[00:00:02]
[Call to Order & Introductions ]
UH, YOU ARE CONVENING THIS MEETING OF THE CAN FOR THE DIRECTORS.I AM COUNCIL MEMBER, JIMMY FLANNIGAN.
YOU ARE FOUR CHAIR IN MY FINAL MEETING AS YOUR BOARD CHAIR AT THE END OF 2020.
UM, WHY DON'T WE, DO WE HAVE ANY CITIZENS COMMUNICATION? NO.
ALRIGHT THEN, UH, RAUL, THANK YOU FOR SENDING THE GOOGLE DRIVE.
I THINK THAT'S THE GREAT INNOVATION AND HOW WE RUN OUR MEETINGS.
[Consider approval of Minutes for November 13th, 2020 CAN Board meeting. (Action Item) ]
ON THE MINUTES OR EMOTION ON THE MINUTES? RICH SIEGEL MAKES THE MOTION AND ANY SECOND NORA SECONDS, ANY COMMENTS? ALL RIGHT, THEN WITHOUT OBJECTION, THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED.[Community Council Update ]
YOU HAVE A COMMUNITY COUNCIL UPDATE FOR US.BASICALLY, WE HAD OUR FIRST PLANNING SESSION, UM, LAST MONTH, UH, 30TH, NOVEMBER THE 30TH, AND WE ALSO ELECTED, UH, FIVE NEW MEMBERS TO THE COUNCIL.
AND WE'VE ALSO GOT, UH, TWO MORE COMING UP FOR OUR NEXT MEETING.
SO WE HAD OUR FIRST PLANNING SESSION AND WE INCLUDED THEM.
THEY WERE INTERESTED IN, IN PARTICIPATING IN ONE THEY'RE SO EAGER.
AND I THINK WE'RE ALL REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES FOR NEXT YEAR, BECAUSE WE, WE WANT CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN THE WORST WAY, AND IT WAS REALLY HARD THIS YEAR, NOT TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT.
SO WE'RE GOING TO BE, UM, VERY ENGAGED AND OUR GOAL REALLY IS TO CONNECT WITH THE GOALS OF THE CAN.
AND WE'RE GOING TO BE INVITING YOU AS CANNED MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE WITH US AS WE LOOK AT, UM, BASIC NEEDS, UH, WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH WHAT YOU, UH, THE CAN BOARD HAS IN MIND.
SO WE'LL FIGURE OUT WAYS TO LINK AND TO WORK TOGETHER.
AND YOU'LL SEE MORE OF THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEMBERS COMING ON WITH ME.
AND I JUST WANT TO THANK, UH, ROLL AND THE STAFF FOR THE INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF WORK THAT THEY HAVE DONE WITH US IN ORDER TO, UM, GET THIS FAR.
AND I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO 2021 AND OUR, UM, NEW CHAIR.
UM, I'M GOING TO STAY THERE AND I'M GOING TO BE THERE WITH NANCY GILLIAM, WHO IS OUR CHAIR FOR NEXT YEAR AND RACHEL HAMPTON.
WHO'S OUR VICE CHAIR AND I'LL BE PAST, AND I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT AND I'M WEARING GREEN.
I WAS GOING TO SAY, NORA, THE WIZARD OF OZ IS SOMEBODY'S HEAD OVERSEEING THE WORLD AND I'M HERE FOR IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, AND NORA, YOU'RE BOTH JUST A LITTLE BIT TOO EXCITED ABOUT THE FACT THAT THIS IS YOUR, YOUR LAST, UM, UH, MEETING AS, AS BOARD CHAIRS, BUT THAT'S OKAY.
UM, NORA, I WANTED TO ASK THAT, ARE YOU WILLING TO SHARE THE NAMES OF THE NEW FOLKS THAT YOU'VE ADDED TO THAT COMMUNITY COUNCIL HAS ADDED AND WE'LL HAVE THEM IMMEDIATELY IN FRONT OF ME? I DID THINK ABOUT THAT.
LET ME PUT THEM IN THE CHAT FOR EVERYBODY.
AND AGAIN, I HAVE TWO MORE COMING ON AND I NEED TO ASK YOU TO HELP ME GET A BIO FOR ANIME.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT COMMUNITY COUNCIL? ALL RIGHT.
[Executive Director’s Report ]
DIRECTOR'S REPORT.CAUSE WE HAVE SOME, UH, OUR NORMAL DECEMBER BUSINESS, WHICH IS WORK PLAN AND BUDGET AND ALL THAT STUFF.
UM, BUT JUST GOING TO GO OVER THE STAKEHOLDER SURVEY A LITTLE BIT.
UM, BUT, UH, I WILL NOTE THAT ONE OF THE NEW COMMUNITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, HER NAME IS KELLY CROOK AND, UH, I THINK Y'ALL MAY RECOGNIZE THAT NAME AND, AND I'M SO EXCITED TO HAVE DR.
UH, SHE'S VERY DETAIL ORIENTED.
THAT'S ALL I'LL SAY RIGHT AS OUR ALL SUPERINTENDENT.
UM, OR, UH, SO, UH, BUT ANYWAY, SO I DON'T KNOW HOW NORRIS SCORED THAT, BUT NORA HAS THOSE, UH, WIZARD OF OZ POWERS, I GUESS.
UM, BUT, UM, UM, SO YEAH, SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, UH, WE'RE ON OUR WAY WITH COMMUNITY COUNCIL, RIGHT.
TO KIND OF MAPPING OUT, UM, WHAT NEXT YEAR LOOKS LIKE.
AND IT'S, UM, IT'S KIND OF INTERESTING.
UM, WE WERE JUST TALKING WITH NORA, RIGHT.
YOU KNOW, CAUSE WE BOTH ATTENDED HEALTH EQUITY POLICY COUNCIL, YOU KNOW, AT CENTRAL HEALTH KIND OF MANAGES AND WE WERE AT COMMUNITY SCHOOLS YESTERDAY AND WE'RE ALL OLLY ISSUES THAT ARE TALKED ABOUT ARE PRETTY SIMILAR AND IT JUST KIND OF MAKES YOU WONDER WHAT MEETING AM I IN? AND, UM, AND AGAIN, YOU KNOW, IT JUST, IT REALLY KIND OF HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR US TO MAKE SURE, AGAIN, WE'RE TALKING TO EACH OTHER TO MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT DUPLICATING EFFORTS OR THAT WE'RE NOT DOING SOME, YOU KNOW, OUR WORK IN A VACUUM BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IF, IF WE'VE IDENTIFIED A CHALLENGE OR ISSUE,
[00:05:01]
CHANCES ARE OTHERS HAVE TOO.SO, UM, AND AGAIN, THE, UH, THE ABILITY TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON THESE, UM, CAUSE BIG ISSUES OR, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, MAGNA IS MAGNIFIED IF WE CAN DO IT TOGETHER RIGHT.
AND NOT IN OUR OWN LITTLE SILO WITH OUR OWN LITTLE GROUP.
AND SO, UM, SO I LOOK FORWARD TO JUST KIND OF MAPPING SOME OF THAT OUT AND SOME OF THAT'S REFLECTED IN OUR WORK PLAN.
SO WE'LL GET TO THAT IN A LITTLE BIT.
UH, BUT I DID HAVE A FEW SLIDES TO SHARE IF, UH, I CAN BE, IF NORA, IF YOU CAN WAVE YOUR WINE AND GIVE ME THE POWERS OR UNTIL LENA CAN GIVE ME SOME TIME, THERE WE GO.
UH, SO REALLY AGAIN, I'M JUST GOING TO MAINLY GO OVER THE STAKEHOLDER SURVEY AND UM, AND NOW I KIND OF PLUG THAT IN AND I'M GOING TO ASK JULIANA TO PUT THE LINK TO THAT AGAIN, AND YOU STILL WANT TO DO THAT.
SO WE'LL SHARE THE LINK TO THAT.
UM, BUT, UM, BUT IT'S BEEN, YOU KNOW, A HECK OF A YEAR JUST LIKE WITH EVERYONE ELSE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE ALL KIND OF PIVOTED, YOU KNOW, AND HAD TO DO STUFF THAT WE DIDN'T NORMALLY DO.
AND, UM, WELL, WE DIDN'T PLAN ON DOING, I SHOULD SAY, AND STILL TRY TO TRY TO DO WHAT YOU SET OUT TO DO, BUT ALSO, UH, TRY TO RESPOND RIGHT TO WHAT WE SEE HAPPENING ON THE GROUND, UM, IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND, UM, SO I WANTED TO SHARE JUST A LITTLE BIT, YOU KNOW, CAUSE I WAS INTERESTED IN WHAT PEOPLE WERE THINKING.
I THINK THERE'S OBVIOUSLY SOME SURVEY FATIGUE OUT THERE BECAUSE THERE'S NO SHORTAGE OF, OF SURVEYS THAT, UM, THAT WE'VE ALL HAD TO FILL OUT.
AND, UM, AND, UH, AND OURS IS PRETTY, PRETTY STRAIGHT AND TO THE POINT AND UM, BUT, UH, WE DID HAVE, WE HAVE ABOUT 80 RESPONSES SO FAR AND YOU KNOW, AGAIN, IF YOU STILL WANT TO RESPOND, YOU CAN, UH, WE'LL KIND OF TURN THIS LOOKOUT.
IT CLOSES OUT AND SUBMIT THE RESULTS TO, UH, UM, NEXT WEEK, RIGHT.
TO OUR, TO OUR PARTNERS AND REQUEST THIS INFORMATION.
AND UM, AND AGAIN, WE WANT TO HAVE A MIX, RIGHT? WE DON'T WANT IT JUST TO BE THE BOARD OR JUST NON AFFILIATED PEOPLE THAT CAN, AND WE HAVE A PRETTY GOOD MIX HERE IN TERMS OF, UM, BOARD, COMMUNITY COUNCIL, WORK, GROUP MEMBERS, DIALOGUE, SUMMIT PARTICIPANTS, ET CETERA.
WE USUALLY GET UP IN A HUNDRED, 125 RESPONSES.
SO WE'RE KIND OF LOW ON THAT, UH, THIS TIME AROUND.
UM, BUT WE DO HAVE A, USUALLY WE'RE IN THE, AROUND 70 TO 75%, USUALLY AROUND, UM, OUR RESPONSES ARE SUPPORT FOR OUR WORK AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE AT 72.6% A YEAR ON, UH, OUR ABILITY TO EFFECTIVELY, UH, INCREASE COMMUNITY AWARENESS ABOUT ISSUES.
UM, AND SO, UH, AND AGAIN, WE TRY TO BREAK IT UP BY, YOU KNOW, FOLKS WHO HAVE NO AFFILIATION, WHICH PROBABLY JUST MEANS THAT THEY GET THE NEWSLETTER OR, YOU KNOW, THE PODCAST OR READ OUR EQUITY BLOGS OR SOMETHING.
UM, SO THERE'S NO AFFILIATION COMPARED TO THESE OTHER CATEGORIES, RIGHT? SO THOSE ARE, WE HAVE THE PARTICIPANTS AND WORK GROUP MEMBERS AND COMMUNITY COUNCIL AND BOARD AND, AND ALL OF THESE ACTUALLY WE GOT A LOW SCORE FROM OUR COMMUNITY COUNCILS.
SO I THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT IS KIND OF INDICATIVE OF SOME OF THE TRANSITION WORK WE'VE BEEN DOING WITH COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF TRYING TO MAP OUT, UM, AND MORE, UM, BE MORE INTENTIONAL RIGHT ABOUT, UH, HOW WE DIRECT THE WORK OF THE COUNCIL SO THAT IT DOESN'T TAKE A LONG TIME TO IDENTIFY THE PRIORITY AREAS.
SO IT DEFINITELY IS SOMETHING INTERESTING THAT I THINK WE'RE ALREADY WORKING ON JUST IN TERMS OF MAPPING OUT, UM, WHAT OUR COMMUNITY COUNCILS ARE DOING.
AND JUST A QUICK, A QUICK UPDATE ON THAT IS WE'RE BASICALLY CREATING A POLICY COMMITTEE AND A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE, OR, UM, BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO DO BOTH AT THE SAME TIME, RIGHT? I'D USUALLY WE FOCUS ON THE POLICY.
AND THEN WHEN WE FINISHED TALKING ABOUT AN ISSUE OR INVESTIGATING AN ISSUE, A LOT OF TIMES WE NEVER GET TO THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OR THE AWARENESS AROUND THE ISSUES.
SO I THINK, UH, IN CREATING THESE TWO COMMITTEES ON THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL, I THINK THAT'S GOING TO HELP WITH, UH, FOLKS WHO WANT TO BE OUT THERE, UH, SHARING INFORMATION AND ENGAGING COMMUNITY AND THOSE WHO WANT TO ACTUALLY BE FOCUSED ON POLICY.
SO I DO THINK THAT'S GOING TO HELP WITH OUR ABILITY TO ENGAGE COMMUNITY COUNCIL, BUT ALSO ATTRACT PEOPLE TO COMMUNITY COUNCIL.
SO AGAIN, WE'RE AT ABOUT 70% AS WELL FOR DEVELOPING RESOURCES AND, UM, AND OUR BOARD IS, YOU KNOW, THE HIGHEST THERE, THANK YOU BOARD FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF OUR WORK AND, UH, AND OUR RESOURCES.
[00:10:01]
IT COMES TO THE ENGAGEMENT PART, OF COURSE, THAT'S A LOT HARDER TO DO.AND IT DEPENDS ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT KIND OF ISSUES WE PICK AND WHETHER PEOPLE HAVE A CONNECTION TO THOSE ISSUES, YOU KNOW, SINCE THE CAN BOARD IS SO DIVERSE.
UH, BUT YOU DO SEE AGAIN, THERE WERE PRETTY HIGH EXCEPT FOR, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY COUNCIL AGAIN, AND NO AFFILIATION WITH, TO GET OUR FOLKS WHO GET MORE INFORMATION FROM US, BUT THEY DON'T NECESSARILY PARTICIPATE IN OUR ACTIVITIES.
AND, UH, SO THAT'S ABOUT 60%, WHICH IS ABOUT WHAT IT WAS LAST YEAR, BUT USUALLY WE'RE MUCH HIGHER THAN THAT.
AND, YOU KNOW, 65 TO 70 USUALLY.
AND THEN, UM, THIS IS MORE CREATING OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTNER ACROSS SECTOR.
AND, UM, WE'RE AT ABOUT, YOU KNOW, LITTLE UNDER 60% THERE TOO.
SO PRETTY SIMILAR TO THE PREVIOUS ONE.
AND, UM, AND I THINK WE'LL, UM, I THINK THIS YEAR, YOU KNOW, WE'RE KIND OF SHIFTING A LITTLE FROM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE SAME LEVEL OF EMPHASIS ON, UM, SINCE WE LAST LAUNCHED THE RACE EQUITY COLLECTIVE, WE'LL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THAT, BUT NOT, WE WON'T BE LEANED DOWN AS HEAVILY RIGHT.
TO FACILITATE CONVENINGS THERE.
UH, SO THAT'LL FREE UP SOME ATTENTION, SOME TIME AND ATTENTION FOR THE, FOR OUR WORK PLAN, WHICH WE'LL TALK ABOUT IN A BIT, UH, AND THAT SAME THING WITH COMMUNITY SCHOOLS, IT'S SORT OF MORPHING INTO ITS NEXT STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT.
SO AGAIN, THERE MIGHT BE MORE CAPACITY FOR US TO WORK ON SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED OVER THE, THE MINI RETREATS, UH, OR STRATEGIC DISCUSSIONS WE'VE HAD OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS, COUPLE OF MONTHS.
UM, ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE WE, I KIND OF GO ON TO A COUPLE OF QUICK ANNOUNCEMENTS, UM, SO ONE ANNOUNCEMENT, UM, AND AGAIN, WE CAN, WE CAN TURN BACK TO THIS.
I CAN'T SEE, I CAN'T SEE THE PANEL.
I THINK SOME OF MY RESPONSES OR MORE TIED, I THINK YOU'RE DOING INCREDIBLE WORK AND I DON'T THINK THERE WAS ANY WAY THAT I COULD ADD THIS TO IT, BUT I BASICALLY, WE CANNOT HAVE NOT DONE ENOUGH TO INFORM THE COMMUNITY OF ABOUT THE WORK WE'RE DOING.
AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WORK THAT YOU HAVE DONE THE QUALITY AND THE, THE TREMENDOUS BREADTH OF WHAT IS DONE IN THE COMMUNITY.
BUT I THINK IT'S, IT MAY, I, I WANT TO FOCUS ON, OR REALLY MENTIONED THAT IT'S GETTING THE WORK OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY.
THAT IS MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE AND MY BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT, NOT BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T MAKE EVERY EFFORT, BUT I THINK THE REST OF US MAYBE HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT HOW TO SUPPORT THAT AND HOW TO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT COMMUNITY COUNCIL WILL BE DOING IS, IS CREATING THE COMMUNICATIONS MARKETING COMMITTEE TO CREATE A MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLAN.
AND MAYBE WE CAN DO THAT IN, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE REST OF THE BOARD HERE, BECAUSE IT'S NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WORK THAT YOU'VE DONE, PLEASE, EVERYBODY UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S JUST A MATTER OF BEING ABLE TO ORGANIZE OURSELVES AND TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO GET THIS INFORMATION OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY, THAT WE TAKE THAT AS A VERY HIGH PRIORITY.
