 They have their own comments later this evening, and I would certainly welcome them Before our traditional moment of silence. I did have a few remarks. I wanted to make this was a day of terrible tragedy and loss We mourn the life of mr. Kong Lee a beloved father and friend and member our our community Take a look at the Facebook page for his Coffee shop cafe to see the outpouring of love and devotion for mr. Lee We grieve for his family and we grieve for the families of those who were injured Especially those who remain in various serious condition at both Duke Hospital and UNC hospital And there are people who continue to be in very serious condition at the same time That was a day for of loss and grief It was a day which by the time You've been very quickly during that day. It gave me a great sense of gratitude or our incredibly brave Incredibly professional first responders Where the gave me a great sense of gratitude for the PNC public public service of North Carolina Employee who came to the site to try to cut off the gas before it exploded For the firefighters who cleared the coffee house and truly saved many many lives For those same firefighters who were literally blown down and concussed By the explosion and who somehow got up got back to their truck and turn their hoses on the fire At the Durham Bulls game on Thursday night. I threw out the first pitch and afterwards Friend of mine came up to me and told me this story He and his wife were sitting together at Caffeine in the coffee shop, which they loved they loved working there They were working there on their computers On the business that they run together this couple Their two-year-old daughter was at home with the babysitter the firefighters came into the coffee shop and Insisted that they leave According to what he told me they were the last people out of that coffee shop that morning 90 seconds before the blast And as they told me those firefighters saved their lives. I feel enormous gratitude for the emergency medical responders Just so happened that I got a ride down to the scene with chiefs oldest who happened to be at City Hall and with deputy city manager Beau Ferguson and When we arrived and got out of the car Keeps oldest drove us down We saw people Bloody lying near the corner of Morgan and Duke streets But each of them was already being attended to as soon as this was after the blast by a medic administering the care that they needed and getting them into the ambulances and Off to the hospital. It was just an incredibly smooth professional and brave operation and Meanwhile the fire was just blazing blazing so nearby I Feel tremendous gratitude for the folks at Duke hospital and Duke regional who activated their emergency protocols to take in the flood of 17 patients Several of them severely injured and then later our firefighters who went over who had been concussed as well I feel pride when I remember watching how our leadership coordinated their work on the scene Chief Davis was there with our police officers to coordinate our police officers setting a setting up a Boundary Mr. Van fleet and dr. Anjani joiner for the emergency medical services and dr. Joyner was there Making sure that people got on the stretchers and into the ambulances Mr. Jim grows with emergency management and And Especially our new fire chief literally in a trial-by-fire chiefs oldest These people did very powerful and effective work and there was never no one missed a beat. No one missed a beat Our folks were prepared and it showed they were professional and they were incredibly brave Especially those firefighters who stood up against that enormous fire with their host is just a few feet away And when they grew tired another group of firefighters stepped up to take their place. I Want to especially Express thanks tonight to two people who have largely gone unnoticed in our community's expression of communal gratitude Our city manager Tom Bonfield was at a conference across the country when the explosion occurred So in charge here at City Hall and Charge of the city was deputy city manager Wanda page and she was here at City Hall holding down the fort and running the city And on site at Duke Street was deputy city manager Bo Ferguson These are two supremely capable and wise people. I could not have been Keith Chadwell is not bad either Bo knew just when to ask a question at the site just when to step back He struck the perfect tone in the field with our managers with the press with our community Well done, Bo. I really thought you did a remarkable job on site and Wanda Thanks for running the city and keeping us going while everything was going on Finally, I want to thank all the residents who expressed themselves in an outpouring of generosity I want to call out in particular there many but just in particular Fergus Bradley proprietor of the Maverick smokehouse Who turned his restaurant Into the rest and recuperation headquarters for our first responders And for all of those who then follow those first responders on to duke street And to dawn bland a local resident who took off work to organize food and drink donations to be brought to the Maverick smokehouse and organized the volunteers to run the grill and defeat everybody who came all of our first responders And everyone who followed them And to those good folks who have organized Go fund me efforts to support the people who were harmed There if you go to leefamilysupport.com you can find ways to donate To support the lee family lee family support.com There's also a Durham restaurant workers fund for those folks who Lost their