The Neighborhoods, Community Services, Public Health and Safety Committee met on Monday, April 20, 2026 at 9:30 AM in the City Council Chamber. Chair Mike Gay presided. The meeting convened at 9:30 AM and adjourned at 10:49 AM. Members present: Gay, White, Salem, Miller, Amaro, Boylan, Clark-Murray (excused late arrival). Also visiting: CM Peluso. The committee considered 30 agenda items, including an ADA presentation, public comments, and numerous ordinances and resolutions.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Monday, April 20th, 2026 neighborhoods meeting. I call the meeting to order, and we'll start with introductions to my left with Mr. Delaney. Good morning, Bill Delaney with the mayor's office. Brandon Russell, Council Research. Mary Stepopoulos, Office of General Counsel. Philip Peterson, Council Iris Office. Good morning, Michael Boylan, District Six. Randy White, District 12. Mike Gay, District 2. Good morning, Chris Miller, at large group five. Ron Salem, group two at large. All right, thank you, everyone. We'll go ahead and uh open up for public comment. I've got two speaker cards at the moment. Uh I'll start with Belinda Carter. Uh you'll be given three minutes. Uh I know you listed on here items that are not on the agenda, but since you've gotten up come early this morning, we'll let you go ahead and speak. So, Miss Carter, you'll have three minutes. I don't see Ms. Carter. We'll go ahead and go to the next one. Mr. Carnell Oliver, come on up and you'll have three minutes. Give your name and address for the record and speak to the items you have on your card. Thank you, sir. Uh, yes, my name is Carter Oliver. Address is on file. I want to speak to a couple of different bills. Um, I'm gonna have to wing it because I can't get my phone act right, but there's a couple of economic development projects dealing with downtown urban core. And what I want to do is I want to codify language within it that enforces the 1866 Civil Rights Act. Right now, we live in underneath the black code still to this very day. Because we've been buried, black Americans have been buried underneath the 1964 act, oppressing economic development. There are not a lot of key elements in the structure of this city that needs to be addressed. And I think there may be needed for an ordinance on the books that puts the 1866 Civil Rights Act at the forefront. Because as I'm looking at a number of these projects from 2026, 0223, any amount of projects that are out there has money tied to it. So that brings black Americans to the table to take take in on some of these developments that are happening in our community. I think it's about time that we have those discussions because we've been overlooked, we've been deprived of our economic freedom, and we have been bending the knee to other people to take advantage of the things that we establish in this country. I've said this before. Black Americans are America first. Outside of us, this country wouldn't be what it is now. And it's time that we reap the benefits of a country we built first. And I want to say that with real sincerity. This is an opportunity to justify a lot of wrongs that have been done to my lineage. And I'm asking once again that y'all consider these particular economic bills and crime stopper. How do you plan on benefiting black American communities? How could you codify this into the neighborhood bill of rights? And I yield my time. All right, thank you.