[Independent Citizen's Redistricting Commission]
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CITIZENS, REDISTRICTING COMMISSION MEETING THIS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25TH, MATT, PLEASE DO ROLL CALL.CAN WE SHOW IS GOING TO CALL YOUR NAME IF YOU JUST RAISE YOUR HAND AND THEN ALSO SAY HERE, BOTH THE AUDIO AND A VISUAL CONFIRMATION, UH, CANNON MORRIS HERE.
DEMPSEY GONZALEZ HERE, LANDS LEE.
AND, UM, I BELIEVE YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO SHARE YOUR SCREEN, TO TAKE US THROUGH TODAY'S AGENDA.
SO THE MEETING GOALS FOR TODAY RECEIVE INFORMATION ABOUT CITIES, BOUNDARIES, AND NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS DISCUSSION ON PUBLIC FORUMS AND MAPPING PROCESS RECEIVE UPDATES FROM WORKING GROUPS AND SUBCOMMITTEES.
I ASSUME SOME COMMUNICATION OF LIVE.
WE HAVE ONLY HAVE ONE PERSON SIGNED UP FOR THAT.
UM, NUMBER ONE APPROVAL OF MINUTES.
NUMBER TWO, UNFINISHED BUSINESS, THE SERC MAY DISCUSS AND TAKE ACTION ON THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEMS. A DISCUSSION ON MAPPING PROCESS ONE-ON-ONES WITH MAPPING SPECIALISTS, I KNOW THREE NEW BUSINESS THE ICRC MAY DISCUSS AND TAKE ACTION ON THE FOLLOWING AGENDA ITEMS, A PRESENTATION FROM CITY TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT B PRESENTATION FROM CITY WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT SAY PRESENTATION FROM AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL, PRESIDENT DAILY DISCUSSION ABOUT IN-PERSON REGULAR MEETINGS STARTING SEPTEMBER ONE E UPDATE FROM PUBLIC FORUM WORKING GROUP ONE DISCUSSION ON WAY TO IMPROVE VIRTUAL PUBLIC FORUMS TO DISCUSSION ON IN-PERSON PUBLIC FORUMS. ANSWERING QUESTIONS ASKED BY PUBLIC AND COVID MEETING PROTOCOLS F UPDATE FROM COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP G UPDATE FROM FINANCE COMMITTEE H UPDATE FROM FINAL REPORTS OF COMMITTEE I HOUSEKEEPING AND THEN FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. THANK YOU SO MUCH, MATT.
UH, WE'LL BEGIN WITH CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.
AND YOU SAID ONE PERSON HAS SIGNED UP FOR THIS EVENING, RIGHT? OKAY, GREAT.
SO JUST TO REMINDER, EACH SPEAKER HAS THREE MINUTES AND JUST CLEARLY STATE YOUR NAME AND IN WHICH DISTRICT YOU RESIDE.
AND WE WELCOME ALL MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO OUR MEETING TONIGHT, WE JUST RESPECTFULLY ASK THAT CITIZEN COMMUNICATION IS RESERVED FOR THIS PORTION OF THE AGENDA AND IT'S NOT INTERRUPT PLAYER, I AGENDA ITEMS. SO MR. PECK, YOUNG, GLAD TO HAVE YOU WITH US.
I WANT TO THANK THE ICRC FOR LETTING ME THESE BIG VIEW THIS EVENING.
I AM APPEARING AT THE REQUEST OF THE CO-CHAIRS OF THE NAACP AND HISPANIC COALITION TO REITERATE THE POSITION WE TOOK IN THE MEMO THAT ALL OF YOU SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED, UH, CONCERNING THE PRESENTATION OF MAPS FOR THE FORM OF AUTHORITY DISTRICTS.
AND WE PLANNED TO HAVE THOSE MAPS READY ABOUT YOUR MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 8TH.
AND WE WISHED TO MAKE A FULL PRESENTATION OF BOTH THE MAPS AND THE DATA THAT WE HAVE PUT TOGETHER SO THAT YOU MAY ASK ANY QUESTIONS OR SEEK ANY CLARIFICATION, UH, AT ANY MA AT ANY COMMISSIONERS MAY DESIRE.
UH, WE ARE PREPARED TO APPEAR AT ANY POINT ON THE AGENDA FOR THE EIGHTH, UH, BEFORE OR AFTER YOUR MAPPING CONSULTANTS PRESENTATION.
WE DO HOWEVER EXPECT, EXPECT RECALLS THAT WE REPRESENT THE BLACK AND HISPANIC COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP, UH, MORE THAN THREE MINUTES TO LAY OUT THE PLANS AND THE DATA.
WE ALSO PLAN TO SHARE OUR PLANS WITH MR. KORBEL AS SOON AS THAT IS PRACTICAL AND HOPEFULLY BEFORE THE MEETING ON THE EIGHTH, AND WE BELIEVE THAT'S DOABLE NOW BASED ON OUR EXPERT'S REPORT AS ALWAYS, WE APPRECIATE YOUR SERVICE AND YOUR COOPERATION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE TIME.
IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS, I'LL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM.
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THANK YOU, MR. YANG.DID, DID ANYONE HAVE QUESTIONS? OKAY.
THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS AGENDA ITEM ONE, APPROVING THE MINUTES FROM THE AUGUST 18TH MEETING.
ARE THERE ANY CORRECTIONS TO THE MINUTES? OKAY.
UH, IF THERE ARE NO CORRECTIONS, THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED, WE WILL START UNDER NEW BUSINESS AND COME BACK TO UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
SO THE NEXT ITEM IS THREE, A THE PRESENTATION FROM THE CITY TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENTS.
AND I'LL JUST GIVE A BRIEF INTRODUCTION AND THEN TURN IT OVER TO, UM, COLD KITTEN AND NICK KINCADE.
UM, SO YES, THIS WAS A REQUEST THAT CAME FROM Y'ALL, UM, TO KIND OF LEARN MORE ABOUT CITY'S TRANSPORTATION FEATURES AND THE CITY'S ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES.
UM, SO FOLKS IN OUR WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT, UH, PUT TOGETHER A MAP THAT THEY'LL, THEY'LL WALK THROUGH, UM, THAT SHOWS BOTH OF THOSE THINGS TO, UH, JUST TO PROVIDE BASELINE INFORMATION FOR Y'ALL AND YOUR WORK.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO COLE.
AND THEN, UM, NICK VERY QUICKLY, I WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE, I JUST WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE TO NOTE THAT BOTH ARE NOW CO-HOSTS OF THE MEETING, SO THEY DO HAVE THE ABILITY TO SHARE THEIR SCREEN.
SHOULD THERE BE A PRESENTATION THAT NEEDS TO BE SHOWN? GREAT.
HEY, WITH THAT, I'LL GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
I'M COLE KITTEN, I'M A DIVISION MANAGER IN OUR AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT.
I OVERSEE OUR LONG RANGE PLANNING AND OUR EFFORT TO DEVELOP THE CITY'S LONG RANGE TRANSPORTATION PLAN, THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN.
UM, SO PART OF, PART OF WHAT WE'RE GOING TO SHOW TONIGHT IS ACTUALLY, UM, FROM THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, AND I'LL GO AHEAD AND SHARE, UM, THE ADOPTED MAP IN THE CHAT FOR EVERYONE, UM, UH, TO BE ABLE TO SEE, UM, BUT LET ME GO AHEAD AND START SHARING MY SCREEN.
THIS WAS THE MAP THAT I SHARED, UM, IN THE CHAT.
UH, THIS IS THE BASIS OF THE INFORMATION THAT'S, UM, IN THIS ONLINE MAP THAT OUR, OUR WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT PUT TOGETHER.
UM, THAT'S GOING TO SHOW, UM, UH, UH, ADDITIONAL LAYERS, UM, BEYOND WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, WHICH IS JUST ROADS.
SO WITHIN THE STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, UM, THERE WAS AN EFFORT TO DESIGNATE CERTAIN ROADWAYS, UM, OF, UH, DIFFERENT LEVELS.
SO LEVELS OF CLASSIFICATION, UM, THAT, UH, DETERMINE, UH, THEIR FUNCTION.
UM, SO IT'S BASICALLY A SCALE OF ONE TO FIVE WITH ONE BEING, UH, LOCAL RESIDENTIAL STREET UP TO FIVE BEING, UM, HIGHWAYS AND FREEWAYS.
SO, UM, TAKING THIS MAP, UM, THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT, UM, INCORPORATED THEM INTO THIS MAP, WHICH, UM, WHEN YOU START OUT AT THIS HIGH LEVEL, UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, IN THE BLACK LINES ARE OUR HIGHWAYS AND FREEWAYS, AS WELL AS SOME OF OUR MAJOR ROADWAYS.
UM, THOSE, THOSE WOULD BE MORE ASSOCIATED IN OUR OTHER MAP AS LEVEL FIVES AND LEVEL FOUR STREETS.
UM, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, UM, THIS IS REALLY THAT, UM, UH, UH, BACKBONE OF THE ROADWAY NETWORK, UM, STARTING WITH OUR HIGHWAYS AND FREEWAYS, AND THEN THE, THE MORE MAJOR ROADWAYS, UM, THAT PROVIDE LONGER DISTANCE, UM, TRIPS INTO, UM, AND OUT OF AND ACROSS, UH, AUSTIN.
SO AS YOU ZOOM IN, UM, CLOSER IN THE MAP, UM, THE NEXT LEVEL OF ROADWAYS START TO APPEAR
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AND WITHIN THE MAP, UM, THOSE WILL BE DESCRIBED AS A MINOR ROADS AND, UH, LOCAL ROADS.AND THEY'RE NOT SHOWING UP RIGHT NOW, MAYBE BECAUSE IT'S JUST TAKING A WHILE TO LOAD.
OKAY, NOW I CAN SEE THEM START TO COME IN.
SO, UM, THE IDEA HERE, UH, IN, IN TRYING TO ANSWER TO, UM, THE REQUESTS OF, OF IDENTIFYING PHYSICAL BOUNDARIES AS A POTENTIAL, UM, WAY OF IDENTIFYING, UM, UH, REDISTRICTING, UM, THESE TWO LAYERS REALLY DIFFERENTIATE WHAT ARE, ARE CONSIDERED MAJOR ROADWAYS, UM, VERSUS MINOR ROADWAYS.
AND, UM, THE MAJOR ROADWAYS MAY BE MORE, UM, CONSIDERED MORE OF A, UH, A DIVIDER, A DIVIDING LINE, UM, WHETHER IT BE BECAUSE THERE ARE SIX TRAVEL LANES OR MORE, UM, COMPARED TO WHAT'S, WHAT'S MORE OF A MINOR, UH, ROADWAY THAT MAY BE, UM, NOT A DIVIDING LINE BETWEEN COMMUNITIES, UM, BUT MORE OF, UH, UH, SERVING AS A BACKBONE TO, UH, UH, TRAVEL.
SO, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S BASICALLY IT.
UM, I BELIEVE I CAN TAKE ANY QUESTIONS IF YOU HAVE ANY, UM, BUT, UH, GENERALLY I BELIEVE, UM, WE JUST WANTED TO BE ABLE TO PUT THESE TOOLS TOGETHER, UM, FOR, FOR Y'ALL'S USE.
UM, AND, UM, AND, AND THAT'S IT.
COLE, DO WE HAVE QUESTIONS FOR COLE KRISHA CAMPBELL? THANK YOU.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO QUICKLY ASK, ARE WE ALL GOING TO HAVE ACCESS TO THAT GIS, UM, SOFTWARE, UM, STUFF WE CAN MAKE THAT AVAILABLE, OR WE CAN MAKE THE BASE LAYERS AVAILABLE TO Y'ALL'S MAPPING CONSULTANT, WHATEVER IS PREFERABLE.
UM, YEAH, I MEAN, I DUNNO, WHAT IF THERE ARE RULES AGAINST SPECIFIC PEOPLE RECEIVING ANYTHING? I MEAN, I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT.
UM, I WORK A LITTLE BIT WITH GIS.
WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT IT IF I COULD.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
UM, I'M JUST CURIOUS, LIKE HOW THESE BOUNDARIES ARE USED IN OTHER WAYS WITH REGARD TO LIKE CITY BUSINESS.
I MEAN, FOR EXAMPLE, IN A CITY, UH, COUNCIL DISTRICT IS FUNDING FOR ROADS GOING TO BE DIFFERENTIATED BECAUSE OF LIKE, WHICH DISTRICT IT'S IN OR LIKE IN WHAT OTHER MANNER ARE THESE ROADS AND THESE BOUNDARIES UTILIZED, UM, BY THE CITY, UM, TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN, UH, GROUPS OR PARTS OF THE CITY.
IS THAT MAKE SENSE? IS THAT A GOOD ENOUGH CONTEXT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? YEAH.
AND I CAN PROVIDE A LITTLE INSIGHT, UM, AT LEAST FROM ANOTHER EFFORT, UH, WHICH IS CALLED THE STREET IMPACT FEE.
THE CITY ADOPTED AN IMPACT FEE IN DECEMBER OF 2020, AND, UM, WITHIN THE FEE THERE'S 17 SERVICE AREAS, UM, THAT HAD, UM, SPECIFIC LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE REQUIREMENTS, UM, EACH SERVICER AND IT HAD TO BE A CERTAIN SIZE AND THE BOUNDARIES, UM, COULD BE MADE UP OF, OF ANY, UM, PHYSICAL, UM, FOR THE STUDENT PURPOSES.
A LOT OF THE MAJOR CORRIDORS ENDED UP BEING THOSE BOUNDARY LINES BECAUSE MULTIPLE SERVICE
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AREAS COULD ACTUALLY CONTRIBUTE THEIR FEES, UM, TO THAT SINGLE ROADWAY IF IT HAD.SO THAT'S VERY SPECIFIC TO THE STREET IMPACT FEE.
UM, BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE ANY RELATION TO THE COUNCIL DISTRICT BOUNDARIES.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME COLE KITTEN.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE.
SHALL WE MOVE ON TO, UM, THE NEXT PRESENTATION? THIS IS ITEM THREE B THE PRESENTATION FROM THE CITY WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT AND MATT, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANTED TO DO AN INTRODUCTION HERE AS WELL, OR IF WE JUST WANT TO JUMP RIGHT IN.
UH, NICK AND KATE FROM THE CITY'S WATER PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.
THANKS FOR HAVING ME HERE TONIGHT.
UM, JUST LIKE MATT SAID, MY NAME IS NICK AND KATE.
I'M A PLANNER IN THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.
UM, AND I'M HERE TO JUST GIVE A PRETTY BRIEF OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES THAT WE USE IN OUR WORK AND THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT.
UH, AND THOSE ARE LAKES, RIVERS, CREEKS, AND WATERSHEDS.
AND THEN I'M ALSO AVAILABLE, AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS AFTERWARDS.
SO I'M CURRENTLY KIND OF SAME MAP WE WERE LOOKING AT WITH COLE, BUT ZOOM BACK OUT.
UM, AND SO CURRENTLY WE'RE LOOKING AT THE ENTIRE CITY AND REALLY AT THIS SCALE, YOU CAN SEE ALL OF THE LARGEST AND MOST, PROBABLY MOST FAMILIAR WATER BODIES LAKE, TRAVIS LAKE, AUSTIN, AND LADY BIRD LAKE ARE ALL LOCATED ALONG THE MAIN STEM OF THE COLORADO RIVER, WHICH ROUGHLY DIVIDES THE CITY IN HALF.
UH, WALTER ALONG THE LAKE IS LOCATED IN THE NORTH EASTERN PART OF THE CITY, BUT THAT ALSO DRAINS TO THE COLORADO RIVER FOR EACH LAKE.
THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE DEFINES THE SHORELINES AS A SPECIFIC CONTOUR LINE THAT CORRESPONDS WITH THE OPERATING LEVEL OF THE LAKE, AND THEN WATERSHED PROTECTION STAFF USES THAT CONTOUR TO GENERATE THE BOUNDARIES THAT YOU'RE BASICALLY SEEING MAPS RIGHT NOW.
UM, I'VE SORT OF PRE-SET UP SOME TABS TO HOPEFULLY AVOID LOADING PAINS.
UM, BUT CAN EVERYONE SEE THAT CHANGE? YES.
SO I WAS ZOOMED IN A BIT, AND SO NOW YOU CAN REALLY SEE THE NETWORK OF CREEKS THAT EXTENDS THROUGHOUT THE CITY IN BLUE, AND THEN THE CORRESPONDING WATERSHEDS IN ORANGE CREEPS ARE PROBABLY MORE THE FEATURE THAT EVERYONE IS MORE FAMILIAR WITH.
SO I'LL TALK ABOUT THEM FIRST.
UH, THERE'S ROUGHLY 850 MILES OF CREEKS IN OUR JURISDICTION.
THE MAP KIND OF MAKES IT LOOK LIKE THEY'RE ALL THE SAME SIZE, BUT THAT'S NOT THE CASE.
THERE'S A WIDE VARIETY OF DIFFERENT SIZES OF CREEKS, EVEN, YOU KNOW, WITHIN ONE CREEK SYSTEM, THE CRITIC TENDS TO BE A LOT LARGER AT ITS MOUTH VERSUS ITS HEADWATERS.
AND SO AS YOU KIND OF GET AWAY FROM THE COLORADO RIVER CREEKS GET SMALLER.
UM, AND SO WE MAP AND WE CLASSIFY THE CREEKS BASED ON THE AREA OF LAND THAT DRAINS TO THEM.
WE CATEGORIZE THREE MAIN CATEGORIES.
AND SO THOSE ARE 64 ACRES, 320 ACRES AND 640 ACRES.
CURRENTLY, WE'RE LOOKING AT ALL THE CREEKS WITH MORE THAN 64 ACRES OF DRAINAGE AREA, WHICH IS A FAIRLY HIGH RESOLUTION.
UM, IF Y'ALL ARE INTERESTED IN LIKE FOCUSING IN ON THE LARGER CREEK SECTIONS, IT'S REALLY EASY TO FILTER THIS DATA BASED ON THAT DRAINAGE AREA SIZE.
AND, UM, BASICALLY WHAT THAT WOULD DO IS SORT OF REDUCED THE NUMBER OF SIDE BRANCHES AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH THIS CREEK KIND OF EXTEND THE, TO THE HEADWATERS OF THE WATERSHED.
UM, AND THEN TO MAP THE CREEKS, WE USE LIDAR ELEVATION DATA AND THEN MODELING SOFTWARE TO TYPICALLY FIND THE LOWEST ELEVATION FLOW PATH THAT WIRE WILL FOLLOW OVER THE GROUND.
UM, AND SO THEN JUST LASTLY, I'M GOING TO TALK A BIT ABOUT WATERSHEDS.
SO AGAIN, I'VE ZOOMED IN A BIT MORE, UH, AND SO HERE YOU SEE WATERSHEDS MAP ORANGE AND A WATERSHED ASSEMBLY, THE AREA OF LAND THAT DRAINS TO A CREEK SYSTEM.
AND SO HERE, WE'RE LOOKING JUST SOUTH OF LADYBIRD LAKE, AND THERE'S A SERIES OF WATERSHEDS THAT ARE SORT OF
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BOUNDED BY THE LAKE TO THE NORTH AND TO 90 TO THE SOUTH.AND SO HERE, YOU'VE GOT THE LESS BOLDEN CREEK WATERSHED IN ORANGE, AND THEN IN THE MIDDLE IN BLUE IS ACTUALLY WEST BOULDIN CREEK, SIMILARLY WITH EAST BOULDIN CREEK AND BLEND CREEK AND SO ON AND SO FORTH.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, SIMILAR TO CREEKS, WE USE EXACT SAME LIDAR ELEVATION DATA AND SOMEWHERE MODELING TOOLS TO BASICALLY MAP THE OUTER BOUNDARIES OF THOSE CREEK DRAINAGE AREAS.
UH, THERE'S 16 WATERSHEDS THAT OVERLAP WITH THE CITY'S FULL, UNLIMITED PURPOSE JURISDICTIONS.
OBVIOUSLY THOSE ARE SUPER IMPORTANT BOUNDARIES FOR THE WORK THAT WE DO IN THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT, OFTEN IN PRACTICE.
