of school, I welcomed the
students and teachers back at
Largo Middle School with school
board member Katie Blacksburg,
and they have a new principal
at Largo Middle, who is one of
the up and coming principals in
Pinellas County. She was a
principal at a local elementary
school in Largo last year and
now is a is moving up to Largo
Middle. And one of the first
things that she did was
institute a uniform policy that
looked like the students were
adjusting well to on the first
day. And also another thing
that they started, which was
interesting, is usually middle
schools start at like 930 or
9:00, something like that. But
at Largo Middle and a couple
other middle schools in
Pinellas County, they have the
same schedule as high school.
So they start at like 730. And
so a lot of the teachers and
students look like they're
pretty tired on the first day
of school. So hopefully they
are adjusting now that we are a
week or two into to school. And
speaking of school,
applications for yac are open.
The deadline to apply is next
week, SEPTEMBER 1st. You can
apply on pinellas.Gov/yac,
pinellas.Gov/yac. And then
tomorrow I will be presenting
an overview of the county
budget at the big c meeting. So
I got I picked the lucky straw
to do that. And then Thursday I
will be joining the CHAIRMAN,
our distinguished CHAIRMAN,
who's turning 70 on JUNE 2nd at
the Besties Award presentation
in Saint Pete. So I MAY have to
mention to them about your
upcoming birthday next year.
I'm looking forward to that.
>> Yeah.
>> From your from your lips to
GOD's ears that I'm I'm, I turn
70 next year. Thank you
Commissioner. Appreciate it. So
again, just a few things here.
I mentioned the inspector
general audits. They look at
look at things going on. So for
our residents, just to you know,
I'd like to take the
opportunity to remind folks
that we had a dose report done
because they thought, you know,
the thought was that we were
wasting a lot of money. And the
report came down. It was pretty
friendly to Pinellas County. It
certainly doesn't alleviate our
responsibilities to continue
doing more and more to make all
of us accountable. But in
perspective is what I'm trying
to get at. I don't think that
we are wasting taxpayer dollars.
I do want to take a look at
those dollars that we were just
discussing, so that we have a
feeling of, of, of the amount
of dollars that we're being
charged by the grants that
we're getting. We don't go out
and get grants. It makes a big
difference. And so we're, we're
trying to fund, we're trying to
take care of. We're trying to
expense. We're trying to make
sure that we implement those.
So it's a tricky thing. You
know, you mentioned we have the
sixth highest millage rate. I
don't know what millage rates
are included by everybody. And
I'm not going to be defensive
about them. As I've said, we
have lowered them each for the
last five years, and we'll
continue looking at those
opportunities. I also would
like to remind our residents
that there's a tax commission
that's that meets every I think
it's every ten years. Right.
And they're they're due to meet
next year to discuss the tax
system within the state of
Florida and those that affect
the counties as well. Again,
they, you know, they usually,
you know, come out with
suggestions to make us all more
accountable. Again, the cart
before the horse as we discuss
the amendment three this year.
Some people have been critical
about how slow the exemptions
have been rolled out as they
have done, you know, and I
think that's a fair statement.
So the way to to way to combat
that is to make is to rip the
band aid off and do it in one
year. Neither is right in my
opinion. I think if you do a,
you know, these exemptions that
we're looking at and you do
them more incrementally, it
allows us to. Bring forward the
kind of government, the kind of
Pinellas County that we've been,
you know, presenting to our
residents over the decades.
Some good, some not so good,
maybe. But we continue to try
to do that job. So I just think
we just have to, you know,
think through all of us to
think through what it means.
And as I've told a couple of
different groups that I've
spoken to, if the vote is to do
that, we'll do it. I mean,
we'll, we'll, we'll make it
happen. And it would be nice to
be able to do it more
incrementally. That's why it's
one of the complaints I have
with Tallahassee often is that
they want to rip the band aid
off in one year, when we could
do things a little more
incrementally, but they have
that shot because they MAY not
be up there, but for two years
or four years. So they have a
shot and they do it now. It
doesn't make it right. And I
want our residents to make sure
that they continue to think
through things. So I'm going to
continue to hold our employees
accountable to their budgeting
process. Like like our
residents are demanding. So
either way that that comes out,
we're going to respond and
we're going to respond
appropriately. And that means
if it passes, we have to
respond. If it doesn't pass, we
will respond because the
message will be clear that
smaller government is the way
we want to go. So just a few
comments, just a few things. I
wanted to thank Kevin MacAndrew
for a field visit. I had a
young man who was complaining
about fence in a flood zone.
