[00:00:05]
[Independent Citizen's Redistricting Commission]
WE HAVE 10 OUT OF 14 COMMISSIONERS PRESENT THE INDEPENDENT CITIZENS.REDISTRICTING COMMISSION MEETING WILL COME TO ORDER THIS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18TH.
MATT, CAN YOU PLEASE DO ROLL CALL? THANK YOU, CHAIR.
WANT TO SAY YOUR NAME? JUST SAY HERE AND THEN ALSO RAISE YOUR NAME.
SO AUDIO AND VISUAL CONFIRMATION COMMISSIONER CANNON.
PARDON? YOU'RE A SCHNEIDER, C A G.
ARE YOU ABLE TO TAKE US THROUGH TODAY'S AGENDA AND SHARE YOUR SCREEN? YEAH.
UH, IF YOU COULD JUST LET ME SHARE MY SCREEN.
I CAN, I CAN DO THAT RIGHT NOW.
MATT, COULD YOU TRY TO SEE IF YOU CAN HAVE PERFECT.
SO YEAH, AUGUST 18TH, THAT'S A 21.
UH, THE MEETING GOALS FOR TODAY RECEIVED INFORMATION ABOUT CENSUS DATA AND CITIES, FOUNDRIES RECEIVE UPDATES FROM WORKING GROUPS SUBCOMMITTEES.
I BELIEVE WE HAVE ONE PERSON SIGNED UP FOR THAT.
UM, I I'D WANT APPROVAL OF MINUTES OUT OF TWO UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
THE ICRC MAY DISCUSS AND TAKE ACTION ON THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEMS, A UPDATE FROM PUBLIC WORKING PUBLIC FORUM, WORKING GROUP ON CALENDAR CHANGES, ITEM THREE NEW BUSINESS.
THE ICRC MAY DISCUSS AND TAKE ACTION ON THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEMS, A PRESENTATION FROM
THEY UPDATE FROM FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE, A UPDATE FROM FINAL REPORTS OF COMMITTEE F DISCUSSION ON MAPPING PROCESS G HOUSEKEEPING, AND THEN FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. THANK YOU, SIR.
AND YOU SAID THAT WE HAVE ONE PERSON SIGNED UP FOR CITIZEN COMMUNICATION TONIGHT? YEAH.
BLUE TECH, MR. PECK YAN WAS THE ONLY PERSON THAT SIGNED OUT.
WELL, WE WILL BEGIN WITH CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.
EACH SPEAKER HAS THREE MINUTES AND PLEASE MUST CLEARLY STATE YOUR NAME AND WHICH DISTRICT YOU RESIDE.
AND WE WELCOME ALL MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO OUR MEETING TONIGHT.
AND JUST RESPECTFULLY ASK THAT CITIZEN COMMUNICATION IS RESERVED FOR THIS PORTION OF THE AGENDA AND DOES NOT INTERRUPT LATER.
AGENDA ITEMS. IF COMMISSIONERS HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE HOLD THEM UNTIL THE END.
UM, AND I'LL HAVE CHRISTINE GRANADA KEEP THE TIME ON THAT.
I'M PLEASED TO BE HERE, BUT I'LL MAKE THIS EVEN BRIEFER FOR YOU.
THEY WANTED ME TO RAISE MY LEADERSHIP AND WANTING ME TO RAISE A, WE DON'T WANT TO RAISE RIGHT NOW, SO I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY, BUT I'LL PASS ON THE SESSIONS COMMUNICATIONS TONIGHT.
AND IS THAT ALL MATT? JUST TO CONFIRM.
YEAH, BUT THAT'S ALL, THOSE ARE THE ONLY, THAT WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT HAD SIGNED UP FOR IT.
THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS AGENDA ITEM ONE, APPROVING THE MINUTES FOR THE AUGUST 11TH MEETING.
SO JUST REVIEW THE MINUTES PLEASE.
[00:05:12]
OKAY.IF THERE ARE NO CORRECTIONS, THEN THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED.
WE'RE GOING TO START UNDER NEW BUSINESS AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK TO UNFINISHED BUSINESS AS WE HAPPEN.
SO THE NEXT ITEM IS THREE, A, A PRESENTATION FROM CITY DEMOGRAPHER, LAILA, VALENCIA, MS. VALENCIA, HIS PRESENTATION WILL LAST ABOUT 15 TO 20 MINUTES UNTOLD AND WE WILL LEAVE THAT MUCH TIME AT THE END FOR QUESTIONS AS WELL.
UM, SO LAILA, VALENCIA, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US THIS EVENING AND YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHARE YOUR SCREEN FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, LET ME GO AHEAD AND DO THAT NOW.
AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN SEE THE PRESENTATION AND I'LL EXPAND IT INTO FULL SCREEN MODE OR PRESENTATION MODE.
DO YOU SEE THAT? YES, IT IS A FULL SCREEN NOW.
UH, WELL THANK YOU FOR INVITING ME BACK TO SHARE WITH YOU FINDINGS FROM THE 2020 CENSUS, WE GOT THESE, UM, DATA THEY WERE RELEASED LAST WEEK ON THURSDAY.
AND SO THE DATA THAT WE'LL BE PRESENTING OR THAT I'LL BE PRESENTING TODAY TO THE COMMISSION IS, UM, PRELIMINARY DATA THAT WE'RE, THAT WE'RE SHARING WITH YOU, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO DRILL, UM, DRILLING DOWN INTO THE LOWER GEOGRAPHIES OF THE CITY.
UH, WE'RE STILL WORKING THROUGH SOME OF THE DATA.
SO IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS THAT I CAN'T ANSWER FOR YOU TODAY, UM, I'LL BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION TO THE COMMISSION, UM, VIA EMAIL OR, UM, YOU KNOW, AT, AT A LATER PRESENTATION AS WELL.
SO LET ME GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
SO WHAT I'M GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU, UM, BASICALLY THE DATA THAT WE RECEIVED ON THURSDAY ARE GOING TO BE, UM, YOU KNOW, BASED ON 2020 CENSUS COUNTS.
SO WILL, WILL, THESE ARE THE OFFICIAL CENSUS NUMBERS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND OTHER SMALL LOCAL, UH, UH, NOT JUST SMALL BUT LOCAL COMMUNITIES.
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE GET TO SEE THESE FIGURES.
AND THEN AUSTIN, UH, HAS A UNIQUE DIVERSITY STORY THAT I'LL SHARE WITH YOU.
THE DATA ALSO INCLUDED RACE AND ETHNICITY, UM, MAKEUP, AND THEN, UM, THEY, THESE DATA ALSO GO DOWN TO THE BLOCK LEVEL.
AND SO I'M GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME GENERAL AREAS OF GROWTH.
AND, UM, LET ME GO AHEAD AND START DOING THAT.
SO LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT AUSTIN'S POPULATION GROWTH.
AND THIS WAS, UM, ONE OF THE BIG, UM, STORIES FOR US IS THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN CONTINUED.
IT'S A TREND OF GROWTH AND PRETTY SIGNIFICANT GROWTH.
UM, YOU CAN SEE HERE HISTORICALLY, THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS BEEN DOUBLING ITS GROWTH, ITS POPULATION ABOUT EVERY 20 TO 25 YEARS.
IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK AT 1970, IN 1970, WE WERE AT ABOUT 250,000 PEOPLE.
AND SO BY 2020, JUST 50 YEARS LATER, WE'VE ALMOST QUADRUPLED THAT POPULATION.
OUR OFFICIAL COUNT FOR 2020 OUT OF THE CENSUS BUREAU IS 961,855 PEOPLE.
IF WE TAKE THAT POPULATION AND DIVIDED BY THOSE 10 CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS, UH, THE IDEAL SIZE FOR EACH OF THESE DISTRICTS WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY 96,186 INDIVIDUALS.
AND HERE WE SEE THAT AUSTIN AGAIN IS, UM, STILL AT NUMBER 11.
WE WERE REALLY HOPING WE WERE GOING TO REACH THAT 1 MILLION MARK.
AND WE WERE PRETTY SURE WE WERE GOING TO REACH THAT MILESTONE, BUT WE DIDN'T QUITE GET THERE.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE STILL LOOKING AT.
WE CAME IN ABOUT 30,000 PEOPLE, UM, FEWER THAN THE, UM, THE ESTIMATES THAT WERE SHARED BY THE CENSUS BUREAU.
AND SO WE ARE STILL AT NUMBER 11.
WE DIDN'T QUITE CRACK THAT, UM, TOP 10, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE NUMERIC CHANGE BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020, YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE'S ONLY TWO CITIES IN THE COUNTRY THAT ACTUALLY ADDED MORE PEOPLE.
AND THAT'S THE CITY OF HOUSTON AND THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
AND NOW THESE TWO CITIES ARE HUGE CITIES, RIGHT? AND SO FOR, YOU KNOW, NOT SO LITTLE, BUT FOR LITTLE AUSTIN TO ADD JUST ABOUT AS MANY PEOPLE AS THE CITY OF HOUSTON IS REALLY REMARKABLE.
WE CAN SEE THAT EVEN THOUGH AUSTIN IS SEEING LARGE GAINS, UM, WE'RE GROWING VERY RAPIDLY AS WELL,
[00:10:01]
ESPECIALLY COMPARED TO OTHER PLACES, BUT THE SURROUNDING AREAS AND AREAS RIGHT OUTSIDE OF THE CITY ARE REALLY SEEING MUCH FASTER GROWTH.SO YOU CAN SEE IN PARTICULAR IN CENTRAL TEXAS, WE'VE HAD CITIES THAT HAVE BEEN AMONG THE FASTEST GROWING CITIES IN THE COUNTRY FOR AWHILE NOW, INCLUDING LEANDRA AND CEDAR PARK, BUT ALSO FAST GROWING OUR MAINER BUDA AND HUDDLE.
AND THIS WILL BECOME IMPORTANT WHEN WE START TO LOOK AT THE PATTERNS OF GROWTH THAT WE'RE SEEING WITHIN THE CITY AND LATER SLIDES.
SO ACROSS THE COUNTRY, POPULATIONS OF COLOR WERE REALLY DRIVING GROWTH, POPULATION GROWTH.
THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME IN ABOUT 230 YEARS THAT THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION DECREASED IN SIZE.
AND, UM, BUT IN AUSTIN WE HAVE A UNIQUE DIVERSITY.
AND FIRST I'LL SHARE WITH YOU, UM, OUR SORT OF PIE CHART OF ALL OF THE RACE AND ETHNICITY, UH, THAT MAKE UP THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN 2020, ACCORDING TO THESE OFFICIAL DATA.
AND SO WE CAN SEE THAT THE LARGEST SHARE, UH, IS THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION AT 47% OF THE POPULATION.
THIS IS A SLIGHT DROP FROM ABOUT 48.9% IN, UH, 2010, THEN FOLLOWED BY THE HISPANIC OR LATINO POPULATION AT 32.5%.
THIS IS A DROP OF ABOUT THREE PERCENTAGE POINTS FOR THE HISPANIC POPULATION, UM, FOLLOWED BY THE, UH, ASIAN POPULATION.
THE ASIAN POPULATION NOW MAKES UP THE THIRD LARGEST, UH, RACE ETHNICITY IN THE CITY.
AND IT MAKES UP NEARLY, UH, 9% OF THE POPULATION.
THEN THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN POPULATION AT 6.9%.
AND THIS IS A DROP OF ABOUT ONE PERCENTAGE POINT.
AND THEN YOU CAN SEE, UM, A SIGNIFICANT SHARE ABOUT ALMOST 4% OF TWO OR MORE RACISTS.
AND THE SINGLE FASTEST GROWING, UH, RACE ALONE GROUP IS THE ASIAN POPULATION, BUT REALLY RAPIDLY GROWING GROUPS ALSO INCLUDED THE MULTI-RACIAL OR TWO OR MORE RACES, UM, CATEGORY AS WELL AS SOME OTHER RACE IN THIS TABLE.
WHAT I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU IS SORT OF A VISUALIZATION AND REALLY THE BREAKDOWN OF THEM NUMBERS AS THEY COMPARE TO 2010.
SO IN 2010, WE HAD A, UM, HISPANIC POPULATION THAT WAS ABOUT 35%.
AS I MENTIONED, THAT'S DROPPED TO ABOUT 32.5% IN 2020.
YOU CAN SEE THAT THAT POPULATION CONTINUES TO GROW.
IN FACT, THE POPULATION GROWTH IN THE CITY EXTENDED ACROSS ALL OF THE RACE, ETHNICITY GROUPS, ALL OF OUR POPULATIONS GREW, BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE'S A DIFFERENT PATTERN HERE WHILE POPULATIONS OF COLOR WERE DRIVING GROWTH ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
AND ESPECIALLY IN PLACES LIKE TEXAS, WHERE THEY MADE UP MORE THAN 50% OF THE, OF THE SHARE OF THE GROWTH IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, THE HISPANIC POPULATION CONTRIBUTED ABOUT 20% OF THE GROWTH.
THE MAJOR DRIVER OF GROWTH IN AUSTIN IS THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, THEY CONTRIBUTED ABOUT 40% OF THE TOTAL POPULATION CHANGE BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020.
AND AGAIN, THE FASTEST GROWING RACE, ETHNICITY GROUPS WERE THE, SOME OF THE RACE, OF COURSE, THIS, THIS, UH, UM, CATEGORY HAS A SMALL BASE, SO THEY CAN, UM, SOMETIMES EXPERIENCE VERY LARGE RATES OF GROWTH.
BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE TWO OR MORE RACES, UM, GROUP, THAT'S REALLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGE AS WELL.
AND IT'S ONE OF THE CATEGORIES THAT NOT ONLY GREW, UH, REMARKABLY QUICKLY HERE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, BUT ALSO ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
ONE OF THE MAJOR FINDINGS OF THESE DATA IS THAT MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE OPTING TO CHOOSE A RACE CATEGORY THAT IS MORE COMPLEX AND NOT AS SINGULAR OR AS, UM, DICHOTOMOUS AS, AS ONCE.
AND YOU CAN SEE, AGAIN, THE RATE OF GROWTH FOR THE ASIAN POPULATION IS NEARLY 75%, UM, GROWING FROM, UH, 49,000 TO ABOUT 85,000 IN 2020, WE ALSO HAD, UM, VOTING AGE POPULATION RELEASED IN THESE, IN THIS DATA RELEASE.
AND, UM, WHAT THIS ALLOWED US TO LOOK AT WAS THE TOTAL POPULATION, AS WELL AS THE OVER 18 POPULATION.
AND WHEN, OF COURSE WE GET THE RESIDUAL, WE ALSO ARE ABLE TO LOOK AT THE CHILD POPULATION.
AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN AUSTIN IS THAT THE ADULT POPULATION IS MUCH LARGER THAN THE CHILD POPULATION IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, BUT THE YOUNGEST AUSTINITES ARE THE MOST DIVERSE IN OUR CITY.
NOW YOU CAN SEE THAT THE, UM, THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION MAKES UP ABOUT 50%
[00:15:02]
OF THE TOTAL ADULT POPULATION.SO THE ADULT POPULATION IN AUSTIN ACTUALLY BECAME A LITTLE LESS DIVERSE IN THIS DECADE.
THEY USED TO MAKE UP, UM, CLOSER TO ABOUT 42% IN 2010 AND IN 2020 NON-HISPANIC WHITES MAKEUP, UM, JUST OVER 50%, THE NEXT LARGEST GROUP IS THE HISPANIC POPULATION FOLLOWED BY ASIAN AND FOLLOWED BY THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN POPULATION.
AND SO THE RACIAL, ETHNIC MAKEUP OF THE ADULT POPULATION IN AUSTIN VERY CLOSELY MATCHES THAT OF THE CITY AS A WHOLE, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF ONE RACE, ETHNICITY GROUP, MAKING UP THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION, THAT BEING THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE CHILD POPULATION, WE DO SEE MORE DIVERSITY WHERE THERE IS NOT ONE SINGULAR GROUP THAT MAKES UP A MAJORITY.
IN FACT, IT BECAME MORE DIVERSE.
THIS DECADE IN 2020, ABOUT 70, ABOUT 67% OF THE POPULATION WAS NON-WHITE.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE LARGEST, UM, CHILD POPULATION IS THE POPULAR, THE POPULATION OF HISPANIC CHILDREN FOLLOWED BY NON-HISPANIC WHITES, NON-HISPANIC ASIAN AND NON HISPANIC.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE SAW THOUGH, THAT DRIVING THE GROWTH OF THE CHILD POPULATION WAS THE ASIAN POPULATION, THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION AND THE TOUR MORE RACIST POPULATION.
WE SAW ACTUAL DECREASES IN THE POPULATION SIZES OF THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILD POPULATION AND THE LATINO POPULATION.
A LOT OF TIMES WE LOOK AT THE CHILD POPULATION TO REALLY PROVIDE AN INDICATION OF WHAT WE MAY SEE IN THE FUTURE AND IN THE FUTURE FOR AUSTIN.
