Welcome to the City of St.

Petersburg City Council meeting.

Your elected officials are Mayor Ken Welch.

District 1 and Council Chair, Hope Lee Gurtis.

District 2, Brandy Gabber.

District 3, Mike Harding.

District 4, and Council Vice Chair, Leseth Hanowitz.

District 5, Deborah Fig Sanders.

District 6, Gina Driscoll.

District 7, Corey Givens Jr.

And District 8, Richie Floyd.

Welcome everyone to the August 14th, 2025, St.

Petersburg City Council meeting.

Clerk, can we please have a roll call?

Lloyd.

Here.

Curtis.

Gabbard.

Here.

Harding.

Hanowitz.

Here.

Six Anders.

Driscoll.

Here.

Givens.

Here.

Well, we will have our invocation given today by Pastor Chris Futch from our Savior Luther Lutheran Church.

Then please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Pastor.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, as we gather here this afternoon, we give thanks for your presence.

We give thanks for your goodness.

We give thanks for your forgiveness and mercy and grace that is freely given to us through faith in Jesus Christ.

Lord, a few thousand years ago, you raised up leaders in Moses and Aaron and Miriam to lead your people through some challenging times.

And in the times when things were not going well, the Israelites were quick to blame their leaders for the situations that they were in.

But at the same time when things were going well, the Israelites were slow to recognize and encourage their leaders for their tireless work and dedication to the community.

Lord, the same holds true today.

Oftentimes our leaders are quick to receive blame, and yet very rarely are they encouraged for the difficult work that they do.

And so my prayer for us this afternoon is that we as residents of this incredible city will both encourage and build up our leaders on this council.

May we consider the burdens that they carry, and may we also take the time to thank them for the many ways that they are working to lead us through these challenging times.

Bless their families and their friends and their neighbors and all of the people who love them and encourage them as they continue to serve on this council.

Bless our president and our Congress, bless our governor and our state representatives, bless our mayor and the city employees, bless our men and women who protect us from harm and danger every single day.

We also ask that you would bless our families, our workers, our seniors, our veterans, our widows, our homeless, and all who call this city that you have established as their home.

Lord, may each of us continue to help make St.

Petersburg a community of progress for all residents, each and every day.

We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the one who created us, the one who redeemed us, and the one who promises to be with us to the very end of the age.

Amen.

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Y'all may be seated.

Thank you, Pastor Fut for that wonderful invocation.

Council members, is there a motion on the floor for the approval of the agenda we have to delete uh item J1.

The appeal was withdrawn, and the letter is also on the dias if you wanted to read it.

And with that, I'll entertain a motion.

Move approval.

Second.

Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Clerk, can you open the machine for balloting?

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing that all present council members have voted, can you please tally and announce the vote?

Madam Vice Chair, the motion to approve the agenda passes unanimously with Councilmember Fig Sanders and Councilmember Gurtis being absent.

Thank you.

Now we move on to open forum.

Clerk, can you please read the rules?

If you wish to address city council on subjects other than public hearing or quasi-judicial items listed in the agenda, please sign up with the clerk.

Only the individual wishing to speak may sign the open form sheet.

Only city residents, owners of property, business owners in the city, or their employees may speak.

All issues discussed under open form must be limited to issues related to the St.

Peter City of St.

Petersburg government.

If you are speaking to an item on the agenda, you may only speak once during the open form or when the item comes up on the agenda.

In order to provide an opportunity for all citizens to address council, each individual be given three minutes to speak, and after which the microphone will be muted.

If you wish to address city council through the Zoom meeting, you must use the raise hand feature button in the Zoom app or enter star nine on your phone at the time the agenda item is addressed.

When it is your turn to speak, you will be you will be unmuted and asked to state your name and address.

At the conclusion of your comments, or when you have reached the three minute time limit, you will be muted.

All raised hands will be lowered after each agenda item.

Regardless of method of participation use, normal rules apply, including the three minute time limit on comments.

The requirement that any presentation materials must be submitted in advance of the meeting and the rules of decorum.

If live public comments is disrupted by violations of the rules of decorum, the chair is authorized to accept public comments by alternate means, including by email only.

Madam Vice Chair, we do have several speakers.

Thank you.

So for everyone that hasn't been here before, we're going to be calling speakers two at a time.

The first 30 minutes we take, open forum.

And if you're not called within those first 30 minutes, you can speak at the end of the meeting.

We don't have a very long meeting, so for those that don't have an opportunity to speak at the beginning of the meeting, you can speak afterwards.

The three minutes go really quickly, so be ready when you come up.

Have your name, address, or cross street.

Okay.

So with that being said, clerk, you please start calling speakers two at a time.

Okay.

The first two speakers are John Gascon and Andy Oliver.

Please go to an open podium, state your name and address for the record.

You have three minutes to address city.

My name is John Gascott.

Uh my answer is 3600 Yardley Avenue North.

Um, this is not my favorite kind of public speaking.

I'm normally a ham and a big mouth, but I don't love this, but we have to do this.

So I just wrote a short statement about how I feel about this.

Um I want to thank you for your time and for everything you do for our city.

And I'm here today as both an artist and uh proud resident of St.

Petersburg, as well as um a member of the Latino and queer community um here and everywhere.

So I had the amazing honor, really one of the most amazing things I've ever done, uh, to be one of the artists to help create the Black Lives Matter uh mural, which was so impactful to our community that we were all asked back to recreate it as Black History Matters.

This is a jewel of our city, and it's under threat right now.

And um I'm not gonna call it a removal because what it is is erasure.

Um this move is a cut by the current administration, it's not about safety, and it's certainly not new.

It is part of a pattern, a calculated effort to erase voices, visibility, and histories that challenge the status quo.

Let's not forget that one of the very first moves that this current administration made when they got to Washington DC was to erase and remove the BLM mural from the city streets.

And what's happening now?

They're on house is are being erased with unjust imprisonment.

So you see one erasure leads to the next and the next and the next.

And when we don't stand up to tyranny, what happens is the most vulnerable always pay the price first.

But make no mistake, it's gonna affect you and me eventually.

We've already seen studies that show that street art can actually enhance safety by slowing traffic down, so the safety issue uh or argument does not hold water.

What we're facing is a cultural and political decision disguised as bureaucracy.

I also am the creator creator creator of the diversity in um democracy mural on Fifth and Central.

You might be familiar with it.

It was commissioned by the League of Women Voters.

The way things are going is that next, because we know that diversity and inclusion are dirty words right now, and um they're not seen as values by the current administrations, but uh, but threats.

Um I want to be clear that the murals that we're speaking of today are not mere murals or decorative.

Oh thank you.

Wow, that went fast for real.

Okay, no.

Oh I know we are very passionate about the issues, but we do have to keep decorum in here, so that means no clapping and anything like that.

So I understand that everyone feels strongly, but please uh um just keep the quorum.

Thank you.

My name's Andy Oliver.

I'm pastor of Allendale United Methodist Church.

I'm disgusted that Governor DeSantis is pushing to erase our Rainbow Crosswalk and Black History Mural.

This is not about paint, it's about power.

It's about the interconnectedness of oppressions, all rooted in white supremacy.

If you know your black history, you know this city, like so many others, once engineered a whole set of laws, Jim Crow laws, designed to harass and push black people out of public life.

Laws against jaywalking, sundown ordinances, prohibitions sitting at lunch counters and on green benches, bands where people could swim, fish, or gather.

Every one of them an attempt to erase black life from St.

Petersburg.

What's happening today is the same story, just a new code of paint.

The state is trying to scrub out visible reminders that LGBTQ people belong here and that black history matters.

So let's be clear.

We don't have to look all the way to Tallahassee to see this playbook.

Right here, our own St.

Pete police department is working to erase people experiencing homelessness.

I did a public records request.

There have been over 500 arrests since 2024 of people whose only crime was sleeping.

Something every single person in this room requires to live.

That's over one-third of our current unsheltered population arrested.

And this wasn't using the state law.

This was using our very own ordinance passed by a prior city council, something you all have the ability to repeal.

Unhoused people have told me they have been cited for jaywalking when near new luxury condos.

I did another public records request.

Over 100 jaywalking citations since 2024.

The same Jim Crow law just enforced against poor people instead of black folks.

I'm glad so many of us are here to defend our crosswalks and murals.

I hope we show up just as fiercely for our neighbors as our police tries to erase them too.

Can we really say we are St.

Pete if we're silent while our neighbors are erased?

Let's let us defend the colors on our streets and the people sleeping on them.

Let us protect murals and the humans whose stories they tell.

If we are Saint Pete, then all of us are Saint Pete, and we fight for every neighbor's right to be seen, remembered, and free.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I we have 30 minutes, so we want to get as many people up there as speak.

So I really want everyone to get that opportunity.

Next two speakers.

Next two speakers are Nora Gooscu and Terry Scott.

Please go to an open podium, state your name and address for the record.

You'll have three minutes.

So you can press the button.

Hello.

Hello, my name is Noah Yoski 6601, 17th Lane.

A little while ago, my mom and I helped paint the pride flag on Central Avenue.

I painted the dark blue stripe.

I painted in honor of my uncle Keith, who was gay and who passed away.

When I painted that stripe, I felt like I was giving a piece of my love to him.

And also to everyone who feels like they don't belong.

The pride flag is like a big warm, a big hug from the city to say you madam.

Say I think it's important for kids to like me to see austerity and celebrated.

But all kinds of people, it makes me feel seekness, and I see a promise that we will stand up for each other.

I hope you keep the murals because they aren't just paint.

Their stories, their family, their hope, and they make kids believe that this city chaos about everyone.

And thank you for letting me speak.

Sorry.

Good afternoon.

I'm Terry Lipsiddy Scott, executive director of the Woods in African American Museum of Florida, 2249th Avenue, South St.

Petersburg.

I stand humbly before you today with a heart full of gratitude.

Thank you for having the courage to create for the residents of St.

Petersburg a community that is safe, loving, and inclusive, a place where all are seen, heard, respected, and valued as an essential part of the fabric of our great city.

I understand the pressure placed upon our local government to comply with state and national directives.

Yet I deeply applaud your steadfast desire to make St.

Petersburg a beacon of hope, where every person can enjoy an equitable quality of life, sustained by fairness and justice.

The What's an African American Museum of Florida has stood as a pillar of truth, history, and justice.

In 2020, we boldly proclaimed Black Lives Matter with a street mural brought to life by gifted local artists.

In 2023, we declared black history matters, our welcome that to the world.

Now there are plans to paint over our messages.

They say it's about safety, but we know it's about suppression.

So let it be known.

They can paint over our streets, but they cannot erase our faces.

They can edit the history books, but we will keep telling the truth.

They can attempt to dim our light, but we will only shine brighter.

We will not falter.

We will not be silence, because indeed we are Saint Pete.

And forever together will we rise.

Thank you.

Next two speakers, please.

Next two speakers are Alexander Wesleck and Rob Hall.

Please go to an open podium.

State for Damon address for the record.

You'll have three minutes to address City Council.

Hey, my name is Alexander Vasalik.

I live at 340 47th Street North.

So I'm here for a different issue today, but I support everything you all are doing.

I think it's amazing.

Um I'm here today to once again ask you to pull your support for Irish working definition, or excuse me, bullet points 7, 8, and 10 of Irish working definition of anti-Semitism because it coddles the Israeli government.

I'm also asking you to recognize and renounce um the genocide in Gaza that you endorsed it shortly after October 7th.

What I'm asking you is not bold, is not brave.

Almost every genocide scholar and Holocaust scholar um on earth is recognized this as a genocide, Betzalim, and the Israeli physicians group have both recognized this as a genocide.

Um Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders, all recognize it as a genocide.

Uh as of right now, there's 62,000 dead, the vast majority being um civilians and women, sh women and children because of the demographics of Gaza, 14,000 are missing, presumed to be dead under the rubble.

180,000 are injured and maimed.

Um for 90% of K through 12 schools, which is a war crime have been bombed or in completely dysfunctional, if not completely flattened.

