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I'M GOING TO TAKE OVER ON THE DIOCESE SO THAT MAYOR PRO TEM CAN BE IN HER OFFICE.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS WENT US AND KELLY WITH ME HERE ON THE DIOCESE AND COUNCIL MEMBERS POOL ELLIS AND RENTERIA ON THE SCREEN.
UM, IT IS 11:23 AM ON SEPTEMBER 28TH.
AND I'M GOING TO CONVENE THIS WORK SESSION OF THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.
[A. Pre-Selected Agenda Items]
UM, THIS MORNING WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A COUPLE OF BRIEFINGS WE'RE GONNA HEAR ABOUT FROM OUR DEMOGRAPHER ON THE 2020 CENSUS FINDINGS, AND THEN HAVE A BRIEFING ON THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, UM, BREAK FOR LUNCH, UM, AND THEN COME BACK FOR THE AUSTIN ENERGY MEETING.AND THEN I BELIEVE WE HAVE SEVERAL EXECUTIVE SESSION ITEMS. THE ONE PULLED ITEM WAS, UM, THE ANNEXATION, WHICH I PULLED FOR EXECUTIVE SESSION.
SO WE WILL COVER THOSE ALL IN EXECUTIVE SESSION.
UM, WE DO HAVE A LOT ON OUR EXECUTIVE SESSION PLATE, SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN MOVE, UM, QUICKLY THROUGH THINGS.
I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, I AM COMING DOWNSTAIRS TO JOIN Y'ALL ON.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW IF MS. VALENCIA IS VIRTUAL, BUT, OKAY,
[B1. Presentation of 2020 Census results for Austin.]
GREAT.SO, UM, WE'LL HEAR OUR FIRST BRIEFING FROM OUR NEW DEMOGRAPHER MS. VALENCIA, UH, THE 2020 CENSUS FINDINGS FOR AUSTIN.
AND I'LL TEE THIS UP, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER.
UH, THE US CENSUS BUREAU RECENTLY RELEASED THE REDISTRICTING DATA SET, WHICH PROVIDES COMMUNITIES WITH THE OFFICIAL 2020 CENSUS COUNTS FOR THEIR COUNTIES, CITIES, AND NEIGHBORHOODS AS EXPECTED AUSTIN'S OFFICIAL CENSUS COUNTS, AFFIRMS SIGNIFICANT GROWTH WITHIN OUR CITY, WHICH IS ALSO ACCOMMODATE ACCOMPANIED BY SIMILAR GROWTH IN A REGIONAL CITIES AND COUNTIES TODAY.
OUR CITY DEMOGRAPHER LAILA VALENCIA WILL PRESENT KEY 2020 CENSUS INFORMATION AND COMPARATIVE DATA FOR POPULATION HOUSING, UNIT COUNTS AND RACE RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY.
LAYLA'S PRESENTATION ALSO INCLUDES VALUABLE GEOGRAPHIC MAPPING DATA SHOWING THE SIGNIFICANT SHIFTING PATTERNS OF GROWTH AND POPULATION MIGRATION IN OUR CITY.
AND NOW WE'LL TURN THE PRESENTATION OVER TO LAILA VALENCIA.
THANK YOU, CITY MANAGER, CRUNK.
UH, GOOD MORNING COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THEY, UM, MY NAME IS LAILA VALENCIA.
THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME SOME TIME TO SHARE WITH YOU FINDINGS FROM THE 2020 CENSUS DATA.
THE DATA INCLUDED IN THE PRESENTATION AS A CITY MANAGER STATED IN OUR, FROM THE CENSUS BUREAU'S RELEASE OF THE PUBLIC LAW, 94, 1 71 FILE, OR WHAT'S CALLED THE REDISTRICTING FILE.
THESE DATA WERE MADE AVAILABLE AUGUST 12TH AND THEY PROVIDE COMMUNITIES.
THE FIRST LOOK OF THEIR OFFICIAL 2020 CENSUS COUNTS DOWN TO THE BLOCK LEVEL.
THE DATA INCLUDED, UM, INCLUDE TOTAL POPULATION, TOTAL HOUSING UNIT COUNTS, POPULATION BY RACE AND ETHNICITY AND, UH, POPULATION RESIDING IN GROUP QUARTERS, SUCH AS COLLEGE DORMITORIES AND NURSING HOMES.
SO I'LL BRIEFLY, UM, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE OR CAN I CONTROL THIS OR WILL SOMEBODY FORWARD THIS FROM? OKAY, PERFECT.
UH, I'LL BRIEFLY COVER POPULATION GROWTH IN AUSTIN THROUGHOUT THE LAST DECADE.
DESCRIBE AUSTIN'S UNIQUE DIVERSITY, DIVE INTO AREAS OF THE CITY TO EXPLORE GROWTH AND DECLINES IN POPULATION.
AND THEN I'LL RECAP SOME FINDINGS FOCUSING ON AREAS TO CELEBRATE AS WELL AS SOME AREAS THAT MAY REQUIRE MORE TIME FOR REFLECTION AND CONTEMPLATION.
SO LET ME GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
WE'LL FIRST TALK ABOUT AUSTIN'S POPULATION GROWTH ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS THE LAST, UH, THE LATEST CENSUS DATA REVEAL CONTINUED GROWTH FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THE CITY HAS BEEN DOUBLING ITS POPULATION ABOUT EVERY 20 TO 25 YEARS.
SO FOR INSTANCE, HERE, YOU'LL SEE IN 1970, WE WERE AT ABOUT A QUARTER MILLION POPULATION IN AUSTIN, AND THEN BETWEEN 1990 AND 2000, WE SURPASSED THAT HALF A MILLION MARK.
AND NOW IN 2020, WE ARE JUST SHY OF THE 1 MILLION MARKET, 961,855 PEOPLE.
THE CITY OF AUSTIN REMAINS THE 11TH LARGEST CITY IN THE COUNTRY, BUT ITS GROWTH IS RIVALING THAT OF THE VERY LARGEST CITIES IN THE NATION.
AUSTIN ADDED MORE POPULATION THAN MOST CITIES.
UH, WE ADDED 171,000 PEOPLE IN THE LAST DECADE AND ONLY NEW YORK, HOUSTON AND FORT WORTH ADDED MORE PEOPLE THAN THE CITY OF AUSTIN BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020.
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HERE WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE REGIONAL GROWTH IN THE AUSTIN METRO AREA AMONG METROS WITH POPULATIONS OF OVER 1 MILLION.THE AUSTIN METRO WAS THE FASTEST GROWING METRO EVERY SINGLE YEAR.
THIS DECADE, WHILE AUSTIN GREW AT A RATE OF ABOUT 21.7%, THE METRO AREA GREW EVEN FASTER AT 33% AND ADDED OVER HALF A MILLION PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE DECADE.
AUSTIN CONTRIBUTED ABOUT 30% OF THAT TOTAL GROWTH AND WITH HAYES COUNTY AS THE THIRD, FASTEST AND WILLIAMSON COUNTY, AS THE 11TH FASTEST AMONG THE NATION'S MOST RAPIDLY GROWING COUNTIES, IT'S CLEAR THAT OUR REGION IS GROWING AND IT'S GROWING RAPIDLY.
AND WHEN WE LOOK AT OUR SURROUNDING CITIES, WE SEE A SIMILAR PATTERN AS FAR AS FAST AS AUSTIN IS GROWING, THE SURROUNDING CITIES ARE GROWING EVEN FASTER.
A NUMBER OF CENTRAL TEXAS HAVE TAKEN THAT NUMBER ONE SPOT AMONG RECENT LISTS OF THE FASTEST OR FASTEST GROWING CITIES IN THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING LEANDER AND CEDAR PARK, AND ALSO GROWING REALLY RAPIDLY, OUR MAINER AND BUDA AND HUDDLE.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THOUGH, THAT ALTHOUGH AUSTIN SHARE OF THE METRO GROWTH IS SMALLER TODAY THAN IT HAS BEEN IN THE PAST AND THAT THE SURROUNDING AREAS ARE GROWING MUCH FASTER THAN AUSTIN.
THE BULK OF THE GROWTH STILL ORIGINATES IN THE CITY.
IT'S LARGEST NEIGHBOR TO THE NORTH ROUND ROCK ADDED A 10TH OF THE POPULATION THAT AUSTIN ADDED THIS DECADE.
AND EVEN THE LARGE INCREASE THAT WE SAW IN LEANDER IS ONLY TWO TENTHS OF THE GROWTH SEEN IN AUSTIN.
AND AS POPULATION HAS GROWN HERE IN THE CITY, SO HAS THE NUMBER OF HOUSING UNITS IN 2020, THERE WERE 444,426 HOUSING UNITS IN AUSTIN.
AND WE EXPANDED BY OVER 90,000, SINCE 2010 AT A RATE OF GROWTH OF ABOUT 25 AND A HALF PERCENT WHILE THE NUMBER OF HOUSING UNITS IS LARGER THAN IN DECADES PAST THE RATE OF GROWTH HAS SLOWED DOWN THIS DECADE.
UH, IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER THAT THESE DATA DO NOT INCLUDE ANY OTHER INFORMATION ON HOUSING TYPES OR A NUMBER OF BEDROOMS OR OTHER HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS THAT COULD FURTHER INFORM HOW WELL THE HOUSING STOCK MATCHES THE HOUSING NEEDS OF THE POPULATION.
SO LET'S GO AHEAD AND, UM, GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND WE'RE GOING TO SHIFT GEARS AND TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT POPULATION.
