The LongView
The LongView is the City of Pensacola government's official podcast hosted by Mayor D.C. Reeves. Join us as we slow down, take a deep dive into the world of local government and explore city projects, initiatives, and community conversations. Take a seat and enjoy the LongView.
The LongView
Direction '25 Explained
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In this second episode of the LongView, City of Pensacola Mayor D.C. Reeves and Public Information Officer Shannon Nickinson discuss how Direction ’25: Pensacola Parks Revitalization project has transformed the city’s parks and community centers after years of generational deferred maintenance. The goal of Direction ’25 is simple…maintain the things that we already have.
In January 2025, the City of Pensacola announced a $21.7 million investment in repairing and maintaining city parks and resource centers throughout the seven districts. This is the most significant investment in our parks and facilities since 1985 and is funded by Local Option Sales Tax (LOST), the General Fund (property taxes), grants, and the Community Redevelopment Agency.
Investing in our quality of life and preserving what makes Pensacola special is how we build a city that future generations will be proud to call home.
Link to the Direction ’25 webpage: https://www.cityofpensacola.com/3577/Direction-25
To see previously approved City of Pensacola budgets, visit our Financial Services Department webpage.
Welcome to The Longview with Pensacola Mayor DC Reeves. This is where we expand on news, views, what-ifs, and what Pensacola could be for future generations. Take a seat and enjoy the Longview. Hi, I'm Shannon Nickinson and welcome to The Longview. This is our moment with the mayor, longer moments with the mayor than we usually have. Mayor DC Reeves, thank you so much for being with us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, glad to be here. Glad to uh uh try to put uh a little more detail on on some of these important things happening in the city.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. We know that life moves pretty fast, and if you don't stop every once in a while and look around, you could miss something, and that's what we want the long view to be. We want this to be the time where we give you a little extra context uh about things that you may have seen flow through your newsfeed or blow past your Instagram uh while you're while you're scrolling. So uh we want give you a couple minutes, a little bit of um, a little bit of thoughtful discussion about some of the bigger projects that we have going on so that you can kind of understand the why behind what's happening. So that's what we're here for.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Excited to to talk about um one thing we're we uh really have prided ourselves on in uh the last three and a half years is being able to get uh a lot of these big capital projects up and going uh across the city. So I know we're gonna talk specifically about some of the parks and rec ones uh this time, which uh again has been a transformational time in terms of capital projects, but uh uh it we won't get into the airport terminal and the port grants that are coming in and the job opportunities that are coming in. And um and I said when we got in here that we were gonna get real urgent uh in in the city of Pensacola about getting some of these things across the finish line. I feel like that's what this form of government, this strongmare form of government uh uh provides and what should be expected from the citizen is that when they elect somebody to this office uh and and you're ultimately the the day-to-day CEO operator of the city, uh that that we move with with intentionality, move with urgency. So um doing the best that we can to take on and you know whack as many moles as there are that come up in 18 city departments in a in a 55,000-person city, and and um so we've certainly been proud of that and and yeah, looking forward to highlighting some of those.
SPEAKER_00For sure. Well, uh with 18 departments, there definitely is no lack of uh moles to whack, that is for sure. But um all these all of these things, I think those capital improvements that you talked about, they all feed into this same um the same desire to make our city more livable, a wonderful place to live, work, and play, as they say, a place for our seniors to feel safe and our kids to um grow and thrive. And important part of that um is taking care of what we have. And direction 25 is an an infrastructure investment campaign that's all about taking care of what we have. I did not know until recently that uh direction 25 is not an arbitrary number. It is actually represents uh 40 years of kind of deferred uh maintenance on uh and the last time there was a real concerted effort to invest in the city's infrastructure is 1985, and that is 40 years ago. That is a pre-local option sales tax world, um, which is a revenue stream we're very grateful uh to have now. But um many of those things that we built and stood up and took care of in 1985, well, um they might have a wrinkle or two.