Every all 12 universities have been flattened.

Um eighteen out of the 36 hospitals have been flattened or completely useless.

Um they are targeted, they're targeting journalists in a way that is now very provable and tangible.

Everything I just listed is a war crime.

Um not only is it a war crime, but as far as what w originally started this war October 7th, which was disgusting.

More Palestinians have died.

Palestinian civilians, unarguably, have died at food distribution sites than both all is than all Israeli civilians and soldiers who died on October 7th.

Just at food food distribution sites.

To people who don't recognize this as a genocide, what they view as genocide when 850 plus mosques have been bombed, and all of the buildings I'm talking about being bombed, have had civilians inside of them while they're being bombed.

93% of residential buildings are gone.

70% of all buildings in Gaza are gone, bombed with people inside them.

They tell people to go to one other area, and then they bomb that area.

They're currently on the ruins of Rafa, talking about building a humanitarian city where they're going to force two million Palestinians in and ready them for ethnic cleansing.

They're talking to different governments.

The first one right now is South Sudan about taking these people.

This is a genocide.

And it wasn't maybe, I don't know when this became a genocide, very early on.

It became very clearly a genocide.

But you announced that you supported this war shortly after October 7th.

It has long been a genocide, and you have a public responsibility after having endorsed this to renounce it as what it is.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hi, my name is Rob Hall.

I'm the executive director of Winter Pride in St.

Pete, a realtor, and today I'm here representing not just Winter Pride, but also poor behavior.

The largest LGBTQ owned business in our area, and by extension, the many LGBTQ businesses that make St.

Pete the vibrant, welcoming city it is.

I moved to St.

Petersburg in 2022.

I had just come out after 28 years of marriage.

I was starting over not just in a new city, but in a new life.

One day I was exploring Central Avenue and I turned a corner and it was there, the rainbow mural.

I stopped, I stood there, and I looked at it.

And that moment, something shifted inside of me.

I wasn't just looking at a piece of art.

I was looking at a promise.

A promise that here in this place I could be my fully self.

That here I was welcome, and I can tell you that feeling changed everything.

Over time I made friends, I volunteered for St.

Pete Pride, and eventually I helped create Winter Pride St.

Pete.

An event that exists to share the love, the joy and spirit of this community to make sure every single person who comes here knows exactly what I felt that day in front of that mural.

The truth is times are challenging right now.

Many of our LGBTQ businesses, including poor behavior, are seeing sales drop.

Friends, family, and visitors are hesitant about coming to Florida because of the political climate.

And when they ask us if it's safe here, we tell them, yes, St.

Pete is a bubble.

We are the safe space.

But here's the thing it's not just our words that tell them that.

It's the art and our streets.

It's the mural that greets them before they ever speak to a single person.

It's that silent, powerful message that says, The city is for you.

You belong here.

If we remove these murals, we're not just painting over streets.

We're erasing part of the identity and the promise of who we are.

And the world is watching to see what we decide.

On behalf of Winter Pride Team Pete, poor behavior and the many LGBTQ businesses that make our city a destination.

I ask you to please consider the impact of removing them, not just on those of us who call St.

Pete home, but for everyone who is watching to see whether we continue to live up to the message we've been sending for years.

Thank you for your time, your leadership, and for your ongoing support of the LGBTQ community.

You make it possible for St.

Pete to remain what it is and has always been.

A place where love and acceptance are not just ideas, but realities.

Thank you.

Next two speakers.

When I do, please state your name and address for the record, and you'll have three minutes to address city council.

Uh, can you hear us, Christy?

Uh, yes, am I good?

Yes, you're right.

Yeah, go ahead.

Okay, perfect.

Good afternoon.

My name is Christy Ibrahimovich.

I'm a Tyrone Boulevard, 17th Avenue.

And today I'm not here to make legal accusations, but to share firsthand what happens when public safety takes a back seat to speed and profit.

Leading up to Hurricane Ian, Duke Energy ignored multiple requests from residents to trim the overgrown trees, posing a threat to the lines, and they declared it was not their responsibility.

Those same trees fell during the storm onto the lines, and as a result, my neutral line was severed.

They failed to fully inspect the nearby poles before restoring power.

On arrival, the fire department shut off my breakers and advised us to wait inside until Duke arrived, and they didn't respond for nearly two hours.

After about an hour, after they were notified, things started to get crazy, and the garage began to fill with smoke while trying to get the garage open.

I stepped in water from the water washer hoses that had melted from electrical current going through them, and it resulted in me slipping and falling and permanently disabling myself.

My injuries could have been prevented with a timely response on Duke's part.

They caused over 200,000 in damages and made three special needs children homeless for months.

We turned to them for help cleaning up the mess they made, and the claim they denied within four out 24 hours without ever contacting me, and that constitutes bad faith under the Florida statute.

They left us to bear the consequences of their actions alone.

This list goes on about the lack of safety standards Duke Energy has for this community.

After Milton, I read home and found over a hundred feet of line that they discarded in my backyard, and also found three individuals near my house that had suffered the same fate we did in 2022.

Two of them stating they notified Duke that they had lines down and they re-energized their homes anyways.

My 12-year-old child was present and heard Duke's liability manager Douglas Everhart state that it was not standard practice to check every line before re-energizing, because in his words, it would take too long.

This was confirmed again on July 22nd this year by supervisor.

I came to explain why they left the wires of my meter exposed for anyone to touch and kill themselves on after completing infrastructure upgrades.

His response was they're not high voltage wires, they're just like the outlets in your home.

And you would will die if you touch them.

When mentioning their concern for public safety needing to become a priority, I was told that there's a fine line between public safety and people wanting their power back because it that's a safety aspect as well.

People without power in the heat.

Landlords aren't even legally required to provide AC.

So at some point we have to stop confusing corporate convenience with public safety.

Duke Energy may have a mischief statement, but what happened to my home and to others in my neighborhood makes it clear that safety is only a slogan when speed profit and plausible deniability come first.

I have recordings, witnesses, documentation, and this is not a story, it's a fact.

And the fact that Duke Energy supervisor justified exposing energized wires by comparing them to household outlets tells you everything you need to know about the culture we're dealing with.

And if this council renews Duke's contract knowing this, then you're not just tolerating the risk, you're endorsing it, and that's something the public won't forget.

I've emailed all my evidence that I have to council.

Encourage everyone watching today to next two speakers are um Rick Nail and Brian Constrath.

Please go to an open podium, state your name and address for the record.

You'll have three minutes to address city council.

You can start.

I'm Brian Longstrath, 4505 Fifth Avenue North in the Central Oak Park neighborhood.

I'm a native Floridian and a 41-year resident of the city I love St.

Petersburg.

I've had a gay business in the St.

Pete since 1992, also known as a business.

I've been involved in many wonderful community efforts in St.

Petersburg over the years.

I've never been as angry and anxious as I am now, mostly with the state.

I believe you've seen the memo from Equality Florida.

And I just want to read one line.

Don't capitulate.

Until there is clear guidance, cities should pause.

This is a moment to stand firm and insist on legal review.

This directive is politically motivated, not safety driven.

There's a complaint filed with the Florida Board of Professional Engineers.

The writer of that uh FDOT memo has failed in his legal and ethical duty as a licensed professional engineer in Florida to promote public safety.

I promised myself and others the only F-word I would use today is fascism.

Pardon me for paraphrasing a little bit.

I'm not a socialist, I'm not a trade unionist, I'm not a Jew.

I'm not trans.

I'm not a person of color.

I'm not an artist.

I'm not an immigrant.

I'm not a drag queen, other than a few charity events.

Y'all hush.

I'm an old white guy asking you, all of you, to stand up against fascism.

Stand up to the state sanctioned overreach.

Stand up for local rule.

Stand up for this attack on art.

Stand up for the freedom of expression.

Stand up for traffic and pedestrian safety.

Stand up for diversity.

Stand up to the attacks on people of color.

Stand up to the attacks on the LGBTQ plus community.

Stand up against our erasure and stand up for all of our street murals, not just some.

It's fine to be looking at alternative ways to be inclusive.

We can multitask, but the fascists will come for those two.

Do not capitulate.

Now is the time for all of us to stand up.

For the Epstein, stand up, stand up, stand the F up.

Together we rise.

We are St.

Pete.

And like Key West, we are one human family.

Thank you.

Next up.

Rick Nale, 535 51st Street South.

It's been a few years since I've been in these chambers, and I'm really happy to see that there's a few members here that I was fortunate to work with.

Um when I was on the City Beautification Commission for 25 years.

Chair, vice chair, and also I got involved in that, so I could be involved with the Palm Barber in downtown.

So I've kind of retired from that.

They gave me an award, but it's so it's different why we're here today.

Um I started at 17.

I started my activism at 17 when I moved to Philly as an emancipated minor.

I was fortunate enough to find well, they found me to a really incredible gay rights activist who became my mentor and taught me a lot of things over the years about um not just gay rights activism, but activism for everybody's rights.

So that was 17, I'm 68 now, I'm still doing it.

A little bit more armchair, but then being out there, but you know all the protests we've had here standing up for them.

We've been out there between that.

So my main purpose here today is I know what a wonderful council we've had through the years.

Um the council has always stood up for the community, and I believe our community has always stood behind their council.

So what I'm here today is at to ask you to seriously take into serious consideration.

Um Vera Beach Key West have started a lawsuit.

I'm asking the city and our mayor to please seriously consider joining that lawsuit about street art murals because I remember I've been here this long as I remember when the city first started revitalizing, probably in the 80s, and remember what we got all that?

We got a Mediterranean parking lot.

So I've been here to see all the wonderful work that's gone on in the years since, and the city has come to life.

It's a vibrant, it's alive, it's diverse.

There's just so much beauty in this city that we want to see going and not taken away and not erased.

I thank you for considering taking the time to consider, and I hope as a council as a whole, that you will take serious consideration in joining the lawsuits that are already started.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next two speakers.

Next two speakers are Michelle Lisone and Richard Freed.

Please go to either podium, state your name and address for the record.

You'll have three minutes to address city council.

You can go ahead.

Hello, new friends.

Um I usually enjoy speaking extreme extemporaneously.

Michelle I can do that.

You give your name and address first.

Michelle and I live in Lielman.

Is that okay?

54th, 54th, and what?

Uh Neil Drive.

Oh, you're in Lielman.

I'm sorry.

No, you're not in the city of St.

Petersburg.

I'm not, so I can't speak.

I'm sorry.

Oh, is for residents of City of St.

Petersburg.

Cue.

I thought St.

Pete was St.

Pete.

I'm confused.

That's all right.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hi.

Richard Freed, uh 56th Street.

Um I am here to talk about uh a little bit of history.

Uh Viola Desmond in 1946.

She dared to sit in the white section of a segregated movie theater in 1946 in Nova Scotia, Canada.

She is the Rosa Parks of Canada.

This is a ten dollar Canadian bank note.

She is the first black person on the Canadian black note.

Uh uh note.

And a the first black woman to be on a bank note, Canadian bank note.

And I might suggest that Canada needs to teach us a few things.

We have much to learn.

Um secondly, uh there are many of us here, queer folk, uh, who are parents and children.

And uh when we're young, we know that we're queer, right?

That Gator thing, right?

Parents know their children are queer.

Children know their parents are queer.

And I'm going to suggest that I know why Ron DeSantis has an issue with queer folks.

I suspect that at least one of his children is queer.

And I'm going to suggest that Ron DeSantis contact P Flag.

And I'm also going to say that conversion therapy is child abuse.

Uh converted to heterosexuality, that uh we contact the Department of Human Services and report him.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We're gonna have the last two speakers.

Last two speakers are Janae Preebee and Samira Burnside.

Please go to either podium, state your name and address for the record.

You'll have three minutes to address City Council.

Hi, my name is Janae Preebe.

I live at 4047 24th Avenue North.

I'm the owner of No Good Deeds Consulting and the former director of the Shine Mural Festival.

Thank you all for your service to the City of St.

