[0:11] Welcome to another episode of Sanford
Says. I'm Lisa Holder, Communications
[0:15] and Marketing Manager for the City of
Sanford. And today I have with me
[0:18] Commissioner Kerry Wiggins. Hello
Commissioner.
[0:21] » How you doing? How you doing?
>> I'm I'm doing well, and you?
[0:24] » I am wonderful. Wonderful.
>> It's so great to have you here at City
[0:27] Hall in the Communications office on our
podcast on your podcast. We got to talk
[0:32] about some really great things you have
going on in the community. You always
[0:35] have some incredible opportunities for
everybody, all ages. And particularly
[0:40] because we're almost at the start of
school this year already. Can you
[0:44] believe this? It's like almost the end
of end of end of July. But so you always
[0:48] do your back-to-school
>> Yes.
[0:49] » event amongst other wonderful things the
Commissioner does in the city for our
[0:54] youth and for our adults. Can you tell
us a little bit about your famous
[0:58] back-to-school event?
>> [laughter]
[1:00] » this week, you know,
lining up with my
[1:03] monthly meeting, which I have the fourth
Thursday of every month at the Dr.
[1:06] William Wright Community Center.
Like Lisa said, end of the month, we'll
[1:11] go back in July, and we'll come and have
our big bash where, you know, everybody
[1:16] does the backpacks and the school
supplies and things of that nature. And
[1:19] that's
I want to be able to to partner with
[1:22] others and do something that I can give
as much information as I could to the
[1:26] community as a whole, the parents, the
grandparents, whoever may be raising
[1:29] that child.
So we teamed up with Seminole County
[1:33] Public Schools. This is going to be our
sixth annual, and they're going to be
[1:37] out. But what we're going to do
first, we'll have our meeting at 6:00.
[1:41] Our normal community meeting will be
from 6:00 to 7:00.
[1:44] Over in the gym at 6:30, they're going
to actually start the back-to-school
[1:48] event where they have a table set up.
The whole gym will be packed. All of the
[1:52] surrounding schools that's on this
flyer, which they can go to the website
[1:55] and pick it up, right?
>> sure.
[1:56] » And all of those different schools will
be there. If you know anyone that child
[2:01] is attending the school, but also
transportation and
[2:05] uh Red Dining Services is going to be
there as well.
[2:08] Um
we got different programs that are going
[2:12] to be from the district that'll be there
and actually each year grows big and
[2:16] bigger. Uh Mr. Henderson, who runs the
Westside Community Center, I was just
[2:20] talking before I got here. We're telling
people we have no room. I mean, we're
[2:24] we're which is a great thing. Uh we are
getting so packed with folks wanting to
[2:29] come in and give resources, give
information that is a win all all. Now,
[2:35] with that being said, remember what I
said, the fourth Thursday of every month
[2:40] I have my community meeting at the Dr.
B.L. Westside Community Center, which
[2:43] starts at 6:00 p.m. So, please, other
than in November and December, because
[2:49] it falls on the holiday, so I do it the
third Thursday of the month. And in
[2:53] November, we have a Thanksgiving meal,
where we feed the community. And then in
[2:59] December, we have our back we have our
big bash for for Christmas. Last year,
[3:04] we might have given away in partnership
with numerous folks, Lake Mary Church
[3:07] being the biggest one.
Uh we might have gave away
[3:11] at least 1,200 gro- excuse me, 1,200
gifts, excuse me. Uh and all the kids
[3:17] that left had two to three gifts.
So, I am excited about all the things
[3:21] that we got going on.
>> Yes, that's great. And so, it's
[3:25] Thursday, July 23rd, that's next week.
And like the commissioner said,
[3:30] he can he holds these monthly meetings
all the time at at the Westside
[3:34] Community Development Center and
Community Center, and we have all the
[3:38] departments involved there. They'll be
there if you need questions answered.
[3:42] Police and fire code enforcement,
Community Development Block Grant, we
[3:45] have Parks and Rec Planning,
the the Public Works Utilities crews
[3:50] will be there. So, there's um the
commissioner has city employees there
[3:54] access for you to ask questions and they
share the updates. So, it's really
[3:57] something really important to do. It's
every month like the commissioner said
[4:01] and also particularly this
July 23rd is the back to school event
[4:05] where you have I mean there's from what
it looks like we have the most schools
[4:09] in the county in the city of Sanford and
you're talking about high school, middle
[4:13] school level, and elementary school. So,
it's all you know back to school.
[4:17] Parents come on out and bring your kids
and take advantage of these great
[4:20] opportunities that you have uh here and
your partner with the police department
[4:24] will be there and they'll share stuff.
>> Seminole County
[4:27] uh health department, uh True Health uh
again, but the plus is
[4:33] these organizations come to my meeting
once a month already.
[4:37] » Mhm.
