Public comment on current or future agenda item
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 outcome, because the county never recorded one. Everything below is inferred.
The source document
The county’s agenda for Board of County Commissioners, Jun 7, 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, Jun 7, 2022
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
What was said
Machine transcription of 26m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 85% of 105 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Here. Okay, now is the time for public comment. Citizens are given an opportunity to comment on any current or future agenda item coming before the board and on any 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. 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 for the clerk, a three minute timer will be activated and 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. Mr. Clerk, do we have anyone signed up for public comment?
We have several. So the first one is Troy Pedterson.
Good morning commissioners. Uh Pastor Troy Peterson, uh Somebody Cares, Pasco. Uh my address is on file along with my email. Um You know, I was on the way here today and uh just praying on what the Lord Would have you share the And I believe I'm supposed to share a testimony. Um I've been coming here for about a year now, encouraging our commissioners to have the Somebody Cares pastors lead
in the invocation. Um I've shared several scriptures, uh main one being the only way to the Father is through the Son, and we know that Son being Jesus Christ. And on the way here I was reminded of a couple years back I was in a a prayer meeting and one of the commissioners had asked if the Somebody Care's pastors could possibly lead in prayer. And I prayed about that for about a year and then and then here I am. Um And
to encourage you, there is a group of pastors right now that is praying for our commissioners, their staff, four days a week. So we are praying for you. But what we really understand is that if we truly want to make Pasco great, We have to acknowledge Jesus Christ and the invocation. And that's why I've been here. So the testimony that I feel led to share is uh we were in Tallahassee uh lobby lobbying
with Christian Family Coalition to get a couple laws passed. One of them, the Pastor Protection Act, the other one, I couldn't even believe it was a a a thing, but in the state of Florida it was okay or it was approved that a minor could actually go get an abortion without parental consent. Praise God that got squashed. Now that that can't happen any longer. But when we were in Tallahassee, we went into one of our state representatives'
office and uh we prayed with him and he gave us plenty of time and then he pray he prayed for us. One of the other representatives Said that well I only got two minutes. I'm on my way to a lunch and This pastor stood up and said Do you understand that we come representing sixty thousand plus people from Pasco County? And I thought the boldness of this pastor, the way
he kind of rebuked this representative, I was like, I didn't really bear witness to it. But I was kind of reminded of that on the way here. I've been coming here for a year. And I haven't gotten any response. And so I would like one of you or whoever feels led to email me to figure out how we can actually come and serve and lead in the implication. Thank you for your time.
Thank you. Uh next.
Uh Angelo Massicaro.
Good morning, Commissioners. I'm Angelo Muzicaro. I'm the pastor of Worship Life Church on Moon Lake Road. We have purchased that facility. It's been about two years now. And people keep approaching me about this property on Midvale, uh Midvale, that's 10 acres of property, that was connected to the previous church. So I came here to get clarification so that I can actually answer the people that are questioning me and also if I am being held accountable for what's going on there on that 10 acres, I definitely want to know about that. Um especially if it's gonna come and land in my lap.
I can tell you that uh I've had people from the West Coast come on down and while they visited we looked at the property. So some of the ideas are a garden, a co-op that the kids can come to. We have summer right now we're looking to build. and do something on that property if that's what you want me to do. But I need some clarity so I can move on. Am I responsible for that property as the as the church that was there or am I free of that? Uh if I am uh called on to work there in that area, we'll knock it
out. All right, just I just need some clarity. I need some clarity.
Well is there someone with staff that can answer his question? Commissioner Starkey can
connect
the Sally. Sally don't have to comp here the comments.
It's not a Sally.
Thank you. Yes.
It's a legal issue?
No, it so the issue is that the the the That property was deeded by the county to Mana Mission Inc. in March of 12. And there's a question I think the commissioner has with regard to the reverter that's in that. It's really a real estate facilities county attorney issue. Okay,
well we'll
we'll get
an extra point. Okay. Thank you. All right, uh next.
Uh Ur uh Aaron Pike.
Good morning. Good morning. Aaron Pike, my uh address and emails on file. I was asked by the thousands of communities.
Why why are we doing this address on file?
I
have no idea. We need your address, name and address for the record.
