 Can you just put her sweater over the seat? Yeah, maybe. Welcome everyone. I need a gavel. Someone have a gavel. John, do you have a gavel? Sound up? It's working John, they're getting quiet. Thank you. So thank you all for appearing today at our 38th annual Santa Rosa Merit Award Ceremony. My name is Tom Schwedelman. I get to be the current mayor of the city of Santa Rosa. It's so wonderful. Yeah, you can apply. And in case you didn't know, in this very same chamber, so I know all of you know how to get here, we're having a council meeting and some of my colleagues are also going to be there. You're also invited to that and I think we started at like noon time tomorrow. We have a lot of agenda items on there. So you're all welcome to that too. But what's nice too is to comparing these events, how many of you by your show of hands have been to mayoral awards in the past? Well, you're in for a special evening because it's such a positive, positive evening. Oftentimes, those of us on council, sometimes we talk about some very challenging, very challenging issues here and sometimes we'll have all the certain colored t-shirts on this side, certain colored t-shirts over there and sometimes it gets adversarial and we just get to listen to it all. But here it's all positive, all positive. It's all positive. So the folks I'd like to welcome here today, the 2019 Mayoral Awards recipients and you'll be hearing descriptions of what those folks have done to be recognized. You'll also hear about the names of the people that nominated them, the members of our city council, the members of the Board of Community Services and Community Advisory Board, and everyone else here tonight. Thank you all for coming. If you didn't know, the Mayoral Awards began in 1978 when the city council wanted a way to acknowledge and honor the efforts of those citizens who go above and beyond to make a difference in their community. The Mayoral Award Committee was formed as a subcommittee of the Board of Community Services. They are hardworking volunteers, themselves who see the value of promoting and celebrating the outstanding volunteers in San Rosa. Mayoral Awards acknowledged those who go above and beyond in several different categories. And each of the council members later on in the event will give specific information about these categories. But in a nutshell, the categories are beautifying our community, expanding the artistic and historic culture of our city, enriching our neighborhoods, serving others, particularly young people, seniors and those in need, and community heroes. There are many unsung heroes in San Rosa and we wish we could give awards to all of them. But today we're so pleased to be here honoring 14 individuals and groups tonight whose accomplishments have made a difference in people's lives and have made San Rosa a better place. I'd also like to thank the Mayoral Awards Committee, Carolina Spence, who is our chair. Let's give her a round of applause. And then we have Diane Test, Vince Harper and Karen Weeks. Let's give them a round of applause. Also Michelle McGarry is also a member but she is not here this evening. So thank you all again for your hard work to make this event possible. Now almost every community has those residents who are constantly stepping up to the plate when something needs to get done. They don't look for or seek accolades and actually prefer to stay behind the scenes. We're very fortunate in our community to have several of those unsung heroes. And tonight is one of those rare occasions where I've decided to use my Because I'm the Mayor card. Additionally, John Sawyer has also decided to use his because I used to be Mayor award card tonight. If we didn't have to be so secretive because two of the people we're about to recognize are on the committee here. The first four individuals we will be recognizing tonight would have been included in the cultural enrichment category being introduced by Council Member Fleming later this evening. I'm going to invite John Sawyer to the microphone to recognize our first recipients. Thank you, Mayor. And this is a little unusual and there's nothing wrong with being a little unusual. The Mayor's Awards is a special night. And I appreciate the Tom exercising his mayoral discretion. And so this is kind of cool. And as many of you remember, the City of Santa Rosa was incorporated on March 16, 1868. I was a little disturbed because the Mayor decided to call me this morning and decide whether I had been in attendance at that meeting and I had realized that, yes, I've been here for a long time but not quite that long. So there were 150 years ago just last year in 2018 we decided to celebrate our sesquicentennial. And there were a number of people that had a problem even spelling and or pronouncing sesquicentennial and you may even don't try it now because it'll just fill up the chamber but it was a little bit of a difficulty. But what a great time to celebrate. And at that time in 1968 and I did happen to be there