UM, THE DIVIDING LINES BETWEEN THE WATERSHEDS ARE LESS RECOGNIZED ON THE GROUND COMPARED TO A CREEK OR RIVER OR A LAKE.
UH, ONE EXCEPTION THAT I'LL NOTE QUICKLY, IF I CAN GET THERE, UH, IS THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN TRAVIS AND WILLIAMSON COUNTIES ACTUALLY DOES FOLLOW THE WATERSHED BOUNDARIES.
THAT WAS THE ONE EXAMPLE OF THE POLITICAL BOUNDARY WE COULD FIND IN THE REGION THAT FOLLOWED WATERSHEDS AND NOT CREEKS AND RIVERS.
UM, BUT YEAH, REALLY, OTHER THAN THAT, I'M AVAILABLE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL HAVE.
AND, UM, LIKE WE SAID EARLIER, WE CAN MAKE THIS MAP AVAILABLE TO Y'ALL TO LOOK AT IN YOUR OWN OWN TIME.
UM, AND SO LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS LATER ON TOO.
WE HAVE A QUESTION FROM COMMISSIONER NE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THESE MAPS.
UM, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT TRACKS, WHAT AREAS ARE MORE PRONE TO FLOODING? I CAN IMAGINE THAT, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN COMMUNITIES MIGHT HAVE THAT KIND OF CONCERN, A SHARED CONCERN AMONG CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS.
UM, SO WE DO, UM, MAP ALL OF OUR FLOOD PLAINS AND THEN WITHIN EACH WATERSHED, THOSE FLOODPLAIN BOUNDARIES VARY.
IF YOU'LL GIVE ME JUST A SECOND, I CAN PUT THOSE, UM, UP ON THE SCREEN REAL QUICK.
AND WHEN YOU SAY YOU CAN SHARE ALL THESE MAPS WITH US, LIKE, ARE YOUR MAPS ARE DIFFERENT FROM KOHL'S AND THIS FLOODPLAIN MAP IS DIFFERENT FROM LIKE, THESE ARE, UM, EXCUSE MY IGNORANCE.
THEY, THESE ARE ALL DIFFERENT MAPS.
ARE THEY DIFFERENT FILTERS ON THE SAME MAP? SO, UM, COLE AND I, WE BASICALLY, THE CITY MAINTAINS A HUGE VARIETY OF MAPPING LAYERS THAT THEN WE CAN KIND OF USE TO CREATE INDIVIDUAL MAPS AS NEEDED.
AND SO FOR THIS PRESENTATION, COLE AND I CREATED THIS ONE WEB MAP THAT IS A COMBINATION OF THE ROADS.
AND THEN THOSE MAIN ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES, I JUST COVERED ALL OF THIS DATA IS PUBLIC IT'S ON OUR OPEN DATA PORTAL.
THERE'S A TON OF OTHER STUFF THERE AS WELL.
UM, WE JUST KIND OF FOCUSED IN PRIMARILY ON THE THINGS THAT SEEMED BOUNDARY, LIKE I GUESS.
UM, BUT YEAH, THERE'S, THERE'S A PRETTY BIG RABBIT HOLE YOU COULD GO ON WITH THE DIFFERENT MAPPING DATA.
UM, DID THAT ANSWER YOUR SECOND QUESTION? YES.
UM, SO HERE ON THE SCREEN, I'VE MAPPED OUR FLOOD PLANS AND THESE ARE JUST THE RIGHT, THE A HUNDRED YEAR REGULATORY FLOODPLAIN BOUNDARY.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE JUST LIKE BY, BY LOOKING, UM, WATER, THE FLOODPLAINS IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE CITY DO TEND TO BE MUCH LARGER THAN THE FLOODPLAINS IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE CITY.
AND THAT'S PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THE BIG DIFFERENCES IN THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT THERE.
SO EASTERN AUSTIN IS MUCH FLATTER.
AND SO THE WATER JUST TENDS TO SPREAD OUT MORE WHERE WESTERN AUSTIN, YOU HAVE THE BALCONIES ESCARPMENT AND JUST CANYONS AND VERY HIGH ELEVATIONS.
AND THOSE CREEKS TEND TO BE MUCH MORE BOUNDED BY THEIR, UH, DEEPER CHANNELS.
UM, SO YEAH, THERE ARE SOME, SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EAST AND WEST AUSTIN.
I CAN THROW UP THIS OTHER, UM, WE DID.
UM, SO BASICALLY I APOLOGIZE IF I'M GOING TOO FAR IN THE WEEDS HERE, BUT AUSTIN DOES ON THE
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BOUNDARY OF TWO, UM, ECO REGIONS.UM, AND IN THE EAST YEAR WE HAVE BLACK LAND INQUIRY IN GREEN, BIGGER FLOODPLAINS IN THE WEST.
WE HAVE, UM, THE EDWARDS PLATEAU, MUCH HIGHER ELEVATIONS, SMALLER FLOODPLAINS.
I HAVE ONE QUESTION SINCE YOU MENTIONED THAT UPPER BOUNDARY OF TRAVIS COUNTY, I MEAN, DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT AS TO WHY YOU WOULD FOLLOW A WATERSHED BOUNDARY FOR, UH, POLITICAL DISTRICTS? I'M NOT SURE.
AND I, SO I COULD DO SOME MORE RESEARCH ON THAT.
UM, ASKING AROUND THE DEPARTMENT, UH, WATERSHED BOUNDARIES DO TEND TO BE HIGH POINTS AND, YOU KNOW, SO IT COULD JUST BE A GEOLOGIC FEATURE THAT IS EASY TO FOLLOW ON A MAP LIKE CONTOUR LINE WISE.
COMMISSIONER HARDEN ALSO HAS A QUESTION.
UM, MY QUESTION IS OTHER THAN THE CREEKS RIVERS SPRAINS WATERSHEDS, DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER, UH, NATURAL ELEMENTAL, UH, FEATURES BOUNDARIES THAT WE COULD TAKE A LOOK AT THAT MAY FACTOR IN TO CREATING A NATURAL BOUNDARIES SUCH AS WOULD IT FIT KITS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE? UM, SO WE DO HAVE A LOT OF BOUNDARIES WE COULD POTENTIALLY TALK ABOUT, UM, ONE, I WILL SHOW HERE THAT WE CAN ALSO PROVIDE, UM, IS THE EDWARDS AQUIFER RECHARGE ZONE.
SO THIS IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT REGULATORY BOUNDARY FOR US.
UM, THE, THE RECHARGE ZONE, UM, HAS A PRETTY NUANCED DEFINITION, BUT IT'S BASICALLY THE AREA OF THE AQUIFER THAT IS AT THE SURFACE OF WHERE WATER THAT FLOWS ACROSS THIS AND RED, UM, IS BASICALLY ABLE TO DIRECTLY INFILTRATE INTO THE AQUIFER THROUGH POROUS, LIMESTONE, SINKHOLES, CAVES, THAT SORT OF THING.
AND SO REGULATORILY, WE HAVE A HIGHER STANDARD FOR RUNOFF IN THESE AREAS.
UM, AGAIN, LIKE IT'S OFTEN DIFFICULT TO RECOGNIZE THESE BOUNDARIES ON THE GROUND AND WITHIN A NEIGHBORHOOD, YOU KNOW, IT MIGHT NOT BE OBVIOUS TO PEOPLE THAT THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, ON ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS BOUNDARY, UM, YOU KNOW, WE DO HAVE A LOT OF DATA, YOU KNOW, AND I WILL MAYBE DEFER TO MATT ON COORDINATING THOSE, BUT WE DO HAVE A LOT OF DATA THAT AREN'T BOUNDARY ORIENTED.
WE DO HAVE INFORMATION ON GROUND COVER AND IMPERVIOUS COVER AND, UM, THINGS LIKE THAT AS WELL.
UM, BUT FOR THIS PRESENTATION, WE DID KIND OF FOCUS ON STUFF THAT SEEMED MORE LIKE A DIVIDING LINE VERSUS, UM, IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO MAYBE CONSIDER WHILE YOU'RE DRAWING THOSE BOUNDARIES.
AND THAT, UM, I BELIEVE RAILROAD, UM, RAILROAD RIGHT OF IS ALSO BEEN USED AS A BOUNDARY LINE.
UM, I BELIEVE THAT CURRENTLY IS AND BETWEEN DISTRICT SEVEN AND SIX, AND THAT WASN'T INCLUDED IN THE, IN THE MAPS THAT WE DEVELOPED.
I'M NOT SURE HOW RELEVANT THIS MIGHT BE, BUT I KNOW THIS IS SOMETHING THAT IMPACTS, UM, YOU KNOW, PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE THAT LIVES IN AUSTIN.
THIS IS ACTUALLY A QUESTION FOR MR. KITTEN.
UM, I KNOW YOUR PRESENTATION IS OVER, BUT IS THERE A LAYER OF THE MAP THAT SHOWS TRAFFIC, UH, CONGESTION? SO THAT'S NOT INCLUDED THAT DATASET.
UM, YOU COULD, IT'S IT'S, UM, IN A SENSE IN FLIED, BY VIRTUE OF THE CAPACITY THAT YOU'RE PROVIDING, UM, THERE'S THE TOTAL NUMBER OF TRAVEL LANES ARE INCLUDED WITHIN THE NETWORK.
SO YOU CAN SEE WHETHER IT'S TWO LANES, FOUR LANES
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OR SIX LANES.UM, BUT NO, THAT DATA SET ITSELF, DOESN'T IT DOESN'T SAY WHETHER ONE SIX LANE, UM, MAJOR ROAD WAS, UH, MORE, UH, VOLUME THAN THE OTHER SIX LANE.
UM, OR YOU'RE AWARE OF ANYONE IN THE CITY DEPARTMENTS WHO CAN PROVIDE MAPS OF NATURAL GREEN SPACES, PARTS GREEN BELTS AS EXIST IN THIS CITY.
WE CAN DEFINITELY PROVIDE THAT, UM, PARKS, GREENBELTS.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, OUR WATER QUALITY PROTECTION LANDS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE AS WELL.
UM, IF THERE'S ANYTHING Y'ALL WANT TO ADD TO THAT LIST, MAYBE CHECK IN WITH MATT AND WE'LL ADD, TRY TO ADD THOSE LAYERS TO THIS MAP SO THAT Y'ALL CAN CHECK IT ALL OUT AS TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME.
I WAS ACTUALLY WONDERING THAT MYSELF COMMISSIONER HARDEN.
SO THANKS FOR BRINGING THAT UP.
DO WE HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS BEFORE WE LET THESE WONDERFUL PEOPLE GO? OKAY.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE C A PRESENTATION FROM AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL, PRESIDENT JUSTIN IRVING.
AND IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU HERE, SIR.
YEAH, THANKS FOR HAVING ME OUT.
UM, REALLY, UH, HONORED TO BE HERE TONIGHT.
UM, WHEN I FIRST GOTTEN INVOLVED WITH, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, KINDS OF THINGS, TEN ONE WAS ACTUALLY ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DREW ME IN IT WAS THE, ONE OF THE ORIGINAL ISSUES THAT I WAS ATTRACTED TO ABOUT WHERE THE CITY WAS HEADED.
SO, UM, MADAM CHAIR AND, UH, COMMISSIONERS.
UM, GREAT HONOR TO BE HERE TONIGHT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE.
UM, YEAH, THE AMC WAS ACTUALLY A BIG PART OF THE 10.
ONE WAS A BIG PART OF THE REASON THAT I JOINED THE ANSI.
ACTUALLY WE WERE, UM, AT THAT TIME, UH, HEAVILY INVOLVED WITH TRYING TO CON CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT WORD POLITICS WAS NOT A REAL THING TO WORRY ABOUT IN AUSTIN AND THAT NEIGHBORHOODS AND ASSOCIATIONS LIKE RICA AND, UH, THE, THE, THE, UH, OTHER POWERS THAT BE, COULD ALL GET ALONG IF MAPS FOR DRAWN FAIRLY AND EQUITABLY.
SO LET ME SHARE MY SCREEN AND I'LL TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ANSTEY.
SO YEAH, ANSI WAS ACTUALLY, UH, STARTED IN 1973 AND IT WAS THE PASSION PROJECT OF A NEIGHBORHOOD IN A NEIGHBORHOOD LEADER, UM, NAMED JOANNE BAR.
AND LET ME GET THE PRESENTATION MODE STARTED.
YOU CAN SEE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT STARTED ANC AND WHY IT WAS STARTED.
SO, UH, AN INTERESTING QUESTION ABOUT GREEN SPACE AND PARKS, YOU KNOW, TH SOME OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE NEIGHBORHOODS AND BUILD COMMUNITIES AROUND CERTAIN FEATURES OF THINGS LIKE SCHOOLS AND PARKS ARE A REAL PART OF HOW PEOPLE KIND OF ORGANICALLY COME TOGETHER.
AND I, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S INTERESTING THAT THE FIRST REAL ISSUE THAT STARTED ANC WAS A DISPUTE OVER WHETHER OR NOT TO BUILD A PRIVATE, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, TO TAKE SOME PUBLIC LAND THAT WAS DEDICATED TO A PARK AND PRIORITIZE IT FOR PROFIT.
AND THAT WAS THE FIRST, UH, UNITING ISSUE THAT, THAT GENERATED THE ANC.
AND, UH, THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT JOANNE BARTS DID.
UM, AND SHE WANTED THE AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOODS COUNCIL TO BE BASICALLY WHAT THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IS TO BUSINESS IN AUSTIN, TO PROVIDE SOME ADVOCACY AND BUILD COMMUNITY AROUND, UH, WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOW TO, TO, UH, DEFEND NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, INITIATIVES AND NEIGHBORHOOD PERSPECTIVES AGAINST MOSTLY BUSINESS, UM, COMPETING INTERESTS IN BUSINESS.
SO WE DO A LOT OF ADVOCACY ON THAT LEVEL.
UH, WE ARE MOSTLY AN EDUCATIONAL, UH, ORGANIZATION THAT WE PROVIDE A TON OF CIVIC EDUCATION.
MANY OF THE PEOPLE AT ANC HAVE BEEN
[00:35:01]
AT ANC AND IN WORKING IN CITY, UH, WITH THE CITY AND, UH, AGAINST THE CITY, IN SOME CASES FOR, YOU KNOW, 40 YEARS, UM, WE DO QUITE A BIT OF POLICY EDUCATION AND, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF POLICY ANALYSIS, A TON OF LAND USE EDUCATION, AND REALLY TRYING TO, TO THREAD THE NEEDLE BETWEEN, UM, SMART AND, UM, RESPONSIBLE GROWTH AND OUT OF CONTROL GROWTH, UH, CONNECTING COUNCIL WITH NEIGHBORHOODS.UM, YOU KNOW, WE DO TRY TO BUILD BRIDGES BETWEEN COUNCIL MEMBERS, EVEN COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT, UM, HAVE POLICY PERSPECTIVES THAN THE ANC WITH THE COMMUNITIES THAT THEY REPRESENT, WHETHER THEY'RE, UM, ALIGNED IN THEIR VALUES OR NOT.
UM, WE'VE BEEN A CHAMPION OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, UH, SINCE THE FOUNDING OF MANY OF THE PEOPLE IN ENC WORK, HUGE PART OF THE SAVE OUR SPRINGS ALLIANCE OR SUPPORTED, UM, THINGS LIKE BARTON SPRINGS, UH, WAY BACK IN THE EIGHTIES.
AND, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE, UH, COMMISSION IS EQUITY AND POLITICAL EQUITY.
UM, MANY NEIGHBORHOODS DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO COMPETE WITH THE VESTED INTERESTS, THAT FUND CAMPAIGNS THAT, UM, THAT, UH, PROVIDE THE CAPITAL TO START POLICY INITIATIVES AND FREQUENTLY THEY'RE LEFT KIND OF ON THEIR OWN, UM, WITHOUT, UH, RESOURCES TO, UH, NEGOTIATE BETTER SETS OF CIRCUMSTANCES FOR THEMSELVES, AND THEY CAN GET FAIRLY PUSHED AROUND.
SO WITH ALL THAT SAID, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR MANTRA IS STRENGTH THROUGH UNITY AND THE AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOODS COUNCIL WOULD NOT ULTIMATELY EXIST WITHOUT A, UH, YOU KNOW, LARGE GROUNDSWELL OF ACTIVE PEOPLE WHO ARE, UH, CONTINUOUSLY ASKING, UH, THE CITY WHAT'S NEXT.
THE WAY THAT THEY NC IS ORGANIZED IS, YOU KNOW, I THINK YOU PROBABLY SEE, UH, SOME SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE DISTRICT MAP AND THIS MAP, THIS MAP WAS ACTUALLY DRAWN QUITE A LONG TIME AGO, UM, FAR BEFORE THE DISTRICT MAPS WERE EVEN BEING CONSIDERED.
UM, BUT IT, IT MIRRORS SOME OF THOSE, UH, THOSE SAME ASPECTS.
CAUSE WE DID TRY TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE WAS ADEQUATE AND EQUAL REPRESENTATION THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, AND THAT NO ONE DISTRICT, UH, WOULD ESSENTIALLY CONTROL THE ANC.
AND SO YOU CAN SEE THAT ALL OF THE SECTOR REPRESENTATIVES ARE ACTUALLY RESIDENTS OF THOSE, UH, OF THOSE AREAS.
ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT, UM, W UH, THE, THE COMMISSION SENT ME WAS, UH, DOES THE ANC, UH, ALLOW RENTERS, WHICH, UM, WAS A STRANGE QUESTION FOR ME.
I WAS A RENTER WHEN I JOINED THE ANC.
UH, I WAS ACTUALLY A RENTER WHEN I WAS ON, WHEN I DID MY FIRST, UH, YOU KNOW, YEAR ON THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL.
AND WE HAVE, UH, QUITE A LOT OF RENTERS.
WE ACTUALLY ADVOCATE THAT, UM, REPRESENTATIVES THAT ARE SENT FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS THAT, THAT BUILD ANC THAT COMPRISE AND SEE HAVING THEIR BYLAWS, UH, RESERVED SEATS FOR RENTERS.
UM, WE ASKED THAT THEY ACTIVELY ENGAGE THEM AND AS AUSTIN BECOMES A PRINTER MAJORITY, UH, YOU KNOW, LED AND BUILT COMMUNITY, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT, UH, RENTERS, REGARDLESS OF HOW OFTEN THEY'RE CHANGING RESIDENTS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS, THE SAME WAY THAT A HOMEOWNER WOULD.
UM, SO WE DO OUR BEST TO ATTEND TO THAT.
HOWEVER, THERE ARE, UM, QUITE A LOT OF HEADWINDS FOR FOLKS THAT RENT IN TERMS OF LONG-TERM STABILITY AND JOINING COMMUNITIES FOR, YOU KNOW, MANY YEARS IS USUALLY WHAT IT TAKES TO ACTUALLY BECOME KIND OF GROUNDED IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS, POLITICAL PICK A DELOS.
UM, I'M SURE MANY OF YOU CAN ATTEST IF YOU'VE TRIED TO, TO, TO JOIN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, THAT THEY CAN BE A LITTLE STRANGE SOMETIMES.
SO REALLY MOST OF OUR PERSPECTIVE ABOUT WHAT IS A NEIGHBORHOOD COMES FROM THE CITY'S OWN DESIGNATION OF WHAT A NEIGHBORHOOD IS.
AND SO WHILE AT ANC, WE DO TEND TO THINK OF IT MORE AS AN ORGANIC FORMATION OF PEOPLE IN AN ADDED A GEOGRAPHIC AREA THAT HAS, UM, CONSISTENT, UH, PERSPECTIVE ON THE LANDMARKS AND THINGS AROUND THEM.
UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE THEIR SCHOOLS OR THEIR PARKS OR THE STREET THAT RUNS THROUGH THEIR, THEIR, THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.
UM, THE WAY THAT THE CITY HAS ACTUALLY ORGANIZED NEIGHBORHOODS IS
[00:40:01]
SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.PRETTY MUCH ANYONE CAN ESTABLISH A NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARY AND CALL THEMSELVES A NEIGHBORHOOD.
UM, YOU CAN GO TO THE COMMUNITY REGISTRY AND DO THAT.