jobs because they're of the of the blast And bull city rebuilds those are both go fund me efforts I feel gratitude to the other city staff who came right in behind those first responders from public works and solid waste and others And many of them still have big jobs ahead related to this situation We are as our new hashtag says and some of you may be wearing this today this This ribbon bull city strong We will rebuild these buildings and we will support the families and their loss and grief and recovery And as we mourn and as we offer our support we will celebrate two The first 150 years of a city that can produce heroes like this And now I will ask you to join me in a moment of silence in memory of mr. Lee In support of those who remain injured and in support of their families And in gratitude for the frontline city and county staff and so many others Who served us so well in this time of crisis Thank you And now we will move on with our regular agenda and i'm going to Ask councilmember reis if he would lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. Mr. Mayor and colleagues. Good evening everyone It's nice to have a full house Um, if it's your practice to do so and if you're able, please rise and join us for the pledge of allegiance Thank you councilmember Madam clerk, will you please call the roll? Mayor shul here mere pro tem johnson here councilmember austin here councilmember calder yaro here councilmember freeman present councilmember middleton Councilmember reis here. We've got a lot of great ceremonial items tonight And i'm going to ask my city council colleagues to assist me In these in these and uh, i'm going to first ask A councilmember vernetta austin to come and assist me with the neighbor spotlight award which is being presented tonight to kevin walls and uh, i will Give this to councilmember austin and she can call mr. Walls and his family up Yes, would mr. Walls and anyone here to support mr. Walls. Please join me up here at the podium Well, yeah, come on There's room for you. We'll find it on Yeah, if y'all want to what a great group. Yeah, if y'all want to line up here come on up Yeah, yeah as many of you as i fit What a dumb granny Mr. Walls says we need a bigger room almost there almost there. All right. Good evening Kevin walls is the recipient of the neighborhood spotlight for the month of april 2019 The neighborhood spotlight award recognizes community members that have gone above and beyond and volunteering their time to serve the community This month kevin walls a resident of creekside at beth page Was nominated and selected because of the wonderful work. He has done in his neighborhood Including but not limited to serving as the treasurer and co-founder of the community's nonprofit pay it forward Starting several social and informational clubs including computer training sessions and weekly card games And being a supportive neighbor Often referred to as the mayor of creekside. I don't know mr. Mayor Congratulations, mr. Walls on being the april neighborhood spotlight for the city of darm and thank you for all the work He do to improve our darm community Um, you're all here and if you'd like to say a few words we'd love to love to hear him Okay, well congratulations All right We're taking a picture Thank you Yeah Thank you Well, i'm lucky to be able to do it. Thank you. Thank y'all for being here. Thank you very much, mr. Mayor Thank you so much come back to city hall anytime Thanks We're always down there. We're always down there. Good Well, that was an awesome support team there our second uh ceremonial event tonight I'm going to call up eddie davis our public historian And eddie is going to we have a history moment Concerning wilbur hobby eddie. Are you ready? Come on up. Thank you, mr. Mayor Many people have seen or have heard about the movie best of enemies Which has two real life characters from darm and atwater and cpls Uh, but folks have also been very concerned about the fact that one of the characters in that film Is a man named wilbur hobby He played a very small role in the film But a very big role here in durham and across north carolina and across the southeast Wilbur hobby was born here in durham in 1925 Uh, he was the son of a brick lair and a cleaning lady who divorced for early on in in wilbur's life And the family struggled Wilbur was here in 1934 when there was a general strike Of textile workers across north carolina And he had to during that depression period of time had to sometimes Stay out of school in order to stand in line to get groceries for his families He had many odd jobs including shining shoes Uh, and also he was the first uniformed bat boy or the durham bulls He wore the number zero And that nickname stuck with him over the years because of that baseball connection and also because Wilbur was not the thinnest person in the world He grew up in what we call the edgemont community Down near the corner of In the golden belt area in fact Council member freeman, he would have been one of your neighbors In that area Wilbur hobby was a world war one world war two veteran And he was a korean war veteran between the Two wars he was very involved in politics And was involved in the famous race between willis smith And frank portagram in 1950 for a senate seat And it is said in the information that i was able to research that during the first primary the um Discussion was about the reds at his communism and in the second rate the second Primary the runoff primary it was about race And of course, um wilbur hobby supported frank portagram He also worked at the american