← GovLove - A Podcast About Local Government
GovLove - A Podcast About Local Government
#713 Floating Flower Islands with Yocelyn Galiano, Pinecrest, FL
00:50:54
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- [00:14]
A
Coming to you from Long Beach, California, this is Gov Love, a podcast about local government brought to you by engaging local government leaders. I'm Meredith Reynolds, Deputy City Manager at the City of Long beach and your Gov Love Hope co host for this episode. GovLove is produced by ELGL. Engaging local government leaders. You can support GovLove by becoming an ELGL member. ELGL is a national volunteer run, membership based nonprofit organization with a mission to engage the brightest minds in local government. Check us out and learn more about our $50 annual membership@elgl.org also this year we are celebrating 10 years of the govla podcast. Help us commemorate this important milestone by calling the Govlov hotline at 720-282-1752 and leave us a message with your favorite Govlove memory or your predictions on the next 10 years of local government. You just might be featured on a Future episode of GovLove. And now on with our show. Today's guest, Jocelyn Galliano is the village Manager for the village of Pinecrest. Yossi has a Master's degree in Public Administration from Florida International University and she has been an ICMA credential manager since 2002. She is a past president of the Miami Dade City and County Management association and is an active member of ICMA and the Florida City and County Management Association. Yossi, welcome to GovLove. Thank you for joining me today.
- [01:41]
B
Thank you for having me.
- [01:43]
A
I'm super excited about our conversation. You and I were talking a little bit before we started recording. I came across a topic we're going to talk about today in kind of a sustainability press release and I'm super excited to get into that. But before we do, let's do a lightning round so our listeners can get to know you.
- [02:01]
B
Sounds like a plan.
- [02:03]
A
Alrighty, so you'll see. What is one fun fact about you?
- [02:06]
B
Oh, okay. Well, I guess the fun fact about me that I was a college cheerleader and part of a team that was nationally ranked. So? So when you see all those acrobatics and people getting popped in the air, I had the privilege of doing that during my college years.
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A
Oh, very fun. Yes. And I was a high school cheerleader, nationally ranked and all that. So, like, you and I right away have something in common. Local government.
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B
Right. That's hilarious.
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A
And I also feel like cheerleading sets you up for city management weirdly very nicely because of the way in which you have to be a proponent of your community. So, you know, transferable skills, I think.
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B
Yes. And the fact that we're like Little cheerleaders. And we have to do jazz hands sometimes when you're dealing with issues and razzle dazzle people. Absolutely. I think those skills I have been able to translate over the years.
- [03:04]
A
No question. That's excellent. What's the last movie or TV show you watched?
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B
I love Landman. I'm obsessed with is so great. I'm like, super disappointed that the season ended this last week. I'm dying to see that.
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A
Total binge worthy. It has that, like, land use policy like, aspects to it in a very entertaining way. Like, at least that's my lens that I'm watching it through because it talks about, you know, rights and oil drilling and a whole bunch of other stuff. I love that show. Yeah.
- [03:38]
B
You get to learn about stuff that you obviously wouldn't know otherwise. And I just love watching these really seasoned actors, actors and actresses like Demi Moore, I mean, they just do such a great job.
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A
Yeah.
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B
So great recommendation, Elliot. You know, it's just great.
- [03:54]
A
Yeah. Yeah. All right. What is a book, article or podcast you'd recommend local government professionals check out?
- [04:03]
B
I thought about this question and I have to recommend a book I think every city manager or anyone that's wishing to become a city manager should read. It's called Death of a Public Servant.
- [04:14]
A
Yes.
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B
And it's written by Daniel Roseman. I don't know if you've heard of the book yet. He's a. He's a personal friend of mine. And so being from South Florida, we kind of lived through the premise of the book, you know, from a local government perspective and just reading the. The news articles that all came out and, and I've been able to sit in a panel with him to talk about his experience because we. I had similar experiences throughout my career. So definitely a good, good read.
- [04:46]
A
Awesome.
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B
Make you think twice about doing this for a living.
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A
And. And as much as it does, it also gives you that bright spot too, Right?
- [04:56]
B
Absolutely does.
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A
It's a great read.
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B
Yeah, it is.
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A
Awesome. All right, last question for the lightning round. What is your work superpower?
- [05:06]
B
I would think that my work superpower is really rooted in my innate ability to read people. I can, for whatever reason, the most subtlest of changes, I pick up on it. I'm very, you know, good about reading the room and being able to find consensus when there may apparently not be any consensus. I. I'm just really good at trying to thread that needle and bring people together and.
- [05:41]
A
Awesome.
- [05:42]
B
Yeah.
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A
That. That innate power is something very difficult to learn. So if you, if you're born with it, that is definitely a superpower.
- [05:51]
B
I was, I was very lucky to have that. It's. It actually does help me a lot in this position.
