I'll call the special meeting to order. To make it easier for residents to voice their comments, there will be two public comment periods. There will be one at the beginning of the meeting designated for comments related to items on the agenda and one at the end of the meeting for general public comment. Speakers will be limited to three minutes to state their comments. This meeting is being video recorded and streamed live on the Internet. Mr. Valdez, please confirm... Internet. Mr. Valdez, please confirm posting and roll call. Mayor, this meeting has been posted in accordance with the Nevada Open Meeting Law, and with the exception of Council Member Seabock, who's excused, all members of the Council are present, and you have a quorum. Thank you. Now is the time for our first public comment for the special meeting. If you wish to make a public comment, please come to the podium, speak directly into the mic, and you will have three minutes to speak. Mayor, there is no one in the first public comment queue for this meeting. Thank you. I'll close the public comment. you for this meeting. Thank you. I'll close the public comment. Ms. Garcia -Vas, are there any changes to the agenda? Mayor Romero, there are no changes. Thank you. Is there a motion to accept the agenda as presented? Please vote. All council members voted in favor of the motion made by Councilwoman Cox, and it carries. Mayor and Council, item number one is the 2024 Malcolm Baldrige National Item number one is the 2024 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Two weeks ago, I, along with the mayor, council, and city leadership team, had the pleasure of attending the Quest for Excellence Conference in Baltimore. It was an honor of a lifetime to be recognized by the United States government in front of so many other premier organizations for the tremendous work we do here at the City of Henderson. Several city team members and I also had the pleasure of sharing insights into our successes with other conferences. the pleasure of sharing insights into our successes with other conference attendees during special presentations and workshops. Please watch this brief video that highlights our team members in action at the conference. I am thrilled to be with you tonight representing the great city of Henderson. to receive the 2024 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence. We are humbled to be recognized as only the fifth city in the history and the largest city to ever attain this recognition. Henderson has a vision to be America's premier community. I must also acknowledge the more than 3 ,000 Team Henderson vision and our path to premiere. We've already evolved so much just in my lifetime, and the lessons and best practices we have learned through the Baldrige process will set us up for success for generations to come. Malcolm Baldrige Award for Excellence with the City of Henderson team members and with our community as a whole. Our council has worked very hard to support this effort because continuous improvements and continually trying to be better is something we all hold to be very important to us. It was such an honor for us to receive this award at a national ceremony more than two weeks ago in Baltimore and we're only the fifth city. more than two weeks ago in Baltimore, and we're only the fifth city in the history of our nation to receive this award, and we're the largest city to ever receive this award. Henderson has grown to more than 345 ,000 residents and 5 ,000 businesses, and we are recognized as the second largest city in the state of Nevada, and recognized many times as the fastest growing city in the country, thank heaven not recently. In our nation, in our city's early beginnings, President John F. Kennedy visited our city and announced it to be the city of destiny. He recognized that unique fire in our belly and the incredible potential for our community, and I believe this award marks the fulfillment of that destiny. With a vision to be America's premier community, we've always done things a little differently and not behave like the typical government. We boast one of the leanest governments and the lowest property tax rates in the state of Nevada, and yet, through you and because of you, we deliver top -notch services that are nationally recognized to the residents and businesses who call Henderson their place to call home. Henderson, their place to call home. We've cultivated a culture of continuous improvement for decades and set out on our journey to receive the Baldrige Award more than 15 years ago. The lessons and best practices we have adopted through the Baldrige process will impact our community for generations to come. We are grateful to the United States Department of Commerce and the Baldrige organization, and I want to thank my fellow council members for their leadership and commitment. And I want to thank my fellow council members for their leadership and commitment. It is a privilege to share the joy of this award with all of you. I think this is something we will remember and celebrate forever. I'd like to invite our city manager and CEO, Stephanie Garcia -Vas, to share her perspective as well. Thank you, Mayor. You couldn't have said it better. As someone who's been part of this journey since day one, it's truly a privilege to be here. I want the more than 3 ,000 team members in our organization. to know that this award is a testament to your contributions. You all deserve the praise for making this happen. You all deserve a round of applause, if we can do that right now. Like the national accreditations our departments have achieved, this award is validation for our unique, that enhance the quality of life for those who live, learn, work, and play in our community. We have learned so much through this process. The Baldrige Framework not only supports higher levels of performance, but also enhances our operations and services for the good of all of those we serve. We know we're doing things right from our residents' high satisfaction rates with our services. 91 % of our residents... rates with our services. 