then we sunk two time capsules one to be opened in 2018 and another one to be opened in 2068 that one I will not be in attendance for, I assume but I know that the progeny of many people in this room will have the opportunity to see what we left not only in 2018 but in 1968. I was mayor when this year long planning process started and there were many people that were a part of that process. I'm not good at planning parties myself and so I elicited the assistance from some of those the community members who always stepped up. These, there are four ladies that stepped up for a several years long process to celebrate our sesquicentennial. They were the spearheads and we could not have produced the party that we did without them. The four, Pat Fruitt. Pat are you in the audience this evening? Pat where are you? Do not leave the audience. Pat Fruitt, Karen Weeks Carolina Spence and Stacey Pastis. Where's Stacey? There she is. I see you there. After accomplishing that tough task they not only planned the celebration recruited the assistance of many others raised the necessary funds determined the process and selected the design firm that created the sesquicentennial logo and then implemented the plan all on a voluntary basis. In March 2018 the 50 year old time capsule which I did watch buried which was buried in 1968 was opened and the contents were displayed at the Sonoma County Museum. The official sesquicentennial celebration took place on September 8th and included a car show over the decades food booths, community booths kids activities, singers dancing groups, Sonoma County Tycho drummers, live music speeches of course birthday cake toasts and celebration at time capsule ceremony and lion dancers from the Redwood Empire Chinese Association and ended with a public viewing in Courthouse Square a shadow of a doubt it was an awesome birthday party it was for those that were in attendance you know how special it was so I would like to bring down to the front of the of our esteemed ladies here those four ladies Pat Stacy Karen and Carolina keep in mind that they are two of these members are part of this committee therefore we couldn't acknowledge them publicly they couldn't have known this was going to happen and I can see Pat saying these are people who do not normally look for any kind of acknowledgement they don't look for any accolades or acknowledgement of their service but because two of these wonderful ladies serve on this committee it had to be a little bit secretive so we are presenting to you four of those the awards for the category recognizing individuals for the contributions toward improving the lives and others in Santa Rosa you've definitely done that thank you very much and give them all please an award that I need to introduce maybe perhaps not Mayor Tom may be back Carolina congratulations and thank you ladies well I'm going to wear mine because you know I'm I'm prone to wearing large jewelry so I so thank you very much you completely threw me off I was looking at the script feeling very confident never mind thanks Tom it has been my pleasure to chair the Merit Award Committee this year the award began in June with a call to the community for nominations then the Merit Award Committee reviewed selected from all of these wonderful nominations to finalize the list of the honorees that we're celebrating tonight and this is how it goes a committee member comes up she calls a Merit Award winner they come down by Tom and he will look smiling and pleasant it will be a photo worthy for Christmas so remember that for your holiday greetings and we'll talk about you in public in front of all these people and then you'll have your picture taken so we like it a lot and we are very much hoping that you do too so now I'd like to introduce the next speaker who is going to introduce the first category we hand this mic around a lot thank you Carolina so the first one is about serving others and I had been involved in the Merit Awards Committee for many years although my activity as a council member is much more limited because I get to do this every night a year but I used to be sitting around the table deciding who should and who should not receive an award and that's very very difficult when you think about the many volunteers and it's all about volunteerism the many volunteers that have given their time and energy money and just everything that they can do in our community a better place having to say yes is easy having to decline someone not so easy but not everyone can receive the award and so this committee has had the charge of deciding who should receive the award tonight in serving others the serving others category for their contributions toward improving the lives of others in Santa Rosa especially young people seniors and those in need I'm really not going to do the whole thing don't get worried you're going to keep saying me jump up I would like to introduce you to Wendell Norby come on down Wendell and stand by the mayor now let's talk about Wendell