- [05:58]
A
Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing for lightning round. We'll get started with our questions today, but let's go back, right, let's talk about your origin story. How did you find your way into local government?
- [06:12]
B
Okay, so I tripped, and I don't even know how I landed here, but I'll try to make it as concise as possible. My story started when I was in college thinking that I wanted to become an attorney. So I studied public political science in my undergrad. And then somewhere along the way I thought, you know, I really don't want to be a lawyer. I. What I want to do is make laws. I want to work for the Florida legislature or for Congress. And I started pursuing that type of career where I would be working as a legislative aide somewhere. I had a minor in international relations, so I thought, well, maybe the UN, maybe oas, like, just do something in, you know, the public realm, but probably more policy driven kind of work. I started applying for positions as legislative aid. And in a, in a, in an interview, I met a gentleman who I was very impressed with, right, and his interview skills. And I, I just asked him, I said, you know, how did you become what you're. Know what you are? He was a senior legislative aid for a, a, a senator down here. And he said, well, I got my degree in public administration. I'm like, what is that? Like, what is that? I've never heard of that. I didn't know what it was. He's like, well, it's a degree. And he kind of explained that it's the equivalent of a business administration degree, but in the public sector. So I walked out of there thinking, I got to look at this, maybe this is what I want to do. And I, I, you know, didn't get that job. But the person who interviewed me for that job kept my resume and forwarded my resume onto a gentleman who ran for state senate and later lost. So I was unemployed for a while. That same person eventually became the first city clerk for another city down here called Kibiskane. And he called me and said, hey, there's a position open to be the secretary for a city manager, the new city manager of a brand new city they had just incorporated.
- [08:21]
A
Very cool.
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B
And I said, okay. I threw my name in the mix and I was hired. Literally, I think I was getting paid, I want to say, $14 an hour or something crazy like that. And I Started working for a gentleman named Sam Kissinger, who was my mentor for the first four years or so of my career. I was a secretary and, you know, administrative assistant and put my way through college while working and just worked my way up from that to assistant two to assistant manager, and eventually then jumped on to another new city that had just incorporated, which happens to be Pine Crest, where I am now.
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A
Okay.
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B
I was hired here as the assistant manager and served in that capacity for like seven and a half years. And then I was asked to throw my name into being the first city manager of another brand new city down here named Doral. So my forte clearly has been, right, there's a trend cities. Right. So you're seeing a trend. So I went to work for Doral. I was the first city manager in Doral. Only lasted about a year and a half in that capacity, which is, you know, another whole interesting podcast interview.
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A
Yeah, we.
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B
I went on to work in other new cities like Miami Gardens. All of these are all part of a group of cities that all came about around the same time. There was a big push for incorporation here in Miami Dade county because the majority of the unincorporated areas of Dade county felt underserved by the county administration and the county. And so it was all happening around the same time or a couple, three years apart from each other. And so it was just happening that I was becoming the expert in working for new cities. So that's become my. My niche. Definitely. Long story short, I was able to make it way. Make my way back to Pine Crest as the assistant manager again serving the same manager that I had served prior to going to Doral when he retired, they gave me the opportunity and I've been manager here for 14 years now. I'm the longest, I'm the second longest serving continuous serving city manager in Miami Dade County. So people, odd by the fact that I've lasted this long.
- [10:45]
A
Yeah, I mean, we gotta, we gotta add a second superpower here, like trendsetter. Right. You know, being the first, it can be scary.
- [10:53]
B
Yes. But it's also fun because you get to, you know, you're not stuck into any kind of free, you know, traditions or cultural organization, you know, things that are already baked into an organization that's older. You know, you get to really pick and choose best practices and look at what, you know, and what other cities are doing and, and implement. And it's such, you know, they're small governments and there's a lot to say about really small government because we're really nimble and it's just fun. You get to really think out of the box and do things that you possibly wouldn't do in an older organization.
- [11:29]
A
Yeah, well, setting the tone and setting the culture and, you know, hiring good people. I mean, all of those things are an incredible experience.
- [11:37]
B
Yes, no question. No question.
- [11:39]
A
Yeah. Well, in. In all these places, what are some of the things that you've been responsible for in these roles over the years? Anything that's particularly notable that led to some key learning moments for you?
- [11:53]
B
I guess one of the biggest things I've learned and that I. I've become, I would say, really good at, and it's really served me well was the strategic planning process. I had worked in these little cities, and they really didn't do much of that. They. They were kind of just, you know, shoot from the hip kind of managers that I worked for. But when I was. When I became manager of Doral, which was a much larger urban area here in Miami Dade county, it was, you know, we really needed to get our council, you know, everybody rolling in the same direction. It was a much more complex local government environment. So we did a lot of strategic planning, and that exercise really laid the groundwork for how I've become and how I manage now to this day. We do really robust strategic planning every year to really inform the. The budget and just make things run really smoothly. Because when you have, you know, consensus. Yeah, everyone's understanding what we're gonna work towards. And there, you know, there aren't these, you know, as many side quests as you say.