SO THE CITY'S POPULATION GROWTH EXTENDED ACROSS ALL RACE, ETHNICITY GROUPS.
AND FIRST, LET ME GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT.
SO THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND THE STATE, UH, POPULATION GROWTH WAS DRIVEN LARGELY BY POPULATIONS OF COLOR.
AND SO FOR INSTANCE, IN TEXAS 95% OF THE TOTAL POPULATION GROWTH IN THE LAST DECADE CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO POPULATIONS OF COLOR IN AUSTIN.
WE SEE SOMEWHAT OF A UNIQUE PATTERN OF DIVERSITY.
AND SO I REALIZED THERE'S A LOT OF NUMBERS IN THIS TABLE, BUT I'M GOING TO GUIDE YOU THROUGH THEM.
SO LET'S START AT THE BOTTOM RIGHT CORNER WHERE WE CAN SEE THE BIGGEST DRIVERS OF GROWTH.
THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION IS DRIVING GROWTH IN AUSTIN.
THEY CONTRIBUTED NEARLY 40% OF ALL GROWTH THIS LAST DECADE, EXPANDING BY OVER 67,000 TO A TOTAL POPULATION OF 450, 2,994 PERSONS.
AND THIS IS AT A TIME WHEN THE COUNTRY EXPERIENCED A DECLINE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 230 YEARS.
AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IDENTIFYING AS NON-HISPANIC WHITE.
SO SEEN SUCH STRONG GROWTH AMONG THIS COMMUNITY IN AUSTIN IS, IS UNIQUE.
NOW LET'S MOVE TO THE COLUMN TO THE LEFT, TO SEE THE FASTEST GROWING, UH, RACE GROUPS, THE FASTEST GROWING RACE ETHNICITY GROUP WAS THE GROUP THAT SAID, THERE'S NO RACE.
THAT'S LISTED HERE BY THE CENSUS BUREAU THAT REPRESENTS ME OR THE SOME OTHER RACE GROUP.
UM, AND THEY GREW BY OVER THREE AND MORE THAN QUADRUPLED IN SIZE BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020.
ANOTHER FAST GROWING RACE ETHNICITY GROUP WAS THE MULTI-RACIAL OR TWO OR MORE RACIST GROUP.
AND BOTH OF THESE GROUPS, UM, SOME OF THAT GROWTH CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO SOME CHANGES THAT THE CENSUS BUREAU MADE IN THE WAY THAT THEY CODE THE DATA AND THE RESPONSE CHOICES THAT THEY MADE AVAILABLE TO PEOPLE WHEN THEY WERE RESPONDING TO THE SURVEY.
BUT THESE GROUPS WERE ALSO ALREADY FAST-GROWING GROUPS IN THE PAST.
THE ASIAN POPULATION WAS THE FASTEST SINGLE RACE GROUP OVER ONE IN FIVE PEOPLE, ADD IT TO THE POPULATION OF AUSTIN WERE OF ASIAN DESCENT AND THEY CONTRIBUTED OVER 21% OF THE TOTAL POPULATION GROWTH.
HISPANICS MADE UP ABOUT 20% OF THE TOTAL GROWTH IN THE CITY IN THE LAST DECADE.
AND THIS COMPARES WITH ABOUT 50% AT THE NATIONAL AND STATE LEVELS.
HISPANIC RESIDENTS GREW BY OVER 34,000 PEOPLE TO A TOTAL POPULATION OF 300, 12,448 PERSONS.
THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN POPULATION ALSO GREW THIS DECADE, BUT AT A SLOWER RATE, BLACK RESIDENTS GREW
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BY OVER 5,200 TO A TOTAL POPULATION OF 66,002 PERSONS SINCE DECADE.THIS IS IN THE CONTEXT OF STRONG MIGRATION BY AFRICAN-AMERICANS TO CITIES IN THE SOUTH, INCLUDING DALLAS AND HOUSTON.
AND SO FOR INSTANCE, SIMILARLY SIZED FORT WORTH ADDED NEARLY 40,000 AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND OVER 67,000 HISPANICS, THIS DECADE, IF WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, THIS SLIDE HERE IS A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF OUR CITIES, UM, DIVERSITY.
AND SO, ALTHOUGH NO RACE ETHNICITY GROUP MAKES UP A MAJORITY, THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION CONTINUES TO MAKE UP THE LARGEST SHARE OF THAT POPULATION.
AND THEY ARE NOW AT 47%, WHICH IS A SLIGHT DROP FROM NEARLY 49%.
IN 2010, THE HISPANIC POPULATION ALSO SAW A DECREASE IN ITS SHARE FROM 2010, THEY DROPPED ABOUT THREE PERCENTAGE POINTS FROM ABOUT 35% TO 32 AND A HALF PERCENT.
THE ASIAN POPULATION IS NOW THE THIRD LARGEST RACE ETHNICITY GROUP IN THE CITY.
AND IT MAKES UP NEARLY 9%, UH, UP FROM 6% IN 2010.
AND THE BLACK POPULATION NOW MAKES UP 7% OF OUR CITY'S POPULATION, WHICH IS ABOUT A ONE PERCENTAGE POINT LOWER THAN AT THE START OF THE DECADE.
THE REDISTRICTING DATA ALSO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE POPULATION 18 AND OLDER.
AND SO WHEN WE SUBTRACT THIS FROM THE TOTAL POPULATION, WE'RE ABLE TO SEE THAT, THAT VOTING AGE POPULATION, BUT WE'RE ALSO ABLE TO SEE THE CHILD POPULATION AND IN AUSTIN, THE ADULT POPULATION CONSISTS OF ABOUT 775,000 PEOPLE.
AND THE CHILD POPULATION TOTALS ABOUT 186,000.
THE ADULT POPULATION IS LESS DIVERSE IN THE OVERALL POPULATION, AND IT'S A LITTLE LESS DIVERSE THAN IT WAS A DECADE AGO AS WELL WHILE NO GROUP HOLDS A MAJORITY IN THE TOTAL POPULATION.
AS I DESCRIBED BEFORE IN THE 18 AND OLDER, JUST OVER 50% IDENTIFY AS NON HISPANIC WHITE.
AND THIS IS COMPARED TO ABOUT 42 AND A HALF PERCENT IN 2010, THE CHILD POPULATION IS MUCH MORE DIVERSE.
AND WITH 67% IDENTIFYING AS NON-HISPANIC WHITE WITH THE LATINO POPULATION BEING, UH, I'M SORRY, NOT AS NON-HISPANIC WHITE, BUT IT'S NON WHITE.
AND WITH THE LATINO POPULATION BEING THE LARGEST GROUP MAKING UP ABOUT 44% ON THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE GROWTH IN THE CHILD POPULATION WAS DRIVEN BY ASIAN NON-HISPANIC WHITE AND MULTI-RACIAL CHILDREN.
YOU CAN ALSO SEE HERE THAT THERE WAS A DROP IN THE NUMBER OF LATINO AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020.
AND WE TYPICALLY LOOK AT THE CHILD POPULATION TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE DEMOGRAPHIC FUTURE OF AN AREA MAY LOOK LIKE.
AND IN THIS CASE, WE SEE FEWER AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND HISPANIC CHILDREN AND PERHAPS FEWER LATINO AND BLACK ADULTS IN AUSTIN'S FUTURE.
SO NOW WE'LL DIVE INTO, UM, PARTICULAR AREAS OF GROWTH AND DECLINE.
AND SO THE MAP ON THE LEFT DEPICTS THE POPULATION DENSITY AND DARKER SHADED AREAS HAVE HIGHER DENSITY POPULATION DENSITY.
AND THE CITY HAS INCREASED FROM ABOUT 26,000 PERSONS PER SQUARE MILE IN 2010 TO OVER 3000 PERSONS PER SQUARE MILE IN 2020, THE MOST DENSELY POPULATED TRACKS CAN BE FOUND AROUND THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AND IN DOWNTOWN AUSTIN, JUST NORTH OF THE RIVER, AS WELL AS ALONG THE
JOHN'S CENTRAL EAST, AUSTIN, RIVERSIDE, AND THEN DOWN TO ONION CREEK.
THE MAP ON THE RIGHT DEPICTS POPULATION CHANGE BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020 WITH GROWTH IN AREAS IN WHITE AND BLUE AND DECLINE IN AREAS IN RED FOR THE MOST PART TREKS AROUND THE CITY, ADDED MORE POPULATION AND HIGH GROWTH CAN BE SEEN IN AREAS IN THE MUELLER AREA, THE DOMAIN WEST CAMPUS, AND NORTHWEST AUSTIN AREAS OF THE CITY THAT LOST POPULATION THROUGHOUT THE DECADE CAN BE SEEN, UM, IN THE FLOOD MITIGATION AREA OF LOWER ONION CREEK, ALSO IN THE DOVE SPRINGS AREA ST JOHN'S NORTH LAMAR AREAS, AND THEN ALSO THE TRACK THAT HOUSES THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
AND SO WHEN WE FIRST TAKE A LOOK AT THESE MAPS, IT DEFINITELY GIVES AN IMPRESSION OF SPRAWL, RIGHT? AND SO SOME OF THIS HAS TO DO WITH THE NATURE OF THE GEOGRAPHIC AREAS THAT WE'RE REPRESENTING HERE IN THE MAPS, CENSUS TRACKS, ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT LIE ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF CITIES AND IN MORE RURAL AREAS TEND TO BE LARGER AND LAND AREA.