UH, WE SEE THAT THE CITY MAKE IT MAYBE MORE, UH, ASIAN, MORE NON-HISPANIC WHITE AND DRIVEN BY MULTI-RACIAL OR CHOOSE OR MORE RACE.
UM, A LOT OF TIMES WHEN WE TALK ABOUT RACE AND ETHNICITY, PEOPLE WANT TO UNDERSTAND SORT OF THE ORIGIN OF SOME OF THAT DIVERSITY AND, UH, YES, MIGRATION PLAYS A ROLE IN SOME OF THAT MIGHT ON SOME OF THOSE DEMOGRAPHIC SHIFTS, BUT IT'S ONLY REALLY, UM, PART OF A STORY.
A LOT OF THE WE'VE WE'VE SEEN AN ACTUAL DROP IN THE SHARE OF AUSTIN RESIDENTS THAT ARE BORN IN THE STATE OF TEXAS FROM ABOUT 55% TO 49% BETWEEN 2010 AND 2019.
UNFORTUNATELY WE'RE NOT ABLE TO DISSECT THE DATA TO BE ABLE TO SEE, YOU KNOW, WHETHER SOMEBODY IS BORN IN AUSTIN AND SEE THE ACTUAL NEED OF AUSTIN I POPULATION.
BUT WHAT WE CAN SEE IS THAT IT'S ABOUT HALF OF THE POPULATION IS BORN HERE IN TEXAS, THAT IS LIVING HERE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
BUT THAT OF COURSE IS A SHARE THAT HAS DECLINED IN THE LAST DECADE.
WE HAVE SEEN THAT THE SHARE OF AUSTIN RESIDENTS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES HAS REMAINED RELATIVELY STABLE AT ABOUT 18%.
BUT THE BIGGEST INCREASE THAT WE'VE SEEN HAS AMONG AUSTIN RESIDENTS HAS BEEN FROM PEOPLE MOVING FROM OTHER US STATES.
AND THAT HAS GROWN FROM ABOUT 26% TO 31% IN THE LAST DECADE.
THESE ARE NOT DATA THAT WERE PART OF THIS RELEASE.
IT'S JUST SOMETHING THAT I'M SHARING WITH YOU TO GIVE YOU ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OF THE RACE AND ETHNIC COMPOSITION THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE CITY.
SIMILARLY, I'M SHARING HERE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOREIGN BORN POPULATION IN AUSTIN.
WE HAVE A FOREIGN BORN POPULATION OF 192,297 RESIDENTS.
66,000 OF THESE ARE ABOUT 35% ARE NATURALIZED CITIZENS.
AND AUSTIN'S FOREIGN BORN POPULATION REALLY COMES FROM ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD AND REPRESENTS OVER A HUNDRED DIFFERENT COUNT COUNTRIES HERE.
I'M SHARING WITH YOU THAT THE TOP 20, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WE HAVE A SIGNIFICANT SHARE OF LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES AS WELL AS ASIAN COUNTRIES AND CENTRAL AMERICAN COUNTRIES AS WELL, SOME MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES TOO.
AND HERE I AM SHARING WITH YOU INFORMATION ON THE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES THAT ARE SPOKEN IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, WE HAVE OVER 40 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND HERE I'VE LISTED THE FIVE, THE TOP 10 MOST COMMON LANGUAGES THAT ARE, THAT ARE SPOKEN.
SO ASIDE FROM ENGLISH, WE HAVE, WE HAVE SPANISH, UH, CHINESE HINDI AND ARABIC HINDI OF COURSE SPOKEN IN MANY PARTS OF INDIA, ARABIC IN PARTS OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA, THE LULU ALSO, UH, AN INDIAN LANGUAGE.
AND THEN YOU CAN SEE VIETNAMESE, FRENCH, UH, KOREAN NEPALI MERAKI, OR OTHER INDIC LANGUAGES.
THESE ARE THE TOP 10 LANGUAGES THAT ARE SPOKEN BY, UM, RESIDENTS OF AUSTIN, SHARE WITH YOU SOME INFORMATION ON WHERE WE ARE SEEING THE GROWTH.
LIKE I MENTIONED, THE DATA THAT WERE RELEASED, UM, GO DOWN TO THE BLOCK LEVEL, BUT THE BLOCKS,
[00:20:01]
AS I'M SURE, YOU'RE PROBABLY QUICKLY GOING TO FIND OUT ARE NOT GEOGRAPHICALLY SIMILAR OR EXACTLY THE SAME SIZE AND SHAPE AS THEY WERE BACK IN 2010, BECAUSE THE CENSUS BUREAU MAKES ADJUSTMENTS TO THESE BLOCKS, UM, DUE TO POPULATION THRESHOLDS.AND SO THE MAPS THAT I'M GOING TO SHOW TO YOU ARE TWO SEPARATE MAPS THAT SHOW THE BLOCKS IN 2010 AND THE BLOCKS IN 2020.
AND WHAT I HOPE TO BE ABLE TO SHOW TO YOU IS JUST SOME GENERAL AREAS OF GROWTH THAT DON'T NECESSARILY SHOW EXACT POPULATION CHANGE, BUT YOU CAN GET A GENERAL TREND OF WHERE THE CHANGE TOOK PLACE.
SO HERE, FOR INSTANCE, AND I HAVE SHARED THESE MAPS IN PDF FORM WITH A CHAIR WHEN THIS, SO THAT SHE CAN SHARE WITH YOU BECAUSE IT IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFICULT TO SEE THEM ON THE SCREEN, BUT WITH THE PDF YOU CAN FURTHER EXPAND OR ZOOM IN, AND WE'LL ALSO BE SHARING, UM, MORE INTERACTIVE, UM, FORM, UH, MAPS OF THESE TYPES ON OUR WEBSITE.
AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHARE THOSE WITH YOU WHEN THOSE BECOME AVAILABLE TO HERE.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS THE, THE POPULATION DENSITY IN 2010 BLOCKS ON THE LEFT AND 2020 BLOCKS ON THE RIGHT AND WHAT YOU MAY NOTICE.
AND IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT HARDER TO SEE WITH SOME OF THESE NEIGHBORHOOD LABELS, BUT I WANTED FOR YOU TO BE ABLE TO FIND YOUR AREA IN, IN THE, IN THE CITY, BUT WHAT YOU ARE ABLE TO SEE IS THAT THE DARKER AREAS IN OUR, UM, THE HIGHLY, THE MORE HIGHLY DENSE AREAS OF THE CITY AND WHAT WE ARE ABLE TO SEE BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020, IS THAT WE SEE INCREASED DENSITY IN PARTS OF NORTHWEST AUSTIN, AS WELL AS INCREASED DENSITY IN PARTS OF SOUTHWEST AUSTIN.
AND THEN ADDITIONAL DENSITY ALONG THAT
AND IN 2010, YOU CAN SEE THE DARKER AREAS ARE IN, UM, UH, CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN AS A, ALL THE WAY UP TO ABOUT MLK.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THOSE IN DARKER PURPLE AREAS ARE ALSO FARTHER NORTH EAST IN, IN, UH, IN THE 2010 MAP.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE 2020 MAP, YOU START TO SEE THAT, UH, FEWER AND FEWER BLOCKS ON THIS MAP HAVE HIGHER SHARES OF AFRICAN AMERICANS.
SO WE SEE LESS OF THAT DEEP DARK PURPLE AND MORE OF THOSE MUTED COLORS, UH, INDICATING THAT THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN SHARE IS, HAS BECOME SMALLER IN THESE BLOCKS.
SIMILARLY, HERE FOR THE HISPANIC POPULATION, THE DARKER SHADED BLOCKS ARE THE HIGHER SHARES OF HISPANIC, LIGHTER SHADED BLOCKS ARE LOWER SHARES OF HISPANICS.
AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE HISPANIC POPULATION IS, UM, A MOVEMENT OF THE EASTERN CRESCENT FURTHER EAST.
UM, WE'RE ADDITIONALLY SEEING AN INCREASED CONCENTRATION IN THE AREA OF LONG NORTH LAMAR, UH, WHERE WE HAD CONCENTRATIONS BEFORE IN 20 AND 2010 IN THE SAME AREA, WE SEE THAT THEY ARE MORE CONCENTRATED NOW, AND THERE ARE HIGHER SHARES OF THE HISPANIC POPULATION FOR THE HISPANIC POPULATION.
WE ARE ALSO SEEING A SIMILAR TREND IN THE HISTORIC, UM, HISPANIC AREAS OF AUSTIN.
SO CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN AREAS WERE MUCH DARKER SHADES IN 2010 AND ARE NOW MUCH LIGHTER SHADES IN THE 2020 MAP.
WE'RE EVEN SEEING SOME OF THAT, UM, SORT OF REDUCED, UH, SHARE IN THE MONTOPOLIS AREA AS WELL.
AND THIS MAP REPRESENTS A SIMILAR, UM, DATA FOR THE ASIAN, UM, GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING WITH THE, UM, ASIAN POPULATION IS WE'RE SEEING INCREASED HIGHER SHARES IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF THE CITY.
WE'RE ALSO SEEING HIGHER SHARES, UH, IN THE SOUTHWEST.
I SAID NORTHEAST AND THAT'S ACCURATE ACTUALLY, BUT I WAS TRYING TO ALSO FOCUS ON NORTHWEST AUSTIN.
YOU SEE HIGHER SHARES OF BLOCKS WITH, UH, ASIAN POPULATION, AS WELL AS IN NORTHEAST, IN CERTAIN AREAS.
AND THEN YOU SEE HIGHER SHARES OF THE ASIAN POPULATION ALSO IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN AROUND, UM, THE BARTON CREEK AREA AND, UH, CIRCLE C AREA.
AND THEN LASTLY HERE IS THE, UH, NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION, GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOU'LL NOTICE IS THAT A LOT
[00:25:01]
OF BLOCKS THAT ARE ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE CITY HAVE ALSO LOST SHARE IN THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION.HOWEVER, AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE MAP ON THE LEFT, THERE WERE, THERE IS MORE WHITE SPACE IN EAST AUSTIN AND, UM, TO THE EAST OF
SO A LOT OF THOSE AREAS AROUND FROM ABOUT UNIVERSITY PILLS, ALL THE WAY DOWN TO ABOUT CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN, ALL OF THOSE HAVE INCREASED SHARE OF NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION.
AND THEN I JUST WANT TO CONCLUDE BY JUST LETTING YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE OTHER DATA RESOURCES AVAILABLE HERE.
UM, WE HAVE POSTED THE RAW DATA FILES TO OUR CITY'S OPEN DATA PORTAL.
THE TEXAS DEMOGRAPHICS CENTER ALSO HAS DATA RESOURCES AVAILABLE.
THEY ALSO HAVE SOME DATA VISUALIZATION TOOLS, AND THEN THE CENSUS BUREAU HAS ALSO RELEASED, UH, YOU KNOW, A TON OF DIFFERENT PRODUCTS ALONG WITH THE RAW DATA FILES.
AND THEN I'LL JUST CONCLUDE BY SAYING THANK YOU.
AND, UM, LET ME GO AHEAD AND END THIS SLIDE SHOW AND TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, LAILA VALENCIA.
UM, I'M JUST GOING TO OPEN THE FLOOR TO, UM, ALL OF US COMMISSIONERS.
AND IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION, USE THE, RAISE YOUR HAND FEATURE, IF YOU CAN, IS THAT N YEAH, THAT AVAILABLE.
SO THAT'S UNDER REACTIONS JUST SO WE CAN SEE EVERYBODY AT THE TOP OF THE SCREEN THERE.
UM, I JUST HAD ONE, UM, AND THIS IS FROM OUR ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER, CHRISTINE GRANADA.
UM, I'LL, I'LL GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF THE BACKGROUND ON WHY WE'RE ASKING THIS QUESTION, UM, BECAUSE WE'RE PRESENTING A LOT OF THIS, UM, DATA TO THE PUBLIC IN OUR FORUMS SO THAT THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE WORKING WITH AND WHAT OUR WORKING KNOWLEDGES.
SO SHE WANTS TO KNOW HOW THESE NUMBERS COMPARE WITH STATE NUMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHY IS THERE THIS DIFFERENCE, BUT SETS AUSTIN APART FROM TEXAS? SURE.
SO THAT'S DEFINITELY, YOU KNOW, A BIG PART OF WHAT WE WERE SEEING IN THE DATA, RIGHT, IS THAT AUSTIN DEFINITELY IS, UH, EXPERIENCING A DIFFERENT PATTERN OF GROWTH.
THEN WE ARE SEEING NOT JUST IN TEXAS, BUT IN, YOU KNOW, ACROSS THE, ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THE DISTINCTION OF, UM, HAVING NON HISPANIC, WHITE POPULATION BEING THE MAJOR DRIVER OF GROWTH IN THE CITY IS ONE THAT'S SHARED WITH VERY FEW MAJOR CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
I THINK REALLY ONLY, UH, PHOENIX ARIZONA IS TO SOME EXTENT, UH, RALEIGH IN NORTH CAROLINA, AS WELL AS DENVER, COLORADO ARE OTHER CITIES THAT HAD A SIMILAR PATTERN.
UM, PART OF IT IS GOING TO HAVE TO DO WITH THE LARGE SHARE OF DOMESTIC MIGRATION THAT WE ARE SEEING TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN LAST YEAR WHEN WE HAD OUR, OR EARLIER THIS YEAR, WHEN WE HAD OUR ESTIMATES OF, UH, FROM THE CENSUS BUREAU ON MIGRATION, WHAT WE SAW WAS THAT NEARLY THREE QUARTERS OF THE POPULATION CHANGE THAT TOOK PLACE BETWEEN 2019 AND 2020 WAS DRIVEN BY DOMESTIC MIGRATION.
DOMESTIC MIGRATION INCLUDES BOTH PEOPLE THAT MOVE FROM OTHER PARTS OF TEXAS, AS WELL AS OTHER PARTS OF THE STATE.
BUT THE PEOPLE THAT ARE MOVING TO TO AUSTIN ARE REALLY, UH, MOSTLY NON-HISPANIC WHITE PEOPLE.
AND SO WHEN WE LOOK AT OTHER PARTS OF TEXAS, FOR INSTANCE, IN DALLAS AND IN HOUSTON, THEY SAW LARGE INCREASES IN THEIR AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION.
WE DIDN'T SEE THAT THEY SAW DROPS IN THEIR NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION.
AND SO THAT DOMESTIC MIGRATION FLOWS AGAIN, REALLY FEEDS INTO THAT.
WE SEE THOSE NON HISPANIC, WHITE DROPS IN HOUSTON IN DALLAS, AND WE KNOW EXACTLY WHERE THEY'RE GOING, WHERE THEY'RE COMING TO AUSTIN.
UM, AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE DO JUST RAISE YOUR, UM, RAISE YOUR HAND LIKE US AND CHRISTINE, DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER, LIKE A FOLLOW UP QUESTION TO THAT? I DO.
I UNDERSTAND THAT THE STATE IS CRUNCHING THEIR OWN NUMBERS FROM THE U S CENSUS, JUST LIKE THE CITY DID.
AND I'M WONDERING IF THOSE NUMBERS ARE GOING TO BE OUT IN SEPTEMBER SOMETIME, I THINK.
AND IS THERE A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR NUMBERS FOR AUSTIN AS OPPOSED TO YOUR NUMBERS? GOSH, I WOULD HOPE NOT BECAUSE WE'RE USING THE SAME DATA, SO THAT SHOULDN'T BE, AND IF FOR SOME REASON THERE ARE, WE DEFINITELY NEED TO LOOK INTO THAT.
UM, BUT THE, ALL OF THE DATA THAT I'M WORKING WITH
[00:30:01]
ARE THE SAME DATA THAT THE STATE IS WORKING WITH.THEY ARE GETTING THEIR DATA FROM THE OFFICIAL 20, 20 CENSUS COUNT.
AND SO THE DATA THAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT JUST IS GOING TO BE, YOU KNOW, FOR THE, FOR THE STATE AS A WHOLE, AS OPPOSED TO MY FOCUS, UH, ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, ONE ADDITIONAL NOTE THAT I'LL, THAT I'LL ADD IS IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, 50% OF THE GROWTH WAS DRIVEN BY THE HISPANIC POPULATION.
BUT AGAIN, LIKE I MENTIONED, IN, IN AUSTIN, WE SAW IT WAS ABOUT 20%.
AND SO WE DO HAVE TO START TO WONDER, NOT JUST IN TERMS OF MIGRATION, BUT ALSO ARE THERE OTHER DRIVING FACTORS OR OTHER ARE OTHER FACTORS THAT ARE, UH, NOT ONLY DRAWING PARTICULAR PEOPLE TO OUR, TO OUR CITY, BUT PERHAPS NOT HELPING US TO GROW OTHER PARTS OF OUR CITY.
AND SOME OF THAT MIGRATION COMES TO THE CITY BECAUSE OF JOBS.
