[00:00:05]
AND WE HAVE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10 OR 14 COMMISSIONERS PRESENCE.
WE HAVE QUORUM AND WE CAN GET STARTED.
[Independent Citizen’s Redistricting Commission]
TO CALL THE INDEPENDENT CITIZENS REDISTRICTING COMMISSION MEETING TO ORDER THIS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30TH.AND MATT, CAN YOU PLEASE DO A ROLL CALL? YOU BET.
COMMISSIONER, IF YOU COULD JUST RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY, I WANT TO CALL YOUR NAME CANNON I MORRIS HARDEN.
LET'S LOOK, LOUIS DROPPED OFF SOME I'LL GET HIM BACK LANDS.
HELLO? I JUST CALLED, UM, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE VOTING FOR? JUST DOING ATTENDANCE.
IT LOOKS LIKE WE STILL DON'T HAVE LOUIE, SO I WILL CHECK BACK WITH HIM.
UM, I WANT EVERYONE TO GET A WARM WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST AND 14TH COMMISSIONER CAMILIA, FEL COHEN, WHO IS WITH US TODAY.
UM, SO, UM, LET'S, LET'S JUMP RIGHT INTO THE AGENDA.
MATT, CAN YOU PLEASE TAKE US THROUGH TODAY'S AGENDA? YOU BET.
AND WHILE HE'S PULLING THAT UP, I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TONIGHT.
EVERY ONE OF YOU AND PLEASE STICK AROUND, WE HAVE TO MAINTAIN OUR FORUM AND IT WILL BE A LONG NIGHT AS YOU PROBABLY SAW FROM MY EMAIL.
SO THE MEETING GOALS, INTERVIEW CANDIDATES AND MAKE FINAL HIRING DECISIONS FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER AND LEGAL COUNSEL STAFF PHYSICIANS, UH, PUBLIC HEARINGS, PROPOSED SCHEDULE REPORT OUT PUBLIC HEARINGS, PROMOTION, PROPOSED PLAN REPORT OUT.
UH, WE'VE GOT ONE FIRST AND SIGNED UP FOR CISCO COMMUNICATION.
UM, UH, SO THAT'S ONE, TWO UNFINISHED BUSINESS UPDATE FROM THE HIRING WORKING GROUP AND THEN THREE NEW BUSINESS, UM, A INTERVIEWS FOR STAFF, UH, THE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER, UM, THROUGH CANDIDATES AND THE LEGAL COUNSEL, TWO CANDIDATES, UH, THREE BE EXECUTIVE SESSION AND THEN THREE C FINAL HIRING DECISION ON AND REGISTERED MANAGER.
AND THEN LEGAL COUNSEL, UH, 3D UPDATE FROM PUBLIC HEARINGS, WORKING GROUP THREE E UPDATE FROM COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP THREE F UPDATE FROM FINANCE COMMITTEE THREE G UPDATES FROM CITY, UM, EMPLOYEE CONTRACT TEMPLATE, BUDGET INCREASED TEMPLATE AND JULY 7TH MEETING.
UM, SO WE'LL BEGIN WITH CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.
AND YOU DID SAY ONE PERSON CALLED IN THIS EVENING, CORRECT? MATT? THAT'S CORRECT.
SO JUST A REMINDER, EACH SPEAKER HAS THREE MINUTES AND PLEASE JUST CLEARLY STATE YOUR NAME AND IN WHICH DISTRICT YOU RESIDE, IF COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, JUST HOLD THOSE TILL THE END.
ARE YOU READY FOR ME TO START? YES.
MS. PECK YAN, UH, BEFORE I ACTUALLY MAKE MY REMARKS, I'LL COMMENT TO YOU THAT YOU'RE NOT BROADCASTING OR YOUR TV CHANNEL AT THIS POINT.
I CAN HEAR YOU, UH, AUDIO, BUT NO PICTURE.
UM, WE APPRECIATE THE FACT YOU ALL GOT, UH, TAKING A VITAL STEP IN HIRING YOUR STEP STAFF PROFESSIONAL STAFF TONIGHT.
NOW THAT'S CRITICAL AND WE GRADUATE GRADUALLY ON GETTING THAT DONE.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO PARTICIPATING WITH YOU, UH, AND YOUR FIRST PUBLIC MEETING ON, UH, JULY 7TH.
WE'RE WORKING HARD TO HAVE READY FOR YOU TO A PRESENTATION,
[00:05:01]
WHICH WILL INCLUDE SEVERAL ITEMS, UH, INCLUDING A PERSPECTIVE ON THE AUSTIN HISTORY AROUND ELECTORAL SYSTEM, UH, ADDITIONAL DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION, UH, BEYOND WHAT YOU'VE ALREADY RECEIVED ON THE HISTORY OF MINORITY VOTING IN AUSTIN AND, UH, SOME PERSPECTIVE, UH, ON HOW THAT'S GONE AND WHY WE ARE, WHERE WE ARE NOW IN TERMS OF THE DEMOGRAPHICS OR MINORITIES, AND ALSO SOME INFORMATION ON YOUR OPTIONS AFTER NOVEMBER 1ST, UH, FINALLY, UH, UM, UH, WE'LL STRESS THAT WE'RE READY TO COOPERATE WITH THE COMMISSION IN ANY WAY, UH, HELPFUL, INCLUDING IF YOU SHOULD GET AIR POINT, LIKE, YOU KNOW, JUST PAYING THEM WORKING GROUPS.UH, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, WE'LL BE HAPPY.
UH, IF NOT, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
UM, MR. YOUNG, AND, UH, DO WE HAVE ANY MORE CITIZENS COMMUNICATION? NO, WE DON'T.
WE ARE BROADCASTING RIGHT NOW ON ATX N CHANNEL ONE.
YEAH, BUT MATT, IT'S NOT COMING THROUGH, I'M WATCHING YOU.
AND WHAT I'VE DONE IS SCREENED THAT WHETHER YOU'RE A BOARD THAT SAYS WHAT THE COMMISSION IS, BUT NOT THE PICTURE OF WHAT Y'ALL WERE DOING.
I'M NOT CRITICIZING, I'M JUST LETTING YOU KNOW.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. YOUNG? OKAY.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO MOVE ON TO APPROVING THE MINUTES FROM THE JUNE 16TH MEETING.
TAKE JUST A MOMENT TO REVIEW THE MINUTES, PLEASE.
AND, UM, ARE THERE ANY CORRECTIONS, WHAT YOUR MUTE HIM? THANK YOU.
AND IF THERE ARE NO CORRECTIONS, UM, THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED.
UNDER UNFINISHED BUSINESS, THIS IS ITEM TWO, A, THIS IS THE UPDATE FROM THE HIRING WORKING GROUP, WHICH IS MADE UP OF COMMISSIONER
UM, SO THE, THE PROCESS, UH, WAS AS FOLLOWS, UH, FOR SCORING THE CANDIDATES.
UM, WHAT WE DID WAS WE CREATED, UH, A SCORING SYSTEM BASED OFF OF THEIR SCORING SYSTEM THAT WAS USED TO RATE THE COMMISSIONERS, OUR OURSELVES, UM, AND THE DIFFERENT SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES THAT WE USED IN THE RATING SYSTEM WERE BASED OFF OF THE JOB DESCRIPTIONS THAT WE ALL HAD DRAFTED AND EVERYONE APPROVED.
AND THE INDIVIDUAL, UH, WORKING, HIRING, WORKING GROUP COMMISSIONERS, RATED ALL OF THE CANDIDATES INDEPENDENTLY, AND WE, YOU KNOW, TABULATED OUR OWN SCORES.
AND THEN LATER ADDED THEM INTO THIS MASTER WORKBOOK THAT WAS, UM, SENT TO YOU ALL.
UH, AND THE SUMMARY DOCUMENTS FOR BOTH THE LEGAL COUNSEL AND ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER CONTAIN A SUMMARY OF THE SCORES FOR THE TOP CANDIDATES.
UH, AND THEN COMMISSIONER BLANK CREATED A SURVEY, UH, THAT YOU ALL SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO, TO USE, TO RATE THE CANDIDATES DURING TODAY'S INTERVIEWS.
AND THAT SURVEY WAS BASED OFF OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS THAT WE AS A WORKING GROUP WORKED TOGETHER TO CREATE.
I'D SAY THAT WAS A PRETTY THOROUGH EXPLANATION.
DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR COMMISSIONER E ABOUT THAT PROCESS? OKAY, GREAT.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE A AND, UH, THIS IS THE INTERVIEWS FOR STAFF.
SO COMMISSIONERS, UH, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU USE THESE SURVEYS IF YOU'RE COMFORTABLE USING THEM.
THE ONE THAT, THAT CONSTRAINT YOU ALLUDED TO JUST A MOMENT AGO, AND THESE WERE SENT TO YOUR EMAILS, I RE SENT THEM TODAY.
UM, SO THEY SHOULD BE FRESH IN YOUR INBOX AND YOU'LL USE THESE TO RATE EACH CANDIDATE AS THE INTERVIEW IS CONDUCTED.
[00:10:01]
AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO USE THE SURVEY PROVIDED, I WOULD SUGGEST THAT YOU TAKE YOUR OWN NOTES, UM, WHETHER ON YOUR COMPUTER OR ON A, ON PAPER TO, UH, SCALE, UH, USE THE SCALE FROM ONE TO FIVE, UM, FOR EACH ANSWER THAT EACH CANDIDATE PROVIDES SO THAT WE CAN USE THAT DATA TO DELIBERATE.UM, DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT BEFORE WE BEGIN? AND EVERYONE HAS ACCESS TO THE SURVEY? YEAH.
SO WE'RE GOING TO GO TO THREE, A ONE.
THESE ARE THE INTERVIEWS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER.
WE WILL HAVE SYLVIA GOMEZ, THEN CHRISTINE GRANADA, AND THIRD GILDA SHALL CALL THE LOAF.
UM, SO, UM, MATT AND TECH, IF YOU COULD GET SYLVIA GOMEZ ON, WE ARE READY FOR HER.
SO FOR SYLVIA, SHE'S NOT HERE YET, SO WE COULD BRING OVER THE NEXT CANDIDATE MCGILL ENOUGH TO BRING IT ON FOR THE INTERVIEW.
UM, COMMISSIONER KANAAN, WE'LL DEFINITELY MAKE SURE EVERYBODY KNOWS THE NAME OF THE CANDIDATE.
I'M GOING TO ASK THEM TO STATE THEIR NAME FOR US JUST TO MAKE SURE WE'RE ALSO SAYING IT CORRECTLY.
IT LOOKS LIKE FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER POSITION, UM, LOOKS LIKE WE'VE GOT THE NET THAT'S HERE, BUT NOT, UH, SYLVIA.
I'M TRYING TO THINK WHEN THAT'S THE LAST NAME IS GRANO DOSE.
UM, IT'S FORGOTTEN THE NET HERE.
AND THEN FOR THE LEGAL COUNSEL, BOTH DAVID MENDEZ AND GEORGE CORBELL ARE HERE AND READY TO GO.
CHRISTINE, THE SAME PERSON, UM, CHRISTIE DRUG ADDICTS.
I BELIEVE GUILD WOULD GOES BY LYNETTE AS WELL.
OVERLOAD WAS SPIRAL AND NET AS WELL.
SO WE JUST BROUGHT LYNETTE OVER.
ARE YOU ABLE TO TURN YOUR CAMERA ON? YES.
AND, UM, AND I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE LISTED AS, ARE YOU LISTED AS GILDA? YES.
AND CAN YOU SAY YOUR WHOLE NAME FOR THE COMMISSION? IT'S HILDA.
IF YOU GIVE US JUST A MOMENT, WE ARE ALL DOING SOMETHING ON OUR SCREENS SO THAT WE CAN, UM, KIND OF FOLLOW ALONG WITH YOUR INTERVIEW.
WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE WITH US TODAY.
AND, UM, I'LL JUST LET YOU KNOW, UH, THE BRIEF RUNDOWN OF HOW THIS WILL GO VICE CHAIR GONZALEZ, AND I WILL RUN THROUGH THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS.
UM, MY NAME IS CHRISTINA
UM, AND WE DEVELOPED THESE QUESTIONS THROUGH THE HIRING WORKING GROUP, UM, OF COMMISSIONERS.
AND WE WILL MAKE SURE TO HAVE SOME TIME AT THE END FOR A HANDFUL OF QUESTIONS, ONE OR TWO, THE REST OF THE COMMISSION, AND ALSO FOR YOU TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.
[00:15:01]
UM, SO YOUR FIRST QUESTION IS, CAN YOU TELL US A TIME WHEN YOU TOOK INITIATIVE ON A PROJECT, WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND ON A TASK? UM, MY LAST JOB, UH, COSA, THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, I WAS TASKED WITH HELPING CREATE THE SAN ANTONIO HOMELESS HOTLINE.SO WE, UM, I CREATED A SYSTEM TO BE ABLE TO TRACK WHERE WE PLACED THE HOMELESS, UM, EXPRESS SHEET.
SO WE, UM, WE'RE ABLE TO TRACK WHERE WE PLACED THE HOMELESS AND WHAT SHELTER, UM, BASED ON A SCALE OF NEEDS.
UM, ANOTHER, YOUR NEXT QUESTION IS, UM, TELL US ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU WORKED AGAINST A TIGHT PROJECT DEADLINE.
HOW DID YOU ACCOMPLISH THAT TASK? AND LET'S SAY YOU HAD A WEEK OR SO TO ACCOMPLISH THE FULL TASK.
HOW DO YOU KEEP YOUR, HOW DO YOU WORK AGAINST A TIGHT PROJECT, DEADLINE PRIORITIES? UM, UH, I LOVE LISTS.
WHATEVER GOES FIRST, YOU TACKLE THAT AND YOU MOVE TO THE NEXT.
HOW DO YOU KEEP YOURSELF ORGANIZED AND, UM, IN THIS ROLE AS, AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE, UM, MANAGER OR ANY KIND OF ADMINISTRATIVE POSITION, AND CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT STYLE? UM, OUTLOOK AND CALENDAR USUALLY KEEPS ME VERY ORGANIZED.
AGAIN, I'D MAKE LISTS OF EVERYTHING.
SO I HAVE A NOTEBOOK THAT I CARRY WITH ME WITH LIST PRIORITIES.
UM, MY PROJECT MANAGEMENT STYLE, I LIKE TO TACKLE THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE THE CLOSEST DEADLINE OR MORE, UM, PRESSING, AND THEN JUST GO FROM THERE.
JUST KIND OF WORK IN A TIMELY MANNER.
UM, WHAT IS YOUR LEVEL, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR EXPERTISE IN MEETING PLANNING AND MEETING MANAGEMENT? UM, I'M SORRY, GO AHEAD, LADIES FOR THE CITY, UH, AS THE, UM, HOMELESS HOTLINE MANAGER.
SO WE, UH, I PLAN WEEKLY MEETINGS WITH THEM WITH ABOUT 65 TO A HUNDRED PEOPLE.
WEBEX IS ANOTHER ONE THAT WE CAN HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE TOGETHER AT THIS TIME.
HOW WOULD YOU SAY THAT YOU APPROACH MAKING YOUR FIRST CONTACT WITH A NEW CLIENT AND ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH HANDLING AND ENGAGING WITH A RANGE OF HIGH LEVEL CONTACTS? YES, I'M VERY COMFORTABLE, UH, EITHER WITH A PHONE CALL INTRODUCING MYSELF OR SENDING AN EMAIL TO MYSELF AND THEN YOUR ROLE IN WHAT MY ROLES ARE AND THEN GO FROM THERE.
THANK YOU, HILDA, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR COMFORTABILITY, EXCUSE ME, COMFORTABILITY WITH, UH, SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEBSITE MANAGEMENT ON A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL.
WHAT PLATFORMS AND TOOLS DO YOU USE AND ARE YOU MOST FAMILIAR WITH? UH, IN MY PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY, I'VE USED INDEED TO POST JOBS, UM, MONSTER, WE, UH, HAD, UH, FACEBOOK TO PUT THE HOMELESS HOTLINE OUT THERE.
SO HOW TO KIND OF MANAGE THAT.
UM, I HAVE MANAGED A WEBSITE FROM THE BACKEND TO UPDATE THE NEWS UPDATES.
SO, UM, THAT, SO I FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE.
CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH BUDGET MANAGEMENT? I WILL FIND THE LAST PENNY IF IT'S MISSING, UH, HAVE A BACKGROUND IN ACCOUNTING.
I THINK EVERYTHING CAN BE SO BY NUMBERS, UH, FEEL VERY COMFORTABLE WITH BUDGETING.
UH, I'VE RUN THREE GRANTS, ONE FOR USA THROUGH THE HOME.
THIS HIGHLIGHT WAS THAT ABOUT $3 MILLION TO SPEND, UM, THAT
[00:20:01]
OTHER DEBT WITH A GREAT RATING.AND FINALLY, HE'LL DIAL IN WHAT CAPACITY IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER HAVE YOUR, HAVE YOUR BILINGUAL SKILLS BEEN PUT TO USE IN EVERY SINGLE JOB I'VE HAD? WE'RE IN SAN ANTONIO, A LOT OF, UH, TEXAS, A LOT OF PEOPLE SPEAK SPANISH.
MOST OF THEM FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE DEALING IN SPANISH WHEN IT COMES TO THEIR BUSINESS BECAUSE THAT'S THEIR FIRST LANGUAGE.
SO I'M VERY COMFORTABLE IN BOTH LANGUAGES.
I CAN READ THEM, WRITE THEM, SPEAK THEM.
I'M GOING TO NEED A LESSON OR A FULL BETH.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR RESPONSE.
WELL, WE'RE GOING TO OPEN THIS UP TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS.
IF ANY OF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS FOR, UM, I'M SORRY, YOU GO BY LYNETTE OR HILDA BY LYNETTE FIVE.
AND THEN IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR LYNETTE, UH, COMMISSIONER CALLED AT HOME AND, AND THEN COMMISSIONER CANNON.
HI, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US LYNETTE.
UM, I DID HAVE A COUPLE OF FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS.
UH, I WANTED TO KNOW THE WORD, THE WEBSITE THAT YOU MANAGED, WAS THAT A WORDPRESS WEBSITE OR WHAT KIND OF A WEBSITE? DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT WAS CALLED? THE TECHNOLOGY? OH GOD.
SO IT WAS LIKE A WORDPRESS PLATFORM.
YOU DO IT ON ONE SIDE AND THEN YOU KIND OF LOAD IT INTO THE GODADDY WEBSITE.
YOU DO IT OUTSIDE AND THEN YOU UPLOAD IT INTO THE GODADDY SUPPOSE LIFE.
AND THEN MY, I HAD A SECOND QUESTION, WHICH IS, YOU SAID, UM, I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD TELL ME LIKE A SPECIFIC TIME WHERE YOU WORKED ON A TIGHT DEADLINE.
I MEAN, I'M JUST, I'M ASSUMING THAT MANAGING GRANTS, YOU WERE WORKING CONSTANTLY AGAINST TIMELINES.
SO I WAS HOPING YOU COULD TELL ME LIKE SOMETHING WENT WRONG OR TWO WEEKS BEHIND OR SOME SORT OF STORY LIKE THAT.
WE'VE HAD, UH, DEALING WITH A USA, A, UH, GRANT.
WE ARE, WE WERE PRESSED IN TIME BECAUSE IT WAS A YEAR GRANT, BUT WE GOT IT FOUR MONTHS BEFORE IT ENDED.
SO WE NEEDED TO HAVE OVER 200 CLIENTS TO MEET THE RENT GUIDELINE.
SO THERE'LL BE WE'RE PRESSED IN TIME GETTING DOCUMENTS.
LIKE I DIVIDED THE JOBS BETWEEN PEOPLE LIKE YOU GET THE CLIENTS, YOU GET THE DOCUMENTS I SUBMIT.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO CRUNCH THE TIME AND GET EVERYTHING DONE IN TIME.
AND THEN COMMISSIONER, KANAAN ALSO HAD A QUESTION.
HI, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME.
I ONLY HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR YOU.
UM, WHY ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THIS SPECIFIC POSITION? I GUESS I LOVE MANAGING, UM, IT'S WHAT THAT FELT WAS DONE.
I THINK I'M PRETTY GOOD AT IT.
UM, LOVE WORKING WITH PEOPLE, UM, HELPING OTHERS.
IT'S IT'S THE PASSION OF MINE, UM, AND WORKING WITH THE HOMEWORK FOR ABOUT THREE YEARS.
SO IT'S KIND OF TAXING THE BRAIN.
DOES HE THINK TO TAKE THE WORK HOME THAT THINK OF MANAGING IT'S ANOTHER ASPECT OF HELPING PEOPLE, BUT SHOULD NOT BRING THAT WORK HOME? AT LEAST NOT A LOT OF IT.
AND CHRIS JENNER CAN SELL HIS KIDS.
WE ONLY ASKED TWO QUESTIONS FOR FOLLOW UP, BUT I DID WANT TO EXPLAIN THAT LYNETTE YOU ARE BASED IN SAN ANTONIO.
DO YOU SEE YOURSELF, UM, COMING TO AUSTIN ON A AS NECESSARY BASIS TO HELP THE COMMISSION NOT WORK? I AM MOVING TO AUSTIN, AUSTIN, SO WE'RE, WE'RE MERGING.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONER SINCE WE ARE RUNNING A LITTLE BIT EARLY? I HAVE ONE QUESTION.
UM, JUST QUICK QUESTION, OR COULD YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT MORE ON YOUR, UH, EXPERIENCE WITH SETTING UP THE MEETINGS WITH THE CITY? UH, WE USE
[00:25:01]
MOSTLY WEBEX BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT EVERYBODY HAS ACCESS IN THEIR COMPUTERS.SO THEY WOULD SEND ME THE AGENDA AND I WOULD SEND OUT EMAILS TO SEE, UH, WHO WAS AVAILABLE WHEN AND WHERE, SO WHERE ABRAHAM HAD THE MOST PEOPLE AVAILABLE.
THAT'S WHERE I WOULD TRY TO SET THE MEETING FOR AND TRY TO GET EVERYBODY TO SWITCH THINGS AROUND.
UH, WE'VE BEEN DOING EVERYTHING THROUGH ZOOM OR WEBEX BECAUSE EVERYBODY'S BEEN WORKING HERE IN THE CITY FOR THE PAST YEAR AT HOME AND LYNETTE.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR US? WHEN WOULD THE START DAY BE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE? UM, I MEAN, AS EARLY AS NEXT WEEK, I'M NOT KIDDING IF THIS HOME-BASED OR I'M SORRY, ASK THAT AGAIN.
IS IT HOME-BASED OR, UH, OFFICE BASED.
I SEE, UM, THE HOME-BASED AND WE ARE MOVING TO IN-PERSON MEETINGS, WHICH WILL HAPPEN ALL OVER THE CITY.
SO YOU DO HAVE TO HAVE A RELIABLE TRANSPORTATION TO GET AROUND THE CITY TO ALL OF OUR VARIOUS, UH, MEETING LOCATION.
DID YOU HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR US? OKAY.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING TODAY.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT WHEN THAT EMAIL COME MA'AM, BUT I'M A GOOD EVENING.
AND MATT, DO WE HAVE EITHER OF THE OTHER TWO CANDIDATES FOR ADMIN IN THE WAITING ROOM YET? NO.
SO NEITHER SYLVIA GOMEZ OR CHRISTINE GRANADOS.
HOW ARE YOU THIS EVENING? ARE YOU ALL DOING, DOING WELL? THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
IF YOU'LL GIVE US JUST ONE MOMENT, WE'RE GOING TO SET UP, UM, ALL OF US HAVE THE SAME KIND OF LITTLE SURVEY ON OUR SCREENS HERE, SO WE CAN KEEP UP WITH YOUR INTERVIEW.
SO JUST ONE MINUTE AND COMMISSIONERS, IF ANYBODY'S HAVING ANY ISSUE, GETTING THE FRESH VERSION OF IT, I WOULD SAY YOU SHOULD JUST LOAD IT IN INCOGNITO WINDOWS.
CLICK ON THE LINK AND SAY OPEN A NEW BROWSER, IT'LL REFRESH AND YOU CAN JUST REPOPULATE IT.
AND WHILE WE'RE GETTING READY, COMMISSIONER POINTLESS, IF YOU DON'T MIND.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO INFORM THE COMMISSION THAT WE DID ADVERTISE, UH, CHRISTINE'S INTERVIEW AROUND 6 45.
UM, SO IT COULD BE A REASON WHY SHE JUST POPPED ON RIGHT NOW.
AND ON THAT NOTE, MAYBE WE SHOULD, I DON'T KNOW IF MATT HAS ALREADY CALLED THE OTHER CANDIDATES, MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE THERE IN THE WAITING ROOM.
SO WE ARE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED WITH OUR QUESTIONS.
UM, I AM THE CHAIR, CHRISTINA
UM, WE'LL HAVE TIME AT THE END FOR A FEW QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS AND TIME FOR YOU TO ASK QUESTIONS OF THE COMMISSION AS WELL.
DOES THAT SOUND GOOD TO YOU? THAT'S GREAT.
SO I WILL START WITH THE QUESTION.
UM, TELL US A TIME, TELL US ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU WORKED AGAINST A TIGHT PROJECT DEADLINE AND HOW DID YOU ACCOMPLISH THE TASK? OKAY.
UM, I'M A WORKING JOURNALIST AND I'M A PUBLISHER OF A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER IN A SMALL RURAL COMMUNITY ROCKDALE.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH IT.
IT'S ABOUT AN HOUR AWAY FROM AUSTIN, BUT MY LIFE CENTERS AROUND DEADLINES AND DOING THINGS QUICKLY UNDER PRESSURE, BUT I GUESS THE MOST RECENT AND MOST INTENSE DEADLINE PRESSURE I'VE HAD ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS SO RECENT.
IT WASN'T WRONG DURING, UM, THE FEBRUARY FREEZE.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ALL REMEMBER THAT WE WERE, AND WE HAD TO GET A PAPER OUT AND WE HAD TO GET NEWS OUT TO OUR READERS HERE IN FREDERICKSBURG.
AND WE WERE POSTING ONLINE, YOU KNOW, ON TWITTER, ON FACEBOOK, UM, INFORMATION ABOUT SHELTERS, ROAD CLOSURES AND ELECTRICITY AND WATER WHEN PEOPLE WOULD GET THOSE THINGS.
BUT THE MAJORITY OF OUR POPULATION
[00:30:01]
IS RETIRED AND THEY'RE NOT REAL TECH SAVVY, SO THEY STILL WANT THE PRINT PUBLICATION.SO WE'RE, WE WERE SET ON TRYING TO GET THAT PAPER OUT.
AND SO WE, WE BRAVED THE ICE AND WE GOT TO THE WORK I DID.
I WAS MANAGING EDITOR AT THE TIME BECAUSE WE WERE BETWEEN MANAGING EDITORS AND, UM, I GOT TO THE OFFICE AND REALIZED THAT WE HAD INTERMITTENTLY ELECTRICITY.
SO, UM, SO WHAT IT WAS, WE'D HAVE 30 MINUTES OF ELECTRICITY, TWO HOURS WITHOUT IT WAS JUST ROLLING BLACKOUTS.
SO WE HAD TO WORK UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS.
AND WHEN I REALIZED THIS AND GOT TO WORK, I TEXTED, EMAILED FACEBOOK, TWEETED ALL THE SLACK, ALL THE STAFF AND LET THEM KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, WE NEEDED YOU TO COME IN, IF IT WAS SAFE FOR YOU TO TRAVEL.
AND THEY STARTED, YOU KNOW, TRICKLING IN SOME HADN'T HAD WATER IN DAYS, YOU KNOW, IT WAS KIND OF FUNNY, BUT ANYWAY, WE WORKED UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS AND THEY ALL BROUGHT LAPTOPS WITH THEM FULLY CHARGED BECAUSE WE KNEW THERE WAS NO ELECTRICITY, YOU KNOW, FOR TWO HOURS, THEY'RE ROLLING BLACKOUTS.
AND AS WE STARTED WORKING IN INCREMENTALLY TRYING TO GET A PAPER PUT OUT, WE REALIZED, OR I DID THAT.
WE NEEDED TO SHRINK THE SIZE OF THE PAPER, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE IT MANAGEABLE.
AND I WAS IN CONTACT WITH OUR PRINTER WHO'S IN SAN MARCOS AND THEY PROBABLY WEREN'T GOING TO BE ABLE TO GET ON THE ROADS BECAUSE OF THE LOGISTIC ISSUE, LOGISTICS ISSUE AND ALL THE ICE.
SO WE PUSHED THE DEADLINE BACK BY A DAY AND AFTER A LOT OF MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS WITH EVERYONE AND STILL TRYING TO WRITE STORIES AND COMMUNICATE WITH THE CITY AND, YOU KNOW, THE MAYOR AND EVERYONE AND SPORT AND COACHES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
THE REST, UM, WE GOT THE PAPER OUT, BUT WE GOT IT OUT LATE, BUT I'M REALLY PROUD OF THAT.
BUT UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES, UM, I HAD TO PREPARE SOMETHING LIKE A FALL SPORTS PREVIEW AND, UM, UH, FOR A NEWSPAPER THAT INVOLVES A LOT OF LOGISTICS.
UM, I, I CAME ON TO HELP, UM, IN THE SPORTS EDITOR POSITION BECAUSE WE LOST A SPORTS EDITOR.
AND SO HERE IN FREDERICKSBURG, WE COVERED TWO HIGH SCHOOLS IN TWO PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND A FALL SPORTS EDITION IS JUST A PREVIEW OF WHAT'S COMING UP IN EVERY SPORT, BE IT FOOTBALL, VOLLEYBALL, TENNIS, CROSS COUNTRY.
AND SO THE FIRST THING I HAVE TO DO IS GET SCHEDULES FOR EVERY ONE OF THESE SPORTS.
AND THAT INCLUDES VARSITY JUNIOR, VARSITY, FRESHMEN, AND ALL THE MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS.
AND THAT'S JUST A LOT OF COMPILING OF INFORMATION.
AND THEN I HAVE TO GET, FIGURE OUT WHO ALL THE COACHES ARE AND GET ALL THEIR CONTACT NUMBERS.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER LIST THAT I HAVE TO COMPILE AND, UM, RESEARCH THE TEAMS AND INTERVIEW.
AND THEN WITH ALL THIS INFORMATION, I HAVE TO FIGURE OUT OUR PRINT DEADLINE WHEN IT WOULD BE THE BEST TIME TO PRINT, UM, ARTICLE THIS FALL SPORTS PREVIEW.
AND ONCE WE HAVE THAT ESTABLISHED AND WE TALKED TO A PRINTER, UM, THEN WE MOVE BACKWARDS AND WE HAVE AN ADVERTISING DEADLINE, A WRITING DEADLINE, A LAYOUT DEADLINE, AND A PHOTO DEADLINE.
AND YOU PUT, I PUT ALL THOSE DEADLINES TOGETHER IN A XL.
WELL, I THINK IT WAS A WORD DOCUMENT, BUT EITHER ONE I CAN WORK WITH EITHER ONE AND THEN I'LL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHO FROM STAFF COULD HELP ME, YOU KNOW, GET THIS DONE.
AND ONCE THAT GETS FIGURED OUT, WE JUST START CHIPPING AWAY AT IT UNTIL ALL THE SPORTS ARE COVERED AND WE MEET OUR DEADLINE.
DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? YES.
UM, ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, I JUST REMEMBERED, I WANTED TO ASK YOUR NAME.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE THIS EVENING.
UH, VICE CHAIR ONCE SOLACE, UM, UH, WE'VE CONNECTED ON A FEW EMAILS, SO, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE AND AS A FELLOW JOURNALIST, UH, HAPPY TO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU HERE.
