Okay, good morning.

The time is now 910 a.m.

and we'll call a session to order.

Madam Clerk, could you please call the roll?

Mayor Jones.

Councilmember White is here virtually.

Councilmember Spears.

Councilmember Mesa Gonzalez.

Present.

Councilmember Aldarete Gavito.

Here.

Councilmember Galvan.

Here.

Councilmember Castillo.

Here.

Councilmember Mungia.

Present.

Councilmember Via Gran.

Here.

Councilmember McKee Rodriguez is here virtually.

Mayor Pro Tim Corps.

Here.

Mayor Mayor Pro Tim, we have quorum.

Great.

Councilmember Gauvan's going to introduce our invocator for today.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim.

I'd like to welcome uh Reverend Dwayne Thomas to the podium.

Reverend Wayne Thomas was born in March 24th, 1960, in the farming community of Waterproof, Louisiana.

He is the 15th of 17 children born to the late Deacon Dennis, Charles Thomas Sr.

And Mrs.

Perline Mae Thomas.

He graduated from high school in 1978 and entered the United States Air Force that August.

During his 30-year career, he served in many foreign countries and stateside locations, including both Gulf Wars.

He attended Park University, majoring in business management, and retired from the military in September 2008 as a chief master sergeant.

Feeling the need to draw closer to the Lord, Reverend Thomas joined West Ridge Park First Baptist Church in June 1997 in the Edgewood area in District 6 in the community workers' council neighborhood and was baptized by the late Dr.

E.

L.

Hewitt Jr.

Entering God's call to ministry, he began to men he began mentorship under Reverend Ray A.

Weathers.

He was named an associate minister and licensed to preach in May 2007.

And after years of faithful service, he was ordained on September 30th, 2012.

Reverend Thomas continues to serve the Lord dedication and a commitment to reaching the lost.

Through his service and love for God's people, he was called to become the fifth pastor in the rich history of West Ridge Park First Baptist Church and has been serving for the past twelve years in the proud place called District Six.

Thank you very much.

Please do the prayer.

Thank you, Councilman Galvania for those kind words.

Thank you, City Council, for inviting me down to be able to come and give the invocation down here to Mayor Jones in her absence.

And the awesome responsibility that you have for leading God's people is a hard one.

But in times of those times, the Lord will always be with you on those things.

Shall we pray?

Heavenly Father, we thank you right now, Lord, that you brought us, Lord, into a brand new day this morning.

We thank you, Lord, for new mercy and new favor, Lord, that you bestowed upon us, Lord.

Thank you for the grace of your son Jesus Christ, our Savior, Lord.

We pray right now.

Thank you for sending the power of the Holy Spirit in places here, even in the country that you will protect them, guide their families as we come upon the holidays right now, Lord.

I pray that you will lay your hands upon them and bless them.

Bless Mayor Jones in her absence, Lord, her leadership, Lord, these leaders that are here this morning.

I pray over them, Lord, and I pray that you touch each and every one of them.

Bless them now and their families in their work.

Let them be blessed at the end of the day, Lord.

Let them be able to say, hear you say, Well done, my good and faithful servants.

In and now into the presence of the Lord in Jesus' name.

We pray and ask it all.

Amen.

Amen.

Under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The third item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes for city council meetings from November 5th, November 6th, November 12th, and November 13th.

Can I have a motion to approve?

Second.

We have a first and a second.

Any discussion?

Okay, please vote.

Councilmember White, we need a verbal.

Thanks.

Motion carries.

Okay, we have a few pops today.

And so I'm gonna go ahead and read the first one and then hand it over to Councilwoman Castillo.

Um, Dr.

Soto, if you want to come up to the front.

So this is an official congratulations to Gerald Soto in honor of your recognition as superintendent of the year.

On June 24th, 2025, Harlandale ISD Superintendent Gerard Gerardo Soto was named the 2025 Region 20 Superintendent of the Year by the Texas Association of School Boards.

This rush ref recognition reflects Mr.