And, you know, fencing has
always been an easy you don't
have to get a permit for a six
foot fence anywhere in our
county up except in a flood
zone. And a lot of our fence
companies didn't know that very
simple thing. And there's a
certain type of fencing that
needs to be used. Regardless of
that, Kevin took the time and
appreciated Kevin going out
there and holding the hand of a
resident and making sure that
they understood why it was in
place and maybe even own a
little bit, that we haven't
done enough loudly enough to
educate our our fence companies.
And so he stepped that up as
well. And that's what I respect
about the building department.
And Kevin, they own mistakes
that they make them not often,
but they also get out there in
the field and work with our
residents. So I wanted to give
them a heads, a pat on the back
for that. I also wanted to
thank the commissioners that
did come to our Tri-County
meeting. This is a big deal. I
had one of the commissioners
say, well, what did you
accomplish? He didn't show up,
of course. And I said, well,
luckily for you, we didn't do a
whole lot in terms of decisions.
But I told them, you can be
part of the solution or part of
the problem. And I think having
the discussion on regional
issues together and getting a
feel for what they mean in each
of our counties and bringing
ideas to the table is really
important and a really big deal.
And I hope our commission
continues to support it as you
have and and making sure that
our some of our Hillsborough
folks understand the importance
of it. A really big deal this
week. Fixa, which is our Palm
Harbor group, that Palm Harbor
Eastlake Group that takes care
of our recreation and library
services, recognize Collin
Levique, his mom, Amanda at
their at their meeting, our
county staff, the. MR. Tim
Tipton was there and gave them
an award as well. And what this
young man did is on his own
quietly, sometimes early
morning, late at night, not
late into the evening, but you
know, later in the evening,
said he went out and cleaned up
graffiti that somebody had put
all over the facilities on the
recreation, did it on his own,
got the material, got the the
grinding material, whatever it
took to get that job done. And
he was out there without
fanfare. He was out there just
doing what he thought was right.
What a great young man. I told
him about yac. I didn't know
the deadline. Thank you for
mentioning that. Today,
SEPTEMBER 1st. I'll make sure
he gets that. But he is really
one of those special young kids
that went above and beyond.
Certainly we can all take notes
and lessons from that, but
certainly the young people that
are our high schools can do the
same. So congratulations, Colin,
and to his mom for raising a
special young man. Had a good
meeting this morning with our
our Veterans Engagement Board.
I sit on that board and we talk
about what the what the our
veterans hospital is doing for
our for our vets. And also we
hear from our vets in different
groups. There's different
groups that are on that board
talking about the things that
are affecting our military
veterans. And so it's really a
good board to be on. And Brett
Miller, who is on that board,
he's been our chair in the past,
as was one of our is one of our
leaders. Father Bob Swick
helped establish the board when
it first came out in 2015. And
they do they do a lot of good
work. So I want to thank them
and the multitude of folks that
are on that board. I have a
meeting with Florida. I'm on
the Florida Healthy Kids board
tomorrow, and so we'll be
having our quarterly board
meeting. We have I talked to
the the county attorney because
I was a little uncomfortable
with leaving the resolution or,
excuse me, leaving a potential
code change to our. Oh, what's
the name, the town, the, the
facilities that we're talking
about.
>> Data centers.
>> Yeah, yeah. Thank you. And
so it's been her recommendation
that we don't do code changes
for a lot of reasons. But we
talked about maybe something
else stepping up and doing a
resolution of, of support. And
maybe we can do something that
just kind of says, hey, we're
not in favor. So maybe you want
to comment on that just briefly.
>> Yeah, I think that, you know,
we've had discussion about data
centers here. I know that
you've seen many of your
colleagues around the state
take action, both county and
city levels. We've expressed a
concern to you about sb 180 and
just some other moving pieces.
But I think probably one of the
biggest concerns I would have
and moving forward with the
proposed moratorium is we've
already expressed to you that
our code does not allow data
centers, and I would be
hesitant to enact a moratorium
on something that is not
currently allowed, because I
feel like that would give the
impression that it is, in fact,
allowed. Commissioner Eggers, I
did speak earlier and I
suggested a resolution. I think
some others of you have had
that conversation with members
on my staff. A resolution would
be, I think, preferable for a
number of reasons. I think that
you could we could use a
resolution passed by the board
to express our intent, that
these aren't allowed by our
code. We don't intend for them
to be allowed by our code. We
stand by what's currently in
our code. But I do think we
need to take some a look at
some of the provisions
eventually. You know, perhaps,
maybe once sb 180 is not an
issue. My understanding is
there are not the kind of data
centers we're talking about,
but smaller versions that are
maybe associated with hospitals
or, you know, educational
institutes. So I think we need
to take a look at maybe some
definitions in the code and
clarifying those those those
remain allowed and others don't.