UM, HOW DO YOU KEEP YOURSELF ORGANIZED? TELL US ABOUT, TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT, OF YOUR PROJECT MANAGEMENT STYLE.
I KNOW YOU'VE ALLUDED TO IT IN A PREVIOUS, IN A PREVIOUS RESPONSE MAYBE, BUT IF YOU COULD ELABORATE FOR US, THAT'D BE AMAZING.
AND I THINK BECAUSE OF MY AGE, I LIKE PAPER LISTS, BUT I, UM, RELY ON I'M FINDING THAT I'M RELYING MORE AND MORE ON MY PHONE
[00:35:02]
AND I HATE IT, BUT, BUT I'M USING IT, YOU KNOW, THE CALENDARS AND, UM, THE NOTES FEATURE, BUT IT HELPS IT BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S HANDY.I CAN TAKE IT OUT OF MY POCKET AND JUST LISTS ARE SO IMPORTANT.
AND WE'RE DOCUMENT LISTS, EXCEL LISTS, AND LIKE I'VE USED, YOU KNOW, WORD DOCUMENT LISTS FOR LIKE I'VE SAID DEADLINES AND EXCEL DOCUMENT LISTS FOR WHEN I'M GRADING PAPERS WHEN I'M A PROFESSOR.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU TOOK INITIATIVE ON A PROJECT WHEN YOU WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND ON A TASK? OKAY.
ABOVE AND BEYOND, I GUESS THIS IS GOING TO SOUND ODD.
WHEN I RESIGNED FROM MY POSITION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON AT VICTORIA, I WAS AN ENGLISH LECTURER FULL TIME, UM, TEACHING COMPOSITION CLASSES, AND I KNOW ACADEMIA, AND I KNOW HOW HARD IT IS AND HOW LONG THE PROCESS TAKES TO HIRE SOMEONE.
AND W IN MY RESIGNATION LETTER, I TOLD THEM THAT I WOULD STAY AS LONG AS THEY NEEDED UNTIL THEY FOUND MY REPLACEMENT.
WE WERE MOVING TO FREDERICKSBURG SO THAT MY HUSBAND COULD RUN THE FREDERICKSBURG STANDARD RADIO POST.
AND, UM, THEY ASKED IF I COULD STAY A YEAR.
YOU KNOW, IF THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES.
AND SO I, I COMMUTED FROM FREDERICKSBURG TO VICTORIA FOR THAT YEAR, JUST, UH, ONCE.
SO I THINK THAT WAS ABOVE AND BEYOND AND THEY DID FIVE.
I'D DEFINITELY SAY THEY FOUND IT WAS QUITE AS DRUCKER.
SO YOU'RE IN FREDERICKSBURG RIGHT NOW.
THANK YOU, CHRISTINE, CAN YOU, UH, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR EXPERTISE IN MEETING PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT? YOU'VE ALLUDED TO BEING WORK AT A NEWSPAPER, I'M SURE YOU HAVE STAFF, UH, THAT YOU MAY HAVE TO MANAGE.
CAN YOU JUST ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT ON YOUR MEETING PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT SKILLS? YEAH, SURE.
I'VE BEEN IN COUNTLESS MEETINGS, UM, AS A PARTICIPANT, AS AN OBSERVER, AS A WRITER EDITOR COMMITTEE PERSON AS A PROFESSOR AND I PLANNED MEETINGS AND I'VE, YOU KNOW, UH, TYPED UP AGENDAS AND AS PUBLISHER AND EDITOR AND FACILITATED MEETINGS.
SO I'M PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THE MEETING STRUCTURE.
OKAY, CHRISTINE, HOW DO YOU APPROACH MAKING FIRST CONTACT WITH A NEW CLIENT AND ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WITH HANDLING AND ENGAGING WITH A RANGE OF HIGH-LEVEL CONTACTS? OKAY.
UM, I'VE DONE A LITTLE BIT OF THIS WHEN I HAD TO JUST FILL IN AND SELL ADVERTISING FOR THE NEWSPAPER.
I'M TERRIBLE AT IT, BUT, UM, IT'S NOT MY FIRST LOVE.
I MEAN, I'M NOT TERRIBLE, I'M SERVICEABLE.
UM, BUT, UM, WHAT I DO WHEN I'M MAKING FIRST CONTACT WITH THE CLIENT IS IT'S A LOT LIKE CONDUCTING AN INTERVIEW.
I JUST, I FIRST I DO BACKGROUND, I HAVE TO FIND OUT AS MUCH ABOUT THIS PERSON OR THIS BUSINESS AS POSSIBLE.
AND THEN I TRY TO DECIDE FROM THAT INFORMATION, WHAT FORM OF COMMUNICATION, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW I'M GOING TO FIRST WITH THEM OR CONTACT THEM, WHETHER IT'S GOING TO BE A PERSON VIA EMAIL, VIA TEXT.
AND IT ALL DEPENDS ON THEIR AGE.
AND IT DEPENDS ON THEIR, UH, WHAT I'VE LEARNED ABOUT THEM, WHAT I THINK THEY MIGHT BE THE MOST COMFORTABLE WITH WHEN I FIRST APPROACHED HIM.
SO AS FAR AS HIGH LEVEL CONTENT, I'M NOT, I'M NOT SURE WHAT THAT MEANS, BUT I HAVE INTERVIEWED AND TALKED WITH LIKE POLITICIANS, MILLIONAIRES, BUSINESS OWNERS, THE HOMELESS, UM, AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY, LATINO, ASIAN, LGBTQ COMMUNITY.
SO I'M, I MEAN, I'M COMFORTABLE INTERVIEWING, I'LL NEVER ONE, I THINK.
I THINK THAT WOULD COUNT AS HIGH LEVEL CONTACTS.
AND PERHAPS WE WERE ALSO THINKING OF, UM, CITY STAFF AND OH, TO MAYORS AND CITY COUNCIL, RIGHT.
AND BUSINESS LEADERS, HEADS OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS, ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THAT.
PASS IT OFF TO YOU, COMMISSIONER THEMSELVES.
UH, CHRISTINE, HOW COMFORTABLE ARE YOU WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEBSITE MANAGEMENT SKILLS ON A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL? AND, UM, WHAT PLATFORMS AND TOOLS ARE YOU MOST FAMILIAR WITH THAT COULD AID THE COMMISSION IN OUR WORK? OKAY.
[00:40:01]
WELL, I MAINTAIN MY OWN WEBSITE, CHRISTINE GRANADA'S DOT COM AND YOU CAN CHECK IT OUT, SEE IF YOU LIKE IT AND SUGGEST ANYTHING, ANY KIND OF CHANGES, BUT ON TWITTER, INSTAGRAM TO TALK LINKEDIN, NOT REALLY ON SNAPCHAT, IT'S, UH, ALL MY, MY, MY CHILDREN ARE USE THAT, BUT, BUT I KNOW IF YOU WANT TO GET A YOUNGER AUDIENCE, YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO BE ON SNAPCHAT.UM, AND I HAVE FACEBOOK, OF COURSE, THAT'S WHERE YOU GET, UH, OLDER PEOPLE AND, AND TWITTER SOMEWHAT.
SO I THINK I'M A LITTLE UNFAMILIAR WITH THOSE PLATFORMS, CHRISTINE GRENADA'S DOT COM.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, CHRISTINE, FOR YOUR ANSWER.
CAN YOU TELL US YOUR LEVEL OF EXPERIENCE WITH BUDGET MANAGEMENT? SURE, SURE.
I AM THE COAL OWNER OF THE BROCK DELT REPORTER.
AND WHEN I DIDN'T HAVE A GENERAL MANAGER, LIKE I DO NOW, WHO'S RUNNING THE PAPER AND DOING A GREAT JOB.
BY THE WAY, I HAD TO MANAGE A $250,000 BUDGET.
AND DURING COVID I APPLIED FOR AND RECEIVED PPP LOANS TO KEEP OUR NEWSPAPER RUNNING.
AND I HAD TO READ FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EVERY WEEK TO MAKE SURE WE, WE COULD PAY OUR EMPLOYEES AND PAY OUR BILLS EVERY MONTH.
SO I'M PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THE BUDGET PROCESS.
AND CHRISTINE, PLEASE, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT IN YOUR RESUME.
UM, I DON'T THINK IT, YOU IDENTIFIED, UM, MAYBE SPANISH, SPANISH SPEAKING BACKGROUND OR, UM, SKILLS IN BILINGUAL.
SO I MIGHT CHANGE THIS QUESTION UP, UM, TO THE COMMISSION, IF, UH, IN SPEAKING TO THE HIGH LEVEL CONTEXT THAT WE JUST MENTIONED, ALL OF THE COMMUNITY BASES THAT YOU HAVE LISTED IN, IN CONTACT WITH, HOW WOULD YOU HANDLE A SITUATION WITH SOMEONE WHO DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH AS A FIRST LANGUAGE, UM, CONNECTED WITH YOU? HOW WOULD YOU SUPPORT THAT PERSON AND GETTING AN ANSWER OR RESPONSE THAT THEY NEEDED? OKAY.
I WOULD DEFINITELY SPEAK TO THEM IN SPANISH.
UM, MY PORTUGAL TYPE SPANISH, BUT IT, I SHOULDN'T SAY IT THAT WAY.
I CAN COMMUNICATE IN SPANISH AND CAUSE I'VE, I SPEAK TO CUSTOMERS WHEN THEY COME IN AND THEY WANT TO BUY AN ADVERTISEMENT.
AND, UM, I'VE DONE INTERVIEWS IN SPANISH AND SPOKE, YOU KNOW, SPOKE TO PARENTS OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND ALSO TRANSLATED CLASSIFIED ADS FOR OUR, FOR THE AD STAFF INTO, FROM SPANISH, FROM ENGLISH INTO SPANISH SO THAT WE COULD RUN THEM IN THE PAPER WHEN A CUSTOMER WANTED.
SO I WOULD, I WOULD, I WOULD USE SPANISH TO SPEAK TO THEM.
AND APOLOGIES IF THAT WAS AN OVERSIGHT ON MY END.
WE ARE GOING TO OPEN THE FLOOR TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS.
UM, IF ANY OF THEM HAVE QUESTIONS, WHERE ARE YOU, CHRISTINE? AND THEN DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR US AS WELL? WE DO, ESPECIALLY I CALLED IT ON, HEY THERE, I JUST HAD THE SAME QUESTION.
I WAS LOOKING AT YOUR WEBSITE.
IS IT A WORDPRESS OR LIKE, WHAT DO YOU USE TO MANAGE YOUR, YOUR WEBSITE? UH, YOU HAD SITE TELLO SITE LOAD CYCLO IS WHAT IT'S CALLED WORDPRESS.
I DIDN'T, IT DIDN'T CLICK IMMEDIATELY AND I LIKED PSYCHOLO BETTER.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER APPRENTICE.
I WANT TO ALSO NOTE THAT COMMISSIONER FOLK ON THE HAND UP AS WELL.
UM, BUT CHRISTINE, YOU CURRENTLY RESIDE IN FREDERICKSBURG.
UM, THIS, THIS POSITION WILL, COULD BE REMOTE, BUT WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF POTENTIALLY NEEDING YOUR SUPPORT IN AUSTIN, WE'VE ALREADY HEARD OF A COMMITMENT FROM FREDERICKSBURG TO VICTORIA, TEXAS.
DO YOU SEE ANY HURDLES IN POTENTIALLY TRAVELING TO AUSTIN FOR SOME OF THE COMMISSION'S WORK? NO, NONE AT ALL.
UM, I LOVE AUSTIN AND MY SON'S GOING TO GO TO UT THIS OR THIS FALL.
SO I WOULD LOVE TO BE IN AUSTIN MORE AND THAT TRAVELING IS NOT A PROBLEM.
YOU CERTAINLY, I THINK I NEEDED, UM, HI.
I JUST WANTED TO ALSO ASK A SIMILAR QUESTION.
SO, UM, I WAS ACTUALLY IN CAMERON
[00:45:01]
THIS WEEKEND, AND SO I JUST LOVE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT HOW YOU MANAGE THE ROCKDALE PAPER FROM FREDERICKSBURG, BECAUSE THOSE ARE IN OFFER OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS FROM AUSTIN.UH, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH TO TELL YOU, UM, LIKE HOW FAR TO GO BACK.
SO THE ROCK DIVE REPORTER IS A FAMILY OWNED PAPER.
MY HUSBAND, HIS FAMILY HAS OWNED THE PAPER FOR FIVE GENERATIONS.
THEY STARTED IT IN 1901 AND, UM, IT'S, IT STAYED IN THE FAMILY AND HIS SISTER, MY HUSBAND'S SISTER WAS RUNNING THE PAPER, BUT SHE PASSED AWAY.
SO WE BOUGHT THE PAPER AND THIS PAPER IS IN A VERY DEPRESSED COMMUNITY.
UM, I, IF YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH CAMERON, YOU KNOW, THAT ALCOA, THE ALUMINUM SMELTER SHUT DOWN INTO, IN THE TWO THOUSANDS AND THEY MOVED THEIR OPERATIONS TO BRAZIL.
SO WE LOST A THOUSAND JOBS AT THE TIME WE WERE LIVING IN ROCKDALE, WE WERE PUBLISHING THE PAPER JOINTLY WITH HIS SISTER AND WE DECIDED TO MOVE TO VICTORIA BECAUSE, UM, WE REALIZED THAT THE CITY COULDN'T SUSTAIN IT TO PUBLISHER NEWSPAPER BECAUSE OF THE SHRINKING POPULATION AND YOU KNOW, WELL, ANYWAY, UM, AND SO HIS SISTER PASSED AWAY AND WE BOUGHT THE PAPER.
AND, UM, IN THE MEANTIME WE WERE, HE DID, HE DIDN'T WANT IT.
HE DIDN'T WANT TO SELL THE PAPER TO A BIG CORPORATE CHAIN.
HE WANTED TO KEEP IT IN THE FAMILY.
AND I SAID, OH, OKAY, WELL, HOW ABOUT IF I MANAGE THE PAPER? WELL, WE'LL CO-OWN WHILE WE BOTH BOUGHT THE PAPER, I'LL, CO-OWN IT.
I'LL TRY TO GET US, UH, YOU KNOW, GET IT ON STABLE GROUND BECAUSE IT WAS, IT WAS LOSING MONEY AND LOSING SUBSCRIBERS.
AND SO, UM, I HELPED, UH, FIND A SPORTS EDITOR, A GENERAL MANAGER AND ADVERTISING PERSON TO, TO KEEP IT RUNNING BECAUSE, OH, I STRONGLY BELIEVE IN NEWSPAPERS AND WE SHOULDN'T HAVE NEWSPAPER DESERTS.
WE, WE NEED INFORMATION TO GET TO PEOPLE.
AND SO THAT WAS, WE FOUND A GENERAL MANAGER AND IT'S WORKED OUT AND SO I DON'T HAVE TO TRAVEL THERE ANYMORE.
I JUST LOOK AT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS EVERY WEEK.
I'M SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS, JUST, UH, WAS CURIOUS ABOUT THE LOGISTICS, ESPECIALLY AS THIS WOULD ALSO BE A SIMILAR DYNAMIC OF WORKING, YOU KNOW? UM, SO I TRAVELED TO ROCKDALE EVERY WEEK FOR A YEAR.
UM, WELL, WHILE WE WERE TRYING TO GET THE COMPANY STABLE AND IT WAS, UM, AND I STAYED, THANKFULLY MY IN-LAWS LIVE IN ROCKDALE, SO I STAYED WITH THEM FOR THREE DAYS OUT OF THE WEEK.
AND THEN I WOULD COME BACK TO FREDERICKSBURG AND THIS WAS WHEN I HAD CHILDREN AT HOME, BUT NOW I DON'T HAVE CHILDREN AT HOME BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE OFF AND WE'RE EMPTY NESTERS.
SO I'M SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
IT SHOULDN'T SAY, BUT YEAH, I SEE THE COMMISSIONER.
YOU ALSO HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU.
I KNOW WE'RE A LITTLE BIT OVER THE TWO QUESTIONS.
UM, I, I THINK I'M VERY IMPRESSED BY YOU RUNNING A NEWSPAPER IN THIS DAY AND AGE.
AND I THINK THE PANDEMIC HAS SHOWED US THAT THERE ARE MANY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS THAT DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET.
AND EVEN THOUGH AUSTIN IS A METROPOLITAN AREA, THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE THAT DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET STUDENTS.
UM, I KNOW THAT IT'S BEEN VERY, VERY HARD FOR SCHOOL AGED KIDS.
COULD YOU SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO YOUR EXPERIENCE IN KIND OF, OR WHAT THAT EXPERIENCE IS LIKE IN TERMS OF LIKE GETTING INFORMATION TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES? OH YEAH.
UM, GETTING INFORMATION TO IS HARD.
UM, IT STARTS AT THE SCHOOL DISTRICT LEVEL, UM, BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE, UM, ESPECIALLY IN URBAN POPULATIONS, THAT'S WHERE STUDENTS CONGREGATE IN LIBRARIES.
I DID, I WORKED AT THE PROCESS LIBRARY IN AS A VISTA VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR AND I RAN A TUTORING CENTER THERE ON CSR CHAVEZ STREET WHEN, YOU KNOW, IN MY YOUNGER DAYS.
AND, UM, WE, WE DID A LOT OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING AND IT'S JUST, UM, GOING TO THOSE FACULTY MEETINGS, TEACHER MEETINGS, LIONS CLUB MEETINGS, UM, I'M TRYING TO THINK, UM, ROTARY MEETINGS AND JUST GETTING THE WORD OUT THERE AND CHURCHES ARE A GOOD PLACE TO REACH UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES, BUT LIBRARIES, CHURCHES AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS
[00:50:01]
WOULD BE WHERE I WOULD CENTER INFORMATION AND TRY TO MAKE INROADS, YOU KNOW, AND TALK TO PEOPLE TO TRY AND GET FLYERS OR, OR WHATEVER IT IS YOU WANT TO GIVE.WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION DO YOU ALL WANT TO GIVE TO PEOPLE? THANK YOU.
AND COMMISSIONER, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWERS TO CHRISTINE.
UM, UH, I HAVE A QUESTION AS WELL, AND, UM, SINCE YOU'RE NOT IN AUSTIN, I'M WONDERING IF YOU COULD TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT, UM, AUSTIN IS KIND OF A BIG QUESTION.
AUSTIN'S HISTORY, UM, GEOGRAPHY, CITY, GOVERNMENT, UM, EVEN MEDIA, SINCE YOU'RE IN THAT FIELD.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO, UM, IN OUR ROLE IS, IS CONNECTING WITH MEDIA.
WELL, I KNOW, UM, I, I'VE WATCHED, UH, A MEETING OF YOURS WHERE EVERYBODY WAS INTRODUCED AND I KNOW THAT THE DEMOGRAPHICS ARE CHANGING THERE.
AND I KNOW THAT IT'S A MAJORITY ANGLO POPULATION BY NOW, BUT NOT MY MUCH, BUT, UM, ALSO THE GROWTH IS BEING PROPELLED BY ANGLO AND THE TECH INDUSTRY THERE.
AND SECOND IS I BELIEVE THE ASIAN COMMUNITY IS, IS FEELING THAT GROWTH.
AND THEN YOU HAVE THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY, WHICH IS, WHICH IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE, THE S THE WHOLE STATE DEMOGRAPHICS, WHERE HISPANICS ARE LEADING IN GROWTH.
UM, SO IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT'S A DIFFERENT PLACE, BUT, UM, HISTORICALLY I I'VE LIVED THERE FOR A FEW YEARS IN AUSTIN, AND I KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE EAST SIDE HAS THE MEXICAN-AMERICAN AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY.
AND I, I BELIEVE IT'S THE NORTHEAST HAS ASIAN COMMUNITY AND EVERY ANGLO COMMUNITY IS EVERYWHERE ELSE.
AND NO, I I'M, I'M, I'M JUST SUPER INTERESTED IN, IN REPRESENTATION AND DISTRICT.
AND I'M JUST CURIOUS TO SEE THE PROCESS.
DID THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, BUT SURE.
YEAH, THERE WAS ALSO LIKE A LITTLE PIECE ABOUT WHAT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE ABOUT THE AUSTIN CITY, GOVERNMENT, UM, AND MEDIA, BUT I LOVE WHAT YOU'VE SAID.
AND IF YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING TO THAT.
WHEN I WORKED FOR THE AUSTIN AMERICAN STATESMAN, I DID COVER, UH, THE POLICE BEAT.
SO I AM FAMILIAR FOR THAT SIGNS OF TALENT, YOU KNOW, WHERE ALL THE MURDERS HAPPEN.
I THINK IT'S, IT'S PRETTY MUCH STILL THE SAME.
UM, AND I'VE, I'VE DEALT WITH YEAH.
THE CITY POLITICS IN MY TIME WORKING THERE.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR US? I DO.
I WAS WONDERING ABOUT, UM, IF, IF COMMUTING FROM FREDERICKSBURG WAS GOING TO BE A PROBLEM OR WOULD BE A PROBLEM FOR ANYONE.
I THINK WHEN WE, UM, DECIDED TO CALL YOU, WE MADE THE DECISION THAT IT WAS OKAY THAT YOU WERE NOT IN AUSTIN.
UM, BUT I, THAT'S WHY I WANTED TO KNOW, UM, IF YOU, WEREN'T GOING TO BE IN AUSTIN, WHAT YOU KNEW ABOUT THE CITY.
AND I'M ALSO WONDERING ABOUT, UM, THE FIVE MONTH APPOINTMENT, IF IT'S A STRONG, FAST FIVE MONTHS, BECAUSE I'M ALSO APPLYING FOR OTHER POSITIONS.
AND I'M JUST, I'M JUST WONDERING IF, IF IT IS ONLY A FIVE MONTH POSITION, IT IS NOT A STRICT FIVE MONTHS, I WOULD SAY.
UM, SO THE MAPS HAVE TO BE SUBMITTED BY NOVEMBER 1ST, BUT WE'LL HAVE TO KEEP YOU ON THE, ON THAT BECAUSE THERE'S STILL WORK TO BE DONE.
UM, INCLUDING A FINAL REPORT, UM, HAS TO BE PRODUCED AND PUBLISHED.
AND, UH, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT, UH, THE PERSON WHO SERVED IN THIS ROLE FOR THE PREVIOUS COMMISSION, UM, DEFINITELY DID HAVE TO STAY ON FOR A BIT AFTER.
UM, SO, SO IT'S A, IT'S A SOFT FIVE MONTHS OUT IF ANYONE ELSE WANTS TO JUMP IN, UM, ON THAT.
BUT THAT'S, THAT'S MY ANSWER FOR YOU.
I'M A CENSUS DATA'S COMING IN AUGUST AND THEN OCTOBER THE RAW DATA.
AND I DON'T KNOW, DO YOU ALL DEAL WITH AUGUST EARLY SEPTEMBER? UM, THAT'S, THAT'S WHEN WE'RE HOPING TO GET THAT, THAT CENSUS DATA.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE? UM, YES.
DOES IT COME WITH BENEFITS? UNFORTUNATELY? NO, IT'S JUST THE SALARY THERE.
BUT THERE'S A, YOU KNOW, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD NEGOTIATE IF WE HAD TO STAY, UH, KEEP YOU ON LONGER, YOU KNOW, IS, IS PAYING YOU FOR THAT EXTRA TIME BEYOND
[00:55:01]
THE FIVE MONTHS, OF COURSE.THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING TONIGHT.
Y'ALL PUT IN YOUR COMMENTS AND SUBMIT IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.
AND, UH, MATT, DID WE GET OUR THIRD AD BEN CANDIDATES? UH, NOT YET.
WE'RE STILL WAITING FOR SYLVIA GOMEZ TO, TO JOIN THE MEETING.
WE'RE GOING TO GO INTO THE LEGAL COUNSEL INTERVIEWS THEN IN THAT CASE.
SO IT'S GOING TO BE THE SAME PROCESS.
UM, JUST DIFFERENT QUESTIONS CONTINUE USING THOSE SURVEYS.
ARE THOSE ALL GOING GOOD FOR EVERYONE SO FAR? YEAH.
ONCE, SO WE'RE LOOKING AT THREE C TWO.
THIS IS THE, UM, I'M SORRY, NOT THREE C UM, THREE, A TWO INTERVIEWS FOR LEGAL COUNSEL.
AND, UM, WE WILL START WITH DAVID MENDEZ AND, UM, SIT IF I SAID THOSE NAMES CORRECTLY.
UM, AND WE'LL DO THE SURVEYS AGAIN, AND IT'S JUST SAME PROCESS AS BEFORE.
SO WE'LL HAVE THEM ON WHENEVER Y'ALL ARE READY.
UH, JUST CHECKING TO SEE IF MY AUDIO IS WORKING.
WOULD YOU LIKE US TO INTRODUCE OURSELVES? YES, PLEASE DO.
AND SAY YOUR NAME SO WE CAN MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE PRONUNCIATION AND EVERYTHING CORRECT.
I'M A PARTNER WITH BICKERSTAFF
AND, UH, BUT SIT IN, I'VE BEEN WITH THE FIRM SINCE, UH, MAYBE MID EIGHTIES, UH, INSTEAD OF, UH, 85 AND 86 WHEN WE JOINED THIS FIRM.
AND SO OUR, UH, WE'VE, UH, THIS'LL BE OUR FOURTH REDISTRICTING CYCLE FOR, OR THE COUNTY CITY SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES THROUGHOUT TEXAS.
UH, WE ARE HERE ON BEHALF OF OUR FIRM.
WE TYPICALLY WILL REPRESENT A GROUP OF CLIENTS DURING EACH DECADE.
SO FROM THE 91 CENSUS THROUGH THE PRESIDENT, WE TYPICALLY WILL REPRESENT BETWEEN 120 DIFFERENT, UH, CLIENTS THROUGH THE PROCESS.
UH, THIS IS AN UNUSUAL CYCLE WHERE THE FIRST TIME HISTORICALLY, THAT, THAT, UH, SINCE, UH, TEXAS HAS BEEN WINTER AND THESE POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS HAVE BEEN UNDER THE, THE, THE SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT STRUCTURES WHERE THE DATA'S DELAYED IN IT'S BEING PROVIDED BY THE, THE CENSUS BUREAU.
SO IT PROVIDES SOME UNIQUE CHALLENGES, UH, BUT, UH, WE'RE, UH, PLEASED TO, TO BE CONSIDERED BY YOU GUYS.
WE, UH, APPLIED, UH, WE WEREN'T, IT SOUNDED LIKE YOU WERE LOOKING TO HIRE A PERSON AS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE, UH, THE COMMISSION.
AND, UH, WE, UH, AS A LAW FIRM, UH, PROVIDE OUR SERVICES ON A, ON A, BASICALLY ON A, AS A COUNCIL TO A POLITICAL SUBDIVISION LIKE YOURSELVES.
UH, WE HAVE A GROUP OF US, UH, SIT AND MYSELF ARE HERE FOR THE INTERVIEW, BUT WE ALSO PROVIDED YOU THE INTERVIEW, THEY IN THE RESUME AND BACKGROUND OF ONE OF OUR FOUNDERS, UH, BOB HEATH, WHO ALSO DOES A LOT OF THESE, HE'S ACTUALLY BEEN INVOLVED IN MORE REDISTRICTING CYCLES AND WE HAVE, BUT WE'RE HERE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE OF US, AND TO TRY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR SITUATION IS AND HOW YOU, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR AND SEE IF WE CAN HELP HIM.
AND, UM, AND MR. FUCK, DID YOU ALSO WANT TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF? YEAH, MY NAME IS
I JOINED THE FIRM IN 1985 AND HAVE BEEN HERE EVER SINCE.
UH, WE WERE BOTH, UH, TO HELP, UH, UNFORTUNATELY SENIOR PARTNERS.
UM, WE HAVE DONE REDISTRICTING, UH, FOR EACH OF THE CYCLES, 1990 2000 CENSUS, 2011
[01:00:01]
CENSUS AS A FIRM, PRIMARILY DO GOVERNMENT WORK.WE REPRESENT GOVERNMENTS ALL KINDS, INCLUDING THE CITY FROM TIME TO TIME AND, UH, OR AWARE OF THE PROBLEMS OF GOVERNMENTS, AS WELL AS THE CHALLENGES THAT ARE INVOLVED IN DOING SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICT REDISTRICTING.
UM, WELL, THIS IS HOW WE'RE GOING TO GO THROUGH THE QUESTIONS.
I WILL ASK ONE, AND THEN VICE-CHAIR GONZALEZ WILL ASK THE NEXT, AND WE'LL JUST KIND OF PING PONG BACK AND FORTH, AND THEN WE'LL LEAVE TIME AT THE END FOR THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS TO ASK BOTH OF Y'ALL QUESTIONS.
AND THEN IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR US AS WELL, DOES THAT SOUND GOOD? THAT SOUNDS GOOD.
AND WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO IS SIT AND I WILL KIND OF TRADE OFF DEPENDING ON, WE KIND OF HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING VARIOUS ISSUES, UH, RELATED TO, TO THE REPRESENTATION OF THE COMMISSION.
AND SO WE'LL KIND OF JUMP IN BACK AND FORTH DEPENDING ON, ON THE ISSUE, IF YOU DON'T MIND.
I'M DEFINITELY HEARING FROM ONE OR BOTH OF YOU ON EVERY QUESTION, BUT THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
SO THE FIRST QUESTION IS, DO YOU HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF OUR ICRC WORK TIMELINE? YEAH, WE'VE, WE'VE EXAMINED, UH, THE CHARTER AND IN PARTICULAR, THE SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE CHARTER FOR, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLANTS.
AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, IT, IT POSES SOME CHALLENGES AND WE'D BE PLEASED TO TALK WITH YOU ALL ABOUT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THOSE IN, UH, IN THE CONFIDENTIAL AND PRIVILEGED SETTING AT YOUR CONVENIENCE.
IF YOU DETERMINED TO HIRE US, SEE IT IS EVERYTHING YOU THINK YOU WANT TO ADD IN THAT REGARD.
I MEAN, I THINK WE WERE CERTAINLY AWARE OF THE TIME CONSTRAINTS THAT KNOW OPERATE UNDER.
UM, THEY'LL HAVE TO TELL YOU THAT SINCE THIS BUREAU OF WAITING THIS LONG TO GIVE US DATA, IS CONFOUNDING EVERYBODY, NOT JUST THE CITIES.
UM, I'VE HEARD YOU SAY EARLIER, UH, THAT YOU ARE LOOKING TO GET THE DATA IN AT AUGUST.
YOU SHOULD BE AWARE, UH, THAT THE SO-CALLED THE REGULAR DATA.
THAT'S MY WORD, NOT THE BUREAU IS SCHEDULED FOR SOMETIME TOWARD THE END OF THE SEPTEMBER.
AND IT'S GOING TO BE A FORMAT THAT IS DIFFERENT THAN IT HAS BEEN IN PREVIOUS YEARS.
AND THAT PREVIOUS FORMAT FROM LAST TIME IN 2011, THEY WERE TALKING, I CAN PAY, CALL IT THE LEGACY FORMAT.
UH, THEY ARE SAYING THAT THEY WILL HAVE THAT, UH, RELEASED BY MID AUGUST.
THEN AUGUST 16 IS THE DATE THAT THEY'VE, UH, INCIDENT, UH, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE THAT IT WILL TAKE, UH, ANYWHERE BECAUSE IT'S A DIFFERENT FORMAT THAN ALL OF THE DISTRICT IN PROGRAMS HAVE WRITTEN THEIR INPUT ASPECTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE NEW FORM THAT'S GOING TO BE RELEASED AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER.