THAT'S A HUGE DRIVER OF, OF POPULATION MIGRATION IS JOBS.
AND THE JOBS THAT WE'RE CREATING IN AUSTIN FOR THE MOST PART ARE REALLY HIGH TECH JOBS.
AND SO THERE HAVE TO BE PEOPLE THAT MOVE HERE, UM, THAT TYPICALLY FULFILL THOSE JOBS.
WE KNOW THAT THAT SECTOR IS NOT A VERY DIVERSE SECTOR.
AND SO PART OF THAT IS, IS, IS WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN AUSTIN AS WELL.
NOW WE'VE ALSO BEEN TALKING FOR A LONG TIME ABOUT AFFORDABILITY ISSUES.
AND SO WHEN WE START TO SEE THAT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION AND THE HISPANIC POPULATION AREN'T GROWING AT THE SAME RATES THAT THEY ARE IN OTHER TEXAS CITIES, WE DO HAVE TO START TO ASK OURSELVES, YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE THEY GOING? AND THAT'S SORT OF WHY I WANTED TO SHARE THAT SLIDE WITH YOU ABOUT NEIGHBORING CITIES AND HOW THEIR GROWTH WAS TAKING PLACE.
WE ALSO HAVE INFORMATION ON THE RACE AND ETHNICITY, MAKEUP OF THOSE CITIES.
AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE DRIVERS OF GROWTH, THERE ARE MUCH MORE HISPANIC AND MUCH MORE AFRICAN-AMERICAN THAN THEY ARE HERE IN AUSTIN.
UM, I SEE, UH, CUSHNER D AND THEN COMMISSIONER BLANK.
SO, UM, IF YOU STILL WANT IT TO SPEAK AFTER, OKAY.
UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS PRESENTATION AND, AND ALL THIS INFORMATION.
UM, I THINK THAT, UM, IT'S STANDARD, RIGHT? TO PRESENT THESE MAPS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF, OF RACE.
AND IT'S CRITICAL THAT WE CONSIDER REPRESENT REPRESENTATION ALONG THESE LINES, BUT I'M ALSO SUPER CURIOUS ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT, UM, WE WOULD CONSIDER MAKING MAPS LIKE THIS, THAT TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION, UM, SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS.
UM, DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT? IF, IF THERE IS AN INITIATIVE TO DO THAT, I THINK IT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL.
SO THE DATA THAT WERE RELEASED WITH THE CENSUS, UM, THIS TIME AROUND ARE, ARE ONLY REDISTRICTING DATA, RIGHT? AND SO THE FIGURES THAT THEY PROVIDE ARE THE OFFICIAL COUNTS, THE RACE AND ETHNICITY MAKEUP, UH, THE VOTING AGE POPULATION BY RACE AND ETHNICITY, AND THEN HOUSING UNIT COUNTS AND, UM, WHAT ARE CALLED GROUP QUARTERS.
SO THEY DON'T HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON, UM, SORT OF, UH, ECONO SOCIOECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS.
I DID HAVE A SLIDE IN THERE THAT I WAS GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU, THAT WE'VE LOOKED AT.
THERE ARE OTHER DATA THERE, THEY'RE JUST NOT PART OF THESE DATA.
AND SO WHEN I WANTED TO COME AND SHARE WITH YOU, YOU KNOW, WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH THESE DATA, I DIDN'T INCLUDE THAT.
BUT WHAT WE'VE SEEN JUST IN THE LAST 10 YEARS IS THAT THERE ABSOLUTELY HAVE BEEN, UM, HUGE INCREASES IN AFFLUENCE, IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, MEDIAN, HOUSEHOLD INCOMES HAVE BEEN GROWING.
THEY'VE BEEN GROWING A LOT, UH, ABOUT 38% IN THE LAST DECADE.
THEY HAVE NOT BEEN GROWING, UH, EVENLY.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THE ECONOMIC DISTRIBUTION, WHAT WE HAVE SEEN IS THERE ARE FEWER HOUSEHOLDS AT THE VERY, UM, LOW END OF THE INCOME DISTRIBUTION.
AND SO WE HAVE FEWER HOUSEHOLDS THAT HAVE LOWER INCOMES.
AND WHEN WE FIRST LOOKED AT THAT, WE THINK, WELL, THAT'S GREAT.
YOU KNOW, HOUSEHOLDS ARE DOING BETTER.
WE HAVE LESS FOR HOUSEHOLDS, BUT THAT'S NOT A STRAIGHT AWAY CONCLUSION THAT WE CAN MAKE.
THE OTHER FINDING THAT WE SEE IS THAT IN THE MIDDLE, THERE'S NOT MUCH CHANGE, BUT AT THE TOP END OF THAT, SO OF THAT INCOME DISTRIBUTION, WE HAVE ALSO SEEN INCREASED INCREASES.
AND SO WE'VE GOT THIS SORT OF CURVILINEAR KIND OF EFFECT WHERE WE'RE SEEING INCREASES IN THE HIGHER INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, HOUSEHOLDS, AND THEN DECREASES IN THE LOWER INCOME HOUSEHOLDS.
AND SO OUR AFFLUENCE IS NOT GEOGRAPHICALLY EVENLY DISTRIBUTED.
IT'S NOT ACROSS THE ENTIRE INCOME DISTRIBUTION SPECTRUM.
AND THEN WHEN WE BREAK THAT DOWN BY RACE AND ETHNICITY, WE CONTINUE TO SEE THAT THERE ARE HUGE DISPARITIES IN THE HOUSEHOLD INCOMES OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND HISPANICS, UH, COMPARED WITH ASIANS AND
[00:35:01]
NON-HISPANIC WHITE HOUSEHOLDS IN AUSTIN.UM, SO ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE, THESE MAPS THAT, UH, YOU WERE CONSIDERING SHOWING US THAT THEY ARE SOMETHING THAT WE CAN LOOK UP OURSELVES? I DON'T HAVE A, ACTUALLY WE PROBABLY DO HAVE A MAP.
UM, I, WASN'T GOING TO SHARE A MAP WITH YOU.
I WAS GOING TO SHARE A SLIDE WITH YOU THAT SHOW THAT INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND THE INCOME DISPARITIES BY, BY RACE AND ETHNICITY.
UM, IF YOU WANTED TO SEE THAT, UM, IN A MAP, WE COULD GET THAT FOR YOU.
UM, BUT YEAH, JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT I DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR ALREADY READY THAT I WAS GOING TO SHARE WITH YOU IN THAT FORM, BUT I DO HAVE THOSE DATA IN TABLE IN TABLE FORM.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE INTERESTING DATA.
UM, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU WANT, WE SHOULD GET OUR HANDS ON THAT DATA IS WHAT YOU'RE ADVOCATING FOR.
I MEAN, I DO, I SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF REPRESENTATION ACROSS RACE, BUT IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS AS WELL.
AND I GUESS I'LL JUST ADD, UM, A NOTE THAT THE DATA THAT I SHARED WITH YOU IN THE MAPS TODAY WAS BLOCK-LEVEL DATA.
THE INCOME DATA WON'T BE AVAILABLE AT THE BLOCK LEVEL.
UM, THAT'S JUST NOT A STABLE ENOUGH, UM, STATISTIC THAT WE CAN SHARE AT THAT LEVEL, BUT WE CAN SHARE IT AT A LARGER CENSUS TRACK LEVEL, UH, OR NEIGHBORHOOD SIZE LEVEL.
HI, THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION.
JOYABLE I'LL JUST ALWAYS, UM, SO TWO, TWO QUESTIONS.
ONE I THINK IS EASY AND ONE IS MAYBE A LITTLE LESS EASY, BUT I DON'T KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU HIGHLIGHTED THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN, OR THE NUMBER OF VOTING AGE OF THE VOTING AGE POPULATION IN THE UNDER 18 POPULATION.
AND I WAS JUST WONDERING, IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S ABOUT 81%, I GUESS, ADULT OR 80% OR SOMETHING.
IS THAT, HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO OTHER TEXAS CITIES IN THE OUTLYING AREAS IS AWESOME, PARTICULARLY YOUNG OR OLDER OR SO, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE SAW WAS THAT, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN TYPICALLY, UH, I THINK DOES LIKE TO THINK OF ITSELF AS FAIRLY YOUNG.
AND I THINK FOR, FOR US, UH, YOU KNOW, A CENTRAL CITY OF PRIMARY CITY, IT IS RELATIVELY YOUNG, BUT WHEN WE STARTING TO LOOK AT THE SURROUNDING AREAS, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT HAVE MORE FAMILIES, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE THAT THE MEDIAN AGE IS GOING TO DROP BECAUSE OF THOSE, UH, EXTRA FAMILIES.
AND SO THAT'S PART OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS, UM, THAT, THAT DROP IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN AND HISPANIC CHILDREN WAS REALLY PARTICULARLY STRIKING TO ME FOR A COUPLE OF REASONS, RIGHT? IT'S BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT, UH, POPULATIONS OF COLOR TEND TO HAVE HIGHER BIRTH RATES.
AND SO WHEN YOU START TO HAVE A MORE HOMOGENOUS POPULATION WITH EVEN LOWER BIRTH RATES, THEN YOUR POPULATION IS GOING TO START TO AGE.
AND I THINK THAT THAT'S PART OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN AUSTIN.
WE'RE SEEING AN AGING IN THE CITY BECAUSE OF THE MAKEUP OF THE POPULATION, BUT ALSO BECAUSE SOME FAMILIES ARE NO LONGER HERE, THE FAMILIES THAT TYPICALLY DRIVE THOSE, UH, BIRTH RATES ARE NO LONGER HERE.
AND SO THEN THAT GROWTH DOESN'T THAT YOUNG GROWTH DOESN'T TAKE PLACE.
I DON'T HAVE, UM, INFORMATION RIGHT AWAY WITH ME TO BE ABLE TO TELL YOU WHAT THE, THE AGE BREAKDOWN BETWEEN THE OVER AND UNDER 18 LOOKS LIKE IN THE NEIGHBORING CITIES, BUT THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE CAN SHARE WITH YOU.
UH, SO THEN I GUESS THE OTHER QUESTION THAT THESE, THE HARDER ONE IS, YOU KNOW, SO I UNDERSTAND THAT OVER THE COURSE OF THE DECADE OVER TIME, THE CENSUS HAS BEEN WORKING ON ITS RACIAL AND ETHNICITY QUESTIONS.
AND SO THAT MY UNDERSTANDING WHEN THE CENSUS DATA CAME OUT WAS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE GROWTH IN THE TWO OR MORE RACES AND THE MULTI-RACIAL CATEGORIES, AND MAYBE THE DECLINE IN SOME OF THE OTHER CATEGORIES THAT WE HAVE TO SORT OF TAKE CHANGES IN THE WAY THAT RACE AND ETHNICITY ARE BEING MEASURED INTO ACCOUNT.
IS THAT SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, WE SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT IN TERMS OF GOING ABOUT OUR TASK, THINKING ABOUT THE SEA, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE CHANGES IN POPULATION, OR IS THAT SORT OF, KIND OF BEYOND THE SCOPE OF OUR, I DON'T EVEN KNOW ABILITIES OR MANDATE OR WHAT HAVE YOU, WELL, I DEFINITELY CAN'T TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOUR, YOUR GOALS SHOULD BE AS A COMMISSION.
UM, BUT I CAN LET YOU KNOW THAT THAT IS, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
AND THAT'S ABSOLUTELY SOMETHING THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I RECOGNIZE AND ACKNOWLEDGE.
SO SOME OF THE CHANGE IN THE TWO OR MORE RACES IN PARTICULAR ABSOLUTELY COMES FROM THE DIFFERENT WAY THAT THE DATA ARE BEING CODED BY THE CENSUS BUREAU, BUT IT'S NOT THE BULK OF THE CHANGE.
UH, SO FOR INSTANCE, FOR HISPANICS, UH, HISPANICS ARE STILL PARSED OUT.
IF YOU SAY THAT YOU ARE HISPANIC, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT OTHER RACE YOU PICK.
YOU WILL, YOU WILL STILL BE COUNTED AS HISPANIC NOW FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS AND
[00:40:01]
WHITE, UM, MULTI-RACIAL FAMILIES FOR, UM, ASIAN AND WHITE, UM, INDIVIDUALS.SO ANYBODY WHO'S SELECTING THAT, UM, THAT NOW WE CAN DEFINITELY SEE THAT SOME OF THOSE DROPS MAY HAVE GONE TO THAT TWO OR MORE RACES.
BUT, UM, WHAT WE DID WAS WE ABSOLUTELY LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, WHO PICKED THE TWO OR MORE RACES? WHAT, WHAT DID THAT LOOK LIKE? AND THE TOP WERE, UM, WHITE AND ASIAN WHITE AND, UH, NI AND WHITE AND ASIAN WHITE AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN, AND PACIFIC ISLANDER WHITE AND NATIVE AMERICAN, AND THEN WHITE AND AFRICAN AMERICAN.
AND THOSE WERE THE MUELLER COMMON ONES.
AND SO WHAT I THINK IS REALLY HAPPENING IS THAT PEOPLE ARE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, REBELLING AGAINST THE CENSUS BUREAU AND AGAINST THESE TYPES OF DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEYS THAT SAY, YOU HAVE TO PICK ONE BOX AND THEY'RE SAYING, NO, YOU KNOW, I REALLY, I REALLY DON'T IDENTIFY WITH JUST THAT SIMPLISTIC TERM.
AND SO PART OF THE GROWTH IS THAT, UM, IN, IN THE TWO OR MORE RACIST CATEGORY, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE LOOK AT, BUT SOMETHING THAT'S PROBABLY NOT RELATED TO THE LOWER RATE OF GROWTH OF THE HISPANIC POPULATION.
THAT'S VERY HELPFUL CLARIFICATION.
AND I GUESS IN PARTICULAR, I'D JUST SAY MY UNDERSTANDING OF THAT WITH RESPECT TO THE BROADER SORT OF PRESENTATION YOU'VE GIVEN ABOUT AUSTIN IS THAT GIVEN THE NATURE OF OUR GROWTH, THAT'S PROBABLY LESS LIKELY TO BE A CONCERN OF OURS THAN IT MIGHT BE IF WE WERE IN ANOTHER CITY WITH A DIFFERENT KIND OF GROWTH PATTERN, INDEPENDENT DEPENDENT DEMOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION, IS IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S DEFINITELY, YEAH, IT'S DEFINITELY GOOD TO CONTINUE TO KEEP LOOKING AT THAT PARTICULAR MULTI-RACIAL CATEGORY, UM, BECAUSE IT DOES HAVE SIGNIFICANT, UM, SIGNIFICANT SHARE OF THE POPULATION.
AND THEN IF THERE'S ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS A QUESTION, JUST PUT YOUR HAND UP, LIKE HOW VERSUS, UM, AND JUST KIND OF LEAVE IT UP ON THE SCREEN.
SO ONE OF MY QUESTIONS WAS THE SAME ONE AS COMMISSIONER BLANK.
JUST, I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN HIGHLIGHTED FOR PROBABLY S NURSE WHO LOOK AT THE CENSUS OVER AND OVER AND ESPECIALLY THE RACE AND ETHNICITY.
SO, UM, IT'S JUST REALLY HELPFUL FOR, TO HEAR FROM YOU THAT YOU THINK THAT'S A SMALL AMOUNTS OF THE D D RELATIVE DECREASE IN THAT HISPANIC POPULATION.
CAUSE I JUST WONDERED IF MAYBE THAT WAS A SHIFT.
SO THANK YOU FOR THAT BACKGROUND TO SATISFY THE NERD.
UM, I HAD TWO QUESTIONS, JUST ONE.
UM, WHERE DO YOU THINK THAT MAYBE WE UNDERCOUNTED, BECAUSE I KNOW THERE'S, THAT'S ALWAYS AN ISSUE WITH THE CENSUS, UM, ESPECIALLY IN THE LAST YEAR.
AND, UM, THAT'S JUST SOMETHING WE MIGHT WANT TO THINK OF AS WE'RE THINKING ABOUT REPRESENTATION SPECIFICALLY.
UM, SO THAT'S MY FIRST QUESTION.
AND THEN I WAS JUST CURIOUS WHY IT WAS A GOAL TO REACH 1 MILLION OR BE IN THE TOP 10.
SO I JUST, SINCE YOU'RE HERE, I FIGURED IT OUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S FOR BRAGGING RIGHTS RIGHTS ONLY LIKE IT'S REALLY.
SO I WAS JUST LIKE, MAYBE IT'S SOMETHING I'M MISSING.
IT'S LIKE, YES, WE'D BEAT SAN JOSE, BUT, BUT YOUR OTHER, YOUR OTHER QUESTION IS MUCH MORE SERIOUS.
AND, UM, IT IS SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, DOES CONCERN ME.
AND UNFORTUNATELY WE DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES YET, UH, FROM THE CENSUS BUREAU TO REALLY BE ABLE TO DETERMINE THAT.
