* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:03] YOU GUYS ARE READY FOR US TO DO THAT MAYOR? YES. WE'RE GETTING ORGANIZED FOR THE BUDGET WORKSHOP. I JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP ON SOMETHING THAT AROSE IN OUR EARLIER COVID BRIEFING. AND THAT IS, UM, I THINK IT WAS COUNCIL MEMBER CASARA THAT ASKED ABOUT SOME OF THE REASONS FOR VACCINE HESITANCY. AND I HEARD AN INTERESTING REPORT YESTERDAY, UM, ON NEWS THAT TALKED ABOUT AN INTERVIEWED W THEY WERE INTERVIEWING SOME INDIVIDUALS TO TALK ABOUT WHY THEY WERE NOT GETTING THE VACCINE. AND IN SOME CASES, PEOPLE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT MISSING WORK, THAT IF THEY HAD ANY SIDE EFFECTS, THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET TO WORK FOR SEVERAL DAYS POTENTIALLY. AND SO, YOU KNOW, I, I'M REALLY PROUD OF THIS COUNCIL AND IT'S WORKED, BUT IT'S DONE ON A SICK LEAVE POLICY, BUT I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER MESSAGE TO GET OUT TO THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY THAT IT'S TERRIFIC, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, ENCOURAGING OUR BUSINESSES IN TOWN TO, TO ENCOURAGE THEIR EMPLOYEES AND TO PROVIDE TIME OFF FOR VACCINATIONS, BUT, UM, PROVIDING THAT SPACE FOR EMPLOYEES TO STAY HOME, IF THEY DO HAVE ANY SIDE EFFECTS, UH, MAY ALSO BE PART OF THE EQUATION. OKAY. I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD. THANK YOU. I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND COULD BE THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL MEETING HERE TODAY. SPECIAL BUDGET WORK SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 3RD, 20, 20 WIDE. UH, IT IS, UH, OKAY. OKAY. THANK YOU. [1. Discussion about the fiscal year 2021-2022 proposed budget and tax rate. (Part 1 of 2)] UH, IT IS, UH, 1145, UH, COLLEAGUES. WE HAVE THE BUDGET SCHEDULE TODAY. UH, WE HAVE WHAT THE STAFF HAS LAID OUT AND POSTED AND SAID TO US LAST NIGHT IS THE ELEMENTS THEY'VE HEARD PEOPLE TALK ABOUT, UH, THAT THEY WANT TO ADDRESS. SO WE HAVE STAFF READY TO MAKE THAT KIND OF PRESENTATION. UM, AND THEN WE HAVE, UH, ALSO EXECUTIVE SESSION, UH, TWO ITEMS IN EXECUTIVE SESSION. UH, I WANT TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHAT YOUR ALL'S PLEASURE IS. WOULD, WOULD IT BE THE INTENT MANAGER TO HAVE THE STAFF GIVE THE FULL BUDGET PRESENTATION TO WALK THROUGH THAT OR TO DO THAT BY SECTIONS MAYOR, COUNCIL? UH, WE WOULD RECOMMEND DOING IT BY SECTIONS, AND THEN WE CAN JUST GO SECTION BY SECTION THAT WOULD ALLOW FOR BREAKS AS APPROPRIATE FOR LUNCH AND FOR EXECUTIVE SESSIONS. UM, BUT IT'S STRUCTURED IN A WAY THAT WE CAN EASILY, UH, JUST GO THROUGH A SECTION PAUSE, SEE IF THERE ARE QUESTIONS, MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SECTION. UM, SO I DON'T THINK IT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL OVERALL TO JUST GO THROUGH THE WHOLE THING, UH, AT THE, AT ONCE. BUT, UM, THAT WAY WE CAN ALSO BREAK IT UP INTO THE TWO DAYS, UH, BOTH TODAY AND ON THURSDAY. SO WHATEVER WE DON'T GET THROUGH TODAY, WE CAN COVER ON THURSDAY. UM, ONCE WE MAKE THIS DETERMINATION OF SCHEDULE, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO CARRIE LANG WHO WILL JUST OUTLINE, UH, THAT GAME PLAN AND THE TOPICS THAT WE'VE OUTLINED, UH, AS YOU REFERENCED. ALL RIGHT, THE OTHER PLACE THAT WE COULD GO IS, WHAT WE COULD DO IS WE, WE COULD, IF WE WANTED TO, UH, BREAK FOR W WE HAD A LONG SESSION THIS MORNING, WE COULD BREAK FOR LARGER BREAK AND GO BACK TO EXECUTIVE SESSION NOW, UH, AND THEN TALK ABOUT WHETHER, OR TO WHAT DEGREE WE WANTED TO ACTUALLY HOLD EXECUTIVE SESSION TODAY. THAT MIGHT GIVE US THAT, UH, A VIEW FOR, FOR VISUAL FERVOR FOR BOTH AVENUES AND THAT EITHER WE CAN STAY THE EXECUTIVE SESSION OR WE CAN COME BACK OUT AND START THE BUDGET SESSION. THAT'S SOUNDED GOOD. AND LET'S GO AHEAD AND DO THAT. WE'LL WE'LL WE'LL GO AHEAD. YES. WELL, I'D LIKE TO S TO ANSWER RIGHT NOW, WHETHER WE'RE GOING TO HAVE EXECUTIVE SESSION OR NOT, IS THAT I COULDN'T QUITE UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WERE SAYING. WE'RE GOING TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION SO WE CAN SEE WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO TALK ABOUT, OR WHETHER PEOPLE WANT TO TALK. AND IT'S NOT REALLY A CONVERSATION WE CAN HAVE HERE. SO WE'RE GOING TO SPEND THE NEXT 15 MINUTES, AT LEAST IT EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR THE PURPOSE OF, OF LOOKING AT THAT AGENDA AND SEEING, UH, UM, WHETHER WE WANT TO, HOW WE, WHETHER WE WANT TO COVER THAT NOW, OR WHETHER WE WANT TO COME BACK OUT, DO THE BUDGET STUFF AND DO EXECUTIVE SESSION LATER, I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST, SUGGEST SOMETHING RIGHT NOW THAT I THINK WE CAN TALK ABOUT PUBLICLY. AND I'M JUST TRYING TO DETERMINE, DETERMINE BECAUSE, UM, SO, UH, I WOULD PROPOSE THAT WE DO OUR EXECUTIVE SESSIONS ON THURSDAY. UH, IF [00:05:01] OTHERS WANT TO HAVE THEM TODAY, THAT'S, THAT'S FINE. I CAN, I CAN DO THAT. I JUST THOUGHT FOR, FOR PURPOSES OF CLARITY, THAT IT MIGHT BE USEFUL TO JUST GO AHEAD AND SAY RIGHT NOW THAT WE'RE GOING TO DO EXECUTIVE SESSIONS ON THURSDAY, AND THEN WE KNOW, WELL, IT'S POSTED FOR THURSDAY, SO WE CERTAINLY CAN. UH, BUT BEFORE WE MAKE THAT DECISION, WE'RE GOING TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION SO THAT WE CAN GIVE PEOPLE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK IN THAT FORUM. OKAY. THE D THE DIFFICULTY MAYOR IS THAT FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE VIRTUAL, IT IS HARDER TO HEAR AN EXECUTIVE SESSION. AND SO WE'LL JUST HAVE TO, UM, ALL SPEAK UP SO WE CAN HAVE THAT CONVERSATION. UM, AND SOME OF US MAY BE MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT WHETHER WE NEED TO APPEAR IN PERSON FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION. SO IT'D BE EASIER TO, TO HAVE THAT CLEAR NOW, BUT IF YOU'D PREFER TO DO IT THE OTHER WAY, THEN, THEN WE CAN CERTAINLY LET'S DO IT THE OTHER WAY, BUT WE'LL CERTAINLY TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT. AND WHEN WE GET BACK THERE, I THINK THINGS WILL BE CLEARER TO US. THE LIMITATIONS IN THAT SPACE WILL BE CLEARER TO US. PEOPLE'S SCHEDULES OVER THE DAY WILL BE CLEARER TO US. SO WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GOING TO START THAT WAY. SO HERE AT 1150, WE'RE GOING TO GO INTO, UH, UH, EXECUTIVE SESSION. YOU DON'T HAVE THE SCRIPT HANDED TO YOU. THANK YOU. [Executive Session (Part 1 of 2)] COUNSEL IS GOING TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION TO TAKE UP TWO ITEMS PURSUANT TO 5, 5, 1 0 7. ONE OF THE GOVERNMENT CODE. WE'RE GOING TO DISCUSS LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO A NUMBER THREE POTENTIAL NOVEMBER 2ND, 2021 ELECTION. ALSO A PURSUIT OF FIVE, FIVE WATER OR SEVEN FOR THE GOVERNMENT CODE. WE'RE GOING TO DISCUSS PERSONNEL MATTERS RELATED TO ITEM TWO A I WOULD POINT OUT THAT ON OUR AGENDA FOR TODAY. UH, WE HAVE ITEMS 1, 2, 3 BELOW THAT ARE THE AGENDA. WE'RE ANOTHER LISTING OF ONE THROUGH 12 ITEMS AT DIFFERENT CATEGORIES. WE'RE NOT GOING TO DISCUSS THOSE ONE THROUGH 12 AND THOSE ADDITIONAL CATEGORY EDITS, EXCEPT IN SO MUCH AS THEY'RE COVERED BY ONE, TWO AND THREE. SO THE AGENDA TODAY, EVERYTHING'S WITHDRAWN EXCEPT FOR ONE, TWO, AND THREE, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE VERY TO BE COVERING. SO WITHOUT OBJECTION, UH, LET'S MOVE OVER TO EXECUTIVE SESSION ON THE ITEMS, UH, UH, ANNOUNCED, UH, THE TIME IS 1151. OKAY. UH, WE, UH, EARLIER CONVENED THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION HERE AT BUDGET WORK SESSION HERE ON AUGUST 3RD, 2021. UM, WE RECESSED AND WENT INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION, UH, WE'VE, UH, RECESSED, UH, EXECUTIVE SESSION WHERE ITEMS THREE AND TWO WERE ON THE, UH, UH, AGENDA. UH, WE WILL RECONVENE, UH, EXECUTIVE SESSION PROPERTY ABOUT THREE O'CLOCK TODAY. WE'RE GOING TO TRY AND WORK OUT A HARD STOP ON TODAY'S BUDGET MATTERS BETRAYED NOW AT THREE. SO LET'S WORK AND, AND WE'LL TRY TO HELP FACILITATE THAT AT THREE O'CLOCK, WE'LL GO BACK INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION. WE HAVE A HARD STOP TODAY AT FIVE 15. I WILL MAKE SURE THAT WE, UH, WE DO THAT. I, WE HAVE A QUARTER QUORUM PRESENT. [1. Discussion about the fiscal year 2021-2022 proposed budget and tax rate. (Part 2 of 2)] UH, WE'RE HANDLING THIS MEETING, UH, VIRTUALLY WE DO HAVE, UH, UH, FOUR MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL HERE ALSO, UM, UH, ON THE DAYS MANAGER, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. UH, WE'RE GOING TO DIVE RIGHT INTO THE TOPICS THAT WERE OUTLINED BY OUR INTERIM BUDGET OFFICER. AND SO, UH, IF CARRIE WOULD JUST, UH, REVIEW THE GAME PLAN, IF YOU WILL, FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW, AND THEN WE'LL GO RIGHT INTO OUR FIRST TOPIC. THANK YOU. CITY MANAGER, CARRIE LANG, INTERIM BUDGET OFFICER. UM, AND I'M SORRY, REAL QUICK. UM, MAYOR YOU AND I HAD A CONVERSATION RECENTLY, UM, THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT TO PREFACE THE WHOLE DIALOGUE WITH YES, I WAS GOING TO ADDRESS THAT IN A SECOND, BUT HAPPY TO DO NOW, MAYOR PRO TEM WANTS EVERYONE TO KNOW THAT SHE'S PARTICIPATING IN THIS, UH, WATCHING THIS, UH, BUT AS DEALING WITH SOME PRETTY SIGNIFICANT PAIN, UH, ISSUES. UH, SO, UM, VISUALLY IT'S GOING TO BE KIND OF LIMITED TODAY. UH, BUT THOSE KINDS OF ISSUES, DON'T SLOW HER DOWN AT ALL, OR PEOPLE THAT DEAL WITH, UH, THOSE KINDS OF ISSUES. AND WE APPRECIATE THAT AND THAT'S REAL IMPORTANT, BUT SHE'S GOING TO BE WITH US, UH, PARTICIPATING, EVEN IF WE DON'T, EVEN IF WE'RE NOT SEEING HER FOR A BIT, MAYOR PRO TEM, IF AT ANY POINT YOU WANT TO, TO DIVE BACK IN OR SPEAK OR ANYTHING ELSE, PLEASE JUST, THAT'S ALL. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GIVE PEOPLE WHO EXPERIENCED CHRONIC PAIN, THE CLIMATE EXPERIENCE THAT THEY, UM, SHOULD THEY NEED TO BE RECOGNIZED. THAT'S ALL. ABSOLUTELY. ALL RIGHT. SO WITH THAT, THEN [00:10:01] HE WOULD PROCEED. THANK YOU. I THINK WE HAVE A PRESENTATION THAT IS THAT WE'RE READY TO PRESENT AS WE CONTINUE THE BUDGET DISCUSSIONS. UM, LAST WEEK WE HEARD FROM COUNCIL AND, UM, THERE ARE SEVERAL TOPICS THAT WE WANT TO BRING FORTH WITH THE DIRECTORS OF THE DEPARTMENTS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE WORK THROUGH TODAY AND THURSDAYS WORK SESSION. THESE ARE THE TOPICS THAT WE, UM, WILL PLAN TO DISCUSS WITH COUNCIL AND GET MORE DIRECTION. UM, THE AUSTIN CARES MENTAL HEALTH DIVERSION, PROJECT, EMS, BUDGET ITEMS, COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER PROGRAM, AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND DISPATCH EQUITY AND OPTIMIZATION EFFICIENCY STUDY THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT BUDGET AND AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION FOUNDATION, BUDGET ITEMS. THOSE ARE THE ITEMS THAT WE BELIEVE WE'LL TRY TO GET THROUGH TODAY. I KNOW THIS IS A VERY AGGRESSIVE, UM, UM, TIMELINE, IF NOT, WE WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE SOME OF THOSE ITEMS TO THURSDAY'S MEETING. AND SO WITH THAT, I WANT US TO JUST GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED AT THE, THE, UM, ANDY HOFFMEISTER. WE'LL BEGIN WITH THE AUSTIN CARES MENTAL HEALTH DIVERSION PROJECT, AND I BELIEVE HE'S AVAILABLE ONLINE. YEAH, GOOD AFTERNOON. AND THANK YOU, MS. LANG. I APPRECIATE THE INTRODUCTION, UH, IF WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. YEAH. UH, SO, UH, I'M ANNIE HOFFMEISTER. I'M AN ASSISTANT CHIEF WITH, WITH AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS. AND I AM WORKING WITH, UH, THE CITY'S KEY GROUP OF STAKEHOLDERS, INCLUDING INTRA VOCARE, APD AND EMS IN IMPLEMENTING THE, UM, THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE MEADOWS 2019 REPORT. SO WE'VE BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE MEADOWS GROUP, UH, TH THIS INFORMATION WE'RE JUST PROVIDING TO INFORM ANY, ANY, AND ALL DECISIONS THAT YOU, UH, YOU, YOU ARE GOING TO BE MAKING IN TERMS OF WHERE TO ALLOCATE FUNDS. UH, WE'VE, WE'VE BEEN ASKED A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS THROUGH THIS ABOUT, UH, WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO CONTINUE IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS. AND SO WE'RE JUST GOING TO SIMPLY PROVIDE THIS TO YOU AS, AS, UH, INFORMATION TO, TO CONSIDER AS YOU MOVE FORWARD THROUGH YOUR, THROUGH YOUR, UH, THROUGH THE BUDGET PROCESS. OKAY. SLIDE. UM, SO IN, UH, SO FOR THIS PARTICULAR YEAR MOVING FORWARD IN THE NEXT BUDGET YEAR, UM, THERE, WE ASKED, UH, APD LEADERSHIP ABOUT WHAT IT MIGHT COST TO, EXCUSE ME, UH, WHAT IT MIGHT COST TO, UH, PROVIDE THE MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING THAT'S BEEN DESIGNED OR BEING DESIGNED AND WILL BE IMPLEMENTED, UH, LATER THIS YEAR, UH, FOR ALL OF ITS NINE 11 OPERATORS. AND, UM, THEY, UH, ESTIMATED WILL BE APPROXIMATELY $60,000. AND THAT'LL, THAT'LL JUST BE IN OVERTIME COSTS TO BRING PEOPLE IN FOR THE ADDITIONAL TRAINING, UM, THEIR RECOMMENDATION, UH, FOR, UH, TO, TO BRING IN A CLINICIAN AND INTEGRATE THEM INTO THE NINE 11 PROCESS, THE CALL TAKING PROCESS SO THAT THEY CAN, UM, CAN ASSIST IN DEESCALATING A CALL WORKING THROUGH THE SITUATION WITH SOMEBODY THAT'S EXPERIENCING A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS, UM, TO BRING, UH, UH, ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL IN AND TO INTEGRATE THEM INTO THE SYSTEM EVEN FURTHER, UH, WOULD REQUIRE SOME, UH, ONE-TIME COSTS TO RECONFIGURE THE NINE 11 OPERATIONS FLOOR A BIT, UH, SO THAT, UH, THE, THERE ARE APPROPRIATE WORKSTATIONS AND SUCH FOR THOSE CLINICIANS TO, UH, TO WORK, UH, AND PERFORM THEIR DUTIES. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. OKAY. I SPOKE WITH INTEGRAL CARE'S LEADERSHIP AND ASK THEM, UH, UNDERSTANDING THAT THE COUNCIL'S GOAL IS TO REACH A 100% DIVERSION OF MENTAL HEALTH CALLS THAT DON'T INVOLVE VIOLENCE OR WEAPONS, OR A THREAT TO PUBLIC SAFETY, TAKE THOSE AND DIVERT THEM TO MENTAL HEALTH AND HEALTHCARE RELATED RESOURCE. UM, I ASKED THEM, I SAID, WHAT, WHAT WOULD IT TAKE, WHAT IS IT THAT THEY FEEL WOULD BE NECESSARY? AND THEY CAME BACK WITH, UH, APPROXIMATELY $7.3 MILLION. NOW, OF COURSE, THAT WOULD BE PHASED IN OVER TIME, UH, HOWEVER, UM, TO GET IT, TO GET THE SYSTEM TO A POINT WHERE THE, UH, THE SYSTEM COULD POTENTIALLY APPROACH THAT 100%, UH, DIVERSION RATE. UM, THIS IS WHAT THEY'RE THINKING. THIS INCLUDES PERSONNEL COSTS AND SOME OVERHEAD COSTS, UH, AND SOME, UH, ONE-TIME CAPITAL COSTS AS WELL. AND THEN THIS, UH, FOR COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION, THIS IS RELATED TO THE RECOMMENDATION ABOUT, UM, ABOUT, UH, INFORMING AND PROVIDING TRAINING AND EDUCATION TO THE COMMUNITY ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS RESPONSE SYSTEM AND, UH, IN THOSE AREAS THAT ARE IN MOST NEED OF IT. AND, AND, UM, EXPERIENCED THE GREATEST NUMBER [00:15:01] OF, OF ENCOUNTERS FOR THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE. IT'S, IT WOULD TAKE APPROXIMATELY $5,000 FOR MATERIALS, DIFFERENT FEES THAT WE MAY NEED TO PAY FOR, FOR, UH, DIFFERENT OUTREACH MODALITIES, SUCH AS SOCIAL MEDIA OR NEWS, OR ANY OF THOSE THINGS, UH, AND TO, UH, PROVIDE SOME, UH, SOME NOMINAL FEE PAYMENT TO, UH, PARTNERS LIKE NAMI, UH, FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE AND, UM, AND THEIR HELP IN THIS MATTER. SO, UH, THAT'S A SHORT LIST, UH, BUT I JUST WANTED TO PROVIDE YOU IN TERMS OF, UH, POTENTIAL INFORMATION THAT, THAT CAN HELP YOU. UH, MAY I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS? MAY I GO AHEAD WITH QUESTIONS NOW? OKAY, GO AHEAD. OKAY. UH, AND IF YOU COULD TAKE US OFF THE BOARD AND LET US SEE THE COUNCIL AGAIN, PLEASE GO AHEAD AND PERFECT. OKAY. OKAY. SO, UH, THANK YOU FOR PRESENTING THIS, UM, INFORMATION. UH, I HAVE, I THINK IT'S JUST TWO QUESTIONS. SO, UM, I'M GOING TO ASK THE OVERARCHING QUESTION FIRST, AND THEN I WANT TO DRILL DOWN ON THE QUESTION RELATED TO STAFFING. SO MY FIRST QUESTION IS, UM, LAST, LAST BUDGET CYCLE LAST YEAR, WE DID INCREASE THE NUMBER OF COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDICS. UH, WE ALSO PUT OTHER INCREASES INTO THE BUDGET TO FULLY FUND THE, UH, AT THAT TIME TO FULLY FUND THE ALSTON CARES PROGRAM. SO, UM, MY QUESTION TO YOU NOW IS, AND THIS MAY BE A BUDGET QUESTION FOR MS. LANG, BUT, UM, IS, ARE WE, IS, IS IT FUNDED AT THE SAME LEVEL IN THIS PROPOSED BUDGET AS LAST YEAR'S FUNDING? THAT'S QUESTION NUMBER ONE, AND THEN I'LL DO THAT. SO CAN, CAN SOMEONE ANSWER THAT FOR ME? OH, WE DO. WE HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF FUNDING WITH THE SAME NUMBER OF FTES AS WE APPROVED LAST YEAR. UH, SO MY UNDERSTANDING IS, IS THAT THE COSTS FOR, AS THE SYSTEM IS RIGHT NOW TODAY, UH, WILL CARRY OVER. I WOULD HAVE TO CONFIRM THAT WITH, UH, WITH THE BUDGET OFFICE AND, UM, MS. LANG MAY BE ABLE TO HELP NOW THESE FIGURES WOULD BE IN ADDITION TO, UM, SO LIKE FOR INSTANCE, THE DOLLARS FOR INTEGRAL CARE, THAT IS JUST SIMPLY TO GET IT TO A T TO TAKE WHAT WE HAVE NOW, PLUS THE 7.3, UM, 7.3 MILLION TO GET IT TO ITS FULL SCALE. SO THAT 24 7, THOSE CALLS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S OVER. I WOULD S I WOULD VENTURE TO SAY, JUST APD ALONE IS DISPATCHED OVER 50,000 CALLS OR A MENTAL HEALTH RELATED, UH, EMERGENCY A YEAR. SO IT COULD BE ABLE TO GET THE VOLUME OF PERSONNEL TO DO THAT. IT WOULD TAKE, UM, ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL IN THE FUTURE. OKAY. SO I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, IT'S THAT THIS ISN'T A REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL, AND I'LL HAVE MORE DETAILED QUESTIONS THAT WE DON'T NEED TO GO INTO RIGHT NOW. BUT THE REASON I'M ASKING THAT IS FIRST, BECAUSE WE SAID LAST YEAR THAT WE WERE FUNDING AT THE LEVEL WOULD GET US TO A HUNDRED PERCENT. SO I WANT TO KNOW HOW THAT COMPARES TO LAST YEAR. THE SECOND THING IS THAT WE JUST HAD A REALLY GREAT REPORT, UM, ON THE PROGRESS THAT FOLKS ARE MAKING, WHICH IS, UH, REALLY APPRECIATED. UM, AND SO WE HAD SOME CONVERSATION THEN ABOUT THE FIVE RECOMMEND OF SIX RECOMMENDATIONS FROM US AND THE PROGRESS THAT WERE MADE ON THOSE. SO I NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS REQUEST IN LIGHT OF THAT. UM, AND I ALSO, I THOUGHT IT WAS THAT AT THAT TIME THAT WE WERE, THAT WE HAD THE MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS IN THE CALL CENTER, TWENTY FOUR SEVEN NOW, SO THIS, THE ADDITIONAL IS THIS IS THIS MONEY FOR, SO TALK, UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT THIS HIM CUT FIELD RESPONSES IS FOR