I JUST WANTED TO COMMENT ON THAT.
AND I, AND I THINK THAT THAT'S A, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY A COMMUNITY COUNCIL TAKES IT TO WORK SERIOUSLY.
SO I THINK THAT'S PART OF WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE IS, YOU KNOW, WE ALL FEEL LIKE WE COULD DO MORE OR SHOULD DO MORE.
AND SO I THINK SOME OF THAT FACTORS IN, AND THESE ARE NOT EASY ISSUES TO WORK ON, BUT, UM, I THINK WITH, UM, LIKE AS USING SOCIAL MEDIA A LITTLE MORE EFFECTIVELY, THAT'S GOING TO HELP, BUT ALSO AGAIN, JUST HAVING A SET GROUP OF, OF OUR COMMUNITY COUNCIL, THAT'S THINKING ABOUT THE ENGAGEMENT, RIGHT.
AND I THINK THAT'S GOING TO HELP A LOT TOO, BECAUSE WHEN YOU HAVE POLICY DISCUSSIONS IS JUST SO, I MEAN, IT'S SO HARD TO THINK ABOUT ENGAGING AROUND THE POLICY WHEN YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND AN ISSUE AND YOU'RE NOT READY TO GO AND TALK ABOUT IT UNTIL YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE.
SO I THINK THAT'S PART OF THE WORK WE DO IS, IS, IS, UM, THAT LEVEL OF COMFORT OF BEING OUT THERE TALKING ABOUT WHAT ARE VERY COMPLEX ISSUES AND ME AND MY STAFF CAN DO IT RIGHT.
CAUSE WE SORT OF READ EVERYTHING AND, AND TRY TO STAY UP TO DATE.
AND WE GO TO THE COLLABORATIVE MEETINGS, BUT OUR COMMUNITY COUNCIL DOESN'T, YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T HAVE THAT.
THEY HAVE THE MONTHLY MEETINGS AND MAYBE A COMMITTEE MEETING.
SO AGAIN, THAT'S WHERE I THINK, YOU KNOW, AS, AS WE, UH, CREATE A BETTER STRUCTURE, RIGHT.
FOR US TO DIVVY UP THE WORK, THEN THAT MAKES IT EASIER.
AND, UM, AND PEOPLE CAN, CAN SELF IDENTIFY RIGHT.
AND WHAT KIND OF WORK THEY FEEL COMFORTABLE DOING.
BUT THANK YOU FOR SAYING THAT NORA
[00:15:01]
IT'S, UH, UM, THIS IS THE CHALLENGE RIGHT WITH, WITH KEN IS, IS, UH, IS MOVING TO ACTION, RIGHT? THE, THE ACTION PART.AND I THINK WE'VE MADE SOME GREAT STRIDES, YOU KNOW, OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
AND, UM, AND AGAIN, NOW WE'RE NOT, NOW WE NEED TO GO MAKE SURE PEOPLE KNOW THAT WE'VE KIND OF SHIFTED RIGHT FROM, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST KIND OF PRESENTING DATA OR SHARING DATA TO ALSO TRY AND ENGAGE MORE EFFECTIVELY AROUND THE DATA.
WELL, TO THAT POINT, TOO, TO WHAT NORA WAS SAYING, UM, I APPRECIATE YOU PRESENTING OVER IN PFLUGERVILLE AND GETTING INFORMATION OUT THERE FOR THAT, BECAUSE TO BE FRANK WITH YOU, NOR IS RIGHT, THE INFORMATION'S THERE IT'S RIGHT.
THE MECHANISM, THE RESULT, WHICH YOU HAVE HERE IS ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL.
AND IT'S JUST PEOPLE BEING COGNIZANT OF AND BEING LIKE, OH DUDE, WAIT A MINUTE.
THEY LOOK AT THIS, THIS IS AN ISSUE I'VE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT FOR A WHILE NOW.
HOW DO I GET INVOLVED? HOW DO THEY FIND FURTHER INFORMATION? WHY DON'T YOU PARTNER WITH ALL THAT STUFF? AND I THINK SO, I REALLY DO THINK IT'S INCUMBENT ON US TO, FOR BURLAP TERM, TO BE YOUR DISCIPLES AND GOING OUT THERE AND CARRYING THE WORK WITH US AND, YOU KNOW, IN WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND, YOU KNOW, PUT US ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA, TALK TO OTHER FOLKS ABOUT THAT.
BRING OUT THE INFORMATION THAT THERAPIST YOU'RE DOING.
AND THANKS FOR THE INVITATION TO GO OUT AND PRESENT TO, UH, TO PFLUGERVILLE AND, UM, UM, IT, UH, YOU KNOW, AND, AND LUCKILY AGAIN, WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT HAVE RESPONDED VERY WELL TO THE WEEKEND ATX, UH, SITE THAT HAS WHERE THE COVID RELATED DATA.
CAUSE, UM, I THINK PEOPLE ARE VERY INTERESTED IN ANY, ANYTHING THAT CAN HELP, UM, HELP GET A HANDLE ON WHAT'S HAPPENING AND HOW TO FOCUS OUR EFFORTS.
SO, UM, SO I PRESENTED TO ARROW AND AUSTIN AREA RESEARCH ORGANIZATION AND PFLUGERVILLE THAT ON TUESDAY.
AND, UM, AND AGAIN, THERE WAS A LOT OF INTEREST IN THAT THE WEEKEND ATX PIECE, NOT THAT THE DASHBOARD ISN'T ISN'T IMPORTANT, BUT IT'S MORE OF A BASELINE RIGHT.
ABOUT WHERE WE WERE WHEN, WHEN COVID HIT.
AND SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE MORE, UM, COVID RELATED KIND OF INFORMATION.
UM, AGAIN, PEOPLE ARE REALLY KIND OF HUNGRY FOR, SO WE NEED TO GET THE INFORMATION THAT WE HAVE THAT AVAILABLE A COUPLE OF QUICK ANNOUNCEMENTS.
UM, WE USUALLY IN JANUARY, SORRY, IT'S PRETTY BIG THERE.
UH, WE USUALLY DO OUR TOGETHER.
WE CAN CELEBRATION, WHICH IS OUR BEGINNING OF YEAR CELEBRATION AND WE DON'T HAVE A BOARD MEETING, BUT WE HAVE THE CELEBRATION.
AND THEN, UM, AND IN MARCH WE USUALLY DON'T HAVE A BOARD MEETING EITHER.
SO WE'RE GOING TO DELAY OUR, OUR TOGETHER.
WE CAN CELEBRATION TILL MARCH.
UH, SINCE THAT AT MONTHLY, TYPICALLY DON'T HAVE A, UH, CELEBRATION OR, UM, A MEETING AND HAVE THEM.
AND REALLY IT'S BECAUSE OF SPRING BREAKS.
I USUALLY WEAR EITHER AT THE FRONT END OR THE TAIL END OF SPRING BREAK.
AND THAT'S WHY WE, WE TEND TO NOT MEET IN MARCH BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF CONFLICT WITH THAT.
AND, UM, SO WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND DO IT MAYBE THE FIRST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH AND THEN, UH, MAKE IT BE A CELEBRATION.
UM, AND SO THAT'LL BE OUR BOARD MEETING FOR MARCH IS, UM, WILL BE OUR CANNED CELEBRATION.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE DO OUR BUTLER AWARDS.
AND WE GOT, WE GOT STARTED A LITTLE LATE ON SOLICITING NOMINATIONS FOR BUTLER AWARDS, WHICH ARE STILL OPEN.
UM, AND MAYBE WE CAN SHARE THAT LINK IN THE CHAT TOO.
UM, SO IF YOU WANT TO NOMINATE FOR THE BUTLER AWARDS, WHICH IS KIND OF COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AND, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS IS WHAT WE TRY TO, UH, HIGHLIGHT THEN, UH, THESE, UH, FEEL FREE TO NOMINATE.
AND, UM, SO THAT WOULD LOOK, WE LOOK FORWARD TO THAT IN MARCH.
UM, AND IN JANUARY WE WON'T HAVE A BOARD MEETING.
UM, WHEN WE GET TO TALKING ABOUT THE WORK PLAN, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, A FEW ASSESSMENTS WE'RE TRYING TO DO AND INFORMATION THAT WE WANT TO SHARE, UH, WITH THE BOARD, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY, UH, STARTING IN FEBRUARY.
UM, SO WE'LL KIND OF TAKE JANUARY TO LAUNCH, UH, THESE NEW, UM, NEW EFFORTS THAT WE HAVE AROUND, UM, THE NEW WORK PLAN, WHICH WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT.
UM, UM, BUT IT'LL ALLOW US TO REALLY KIND OF HIT THE GROUND RUNNING IN JANUARY PLUS, YOU KNOW, DECEMBER AND JANUARY ARE GOING TO BE PRETTY INTENSE IN TERMS OF SORT OF THE HEALTH AND THE HEALTH RESPONSE AROUND COVID.
SO, UM, SO IT KIND OF HELPS ON A, ON A NUMBER OF FRONTS, RIGHT.
JUST TO KIND OF GET THE YEAR STARTED AND NOT PULL PEOPLE AWAY FROM, YOU KNOW, WHAT PROBABLY IS GOING TO REQUIRE A LOT OF ATTENTION FROM OUR PARTNERS.
AND THEN, UM, AND PROBABLY I'LL STOP THERE.
I THINK, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO, UM, TO FINISH, UH, IS OUR RACE EQUITY ASSET MAPPER, WHAT I'M CALLING RACE EQUITY ACTION FRAMEWORK.
UM, AND I WAS HOPING TO PRESENT SOME OF IT TODAY, BUT
[00:20:01]
IT'S NOT, I TOLD THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE IT'S NOT REALLY READY FOR PRIME TIME YET, BUT, UH, I THINK IF WE CAN, UM, TAKE THE REST OF THE DECEMBER AND JANUARY TO REALLY BEEF THAT UP, UM, WE'LL HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE IN FEBRUARY.UM, AND AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S INTENDED TO SHOW SORT OF WHERE DOES THE WORK WE OUGHT TO BE DOING AROUND RACE EQUITY, UM, AND WHAT OF THAT WORK IS AND ISN'T HAPPENING, RIGHT.
AND, UM, AND ACTUALLY LISTING OUT THE GROUPS, RIGHT, THAT ARE ACTIVE IN THESE DIFFERENT SPACES.
UM, AND, UH, HOPEFULLY AGAIN, THAT THAT'LL SHINE A LIGHT ON THE KINDS OF ISSUES EITHER WE WANT TO WORK ON OR OTHER COMMUNITY MEMBERS WANT TO WORK ON.
UM, SO WE'LL SHARE THAT OUT PROBABLY IN FEBRUARY.
I THINK WE'LL HAVE IN JANUARY, UM, A COMMUNITY SESSION, RIGHT.
TO GIVE FEEDBACK ON THE, ON THE TOOL.
SO WE'LL DEFINITELY GET THAT INFORMATION OUT TO THE BOARD IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT FEEDBACK SESSION.
WE'VE, UH, WE'VE HAD A COUPLE OF THOSE SESSIONS ALREADY WITH ONE VOICE, UH, SOCIAL EQUITY COMMITTEE AND WITH, UH, THE EQUITY ACTION TEAM AT THE CITY.
SO WE'VE GOTTEN SOME VERY GOOD FEEDBACK ALREADY.
UM, BUT WE WANT TO DO SOMETHING THAT'S BROADER, MORE, YOU KNOW, OPEN IT UP TO THE PUBLIC MORE TO GIVE US FEEDBACK ON THAT TOOL.
AND WE'LL DEFINITELY EXTEND THE INVITATION TO THE BOARD, TO, IN JANUARY TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT, BUT WE WON'T HAVE A FORMAL KIND OF BOARD MEETING UNTIL FEBRUARY.
UM, AND I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT AND SEE IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE WE KIND OF MIGRATE MORE TOWARDS, UH, SORT OF THE BUSINESS OF, UH, ADOPTING BUDGETS AND WORK PLANS FOR, FOR 2021.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR RO ON, ON WHAT'S PRESENTED SO FAR? ALL RIGHT.
[Discussion and Possible Action: CAN 2021 Budget; 2021 Language Access Fund Budget; and CAN 2021 Work Plan ]
SHALL WE MOVE ON TO OUR, UH, BUDGET CONVERSATION? YEAH.THIS YEAR WE HAVE ACTUALLY, UH, TWO BUDGETS, YOU KNOW, TWO TO PRESENT.
ONE IS FOR OUR, YOU KNOW, UH, ORGANIZATION THAT CAN BUDGET.
AND YOU MAY RECALL WE, THREE MONTHS AGO, THEN WE, UH, THE BOARD APPROVED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CENTRAL TEXAS LANGUAGE ACCESS FUND AS A TOOL FOR, UM, ACQUIRING RESOURCES FOR THE LANGUAGE ACCESS WORK.
UM, AND HOPEFULLY BUILDING UPON, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE PLANNING WORK AND SOME OF THE, UH, SOME OF THE, UH, ENGAGEMENT WORK WE'RE STARTING TO DO WITH LANGUAGE ACCESS.
AND, UM, SO WE WANT TO PRESENT, YOU KNOW, IN THE POLICY WE ADOPTED, IT SAYS WHEN WE PRESENT THE CAN BUDGET, WE'LL ALSO PRESENT A BUDGET FOR THE LANGUAGE ACCESS FUND.
UM, SO THAT, AGAIN, THE BOARD KNOWS IF FUNDS ARE RAISED.
SO THAT'S A BIG GIFT, RIGHT? IF ANY FUNDS ARE RAISED, THESE ARE THE ACTIVITIES, AND THIS IS SORT OF WHERE THE MONEY WOULD GO IN TERMS OF THAT WORK.
AND SO LET ME SHOW YOU FIRST THAT ONE, CAUSE THAT ONE'S A LOT EASIER.
UM, IT'S ONLY FOUR OR FIVE DIFFERENT LINE ITEMS ON THAT ONE.
I HAVE SEVERAL OF MY PDFS OPEN AND THERE'S THE LANGUAGE ACCESS FUND.
SO, SO THIS IS A PROPOSED BUDGET FOR THE LANGUAGE ACCESS FUND.
AND AGAIN, THE, UM, OUR POLICY THAT WE ADOPTED, YOU KNOW, SAID THAT WE WOULD, UM, ADOPT THIS, UH, ALONG WITH OUR CANNED BUDGET.
AND, UM, SO AGAIN, ASSUMING WE RAISE ANY FUNDING, SO THIS IS THE KIND OF WORK WE'LL FUND.
AND IF THERE ARE ANY DEVIATIONS IN TERMS OF EXPENDITURES, THEN WE'LL COME BACK RIGHT.
AND MAKE AMENDMENTS JUST LIKE WE WOULD MAKE AMENDMENTS TO THE CAN BUDGET THE OVERALL CAMP BUDGET.
SO AGAIN, YOU'LL SEE WITH OUR LANGUAGE ACCESS WORK, A LOT OF IT IS GOING TO BE TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION.
SO THEY USE THE TRANSLATION OF DOCUMENTS AND MATERIALS SAY AT 20,000.
AND A LOT OF THIS IS AROUND OUR WEBSITE THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE TRANSLATING INTO, UM, SEVERAL DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND ALSO SOME IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MATERIALS WHERE WE'LL BE TRANSLATING THOSE INTO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AS WELL, UH, WEBSITE MANAGEMENT, OF COURSE, IF WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO ADD THOSE LANGUAGE TABS ON OUR WEBSITE, THOUGH, WE CAN ATX, THEN WE'RE GOING TO NEED OUR WEB MASTER TO, TO MANAGE THAT FOR US.
UM, SO THE BULK OF THE BUDGET AND, YOU KNOW, HALF THE BUDGET IS THE STAFF SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS.
AND THIS IS TO, UM, WE HAVE SOME ADVISORY TEAMS, YOU KNOW, THAT WE PROPOSE TO, TO BUILD AND MANAGE AND THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WORK THAT WE WANT TO DO.
UM, SO THAT'S WHERE, AGAIN, THIS IS, UM, IT'S STAFF SUPPORT OR SUPPORT FROM COMMUNITY PARTNERS, RIGHT? SO WE CAN IDENTIFY A PARTNER TO WORK WITH THE CHINESE SPEAKING COMMUNITY, RIGHT.
OR WITH THE ARABIC SPEAKING COMMUNITY.
THEN INSTEAD OF US TRYING TO DO IT THROUGH STAFFING, WE MIGHT DO IT THROUGH SOME KIND OF COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP BRAND WITH NONPROFITS WHO ALREADY HAVE RELATIONSHIPS.
AND THE, UM, AND THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY TEAMS
[00:25:01]
IS ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE ENGAGEMENT TOOLS.AND THE IDEA BEHIND THESE TEAMS IS THAT IF WE HAVE CONTENT IN SPANISH IN VIETNAMESE OR IN CHINESE OR AN ARABIC, IS THAT WE HAVE A TEAM OF FIVE PEOPLE OR SO, RIGHT.