Wendell has always been an upfront kind of guy he likes to get into the action and make things happen during the tubs fire he coordinated the mobile service kitchen from start to finish he picked up the mobile kitchen set it up including the canopies shop for the food cooked, served and then did the dishes Wendell you're a man among men while he was doing this he would encourage the victims to get directions for other services obviously this saved much time and tears during that process he led a training exercise for the mobile kitchen at Silvercrest so the volunteers learned how to work together they prepared meals for over 100 people during this training the back to school backpack event at Target to benefit children from southwest Santa Rosa he organized, greased the children coming in to choose their backpack and school supplies you do some fashion consulting too in that Wendell Wendell serves on the volunteer advisory board for the Salvation Army and because he's a business leader in the construction business he brings over 30 years of knowledge and so his information and assistance is invaluable sincere thanks to Wendell for all he does to strengthen our community it's my pleasure to ask JD Donovan to come down and accept the serving others merit award on behalf of Sonoma County Pride Sonoma County Pride was a driving force behind bringing pride events back to Santa Rosa not only has Sonoma County Pride brought the pride parade and festival to Courthouse Square in downtown Santa Rosa on the first weekend of both June 2018 and 2019 we've also created a number of inclusive events leading up to and after the parade and festival and have been instrumental in creating an atmosphere of inclusion and greater visibility for all LGBTQI community members in 2019 this included raising and flying the pride flag from the Rosenberg building the Santa Rosa Police Department a colorful display of banners downtown on the light poles a film showing at the local 3rd Street Cinema family style picnic in Juilliard Park wow with four community partners creating visibility for trans youth and more at Fireside Chat and wine tasting at the Astro Motel and an after party at a local restaurant in downtown local and visitors alike were treated to the finest Santa Rosa has to offer in warmth and strength of community there were an estimated 5000 people that weekend here in Santa Rosa as stated by the nominator I am nominating Sonoma County Pride for the serving others merit award category because they are truly ushering in a new era in Santa Rosa where youth, seniors and all who may feel marginalized by being LGBTQI in society can now feel more welcome to be their true selves in our community thank you to Sonoma County Pride for making Santa Rosa a place where everyone can feel a sense of community as stated in their mission statement Sonoma County Pride is dedicated to enhancing the lives and well-being of our lesbian gay bisexual transgender queer intersex community and allies throughout Sonoma County they promote equality for all through education and activism while serving as a liaison with government businesses and other organizations on behalf of our community they recognize and celebrate the history achievements and contributions of the LGBTQI community of Sonoma County and I will say that there are more than JD here from the board which is great and it is an all volunteer board who has accomplished all this hello hello my voice going here it is my honor to share about a special person giving back to our community for about 25 years Barbara Toskey could not be here tonight accepting this award on her behalf is Barbara's husband Jean Toskey Jean please come down and stand by the mayor yay Barbara Toskey began volunteering at the Sonoma County offices for the Season of Sharing or SOS program in the early 90s since from the Chronicle Season of Sharing or SOS program is available to low to moderate income families with dependent children senior citizens, disabled individuals veterans victims of domestic violence pregnant women there's quite a list here transitioning emancipated foster youth who have a critical need and who reside in our family in our family and community and we are part of that program and we are part of the community in the various North Bay communities including Santa Rosa housing assistance and critical family needs assistance is provided in the form of grants that are paid directly to the supplier services. When Barbara first started she was transitioning out of her work as a registered dietician program ever since. 