TIME. NEXT QUESTION, CAUSE THIS MAY BE WHAT IT'S FOR. THERE WAS A RECOMMENDATION, UM, OUT OF THE AUSTIN CARES REPORT RECOMMENDATION, NUMBER FIVE, THAT WAS TALKING ABOUT, UM, INTEGRATION BETWEEN THE, UM, INTEGRATION BETWEEN THE APD CIT AND, UM, INTEGRAL CARE AND, UM, AND, UM, THE COMMUNITY CLINICS FOR THE FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITY. AND THAT RECOMMENDATION WAS THAT THERE NEEDED THERE. UM, WE NEEDED TO, UH, DO MORE WORK ON, ON, UM, ON, UM, DURING THAT ENSURING THAT INTEGRATION WAS OCCURRING SO THAT THERE WAS FOLLOW UP IN THE COMMUNITY THAT WAS FOCUSED ON HEALTH CARE, AS OPPOSED TO, AS OPPOSED TO MENTAL HEALTH. SO MY QUESTION IS THAT, UM, I'M, I'M WANTING TO UNDERSTAND IS, IS THE BUDGET WE HAVE IN FRONT OF US, UM, SUFFICIENT DEDICATE COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDICS TO THIS OUTREACH AFTERWARDS. OH, I'M SORRY. GO AHEAD. NO, YOU GO AHEAD. SO THE 14 [00:20:01] POSITIONS WE WERE PROVIDED LAST YEAR, WE'RE STILL WORKING TO, TO FILL THOSE POSITIONS. SO THAT'S PART OF THE REASON WHY YOU'RE NOT SEEING, UH, AN ADDITIONAL, ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON ADDITIONAL CHP POSITIONS, BECAUSE WE WANT TO GET TO THE, WE WANT TO FILL THE POSITIONS THAT WE HAVE BUDGETED ALREADY, BUT THAT TIES INTO THE ONGOING STAFFING, UH, FOR DEPARTMENT WIDE NEEDS. UH, AND SO THAT'S PART OF THE REASON WHY YOU'RE NOT SEEING ADDITIONAL POSITIONS. NOW, IF IN A PERFECT WORLD, WE HAD ALL THOSE POSITIONS FILLED, THEN, THEN WE WOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE A MUCH BETTER SENSE AS TO, UH, HOW THE, THE, THE, UH, THE CHP, UH, NUMBERS ARE ABLE TO MEET THE DEMAND. SO KIND OF A SUPPLY AND DEMAND THING. UM, SO CERTAINLY I WOULD LIKE TO GET THOSE THERE THAT SHOULD BE ABLE TO PUT US AT A POINT WHERE WE CAN GET TO A LARGE PORTION OF THOSE PARTICULAR, UH, MENTAL HEALTH CALLS. UM, BUT IT'S, IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT WITH, YOU KNOW, OVER 50, SOME ODD THOUSAND CALLS, UM, IT WOULD TAKE A SMALL ARMY OF INDIVIDUALS. IF WE WERE TO SAY TODAY, NOW PUTTING THOSE FOLKS OUT THERE, BEING ABLE TO GAUGE WHAT IT IS AND WHAT THOSE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES ARE, AND THEN FILL THOSE IN, IN COMING YEARS. THAT MIGHT BE, UM, THAT THAT'S KIND OF THE APPROACH THAT WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE. IF I CAN'T FILL THOSE POSITIONS RIGHT NOW BECAUSE OF DEPARTMENT WIDE STAFFING NEEDS. OKAY. I THINK THIS IS A LONGER CONVERSATION THAT, UM, THAT I'LL FOLLOW UP ON. UH, WE'RE LOOKING FOR IS BECAUSE LAST YEAR WE AUTHORIZED BOTH CLINICIANS TO SIT TO BE CALL-TAKERS. I MEAN, TO, TO BE SUPPORT IN THE CALL CENTER AND THOUGHT THAT WE HAD, WE HAD AUTHORIZED ENOUGH POSITIONS TO HANDLE. AND I THOUGHT THAT I HEARD WHEN WE HAD THE, UM, REPORT, THE ALSTON CARES REPORT THAT I THOUGHT I HEARD THAT WE NOW HAVE, WE'RE COVERED TWENTY FOUR SEVEN IN THE CALL CENTER. SO I'M WANTING TO UNDERS GET THAT CLEAR. AND THEN OF COURSE THE OTHER BIG AREA FOR, UM, FOR STAFFING IS THE FIELD-BASED AND THAT IS, UM, AND THAT'S ALSO FOLLOW-UP. SO I'M WANTING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE, WHAT WE HAVE, BECAUSE I THOUGHT, OH, I'M ALSO WANTING TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT WE HAVE DEDICATED THAT WE GET DEDICATED, UM, COMMUNITY HEALTH, MEDICS TO THIS AUSTIN CARES PROGRAM. I'M WANTING TO UNDERSTAND THAT ALL OF THAT WITHIN WHAT WE'VE ALREADY GOT AUTHORIZED. UM, SO I'LL JUST FOLLOW UP ON THAT BECAUSE, UM, THE OTHER THING THAT CONCERNS ME, OR QUESTION I HAVE IS, UM, THE MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING WAS RECOMMENDED LAST YEAR, AND WE JUST GOT, UH, WE JUST GOT A STATUS ON THAT. SO I UNDERSTAND WHERE THAT IS, THE CURRICULUM IS BEING DEVELOPED AND THEN THE, UM, AND THEN THE TRAINING WILL OCCUR. SO IS THIS 60,000 IN ADDITION TO WHAT'S IN THE BUDGET RIGHT NOW, OR IS IT WAS THE THINKING, IS THAT IT'LL BE TAKEN OUT OF, UM, OVERTIME? SO WE DON'T NEED, WE DON'T HAVE TO IDENTIFY AN ADDITIONAL 60,000, THE 60,000 WOULD BE TO BRING THOSE, TO BRING ALL CALL-TAKERS IN AND PUT THEM THROUGH THIS NEW TRAINING OR THE ENHANCED TRAINING THAT WE HAVE. SO IT WOULD BE AN ADDITION. AND JUST TO CLARIFY, TOO, THERE ARE MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIANS IN THE CALL CENTER, TWENTY FOUR SEVEN, THAT STARTED BACK IN MAY. RIGHT. BUT, UH, BUT THERE'S, THERE'S TWO OF THEM. UH, AND SO OBVIOUSLY WITH SEVERAL HUNDRED CALLS COMING IN A DAY AND EACH CALL EACH CALL TAKING, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL MINUTES OR, OR LONGER, UM, YOU JUST DON'T HAVE THAT CAPACITY. SO YOU'D NEED A WHOLE, A WHOLE GROUP OF PEOPLE AVAILABLE TO TAKE THE CALLS. SO, SORRY, I DIDN'T, I APOLOGIZE. I PROBABLY DIDN'T MAKE THAT CLEAR ENOUGH. NO, THAT'S ALL RIGHT. OKAY. UM, ALL RIGHT, WELL THEN, UM, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH THE SPECIFICS BECAUSE I'M WANTING TO UNDERSTAND, UH, SPECIFICALLY HOW THIS RIGHTS, UH, RELATES TO, UH, REGIONAL GOALS AND THE, AND THE CONVERSATION THAT WE HAD ON THE REPORT. I THINK IT WAS LAST WEEK. WE'RE EXPECTING TO GET MORE DATA ON WHERE WE'RE AT ON OUR GOALS IN ABOUT FIVE OR SIX WEEKS, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. SO FOLLOW UP WITH YOU. OKAY. JUST REAL QUICK, AS YOU MAY HAVE ANSWERED THIS IN THE NUMBERS THAT YOU GAVE, I JUST DIDN'T CATCH THEM. THE 7.3 WAS WHAT YOU WERE SAYING WAS NECESSARY TO GET TO A HUNDRED PERCENT DIVERSION. WHAT, HOW MANY CASES WOULD WE BE DIVERTING AT A HUNDRED PERCENT DIVERSION? UH, I WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT THE EXACT NUMBERS, BUT I KNOW THAT APD ALONE RESPONDS TO OVER 50,000 CALLS. NOW, EMS ALSO RESPONDS TO SOME OF THOSE. WE RUN UPWARDS OF ABOUT 5,000 CALLS THAT ARE IDENTIFIED RIGHT AT DISPATCH. UH, I WOULDN'T COMBINE THE TWO BECAUSE THERE IS OVERLAP. BOTH AGENCIES DO RESPOND TO MANY OF THE SAME CALLS. UH, SO, YOU KNOW, LET'S JUST SAY, YOU KNOW, 50 PLUS THOUSAND CALLS, UM, IT'S, UH, [00:25:01] IT WOULD TAKE, UH, WE WOULD PROBABLY BE ABLE TO HIT. UM, IT'D BE HARD TO SAY, BUT, YOU KNOW, MY GUESS IS, IS UPWARDS OF CLOSE TO 90% OR MORE. THOSE ARE JUST THE CALLS THAT ARE DISPATCHED AS, UM, AS A PSYCHIATRIC EMERGENCIES, MANY CALLS WE GET TO, YOU MAY NOT EVEN, UH, IT MAY BE CALLED IN SOMETHING ELSE, UH, AND OR REPORTED AS SOMETHING ELSE. AND THEN WE GET THERE AND FIND THAT IT IS A AND OF THE 45,000 CALLS THAT WOULD REPRESENT A HUNDRED PERCENT OR 90% OF THAT. DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HOW MANY WE'RE HITTING, WE'RE GETTING NOW? UH, I'D HAVE TO GET THOSE NUMBERS FROM APD. THAT'S PART OF, UH, PART OF THE DATA THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, THE VERY SMALL IMPLEMENTATION DONE, AND NOW WE'RE ABLE TO START MEASURING, BUT, UH, WHAT, UH, THEY'RE CAPTURING. AND THE LAST QUESTION I HAVE IS IT SOUNDS LIKE SOME OF THE FUNDING THAT WE GAVE LAST YEAR, UH, HAS POSITIONED YOU, BUT YOU HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO ACTUALLY EXECUTE IT YET. YOU HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO HIRE FOR THE POSITIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN AUTHORIZED AND, AND, AND FUNDED, UH, HOW MANY, UH, POSITIONS DO YOU HAVE NOW THAT ARE AUTHORIZED AND FIND THAT, BUT YOU HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FILL YET, UH, AS IT RELATES TO CHP, THE, THOSE 14, UH, THE REST OF THE DEPARTMENT, THE REST OF THE DEPARTMENT, I WOULD, I WOULD DEFER TO CHIEF BROWN, UH, FOR THE EXACT NUMBER THERE. UM, BUT FOR CHP AND THE POSITIONS THAT WE WOULD DEDICATE TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES OR RESPONSES, UH, WE HAVE 14 OPEN POSITIONS ON THAT PARTICULAR TEAM RIGHT NOW. DO YOU HAVE A FEEL FOR WHAT PERCENTAGE WILL BE ABLE TO GET TO, IF YOU WERE TO FILL THOSE 14 POSITIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN FUNDED? UH, IT'S HARD. IT WOULD BE A AT THIS POINT, JUST BECAUSE, UM, I CAN, I CAN TRY TO CALCULATE BASED ON WHAT AMBULANCE HOURS LOOK LIKE, BUT THESE CALLS ARE A BIT DIFFERENT, UM, AND INVOLVE A BIT MORE TIME. SO, YOU KNOW, FOR EVERY ONE CALL A UNIT RUNS, UH, I WOULD HAVE TO CALCULATE THAT AND SEE, AND WE'RE, WE'RE WATCHING TO SEE WHAT THE TREND IS IN TERMS OF UNIT TASK, TIME, CHP, UNIT, TASK TIME FOR THESE CALLS. UH, FIRST WE JUST HAVE TO GET THE SYSTEM AND THE PROCESSES DOWN SO THAT THEY CAN, UM, SO WE CAN BEGIN TO MEASURE THOSE. GOT IT. OKAY. COUNCILOR BERBER, UH, KELLY, THANK YOU. AND, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER KITCHEN. I THINK THAT WE WERE KIND OF ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH EARLIER. I HAPPENED TO WRITE DOWN SIMILAR QUESTIONS TO YOURS. SO THANK YOU FOR RAISING THOSE. IF I COULD BE INVOLVED IN YOUR LONGER CONVERSATION, I'D REALLY LIKE TO BE, BECAUSE I ACTUALLY SPENT TIME DOWN AT CTECH AND I LISTENED TO SOME OF THESE NINE 11, CALL-TAKERS TAKE THE CALLS FOR MENTAL HEALTH, AND IT WAS VERY INTRIGUING TO ME. I LIKE THE PROCESS. I REALLY BELIEVE IN IT. IT'S DOING GREAT THINGS FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW MORE. THANK YOU. OKAY. ONE JUST QUICK FOLLOW UP ONCE YOUR HEAD GUARD, JUST A SECOND TO GIVE SOME OTHER PEOPLE A CHANCE TO ASK SOME QUESTIONS. I COULDN'T SEE ANY MORE HANDS UP, SO THAT'S OKAY. BUT I, BUT I WOULD, I SEE THERE ARE A FEW THAT HAVE THEIR HANDS RAISED COUNCIL MEMBER, AUTHOR, THEN THE COUNSELOR FOR THIS. SO, UM, THIS IS A QUESTION FOR STAFF AND I'M NOT SURE WHO'S THE BEST TO ANSWER IT. UM, SO THERE'S A REQUEST FOR $300,000 FOR OPERATIONS FLOOR RECONFIGURATION ON SLIDE FOUR. UM, PAGE ONE 17 OF THE BUDGET SAYS THAT THERE'S $300,000 FOR ONE-TIME FUNDING TO RECONFIGURE. UM, CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHETHER THIS 300,000 IS ADDITIONAL AND IF IT IS ADDITIONAL WHAT THE TWO POTS WOULD BE FUNDING? UH, CAN YOU, CAN YOU REPEAT THE QUESTION AGAIN? I'M SORRY. IT WAS A BIT FRIGHTENED. UM, SO IN TERMS OF THE POTENTIAL ENHANCEMENTS, ONE OF THE ITEMS IS FOR $300,000 FOR OUR NINE 11 OPERATIONS FOR RECONFIGURATION, UM, IN THE PROPOSED BUDGET ON PAGE ONE 17 AT SITES THAT THERE'S $300,000 IN THE BUDGET OF ONE TIME FUNDING TO RECONFIGURE, UM, THE CALL CENTER. SO I WANTED TO UNDERSTAND IF THIS WAS $300,000 ADDITIONAL, OR IF THAT WAS ALREADY COVERED IN THE BUDGET. AND IF IT WASN'T COVERED IN THE BUDGET, I WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT WAS COVERED. I MIGHT HAVE TO DEFER TO, UM, ECM MARIANO, UH, OR, UH, AT BENIGNO TO DETERMINE IF THAT'S IN THE DOLLARS. THIS WOULD BE, UH, UH, ADDITIONAL ONE-TIME FUNDING JUST TO MAKE THOSE, THOSE, UM, RENOVATIONS. BUT, UH, I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S IN THE BUDGET ALREADY OR NOT. SO IN CASE IT'S HELPFUL, PAGE ONE 17 SAYS IT'S TO ADD SIX NEW 9 1, 1 OPERATOR CONSOLES, AND TWO NEW DISPATCH CONSOLES THAT I WOULD HAVE TO CHECK BACK WITH APD ON THAT NUMBER. THIS IS CARRIE LANG. UM, THOSE ITEMS ARE FOR THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT. UM, AND SO I BELIEVE THE INCREASES THAT, UM, ASSISTANT CHIEF HOFFMEISTER IS ADDING IS REQUESTED IS ALL FOR ADDITIONS ON THE EMS SIDE. AND SO THOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS THAT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT. OKAY. UM, IF WE CAN GET SOME INFORMATION ABOUT [00:30:03] THE, I'M NOT SURE IF THE EMS IS IN THE SAME LOCATION, OR IF IT'S A DIFFERENT LOCATION WHERE THEY WOULD BE DOING THE, BECAUSE I THOUGHT THEY WERE ALL THE WHOLE POINT WAS TO HAVE THEM ON THE SAME FLOOR, SO CORRECT. THEY ARE LOCATED ON THE SAME FLOOR, BUT THE, THE CONFIGURATIONS WERE SPECIFICALLY FOR THE, BECAUSE THE, HOW, THE, HOW THE CTECH IS SET UP AT THIS MOMENT, THEY HAVE DIFFERENT SECTIONS. AND SO THAT CONFIGURATION WAS, WAS FOCUSED ON THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION CENTER. UM, THE, NOT THE OVERALL NINE 11 CENTER. AND I BELIEVE WHAT, UM, CHIEF HOFFMEISTER IS, IS LOOKING AT IS SPECIFIC TO THE, UM, EMS SIDE OF THE HOUSE FOR COMMUTE, FOR RECONFIGURATION. OKAY. SO WOULD THERE THEN BE ANY ECONOMIES OF SCALE OF DOING THOSE TOGETHER SO THAT IT WOULD COST LESS THAN THAT IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK AT AS WE'RE, AS WE'RE ADDRESSING BOTH SIDES AND BOTH REQUESTS. OKAY, THANK YOU. YES. THANK YOU. MY QUESTION IS ON THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND EDUCATION, YOU HAVE 5,000 PROPOSED FOR MATERIALS AND TO DO COMMUNITY-BASED OUTREACH. AND THAT JUST SEEMS LIKE A LOW NUMBER, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'RE THINKING ABOUT PROVIDING MULTILINGUAL INFORMATION AND, YOU KNOW, TRANSLATION SERVICES ALONE, I THINK WOULD EXCEED 5,000 TO COVER ALL THE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES THAT WE HAVE IN OUR COMMUNITY, AND TO BE ABLE TO EFFECTIVELY ENGAGE IN, COMMUNICATE TO THE COMMUNITY ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE. UM, SO I WANTED TO GET A SENSE OF IN, CAUSE I KNOW THESE ARE ADDITIONS TO THE PROPOSED BUDGET. HOW MUCH DO YOU CURRENTLY HAVE, OR WHAT'S THE, UM, UH, BUDGET LINE ITEM THAT YOU HAVE ALLOCATED FOR OUTREACH AND EDUCATION? SO CURRENTLY WITH THIS, UH, LAST YEAR, THERE WAS $25,000 ALLOCATED, UM, TOWARDS, UH, THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH. AND I BELIEVE THAT WAS SET ASIDE FOR THAT SPECIFIC, UH, RECOMMENDATION, UM, THE ADDITIONAL DOLLARS, THE RECOMMENDATION STATES THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, HAVING THINGS LIKE WALLET CARDS OR ONE PAGE CAMP WALLETS, OR MAGNETS THAT CAN, THAT CAN BE DISTRIBUTED THROUGH THE COURSE OF AN OFFICER, UM, OR AT DIFFERENT EVENTS, MAYBE THERE'S A HEALTH FAIR OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BUT THEY CAN BE DISTRIBUTED. SO A LOT OF IT WOULD JUST BE MATERIALS WE'VE ALREADY REVIEWED IN. THE MATERIALS ARE JUST ABOUT, UM, JUST ABOUT COMPLETE, THEY'RE STILL FINISHING UP SOME WORK WITH NAMI AND, AND SOME OTHER REVIEWED BY THE TEAM. UH, BUT THE RECOMMENDATION IS JUST STATING THAT, UH, HAVE THESE MATERIALS SO THAT THEY CAN KIND OF BE PASSED OUT, UM, WHEN WE HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY. SO IT WOULD BE KIND OF INSERTED INTO THE WORKFLOW OF, OF DIFFERENT, UM, EVENTS, RIGHT? SO, YOU KNOW, HEALTH FAIR, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS, THIS, THESE DOLLARS, ADDITIONAL DOLLARS WE WERE LOOKING AT MIGHT BE, UM, FOR THE SAME THING. AND WE UNDERSTAND THAT WE CAN, UH, WE CAN TAKE THIS INFORMATION AND PROVIDE IT TO, UH, RESOURCES LIKE OUR PIO GROWS AND IT CAN BE DISTRIBUTED, YOU KNOW, THROUGH, UH, THROUGH, YOU KNOW, SOCIAL MEDIA OR ANY OF THOSE THINGS. SO THAT, UM, THERE ISN'T NECESSARILY AN OVERHEAD COST. I MEAN, WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT NECESSARILY PURCHASING RADIO TIME OR ANY OF THOSE THINGS. SO IT'D BE WRITTEN MATERIALS AND THEN BEING ABLE TO TAKE THIS INFORMATION AND PLUG IT INTO EXISTING, UH, OUTLETS THAT THE CITY ALREADY HAS ACCESS TO AND, UH, AND PUTTING IT UP THERE. GOTCHA. GOTCHA. THANK YOU. THAT'S HELPFUL. SO CHIEF HOFFMEISTER, SORRY, I KNOW THAT WE'RE ASKING A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE $7.3 MILLION, BUT I JUST WANT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND BECAUSE IN OUR PRESENTATION, UM, AND OUR PRESENTATIONS LAST YEAR, AND THEN OUR PRESENTATION WITH THE MEADOWS FOUNDATION MOST RECENTLY, IT'S STILL SEEMS UNCLEAR TO ME ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE LIMITING FACTOR TO GETTING TO MORE OF THESE CALLS IS STAFFING, OR IF IT IS PROCEDURE WITHIN NINE 11, THAT DIVERTS SUFFICIENT CALLS. CAN YOU TALK US THROUGH THAT JUST BRIEFLY, ARE THE STAFF THAT WE HAVE HIRED FOR MENTAL HEALTH DIVERSION SPENDING ALL OF THEIR TIME ALREADY RUNNING TO ALL OF THESE MENTAL HEALTH CALLS AND IT IS STAFFING THAT IS THE LIMITING FACTOR, OR IS IT THE PROCEDURE OF TRIAGING CALLS TO MENTAL HEALTH? SO I DON'T THINK SO. I THINK IT'S, UH, I THINK THERE'S, THERE ARE, UH, UH, RESOURCE GAPS ON, IN BOTH ARENAS. UH, I THINK THAT TO CAPTURE, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE MENTAL HEALTH CALLS, I WOULD HAVE TO DEFER TO, TO APD AND THEIR LEADERSHIP, UH, AT THEIR COMMUNICATION CENTER TO DETERMINE EXACTLY HOW MANY CALLS PER DAY, WHERE ARE THOSE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES NOW OF THE CALLS. AND RIGHT NOW, JUST SPEAKING ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS, UH, OF THOSE CALLS, WHEN SOMEONE CALLS NINE 11, THEY'RE GIVEN WHAT WE PROVIDED, UH, OR LABELED AS THE FOURTH OPTION, MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, THAT CALL WOULD BE ROUTED TO AN AVAILABLE MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN, IF THEY'RE AVAILABLE [00:35:01] AND IT'S APPROPRIATE, UH, ONCE THEY'RE ABLE TO MAKE IT TO THAT CLINICIAN, THEN IF THAT CLINICIAN IS ABLE TO WORK THROUGH THE SITUATION, UH, THERE MAY BE A DIFFERENT DISPOSITION THAN SENDING OUT A, AN OFFICER. NOW, IF IT IS DISPATCHED, UH, AND THERE IS A NEED FOR EMS I CAN SPEAK TO EMS IS, UH, STAFFING IN THE FIELD. UM, AND WE HAVE, UH, I HAVE EIGHT FTES OR EIGHT POSITIONS DEDICATED TO MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS RESPONSE. UM, TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THOSE POSITIONS STAFFED CONSISTENTLY, UM, KIND OF IS IT IS PART OF WHAT I HAVE TO WORK WITH, UH, CHIEF BROWN AND CHIEF GARDNER ON MAKING SURE, LIKE, IF WE NEED TO, IF WE'RE LOOKING AT AMBULANCE STAFFING AND WE NEED TO, TO STAFF AMBULANCES, WE MAY HAVE TO PULL THOSE RESOURCES TO STAFF AN AMBULANCE. SO, UM, SO YES, WE HAVE HAD GAPS IN HAVING THOSE TWO UNITS AVAILABLE TO RESPOND TO MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS CALLS. NOW HAVING THE OTHER 14 POSITIONS, IF THEY WERE ALL FILLED IN A PERFECT WORLD, UH, RIGHT NOW WE'D BE ABLE TO DEPLOY MORE OF THEM EVEN DURING PEAK TIMES. UM, SO THOSE, THOSE TWO UNITS THAT WE HAVE UP AND RUNNING RIGHT NOW ARE VERY BUSY WHEN, WHEN THEY ARE, UH, WHEN THEY'RE ON DUTY. UM, ONE OF THEM HAS PARTNERED UP WITH A MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN, UM, AND THE OTHER ONE, UH, WILL RESPOND CORRESPOND WITH THE UNITS, BUT BOTH OF THEM ARE VERY BUSY WHEN THEY'RE ON DUTY. UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SAW RAY ARIANO ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER. AND IN MORE SPECIFIC RESPONSE TO YOUR QUESTION ABOUT THE INTEGRAL CARES, UH, UH, ESTIMATE FOR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO REACH A HUNDRED PERCENT, UH, DIVERSION AGAIN, I'VE HAD A PRELIMINARY CONVERSATION WITH INTEGRAL CARE THAT STAFFING IS IN ORDER TO ALLOW THEM TO RESPOND TO ALL THE CALLS. AND I THINK I'VE HEARD THE NUMBER LIKE 45,000 CALLS THAT MIGHT COME IN. UH, AND SO