But, you know, we could get
certainly with the staff and
planning staff to take a look
at something like that. Another
nice thing about a resolution
is you could pass that at any
meeting, rather than having to
go through the drc and the lpa
and several public hearings
before an ordinance like a
moratorium could make it to
this body. So we certainly
understand, you know, the the
issues related with data
centers. And I think a
resolution stating, you know,
our intent and reinforcing that
that's what this board supports
is no data centers, you know,
in unincorporated county, I
think would be a yeah, I think
it would be a good compromise
move.
>> And I, and I really, you
talked about it and intuitively,
it made sense to me, but I
don't want to send her down
that path unless we felt
comfortable giving her some of
that direction. But
Commissioner Scott, go ahead.
>> No, I agree completely that
I think a resolution would be a
really smart thing to do,
because there's a lot of angst
out in the public on this
particular item. And and I've
gotten the emails as well as
I'm sure all of you have. And
they're really pushing us some
groups to do a moratorium, but
we can't because of sb 180. And
a moratorium is only good for a
year anyways. So I think if we
were to do a resolution that
just, you know, laid out our
intent, I think that would just
go a long way to building some
trust with the public, because
there's just a concern out
there that if we don't do a
moratorium that some some slick
developers are going to come
through here and they're just
going to find a way to get it
through. And before you know it,
we're going to have this. We
don't have the space anyways. I
mean, let's, let's be honest
about it. But, but I think
there's also a big difference,
like Joel was saying about
defining what a data center is.
I mean, it's, you know, a
Google or an Amazon or
Microsoft data center that
takes up acres and acres and
acres. That's for retail
purposes, is a lot different
than a data center that the
sheriff's office uses or a
hospital uses. I mean, they're
already here, but they're for
their for in-house specific
purposes, industrial purposes
specific to their mission. So I
think there's a big distinction
there between between what they
are. Yeah. So but I think
resolution is a great idea.
>> Thank you, Commissioner
Scott. Commissioner flowers.
>> Thank you, MR. Chair. I just
want to ask this question just
for clarity, because Pinellas
Park just recently did a
moratorium. They had a proposed
data center that was going to
come over there. I know Citrus
County has done one. They did
one for 14 months because of
something else that was going
on. So and you MAY not know the
answer to this, how are they
getting around sb 180? Because
it's all the state of Florida.
So just asking the question
because excuse me, I think I
shared with you guys at Naco,
there were three huge sessions
on data centers because it's
all over the United States, the
issue or concern. And then I
know with the Florida
Association of Counties, we had
breakout sessions on data
centers because it is becoming
a real issue in more of our
rural communities that have the
land available for potential.
So just curious.
>> Well, one thing I would
point out is if you paid
attention to the action taken
over in Hillsborough, they
deferred theirs until the
expiration of sb 180.
Recognizing the potential
impact. I would recommend that
you do that either because the
language in sb 180 talks about
proposing, which you know, is
something short of adopting. I
can talk with you offline about
what some of my colleagues and
some of those counties have
told me. They advised their
boards that passed ordinances.
Nonetheless, it's a risk. I
mean, it's a risk. And also, I
don't know the status of of the
ordinances and their land
development code and those
other communities. Here we have
a code that specifically says
if a use is not specifically
provided for in this code, it
is prohibited. I don't know
what the codes look like in
those other those other areas.
And perhaps it might have just
been a risk assessment and they
thought it was worth it. Your
code doesn't allow for data
centers. So and some of the,
you know, the look that we
might want to take. And I think
that some of the what you've
heard is described here as far
as the smaller ones, those are
ancillary to another use.
They're not they're not a
primary use, you know, so we've
got data centers in this county
that are ancillary uses, not
the primary use, which is which
is what people are, which is
what people are upset about. So
I, I can tell you what some of
my colleagues have said, but I
think that I think that I think
that some folks are just taking
a risk analysis and deciding
that it's worth it for them,
because perhaps their codes do
not already prohibit them.
>> Thank you. Commissioner
Peterson.