BUT, UM, PARTICULARLY CONCERNING FOR ME WAS SEEING THAT DROP IN THE NUMBER OF HISPANIC AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN, NOT ONLY OUR COMMUNITY, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, TYPICALLY UNDER COUNTED IN THE CENSUS, BUT HISTORICALLY THE CHILD POPULATION, ESPECIALLY THE CHILD POPULATION UNDER FIVE YEARS OF AGE AND ESPECIALLY CHILDREN UNDER FIVE WHO ARE OF COLOR ARE HIGHLY UNDER COUNTED.
AND SO WHEN I SAW THAT DROP, I WAS LIKE, OH BOY, THIS IS, THIS IS A LITTLE BIT, UM, A LITTLE BIT OF A RED FLAG FOR ME.
UM, THE FACT THAT OUR COUNT CAME, UM, IN, YOU KNOW, LOWER THAN THE CENSUS BUREAU'S OWN ESTIMATE WAS ALSO ANOTHER SORT OF, UM, THING FOR ME TO PONDER, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW FULL WAS OUR COUNT.
THE CENSUS BUREAU OF COURSE RELEASES THESE DATA BECAUSE THESE ARE THE DATA THAT COMMISSIONS LIKE YOURS AND LEGISLATIVE BODIES ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY I HAVE TO USE, RIGHT? THESE ARE THE DATA.
AND, UM, I DO THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WILL LOOK INTO, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, THINGS TO CONSIDER WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT OTHER SYMPTOMATIC DATA, I DON'T KNOW.
I KNOW THE LEGISLATURE HAS VERY SPECIFIC RULES ABOUT WHAT DATA THEY CAN USE AS RESOURCES.
I DON'T HAVE THAT UNDERSTANDING OF, OF YOUR COMMISSION AND IF YOU HAVE THOSE SAME RESTRICTIONS, BUT YOU DON'T, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY SUGGEST LOOKING AT,
[00:45:01]
UM, SYMPTOMATIC DATA SUCH AS SCHOOL ENROLLMENT OR ENROLLMENT IN DAYCARES AND HEADSTARTS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE BECAUSE, UM, THAT WAS ONE AREA THAT, UM, WAS A LITTLE BIT OF CONCERN TO ME.I, I WORKED IN EARLY CHILDHOOD FOR A WHILE AND I KNEW THAT THAT WAS LIKE OUR BREAD.
LIKE THAT WAS THE CENSUS DATA.
SO IT IS CONCERNING BECAUSE I KNOW SO MUCH OF OUR FUNDING IS BASED ON THOSE PROJECTIONS FOR THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, PRE-K HEADSTART AND ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR THOUGHTS AND IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THERE ARE ANY MORE HANDS, BUT LAST CALL REAL QUICK BEFORE WE LET MS. VALENCIA GO.
UM, I, I ALSO JUST HAD A SMALL CURIOSITY, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST A TINY, UM, ANSWER FOR MY CLARIFICATION.
HOW DO YOU FIRST OUT THE DATA FROM, UM, THE COUNTY AND THEN THE CITY IS, IS THE DATA AND PARDON MY IGNORANCE ON THAT, BUT IT'S THE DATA JUST ALREADY BROKEN DOWN AT THE CITY LEVEL? YES, THERE IS A FIELD CALLED THE SUMMARY LEVEL.
IT'S A, SOME LEVEL IF YOU'VE GOTTEN INTO THE ACTUAL DATA AND THAT WILL LET YOU KNOW WHETHER YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE COUNTY LEVEL, THE STATE LEVEL, THE TRACK LEVEL, THE BLOCK LEVEL.
AND SO FOR INSTANCE, ON OUR WEBSITE, ON THE CITY'S OPEN DATA PORTAL, WE'VE PUT THOSE RAW DATA FILES AT THOSE DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHIES.
SO WE'VE ALREADY SPLIT OUT THE CITIES FOR YOU AND WE'D SPLIT OUT THE COUNTIES.
AND THEN, OR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WE HAVE SHARED ONLY CITY OF AUSTIN BLOCKS AND ONLY CITY OF AUSTIN TRACKS.
SO, SO WE'VE DONE SOME OF THAT USING THAT SUMMARY LEVEL FIELD.
IT WAS GREAT TO HAVE YOU WITH US AGAIN.
UM, AND EVERYBODY HOPEFULLY GOT THE EMAIL ADDRESS.
IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS DOWN THE ROAD.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE B A PRESENTATION FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE ON OPEN MEETINGS AND PUBLIC RECORDS.
AND WE HAVE WITH US TODAY, LYNN CARTER AND ZACHARY BROWN AND THEIR PRESENTATION WILL LAST 10 TO 15 MINUTES AND THE TIME QUESTIONS AT END WELCOME LYNN AND ZACH CHAIR.
I JUST WANT TO SEE IF, UM, LYNN AND ZACHARY COULD UNMUTE THEMSELVES.
UM, THEY ARE MUTED AND NO VIDEO AT THE MOMENT.
UM, LYNDON ZACHARY, IF, IF YOU'RE ABLE TO UNMUTE YOURSELF AND IF POSSIBLE, TURN ON YOUR VIDEOS SO WE CAN SEE YOU.
UM, I AM TRYING TO SH CAN YOU ALL SEE MY SCREEN? YES, WE CAN.
NOT SURE WHY THE SLIDE SHOWS NOT STARTING ARE, Y'ALL SEEING THE SLIDE SHOW OR JUST IN THE INDIVIDUAL SLIDES.
I DON'T KNOW WHY IT'S NOT LETTING ME DO THE MATH.
I'VE CLICKED IT SEVERAL TIMES.
SOMETIMES YOU CAN TRY THE LITTLE BUTTON DOWN TO THE BOTTOM, RIGHT.
OR IT'S LIKE A SCREEN WITH A, UM, YEAH, THERE ARE THOSE LITTLE TINY ICONS ON THE BOTTOM.
UM, I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE A DESK.
THE ONE, JUST TO THE RIGHT OF THAT ONE THAT YOU WERE JUST ON.
UM, SO THE, THE LAST ICON ON THE RIGHT.
THE ONE TO THE RIGHT OF THE BOOK.
I THINK YOU HIT THE ONE THAT LOOKS
[00:50:04]
OKAY.I KNOW THIS MAY BE, I WAS ALSO GONNA SAY THAT WE CAN READ THE SLIDES AS IS IF YOU JUST WANT TO GO THROUGH THEM.
THEY'RE VERY WELL, UM, AND NICE AND LARGE FOR US TOO.
AND MATT, IF YOU WANT TO TAKE OVER AND RUN THE SLIDE SHOW FROM YOUR END, FEEL FREE.
UM, SO, UM, WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE A LOT OF YOUR TIME.
UH, I AM GOING TO PRESENT ON THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT AND ZACH BROWN, THE ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY, WHO'S OUR LEAD ON PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT ISSUES, WE'LL ADDRESS THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
UM, SO, UM, THE PUBLIC INFORMATION AT THE, UH, TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT, YOU HAVE BEEN OPERATING UNDER THAT ALREADY.
YOU HAVE BEEN, UH, MEETING AN OPEN SESSION THAT THE PUBLIC IS INVITED TO, AND THAT IS A REQUIREMENT OF STATE LAW UNDER THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE, WHICH IS, UH, UNDER CHAPTER 5, 5 1.
AND WHAT IT SAYS IS ESSENTIALLY IS THAT EVERY, UM, I'M GOING TO HAVE TO PULL UP MY SCREEN SO I CAN, UM, SEE MY SLIDE, SHOW MYSELF.
UM, SO MAINLY WHAT IT SAYS IS THE MEETINGS MUST BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC THAT INCLUDES BEING ACCESSIBLE.
SO YOU, YOU KNOW, ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, YOU HAVE TO BE MEETING IN AN ACCESSIBLE PLACE, OR, YOU KNOW, YOUR VIRTUAL MEETINGS HAVE TO BE, UH, IN A MANNER THAT CAN BE ACCESSIBLE BY THOSE WITH DISABILITIES, UM, AND, UH, POSTINGS FOR THE MEETING, THOSE NOTICES PRETTY MUCH, YOU KNOW, I'M SURE YOUR LIAISONS ARE TAKING CARE OF THAT, UH, NOTICE OF THE TIME, THE PLACE AND THE, UH, SUBJECT MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED.
AND THEN YOUR MEETINGS HAVE TO BE MEMORIALIZED WITH A RECORD Y'ALL HAVE ALREADY, UM, HAD THE MINUTES PRESENTED TO YOU TONIGHT.
SO THAT IS A MEMORIALIZATION OF THE, THE MEETING, AS WELL AS THIS VIDEO RECORDING.
SO OPEN TO THE PUBLIC MEANS THAT YOU ALLOW EACH MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC WHO DESIRES TO SPEAK ON AN ITEM ON THE AGENDA THAT THEY CAN SPEAK ON THAT ITEM.
UM, YOU CAN ADOPT REASONABLE RULES.
THAT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE ALREADY, UH, ADOPTED RULES FOR THREE MINUTES PER SPEAKER.
AND, UM, YOU CAN ADJUST THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU MAY KNOW THAT COUNCIL ADJUST BASED ON THE NUMBER OF SPEAKERS.
IF IT HAS A TON OF SPEAKERS, THEY WILL LOWER THAT AMOUNT TO ONE MINUTE, SO THAT THEY'RE NOT GOING TO BE IN MEETINGS FOR A DAY AND A HALF TIME.
SO, SO YOU CAN MAKE A REASONABLE RULES THAT AREN'T BASED ON THE VIEWPOINT OF THE SPEAKER.
BUT BASED ON, FOR EXAMPLE, I'M RUNNING EFFICIENT MEETING.
UH, THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT SAYS THAT WE CANNOT PROHIBIT PUBLIC CRITICISMS. SO THE PUBLIC CAN PROVIDE COMMENTS THAT ARE CRITICAL OF THE COMMISSION, THE WORK YOU DO, THEY CAN CRITICIZE ME AND MY PRESENTATION.
UM, THEY CAN CRITICIZE ANY CITY OFFICIALS OR THEIR ACTIONS.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UH, NEEDS TO BE ALLOWED.
UM, SO MEETING NOTICES HAVE TO BE 72 HOURS AHEAD OF TIME.
AND AGAIN, TIME PLACE, SUBJECT MATTER, UM, SUBJECT MATTER NEEDS TO BE SUFFICIENTLY STATED SO THAT THE PUBLIC CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, AND THEN MEMORIALIZED WITH THE RECORD, AS WE SAID, AUDIO OR VIDEO RECORDING, UM, OR THE MINUTES.
SO WHAT IS A QUORUM? THIS IS EASY FOR YOU.
IT'S ALREADY SET OUT IN THE, UH, CHARTER AND THAT IS NINE MEMBERS.
UM, IF A QUORUM IS GOING TO BE PRESENT AT SOME MEETING, THAT'S NOT A SOCIAL MEANINGS, UH, OR CEREMONIAL OCCASION, THEN YOU NEED TO POST A NOTICE OF THAT.
UM, SINCE AT LEAST A QUORUM WILL BE THERE.
SO WHAT IS A MEETING? UH, IT IS A VERBAL EXCHANGE AMONG A QUORUM.
SO AMONG NINE OF YOU OR MORE, UM, IT CAN BE NONVERBAL SUCH AS TEXTS, EMAILS, OR INNER MAT INTERACTIONS THAT ARE ELECTRONIC, UM,
[00:55:01]
OR IT CAN BE BETWEEN A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC OR A STAFF AND A QUORUM OF THE, UH, INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION.AND IT HAS TO INVOLVE THE DISCUSSION, UH, OF PUBLIC BUSINESS THAT IS WITHIN YOUR COMMISSION'S JURISDICTION, SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE DEALT WITH IN THE PAST, UM, OR WILL DEAL WITH IN THE FUTURE, OR ARE ADDRESSING AT THE CURRENT TIME.
SO WHAT IF YOU ALL DECIDE, UM, YOU HAVE AN IN-PERSON MEETING AND YOU DECIDE LET'S GO TO DINNER AFTERWARDS, OR A FEW OF YOU DO.
IF NINE OF YOU SHOW UP FOR DINNER, YOU JUST NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE NOT DISCUSSING WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MEETING, UM, OR ANY BUSINESS OF THE COMMISSION.
SO, UH, ONE EXCEPTION IN THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT IS FOR CLOSED MEETINGS OR EXECUTIVE SESSIONS.
UM, THE PROCESS FOR THAT IS THAT YOU START IN AN OPEN MEETING, UM, YOU WOULD ANNOUNCE THAT THE EXECUTIVE SESSION IS ABOUT TO OCCUR AND THE TIME, AND THEN THE APPLICABLE SECTIONS THAT, UM, APPLY FOR THE OPEN MEETINGS.
THAT FOR, FOR THAT SPECIFIC, THERE IS A LIST OF ALLOWABLE TOPICS THAT CAN OCCUR IN, UM, CLOSED SESSION.
SORRY, COULD YOU SCROLL DOWN SO WE COULD SEE THAT THE OTHER SIDE.
SO, UM, IN A CLOSED MEETING, SOME EXAMPLES OF WHAT CAN OCCUR IS CONSULTATION WITH YOUR ATTORNEY, DAVID RICHARDS, UM, PERSONNEL ISSUES, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU HAVE HIRED, I THINK AT LEAST THREE, UM, CONSULTANTS, UM, OR STAFF.
UM, AND SO YOU CAN DISCUSSED IN CLOSED SESSION, IF YOU HAVE A PERFORMANCE REVIEW FOR YOUR ATTORNEY OR YOUR MAP MAPPING CONSULTANT, THOSE TWO ARE HIGH ENOUGH LEVEL THAT YOU WOULD NEED TO IDENTIFY THEM BY NAME AND THE POST, THE AGENDA POSTING.
UM, BUT OTHERWISE, IF IT'S, YOU KNOW, STANDARD PERSONNEL ISSUES, YOU KNOW, LIKE CLOSED SESSION, WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT CERTAIN ISSUES THAT ARE NOT SPECIFIC TO SOME SPECIFIC HIGH-LEVEL PERSON.
YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO IDENTIFY THAT IN YOUR AGENDA.
UM, ANOTHER EXAMPLE WOULD BE IF YOU HAVE SECURITY ISSUES, THAT SECURITY DEVICES THAT YOU NEED TO DISCUSS SO THAT YOU HAVE, YOU KNOW, CYBER SECURITY ISSUES THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO GET OUT, THAT WOULD BE AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT YOU CAN HANDLE ON A CLOSED MEETING.
SO, UM, A LOT OF THE REST, LESS REST OF THE PRESENTATIONS FOCUSED ON WALKING QUORUM, WHICH IS AS SOMETHING THAT JUST TO BE, JUST TO WATCH OUT FOR, YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE A SERIES OF COMMUNICATIONS AND A QUORUM THAT WOULD RESULT IN YOUR DISCUSSING OF MATTERS OUTSIDE OF A PUBLIC MEETING, UM, KNOWING CONDUCT IS REQUIRED.
IT WOULD, YOU KNOW, FOR THERE TO BE A VIOLATION, THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT, YOU WOULD HAVE TO EACH THE MEM A MEMBER WHO WAS, WHO, UH, GOT IN TROUBLE OVER THIS WOULD HAVE TO KNOW THAT AT THE TIME THEY HAD THE COMMUNICATION, THERE WAS A PLAN FOR THERE TO BE A SERIES OF COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT MATTERS THAT ARE WITHIN THE JURISDICTION OF THE COMMISSION, UH, THAT WOULD RESULT IN A DISCUSSION WITH THE QUORUM.
A QUORUM DOESN'T HAVE TO BE IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME.
UH, TYPICALLY A WALKING QUORUM WOULD NOT BE, UM, IT COULD BE ON A SOCIAL MEDIA THAT THERE'S A SERIES OF, YOU KNOW, SHARING FROM PERSON TO PERSON, TO PERSON THAT WOULD BE A QUORUM OF THE COMMISSION WHERE, UH, IT WOULD AMOUNT TO A WALKING QUORUM.
SO IF THERE'S A COMPLAINT WHO HANDLES THAT, UM, THAT WOULD GO TO THE TRAVIS COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE OR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY, OR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL WOULD LOOK INTO THAT.
SO AVOIDING A WALKING QUORUM, UM, IS THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT AS STAY AWAY FROM DISCUSSING COMMISSIONED BUSINESS.
EXCEPT IF YOU ARE IN AN OPEN MEETING, UM, REMEMBER THAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS, IS ONE PLACE THAT YOU WANT TO AVOID ANY COMMUNICATIONS IN A QUORUM, AND THAT YOU USE YOUR WORKING GROUPS.
UM, IT APPEARS TO ME THAT YOU HAVE SEVERAL WORKING GROUPS ARE ADDRESSING, UM, MATTERS
[01:00:01]
IN BETWEEN MEETINGS SO THAT THEY ARE IN GROUPS SMALLER THAN A QUORUM, UM, PENALTIES.HOPEFULLY YOU WON'T EVER HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS, BUT, UM, A LAWSUIT CAN BE BROUGHT TO AVOID ANY ACTION YOU'VE TAKEN.