Soto's exemplary leadership, his commitment to student success, and more than three decades of dedicated service to public ed.

Under Mr.

Soto's guidance, Harlandale ISD has experienced historic transformation marked by innovation, fiscal stewardship, and strong community partnership.

His achievements include the passage of the largest bond in the district history, the creation of a state-of-the-art career and technical education center, which some of my colleagues got to see this week, and the expansion of student connectivity through a first of its kind private LTE network.

He has further strengthened family engagement, expanded STEM and career pathways, and launched initiatives supporting both teacher development and student well-being.

With this award, the Texas Association of School Boards recognizes Mr.

Soto as a visionary educational leader whose service has strengthened opportunities for students, families, and the broader Harlandale ISD community.

The mayor and city sent council of the city of San Antonio extends sincere congratulations to you on this outstanding achievement and offer best wishes for many years of success success.

Presented this fourth day of December 2025.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

And it's an extreme honor to honor Harlandale ISD Superintendent Mr.

Sotho as the 2025 Region 20 Superintendent of the Year.

This recognition from the Texas Association of School Boards highlights the superintendents whose leadership truly strengthens public education.

Mr.

Sotho was selected from across Region 20, which reflects the enormous impact he has on students, families, and our community.

Mr.

Sotho brings more than 31 years of service to public education from pair professional aid to teacher, principal, executive director, and now superintendent.

He is a true reflection of a public servant, educator, and leader.

He has guided Harlandale ISD through major and meaningful transformations as highlighted by Mayor Pro Tem.

He has strengthened the teaching profession in Harlandale ISD, launching the educational partners partner program and securing nearly four million in teacher incentive allotment funding.

He has prioritized student well-being through the early alert system and expanded support through the Harlandale Care Center and so much more.

What we know, just as importantly, Mr.

Sotho has strengthened community partnerships with Avance, Community First, and the San Antonio Food Bank, and regularly engages with parents, students through advisory groups.

On behalf of the City of San Antonio, congratulations, Superintendent Soto, and thank you for your vision, your service, and your commitment to students and the Harlandale community.

Mr.

Soto, the floor is yours.

Thank you, City Councilwoman, Miss Castile, and thank you, City Council, for having me here.

And as we all know, the City of San Antonio is a big city, but it's a very small town.

And I appreciate all of y'all bringing out efforts to partner with our ISDs, continue the fight for public ed.

It's not over, it's the beginning, and we're gonna keep uh marching forward to make great things happen for our children of San Antonio, especially Harando ISD.

So thank you.

Councilmember Jacob.

Yeah, thank you.

Um Superintendent, as someone who was in the classroom from seven years, and you heard this speech before already, because we've been honoring him in and around the district for uh, I think since you got the award.

Uh I understand how you've taken the time to transform and lead this district in times where we needed to write size, in times where we were coming out of a pandemic, and times where we are looking at uh sustainability, resiliency, the climate, and you've done such an incredible job, and your team around you, from the principals to the teachers are ready to move forward, and it has been such an incredible opportunity to see the way the community has rallied behind the school district and uh you as we move forward.

And it has been such an incredible opportunity to see the way the community has rallied behind the school district and uh you as we move forward.

So thank you so much for your leadership.

This is extremely well deserved.

I'm very excited.

And you know, being in the community and seeing Harlandale and that community continue to grow and change and um bring up such great leaders.

Uh it has just been just been an honor.

So thank you for your work and enjoy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, superintendent, for your work and your service.

And of course, you actually were born and raised in District 4, so district 4 produces a lot of great superintendents.

And you were a basketball guy at South Sand back in the day, and so you know exactly where our community comes from and where we're going.

And so I think Harlandale is one of those historic school districts.

So much of my family have gone to Harlandale.

And I think you have shown great leadership there at a tumultuous time during COVID and throughout the battles with the state.

Um, you've gotten back your board and you've gotten rid of state intervention.

Uh, you've got a great bond program that invested millions of dollars back into the south side in the community.