Pete and for hearing our concerns today as it relates to the possible removal of asphalt art.

Having overseen the installation of the Black Lives Matter mural, the Black History Matters Mural, the ground wheel at the intersection of 11th Avenue South and 46th Street South and Child's Park, and the USF ground mural.

I know firsthand we followed every city and state guideline for safety.

I worked closely with multiple city departments, including engineering and transportation, who were meticulous in ensuring that we followed every protocol with precision because the safety of drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists is not something to be taken lightly.

We use the traffic paint outlined by the DOT manual on uniform traffic control devices.

We mix the proper additives to ensure the roads wouldn't become too slick.

We kept the paint within the city right-of-way intersections and have purposely never painted a crosswalk like other cities have because of how the city interprets the DOT regulations.

There is no shortage of data to support the traffic calming effects of ground murals.

Cecilia Loaza's 2016 ground mural on Fifth and Central was part of a reputable nationwide study, which found that more than a 70% reduction in traffic accidents at that intersection after the art was installed.

I know the city has this data, but we know this isn't about safety or data.

This is about erasure.

This is about compliance, it's about censorship, and it's the beginning of a slippery slope.

I have been a proud resident of this city for 15 years, and I can say with confidence there is no other Florida city I would want to live in.

St.

Petersburg has been a haven for artists, the LGBTQ plus community, and other progressives.

I urge you to truly consider the impacts of this moment in time to contemplate the consequences of compliance, the real life dangers it would create, not only on the roadways, but even more broadly in our communities.

This erasure would send a clear message to residents and visitors, you are not safe or protected here.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh good afternoon, esteemed members of the St.

Petersburg City Council.

Uh my name is Samira Burnside.

I'm from Tampa, uh, but I'm a recent transplant to 600.

If you live in Tampa, you can't speak in open forum.

If you were listening to me, I said recent transplant, I was about to say my address.

Oh, okay.

I would um uh 600 13th Avenue and I'm okay.

Um ever since I was young, St.

Petersburg has appeared as a bastion of freedom of expression in a state that is often hostile to people like me.

Uh when I walk down Central Avenue and see the rainbow flags that wave there and attend the biggest pride in the state, which is hosted in your city, I feel like I'm home in a way that is rare and special in this state.

It is for these reasons that I'm here to ask that you not create a committee to discuss the destruction of the rainbow sidewalks in the art that makes this city this city.

Part of what makes St.

Petersburg such a cultural bastion is its bold steadfastness in the beliefs of equality and freedom of expression.

To remove something as harmless as a crosswalk and even as helpful as a crosswalk is to signal that this city doesn't actually care about the culture it's built in the varied and diverse constituencies that elected its leaders.

And I want to believe more than I've wanted most things that that is not true about the city of St.

Petersburg.

I want to believe that this council will be bold, that it will make its name in history by not giving in to the political pressure that propels hate.

I want to believe that this council will truly make a stand for its people and not even humor the destruction of the cultural soul of this city.

There is no purpose for a committee when we all know that something is wrong.

I want to believe in this city and in you, council members.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

And now we close open forum.

For those that signed up after the meeting, we reopen open forum.

Now we move on to awards and presentations, D1, which is gonna be presented by Councilmember Gabbard, the Gulf of Mexico Climate and Resilience Community of Practice, Spirit of the Community Award.

Councilmember Gabbard.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and uh just wanted to real quick invite up a couple of people to join me for this award.

Hannah Rebholtz, our flood city floodplain manager.

Amber Bolding, the city's emergency management manager.

And if she is here, Chris Simonello from Gulf Coast Ocean Observing System.

I'd like you all to join me for the presentation.

There she is.

All right.

So a little background on the award.

So in 2009, the National Oceanographic Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, otherwise known as NOAA's Gulf Regional Collaboration Team, partnered with the four Gulf Sea Grant programs to establish the Gulf Resilience Community of Practice Program.

Yeah, hold on.

I'm gonna give it just one second, Madam Chair.

If y'all can come in and close the door, please go ahead, Councilmember.

Very good.

Thank you.

All right.

The initiative was to create and bring together local decision makers, extension agents, outreach professionals, and educators to collaborate on incorporating coastal hazards into the planning efforts for all Gulf Coast communities.

As part of their commitment to recognizing excellence in this work, the Gulf Resilience Community of Practice Awards were created.

These annual awards are presented to individuals, organizations, and communities that have demonstrated outstanding leadership in communicating resilience and proactive planning on how to mitigate against the dangers that exist from being near the Gulf.

Today I am excited to share that this year, the City of St.

Petersburg was a warned an honorable mention award in the spirit of community category for these awards.

This recognition highlights the impactful journey of our floodplain and emergency management teams.

And this was all spearheaded way back when the city had the program for public information, which Amber, Chris, myself, uh then Noah Taylor, who worked for the city, um, numerous individuals set on this committee.

And eventually what happened was there was a decision that was made that was really quite brown groundbreaking, and it decided that the city would join forces with the other 24 cities across Pinellas County to form the local mitigation strategy LMS working group, of which we are all so familiar with now.

This group is a first of its kind collaboration that brings together municipalities from across the county to jointly develop flood communication strategies and mitigation efforts that strengthen our collective resilience to environmental vulnerabilities.

Most recently, this partnership was instrumental in assisting the city in the adoption of the five-year floodplain management plan in compliance with the National Flood Insurance Program and FEMA.

So at this time, I want to go ahead and personally thank and present to Hannah and Amber and the entire team in our floodplain and emergency management department, the City of St.

Petersburg awarded for leadership in implementing actions to enhance community resilience and the Gulf Resilience Community of Practice Award.

Congratulations.

If I can, just real briefly before I turn it over to both of them to say a few words.

She's really one of the early pioneers of this work, and I learned so much from her in those early days.

So I want to thank you.

And Chris is really the reason that this award came back around.

We were originally up for this award when COVID hit, and then it kind of went away a little bit.

And then one day, Chris reached out and said, guess what, guys?

Your application from way back when got looked at, and we'd like to reignite it.

So she really was the driver behind us being here today.

And so, Chris, I want to thank you for everything you taught me, everything we've worked on together over the years, and for your advocacy and what you do for our city.

So thank you, Chris.

Hannah, Amber, would either of you like to say something?

I would always love an opportunity to speak.

Good afternoon.

Pleasure as always to see you.

And just a big thank you to Councilmember Gabbard.

Ashley said, I feel like it's been many moons ago when we sat on that PPI committee.

Um, but just for your steadfast leadership, you know, before council on council, um, it really does take that strong partnership, you know, to make these things happen and really meet those, you know, preparedness, mitigation, resiliency goals.

So it's more than just floodplain and emergency management, it's that entire partnership and all of your support as well.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Oh, come on, Hannah.

Hi, everybody.

It's always a pleasure to be here.

Uh, floodplain manager Hannah Rabhols.

Um, this is a great honor.

Um, again, I wasn't a part of it at the beginning, but it was quite a surprise this year when we said we were up for it.

Um, it's very exciting.

We put a lot of work into this, and we put a lot of passion into protecting the community, and to be um to be seen for that is feels really good.

So thank you very much for always your support, and um we'll hang this on the wall.

Chris, would you like to say anything?

Sure.

So, as you know, climate change is real, and this city is leading the way, not just here in St.

Petersburg, but regionally and nationally to set the tone for how to address some of those crises and issues, and please remain forward looking, don't give in to the all the climate deniers, it's real.

And the second comment that I will say is that this team has been really powerful, and it's not just the safety of the people, it's the economy.

You've saved taxpayers millions of dollars that people are never going to be aware of.

But because of the work that this team has done and the floodplain expertise that the city brings, millions of dollars have been saved and passed along to taxpayers.

So thank thank your floodplain managers.

Well, thank you all for all the work you do.

Christina and Branna, Councilmember Gabbard, for being such a champion on resiliency.

The storms taught us very vividly last year how important it is.

We're a peninsula on a peninsula, and clearly we've been doing the work, and it's wonderful to be recognized.

So thank you so much for everything you've done.

Thank you, Chair.

Can we take a moment to take a picture?

Yes, absolutely.

Go right ahead.

Let's do it.

Let's take a picture.

What's your award?

Okay.

See you down.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

And next up, we have D two proclamation honoring Black Business Month, and it's gonna be presented by our mayor, Mayor Welch.

Is that is that for me?

I'm not used to getting that, madam chair.

Um Madam Chair, members of council, members of our uh fantastic St.

Pete team, and members of our community.

It is really good to be back uh with you today.

Uh, and I'm honored to bring you two uh what I think are very timely proclamations.

And the first is in recognition of Black Business Month.

August is Black Business Month, and cities across the country are recognizing the history, the challenges, and the contributions of black businesses to our communities.

And particularly today, as some question the value or even the appropriateness of this kind of recognition, we believe that inclusive progress absolutely depends on us first having a clear understanding of our history and the lived experiences of our residents, and then acknowledging that reality, and then acting on that shared understanding to move our entire community forward.

Now that model.

So today our administration is proud to join cities across the nation in recognizing the significance and impact of black businesses in our community.

Now we are joined by several representatives, business owners, and several representatives from organizations who support black businesses and encourage their growth and development.

I'll ask you all to stand and just gather around for the proclamation.

From our staff, we have Tracy Smith from the Green House, as you know.

Uh several of our staff members are engaged at the MSC responding to the state doge.

And we will have one uh speaker, Mariel Summers, representing the Pinells County Urban League will speak.

Thank you all for what you do every day, and thank you all for joining us.

Thank you.

And the proclamation reads whereas National Black Business Month celebrated annually in August is a time to recognize the resilience, innovation, and vital contributions of black owned businesses.

And whereas the impact of black owned businesses in the United States is multifaceted and dynamic and translates into real economic impact, creating jobs and innovation while reshaping the future of commerce.

And whereas during Black Business Month, we encourage all residents, businesses, and community organizations to learn about and support Black owned businesses through patronage, partnerships, and advocacy, therefore, thereby contributing to the growth and prosperity of our entire community.

And whereas we also shine a light on the vital organizations supporting black owned businesses, including the Pinellas County Urban League's next level urban alliance, a powerful network of entrepreneurs, professionals, and development leaders driving equity and opportunity throughout our community, and the Tampa Bay Black Business Investment Corporation, a financial and business development organization, helping black entrepreneurs in our region turn vision into enterprise.

And whereas, as we celebrate Black Business Month, we invite minority and women-owned businesses to register for our minority and women-owned business enterprise programs to take part in our inclusive procurement and contract opportunities, networking and collaboration opportunities, and business development support.

Now, therefore, I, Kenneth T.

Welch, mayor of the city of St.

Petersburg, Florida, do here by recognize August 2025 as Black Business Month in St.

Petersburg, and invite all businesses to take part in the city's inclusive procurement opportunities and business development support.

Thank you all for the work you do.

Thank you, sir.

Um good afternoon, everyone.

On behalf of President and CEO, Nicky Gaskin Cape Hart, thank you to the City of St.

Petersburg, to the mayor, Mayor Welch, and to you all on Council here for your continued support and partnership uh with the Pinellas County Urban League.

My name is Marielle Summers, and I have the privilege of serving as the director of our anchors job placement and entrepreneurship pillar, as well as our health and quality of life pillar at the Pinellas County Urban League, where we are supporting our local businesses impactfully through, as Mayor mentioned, the next level urban alliance collective.

Present with us today, our director of finance, uh senior director of finance and administration, Von DeFord.

Um we also have Genevieve Esperanza, Crystal Vasquez is here, and Tamika Mitchell.

Um I I know I seen um thank you guys for being here, and I want to acknowledge the entire next level urban alliance team that pioneered this great collective.

Um the um it wouldn't have been possible without these folks, Gypsy Galardo, Taisha Scantlin, Latura Bowles, Andrew Ware, Lynn Harrell Johnson, Albert Lee, Brent Everett, Nancy Dunham, uh Attorney Tamra Fowler, uh Felton Howard, Marshea Brown, and Anthony Williams.