>> So when I asked this, I
don't know if it was Thursday
or when I asked this, the
response I got was that Forward
Pinellas was working on
something that would be county
wide and therefore to impact
all the cities. So therefore it
would truly be county wide
versus if the county does
something. So, Barry, is that
our understanding?
>> Because that was my
understanding.
>> And I talked to whit about
it yesterday. And whit said
they hoped to have it to us by
OCTOBER, sometime in OCTOBER.
He also said NOVEMBER. I said
OCTOBER would be better, so I'm
hoping it comes in OCTOBER, but
I don't think that we should do
something different than what
forward Pinellas is going to
propose, that we're going to
then adopt forward.
>> Pinellas has a very
different forward. Pinellas is
a. Land is a comprehensive plan,
and the only regulatory
authority forward Pinellas has
is to ensure that the other
local governments plans within
Pinellas County are consistent.
We would be enacting this
through our land development
codes for. Pinellas has no
ability to do that. They can
create a model, but it really
is not going to have a lot of
impact in other communities. It
is best for the individual
communities here to handle it
themselves in a consistent
manner. Now forward Pinellas
can put into their local rules
and their plan a framework with
which all of the local
governments would have to be
consistent.
>> That's what they're looking
at. That's exactly what they're.
>> Looking at. The the local
land development codes is where
you really need to have the
restrictions in place.
>> Okay.
>> Thank you.
>> And let me just say, a
developer could not be denied
the a data center use strictly
because of the forward Pinellas
plan.
>> Barry.
>> But for clarification this
this come about by two
inquiries into two different.
One in the unincorporated area
and one in Pinellas Park. And
it was simply an inquiry, not a
formal application. And so a
lot of the. And that's where
people are concerned about it.
Right. And the noise that is
generated and what they read
and hear without knowing, is it
an ancillary use? Is it a big
data center? You know what the
particulars are we you know, we
even looked at and I talked to
different commissioners about,
you know, water restrictions in
use. But but it's not allowed
in Pinellas Park. It's not
allowed in our code. So we have
those those protections in
place. But we have we have not
had a formal application.
>> So okay. To have her kind of
look into this and bring that
forward.
>> Okay. I'd like.
>> I'd like it sooner than
later because we've been
talking about this for a long
time.
>> Yeah, I think we can move
pretty quickly. Right. Joel.
>> Tom, Tom will work with
county attorneys on that.
>> Okay. Thank you. And not not
to get into the big discussions
about the other thing that's
floating around. And that's the
the flock camera controversy or
whatever, which, you know,
again, it's all we hear about
are the evils of, of the, of
the, of the technology and of
the use. And yet there are many
cases and many things that are
been solved because of it, you
know, and so it's not, it's not
all bad. But what I have heard
repeatedly is that there
probably needs to be additional
work done for additional.
Repercussions for any law
enforcement officer that abuses
the use of that and abusing to
be defined, whatever that is,
in illegal or personal benefits.
So I, you know, again, I think
it, you know, I'm not I'm not
asking anybody to come forward
to explain the technology of
flock cameras. But I do think
that we probably can look into
that that aspect. I think
regardless of how you might
feel individually about them, I
mean, I think that that aspect
is probably the one area that
we could really make it because
that's we want to keep this
information private. Barry. Oh.
>> Commissioner, first.
>> Commissioner Scott. Go ahead.
>> Thank you, MR. CHAIRMAN. I
mean, I people have a lot of
distrust in government, and
this hasn't helped that at all.
Nothing. We didn't make any
decisions on any of it. I mean,
we we don't we don't do that
here. Right. The sheriff
handles that for the county.
And the individual agencies
handle that amongst themselves.
We never voted on it. We never
talked about it. It never
nothing ever came before us on
it. Now you're starting to see
some agencies come out and talk
about it, and I'm glad to see
them doing that. Okay. They're
talking about some of the good
things that that it's doing,
but the fact that these things
just showed up and people are
wondering what what they are. I
mean, it looks like a big, vast
surveillance net. I mean,
that's what it looks like. And
it makes people uncomfortable.
It just does. And when it
happens without any, any public
input or any comment, people
are understandably going to be
upset about that. I mean, I
don't I don't think that
they're being unreasonable. I
talked to a lot of people about
these, and some of them are
unreasonable, and they're never
going to like an answer. But
I've talked to a lot of people
that are very like solid
community people that are
concerned about it and just
wondering where they came from,
how they're used, who has
access to the data, what are
the data retention policies? I
mean, those are legitimate
concerns. So I'm glad to see
that there are some agencies
out there actually talking. I
mean, I mean, Chief Holloway's
out there talking about it.