WITHOUT ALLOWING THEM TO STACK UP, THEY NEED ADDITIONAL RESOURCES IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO RESPOND AND BE ABLE TO THEN DIVERT AS, AS APPROPRIATE THOSE CALLS. AND SO YOU'D BE A HAPPY TO TAKE A BUDGET QUESTION, TO GET SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT THAT STAFFING MIGHT LOOK LIKE. AND WHAT ARE THE, WHAT OTHER INFORMATION THAT THEY'RE USING IN ORDER TO PROJECT, UH, THOSE RESOURCES. THIS IS HELPFUL BECAUSE, UH, CHIEF, YOU MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, IF AVAILABLE AND IF APPROPRIATE, IF APPROPRIATE SEEMS TO BE THE, THE TRIAGE AND INTAKE PROCESS THAT WE KNOW WE'RE ALL TRYING TO IMPROVE AND TO CONTINUE TO LEARN FROM AND WORK ON IF AVAIL THAT'S POLICY, WE CAN DO OUTSIDE OF THE BUDGET EVERY WEEK. UM, BUT IF AVAILABLE IS THE RESOURCE QUESTION AND CHIEF, WHAT I'M UNDERSTANDING FROM YOU IS THAT ONCE YOU FILL THE 14 VACANT, BUT FUNDED POSITIONS, THAT YOU WILL HAVE A LOT, A LOT MORE OFTEN, THOSE FOLKS WILL BE AVAILABLE. UM, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE HEARING FROM INTEGRAL CARE THAT THEY HAVE A, THAT EVEN IF WE STAFFED UP OUR OPERATIONS, THAT THEY MAY NOT BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO ALL OF THOSE CALLS, RIGHT. IN A TIMELY FASHION SO THAT THEY ALL GET DIVERTED, UH, APPROPRIATELY. IT WOULD BE USEFUL TO, FOR US TO SUBMIT THAT QUESTION OR HOWEVER WE CAN MANAGE HER SO THAT WE UNDERSTAND HOW BUSY THEIR PEOPLE ARE. AND, AND SO THAT AS WE CHANGE PROCEDURE, WE MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE BUSY ALL THE TIME, BECAUSE IT, SOMETIMES WE HEAR DIFFERENT STORIES ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT IT IS THAT WE ARE TRIAGING SUFFICIENT CALLS, OR IS IT THAT WE'RE TRIAGING SO MANY CALLS THAT WE CAN'T KEEP UP WITH THE CURRENT STAFFING? THE LAST THING I'LL SAY ON THIS POINT IS, YOU KNOW, AS WE COME UP WITH OUR BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR, IT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL MANAGER FOR US TO BE LOOKING AT, ARE THESE THINGS IN CONCERT, AS WE TAKE CALLS AWAY FROM NEEDING A POLICE RESPONSE, AND WE'RE HANDING THEM OVER TO OTHER RESPONSES, WE SHOULD BE TRACKING THAT SO THAT AS YOU PRESENT TO US AND AS COUNCIL DELIBERATES, WHICH FIRST RESPONDERS FROM OUR MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS TO HIRE, WE CAN BE HANDLING OUR CALL VOLUME RATHER THAN JUST DEPARTMENT BY DEPARTMENT. SO IF WE CAN FIGURE THAT OUT AT A LOWER COST, WE'RE ABLE TO DIVERT THIS MANY TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MENTAL HEALTH CALLS, AND THAT REDUCES THE NEED FOR X AMOUNTS OF POLICE OFFICERS, MAKING THAT EXPLICIT WITH THE COMMUNITY, I THINK WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL. I UNDERSTAND WHY THAT'S HARD RIGHT NOW IN THIS EARLY PROCESS, BUT THIS IS JUST A, A NOTE FOR, FOR NEXT YEAR. THANK YOU ALL. HOW'S HER KITCHEN. UM, OKAY. AND JUST TO JUST A QUICK FOLLOW-UP AND THANKS FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS, UM, UH, AND THANK YOU FOR THE RESPONSE. I THINK THAT WAS HELPFUL. UM, I, I AM, UH, I'M STILL CONFUSED ABOUT THE BUDGET AND I'LL FOLLOW UP AFTERWARDS. UM, AND, UH, IT'S OTHERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE. ALSO WE'LL ASK BUDGET QUESTIONS, BUT WHAT I REALLY NEED TO UNDERSTAND, BECAUSE I'M HAVING TROUBLE RECONCILING THIS REQUEST WITH THE PRESENTATION THAT WAS MADE TO US LAST WEEK FROM AUSTIN CARES ABOUT AUSTIN CARES AND ABOUT THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WERE MADE AND THE GAP BETWEEN, UM, WHAT WAS IMPLEMENTED SO FAR AND WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE. SO I'M HAVING [00:40:01] TROUBLE RECONCILING THIS, ALSO RECONCILING THIS WITH WHAT WE PASSED LAST YEAR IN TERMS OF WHAT WE UNDERSTOOD WAS NEEDED. SO ANYWAY, I JUST NEED TO DIG INTO THE DETAILS. SO, UM, SO, UM, MR. ARIANO AND, AND ACM ARIANO, UM, WE'LL SET UP A MEETING, UM, I'M WANTING TO UNDERSTAND, AND WITH EVERYONE THAT NEEDS TO BE PART OF IT, I'M WANTING TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT IS NEEDED IN TERMS OF WHICH STAFFING. UM, I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE FUNDS THAT WE AUTHORIZED LAST YEAR FOR STAFFING. I UNDERSTOOD, I UNDERSTAND THERE MAY HAVE BEEN DIFFICULTIES, UM, FILLING THOSE POSITIONS, BUT THE FUNDS WERE THERE. AND I'D LIKE TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THAT IS, WHAT HAPPENED WITH THOSE FUNDS, UM, THE METRICS TO REACH IN A HUNDRED PERCENT, WE HEARD LAST WEEK THAT, UM, THERE'S A PLACE FOR ANALYZING THAT AND THAT WE WILL BE GETTING THAT DATA. SO I WANT TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHEN AND BE ABLE TO ALIGN WHAT WE HEAR THERE, UH, WITH THIS BUDGET REQUEST. UM, AND THEN I NEED TO UNDERSTAND BETTER EXACTLY WHAT THE 7.3 IS, IS GOING TO, UM, TO COVER IT. WE JUST NEED TO GET A BIT MORE PRECISE HERE, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF WHAT'S NEEDED. I THINK THAT THERE'S A GREAT DEAL OF INTEREST IN THIS PROGRAM AMONGST ALL OF US ON THE DICE. AND ALL OF YOU WHO'VE BEEN WORKING VERY HARD ON IT. IT IS A PROVEN PROGRAM. IT IS A, AS WE TALKED ABOUT LAST WEEK, IT IS PRECEDENT AT, IN NATIONWIDE. UM, AND WE WANT TO BE FUNDING IT AT THE LEVEL THAT WILL GET US THE BEST RESULT, UM, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS WHAT WE WERE DOING LAST YEAR. SO WE JUST NEED TO SEE WHERE WE'RE AT WITH THIS. UM, SO THAT, THAT JUST KIND OF LAYS OUT THE THINGS THAT WE'D LIKE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT. AND WE'LL SET UP, UH, A MEETING SUBMIT BUDGET REQUEST. I KNOW EVERYBODY ELSE ON THE DIAS IS INTERESTED IN THIS ALSO, AND HAS BEEN SUPPORTIVE. SO, UH, SO THANK YOU. WE ONLY HAVE 90 MINUTES LEFT AND A LOT OF ITEMS TO WORK THROUGH. UM, SO IF YOU'RE READY, LET'S GO ONTO THE EMS. SURE, SURE. CAN, CAN I MAKE ONE POINT OF CLARIFICATION IN REGARDS TO THE EMERGENCY CALM CENTERS? STAFF DID CLARIFY FOR ME THAT THAT 300,000 FOR THE EMERGENCY CON RECONFIGURATION IS FOR THE C3, WHICH WILL INCLUDE SPACE FOR INTEGRAL CARE. SO THOSE, THAT 300,000 IT'S ALREADY IN PLACE, AND ONE TIME FUNDING FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 22 BUDGET. NOW WE HAVE JASPER BROWN, CHIEF JASPER BROWN FOR EMS WHO WILL TALK ABOUT EMS BUDGET ITEMS. CARRIE, I JUST WANT TO CONFIRM, SO THE 300,000 HAS ALREADY CORRECT. THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR MAYOR PRO TEM COUNCIL, JASPER BROWN, INTERIM CHIEF, UH, FOR AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS COULD PUT THE PRESENTATION UP. SO TODAY I WAS JUST GOING TO DISCUSS SOME OF THE ITEMS THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT FORWARD EITHER IN, UM, IN A BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, OUR ADVISORY BOARD, UM, EITHER TALKED ABOUT AT MANAGEMENT LEVEL OR, UM, UH, BROUGHT FORWARD BY OUR ASSOCIATION AND, UH, HAVE HAD COUNCIL, UH, QUESTIONS FROM COUNCIL ABOUT THESE ITEMS. SO GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WE'LL CATCH UP HERE, SORRY FOR THE DELAY. SO ONE OF THE DISCUSSIONS HAVE BEEN ABOUT ADDING 40 ADDITIONAL, UM, MEDICS, UH, TO STANDARDIZE OUR STAFFING LEVELS. UH, CURRENTLY WHEN WE BRING ON A NEW STATION, WE WERE GONE FOR 12 FTES FOR EVERY STATION. UH, WHEN I FIRST STARTED WITH THE DEPARTMENT 97, UH, THAT WAS, UH, ONLY BUDGETED EIGHT FTES PER STATION, UH, IN THE MID TWO THOUSANDS, THEY STARTED ASKING FOR 10 FTES PER STATION, AND WE STANDARDIZED THAT BACK IN 2010 OF, UH, ASKING FOR 12 FTES. THE, UM, OUR CURRENT STAFFING HAS HAVE EIGHT PER STATION THAT COVERS THE SHIFT. THAT'S THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT TO HAVE ON DUTY, UH, FOR THE SHIFT PATTERN, UH, THE ADDITIONAL MEDICS COVER SICK OJAI FEMLA MILITARY LEAVE ALL THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BENEFIT LEAVE. WE GIVE OUR PERSONNEL SICK, UM, VACATIONS AND PERSONAL HOLIDAYS AND THOSE TYPES OF THINGS SO THAT WE DON'T INCUR AS MUCH OVERTIME. SO THE 40 POSITIONS IS TO KIND OF STANDARDIZE THE STAFFING LEVELS FROM THOSE EARLY YEARS WHEN ONLY EIGHT OR 10 WERE REQUESTED. AND OF COURSE THOSE SAME UNITS ARE STILL ON, ON DUTY AT THAT TIME. SO THAT HAS BEEN THE DISCUSSION AGAIN IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT, UH, ARENAS, EITHER IN, LIKE I SAID, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS OR BY COUNCIL OR THE ASSOCIATION, UM, HMM. THAT IS A, UH, COST FOR 3.2 MILLION. BUT IF IT WERE TO BE PHASED IN OVER SOME PERIOD OF YEARS, EITHER FOR THAT COULD BE, UH, ABOUT 748,000, I BELIEVE IF IT WAS PHASED IN OVER FOUR YEARS, UH, FOR EVERY YEAR, UH, WE'RE ALL ALSO DISCUSSION POINTS OR SOME PROGRAM LEADERSHIP ENHANCEMENTS. UM, I'LL FIRST TALK ABOUT THE DIVISION CHIEFS. UH, CURRENTLY WE HAVE SIX DIVISION CHIEFS. EACH ONE OF THE DIVISION CHIEFS HAS, IS CONSIDERED [00:45:01] B OVER A SHIFT AND THAT'S 110 PERSONNEL THAT THEY'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR AND EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS ON THE SHIFT, EACH ONE ALSO HAS ADDITIONAL DUTIES AS FAR AS COVERING SPECIAL EVENTS, UM, FLEET AND FACILITIES, UM, ALL THE DIFFERENT PROGRAM ACTIVITIES THAT OCCUR THE ADDITIONAL DIVISION CHIEFS WOULD, UH, UNDO THAT SPAN OF CONTROL AND MAKE IT MORE MANAGEABLE FOR THEM AND BE ABLE TO CONCENTRATE ON PERSONNEL WHERE WE BELIEVE IT'D BE THE BIGGEST BANG IS TO, UH, SUPPORT OUR PERSONNEL IN THEIR NEEDS. UH, AND THEN STILL HAVE ALL THE PROGRAM OVERSIGHT THAT IS NECESSARY IN THOSE OTHER AREAS. ESPECIALLY SINCE WE'RE BRINGING ON TRIAGE TREATMENT AND TRANSPORT, THE T3 PROGRAM, UH, CHIEF HOFFMEISTER JUST TALKED ABOUT SOME OF OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH STUFF THAT'S GOING ON, AND WE'RE DOING ALL THIS WITH THE CURRENT CONFIGURATION THAT WE HAD FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, OUR COMMUNICATIONS COMMANDERS, WE PULLED THOSE OFF THE CONSOLE AND BE ABLE TO, TO, UH, DO PROGRAM FUNCTIONS SUCH AS OUR QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AND, UM, ALSO, UM, TRAINING. SO THEY'RE BEING REMOVED FROM THE FLOOR TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS AND THE, UM, DISCUSSIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ABOUT BRINGING THOSE POSITIONS BACK SO THAT WE COULD PUT THEM BACK ON THE FLOOR. SO, UM, PERSONNEL DON'T HAVE TO REPLACE THEM. AND THEN THAT REMOVES CALL TAKING FROM THE FLOOR ABILITY, THE ASSISTANT CHIEF POSITION, UM, IS IN CURRENTLY IN A RECLASS OF VACATION AND YOUR ORDINANCE THAT'S BEFORE YOU. AND THAT WOULD BE BEFORE YOU ON AUGUST 11TH. UM, WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ONE OF THE TWO OPEN COMMAND POSITIONS THAT I CURRENTLY HAVE WITHIN MY ORGANIZATION AND RECLASS THAT UP TO AN ASSISTANT CHIEF. UH, WE WOULD DO THAT INTERNALLY WITH OUR CURRENT BUDGET. THERE'D BE NO COST FOR THAT, BUT IT IS A CHANGE IN THE CLASSIFICATION ORDINANCE AND IT IS CURRENTLY IN YOUR BACKUP MATERIAL AS SUCH. UM, SO, UM, THE OTHER POSITIONS AND ALL THAT IS ABOUT 759,000. I DON'T HAVE MY GLASSES ON, BUT THAT'S WHAT IT, UH, I BELIEVE IT IS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD THERE. UM, OUR COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND INJURY PREVENTION INVESTMENT IS IN A COMMANDER POSITION AND A CLINICAL SPECIALIST. UH, WE CURRENTLY HAVE A CAPTAIN AND A CLINICAL SPECIALIST IN THAT AREA, AND THESE ARE THE FOLKS THAT GO OUT AND DO, UH, CAR SEAT INSTALLATION CHECKS, UM, HOME, SENIOR HOME, FALL VISITS, UM, UH, SAFE BABY ACADEMY, A LOT OF, UH, IN THE COMMUNITY PREVENTION, WHICH THEN REDUCES THE NEED FOR NINE 11, UM, BECAUSE OF THE PREVENTION EFFORTS THAT ARE DONE. SO WHEN WE REALLY WANT TO, UM, MAKE A CHANGE IN THE COMMUNITY, WE REALLY HAVE TO INVEST IN THE COMMUNITY AND THAT'S BY DOING, UH, THESE INJURY PREVENTION TYPE PROGRAMS. UH, THOSE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE HIGHLIGHTS. THERE'S MANY MORE CPR TRAINING, UM, AND, AND ALL THAT IS DONE BY THIS FOLKS. AND SO, UH, LOOKING FOR, UH, ADDITIONAL STAFF IN THAT AREA, BECAUSE THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, THESE LAST TWO ITEMS REALLY CAME AS A RESULT OF THIS, UH, SHOOTING ON SIXTH STREET. UH, NO THERE'S BEEN A REQUEST FOR ADDITIONAL PERSONNEL AND THOSE TYPE THINGS, UM, THROUGH THE ASSOCIATION. BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE REALLY NEED IS TO LOOK AT SOME, UH, ADDITIONAL TRAINING, UH, THAT WOULD COME IN NEXT YEAR FOR OUR STAFF, UM, SO THAT WE CAN, ALL OUR STAFF CAN RESPOND APPROPRIATELY TO THE, UH, ACTIVE ATTACKER TYPE TRAINING SCENARIO. UH, WE'VE ALREADY HAVE SOME TRAIN THE TRAINERS IN PLACE SO WE CAN DO IT INTERNALLY. WE DON'T HAVE TO SEND, UH, PERSONNEL OFF. THERE ARE SOME OTHER TYPES OF TRAINING. THAT'S MULTIPLE DAYS THAT WE STILL WOULD SEND DOWN TO SAN MARCUS, UM, TO THE TEXAS STATE, UH, TRAINING DOWN THERE. AND THEN THERE'S AN UPGRADED, BALLISTIC VEST EQUIPMENT FOR OUR PERSONNEL, CURRENTLY, ALL OUR PERSONNEL CARRIER LEVEL TO BALLISTIC VEST. AND WE'RE LOOKING AT A LEVEL THREE, A, UM, THE DIFFERENCE REALLY IS SMALL ARMS FIRE VERSUS WHAT WOULD BE CONSIDERED A, UM, A RIFLE TYPE OF, OF AMMUNITIONS, LIKE A 5, 5, 6 OR 7, 6, 2 ROUND, WHICH IS THE, UH, SIMILAR TO WHAT'S USED IN THE AR 15 STYLE WEAPONS. AND THAT HAS BEEN SEEN IN, IN, UH, MULTIPLE ATTACKS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. THOSE WOULD BE ONE-TIME COST. I KNOW, UH, UH, QUESTION FROM COUNCIL TO ME HAS BEEN, IF WE UPGRADE BALLISTIC VEX, WOULD THESE BE SPECIALIZED FOR, UM, FEMALE PERSONNEL? AND THEY WOULD IN THIS AMOUNT, UM, IF WE, UH, HAVE LESS DOLLARS TO SPEND, THEN WE HAVE TO DO MORE GENERIC TYPE OF VESTS, UM, WHICH MAY NOT FIT AS WELL, BUT THEY STILL PROVIDE PROTECTION, BUT THEY'RE NOT AS COMFORTABLE FOR THEIR FEMALE EMPLOYEES. SO WE'D REALLY LIKE TO BE ABLE TO CUSTOM FIT FOR THOSE. UM, SO NEXT SLIDES, REALLY ANY QUESTIONS AND I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE. YES, MA'AM ASSAULTED. I KNOW YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY SEE SOME OF US. OKAY. I THINK I CAN SEE EVERYBODY, UH, ON THE STREET ARM DOUBLING UP ON THREE SCREENS HERE. LET'S GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER THE COUNCIL MEMBER. ALICE, THANK YOU. UM, FIRST OF ALL, AND I THINK, UH, CHIEF BROWN FOR ANSWERING A LOT OF QUESTIONS, UM, IN ADVANCE OF THIS, TO HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON. I WANT TO, FIRST OF ALL, CALL MY COLLEAGUES ATTENTION TO MESSAGE BOARD POSTS THAT I POSTED, UM, LAST WEEK. UM, SO UNFORTUNATELY THE LOOP 360 STATIONS, CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE DUE TO SOME UTILITY WORK IS GOING TO BE EXTENDED. UM, IT WON'T BE OPERATIONAL [00:50:01] UNTIL THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR, UM, AND THAT FREES UP SOME ONE-TIME MONEY, UM, FOR EMS AND FIRE. AND I WANT TO FLAG, UM, HERE, AT LEAST THE PIECE THAT I'M PROPOSING WOULD BE DEPLOYED FOR THE ONE-TIME COSTS, UM, THAT CHIEF BROWN IS RECOMMENDING. UM, SO IT WOULD BE FOR THE ACTIVE ATTACKER TRAINING AND SOME PORTION OF THE BALLISTIC VEST. IT WOULD NOT COVER THE FULL, UM, MILLION, TWO THAT'S INVOLVED, BUT WOULD PROBABLY BE CLOSER TO 800,000 ROUGHLY SPEAKING. UM, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THAT FUNDING REMAIN IN EMS AND THEN RESPECTIVELY IN FIRE. UM, AND I THINK THIS ADDRESSES AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC SAFETY ONE-TIME COST, UM, THAT EMS HAS IDENTIFIED WOULD BE A USEFUL AS WELL AS THE, UM, ASSOCIATION THAT WOULD BE AN IMPORTANT INVESTMENT. UM, SO I WANTED TO FLAG THAT. UM, AND THEN I WANTED TO DIVE DOWN A LITTLE BIT INTO, UM, THE POSITIONS AND, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HOW THEY'RE THE VACANCIES, ET CETERA. CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF, UM, HOW MANY VACANT POSITIONS YOU HAVE AT THIS POINT IN TIME AND THE TIMELINE FOR FILLING THOSE POSITIONS? YES, MA'AM. I KNOW THERE WAS A QUESTION EARLIER CHIEF HOFFMEISTER, SO, UH, WE HAVE 115 VACANCIES CURRENTLY IN THE DEPARTMENT. UM, YOU COUNSEL AT IS 67 OF THOSE POSITIONS. THIS FISCAL YEAR, MANY OF THEM ONLY BECAME BUDGETED OR AVAILABLE STARTING IN JANUARY, THEN APRIL, AND THEN THE LAST 24 BECAME AVAILABLE TO US IN JUNE AND JULY. SO, UM, THAT'S KIND OF THE TOTAL NUMBER NOW AS WE HAVE 115 VACANCIES, BUT AGAIN, SOME OF THOSE WE WEREN'T ABLE TO HIRE OR PROMOTE OR MOVE ANYBODY INTO JUST TILL RECENTLY, UH, COVID DID SLOW US DOWN IN OUR, UM, UH, ACADEMIES. WE WERE ONLY ABLE TO HAVE 20% ACADEMIES DUE TO SOCIAL DISTANCING AND MASKING AND SOME OTHER REQUIREMENTS THAT WERE AT THE TIME. UM, WE'VE SINCE, UH, UM, MOVED PAST THAT CHALLENGE. WE'RE A BIGGER SPACE. WE HAVE A STILL ABLE TO SOCIAL DISTANCE AND WE'RE ABLE TO GET 30, UM, OR MORE, UH, WE ACTUALLY HAVE AN ACADEMY THAT STARTED LAST WEEK. WE'RE IN WEEK TWO OF OUR ACADEMY WITH 33 PERSONNEL. UH, THEY'LL GRADUATE OCTOBER 8TH, AND THOSE WILL FILL 33 OF THESE EXISTING HUNDRED AND 15 VACANCIES. UM, I'VE JUST RECENTLY CHALLENGED MY STAFF TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO TO MOVE UP OUR TIMELINES, EITHER ON HIRING OR ACADEMY. WE CURRENTLY HAVE HIRING PROCESSES, BOTH GOING FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND FIELD, UM, AND, UH, WITH A PLAN CURRENT ACADEMY OF JANUARY, BUT WE'RE REALLY CHALLENGING OUR STAFF TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO TO CHANGE THAT TIMELINE, UH, AND MOVE THAT UP TO BRING PEOPLE IN SOONER, UM, BECAUSE, UH, WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO FILL VACANCIES AND THAT'S THE ONLY WAY TO DO IS HIRE. AND WE HAVE PLENTY OF APPLICANTS COMING IN AND FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. UH, SO, UM, WE REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO THEIR NEXT ACADEMY OF HAVING 30 PLUS, WHICH WILL THEN REDUCE THAT GAP FURTHER. THANK YOU, CHIEF. UM, I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE RECOGNIZE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO SPEED UP THE ACADEMY AND, AND, AND, UM, FIND WAYS TO DO THAT. BUT I THINK AS A COUNCIL, WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS BUDGET, WE HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT IF WE PROVIDE MORE POSITIONS IN THIS YEAR'S BUDGET, WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO FILL THEM THIS YEAR. SO IT MIGHT NOT BE THE MOST, UM, THE WISEST INVESTMENT AT THIS POINT, BUT WE DO NEED TO PLAN MOVING FORWARD SO THAT WE HAVE THE IN PLACE, UM, AND THE RESOURCES IN PLACE TO, TO LEVEL UP TO WHERE WE WANT TO BE, AS SOON AS WE GET OUT OF THIS KIND OF WEIRD PERIOD OF THE PANDEMIC, WHICH HOPEFULLY WE'LL, WE'LL GET OUT OF. UM, SO I WANT TO JUST FLAG FOR MY COLLEAGUES, UM, WHAT I'M BEEN