Um I'd be remiss if I didn't recognize our funder for the initiative, the Foundation for Healthy St.

Pete.

Um Dr.

Kanika Tomlin, Julie Rocco, Dr.

Balon Joseph, and the entire foundation team.

We are very grateful.

Um today, lastly, we invited two of our next level Urban Alliance business owners uh to join us for this proclamation, FaceTime Beauty Lounge owners, Jamie McClendon and Michael Vega.

Yes, yeah.

Um as well as the iCoach Support Services uh owner Tanil Williams.

Uh thank you guys for joining us today and being a part of our uh black business community here in this great city.

At the Pinellas County Urban League, we're thrilled to be a shining example of what collaboration uh for progress looks like.

We encourage you all to come out to the Urban League on Friday, uh September the 5th for Food Truck Friday, uh, where it's going to be open to all, and you all have an opportunity to meet more of our team members, other business owners that we're supporting through the next level Urban Alliance, uh, more of our Pinellas County Urban League team, our neighbors, and uh, of course, our resource partners throughout the community.

So again, thank you for this proclamation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

One once, going twice.

Thank you all for the work you do.

Thank you.

And before y'all leave, Councilmember Givens wants to speak.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair, and thank you, Mayor, for this recognition, and thank you to all of you for taking time out of your busy schedules as small business owners.

I know it's cutting into your bread and butter, uh, but I appreciate you being here today.

I just wanted to say thank you, and that I'm grateful for each of you.

Um, I understand the importance of our small businesses in our community, um, our businesses in general, especially our black owned businesses.

Um, and at a time where diversity and equity and inclusion is under attack, I really commend your mayor for highlighting um these business owners in our city because I know that the labor is a labor of love.

Um, you don't get up and do what you do every morning just because you have nothing else to do.

Um, you're employing other families.

Uh, you are helping pull people out of poverty one day at a time.

Um, so for the economic impact that you make here in St.

Pete, from the bottom of my heart, I say thank you.

Thank you, Chair.

We have one other Tracy from our greenhouse.

Thank you.

And I'll be brief.

I too just want to thank all the business owners for coming out today.

I know this is it's an interruption to your day, and we recognize that, but we I just want to say we appreciate you.

We see you.

I also want to thank you on behalf of our manager of OSD, Corey Hendrix Bell and uh the Greenhouse, we work so closely together to do all that we can to support small businesses, but we see you supporting us as well at the greenhouse.

I some of you I call, yes, please come today, and they are here and they support us and they see us supporting them.

And I just say thank you.

I know it's difficult now, but we see you standing in the gap and doing the work that you know the councilman um council member givens mentioned about supporting your families.

And so thank you for all that you do.

We know that you know, small business economic driver for community, and so thank you also to council.

We see you supporting us at the greenhouse and OSD, so thank you all for that as well.

Thank you, Bear.

And thank you all, really, for being such a wonderful fabric of our community.

You are an economic driver, and what makes our city unique are really all those small businesses out there.

That's what we all rely on, and you're part of that, and thank you so much for all you do.

Thank you.

Okay, we go on next to D three, the proclamation honoring the 90th anniversary of Social Security, and this is also gonna be presented by our mayor Welch.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

We'll give them a few seconds.

Yep.

And y'all, if you're you can go ahead.

Yep.

Bringing the whole crew up.

Don't be shy.

You can join the mayor.

Thank you.

Thank you, madam chair.

As we know, our seniors are very special to us in the city of St.

Petersburg.

And I'm pleased to present a proclamation marking a significant milestone.

The 90th anniversary of Social Security.

Social Security is proven to be a cornerstone program impacting the lives of seniors, children, and families in our country, state, and city.

I'm joined by representatives from AARP and uh members of our city team, including uh representatives from community enrichment.

Are they here?

I don't recall seeing them.

Okay.

Um I'm honored to present this proclamation.

And it reads, whereas August 14th, 2025 marks the 90th anniversary of the Social Security Act, signed into law in 1935, establishing one of the most enduring institutions in American history.

And whereas for 90 years, Social Security has transformed the lives of millions of Americans by providing critical financial protection for retirees, people with disabilities, surviving spouses, and families.

And whereas Social Security is critical to the economic security of countless senior citizens, helping individuals live better, more secure, and enjoyable lives in retirement with dignity and independence in their later years.

And whereas Social Security provides support for senior citizens who rely on Social Security to help meet basic needs such as housing, food, and health care.

And whereas Social Security faces challenges that demand thoughtful solutions as it remains the foundation of economic security for thousands of our residents.

So now there I now, therefore, I, Kenneth T.

Welch, mayor of the city of St.

Petersburg, Florida, do hereby proclaim August 14th, 2025 as the 90th anniversary of Social Security, and encourage all residents to reflect on its importance and the support efforts that ensure Social Security remains strong and sustainable for generations to come.

And thank you, Jeff, for all your support.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you, members of the council.

I appreciate you giving up time on this very busy day to honor Social Security.

Again, it today, 90 years ago, the Social Security Act was signed into law and the Social Security program began.

You may think of St.

Petersburg as a young community, and certainly it is.

However, it is one that relies heavily on Social Security benefits.

The state of Florida brings in a hundred billion dollars a year in Social Security benefits.

There are a quarter of a million current Social Security beneficiaries who are in Pinellas County, tens of thousands of them right here in the city of St.

Pete.

And of course, everybody in this room at some point or another, if we're lucky, will benefit from Social Security.

And so ARP is working hard to make sure that this is just the first 90 and that we have many 90s yet to go.

Um I uh apologize for not starting by saying I am a resident of the city of St.

Pete and actually a constituent of Vice Chair Hanowitz.

Um, and AARP Florida has had its home base in St.

Petersburg since the association was founded in 1958.

We consider St.

Pete our hidden second home, and we are so excited that this city has stepped forward as one of a dozen or so across the state to recognize this important anniversary in this critical program for our older adults, for survivors, and for those with disabilities.

And we encourage you to walk with us as we make sure that Social Security remains strong, not only for our current residents, but for those yet to come.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

I absolutely do because they are the ones who do all the work while I stand up here.

So our director of advocacy is Ayn Smith.

Our uh director of community outreach is Laura Street.

Uh Bill Herman is our lead volunteer in the city of St.

Pete and seems to already know everybody on the Dais.

And Pedro Cruz is our communications intern studying at the University of South Florida, St.

Petersburg, where he is uh a fine student, and we're happy to have all of them as well if I I suspect several of those who are still in the audience who may be ARP members.

Thank you.

Thanks so much, Mr.

Mayor, for sure.

Councilmember Givens.

Thank you, Vice Chair, and thank you, ARP for being here today.

I appreciate you all so much.

Uh, you know, I think about the elders in our community, um the elders in my family, specifically my age and grandmother, um, who relies solely on her social security to get by.

Um, and had it not been for you all standing in the gap, I don't think she'd made it this far.

Um, so I really thank you all for really being um a resource that so many, our most vulnerable population relies on.

Um, our elders, uh, those who are disabled.

Thank you for just being a willing resource that we all can count on.

Appreciate you.

Thank you, Vice Chair.

Thank you for all you do.

I'm of that generation that is coming up to the age where I'm gonna be looking at Social Security and wondering is it gonna be there or not?

So I appreciate all the work that you all do in advocating for uh Social Security and for our older population.

Um my mother and my grandmother, just like Councilmember Given said, I mean, we relied heavily on Social Security, and as many of our residents here in St.

Petersburg do.

So we want to see this celebrated for many years, even passed when we're gone.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you for that.

Next up, thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Next up, we have uh new ordinances.

We have E1, A, B, and C.

It's the F 26, FY26 utility rates and charges.

And we have Claude Tankersley here.

This is a first reading.

I believe the public hearing is on September 4th.

Clerk.

Proposed ordinance number six 16-h, and orders relating to sanitation rates and charges, amending chapter 27, section 27-557 of the St.

Petersburg City Code, amending rates and charges for sanitation services, providing for several provisions, providing an explanation of words threat through and underlined, establishing a date to begin calculating new rates for building purposes and providing for an effective date.

The public hearing for this item is September the 4th.

Would you like me to continue?

Yes, please.

Proposed ordinance number 615-H in order to utility rates, amending section 27-405, subsections B1 and B2 of the St.

Petersburg City Code, amending the stormwater utility fee, amending the tier rate structure fees for single family residential parcels, providing for several billions of provision, providing an explanation of words, words struck through and underline, establishing a date to begin calculating new rates for building purposes and providing for an effective date.

And the public hearing for this item is also September the 4th.

Ordinance number 617-H and ordinance relating to utility rates and charges.

Amending Chapter 27, Section 27-4C, 27-6, 27-109B, 27-109D, 27-11B, 27-141A, 27-141B, 27-142A, 27-143B, 27-144, 27-146B, 27-146D, 27-177A, 27-177D, 27-250A, 27-283A, 27-284A, 27-284D, and 27-337 of the St.

Petersburg City Code.

Amending owner liabilities for certain charges, adding adjustment relief for pool refill following a declare of state of emergency emergency, amending charges for potable water connection, amending base and water base and volume charges for water service, amending various service charges, amending wholesale water service charges for the city of Gulfport, amending fire services charges, amending rates and charges for irrigation only accounts, amending rates and charges for commercial only accounts, amending rates and charges for reclaim water service, amending sewer capacity fee, amending retail and wholesale wastewater service charges, amending grease management fees, providing for several provisions, providing an explanation or words struck through and underlined, establishing a date to begin calculating new charges for building purposes and providing for an effective date.

The public hearing for this item is September the 4th.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

So council members, we have to vote on these separately, and I'll first go to Councilmember Gabbard.

So Madam Chair, that was going to be my question.

Um it was my desire to have E1B specifically voted on separately, so that was why I pushed my buttons.

Okay.

So yes, just wanted to make sure.

I saw them all up there together, so it worried me.

So thank you.

You're welcome.

It's because it was listed on the agenda altogether, and I think that's that's probably why.

But we have to take them separately.

So I will entertain a motion uh on E1A.

So moved.

Oh, Councilmember Floyd presses button after.

Sorry.

Yeah, but that's fine.

I just wanted to ask Councilmember Gabbard is uh your thinking along the uh stormwater rate and what you're proposing.

Okay.

I want to have a conversation about stormwater separate.

Okay, all right.

That's what I was hoping you were thinking.

Okay, thanks.

All right.

Move approval of E1A.

We have a motion and a second.

Um clerk, you please open the machine for voting.

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing that all present council members have voted, can you please tally in the NASA votes?

Madam Vice Chair, the motion to approve agenda item E1A passes unanimously with council member Fix Sanders and Councilmember Gerdis being absent.

Thank you.

E1B.

Undertain the motion.

Councilmember Gabbard.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

So last meeting we had a conversation about all of our utility rates.

We had our conversation about our stormwater rates, and we had a conversation about a proposal that I had brought forward in our BFT uh committee, the last one that we had, about a modest increase of a dollar sixteen additional on top of the rate that is here before us today for us to expedite some of our stormwater projects.

Um it was a proposal that would have been able to bond some of the um kind of pre-planning and expedited work that we need to do across our city.

Um that proposal uh did not, in my opinion, reflect um exactly what I feel could have been a proposal that would have gotten us to a better place with a consensus among council.

Um surprise that we weren't able to move that conversation forward a little bit more.

And so I just want to read for everyone into the record an email that we received this morning to all of City Council.

This email reflects emails and conversations that I have every single day in our district, which was dramatically impacted by the storms of 2024.

So it says, please relay to council members that our opinion of the contemplated utility rate increase is this.

If a modest increase is needed to help reduce the chance of flooding due to storm, rain, hurricane situations, do it now, please.

That sums up better than anything else I could sit here and pontificate on about why we need to do more to increase our stormwater to make sure that we are protecting our city from the climate vulnerabilities that we see every day.

So because of that, I'm very glad that this is a standalone item because I intend to vote no today on the stormwater rates, because in my opinion, we are not being aggressive enough.