THAT, THAT ACTUALLY REVIEW THE CONTENT AND GIVE US FEEDBACK ON THE CONTENT, UM, TO MAKE SURE, AGAIN, IT'S FOLKS WHO ARE NATIVE SPEAKERS, RIGHT, WHO ARE GIVING US FEEDBACK ON OUR MATERIALS.
AND I THINK THOSE ARE THE ONES ESTABLISHED, CAN BE HELPFUL TO OUR OTHER CAMP PARTNERS, RIGHT.
BUT WE DO WANT TO PAY THEM A STIPEND FOR, FOR THAT, UH, THE KNOWLEDGE, RIGHT.
THAT THEY'LL BE BRINGING TO THE, UM, TO THE WORK.
AND THEN THE LAST LINE IS FOR INTERPRETATION, RIGHT? SO FOR, IF WE'RE ENGAGING, UM, FOLKS WHO SPEAK OTHER LANGUAGES, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA WANT TO PAY THE INTERPRETERS.
AND, AND USUALLY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, UM, YOU HAVE TO HIRE A TEAM OF INTERPRETERS, RIGHT? YOU DON'T JUST HIRE ONE.
YOU HAVE TO, IF YOU, YOUR MEETING IS MORE THAN AN HOUR LONG, YOU NEED TO HAVE TWO INTERPRETERS.
AND, UM, AND SO THERE YOU GO, THAT'S THE BUDGET OVERALL IS 110,000, UH, FOR THE WORK, IF WE'RE ABLE TO RAISE MONEY.
AND, UM, SO THAT'S THE, THAT'S THE BIG FEAR, RIGHT.
IS, UH, IS, UM, IS THAT WE'RE NOT GOING TO SPEND THAT MONEY OR START DOING THE WORK RIGHT UNTIL WE ACTUALLY RAISE SOME FUNDS, SOME FUNDING FOR THAT PURPOSE.
UM, AND SO, UM, I'LL STOP THERE, RIGHT.
JUST TO SEE IF THERE'S ANY, ANY QUESTIONS, UH, THAT THAT BUDGET SHOULD BE IN THAT SHARED FOLDER AS WELL.
IF YOU WANT TO KIND OF LOOK AT IT MORE GLOBALLY AND NOT HER LINE BY LINE, ANY COMMENTS ON THE LANGUAGE ACCESS FUND PROPOSAL.
SO, UH, WE, WE WANTED THE MORE COMPLICATED BUDGET AND I'D JUST SAY, SEND IT TO ME.
THIS IS SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK I THINK THAT WE COULD DO BECAUSE SOME OF THE RESEARCH THAT I'VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH WITH CRT AND THE AUSTIN LATINO COALITION AS WELL, IS THAT THE MATERIALS ARE NOT IN THE LANGUAGE THAT PEOPLE CAN REALLY UNDERSTAND.
SO I REALLY WANT TO GET BEHIND THIS EFFORT AND TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO HELP RAISE THE FUNDS SO THAT WE CAN BE MORE RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY, NOT ONLY IN A PANDEMIC, BUT AT ANY TIME FOR WHATEVER RESILIENCY IS NEEDED.
AND I KNOW THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS A RESILIENT RESILIENCY.
THAT'S A TOUGH ONE, UM, OFFICE THAT IS WORKING ON THIS PLAN AND WE ALL WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN IT.
AND IT NEEDS TO BE IN THE LANGUAGE THAT PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND.
I, I, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, JUST SECOND ONE WHERE I SAID, UM, WE KNOW WITH THE ASIAN AMERICAN OUTREACH ALL YEAR LANGUAGE ACCESS WAS KEY TO SUCCESS.
AND, UM, WHAT I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IS WHAT YOU JUST SHOWED US ABOUT LANGUAGE ACCESS, UM, TIED TOGETHER WITH, UH, WITH THE, UH, PERCEPTIONS OF CAN REBEL BECAUSE ON, ON ALL OF THOSE GRAPHS, YOU KNOW, OUR PUBLIC, NO AFFILIATION, FOLKS WERE PRETTY POSITIVE ABOUT CAN.
AND I FEEL LIKE THIS IS EXACTLY THAT FOLKS WITH NO AFFILIATION, UM, WE'LL NEED TO PUSH THEM TO AFFILIATE WITH US.
SO THIS IS REALLY, YOU KNOW, I'M EXCITED ABOUT IT.
SO THANKS FOR DOING, AND THEN JUST KIND OF A, YOU KNOW, AND JUST TO LET YOU KNOW, THE FIRST ATTEMPT TO TRY AND RAISE MONEY IS TO KIND OF REACH OUT TO THE AUSTIN BAR OR THE HISPANIC BAR AND ANOTHER SORT OF LAWYER THAT GROUPS, RIGHT.
WHO, YOU KNOW, CAUSE, UM, SO THE COURT SYSTEM RIGHT IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS ONE WHERE IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO HAVE QUALITY LANGUAGE RESOURCES, BUT AGAIN, HOW DO WE CREATE A VEHICLE? SO THAT AGAIN, WE'RE NOT ALWAYS GOING BACK TO OUR SAME PARTNERS, THEY'RE TRYING TO RAISE MONEY.
BUT TRYING TO CREATE THIS VEHICLE THROUGH WHICH WE CAN GO OUT THROUGH OTHER TWO OTHER ENTITIES, MAYBE THEY'D HAVE MORE ACCESS TO MORE RESOURCES THAT COULD HELP, UH, HELP US BUILD ON THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING.
UM, AND OF COURSE THROUGH GRANT WRITING, RIGHT, JUST THERE MIGHT BE FUN SORT OF SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR, FOR SERVING, UM, PROVIDING LANGUAGE SERVICES OR FOR SERVING, UH, COMMUNITIES, RIGHT.
SO THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF OPPORTUNITIES WE'LL BE LOOKING FOR.
UM, AND THAT'S WHY, AGAIN, WE TRY TO SEPARATE IT SOMEWHAT FROM SORT OF THE, THE, JUST THE GENERAL OPERATING, UM, FUNDING FOR, UM, FOR, FOR CANON AND IN OUR DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS.
SO I'LL GO TO THE MAIN BUDGET AND, UM, THERE'S USUALLY NOT VERY MUCH CHANGE IN, UH, IN, UH, OUR BUDGET, BUT IT DOES HAVE A LOT MORE LINES.
SO, UH, SO THIS ONE DOES HAVE SORT OF, UM, YOU KNOW, WE STARTED WITH THE, UH, THE REVENUE SIDE AND WE PRETTY MUCH
[00:30:01]
JUST KIND OF CARRY OVER SORT OF A PARTNER CONTRIBUTIONS, RIGHT.UH, WE HAVEN'T ADJUSTED THOSE AND, BUT AT LEAST THE FIVE YEARS THAT I'VE BEEN HERE, UM, I THINK THE CITY AND THE COUNTY NUMBERS SOMETIMES CHANGE BECAUSE THEY DO COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENTS.
UM, AND I THINK THE CITY DID THAT MAYBE LAST YEAR.
SO THAT'S WHY THAT'S THE ONLY REAL DIFFERENCE THAT YOU SEE HERE ON THESE, UM, SORT OF REVENUES IS A LITTLE, LITTLE, LITTLE, I THINK $2,000 INCREASE FROM THE CITY ON THAT, ON THAT LINE IS STUFF IT'S ORANGE HERE IS SORT OF THE MONIES THAT WE USE FROM OUR, FROM, FROM OUR RESERVE FOR ONE TIME FUNDS, RIGHT.
SO, SO WHEN WE USE ANY MONIES FROM THE RESERVE, UM, AGAIN, IT'S NOT FOR ONGOING OPERATING IS USUALLY FOR ONE-TIME EXPENSES AND I'LL MAP THOSE OUT, UM, WHAT THOSE ARE GOING TO, WHAT THOSE ARE GOING TO BE IN THE EXPENSE SIDE.
UH, BUT YOU SEE OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR REVENUE SIDE IS PRETTY, IT'S PRETTY STATIC CAUSE IT'S MORE OF A MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATION, RIGHT.
AND NOT A TYPICAL NONPROFIT THAT'S KIND OF, UM, HAS A LOT OF FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES.
UH, WE HAVE A LOT OF IN KIND THAT WE GET FROM, UH, FROM DIFFERENT GROUPS, YOU KNOW, PARTICULARLY AISD THAT DOES OUR OFFICE SPACE AND OUR, SOME OF OUR TECHNOLOGY AND, UH, INTEGRAL CARE.
THAT'S STILL, THAT DOES, UH, ALL OUR BACK OFFICE STUFF, WHICH IS PROBABLY VERY SEVERELY UNDER UNDERVALUED THERE ON THAT LINE.
UM, SO YOU SEE HERE, YOU KNOW, AND I DON'T THINK YOU CAN SEE THE BOTTOM LINE THERE YET.
SO YOU SEE THE PERSONNEL EXPENSE, RIGHT? IT'S GONNA, IT GOES UP A LITTLE BIT, JUST CAUSE AGAIN, THE COST OF LIVING PIECE.
UM, BUT YOU'LL NOTICE AT THE VERY BOTTOM HERE, IT KIND OF TALKS ABOUT SALARIES AND BENEFITS.
UM, THE PERCENTAGE OF OUR BUDGET AT SALARIES AND BENEFITS.
SO OBVIOUSLY WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF WIGGLE ROOM IN OUR BUDGET.
THERE'S NOT A LOT OF, A LOT OF FAT IN THERE.
UH, CAUSE 90, 90% OF OUR BUDGET IS PERSONNEL.
UM, AND, UM, AND SO YOU SEE WHERE THE REST OF THE MONEY GOES, WHICH IS, UM, AGAIN JUST GENERAL OPERATING ADMINISTRATIVE COMPUTERS, PRINTING, UM, TRAINING, RIGHT.
UM, BUT YOU SEE THE TWO YELLOW OR THE ONE-TIME EXPENDITURES, RIGHT? SO WE'LL, UH, WE'RE UH, HOPEFULLY ALSO IN FEBRUARY AND BRINGING BACK SORT OF THE TUNA DOCUMENTS FOR CONSIDERATION, YOU KNOW, FOR THE, FOR THE BOARD TO ESTABLISH CAN AS AN UNINCORPORATED NONPROFIT ASSOCIATION.
SO WE'LL SEND OUT SOME INFORMATION AHEAD TIME ABOUT THAT, BUT WE HAVE AN ALONE, WE HAVE AN ATTORNEY WHO'S HELPING US RIGHT WITH THAT, DEVELOPING THOSE DOCUMENTS TO FORM THAT ASSOCIATION.
UH, AND AGAIN, SOME OF YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY UNDER THE SORT OF FISCAL UMBRELLA, LENA WHO CARE FOR, UH, MORE THAN 25 YEARS NOW.
AND THANK YOU INTEGRAL CARE FOR CARRYING AND US FOR THAT LONG, BUT, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO CREATE, UH, AN AVENUE, RIGHT.
FOR US TO HAVE A, TO BE AN INDEPENDENT ENTITY.
AND, UM, AND TO BE ABLE TO BE, TO HAVE SOME FLEXIBILITY IN TERMS OF SORT OF HOW WE OPERATE AND ADDRESS SOME, UH, SOME LIABILITY ISSUES, YOU KNOW, UM, FOR KEN AND FOR ETHICAL CARE IN THE PROCESS AS WELL.
SO THE FIVE THOUSANDS IS LEGAL FEES OR LEGAL, UH, UM, YEAH, LEGAL FEES CONSULTING.
AND THEN AT THE 3000 AND YOUR COMPUTER IS, UH, WE'RE LOOKING TO BUY A COUPLE OF PRINTERS, RIGHT.
UM, THAT'LL HELP US SAVE A LITTLE MONEY ON THE COPIER EXPENSE.
SO, UH, SO JUST, THAT'S MORE INTENDED TO, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY BE A ONE-TIME EXPENSE THAT HOPEFULLY SAVES US SOME MONEY ON OPERATIONS AND I'LL GO DOWN TO THE BOTTOM CAUSE YOU'LL SEE THAT, UM, AGAIN, TOTAL EXPENSES, YOU KNOW, NOT A BIG SHIFT FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT.
UM, BUT WE KIND OF GO DOWN HERE TO THE FUND BALANCE JUST TO SHOW YOU WHERE WE'RE AT WITH THE FUND BALANCE.
UM, SO OUR FUND BALANCE, AS OF, UM, THIS IS AT THE END OF LAST YEAR WAS A ONE 55, NINE 36.
AND IF WE TAKE 8,000 FROM THAT, RIGHT AS WAS THE VERY TOP LINE THAT I SHOWED FOR ONE TIME EXPENDITURES THAT GOES DOWN BY $8,000 TO ONE 47, NINE 36, UM, OUR POLICY FOR FUND BALANCE AS SAID, WE KEEP IT BETWEEN 90 DAYS AND 120 DAYS WORTH OF FUND BALANCE.
AND SO WE'RE CLEARLY, UM, WITHIN THAT RANGE OR WE HAVE MORE MONEY RIGHT THAN THE, THE 120 DAYS OF OPERATION.
UH, AND THIS YEAR WITH THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, UH, SUGGESTING IS THAT, IS THAT WE TAKE THE, ANYTHING ABOVE THE 120 DAY OF OPERATION AND PUTTING INTO A SPECIAL PROJECT FUND, RIGHT? SO THAT, YOU KNOW, WE MEET OUR OBVIOUSLY, UH, UH, REQUIREMENTS FOR THE FUND BALANCE.
[00:35:01]
AND THEN THE REST WILL BE PUT IN A SPECIAL PROJECT FUND AGAIN FOR ONE-TIME EXPENSES, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER IT COMES UP, UM, THAT WE MIGHT WANT TO DRAW FROM.BUT AT LEAST THIS WAY, WE KNOW, YOU KNOW, THAT THERE IS SOME FUNDING AVAILABLE FOR THAT, YOU KNOW, IF SOMETHING UNFORESEEN OR SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT COMES UP WHERE WE WANT TO INVEST SOME MONEY.
SO THAT'S WHAT THIS BOTTOM LINE IS SPECIAL PROJECT FUND THAT DIDN'T EXIST LAST YEAR.
SO THAT PROBABLY IS THE BIGGEST CHANGE IN THE WHOLE BUDGET IS JUST TRYING TO DIVIDE UP THE FUND BALANCE SO THAT WE KNOW WHAT DO WE NEED FOR, UM, JUST AS THE RAINY DAY FUND, RIGHT.
JUST BE PREPARED FOR UNFORESEEN CHANGES IN REVENUE.
AND ALSO THAT WE MIGHT HAVE SOME FUNDS FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS, SHOULD THE SHIFT, THE NEED ARISE FOR THAT.
SO, AND THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, THAT DOCUMENT SHOULD BE IN YOUR SHARED DRIVE AS WELL.
UM, SO THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT I'VE SEEN, UM, I CAN BUDGET, UH, IT LOOKS OKAY.
IT LOOKS GOOD, ANSWERED VERY LEAN MAN.
AND THE BUDGET LOOKS GREAT, YOU KNOW, UH, BUT I HAVE A COMMENT REGARDING THE LANGUAGE ACCESS LINE BUDGET, JUST AN OPPORTUNITY.
I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S REALLY HARD FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT DON'T PROVIDE A DIRECT SERVICE TO RAISE MONEY, RIGHT.
AND THAT'S NOT SOMETHING CAN HAS HAD TO DO BEFORE IS RAISING MONEY.
BUT I THINK, UH, WITH THE LANGUAGE ACCESS LINE THAT THE WRITING OF GRANTS IS POSSIBLE FOR THAT.
AND I'D BE HAPPY TO VOLUNTEER, TO REVIEW GRANTS BEFORE THEY'RE SUBMITTED, YOU KNOW, JUST AS ANOTHER SET OF EYES.
AND THAT POTENTIALLY, UH, LIKE IN THOSE GRANTS, IF YOU BUILD IN LIKE A 10% OR SOMETHING, UH, FOR ADMINISTRATION OF THE LANGUAGE ACCESS PROGRAM, INTO YOUR GRANT WRITING, THEN THAT COULD COME BACK TO YOUR GENERAL OPERATING BUDGET AS A WAY TO POTENTIALLY GROW THE BUDGET, BUT I MAY BE WRONG COMPLETELY.
AND, YOU KNOW, MY UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THINGS OPERATE WITH CANCER, PLEASE, EXCUSE ME.
BUT I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT WAYS TO GENERATE REVENUE, TO HELP THE BUDGET FAIR.
AND I THINK THAT'S THE IDEA IS IF, YOU KNOW, THE LANGUAGE ACCESS CAN BE ITS OWN LITTLE SELF-SUSTAINING SORT OF PROJECT AND THAT FREEZER SORT OF CAN STAFF CAPACITY, RIGHT.
TO DO OTHER, TO TACKLE OTHER ISSUES.
AND, UM, BUT OUR HOPE FOR LANGUAGE ACCESS IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT EFFORT IS A RESOURCE FOR ALL OUR CAN PARTNERS AND OTHER NONPROFITS, RIGHT.
TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE MORE EFFECTIVE SERVICES AROUND LANGUAGE ACCESS.
SO WE DO HOPE THAT AGAIN, OUR PARTNERS AND OTHER NONPROFITS, AGAIN, WHO, WHO MAY NOT HAVE A LOT OF RESOURCES CAN ALSO, UM, DRAW FROM THE RESOURCES.