48 hours after the Tubbs fire began, she jumped into action because she knew that there were, would be people in need and there was work to be done. With the SO program transitioning from the county to community action partnership, Barbara has adapted and learned new systems and procedures. Barbara currently helps take care of the program. Barbara currently helps to train and mentor new SOS volunteers and provides the institutional memory for the program. When a partner organization submits an SOS application to Capsenoma, she reviews the application and ensures that it meets the criteria for SOS funds. Barbara says she loves the program. She enjoys the work to deal with all sorts of people and vendors and it takes a lot of teamwork. She enjoys particularly helping seniors with limited income to have a spot to live, homeless who have a, to find a place, and families and children. When asked about the recognition tonight, she was clear that it's really all about the volunteers that give support. She said the volunteers have been fantastic since the 90s. The Chronicle newspaper helps a lot of people in our community. I am honored to present the 2019 Merritt award to Barbara Toskey. And now I would like to introduce council member Victoria Fleming who will be announcing the next award. Thank you to the committee and thank you to the committee. Already an impressive group of people. It's my pleasure and honor to introduce the category of cultural enrichment. The culture enrichment category recognizes those who have worked to enrich the artistic and historic culture of Santa Rosa. Have you indulged me for a minute just because I'm a person who is a person who has the courage to appreciate and appreciate the fans or a caring recital. It is the living embodiment of our history and our future and it's our way that we transmit our values, our vision, and our love for one another. It's a really living form of communication. And so the people who are dedicated to promulgating and enriching our culture are especially in times of difficulty and challenge. So I invite you to be extra generous in your applause for all the wonderful people and groups who have won these awards. And it's my pleasure to introduce Janice Jordan. Please come down and accept the cultural enrichment merit award for revitalizing the Rincun Valley Grange. The Grange has been serving the community since the 1940s and the last 15 to 20 years the membership had dwindled drastically. During the fires of 2017 about half of the Granges members were directly impacted and decided to leave rather than rebuild their homes. After contacting neighbors and the Grange, Janice volunteered to be the president. It had not been used by the general public for a long time and had some serious maintenance issues. She made posters, started pancake breakfasts and flea markets to drum up revenue for the Grange. She marshaled volunteers to fix up the Grange hall and grounds as well as dealt with fire inspection department and permits. Janice was awarded the California Distinguished Grange Award at the National Convention. Her work has been commissioned by local artisans have been renewed in the fall and spring. Inside the Grange is a 14-year-old girl scout has painted a beautiful mural depicting local historical buildings including the Grange. The girl scouts are now using the Grange for their meetings. Janice has initiated a community garden program in which the Granges have been established in the Grange. The Granges have been established in the journeys and fire, a weekly bingo game. Membership to the Grange is on the increase. Janice brought pastry donations from East Bess Bakery to fire survivors and the FEMA trailers at the fairgrounds for well over a year. The Granges have been directed by Janice. She gave checks to two Santa Rosa families who experienced unexpected events leading to untimely death of family members. Thank you, Janice, for your volunteer work in bringing back the Rincum Valley Grange and for your many efforts for Santa Rosa residents. So I'm pretending that I'm Michelle McGarry. She does the whole thing. I'm giving the award to Jeff Lee. So Jeff, as you come down here, he's going to look really familiar to you. Jeff is a retired photo journalist. I love doing this to you, Jeff. He's a retired photo journalist from the press Democrat. He's a retired photo He's made all of us stand for years and now we're getting back. After his retirement, he joined the staff of Lavaz Bilingual Monthly Newspaper as a volunteer photojournalist. Jeff has been volunteering in this capacity since 2014. Combining his skill as a photojournalist with a talent to connect with just about anyone. Jeff volunteers his time to document community events and meetings and he brings this to the entire community. His talent takes him to the far reaches of the north coast. A good deal of time is spent covering Santa Rosa. On any given month, his beautiful work is featured on the pages of the newspaper and its online gallery. They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Jeff, your pictures are worth that and more. He has covered Cinco de Mayo, Day of the Dead, Pazole Night, art exhibits, graduations, La Cien, Harvest Festival, just to name a few. His work certainly has diversity and so much love and caring for this community. Jeff has changed lives with his camera. Many, many thanks, Jeff. Councilman John, somebody is going to spring to his feet to announce