And if we don't stand up now, when are we going to stand up?

Is it going to take another storm?

Is it going to take another season like we had last year?

We have got to do more.

So I am a no on the stormwater rates as of today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you.

I I'm have to agree with Councilmember Gabbard in that I hate raising the utility rates.

I think we do a good job of uh making it modest every year, doing the best we can to keep costs down.

But I think I'm the only one here who's voted no on a utility rate increase in my time, and uh have worked really hard with administration to get the rates restructured over the last couple of years, and I've been proud of that work.

But this year for stormwater, I think Councilmember Gabbard had a very uh modest and simple proposal that was not too impactful that would help people whose homes uh are currently in a precarious situation, and I've had a significant number of constituents reach out to me who are just scared, honestly, myself included.

I had a nightmare last night that my house flooded again.

Like, and it's not fun to live like this.

And I think uh, you know, the proposal for just like uh it was a dollar more a month.

A dollar sixteen, yes, very small, very reasonable for us to be able to jump start some of the work.

And I know administration does want to do a jump start, and that's why we planned it, but I would have liked to see us just push it that little bit further.

And so uh, you know, it it pains me uh to raise utility rates at all, and I scratch and claw every year to make sure it's as small as possible.

Uh but you know, I think we're in a unique situation right now where we've been shown our vulnerabilities, and I and I uh I don't like what I saw that I can say that much, and so uh I'm not there today on this either.

Um, but I am do want to say I'm grateful to the administration for the work that they've done uh to have this conversation in the first place at all.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Harding.

Thank you, Chair.

I appreciate my colleagues' comments.

I'm gonna be a bit contrarian today.

Um and uh and Claude, I I want to address administration first.

The projects that have been put forth are well thought out.

Um I think everything that uh that you and Brajesh put forward are things that should be done.

Um, and in a perfect world they would be done, but but eventually we'll run out of money.

Um my contention uh and what I would like us to take into account is uh is this, and I'll I'll use myself as an example.

My current uh the money I send to Wells Fargo every month is thirty six hundred dollars.

Um it is eighteen hundred dollars of principal and interest, and it is eighteen hundred dollars worth of uh of property insurance, flood insurance, and and taxes.

And my point very simply is that uh that um the the number that was used $1.16 is not a lot of money, but this is becoming death by a thousand cuts.

And um, and eventually you just can't get there.

We can't continue to.

If this were a discussion in my house, it would be very simple.

We just don't have the money.

Um and I think we are we are vastly approaching.

I I looked up what we spent for all of water in the city of St.

Pete for 2014, 15, and 16.

We spent 156 million dollars last year, this year, um, where we are and where we're headed, and the projected budget for next year will spend 417 million dollars.

Um I can I cannot guarantee you I cannot with with any certainty tell you that there's going to be a hurricane this year or next year, that we're gonna flood this year or next year.

But what I can tell you is that everyone is gonna pay a little bit more money, and eventually we run out of space.

And so I want us to be cognizant of the fact that that um that we're we're we're looking at increases in stormwater, we're looking at increases in water, we're looking at um at uh a referendum for a spar project.

I think everyone that's sitting up here has heard plenty from our constituents about electric bills, and um, and if you haven't seen your flood insurance bill for next year, it's gonna look a little bit different.

I've seen it already.

So my point very simply is that these are very important conversations.

The the what we have going for us is that that there's an expert team on the administration side that is very able and very capable of looking at the system that we have and telling us what it is that uh that needs to happen to it.

And and my point very simply is that we can't do it all.

And um, and when you look at spending uh 417 million dollars over three years and uh in a project that's gonna speed up another half a billion of this, eventually you just can't afford all of it.

And uh, and so I want us to be cognizant of that, and um I'm going to uh and I'm going to to continue to err on the side of um of we can't we can't ensure our way out of everything when there's not a lot not enough left over for the groceries the next day.

That's uh that's where I am today.

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Council member Driscoll.

Thank you.

Claude, I wanted to give you an opportunity to um weigh in on this.

I think everyone's making good points.

This is this is not as easy as some might think.

What what are your thoughts?

And Rob, please, um, anything that you would like to add to this is great, but I want to hear from our expert first.

Sure.

And um, as the as the public works administrator, there is a lot that is on your shoulders.

And I know that um you would love to be able to accelerate as many projects as possible to reduce the risk and strengthen our infrastructure at the same time.

People are seeing their all kinds of bills go up and up and up right now, and I I have some concerns about adding to that.

So what can you tell us?

Stormwater has been a big lift for the city.

Um all utilities have been a big lift since 2016.

But stormwater in particular has been a big lift because it was um back in 2016 the rates were were extremely low compared to where they are now and compared to where we need to be to fund the hundreds of millions and billions of dollars of stormwater work we have ahead of us.

So we do recognize that um uh you know there's a lot of work to be done.

It's uh we're we're doing our best to try to find uh federal grants to help pay for it, state grants to help pay for it.

Um we're we're trying to look at projects in a different way to see if we can do them more efficiently.

Uh but it's a big lift, and it's and it's gonna be a long-term lift.

Um, as you know, whenever we come to you, we we show you uh what we're looking at in terms of rates not only for the upcoming fiscal year but for the next five fiscal years.

And um unfortunately, in order to get to where uh we we want to be able to do the projects that we want to do and do them more quickly.

Um it's it's gonna be a challenge.

Okay.

Um Rob, did you want to add anything to this?

I I know you guys have given this a lot of thought.

Yeah, no, thank you, Councilmember.

Good afternoon, council.

I I just wanted to say, you know, look, we we brought forward working internally with our consultants our recommendation.

We had a request to to look at a possible amendment.

Uh we brought that to city council, we had that discussion, we took feedback.

Um we did not believe during that discussion that there appeared to be five votes uh to move forward with the additional funding for stormwater.

So we brought back our original recommendation.

This is really at the discretion of city council.

If you choose uh a higher rate for stormwater, we will do everything we can to execute that spending on projects and and we defer to you on this decision.

All right.

Thank you.

I think we know with already having these the increases that are already in place.

I I I've got a I've got to agree with with council member Harding that you can only do so much, and I I think we can only ask for so much on the backs of our current residents.

Um I I agree, Claude, that there are um potential opportunities for outside funding to assist with projects, and I I hope that you all are being as aggressive as possible in finding that.

I know we have um we have been uh pretty fortunate with with several several projects that have gotten some grant funding.

I just have a really hard time right now asking asking our residents to pay to pay more on top of the increases and in their other bills in this bill already.

Um the cost of living if living is just becoming um a difficult thing for a lot of people to to manage.

And I I don't want us to add to that any more than we already are.

I think I think we we need to look for ways that we can accelerate projects.

I absolutely think we need to be more aggressive about that, but I think we need to look for uh another way to fund that.

So that's where I am right now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Councilmember Givens.

Thank you very much.

Um I have to concur with some of the previous comments.

And again, Claude, you know, I know you're you're in a hot seat, and I appreciate you um being patient, being diligent.

Um, I appreciate administration doing all they can uh to try to get us to um a comfortable balance.

Um I see both sides of this issue.

Um I understand that you know we've been kicking the can down the road for so many years, and unfortunately, you know, our aging infrastructure has caught up with us.

Um and we saw that last year.

And if we continue to prolong this, it only gets worse.

Um so it's messaging that to constituents who corner you and question you and say we still have questions.

Why are our bills so high, right?

Um you're asking for more money, but we still have questions.

And so I I just want to pause for a minute because I know there was supposed to be a study with Stan Tech.

I I don't remember finding out whether or not we had gotten anywhere to figure out, you know, whether or not there was some contributing factors out there to you know why these bills are so high.

But it's it's tough to ask for consumers to pay more when we're already burdening them, you know.

It's just a tough ass.

So, you know, how do we answer those questions?

You know, where where are we there?

Do we have an answer?

Stantec.

I mean it sounds like you're talking about the drinking water um bills from last year.

Um, we we Stan Tech did the analysis that they could do on the data that we had, uh, just to uh figure out you know how many of our of our um our customers did experience that that spike.

Um but the data that we had did not allow them, and nor did they do an analysis of what caused it because we didn't have the data, we don't have the data to know what caused it.

Uh and so we don't have any more answers on what caused it than we did before.

And so that's why administration and council work together to update our ordinances to allow us to be more flexible in the future when these things happen.

Yeah, I would just add to that, council member, that um we have not seen a similar spike in uh utility bills or water bills after the hurricane.

We do believe it's directly related to the storms.

There were a couple things that we know.

One, some homes were flooded, appliances became disconnected, um, and water was being used continuously.

We can see that through the digital meters, right?

So we can understand that.

We also know that there was debris um for 90 days in front yards.

A lot of meters were covered up, so there was delayed readings that impacted some of the bills.

Um, and so now we are back to normal numbers uh on the utility bills.

So it does appear to be directly related to the hurricanes and for a variety of reasons.

Gotcha, I hear you, and and I don't want to argue, but I do have constituents who still call me and email me and say I still have high bills.

And it may be, you know, it's just the cost of living, right?

It's expensive to turn on your air and to turn on your water.

It costs, and I understand that you know, sometimes we have to eat that cost.

And I'm just having a really tough time with telling 330,000, you know, public utility customers that we need you to pay more when people are already hurting.

It's just very hard for me to, you know, say that you know, if I ask you to contribute more, we we're going to.

I know we can't guarantee a promise anything, but you know, we're going to deliver.

To me, it sounds like we're overpromising.

You know, it's it's a huge undertaking to say that we're gonna spend all these millions of dollars to fix the problem, but realistically, can we fix the problem?

And so my ask is that we don't try to bite off more than we can chew.

Let's focus on those hardest hit neighborhoods, those high priority areas, you know, let's let's look at some other solutions to where we can get some money, you know.

You know, I don't want to burden taxpayers with more bonds.

Let's and I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

Let's burden these developers, right?

Who continue to build on to our our our capacity?

And and again, we we aren't asking them to to pay more, but we are asking our taxpayers to.

I'm looking at the historic gas plant redevelopment again.

You know, can we look at that as an alternative to finding some cash to pay for the problems that we have?

I just I'm done, but I just again have a hard time saying that you know this is something that we can deliver on when we don't have all the facts.

You you said it yourself.

We still have uh data that we're waiting for with this study, and so when we still have questions on other issues, it's hard for me to say that we want to impose a tax burden on our constituents.

It's just not the right time for me until we figure this problem out that we already have on our hands.

And and council member or madam chair, if I could, I just wanted to clear something.

There's not another study that we're waiting on.

Um the study that we had Stan Tech do was as Mr.

Gertes referenced was doing the analysis of the the bills that were anomalous during uh immediately respon uh immediately after the storms.

So they have delivered on that report.

We have that data, we have discussed that data with council, and I can certainly share that again.

But as Mr.

Gerdis also referenced, we've seen those, we've seen the billing normalize.

Certainly every day we have customers contacting us because they might have a leak.

They might have so those things happen just through the normal course of business.

Um, you know, I'm I've certainly had leaky toilet flaps at my home where you know the c the toilet constantly runs and my bill spiked up.

So when I replaced that, um that that cleared up the problem.

So those things are always going to happen, but it's not as um, it's not like immediately following the storm when we had flooded homes and things happen.

So I just wanted to make sure that that was clear.

Thank you, Mr.

Greener, for clarifying that.

I appreciate you.

Um, and again, my point is the data, and correct me if I'm wrong, there's still data that needs to be analyzed.

And no, sir, I'm not aware of any data that needs to be analyzed.

Okay.

I I thought that's what you had said that there was data.

No, no, I said um uh I forgive me if I I I wasn't clear.

The data that Stantech looked at was that billing data, but that was the only data that we have that that for them to evaluate.

We don't have data that would indicate what would cause it.

That data would need to be, we would need to to know in which houses a a a washing machine got dislodged and disconnected, which uh um uh which lines may have gotten broken in somebody's yard.

Uh we we would need to know all that data, and and we we don't collect that data, so therefore there's no data to analyze.

