Good afternoon everyone. Glad to see you here today. Good afternoon, Mayor. Madam Clerk, would you call the roll, please? Yes, sir. Mr. Brown, Ms. Herbert, Dr. Bussells, Mr. Brennan, Mr. McDowell, Mr. Duvall, Mayor Rickerman. Here. Thank you. Can we stand for the press allegiance, please? A pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God and indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Reverend McDowell, would you mind saying a word, prayer, before we start? Thank you. Thank you, sir. This is my hedge for this day and for all of the benefits you've allowed us to share in, for your presence, for grace that surrounds us collectively and individually. We thank you for today. Lord, we simply ask that you might continue to bless this city of ours. Bless it in such a way that not only are we, not only are we brothers and sisters gathered together to celebrate the city and the uniqueness of this city, but also to celebrate each other. We understand and we are aware that there are issues, but in the midst of all of those things, we ask for mercy and grace. Be with us as we celebrate parks and rec. Be with us today as we celebrate Richland County and the fire department. Be with us as we celebrate collectively all that we are about as a city. We ask it and we claim it in your name, amen. So our next item up is adoption of the agenda. Is there a motion? Mr. Mayor, I move we adopt the agenda. We deferring items 35, 36, and 37 and change the spelling of our presenter on the city for city certification to LOTZ instead of FLOTC. Is there a second? Do we also want to defer the agenda to DERC? Do you want to include that? DERC deferral. And we will defer the appointment to DERC. That's a motion. We've got a second. Any further discussion? Questions, concerns? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickerman? Aye. Madam Clerk, do you have anybody signed up? We will know in just one moment. So we have two places for the public to speak at City Council. One is in the beginning when there is something on item on the agenda and then at the end where they can speak to City Council on any issue or concern. All of the individuals that have signed up have signed up for items that are part of the zoning public hearing. The public safety public hearing and the last public input session. So no one has signed up to speak at this time. Thank you, ma'am. You're welcome. With that. Mayor, do you want to specifically stay what's being deferred just in case there are folks here that may want to leave too? 35. That's the zoning for Sumter and Scott. I don't know. That's the zoning for Sumter and Scott. Item 35, the zoning map amendment for 1507 Mount Vernon Street is being deferred along with the two items for Scott at Sumter Street. Thank you, Madam Clerk. You're welcome. With that, can we have a motion to approve the minutes from June 20th? Motion. Second. We have a second. Any questions, concerns, comments, changes? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickerman. Aye. Great. We are now on to presentations. Item number two is our Parks and Recreation Month Proclamation. The Honorable Daniel J. Rickerman, Mayor. Mr. Vance, would like to make a few comments first. Mr. Sammons? Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor. Tired Council. Mr. Palin. Thank you so much for this opportunity today. We want to take this moment to acknowledge our Parks and Recreation Department as we celebrate National Parks and Recreation Month. This team has done some exceptional work. throughout the city of Columbia. And sometimes that goes unnoticed. However, today, we recognize their value. We recognize their commitment and their loyalty to being the experts in providing a safe environment that contributes to the quality of life of all citizens. Providing a range of services that impact our youth, adults, as well as our senior adults. Variety of services, summer camps, after-school programs, community gardens, cultural arts, athletics, outdoor adventures. Again, senior programming, aquatics, golf, tennis, baseball, soccer, lacrosse, mentorship programming, project management, maintaining our existing facilities and grounds, greenway and riverfront management with our park rangers, identifying grant funding is a big part of what we do as well. Also managing special events like our Veterans Day parade and our women's basketball championship parade, which are significant each year. We have a special group of people. The majority of them are with me today. And the city is better because of their work. I am honored and grateful to recognize the city of Columbia Parks and Recreation team who is with me today. Please help me acknowledge their work. Please stand. You want to quickly acknowledge our director, Randy Davis. He is the leader of Parks and Recreation. He does an amazing job. We are very appreciative of his work. And all of our leaders, all of our key leaders that are here with us today, we are grateful for them. And I want to turn it back over to you for the proclamation, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Thomas. Mr. Mayor. MacDowell. Mr. Salmon, come back. Just a word of thanks to each of you, both our park rangers and, of course, all of you who are part of our program and department. A special word of thanks to our ACM of operations, Mr. Salmon. And of course, Randy Davis, I hadn't seen where he is. There he is over here. Just a word of thanks to each one of you. Each one of us who are sitting in these chairs today are, we are reminded every day of the service and the work you do for this city of ours. It's, we can't pay you enough. I guess we could, but that's not an issue right now. I believe the reverence will start passing the plate here in a minute. We are indebted for each of you, to each of you who give up your time, your talent, your gifts and service. I've met a lot of you.  There's not a time that I did not enter Finlay Park and there was a park ranger there taking care of our park and other facilities. There's not a time that I did not visit a facility in my district where there were persons in parks and ricks that was not doing and was doing their job. So a complimentary word. Continue the word, continue to do what you're doing. We support you. We stand with you. And of course, just know that you're not by yourselves. Thank you, Ms. Simon. Thank you. And I want you to stand to hear that. So it wouldn't be second-handed information. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Can I add? I'll be much quicker than my colleague. Yeah, it's because you don't have Reverend in front of you. Exactly. Plus you don't need to take over an offering. No, just very quickly, I wanted to say back when I grew up in Greenview and I see one of my neighbors here. I lived on Sampson Circle. I was not allowed to go all the way down to the park. My mama wouldn't let me go. However, I sent my daughter all the time and I don't think I see her here, but Ms. Erica. Ms. Erica watched my child all through elementary school and I think a little bit of middle school right there at Greenview Park.  And so I'm very, very grateful. The other thing is with our staff park rangers, I'm going to challenge council because when I was at OBO, we did kayaking as a team building activity. And I don't know if all of you all have done that.  Let's do it. So if we could do that again as a team building, you smiling down, mayor. If we could do that as a team building activity, that would be pretty cool. But we're starting at the dam. Oh. The dam can make it happen. Is it down? Look, is it down? As long as it's down. But I appreciate all the help that you all have given us. You only need your hands. I'm not going. Thank you. Thank you very much. I do think it's important for us to acknowledge, as we continue to invest in the city that we're investing not only into our employees, but into our parks and wrecks, into our equipment. And if you look around in this year's budget, what we put into our facilities to improve the quality of the workplace, but also the quality of what we have to provide our citizens. But when you look at parks and wrecks, you have to understand that they do a lot of different things. Not only are they maintaining our parks and taking care of our youths, our seniors, overseeing programs from summer camps to athletic programs, outdoor adventures. But they're also doing things like providing fresh and healthy food to residents in 29203. They've distributed over 8,000 pounds of food and to more than 650 households last year. And I think that deserves a round of applause. We'll continue to be there. And the House of Representatives designated July's parks and wrecks month. And there's a reason, because they're an intricate part to our community, especially today when people need more opportunities for mental health activities to get outside, to get away from the day-to-day stress and just enjoy themselves with the physical health, our outdoor spaces. Mr. Simons failed to say pickleball earlier. I got to bring it up, because Mr. Duvall has been talking about it every year since we got one. But as we continue to involve and invest in places like Greenview, where we're working on the tennis courts and a walking trail, to May's Park, it hasn't had an uplift in quite a long time to our crown jewel family park that we're so excited to hopefully get started on soon and really be a center around our parks and wrecks. But how can we talk about the riverfront? And now that we have an opportunity with the land that we're going to be leasing from Dominion over the next hundred years for a dollar, I might add, to have more access at the riverfront and really take advantage of our natural beauty that our parks and wrecks folks have opened up and maintained so that all citizens and 15.8 million visitors that come to visit have an opportunity to do it. So with that, I'd like to declare Parks and Wrecks Month on behalf of myself and this body at City Council and would like all of Parks and Wrecks to come up front here to accept this proclamation and be part of the picture for it. I'm rather on the stand. It comes through right here. Oh, sure. Yeah. Ready. What you need? Hey. Hey, we got a fire. Yeah. Fire. It's all to me. Hey, Wolf. I got presentations. This is item number three, the Columbia Richland Fire Department Appreciation Day. The Honorable Daniel J. Rickman.  