So I'm proud to have some of my residents go to Harlan, how many Harlandale schools, but of course, we're always there to help you, and thank you so much for your service.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Catherine Biffida.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, and congratulations again, Mr.

Soto, for the incredible honor that you have of being superintendent of the year.

And thank you for all the work you've been doing for years and years and years on end uh for the Southside community and for Harlandale.

I know we've only briefly met a couple times, but Harlandale has a special place in my heart.

Um, my my mom worked for a long time as a supervisor at the Methodist Healthcare Ministries uh Childcare Center, right there next to the Cafe College of Fitch.

I spent a lot of time setting up classrooms there when I was uh in middle school.

And so it means a lot to know that not only that focus from centers like that, but also the entire school district to engage the community.

And it's because of leadership like you, because of leadership like folks in the district who are committed to fighting for the community every step of the way, not only in their educational journey, but also in their personal journeys and their workforce journeys, and all these other kinds of sorts of uh components that make education full.

That's the role that public schools play, and the role that you play as well, and you know this.

Uh, and so I just want to say thank you for all the work that you've been doing, um, and also the uh openness uh to communicate with folks like us up here and folks all across the city, um, multiple stakeholders and partners to continue pushing for education in the community and those partnerships that are needed to continue to strengthen the community that you serve.

And so I just cannot say anything uh better and even more about all the work that you're doing, but keep it up and let us know how I can be helpful hand, even if I'm a little bit far away.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh I wanted to thank my colleague, Councilman Castillo, for for highlighting you today.

Um, and I just had the pleasure of meeting you.

But by listening to all these great things, thank you so much for the profound impact you're having on so many kids' lives in San Antonio and and then the impact that they'll go on and have.

So thank you so much for your service um and all the work that you're doing.

Thanks.

Thank you, Superintendent Sotto.

I'll just echo what my colleague said.

Thank you, Councilman Casillo, for um being able to allow us to recognize you today because I think very much so many of us want to continue to partner with our school districts more and more, and knowing the all of the challenges, the real challenges that y'all are facing.

But more so, I just wanted to shout you out because y'all's uh average daily attendance last year was 90%, which quite in fact is actually really high post-COVID.

We haven't seen, unfortunately, not where we want to see it, but still very great for our our community and school district, and that's really important for school funding.

And um, I know that's a credit to you all.

One day I will get to play in this Harlandale ISD alumni basketball tournament.

It is so intense, y'all.

If you haven't gotten a chance of seeing it, but it's the only one where you have to either be a graduate or be married to a graduate.

So I don't know, we'll have to see.

Thank you, Superintendent.

Thank you, Doctor.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Um I'll go over to Councilman Metzlaga Gonzalez for your point of personal prefer.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Um, today I'm honoring, proud to honor Proud District 8 resident, the life uh of Samuel Guido.

If I can have the Guido family stand up, um they do not travel small, so the whole gang can stand up, please.

So at the end of the 19th century, thousands of immigrants left Southern Italy due to harsh economic conditions.

Many of them arrived in San Antonio hoping to build a better life and eventually bring their families to this new homeland.

Among those early immigrants was a Guido family who came to America through Ellis Island.

Jean Guido Sr.

married Ella Viarial, and together they raised three children.

One is a gentleman we are honoring here today, the late Mr.

Samuel Joseph Guido.

Like many Italian families of that era, they united with others to form a fraternal organization that would help them adapt to a new language and a new way of life.

The organization became the Christopher Columbus Italian Society, CCIS, founded in 1890, and still standing today as the longest continuously running Italian organization in the United States.

That commitment to heritage continued into the next generation.

Sam Cuido attended Fenwick Elementary, Horace Mann Middle School, where he met his now wife, Patty Guido, and both graduated in 1975 from Thomas Jefferson High School.

They married in 1984 and raised their two sons, Matthew and Andrew, with a deep love for family, tradition, and community.

One of Mr.

Guido's pride and joys was the spaghetti dinner, where I met him a couple of years ago, and where he volunteered for 59 years.

Literally 59 years.

So since he was 10 years old, and he told me stories about how he volunteered and was there, whether he wanted to be there or not.