WORKING ON, UM, WHICH WOULD BE THIS, HAVING A STAFFING PLAN TO LEVEL UP TO THE 12 POSITIONS OVER A SERIES OF YEARS. UM, I'M NOT SURE IF THAT WILL BE SIMPLY A BUDGET WRITER OR A RESOLUTION, AND IT MAY BE SOME COMBINATION AT THIS POINT. I KIND OF FEEL LIKE IT WILL BE A BUDGET WRITER FOLLOWED BY A MORE FORMAL RESOLUTION AT THE, THE AUGUST, UM, COUNCIL MEETING. UM, BUT I THINK THAT WE CAN, HOWEVER, TRY IF WE CAN FIND THE FUNDING IN OUR BUDGET TO PROVIDE THE LEADERSHIP REQUESTS, UM, WE'VE ADDED SOMETHING LIKE 180 POSITIONS TO EMS OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS WITHOUT ADDING COMMAND STAFF. UM, AND I KNOW THAT IT'S A CHALLENGE WITH A FIVE PERSON OFFICE. I'M SURE THAT IT'S REALLY CHALLENGING WITH COVID AND ALL THE OTHER THINGS TO MANAGE ON THAT, THAT LEADERSHIP, UM, OPERA, THOSE LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES ARE REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE FUNCTIONING EVERY YEAR. MS. SO AS WE'RE LOOKING FOR FUNDING, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US TRY TO DELIVER ON THE REQUESTS THAT CHIEF, UM, HAS ASKED FOR WITH RESPECT TO THE ASSISTANT CHIEF DIVISION CHIEFS AND COMMUNICATION COMMANDERS. UM, FINALLY I WANT TO SAY THAT I BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A FUNDING PATH TO DO THIS, WHICH WE WILL DISCUSS THIS AFTERNOON AND THE DISPATCH EQUITY [00:55:01] AND OPTIMIZATION STUDY. THERE'S AT LEAST THREE DIFFERENT PATHS FOR FUNDING THAT CAN BE EXPLORED. I'M NOT SURE WHETHER WE'LL BE ABLE TO WRAP THOSE UP WITHIN THE TIMEFRAME OF THE BUDGET, BUT I THINK THEY COULD BE WRAPPED UP, UM, VERY LATE THIS FISCAL YEAR, VERY EARLY NEXT FISCAL YEAR WITH A BUDGET AMENDMENT. IF WE CAN'T DO IT THIS TIME, I THINK THERE'S A PORTION OF IT THAT WE CAN AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THIS TIME. BUT MY HOPE IS THAT WE CAN DO THAT. AND I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE MOST LOGICAL PATH TO PROVIDE THAT DIRECTION. I'M WORKING ON THAT AS PART OF THAT, ALTHOUGH I THINK IT WOULD BE THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS. I WANT TO JUST ALSO FLAG MY AMENDMENTS THAT WILL BE RELATED TO THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER TO IMPLEMENT PHASE TWO, UM, WHICH PROVIDES US THE PHYSICIAN CAPACITY. AND WE CAN HIRE THE FOLKS FOR THOSE POSITIONS. EVEN BY DECEMBER. THERE ARE APPLICANTS WHO WANT TO DO THAT. UM, THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT WE CAN HIRE, THOSE POSITIONS CAN BE FILLED AND THAT MEDICAL SUPPORT CAN BE PROVIDED TO EMS AND FIRE IN THEIR MEDICAL CAPACITY. AND THEN FINALLY RELATED TO THAT IS WE CAN ALSO HIRE MORE PARAMEDIC PRACTITIONERS WHO ARE PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS, WHO COME IN AND THAT EASES THE BURDEN ON EMS. WE HAVE APPLICANTS, WE CAN MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT. WE HAVE FEES IN OUR SCHEDULE THAT ARE INCREASING. UM, I THINK WE SHOULD ACCELERATE THAT PROGRAM, WHICH YOU MAY RECALL. WE, UM, INITIATED LAST YEAR WITH THE OSIMO, UM, CHANGES, BUT THEN ALSO WITH THE RESOLUTION I PUT FORWARD. UM, SO THERE'S A BUNCH OF THINGS THAT I'M WORKING ON PULLING TOGETHER, UM, WANTED TO KIND OF FLAG THOSE. AND I WELCOME THE CITY MANAGER, UM, HAVING A DISCUSSION WITH YOU, HOW BEST TO DO THAT, BECAUSE I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE SEND A SIGNAL TO OUR COMMUNITY AND PARTICULARLY TO OUR MEDICS, THAT WE ARE ADDRESSING THESE ISSUES AND WE HAVE A PATH FORWARD. UM, BUT WE ALSO NEED TO DO IT IN A FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE MANNER. UM, AND WE'RE GOING TO GET A LOT OF INFORMATION EITHER TODAY OR ON THURSDAY FROM THE DISPATCH EQUITY STUDY. THERE'S A LOT OF WORK TO BE DONE THERE, BUT THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF REVENUE TO BE HAD. SO I'D LIKE TO SEE US PUSH ON IT. YEAH. THANK YOU, MAYOR. UM, I DO APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THAT, UH, MY COLLEAGUE COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR HAS BEEN DIGGING INTO THIS. UM, I THINK THAT IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE GET OUR STATIONS UP TO, UM, 12 STAFF PER STATION. UM, SO I'M EXCITED TO SEE US LOOKING FOR A BETTER AVENUES TO DO THAT. UM, I DO KNOW THAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT HOW TO BALANCE FINANCES AND TRAINING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT, UM, OVER-COMMITTING FINANCES INTO A POSITION THAT CAN'T BE FILLED YET. SO I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE, THAT WE LOOK AT THIS COMPREHENSIVELY. UM, BUT I ALSO WOULD LIKE A LITTLE MORE INFORMATION ON THE LEVELS OF FUNDING SOURCES, THE EIGHTY-THREE, UM, PILOT WITH SOMETHING THAT I HAD BROUGHT IN THE LAST BUDGET CYCLE. AND I APPRECIATE MY CO-SPONSORS ON THAT, WHICH WERE, IT COMES TO MEMBERS ALTER KITCHEN AND POOL. AND SO I'D REALLY LOVE MORE INFORMATION, UM, ABOUT HOW THAT'S WORKING, WHAT WE CAN DO TO FURTHER ASSIST THAT INCOMING REVENUE FOR EMS. UM, SO I AM EXCITED ABOUT THAT. UM, COUNCIL MEMBER. ALSO, IF YOU DO A BUDGET WRITER THAT IS COMPREHENSIVE ABOUT ALL THESE DIFFERENT TOPICS, OR YOU WANT TO DO A RESOLUTION, I'M HAPPY TO, UM, CO-SPONSOR AND TO HELP WORK THROUGH THAT BECAUSE I'M VERY INTERESTED IN THE FUNDING MODELS FOR EMS. AND SO I WANT TO SEE US RIGHT-SIZE THAT STATION BY STATION AND TO REALLY MAKE SURE, UM, THAT OUR MEDICS HAVE WHAT THEY NEED. UM, I ALSO THINK IT'S IMPORTANT. I THINK ONE OF MY OTHER COLLEAGUES IS POSSIBLY WORKING ON A DOWNTOWN COMMAND AND I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE APPROPRIATE NUMBER OF ASSIGNED MEDICS, WHERE THERE COULD BE A MUCH HIGHER NEED FOR THINGS LIKE EVENINGS AND WEEKENDS. UM, THAT'S GOING TO PROTECT SOME OF THE MEDIC STATIONS SUCH AS SOUTHWEST AUSTIN, WHERE THEY ROUTINELY END UP BEING DRAWN OUT OF THE DISTRICT AND HAVE A HARD TIME COMING BACK IN. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL, ALL CORNERS OF THE CITY HAVE APPROPRIATE FIRE AND EMS PROTECTION. UM, SO I LOOK FORWARD TO FURTHERING THIS CONVERSATION, BUT REALLY THINK WE NEED TO GET TO 12 MEDICS PER STATION. UM, AND I DO THINK THAT PHASING IT IN OVER TIME WOULD BE A RESPONSIBLE WAY TO ACCOMPLISH THAT GOAL. UM, THANK YOU, MAYOR. AND, AND THANK YOU COLLEAGUES, UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS, ALTAR AND LS, AND I, I AM, I THINK MAYBE THE COLLEAGUE THAT YOU, THAT YOU WERE REFERENCING, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS. I HAD INDICATED ON THE MESSAGE BOARD THAT I'M INTERESTED IN BRINGING FORWARD AMENDMENTS RELATED TO A DOWNTOWN TO A MORE DOWNTOWN PRESENCE. AND SO, UM, CHIEF BROWN, I WONDER IF YOU COULD ADDRESS SOME OF THE CONVERSATION THAT WE'VE BEEN HAVING OFF THE DAYAS, UH, REGARDING WHAT EMS HAS ALREADY CONTEMPLATING DOING OR ALREADY WORKING ON DOING WITH REGARD TO DOWN DOWNTOWN, UH, TO A DOWNTOWN STATION. AND IF YOU COULD [01:00:01] LET, WE'LL START THERE AND THEN IF YOU COULD ADDRESS THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL STAFFING DOWNTOWN AND HOW, HOW YOU ARE PROPOSING MANAGING THAT. THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER TOTO. UM, SO CURRENTLY WE HAVE BROUGHT IN A TWELVE-HOUR UNIT, UM, AND IS STATIONED AT OUR HEADQUARTERS OVER AT 15 WALLER. WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING RENOVATIONS. THAT WAS PART OF A, UM, UM, SOME, UH, RENOVATIONS IN OUR BUDGET TO, UH, RENOVATE OUR ENTIRE SECOND FLOOR AT THE RBJ BUILDING. AND, UM, IN THAT RENOVATION WERE PUT CREW QUARTERS IN THERE THAT WILL ALLOW US TO HAVE SOME OF THE OVER 24 HOURS. WE ANTICIPATE MOVING BACK IN, UM, THAT'S ALL OUR OFFICES AND BILLING AND EVEN MY OFFICE, UH, BACK IN, IN SEPTEMBER. AND SO WE'D HAVE THAT AVAILABLE FOR 24 HOUR, UM, UH, COHABITATION THEN IN SEPTEMBER. UM, SO WE ARE BRINGING IN A 24 HOUR UNIT INTO THE STATION. THAT'S ONE OF THE TWO, THE COUNCIL, UM, GAVE US IN THIS CURRENT FISCAL YEAR'S BUDGET AND WE'D BE LOCATING IT IN THERE. UM, IF YOU REMEMBER CORRECTLY, THERE WAS TWO, UH, 24 HOUR UNITS ASSIGNED TO HANDLE COVID OR, UM, NINE 11 RESPONSE. UM, WE DIDN'T REALLY ATTACH THEM TO STATIONS. UM, AND SO WE'D LIKE TO BE PUTTING IT DOWN IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, SO THAT GIVE US A 24 HOUR PRESENCE. OUR BIGGEST ISSUE HAS ALWAYS BEEN PLACEMENT OF A UNIT IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA WITHOUT JUST SITTING IT ON A STREET CORNER, UH, WAITING FOR OUR CALL. UM, THAT'S, THAT'S NOT HOW WE NORMALLY OPERATE. AND SO WE LIKE TO HAVE OUR, UH, CREWS, THE ABILITY TO HAVE SOME DOWNTIME, BE ABLE TO WRITE REPORTS AND, UM, REST WHEN NEEDED. SO IT'S VERY IMPORTANT. SO IT'S ALWAYS FINDING A FACILITY TO BE ABLE TO PLACE THOSE UNITS. SO THIS IS GIVEN US THE OPPORTUNITY TO PLACE A UNIT IN, IN, RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. UM, BASICALLY WE'RE FOUR BLOCKS AWAY FROM SIXTH STREET, UH, IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA. SO THAT'S ONE WAY WE'RE ALREADY LOOKING AT ADDING ADDITIONAL RESOURCES THAN THE DOWNTOWN AREA. AND WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH APD AND OUR OTHER PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES. AND WE HAVE A, WHAT'S CALLED A RESCUE TASK FORCE, UM, UM, VEHICLE ON THURSDAY, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHTS. AND WE ALREADY HAVE THAT PLANNED, UH, THROUGH OCTOBER. AND SO WHEN WE DO THAT, IT'S NOT ONLY THAT VEHICLE WE PLACE IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, THERE'S A TRANSPORT SUPERVISOR AND A COMMANDER THAT'S OVER THAT. AND SO THAT'S WHAT WE UTILIZE TO, UM, IF AN EVENT HAPPENS DOWNTOWN, TO BE ABLE TO COORDINATE TRANSPORTS OUT OF THERE AND THEN GIVE THEM A COMMAND PRESENCE IMMEDIATELY TO THE SCENE. AND THOSE ARE SOME OF THE CRITICAL FACTORS. SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING CURRENTLY. UM, UH, AND, UH, WOULD CONTINUE THAT THROUGH OCTOBER AGAIN, THAT'S THE, WHAT THE SPONSORSHIP AND HELP OF THE LAW, UH, AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, CAUSE THEY PROVIDE A PERSONNEL AS PART OF THAT RESCUE TASK FORCE GROUP TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND 12 WALLER WILL BE, WE'LL BE A DOWNTOWN STATION FOR THAT. AND YOU ALREADY HAVE STAFFING FOR, WELL, RIGHT NOW YOU'RE STAFFING THE RESCUE TASK FORCE, AS I UNDERSTAND THROUGH OVERTIME. AND THAT WILL EXTEND THROUGH THROUGH OCTOBER. YES, YES. MA'AM THE, UH, EMS ASSOCIATION REQUESTED ADDITIONAL STAFFING AND COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER IT. MAYBE WE COULD CLARIFY WHETHER WHETHER THE ADDITIONAL MEDICS THAT ARE PART OF YOUR PROPOSAL ARE INTENDED TO ENCOMPASS THE MEDICS THAT WE NEED, ADDITIONALLY, DOWNTOWN AND JUST, UH, CHIEF BROWN. MAYBE YOU COULD ALSO, MAYBE YOU COULD RESPOND TO HOW BEYOND HOW BEYOND OCTOBER, UH, WE WOULD, YOU WOULD PROPOSE MANAGING THE ADDITIONAL STAFFING THAT'S REQUIRED DOWNTOWN. SO I, I DON'T BELIEVE THE TWO REQUESTS FROM THE ASSOCIATION ARE THE SAME. I THINK THEY'RE, UM, YOU KNOW, BOTH INDEPENDENT OF THEIR OWN. UM, BUT I BELIEVE WITH THE EXTRA PERSONNEL, UM, THAT WE WOULD HAVE WAY TO BE ABLE TO COVER COVER SOME OF THESE THINGS WITHOUT OVERTIME, UM, AND, AND ADDITIONAL TRAINING WE WOULD HAVE, WE'D BE ABLE TO DO THIS. UM, I THINK WHAT WE LOOK IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, WE HAVE TO THINK ALSO THAT, UH, RIGHT NOW IT'S, UM, VERY BUSY IN THOSE AREAS, BUT YOU START TO GET DECEMBER AND JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, THOSE MONTHS KIND OF SLOW DOWN EVEN ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHTS. AND SO WE'D HAVE TO SEE WHAT THE VOLUME IS IN THAT AREA. UM, SO THAT'S, UH, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT TO SEE WHETHER THEY WOULD BE NEEDED, YOU KNOW, 12 MONTHS OUT OF THE YEAR OR ONLY DURING CERTAIN MONTHS OF THE YEAR. UH, OBVIOUSLY DURING, UM, SPECIAL EVENTS, WE ALWAYS HAVE THESE TYPES OF GROUPS DOWN THERE, WHETHER IT BE SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST HALLOWEEN, NEW YEAR'S EVE, THOSE TYPE OF EVENTS WHERE WE ALWAYS PLAN FOR THOSE. BUT, UM, BUT ON A REGULAR NON HOLIDAY OR EVENT TYPE OF WEEKEND, CURRENTLY, WE'RE DOING THAT THROUGH OVER TIME THROUGH OCTOBER, RIGHT, MAN, I'M SORRY. I UNDERSTOOD THAT THE, THAT THE ASSOCIATIONS REQUESTS ARE TWO DISTINCT LINES. I THINK I WAS ASKING ONE KIND OF YOUR OPINION ON WHETHER THOSE ADDITIONAL MEDICS ARE NECESSARY. AND THEN AS A SECONDARY QUESTION, REALLY FOR COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR OR THE MEDICS THAT ARE IN YOUR PROPOSAL INTENDED TO ENCOMPASS THE DOWNTOWN. SO [01:05:01] CHIEF BROWN, BUT I'LL ASK MY COLLEAGUE THAT QUESTION A BIT CHIEF BROWN, A COUPLE COUPLE OF REMAINING QUESTIONS. SO IT SOUNDS AS IF, IF WE, IF WE ARE OF THE OPINION ON, ON COUNCIL THAT WE NEED ADDITIONAL STAFFING PRESENCE DOWNTOWN BEYOND, IT SOUNDS AS IF IT SOUNDS AS IF WE NEED TO FIND ADDITIONAL FUNDING WITHIN THE BUDGET, BEYOND THE CITY MANAGER'S PROPOSAL. AM I UNDERSTANDING YOUR RESPONSE ACCURATELY AND THEN, AND THANK YOU FOR, FOR THE CONVERSATION AROUND THE ADDITIONAL, UH, THE ADDITIONAL, UM, ATTACK, UH, ACTIVE ATTACKER TRAINING, AS WELL AS THE UPGRADE OF BALLISTIC VESTS. UM, THE MS ASSOCIATION ALSO RECOMMENDED SOME ADDITIONAL ONE-TIME COSTS OF ATV ATV, UM, THE SMALLER VEHICLES, I'M SORRY, I'M JUST DROPPING, I'M SUDDENLY FORGETTING THE NAME, BUT THOSE SMALL VEHICLES THAT CAN TRANSPORT INDIVIDUALS FROM CROWDED SITUATIONS BACK TO AMBULANCES, ARE THOSE SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD REGARD AS, AS USEFUL AS NECESSARY AS PRIORITIES, ADDITIONAL VEHICLES? YES. IF THEY COULD BE DONE. YES. AND SO COLLEAGUES CURRENTLY, THOSE ARE NOT IN THE BUDGET. AND SO THAT IS AN ADDITIONAL AREA THAT AS I INDICATED, I'D BE BRINGING PHOTOS AND AMENDMENT, UM, CHIEF BROWN. I SEE THE ADDITIONAL FUNDING THAT, THAT I JUST REFERENCED FOR ACTIVE ATTACKER TRAINING, UM, IN THE, IN THE RESOLUTION THAT WE PASSED LAST WEEK, ONE OF THE MEASURES, ONE OF THE MEASURES RELATED TO DOWNTOWN SAFETY TO CREATING A SAFER SIXTH STREET, ASKED YOU TO WORK, TO REVISE OUR, UM, CRITICAL, OUR, UM, MASS SHOOTING RESPONSE PLAN. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WOULD REQUIRE THAT WOULD HAVE A BUDGET, UM, A FISCAL NOTE ATTACHED TO IT, OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT, THAT YOU BELIEVE COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED WITHIN YOUR EXISTING AND, AND PROPOSED RESOURCES? I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD ACCOMPLISH WITHIN OUR EXISTING RESOURCES IS TO COORDINATE AND MAKE SURE OUR CURRENT, UH, MASS CASUALTY PLAN INCORPORATES EVERYTHING FOR THIS, UH, TYPE OF, UH, RESPONSE. UM, THE MASS CASUALTY PLAN IS DEVELOPED AROUND AN ALL SCENARIO TYPE EVENT, WHETHER IT BE ACTIVE ATTACKER, A BUILDING COLLAPSE OR ANYTHING THAT JUST REQUIRES EXTRA RESOURCES. AND IT DISCUSSES HOW, UM, YOU KNOW, LEADERSHIP POSITIONS ARE BROUGHT IN, UH, IN THOSE TYPES OF THINGS AND HOW WE COORDINATE WITH THE OTHER AGENCIES TO HAVE A UNIFIED COMMAND. SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE ALREADY HAVE IN PLACE AND OTHER AGENCIES HAVE SIGNED OFF ON, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY SOMETHING WE CAN DO AND SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE, DO DONE WITHIN THE CURRENT, UH, FISCAL SETTING TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE, UH, A CURRENT ACTIVE ATTACKER PLAN. GREAT. THANK YOU. SO AGAIN, UM, AND I APOLOGIZE FOR THE SORT OF CHOPPINESS MY, I WAS MY COMPUTER SHUT DOWN, SO THEN I WAS ON PHONE AND THEN MY PHONE SHUT DOWN. SO I HAD TO JOG AROUND, BUT I WAS ABLE TO CAPTURE ALL OF IT, ALL OF YOUR RESPONSE. SO TO PRIORITIZE, IT SOUNDS AS IF A COUPLE OF WEEKS WE SHOULD PRIORITIZE IDENTIFYING SOME FUNDING FOR THE ONE-TIME COST OF THOSE ATVS, AS WELL AS ADDITIONAL MEDICS TO REALLY STUFF UP IN OUR DOWNTOWN AREA AND MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE PRESENCE ON THE STREETS THAT WE NEED ON THE WEEKENDS. SO THANK YOU, JESS, CHIEF BROWN. OKAY. COLLEAGUES, WE HAVE 60 MINUTES LEFT BREATH IS SHORTER CLOSES SOUTH, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER PROGRAM. THANK YOU. I JUST WANTED TO, UH, SHARE MY SUPPORT CUSTOMER TOBO FOR THE INVESTMENTS IN THE SRU THE VEHICLES DOWNTOWN. WE KNOW THAT IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS, SECONDS MATTER. AND SO CERTAINLY HAVING THOSE TYPE OF VEHICLES AS PART OF THE FLEET ARE NECESSARY. AND I WANTED TO VOCALIZE MY SUPPORT FOR THAT. ALSO JUST WANTED TO SAY, UM, THE INVESTMENT IN THE COMMUNITY RELATIONS AND INJURY PREVENTION, UH, IS ANOTHER AREA THAT I STRONGLY SUPPORT. I KNOW THAT THAT PROGRAM WORKS WITH EXPLORERS AND AIDES, DO CAR SEAT CHECKS AND INJURY, FALL PREVENTION, UM, VISITS. AND, UM, THAT'S A SERVICE THAT IS VERY, UM, UTILIZED MY DISTRICT. SO I'M HAPPY TO SEE THAT AS PART OF THE BUDGET, THE BUDGET PROPOSAL. AND LASTLY, JUST WANTED TO SHARE WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR, THAT I AM SUPPORTIVE OF HER EFFORT TO, UM, DRAW OUT A PLAN TO GET US TO THAT 12 POSITIONS PER STATE, PER STATION STAFFING PLAN. SO THANK YOU. SOUNDS GOOD. LET'S GO ON THEN COUNCIL MEMBER TOLD US, SO, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER TOVA WOULD, I WOULD BE PUTTING FORWARD, WOULD BE ASKING FOR THE STAFFING PLAN, WHICH MAY BE LIMITED TO THE 12 MEDICS, BUT MAY INVOLVE A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN THAT, MORE THAN THAT. UM, [01:10:01] BUT I WANT TO, UM, AND IT COULD INCLUDE THE, IF WE DON'T FUND IT, IT COULD ALSO INCLUDE, UM, THE, UH, SAFETY POSITIONS THAT COUNCIL MEMBER FONTUS WAS MENTIONING. UM, BUT I DO WANT TO JUST CLARIFY WHAT I HEARD CHIEF BROWN SAY WAS WE DON'T HAVE MEDICS, SO WE CAN PROVIDE MONEY TO ADD MORE MEDICS TO BE DOWNTOWN, BUT MISSIONS. UM, AND I THINK WE'VE, DON'T WANT TO KEEP REPEATING DOING THAT WITHOUT THE APPROPRIATE PLANNING FOR THE ACADEMIES AND OTHERS. IT'S WONDERFUL THAT WE HAVE PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE IN THESE POSITIONS AND WE SHOULD WORK REALLY HARD TO ACCELERATE, UM, MOVING PEOPLE INTO THOSE POSITIONS, BUT WE SHOULDN'T BE FUNDING POSITIONS THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE TO TAKE OVER WHERE WE ALREADY HAVE OVERTIME, UM, TO POTENTIALLY DO THAT. IT JUST STRESSES US OUT. DID I UNDERSTAND CORRECTLY THAT THAT WAS YOUR OPINION ON THOSE, UM, DOWNTOWN, EXTRA MEDICS, OR AM I MISSING, THAT'D BE AN ACCURATE STATEMENT. UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, IF WE WERE GIVEN THE POSITIONS AND THE MONEY DOES START IN THIS FISCAL YEAR'S BUDGET, I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO STAFF THEM, WOULD IT BE STAFFING