Chief, you're on. I'm on. Oh, okay. You go first. Can you hear me? Good. Mr. Mayor, Council, Mr. Palin, thank you all for this opportunity. I would say it's more than just responding to calls. We want to make sure that we are a fire safe community. And I think that we have shown that just through the programs that we have and just, this is just a small inkling of a net of what you see back here. These folks are very dedicated. You don't just see them responding to calls. You see them doing other acts as well. We did over 5,700 inspections last year.  Over almost 450 smoke alarm installs. It's also carbon dioxide installs. Those are very important because those save lives. That is the first one that people can get when they actually got a fire or they got some issues going on. So we're very proud, well, I'm very proud of my department and the men and women of my department that not only put their lives on the line, but they also want to make sure the lives are being saved before they even get there just by being a fire safe community designated in South Carolina. And this is like the fourth time we've got it's inception. And we just want to thank you all for recognizing our department in this light. Chief, thank you. And you mentioned some of the numbers that we included in the proclamation about the inspections, the home fires, smoke alarms. But what you didn't talk about is how many times y'all show up at an accident or they're the first responder there taking care of somebody's life and working with the administration and other folks when we're dealing with problem properties like we dealt with with the colony in the winter making sure that we're inspecting and making sure that people have safe place to live and that we have an opportunity to pull in teamwork coming together. And I think that for us is the most important part because it's not just one you're taking part in several different functions that are really lifesaving measures for our community. We take involved with all the inspections we talked about, but those 450 smoke alarms you put out there could make a difference between somebody getting out and somebody being lost. And so we appreciate it, you know I think one of the things that we also are excited about is that hopefully by this September the new pay raise and the new grade are put into team that we voted for in July, it will go into place that hopefully everyone has now had an opportunity to look at and see and see what's coming to show our appreciation for what the fire department does as we continue to move forward on investing in a new firehouse, upgrading those rooms, getting that bunker gear finally here but also making sure that we got the capital commitment to our vehicles and an investment in the houses. So with that, I'd like to read this proclamation because I do think it's important. Yes, sir. I appreciate you bringing up those other things as well because this is part of that crew that spent a lot of time on that colony making sure that folks are safe. And that's something that, you know some people say, well, why you do that? They do it because they care. They care about life. It's evident in what they do. They care about life. So I thank you for bringing that up. Absolutely. With that, as whereas the city of Columbia, South Carolina is committed to ensuring the safety and security of all those living and visiting Columbia, the Columbia Richland Fire Department has roughly 600 career and volunteer members committed to protecting the public from dangers of fire, fire related injuries. Of course, as we mentioned many others from rescues in the river to first responding to accidents, to EMS calls when EMS can't get there but the Department of Fire Prevention Division also has worked tirelessly to promote education on fire safety in our communities. Fire departments use both virtual and in-person means to engage with citizens on prevention and safety.  Installed on those 450 smoke alarms, 118 carbon monoxide alarms for citizens in need of those devices. These activities earn more the department of recognition of FireSafe South Carolina Community for the fourth year in a row. That designation came from Fire Safety South Carolina which promotes risk reduction programs and fire departments to prevent fire related injuries in our state. So therefore, I, Daniel J. Rickerman, Mayor of the city of Columbia, along with my fellow members of city council do by proclaim July 18th, 2023 as Columbia Richland Fire Department Appreciation and Day. With that, I'd like all citizens stand up and give these guys a hand. Mr. Palin. Yes, sir. Item number four, need for city certification. Ms. Clara Lotz, an intern with public works department. Thank you, Mr. Palin. Thank you, Mayor Rickerman and thank you, council members for inviting me here today to tell you a little bit about the Lead for Cities certification. Thank you. We are very excited with everything that's been going on so I have some updates I would like to share with you today. Maybe. There we go. So first I'd like to start off with what is Lead for Cities? So lead stands for leadership in energy and environmental design and the Lead for Cities and Communities project is the leading global rating system and certification program for evaluating sustainability and quality of life in a city or community. So it takes a multi-stakeholder approach and it's a third-party rating system so it's an unbiased way to move towards a more sustainable, equitable and resilient city. So here are the lead certification levels and I'm not sure if anyone's familiar with the star communities certification that we got back in 2017 but in lead standards of certification levels the three star rating would technically be considered a silver lead certification. So we have been working on this project for about a year and we started the initial review process in March of this year and we had to wait about five weeks. We submitted 73 credits and we only got 35 of them approved at first. A little bit discouraging but we reworked, we went back and in early May of this year we ended up resubmitting some of those points and we were re-awarded 33 of them which gave us a final score of 68 which means that the city of Columbia is lead certified gold and not only are we lead certified gold not only are we lead certified gold but we are also solidly gold. We are kind of right there in between gold and platinum which I believe is a huge step up from star in the past. I think it's a great, great improvement that we've made just in six years. So another awesome thing about our certification, maybe, there you go. So Columbia is the first lead certified city within the entire state of South Carolina which I think is just an amazing accomplishment and Columbia is also one of only 15 cities to be certified within its cohort and we are also currently one of the highest rated cities within our cohort so far. Nice. So I'd like to talk a bit about some of our best performing categories. We did very well in innovations and regional priority. Now these categories involve taking initiatives and programs we've already seen and implemented within the city that may not be talked about within the Lead for Cities Rating System and we talk about them and explain them ourselves and I have some examples listed up there as well as the ones where we did very well in. Sorry, this is not working too well. In addition, we did very well in energy and greenhouse gas emissions as well as natural resources and ecology. We had relatively low greenhouse gas emissions compared to other similarly sized cities as well as a low carbon economy and we also had very robust resiliency and natural disaster plans as well as a massive amount of natural resource area and green spaces per capita. So I'd like to talk a little bit more about what does this mean for Columbia. Now that we have this certification, what can we do with it? So one of the top things is we now have a baseline of sustainability that we can improve upon. We can advertise this achievement and bring in more businesses and residents. It'll allow us to get even more grant funding for more projects and we've now become a part of a network of over 120 lead certified cities across the globe. Now I'd like to acknowledge some of our city departments and staff that offered their assistance to this project, could not have done without them. I'd also like to say thank you to state and local partners that offered their support as well as our special thanks to our US Green Building Council mentors and cohort members. Can I answer any questions for any of you all? Good evening. Nice to meet you. Good to meet you. Good to meet you. Mike. Claire gave this presentation to our committee a month ago and it was an excellent presentation and the mayor did not do justice on the introduction of Claire that Robert did at the committee meetings. Oh, I'm not as good luck in as Robert does. Robert, would you tell us a little bit about Claire as she's an intern? So yes, sir. Clara is a intern. She's a recent graduate of USC. She graduated out of the US Marine Science Department, not a Marine, okay? So she's chosen to move here from Kentucky. She spent four years here. She was hired by Mary Pat, I believe Sarah, what a great hire she was.  