Good afternoon.

We're gonna go ahead and can I get everyone's attention?

Thank you all so much.

Um good afternoon, and I want to say thank you all so much for being here today.

But before we get started, since we have so many ministers in the audience, I'm gonna ask Pastor Gundy if he would come and lead us in prayer.

Oh, I don't know.

Thank you for this paper.

Thank you for this moment.

Thank you for the yes having a lot of everything.

Go up with something that's important for all of us.

That's what we try to do about this data.

That's this world if we live.

So I think we'll go call.

Amen.

And thank you so much.

I know you are always ready.

All the pastors are always ready.

So I think we all know why we're here this morning, and so we had a finance meeting on Tuesday with the finance committee, and there was several discussions regarding the closure of Win Dixie on 48th in Maine.

Um, I don't think we need to go through a whole lot.

We already know why we're here, and I just want to go ahead and get started and thank my colleagues for supporting me in doing so.

And before I get in the discussion, I'd like for us to go around the table and introduce ourselves so our audience will know who we are.

So we'll start on the end with Councilman Carlucci.

All right, thank you, Councilman Joe Carlucci, City Council District 5.

Ron Salem Group 2 at large.

Councilwoman Jacobi Pittman, District 10.

Good morning, Jimmy Peluso, City Council District 7.

Good morning, Raw Areas, District 11.

Morning, Nick Howland at large, group three.

Philip Peterson, Council's Office.

Terrence Harvey, Office of General Counsel.

Okay.

Thank you all so much for introducing yourselves.

And as I mentioned earlier, not only do we have City Council representatives here, we have the representatives from the administration office, the chamber, community partners, and an opportunity to discuss and weigh in on the closure of Win Dixie, but as we know it now, it has made a commitment to remain open.

And some of the other things we'd like to propose in the amendment is the protection measuring relationships to the ordinance 2026, 0326 and the economic development agreement.

And to my colleagues, we had a vast discussion.

Recommendations that you all made, and you all have showed up here today, and I am most appreciative.

And not only that, we have pastors and we have residents and stakeholders in the community to let us know that their voices need to be heard and that we need to have uh space at the table.

We also want to remember that it's important that we have jobs.

Um there were several people that worked um in the Win Dixie, um, who depended on having jobs that live in the neighborhood.

And also, we want to make sure when Wind Dixie is over that it's it's stabilizing the community.

And when you stabilize the community, those of you all know that we deserve that because District 10 has gone through a lot of inequities, and we want to make sure we want to keep the assets that we have in our community and the surrounding areas.

So I heard uh the Win Dixie representative advise us that they were very interested in staying, and we want you to stay as long as you keep that store open, and with that said, um, to have practical solutions regarding that.

So together, let's open up this notice meeting and talk about what we came here to talk about today.

And before we get started, colleagues, I'd like for um Mr.

Wallace to come up to just kind of give us uh a summary of um the the bill and following him.

We'll also have Mr.

Mr.

Ed Randolph, and then we'll open it up for some questions and talk about the amendment and also open it up to the audience.

And that would be the order.

Um colleagues, y'all jump in and ask questions as we have um the presentation.

Is that all right with everybody?

All right.

All right, thank you so much, Mr.

Wallace, for being here this morning.

I know you were out of town and you were trying to get here, and I really appreciate you being here this morning.

Yes, ma'am.

Um good morning, Andre Wallace, President of Jackson State Partnership.

It's a pleasure to be here before you.

Um, and this is important um to the community.

It's also important uh to me professionally as well, as I started briefing you all around about March 17th with regards to the conversations that we've been having with uh Win Dixie.

And some of the things I want to talk to you about is number one from the deal structure standpoint.

This is to retain their corporate headquarters in Jacksonville for 15 years at 550 Edgewood Court.

Number two, it's also to retain 500 jobs in Jacksonville at the headquarters that would be at Edgewood.

Number three, it is to create 200 new jobs at Edgewood with an average annual salary of 100,000 per job.

Number four, the company will invest 17 million dollars into the Edgewood Court headquarters itself.

And number five, the company will invest 48 million dollars into Win Dixie stores in Duvall County.

The 48 and the 17 is a total investment of 65 million dollars by the company.

What has been before you that will that you will discuss?

The company is also seeking to invest and keep the store at 201 West 48th Street open, for which there's an amendment language that has been put forth by the attorney to councilwoman Pittman for consideration today, and hopefully through dialogue with you all as well as the community that there will be conversation that hopefully this will be taken to either your process either back to finance or if you so choose to bring it before full counsel at any given council meeting for discharge if you choose not to go back to finance committee.

That is your call, but that is what is before us today for consideration and for further discussion.

But I want to clearly let you know being out of town, I heard you came back and want to make sure that talking to the company that we put forth language that I think addresses what I saw on the tape Tuesday evening and make sure that we got that to the company and got language back to you.

But that's where that's where it stands today.

Thank you.

And so who would be the representative today to talk about the amendment after Ed?

Is it gonna be you or was it I think it's more appropriately that an attorney talks about the actual amendment itself and walk you through what it actually says, then questions can be had from either Ed or myself.

Okay, okay.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

And so um I appreciate that presentation and overview.

And secondly, I'm going to ask Mr.

Rick Randolph if he would come and discuss it from a weekly standpoint in the agreement.

Sure, good morning, Ed Randolph OED.

Um, so I think you know Andre summarized the project well, and really um, you know, collectively, we're really looking at the 200 new jobs at 100,000, the 500 existing jobs of which total about 70 million in um overall salary in the market, which we do not want to lose, especially in an economically distressed area.

And then um, as it relates to the store, the conversation we had on Tuesday, glad to hear the company's willing to keep the store open.

Um, and the two other stores in economically distressed areas.

We've also made sure in the agreement that if they were to close that they would need to be reopened within 18 months in that particular area.

So collectively, um happy we're here today with the with the proposed amendment and uh happy to take any questions.

Um, any questions?

Okay, um if you okay, if you can go ahead, Jimmy.

Thank you, Ed.

Um, and very happy to see that there's there's this amendment.

So I'm very grateful to you, Councilwoman Pittman.

Uh so you said if a store closes in a specific area that there must be a new one open in 18 months.

What is how close do they need to be from where that store closed?

Um it needs to be within that economically distressed area.

So um I'm not sure specifically we put the actual distance in there.

So um I'll need to look, but um so that that's probably very important.

So the economically distressed areas if we're using the federal HUD guidelines.

It's like it's it's a bunch of portions of a zip code.

So if it's just that portion of a zip code, that could be less that's probably less than a mile.

So that's that would make me happy.

I just want to make sure.

Go ahead.

Sure.

I'm sorry, it's a quarter of a mile.

Quarter mile.

Okay, that that's pretty that's pretty all right.

Yeah, I appreciate that.

I just want to I want to clarify that for the audience to hear in the event that a store may close.

And to to that point, a store may close because like the rent that's being uh for that store has gone up significantly.

So sometimes it is financially unhelpful for that store to remain there if they're being fleeced by a landlord.

But to do it, you could make it smaller, that's an option, but also size of the store might impact the ability for it to be solvent too.

So for it to at least be within a quarter of a mile, that at the very least makes me feel substantially better.

Correct.

And to the counts to Councilman Peluso, um, with that, we did you know contemplate six to eight months having that turnaround in a new store, but understanding as you just mentioned, sometimes there's not available space in that neighborhood to accommodate a store of that size.