IF YOU'VE, IF YOU'VE HAD DELIBERATIONS IN A CORUM, UM, LAWSUITS CAN BE BROUGHT TO FORCE COMPLIANCE AND ATTORNEY'S FEES CAN BE ASSESSED AGAINST THE CITY.
UM, AND PENALTIES CAN APPLY TO SOMEONE THAT ASSISTS IN, UM, A WALKING QUORUM, UH, NOT JUST, UH, THE BOARD MEMBERS THEMSELVES.
I ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO TO THE TEXAS ATTORNEY ATTORNEY GENERAL'S WEBSITE AND TAKE THEIR TRAINING UNDER THE OPEN MEETING SET IT'S AN HOUR, BUT IT, UM, IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN DO ONLINE.
YOU CAN, YOU KNOW, DON'T HAVE TO DO IT IN ONE CLIP.
UM, BUT IT, IT PROVIDES A, A LOT MORE INFORMATION THAN THIS PRESENTATION THAT WE'RE WE'RE GIVING TODAY.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, HERE ARE SOME, SOME RESOURCES THAT, UH, THE TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE PROVIDES, UH, AS WELL AS THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE HAS VERY EXTENSIVE HANDBOOKS, BOTH ON THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT AND THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT, UM, THAT CAN ANSWER SPECIFIC QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.
AND I'M HAPPY TO TAKE QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE LEGAL QUESTIONS, THOUGH, PLEASE DIRECT THOSE TO DAVID RICHARD, SINCE HE IS YOUR ATTORNEY.
I JUST SEE THAT COMMISSIONER HAS HIS HAND UP.
UM, SHE'S UM, THIS IS VERY HELPFUL AND USEFUL, AND I KNOW WE'VE HAD THIS A FEW TIMES, BUT IT'S ALWAYS A GOOD TO GET SOME REMINDERS THAT THE THING ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA THOUGH, I AM ALWAYS A LITTLE WARY OF HIM BECAUSE WE CAN ALL BE ON THE SAME PLATFORM, NOT KNOW THAT WE'RE ON THE PLATFORM AND BE DISCUSSING A TOPIC.
AND WOULD THAT CONSTITUTE A CORNER? HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE THAT? BECAUSE ANYBODY CAN LINK THOSE.
LIKE LET'S SAY THAT WE'RE ON TWITTER, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING SOMEONE COULD AT A LATER TIME LINK OR RETWEET SOMETHING TO COLLECT THEM.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S A SLIPPERY SLOPE, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? SURE.
SO YOU WANT TO AVOID, UM, REDISTRICTING MATTERS, YOU KNOW, BUT WHAT YOU, WHAT YOU CAN DO AND WHAT Y'ALL DO WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS IS GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT, UM, MEETING LOCATIONS AND, YOU KNOW, UM, SO, SO Y'ALL, IT APPEARS TO ME THAT YOU ARE USING, AND WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO CONTINUE TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA FOR OUTREACH TO LET THE PUBLIC KNOW ABOUT WHEN YOU'RE MEETING AND TO, YOU KNOW, ATTEND THE PUBLIC MEETINGS, TO GIVE YOU FEEDBACK.
THAT THAT IS WHERE YOU WANT YOUR COMMUNICATIONS TO OCCUR ABOUT REDISTRICTING IS IN THE OPEN MEETINGS.
SO YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T WANT TO BE HAVING A DISCUSSION ABOUT IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA, AND I GUESS, UM, BUT OF COURSE, SOCIAL MEDIA IS A GOOD WAY TO GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT HERE'S WHAT WE'RE DOING.
SO PLEASE COME JOIN US AT THE OPEN MEETING.
AND SO JUST DON'T GET INTO THE SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES, USE IT, UH, FOR OUTREACH AND, UH, I THINK YOU'LL BE OKAY.
AND ALSO KEEP IN MIND THAT, YOU KNOW, NOT EVERYBODY IN THE, IN THE CITY THAT'S INTERESTED IN THIS ISSUE WILL HAVE ACCESS TO SOCIAL MEDIA.
UM, SO, UM, THE GOAL IS TO REALLY FOCUS YOUR COMMUNICATIONS ABOUT REDISTRICTING IN THE PUBLIC MEETING ITSELF, UM, SO THAT THE PUBLIC KNOWS TO ATTEND THESE MEETINGS, WHETHER THEY DO IT VIRTUALLY OR IN PERSON TO, UM, TO FIND OUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
I JUST WANTED TO REMIND EVERYBODY IN LIGHT OF THAT QUESTION, THAT WE DID AGREE THAT WE WOULD, UM, SHARE ANY ASSETS ABOUT OUR MEETING, UM, OUR MEETINGS IN OUR PERSONAL NETWORKS, BUT THAT WE WOULD NOT COMMENT ON THAT JUST TO BE KIND OF STRICTER THAN THE POLICY STATES.
SO, AND JUST TO ELIMINATE ANY GRAY AREA.
SO THAT WAS MY UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WE DISCUSSED.
I DON'T REMEMBER THE DATE, UM, THAT WE DID, BUT I'M SURE WE CAN LOOK BACK AT THE MINUTES AND BRING THAT UP IF ANYONE WANTS TO DO THAT.
UM, BUT YEAH, ALSO I GUESS MY OTHER QUESTION WOULD BE, WERE THERE THINGS THAT WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF THAT AREN'T COVERED IN THE TRAINING THAT WE TOOK, BECAUSE WE WERE REQUIRED TO TAKE THAT TRAINING OR ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU WOULD, UM,
[01:05:01]
POINT OUT FOR US GIVEN THAT BACKGROUND? I THINK THAT'S GREAT JOB ALREADY DONE THE, UM, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S PUBLIC INFORMATION, PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT TRAINING, AND THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT TRAINING, OR JUST ONE OF THOSE.AND NOW I, YOU KNOW, IF, IF, IF WE CONSIDER ANY CONCERNS IN THE LAW DEPARTMENT, WE'LL SHARE THOSE WITH YOUR ATTORNEY AND HE CAN ADDRESS THOSE WITH, WITH YOU BECAUSE THAT'S REALLY HIS ROLE.
DID YOU STILL HAVE A FOLLOW-UP I SAW YOUR HAND UP EARLIER.
I WAS JUST GOING TO REPLY TO COMMISSION A THOUGHTFUL RESPONSE IS THAT IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THAT WE'RE DISCUSSING IT WITH SOMEONE AMONG OURSELVES ON SOCIAL MEDIA, BUT I COULD HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT LIKE, POSTED ABOUT DISTRICT FIVE, SOMEBODY ON TWITTER OR SOME SOCIAL PLATFORMS STARTS INTERACTING WITH ME TO SAY, HEY, WHAT IS THIS ABOUT? AND WE COULD BE TALKING ONE-ON-ONE, BUT THEN THAT COULD GET LINKED AT A LATER DATE.
SO THERE'S NOT JUST THAT WORD WANTED ARE DISCUSSING.
IT DOESN'T MATTER AT THIS POINT BECAUSE SOCIAL MEDIA IS A VERY INTERESTING PHENOMENON, HOW PEOPLE CAN LINK AND ATTACH ONE ANOTHER TO THINGS.
AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU'RE CONNECTED TO.
SO IT JUST COULD CREATE OTHER THINGS.
NOT THAT WE'RE NECESSARILY TALKING ABOUT A SPECIFIC ISSUE.
THERE'S SOME LAYERS OF COMPLEXITY HERE, BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER WHERE I THINK WE'RE AT.
I THINK WE'VE BEEN FINE UP TO THIS POINT.
AND AS LONG AS WE'RE NOT ALL FRIENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA, I DON'T SEE THAT THAT WOULD REALLY HAPPEN.
SO, UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH, MS. CARTER.
UM, I DO HAVE ONE QUICK QUESTION.
DO YOU KNOW IF, UM, THAT YOU WERE, OR WHO AT THE CITY MIGHT HAVE, UM, ACCESS TO THE RECORDS OF, UM, WHICH COMMISSIONERS HAVE ALREADY TAKEN THE CHALLAH AND THE PA TRAININGS IS THAT JUST AUTOMATICALLY SENT FROM THE STATE TO THE CITY AND YOU HAVE A RECORD OF THAT? NO.
WHAT HAPPENS IS THAT, UH, THE INDIVIDUAL WHO TAKES THE TRAINING CAN THEN GET AT THE END OF THE TRAINING, IT TELLS HOW TO GET THE CERTIFICATE.
AND THEN, UM, WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU FILE THAT CERTIFICATE WITH THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE BECAUSE THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE HAS, YOU KNOW, THE RECORD.
SO IT KIND OF DEPENDS ON IF PEOPLE HAVE FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE.
UH, YES, THEY'LL HAVE IT IT'S POSSIBLE, YOU KNOW, IT'S CERTAINLY POSSIBLE THAT PEOPLE HAVE COMPLETED IT, BUT NOT GONE TO THE NEXT STEP OF, OF, UH, TAKING CARE OF THE CERTIFICATION.
I'M PRETTY SURE THAT AT THE END, I PROBABLY TOOK MY MOST RECENTLY BECAUSE I JOINED THE COMMISSION LATER, BUT IT DID TELL US AT THE END THAT IT WOULD BE SENT ELECTRONICALLY TO THE CITIES.
SO I'M NOT SURE IF THAT'S AN UPDATE IN THE PAST TWO MONTHS OR SO.
UM, BUT FOR THAT REASON I DID NOT RETAIN A COPY BECAUSE I KIND OF KNOW MAYBE A
IT'S JUST A LOT TO KEEP UP WITH.
SO I WAS JUST SUPER HAPPY THAT THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, ONE LESS THING LIKE, YOU KNOW, TO KEEP UP WITH.
SO MAYBE WE CAN CHECK THAT BECAUSE IF IT WASN'T, SINCE THEN, I'M SURE A LOT OF US NEED TO DO SOME DUE DILIGENCE ABOUT GETTING THAT COPY.
THIS IS ZACH BROWN ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY.
I'VE WORKED WITH LYNN AND A LOT OF APARTMENT.
UM, JUST SO YOU KNOW, ON THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S WEBSITE, WHERE YOU TAKE THE TRAINING, YOU CAN ACTUALLY PRINT THE CERTIFICATE AT ANY TIME.
IT'S NOT, UM, IT'S NOT LINKED TO YOUR COMPLETION OF THE TRAINING, SO YOU CAN ACTUALLY GO ON THE WEBSITE RIGHT NOW, TYPE IN YOUR INFORMATION AND THE DATE YOU COMPLETED IT.
AND THEY'LL GENERATE A CERTIFICATE FOR YOU IF, IF YOU WANT IT.
I GUESS MY QUESTION IS JUST LIKE, I DON'T NECESSARILY WANT IT.
I JUST WANT TO BE IN COMPLIANCE.
SO, BUT I DON'T RE FROM, I THINK I DID TRY TO LOOK AND IT WAS LIKE ASKING FOR A LOGIN.
AND SO MAYBE YOU CAN JUST SEND INSTRUCTION.
MAYBE WHAT WE CAN DO IS TAKE AS AN ACTION.
LIKE IF YOU DID NOT, IF SOME, IF THE APPROPRIATE ENTITY DOES NOT HAVE RECORD, PERHAPS WE CAN GET INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO ACCESS THOSE AND SEND THEM TO THE APPROPRIATE BODY WHO WANTS THEM.
I'M HAPPY TO WORK WITH, UM, DAVID RICHARDS AND MATT TO GET YOU THE INFORMATION YOU NEED ON THAT AND FIGURE OUT WHO'S ALREADY DONE IT.
[01:10:01]
YOU'D ASKED ABOUT YESTERDAY.SO I ASKED THE CITY CLERK IF THEY COULD NOT LET ME KNOW, UM, WHOSE CERTIFICATE THEY HAVE ON FILE.
AND THEN, UM, UM, I CAN LET EVERYBODY KNOW, UM, WHO, WHO THEY HAVE IN HIS, THEY DON'T HAVE IN ALL, UH, UH, FOR THAT A LONG TAIL.
WE ARE GOING TO GO TO OUR NEXT TRAINING FROM ZACHARY BROWN.
WELL, UM, SHARE WITH US ABOUT THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
SO WHENEVER YOU'RE READY, JUST LET ME SHARE MY SCREEN HERE.
CAN YOU SEE MY INTRODUCTION TO THE PUBLIC INFORMATION? SLIDE CAN.
AS I JUST SAID, UM, IN ANSWERING THE QUESTION BEFORE, MY NAME IS ZACHARY BROWN, I'M AN ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY WITH THE OPEN GOVERNMENT ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE DIVISION.
AND I'M GOING TO BE TALKING TO YOU JUST BRIEFLY THIS EVENING ABOUT THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
IF YOU COMPLETED THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, UH, OPEN MEETINGS, ACT TRAINING.
I'M NOT SURE IF YOU ALSO COMPLETED THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT TRAINING, BUT IF YOU DID, SOME OF THIS INFORMATION WILL BE REPETITIVE.
CHAPTER 5 50, 2 OF THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE CONTAINS, OR IS THE TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT IT'S RIGHT AFTER CHAPTER 5 51, WHICH IS THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT AND WHAT THE TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT SAYS IS THAT UNDER THE FUNDAMENTAL PHILOSOPHY OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL FORM PRESENTED THE GOVERNMENT HERE'S TO THE PRINCIPLE, THAT GOVERNMENT IS THE SERVANT AND NOT THE MASTER OF THE PEOPLE.
IT IS THE POLICY OF THIS STATE THAT EACH PERSON IS ENTITLED UNLESS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED BY LAW AT ALL TIMES TO COMPLETE INFORMATION ABOUT THE AFFAIRS OF GOVERNMENT AND THE OFFICIAL ACTS OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES, THAT'S THE PREAMBLE TO THE ACT.
SO WHAT THAT MEANS IN PLAIN ENGLISH AND HOW IT APPLIES TO YOU AT THE INDEPENDENT CITIZENS REDISTRICTING COMMISSION IS THAT THE TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT MANDATES THAT INFORMATION PERTAINING TO THE ICRC BUSINESS IS SUBJECT TO THE PIA OR THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
THIS INCLUDES INFORMATION NOT STORED IN CITY ACCOUNTS, LIKE TEXT MESSAGES, SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS, AND INTERACTIONS, AND ANY EMAILS IN PERSONAL OR NON-CITY ACCOUNTS.
THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT APPLIES TO ANY INFORMATION RELATED TO OFFICIAL BUSINESS.
SO WHEN DETERMINING WHETHER A PIECE OF INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT, WE'RE CONCERNED WITH THE CONTEXT, NOT THE DEVICE OR ACCOUNT THAT THE INFORMATION IS STORED ON.
THEREFORE IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP RECORDS RETENTION IN MIND.
I SUGGEST THAT YOU USE YOUR CITY PROVIDED EMAIL ACCOUNT FOR ANY AND ALL COMMUNICATIONS RELATED TO YOUR WORK WITH THE ICRC.
IF YOU RECEIVE OR SEND ANY ICRC BUSINESS OR COMMUNICATIONS RELATED TO COMMISSION BUSINESS FROM A PERSONAL ACCOUNT OR A PERSONAL DEVICE, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU FORWARD IT TO YOUR CITI ACCOUNT.
AND YOU CAN ALSO ASK THE SENATOR TO USE YOUR CITI ACCOUNT IN THE FUTURE.
AND THE SAME GOES FOR TEXT MESSAGES.
AND THIS IS BECAUSE OF COURSE, WITH YOUR CITY EMAIL ACCOUNT, IT'S ALL STORED ON THE CITY SERVER.
SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT RETAINING THE INFORMATION SEPARATELY LIKE YOU WOULD, IF IT WAS ONLY STORED IN YOUR PERSONAL ACCOUNT OR PERSONAL DEVICE.
SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION OUTSIDE OF A CITY ACCOUNT, THAT YOU SAVE ANY OF THOSE COMMUNICATIONS OR RECORDS OR PROVIDE THEM TO YOUR CITY ACCOUNT UNDER THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT, THE CITY IS ABLE TO DESIGNATE SPECIFIC METHODS AND MEANS OF SUBMITTING A PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST, ALSO REFERRED TO AS A PEER OR A PIR.
AND THIS IS SOME STANDARD LANGUAGE THAT WE HAVE ON THE CITY WEBSITE THAT DIRECTS REQUESTERS MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC SEEKING INFORMATION, HOW THEY CAN PROPERLY SUBMIT A PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST.
THE REQUESTS HAVE TO BE MADE IN WRITING TO TRIGGER THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
AND THEY HAVE TO BE MADE VIA MAIL TO A SPECIFIC CITY POST OFFICE BOX VIA EMAIL, BUT ONLY TO THE DESIGNATED EMAIL ADDRESS OF PUBLIC INFORMATION AT AUSTIN, TEXAS.GOV VIA HAND DELIVERY TO CITY HALL.