tobacco company and started out as a Cleaner a machine cleaner for 75 cents per hour And he joined the tobacco workers international union He was very very involved in lots of labor activities And course built a name for himself to the point where he became the statewide director statewide president of the afl cio He was very involved in lots of different activities And there were some ups and downs in his career There was a famous scandal that had to do with A an appropriation from of good of funds that Were designed to allow for worker training training And there were people who were opposed to the work that he had done Particularly the work of bringing together blacks and whites And you would think that that would not be anything that people would be upset about but certainly it was We times have changed drastically and wilbur hobby had to endure lots of the An animosity that came from people who did not necessarily support him He was involved with afl cio and i am honored to have with me this evening James andrews who is a former statewide president of the federation And i'm going to share a little bit of time with him before i stand back But i do want to let you know that wilbur hobby ran for governor in 1972 and ran a good race But he had lots of things stacked against him Including his work with blacks and whites along the way his Work for a coalition to try to deal with things that election of 1972 Was not necessarily good for people who were supportive of some of the issues that he wanted in 1972 the national election for president George Mcgovern lost to richard nixon In 1972 jessie helms went to the senate Defeating nick gallifanakis who was from durham and of course wilbur hobby was not able to win in The gubernatorial election Hagrow's stiff skipper bowls became the democratic nominee and he lost to james holshouser In that final election But all the time wilbur harby stood for things that many people might have found difficult back in those days He stood for education. He stood for workers rights. He stood for economic equality He stood against the vietnam war and the waste of money that was going on then and he stood for women's rights So wilbur harby lived a great life Even though he had ups and downs along the way. He came back to durham after serving Sentence for some Things that went on But he died here in durham and he Went back to work for the american tobacco company after he returned to durham He was a great man And many of us had the privilege to live during the same time in which he lived Here in durham So i want to share the rest of my time mr. Mayor with james andrews who knew wilbur harby personally and who Knew about the great relationship that he had with men and women working men men and women here in durham and across north Carolina james Thank you. Thank you my friend Let me thank you mr. Mayor Last time you saw my head hair Not nearly as much weight, but i want to thank you the council And my friend eddie davis for this opportunity to share this time with you I commend you and the council and past leaders of the council For allowing the space for ordinary folks To make their case before you i'm grateful for that I did not hesitate when my friend eddie davis Called me and said i need some help basically by way of our current president to share a little bit about My hero My labor hero my mentor my friend President wilbur harby did not hesitate one minute When he asked me to do that so tonight what i want to do in a fast way I want to talk to you for a minute or share with you for a minute a few remarks related in in this order I want to give you an example of president's hobby fight to organize workers in the state of north Carolina That's a little example I want to say a word about his strong commitment to racial justice And that need to build strong coalitions With other like-minded people and then I want to end with a conversation a little word or two about the legacy That he left here for all of us And throughout that I want to just sprinkle if you will I want to just sprinkle My personal history into my remarks in order for you to get a clear sense if you will a willful hobby impact on my life And the lives of so many around the state of north Carolina and indeed around the country Far beyond the dirt during far beyond during president have made a major effort To organize and support all workers effort to organize unions around the state Then all workers to organize unions around the state if there was an organizing campaign Or a contract fight in this state You can always come on willful hobby to be on the front line Not the back line on the front line of such a fight The fact that president hobble was at the front line Of many issues Of many issues That gave And then providing leadership in fact The courage to in fact stand up and do what's right And I can only point to my friend. I work with cpl Somebody missed that Relationships in community standing with black workers standing for organizing standing with civil rights organizations and women rights That gave folks who had the right heart The space and the courage to do the same The organizing principle that we operate under that will but talk me to us that We must When we go into an organizing campaign We must understand that we've got to represent all workers and all workers of right to participate What religion you are what church you go to Whether you're born uh in the united states or elsewhere we never ask that question Because we believe all workers belong in the union and all workers should have a force in forming the union To