UM, YOU CAN, UH, REPRESENT A VERY SMALL NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS AND STILL BE CALLED A, UH, A NEIGHBORHOOD FOR THE AGENCY.
UM, WE ACTUALLY REQUIRE THAT YOU HAVE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS AND REGULAR MEETINGS, UM, AND THAT YOU ARE, UH, ACCOUNTABLE TO THE PEOPLE THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSEDLY REPRESENTING.
THE CITY DOESN'T REALLY REQUIRE THAT THOUGH IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING PROCESS THAT WAS CREATED IN THE NINETIES, THE CITY SAID, WELL, THERE ARE A CORE NUMBER OF, OF, AND REMEMBER THESE MAPS WERE DRAWN IN THE NINETIES, A LOT'S HAPPENED SINCE THEN.
THERE WERE CORE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT COULD COME TOGETHER AND THREES OR FOURS OR FIVES TO MAKE UP THESE PLANNING AREAS.
AND THE CITY CREATED THESE KINDS OF SUPER, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS MADE UP OF, UM, SMALLER NEIGHBORHOODS TO DO ACTUAL PLANNING PROCESS.
AND SO A LOT OF THE, THE NEIGHBORHOOD POLITICS THAT I THINK PEOPLE SEE ARE, YOU KNOW, A J GENESIS HERE IN THIS PROCESS.
SO EACH OF THESE AREAS ACTUALLY HAVE A QUASI GOVERNMENTAL, UM, PLANNING, UH, UM, COMMISSION KIND OF, UM, THE, THE, THE WORD FOR THAT IS ESCAPING ME, BUT THEY MAKE NEIGHBORHOOD PLANS.
THEY, UH, THEY PLAN FOR LAND USE AND THE CITY RECOGNIZES THOSE FORMALLY AS THE FLOMS THE FUTURE LAND USE MAPS.
UM, THERE ARE HUGE SETBACKS TO LOOKING AT NEIGHBORHOODS JUST THROUGH THIS LENS, THOUGH, OF COURSE IT COMPLETELY NEGLECT, UH, THE VAST MAJORITY OF NEIGHBORHOODS.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, ABOUT 70% OF ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN AUSTIN PROBABLY DO NOT LIVE IN, UM, A PLANNED, YOU KNOW, AN AREA THAT'S DONE PLANNING.
UM, AND YOU'LL SEE THAT MANY OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE MUCH MORE ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY PROCESS AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, UM, IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS.
AND SO FREQUENTLY THEY HAVE, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF AN UPPER HAND ON GETTING TO A PLANNING COMMISSION OR A, UH, CITY COUNCIL MEETING WITH, UM, POLICY IN HAND.
SO WHY DOES THAT MATTER? UM, WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KEEP THESE NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER? I THINK WAS THE OTHER QUESTION THAT I GOT FROM THE COMMISSION? WELL, THERE'S A COUPLE OF WAYS TO THINK ABOUT THIS ONE, UM, NEIGHBORHOODS ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, ORGANICALLY FORM AND THEY'RE PART OF A COHESIVE, UH, COMMUNITY THAT'S, I THINK A LITTLE BIT MORE REAL THAN AN ARBITRARY BOUNDARY THOUGH.
A THEORIAL A THEORIAL AS IT COULD BE, UM, ESPECIALLY FOR NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HAVE YET TO KIND OF COALESCE IN THE SAME WAY THAT MANY OF THESE COORDINATED HOODS FAB.
THE OTHER THING IS, IS THAT, ESPECIALLY FOR THE CORE NEIGHBORHOODS, IF YOU DECIDE TO SPLIT THEM, I'M CONCERNED ABOUT IMBALANCE OF POWER AND, AND EQUITY ISSUES THAT COULD CAUSE, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW, MANY OF THESE NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE, UM, A HUGE ADVANTAGE TO AREAS THAT ARE LESS ESTABLISHED AND LESS, UH, UNITED IN THEIR ABILITY TO TAKE ACTION, SPLITTING THEM UP WILL FREQUENTLY CREATE A SITUATION WHERE THEY'LL HAVE ACCESS TO, YOU KNOW, MORE COUNCIL MEMBER ATTENTION.
SO I HOPE THAT THE COMMISSION CAN KEEP AN EYE ON THE EQUITY THAT COMES FROM, UM, PAIRING THESE ESTABLISHED AREAS AND, UH, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY WEALTHIER AREAS, UH, EQUITABLY.
SO THEY DON'T ROUND OUT AREAS THAT DON'T HAVE THE SAME RESOURCES OR HAVE HAD AS LONG TO DEVELOP THEIR COMMUNITIES.
UM, I THINK WHEN I GOT ASKED TO DO THIS, YOU KNOW, I, I'VE HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A RECONNECT WITH MYSELF BACK IN 2013 WHEN I STARTED AT ANC AND I KIND OF WENT BACK AND LOOKED AT SOME OF THE, YOU KNOW, THE OLD ARTICLES THAT WERE PUBLISHED THEN.
AND ONE OF OUR OLD PRESIDENTS, UH, STEVE OLIMAN, UH, SAID SOMETHING IN THE CHRONICLE THAT ACTUALLY RESONATED WITH ME.
THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WERE SAYING THAT TEN ONE WAS PROBABLY A BAD IDEA AND THAT IT WOULD IN, YOU KNOW, CREATE WARD POLITICS, WHICH ALWAYS SOUNDED LIKE A BIT OF A DOG WHISTLE TO ME.
UM, AND STEVE REALLY WAS STRUCK BY THE DIVERSITY OF NEIGHBORHOODS THAT HE HAD TO DRIVE THROUGH.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, BEFORE COVID, WHEN I WAS VISITING NEIGHBORHOOD MEETINGS REGULARLY, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU DRIVE ACROSS AUSTIN AND IT IS A VERY DIVERSE PLACE.
[00:45:01]
IT HAS A LOT OF PERSPECTIVE DIFFERENCES DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE AND WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO.UM, AND YOU KNOW, THIS LAST PART OF IT, UH, I WAS PERSONALLY HIT BY HOW IMPORTANT IT WAS TO ENSURE THAT NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE A VOICE IN POLITICS IN AUSTIN.
UM, THAT'S ABOUT AS CLOSE TO GROUND ROOTS GRASSROOTS, AS I THINK YOU GET RIGHT NOW, UM, IS THE ACTUAL NEIGHBORHOODS, YOU KNOW, MANY WHICH THE AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOODS COUNCIL, UH, DOES NOT SERVE ARE STILL NEED TO BE REPRESENTED, YOU KNOW, IN, IN ANOTHER ASSOCIATION OR, UH, BEING ABLE TO BE RECOGNIZED EASILY BY THEIR COUNCIL MEMBER AND NOT HAVE TO COMPETE FOR THAT ATTENTION WITH OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO, UM, YOU HAVE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT WORK TO DO THERE, TO ESTABLISH, YOU KNOW, UH, POLITICAL EQUITY ACROSS THE NEIGHBORHOODS.
UH, DO NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS HAVE THEIR OWN BOUNDARY MAPS WAS A QUESTION THAT YOU GUYS SENT ME AND YES, UH, THEY DO.
THE CITY ACTUALLY MAINTAINS ALL OF THE, UH, MAPS THAT NEIGHBORHOODS SUBMIT AND UNDERSTAND THAT.
UH, I THINK THERE ARE, THERE ARE OVER 300 OF THEM.
THERE PROBABLY AREN'T 300 ACTIVE NEIGHBORHOODS RIGHT NOW IN AUSTIN AT THE ANC WE HAVE AROUND 50 ACTIVE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE PARTICIPATING AT ANCY.
THAT'S BEEN AS HIGH AS 85 IN THE PAST.
AND THAT PROBABLY REPRESENTS NOW PEAK OF, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE UNDER 200,000 HOUSEHOLDS.
BUT, UM, THE WAY THAT THE CITY DEFINES A NEIGHBORHOOD IS LIKE I SAID, VERY LOOSE AND THE WAY THAT CITY, THAT NEIGHBORHOODS REPORT THEIR BOUNDARIES AND THEIR, UH, THEIR HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION IS, UM, FAIRLY LOOSE.
SO THESE ARE PRETTY HIGH LEVEL ESTIMATES, UH, AND THEY DO GET TO DECLARE THEIR OWN BOUNDARIES, WHICH CAN OVERLAP WITH OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO YOU HAVE, YOU WOULD HAVE YOUR WORK CUT OUT FOR YOU A LITTLE BIT IN THAT PROCESS.
UM, I HOPE I ANSWERED ALL OF THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU GUYS SENT AND, UH, WOULD BE HAPPY TO, TO ANSWER ANY OTHER QUESTIONS.
AND JUSTIN, I'M SURE WE HAVE PLENTY OF QUESTIONS.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE, BUT I'M GOING TO LET EVERYONE ELSE CHART.
AND, UM, I SEE A GENTLEMAN'S HAND, UH, SIR, THIS IS, THESE ARE QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMISSIONERS TO ASK MR. IRVING AT TIME.
WELL, I WAS ASKED BY, UH, JUSTIN TO, UH, TO JOIN THIS CONVERSATION AS A MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE VACANCY.
AND SO JUSTIN IS APPROPRIATE FOR ME TO NOW SAY THE THINGS I'D LIKE TO SAY.
I THINK YOU HAVE TO BE RECOGNIZED BY THE CHAIR.
I, I, I MUST'VE MISSED THAT PART.
UM, UH, PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF, SIR.
AND, UM, AND IF YOU COULD JUST KEEP IT BRIEF, I WANTED TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMISSIONERS TO ASK QUESTIONS, BUT, UM, BUT YES, PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF.
I LIVE IN DISTRICT THREE, I'M THE CHAIR OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION AND THE CHAIR OF MY CONTACT TEAM AND GO VALLEY JOHNSON TERRORISTS ON THE EAST SIDE.
UH, I AM ALSO, UH, ONE OF FOUR, UH, MINORITY, UH, MEMBERS OF THE AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOODS, COUNCIL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.
AND I, UM, UH, I ASKED FOR YOUR INDULGENCE BECAUSE THIS COMMISSION, UM, WHAT YOU'RE DOING TODAY IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN WHEN THE, WHEN THE TEN ONE STARTED.
AND I WAS PART OF THE TEN ONE COALITION THAT CREATED THIS, THIS EFFORT.
AND SO I HAVE A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT I'D LIKE TO SAY TO Y'ALL, BUT FIRST I WOULD, I WOULD SAY THAT THAT THIS COMMISSION SHOULD BE INFORMED BY THE EQUITY OFFICE AND THE HISTORY OF SYSTEMIC RACISM IN AUSTIN.
UH, WHO WAS IT? ONE OF THE, UH, ONE OF Y'ALL A COUPLE OF Y'ALL TALKED ABOUT THE WATERSHEDS.
NOW, IF YOU LOOK AT THE WATERSHEDS ALL EVERYWHERE, WHERE IT FLOODS, IT'S PEOPLE OF COLOR EVERYWHERE WHERE IT DOESN'T FLOOD IN WEST AUSTIN, IT'S WIDE AUSTIN.
SO AUSTIN HAS A LEGACY OF SYSTEMIC RACISM THAT YOU ALL NEED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT AS YOU REDRAW THESE LINES, BECAUSE THE, THE MINORITY DISTRICTS ESPECIALLY NEED TO NEED ATTENTION TO MAINTAIN A MINORITY PARTICIPATION BECAUSE SINCE TEN ONE WAS CREATED TO TODAY, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF MIGRATION OF WHITE PEOPLE INTO TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOODS OF COLOR AND THAT'S CHANGING.
AND IN MY DISTRICT, WE OPPOSE HAVING OUR DISTRICT THREE SHARE, UH, UM, UH, UM, AREA WITH WEST AUSTIN.
IN OTHER WORDS, DISTRICT THREE IN
[00:50:01]
GO VALLEY, UH, GO VALLEY CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN MONTOPOLIS WAS PAIRED UP WITH, UH, CENTRAL, UH, WITH, WITH, UH, WEST AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOODS ON THE OTHER SIDE AND OUR NEEDS, OUR CRITERIA, OUR, UH, OUR POLITICAL PUSH ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.I WANT TO HEAR FROM MY ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER QUICKLY, I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT.
UM, BUT THAT'S NOT PART OF THE PROCEDURE.
UM, SO I DO NOT THINK, I THINK WE SHOULD GET HIM ON THE SCHEDULE, BUT HE WASN'T SCHEDULED TO BE ON THIS FORUM OR THIS, I CONSIDER WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT HERE AS OBSTRUCTIONIST AND NOT ALLOWING A PERSON OF COLOR TO MAKE A POINT.
SO RESPECTFULLY, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR POINT, BUT I, UH, AS I HAD STATED EARLIER, I WAS NOT AWARE THAT THIS WAS GOING TO BE PART OF THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY IN AN EMAIL AND ALSO INVITING YOU BACK IN ANOTHER TIME TO TESTIFY, BE A PRESENTATION FROM JUSTIN IRVING.
I TRIED TWICE TO GET ON, ON TO GET TO THIS BODY.
AND TWICE ALREADY, I WAS UNABLE TO, BECAUSE OF TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES TWICE, I'VE TRIED TO TESTIFY ON THIS COMMISSION AND MR. IRVING GAVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE.
I AM ON THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF AMC.
UH, AND SO I'M A LEGITIMATE MEMBER OF THAT LEADERSHIP ORGANIZATION.
I UNDERSTAND, SIR, BUT THIS WAS A PRESENTATION FROM JUSTIN IRVING.
SO I'M GOING TO HAVE TO ASK THAT THAT WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY IS IN WRITING, OR YOU CAN TESTIFY AT ANOTHER TIME BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS IS SOME REALLY GOOD TESTIMONY THAT WE COULD HAVE SEPARATELY FROM OUR PRESENTATION ABOUT THE AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL.
I APPRECIATE THAT YOU WANT TO SPEAK WITH US AND THAT YOU'RE HERE WITH US TODAY, BUT I RESPECTFULLY ASK THAT WE DO THIS AT ANOTHER TIME, SIR.
WELL, LET'S NOT MAKE THIS DIFFICULT MAY DOWN IF YOU WANT, BUT, UH, JUST RACISM UP HERE.
THE PROCESS, THE PROCESS IS GEARED IS GEARED TO KEEP PEOPLE OF COLOR OUT OF PARTICIPATION.
WHAT I HAVE TO SAY IS VERY IMPORTANT TO Y'ALL AND YOU'RE PUTTING ME OFF.
OKAY, MR. YANNIS, I'VE GOT NOT TO HAVE TO ASK YOU TO, I'M LIKE, I'M DONE, I'M DONE.
THANK YOU, UH, MANAGER, UH, EXCUSE US THERE.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I THINK DANIEL DOES, DANIELLE HAS SOME REALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE COMMISSION AND IT WOULD BE GREAT IF AT SOME LATER DATE HE WAS AVAILABLE TO SPEAK.
UM, THIS WAS JUST NOT PART OF OUR AGENDA FOR TODAY.
UM, YOU WILL SAY THOUGH, WE ARE COMMISSION, UM, OF, OF MANY INDIVIDUALS OF COLOR, AND WE HAD COME FROM A LOT OF DIVERSE BACKGROUNDS AND WE'RE NOT TRYING TO SHUT DOWN ANY VOICE OF COLOR, UM, IN THIS COMMISSION.
SO MY APOLOGIES IF IT CAME ACROSS THAT WAY.
UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO, AGAIN, OPEN THE FLOOR FOR QUESTIONS FOR MR. IRVING.
UM, IF WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL OR ABOUT NEIGHBORHOODS AND AUSTIN AND THEIR BOUNDARIES.
UM, SO IF ANYONE HAS QUESTIONS, JUST USE THE RAISE, YOUR HAND FEATURE LIKE CHRISTIAN, I NEEDED CHRISTIANITY.
YOU HAD MENTIONED THERE ARE 50 ACTIVE NEIGHBORHOODS.
UM, IS THERE A LIST OF THEM? YEAH.
AND YOU KNOW, I, WHEN WE, WHEN WE SAY ACTIVE, WHAT WE ACTUALLY MEAN IS THAT THEY PAID DUES.
UM, THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE NEIGHBORHOODS THAT JOIN OUR MEETINGS, UH, BUT TO, TO BE A RECOGNIZED MEMBER OF THE OSS NEIGHBORS COUNCIL, YOU HAVE TO, YOU HAVE TO HAVE DEMOCRATIC PROCESS AND ELECTIONS, AND YOU MUST, UH, MEET REGULARLY.
SO MANY ORGANIZATIONS THAT WERE PREVIOUS MEMBERS, UH, COUNTY COMMISSIONER, YE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FULFILL THOSE REQUIREMENTS DURING COVID.
AND SINCE THEY'RE PART OF OUR BYLAWS, WE CAN'T, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO MOVE THEM FROM OUR RECORDS, EVEN IF THEY'RE PARTICIPANT.
I FEEL LIKE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS THAT THERE ARE MANY NEIGHBORHOODS, LEGITIMATE COMMUNITIES THAT MIGHT NOT BE REGISTERED AS ACTIVE NEIGHBORHOODS.
AND, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK YOU PROBABLY HAVE ALL WITNESSED THIS, UH, DURING, DURING THE R YOU KNOW, A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS.
THAT ENGAGEMENT IS EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.
UM, AT THIS POINT, AND EVEN, YOU KNOW, WORKING WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS
[00:55:01]
ON IMPORTANT NEIGHBORHOOD ISSUES HAS TO TAKE A SECOND, UH, SEATS TO SAFETY.UM, AND SOME NEIGHBORHOODS ARE, WERE NOT EQUIPPED EITHER THROUGH THEIR PARLIAMENTARY LIMITATIONS OR THROUGH THEIR ABILITY TO UTILIZE TECHNOLOGY, TO CONTINUE MEETINGS THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC IS YOUR CAMBA.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO QUICKLY ASK, LIKE, HOW BIG IS YOUR BOARD YOUR BODY, UM, YOU KNOW, AS YOU'RE THE PRESIDENT, LIKE HOW LARGE IS THAT? AND, UM, ARE YOU SPREAD ACROSS, WHAT DO YOU SAY ALL CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS, OR IS IT LIKE MORE LEANING TOWARDS ASSERT CERTAIN DISTRICTS? UM, IF YOU'D PERMIT ME TO SHARE THE SCREEN AGAIN, I PROBABLY DIDN'T COVER IT WELL ENOUGH.
SO, UM, IF YOU DON'T MIND, I WILL, LET'S SEE IF IT ALLOWS ME TO SHARE AGAIN, THANK YOU.
SO IF YOU'LL NOTICE, HERE ARE OUR BOARD MEMBERS, THESE ARE OUR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE COMMUNITY MEMBERS, AND THEY'RE ACTUALLY, UM, ELECTED BY THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP.
AND THE GENERAL MEMBERSHIP IS COMPRISED OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT ARE SENT FROM DEMOCRATICALLY ORGANIZED NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS.
UM, WE DON'T REALLY DO, UH, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANY MEMBERSHIPS FROM HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS.
THEY ARE ALL NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS.
AND WHILE THE DIFFERENCE MAY NOT BE IMMEDIATELY CLEAR, IT'S MOSTLY BECAUSE NEIGHBORHOODS AGAIN ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE ORGANIC AND ORGANIZED AROUND LOOSE COMMUNITY PERCEPTIONS AROUND, YOU KNOW, WHO YOUR NEIGHBORS ARE RATHER THAN, YOU KNOW, A CONDO HOA THAT ACTUALLY HAS A, YEAH, I'M PROBABLY SPEAKING TOO MUCH ABOUT THAT, BUT THE, UH, THE LONG ANSWER IS FOR THE MOST PART, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE MORE LIMITED REPRESENTATION IN SOME AREAS RIGHT NOW, ESPECIALLY SINCE, YOU KNOW, NEIGHBORHOODS ARE NOT MEETING AS FREQUENTLY AS THEY USED TO.
UM, ESPECIALLY I'VE NOTICED THAT DIS THAT ARE, UH, SECTOR 10 AND SECTOR NINE, UM, HAVE NOT BEEN WELL REPRESENTED BY US RIGHT NOW, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE WE'RE MISSING THAT REPRESENTS, UH, THAT REPRESENTATED NEWNESS AT THE EDC.