AND SO THEY TEND TO STAND OUT IN SOME OF THESE MAPS
[00:15:01]
AND ACTUALITY, THE POPULATION DISTRIBUTION IS MUCH CLOSER TO THE CITY LIMITS, BUT YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE IS SOME SPRAWL THAT'S TAKING PLACE AS IT HAS BEEN FOR SOME TIME NOW AND IN MOST URBAN CENTERS AROUND THE COUNTRY, ESPECIALLY IN URBAN CENTERS HERE IN TEXAS.SO HERE, YOU'LL SEE, HOWEVER THAT A LARGER SHARE OF THE METRO GROWTH THAT'S TAKING PLACE IN AUSTIN RELATIVE TO OTHER PRINCIPAL'S CITIES AND OTHER METRO AREAS.
SO WHILE AUSTIN CONTRIBUTED 30% OF THE TOTAL GROWTH IN THE METRO REGION IN THE LAST DECADE, SAN ANTONIO AND HOUSTON AND DALLAS CONTRIBUTED 26, 18 AND 8% RESPECTIVELY TO THEIR METRO REGIONS.
SO WE SEE THAT IN AUSTIN OR IN THE AUSTIN METRO, THE BULK OF THE POPULATION GROWTH IN THE REGION CONTINUES TO ORIGINATE WITHIN THE AUSTIN CITY LIMITS.
SO IN THIS NEXT SET OF SLIDES, WHAT I'M GOING TO SHOW IS A COUPLE OF MAPS AND THEY'RE EACH GOING TO HAVE THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF A DIFFERENT RACE ETHNICITY GROUP.
AND THIS IS THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION FOR THE ASIAN POPULATION.
SO THE MAP ON THE LEFT LOOKS AT THE ASIAN SHARE OF THE POPULATION WITH HIGHER SHARES DEPICTED, AND INCREASINGLY DARKER SHADES OF GREEN AND TRACKS WITH HIGHER SHARES OF ASIAN POPULATION CAN BE SEEN IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF AUSTIN STRETCHING FROM JOLLYVILLE TO AVERY RANCH AND DOWN TO SPICEWOOD, MANSFIELD AND RIVER PLACE.
AND THEN TRACKS WITH HIGHER SHARES OF THE ASIAN POPULATION CAN ALSO BE SEEN IN PARTS OF SOUTHWEST AUSTIN, AROUND BARTON CREEK AND WEST OAK HILL AND IN THE NORTHEAST AREAS AROUND HARRIS, BRANCH, AND PIONEER CROSSING.
NOW, THE MAP ON THE RIGHT TO PICKS POPULATION CHANGE IN THE ASIAN POPULATION BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020, AND GROWTH IS SHOWN IN GREEN AND DECLINE IS SHOWN IN AREAS OF BROWN GROWTH IN THE ASIAN POPULATION CAN BE SEEN MOSTLY IN THE NORTHWEST AND NORTHEAST, AND THEN ALSO SOME SOUTHWEST PARTS OF THE CITY, AS WELL AS IN THE DOMAIN, THE UNIVERSITY AREA.
AND THEN SOME AREAS OF DECLINE IN THE ASIAN POPULATION CAN BE FOUND AROUND THE RIVERSIDE AREA, UH, SOUTH OF CZECH RIDGE IN THE NORTHEAST, AND THEN AROUND THE SCOFIELD FARMS IN LAMPLIGHT VILLAGE AREA, IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE CITY.
THIS SET OF MAPS, UH, FOCUSES ON THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE BLACK POPULATION.
AND SO AGAIN, THE MAP ON THE LEFT LOOKS AT THE SHARE OF THE BLACK POPULATION WITH HIGHER SHARE SHOWN AN INCREASINGLY DARKER SHADES OF PURPLE AND AREAS OF THE CITY WITH HIGHEST SHARES OF BLACK POPULATION CAN BE FOUND IN PARTS OF MLK AND HIGHWAY 180 3, AS WELL AS IN PARTS, NORTH AUSTIN, INCLUDING THE AREAS OF TECH RIDGE PIONEER CROSSING AND HARRIS BRANCH.
AND THEN THE MAP ON THE RIGHT LOOKS A CHANGE.
UM, SO AREAS IN GREEN ARE SHOWING GROWTH IN THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN POPULATION IN AREAS IN PURPLE ARE SHOWING DECLINE AREAS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN GROWTH CAN BE SEEN IN PARTS OF HARRIS, BRANCH AND TECH RIDGE IN THE NORTHEAST PARTS OF AUSTIN AND DOWN IN FAR SOUTH AUSTIN, AND THEN AREAS WITH THE STEEPEST DECLINES IN THE BLACK POPULATION CAN BE FOUND IN TRACKS LOCATED IN HISTORIC EAST AUSTIN AND EAST OF MLK AND HIGHWAY 180 3, NEXT MAP PLEASE, OR NEXT SLIDE.
AND THIS SET OF MAPS LOOKS AT THE HISPANIC GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.
SO THE DARKER SHADED AREAS ARE GOING TO SHOW, SHOW HIGHER SHARES OF HISPANIC POPULATION.
AND SO WHAT WE CAN SEE HERE IS THAT AREAS WITH HIGHER SHARES CAN BE FOUND IN THE EASTERN PARTS OF THE CITY, ESPECIALLY THE PARTS, UM, SOUTHEAST AUSTIN, LIKE KNUCKLES CROSSING AND MONTOPOLIS, AND ALONG ONE 30, AND THEN OTHER AREAS WITH HIGH SHARES INCLUDE, UM, THE ST JOHN'S AND NORTH LAMAR AREA, AS WELL AS, UH, LONG NORTH DESA.
AND THEN IN THE SOUTH, WE SEE, UH, HIGHER SHARES OF HISPANICS AROUND THE ST EDWARDS UNIVERSITY, AS WELL AS SELF FIRST.
AND THEN THERE'S A NUMBER OF CENSUS TRACKS WITH SMALLER SHARES OF HISPANIC POPULATION, PARTICULARLY IN HISTORIC CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN.
AND THEN THE MAP ON THE RIGHT DEPICTS POPULATION CHANGE FOR HISPANICS WITH RED AREAS, SHOWING GROWTH AND IN THE BLACK AND GRAY AREAS, SHOWING DECLINE, UH, TRACKS WITH HIGHER GROWTH AMONG HISPANICS CAN BE SEEN IN THE NORTHEAST AND SOUTHEAST AREAS OF THE CITY, UH, EXTENDING WHAT WE ONCE CALLED THE EASTERN CRESCENT FARTHER, FARTHER EAST, AND THEN AREAS, UH, WITH DECLINES IN THE HISPANIC POPULATION CAN BE SEEN IN THE CENTRAL PARTS OF THE CITY STRETCHING FROM NORTH DELORES LAMAR REGION DOWN TO HISTORIC AUSTIN, AND THEN FARTHER DOWN TO DOVE SPRINGS.
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OF MAPS IS THE LAST SET OF MAPS AND IT'S FOR THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION, A GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION.AGAIN, THE MAP ON THE, ON THE LEFT LOOKS AT THE HIGHER SHARES OF THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION IN DARKER SHADES OF BLUE.
AND THEN THE MAP DEPICTS THE FAMILIAR PATTERN OF AREAS OF HIGHER SHARES OF WHITE POPULATION FOUND MOSTLY ON THE WESTERN PARTS OF THE CITY.
UH, WE ALSO SEE MANY TRACKS THOUGH WITH HIGHER SHARES OF WHITE POPULATION ALONG THE CENTRAL CORRIDOR AND TO THE EAST OF
AND THEN THE MAP ON THE RIGHT DEPICTS CHANGE IN THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020.
AND SO THESE, UM, THE AREAS OF GROWTH ARE GOING TO IN THE, IN BLUE AND THEN THE AREAS OF DECLINE ARE GONNA BE IN SHADES OF BROWN AND AREAS OF NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION GROWTH CAN BE SEEN IN THE LAKELINE DOMAIN, MUELLER AND HOLLY NEIGHBORHOODS, AS WELL AS NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE RIVER IN THE DOWNTOWN AREAS.
AND THEN AREAS OF NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION DECLINE CAN BE SEEN IN A NUMBER OF TRACKS IN NORTHWEST AUSTIN, INCLUDING AVERY RANCH, AND ALSO, UH, IN THE TRACK THAT HOUSES THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AND PARTS OF WEST CAMPUS.
YOU CAN SKIP OVER THIS SLIDE AS WELL.
UM, SO JUST TO RECAP, UM, THE FINDINGS THAT WE SEE HERE OFFER US MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO CELEBRATE OUR CITY CONTINUES TO GROW AND ITS GROWTH IS RIVALING THAT OF THE NATION'S LARGEST CITIES, UM, GROWTH IN HOUSING APPEARS TO BE ON PAR WITH POPULATION GROWTH WITH LOW VACANCY RATES, INDICATING ABSORPTION OF NEW HOUSING UNITS AS THEY'RE BEING ADDED.
AND THEN WE SAW GROWTH AMONG ALL OF OUR RACE AND ETHNICITY COMMUNITIES, AND THIS IS YIELDING INCREASED DIVERSITY FOR OUR CITY.
HOWEVER, THE DATA ALSO PROVIDES SOME OPPORTUNITIES FOR REFLECTION.
THERE IS A CONTINUED GEOGRAPHIC SEGREGATION AMONG OUR CITIES, DIFFERENT RACIAL COMMUNITIES.
THERE ALSO IS A CONCURRENT FARTHER EASTWARD MOVEMENT OF THE POPULATION WITH INCREASINGLY HIGHER SHARES OF THE NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION AND HISTORICALLY BLACK AND BROWN NEIGHBORHOODS.