get a contract at the jp stevens plant in north and south carolina He supported the successful effort to get the honorable andrew young to address the jp stevens workers in one of the brackets north carolina As a young staff person of the north carolina state f l c i l i was assigned by wilba hobby To work in north and south carolina as a staff person of the organization organizing workers I recall a time when we were born cotton jp steven product And president harbour was with the a flip randolph institute at a national conference Because of that that more kind of jp stevens product We discovered that the hotel used jp stevens tablecloth for the banquet. It was wilba hobby Who persuaded the more than 800 delegates? to remove the tablecloth from the table in protest President harbour was a man of action Wilba hobby understood better than most the workers need the support of the community church leaders elected officials and others In order in order to overcome the fear tactics employed by anti-union corporation. Yes business roundtable and yes sometime public officials The work of the north carolina a flip randolph institute speaks to president harbour's legacy The institute made it possible For president harbour to hire a full-time person Of the public From one camp on the staff of the a f l c i l The a flip randolph institute made that possible That young man Became the first full-time Officer of any state federation in the country of all the first full-time officer Of a state federation in the country That was wilba hobby looking into the future soaring into the future That same young man is standing before you tonight Thank you wilba hobby Thank you If I had If I had enough time If I just had enough time, I'll tell you about wilba hobby said to me go down and And this republican went on down and registered some voters sign the show The community if I had enough time Name and phone them on speed dial if I had enough time, I'll tell you that joy johnson If the speed dial they would have had wilba hobby's name on speed dial If I had enough time I'll tell you about andrew mild Out of him was the north kerala city citizen federation that would have had Wilba hobby's Number on speed dial let me just end by this aim this And I want to go back to the a flip randolph institute The a flip randolph institute i just attended a i don't know can't be two three hundred people out here in derm Saturday night honoring the honorable justice Right as a keynote speaker and others But I want to just say a word about the institute Most of the redistricting and voter suppression lawsuits that have taken place recently in this state One of the plaintiffs was the organization That wilba hobby told me when he hired me that you need to build More a field where we built 12 chapters in the state of north kerala and and and now That the state leadership was a part of the plaintiff that they put those losses in Winning in and out of Winston Salem Doing that I would close with another legacy of president hobby When I think about the legacy of president hobby, I must always remember And give him credit For the leadership that's serving now As president that came behind me as president of the north kerala state f lco today We gotta pass this stuff forward he made Today mary b. Mcmillan a young lady is the first female president of the north kerala state f lco Always be grateful for the many contributions made by my friend My leader my mentor the honorable And late wilba hobby and mr. Mayor It's just so glad to see you turn a little gray, but you still got your hair I did know james when neither one of us had gray hair Thank you so much James for being here eddy. Thank you so much for that history moment as we recognize great historical figures I also knew wilba hobby and as as in the all I will say is he was a different shaped person than he was Then he was seen to be in the movie All right, so now we're going to move to national community development week And i'm going to ask mayor pro tem johnson if she would come join me here And we'll ask reginald johnson to also please join us at the podium Good evening everyone You're reading the proclamation for national community development week Whereas the week of april 22nd through april 26 2019 has been designated as national community development week by the national community development association To celebrate the community development block block grant cdbg program and the home partnership program And whereas since 1975 the cdbg program has provided annual funding and flexibility to local communities To provide decent safe and affordable housing a suitable living environment and economic opportunities to low and moderate income people And whereas since 1992 the home program has provided funding to local communities to create decent safe and affordable housing opportunities for low-income persons with over one million units of affordable housing having been completed nationally using home funds And whereas over the past five years the city of durham has received a total of nine million 224,827 In cdbg funds and four million 391 674 dollars in home funds And whereas the city of durham has used cdbg and home funds directly or in partnership To address issues surrounding homelessness including veterans homelessness To promote home ownership opportunities for low and moderate income households to develop hundreds of affordable rental units for low And very low income households To provide repairs to homes of very low income seniors To help revitalize neighborhoods and to leverage millions of dollars in additional