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About safety at the meeting
“If there is a fire in this building right now, you are in the safest place you could be.” – Mayor Sam Henderson at the beginning of the meeting, referring to the numerous members of Gulfport Fire Rescue in attendance to witness the swearing-in of new chief Rene Fernandez
About new police cars
“I just wanted to let people know we looked into buying hybrids. There are currently no electric vehicles that are authorized for police pursuit use, and the hybrids were not available. Having just bought a hybrid, I know how hard it is to find them, and so that’s why we’re not buying an electric or a hybrid at this time.” – Councilmember April Thanos
About short-term rentals
“I believe that a code enforcement officer was hired, and I believe that the software was purchased to address the short-term rental scenario. Does that then mean that we, the residents, don’t have to call and complain about illegal short-term rentals? Is it no longer going to be complaint-driven? Or do we still have to initiate something to get it going?” – Karen Love
“The short-term rental complaint would still need to be initiated by the resident, but at that point we can use the software and the enforcement tools we have. We will be implementing them Feb. 1, approximately. But it does have to be initiated by the resident.” – City Manager Jim O’Reilly
About the city’s RV ordinance
“Gulfport is a very boat-friendly town, but it’s not a camper-friendly town.” – Jolene Weeks
“I look around Gulfport and I see all kinds of boats. They’re in the front yard or the side yard. They’re not any more attractive than my camper. Actually, my camper looks pretty doggone good. … You pay the taxes on that property. People should be able to have their personal belongings there.” – Tommy Bixler
“Personally, I’d like for people to be able to have one thing in their front yard – a boat, a trailer, an RV. Whatever you want in your backyard, go for it. But in the front yard I’d like to see them have one thing. And it should be equal between boats and trailers and whatever.” – Thanos
“What we’ve provided you today is an ordinance that treats an RV just like a boat. There was no intent to take anything away; it was to loosen it up immensely. That was what is behind this proposed draft – that you would treat an RV exactly like a boat.” – O’Reilly
“There is a wide gap between the ones that look like the brochure and the ones that are a nuisance. You might not be parked next to the pretty one … it might be the Randy Quaid one [from the film “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation”] next to your property. There’s a wide range of what could end up being parked next to you.” – Henderson
About electric cars
“An interesting story real quick. I drove up to Callahan and took 301. There was a car hauler on fire. All of the cars were on fire. And guess what was the cause of it? A Tesla. So if you’re going to go down the road of a fire hazard … a fireman will tell you how much it takes to put out one of those electric cars. It’s an enormous undertaking.” – Councilmember Paul Ray