UM, PAT KING, OUR OLD PRESIDENT WAS ACTUALLY FROM DISTRICT, WAS FROM, UM, OUR SECTOR 10, UH, AND THESE LARGELY CROSS THE DISTRICT LINES IN MOST OF THE DISTRICTS.
UM, DON'T FOLLOW THESE PER SE.
EXACTLY, BUT THEY'RE FAIRLY CLOSE.
AND I THINK THAT WAS JUST A COINCIDENCE BECAUSE OUR MAPS WERE DRAWN A LONG TIME AGO.
DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? I KNOW YOU DID GO INTO THIS NOW THAT I SAY, THANK YOU.
OH, NO, I DON'T THINK I ACTUALLY DID A PARTICULARLY GOOD JOB.
THANKS FOR GIVING ME A SECOND, A SECOND BITE AT THE APPLE.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER LANDS.
I WAS, UM, UH, WELL, MR. IRVIN, I WAS A PART OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND, UM, THAT YOU WERE MAKING MENTION OF EARLIER WHEN WE WERE TRYING TO SET UP THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, UM, TRANSITIONS INTO PLANS.
AND IF YOU, I KNOW YOU REMEMBER HOW ROCKET WAS.
UM, AND, UM, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I REMEMBER, AND I, I JUST WANT YOUR INPUT ON IT IS THAT, UH, THERE WAS, THERE WAS NO ATTEMPT AT THAT TIME TO TRY AND COALESCE THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, UH, COMMISSIONS OR THE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS WITH, UH, ANYTHING THAT EVEN RESEMBLED, UH, POLITICAL, UM, UH, BOUNDARIES.
IT WAS, UH, INSTEAD MORE CORE INTO WHERE PEOPLE LIVED AND WITHOUT ANY REGARD ON THE SURFACE.
AND, UM, IS THAT THE WAY YOU SAW IT AND IS THAT, IS THAT STILL THE WAY YOU GUYS TALK ABOUT THINGS? I, I THINK THERE'S SOME TRUTH TO THAT FOR SURE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT'S CHANGED SINCE THE NINETIES.
UH, CAUSE I THINK, YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN THIS CONCEPT WAS FIRST PUT INTO ACTION, AUSTIN WAS A VERY DIFFERENT PLACE THAN IT IS TODAY.
UM, BUT THIS, THE CITY HAS KIND OF MAINTAINED THIS STRUCTURE, UH, WITHOUT A WHOLE LOT OF ATTEMPTING ATTENTIVENESS TO UPDATING IT.
AND I THINK THAT IT'S HARD TO SAY WHAT THAT COMPOSITION IS AND NOWADAYS I CAN, I MEAN, I CAN ONLY SPEAK FROM MY LIVED EXPERIENCE THAT AUSTIN IS BECOMING A MORE HOMOGENIZED
[01:00:01]
PLACE.AND, UM, THAT I THINK YOU SEE IN THE CENSUS NUMBERS, UM, I THINK YOU SEE THAT IN THE GENIE SCORES OF OUR ZIP CODES, I THINK THAT YOU SEE THAT, UH, IN A LOT OF PLACES, DOES THAT MEAN THAT THIS PLAN IS MAYBE BETTER THAN IT WAS BACK IN THE NINETIES? I CAN'T, I CAN'T SAY THAT.
CAUSE I DON'T THINK ANY OF US WOULD THINK THAT THOSE ASPECTS OF AUSTIN ARE THINGS THAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN MAINTAINING THE STATUS QUO OR THE DIRECTIONALITY THAT IT'S CURRENTLY ON.
BUT THAT'S MY PERSPECTIVE AND MY LIVED EXPERIENCE.
I DON'T REALLY HAVE, UM, MUCH MORE TO BRING TO THAT.
I HOPE THAT ANSWERED YOUR QUESTION.
I, I THINK THAT AS WE'RE DEALING WITH, UM, WITH, UH, TRYING TO FINALIZE MAPS, ONCE WE HAVE ALL THE DATA IN PLACE THAT, UH, IT IT'S GOING TO BE IN OUR BEST INTEREST TO HEAR PEOPLE LIKE DANIEL AND OTHERS AND GIVE THEM THE FLOOR SO THAT THEY CAN MAKE REPRESENTATIONS.
I THINK THAT, UH, THIS COMMISSION, UH, UH, ITS MAKEUP, UH, REALLY, UH, CALLS FOR, UH, THAT TYPE OF BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
AND I THINK THAT WE SUFFER WHEN WE DO NOT, UH, HEAR IT, UH, EVEN IF IT'S UNCOMFORTABLE.
SO I WOULD JUST LIKE TO GO ON, UM, ON, ON RECORD AS SAYING THAT I SUPPORT THAT I REALLY THOUGHT THAT DANIEL SHOULD HAVE COMPLETED HIS COMPENSATION TODAY BECAUSE I SAW IT AS PART OF THE ANC PRESENTATION.
MADAM CHAIR, I IN LOOKING AT, UH, THE MAPS THAT WERE PRESENTED, UH, I FIND BENEFIT AND BEING ABLE TO SEE RECOGNIZABLE NEIGHBORHOOD CONSTRUCTS, SUCH AS THE GO VALLEY JOHNSTON TERRORISTS, HERITAGE HEALS.
WHEN'S A PART WHEN'S THE TERRORISTS MLK CHERRY CREEK.
AS WE LOOKING TO STRUCTURE DISTRICTS, I BELIEVE THOSE THAT NEIGHBORHOOD INFORMATION IS VITAL SO THAT WE DO NOT INADVERTENTLY, UH, CUT NEIGHBORHOODS, FRAGMENT AND NEIGHBORHOODS AND HALVES AND THIRDS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE SO THAT WE CAN ALSO TAKE CONTINUOUS NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARIES INTO CONSIDERATION AS A NATURAL BREAKING POINT WHERE ONE BEGINS AND ONE ENDS.
YOU KIND OF SHARE HARDEN CHRISTIAN, ARE YOU? WELL, I THINK THAT WHAT MAKES, WHAT COMMISSIONER HARDEN SAID WAS VERY INTERESTING AND I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW IT IS THAT WE CAN DO THAT.
UM, MY OTHER QUESTION FOR JUSTIN IS THAT, UM, UH, SO FOR ALL OF YOUR DIFFERENT SECTORS, UM, I I'M LIKE, IS THERE ANY DOCUMENTATION AS TO WHAT DIFFERENT SECTORS ARE KIND OF MOST CONCERNED WITH? HM, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, WE TAKE, SO, YES.
HOWEVER, SO WE TAKE THE NOTES OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, UM, UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE REALLY FOR MEMBER ONLY KINDS OF COMMUNICATION AND THEY'RE NOT FORMALIZED IN THE MINUTES.
UM, THERE ARE REPORTS ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT NEIGHBORHOODS ARE, ARE STRUGGLING WITH, UH, IN A POLITICAL NATURE TYPICALLY, UM, THAT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE SENSITIVE THAN THAT.
WHETHER OR NOT THAT THEY WANT A NEW SIDEWALK OR, UH, THINGS LIKE THAT.
IF YOU WANT THAT INFORMATION, YOU KNOW WHAT NEIGHBORHOODS HAVE ACTUALLY FORMALIZED.
THERE ARE VERY FEW NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE RECOGNIZED BY THE CITY TO DO THIS, BUT IT'S ON THE CITIES, THEIR CITIES, UH, PAGE ABOUT, UM, THE, THE PLANNINGS ZONES AND YOU CAN SEE THEIR FLOOD COMES.
AND THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT THE CITY RECOGNIZES AND THAT THE NEIGHBORHOODS FORMALLY PUT INTO THE CITIES, YOU KNOW, PLEASE CITY, THIS IS THE ISSUE THAT WE NEED HELP WITH QUEUE.
UM, SO TH THE AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION COUNCIL PROBABLY DOES NOT HAVE THE INFORMATION THAT YOU'RE WANTING THERE, BUT THE CITY DOES.
UM, I HAD ONE QUESTION AND THAT IS, UM, HOW DOES AMC INTERACT WITH NEIGHBORHOODS
[01:05:01]
THAT ARE NOT A PART OF ANCY? THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION.SO ONE, UM, LIKE I SAID, IF, IF NEIGHBORHOODS WANT TO JOIN, IT'S A PRETTY OPEN PROCESS.
UM, THEY'VE REALLY JUST HAVE TO, UH, HAVE SOME WITH, UM, THE ADVOCACY WORK THAT WE DO, WHICH IS PRETTY GENERAL IN EMPOWERING NEIGHBORHOODS AND PUTTING EQUITY FIRST.
UM, AFTER THAT, THE, UH, THERE'S AN APPLICATION THAT YOU MUST GIVE.
AND IF YOU HAVE, IF YOU ARE A DUES COLLECTING AREA YOURSELF, WHICH SOME NEIGHBORHOODS COLLECT DUES, UM, THEN IT'S KIND OF REQUIRED THAT YOU PAY A FEE TO ANC.
IF YOU DON'T COLLECT DUES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, OR IF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD HAS, UM, EXISTING FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS, WE TYPICALLY A VOTE TO, UM, TO, UH, ALLOW A WAIVER FOR A YEAR.
UM, AND THAT CAN BE ALMOST A PERMANENT WAY WHERE THERE ARE SEVERAL NEIGHBORHOODS, ASSOCIATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ON WAIVER FOR MANY YEARS.
UM, WE'VE NEVER, UH, TURNED A NEIGHBORHOOD AWAY WHEN IT COMES TO ADVOCATING FOR A NEIGHBORHOOD THAT HAS, UM, COMMONALITIES WITH THEIR NEIGHBORS.
WE DON'T TYPICALLY TRY TO, UH, UM, RESOLVE CONFLICTS BETWEEN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS.
UM, WE'VE DONE THAT ON OCCASION, BUT MOST OF THE TIME, THOSE ISSUES ARE BETWEEN COUNCIL PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE COUNCIL MEN OR WOMAN WHO IS, UH, OR COUNCIL PERSON WHO IS, UM, YOU KNOW, THE DISTRICT REPRESENTED THE, THE DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE AND THOSE TWO NEIGHBOR HOODS, BUT WE HAVE DONE SOME MEDIATION THERE.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, CHRISTINA, I GUESS THERE ARE CLEAR POINTS AS WE, WE DON'T, UM, PRETEND TO REPRESENT ALL THE NEIGHBORHOODS IN AUSTIN.
UM, WE WOULD LIKE TO REPRESENT EVERYONE THAT, THAT HAS A COMMONALITY WITH ANC, UM, BUT WE'VE NEVER ACTUALLY SHIED AWAY FROM ADVOCATING FOR, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS THAT CAN'T, THAT DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES AND FOR WHATEVER REASON CAN JOIN ANC.
UM, OKAY, SO WE WILL, UM, IT LOOKS LIKE WE DON'T HAVE ANY MORE HANDS UP, SO WE WILL LET YOU GO, BUT THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US THIS EVENING.
UM, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR WORK.
I TH THE, THE ONLY WAY OF GOOD MAPS WE'RE GOING TO GET DRAWN IS BY A COMMISSION LIKE THIS.
AND WE ARE GOING TO TAKE A BREAK AND THE MEETING STANDS RECESS FOR FIVE MINUTES.
[01:13:28]
OKAY.THE MEETING WILL COME TO ORDER.
THE TIME OF RECESS HAS EXPIRED.
NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS ITEM TWO, A, THE DISCUSSION ON MAPPING PROCESS WITH MAPPING SPECIALIST, GEORGE CORVEL, MR. CORBELL, ARE YOU WITH US? OKAY.
SO, UM, WHAT MR. CORBELL SHARES WITH US THIS EVENING IS MEANT TO GIVE US INSIGHT IN HOW TO APPROACH OUR VOLUNTARY ONE-ON-ONE CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM, UM, IN THE COMING WEEKS.
AND JUST A REMINDER, NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN THESE INDIVIDUAL CONVERSATIONS AND THEY WILL BE RECORDED.
UM, THE CONTENT OF THE CONVERSATIONS WILL BE BROUGHT TO THE COMMISSION AT THE FOLLOWING MEETING OF A QUORUM UPON THE SECOND REVIEW OF PRELIMINARY MAPS.
UM, SO WE'RE JUST GOING TO DISCUSS TODAY, UM, SOME UPDATES FROM MR. KORBEL, AND AGAIN, JUST WAYS TO ENGAGE IN THESE CONVERSATIONS IF YOU CHOOSE TO PARTICIPATE IN THEM.
UM, MR. POURABLE, THE FLOOR IS YOURS.
UM, UM, UH, MADAM CHAIR, UM, I, UM, I WAS REALLY INTERESTED IN THAT MAP OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS, BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE HOW, UM, HOW CLOSELY,
[01:15:01]
UH, THE PEOPLE WHO DREW THESE MAPS, UH, SEVEN YEARS AGO, FOLLOWED THOSE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS.AND, UM, UM, I'VE DISCUSSED THIS WITH SOME OF YOU WHO'VE ASKED THE QUESTION, SHOULD WE START OVER FROM SCRATCH, OR SHOULD WE TRY AND MAKE CHANGES IN THE EXISTING, UH, DISTRICTS AND WHERE IT'S CLEAR THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO FOLLOW ONE OF YOUR, UM, UM, PRIMARY, UM, UH, GOALS? I THINK PROBABLY WE HAVE TO MAKE AS FEW CHANGES AS POSSIBLE, UM, AND, UH, ONLY MAKE ONLY MAKE OTHER CHANGES WHEN IT WOULD, UM, UH, COME CLOSER TO FOLLOWING GOALS.
UM, AND, UH, WE'VE RECEIVED, UM, UH, TWO MAPS FROM THE CITY.
UH, ONE MAP IS OF THE ENTIRE CITY.
AND, UM, THE OTHER MAP IS OF THE DISTRICTS.
AND THERE IS A, UH, THERE IS A DISCREPANCY, A SMALL DISCREPANCY BETWEEN THE POPULATION OF THE CITY MAP, THE GROSS CITY MAP, AND, UM, ABOUT FOUR, UH, 1,545 PEOPLE AND THE TOTAL OF THE SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS.
AND, UM, UM, SO WHAT I DID WAS I AM THE DATA IS NOT AVAILABLE YET ON THE STATE'S COMPUTERS.
AND SO I IMPORTED THE DATA INTO A, UH, ANOTHER, ANOTHER MAPPING SYSTEM.
AND, UM, UM, I SATISFIED MYSELF THAT THERE WAS THAT THERE WAS THAT DEVIATION, UM, OR, AND 1,554 PEOPLE MAY NOT SOUND LIKE MUCH IN THE CITY OF A MILLION, BUT WERE, WERE REQUIRED.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN REDISTRICTING IS POPULATION EQUALITY.
AND, UM, THEN HAVING DISTRICTS THAT ARE CONTIGUOUS AND WE DON'T WANT TO DRIVE DISTRICTS THAT WOULD EXCLUDE POPULATION, THAT IT WOULD BE NON-CONTIGUOUS.
I COULD SEE WHERE THAT YOU COULD GET INTO SOME MAJOR LITIGATION OVER THAT, AND A WHILE THEY PROBABLY WOULD FIX YOUR FIX YOUR PLAN.
NEVERTHELESS, UM, A COURT MIGHT FIX YOUR PLAN.
NEVERTHELESS, YOU RUN THE RISK OF LOSING THE ENTIRE PLAN.
SO, UM, UH, WHAT I, UH, I BROUGHT UP THE DISTRICTS IN, UM, THIS ALTERNATIVE SOFTWARE AND THERE ARE THREE DISTRICTS, THREE, FOUR, AND A 10 THAT COULD BE LEFT THE SAME, THEY'RE WITHIN A, A REASONABLE POPULATION, DEVIATION RANCH, AND THERE ARE, MOST OF THE OTHER DISTRICTS ARE, UM, THE CHANGES REALLY DON'T HAVE TO BE THAT GREAT.
THE, UH, ONE DISTRICT, WHICH I BELIEVE TO BE DISTRICT FOUR, UM, HAS, UH, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO ADD ABOUT 10,000 PEOPLE TO THAT, BUT OTHERWISE WE'RE IN THE THREE, FOUR AND 6,000 RANGE, UH, FOR THE, UM, FOR THE OTHER DISTRICTS.
SO, UM, UM, WHAT I WOULD, UM, WHAT I WOULD PROPOSE THAT WE DO IS THAT, UM, AS SOON AS THE STATE HAS, UM, THEIR, UM, COMPUTER AVAILABLE AND THEY SAY, IT'S GOING TO BE AVAILABLE ON SEPTEMBER 1ST.
UM, I WILL GO AHEAD AND IMPORT THESE MAPS INTO THE STATE SYSTEM.
IN FACT, I'VE ALREADY DONE THAT.
AND, UM, THEN I WILL, UH, PROVIDE YOU WITH A SUMMARY OF WHAT THE RESULTS ARE, AND I SUSPECT THE RESULTS WILL BE VERY, VERY SIMILAR TO THE RESULTS THAT WE'VE DONE THAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR.
UM, AND, UM, THEN I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE MYSELF AVAILABLE TO MEET WITH YOU, TO GET YOUR IDEAS.
NORMALLY, WHEN WE DO OUR REDISTRICTING, LIKE THIS, WE'RE HIRED BY THE, UM, ELECTED BODY BY THE CITY COUNCIL OR SCHOOL BOARD OR COUNTY COMMISSION, AND THEY HAVE PARTICULAR GOALS IN MIND.
UM, ONE OF WHICH IS MAKING SURE THAT, UM, THE, WHATEVER POLITICAL, UH, GROUP THEY BELONG TO, THAT THEY CONTINUE TO HAVE, UM, SOME, UH, SOME ACCESS TO POWER.
UM, YOURS IS A MUCH DIFFERENT IS A MUCH DIFFERENT, UM, CIRCUMSTANCE, BUT I REALLY THINK WE OUGHT TO HANDLE IT THE SAME WAY.
I LIKE TO MAKE MYSELF AVAILABLE TO THE CONCEPT, UH, TO THE CITY COUNCILMAN, FOR EXAMPLE, AND I'LL LET THEM LOOK AT THE MAPS AND GIVE ME WHATEVER IDEAS THEY HAVE.
AND OFTEN THEY WILL ASK QUESTIONS THAT, UM, THEY WERE HESITANT TO ASK IN A GENERAL FORUM OR, UM, THEY DIDN'T WANT TO BE EMBARRASSED ABOUT ASKING THEM.
[01:20:01]
AND DEAL WITH VIRTUALLY ANY QUESTION, ANY QUESTION THAT YOU HAVE, AND THEN YOUR IDEAS, THE WAY I WOULD PROPOSE THAT THESE MEETINGS START, UM, 45 MINUTES IS USUALLY, UM, A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT, UH, MEETING LIKE THIS, BUT THAT WE PUT THE MAP UP AND SAY, UH, THIS DISTRICT NEEDS TO HAVE IN THE AREA THAT YOU'RE REPRESENTING NEEDS TO HAVE, UM, UH, 2000 PEOPLE ADDED, WHERE DO YOU SUGGEST THAT WE GET THEM FROM, AND WHY DO YOU SUGGEST THAT WE GET THEM FROM, AND THEN THE DISCUSSION COULD GO ON FROM THERE.UM, AND THEY COULD GIVE ME THEIR IDEAS AS TO WHAT THEY THINK SHOULD BE DONE.
UM, AND THEN I WOULD PUT ALL THOSE IDEAS TOGETHER WITH ALL THE IDEAS THAT WE'VE GOTTEN SO FAR FROM ALL OF THESE MAPS THAT PEOPLE HAVE FILLED OUT DURING THE HEARINGS AND ALL OF THE OTHER INPUT THAT WE'VE HAD.
AND I WILL TRY AND COME UP WITH A PLAN THAT, UM, UH, DOES AS MUCH AS I CAN SEE TO, UH, DO AS TO FOLLOW ALL OF THE SUGGESTIONS.
AND THEN I, I CAN PROPOSE THAT TO YOU, AND THEN YOU CAN LOOK AT IT AND YOU CAN AGAIN, MAKE SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGES IN THE END.