SPEAKER_01Right, exactly. And and uh unfortunately that's what happens in um in city government sometimes is you know you you get enamored with only building the new things and everyone loves a ribbon cutter. Right, exactly, but less uh less so about maintaining the things that we have. Um so we've we've made a real concerted effort at that. You're right. It was intentional to call it Direction 25. Uh Direction 85, ironically, was uh when City Hall was built. Uh downtown was part of Direction uh 85, uh Beybless Park, uh ironically, uh that uh that now is closed, and fortunately we'll give an update on that, that we've got a couple million dollars that we were grant funded uh to be able to fix Beybless Park to make it uh habitable for uh people to not get uh hurt or worse with broken planks and uh you know all all the different issues that we've had there on an eroding bluff. So um that that's why we called it that. We were very intentional about that to say, hey, 40 years later, uh you know, here's $22 million that we're putting into the city uh across uh actually every city council district, all seven, um lots of it in parks and rec obviously. And we wanted this to be holistic, not just in uh how many dollars we could spend at major projects like Bay Bluffs Park or like Fricker Center, uh which is about uh ten million dollars. It's uh that'll be a new uh renovated, but really a new community center on the west side, was also the little things. And what I mean is the the park benches, the water fountains. Um that was something coming into office and really as just a kid growing up here that uh you know I I just always assumed that uh when I went to a park in the city, the water fountain didn't work, right? Um and I and I don't I I keep saying I don't want kids to have the same presumption uh growing up here now. And so it's not you're not just defined by your direction 85, you're not just defined by the big things you do, it's how do you maintain those little things. So um from taking all the most used basketball courts in the city and redoing those to to water fountains, to park benches, to dog parks uh that we've already uh renovated and added new amenities to to make them more enjoyable, uh it all comes back to really the same concept that you just hit on, which uh I I really consider myself a place-making economic developer. And what I mean is I don't care what party you are, how old you are, how young you are, uh at the end of the day, we envision wanting to be a city that we like living in and our kids and grandkids want to live in. Uh that's what we think of of uh uh whether it's public safety, whether it's the amenities. Um so it's really, I think, a very sound investment that when we invest or reinvest in things uh in the city that that provide quality of life, that make it a more attractive place to live, not only does that pay a immediate dividend to the citizen who's who is funding uh those those um uh renovations, repairs, uh whatever, uh, but it also is an attractor for when, you know, like all of our friends, I hope they uh do this with you guys out there, you know, when they come in town for Thanksgiving or and say, man, I can imagine living here, you know, or hey, my you know, my son moved back or you visited after college and you know thought he wanted to live in a big city and now he wants to move back. I uh I'm always happy to hear those stories and I hear them more and more often. So uh I that's why I think other than the obvious, which is we want nicer stuff and we want stuff to work when we go to the park, we all know that. But think of that kind of second level when is that's what this investment's about is is this is providing primarily for the citizen and secondarily uh to say, hey, this is a city that that we're proud of, that that you know we we want you to uh uh to be proud of when you know you're talking to your kids and grandkids about moving home here one day.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I like to think of it, you know, as a ladder. If the bot you know, we've got to invest in the in the rungs at the bottom for the for the rest uh of progress to be made. And I'm glad that you started out kind of talking about the what I'll I will call the little things at parks. Like everyone, as I joked with you right, everyone loves a ribbon cutting. But um, but the things that touch people every day are things like those water fountains that you thought as a kid always didn't work. And I I just wanted to share a little bit, you know, we've resurfaced at least six basketball courts, fully resurfaced and repaired upwards of two dozen more. We have uh 21 water fountains, 264 benches, 140 picnic tables, all new, all rehabbed, all ready for family picnics and kitty birthday parties and family reunions and book clubs and soccer moms hanging out and baseball moms sitting around waiting out um, you know, the next the next round of whatever tournament they are enmeshed in at Roger Scott and those things that's stuff that people touch every single day. Right. And they may not notice it unless it's broken or bad or there somebody gets a splinter or the bathroom doesn't work or what. But I I really think those things are as important um as the the stuff that gets a big headline.