ADDITIONALLY, OUR HOUSING RATE OF GROWTH HAS SLOWED DOWN BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020, GIVEN THE CITY'S LONG TRENDS OF STRONG AND SUSTAINED GROWTH.
IT'S IMPERATIVE THAT HOUSING GROWTH IS ABLE TO CONTINUE TO KEEP PACE WITH POPULATION GROWTH AND THEN POPULATIONS OF COLOR LED GROWTH THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AND THE STATE.
WE SEE A UNIQUE PATTERN OF GROWTH AMONG HISPANICS AND AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN AUSTIN, INCLUDING A DECLINE AMONG BLACK AND LATINO CHILDREN.
AND THIS IS SOMETHING WE SHOULD BE CURIOUS ABOUT IN ORDER FOR ALL OF OUR COMMUNITIES IN THE CITY TO BE ABLE TO FULLY PARTICIPATE IN THE CELEBRATION OF THESE RESULTS.
WE MUST FIRST SEEK TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS IT THAT'S CONTRIBUTING TO THIS UNIQUE DIVERSITY IN OUR CITY.
AND THIS SLIDE, I JUST PROVIDE A NUMBER OF RESOURCES, INCLUDING, UH, AN INTERACTIVE MAP SERIES THAT WE HAVE ON OUR WEBSITE, THE STATIC MAPS THAT I SHARED WITH YOU HERE.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE A DASHBOARD WITH KEY FINDINGS.
I ALSO SHARED SOME LINKS TO THE CENSUS BUREAU'S, UM, AND THEY HAVE SOME INTERESTING BLOGS AND DATA VISUALIZATIONS.
AND THEN THE TEXAS DEMOGRAPHIC CENTER, THEY HAVE PROVIDED SOME INTERACTIVE DASHBOARDS FOR ALL CITIES AND ALL COUNTIES IN TEXAS.
SO FEEL FREE TO, YOU KNOW, LOOK THROUGH THOSE AND I THINK YOU'LL FIND THAT INFORMATION HELPFUL.
UM, AND THAT'S THE END OF MY PREPARED COMMENTS.
I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY, ANY QUESTIONS IF TIME ALLOWS.
UM, WE'LL NOW ENTERTAIN SOME QUESTIONS.
UM, I DID HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY LAST WEEK TO MEET WITH MS. VALENCIA WITH MY STAFF, AND I'D HIGHLY ENCOURAGE MY COLLEAGUES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT OPPORTUNITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, TO DIG MORE INTO THE DATA NOW THAT YOU HAVE SEEN IT, I MAY DO DOING THAT AGAIN.
UM, IT WAS REALLY HELPFUL TO BE ABLE TO KIND OF PLAY AROUND IN THE MAPS AND, AND SEE THERE'S SOME REALLY GREAT, UM, RESOURCES THAT HER TEAM HAS PUT TOGETHER.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS AND THINGS AFTER YOU'VE HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THAT, UM, DATA, WE MAY BE ABLE TO HAVE SORT OF RICHER CONVERSATIONS.
UM, SO I WILL OPEN IT UP TO SOME QUESTIONS.
I JUST WANT TO BE MINDFUL OF TIME TODAY.
WE HAVE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT ON OUR AGENDA COUNCIL MEMBER.
THANK YOU, MS. VALENCIA FOR TASTE PRESENTATION.
YOU KNOW, OFTENTIMES I KNOW A LOT OF US WERE EXPECTING TO SEE FROM THE CENSUS COUNT THAT AUSTIN REACHED A MILLION RESIDENTS, AND WE KNOW THAT PART OF THE REASON WHY THE NUMBERS DON'T REFLECT THAT IS BECAUSE THERE'S
[00:25:01]
LIKELY AN UNDERCOUNT, UM, GIVEN THAT WE'RE IN A PANDEMIC AND BECAUSE OF THE, THEN ADMINISTRATION'S ATTEMPTS TO, UM, SUPPRESS DATA COLLECTION AND, AND USE TACTICS THAT, UM, MADE IT HARDER FOR FOLKS TO WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CENSUS.UM, BUT I ALSO THINK THERE'S ANOTHER AREA THAT WE OFTEN DON'T TALK ABOUT IN THAT WHILE AUSTIN IS A GROWING CITY, WE'RE ALSO, WE'RE ALSO EXPERIENCING A DISPLACEMENT CRISIS.
AND I THINK WE'RE SEEING THAT IN THE NUMBERS WHILE WE DID ADD 34,000 LATINOS TO THE AUSTIN AREA, OUR PORTION AS A LATINO COMMUNITY HAS DECREASED.
AND FROM MY UNDERSTANDING AND LOOKING AT ANOTHER DATASET, THE PERCENTAGE OF LATINOS, AND I THINK I HAVE ONE OF THE HIGHEST LATINO DISTRICTS IN THE CITY, UM, THAT WAS TRADITIONALLY AT A LITTLE OVER 70% LATINO, 10 YEARS AGO.
UH, WE DISTRICT TWO EXPERIENCED A 10% DECLINE IN OUR LATINO POPULATION AND THAT IS NOT OKAY.
AND THAT, AND SO WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU AND FROM YOUR, UM, EXPERIENCE AND ANALYSIS WITH THIS DATA SET FROM THE SPERM, THE CENSUS, UH, TO WHAT EXTENT IS DISPLACEMENT, UH, SHOWN IN THE DATA, HOW, YOU KNOW, HOW PREVALENT IS IT COMPARED TO OTHER CITIES, OUR SIZE AND ANY OTHER FACTORS THAT WE SHOULD BE CONSIDERING.
AND I APPRECIATE THAT YOU SHOW THAT OUR MINORITY COMMUNITIES OR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR ARE MOVING FURTHER EAST, UM, GIVEN THE AFFORDABILITY CRISIS THAT WE HAVE IN THE CITY.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, YOU MENTIONED THAT THE, THE CHILDREN, UH, THE PERCENT OF, UH, BLACK AND LATINO CHILDREN IN AUSTIN IS DECREASING.
SO IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND JUST TOUCHING ON, YOU KNOW, TO WHAT CONSIDERATIONS SHOULD WE GIVE TO THE DISPLACEMENT CRISIS THAT WE'RE EXPERIENCING IN AUSTIN? SURE.
SO THE DATA ARE DEFINITELY INDICATING, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THAT, UM, DISPLACEMENT PHENOMENON.
AND, YOU KNOW, AS, AS YOU MENTIONED, WE SEE THAT FARTHER EASTWARD MOVEMENT OF COMMUNITIES OF COLOR IN PARTICULAR AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND HISPANICS.
AND THEN ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE SEEING IS THAT WE ARE SEEING AREAS WHERE WE MAY HAVE EXPECTED GROWTH, THAT THERE COULD BE SOME POPULATION DECLINES.
AND TYPICALLY THESE WERE IN AREAS WHERE THERE WERE, UM, HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF, OF HISPANICS FAMILY.
SO IN THE CORNETTO HILLS AND ST JOHN'S NEIGHBORHOODS AND DOVE SPRINGS.
AND SO WHAT WE THINK MAY BE HAPPENING THERE IS THAT AS THE DISPLACEMENT OCCURS, THEN THE PEOPLE WHO MOVE INTO THOSE AREAS HAVE A DIFFERENT MAKEUP OF, UH, FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD SIZE THEN THAN THE FAMILIES THAT WERE THERE PREVIOUSLY.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE NEED TO START TO LOOK AT WHEN THE DATA BECOME AVAILABLE, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, AN INITIAL SET, BUT WE DO NEED TO START TO DISENTANGLE.
HOW MUCH OF THIS IS DISPLACEMENT, WHERE PEOPLE ARE MOVING FARTHER AND FARTHER EAST OR MOVING OUT OF THE CITY ALTOGETHER.
AND THEN ALSO HOW MUCH OF THIS IS, UM, IS AN UNDERCOUNT, RIGHT? WHEN I SAW THOSE FIGURES FOR THE DECLINES AND BLACK AND BROWN CHILDREN RIGHT AWAY, I WAS LIKE, WELL, THIS, THIS IS IN LINE WITH, YOU KNOW, THE DISCUSSIONS AROUND DISPLACEMENT AND FAMILIES NOT BEING ABLE TO AFFORD TO LIVE IN AUSTIN.
BUT I ALSO REMEMBER THAT THESE POPULATIONS, ESPECIALLY FOR CHILDREN UNDER FIVE AND CHILDREN OF COLOR, UH, ARE THE MOST LIKELY TO BE UNDER COUNTED.
AND SO WE NEED TO START TO DISENTANGLE THOSE, YOU KNOW, THAT INFORMATION.
SO WE CAN GET A CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF TRULY WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE CITY AND WHERE WE NEED TO FURTHER EXPLORE, UM, AREAS, YOU KNOW, UM, WHERE WE NEED TO AMPLIFY OUR MITIGATION DISPLACEMENT EFFORTS, BUT ALSO AREAS WE REALLY NEED TO EXPLORE WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS, UM, TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS THE SCHOOL ENROLLMENT LIKE, AND ARE WE SEEING A, A TRUE DECREASE IN THE CHILD POPULATION OR IS SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENING HERE? THANK YOU.