So that's why we um gave them 18 months to relocate that store within that economically distressed area for that very reason.

So is it the announcement of the relocation or the physical moving to that reload?

Physical moving.

Okay.

Go ahead.

Thank you, ma'am.

All right, um, Mr.

Randolph, so everything sounds great in paper and in theory, but I I truly don't even like it at all.

I don't like any of it at all.

I'll tell you what I don't like.

I don't like the fact that we're talking about in three years from now.

If we pass this legislation now, we have no control in three years from now.

They could easily leave from that location.

Um, it could be examples such as leads going up.

So my question is who's the landlord?

I want to be in communications.

I want to know what kind of conversations they're having to make sure that it truly is because of the lease going up or whatever the case is.

Number one, um, we could also make the store smaller, have a smaller footprint, right?

Any restaurant tour, any hospitality, if things go up, just make your footprint smaller.

You don't need a 50,000 square foot store.

I don't know what the size is, but I'm just giving you an example.

The second thing is um 18 months is way too long, way too long.

If you know your store is closing, trust me, you'll know well in advance.

So you start making the pro the the steps to actually open the next store up.

Don't wait till you close to then say okay, we're gonna look for a store now.

Yes, a site may not be already available, but at the end of the day, if you're doing if you're being proactive on it, trust me, work a year in advance, you'll get that store ready to go.

So if we're gonna have the provision of 18 months, I'm not voting on this once again.

It needs to be within a timely manner to make sure that they don't have a food desert for almost two years sitting in that in that district.

All right, that's one.

Well, that's more than one.

Um, and then the last thing is I have more to go on national bill of sell, so I'll hold that to the end.

But because we're talking about this, I want to make sure that we change this amendment um to to signify that hey, you guys have like three months to get your store open.

I think that's another amendment entirely.

Right.

All right.

So I'll I'll hold off the rest until more conversations.

But just want to let you know on that part.

Thank you.

I will say to count Councilman Arias, um, I'll I'll go ahead and defer to the uh company's representative here as it relates to that.

But to your point, uh, we did uh express um that we wanted to have that finality as to where the new store would be in uh much more expedient manner than 18 months, but um you know I understand your reasoning behind the amendment.

Yeah, I'm sorry, Ms.

Pittman, but here's the thing.

Once again, we're voting on this now.

After that, we have no control.

We have the control now.

So I want this in writing now, is what I'm looking for.

I want to be sure that they know we got their back and they have nothing to worry about.

Once I'm gone, once whoever's gone, they have nothing to worry about.

So we need that in black and white.

Okay.

Councilman.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Pittman.

No clapping, please.

Thank you.

What are the provisions for this particular store and other stores where you maintain a certain level of meat produce of a traditional store?

I know there were discussions earlier in the week, I guess it was, where if you can't keep this store, maybe you can make a smaller store.

So I want to make sure that the store that remains there continues to be a full service store like it existed before you began before they began ramping down.

And and if that kind of language is needed for other their other 17 stores.

I mean, keeping a store open is one thing, but keeping a store open as a full service store would be my concern anywhere in town, particularly in this area.

Sure, Councilman Salem.

Um, again, I would defer uh you know it's your um, you know, if you want to offer that amendment, um, and again I will go ahead and ask the company representative to uh speak to that specific issue.

Um, but personally I feel free to obviously make that amendment, but I well I we'll have to defer to the count you know to the company representative on that.

I'm not sure what the language needs to be.

I mean, I use the term full service, I'm not and I don't know which of these stores have pharmacies, if any of them do, and which of them do not.

No, unfortunately, that was another item that we uh addressed early on in the conversation with Win Dixie was the ability to at least have a pharmacy in any of these stores, but they are no longer um in the having pharmacies within their stores.

So that's that's not something okay.

Well, then whatever language we need to have that says uh groceries, meat, cold, produce, uh I would ask the uh attorneys to help draft some language that reflects all that that Wendyxie is comfortable with, and and to make sure too that it's in the right section of the the legislation.

I know there have been questions regarding you know opening up uh um a pharmacies, but I understand that they have gotten out of the business.

So you know, today is as I said earlier, we want to stick to why we're here um today and get OGC to give us the right language.

Can I add one other point while I have the mic?

Yes, you can.

Yeah, I think to try to bring this to council Tuesday night under a discharge is too much.

I'd want I would want all this to come back to committee where we can look at it one more time in less than two weeks and make sure we're comfortable with all these amendments before we pass it to the council.

That's I mean that's up to the president.

I understand that, but I I know there's been discussion of a discharge and with all these moving parts.

I I I think that's a bit much.

Yeah.

And I'm not sure if we can do all of that by Tuesday, as well.

I knew that and that takes the support of OGC to do that.

Um, did you have a I do?

I have some comments.

Um, listening to all the discussion?

This council spends a lot of money and it takes great pains to make Jacksonville a wonderful place to do business.

We have a low cost of business, we have a high quality of life.

We should therefore make it painful when companies ask for money to stay.

And I think we've done that here.

Um, however, if we make it too painful, they'll leave anyways.

Um and one very important thing is this ordinance started with uh related to Win Dixie's headquarters, not its portfolio of stores in Jacksonville across Florida writ large.

We've extended that and demanded that this store stay open, and that's great because we've won that battle and that store stays open in that part of the neighborhood.

And I I praise Pastor Gundy and all the the neighbors who came out from the community to do that.

Um so I support this bill with the amendment as discussed.

If councilwoman Pittman supports it, um but not just um because they stay, but because remember they're putting sixty-five million dollars into their facility over in Lackawanna.

They're adding 200 jobs over to their facility in Lackawanna, and if they stay, there's 550 jobs there who are which are preserved.

So for me, um, if if we can get resolution on this amendment and get agreement, I actually would push for potentially asking the president to discharge it so we can vote on Tuesday.

Why?

Because Pastor Gunning made a statement in his prayer where he said he hopes we can get to a solution that benefits the people, the city, and the company.

And you know who's this grip victim group here, uh, as long as this continues are the 550 people wondering if they're gonna have a job at that at that headquarters in Lackawanna.

So I would like to see us come to a conclusion, solidify that this store stays open and and get this done as quickly as we can.

Councilman here is okay for the first time.

Oh, go uh, sorry.

All right, thank you.

Um, Carlos.

All right, thank you, Ms.

Birdman.

Um, is this the amendment?

Yes, okay.

Where does it say anything about 18 months?

Uh, Council McCurly, that's in the agreement for the other stores that are in the economically distressed areas, in that the store that we're talking about today uh was one that they had planned to close prior to us finalizing the economic development agreement.

So we understood the importance of stores in the original bill.

I'm sorry, it's just in the original bill.

Is that what I'm hearing?

Correct.

Okay, okay.

Um and then can someone define it says, you know, amend section 3.1, section four, whatever companies shall use commercially reasonable efforts.

What does that mean?

Uh I will go ahead and let the um representative from the company speak to that.

He's the one that drafted this particular amendment.

Please.

Good afternoon.

Uh Josh Aaron Fellow from Foley and Larner.

Um, I mean, the language is is meant to apologies.

Is that better?

Yeah.

Sorry about that.

No, the language is meant to ensure that that we do everything possible to obtain uh a new lease or to maintain a location in that spot.

Um we uh our lease expires in 2029, and so we know we're limited by the contract we have in place, and all we can do is put forth our best efforts to extend it or find a new location.