SPEAKER_01I I I agree. I I feel like uh I I always go back to and I can't I can't break this habit, and I think it's a good thing for our city, which is um, you know, when I was in private business, which is what does the customer see? What does the customer see? And that's I mean, I said that probably a million times in my first year here, and I'm certainly proud. I I feel like our team has really responded to that, and that we take uh even stronger initiative than before about what the customer sees and being proactive about solving those issues. Um the same way you guys probably do when you're out uh and about in the city, uh I I want you to know that um that our city administrators, I personally, uh if I see a light bulb that doesn't match in one of the city parks, uh I send a note along. If a water I test every water fountain that walks by. Um and and we got a couple on the list right now. We are not perfect. Um uh and but just know because that's not but because we're uh our staff doesn't want to work at it or or that they do. I mean they're very diligent about but but the the blessing has a little bit of a curse, which is that we have 95 parks and we have 11 community centers in a city that's 22 square miles of landmass. And to put that into perspective, the city of New York right now is striving to have every one of its citizens live within 10 minutes of a park. Multi-billion dollar effort, obviously large city, huge population. But the point is we already have that. So what a blessing that that all of you, if you live in the city uh limits, you you live within a 10-minute walk of a park. What that also means is that's 95 uh big lawns to cut, that's 72 playgrounds to replace on a recurring basis at multiple hundred thousand dollars. That's 11 community centers that are buildings that need AC units and roofs and and your normal up. Yeah, win-rated uh windows uh that need to be able to withstand 140 miles an hour, um, ADA compliance and access. And so uh so that blessing comes with a real responsibility. And so I I'm proud of really two changes. Number one is taking on this what does the customer see approach. Um and listen, uh there's somebody out here listening to us uh at during their workout or watching us on here saying, Oh man, I went by my park uh last week and this was broken. Call 311. That that is literally you put the onus on us to fix it. So uh I am not I am not declaring all uh water fountains, parks, and picnic tables at all 95 parks are in uh perfect condition. The point is it's an ongoing battle. It's an ongoing process when you have that much to take care of. Um but but I I've completely realize and sympathize with the fact that you know what, whatever w park is closest to you as a city resident is the one that's most important to you. And so while while we might have 95 to be juggling all at once, um, you know, it certainly you guys have an eyes and ears. We don't have enough employees to to drive to every single one of those twice a day. We don't we uh but um uh getting that feedback from our residents when something doesn't look right or you know something's out, I just want you to know not only do we encourage that, I do it myself. I uh I said I can't help myself because I can test to say what does the customer see. So um so that that's why when w you're right, little things, it might not be a park bench you notice or a picnic table you notice, but I think it's important for our citizens to know that this is a overarching concerted effort uh to start taking these things seriously, not waiting till they break and then replacing one one time, which is we're saying, let's go identify where all these weak spots are. Um and so we've had a great push with Direction 25, but uh but again, it's a it's a work in progress. There'll be something tomorrow and there'll be something next week, and and we certainly always encourage and lean on our uh our citizens to to call 311, let us know if something's doesn't look right or isn't working at your park and we'll get on it.
SPEAKER_00That feeds into um I think it's hard to to that's a big lift, that big that first investment, right? When you want to tackle uh the maintenance that's been put off for a long time. Um and it then it can feel like God, we're not like where's the new stuff? Where's the like we used to, you know, we hear about this is groundbreaking and that whatever, but but being the adults in the room, right? That we have to have the conversation that says, like, well, we need to take care of the things that we have. And and even some of those larger renovations are like when we get new play equipment at Dunwoody Park or we get the Sanders Beach boat ramp um project up and running right now, in um the boat ramp up or the kayak ramp up and improving ADA accessibility, all of those things, um those things add up in a way that I think I think is more I don't want to say more substantive than a nice big brand new something. Because nice big brand new somethings are really important. I think new somethings like Alice Williams Childcare or the Bricker Center, which is gonna be totally redone and just beautiful when it opens in 27. I'm so excited for the community to see that. Um saving the Cobb Center, all those things are those are those are important things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. And and and again, I I um uh I promise whoever uh the next mayor or two or three after me uh are is uh I I I can't uh I can't predict uh too far in advance, but I could what I could pretty much tell you that I certainly hope that 10, 12, 16, 20 years from now that the things that we put in place I don't mean even just the dollars we spent, but the structure that we put in place holds where uh no mayor has to go through the first couple years uh of uh difficult decisions of clo having to close Bay Bell Park. Fricker Center was had a six-figure bill on it with electrical to the point where we almost couldn't have people in there. Now imagine imagine having that issue and it being a 40 or 50-year-old building and and a uh the west side of our city really not having anywhere to go for after school or for you know senior uh activities and things like that. Uh we were able to jump on and and our grants office, shout out to the grants office is $200 million in three years. I mean, couldn't have asked for more. Uh that's the only reason we've we we were able to get the money for Babel's Park for Fricker Center is uh just hustling, uh hustling to find those dollars that are pertinent to uh these things. And um and so how we've made up for a lack of long-term planning of maintenance, um, and and I can get into details of that in a second. Uh, that's how we how we ultimately cut the corner to be able to save and now revitalize many of these things. It wasn't because we had a budget sitting around that we didn't spend, right? There was nothing in the budget. We actually just started working our tails off to find grants and and to find those more uh creative and unconventional ways to get Fricker and Cobb Center and Babel S Park funded and and off of dire straits. Uh Malcolm Young was was too far gone, but uh but Cobb Center we were able to save, had to spend $1.7 million uh to just make sure that that didn't see the same fate because there was nothing in the budget to fix that. Uh there was nothing in the budget for Babel S Park, there was nothing in the budget for Fricker. And um so not only have we, I hope, built the groundwork for future administrations to be able to uh to ensure that they won't get um surprised and and um really torpedoed by uh these major seven-figure do-it-now or else situations. Because that's not a responsible, I don't think that's responsible on behalf of the taxpayer, is to say they made these investments at whatever which time, 20, 25 years ago, 10 years ago, uh, and that we uh that that we respect those investments that are made by making sure that we have an eye on maintenance. So uh one other important thing that citizens probably don't follow that that might be interesting to you is we created a facilities department. Uh that didn't exist when we got here, the same way a grants office didn't exist.
