Now live-tweeting the evening session of the Gainesville City Commission meeting.
Public comment: Nathan Skop is up. Gail Johnson leaves, as always. Skop says it is inappropriate for City Manager Feldman to say that former City Auditor Carlos Holt was disgruntled. Says Poe shouldn't have accused Holt of extortion, which is a crime.
Skop calls out Ironwood golf cart item on the consent agenda, says they are increasingly the budget every week. Says Warren talked about Greta Thunberg, but at least Greta takes a sailboat across the ocean instead of flying. Says commissioners are hypocrites.
Dock Gordon(?) describes a situation of harassment at GRU, says the next time they see him will be in court. Says Bielarski protects his wife, should be protective of women who work for GRU.
Gabe Kaimowitz says he wouldn't have to be there if the commission had incorporated online comments. Kaimowitz, as has become his habit, refuses to leave the podium after his time expired. Poe gavels a recess.
The video turns off during the recess, keeping the public from seeing what happens as Kaimowitz is presumably escorted out.
Don Fields says that city officials are blaming the audit on obstructionist citizens and politics. He talks about Poe's letter to the state, which was on city letterhead and not voted on by the commission.
Fields says he and his wife watch commission meetings and have seen many presentations of audits, often showing lack of controls and, at least once, resulting in criminal charges. Talks about Holt's firing.
Donald Shepherd says his wife is in the hospital for a broken leg. Says the city needs to stop wasting money.
Wilbur Holloway talks about the Climate Emergency item. "Seriously? You guys are being audited by the state auditor. You've got nothing better to do than pass idiotic resolutions and proclamations?"
Holloway says it's ridiculous for Bielarski to claim that the audit is a personal attack on GRU employees (as he did on Facebook). Says they're being audited for management and policy failures.
Holloway thanks @KeithPerryFL and @ChuckClemons21 for requesting the audit. Also mentions the $1 million electric bus on the consent agenda.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Christina Fields says she attended Ibram Kendi's lecture in Gainesville. Says attendees said that the local African American community feels disenfranchised and ignored by this city commission.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Fields says she and her husband were shocked when Holt was fired. She applauds the state Auditor General for opening an audit. She also mentions Poe's letter on city letterhead. "This false narrative is clearly a ruse to discredit the need for this audit."
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 She says the climate is unhealthy for the functioning of the city.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Jim Konish says he asked for the state audit at the area legislative delegation meeting. "Collectively, the concerns, and the number of concerns, are the basis for this investigation."
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Konish says the timing of the audit (starting in March and lasting about a year) is carefully chosen to not affect politics. Konish says he doesn't always agree with @KeithPerryFL but greatly admires him. Says the way the city commission talks about him is disgusting.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Mark van Soestbergen talks about a building next door to GHS that is "up for grabs." (There was a recent story about plans for it.) "You will probably never be able to get 4 acres right next to GHS again."
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Now the Green New Deal resolution. (Hayes-Santos has just arrived.) Says Gainesville would be the first city in Florida to pass this resolution. Arreola moves to adopt the resolution. Warren seconds.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Skop (Johnson leaves again) says the motion is well-intended, as a taxpayer, he's deeply concerned that we wasted staff time on this. Even Pelosi says it's not going anywhere. Goes well beyond renewable energy - it's a complete government power grab.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Skop encourages them to read the resolution. Says Arreola just said he traveled to Washington, presumably by air. What's the carbon footprint of that? They don't want us to have plastic straws, but they fly all over the place.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Skop: Commission wants to impose their values, but they don't honor them themselves. Bipartisan committee approved the audit based on poor financial controls, but Poe blames politics. Golf carts on the consent agenda. "Focus on good government, then you can do extracurriculars."
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Holloway: "This is a waste of time. Pay the police, pay the firefighters. That's what you're supposed to do."
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Roberta Gastmeyer says climate change is real, and every decision we make should take that into consideration. Dollars to harden infrastructure are generally spent in wealthy areas. "Green New Deal offers us a new economic model."
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Donald Shepherd says we don't have the money right now to make changes that climate change will require. City isn't putting the money where it needs to be.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Motion passes unanimously.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Next item: Confirming that Race and Equity is a Core Value that will be incorporated into the updated version of the Comprehensive Plan.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 They're reading out the definition of "marginalized people," which was listed as TBD in the backup materials.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Hayes-Santos adds "exclusionary zoning" after "redlining" at the top of page 2 of the resolution. Says exclusionary zoning includes practices adopted after the Supreme Court said you couldn't zone based on race.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Poe says it "excludes uses and densities." Hayes-Santos uses this to oppose single-family housing. Johnson says minimum lot sizes are another example.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Skop says that instead of addressing local inequities and core governance, they want to address global issues. One political faction has ruled the city for 2 decades - how did the affordable housing crisis happen?
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Simmons suggests removing "exclusionary zoning" but Poe says he supports the change. They end up voting on it, with only Simmons in dissent.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Motion to adopt the resolution passes unanimously.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Next: reclassify SW 2nd St from a storefront street to a local street. Jason Simmons, Department of Doing, is presenting. Local streets are intended to have slow speeds. This area is mostly DT (downtown zoning) in the urban core area.
@KeithPerryFL @ChuckClemons21 Simmons says this is more like a text change. It's not about specific uses but the relationship of buildings to the street, size of sidewalks, etc. The street is a connector between residential areas and commercial areas.