Uh within that.

My concern is just there's like wiggle room on that.

I mean that you you're I guess uh you know uh commercial attorney or whatever um what is a reasonable effort.

I mean it's it's what's not a reasonable effort.

You know what I'm saying?

I'm just being on it.

I mean I'm this is a real question.

I'm not trying to reasonable effort would be we would approach our landlord, we would we would work with them as much as possible to get them to come to a resolution to give us an extension or a new ease term, we would find a new location, or we'd try to find a new tenant to put us a grocery store there and maintain.

Yeah, I'm not worried about it after your your lease is up, but that it says commercially commercial commercially reasonable efforts to maintain or secure an extension.

So, like the maintain part, do you have any concern there that you aren't gonna be able to maintain that in your current lease?

You already locked that up.

That there is no concern, right?

You're already done.

No, it's it's the maintain is to maintain a store after the lease expires.

Okay, okay.

To try to get someone there or us there after we are formerly no longer allowed to be there.

Okay, alright.

That makes you feel better that it's post-lease, not maintained during lease.

Okay, cool.

Um, and then the 18 months thing, whatever.

And um, you know, my concern is it's Friday, and I don't know, you know, on Tuesday, it's I feel like there might be a little bit of committee work that's gonna happen on the floor.

I mean, that that doesn't bother me per se.

We've had a short committee weeks, um, so I think council has the potential to be a shorter meeting.

Um, I think at the end of the day, I just want the neighborhood protected.

I want Win Dixie to feel comfortable with it and to get everybody on the same page.

If that's doable by um, you know, Tuesday or Monday, then so be it.

Um, if we need to hash out a few more, you know, nitty-gritty details in committee, then that's fine too.

But I assume are you kind of running point on this, Ms.

Pittman?

And yeah, so I I would definitely say that based on the conversation we had uh during the meeting.

Um I was in terms of the conversation that they wanted to keep the store open, right?

And I think you know, um, being that we had the conversation in the meeting, what the residents in the faith faith community wanted was the store to stay open.

But again, I'm gonna be gone, and what I want to make sure that's done before I leave is that the language is correct that this store would not be closed in three years.

That was my main concern.

Okay, and so when I read the um the proposed um amendment, I was I was I approved it and I was okay with it, but I don't want them saying, you know, after you know two years, we still can't find a place.

I want to make sure that we put language inside of the amendment to ensure because if that store is closed, there's nothing else between Main Street to Eastside to close to my colleagues' um area.

So I I don't want a small store, we want either a medium-sized store, a large store to accommodate what's in the community.

It is an older community.

Um we have a lot of seniors along Moncrief, where we've increased, you know, trying to get transportation in that area, um, so the seniors will have an opportunity um to shop.

So, you know, maybe the question to OGC if they could get the language um done before Tuesday.

I'm okay um with moving forward, but I do want to hear from the residents that are here today before we make a decision, okay.

All right, that's fair.

Thank you.

On the second time, um, councilman Ayris.

All right, thank you, Ms.

Pittman.

All right, uh, so I I 100% agree with council vice president Howland.

Um, I really want to make this happen for both parties.

I think it's critical that we focus as well, not just on like in business.

Like I said this the other day, we're not just here to sell, we're also here to retain jobs are important to make sure that our community is still thriving.

So I see that obviously when Dixie is gonna be a big uh catalyst in our community, however, everything else that I said earlier still stands, and it's the principle for my judgment and how I'm gonna vote.

So I do have a couple um statements and comments and questions here.

So I'm gonna treat this as an LUZ committee, right?

And if anybody you guys understand what LEZ means, land using zoning uh PUD.

A PUD is where we negotiate, very simple.

We're here to negotiate.

So as council member Carducci just stated, there's a lot of wiggle room in this language, a little bit too much wiggle room to make me comfortable.

Um, so in order for us to truly approve this, we want to make sure that you guys put the best foot effort uh the best foot forward to make these efforts to reasonably uh stay there with your landlord.

In order to achieve that though, once again, my problem is that we're not gonna have any input.

So I would like to have language written in there, Mr.

Harvey.

I'll send you all this by email.

But part of that effort is that you're gonna meet with a community before you decide not to, and to see why you're not going to, or if you are gonna renew, and then also, maybe, I don't know if this could happen, but also have it be sent to committee as well, so that way we as council members know what the heck is going on before you guys decide to potentially close the store in three years from now.

So not only are you gonna have a community meeting, but you're also gonna have a committee meeting as well with us, too.

Because at the end of the day, these dollars, if I'm not mistaken, Mr.

Harvey or Mr.

Peterson, but these this is a five-year commitment on our part.

Every year we're giving them money.

At any given point, we could also stop the money too, right?

Let's say year three.

Am I not mistaken?

Part of the cash incentive part.

It's uh through the charity council areas.

So the headquarters retention is a five-year payout, but it's also a 20-year rev grant.

Right.

So the point is we could stop the money at any given time.

Should we feel that that quote unquote best effort hasn't been met by you guys?

I'm not saying it won't because I I trust your judgment, but once again, a lot could happen in three years.

So two things.

I want a community meeting.

Second thing, I want it to be sent back to committee meeting so that we as council members could have once again another round of conversations.

Should things not go the way the committee wanted to go.

That's one.

Second thing is um we talked about the new potential 200 jobs.

Great, 100%.

Yes, let's do it.

But let's also not, those are more high-level corporate jobs.

I'm more worried about the 65 to 85 potential workforce jobs that we as a body constantly fight to bring to our city.

And here we're shutting down a store which six has 65 to 85 potential jobs that are gonna be lost.

Those are the jobs I'm worried about.

I don't care about the hundred thousand dollar jobs.

I care about the workforce jobs, the jobs that daily, everyday people do, right?

My friends, my cousins, everybody, our friends do.

Those are the jobs that matter the most to me.

Not the not high-level executive jobs.

The last thing, well, two more things.

One more thing.

The last thing would be in here it talks about um commercial uh commercial reasonable efforts to maintain the store and all that.

But nowhere here does it say maintaining the store reasonably stocked, or better yet, fully stocked.

I heard from the community that the stores like you walk in there, it's already a desert as it is.

I want that store in here in the language to say it's gonna be maintained as a regular operational store fully stocked every single day, all the way to year number three, till the last day if you had to shut down, that's the one day that I'll allow you guys to not have anything on the shelves.

Till then, it needs to be stocked, and I don't see that in the language here because as it is, that store is not stocked right now.

If we walk in there right now, it's not stocked.

So I want to make sure that you guys are doing right by your community, not just leaving it open, but also leaving it open it stocked.

So um, Mr.

Harvey, that's another thing I would like to add.

Once again, I'll compile this and send to you by email.

But um, once again, it's about retention.

I want to make sure that we work with you guys and give you guys what you want, but we need a community.

And yes, I I understand one more thing is that this was done prior to you guys deciding to close, but at the end of the day, like it goes back to my my statement last earlier this week.

We're giving you guys over 12 million dollars in incentives.

I don't really care if it was done if you decided to close the store a day later, a day prior or a year prior.

The fact of the matter is you're closing a store after we vote on this.

It's not that you closed it already.

You're close, you're gonna close it after we give you guys money.

That's where I'm having an issue with this.

So um I I do appreciate you guys making the effort to keep it open.

Um, but once again, um that's just where I'm at.

So and I will I I will definitely support this on Tuesday.