91 % of our residents, to be precise, and that outpaces all standards across the country. Thank you, Mayor and Council, for your vision and leadership and continuous improvement that has allowed us to pursue this award and truly become a premier organization. And thank you to the leaders of every department, I see lots of you in the room, who diligently worked to guide their teams along the path to premier. And I want to give a special thanks to Polly Walker and the Department of Performance and Innovation for leading us through this practice. We truly have the most talented and dedicated employees in the country. I've heard the mayor say she'd put our employees up against anyone. Bring it on. Our employees are behind everything we do to serve our community and create this truly amazing. place that we call Henderson and we call home. We're a city of destiny, and I believe the best is yet to come. Thank you, Mayor and Council, and at this time, I'd like to invite you and Baldrige Foundation President and CEO Josh Ray Sett up to the gallery for photos, and after photos, Josh would like to say a few words about the Baldrige Award. Well, greetings, Honorable Mayor and City Council. I am so excited to be with you here today. This is the second time I've been out here, actually, with your State of the City event, so I just can't continue to sing your guys' praises enough. It's just a phenomenal job you're doing. I'm Josh Rousset. I am the President and CEO of the Baldrige Foundation. It's my honor to be here today and recognize the City of Henderson as a 2024 National Malcolm Baldrige Quality. Award recipient. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is given by the President of the United States and is the highest honor in the United States for performance excellence. The award recognizes organizations that excel in seven areas, including leadership and strategy, customers, measurement and analysis and knowledge management, workforce, operations, and of course, results. The Baldrige process operations, and of course, results. The Baldrige process reflects a commitment to organizational excellence and performance. There were many areas of your organization that were rated highly, but I'd like to commend the city for its dedication to providing customer service for your residents, empowered, engaged workforce, commitment to a strong financial viability, and a focus on the environment and equality to support a sustainable future for your community. Every team member should be so proud of what you have accomplished on behalf of your organization and your community. You are the fifth city as it's already been said. You are the fifth city to be recognized and the largest to ever be recognized which is saying something. It isn't expected for a city to go to these arduous lengths to develop processes and set high standards for itself. The city of Henderson is redefining what it means. to be a local government. To the residents of the city of Henderson, this achievement is living proof that your city cares about your quality of life. You can take pride in knowing that you are receiving top -notch care and service from a forward -thinking government. You make the right decision by choosing to call Henderson a place to call home. It is my distinct pleasure to recognize you, the city of Henderson, as a 2024 National Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winner, and present you with the Baldrige Crystal. Congratulations, Mayor. Thank you. Council, anything you'd like to add to any? I would. Actually, I wanted to say how incredibly proud I am of our staff. How incredibly proud I am of our staff. You all are premier, superior, phenomenal, and any other adjective I can think of, I am so humbled and proud. I have not stopped smiling since we won this award, and I brag about you every day and everywhere that I go. Thank you so much, because without you, we wouldn't have done this. Thank you. I'd just like to thank Mr. Is it Reset? Thank you for being here today and for the incredible program that they have for those that apply to follow. You know, I'm newer, so really the credit all goes to our city staff and to those that have been here long before me, the mayor and the other long before me, the mayor, and the other council people that were here long before me. I want to personally thank former Mayor March for her efforts in this, former city manager Richard Derrick, and our current city manager, and all of our current staff. It took a village, and I love how our staff is consistent. You're all kind. how our staff is consistent. You're all kind. When my daughter came last year to the Take Your Child to Work Day, she said, Mom, she goes, how do you do it? And I said, how do I do what? She said, how do you work with so many people that smile all the time? And she was trying to figure out, because she's in high school, where you don't see a lot of that, how there is a workplace where you truly can feel like family and you can feel like your home and I feel that way. You can feel like family, and you can feel like you're home, and I feel that way. So thank you, thank you, thank you. This award is yours, and I am so grateful for each one of you. Pretty much everything's been said, but I'd like to make two points. Number one, because of the incredible staff we have, top to bottom, we receive accreditations and we receive awards. and we receive awards, it seems like, on a constant and continuous basis. But this one award is exponentially off the charts, the greatest that I think we could as a city ever receive. And so thank you to you and your entire team for selecting. I know it's been a very arduous and long process. Thank you. The other is I don't think any of this could be achieved without the culture that we... have all been committed to and we have built here in the city, a culture of thinking, forward thinking, positive thoughts, a culture of excellence that is established by an executive team all the way through the entire organization. As you know, that's a big deal to me and I think that this award alone represents and exemplifies. how the culture in our city has resulted in the results that we have obtained with this, the highest award we could receive. So thank you to each and every one of you. I very much appreciate you all. And I just saw her sneakily sitting right in the middle of everyone. We're sneakily sitting right in the middle of everyone, but former Mayor Debra March is here, and she played a huge role in this, so thank you for being here today. Now is the time for our final public comment. If you wish to make a public comment, please come to the podium, speak directly into the mic, and state your name and zip code, and you will have three minutes to speak. Mayor, there is no one in the second public comment queue for this meeting. Public comment queue for this meeting. Polly, it's your last chance. Are you sure? Okay. All right. I'll close the public comment, and we'll adjourn this special meeting at this time. The redevelopment agency meeting will begin at 3 .30, and are we having a – is there something? We're having a reception right across the hallway, so please join us there. Thank you.