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A
Right. When you.
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B
When you. When you have a list, a laundry list of things you have to accomplish by a certain time frame, it just, you know, gets everybody working towards that and just makes things, I think, run a lot smoother. Excellent. Excellent.
- [13:20]
A
Well, and you've been now at the village of Pine Crest twice, so it must be a special place. Let's talk a little bit more about the village where you're located in Florida, your population, and other things our listeners should know to get acclimated to your community.
- [13:35]
B
All right, well, Pine Crest. Let's see. Pine Crest is part of the larger metropolitan Miami, Fort Lauderdale area. We're about 15 minutes south of Miami Airport.
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A
Okay.
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B
International Airport. Pine Crest happens to be, at this point, the most affluent community in Miami Dade county in terms of income. You know, median income are. We have a state, mostly estate zoning. So we have a very small strip of commercial, which mostly, you know, little stores, retail store, strip mall kind of thing. So we don't have a downtown or anything. Like that. And then the rest are just, you know, huge mansions, acre plus lots, lots of, you know, Ferraris and, and those things, what you see on Miami Vice kind of things, you know what I'm saying? Because this is Miami. Right. So everybody's about the, the show. Right. So. But we are very small. We are truly a village. It's tree lined streets, really one of the largest canopied areas in Dade county, which also makes it really unique because it doesn't feel like you're in an urban setting, even though we are surrounded by, you know, big city. But when you come into Pine Crest, it's very, just gorgeous, beautiful. Everything is manicured lawns, these beautiful huge homes. And, and you know, the people that live here for the, you know, are, are, you know, the CEOs of the world.
- [15:20]
A
Sure.
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B
Very wealthy people, very intelligent people that, a lot of civic engagement and you know, giving back, patience type. Right. Because they're, they and they, they volunteer. Like our council members are true volunteers. They don't make. So they, they do this for altruistic reasons to give back to the community. So. And like you said, I've been here for a long time. Pine CREST this year, March 27th will be 30 years old. And I've served for the village for about 25 years of that.
- [15:56]
A
Yeah, you've seen it grow up on and off.
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B
So this is my, my life's work, as I like to say. This is my legacy. So I'm hopeful that I'll be able to survive here and, and retire, you know.
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A
Yeah, yeah.
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B
But it's a beautiful community, really is. And just we are really strong fiscally. We have really one of the lowest millage rates in the county. Our taxable value is so high, but we are small government, really efficient, triple bond rated kind of thing. And you know, not necessarily big city problems, but we've had our share of sure big, you know, issues to, to deal with and, and little by little we've just been working our way down the list to solve those problems. So.
- [16:44]
A
Yeah, yeah, no, that, that's a great context because one of the things we're going to talk about here in a moment is a really cool pilot program you're working on, but it sounds like you have a lot of open space with, with your tree canopies and everything else. You, you have a system of waterways that also kind of shape your community as well. Can you talk a little bit about that?
- [17:08]
B
Sure, yeah. We, we do have canal systems basically there because it's the way south Florida is, you know, we, we're all sitting on limestone and we have these basins. We don't have a lot of drainage facilities. We're just now starting to build drainage facilities to deal with sea level rise and those kinds of things. So the canals back in the day were built by the Army Corps of Engineers. And, and they're, they serve as part of our stormwater drainage systems.
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A
Sure.
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B
And those canals all connect to what is known as the Biscayne Bay, which is the mainstay of the economy of Miami because it's our water, it's our part of. Makes part of our beaches, our ecosystem here. And there's been a lot of issues with, I'm sure you've seen it on national news, where you start getting these fish kills or you get these, you know, the seaweed beds kind of dying off. A lot of the fish that used to exist in the bay just going away because of all the, the nutrient pollution that comes from, you know, fertilizers and things from upstream and work their way down and all the way into the Biscayne Bay. So it's become a regional issue to try to deal with the water quality because obviously, not just tourism, but a lot of our economy is tied to the health of our waterways here. So it's important try to keep the Biscayne Bay clean. And obviously, you don't want residents upset that there's, you know, stuff floating around in the waters and those kinds of things. So.
- [18:51]
A
Yeah, well, yeah, and the, you know, much like where I'm at in Long beach, we're at the mouth of a rip. Two rivers, as a matter of fact. And in that case, part of what keeps that water quality healthy at the end is all of the folks upstream doing their part. And so it's really interesting to see the pilot program that you all are working on, the Floating Flower Islands pilot program. I read about this. It's exciting, it's innovative, it's now award winning. Right. And so in the case of the village, for where you are all at with these canals, let's talk a little bit about the pilot program. What was the primary inspiration behind launching it? Who were the partners, and what specific environmental outcomes are you really aiming to achieve here?
- [19:45]
B
I apologize. That was. I thought I had turned off my phone. Well, we. We stumbled on this idea. There was actually an article that one of my employees came upon about a professor at Florida International University that was working on this. She's a scientist, a biologist, and she was working on this concept of using something that would equate to a Floating wetland, which you can see in other places throughout the United States. So it's. It's not innovative in that sense because you do see it in other waterways. You see it like Chicago has used it, and you see it in other parts.
- [20:29]
A
Sure.
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B
Even in Florida, where they use these floating wetlands to try to improve water quality in those, you know, areas that are probably more like the Everglades and that sort of thing. And. But she was toying with the idea of almost like, doing like, a little recycling and educational component where rather than using just wetlands that just grow and look like grass or whatever, to plant these with actual flowers that you can harvest and then sell at the farmer's market, which would give them an opportunity to educate the public about issues of why they need to, you know, be careful what goes in the waterways and, and show them how. How these plants become like the lungs that clean. Right. The water as, as, you know, the roots are in the water, and, and. And all this added nutrients that come in through there get absorbed by these roots. And when you harvest the flowers, you can take them out, plant new ones in, and it's just constantly working to clean the waterways. So we started. I literally went into a council meeting and I said, I have this crazy idea. I don't know if it's too crazy, but I have this idea.
- [21:51]
A
I got a deal for you.
- [21:54]
B
It's fine. If you guys don't want to do it, I understand it's a little out there, but, you know, I. I want to see what happens. Like, this lady wants to do an experiment. She's having a hard time because some. Most of the waterways down here are managed by South Florida Water Management District, which is another, you know, jurisdiction taxing jurisdiction onto itself. And they're, you know, they're their own bureaucracy, and they don't like to have too many things that could be obstructing flow, you know, in a canal, because of obvious reasons, hurricane potential, you know, flooding kind of thing. But we are one of the unique places down here that actually own some of our own canals, and they're not managed by water, South Florida Water Management. So we have total control of those waterways and what can happen in those waterways. So I said, this is a great opportunity. I think we should try because it wouldn't it be interesting if she can prove that this stuff works, how we can, you know, exactly what you suggested, like, get this out there and get other people doing this too, to. To come up with a, you know, interesting solution and something that could potentially be beautiful and, and that people won't mind, you know, right outside the back of their house when they. When they're sitting by their pool kind of thing.
- [23:10]
A
Sure.
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B
That was what was started this whole thing. And they agreed. They said, okay, we'll do it. You know, we have stormwater management money. Let's just, you know, how much is this going to be? And really the cost involved, because she was trying to really, you know, find a partner to do these experiments. It was really minimal. It really was just the cost of the floating systems that used and trial and error. You know, we started with one kind of floating island, and we didn't really like how it looked. And then we said, okay, let's switch to this one. So we've been doing this now for. It's going to be two years. It is a pilot program. It will start, you know, stop after this, this calendar year, and then we'll. We'll see what happens, you know.
- [23:58]
A
Yeah, reevaluate.
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B
Yeah. If they want to replicate it or expand it. Right now we're down. We're up to three floating flower bed installations on one particular area of the village.
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A
So let's paint a picture for the listeners of what these floating flower islands look like.
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B
What.
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A
What components are out there? How do they get out into a canal? You know, I'm. I'm envisioning sort of like you. You. You push them out there. Kind of like you would push a little, you know, floating vote out into a lake kind of a thing. Like, what do these look like?
- [24:32]
B
Imagine, like, I don't know, like a. Like a raft or maybe a floating dock that you might see. And this floating dock will have little, you know, niches where you can actually plant like. Like an area where you would put, you know, soil and an actual plant. The original ones were. Were bright blue because we thought, okay, blue, it's fine. It'll look nice because you're in the water. But guess what? Water doesn't look that blue. And so they really stuck out. They were like neon color kind of thing. So now we're dealing with something that's, you know, black.
- [25:11]
A
Okay.
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B
And, you know, we've. We've toyed with, you know, basically using other materials, organic materials, like, you know, burlap and stuff like that, to almost make them look more natural or even using different plants. We have some native plants that are almost like vines that could come down and just cover those edges so that it just looks more natural. Right. And so we've toyed with all of that. One of the issues we've had over time is that we're constantly. It's a. It's a pull and push with South Florida Water management because all these canals do connect to each other.
- [25:50]
A
Sure.
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B
And South Florida Water management handles hydrilla overgrowth. It's like a. A plant that grows in these canals differently. Right. And they treat them with chemicals and then there's die off and then those, all those nutrients, it affects the whole waterway. And then you get these, you know, increases in nutrients. But when they spray the area with herbicides, they also can kill the plants that we planted. Right. So these are some of the setbacks that we've. We've come across. And so it's a little bit of a whack a mole situation. You know, not no perfect solution yet. We're still learning which things work better than others. We had originally thought that we would have, you know, iguanas swimming out there and trying to get up on there and eating all the flowers. So we had, you know, rigged it with all kinds of nets and things just to, like, keep them out of there. Eventually they don't swim that far out. So. So luckily we haven't had the iguana problem that we had anticipated, and I'm sure the residents around there preferred that because it obviously looks a lot nicer without all that stuff around it. But, you know, we have manatees that come and eat, you know, the roots.
- [27:15]
A
Yeah, yeah. Because the plants are set in these little niches in a way where the roots actually go down into the water underneath. Yes. That's part of the ecosystem. Right. So it pulls the nutrients.
- [27:26]
B
They're the ones that are pulling the nutrients out. And then the scientists eventually can actually measure the number and the amount of nutrients when they take these plants before they sell them. They can analyze the plants and, and give us, you know, quantitative figures on how much nutrients these things have taken out of the waterway.
- [27:50]
A
That's incredible.
- [27:51]
B
So it is interesting. Like I said, it's.
- [27:55]
A
It.
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B
It's a change in the view of people's backyard kind of waterways. So you do get some pushback. Some residents really hate it. Some residents don't care, don't have an opinion. So a lot of public education involved in trying to explain why it is important to, to try to stop these nutrients from getting out to the Biscayne Bay.
- [28:20]
A
Yeah, yeah. I want to go back to one of the things that you said, because I was watching a video about this and all the different species that you're. You're testing in these plantings, and then you're able to harvest them and. And sell. And one of the things that I read about was planting garlic to keep away the iguanas. And I really wanted to know how big of a problem are iguanas in this area for, you know, the plant life? It sounded like. Like there's a, you know, a mob of iguanas out there out to get these floating flower islands.
- [28:53]
B
Right. Well, I mean, iguanas here are a huge issue. We have. South Florida has three big issues, and it's. It's really tied to people just throwing their pets out, you know, and. And then. Then just, you know, proliferating. We don't have as many predators that can take care of these naturally. So we have tons of iguanas. I mean, in some cases, it's Jurassic park scenes when they're in some of these lawn areas. You have the python situation where you have a lot of pythons that have now infested the Everglades. And they're having to send trappers and hunters out there and they're catching huge snakes out there. And then the famous peacocks, which I have another story about that that I can share later about our solutions to the peacock problem. But you'd be surprised the damage those birds can do. They're beautiful. But, you know, when it comes to dealing with these invasive species, you. You gotta, you know, you gotta figure how to. How to think out of the box. The problem in the case of the peacocks is that they're protected by the county's codes, so you can't get rid of them. You can't mess with their eggs or anything like that. So. Yeah, yeah, the iguanas are easier to deal with. Poor things. When it gets really cold, they just fall off the trees and they. And it's easy to catch them and, you know. Yeah, I don't want to know what people do with them.
- [30:24]
A
Let's put it to that way.
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B
It's like.
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A
Yeah, well, you know, interesting. Fun fact. Long beach also has peacocks.
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B
Okay, well, I'll fill you in on what we're doing with that. Really good to know. I know this is going to become a problem. These peacocks, they're really good at procreating.
- [30:44]
A
Right, Right. Well, thank you for humoring me about the iguanas question because it was, you know, inquiring minds want to know. I was really curious about this, but
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B
I didn't know that they existed out there. Hilarious, because I know. I mean, here they're so common. I'm not. You know, some people are squeamish about these reptiles. It's like dime a dozen here.
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A
Sure, sure. Yeah. Well, the, these floating flower islands have. Have performed. And I think this is a really cool way to kind of do the proof of concept. Right. And there's that that is coming out of this. And are you. With the data and, and what their plants are able to sort of capture and mitigate, Are you seeing that improvement of water quality in the canals?
- [31:26]
B
Yeah, actually, we have, like I mentioned, we have this thing called hydrilla here. I don't know if that exists in other areas, but they're these weeds that when they die off, they just float at the surface and it becomes almost looks like a slight slurry kind of okay, you know, thing. And if, if, you know, we end up having to pay companies to come out here and they have to like, collect all that and haul it away. So it's, you know, manually intensive. It. It can smell bad and obviously unsightly. These, the area where we put these floating flower beds to do the experiment is, is technically not a lake, but it's wide like a lake. It's tied into our whole waterway. And we have, you know, no joke, seen like before and after pictures of how much hydrilla used to just naturally exist, especially at the culverts where you, you know, where the water would have to go under a road and you can. You get more of that capturing of. Of that floating debris and it's almost gone. Like it doesn't exist. The other thing we've seen is a lot more fish in the waterway because there were none. When you would stand and look down, you would not see fish out there, wouldn't see manatees.
- [32:53]
A
You.
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B
Now you look down and you start seeing it because you see how the water is clearer. So anecdotally I can tell you that we have seen a difference. The real proof will be when they do the end of the. This pilot where they really do harvest everything and take the measurements to tell us how much, you know, quantify the nutrient.
- [33:18]
A
Sure.
- [33:19]
B
But there's no question that it is working.
- [33:22]
A
Yeah.
- [33:23]
B
The question really is going to be is it feasible to put enough of these out there that will make the difference? That really needs to happen to improve water quality to the extent that's necessary to improve, you know, what's happening at the Biscayne Bay. But I think every little bit helps.
- [33:46]
A
Sure.
- [33:47]
B
You know, they've, they've taken away the county now doesn't allow for fertilizers from certain times of the year. So they're Trying to do different policy changes that'll help change that behavior from people. And I think slowly we're recovering what we've lost over the years, you know.
- [34:04]
A
Yeah, well, and every little piece of those policy change or these pilots and the implementation start to really add up when it comes to water quality upstream, you know, so that the downstream impacts are minimized or mitigated.
- [34:19]
B
Yeah, exactly. I mean if it's better than nothing, let's put it to you that way. And it really is a good return for the investment, for a small investment.
- [34:28]
A
Yeah, yeah. Well, what has been on, on the side when you're at the folks who are at the farmers markets and, and the other places in public where they're, you know, either selling the, the flowers or they're talking about the education piece one has been the kind of community reception. What are some of the things they're seeing there? And are they. Do you feel like they're actually kind of making a difference from the education side?
- [34:53]
B
Yeah, they are and they're really good because we partnered with, I mentioned Florida International University and this particular doctor scientist that, that works with them. But they're so good about the, the community engagement part of it and the, because they are educators. Right. So when they come out they have this whole setup where they have, you know, the, the, the plants with the little, you know, roots and the water. So when the kids come in, they, they kind of explain the whole thing and it just really explains to people why it is so important. I think when people are not affected personally directly, it kind of like they don't care, but they need to realize it should be important because this can really have a devastating impact on the economy of this area really. And so when you can do that, I think people, you get buy in and I think it's, it's helpful. It also helps position the village in, in a way that is as innovators forward thinking. So it builds on our credibility as you know, a local government that's, you know, responsible and trustworthy. Those things we want to show people that we actually are well.
- [36:11]
A
And that relationship with the university I think is also very special. And many communities around the country have some sort of town gown relationships and partnerships in place. But it looks as, as though students are involved in this as well, which is a great hands on component of education and also because I know you do a lot of mentoring as well, also a way to expose them to local government.
- [36:37]
B
Right.
- [36:37]
A
Which is a very cool kind of combination of you know, experience maybe in their degree area. But have you ever considered, you know, working for a local government?
- [36:47]
B
And we always do that. Like anytime we. Because we do partner with them a lot on different things, like from animatronics to whatever. We will reach out and try to get, you know, free stuff. Right. Made and provided.
- [37:00]
A
Yeah.
- [37:01]
B
Free labor from the. From the students. But we also use those opportunities, like you said. Like they're, you know, people have different career paths and passions that lead them into whatever, you know, things that they want to study. But that's the beauty of local government, that for the most part, you can translate just about anything you study into some function that can work for government. Right. Or local government. So, yeah, these kids, they come out, you asked me earlier, how does it happen? They come out, they put these things in the water and then they have to anchor them because obviously we have, you know, Cat 5 hurricanes here, so we gotta make sure they're really tight. But they go out there with their little canoes and they harvest the stuff and, you know, it's like a fun day for them. And. And it just gives us a lot of, you know, press coverage. We get press coming out there. We got a lot of news media that just, you know, it piques their interest because these, these issues are up front and center down here with all the sea level rise and, you know, all these issues of water quality that we have down here. So it's given us. It's really elevated our. Our brand. I think as a city.
- [38:10]
A
That's awesome. Well, and I don't know about you, I know that we probably spend a lot of our time in our offices. Wouldn't it be great if you and I part of our job? And the mental health benefits that come from being in a canoe outside was part of our job.
- [38:24]
B
Yosi, I swear, I wish I had that kind of time. I was right. Like I told you earlier, I was so happy because today's Friday and I actually got to go have lunch outside the office because I'm one of those people, I come in and I literally sit and eat at my desk and just keep working. There's never enough time in the right. So it's a treat. But yes, I. No, no question that the days I get to go out there and just, you know, watch what they're doing, you know, it gets you out of the office and it is. It is kind of fun.
- [38:55]
A
Yeah. Yeah. Well, and what, at the end of this, you're going to assess all of this data and kind of figure out where. Where do you go from here? Are you seeing that there's interest in continuing the idea. Are there other communities or maybe, you know, the, the adjacent district that is interested in kind of replicating this? And how does this fit into the overarching kind of sustainability, environmental plans for the village? Yeah, you know, you have much more than just this that you all do.
- [39:22]
B
Yeah, no, I, we, I, I personally feel that it's really important to share, you know, what we're doing because I do think that all of South Florida and other, obviously other parts of the world, you know, and the states can benefit from doing something similar to this if they have waterways that are in need of, you know, quality improvement. And we, we have like a, a show that we took, you know, that we take out and bring to different conferences. So the city actually pays for this professor to travel to these conferences to educate people and tell them about what we're doing. We want to be proactive in getting the word out because we do really feel that it's easily replicated. All it really does take is a willing partner to, you know, put something like this together. It's really not that difficult. And like I said, it's worth, I think it's, it's a, it's low hanging fruit, doesn't cost a lot to do it, and you can really make a difference. So other cities have expressed an interest and are a lot of the sister cities around here are kind of watching us, you know, like, what's gonna happen next? You know, are we gonna be torched and, you know.
- [40:38]
A
Yeah.
- [40:39]
B
Hard and feathered or are people gonna love it? So I think people have a lot of.
- [40:43]
A
Yeah, it's hard to be sometimes.
- [40:45]
B
Yeah. When it's a little controversial and, you know, things that have to do with, you know, climate change, sustainability sometimes, for whatever reason, has now become politicized. And so people kind of watch just to see how this is gonna float.
- [40:58]
A
Yep.
- [40:59]
B
Intended.
- [41:00]
A
I like it. I like it.
- [41:01]
B
I think that ultimately it's a success and I'm confident that it will be, you know, replicated elsewhere, no question.
- [41:09]
A
Awesome. And then your larger kind of environmental sustainability plans, you have a variety of things that you all do kind of in these categories. This is just one piece of a much larger puzzle.
- [41:19]
B
Yeah, yeah, no, we're, we're always trying to push a little further in terms of our green stuff. And, you know, one of the things we're doing that also is a first in Dade county is we have composting. I know you guys have this already, probably. We're in California. Right. It's like commonplace but down here, they nobody composts. It's crazy. So what we started doing was a compost program where we, you know, people didn't want to have the true composting bins that go in your backyard that, you know, bring, you know, potentially rats and God forbid, cockroaches or anything like that, so. Exactly. So they. What they ended up doing. What we have is like a drop off.
- [42:05]
A
Oh, nice. Okay.
- [42:06]
B
We started putting these drop off locations at different parks. We have a grant, partnered with our county commissioner. She fronted the funds to have a booth at the farmers market where we started educating people and gave them these little bins that they could put on their counter. And so they, We. We're. It's picking up like this is now the second or third year of that program and we're expanding. And now other cities, our cities are doing the same thing. They started calling us and saying, who are you using to haul away? What are you doing? And they're replicating it so it is spreading and hopefully we can get composting as a way of life down here in South Florida. We have landfill issues here.
- [42:52]
A
Yeah.
- [42:53]
B
So I'm excited that we were able to start that ball rolling here. And then the peacocks, of course, like I said, everything, you know, environmental. When you say environmental could also be the bad thing. So we have a very unique program with our peacock population control. We call it population mitigation program. We do vasectomies and tubal ligations on our pfoul.
- [43:21]
A
Wow.
- [43:22]
B
It's like fully experimental. You can check it out. Pine Crest peacocks. We've been on cnn, Reuters. I mean, we've been all over the world. We have world coverage with this one vet who came in. We were trying to solve for this issue. And I said, why can't we spay or neuter these things like they do cats? Like, why? What's the issue? And what I've learned, interestingly, is that these peacocks, they have like harems. Right? So one. One peacock can have multiple wives. Right. Little peas. And for every peahen that gets pregnant, they have like whatever, 12, 15 little chicks.
- [44:03]
A
Holy cow.
- [44:04]
B
And so imagine, do the math. Like you can have trace, you know, through generate one generation or three generations, you'll have a million, you know, peacocks. Right.
- [44:13]
A
So.
- [44:14]
B
And South Florida is really starting to get run, you know, it's. It's over the top. It's starting to get crazy. And, and the populations. There are no coyotes anymore that can, you know, they're predators. So we were really dealing with this Issue. And we said, okay. So we started with the idea of giving birth control, but that could affect other.
- [44:35]
A
Sure.
- [44:36]
B
Other birds. So we said, no, that's not gonna work. The spaying or neutering effect drops all the feathers for the peak peacock. So he loses his harem. The girls won't find him attractive anymore. Neuter them, they lose their plumage. They're. They're, you know, what attracts girls. Right.