If it gets to Tuesday, if everything's done.

But if it's not done, which I don't think it will be, then I think it needs to come back to committee.

Thank you.

Councilman Jamie.

Thank you.

And uh first thing I want to say I do not think this should go to council on Tuesday.

Absolutely.

No, this is not ready for prime time.

I don't know why it only went to one committee.

I really don't.

I don't know what the council president was thinking.

Um, this is a very big incentive deal uh with a company that has a lot of history here in Jacksonville.

And and I know council member Howland had said, you know, oh, we should make it tough, but not too too tough.

Totally understand that perspective, but we should make it really tough, especially when it comes to a to a to a company that is a grocer.

And we talk about food deserts in this city for we've been talking about it for decades.

And so now we actually have an opportunity to ensure that a grocer, a reputable grocer, mind you, that has called Jacksonville home and has made its great success because of the the awesomeness of being in the city of Jacksonville.

It's it's about time that we make sure that that what residents have been asking for for years can get met through this incentive deal.

That's what I keep suggesting.

So I'm very, I'm very gr uh glad that a lot of my colleagues have said that we probably should send this to to committee again.

I agree with Councilmember Salem and Council Member Areas on that.

Um I think that if if to the point of what council member Arias said about 18 months, I think six months makes a little bit more sense.

I don't know if that's fully acceptable to the company, but I think six months is probably you are gonna know if you're gonna close down a store, you should be able to open up a new one within six months of that time.

I think one quarter mile should be deemed in this specific language, a specific amendment in terms of uh shall use commercially reasonable efforts um to be within one quarter mile.

Let's just define it right here.

That way if they because admittedly, I know if they are getting fleeced by their landlord and their the landlord's clearly gonna be watching this on TV.

They're gonna know that this store is of high value.

So I want to make sure that they that it does make sense, um, because I don't want them to now cut employees just to be forced to be in that space.

Um I think we should put in definitions for what a fully uh a full full service grocer is, which does include fresh fruit and produce, as well as uh a functional deli with um uh fresh meats.

Um so I think that should be defined in the bill.

I also believe that we should define uh uh fully stocked, right?

We just have the city only versus.

Listen, what they're doing in New York is not so bad.

What they did in Baldwin is not so bad, anyway.

Um, so those are those are suggestions I have for the amendment that's on the table.

I have another amendment that I was going to offer, and another reason why I want this to go to finance.

I believe, especially while we have Wendixie here, that we discussed adding more grocery stores, specifically in the 32209 zip code area.

And so I am willing to offer an amendment.

I kind of wanted to get uh people's thoughts in here.

We do have the Northwest Trust Fund.

Um in the many years in the in the in the several previous years, we've we've done incentive deals out of the Northwest Trust Fund for grocery store expansion.

I'd be willing to add an additional incentive to uh Win Dixie if they open up future grocery stores within 32209.

And I and I want to craft that language a little bit better by the time it gets to finance, but I'm willing to accept that it might not be financially easy to do right this second, but if within the next five years they open up a grocer or two, I'd be willing to have there be another incentive.

That's good public policy, and so I I wanted to have that conversation with my colleagues.

It's one of the reasons why I wanted this this meeting as well.

And that's that's something I will offer as an amendment, but I I just kind of want to get people's thoughts.

Is that something that other people would agree with?

Because I I know when you drive up Kings, there's not a grocer for for a very long time.

And I'm very grateful that we're gonna be keeping this grocer.

Thank you very much for that, this store.

But but there's other parts of our city where there are many, many deserts.

So I'm going to be offering up to one to two million dollars in incentive for new stores that'll be open within uh the 32209 area.

I kind of want to get thoughts.

Thank you so much for that.

Um Councilman Carlucci.

Thank you, uh Councilman Woman.

Just to, you know, I'm sitting here, I'm hearing a lot of these comments, and um just keep in mind, guys.

You know, we can, like Councilman Arias, we can we can put whatever restraints or we can ask for whatever restraints we want, but this is a business.

And I own a business, and you gotta understand it they could just say, okay, cool, we'll keep the store over here, we're just gonna close these three over here.

Because we can't control their business.

Right.

And and that's that's where I'm kind of leaning where we might want to pull back on the throttle just a little bit because I run a business and I know if I'm painted into a certain corner, you you can fit in that corner, but stuff's gotta give.

And I don't want to start to Councilmember Peluso's point where they're cutting employees just to make this one store stay there.

We want the store to stay there, and I think they're putting forth a reasonable effort to make that happen.

Um, I think we're putting forward a reasonable effort to make this work for everybody, but I don't want to get into a committee meeting on um whenever Tuesday, two Tuesdays from next week or whatever, and it just gets so difficult.

And let's say they did agree to it, and then, you know, down the road, they're having to make tough decisions just to meet this one thing.

So I just wanted to air that out there and have my colleagues kind of just think on that.

But otherwise, yeah, I think we put it back in committee, make it smooth, and you know, iron it all out.

Thank you.

Yeah, Councilman.

Thank you, Ms.

Pittman, and and I agree with uh Mr.

Carlucci down there.

Uh Win Dixie is a privately owned business, it's not a government-owned business.

The only reason we're sitting here allowed to ask for a concession, like maintaining 201 West 48th Street store, is because they've come to us and asked us for an incentive to not only stay but to expand.

So if we don't give them that incentive, they don't have to do anything.

They can move to Orlando and close all their stores if they want to.

So we need to be very mindful that we don't go too much further.

And if Councilman Peluso wants to introduce a piece of legislation that we introduce city-owned grocery stores, by all means, let's let's see how that flies.

That was for fun.

You're going to do it now.

Okay.

Listen, I I I heard you, so let's let's see what your amendment is.

I'll be quick.

Okay.

Um yeah.

Uh so I hear both my colleagues right here and all the way in the far right over there, nothing.

Your far right.

Mr.

Joe Carnucci over there, right?

Um, and you're right.

Uh this is a privately owned business.

You know, if my business was applying for city dollars, I would have to do whatever I had to do to maintain within the compounds of the city restrictions.

At the end of the day, they don't have to do anything if they're not asking us for money, but because they're asking us for a substantial amount of money, we do have leverage, which is why we're doing this.

They're doing on their part their good faith, but at the end of the day, I still don't want to diminish the fact that we are giving them 12 million dollars.

Let's not forget that part.

Right.

So I don't want them to also be put in a position like Mr.

Palooza said that we're now they're gonna cut corners be in order to stay there because if my business was there, I'd also be like, oh great.

Now I'll have to do this.

But well, there's a will, there's a way.

I think there's a will from their part, and definitely I know for a fact there's a way, and also there's a commitment from the city.

So we're all doing this together right now to make sure that we come to happy medium, but let's not forget the fact.

The fact is we're not forcing them to do anything.

They're coming to us for money.

That's it.

That is a fact.

All right.

Thank you.

That's a good comments for my colleagues, yeah.

Um, like I know Jim Jimmy, you have uh an uh amendment.

Yeah, I I just wanted to kind of I wanted to get people's thoughts on that, and I also want to see if Win Dixie would be even interested in something along those lines if there was uh a new part of the agreement that would allow for an even higher incentive if you opened up more stores in 32209 or in these distressed areas.

We'll define the distressed areas better.

But is that something that would be of of interest?

I have to get excuse me.

I have to get back to them and ask.