OR, AND THIS IS THE PREFERRED METHOD VIA THE CITY'S ONLINE
[01:15:01]
PUBLIC RECORDS CENTER.SO IF ANY OF YOU RECEIVE REQUESTS FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION TO YOUR CITY, EMAIL ADDRESSES, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU RESPOND TO THE PERSON WHO'S CONTACTING YOU WITH THIS INFORMATION SO THAT THEY CAN PROPERLY FILE A PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT REQUEST.
IF THEY DON'T FILE A REQUEST VIA ONE OF THESE MEANS IT'S NOT CONSIDERED A PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT REQUEST.
IF A REQUEST COMES IN SEEKING INFORMATION RELATED TO THE ICRC WE HAVE IN THE LAW DEPARTMENT, A WHAT WE CALL THE PEER TEAM, THAT'S THE CITY'S PEER TEAM.
AND THEY RECEIVE AND ROUTE ALL THE REQUESTS THAT THE CITY RECEIVES.
IF WE NEED MORE INFORMATION FROM THE REQUESTER TO PROCESS THE REQUEST, LIKE WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THEY'RE ASKING FOR.
WE ARE ALLOWED TO ASK THE REQUESTER TO CLARIFY OR NARROW THE SCOPE OF THEIR REQUEST.
THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT REQUIRES GOVERNMENTAL BODIES TO PROVIDE INFORMATION PROMPTLY, WHICH MEANS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES WITHIN A REASONABLE TIME AND WITHOUT DELAY.
SO AS SOON AS WE CAN PROVIDE THE INFORMATION WE'RE EXPECTED TO DO SO AT THAT TIME, IF THERE'S ANY INFORMATION REQUESTED THAT WE BELIEVE IS CONFIDENTIAL OR OTHERWISE EXCEPTED FROM DISCLOSURE, WE CAN REQUEST A DECISION FROM THE OFFICE OF THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL, ALLOWING US TO WITHHOLD THAT INFORMATION.
SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU WORK WITH YOUR STAFF LIAISON TO PRODUCE REQUESTED INFORMATION, COMMUNICATE AS TO WHETHER CLARIFICATION IS NEEDED AND ALSO COMMUNICATE AS TO WHETHER THERE IS ANY POTENTIALLY CONFIDENTIAL OR ACCEPTED INFORMATION INCLUDED IN THE RESPONSIVE RECORDS.
LIKE I SAID, A LOT OF APARTMENT HOUSES, THE PEER TEAM WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL INCOMING REQUESTS AND ORGANIZING THE RELEASE OF INFORMATION TO THE REQUESTER.
SO WHEN THE PEER TEAM RECEIVES THE REQUEST, THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR READING THE REQUEST AND THEN STAFFING IT OUT TO WHATEVER DEPARTMENTS OR GROUPS OR COMMISSIONS THAT ARE LIKELY TO HAVE RESPONSIVE INFORMATION.
AND THEN IN THE OPEN GOVERNMENT ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE DIVISION, MY OFFICE, WE ARE THE ATTORNEYS WHO PROVIDE LEGAL COUNSEL AND CAN PREPARE REQUESTS FOR RULING FROM THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE.
THE TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT DOES CONTAIN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR NON-COMPLIANCE THE CITY AND INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES CAN BE SUBJECT TO SUIT BY REQUESTER, THE COUNTY OR DISTRICT ATTORNEY OR THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
AND OF COURSE THERE ARE CRIMINAL PENALTIES THAT CAN BE PUNISHABLE BY FINE OR CONFINEMENT.
SO DON'T, UM, INTENTIONALLY NOT COMPLY WITH THE PUBLIC INFORMATION LIKE LYNN MENTIONED IN HER PRESENTATION ABOUT THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
THERE IS TRAINING ON THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT AND THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT AVAILABLE ON THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S WEBSITE.
IT SOUNDS LIKE SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY COMPLETED THAT.
AND THAT ENDS MY PRESENTATION ON THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING US THIS EVENING.
SACARY WILL YOU TAKE QUESTIONS AS WELL? SURE.
IF YOU HAVE ANY, YEAH, I THINK THIS IS ONE THAT FOR ME, UM, IS A LITTLE LESS CLEAR EXACTLY WHAT OUR ROLE IS, UM, IN, UM, PRESERVING OUR DOCUMENTS AND, UM, IN THE EVENT THAT THERE ISN'T AN INFORMATION REQUEST.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT AREAS WHERE WE HAVE DOCUMENTS.
YES, WE'RE ALL USING OUR CITY EMAILS, UM, AND NOT PERSONAL EMAILS SUCH AS POSSIBLE.
UM, BUT WE STORE DOCUMENTS IN GOOGLE DRIVE.
UM, THAT OF COURSE IS IT'S LIMITED ACCESS TO LESS THAN A QUORUM OF, UM, OF THE COMMISSIONERS.
UM, BUT WE HAVE SEVERAL DIFFERENT FOLDERS, YOU KNOW, UM, OWNED BY SEVERAL DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
UM, SO WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO, UM, YOU KNOW, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT WE NEED TO DO TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL OF THIS? THERE'S NO SPECIFIC RULE AS TO HOW YOUR DOCUMENTS, MY RECOMMENDATION IS THAT, YOU KNOW, HOW YOU MANAGE YOUR DOCUMENTS.
SO THAT SHOULD A REQUEST COME IN AND YOU HEAR FROM MATT OR ANYONE AT THE CITY, HEY, WE HAVE THIS REQUEST.
[01:20:01]
IT LIKELY IS FOR RECORDS FROM THE ICRC.MATT CAN THEN GET IN TOUCH WITH ALL OF YOU, ASK YOU TO SEARCH YOUR EMAILS OR YOUR I C R C DOCUMENTS.
HOWEVER, THEY'RE STORED TO TURN THEM OVER FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THE PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
SO I'M NOT SO CONCERNED WITH HOW YOU STORE YOUR DOCUMENTS MORE WITH THAT, YOU KNOW, HOW THEY'RE STORED, AND THAT IF MATT REACHES OUT TO YOU ALL, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO, UM, ACCESS AND PROVIDE THE RECORDS AS NEEDED.
DID ANYONE ELSE QUESTIONS ZACHARY BROWN BEFORE WE LET, UM, BEFORE WE LET EVERYONE GO, CAN I JUST ADD TO THAT? UM, SURE.
SO YOUR, TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU HAVE INFORMATION ON YOUR CITY EMAIL ADDRESS, THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE WILL AUTOMATICALLY SEARCH YOUR CITY EMAILS.
SO THOSE YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT.
SO THAT IS ALSO THE INCENTIVE FOR USING YOUR CITY EMAILS THAT THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE WILL SEARCH THAT.
UM, SO WITH, EVERYBODY'S ALREADY USING EXCLUSIVELY THEIR CITY EMAIL FOR ICRC BUSINESS, YOU SHOULDN'T NEED TO WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT BEING ABLE TO FIND COMMUNICATIONS.
OF COURSE, IF ANYBODY HAPPENS TO CONTACT YOU REGARDING THE IC D ON A PERSONAL EMAIL ACCOUNT, YOU WOULD THEN REQUIRED TO SEARCH YOUR OWN, UH, PERSONAL ACCOUNTS FOR RECORDS AS WELL.
WELL, I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME THIS EVENING, LYNN CARTER AND ZACHARY BROWN.
WE'LL LET YOU GO, UM, ENJOY YOUR EVENINGS.
UM, SO THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE C AN UPDATE FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP AND TRISHA ARE CALLED IT ON.
SO, UM, UH, WE UPDATED THE ZOOM EVENTS TO INCLUDE PHONE NUMBERS.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DID, I BELIEVE LAST WEEK WE DID SHARE SECURELY, UH, LOG INS TO OUR SOCIAL ACCOUNTS WITH THE CITY, FOR THEIR WEST, UM, TO COMPLY WITH, UH, THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA POLICIES.
UM, AND THEN I WANTED TO, AND THEN THE REST OF EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN REALLY WORKING ON ADVERTISEMENTS AND PLACING ADS TO GET THE WORD OUT, ESPECIALLY AT THIS POINT ABOUT OUR FINAL VIRTUAL FORUMS. BUT I THINK MORE GENERALLY SPEAKING, UH, TO POINT THE PUBLIC, TO, UM, OUR REDISTRICT UTX.ORG WEBSITE, IN ADDITION TO THE SPEAK-UP AUSTIN WEBSITE FOR FUTURE EVENTS, UH, AS THEY MAY BE SCHEDULED WHEREVER AND HOW WILL THEY BE, AS WE KNOW THAT'S BEEN CHANGING.
SO, UM, QUICK NOTE ABOUT THAT.
AND I THINK IT'S BEEN BROUGHT UP A COUPLE OF TIMES, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, SOCIAL MEDIA HAS BEEN THE PRIMARY WAY THAT WE AS AN ENTITY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO COMMUNICATE OUR, UM, FORUMS TO THE PUBLIC, UM, WHICH IS WHY IT'S IMPORTANT, UM, AS HOW WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO GET OUT THE WORD ABOUT REDISTRICTING HAPPENING AND THAT WE WANT FEEDBACK.
SO, UM, WE'VE BEEN TRYING EVERYTHING.
UH, WE SENT OUT AN RFP TO SEVERAL PR FOLKS WHO ARE LISTED, UH, WITH THE CITY WEBSITES AS, UM, CONSULTANTS FOR HELP WITH AD PLACEMENTS.
UH, WE GOT SEVERAL NOS AND THEN ONE VERY SALTY EMAIL RESPONSE.
UM, WE ASKED THE CITY SO, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T GET ANY HELP FROM THEM.
UM, WE ASKED THE CITY FOR HELP WITH FACEBOOK AND NEXTDOOR ADS MOST IMMEDIATELY FOR OUR NEXT TWO EVENTS TO TRY TO PROMOTE THOSE, UM, COMMISSIONER FLATS.
ONE HAS DONE A GREAT JOB, UM, WORKING THAT ANGLE WITH THE CITY STAFF, UM, WE'VE MADE SOME PROGRESS ON RESOLVING THE FACEBOOK AD SITUATION, WHICH, UM, I THINK WE'LL BE ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD ON HOPEFULLY, UH, TOMORROW.
THANK YOU SO MUCH COMMISSIONER
UM, AND THESE TYPES OF EVENTS IN PARTICULAR, UM, CON COMMISSIONER YE IS CURRENTLY IN CONVERSATION WITH A FREELANCER WHO OFFERED TO HELP US, UH, WITH, UM, AD PLACEMENT AS WELL.
AND THEN LATER AT OUR MEETING THIS WEEK, WE'RE GOING TO, UM, LOOK AT AD PLACEMENTS, UM, IN, YOU KNOW, MORE TRADITIONAL MEDIA, WHETHER THAT'S LIKE PRINT, YOU KNOW, PRINT CAN ALSO BE ONLINE, UM, ADVERTISEMENTS, AND LIKE
[01:25:01]
SOME OF THE OTHER OUTLETS, UM, WE HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING RATES AND, YOU KNOW, UM, INSTRUCTIONS FOR PLACEMENT AND LEAD TIME AND THINGS LIKE THAT.SO THAT IS WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE WORKING ON HOPEFULLY LATER THIS WEEK.
UM, THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE D AND UPDATE FROM THE FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE AND, UM, MORRIS IS NOT WITH US TODAY.
SO VICE CHAIR GONZALEZ WILL PROVIDE US UPDATES.
UM, SINCE OUR LAST MEETING, WE'VE INCURRED A LITTLE LESS THAN ABOUT $2,000 MORE IN CHARGES THAT HAVE BEEN TRACKED.
AND THAT IS MAINLY FOR OUR ZOOM MODERATOR, WHO HAS JOINED US, UM, FOR OUR RECENT VIRTUAL, UM, FORUMS. HIS NAME IS JOHN ED NUMBNESS.
UM, ALSO FOR SOME WEBSITE MAINTENANCE AND OVERTIME CHARGES RELATED TO OUR PUBLIC FORUM WORK.
THIS IS BEFORE ALSO PENDING INVOICE PAYMENTS TO OUR LEGAL COUNSEL AND OUR ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER THAT SHOULD BE CLEARED BY THE END OF THE MONTH.
SO NOT MUCH TO REPORT, BUT WE'VE BASICALLY SPENT ANOTHER TWO GRAND SINCE OUR LAST MEETING.
WE WILL SKIP ITEM THREE E UH, SINCE THERE ARE NO UPDATES FOR THE FINAL REPORT SUBCOMMITTEE, AND WE'RE GOING TO MOVE TO, UH, UNFINISHED BUSINESS BACK UP TO, TO A, UM, AN UPDATE FROM THE PUBLIC FORUM WORKING GROUP ON CALENDAR CHANGES AND VICE CHAIR BACK TO YOU.
UH, THANK YOU AGAIN, CHAIR, UM, IN A DISCUSSION THAT WE'LL HAVE LATER ABOUT MAPPING, UH, FOLLOWING A MEETING THAT, UH, WE HAD WITH OUR HIGHER MAPPING EXPERT, JOEL GEORGE KORBEL EARLIER THIS WEEK, UH, THE PUBLIC FORUM GROUP WAS INFORMED THAT THE PUSH THAT WE NEEDED TO PUSH THE START DATE FOR OUR COUNTY PRECINCT PUBLIC FORUMS BY ONE WEEK, WE ORIGINALLY HOPED TO START THOSE FORUMS ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11TH.
UM, SO NOW WE ARE LOOKING FOR, FOR IN-PERSON OPPORTUNITIES, UM, BETWEEN THE DATES OF SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH AND SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2ND.
SO THAT IS OUR TIMEFRAME WINDOW, UM, TO, TO KIND OF ABIDE BY HAVING PUBLIC INPUT AVAILABLE FOR TWO WEEKS.
SO WE WANT THESE FOUR FORUMS TO BE SPREAD OUT BETWEEN THOSE TWO WEEKS.
UM, WE WILL WORK WITH SIMILAR DATES AND TIMES THAT WE DID FOR THE DISTRICT FOR A DISTRICT FORUM.
SO TUESDAY AND THURSDAY, EVENINGS, SATURDAYS.
AND RIGHT NOW WE DO HAVE ONE RESERVATION ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST AT THE MAYFIELD COTTAGE COMMISSIONER.
IF I'VE GONE, WAS ABLE TO MOVE HER PREVIOUS RESERVATION FOR TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14TH, BACK A WEEK.
UM, SO I WILL INFORM TENTATIVELY OF THAT DATE, UH, AND THAT LOCATION RIGHT NOW UNTIL WE'RE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE ENTIRE SCHEDULE TO VOTE AND APPROVE.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE MADE SOME GOOD SUCCESS IN CONTACT WITH THE DOVE SPRINGS RECREATION CENTER.
UM, THEY HAVE OFFERED, UH, THEIR GYMNASIUM, UH, VERY SPACIOUS, UH, AND THIS VENUE DOES SIT WITHIN COUNTY PRECINCT FOUR.
UM, NO DATE CONFIRMED RIGHT NOW, BUT GOOD TRACTION THERE.
UM, AND I ALSO WANT TO, SO I WANT TO THANK, UH, COMMISSIONER SMELT GOING KAMBO AND NEED FOR THEIR HELP IN LOCATING THESE VENUES FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF PUBLIC INPUT, ESPECIALLY AFTER THE RECENT TIMELINE SHIFT.
AND I WANT TO THANK, UH, COMMISSIONER CAMPBELL.
SHE IS NOT HERE, BUT, UH, FOR EXECUTING PLACEMENT IN THIS MAP, WORK SEAT, MAP, WORKSHEET, UH, ACTIVITY THAT SHE WAS PLANNING WITH THE CITY LIBRARIES.
SO THAT HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTED.
THOSE MAP WORKSHEETS ARE AVAILABLE IN CITY LIBRARIES IN ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC DO HAVE UNTIL FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4TH, TO COMPLETE A WORKSHEET AT THESE LOCATIONS, THE LIBRARY WILL THEN SUBMIT THOSE COMPLETED WORKSHEETS, UH, FOR CONSIDERATION BY OUR BODY AS WE BEGIN TO REDRAW THOSE MAPS.
AND I WOULD APPRECIATE MAYBE AN OPPORTUNITY IF COMMISSIONER FOLK ON OR COMMISSIONER YOU HAD ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD IN THIS UPDATE, THAT'S IT FOR ME? CERTAINLY.
DID ANY OF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD? OKAY.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS, UM, I'M GOING TO GO BACK TO, UH, NEW BUSINESS, THREE F THIS IS THE DISCUSSION ON THE MAPPING PROCESS.
UM, SO I HAVE A LITTLE BIT TO SAY ABOUT THIS FIRST.
