Commissioner reports on community events and tours

4:30:49He said start with me. Okay. Um uh

4:30:53leave you mount.

4:30:53I had I finally got to host my Harbor South Leadership Council meeting again. It's been

4:31:01This is where I bring all the

4:31:05s uh civic associations member leaders together and um appreciate all the staff that that spoke. Jessica did a great job. They all they all did a great job. Um And um I think it was uh everyone appreciates learning all the information about the county and thanks Chase for speaking again. Um Also as many of you did, I enjoyed uh attending the Pasco EDC thirty six annual awards honoring the honor

4:31:36they honored the Phillips family and of course the uh companies that moved here, most of which are manufacturers. And by the way, um I went and introduced myself to the CEO of Gary Line. And and he was with talking with another award awardee um JTD, I think. And JTD had talked about how they'd gone to Ampskills, loved it. Um And Is gonna be a sponsor at the manufacturing dinner on October 10th, and we hadn't been able to get into Gary Line for

4:32:06some reason. And Gary Line came over and He wants to be on our board. That's how much he loved it. Very he was very excited to uh learn about the program and We continue to help our manufacturers here in the county. Um I did attend the PEDC trade mission to Vancouver. Oh I let me see if I put it in here. Because the words are so big, I can't I I have to read it off. We um we went to the University of British Columbia. To the um

4:32:37Let's see where it is. to the univers the university has these um facilities. Um let's see if I can say what's com it's a quantum quantum computing Lab. I'm trying to find the name. There. Um well well if you go back one. Sorry, I don't have it. Oh here. It is the Stuart Blueson Quantum Matter Institute. Um you see Mayor Castor and Mayor Welch

4:33:07and There was um Hillsborough County, Pinales, Pasco. Tampa. Clearwater and Saint Pete were all on board. This was the kind of like the political track and then we had companies that went on the gold key track. Um But this this Quantum matter institute, so only a few of these in the world. And um They've been working on this computer for ten years and it's it's I taped it, it's way over my head. But you'll see a you'll see a picture on the next page right there. That's

4:33:38one of their um machines that they built there. It's wrapped in a lot of parts of it are wrapped in foil because they have to keep the temperature constant. But um that's the mayor of Vancouver down at the bottom left. um a very nice guy. And then the next page we were We were at the Canada's Immuno Engineering and Biomanufacturing Hub. No, not there. What I'm sorry, went back one. Um, I don't know, maybe I didn't send in a picture with the doctors. But we had a great meeting

4:34:08with them and got to share about Moffat. Um and all the canc 'cause they're doing cancer research here and immunotherapy research and Um And they did not know about our seven hundred acre uh they've heard 'em off it, but did not know about our seven hundred acre Life Sciences Center here. So uh we will be inviting them down. And um they work with Max Planck that's down in South Florida, if you know Max Planck, a German um German uh

4:34:38research institute. But uh we're looking forward to f uh great relationships with with their scientists and they have a lot of spin-off companies from the research they do at the university. For example, right next to this building is a building where they um develop part of the stuff that went into one of the vaccines for Um I don't know which one it was. Uh but one of the vaccines

4:35:08that a lot of people use for COVID. So Anyway, they're they also are doing very cutting edge research, so that was very good. Um what else? Um I'm sorry that I missed the fallen police officer memorial, but I just send my staff Um th Ron, great great thing you did for the county.

4:35:26Thank you so much for for taking that on. It's all about what the county needs. It's not not what Ron I tack I tackle that, but I'm gonna tell you Craig Lapore told me one time, he says He says you need to be careful how you talk to a volunteer and I said, Well you need to be careful what you volunteer for.

4:35:46But I

4:35:47push I don't

4:35:48But it'll be there

4:35:49for two years.

4:35:52So great job. Um as I mentioned before, uh Katie and I toured the Hope Shot. yesterday and um Great program. Uh you know, the lady that came up here and talked about the two children that she had lost from drugs where I went was I didn't know the Hope Shop was here. I went into my office and got one of the pamphlets 'cause she didn't know about them and gave it to her. Because that's a place where people like people who are recovering from drug. And

4:36:17I

4:36:17think the roads

4:36:18you were talking about was F D O T state road.

4:36:21Oh what I what I was wondering on that, if they're hanging out under our under the Sun Coast Bridges um and doing illicit activity, why don't we see if we can't put some cameras under there? And then we could have an eye on it and then maybe send law enforcement if we need to. But certainly we could have some some game some cameras under those bridges.

4:36:41Uh I

4:36:42know.

4:36:45If that's where illegal

4:36:48activities happening. I'll reach out to Secretary Gwen. Yeah, why not put some mice on? I'll do that. Yeah. And um because th they may not even be aware of that. I mean sometimes things get past you without you thinking about 'em.

4:37:00It's kind of funny, but where she was talking about was exactly where I had them drop the pin. Might have been at the M PO meeting, where where that long L that Long Canal is in your district that goes comes out of Masarictown? That's the bridge that she was talking about.