IT'LL TAKE A WHILE FOR THOSE VENDORS TO CONVERT THAT DATA.
AND YOU MAY ACTUALLY BE SURPRISED AM I TAKE THEM TWO WEEKS TO GET YOU USABLE DATA, BUT YOU MIGHT SEE SOMETHING USABLE THAT COULD BE LOADED INTO A REDISTRICTING PROGRAM SOMETIME IN EARLY SEPTEMBER.
AND IT'LL TAKE SEVERAL DAYS AT A MINIMUM TO GET IT IN AND, UH, WORKING.
SO YOU MAY BE INTO THE FIRST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER BEFORE YOU REALLY ARE ABLE TO BEGIN TO LOOK AT YOUR BASE QUESTION, WHICH IS, ARE YOU OUT OF POPULATION BALANCE AND HAVE TO ACTUALLY REDRAW YOUR LINES? I'M ALMOST CERTAIN GIVEN THE GROWTH IN THE AREA, UH, THAT YOU WILL FIND YOU ARE AT THAT INITIAL DETERMINATION, WHICH WE CALL AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT.
UH, WE WILL BE THE FIRST STEP TO GIVE YOU A SENSE OF HOW FAR OUT OF BALANCE EACH OF THE DISTRICTS MAY BE RELATIVE TO CHINA.
YOU PROBABLY EXPECT TO HAVE THAT IN HAND, BY MID SEPTEMBER.
AND AT THAT POINT, UH, BE ABLE TO, UH, BEGIN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING YOUR PRELIMINARY PLANNING.
ONE THING THAT SID AND I WERE TALKING ABOUT, AND MAYBE HAVING A COMMENT ON THAT NOW IS THAT THERE ARE CHALLENGES, LEGAL CHALLENGES TO THE MANNER IN WHICH THE AGENCY, THE US CENSUS BUREAU IS PROPOSING TO DISTRIBUTE THAT DATA.
SO, UH, THERE ARE REQUESTS FOR INJUNCTION, UH, OUTSTANDING, UH, AGAINST THE AGENCY FOR DISTRIBUTING THAT THOSE HAVEN'T BEEN DEALT WITH BY THE COURT.
SO THERE'S POTENTIAL THAT THOSE RELEASES COULD BE FURTHER DELAYED.
SO, UH, WE'RE DISCUSSING A DISTRIBUTION OF IT IN THE MOST OPTIMISTIC SENSE THAT HEADED MIGHT ACTUALLY GET DELIVERED WITHOUT FURTHER INTERFERENCE FROM AFFORDS.
BUT I JUST WANTED YOU TO BE AWARE OF THAT.
[01:05:01]
A, THERE WAS A CHALLENGE BY MANY STATES LED BY ALABAMA AND A NUMBER OF THE INNER STATES, INCLUDING TEXAS, THAT INTERVENED, UH, DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY.I BELIEVE THE COURT IN THE DISTRICT COURT, IN THAT CASE DENIED THE REQUEST FOR AN INJUNCTION, UH, TO FORCE THE CENSUS BUREAU, TO DEVELOP SOME OTHER DATA SET, UH, THAT IS GOING TO BE APPEALED ALMOST CERTAINLY TO THE U S SUPREME COURT, WHICH WILL NO DOUBT EXPEDITE CONSIDERATION OF IT, BUT IT IS CONCEIVABLE THAT IF THE SUPREME COURT DISAGREES WITH THE DISTRICT COURT, THAT WE MIGHT SEE WHAT DAVID SUGGESTED, UH, AN INJUNCTION TO THE USE OF THIS DATA, AND IT PUTS EVERYBODY'S SCHEDULE, UH, MONTHS AND MONTHS FURTHER BEHIND CENSUS BUREAU HAS SAID, IT'LL TAKE FIVE OR SIX MONTHS TO FIX THE DATA SET.
UH, IF THAT EVENTUALITY OCCURS.
SO BE AWARE THAT YOU MAY NEED YOUR SLEEPING BAGS.
ALL RIGHT, I'M GOING TO PASS THIS OFF TO COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ.
THANK YOU, GENTLEMEN, MR. MENDEZ, MR.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US THIS EVENING.
UM, COULD YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR, YOUR, YOUR APPROACH TO CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS, POTENTIAL CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS AND SPEAKING, AND SPEAKING OF POTENTIAL LEGAL CHALLENGES, YOUR APPROACH ON HOW YOU MAY DEFEND, UM, A CLIENT, UH, IN THESE LEGAL CHAMPS CHALLENGES WITH OUR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND? SURE.
WELL, UH, LET ME SAY, AND I'M GOING TO SPEAK ABOUT IT IN TERMS OF REDISTRICTING AND, AND IN TERMS OF, UH, THE, UH, AND BECAUSE OUR FIRM DOES REDISTRICTING WORK OF THIS SORT EVERY DECADE AS WE'VE DESCRIBED.
AND IN REGARDS TO THAT, WE GUIDE CLIENTS THROUGH, WE, WE, WE, WE'RE GONNA TEACH YOU, GIVE, GIVE, UH, INFORM YOU AND TEACH YOU ABOUT THE LEGAL PRINCIPLES THAT, THAT GOVERN REDISTRICTING, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT, THE CONSTITUTION, UH, THEY, IN THE CHARTER, UH, DICTATE HOW, HOW THIS COMMISSION DRAWS THE DISTRICTS.
AND SO OUR JOB IS TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH AND UNDER.
SO YOU UNDERSTAND THE LEGAL PRINCIPLES THAT APPLY BASED ON THAT.
WE DEVELOP A TIMELINE WITH YOU.
AND WE WERE TALKING IN HERE, WE DO THIS FOR ALL THE A HUNDRED CLIENTS WE WERE DOING, UH, YOU KNOW, IN ANY GIVEN PROCESS, DEVELOP A TIMELINE THAT FITS WITHIN YOUR GUIDELINES.
AND IN THE TIME YOU HAVE AVAILABLE WITHIN YOUR, YOUR CHARTER, AND THEN WE BUILD AND HELP YOU BUILD AND APPROVE POLICIES THAT ARE GOING TO MINIMIZE THE POTENTIAL EXPOSURE FOR LITIGATION.
WE'VE NEVER SUED A COUNTY CITY COLLEGE, OR, OR TODAY OVER A REDISTRICTING PLAN.
WE, WE ARE NOT REPRESENTING AS A LAW FIRM.
UH, WE, WE HAVE, UH, A, UH, OUR CONFLICT OF INTEREST REQUIREMENTS ON OUR HARD DUTY TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IS TO DEFEND YOUR PLAN.
SO WE DON'T EVER APPEAR ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE B ON THESE KINDS OF CASES.
AND SO THAT'S HOW, HOW WE HANDLE THAT PART.
NOW FROM TIME TO TIME, WE'RE HIRED IN PROJECTS, UH, BY A CLIENT THAT MAY NOT HAVE UTILIZED US FOR, FOR THEIR REDISTRICTING PROCESS, OR THEY WENT THROUGH AND, AND ADOPTED SOME PLAN, OR THEIR PLAN HAS BEEN CHALLENGED FOR SOME OTHER STANDPOINT.
AND WE HAVE, UH, THE EXPERIENCE AND THE LITIGATE, UH, IN LITIGATING VOTING RIGHTS CASES, UH, CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS CASES THAT RELATE TO THIS KIND OF STUFF.
AND THAT THE APPROACH IS DIFFERENT COMPLETELY IN THE SENSE OF, FOR, FOR WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THE COMMISSION HERE IS TO TEACH YOU WHAT IT IS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT REDISTRICTING LAW.
SO YOU CAN GET THROUGH THIS PROCESS WITH THEM MINIMUM EXPOSURE, SO THAT YOU CAN PROPOSE A PLAN TO THE COUNCIL THAT IT'S NOT GOING TO CAUSE THE CITY TO GET A CHALLENGE AND SAID, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD IN THAT REGARD? NO, THERE'S NO GUARANTEE THAT YOU WON'T GET SUED.
YOU CAN HAVE THE ABSOLUTE BEST PLAN POSSIBLE AND STILL FIND YOURSELF IN COURT.
THE QUESTION IS WHETHER YOU HAVE HAD A PROCESS THAT IS AS YOU ARE OPEN, UH, AND HAS BEEN STRUCTURED IN A WAY, UH, THAT IT'S VERY DELIBERATE, UH, HAS HAD GOOD PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.
AND THAT THE SUBSTANCE OF THE PLAN ITSELF IS DEFENSIBLE BECAUSE IT SATISFIES ALL THOSE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS.
UH, WE HAVE GOT LEGAL, UH, LITIGATION EXPERIENCE IN THE BACK, UH, IN THE PAST AND KNOW HOW TO, OR DO I SAY LITIGATION EXPERIENCE GIVES YOU, UH, EXPERIENCE ON HOW TO GO AVOID THE PROBLEMS THAT GOT, GOT THE CLIENT SUED.
NOW, NOW HERE'S, HERE'S ONE PARTLY.
SO THAT I THINK IS REAL IMPORTANT BECAUSE OF OUR EXPERIENCE IN REPRESENTING
[01:10:01]
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN TEXAS.ON THE, ON THAT SIDE, WE ARE, UH, PERHAPS MORE FOCUSED THAN MOST PEOPLE ON THE OPEN MEETINGS LAW, THE OPEN RECORDS LAW THAT GUIDES YOU, BECAUSE IT, YOU NEED TO THINK THIS THROUGH AS A COMMISSION, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU ARE BOUND UNDER THE CHARTER BY THE OPEN MEETINGS, BUT BY COMPLIANCE WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT, THE LAW OF HOPE AND MEETINGS AS YOU'RE, UH, YOU PROBABLY HAVE HAD SOME EXPOSURE WITH YOUR ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEYS THAT ARE, THAT ARE GUIDING YOU THROUGH SOME OF THIS, BUT THE PROCESS IS GOING TO HAVE TO BE VERY, VERY TRANSPARENT AND OPEN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTLY WITH LEGAL COUNSEL BY, UH, INDIVIDUALS OVER, UH, UH, ONCE YOU GET TO A CRITICAL MASS OF A COURTROOM, MAY NOT ONLY LEAD TO THE APPEARANCE OF IMPROPRIETY IN THE SENSE OF ATTEMPTING TO VIOLATE THE SIDESTEP, THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
SO, PART OF WHAT, UH, I THINK OUR EXPERIENCE IN THIS REGARD IS, IS TO GUIDE YOU IN SETTING UP A PROCESS SO THAT YOU CAN ASK QUESTIONS AND GET TO IT IN A, IN A, IN A WAY THAT'S NOT GOING TO PUT YOU AS AN INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION AT RISK WITH THE COMMISSION AT RISK, OR IT'S GOING TO MAKE ANYBODY, UH, CRITICIZE THE PROCESS.
AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S IMPORTANT, CAUSE NOT EVERYBODY IS A GOVERNMENT LAWYER WE'VE SPENT 40 YEARS OR ALMOST 40 YEARS, UH, DOING THAT SIDE OF THE EQUATION.
I HOPE THAT HELPS GENTLEMEN, THAT CERTAINLY DID HELP.
I AM READY AND WILLING TO LEARN FROM YOUR EXPERTISE AND YOUR EXPERIENCE.
UH, SHOULD YOU COME ABOARD AS LEGAL COUNSEL? ALL RIGHT.
WELL THEN NEVERMIND THEN THAT'S PROTESTS.
YOUR NEXT QUESTION IS, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WORKING WITH THE ICRC REQUIRES THIS DEMANDING SCHEDULE AND SOMETIMES IT COULD BE DURING NON-OFFICE HOURS LIKE TONIGHT, LIKE TONIGHT? YEAH, YEAH, NO, WE DID THIS.
I, I, UH, I WAS AT A CITY COUNCIL MEETING MONDAY NIGHT OVER BY DALLAS TILL ABOUT 10.
I, UH, I DROVE INTO 10, I GOT UP AT FIVE YESTERDAY, BOY TO DRIVE BACK INTO TOWN SO WE COULD COVER SOME OTHER STUFF.
I SPENT THE AFTERNOON IN SAN ANTONIO WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY AND CITY ATTORNEY STAFF.
WE'VE, WE'VE REPRESENTED THEM FOR SOME YEARS IN THIS AREA.
AND SO WE JUST DROVE BACK FROM THERE LAST WEEK, I COVERED IN ABOUT 36 HOURS FOR DIFFERENT, UH, CO COUNTY COMMISSIONER AND TO CITY COUNCIL TO TWO DIFFERENT COUNTY COMMISSIONER AND TWO DIFFERENT CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS ACROSS THE STATE.
SO WE'RE ON THE ROAD ALL THE TIME.
IN THIS REGARD, WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE AT LEAST THREE HOURS OF SLEEP AT NIGHT.
WELL, THAT'LL BE ON Y'ALL WHETHER YOU GET THOSE THREE HOURS, I DON'T KEEP YOU UP QUITE THAT LATE, BUT WE, WE, UH, ASSUMING YOU ALL DECIDE TO PICK US OR WHATEVER WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT SCHEDULE AND ALL THAT BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE, UH, THERE ARE NOT MANY PEOPLE THAT DO WHAT WE DO IT.
THERE ARE MANY, MANY POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS ALL GOING THROUGH THOSE PROCESSES AT THE SAME TIME, RIGHT? NO, NO, WE'RE RIGHT HERE.
WE WEREN'T, WE WERE JUST, WE DROVE OVER THERE TO COVER A MEETING WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY AND THEIR FOLKS.
CAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE HITTING THEIR PROFITS.
MR. MENDEZ, MR. FALK, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE SPEAKING WITH THE MEDIA? IF YOU WERE TO COME ABOARD THE COMMISSION AS OUR LEGAL COUNSEL, WE WOULD HOPE THAT YOU COULD, UH, SPEAK ON OUR EFFORTS ON OUR BEHALF TO THE MEDIA.
CAN YOU JUST TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THAT FIELD? UH, MR. SALSA, I'LL TELL YOU THIS AS A LAWYER, I DON'T EVER TALK TO THE MEDIA UNLESS MY CLIENT HAS ASKED ME SPECIFICALLY TO COVER AN ITEM.
I DON'T PRESUME TO SPEAK FOR THE COMMISSION OR FOR, UH, FOR SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T, HASN'T COME FROM THE DIOCESE BECAUSE, AND, YOU KNOW, AS AN INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION, YOU MAY SAY WHATEVER IT IS YOU WANT TO SAY, BUT THE ONLY ACTIONS THAT, THAT MATTER, OR THAT ARE OF ANY LEGAL CONSEQUENCE OR THOSE OF THE COMMISSION VOTED AND APPROVED IN A COMMISSION MEETING.
SO I'LL TELL YOU THAT MY FIRST RESPONSE IS TO, AND YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS, BUT I'LL PUNT IT TO YOU.
NOW IF THE COUNCIL, AND IF THE COMMISSION, UH, DECIDES THAT THEY WANT B OR THEATER OR ANYBODY TO EXPLAIN A LEGAL PRINCIPLE TO A MEMBER OF THE MEDIA OR TO REVIEW AND ANNOUNCE, UH, SOMETHING YOU WANT TO PUT OUT,
[01:15:01]
GO AHEAD TO DO THAT, BUT THAT'S NOT, IT'S NOT OUR ROLE TO BE, UH, UM, AND TO, TO PRESUME TO KNOW WHAT THAT COMMISSION'S GOING TO DO.UH, IS THERE ANYTHING I WILL SAY THAT, UH, I ECHO DAVID, WE TYPICALLY DO NOT TRY TO SPEAK FOR OUR CLIENT UNLESS WE'RE ASKED TO MAKE A POINT OR EXPLAIN A POINT IN THE PAST, UH, IN MANY LITIGATION CONTEXTS, UH, I HAVE BEEN ASKED BY THE CLIENT, UH, SPEAK WITH THE MEDIA AFTER A COURT HEARING OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, TO EXPLAIN, UH, THE PROCEDURAL NUANCES, UH, WHERE WE GO FROM THERE.
UH, IT'S DIFFICULT FOR A LAWYER TO BE A, AN OFFICIAL SPOKESPERSON BECAUSE WE ALSO OWE YOU THE COMMISSION, A DUTY OF LAWYER, CONFIDENCE, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND WE WERE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT NOT OVERSTEPPING THAT PARTICULAR BOUNDARY.
WE CAN, WE CAN DO IT, BUT WE WOULD PREFER BASICALLY NOT TIFFANY'S WITH WHAT WE'RE SAYING.
DO YOU ALL HAVE LIMITATIONS ON YOUR AVAILABILITY IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, REALLY TILL THE END OF THE YEAR, LET'S JUST SAY WE, WE HAVE, UH, A LARGE NUMBER OF CLIENTS, UH, THAT ARE GOING THROUGH THE SAME PROCESS.
THERE ARE COUNTIES THAT NEED TO, TO BE COMPLETE THAT RIGHT NOW, WITHOUT ANY CHANGES BY THE LEGISLATURE, THERE ARE COUNTIES THAT NEED TO BE DONE WITH THEIR ENTIRE ADOPTION PROCESS BY NOVEMBER 13, TH THAT'S THE BEGINNING OF THE FILING PERIOD FOR THE PRIMARIES, WHICH OCCURRED IN MARCH.
THERE ARE, UH, QUITE A NUMBER OF OUR CLIENTS, CITIES AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT HAVE MAY ELECTIONS THERE.
SO THEY'RE ON, UH, FROM A PRACTICAL STANDPOINT, THEY HAVE ELECTIONS COMING UP, UH, VERY, VERY SOON.
SO WE HAVE QUITE A NUMBER OF, OF CLIENTS THAT ARE, UH, THAT WE'RE PROCESSING.
WE HAVE MANY, MANY LAWYERS IN OUR FIRM.
UH, WE HAVE A TEAM OF, UH, GIS SPECIALISTS THAT DRAW.
SO WE'RE PREPARING TO GET, UH, LET'S SAY 50 SOME CLIENTS THROUGH THIS PROCESS OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT, UH, THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR.
THAT'S JUST THE ONES THAT ARE BETTER ON THE SHORT TIMEFRAME, BECAUSE WE HAVE A BUNCH OF CLIENTS LIKE SAN ANTONIO AND OTHERS THAT ARE, THAT HAVE ELECTIONS LIKE YOU DO IN LATE 22 OR 23, BETTER ON DIFFERENT TIMETABLES.
SO YEAH, WE'RE CONCERNED WE HAVE TO TALK WITH YOU GUYS ABOUT OUR, UH, WHAT YOU WANT, BUT THE POINT WE WERE TRYING TO MAKE WHEN WE MADE OUR, OUR PROPOSAL TO YOU WAS THERE ARE SEVERAL OF US.
SO IF I CAN'T BE THERE AND SAY, YOU CAN BE THERE, OR BOB CAN BE THERE.
WE'LL, WE'LL TRY TO, WE, WE, WE CAN, WE HAVE MULTIPLE PERSONS THAT CAN ANSWER YOUR QUESTION THAT HAVE CONVINCED HER OF EXPERIENCE, BUT IT'S, IT'S, UH, YOU'RE LOOKING, AS I SAID, MANY, MANY POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS GOING THROUGH EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH.
AND THERE ARE ONLY A FEW OF US THAT HAVE THIS KIND OF EXPERIENCE THAT THEY ADD, UH, THAT IT DEPENDS IN SOME PART ON THE ROLE THAT YOU ACTUALLY WANT US TO PLAY.
WHAT WE ENVISION AS THE BASE ROLE IS BEING YOUR LEGAL COUNSELORS, UH, EXPLAINING THE LAW TO YOU, LOOKING AT A PARTICULAR PLAN THAT YOU'RE DEVELOPING AND BEING ABLE TO TELL YOU WHAT ITS STRONG LEGAL POINTS AND WEAK LEGAL POINTS ARE SO THAT YOU UNDERSTAND, UH, WHAT, UH, POTENTIAL RISKS OR DISADVANTAGES AND THE ADVANTAGES OF A PARTICULAR PLAN ON, UH, I THINK WE HAVE TIME TO DO THAT AND EDUCATE YOU AND, AND, UH, HELP YOU THROUGH THAT ANALYTICAL PART OF THE PROCESS.
UH, THE MORE ADMINISTRATIVE TYPE FUNCTIONS YOU ASKED US TO DO, UH, THE HARDER PRESSED WE WILL BE TO BE AVAILABLE, UH, AT THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM.
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SAY IT ANY DIFFERENTLY BECAUSE I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHAT YOU AS A COMMISSION HAVE IN MIND FOR ALL OF YOUR PROCESS.
UM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WE WOULD, UM, ASK YOU TO BE AT LEAST ONE OF YOU TO BE PRESENT AT, UM, AT OUR MEETINGS.
UM, BUT ALSO THAT WE HAVE QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT BE BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THE MAPS THEMSELVES AND THOSE PLANS.
YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE THOSE, THAT'S A VERY, VERY ASTUTE OBSERVATION BECAUSE, UH, THE COMMISSION AND THE MEMBERS ARE GONNA SAY, WAIT A MINUTE, HOW DOES THIS FIT IN OR HOW, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, AND THEN YOU'RE GOING TO BE RECEIVING PUBLIC COMMENT
[01:20:01]
FROM THE COMMUNITY ON CONCERNS AND PLAN, MAYBE PLANS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.SO YES, WE UNDERSTAND YOU'RE GOING TO, BUT THE WAY WE VIEW IT IS WE CAN EFFICIENTLY, WE'RE VERY EFFICIENT AT GETTING THAT DONE.
WE, UH, AND, AND, AND, UH, IN OUR, WE DO THE, WE GO THROUGH THIS KIND OF, UH, UH, UH, BOTTLENECK OF WORK IF YOU WILL, EVERY DECADE.
AND SO WE'VE LIVED THROUGH 30 YEARS OF DOING IT.
I THINK WE CAN DO ANOTHER ONE.
AND, AND, UH, BUT IT'S, IT, IT, YOU NEED TO, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO JUST DO ESTABLISH AN EFFICIENT WAY FOR US TO COMMUNICATE AND GET THAT DONE.
THAT WOULD INCLUDE OF COURSE, BEING AT CONDITIONED MEETINGS, NO QUESTION, UH, AND BEING AVAILABLE, UH, ON CALL, UH, IF YOU'VE GOT QUESTIONS OUTSIDE THE CONTEXT OF AN ACTUAL MEETING, ALTHOUGH, UH, IN THAT LIKE USE THE WORD CONTEXT AGAIN, BUT IN THAT CONTEXT, WE EAT ALSO BE SURE THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF LIMITATIONS ON COMMISSION COMMUNICATIONS THAT ARE OUTSIDE OPEN MEETINGS BECAUSE OF THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT CONCERNS THAT WE CAN ELABORATE ON.
UH, BUT THE DATA DOESN'T IDENTIFY.
SO, SO ONE OF US TYPICALLY WILL BE YOUR POINT OF CONTACT.
AND SO LET'S SAY MS. BENDER, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE THE CLEARINGHOUSE FOR GETTING COMMUNICATIONS OVER, OR, OR MR. GONZALES IS, OR YOUR NEW ADMINISTRATOR THAT YOU'VE BEEN INTERVIEWING.
TODAY'S, YOU'RE YOU GET ONE OF THOSE ADMINISTRATORS SAY, HEY, GET DAVID AND HIS TEAM TO STAFF THIS, OR GET THEM TO REVIEW THIS PLAN OR GET THEM TO, YOU KNOW, AND YOU TELL US WHAT YOU NEED AND WHEN YOU NEED US THERE AND WE'RE GOING TO BE THERE, BUT WE, WE HAVE, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL HAVE ONE POINT OF CONTACT FOR YOU ON THEM.
THANK YOU, MR. MENDEZ, MR. FALK, HOW HAS YOUR LEGAL HISTORY AND EXPERIENCE PERTINENT TO THE IRR? THE ICRC YOU'VE ALREADY MENTIONED FOUR DECADES OF THIS WORK.
UM, COULD YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE MORE? WELL, YOU KNOW, WE'VE DONE MOST OF THE LARGE CITIES, UH, IN THIS CONTEXT OVER, UH, UH, THESE DECADES, IT FROM 1991 TO THE PRESENT, WE'VE REPRESENTED THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, W WE HAVE NOT BEEN ENGAGED WITH THE CURRENT ONE.
WE'VE BEEN TALKING TO THEM, BUT CITY OF HOUSTON, UH, AT ABOUT 2 MILLION FOLKS IS, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, A TYPICAL CLIENT FOR US, UH, THE CITY OF DALLAS, WHICH HAS AN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION LIKE YOU GUYS DO EACH DAY, UH, IN THE LAST TWO DECADES, AT LEAST HAS HIRED SID AND BOB AND US TO, TO GUIDE THEM.
BECAUSE ONCE THE COMMISSION FINISHES ITS WORK OVER IN DALLAS, THEY GIVE IT TO THE COUNCIL.
AND THEN WE DIDN'T WORK FOR THE COMMISSION IN EITHER OF THOSE CYCLES.
WE WORKED FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS, BUT WE GOT THERE.
WE WENT UP TO WASHINGTON WITH THE CLIENT TO GET IT THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, BECAUSE IN THOSE DAYS, WE'VE, UH, UP THROUGH THE LAST DECADE, WE WERE GETTING THOSE PRE-CLEARED IN WASHINGTON, SAN ANTONIO, UH, WE'VE REDISTRICTED THEM.
THIS'LL BE OUR SECOND DECADE OF DOING THAT.
AND, AND MY TEAM AND MYSELF, UH, HAVE, HAVE GUIDED THAT CITY.
WE DO EL PASO, WE'RE DOING FORT WORTH, WHICH IS CHANGING FROM, UH, IT'S STRUCTURE AND GETTING A LARGER STRUCTURE THIS CYCLE.
AND THEN, UH, CORPUS CHRISTI, UH, ANOTHER 200,000 PERSON CITY PLUS A NUMBER OF THE SUBURBAN CITIES IN THE DALLAS AREA.
SO IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE LARGE ENTITIES, THOSE ARE THE BIG CITIES WE REPRESENT.
WE ALSO DO DOUBT WHAT WE'VE DONE.
DALLAS ISD, EVERY DECADE, SINCE 1991, THEY AGAIN ARE A COUPLE OF MILLION PERSON, A SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH A NINE MEMBER BOARD.
AND I PERSONALLY HAVE WORKED WITH THAT SCHOOL DISTRICT EACH OF THE LAST FEW DECADES, DALLAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE HAS SIMILAR ALAMO COMMUNITY COLLEGES SIMILAR.
SO, SO WE HAVE A LOT OF PARSING OF THAT HERE IN AUSTIN.
AND I THINK THIS MAY BE USEFUL TO YOU IS, UH, I, UH, SIT AND I HAVE BEEN THE REDISTRICT IN COUNCIL FOR THE AUSTIN PENN SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE LAST TWO CYCLES.
UH, WE WERE GENERAL COUNSEL TO THEM STARTING IN 1995.
AND THEN WE STARTED REDISTRICTING WITH THEM IN THE 2020 11, UH, CYCLES.
AND SO WE HAVE PARSED THROUGH THE DATA IN AUSTIN, EACH DECADE.
WE KNOW WHERE THE NEIGHBORHOODS ARE.
I'VE LIVED HERE OVER 40 YEARS SINCE LIVED HERE OVER 40 YEARS IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO WE'RE HOMEBOYS IN THAT REGARD.
AND, UH, SO THOSE ARE, UH, SORT OF THE TYPES OF EXPERIENCES THAT GO TO, TO THIS AS FAR AS CHARTER, UH, WORK, UH, SAID, UH,
[01:25:01]
YOU MAY WANT TO COMMENT ON THE STUFF YOU DID BEFORE.CAUSE I THINK IT'D BE IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU WORK ON THOSE CITIES, UH, STRUCTURE EARLIER.
UH, DAVID'S POINT IS OBVIOUSLY WE'VE DONE A LOT OF REDISTRICTING AND WE, UH, HE'S MENTIONED EARLIER, WE'VE GOT IN-HOUSE STAFF, UH, THAT DRAW PLANS.
SO WE DON'T HAVE TO DRAW AN ANALYZER PLAN, UM, FULL DISCLOSURE, UH, WHILE THE CHARTER AMENDMENT DISCUSSION WAS GOING ON, THAT LED TO THE CHARTER REVISION THAT ESTABLISHES THE COMMISSION, THE VIN CITY COUNCIL, UH, ENGAGED, UH, ME, AND TO SOME DEGREE, BOB E WHO ADVISED THEM ON, UH, CHARTER QUESTIONS, MOSTLY THE CHARTER ELECTION, PART OF THE QUESTION, AS OPPOSED TO CHARTER STRUCTURE.
UM, AND I DREW PLANS FOR THEM, UH, UH, DIFFERENT SOURCE, SIX NUMBER EIGHT MEMBER AND 10 MEMBER, UH, SUPPOSED TO HYPOTHETICAL COUNSEL TO SHOW THEM WHAT THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE CITY, UH, THE ADVANTAGES OF CERTAIN KINDS OF DISTRICT DRAWING AND THE LIMITS OF WHAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO, GIVEN THE DEMOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE CITY.
SO WE'VE GOT A LOT OF BACKGROUND IN GENERAL IN THE DISTRICT GAME.
UH, DAVID'S ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT WE HAVE DONE FOR MANY, MANY YEARS, UH, LOCAL GOVERNMENT REPRESENTATION IN ALL FACETS, INCLUDING OPEN GOVERNMENT.
SO OPEN MEETINGS AND OPEN RECORDS AND ALL OF THAT, I THINK, UH, UH, FACTORS IN TO BEING ABLE TO GIVE YOU ADVICE THAT IS NOT LIMITED TO PURE DEMOGRAPHIC ADVICE.
AND, AND I THINK I WANT TO CLOSE WITH OUR APPROACH IS AN OUR ENTIRE, UH, EXISTENCE AS A FIRM IS AS, UH, A LAW FIRM FOR GOVERNMENTS OR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.
WE, UH, THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE IN GOING OUT AND PURSUING VOTING RIGHTS IN CASES ON BEHALF OF THE CITIZENRY.
AND THERE THAT'S AN IMPORTANT ROLE FOR ADVOCATES AND LAWYERS, BUT AS A LAWYER, FIRST, MY LOYALTY IS TO JUST LIKE, YOU GUYS TOOK A NOTE TO BE ON THIS COMMISSION, YOU GOT SWORN IN AND YOUR JOB IS TO DEFEND THE CHARTER TO ACCOMPLISH THE CHARTER OBJECTIVE ON BEHALF OF THE CITY.
AND IT IS A, AN IMPORTANT OBLIGATION.
WELL, THAT'S OUR OBLIGATION AS LAWYERS IS TO DEFEND WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
I, I'M NOT GOING TO GO OUT AND SUE THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO BE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BEACH.
THAT IS A DIFFERENT MINDSET FOR, FOR ME.
AND, AND, UH, I THINK THAT'S PART OF WHAT YOU'RE GETTING WITH OUR FIRM.
I I'M SURE WE'LL HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
UM, BUT OUR LAST QUESTION OUT OF THE LIST IS, UM, HOW HAS YOUR TEAM STRUCTURED? I KNOW YOU'VE SPOKEN TO THAT A BIT ALREADY.
AND HOW DOES THE BILLING STRUCTURE WORK AS WELL? YEAH, SO, YOU KNOW, E UH, WE GAVE YOU THE RESUMES OF THREE OF US AT THE FIRM.
THERE ARE, UH, DIFFERENT STRENGTHS THAT COME FROM THAT.
BOB HEATH IS A, IS A LITIGATOR IN OVER THE HISTORY OF HIS PRACTICE.