It's not uh I have it.
So we don't I've never had anyone come and say it's on file before. This is the
Well
we've been
docs before, so that's why I ask now.
I just
I just want to know what I legally have to have. So we're good with it just being written here?
Public comment is it the The only reason to have the the folks address your public comment is if you want to go if you want to reach back out to them. It's not like in your afternoon session with public hearing where we have to give notice if there's an appeal.
Okay. It's just this is the first time this has ever happened in ten years or whatever, however long I've been here. Okay.
Yeah and please restart her clock.
I was asked by the thousands of community members in Pasco Watch to come here and ask you to vote no on putting the tax referendum the school district wants. on the August primary ballot, rather place it on the November general election ballot as the law now says it should be. This will give you a true voice of the community. First, to make it clear, we 100% support teachers being paid fairly and getting a proper raise, not a temporary, non-sustainable line item paycheck increase. which could go away in four years, should this
not pass later. We believe they should be prioritized first when doing the budget and have a permanent pay increase is the right thing to do for our teachers and our bus drivers. We believe the districts should have a fiscal responsibility and manage their budget appropriately. That being said, today is not about that. It's about making sure all voices are heard in Pasco County. Even the state legislatures recognize tax referendums have no place in a primary. Almost a unanimous vote, two nays, made it law effective october first. To
quote Rep Robinson, I think it's a bad policy either way. Whether you're trying to defeat something or trying to get something approved, it should be in front of the maximum number of voters. It's well known that a third of the voters show up for primaries compared to general elections. There's plenty of data to show that. Even the state legislature spoke of that data. Many don't know about them as well. And there's a Democrat primary for governor this year, so more Democrats will be showing up in August for the primaries. All voices should be heard as much as possible to make sure
the will of the people are heard, and that's your responsibility to do so. Vote no on knowingly and willingly allowing the majority to not be heard, as well as being in accordance with the law of requiring these to be held in November general elections. If you vote yes for this, you'll be telling your constituents you care more about what the school board wants than making sure you hear from the overall collective voices of Pasco County. Thank you. Okay, nice.
Uh Bernard Seeley.
Good morning. Uh my name is Bernard Seely. My address is exempt under uh section one nineteen. Um I am a resident of Pasco County, Dade City. Um I became aware of an effort by our county school board to be to place a tax referendum on the August primary ballot. When I heard this, it just didn't seem right to me. Then became aware of House Bill 777, which will require all tax referendums to be placed
on the general election come October. Um I've learned in my many years uh serving the public sector uh that when government moves fast um and moves quickly that it should raise some red flags. Uh since only a small percentage of our population uh actually vote and exercise their franchise. uh even a smaller portion turnout during our midterm elections. and even less turnout during our primaries. My question became Why
would we want to present any referendum? More or less a tax referendum on a ballot when only a small fraction of the electorate will vote. Is there an ulterior motive behind this? Is there an attempt to manipulate the system? I pray not. I'm not here to discuss the merits of the tax. I'm only asking that you do the right thing and present this referendum during the November election uh when more of your citizens who you swore an oath to represent will be present. And I thank you for your
time.
Thank you. Next.
Uh Lindsay Matthew.
Good morning.
Lindsey Matthew. Captain Paramedic at Baska County Fire Rescue. Uh my address is protected.
My goal here this morning is to help express the magnitude of the problem going on with Pasco County Fire Rescue. I'd like to walk you through a scenario. I want you to imagine your morning routine. You wake up in the morning, you get out of bed, you make a cup of coffee, and you hop into your car just like any other morning. And unexpectedly. You're in a car crash. Not any car crashes, a rollover incident, it's critical in nature and you need to get to a trauma facility. For
surgery right now.