4:37:18where we dropped the pin. Um solar power

4:37:24Just um my staff uh as last time I showed you how you can turn glass into sand. Um has done some research on solar on really doing more work with solar power and I think we should always be looking when we're doing buildings to be adding solar panels to the roofs. And um working on generating our own electricity for our building. So I think we really should pay attention to that and there's grants out there for that. And that's it for me. Okay. I'm heading to fact tomorrow morning at seven

4:37:54in the morning, Pensacola. Okay. I was going tonight, but you couldn't fly all around, that's right. I had to stay for a budget meeting.

4:38:05Mrs. Yeager?

4:38:06Okay.

4:38:09So the um I attended the ceremony honoring former Commissioner Gary Bradford. The Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel recently honored former County Commissioner Gary Bradford as local hero of the year in a ceremony held at the Tampa Bay Premium Outlets on September 9th. It was truly an honor to speak at the event celebrating Gary's remarkable dedication and the positive impact he has had on. on our community. His unwavering commitment to public service and his tireless efforts to improve the lives of many are truly

4:38:39inspiring. This recognition is a testament to his hard work and the lasting difference he has made in our lives.

4:38:49It wasn't the ninth?

4:38:50On Saturday.

4:38:51You're right. right. September seventh.

4:38:53I'm sorry, but

4:38:54You're right.

4:38:55It was close.

4:38:56Very close.

4:38:57Very good job.

4:38:58And that was that was beautiful. Looking at that the wall of local heroes. It was very moving. So next I did a ride along with Captain David Garofalo. We hit all the stations in District One. Wow. So that yeah. Yes, and the 911 center. Yeah, so there's quite a few. So the uh building on the right-the black building is their new training center. So

4:39:28if you look at the the picture on the left with the chains, they put wood in there and set it on fire. So then um the trainees get to fe feel the smoke and the heat and they actually see the fire. from the beginning to the end. And the White Fire Truck is their newest truck, which um was pretty cool. We got to see the brand new station um that came online and it is really beautiful. I encourage the um public

4:39:59to get out to their family event because um When you see these um fire MSTUs and things like that, um you're really making a difference in uh with the firefighters and their living conditions. Some of them went from all sharing a space, like didn't matter if you were a male or female in beds, to now they have dorms. So that was really great to see.

4:40:22Where's the white truck?

4:40:24Oh gosh, I can't remember. Yeah, I just I don't remember what station it was. Okay, the next slide. Then I did a ride along with Corporal Ortiz, and that's a little cutie Milo. So um Milo is a therapy dog. He is just good for like pets and belly rubs and just feel good happy. Um so Deputy Ortiz is also he goes he takes Milo into domestic situations, into schools, into all all anywhere

4:40:54mental health related. And um He also we were in Lando Lakes and they got a call that they needed a drone, so we had to hurry up to Trilby. Um so I wasn't really thinking I was gonna have this big exciting day and I ended up getting a bulletproof vest and um Traveling at high speeds. Matter of fact, my my son said he goes, he didn't know I was on a ride along. He goes, Mom, why are you doing ninety miles per hour right now? So um yeah,

4:41:25so that was exciting and um it was it was good to see, you know. that the sheriff they really do need More money. Their drone t their drone team is super small, so they needed to add to that. And they also had to wait over an hour for to get a boat. They were looking for a gentleman in the river. So it was nice to see the And Trilby? Uh yeah. Yeah, yep. And uh they had Hernando there as well, so both counties were looking for this gentleman. But it was great to see the sheriff, the nine one one and um fire. So

4:41:55it was a great week and especially on nine eleven. So yeah. That's it for District Four.

4:42:03Very good. Got a few pictures of you to pass those down.

4:42:08All right, Jack. So we're with the um West Central Florida Grill Scouts at Camp Indian Echo, Tampey Water did a presentation. on the wonders of water. Uh they got a really nice education hub out there. Um a nice little plaque they put up for the kids to study. Uh that was the program. If you'd flip through a couple of pages. Uh there's the head of the West Central Florida Girls Club, uh an attempt water representative. Um I'd say I really if you would stick on that next next slide

4:42:38there. So that Girl Scout promise really just like struck me just hearing it um On my honor, I will try to serve my God and my country to help people at all times and to live by the Girl Scout Law. The Girl Scout Law. I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be assisted to every Girl Scout.

4:43:08I'm a girl

4:43:08scout. Yeah. And my my two girls were. Um and I it was funny, we're out there with a group of people and there was a bunch of guys out there. Now my girls had been out there before. I think I've probably dropped them off twice. But never get to go inside the premises really. So they had to drop 'em off and turn around. And then I I said to the guys who were there, I says, I don't know how you guys rate, but somehow you get inside here. Good luck to you. But that was a it was a great day out there. It's it kind of educates them all about water, how to preserve it. And uh one of the things Tam Bay Water did is they put an aeration system out there to take that little daisy

4:43:39lake that's right there to keep it clean for the girls when they go Paddleboarding, kayaking, whatever. Uh good, next slides. There's some of the pictures of what's going on in there. They got all sorts of little activities in there. That was Daisy Lake that was out there. Uh just keep on going. Okay.