AND AGAIN, THERE MAY BE A WAY TO, UM, TO HELP, UM, TO RAISE SOME MONEY RIGHT.
YOU KNOW, IN, IN HELPING OUT OTHER OTHER NONPROFITS AND, UH, IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
BUT, UM, OBVIOUSLY THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR WE'LL BE TRYING TO DO ANYTHING LIKE THIS.
SO WE'LL BE, YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE UPDATING PERIODICALLY.
UM, AND WE'LL, UM, UH, BUT VERY EXCITED THOUGH, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR ACTION TEAMS, VERY EXCITED TO, TO ACTUALLY HAVE THIS DONE BECAUSE IT WAS IN OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FROM A COUPLE OF YEARS BACK.
SO, UH, SO IT'S ALWAYS GOOD WHEN, WHEN, WHEN YOU FOLLOW UP RIGHT.
ON SOME OF THESE PLANS THAT YOU HELP DEVELOP AND ADOPT.
I'M NOT, I'M NOT SEEING ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON THE BUDGET.
I DO WANT TO KEEP US MOVING ALONG BECAUSE THERE'S STILL THE WORK PLAN.
UM, PROCEDURALLY, DO WE APPROVE THE WORK PLAN? ARE WE JUST APPROVING THE BUDGET TODAY? WE USUALLY APPROVE BOTH.
SO YOU WANT TO REVIEW THE WORK PLAN? OH, RIGHT.
I'M TRYING TO CLOSE SOME DOCUMENTS AS WE GO.
SO THE WORK PLAN AGAIN, IT'S, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST REALLY FOLLOWS OUR STRATEGIC PLAN.
AND SO WE, UM, WE IDENTIFY, UM, WHAT DO WE WANT TO DO IN EACH OF THE GOAL AREAS? RIGHT.
SO THE GOAL ONE IS ENHANCE AWARENESS OF COMMUNITY NEEDS AND CHALLENGES, RIGHT.
REQUIRING COLLABORATIVE ACTION AND, UM, ENGAGING AROUND, UH, CREATING OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE.
SO ON THIS ONE, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GOING TO DO AGAIN, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AROUND LANGUAGE ACCESS.
I'VE KIND OF TALKED ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT.
UM, AND YOU'LL SEE THAT, UH, AGAIN, WHAT KIND OF BUILD OUT THE WEBSITE IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, WE'RE WORKING ON A RACE EQUITY ASSET MAP AND BASED EQUITY ACTION FRAMEWORK THAT WE'LL SHARE WITH PARTNERS.
[00:40:01]
AGAIN, USE AS A WAY OF RAISING, UH, COMMUNITY AWARENESS ABOUT, UH, RACE EQUITY AND ALL OF ITS MANY DIFFERENT FACETS AND, UM, AND THINGS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY RACIAL EQUITY.UH, WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE OUR PODCASTS, YOU KNOW, AND CAN USE, UM, AS A WAY OF CROSS-PROMOTING OUR PARTNERS.
UM, AND WE'RE GOING TO, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS WE TALKED ABOUT UNDER 1.3 IS CREATING GRAPHICS AND INFORMATION TOOLS THAT OUR PARTNERS CAN USE TO PROMOTE CANON RESOURCES.
AND UNDER THAT, WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, AB DIDN'T DO A LITTLE VIDEO SNIPPETS OF OUR INDICATOR INFORMATION, RIGHT.
AND HIGHLIGHTING CAN PARTNERS WHO CAN TALK ABOUT A PARTICULAR INDICATOR ON THE DASHBOARD.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, AND AGAIN, THREE TO FIVE MINUTE LITTLE VIDEOS AND, AND SEND THOSE OUT SOMETHING WE CAN SEND OUT, UM, ON SOCIAL MEDIA, RIGHT? SO THAT YOU'RE NOT ASKING PEOPLE TO WATCH AN HOUR LONG DISCUSSION, RIGHT.
BUT TRYING TO HIGHLIGHT A PARTICULAR ISSUE AND BRING IN OUR CANNED PARTNERS IN THE PROCESS UNDER 1.4 IS IT'S KIND OF WORKING WITH OUR COMMUNITY COUNCIL TO DO A STATE OF THE SAFETY NET FORUM.
UH, THEY'RE TRYING TO IDENTIFY ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT KIND OF JUMPS OUT AT THE COMMUNITY COUNCIL FOR, UM, FROM THE DASHBOARD AND THEN KIND OF DIGGING INTO THAT ISSUE A LITTLE MORE AND STARTING WITH A STATE OF THE SAFETY NET FORUM ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR, UH, ISSUE.
SO THAT'S A KIND OF, KIND OF RAISING AWARENESS AND, UM, AND, AND CREATING OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE.
UM, AND THIS IS, I GUESS, AGAIN, KIND OF BUILDING ON THAT IS, UH, CREATING OPPORTUNITIES, UM, UM, OR STILL MORE ON THE INFORMATION SIDE, RIGHT.
IS, UM, CREATING PROFILES OF COLLABORATION.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF VERY INTERESTING COLLABORATIVE WORK AROUND THE, UM, ACADEMIC RESPONSE.
SO WE WANT TO HIGHLIGHT MAYBE TWO OR THREE OF THE COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS THAT HAVE HAD AN IMPACT, YOU KNOW, JUST TO HIGHLIGHT THE WORK.
AND I THINK SOME OF OUR CARE PARTNERS WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED IN THAT.
UM, AND WE WANT TO, AGAIN, JUST LOOK AT AS MUCH OF THE DATA AS WE CAN TO SEE WHAT IT TELLS US ABOUT AREAS OF NEED IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO DOING IT AS SORT OF A COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT OF AREAS THAT HAVE GREAT NEED IN TERMS OF HEALTH OR IN TERMS OF OTHER BASIC NEEDS.
AND I'M LOOKING TO EXPAND THE DATA WE ARE COLLECTING AROUND THE COVID RESPONSE, MAYBE BRINGING IN SOME OF THE MENTAL HEALTH, UM, OR, OR INFORMATION FROM SAFE FOR THE FOOD BANK, RIGHT, AS A WAY OF KIND OF LOOKING AT TRENDS, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF THE CALLS TO THOSE ENTITIES FOR ASSISTANCE.
AND, UM, SO AGAIN, A LOT OF, A LOT ON DATA, YOU KNOW, WE DO A LOT OF, UH, WORK ON DATA, UM, IN TERMS OF THE ISSUES AGAIN, AND THIS IS PROBABLY THE, THE GUTS OF WHAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT.
AGAIN, MENTAL HEALTH KIND OF COMES UP A LOT AS SOMETHING THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT, BUT MAYBE DOESN'T GET AS MUCH ATTENTION AS IT SHOULD.
SO, UH, LOOKING AT, UM, WE'RE CONTINUING OUR WORK WITH ONE VOICE AND INTEGRAL CARE IN MICHIGAN CAPITAL AROUND SUPPORTING NONPROFITS, UM, AND MENTAL, MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS THEY MAY HAVE.
UM, AND THERE ARE OTHER OBVIOUSLY MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES THAT COME UP IN ALMOST EVERY DISCUSSION WE HAVE.
SO THERE MAY BE OTHER THINGS THAT COME UP AROUND MENTAL HEALTH.
AND OF COURSE THE HOUSING EVICTIONS PIECE, IF YOU KNOW, IS, IS TALKED ABOUT A LOT AS WELL.
AND WE'RE HOPING OF COURSE, THAT, THAT, UM, MORATORIUM GETS EXTENDED AND I'VE, I'VE SEEN SOME, SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE CITY KIND OF ADVOCATING FOR THAT.
SO THAT'S DEFINITELY, UH, SOMETHING THAT, UM, IS VERY, UH, CONCERN, GREAT CONCERN TO, TO MANY, MANY FOLKS.
UM, AND THEN IN TERMS OF, UM, SORT OF, UM, TO THE PRIORITY ISSUES, YOU KNOW, WE DID DECIDE TO CONTINUE WITH THE REGIONAL PLAN THIS YEAR.
UM, THAT USUALLY HAPPENS IN OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, YOU KNOW, UH, FOR 2021.
UM, AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST CREATING A COMMITTEE, RIGHT, TO LOOK AT WHAT ISSUES MIGHT BE THE FOCUS OF THE REGIONAL SUMMIT.
UM, AND SO WE'LL CREATE THAT PLANNING TEAM PROBABLY, YOU KNOW, PRETTY EARLY ON IN 2021.
AND, UM, AND HOPE THAT OBVIOUSLY BY OCTOBER, NOVEMBER, MAYBE WE'RE BACK TO CONVENING IN, UM, AND THEN A COUPLE MORE THINGS AS LANGUAGE CONTINUE, THE LANGUAGE ACCESS, WHERE, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY KIND OF WITH IDENTIFICATION OF RESOURCES, UH, TO SUPPORT THAT WORK.
AND, UM, AND IN TERMS OF THE ASSESSMENT WORK THAT WE'LL BE DOING.
AND, UM, 2.1 AND 2.2 OF THE ACTION PLAN IS, UM, AS WE GET THAT INFORMATION IS BRINGING THAT BACK TO, TO THE BOARD, RIGHT? TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION, TO SEE IF THAT, UM,
[00:45:01]
IDENTIFIES WHERE WE MIGHT PUT OUR ATTENTION, BECAUSE, UM, AGAIN, AS, AS WE'VE GOTTEN, WE'RE KIND OF SHIFTING A LITTLE FROM THE RACE FROM AS MUCH AS WE PUT INTO THE RACE EQUITY WORK AND THE COMMUNITY SCHOOLS WORK AND FOCUSING ON SOME OF THESE THAT ARE MORE SPECIFIC TO THE PANDEMIC RESPONSE WITH THIS, UH, UM, AND A LOT OF THAT BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR DECISIONS, YOU WANT TO LOOK AT THE DATA AND, AND, AND DO AN ASSESSMENT, UH, BEFORE YOU JUST KIND OF COMMIT, SORT OF WENT A HUNDRED PERCENT, THAT WHAT ISSUE YOU'RE GOING TO LOOK AT.SO, UM, BUT SO WE'LL BRING THAT INTO THAT INFORMATION BACK AT THE FEBRUARY MEETING, UM, AND, AND BRING, BRING AS AN UPDATE ON WHAT WE'RE DOING AROUND MENTAL HEALTH AND HOUSING.
SO THE LAST PART IS THE ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND MEMBERSHIP AND ENGAGEMENT.
BEFORE I GO INTO THAT, I'LL JUST STOP FOR QUESTIONS AROUND, UH, EITHER THE RESOURCES WE'RE DEVELOPING OR THE POLICIES AND PRIORITY ISSUES.
YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A LOT OF INTEREST IN OBVIOUSLY FOCUSING ON BASIC NEEDS, RIGHT.
JUST BECAUSE OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC CRISIS.
SO, UM, YOU SEE THAT REFLECTED HERE PRETTY SIGNIFICANTLY, ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS SO FAR IN THE WORK PLAN, RIGHT? ROLL, KEEP GOING.
AND, UM, SO THIS IS, UM, AGAIN, MORE ON THE ORGANIZATIONAL SIDE, RIGHT? WE'LL, YOU KNOW, WE'RE A NETWORK AND PART OF OUR WORK IS TO BE AS EFFECTIVE AS WE CAN ENGAGING AS A NETWORK.
SO, UM, IN TERMS OF EFFECTIVELY ENGAGING ON KEN BOARD, YOU KNOW, WE STARTED DOING ONE-ON-ONE ORIENTATION SESSIONS WITH NEW MEMBERS AND WE'LL CONTINUE THAT BECAUSE IT SEEMED TO WORK VERY WELL.
UM, AND WE'RE GOING TO CREATE A WORK PLAN, UPDATE TEMPLATES, SO THAT, THAT GETS UPDATED IN REAL TIME AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO ACCESS IN REAL TIME.
UM, AND HOPEFULLY IF YOU SEE SOMETHING INTERESTING, YOU KNOW, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO PLUG IN MORE EASILY BY CONTACTING WHOEVER'S HEADING UP A PARTICULAR WORK PLAN PROJECT, UH, UNDER FISCAL SPONSORSHIP, YOU KNOW, WITH CLINICAL CARE IS A, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, WE'RE GONNA KIND OF MOVE FORWARD WITH, UH, FORMALIZING, UM, THE RELATIONSHIP WITH INTEGRAL CARE AND IDENTIFYING, UM, WE'RE PUTTING IN PLACE, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER MEASURES WE NEED, UM, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, RIGHT.
TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE INDEPENDENTLY.
YEAH, TYPICALLY WE HAVE A RETREAT IN NOVEMBER.
AGAIN, A LOT OF THIS JUST DEPENDS ON WHERE WE ARE AT THAT TIME AND WHETHER IT CAN BE VIRTUAL OR IN PERSON.
AND I THINK, UM, THE REST WE'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT IN TERMS OF, YOU KNOW, UPDATING, UM, MORE EFFECTIVELY TO THE BOARD ON THE WORK PLAN, THROUGH AN UPDATE TEMPLATE, AND THEN JUST CREATING THE CENTRAL TEXAS LANGUAGE ACCESS FUND.
UM, SO IT'S A LOT OF THE STUFF WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IS JUST TRYING TO PUT IT IN A, IN A FORMAT.
SO YOU SEE WHERE IN OUR STRATEGIC PLAN DOES THIS, ALL THESE, UM, ALL THESE EFFORTS, UH, HELP TO SUPPORT OR HELP TO ADVANCE ANY QUESTIONS.
IF YOU JUST LOOK AT IT, IF YOU OPEN A DOCUMENT AND YOU TRY TO LOOK AT IT INSTEAD OF GOING LINE BY LINE, WELL, UH, I WILL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO ADOPT AND APPROVE THE 2021 BUDGET, THE 2021 LANGUAGE ACCESS FUND BUDGET PROPOSED BUDGET AND THE 2021 WORK PLAN, NO MOVED SECOND, JERRY SHERRY MOVES, UH, SHERRY FLEMING MOVES, WHICH SIEGEL SECONDS, ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION THEN WITHOUT OBJECTION, THOSE ARE ADOPTED GOOD WORK.
UH, YOU KNOW, I'VE, I'VE ONLY BEEN ON THIS BOARD A FEW YEARS DESPITE BEING CHAIR.
AND I THINK THAT'S THE LEAST AMOUNT OF DISCUSSION WE'VE EVER HAD COMING INTO THE BOARD ON THE BUDGET AND THE WORK PLAN.
SO KUDOS TO ROLE ON THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE FOR WORKING OUT ALL THE DETAILS IN ADVANCE, GREAT WORK.
[Discussion: Legislative Priorities and/or Concerns of CAN Member Organizations ]
WE HAVE ROLE, YOU HAVE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S EVALUATION ON THIS AGENDA.DO I NEED TO PRESENT SOMETHING ON THAT? I MEAN, I'D USUALLY, IT'S JUST AN ANNOUNCEMENT IF WE'RE READY TO ANNOUNCE SORT OF WHERE WE ARE WITH THAT, BUT IF SURE.
SO THE, THE, THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND THE TRI CHAIRS, UH, CONVENED, WE WILL, OF COURSE BE GIVING OUR WORLD TOP MARKS ALL ACROSS THE BOARD, TENS, TENS, TENS ACROSS THE BOARD, AS THEY SAY.
UM, AND, UH, I'M DRAFTING THE FINAL, THE LANGUAGE ON THAT TO SEND OVER TO INTEGRAL CARE FOR THE PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS, BUT, UH, KUDOS RULE FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK AND THE STAFF REALLY, UH, FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK IN, IN UNPREDICTABLE AND UNPRECEDENTED TIMES, KEEPING THE BALL MOVING FORWARD AND REALLY GETTING MORE DONE THAN I THINK IS EVEN RATIONALLY
[00:50:01]
EXPECTED, UH, GIVEN ALL THE CHALLENGES THIS YEAR.AND, YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT WE, I THINK, AS A BOARD WITH, WITH THE WORK YOU DID, AND THE STAFF MOVE SEAMLESSLY INTO VIRTUAL MEETINGS AS WELL, SO GLAD THAT, UH, THIS WAS ALL ABLE TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD.
SO YOU'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO LOOK FORWARD TO THAT ROLE, A GLOWING EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS EVALUATION.
ONCE I, ONCE I FINISH WRITING IT, I MAY NOT GET TO IT UNTIL AFTER TUESDAY FOR ALL THE OBVIOUS REASONS, BUT WE WILL GET IT DONE WELL.
AND THANKS TO OUR, THANKS TO OUR STAFF, YOU KNOW, UM, IT HAS BEEN, UH, A LOT OF UNEXPECTED WORK.
SO THANKS TO CARLOS AND JALINA FOR THE FLEXIBILITY THEY, THEY SHOWED RIGHT THIS YEAR AND JUST EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO GET DOWN.
UM, ONE THING JALINA, I WOULD SCROLL UP IN THE CHAT AND I SEE THE, THE SURVEY MONKEY FOR THE BUTLER AWARD NOMINATIONS.
BUT WHEN I PULL UP THE FORM, THE DEADLINE STILL SAYS JANUARY, 2020, IS, IS THERE A NEAT WAY? THAT'S STILL PROBABLY FORGOT TO CHANGE THE DATE.