HE SAID HE ALSO WORKED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE AND IS VERY, VERY FAMILIAR WITH THE OPEN MEETINGS, OPEN RECORDS SIT, AND I HAVE SPENT OUR, UH, SINCE A LITIGATOR AND I USED TO BE A LITIGATOR, BUT WE IN RE-DISTRICTING WORK, WE HAVE IN THE LAST THREE DECADES ON GETTING PEOPLE TO DO THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS, AS OPPOSED TO DEFENDING LEGAL CHALLENGES OVER THERE.
SO OUR SPECIALTY, IF YOU WILL, IS IN GETTING YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS WITH MINIMUM EXPOSURE.
IF YOU, IF, IF FOR SOME REASON, SOMEBODY CHALLENGES YOU WITH BRING BOBBY INTO THAT, WE HAVE OTHER, UH, PARTNERS IN THE FIRM THAT ARE LITIGATORS LIKE THAT WE CAN ALSO, AND OUR RATES ARE PRETTY HIGH.
I THINK YOU SAW THEM IN, I QUOTED YOUR RATE IN THERE, WHICH IS THE RATE.
UH, MANY OF OUR URBAN CLIENTS ARE PAYING FOR THE SERVICES BY THE HOUR.
THAT'S WHAT SID BOBBIN AND I WOULD, WOULD CHARGE YOU.
WE HAVE OTHER YOUNGER FOLKS THAT CAN DO RESEARCH OR GET OTHER INFORMATION FOR YOU.
AND WE CAN PROVIDE YOU WHEN WE, IF WE, IF YOU DECIDE TO HIRE US, WE'LL PROVIDE A NEGOTIATED CONTRACT WHERE WE'LL PUSH, WE CAN PUSH DOWN SOME WORK TO PEOPLE AT LOWER RATES.
IF YOU NEED SOMETHING DONE THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE OUR PARTICULAR EXPERTISE, BUT,
[01:30:01]
UH, HE WOULD SUPERVISE ALL OF, ALL OF THAT.SO, YOU KNOW, WE CAN, AND WE CAN DEVELOP A BUDGET FOR YOU IF YOU WANT IN THAT REGARD.
SO, BUT, UH, THIS IS WEIRD, CAUSE IT, YOUR REQUEST WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN MOST PEOPLE.
FOR MOST PEOPLE, WE GIVE THEM A BUDGET AND SAY, HERE'S WHAT IT'LL TAKE TO GET YOU THROUGH YOUR PROCESS.
AND WE GAVE EVERYBODY A BUDGET.
WE WEREN'T SURE BEFORE WE TALKED TO YOU GUYS, WHAT YOU WANTED FROM US.
AND SO WE JUST QUOTED YOU A RATE.
IF YOU GUYS WANTED TO TELL, LET'S SAY YOU PICKED US AND YOU SAID, WELL, CAN YOU BUILD US A BUDGET AROUND THAT SIT AND I CAN BUILD YOUR BUDGET? YES, I THINK, I THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE IDEAL.
UM, ALL RIGHT, SO WE'RE GONNA OPEN THIS UP TO EVERYONE.
UM, I'LL, I'LL HOLD MY QUESTIONS, UM, TO THE END.
UM, ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS WANT TO JUMP IN HERE? COMMISSIONER DEMPSEY.
BOTH OF YOU FOR BEING HERE TONIGHT.
UH, I REALLY ENJOY LISTENING TO ALL YOU HAD TO SAY, AND I LEARNED A LOT ALREADY.
UM, WILL YOU BE ABLE TO GUIDE US THROUGH THE PUBLIC NOTICE ASPECT, THE BEST PRACTICES THAT WE SHOULD BE ADOPTING IN ORDER TO DO IT IN THE BEST WAY, HUMANLY POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC NOTICE TO EVERYBODY ABOUT OUR HEARINGS AND WHAT WE'RE DOING AND, UM, ALL OF THAT.
UH, THE SHORT ANSWER IS, UH, WILL BE EASY ENOUGH TO DO, TO HELP YOU DO ALL OF THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT REQUIRED, POSTINGS.
UH, WE CAN HELP YOU DRAFT AGENDA ITEMS. WE ROUTINELY DO THAT KIND OF THING FOR CLIENTS.
UH, THERE'S A 72 HOUR POSTING REQUIREMENT, EXCEPT IN CERTAIN KINDS OF EMERGENCIES IN WHICH I DON'T ANTICIPATE THAT YOU WILL FIND IF WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IS DESIGNING KINDS OF THINGS WE CAN ASSIST WITH THAT.
BUT THAT'S NOT REALLY OUR FORTE, RIGHT? I'M SORRY.
IT WAS MORE JUST LIKE MAKING SURE, I GUESS ONCE WE DEVELOP HOW WE GO FORWARD, YOU GUYS CAN SIGN OFF ON IT.
AND THAT'S WHAT CLIENTS ALWAYS ASK US TO DO.
THEY DEVELOP A, AN IDEA WITH THEIR MANAGER, LIKE THOSE ADMINISTRATORS YOU'RE TALKING TO, AND THEY'RE JOURNALISTS, THEY KNOW HOW THEY WANT TO GET THE WORD OUT.
YOU GUYS KNOW HOW YOU WANT TO GET THE WORD OUT, EVERY WORD THAT GOES OUT AND MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T GET YOU IN TROUBLE.
ARE WE, I'M SORRY, WHO ASKED THAT? I WAS JUST WONDERING WHERE WE ARE FOR TIME AND IF HE HAD TIME FOR QUESTIONS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE A LITTLE OUT OF SCHEDULES SINCE WE MISSED ONE OF THE CANDIDATES IN THE PREVIOUS ROUND OF INTERVIEWS.
SO I THINK WE'RE, IF Y'ALL ARE OKAY WITH, WITH THAT, I'M OKAY WITH HAVING A FEW MORE QUESTIONS.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND LISTEN TO THIS, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, THIS IS GREAT AND OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, WHAT I CAN TELL FROM THIS DISCUSSION IS THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN HELP US WITH MOST OF THE BASIC THINGS.
THAT'S CLEAR, LIKE OPEN MEETINGS, UH, FOLLOWING OPEN MEETINGS, PROTOCOL RECORDS, RETENTION, OBVIOUSLY COUNSELING, LEGALITY OF MAPS, AND BASICALLY OUR GENERAL ACTIONS.
SO IT'S NOT TO CREATE LIABILITY FOR OURSELVES.
UM, I'M JUST CURIOUS, BECAUSE YOU SAID A COUPLE OF TIMES, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE NOT REALLY GOOD FOR MINISTRATIVE TASKS AND YOU WEREN'T REALLY NECESSARILY SURE WHAT WE WANTED, BUT YOU GUYS OBVIOUSLY HAVE PROBABLY A LOT MORE, YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE A LOT MORE EXPERIENCE DOING THIS THAN WE DO.
WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE SORT OF OUTSIDE THE LINES THAT EITHER PEOPLE ASK YOU FOR, THAT YOU WILL DO, OR THAT IF WE HAD AN UNLIMITED BUDGET AND WE WERE JUST LIKE, YEAH, COME BRING ALL YOUR LAWYERS AND ALL YOUR BILLS, ALL THE BILLING HOURS, WHAT SORT OF THINGS WOULD WE BE ASKING YOU TO DO THAT CLEARLY, WE'RE PROBABLY NOT GOING TO CAUSE I JUST WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE LINE IS.
UH I'LL I'LL TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, WE HAVE EXAMPLES OF SITES WE'VE BUILT FOR OUR CLIENT, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT WANTED IT TO BE DISTRICT IN DATA UP.
AND I CAN SHOW YOU HOW WE BUILT THAT FOR THEM.
UH, SOME OF THEM ARE MORE ELABORATE THAN OTHERS.
WE DRAW, WE, WE, WE WILL HAVE A TEAM OF EIGHT OR NINE DRAWERS THAT ARE DRAWING THE ACTUAL MAPS FOR OUR, OUR, WE HAVE AN ARRANGEMENT WITH ONE OF THE MAJOR VENDORS NATIONALLY, UH, THAT DEVELOPS THE, THAT GETS THE DATA, PUTS IT INTO A SET OF SOFTWARE THAT WE THEN USE TO REDISTRICT.
WE DON'T HAVE, WE WOULDN'T BE RELYING ON LIKE YOU GUYS.
I THINK YOU'RE RELYING ON CITY OF AUSTIN TO DRAW THE PLANS FOR YOU AND I, OR I THINK THAT MAY BE HOW YOU DO IT, BUT THAT'S WHAT MOST CLIENTS ASK US FOR IS DAVID, YOU GUYS DRAW THE MAPS FOR US.
YOU GIVE US THE POSTING LANGUAGE FOR ALL THE ITEMS THAT ARE NOW, MOST OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE A LOT OF OTHER BUSINESS GOING ON.
[01:35:01]
BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE REGULAR GOVERNMENTAL BODIES.THEY'RE NOT LIKE YOU GUYS A SINGLE PURPOSE ENTITY.
SO WE GIVE THEM EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO GET THROUGH THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS.
AND WE BUILD A BUDGET AROUND THAT.
WE HAVE A TEAM OF SPECIALISTS THAT DO ALL THAT PARALEGAL THERE THAT ARE, YOU DON'T WANT TO PAY 600 BUCKS AN HOUR FOR ME TO DO THAT FOR YOU.
SO WE HAVE PARALEGALS AND OTHERS TO DO THAT.
AND, UH, BUT THAT, BECAUSE Y'ALL, DIDN'T THE WAY YOU FRAMED.
IT WAS, UH, AS A GENERAL COUNCIL JOB FOR THE THING, I DIDN'T FEEL, I DIDN'T MAKE YOU A PITCH LIKE THAT, BUT I CAN, I CAN SHOW YOU WHAT WE CAN DO IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, AND I CAN BUILD YOU A BUDGET AROUND THAT, BUT, UH, IT'S, UH, IT'S CROWDING THE SCHEDULE.
THERE ARE, UH, PEOPLE HAVE BEEN GOING AT THIS FOR A YEAR THERE.
WE'VE BEEN BUILDING SCHEDULES FOR CLIENTS FOR OVER A YEAR.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S KIND OF, WE WERE LOOKING AT THIS AS A, WE CAN PROVIDE YOU LEGAL COUNSEL, BARRY, THAT'S A REASONABLE REQUEST.
IF YOU WANT US TO FIT YOU INTO OUR TOTAL REDISTRICTING PROGRAM, THAT MAY BE A LITTLE BIT CHALLENGING BECAUSE IT'S DAVID THAT'S HELPFUL BECAUSE I MEAN, I THINK THROUGHOUT YOUR COMMENTS, IT'S CLEAR THAT THERE WAS SOME SORT OF A LINE THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT HERE, YOU KNOW, ABOUT WHAT SORT OF, YOU KNOW, SERVICES YOU WERE LOOKING TO PROVIDE US VERSUS SORT OF THIS SORT OF UNDEFINED OTHER.
AND THAT HELPS US, I THINK, UNDERSTAND WHAT THE UNDEFINED AND THE SURETY OF JUST NEEDS TO BE.
WE PROBABLY, EVEN IF WE WANTED TO DO THAT, WE PROBABLY, IT WOULD BE TOUGH.
THE SHORT ANSWER IS WE CAN BE YOUR LAWYERS.
UH, THE TIME PRESSURE WE HAVE AS DAVID INDICATED, COUNTIES NEED TO BE DONE BY MID-NOVEMBER IS GOING TO PREVENT US FROM BEING YOUR PUBLICISTS AND, UH, YOUR ADMINISTRATOR.
BUT I MEAN, I GUESS ONE MORE QUESTION THEN.
I MEAN, IF, IF WE WERE INTERESTED IN A, THIS IS JUST, I'M JUST CURIOUS IF WE WERE INTERESTED IN YOU BEING OUR MAP MAKERS, THAT WOULD BE ANOTHER DISCUSSION, UH, UH, WE CAN HAVE THAT DISCUSSION AND, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, YEAH, WE COULD, WE COULD TALK ABOUT THAT.
AND IT'S, DOESN'T, IT'S NOT AS EXPENSIVE AS, AS WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT FOR LEGAL SERVICES, BUT IT IS.
IF WE WERE TO SIGN ON, UH, FOR YOUR MAP MAKING, UH, SERVICES, HOW MUCH NOTICE WOULD YOU NEED FOR US TO, TO ASK YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE? CAUSE WE'RE RECRUITING.
WE HAVE TO FILL A BUNCH OF JOBS RIGHT NOW AND YOU KNOW, THIS PROBABLY ADDS ANOTHER ONE TO THE NORTH, TO THEM MORE TO THE POINT, I THINK OF YOUR QUESTION.
UH, WE ARE AS LITERALLY AS WE SPEAK, BUT WE ARE CURRENTLY, UH, WORKING OUT OUR CALENDAR, IF YOU WILL.
UM, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF CLIENTS THAT WE HAVE TO DO, NOT JUST LEGAL ADVISING, BUT DRAWING UP PLANS, ATTENDING THE MEETINGS, ALL THAT SORT OF STUFF.
AND, UH, WE ARE GOING TO TAKE ON THE ADDITIONAL TASK OF DOING THE DRAWING AND PLAN DEVELOPING AND NOT JUST BE YOUR LAWYERS IN THAT SENSE.
UH, WE NEED TO KNOW THAT FAIRLY QUICKLY TO BE ABLE TO INCLUDE THAT IN THE SPOTS IN THE CALENDAR.
UM, AND I THINK YOUR TIMELINE ALSO SPEAKS TO THIS SAME CAVEAT.
YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE THE LUXURY OF BEING ABLE TO USE TO DEVELOP A HALF DOZEN PLANS, UH, AND DEBATE THE MERITS OF EACH OF THEM AND DISCUSS ALL THAT IN THE TIME YOU'VE GOT, YOU WERE GOING TO HAVE TO BE VERY, VERY EFFICIENT.
UH, YOU'RE PROBABLY TALKING ABOUT ONE BASE PLAN THAT YOU COULD DO SOME FINE TUNING OF AND EVERYBODY NODS THEIR HEAD AND SAYS, THIS IS OUR PRELIMINARY PLAN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, YOU'RE CERTAINLY NOT TALKING ABOUT FIVE OR SIX.
AND IN THAT SENSE, I THINK WE CAN ACCOMMODATE YOU.
UM, MAYBE YOU GUYS HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE AND DONE THIS SEVERAL TIMES.
UH, WHAT WOULD BE THE THING THAT YOU'D SAY GETS COMMISSIONS OR GETS THEM TO NOT USE TIME EFFECTIVELY OR EFFICIENTLY? WHAT'S THE ONE THING, IF YOU'D SAY BASED ON YOUR OBSERVATIONS OVER TIME, MANY DIFFERENT THINGS FOR DIFFERENT CLIENTS, UH, THE POLITICS IS WHAT SLOWS THINGS DOWN.
UM, IT IS POSSIBLE TO COME UP WITH A PLAN, UH, AT OUR FIRST CUT OF THE PLAN FOR YOU TO GET YOU THINKING WOULD BE TO TAKE THE EXISTING BOUNDARIES AND DO WHAT IS RELATIVELY MINIMALLY NECESSARY TO REDRAW THOSE
[01:40:01]
IN A WAY THAT PUT YOU BACK IN POPULATION BALANCE RATHER THAN TRY TO REDRAW THE WHOLE BASIC OUTLAY OF THE PLAN, UM, WHERE SOME OF OUR CLIENTS HAVE, I THINK, UH, INVITED INEFFICIENCY IN THE PAST IS THEY TRIED TO DRAW OUT FROM WHOLE CLOTH.UH, AND I, I THINK THAT'S THE MISTAKE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS.
THE, THE COMMUNITY TYPICALLY IS NOT VERY HAPPY WITH THAT EITHER.
AND IT, IT IS NOT A VERY EFFICIENT WAY TO GO ABOUT STRUCTURING A NEW PLANT.
SO, SO WHAT I'VE SEEN AS WELL IN THIS REGARD IS, UH, PEOPLE GET, UH, PROPRIETARY, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, A MEMBER OF THE, OF THE POLITICAL SUBDIVISION, BECAUSE MOST OF THE TIME, THESE ARE DRAWN BY THE ACTUAL, THE CITY CITY COUNCIL PERSON OR COUNTY COMMISSIONER OR WHATEVER.
AND THEY GET VERY PROPRIETARY ABOUT A PARTICULAR MINOR TERRITORIAL ISSUE.
AND, AND SO, UH, YOU ENDED UP WITH A LOT OF DEBATE GOING ON OVER A MINOR TERRITORIAL POINT WHEN YOU COULD JUST EASILY SAY, WELL, LET'S AGREE TO DISAGREE AND WE'LL HAVE VERSION A AND B OF THAT.
AND THEN WE'LL SORT THAT OUT LATER AND AVOID WASTING A LOT OF TIME.
AN EXAMPLE OF THAT WOULD BE, UH, UH, IN ADDITION TO HER OR A COUNCIL MEMBER THAT, UH, WANTS TO HAVE THE HIGH SCHOOL THEY GRADUATED FROM IN THEIR DISTRICT.
AND IT TAKES SOME DOING TO REACH OUT AND GRAB THAT, UH, AND THAT OF COURSE CAUSES A RIPPLE EFFECT THAT CAUSES CONSTERNATION FOR THE COUNCIL MEMBER.
THAT'S GOING TO LOSE THAT PIECE OF TERRITORY AND YOU GET, YOU GET REALLY STUCK ON THINGS THAT TAKE A LOT OF TIME TO RESOLVE, UH, LEAD TO SOME, SOMETIMES BITTER FEELINGS AND END UP NOT BEING VERY PRACTICAL WHILE YOU'RE ALL PLANNING AND THEY HAVE NO LEGAL CONSEQUENCES.
YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU REALLY SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON IS ARE WE PROTECTING THE FOLKS THAT THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT SAY WE NEED TO PROTECT? ARE WE USING RACE TO THE MINIMAL EXTENT, NECESSARY TO COMPLY WITH THOSE REQUIREMENTS AND THEN MOVING ON? SO WE DON'T HAVE A SHAW VERSUS RENO ISSUE, UH, OR, UH, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE, YOU KNOW, THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF, YOU GOTTA STEP BACK AND GET IT, UH, AT A HIGHER LEVEL, UH, BASED ON THE LEGAL PRINCIPLES, AS OPPOSED TO GETTING INTO A NEIGHBORHOOD TERRITORIAL FIGHT OVER DIFFUSION OVER IN HERE.
AND THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT A COMMISSION LIKE YOURSELVES AS AN ADVANTAGE FOR PRESUMABLY YOU ARE NOT POLITICALLY INVESTED AT THAT SAME INCUMBENT LEVEL.
UH, AND THAT'S, THAT'S ONE OF THE STRONG POINTS I THINK YOU HAVE GOING FOR YOU.
I THINK TO INCLUDE MY HIGH SCHOOL IN THIS, WE WOULD HAVE TO REDRAW THE MAP OF TEXAS AND MAKE IT A DIFFERENT COUNTRY AND INCLUDE SEVERAL OTHER CONTINENTS INTO IT MIGHT NOT BE PRACTICAL, BUT THEY APPRECIATE IT.
AND THAT'S VERY HELPFUL TO KNOW.
AND, UM, A COUPLE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAD SPECIFICALLY REGARDING THE MATH AND CONSULTANT, I THINK OTHERS ASKED ALREADY.
SO THE LAST ONE THAT I HAD ON MY LIST FOR YOU, UM, YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT WORKING FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS, BUT NOT ITS COMMISSION.
AND IN THIS CASE YOU WOULD BE WORKING FOR THE COMMISSION.
UM, AND SO WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOUR POSITION AS AN INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR WITH US? OH, UH, I THINK Y'ALL ARE MUTED.
SORRY, IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND REPEATING THAT.
IS THAT BETTER? CAN YOU HEAR US NOW? YES.
I'M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED THERE, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WE WORKED FOR THE COMMISSION AND DISREGARD IN THAT INSTANCE, WE WERE HIRED, UH, IN THE PROCESS IN DALLAS, THE COMMISSIONS PLAN IS DISTRIBUTED TO THE CITY OF THE COUNCIL AND THEN THE COUNCIL GETS TO, UH, REVISE IT OR DO OTHER THINGS TO IT.
AND THEN THEY WENT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THAT WAS OUR ROLE OVER THERE.
SO WE WERE HIRED IN A DIFFERENT CONTEXT IN HERE.
WE UNDERSTAND HERE THAT WE WOULD BE WORKING FOR THE INDEPENDENT COMMISSION.
UH, WE DON'T, UH, WE, WE KIND OF LAID OUT FOR DE FOR, FOR YOUR, YOUR TEAM, UH, ARE, ARE VARIOUS MATTERS THAT ARE ONGOING.
WE DON'T HAVE ANY, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WE DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANY CONFLICTS THAT WOULD PREVENT US FROM REPRESENTING YOU.
WE'RE NOT REPRESENTING THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN REGARDS TO ANY GOVERNANCE ISSUE AT THE PRESENT TIME.
AND, AND SO I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR ON THAT BECAUSE, AND THEN THAT'S LAID OUT IN OUR COVER LETTER AS WELL.
WOULD THAT MEAN THAT YOU ALL ARE, UM, CONTRACTED? YES.
WE WOULD BE CONTRACTED BY YOU BACK.
[01:45:02]
UNDERSTOOD.AND, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF WE GOT INTO THIS, UM, AND APOLOGIES IF, IF THIS IS RUNNING JUST A TAD LONG, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'LL HAVE A WHOLE DIFFERENT KIND OF, UM, SPACE THAT YOU WORKED WITH IN, IN LAW.
AND NOW YOU'RE WORKING WITH REDISTRICTING AND VOTING RIGHTS, AND I'M JUST CURIOUS IF YOU COULD SHARE VERY BRIEFLY HOW YOU GOT INTO THAT AND WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU.
OH, UH, WE, WE, WE DO REDISTRICTING EVERY DECADE AND THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE FIRM'S PRACTICE RE-DISTRICTING OCCURS WHEN THE CENSUS COMES OUT.
SO WE HAVE DAY JOBS CAUSE WE COULDN'T SURVIVE THE REST OF THE DECADE WITHOUT HAVING A REGULAR BOOK.
SO, UH, MY BACKGROUND IS IN FINANCE AND, UH, AND TAXATION.
SO, UH, I CAME TO THE FIRM AS A LITIGATOR IN TECH SPACES.
I AM THE FIRMS, UH, I LEAD THE FIRM'S MUNICIPAL BOND PRACTICE.
AND SO MY DAY JOB WHEN I'M NOT DOING REDISTRICTING IS I LEAD A TEAM OF LAWYERS AND PARALEGALS THAT SELL, UH, MUNICIPAL BONDS FOR CITIES, COUNTIES, SCHOOLS, AND COLLEGES.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, NEXT WEEK AT THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE, WE WILL BE, UH, SELLING STONE, PUBLIC FACILITY, CORPORATION BONDS FOR THEM.
AND THAT'S ONE OF MY CLIENTS AND WE'VE DONE IT FOR MANY YEARS.
WE DO THAT THROUGHOUT THE STATE, UH, SEE THAT YOU WANT THE FIRM'S JERK OF ALL TRADES.
UH, I HAVE DONE IN THE PAST, UH, LITIGATION, INCLUDING, UH, DEFENDING REDISTRICTING PLANS, UH, VOTING RIGHTS LITIGATION IN DEFENSE OF GOVERNMENT ENTITIES, UH, AND A LOT OF OTHER KINDS OF LITIGATION AND DEFENSE GOVERNMENT ENTITIES.
UH, I'VE DONE A LOT OF CONTRACTING WORK, SOME INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY WORK ON ACROSS THE, ACROSS THE BOARD.
COMMON DENOMINATOR FOR ALL OF THIS IS THAT WE DO THESE FOR GOVERNMENTS AND WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH GOVERNMENTAL WORK.
YOUR QUESTION SUGGESTED THAT REDISTRICTING SOMEHOW IS SET APART FROM A GOVERNMENT LEGAL REPRESENTATION.
AND IN MY VIEW, I THINK IN THE FIRM'S VIEW, IT'S NOT A DISTINCT EXCEPT AS DAVID POINTED OUT IN TIME, BECAUSE IT'S A SINGULAR EVENT CENTERED AROUND THE CENSUS.
UH, AS AN ASIDE, I'LL SAY SOMETIMES WE'VE HAD CLIENTS THAT HAVE REDISTRICTED FOR OTHER REASONS AT DIFFERENT TIMES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DECADE.
UH, BUT REDISTRICTING AND THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF IT THAT WE WOULD ADVISE YOU ON.
WE SEE AS CONSISTENT WITH OUR ROLE IS GOVERNMENT LAWYERS, AS OPPOSED TO A DISTINCT HOBBY OF SOME SORT THAT WE HAVE.
IT JUST HAPPENS THAT THE CENSUS COMES OUT ONCE A DECADE AND EVERY, WHETHER IT'S A STATE OF TEXAS OR EVERY COUNTY CITY SCHOOL THAT HAS SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS, IT HAS TO GO THROUGH IT AT THE SAME TIME.
THE HISTORY OF THE FARM, JUST IT IS THAT, UH, STEVE BICKERSTAFF, UH, WAS SENATE PARLIAMENTARIAN BACK IN THE DAY BEFORE HE WAS A PRIVATE PRACTICE LAWYER.
AND BOBBY WAS CHAIRMAN OF THE OPEN, UH, UH, THE OPINIONS COMMITTEE AT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE.
UM, AND THEY WERE INVOLVED EARLY ON IN, UH, STATE REDISTRICTING EFFORTS.
SO WHEN THEY STARTED THE FARM, ONE OF THEIR EARLY CASES, UH, IN THE EARLY NINETIES, UH, WAS FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
AND WHEN DAVID AND I JOINED THE FIRM, UM, IN THAT TIME PERIOD, THEY WERE DEFENDING THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN A VOTING RIGHTS CASE.
AND, UH, WE CUT OUR TEETH, UH, AS GOVERNMENT, BABY GOVERNMENT LAWYERS, UH, INVOLVED IN DEFENDING THOSE LAWSUITS.
UH, SO THAT'S SORT OF HOW THE FIRM HAS GOTTEN INTO DOING REDISTRICTING AND VOTING RIGHTS, DEFENSE WORK.
AND THAT'S VERY INTERESTING AND I APPRECIATE YOU GIVING THAT INSIGHT ABOUT THE CONNECTION WITH EVERYTHING ELSE THAT YOU DO TO REPRESENT CITIES.
UM, I THINK THAT THAT IS EVERYTHING FROM US.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMISSION? UH, I DON'T, BUT I WANTED TO CHECK WITH YOU ALL TO SEE, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE'RE GOING TO GO, UH, I WANT TO STEP, WE WANT TO STEP OUT OF THIS CONVERSATION, RIGHT.
SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE YOUR INTERVIEW WITH THE OTHER APPLICANTS.
UH, DO YOU FORESEE NEEDING US TO LOG BACK INTO THE MEETING FOR THE OPEN SESSION? DO YOU, WOULD YOU ANTICIPATE HAVING FURTHER QUESTIONS FOR US OR WE JUST MISSED FOR THE EVENING OR, UH, WHAT IS, UH, WHAT'S YOUR PLAN? THE, FOR THE REST OF THE EVENING IN THAT REGARD, WE DID NOT HAVE ANY, UM, ANYTHING PRE-PLANNED TO INVITE YOU ALL BACK IN.
SO I WOULD SAY THAT YOU'RE WELCOME TO, UM, ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR EVENINGS.
WELL, I GAVE, UH, MR. DUGGINS, I GUESS MATT MATTHEW, UH, MY CELL PHONE NUMBER ON A RECENT, AN EMAIL I I'VE TRANSMITTED.
I THINK YOU ONLY HAVE IT, MR. GONZALES ALSO ON OUR EMAIL EXCHANGES BACK AND FORTH, MY MOBILE PHONE
[01:50:01]
NUMBERS ON THERE.IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU NEED, UH, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CALL ME BACK AND I CAN SIT IN, BUT, UH, THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME TO, UH, HAVE YOU STOPPED FOR QUESTIONS FOR US AND, AND WE HOPE THAT WE CAN WORK WITH YOU GUYS.
I THINK WE HAVE ONE MORE ROUND, UM, GO AHEAD AND SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.
AND, UM, AND LET'S HAVE MR. RICHARDS AND MR. CORVEL.
HI, Y'ALL CAN YOU TURN ON YOUR CAMERAS FOR US? HI.
UM, I HEAR YOU, BUT I DON'T SEE YOU.
IS THAT THE CASE FOR ANYONE ELSE? IS IT POSSIBLE FOR Y'ALL TO TURN THE CAMERA ON OR IS IT ALREADY ON IT'S JUST NOT WORKING.
AM I SAYING YOUR NAME? CORRECT.
I AM THE CHAIR AND, UM, AND WE HAVE OUR VICE CHAIR, MR. GONZALEZ, OVER HERE, WHO WILL BE, UM, WE'LL JUST BE BOUNCING BACK AND FORTH ON OUR QUESTIONS FOR YOU THIS EVENING.
AND, UM, AND OF COURSE, THIS IS CONVERSATIONAL TOO.
I'D LOVE FOR YOU TO INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW YOU GOT INTO THIS LINE OF WORK WITH REDISTRICTING.
UM, AND THEN WE'LL LEAVE TIME AT THE END FOR THE REST OF THE COMMISSION TO ASK YOU QUESTIONS, AND THEN YOU CAN ASK US QUESTIONS AS WELL.
UM, MR. RICHARDS, HE WANTED TO START THE BOAT.
DID HE? I DON'T SEE THEM ON THIS SCREEN.
UM, MATT, DO YOU KNOW IF, IF MR. RICHARDS WAS ALSO IN THE WAITING ROOM, THE WAITING ROOM HE'S NOT NOW.
AND MAY JUST BE YOU THE SEEPING SERVER SETTING BOTH.
WELL, YEAH, SO I'D LOVE, IF YOU COULD START OUT WITH JUST, UM, SHARING ABOUT, UM, JUST INTRODUCING YOURSELF AND SHARING ABOUT HOW YOU GOT INTO THIS WORK.
I WAS A YOUNG LAWYER UP IN MINNESOTA AND, UM, UM, I JOINED VISTA AND CAME TO TEXAS AND, UM, WHITE VERSUS REGISTER, WHICH IS A LEADING CASE IN THE REDISTRICT IN THE AREA HAD JUST BEEN IN, JUST BEEN FOUGHT OUT.
AND, UM, I WENT TO WORK AS A VISTA VOLUNTEER WITH THE MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEFENSE FUND.
AND THEY SAID, OKAY, HERE YOU DO THIS.
SO, UM, I DID IT, A CASE WAS FILED IN, UM, THANKSGIVING AND WE WENT TO TRIAL, UH, CHRISTMAS EVE.
WE HAD A JUDGMENT BY THE, BY THE JANUARY, FEBRUARY AND THE SUPREME COURT FROM THERE REFUSED TO STAY IN THE JUDGMENT.
SO WE WENT INTO SINGLE-MEMBER DISTRICTS WHERE THE STATE LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS IN DALLAS AND IN HOUSTON, TWO YEARS LATER, WE CAME BACK AND LITIGATED THE REST OF THE STATE, INCLUDING TRAVIS COUNTY.
UM, I WAS THE PRIME LAWYER FOR THE, UM, MEXICAN AMERICANS AND, UM, ED, EXCUSE ME.
AND, UM, DAVE RICHARDS WAS THE PRIMARY LAWYER FOR DIANA REGISTERED, WHO REPRESENTED THE BLACKS, AFRICAN AMERICANS.
