The Gulfport City Council held its regular meeting on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, at 6:00 PM at Gulfport City Hall. The meeting began with an invocation by Councilmember Christine Brown, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call, with all council members present. Key items included presentations on a PSTA board appointment and a new homeless outreach partnership, public comments on city services and infrastructure, and unanimous approval of a tree ordinance and two resolutions.
Welcome everyone to the December 5th, 2023 regular city council meeting for Gulfport, Florida. Our invocation this evening is given by Councilmember Christine Brown, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Please join us in rising. Good evening. Thank you all for being here. Um I want to read something from an uh a book by Robert Fulgram, who is an American author. He's written several books. He's 86 years old. And I think it's a good time to um like clear your soul and get back to a simpler time, and remember the holidays are full of love and not stress. So he writes, most of what I really need to know. I learned how about how to live and what to do and how to be. I learned in kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandpile at Sunday school. These are the things I learned. Share everything, play fair, don't hit people, put things back where you found them, clean up your own mess, don't take things that aren't yours, say you're sorry when you hurt someone, wash your hands before you eat, flush, warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Live a balanced life, learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work some every day. Take a nap every day. When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together, and be aware of wonder. Thanks. One nation under God and individual with liberty and justice for all. All right. Roll call, please, city clerk. Councilmember Brown, here. Vice Mayor Ray. Here. Councilmember O'Hara? Here. Councilmember Thanos. Here. Mayor Henderson. Here. In for City Attorney Salzman, Attorney Murchy. Here. City Manager O'Reilly. Here. City Clerk Carico, present. All right. Got a couple of presentations this evening. Um, we have uh Thomas Reed, who's vice mayor of the city of South Pasadena, right next door, who's here to talk to us about uh consideration for his uh representation on the PSDA board. Good evening, it's mayor read. Thank you. Council members, very nice to see you. Some of you have known for a while, and others have met for the first time this evening. It's a real pleasure. And I spent a lot of time in your beautiful city, and I drove around admiring the Christmas decorations before I came in and Gulfport never ceases to amaze. It's a beautiful town. As you know, the cities of Bel Air, Bel Air Bluffs, Gulfport, Kenneth City, Seminole, and South Pasadena share a seat currently on the PSTA. Councillor Jim Oliver of City of Seminole served with great distinction and has chosen to resign and move on and retire out of the area. So the board seat is up and running. So myself and Joa Charles, Joe Barkley, excuse me, are both seeking the seat.