public and private investment within durham neighborhoods Now therefore i steven schul mayor of the city of durham, north carolina do hereby proclaim april 22 to 26 2019 As national community development week in durham in support of these two valuable programs that have made a tremendous contribution To the vitality of the city's housing stock infrastructure public services and the economic vitality of our community Thank you. Mr. Mayor mayor pro tem. Thank you so much members of council for this proclamation on community development week i'm reginal johnson director of the department of community development and first i'd like to ask all of the Members of the citizens advisory committee to please stand and wave your hand if you're standing The committee is appointed by the durham city council as well as the durham county board of commissioners They appointed as representatives of the community to advise the community development department on how we should spend our money as well as Develop policies to better improve affordable housing. And so we want to thank them always for their service and the work they do Especially for community development week and indeed all year round I also want to thank some staff community development staff that are present as well And from my position as community development director for the city of durham I see the value of these two pro federal programs Home investment partnerships as well as in the cdbg program The city of durham has won many awards for our participation with use of these funds eastway village south side Has won like I said national awards as well as state awards And we're very proud of the work that we've been able to do and the most important thing is to create Housing for those who don't have affordable housing here in the city of durham And we've been in durham Are very proud of the work that we've done and we're very thankful for the opportunity that you have given us city council In supporting us in our work. Thank you so much Thank you very much reginal and now we're going to move to the week of the young child And i'm going to ask councilmember freeman if she will join me here at the podium to present this proclamation And i'm also going to ask laura benson and anyone else that she would like to have Come forward from durham's partnership for children. Thank you for the week of the child I really want to thank miss I want to thank laura benson for her work with durham's partnership for children She's been a great advocate for children in this city for a long time Whereas early childhood from birth to age five represents the most critical time in children's development And is the foundation for success in school in life According to the national association for education of young children And whereas durham's partnership for children along with children child care services association and durham technical community college Are celebrating the nationally recognized week of the young child And whereas making sure children are ready to learn is a community endeavor that involves parents Child care providers policy makers businesses congregations and community agencies and whereas high quality early child early Early care supports durham's current work for workforce for families with young children who rely on child care to work And whereas early child care And education is an economic development strategy at the beginning of the talent pipeline And whereas early childhood programs support children and families as they prepare to enter school And whereas transition to kindergarten must be smooth coordinated a smooth coordinated process for children parents and schools that greatly minimize the achievement gap and whereas comprehensive bilingual evidence-based programs in parent education And literacy increased family stability And whereas early interventions family supports education And education can help break the cycle of poverty and dismantle systems that perpetuate race Racial disparities and inequities that affects more than half of the durham's children And create opportunities in early childhood that have a lasting impact in the community And whereas our community leaders have invested significant resources and research data analysis and programmatic interventions for young children And whereas durham continues to be a leader in statewide and national efforts that prioritize Children birth to age five and their families and whereas the durham city council Do hereby proudly? Recognize that the ages of birth to five are the most critical time in children's development Which builds a foundation for success in school and in life Now therefore I stephen m. Shull mayor of the city of durham in north carolina do here proclaim April 8th through the 15th 2019 as the week of the young child in durham and hereby recognized durham's partnership for children Child care services association and durham technical community college for its exemplary exemplary model of collaboration Which continues to improve the landscape of early education for durham residents and benefits present and future Benefits presence in future generations Witness my hand in the corporate seal of the city of durham north carolina this 15th day of april 2019 And if you have comments Well, may or sure Council members manager bonfield interim attorney reberg clerk triber My name is laura benson and on behalf of durham's partnership for children on behalf of linda chappelle senior vice president of child care services association And kathy collie robinson director of the early education program at durham technical