UM, AND, UM, I GOT INVOLVED IN HANDLING A NUMBER OF THESE CASES AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THAT CASE IS WINNING, OF COURSE, BUT YOU REALLY DON'T WIN UNLESS YOU GET A PLAN ADOPTED IN WHICH YOUR CLIENTS HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO RUN.
SO I ALWAYS WORKED WITH THE EXPERT, UH, LED THE EXPERT AND, UH, INTO USING THE DRAWING THE PLAN SO THAT WE COULD BE SUCCESSFUL.
AND, UM, IN THE LAST, UH, 20 OR 30 YEARS, PEOPLE HAVE BEEN NOW USING ME AS AN EXPERT TO EXPLAIN TO THE COURT HOW IT'S DONE AND TO DRAW PLANS.
SO I HAVE TESTIFIED I GUESS, THREE DOZEN TIMES OR SO AS AN EXPERT WITNESS DRAWING, WRITING THESE PLANS AND I'VE, AND I'VE, I'M INVOLVED IN THE REDISTRICTING OF 50 OR 60, UM, UM, CITIES AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN TEXAS.
MOST OF THEM WERE CITIZENS SCHOOL DISTRICTS WHERE OUR PLAINTIFFS WERE SUCCESSFUL AND, UM, UM, HANDLED THE LITIGATION AGAINST
[01:55:01]
THE CITY OF HOUSTON AND AGAINST THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO AND AGAINST THE CITY OF WACO.AND, UM, I TESTIFIED IN THE LITIGATION AGAINST THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
SO, UM, AND, UH, THE, I DID, UH, I HAVE NOT BEEN LAWYER 52 YEARS AND I DID MY BEST WORK 50 YEARS AGO.
SO I'VE BEEN, UH, IT'S BEEN DOWNHILL EVER SINCE.
I'M SURE THAT'S NOT TRUE, BUT THANK YOU AT 52 YEARS, THAT'S A LONG TIME.
SO WE'RE GOING TO START WITH, AND BY THE WAY, THANK FOR WAITING ALL THE WAY TO, YOU KNOW, 8:00 PM TO BE WITH US.
I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE THIS EVENING.
UM, SO, SO THE FIRST QUESTION IS, DO YOU HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ICRC WORK TIMELINE? YES, YES.
YOU'RE ALREADY SIX MONTHS BEHIND.
YOU SHOULD HAVE HAD THESE DATA SIX MONTHS AGO, AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET IT UNTIL THE EARLIEST IN, UM, AUGUST.
AND IT'S GOING TO TAKE SEVERAL DAYS TO GET IT INTO A WORKABLE FORM.
AND THERE'S ALSO LITIGATION WORKING OUT THERE TO TRY AND ENJOY THE PROCEDURES THAT ARE BEING USED BY THE CENSUS.
SO, UM, ONE OF THEM GOT DECIDED TODAY.
UM, SO THAT CENSUS WAS GOING TO GO FORWARD.
UM, BUT THERE ARE SEVERAL OTHER CASES STILL THAT NIGHT, MY HOLDUP, THE CENSUS.
UM, BUT YES, YOU'RE SIX MONTHS BEHIND, UM, YOU HAVE, UH, 14 OR 15 HEARINGS AT LEAST THAT YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO HOLD.
AND WHAT IN EFFECT IS A TWO MONTH PERIOD.
SO IT'S GOING TO BE A VERY INTENSE MONTH WORK.
AND, UH, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I'VE DONE FOR 50 YEARS IS, IS INTENSIVE LITIGATION.
AND MR. RICHARDS, DAVID WAS IN, WAS THE GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE FIRST COMMISSION, I THINK THAT PUT TOGETHER THE INITIAL PLAN.
SO I'M GOING TO PASS THIS OFF TO COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ.
AND LIKE I SAID, WE'LL JUST GO BACK AND FORTH ON ASKING THE QUESTIONS TONIGHT.
I ECHO COMMISSIONER APPRENTICES, UM, APPRECIATION FOR YOU JOINING US THIS EVENING AND AT, UH, 8:00 PM.
UM, CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR APPROACH TO CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS? SHOULD YOU COME ABOARD AND SUPPORT THE COMMISSION IN OUR WORK? AND WE'VE HEARD THAT YOU ALLUDED TO HER WELL THAT THERE COULD BE LEGAL CHALLENGES.
WE DO HAVE A CHARTER DEADLINE OF NOVEMBER 1ST.
HOW WOULD YOU BE, HOW WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO SUPPORT US IN ANY LEGAL CHALLENGES THAT OUR COMMISSION MAY FACE? WELL, I THINK I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS LITIGATION AS MUCH, IF NOT MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE, I'M PROBABLY THE ONLY OTHER PERSON WOULD BE DAVID RICHARDS ON WOULD BE MORE.
UM, SO WE, WE COULD OBVIOUSLY REPRESENT THAT WE COULD REPRESENT THE CITY IF, IF THAT WAS NECESSARY.
BUT I THINK THAT, I THINK THAT EVERYTHING IS GOING TO GO, ALL RIGHT.
IT'S JUST THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A FAIRLY NARROW WINDOW NOW.
UM, I, I MEAN, I SEE YOUR WINDOW AS SOMETIME BEGINNING IN, UM, THE LAST FEW DAYS OF AUGUST OR THE FIRST FEW DAYS IN SEPTEMBER ON THROUGH THE 15TH OF, UM, OF, UM, OCTOBER.
AND THAT WOULD LEAVE US TWO WEEKS IN CASE ANYTHING GOT OUT, GOT OUT OF GOT OUT OF WHACK.
I MEAN, I THINK THAT YOU MADE AS POSSIBLE WITH THERE'S A HURRICANE AND WE CAN'T HOLD A HEARING.
WE MAY HAVE TO CHANGE THE HEARING DATES.
I MEAN, THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF STUFF THAT GOES ON AT THIS AT THIS TIME.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE AT LEAST A WEEK AND HOPEFULLY TWO WEEKS AT THE END, WHICH MEANS THAT WE WOULD BE WORKING PROBABLY EVERY OTHER NIGHT HEARING EVERY OTHER NIGHT.
THANK YOU, SIR, IF I MAY, UM, JUST AS, UH, THE SECOND PIECE OF THAT QUESTION, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR APPROACH TO, UM, CLIENT RELATIONSHIPS? WELL, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THE CLIENT WOULD BE YOU YOUR COMMISSIONING.
UM, AND, UM, WE LISTENED TO THE CLIENT AND I ADVISE THE CLIENT, IF IT'S A CLIENT IS GOING TO DO SOMETHING, WHICH I CONSIDERED TO BE INAPPROPRIATE.
AND THEN IF, IF I, IF THE CLIENT GOES AHEAD, I WITHDRAW, BUT I'VE NEVER HAD ANY, UH, ANY PROBLEMS, CLIENT RELATIONS, TIMING, SOMETIMES TIMING IS DIFFICULT, BUT
[02:00:02]
THANK YOU.UH, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT WORKING WITH THE ICRC REQUIRES A DEMANDING SCHEDULE AND SOMETIMES DURING NON-OFFICE HOURS LIKE TONIGHT? YES.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR MAKING THAT QUESTION EASY.
UM, MRS.
I, UM, MY SECOND WIFE WAS TALENT AND MY, UM, VATE THAT TERM, BUT THAT'S THE TERM, THE NEWEST TALENT.
UM, AND MY, AND MY CURRENT WIFE WAS A STATION MANAGER.
SO I HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE IN DEALING WITH THE MEDIA AND I'VE BEEN I'VE, I'VE HELD PRESS CONFERENCES AND I'VE BEEN INTERVIEWED, UM, WALL STREET JOURNAL, NEW YORK TIMES.
I'VE BEEN INTERVIEWED BY EVERYBODY I'VE DEALT, I'VE DEALT WITH EVERYBODY, DAVID, EVEN MORE THAN IT'S DEFINITELY COMFORTABLE IN THAT ARENA.
I, I DON'T MEAN TO BE FACETIOUS, BUT IT WAS, MY WIFE WAS, WAS LAUGHING ABOUT THE QUESTION.
DO YOU HAVE LIMITATIONS ON YOUR AVAILABILITY IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS? UH, ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR, I WOULD IMAGINE ME TELL YOU ABOUT THAT.
I HAVE A, UM, A WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH THREE OTHER LAWYERS THAT DO THE SAME THING, THE REDISTRICT, THE SAME THING, AND WE HELPED EACH OTHER.
AND, UM, UM, WE'RE PICKING UP CONTRACTS NOW.
AND, UM, UM, I WOULD BE, I WOULDN'T BE PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS AS WOULD DAVID.
UM, BUT IN THE OUTSIDE EVENT THAT SOMETHING MIGHT HAPPEN TO ONE OF US OR GOD FORBID, UM, HIS OTHER TWO LAWYERS, OTHER THREE LAWYERS, I SHOULD SAY, TO BE IN THE POSITION OF, TO THE ROOM TO, UM, AND, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE ALL VERY GOOD TRAILERS.
AND, UM, JOSE GAZZA WAS ALSO THE HEAD OF THE MEXICAN AMERICAN TRANSFORMED AFTER I LOST.
AND, UM, ROLANDA REELS WAS FORMERLY MY LAW CLERK AND NOW 40 YEARS A LAWYER IS HE'S HANDLED MORE CASES THAN ANYBODY OR A SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS ARE CONCERNED.
SO, SO YOU'LL BE ABLE TO WORK WITH US, WHATEVER TIME IS NECESSARY.
AND, UM, AT THAT SAME TIME, THE LEGISLATURE WILL BE IN SESSION.
AND I, AND SINCE I PROBABLY WILL END UP TESTIFYING IN THAT, I PROBABLY WILL BE PUTTING TOGETHER A MOCK-UP PLAN TO SHOW THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE SUCH HORRIBLY DRAWING IN GERMAN DISTRICTS AND YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH IT.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPLIT VOTING PRECINCTS.
I THINK LAST YEAR OR 10 YEARS AGO, THEY SPLIT A HUNDRED VOTING PRIESTS.
AND SOME, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND TRAVIS COUNTY, TRAVIS WAS KIND OF, IT WAS JUST A DISASTER, BUT, UM, BUT, BUT EVEN, BUT THAT'S, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING I DIDN'T DO A LOT OF TIMES.
COULD YOU TELL US, YOU'VE ALREADY ALLUDED, YOU'VE ALREADY MENTIONED, UH, YOUR CLEAR EXPERTISE, 52 YEARS OF LAW EXPERIENCE.
UH, HOW HAS YOUR LEGAL HISTORY AND EXPERIENCE PERTINENT TO OUR WORK TO THE ICRC? HOW IS IT? YES, SIR.
WELL REALLY, UM, UM, IN SOME SENSES WHEN YOU'RE REPRESENTING A CITY COUNCIL OR SCHOOL DISTRICT, UM, THEY, I MEAN, THEY ALSO FUNCTIONAL A LOT, LIKE WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO FUNCTION AND, UM, WELL, THEY, WELL, THEY DO HAVE THEIR, MOST OF THEM WHY THEY DO HAVE THEIR EYE ON TAKING CARE OF THEMSELVES.
THEY REALLY ARE INTERESTED IN THE JURISDICTION.
AND, UM, WHAT I DON'T LIKE IS I DON'T LIKE TO WORK WITH CITIES AND, AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS WHERE THE SUPERINTENDENT OR THE MAYOR OR CITY MANAGER ARE TRYING TO RUN THE WHOLE SHOW THAT THAT DOESN'T REALLY WORK.
AND, UM, SO I SEE, I SEE ALL THE WORK I'VE EVER DONE IS IT IS ALMOST THE SAME AS WHAT YOU'RE DOING, BUT I AM INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU'RE DOING BECAUSE I SEE THIS AS THE, AS THE WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.
SO I THINK IT PROBABLY MAKES A WHOLE LOT OF SENSE THAT I FIND OUT A LITTLE BIT HOW THIS WORKS AND IT'S SELFISH ON MY PART.
AND RICHARD'S HAD APPROACHED ME ABOUT, UM, SAID IF, IF I, UH, IF I'M INVOLVED, WHEN YOU HELPED ME
[02:05:01]
SOME SURE, OF COURSE, WE'VE ALWAYS DONE THAT.AND, UM, THAT'S HOW WE GOT TOGETHER.
UM, AND THEN I'M SURE WE'LL ALSO HAVE MANY FOLLOW-UPS AS WELL, BUT, UM, HOW IS YOUR TEAM STRUCTURED AND HOW DOES THE BILLING STRUCTURE WORK AS WELL?
DO YOU NEED ME TO ASK THE QUESTION AGAIN? OKAY.
BUT YOU ASKED ABOUT TEAM THE TEAM STRUCTURE.
WELL, THE TEAM STRUCTURE IS DAVID AND, AND ME, AND IT'S ALSO THESE THREE OTHER LAWYERS THAT WE HELP EACH OTHER IN CASE SOMEBODY SOMETHING HAPPENS.
UM, BUT IT'S PRIMARILY DAVID AND ME.
UM, I, I LIVED IN AUSTIN FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AND DAVID HAS LIVED HERE ALMOST FOREVER SINCE HE MOVED FROM WACO.
SO I'M FAMILIAR WITH THE CITY.
UM, DAVID IS MUCH MORE FAMILIAR WITH THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF COURSE, AND WANT TO KEEP THE NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER.
ONE THING THAT I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT THOUGH, IS THAT I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT INTERNA IS MAKING SURE THAT THE VOTING PRECINCTS LINE UP WITH, UH, WITH ME, UH, VOTING PRECINCTS, THAT THE COUNTIES MOVED FROM HOW DOES GO TO DRAW THEIR VOTING PRECINCTS PROBABLY IN, IN JANUARY OR FEBRUARY.
SO, UH, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS I WOULD DO IS, IS, UM, VISIT WITH Y'ALL AND PERHAPS THE CITY ATTORNEY.
AND, UH, SEE IF WE COULD DRAFT A PLAN THAT WE COULD COME BACK AND MAKE SOME MINOR MODIFICATIONS IN IT SO THAT WE ACTUALLY DID NOT CUT VOTING PIECES BECAUSE MORE VOTING PRECINCTS, YOU CUT THEM MORE, IT'S JUST A DISASTER.
BUT ANYWAY, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S SOMETHING I WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AT.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOUR, UM, LAW SAYS THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO IS PAY ATTENTION TO, UM, BOUNDARIES AND VOTING PRISONS.
AND AS YOU, AS YOU KNOW, 10 YEARS AGO, AUSTIN GOT CUT UP, UM, SIX WAYS FROM SUNDAY.
YOU HAVE A DISTRICT THAT RUNS FROM, FROM THE EDGE OF DOWNTOWN HOUSTON, ALL THE WAY THAT THEY BOSTON ON THAT ONE SCREEN FROM, FROM THE SOUTH SIDE OF, UH, UH, THE TRAVIS COUNTY UP TO, UP TO THE LACES, UP TO DARREN COUNTY.
AND ANOTHER ONE THAT RUNS OUT TO THE RACIST COUNTY SAID JUST A TOTAL DISASTER AND THEN ONE OF THE 17.
SO CAN YOU ALSO TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BILLING STRUCTURE? OKAY.
BILL IS STRUCTURED NORMALLY, UM, IN ALL OTHER CASES THAT I'VE EVER BEEN INVOLVED IN, I HOPE WE OFFER A, UM, A FLAT RATE, UM, AND WE FIGURE IT OUT ON THE BASIS OF HOW MANY HOURS IT'S LIKELY TO TAKE.
UM, YOUR CASE IS GOING TO TAKE MORE HOURS THAN NORMAL.
AND, UM, SO, UH, WE'VE LISTED OUR FEES AT, UM, UH, $350 AN HOUR, WHICH IS SUBSTANTIALLY BELOW WHAT THE COURT NORMALLY AWARDS FEES AT.
UM, AND WE WOULD EXERCISE BILLING, BILLING, UM, DISCRETION, SO THAT, UH, WE CAN, UH, HOPEFULLY WE CAN KEEP YOUR, UH, CHARGES DOWN SOMEWHERE CLOSE TO WHAT IT WOULD BE IF WE, IF I WAS, IF I WAS INTERVIEWING WITH THE CITY COUNCIL IN WITH THE MAYOR, BUT, BUT THIS IS A DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT SORT OF THING.
AND SO IT MAY TAKE A FEW MORE HOURS.
I DON'T KNOW HOW ELSE TO DO IT TOO.
YEAH, WELL, WE APPRECIATE THAT FLEXIBILITY.
WE ARE GOING TO OPEN THIS UP TO EVERYONE.
UM, I SEE A FEW OF OUR CAMERAS ON, UH, THERE MIGHT BE OTHERS WHOSE CAMERAS ARE NOT ON WHO ALSO HAVE QUESTIONS, UM, WHO WOULD LIKE TO START.
UM, THANKS AGAIN FOR COMING OVER.
AND I'VE KIND OF BEEN TRYING TO DO SOME RESEARCH ON THE SITE AND I'VE LOOKED IT UP AT YOU, A VERY IMPRESSIVE HISTORY OF LITIGATION AND SUPPORTING VOTING RIGHTS AND, AND LOTS OF, UH, UH, INITIATIVES.
UH, IT'S THE SAME QUESTION I ASKED THE PREVIOUS LAW FIRM IN YOUR WORK WITH VARIOUS REDISTRICTING COMMISSIONS AND PROJECTS.
WHAT'S THE ONE THING THAT YOU THINK USUALLY PREVENTS CON COMMISSION COMMITTEES LIKE THIS FROM
[02:10:01]
BEING SUCCESSFUL? WELL, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I WORK WITH A COMMITTEE LIKE THIS.USUALLY I'M WORKING WITH THE CITY COUNCIL, BUT THEY REALLY FUNCTIONS THE SAME AS A COMMITTEE, BUT GETS IT IN A WAY IS WHERE YOU HAVE A CITY MANAGER TRIES TO DECIDE HOW THE CITY COUNCILMAN OR WE'RE GOING TO BE THE CITY COUNCIL THAT BECOMES, THAT BECOMES A PROBLEM.
UM, AND, UH, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, I BELIEVE, LISTEN, I ENJOY DEALING WITH PEOPLE AND, UM, I'M KIND OF, UH, FINALLY OF TEXAS STORIES AND I'VE HEARD SO MANY TEXAS, TEXAS POLITICAL STORIES, AND BRIAN HAS PLANS THAT, UM, IT'S IT, IT'S VERY ENJOYABLE.
UH, I GUESS A QUICK FOLLOW UP TO THAT WOULD BE, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE SOME OPINIONS AND YOU'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL BECAUSE YOU HAVE GREAT OPINIONS AND VIEWS.
YOU STEPPED VERY SUCCESSFULLY.
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THAT WHEN, EH, YOUR OPINIONS OR ADVICE AREN'T NECESSARILY RESONATING WHAT YOUR CLIENT, LIKE, HOW DO YOU NAVIGATE THAT? BECAUSE IT'S A VERY POLITICALLY FRAUGHT PROCESS.
SO I'M SURE IT WAS NOT AS LONG AS THE CLIENT IS NOT ASKING THAT I DO SOMETHING, UM, ALONG THAT THEN USUALLY THAT ISN'T A PROBLEM.
I CAN ADVISE THE CLIENT AT THIS.
I DON'T THINK THAT THIS IS A GOOD IDEA.
UM, BUT THIS SORT OF THE STRATEGY IS NOT GOING TO WORK.
UM, BUT IF THE CLIENT INSISTS ON THAT STRATEGY, UM, AND IT'S, IT'S NOT AN ILLEGAL STRATEGY, THEN I'M, I'M GLAD TO GO AHEAD WITH THE CLIENT AND SOMETIMES THEY'RE RIGHT THEN I'M WRONG, BUT THAT WAS, I ALWAYS FELT PEOPLE WHAT I THINK.
UM, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE TONIGHT.
I DO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT ENGAGEMENT.
SO YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU AND DAVID WOULD BE ON THE TEAM, BUT YOU WOULD S YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE OTHERS THAT HELP YOU.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? DOES THAT MEAN THAT THEY WOULD RE REPRESENTING US AS WELL? ARE THEY IN THE BACKGROUNDS? HOW DOES THAT WORK? UH, NO, I, UM, UH, I'M SORRY.
I WASN'T CLEAR ON IT, BUT WHAT I, WHAT I'M SAYING IS THAT THERE'S AN AWFUL LOT OF LITIGATION, EXCUSE ME, AN AWFUL LOT OF REDISTRICTING.
THAT'S GOING TO GO ON IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
I WOULD PRIMARILY BE INVOLVED IN THIS BECAUSE THIS IS A, THIS IS ALMOST A 24 HOUR A DAY JOB AT THIS POINT, BECAUSE YOU'RE SIX MONTHS BEHIND.
UH, SO I WOULD, I WOULD DAVID AND I WOULDN'T BE DOING THIS.
AND JUST SAYING IN THE UNLIKELY EVENT THAT SOMETHING HAPPENED, THEY WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO, TO PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON THEM, IF SOMETHING HAPPENED AND THAT, AND YOU'RE SAYING AT THAT POINT, WE WOULD ENGAGE THEM.
WE'RE NOT ENGAGING THEM CURRENTLY ENGAGING THEM NOW IN.
UM, I DO ALSO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT, UM, AVAILABILITY.
UM, DO YOU ENVISION BEING ABLE TO ATTEND ALL OF OUR PUBLIC HEARINGS? YOU DID JUST SAY WORKING 24 HOURS A DAY.
UM, IS THAT PART OF WHAT YOU'RE ENVISIONING AS WELL? YES.
WHEN DAVID ASKED WAS IF I WOULD GO TO THE, UM, TO THE HEARINGS, UM, HE'LL GO TO SOMETHING, BUT IF I EVER GO TO ALL THE HEARINGS AND WE CAN START DRAFTING THE PLAN WHILE THE HEARING IS LITERALLY WHILE THE HEARINGS ARE GOING ON, IT MIGHT BE THAT, UM, AT THE END OF THE, AT THE END OF THE TESTIMONY THAT YOU TAKE, YOU MAY WANT TO HAVE SOME DISCUSSION WITH ME OR WITH OTHERS ABOUT WHAT YOU THINK YOU LEARNED FROM THIS.
AND WE CAN WORK ON A PLAN WHILE THE HEARINGS ARE GOING ON.
AND THEN MAYBE BY THE TIME WE GET TO THE, TO THE, UM, END OF THE HEARINGS, WE'LL HAVE A PLAN OR HAVE PRETTY CLOSE TO A PLAN.
SO, AND DO YOU HAVE GENERAL STAFF MEMBERS, UH, PARALEGALS ON BOARD, OR IS IT REALLY JUST THE TWO OF YOU? IT'S JUST THE TWO OF US.
UM, BUT MY, UH, MY, UM, MY WIFE HAS A BUSINESS, UM, IN, IN, UH, IN RESEARCH.
AND, UM, IF NECESSARY WHILE WE COULD, WE COULD, WE COULD USE HER FACILITIES, BUT, UM, I REALLY DON'T SEE THAT AT THIS POINT.
SO SOMETIMES, SOMETIMES JURISDICTIONS WILL WANT A SURVEY DONE OR THEY'LL WANT THIS DONE OR THAT, AND WE HAVE THE FACILITY TO DO THAT.
I DON'T THINK YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TIME TO DO THAT.
[02:15:01]
OTHERS MISSIONARY.UM, COULD YOU SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO YOUR EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH MAPMAKERS AND, UH, DOES, DOES YOUR TEAM PROVIDE ANY OF THOSE KINDS OF SERVICES? UM, WELL I DO.
I DRAW THE PLANS MYSELF AND ALL THE LITIGATION I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN.
I ACTUALLY BROUGHT A PLAN, UM, AND, UM, IN, I WOULD ENVISION THAT GOING TO THE HERE.
NOW WE HAVE THE FACILITIES TO PRODUCE MAPS IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT, BUT I THINK THE CITY FACILITIES FOR THE CITY, MAYBE YOU COULD DO IT A LOT CHEAPER THAN, THAN IT WOULD TAKE FOR US TO, UM, TO PRINT THE MAPS FOR THEM.
THAT'S, UH, THOSE SORTS OF FACILITIES ARE THINGS THAT I SHARE WITH THEM, WITH THE OTHER LAWYERS I WAS TALKING ABOUT.
UH, HI, SARAH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US AGAIN.
APPRECIATE YOU STAYING SO LATE.
I HAD A FOLLOW-UP QUESTION OR A COMMISSIONER, YOU SAID, WHICH IS THAT, UM, SO I'M ASSUMING THEN THAT YOU ALL HAVE LIKE AN ONGOING SOFTWARE LICENSE TO WHATEVER REDISTRICTING SOFTWARE ONE WOULD NEED FOR THAT WORK.
IS THAT, IS THAT A CORRECT ASSUMPTION ON MY PART? YES.
UM, WE HAVE, UM, WE HAVE, UH, MAPTITUDE AND ESRA AND, UM, BUT I, I PREFER ACTUALLY, AT LEAST FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES, I PREFER USING THE STATE SOFTWARE BECAUSE THEY HAVE A MUCH, A MUCH GREATER ACCESS TO, UM, EVICTION RETURNS AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC EVIDENCE AND THAT SORT OF THING.
AND I CAN ALSO THEN WORK WITH THAT AT THE SAME TIME.
AND I PROBABLY, DEPENDING ON DEPENDING WHAT'S AVAILABLE.
SO DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR US? UM, NO.
I, I SUSPECT THAT HAD YOU NOT STARTED OUT ASKING ME IF I, IF I UNDERSTOOD THAT PICKLE, THAT, THAT, UH, WE'RE IN, I WOULD HAVE ASKED YOU, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT PICKLE THAT WE'RE HEADED? IT'S LITERALLY, THEY'RE GONNA IT'S THIS IS REALLY LITERALLY GOING TO BE A VERY HARD JOB FOR YOU GUYS A LOT OF TIME, A LOT OF TIMES.
SO, UM, I, I THINK THAT ALL SOUNDED LIKE A BROKEN RECORD BY THE TIME WE'RE DONE, BECAUSE I KEEP REITERATING THAT POINT.
YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I REALLY LIKE ABOUT THIS IS THESE BECOME, UM, MITIGATION OR REDISTRICTING DRAWING PLANS LIKE THIS, THIS BECOMES REALLY, UM, HIGHLY INTIMATE, UM, EXPERIENCES WITH PEOPLE LEARNING AN AWFUL LOT ABOUT THEM AND ABOUT HOW THINGS WORK.
IT'S, IT'S REALLY QUITE, UH, QUITE AN ENJOYABLE, ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE.
I HAVE ONE SMALL QUESTION THAT, UM, I, SO FOR RIGHT NOW, AS YOU SEE, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING VIRTUALLY AND YOU'RE HERE WITH US.
WE'RE TRYING TO MOVE MORE IN PERSON, BUT THERE'S SO MUCH THAT'S DONE VIRTUALLY AND ONLINE, AND A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, JUST ONLINE COMMUNICATION.
UM, ARE, ARE YOU ABLE TO BE RELIABLE IN THOSE ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS? IF I EMAILED YOU, COULD YOU GET BACK TO ME? YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT IS KIND OF THAT TIMEFRAME THAT I CAN EXPECT TO HEAR BACK FROM, UM, UH, WELL, UM, AS SOON AS, AS SOON AS I GET IT, I HAD TO GET BACK TO, YES, I'LL BE AVAILABLE AND, YOU KNOW, ALWAYS USE MY CELL PHONE.
THAT'S REALLY THE FASTEST WAY TO GET HIS NEW CELL PHONE.
SO IF I, IF I TEXTED YOU OR CALLED YOU, YOU COULD GET BACK FROM LIKE FASTEST THAT WAY.
AND I SO APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE UNTIL SAY 30, SIR.
AND YOU KNOW, ONE LAST THING I DON'T THINK I ASKED YOU AT THE VERY BEGINNING, HOW YOU SAY YOUR NAME? I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT I SAY CORRECTLY.
UM, UH, WELL HERE IN SAN ANTONIO, THEY PRONOUNCE IT CORE BELL AND THAT'S FINE.
KORBEL WITH EITHER WAY CHAMPAGNE, CHAMPAGNE IS KORBEL IN HERE.
THE, THE, UH, THE PEOPLE IN SAN ANTONIO THAT HAVE THE SAME NAME, THEY PRONOUNCE IT FOUR BELLS EITHER WAY.
UM, I I'LL CALL YOU KORBEL THEN IT SEEMS LIKE THAT'S, THAT'S HOW YOU SAY IT, SIR.
SO, MR. CORBELL THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US TONIGHT.
I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE REST OF YOUR EVENING.
[02:20:02]
BYE-BYE YEP.SHOULD WE GET OUT NOW? I'LL CLOSE IT DOWN.
AND, UM, AND JOSHUA, I KNOW THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE THIS STUFF ROLLING.
UM, ARE WE ABLE TO VIEW IT RIGHT AWAY? WELL, LIKE BUY RIGHT AWAY.
LIKE, CAN YOU GIVE ME FIVE MINUTES? MAYBE LIKE, YEAH, MAYBE FIVE, 10 MINUTES.
MY OTHER QUESTION STILL FOR SYLVIA, I WOULD SAY, UM, NO.
YEAH, I THINK SYLVIA WAS SUPPOSED TO BE HONEST, SIX 15.
AND IF SYLVIA IS NOT HERE AT THIS POINT, I WOULD ALSO SAY NO, BUT IF THERE'S NO OBJECTION, I WOULD LOVE TO TAKE A RECESS FOR 10 MINUTES AND, AND WE CAN COME BACK AT LET'S JUST SAY 8 35.
UM, SO 11 MINUTES, IF THAT'S ALL RIGHT WITH EVERYBODY.
IF YOU ARE ON, UM, CAN YOU PLEASE TURN YOUR CAMERA ON SO THAT WE KNOW YOU'RE HERE? UM, IT LOOKS LIKE MR. DAVID RICHARDS IS WITH US AND MR. DAVID RICHARDS.
I APOLOGIZE THAT, UM, THAT YOU WERE NOT BROUGHT ON WHEN YOU ARRIVED.
WE, YOU MIGHT'VE HEARD ME ALREADY CONDUCTED THE INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE CORVEL.
UM, BUT WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU AND AT LEAST JUST, UM, HAVE A VERY BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH YOU BEFORE WE GET INTO THE REST OF OUR AGENDA THIS EVENING.
UM, SO IF YOU'RE ABLE TO TURN YOUR CAMERA ON AND YOUR MICROPHONE ON.
UM, IT LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE STILL MUTED.
YOU WERE UN-MUTED FOR JUST A SECOND AND I REVIEWED IT AGAIN.
WE'VE BEEN PLAYING A LITTLE BIT OF PHONE TAG TO GET TO MEET WITH YOU, SIR.
YOU WERE GOING TO START AND THE TIME I GOT ON YOU WERE ALL THE WAY INTO IT, SO YES, YOU'RE NOT WRONG.
WE HAD A CANCELLATION AND SO WE BUMPED EVERYTHING UP A LITTLE BIT.
UM, SO APOLOGIES FOR THE TIME MIX UP.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, MAYBE WHAT WE CAN DO JUST FOR A FEW MINUTES, I WOULD SAY FIVE.
UM, IS HERE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOU? UM, IF YOU COULD JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND TELL US ABOUT HOW YOU GOT INTO THIS WORK AND YOUR WORK WITH THE PREVIOUS COMMISSION AS WELL.
WELL, OF COURSE, THE THING YOU NEED TO KNOW IS YOU GOT A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF YOU AND THE, I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I CAN TALK TO YOU ABOUT IS THE PUBLIC HEARINGS.
THEY, THEY WILL NOT PROBABLY BE VERY PRODUCTIVE AND IT MAY BE TERRIBLY FRUSTRATING.