SPEAKER_00Right. I think those two talk a little bit more about those two things, especially because that's uh that's definitely a value add to to being a good steward of the responsibility taxpayers and trust in us.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I mean when I when I got into office, and I'm I assume it had been this way, you know, for many, many years. This isn't one per particular person or administration. I I just think that that was uh trying to bring again a little bit more of a uh a business mindset to to represent your taxpayer dollars wisely was um we actually were empowering individual departments, whether they had facilities expertise or not, to be in charge. So Parks and Rec was in charge of maintaining community centers, fire department was in charge of maintaining fire stations. Uh not that their efforts weren't diligent and noble, but um you know you you don't want me in charge. I don't know how to maintain a community center. So why would DC be in charge of maintaining? I'm gonna find someone that knows how to maintain that, right? Knows what to look out for, and ultimately that's what we've set up now for the taxpayers is we have a Russell Sweat does a great job. We have a separate facilities department where it is now with expertise. We have electric electric uh expertise, electrical, uh, we have HVAC and plumbing expertise now on site, so we know when we can fix something and we know when we have to call in someone else. So that saves real taxpayer dollars. We're not wasting uh money on just hiring random people that and then them saying, hey, does this look good? And then someone in the department being like, Yeah, it looks good to me. Yeah, and it may not. And so uh just what we would expect with our own dollars that are you know, is that if you're gonna call the HVAC person, you want it to be fixed and you want it to be fixed for a long period of time. And so um so I really think that's a net tax savings, really, to make sure that we have expertise uh in the room. So um so our facilities department, we've put in now, for example, Maritime Park, same thing, since its existence. It's now a 16-year-old stadium. There has never been an established 10-year plan uh that when an AC goes out, we know in four or five years we need to have a certain amount of money. Um and so so those again, that's not as fun or as exciting as cutting a ribbon. Uh, but the reality is we want these amenities to stay quality for our citizens for a much longer period of time. So uh just know as as we've been um you know working in City Hall is to set up the infrastructure to say, hey, not only is this amenity gonna be something that you get to enjoy, it's something that you'll get to enjoy for a little bit longer, and it'll be nice for a little bit longer uh because we're keeping an eye on it. And and uh so I certainly hope now after these three and a half years, we've jumped from uh the five alarm fires that we're we're these first year or two of saying you have to shut it down or someone's gonna get hurt. Right. Uh now we've moved and hope I it feels like now we've kind of tipped to we've we've got caught up on all of these five alarm fires, and we hopefully are setting it up for the future uh that that we will know well in advance and save your money. I mean, that's your money. Wouldn't you rather the fix be a hundred thousand dollars than five hundred thousand dollars? And and less. And that's what happens when you let it get too far. And so so there's a there's a real cost savings to being proactive in in uh maintenance, and so uh so I I can certainly tell you we've been on top of that, whether it be park benches or whether it be community centers, uh, that we try to be on top of that as possible.
SPEAKER_00So a couple couple big items that are still outstanding and to do on that list, I know is how you know Hollis T Williams, we still have to do that. To get that up uh up off the ground and uh and the much discussed beyblhoff's part, which we are just uh perilously close to being on the move.