>> And so, when you come to my meeting, you
[4:39] don't just come and get information from
uh the the city staff, but you also have
[4:44] the different uh folks that come in from
the school board. You know, we have some
[4:47] of our school board members uh that
come. Uh Rosalind Geary's there all the
[4:51] time. Uh and that's why I tell people
about her all uh you know, and this is
[4:55] not me pushing for her, but this is
something that's just straight up. She
[4:59] doesn't just, you know, come when it's
time to run. Uh Rosalind Geary's there
[5:02] all the time, you know, and sometimes
Christine's there with her and and Robin
[5:06] Dellinger, you know, and so we have
information
[5:10] that covers anything you might need when
you come to my meeting.
[5:15] » Right.
>> If you know someone that does not
[5:19] have social media,
could you please just spread the word
[5:23] and let them know all the things that we
got going on in this And here's the
[5:25] kicker, I say this all the time. You do
not have to live in District 2
[5:30] to come to my meeting.
Come to the meeting and see if there's
[5:33] something I'm quite sure you come and
something that you're going to be able
[5:35] to learn. And if you have issues and
things that needs to be heard from the
[5:38] city manager to the different heads of
the departments, they're all there. So,
[5:42] you're able to talk to someone so that
we can see what we can do to help.
[5:47] » Right. And so we're coming out into the
community. We you don't have to come to
[5:50] city hall, make appointments with
people. You know that this happens every
[5:53] month.
>> Yes.
[5:54] » Literally the staff wait after the
meeting and even to talk with people
[5:58] you know. So if you don't want to ask a
question in front of everybody, you're
[6:01] able to go off to the side and talk to
staff. And then also we have it live
[6:04] streamed
on YouTube on the YouTube channel. So
[6:07] that's important that you can tune in
also. And just a lot of it is learning
[6:13] and educating yourself on city programs
>> and services as well. And not only
[6:16] access to these wonderful programs with
the school district and with the
[6:20] commissioner leads, but also just for
yourself. You know, knowledge is power
[6:25] as we would say.
>> Yeah.
[6:27] » And so but there's a lot going on in the
Westside Community Center. I know that
[6:32] you have in District 2. We have the
financial academy with
[6:35] » Yes.
>> Habitat for Humanity. We we did a
[6:37] podcast recently about that. That's this
coming up Saturday
[6:40] » Yes.
>> and the public can
[6:41] » Because I mean actually we did a
wall raising
[6:45] with them a week ago. We got 19 homes.
It's going to be a subdivision that
[6:50] they're going to
be building and it's awesome because
[6:54] there's other homes that are coming.
You know that again over where Castle
[6:58] Brew was. You know, we will be breaking
ground at the either end of this year
[7:02] beginning of next year. Uh where we're
going to have 60 uh
[7:08] senior living and then we have 60 other
units that will be what you and I could
[7:13] even you know, we could be able to
afford to stay. That's going to be mixed
[7:17] living. That's going to be single
family.
[7:18] » Okay.
>> So that's going to be 180 units.
[7:21] Goldsboro in District 2 is
you know, rocking yeah, you know. And I
[7:26] thank God to be in this position to do
this. You know, just even last week like
[7:30] you said, what I do in this position I
try to make sure everybody that wants to
[7:36] be involved to help
>> Mhm.
[7:38] » is always welcome. I don't want anybody
that's going to come and try to fight to
[7:42] again
just come to make noise. But if you want
[7:46] to come to be able to help make things
better in our community, you are always
[7:50] welcome. Last week and and people know
my passion for the youth. Last week we
[7:55] did our big food giveaway. We do food
giveaway with my brothers Mark and Ryan
[7:59] with the Picnic Project. They're the
co-founders of the Picnic Project. We do
[8:02] that once a month. And we do about 60
to 70 families with the smaller ones.
[8:07] But then we do two big ones
one in in July or June one of the months
[8:12] of the summer and then we'll do another
one in December at the Salvation Army.
[8:16] One in July is at Allen Chapel. The one
in December is at Salvation Army.
[8:22] Last week with the big one we had the
football team out there. SPD controlled
[8:27] the traffic.
We had Allen Chapel and their members
[8:31] that were there to support the cause.
And with that we were able to give away
[8:37] 30 33,000 pounds of groceries
to 350 families
[8:43] and almost a little over
13
[8:49] hundred citizens. And out there that I
didn't realize and someone on social
[8:54] media made a comment a parent was like
you guys did that in a few hours out
[8:59] there in 105 degrees.
Those young men again and I commend
[9:04] Coach Calhoun which is the head football
coach at Sumter on high school for
[9:08] getting his staff the guys out there to
support the cause.
[9:12] This is how we planned on using building
community. I don't have all the answers.
[9:18] I don't know it all, but I try to make
sure that I put myself around men and
[9:23] women that are trying to do the same
thing
[9:27] so that we can compliment each other to
make things better.
[9:30] » Right. And that's what community is all
about.