AND, UM, UM, THERE IS A, THERE ARE SOME SOFTWARE THAT ARE AVAILABLE IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN TRYING TO DRAW THE MAPS YOURSELF.
UM, AND, UH, IF YOU WANT, IF SOMEBODY WANTS TO GIVE ME A CALL ABOUT THOSE, I'LL BE GLAD TO MAKE SOME SUGGESTIONS, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS GETTING IT GOING, THEY'RE FAIRLY SIMPLE, BUT IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS GETTING IT BORING, I'LL BE GLAD TO, UM, UM, UM, HELP YOU OUT ON THAT.
UM, LET ME, LET ME SEE MY NOTES.
WHAT ELSE I WAS GOING TO SAY? OKAY.
SO THE MAPPING SOFTWARE THAT THAT IS USED, UM, MUCH OF IT IS BASED ON, UM, ON THE SAME, UH, SYSTEM THAT THE, THAT THE STATE THAT, UH, AUSTIN USES ESRA AND, UM, UM, SOME OF THE OTHER SOFTWARE THAT IS, THAT IS A COMMUNITY BASED, UM, IS BASED ON, IS BASED ON SOME OTHER PROCEDURES.
UM, BUT THEY'RE ALL, THEY'RE ALL PRETTY ACCURATE AND I'VE SEEN MAPS, GOOD MAPS ARE OFFERED IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES OF SOFTWARE.
UM, AND I'LL BE GLAD TO ANSWER, ANSWER ANY OF YOUR QUESTIONS.
AND, UM, JUST A CLARIFICATION.
UH, ARE WE GOING TO SEE MORE OF THIS DATA, UM, NEXT WEEK, THE DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN OF THE DISTRICTS, UM, WITH THE 2020 CENSUS DATA WE COULD, BUT I WOULD REALLY RATHER PUT IT OFF ANOTHER WEEK TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WHAT WE HAVE IS GOING TO BE, UM, UM, THE SAME AS WHAT THE STATE, WHAT THE STATE IS GOING TO BE USING.
THAT'S IMPORTANT FOR A NUMBER OF REASONS, ONE OF WHICH IS THAT, UM, UNDER THE STATE HOUSE, SO HAAS PLAN TO, UH, HAVE YOUR CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS MAKE AN ALMOST PERFECT STATE HOUSES.
SO, UM, YOUR CONSOLE DISTRICTS WILL LIKELY BECOME BUILDING BLOCKS FOR THE, UM, FOR THE RE STATE REDISTRICTING.
BUT I CAN, I MEAN, I'D BE GLAD TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT.
I JUST HESITATE BECAUSE WE HAVE THIS, UH, SMALL DIFFERENTIAL AND POPULATION TOO, UNTIL I CAN FIGURE OUT EXACTLY WHY THAT'S, WHY THAT IS CAUSED.
AND I CAN DO THAT WITH, WITH THE STATE SYSTEM THEN I'LL, UM, UM, OR SATISFY MYSELF THAT THERE IS NO WAY TO FIGURE IT OUT.
UM, I WOULD, I WOULD REALLY RATHER, UM, WAIT UNTIL THE STATES WAS PRODUCED.
I THINK IT PROBABLY ONCE I GET ACCESS TO THAT, PROBABLY ONE OR TWO DAYS, I CAN HAVE A, UM, A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF A PLAN BECAUSE I'VE ALREADY DONE A LOT OF WORK ON THE PLAN ITSELF, SO.
UM, I SEE COMMISSIONER SCHNEIDER HAS HIS HAND UP.
THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR, MR. CORBELL.
DID I UNDERSTAND YOU CORRECTLY, OR DID I UNDERSTAND INCORRECTLY THAT YOU WILL BE CONSULTING INDIVIDUALLY WITH THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR THEIR YEP.
FOR THE COMMISSIONERS, FOR THE, UH, COMMISSIONERS ON THIS, ON THIS, UH, UM, AS FAR AS I KNOW, NONE OF THE CITY COUNCILMAN HAVE, HAVE, UH, SENT ANY INFORMATION IN OR HAVE,
[01:25:01]
UM, HAVE SOUGHT THE SPEAK BEFORE YOU, SO, UH, COMMISSIONER SCHNEIDER, I THINK THAT WITH THAT PART THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE THINKING OF, UM, THAT WAS WHEN MR. CORBELL WAS JUST KIND OF GIVING SOME EXAMPLES OF TIMES THAT HE'S WORKED WITH OTHER GOVERNING BODIES IN THE PAST WITH READ YESTERDAY.THIS IS REALLY THE ONLY BODY OF ITS KIND IN THE COUNTRY THAT IS TOTALLY, UM, SEPARATE FROM THE, UM, FROM THE ELECTED OFFICIALS.
IN MOST OTHER CASES, IT'S THE ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO APPOINT THE BODY TO, UH, DRAW THE DISTRICTS.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE VERY DIFFERENT.
UH, COMMISSIONER SCHNEIDER, I'LL COME BACK TO YOU IN JUST A MOMENT.
I WANT TO MAKE SURE WE CAN GO AROUND THE ROOM IF ANY OTHER PEOPLE HAVE QUESTIONS.
AND THEN, AND THEN I PROMISE I'LL GET BACK TO YOU KRISHNA CAMPBELL.
UM, HI, I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS IN AN EMAIL, BUT CAN YOU REMIND ME MADAM CHAIR, WHOEVER ELSE, MR. KORBEL, UM, WHEN WE'LL BE DOING THE INDIVIDUAL CONSULTING OR IF WE CAN GO AHEAD AND, UM, SIGN UP FOR THAT LATER, LIKE AFTER THE INFORMATION COMES THROUGH.
SO, UH, I'LL LET MR HERBAL ANSWER THIS, BUT I THINK IT REALLY DEPENDS ON WHEN WE GET THE STATE DATA.
UH, YOU'RE UNDER, UH, YOU'RE UNDER A GREAT, UM, A GREAT PREJUDICE BECAUSE ALL THIS DATA SHOULD HAVE BEEN AVAILABLE BACK IN FEBRUARY AND WE WOULD BE IN MARCH OR EARLY APRIL AT THIS POINT.
SO WE WOULD HAVE LOTS OF TIME TO DRAW THE PLANS.
UM, WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF TIME NOW, UH, BUT I ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET OFF THE, THAT WE GET THE PLANS DRAWN, UM, UM, AS, AS CLOSE TO FINAL AS POSSIBLE.
SO THAT, UM, WHEN YOU FINALLY ADOPT YOUR PLAN AND YOU'RE SATISFIED THAT YOU'VE HAD YOUR SAY ON EVERYTHING, UH, VICE CHAIR GONZALEZ.
MY FIRST QUESTION IS PRETTY SIMPLE AND THEN I'LL, I'LL WAIT, I DO HAVE A SECOND ONE, BUT I'LL WAIT UNTIL AFTER AT LEAST COMMISSIONING SCHNEIDER HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ANSWER YOUR SECOND QUESTION, BUT MY FIRST QUESTION IS JUST MR. CORBO.
YOU MENTIONED SOME SOFTWARE, UM, DSRI, UH, I KNOW OF DR.
AND THEN THERE IS A TOOL, A DISTRICT ART TOOL, UM, THAT YOU COULD JUST GO AND POPULATE, UH, MAPS YOURSELF.
WHAT, WHAT SOFTWARE TOOL WILL YOU BE USING TO DRAW OUR PRELIMINARY MAPS? I'M GOING TO, I'M GOING TO, I'M GOING TO USE THE, UM, UM, A SOFTWARE THAT HE'S EITHER, UM, EXACTLY LIKE THE STATE SOFTWARE OR VERY, VERY SIMILAR TO THE STATE.
SO, UM, JUST DEPENDS ON, ON, UM, HOW MUCH ACCESS WE'RE ABLE TO GET.
I, I REALLY LIKE TO USE THE STATE SOFTWARE BECAUSE THAT RESOLVES ANY ARGUMENTS ABOUT, UM, UM, UH, ABOUT ISSUES OF WHETHER OR NOT THINGS WERE COVERED OR WHETHER OR NOT ALL THE DATA WAS, UH, WAS AVAILABLE.
UM, BECAUSE IF IT WASN'T ALL OF THE PLANS FALL, SO CHRISTINE, I SEE YOUR HAND UP AS WELL AND THEN CRUSHED HER BLANK.
AND THEN WE'LL GO BACK TO COMMISSIONER SHIRE.
UH, MR. HORRIBLE, CAN YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT ON WHY YOU DON'T WANT TO THROW OUT THE ENTIRE MAP AND START AGAIN, JUST TO EXPLAIN? YES.
UM, AGAIN, IF YOU, IF YOU LOOKED AT THOSE MAPS THAT HE SHOWED OF THE AUSTIN, UM, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, IF YOU LOOK AT COMPARE THE EXISTING MAP WITH THE AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD MAP, IT IS VERY, VERY SIMILAR.
SO IT LOOKS LIKE WHOEVER THIS PLAN INITIALLY SPENT A LOT OF TIME THINKING ABOUT HOW TO, UM, UM, DEAL WITH ISSUES OF NEIGHBORHOOD AS WELL AS ISSUES OF POPULATION AND, UM, UM, MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S NO, UM, UM, UH, UH, DISCRIMINATION AGAINST A PROTECTED CLASS.
BUT IF WE STARTED OVER, I SUSPECT WE WOULD END UP END UP AT ALMOST THE SAME SPOT WE WOULD END.
UM, UH, IF WE JUST MAKE SOME MODIFICATIONS ON THE EXISTING PLAN, I ALSO LIKE TO WHEREVER POSSIBLE, MAINTAIN, UM, UM, AS MUCH OF AN EXISTING PLAN AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE, UH, MAKING MAJOR CHANGES IN A PLAN, UM, HAS A BIG EFFECT ON TURNOUT AND ON PARTICIPATION.
AND SOMETIMES IT TAKES A ONE OR TWO ELECTIONS AFTER THE REDISTRICTING, BEFORE THE TURNOUT GETS BACKED UP TO WHERE IT WAS.
[01:30:01]
INTENT OF LIV REDISTRICTING.I DON'T THINK TO DISCOURAGE TURNOFF.
I'D ALSO LIKE TO ADD, I MEAN, ABOUT THE, THIS QUESTION ABOUT THROWING OUT MATTRESSES, MR. BLANK, I'M SORRY IF WE'RE HAVING TROUBLE HEARING YOU, IT SOUNDS MAYBE LIKE YOUR MICROPHONE IS COVERED.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? IT'S STILL VERY SOFT.
DO YOU LIKE THAT? CAN WE CAN HEAR THAT? YES.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO ADD, I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE NOTED SO FAR, ESPECIALLY AS WE'VE STARTED TO GOTTEN MORE FEEDBACK FROM THE NEIGHBORHOODS IS EITHER VERY FEW THAT ARE ASKING US FOR WHOLESALE CHANGES.
AND ULTIMATELY IT SEEMS TO ME THAT LOOKING AT THE PRIORITY LIST THAT WE HAVE TO FOLLOW, UH, IN CREATING MAPS, I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE AS COMMISSIONERS ARE REALLY PROBABLY MOST, UH, YOU KNOW, RESPONSIBLE FOR IS MAINTAINING THESE NEIGHBORHOODS GEOGRAPHY.
SO THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, THE MAP IS, ARE ALREADY REFLECTING THESE GEOGRAPHIES IN SOME WAYS I THINK, YOU KNOW, HARDENS US OR AT LEAST HARDENS ME IN TERMS OF THE PROCESS.
ONE QUESTION I HAVE FOR YOU, MR. KORBEL IS, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT THE CHARTER, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE THREE ELEMENTS OR THREE PRIORITIES ABOVE SORT OF THE, THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, YOU KNOW, MAINTAINING THE GEOGRAPHIC INTEGRITY.
OBVIOUSLY THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE DISTRICT YOU'RE GOING TO JARGON TO BE CONTIGUOUS.
SHALL WE ASSUME THAT EVERY MAP THAT YOU PRESENT US COMPLIES WITH, YOU KNOW, WHAT, IN TWO OF THE CHARTER, BASICALLY IT'S GONNA COMPLY WITH THE CONSTITUTION.
IT'S GONNA APPLY WITH ALL RELEVANT FEATURES OR, UH, RELEVANT STATUTES AND THE FEDERAL VOTING RIGHTS ACT AND ANY OTHER LAWS THAT BASICALLY WHAT YOU GIVE US A MAP, WHETHER IT'S IN AN INTERIM STATE OR WE'RE TALKING THROUGH IT, WE SHOULD ALWAYS EXPECT THAT THE OTHER ELEMENTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN SATISFIED.
UM, AND THERE ARE SOME CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE, UM, CONTIGUITY, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, CAN YOU CAN, YOU CAN HAVE DISTRICTS THAT ARE NON-CONTINUOUS AND THERE ARE UNDER SOME CIRCUMSTANCES YOU CAN HAVE ENORMOUS DEVIATION IN THE PLANS AND STILL, UM, WE WERE STILL BEEN FOUND TO BE CONSTITUTIONAL.
UM, BUT IN YOUR SITUATION, I DON'T SEE ANY OF THOSE ISSUES.
AND SO THE FIRST THING I WOULD DEAL WITH IS POPULATION AND THEN COMPACTNESS AND CONTIGUITY, AND THEN WE HAD, AND THEN WE APPLIED THE REST OF, NO, IT IS POSSIBLE.
IT IS POSSIBLE IF THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO YOU, UM, THAT THERE MAY BE SOME JUSTIFICATION FOR GOING PAST WHAT WE NORMALLY THINK OF AS, UH, UH, OUTSIDE LIMITS OF POPULATION.
IN OTHER WORDS, ABOUT 5% FROM THE IDEAL, YOUR IDEAL IS 91,000 SO MUCH.
SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT NO MATTER WHAT, WE'RE STARTING FROM A, FROM A POSITION IN WHICH WE SHOULD ASSUME THAT, YOU KNOW, THE RESPONSIBILITIES ARE BEING MET AND THAT WE CAN BASICALLY FOCUS ON THESE NEIGHBORHOODS, GEOGRAPHIES AND THE INTEGRITY FEATURE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. CORBELL REALLY QUICK.
I THINK WE'VE BEEN SAYING 96,096,000.
I'M GONNA GO OVER TO MR. SCHNEIDER, SINCE I HAD MENTIONED HIM EARLIER, AND THEN I'LL COME BACK TO MR. HARBIN AND THEN CHRISTIAN LANDS.
MY ONLY COMMENT IS TO THANK YOU, MR. CORBELL FOR DISABUSING ME IN WHAT I MISUNDERSTOOD.
I UNDERSTAND FROM THE BEGINNING THAT THE CURRENT CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE NO INPUT INTO THIS PROCESS.
NO, NO, I KNOW NONE OF THEM ACTUALLY.
UM, I THINK THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE FIRST CITY COUNCILS IN AUSTIN THAT I DON'T KNOW ANYBODY.
THANK YOU, CHRISTIAN OR HARDEN.
I PRIMARILY WANT TO CAUTION AGAINST AN AUTOMATIC LEAN UP ON THE EXISTING CONFIGURATION OF THE DISTRICTS UNTIL WE UNDERSTAND SPECIFICALLY WHAT THE CENSUS DATA, HOW IT'S GOING TO INFORM US.
WE KNOW THAT THERE'S BEEN SIGNIFICANT MIGRATION IN MINORITY POPULATIONS THAT THE HISTORICALLY MINORITY DISTRICTS, UM, THERE HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT PATTERN, UH, GENTRIFICATION.
AND SO WE MAY HAVE A SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGE ON OUR HANDS AND ENSURING THAT THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR REPRESENTATION FOR EVERYBODY, UH, WITH THE COUNCIL WHILE I THINK IT'S GOOD TO DRAW FROM
[01:35:01]
EXISTING DISTRICTS, WHAT WE CAN I TAKE, WHERE YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CENSUS DATA SUPPORTS AND INFORMS US WHETHER OR NOT THAT'S THE BEST STRATEGY FOR US.AND I THINK YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT ON THAT PRESSURE LANDS.
UM, I'D LIKE TO PIGGYBACK OFF OF, UM, COMMISSIONER HARDEN'S, UH, COMMENTS.
I BELIEVE THAT, UH, EARLY ON, UH, WE WERE APPROACHED BY THE NAACP AND, UH, AND MORE THAN THE HISPANIC COALITION REGARDING, UM, UH, THEIR INTEREST IN PROVIDING FOR US A PRESENTATION OF MAPS.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT IT IS IN OUR BEST INTEREST.
MATTER OF FACT, I'M SURE OF IT.
AND, UH, IT'S IN OUR BEST INTEREST TO, TO HEAR WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY AND HAVE THEM MAKE A PRESENTATION TO US ALSO, UM, SO THAT IT WILL, UH, GIVE US BETTER INSIGHT INTO EXACTLY HOW, HOW MUCH OF AN IMPACT OR EFFECT THAT THIS WHOLE GENTRIFICATION THING HAS HAD, UH, ON THE MINORITY COMMUNITIES, BOTH BLACK AND BROWN AND IN AT LEAST ONE OCCASION, UM, AGENT.
W I'D LIKE TO REACH OUT, HAVE US REACH OUT TO THE NAACP GROUP, COMMISSIONER, LANCE RESPECTFULLY.
I THINK MAYBE YOU, YOU HAD JOINED A MINUTE LATE, MR. PECK, YOUNG TESTIFIED IN THIS MEETING THAT THEY WILL BE PRESENTING THEIR MAPS DISTRICTS ONE THROUGH FOUR ON SEPTEMBER 8TH IN OUR MEETING, BUT HE DIDN'T HEAR ME.
HE DIDN'T HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY.
I WANT HIM TO HEAR WHAT I HAVE TO SAY, AND THAT IS THAT IT'S, IT'S GOING TO BE IMPORTANT TO US THAT WE'RE VERY CLEAR THAT THE GENTRIFICATION PROCESS DOES NOT BREAK THE, THE, UH, OPPORTUNITY DISTRICTS FOR BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE.
SO WHATEVER THEY'RE PRESENTING, THAT'S GREAT, BUT LET'S MAKE CERTAIN THAT THEY'RE DEALING WITH THIS AS A SPECIFIC PRIORITY.
WE CAN NOT AFFORD TO DISENFRANCHISE, UH, THE BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES, PARTICULARLY AS IT RELATES TO THE ANA PART OF THE CITY.
THANK YOU, MR. CALDWELL, DID YOU HAVE ANY RESPONSE TO THOSE COMMENTS? I AGREE A HUNDRED PERCENT AND WE'RE SEEING THE SAME THING ALL OVER THE STATE.
THE GENTRIFICATION IS MAKING A MUCH MORE DIFFICULT TO DRAW BLACK DISTRICTS.
UM, BUT I CAN, BUT I CAN SAY THAT, UM, UH, DAVID RICHARDS AND I PROBABLY HAVE BEEN LITIGATING ON THIS FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS AND, UH, WE'VE ALWAYS REPRESENTED, UM, UH, MINORITY PLAINTIFFS.
AND I THINK THAT IF THERE IS A WAY TO BE FAIR, UM, I'M GOING TO PROPOSE IT.
MINE WAS JUST ANOTHER CLARIFICATION QUESTION FOR US TO KORBEL.
HE NOTED THAT THERE WAS A DISCREPANCY OF ABOUT 1500, UM, IN POPULATION WITH THE DATA THAT HE RECEIVED FROM THE CITY.
MR. CORVEL, ARE YOU WORKING WITH THE CITY CURRENTLY TO KIND OF FIND OUT WHAT THAT DISCREPANCY IS? UM, WE'VE HAD THE COMMUNICATIONS, UH, WITH MATT AND, UM, I'M, I'M, I'M NOT SURE IF THEY'RE, IF WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO, UM, TO ACTUALLY, UM, SATISFY, MAKE SURE IT'S THINKING BACK ON THIS.
I'VE NEVER BEEN IN A SITUATION WHERE I'VE HAD, UH, TWO SEPARATE MAPS, A MAP OF THE ENTIRE CITY AND A MAP OF THE DISTRICTS.