Uh, one of the concerns I think is has been brought up is certainty for the the existing employees of the store support center and their headquarters um trying to get that kind of sorted out.

So certainly it's worth a discussion, but I I just don't know what they would what they would react to.

And the point being is this would not this should not be something that would harm the current deal that exists right now.

I'm just trying to get it right now while we're talking about food deserts and and this this incredible company that we have something in an agreement as of now that my colleagues could vote on and I can vote on to see if there's an opportunity for for later expansion of different grocery stores.

And that's that's just something that it shouldn't harm the agreement right now, but uh but I want to make sure that you understood what my amendment was, bring it to to to the folks, and and I want to see if my colleagues would even entertain that.

Councilman's salem.

Uh thank you, Councilman.

Councilman Peluso, I I think what you're trying to do will complicate this deal, and we're gonna be working on this for the next two months.

Um I'm not uh I'd like to see more grocery stores in 32209 as as you do, but I think we're getting a little beyond our scope here in this particular deal that's been negotiated and and I think we've done a wonderful job of keeping this store open.

Let's don't let's don't go too far here, yeah, and and get this deal so bad that we don't have a deal at all, and there's a lot of good stuff in this bill.

So, my my if you want to get into that, I think that's separate legislation or separate discussion with Win Dixie, but I would not complicate this deal with that with that provision.

That's just my thoughts.

Okay, otherwise, I just I just want to retort to that.

I think a lot of these communities have been waiting for a very long time from different large-scale grocers um to sit in a room with them.

And if we're going to waste that opportunity, right?

Like, okay, maybe it could be later legislation.

But we've been talking about food deserts for a very long time.

And we have not had like uh to right.

I think you're kind of hearing it from the crowd.

We we have an opportunity, it's meant to be an additional incentive.

So it's not meant to harm the current agreement.

It's just to say on paper, we can we can provide more if you guys start working with the city and with the community to open up a few more stores.

They don't need to be of the same size and scale, maybe of the of you know 50,000 square feet.

But like the deb store is pretty successful, and that's not exactly a giant store, and it's been it's been a great local grocer.

I'm just saying I don't want to waste this opportunity.

So I'm you want to um before go ahead.

I'm because I want to kind of start wrapping it up and getting um some comments from the president.

So I Mr.

Producer, you bring up a great point, but to Mr.

Sanders' point, I don't want to hold this up any more than it already is.

However, I think that the conversation that started now, we have that gentleman Ed Randolph's right there.

I think what we need to do in the future, maybe next year, uh Mr.

Vice President, will be talking to OED to see how we could create incentive packages for Ed to offer grocers to open up more stores.

We have that have those.

Well, maybe they need to push it more.

I don't want to force Wendixie to be the only people that's having open stores.

That's not fair to them either.

No, it's not.

Um but I think Mr.

Randolph, I think um you hear the the narrative here, and I think we want more stores in those areas.

So I think your department should really push that throttle a little bit more harder uh moving forward too to open up more stores to get rid of these deserts.

Thank you.

So I'd kind of like to wrap it up.

Would you like to respond to that before we move on?

One point I think I'd like to make is that you're a hundred percent correct in that right now the the assortment in that store is is dwindling down.

It's because it was scheduled to close in about two weeks.

As of Tuesday evening, we started restocking it and have been moving emphatically to get it back up to speed.

So we're effectively turning on a dime to reverse engineer what we've done.

So it should be um within the next few days, ready to go uh and and back up to stock as fast as we can.

So that explains probably the reason it was not looking very well stocked previously in the last few days.

And and I can tell you that I have been there myself.

Um I live not far from there, and that's why we're here today.

Um I'm very concerned, but I don't want to get what we came here for today, and that's why I mentioned at the very beginning, I want this kind of stay on target and why we're here today, right?

I understand we won't I want I would like to say yes, I would love to have other um grocery stores, but uh we can't put that all on you all.

I think today um what we heard on Tuesday from the um community is what I want to deal with today, and and so from what I heard from you all in the discussion, and of course we have um OGC here that hopefully we can put some of those um discussions that we talked about today.

Um my main concern is that I didn't know that you all were closing, and I think I shared that with you all in less than 24 hours, um, your team got back with me to say we're not gonna close the store, especially it's a high performing store.

When when you said that part, that got my attention, right?

And so if we can just kind of deal with what we came here to deal with, it's to keep the store open, um stock it.

I do agree we need fresh, more fresh produce in the store, um, a little more cleanliness in the store, more lighting, like other your other stores, um, like in Gateway.

Um, I'd like to see that.

I think the signage is important.

We have a very uh we have a new apartment complex right in front of the store.

So we need to make sure that we have assets in our um community that's in close proximity.

So, colleagues, I would tell you, in terms of the amendments, any conditions, um, you know, that some of you all said today, but I don't want to put, Jimmy and I know you, you know, in your district, you're having some issues as well, but it's more than Wendixie, right?

And some of the stores, as you all know, um, not gonna come in some of our communities.

We know that.

We know that stores like banners are the ones that stay in the smaller neighborhoods.

And so I don't want to get in a conversation about you know, tit for tat.

What I want to know is that this store is gonna stay open, and at the end of the day, before I'll be gone next year, but I want to make sure before I leave that it's inside the agreement that you're gonna know before three years that whether you're gonna be able to stay or not.

And I'm hoping that you made that commitment to make good on your commitment.

And so today, I know you're you're probably not the person to um say yes, but at this time to see this store stocked up.

Um holidays are coming up soon.

We need to make sure these stores are stocked up.

Um, and I'm glad to hear that you started immediately.

And of course, we set this meeting up within 72 hours, and we are here.

And so we all have had an opportunity to share.

I'd really like to open it up to the community and some of the faith-based communities there and public comments.

And so, if you all have anything else to add right now, um, Mr.

Randall.

Yes, I just wanted to clarify to Councilman Aries' question about there is a structure.

The administration has a food desert program on the books right now, so it could be better funded, but we currently do have a vehicle to get to uh attracting stores to areas such as uh 3209.

Okay.

Thank you.

And and I also want to ask you about the one, I know we mentioned 13 stores, those are renovations for those stores.

Is that correct as well?

Uh that is correct.

Okay, and that includes the one on Moncrief and the one on um Main Street.

Is that correct?

Correct.

All the stores, yeah, all 13 stores will be getting 48 million.

That's where the 48 million is going into that investment into those stores.

And what's the average um for the renovations for the stores?

Um they didn't supply us with a specific number.

I'm sure it's gonna be different for each store based on the needs, the age of whatever the refrigerators and whatnot are.

So we don't have that breakdown, but collectively, their commitment is I think it's a total of 48 million uh all in for those 13 stores.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

So I'd like to have our first speaker, if you all, as you come to the podium, your name and address, and we are going to have, since we have quite a few, we're gonna do two minutes.

And I know most of you all that I see out there, it's not gonna take you um a whole two minutes to let us know what and how you feel.

So our first speaker we have is Miss Lydia Bell.

All right when they start.

Two minutes after you start talking, please.

Good evening, Lydia Bell addresses on foul, president of Metro Garden Neighborhood Association in Brentwood.

What I find so amazing is that ever since this issue has come up, I've been hearing things about the stores closed and because of low sales, the close stores closing because of theft.

And if anybody wanna hear from a 20-year resident of Brentwood who have shopped at that store for 20 years, I don't find that store dirty.

You have a, if you all do open that store, please bring the manager back to that store, the district manager.

