Any person that is designed to address the mobile city council must sign in the resolution, the ordinance or public hearing agenda item before before entering the meeting.

When addressing the council, the speaker must give his or her name.

If you ride by there, you'll be able to see that.

So I'm glad to say that that is happening.

And as we speak now, uh the report is is that we're on time and on budget, and hope that will continue for the next 18 months or so.

Um anyway, good news there.

Um just to remind you that uh the opening day is we're trying to get make sure that it's prepared for Martigral 2027.

And when it's all said and done, whether it's Mardi Gras balls, concerts, hockey games, whatever it is, uh OBG will be coordinating those efforts and try to make sure that what we have is among the very best uh in the country.

So we're excited about that.

Just stay tuned.

Um today's agenda, uh there's a five-year agreement with VIA, and that has to do with uh improving our public transportation.

It's a combination of fixed route bus service, what we call paratransit and on-demand transit options.

Now it can be tailored to the needs of our citizens, uh, obviously making it more flexible than what we have now.

The partnership could expand transit options to increase ridership at lower cost.

Uh, for public transfer to work, it must meet the needs of the riders and offer a practical option for other citizens and visitors.

V has national expertise in transit uh transit tech and operations, and they'll be able to help us do that.

For the next nine months, there virtually will be no changes, uh, but they'll be doing ridership analysis and community outreach, and after that nine month period, hopefully they'll be able to roll out uh the thing changes that'll be made.

Our hope is is that it'll be more reliable as we go forward uh and better for our citizens.

The city, the city of Mobile invests a lot of money uh in public transit.

And unfortunately, there's not a lot of people that use it.

And so what we're trying to do is figure out you know, how do we best spend our dollars to meet the needs of our citizens?

I know the city council is tremendously interested in doing this, and so I would anticipate there being a lot of conversations trying to figure out how do we move this ball forward to make sure that we fulfill our obligation there.

Anyway, we think it's a much better agreement than what we've had in the past.

And I want to thank the review committee, which is Councilwoman Gina Gregory, Councilman Josh Woods, Joe Snowden, uh Scott Collins, and Keisha Brown.

So anyway, we look forward to working with the City Council to make sure that we that we get this right.

So the uh two proclamations that I have to read.

Uh the first one uh has to do with the gynecologic uh cancer awareness month.

And so those that uh I said Sheila Dorgan, Sheila, a few would come down.

Uh she's associate manager of Patient Supportive Care Service, Sonia Starks, uh community outreach and engagement coordinator, Carrie McNair, research assistant, and Emily Silvernagel, uh USA Health and MCI intern, Chelsea McGowan, uh Associate Manager of Cancer Control and Population Health.

So thank y'all for being here today.

And whereas GF GYN cancers are among the leading cancer killers of women in the United States, and more than 125,000 women will be diagnosed, and more than 33,000 women will die from these diseases this year.

And whereas the Laura Crandall Brown Foundation and their a state of teal initiative brings awareness of all GYN cancers throughout the state of Alabama, and whereas the health and well-being of women in our state and the city of Mobile are enhanced by increased awareness of GYN cancers and their symptoms and treatments.

And whereas it's crucial that all women in our state and the city of Mobile take an active role in developing healthy habits and ongoing undergoing regular medical examinations so that any occurrence of these diseases may be detected in their early and treatable stages, and whereas we reflect upon the memory of those lost to these diseases, the bravery of those currently battling battling these diagnoses, and the need for increased awareness, screening and research, and encourage all citizens to work together to raise awareness of GYN cancers.

Now, therefore, William S.

Stimson, the 108th mayor of the City Mobile, to hereby officially proclaim September 2025 as Gyne College School Cancer Awareness Month in the City Mobile.

Congratulations and thank you so much for all that you do.

And what we will do, I'm going to present the proclamation.

Welcome to make a few remarks.

And after we do both proclamations, we'll go to the uh atrium and have pictures made.

One more second.

One second.

I do want to just take a second because Laura Crandall Brown of Aaron Cancer Foundation, they are a foundation in Birmingham.

But us uh ladies at MCI, we have developed a partnership with them, and they have uh provided access to treatment for our gynecologic oncology patients.

Um in 2024, they provided 226 one-way rides and eight hundred dollars worth of shell gas gift cards helping 14 patients.

And then in 2025, thus far, they have provided um 57 one-way rides and $375 worth of shell gas gift cards and helped seven of our patients that are traveling to their treatment appointments.

Um these numbers they represent more than just transportation.

Uh, they represent hope, dignity, and access to life-saving treatment.

So they reflect the foundation's belief that no one should have to choose between cost and access to care.

So I just want to take a minute and appreciate all that that foundation has done for our patients of NCI and the residents of Mobile County.

So thank you.

Thank you for honoring this.

Thank you, and we appreciate all the whole work that you're all doing in the community.

Okay.

So I see the 32 people up there for the children's cancer awareness month.

They gave me 25 names uh to call to call out.

So the other seven of y'all, you know, we appreciate you being here also.

So I'm gonna start with uh I'll try to say who's being represented.

First, I'm gonna say what the organizations are, and that the work that y'all do year in and year out is tremendously important and tremendously appreciated.

It's Rappa Hope, Aubrey's Army, Ronald McDonald House, IHeart Radio Media, and the USA Children and Women's Hospital.

So some of those that will be here, uh I saw that Judge Deborah Tillman, uh, she's a board member of Rappahoe.