SO IT'S, I SUPPOSE IT'S POSSIBLE THAT, UM, THIS WOULD COME UP MORE OFTEN, BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN A SITUATION WHERE THE TOTAL POPULATION OF THE CITY WAS NOT THE SAME.
THE TOTAL CENSUS POPULATION OF THE CITY WAS NOT THE TOTAL CENSUS POPULATION IN THE MAPS THAT ARE DRAWN.
UM, BUT AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S, UH, 1500 PEOPLE, UM, BUT THOSE COULD BE NON-CONTIGUOUS DISTRICTS AND, UM, THAT WOULD CREATE MAJOR PROBLEMS FOR YOUR PLAN.
SO THANK YOU FOR LOOKING, UH, WORKING WITH THE STUDY TO LOOK INTO THAT, SIR.
AND OTHERWISE WE'LL, WE'RE WAITING ON THE STATE DATA.
SO, UM, DO WE HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS FOR MR. POURABLE BEFORE WE MOVE ON WITH OUR AGENDA? OKAY, WONDERFUL.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME, MR. KORBEL.
UM, AND, UM, AND WE SHOULD ALL HAVE MR. PURPLE'S EMAIL.
[01:40:01]
EMAILS.UM, SO IF YOU WANT TO REACH HIM DIRECTLY, UM, THAT IS WHERE YOU CAN FIND HIM.
AND THEN MR. POURABLE, IF YOU WANT, YOU CAN MAYBE EMAIL, UH, THE COMMISSIONERS WITH, UM, FURTHER CONTACT INFORMATION AT, YOU KNOW, UM, SO I'LL LEAVE THAT UP TO YOU.
UM, SO THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE D THE DISCUSSION ABOUT IN-PERSON REGULAR MEETINGS.
THIS IS, UM, UNDER NEW BUSINESS.
UM, AND THIS IS STARTING SEPTEMBER 1ST.
SO MATT I'D LOVE, IF YOU COULD JUMP IN HERE AND PLEASE SHARE WITH EVERYONE, UM, WHAT YOU HAVE ARRANGED FOR THE ICRC, UM, THROUGH NOVEMBER, UH, IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU HAVE SOME KIND OF LOCATION SECURED AND, UM, FURTHER, I WOULD LOVE IF YOU COULD SPEAK TO A HYBRID OPTION FOR COMMISSIONERS TO, UH, ZOOM OR CALL IN.
UM, SO YEAH, SO RIGHT NOW THE GOVERNOR HAS, UM, AN EXEMPTION FOR THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT TOMA, SO THEY CAN HAVE THESE REMOTE MEETINGS, UM, THAT IS NOT BEING EXTENDED, UH, NEXT MONTH.
SO STARTING SEPTEMBER 1ST, ALL BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETINGS WILL BE IN PERSON.
UM, AND THAT'S THE, YOU KNOW, SEPARATE FIRST IS A WEEK FROM TODAY.
SO, UM, WE'VE GOT A PHYSICAL SPACE AT THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER.
ACTUALLY, IT MIGHT BE CALLED THE PERMITTING DEVELOPMENT CENTER, UM, UH, PDC, IT'S A CITY BUILDING LOCATED AT THE OLD HIGHLAND MALL SITE ON THE FIRST FLOOR, UM, TO HAVE, UH, AN IN-PERSON MEETING.
UM, AND WE'VE GOT THAT ROOM SECURED, UM, EVERY WEDNESDAY EVENING FROM, UH, SEPTEMBER 1ST TO, UM, THROUGH NOVEMBER, UM, FOR US, UM, A COUPLE OF THINGS ABOUT THE, ABOUT THOSE MEETINGS.
I'M CHECKING WITH THE, UM, CITY STAFF TO RECORD SORT OF VIDEO RECORDING MEETINGS TO SEE IF WE CAN DO THAT.
AND WHEN YOU HEAR BACK, I'M ALSO IN TO SEE IF WE CAN DO THE HYBRID MEETINGS.
UM, I'M WAITING FOR CONFIRMATION ON THAT, BUT, UM, UH, GET THE PERSON LIKE WE WILL BE ABLE TO PUT THAT TOGETHER SO WE CAN HAVE, UM, A HYBRID MEETING.
UM, BUT THERE ARE, THERE ARE I GUESS, RULES FOR THOSE HYBRID MEETINGS AND IT'S, UM, AND SO SOME OF THOSE ARE, UM, THAT THE CHAIR AND, UH, AND IDEALLY THE VICE CHAIR ARE PHYSICALLY PRESENT AT THAT MEETING.
UM, UH, SO IF THE CHAIR LAYS AT ANY TIME THAT, UH, SHE CAN TURN THE MEETING OVER TO THE VICE CHAIR OR THE VICE CHAIRS OUT THERE, SHE HAS TO TURN THE MEETING OVER TO SOMEBODY WHO'S PHYSICALLY PRESENT.
UM, IT'S A REQUIREMENT FOR QUORUM OF THE COMMISSION TO BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT.
SO FOR THE ICRC THERE'S 14 MEMBERS AND NINE MAKES UP A QUORUM.
SO NINE PEOPLE WOULD HAVE TO BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT AT THAT MEETING IN ORDER TO CONDUCT THAT MEETING.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S NO REMOTE OPTIONS FOR THE PUBLIC.
UM, THE PUBLIC WOULD HAVE TO BE IN-PERSON ALL TESTIMONY WOULD HAVE TO BE IN-PERSON AS WELL, UM, AND A COUPLE OF OTHERS.
UM, SO IF THE COMMISSIONERS ARE PARTICIPATING REMOTELY, UH, WHILE SPEAKING EACH MEMBER'S FACE MUST BE CLEARLY VISIBLE AND THE VOICE AUDIBLE TO EACH OTHER MEMBER AND TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC IN ATTENDANCE AT THE LOCATION WHERE THE FORUM IS PRESENT.
UM, AND THEN, UM, LET'S SEE, UM, YEAH, ALL PUBLIC COMMENT MUST BE TAKEN IN PERSON, SO WE'LL NOT BE A REMOTE OPTION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
AND THEN THE LAST ONE WAS, UM, OH YEAH.
AT THIS TIME, ANY INDIVIDUAL OVER THE AGE OF TWO WAS REQUIRED TO WEAR A FACE COVERING OR PRESENT AT ALL I KNOW ARE IN CITY PROPERTY.
UM, SO YEAH, SO JUST, UH, A SET OF RULES THAT ARE KIND OF GOING ALONG WITH THIS, WITH THIS IN PERSON MEETINGS AND WITH THIS OPTION THAT WE'RE, UM, WE'RE MAKING SURE WE CAN DO FOR, FOR THE FIRST ONE, WHICH WILL BE NEXT WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST AT 6:00 PM.
SO, UM, JUST TO REITERATE, WE HAVE TO HAVE A QUORUM PRESENT IN-PERSON ACCORDING TO THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT AND, UM, THAT IS NINE OF US THAT MUST RSVP TO PHYSICALLY ATTEND THE MEETINGS EACH WEEK WHILE, UH, NO MORE THAN FIVE OF US CAN, UM, RSVP TO ATTEND IN SOME KIND OF HYBRID FASHION.
IS THAT CORRECT? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, I, I WANT TO JUST STATE, UM, I DID TALK TO OUR LEGAL COUNSEL ABOUT WHAT WOULD BE THE RAMIFICATIONS IF WE JUST DIDN'T FOLLOW THAT.
AND THERE ARE MANY, UM, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, POTENTIAL FOR LAWSUITS AND, UM, THIS DEMEANOR CHARGES AND ALL
[01:45:01]
OF THIS.AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, WE, IT SOUNDS LIKE WE HAVE ONE OPTION AT THIS POINT, AND THAT IS FOR IN-PERSON GENERAL MEETINGS.
UM, WE, UH, AND MAYBE I'M JUMPING THE GUN JUST A LITTLE BIT HERE, BUT, UH, I KNOW THAT WE HAVE DISCUSSED FOR OUR PUBLIC FORUMS POTENTIALLY HAVING, UM, VIRTUAL OPTIONS THERE BECAUSE YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A QUORUM AND THERE'S NO ACTION BEING TAKEN AT PUBLIC FORUMS. SO THAT DOES OPEN UP A LITTLE BIT OF LEVERAGE THERE TO CONTINUE A VIRTUAL OPTION IN THAT CAPACITY.
UM, BUT NOT THE CASE WITH OUR GENERAL MEETINGS.
SO, UM, COMMISSIONER CAMPBELL, CAN YOU PLEASE REPEAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID ABOUT FIVE BEING AVAILABLE OVER HYBRID? ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT NINE OF US HAVE TO BE PHYSICALLY PRESENT, BUT THE OTHER FIVE CAN CHOOSE TO BE VIRTUAL? YES.
ONE TO ASK IS NOW A TIME WHERE I CAN MAKE A MOTION.
WE ENSURE THAT THERE'S NO LESS THAN SIX FEET BETWEEN ATTENDEES BE THAT COMMISSIONERS AND THE PUBLIC AND THAT WE WIPED DOWN MIKES AND OTHER EQUIPMENT BETWEEN USES FOR ALL PUBLIC MEETINGS.
DO WE HAVE A SECOND? CHRISTIAN SCHNEIDER IS SECONDED.
SO, UM, LET ME MAKE SURE I'VE GOT ALL OF THAT.
IT IS MOVED AND SECONDED THAT, UH, WE WILL HAVE MAINTAINED SIX FEET BETWEEN ATTENDEES, COMMISSIONERS PARTICIPANTS, UM, AND THAT ALL SURFACES MICROPHONES WILL BE WIPED DOWN BETWEEN USE THE FLOOR IS OPEN ANY FURTHER DEBATE, PUSHING YOUR CAMERA.
BLINK CAN Y'ALL HEAR ME A LITTLE BETTER.
I AGREE WITH, WITH ALL OF, WITH THE MOTION GENERALLY.
UH, I JUST WONDER IF WE WANT TO BE, I MEAN, I KNOW WE WANT TO BE AS STRICT AS POSSIBLE ABOUT THE SIX FEET.
I JUST WONDER IF WE'D BE OPEN TO, YOU KNOW, JUST SLIGHTLY LESS AGGRESSIVE LANGUAGE SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO BREAK OUR OWN RULES IF WE DO, OR IF THE PUBLIC CHOOSES TO BREAK OUR RULES.
UH, JUST BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN TO THESE FORUMS, I'M NOT NECESSARILY GOING OUT TO THE AUDIENCE, TELLING PEOPLE NOT TO SIT NEAR EACH OTHER IF THEY CHOOSE TO, IF THEY COME TOGETHER.
SO I JUST, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'D BE OPEN TO AT LEAST SAY, YOU KNOW, MAKE OUR BEST EFFORTS TO, TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY IS, YOU KNOW, KEEP SIX FEET OF DISTANCE, INCLUDING COMMISSIONERS FROM EACH OTHER, FROM THE PUBLIC, BUT I'M, I'M OPEN TO DISCUSS IT.
AND SO, UM, I'M SPEAKING STRICTLY FROM A MATTER OF SCIENCE AND BEST SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE AS ADVISED BY THE CDC.
AND I THINK FOR US TO DO LESS THAN THAT, UH, WOULD BE NEGLIGENT ON OUR PART.
AND SO, NO, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, DRIVE OR FORCE PEOPLE TO MOVE, BUT I BELIEVE WE HAVE A, UH, RESPONSIBILITY TO PUBLIC AND PUBLIC SAFETY THAT WHEN WE SET UP A FORUM THAT THE CHAIRS ARE SIX FEET APART.
AND THAT FOR US AS A BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS WHO YOU'RE SIX FEET APART AND A PRIMARY CONCERN IS WITH THIS DELTA VARIANT AND OUR SHORT TIME WINDOW, WE CANNOT AFFORD TO HAVE COMMISSIONERS BODY AND WE CANNOT CONTINUE OUR BUSINESS.
SO I'M LOOKING AT IT STRICTLY FROM SCIENTIFIC
[01:50:01]
PERSPECTIVES, NOT SOCIAL, NOT EMOTIONAL, NOT POLITICAL, BUT I'M ASKING THAT WE FOLLOW THE SCIENTIFIC GUIDANCE, HER HEART.AND JUST TO CLARIFY, UM, ARE YOU REFERRING TO OUR GENERAL MEETINGS, ANY MEETINGS WHERE WE ARE ENGAGING THE PUBLIC? OKAY.
SO GENERAL MEETINGS AND PUBLIC FORUMS. YES.
DID YOU STILL HAVE YOUR HAND UP FROM EARLIER OR DID YOU WANT TO KNOW? I'M SO SORRY.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DEBATE? OKAY.
UH, SO THE QUESTION IS ON THE ADOPTION OF THE MOTION THAT FOR ALL IN-PERSON MEETINGS AND FORUMS, UH, WE MAINTAIN SIX FEET BETWEEN ATTENDEES, COMMISSIONERS PARTICIPANTS, AND THAT WE WIPED DOWN ALL SURFACES BETWEEN USE, UM, THOSE IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION.
THE AYES HAVE IT AND THE MOTION IS ADOPTED.
UH, SO THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER HARDEN FOR, FOR THAT.
AND I THINK WE'VE PARTIALLY COVERED, UM, A BUSINESS ITEM ALREADY.
SO, UM, THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE E AN UPDATE FROM THE PUBLIC FORUM WORKING GROUP.
THIS INCLUDES A DISCUSSION ON IMPROVING VIRTUAL PUBLIC FORUMS, AS WELL AS A DISCUSSION ABOUT IN-PERSON FORUMS. ANSWERING QUESTIONS ASKED BY THE PUBLIC AND COVID MEETING PROTOCOLS, VICE CHAIR, GONZALEZ WILL PROVIDE THE UPDATES.
UM, AS WE PROCEED TOWARD THE END OF OUR DISTRICT FOCUSED FORUM, UH, I WANTED TO PROVIDE THIS UPDATE AS WE MOVE INTO THE FORMS THAT NEED TO TAKE PLACE WITHIN EACH COUNTY PRECINCT.
ACCORDING TO THE CHARTER, UH, THESE UPDATES DO TOUCH ON THE FEEDBACK THAT WE HEARD DURING THE AUGUST 18TH GENERAL MEETING.
AND SOME OF THEM AS, UH, SHAREPOINT DOES NOTED, UH, CAN BE DISCUSSED AND TOUCHED ON IN MORE DEPTH A LITTLE BIT LATER AFTER THIS UPDATE, UM, AFTER THE, AFTER INFORMING THE PUBLIC FORUMS, WORKING GROUP OF THE NEED TO PUSH ALREADY RESERVED THE NEW DATES BACK BY ONE WEEK, I WANT TO THANK COMMISSIONER
AND WE SCHEDULING THESE FORUMS AND I WOULD LIKE TO PROPOSE AND HOPEFULLY CONFIRM THE FOLLOWING COUNTY FORUM DATES TIMES AND LOCATIONS WITH OTHERS TO STILL BE SCHEDULED.
UH, THE FIRST ONE BEING SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH FROM 11:00 AM TO 1:00 PM AT THE
WE HAVE BEEN THERE BEFORE WITHIN DISTRICT FOUR, AND THIS VENUE IS STILL WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF TRAVIS COUNTY PRECINCT ONE.
THE SECOND ONE WOULD BE TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST, FROM SIX TO 8:00 PM AT THE MAYFIELD COTTAGE THAT IS LOCATED ON 35TH STREET.
AND THIS VENUE IS WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF TRAVIS COUNTY PRECINCT TWO.
THE THIRD ONE WOULD BE SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH FROM ONE TO 3:00 PM AT THE GEORGE MORALES DOVE SPRINGS RECREATION CENTER.
THIS VENUE IS WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF TRAVIS COUNTY PRECINCT FOUR.
WE ALSO HAVE SOME TRACTION FOR A FORUM WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF TRAVIS COUNTY, PRECINCT THREE AT EITHER THE CIRCLE C HOA COMMUNITY CENTER, WHICH IS NEAR THE LBJ WILDFIRE CENTER, WHERE WE HAVE THE PRECINCT DISTRICT EIGHT PUBLIC FORUM, OR AT THE, OR WITH THE ZILKER BOTANICAL GARDENS.
WE DO HAVE A FOLLOWUP CALL SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW WITH THE ZILKER BOTANICAL GARDENS.
AND WE ARE HOPING TO CONFIRM ONE OF THESE VENUES FOR A DATE OF EITHER THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30TH, OR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2ND.
AND WE WILL UPDATE THIS COMMISSION AS SOON AS THAT'S UPON, AS SOON AS WE HAVE THAT INFORMATION.
IN ADDITION FROM THE COMMENTS THAT WE HEARD IN THE AUGUST 18TH MEETING, WE WILL SCHEDULE A VIRTUAL FORUM OPTION FOR THIS NEXT ROUND OF PUBLIC INPUT.
SO THAT BRINGS US TO A TOTAL OF FIVE FORUMS TO BE SCHEDULED FROM SEPTEMBER 18TH THROUGH OCTOBER 2ND.
AND AGAIN, JUST TO RESTATE THOSE THREE THAT WE FEEL ARE LOCKED AND WE HAVE VENUES RESERVED THAT IS SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH, FROM 11:00 AM TO 1:00 PM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21ST, FROM SIX TO 8:00 PM AND SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 25TH FROM ONE TO 3:00 PM.
MY NEXT PORTION OF THE UPDATE KIND OF
[01:55:02]
GOES INTO THE ITEMS ONE AND TWO UNDER ITEM.YOU HERE FOR IN-PERSON FORUMS. UH, THERE WAS A REQUEST, UH, DURING THIS MEETING TO DISCUSS PUBLIC FORUM COVID SAFETY PRECAUTIONS.
AND WE'VE TOUCHED ON THAT BEFORE WE DIVE DEEPER, I WANTED TO SHARE WHAT THE PUBLIC FORUM WORKING GROUP PLANS TO CONTINUE DOING AT OUR FORUMS AND WHAT WE'D WOULD LIKE TO INCLUDE.
SO WE WILL CONTINUE TO OFFER MASKS AND HAND SANITIZER AT OUR WELCOME DESK.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO POST SIGNAGE, UM, RELATED TO COVID RISK LEVELS AND MASK USAGE.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO SOCIAL DISTANCE SEATS FOR ATTENDEES AS A BEST AS BEST WE CAN.
AND WITH THE MOTION THAT JUST PASSED, THAT BEING SIX FEET, WE WILL ALSO NOW SOCIAL DISTANCE.
THE, AND I HAVE ASKED CHRISTINE GRANADOS, OUR ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER TO RELAY THIS REQUEST TO OUR CITY, AVS STAFF DURING SETUP.
I ALSO WANT TO NOTE THAT FOR OUR DOVE SPIRIT, BRING DUB SPRINGS RECREATION CENTER RESERVATION, THEY HAVE THEIR OWN REQUIREMENTS.
AND THOSE INCLUDE THAT WE CAN ONLY HAVE 50% CAPACITY IN THEIR VENUE AND THAT FACE COVERINGS ARE REQUIRED UNLESS THE INDIVIDUAL IS SPEAKING AT THE GUESTS, GOT TO SEE US CENTER LAST TIME.
THEY ALSO OFFERED TEMPERATURE CHECKS.
SO THE PUBLIC FORUMS GROUP PUBLIC FORUM WORKING GROUP IS INQUIRING ABOUT THESE POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE CHECKS ON ALL OUR VENUES.
AND IF THE VENUE IS NOT ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE, WE WILL GO AHEAD AND PURCHASE AT THE MONITOR OURSELVES.
UM, SO WE CAN DO THESE CHECKS.
SO THOSE ARE JUST EXTRA PRECAUTIONS.
AND I WANT TO NOTE FROM THE MOTION THAT PASSED, WE WILL NOW SANITIZE MICROPHONES AND SERVE IT AND SURFACES BETWEEN EACH USE FOR COMMISSIONERS AND FOR ATTENDEES.
LASTLY, IN MY, IN MY UPDATE FOR VIRTUAL FORUMS, WE WANTED TO COMMISSIONER KANAAN MENTIONED ZOOM BREAKOUT ROOMS AS A POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENT.
UM, FOR THE VIRTUAL FORUMS, I HAVE, UH, ASKED COMMISSIONER KANAAN TO CONTINUE TO WORK WITH JOHN ED MENDEZ.