And also helped chair many times.

Even though this event was arduous and time consuming, he looked forward to them with when responsibility grew with the partnership of the 100 club.

He approached that work with passion and grace.

Sam Guido's passing marked the end of a chapter, but not the end of his legacy.

The values he lived by, tradition, unity, and pride in their cult in our culture, live on through the CCIS community, through the history he protected, and through the family that he raised.

Today I want to thank the council for allowing me this opportunity to publicly honor him and to recognize the role that Italian American families have played in shaping San Antonio for more than a century.

And if you ever follow the Guidos on Facebook, they travel in packs.

It's like there's always something they're doing.

So it's just wonderful to highlight uh community members that are doing good work every day in our city.

So thank you so much.

Would anyone like to come up and say a few words from the family?

No pressure, just wanted to offer.

No, uh, just a quick thank you to you guys.

It's the first time I've been in uh City Hall before, and I've been born and raised in San Antonio, so this is awesome.

Um thank you guys.

My dad was uh again a big part of the community.

It's hard not to cry, but um it's uh it's gonna be a mess.

And thank you to all the Italians showing up as well.

Y'all are um the um a backbone of of this of you know West Martin Street right here.

It's awesome to see.

Yeah, I just wanted to add that um born and raised San Antonio.

I mean, he was San Antonio through and through.

Um, whether you know, his ancestors came from Italy, it and that path that they took to get here, those trials and tribulations and everything that you know immigrant families uh go through to follow and pursue that American dream is like it's what we all like I think cherish and he's instilled that like work ethic in us as a family, but also without any need of recognition.

Um it was just what you did, right?

And it wasn't that it was expected or told, it was just that's it was that immigrant mentality um where it was work and family and pride in what you do, and um just having this opportunity really just it it shows what an impact he had on people that you don't even realize as just a son being in it, um how many people's lives he touched and um thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Patty Guido.

I'm uh the proud mother of these two boys.

Uh I want to thank City Council, I believe, um, for recognizing, and I have to say that um Mr.

Walsh, my husband, loved you.

Uh he was very vital in uh helping us get the statue down and everything else, and uh Eric was right there holding our hands, you know, in all of it.

But I want to thank all of y'all for having us here.

Um but again, the next spaghetti dinner is in February, okay.

I hope to see everyone there.

It's uh it's a week-long preparation for us, but we love it.

We love it.

And we make everything from scratch, so please except a pasta.

But please uh consider joining us in February.

I'll have it out all over the place.

So thank you so much.

Thank you, Councilman Ms.

I Gonzalez, for bringing this um point of personal privilege.

I just want to say thank you all to the family.

I we will be at the spaghetti dinner.

Uh, it's in district one, so we're happy to host the Italian society here.

And also I want to say that uh you can see truly see a family's impact by the causes that you all support too.

And I've had a chance to connect with some of the the younger family members, and really the support for the young women's leadership academy has been evident through your work and mission heritage partners, too, causes that I really really believe in.

So I want to thank you all for continuously giving back to others in the community.

Thank you.

All right.

Let's move on to consent agenda.

So um, does anybody have any items to pull from the consent?

Okay.

All right.

And there's no one signed up to speak.

So we'll take a motion on consent.

I make a motion to approve.

Great.

All right, let's do highlights.

Uh, Councilmember McKee Rodriguez, would you like to start us off?

Absolutely.

Can you hear me?

We can hear you.

Wonderful.

Uh, today I am excited to highlight item 24, the reappointment of several board members to the inner city tours board, uh, including Mohammed Russell, Juan Garcia, Alex Brunell, and former District 2 Councilman Mario Salas.

Uh, we're also appointing two new members, uh, Valerie Reifert, uh, a born and raised San Antonian.

She serves as executive director of radical registrars, and uh currently the vice chair of the MLK Commission.

Uh, and Justin Munoz, who I believe is in the audience today.

He is the VP of External Affairs for Visit Center Jonio and president-elect for the San Antonio LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce.

