 We determined at our last council meeting that we'd have a period between first and second reading in which we would engage in some aggressive mediation, start a real conversation, a much more face to face, sit across the table, the realities that we all know from our different life experiences and professional experiences that you get across the table from somebody. It's amazing what you can work through and work out just with good, strong, positive dialogue. Positive dialogue doesn't mean that you agree on everything, but it means that you push and you pull and eventually you come up with something that is much more representative of consensus and compromise. We had the opportunity, several of us, around this table to meet with Judge Tommy Cooper, who, other than the fact that I'm married to the most awesome circuit court judge in the whole state, he's pretty high up. Judge Cooper, I think Charles and Michael and Vance, the others around the table who are attorneys would suggest Judge Cooper is highly regarded and for years has been often times rated as the number one judge, circuit court judge in the state. He gets things done. And we were able to come around the table and to build some consensus around some key points that were designed to allow the students at Drear tomorrow and prospectively to have the opportunity to experience what high school is supposed to be like. They're in their backyard. The opportunity to fully participate in superior extracurricular activities, athletic facilities that they didn't have to drive for our distances to. At the very same time, working to meet the needs of all the neighboring communities in historic Heathwood and historic Meadows Heights and we were so happy to have Shannon at the table with such a preponderance of the students coming from the greater Shannon area. And we got around the table and that morning, early morning at 8 a.m., I think we left shy of 5 p.m. And over the course of the day, I was in and out. We had the inauguration of the President Benedict and Mr. Rick and men. He said he fed everybody because everyone was still happy when I came back. So I assume everyone did eat lunch. But over the course of the day, we're able to hammer out a modified plan that pulled a number of still high quality facilities closer to the commercial corridors, built some significant buffers and restored some of the proposed housing plans to the site and represent a number of concessions from both those representing the neighborhood associations and the school district and boosters. Everyone gave something. And I joked with Judge Cooper because some of you who have had the opportunity to know or work in front of Judge Ralph King Anderson. But he would always say in the words of the prophet Isaiah, come, let us reason together. But it's amazing when people sit down and say, you know, and just talk to each other that we can get some things done together. This is not a perfect representation of exactly what's needed there. I think we determined that we're not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is a good and strong step forward. The proposed plan, I'd be happy if some of you, I think everyone's had a chance to review this document, represents a modification that goes back to where the school district wanted to start and where the neighborhood wanted to be and that no one wanted to see the end of the pud. So we wanted to keep the pud in place. And then the school district was told by the city, I guess two years ago, that no, that was not an option. That we indeed had to pursue a full rezoning. And that's when things blew up. Now, since we're going to the mixed use pud, we have other options before us. So the pud is kept in place. And we believe this is the proper way forward. This does mean, as many of you know, that the school district's determined to not pursue the rezoning of the property. But to seek a major change to the pud. And that's still a process ahead. It's still a process that's going to be complete, replete with public input and comment. And we want to make sure that the citizens know that they always have a right and a home upstairs at the planning commission meetings and at city council meetings and we want to hear people's thoughts and concerns and constructive criticisms. But again, all still in the spirit of us working together because we are a community and we're supposed to work together. We're going to continue to work together. I know that several of our neighborhood leaders put a lot on the table to come here and to work towards a compromise. And I want to say thank you to you all. None of you are new to the game. You've been very active in our neighborhood associations for years. And it just being mayor of the city, that ain't easy. That's not easy to do. It takes real leaders to do that. I want to thank you for being at the table. And I know we're going to have to still dialogue a lot over the next several months as we seek to make this a reality. The school board of commissioners, I want to say mountain chair and you and the vice chair and Craig, your folks were there, president and accounted for and willing to shift and change and magic markers out and figuring out how things move around and some things that at the beginning of the day seem to be absolutes. They're not absolutes by the time we got at the end of the day. Michael representing the families and the boosters. It's so interesting. Obviously, many of you who are so deeply steeped into this discussion as parents or boosters, many of your children will never benefit from these improvements. I mean, so really we're talking about a generation of kids. And this is not perfect, you know, but we're talking about securing the futures of a generation of children after this, not just your kids. And I think again that speaks to the leadership that we had at the table, the leadership of Drear High School, which I'm not going to get my butt kicked by every other high school in the city. But Drear is a national leader. I mean, Drear is a national leader. It's a national leader. It's a good product in Richland School District 1, just incredible leaders, global leaders for years. And we, I think, have a collective commitment to making sure that that continues to be the case, that that continues to be the case, and that the successes that we've seen all across Richland, and Drear and lower Richland, AC Flora and Kenan Eau Claire and Columbia High, I didn't miss anybody, and C.A. Johnson. And I still feel obligated, as I joke last week, I also always have to reference Book of Washington, because they get mad if I don't recognize them. But the incredible success and we are achieving things that many people never thought the district could do. I mean, from, as I say, T-scores and Gates when they name scholars. And we're doing some awesome things, and again, we're doing it together. And we've got to stay on that path together. Lastly, I'll say Daryl and Beatrice and I don't think any of the other commissions are here. The unanimous vote of a commission that I know is a lot like City Council. We don't vote on a whole lot of things unanimously. But I know it's representative of some real leadership against and give and take even on the commission. That everyone's not unanimous in the way in which we think or act. And you all stepping up, and I think committing to a way forward says a great deal about the strength of the commission and the commitment. I hope you don't mind me saying this, Cheryl. I'll get ahead and say it. But as we wrapped up to hear Cheryl and Mary Baskin talk about doing lunch. We got to do lunch. We committed to doing lunch. We got to do lunch and spend some more time together. Those are the interactions, sharing a meal. Those are the ties that bind. We have the opportunity, if we keep talking, to really get some things done well beyond this discussion. We'll be discussing this together the next several months, but well beyond this discussion. And if we do that, I really believe the sky is the limit. But it's going to require real discussions. It's not going to require us as leaders always speaking to the better angels of this discussion to not allow those who may not agree with consensus, not every bullet point on this. We may not agree with consensus, but who have the luxury of anonymity and reach on the Internet to throw out smart comments and lob grenades at one another. We have to ignore that. We have to ignore that and continue to dialogue in the interest of positive resolution. That's what we saw last week. That's what we saw yesterday. And that's what we're going to need to see over the next two months. So I just wanted to say to the members of the press, we've been chatting amongst each other all day about whether we have a press conference, no press conference. I've got to move this around. I've got to do that. What are we going to say? And I just thought it was important for us just to come around the table together and say that we still got a journey ahead of us. We've got to get through the process. We've still got a whole lot of public input to have. But I remain convinced that if we do it in the spirit of transparency and honesty and active positive discussion, we can get it done now.