Welcome to the City of St. Petersburg City Council Meeting. Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch, District 1 and Council Chair, Hopeley Gertis, District 2, Brandy Gabbard, District 3, Mike Harding, District 4, and Council Vice Chair LaSeth Tanowitz, District 5, Deborah Fick Sanders, District 6, Gina Driscoll, District 7, Corey Gibbons Jr., and District 8, Richie Floyd. [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ [♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪ Good afternoon. We're going to call to order the May 8th, 2025 City Council meeting. If we can please do a roll call, Claire. Big Sanders. Yeah. Drisco. Yeah. Gibbons. Floyd. Yeah. Here it is. Here. Yeah, Albert. Here. Harding. Here. Here. Location given by Bishop manual Sykes from Bethel Community Baptist here at us here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Arden here at the Let us pray. We are thankful to be here once again that you've allowed us to see another beautiful day in this city. We're thankful to be here once again, that you've allowed us to see another beautiful day in this city. We thank you for the opportunity to gather together to listen, to give opinions, to give thought, to all the things pertaining to all of the people of this city. We ask now that you bless each and every elected official, to have a mind of service, to listen to the voices of their constituency. That together they will knit together a fabric that will make this community one and that every person, big, small, wealthy, and poor will come together knowing that their voices are heard, their hearts are being felt. We pray that you'll bring the resources together that will allow us, and that will allow our elected officials to capture into cast division that will be one, that will make everybody feel the shine of the sun. Bless us now as we come together, let our deliberations be thoughtful, be just, caring, and compassionate. And where we need answers, we pray that your divine wisdom will provide us with the right answers at the right time. That when this session is dismissed, everyone present will know that your hand has been upon it. This is our prayer in Jesus name. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, individual, liberty and justice for all. Thank you, please be seated. Bishop Sykes, thank you so much for the invocation and thank you so much for everything you do in our community. It's greatly appreciated. Okay, council members, we have an agenda in front of us. I'll entertain a motion for approval. For a vote? Second. Seeing as we have a motion, a second, no council members wishing to speak. Clerk, could you please open the machine for voting? Council members, please any votes. Seeing as all present, council members have voted. Clerk, could you please tell any an announcement of vote? Mr. Chair, motion to approve the agenda passes unanimously. The council member giving is being absent. Council members, we have a consent agenda in front of us. I'll entertain a motion for approval. Move approval. Second we have a motion the second seeing his other council members wishing to speak clerk could you please open the machine for voting council members please any your votes Seeing as all present council members have voted clerk could you please tally and announce the vote? We should share much to approve the consent agenda passes unanimously. The council were beginning to be absent Mr. Chair just a place on the record we had no cards. Thank you my apologies. Thank you clerk Okay, now we'll move in open form. Clerk clerk could you please read the rules. If you wish to address City Council on subjects other than public hearing or quasi judicial items listed on the agenda please sign up with the clerk. Only the individual wishing to speak may sign the open form sheet only city residents owners of property business owners in the city or their employees may speak all issues discussed under open form must be limited to issues related to the city of St. Petersburg government. If you are speaking to an item on the agenda, you may only speak once during the open form when the item comes up on the agenda. In order to provide an opportunity for all citizens to address the council, each individual will be given three minutes to speak and after which the microphone will be muted. If you wish to address the accounts through the Zoom meeting, you must use the raise hand feature button in the Zoom app or enter star 9 on your phone at the time the agenda item is addressed. When it is your turn to speak, you will be unmuted and ask the state your name and address at the conclusion of your comments or when you reach the three minute time limit, you will be muted. All raise hands will be lowered after each agenda item. Regardless of the method of participation used, normal rules apply, including the three minute time limit on comments, the requirement that in-appreciation materials must be submitted in advance of the meeting, and the rules of the quorum. If live public comment is disrupted by violations of the rules of the quorum, the chair is authorized to accept public comment by alternate means, including by email only and Mr. Chair, we do not have any speakers. No zoom. Okay. Well then we'll move on from open forward and open form and move right into awards and presentations and we're going to start with D1, Senior Hall of Fame inductees and this is given by Mayor Kennedy Welch. I think we probably beat him to it. We're just that efficient mayor. I was expecting an open forum but, the chair and I have had quality time with our seniors, both at the Mahaffee, and then earlier today. So, Lucinda is actually going to bring this forward. And to all of our seniors, thank you for everything you do for our city and what you continue to do, y'all are blessing for us. Lucinda. Thank you, Mayor. Lucinda, welcome. Thank you, thank you, thank you to council, and all of those within my voice. Joining me today is a newly appointed recreation supervisor to Ms. Marcy Neill and Kara Wear, our rec center supervisor one, aging. It's not about how many years have passed, but how much life you've embraced. That's spice of your urine. I share this quote as we celebrate older Americans month,, this month, and senior citizen month in August. This year's theme is, Flip the Script on Aging, which encourages a shift in how society views and talks about aging, highlighting the positive aspects of growing older and promoting engagement and various activities and opportunities. On April 16th, that is just what we did as we celebrated the 41st anniversary of the senior Hall of Pain. We are in it, 40 senior nominees who have given over 975 years of volunteer service. These seniors represent at various fields of education, faith, and civic engagement. They have all flipped the spirit of aging by giving new meaning to being a senior. That's me too. the ceremony we inducted ten of these remarkable seniors into the Senior Hall of Fame. It was a great event full of fun, flavor, and love. We thank the Mayor, our administration, our department, Parks and Rec, and the community for the support you all provide so that we can do these things for the seniors of this community. Earlier today, as Mayor Welch mentioned, these 10 seniors that are here today with us We're honored with keys to the city. Amen. If... were honored with keys to the city. Amen. If I'm gonna ask that everybody holds their applause as I read out all of the 10 nominee names, and if you can stand, stand. Otherwise, what hold it up so everybody I know who you are. Sue Allen, Dr. Davis Barris, Wallace Tarbratt, Jake Fletcher, Antoinette Instone, Paulette Jones, Kathy Michaels, David Middleton, Joanne Rainey, and Jeffrey Thomas. Two of the individuals could not be here with us at this service, but did join us earlier today. This is your group of inductees for 2025 to the Senior Hall of Fame. Will you join me? Mr. Mayor, we like to love on you. So we have gathered some Log legaries together just to be able to share with you how thankful we are that you are always willing not that you are. Okay. All right. That you aren't not that you are always willing to help us with the senior hall of fame and be there as a supporter for the seniors of our program. So we really appreciate you very much. So we just wanted to give you a small token of appreciation. I want to take a photo. I'm going to ask the chair to come down and take this photo and I'll accept this on behalf of our entire city team. We all support our seniors and they're a great treasure. So thank you so much. Thank you. I'm sure. I guess Maria tells us what to do. I'm going to grab that man. Oh, it's got to be on the picture. OK. Thank you. Okay up next we have the two EMS. Oh, I'm sorry. I do. Sorry. Debra Fig Sanders, council member Debra Fig Sanders. Sorry. Don't leave, don't leave, don't leave. Don't leave yet. Don't go anywhere yet. Don't leave. Oh, they gone. Don't go anywhere yet. They have volunteer work to do chair. Yes. They've got to be somewhere. Since we see that our seniors have somewhere to go. Well first of all let me let me say I am super jealous because when they your names, you got up quickly. It's taking me a minute to think about getting up from the chair. So that's my first point I need to make. You all are staying young, staying active. What please know, you are always going to be appreciated. You know that you're one of my favorite populations because God has given us, you to us, with the wisdom that you bring. And with that we