I have even told him how clean the store be.

It'd be waxed.

I know when he's around because that store is always clean.

I don't have no problem with the vegetables.

That is, and then for people to have supported that store that is functional, that's a profitable store.

Why are we being abused like this?

They should show us some appreciation instead of coming out there saying we're just gonna shut it down and close it.

And then with these two senior citizen buildings, of course, we didn't know anything about, but two additional uh senior citizen builders are coming, which would bring more business.

So we need to see some appreciation out there for all the stuff.

That store has been around, I think, for about 40 years.

I've been shopping at that store for about 40 years, but I have lived in the Brentwood community for 20 years, and I've been shopping at that store for 20 years, and I have no problem.

But I would like for it.

If it's gonna be um uh if they're gonna stay in the community, we need to know exactly how long they're gonna be there.

And if they are leaving, bring another store back.

I never want to see that building as a food dancer.

Just have someone to come out there and let us continue, let the Brentwood community to continue to give that store, any store to come into that area some good business like we've been doing.

Ms.

Bell, would you state your address, please?

530 Limwood Avenue.

Thank you so much.

Next we have Denise Scott.

Good afternoon.

Um, Denise Scott, my address is on file.

I don't have much to say you all.

I'm I'm in I'm proud of you because you're having this discussion.

I don't want you to rush it though.

I do want to, I just want to say that the city wants to give taxpayer monies to a store that's making profits.

I mean, their incentive, they said that if we don't give them this $12 million, then they're gonna leave because they want to put in 65 million dollars for doing stuff at their headquarters.

That's extortion.

Now I would tell you that I don't agree with a lot that councilman Diamond says.

I did not have that on my bingo card to agree with him this year.

But he said, and I agree with it, this is corporate cash out.

Now everybody wants when this is the state, especially if you say that's a profitable place.

But come on, we're gonna play.

We want jobs to stay, but no, you can't keep pushing out money to people that's gonna buffalo you to bully you if you don't give it to them, they're gonna close the store.

Let them go.

Especially if they're not, they're not giving, they're not saving a bunch of big little jobs like um Councilman Pelusi said.

You want to keep the high-paying jobs.

A lot of my friends don't have those jobs.

So you sell a lot of good stuff, but they cannot buffalo you.

And please do not rush this.

This cannot come upon a vote on Tuesday.

You've got some more talking to do.

But I appreciate the talking.

Thank you.

Cornell Oliver.

Oh, yes, my name is Carter Oliver.

Address is on file.

What I'm gonna say about this deal, I'm not really for it.

You know, is extortion like the young lady say.

If I want real return on investment, do not put me underneath the sword for my head to be cut off just because you want to reward a corporation.

My thing about when I look at this deal and as it stands right now, kill it.

Let them walk, let them find a new location.

Because here's a concept and idea that I'm thinking about.

Since Jimmy Peluso wants to run his mouth.

He wants to give eight million dollars, I think, to a corporation.

How about we give eight million dollars to the Brentwood Association?

They can manage their own store.

They hire an asset management company.

And what they do, every dollar that is generated in our community, they could use that to invest in whatever they want.

They control their own situation and without even have to defend their rights of being black Americans.

And when I look at incentive packages, I want more incentive packages.

Lineage based.

Linage base gets us away from DEI because most black Americans are foundational in this country.

So if Ed Randolph can get off his butt, get with the general counsel's office and start looking at terms of lineage-based incentive packages in this city.

I want my people to start owning the things that we built in this country.

I am 1866, and I stand proud as a black man.

And for us to sit that'll be ran over by a corporation, I'm not gonna go for it.

Let them go to hell.

Mr.

James Matchett.

I don't have much to say.

Y'all said it.

That's what they expect when they come to City Council to see y'all fighting for them.

So I'm gonna give you kudos.

I know y'all understand.

I give it to you when you when you don't get it, and I give it to you when you do, and y'all did.

But here's some things that I want to understand.

I get it.

You're right.

We need to try to retain all the jobs and we could bring.

I'm skeptical about 200 jobs.

200 corporate jobs as a private business owner ourselves myself.

I understand at the top is where we cut first.

So we bring in 200 jobs that most of our community don't qualify to get, so we'll never see that 200,000.

We do have an opportunity to address food deserts.

I'm not gonna try to run Win Dixie business.

They do good.

Because between 21 and 24, they made over $9 billion a year in annual revenue.

So this is this is not a desperate thing for them.

As somebody who traverse around the country and speculate on property, Jacksonville is prime per square foot to buy anything.

It's hard to find the kind of dollars that you can buy per square foot in Jacksonville anywhere else in Florida.

So it is just as much a benefit to them as it would be to us.

So what I don't want us to be is on our hands and knees begging for us giving them an opportunity to elevate their product and provide revenue for their system because again, that nine billion dollar revenue, that $100,000, the scale is 33 to 68 on the stores, and we need that, and if we have an opportunity to address the food deserts, we should and quit pushing it off.

Thank you.

Okay.

Uh Dr.

Teresa Gamble.

Thank you, Councilman Pittman for putting this meeting together.

I provide each one of the um finance members on my ladder, but I'm not gonna read the whole thing.

I want to point out something specific because like Coach Um James stated, you all did beautifully here today.

I was very surprised, but it's still yet work to do.

Win Dixie has a documented history of financial instability and bankruptcy foulings.

The reason I know my husband worked for them for nine years, working overnight shifts from 6 p.m.

until whenever he got finished to come home, working in that toxic environment, trying to get pay increases to take care of our family was to no avail.

So we need to actually have Wendy to go back and look at their own financial history since we since the city does not manage their company to see why you constantly every time they file bankruptcy, they close stores in 2005 and 2018, right before the pandemic.

So if we want to really make food serious change with this grocery with Win Dixie, and the reason my husband left, because of the lack of the worker opportunities.

I'm like councilman Arias.

It's not the corporate jobs, it's the people that you see in the stores stocking them shelves, bringing in those grocery carts, working them cash registers.

Them the ones that Wend Dixon needs to be giving that $200,000 to.

Not to the corporations because they're the ones that help keep us fed during the pandemic.

I know many of you all remember.

Y'all was in sheltered in place, but you had black and brown workers in them stores pushing groceries out.

So I'm asking city council, you all manage our budget as a city.

Why can't you not have Wendy go back and do their own audit to make sure they need to cut from the top and redivert some of that money to those corporate jobs and give the rest of this 12 million dollars that they asking the city for to pay the workers to keep everyone fed in Jacksonville, Florida?

I'm Dr.

Theresa W.

Gamble, and my address is on file.

Thank you so much.

Trey Ford.

Good afternoon.

Trey Ford.

My address is on file, but I do stay in Grand Park.

Grandpark got fire still, but it also has farms.

I also represent Duvalso in the Water Conservation District, and I'm the founder of Florida Fish Pepper Co, which is essentially an urban agricultural chamber of commerce.

I'm here to talk about the support, talk about and support the Free to Garden Act, which we've been uh trying to get into the hands of city council for a while, which I believe would help alleviate some of the issues we're having with large corporate, large corporate grocers.

It's aligned with the state of food plan, state of the food plan that COJ Resilience and Sustainability Departments are working on.

It's aligned with what Duval Food Policy Council has been working on, as well as aligned with Duval Ad Council and the Duval Urban Ad Council, which is forming now.

I believe it's also aligned with the journey forward and other workforce development, which is also subjects that we've been bringing up today.

