Dan Biles county administrator commendation

1:52:43All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Thanks. And now I'm really glad we had that discussion and that that was brought up. Appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. We have a time certain that was at eleven thirty? We're gonna go to that now.

1:52:59All right.

1:53:02Mr. Dan Biles. Do you mind um stepping to the podium?

1:53:10His favorite place.

1:53:14All right. I'll go ahead and read your resolution. Resolution number 22-170, a resolution by the Board of Pas A Resolution by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida, commending Dan Biles, Pasco County Administrator, for his dedicated service to Pasco County and his contribution to creating a people-focused organizational culture. Whereas Dan Biles began his career with Pasco County as County Administrator on May 1, 2017, at a pivotal time for Pasco

1:53:45County's unprecedented growth and establishment as a leading county in the Tampa Bay area. ANRAS Dan brought with him a focus on customer service and a strong commitment to training leaders from within and empowering them to improve business operations. ANRAS, under Dan's leadership, Pasco County has undergone radical cultural changes that have resulted in significant performance gains across the enterprise, as well as three different local and national Best Places to Work awards. Sorry, and Raz

1:54:15of Dan's myriad accomplishments. He will especially be remembered for his unwavering leadership and administrative creativity through the unprecedented COVID nineteen pandemic, his involvement in making the construction of the Ridge Road extension a reality, providing an essential hurricane evacuation route, and a new major corridor for Pasco County commuters. And and his collaboration in the momentous Moffitt Pasco County project, which will provide more than fourteen thousand jobs in a

1:54:45geographic footprint larger than downtown Tampa, and more importantly, bring hope to innumerable people for decades to come. And Raz, Dan's leadership philosophy of people, purpose, performance, has been ingrained in the countless team members he has influenced and mentored. And he has instilled in us a desire to continue to prioritize people, connect them with to the purpose, and to get out of the way for their success. And Raz Dan's commitment to empowering subject matter experts in the organization, his thoughtful and calculated

1:55:15decision-making process, and his contributions to an intelligent and quiet yet strong leader, our qualities, our team members. Will continue to emulate. Anne Raz, Dan believes that a leader's legacy is this. A leader should be able to disappear at any moment without anyone noticing changes based on their absence. And although our team knows this to be true, we will undoubtedly suffer a loss upon Dan's departure. Now therefore be it resolved by the Board of County Commissioners of Pasco County, Florida,

1:55:46that said board hereby takes great pleasure in recognizing Dan Biles, Pasco County Administrator, for five years of leadership to Pasco County team members, community stakeholders, and citizens, and extends their sincere gratitude for the invaluable contributions he has made to Pasco County. We wish him a rewarding and fulfilling next chapter in his life. and resolved in regular session with a quorum present and voting this twelfth day of July 2022. Move

1:56:10for approval.

1:56:12All in favor.

1:56:13Aye.

1:56:14Opposed. Well, we're gonna let you speak first and then we'll go.

1:56:18Oh boy. Well I don't have anything prepared. Oh I I I had an idea this was coming. I I just there was a lot there and I think I was asked, uh I think at the last L D P class what's I'm most proud of uh in I think it's the impact we've had on the people who actually work for Pasco County and the ability for them to be able to take the initiative and do their job. And I could not do that without the support of you. 'Cause if you would not support the effort I made to do in that in

1:56:48the direction we took the county, that would not have happened. And so I appreciate the support the board gave me to allow me to run this organization in the same manner Publix has run in the same mayor USIA has run, Southwest Airlines, all those best places to work, great corporations that do great business for their and both emp their employees but also their customers. And you've all you've allowed me to do that. And so It's a little uncomfortable today 'cause I don't like standing up here. Um you know, I actually prefer to be in the background, out out of the

1:57:18spotlight and let uh you or the team really take the credit for the great things that are happening. So I appreciate it. It's been Truly in a remarkable five years. I don't think I ever would have imagined we've gone through the things we've gone through over the last five years. Um but thank you for all the support. Thanks to the team for all the support 'cause I couldn't do it without them as well. Uh at the end of the day, you know, we have a great team that does great work and you know Mike's gonna step in. and is going to take the county to