4:43:57Law enforcement One of my fellow deputy uh one of my deputy good friends, uh Tim Hennigan from years ago hadn't seen him. But uh again that that statue of Commissioner Oakley uh for what you guys selected for you to get that done is just just super impressive. So I'll say thanks again. There's a picture of all of us. And Sir Toma. Um So so Chumber, I went to their club and I'll tell you it was really spectacular talking to them all the way through it. That's a picture with myself, Chief, J J were

4:44:27out at the uh nine eleven golf tournament they had out there for firefighters. They sold the tournament out like thirty eight minutes.

4:44:34Wow.

4:44:34I mean just it was packed. It was hot all day long. Uh that's plantation palms. Uh good, next one. And there was a picture of all the firefighters in there. Uh and I tell you this is something I didn't even know existed and I just sent you a copy of the different locations. It's called Gracie's Food Pantry.

4:44:52Yeah.

4:44:53Established in 2013. Um Gracie started this just to try to help some seniors out. So they go into Hacienda Village, they go into Brentwood, they're going to Sun Valley. uh down at Tarpon and they go to Landings of St. Andrews. And what they do with these seniors is they do it once once a week. Uh once a yeah, once a week And they go into their clubhouses where they give 'em refrigerator space, storage space, and they get uh donations from all sorts of places like Publix gives 'em fresh bread. Sprouts

4:45:23of them fresh bread. They got some sponsors, which I'll show the sheets here in a second. But all these seniors that struggle to try to make the bills, especially in the past few years as inflation's gone up. They give na really nice quality food. And they pick what they want. So it's not like you just kinda get in line and they're gonna give you a bag and then Maybe you get what you want or not. You pick what you want. And what it does, it helps these seniors be able to make their food budgets every single uh every single month. Uh if you keep on going next slide, that was that first was Saint Andrews. You

4:45:54got Humana out there that's helping them, Seniors in Service that's helping. Go ahead. Uh Archwell. All these people donate to help out. This is a group down in Hacienda. Um I give your example in hacienda They own their own Uh I don't want to say trailers where mobile w They they own their own units down there, but they're paying some of them $1,000 a month in rent. So try to imagine a senior that maybe his plan to like buy the property and be able to afford it, and now all of a sudden the costs have gone up. How do you

4:46:24make ends meet? Gracie's does a phenomenal job helping these people make it. Uh and her son is on the far right there, Ed Ed, great guy. Um I'm gonna be trying to work with them in the future to kind of give them some space that we may have in the building across the room. the way before it gets torn down, maybe for a year or two. Uh there's a surplus vehicle that they could probably use to move this food around because they go from place to place to go. Matter of fact, Gracie herself is spending fifty eight dollars a month on storage just for food because her home is too full where she can't fit anymore. So I wanted to try to relieve some

4:46:54of that pressure from them. Uh keep going. And I was at the Sugar Plum Academy in Hudson. What a neat little place this was. I had me had a they had a nice sign for me, but uh I was able to read to them uh a little book. We gave them a little play-doh when they were done. I think they're more excited about the play-doh than the book, but it was all good. Uh I signed each one of them for them, came and told them told them a little bit about what's going on. Uh keep going. There's just a few more pictures of the kids.

4:47:21What are they teaching you? Uh well read the book called The The Gruffalo. So make-believe uh book, but it was kind of funny at the end. Right. going.

4:47:33Is that all? Okay. All right. Um That's good. And I and uh Yeah, I was I was at Hope Shot too. Think they're doing a great job as well trying to help people get along as well. So that's all I got. Thank you.

4:47:45I did forget one thing. Hello. What's

4:47:48her name again?

4:47:49Oh, she's

4:47:49a person after my own.

4:47:50Sorry, I know this is a great little story. This is

4:47:53a form check.

4:47:55I totally forgot. So this family in Moon Lake had a fire and they the the family lost everything and the community came and blessed this family and um the firefighter charities had them up in a hotel for a week and then uh uh we got grant money available for two other two other weeks to get them in a hotel and now they are moving in today to a new m well to a mobile home the community donated furniture.

4:48:26First month's rent and pretty much every single thing they would need for their home. So it they went complete success story. So thank you to Wittle Coochie River for their generous donation and to everyone that um helped this family. So and these three kids are so excited. um to have a house. Are they still in the same

4:48:50area or

4:48:52still in the

4:48:52same area. Okay.

4:48:54Yep. So th it was just a great story and I'm so sorry I forgot to um mention that. Sorry. Yeah good stuff. That's