public comment current and future agenda items
What the county recorded
This item is not from the published agenda
It is a stretch of the recording that this archive identified as a separate matter — a call to order, a recess, or something taken up that the agenda does not list. There is no official title, no staff recommendation and no disposition, because the county never recorded one. Everything below is inferred.
The source document
The county’s agenda for Board of County Commissioners, Aug 9, 2022
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Aug 9, 2022
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 13m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 100% of 46 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Okay,
now's the time for public comment. Citizens are given an opportunity to Um To comment on any current or future agenda item coming before the board and on other business under the board's purview. Today's public comment will be handled as follows. First we will take public comment from those who are here in person, and then we will take public comment from those who have pre-registered for WebEx Link and are currently on queue. We request that when you address the board, comments are not directed personally against the commissioner
or team member. but rather directed at the issues. This provides mutual respect between board members and the public. After stating your name and address to the clerk. A three-minute timer will be activated. After two minutes, a single beep will indicate you have one minute left. When your time is up, two beeps will sound and you should close your comments. Webex participants will be disconnected automatically when their time is up. Madam Clerk, do we have anyone signed up for public comment?
We do. Um we have Manny Mare. Followed by Pastor Troy Peterson. Followed by Jim Carino, followed by Steve Um Eagle. So Mr. Mayor?
What
it's
like.
Manny Mare? You think he's right there?
Good morning.
Hello, thank you. Hi, my name is Mandy Mayer. I work with Premier Community Healthcare and I am the Community Services Manager. Uh this week is National Health Center Week and we wanted to recognize our community leaders for their support for Premier Community Healthcare, who has been proudly providing quality, affordable medical, dental, behavioral health services to the community for the past 43 years. Uh last year, Premier served more than 38,000 patients and we couldn't do it without the support of our community. We hope that
you can join us on September 15th at our community impact breakfast and it's going to um we're gonna unveil renderings of our new health centers that will be opening up in New Port Richey and Zephyrhills and and we hope to serve uh another twenty thousand patients because of those new health centers. Um in honor of National Health Center a week we wanted to present each of you with certificates um and would love the opportunity to take a photo now or at the next break and I have that in this bag here. Just
a nice little certificate for each of you. that we uh put together. But that's it.
Very nice. Um I don't know what to do about that photograph. What what should we do?
Um why don't we
Do I still have time is there within my little time limit?
Okay, we'll finish public comment and then
we'll take
a picture during the resolution. So hang on. But y you still have more time if you want to keep speaking.
Um no that was basically it all I wanted to keep it short and sweet. Again, just thanking you all for the support. Um 'cause again without the support of the commissioners of the community in general, uh Premier wouldn't be able to uh do what we do. So just wanna thank you all.
Thank you, and we're excited for all the growth that you guys are having.
Thank you.
Okay, next. Pastor Troy. Pastor Troy.
Pastor Troy Peterson, Light of the World Tabernacle, 8114, Leokid Road, Port Ritchie, Florida. Good morning, Commissioners, staff. This morning I felt led to give a praise report on some of the events and ways that we've been able to bless our community. As the president of Warriors of Faith Motorcycle Ministry, Tampa Bay Chapter, we were able to put together a team to work. Work with local motorcycle clubs, New Port Richey Harley Davidson, and Pasco County Schools to
fill a bus with school supplies to go to needy families within Pasco's County School District. Two Saturdays ago was our annual Somebody Cares Backpack giveaway with the city of Port Ritchie in Waterfront Park. Like always, children were blessed to view the fire truck. We estimated over seven. 700 people came through. Many families were blessed with backpacks, cool supplies, free hot dogs, chips provided by Somebody Cares, Warriors of Faith, Christian Motorcycle Association, and Volunteer
Way. Last Saturday, Church of Brotherly Love Hudson Beach Outreach, which I am the founding pastor of, did a backpack giveaway at Strickland Park known as Hudson Beach. I got the green light from Mr. Bailey from Natural Resources and informed him of several hundred people who would be attend attending. I think the park worker was overwhelmed with several hundred people showing up to receive their blessings. Troy Stevenson also blessed us with several bikes. I believe the highlight of the event was the kids that needed
bikes to ride to school because of the busing situation. We also had a bike that was. Went to a young dad that needed needed it to get to work. Through the Hudson Beach Outreach, I've had the opportunity also to be given the opportunity to be with the COC Pasco Leadership Council. We've been effective and effective in getting elderly off the streets and into permanent housing just in the last couple months. Carefest, listen up. September 24th, launching out a waterfront park with
local government, churches, and business owners tackling projects with elderly nutrition. We're actually hoping this year that we can team up with code enforcement this year to be a support to that department as well. I've been encouraging commissioners for over a year to allow somebody cares pastors to lead in the MBA. We were in Tallahassee a month ago. I was given information of federal law that that will be given to you in future commissioner
meetings by our attorneys. To make this happen, it's simple. As chaplains, we take the responsibility of leading in the invocation. That puts the heat on us, and Pasco County will reap the benefits from it. Thank you for your time.
Thank you very much. Next, Jim Carino.
