The Dunedin City Commission held its regular meeting on May 8, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at Dunedin City Hall, 737 Louden Ave. Mayor Maureen 'Moe' Freaney presided, with Vice Mayor Jeff Gow and Commissioners Tom Dugard, Steven Sandbergen, and Robert Walker present. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m.; approximately 84 people attended.
Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the May 8th, 2025 City Commission meeting. I'm gonna call this meeting to order. We've got a full house tonight. There you go. And uh, we'll start with our invocation with Jen. Let us begin this meeting by taking a brief moment of silence and reflection for the family of Gregory Martin families of Gregory Martin and Manny Cootsarias. Amen. And then I'd like to call up uh Adeline and Mason Gregor. There they are. They are the grandchildren of Commissioner Sambergen, students of Curtis Fundamental, and they will lead us in the pledge. I pledge it. And we're raised and justice for all. Thank you. Great job. Thank you, Adeline. Thank you, Mason. We appreciate it. Let's give them another hand. They did a great job. I don't know. How'd you get such cute grandkids? Come on. Shout out to Curtis Fundamental if you're here. Okay. Um, we have a lot of presentations tonight, so we'll get started with those. And our first one is very important one Teacher Appreciation Week Proclamation 2025, and I'm going to turn that over to our liaison vice mayor Gao. Thank you, Mayor, very much. I would like to call up Katie Ducharme to receive the proclamation. While Katie's making her way to the podium, uh just wanted to acknowledge that I think everybody in here has firsthand knowledge of the value of teachers having been raised and gone through the system yourself somewhere in your community. I was a teacher. So education is strong in our background, born and raised in Dunedin with the San Jose Elementary, Dunedin Middle School, Dunedin High, Dunedin High School, Go Falcons. So not only did we all go through education, but it's extremely personal to a community and the value that education and teachers play in the role in the community. So it's certainly understandable that we celebrate them with Teacher Appreciation Week with a proclamation, and I see some awards up here, so other things to follow. Sure. Come on, Phyllis. I'm on their committee. Teacher Appreciation Week. Whereas teacher appreciation week is observed nationally during the first full week of May. And whereas teaching is a profession that requires the ability and desire to impart knowledge, creativity, patience, and persistence, and to adapt all learning environments for all students. And whereas teachers dedicate themselves to their students' academic success as well as their social and emotional well-being. And whereas, because of the changing needs of young people in our schools, teachers must be constantly learning and evolving their methods of instruction. And whereas, besides parents and family members, teachers are the single most influential individuals in the lives of our students and their future. And whereas teachers inspire the next generation and make it possible for kids to realize their potential. And whereas devoted teachers in Dunedin are working countless hours and putting forth extra effort to help students achieve preparing them for future education, their workforce, and their civic duties. Now, therefore, I, Jeff Gao, by the virtue of the authority vested in me by the mayor of the City of Dunedin, and on behalf of this entire city commission, to hereby proclaim Teacher Appreciation Week May 5th through May 9th, 2025, and encourage parents, students, community partners, and citizens to show admiration and gratitude for the teachers in our schools. Thank you so much. This is so exciting because these last few weeks here in Dunedin, we have really been celebrating our teachers and our educators. So I feel like I should be turned to all of you and say thank you for everything that you do for our children and for our schools. And these last couple of weeks, we had a wonderful teacher's breakfast of the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation. We hosted a breakfast with the golf club.