a new category. Well rarely is this chamber filled with so much applause. There's usually applause on this side and then not on that side and to have it filled with such applause is really quite a pleasure. So this category is beautifying our community. The beautifying our community category recognizes those who enhance the beauty and livability of Santa Rosa, no small task. Bill Dodson, come on down. Wait, let me say that right. Bill Dodson, come on down. So Bill Dodson is receiving the Beautifying Our Community Merit Award for his dedication to the Coffee Park Rebuild and specifically to the artwork that will be integrated into the neighborhood park. He was nominated by a fire victim who truly understands the importance of his efforts. The October 2017 firestorm damaged approximately 75 acres within 10 Santa Rosa City Parks. Damage was sustained within community parks, neighborhood parks, open space, and landscapes areas. Six out of 10 parks sustained severe damage and one Coffee Park was destroyed. 5.5 acres burned of 5.85 acres, including all landscape, irrigation, electrical, two playgrounds, picnic areas, monument sign, fence, turf, and partial pathways. The project started with the Santa Rosa West's Rotary Club wanting to do something for children, for the children of Coffee Park after the fires. Bill has volunteered his time to head up the project on behalf of five Santa Rosa Rotary Clubs. His efforts have included meeting with architects, supporting the gathering of input, attending outreach meetings, serving on the committee to select the artists as well as the committee to select the artwork. He is the main contact between the City of Santa Rosa and the Rotary District. Funds for the project were donated by the Rotary District in the amount of $50,000. In addition, $10,000 came from the Santa Rosa Rotary Club crab feed with the funds in the amount of $50,000 from the recreation and parks department. This brought to the total of $110,000. Bill has been an integral to the project, and in his words, he wanted to see it happen. He has worked with the Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks Department as well as the Art and Public Places Committee to bring this project to the point of approval. The final design concept for the Coffee Neighborhood Public Art project has been approved and will be incorporated soon. Informed by neighborhood input gathered during the design process, Wellspring by Wauhass consists of three sculptural seating elements in the shape of raindrops placed in a 12-foot diameter concrete circular plaza. The City of Santa Rosa would like to thank Bill for his commitment and his dedication to making the project happen. It is this kind of effort that our City truly needs. We appreciate Bill, and we honor him tonight with a 2019 Merit Award. It is my pleasure to ask Adam Dominic to come down and accept the Beautifying Our Community Merit Award on behalf of the United Flyers of Sonoma Disc Golf Club. The United Flyers of Sonoma Disc Golf Club, acronym UFOs, not to be confused with unidentified flying objects, was founded in 1976 on the campus of Sonoma State University and is a not-for-profit organization. Disc Golf, for some who may not be familiar with it, is a sport involving players using a plastic disc intending to throw into a metal basket using the rules similar to golf. The baskets can be anchored into the ground or hung in a tree. In 2018, the UFOs organized a volunteer work day to clear an undeveloped portion of the nearly 74-acre youth community park in West Santa Rosa, creating a temporary course for a pop-up tournament for that day only. The event proved successful. In March of 2019, Adam Dominic proposed and adopted a green space to the Santa Rosa Recreation and Parks Volunteer Program. The responsibilities of adopting a green space include fire prevention, maintaining the aesthetic quality of the park, and providing a safe environment. Thirty UFO members joined Santa Rosa's Advanced Volunteer Program and using weed-whackers and walk-behind mowers, they created their disc course. They now have adopted approximately 18 acres within the park. They contributed over 100 volunteer hours removing weeds, poison oak, drug paraphernalia, and remnants of homeless encampments. Users also work on a weekly basis to clean up the main course and nearby trails, making the park safer and more accessible for all users, which has also restored the park's beauty. There are now more than 500 disc golfers in Sonoma County. The UFOs have over 100 players per week using the youth community park disc course. They also volunteer at local schools to introduce youth to the sport. Thank you, United Flyers of Sonoma County for beautifying our community. I would now like to introduce Council Member Ernesto Oliveras, who will be announcing the next category. Yeah, if you think I was stalling, I actually am. This is, I've been doing this for, I don't know, 11 years now, and I'll have to tell you that of all the different assignments