I'd

like to call to order the Planning and Development Committee meeting for Monday, September twenty-eighth, twenty twenty-six.

If we could all please stand, I'd like to call Chaplain Norma Borrero to the microphone for tonight's invocation, followed immediately by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Let's pray.

Father God, I pray for this council meeting tonight.

Give the council members wisdom and guidance as they deliberate on the items before them.

May every decision be righteous in your sight for the benefit of the citizens of Rockford and for your glory in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Excuse me, symmetry projects, and community outreach, our society has worked to keep the stories of our region and its families alive for future generations.

Hello, I'm Russ Klein, president of the Winnebago and Boone Counties Genealogical Society.

And on behalf of several of the board members that are here with us present this evening, I want to thank Mayor Neal for this proclamation and for your time this evening.

It's an honor and we appreciate it.

Thank

you.

Thank you very much.

Do you guys want a quick picture?

You guys kind of ran up out of here.

She tried to catch you.

I'm using my mic to catch you.

Y'all move fast.

I want your knees.

Thank you.

We do have one more proclamation.

It's for the member of the city's customer service team.

Hello,

these are my first floor peeps.

Whereas the City of Rockford provides services essential to public health, recreational opportunities, and the overall high quality of life of Rockford citizens, including the city's own water utility, and whereas essential to the day-to-day functioning of the water department and the customer service team, a division of the finance department who works every day to ensure accurate billing, troubleshoot problems, and help customers with questions pertaining to water and rubbish billing for over 54,000 residents in the city of Rockford.

And whereas the city's customer service team takes an average 5100 calls per month and assists with general knowledge of various city departments, directing inquiries to other community organizations and government agencies.

In addition, CSC handles collection of payments for numerous activities, services, and fees, and whereas Customer Service Week was recognized by Congress in 1992 as a nationally recognized event to be celebrated annually.

Now, therefore, I, Janessa Neal, as mayor of the City of Rockford, do hereby proclaim the week of October 5th, 2026 to be customer service week in Rockford, Illinois, and encourage all citizens to acknowledge customer service staff and recognize the substantial contributions they make for citizens and customers within the city of Rockford.

Congratulations.

And I think oftentimes don't get the recognition they deserve.

So I just want to thank this.

This is a fraction of the team, but uh Wendy Lara is our customer service manager.

Miguel on the end there is the supervisor, and we have Branca, Myra, Krista, Diane, Jennifer, and Amanda here who all help not only respond to customer uh calls, questions, uh concerns, but also are involved in the uh preparation of a monthly our monthly water bills, uh, which is quite the undertaking.

So uh just want to appreciate all of the hard work and and the service that they provide to our constituents every day.

Sorry.

At this time, we are going to move into our public speakers, which we do have five this evening.

Um, just as a reminder, we do have two microphones located at the back of the horseshoe.

Um you can choose which one you would like to speak from.

You do have three minutes to make your comments, at which time you'll hear an alarm sound, and we just ask that you bring your comments to a close at that time.

That being said, our first public speaker tonight is Michael Jacobson.

Is

Michael here with us?

I will come back at the end.

Um we'll go to Prophet Yusuf.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

In the book of Mark, the 10th chapter, the 27 verse.

All things are possible with God.

What I want to speak about tonight, the believability gap.

Why do communities have to wait to be believed?

We say we value community voice.

We hold listen sessions, convene advisory groups, host town halls meetings, and create countless opportunity for residents to share their experience.

Yet there is a significant difference between hearing people and believing them.

For more than 30 years, I have worked alongside young people, families, and communities across different cities and states.

Time and time again, I have watched them identify challenges long before institutions were willing to act.

Their concerns I acknowledge, documented, and discussed.

Then everyone waits months later, sometime years later.

A report confirms what communities have been saying all along.

By then conditions have worsened.