It's been such a privilege getting to see their leadership, creativity, and the care that they have for our Eastside community up close.

And I'm excited for all they'll do as members of the board.

Uh so thank them for their um willingness to serve, and thank you for the opportunity to highlight them.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember Viganon.

Thank you.

I'd like to highlight item five, which approves construction contract for a new police substation located at 8811 South Florida Street, near the intersection of Roosevelt Avenue and East Ashley Road that will construct a new 26,000 square foot one-story substation on an 18-acre site that can accommodate future growth.

The new facility will house patrol operations, the San Antonio fear-free environment, the safe unit, the crisis response team, and include an additional 28 sworn supervisor personnel along with seven civilian support staff to better serve the needs of the community.

This has been a long-awaited project that started with my predecessor and sister, Councilwoman Rebecca Villagran, and I was able to champion and bring to fruition as my community came out to support this voter-approved 2022 bond program.

And I'd like to thank the council members before that and the council members here that are moving it forward today.

This was a huge need in the city of San Antonio in District 3 in particular to have a standalone police substation one story that will really see how we move into the future.

Um housed in District 3.

This will serve District 2, District 4, and will um also help reduce the residence um reduce the burden on our residents.

Um community members express their need for for increased police presence and and this is a prime example of the community coming together and uh asking this.

What I'm excited about is that this is the new state-of-the-art facility, which will create a safer environment.

And as we move forward, which we know because our police substations are over 20 years old.

This will be an example of how we can do it right as we move forward in in the next generation.

So construction is anticipated to begin fall 2025 and to come be completed by spring 2027.

And I invite all my council members, but especially those on the southern sector that are gonna be impacted by this to join me when we break ground on this and um when we open this in 2027.

So thank you very much.

Thank you, Councilman.

Councilmember White.

All right, can you hear me?

Yes.

Um great.

I want to highlight uh first item six, uh, the multimodal planning study uh on Harry Warsbach Road.

Uh this the this road is it's a vital length for our military families uh and everyone traveling to and from Fort Sam.

The plan's gonna give uh full multimodal study of the entire corridor, uh, looking at congestion points, crash data, pedestrian and bike access, uh, and transit reliability and future growth.

It's also gonna evaluate intersection improvement, safety upgrades, and connectivity between the neighborhoods and Fort Sam.

So this is a kind of long uh range planning that's gonna help us build a safer and more efficient corridor uh for those uh that have served our country and for our residents.

Um next, I wanna highlight item eight, the Longhorn Quarry.

Um happy to support this land swap.

The Longhorn Quarry is investing heavily in the corridor.

Uh and the additional land is gonna help them develop to deliver a more coordinated um development that brings housing, real estate, uh, and office space together in a really uh thoughtful way.

So happy to support that.

And then finally, I think he's there um in the audience, Joey Pollock, if if you'll uh stand up.

Um happy to uh be appointing uh Joey to the multimodal transportation uh commission today.

Joey, as a lot of folks know, is the executive director of Activate SA, a nonprofit that does active transportation, transit, and land use advocacy.

Uh their mission is to uh activate a connected, equitable, resilient, and safe community for all through through transportation advocacy, consensus building um and education.

And previously he was the multimodal transportation uh planner at the Alamo area MPO uh and constituent services outreach manager for state representative uh Barbara Gervin Hawkins.

So we're honored to have Joey uh represent District 10 uh on this commission.

Thanks, Chair or moving our pro tem.

Yeah, thank you.

Councilmember Castillo.

Thank you, Mark Pro Tem.

There's a couple of items I would like to highlight, beginning with item 13, which will continue to help bridging the digital divide in District 5 by lending hot Wi-Fi hotspots at all four of our district libraries to residents at no cost.

This program will continue to help close the homework gap, which means students can have access to more academic success.

It will also help close the information gap so adults can apply for jobs and access health and government information.

We're extremely grateful for our library staff and the Methodist Healthcare Ministries for making this item possible.

I would also like to highlight item 18 and 22 and congratulate Andre Green, Gina Meyer, and Anay Gonzalez on their appointments to their respective commissions.