And you may not think this is going to happen to you, but the reality is that we're landing helicopters for trauma-related incidents every day. And so you're sitting in your seat, dazed and confused. And someone comes to your window and says, Pasco firefighters are coming. But the truth is, they're not close by. In Pasco County, every day, at some point, we are Signal 40, which means there's not a single rescue available to provide help to the citizens of Pasco in their greatest time
of need. When every second counts, we're minutes away. I'm one of seven hundred firefighters. You can see the yellow shirts I that have brought support behind me. Who are heartbroken every time we have to go to multiple response areas to get to a call. At first there's no units available and it's like a rescue has come from Wesley Chapel to run a call in New Port Richey. Recently, we had a cardiac arrest in Land O' Lakes, and you may not know it's cellular brain
death occurs in six minutes. It took us 18 minutes to get there. or a burn patient in Zephyrhills, in which there's not a single rescue available to go from the fire scene to the Hellspot, or just yesterday it took us sixteen minutes to get to a cardiac rest in Wesley Chapel. This is utterly unacceptable. It's not the way it should be. We are Signal 40 and you have to understand there's other fire departments that are not Signal 40 the way we are daily. What we are experiencing is not a dynamic indicative to the pandemic. In other words, it's not uh
we can't blame it on COVID. What we're seeing is a lack of foresight from county leadership that has not grown the fire department in a trajectory. that meets or better yet exceeds the population growth. Of the county. If you're gonna build thirty thousand houses, we need more stations, we need more units, and we need more people. As a real estate broker, I'm aware of the issues with building materials, supply shortages, and the subsequent delays. However, I'm also aware of the meteoric rise in home prices. by which you multiply the millage
rate to cause a significant increase relatively in revenue. So I submit to you, given the resources and the revenue and the influence you have in your possession, that you would use it for more stations and more units and more personnel that we so desperately need. So God forbid you're sitting in that vehicle with critical injuries. you can confidently know that the Pasco County firefighters are coming. And we're gonna make it when seconds count. And the question is, what are you going to do to
ensure That statement is true. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Very much.
Sorry, you can't do that in this building.
Um that's the completion of the folks that have pre-signed in the room. We do have folks online.
Okay, let's go to online. And then if there's anyone else if there's anybody in the We'll do do it in that order. Is there anyone else here that wishes to speak to the county commission? Come on up. Anyone else? Okay, after this gentleman, then we'll go to our online speakers.
Good morning everybody. Uh my name is Joseph Hart. I'm a resident of Holiday.
Um my
address is [address removed]. Could I'm sorry,
one
more time, I didn't catch
it.
[address removed]. I'd like to thank everybody for uh Hearing my concerns. Um I'll give you a little background. I moved here from New York City about a year and a half ago. Um Come from a mainly second and third generation Irish and Italian background, the area that I lived in New York. was ninety percent Roman Catholic. And
I would probably say that
Most people in in in the voting districts are Republican. I would even go to say that most of them forward in Trump, maybe even more more than Pasco County.
What I want to talk about is the Ordinance five thirty Uh dot five. Um has to do with uh restrictions on what you can park in your own driveway. Like I can understand that everybody Nobody wants a visual blight in their neighborhood. But maybe this may be going a little bit too far. You know, take like me. I have a smaller utility trailer. I enjoy gardening. I
don't want to put it on the side of the house because One t one or two things or two things will happen. You'll have a rut on the side of your house which is doesn't look good. And second of all, some people They're gonna leave it there and they're not gonna cut their grass and how's that gonna look? Kinda defeats the purpose. One of my neighbors. Who is a married father, who has children, works hard, enjoys taking his children fishing on the weekend.
Yeah. Yeah.
You know. It's a family man. This is what we try to promote. family time together and it makes it harder for him to do that You know, it's just limited time. So I've spoken to a number of people in my neighborhood. um on both sides. And it seems that A vast majority of them believe that this should be amended to be a little bit more fair. You know, we're seeing in our country Uh A lot of movements on personal
rights. And I don't see why real property usage rights shouldn't be one of them. Um We're not communists, are we? Um so I'd like you all c to to consider that. It's something uh I think may be very important. And I think if you all come up But something, maybe an amendment. We'll put you on the right side of things. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We drove a long way. Okay. Um okay, we'll go to the folks online.
Uh our first person signed up online is Nancy Gray.