I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE FIX THAT BEFORE WE START SENDING IT AROUND TOO MUCH.
[Preview of Legislative Session and Presentation of Legislative Priorities ]
OUR STATE REPS COMING AT TWO 20.AND SO FOR THE NEXT 25 MINUTES, WE CAN TALK ABOUT LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES FROM OUR PARTNERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I AM REALLY INTERESTED IN HEARING THE PRIORITIES FROM NOT THE CITY AND THE COUNTY, BECAUSE OUR LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES, FRANKLY, ARE VERY COMPREHENSIVE AND IT'S BASICALLY SOLVED EVERYTHING.
AND, YOU KNOW, I DON'T HATE THAT WE HAVE ASPIRATIONAL PRIORITIES FOR THE LEGISLATURE, BUT I AM VERY INTERESTED IN WHAT ARE OUR OTHER ORGANIZATIONS FEEL LIKE THEIR TOP PRIORITY IS HEADING INTO THE LEDGE.
UM, BUT I DON'T, I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO GO PERSON BY PERSON, UH, BECAUSE I DON'T THINK EVERY GROUP IS GOING TO HAVE A LIST OF THINGS TO GO THROUGH, BUT I'M, I WILL OPEN THE FLOOR FOR FOLKS THAT WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION'S PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT LEGISLATURE.
AND I GUESS A COUNCIL MEMBER, I'LL JUST NOTE THAT, UM, AISD DID CHAIR SORT OF THEIR WRITTEN LEGISLATIVE, AND SO DID THE GREATER AUSTIN CHAMBER.
SO THOSE SHOULD BE IN THAT SHARED DRIVE.
THERE'S A SUB FOLDER IN THE SHARED DRIVE.
WELL, WAS THIS POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO PULL UP THE, UM, THE SHEET THAT WE SENT OVER? I DON'T WANT TO TALK AT ALL, BUT I JUST WANTED TO HIT SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS.
I THINK THERE'S LIKE A SUMMARY PAGE, RIGHT? IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY.
WE WILL DIG INTO, UH, EVERYTHING THAT THE COUNTY WANTS TO SAY.
UM, WE'RE, WE'RE RUNNING A LITTLE BIT, UH, UH, BEHIND IN OUR AGENDA.
SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE HAD OUR OTHER ORGANIZATIONS HAD A CHANCE.
AND I CAN, I CAN ATTEST TO THE FACT THAT SHE IS AN EXPERT AT BEING BRIEF.
SO I'M EQUALLY HAPPY TO NOT SPEAK IF THAT WILL KEEP US ON TRACK TIMELINES.
HOLLY, DID YOU WANT TO MAKE EVEN A BRIEF COMMENT ON AISD? YES.
SUPER BRIEF, BECAUSE, UH, AND THE BUTTS DID SUCH A GOOD JOB WITH THIS.
I JUST WANTED TO BRING YOUR ATTENTION TO IT.
SO YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
AND A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH ACCOUNTABILITY AND ASSESSMENT.
AND, UM, REALLY, ESPECIALLY DURING THIS PANDEMIC, MAKING SURE THAT OUR SCHOOLS DON'T GET OVERPOLICED FOR ACCOUNTABILITY.
AND I THINK IF YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WATCHING THE NEWS, YOU CAN SEE THAT A TA DID SAY THAT THEY'RE NOT GOING TO DO THE, THE A THROUGH F UM, UH, REPORTING PIECE THIS YEAR.
AND WE'RE ALSO IN A ROLE, IF YOU CAN SLIDE DOWN JUST A LITTLE BIT LOOKING AT CHARTER SCHOOLS AND, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE, UM, ADVANTAGES CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE GETTING THESE DAYS.
UM, SO PART OF OUR PRIORITIES HAVE TO DO WITH MAKING SURE THE CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE HAVING TO BE TRANSPARENT WITH, UM, THE STUDENTS THAT THEY ACCEPT, BECAUSE AS YOU ALL MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW, THEY CAN DETERMINE IF THEY WANT TO, UM, ATTEND TO THE NEEDS OF CERTAIN KINDS OF STUDENTS, STUDENTS THAT ACCESS SPECIAL EDUCATION AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS, AND CERTAINLY EDUCATION FUNDING, AND YOU SLIDE DOWN ROLE, UM, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE WE HAVE THE PIECES WE
[00:55:01]
NEED TO SUPPORT OUR STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA, AND THEN MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE GETTING THOSE PAYMENTS FROM HB THREE AS WELL.UM, AND THEN, UH, OF COURSE WHAT EVERYBODY WANTS AND EVERY SCHOOL DISTRICT, LOCAL CONTROL AND FLEXIBILITY.
SO IF YOU SCAN THROUGH THIS, YOU'LL SEE OUR BIG, OUR BIG BUCKET PIECES AND THEN THE DETAILS UNDERNEATH, AND THEN TRANSPORTATION TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR BUSES ARE EXEMPT FROM TOLLS, THAT WE HAVE SOME, SOMETIMES PEOPLE LOOK AT, UM, WHAT WE'RE FOCUSED ON, BUT THESE ARE THINGS THAT AMOUNT TO, UH, YOU KNOW, MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR OUR DISTRICT.
AND OUR HOPE IS TO BE ABLE TO CONNECT AND COLLABORATE WITH OTHERS.
AND OTHERS COLLABORATE WITH US AS WELL AS, AS WE PUSH THESE ITEMS FORWARD.
BUT I DO WANT TO JUST GIVE A BIG SHOUT OUT TO EDNA, BUT TO, UM, OUR STAFF WAS VERY MUCH INVOLVED WITH THIS AND WE'VE GOT A LOT OF INPUT.
UM, BUT EDNA WAS THE ONE THAT MADE IT SUCCINCT IN, UM, MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR THIS TO BE A VERY BRIEF PRESENTATION.
SO I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A CHANCE TO READ IT.
AND IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, YOU CAN CONTACT ME OR, UH, EDNA OVER THE DISTRICTS.
SO THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY WHERE I WILL.
I WOULD ADD ONE THING TO THAT THAT I'VE BEEN TALKING TO SOME STATE REPS ABOUT AS IT RELATES TO SCHOOL BUSES, UH, YOU KNOW, REPRESENTATIVE ISRAEL HAS HAD A BILL FOR A NUMBER OF SESSIONS THAT WOULD ALLOW PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION TO USE THE SHOULDERS AND STATE HIGHWAYS.
AND I HAVE ENCOURAGED HER AND REPRESENTATIVE USI WHO REPRESENTS THE WILLIAMSON COUNTY PORTION OF MY COUNCIL DISTRICT TO ALLOW SCHOOL BUSES TO ALSO USE THOSE SHOULDERS.
AND FOR CONTEXT, WE'RE NOT REALLY TALKING ABOUT
BUT IF THE BUSES WERE PASSING THE CARS, MORE FAMILIES MIGHT LET THEIR KIDS TAKE THE BUS HOME.
AND SO THERE'S HUGE WIDE SHOULDERS IN THESE KIND OF SUBURBAN TO RURAL STATE ROADS.
SO I KNOW REPRESENTED UC IS INTERESTED IN THAT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL, WE'LL SEE WHERE THOSE BILLS GO ON THE LEDGE, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT FOR AWHILE.
ANYONE ELSE WANT TO TALK, DAVID, THANK YOU.
UM, IN TERMS OF MENTAL HEALTH, I JUST WANT TO MENTION, UH, THREE THINGS VERY QUICKLY.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, UH, WE'RE REALLY WORKING AS A STATEWIDE ASSOCIATION, UH, TO DO NO HARM IN TERMS OF ANY REDUCTIONS IN FUNDING.
CURRENTLY, THE STATE AGENCIES ARE IN A, A DIRECTIVE FOR A 5% REDUCTION IN SPENDING AND MENTAL HEALTH AND DISABILITY PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN EXCLUDED, UH, TO DATE.
WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE THAT CARRIED FORWARD BY SECOND OF ALL, MEDICAID, MEDICAID, AND MEDICAID.
SO WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE A ONE YEAR EXTENSION OF THESE, UH, DISRIP FUNDING UNDER THE 11, 15 WAIVER.
IT'S BEEN WILDLY SUCCESSFUL AND RATHER COME TO A CLOSE A YEAR FROM NOW TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE WITH AN EXTENSION.
UH, SECOND OF ALL, UH, COVERAGE OF A DIAGNOSTIC GROUP CALLED THE, UH, THE SMI OR SEVERE MENTAL ILLNESS IN THE STATE PLAN, UH, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO PICK UP FROM ABOUT 45% OF INDIVIDUALS THAT WE CURRENTLY SERVE ON MEDICAID TO PROBABLY 95%.
AND THEN THE THIRD POINT, UH, IS TO HAVE A DIRECTED PAYMENT BY THE MANAGED CARE COMPANIES FOR ANY, UM, MENTAL HEALTH ORGANIZATION THAT'S CERTIFIED AS A COMMUNITY BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CLINIC.
AND, UM, SO THOSE ARE THE BIG ONES.
THEN ALSO WE HAVE THE AUSTIN STATE HOSPITAL THAT WE'VE PARTNERED WITH THAT HAS A SECOND PHASE AND CONSTRUCTION OF $124 MILLION BILL.
SO IT'S A LARGE AND MEANINGFUL, UM, UH, PROJECT IN OUR BACKYARD.
SO THOSE ARE JUST HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE GOALS WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE.
THANKS, DAVID, AND WELCOME REPRESENTATIVE HINOJOSA TO, TO OUR CALL, UM, REPRESENTATIVE, WE'RE JUST LETTING FOLKS TALK THROUGH THEIR LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES, UM, AND ONCE RUBS AND POPS IN, WE CAN HAND IT OVER TO YOU.
ALL OTHER OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WANT TO LAY OUT SOME OF THEIR THOUGHTS.
UH, I KNOW RICH, YOU KNOW, WITH THE LGBT CHAMBER, I, I DO HAVE THE, THE OCCASION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY COMMITTEE CHAMBER, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT AGENDA HAS BEEN APPROVED YET.
SO I'M NOT SURE IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO, TO PROVIDE.
AND THE REASON I DON'T IS BECAUSE I TOOK COPIOUS NOTES AT THE ADVOCACY COMMITTEE'S MEETING, WHICH I THINK WAS
[01:00:01]
LAST WEEK.BUT, UM, THOSE NOTES WENT INTO THE RECYCLE BIN BY MISTAKE AND THE RECYCLE HAS ALREADY BEEN TAKEN.
SO I WOULDN'T WANT TO, I CAN'T RECITE IT FROM MEMORY BECAUSE IT WAS JUST AN AWFUL LIGHT IN THERE.
AND, UM, SO I'M, I'M AFRAID I'M OF NO VALUE, AT LEAST FOR RIGHT NOW.
SO THERE WAS GOOD STUFF, BUT I WAS IN THAT MEETING TOO, AND I DON'T REMEMBER.
SO, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE WITH THAT.
I MEAN, I DO REMEMBER APPLAUDING A LOT OF IT, SO I JUST WISH I COULD RECITE IT, BUT I THERE'S A LOT OF, UH, GOOD WORK RELATED TO EQUITY AND BUSINESS AND ENSURING THAT WE'RE NOT, NOT HAVING TEXAS OUTSIDE THE GUARD RAILS THAT WERE ALREADY ESTABLISHED BY THE SUPREME COURT IN TERMS OF IMPLEMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION.
UH, AND WHAT'S EXCITING ABOUT THE LGBT CHAMBER IN AUSTIN, IS IT ALSO CONVENES THE STATEWIDE LGBT CHAMBER GROUP THAT THEN COORDINATES THEIR LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES TO TAKE IT TO THE, TO THE LEDGE.
SO IT'S A GOOD WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING WELL.
JULIE, DO YOU WANNA, UH, GIVE US A TRAVIS COUNTY RUNDOWN? SURE.
I WILL MAKE IT, LIKE I SAID, VERY BRIEF.
UM, WE ARE GOING INTO THE SESSION WITH LOW EXPECTATIONS.
THERE'S GOING TO BE, UH, I THINK THREE MAIN TOPICS.
SO BUDGET COVID AND REDISTRICTING, ALTHOUGH REDISTRICTING IS STILL UP IN THE AIR, WHETHER OR NOT THAT WILL HAPPEN FOR THE COUNTY'S PRIORITIES, WE WILL BE LOOKING AT MAINTAINING THE ROLE OF COUNTIES, UM, AS IT RELATES TO EMERGENCY SITUATIONS, WE HAVE, WE LIKE THE CITY HAVE BEEN HUGE IN THE EFFORTS, UM, TO FIGHT COVID AND TAKE CARE OF OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND WE'LL BE LOOKING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE STILL HAVE A PLACE IN THAT PROCESS.
UM, AS FAR AS BUDGET GOES, WE'LL BE WATCHING TO SEE AS THE STATE STRUGGLES WITH HOW IT'S GOING TO ALLOCATE ITS VERY LIMITED FUNDS.
WILL THOSE FILTER DOWN TO CUTS WITHIN COUNTY SERVICES? AND HOW WILL WE BE ABLE TO MAKE THOSE UP, ESPECIALLY IN LIGHT OF REVENUE CAPS THAT WERE PASSED LAST SESSION, CHEESY TORE, LAST PRIORITY, WHICH WILL BE MAINTAINING AND PROTECTING OUR ABILITY TO PAY FOR THE SERVICES AND NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITIES.
UM, WE ARE HOPING THERE WILL NOT BE A FURTHER REDUCTION IN THE REVENUE CAP, BUT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT ANY OTHER, UM, METHODS THAT MAY FURTHER REDUCE OUR, REDUCE OUR, OUR BUDGETS, UM, WHETHER THAT'S CHANGING THE WAY MNO CALCULATIONS GO INTO, UM, REVENUE.
WE'LL, WE'LL BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THAT.
UM, LASTLY I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S ON EVERYBODY'S MIND, ESPECIALLY AFTER OUR CURRENT ELECTIONS WILL BE WHAT SORT OF, UM, LIMITATIONS OR NEW REQUIREMENTS RESTRICTIONS WILL BE PLACED ON RUNNING ELECTIONS AT ANYTHING THAT WILL POTENTIALLY DISENFRANCHISE VOTERS.
UM, THE LAST THING THAT I WILL SAY IS THAT THIS IS A SESSION OF LOW EXPECTATIONS FOR US.
WE DON'T REALLY ANTICIPATE GETTING VERY MUCH PAST, WE WILL BE SPENDING MORE TIME WATCHING THE, SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
I KNOW THE GREATER AUSTIN CHAMBER ALSO HAS THEIR LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES IN THE SHARED DOC AND SHARED FOLDER THAT THE STAFF SENT AROUND.
SO YOU CAN, YOU CAN SEE THOSE AS WELL.
UH, AS FAR AS THE CITY IS CONCERNED, YOU KNOW, BEYOND THE LONG LIST OF PRIORITIES THAT I THINK WE SHARE WITH TRAVIS COUNTY, THAT WE'VE GOT ALL FOCUSED ON ELECTIONS AS WELL.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE IS, I THINK SOME EXPECTATION THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF PUBLIC SAFETY CONVERSATION HAPPENING AS IT RELATES TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SOME, SOME CHALLENGES RELATED TO PENSION WORK THAT, UH, FRANKLY HAPPENED IN DALLAS AND HOUSTON FIRST AND NOW IT'S KIND OF OUR TURN AT THE, AT THE, AT THE WHEEL.
UM, FINGERS CROSSED THAT WE'RE GOING TO FIND A WAY TO BRING SOME FISCAL STABILITY TO OUR PENSIONS, UH, SPENDS MORE, MORE FRANKLY, FOCUSED ON FIRE A LITTLE BIT ON, ON EMS AND CITY EMPLOYEES, OUR FIRE FOCUSED ON POLICE AND CITY EMPLOYEES.
OUR FIRE PENSION HAS BEEN, UH, DOING A BETTER JOB.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU'RE THE CITY OF AUSTIN, IF ONLY IT WERE ABOUT FACT AND REALITY AND GOOD POLICY AND IT COULD JUST BE ABOUT THAT, THAT'D BE GREAT.
UM, IT RARELY IS UNFORTUNATELY, AND, UH, OUR POOR STATE REPS WHO HAVE TO TAKE, TAKE THAT INTO THE SESSION WHILE OTHER WORK IS GOING ON.
I OFFER MY APOLOGIES TO THE EXTENT THAT THAT MEANT THAT IT MATTERS THAT WE MAKE THE JOB HARDER A LITTLE BIT.
UM, EVEN WHEN WE'RE DOING THE RIGHT THING, EVEN WE'RE DOING THE GOOD WORK, SOMETIMES IT MAKES THE JOB HARDER AND I'D CERTAINLY SEE IT FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, UM, REPRESENTATIVE HOWARD, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
UH, WE NOW HAVE OUR TWO STATE REPS, UH, WHO ARE JOINING US FOR TODAY'S.
SO I'M VERY EXCITED TO HAVE YOU ALL HERE AND TO SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON WHAT YOU, WHAT YOU SEE AS HEADED THIS DIRECTION IN THE SESSION AND WHAT Y'ALL'S PRIORITIES ARE, UH, FOR THIS GROUP.
SO I WILL, I WILL LET YOU ALL TAKE IT AWAY.