Grady Judd's out there talking,
talking about them. And I think
the more that people do that,
people will they MAY not like
them, but they MAY have at
least have a better
understanding.
>> Allay the concerns a little
bit, you know, because yeah,
yeah. I mean, the complaints
that you hear about are
occasional case around the
country where there's been an
abuse of that private data and
go ahead.
>> And any system is, you know,
that's no different than an
officer sitting in his car and
just, you know, plugging in
license plates of pretty girls,
right? I mean, and there have
been officers that have been
disciplined for things like
that too. So any system like
that is capable of being abused.
There just has to be policies
around that to make sure that
that was my point. If it
happens that there's, you know.
>> Well, thank you for the
context because I think that's
important as well where it's
come from and, and what our
responsibility is for that. But
I do think to your point about
more groups talking about it,
just.
>> If you don't talk about it
in the absence of information.
>> People.
>> They're going to fill in the
blanks and it's not going to be
with something good. Yeah. I
mean, it's just not going to be
right.
>> So thank you. Appreciate the
perspective. Anybody else? Okay.
>> Can we take a moment for
Dolly Parton who just passed
away? She is like an American
legend. And if you don't feel
that way, but she just she just
passed away. And so.
>> That's fine.
>> And the song.
>> Can you sing something? No,
I'm. Yeah. Can you sing 9 to 5?
>> It's it's either you or
Vince Nowicki.
>> Any other time I would, but
because it's more of a somber
moment. Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't
do a 9 to 5. Catch me after the
6:00 thing. I think my voice
will be better and I can do the.
I'll do one stanza of the I'll
Always Love You because
actually she sung that before
Whitney Houston, and she did a
wonderful job of it. And so
yeah, but, you know, nine
working 9 to 5, her work is
done. She's, she's received her
wings. And we feel bad about
saying that I'll be in the
newspaper, you know. Ren\
flowers is singing, working 9
to 5 for Doctor Park. Passing
away. Y'all trying to mess with
me?
>> No, we're not.
>> So before we adjourn.
>> Tonight, that.
>> a little snippet?
>> Yeah, just a little snippet.
Thank you, Commissioner.
>> Peters, for that. And like
Commissioner Scott, I had a
chance to meet Congressman
Lucas or Luna's team here at
the courthouse. So it was kind
of nice. And she was on her way
down. She says, we got to get
going because Commissioner
Scott's waiting for us. So I
said, okay, excuse me. So and
the last thing I would just say,
and it's just just a brief
comment. I wanted to take the
opportunity. I don't normally
do this political stuff at the
dais, but just thank the
residents of of North County
for Reelecting Reelecting me,
it was you know, it's always
humble regardless. It's always
nerve wracking. When you look
at seven, it's always. 7072 I
tell everybody it's coming,
it's 707. And you just kind of
close your eyes and, and hope
for the best. But I was again,
honored to be reelected.
>> So greater.
>> Percentage than your.
>> Age to.
>> Yeah, yeah, just slightly.
But anyway, so I was thank you
for thank you to the residents,
I appreciate it. Is there
anything else before we adjourn?
>> I have one thing.
>> Go ahead.
>> Thank you, MR. CHAIRMAN. One
thing that I. You mentioned
dosage, which sparked something
that I had talked to Barry
about. And I don't want to put
any carts ahead of the horse,
but if I run for chair next
year and succeed in getting
four votes to succeed our
distinguished CHAIRMAN, one of
the things that I would like to
do, and I talked to Barry about
this, is Hillsborough has a
like citizen Doge committee.
And that's one thing that I
would like us to do. And my
idea would be for each
Commissioner to appoint a
resident in their district to
serve as somebody on this
committee. And so there would
be seven members, and then the
chair would serve as a
non-voting member each year.
And then that committee could
give recommendations to the
Commission every year on things,
you know, in the budget that
they would like to see funded.
You know, things that they'd
like to maybe not see funded,
things to decrease things, to
increase things like that. And
I think that doing something
like that could bring more
transparency to the residents.
You know, in our budget process.
And it would make it a year
round process if we started
this in JANUARY and have, you
know, monthly meetings or, or
bi monthly meetings or, you
know, every couple of weeks,
you know, something like that,
it would give, you know, Chris
and his team a little bit more
work, but they don't have a lot
of stuff going on. But that's
just a thought that that I had.