Uh fast tracking COUs, urban acts tax subclasses are all inside of this bill.

And I know uh councilwoman uh Pittman as well as uh Peluso have seen it.

Uh, but again, infrastructure is here, the zoning code is the only thing that is missing.

Let Jacksonville grow.

Okay, I'm glad you stopped because you didn't keep on the agenda.

We was talking about the agenda today, okay?

All right, just wanna let you know nobody else come up here unless it's about what we're talking about today, okay?

All right, Reverend Aaron Flag.

And after him, we'll have Miss Um Lorene Husband and uh Ms.

Holloway.

If y'all can start making your way to the front, because it's gonna get less than two minutes.

Governor and flag, uh 3919 Robert C.

Reaver Drive.

Jacksonville from all the tree.

Uh one zero.

Um we uh wanna thank Win Dixie for all they've done for this community.

I went to Stanton High School.

When Flag, move closer, please.

I'll bring it up.

I went to Stanton High School in the 70s, the early 70s, and when Dixie was giving out scholarships for us to go to college back then, when Dixie has been very important in this community.

Um, my daddy would say, if you got a bird in your hand, don't worry about them two in the bush.

Sometimes we we got a bird in hand and we worry about the ones in the bush.

Sometimes we're looking too far down the road and don't see what's right in front of us, like jobs for our our people, our neighborhood.

I agree.

The $100,000 jobs cut them in here and get people down on down the down the line the money.

Um things like that.

But like you say, we got to stay on point.

We got a bird in our hand right now.

Let's not worry about the one in the bush until we eat this one.

Thank you, God bless you.

Thank you.

This husband.

Are you still here?

Okay.

Ms.

Holloway.

Are you still here, Lashonda?

Okay, uh, Dr.

Gunde.

After Dr.

Gunde, uh Denise Hunt, and Army Sherfee.

My address is on file.

First of all, let me thank uh Wend Dixie, thank the city council for this meeting and the outcome of it.

I think we're dealing with a short-term solution of the three years, and I'm hoping that we can come up with a long-term solution.

But I'm back to what Mr.

Carlucci said about commercially reasonable efforts.

And epicos says that that's thinking and wisdom and acting with fairness and responding with balance.

But this commercially reasonable effort is based on economics.

And if the economics don't look right, it may not turn out right.

So we got to address that some way.

But I got a better recommendation to Wend Dixie.

I suggest that they come up with a pilot program for this one store.

On my radio show Monday night, I want to brag about what Wendix and the city council has done, and I'm gonna do that.

But I also want to push 150,000 people that listen to me in a month towards that store.

You have a place where you can put a pharmacy in there.

So you have an opportunity now to not only just put the grocery store there, but to put a pharmacy in there, and even if Wend Dixie doesn't want to do it, they could have somebody from the outside who come in and basically pay to put the pharmacy on the inside.

So you eliminate two things.

You alleviate the pharmacy desert, you alleviate the food desert.

And I think uh Wendix has always been a store of good faith and goodwill.

And I think that that's something that uh they might want to think about.

Use as a pilot program, and then maybe down the road you can do some other things because we have a food desert and we have a pharmacy desert over there, and gateway was 4.0 in its production.

Uh 48th of Maine was 3.9 in its production.

So if you put the pharmacy in there, you got more foot traffic coming there, more food going in the basket, more people coming in and out of there.

You're gonna make more money, it's gonna exceed gateway by a lot.

So it's just something to think about.

But again, thank you.

My goal, I don't and and the our goal was keep stoking.

That's the first thing, keep food in there.

Make sure that, but uh that bill, this thing you got written right here, you need to define what commercially reasonable outcomes mean.

Because when you start looking at words, words mean something.

And if you don't clearly define that, then down the road, you may not have what you think you have.

That's thank you so much.

Thank you.

Ms.

Hunt.

I never know what I'm gonna say until the Lord sent it to me.

I was looking up, you know, when they talk, I'm Denise Hunt, my address is on file.

Thank you.

What I want to say is 434 Basin Road.

I used to live at 67 Andrews, which was right around the corner from that same Win Dixie for about eight years, and was poorly serviced.

I'd like to say that.

Um, but anyway, um, I was looking up, uh, wondering was Win Dix is still a DEI company, and they say they are committed to um belonging and version and diversity.

So I'm glad to hear that.

Um, I want to say that I am strongly against subsidizing any business with our taxpayer dollars.

Um, tax incentives, tax credits, tax, anything that's about giving any company money to operate and become profitable or stay profitable, uh transferring wealth to any corporation, their shareholders that can assist low-income residents and and directly help the people that I just saw over in Brentwood, who's trying to choose between food and buying uh medicines.

I am strongly against it.

As Republicans, y'all used to be about uh waste, y'all used to be about standing up about capitalism, a free market economy.

If they lost it, then they should.

They nine billion, they what?

Wait a minute, it's worth 11.8 billion dollars, and we're gonna fund them to be profiting off, and by the way, 78% of their profits come from EPT, so they already getting profited by our money to be there.

So how dare they come in here?

That's greed, white greed, I hate to say it, and come in here and ask for more and ask for us to subsidize their greed.

Come on, their profits, that's wrong.

When we got so many people that can't even buy medicine right now, you're cutting food stamps, but you can't cut money to them.

You're cutting health care, you're cutting all across the board.

But these people want to come in here and ask for money to build a uh uh what is this a headquarters?

How many of us gonna benefit from that?

Come on, what we need to do is get to the root cause of why that area is deinvested.

Let's talk about that.

And I don't believe in any promises that they're gonna do because we still haven't reconciled the broken promises of consolidation in 1968, which would have fixed the infrastructure in that area so we could get more businesses.

See, we need to talk about it, we need to talk about it.

I am tired of subsidizing.

We just gave 775 million the stadium deal and not one black contract or prime contract is getting any money.

I'm tired of the inequitable welfare handouts to these greedy corporations and hijacking us.

Guess what?

If they don't want to be there, high tail it out of here.

Go somewhere else.

They got enough money.

Ms.

Hunter, two minutes.

I need to up the respect.

Well, listen, you're gonna get it.

I'm gonna say what I want.

Excuse me, you need to say it.

Thank you.

No, I don't need Shafice.

Would you come up?

I'm not gonna have you disrespect.

You need to sit out, but listen.

This is personal.

I don't.

Yeah, I know you don't.

Would you come up with the podium, please?

That's what I said.

Mr.

Feez, will you please come up?

But then you shouldn't come to the meeting.

Mr.

Miss Ms.

Shafis, will you please come up?

Is she still here?

Miss Shafez, is she not here?

Okay.

Um, I can't see Rosa.

I can't reach your writing.

You live at 1230.

Talbot.

Just walk her right on out.

Thank you.

Nancy Stat, MD.

Are you here?

Thank you very much.

Don't know whether it's an easy or a tough act to follow there.

Um, first, I would like to thank the four council members who have stayed to listen to your constituents' comments.

Thank you.

I am greatly grateful for that and disappointed that not all of you are staying.

Um, I would just like to back up a little bit and have someone explain it to me like I'm in kindergarten.

They're increasing 40% their corporate jobs from 500 to 700, while at the same time their plan was to close two of their 15 stores, so decrease by 13% their volume of stores while increasing jobs by 40% at the top.

How does that work exactly?