community college And the board chair of durham's partnership I'm here to say thank you for this proclamation and for your unwavering support for investing in our youngest children In the past we were often the lone voice in the wilderness about early childhood with very few followers In recent years more focus was paid to the importance of young children But we were like a solo diva on a stage singing alone to an attentive but less engaged audience Now you have shown your commitment to and participation in a movement We are simply conductors of the symphony Bringing harmony to this great chorus of champions And you with your counterparts on the county commission and the board of education Our center stage leading the way and building a stronger healthier community So tonight you might see many shirts I'd like you to wave your hand if you are a board member of one of our collaborating partners or have been a board member Are you agency staff? Keep your hands held high. Are you agency staff? Are you early educators? There should be a whole row of you now childcare owners and directors And are you students who will be our teachers and directors of the future? Thank you for joining us in this movement and making this possible As our city leadership you serve far beyond these walls as you certainly know guiding our work and making a difference in the lives of children Our collaborations and mutual Accountabilities run deep We're grateful in particular for city staff like jason jones toy emerit and laura beatiger who serve on our board and committees And many others before them We appreciate participating at city festivals and events to enroll children in literacy programs like dolly parton's imagination library We share a vision to end family homelessness And we join you in addressing the needs of young children who experience homelessness And who need the services of our diversion shelter rapid rehousing and aftercare programs As many at the recent faith summit showed we join you in a commitment to eradicate child poverty and to dismantle structural racism That holds inequity and disparities shamefully in place We know that investing in young children is the key for durham to continue being a thriving center for education and entrepreneurship Our city's burgeoning and development calls forth the need for deeper commitment to early childhood To continue to draw people to our community to improve school readiness to support the current workforce Reduce crime and prepare the workforce of tomorrow Your support of the pre-k task force and now the implementation of durham pre-k is a great example of your bold leadership We're in the spotlight as we blaze new trails for expansion We want all children in Durham to be prepared for success in school Life again. Thank you for this proclamation and for leading the way Thank you so much Councilmember freeman and thank you so much laura and to our especially to our early childhood educators Thank you all for being here and thank you for what you do every day You we are doing the most important work in the world and just want you to know we appreciate you Now i'm going to ask councilmember charlie rease Who's already here joined me at the podium? And i'm going to ask uh lavon barns and others he may want to bring with him To also join us For the young male achievers day of service and scholarship proclamation councilmember rease Let's do it Oh fantastic. Okay, mr. Mayor. I think we're going to try to take a picture after that's all right. Yes, great Lavon, I think this is about two years in the making isn't that right last first time we talked about this. Yeah um, i'm going to read a proclamation Uh, i'm declaring today young male achievers day of service and scholarship and after that Lavon barns who leads this program is going to say a few words on behalf of the young men that he is leading through this this experience Whereas mentoring is a proven effective strategy That helps young people by matching them with caring and responsible mentors who help build character Encourage success lift expectations and inspire young people to do their best Serving as friends role models teachers and sources of stability and support during a critical time in their lives And whereas mentoring strengthens our community's economic and social well-being By helping young people fulfill their potential while helping maintain healthy families and promoting more vibrant And whereas young male achievers or yma was founded in 2005 in heights for maryland It was reintroduced in 2014 by lavon barns at the school for creative studies here in durham, north carolina After he saw there was a serious need to mentor and guide young people Whereas over the past five years yma membership has increased from 24 members in the first year Through over 100 members currently and yma members have devoted over 45 Thousand hours working in service to their community in a multitude of ways Including volunteering at the durham branch of the food bank of central and eastern north carolina Sponsoring and participating in a leadership summit at north carolina state university Providing 70 meals for 70 families. Excuse me with Thanksgiving and christmas holiday meals And countless other community service projects in durham often in partnership and collaboration with other community organizations Such as alfalfa fraternity incorporated Habitat for humanity of durham the american heart association ronald McDonald house North carolina central university duke university and many many others And whereas members of the three graduation graduating