that we have as council members and things that we do in the community, this is probably one of the most difficult for us. I mean, it's not because it's emotional, it's not because we're missing Monday Night Football or because we're missing Dancing with the Stars, either. It's because we have a very controlling committee that gives us very few words to say to you. And actually, I counted mine. They gave me 23 words to give in my introduction, 24, but actually, but one of them was hyphenated. So I wanted to take some more time to be up on a dais here. Are you counting? I do want to acknowledge our supervisor, Shirley Zane, who is here from our District 3. There's here joining us tonight. Welcome, Shirley. But really, this is, this is truly a, what, Susan Gorin is here too? Where? Hi, Susan Gorin is here too from the first district. Welcome, Susan. She's hiding from us. Thank you, Susan. That gave me an extra five seconds up here. I appreciate it. But seriously, folks, this is truly amazing evening. For us every year, and today I get to introduce a very special category. Today, I think we are among everyday heroes. We have been for quite a few years now since the October fire several years ago. My category is the community heroes. The community heroes category recognizes those individuals who rose to a challenge offering their courage, strength, and self-sacrifice in service to our community. That's all I have. That was it. That was it. It is my pleasure to invite Matthew Martinez to come down and accept the Community Hero Merit Award. For years, Matthew, also known as Matt, had a mental bucket list of experiences to look forward to, among which other things included putting out a fire. Little did he know in April of 2019 that thought would become a reality when a portion of the Nueva apartments caught fire. Two units in the back apartment building toward one end caught fire. A separate unrelated apartment complex situated behind the burning building had scorched trees and brush from the Nueva fire. Most everyone in the apartments panicked trying to escape. Some residents dangling kids from the second floor while others were catching them. A portion of the roof was on fire and the paint was bubbling. Matt had the presence of mind to grab the apartment's two-inch high-pressure hose located on the first floor. Initially, when turning on the hose, no water came out. A neighbor realized there was a keek in the hose and ran to straighten it. Matt started spraying the fire toward the second story, but was shocked to see he had actually drenched himself and was shivering, triggering a moment of panic and the dire reality of the situation. Fortunately, he was able to calm himself down and continued spraying the fire for a long 10 minutes until the firefighters got their equipment set up and took over. Outside there were about 250 people, mostly residents watching the inferno. Miraculously, there were no major injuries or pets harmed. The fire was mostly put out by Matt's heroic actions and finally by the Santa Rosa Fire Department. All tenants of that burned apartment building had to move out due to hazardous materials and remediation efforts. Six months have now elapsed and the tenants are still renting other apartments, some of them couch surfing nearby until the damaged building is repaired and safe to move into. Matt is also the kind of guy who is the epitome of a great neighbor. He prepares gourmet meals for his longtime elderly residents as well by way of personal connections made through his previous former career. He regularly collects, stores and provides groceries for five families. Matt Martinez for being a community hero. I'm also subbing for Michelle, but it's my honor to ask Dennis Hart to come down and accept the Community Hero Merit Award. Dennis is described as an enthusiastic and compassionate volunteer who is instrumental in making life better for our community's most vulnerable fire survivors by providing clean drinking water. This was so they did not have to totally rely on the water from the outdoor spigots for all their water needs. Dennis made sure the cases of water were hand delivered by volunteers whom also came to provide other resources every week for 20 months. And which included 4,000 cases of water. Wow. 4,000. Well, that is exactly how much drinking water was brought into the now closed FEMA trailer residents at the Sonoma County RV Park. Also Dennis provided a listening ear and practical encouragement not just for those who live there but for all who came to volunteer. I'm told by reliable sources that Dennis set a great example on how to engage face to face with the residents. Dennis illustrated the building of trust with the residents. Residents felt inclusive because of Dennis's authentic love for all people. In addition, this week to week labor of love was the premise for establishing the Fire Survivor Plaza, which you see up there. The Plaza served as a fire survivor's gathering place at the property and hosted gatherings to