HE'S OUR ZOOM MODERATOR ON THE BEST WAY TO IMPLEMENT THESE BREAKOUT ROOMS. UH, SHOULD WE IMPLEMENT THEM AND REPORT BACK TO THE PUBLIC FORUM WORKING GROUP FOR POTENTIAL EXECUTION? UH, THIS IS, THIS IS AN ADDITION TO AN ASK.
I HAD OF COMMISSIONER KANAAN TO INCORPORATE CLOSED CAPTIONS FOR OUR PUB, UH, VIRTUAL FORUMS, AS WELL AS PHONE ACCESSIBILITY.
SO INDIVIDUALS FROM THE PUBLIC COULD DIAL IN AS OPPOSED TO HAVING A COMPUTER.
THOSE ARE MY UPDATES, MANY OF THEM STEMMING FROM THE AUGUST 18 FEEDBACK.
I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS AND, UM, HOPEFULLY WE CAN GET SOME OF THESE, UH, DATES AND TIMES FOR THESE FORUMS CONFIRMED TODAY.
UM, WELL THIS IS REALLY FOR, UM, VICE-CHAIR THEN TELUS, BUT I KNOW WHERE WE WERE, SO I KNOW WHO WE'RE WORKING ON.
UM, YOU KNOW, SECURING ALL THE VENUES.
UM, AND THEN WE STILL HAVE THE OPTION FOR A VIRTUAL ONE SET UP, BUT GIVEN WHAT WE JUST HEARD ABOUT THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT, WILL WE STILL BE ALLOWED TO SCHEDULE ANY VIRTUAL, UM, SESSIONS? I MEAN, I THINK IT'S A GREAT IDEA, BUT YOU KNOW, THE GOVERNOR, SO YES.
UM, I THINK, I BELIEVE THE CHAIR HAD TOUCHED ON THIS, UM, GIVEN THE FACT THAT WE DO NOT REQUIRE A QUORUM, UM, OF COMMISSIONERS TO BE AT THE PUBLIC FORUMS AND SINCE NO ACTION IS ACTUALLY TAKING PLACE AT THE FORUMS, UH, WE CAN, WE FEEL THAT WE CAN PROCEED, ESPECIALLY AFTER TALKING TO LEGAL COUNSEL, WE FEEL THAT WE CAN PROCEED WITH THE VIRTUAL OPTION FOR OUR PUBLIC FORUMS. UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IS NOT THE CASE FOR THE GENERAL MEETINGS AS WE WERE DISCUSSING.
CHRISTIAN, ARE YOU ANOTHER QUESTION FOR VICE-CHAIR GONZALEZ? MY APOLOGIES IF YOU BROUGHT THIS UP BEFORE, BUT, UM, SO THE MEETINGS AFTER THE PRECINCT MEETINGS, THE ONES NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE RIVER, DO WE HAVE A DEADLINE TO MEET? I MEAN, LIKE, IS THERE A DATE THAT WE MUST HAVE THEM BY SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD NEED TO DISCUSS COMMISSIONER E AND OUR, UH, PUBLIC FORUM FORMS MEETING? UM, WE'RE TRYING TO GET THE, AS YOU KNOW, WE'RE TRYING TO GET THE COUNTY PRECINCTS, UM, AS SQUARED AWAY WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY WORKING ON THE NORTH AND SOUTH.
WHAT I SEE NOW IS THAT THAT THOSE ARE NORTH AND SOUTH AND LIKELY THE ADDITION OF A THIRD VIRTUAL OPTION.
SO PROBABLY THREE PUBLIC FORUMS, UH, WHEN WE GO NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE RIVER WILL LIKELY TAKE PLACE.
I WOULD SAY AT THE LATE OCTOBER, I'M LOOKING AT THE CALENDAR RIGHT NOW, REALISTICALLY, MAYBE THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 18TH, BUT AS A PUBLIC FORUM GROUP, WE'LL CONTINUE TO DISCUSS THAT.
WE CAN TAKE SOME INPUT FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS CHAIRMAN, AND WE'LL START GETTING TO WORK ON THE SCHEDULING OF THOSE MEETINGS.
AND I WILL ADD THAT, UH, ACCORDING TO THE CHARTER, UM, WE HAVE TO TAKE A MINIMUM OF FIVE DAYS OF WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENTS FOLLOWING THE, UH, TWO FORUMS NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE RIVER.
SO IF YOU'RE ASKING FOR WHAT'S THE LATEST POSSIBLE DATE, WE NEED TO TAKE AT LEAST FIVE DAYS OF WRITTEN COMMENT,
[02:00:01]
UM, AND YOU KNOW, STILL THE TIME TO, UH, ADOPT THE MAPS BY NOVEMBER 1ST.SO, YEAH, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION CAUSE THAT ALL.
UH, THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE F I'M SO SORRY, MR. GONZALEZ SHAREPOINT DOES.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S NECESSARY, BUT IF IT IS, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE DATES THAT WERE ANNOUNCED FOR VENUES THAT HAVE BEEN RESERVED FOR THESE PUBLIC FORUMS. JUST ENSURE THAT WE CAN STILL PROCEED WITH THESE DATES.
AND I HOPE THEY WORK WITH THE COMMISSION.
OF COURSE I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE DATES OF SEPTEMBER 18TH, SEPTEMBER 21ST AND SEPTEMBER 25TH AS THREE DATES FOR OUR PUBLIC FORUMS IN THE COUNTY PRECINCTS.
COMMISSIONER HARDEN HAS SECONDED THE MOTION.
UH, IT IS MOVED AND SECONDED THAT, UM, WE HOLD PUBLIC FORUMS ON SEPTEMBER 18TH, SEPTEMBER 21ST AND SEPTEMBER 25TH.
IS THERE ANY FURTHER DEBATE? OKAY.
THE QUESTION IS ON THE ADOPTION OF THE MOTION THAT WE HOLD PUBLIC FORUMS ON SEPTEMBER 18TH, SEPTEMBER 21ST AND SEPTEMBER 25TH.
THE AYES HAVE IT AND THE MOTION IS ADOPTED.
SO WE WILL HOLD OUR PUBLIC FORUMS ON THE 18TH, 21ST AND 25TH.
AND THOSE WILL ALL BE IN-PERSON RIGHT.
BY CERTAIN GOALS, I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU EVERYONE.
UH, ESPECIALLY FOR A PUBLIC FORUM WORKING GROUP FOR THIS DIFFICULT WORK, ESPECIALLY AFTER I STATED WE PUSHED THESE FORUMS BACK A WEEK.
I WANT TO LET THE COMMISSIONERS KNOW I WILL SEND OUT OUTLOOK INVITES, UH, WITH THE DATE, TIME AND LOCATION OF THESE THREE THAT WE HAVE CONFIRMED.
AND AGAIN, WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF ONE ADDITIONAL IN-PERSON AND THEN NOT VIRTUAL OPTION.
SO I HOPE BY NEXT WEDNESDAY MEETING, WE CAN UPDATE THE COMMISSION, THE FULL COMMISSION AGAIN.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE F AND UPDATE FROM THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP COMMISSIONER CALLED IT ON.
SO, UM, UH, WE'VE CONTINUED WORKING ON A WEBSITE THAT'S PRIMARILY OF MISSIONARY AND CHRISTINE.
THEY'VE DONE SOME REALLY GREAT WORK, NOT ONLY WITH OUR CONTRACTOR, BUT HAVE ALSO OBTAINED, UH, CREDENTIALS TO BE ABLE TO DIRECTLY UPDATE THE WEBSITE.
SO THAT'S GOING TO HELP US NOT ONLY EXPEDITE ANYTHING THAT WE NEED TO CHANGE THERE, BUT SURELY, UH, MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER THAN, UM, GOING THROUGH A THIRD PARTY.
UM, THE OTHER THING I THINK WE'RE GOING TO START MESSAGING ARE THE VIRTUAL FORUMS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO HAVE, UM, GIVEN THE, UM, ONE, THE PUBLIC'S INTEREST IN VIRTUAL FORUMS SPECIFICALLY DURING THIS COVID OUTBREAK AND ALSO, UM, UH, FOR OUR, THE ADVICE OF OUR ATTORNEYS.
SO, UM, UH, DO YOU WANT TO ASK IF ANYONE HAS ANY INPUT AS TO WHAT MIGHT MAKE A GOOD GRAPHIC FOR OUR WEBSITE OR SOCIAL CHANNELS TO PLEASE GO AHEAD AND, UM, SHARE WITH MYSELF OR COMMISSIONER THOUGHT ON OR COMMISSIONER GMC.
UM, WE'RE OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT MIGHT MAKE SOME GOOD SOCIAL MESSAGING GRAPHICS.
UM, FINALLY, UH, THE BIGGEST THING I THINK WE'VE ALL BEEN WORKING ON IS MOVING FORWARD WITH ADVERTISING.
UM, THESE FORUMS, COMMISSIONER YE ALSO BIG, HEAVY LIFT.
THEY'RE DEALING WITH A, UM, A, I BELIEVE A TV GUY SHE'S BEEN WORKING WITH THE TV GUY.
AND THEN I BELIEVE THIS WEEK WE'RE GOING TO DISCUSS RADIO AS WELL.
HE, UM, BUT THE REST OF US HAVE ALSO BEEN MOVING FORWARD WITH, UM, VARIOUS OUTLETS, BOTH PRINT DIGITAL, AS WELL AS SOME SOCIAL.
AND SO WE SHOULD BE SEEING SOME OF THOSE THIS WEEK.
UM, THERE'VE BEEN, UM, INVOICES GOING AROUND, SO THAT'S REALLY EXCITING.
SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL SEE, UM, SOME WE'LL REAP THE BENEFITS OF THAT.
WE'LL SEE HOW IT GOES ON FRIDAY AND, UM, JUST KIND OF WANT TO REITERATE HOW, HOW QUICKLY WE HAD TO TURN THIS AROUND.
SO I REALLY APPRECIATE THE EFFORTS OF THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP ON THAT.
AND, UM, AND ALSO INVITE ANYONE.
IF YOU HAVE A SUGGESTION ON A PLACE WHERE IT WOULD BE RELEVANT TO PLACE AN ADVERTISEMENT, FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO ME.
UM, WE HAVE GOTTEN SOME COMMUNITY FEEDBACK ON, UM, KIND OF SMALLER, MORE COMMUNITY-BASED, UM, OUT, YOU KNOW, NEWSLETTERS AND OUTLETS.
THAT MIGHT BE GOOD, BUT DEFINITELY WANT TO HEAR FROM ANYONE
[02:05:01]
IF ANYONE HAS ANY SUGGESTIONS.THANK YOU, CHRISTIAN, OR CALL IT ON.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS 3G AND UPDATE FROM THE FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE.
PARISHIONER MORRIS WILL PROVIDE THE UPDATES.
UM, UH, PLEASE SHARE CONDOLENCE, COULD YOU SHARE YOUR SCREEN PLEASE? SURE.
UH, YEAH, SO OF THE 150 K BUDGET WE HAVE SO FAR FOR THIS YEAR, WE'VE UTILIZED 15.8 K, UH, OR ABOUT 10% OF OUR BUDGET.
UM, AND THEN ANOTHER, I JUST DID A ROUGH ESTIMATE OF THE CONFERENCES FOR BOTH LEGAL COUNSEL AND OUR ADMIN, UM, D THESE ARE IN CONFERENCES FOR, UH, YOUR IN NINE 30 OR END OF THE FISCAL YEAR.
SO, UH, WITH THAT SAID, UM, WE HAVE ABOUT A 74 K UM, BUDGET SURPLUS THAT WE NEED TO EITHER USE OR LOSE BY THE END OF THIS FISCAL YEAR BY NINE 30.
SO, UM, IN OUR NEXT MEETING, IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA TO COME WITH ANY KIND OF IDEAS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE, THAT WE CAN USE THAT MONEY FOR THAT EITHER LIKE THROUGH YOUR COMMUNICATIONS OR, UM, ANY OTHER IDEAS THAT WE CAN USE THAT MONEY FOR.
WE CAN DISCUSS THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, AND THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT FOR ME.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER MORRIS.
SO MANY COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ON THIS BEFORE I MOVE ON.
AND IF YOU COULD, UM, OH, SORRY.
IT'S, IT'S HARD TO SEE EVERYONE AT THIS MOMENT, BUT I'M FRUSTRATED.
I'M GOING TO STOP SHARING MY SCREEN SO YOU CAN SEE, UH, FOLKS WHO MIGHT HAVE QUESTIONS AND I CAN POP IT BACK UP.
SHOULD ANYONE HAVE A QUESTION REFERRING TO THIS DOCUMENT? GOT IT.
DID ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT BUDGET QUESTIONARY, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF WE SHOULD DO THAT NOW OR LATER, BUT, UM, DID YOU SAY THAT YOU'RE ADDING AS A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM ON THE NEXT MEETING? HOW WE SHOULD USE THE MONEY? YEAH, I'D SUGGEST WE ADD IT AS A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM.
UH, IF ANYBODY HAS ANY IDEAS FOR NEXT MEETING.
ANOTHER THING I FORGOT TO MENTION IS WE DID MAKE ANOTHER $7,000 REALLOCATION TO THE COMMUNICATIONS FOR ANY ADDITIONAL COMMUNICATIONS.
THE NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS THREE H AN UPDATE FROM THE FINAL REPORT.
SUBCOMMITTEE COMMISSIONER BLANK WILL PROVIDE THE UPDATES.
SO THE FINAL REPORTS, SO COMMITTEE MET LAST WEEK AND WE WORKED THROUGH, UH, WE WORKED THROUGH TEMPLATING, UH, THE FINAL REPORT AND, YOU KNOW, THE LIST OF TO-DO ITEMS THAT WE HAVE AGREED TO BEFORE OUR NEXT MEETING, WHICH HAS TO BE SCHEDULED IN THE NEXT WEEK TO 10 DAYS, I THINK IS TO RE YOU KNOW, TO DO A FINAL REVIEW OF THE LAST COMMISSION'S FINAL REPORT.
AND THEN IN TURN FINALIZE OUR OWN OUTLINE OF THE DIFFERENT SECTIONS THAT ARE GOING TO GO INTO THE REPORT.
WE DISCUSSED THE POSSIBILITY OF CREATING A VISUAL MAP OR FLOW CHART OF THE PROCESS THAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH HERE.
ULTIMATELY, WE'RE TRYING TO, IN A WAY THAT PEOPLE CAN QUICKLY UNDERSTAND IDEALLY IN A PAGE, BASICALLY THE PROCESS THAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH HERE, INCLUDING BASICALLY THE 10 PUBLIC FORUMS, PLUS THE ONLINE FORUMS, THE COUNTY, YOU KNOW, THE FARM IS THE FOUR FORMS OF HEADMISTRESS COURT, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT ALL OF THE PUBLIC INPUT WE'VE TAKEN SO FAR, EITHER IN THE FORM OF TESTIMONY OR IN THE FORM OF EMAILS, CONSIDERING THE VARIOUS WAYS TO MOST FAITHFULLY AND HELPFULLY PRESENT THAT VERBAL TESTIMONY AND THE EMAILS IN THE REPORTS.
AND THEN WE ARE WORKING ON A SCHEDULE TO SET INTERMEDIATE DEADLINES FOR THE VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE REPORT SO THAT WE CAN BEGIN DOING WORK BEFORE WE GET TO THE END OF THE MAPPING PROCESS ON SOME OF THESE OTHER PIECES THAT ARE STATIC AT THIS, OR MOSTLY NEAR STATIC AT THIS POINT.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAD FINISHED OUR PUBLIC FORUMS FOR THE FIRST EARLIEST, THE
[02:10:01]
FIRST ROUND OF PUBLIC FORUMS BEFORE WE PRESENT THE MAPS.AND SO WE CAN START TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE WANT TO COLLECT THAT INFORMATION WITH THE REPORT.
AND THE LAST ITEM IS TO SET OUR NEXT MEETING.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR COMMISSIONER BLANK ABOUT THE FINAL REPORT FISHER CALLED IT ON, HEY THERE? SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, THE COMMUNICATIONS WORKING GROUP WAS WORKING ON WAS LIKE A LIKE SERIES OF ONBOARDING CHECKLISTS.
UM, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE THOUGHT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO PASS ON TO THE NEXT COMMISSION.
THAT INCLUDES REALLY BASIC THINGS LIKE RENEW THE WEBSITE, UH, OBTAIN THE SOCIAL MEDIA CREDENTIALS, UM, THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL TO HAVE DONE EARLIER IN THE PROCESS.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WERE HOPING TO, UM, PUT TOGETHER AS A RESOURCE.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S, IF THERE'S SOME, YOU KNOW, A PLACE FOR THAT TO GO IN THE FINAL REPORT, BUT IT DIDN'T WANT TO BRING IT UP.
AND IF SO, I'M HAPPY TO CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION WITH YOU ON DETAILS AND EMAIL OR SOME OF THE TIME.
I'LL HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE, I'LL BRING IT.
WE WILL DEFINITELY BRING THAT UP AT THE NEXT MEETING BECAUSE WE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE REPORTS.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING DEFINITELY TO CONSIDER WHETHER THAT FITS WITH THE OVERALL MODEL THAT WE END UP WITH.
THANK YOU, CHRISTIAN CHRISTIAN.
I THINK THAT'S AN EXCELLENT IDEA.
AND I THINK MAYBE IF WE HAVE AN APPENDICES FOR THE FOLLOWING OR FOR THOSE TYPES OF RESOURCES, THAT WOULD BE FANTASTIC.
MY HOPE IS THAT THE FINAL REPORT WILL BE FULL OF APPENDICES.
MADAM CHAIR, KIND OF ECHOING COMMISSIONER BOUNDED ON IN TERMS OF OFFERING SUPPORT TO THE FINAL REPORT SUBCOMMITTEE IN TERMS OF THE PUBLIC FORUMS AND WHAT WE'VE LEARNED AND WHAT WE DEFINITELY WANT TO PASS ALONG TO THE NEXT ITERATION OF COMMISSION.
LIKE, HEY, THE FIRST THING PROBABLY TO GET STARTED IS TO FIND THESE DATES AND TIMES OR VENUES, AND PROBABLY HAVE A PLAN B IN CASE YOU GET CANCELED ON A WEEK AHEAD OF THAT FORUM.
SO I JUST WANT TO OFFER OUR SERVICES AND HOPEFULLY I'M NOT SPEAKING TOO MUCH FOR COMMISSIONER OR COMMISSIONER KAMBO HERE, BUT I KNOW WE'D BE ABLE TO, UH, PROVIDE SOME INPUT, UH, FOR THAT PIECE OF THE FINAL REPORT.
I THINK ANY FUTURE COMMISSION THAT'S GOING THROUGH A GLOBAL PANDEMIC WILL BE SET BY OUR ADVICE.
UM, COMMISSIONER, I, I HAVE A QUESTION, UM, AND I'M JUST PLEASE, EXCUSE MY IGNORANCE ON THIS.
SO REMEMBER THE DOCUMENT THAT WE ALL LOOKED AT CALLED THE ROADMAP TO REDISTRICTING, SO THAT WAS NOT THE FINAL REPORT.
SO WHAT WAS THAT CONSIDERED AS I FEEL LIKE THAT'S WHAT COMMISSIONER CALDERON IS SUGGESTING WE CREATE, RIGHT? SO, YOU KNOW, UM, THE, THAT ROADMAP THAT YOU ARE REFERRING TO, WHICH IS CREATED INDEPENDENTLY BY FOUR, I THINK OF THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE LAST, UM, ICRC AND, UM, AND THAT WAS NOT WITH THE ENTIRE COMMISSION AND THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN DID NOT PARTICIPATE IN WRITING THAT.
UM, AND SO, AND IT'S NOT, UM, AN OFFICIAL CITY DOCUMENT EITHER.
HOWEVER, I THINK THAT WE HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, SPEAKING JUST AS AN, AS A MEMBER OF THE FINAL REPORTS ON COMMITTEE AS WELL.