Tomorrow. Tomorrow. So, bittersweet to see her again. It's been a very, very, very good relationship. Now, her real introduction is she's just the intern. Okay, is all we've ever called her. She's just the intern. So just the intern, Clara. Thank you. Well, thank you, Clara, for your hard work on this. I know you had shared with us that she had to go through several blurbs and edit them and resubmit them to get us the right level of lead accreditation. And I think in terms of the implications that we talked about on our committee, I think this opens up a lot of opportunities for us to be at the table for grant opportunities that are coming down the pipeline, as well as I know she mentioned that there is a cohort of cities that are working together and we get to be part of that prestigious cohort. So this is definitely laying the foundation for some of our environmental and sustainability projects that we're looking to do. So we appreciate all of your hard work on that. Thank you. Anyone else? Any other comments? Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us. You know, if you're interested in staying, we can carve something out, I think. There might be a way to keep you, but we wish you good luck in your new adventure. And I know you'll be quite successful just based on what we've seen you do here in a short time. We know you're gonna land somewhere really nice and do a really great job to improve and leave a, wherever you find your home, a better place than when you found it. So thank you on behalf of the city of Columbia. Yeah, thank you all so much. I've had a great time here. I've been here for a little bit over a year now and it'll definitely be hard to leave. It will be hard to leave tomorrow, so. Where are you going? We have to know. India. We're going to Indianapolis. Oh, cool. I'm lost. You're giving up the heart of hospitality for India andapolis? I mean, I miss everything but the heat. Well, we wish you well. And when you realize that it's time to come back, the door's always open. Thank you. Thank you. I have one more announcement. So we have today with us Miss Diane Coleman. She is from the US Green Building Council of Carolinas to present us with our lead gold certificate here today. Oh, wow. Thank you, mayor and council for inviting somebody from North Carolina here. I am excited really to share in this celebration of the city of Columbia's work to create a more sustainable, resilient, healthy and inclusive city. And that's no small task. My name is Diane Coleman. I am the community leader of the US Green Building Council, which is for me, my responsibilities are North and South Carolina. For those of you who don't know the US Green Building Council, it's a nonprofit run by its members across the world. And I'm representing more than 6,000 of those members across the globe. Organizations and professionals who are working to really create healthy and high performing green buildings, homes, neighborhoods and communities through the lead green building program. There are actually hundreds of members in North and South Carolina that I work with have the pleasure of working with as volunteers as well. Since we launched lead 25 years ago, it has really redefined the places where think about it, where we live, we work, we play and we learn and enhances the built environment for many generations to come, the work that you're all doing here. Lead is used in 50 states and 180 countries and territories around the world. In South Carolina, there are currently about 382 lead certified buildings and homes which contribute to an enhanced quality of life for their occupants. And while I'd love to stay here and talk about green buildings, I'm really here to celebrate something much larger. And that is the lead certification of the entire city of Columbia, South Carolina, the first in the state. So, and we might just steal Clara too. So lead for cities is a program that tracks the progress, right? Towards sustainability, resilience, think about decarbonization and net zero and equity objectives for the entire city. It helps the local leaders create and operationalize responsible, sustainable and specific plans for your natural systems, energy, water, waste, transportation and many other factors that when you think about it, all contribute to the quality of life here. And you serve as an example for others. And that is the best part. And one of the reasons that makes me the happiest to be celebrating this certification. The certification is a benchmark. It's not easy. It's a scorecard and Clara has shared with you much of that data. It's a data-driven and performance-based system and it was meant to be that way so that we make progress towards enhanced sustainability, resilience and equity. So by earning lead gold certification, really high up there on the list, the city of Columbia demonstrates a strong commitment to transparency and continuous improvement. As Clara mentioned, that you've kind of come from another certification level and this is much better. And it's enhancing the life for your residents, your visitors, your neighbors and the businesses to come. The city is one of that small group, as Clara mentioned, of 120 local governments worldwide to achieve this lead certification. And we've been doing it for about the last eight years. It's truly remarkable. You'll see some YouTube videos with little more details that Clara had presented. But to me, what stood out was really the reduction of energy and greenhouse gas emissions, which a lot of cities and a lot of companies are interested in doing to help us all in the long term. So we applaud, mayor, recommend city council members, city of Columbia staff. I know there are many of them in this room and certainly the public works department. And Clara, for doing this hard work and this heavy lift to raise the bar for what we should expect from our cities and communities. And your commitment to this comprehensive city-wide version will provide really in the long term a stream of environmental, economic, community and worker benefits for decades to come. So on behalf of the US Green Building Council, I am very proud to present the city with their lead gold certification, which I have on this plaque. And you will probably also receive one for your building. But I welcome the mayor, city council and our public works group to come up and accept this award. Oh, good, well done. Well done. Well done. Well done. Well done. You should hold this. It matches the plaque. I want to say to all of you, and that is my role as a cleaning leader for the South Carolina, is to take this recognition with credit across both states, so it's about the kind of time for us to decide if we can find the volunteers and then there's a list of those on the right page. Mr. Palin? Yes, sir. That ends our presentations for the evening and any chance that I could ever break my record from prior speed councils, but that's fine. It was a good evening. Jeff, you can't win all the time. I know. Next up, council is asked to consider our consent agenda, items five through 31. Is there a motion? Is there a second? Second. Any questions, concerns, comments? Now I'm seeing none. Madam clerk. Mr. Brown? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussell? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. And Mr. Mcdowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickman? Aye. Thank you. Greetings, City Council. We are now moving to our public hearing and first reading for zoning and planning matters. It is diminished to three this evening. Your first is an annexation, future land use map amendment and zoning map amendment for 10 acres on the north side of Richard Street. It's a request to annex the property, assign a land use classification of transitional sensitive land and a zoning of plan development district, portions of which is in the floodplain overlay district and the floodway overlay district. Is there anybody here to speak for or against this annexation burnside farms? Mr. Mayor, a motion to approve. You got a motion. Is there a second? Second. A motion, a second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, see none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll please? Mr. Brown? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussell? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. Mcdowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickman? Aye. Item number 33 is an annexation, future land use map amendment and zoning map movement for 6.04 acres on the south side of Trinity Drive and 3.68 acres on the south side of Trinity Drive. Request to annex the property, assign a land use classification of urban edge mixed residential and a zoning of residential mix district for the pending annexation. Is there anybody here to speak for or against this annexation? Hearing none, seeing none. Is there a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Is there a motion? Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll please? Mr. Brown? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussell? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. Mcdowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickman? Aye. The final item on the public carrying agenda is number 34, a zoning map amendment for 3.85 acres on the south side of Trinity Drive. Request to rezone the property from office and institutional to residential mixed district. Is there anybody here to speak against this annexation from commercial to mixed residential? Seeing none, hearing none. Is there a motion? Motion to approve. Got a motion. Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussell? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Thank you. And that concludes your zoning public hearing. Thank you, Ms. Hampton. Thank you. Moving on to item 38, this is the first of several for a public hearing and first reading of public safety ordinances. Item 38 is ordinance number 2023-079, amended the 1998 code of ordinances of the city of Columbia, South Carolina, offenses in miscellaneous provisions, article nine, offenses against the public peace and order, section 14-105, urban camping and improper use of public places. We'll move. Is there anybody here to speak or or against this? Any comments? Do we have anybody signed up, Madam clerk? Yes, sir. We have Mr. Reggie Solis, Ms. Erica Brown. Please be reminded that you have three minutes to state your comments. Hello. How are y'all today? Good. How are you? It's me again. Last time I was here, we spoke about us serving the unhoused. I followed your POC that you gave. I contacted her by phone, followed up by email. Unfortunately, it's been about three or four weeks now. There was no final result. I have not heard back from her. I still want to do my due diligence and give them back to the community. However, I want to do it within the law and the means. I don't want to be a disturbance or go against the grain and what you guys are doing, but God has placed my feet here. You guys may not understand my mission or my purpose, but I understand it. And giving back is where my heart is. You guys taking that away from me puts me back at zero. We do more than serve meals. You may not understand the justice of the service that we do, but we've taken individuals off the street and put them in permanent shelter. We've gotten individuals jobs and that's with no brick and mortar. That's with no government funding, solely off of the public support. You may all may not want to deal with me personally, partnership, whatever. All I'm asking is allow us a perimeter to continue to do our service work. We do make a difference in the community. Are you talking about from the feeding standpoint providing the meals? I'm talking about from the feeding standpoint because other individuals are still allowed at the park and I've stopped because I was told I couldn't. But for the past three weeks I've gone to that park and certain individuals are still allowing to be served to serve individuals. So if it's gonna be a law or a rule, make it fair across the board for everyone. And again, this is just not about providing. If you were in Finley Park, well, Finley Park will be closed who's starting the beginning of August for construction. And we've made arrangements and have worked out some of those details that were concerns that got brought up. Okay. Who did you contact, by the way? Camisha, I believe is her name. That's, she gave me her car at the last time I was here. So I phoned her. She didn't call me back. So I followed up by email. She said, Ms. Brown, I'll get back with you. She did follow up a day or two later. She told me she had a meeting with Christ Central but I didn't hear anything back. That's one concern, but there's also another concern about the pods. There are individuals that are contacting me directly and our organization that are successfully completing the program, but they're back in the streets because there was no alternative outside of them finishing the program at the pods. So it's routing individuals in and out of homelessness. If they're only allowed 90 days and then when they're 90 days are up, it's like, oh, well, we don't have any place for you to go and they're back on the street. Our funding is limited. So there's only so much we can do. We may put individuals in a hotel for two to three weeks depending on the situation. But again, when our funding stop, they're back on the street as well. They shouldn't be, I'll let go out of the pods. If we have to wait and extend to get, now we've had some problems with vouchers, but they shouldn't be moved out. So that's something we need to look into as a council. I do wanna make sure you get connected with Camisha and have an opportunity to do there. I don't know where the disconnect is, but we'll get it resolved. If you'll share your information with Ms. Belton right there, so we can make sure that... Because I've been waiting to hear from her. And like I said, there was no follow-up. Dr. Rhodes, one of our board members did contact some individuals as well. Like I said, we're partnering with USC and Allen University where the students volunteer with us. So we wanna keep giving back, but again, we don't wanna go against the grain like we're... Have a place for you to give back and we don't make sure it happens. So we'll get connected and get this resolved tomorrow. That's all I ask for. Thank you for being here. All right, thank you. Is there anyone else who wanted to speak on this ordinance? Do you have anyone else signed up? No, sir. Okay. Mr. Mayor, I move approval of first reading. Is there a second? Second. Do we have a motion and a second? Any further discussion? Hearing none, seeing none, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bustles. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Item number 39, ordinance number 2023-080, amending the 1998 code of ordinances of the City of Columbia, South Carolina, Chapter 14, offenses and miscellaneous provisions to add Article 13 abandoned shopping carts. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. Second. Is there anybody here who would like to speak on this issue? No, sir. No, sir. No signing up. So we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion, Ms. Herbert? Yes. I just wanted, and I wasn't involved on the committee level, just trying to see if we had gotten any input from the businesses that will be responsible when they're in. They, most of them hire people to retrieve those and by us being able to help identify as the location, the replacement cost for them is much cheaper to retrieve them and to buy new ones. They're about $350 a piece to buy new ones. Okay. Just wanted to make sure that they've been discussed. Yes, ma'am. Any further discussion? Seeing none, hearing none. Madam Clerk? Mr. Brown? Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. And our third item, ordinance number 2023-081, amending the 1998 code of ordinances of the city of Columbia, South Carolina, chapter 14 offenses and miscellaneous provisions to add article 12, drug paraphernalia. Mr. Duvall? Mr. Mayor, I would move approval of first reading of this ordinance and elect for it to be referred back to the public safety committee prior to second reading. Okay. That's a motion. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Is anybody here to speak on this ordinance? Is anybody signed up? Yes, sir. Okay. So what we will do is we'll vote today. This will go back to the public safety committee. And if there are any changes, those will be publicized to the public for this. It's a pretty extensive ordinance change. And I think that's the reason we want to send it back to public just to go through it one more time to make sure that we're not doing anything that causes some other issues instead of solving some issues. So with that, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickman? Aye. Up next resolutions, item number 41. Resolution number R2023-050 annexing 118 Bluff Road, 118 and a half Bluff Road, 126 Bluff Road, 132 Bluff Road, and 138 Bluff Road. Motion to approve. Thank you. Very good. I just had a couple of questions from the public. And I don't know if Christa or who can and why this is done in resolution form. So you're granting second reading of the annexation ordinance, but due to it being city owned land, the state law also requires a resolution of this body. That is a really, okay. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Madam clerk, did you read the roll? Mr. Brown? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Mr. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickman? Aye. Item 42 resolution number R2023-053 incorporate energy efficiency measures and power all city of Columbia, South Carolina municipal and city owned and operate investments and infrastructures with the generation of an additional 75 megawatts of energy from noncombustible base renewable sources, NCBRS by 2036. Motion to approve. We got a motion, second? Second. We got a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Let's do it. Madam clerk? Mr. Brown? Aye. Ms. Herbert? Aye. Dr. Bussells? Aye. Mr. Brennan? Yes. Ms. McDowell? Yes. Mr. Duvall? Aye. Mayor Rickman? Aye. Item 43 and I will add this is regarding our ARPA funds and there was a presentation this afternoon at the work session. So we have adjusted that for the three year commitment that was brought up. So that is actually we'll reflect. So item 43 is resolution number R2023-055. We got a motion, is there a second? Second. And for the publics where for those who haven't seen it or weren't involved, part of the ARPA funds that we received which was a total of $27 million, we have invested in the city if it's partnering with Rich in One JAG program to the Office of Violence Prevention to Pathways unit which is clinicians working with our police department and helping us with the folks who are challenged in our community to food insecurity to the rapid shelter improvement in our parks affordable housing, construction and rehabilitation, demolition of bad structures, commercial retention and development program. This was a loan program that we worked with our businesses during COVID, the Lurie Center, police facilities, general funds, grant, contract services, CF, our fire department, we had station improvements on air quality, station livability and then the gear attractors in the second set of bunker gear. So all of that over a period of time along with paying hazardous pay to our first responding teams during COVID that that's how we spent $27 million from the government to benefit our community. So with that, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Yes, sir. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Harbert. Aye. Dr. Busles. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickman. Aye. Thank you. Item number 44, resolution number R 2023-06-0, authorizing the city manager to execute a lease agreement between the city of Columbia and 2638 two-notch LLC for the lease of 2638 two-notch rote suite 208 for the use as a police substation. Mr. Mayor. Not a motion. Second. There's a second. Any further discussion or questions? Hearing none, seeing none, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Harbert. Aye. Dr. Busles. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Item number 45, resolution number R 2023-06-1, approval for release and abandonment of a portion of existing city of Columbia, Water Main Easements for Office Max Edition, 607, Bush River Road, Richland County. Is there a motion? Motion. Is there a second? Second. Any further discussion? Hearing none, seeing none, Madam Clerk, can you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Harbert. Aye. Dr. Busles. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Aye. Thank you. We now move on to our first reading of ordinances. Item number 46 is ordinance number 2023-078, granting an encroachment to Tamaka Triangle Friends, Care of Wayne Scribnik and Angleuse for the use of the right-of-way areas of the 3,600 block of Tamaka Road and the 1,400 block of Heatherwood Road for the installation and maintenance of landscaping and irrigation adjacent to 1,401 Heatherwood Road and 3,650 Tamaka Road, Richland County. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Motion is second. Any further discussion? I know the Tamaka Triangle Friends are excited. They reached out to us several months ago about getting this done so that they can maintain this triangle where if you've ever been by there at Christmas, it has a very large Christmas tree display. It's beautiful. And thank you for taking that on. So with that, Madam Clerk, could you read the roll? Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Harbert. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickner. Aye. Item number 47, ordinance number 2023-086, granting an encroachment to Gadsden-Peach, LLC for the use of the right-of-way areas of the 1,300 block of Gadsden Street and the 800 block of Lady Street for the installation and maintenance of landscaping and irrigation adjacent to 1,310 Gadsden Street, Richland County. So moved, Madam. Second. Madam Motion is second. Any further discussion or questions, concerns? Hearing none, seeing none. Madam Clerk. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Harbert. Dr. Bussells. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickner. Aye. And our final item for ordinances, first reading is item 48, ordinance number 2023-087, amending the business license ordinance of the City of Columbia to update the class schedule as required by Act 176 of 2020, known as the South Carolina Business License Tax Standardization Act. Motion to approve. So we've got a motion and a second. Any further discussion or questions? Just for the general public, so they understand the South Carolina Act of 176, the Business License Standardization Act requires every municipality and county government with a business license to update its business license class schedule. Every odd numbered year to go into effect the following year, as is 2023, it's time to update your license practices to remain in compliance with the state law. Former class schedule and ordinance of 2021-082 must be amended to the new class schedule as required by the Act 176. The class schedule updates in the latest statistical data on business profitability from the IRS, which then receives approval from the South Carolina Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. Any further questions? Madam Clark. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Harbert. Dr. Bustle. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickiman. Aye. Thank you. Item 49 is appointments for the Climate Protection Action Committee. Mr. Mayor. Yes. I have three appointments that I'd like to put forward, but prior to that, I'd like to ask Ms. Wood to confirm that we have let the non-voting appointees know that we no longer have non-voting members pursuant to the new boards and commissions guidebook that we created. We've informed the committees, but we need to, and we've given out the handbook, but we want to do a formal orientation to kind of walk them through it, but they've been made of care. So when do you all anticipate that they would roll off then? I believe we talked about July, like then, so that's this month. I have to follow up with them. Okay, could we plan on August 1st by the next council meeting? That would be great so that we can be consistent with all the other committees. And I'd like to make a motion to appoint David Voiles, Shelly Sasser and Dennis Wheel to the CPAC. I can. Okay, great. There's a motion and a second. Any questions, concerns? Any other amended nominations? Hearing none, seeing none. Congratulations to David, Shelly and Dennis. Madam Clark, read the roll. Mr. Brown. Aye. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bustle. Aye. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Mr. Duvall. Aye. Mayor Rickman. Aye. Thank you. Next, we have the design. No, we just forgot about it. Thank you. Thank you. Next up is City Council Committee Referrals, Reports and New Business. Do we have any committee reports? Any referrals? I'd like to see if we can convene the special committee on those that interviewed our municipal judges and get an update on some of our efforts around homelessness. So since that committee was only there for that, that period of time, would it make sense to have that go to administration? Or public safety. Public safety, public safety. Do you take that on? We'll take it. All right. We have referral for update on judges and our process dealing with the homelessness as well. To public safety. To public safety. To the public safety. Yes. Okay. Any other referrals at this point? Committee? Any updates? No. Can tell it's the month of July. At that, we're at public input. Madam Clerk. At this time, we have a savior kids, Mr. Lee Carroll. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. And I'm here for, I'm a former police officer, former parks and red and former military. And I go into the community and I see a lot of stuff. And as I was standing, sitting over there, it was a long sit. And I heard Mrs. Simon talks about parks and red. And some of this stuff is true. You got some good workers, but you got a lot of workers who are not working and they are affecting the people that are working. And the kids are being pushed out the park. And you have kids that want to come there, but they can't come there because of staff. And it's a dance team. And those kids, it's about 50 of them now. And they go to hire a park, but they put them in this little room. And you got a dance studio over at Sarinance that nobody's using. And I don't understand why they can't use that. But we got to do more. And it's old saying, it's bad to be blind, but it's worse than you can see and still be blind. So whatever we can do, man, I wish we would do it. Thanks. We'll follow up Mr. Carroll with you and get some specifics so that we can address any concerns. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Madam Clark. Yes, we have Ms. Yolanda Kelly. Ms. Kelly. Councilman and women. My name is Yolanda Kelly. I went through the city to try to get help to get my housework done. They turned me down because my name hasn't been on the deed for five years. It's only been on there for three, but I had to pay the mortgage off in order to get my name put on the deed. So I'm being penalized because of that, but I need help. Could you tell us a little bit about your situation, ma'am? So that we can find the right people. It's okay, take your time. It just hurt because right now I need roof work. When it came out and inspect, they did everything they had to do as far as inspecting the house. And the man told me there's plumbing problems, electrical problems, and that when the house burned down in 98, the man that rebuilt the house, used the old frame. He didn't tear it down to redo it like he needed to. He just built it up around the old frame that burned. So the reason that I came today is to see if there's anywhere possible that I can get help. Because by me being disabled, I can't do it. I need help. The windows, they all need to be replaced. My bathroom is starting to get mold. I've been off of oxygen for six months now. I'm blessed. And the Lord put me in this position to come to y'all today for help. So I'm here asking for help. Anywhere, put me in the right direction where I can get help to get my house fixed. If you'll wait around till after the meeting, we'll sit down and find the right folks, get the rest of the address, everything, and let us look into the situation and find out who the right people are to try to help you with your situation. Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, I will, I'm sorry.  So this is my neighbor. From when I lived in Greenview on Stamps and Circle. Yes, ma'am. I've been in that house over 50 years. Yeah, 1980s, and we first talked to Ms. Said about it when I first got here, but I think that we now have a program that you may qualify for. At the time last year, we didn't have anything that you qualified for. So let's make sure. But she used to babysit me. Oh. So we blame you for that? Sir. Do we blame you for her? No, sir. No, sir. No, but you like it. That's what I said. We'll be fine. We'll get with you and figure out, but Ms. Herbert's right. We just got to find the right way to get you into what programs are out there. So if you don't mind waiting a little bit. No, sir, I don't mind at all. Mr. Mayor, also if there's, maybe if it falls outside of what the city can do, I would recommend that we kind of get contact with homeworks. And she could, she could email my city, my brother's the chairman of homeworks, and they might be able to help you as well. So we'll find your path. Thank you. Yes, ma'am, Ms. Kelly. Mayor, at this time, Mr. Regisolus is back and would like to speak about the urban camping ordinance. Sure. Regisolus is back in the room and he'd like to speak on the urban. I was not here to talk about the urban camping ordinance. Last month I came to you asking about the report on the Spindley Park stage. I called your office several times. I was referred to every single department. Nobody has this report. I'd like to know where this report is. For what? The damage at Spindley Park stage that you stated that there was, which is the reason for the fence around the stage. Did you? Nobody has this report. Hold on one second, please, sir. Do we have, can we get this report? I know there is one. And can we make sure it gets to him as soon as possible? Thank you. And also, were you able to talk with Chrysental yet? Yes, we did. We had a meeting with them and they're working out the details so that there isn't a liability and so forth. And when the park closes on August 1st, then we'll have it all set up. Okay, but they are going to be charging a fee? You have to clean up after yourself. Well, yeah, I realize that. And you're not going to have to have a million dollar liability policy. That was the big stumbling block right there. There's a huge stumbling block. Yes. So, yeah. So we'll get all the details.  