SO THE MAIN THING YOU'VE GOT TO DO IS BE SURE YOU'VE GOT CONTROL OVER THE MICROPHONE.
AND YOU SAID, AND SEND A VERY SHORT PRESENTATION TIME, LIKE FIVE MINUTES AT MAX, THEN PEOPLE WILL COME FORWARD OF COURSE, AND WANT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THEIR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER OR THE CITY COUNCIL OR EVERYTHING ELSE.
AND SO YOU SORT OF GET, YOU HAVE TO BE PREPARED FOR THAT KIND OF EXPERIENCE.
THE MAIN THING IS WITH MAPS, THE CITY'S GOING TO HAVE TO SET YOU UP, NO, FIX THEM.
THEY WILL WITH AN OFFICE, A FAX MACHINE, AN ANSWERING MACHINE, AND A WEBSITE SO THAT YOU CAN TELL PEOPLE THAT WANT TO GIVE YOU MAPS, SUGGESTIONS, THAT YOU WELCOMED THEM.
WOULD THEY PLEASE SEND THEM? THEY COULD SEND THEM TO YOU? WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY IS
[02:25:01]
THOSE WHO HAVE MAPS SUGGESTIONS, YOU WANT TO MAKE THEM SEEM OR SEEM AVAILABLE.AND SO THAT THEY CAN ACTUALLY SEND YOU THINGS OR MAY HAVE THEM TO YOU, WHATEVER IT IS THAT BECOMES VERY IMPORTANT.
I THINK, IN THE PROCESS FOR YOU AND FOR THE COMMUNITY.
THAT'S I GUESS FIRST THING OR THE, NOT THE FIRST THING, BUT THAT'S THE MAIN THING YOU'RE UNDER A TERRIBLE TIMEFRAME TO GET IT ALL DONE, WHICH I GUESS YOU'RE AWARE OF THAT IN ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE, I COULD TRY TO ANSWER.
I JUST WANTED TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOU AND, UM, AND YOUR STORY BEHIND HOW YOU GOT INVOLVED WITH REDISTRICTING.
UM, ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU HAVE THAT, UH, EXPERIENCE WITH THE PREVIOUS QUESTION, BUT, UM, DID DO ANY OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE A QUESTION AND YOU GO BY DAVID RICHARDS? CORRECT.
DOES ANYONE HAVE A QUESTION FOR DAVID RICHARDS? WE HAD A GREAT CONVERSATION WITH YOUR PARTNER, GEORGE CORVEL.
UM, AND, AND SO HE WAS VERY THOROUGH IN ANSWERING ALL OF OUR QUESTIONS ALREADY IN TERMS OF LINE DRAWING.
I GOT INTO REDISTRICTING WHEN, WITH THE LAWSUIT, THEY WENT TO SUPREME COURT AND WHITE VERSUS REGISTERED THAT CREATED THE FIRST SINGLE EVER DISTRICTS IN THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE.
SO I'VE BEEN DEALING WITH DISTRICTS SINCE 1972, I GUESS, WHICH IS A LONG DAMN TIME AGO, BUT THAT'S WHAT WAS OKAY.
AND ACTUALLY GEORGE WAS IN THAT LAWSUIT TOO.
HE SAID THAT HE'S KNOWN YOU FOR 52 YEARS.
OOH, I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS THAT OLD, BUT I GUESS HE'S RIGHT.
WELL, UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE WITH US TONIGHT, SIR.
I'M SORRY THAT YOU MISSED THAT PORTION OF THE CONVERSATION.
WHAT DID YOU, WELL, I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHAT DID YOU ALL KNOW I WAS INTERESTED IN AVAILABLE AND I'M SORRY.
THANK YOU BET TO LEAVE THE MEETING.
UM, WE'RE NOT GOING TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS THREE B THAT'S THE EXECUTIVE SESSION.
AND THIS IS BECAUSE EARLIER TODAY I LEARNED THAT WE CANNOT USE A CLOSED MEETING FOR THE PURPOSE OF HIRING STAFF.
UM, BECAUSE THESE HIRING POSITIONS ARE INDEPENDENTLY CONTRACTED, UH, RATHER THAN CITY EMPLOYEES AND THEREFORE THE PERSONNEL CLAUSE THAT WOULD HAVE PERMITTED US TO GO INTO A CLOSED SESSION DOES NOT APPLY TO OUR CASE.
AND, UM, AND I SPOKE WITH CAROLINE WEBSTER.
IT LOOKS LIKE SHE'S ON THE CALL.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT US TO JUMP IN AND, UM, AND SUPPORT THAT WITH, WITH ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, UM, REGARDING THE SECTION, UM, 5, 5, 1 DOT OH SEVEN FOUR.
HI, THIS IS CAROLINE WEBSTORE WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN LAW DEPARTMENT.
UM, SO I, YOU HAD ASKED AN EXCELLENT QUESTION TODAY, CHAIR.
UM, I HAD NOT ACTUALLY REALIZED, OR MAYBE HADN'T THOUGHT IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH PROPERLY FOR WHICH I DO APOLOGIZE, BUT I HAD NOT REALIZED THEY WOULD BE CONSIDERED INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE CASE LAW INVOLVING THE PERSONNEL EXCEPTION, UH, IT HAS NOT, UH, USUALLY BEEN APPLIED TO INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS.
AND SO IF THAT IS THE WAY THAT THESE FOLKS WOULD BE CATEGORIZED, THEN IT'S TRUE.
UH, YOU CANNOT USE THE PERSONAL EXEMPTION IN ORDER TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THESE PARTICULAR STAFF MEMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, IF YOU WERE GOING TO DISCUSS, WELL, I'M NOT REALLY YOUR EMPLOYEE, BUT SAY ME BECAUSE I WORKED FOR THE CITY OR MAC AND HE WORKED FOR THE CITY, THAT WOULD BE A DIFFERENT, UH, ANALYSIS, BUT, BUT YOU ARE CORRECT IF THEY ARE CONSIDERED INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS, THEN THE PERSONAL EXCEPTION DOES NOT A LOT DOES NOT APPLY.
AND THAT'S WHY YOU DID HAVE TO HAVE THESE INTERVIEWS, UH, WITHOUT GOING INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AND THE DELIBERATION ABOUT THEM AS WELL.
DELIBERATION ABOUT THEIR, THEIR, THE MERITS OF THE APPLICANTS AND THE INTERVIEWS AND THAT SORT OF THING.
ALL OF THAT HAS TO DO, HAS TO BE DONE IN A PUBLIC MEETING.
SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, UM, WE WILL GO ON TO THREE C THE FINAL HIRING DECISION ON FIRST THE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER.
UM, SO I RESPECTFULLY REQUESTS THAT WERE FIRST HERE TO MOTION TO DISCUSS THE CANDIDATES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER BEFORE MAKING A MOTION TO VOTE ON ANY CANDIDATE.
UM, THE WAY THIS IS GOING TO WORK IS THAT WE'RE GOING TO USE THE SCORES THAT YOU RECORDED
[02:30:01]
FOR EACH CANDIDATE.AND, UM, I'M NOT SURE IF COMMISSIONER BLANK IS READY, BUT, UM, HE WILL PRESENT THOSE SCORES AND THEN WE WILL SEE HOW WE SCORED THESE CANDIDATES.
AND WE MIGHT FIND THAT THERE'S A CLEAR WINNER, UM, SINCE WE HAD TWO CANDIDATES FOR EACH POSITION, UM, AND AT THAT POINT, WE'LL OPEN UP THE FLOOR FOR US TO DISCUSS OUR THOUGHTS FOR AND AGAINST, UM, ON THAT TOP CANDIDATES FOR EACH POSITION.
UM, AND REMEMBER THAT WE DO NEED NINE VOTES TO SELECT OUR COUNCIL AND OUR ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER THIS EVENING.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD OR DID I CUT YOU, YOU COVERED, YOU COVERED IT ALL.
I HAD A QUESTION, UH, COMMISSIONER CANNON, UM, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE FOLLOWING ROBERT'S RULES, BUT AS, AS WE'RE CONDUCTING OURSELVES HERE.
SO IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION, UM, YOU CAN ASK ME AND I WILL ADDRESS YOU.
IF WE HAVE A CLEAR WINNER IN OUR VOTES, IN HOW WE DID THE SELECTION THROUGH THE SURVEY, DID WE STILL HAVE TO AND DISCUSS THE CANDIDATES? IF WE HAVE A CLEAN OFFENDER IN THE VALLEY, WE'LL LEAVE THE FLOOR OPEN.
IF NOBODY CHOOSES TO SPEAK, THEN WE'LL MOVE ON.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER BLANK.
UM, HOW ARE THOSE SCORES DOING? DO YOU STILL NEED SOME TIME? YEAH, I JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO PUT IT TOGETHER.
SO IT'S EFFICIENT FOR ALL OF US TO DISCUSS IT.
SO, I MEAN, I JUST NOT TO, AS A SUGGESTION, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU ALL WANT TO DISCUSS SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE ADMINISTRATIVE AND LEGAL CANDIDATES AND I CAN BRING THIS DATA TO BEAR, BUT I JUST, I NEED A MINUTE.
SO WE CAN DO IT KIND OF IN REVERSE THEN, UM, IN THAT CASE, AND WE CAN START WITH JUST OPENING THE FLOOR, UH, DISCUSSING THOUGHTS FOR AND AGAINST I SHARE, UH, CALL THE DRONE.
SO I JUST WANTED TO ASK A POSE A QUESTION FOR US WITH REGARD TO THE LEGAL FOLKS.
I KNOW, UH, MR. MENDEZ MENTIONED SEVERAL TIMES THAT HE COULD PUT TOGETHER AN ADDITIONAL PACKAGE FOR US.
AND I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO PURSUE, OR DO WE WANT TO MAKE A DECISION BASED ON THE INITIAL HOURLY FEE THAT HE PROPOSED, WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE THE MAPPING SERVICES? UM, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN AND DOES NOT INCLUDE LIKE THE PARALEGAL SERVICES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
UM, I DON'T, UM, I KNOW THAT I GUESS THE, THE PRO IS THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO, UM, MAKE A DIFFERENT, MORE INFORMED DECISION, BUT THE CON IS CERTAINLY THE TIME ELEMENT.
SO IT'S, I DON'T HAVE AN OPINION.
I DON'T THINK THAT, UM, MR. MENDEZ NAMED IT TONIGHT, BUT, UM, IN HIS COVER LETTER, HE DID SAY THAT THEIR HOURLY RATE WAS 595 WHILE, UM, MR. RICHARDS AND MR. CORBELL SAID THAT THEIR HOURLY RATE IS 350.
AND SO I KNOW HE DOESN'T HAVE A BUDGET FROM EITHER OF THEM, BUT WE DO HAVE THAT SAME METRIC TO GAUGE THE TWO CANDIDATES.
I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE JUST DISCUSSING THIS, BUT THEY'RE OFFERING LITERALLY SORT OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES AND SERVICES.
I MEAN, JUST AS AN OBSERVATION, IT SEEMS LIKE MR. CORBELL IS GOING TO BE A VERY ACTIVE PARTICIPANT.
IT SEEMS LIKE, YOU KNOW, BEING PART OF THE MAP, MAKING PROCESSES IS CLEARLY PART OF WHAT HE IS OFFERING.
AND IT SEEMS TO ME EXPECTING TO DO, WHEREAS FOR THE MENDEZ, YOU KNOW, LAW FIRM, THE IDEAS IS THAT THEY'RE THERE TO GUIDE US THROUGH THE PROCESS.
AND I THINK YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THAT WITH THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH MORE ACTIVE, YOU KNOW, LIKE PERPETUALLY ACTIVE GOVERNMENT BOARDS AND SERVICES, AND BASICALLY KEEP US OUT OF LIABILITY.
BUT IF WE WANT ANYTHING BEYOND THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT'S GOING TO BE EXTRA ON TOP AND I'M NOT SPEAKING FOR OR AGAINST EITHER APPROACH, BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT'S KIND OF THE CLEAR SORT OF DIVIDE AS FAR AS I COULD SEE WATCHING THAT COMMISSIONER DEMPSEY.
UM, AFTER HEARING BOTH, IT SEEMS THAT THEY'RE KIND OF GOING TO HOVER AROUND US AND GUIDE US, BUT THE NITTY GRITTY, UH, IS NOT PART OF IT UNLESS WE GO FORWARD AND ASK THEM FOR THESE ADDITIONAL PACKAGES, UH, WHICH WOULD ENTAIL SEPARATE BUDGETING.
[02:35:01]
SO I DO AGREE WITH THAT.AND I THINK THAT IT SEEMS, UM, IT'S JUST TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACHES AND WE HAVE WHAT IS A COMMISSION.
WE THINK WE'RE GOING TO NEED THE MOST, BECAUSE I DO THINK THAT THEY'LL BOTH OFFER GUIDANCE, BUT IT WILL BE A DIFFERENT TYPE.
JUST MY AND COMMISSIONER CAN NOT.
I, I THINK, UH, I THINK I WANTED TO SAY, PLUS ONE OF THOSE, AN ICON, I WOULD HAVE HIT PLUS ONE ON THIS, BUT, AND I THINK THE OTHER PART TO THIS IS ALSO THAT, UM, THE SECOND LAW FIRM, I, I BELIEVE PRO A MORE HOLISTIC APPROACH TO HOW THEY WANT TO ENGAGE WITH US.
AND NOT THAT THE FIRST FIRM HAD ANYTHING WRONG WITH THEIR APPROACH, BUT I THINK WITH THE LEVEL OF, I THINK, EXPERIENCE ON THE COMMISSION THAT WE HAVE TODAY, UH I'M, I AM IN A WAY SWAYED BY THE SECOND TEAM'S APPROACH AND FEEL THAT WE WILL LEARN MORE FROM THAT TEAM.
AND THAT'S JUST MY OPINION FOR NOW.
UH, I HAVE THIS DATA IN SOMETHING OF A FORMAT THAT WE CAN INTERPRET THE QUESTION IS, DO YOU WANT ME TO HAND THIS OVER TO VICE-CHAIR GONZALEZ? AND THEN WE CAN JUST LOOK AT IT AS A GROUP, OR WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO TRY TO LIKE, GET SOME SORT OF SOME SUMMARY STATS TOGETHER AND TELL YOU SLASH SHARE? IS IT POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO SHARE YOUR SCREEN? AND WHAT YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU IS, IS READABLE FOR US? NOPE.
NOT WITH THE TECHNOLOGY, BUT I TRY TO OPERATE WITH THE CITY AND EVERYTHING ELSE.
UH, SO ALSO I'LL SAY WHAT I HAVE TO THE VICE CHAIR GONZALES RIGHT NOW HE CAN SHARE.
AND I'LL, BUT I'LL KEEP LOOKING TO SEE IF I CAN MAKE THIS A LITTLE BIT TIGHTER AND HE'S THERE FOR EVERYONE TO UNDER INTERPRET COMMISSIONER.
LIKE YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHARE YOUR SCREEN.
I SHOULDN'T BE, THAT'S A NORMATIVE STATEMENT.
I AGREE WITH YOU, BUT LET'S NOT GET INTO THIS.
I THINK IT'S GREAT FOR ALL OF US.
COMMISSIONER, CAN I, UM, JUST QUESTION MORE FOR COMMISSIONER BLANK, UM, IN, IN THE SURVEY YOU SAID IT WASN'T IN A VERY READABLE FORMAT, IS IT, IS THERE ANY ADVOCATES YOU CAN PULL OUT? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE HOPING TO SEND OR I'M JUST TRYING TO, I, YOU KNOW, I JUST, IT'S JUST GOT A LOT, IT'S A LOT OF TABLES WITH A LOT OF NUMBERS.
SO ULTIMATELY WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT, WE ALL RATED THIS, THESE PEOPLE, AND SO THE QUESTION IS, DO YOU WANT TO SEE HOW MANY IDEAL SCORES EACH CANDIDATE GOT ACROSS ALL THE QUESTIONS? DO YOU WANT A TOTAL SCORE ACROSS ALL OF THE QUESTIONS? SO, I MEAN, THERE'S SORT OF A BIT OF A CHOICE HERE.
I'M GIVING, I SENT A VICE-CHAIR GONZALEZ, ALL OF THE DATA, HE HAS IT FOR THE TWO ADMIN, UH, PHYSICIANS AND THE TWO, UH, LEGAL REVIEWS.
AND YOU CAN GO THROUGH EACH QUESTION AND SEE WHERE WE SCORED THEM AND SEE IF THERE'S A CLEAR WINNER.
I THINK WHAT'S PROBABLY WHAT WE HAVE TO DO AT THIS POINT, UNLESS WE WANT TO SUM IT ALL UP IF WE THINK THAT MAKES SENSE, BUT I DON'T REALLY THINK THAT MAKES SENSE.
SO I'M GOING TO, IF I HAVE THE ABILITY MATT, IN OUR TECH TO SHARE OUR SCREEN, I CAN SHOW THE, SORRY, GO AHEAD.
IF YOU COULD SHARE YOUR SCREEN, I'D BE HAPPY TO LIKE EXPLAIN WHAT I'M SEEING IN THE NUMBERS.
IF THAT'S HELPFUL TO PEOPLE OR NOT.
I DON'T WANT TO BE NO, IT'S EASY FOR GOOGLE TO LOOK AT THIS MANY NUMBERS.
IF YOU COULD, I WILL SHARE IF YOU COULD DEFINITELY LEAD A CONVERSATION, I'M SEEING A PATTERN HERE, WHICH I'M SURE YOU WILL PROBABLY SPEAK TO.
UM, WELL, LET ME, I DO HAVE ACCESS TO SHARE MY SCREEN.
I AM BRINGING UP THE LEGAL COUNSEL, UM, SCORES NOW, RIGHT? OKAY.
YEAH, I'LL JUST RUN THROUGH IT.
SO THE FIRST QUESTION WE WERE ASKING AT THE TOP WAS, YOU KNOW, DO THEY HAVE A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORK AND TIMELINE SEVEN OF US BELIEVE THAT THE MENDEZ FROM WOULD BE IDEAL, UH, IN THIS FIVE OF US THOUGHT THAT, UH, RICHARDS AND KORBEL WOULD BE IDEAL FORETHOUGHT, THAT THEY HAVE A GREAT UNDERSTANDING VERSUS THREE.
[02:40:01]
STRONGER, I WOULD SAY FOR MENDEZ IN TERMS OF JUST THE UNDERSTANDING BASED ON THE GROUP SCORES ON THE NEXT QUESTION, YOU KNOW, APPROACH TO LEGAL DISPUTES, UH, YEAH.THREE IDEAL MENDEZ, NO IDEAL FOR RICHARDS AND KORBEL, OVERTRAIN AND KORBEL HAS SEVEN FOR GREAT.
I WANT TO INTERPRET IT, UH, ON THE NEXT ITEM WE ASK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE DEMANDING SCHEDULE, UNDERSTANDING OF, UH, WORKING ON THESE NON OFFICER'S.
THEY BOTH CLEARLY I THINK UNDERSTAND THAT EVENLY.
WE ALL SEEM TO AGREE THAT AS LAWYERS, THEY SEEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT PRETTY EVENLY, UH, SPEAKING WITH THE MEDIA, OBVIOUSLY SEE, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT BETTER RESPONSE FROM, FROM, UH, OR VERBAL, IF, UH, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR THEM TO DO, OBVIOUSLY THAT IS, UH, AT AL DECIDED THAT THEY DEFINITELY, THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO DO.
SO GOING DOWN AVAILABILITY IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, IT SEEMS THAT WE GENERALLY AGREED THAT KORBEL HAS BETTER AVAILABILITY THAN DOES VENDETTAS, UH, EXPERIENCE.
WE'VE RATED THE MENDEZ FROM EXTREMELY HIGH ON EXPERIENCE, UH, KORBEL STILL HIGH, BUT LESS SO, UH, AND THEN THE BILLING STRUCTURE, YOU KNOW, EVEN.
SO WHY DON'T YOU WANT TO STOP AND TALK ABOUT JUST THE LEGAL TRANSVERSE THEN AND COME BACK.
SO AM I UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY THAT, THAT OUT OF, UM, OUT OF THESE IT'S, IT'S PRETTY, EVEN IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT WHO, UM, WHO SCORED THE HIGHEST, BEST ON EACH QUESTION, THERE'S A LOT OF BACK AND FORTH HERE.
WHAT PATTERN ARE YOU NOTICING? UM, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ.
I CAN'T SEE IF I AM ON MUTE OR NOT.
SO PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU CAN HEAR ME.
I CAN UNDERSTAND WHY COMMISSIONER BLANK MAY HAVE NOT WANTED TO SHARE A SCREEN IT'S BECAUSE, WELL, UM, I'M NOTICING, YOU KNOW, AS YOU POINTED OUT COMMISSIONER DOES IT, DEPENDING ON WHAT QUESTION AND WHAT EXPERTISE WE ARE LOOKING FOR IN OUR CANDIDATES, UM, ONE MAY HAVE SCORED HIGHER THAN THE OTHER SO SEVEN QUESTIONS.
I MEAN, NOT, NOT EXACTLY EVEN, BUT, UM, IT SEEMS WHERE THE WORD CORBELL DAVID RICHARDS MAY HAVE MORE TIME WITH US OR UNDERSTAND, UM, YOU KNOW, ABLE TO GUIDE US AS WE'VE ALREADY POINTED OUT.
UM, THE MEN, THIS FIRM DEFINITELY SEEMS MORE RESPONSES TO HAVE BETTER EXPERTISE IN THIS AREA.
UM, QUESTIONS, NUMBER SIX, EVEN NUMBER, YOU KNOW, NUMBER TWO, I WOULD SAY THAT THEY SCORED HIGHER AND IT DEPENDS ON HOW WE WANT TO WEIGHT THIS CLIP, THESE QUESTIONS AS WELL.
IT IS DIFFICULT BECAUSE YOU'RE BLANK.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE WORD HERE.
AND FOR US PUTTING YOU ON SUCH A QUICK TIMELINE.
DID YOU WANT TO SPEAK UP? YES.
I HAD A QUESTION FOR COMMISSIONER BLANK.
UH, SO COMMISSIONER BLAKE, CAN YOU HELP EXPLAIN HOW THE SURVEY WAS DESIGNED TO BE SCORED AND WHAT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF RESPONSES WERE? DO WE HAVE ALL NINE RESPONSES IN AND WHAT WAS THE SCORING? HOW WERE WE SUPPOSED TO TALLY THE SURVEY QUESTIONS? UH, I MEAN, THERE'S NO ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION, TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, YOU KNOW, ULTIMATELY WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING RATING SCALES OF THIS KIND, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, COULD DO ANYTHING.
I THINK THIS WAS PRETTY, I THINK THE SKILL WAS RELATIVELY THOUGHT OUT TO THE EXTENT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE WANTED TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT I THINK IS FAIR TO THE APPLICANTS.
ULTIMATELY WE'RE NOT RATING ANYBODY ON HOW BADLY THEY ANSWERED ANY QUESTIONS.
WE'RE JUST TRYING TO SEE, YOU KNOW, ACROSS A BUNCH OF DIVERSE PEOPLE WITH, YOU KNOW, AMONG THE COMMISSION, UH, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THEY RESPONDED MORE OR LESS POSITIVELY TO THE RESPONSES OF EACH CANDIDATE AT EACH QUESTION AREA.
SO IT'S NOT AS YOU KNOW, SO I WOULD JUST BASICALLY THINK OF IT AS, YOU KNOW, INTENSITY OF, UH, OF, YOU KNOW, SORT OF POSITIVE EVALUATION OF THE RESPONSE THAT EACH CANDIDATE GAVE IS HOW I WOULD INTERPRET IT.
[02:45:01]
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE COULD SCORE IT, YOU KNOW, FROM ZERO TO FOUR OR FROM ONE TO FIVE IS JUST A WAY TO CREATE SOME KIND OF A SUMMARY TO TAKE ALL OF THIS INFORMATION AND REDUCE THE DIMENSIONALITY, THE COMPLEXITY OF IT AND SAY, OKAY, HERE'S ONE NUMBER FOR CANDIDATE.HERE'S ONE OF EVERY CANDIDATE B UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT COULD BE MORE OR LESS HELPFUL.
I THINK IF WE LOOK WHEN WE GET TO THE DATA ON THE ADMIN POSITIONS WILL PROBABLY BE MORE HELPFUL JUST TO LOOK AT THE SCORES.
I THINK HERE, WHAT'S CLEAR FROM THIS DISCUSSION AND ALSO FROM THE RATINGS IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE OFFERING SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT SERVICES, AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ORIENTATIONS TOWARDS THE SERVICE.
AND THAT'S REALLY SEEMS TO ME MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE ACTUAL SCORES AT THIS POINT.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO, UM, THEIR, THEIR THOUGHTS ON, UM, ON EITHER CANDIDATE, STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES FOR, OR AGAINST.
UM, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE MIGHT BE COMING UP ON, ON, UH, A MOTION TO VOTE SOON BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, COMMISSIONER BLANK.
UM, IT'S, IT'S CONSCIOUS GEAR.
SO IT'S JUST A MATTER OF WHAT THIS COMMISSION FEELS THAT WE NEED.
RATHER THAN, UM, WHO IS THE STRONGEST CANDIDATE, BECAUSE IT'S ALMOST LIKE WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE SEEING THEM AS TWO DIFFERENT SERVICES.
SO TOOK NURSING TO THAT CHAIRMAN THEY'RE POINTLESS.
I MEAN, I, YOU KNOW, HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOW.
I MEAN, I THINK IT'S DIFFICULT.
I MEAN, I, YOU KNOW, JUST AS A, JUST AS THE CASE FOR BOTH, I THINK THE MENDEZ LAW FIRM CLEARLY HAS A LOT OF EXPERIENCE IN THIS CASE.
IT WAS GOING TO KEEP US FROM MAKING ANY SORT OF STUPID MISTAKES AND SEEMS TO BE WHAT THEY'RE OFFERING, BUT THEY'RE VERY CLEAR WHERE THE WATER'S EDGE IS ON THEIR SERVICES.
AND ANYTHING BEYOND THAT, THEY EITHER MAY NOT HAVE TIME FOR, OR, YOU KNOW, WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD ON THE OTHER HAND, YOU KNOW, THEY ALSO HAVE A BUNCH OF OTHER SERVICES.
IF WE HAVE DIFFICULTY HIRING THAT BAKERS, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE GOING OUT AND HIRING 10 OR 15, AND WE'RE JUST TRYING TO HIRE ONE.
IT MAY BE USEFUL TO HAVE THAT ADDITIONAL, YOU KNOW, CAPACITY TO, TO LEAN ON WITH THE OTHER LAW FIRM OR, YOU KNOW, WITH, UH, CORBELL AND RICHARDS, YOU KNOW, IT'S CLEAR THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS AND MAYBE THAT'S WHAT WE NEED WITH THE LIMITED TIMEFRAME WE HAVE IS ANOTHER PARTICIPANT IN THE PROCESS, BECAUSE IT WAS VERY CLEAR TO ME FROM THE WAY THAT HE RESPONDED TO THOSE QUESTIONS, UH, THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE ALMOST WAS NO WATER IS AS YOU EXPECTS TO BE HANGING OUT WITH US EVERY OTHER NIGHT, YOU KNOW, UNTIL WE FINISHED THIS.
SO IT'S, IT'S CLEARLY, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT DEPENDS ON OUR CONFIDENCE IN OUR ABILITY TO DO OURSELVES AND WHETHER WE WANT SOMEONE TO KEEP US IN THE GUARD RAILS OR WHETHER WE WANT SOMEONE TO HELP, YOU KNOW, HELP LEAD US.
AND I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE ANSWER IS.
SHAREPOINT IS, UH, UH, I'M SORRY.
I CAN'T SEE EVERYBODY RIGHT NOW, QUITE A WHILE NOW, BUT I FIGURED I'D SAY SOMETHING BECAUSE I DIDN'T, I DIDN'T NOT THINK THAT ANYONE SAW ME THIS WHOLE TIME AND THEN I SAW A COMMISSIONER FOR THAT.
SO I TOTALLY AGREE WITH COMMISSIONER BLANK AND, UH, I, AND COMMISSIONER DEMPSEY STATED THIS EARLIER.
MY THOUGHTS HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE TO DO WITH COMMISSIONER BLANK STATEMENT A LITTLE BIT BEFORE THIS, IN REGARDS TO MAKING TOTALS FOR THE INDIVIDUAL CANDIDATES AND IT BEING HELPFUL.
UM, I AGREE THAT IT MIGHT NOT BE VERY HELPFUL HERE WITH THE LEGAL COUNSEL, BUT, UM, JUST, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS WAS HOW YOU WERE GOING TO DO IT, BUT FOR THE STAFF SCORING AND, AND TO COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ'S POINT, I DON'T KNOW IF WE WANT TO WEIGH WEIGHT, PUT WEIGHTS ON ANY OF THESE, BUT WHEN IT GOES, WHEN IT, WHEN IT COMES TO TIME TO SPEAK ABOUT THE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGERS, I WONDER IF IT WOULD MAKE ANY SENSE TO MULTIPLY THE NUMBER OF VOTES TO THE, THE SCORE THAT WAS GIVEN.
IT LOOKS LIKE YOU AGREE I'M DOING THAT RIGHT NOW IS WHEN WE GET TO THAT, I'LL GIVE YOU.
I'M NOT SURE IF I HAVE A CLEAR CHOICE LEGAL COUNSEL, BECAUSE I DO THINK THAT, UH, THE DAVID MENENDEZ FIRM HAS JUST SO MUCH TO, IT SEEMS LIKE THEY HAVE A LOT OF RESOURCES.
UM, AND THEN OF COURSE, UH, KORBEL AND, AND RICHARDS ARE VERY AVAILABLE AND VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THEIR WORK.
SO THE COMMISSIONER FELT GONE.
UM, I WAS GOING TO SAY THAT I FEEL THAT THE SCORING, UM, MAKES THEM PRETTY EVEN, AND I WOULD SAY IT'S IN THE FORMAT OF, FOR ONE OR THE OTHER.
UM, WHAT I WOULD SAY FOR MENDEZ AND FROM, OR I GUESS MAYBE AGAINST IS THAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT WHO I WOULD FEEL COMFORTABLE SEEKING THE COUNSEL OF.
[02:50:01]
UM, WHEN WE WERE ASKING QUESTIONS OF MENDEZ AND FROM LIKE, I FELT LIKE WE WERE GETTING LIKE A LITTLE, I'M GOING TO FORGET THE WORD, BUT LIKE RUN OVER A LITTLE BIT.LIKE THEY HAVE SO MUCH KNOWLEDGE.
AND ONE QUESTION I DIDN'T GET TO ASK, WHICH I WAS DEBATING ASKING WAS, YOU KNOW, HOW DO YOU WORK WITH PEOPLE WHO AREN'T AS KNOWLEDGEABLE AS YOU, AND WHO MAY NEED A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, HANDHOLDING OR UNDERSTANDING.
AND I, I FEEL LIKE AS A COMMISSIONER, I WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED AS, YOU KNOW, KIND OF AN EQUAL IN THAT, EVEN THOUGH I DON'T HAVE THIS KNOWLEDGE, I'M CAPABLE OF UNDERSTANDING AND WANT TO BE ABLE TO BE GIVEN THE INFORMATION I NEED IN A NON RUSHED MANNER.
UM, AND SO I GUESS THAT'S ALSO A FOUR FOR RICHARDS AND COLE, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE THEY WOULD TAKE THE TIME TO EXPLAIN IT TO US, UM, IN A RESPECTFUL WAY THAT WE COULD UNDERSTAND.
UM, AND ALSO FOR THEM, I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE COMMITMENT TO VOTING RIGHTS, WHICH I DON'T THINK THAT, UM, THE SCORE CARD CAPTURED AND, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T RAISE THAT AS MUCH.
