Mayor Pro Tim Cat Six Tatum to uh preside, please while we do our proclamations.

All right.

The Chair recognizes Councilmember Castillo recognizing the month of August as Civic Health Month.

How are you?

Good afternoon, colleagues.

Today I'm excited to recognize August as Civic Health Month and a partnership with the Harris County Department of Education.

We have a number of folks here that will uh be present while the proclamation is presented.

And uh as someone who's had a career in public health, this is something that uh I'm passionate about knowing the connection between our civic governments and our physical health.

So with that.

Whereas August is nationally recognized as Civic Health Month, a time to highlight the vital connection between education, civic participation, and the well-being of individuals and communities.

Well-being and learning are deeply connected.

Healthy students achieve greater academic success and informed civically engaged communities, lay the foundation for better futures for all.

When students and families are informed, engaged, and empowered to participate in civic life, they strengthen the nation's democracy by helping to shape policies that affect schools, neighborhoods, and public health systems.

Whereas this August, the City of Houston, together with the Harris County Department of Education joins hundreds of organizations nationwide, including public health networks and educational institutions, celebrating the power of civic participation to transform communities.

And whereas the city and the Harris County Department of Education recognize that empowering community members to become informed advocates for policies that promote educational excellence, community health, and equal opportunity is essential.

Harris County Department of Education and its civic engagement team partner with various City of Houston departments, City Council members, and community organizations to promote civic education, share voter readiness materials, and encourage community involvement throughout Houston and Harris County.

This partnership, parents and families with local resources such as health screenings, library services, and community events, including resource fairs, naturalization workshops, and candidate forums.

Whereas as we celebrate Civic Health Month this August, the City of Houston calls on everyone to commit to ensuring that every student, family, and community member has meaningful opportunity to help build a healthier, more informed, more civically engaged Houston and Harris County.

Thank you, Councilmember.

And you give us this opportunity to recognize Civic Health Month and uh it's a national uh mission, and we're doing it right here in Houston, Texas, and you're making us slow down and recognize it.

But what I'm really excited about is the uh the staff that's joined us.

You know, we couldn't have Civic Health Month.

We couldn't have our daily obligations and responsibilities to use telling me about each and every one of you, and there's probably hundreds of other employees that you're representing here.

So thank you for what you do on a daily basis.

It's very impressive, diverse group of uh staff from the education department over at our friends at the county and certainly Houston Health Department.

So just a lot of we're very blessed to be here today and able to gather and recognize the Civic Health Month, and thank you, Councilmember.

So therefore, I add John Whitmeyer, Mayor of the City of Houston hereby proclaim August 2025 as Civic Health Month in the City of Houston.

Thank y'all.

Well, good afternoon, and thank you, Mayor Whitmeyer and City Council.

Um, I'm Danielle Bartz, Chief of Staff to County Superintendent James Colbert, and we want to thank you for recognizing Civic Health Month.

At the Harris County Department of Education, we aim to close the gaps in public education, and we do that through early childhood head start.

Uh we do that through after school and summer programming that you all are very familiar with with Case for Kids.

We do that through adult education, um, ESL GED workforce certification, and we do that through special education and alternative campuses.

And we're thrilled that for the last year and a half, we have had dedicated members of our team to incorporating civic engagement and education into all of those service areas that we do all the time.

And so we know that civic health is more than just voting.

It is um uh HCDE knows, and we are committed to the idea that civic education can begin at any age.

So for us, civic education looks like Head Start parents sitting on our policy council and advocating for their littlest learners.

It looks like those little baby learners voting on what snack they get in class.

It looks like our after school kids going on field trips to the art murals around the city and discussing the community concerns that the artist is expressing.

Um it looks like mock elections, and it looks like community meetings in partnership with some of these organizations here with us today, where we are making sure our adult students know what elections are coming up and what community services are available to them through offices like yours.

So, this proclamation recognizing August as Civic Health Month just reminds us that Houston finds value in well-informed civically active community members, and so we're proud to be part of that network of civic engagement.

We are proud to carry the message of Civic Health Month throughout our services in Harris County, and we're proud to continue the work alongside you all at the city.

So thank you for recognizing us.

Thank you.

You guys can't do that.

Next, the chair recognizes Councilmember Davis for a proclamation to the U.S.

Coast Guard to celebrate their 235th birthday.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim and Mayor and colleagues.

It is indeed an honor.

And before I start, let me let me ask that uh Commander Kelly Brown, oh very good.

And Doc Lachandra Jones.

She's she there we go.

Come on up, Dr.

Jones, who our director of military uh veterans affairs out of mayor's office.

We are always indeed honored, and certainly for me as a veteran and always to recognize the great men and women who give their lives and protect all of us, no matter where we are, what we do, uh, and the cost of people who make millions and millions of dollars, and uh, but that they work for little or nothing, because I know I lived it, but I'm always indeed honored to recognize our own forces.

And today, Mayor uh and colleagues, this is an honor, certainly to those who protect our shores, and certainly the boundaries around uh our shores in the states of the United States of America.

Um, this is to the United States Coast Guard.

Uh, even though it's the fourth, but we know the day is not the fourth, but whereas on August 4th, 1790, the newly independent United States established a fleet of cutters to prevent smuggling, collect revenue on goods, entering the country.

These cutters marked the beginning of what would become the United States Coast Guard, the nation's oldest continuous uh seagoing service.

And whereas originally known as the Revenue Cutter Service, this small but vital organization merged with the life-saving service in 1915, and officially became the United States Coast Guard in 1967.