[9:33] » Yes, ma'am.
>> And so Christian Wiggins certainly knows
[9:36] how to lead that and show show up for
all of the community and with these back
[9:41] to school events that you sixth annual
you have your food drive food giveaway
[9:46] and your monthly meetings. And so
we just thought we'd have this episode
[9:49] today to share with you what
Commissioner Wiggins is doing just very
[9:53] briefly right now and the summertime and
then there's some great things
[9:58] happening. So again if you have students
that are high school age all the way
[10:02] down to elementary so please come out
next Saturday to the back to school
[10:05] event.
>> Next Thursday.
[10:07] » Next Thursday, sorry. Next Thursday
Saturday's the the the financial
[10:10] academy. That too come on out for that
but what I'm what I'm getting at is that
[10:15] building that location is a hub for
excellence where there's so much to be
[10:20] offered and and so please take advantage
of that and if that's what builds
[10:25] community and you get to meet your
neighbor when you come out to these
[10:28] things too as well. So um
>> And something you said at least too with
[10:33] Habitat for Humanity's doing on that.
Guys if you know someone that needs help
[10:38] one thing about it where they always
tell me and I've talked to the CEO
[10:41] numerous times of
and she said to me that you know we want
[10:46] because my first thing is
yeah we want to put people in those
[10:49] Habitat homes but I prefer if it's in
Sanford for Sanford citizens to have the
[10:53] first priority.
We have to make sure that we come out
[10:57] and we get the assistance and the help.
And if you don't qualify this time and
[11:02] you need some work
then they're willing to work with you to
[11:05] help make sure that you can get what you
need. So please if you know someone send
[11:09] them on out. Uh the flyer should be on
the
[11:12] will the flyer be on our website?
>> website social media all that cuz you do
[11:15] have to register before you attend. And
there's free breakfast.
[11:18] » Yeah so please spread the word so that
we can get people out there and about
[11:23] because again everybody does the social
media everybody that might not see this
[11:27] spread the word so people know
so that we We'll be each other.
[11:31] » Right. And if you need help that's where
you're going to learn how to get the
[11:34] help and where to get the help so you
can try next time and all of that. And
[11:37] so um cuz we know it certainly
affordable housing is not going away in
[11:41] the city of Sanford. We're going to
continue working to push that initiative
[11:44] ahead.
>> Yes, ma'am.
[11:46] » Is there anything else you'd like to
say, Commissioner Wiggins? Thank you for
[11:48] stopping by in your busy day. I mean
>> I think
[11:51] » [laughter]
>> well, I I I
[11:52] again just thank you guys for this
opportunity. Uh and what you guys do to
[11:57] allow
us to be able to put things out for the
[12:00] citizens to be able to know. Uh
you know, I don't I don't do the the
[12:05] well, with the Facebook, I don't do a
lot of responding on Facebook. This
[12:08] gives me an opportunity to tell folks if
they can't see me face-to-face. But I'm
[12:12] always open um for ideas and willing to
meet again to sit down that
[12:18] to
talk if we're going to be able to come
[12:21] together to help make things better. I
don't know everything.
[12:24] » Right.
>> And I'm not ashamed to say that. But
[12:27] again, I'm not going to uh uh come in to
fight with anyone about doing things
[12:33] that has been working. If you show me
it's not working, then we can find a
[12:37] better solution.
Let's do it. I have no problem with that
[12:40] at all.
>> Right. Right. I see local government
[12:43] closest to the people, and that's why
you have your elected official here. You
[12:47] know, you have concerns, questions, or
you just want to say good job to some of
[12:52] the staff or what the city's doing.
Sometimes you like to hear the good, you
[12:55] know, that pat on the back, "Great job
you're doing." you know?
[12:58] So, um you can always find the
commissioner's contact information on
[13:02] the website, but um
best way is email
[13:05] kerry.wiggins@sanfordfl.gov.
[13:08] There's other ways to reach the
commissioner. But um on our website at
[13:11] sanfordfl.gov, please visit. You can
also find out to see who is your elected
[13:16] official. If you put in your address on
the city website, you can determine who
[13:20] is whose district you're living in. And
so, um these are challenging and
[13:25] important times, and we we love the
engagement with the community and it's
[13:29] important that you ask questions and get
involved so everybody's educated all the
[13:33] way around and you understand why the
city does the things that they do and
[13:36] why they offer these great programs as
well. There's a lot of good stuff here
[13:40] so um
thank you Commissioner Williams for
[13:43] stopping by really appreciate you.
>> Thank you guys for having me.
[13:46] » All right. This is Lisa Holder,
Communications and Marketing Manager for
[13:50] the City of Sanford. Thank you for
listening to Sanford says and you can
[13:53] find this podcast wherever you subscribe
to your favorite podcast and on the city
[13:57] website at sanfordfl.gov.
Thank you. Have a great day now.
[14:02] Bye-bye.