UM, I THINK THAT WE HAVE DISCUSSED A WAY TO KIND OF MARRY THE, UM, LAST COMMISSION'S OFFICIAL FINAL REPORT WITH THAT ROADMAP AND KIND OF, UM, MAKE OUR OWN VERSION THAT IS, IS KIND OF A BLEND OF THOSE TWO IDEAS.
DID YOU WANT TO JUMP IN? YEAH, I THINK THAT WAS ACTUALLY, HONESTLY, THAT'S THE ONLY REASON I WAS I'M BEING RETICENT AT ALL ABOUT AND NOT JUST EMBRACING, BRINGING ON THE CHECKLIST BECAUSE OF THE FACT THAT THE COMMISSION, THE PREVIOUS PRIOR COMMISSION HAD SORT OF THE OFFICIAL REPORT AND THEN THE ROADMAP WAS A SEPARATE DOCUMENT.
UM, AND SO THAT'S THE ONLY REASON I'M BEING A LITTLE BIT RETICENT IS BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT THE HISTORY OF WHY THOSE TWO THINGS WERE SPLIT OUT, BUT HAVING READ BOTH, I THINK THE MAIN SORT OF DIFFERENCE WAS THAT THE ROADMAP IS A LITTLE BIT MORE INTERPRETIVE AND REFLECTIVE ON THE PROCESS.
WHEREAS I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE FINAL REPORT IS GOING TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE HUMAN TOWARDS FACTS, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT'S INCONSISTENT WITH WHAT THE CHAIR IS SAYING OR WHAT YOU ALL ARE SUGGESTING, WHICH IS THAT TO THE EXTENT THAT THERE IS A CHECKLIST OF THINGS THAT ARE USEFUL TO KNOW ABOUT IN THE DEPENDENCIES, ACKNOWLEDGING THAT, YOU KNOW, LIKE TWITTER MIGHT NOT EXIST OR WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, WHO KNOWS.
BUT, UH, I, I THINK THAT, THAT SEEMS PRETTY CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO AND WHAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
[02:15:03]
RIGHT.ANY OTHER COMMENTS BEFORE WE MOVE ON? OKAY, THANK YOU ALL.
SO, UH, WE ARE GOING TO, UM, OH YES.
UH, WE ARE, UH, ITEM I HOUSEKEEPING 3I.
UM, I DON'T HAVE MUCH IN THE WAY OF HOUSEKEEPING OTHER THAN TO, UM, MENTION THE SIGNUP GENIUS FORM HAS BEEN CREATED, BUT WE ARE JUST WAITING TO SEND IT TO YOU ALL.
UM, UNTIL WE, UH, KNOW FOR CERTAIN THAT MR.
AND AS SOON AS WE FIND THAT OUT, WE WILL BE SENDING THAT TO YOU.
AND HOPEFULLY IT WAS, YOU KNOW, ADEQUATE TIME.
I WANT IDEALLY AT LEAST A WEEK FOR EVERYONE TO BE ABLE TO SIGN UP AND THEN SHARE THAT CALENDAR WITH MR. POURABLE SO THAT HE CAN INTEGRATE IT INTO HIS OWN, YOU KNOW, UM, CALENDAR.
SO, UM, SO JUST LOOK OUT FOR THAT.
I DEFINITELY WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN THAT COMES OUT.
UM, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE UNDER HOUSEKEEPING? OKAY.
THE FINAL ORDER OF BUSINESS IS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. UM, I WANT TO, OF COURSE, ACKNOWLEDGE THAT KRISHNA MORRIS MENTIONED, WE SHOULD DISCUSS HOW TO USE THE REMAINING FUNDS FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR, WHICH IS, UM, ENDING ON SEPTEMBER 30TH, UM, A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM.
I'M NOT SURE IF IT WILL, THIS WILL BE UP TO MR PORTAL, WHETHER IT'S NEXT WEEK OR THE WEEK FOLLOWING.
UM, BUT A PRESENTATION ON THE DATA, JUST, UM, A LITTLE MORE GRANULAR FOR US TO VIEW.
UH, ARE THERE ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? SURE.
LANCE, UH, JARED, WE, UM, UH, SET A, AN AGENDA ITEM FOR THE NAACP AND HISPANIC, UH, PRESENTATION.
I'LL SAY THAT FOR, FOR THIS RECORD.
UM, AND MR. PECK YOUNG ALSO HAD EMAILED WITH US AND, AND, AND SO YES, SEPTEMBER 8TH, UH, WE WILL HAVE, UM, A PRESENTATION ON MAPS FROM DISTRICTS ONE THROUGH FOUR, UH, BY THE NAACP.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER FEATURES IN THE ITEMS I JUST WANT TO ADD? IT'S ALSO THE HISPANIC COALITION.
SO NO MORE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. IS THERE ANY FURTHER BUSINESS? I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU SO MUCH, MR. HORRIBLE.
UM, FOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE SURPLUS THAT WE HAVE IN OUR FUNDS SO THAT WE CAN DO PROMOTIONS AND ADVERTISING.
I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT THE CITY DESERVES, THE CITIZENS DESERVE TO KNOW THAT THEY CAN PARTICIPATE.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER COMMISSIONER HARDEN.
MADAM CHAIR, JUST POINT OF ORDER.
I THINK, UH, WE HAD ON OUR AGENDA, OUR AGENDA FOR TONIGHT TO TALK ABOUT THE QUESTION AND RESPONDING TO QUESTIONS PROTOCOLS.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO REMIND THAT WE WILL VISIT THAT ITEM.
UM, THANK YOU FOR REMINDING US.
WE SHOULD RETURN TO THAT ITEM, UH, TO FULLY ADDRESS THAT ASPECT.
UH, I'LL INVITE VICE CHAIR GONZALEZ.
THIS IS ITEM THREE E TO THE DISCUSSION ON IN-PERSON PUBLIC FORUMS, AND THAT INCLUDES, UM, ANSWERING QUESTIONS ASKED BY THE PUBLIC.
DID YOU HAVE, UM, A PLAN FOR THAT? YEAH.
THANK HIM THOUGH, FOR BRINGING IT UP.
I'M MISSING IT FROM MY UPDATE.
WE DID HEAR FROM COMMISSIONER, I FELT GONE SPECIFICALLY IN OUR LAST MEETING ABOUT THE INCLUSION OF A Q AND A OPPORTUNITY, UM, IN OUR FORUMS. UH, WE DISCUSSED WHETHER THAT SHOULD BE BEFORE, UM, THE PUBLIC TESTIMONY OR AFTER THE PUBLIC TESTIMONY.
SO WE ARE STILL CONSIDERING PLACEMENT OF, UH, THE Q AND A SECTION, BUT WE WILL, UM, WE WERE LOOKING TO PROCEED WITH THE INCLUSION OF THAT PORTION IN THE FUTURE PUBLIC FORUMS, WHETHER THEY BE IN PERSON OR VIRTUAL.
SO I GUESS NOT MUCH OF A CONCRETE UPDATE AND OPEN FOR DISCUSSION AS IT MENTIONS HERE ON THE AGENDA.
UM, BUT WE ARE, WE ARE PUSHING FORWARD WITH, UH, EXECUTING THAT IN THE FUTURE FORUMS, WHICH ARE ALREADY THANK YOU.
[02:20:01]
YES.UM, I, YOU KNOW, I I'VE SEEN DOWN THROUGH THE YEARS IN VARIOUS BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS THAT WHEN A COMMISSION TAKES A POSITION OF LISTENING AND THEN NOT GIVING ANY FEEDBACK OR ANY ENGAGEMENT, IT GENERALLY ENDS UP WHERE, UH, THE, THE PERSON WHO WERE COMING BEFORE US LEAVE PRETTY FRUSTRATED.
AND, UH, AND THEN IT TENDS TO STIFLE, UH, UH, FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION.
AND THE BUSINESS WE'RE IN IS SO PEOPLE ORIENTED THAT I THINK THAT WE, I BELIEVE THAT WE SHOULD ADAPT A, A INTEGRATED DIALOGUE APPROACH AND THAT IS IF SOMEONE BRINGS UP, UH, AN ISSUE AND, UM, THEY ASK US A QUESTION, THEN WE SHOULD TRY AND ANSWER IT THE BEST WE CAN.
AND THEN WE SHOULD ALLOW BE ALLOWED TO ASK THEM QUESTIONS AND, UH, AND NOT TREAT IT AS IF WE IN AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CLASSROOM, BUT INSTEAD TREATED AS IF WE'RE ON A COLLEGE CAMPUS WHERE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO DRAW SOME CONSENSUS.
AND I, SO I BELIEVE THAT OUR COMMISSION WILL BE, UM, IN A MUCH BETTER POSITION TO DO OUR JOB.
IF WE CAN HEAR FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE FREE IN THEIR CONVERSATION, I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT BEING ARGUMENTATIVE OR ANYTHING OF THAT NATURE, BUT I AM TALKING ABOUT THE FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION, BOTH IN AND OUT.
AND I'D LIKE TO JUST PIGGYBACK ON WHAT COMMISSIONER LANDS HAS SAID IS THAT, UM, ENGAGEMENT IS CRITICAL TO OUR MISSION AND OUR SUCCESS.
AND, UH, IN DEALING WITH AN ADULT POPULATION AS AN ADULT, THAT IS NOTHING MORE FRUSTRATING THAN TO GO, UH, BEFORE A BODY SEEKING TO BE INFORMED AND GETTING SILENCE.
AND YOU LEAVE THAT FROM SAYING, WHY DID I COME AND POSSIBLY LEAVE THAT FORM SAYING I WON'T GO AGAIN.
AND SO, UM, I, UH, WOULD LIKE TO ECHO THAT ENGAGEMENT IS CRITICAL AND THAT, UH, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GAUGE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ASKING QUESTIONS, TO BEING INFORMED VERSUS BEING CHALLENGED OR AN ANALYST DEBATE IN THAT, UH, AS FAR AS RESPONDING TO QUESTIONS, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THE CHAIR RECOGNIZES THOSE QUESTIONS, BUT, UH, AND IF THE CHAIR OR VICE CHAIR RESPOND, THEN ALSO INVITE THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DIALOGUE AS WELL, REAL TIME AS BEST AS POSSIBLE.
UH, YEAH, THIS IS VERY INTERESTING.
I THINK AS LONG AS, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE GOING TO ENGAGE IN THESE DISCUSSIONS, I'M PERFECTLY FOR IT.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, IT'S BEEN KIND OF AWKWARD AT SOME OF THESE FORUMS WHEN SOMEONE ASKS A BASIC SORT OF QUESTION OF FACT THAT WE DON'T ADDRESS.
I THINK THAT CAN BE PRETTY ALIENATING, BUT I JUST WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THIS DECISION BETWEEN, YOU KNOW, QUESTIONS OF FACT VERSUS, YOU KNOW, STATEMENTS OF OPINIONS AND PROBING OF THAT BECAUSE ULTIMATELY NO ONE MEMBER OF THIS COMMISSION SPEAKS FOR THE ENTIRE COMMISSION.
UH, AND THAT'S WHERE I WOULD JUST HIGHLIGHT THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, PROCESS HERE IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
WE SAID NOT ONLY FOR THE PUBLIC, BUT ALSO AMONGST OURSELVES, SO THAT IF WE ARE GOING TO BE RESPONDING TO PUBLIC COMMENT, I THINK WE NEED TO BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW WE, HOW WE CONDUCT THOSE RESP, HOW WE RESPOND OURSELVES AND THE CONDUCT OF THOSE RESPONSES.
I THINK IN, YOU KNOW, WE'VE DONE A VERY GOOD JOB WITHIN, I THINK THESE MEETINGS OF FOLLOWING PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE AND BEING VERY RESPECTFUL OF EACH OTHER.
AND I THINK IF WE CAN, IF WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT AND ENGAGE IN DISCUSSION, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE FOLLOWING VERY SIMILAR PROCEDURES HERE, SO THAT IT'S CLEAR THAT EVERYONE IS INDIVIDUAL AND TOGETHER WE MAKE UP THIS COMMISSION, BUT NOBODY SPEAKS FOR ALL OF US ON ANY OF THESE MATTERS.
THANK YOU, CHRISTIAN OR BLANK.
UM, KIND OF PIGGYBACK GAME ON, UM, A FEW OF THE COMMENTS SHARED HERE, UH, ONE IN REFERENCE TO COMMISSIONER BLANK.
I ALSO JUST WANT US TO BE, UM, CAUTIOUS OF ANY KIND OF LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS THAT WE COULD GET INTO WITH ANSWERING A QUESTION THAT WE MAY NOT KNOW THE FULL ANSWER TO.
SO SHOULD WE PROCEED WITH THIS, UH, YOU KNOW, ANSWERING QUESTIONS AND MORE ENGAGEMENT, WHICH I DO THINK IS, UH, IS THE APPROPRIATE APPROACH MOVING TO THE NEXT STAGE OF THESE FORUMS, UH, JUST TO ENSURE THAT MAYBE LEGAL COUNSEL BE THERE WITH US.
UM, JUST SO WE KIND OF COVER OUR BASIS AND THERE MIGHT BE OTHER FOLKS, OUR ADMIN MANAGER OR MAPPING EXPERT, OUR
[02:25:01]
LEGAL COUNSEL, WHO MAY BE IN A BETTER POSITION TO ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS THAT WE GET FROM THE PUBLIC.SO IF WE SHOULD PROCEED, I WOULD LIKE THEM, MAYBE US TO WORK ON ENSURING THAT THOSE RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO US AT OUR FORUMS. UM, AND THEN I JUST WANT TO NOTE FOR ANYONE, I APPRECIATE ALL THESE FEEDBACK.
UH, WE ARE A WORKING GROUP, THE PUBLIC FORUMS, UH, I WOULD LOVE TO SCHEDULE ONE OF OUR MEETINGS AND THEN SO FOR ALL OF US TO SIT AND WORK TOGETHER AND HOW WE CAN BETTER INTEGRATE ENGAGEMENT INTO THE STRUCTURE OF OUR PUBLIC FORUMS, UM, MOVING FORWARD.
SO THAT WOULD BE EXTREMELY HELPFUL ON OUR END.
AND I, UH, YOU KNOW, I WON'T SPEAK FOR THEM TOO MUCH, BUT COMMISSIONER CHRISTIAN CAMPO COMMISSION WORK ON, WE WOULD APPRECIATE THAT.
WE'RE, YOU KNOW, UM, SO, UM, I WILL SEND OUT A NOTE ONCE WE GET A NEXT MEETING ON THE CALENDAR FOR THE PUBLIC FORUM WORKING GROUP AND ON THAT AGENDA, I WOULD LOVE TO INCLUDE HOW WE CAN BETTER INCLUDE THE CONCEPT OF ENGAGEMENT AND OUR PUBLIC FORUMS MOVING FORWARD.
THAT IS AN INVITE TO, AS LONG AS WE DON'T HAVE A QUORUM, UM, THAT, THAT, THAT WILL BE A, AN INVITE TO SOME OF THE COMMISSIONERS HERE, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ.
UM, SO IT SOUNDS LIKE MAYBE THIS IS SOMETHING BECAUSE WE WON'T HAVE A FORUM FOR ALMOST A MONTH, UH, THAT MAYBE IT COULD BE AN ONGOING CONVERSATION AND WE REVISIT THE SAME POINT, UM, AT OUR NEXT MEETING.
UM, I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S MANY OPPORTUNITIES.
WE DO HAVE OUR FIRST ONE IN, ON SEPTEMBER 18TH.
UH, OUR NEXT ACTUALLY IS THIS FRIDAY.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW HOW WE'D HAVE A LOT TO WORK TO DO TO IMPLEMENT THAT CHANGE INTO THE, INTO THE FRIDAY FORUM, BUT DEFINITELY FOR THE NEXT ITERATION, WE HAVE NEARLY A MONTH TO INCLUDE, UH, CONTINUE WITH THESE CONVERSATIONS, WHETHER THEY BE IN THE PUBLIC FORM WORKING GROUP OR HERE ON OUR WEDNESDAY MEETINGS.
SO YES, CHAIR AND DON'T MEAN TO CONFUSE THINGS CAN BE AN AWKWARD CONVERSATION.
UM, IS ANYONE OPPOSED TO ADDING THIS CONVERSATION AS A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM? OKAY.
I'M DEFINITELY NOT OPPOSED TO IT SINCE I STARTED THE BALL IN PLAY, BUT, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO, UM, TO, TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER GUN'S OUT IT'S, UH, MENTIONED, I THINK HE'S RIGHT ON POINT, UM, W WE HAVE SOME PAID STAFF WHO ARE IN PLACE AS, UH, AS OUR TECHNICAL ADVISORS.
AND SO WHEN A QUESTION COMES UP THAT HAS TO DO WITH ANY OF THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF WHAT WE DO, THEN IT IS IN OUR BEST INTEREST TO HAVE THAT PAID STAFF, UH, UH, DEPENDING UPON WHERE IT FALLS, THE BALL FALLS, UH, TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE.
AND WE CAN ASK FOR THAT, UM, WHEN I'M TALKING ABOUT ENGAGING, I MEAN, WE DON'T TREAT PEOPLE AS IF THEY DON'T MATTER WHEN SOMEONE COMES IN, THEY MAKE A STATEMENT TO US.
AND IF THEY ASK FOR AN INPUT, WE GIVE THEM THE INPUT, BUT IT'S NOT NECESSARILY GOING TO BE, UH, ANY ONE OF US, UH, UH, AS AN INDIVIDUAL, BUT MORE OR LESS THROUGH THE STAFF THAT WE HAVE THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO, TO ENGAGE.
NOW AT THE SAME TIME, I THINK THAT WE MUST BE ABLE TO ASK QUESTIONS OF THE PERSONS OURSELVES.
AND I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT THE PUBLIC FORUM.
I'M EVEN TALKING ABOUT WHEN PEOPLE COME BEFORE US FOR THE, UH, FOR THE, UM, CITIZENS INPUT, UH, WE'VE ADAPTED THIS RIDICULOUS CONCEPT THAT THE COUNCIL HAS, WHICH I THINK IS ONE STEP AWAY FROM INSANITY, WHERE PEOPLE COME UP FOR THREE MINUTES AND THEN WE TREAT THEM AS IF THEY DIDN'T COUNT.
WELL, NO, I THINK THAT THEY COME UP AND THEY HAVE A QUESTION WE SHOULD ADDRESS IT, AND WE SHOULD TRY AND TREAT THEM WITH THE SAME RESPECT THAT, UH, THAT WE WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED.
NOW, THIS HAS BEGUN FROM, UH, FROM, UH, A SERIES OF COMMISSIONS THAT I'VE HAPPENED TO CHAIR AND I HAVE NOT ALWAYS DONE A STELLAR JOB, BUT, UH, I WANT TO DO BETTER.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER LANDS.
AND, UM, I WILL JUST SAY, YOU KNOW, SINCE YOU'RE MENTIONING YOUR, YOUR PRIOR EXPERIENCE, I THINK THAT THAT'S VALUABLE TO HEAR, UM, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY AS A COMMISSION OF, UM, INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE RELATIVELY NEW TO THIS PROCESS AND WE'RE ALL LEARNING AS WE GO AND IMPROVING THE PROCESS AS WE GO.
SO I'M ABSOLUTELY OPEN TO, UM, HOW TO IMPROVE THIS.
UM, I THINK THAT IT WOULD BE ADVANTAGEOUS TO CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION NEXT WEEK AND WE'LL STILL HAVE WEEKS AFTER THAT TO FULLY IMPLEMENT THESE IDEAS.
UM, SO, SO JUST KEEP THEM COMING, EVERYONE, YOU KNOW, UM, THINK ABOUT IT OVER THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS AND WE CAN DISCUSS IT AGAIN.
UM, ARE THERE ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON THIS ITEM BEFORE WE GO BACK TO, UM, CLOSING OUT HERE, UH, COMMISSIONER SHIRE AND IT'S LIKELY THE OLDEST MEMBER OF THIS COMMISSION, MY THOUGHT IS WE EXAMINE OURSELVES DURING THIS DISCUSSION, IS THAT THE OBVIOUS IS NOT ALWAYS SO OBVIOUS.
[02:30:02]
THAT'S ALL.IS THERE ANY FURTHER BUSINESS? OKAY.
SINCE THERE IS NO FURTHER BUSINESS, THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED.