Council Highlights – May 17, 2021
Last updated on May 17, 2021
Council Update - May 17, 2021
General Items
COVID-19 and Vaccines
A quick update on the COVID-19 pandemic - we’re making great progress as a community as more and more residents are getting the vaccine each week. The City of Orlando continues to partner with the Florida Division of Emergency Management to bring vaccine sites to residents and we want to thank our staff who’ve been helping in these efforts to make the vaccine more accessible.
This week we’ll have mobile vaccine sites at our Engelwood Neighborhood Center and OFD Station 1 on Wednesday, and at the Orlando Farmers Market at Lake Eola Park again on Sunday.
Rental Assistance Program
Additionally, as our residents continue to overcome the financial impacts of COVID-19, we are excited to announce the online portal for our new Rental Assistance Program will open tomorrow, May 18 at 8 a.m. This program can help city households impacted by COVID-19 get current on up to 12 months of unpaid rent.
In advance of the portal opening, we would encourage residents interested in applying to visit orlando.gov/assistance for the eligibility requirements, program guidelines and a list of everything needed to complete an application.
Items of Note
CRA #2 and CRA #3 Retail Stimulus Program Funding Agreements
Today we will seek to approve two Retail Stimulus Funding agreements with businesses seeking to locate downtown. Both businesses are in the food and beverage industry and will add to our diverse food scene and help continue to make our downtown such a great place to live, work in and visit.
It’s great to see and support our local economy moving forward out of this pandemic.
EDV#12 & EDV#15 STRIVE Program Agreements
Also, today we will look to approve two STRIVE agreements one with Innovacare Services Company and one with Grant Thornton LLP.
Innovacare is leading healthcare company proposing to move its headquarters to the City of Orlando and plans to create 200 new high-value jobs over five years with a median wage of more than $175,000.
Grant Thornton LLP is one of the world’s leading organizations of independent audit, tax and advisory firms proposing to open a shared services compliance office in the City of Orlando and plans to create 60 new jobs to the region over three years with a median wage of approximately $53,000.
A#2 Future Ready Master Plan
As we move our business community and economy forward, on today’s agenda is the approval of our Future-Ready City Master Plan.
This plan will ensure that as we prepare for the future, we are creating a thriving and more resilient city by using innovation and technology to create a community where everyone feels equally valued, equally protected and has equitable access to opportunity.
This plan will also ensure we are prioritizing the use of new innovative technologies to better deliver the services our residents, businesses and visitors depend upon.
The Future-Ready City Master Plan is the result of a couple of years of hard work, the engagement of our private, nonprofit, educational and other government partners and the involvement of many of our residents. We would like to acknowledge Mike Hess and the entire Future-Ready team for guiding the creation of this plan which will guide our Future-Ready efforts for years to come.
A#3 & A#4 2021 Election Resolution and Canvassing Board
Another important item of note is for the upcoming election. These items will establish the qualifying period for candidates and the general election dates.
Candidate Qualifying period begins noon on Monday, September 13 through noon on Friday, September 17.
General election dates are November 2 and a runoff for December 7 if necessary.
Also, thank you to Commissioner Sheehan and Commissioner Burns who are serving on the Canvassing Board this year.
Ordinance/ 1st Read Item 3 - Stonewall Jackson Road Rename
Also today we’ll hear the first read of an ordinance to change the name of Stonewall Jackson Road to Roberto Clemente Road. We want to thank Commissioner Ortiz for his leadership with this and thank community organizations like Alianza (Ali-anza) for Progress for their advocacy.
This change will align with Orange County Public Schools’ recent renaming of Jackson Middle School to Roberto Clemente Middle School and support our community’s continued efforts to make Orlando a more welcoming, inclusive city for all.
Downtown Safety Items – C#22, CRA #5 and #6, Ordinances 1st Read #4
Last, there are a number of items on our agenda related to enhancing Downtown Safety following a late-night shooting that resulted in the tragic death of 34-year-old Joey Torres.
As we review this incident and evaluate options to prevent this type of criminal activity, we believe one of the contributing factors is the atmosphere being created on the streets with individuals coming downtown, not to patronize businesses, but rather to gather outside on the streets.
The safety of residents and businesses throughout Orlando and in the downtown area is a top priority.
And the type of violence that took the life of Joey Torres is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
That is why we are taking immediate action to enhance safety downtown and to minimize the street party atmosphere that has been occurring.