City Council Highlights – January 13, 2020
Last updated on January 13, 2020
COUNCIL UPDATE 1.13.20
General Items:
Oath of Office
Happy New Year everyone! This is of course our first City Council meeting of 2020 and we want to start by congratulating Commissioner Ortiz and Commissioner Sheehan, who joined me this morning for our Oath of Office ceremony. And we want to welcome Commissioner Burns, who was also sworn in today, to the Orlando City Council. Commissioner, we want you to know that we went easy on you for your first meeting; this is a pretty light agenda.
Puerto Rico Earthquake
On a more somber note, we continue to send our love and support to Puerto Rico as they recover from the series of earthquakes that struck the island. As we did after Hurricane Maria, we continue to offer our assistance to those affected by this disaster.
LGBTQ Business Workshop
Tomorrow Commissioner Sheehan and Mayor Dyer are looking forward to working with the Pride Chamber of Commerce of Greater Orlando as we host the city’s first ever “Doing Business” workshop. Last year we became the first city in Florida to recognize LGBTQ+ owned businesses through the establishment of an official certification process and at Tuesday’s workshop we will continue our work to make it easier for local LGBTQ+ and minority owned business to do business with the City of Orlando. Businesses interested in participating can find out more information at orlando.gov.
MLK Recognition and Events
We would like to again take a moment to acknowledge the work of our Mayor’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission as we begin this week of celebration and recognition of Dr. King. The MLK Commission, along with our staff, work hard throughout the year to ensure that we honor the dreams and aspirations of Dr. King and our community. We encourage everyone to attend at least one of the meaningful events that are scheduled over the week ahead.
Items of Note:
Mayor 3- Mayor’s Matching Grant
On today’s agenda is an item to approve funding for twenty-two Mayor’s Matching Grant projects, which will enhance the quality of life for residents and ensure that we are providing opportunities for everyone.
These grant projects include adding neighborhood safety features and enhancing the beauty of our neighborhoods, providing critical after-school mentoring programs and increasing access to education, arts, career exploration and athletic programs for young residents.
We have representatives from many of the organizations that will receive grants here today and we would like for them to stand so we can recognize them for the work that they are doing for our community.
B # 8 Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts – TDT Funding Agreement
On today’s agenda is a funding agreement that will help further support the completion of Stage 2 construction for the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts.
Once complete, this world-class facility will open the Steinmetz Hall, which will be in the league of the world’s greatest concert halls.
Key to helping move this project along has been our partners at Orange County Government and the many generous private donations the arts center has raised.
We’d like to thank our partners with Orange County Government and also the staff from the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center.
Thank you for continued commitment to furthering the arts in our community and helping raise critical philanthropic funds to make this world-class venue a reality.