AND I THINK YOU'RE, YOU'RE SPOT ON WITH THE UNTANGLING OF THE DATA, GIVEN THE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH THE CENSUS WAS HELD AND COLLEAGUES, YOU KNOW, DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION IS ONE OF MY OFFICES, TOP PRIORITIES, ESPECIALLY FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR CONTINUED WORK ON THE DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION FRONT, AND MY OFFICE WILL BE BRINGING FORWARD POLICY, UH, LATER IN OCTOBER AROUND AROUND THIS ISSUE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS THERE.
AND I THINK WHAT WE MAY FIND IS THAT WE CAN'T DISTINGUISH BETWEEN IN THIS CENSUS DATA, HOW MUCH DISPLACEMENT THERE WAS VERSUS HOW MUCH INTIMIDATION OF LOW-INCOME FAMILIES THERE WERE, BUT WE KNOW THAT THERE WERE BOTH, AND WHAT YOU'VE RAISED IS THAT WE SHOULD ABSOLUTELY ADDRESS BOTH ONE INTERESTING THING FOR US TO THAT.
IT POPPED OUT TO ME AND THIS DATA, UM, WAS HOW IN THE HERITAGE HILLS CENSUS TRACK, THERE WAS THIS REALLY SIGNIFICANT GROWTH OF LATINO FAMILIES IN MY DISTRICT.
[00:30:01]
A LOT OF THE COMMERCIAL, LOTS AROUND THE WALMART THERE HAVE BECOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING ENABLED AND SUPPORTED BY THIS DIOCESE WHERE HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS WERE ADDED THERE.UM, AND OTHER PARTS OF MY DISTRICT WHERE THERE WASN'T NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING ADDED, AND WE'VE BEEN WORKING TO PRESERVE IT.
WE SAW SOME OF THE DECLINES AND MY ANECDOTAL CENSUS, SOME OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE INTIMIDATION, UH, BETWEEN 2010 AND 2020 DATA.
AND SOME OF IT HAS TO DO WITH WHAT YOU'VE LAID OUT HERE, WHERE CHILDREN HAVE GROWN UP, THEY'VE LEFT THE HOUSEHOLD, UH, PARENTS OR DEALS IN THE US ARE STILL THERE, BUT THEIR CHILDREN NO LONGER CAN AFFORD TO LIVE THERE.
AND THEY'RE NOT LIVING WITH THEIR PARENTS.
AND AGAIN, THAT SPEAKS TO THAT CONTINUED NEED TO PRESERVE OUR HOUSING AND THEN ADD THAT NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING WHERE BEFORE WE HAD PARKING LOTS OR COMMERCIAL STRIP CENTERS, WE'VE SEEN IN SOME OF THOSE CENSUS TRACKS IN MY DISTRICT WHERE WE SAW DISPLACEMENT AND GENTRIFICATION, WE ALSO SAW SOME ADDITION WHERE WE WENT AND DID THAT, THAT KEY WORK IN THE LAST DECADE.
SO AGAIN, I THINK YOUR POINTS ARE SPOT ON.
COUNCIL MEMBER OF DOES WHERE WE HAVE TO ADDRESS BOTH.
WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE FEEL INCLUDED AND SAFE.
UM, AND WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THE DISPLACEMENT WE'VE SEEN BECAUSE AGAIN, MANY OF OUR DISTRICTS, MY DISTRICT, UH, I THINK HAD SECOND MOST LATINOS IN THE PAST AND SECOND, MOST, UH, BLACK RESIDENTS EXCEPT FOR, YOU KNOW, SECOND TO DISTRICT ONE.
AND WE SAW THAT REALLY STEEP DECLINE IN THE BLACK POPULATION AND OR IN THE RELATIVE BLACK POPULATION IN DISTRICT FOUR.
SO EVEN IF WE'RE SEEING INCREASES IN THE NUMBER OF LATINOS AND THE NUMBER OF BLACK AUSTINITES, I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE ABLE TO KEEP FAMILIES HERE AND KEEP, AND I THINK YOU CAN LOOK AT THE MAP AND SEE HOW, WHEN WE ADD AFFORDABLE HOUSING AT WORKS.
SO, UH, I THINK OUR COMMITMENT OVER THE NEXT DECADE, LOOKING AT THIS DATA IS TO PROVIDE THAT, UH, PROVIDE THAT FEELING OF SAFETY THAT YOU ARE, UM, THAT YOU'RE INCLUDED IN THIS COMMUNITY.
UM, AND ALSO PRESERVE AND ADD AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
BECAUSE I THINK WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE MAP, YOU CAN SEE THAT WHERE WE DID NOT, WELL, WE DIDN'T SEE THOSE DECLINES COUNCIL MEMBER RENTERIA.
DO YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? GO AHEAD.
IT IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF WHAT ARE OUR FAILURE NOT TO BUILD A POWERFUL, ESPECIALLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE, WE COULD GO AND LOOK AT HOW IT WORKS, UH, UH, SCOREBOARD CARD AND SEE, DO WE HAVE SOME DISTRICT THAT HAVE 0, 0 4 HOUSING AND THAT'S GOING TO BE A PROBLEM.
I MEAN, MAN VAN, YOU GETS TO BE 400 TO $500,000 JUST FOR A LOT.
YOU CANNOT BE A SINGLE FAMILY HOUSING, ESPECIALLY AFFORDABLE SINGLE FAMILY HOUSE.
AND UNLESS WE REALLY HAMMERED DOWN AND START ACCEPTING THESE TYPES OF DEVELOPMENTS THAT COME INTO EACH BAR DISTRICT, WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE THAT PATH.
WE'VE BEEN, WE'VE BEEN SHOUTING THIS OUT FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS AND IT JUST FALLS ON DEAF EAR.
IS THAT BACK WHEN WE JUST GOT ON THE CHIN ONE WHO STARTED REALLY INVESTED IN HOUSING BEFORE THEN WE SET ASIDE ONE OR TWO PREVIOUS COUNCIL SET ASIDE ONE OR $2 MILLION FOR TAX CREDIT COPY.
AND THAT WAS IT BESIDES THE FEDERAL FUNDING, KATIE DOWN UNIT.
AND SO UNLESS WE REALLY STARTED GETTING HER NOW I SEE THIS, YOU KNOW, BUT I CAN SEE THE AREAS WHERE THE DISTRICT THAT DON'T HAVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, WE'RE TRYING TO REALLY FOCUS ON, YOU KNOW, AND, UH, IT'S, IT'S JUST A SLOW PROCESS WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO NEED A LOT OF HELP FROM, UH, THE REST OF THE BUSINESSES AROUND HERE.
PEOPLE READ OUT AND GET OFF AND START SUPPORTING THIS, UM, BUILDING MORE DENSITY IN DOWNTOWN FISHY AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE YOUR WORKERS AND YOUR WORKFORCE.
IF YOU LIVE IN AUSTIN, THAT'S WHERE THEY GO.
AND THEY'RE GOING OUT TO DEL VALLEY.
THEY'RE GOING OUT TO HAYES COUNTY, THEY'RE GOING TO GEORGETOWN, WILLIAMSON COUNTY.
THEY JUST CANNOT AFFORD TO LIVE HERE.
IT'S JUST SO DARN INEXPENSIVE, YOU KNOW, WHERE, WHERE IT'S REALLY GETTING TO THAT POINT WHERE WE'RE GOING TO START LOSING A LOT MORE.
WE'RE NOT, WE DON'T GET REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT BUILDING MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? UM, I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS FORWARD AND THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER RENTERIA FOR, UM, RAISING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR BUSINESSES TO BE PART OF THE SOLUTION AND PROVIDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, I DO WANT TO UNDERSCORE THAT THE DATA THAT WE HAVE AT THIS POINT IN TIME IS VERY INCOMPLETE.
UM, AND WHEN WE GET THE FULLER DATA SET, WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO A LOT MORE ANALYSIS THAT WILL GIVE
[00:35:01]
US MORE INFORMATION ABOUT, UM, HOW OUR POLICIES ARE WORKING AND HOW THEY'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WILL BE ABLE TO BETTER SEE THINGS LIKE UNIT SIZES AND WHETHER UNIT SIZES ARE IMPACTING, UM, THE CHOICES THAT FAMILIES ARE MAKING, WHETHER WE ARE, UM, CREATING SITUATIONS WHERE YOU HAVE A LOT OF SINGLE PEOPLE MOVING INTO AREAS THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY, UM, FAMILIES.UM, AND I THINK THAT LEVEL OF DATA TO THE EXTENT THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO, TO DIVE INTO THAT I THINK WILL BE REALLY HELPFUL, BUT I THINK THAT'S STILL QUITE A WAYS AWAY.
UM, SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER TOTO.
I LIKE, UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT SUGGESTION COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER.
I THINK IT WOULD ALSO BE USEFUL TO SEE THAT DATA ALONGSIDE, UM, SOME OF THE INFORMATION FROM THE HOUSING WORKS SCORECARDS, WHICH SHOWS DISTRICT BY DISTRICT, UM, CREATION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
IT IS, I APPRECIATE COLLEAGUES, ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS AND LOOK FORWARD TO SUPPORTING ANTI-DISPLACEMENT POLICY EFFORTS, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER FUND US, AND, AND HOPE TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, WORK WITH YOU ON THAT.
IF YOU'RE STILL LOOKING FOR CO-SPONSORS.
I DO THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, RENDER YEAH.
SHARE YOUR PASSION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND, AND WANT TO SEE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN ALL PARTS OF OUR CITY AND INCREASED INVESTMENTS.
I JUST DO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THOUGH THAT, THAT BOTH PAST COUNCILS AND PAST VOTERS HAVE SUPPORTED AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOND PACKAGES.