- [44:55]
A
Yeah.
- [44:56]
B
So I said, well, what about a vasectomy? And the. The vet just sat there and said, you know, I'd have to experiment and see how difficult it is, but could be done. Maybe. Let's, you know, let's trap a couple of them and let me try and see what can happen. And he figured out a way. And he can do one peacock in four minutes.
- [45:19]
A
Okay.
- [45:19]
B
And they.
- [45:20]
A
He.
- [45:21]
B
We trap them. We put traps out people's homes. We, you know, they sign waivers. We put out the traps. We catch peacocks. They get transported to our botanical garden here, where there's a lab where we set up his equipment and everything. And he just does these vasectomies once a week. And we've done hundreds. And just this year, what we found, too, was when they're little, you can't tell if it's a girl, boy. So what he was doing was he would catch them, look inside and say, oh, he's a boy. I can snip here. They just banned them and let them go. But he started experimenting with the tubal ligation now. So now we're actually sterilized, both male and female. So we're getting the better bang for the buck because we obviously paying a trapper to trap per bird. And so now we're gonna be able to, you know, mitigate on both sexes. And again, we have a lot of cities that are calling, well, how much? And can we use your facility? And, you know, and it's great because we're. We're. We're all about solving problems here. And, yeah, you know, they're nuisances, and they do create a problem, you know, from environmentally speaking, so.
- [46:33]
A
Well, and such an interesting approach to something that. That feels, you know, kind of. It gets so big, so quick, so exponential that it's like we, you know, starting at the. Starting literally at the source, and sort of thinking outside the box, like, you know, no, no, bad idea. Right. Let's just explore and see what we learn. So I. I appreciate that about you, about your community, and just sort of thinking in all of these different fashions, whether it's, you know, peacocks or the floating flower islands, you know, learning something from the process of experimentation. And I think that's a very cool kind of approach that, that your city has taken. So. Bravo.
- [47:14]
B
Thank you. You know, one of the hard parts about doing these types of experiments is sometimes they don't work out. And so that's the difficulty is actually trying to find elected officials that are not scared of failure.
- [47:28]
A
Yeah.
- [47:29]
B
And criticism.
- [47:30]
A
Right.
- [47:31]
B
Some people, you know, from a political standpoint may want the sure thing. They may not feel comfortable where you might get criticized because you spent X amount of money on something and it was just a wash. But, you know, I'm lucky in that sense that this group of people, they're very forward thinking and, and they're definitely, you know, problem solving mentality and they're, they're willing to try. Like I said, I'll come in and be like, what do you think? And they're, they're. And they're really good about listening and letting you know. Staff kind of take the lead on these things. It's great. Yeah.
- [48:07]
A
Yeah.
- [48:08]
B
Well.
- [48:08]
A
And that can be. That's a very rare quality often in elected officials when that being in that world is so instant gratification and perfection. You know, that aspect of perfectionism and sounds like it's a really good place, you know, where your skill set and your approach and your team can intersect with your elected officials in a way that, you know, is trying to move a needle for a community. So.
- [48:32]
B
Absolutely. Yeah. No, no question. And they're, they're just, you know, the way that they come at it. I think also it's because of their backgrounds and, and their own rights as private, you know, business owners and CEOs and stuff. They just, they, they. They all kind of come from that mindset of solving problems, and they're not scared of problems. And so we're blessed in that sense. It definitely, I think, unique in local government for sure.
- [49:00]
A
Awesome. Well, shout out to the village of Pine Crest. Sounds like you have some good things going on. And last question here to wrap up our podcast here. Yossi, if you could be the gov Love dj, what song would you pick as the exit music for this episode?
- [49:15]
B
Oh, my God. Well, we talked a little bit. I'm going in between two. Right. Because I'm a huge. I'm a huge Durant fan, but I was like, okay, what's my exit song? So I think I'm gonna pick Tears for Fears.
- [49:29]
A
Shout Excellent.
- [49:31]
B
Shadow Everything out. What we're doing, people listen.
- [49:34]
A
You know, I love it. I think it's very on brand. All right, well that ends our govlum episode for today. A big thanks to you see for joining the podcast podcast. It's always a pleasure to speak with you. Thanks so much for being here.
- [49:48]
B
Thank you for having me. Loved it.
- [49:52]
A
Subscribe to GovLove on your favorite podcast app. New episodes drop every Friday. If you are already subscribed to Govlove, go tell a friend or colleague about this podcast or share on social media. Help us spread the word that GovLove is the go to place for local government stories. GovLove is brought to you by Elgl. Engaging local government leaders. The best way to support GovLove is to become an ELGL member. You can reach us online@elgl.org govlove or at govlovepodcast on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. This has been govlove, a podcast about local government.
- [50:38]
B
Those ones I took, you all. Give me Goodbye. You shouldn't.