So, and that's my issue there is is there a way for us it's to begin collecting that data to look at that because again, I I don't feel like we're really getting to the root cause of the problem.

To say that it was a mechanical issue or we couldn't just get to meters, but people are still calling and complaining and saying you want more when we still have an issue, it's just hard to wrestle with.

I get it, you know, it's a whole nother pot of worms, but it's very relevant when you talk about you know, paying for fees for water, potable water, potable water, stormwater, wastewater, whatever.

It it just costs.

So, one of the projects that we have in our CIP is the you know, converting to the digital water meters and our AMI system.

The digital water meters will allow us to um be able to measure the water flow through a meter not just once a month, but it'll measure it uh every hour on the hour and collect the data.

Once we put get the AMI system into place where we have the towers in place to read the data remotely and send it to us, and then we we we uh have the appropriate software to be able to use that data and provide access to our customers with that data, then the customers will be able to have alerts sent to their accounts whenever there's a high water usage, they can go in and look at it on their own.

But before we get to that point, we have to get we have to finish getting in the digital meters and the AMI system, and that is in our five-year plan.

Gotcha, I appreciate that, Cloud.

And lastly, uh Madam Vice Chair, I just want to say I'm willing to bring this, you know, uh forward fully for you know the purpose of giving constituents an opportunity to engage.

So that way they can say whether or not we support this because to Councilmember Gabbard's point, there are some people who want to accelerate this process, right?

There are people who are tired of residential flooding and coming home to streets that they can't get down on, you know.

So I just think it's important that we start looking at areas where we can, you know, accelerate certain projects and move those forward.

We can't here, you know, hit every area all at once, but the areas that we can hit, let's focus on those.

So thank you.

Councilmember Gibbons, I was gonna suggest if you want to have a new business item or have a presentation to update on what happened with the billing, and they can explain it at another meeting.

We can do that.

Um, and that would probably be appropriate.

Councilmember Gavin.

Just to piggyback on your statement about the areas that were most affected.

So I just want to remind everybody that we have been undergoing uh process with uh Jacobs Engineering and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council for the St.

Pete Resilient Action Plan.

Um that is in its final stages, and so that will be coming back to City Council as a report item sometime this fall, late fall, maybe October, November ish, um, just to kind of give you all the um kind of high-level overview of exactly what was discovered during all of the neighborhood resiliency tours, the workshops that have been done, what Jacobs and Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council see as a prioritization and a path forward for us to start to kind of focus in on some of those areas of greatest need.

So I just wanted to remind everybody that we do have that project ongoing, but it is starting to wrap up.

So I'll be bringing that forward to all of you whenever it's done.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Gabbard.

So Claude, right now, where we are, it's at a 17.5% increase in stormwater.

That's what we're talking about.

Yes, ma'am.

And this is based on a utility rate study that we do.

And just because we have a lot of people here, and we started talking kind of veering off on other areas.

But I just want to clarify for those that are watching, because utility fees could be very uh confusing.

We do a utility rate study, and I know Andy's here.

If you want to talk about it, what that covers, and the fact is that whatever you have proposed is based on an extensive study.

Yes, ma'am, it is.

And can you just explain what a utility rate study is for those that may not be aware?

Yes, ma'am, and and and I and I would invite uh Mr.

Um Andy Burnham up to join me because it he is the expert and his teams are the ones that work with us on it.

Um but every year, starting in January, we start putting together our budgets for the next fiscal year, and we start determining you know what what are our needs in terms of operating and capital costs for the following fiscal year for our utilities.

We take that information, we provide it to Mr.

Burnham and his his team, and they go through and they look at all the information we have, past trends and in costs.

They look at literally each line item in our budget to determine what uh you know what what we believe that the the um the upcoming fiscal year uh uh number would be for that line item.

And then we go through a bunch of different scenarios of what utility rates would need to be to cover the proposed budget that we're looking at, and also in addition, not just to cover the budget, but to cover the requirements that we have on us for for the coverage necessary for the bonds that we hold and and the uh um the the what you know for lack of a better word, contingency that we must have on on hand.

And we go through a bunch of different uh scenarios on on what those rates would be.

And it's and it's a long process and it's very data intensive.

It's all date based off of a lot of data.

And this is the kind of data we do have and that we can evaluate.

Um, Mr.

Vernon, would you like to add anything to that?

Thank you, Claude.

Uh good evening, Councilman.

Welcome.

Thank you for having me back.

Uh, the only thing that I would amplify of what Claude said is that it's a very data-driven approach with your local data, and it builds upon the decision-making process that you have in place when you consider operating budgets for upcoming fiscal years and give guidance for those and for what would be included in those from a level of service perspective, as well as identify capital projects to be included in the capital improvement program.

Those are the building blocks around which the rate scenarios are built and based.

And then obviously the decisions come to you for guidance relative to key policies that would affect the level of rates, timing of capital, funding strategies to be employed for capital.

But all this is done through that process of budget building and through discussions about what the options are and an understanding of the consequences of the options because there's near-term affordability considerations that have been talked about and also long-term.

And so different strategies for paying for projects have different impacts to near-term affordability, long-term affordability, and the ways that we cover cost speak to also affordability impacts in terms of the structures we use, fixed versus variable charges.

So we get into some pretty in-depth and complex conversations each year and trying to really address the changing needs and current circumstances as part of the process.

And so I know there's a lot of heavy decisions and different consequences to consider, particularly this year in light of last year's events.

Uh, but every time we go through that process as best we can with the data to provide options, um, and then ultimately, and unfortunately, you have the hard decisions to make.

Uh, we can inform, but ultimately those decisions do rest with you.

Yes, and Andy, if you can also explain when you go through this process, other cities and municipalities and counties go through the same process as we do, correct?

Very uh similar process.

Their frequency, you know, they may look at it annually like the city does, or in increments every few years, but the rate setting process is something that many municipalities have because they have responsibility for water and sewer systems, just like St.

Pete.

So cities of Clearwater, Oldsmar, Tampa, they all have rate studies conducted, rate adjustments to cover identified capital needs and have to go through very similar decision making process at points in time as well.

Right.

And the same challenges that we're talking about in terms of how much you can do with what you have, they have like we do.

I mean, this is this is basically the norm.

This is a very common conversation in terms of balancing level of service and capital needs and affordability considerations.

And it's a it's a conversation that's similar but different in every community, reflecting their balance of those objectives and just where they are in the nature of their capital needs and level of service journey.

Right.

And I I think what the hard part is that level of service, which means what is it that you're getting and what can you pay for, and what can residents actually afford because the cost is so high, and it's getting higher and higher.

So when we see some of these rate increases, we're not the only ones that are facing this.

No, you're not.

Um the increases that you're looking at are very comparable and similar to what we see across, not just locally in the Tampa region, but across the state and nationally.

We do this work for many communities.

Okay, thank you.

So the rate that we are considering today that um administration has proposed is 17.5%.

Um council member Gabbard was expressing a little bit higher for additional projects.

That's not covered in the utility rate study.

That's additional from that wasn't part of what was proposed.

Well, correct.

And I and I will acknowledge that I I rounded that to a dollar just for easy uh calculation, but to add the dollar sixteen for uh for bonding during fiscal year 26.

Okay.

And that and that was add added um after the second BFT.

It was it.

I'm just saying because we had a conversation in terms of rates originally, and then we had an additional conversation of what was added afterwards.

That was not part of our utility rate conversation originally.

That's my understanding.

And I'll council member Gabbard, I'll give you an opportunity to ask questions.

Um in terms of um so we're at 17.5% for stormwater, and then what were the other percentages of increase for the other utilities?

Because I also want to make sure people understand there are people that have reached out and said you're raising utility rates by 17.5%, which is not true.

It's the stormwater portion.

Correct.

So what we're proposing for water is six and a quarter, six point two five.

What we're proposing for wastewater is seven point seven five for reclaimed water, it's nine point seven five.

For stormwater, it's seventeen point five, and for sanitation, it's seven point zero.

Okay.

And we're having the conversation now just about stormwater, to be clear.

Correct.

Um my concern is increasing it additionally.

I know that we have more needs, and I know there are parts of our city that have that have needs in terms of flooding, and that would allow for more projects to go forward.

Not all the projects, because the reality is we have a lot more in our stormwater master plan that we're not even touching with this.

Is that correct?

Yes.

Which is part of the reason that council is gonna have a discussion to go forward with a referendum sometime in the future to ask taxpayers and residents whether they want to increase the taxes they pay so we can put in more money into our sewer system, stormwater, and all that.

And that's a conversation that is also gonna happen.

So I just I want people to understand there's a this is utility rates bills now.

There's also going to be a separate conversation on a referendum, and whether or not on our tax bill, we are gonna agree that we're gonna pay extra money for projects, and that's coming up.

That conversation is happening, and at some point we're gonna decide whether or not that's gonna go in the ballot to do additional projects.

This for me, and I understand there are people that want to pay may want to pay more, but I'll tell you right now, I opened up my inbox, and they're at three emails about not raising rates any more than we are.

And I get it every year, and I understand, and I can have a conversation explaining to people okay, we have to raise rates because we have to keep up with maintenance, operations, the cost of materials, all the things that are explained to us by our professionals.

I'm gonna have a harder time explaining.

Well, we had the proposal by administration, we're gonna put more because we want to do more projects, and on top of that, we're gonna do a referendum, and then we're gonna have the new conversation.

And I just I am really concerned about the capacity that people can pay, even if it's a dollar.

It's a dollar here, it's a dollar here, it's a dollar here, it's a dollar everywhere.

And and it's just it to me that's the hard part.

I sympathize with it.

I know we have a lot of needs.

That was part of the reason last year I didn't even want to spend any money on the stadium.

But adding an extra dollar right now, whatever it's gonna move in terms of projects or whatever, I just and in terms of capacity, because that's another conversation as to whether or not they're gonna have the capacity.

I just I can't vote for the extra dollar, and I know what I honestly what I think is gonna move the needle.

If our residents say we really want to invest in this, then just put it on a ballot, and people will say yes.

They will say absolutely yes, if they want to spend 500 million dollars, and that goes on your on your bill for the next 20 or 30 years on your tax bill because you want to invest in resiliency in our city, then we should let voters decide that.

But as it is right now, I can't do any more with what we have.

And as it is, I think people are gonna be not happy about the rates as they are.

So council member Gabbard and then council member Floyd.

So I want to be crystal clear where the dollar 16, not a dollar, a dollar 16 came from.

I did not pull that out of thin air.

When you go back to the June BF and T meeting, the original proposal that we were given then had scenario B.

It was an option for us then to talk about moving forward with.

I did not make this up.

This came from the rate study, and it was a scenario that was proposed to us, and then could have been the decision to do more to elevate, to escalate the work that needs to be done in our city.

It came from the rate study.

I didn't make it up, it's right here.

I've been carrying it around with me because residents are begging us to do more.

And I understand that it is a capacity issue, it's hard to get more stuff done, it's a planning issue.

It's all of these things.

But if we don't invest more, we're never going to do more.

So I want to just be super crystal clear.

That is where that number came from.

I know we wanted to simplify it in the presentation that came to city council last week and call it a dollar.

We felt like a dollar was a cute way of trying to say that it wasn't gonna be enough to move the needle.

It was given to us in scenario B that we would do a hundred percent debt financing of SPAR using utility bonds through that proposal.

It was given to us.

I didn't make it up.

So I'm I completely refute that we don't have the ability to do more.

We will never have the ability to do more if we are not willing to make the hard decisions to move it forward.

It is not a question, it is a statement, and I'm gonna leave it there.

Thank you.

Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you.

Um I appreciate everybody's perspective on this.

I'll add, you know, council Vice Chair Hanowitz, you uh mentioned like a sort of a litany of things.

Like I I believe in our city's ability to do big things for our residents, and so I I'm not concerned with a number of things.

Uh I did just want to take this opportunity though to ask uh and make sure I still understand when we do a rate study analysis, we also do an affordability analysis and part of our ability to bond things out and have good credit ratings and uh just continue on a fiscally responsible path involves that affordability analysis.