UM, IN, YOU KNOW, WE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN WAS I BELIEVE THE FIRST CITY IN THE NATION TO HAVE AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOND PACKAGE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT WAS IMPORTANT TO PREVIOUS COUNCILS AS WELL.
IT, THEY DIDN'T, THEY WEREN'T IN THE SAME AMOUNT AS OUR LAST ONE, BUT THEY WERE IN THE AREA OF 60 MILLION.
AND I JUST WANT TO CONTINUE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SUPPORT, NOT JUST FROM OUR, OUR FORMER COLLEAGUES OR, YOU KNOW, PAST COUNCILS, BUT ALSO THE VOTERS OF AUSTIN BECAUSE THE CITY OF AUSTIN VOTERS HAVE INVESTED IN.
I EVEN REMEMBER THE ONE YEAR THAT IT WENT DOWN, UM, SEVERAL OF US THAT THE BOND PACKAGE WENT DOWN.
THE ONLY TIME THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING BOND PACKAGE WENT DOWN, UM, SEVERAL OF US PUSHED FOR A $10 MILLION INVESTMENT FROM SURPLUS FUNDS, WHICH WAS VERY CONTROVERSIAL.
WE, I GOT LOTS OF SUPER ANGRY EMAILS, BUT THIS COUNCIL, BECAUSE IT HAD JUST BEEN VOTED DOWN, THE BOND PACKAGE HAD BEEN VOTED DOWN THAT FALL.
UM, SEVERAL OF US WERE ABLE TO PERSUADE ON A VERY TIGHT COUNCIL VOTE, UM, A $10 MILLION EXPENDITURE THAT YEAR.
SO THE PROJECTS THAT HAD BEEN HOPING FOR IN COUNTING ON BOND FUNDS WERE ABLE TO GO FORWARD, INCLUDING A FOUNDATION COMMUNITIES FUND.
SO, YOU KNOW, I, I JUST, I THINK THAT THE COMMITMENT TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING HAS BEEN THERE FOR A WHILE.
DO WE HAVE MORE TO DO? ABSOLUTELY.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO ENCOURAGE, UM, ALL OF US TO CONTINUE TO THINK ABOUT WAYS THAT WE CAN USE ALL THE TOOLS IN OUR TOOLBOX, INCLUDING OUR DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, AS EFFECTIVELY AS POSSIBLE, INCLUDING OUR CITY OWNED LAND, WHICH WE'RE DOING NOW, THANKS TO THE LEADERSHIP OF COUNCIL MEMBER, CASAR AND COUNCIL MEMBER POOL.
WE'RE DOING THAT ON OUR CITY OWNED TRACKS AT ST.
JOHN'S AND AT, UM, RYAN DRIVE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE, THESE ARE ALL TOOLS THAT WE NEED.
WE NEED VERY MUCH, UM, IF WE'RE GOING TO INCREASE THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING SUPPLY.
UM, THANK YOU, MS. VALENCIA FOR JOINING US THIS MORNING.
UM, HOPEFULLY WE'LL HAVE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO, TO DISCUSS THE DATA AND I WILL ENCOURAGE MY COLLEAGUES AGAIN.
UM, DO TAKE A LOOK AT A LOOK AT THE UNDERLYING DATA AND FOR THE PUBLIC.
UM, YOU CAN FIND THAT ON OUR, ON OUR WEBSITE, UM, AND BE ABLE TO TAKE A LOOK FOR YOURSELF.
THERE'S SEVERAL TABS AND IT, IT'S REALLY A VERY HELPFUL SNAPSHOT OF THE DATA THAT WE HAVE TO DATE FROM THE CENSUS.
[B2. Presentation of Austin Climate Equity Plan]
UP THE NEXT BRIEFING ITEM, WHICH IS THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLANS.THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER, ALTAR AND COUNCIL.
UH, WE'RE GOING TO DIVE RIGHT INTO THIS PRESENTATION AND JUST WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND APPRECIATE ALL THE INCREDIBLE WORK THAT HAS GONE INTO THIS PRODUCT THAT IS BEFORE YOU TODAY, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE JOINING US, UH, THAT WERE PART OF THIS DEVELOPMENT.
UH, AND WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO ZACH TO START OUR PRESENTATION.
GOOD MORNING, COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I'M ZACH BOMBER CLIMATE PROGRAM MANAGER WITH THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY.
SO TODAY WE'RE GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE AUSTIN CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN, WHICH IS ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA FOR THURSDAY, UM, TWO FOR ADOPTION.
SO, UH, WE HAVE, YOU'RE GOING TO HEAR A LOT ABOUT COLLABORATION AND WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY ON THIS PLAN.
UM, ALL THE FOLKS LISTED ON THE RIGHT HERE ARE, UM, ON THE WEBEX, UH, AT THE END OF THIS PRESENTATION FOR FOUR QUESTIONS.
[00:40:01]
UH, SHANE JOHNSON AND KATIE COYNE, WHO ARE TWO OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS AND WE PUT A LOT OF FAITH IN OUR, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS.WHO'VE DONATED HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF HOURS AT TIMES TO HELP CREATE THIS PLAN.
AND SO THEY'RE GOING TO SAY A COUPLE OF THINGS BEFORE WE GET STARTED BEFORE I DIVE INTO THE PRESENTATION.
I'M A ONE OF THREE CO-CHAIRS FOR THE STEERING COMMITTEE FOR THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
I SWEAR IT'S MORE HUMID IN HERE THAN IT IS OUT THERE.
UH, YOU KNOW, I REALLY WANT TO FOCUS ON WHY PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THIS PLAN IS IMPORTANT AND IT'S NOT JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT'S IN IT.
UM, JUST A LITTLE BACKGROUND I'M, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER KOSSAR'S APPOINTEE TO ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION.
UH, AND I ALSO VICE CHAIR OF THAT COMMISSION AND VICE CHAIR OF THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE.
SO THAT'S KIND OF HOW I FIRST GOT INVOLVED IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN PROCESS.
WE CREATED A WORKING GROUP THAT REALLY FOCUSED ON ENGAGEMENT.
AND WHEN WE STARTED TALKING ABOUT, UH, THE NEED TO UPDATE THIS PLAN, WHICH IS UPDATED EVERY FIVE YEARS FROM THE GET-GO EQUITY WAS A KEY PART OF WHAT WE KNEW NEEDED TO BE EMBEDDED AT THE CORE OF THIS WORK.
THERE WERE KIND OF TWO KEY THINGS THAT WE STARTED WITH AS KEY MOMENTS FOR US TO REALLY MAKE SURE WE WERE DOING THAT.
WE CULTIVATED A MORE DIVERSE STEERING COMMITTEE THAT I HAVE SEEN FOR A PLANNING PROCESS IN THE CITY, UH, MADE UP OF COMMUNITY LEADERS, UH, WHO HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN EXCLUDED FROM PROCESS OR NOT LISTENED TO AND HAVE SOME DISTRUST FOR THE, UM, SO IT WAS A BIG DEAL FOR THEM TO COMMIT TIME AND ENERGY, AND HONESTLY, EMOTIONAL VULNERABILITY TO A PROCESS WITH THE CITY.
WE ALSO REALLY ADVOCATED FOR PAID CLIMATE AMBASSADORS AND ZACK, WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT LATER, BUT THAT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US RECOGNIZING THAT IN ONE SINGULAR PROCESS, WE CANNOT BUILD BACK TRUST WITH COMMUNITIES THAT WE'VE HISTORICALLY EXCLUDED IN THE PAST, BUT WE CAN PAY MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY WHO HAVE TRUST WITH THOSE COMMUNITIES TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK, TO PROVIDE A CONDUIT TO THOSE FOLKS WHO WE HAVE NOT BEEN GREAT AT REACHING.
UH, IN THE PAST, WE ALSO STARTED WITH A CLIMATE JUSTICE WORKSHOP BY DR.
THIS WAS REALLY VITAL, NOT JUST BECAUSE IT PROVIDED A FOUNDATION OF INFORMATION FOR US TO BUILD OUR COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF CLIMATE AND EQUITY AND JUSTICE ISSUES IN THE CITY, BUT IT REALLY CULTIVATED THIS CULTURE OF EMPATHY, WHICH TO ME IS KIND OF A CORE FIRST STEP IN BEING ABLE TO DO EQUITY WORK WELL.
UM, IT FELT FUNDAMENTALLY FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT AND WAS ALSO REALLY IMPORTANT FOR FOLKS WHO MAYBE WERE A LITTLE FEARFUL OF DOING A PROCESS DIFFERENTLY.
UH, WE CREATED A CULTURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH THAT INITIAL WORKSHOP AND THROUGH OUR CONTINUING WORK THAT I THINK WAS VITAL IN BEING ABLE TO DO THIS PROCESS WELL AS WELL.
UM, AND I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ALLOWED US TO WORK FROM A PLACE OF LOVE INSTEAD OF FEAR.
SO OFTEN WHEN WE'RE SAYING WE WANT TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN WE'VE EVER DONE IT BEFORE WE'RE FEARFUL, AND THAT IS NATURAL.
SO ONE OF THESE, UH, FEARFUL CONFLICTS THAT KEPT COMING UP WAS, WELL, WHAT IF IN THIS CLIMATE PLAN, IF WE HAVE EQUITY AS A CORE GOAL, IS THAT GOING TO BE AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR CLIMATE GOALS AS A CITY? THE ANSWER IS NO.