And, and if y'all, you know, if
we were to. To appoint somebody,
if everybody was to appoint
somebody to this committee,
that's something to start
thinking about. Now.
>> I think it's a great idea
whether you're the CHAIRMAN Or
not. And so we'll see how that
how that works out.
>> But yeah.
>> You could you could try to
stay on for another year and
then you can be the CHAIRMAN
For your 70th birthday.
>> So but I do, but we did have
a board of finance, the city of
Dunedin that was really
effective. I mean, it was it
was good. There was a lot of
pretty fiscally conservative
people on there that gave their
annual thoughts and but they
were they met monthly at least,
and kind of followed the the
commission, they had like, they
had that retreat in the
beginning and kind of followed
them with the macro look. And
then as the budget came, they
got more in the detail. So I
think it's a great idea. So we
can look at that. Probably want
to look at that in OCTOBER so
that we get it set up in time
for for JANUARY. Did you have
something, Commissioner? Sure.
Oh okay. I thought you maybe.
>> MR. Chair. Yeah. I'm sorry.
Mary Murph will kill me if I
forget this. The sickle Cell
Foundation, which does some
phenomenal fundraising to
support families for children
and adults who have been
diagnosed with sickle cell.
They're having their annual
fundraiser and extravaganza. 54
years that that chapter has
been in Pinellas County,
started by Mary Murph, who both
of her daughters had sickle
cell. Terry, who was a
debutante with me, and we were
very dear friends. She passed
away, but her older sister is
still with us. But she has
challenges from time to time.
And so Mary would kill me if I
did not say, yeah, she. She
told me and I forgot. And so
the event is SEPTEMBER 26th.
I'll say it again in SEPTEMBER,
but it's SEPTEMBER 26th from 5
to 830 at the University of
South Florida's activity center.
So that is the sickle cell.
Mary, if you're listening or
looking, I did it. That is the
sickle cell dinner and musical
extravaganza. It's always a
very good event. And then they
have a person to speak who has
been diagnosed with sickle cell.
They have them to speak about
their journey. And that person
serves as like the ambassador,
and they travel all over to
share that. And as an fyi, I
did not know this. I had a
chance to talk with Kathy Woods
last year, and I found out that
one of her arms of her
businesses actually funds the
research for sickle cell, and
they were a part of the group
that funded the research for
the young man that has been
cured of sickle cell that was
up in Chicago. I didn't know
that until I had my
conversation with her, and she
shared with me the work they're
doing in Dubai regarding sickle
cell. So just a little fyi,
something I learned, which I
did not know, but very excited.
Thank you so very much for the
research on it, because now
that they've found a way to
provide a potential cure, it's
still in the research
development phase, but it will
be phenomenal once it gets past
that phase where it can help
people.
>> Very nice. Thank you,
Commissioner Flowers. All right,
last chance. All right. We're
Welcome back. After our couple
hour break there, and we are
going to go straight into
public hearings and item 29.
>> Thank you, MR. Chair. Agenda
item number 29 is case number z
012604. This is a request by
Manuel Jones for a zoning
change from Geo general office
to r3 single family residential
on approximately 21 acre,
located at 1515 Lakeview Road
in unincorporated Clearwater.
Since this is a quasi judicial
hearing, all those individuals
who plan to speak on this item
must be sworn in. For those
wishing to speak, whether
you're attending in person or
virtually, if able, please
raise your right hand. Do you
swear or affirm testimony
you're about to give? Is the
truth the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth? Signify
by saying I do. The public
hearing was properly advertised
and an affidavit has. A
publication has been received
for filing. No correspondence
has been received by the clerk,
and the matter is properly
before the board to be heard.
>> Thank you, ma'am. Board. Any
questions? Comments. Action.
Motion by Commissioner Peters
for approval. Second. Second by
Commissioner Flowers. Again.
Questions? Comments. See.
Nobody to comment from the
public. Bring up the voting
card, please. Motion carries
unanimously. Item 30.
>> Agenda item number 30 is a
petition of Charles and Rita
King to vacate a portion of a
33 foot wide right of way known
as Portsmouth Road, lying east
of lots 41 through 43 Gulf
Breeze Estates. Plat. Book 27,
page 57. Line in section 30
2916 Pinellas County, Florida.
The public hearing is properly
advertised and an affidavit of
publication has been received
for filing. No correspondence
has been received by the clerk
and the matters before the
board to be heard.