SPEAKER_01You'll see both of those um you you're probably uh turning dirt next year. Uh you might see some holl uh dirt turning at Holisea Williams this year. Um and that was part of about forty million dollars in grant funding to take the 1.3 miles under the interstate. We're gonna get phase one done. It'll be the largest infrastructure investment in the history of the city stormwater, uh 1.2 million gallons, and and that was Hurricane Sally um CDBG money, uh NerdA money, and others. And so um when you talk about, God forbid we were to have a a a major hurricane, something like that, uh this would be an enormous benefit to that east side neighborhood, the North Hill neighborhood, the downtown corridor that we saw uh how terrible the flooding was because of uh a lot of it coming from that long hollow pond uh area in 2014 uh with the with the big storm then. And so uh we're excited about that. And then Bay Bluffs Park, um, we were able to see two million dollars. I will say the one the one um uh grants test your patients. Uh I can tell you that. So grants are good.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, big shout out to the grants department.
SPEAKER_01Exactly, but they absolutely test your patients by no fault of our amazing grant staff and finance staff. Uh, but ultimately, uh when you get money from the federal government or the state government, it comes with a bajillion rules too. Um and and for just as an example, I I believe we got the Bay Blus uh $2 million, which Conservation Florida, thank you. Uh state legislature, thank you for uh supporting that. Um so we had to wait base until April 21st. This year. So it was a little less than two years from getting it awarded and actually being able to legally spend one dollar. Like we couldn't we couldn't have designed something before April 21st. If we did, we would have had to pay for it as with or you know your city taxpayer dollars would have to go to that instead of something else at a different park. And so that just shows you basically a year and a half of red tape waiting on DEP and and others uh to to clear us. No one did anything wrong, but that's just how grants go. And so uh and and and this is Beyble Uffs is not a uh a special uh outlier there. Uh there's yeah, there's many so when you hear, oh, we got a grant for that, I heard we got a grant, um, trust me, it isn't because we're sitting on our hands, we're uh we're usually raring and ready to go. It's it's just a matter of working through a lot of different logistics. So uh so very excited. The fact that we'll we'll ramp up the conversations around babe bluffs this fall. Uh we'll probably go to bid for construct, have design done and bids for construction probably spring of 27. Um, and then obviously work right there happening soon after. So uh but design will be that fun part where we get to engage as a community and say, now two million is a lot of money that we're not gonna build. There's no Taj Mahal that's gonna be going on Scenic Highway. Uh yeah, not yeah, not like that house that we're talking about, not that one, but uh uh down on the north part of Scenic Highway. But there will be no uh big structure. I mean, two million dollars ultimately is going to be uh the repair uh replenishment of the boardwalk areas, maybe some other little primitive trails or something like that. Um so to curb expectations, there's not gonna be something significant, but we're gonna we'll squeeze every um ounce of value we can.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and part of the part of the beauty of of the bluffs is that it's uh it's a little more low-key, right? There's not a big to-do. Yeah. It's um it's a way for you to experience that that natural beauty pretty close to its uh intended state. Right, right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's not the idea is not to uh clear it out and and um and but and the challenge of it, you know, is you're you're rebuilding stuff on an eroding bluff. I mean, so uh so you say that's why, you know, again, I I caution, you know, two million dollars is not going to be some something enormously new or uh but uh but we can certainly modernize the experience. It was built 40 years ago in direction 85. I'm sure we can modernize the experience, uh maybe expand some areas up top to you know, picnic and gather and things like that. So looking forward to that conversation uh during that design process. So so you'll see some activity basically in this fall uh and then uh probably a five, six month process from this fall to the next spring that will be the community engagement, design, all of that, and then get a shovel in the ground. And uh again, because it's also not a major project, I don't think it'll be a uh major construction time period, you know, because it will because it won't be a new building or something like that. But uh but looking forward to it. And I always joke, you know, folks will stop me on the street and say, when's Babe Lust Park happening? And I said, trust me, nobody's less patient uh uh uh about it than me. Um uh because it's we had to close it in in an unfortunate, unforeseen situation that we were in that we inherited it wasn't safe. Right. And and we weren't gonna wait for a kid to get hurt or killed to decide to close something. And um, so you know, I feel for our our parks and rec staff that's got the same questions that I get, and I feel for our community. I grew up, I I I'll I I'll get regaled with stories of uh you know going up growing up here and going there with with your kids and all that. And uh I'm I spent many a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth grade uh going to school off uh Bayou Boulevard uh uh days between basketball practice and school, uh goofing off down, uh, you know, going down. Hanging around the train tracks or whatever you weren't supposed to do, uh, you know, uh get in the water or whatever. But um but we all have those childhood memories of uh of enjoying ourselves at Bay Bluffs Park. And so uh I'm I'm just as impatient and and I'm just excited that we have a light at the end of the tunnel and non-city taxpayer dollars that are gonna help us get it done.