AND MAYBE IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE WANT, MAYBE IT'S APPROPRIATE THAT WE DIDN'T RAISE IT TO THAT LEVEL, BUT, UM, THAT CERTAINLY CAME THROUGH AS WELL.
SO I'M, I JUST PUT THAT OUT THERE FOR MAYBE A DIFFERENT THING TO CONSIDER BECAUSE, UM, BECAUSE THEY WERE SO CLOSE, I WAS, MY MIND DEFINITELY DID GO TO, YOU KNOW, WHO WOULD I WANT TO WORK WITH DAY TO DAY AND WHAT WOULD THAT RELATIONSHIP LOOK LIKE? SO JUST OFFERING IT FOR, UM, THINKING FOR THE COMMITTEE.
AND I CAN'T SEE EVERYONE'S, UM, TITLE AT THE MOMENT.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER HANDS UP.
UM, IF YOU WANTED TO SPEAK UP, PLEASE, UH, UNMUTE YOURSELF.
I'D LIKE TO OFFER AN ANSWER TO CONVENTIONAL BLANKS OBSERVATION EARLIER AROUND, UH, THE MENDEZ FARMS, UM, AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL FOR MAPPING AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
MY ONLY THOUGHT THERE WAS THAT EVEN HYPOTHETICALLY, IF WE HIRED A CORE BELL AND FARM, WE COULD STILL HIRE MAPPING SERVICES FROM THE OTHER FARM WITH NOTHING PREVENTS US FROM CHOOSING TWO DIFFERENT PARTNERS FOR TWO DIFFERENT SERVICES.
SO JUST SOMETHING ELSE TO ADD TO THAT.
AND FOR US TO THINK ABOUT THAT, WE COULD HIRE EITHER FROM W ONE TO REPRESENT US LEGALLY AND TO HELP US GUIDE US IN THE PROCESS AND THE OTHER FOR MAPPING RESOURCES.
I'M SURE THEY'D BE HAPPY TO HELP US.
COMMISSIONER CANINE, UM, COMMISSIONER FALCON.
YEAH, JUST A RESPONSE TO THAT IS THAT I WAS ALSO, WHEN WE WERE HEARING THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES, I WAS TRYING TO KEEP VERY CLEAR IN MY MIND THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ASKED FOR A SET OF SERVICES AND THOSE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES SHOULDN'T BE COUNTED FOR THE SERVICES WE ARE.
WE ASKED FOR A SET, HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH RPS AND EVALUATING THEM.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT TO JUDGE THE FIRMS BECAUSE OF SOMETHING TANGENTAL, BUT ONLY USE THAT AS LIKE AN ADDITIONAL RESOURCE THAT THEY HAVE.
SO I CAN APPRECIATE THAT IT IS TRICKY BECAUSE IT'S VERY CLOSELY RELATED.
UM, AND WE DID ASK THE QUESTION IN THE INTERVIEW, HOWEVER, TO MY KNOWLEDGE, AND PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG ON THE RFP.
THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE WERE GOING TO CONSIDER.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T KNOW IF LIKE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD HAVE APPLIED IF WE HAD, UM, YOU KNOW, PUT THAT FORWARD MORE OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
SO I JUST WANT TO URGE US TO STAY WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF WHAT OUR ORIGINAL ASK WAS.
AND I THINK COMMISSIONER BLAKE'S HAND AND THEN COMMISSIONER FELL IT ON JUST TO GIVE SOME SUMMARY SETS.
ALL I'M DOING HERE IS I'M TAKING, YOU KNOW, EACH RESPONSE WAS SORT OF ONE TO FIVE.
SO IF YOU GET TO EVALUATE SOMEONE IS AT THE LOWEST LEVEL OF RESPONSE, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY WOULD GET ONE POINT FOR THAT FROM YOU.
IF YOU GAVE THEM THE HIGHEST LEVEL RESPONSE, THEY GET FIVE POINTS FROM YOU.
SO IF YOU, YOU KNOW, FIVE OF US GAVE A CONVENTION, UH, CANDIDATE, THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF RESPONSE WOULD BE FIVE TIMES FIVE IS 25, RIGHT? UH, SO ANYWAY, IF WE ADD UP ALL THOSE NUMBERS, WE CAN SEE, FIRST OF ALL, THE ONE THING THAT'S KIND OF OBVIOUS FROM THIS DISCUSSION IS ACROSS THE LAW FIRMS. THEY'RE BASICALLY EVEN, UH, THE MENDEZ FROM, UH, 292 TOTAL POINTS AND CORBELL KORBEL, AND RICHARD'S GOT 273, UH, WHERE IT SEEMS THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, KORBEL WAS STRONGER AS HAS TO DO WITH AVAILABILITY, UH, NOT SURPRISINGLY, UH, AND YOU KNOW, WILLINGNESS TO BASICALLY SPEAK WITH THE MEDIA, BUT, UH, THE MENDEZ FIRMS SCORED HIGHER ON EVERY OTHER THING WE ASKED ABOUT.
SO UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMELINE, YOU KNOW, THE APPROACH, UH, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTANDING THE SCHEDULE, UM,
[02:55:01]
YOU KNOW, EXPERIENCE PERTINENT AND, YOU KNOW, OVERALL STRUCTURE BY A FEW POINTS HERE OR THERE, BUT JUST IF WE WANT TO, YOU KNOW, ADHERE TO WHAT THE RESULTS ARE, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT THE RESULTS SAID.OKAY, THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER BLANK.
UM, I AM GOING TO GET TO COMMISSIONER CALDERON BECAUSE SHE HAD HER HAND UP BEFORE, BUT THEN I SEE YOUR HAND COMMISSIONER HARDEN.
I WAS GOING TO MOTION THAT WE TAKE A VOTE AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT WE VOTE ON, UH, SELECTING LEGAL COUNCILS.
UM, BUT ALSO I DIDN'T WANT TO, UH, GET IN THE WAY OF IF COMMISSIONER HARDY WANTED TO SAY SOMETHING.
UM, AND LISTENING TO THOSE PRESENTATIONS, UH, IT SEEMED TO ME THAT THE COBELL RESPONSES, UH, WERE MORE IN LINE WITH THE QUESTIONS THAT WE WERE ASKING EACH TIME, UH, THE ACCESSIBILITY AND AVAILABILITY.
UH, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT WE WILL NEED LEGAL COUNSEL TO BE IN OUR MEETINGS SO THAT WE CAN, UH, IF NEED TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION AND GET COUNSELING GUIDANCE THAT THEY'RE THERE AND AVAILABLE TO US.
I DID NOT HEAR THAT FROM THE MENDEZ, FROM THAT THEY WOULD BE ATTENDING OUR SESSIONS AND BE AVAILABLE TO US, UH, IN THAT ASPECT.
SO I JUST WANT YOU TO SHARE THAT.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER HARDY.
UM, I WILL GO BACK TO COMMISSIONER CALLED IT ON.
DOES ANYBODY WANT A SECOND? MY MOTION THAT WE TAKE A VOTE, UM, ON LEGAL COUNSEL.
I'LL SECOND IT AND IS I'M SORRY, IS THAT VOTE, UH, ON A PARTICULAR PERSON? UM, I CAN MAKE IT ON, I CAN AMEND MY MOTION TO MAKE IT ON A PARTICULAR PERSON, IF THAT'S HOW WE WANT TO DO IT, OR WE CAN DO A ROLL CALL VOTE.
UM, JUST, JUST KIND OF THROWING THIS OUT THERE THAT THE OTHER OPTION IS THAT WE, AS YOUR ORIGINAL NOTION WOULD GO.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT WE WOULD DO A ROLL CALL ON EACH PERSON WOULD STATE THE NAME THAT THEY ARE PUTTING FORWARD.
I WAS GONNA SAY, SORRY, MAY I SPEAK, I, I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER COUNT ON ACTUALLY MAKING A MOTION FOR ONE OF THE FIRMS AND IF THAT VOTE, DOES IT, IS IT DECISIVE THAT WE CAN GO THROUGH THAT EITHER WAY SPOT? OKAY.
WHAT IS YOUR MOTION COMMISSIONER CALLED IT ON? UM, I MOTION THAT WE, UH, UH, SELECT THE GEORGE CORBELL AND DAVID RICHARDS GROUP AS OUR LEGAL COUNSEL.
IT HAS BEEN, UM, MOTION TO MOTION AND SECONDED THAT, UM, WE WILL TAKE A VOTE ON UH CORBELL AND, UM, RICHARDS.
SO I'M GOING TO LEAVE THAT OPEN.
ARE WE HAVING ANY DISCUSSION ON THAT? YES.
I WAS CONFUSED AND I THOUGHT WE WERE VOTING.
SO MY UNDERSTANDING IS THE WAY IT REALLY WE'RE ALL LEARNING THIS TOGETHER.
Y'ALL UM, SO FIRST WE SAY IT'S MOVED AND SECONDED THAT THIS MOTION WAS MADE.
UM, AND THEN WE DEBATE IT AND THEN I SAY, THE QUESTION IS ON THE ADOPTION OF THAT MOTION.
AND THEN WE TAKE ABOUT, SO, UM, IT HAS, IT'S MOVED AND SECONDED THAT, UM, WE ARE, I GUESS, LET ME, LET ME MAKE SURE I GET THIS CORRECT COMMISSIONER CALLED IT ON.
SO WE'VE BEEN SECONDED THAT WE ARE VOTING ON, UM, CORVEL AND RICHARDS FOR LEGAL COUNSEL.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DEBATE, UH, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ? NOT, NOT DEBATE.
I WANTED TO ADD, UH, RICHARDSON CORBELL, I'VE EXPERIENCED NOT ONLY 50 YEARS OF DOING THIS, THE WORK THAT WE NEED THEM TO DO, BUT ALSO WORKING WITH THE PREVIOUS COMMISSION.
UM, WE'RE IN THE SAME SCENARIO THAT WE ARE, WE CLEARLY UNDERSTAND THE TIMELINE AND THE ECHOED AT MANY, A TIMES, UH, EVEN SURPRISED THAT WE, UH, FULLY UNDERSTAND THE TIMELINE THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH.
UM, I THINK A LOWER PRICE, HOURLY RATE, I BELIEVE, UM, CLEARLY STATING THAT THEY WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO US AS SOON AS COMMISSIONER QUINTAS WOULD SEND AN EMAIL OR A PHONE CALL.
[03:00:01]
I JUST WANTED TO ADD THOSE NOTES THERE AT THERE.THIS IS, UH, THIS IS A, FROM, THIS IS A POTENTIAL TEAM THAT IS VERY, VERY FAMILIAR WITH THIS WORK SPECIFICALLY WITH OUR DISTRICTS AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DEBATE? OKAY.
SO THE QUESTION IS ON THE ADOPTION OF THE MOTION THAT WE VOTE ON A CORBEL AND RICHARDS AS LEGAL COUNSEL FOR THE COMMISSION, THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION.
WELL, UM, ANYONE OPPOSED? SAY NO.
THE AYES HAVE IT AND THE MOTION IS ADOPTED UNANIMOUSLY.
UM, SO THERE YOU HAVE IT, YOU ALL, WE DID IT.
UM, WE HAVE ANOTHER DECISION TO MAKE, AND IT'S ACTUALLY FUNNY.
I THINK I HAD STATED THAT WE WERE GOING TO DISCUSS ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER FIRST, BUT IT TURNS OUT WE DID LEGAL COUNSEL FIRST.
SO NOW WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON TO A THREE C ONE.
WE JUST DID THREE C, TWO LEGAL COUNSEL.
WE'RE NOW DOING THREE C, ONE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER AND, UM, COMMISSIONER BLANK.
IT SEEMS THAT THAT A FEW EXTRA MINUTES BENEFITED YOU, WOULD IT HURT TO DO ANOTHER SHORT RECESS AND HAVE YOU HAVE THAT TIME OR NO, I HAVE ALL THE SAME STUFF NOW.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, IF, UH, VICE CHAIRMAN'S ALSO WANTS TO BRING THAT UP.
I HAVE THE TOTALS HERE, SO I CAN, I CAN JUST WALK THROUGH IT REAL QUICK.
THANK YOU ALL FOR HANGING IN THERE.
IF YOU SAID WE GOT A LITTLE TIME, SO IT'D BE BETTER, MAKE PROGRESS AND HIRE THESE PEOPLE QUICKLY.
I'M GLAD WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE ABOUT THAT.
SO, UH, IN THIS CASE IN TOTAL SCORE AGAIN, TAKING EACH RESPONSE, UH, YOU ASSIGN IT A SCORE OF ONE TO FIVE AND THEN MULTIPLY THAT BY THE NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS WHO SELECTED THAT RESPONSE.
UH, CHRISTINE SCORED 300 POINTS WHILE, UH, LYNETTE WHAT SHE WENT BY, CORRECT, NOT HILDA, UH, SCORE 246.
UH, IN TERMS OF HER TIME MANAGEMENT, SHE HAD 42, UH, SCORED A TOTAL POINTS FOR CHRISTINE VERSUS 28, UH, FOR LYNETTE'S THEY'RE RELATIVELY, EVEN ON ORGANIZATION 32 POINTS VERSUS 29 POINTS.
UH, WHEN IT CAME TO INITIATIVE ON A PROJECT, CHRISTINE GOT 39 TOTAL POINTS COMPARED TO 28.
UH, FOR LYNETTE, THERE ARE EVEN ON LEVEL OF EXPERTISE IN BEATING PLANNING 32 FOR CHRISTINE 33, UH, FOR LYNETTE, UH, APPROACH MAKING FIRST CONTACT.
UH, CHRISTINE WAS 40 POINTS TOTAL VERSUS 27 POINTS, UH, FOR LYNETTE.
UH, BUT WE ASKED ABOUT COMFORTABLE SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITES.
UH, CHRISTINE WAS 42 POINTS COMPARED TO 34 LYNETTE.
AND THEN FINALLY, TWO MORE, A LITTLE EXTREME WITH BUDGET MANAGEMENT.
UH, CHRISTINE WAS ALSO AT 42 LYNETTE AT 36, AND THEN FINALLY IN TERMS OF A BILINGUAL EXPERIENCE, UH, BUT THAT WAS AT 35 AND CHRISTINA WAS A 31 OF THE COMPONENTS OF THOSE SCORES, COMMISSIONER POINT, SORRY, I CAN'T SLEEP, BUT I'M GOING TO STOP SHARING MY SCREEN UNLESS YOU THINK OTHERWISE JUST TO HELP WITH THE GRID AND STEAM.
BECAUSE IT IS HARD TO SEE EVERYONE RIGHT NOW.
UM, I WAS JUST GOING TO ASK, I KNOW THAT COMMISSIONER BLANK SPOT AT THE MOUNTAIN OF HOLIDAYS.
THEY DIDN'T WRITE IT DOWN, BUT I GOT A LITTLE CONFUSED WITH, CAUSE I SEE IT ON THE SCREEN.
SO MAYBE YOU COULD JUST SAY THE TOTAL FOR EACH ONE MORE TIME.
I HAVE A PROBLEM TALKING TO NUMBERS VERY QUICKLY.
SO CHRISTINE GOT A TOTAL OF 300 POINTS ACROSS, I THINK IT'S EIGHT ITEMS AND, UH, LYNETTE RECEIVED A TOTAL OF 246 POINTS ACROSS EIGHT ITEMS. I WOULD, I I'LL JUST SAY I WOULD MAKE A MOTION THAT WE VOTE ON, UH, EXTENDING THAT OFFER TO CHRISTINE, NOT EMOTION MOTION.
UH, I, THE NEXT VOICE I HEARD WAS COMMISSIONER USE.
SO I'M GOING TO SAY WE HAVE A MOTION IT'S BEEN MOVED AND SECONDED THAT, UH, WE EXTEND THE OFFER TO CHRISTINE GRANADA'S FOR ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER FOR THE COMMISSION.
[03:05:04]
COMMISSIONER FALCON AND THEN COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ.AND I APOLOGIES FOR BACKING US UP FROM THE MOTION.
I CAN APPRECIATE THAT IT'S NINE 20.
UM, BUT I PERSONALLY FELT THAT BECAUSE, UM, HOLD UP LYNETTE WAS THE FIRST CANDIDATE.
I WASN'T ABLE TO JUDGE HER SKILLS AS WELL AS I COULD HAVE IF SHE HAD BEEN SECOND AFTER CHRISTINE, I BELIEVE IT WAS THE OTHER CANDIDATES NAME.
AND I FEEL THAT LYNETTE WOULD BE A BETTER REPRESENTATIVE OF OUR, UM, COMMISSION.
SO I, I PUT THAT OUT THERE AS FOR HER JUST GIVEN THE WAY SHE PRESENTED, UM, THROUGHOUT HER INTERVIEW.
I THINK THAT IN ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS, SHE DIDN'T GIVE AS DETAILED OF ANSWERS, BUT, UM, I THINK THAT'S REFLECTIVE OF HER INTERVIEWING EXPERIENCE AND NOT HER ABILITY AND HOW SHE WOULD PERFORMING THE ROLE.
SO I JUST SAY THAT IN SUPPORT OF LYNETTE LYNETTE'S CANDIDACY, THANK YOU.
AND WE HAVE COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ AS WELL IN GOOD CONDITION.
I FELT GOING, I WOULD KIND OF ECHO SIMILAR TO WHAT YOU'VE MENTIONED.
UM, I PERSONALLY MAY HAVE SCORED LOW ON THAT, ALTHOUGH, UM, IN TERMS OF RESPONSES AND HOW SHORT THOSE RESPONSES WERE, BUT I WILL, I WILL ADD TO THAT.
UM, IN MY EXPERIENCE OF HIRING, I DO NOT PUSH FOR ELABORATION WHEN THE QUESTION HAS BEEN ASKED.
UM, AND IF THAT, AND IF THE RESPONSE IS SHORT, I TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION AND MAYBE IT IS, UH, YOU KNOW, UNFORTUNATE, UH, INTERVIEWING SKILLS OR NOT AS MUCH EXPERIENCE IN INTERVIEWING AND OH MY GOD, THIS WEBEX, UH, ERA AND COVID, UH, SHOULD BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION AS WELL.
UM, WHERE WITH CHRISTINE, WHERE THE MOTION IS, YOU KNOW, VOTE ON HER, EXTENDING THE OFFER.
I DO HAVE A NERVOUS, A BIT ABOUT HAVING A FULL-TIME JOB AS AT, AT A NEWSPAPER.
UM, AND THEN QUESTIONING HOW LONG OF THE TIMELINE.
MAYBE I DIDN'T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHY SHE WAS QUESTIONING HOW LONG THE JOB WOULD BE, BUT SHE DID SAY SHE HAD OTHER POSITIONS LINED UP AND I DON'T WANT, UM, I DON'T WANT US TO MISLEADER THAT IT IS ONLY FIVE MONTHS.
I KNOW COMMISSIONER POINT, THIS, YOU DID A GREAT JOB IN EXTENDING, YOU KNOW, WE MAY NEED HER AFTERWARDS, BUT I, I I'D BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T SAY THAT CONCERN ME THAT MAYBE SHE'S THINKING THAT THIS WAS ONLY A FIVE MONTH POSITION.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER CALLED IT ON.
I JUST WANTED TO ECHO MY COLLEAGUES, HIS CONCERNS.
I THINK THAT WAS THE, YOU KNOW, I THINK THEY WERE BOTH GREAT CANDIDATES.
I THINK, UM, LYNETTE PERHAPS DIDN'T HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF ACCLIMATE TO WHAT THE EXPECTATIONS WERE IN THE CONVERSATION.
UM, BUT I ALSO, UM, LYNETTE DIDN'T SAY, OR SHE HAD OTHER JOBS, BUT SHE WAS DOING OTHER INTERVIEWS IN THE INTERVIEW.
UM, SO, UM, I THINK IF ANYTHING, WE SHOULD DEFINITELY PERHAPS, UH, RANK FOLKS LIKE FIRST CHOICE, SECOND CHOICE IN CASE, UM, THIS, UH, IN CASE, YOU KNOW, CHRISTINE HAPPENS TO FIND YOURSELF SOMETHING BETTER.
I THINK WE SHOULD DEFINITELY KEEP ONE AT TOP OF MIND.
UM, IF IT DOESN'T WORK OUT FOR SOMEWHERE ELSE, COMMISSIONER HARDEN, WE SURE ARE HURTING YOU'RE MUTED, MADAM CHAIR.
UM, I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE LACK OF CONTEXT AND CONTENT TO LYNETTE'S RESPONSE TO THE QUESTIONS.
MOST HER RESPONSES WERE NOT WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE QUESTIONS AND THERE WAS NOT A LOT OF DATA GIVEN.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW THAT WE LEARNED ENOUGH ABOUT THAT CANDIDATE TO KNOW WHETHER OR NOT SHE COULD ACTUALLY PERFORM THE SCOPE OF WORK OR NOT.
UH, ALSO LIKE OUR, UH, MY COLLEAGUES HAVE SAID, UH, THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE SAID THAT IT IS A BIT CONCERNING THAT THE SECOND APPLICANT, UH, CHRISTINA HAS BEEN IS, UH, LOOKING AT OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AND WE DON'T KNOW TO WHAT EXTENT SHE MIGHT COMMIT TO US.
UM, WITH THAT IN MIND, I WOULD RATHER MAKE THE OFFER TO WHEN WE BELIEVE IS THE BETTER CANDIDATE, WHETHER THEY ACCEPT AND STAY OR NOT.
AND IF WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD AND WE SOLICIT, I'D RATHER DO THAT THAN TO RUSH AND GET THE WRONG PERSON ON BOARD.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER HARDIN, IS THERE ANY FURTHER DEBATE? THANK YOU.
UM, THE ONLY POINT I WANTED TO MAKE WAS I THINK WITH CHRISTINA, SHE SAID THAT SHE WOULD HAVE TO WORK REALLY WELL,
[03:10:01]
WHICH OFFERS LESS FLEXIBILITY IN SOME WAYS COMPARED TO, AND SHE'D HAVE TO DRIVE IN AND OUT, WHICH I MADE IS THAT TRUE? IS THAT AS MY UNDERSTANDING, CORRECT.AND SHE WOULD BE REMOVED, I'D WALKED AWAY WITH THAT IS THAT EVERYBODY'S UNDERSTANDING CHRISTINE GRANADA'S LIVES IN FREDERICKSBURG, OR WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO COMMUTE TO AUSTIN TO DO THINGS IN PERSON, BUT SHE SAID SHE WAS WILLING, WHEREAS WHEN THAT IS MOVING TO AUSTIN AND WE'LL LIVE HERE.
BUT, UM, I WANT TO SAY, WHAT WAS THAT THE ONLY TWO CANDIDATES WE HAD OR DID WE HAVE ANOTHER POOL AND WE ONLY SELECTED TO INTERVIEW THESE TWO OR DO WE HAVE SEVERAL OTHER CANDIDATES THAT, UM, RATE WERE SCORED HIGHER BY THE HIRING WORKING GROUP? AND THEY WERE SET TO INTERVIEW LAST WEEK, BUT WE DID NOT MAKE PURIM AND THOSE CANDIDATES WERE NOT AVAILABLE THIS WEEK.
WOULD IT BE WORTHWHILE AS WE'RE DEBATING THIS TO, TO RECONVENE A SPECIAL AT ANOTHER DATE SOONER TO DO SOME INTERVIEWS OR IS THAT LIKE NOT SOMETHING WE WOULD BE OPEN TO? UM, AS, AS WE'VE SAID, MANY TIMES TONIGHT TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
AND, UM, AND I THINK THAT WE HAD TWO CANDIDATES TONIGHT AND WE HAVE TO MAKE A DECISION.
UM, AND I THINK AS, AS MAYBE COMMISSIONER HARDEN SAID, IF WE OFFER, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE JOB TO ONE PERSON AND IT FALLS THROUGH AND WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD, THEN AT THAT POINT, I THINK THAT THAT'S A VIABLE OPTION.
MICHELLE, WHAT DOES, I JUST WANTED TO ECHO YOUR STATEMENT THERE? I THINK TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
A LOT OF THE WORKING GROUPS ARE CONDUCTING WORK RIGHT NOW THAT WE WILL LOVE TO HAVE AN ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER SUPPORT WITH, UM, WE DID HAVE TWO GREAT CANDIDATES, UNFORTUNATELY FOR VARIOUS REASONS, THEY COULD NOT JOIN US ON WEDNESDAY AND WE NEEDED TO PROCEED.
UM, LYNETTE AND CHRISTINE ARE GREAT CANDIDATES AS WELL, BUT, UM, YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO MENTION THAT PROBABLY NOT THE DID NOT RECEIVE INITIAL HIGH SCORES FROM THE WORKING GROUP OR THE HIGHEST SCORES FROM THE WORKING GROUP.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DEBATE? OKAY.
THE QUESTION IS ON THE ADOPTION OF THE MOTION THAT THE COMMISSION WILL OFFER THE JOB TO CHRISTINE GRANADOS AS ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER, UH, THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, RAISE YOUR HAND, THOSE OPPOSED.
AND WE HAVE, DO WE HAVE ONE ABSTAIN? IS THAT CORRECT? OKAY, SO MATT, CAN YOU CLARIFY THE NUMBERS ON THAT POSSIBLY? YEAH.
SO LOOKING AT PEOPLE'S HANDS LOOKED LIKE I HAD, UM, FIVE YESES AND TWO NOS.
AND THEN, UM, FOR COMMISSIONER LEO WASN'T SURE.
I MEAN, IF WE'RE NOT SURE, SO WE CAN HAVE THIS, PLEASE.
UM, MATT, CAN YOU DO A ROLL CALL FOR THIS VOTE? SURE.
UM, SO IT'S JUST GOING TO BE AN A OR A YES OR A NO, BASICALLY, RIGHT? YEAH.
AND THEN NO FOR NOW KENNAN, UH, MORRIS.
HI, KAMBO IS NOT HERE CALLED THEIR OWN EYE FONTEZ.
[03:15:01]
AND FELT CONE NOW.SO THAT PUTS US AT EIGHT EYES.
UM, THE, SO THE I'S HAVE IT AT NINE TOO.
IS THAT CORRECT? UM, NINE AYES ONE, NO.
THE NOSE HAVE ONE AND THERE'S ONE ABSTAIN WITH THAT.
UH, THE MOTION PASSES TO HAVE CHRISTINE GRANADA AS THE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER FOR OUR COMMISSION.
SO WE HAVE TWO HIRES TONIGHT Y'ALL WE DID IT.
UM, WE DID IT, WE DID IT, UH, IF THERE ARE NO OBJECTIONS, UM, I ASKED THAT COMMISSIONER HAS CALLED IT ON, HE DOESN'T SEE GONZALEZ AND TEST FORM AGAIN, AS THE HIRING WORKING GROUP TO WORK WITH THE CITY ON CONTRACTING, UM, WITH CHRISTINE GRANADA'S FOR ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER AND, UH, DAVID, RICHARD, AND GEORGE CORVEL FOR LEGAL COUNSEL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
AND I KNOW IT'S OPTIMISTIC, BUT IDEALLY BY THE TIME OF OUR NEXT MEETING, WHICH IS ON JULY 7TH, IS THERE ANY OPPOSITION TO THAT? OKAY.
SO WE'LL MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT HIRING WORKING GROUP.
UM, YES, COMMISSIONER, UH, SHAREPOINT IS I, I FEEL LIKE THEN TODAY'S CALL.
IT SOUNDS LIKE IT MIGHT BE QUITE URGENT TO ALSO HIRE A MAPPING SPECIALIST.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT ON THE AGENDA OF OUR NEXT HIRING GROUP, HOLD THAT THOUGHT UNTIL WE GET TO THAT PORTION OF THE AGENDA.
WE HAVE A FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, UM, PORTION FOR THAT.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE D AND THIS IS THE UPDATE FROM PUBLIC HEARINGS WORKING GROUP.
AND THIS IS, UM, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ.
I THINK YOU MIGHT BE THE, THE ONE THAT, THAT CAN REPORT THIS OUT TONIGHT.
UM, GO AHEAD AND, UH, LET US CORRECT.
UM, COMMISSIONER CAMPBELL AND I COMMISSIONER CAMPBELL, UNFORTUNATELY COULD NOT JOIN US TODAY, BUT COMMISSIONER CAMPBELL AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON POTENTIAL DATES, UH, TIMES, UM, LOCATIONS, BUT WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN THAT FAR IN TERMS OF CONFIRMING LOCATIONS.
UM, SINCE WE LAST MET, I'M GOING TO SHARE MY SCREEN AGAIN AND WHAT I WOULD APPRECIATE THE COMMISSION TO TAKE AWAY FROM THOSE ARE THE DATES THAT WE ARE PROPOSING.
UM, WE ARE PROPOSING 11 MEETINGS IN THE SPAN OF JULY 13TH THROUGH AUGUST 31ST AND AS THE, I'VE HEARD MANY A TIMES THAT IS A INCREDIBLE TIMELINE TO WORK WITH.
SO WE APPRECIATE FLEXIBILITY AVAILABILITY.
UM, LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU CAN SEE MY SCREEN, PLEASE.
SO THIS IS A DOCUMENT THAT COMMISSIONER CAMPBELL AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON.
AS YOU CAN SEE, WE ARE STRIVING FOR A JULY 13TH DATE.
THAT IS A TUESDAY BASED ON WHAT THE PREVIOUS COMMISSION DID.
WE HAVE LEARNED AT TUESDAYS OR WEDNESDAYS FROM SIX TO EIGHT AND SATURDAYS FROM ABOUT ONE TO 3:00 PM, WORKED BEST FOR THE PUBLIC TO ATTEND THE ICRC 20 13, 14 PUBLIC HEARINGS.
THAT IS THE SAME TIMELINE THAT I WOULD LIKE TO WORK WITH WITH THIS COMMISSION.
SO EVERY TUESDAY AND EVERY SATURDAY, THEY START IN JULY 13TH.
WE HOPE TO HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING IN EACH OF THE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
WE ARE ALSO PROPOSING JUST GIVEN THE CLIMATE THAT WE IN WITH COVID THAT WE ADD AN ADDITIONAL 11TH MEETING AND THAT'D BE COMPLETELY VIRTUAL.
SO ANYONE WHO IS NOT WILLING OR IS NOT COMFORTABLE WITH ATTENDING IN-PERSON MEETINGS WOULD HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THEIR INPUT.
AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE THAT CURRENTLY IS STRUCTURED, UH, TEND TO ONE DISTRICTS, 10 STARTING FIRST, GOING UNTIL THE DISTRICT ONE IN CONFIRMING SOME LOCATIONS THAT HAVE SHIFTED.
FOR EXAMPLE, MIKE GREEN HIGHLIGHT HERE IS THE ONLY LOCATION CONFIRMED THAT IS DISTRICT SIX, AND IT'S A LITTLE OFF IN THE, IN THE LATTER HALF, UM, OF MY PLANNING.
THERE'S STILL A LOT OF WORK TO BE DONE WITH THIS.
I HOPE THAT CHRISTINE GRANADOS, IF SHE ACCEPTS OUR OFFER WOULD BE ABLE TO ASSIST WITH THE
[03:20:01]
SUPPORT, UH, SUPPORT WITH THIS EFFORT.UM, BUT AGAIN, I HOPE YOU TAKE AWAY THE TIMES THE DATES, THE DAYS OF THE WEEK THAT WE ARE PROPOSING FOR THESE PUBLIC HEARINGS.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER, PUT THOSE OPEN TO ANY QUESTIONS.
IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OR THE PROCESS OR THE WORKING GROUPS PROCESS.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ.