We did have a meeting with them. We didn't know that they were putting in liability. That's what I was talking about. That was not out, but... Because I told you about that because I called them. And we had a meeting with them. They met and they worked it all out so that we could have a place that's there so that everybody could have a safe, clean, air conditioning place to provide meals for folks. And did anybody get a chance to read any of those news articles I left last time? I haven't received any articles. I left copies of several presidents in the federal court. We have them. And one of them pertains to urban camping. So you might wanna look at that because there is a president set already on that. I think we're within the letter of law what we're doing. You might wanna check. We're providing quite a bit of service out there so there are opportunities for folks. No one else has signed up to speak. Was there anyone else to speak? Yes, ma'am. Good afternoon. Councilor Mayer. My name is Yonte Wright. I'm coming in light of trying to rescue my dog. She's in the process of supposedly supposed to being spayed. I don't want her to be spayed. I found a conflicting article that I approached the animal shelter with. And if she's not registered, she's privately owned. So I said with this much being said with her being privately owned, why do I still need to sign documentations? And this is not my wish for her to be spayed. She doesn't have any life threatening illnesses or anything like that. I bought her to be bred. And it was just an unfortunate situation being picked up. She was not picked up by animal control.  So she was found by a neighbor close by. I'm just trying to prevent her from being spayed so that I can continue raising her and eventually breeding her. I have another animal as well that has been fixed. She's a female as well. I want to be able to give her the experience of seeing what it is like to produce a letter. Do you have a breeder that you work with that can certify that they're breeding and all of that? You need to bring a letter from that breeder in the vet to do that. But because the dog was loosened out means that it had an opportunity and had it been in heat to get pregnant by who knows well. She's not that old. But she's not even in heat. She hasn't even started. She hasn't even started at six months old. And so they have a cycle every six months to a year on it. She hasn't even spotted. But the law states you can't just have an unspayed dog without having the prevention that's there. So if you've got a breeder in the vet that you can work with and provide the documentation, then you may take the dog to breed. Well, she's a mixed breed. So she's not registered. And because she is a mixed breed, she does not have to be registered. So it's not about if she has to have a license, right? Number one, to be in the city, you have to have a license for your pet. So she has to be registered that way, not as a registered breed. But if you're with a breeder and there's things, you have to have documentation. I have to get to that point, sir. I'm a single parent and I'm trying to get to that point. So like I said, I'm in an unfortunate situation. I do not want my dog. If this happens later on down the line, I will have to purchase another dog. That's another mouth to feed. I don't wanna have to go through that. I suffer from depression as well. So I'll be going through depression right along with my dog. That was my- If you've got a therapy letter to go with that, that also qualifies, but you have to understand that- I've been in mental health. We just got through being on the news because people are complaining about, we're having to deal with all these unwanted dogs that come in euthanasia and we're trying to find homes. We can't just allow dogs to go out and be bred and not without. So there's a letter of a law there. I'm giving you multiple ways to try to figure something out and I'm glad to try to direct you in that place, but I can't just give you the dog back in the process. But if chapter three is conflicting with what chapter four is saying, then that's what I'm saying. It's against my wishes and then I have to turn around and sign a legal document and legally, I feel like my rights are being violated as well because this is not my wish. This is not my wish. Did your dog registered in the city, licensed in the city? She does not have to be. She has to be licensed to be in the city. All pets have to be licensed in the city of Columbia. It's an ordinance. I don't live in the city. Okay, well then the county is our partner there. If the county will give you a release letter, then we can release the animal, but I can't do that. Okay. I'm just trying to figure out what I need to do to get my dog back. I was called early this morning and told that she couldn't be fixed. I'm gonna have Mr. Anderson who's here. I'm sorry. Mr. Anderson, who's with Public Works, that department is under there. He's right there. He will help you figure out what you gotta do to solve your personal situation there. Okay, great. Thank you. Clint, we didn't, Mr. Sheila, would it be helpful because you're familiar with, you're familiar with animal services and the practices when a dog is picked up. You and I just went through something similar. It may be good to speak to this young lady, if you would. We had a situation where a dog was picked up and you and I talked about that. And of course, to talk to Mrs. Riles. It may be good just to have that conversation. Would you please? That's all. That concludes public input. Is there anyone else who wanted an opportunity to speak? Now is your time. Hi. Good evening. All right, I'm Carol Mitchell. Hey, Ms. Mitchell. And I'm in district one. And I really, these are really procedural questions, right? So the Planning and Development Commission recommended a denial on a zoning request, right? So then the next thing we know, there's a new sign up and I find out that it has to come before you all, for you to either uphold P and C, P and D or, you know. Yes, ma'am. Override them. Yes, ma'am. So that was on the agenda today. And y'all deferred it. So now I want to know what does that mean? What item was that, ma'am? 35. That's 1507. So the applicant called the office yesterday, he's out of town and so he wasn't able to be here and he asked for it to be deferred to the next public hearing. I tried to send a message to some people, but I don't have everybody's immediate contact so it was deferred for today. But it will come back to us at the next public hearing. Second meeting in August, correct? Is that right, Ms. Hampton? That's a prista. September? So my next question would be, what would make county council override their own staff recommendation? Well now we're not county council, are you talking about us? Well city, I'm talking to city council, what would make city council override their own staff on their recommendation? Well that is going to be the question of the hour. And that's September, that's the question of the hour. Right, what would make y'all override P&D? I think it comes to a lot of factors and until that, but we can't talk about it until we have the public hearing. Like I said, this is procedure. I want to follow the procedure. That's the procedure. You know what the question is, just like when the first there was a green sign up, we attended that meeting. Now there's a pink sign up. Procedurally this gives everybody an opportunity to be heard. And so that's why we have the public hearings in each segment. And even at this one, we'll have two readings. And so if there are things that need, let's say we approve it, let's just say we approve it. But we see that there needs to be changes done or something needs to be quantified in a document. Then we'll ask for that to be done in between first and second reading. If it doesn't get done then we may not give it a second reading, which means it can't go forward. So there's a lot of different things. It all depends on the entire case that's before us. So I guess now the neighborhood just waits until September 18th. Well, you can probably talk to your neighborhood president. We submitted letters. Right. Right. Those will be in the record, yes, ma'am. So y'all won't review our letters until September 18th. That's what you're saying. Well, we can have conversations. You can plead your case any day of the week by contacting any of us to have that conversation. Well, like I said, I submitted the letter to the city clerk. Yes, ma'am. We've talked to our district councilman, right? So, but as I say, I left home this morning at seven o'clock and there was no change to the sign. Right. Until the public hearing they had the right to withdraw. Until I got here. Yes, ma'am. And you tell me it's deferred. So I'm trying to figure out what's the deal, right? So for us to continue to keep our eyes on this, our community. Well, I will guarantee your district rep, Ms. Herbert, over there will make sure you know. Thank you very much. Absolutely. Absolutely. Anyone else? Going once? Going twice? Second. Motion to adjourn. Second. Ready? Mr. Brown. All right. Ms. Herbert. Aye. Dr. Bussell. Mr. Brennan. Yes. Mr. McDowell. Mr. Duvall. Mayor Rickman. Aye. Thanks and have a great evening.