[address removed]. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you. I come before you again regarding Deer Lake. We have four home. corners around the lake. commercial property on Ridge Road for sale. And Wells Fargo and Dillon Ridge. Wells Fargo has been permitted to drain their roof and driveway into the lake as their grandfathered inn. Most of their runoff goes into the lake, some of it runs on the
Lid Little and Ridge Road. When the contractor was digging to locate their second tank, they broke down Kerb, causing more water into the lake. The health department should be accepted from it, but they've not relocated it yet and have not rebuilt the curve. After Saturday night's rain of less than a quarter of an inch, it raised the lake at feet. Stormfall and clogged up the lake, not rainfall. Last year the water was up over a hundred and forty
feet out of the lake and the county would not come down. This caused thousands of dollars of damage and compensation. The year before the water was so high, one homeowner had water in her home and with no comprehensive plan County pumped more than twenty lewned lakes last year except for Deer Lake. The county is also set up permanent drains in private lakes and not Deer Lake. Why are we and
other monitored we failed? It's been suggested that the county make Like it's just the homeowners. As homeowners could say nothing further about this. Assess us not community by us, but due to the county on Wells Fall. to use the tension point. This doesn't seem fair to the homeowners to make us pay for it's being used as a protection fund. It doesn't seem fair that the counties
can put other privately owned lakes and not lake. Nor does it seem fair that the counties come up with permanent solutions for other privately owned lakes and not Deer Lake. I am again requesting the county pump down the lake to its level, and continue to pump as it rains to keep the water contained in the lake until the county comes up with a permanent solution to the problem that does not require four homeowners to bear
the burden of a problem that we did not create. Please don't let this go on. Please do the right thing before the water does more damage again this year. We can't have a repeat again. Thank you for your time, but please let's get this done.
Thank you.
Our next person online is Kathryn Julian.
Hello? Can you hear me?
Yes, ma'am.
Go
ahead.
Okay. Good. Um my name is Kathryn Julian. I live at um [address removed]. And um I'm calling to ask you to um delay the placement of the new taxes on the ballot until at least November. Um it doesn't seem right to me that we put this on a primary ballot where there are very few voters engaged and um voting in the election. So, um, it's easier
or it's it's just not fair. It should go in front of the entire electorate. I also um would like to um speak about the Signal forty. Um we had a family friend who passed away earlier this spring. uh apparently from a heart attack. I don't know the family that well, so I haven't reached out, but the information I was given was um he had a heart attack and rescue was not able to reach him within a reasonable amount of time and he passed away. He was uh younger than me, had young children, still
has a child in the school system, and I find it really unnerving that we have nine new or renovations of fire stations on the books. for over three years and none of them have been completed yet and that um apparently are County Attorney is managing this process. And we can only construct one at a time. I really feel bad for the firefighters having to come here and explain that to you. They shouldn't have to. You as managers and elected officials should be handling
this on your own. Thank you and have a wonderful day. Thank you very much.
Next is James Stanley. Online.
Good morning. My name is Jim Stanley. I live at [address removed]. I'm here to speak with you this morning about item 13 on your agenda, the request by Pasco School Board to place a property tax referendum on the August primary ballot. As you know, the legislature passed H B seven seven seven, which requires referenda elections for property tax increases to be held on the day of the general election. This legislation was passed by nearly unanimous
votes in both houses of the legislature and signed by Governor DeSantis. Think about that. A nearly unanimous vote in the legislature is rare. You can hardly get both parties to agree today is Tuesday, but they came together and recognized the importance of having all voters weigh in on proposals to increase property taxes. I understand it doesn't take effect until October, but placing the City of Six property tax on primary ballot ignores the will of the people as
expressed by our representatives in Tallahassee. The legislature passed this bill because they know that general elections have three to five times the turnouts of primary votes, and a tax which affects everyone should be voted on by everyone. Your counterparts in Hurt Hernando County actually voted to move their school district's ballot initiative from 2022 to 2024. We're not asking for anything nearly so radical as and moving the referendum to
November would still allow time for the school district to implement the tax and in time for uh 2023 as planned. So again, I'm asking you to please vote to change the date of the referendum from August to November. Thank you.
Thank you.
The last person signed up I don't believe has checked in. Um so that would be the end of those that have signed to I'll call her name, but Rebecca Yingling, is she in the room? Or online. That completes those that have signed up.
Okay, thank you very much. Okay, this concludes the public comment portion of our meeting and now is the time for resolutions.
Uh we have no resolutions other than our what is on consent.