AND EVERY TIME THAT ISSUE CAME UP, WE HAD TO SAY, LOOK, WE'RE APPROACHING THIS FROM A PLACE OF LOVE, NOT FEAR.
WE ARE GOING TO BE ACCOUNTABLE TO ONE ANOTHER.
SO IF A CONFLICT ARISES, WE WERE ACCOUNTABLE TO SOLVING IT AND FIGURING OUT THE BEST PATH FORWARD THAT FELT FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING I'VE BEEN A PART OF BEFORE, AND WAS HONESTLY REALLY SPECIAL TO ME PERSONALLY.
UH, SO, YOU KNOW, WE BELIEVE WE'VE CULTIVATED A, A PLAN THAT REALLY CENTERS EQUITY AT ITS CORE AND IS HONESTLY REALLY OPTIMISTIC.
I THINK IT'S RADICAL IN, UH, THE WAY THIS PROCESS BEGAN TO BUILD BACK SOME TRUST WITH COMMUNITIES WHO HAVE LOST TRUST WITH THE CITY.
UH, AND I'M EXCITED TO SAY THAT OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND OTHER FOLKS IN THE CITY ARE LOOKING TO THIS AS A MODEL FOR HOW WE CAN BUILD ON OUR EQUITY DRIVEN WORK.
WE EVEN HAVE FOLKS IN OTHER CITIES, HOUSTON, FOR INSTANCE, WHO'S REALLY LOOKING AT OUR PLAN ALREADY AND SAYING, THIS IS HOW YOU DO EQUITY DRIVEN CLIMATE PLANNING.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE CHANCE TO SPEAK.
AND I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS WEEK AND Y'ALL HOPEFULLY SUPPORTING THIS PLAN MOVING FORWARD.
WHO'S UH, WAS ALSO A CO-CHAIR.
UH, HELLO COUNSEL, GOOD MORNING OR WELL AFTERNOON, UH, SHANE JOHNSON, HE HIM PRONOUNS.
UM, AND I'LL SAY I'M A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT FOUR GROUP IN DISTRICT SEVEN.
UM, AND YEAH, SO THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK, UH, AND REALLY EXCITED ABOUT HOW FAR WE'VE COME, HOW MUCH WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED.
UM, AND, UH, WE'LL BUILD OFF OF THE FOUNDATION.
KATIE JUST LAID IN TERMS OF, UM, HIGHLIGHTING THE IMPORTANT
[00:45:01]
ELEMENTS OF THIS PLAN.UM, BUT I ALSO KIND OF WANT TO FLIP IT THE WAY WE'RE COUCHING THIS A LITTLE BIT ON ITS HEAD.
AND SO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IS A RACIAL EQUITY PLAN SEEKING TO HELP ADDRESS ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM AND CLIMATE CHANGE.
IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO NECESSARILY BE A CLIMATE PLAN IN ITSELF.
IT SHOULD BE A RACIAL JUSTICE PLAN, AND THAT IS HOW WE CAN ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE.
UM, AND SO THE TOP PRIORITY IS OF COURSE, RACIAL EQUITY THROUGH COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP.
UM, AND I WOULD SAY THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON, UM, THAT, UH, EVERY COUNCIL MEMBER AND THE MAYOR, UH, AND ALL STAFF CAN TAKE AWAY FROM THIS IS, IS, AS I WAS SAYING, WE CAN'T BEAT CLIMATE CHANGE WITHOUT CENTERING RACIAL EQUITY SPECIFICALLY IN OUR WORK.
UM, UH, YOU KNOW, WE WON'T EVEN COME CLOSE WITHOUT, UH, CENTERING EQUITY.
UH, AND AS KATIE WAS SAYING, YOU KNOW, WE WERE ABLE TO DO THIS SO WELL.
AND SO COMPREHENSIVELY FOR, I THINK THE FIRST TIME EVER IN A CITY PLANNING PROCESS TO THIS SCALE AND THIS EFFECTIVENESS, UM, BECAUSE, UH, OF THIS, UH, FOUNDATIONAL PROCESS WE DID WITH THE EQUITY TRAININGS FOR, UH, NOT ONLY ALL OF THE ADVISORY GROUP MEMBERS AND THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBERS, WHICH THERE ARE ABOUT 120 FOLKS IN TOTAL, BUT THERE WERE ALSO MULTIPLE EQUITY TRAININGS AND ANNETTE, UH, SPECIFICALLY ANTI-RACISM TRAINING AT THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY STAFF WENT THROUGH EVEN BEFORE BEGINNING THIS PROCESS.
AND THAT WAS REALLY, REALLY KEY TO DO.
SO I'M REALLY HAPPY THAT THAT WAS THAT, THAT WAS OUR FOUNDATION.
UM, AND AS KATIE WAS SAYING THAT ALLOWED US TO BUILD THE TRUST WE NEEDED, UH, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IF WE'RE BEING TOTALLY HONEST, THERE'S, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S FOLKS WHO'VE ARE USED TO WORKING WITH THE CURRENT PROCESS WHO MAY BE A LITTLE DISTRUSTFUL OF CHANGING IT ON THE FLIP SIDE THERE'S COMMUNITIES AND PEOPLE WHO HAVE, OR ARE DISTRUSTFUL EVEN WORKING WITH THE CITY IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SO WE HAVE, WE HAD TO CHANGE IT TO SOME EXTENT, RIGHT.
JUST TO BE HONEST WITH OURSELVES ABOUT THE HISTORY AND THE PRESENT CONTEXT, UH, THAT I THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, IT, UH, FLIPPING THINGS ON ITS HEAD TO TRY AND BUILD THAT TRUST IS, UH, IS WHAT WE NEED TO DO WITH EVERYTHING.
AND I THINK IT REALLY TOUCHES ON THE POINTS.
UH, I WAS JUST HEARING BEFORE COMING UP FROM Y'ALL ABOUT, YOU KNOW, UH, DISPLACEMENT AND HOW, UM, COMMUNITIES WERE INTIMIDATED TO PRODUCE AN UNDERCOUNT IN THE SENATE.
YOU KNOW, IT ALL GOES HAND IN HAND.
UM, AND, UH, BUT YEAH, SO WE HAD TO FLIP THAT ON ITS HEAD AND, AND DO A TRUST BUILDING PROCESS, ALSO A PROCESS IN WHICH WE DEVELOPED A COMMON LANGUAGE OF, OF UNDERSTANDING EQUITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT, I CAN'T UNDER UNDERSTATE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT WE ALL HAVE THE SAME IDEA OF WHAT WE MEAN BY EQUITY IN OUR LANGUAGE.
AND WE'RE NOT TALKING PAST ONE ANOTHER.
I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE AND OTHER PROCESSES THAT TRY TO CENTER EQUITY AND DON'T DO SO QUITE EFFECTIVELY.
UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THIS ALLOWED US TO BUILD THE TRUST WE NEEDED TO CENTER, UH, OUR WORK, UH, AND START FROM A PLACE OF LOVE, UH, AND THAT, UM, UH, HELPED ALLOW US IN THE STEERING COMMITTEE, ABLE TO FOCUS ON REALLY LEADING THE PROCESS AND NOT HAVING TO, YOU KNOW, FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING, HOLD HANDS AND WORRY ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE ADVISORY GROUPS ARE GOING TO DO A GOOD JOB OR, OR BRING UP THE RIGHT STRATEGIES.
AND, UM, IT ALLOWED US TO BE, UH, INTENTIONAL AND NOT JUST BE SWEPT UP IN THE URGENCY OF THIS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, IT'S A CATCH 22, WE NEED TO BE URGENT, BUT WE CAN'T RUSH THINGS EITHER.
UM, AND THAT ALLOWED US TO REALLY, UH, INTENTIONALLY DEVELOP THE EQUITY TOOL AND PROCESS, UM, THAT MADE THIS EFFECTIVELY.
AND AS KATIE WAS SAYING THAT I'M SUPER PROUD TO HEAR, UH, YOU KNOW, INNUMERABLE TIMES ABOUT HOW SO MANY OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS AND OFFICES ARE EXCITED TO LEARN FROM THAT AND RECREATE, OR, OR REUSE THAT AND, AND LEARN HOW TO USE THAT TOOL FOR THEIR OWN WORK.
UM, AND SO, UH, YEAH, THE EQUITY TOOL IS BASICALLY A SIX, SEVEN STEP ITERATIVE PROCESS WHERE, UM, A SERIES OF ANALYSES WERE CARRIED OUT, UH, AND THERE'S ACTUALLY A LESSONS LEARNED IN AN OVERVIEW DOCUMENT PUT TOGETHER BY THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY.
SO Y'ALL CAN REVIEW THAT SEPARATELY.
UM, BUT BASICALLY THE, THE MAIN TAKEAWAY FROM THAT IS THAT IF A STRATEGY FAILED AT, UH, IN TERMS OF ANALYZING IT WITH EQUITY, IT WASN'T JUST THROWN AWAY.
WE ANALYZE THE, HOW CAN WE IMPROVE IT? HOW COULD IT BE PAIRED WITH ANOTHER STRATEGY, ET CETERA.
AND THAT WAS A REALLY KEY PART OF MAKING THIS PLAN SUCCESSFUL.
UM, AND IN TERMS OF DOING THAT, THERE WERE SEVEN, UH, EQUITY THEME AREAS, OR MAYBE QUALITY OF LIFE AREAS THAT, UH, WE SETTLED ON AS A STEERING COMMITTEE TO ANALYZE THE STRATEGIES THROUGH.