Two years after the global food crisis got the world's attention, CSIS is out with its second report addressing global food security and how to fight it. After our 2008 report that was co-chaired by Senators Casey and Luger, we felt the need to move beyond some of the short-term issues that we covered in that report and really take a more in-depth look at some of the long-term drivers of agricultural productivity and of poverty in poor countries. Senators Luger and Casey were at that point joined by Congresswoman McCullum as a co-chair for obvious reasons I think you've already heard today. And in our efforts we focused primarily on three areas. We wanted to take a look at methods and approaches to raise productivity among smallholder farmers. We wanted to focus more on an area that we don't focus on much at CSIS. That's more the domestic U.S. ag issues, especially in terms of the U.S. ag research agenda and what that means. And then finally we wanted to look at the role of trade in food security. In addition, during the course of our efforts, the Food Security Initiative was announced by the administration, so we also looked at some of the organizational issues around that effort. The new CSIS report recognizes that significant progress has been made, but this report is especially valuable because it also calls to attention all the unworked, all the undone work that we still have to focus on. It reminds us that many of the underlying causes of the food crisis have yet to be addressed. Populations continue to rise in developing countries. Food prices pushed lower by the recession are climbing again, and policies on biofuels and trade in the developing countries contribute to the crisis have largely been ignored. The report being released today centers on the importance of boosting farm productivity to meet an expected doubling in the demand for food by the year 2050. It stresses the critical need for investing in agricultural research through university systems, through extension services, and national agricultural research systems. It pays special attention to the role of global trade in increasing food security and income security for everyone. On just last week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on global food security. As Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew told us, ensuring people are fed, and I quote, is not just about food, it is all about security, national security, economic security, environmental security, and human security, end of quote from the Secretary. Indeed, chronic hunger and poverty deeply affect international stability, because hunger fuels social disintegration and local conflicts and extremism. We hear statistics like every five seconds a child in the world dies from malnutrition. And what that means, increasingly and significantly, the numbers relate more to women and children than they do to men. But we know the number. When you get to a billion people, you're affecting everyone. But this is mostly about how we're going to deal with God's children and what that means to our own common humanity. And we don't have a magic wand here, but we do have a piece of legislation that allows us to create a focus in the White House, a focus in the Congress, and an investment in a new strategy, not just the old strategy of providing more aid and more resources. That's been a wonderful benefit to the people of the world. But this bill allows us to chart a new course. Thanks for watching. Visit CSIS.org for more resources.


Kenji asks, I have one Microsoft account which has two team settings. Looks like one is a new free account I added from the Office portal. The other is a Teams free edition I created last year right after the COVID pandemic started. This one is using the free AAD instance with my Azure subscription. The newer one is recognized as a personal account, and the other one tied to my AAD account as organizational account. Is there a way to merge these two? I would like these two to be merged and keep the organizational one tied to my Azure subscription and remove the newer personal one. I have a horror story on this one. This is eight months of my life of frustration, and it came when Office 365 first was rolled out, and I subscribed, I used my Hotmail account to create a Office 365 account. There's so many of us have done, yeah, exactly. Yes, and then the company I was working for at the time, also I was working client-facing, so I wanted to make sure that I could share files with them, so I created an online account using that email address, and then I kept getting every time I'd log in, you want to use the work or the personal or the work or the personal. It was really frustrating. I don't need the personal version, I just want the work version, but so I changed the password to make sure that it was the right account. I deleted the personal version, and then what happened was in the Azure AD, it deleted my role as the member of the AD domain, and so then I couldn't log in anything anymore that had to do with that account. It was a complete nightmare, and after eight months of going back and forth, trying to get Microsoft support to help me, I, me, the waffle woman, I'm all about the waffle, I figured out the script that you have to use in PowerShell to put the member type or the user type back in Azure AD and shared it with the organization that I work for, and I felt like calling all those help guys at Microsoft to say, I fix this, I can't be the first one like you said, I can't be the first one that did this, right? And I'm not a scripter. And I was like, that was my first win ever being able to use PowerShell. So hopefully, Sherry, let me ask you, did you go and did you blog about it? Did you post your solution out on tech community, out on Reddit, subreddit conversations around this? Because I bet you there are dozens of locations out there on the web, where people have had that issue and where they're not getting any help. Like most of the time when I go and I'm searching for something very specific, and especially things around Azure AD and other problems that I've had with multi-tenant issues and things and all the different profiles, like I've got stories I can tell there as well, where I find plenty of links of people asking the question and no answers posted. So I always encourage people when you find a solution, like please go post that solution around to all those locations, take a few minutes to go share the joy, spread the love. You can tell Christian's role in having a partner. What's that? Sorry, Sherry. I said you can tell Christian's current role is heavy on the marketing side. Exactly. I have to admit, this was before I got involved in the community and I was kind of the lone wolf out there, I probably would have tapped into my community had I known. And that I did post it somewhere but I can't remember now. And I was looking for that script. I did put a link in the spreadsheet for how to update the Azure AD and its user type is the one. But so the person that's asking about this, if you delete the personal, you could mess up the one that's tied to Azure because what I found out there's two separate, even though it's a Microsoft account because it's tied to Office 365, it's a separate data repository to keep it simple. Of the usernames and passwords than the one that you use, Microsoft personal ones have a separate one but somehow it deleted the wrong, it deleted both of them. And yeah, they're like, well, go in, you're the administrator, I'm like, I know but I know nothing about Azure AD. I had no clue what active directory, I know enough to be dangerous how to change profiles but that when I went in there and looked and it said the user type was blank, I'm like, oh, hey, there's something about this. And I probably like I said, eight months of my life, I can't get back because of this. So yeah. And I feel pretty sherry because I've been through something similar. And not that it's horrific, but yeah, the personal versus work account thing is a nightmare. What is interesting to me about this question is not only are we talking is the question about how do I deal with these two identities? The very end of the question is, I would like these two to be merged and there's one straightforward answer I can provide to part of that. We've talked about the identity side, we have not talked about the data side. If you have chats and conversations and meetings and any of that other stuff in teams that exists in both of them, the answer to can that data be merged out of the box? No. With a third party tool, which there are plenty of them available, kind of somewhat maybe if the gray area. I'm not aware of any that will merge. The solution to most of those is that you can archive in those assets and still make them available and secure those, but not merge that I'm aware of. Some of the- My writings could be a carbon copy to the other account and things like that, but yeah, that's one thing I want to make clear is if you figure out the identity nightmare here, like Sherry did, the content piece is just going to be a loss. In the same aspect though, you have to take this to a higher elevation because when you're doing- I'm going to say take it to a higher power. Have you seen Frey about this, Mike? Yeah. Now, it's more about those accounts are tied to not just teams. They're tied to everything that you do inside of M365 and even on-prem. You're not just merging team data. If you are merging, you'd be merging everything. I think that this is going to be a knock on Microsoft. I think Microsoft has made this very difficult for people because we were talking about this as MVP six years ago, saying, hey, I've got these 20 different accounts that I have and five different tenants, and I can't get the two to merge. I can't just use one account. Now, we even have the problem now where we're joining our summit sessions. We have to have that specific account to join the summit session. We can't use the other 15 that we have. It's got to be that one and it's got to be a work or school account.  