Invocation & Pledge
Mayor Buddy Dyer to lead the Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance.
Commissioners, thank you for making your schedules available for this additional City Council meeting. Given that it is a single topic agenda, we had planned to forgo the regular council update, but given last week’s tragic events, we want to address the Halloween night shooting tragedy.
Our collective thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims who senselessly lost their lives and also with those who were injured in the Downtown shooting.
Public safety is our top priority and as said last week, we are frustrated with having to stand in front of the community and again share the news that we have senselessly lost another life due to gun violence.
We will not tolerate any crime in our city and will leverage every, single tool available to keep our city safe. Which is why we issued a local state of emergency for establishments within the Downtown Entertainment Area that will end alcohol sales at midnight and implement a curfew at 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. through this Friday.
We do not take this decision lightly and have pursued a number of other measures before reaching this point. We will continue to evaluate the impacts of current security measures in place and work with OPD to ensure our residents and patrons coming downtown are safe.
We are grateful for the Orlando Police officers who acted swiftly and heroically to arrest the suspect, preventing this tragedy from becoming even worse.
The strong presence of officers that night kept thousands of innocent people safe avoiding any further injuries.
We have invested in officer training and technology over the years to ensure our officers are equipped and prepared to respond to crisis situations. The result of that investment was clearly demonstrated that night.
Instead of shooting the suspect, risking injuries to innocent bystanders, officers quickly identified the suspect and were able to utilize tactical techniques to place him under arrest.
Our community should collectively be proud of the heroes we have protecting the city.
Today, we were originally scheduled to hear the second reading of the Dallas Blvd annexation.
However, as city staff have been continuing discussions with county staff regarding the Chapter 164 conflict resolution process related to the Sunbridge Annexation, we have been presented with the opportunity to settle this dispute and advance a number of ongoing initiatives, including addressing one of our region’s greatest challenges – homelessness.
There are currently a number of shared city and county priorities, including meeting the needs of our homeless population, leveraging TDT to invest in our community venues and managing the growth, planning and development our area is experiencing.
This Interlocal Agreement exemplifies our long-standing partnership and allows us to delicately balance these issues.
Recently, we have had several meetings and discussions about the need for additional overnight homeless shelter beds. Finding a site to provide services for those experiencing homelessness is never easy. However, we believe the former work release center is an optimal location for a number of reasons, to include its proximity to public transit and other service providers.
Some misinformation has gotten out about this shelter, and we want to be clear that today’s action does not convert the work release center into the homeless shelter. This action is a commitment from Orange County to commit this property to the city. Now, we will begin developing a thorough community outreach plan. However, we couldn’t do community outreach until we had a potential site identified.
Additionally, this agreement advances the TDT funding for Kia Center and Camping World Stadium. As you know, these venues are economic drivers for our entire region. Kia Center is having its biggest year ever this year – hosting more than 250 events. And the Camping World Stadium enhancements will allow us to pursue hosting Jacksonville Jaguars games during their stadium construction and continue hosting events like the Florida Classic and the FIFA Club World Cup.
While this agreement does not advance the Dallas Boulevard annexation, we must continue to work with Orange County to address how our community will grow and develop.
As our community faces rapid growth – with projections of more than 700-thousand new residents by 2050 - we must ensure smart development meets our community’s needs while driving inevitable growth away from rural parts of our state and toward existing urban areas.
We have a long history of collaboration with the county. In fact, we believe our community’s unique ability to partner is a strategic advantage for our region. We are appreciative of Mayor Demings and his leadership to bring forward this Interlocal Agreement and we look forward to continuing to work with our County partners on these issues.
Commissioners, as you know our Public Works staff has been working around the clock to help remove debris from neighborhood curbs. Alan Morrison our Solid Waste Manager is here today to give us an update on the collection status and what residents can expect in the coming days.