Their hard work makes District 5 and San Antonio a better place for everyone.

And lastly, I'd like to highlight item 35, and I'll always take the opportunity to highlight this program that's very near and dear to my heart, the mobile integrated health care program for intensive care coordination.

The PIC team has SAPDs, mental health officers, SA, the San Antonio Fire Department, paramedics, mental health clinicians, and a psychologist and a nurse who have worked diligently to provide case management services to those in crisis, which has reduced the number of emergency detentions and of course frees up space in our psychiatric ERs.

I'm extremely grateful to Strack and the fire department for working together on this funding and that's going to cover staff costs.

Thank you, Mayor Proton.

Thank you, Councilmember Gilbert.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Just wanted to highlight item 18 for the appointment of Dr.

Jesse Harasta to the multimodal commission.

Um Jessica Harassa is an anthropologist by training and has worked in higher education for over a decade.

A transit advocate.

He is the co-founder and board chair of San Antonians for Rail Transit, a grassroot nonprofit organization pushing for all forms of multimodal transportation, including rail transportation here in our city.

He works for Arle Lake University as the director of Center for Service Learning and Volunteerism.

And I'm extremely proud to have him on there because he is someone who really gets into the weeds of uh transportation policy.

And I'm always grateful whenever uh him or his organization have recommendations about how to implement different ways to look at transportation here in our city because it always comes with a 30 to 100-page document that I love reading.

Um, but it's all the because uh they care a lot and he cares a lot too, ensuring that we are moving forward uh on this needle to improve multimodal transportation all across our city.

So thank you, Justin.

Excited to see the work you'll do on this commission.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Councilman.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.

I'm excited to highlight the pointing appointment of William Long to the multimodal transportation commission.

Well, uh William, if you don't mind coming up with your little one, Eliza and Felisa, if you want to come up as well.

Um so I've known William, I know him as Gedmore, because we've known each other since we were younger.

We both were in prep, the pre-freshman engineering program together.

And since then, you know, he's continuously been an advocate for safer streets um and transportation here in San Antonio.

So thank you for your uh tireless uh amount of work and all your effort to make sure that the city is safer for for the rest of us.

I know you're a longtime cyclist and a cycling advocate.

Uh y'all are all proud D7 residents.

She's probably one of the cutest.

Um you helped out with the uh the city's bike network plan.

I know that you were really instrumental in doing that.

Um and you've just been um you've you've you've always helped with so much work, different plans and and initiatives that we have to make our streets safer.

I know um that you recently acquired Vision Zero.com and plan to turn it into a global resource for traffic safety and reducing fatality.

So thank you for that too.

The creation of this commission is a huge step in realizing the vision for San Antonio's future when it comes to transportation.

And I know several of my colleagues and I are um very passionate about that.

So thank you for your willingness to serve on this commission.

You will be a great asset, and I cannot wait to see what you accomplished.

So congratulations to you and all the uh your fellow commission members for being appointed today.

Thank you.

Okay, I have just a couple of highlights as well.

I'd like to highlight item 18A um and 19.

Jim Bailey is going to be appointed to our representative for the multimodal transportation commission.

And then I Sarah Vierrial, if you'll stand, who's getting appointed to the Capital Improvements Advisory Committee and Lily Tedon, who's getting appointed to the streets, bridges, and sidewalks advisory committee.

I think she's yeah, she's here as well.

I want to thank you both for stepping up to take these leadership roles on these committees.

They're both very important work as a number one priority for district one is infrastructure.

So we're gonna be looking to you all to lead us in these next couple years.

So thank you for stepping up and taking that on.

I missed your very busy lives as as already is.

So thank you so much.

I also want to highlight item number 30, which is an one-year extension of a tourism PID that goes to visit SA to help support and really um have folks come and join our hotels downtown.

And I really want to um extend the gratitude for the work that VisitSA is doing, and more so for the leadership that we've seen there recently.