will not be able to find it anywhere else. And we're so thankful for the fact that you are our seniors and you've been honored with that and such. And we're as a Miss Lucinda. Thank you for always putting on that class act for our seniors. We appreciate you and your staff for doing that. But when it comes down to, and don't let me insult you by saying elders, but for me and my household, our elders is a distinguished title. It's something that lets me know that you outrank any other in regards to care, concern, and the attention that we should play in your admiration and respect. And for that, thank you so much for being who you are, and I do congratulate you again. Thank you. Thank you. Applause. Council member Gabbert. Thank you, Chair. And thank you all for being with us this afternoon. Lucinda knows all too well that the event, the Senior Hall of Fame event, is one of my absolute favorites every year. I leave there with my face hurting from smiling the entire time but really what I leave there with is such an inspiration to know that the rest of my life I have all of you to look up to. You combined with all the work that you all have done for our city make us look like white white weights. Like, I feel so inspired by what you bring to the city. I went home that evening and I shared with my 14 year old son that we just celebrated 900 plus years of volunteering in our city and his little mind was just blown, right? Like I don't even know what that looks like. It looks like all of you. And so thank you for everything that you do for making St. Pete truly the special place that it is and keep on inspiring. Thank you. I just had an amazing time at the senior hall fame and one of the things, I'm counting remember, I'm glad you brought it up because the view you have from the stage, right? You're smiling, you're listening to the stories, you get to interact and say hello and get two minutes of picture taking while hearing a little bit of the background. And then you see everybody sitting. And you smile even more. Because you hear the families, you hear the friends, you hear the organizations just celebrating these amazing people. And for me, it was just, it was a lot of fun. And I got to see my colleagues with massive grins on their face, too. And so it was just an absolute blessing. And I'll just repeat just a little bit of what I said that evening. I wanted to come back to this town because of people like you. And I hope that we are doing a good enough job to where my kids want to come back to this town like I wanted to come back. And thank you because they get to experience it now like I did as a kid and hopefully we are carrying that mantle even though you're still carrying it which is absolutely incredible. Hopefully we continue to do that work behind you so they feel the same way I do about this amazing amazing place So once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart and congratulations Okay, we're gonna move into D2 E week proclamation, given by council member fig Sanders. This is seamless. It's like me at the recess, Bell. They're busy, they listen, I get it. I get it. So as they exit, I want to thank Mayor Welch for allowing me to present this particular proclamation. And I'm going to ask Chief if you would join me as I read this please. I want to give a brief history of where we are with MMS Week. In 1974, President Gerald Ford authorized MMS Week to celebrate MMS professionals, and the important work they do in our nation's communities. National Emergency Medical Services Week brings together local communities and medical personnel to honor the dedication of those who provide the day to day every morning they wake up they're there for us. Services of Medicine's frontline. EMS week is presented by the American College of Emergency Physicians in partnership with the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians. Together these organizations are working to ensure that the important contributions of EMS professionals and safeguarding the health, safety, and well-being of our community is fully celebrated and recognized. And I can't claim that, y'all, I got that from the EMSWeat.org. But it was worth sharing as to why we are here to celebrate these phenomenal people. And as I have, you all standing with me, I'm going to read this proclamation. Whereas emergency medical services is a vital public service. And whereas the members of the St. Petersburg Fire Rescue are ready to provide life-saving care to those in need 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And whereas access to quality emergency care dramatically improves their survival and recovery rate of those who experience sudden illness or injury. And whereas emergency medical services has grown to fill a gap by providing important out of hospital care including preventative medicine, follow-up care and access to telemedicine. And whereas the emergency medical services system consists of first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, emergency medical dispatchers, firefighters, police officers, educators, administrators, pre-hospital nurses, emergency nurses, emergency physicians and others. And whereas the members of the Emergency Medical Services team engage in thousands of hours, a specialized training and continuing education to enhance their life-saving skills. And whereas it is appropriate to recognize the value and the accomplishments of emergency medical services providers by designating Emergency Medical Services Week. Now therefore, I council member Deborah Fig Sanders on behalf of Ken of T Welch, mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida. In recognition of this event, due to hereby proclaim, the week of May 18th through the 24th, 2025, as emergency medical services Services Week in St. Petersburg and encourage the community to observe this week with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities. And with that, I'm going to ask all of our EMS heroes if you will please stand as we ask the Chief to come and give them a few words. Applause I'm here on behalf of Chief Watts and I am the rescue chief. My name is Lindsay Duda. I serve at St. Petersburg Fire Rescue. As the rescue chief, I have the opportunity to be able to share a few words related to EMS week. Dear Mayor, Council Chair, Vice Chair, Council members, and the City of St. Petersburg Community, we respectfully request the EMS week proclamation be included by the City Council each year to recognize a significant contribution made by our Fire Rescue personnel every single day. May 18th through 24th is the 51st anniversary of National EMS week. The theme is We Care for Everyone. The City of St. Petersburg and St. Petersburg Fire Rescue began providing EMS service over 50 years ago. It was 1974. EMS week in this proclamation are to highlight our gratitude toward EMTs and paramedics who provide life-saving care throughout our community day and night through sunshine and hurricanes, on holidays and anniversaries in many environments, such as businesses, homes, roadways and waterways. EMS Week offers time to educate the public about EMS and the essential services provided to our residents and visitors, as well as reducing preventable injuries. St. Petersburg Fire Rescue offers CPR classes and connects with the community to provide safety themed children's books, fall prevention materials, and smoke alarms just to list a few. SPFR was dispatched to over 57,000 EMS incidents throughout 2024. Some EMS incidents require multiple fire rescue apparatus to respond and provide quality patient care to residents and visitors in our community. Our total apparatus response to EMS incidents throughout 2024 was over 78,000. Currently we have over 370 sworn personnel serving our community as paramedics and EMTs and we are grateful for their dedicated service in providing exceptional emergency services. And just to add one more, we have a retiree right here. Hi. Hi. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. proper acknowledgement. We want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to thank you. I want to go ahead? Yes, sir. Are you okay? No, I'm just good. Okay. Well, where do you photo? I don't know how you're going to do it, but... Chair? Yeah. Literally, I'll bet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. the ones that are. Well, you know, this is not the way it does. Yeah. It's definitely very different. There's also some first-known, what do you imagine? Who's right? Who's right? I just want to learn it out. But all the beings to all our EMTs paramedics and first responders. I've been there when we have celebrated some of the lives that you have saved and the difference between life and death is seconds. And people do not realize how it feels. And I've been an accident and you see that first responder get there and how it makes you feel and you feel safe. And that's what you are. You make us feel safe in our community and you save lives every day. And there was a kid who had a motorcycle accident. It was District 4 and it was Station 4 that responded. And the doctors showed up, the nurses showed up. All the paramedics, the aunties were there, and the doctors said it was the work of you all that saved his life. And it was just moments that would have changed from having, and he was a child. He was early 20s. And it was one in a hundred type case where they couldn't believe that he survived and it was because of the fast response. And that's why whatever you need, whatever equipment you need, whatever