[01:05:01]
YOU WANT TO JUST JUMP IN THOUGH, AND WE'LL JUST KIND OF TAG TEAM HERE.AND PLEASE, UH, TIME US, IF WE START GOING TOO LONG, CAUSE I KNOW I HAVE A TENDENCY TO TALK.
UM, ANYWAY, I APPRECIATE BEING WITH THE CAN AND HAVING BEEN ON THE CAN MYSELF.
I SEE SIMONE IS ON, I WAS ON THE CAN YEARS AGO, REPRESENTING AUSTIN AREA AND TO RELIGIOUS MINISTRIES.
THAT WAS MY INTRODUCTION TO CAN AND REALLY VALUED THIS GROUP A LOT AND STILL DO A FORCE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THIS UPCOMING SESSION IS GOING TO BE, AS YOU WOULD IMAGINE, A CHALLENGE IN A LOT OF WAYS.
UH, HEY SIMONE, UM, A CHALLENGE IN A LOT OF WAYS, UM, OBVIOUSLY WITH COVID THAT JUST COMPOUNDS WHAT'S GOING ON.
UM, WE'RE OF COURSE LOOKING AT A BUDGET CHALLENGE.
WE LEFT LAST SESSION WITH 3 BILLION SURPLUS AND THEN IT GOT REVISED BY THE CONTROLLER THIS SUMMER WITH A TWO, A $4.6 BILLION SHORTFALL FOR THE CURRENT BIENNIUM THAT WE'RE IN AND THAT DOESN'T EVEN GET INTO WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE DEALING WITH FOR THE TWO YEAR BUDGET.
WE'LL BE, UH, CRAFTING WOMEN COME BACK.
UM, AND THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE FACT IS THAT WE WE'VE DONE SOME THINGS THAT THE COMPTROLLER SAYS THIS $4.6 BILLION.
WE MAY BE ABLE TO CLOSE THAT GAP A LITTLE BIT MORE HEAT.
WE'VE SEEN SOME BETTER REVENUE COMING IN THAT MAY CHANGE WITH WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW WITH, UH, THE SURGE IN COVID, BUT IT'S A LITTLE BETTER THAN WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN PROJECTED.
UM, SOME, SOME THINGS THAT ARE THAT, THAT WE MIGHT USE SOME FEDERAL DOLLARS FOR TO PLUG HOLES.
AND I CAN TALK ABOUT THAT TOO, BUT, UM, ANYWAY, WE'LL GET THROUGH THIS.
WE'LL PROBABLY HAVE A SUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET WHEN WE COME BACK TO PAY THE BILLS, BUT THEN WE'LL HAVE TO ADDRESS THE NEXT TWO YEAR CYCLE AND THE CONTROLLERS LOOKING AT, UM, THE ECONOMY BEGINNING TO, TO IMPROVE IN 2021.
BUT WE'RE REALLY NOT GOING TO SEE REAL GROWTH UNTIL 2022.
UM, WE HAVE CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS ON WHAT WE CAN DO WITH THE BUDGET.
UH, UNLIKE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WE HAVE TO HAVE A BALANCED BUDGET.
WE CAN ONLY SPEND WHAT WE HAVE.
AND WE ALSO HAVE SPENDING LIMIT THAT, UH, THE LEGISLATURE DETERMINES LAST SESSION WOULD BE 7% OF GENERAL REVENUE.
UM, SO WE HAVE THESE LIMITS AND CONSTRAINTS THAT, UM, KEEP US FROM GROWING TOO MUCH, EVEN THOUGH WE'RE AN EXTREMELY LEAN BUDGET.
UM, THE THING THAT I THINK WE'RE TRYING TO TALK ABOUT A LOT NOW IS DON'T JUST IMMEDIATELY GO TO CUTS.
DON'T JUST IMMEDIATELY GO TO THE NARRATIVE OF TIGHTENING YOUR BELT.
WHEN WE ALREADY HAVE A BELT THAT HAS VERY FEW NOTCHES LEFT IN IT, BECAUSE IT IS ALREADY VERY LEAN.
UH, LET'S LOOK AT HOW CAN WE BRING ANY IDEAS TO THE TABLE ABOUT REVENUE THAT WILL HELP US CONTINUE TO INVEST IN TEXANS AS WE WEATHER THE STORM, AS WE WORK THROUGH THIS RECESSION AND THIS RECOVERY PERIOD, TO GET PEOPLE BACK, TO WORK, TO GET FAMILIES MOVING AGAIN AND, AND, AND GET OUR, OUR STATE MOVING, UM, CLEARLY PUBLIC EDUCATION.
AND GINA WILL PROBABLY MENTION THIS.
UM, THAT'S BEEN ONE OF OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES, UM, REAL BIG SETBACKS THERE IN TERMS OF, UH, OF CHILDREN, STUDENTS HAVING THE KIND OF EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES THAT THEY NEED TO CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD.
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE OF COURSE HAS BEEN, WE ALREADY KNEW ABOUT IT.
IT'S JUST MUCH MORE GLARING NOW.
UM, SO, SO THAT'S GOING TO BE A HUGE THING.
WE MADE A HUGE INVESTMENT IN PUBLIC EDUCATION.
WE DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK ON THAT, UM, HIGHER EDUCATION.
WE SHOULD NOT BE CUTTING BACK ON HIGHER EDUCATION AT THE VERY TIME THAT WE NEED TO BE MAKING SURE PEOPLE GET THE CREDENTIALS THEY NEED FOR, UH, WITH POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION, POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION, TO BE ABLE TO GET THE JOBS THAT ARE GOING TO BE REQUIRED.
I WAS ON THE CHAMBER'S TASK FORCE ON REOPENING BUSINESS HERE IN AUSTIN WITH SOME OF YOU.
AND YOU MAY REMEMBER WE HAD A REPORT THAT WAS SHOWN TO US THAT HAD INDICATED THAT IT WAS ESTIMATED THAT 35 TO 40% OF ALL JOBS THAT WERE LOST ARE NOT COMING BACK.
WE HAVE SOME INDUSTRIES THAT ARE JUST, THEY'RE JUST NOT GOING TO COME BACK THE WAY THEY WERE, AND THEN THERE'S OTHERS THAT ARE GOING TO BE, UH, BLOSSOMING.
SO HOW DO WE MAKE SURE WE'RE DOING THE RETRAINING THAT'S NECESSARY TO GET FOLKS WHERE THEY NEED TO BE? AND THEN OF COURSE, HEALTH, I MEAN, NO QUESTION WE ALREADY HAD, WHAT WAS ESTIMATED AT OVER A MILLION PEOPLE, UNINSURED WHO WERE ELIGIBLE FOR THE MEDICAID EXPANSION THAT, THAT WE HAVEN'T CHOSEN TO DO YET, UH, BEFORE COVID, AND IT'S ESTIMATED WHEN WE GET THE NUMBERS IN THAT IT'S GOING TO BE WAY OVER 2 MILLION.
NOW, UM, WE HAVE, WE HAVE NOT GOT A SAFETY NET SYSTEM IN PLACE FOR THOSE FOLKS, AND WE'VE BEEN PUSHING A LOT OF THOSE COSTS
[01:10:01]
ONTO THE LOCAL PROPERTY TAX PAYERS, THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS WHO HAVE PUT TOGETHER THE 11, 15 WAIVERS AND THE, THE INNER LOCAL AGREEMENTS HERE TO GET HEALTH CARE DELIVERED.UM, WE'RE IN SERIOUS PROBLEMS HERE NOW THAT WAIVER'S GOING AWAY.
AND, UM, WE'RE HOPING THAT THE LEGISLATURE IS GOING TO BE MORE AMENABLE TO LOOKING AT EXPANDING MEDICAID COVERAGE, EVEN, EVEN IF IT'S INCREMENTAL, EVEN IF WE DO IT FOR SUB-POPULATIONS AND DUCT LIFT FOR EVERYBODY THAT SHOULD BE ELIGIBLE, UM, WE'VE GOT TO MOVE FORWARD AND IT WOULD BRING IN A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MONEY FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WITH ONLY A 10% MATCH ON OUR PART, BUT WE CAN FIND THE DOLLARS TO DO THAT, ESPECIALLY IF YOU THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE WOULD BE SAVING DOLLARS, UH, IN COSTS, UH, NOT INCURRED IF PEOPLE HAD THE MEDICAL CARE THEY NEEDED, UM, NOT TO MENTION MOVING SOME FOLKS FROM MEDICAID PROGRAMS THAT HAVE A 60 40 MATCH TO A PROGRAM THAT HAS A 90 10 MATCH.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT TO BE LOOKED AT HERE.
UM, AND THEN ALL OF THIS, OF COURSE, ON TOP OF HOW ARE WE GOING TO DEAL WITH REDISTRICTING? UM, HOW ARE WE GOING TO DEAL WITH JUST MEETING AT THE CAPITOL? THAT'S ABOUT A LOT OF OUR MEETINGS LATELY HAVE BEEN ABOUT HOW ARE WE GOING TO SAFELY DO THIS, UH, GINA ARRANGED FOR THE CHAVEZ COUNTY DELEGATION TO MEET WITH MARK S. SCOTT YESTERDAY, WASN'T JAYNA TIME, JUST KIND OF FLOWS.
I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT ANYTHING IS ANYMORE.
AND, UM, AS Y'ALL PROBABLY KNOW, HAVE PROBABLY SEEN, UH, HE'S PROJECTING BASED ON THE UT MODELING THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE GOING INTO THE STAGE FIVE, THE HIGHEST RISK LEVEL OF BY DECEMBER 28TH.
AND, UH, PLOTTING THAT OUT TO WHEN THE SESSION STARTS ON JANUARY 12TH, WE WILL, MORE THAN LIKELY IN HIS OPINION, BE IN THAT HIGHEST RISK CATEGORY AT THE SAME TIME THAT WE'RE GOING TO BRING HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE INTO THE HOUSE CHAMBER TO SWEAR OURSELVES IN BECAUSE THE CONSTITUTION REQUIRES IT.
AND IF WE DON'T DO IT, I MEAN, SOME OF YOU WOULD PROBABLY THINK MAYBE IT'S FINE IF WE DON'T HAVE THE LEGISLATURE IN SESSION.
BUT THE FACT IS THAT WE DO HAVE TO MAKE SOME DECISIONS, MANY OF WHICH DEAL WITH BUDGETING.
AND, UH, SO HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO THAT SAFELY? THAT THAT'S A, A BIG CHALLENGE FOR US RIGHT NOW.
UM, SO MUCH TO BE TALKED ABOUT HERE.
AND I HEARD JIMMY JUST THE TAIL END BEFORE I CAME ON.
SO I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT EXACTLY, BUT YES, YOU GUYS DO GIVE US SOME THINGS TO HAVE TO WORK WITH.
AND THERE IS GOING TO BE AS USUAL PUSHBACK ON LOCAL CONTROL.
AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO KEEP WORKING ON THAT AND FIGURING OUT HOW WE CAN MINIMIZE THAT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
UM, UNFORTUNATELY UNFORTUNATE DEFUND THE POLICE SITUATION AND HOW THAT GOT MORPHED INTO THINGS THAT IT SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN BECAUSE WE'RE REALLY TALKING ABOUT JUSTICE FOR ALL PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THAT'S WHAT THIS IS REALLY ABOUT.
WE DON'T WANT ANY SEGMENT OF OUR COMMUNITY TO NOT GET THE JUSTICE THAT THEY DESERVE, THE POLICE PROTECTION THAT THEY DESERVE AND KNOW THAT WE CAN ALL BE PROTECTED IN THE SAME WAY.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE.
AND SINFONIA THOMPSON FROM HOUSTON DOES HAVE THE GEORGE FLOYD ACT THAT SHE'S BRINGING TO THE LEGISLATURE.
THAT'S GOT A LOT OF REFORMS IN IT THAT I THINK ARE GOING TO BE REALLY GOOD.
AND I'M HOPING BECAUSE OF HER STATURE AND, UH, AND WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON AND THE, AND THE DEMANDS FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT WE'RE GOING TO SEE SOMETHING COME OUT OF THAT.
SO DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SESSION IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
IT'S PROBABLY GOING TO BE TRUNCATED TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, FEWER COMMITTEE HEARINGS, FEWER BILLS, UH, LESS OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE TO BE AT THE CAPITOL.
WE'VE GOT TO FIGURE OUT THOUGH HOW TO HAVE GOOD PUBLIC ACCESS.
SO THAT'S GOING TO BE OUR CHALLENGE TO DEAL WITH ALL OF THESE MAJOR ISSUES AND STILL HAVE ADVOCACY THERE AT THE TABLE IN SOME WAY.
SO GINA, I'M GOING TO STOP NOW AND LET YOU START TALKING.
I THINK THAT HAS COVERED ALL OF IT.
THERE'S A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY, UM, MOVING FORWARD INTO SESSION WHEN IT COMES TO EVERYTHING, HOW WE'RE EVEN GOING TO OPERATE.
UM, ONE THING SHE HIT ON IS REDISTRICTING.
AND IF SOMEONE HAD SAID, WE'RE WAITING TO SEE WHETHER WE DO REDISTRICTING AND WE'RE SUPPOSED TO DO REDISTRICTING THE SECTION COURSE, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS SO BOTCHED THE GATHERING OF CENSUS DATA TO INFORM REDISTRICTING DATA.
UM, AND ALSO THE PANDEMIC HAS NOT HELPED THAT WE DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE GOING TO GET THE DATA IN TIME TO DO REDISTRICTING FOR THE SESSION.
AND, UM, THE TEXAS CONSTITUTION REQUIRES THAT WE DO REDISTRICTING IN A REGULAR SESSION.
SO, UM, AT LEAST FOUR STATE LINES.
SO WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO DO THAT UNTIL THE NEXT REGULAR SESSION.
IF WE DON'T GET THE DATA IN TIME, WE WOULD DO, WE COULD STILL DO.
WE WOULD ALMOST CERTAINLY DO THE CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING IN A SPECIAL SESSION.
AND IN FACT, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE I LAST HEARD A RUMOR
[01:15:01]
THAT THAT'S MAYBE WHAT THE POWERS THAT BE ARE THERE THINKING WE WOULD DO WITH CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING.SO, UM, LOTS OF, IF THIS, THEN THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO WAIT TO SEE WHAT THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS GOING TO DO ON THE CENSUS.
UM, DONNA MENTIONED PUBLIC EDUCATION AND IN JUST CONVERSATIONS YOU AND I HAVE HAD, WE ACKNOWLEDGED AND ARE CONCERNED THAT THIS IS REALLY AN EMERGENCY SITUATION THAT OUR SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE IN RIGHT NOW.
UM, KIDS, ALL KIDS, MOST KIDS ARE FALLING BEHIND IN THIS, UH, KIND OF HYBRID REMOTE.
SOME ARE REMOTE, SOME ARE IN PERSON, NOBODY IS IN AN IDEAL SITUATION, UM, LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.
AND, UM, OF COURSE WE KNOW THAT THE VIRUS IS SPIKING ALL OVER THE STATE.
AND SO THAT'S GOING TO MEAN MORE DISRUPTION FOR OUR STUDENTS IN SCHOOLS.
AND SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE SOME BROAD REMEDIATION PLAN THAT WE HAVE NO LEADERSHIP ON YET, BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW WHO'S GOING TO BE CHAIR OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.
WE HAVE A NEW SPEAKER WE'RE GOING TO ELECT EIGHT ELAN, UM, HAS THE VOTES TO BE SPEAKER.
AND HE WILL VERY LIKELY BE ELECTED TO BE SPEAKER ON THE FIRST DAY OF SESSION, BUT THEN HE WILL HAVE TO APPOINT COMMITTEE CHAIRS.
AND SO NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
SO THERE'S JUST SO MUCH REALLY IT'S ALL UNCERTAINTY.
AND, UM, AND, AND WE DON'T HAVE THE ANSWERS, BUT I, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE IS BIPARTISAN SUPPORT FOR PROTECTING THAT HOUSE, BILL THREE, THE PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING THAT WE APPROVED THE LAST SESSION.
AND, UM, SO THERE IS DEFINITELY A WILL TO DO THAT.
UM, BUT WE, THAT WILL BE, UH, A PRIORITY FOR MYSELF.
AND I KNOW FOR MANY WITHIN THE TRUST COUNTY DELEGATION, UM, I'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, SOME SPECIFIC, ONE OF THE BILLS THAT I'M LOOKING INTO RIGHT NOW, WE'RE RESEARCHING, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN DO THIS IS TO DONNA MENTIONED, HOW DO WE KIND OF INCREMENTALLY MAYBE PULL MEDICAID FUNDS DOWN TO PAY FOR HEALTHCARE IF WE CAN'T DO A FULL BLOWN EXPANSION OF MEDICAID.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT TRYING TO PAY FOR SCHOOL NURSES WITH MEDICAID FUNDS SO THAT ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS CAN HAVE NURSES ON CAMPUS.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW ANY MORE GENERALS THAT YOU ALL MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN.
UM, I'VE, YOU KNOW, MY SPECIFIC LEGISLATIVE AGENDA AND HAVE DONNA HAS HER SPECIFIC LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO OPEN IT UP FOR QUESTIONS IF THAT'S PERMITTED AND LET ME, I'M GINA, I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING FOR ME IN PARTICULAR.