Um when this idea this T PIT is actually going to come back to council next year for a longer term renewal, and it'll be a really good time for us to evaluate and see what it's done for the last eight years.

It is something that goes on to folks that are staying at hotels.

And when I presented the the idea to uh Mario when we were discussing this to see if we could use some of these fundings to incentivize more arts, to incentivize our um city of gastronomy.

He was really open and willing to seeing what we could do for the folks that are coming so that we can highlight those.

And that's the kind of collaboration we want to continue to have as we move forward.

And so I want to thank you for your leadership and I'm excited that we're gonna be approving it today.

All right.

Any other um discuss any other discussion on consent?

All right, can I have do we already have a motion?

Okay.

All right, let's go ahead and vote.

Hi.

Councilmember White.

He might have stepped away.

I don't have a butt yes.

Yeah.

Councilmember White, if you'd like to vote, you can.

Oh, there he goes.

Yes.

All right.

Motion carries.

Eric, do you have a city manager's report for us?

Yes, ma'am.

One item, uh, the our employee spotlight video.

Um wanted to highlight um this week's uh employee is Daniel uh Gonzalez, who works in our solid waste uh management division.

He uh Daniel started with the city in December of uh 2003 as a uh part-time collection worker and has progressed uh through his career with the city um at a number of different steps.

So let's roll today's video.

It takes a special type of person to do this particular type of job.

It's very challenging.

It's dirty.

I've been here for uh 23 years.

I started as a garbage collector and I've enjoyed it.

I I enjoy the workout.

It keeps me healthy.

At the end of the day, it provides uh income to be able to provide for my family.

So I enjoy what I do.

For solid waste, I work for the illegal dumping crew.

We travel out to every part of the city to pick up any type of illegal dumping that might be thrown on a roadway on a vacant lot, areas that are deemed uh to be private on a day-to-day.

We go by, we'll pick it up, and I'll load it into my driver's truck, and he'll go and dispose it at the local landfill.

Normally we have anywhere in between 30 to 40 calls, depending on the calls that come in.

A lot of household items, sometimes a lot of construction debris, everyday things that people have thrown in their backyard that they just want to dispose of and maybe don't have the knowledge of or aren't aware that we have bulky drop-off sites.

It would be helpful for them to be more informed so that we don't find a lot of this illegal dumping.

So please I encourage you to take the time to dispose of your items properly at our bulky drop-off sites.

If you have the time to wait, take your items to the free landfill date where we can dispose of that stuff freely and not have to come and dispose it on the side of a street where it's gonna be an eyesore for everyone to see.

So uh Daniel did a uh a great job of reminding everybody about uh about bulky waste collection and our and our um sites, our four sites around the city that are open uh Tuesdays through Saturdays.

Uh residents just need to bring a CPS bill um or picture ID in order to be eligible to drop off.

So we want to make it as easy as possible for the public.

Um and then lastly, uh if you haven't um sat in that seat and used that claw, um I did it a long time ago, and it requires a tremendous amount of hand-eyed coordination, and those crews and and uh employees like David do it really fast, and so uh it's an important part of what we do.

The council talked a uh a little bit about uh illegal dumping this past summer.

It's always an issue, and um we're able to resolve it from a service perspective because of great employees like David and the and the other crews.

So thank you, Mayor.

Thanks, Eric.

Okay, we have two birthdays today, and so um it I see one of them, and thank you, Councilman Castillo, for reminding us.

Yeah, it yesterday was the person who keeps us all sane and running, Emily McGinn's birthday.

So we're definitely gonna get and councilmember Messa Gonzalez, who's coming up to her birthday was a couple of weeks ago.

So she's like, what's going on?

We're just singing to you, Iva Lise.

Okay, so let's go ahead and sing for both of them together.

Oh, yeah, why don't you guys come stand in the middle so that we can you're starting a new tradition.

All right, y'all ready?

Because y'all don't want to hear my voice.

All right, why two three?

Thanks, guys.

Thank you.

There is cake in the back, and I'm told it's not fruit.

Uh time is 9:47 a.m.

and a session is adjourned.