Good morning commissioners and staff. My name is Jim Carina. I live at [address removed]. I moved to Pasco County in nineteen seventy three and have witnessed tremendous growth in the years I've lived here. I started my fire service career thirty-five years ago or for of 35 years in the city of Clearwater and a fire service instructor at St. Pete College for 25 years. I assisted in instructing Pasco and Pasco Hernando Community College back in the early 80s when Pasco Fire and EMS merged
into one entity. Um
I've been following with great interest Pasco County Firefighters Plight to increase staffing and add more strategically located fire stations to better serve the citizens of Pasco County. Uh Government's main responsibility is public safety. It must be a priority. Only a firefighter truly knows the demands and responsibilities that come with the title firefighter. Firefighters here today are out and out protecting our community come to you for help. It is not a selfish action when they come to this diet to seek necessary resources they
need to do their job. Pasco County continues to thrive and grow and And with the huge demands on public safety workers, Pasco continues to approve large developments of single-family homes, multi-family apartments, and condominium developments without the necessary infrastructure to support it. The county continues to fall behind in keeping up with the demands of growth. Uh That this demand places on our fire service. I near I live near Fire Station 30 on Massachusetts Avenue. Even my neighbors say, do
they have to blow those sirens and horns all the time? And I'm just thinking how busy they are every day. As a firefighter, you never know what will be next. I don't think we've forgotten what they just had to deal with in the past three years with the pandemic virus. Over 20 years ago, the National Fire Protection Association developed a standard for organization development of fire suppression services, emergency medical operations and special operations to the public by career fire departments known as NFPA 1710. Cities and counties have over twenty had over twenty years to
set goals and attempt to meet this standard. It's based on years of empirical data to justify the staffing and response time goals. Pasco County, as well as many other agencies, are far from meeting its national standards twenty years later. We must develop a strategic planning to meet This standard of operation for the safety of the citizens and our fire rescue workers. We must stop kicking the can down the road and get serious. The longer we wait, the farther behind we fall, and the more expensive it will get. This standard sets response
times and deployment resources necessary for single-family, residential, multi-family, and high-rise operations. Response times are most critical part of this equation. Getting the resources necessary on the scene to handle the emergency at hand. I came here today to ask you to listen to the emergency workers and to develop a strategic plan and follow it to make the lives and citizens of Pasco and the fire rescue personnel here to protect it safer. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. Um next, Steve Akel.
Good morning commissioners. My name is Steve Akel. I'm a representative of IFF Local 4420, representing the firefighters of Pasco. Uh my address is protected. Okay, thank you. Good morning, Commissioners. I prayed this day would not come, although not surprised based off of lack of action or inability of action in the last year. After the first meeting where these issues were brought to your attention in July of twenty-one, we are still here asking where are the stations and ambulances to stop Signal 40? Where is the
pay and benefits for the firefighters currently serving so they stop leaving? Every meeting, more housing, building and infrastructure is approved. Yet here we are years later in not one new or rebuilt station, and only one new ambulance in years, and word has it station nine is yet again delayed. Response times are still above the national average. The department frequently has no ambulances available, and you are still denying our firefighter his state entitled cancer benefits. The infrastructure that you are approving is flying up with unfettered growth, and there is nothing to show for it in regard to public safety, all while
the people of Pasco pay the price. For over a year now, Local 4420 has brought to your attention the death sentence you continue to issue to the citizens of Pasco and the mass deficiencies in the Board's leadership. Leadership that allows fire stations to not be built for, and I quote, over a decade, knowingly putting the public at risk. Population increases by thousands monthly, with no support for public safety, to retain experienced or new employees, as is felt by the Fire Department and Sheriff's Office. You say you want to work with us, however these issues were and
continue to be discussed, and could have been planned for and prevented, With an open line of communication. However, we've been dismissed. In April, you were told over fifty percent of response times were greater than 10 minutes and reminded Signal 40 was still an issue. In May, you were reminded the GO bond was approved in 2018, which was supposed to go to fire rescue for five new fire stations and rebuild four, of which we have zero. You were told that in the last year we lost 50 firefighters, and that number has only increased. Amount of support and pay, other counties are providing
their fire departments. We will lose the majority of these new firefighters and continue to lose experienced firefighters. In July, after initially denying one of our firefighters his cancer benefits, you had the opportunity to do the right thing, as stated by the county attorney. And I quote: you can choose to resolve this now, yet you chose to deny him. not only deny him when his cancer is a qualifying cancer according to the bill, but continue a challenge against the state to fight all firefighter cancer benefits and continue to waste taxpayer money by paying an outside attorney to fight against him. You
could have at least taken care of this firefighter as the bill reads, and then continued Pasco County's attack against firefighters everywhere. Are these really your morals and ethics? Your fire department is ranked third busiest for EMS calls and eighth busiest for fire calls in the state, ahead of surrounding departments including Hillsborough and Tampa.
Pasco County Fire Rescue is a nationwide leader in firefighter cancer prevention and receives numerous national accreditations for service excellence. When are you going to get on board and take care of the people of Pasco with us? You have shown by your lack of action, your personal agendas take precedence over the needs of the people. Pasco, we will continue to fight for you. Please fight for us at the polls on August 23rd.
Thank you very much. Anyone else? That's it. And there is no one on WebX? No one on
WebX.