>> Thank you. And Lauren
Rubinstein is here if she is
needed for any questions. What
is the will of the board?
Motion by Commissioner Peters,
second by Commissioner Scott.
Final questions? Comments?
Bring up the voting card,
please. Motion carries 6 to 1.
Item 31, please.
>> Agenda item number 31 is a
petition of ovss gateway llc to
vacate a portion of Poultry
Boulevard Road, 86th Avenue,
North County Road number 139
declared to be a public road in
Board of County Commissioners.
Minutes. Book seven, page 23.
Filed on APRIL 17th, 1928.
Lying along the south 33ft of
4100 Gateway Central Boulevard,
Gateway Center Business Park,
97, pages one through 13,
section 2230 16 Pinellas County,
Florida. The public hearing was
properly advertised in an
affidavit of publication has
been received for filing. No
correspondence has been
received by the clerk and
matters properly before the
board to be heard.
>> Thank you. What's the will
of the board, please? Motion by
Commissioner Peters, second by
Commissioner Scott. Any
questions? Comments? Okay.
Bring up the voting card,
please. Motion carries
unanimously. Item 32.
>> Agenda item number 32 is a
petition of Robert and Kathleen
Warren to vacate a northerly
35ft of the easterly, 17ft of
that right of way, East Lake
Drive, 105 one East Lake Drive,
as recorded in the Official
Records book five six, five
four. Page 1434 of the public
records of Pinellas County,
Florida, lying in section 42716
Pinellas County, Florida. The
public hearing was properly
advertised and an affidavit of
publication has been received
for filing. No correspondence
has been received by the clerk
in the matter is properly
before the board to be heard.
>> Thank you. MISS Cindy is
here. If you have any questions
of the applicant. And what is
the. Well, the board.
Commissioner Peters motion.
Commissioner Scott the second
comments. Questions. Bring up
the voting card, please. Motion
carries unanimously on to 33.
>> Agenda item number 33 is a
proposed ordinance amending
section 11832 of the Pinellas
County Code relating to the
Tourist Development Plan. The
public hearing was properly
advertised and an affidavit of
publication has been received
for filing. No correspondence
has been received by the clerk
and the matter is properly
before the board to be heard.
>> Commissioners, if I can
explain this is a companion
item to item 34, and so this
would amend the plan to allow
for that. If vote no, then the
answer of what you can do on 34
is fixed at the $3 million. So
this just authorizes you
flexibility on your next item.
>> Okay.
>> Move. Approval.
>> Motion by Commissioner Scott,
second by Commissioner Latvala.
Any questions? Comments. Voting
card please. One more motion
carries unanimously. Item 34.
>> Agenda item number 34 is the
fiscal year 2027 elite event
funding recommendations from
the Tourist Development Council.
This is a regular agenda item
that is companion to agenda
item number 33.
>> Will the board motion by
Commissioner Scott.
>> So can I just make a comment?
>> Sure.
>> Can I get.
>> a motion to put it on the
table?
>> Come on up.
>> No motion for a second.
>> Second.
>> Okay. Second by Commissioner
Nowicki.
>> I was going to do that too.
>> But go ahead, Commissioner.
>> You know, I talked to Brian,
so I understand it. But the
number 38 to 44 and I know some
of these are, you know, close
to some of our hearts, but I
attend that kite festival every
year in Treasure Island. And,
and it turns out every year
they always pick a weekend with
bad weather. So they don't
really get the return. And I
guess what I'm saying is, I
know if it doesn't do well,
then next year you've got to,
you know, you've got the data,
I get where you're coming from.
I understand where you're
coming from. I understand we
didn't increase the funding for
many, many, many, many, many
years. So I understand where
you're coming from on that. But
if anybody else had issues with
those 38 to 44, I think it's
worth a conversation. But if
you all are good with that,
then I'm going to end this
conversation right here.
>> Oh, good.
>> Because I can tell you the
savior, Saint Pete, I don't
know that that's bringing in
bed tax. I don't know that
that's marketing what we need
to do. The kite festival. You
know, they get a lot of vendors,
but unfortunately the weather
is always bad and they get
maybe one. Good afternoon. I
have not been to the Blues
Festival, the spring King of
the beach. The. The main king
of the beach is always huge.