THEM AND OVERTIME, UM, UNTIL WE COULD HIRE THOSE PERMISSIONS PERMISSIONS AND SEVERAL OF THEM ARE PROMOTABLE POSITIONS AND PROMOTE PERSONNEL INTO THEM. THAT'S NOT TO SAY THAT THEY'RE NOT NEEDED IS JUST, THAT'S THE REALITY OF IT. AGAIN, I AM PUSHING AND REQUESTING OF MY STAFF TO SEE IF WE CAN SPEED UP OUR HIRING PROCESSES AND OUR ACADEMIES. SOME OF THIS IS, UM, HAS ALREADY BEEN DISCUSSION AT OUR LEADERSHIP LEVEL, AND THEY'RE JUST NOW FILTERING THAT INFORMATION DOWN TO THEIR STAFF. SO SOME OF THEM ARE HEARING IT FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT I'M ASKING THIS DEMAND ON THEM, BUT I THINK THERE, THEY CAN MEET THE CHALLENGE AND WE CAN, UH, HIRE FASTER AND, AND HAVE, UH, QUICKER ACADEMIES SO THAT WE CAN FILL THE VACANCIES AND UNDERSTAND ONE OF THE CONSTRAINTS ON THAT IS SPACE. SO IF SPACE REMAINS AN ISSUE, UM, I KNOW THAT WE HAVE SOME SCHOOLS THAT ARE BEING VACATED AND OTHER PLACES THAT, UM, PERHAPS WE WOULD BE ABLE TO, UM, FIND A CREATIVE WAY TO SOLVE THAT PIECE OF THE PUZZLE TO ACCELERATE, UM, THE ACADEMIES, UH, APPROPRIATELY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER. ANYONE ELSE? THERE WE GO. ALL RIGHT, LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SECTION. I'M THANK YOU. COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER COLLEAGUES. WE HAVE 60 MINUTES BEFORE WE START. CAN WE PLEASE PULL UP THE PRESENTATION FOR THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER? NEXT SLIDE. THAT WAS CORRECT. JUST THE NEXT SLIDE. AN INTERIM DIRECTOR, ADRIAN STAR WILL BE PRESENTING GOOD AFTERNOON. MAYOR MAYOR PRO TEM AND COUNCIL, INTERIM DIRECTOR, ADRIAN STIRRUP FOR US IN PUBLIC HEALTH HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER PROGRAM AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND SO FOR SOME TIME, PUBLIC HEALTH HAS BEEN ENGAGING WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS. WE KNOW THAT COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS ARE AN EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE THAT ARE, THAT ARE BEST EMPLOYED IN HELPING WITH HEALTH PREVENTION AND PROMOTION EFFORTS IN COMMUNITY SETTINGS. AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HEARD LOUD AND CLEAR FROM OUR PARTNERSHIP WAS THAT THERE WAS A NEED FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, ONE PERMANENT JOB OPPORTUNITIES, BECAUSE THERE ARE A LOT OF CHWS IN COMMUNITIES, BUT THE MAJORITY OF THEM WERE GRANT FUNDED. THE OTHER THAT WE LOUD AND CLEAR WAS, UM, LOCAL TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES. DSHS HAS, UM, A ROBUST TRAINING PROGRAM IN EVERY REGION SAVE HOURS. AND SO ONCE A PERSON GOES PAST THE INITIAL CERTIFICATION, UH, PROCESS, IT'S HARD TO FIND FREE OR LOCAL TRAINING FOR THE CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS. UM, AND SO HERE AT AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, WE'RE LUCKY TO HAVE, UM, TWO STAFF PERSONS THAT ARE CHW EYES, WHICH ARE CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS. AND THEY CAME TO US WITH AN IDEA OF BUILDING A TRAINING PROGRAM FOR OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY, UM, PRE COVID. WE WILL WE'RE WELL ON OUR WAY TO OFFERING FREE TRAINING PROGRAMS IN COMMUNITY. BUT THE OTHER PART OF THAT WAS THAT WE WANTED TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE. [01:15:02] AND SO, UM, WE BEGAN TO TALK ABOUT WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE TO ESTABLISH A CAREER LADDER OR PROGRESSION PROGRAM WITHIN AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, UH, FOR THESE POSITIONS RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE STAFF THAT OPERATE IN THOSE ROLES UNDER THE COMMUNITY WORKER TITLE. UM, BUT THAT TITLE DOESN'T REALLY, UM, DO JUSTICE. THE BREADTH OF EXPERIENCE THAT A COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER BRINGS TO THE TABLE, NOR DOES IT ADDRESS THE LIVED EXPERIENCE PIECE THAT WE FIND TO BE VERY VALUABLE FOR THESE POSITIONS. AND SO WITH THAT, UM, THERE THERE'S $500,000 IN ONE-TIME FUNDING, INCLUDING IN OUR FISCAL YEAR 22 BUDGET. AND THAT WILL BE USED TO, UM, BUILD ON THE WORK THAT WE HAVE DONE, UM, IN COLLABORATION WITH HRD TO ESTABLISH THE, UH, CLASSIFICATION AND THE CAREER LADDER, AND ALSO TO BUILD OUT THE TRAINING PROGRAM THAT WE BEGAN TO PILOT PRE COVID. THE FUNDING WILL BE USED TO HIRE THREE TEMPORARY POSITIONS, DEVELOP CURRICULUM AND PROVIDE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES NEEDED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND LAUNCH OF THE NETWORK AND TRAINING CENTER. AFTER NEXT YEAR, WE WILL NEED ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO TRANS TRANSITION THE TEMPORARY POSITIONS TO PERMANENT FTES, AND TO BE ABLE TO HAVE SUPPORT, TO CONTINUE FACILITATING THE CHW NETWORK AND EXPAND THE CAPACITY OF THE TRAINING CENTER. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. AND SO THE, THE OTHER THING THAT I'M HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT TODAY IS VIOLENCE PREVENTION. IN OUR CURRENT YEAR BUDGET, WE HAVE, UM, JUST UNDER 600 OR JUST OVER 660,000 FOR STAFF POSITIONS, WHICH INCLUDES, UM, THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION, PROGRAM MANAGER, AND TWO SUPPORT STAFF. AND, UH, THOSE STAFF WILL BE, UH, FOCUSED ON IMPLEMENTING, UM, VIOLENCE REDUCTION STRATEGIES, LEADING OUR PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS AND, UM, LEADING OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES. UM, WE HAVE HUNDRED AND 86,000 IN ONGOING FUNDING TO SUPPORT, UH, SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS FOCUSED ON VIOLENCE PREVENTION. NEW FOR FISCAL YEAR 22 IS ONE-TIME FUNDING AND THE AMOUNT OF 825,000, UM, THE FIRST WILL A POT OF MONEY, WHICH IS THE 500,000 WILL BE USED TO SUPPORT, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE, ALLOW US TO ASSESS AND MONITOR VIOLENCE RELATED DATA, UM, TO HELP US BETTER INFORM OUR STRATEGIES. THE SECOND PIECE WILL BE OUR CONTINUED INVESTMENT IN COMMUNITY, BELIEVING THAT, YOU KNOW, IF WE WANT A COMMUNITY CENTERED SOLUTION, IT'S, IT'S BEST LEFT TO THE EXPERTS. AND SO THAT WILL PROVIDE SEED FUNDING FOR THOSE, UM, COMMUNITY LED PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION EFFORTS. AND I BELIEVE THAT IS MY LAST SLIDE. AND IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS, I AM HAPPY TO ANSWER. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. UM, THANK YOU, DIRECTOR SYRUP FOR THAT PRESENTATION AND COLLEAGUES DURING TODAY'S COVID BRIEFING SESSION, WE TALKED ABOUT THE, THE NEED TO INVEST IN COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS AS PART OF OUR VACCINE HESITANCY RESPONSE. UM, I ALSO WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THAT WE HAD FOUR DIFFERENT COMMISSIONS AS PART OF THEIR BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ALSO HIGHLIGHTED THE NEED AND CALLED FOR CITY COUNCIL TO INVEST IN COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, INCLUDING THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION, THE COMMISSION ON IMMIGRANT AFFAIRS, THE HISPANIC QUALITY OF LIFE COMMISSION, THE ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE COMMISSION, UH, IN ADDITION TO THE RE-IMAGINING PUBLIC SAFETY TASK FORCE. SO THERE'S SIGNIFICANT COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND THE INVESTMENT IN COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS. WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AND CRITICAL NEED TO HAVE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS AS PART OF OUR CITY OF AUSTIN WORKFORCE IN ORDER TO GET THROUGH THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PANDEMIC. UH, AND I HOPE YOU ALL WILL JOIN ME, UM, IN CALLING FOR AN INCREASED INVESTMENT IN COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS. AND I APPRECIATE THAT THE PROPOSED BUDGET INCLUDES 500,000. I THINK THAT'S A GREAT STARTING POINT. AND I KNOW IT'S A LONG TIME COMING, I BELIEVE IN 2019, UM, THE STEPS WERE FIRST LAID OUT AND BRINGING COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS ONTO, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN. AND, UM, AND SO I DO HAVE JUST A FEW QUESTIONS AND I KNOW WE'RE SHORT ON TIME, SO I WON'T GO THROUGH ALL OF THEM, BUT THERE'S A FEW THAT I THINK WOULD BE HELPFUL TO COVER, UM, DIRECTOR STRIP. IF YOU COULD JUST TALK US THROUGH WHAT WOULD BE THE, WHAT WOULD BE THE ROLE OF THE CURRENTLY THE THREE PROPOSED TEMPORARY COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER POSITIONS? CAN YOU JUST DESCRIBE, LIKE WHAT KIND OF DUTIES WOULD THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS DO? YES. UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS. SO, UM, THE, THE ROLES [01:20:01] THAT ARE PROPOSED ARE, UM, TWO PROGRAM COORDINATORS TO HELP DEVELOP THE CURRICULUM AND THEN TO ACTUALLY, UM, DO THE TRAINING COURSES FOR COMMUNITY AND THE OTHER WOULD BE A SUPERVISORY POSITION. OKAY. THANK YOU. AND SO WITH THAT, UM, AND IT'S GREAT THAT WE'LL HAVE INDIVIDUALLY. AND SO THOSE, THOSE ROLES WOULD BE INDIRECT. OH, NO, SORRY, PLEASE FINISH. OH YEAH. THERE'S A LAG HERE. I'M SORRY. UM, I THINK HE, TO THOSE ROLES WOULD BE OUR CONTINUED PARTNERSHIP WITH THE THERE'S ALREADY A COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER DIALOGUE THAT'S IN PLACE. SO MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE RESOURCING THAT EFFORT AND NOT REPLACING IT BECAUSE SOME GOOD WORK HAS BEEN DONE THERE AND ALSO CONTINUE CONTINUING TO WORK WITH DSHS TO BUILD OUT THE CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAM AND SUPPORTING THEIR EFFORTS TO BUILD UP OUR PRESENCE LOCALLY. THANK YOU, DIRECTOR STIRRUP. THAT'S HELPFUL. UM, SO YOU CAN SEE THAT THIS WOULD BE, IS IT'S A GREAT NEXT STEP AND, AND GETTING, UM, INDIVIDUALS TRAINED FOR THE CERTIFICATION AND DESIGNATION OF AS COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, BUT IT'S SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH TO ADDRESS THE IMMEDIATE NEED, ESPECIALLY FOR VACCINE HESITANCY, WHICH IS WHY, UH, I'M CALLING ON AN INCREASED INVESTMENT IN COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS. UM, AND THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD WAS IF YOU COULD EXPAND ON, UM, WHAT CONSTITUTES THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A CHW NETWORK AND TRAINING CENTER, WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? SO THE FIRST WOULD BE AN, AND THAT'S INTERNAL TO THE CITY. AS I SAID, THERE'S A VERY STRONG, UM, NETWORK WITHIN THE COMMUNITY ALREADY. UM, THE DEPARTMENT OR THE CITY MAKES INVESTMENTS, UM, WITH UT TO DEVELOP TRAINING CURRICULUM FOR STAFF, BUT IT WOULD REALLY BE, UM, THERE WAS A LOT OF TALK ABOUT THE NEED TO, UM, AND THIS IS I'M GOING TO MAKE UP A WORD, BUT PROFESSIONALIZE THE JOB TITLE, RIGHT? THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS ARE FEELING THAT, UM, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH VALUE PLACED ON THE WORK THAT THEY'VE DONE IN THE COMMUNITY. SO IT'S REALLY FOR US, IF WE ARE SAYING THAT COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS ARE GOOD PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE, WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, ADDRESSING SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH AND WE'RE GOING TO LEAD THE WAY, AND WE ARE GOING TO BUILD THAT STRUCTURE WITHIN OUR CITY SYSTEM, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE IT BE A CAREER PROGRESSION. SO SOMEONE COULD COME IN AND BE TRAINED AND MOVE ALL THE WAY UP TO A COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER INSTRUCTOR, AND HAVE A, A SOLID CAREER IN PUBLIC HEALTH. AND THEN THE OTHER PART WOULD BE THE, THE PIECES, UH, THE TRAINING PIECES THAT, UM, THE FOLKS NEEDED TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO BUILD OUT CURRICULUM COMPONENTS. THE STATE HAS A VERY GOOD INITIAL TRAINING PROGRAM WHERE WE TEACH A TEACH COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, CORE COMPETENCIES, BUT TO BE ABLE TO ADD ON, UM, RIGHT NOW, UH, COVID CAMP COMPONENT, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO STAND UP AND BUILD OUT A TRAINING, UH, CURRICULUM TO HELP COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, ADDRESS VACCINE HESITANCY IN COMMUNITY. UM, IT FITS THE NEXT PANDEMIC. IT WOULD BE THAT IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, FOOD ACCESS OR FOOD INSECURITY, LIKE, UH, THIS JOB TITLE CAN HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT AND A LOT OF THE, UH, AREAS WHERE WE SEE, UH, HEALTH INEQUITIES AND HEALTH DISPARITIES. AND SO THAT WOULD BE THE INITIAL THOUGHTS FOR THAT. THANK YOU. AND LASTLY, I JUST WANT TO SAY TO MY COLLEAGUES, I INVITE MY COLLEAGUES, SOME OF YOU THANK YOU. WHO'VE ALREADY REACHED OUT AND SHARED THAT THEY'RE INTERESTED IN WORKING TO FIND FUNDING IN THE BUDGET FOR COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, UM, AND THAT WE'RE FUNDING AT A LEVEL THAT IS NECESSARY AND NEEDED FOR US TO DEFEAT THE VIRUS. UM, MY QUESTIONS, UM, OR SOME COMMENTS I WANTED TO SHARE WITH STAFF IS THAT I'D LIKE TO SEE IF WE CAN FIND FUNDING TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, WHETHER IT BE IN ONE TIME OR ONGOING FUNDING. AND I ASK THAT YOU DETERMINE WHICH NEWLY PROPOSED FTES CAN BE DELAYED IN ORDER TO REALLOCATE THOSE FUNDS TO CHWS IN THE APH DEPARTMENT OR ANOTHER DEPARTMENT. AND I'M ALSO LEAVE IT UP TO THE DEPARTMENT TO DETERMINE WHAT IS A CRITICAL FUNCTION. AND IF THERE'S SOMETHING PROPOSED THAT IS SEEN AS MORE PERFUNCTORY AND THAT'S WHERE THE BUDGET DECISIONS SHOULD BE MADE. AND SO I JUST WANTED TO PROVIDE SOME FEEDBACK ON THAT END AND, UM, AND LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE. WE HAVE 45 MINUTES LEFT. UH, I THINK WE PROBABLY, TO THE DEGREE WE CAN BE WANTING TO GET THE VIOLENCE PREVENTION, ARE YOU FOR FORBIDDING FIVE OR 10 MINUTES? UH, AND THEN I THINK THAT THE, UH, THE, THE DISPATCH EQUITY OF OPTIMIZATION DEFICIENCY STUDY, UH, COULD TAKE THE [01:25:01] LAST 30 MINUTES AS WE GO. THEN WE WOULD NOT GET TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TODAY OR TO, UM, PARKS TO THAT, UH, AN, UH, VERY QUICKLY, UM, UM, UH, I WANTED TO SUPPORT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER. CUENTAS, I'D BE HAPPY TO WORK WITH YOU ON THE CHW PROGRAM WITH OUR STAFF, I THINK IS VERY IMPORTANT. I THINK WE SHOULD ALSO, UH, I'LL TALK WITH YOU ABOUT THE POTENTIAL AND YOU PROBABLY ALREADY, YOU AND STAFF AND OTHERS ARE PROBABLY ALREADY WORKING ON THIS, BUT IT CAN BE IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT THE ABILITY TO, UH, TO BILL FOR THE SERVICES OF COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS AND THE COMMUNITY. I THINK THAT WOULD BE POSSIBLE WITH THE MEDICAID PROGRAM AND POSSIBLY WITH OTHER PROGRAMS. SO, UM, AND I, IT REQUIRES AN INITIAL INVESTMENT, BUT OVER TIME WE MAY BE ABLE TO, UH, LOCATE SOME, SOME, UH, FUNDING SOURCES TO HELP TO PAY FOR THESE RESOURCES. AND I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU COUNCIL MEMBER FUND. GREAT. THANK YOU. RIGHT. UH, CATS WERE AUTHOR. THANK YOU. UM, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE ONE BRIEF COMMENT ON THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER ON ONE ON THE VIOLENCE PREVENTION. UM, SO, UH, DIRECTOR SYRUP, I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THIS FOCUS ON THE PROGRESSION, THE CAREER PROGRESSION, UM, IN CONVERSATIONS I'VE HAD OUT IN THE COMMUNITY. THEY'VE SAID THAT THAT'S BEEN A REAL GAP. UM, SO I THINK THAT'S, UM, A REALLY IMPORTANT, UM, INSIGHT THAT I'M PLEASED TO SEE THE BUDGET IS BEGINNING TO MOVE FORWARD AND LOOK FORWARD TO THAT PROGRESSING OVER TIME TO BE ADDITIONAL POSITIONS. I DID WANT TO FLAG IN CASE YOU'RE NOT IN TOUCH WITH THEM. AMERICAN YOUTH WORKS, WHO IS ONE OF OUR CORE PARTNERS FOR THE AUSTIN CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS. AND ONE OF OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM, THEY MENTIONED THAT THEY MAY HAVE A COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER PROGRAM. THEY'RE THE AMERICORPS, UM, PROVIDER IN THE AREA. UM, I THINK IT MIGHT BE WORTH TALKING WITH THEM, UM, BOTH ABOUT WHAT THEY MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP DELIVER, TO EXPEDITE, UM, THE PROCESS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OR TO SERVE AS A PARTNER. THEY DO A LOT OF THEIR RECRUITMENT, ET CETERA. UM, AND WE'RE BUILDING, UH, A WONDERFUL ADDITIONAL PARTNERSHIP WITH THEM THROUGH THE CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS. UM, AND I WOULD BE EXCITED TO SEE US, UM, LOOPING THE, UM, THE HEALTH WORKERS IN, UH, WITH THAT PROCESS OF TRAINING BECAUSE THEY, THEY DO A REALLY GOOD, GOOD JOB. UM, AND IF YOU NEED THOSE CONNECTIONS, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE THOSE. UM, AND THEN ON THE OFFENSIVE VIOLENCE PREVENTION, UM, I WANTED TO REALLY JUST SAY THANK YOU TO, UM, MR. UP AND LAURA DILLA FUN DAY. UM, AND NOW, UM, MS. MILES, WHO'S TAKEN ON THE MANAGERS ROLE AND REALLY EXCITED TO SEE, UM, THIS PROGRAM DEVELOP. WE MADE AN INVESTMENT IN IT, UH, LAST FISCAL YEAR, UM, ON MY EMOTION WAS SEVERAL CO-SPONSORS AND I'M REALLY EXCITED TO SEE IT OFF THE GROUND. AND I APPRECIATE, UM, THE ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS THAT THE CITY MANAGER PUT INTO THAT AREA IN RESPONSE TO REQUESTS FROM THE RE-IMAGINING PUBLIC SAFETY TASK FORCE. UM, I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO EMPHASIZE VIOLENCE PREVENTION. UM, IT IS MUCH BETTER TO STOP THE VIOLENCE, UM, AFTER THE FACT AND OR TO STOP IT BEFORE THE FACT, RATHER THAN AFTER THE FACT. UM, AND I AM PLEASED TO SEE OUR CITY MOVING AND PUTTING, UM, RESOURCES THERE. I'M HOPING THAT IN FUTURE YEARS WE'LL BE IN A POSITION TO DO EVEN MORE. AND, UH, BY NEXT YEAR, I'M HOPING THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO ACCELERATE THOSE RESOURCES FURTHER. THANK YOU. SORRY. YES. AND LAST TIME WE TALKED ABOUT THIS TOPIC, WE HAD ALSO MENTIONED THE, UH, THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL COORDINATORS OR SORT OF RESILIENCE WORKERS THAT COUNCIL MEMBER TOVO HAD MENTIONED, UH, SPONSORING. AND THEN IN OUR CONVERSATION, I THINK COUNCIL MEMBER TOVO RAISED THAT THAT IS SEPARATE FROM COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, BUT SOMETIMES CONNECTED BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS ARE WORKING THROUGH THOSE SAME PROGRAMS. SO I REMAIN SUPPORTIVE OF ADDING THOSE, UH, THOSE FOR COMMUNITY SCHOOL COORDINATORS FOR RESILIENCE, WHILE ALSO SEEING IF WE CAN ADD, UH, THREE OR FOUR COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS. NOW, IN