classes of yma have been awarded nearly one million dollars in college scholarships all told And whereas yma has been recognized by the durham city council the durham county board of commissioners The durham public schools board of education state and federal legislators north carolina governor roy cooper and president barack obama And whereas while yma members are rightly proud of their accomplishments They are by no means satisfied And each of them fully intends to continue their service to the community in the years to come Now therefore i steven m shul mayer the city of durham north carolina do hereby proclaim april 15th 2019 as young male achievers day of service and scholarship in the city of durham Where brush your shoulders off The mayor would also urge all residents of the city of durham to commend these young leaders of young male achievers For their accomplishments and their example of service and scholarship Witness my hand in the corporate seal of city durham north carolina is 15th day of april 2019 congratulations Good evening everybody Hopefully i'm tall enough I promise i won't break because uh, they know how i get I'm gonna be strong today. I'll be strong Thank you councilman reese to mayer shul and the rest of this unbelievable council for this honor In the censored words of uncle joe. This is a big deal This proclamation is about every one of these young men that you see I would like to thank some important people first First I would like to thank my principal rene price Who is an awesome leader? I would also like to thank my colleagues From the school for crater studies some of them are here today From day one they embraced This movement and this program It's been truly a team effort to every advisor mr. Castro mr. Hodge mr. Brotsman mr. Harbison And mr. Marshall and our newest advisors mr. Goff and mr. Susanne Who represent our yma juniors from ek po elementary school? I would like to tell you it takes a village To do what we do and i'm lucky that you all are in my village To the parents If you're a parent of a yma person stand up real quick because I think that's the most important thing is to parent To the parents who have been with me since the beginning and those who are my current parents Thank you for trusting in me And uh allowing me to pay forward what was given to me to your son I just want to quickly say That it doesn't cost any amount of money to be a mentor We live in a community Where at some point you're going to be around a young person With whom you might take an interest in Just by taking the time to invest in that kid might be the difference between life and death Jail or college and failure and success We may disagree about things in this community But one thing I know is that we take care of our own Everybody who has ever been successful in some way has someone to show them the way Lastly to my guys And I won't break promise you This is what happens when your dreams When this is what happens to your dreams excuse me when you put actions to words Each one of you has made an impact in this community and in your school You've made an impact on your advisors You have made a huge impact on me And each one of you should be very proud of the work that you have done this far The guys who are standing behind me actually Uh the funny story is I'm not on the script You all catch up The very first time I Introduced this to the school. I had an interest meeting and one kid showed up That kid Daniel van Gogh one kid Oh That's why his name is inception So if you don't know about the some of these kids that were in live shirts, they got names and stories behind them, but I had to think about it differently. So I asked my colleagues to send me The names of the kids that you feel have showed leadership potential It might be on the on the other side of trouble sometimes And so I got like a hundred names. Now mind you, we only had 300 kids at the time. We're still a baby When it comes to DPS schools And out of those hundred kids the 24 kids showed up 24 to 70 24 to 45 in year two. That's when mark middleton councilman mark middleton spoke to my guys To 75 to over a hundred Where it was just high school eighth grade through 10th grade at the time now I have fourth grade through 12th grade And it's just growing. So I just want to say thank you. I know each member of this council Most of you have spoke to my guys We truly appreciate you To the community Thank you embrace these young men Because I know in Durham sometimes good things good deeds go unnoticed But today on this day Instead of it being known about known as tax day It gets to be known as young male achievers day of service and uh scholarship So thank you everybody. Thank you We're gonna have a we're gonna have a photo interlude. Just take us a minute Thank you so much Thank you so much It's great to see the young man and mr. Goff welcome to you You were the mentor to my son soli and it's great. I'm glad to see you're still doing it. Thank you so much Good job Okay our next Uh proclamation I'm gonna ask councilmember mark anthony middleton if he would join me as well as chief robert zoldis our fire chief For a proclamation regarding sound the alarm councilmember my thanks to his honor the mayor For allowing me to read his proclamation and then yield to chief zoldos for words Um chief zoldos let me know that simply being a member of the council does not allow you to drive the fire trucks I was greatly that's why it ran essentially. So I was greatly disappointed Hear these words. It's gonna wait for the chamber to be in order and get that back door