Spring King. King of the beach
is always lackluster. And is it
merely meeting the goal that
there's you know, they have
parameters. They have got to
bring in bed nights and you got
to. And and are we just doing
events for the sake of doing
events because we're nice, or
are we going to stick to the
rules we created that have data
metrics? And so that's why I'm
bringing it up. If you all are
fine with it, I'm good because
next year my intuition tells me
these are going to fall by the
wayside anyways. So, you know,
we can give them a year to do
it. But I and Brian knows I was
going to say this. We talked
about.
>> Yeah. And just to address
your point, I think you bring
up a good point. And we finally
have data now and we use placer
to collect data. This is the
first time we implemented that
data capture resource. And what
we found is there were many
events that were not producing
the attendees and out of town
attendees that we had thought
in the past. And so those,
those particular events that
you see, they fall within that
50% threshold. And part of the
changes to the guidelines last
year that were approved,
implemented for the first time
this year for one time only.
Any event couldn't receive less
than 50% of what they received
last year. So it's a one time
deal and it gives them one year.
So this year they're getting
50% of what they received in
the past. If their performance
doesn't come up, if they're
just equal to what they did
last year, they will not be
part of the program next year.
>> It was a way to transition
transition them for one year.
Correct. Give them a chance.
>> And so if if they do bring
their numbers up, they now know
they're almost on notice.
Here's what you need to do to
boost your your event.
Otherwise next year you're at
risk of falling out.
>> Yeah. And I don't disagree
that when people are in town
and these events are going on,
it helps. It enhances their
experience while they're here
because they get to go to these
events. But I'm just, I just
don't want to be funding events
for the sake of funding events
unless there is. And so like I
said, I'm good with letting
this go, but we've kind of set
these rules and then then
didn't follow the rules. And
then we set the rules again.
And, and we're kind of not
setting the rules. We're going
to give them a transition.
We've done this since I got on
this commission.
>> So that's why they changed
the way they collect data.
>> And, and I get that. I get
that we weren't collecting data
before I get that. But we've
done this cycle. I can't even
tell you how many times. And so
I'm just bringing it up.
Whatever the will of the board
is, I'm going to be with you,
but I'm just bringing it up
because we have we have talked
about this, I think every
single year and every single
year, we don't make a solid
decision.
>> Well, I'm really I'm happy
that we've changed the way we
try to make allow events to
qualify metric driven data. So
I'm I'm much happier. It caught
a few people probably napping a
little bit with our new our new
criteria. So that was the
rationale for that one group
who didn't qualify, but they
get 50% for one time. MR. Scott,
did you.
>> Have something? Thank you,
MR. CHAIRMAN. So our
methodology in the past hasn't
always been perfect, but we
continue to refine it as new
technology comes online and
becomes available and as we
learn more. So I'm fine with
with recommendations here. And
I'm confident in the way that
we're collecting data going
forward. And I think we're
going to have really good
metrics to evaluate this next
year with.
>> So anything else? Okay. So
we did get a motion in a second.
Did you get that? Okay. Could
you bring up the voting card,
please? One more. One more. Oh,
there we go. Motion carries
unanimously. Item 35.
>> Agenda item number 35 is an
amendment by resolution
supplementing the fiscal year
2026 budget, realigning
reserves and recognizing
unanticipated revenue for
requesting departments. The
public hearing was properly
advertised, and an affidavit of
publication has been received
for filing. No correspondence
has been received by the clerk,
and the matter is properly
before the board to be heard.
>> Thank you. Will the board.
I'm sorry, would you say motion
by Commissioner Peters? Second.
Second by Commissioner Scott.
Questions? Comments? Bring up
the voting card, please. One
more. There we go. Motion
carries unanimously and we are
almost adjourned. We have one
little singing thing that was
promised.
>> I thought maybe he forgot
about it. I'm not sure if I'm
going to be able to sing it.
Are you? Y'all have heard me
cough and stuff.
>> Are you okay? Well, if you
can't. If you.
>> No, I'm serious.
>> Not you don't. Yeah, I
that's what I would be doing.
>> No, I'm serious though,
because, you know, I don't you
know, I don't mind. Well let me
sing this little, little piece
and then that'll be it and
we'll be gone. All right.
>> What little piece?
>> No. I'm serious. I hope life
treats you kind. And I hope you
have all you've dreamed of.
There you go. Wow. Yay! Thank
you. No, no.
>> I know you like to sing, so.
But thank you. That was
wonderful. In honor of Dolly
Parton today. So thank you.
>> Dolly's team calls me, I
will.
>> All right. Anything else?
For the good of the order, we
are adjourned. Good night.