UM, JUST, I'M GLAD THAT WE HEARD FROM AN INVITED THE CITY DEMOGRAPHER OUT JUST FOR THIS FIRST LOOK AT THE CENSUS DATA, UH, WHEN MR. CORBELL RECEIVES THE DATA THAT HE NEEDS, WE WILL LOOK AT THAT WITH HIM IN A FUTURE WEDNESDAY MEETING AS WELL.
UM, SO WE'LL GET A SECOND PASS AT THIS MORE IN DEPTH, AND THAT WILL BE OUR CHANCE TO ASK OUR OWN INDEPENDENT MAPPING EXPERT ABOUT THE DATA AS IT PERTAINS
[01:30:01]
TO MAPPING.UM, SO THEN FOLLOWING THAT, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF OPTIONS FOR HOW TO ENGAGE WITH THE MAPPING ITSELF.
I BRIEFLY MENTIONED THOSE IN PREVIOUS MEETINGS, BUT THIS IS KIND OF OUR TIME TO, UM, DECIDE WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO DO HERE, UM, HOW TO MOVE FORWARD.
SO I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT WHATEVER THE DECISION THAT WE MAKE, WE NEED TO BE MINDFUL OF BOTH THE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS INVOLVED HERE, AND THEN JUST BEING EFFICIENT AND MEASURED AND HOW WE'RE NAVIGATING THIS TIMELINE TO NOVEMBER 1ST.
UM, AS SOON AS HE CAN, MR. KORBEL IS GOING TO DRAW THESE DRAFT MAPS BASED ON THE CENSUS DATA AND PUBLIC COMMENT, UM, AS WE HIRED HIM TO, AND THEN HE'S GOING TO PRESENT THOSE MAPS TO US.
UM, WE JUST HEARD FROM VICE CHAIR GONZALEZ THAT THE GOAL IS FOR, UM, FOR US TO HAVE THESE MAPS PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC STARTING SEPTEMBER 18TH.
RIGHT? SO, UM, HOPEFULLY THE MAPS WILL BE DONE OVER THAT WEEKEND OF SEPTEMBER 3RD, AND THEN WE HAVE SOME TIME THERE TO GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OF BACK AND FORTH, UM, OFFERING COMMENTS ON THE MAPS.
UM, SO BASED ON DISCUSSIONS WITH MR POURABLE, UM, AND ALSO JUST TRUSTING HIS EXPERTISE AND MAPPING AND REDISTRICTING, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF OPTIONS.
SO A, WE CAN HAVE INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS WITH KORBEL ABOUT THE MAPS, WHERE ALL THE COMMENTS ARE GOING TO BE RECORDED FOR PUBLIC RECORD AND BROUGHT TO THE COMMISSION, UM, AT THE NEXT PUBLIC MEETING TO DETERMINE CHANGES, UM, OR B WE CAN CUT OUT THE INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS ENTIRELY AND JUST VIEW THE MAPS TOGETHER.
AND A WEDNESDAY GENERAL MEETING PROVIDE COMMENT THERE, ASK QUESTIONS, AND THEN RECONVENE LATER THAT WEEK TO ADOPT THE MAPS, UM, WITHIN THE OPTION OF, UM, OPTION A WHERE WE HAVE THE ONE-ON-ONES, WE CAN EITHER CHOOSE TO VIEW HIS MAPS AND MEET WITH HIM BEFORE DISCUSSING THESE AS A BODY, OR WE COULD CHOOSE TO VIEW HIS MAPS AS A BODY AND THEN FOLLOW UP WITH HIM INDIVIDUALLY.
SO BASICALLY THE ONE-ON-ONE WOULD EITHER BE BEFORE WE LOOK AT THE MAPS AS A WHOLE, OR AFTER WE LOOK AT THE MAPS AS A WHOLE BODY, UM, EITHER WAY THE CALENDAR DEADLINES ARE GOING TO REMAIN THE SAME.
SO AGAIN, THE GOAL IS TO GET THE PRELIMINARY MAPS TO THE PUBLIC BY SEPTEMBER 18TH.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT.
AND I'M GOING TO OPEN THE FLOOR TO DISCUSSION HERE.
UM, IF ANYONE WANTED TO, UM, MAKE A MOTION OR, UM, JUST GENERALLY ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION ON THIS.
CAN I SHARE, CALL IT ON, I'M SORRY, I'M USING ALL THE REACTIONS.
UM, UH, BASICALLY, UM, I, UH, JUST KIND OF WANTED TO CONTRIBUTE THAT, LIKE, I LIKE THE IDEA OF US LOOKING AT THEM TOGETHER AND ASKING QUESTIONS.
AND THEN IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, A COMMISSIONER WOULD DESIRE, I THINK A FOLLOW-UP WITH MR. KORBEL WOULD BE EXCELLENT.
I KNOW FOR ME, I CAN ONLY SPEAK FOR MYSELF.
I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION WITH HIM, UM, OR IN SMALL GROUPS THAT WOULD EVEN WORK FOR ME JUST BECAUSE I THINK THE IDEA OF THIS SPECTER OF A FOUR OR FIVE HOUR MEETING ON A WEDNESDAY WITH SCHOOL, UM, AND EVERYTHING ELSE GOING ON JUST SEEMS REALLY INTENSE.
THANK YOU FOR, UM, ALSO JUST EMPHASIZING MEETING WITH MR. PORTAL ON THESE.
ONE-ON-ONES COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY IF THAT'S UP TO YOU, RIGHT? WHETHER YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT EXTRA TIME TO TALK TO HIM.
UM, IF NOT, IT'S PERFECTLY SUFFICIENT THAT WE'RE MEETING WHOLE GROUP ABOUT THIS, UM, PROFESSIONALLY, UH, I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND MAKE A MOTION THAT WE ALLOW FOLKS WHO WANT TO SPEAK TO MR. KORBEL INDIVIDUALLY TO, TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO.
UM, AFTER WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE MAPS AS A GROUP, UM, BECAUSE THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT DELIBERATIVE PROCESS, AND WE'RE WORKING ON SUCH A TIGHT DEADLINE.
UM, COMMISSIONER, CANNOT, CAN YOU JUST, UH, MUTE FOR A MOMENT, SORRY ABOUT THAT.
UM, COMMISSIONER, YOU REALLY QUICK, JUST STATE YOUR MOTION CLEARLY, AND THEN I WOULD LOVE TO COME BACK TO YOU IF WE HAVE A SECOND ON THAT, UM, TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS ON IT.
UM, SO COULD YOU JUST RESTATE YOUR MOTION? OKAY.
I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION THAT COMMISSIONERS BE ALLOWED TO HAVE ONE-ON-ONE, UM, Q AND A SESSIONS WITH MR. CORBELL, THE MAPPING SPECIALIST AFTER WE'VE HAD A CHANCE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE MAPS TOGETHER AS A GROUP.
[01:35:01]
CANNON.AND I ALSO SAW CALLED IT OWNS HAND.
UM, SO, UH, IT IS MOVED AND SECONDED THAT THE COMMISSIONERS WOULD MEET WITH MR. CORVELL.
UM, ONE-ON-ONE FOLLOWING THE, UM, WHOLE GROUP, UH, REVIEW OF THE MAPS AND THAT WOULD BE VOLUNTEER.
UM, COMMISSIONER, YE IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO THAT MOTION.
OH, IF I WOULD LIKE TO ADD ANY FURTHER DETAIL, YOU MEAN, I JUST THINK THAT IT'S SUCH A, WE'RE WORKING ON SUCH A TIGHT TIMELINE AND THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT DOUBLE DELIBERATION.
IT WOULD JUST BE SO, SO GOOD TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ASK MORE QUESTIONS AND BE MORE INFORMED IF WE WANT TO DO SO INDIVIDUALLY.
UM, AFTER WE HAVE A CHANCE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE, UH, THE MAPS AND THE INFORMATION.
SO HOPEFULLY OTHER FOLKS ARE ON BOARD.
I GUESS MY QUESTION IS, UM, IT SEEMS LIKE WE'VE DISCUSSED HOW WE WOULD GIVE INPUT, BUT THEN LIKE, HOW DO WE ACTUALLY COME TO A DECISION BECAUSE IF WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A MEETING OF ALL OF US, AND THEN SOME OF US MEET WITH MR. CORVEL INDIVIDUALLY, I GUESS I DON'T, I DON'T UNDERSTAND LIKE HOW WE WOULD THEN GET THE FEEDBACK AS TO IF CHANGES WERE MADE IN THOSE INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS.
UM, APOLOGIES IF THAT'S UNCLEAR.
UM, SO WE WOULD MEET AS A WHOLE LOOK AT THE MAPS TOGETHER, HAVE OUR DISCUSSION, UM, AND THEN HAVE THOSE TAKEAWAYS TO ADDRESS WITH MR. KORBEL.
ONE-ON-ONE THE FOLLOWING WEDNESDAY, ALL OF THE, AGAIN, ALL OF THAT WOULD BE REPORTED FOR PUBLIC RECORD, AS I STATED EARLIER.
UM, AND THEN WE WOULD REVIEW ALL OF THESE INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS AS A WHOLE ONCE AGAIN, UM, AND THEN MAKE ANY AMENDMENTS, UM, AND, AND MAKE OUR ADOPTION AT THAT POINT.
SO THIS IS OVER THE COURSE OF, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE OF MEETINGS CLARIFY.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DEBATE? OKAY.
UM, SO THE QUESTION IS ON THE ADOPTION OF THE MOTION THAT, UM, THE COMMISSIONERS WILL MEET, ONE-ON-ONE VOLUNTARILY WITH MR. POURABLE FOLLOWING A, UH, DISCUSSION, A WHOLE GROUP DISCUSSION OF THE MAPS.
UM, SO THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, RAISE YOUR HAND.
UH, THE I'S HAVE IT AND THE MOTION IS ADOPTED.
Y'ALL UM, SO THAT WILL BE THE PLAN MOVING FORWARD.
UM, I APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT ON THAT.
UM, AND WE WILL SEND OUT A, UM, A SIGN UP GENIUS FORM FOR YOU TO PICK A TIME TO MEET WITH MR. POURABLE.
HE HAS EXPRESSED THAT HE'S VERY FLEXIBLE ON TIMING.
SO IF YOU WORK, YOU KNOW, NINE TO FIVE, UH, HE CAN MEET WITH YOU IN THE EVENINGS IF YOU'RE AVAILABLE IN THE MORNINGS AND THAT'S BETTER, HE CAN MEET WITH YOU THAT.
SO, UM, I APPRECIATE HIS FLEXIBILITY ON THAT SCHEDULE.
UM, AND, AND AGAIN, THAT WILL HAPPEN IN EARLY SEPTEMBER.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS 3G HOUSEKEEPING.
UM, I DON'T REALLY HAVE MUCH HERE, BUT I JUST WANT TO SAY, PLEASE COPY ME IN ANY CONVERSATION THAT YOU HAVE WITH THE CITY PERSONNEL.
IT'S NOT THAT I NECESSARILY NEED TO JUMP INTO THE CONVERSATION.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT I AM, UM, YOU KNOW, AWARE OF ANY INTERACTION THAT WE, AS AN INDEPENDENT COMMISSION HAVE WITH THE CITY, HOWEVER, BENIGN OR SIMPLE IT MAY BE.
UM, SO AGAIN, JUST IF YOU FIND YOURSELF COMMUNICATING WITH, UM, ANY CITY PERSONNEL, JUST TAG ME IN THAT EMAIL, UM, IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANYTHING I'LL OPEN THE FLOOR MAT OR CHRISTINE YES.
IT WOULD APPEAR TO ME THAT, UM, THAT IF THERE ARE COMMUNICATIONS THAT, UM, THAT REQUIRE COPYING THAT THE ENTIRE COMMISSION IS COPIED ON THAT BECAUSE, UM, ALL DECISIONS THAT ARE MADE ARE MADE AT A COMMISSION LEVEL.
SO IT WOULD BE, UM, UH, AN UNDUE BURDEN TO HAVE, UH, OUR CHAIRS HAVE TO BEAR THE FULL WEIGHT OF SOMETHING THAT THEY MAY HAVE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH, AS FAR AS THE CONVERSATION
[01:40:01]
IS CONCERNED AT THE SAME TIME, SINCE WE'RE ALL HELD ACCOUNTABLE, IT WOULD BE AN UNDUE BURDEN ON THE REST OF US, IF SOMETHING WAS SAID, AND WE KNEW NOTHING ABOUT IT.I, I THINK THIS IS MORE IN REFERENCE TO, UM, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, I KNOW THAT COMMISSIONER COHEN HAS BEEN IN TOUCH WITH THE CITY ABOUT, UM, NEXT DOOR ADS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY AN ACTION FOR THE ENTIRE COMMISSION.
IT'S JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST A COMMUNICATION WITH, UH, CITY, UH, PERSONNEL.
UM, SO IT'S LITTLE INSTANCES LIKE THAT, THAT I WOULD APPRECIATE BEING COPIED ON.
SO I'M AWARE OF THE CONVERSATIONS THAT ARE HAPPENING WITH THE CITY.
UM, OF COURSE, ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES ACTION ABSOLUTELY.
SHOULD THE ENTIRE COMMISSION SHOULD BE COPIED ON THAT? NO, JUST LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT I DID RAISE THE ISSUE.
IT'S GOING TO COME UP AGAIN, UH, EFFICIENT HARDEN AND THEN KRISHNA.
YEAH, I BELIEVE THIS IS A HOUSEKEEPING ISSUE.
UH, IN OUR PUBLIC FORUMS. I NOTICED THAT, UH, WHEN, UH, CITIZENS ARE ASKING QUESTIONS TO BE INFORMED, WE DON'T RESPOND TO THOSE.
AND, UH, NO, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE DRAW A DISTINCTION BETWEEN RESPONDING TO, UH, SOMEONE IN A PUBLIC FORUMS OPINION VERSUS ANSWERING A QUESTION TO INFORM THEM.
AND SO CAN WE CHAT ABOUT THAT SONG? ABSOLUTELY.
I WAS THINKING ABOUT THAT MYSELF.
UM, SO, UM, ACTUALLY BUY SHIRTS ALL IS IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND JUMPING IN, THIS WAS, UM, I KNOW THAT YOU BROUGHT THIS UP AS WELL AFTER LAST NIGHT.
WE, UH, YOU KNOW, DRINK AND A DEBRIEF OF LAST NIGHT, WE SAW A FEW OF OUR PUBLIC, UH, OUR SPEAKERS WHO SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC TESTIMONY KIND OF USE THEIR TIME TO QUESTION SOMETHING THAT WAS EITHER IN THE PRESENTATION OR SOMETHING OR INFORMATION THAT WE MAY HAVE PRESENTED THAT THEY NEEDED CLARITY FOR.
UH, THE CHAIR AND I ARE WORKING ON A PART ON A PROCESS MOVING FORWARD OF WHETHER WE SHOULD ADDRESS BEFORE PUBLIC TESTIMONY THAT ANY QUESTIONS, UM, THAT ARE ASKED, MAYBE ANSWERED BY THE CHAIR SHOULD NET SHOULD BE NECESSARY AFTER ALL THE PUBLIC TESTIMONY OR THAT WE SPECIFICALLY STATE THAT CHRISTINE GRANADOS, OUR ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER WOULD FOLLOW UP WITH THOSE QUESTIONS.
AS WE STATED IN THE FORUM YESTERDAY EVENING, UH, TO FOLLOW UP ON THOSE QUESTIONS FOR CLARIFICATION.
AND I HAVE BEEN SEEING THAT SHE HAS BEEN DOING THAT.
UM, I, I FEEL LIKE FOR MY VIEW, UH, THE WAY THAT WE'RE HANDLING THAT RIGHT NOW, WHERE WE STATE THAT WE WILL RESPOND TO QUESTIONS, UH, FOR CLARIFICATION VIA EMAIL WORKS.
BUT I UNDERSTAND THERE'S ALWAYS THAT AWKWARD SILENCE, UH, AFTER SOMEONE ASKS A QUESTION AND THEN WE DO NOT RESPOND.
UM, SO I'M HAPPY TO HEAR OTHER INPUT.
UH, BUT I HAVE SEEN CHRISTINE RESPOND TO SOME OF THE FOLKS THAT, UH, ASKED THOSE QUESTIONS EVEN JUST YESTERDAY EVENING.
UM, AND I'M CONTENTED WITH THAT PROCESS FOR NOW.
UM, MY THOUGHTS ARE THAT, UM, THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE INFORMED BECAUSE OFTEN THOSE QUESTIONS ARE BEING ASKED AND MANY PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED IN THE ANSWER.
AND I THINK WE, AS A BOARD OR COMMISSION SHOULD KNOW HOW THOSE QUESTIONS ARE BEING ANSWERED AS WELL.
AND I THINK IT'S JUST RESPECTFUL AND ENGAGING, UH, TO, UH, ANSWER THOSE TYPES OF QUESTIONS, UM, WHEN THEY'RE SEEKING TO BE INFORMED AND LOOKING FOR CLARITY.
I DO AGREE WITH NOT IN A FADING MANNER TO SOMEONE'S COMMENT OR THANK YOU.
I WOULD JUST LIKE TO MENTION AGAIN THAT, UM, IT'S GOING TO BE AN HOUR OVERALL ADVANTAGE AS A COMMISSION.
IF WE LEARN THAT, UH, ALL COMMISSIONERS SHOULD BE, UM, UH, PARTY TO, UH, INFORMATION THAT IS BEING SHARED SO THAT, UM, YOU DON'T FIND YOURSELVES, UH, CAUGHT IN A CORNER BECAUSE THE REST OF US WEREN'T COPIED IN.
AND THAT'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THAT, CERTAINLY.
UM, SO IT MAY BE DOABLE TO HAVE, UH, CHRISTINE GRANADA'S RESPONSES.
SHE IS THAT LIAISON FOR, UM, FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION THERE.
UM, BUT FOR HER TO BLIND COPY ALL OF US IN THOSE RESPONSES, OF COURSE WE CANNOT BE COPIED BECAUSE THAT WOULD BREAK THE, THE WALKING QUORUM ISSUE.
BUT, UM, JUST SO THAT EVERYBODY HAS, UM,
[01:45:01]
EYES ON, ON THAT CONVERSATION.IS THAT AN ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION? COMMISSIONER LANCE.
UM, COMMISSIONER CANON, IS, ARE YOU SPEAKING ON THIS TOPIC? IF NOT, LET'S HOLD THE COMMENT.
UM, CAUSE I KNOW COMMISSIONER, YOU RAISED HER HAND AS WELL.
I WANT TO JUST MAKE SURE WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE.
I HAVE MULTIPLE, I HAVE MULTIPLE TOPICS I WANT TO BRING UP AND I WENT TO RESPOND TO.
I APPRECIATE THE TIME, UH, ONE, I WENT TO SAY THAT I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH CONDITIONAL LAND STATEMENT OF BEING OPEN AND COPY AND MAKING SURE THAT EVERYONE HAS A FAIR OF ALL COMMUNICATIONS.
CAUSE AT THE MOMENT, I WILL SAY THAT IT FEELS SLIGHTLY DISJOINTED AND SIMON, NOT NECESSARILY SURE WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE COMMUNICATIONS, I'M FAIRLY FRAGMENTED AND THAT COULD COME AT A HIGH PRICE FOR US.
UM, TO, UH, I WANT TO AGREE TO COMMISSIONER HARDIN'S COMMENTS ABOUT BEING ABLE TO TALK TO THE PUBLIC.
CAUSE THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE FORUMS IS TO BE ABLE TO TALK WITH THE PUBLIC.
THIS WHOLE THING IS CONFUSING TO ME WHEN WE'RE LIKE, DON'T ANSWER, I'M LIKE, WHY HAVE THE FORUM? THEN THEY COULD JUST GO RECORD A VOICEMAIL.
YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? THIS WHOLE THING HAS BEEN VERY FRUSTRATING TO ME.
AND I'M REALLY GLAD THAT WE'RE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT THIS RIGHT NOW.
THE SECOND POINT OF THIS IS A LOT OF COMMON HAS BEEN MADE ABOUT MAKING TECHNOLOGY AND MEETINGS ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC.
AND I THINK WE HAVE TO COME UP WITH A BETTER SOLUTION WHEN WE HAVE ZOOMS TO HAVE BREAKOUT ROOMS SO THAT WE CAN MIMIC A PHYSICAL MEETING AND WE HAVE THE TIME TO INTERACT WITH THE PUBLIC.
WE DO PAY FOR AN EXPERT IN TELECONFERENCING AND WE PAID THEM $2,000 AND I FEEL LIKE WE'RE NOT TAKING IT AND I'M NOT NECESSARILY SURE.
I THINK I WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND TO THE COMMUNICATION COMMITTEE THAT THEY TAKE SOME ADDITIONAL STEPS TO MAKE AT LEAST THE LAST FEW MEETINGS, MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC IN A WAY SO THAT WE'RE NOT HELD ACCOUNTABLE.
I THINK THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT REQUIRES ACTION AND YOU SHOULD SUGGEST IT AS A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM.
AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT AT OUR NEXT MEETING AND GIVE OUR FULL ATTENTION JUST MAKING, I'M JUST MAKING STATEMENTS.
I'M NOT ASKING YOU TO DO ANYTHING.
I'M JUST TELLING YOU WHAT IT IS.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT YOU HAVE TO DO THIS OR DO THAT.
I'M TELLING YOU THIS IS HOUSEKEEPING.
WHAT ELSE IS HOUSEKEEPING THEN? I'M SORRY, I'M CONFUSED.
I THINK THAT THIS IS DESERVING OF A FULL CONVERSATION THAT SHOULD BE ON THE AGENDA FOR NEXT WEEK.
THEN IF THAT'S HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT IT, I'M HAPPY TO HAVE YOU ADD THAT TO OUR NEXT.
WE WANT IT TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW TO IMPROVE THE VIRTUAL PUBLIC FORUMS, UM, AS WELL AS ALL OF THEM GOING INTO THE PRECINCT FORUMS IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER.
SO THIS IS ACTUALLY, YOU HAVE A LOT OF GOOD RELEVANT COMMENTS, BUT I THINK THAT IT'S GOING TO BE FOR THAT DISCUSSION RESPECTFULLY, JUST FOR THE RECORD, I'D LIKE TO GO ON RECORD.
I AGREE WITH, I THINK THAT IT IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE FRONT AND CENTER WITH US.
SO YES, MA'AM, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT.
LET'S MAKE IT AN ACTION ITEM FOR THE FUTURE.
I THINK THAT THIS DESERVES ACTION.
CAN WE PLEASE FOLLOW ROBERT'S RULES OF ORDER? WE HAVE PEOPLE SPEAKING WITHOUT BEING RECOGNIZED AND IT'S JUST HIGHLY DISRESPECTFUL AND HARD TO FOLLOW.
SO IF WE CAN SPEAK WHEN WE'RE RECOGNIZED, SORRY THAT I DID THAT TO MAKE THAT POINT.
THAT IS ABSOLUTELY A REMINDER THAT I HAVE IN MY NOTES WHEN NECESSARY.
AND THAT INCLUDES REMINDERS, BUT THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER.
UM, I'M GOING TO MOVE TO COMMISSIONER YOU REALLY QUICK AND THEN COMMISSIONER KANAAN IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER POINTS, UM, THAT ARE JUST HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS, THEN I WILL COME BACK TO YOU ARE OH NO.
I JUST WANTED TO ADD SUPER QUICKLY THAT, UM, COMMISSIONER HARDEN, I REALLY, REALLY AGREE WITH YOU.
I THINK THAT THERE IS A DISCONNECT.
UH, IT FEELS LIKE A DISCONNECT WHEN PEOPLE ARE ASKING US FOR INFORMATION THAT I DO FEEL LIKE WE SHOULD GIVE THEM.
AND WHAT I'M WONDERING AND JUST PLEASE EXCUSE MY IGNORANCE ON, ON THE PROCESS OF OUR PUBLIC FORUMS. IT SEEMS LIKE FOR PUBLIC, WE CAN, WE ARE THERE TO LISTEN, BUT NOT NECESSARILY TO RESPOND, BUT THE EXPERIENCE OF AN ATTENDEE AND UH, YOU KNOW, UH, OTHER CITIZENS LIKE OURSELVES, MAYBE
[01:50:01]
WE CAN LET THEM KNOW AT THE BEGINNING AND JUST PARDON IF, UH, IF WE DON'T ALREADY DO THAT AND I DON'T RECOGNIZE IT, BUT IT, MAYBE WE CAN SAY SOMETHING LIKE, UM, WE CAN'T ANSWER QUESTIONS DURING TESTIMONY SO THAT THEY KNOW THAT WE'RE NOT JUST LIKE IGNORING THEM.I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR FEEDBACK ON THAT.
UM, I THINK THAT IT'S FAIR TO ANSWER QUESTIONS THAT CAN BE ANSWERED AT THE END OF, UH, THE TESTIMONY PORTION.
UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO JUST HEAR FROM, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM THE CITIZENS FROM RESIDENTS, UM, AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO THE END OF THE LIST THAT CHRISTINE READS OUT.
UM, AND THEN I CAN RESPOND, UM, AS I'M ABLE TO, THERE MIGHT BE QUESTIONS THAT COME UP AS COMMISSIONER HARDEN REFERENCED THAT, UH, DO NOT NEED A RESPONSE IN THAT MOMENT.
THERE MIGHT BE OTHER QUESTIONS THAT CANNOT BE ANSWERED IN THAT MOMENT AND IT REQUIRES A FOLLOW-UP EMAIL.
UM, BUT I, I WANT TO JUST ECHO WHAT VICE CHAIR GONZALEZ SAID, WHICH IS THAT, UH, CHRISTINE RESPONDED AS SOON AS SHE HEARD TODAY TO, UM, ALL OF THOSE CITIZEN QUESTIONS FROM LAST NIGHT'S FORUM.
AND THEY HAVE ALL GOTTEN VERY LIKE LENGTHY, UH, DETAILED, THOUGHTFUL RESPONSES THAT I THINK ARE BETTER THAN WHAT PEOPLE WOULD HAVE GOTTEN IN THE MOMENT.
BUT I ALSO HEAR YOU THAT WE CAN ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS LIVE BECAUSE THERE MIGHT BE OTHERS WHO ARE ATTENDING THAT ARE INTERESTED IN THAT ANSWER.
UM, SO COMMISSIONER FALCON, I SAW YOUR HAND AND THEN CHRISTINE.
I WANTED TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION THAT MAYBE THERE'S A SEPARATE QUESTION TIME, BUT I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT IT BE BEFORE THE PUBLIC, UM, FEEDBACK.
SORRY, I FORGET WHAT WE CALL IT, BECAUSE I THINK THAT OFTEN THOSE QUESTIONS WOULD CLARIFY SOMEBODIES, UM, TESTIMONY.
SO IF WE'RE ANSWERING IT AFTER THEY DON'T HAVE THE BENEFIT TO, YOU KNOW, GET CLARITY IN ORDER TO FORM FORMULATE THEIR TESTIMONY.
SO I WOULD, I WOULD SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, WE CAN TAKE QUESTIONS PERHAPS IF, YOU KNOW, NOT EVERYONE FOLLOWS PRESENTATIONS IN THE SAME WAY.
SO JUST TO BE MORE ASSESSABLE TO, UM, COMMISSIONER CANON'S POINT AND, YOU KNOW, REALLY GIVE CREDENCE TO THOSE DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES.
UM, MAYBE WE COULD DO, YOU KNOW, QUESTIONS WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT, UM, MORE COMPLEX QUESTIONS WILL NOT BE ANSWERED, BUT ANYTHING FACTUAL WILL JUST, IF SOMEONE NEEDS LIKE A DATE CLARIFICATION OR SOMETHING, YES, I HEAR YOU ON THAT.
I THINK THAT THAT IS A VIABLE, UH, SUGGESTION AND EASY TO JUST TIE IN AT THE END OF FOLLOWING TESTIMONY, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE TESTIMONY IS, UM, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY WE'RE GETTING USABLE FEEDBACK FROM THE PUBLIC ABOUT THAT WILL INFORM THE MAPPING PROCESS.
SO A QUESTION IS NOT REALLY EVEN SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, NECESSARILY AS APPROPRIATE FOR TESTIMONY, BUT IT COULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR Q AND A SECTION.
UM, SO I LIKE THAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED MY POINT THOUGH, IS THAT ASKING THE QUESTION IN ORDER TO FORMULATE THEIR TESTIMONY? SO IF WE'RE NOT ANSWERING THE QUESTION BEFORE THE PUBLIC TESTIMONY PORTION, WE ARE DISCREDITING THEIR PUBLIC TESTIMONY.
SO YOU ARE YOU SUGGESTING WE HAVE A Q AND A PRIOR TO TESTIMONY.
NOTED, UH, COMMISSIONER CANON IN TRANSPARENCY AND OVER COMMUNICATION.
CAUSE I THINK THAT'S BETTER THAN NOT COMMUNICATING.
UH, ARE THERE ANY OTHER HOUSEKEEPING ISSUES BEFORE WE GO TO OUR LAST AGENDA ITEM? OKAY.
THE FINAL ORDER OF BUSINESS IS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. UM, I WILL LIST A FEW AND THEN IT SOUNDS LIKE ONE JUST CAME UP, UM, OUT OF THIS CONVERSATION.
SO I WILL OPEN THE FLOOR TO SEE IF ANY OTHER, UM, ANYONE ELSE HERE WOULD LIKE TO ADD SOMETHING.
SO FIRST WE WILL HEAR FROM, UM, THE AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL AS THE SUGGESTED IN OUR LAST MEETING.
UM, THAT IS, UH, AN AGENDA ITEM FOR THE 25TH.
CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE WE ALSO INVITED SOMEONE FROM THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT TO SPEAK TO CORRIDORS.
SO DESCRIBE BOTH, UM, FROM THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT AS WELL AS THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT, UH, TALK ABOUT, UM, STRAITS AND ARTERIALS AND ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES.
[01:55:01]
OKAY, GREAT.UM, SO THAT WILL BE ANOTHER AGENDA ITEM FOR NEXT TIME.
UM, WE NEED TO DISCUSS, UH, THE LOOMING, UM, CONCERN ABOUT IN-PERSON MEETINGS, UH, SINCE GOVERNOR ABBOTT, UM, DID NOT RENEW THIS ABILITY FOR US TO HAVE VIRTUAL PUBLIC MEETINGS.
UM, AND, AND SO THAT IS STARTING SEPTEMBER 1ST.
I SHARED THAT INFORMATION WITH YOU FOR A MEETING THIS EVENING.
UM, SO I THINK THAT THAT IS, UM, IS WORTHY OF, OF, UH, YOU KNOW, COMMISSION DISCUSSION THERE, UM, AS ALWAYS UPDATES FROM THE WORKING GROUPS AND SUBCOMMITTEES.
AND NOW I WILL OPEN FLOOR TO ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS, COMMISSIONER CALLED IT ON, EXCUSE ME.
I JUST WANTED TO, UM, THAT, UM, WHEN WE DO HAVE THAT DISCUSSION, UM, I THINK IT'S, IT'S GOING TO BE REALLY DIFFICULT FOR US TO COMMUNICATE THAT.
UM, SO MAYBE THAT SHOULD BE A PART OF THE DISCUSSION TOO, IS LIKE THE MESSAGING, BECAUSE A LOT OF THE FOLKS WHO, UM, THAT I'VE INTERACTED WITH THROUGH THE PRESS RELEASES ARE, HAVE ASKED SPECIFICALLY FOR VIRTUAL FORUMS BECAUSE THEY'RE SCARED OF COVID.
SO, UM, I JUST WANT TO ENSURE THAT WE CAN, UH, EXPLAIN PERHAPS IN THE EASILY DIGESTIBLE FORM WHAT'S GOING ON.
UM, SO ANYWAY, THAT'S ALL ABSOLUTELY.
AND WE'RE ALL, UNFORTUNATELY ALL, UH, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ARE ON THE SAME BOAT.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S SOMEBODY WHO'S A PRETTY INVOLVED CITIZEN, THEY'LL PROBABLY HEAR IT MORE THAN ONCE.
UM, BUT, BUT THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT.
AND WE'LL ADD THAT AS AN AGENDA ITEM, UH, COMMISSIONER CANNON, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS NEEDS TO BE A NEW AGENDA ITEM OR IF WE ALL WE SOLVE FOR THIS, BUT IT WAS THE PUBLIC FORUMS. AND IF THEY'RE ALL GOING TO BECOME IN-PERSON, THEN I DON'T KNOW IF WE NEED AN AGENDA ITEM, I GUESS IT CONTINUES.
CAN WE HAVE A CONTINGENT AGENDA ITEM TO DISCUSS VIRTUAL FORUMS IF WE HAVE THEM AND HOW TO, HOW TO CONDUCT THOSE, I THINK WOULD BE THE TOPIC I'D LIKE TO ADD.
MAYBE WE ONLY HAVE PHYSICAL MEETINGS, SO, YES.
UM, SO WHAT, LET ME MAKE SURE, I UNDERSTAND YOU WANT TO ADD AN AGENDA ITEM TO DISCUSS, UM, HOW WE'RE CONDUCTING VIRTUAL FORUMS. OKAY, GREAT.
UH, AS WE TALK ABOUT, UH, IN-PERSON FORUMS, UH, AS PART OF THE AGENDA NEXT WEEK, I'D LIKE US WOULD LIKE US TO TALK ABOUT THE ACTUAL COVID-19 PROTOCOLS OF SOCIAL DISTANCING, UH, THAT WE'LL USE TO KEEP THE PUBLIC SAFE.
WE'LL ADD THAT AS AN ITEM AS WELL.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER BUSINESS? OKAY.
SINCE THERE IS NO FURTHER BUSINESS, THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED.
I HOPE YOU'LL HAVE A GREAT EVENING TAKE CARE.