SPEAKER_00Right. That's um I think that's important for folks to remember too. We're leveraging assets um from different different buckets of funding. We've talked in other episodes about uh the constraints that come with certain buckets of funding, and you can't just take money from one and put it in the other freely. This influx of grant money is an important supplementation to our overall uh financial picture. And it comes with a couple of strings, so we need our patience. But uh we do.
SPEAKER_01We do, but um just know you know, at the end of the day, we we get as creative as we can to provide uh the the best amenities that we can. Uh the Sun Trail coming to Bayfront Parkway, for example. Uh there's there was just another public meeting with FDOT. Uh thanks to Senator Broxen and Senator Pasadoma, we were able to get uh six million dollars to have a divided uh 12-foot uh pathway, that pedestrian and bike pathway, uh from the three-mile bridge all the way into the port. I mean, that's a major amenity for uh walkers and runners and bikers and to to that that we never had before. We have that little small sidewalk that we've had for decades that goes right along the edge and that doesn't feel the safest in many.
SPEAKER_00Not when you're passing somebody. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And but but for example, we we would never have six point four million dollars or whatever the cost is up to now uh sitting in the city's general fund. That uh there's not enough tax revenue in a local government for that. So you have to go uh, you know, you really kind of uh kick every tire you can, and and that's why we spend a lot of time in Tallahassee. That's why we work with our lobbyists and everybody else to uh to again pound the pavement and try to figure out how we can bring those amenities. So all the ones we've talked about today, every single one of them has outside dollars uh that come from somewhere else, and that's how we're able to have such significant change and have these new amenities and these complete overhauls uh is because we're able to find dollars from somewhere else. So we'll keep doing that and and uh because we know that that's how we're gonna get these things uh funded and fixed. And um, you know, again, keep the same, I I I remind everybody call 311, email me, DC Reeves at City of Pensacola. Uh we want these to be the best facilities. We want you to be proud of them when you're there. Uh and so uh you know, we're we're excited to keep that uh always ongoing effort going. Always and we're always uh have our ear to the ground to make sure it's working for you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um you know, I think that w in public service and government service, you have an obligation to leave it better than you inherited it. I think that's I think philosophically that's our that's our purpose as you know, people and humans and parents and all that to leave something in better shape than you found it so that the next the next generation, the folks who come behind you can enjoy it for just as long. Yeah, um, for another 40 years. So direction what direction 65? Yeah, yeah, what's gonna be on the table for that? I wonder.
SPEAKER_01I don't know. I can't wait to email the mayor, you know, and come up with like my a hundred ideas of what uh you know what I want. Um, I'm sure they'll keep that phone open for you. Exactly. I'll I'll I'll be as patient as I can. I won't be uh uh uh too uh disgruntled in my my email tone. But um you promise that I'll I'll try. I've got forty years, yeah. They'll they'll dig this up, you know, and say you promise to be nice to us. But uh no, it it exactly. We we want to set this up uh to make uh everybody um happy with the amenities that they get and that we uh set ourselves up in the next administrations and the next councils for success. And uh even more so, uh it's why you do this job to begin with, uh, is that uh it's the sense of purpose of this is I can speak for me, and I I would think the council of you know all our council members, our staff uh have the same, you know, uh some type of some story or or something that resonates with them that's like, hey, this is beyond just um looking for something to do. This is like, hey, I can we can have an impact on the for me, the community where I'm from, and um and so uh there is no greater purpose than leaving it better than you found it. I said if if I didn't feel like we could do that, then I I I shouldn't be doing this. Uh is that I hope after my years of service that that uh we're able to point to those things and say, hey, we got that done. That was better than than it was before. And uh and I I think that's the the North Star for anybody uh in this job and an elected office especially uh to try to do the right thing and try to make the best Pentacola we can.
SPEAKER_00All right. Well we'll be keeping a list for Direction 65. That's right. Send those in. Send those in as well, and uh we'll be sure to save those for the next for for the mayor.
SPEAKER_01That'll be a robot. Yeah, some type of something. Exactly. It might be some robot you'll have to or or you'll just think it and it will know it, right?
SPEAKER_00When you do it, just send it directly to someone else.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, who would have thought in Direction 85, they probably wouldn't think we'd be talking about the things we were.
SPEAKER_00So that's true. That's true. Well, thank you so much. Uh appreciate appreciate your time and appreciate everybody listening and tuning in. And we will catch you next time.