This is Microsoft Teams work or school account, and then I've got a separate Microsoft Teams icon. Why confuse everyone even more? It's the same thing when you go up and into the actual Teams interface, and you want to select an organization. Again, you can only have one personal account, which is that one home account, not a work or school account. I just think that the messages that Microsoft has delivered over the years around this complex issue have been very vague and not very well done, and it's still confusing to this day. Well, they call it a Microsoft account. Well, is an Office 365 a Microsoft account? It is, but it's not like the Microsoft personal account, which used to be like your live ID. You can't find into your Xbox using your Office 365 account. Right. Now, they fix it. You can't use a work or school account to create a live ID for lack of, because they like to use the same terminology for everything. Right. One of the problems that people had is that they would set up a domain that via a vanity domain, their own personal domain, and then they'd actually want to make it into a Microsoft account. Well, Microsoft says, no, no, no, you can't do that because we don't know anything about that domain. You can't use that domain unless you add it to M360 Azure Active Directory as a verified domain. But you may be getting your mail in like Google in Gmail or Google Apps. Well, you can't use that anymore. In order to do it and use that account, you have to move everything over to M365, which I don't, I mean, to me that you're just making something that could be so much simpler.  You're literally describing my MVP experience. My personal domain account is what I use to submit my application, but when they accepted me, it's now an Active Directory domain account that uses the same username, but I have to just like every time I log in, I have to decide am I logging in with my personal account or my work account?  Sorry. I went to, this just happened. I don't know where it's drawing this from, but I just went to log down, was logging in and it found a company that I worked for last time. I worked for them was in 2014. I found that happen. Yet it found the login. I'm like, I don't know how, where it found that. But that was one of the options and I'm like, nope, other had to go and reroute it. Yeah, so there are, I won't say the word problems. There are opportunities. And create solutions. There's a little bit of credit. Spoken like a pure marketer. Here's a little bit of credit to give. I mean, I remember when, for a little deep IT world here, the Volume Licensing Center, you had to have a personal account to get into the Volume Licensing Center to get your keys. Even though it was taught, the Volume Licensing Center is purely an organizational thing. Like that was a nightmare that it took them us years to fix. I like how for a second it was them. I still have my Hotmail account and it's tied to my Microsoft everything because that was my, from my MCT and everything. I want to get rid of that Hotmail account because it's just spam central anymore. I get 200 spammy nails a day in there and I don't know why the filter can't be better. And trying to change your Microsoft ID to a different email, I just want to use my Outlook one that I have. Terrible experience. Impossible, yeah, impossible.  And I needed to get two counts merged. And Max, you may have some insight into this, but at the time they were just like, yeah, we really, we can't do anything about that. You're going to have to have two separate accounts. And I'm like, really? Really? Yeah.


A schema is a generalization of past experiences that forms a scripted pattern of thought. For example, we all have a specific process in mind when we think about going to a restaurant. Some imagine standing in line, placing an order, and eating, and then throwing the trash away. Others imagine being seated, then ordering, sharing everything, and then paying, leaving a generous tip. We can think of a schema as a mental framework in the form of a kid's toy. Things we already fully understand, say a triangle, get into our brain without a problem. When new information is similar to what we know, say a square, it can enter the brain through assimilation. For completely new information, here a star, this doesn't work. Then we need accommodation and to change the schema itself. Accommodation is the cognitive process of making new information fit in with your existing understanding of the world. It works if new information is close to what we already know. To process the new information, we make it fit into our existing schemas. We have to use accommodation if things are so unique that they don't fit into our existing schema. In other words, to understand something truly new, we first have to remodel our brain space. Just imagine you were born completely colorblind. Not a million books or the best teacher could ever truly explain red to you. You need to experience it to accommodate the idea. Frederick Bartlett demonstrated how schema unconsciously alter our perception and memory in what became known as the War of the Ghosts experiment. He did that by reading to his British students a strange Native American folktale from the Chinook tribe. The story involved ghosts, hunting seals, going to war and canoeing. Later, he monitored how the students recalled what they remembered from the story, first days, then weeks, and then months after. Three striking things happened. 1. Omission of unfamiliar details Multiple students did not recall a part about the Chinooks going hunting seals. This happens because hunting seals does not naturally fit into the cultural context of rich British students. In other words, they do not have an existing schema for this kind of information. Therefore, they have a hard time understanding it and hence can't move it into their long-term memory for later recall, and so they forget. Bartlett argued that psychologically we conceive anything that doesn't fit our schema as irrelevant. 2. Familiarization of things strange Some of the students that initially did remember the part about hunting seals later recalled the activity as going fishing, a canoe that was loaded with weapons was remembered as a rowboat. This happens because when we like the words to describe new unique experiences we use idioms or figures of speech. In other words, we channel unfamiliar information through the framework of a familiar schema and because we do that every time we recall that unique experience, over time it becomes more familiar and less authentic. 3. Rationalization of the illogical Right after it was told, most students thought that the tale was strange. A few weeks later, however, it suddenly made a lot of sense to some of them. The students began to add terms such as therefore and because and unconsciously made the story casual and logically coherent. Whenever they retrieved it from memory they added a reason. The Chinooks didn't go hunting seals or to war on their canoes, they took the boats because they wanted to go fishing. Bartlett noted that each time the students were asked to recall the story it had changed a bit, which means that long-term memories are neither fixed nor immutable but are constantly being adjusted. This supports the existentialist view that people construct the past in a constant process of adjustment. In other words, much of what we remember is rationalized into a self-narrative that allows us to think of our life as a coherent string of events. Jean Piaget, who coined the term, argued that we can construct our experiences into ski martyrs so we can make sense of the world. Sprout's videos are published under the Creative Commons license. That means our videos are free and anyone can download, edit and play them for personal use. And public schools, governments, and non-profit organizations can also use them for training, online courses, or designing new curriculums. To help us stay independent and support our work, you can join our patrons and contribute. Just visit patreon.com slash sprouts. Even one dollar can make a difference.