Because I would think this 12 million dollars was earmarked to incentivize avoiding food deserts and providing healthy food for people and encouraging Win Dixie to maintain those 15 stores, right?

Isn't that what you're doing with our 12?

I don't I don't have a problem with you using my taxpayer dollars, but it should be directed towards the problem, which is food deserts and having good clean stores.

We're not we're not spending 12 million dollars in incentives uh to give jobs in Lackawanna, are we?

I mean, because that's how it sounds like we're doing, and that's just wrong.

Uh they're promising only to find a replacement tenant.

That sounds also very vague.

That needs to be, they should for $12 million dollars, they should be willing to commit to at least this store, to not closing this store for as long as they are getting a tax break, in my view, for the next 20 years.

They can keep that store open, especially if it's showing a profit, which of course it will.

Finally, there's this language has a lot of work.

You know, there's a lot of work to do on this, let's face it.

There's a lot of issues that remain undefined, we've lost a sight of things.

I understand the bird in the hand argument and wanting to please Win Dixie.

However, citizens and interested parties have a right to look at the language with enough time before the meeting to respond as well.

So I would encourage you to give this the due time that it needs.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Rosalyn Van Narsted.

Rosalind, you still here, and Vanessa Cullen Hopkins.

I know she's here.

Vanessa Cullins Hopkins 3283 Edgewood Avenue West 32209.

Councilwoman, I applaud you for putting this together as quickly as you did and for having this.

Now the process is asked backwards.

And the reason why it is is because all of these comments should have come a long time ago prior to even putting together the provision or amendment.

Now, if I'm understanding the timeline correctly, and I'm probably got this wrong, but y'all correct me.

When Dixie actually put the proposal in for this provision, and the councilwoman didn't find out until 72 hours before this.

So she quickly put this thing together, and what we're dealing with is something that should have been done way before trying to put anything before city council.

The process is backwards.

First of all, we need overall urban planning, especially on the north side, as it relates to grocery stores and where they should be located.

We want to take advantage of the goodwill of stores like Win Dixie that know that because of their corporate bottom line, they're gonna have to leave the community, yet trying to transition something into the community so that we can continue to have grocery stores.

You did it in terms of Aldi's buying a number of your branches, and we're finding that Aldi's is doing a good job in 3209 over on Avenue B and Edgewood.

So help us work with all these or other stores to bring in a store that wants to be, that wants to be on Main Street.

We don't want to lose that store, and we also want to make sure that there is enough merchants between Norwood, Pearl Plaza, and that Main Street area to take care of the needs of all the residents.

Yes, we need more pharmacies, but we need to figure out how we can do that utilizing the incentives that the city gives.

It is good that we have tax incentives.

The reason why people are upset about it is because they haven't been involved in it and they don't know how tax incentives bring businesses into the city.

Now I just happened to get up and God told me to put this Jaguar shirt on, and I'm not even really a big Jaguars fan, but the Jaguars are needed to bring business Vanessa.

Okay, bottom line.

All right.

Change the process.

Okay, doing a wonderful job.

Thank you.

Definitions, not good.

Give us some concrete definition.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay, we're getting ready to wrap wrap up.

You uh Mr.

Pool, so you have one.

I don't have your card.

Okay, let him make will you all look?

You have it.

Thank you.

Okay.

Um can you make your comment?

Okay.

Come on.

If you can come on up front and make your comment, and then you can feel refill it out.

I don't have it.

Okay.

Come on up.

Come on up because it's time to go now.

Come on.

Let's do it.

Oh, freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me.

Before I'll be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave and go home to my Lord and be free.

Understand?

Wend Dixie.

All these stores, I couldn't get a job in.

Because they only hired white people.

Now that ain't been that long ago.

I'm not all that old, but I am old.

But we thought we were being enfranchised.

We fought.

We demonstrated.

I demonstrated in front of Wend Dixie stores to make them hire black cashiers, bad boys.

That is my history.

That's our history.

Here I stand.

And I know we have been disenfranchised.

We've been taken back.

They've been taken back from us what we had.

Part of that disenfranchisement is economic.

Food doesn't.

That's we, when I was a boy, we had had grocery stores in the neighborhood.

Now they're taking them all out.

That's disinfranchisement.

So we need to focus.

We need to focus on all forms of disenfranchisement.

It's not just black.

Can you I'm I'm finished?

It's not just black and people of color, uh representatives who are being taken by Magna, MAGA, but it's also everything which you we would vote for.

Safe neighborhoods, safe schools.

And my message to you on this store, see, I talked to my pastor.

And he's a good pastor.

The pastors represent you today, but we gotta cut it out.

He's a good pastor.

He's a good pastor.

And believe me, when I went and told him the situation, he went down there.

He did.

He went down there to investigate.

But you know it's time.

I'm sorry, we gotta go.

Thank you.

Um councilman, the last one.

Okay, uh, just to OGC, I did want to make sure it's there are 13 stores in the legislation right now that are guaranteed to remain open.

And if they are closed based on a potential amendment, they need to reopen one within a certain amount of time, right?

Yes, please do the chair, Councilman Plus, so only the stores in an economically distressed area have to reopen.

But but it's 13 stores that we've identified.

Right, okay.

But point being is that 14.

Say again, and this would be the 14th, correct.

Point that I'm getting at is that uh we at least know that in the city of Jacksonville, like if if this company did move somewhere else or did something else, we would not have a guarantee at these 13 stores that remain, and so like there is a benefit to a lot of this because I do not like incentives for companies or corporations, but I do at least want to acknowledge that and show that there is benefit.

We'd probably want to talk about how many jobs that would save.

Like if they close one of those stores, or that a new store would open with the same number of jobs, it's probably something we want to add to an amendment too.

That's all I wanted to clarify.

Thank you.

And I'd like to acknowledge Councilman Rockman Johnson, Dr.

Dunk Johnson.

Thank you for being here today.

We have a lot of work.

Oh, okay.

Um, mind if I have one wrapper.

Thank you, Councilman.

I I just want to say it looks to me today.

I've been real happy with this conversation, this debate, all the public comments, all the comments from my colleagues.

I think we're gonna find a middle ground here.

Um, I think there's been a lot of mistakes made, probably on both sides.

I think Win Dixie probably never should have proposed um retention, but should have done an incentive based on growth, because we can't forget that they're gonna invest 65 million and 200 jobs in Lackawanna at $100,000.

Um is not just jobs for white collar folks, it's business that supports ancillary uh small businesses all around that area.

Um, what I say.

You said white collar, right?

Yeah, white collar, yeah.

Um, and um on the other side, I think we risk going too far as a council putting too many parameters on a company where we start to look like we're being obstructive to local business as a government.

We never want to do that.

We will I mean the the key element of any uh well functioning community is great jobs that enable families to be supportive.

And to that point, um, I don't think we're gonna be able to get this done by Tuesday.

I was hoping we would, but uh for the 500 families out there that are kind of waiting in limo to see what's gonna happen.

I hope you know that we will get a compromise with Win Dixie, this council in Win Dixie will do that together.

Um, and uh so as as you as employees and your families are listening to this debate, um we're we're all gonna work together and we're gonna make it work.

So there are uh bright skies ahead here.

Thanks.

And I just would like to say in closing, um, first of all, thank you all so much for being here.

And we are having a seat and a space at the table where council members um took what you said very seriously, and that's why we're here.

And we're gonna continue to work on this, and we'll keep you all posted.

Thank you all so much for being with us today.