ADDITION TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT DIRECTOR STIRRUP IS, IS TALKING ABOUT. SO AS WE WORK ON THAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER TOVO AND COUNCIL MEMBER QUINTESSENCE AND OTHERS, I THINK IT WOULD, UM, I THINK WE SHOULD BE, HAVE THE CAPACITY TO BE ABLE TO DO, TO DO EACH OF THOSE THINGS BUILD START BUILDING THAT INFRASTRUCTURE AS DIRECTOR STIRRUP MENTIONED, UH, ADDING SOME IMMEDIATE STAFFING AND THEN ALSO BRINGING IN THOSE, UH, COMMUNITY SCHOOL COORDINATORS. AND FRANKLY, I SEE ALL OF THOSE AS, AS DEEPLY INTERCONNECTED WHERE IT CAN YOUTH WORKS IS A GREAT GROUP. I KNOW AUSTIN VOICES WHEN THEY TESTIFIED MENTIONED THAT THEY HAVE A, A PROGRAM GOING RIGHT NOW WITH COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS. SO WHETHER THEY BE IN-HOUSE OR WITH ONE OF THOSE GROUPS, I THINK WE CAN, WE CAN GET ALL THREE OF THEM DONE. [01:30:02] OKAY. WE'LL BE READY TO GO ONTO THE EFFICIENCY STUDY. UH, NO MAYOR COUNCIL MEMBER TOBA. YEAH, I'M SORRY. I HAD MY HAND UP. UM, I WAS ALSO GOING TO MENTION SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF WHAT COUNCILMAN, BECAUSE SERGEANT, BUT I THINK I'M STILL, LET ME JUST NOTE FOR MY COLLEAGUES SOMEWHERE IN THE, IN THE Q AND A, I HAVE A QUESTION, BUT NOT YET A RESPONSE, JUST TRYING TO, AS I SAID LAST WEEK, REALLY GET VERY CLEAR ON WHERE WE ALREADY HAVE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS. AND, YOU KNOW, I WILL, I REGARD THIS AS AN IMPORTANT AREA TO, AND WE'LL LOOK FOR SOME GUIDANCE, UM, FROM STIRRUP AND YOUR STAFF ABOUT WHERE THE BEST INVESTMENT IS IS SHOULD WE BE INVESTING IN ORGANIZATIONS, SUCH AS OUR FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER AND ASKING THEM TO STAFF UP THEIR COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, OR, UM, SHOULD WE BE STAFFING ADDITIONAL COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS THROUGH APH AND IT'S APH AT A STAGE WHERE, WHERE THAT WOULD BE A USEFUL INVESTMENT WITHIN, WITHIN, UM, WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT ITSELF. SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY, ANY RESPONSE AT THIS STAGE AND, AND COUNCIL MEMBER FRONT HAS MAYBE, MAYBE YOU CAN HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU ARE ON GETTING THAT ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT AS WELL. AND I KNOW YOU'VE, I THINK YOU'VE CLARIFIED IT, BUT I'M NOT, I'M STILL NOT CLEAR ON WHERE YOU'RE SUGGESTING THAT INVESTMENT BE MADE. SO DIRECTOR STIRRUP AND THEN, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER FONTAS, IF YOU WOULD RESPOND AS WELL, PLEASE. I THINK, UM, I THINK IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF BOTH AT THIS STAGE, UM, IN TERMS OF THE INVESTMENTS THROUGH AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, UM, WE INVEST IN COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, UM, WITH A CLINIC IN NORTHWEST AUSTIN, THAT'S FOCUSED ON, UM, THE ASIAN AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER POPULATION. WE INVEST IN MAMA'S SIGN OF VIBRANT WOMAN AND THEY USE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, UM, AND OUTREACH PROGRAMS. WE HAVE OUR OWN COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY WORKERS, BUT THEY SERVE AS COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS INTERNALLY THAT ARE DOING THAT TYPE OF WORK. UM, BUT I THINK THE CITY TAKING THIS ON AND DOING IT IN THE WAY THAT WE'RE PLANNING WILL SET THE STAGE FOR THE COMMUNITY, THE INTENTION REALLY IS TO, UM, IT'S TWO-FOLD RIGHT. WE WANT THAT BEST FACE FORWARD FOR SOMEONE TO DELIVER A PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION, TO HELP SOMEONE INITIATE A BEHAVIOR CHANGE. BUT WE ALSO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE DEPTH OF EXPERIENCE AND SKILLS AND COMMUNITY. THERE IS A CONCERN, UM, FROM COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS IN THOSE REALLY GRASSROOTS POSITIONS THAT IN SOME ORGANIZATIONS THEY'RE MOVING AWAY FROM THAT SHOE INTENT, THERE'S THE HIRING OF SOCIAL WORKERS, THERE'S THE HIRING OF PEOPLE WITH DEGREES, AND THAT IS GREAT, BUT WE DON'T WANT TO LEAVE OUT THE PERSON THAT HAS THAT LIVED EXPERIENCE. THAT IS REALLY AT THE HEART OF THE MATTER OF, UM, WHAT THE, THE, THE PROMATORES PROMONTORY MODEL REALLY CAME FROM. SO WE WERE TRYING TO STAY TRUE TO THAT MODEL WE'RE TRYING TO, UM, EXEMPLIFY AND SUPPORT OR THAT WITHIN COMMUNITY, THAT BEING SAID, I THINK, DEPENDING ON THE ISSUE THAT'S BEING ADDRESSED, THERE THERE'S LEVELS. RIGHT. SO I THINK IT WOULD BE GETTING WITH THAT EXISTING COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER DIALOGUE, CONTINUING TO TALK TO OUR PARTNERS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE BEST STRATEGY IS. BUT I DON'T THINK THAT GLUTES STEADY FROM TAKING THIS STEP. SO IS IT TOO, DO YOU FEEL THAT HOPEFULLY THAT ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION? IT DID, AND I'M SORRY, IT PROMPTED MORE, BUT DO YOU FEEL THEN THAT THE, THAT THE INVESTMENT THAT YOU'VE REQUESTED IS KIND OF WHAT YOU CAN MANAGE RIGHT NOW? UM, IF THERE WERE ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT, WOULD THAT BE ABLE TO BE DEPLOYED SOON OR, OR DOES IT, IS IT GOING TO TAKE SOME LEAD TIME FOR THAT CERTIFICATION PROGRAM TO GET, TO GET UP AND RUNNING? YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT A, IT'S NOT A DIFFERENT QUESTION REALLY FROM THE ONE WE ASKED, UM, OR I GUESS COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR ASKED, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAD ADDITIONAL FUNDING, WOULD THAT MUSIC, WOULD THAT, WOULD THAT MONEY BE ABLE TO, TO BE UTILIZED, UM, WITH THE HIRING THIS YEAR? OR WOULD IT, YOU KNOW, IS IT, UM, IS IT TOO SOON FOR THAT ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT BECAUSE WE'VE DONE THE LION SHARE OF THIS WORK PRE PANDEMIC AND BECAUSE OF THE NEED AND COMMUNITY, WE ALREADY HAVE A LOT OF QUALIFIED FOLKS THAT, UH, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, WHO ARE, YOU KNOW, EITHER OUT OF WORK BECAUSE THEY'RE GRANT FUNDED AND ENDED. AND SO I THINK IF WE HAD EXTRA MONEY THAT WE COULD MOVE IN AND MAKE USE OF THAT QUICKLY AS, AS QUICK AS THE CITY PROCESS ALLOWS US TO [01:35:01] THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS. YES. THANK YOU. UH, AND I JUST WANTED TO SHARE COUNCILMEMBER TOBER. THERE IS, UM, MISTRUST IN THE COMMUNITY WITH ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT. SO HAVING COMMUNITY WORKER AND COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS ON STAFF WILL HELP REBUILD THAT CONFIDENCE IN OUR CITIES PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES IN A WAY THAT, UH, COULD NOT BE DONE WITH JUST ONLY INVESTING IN COMMUNITY PARTNERS. SO WE REALLY HAVE TO HAVE A MIX OF BOTH STRATEGIES, AND THIS IS WHY I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE INVEST BOTH INTERNALLY IN HAVING A PATHWAY FOR CAREER ADVANCEMENT WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AND THEN INVEST IN OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS WHO ARE ALREADY DOING INCREDIBLE WORK. UM, AS COUNCIL MEMBER CASSARA MENTIONED, UH, AUSTIN VOICES BEING ONE OF THEM. AND LASTLY, AS FAR AS THE FUNDING, THAT'S THE QUESTION I'VE ASKED FOR STAFF TO COME BACK WITH TO IDENTIFY AREAS WHERE WE COULD PULL IN THE FUNDING. AND SO I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE FROM STAFF ON THOSE TYPES OF OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE CAN CONSIDER. SO IF I MAY MAYOR JUST, UM, JUST TO CLARIFY, I AGREE WITH YOU THAT IT, IT ABSOLUTELY SOUNDS LIKE THE INVESTMENT SHOULD BE BOTH WITHIN THE COMMUNITY WITHIN APH, I GUESS I'M JUST TRYING, I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER, WHETHER WHAT YOU'RE PROPOSING OR ARE YOU, ARE YOU SAYING YOU'RE GOING TO, YOU'RE STILL WORKING WITH STAFF TO DETERMINE KIND OF WHAT THAT MIX IS FOR THIS BUDGET, FOR THIS ADDITIONAL FUNDING THAT YOU'RE PROPOSING. YES. SO WORKING WITH STAFF TO COME TO HAVE A VERY DEFINED PLAN IN PLACE FOR THIS BUDGET. OKAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT ADDITIONAL INPUT. THANK YOU. THAT'S HELPFUL. ALL RIGHT. WE READY TO GO ON TO THE EFFICIENCY STUDY COLLEAGUES. ALL RIGHT, DIRECTOR STIRRUP. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT. OKAY. THANK YOU, SIR. PLEASE BRING UP THE PRESENTATION AND, UH, DR. S SCOTT WILL BE LEADING THIS CONVERSATION ON THE DISPATCH EQUITY AND OPTIMIZATION EFFICIENCY STUDY. THANK YOU, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. UH, I'M DR. MARK S. SCOTT. I AM THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO THIS IS A SUMMARY OF THE DISPATCH EQUITY AND OPTIMIZATION EFFICIENCY STUDY, UH, THAT UNDERWENT AN RFP PROCESS. UH, IT WAS AWARDED AND, UH, THE SUBMISSION OF THE FINAL PRODUCT OCCURRED IN JULY OF THIS YEAR. UH, THIS WAS DONE BY PUBLIC CONSULTING GROUP. AND THIS IS A REMINDER FOR THE OVERALL GOALS OF THIS STUDY IS REALLY TO CONDUCT A REVIEW OF THE EQUITY AND EFFICIENCY OF THE DISPATCH, UH, EMS RELATED SERVICES OF AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT AND AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS. UH, THEY REALLY FOCUSED ON RESPONSE TIMES EQUITY OF SERVICES AND RESOURCE UTILIZATION TO RESPONSES, TO EMS INCIDENTS, AND ULTIMATELY ALSO TO PRODUCE RECOMMENDATIONS ON LOCATIONS OF FIRE SUPPRESSION, EMS RESOURCES, TIMELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION, AS WELL AS LOCATIONS FOR NEW RESOURCES AND APPLICABILITY AND IMPACT OF, OF THE ISO RATING. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO, UH, IN THE, UH, COMMUNICATION THAT WAS SENT BY ACM MARIANO, UH, IT INCLUDED ATTACHMENT A, UH, WHICH INCLUDES A 41 RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, IN THE STUDY. UH, IT ASSESSED THE PRIORITY LEVELS OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE WAS RECOMMENDED, AND IT GROUPED IT INTO MULTIPLE CATEGORIES, INCLUDING EQUITY, EFFICIENCY, REVENUE, GENERATION POLICY, OR OPERATIONS RELATED AS WELL AS LABOR RELATED. UH, WHAT ALSO HAPPENED WAS A PRIORITIZATION OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS OCCURRED. WE HAVE A TOTAL OF 12 HOUR TIES RECOMMENDATIONS TO PRESENT TODAY. UH, THERE ARE TWO CATEGORIES, SIX IN EACH CATEGORY. ONE WAS, UH, THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT HIT BOTH EQUITY AND EFFICIENCY, AS WELL AS THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOCUSED ON REVENUE, UH, AND HAD RECOMMENDATIONS OR A PRIORITY LEVEL OF MEDIUM OR HIGH NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO THE FIRST RECORD COMMENDATION, UH, RECOMMENDATION NUMBER NINE, I WAS RECOMMENDATION FOR FACILITATED WORKSHOPS BETWEEN APH AFD, ALSO CHAVEZ COUNTY EMS, AND THE OPPOSITE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER. UH, THIS WAS IDENTIFIED AS A HIGH PRIORITY WITH AN IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE OF ZERO TO SIX MONTHS. I, AND THIS IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GOING TO SEE THROUGHOUT THIS STUDY IN THE RECOMMENDATION GUIDE PRESENTING TODAY, AS WELL AS OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, THAT ARE NOT INCLUDED. AND THAT IS REALLY A SENSE OF COOPERATION, COORDINATION, COLLABORATION, AND IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES CONSIDERATION FOR CONSOLIDATION OF SOME OF THESE SERVICES, UH, THE, THE REPORT REALLY FOCUSED A LOT ON THE EXCELLENCE WITHIN SERVICE LINES OF INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENTS, BUT FOUND INSTANCES [01:40:01] OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN, UH, WHERE THERE WAS A LACK OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN DEPARTMENTS IN TERMS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING, IN TERMS OF DATA SHARING. UH, THEY IDENTIFIED SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF REDUNDANCIES AS WELL AS GAPS, UH, BECAUSE OF THAT, UH, LACK OF COMMUNICATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS. SO THIS IS REALLY FOCUSED ON GETTING THOSE DEPARTMENTS TOGETHER IN A MEANINGFUL WAY TO CREATE STRATEGY. UH, THIS WAS PART OF A COUNCIL MEMBER ALTERS AMENDMENT LAST YEAR IN, IN CREATING THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER WAS TO START TO BRING THESE GROUPS TOGETHER TO PLAN. UH, TODAY WE'VE HEARD ABOUT, UH, MULTIPLE, THE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS AND PREVENTION EFFORTS. WE NEED AN OPPORTUNITY TO BRING THOSE KINDS OF THINGS TOGETHER SO THAT WE HAVE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, UH, AND WE'RE ENSURING THAT WE'RE, UH, UH, REALLY FOCUSING TOGETHER ON THOSE EQUITY ISSUES, UH, EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS OF RECOMMENDATION 31, UH, WAS TO BECOME FULL PARTNERS IN THE COMMUNITY HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PLAN. SO HISTORICALLY, SORRY, THIS IS A HIGH PARTY AS WELL HERE, A SIX MONTHS TIMELINE, UH, AS WELL, UH, ON THIS ONE, UH, HISTORICALLY WHEN APH CREATES THE COMMUNITY HEALTH IMPROVEMENT PLAN, UH, IT INVOLVES OTHER HEALTHCARE STAKEHOLDERS, HOSPITAL SYSTEMS, INTEGRAL CARE, COMMUNITY HEALTH. UM, AND SOMETIMES WE FORGET THAT EMS IS HEALTHCARE. IN FACT, IT'S ONE OF THE LARGEST HEALTHCARE ENTITIES IN TRAVIS COUNTY, UH, TREATING MORE THAN 110,000 PEOPLE A YEAR. UM, SO, YOU KNOW, PART OF THIS RECOMMENDATION IS TO INCLUDE THE EMS SYSTEM, WHICH INCLUDES ALL CITRUS COUNTY EMS IN AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, AS FULL PARTNERS IN THAT PLAN, UH, BETWEEN THEM, WE HAVE 2000 OR SO HEALTHCARE WORKERS, UH, THAT CAN BE IMPACTFUL ACROSS THIS COMMUNITY. AND THEY TALK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT A CROSS DEPARTMENTAL PLANNING FOR POP-UP RESOURCE CLINICS, AS WELL AS THE DATA SHARING, UH, BETWEEN THOSE DEPARTMENTS AS WELL AS EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE RECOMMENDATION 32, UH, WAS THE RECOMMENDATION TO COMMIT TO THE FULL, UH, FULLY COMMITTED TO THE RED ANGELS PROGRAM. THIS WAS A SEMESTER PRIORITY LEVEL OF MEDIUM TO HIGH WITH AN IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE OF ZERO SIX MONTHS. UH, AND AS A REMINDER, THE RED ANGEL PROGRAM IS REALLY, UH, DESIGNED AS A, AS A PREVENTION ARM OF, OF THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT. UH, PART OF THE SETUP OF THIS IS TO PROVIDE OUTREACH TO MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY, PARTICULARLY, UH, IN THE EAST AUSTIN AREA AND OTHER LOW INCOME AREAS THAT, UH, MAY NOT REGULARLY ACCESS HEALTH RESOURCES. UH, THIS IS A, A BRILLIANT CONCEPT, BUT AGAIN, UM, NEEDS TO HAVE STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT WITH EMS, UH, AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH, AS WELL AS EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS. SO THE RECOMMENDATION FROM, UH, THE CONSULTANT GROUP WAS TO ESTABLISH KPIS FOR THIS PROGRAM AND REALLY FOCUSED ON, UH, CROSS DEPARTMENTAL, CROSS AGENCY, UH, DATA DRIVEN INITIATIVES, UH, TO, UH, TO ACHIEVE THE GOALS. UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, UH, WHEN WE'VE TALKED IN THE PAST TO COUNCIL MEMBERS ABOUT THIS CONCEPT, UH, I'VE DISCUSSED FREQUENTLY, THE IMPACT OF THE FIRE SERVICE HAS HAD ON FIRES, THE ROLE THAT THEY'VE PLAYED IN, IN, UH, CHANGING BUILDING CODES, UH, SMOKE ALARM INSTALLATION, ET CETERA, HAS LED TO A SUBSTANTIAL DECREASE IN FIRES. IF WE UTILIZE THAT SAME POWER TO, UH, TO REALLY GO OUT AND TOUCH THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS, ASSESS FOR CLINICAL, UH, OR MEDICAL RISKS THAT WE COULD DO THE SAME THING FOR, UH, OR HEALTH ISSUES. UH, SO THAT WAS A, ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT RECOMMENDATION FROM THIS GROUP. UM, THE RECOMMENDATION 34 IS TO FORM A COLLABORATIVE WORK GROUP BETWEEN THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, EMS AND APH ON THE RISK REDUCTION INITIATIVES. THIS WAS ASSESSED A MEDIUM TO HIGH PRIORITY, UH, WITH A TOP OF MIND OF ZERO SIX MONTHS. AGAIN, UH, THERE ARE ANY EFFICIENCIES REDUNDANCIES AND IN SOME CIRCUMSTANCES, UH, CONFLICTING, UH, RISK REDUCTION INITIATIVES. UH, SO THERE DOES NEED TO BE A COLLABORATION TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY, THE EQUITY OF SERVICES, AND TO ENSURE THAT THERE'S STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT OF THOSE EFFORTS. UM, AND THIS IS, THIS IS ALMOST A RECOMMENDATION FOR A, A COLLABORATIVE WORK GROUP OR A TASK FORCE. UH, AGAIN, UH, I THINK AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH IS THE LEAD AGENCY WHEN IT, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT HEALTH PREVENTION, UH, BUT ULTIMATELY THIS GROUP NEEDS TO COME TOGETHER TO DISCUSS THE, THE RESOURCES THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN PLACE AND IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES TO MAXIMIZE THOSE RESOURCES. I CREATE THAT ALIGNMENT, REDUCE REDUNDANCIES AND BE MORE IMPACTFUL [01:45:01] IN THE SERVICES THAT ARE PROVIDED. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. I RECOMMENDATION 36 IS COMMUNITY EDUCATION. UH, SPECIFICALLY THEY MENTIONED CPR, AUTOMATED, EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATOR USE AND BLEEDING CONTROL. UH, THIS WAS ASSESSED A MEDIUM PRIORITY WITH A TIMEFRAME OF SIX TO 12 MONTHS. UH, THE RECOMMENDATION HERE WAS TO, UH, UH, ESTABLISHED FIRE STATION BASED NEIGHBORHOOD BASED BYSTANDER CPR PROGRAMS, UH, ADD EDUCATION AS WELL AS HEMORRHAGE CONTROL TRAINING. UH, THESE ARE SOME OF THE MOST TIME DEPENDENT EMERGENCIES AND THE MORE INDIVIDUALS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT KNOW HOW TO RESPOND AND ARE READY TO RESPOND. THE BETTER WE ARE AT SAVING LIVES BECAUSE ULTIMATELY THE BYSTANDERS IS GOING TO BE THE KEY COMPONENT. UH, THEY ALSO MADE THE RECOMMENDATION TO UTILIZE APD, UH, FOR EMERGENCY MEDICAL RESPONSES, SUCH AS CPR, UH, DELIVER CPR AED AND THAT HEMORRHAGE CONTROL. UH, THEY ALSO RECOMMENDED INTEGRATION OF A PUBLIC NOTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR CARDIAC ARREST. UH, THIS IS A, A PLATFORM WHICH IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC. UH, ULTIMATELY THE EMS SYSTEM CAN DECIDE, UH, IF, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A NURSE, A DOCTOR, UH, ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY WHO IS TRAINED IN CPR, UH, TO ADD THEM INTO THE RESPONSE, UH, COMPONENT SO THAT WE CAN GET, UH, THE AED AND THE CPR INDIVIDUALS QUICKER. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? IT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE RATES OF BYSTANDER CPR ARE REMARKABLY VARIABLE ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY. UH, WE FIND THAT IN EAST AUSTIN, UH, VYSTAR CPR RATES SOMETIMES SUFFER. WE KNOW THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT SURVIVAL FROM CARDIAC ARREST, THAT OUR LATIN X COMMUNITY HAS ABOUT ONE THIRD, THE SURVIVAL OF THE GENERAL COMMUNITY, WHEN IT COMES TO CARDIAC ARREST. NOW, THE ONLY ANSWER IS NOT THESE PROGRAMS. IT'S SOME OF WHAT ADRIAN STARK WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLIER ABOUT GETTING THOSE COMMUNITY HEALTHCARE WORKERS OUT THERE TO PREVENT THOSE FROM HAPPENING. BUT PART OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM IS, IS TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN MODIFY THE SYSTEM TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. UH, RECOMMENDATION 39 IS CONSIDER INITIATING NINE 11 TELEHEALTH SERVICES FOR LOW ACUITY, NINE 11 CALLS. UH, THIS WAS, UH, ASSESSED THE MEDIUM PRIORITY LEVEL WITH AN IMPLEMENTATION TIMEFRAME OF ONE TO THREE YEARS. UH, THE RECOMMENDATIONS WERE TO UTILIZE THE DISPATCH CENTER, UH, C4 PROGRAM TO NAVIGATE LOW-ACUITY CALLERS, TO UTILIZE NINE 11 TELEHEALTH SERVICES PROVIDED BY, UH, THE CITY EMS PHYSICIANS AND ADVANCED PRACTICE PROVIDERS, THE PARAMEDIC PRACTITIONER, UH, THAT COUNCILMAN ALTER REFERRED TO EARLIER, UH, WHICH CAN ALSO, UH, BILL THOSE SERVICES VIA THE T3 PROGRAM, UH, TO INSURANCE CARRIERS. UH, THE OTHER RECOMMENDATION WAS TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO AND AFFORDABILITY OF HEALTHCARE IN POPULATIONS WITH LIMITED NOW ACCESS, UH, TO NOT TO NON-EMERGENCY CARE WHO UTILIZE THE NINE 11 SYSTEM. AGAIN, WHEN WE LOOK AT THESE LOW ACUITY CALLS, UH, TRADITIONALLY WE SEND AN AMBULANCE AND SOMETIMES A FIRE APPARATUS TO THESE CALLS. WHEN WE KNOW THAT THEY'RE LOW ACUITY, THEY HAVE A VERY LOW LIKELIHOOD OF NEEDING AN AMBULANCE TRANSPORT TO THE HOSPITAL. THE RECOMMENDATION IS HERE, HERE IS TO TRIAGE THEM FURTHER AT THE POINT OF DISPATCH, AND THEN CONNECT THEM TO THE RIGHT RESOURCE. THAT RESOURCE MAY BE TELEHEALTH. IT MAY BE SENDING AN AMBULANCE. IT MAY BE SENDING A COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDIC. IT MADE ME SENDING A PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT OR A PHYSICIAN IF, YOU KNOW, THE PERSON NEEDS SUTURES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. UH, BUT CERTAINLY WITH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WE'VE FOUND THAT THE ACCEPTANCE FOR TELE HEALTH HAS IMPROVED ACROSS THE COMMUNITY. AND IT DOES REPRESENT A LOW COST OPTION FOR THE CITY AS WELL AS FOR OUR COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF THAT, UH, UNEXPECTED CARE. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. UH, SO NOW WE'RE GETTING INTO THE SECTION REGARDING, UH, REVIEW GENERATION REVENUE GENERATING, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS. THE FIRST RECOMMENDATION HERE RECOMMENDATION 14 IS TO REVISE THE OSS. TRAVIS COUNTY EMS IS CHARITY CARE POLICY. THIS WAS ASSESSED AT A PRIOR LEVEL HIGH WITH AN IMPLEMENT IMPLEMENTATION TIMEFRAME OF NINE 30 OF 2021. UH, SO THERE'S A COUPLE OF SIGNIFICANT RECOMMENDATIONS HERE FIRST, UH, THEY POINTED OUT THAT THE ACA ALLOWS FOR SUBSIDIES UP TO 400% OF THE FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL, UH, FOR MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY. WELL, THE CURRENT, UH, EMS, UH, SLIDING SCALE ONLY GOES TO 200% OF THAT FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL. UH, SO THE RECOMMENDATION HAS BEEN MADE TO MODIFY THE CURRENT POLICY TO IMPROVE THE ABILITY TO FILE UNDER AN AMBULANCE SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENT PROGRAM, UM, VERSUS [01:50:01] THE, THE SLIDING SCALE. IN OTHER WORDS, TO BILL EVERYBODY FOR THE COST OF THE GAME INDOLENCE, AND TO WRITE OFF, UH, THOSE, UH, THAT GO UNPAID, WHICH THEN QUALIFY FOR THIS, UH, UH, SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENT PROGRAM. THE ESTIMATIONS FROM THE CONSULTANTS WERE THAT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 3.5 AND 14.3 MILLION, UH, MAYBE ADDED TO THE REVENUE, UH, THROUGH AN ADJUSTMENT SUCH AS THIS RECOMMENDATION 15, UH, REVIEW EMS BILLING PRACTICES FOR COMMERCIAL PAYERS, THIS WAS ASSESSED TO MEDIUM, TO HIGH PRIORITY LEVEL WITH AN IMPLEMENTATION TIMEFRAME OF SIX TO 12 MONTHS. UH, IN THIS RECOMMENDATION, THE CONSULTANTS IDENTIFIED THE NEED FOR MODIFICATIONS OF THE EMS COST RECOVERY PROGRAM, PARTICULARLY FROM COMMERCIAL INSURERS WHEN THEY COMPARED THE, UH, THE COST RECOVERY FOR AUSTIN AS COMPARED TO DALLAS, HOUSTON AND FORT WORTH, UH, THOSE LOCATIONS WERE RECEIVING A HUNDRED PERCENT MORE PER BILL THAN AUSTIN IS. UH, SO THEIR AVERAGE WAS 802 BETWEEN THOSE JURISDICTIONS WITH AN AVERAGE FOR AUSTIN AND $367. UM, SO THAT'S ABOUT A $435 DIFFERENCE OUR TRANSPORT, UH, WHEN WE WALK OUT THE, UH, UH, CALLS FOR FYI 20, THAT WAS ABOUT 1900 PAULS. UH, SO BEING ABLE TO MOVE THE BAR UP TO THAT $802 PER CALL, UH, WOULD INCREASE THE REVENUE BY ABOUT $8.3 MILLION, UH, FOR EMS. UH, SO THE, THE SEVEN TO 10 MILLION THERE IS BECAUSE THERE'S VARIATION YEAR TO YEAR, UH, AND THE PERCENTAGE OF COMMERCIAL PAYERS AS WELL AS THE, THE REIMBURSEMENT NUMBERS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO RECOMMENDATION 16, CONSIDER IMPLEMENTING A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE FOR AMBULANCE TRANSPORT. UH, THIS WAS ASSESSED AT PRIORITY LEVEL OF MEDIUM TO HIGH WITH AN IMPLEMENTATION TIMEFRAME OF ZERO TO SIX MONTHS. SO THE CURRENT, UH, AVERAGE EMS BASED FEE FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS $1,009. THAT'S WHAT THE INCREASE, UH, COUNCIL APPROVED LAST YEAR. UH, THIS IS COMPARED TO 1,485 FOR FORT WORTH 1,578 FOR DALLAS AND 1,911 FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON. UM, THE, UH, THE CONSULTANTS ALSO IDENTIFIED A COST OF SERVICE FOR TRANSPORT OF $1,371. SO THEY'VE RECOMMENDED A 25% INCREASE TO THE AVERAGE FREIGHT FEE TO AROUND $1,261 TO OFFSET THE COST OF SERVICE, UH, PROVIDING THAT SERVICE FROM THE CITY. UH, AGAIN, EVEN WITH THAT INCREASE, IT'S STILL SIGNIFICANTLY UNDER, UH, THE OTHER CITIES, UH, THAT ARE CITED IN THE STUDY RECOMMENDATION 11, CONSIDER THE ADDITION OF HEALTH CARE FINANCE EXPERTISE TO AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS. NOW THEY'VE ASSESSED A PARTY LEVEL OF MEDIUM WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION TIMEFRAME OF ONE TO THREE YEARS. UH, UH, THE RECOMMENDATIONS HERE TO MAXIMIZE THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS IN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, UH, WHILE IMPROVING THE CONTINUITY OF CARE. UH, SO OTHER CITIES HAVE, UH, OTHER SYSTEMS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY PARTNERED WITH OTHER HEALTHCARE ENTITIES, UH, TO IMPROVE OUTCOMES FOR PATIENTS. I'LL ALSO BEING ABLE TO, UM, UH, IMPROVE THEIR COST RECOVERY FOR THE EMS SYSTEM. AS SOON AS OUR PARTNERSHIPS WITH OUR, OUR HOSPITAL SYSTEMS PARTNERSHIPS WITH, UH, FOLKS LIKE CARE, UH, CENTRAL HEALTH TO IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES WHERE WE CAN BENEFIT THEM, UH, IN TERMS OF, UM, THEIR GOALS FOR HEALTH CARE SERVICES, WHILE INCREASING THE ABILITY TO RECOVER COSTS FOR THE EMS SYSTEM. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE RECOMMENDATION 13 IS TO REVIEW THE AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS BILLING PRACTICES, A PRIORITY LEVEL, MEDIUM IMPLEMENTATION TIMEFRAME, ZERO TO SIX MONTHS. UH, SO THE CONSULTANTS IDENTIFIED THAT THERE ARE ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE COST RECOVERY FOR BOTH TREATMENT KNOW TRANSPORT, AS WELL AS THE ALLOWABLE, UH, ALS LEVEL SERVICES, UH, SPECIFICALLY THEY, THEY, UH, REPORTED THAT, UH, CURRENTLY WE BILL 54% OF THE TRANSPORTS AS, UH, ADVANCED LIFE SUPPORT, WHICH IS SIGNIFICANTLY UNDER WHAT OTHER, UH, SIMILAR SYSTEMS THAT BILL, UH, AND WELL BELOW THE THRESHOLD TO TRIGGER ADDITIONAL OVERSIGHT FROM, FROM CMS, WHICH IS 80 TO 90%. UM, THIS MAY BE FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS. UH, SOMETIMES IT'S, UH, CHALLENGES WITH, UH, DOCUMENTATION ON THE MEDIC SIDE, SOMETIMES IT'S CHALLENGES, UH, IN INTERPRETING, UH, IN TERMS OF THE BILLING AND CODING PROCESS. BUT NEVERTHELESS, UH, IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S AN ADDITIONAL REVENUE LEFT ON THE TABLE, UH, BECAUSE OF THIS DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, UH, THE ALS THAT'S BEING [01:55:01] THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY BILLING AND WHAT WE'RE, UH, MORE LIKELY TO BE ABLE TO BILL, UH, GIVEN THE COMPARISON, UH, PROGRAMS IN THE STATE AND AROUND THE COUNTRY. UM, THEY ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THE MP3 PROGRAM IN, UH, IMPROVES THE ABILITY OF EMS TO RECOVER COSTS FOR THOSE NON TRANSPORTS OR WHEN THEY'RE GIVEN AN ALTERNATE DESTINATION OR WHEN THEY'RE PROVIDED SERVICES, UH, VIA TELEHEALTH OR THROUGH ONE OF OUR IN-PERSON, UH, PHYSICIANS OR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS. UM, SO THEY ALSO IDENTIFIED THAT, UH, AS PART OF THIS RECOMMENDATION THAT 38% OF OUR, UH, EMS CLIENTS WERE IDENTIFIED AS UNINSURED, WHICH THEY FELT WAS, WAS HIGHER THAN EXPECTED, UH, GIVEN OUR POPULATION AND EXPECTED TO HAVE UNINSURED RATE OF 25 TO 30%. NOW THIS MAY BE DUE TO COVID, UH, DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTING THOSE WHO'VE WHO ARE UNINSURED. UH, IT MAY BE BECAUSE OUR EMS PROVIDERS ARE SO BUSY THAT, UH, THEY DON'T HAVE TIME TO DOCUMENT THINGS LIKE, UH, THE INSURANCE STATUS INFORMATION. SO AGAIN, ANOTHER MEDIUM PRIORITY, UH, FOR, UH, INCREASING REVENUE, UH, RECOMMENDATION 35 COMPLETION OF THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER REGISTRATION WITH THE CENTERS FOR MEDICARE MEDICAID SERVICES. UH, THIS WAS ASSESSED A MEDIUM PRIORITY WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ONE TO THREE YEARS. UH, SO I'LL START BY SAYING THAT, THAT, UH, THIS PROCESS IS, UH, ALREADY WELL UNDERWAY. UH, OUR PRACTITIONERS BUILD THEIR PHYSICIANS AND OUR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS ARE REGISTERED WITH, WITH CMS. UM, BUT AGAIN, THIS ALLOWS US TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES, UH, YOU KNOW, PARTICULARLY FOCUSING ON OUR EASTERN CRESCENT, OUR AREAS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT DON'T HAVE REGULAR ACCESS TO CARE TO PROVIDE A LOWER COST ALTERNATIVE TO GOING TO THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT THEN OCCURS BOTH ENABLED SPILL AS WELL AS AN ER BILL. UM, SO THERE ARE SOME OTHER STEPS THAT NEED TO HAPPEN, UH, AS YOU ARE LIKELY AWARE, THERE'S A FEE SCHEDULE, UH, THAT HAS BEEN PROPOSED IN THE CITY MANAGERS, UH, BUDGET, WHICH WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THIS. UH, WE ARE ALSO WORKING WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS, INCLUDING APH AND AUSTIN FIRE, UH, REGARDING THE PHYSICIAN BILLING COMPONENT, UH, TO WORK TOGETHER ACROSS DEPARTMENTS, UH, TO HAVE ONE SOLUTION FOR THAT PHYSICIAN BILLING AS, AS THOSE THREE DEPARTMENTS CURRENTLY EMPLOYED PHYSICIANS. UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, THAT CONCLUDES ALL OF THE, UH, PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS. I'M HAPPY TO TAKE QUESTIONS. THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR. THANK YOU. UM, SO I HOPE, UH, MY COLLEAGUES CAN UNDERSTAND WHY I WAS PUSHING SO HARD TO MAKE SURE WE HAD THIS INFORMATION AS WE WENT INTO BUDGET. UM, THIS IS A STUDY THAT'S BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR A COUPLE OF YEARS. I, I WAS, UH, SUPPORTIVE AND CHAMPION OF IT A FEW YEARS AGO. UM, IT IS A STEP IN THE DIRECTION OF RE-IMAGINING PUBLIC SAFETY IN AREAS THAT ARE NOT, UM, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. UM, WE NEED TO REIMAGINE PUBLIC SAFETY AND PUBLIC HEALTH, ET CETERA, UM, AND WE NEED TO DO SO IN THIS COORDINATED, COLLABORATIVE WAY ACROSS OUR DEPARTMENTS. WE HAVE ENORMOUS RESOURCES IN OUR PERSONNEL AND OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE OUR OUTCOMES, TO CREATE EFFICIENCIES AND TO GENERATE REVENUE, WHICH IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT IN THE ENVIRONMENT THAT WE FIND OURSELVES IN, UM, GIVEN THE 3.5% CAP. SO I THINK THIS IS A REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT, UM, STUDY, AND I AM EXCITED TO EMBARK ON TRYING TO IMPLEMENT VARIOUS PIECES OF IT. THEY'RE BOTH OPERATIONAL AND REVENUE PIECES OF IT THAT I THINK ARE CRITICAL. UM, I WANT TO FOCUS US ON THE REVENUE GENERATION BECAUSE I THINK THE REVENUE GENERATION PROVIDES A PATHWAY, BOTH IN THE SHORT-TERM IN THE BUDGET AND OVER THE LONGER TERM FOR US TO ACHIEVE SOME OF THE GOALS THAT WE HAVE FOR OUR EMS DEPARTMENT, FOR OUR OFFICE OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, UM, AND ULTIMATELY FOR IMPROVING HEALTH OUTCOMES IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT ARE REALLY, REALLY CRITICAL. UM, SO AS I HEARD IT, THERE'S, I THINK MAYBE THREE TO FIVE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE COULD RAISE SOMEWHERE OF THE THREE TO 15 MILLION EACH. NOW, THEY PROBABLY DON'T ALL STACK ADDITIVELY ACROSS THOSE. UM, AND THERE'S SOME MORE WORK TO BE DONE. UM, BUT THERE'S AN ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITY IN IMPROVING OUR BILLING SYSTEM, INCREASING OUR TRANSPORT FEES, IMPROVING OUR CHARITY, UM, PROGRAM AND IMPROVING HOW WE ACCESS COMMERCIAL INSURERS. I AM INTERESTED IN THE SHORT RUN AND IDENTIFYING WHICH OF THESE WE COULD PUT INTO THIS BUDGET COMFORTABLY TO BE ABLE TO GENERATE, UM, [02:00:02] DOLLARS THAT WOULD FUND THE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE OCM AND THE PARAMEDIC PRACTITIONERS, ALL OF WHICH ARE PEOPLE THAT COULD BE HIRED IN THE SHORT RUN BY DECEMBER, UM, TO GET BOOTS ON THE GROUND, HELPING WITH OUR HEALTHCARE, UM, POTENTIALLY TO FIND ENOUGH THAT WE COULD ALSO MAKE THE LEADERSHIP CHANGES THAT HAVE BEEN REQUESTED, UM, BY THE EMS AND THEN TO SET IN MOTION A PROCESS WHERE WE WOULD INCREASE THE PERSONNEL, UM, TO STAFF THE STATIONS WITH THE 12, UM, MEDICS AND ANY OTHER NEEDS THAT WE IDENTIFY THAT ARE PRIORITY THROUGH A SLIGHTLY BROADER PROCESS THAN THE BUDGET. UM, SO I WANT TO ASK DR. S SCOTT, FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU, UM, FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND YOUR OFFICE'S STEWARDSHIP OF THIS STUDY, AND THANK YOU, MR. ARIANO FOR, UM, PUSHING THIS FORWARD. SO WE WOULD HAVE IT BACK IN TIME FOR BUDGET. I KNOW THAT ACCELERATED A LITTLE BIT. UM, I WANTED TO ASK IF YOU COULD HELP US UNDERSTAND WHICH OF THESE FEES WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT IN THE SHORT RUN, WHICH ONES ARE GONNA MAYBE TAKE A LITTLE BIT LONGER. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR. UH, I HAVE DISCUSSED, UH, THESE ITEMS WITH, UH, WITH CHIEF BROWN, UH, AND I'M SURE HE'S, HE CAN ADD SOME COMMENTS AS WELL, BUT IT SEEMS THAT THE, THE CHARITY CARE POLICY, UH, IS, IS ONE OF THE ONES THAT, THAT COULD BE CHANGED QUICKLY, UH, THROUGH, THROUGH A COUNCIL BOAT TO ENSURE THAT NOT ONLY ARE WE ABLE TO PROVIDE, UH, YOU KNOW, EXPANSION OF THAT CHARITY CARE FROM 200% OF THE FPL 4%, BUT ALSO AT THE SAME TIME, INCREASING OUR ABILITY TO RECOVER REVENUE THROUGH THAT SUPPLEMENTAL PAYMENT PROGRAM. SO THE OTHER ITEM WOULD BE TO, UH, TO INCREASE THE AMBULANCE TRANSPORT FEE. UH, WE ARE WELL UNDER, UH, OUR, OUR PEER METRO AREAS AROUND TEXAS, UH, AND SIGNIFICANTLY UNDER THE COST OF SERVICE. UH, SO I THINK THOSE ARE OUR TWO, UH, ITEMS THAT, THAT COULD BE DONE RELATIVELY QUICKLY. UH, AND THAT WOULD BE THE MOST IMPACTFUL IN TERMS OF, UH, RECOVERING COSTS OR THE SERVICES THE CITY'S PROVIDING. DO YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING TO, I DO, EXCUSE ME, UH, JASPER BROWN, ARAB, CHIEF FOSTER DRAFTS COUNTY EMS. UM, SO THE CHARITY CARE POLICY COULD BE AMENDED, BUT IT IS DELAYED REVENUE. UM, BECAUSE ONCE THE POLICY GOES INTO EFFECT, IT'S SOMETHING WE TRY TO RECOUP MUCH LATER IN THE PROCESS. IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT'S DONE IMMEDIATELY, SO IT'S DELAYED REVENUE. UH, AND AGAIN, THAT'S A, UM, I WOULD SAY A POLICY, UH, DISCUSSION THAT REALLY NEEDS TO BE HAD AS DR. SCOTT MENTIONED, IT WOULD CHANGE WHAT WE DO IN A SLIDING SCALE AND BILL SOMEBODY AT A LOWER RATE BECAUSE THEY'RE UNDER THE POVERTY LEVEL TO COMPLETELY GIVING THEM THE ENTIRE BILL NOW AND THEN WAVING IT AND RECOUPING FUNDS LATER THROUGH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. SO, UM, AGAIN, IT'S, UM, SIMILAR TO THE 11, 15 PROGRAM WHERE WE GET THAT REVENUE LATER, UH, ALMOST CAN BE UP TO SIX MONTHS AFTER A CLOSURE OF A YEAR. UM, AND SO WHILE THAT POLICY COULD BE CHANGED IMMEDIATELY, IT IS DELAYED REVENUE THAT WOULD COME INTO THE, THE GENERAL REVENUE. UM, AND IN TERMS OF THE BILLING SYSTEM, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT PLANS YOU HAVE TO IMPROVE THAT PROCESS? THERE'S A LOT IN HERE THAT SUGGESTS IF WE WERE TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR BILLING SYSTEM, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO RECRUIT A LOT MORE DOLLARS. UM, SO ONE THING I WOULD ADD IS THAT, UM, OUR BILLING STAFF, WE ARE SHORT FIVE BILLING STAFF. UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY LOOKING AT THE POSITIONS AND, UH, LOOKING TO SEE THAT THEY'RE, UH, FUNDED CORRECTLY AS FAR AS, YOU KNOW, UH, COMPETITIVE SALARIES BECAUSE WE ARE LOSING, UH, PEOPLE TO INTERNAL CITY DEPARTMENTS AND EXTERNAL, UH, BECAUSE THEY'RE PAYING MORE. AND SO WE ARE BEHIND IN OUR BILLING. UM, AND THAT'S JUST ON THE STREETS ABOUT PARTLY BECAUSE OF COVID AND OTHER FACTORS, BUT WE'RE HOME BEHIND IN BILLING. UM, WHILE THIS STUDY WAS, UH, NOT DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE BILLING SERVICES, THEY DID LOOK AT QUITE A FEW BILLING OPPORTUNITIES. WE HAVE, UH, THERE WERE SOME FUNDS SET ASIDE BY COUNCIL THIS PAST YEAR TO HAVE A SPRING IN A CONSULTANT. WE ARE CURRENTLY IN THAT PROCESS IS GOING FORWARD TO THE BUDGET OR NOT THE, UH, THE PROCUREMENT OFFICE TO FINALIZE THAT CONTRACT WITH, UH, AFFIRM. AND THEY WILL COME IN AND DO A REAL TOP TO BOTTOM LOOK OF OUR BILLING DEPARTMENT AND SEE WHERE WE CAN MAKE IMPROVEMENTS. UM, UH, AND ALSO, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO COMMIT TO YOU THAT WOULD COME BACK WITH THAT AND TELL YOU WHERE WE CAN IMPROVE. IF WE'RE GOING TO NEED ADDITIONAL STAFF, WE'RE GOING TO NEED TO BE ABLE TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT, UM, UH, AND, AND WHERE WE COULD POSSIBLY IMPROVE, BUT THAT IT'S NOT SOMETHING I CAN PROVIDE TO YOU FOR, BY THURSDAY FOR YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS. SO WE'LL, UM, WHEN YOU SAY THAT YOU'RE SHORT STAFF, YOU MEAN THEY'RE FIVE VACANCIES OR YOU NEED FIVE MORE POSITIONS, I'M