And so that was done this past year.

I see you shaking your heads, yes.

And uh, you know, is there any concerns that we're pushing up against anything?

There's there's always concerns with utility rates and just impacts to lower income households.

I'm not gonna say that this community or any is without any affordability concerns, but when you look back from a community perspective and some of the indicators that are used by the rating agencies or by even the regulators, um, you know, we're we're meeting in within a lot of those thresholds in terms of water burdens, if you will, in terms of the cost to typical households, but I want to be very careful to say that there are gonna be households that just the rate structures themselves in this community and others, they they do represent burdens just based upon the amount of dollars they represent versus their incomes.

It's it's real.

It's very of course, and I appreciate that.

I just wanted to make sure we were still in the same position that I had intended we were in, because that would have swayed my opinion.

Uh I'll add though that you know we've had a discussion over the last couple of years uh about continuing to deepen the analysis on our affordability in this and providing some relief.

Uh I know that that hadn't been a huge topic of conversation this year, but I'm still interested in it.

Uh and just wanted to take a second to uplift that uh going forward, but I think that we can do that at the same time that we still uh make the kind of decisions that we're making today.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Council member Harding.

Thank you, Chair.

Um I I want to go back to I absolutely understand where um where we where we have have brought all this information from.

The process that our engineering team and their consultants go through is uh it is amazingly in-depth and amazingly technical.

There is value um in the thought that years and years ago, uh decade ago, we did not invest in our infrastructure, and we're paying that price today.

Um I think that that if you look at at everything that has been brought forth and asked for in this funding, there are no marshmallows in there, right?

There's nothing in there that that is extra, or um, or you would look at and go, hmm, we're a little little iffy on that one.

This this is all critical infrastructure stuff.

My point very simply is that we're looking at we've talked about increases of 17 and a half percent or 22 and a half percent or numbers thereabout.

And that's just that's just part of the the money that that that we're asking my wife and I to pay from our house.

Now, neither one of us are gonna get a seventeen and a half or twenty-two and a half percent raise next year.

All right, that is not going to happen.

And so and so that we have to be able to split this into uh to Claude, everything that you have it is absolutely worthy of doing, but we need you to decide what is the most critical of that.

We just can't do it all.

Anything emergent absolutely gets done without a doubt.

Anything that dot dot dot, you know, that that fits within the if Claude looks at you and says, buddy, we we just can't not do this, then we have to do that.

But some of this is catch-up work, it is absolutely important, but it can't all get done, and that's my point.

Um, it is the the job of of uh the the public works department is to absolutely make this city the best city in the world.

The job of this side is to say we just can't put that that much of a burden.

Let's find the middle ground as to what we can afford.

And uh, and so that that is my struggle, and it will be my struggle um not only this year, but uh uh next year as we proceed with with this issue that is not going to go away.

We're not gonna we're not gonna catch this one.

Um we're just gonna get as far as we can.

Chair, thank you.

Thank you.

And I'm just gonna say, I know that uh council member Floyd, I know we could be do big things in our city, but we pay for them, like everyone pays for them.

Like no matter what we're doing, all the decisions we're making here, all the money, the budget is people's money.

And so I know that, and it's that it's hard to balance all the needs in our city.

And I know we're all trying to do the best we can for all our constituents, and I know we all doing it for the right reasons, but but at the end of the day, it's it's costing people money no matter what we're doing, and we have to find a good balance.

And and Claude, the only thing I'm gonna ask if if you or anyone from administration, just the basis for your reasoning again.

We had the meeting, council member Gabber brought it up again.

Um, since it was in another meeting, just could you articulate again what the reasoning was for the advising that this was the best path forward in terms of the rate increase.

So uh as I said earlier, um chair, um, you know, this was our recommendation.

We had a a specific request to look at a potential alternative.

Um we brought that forward.

We had a very robust uh discussion about it.

We were asked by the chair at that time if we had heard enough information to come forward with our recommendation and reviewing the comments that were made by council members, it did not appear to us that there were five council members who wanted to go above the 17.5% increase.

So we kept our recommendation the same and we defer to council on the vote.

But what is the basis for the original recommendation?

Just the 17.5%, that recommendation itself.

Looking at our our capital improvement program um and trying to balance that program versus reasonable increases and the utilities financial position over time.

Okay, thank you.

Okay, uh, I don't see anyone else wanting to speak.

I'll entertain a motion.

I'll move approval of item E1B.

Is there a second?

Oh second.

Okay, we have a motion and second.

Clerk, you please open the machine for voting.

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing all present council members have voted, clerk tally and announce votes.

Madam Vice Chair, the motion to approve agenda item E1B passes four to two with council members Driscoll Givens, Hanowitz, and Harding voting yes, and Council members Floyd and Gabbard voting no.

Okay.

Next one we have up is E1C.

Is there one wishing to speak or is there a motion?

Move approval of item E1C.

I have a motion.

Is there a second?

Second.

You have a motion and a second.

Clerk, please open the machine for voting.

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing that all present council members have voted.

Clerk, you please tally and announce the votes.

Madam Vice Chair, the motion to approve agenda item E1C passes unanimously with Council Member Fig Sanders and Councilmember Gerdas being absent.

Thank you.

Thank you, Claude, and thank you, Andy, for being here on this item.

We'll see you again on September 4th.

Um next up we have new business item.

We have G1, which is a referral to the CAL.

And this one is Council Member Driscoll's item.

Thank you.

For this item, I am respectfully requesting a referral to the committee of the whole for a comprehensive report on arts funding, grants, and other programs.

This item um came up the idea for this item came up in a discussion in an earlier economic and workforce development committee meeting.

Um I believe it was actually Council Chair Gurtis who um said he'd you know, love it if we could have a talk about everything around the arts that we're doing.

And so here we are, and I'll move approval.

Okay.

Have a motion and a second.

Seeing no one wishing to speak.

Clerk, you please open the machine for voting.

Council members, please enter votes.

Seeing that all present council members have voted, clerk, you please tally and announce the votes.

Madam Vice Chair, the motion to approve agenda item G1 passes unanimously with Council Member Fix Sanders and Council Member Gurtis being absent.

Okay, we have next G2, a referral to HLUT by Council Member Gabbard.

Thank you, Madam Vice Chair.

And uh, first of all, before I read the item, I just want to thank everyone for coming out today, all of our friends who had to leave already.

Um very happy that you were all able to be here today.

Um, you know, I it I was writing down more, I always write down comments during open forum, but today I just wrote down words, and so I just want to kind of repeat some of that before I read the uh referral item.

I wrote down love, acceptance, belonging, pride, history, expression, diversity, safety, freedom, home, and then a call for us to stand up.

This item that's before us today.

Um, I heard someone say we don't need to make a committee to talk about this, right?

Well, unfortunately, if you're not familiar with Florida Sunshine Law, we do have to go to a committee to talk about this because we as a council cannot have conversations outside of the sunshine.

We also need to have a collaborative conversation with our administration because this is on both sides of the team.

Um we all have to come together and rally around what the city response is going to be.

So that is the purpose in moving this to a committee.

So with that, I respectfully request a referral to housing land use and transportation for a discussion regarding the Florida Department of Transportation Engineering and Operations memorandum dated June 30th, 2025, that was sent to the city of St.

Petersburg.

Discuss discussion should involve collaboration between administration and city council regarding plans to comply with the memo's requirements regarding the prohibition of pavement and surface art.

Additionally, the presentation should include but not be limited to options for displaying other forms of placemaking and public art that support the expression of history or community commemoration and have a clear connection to business districts or other identifiable areas.

And with that, I so move.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion and second.

Um Madam Clerk, is there any cards on this?

We have one card and Max McCann.

Please go to the podium, state your name and address for the record.

He'll have three minutes to advance council.

Good afternoon, Max McCann, 2648, 3rd Avenue South.

Just want to quickly encourage this council and this administration to protect our street art.

I preface this by saying I fully understand the power dynamics between state and local government.

We're just hoping that the city can push back a little bit.

I know the FDO memo says there can be exceptions for good cause shown.

It seems like at a minimum we should say, okay, we want exceptions for our street art because we've shown that they make streets safer.

A lot of these safety projects that I'm up here talking about.

We're talking about seven figures.

I'm saying complete streets budgets.

I'm talking about time five year timelines.

We can put pavement art down in a weekend.

And it oftentimes doesn't require any pa public funding.

That's what's great about this from a safety perspective, in addition to all the culture and identity and personal important reasons that people have spoken about already.

I'm coming at it from a safety perspective.

These are quick projects we can knock out right away.

Let's at least try to protect them.

Thank you, everybody.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Next speaker is Esther Sani.

Please go to our podium, state your name and address for the record.

You'll have three minutes to address city council.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Esther Sani, president of the St.

Petersburg NAACP 1601, 16th Street South.

Before I address the matter, I want to name some cities.

These are cities across the nation who have stood firm against the removal of murals.

In particular, murals that celebrate black history, LGBTQ pride, and other symbols of inclusion.

Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, Oakland, and Berkeley, California.

Dallas, Texas, Hartford, Connecticut, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jersey City, East Orange, New Jersey, Chicago, Illinois, and right here in Florida, Miami Beach.

So let's talk about it.

When we talk about the why and what it looks like, this is a moment and an opportunity for both our city council and our city administration to work together, not to use this crucial issue to create further division, and not to frame it in ways that serve political theater and to be intentional with problem solving.

It's important that we look at innovative ways and to also send a very clear message that St.

Petersburg will honor both its commitments to safety, but also its commitment to truth.

This is history, and history has its eyes on us.

The question is will St.

Petersburg be remembered as a city that erased its own story, or as a city that stood up and said, our streets will speak the truth about who we are.

Our streets will tell our history, and also our streets will remember that we truly are one Saint P.

Thank you.

And I'm just gonna say a lot of you were here for this.

And if you're gonna you can speak now as opposed to open forum, even though frankly open form is after, but if you want to, you can speak now, you just have to fill out a card to speak on this item now.

The next speakers is Rachel Carvello and Stacy Schurater.

Please go to either go either podium, state your name and address for the record.

You'll have three minutes to address counsel.

Hi, my name is Rachel Covello.

Um, first I want to thank you for the work you've done and continue to do to stand up, push back, slow down, seek legal counsel, and when necessary, take action to prevent the erasure of who we are as a city.

Your willingness to defend our community values, values matter to us, to future residents, and to our visitors.

As a proud, queer Jewish woman, I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, even in council chambers, and just as firmly in the separation of state democracy from a dictatorship that forces us to remove symbols of who we are.

I'm a business owner, tourism expert, local artist, event host, proud wife of a Florida fishmonger, and an aunt to a transgender nephew.

I moved to St.

Petersburg because of these symbols, the murals, the crosswalks, and the inclusive establishments that make our city a beacon for belonging.

These aren't just paint on pavement, they're a visual promise.

You are seen here, you belong here.

They show that our community values truth and history.

These symbols are also tied directly to our economy.

As someone who works in the tourism, I know travelers choose destinations where they feel safe, celebrated, and represented.

Murals like these appear in photos, videos, and travel stories that inspire people to come here.

When we erase them, we erase identity.

We chip away at economic vitality.

We've seen the impact already.

When Visit Florida quietly removed LGBTQ content from the website, its website, I reported the story to NBC and gave tourism destinations across the state a heads up.

I told them they had a chance to do the right thing.

To speak up before damage was done to our inclusive destinations.

They didn't.

And now people across the country and across the world are boycotting our state.

As a content creator and travel blogger covering Florida and beyond, I've seen this erasure spreading.

Words like gay, queer, transgender, and pride are disappearing from marketing.

Just last week, we were we were told our company was told to remove inclusive and diversity from an article and to make a married lesbian couple in our video look like friends.

This is more than crosswalks.

It's the slow erasure of cultural truth from our streets, our tourism materials, and our shared narrative.

This week, Delray Beach stood up and said, You cannot take our murals.

I urge St.