1:57:48the next level, you know, with your support. uh and with the support of the rest of the team and so I'm truly happy. Nope, I mean I still own property in Pasco County. And while we may not be here you know full time, we still are connected back to Pasco County. And so Yeah. It would only be something like this and what we're doing would be the only way I was gonna leave anyway, so Um I appreciate it, appreciate the support and uh thank you for everything you've done to support me over the last five years, even when we may not have agreed. Um which

1:58:19that's that's a part of the business, right? So uh thank you for that. Thank you for allowing me to tell you my opinion on stuff because that's also important, uh, even when I know we don't necessarily agree and I'll I I'm uh try to look at all five of you 'cause I think I've disagreed with every one of you on time to time. Uh but that's part of the that's part of the great uh a great work and from atmosphere and how people do great things, allowing discussion, debate and those kinds of things. So thank you for that and thank you for the time and uh Yeah, I'm really gonna miss y'all on

1:58:49this team. Uh you know, we we throw rounds around from time to time, but I've loved the work that we've done here and I've loved the people we work with. Uh we have a great team and we do great work. So thank you.

1:58:59Well there's no doubt you were the right person at the right time for uh for our county to uh bring us to where we are today. And um I think something that's not on this resolution I don't think is um Oh no, one of the best places to work award. How many counties have won that? I mean it can't be a law.

1:59:20No,

1:59:20that that was best place to work in America. Not in the Tampa Bay area. Right. Not in Florida. So that's a great accomplishment. Um especially where we were a few years ago. Yes, right. So I'm sure some of the other commissioners. We'll start over here with Chris Oakley. Yeah.

1:59:36Corner. Were you Bonshirt? You're good. No.

1:59:39We're gonna start right and

1:59:41move left. But I was part of the commissioners, we all five commissioners, that was uh Mike Wells was on board. at that time that we selected Dan to be our number one man and we all voted for you and really felt that you were the right man to lead us for to be a Premier County. Um I think I have I had different views at the beginning 'cause I think I I struggle with understanding your way of doing things. But after I got past that Uh

2:00:12I very much appreciated all that you did for us um throughout that. Um your management style was a little different than mine. I'm more hands on doing things and and I pushed to get not get things done next year but today. So I work hard to to do things as quickly as we can. I found out with government that you don't make government move. as fast as you would if you were a personal company or working for yourself. So but uh you

2:00:42gotta appreciate we do a lot of things very quickly with our voting privileges and all to move things in the right direction and you help guide us to do that for this Premier County. But also in the fact that here here we are, we vote for those things that you led us into and directed and we're very appreciative to what you've done for our county and lead us toward a Premier County. So with there's a lot of pluses and awards and uh kudos and all all the things that go

2:01:12to uh support you being here and I certainly appreciate you uh as an individual and and as a commissioner. Uh I very much appreciated everything you did. So thank you. Thank you.

2:01:26Thank you, Madam Chair. Dan, Dan, Dan.

2:01:30So how m well DM would have a quarterly Um talk. I was asked the administrator, ask Dan Biles, what was it called? Ask me anything.

2:01:39Yes.

2:01:40Ask me anything.

2:01:44And I think Mr. Biles has f figured out by now that I would participate in those as well.

2:01:52Stop.

2:01:54And some of the questions would be, who's your favorite commissioner? Which commissioner do you like the most?

2:02:03Yeah, yes. But he would obviously he he played the political route as I I have respect for each and every commissioner and all those types of things. But I always threw it out there just to see how he would answer was fun. And then I would do other silly questions and ask like, you know, who's gonna win the A and M game against Texas or whatever like that and uh what's going on with your team or whatever. So I'd have fun with that. Well, I I say this because When you talk about leadership and you know a lot of us have been in executive positions throughout the years and we we have similar traits when it comes to our leadership

2:02:34uh our leadership traits um of trying to bring good, strong team members in, sometimes we do have to teach some, but giving them the ability to lead on their own. Right? And that's how you then that's how you've led. I always thought that was important too. If I brought somebody in that couldn't do the job It was time for him to go. But that mean I f that meant I failed though, because I made it that bad decision. Thankfully, when we brought you on,

2:03:04we made a good decision and we did not fail. So when you decided you stated you were going to leave and you met I know you met with all the commissioners and you told me why, but it was very no I was fair was very noble of you. Obviously you've come, you've helped lead um the Pasco County, taken us to the you know the next level. as one of the fastest growing counties in in the nation. But you're not leaving here. because you're gonna go on to another administrator position or a city manager position. You're actually leaving here to go to somewhere