you need from City Council. And you know because you've heard it from all of us, you heard it the other day. When we're talking budget, you'll hear it now. We got you and we have your back. Thank you. Thank you. Well, Chief, I'm not sure I can say it a whole lot better than by sure Hannah would just did, but, you know, unfortunately, I've taken a few ambulance rides in my life. And just this past weekend, the Gertis took an ambulance ride. And Rescue Six showed up. And I only live about 20 blocks away from where they were. They got there and had that Gertis out of there before I could even get there. And so the work that this team does, it's miracles every day, period end of story. It's heroes every day and unsung heroes. And so Mayor, thank you for bringing this proclamation forward. Chief Judah, I don't think you're going to have to have any worry about this proclamation being here on an annual basis. There might be a riot on our side of the building if there isn't. And so just very happy to celebrate all of you and thank you for everything you do second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, all day every day. Thank you for doing it. It's very much appreciated and thank you for everything you do second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, all day, every day. Thank you for doing it. It's very much appreciated. And thank you for being here to celebrate with us. Thanks, Chief. Thank you, Chief. Thank you. Applause. Thank you. Thank you. I got to do it. Thank you. And next up, we have the three drowning awareness month and our own share, Curtis, is gonna be presenting the proclamation. Thank you, Vice-Share. Colleagues, if I could have Rick Kraft, Andy Chi, Brandy Dorsen, join me. Looks like we've got a couple already. And then obviously, those we just celebrated our EMS staff also play a big role in this. I certainly didn't mean to get serious in the EMS conversation and then go straight into this, but I'm sure you've heard from me before. This proclamation is near and dear to my heart. Just to give you a little bit of background for those that don't know. In my lifetime, I have swam thousands of miles in a pool. Probably hundreds of miles in open water. I was a certified lifeguard. I was a certified lifeguard trainer. I was a certified lifeguard supervisor. I have, I knew how to swim before I knew how to walk. And five years ago, when my wife was going through a medical condition the night before her treatment, I would go to my best friend's house. And during those nights, it was a night to give my wife some time and some peace and quiet with a 18-month-old and a two-year-old. And it was a time for me to download with my best friend. And that's what I was doing. I was downloading. Our kids were playing together, and I thought we were in a very secure house. Because my two year old couldn't open the sliding door. My 18 month definitely couldn't, but my best friend's two year old could. He knew how. And my son walked out the door and jumped into the pool. And I had no idea it happened. So the young adult with thousands and thousands of miles of swimming, training, have done CPR, have made saves in pools, has made saves in open water, have made a save in a river. Had no idea his 18-month was in a pool who couldn't swim. Thank God my daughter is a better babysitter than I am and she came running in and said, Daddy, Daddy Cade Water, Daddy, Daddy Cade Water. Let me tell you I've never been more joyous that my two-year-old daughter could speak. And so I went running out seeing my son struggle in a pool. Thank God he wasn't at the bottom of it because that certainly could have been the end of the story. So I say all of that to go it can happen to anybody. It can happen anywhere to anybody. And so what our Parks and Recreation team does and trust me I am a byproduct of that is God's work. The swim lessons, the time they spend, the advocacy they do, along with our fire and EMS departments, we were just at water safety weekend last weekend at Walter Fuller, which, I think you know, I have a love hate relationship with that place, because that's where most of those thousand miles have been done And so although this this is I hope it's one of those things we never have to do It's one I'd love to throw in the trash and so I just thank you for all of your work, for all of your advocacy. And for anybody that's listening, it's seconds, it's not minutes. It's seconds, it's not minutes. So it's my honor, it's my honor to bring this proclamation to celebrate drowning awareness month. And so the proclamation reads, whereas in Pinellas County 70% of all submergence occurred at beaches or residential or community pools and 68% of all submergence were children under five. And whereas according to the Florida Department of Health and Florida Department of Children and Families in 2024, Pinellas County had 31 non-fail submersions and one death. And whereas with public education, constant adult supervision around all types of water, formal swimming lessons, installation of safety barriers, and learning CPR, Penelice County is reducing. That's the highlight here. Penelice County is reducing drowning statistics. And whereas, through this awareness, the City of St. Petersburg will continue to educate the public and eliminate the devastating effects of drowning. Now, therefore, I,ble Gertis, chair of the City Council on behalf of Mayor Kenneth T. Welch. For the City of St. Petersburg, do hereby proclaim May 2025. As drowning awareness month in St. Petersburg, and I urge all citizens to join me in actively protecting our children by promoting learn to swim programs and parental caregiver awareness. Thank you. Well, I'm standing here in almost in tears because I did not know your story. So yes, every year Florida tragically leads the nation in drowning deaths for children under the age of five. Drowning is the number one cause of injury death related to toddlers in the state and it often happens like Cookley said in homes and people's backyards when no one expects it. So drowning can happen in less than 30 seconds and it's almost silent. So to help protect our children and families, the St. Pete Parks and Recreation Aquatics Division and St. Pete Fire Rescue have partnered to bring water safety education directly to our community. So thank you to Chief Watts and his team for all that they continue to do. Lana Stefano and Alexis Lawrence, they are educators in the fire department for drowning prevention. They have worked tirelessly to work with the Aquatics Division to put on car washes, water safety days, pop-up events. We've also done some life jacket giveaways. We've given away lots and lots of equipment and education around prevention, drowning prevention. On May 3rd, we held a water safety day event at Water, water fuller pool where families receive free life jackets, water safety packets, door alarms, swim lesson evaluations for their children and food and fun. So, you know, we're thankful to be able to put on these types of events and partner with Fire Rescue and their team to provide valuable opportunities for our community and their families. So again thank you Chief Watts and your team for all that you have helped us do in our community to support and recognize drowning prevention. Good afternoon, Council. I am fortunate to have a support staff, support senior staff, support staff and members of the department who work extremely hard every single day. And I'm very proud of the fact that we are proactive in the community. So in addition to running those EMS and fire calls, we're proactive and we are engaged in the community. So I'd like to thank you all for your support. Thank you, Mayor, for your support. And again, thank my staff for their support. The partnerships that she just described is our way to collaborate with other community partners and again be proactive and Engaged in the community because we know that prevention starts at home and and it's our goal to Continue to reduce the number of drowning deaths that we have and drowning emergencies in general As she mentioned this past Saturday we kicked off National Water Safety Month with our second annual Water Safety Day at Water Full of Pool. It was held in partnership with Parks and Rec, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, and the juvenile welfare board. Thanks to this collaboration, we were able to distribute 312 life jackets, 179 free swim lesson vouchers, 120 free CPR certification vouchers, and 105 door alarms. Again, our mission is to prevent drownings before they happen. Prevention begins in the home, as I mentioned, and we want to give parents and caregivers the tools and education needed to protect children in and around the water. We also strongly encourage everyone to become CPR certified. Statistics show that performing CPR immediately can double or even triple a child's chance of survival. St. Petersburg Fire Rescue offers sort of CPR certification courses to learn more. You can visit us at fire.stp.org or call us at 727-893-7076. If we're busy out running calls, we'll get back to you. Please leave a message. And a special thank you to Pinellas County EMS for their ongoing support and generous donation of free life jackets for our community. Thank you. Good afternoon, Council Chair. Thank you so much for that proclamation. I just wanted to do the speaker earlier. This is Brandy Dorsen. She's our new Aquatics Manager. She's been here about a year and a half and we're excited about the work she's doing. And Andy Chi, who's our new Aquatics Supervisor of our neighborhood pools. Again, our partnerships are wonderful with fire and the community groups. Juvenile welfare board supports swim lessons every year. The Tampa Bay Rays, pay for free swim lessons. And so thank you for all your support and everything you do for us Mayor. Thank you so much and we appreciate you. Councilmember Driscoll. Thank you and thank you for bringing this proclamation forward and to cheer her just for sharing your story and really bringing it home and reminding us that yes, it can happen to anyone. This is, we were just talking about swim lessons in the budget workshop a couple of days ago and I made a comment that I would love for us to be known as a city of swimmers. And the work that you are doing, the programs that you're putting out there, the gear that you're providing, all of that helps us work towards that goal. And I know that we can one day soon be able to say that everyone in our city, all children have an opportunity to learn how to swim. And I was wondering how early, like how young would a swimming lesson start with the programs that you have? Yeah, so we do start with our parent child swim lesson. So at the age of six months, a parent can get in with their infant up to three years old for our parent child lessons. And then at the age of four, children can start to do swim lessons on their own with our preschool lessons. So from ages four to five, those are preschool lessons. And then, of course, six and above all the way to our adults, adults need lessons too. Right. Their school lessons are available. Right, that's great. So starting at six months. Six months. And it's not like a huge time commitment either. It's not. And just really helping to learn the basics. Absolutely. So with our parent child classes, it's the lifeguards, the instructors. They are teaching our parents how to give water exploration skills to our children as as co-ple you have to children have to be aware of water. They take baths, they get in the shower, even just a drizzle of water on top of their head, you know, to get them acclimated and it's for us to have our parents, you know, get those skills as well to teach our kids the blow bubbles to get your head in the water. What happens if a sister or a brother falls into the water, you know, having the knowledge to be able to say, Mommy, Daddy, I need help. Mommy, Daddy, even, you know, the child's name, just water exploration and knowledge of water is where it all starts. Yeah, that's such a great point. You mentioned the water safety packets that were handed out at water safety day. What's in the packet? So we have water watcher tags in there. So a water watcher tag is a tag that an adult can wear while they're watching kids at a pool. You might be at a house party with family and you have a pool available. And it's a tag that gives the, I'm the adult that is in charge. I'm the adult that is actually watching kids. We have vouchers for swim lessons in those bags. We have a stewie the duck book with information about swimming. So again, we're educating our young kids on what swimming is, you know, in water exploration. We also have some educational material in those water safety bags, and some goodies. Yeah, that's great. That's great. Well, another thing I mentioned the other day was that we, I think the only thing that we could be doing that's more is getting the word out. Get in the word out. Absolutely. You know, with swimming, it comes from word of mouth. It's word of mouth. You say, hey, I'm taking swim lessons. And someone's like, where are you taking swim lessons? And it's you grabbing a friend. Do you want to go take a swim in a some lessons? Yeah, let's go, we'll get a group of adults, getting ready for a cruise, telling your friends, let's go take adult swim lessons, even at the daycares, getting the information out to the daycares, we have rat cards that we put out at our recreation centers, we take them to daycares, we take them to other partners, the fire rescue department. They help us distribute information through our car washes, through our pop-up events, you know, on our marquees, our Facebook pages, social media. It's all about sharing the word and word of mouth through us all, you know. We do, during the summertime, we don't realize that getting ready for swimming does not happen during the summertime. It actually happens in the winter time. So we do have swim lesson registration coming up, May 24. The great thing about this year is that you can actually register online. So we're doing online registration, we're doing in-person registration. So it's really just getting the word out to people and sharing with your friends and your families. Look around as you drive past the parks you will see you know on the Marquis you will see big signs out that says registration is getting ready to start. So it starts with us. Word of mouth. That's great. Thank you so much. Thank you very much 24th is when registration starts yes, May 24th For swim lessons for everyone or everyone St. Pete parks wreck The org is the website if you're interested or you can go to any Local pool. We have nine pools that you can go to and just walk up and say I want to do swim lessons. Give me some information. The pools open up Memorial Day weekend. So at that time just join us at a pool. You guys have a great spokeswoman here. I mean you can't beat for any for that. I remember it was about a year ago that you and I got together. It's not our video. It's your what to do a little bit of marketing on available. OK. I love it. I'll be in touch. No, we don't even have to ask Mike. We'll just go and do it. We'll just do it, yeah. Well, I just saw and last year that video was just a pitch that we made to get more funding for swim lessons. And I hear everything that's going on now. And we've made some really great progress on that. And that makes me happy. Absolutely. You know, one of the biggest things what we would like to do when we're talking about making our city full of swimmers, right? So we really wanted to win the mayor's initiative. She's so good. We really wanted to win. No, because again, what we wanted to do, our vision. I was. It was to partner with, you know, Panels County Schools and being able through their PE educational classes to partner with them and for them to come and do swim lessons. We're currently doing that now with some schools, but our vision is to partner with all schools and how do we get all of our kids through? We can start K through two, we can start small, you know, to get them to come during their PE time and be able to have the opportunity to get some swim lessons or get acclimated with the water. Just, that's very important. It's all about education and information. Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you for all that you do. And for doing it with such enthusiasm and grace, you're just, we're so lucky to have you. No, I thank you and I thank you, Council, for supporting us in always having our back and looking at different ways that we can provide swim lessons to all in our community. So I hope you have our back too. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Figg Sanders. Thank you. I wasn't going to say anything because everything has been said about this phenomenal team. But I just have to say, Mary, you've just been challenged. Yeah. I really am. And so we've... For Tom and you know... Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Good. You've just been challenged. And I want to say that when your term is up and you can no longer run for Mary, I got my next candidate. Because she is definitely going to get it done. And then I truly want to thank you for all that you do rich and everybody for working with our children because you know I have grandchildren you know I have one that her dad it was a firefighter her grandfather was a firefighter of paramedic so he taught my son at six months I just went so she loves water I have another granddaughter that loses her mind when she gets a hair wash so we we have a diverse group of children and swimmers but I appreciate the fact and again you are such a ray of light in such a serious situation in such a serious situation with that that lets us know that our children are in good hands. You know, we always say it starts in parks and they did an excellent job by bringing you on and helping to support such a vital, vital and very important initiative for the city of St. Petersburg. For that, I thank you so much. But I do want to say that I do have a wonderful team. So I do not want to leave out the Aquatics Division in the team. You got my vote. OK. Well, thank you all. Thank you, Chief, Parks and Rec. And our chair for his powerful words. Thank you so much. And now we have item D4, National Public Works Week Proclamation, presented by Council member Harding. Thank you, Vice Chair. This my fifth month in this position and being part of the same Pete team, I have been taught. I have been reminded and quite frankly I've been brow beaten with the idea that it all starts in parks. But I would challenge you that in order to get to that park in order to water that park in order to flush a toilet in that park you're going to need public works. So, so that so mayor has has has graciously bestowed power upon me and and I'm going to use that power to declare that the next seven days it all starts in public works. If anyone sees Mike Jeffries behind me, just let me know. Yes, second challenge of the day. Whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities and services that are vital, that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and the public health high quality of life and well-being of the City of St. Petersburg and, whereas these infrastructures, facilities and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers, managers, and employees at all levels of government and the private sector who are responsible for rebuilding, improving and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment, and solid waste systems, public buildings, and other structures and facilities essential for our citizens. And whereas it's in the public interest for the citizen, civic leaders, and children in St. Petersburg to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest and understanding of the importance of public works and public works programs in their respective communities. And whereas the year 2025 marks the 65th annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association, Canadian Public Works Association, with the theme, People, Purpose, Presence. Now, therefore, I councilmember Mike Harding, on behalf of Marrakena T. Welch, to hear by proclaim May 18th through May 24th as National Public Works Week. I want to start by recognizing my team that is here. So everybody who works for Public Works, if you please stand up. Yay! So proud to have them here. And I thank you for allowing us to have things start in public works. We often tease that it actually often ends up in public works. Oh my goodness. I'll leave that there. But as Council Member Harding mentioned, this's theme is people, purpose, and presence. And this theme highlights the three cornerstone ideals that motivate the people that you saw standing here to serve their communities every day. It is meeting the needs of the people and it's what gives us our sense of purpose. Many times public work professionals will never meet the people whose lives that they touch and that have been impacted because when things are going right no one knows that we're there and that's the way it should be. Yet with or without fanfare public works is present, working in the background to advance the quality of life for all. And I'm grateful for this proclamation. Thank you, Councilmember, for giving it for us. And I'm grateful for the support that the Council has always shown, public works, and the team that we have here. And we just hope that we continue to do you proud. And thank you. Thank you. My share of handwits. Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Claude, and your team for everything that you do. You know, you said it right when things are going right, right? People don't notice how much you all mean. And through these hurricanes, it was very clear how much you all mean to everyone. And I just want to commend everyone out there that's in public works for getting us through those hurricanes because you all carry to heavy, heavy left. And for the ones that were out there that's in public works for getting us through those hurricanes because you all carry the heavy heavy left. And for the ones that were out there during the storm, almost up to the end as far as they could to make sure there are sewer plants were open and making sure that we had the city running as long as we could until we had to shut things down because of emergencies and and because of hurricanes. So not only up to the end, but before the daylight came and as soon as the winds were dying down, you all were out there again. And God bless you for that. And I really mean it because it really does impact everyone's lives and we sometimes take it for granted. You know, you open up your faucet and water comes out. You flush your toilet and it's supposed to flush, right? And you have your drinking water and your streets and everything else that we take for granted, it takes a lot of work. And so I thank you for doing that work, for making sure that we are on top of the things that we need to do. I, every neighborhood meeting that I go to when there's a public works person there, the questions are unbelievable. And the amount of death and knowledge on subjects that you all have blows my mind. Because I don't understand the system is so large and people have no idea how many pipes and you know and the lay of the land and where water goes and what you do with it and how you plan for the future, it's huge, it's such a huge system. I've said it before, I'll say it again, the most difficult job in the city, really, truly. You do. And people's passions run passionate when it comes out to this subject. They're either very mad at you or very happy when you show up and fix the problem. As you all know, so again thank you for all you do for our city and for our residents. Thank you. You got some energy school? Thank you. Thank you for the proclamation and thanks to everyone here and beyond in public works for all that you do. You are some of the biggest unsung heroes across the entire city and you have such a great impact on our daily lives. Inside the home and as we you know go out and about around the city. During the storms, yes, as Vice Chair Hannah was mentioned, you guys were there, some of the hardest work was done by you before, during and after, and even now, today, trying to get things back to normal. I wanted to take this moment to have something along to Marshall if you don't mind. Last month, I just have a confession to make. Last month, I was recovering from surgery and I had a couple weeks where I couldn't drive and they encouraged me to walk so that I could because that would lead to a faster recovery. So I was out walking and I live in Coquinaqui and I mean it felt good so I just kept going. I was like forced gump out there like, vlogging this stuff. You know, I just kept going. I was like, for us, gump out there, like, log in the steps, you know, I just kept going. And I had my phone with me, so I would see click fix, you know, if there was a sign that was, a street sign still bent from the storm, and there were still a lot of them. And I totally understand like, for that's one neighborhood, the whole city has to be, you know you know looked at so I was putting them in and I'd walked by the next day like 24 hours later most of them were fixed the only ones that weren't where we're a sign was actually missing and it was a street signs probably had to be made even that was done in just a few days so I want to let you know that was me. Oh, yes, me. Yes, me. I understand. So, and if any of you were in the room that had to go out there and keep doing the signs, thank you. But yeah, I was like, man, if they find out it was me, they're gonna be like, God, when is she going back to work? Yes, me. Yes, me, oh. so impressed. And I was like oh my gosh Marshall's just got it going on. I mean you all of you have amazing departments and I can go on. I just want to use this as an example of you know I wasn't testing anyone. I wasn't on a rampage, I was just walking. And you all just responded in an amazing way. And my neighbors noticed too. And so I wanted to thank you for doing that. And I'm sorry if it just caused a lot of extra trips out there. I'd you're feeling better though. Yes, I am. I am and I And I'll admit I still have some that I'm going to put in, but I'm trying to space them out more. So might still be me, but I'm trying not to do like five a day at this point. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks. And then finally, I wanted to mention that next week is National Infrastructure Week, all week long. And I haven't asked, but I'm hoping that the administration, public works and marketing have a plan to maybe highlight some of the projects and some of the real successes and the challenges that you've ever come that really help us to set an example during infrastructure week. So I look forward to hearing more about that and helping to really broadcast how fantastic our Public Works Department is and the great contributions that you have to our city. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Councilmember Driscoll, I'm pretty sure Marshall just said, tell me that you're not walking without telling me that you're walking. I know. Now they're going to get them and they're going to be like, oh God, Gina's out there again. Gina must have went on a walk today. I didn't think about that. Claude, thank you so much. And to everybody that's here, thank you. You know, there was a couple of things that we talked about that I just want to kind of double click on real quick. And thank you to everybody that's here. My first thought when everybody stood up Claude, when you acknowledged the team, was that I bet there are some people watching it on TV or maybe they go back and watch this and they go, the whole team's in the room. Except that, how many employees in public works Claude? We're dialed just under a thousand. Yeah. Because I saw the number on Tuesday. And so a thousand. Yeah. Because I saw the number on Tuesday. And so 1,000 employees of a 3,500 person organization are in one administration. You're seeing a piece of it. And that's not to take away from the people that are here by any means. But the size of the organization because of the size of the operation is incredible. And so to each and every one of you, the responsibility that you have, thank you so much for continuing to do it on a daily basis. And for all the work that you put in on the size of the operation, we need you. We need you, we need you, and we thank you. The other thing I would say is I have a little bit of a different lens when it comes to not being seen. I think people in public works are seen, but they're not noticed. And because I see them a lot, and I'm blessed to be able to notice that, oh, there's STPO doing a sign or a pot hole. There's water resources working on a mainline or fixing a stormwater drain, the whole nine yards, right? All of those things, I feel very blessed that I notice them. And here is my ask to the general public. One, start noticing please. And two, do me a favor and say thank you. Go up to them because I, here's, we joke about Parks and Rec. And they get noticed, right? There's an interaction there. and I think a lot of times there are the forward facing employees organization of St. Petersburg just as important all jokes aside and to to council member heartings point maybe more go up and say thank you to the people working in your front yard on your road in your stormwater drain on your main line on a stop sign on a stop light Just say thank you give them a wave Because they deserve it because I think they're seen, but I think sometimes they're not noticed and we need to notice them more And so Claude thank you, and I hope you I hope you feel seen today and and now it's my mission to make sure that you feel seen every day and so thank you for all the work It's been said about the snorms and all those things I We are forever in your debt. I will say that so thank you for all the hard work mayor Thank you for bringing this proclamation cloud. Thank you for leading this organization into the entire team A heartfelt big big big thank you. Thank you everybody. Okay last but not least we're gonna go to D5, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Proclamation brought to us by Mayor Welch. Thank you Mr. Chairman. I was going to ask Claude and John if there was something in the water today. As they were exiting going back to work. As they were going back to work, just let me echo Council's thanks to our public works department. As we move on I I'm pleased to welcome some familiar faces to City Council today. A little over a year ago, I met with various members of the Asian-American Pacific Islander community for a word with Welch Roundtable. Now that conversation led to the planning and scheduling of the first ever Happy Festival, HAAPI, which is scheduled for May 31st at Albert Wood at Park. The Happy Festival stands for honoring Asian American Pacific Islanders, and it will be a family-friendly event celebrating the diverse cultures, foods, and entertainment that represent the Asian diaspora right here in St. Pete and Tampa Bay. I'm joined by our communications and community engagement managing director, Aliza Pundzel and Randall, who I call AP, our staff and committee members and members of the public to present this proclamation. And I'm honored to read it. And it reads, whereas during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we acknowledge Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. We've lived in work in the United States for more than 200 years and amazing significant contributions to all facets of the United States, such as economy, healthcare, public service, arts, culture, education, military, literature, science, and technological developments. And whereas Asian, American, and Pacific, Islander Heritage Month was first designated in 1978 with the passage of a joint congressional resolution and highlights two significant historical milestones. The immigration of the first Japanese people to the United States in May of 1843 and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in May of 1869, an achievement largely attributable to the Chinese immigrant workers who laid its tracks. And whereas the city of St. Petersburg is proud to join in a national celebration of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and welcome the opportunity to celebrate their rich culture and heritage through events that invite people of all backgrounds to experience these cultures and develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the role Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have played in our nation's history and continue to have in today's society. And whereas the City of St. Petersburg treasures its long- standing relationship with Takamatsu, Japan, our sister city for more than 60 years and our exchange program remains a special opportunity to embody the deep rooted connection between our cities and St. Petersburg's commitment to cultural enrichment for young people and their families. And whereas Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are integral to our history, our culture, and respective communities locally and beyond. Now therefore, I, Kenneth T. Welch, Mayor of the City of St. Petersburg, Florida. Do hereby proclaim the month of May, 2025, as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in St. Petersburg. I also urge citizens, government agencies, institutions, businesses, and schools to celebrate the contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. That's the applause line. We'll have some comments from two of our guests, May, Jenny, from you, SF, St.P. and again, from Parks and Rec, Andy, she. Please. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Chair Gertis, Vice Chair, Handle Week, and Council Member for this Proclamation andnation of the Diverse AAPI Committee. I am my Jenny, like Mayor said, I'm from USF SankP and I'm also co-chair for the committee. Last April, like Mayor said that we had this meeting called the Wirt with Welch and during this meeting it was expressed that there's a desire for a getting point to celebrate the communities. In Sinjin we have formed a community made up of community members, city staff, resulting in the happy festival. Which is May the first. Please come out and support us and it's from three to 10 so It's after work hours so Then may already explain what the AAP a happy festival is so I won't go any more detail about that But I just want to highlight the reason for the festival is to highlight a different culture that we have in the city. And this is a very beautiful city that we have here. And what best way to show those culture and buy food through food, music and arts. So we have here a few members from the committee, Dexter who has to leave, because he has another meeting. He's from I Love the Bert, Chris Lee from Mega Night. And then Andy Chi, Susan A. Jack, Eliza, Panela, I hope I pronounce the right, Panjalan Randall from the city. Ferdin Japp, Pierce Events. So those are some of the committee members on our team. And then we just want to say we appreciate the city of Saint Pete in particular, Mayor Welch, for your support in this ongoing effort to engage in the AAPI community. We look forward to this exciting and continue meaningful work we can do together because we all thank you. Mayor Counsel, on behalf of the city employees, I appreciate this resolution that was given to us today. It's a great honor. And we're a group that we have here. We've been working very hard to get this festival going. So again, thank you very much. And we look forward to having a great event. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for bringing forward this proclamation. I'm glad you brought up food. I'll only speak for two of us that are serious foodies that will take any recommendation at when it comes to Hawaiian or Pacific Island foodie. We'll make sure we put that on the list fast. But just thank you so much for being here and celebrating with us, Mayor, thank you for bringing this proclamation. Thank you for continuing to have an open door to have discussions with community groups such as this and just so proud to not only have you as a part of the fabric of St. Petersburg, but so proud to celebrate you today. So thank you so much for being here. Applause Okay, we are going to move into reports and we're going to go to F1 and employee recognition committee annual update from HR Chris Golello. Thank you, Chair and Council. It's a pleasure to be here today to not ask for money for one thing. I appreciate that, Chris. To be able to celebrate our employees and of course all the great work that the employee recognition committee brings to the table. So for those of you who have seen this presentation in years past, you know how enthusiastic and energetic Jennifer Jorn, who is the chair of the employee recognition committee is. So for this year, I've decided I'm just going to step aside. I can't match that. I'm going to bring him over up here, let her lead the presentation. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome, Jennifer. It's's great to be here before I forget Happy Mother's Day to all of those moms who are still in here. So thank you for bringing up the slides. So Chair Gertis, thank you for being our champion. Vice Chair Hannah, what's has gone chair and administrators in the room. Thank you for being here. So if you could go to the next side please. Oh I get to do it. Awesome. Yay because I have fly ins and stuff. So this is great. Okay. So this is our committee. We are comprised of 14 people. All of you I know can read. So what am I going to call out here? Two really important people. Our MC and my right hand guy, Sean Druin, effective this month has been on the committee for seven years, which is good. Oh, wow, it's good. I boys Sean. I know, yeah. Yeah. And then my right hand gal couldn't do it without her Belinda Ross representing HR. So you have all this. So thank you for everything that you did. All right. Okay, next. And so So for the actually council member Harding, you've never seen this presentation before. So you guys all of you else have. So I'm going to kind of fly through this a little bit, but feel free to ask questions at the end. So composition, we moved to an administrative-based composition a couple years ago, which what does that do, a cast-surnet wider, as opposed to departmentally-based. And we've got, as you could see, we have a really, really great crew. We meet monthly at different city departments, different city locations, so then we all get to see like, what's happening over in water resources with the new building that's going on, because that's where we're meeting this month. And then of course, linear who's in golf courses, we get to meet up at Mangrove Bay. See what's happening up there in the golf courses. I know many of you were there in January. January was a very atypical ceremony. So I'll get to May's ceremony. Don't worry, you will not be there till noon. You will probably be out of there before 10. But we are celebrating, we are recognizing 35 employees, usually our list is about 75, 76, it's only 35 for the may list. So please, I strongly recommend, encourage you to attend. Our mission, this is the only thing I'm really going to read. Acknowledge city employees for efforts that go above and beyond their job descriptions and to recognize them for extended years of service. So we really do two things. The ERC does two things. We meet on a monthly basis with the exception of July where we will get nominations for all intents and purposes for kudos. And then what we, for job well done, and then what we do as a committee is we decide do we need to elevate that up to a bench Shirley, which you'll see award descriptions here in a second, or servant leadership or innovation. Kudos on steroids is the Sunshine Award, so any employee who has been recognized twice in at least twice in six months will be recognized with the Sunshine Award. And that's regardless of whether it's a citizen recognition or peer recognition. So here are our different categories. Again, you guys can all read this, but I wanna give you a couple examples. So in some of this was intentional with regards to Water Safety Month. So our last, I'm actually gonna go right to Servant Leadership Award. Our last Servant Leadership Award was by the aquatic staff at Walter Fuller. They didn't save anyone in the water, but they saved somebody on the Pickleball courts. And then they called them people. But it was to their astuteness in helping this gentleman is why he's still alive. And that was back in 2023. And that was our most recent Servant Leadership Award. We are most recent Ben Shirley, who will be recognized at our May ceremony. It actually happened in my neighborhood was a sanitation employee who saw a young child, three or four years old, wandering, you guys on 38th Avenue over by distant Plaza, right near over there, by himself, and called 911. Police was there immediately, waited till the young boy was reunited with his parents. So that was an above and beyond, he was on his regular sanitation route. So that is a bend surely, named after the former director of sanitation. We are excited that we may potentially have an innovation recognition this year. And the key there is there is a monetary reward that goes along with that. And the process is we have somebody, it's a pretty involved process. There is an application, it's about 10 pages. The director of the department will recommend this staff member. The employee recognition committee will review it. We will make our recommendations to Chris Gulla, and then from there we determine whether or not the individual is recognized with innovation. So hopefully fingers crossed, we will see that in September. Okay. So, Employee Recognition Year-Over-Year Review, this is my favorite stuff. So last year we recognized 330 people, again with kudos, sunshine, Ben Shirley, etc. Our self-imposed goal was 350. So we hit 94, I gotta put these on, excuse me. We hit 94% of our goal, which is fantastic. We absolutely would have exceeded that goal, but we tanked quite candidly in September and October and we all know why, right? So this year, year to date, this was through April. I just put our May agenda together because the May agenda includes all of the nominees. I'm going to put it in perspective for you guys. In 2023 we recognized 163 people. In 2022 for the year, that's for the year, we recognized 62 people. On May 14th at our next ERC meeting we are reviewing 62 Okay? Yeah, so it's very exciting, exactly. So we will, so that'll bring that up to 121 if I can do math. There's math and then there's jet math. So maybe 121, 129. So will we get over that three? We might, but again, this is just a self-imposed goal. So not quite 50 nominations, it's 62 nominations for the month of May. Oh, and this is kind of cool. So stormwater sanitation, parks and rec, ironic that it is stormwater stewardship month. So there's been a little juggling since we got the main nominations in. Stormwater is still at the top. So I just want to let you know. All right, Stormwater Seal at the top, sanitation, water resources, parks and rec and building, and collections rounds out the top five. All right, so on my fly-in slides. So we worked very hard, I think we worked hard, and I think we worked smart, meaning the ERC team. This is by far not my decision, not Chris's decision, but we wanted to make a change to our awards. We wanted to modernize them. We wanted them to really not be the 1970s high school kind of award. Yeah. So all of our years of service plaques now include our flag. This was very intentional with regards to the lettering. So as you can see, 10 years of service, the recipients name is in black. 15 years of service, the recipients name is in red. 20 years of service, the recipients name is in orange. So we're following the colors of the flag. We realized we had some feedback. I don't know what this means. So Belinda had the great idea. Why don't we include a description of what that is? So anyone who receives a Years of service plaque or you'll see the other awards has a description of what that award means So they can and then we're also including that information in our program So mr. Sun 35 we all love our mr. Sun, 35 years. This is the Pelican Award. Although not local, we're still in the Tampa Bay area, the provider is out of lutes. And then, our red pelican after the pelicans on the pier for 50 years. So, what do I love best about this? As we celebrate Small Business Week, we are working with two local women-owned vendors here in town to provide the bases and Mr. Sun as well as Mr. Pelican or the Red Pelican. And that is through 3D printing, which is really super cool and Mr. Sun. So these are who we are using. What else helps? They saved us a ton of money. So we are being fiscally prudent with regards to how we are spending our money and recognizing our employees. We continue to work with Kawakafi. They've been a very generous partner of ours and we'll be partnering with us this year and hopefully again next year and back to the middle one, new ERC members. We continue to have genuine interest for people wanting to join the ERC and I think part of the reason We are growing our nominations is the grid is a lot easier to use so marketing so a shout out to marketing for launching the grid Mr. Gertriss here Mr. Robert Gertriss has nominated six six times so thank you for using the grid to do that I have to call that out which by the way I need your RSVP because you're going to be recognized in May so I need that by the 14th So the grid has been a real help with that So please take a look at who you will be because everything goes up And then within a day after I get it up in the grid you'll see everyone posted on it which is awesome So here it is, the grid, all you have to do when you go on, St. Pete, what is it? The grid, St. Pete, the little thumbs up, click that and it'll take you to the Kudos page and you can submit a nomination. This is internal as a reminder, the grid is an internal tool, there's a jot form on the city website or people can email kudosatststp.org. Okay? All right. In addition to streamlining, modernizing our awards, Nadia, who is, I'm going to say my left hand gal over in Department of Technology Services, took it on herself, jumped in immediately when one of our members went out on maternity and has revamped our programs. So I love the idea that we're doing a different color for each ceremony so you can see in September it was teal, January it was dark blue and maybe we go with orange or something in May. But she's done that and she's done a fantastic job. So it goes without saying we have our committee members and we are visible, we are at our ceremonies but there is one gal who is behind the scenes and does a fantastic job and I'm calling her out in public. She knows I'm doing this is Ginny and Stasi, who is our technology support person. I would not be where I am on the grid without her support. And one thing that you'll see on here answers all my questions and then answers all my same questions. Because I had a lot of same questions that I just kept answering. It was a big transition going from Kudos intranet to the grid site. So she has been absolutely tremendous. And actually, I submitted Kudos for her this month. So again, behind the scenes, you mentioned, I think it was Vice Chair Hannah West, you're behind the scenes, or Chair Gertis, behind the scenes with Spirro, Ginny is the same way. She is behind the scenes, but she is an engine and a spine for us. Before I pass it off to Kristen, I wanna let you know that the ERC committee works, we have volunteers that worked with Kristen, who again did a fantastic job with the employee appreciation events, with party on the pitch, and with the employee recognition day or employee appreciation day at the Routes. It was great to see those who were there. And we hope to see it maybe in June. I'll be there, I guess sweating a lot, because it's gonna be hot. Go Routes, but I'd like to pass this off to Kristen to talk about the new workplace culture team. Good afternoon, council members and city leaders. I am here to just give you a very brief overview of our new division in HR, which is really exciting. And I have the privilege of being the manager of that division. So when I asked to do this, I thought, well, let me just give you an acronym because we live in acronyms in HR, so why not start a new one? So our new kind of approach is grow with us. And what that stands for is to gain appreciation of each other, of our city employees, resiliency and building strength through adversity, opportunities for training and promotion and working towards a brighter future. So to just give you a couple of examples, what might fall under these categories, with gaining appreciation, our employee appreciation events, and really just opportunities to get together outside of our traditional work day, to say hello, a lot of our employees move around to different departments so to get to see sort of old friends from other departments is really nice and we have more events to come as well as like individual department pop-ups to just share information, share information and resources with employees on a daily basis, really. Resiliency and building, strength through adversity, we have more informal mediation programs, if you will, to assist our employees with working through tough situations, conflict in an informal way versus, you know, the traditional grievance formal complaint avenues. So giving more opportunities to sit down and have really meaningful conversations, which has proven to be very, very helpful and valuable. We also have developed a care team to provide and reach out to city employees in times of even crisis like with our hurricanes. Our employees were, you know, the backbone really helping our citizens through a lot of hard times and those employees, as you know, we're also going through their own hard times. So having a support team in HR to reach out and provide help to our city employees directly. And we'll continue to do that even when it's not in times of crisis, but just to have another support mechanism. We also have quickly grown our training opportunities for employees. So all the way from a brand new servant leadership academy, going very well includes formal training but also a mentor, a new leadership mentor program that we have as well as we have resume writing interview skills classes and everything in between. So we've really ramped up our opportunities for training and setting out clear career pathways. That's another area that we're really working on now is to make sure that employees who do want other opportunities in the city understand what skills they need to build and we provide those opportunities to build those skills. So that's That's also going very well and we are hopeful to launch some new opportunities come the next fiscal year. Finally working towards a brighter future, we all want to do that. And so we have seven inclusivity councils that are operating with our administrations doing amazing work with some really cool new projects that are gonna make really wonderful impacts and really just promoting quality of life and supporting one another through programming but also just kindness and support every day. So that is our, that is our kind of outline of what we're working from and I hope to see you at more events and also you'll be seeing some invitations to us because our city employees love to see you there as well and love to interact that's one thing that we have found is they really embrace just learning more about you what we're doing on a bare scale too. So we appreciate your time and I'll turn it over to Jen. One more comment as you say future. So at our April ERC meeting, one of the gentlemen who was right, he was from Spitto, I use acronyms all the time to store more to pavement traffic operations. Just went through the Mayor's Future Ready Academy and he was recognized with Akuta. So I wanted to call that out because it's working. He was a team of 14 and it was fantastic. So that's all I have. Thank you very much for your time. And thank you. This is really important. Thank you for your continued support. Showing up at the ceremonies is really important staff. and employees really like that. And again, I promise you, it's 35 RSVPs. Usually we have a 50% hit, so it might be said. up at the ceremonies is really important staff. And employees really like that. And again, I promise you, it's 35 RSVPs. Usually we have a 50% hit, so it might be 17. If you're not out of there by 10, I'll buy coffee. All right, so that's Chris. That's the coffee's free. Yeah, I'll add the energy part. Thank you, Jane and Kristen. That's really all we wanted to present. So we appreciate your support over the years. And if you have any questions, certainly we're here to answer. Well, thank you so much for the presentation Chris Jen Kristen always appreciate it Really really enjoy I would I it's not quite there But I would put the employee recognition ceremonies up there with the senior Hall of Fame It's a bunch bunch of smiles, great stories, great, the award stories. It's just the same type of thing I walk out with my face hurting from smiling so much. I think part of that is the pictures too, but also the stories and just seeing, again, the same thing, seeing the family, seeing the friends from their organization be there to support them, it's all amazing and love being there and certainly you're going to continue to have our support. Vice your panelist. I just want to add an echo with the chair saying the coolest thing about the ceremony is seeing the interaction between administrators, directors, everybody from above down and that camaraderie, that we don't get to see here in Chambers, but we get to see it there and see individuals and people loosen up, right? right and see the personalities come out and the funny stories that happen both ways right and so that is really appreciated and that's why I love going there and I'm sure that's the reason why other council members really also love to be not just to celebrate them but to actually get to know them as human beings and individuals so I really appreciate all the work that you do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the update. Okay we're going to go from reports to our second open forum. Do we have any speakers for open forum? Okay, we'll close open forum, any announcements, council members. Council member Gabbert. Thank you, Chair. And first of all, happy Mother's Day this weekend to everyone out there. I always say it doesn't really matter if you are a natural mother or just someone who cares for someone else. However, you show up, you deserve to be celebrated. So happy Mother's Day to all the caregivers in our community. And then secondly, chair, I unfortunately will not be with you all next week because it is the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council's Resoniency Coalition. It is the fifth annual Resoniency Coalition, so we are very excited. We have a large two-day event that has a lot of speakers. We're bringing in people from all over the country, experts in the resiliency space, talking about topics, everything from permitting to infrastructure, to mental health after a storm, to heat, to tree canopies. You name it. If it is in resiliency, recovery or rebuilding, we will be talking about it next week. So I will miss all of you, but I will be with the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and we'll look forward to bringing you back some good information from that summit. So thank you. Thank you. Yeah, thank you for representing not only the Steyes Council member Gavard but our city at the Tampa Bay Regional Plan Council. We know that work is near and dear to your heart and we also know that frankly you're becoming an expert in the field as well. So thank you. Unfortunately, unfortunately. Unfortunately, you know, so thank you for all the work and I'll just repeat it. Actually, one quick thing. I wanna thank my colleagues for the work this week. I know we had a long day on Tuesday. You know, it's a relatively long day of committee meetings and council meetings, although today's council meeting was a lot of celebrating. I just appreciate all the work and the dedication from all of you. I thought Tuesday was just a really, really good meeting with all the feedback and then committee meetings this morning, same thing and just very, I'm walking away this evening, very appreciative of all of you. And then I would be remiss if I didn't echo Councilmember Gabbert, a just happy Mother's day to all those moms, the standing moms, the dads that have to be moms, all of the above, and certainly specifically to my mom, my mother-in-law, and to my wife for being the mom she is to our children. I just want to say I love you and happy Mother's Day. Okay, if there's nothing else for the good of the order, City Council is adjourned. Thank you everybody. Thank you.