Petersburg to do the same.

Together, we can be a powerful force against erasure.

Thank you.

Good evening, Council.

Stacia Schrader, 692, uh 10th Avenue South Historic Roser Park.

I'm here today because the state and federal government are overreaching into our local governance, and our community deserves better.

St.

Petersburg is a city of color, of LGBTQ pride, of unity and diversity.

But we are also a cultural city, a city of the arts.

Creative creativity is not just part of our identity.

It is our economic engine.

Our embrace of the arts fuels tourism, supports local businesses, attracts investment, and inspires the people who call the city home.

Through murals, performances, festivals, and museums, we tell the story of who we are.

That story is vibrant, inclusive, and uniquely St.

Pete.

And it is that story that keeps our economy strong.

When outside forces try to dictate what we can celebrate, what we can display on our streets, or how we honor each other's identities, they're not protecting freedom.

They are restricting it.

And that restriction strikes at the very heart of what makes St.

Pete thrive.

We have proven that when we embrace culture, we build community.

When we support the arts, we support jobs.

And when we allow people to express themselves freely, we strengthen the very fabric of our city.

I understand that this may be a battle that you cannot fully win.

But I ask you, do not go down without a challenge.

And do not go down without going on official record.

Make it clear for history that St.

Petersburg stood up.

You spoke out, you defended our culture, our people, and our voice.

And remember, as our mural says, black history matters.

How you respond now will decide whether we can also say with pride, St.

Pete history matters.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Next two speakers are Dom Marico, Pompeico, and Sherry Lesniak.

Please go to either podium, set your name and address for the record.

You have three minutes to address city council.

Hello, Council.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Domenico Pontoriero.

I'm at 670 10th Avenue South St.

Pete in the historic Rosary Park neighborhood.

And I've come here today before City Council to ask the city to work with legal professionals and other resources to find a solution that will allow us to keep our beautiful traditional street murals despite ongoing political pressure.

And I say traditional because we have a long-standing tradition of art in St.

Pete here.

It's central to our identity.

That's how important the arts are to who we are.

And these street murals are part of that tradition.

I live within one mile of three of the street murals.

So they directly impact me and my neighbors quite a bit.

And one of my favorite things about living here is being able to show visitors all the art that our city has to offer.

And they love seeing our street murals and they love how the murals look in their pictures and that they take home to show their friends and their family how wonderful St.

Pete, Florida is.

Now is the time for civic leaders to choose courage over compliance, resist the pressure to erase, defend the art that defines us.

We need to protect the integrity of our city's identity and stand by the belief that art matters, especially when it gives voice to those who have fought so long to be seen.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Sherry Lesniak, 2438 Fourth Avenue South, and thank you for listening to your constituents today.

I'm a member of the St.

Pete Public Arts Commission and am here today as a proud representative of St.

Petersburg.

It bears repeating, we are a city of the arts.

St.

Pete is ranked as a top arts and cultural destination among cities its size over and over again.

And as you know from the recent Arts and Economic Prosperity report that it generates millions in economic activity and provides diverse employment opportunities across various industries.

Indeed, 77% of the respondents to that report that a cultural event was the number one reason that brought them to our city.

Our building and asphalt murals play into that economic and visitor activity drivers as well.

It's not often you have something that ticks a number of important boxes for our city, and contrary to what you're hearing from the state, pavement and surface art murals are actually one of them.

They beautify our city, they make our cities safer.

They're actually inexpensive compared to other calming devices, as Max mentioned, and they can be quickly installed.

For example, I live in Penel Palmeadow Park neighborhood, and we are surrounded by some busier streets, First and Fifth Avenue South, where pedestrians and bikers have been injured.

Yet years and years have gone by where we've got tried to get a crosswalk and lights on our neighborhood plan that are still in talks.

A street mural on these locations would be a beautiful way to help bring some safety to these dangerous areas in a quick way and also beautify our neighborhood.

The data that is out there shows asphalt murals function as a street calming device, slowing down traffic and reducing accidents.

You'll note that the state has not produced data that shows otherwise.

But instead of basing their reasons for erasing these murals on fact, these asphalt murals are being raced by hate and fear.

Let's fight back with the facts first before we give the eradication of these celebrated murals and freedom and expression, especially by our marginalized communities.

My ask of the commissioners is like the previous to not just erase, but take the take that pause, take that strong path and push back with all legal means that you have.

Ask for the data, ask for the rationale before just painting over these murals.

Please consider standing up before giving up.

We are all St.

Pete.

Thank you for your time today and all you do to make St.

Pete a place we really can and want to call home.

Thank you.

The last speaker is Sloane McKenna.

Please go to the podium, state your name and address for the record.

You'll have three minutes to address council.

Nobody's and if you've already spoken on this item at open forum, you can't speak again on it.

Okay, that's what I was doing.

Sloan.

Sloan.

If you gotta say your name first, okay.

Say Sloan McCann.

Go ahead.

Watch, you say, say my name is Sloane McCann.

And I live at 2648 Third Avenue South.

I painted the mural in Child's Park, and I want to be able to see it as I grow up.

I love the rainbow mural on Central Avenue.

It makes me happy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you guys.

Any other speakers?

Okay.

Did you fill out a card?

Can you go ahead and fill out a card?

Or you can fill it out afterwards.

You can go ahead and just all right.

And you can lift it up.

No, there's a button on the side.

Good afternoon.

My name is Rachel Petay.

I live at 3209 54th Street North.

I am a teacher and I am a mom.

And I have students who are, and I have friends whose children are gay, trans children, black children, brown children.

And the thought of removing art from our streets, words from our vocabulary, books from our schools.

It is a devastating blow to our kids, our friends, and our neighbors.

Unfortunately, now I am embarrassed to say that I am from the state of Florida.

And I'm a native.

Pete, where she felt safe and was able to thrive.

She did not feel the same way in other parts of Florida.

It may seem to be insignificant, but every time they strolled down Grand Central over the Rainbow Street or went to see the BLM mural, she was reminded she had community who supported her.

We need to fight and ensure that we can continue honoring all members of our community.

We are fortunate that we live in a country where we can speak up.

In fact, I was outside from 12 to 3, two different protests, one against DOE and Doge, I'm sorry, and the removal of our murals, which explains my attire.

I apologize.

So I'm under dressed today, but I still I want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to share our concerns.

Thank you for your time.

I know it's been a long day.

And I want to thank everybody who is here for speaking out and standing strong.

Thank you.

You can fill out the cards.

You have a card?

Yeah.

Can you give it to her?

My name is Jonathan Hackworth.

I live at 2510 Central Avenue.

It is literally on the intersection of 25th Street where the rainbow is the mustard seat at that intersection.

Uh short and sweet.

I'm a straight man.

I help paint that intersection.

I just think it beautifies the city.

I've lived there for a year and a half.

I have not seen a single accident pedestrian or auto.

I just wanted to put that out there.

Thank you.

No more speakers, Madam Clerk.

No more speakers.

Thank you.

Councilmember Floyd.

Thank you.

I'll keep it quick because this is just a new business item.

But I have one comment and then one question for administration.

So I think probably like most of my colleagues, we hate the what that this is going on at all.

And uh I'll just say, you know, it's crazy because like I was it last year we had people defacing them and getting arrested for hate crimes, and now the people who are in charge of the state and the federal government are literally siding with the people doing hate crimes.

So this is no different to me.

This is another one.

And so um it's very frustrating for me to see this.

But uh, I guess my question really is for administration and maybe legal.

My interpretation of the memo is like it's just sort of a review, not like they're not forcing us to take anything down at this moment.

And so if that's correct, I just want to make sure we say out loud that that's our interpretation of it, and then uh just want to get some assurances that we're not taking anything down until uh at this time.

Yeah, I'll defer to the city attorney, thank you.

Legal legal uh uh matters, but I I will tell you that we've had multiple conversations with FDOT.

We have provided an inventory to FDOT.

We'll send that to city council today, it just went out.

Um no, we're not taking anything down right now.

We'll continue to have discussions with FDOT.

That is our plan moving forward.

Thank you.

It does go on to say that there is a process for good cause and that there can be a continued dialogue associated with that.

So there's there is some context there.

Thank you.

And I I bring it up because I know one speaker mentioned Delray Beach, which I had someone who actually spoke today, sent me the video of the, I think it was a vice mayor uh speaking there.

I watched it last night, and I think the contention there was that they just immediately started pulling stuff up without uh going through any of those exceptions or review process.

And so just wanted to ensure that that wasn't anything we were planning on doing here.

I hear that we're still working and meeting our legal obligation, but uh making sure that we're doing our diligence.

So I appreciate that from administration.

I'm grateful for the legal analysis, uh, and I look forward to um having this conversation in committee and uh as the chair of HLUT, we'll get it forward as soon as we possibly can.

I think I seconded it already, yeah.

Okay, cool.

All right, great.

Um, and on the on the legal matter, I I have a question on the letter.

Um, they state that if it's not removed, it shall be cause for withholding state funds.

Is that limited to FDO?

Is that any state funds?

I was just curious about what their threat was.

The memo specifically cites a Florida statute regarding state funding for non-conforming traffic control devices.

That statute has a process for how FDOT investigates that and whatnot.

So that particular statute that they cite to regarding funding is only for traffic control devices.

Okay.

That's what I'm saying.

Now, that being said, funding generally is largely a discretionary practice.

And so it is possible that there could be other sources of funding that the state uses this as a predicate to withhold.

Okay.

And have we done any analysis on that or in terms of administration in terms of what they're looking to do?

Because I just I mean I'm supportive of this, trust me, I want to have the conversation, but I also want for the conversation.

Everyone's here, and we have people that are interested in this to understand what the state is threatening and what are the things that are at risk.

So I want to have some clarity on that.

We're looking at it.

I don't have a number for you today.

Okay.

And that would be something good to have at the committee meeting.

Councilmember Gabbard.

Uh all of the questions that are starting to pop up, those are all things that I anticipate working with administration to bring whenever the item comes.

Um I know there's a September H O U T very early in the month.

So we'll be ready if you are chair.

So just wanted to mention that.

But those are all um the pieces that I felt were important for conversation then and not today.

So thank you.

Well, I agree.

I agree they're absolutely important pieces of the conversation, but I want to give the public as much of the information as we can today that's available from whether legal or administration, um, to make sure that we're giving as much information as we can to them because whenever we're gonna have this meeting, it's gonna be in the month from now.

So I appreciate um then thank you so much for the update.

We have a motion and a second.

Um clerk, you please open the machine for voting.

Council members, please enter your votes.

Seeing that all present council members have voted.

Clerk, please tally and announce the vote.

Madam Vice Chair, the motion to approve agenda item G2 passes unanimously with Councilmember Fake Sanders and Councilmember Gurtis being absent.

Great.

Thank you, and thank you everyone for um who spoke on this item.

And now we actually go to open forum.

So uh for those who still haven't spoken who may want to speak, um clerk.

Um Ash Bradley and Aunt Avila.

Please go to other podiums, take your name and address for the record.

You have three minutes to address city council.

Looks like they may have left.

Um, next two speakers are Molly Robinson and Adonis Quevus.

Doesn't seem like they're present.

Uh Todd Richardson and Sharon Friedman.

You're not here.

Heidi Stiller and Ben Rubin are the last two.

Okay.

So I think everyone has spoken who would want to speak.

Um, at this point, we go to announcements and any announcements.

I will say that I our chair is not here, and as you know, he is the person who announces birthdays and and and Rob is smiling because tomorrow is the mayor's birthday, and Rita's birthday is Tuesday.

And so, as a tradition, in honor of the share, and make sure that we do this, we sing happy birthday.

So ready?

Okay.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday, dear Mayor and Rita.

Happy birthday to you.

Many more.

Thank you.

Thank you, everyone for being here.

And um for uh it was a a very um wonderful meeting.

It's wonderful to see democracy at work and our first amendment um coming into play.

So thank you so much.

Thank you, everyone.

Thank you.

Meeting adjourned.

Great job.