2:03:34else where you're going to help thousands and thousands of people. And I commend you for that. So you'll be dearly missed. and I wish you all the best and you'll always have a place back here. in Pasco County. And I'm gonna go back to leadership thing one more time. You know, we made a decision recently to um promote uh Mike Karbala to the as the next county administrator. But that that also shows your great again leadership abilities and and capabilities as well because You led somebody in in in in

2:04:05took them to the next level where We didn't have to go out and find somebody else. No, we wanted to keep it in. We wanted to keep it close to home. We wanted to keep it within the family. 'Cause things were going so well. So again, all the best to you. You'd be dearly missed and I wish you and your family nothing but the best. Thanks.

2:04:24Mickey?

2:04:25Hi.

2:04:27All right. So uh Dan, you and I probably have butt aheads a couple times. Maybe just a couple. Um and you know, I'm not your boss, right? So we're free to buttheads. Doesn't mean that um I don't um respect you. I I respect you tremendously and your leadership. And uh when you first came on, your very first year I feel like we had like three natural disasters in Pasco, right? I think we had a raging fire.

2:04:55Yes.

2:04:55Isn't that right? Right. Um we had a sinkhole, like crazy sinkhole issue. And then didn't we like floods? Was it floods? Irma. Irma. Oh Irma. Oh Irma was that year, which caused floods. That's why. A major a major category hurricane. Um so you were tested right off of the bat uh to see, you know, what stuff you were made of, right? And um sitting back watching you and and taking part in in s those conversations I was really impressed. Very impressed with

2:05:26your leadership and you know about encouraging and giving the power to your team so that they can do their jobs and getting out of the way so that they can perform well. You showed that even in the first year, trusting your team and shine, making them shine. So that to me just speaks volumes of who you are and I appreciate even when we butt heads together um because I know that we can have good conversations and um we're both are doing our jobs and I just want to say uh thank you for leading

2:05:56Pasco these last few years and your partnership.

2:05:59Thank you.

2:06:00Thank you. Yeah.

2:06:04I'm just gonna wish Dan the best. It I've worked with Probably seven county administrators in my career. Each one is different. Um going I will say going from John Gallagher to Dan Biles major change in philosophy. Um but I I do wish you the best in your in your future endeavors. Thank you. Mr. Fitzpatrick.

2:06:32Well I haven't had the opportunity to work with you as long as all the other commissioners here, but Um, I have learned a lot in the past year and a half and during our monthly meeting. So I would like to say thank you for everything that I have learned. And I'm gonna say we may not always agree on topics at times, but that's probably like m a lot That's probably more because I like to see projects get done more quickly and I know I have to learn that government doesn't always get done as quick as we may like,

2:07:03but I'm still gonna keep the ball rolling and being the squeaky wheel. So thank you.

2:07:09Commissioner Mariano. Thank you, Madam Chairman M Dan I tell you, I remember very well when we were making the a selection to pick from you, and I know we talked many times about how important the Ridge Road extension was, uh stormwater was a big issue, permitting was a b big issue. And I want to say when you had the opportunity to get Ridge Road done quickly, you took a step back and said, you know what, we're ready to go, but We've got a big development wants to come in here, a big job employer, great opportunity, wouldn't tell me the name at the time, but uh with Moffitt coming in we had to

2:07:39reset the road to give them the cuts they needed to do what they needed to go do. And that was a bold move on your part because it could have been a great success, but you took the step back, we regrouped, we set it up, and went through the whole process. That leadership right there gave me a lot of confidence with you. And like you all, we bought it heads too. But we always discussed it. And what I always liked is I always got the truth. And with the truth you can work with it. And when you know everybody else was being told the same basic things every step of the way and you still

2:08:09try to find solutions to appease the five of us to get through, you ni you never relented on doing that. Even if you didn't agree with my point and you had to look at the other points as well and you felt it was going to go a different way, you still try to accommodate to make the best decision you could for the county. And I really respect that tremendously. Uh when we talk about you're working with people. Um you know 2004 we had all the hurricanes, five or four of them that came to Pasco and I get to see it all as I was doing my campaign and looking at and all of a sudden this was a huge issue