AND THAT IS THAT I'M NOW THE CHAIR OF THE WOMEN'S HEALTH CAUCUS.
AND THE FACT IS THAT OBVIOUSLY WOMEN'S HEALTHCARE IS GOING TO BE A BIG ISSUE.
AGAIN, THAT'S A BIG ISSUE FOR US LOCALLY, UH, AND THE RELATIONSHIPS THAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE IN THE LEGISLATURE'S INTERVENTION WITH, UH, WITH THE CONTRACTS THAT WE'VE HAD IN THIS COMMUNITY, ENSURE THAT WOMEN HAVE ACCESS TO CARE.
THAT'S GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE AN ISSUE, UH, AS ARE MANY OTHER THINGS.
AND, UH, JUST TO PUT A FINAL POINT ON THE ELECTION, UH, THOUGH WE CAME OUT WITH EXACTLY THE SAME NUMBER OF DEMOCRATS TO REPUBLICANS, UH, WHICH VERY MUCH MODERATED THE WORKINGS OF THE HOUSE LAST SESSION, AND ALLOWED US TO FOCUS ON PUBLIC EDUCATION WITHOUT GETTING DISTRACTED WITH, WITH AS MANY, UM, SOCIAL ISSUES.
AS WE SOMETIMES DO GET DISTRACTED WITH THE, UH, THE WAY THE ELECTION TURNED OUT, WE HAVE MOVED, I WOULD SAY PRETTY DECISIVELY MORE TO THE RIGHT AGAIN.
AND SO DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT'S GOING TO MEAN IN TERMS OF, OF WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, BUT WE'VE ALREADY GOTTEN SOME SIGNALS FROM THE SENATE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE READY TO GO FROM THE GET-GO WITH, WITH SOME OF THESE SOCIAL WEDGE ISSUES, UH, PARTICULARLY LOOKING AT WOMEN'S ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTHCARE AGAIN.
SO YOU CAN EXPECT THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE, UNFORTUNATELY, SOME OF THOSE ISSUES THAT ARE GOING TO GET IN THE WAY, EVEN WITH THE SERIOUS OTHER ISSUES THAT WE NEED TO BE DEALING WITH.
UM, AND, UM, AND THE SHORT TIMEFRAME WE'RE REALLY GOING TO HAVE.
UM, SO ANOTHER BIT OF UNCERTAINTY OUT, I WAS ON A PANEL THIS WEEK WITH A BUNCH OF PEOPLE FROM THE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE, INCLUDING THE CONTROLLER, AND THEY WERE MAKING JOKES ABOUT, AS THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THE BUDGET AND HOW UNCERTAIN EVERYTHING WAS, PLEASE, THEY HEARD THERE WAS A DRINKING GAME.
ABOUT EVERY TIME WE SAID UNCERTAINTY TO TAKE A DRINK, DON'T DO THAT BECAUSE YOU WOULD GET DRUNK BECAUSE THAT'S ALL WE SAY IS HOW UNCERTAIN WE ARE ABOUT EVERYTHING.
IT'S JUST, THAT IS THE NATURE OF THINGS RIGHT NOW.
AND I'M SURE IT IS FOR ALL OF YOU TOO, AND ALL OF YOUR PROGRAMS. IT IS JUST AN UNCERTAIN TIME.
UH, BOTH VERBS THAT OF, YOU KNOW, SENATE REPRESENTATIVE HOWARD.
UM, I DO THINK I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FROM FOLKS.
[01:20:01]
WANT TO CHECK IN WITH THEM ON OUR, TELL US SOMETHING TOO, IF YOU WANT TO TELL THEM, TELL HIM WHAT'S WHAT, YEAH.I THINK A REPRESENTATIVE, YOU KNOW, AS YOU MENTIONED, THE BILL BY SYMPHONIA THOMPSON, I MEAN, IS THAT FILES ALREADY OR IS THAT JUST SOMETHING YOU KNOW, IS COMING IN? I THINK REPRESENTATIVE HOWARD MENTIONED IT.
I HAVEN'T HEARD IT WITH, DO YOU KNOW, REPRESENT HOWARD? I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE.
I THOUGHT IT HAD BEEN, UH, IF IT HASN'T BEEN, IT WILL, IT WILL BE EMINENTLY.
UH, THAT'S UH, THEY'VE HAD MAJOR PRESS, UH, PRESS EVENTS AROUND IT.
UM, THAT'S GOING TO BE, UH, ESPECIALLY FOR THE, UH, THE BLACK CAUCUS.
THAT'S THE BIG PUSH THAT THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE AT THE LEGISLATURE THIS TIME.
UM, THANK YOU BOTH FOR BEING WITH US TODAY.
I KNOW HOW BUSY YOU ARE GETTING READY FOR THIS COMING UP, BUT DO YOU KNOW, HAVE AS MANY BILLS BEEN FILED AS IN THE PAST, IS THERE MORE OR LESS, YOU KNOW, WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE BILLS THAT ARE BEING FILED? YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD WITH THAT? WELL, WE KNOW THAT WE'VE HAD MORE BILLS FILED SO FAR THIS AT THIS TIME THAN WE DID LAST TIME, EVEN THOUGH EVERYBODY WAS TOLD, WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE AS MANY BILLS THIS TIME.
SO, UM, THAT'S JUST KIND OF THE NATURE OF THE BEAST THOUGH.
PEOPLE WANT TO GET SOME THINGS IN THERE.
THEY WANT TO MAKE SOME STATEMENTS, NOT NECESSARILY THINKING THAT IT'S, THE BILLS ARE GOING TO GO THROUGH.
THERE'S A LOT OF REPETITIVE BILLS.
THE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS, UH, EXTENDING THE, UM, MATERNAL, UM, THE MEDICAID FOR POSTPARTUM, UM, FROM TWO MONTHS, WHICH IS WHAT THE CURRENT CUTOFF TIME IS TO, UH, TO A YEAR, UH, IN ORDER TO TRY TO ADDRESS BETTER THE MATERNAL MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY ISSUE THAT WE HAVE.
I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY AT LEAST SEVEN LEGISLATORS RIGHT NOW THAT HAVE FILED THAT SAME PIECE OF LEGISLATION.
SO SOME OF IT'S OUR REDUNDANCY, BECAUSE THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO SAY THAT THEY HAVE FILED THAT LEGISLATION, NO MATTER HOW MUCH IS FILED, IT'S NOT GONNA GO ANYWHERE.
A LOT OF IT IS THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT OF, OF, OF, UM, REDUCTION OF NUMBER OF HEARINGS, PROBABLY A LIMIT TO WHAT BILLS WILL BE ABLE TO BE HEARD IN COMMITTEES.
UM, AND, AND SO THAT'S GOING TO BE A REAL GATEKEEPER RIGHT THERE.
WHATEVER GETS A HEARING AND GETS PASSED OUT OF COMMITTEE, UH, WILL COME TO THE FLOOR.
AND THEN, THEN WE STILL HAVE OUR CALENDARS COMMITTEE, WHICH, UH, CAN BE ANOTHER GATEKEEPER THAT, THAT SLOWS IT DOWN THERE TOO.
I MEAN, THERE, THERE REALLY IS AN EXPECTATION THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE ON THE FLOOR, MUCH LESS THAN NORMAL, AND WE'RE GOING TO NOT HAVE THE, THE RESOLUTIONS AND THE RECOGNITIONS THAT WE NORMALLY HAVE, ESPECIALLY TOWARD THE BEGINNING OF SESSION.
IF WE HAVE THOSE A PROBABLY BE AT THE END OF SESSION, WHEN WE COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE, HAVE SOME KIND OF, OF A VACCINE AVAILABLE THAT MAY MAKE IT A LITTLE SAFER TO DO THAT THEN, BUT THAT'S NOT EVEN A GUARANTEE.
SO, UM, ALL THAT BEING SAID, IF WE'RE GOING TO BE ON THE FLOOR LESS TO DO THINGS, THERE'S GOING TO BE LESS BILLS THAT ARE GOING TO GET THROUGH.
SO NORMALLY WE HAD SOME IN THE BALLPARK OF 7,000 SOMETHING BILLS FILED AND WE MAY BE PASSED 1500 OF THEM, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UM, IT'S GOING TO BE LESS THAN THAT, THIS TIME.
COULD YOU ADDRESS WORKFORCE? DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WORKFORCE, UH, LEGISLATION RIGHT NOW I'M ESPECIALLY INTERESTED IN THE INCARCERATED AND, YOU KNOW, INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE A REAL CHALLENGE TO GETTING WORKFORCE TRAINING.
GINA, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ABOUT THAT OR THAT YOU'RE YEAH, NO.
I, I THINK TO REPRESENT HOWARD'S POINTS, THE KIND OF, I THINK LEGISLATION IS GOING TO BE VERY NARROW IN TERMS OF WHAT'S GOING TO GET A HEARING AND WHAT'S GOING TO MOVE TO THINGS THAT ARE PANDEMIC RELATED.
UM, UM, SOME OF THESE KIND OF HOT BUTTON, SOCIAL ISSUES THAT THE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP BUILDING NEED TO HAVE PASSED AND, UH, BUDGET RELATED ITEMS IN.
SO IT'S POSSIBLE THAT I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY BILLS ON, UM, ON PEOPLE IN THE WORKFORCE, UM, AND WHO HAVE BARRIERS BECAUSE OF INCARCERATION.
I DO KNOW THAT THE TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION HAS, UM, HAS BEEN PILOTING SOME PROGRAMS TO GIVE, UM, UM, TRAINING WORKFORCE TRAINING TO, UH, WOMEN WHO ARE IN PRISON SPECIFICALLY THAT, UM, THAT THEY HAVE INVESTED.
BUT I DON'T KNOW OF ANY SPECIFIC LEGISLATION WORKING AT A BILL W WORK, OR MAYBE WE FILED IT VIOLENT YET.
WE'LL BE FILING A BILL THAT IS BASED OFF THE CALIFORNIA BILL THAT SAYS IF, UM, YOU WORK AT A, IF YOU'RE IN THE WORKFORCE AND THAT THERE IS, UM, IF, IF THE VIRUS, IF THE VIRUS IS AT YOUR WORKFORCE, YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO, TO KNOW
[01:25:01]
THAT YOU HAVE COVID IN YOUR PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT.OF COURSE, IT'S MORE, IT'S NOT JUST LIMITED TO COVID, BUT IT'S MORE BROAD THAN THAT.
BUT WE'RE HEARING OF PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW THAT THERE IS INFECTION AT WORK AND THEY DON'T HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW.
AND SO WE WOULD BE, UM, TRYING TO CREATE THAT, RIGHT.
AGAIN, IT'S, THAT WOULD BE VERY HARD LEGISLATION TO PASS, BUT NONETHELESS, WE THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO AT LEAST, UM, BEGIN TO COME TO START THE CONVERSATION.
AND I, I HAVEN'T HEARD YET ABOUT, UH, LEGISLATION SPECIFICALLY TO ADDRESS YOUR QUESTION.
UM, I, I DID HAVE LEGISLATION LAST SESSION THAT I'M GOING TO BE INTERESTED TO SEE WHAT THE REPORTS ARE AND HOW, HOW IT WAS IMPLEMENTED, BUT TO, TO WHAT GINA WAS TALKING ABOUT TO HAVE EQUITY IN WHAT THE WOMEN WHO ARE INCARCERATED ARE GETTING EDUCATIONALLY.
UH, WE SAW A GREAT DISPARITY REPRESENTED JAMES WHITE FROM EAST TEXAS, DID A WHOLE LOT OF WORK WITH CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM LAST TIME.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WORKED ON AND HE HELPED ME WITH THIS WAS TO, TO ENSURE THAT WE GOT MORE, UH, PROGRAMS INTO THE PRISON SETTING FOR WOMEN.
YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S SOMETHING LIKE 80% OF THE WOMEN WHO ARE INCARCERATED ARE MOMS. AND, UM, MOST OF THEM ARE NOT IN THERE FOR VIOLENT CRIMES AND, UH, HELPING THEM TO GET THE EDUCATION THEY NEED SO THAT THEY CAN REENTER SOCIETY AND BE PREPARED TO GET A JOB THAT CAN HELP THEM SUPPORT THEMSELVES.
AND THEIR CHILDREN IS, IS CRITICAL.
SO WE DID GET THAT PASSED LAST TIME AND WE'LL SEE HOW, HOW WELL IT WAS IMPLEMENTED OVER THESE PAST TWO YEARS.
BUT, UM, CERTAINLY IT'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO PAY ATTENTION TO.
I HAVE ONE THAT IS LESS ABOUT THE SESSION AND MORE ABOUT, UM, PANDEMIC RESPONSE.
I MEAN, I'VE CERTAINLY BEEN TOLD THE GOVERNOR IS SITTING ON A LOT OF MONEY THAT HAS YET TO BE EXPENDED THAT EXPIRES AT THE END OF THE YEAR.
DO YOU DO EITHER OF YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT ON WHERE THAT IS NOW THAT THERE'S JUST A FEW WEEKS LEFT? YEAH.
I'M TRYING TO FIND MY NEW INFOGRAPHIC AND IN MY PILES HERE, HERE IT IS.
UM, WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE HAS NOT BEEN TRANSPARENT ABOUT THIS, AND IT'S BEEN LIKE PULLING TEETH TO GET THE INFORMATION WE'VE HAD TO GO ALL OVER THE PLACE TO TRY TO COBBLE SOMETHING TOGETHER.
AND THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS, WHY HE'S NOT BEING FORTHCOMING.
I'M NOT REALLY SURE IT COULD BECAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'D GET ACCOLADES FOR IT.
SO THERE'S SOME REASON, BUT, UH, THE, OUR INFOGRAPHIC, WE JUST PUT UP OUR REVISED ONE PUT UP TODAY ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE STARTED OFF WITH OVER $11 BILLION COMING TO TEXAS RIGHT NOW.
IT HAS TO BE EXPENDED BY DECEMBER 30TH, UH, OR ENCUMBERED.
AND IT CAN BE, SOME CAN BE SPENT FOR 90 DAYS AFTER THAT.
BUT ACCORDING TO WHAT WE'VE GOTTEN FOR THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD 3.4, 3 BILLION STILL REMAINS UNACCOUNTED FOR.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, I WOULD SAY I WAS ON THESE PANELS WITH THE COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE THIS WEEK.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE COCKTAIL HAS MENTIONED SEVERAL TIMES THAT HE'S DONE IN SEVERAL PRESENTATIONS AS PART OF HOW HE EXPECTS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE CLOSING THE SHORTFALL FOR THE CURRENT BIENNIUM IS TO USE SOME OF THESE FEDERAL FUNDS TO SUPPLANT AND REPLACE SOME STATE DOLLARS, UH, WHICH WILL ALLOW US TO, TO, UM, NOT HAVE AS MUCH AS LARGE A SHORTFALL, BUT THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY DIRECTLY HELPING PEOPLE WITH COVID RELIEF.
IT SOMEHOW WOULD HAVE TO BE RELATED, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU KNOW, UH, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE FACT THAT OUR SCHOOLS HAVE HAD TO OPEN THIS FALL, UH, WITHOUT UPFRONT MONEY AND, UM, HAVE HAD TO PURCHASE A LOT OF THINGS, TAKE CARE OF A LOT OF STAFFING SITUATIONS, UM, AND, UH, AND HAVE NOT GOTTEN AND ARE KEEPING, UH, YOU KNOW, RECEIPTS FOR REIMBURSEMENT.
BUT THE REIMBURSEMENT MAY ONLY BE LIKE 50%, 75% AT THE MOST, AND, UH, STILL HAVE TO GET THAT MONEY FROM SOMEWHERE.
SO, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE WAYS THAT HE COULD BE SPENDING IT RIGHT NOW.
AND FOR SOME REASON HE'S NOT, AND THERE'S A LOT OF EXAMPLES COULD GIVE A PLACES WHERE IT COULD GO, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S OUR LATEST FIGURE.
THE BEST WE CAN GET, UM, FROM THE LBB, WITHOUT THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE, ACTUALLY BEING REALLY SPECIFIC WITH US, BUT 3.4, 3 BILLION REMAINING IN WITH JUST WHAT A COUPLE OF WEEKS TO SPEND IT WELL, FILE UNDER THINGS.
WE ALREADY KNOW, BEING FRUSTRATED AT OUR REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP.
WHEREAS LAST TIME I SAW THE DATA WHERE THE ONLY STATE WITH REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP THAT, THAT HAS LIKE HISTORIC REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP THAT SENDS MORE MONEY TO THE FEDS THAN WE GET BACK IN SERVICES.
AND YET HERE WE ARE, WE FINALLY GOT SOME MONEY BACK AND HE'S NOT SPENDING IT.
AND I KNOW SHERRY COULD PROBABLY, I HEARD YOU AND I WERE BOTH KIND OF NODDING ALONG HOW, HOW VERY CLEAR IT WAS.
WE WEREN'T ALLOWED TO USE CARES ACT TO FILL BUDGET HOLES ONLY USED TO ADDRESS PANDEMIC NEEDS.