AND YOU CAN, UM, HAS EVERYONE GOTTEN A GOOD, YOU KNOW, GOOD CHANCE TO LOOK AT THIS WHOLE DOCUMENT? I KNOW IT'S KIND OF A LOT.
UM, SO WE'RE CLEAR IT'S TUESDAYS AND SATURDAYS EVERY WEEK THROUGH THE END OF AUGUST, STARTING JULY 13TH AND THAT'S, UH, THE PUBLIC HEARINGS AND THAT'S NOT INCLUDING THE TIME THAT WE WILL SPEND IN OUR MEETINGS AS WE ARE IN A MEETING RIGHT NOW ON WEDNESDAY EVENINGS.
YOU CAN STOP SHARING YOUR SCREEN.
UM, COMMISSIONER MORRIS WILL ALL THE MEETINGS HAVE A HYBRID OPTION FOR COMMUNITIES.
THERE WILL DEFINITELY BE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PUBLIC TO PROVIDE INPUT AHEAD OF TIME.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S, IF YOU NOTICE THERE'S 11 MEETINGS, BUT THERE'S 10 DISTRICTS, RIGHT? SO THE 11TH MEETING IS A SOLELY, A VIRTUAL ONE FOR ANYONE WHO WAS NOT ABLE TO ATTEND IT IN PERSON, BUT WE ARE REQUIRED BY THE, BY THE CITY CHARTER TO HOLD, UM, IN-PERSON MEETINGS ESSENTIALLY.
I MEAN, IT DOESN'T SAY LANGUAGE IN-PERSON, BUT IT SAYS YOU MUST HOLD A MEETING IN EACH OF THE 10 DISTRICTS IN THE CITY.
SO I JUST HAD A QUICK FOLLOW UP QUESTION TO THAT.
I THINK TO COMMISSIONER MORRIS'S QUESTION, WILL THE IN-PERSON EVENTS ALSO OFFER A DIAMOND? I THINK WAS THE, THE KIND OF THE OPPORTUNITY ENGAGE, UM, WOULD BE TO SUBMIT COMMENTS AHEAD OF TIME ONLINE.
COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ, COMMISSIONER.
I PUT JUST, IF THERE'S NO OTHER DEBATE OR QUESTIONS, I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE THAT WE VOTE ON A DUMPED IN THE SCHEDULE, AT LEAST IN TERMS OF AGAIN, THE DAYS OF THE WEEK, THE TIMING AND THE, BASICALLY THE CADENCE BETWEEN JULY 13TH AND AUGUST 31ST.
IT HAS BEEN MOVED AND SECONDED THAT WE WILL ADOPT THE PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULE.
UM, IN PARTICULAR ITS CADENCE.
IS THERE ANY DEBATE COMMISSIONER KANAAN I'M ASSUMING THAT COMMISSIONER GONZALES WAS GOING TO SHARE WITH US SOME OF THE DETAILS SO WE CAN START TO BLOCK OUR ACCOUNT.
I'M NOT GOING TO REMEMBER THE DATES.
HAPPY TO RESPOND TO THAT COMMISSIONER CANNOT CORRECT.
UM, I'M HAPPY TO, UM, DCC EVERYONE, THE, UM, DOCUMENT DOCUMENTED EMAIL, BUT FOR NOW, UH, PLEASE BLOCK STARTING JULY 13TH, EVERY TUESDAY FROM SIX TO 8:00 PM AND EVERY SATURDAY FROM ONE TO 3:00 PM WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY COULD LAST LONGER THAN TWO HOURS, UM, GIVEN HOW MANY PEOPLE SIGN UP TO SPEAK, ET CETERA.
AND THAT'S FROM JULY 13TH THROUGH JULY 31ST, AUGUST 31ST, TWO WEEKS.
WEBSTER WITH THE LAW DEPARTMENT.
CAN I ASK A QUESTION? GO AHEAD, CAROLINE, WHAT ITEM ARE YOU GUYS DISCUSSING? RIGHT NOW? WE ARE ON ITEM THREE D UPDATE FROM PUBLIC HEARINGS WORKING GROUP.
AND SO THE SCHEDULE YOU'RE DISCUSSING IS FOR THAT WORKING GROUP, IS THAT RIGHT? YES, THEY'RE REPORTING OUT.
I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT BE DISCUSSING FOR THE, THE COMMISSION AS A WHOLE AND THAT'S NOT AGENDA ITEM.
SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE, SO SORRY, SERGEANT TRUMP.
UH, IS THERE FURTHER DEBATE ON OH YES, GO AHEAD.
OR SHOULD WE GET THAT ONE? I JUST WANTED TO BE SURE THAT COMMISSIONER ON THE BAT ANSWER YOUR COMMENT.
AND AGAIN, I'M HAPPY TO SEND US OUT AN EMAIL AFTER OUR MEETING TODAY.
I THINK THAT WILL BE SUPER HELPFUL BECAUSE
[03:25:01]
IT'S NOT JUST A TIME, UH, BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO BE 10 PHYSICAL DISTRICTS.THAT'S FACTORING IN TO BE TWO.
I THINK THAT THE, THE, THE BACK FROM THE MEETING IS DIFFERENT, BUT WE JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ALL OF US LIVE IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE CITY.
SO JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THAT TIME FACTOR IN TO GET THERE AND, YOU KNOW, MAKE SURE WE'RE RIGHT.
THANK YOU FOR POINTING THAT OUT.
A COMMISSIONER FELL FALLEN, AND THEN, UM, I SEE COMMISSIONER HARKINS, HAND AND COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ.
I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY IN CASE IT'S HELPFUL FOR, UH, COMMISSIONER CANNON THAT THE LOCATIONS ARE NOT YET CONFIRMED.
SO MY, UM, MY FEAR WOULD BE THAT IF COMMISSIONER GONZALES, SINCE THIS OUT, THAT, YOU KNOW, IF WITH ALL THE SHUFFLING THAT WILL HAVE TO HAPPEN, SOMEONE WOULD SHOW UP IN A WRONG LOCATION.
SO I WOULD ADVISE TO JUST SAVE THAT TIME THAT COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ HAS RECOMMENDED PLUS MAYBE AN HOUR TRAVEL TIME.
AND IF YOU DON'T NEED THE HOURS, THEN YOU CAN HAVE IT BACK.
BUT I JUST, I, YOU KNOW, HAVING WORKED IN A LOT OF GROUPS, INFORMATION PREMATURELY, UM, THAT JUST INCREASES THE, THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE IN THE WRONG PLACE.
I'LL WAIT FOR THE FINALIZED VERSIONS TO COME UP BEFORE WE SEE IT.
AND I THINK COMMISSIONER HARDIN'S NEXT? YES.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE WERE ON THE SAME PAGE.
I THINK WITH REGARDS TO WHETHER OR NOT WHAT WE WERE DOING IS ACTUALLY ON THE AGENDA ITEM.
UH, I THOUGHT THE QUESTION ARE WHAT THAT RESPONSE WAS, OR THE QUESTION WAS WHAT WERE WE TALKING ABOUT? A SCHEDULE FOR THE WORK GROUP, AS OPPOSED TO HER SCHEDULE FOR THE ENTIRE COMMISSION.
AND SO I WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT, YES, THIS IS THE SCHEDULE FOR THE PUBLIC HEARINGS.
YOU'RE YOU'RE SO YOU'RE CORRECT.
IF I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, THIS IS NOT A SCHEDULE FOR THE PUBLIC HEARINGS WORKING GROUP TO MEET THIS IS A SCHEDULE OR, UM, FOR THE COMMISSION FOR THE PUBLIC HEARINGS THROUGH THE END OF THE YEAR.
CORRECT? THAT WAS, THAT WAS MY UNDERSTANDING.
BUT THE PERSON WHO MADE THE QUERY AS TO WHETHER OR NOT THIS WAS ACTUALLY ON OUR AGENDA, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE QUESTION THAT THEY'RE ASKED US.
IT SEEMED LIKE WE WERE NOT CAROLINE.
WOULD YOU WANT TO JUMP ON AND JUST CONFIRM THAT, UM, THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN DISCUSS RIGHT NOW TO, TO COMMISSIONER HART AT THIS POINT.
I HAD FLICKED MY ATTENTION AWAY FOR JUST A MOMENT.
CAN YOU, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THE QUESTION IS PLACE? UM, EARLIER YOU MENTIONED THE, UH, WERE THERE NOT, WHAT WE WERE DISCUSSING NOW WAS ON THE AGENDA ITEM, WAS IT, UH, THESE, THE SCHEDULE THAT WE'RE DISCUSSING FOR THE WORK GROUP OR WAS IT FOR THE ENTIRE COMMISSION? RIGHT? THIS IS A SCHEDULE FOR THE ENTIRE COMMISSION FOR OUR PUBLIC MEETINGS.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAD ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION CORRECTLY SO THAT WE WILL BE IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE ADVICE YOU WERE GIVEN.
WELL, IF, IF, IF SETTING THE AGENDA FOR FUTURE MEETINGS OF THE COMMISSION IS NOT A LISTED AGENDA ITEM FOR THIS MEETING, THEN WE CAN TAKE YOU CAN'T DISCUSS IT AND TAKE A VOTE ON IT.
SO IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WORKING GROUP SCHEDULES, THAT'S OKAY, BECAUSE THAT'S YOUR TALK BECAUSE YOU'RE GETTING AN UPDATE FROM WORKING GROUPS.
BUT IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A HEARING SCHEDULE FOR THE COMMISSION AS A WHOLE, THAT IS NOT A LIST OF THE GENERAL ITEM.
SO, UM, I THINK YOU CAN DISCUSS IT AS LIKE, AS PART OF THE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO HAVE AN ITEM ON AN UPCOMING AGENDA TO SET OUR PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULE.
YOU COULD DISCUSS IT, YOU COULD DISCUSS IT, THAT YOU'RE GOING TO DISCUSS IT.
BUT AT THIS POINT, UNLESS SETTING THE PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULE FOR THE COMMISSION IS ON TODAY'S AGENDA.
I DON'T THINK THAT YOU SHOULD CONTINUE DISCUSSING IT OR TAKE A VOTE ON IT, JUST BECAUSE THE HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED THAT THAT WAS GOING TO BE A TOPIC OF TODAY'S MEETING IF THAT'S WHAT YOU GUYS ARE ACTUALLY DISCUSSING.
UM, I, I DO SEE COMMISSIONER BLINKS HAND AS WELL, BUT I KNOW COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ HAD HIS HAND UP EARLIER.
COMMISSIONER BLINK, JUST TO, JUST TO CLARIFY, JUST, I THINK, I DON'T THINK ANYONE HERE, I DON'T THINK WE'RE AGREEING TO A SCHEDULE WE'RE AGREEING TO OUR AVAILABILITY FOR A SCHEDULE THAT HAS NOT BEEN SET NOR HAVE WE DISCUSSED IT.
WE'RE JUST MAKING SURE THAT IF WE WERE TO CREATE A SCHEDULE AND HAVE A DISCUSSION AS AN AGENDA ITEM ON THAT WE KNOW THAT WE COULD MAKE THESE DAYS WORK AS A STARTING POINT.
[03:30:01]
I DON'T, I DON'T SEE THIS AS OTHER THAN OTHER, YOU KNOW, THIS IS NOT A SETTING, YOU KNOW, AGAINST SETTING A PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULE.IT DOES CREATE AN AVAILABILITY.
SO WE KNOW THAT WE CAN BEGIN THAT PROCESS.
BUT THAT IS NOT AN ITEM ON YOUR AGENDA FOR DISCUSSION.
SO YOU CAN'T BE DISCUSSING IT.
I SAID, 100 YEAR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, YOU CAN SAY, THIS IS SOMETHING WE NEED TO DISCUSS IN THE NEXT MEETING, BUT YOU CAN'T SET THAT SCHEDULE OR DISCUSS THAT RIGHT NOW.
WELL, WE'LL SAVE THAT, UM, ADDITION FOR THE END OF THE MEETING, UM, UNDER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS THEN, UM, ALL RIGHT.
WERE THERE ANY OTHER UPDATES FROM THE PUBLIC HEARINGS GROUP BEFORE WE MOVE ON? UM, OKAY.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD COMMISSIONER FALCO INTO THAT GROUP IF THERE ARE NO OBJECTIONS SINCE SHE'S OUR NEW MEMBER AND SHE'S NOT CURRENTLY INVOLVED IN ANY OF OUR WORKING GROUPS OR SUBCOMMITTEES.
UM, THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE E UPDATES FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP COMMISSIONER CALLED IT ON.
WOULD YOU MIND JUMPING IN HERE? HEY, OF COURSE.
SO, UM, WE'VE MET, UH, EARLY, WE'VE BEEN MEETING ON A REGULAR CADENCE.
UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY WORKING ON A FEW DIFFERENT THINGS.
ONE, WE ARE, UH, WE CREATED A MEDIA LIST, UM, SO THAT WE CAN FIND OUT SO THAT WE CAN ONE TRY TO COMMUNICATE ON WHAT YOU CALL EARNED MEDIA, WHICH IS FREELY, UM, YOU KNOW, STORIES AND CALENDARS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, COMMUNITY CALENDARS.
WE ALSO ARE LOOKING FOR A FUTURE POTENTIAL LIKE AD BUYS AND THINGS LIKE THAT FOR A REFERENCE TO THE HEARING AND, OR, YOU KNOW, OTHER TEACHERS' STORIES.
UM, WE ALSO, UH, WE'RE GOING TO, I THINK HAVE A SHAKEUP ON THE COMMITTEE AS WELL.
IS THAT OKAY IF I SHARE THAT COMMISSIONER? UM, I THINK WE'RE GOING TO ALSO HAVE A NEW EDITION OF COMMISSIONER CONKLIN, SO, UM, THAT'S AWESOME.
UM, WE ARE GOING TO, UH, WE STARTED TRYING TO, UM, SEE IF WE COULD, UH, START TO PROMOTE THE FIRST PUBLIC HEARING ON THE 13TH, UM, AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, JUST TO KIND OF START TO GET THE WORD OUT.
WE ALSO ARE WORKING ON TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN CREATE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS AND SCHEDULES, UM, IN A WAY THAT IS GOING TO BE ORDERLY, UM, SO THAT WE CAN TAKE THAT CONTENT, GIVE IT TO, I BELIEVE EITHER MATT OR DIRECTLY TO THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE TO GET THAT OUT ONTO THE INTERWEBS.
AND, UM, YEAH, I THINK THAT'S, UH, PRETTY MUCH IT WE'RE GOING TO BE WORKING ON CREATING A NEW, REGULAR CADENCE DUE TO THE TUESDAY NIGHT, UM, PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULE, AS WELL AS TRYING TO, UM, UH, SPEED THINGS ALONG AND ASSIGN A POINT PERSON TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE FUTURE ADMIN MANAGER SO THAT THINGS CAN JUST ROLL ALONG A LITTLE BIT MORE SMOOTHLY.
UM, YEAH, UNLESS I FORGOT ANYTHING.
I THINK WE DISCUSSED THE LAST MEETING, EXCUSE ME.
AND, UM, I WILL, I WILL JUST TO ECHO WHAT COMMISSIONER, UM, YES, I WANT TO ECHO WHAT COMMISSIONER PELOTON.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD, UH, COMMISSIONER FALCON TO THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP IF THERE ARE NO OBJECTIONS AND, UM, AND THEY'RE ALREADY AT FIVE.
AND SO, UM, TO, TO MOVE THINGS AROUND A LITTLE BIT, IT MAKES THAT ROOM, UM, I'M GOING TO TAKE COMMISSIONER COMBO OUT OF THE, UH, COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP, JUST TO KEEP THAT FIVE, IF THERE ARE NO OBJECTIONS TO THAT, THEN WE WILL HAVE COMMISSIONER FALCO ON, ON BOTH THE PUBLIC HEARINGS WORKING GROUP AND THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP.
AND THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE E OR NO, I'M SORRY.
THREE F UPDATES FROM THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, WHICH IN THIS CASE, UM, THIS LITTLE CAVEAT THOUGH, WE DO HAVE COMMISSIONERS MORRIS HARDEN SCHNEIDER AND LAY THIS GROUP COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ WAS UNSURE WHETHER THEY COULD CONDUCT THEIR BUSINESS WITHOUT AN OPEN MEETING SINCE THEY ARE A SUBCOMMITTEE.
UM, AND SO INSTEAD HE AND I WORKED ON ESTABLISHING JUST A PRELIMINARY BUDGET THAT CLEARLY INDICATES THE NEED FOR A BUDGET INCREASE FOR THIS COMMISSION.
AND SO CHRISTINA GONZALEZ, I'M GOING TO PASS THAT OFF TO YOU.
DOES I'M GOING TO SHARE MY SCREEN AGAIN? UM, JUST TO AGAIN, BASIC NUMBERS, UH, I APOLOGIZE TO THOSE ON THE COMMITTEE THAT WE DID NOT ABIDE BY THE 72 HOUR AGENDA ROLE OR THE FACT THAT WE NEEDED A CITY WEBEX TO CONDUCT OUR MEETING, UM, AS WE ARE A COMMITTEE AND NOT A WORKING GROUP.
[03:35:01]
SO WE WILL CORRECT THAT IN THE FUTURE.I THINK WE STILL NEED CONFIRMATION AS TO WHAT IS TRUE TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE.
YES, THAT'S LEGAL, LEGAL, LEGAL MATTERS.
YOU KNOW, I WANT MY LEGAL COUNSEL ON HERE, SO YOU GET THEM, GET THEM READY.
UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, THESE ARE COMMISSIONER PRENTICE AND I, AS SHE MENTIONED, WE MET, WE BASED THE PRELIMINARY BUDGET BASED ON WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY OFFERED IN SOME OF THE JOB DESCRIPTIONS OR SOME OF THE CANDIDATES THAT WE HAVE INTERVIEWED TODAY.
AND SOME PRECEDENT THAT WAS SET BY THE PREVIOUS COMMISSION, UM, LEGAL COUNSEL, $50,000 ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER NOTED IN THE DESCRIPTION AS A $50,000 SALARY POSITION MAPPING CONSULTANT, THE SAME PRICE AS YOU KNOW, SAME SALARY COSTS AS THE PREVIOUS COMMISSION AND THE SAME WITH WHAT THEY SPENT ON MEETINGS, UH, COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH AND MISCELLANEOUS.
THIS DOES NOT REALLY INCLUDE INFLATION OVER EIGHT YEARS.
UM, SO AS YOU CAN SEE WITH THIS BUDGET, UH, THE CO COMMISSIONER PRENTICE, AND I ARE GOING TO PROPOSE AN INCREASE TO THE ICRC BUDGET FOR THIS YEAR, WITH THE UNDERSTANDING AS MATT INFORMED US IN A PREVIOUS MEETING THAT BEGINNING, I BELIEVE OCTOBER 1ST, THERE MIGHT BE NEW MONEY.
WE CLEARLY NEED MORE MONEY NOW.
UM, COMMISSIONER PRENTISS, IF YOU WANT TO ELABORATE ON ANY OF IT, IT'S PRETTY, YOU KNOW, I THINK WITH US BASING IT OFF PRECEDENT AND WHAT HAS ALREADY IN JOB DESCRIPTIONS.
I DON'T KNOW HOW WE GO AGAINST THIS BUDGET OR THIS OUTLINE RIGHT HERE.
UH, NOT, NOT MUCH TO ADD AS FAR AS WHAT WE HAVE TO HAVE IN FRONT OF US.
UM, THERE IS ALSO GOING TO BE A PART-TIME STAFF FROM, UM, THE CITY, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, UM, WHO WILL BE WORKING WITH COMMUNICATIONS ON THE CITY'S END.
AND, UM, AND UNLESS WE ARE ABLE TO INCREASE THIS BUDGET, UH, I'M NOT SURE HOW WE'LL BE ABLE TO, UM, TO PAY THAT PERSON'S SALARY.
SO THAT'S YET ANOTHER REASON THAT WE NEED TO INCREASE THIS BUDGET.
THERE'S SIMPLY JUST NOT ROOM TO, UM, TO PAY FOR ANY ADDITIONAL STAFF GIVEN $150,000 BUDGET.
UH, SO THAT IS ALL THAT I HAVE AS FAR AS THAT GOES.
AND, UM, AND IF THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE, I WILL MOVE ON.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE G UPDATES FROM THE CITY REGARDING THE EMPLOYEE CONTRACT TEMPLATE, THE BUDGET INCREASE TEMPLATE AND THE JULY 7TH MEETING.
SO THE, I WAS GOING TO SAY THE, UM, Y'ALL'S WELL, THE FIRST, YEAH, FIRST ONE EMPLOYEE CONTRACT TEMPLATE.
SO WORKING WITH CAROLINE WEBSTER, UM, TO GET THAT, AND WE'RE GOING TO ASK, UM, OUR HR DEPARTMENT AS WELL FOR THAT, FOR AN EXAMPLE CONTRACT.
SO WE CAN GET MOVING ON THE, UM, THE HIRES FOR THE TWO DECISIONS Y'ALL MADE TONIGHT.
UM, THE BUDGET INCREASED TEMPLATE.
NUMBER TWO, I WAS GOOD SEEING YOU I'LL SWITCH BUDGET RIGHT THERE.
UM, YOU HAVE, AS SOON AS YOU CAN, I THINK, THINK YOU MIGHT, IF YOU COULD EVEN SEND IT OVER TONIGHT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
AND THEN WE CAN, UM, WE CAN GET THAT PROCESS MOVE INTO TO ASK FOR AN INCREASE IN THE BUDGET AMOUNT.
UM, AND THEN NUMBER THREE, THE JULY 7TH MEETING.
SO WE'RE LOOKING GOOD FOR THAT.
UH, WE DID A WALKTHROUGH THAT JULY 7TH MEETING WILL BE BOTH IN-PERSON AND REMOTE OVER, UM, OVER WEBEX.
UH, IT'LL BE HERE IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS.
EVERY OTHER SEAT WILL BE BLOCKED OFF FOR THREE FOOT SOCIAL DISTANCING, UM, AS WELL, SOME OTHER, UH, COVID PROTOCOLS.
UM, UH, AND IT WILL HAVE THE OPTIONS THAT PEOPLE PARTICIPATE, COMMISSIONERS WALLS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE EITHER IN PERSON OR WEBEX ON REMOTE.
UM, COUNCIL CHAMBERS IS SET UP TO DO, TO DO THAT HYBRID SETUP.
SO WE CAN DO THAT AS WELL AS BROADCAST THAT MEETING AS IT'S TAKEN PLACE.
UM, UH, YEAH, SO CITY HALL IS RIGHT HERE ON FIRST STREET ON, UH, CESAR CHAVEZ, UM, THE, OUR CAPITAL METRO BUS ROUTES THAT COME HERE, UM, AND THERE WAS, UH, A PARKING GARAGE WHERE YOU GET YOUR PARKING VALIDATED, UM, UNDER THE BUILDING AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN MOVING FORWARD, WE'RE LOOKING AT OTHER LOCATIONS WHERE WE CAN HAVE THE, UM, IN-PERSON AND ALSO SEEING IF WE CAN, UH, GET Y'ALL'S REGULAR MEETINGS TO BE BOTH IN-PERSON AND REMOTE AS WELL.
AND SO WE'RE STILL WORKING ON THAT.
UM, AND THAT WOULD BE STARTING ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 14TH, BUT, UM, BUT YEAH, WE'RE LOOKING GOOD FOR, UH, NEXT WEDNESDAY, JULY 7TH TO BE BOTH IN-PERSON AND, UM, UH, UM, AND REMOTE.
SO IF YOU'LL WANT TO GET HERE, UM, MAYBE A LITTLE BIT EARLY WHEN KIND OF WALK THROUGH AND GET YOU ALL SET UP ON THE, ON THE DIOCESE AND SHOW
[03:40:01]
YOU HOW THE BUTTONS WORK AND THE MICROPHONES WORK AND ALL THAT, ALL THAT GOOD STUFF.I SEE THAT COMMISSIONER CALEDON HAS A QUESTION.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF YOU WOULD UPDATE PLEASE, MATT.
UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THAT.
THE CALENDAR INVITE FOR THAT MEETING WITH WHATEVER THE WEBEX LINK WOULD BE FOR REMOTE FOLKS.
YEAH, USUALLY WE GET THAT ON, ON MONDAYS.
SO AS SOON AS I GET THAT, I'LL, I'LL SEND THAT OUT.
UM, AND THEN ALSO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS SCHEDULE, IF IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR YOU ALL, ONCE THAT SCHEDULE GETS SET FOR THE PUBLIC HEARINGS, I MEAN, ESSENTIALLY EITHER LISA OR ME, AND WE CAN SEND OUT CALENDAR HOLD REQUEST, UM, TO ALL 14 OF Y'ALL.
SO IT'S ON THE, ON THE CALENDARS.
UH, OH, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ, JUST A CLARIFICATION QUESTION, A CLARIFICATION QUESTION FOR MATT, UM, IN TERMS OF THE BUDGET WHERE YOU MEANT SAYING THAT, SEND IT TO YOU.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, MATT, FOR EVERYTHING AND FOR STAYING ON AT 10 O'CLOCK TILL 10 O'CLOCK AT NIGHT, REALLY APPRECIATE YOU, UH, CAROLINE, UH, BEING WITH US.
I REALLY APPRECIATE THE UPDATES TODAY, EVA.
YOU KNOW, MY, MY AMBITIOUS GOAL WAS TO GET UP BY NINE 30, BUT MY REALISTIC GOAL WAS TO GET UP BY 10 AND I THINK THAT WE WILL SUCCEED AT THAT.
SO THE FINAL ORDER OF BUSINESS IS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I HAVE A COUPLE OF THINGS TO ADD HERE.
UM, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THE, UM, UH, TO THE JULY 7TH AGENDA THAT THE COMMISSION ESTABLISHES VALUES AND NORMS FOR HOW TO WORK TOGETHER AND HOW TO HONOR THE CITY AND ITS RESIDENTS NOW THAT WE ARE A FULL COMMISSION.
AND I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE A NICE THING TO DO JUST AS A FIRST IN-PERSON ACTIVITY.
UM, ALSO NEXT MEETING, WE WILL HAVE INVITED GUESTS FROM THE NAACP TO PRESENT TO THE COMMISSION.
I THINK THAT MR. PECK YOUNG HAD SAID THAT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE CALL, AND WE WILL ALSO HAVE, UH, PROFESSOR HENRY FLORES TO PRESENT TO US ABOUT THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT AND VOTING RIGHTS OF LATINOS IN TEXAS.
SO THAT IS, UM, ANOTHER THING ON THE AGENDA.
AND THIRD, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT THE PUBLIC HEARINGS WORKING GROUP, UM, PRESENTS A SET OF PLANS FOR HOW TO CONDUCT THE PUBLIC HEARINGS THAT ARE STARTING ON JULY 13TH.
AND I KNOW THERE THAT AT LEAST TWO OF US HAVE THINGS TO ADD.
SO THE FLOOR IS CHRISTIAN OR BLANK AND THEN CONSIDER HARDEN.
WELL, AND JUST ADD, SO WE DON'T RUN A FOUL NEXT TIME, HOW, AND WHEN, WHERE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THE PUBLIC HEARINGS.
YEAH, I THINK THAT WAS, UH, GONZALEZ IS, UM, DEFINITELY I THINK THAT'S A SEPARATE PIECE FOR, BUT ABSOLUTELY.
UH, THAT WAS WHAT I WAS GOING TO, UH, SUGGEST IS GET THE, WHEN THE MEETINGS PUBLIC MEETINGS WOULD BE FOR THE, FOR THE AGENDA.
SO WE WILL HAVE, UM, AN AGENDA ITEM FOR HOW TO CONDUCT THE MEETINGS AND THEN WE HAVE AGENDA ITEMS FOR WHEN TO CONDUCT THE MEETINGS AND HOPEFULLY WHERE TO, UM, COMMISSIONER GATES.
I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME TO BRING THIS UP, BUT I, I KNOW, UM, W ONE OF THE THINGS WE WERE CURIOUS ABOUT WAS WHETHER OR NOT WE COULD HAVE A PLACE TO STORE DOCUMENTS, UM, YOU KNOW, SO THAT WE CAN, UH, AS A COMMISSION OR AS WORKING GROUPS OR COMMITTEES COMMITTEES, UM, BE ABLE TO ACCESS FILES OR STORE FILES.
UM, CAROLINE, I UNDERSTAND THAT WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE PEOPLE COMMENTING THEM OR, OR, OR COMMENTING ON THE DOCUMENTS, BUT JUST TO HAVE LIKE A CONSISTENT PLACE WHERE LET'S JUST SAY THE LATEST VERSION OF A DOCUMENT IS STORED.
CAN WE, AS A COMMISSION HAVE OUR OWN DROPBOX, OR DO YOU KNOW IF THAT'S ALLOWED? UH, I, I WOULD SAY YOU'RE GOOD.
UH, AGAIN, THE KEY IS THAT YOU CAN'T BE DISCUSSING IT BECAUSE THEN IT'S LIKE, YOU'RE HAVING A MEETING OF THE MINDS RIGHT.
OUTSIDE OF, UH, OUTSIDE OF AN OPEN MEETING.
SO, UM, BUT YEAH, IF THAT'S SOMETHING YOU NEED SOME MORE INFORMATION ON, WE CAN, I CAN COMMUNICATE THROUGH EMAIL WITH YOU, OR YOU GUYS CAN PUT THAT ON A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM, JUST TO ADD TO THAT, TO COMMISSIONER YOU.
I THINK IF YOU WANTED TO HAVE A STORE, YOU MIGHT WANT TO SET UP SOME RULES THAT SAY, EVERYBODY ONLY HAS VIEW ACCESS AND NO EDIT OR COMMENT NOW MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO PREVENT ACCIDENTS THAT WAY.
SO YOU DON'T ACCIDENTALLY START TO WORK ON THAT.
THAT'S A GREAT POINT, BUT I HAVE
[03:45:01]
A FOLLOW-UP QUESTION FOR CAROLINE.SO DID YOU SAY THAT WE NEEDED TO DISCUSS IT ON A FOLLOWING MEETING? OR DID YOU SAY THAT WE COULD FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ON IT OVER EMAIL? YOU CAN FOLLOW UP WITH ME ON IT.
WE CAN'T REALLY DISCUSS IT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IT'S NOT AN AGENDA ITEM.
IT'S NOT A LIST OF AGENDA ITEM.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY I DON'T WANT TO GET INTO IT RIGHT NOW, BUT I'M VERY HAPPY TO DISCUSS IT WITH YOU.
WE ALREADY EXCHANGED A BIT, A LITTLE BIT OF AN EMAIL, UH, WHEN YOU SENT YOUR FOLLOW-UP EMAIL TODAY, BUT SO IT'S HOWEVER YOU GUYS WANT TO DO IT, BUT I'M HAPPY TO GIVE YOU SOME ADVICE THROUGH SOME EMAIL, UM, AS NEEDED.
UM, CAN WE HAVE IT AS AN UPDATE FROM THE CITY AT OUR NEXT, UM, AND, AND WE'LL, WE'LL, WE CAN DO SOME EMAILING BEHIND THE SCENES ABOUT THIS, BUT WE CAN HAVE AN UP FORMAL UPDATE PROVIDED BY THE CITY AT OUR NEXT MEETING REGARDING THE POTENTIAL OF A DROPBOX OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AS LONG AS ANY EMAILS THAT I'M EXCHANGING, OR OBVIOUSLY WITH LESS THAN QUORUM OF, OF MEMBERS THAT YES.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER BUSINESS? ALL RIGHT.
SINCE THERE WAS NO FURTHER BUSINESS, THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED.
ENJOY YOUR 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND.
THANKS HALL, ESPECIALLY THANKS TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN STUFF.