2:08:40for us. And for years I was tired of seeing us on the news from Ironberg and Greybirch and Trinity and the governor coming down with the special meetings we have and the special groups we've got to set up. And you helped the team and and Mike Carbella part of the reason you're that you're taking the leadership and putting that team together to get these flooding issues done. I mean literally I used to have a loop that would take me three, four hours when a storm was coming, I'd get in the car, I'd start driving and checking them all out as I go. I'm I'm down to like two spots. Yeah. And uh even yesterday we're down at Westport and we had a pump

2:09:10that was in there three months uh I'll say it thirty days ago. It been plugged up and something collapsed the line, no no fault to anybody, just collapsed. You guys were out there Monday morning, yesterday morning, first thing in the morning, brought vac trucks out there, cleaned the thing out, put a new pipe in, fixed the thing up, and by be being out there I actually get to meet one of the landowners we needed easement from, another contractor in the work from, and now that project may get steamrolled a lot quicker. But not for Mike, your team getting out there under your leadership to

2:09:40get these guys out there empowered to find the solutions, we wouldn't have that. So for all the people that had those floods that were going on and which what we've done, I mean stormwater is like ninety five percent satisfaction, that's the type type of leadership that that led the way. And I know you're you wouldn't be done yet, because I know you get a lot of things, so you got another calling and I said and I appreciate that. But uh for the work you've done and everything else and the discussions, I I generally appreciate you as professional and the great service you've done for us. You've helped elevate Pasco County to get to Premier and now we're going beyond. Thank

2:10:10you. Thank you.

2:10:11And one last um thank you from me for um Having so much patience with my A D D D during our meetings. I know I took you on a lot of rapid trails, but they were all important at rapid trails. Um So I don't know why I have two. But I I I have one that's framed and one that's not framed. And you're gonna get both and we're all gonna come down and take a photo and then we're gonna come back up and um the attorney and I have to discuss our li our private session and then we'll break for lunch. So sorry,

2:10:41we're running over.

2:11:50Alright, um, let's have the Yakas come up and uh get a photo.

2:11:54Yeah,

2:11:55Alright, the whole team all of us.

2:11:59Some

2:11:59people

2:12:02have a team that was staying here.

2:12:07I don't want to remember if you do it.

2:12:13We clarified.

2:12:18Okay, we'll go with that.

2:12:30Just make sure you can see day in. There's a lot of you.

2:12:45Uh, Dan, I think you need to stand step take some steps forward and let it fill in behind you a little bit. Yeah.

2:12:56Move in very little bit. Two two rows is fine.

2:13:01I'm just

2:13:04Look at the shortties

2:13:05are in the back. Yeah.

2:13:11You don't realize how tall people are until you stand here and you see how tall Chief Casser is. Oh dude.

2:13:19That's a good

2:13:19idea,

2:13:20actually.

2:13:21Why don't we get

2:13:22other

2:13:22people up here? Why do we say them up here?

2:13:27Get the Ocas to come up here. That way everybody can see everybody Well I know that you can see. Everybody can see.

2:13:36Or

2:13:36they could have took a step up. off.

2:13:40Yeah.

2:13:40Just that.

2:13:43I mean there's plenty of room up here. Yeah, come on up here.

2:13:46Yeah. Squeeze it, right? Mix it all in. Come on, mix it in.

2:13:53Yeah, squeeze it. All right.

2:13:56Hold up. Sorry, help start this over.

2:14:00Are we doing it?

2:14:07We were all looking the other way up here. Yeah,

2:14:09we were all looking at the right-of-way.

2:14:12I'll come back.

2:14:15They were still getting situated. I didn't even hear that.

2:14:18Yeah, you gotta like say three, two, one. One, two, three. Hold on, people are still getting situated. Alright, everybody look at Ryan.

2:14:27Ryan's gonna get action shots. He thinks it's like a football game or something.

2:14:33See? He's taken the belly biting shot. Sean.

2:14:42I never like it. I don't like

2:14:52Yeah.

2:14:53If he's trying to make me look at you go up and down, it makes you look thinner. Yes.

2:15:00Yeah.

2:15:01Well so we got

2:15:03Alright. Uh After I do not.

2:15:16Yeah.

2:15:19What are we doing now?

2:15:21Uh What number

2:15:23is it? Is it eighty eighty six? Eighty

2:15:25six, yes.

2:15:27So it's gonna be closed?