increase connection for the residents. Many of the residents were seniors. This resource offered a safe place to talk out emotions or just let the residents speak as to what was in their hearts. County staff that were privy to watching Dennis at work were also impressed with his love of service and called upon him to help deliver additional donations to other survivors in Napa County. And with all this going on, Dennis still maintained his usual volunteer service at the Redwood Gospel Mission facilitating sessions on healthy living and spiritual discipline for men in their recovery program. Please join me in honoring Dennis Hart. It's my distinct pleasure to invite Adam Peacock to come on down and accept the community hero. Adam was a natural choice for community hero. A lifelong Sonoma County resident, Adam is passionate about the community and its recovery efforts from the 2017 October wildfires and the potential it offers for fresh and new ways of collaborating. After pastoring in Santa Rosa for 15 years, Adam founded a 501c3 non-profit designed to help local churches increase the effectiveness of their service and giving in their communities. Adam's role in leading the Sonoma County Church's United Relief and as co-chair of the collaborative long-term recovery group rebuilding our community also known as ROC. Sonoma County has helped local non-profits and faith community groups offer hope and practical assistance in the midst of the most challenging circumstances our community has faced in generations. ROC is a collaborative effort to assist individuals and families recovering from the 2017 fires with an emphasis on the most vulnerable survivors. Examples of some of their accomplishments are providing personalized recovery plans with disaster case management to over 1,300 fire survivors, facilitating over 2 million in relief through direct financial aid and in-kind contributions, partnering with the city of Santa Rosa in finding housing vouchers for fire survivors to avoid or reduce homelessness, coordinated trauma-informed care with partner organizations, leveraging fire recovery response in the community to achieve greater involvement by the faith community to provide resources and supplies to those displaced at the fairgrounds. Adam's also the volunteer executive director of the Sonoma County Church's United Relief encouraging local congregations to provide resources and support to 16 schools and three school districts including organizing events and providing resources. He represents a faith community on Santa Rosa's violence prevention partnership and he also serves on Santa Rosa Together steering committee and has been active in the efforts to strengthen neighborhoods and fostering local democracy with bottom-up planning. Adam and his wife, Joe, who's here today, I saw you there. I have four children, Isabella 17, Zorn 15, Ruby 13, and Olivia 10. It's my distinct honor, having worked with Adam in the past, to be able to present this to you. Please help me in honoring Adam Peacock. Now I'd like to invite Council Member Victoria Fleming to come back up to announce the next category. Thank you, Karen, and it is so fitting because I got lobbied by Adam this morning about the power of neighbors and neighborhoods and then he gets this wonderful award which is really wonderful to see and then on top of that I get to introduce our next category and I promise to stay on script after I get off of being off script. So the Strengthening Neighborhoods category recognizes those who strengthen and enrich our neighborhoods, make them more connected, resilient, and enjoyable for all residents. I have a lot to say about neighborhoods and their importance, but I think that everybody in this room already knows how important they are, so we'll leave it there. Right. Hello, everyone. I am also not Michelle, but my name is Danielle Gardunio and I am the Community Engagement Coordinator for the City of Santa Rosa, and I'd like to invite Vita Eskandar down here to receive her merit award. In the early morning hours of October 9th, 2017, Vita Eskandar was awakened by her next-door neighbors, Gail and Patrick, notifying her that she needed to evacuate. Vita, like so many that night, would soon know the tragedy of losing her home to the Tubbs wildfire. In the wake of the devastation, with so many people feeling overwhelmed about how to pick up the pieces of their lives, Vita decided to take action by serving as a stabilizing influence on her community. She attended every Santa Rosa City Council meeting, Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meetings, and United Policy Holders meetings to learn everything she could about the recovery and rebuilding processes, and to speak up about the needs of her community. As a Hidden Valley estate block captain, Vita provided the voice of reason calming her neighbors with encouraging words. Her focus was to help fire survivors make informed decisions regarding insurance claims and navigating the rebuilding process. Vita