SORRY, WHAT WERE YOU SAYING? [02:05:01] YOU HAVE FIVE VACANCIES OR THAT YOU NEED FIVE MORE PEOPLE. I HAVE FIVE VACANCIES RIGHT NOW, THREE OF THEM JUST LEFT IN THE LAST WEEK. UM, I JUST ACCEPTED A RESIGNATION TODAY THAT THE PERSON'S GOING TO AN INTERNAL CITY DEPARTMENT, WHICH IS GREAT. THEY'RE WORKING FOR ANOTHER DEPARTMENT IN THE CITY MOVING ON BIGGER AND BETTER. UM, BUT IT JUST PUTS US SHORT-STAFFED AT A TOTAL OF FIVE. UM, YOU KNOW, WE CURRENTLY ARE TRYING TO HIRE, UH, ADDITIONAL BILLING STAFF. AND AGAIN, OUR, OUR HR DEPARTMENT THROUGH CORPORATE HR IS GOING TO LOOK AT THE POSITIONS AND WHERE THEY, UM, ARE ALIGNED AND THEIR, UM, NOT CLASSIFICATIONS, BUT THEIR PAY SCALES ARE TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE, UH, UH, PAYING COMPETITIVE. AND IF THERE'S ANYTHING WE CAN DO TO RETAIN THE BALANCE BILLING STAFF THAT WE HAVE. AND, UM, HOW LONG WOULD THE BILLING SYSTEM, HOW LONG HAS THAT PROCESS WITH THE PROCUREMENT AND THE CURRENTLY WE ARE 20,000 CALLS BEHIND AND BILLING BILLING, SOME OF THAT STEW TO COVID AND WE'VE HAD STAFF THAT WERE SICK AND OUT ON COVID. UM, BUT EVEN IN THE BEST BILLING PROCESSES THAT WE ARE CURRENT, WE DON'T SEE REVENUE COMING BACK TO US FOR USUALLY THREE MONTHS. UM, SO CALLS, IF WE BUILD THEM TODAY, UM, AUGUST WE WOULDN'T SEE THAT REVENUE TO NOVEMBER, DECEMBER. SO EVEN THE BEST CASE BILLING IS A DELAY. OUR REVENUE CAN BE DELAYED PROCESS. UM, THERE'S A LOT OF RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, THAT JUST CAME OUT. UM, UH, IT'S, I THINK IT'S SOMETHING WE, WE ALL NEED TO CONSIDER LOOK AT AND GIVE THEM, PROVIDE YOU MORE INFORMATION TO MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS. SO IF WE WERE LOOKING AT THIS YEAR'S REVENUE, THEN WE HAVE TO FACTOR IN THAT YOU HAVE 20,000 BILLS THAT HAVEN'T BEEN FILED 20,000 CALLS TO STILL PROCESS. AND WE REDUCED OUR REVENUE PROJECTIONS FOR THIS YEAR BASED ON, UM, SOME OTHER FACTORS COVID AND WE WEREN'T MEETING OUR REVENUE PROJECTIONS. SO WE REDUCED IT THIS YEAR, UM, EVEN BASED ON WHAT'S HAPPENING. SO, UM, HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHY WE HAVEN'T OUTSOURCED SOME OF THAT BILLING PROCESS. I KNOW A LOT OF THAT IS A QUESTION WE'RE ASKING AND SEEING IF WHAT WE OUTSOURCE EITHER THIS, THE BACKLOG OR CERTAIN, UH, CALL TYPES, UH, AND THINGS LIKE THAT. AND W WHAT IS THE TIMETABLE FOR FIXING THAT? I MEAN, THAT SEEMS 20,000 CALLS THAT WE DON'T HAVE REVENUE FOR WHEN WE ARE TRYING. I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW, 20,000 TIMES, YOU KNOW, A THOUSAND GETS ME THE MONEY JUST RIGHT THERE, IF THEY WERE A THOUSAND DOLLARS ON THE TRANSPORT IN TERMS OF THE REVENUE. SO WHAT IS THE PLAN, UM, TO ADDRESS THIS? SO AGAIN, WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT BRINGING IN NEW STAFF, WE'VE ASKED OUR STAFF TO WORK OVER TIME, AND WE'RE SEEING IF WE CAN BRING IN A, UM, TEMPORARY AGENCY FOR, FOR, TO CATCH UP ON THE CALLS. ALSO, NOT JUST OUTSOURCING COMPLETELY, BUT BRINGING THEM AS A, UH, UH, TEMPORARY, UH, STAFF, BUT COUNCIL MEMBER. IT IS A TOP PRIORITY. AND MAKING SURE THAT EVEN WITH THESE ADDITIONAL STAFF, THAT I'VE JUST LEFT RECENTLY, HOW TO BACKFILL THOSE QUICKLY. AND, UH, THE CHIEF MENTIONED TEMPORARY STAFFING, BUT WE'RE CONTINUING TO PURSUE OUTSOURCING OPTIONS AS WELL. YES. UM, SO SANDRA, I WOULD WELCOME THE CHANCE TO TALK WITH YOU IN SHORT ORDER ABOUT HOW TO HANDLE THESE BUDGET AMENDMENTS. I'VE JUST IDENTIFIED FIVE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE COULD RAISE THE MONEY THAT I NEED FOR MY ITEMS. UM, ALL OF WHICH ARE POSSIBLE AND MULTIPLES OF THOSE WOULD WORK. I DON'T THINK WE CAN PROCEED ON ALL OF THEM, YOU KNOW, RESPONSIBLY, BUT I DO THINK THERE'S ENOUGH MONEY FOR WHAT I WANT TO FUND. UM, BUT I'M A LITTLE BIT OF A LOSS AS TO HOW TO DO THIS RESPONSIBLY WITHIN THE BUDGET PROCESS OR BEYOND. AND, UM, BUT, BUT IT IS, IT'S A CHALLENGE TO HAVE IDENTIFIED FIVE DIFFERENT WAYS TO FUND IT AND NOT KNOW HOW TO DO THAT IN A RESPONSIBLE WAY. SO, UM, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION IN SHORT ORDER SO THAT, UM, WE CAN PROCEED TO FUND THESE INVESTMENTS IN THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, THE PARAMEDIC PRACTITIONERS, WHICH WOULD GET THE FOLKS ON THE GROUND TO EASE SOME OF THE PAIN WITHIN THE MEDICAL EMS, UM, IDEALLY TO GET SOME OF THE, UM, LEADERSHIP IN AND THEN SET THAT PATH FORWARD. UM, BUT I NEED SOME HELP ON HOW TO DO THAT IN THE MOST RESPONSIBLE WAY. UM, AND QUICKLY LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU ON THAT COUNCIL MEMBER. OBVIOUSLY THAT'S A QUESTION THAT CONCERNS EVERYBODY, IF THERE'S ADDITIONAL REVENUE COULD CERTAINLY BE APPLIED IN THIS PART OF THE BUDGET REQUEST, THIS IS AN ENTERPRISE, IT COULD BE APPLIED TO OTHER, UH, GENERAL FUND REQUESTS AS WELL. SO, SO UNDERSTANDING WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S ANY FLEXIBILITY THERE, I THINK WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL OVER TOVO. UM, MAYOR, I THINK YOU TOUCHED ON, ON, UH, REALLY THE QUESTION I WAS GOING TO RAISE. SO IN PAST BUDGET CYCLES, WE'VE HAD SOME DIFFERING OPINIONS ABOUT HOW BEST, HOW BEST TO APPROACH IT. IF WE ARE PROVIDING WHERE IF WE'RE PROVIDING A PROPOSAL THAT REQUIRES FUNDING, SHOULD WE ALSO LOOK, I MEAN, WE SHOULD ALWAYS ALSO LOOK FOR CUTS THAT ARE, THAT WOULD HELP PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDING, BUT IN THE PAST, I THINK WE'VE HAD DIFFERING OPINIONS [02:10:01] ABOUT IF YOU'VE IDENTIFIED AREAS TO, UH, OR SAVINGS, CAN YOU THEN MAKE A PROPOSAL TO SPEND THEM IN PARTICULAR WAYS? AND SO I JUST WANTED TO RAISE THAT AS AGAIN, UM, SOMETHING THAT WE'VE, WE'VE HAD DIFFERING OPINIONS ABOUT IN THE PAST. AND I, I THINK, UM, JUST BEARS A CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW WE'RE GONNA HANDLE THIS REGARD TO THOSE KINDS OF PROPOSALS AND JUST, YOU KNOW, ON THAT NOTE, WE'RE ALL ADJUSTING TO THE NEW TIMETABLE FROM THE STATE. AND ALSO OBVIOUSLY THE PANDEMIC, UM, THROUGH THIS, THROUGH THIS YEAR'S, UM, MEETING PROCEDURE A BIT AS WELL AS LAST YEAR. AND SO NEXT YEAR, I HOPE THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET BACK TO THAT, THAT KIND OF SCHEDULE WHERE WE HAVE THE PRESENT. WE HAVE THE STAFF PRESENTATIONS AND QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PRESENTATIONS AND THE INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENTS EARLY ENOUGH, THAT REALLY THE WEEK BEFORE BUDGET, WE CAN JUST KEEP THESE WORK SESSIONS CLEAR TO KIND OF TALK AMONG OURSELVES. LIKE, HOW DO YOU ASK QUESTIONS OF STAFF AS APPROPRIATE, BUT LIKE AERA MEANT TALK ABOUT SOLUTIONS, TALK ABOUT LEVELS OF SUPPORT. UM, AGAIN, I UNDERSTAND WHY IT'S NOT HAPPENED IN QUITE THAT WAY THIS YEAR AND LAST IN, IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF THE NEW SCHEDULE THAT CAME DOWN FROM THE STATE. BUT I JUST WANT TO MAKE THAT REQUEST FOR NEXT YEAR. I HAD MADE, MADE THAT REQUEST ONCE, AND THEN WE DID IT FOR AWHILE. AND NOW WE'VE GOTTEN A LITTLE BIT OUT OF THE HABIT OF DOING THAT. UM, SO THE MESSAGE BOARD IS GREAT, BUT IT'S REALLY, IT'S, IT'S USUALLY MUCH MORE EFFICIENT TO JUST HAVE A CONVERSATION FACE-TO-FACE COLLEAGUES, UH, THREE O'CLOCK, ANYTHING ELSE COUNTS FOREVER. UM, TWO QUICK THINGS. UM, ONE IS THAT I WANTED TO CLARIFY WHEN THE PARKS AND RECREATION ITEMS WOULD BE COMING UP FOR THE PUBLIC. I KNOW IN OUR ORIGINAL SCHEDULE THAT, UM, MS. LANG HAD POSTED IT WAS GOING TO BE TODAY, BUT I REALIZED THAT'S NOT HAPPENING. SO I JUST WANTED TO UNDERSTAND, WILL IT BE EARLY ON THURSDAY'S AGENDA OR WHAT ARE THOSE EXPECTATIONS NOW? YES, IT'LL COME UP ON THURSDAY, UH, PROBABLY ASKING YOU STAFF TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE REMAINING SCHEDULE AND ORDER, UH, THAT BASED ON OUT OF THE COUNCIL INTEREST OR STAFFING CONSTRAINTS, BUT WE'LL POST HOPEFULLY, MAYBE SOMETHING TOMORROW THAT PROPOSES IN ORDER FOR US TO FOLLOW ON THURSDAY, BUT ALSO HAVE TO HAVE EXECUTIVE SESSION DISCUSSION. SO ON THURSDAYS AS WELL. OKAY. THAT'S VERY HELPFUL. AND THE OTHER ONE IS, UM, OUR MOBILITY COMMITTEE. UM, WE WERE GOING TO HAVE THAT SCHEDULED ON THURSDAY. WE'VE HAD TO MOVE IT TO FRIDAY. I PUT UP A MESSAGE BOARD POST, BUT REALLY APPRECIATE MY COLLEAGUES, FELLOW COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND CITY STAFF ARE WORKING QUICKLY TO TRY TO ACCOMMODATE ALL THE TOPICS WE WANNA COVER TOGETHER. UM, BUT I WANTED FOLKS TO KNOW THAT THAT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED TO FRIDAY AT 1130, I BELIEVE. SO TAKE A LOOK AT THE MESSAGE BOARD, IF YOU WANTED TO, UM, CHECK THAT OUT. I MAY COUNCIL MEMBER THANK YOU FOR MENTIONING THAT I I'M GOING TO HAVE A TOUGH TIME MAKING FRIDAY WORK. UM, SO AT LIKE VERY MUCH TO MAKE SURE THAT WE MAKE QUORUM. WE, WE WORKED VERY HARD TO TRY TO GET AS MANY FOLKS AS WE POSSIBLY COULD THERE ALL I KNOW, I KNOW THAT THESE THINGS ARE NOT EASY TO DO. UM, AND THE TOPICS WE WANT TO COVER ARE PERTINENT TO THE BUDGET. SO THAT'S WHY IF THEY WEREN'T, WE WOULD HAVE JUST MOVED IT SOMEWHERE ELSE WHEN WE HAD MORE TIME, SO HARD FOR ME TO MAKE FRIDAY WORK. SO, UM, MAYBE MY OFFICE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH YOUR OFFICE TO FIGURE OUT, UM, MAYBE I CAN JUST LIKE I'M DOING RIGHT NOW, UM, WHICH I APPRECIATE YOU GUYS, UH, PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY ABLED. AND, UH, SOMETIMES YOU, YOU JUST CAN'T BE VISIBLE. UM, SO MAYBE THAT'LL BE HOW WE DO IT. THAT THAT WILL ABSOLUTELY WORK. THANK YOU. SORRY. SO ARE YOU FEELING THAT WAY? LET'S FIGURE OUT HOW TO, HOW TO HELP KEEP THAT COVERED BY CATS. AND THEN TWO THINGS THAT I HAD RAISED WITH THE, WITH THE STAFF THAT WILL BE HOPEFULLY NUMBERS WE HAVE ON, UH, ON THURSDAY ARE ON THE, ON THE REVENUE SIDE, WHAT TAX RATE WE COULD SET THAT WOULD HAVE A ZERO IMPACT ON THE AVERAGE HOMEOWNER. AND THEN WHAT TAX RATE WE COULD SET THAT MIGHT HAVE A NEGLIGIBLE ONE, SAY THREE OR $4 A MONTH. SO I I'VE ASKED FOR THOSE NUMBERS TO BE AVAILABLE FOR US THURSDAY, BECAUSE THAT MAY BE HELPFUL AS WE TRY TO FIND, UH, WHETHER THERE ARE, UH, CUTS WE MAKE OR WHETHER THE, WE, WE SET THE TAX RATE, UM, AT A DIFFERENT LEVEL THAN THE, THE ONE THAT THE MANAGER PUT BEFORE US, UH, PARTLY OF [02:15:01] INTEREST TO ME IS ALSO SEEING WHETHER WE CAN DO A MORE FOR SOME OF OUR FRONTLINE, UH, CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES WHO A LOT OF WHOM ARE LEAVING THE CITY, UH, AFTER ALL THE WEAR AND TEAR FROM THE PANDEMIC AND THE WINTER STORM AND VICTIM SERVICES. AND 9 1, 1 HAS BEEN RAISED, BUT LOTS OF DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS. SO, UM, I'LL BE LOOKING AT THAT TAX IMPACT AS WE CONSIDER THAT QUESTION AS WELL. UM, MS. LANG, I WAS JUST WONDERING WHEN WE ARE GOING TO GET THE UPDATE ON THE TAX REVENUES RELATIVE TO OUR PROJECTIONS, ET CETERA. YES. WE'LL BE PRESENTING THAT INFORMATION ON THURSDAY AS WELL. OKAY. THANK YOU. OKAY. THANK YOU, COLLEAGUES. I JUST WANTED TO POINT YOU TO THE MESSAGE BOARD POSTS THAT I PUT UP WITH TWO FAIRLY MODEST AMENDMENTS. WE WON'T BE ABLE TO BRING THEM. I WON'T BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THEM TODAY CAUSE WE RUN OUT OF TIME, BUT HOPING TO FIND SPACE UNDER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FOR, UM, MY FIRST RIDER AND THEN UNDER HOMELESSNESS FOR MY SECOND RIDER. AND THEN I JUST WANTED TO CHECK IN ON, UM, MAYBE WITH OUR, UM, CFO, MR. MANDINO. I KNOW THAT ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THE DATES FOR OUR, OUR BUDGET DISCUSSION, THE SHARES EARLY IS BECAUSE IF WE WANT HIM TO PUT SOMETHING ON, UM, LIKE A TAX RATE ELECTION, WE NEEDED TO DO THAT BEFORE THE 16TH OF AUGUST. BUT IF WE'RE NOT THAT THIS YEAR, IF IT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOVE 3.5, WHICH THIS IS I'M RIGHT NOW SPECULATING. BUT IF WE WEREN'T, WOULD WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE OF A TIME MARGIN THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO BUTTON ALL OF THIS UP BY THE END OF, UM, UH, IS THAT NEXT WEEK OR THIS WEEK, THE END OF NEXT WEEK, IF WE'RE NOT GONNA GO FOR A TRE FOR BUDGET. YEAH. I MEAN, THAT IS, THAT IS WHY WE HAVE MOVED THE BUDGET PROCESS FOR US, THAT WE KEEP THE DOOR OPEN FOR A TAX RATE ELECTION. WE WOULD, I WOULD WANT TO CONSULT WITH LILA FIRESIDE CAUSE THERE'S CERTAIN NOTICING REQUIREMENTS. AND WE HAVE NOTICED THINGS ABOUT WHEN THE TAX RATE WOULD BE SET THE TIME AND LOCATION AND VENUE. SO, YOU KNOW, GIVEN WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS, WE WOULD HAVE TO BE REALLY CAREFUL THAT WE'RE STILL CHECKING ALL THE BOXES FOR OUR NOTICING REQUIREMENTS. BUT, UM, BUT YOU ARE CORRECT. WE DON'T HAVE TO ADOPT THE BUDGET IN AUGUST. WE DO THAT TO KEEP THE DOOR OPEN FOR POTENTIALLY CALLING A TAX RATE ELECTION. IT LOOKS LIKE MS. FIRESIDE IS RIGHT THERE NEXT TO YOU. OKAY. THANKS MR. DANINO COUNCIL MEMBER, LILA FIRESIDE FOR THE LAW DEPARTMENT. I THINK WE'RE TOO FAR ALONG IN ALREADY GETTING THE NOTICES OUT, BUT, UM, IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT IF THE WILL OF THE COUNCIL IS NOT TO GO FORWARD ON A TAX RATE ELECTION IN UPCOMING YEARS, WE CAN DEFINITELY LOOK AT SETTING THE DATES FOR LATER. WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO, UM, DO THE CALENDAR TO LEAVE THAT OPTION OPEN. AND SO THAT'S HOW WE ARE WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW. OKAY. THAT'S GREAT INFORMATION. THAT'S A GREAT POINT COUNCIL MEMBER. AND MAYBE IN FUTURE YEARS, WE CAN TALK EARLIER IN THE CALENDAR YEAR TO DETERMINE IF WE'RE, IF THERE'S GOING TO BE A BOAT THAT WE WILL NOT HAVE A TAX RE-ELECTION, UH, WE COULD CHANGE THE SCHEDULE FOR THE BUDGET, BUT THANK YOU FOR THAT. THAT'S GREAT. AND, AND I REALIZED TOO, THAT THIS YEAR WE JUST WEREN'T SURE AT ALL, WHERE WE WOULD LAND, UM, WHICH AGAIN IS WHY IT'S REALLY, UM, SO IMPRESSIVE THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO BRING US YOUR, UH, PROPOSED FISCAL 22 BUDGET AT THE 3.5%. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND THANK YOU TO THE STAFF FOR THAT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. I CAN ALSO BE HELPFUL TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE LANGUAGE WE USE, BECAUSE I'M NOT SURE THERE'S EVER GOING TO BE A YEAR WHERE YOU WOULDN'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION EARLY UNTIL YOU WERE THERE. SO MAYBE THERE'S POSTING LANGUAGE THAT ALLOWS FOR THAT, JUST LIKE OUR POSTING LANGUAGE HOUSE, WE'LL START ON THE 11TH AND WE'LL GO TO THE 12TH AND 13TH IF NEEDED. I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A WAY FOR US TO SAY, WELL, START ON THE 12TH, GO TO THE TROUGH, THE 13TH, IF NEEDED. AND IF THERE'S A DECISION BROUGHT TO DO A TAX ELECTION AND UH, THESE DISCUSSIONS COULD CONTINUE ON SEPTEMBER OR WHATEVER, WE CAN LOOK AT THAT MAYOR. I'M NOT TOO SURE THAT THAT WILL WORK. I THINK WE HAVE TO PICK A DATE FOR THE NOTICE IN THE NEWSPAPER. UM, SO I'M NOT TOO SURE THAT THAT WILL WORK, BUT WE'RE HAPPY TO LOOK INTO IT. THAT'D BE GREAT. THANK YOU. JUST BEFORE WE CLOSE MAYOR AND COUNCIL, I WANTED TO VOICE MY APPRECIATION FOR OUR BUDGET STAFF AND UNDER CARRIE LANE'S LEADERSHIP. UH, THIS HAS JUST BEEN AN INCREDIBLE PROCESS AND THE WORK THAT YOU PUT IN TODAY'S WORKSHOP AND THEN ALSO FOR THURSDAY. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH. THAT, OF COURSE YOU'RE NOT AT THE TIME YET, SO WE'RE ALL OUT THERE. THANK YOU. I JUST WANTED TO HAVE A FLAG OF MY MESSAGE BOARD POSTS FROM LAST WEEK FROM MY COLLEAGUES MENTIONED THE PART ABOUT OOP, 360 AND EMS. UM, I DO WANT TO CALL OUT THE PART ABOUT FIRE. UM, [02:20:01] LAST WEEK WE HAD OUR 24 FIREFIGHTERS TO GO THROUGH, UH, UM, UH, RESPONDING TO THE INTERFACE TRAINING, WHICH IS THE STATE OF THE ART FOR WILDFIRE TRAINING. UM, WE NEED ANOTHER $300,000 FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO TRAIN ALL OF OUR FIREFIGHTERS IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS TO RESPOND TO THE INTERFACE USING THAT PROGRAM, UM, TO DO IT THE WAY THAT IT NEEDS TO BE DONE FOR CERTIFICATION, ET CETERA. UM, SO THAT'S ABOUT $200,000 FOR AN ADDITIONAL FOUR HOURS OF OVERTIME FOR, UM, THE PARTICIPANTS AND A HUNDRED THOUSAND FOR THE, UM, TRAINERS, UM, THAT WILL GET US, YOU KNOW, REALLY A REALLY IMPORTANT STEP FOR OUR WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS. AND THEN THE BALANCE OF THE FUNDING THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE WOULD GO FOR, UM, RESILIENCE RELATED EXPENSES FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, SUCH AS GENERATORS, WILDFIRE EQUIPMENT, UM, AND, UH, BULLETPROOF VESTS, UM, TO BE DECIDED, UM, MOVING FORWARD. SO I WANT TO DEFLECT THAT FOR FOLKS AS WELL. SOUNDS GOOD. ALL RIGHT. SO WE'RE GOING TO GO NOW, UH, TO A CLOSE SESSION TO, UH, TAKE UP A RECESS EXECUTIVE SESSION. I'M SORRY. I KNOW I'M NOT VISIBLE, BUT I ALSO, IF I'M LIKE SURE, IF I CAN HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY. UM, SO I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO MEMBERS OF OUR AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, UM, THROUGHOUT THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS. UM, THERE'S BEEN SOME QUESTIONS, UM, ABOUT OUR RIDE ALONG OPPORTUNITIES. ARE THERE ANY MEMBERS OF, I'M SORRY. HANG ON ONE SECOND. UM, ARE THERE ANY MEMBERS OF OUR APD PRESENT? I DON'T BELIEVE SO. MAYOR PRO TEM. UM, THAT'S UNFORTUNATE. SO I'LL SAY, UM, UH, I HAVE ASKED ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET A RIDE ALONG AND WE HAVE HAD OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL TO GET RIDE ALONGS. AND I THINK THERE JUST HAVE BEEN SOME MISCOMMUNICATION, BUT I WANT TO JUST SAY PUBLICLY, UM, I DON'T FEEL LIKE I WAS EXCLUDED FROM THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO. AND IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF OUR JUST SAYING, UM, LET'S SHIT. I JUST WANT TO SAY PUBLICLY, UH, I DON'T FEEL EXCLUDED. THAT'S ALL. THANK YOU. SOUNDS GOOD. THANK YOU. HI COLLEAGUES, [Executive Session (Part 2 of 2)] UH, BACK TO EXECUTIVE SESSION TWO ITEMS, ITEM THREE AND ITEM TWO. UH, IT IS, UH, NOW THREE 12. THAT OBJECTION WOULD GO BACK TO EXECUTIVE SESSION. I'LL COME BACK OUT TO CLOSE THE MEETING. THAT'S THE ONLY THING WE'LL DO BACK OUT HERE. OKAY, THANK YOU. READY? ALL RIGHT. SO, UH, WE'RE GOING TO, UH, WE'RE OUT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION IN EXECUTIVE SESSION SESSION, WE DISCUSSED ITEMS HE TO AND E THREE BACK IN REGULAR SESSION. WE'RE GOING TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. IT IS, UH, 5 33 HERE ON, UH, AUGUST 3RD, 2021. AND THIS MEETING IS ADJOURNED. THANK YOU. AND THANKS STAFF FOR STAYING SO LATE. OKAY. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.