AND YEAH, NO, THEY DON'T APPLY TO US ALSO FILE
[01:30:03]
OTHER OTHER QUESTIONS FOR OUR REPRESENTATIVES.WELL, LET ME JUST ALSO MENTION ONE THING THAT WE WERE ON A CALL YESTERDAY WITH THE GOVERNOR AND IT WAS ABOUT THE VACCINE AND, UM, AND THAT WE SH WE ARE, THEY'RE GETTING, UM, OVER A HUNDRED HOSPITALS ARE GETTING THE FIRST DOSES OF THE VACCINE, TEXAS APPARENTLY IS GETTING MORE THAN ANY OTHER STATE, YOU KNOW, ALL THIS STUFF.
I MEAN, I, I REALLY HATE TO BE SUCH A SNAKE, BUT I KIND OF TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT BECAUSE THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE PANDEMIC RESPONSE, UM, THINGS ARE QUITE, UM, AS THEY'RE TOLD TO US.
SO, UM, AND IT'S JUST, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE, BUT THERE SEEM TO BE A LOT OF OPTIMISM COMING FROM THE GOVERNOR ABOUT THIS BEING THE BEGINNING OF THE END WITH THE VACCINE ON THE WAY CAN'T REALLY CONFIRM THAT WE'LL JUST ALL HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE.
AND A LOT OF US, UH, WHEN I'VE HAD SIMILAR CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR COUNTY, ELECTED THEM FOR THE SCHOOL BOARDS TO ABOUT CHANGES TO TOMA AND WHEN, WHEN HIS ORDERS ARE, AREN'T GONNA EXPIRE.
BUT I KNOW THAT'S KIND OF IN HIS COURT, UM, AT LEAST FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, I I'M CURIOUS IN, IN, YOU KNOW, WITHOUT MAKING YOU SAY THE WORD UNCERTAINTY A HUNDRED TIMES, UH, THE, THE FOR GROUPS ON THE OUTSIDE, LIKE OUR MEMBERS OF CANNES AND THE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE IN OUR ORBIT, WHAT, WHAT IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WORK WE SHOULD BE DOING TO SUPPORT YOU ALL, YOU ALL SUPPORT US BY TAKING THESE BILLS INTO THE HOUSE AND OUR NEW SENATOR AT CARETAKING IT INTO THE SENATE.
WHAT CAN WE BE DOING TO HELP YOU? YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY.
WELL, WHILE WE'RE WAITING ON HER, UM, YEAH, AGAIN, WITH THE CAPITAL NOT BEING OPEN, IT'S GOING TO BE A DIFFERENT, UM, AND LET ME BE CLEAR.
THE CAPITAL REALLY RIGHT NOW IS NOT OPEN ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT THE STATE HAS HAD OPEN, NOT UP IN THE CAPITOL.
AND THE GOVERNOR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT.
HE'S THE HEAD OF THE STATE PRESERVATION BOARD.
UH, SO WE, WE ASSUME IT'S GOING TO BE OPEN AT SOME POINT HERE, BUT, UH, IT HASN'T OPENED YET WHEN IT DOES OPEN IT, AS I SAID, IT'LL PROBABLY BE LIMITED CAPACITY ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO BE IN THE CAPITOL.
THEY'RE LOOKING AT THE, AT, UH, REMOTE VIRTUAL TESTIMONY, INVITED TESTIMONY.
UH, WE'VE HAD SOME DISCUSSIONS, GINA AND I WERE TALKING WITH SOME OTHER, OTHER LEGISLATORS LAST NIGHT ABOUT EXPANDING THE POSSIBILITY THOUGH, OF PEOPLE BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE VIRTUAL TESTIMONY, BUT THAT'S BEING DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW.
SO WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT'S GONNA LOOK LIKE YET.
UM, THE BEST THING I COULD SAY RIGHT NOW IS TRACK THE BILLS AS YOU WOULD NORMALLY DO, BUILD COALITIONS, AS YOU NORMALLY DO, MAKE SURE THAT SOMEBODY CAN FOLLOW ALL OF THIS WITHOUT EVERYBODY HAVING TO FOLLOW THE SAME THING.
AND, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE IT'S SPREAD OUT THE WORK HERE A BIT, BUT TRACK THE BILLS WHEN THERE ARE THINGS THAT YOU SEE THAT YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING OR TRYING TO KILL, UM, MAKE SURE YOU CONTACT OUR OFFICES AND LET US KNOW IF THIS IS SOMETHING YOU'RE PAYING ATTENTION TO.
SO HOWEVER, THE PUBLIC ACCESS GETS DETERMINED.
HOWEVER, THE TESTIMONY GETS DETERMINED TO BE ABLE TO BE TAKEN.
WE CAN, WE CAN BE IN COMMUNICATION WITH YOU TO ENSURE THAT YOUR VOICE WILL BE HEARD IN WHATEVER WAY THAT ENDS UP BEING, UH, YOU STILL, WE STILL WANT YOU, OBVIOUSLY I HAVE A VOICE.
WE STILL WANT TO KNOW, UM, WHAT WE, WE STILL WANT YOU TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS.
WE JUST DON'T KNOW HOW THAT'S GOING TO LOOK YET.
SO TRACK IT, STAY IN COMMUNICATION WITH US.
UM, AND WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT WHATEVER THE PROCESS ENDS UP BEING THAT YOU HAVE OPPORTUNITIES TO HAVE INPUT TO WHAT ACTUALLY IS GOING TO BE DETERMINED BY THOSE COMMITTEES AND COUNCIL MEMBER.
COULD I MAKE ONE COMMENT QUICKLY? THANK YOU, SHERRY FLEMING TRENDS, COUNTY, HHS.
THANK YOU LADIES FOR YOUR GREAT LEADERSHIP.
UM, WE CERTAINLY APPRECIATE YOU.
THE ONLY THING I HAVEN'T HEARD US TALK ABOUT, AND I KNOW IT PROBABLY GETS A LITTLE MORE DIFFICULT TO TALK ABOUT IT, YOUR LEVEL, AND THAT IS FOOD INSECURITY.
UM, TRAVIS COUNTY ALONE, UM, BY THE END OF OUR CARES ACT FUNDS, WE WILL HAVE SPENT, UM, NEARLY $2 MILLION JUST ON NEW PROGRAMMING FOR FOOD.
AND SO I WOULD JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, UNDERSCORE THAT MUCH, LIKE YOU TALKED ABOUT THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, WE KNEW ABOUT IT, BUT WE CERTAINLY HAVE A BIG SPOTLIGHT ON IT.
UH, WE HAVE A BIG SPOTLIGHT ON IT.
UM, I HAVE APPRECIATED THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THEIR TEAM TO WORK WITH THE COUNTY TO TRY TO GET MORE FOOD RESOURCES OUT INTO THE, BUT I WOULD, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST UNDERSCORE THAT, THAT
[01:35:01]
HAS BEEN SOMETHING THAT, UM, HAS JUST GONE OVER THE TOP IN THIS, UM, RESPONSE THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING.SO I'M JUST WANTING TO GET THAT IN AND THANK YOU LADIES FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, TH THIS IS PART OF THE CHALLENGE WITH THOSE CARES DOLLARS TOO.
UH, AND THE FACT THAT TDM, THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FUNDS THAT DID NOT GO TO THE CITIES AND COUNTIES THAT HAD POPULATIONS OF 500,000 OR MORE.
AND I THINK THEY'RE GOING TO BE CALLING BACK SOME MONEY.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE, WHEN WE SEE THAT WE HAVE COMMUNITIES WHO NEED ASSISTANCE AND ARE NOT GETTING THOSE FUNDS, THERE OUGHT TO BE A WAY TO GET THEM THERE, REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH WAS GIVEN EARLIER, BECAUSE THE NEED IS, CAN BE GREATER.
UM, I DON'T KNOW, GINA, IF YOU'VE HEARD ANYTHING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THAT, I MEAN, WE CAN CERTAINLY FOLLOW UP AND SEE IF THERE'S ANYTHING MORE THAT CAN BE DONE AT THIS POINT.
UM, I KNOW THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WAS INVOLVED TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, AS WELL AS TDM AND, UH, FOOD INSECURITY ISSUES, BUT, YOU KNOW, IF WE HAVE MONEY LEFT OVER AND WE HAVE TEXANS THAT DON'T HAVE ENOUGH FOOD TO EAT, THAT CERTAINLY SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING WE OUGHT TO BE LOOKING AT.
NO, THE ONLY THING I WOULD ADD TO THAT IS WE DID JUST, UM, SEND A LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR ASKING FOR ANOTHER $10 MILLION FOR MEALS ON WHEELS LAST WEEK.
I THINK THERE WAS A, UM, DONNA, WAS THERE A HEARING WHERE THAT WAS CONSIDERED WITHIN THE LAST WEEK? I HAD HEARD SOMETHING ABOUT THAT.
I'M NOT SURE I'M LOOKING BACK THROUGH MY TEXT MESSAGES, BUT, UM, YEAH, SO NO, I MEAN, POINT WELL TAKEN AND, UH, WE WILL REMEMBER TO KEEP THAT IN MIND AND LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT WITH STATE FUNDING, OTHER QUESTIONS FOR OUR REPRESENTATIVES.
WELL, DONNA, GINA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SPENDING TIME WITH CARDBOARD TODAY.
UH, WE WISH YOU ALL THE LUCK AND THE SPIRITS BE WITH YOU AS YOU GO INTO THE SESSION, BOTH FOR YOUR OWN HEALTH AND SAFETY, AND OF COURSE, FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR STATE, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SPENDING TIME WITH US.
AND, AND, UH, ALL OF OUR, ALL OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS ARE BEHIND YOU.
Y'ALL ARE THE ONES WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD.
SO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
WE HAVE TO JUMP OFF THIS CALL IN JUST A BIT TO TALK TO THE MAYOR ABOUT ALL THE WONDERFUL THINGS WE GET TO WORK ON REPRESENTING THE CITY.
I'M GOING TO PUT IN THE CHAT I'M ON THE, DURING THE ASD PART, I WAS SUPPOSED TO MENTION THAT EDNA IS GOING TO DO A WEEKLY LEGISLATIVE UPDATE ON THE TRACKING OF LEGISLATIVE ISSUES FOR THE DISTRICT.
SO SHE ASKED THAT I SHARE HER EMAIL ADDRESS IN CASE HE WANTED TO GET ON A DISTRIBUTION LIST.
AND, UM, AND I KNOW USUALLY CENTRAL HEALTH HAS A KIND OF A TWO OR THREE CHECK-INS, UM, DURING THE SESSION, RIGHT? SO WE'LL TRY TO GET THAT INFO OUT TO, UM, TO THE BOARD, RIGHT? UM, VIA CAN NEWS OR SOME OTHER WAY TO, UH, IF, IF, UH, THERE'S GOING TO BE THOSE KINDS OF UPDATES, YOU KNOW, WE'LL TRY TO KIND OF, UM, HIGHLIGHT THOSE FOR THE BOARD AND SPECIAL KIND OF COMMUNICATIONS SO THAT YOU'RE AWARE OF, UM, YOU KNOW, THESE KINDS OF OPPORTUNITIES.
CAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF WORK THAT GOES BEHIND THIS AND, UM, IN TERMS OF ANALYSIS AND IN TERMS OF JUST THE ACTUAL PHYSICAL PROCESS OF TRACKING THE DEALS AND ALL THE WORK THAT GOES WITH IT.
SO, UH, SO WE'LL TRY TO SHARE AS MUCH AS WE CAN, AS I HEAR FROM MOSER CANNED PARTNERS, WHAT THEY'RE TRACKING AND HOW THEY'RE REPORTING.
AND WE'LL TRY TO SHARE THAT AND MAYBE MAKE A LITTLE, UH, SUMMARY SHEET, RIGHT, AS WE LEARN MORE.
AND AS WE GET CLOSER TO THE SESSIONS AND COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, I THINK JULIE WANTED ME TO SAY THAT THE COMMISSIONER'S COURT WILL BE APPROVING OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA THIS TUESDAY.
UH, ANY OTHER COMMENTS ANNOUNCEMENTS THAT IS THE END OF OUR AGENDA TODAY? I MEAN, ANY FUN HOLIDAY PLANS, CAUSE WE ALL STAY AT HOME.
I JUST WANT TO SAY, UM, THANK YOU TO BOTH JIMMY AND NORA FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP DURING THIS UNCERTAIN YEAR.
UM, YOU GUYS SORT OF JUST KEPT US GOING AND SORT OF SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING NEXT YEAR.
AND I THINK WE, UH, WE ALSO WANT TO SAY
[01:40:01]
THANK YOU TO PATRICIA.WHO'S, UH, ROLLING OFF OUR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES.
SHE'S DONE THREE YEARS, UH, YOU KNOW, INCOMING CHAIR CHAIR, AND THEN I'D GO INTO THERE.
SO THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT COMMITMENT AND REALLY PUSHING US TO, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, FOCUSED ON STRENGTHENING SOME OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL THINGS THAT NEEDED STRENGTHENING.
AND, UH, AND OF COURSE FOR THE PERSPECTIVE YOU BRING, WE REALLY ENJOY HAVING YOU ON THE BOARD AND, UM, YOU'LL ENJOY, UH, WHEN MORE FRIDAY BACK, RIGHT PER MONTH, ONLY FOR A YEAR, THEN WE'LL INVITE HER TO COMMUNITY COUNCIL.
NO, NOT EVEN HOLDING HER BREATH.
I LOVE, UM, THE FOLKS THAT I'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH.
I GREATLY APPRECIATE, UM, I HAVE NOT, I'VE STARTED THE CONVERSATION WITH THE CHAMBER ABOUT WHO, YOU KNOW, SHOULD REPLACE ME.
AND SO I DON'T, I'M NOT SURE THAT I'M QUITE GONE BECAUSE THEY, I DON'T THINK THEY'VE REPLACED ME YET.
UM, BUT I WILL DEFINITELY KEEP YOU UPDATED ON THAT.
BUT NONETHELESS, I HAVE ENJOYED THE WORK HERE.
I'VE LEARNED SO MUCH AND I REALLY DO APPRECIATE, UM, ALL OF THE SUPPORT I'VE RECEIVED, UM, OVER THE YEARS, UM, UH, FOR THE WORK THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE ALLOWED ME TO TAKE THE LEAD ON AND TO, UM, AND TO WORK WITH ALL OF YOU.
AS THEY NORMALLY THERE WOULD BE AN ACTUAL FORMAL PASSING OF THE GAVEL, LIKE, YOU KNOW, LIKE, UH, AN ACTUAL GAMBLED, IT GETS BAD AS THERE BE A GAVEL AND SOME CHOCOLATE.
SO REBEL, YOU'RE NOT OFF THE HOOK.
I AM GOING TO NEED TO GET JUST TO KEEP PEOPLE LOOK AT FIRST PACKAGES.
PLEASE DON'T SEND UNMARKED PACKAGES TO MY HOUSE UNTIL AFTER TUESDAY.
I JUST CAN'T HANDLE THE STRESS.
WELL, EVERYBODY, UH, THIS IS MY LAST MEETING AS YOUR CHAIR.
UH, I HOPE AFTER TUESDAY, I STILL GET TO REPRESENT THE CITY OF AUSTIN AS A PAST YEAR ON THIS BOARD.
UM, YOU KNOW, I SAID IT LAST MONTH, THIS HAS BEEN, UH, SUCH A WILD YEAR ONE THAT WILL BE HISTORIC ONE THAT WILL BE REMEMBERED IN EVERY ORGANIZATION AND ALL OF YOUR ORGANIZATIONS AND THIS ONE AND THE OTHER ONES THAT WE'RE ALL A PART OF.
AND IT, IT IS, IT HAS BEEN AND WILL BE ONE OF MY GREAT HONORS TO HAVE BEEN THE LEADER AND THE CHAIR OF THIS BOARD DURING THIS YEAR, DURING THIS CRAZY INSANE YEAR.
UM, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL BE ABLE TO SAY MORE AFTER TUESDAY WHEN I KNOW WHAT MY LIFE IS AFTER TUESDAY.
BUT, UH, SO I'LL JUST END BY SAYING, TELL EVERYBODY TO VOTE ON TUESDAY BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE GOTTA DO.
ALL OF AISD, ALMOST ALL OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THAT'S JUST, THAT'S JUST, IT TURNED OUT IS, EH, IT COULD BE BETTER, ESPECIALLY FROM FOLKS WHO PAY ATTENTION TO THE TYPE OF WORK YOU ALL DO.
AND LIKE I SAID, LAST MONTH, YOU DON'T HAVE TO ENDORSE A CANDIDATE.
YOUR ORGANIZATION CAN JUST SEND AN EMAIL REMINDER THAT THERE IS A RUNOFF AND PEOPLE SHOULD VOTE.
THAT'S ALL YOUR ORGANIZATION HAS TO DO, AND YOU CAN DO IT.
IF YOU'RE A C3, YOU CAN DO IT WITH YOUR GOVERNMENT.
UH, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT.
AND THAT WOULD BE A HUGE HELP.
SO FOLKS KNOW THEY GOT TO GO BACK AND VOTE ONE MORE TIME.
WELL, IF THERE'S NO OTHER COMMENTS, WE'RE GOING TO END MY TENURE AS CHAIR IN MY FAVORITE WAY, BY GIVING YOU 15 MINUTES BACK ON YOUR FRIDAY.
IT IS 2:47 PM AND I ADJOURN THIS MEETING OF BECAME FOUR.