created several communication tools, including the website NeighborsTogetherSR.com, which includes blog posts, the Facebook page Neighbors Together SR, a newsletter, and an email group for the state farm insured, which provided timely, essential information and answers for fellow fire survivors as they negotiated complicated insurance claims. The website is still being utilized by multiple communities today. In 2018, she extended her compassion by sharing her knowledge and website with a campfire survivors. Vita has been indispensable in helping the Santa Rosa community navigate the post-fire process. Her dedication and leadership has helped countless local citizens reclaim their lives in the midst of the chaos created by the fires that threaten to consume us. We can all be grateful for Vita's selfless and tireless efforts of service. It is an honor to present this award to Vita Escondar. So the next merit award recipient, I've actually known her for almost eight years now, and it is my honor and privilege to have Noemi Palomino Andrade come down to accept her merit award. There are three words to describe Noemi Palomino Andrade, fierce, motivated, and resilient. Noemi is known among many in the South Santa Rosa neighborhoods of Roseland and South Park and the unincorporated neighborhood of Moreland. Not only is she a skilled leader who helps to organize many events to support youth and their families, but she's also a very busy mother of four. Four years ago, Noemi spearheaded the Motilada in Roseland, also known as the backpack and bicycle giveaways. Due to her efforts, over 400 free backpacks filled with school supplies and approximately 200 bicycles and helmets have been provided to low-income children from the Southwest Santa Rosa area at these events to date. Noemi works with these numerous community organizations, government agencies, and volunteers to plan and implement the Motilada events. Utilizing skills and communication and business engagement, Noemi has been successful in securing donations from local businesses which provide products, time, and funds to make these events happen each year. Noemi is also involved in a number of community improvement efforts and groups across Santa Rosa. She is a member of the Community Club of Roseland and the Roseland Community Building Initiative. Noemi attended the South Santa Rosa Healthy Eating, Active Living Leadership Training, and the Healthy Retail Project Community Liaison Training. After completing her trainings with Heel and the Healthy Retail Project, Noemi worked with local food markets in Roseland and South Park to provide healthier marketing materials and food demonstrations for customers. She was also involved in efforts to bring more nutrition education and physical activity opportunities to Roseland. Noemi also looks for other ways to be of service to her community. She recently led a neighbor fest with the City of Santa Rosa for the South Park neighborhood which provided food, fun, and disaster preparedness information to her friends, neighbors, and other families in the neighborhood. She also volunteered at the Moorland Neighbor Fest during the summer. Please join me in thanking Noemi Palomino Andrade for her many hours of serving others in our community, particularly those who are truly needing a helping hand. Thank you, Noemi. We're ending the meeting with our one last award, standing quietly by itself, but soon it's going to be handed to Lanny Jollof and Steve Wadley. Steve, I hope I haven't completely messed up your name. But if you would mind, you and Lanny would mind coming down. That would be great. There's a standing monthly meeting held in Coffee Park. This meeting is the brainchild of Lanny and Steve. Lanny was the originator shortly after the Tubbs Fire. This is specifically for standing homes, or homes that didn't burn. Steve, the pastor of the Christian Family Fellowship, offered to host the meetings and even provide food and drinks. The monthly meetings are a place for Coffee Park residents to learn updates about the rebuild process. The focus of the group is for standing homeowners who are living in a construction zone. This, of course, is very different from the neighbors who are rebuilding. The neighborhood meetings are now starting to be attended by people who are moving back into the neighborhood, and this is a new set of challenges. As you can imagine, they're beneficial and therapeutic. This is a fabulous opportunity for neighbors to reach out to each other and help the recovery continue. Lanny coordinates the speakers, which some of are the Santa Rosa Police, Fire, Recreation, Parks, and Postal Service. I'm impressed about the Postal Service. They're getting a full complement of how to move back and keep life flowing. The attendees are now 20 to 30 people who are becoming great neighbors and very close friends. Big thanks to you, Lanny and Steve. On behalf of the committee and everybody who helped us and all of you, thank you. Have a safe drive home. You were wonderful.