UM, AND I'LL JUST WRAP UP BY SAYING, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M REALLY
[00:50:01]
PROUD OF WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED AND I'M EQUALLY EXCITED FOR, UH, WHAT WE CAN DO MOVING FORWARD AND HOW WE CAN RECREATE THIS PROCESS, UH, FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING PROCESS SPECIFICALLY, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, UH, INSTEAD OF WE, WE USED TO HAVE A CLIMATE PLAN.NOW WE HAVE A CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
WE'VE HAD IMPLEMENTATION PLANS, NOT LET'S HAVE AN IMPLEMENTATION EQUITY PLAN THAT REALLY PARALLELS WHAT WE'VE DONE THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
AND, AND, UM, IT'S NOT ONLY, YOU KNOW, THE RIGHT THING TO DO IN TERMS OF CENTERING RACIAL EQUITY, BUT THAT'S THE ONLY WAY WE WILL BE EFFECTIVE ENOUGH TO DEFEAT CLIMATE CHANGE, UM, AND IN DOING SO AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, SO YEAH, I THINK THAT THAT'S IT.
IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO LET US KNOW.
GREAT, THANKS SO MUCH, SHANE AND KATIE, UH, SHANE, KATIE, AND MY AIRY PUT IN, UH, HUNDREDS OF HOURS AND, YOU KNOW, 30, 50 PLUS CALLS WITH ME, UH, TO REALLY HELP GUIDE THIS WHOLE PROCESS.
SO I APPRECIATE THEIR KIND WORDS.
NEXT SLIDE, MR. BELMAR, IF YOU DON'T MIND, I JUST REALLY, I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THIS.
AND THEN JUST IN THE CHANCE THAT I GET TO JUST THINK SHANE AND KATIE AND MARY, AS WELL FROM ALL OF US HERE ON THE DIOCESE, WE KNOW THAT THIS IS JUST REALLY EXTRA WORK YOU HAVE TO DO, AND I'VE JUST HEARD SUCH POWERFUL AND GOOD THINGS THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
SO I WANT TO, UH, COMMEND THE MANAGER AND HIS STAFF FOR HIS WORK, BUT THE TWO OF YOU IN PARTICULAR, UM, YOU MAKE OUR CITY REALLY PROUD.
SO THE TIMELINE ON THIS PLAN, THE INITIAL CITY COUNCIL ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE ACTUALLY GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO 2007 AND 2014 CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED THE TARGET OF NET ZERO COMMUNITY-WIDE EMISSIONS BY 2050.
AND WE WENT THROUGH THE INITIAL PLANNING PROCESS TO CREATE WHAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN HERE, THE FIRST AUSTIN COMMUNITY CLIMATE PLAN, THIS WAS ADOPTED BY COUNCIL IN 2015, AND THEN WRITTEN INTO THE RESOLUTION ADOPTING THAT PLAN WAS THAT WE WOULD UPDATE THIS PLAN EVERY FIVE YEARS.
SO IN THE FALL OF 2019, WE STARTED THE UPDATE PROCESS TO UPDATE AND REVISE THIS PLAN, WHICH I'M GOING TO TALK A LOT ABOUT.
UH, AND THEN OVER THE COURSE OF 2019, 2020 THROUGH THE PANDEMIC, WE, UH, HAD NUMEROUS VERSIONS OF THE PLAN THAT WERE RELEASED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, THE, THE PROCESS TO ADOPT THE PLAN SORT OF WENT ON HOLD IN, UH, JANUARY 21 AS THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION STARTED UP.
AND THERE WERE NUMEROUS BILLS IN TEXAS LEGISLATOR, TEXAS LEGISLATURE THAT WERE SORT OF ANTI CLIMATE CHANGE.
SO WE JUST PUT EVERYTHING ON HOLD AND THAT CONCLUDED.
AND THEN WE ARE NOW, UH, WE RELEASED THE DRAFT FINAL VERSION OF THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN IN AUGUST.
SO WHEN YOU SEE THE NEWS, OBVIOUSLY THE IPS, THE SIXTH IPC REPORT CAME OUT A FEW WEEKS AGO AND, UH, IT'S NOT GOOD NEWS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE, RIGHT? THE CLIMATE HAS ALREADY BEGUN TO CHANGE.
WE'RE ALREADY SEEING EXTREME WEATHER ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, ALL ACROSS THE WORLD.
AND GLOBAL EMISSIONS HAVE NOT STARTED TO COME DOWN.
SO THE URGENCY AROUND REDUCING EMISSIONS TO AVOID CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE CHANGE IS MORE THAN EVER.
HOWEVER, I WOULD SAY THAT THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD NEWS AND A LOT OF PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE RECENTLY AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE STARTED THIS PLAN, THE FORMER PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION WAS IN POWER AND THINGS DID NOT LOOK GOOD.
UM, BUT THIS, THE US HAS COMMITTED TO THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT COMMITTED TO MAJOR GOALS AROUND ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND NUMEROUS OTHER THINGS ARE UNDERWAY AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, WHICH IS REALLY GOOD.
UM, LOCALLY, UH, TWO REALLY BIG THINGS ARE KEPT METRO COMMITTING TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES FOR THEIR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AND PROJECT CONNECT PASSING, WHICH IS HUGE IN TERMS OF OUR CITY'S ABILITY TO TRY TO GET PEOPLE, UM, OUT OF CARS, THAT'LL FOSSIL FUEL BURNING CARS, AND THEN NUMEROUS OTHER, UH, LOCAL INITIATIVES THERE, ESPECIALLY THE BILLION CONSERVATION CORPS, WHICH IS A GREAT HIGHLIGHT OF THE CONNECTION OF GREEN JOBS WITH THIS PLAN.
SO WHAT IS THIS PLAN AND IS IT NOT, UM, IT'S, UH, IT'S BEEN POSTED, YOU ALL HAVE THIS, IT'S A HUNDRED PAGES.
UM, IT'S A CO-CREATION BETWEEN STAFF AND 120 COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND BUSINESSES AND NONPROFITS.
UM, THIS WAS A TRUE CO-CREATION PROCESS.
THIS WAS NOT WRITTEN BY ME OR MY STAFF OR THE CITY ALONE.
UM, IT'S AGGRESSIVE, BUT REALISTIC.
UH, IT'S FOCUSED ON REDUCING EMISSIONS AND IT'S NOT A RESILIENCE PLAN.
IT'S NOT ON HOW WILL WE ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE? THE FOCUS IS REDUCING EMISSIONS AGGRESSIVELY, AND AS REALISTICALLY AS POSSIBLE, IT BUILDS A LOT ON EXISTING CITY PLANS, BUT WE'RE ALSO TRYING TO CHART NEW VISIONARY GOALS AND ACTIONS AND STRATEGIES.
UM, THE CITY HAS BEEN WORKING ON CLIMATE CHANGE FOR SO LONG THAT THIS IS BAKED INTO HOW AUSTIN ENERGY DOES ITS BUSINESS, IT'S BAKED INTO RESOURCE RECOVERY.
SO WE, WE HAD TO FIND THE PLACES WHERE WE NEEDED TO PUSH FURTHER.
UH, THIS TIME WE HAD A VERY STRONG FOCUS ON, UH, 10 YEARS IN FIVE YEARS BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WE WILL, UH, PROBABLY UPDATE THIS PLAN AGAIN
[00:55:01]
IN FIVE YEARS.SO THE STRATEGIES ARE FOCUSED ON WHAT DO WE DO IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? AND WE DEVELOPED 17 DIFFERENT 10 YEAR GOALS.
SO THEY'RE QUANTITATIVE GOALS THAT WE WANT TO COLLECTIVELY ACHIEVE AS A COMMUNITY BY 2030.
SO WHAT, WHAT IS THE PLAN? NOT, IT'S NOT THE AUSTIN ENERGY GENERATION PLAN.
SOMETIMES THINGS GET CONFUSED AROUND THAT.
UH, WE NEED TO IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT THE AUSTIN ENERGY GENERATION PLAN.
IT WILL HAVE A HUGE IMPACT ON REDUCING EMISSIONS.
IT'S BAKED INTO OUR CALCULATIONS ON REDUCING EMISSIONS, UM, BUT IT'S, IT'S COMPLIMENTARY AND SUPPORTIVE.
UH, THIS IS ALSO NOT AN EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF EVERYTHING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE.
UM, THERE ARE, UH, THERE ARE A MYRIAD OF THINGS THAT ARE BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS PLAN THAT STILL NEED TO HAPPEN.
UH, AND THEN FINALLY, UH, THERE IS NOT A FULL IMPLEMENTATION WITH THE EXACT COST BENEFITS AND FUNDING IDENTIFIED FOR EVERYTHING IN THIS PLAN.
THAT'S JUST THE HONEST ANSWER.
UM, THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE BELIEVE NEED TO GET DONE TO ADVANCE CLIMATE AND EQUITY.
AND THE HOPE IS, IS THAT IN THE COMING MONTHS AND INTO THE NEXT YEAR, WE DEVELOP A VERY DETAILED IMPLEMENTATION PLAN WITH FUNDING AND COST ESTIMATES FOR HOW ACTUALLY EVERYTHING WILL GET DONE, DONE AND IMPLEMENTED.
KATIE BOTH SAID IN THE VERY BEGINNING OF THIS PROCESS, UM, AND BEING CLEAR THAT WE WERE HAVING MEETINGS WITH THE EQUITY OFFICE, WE WERE SPEAKING WITH THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE AND IT BECAME CLEAR THAT EQUITY NEEDED TO BE CENTERED IN THIS PROCESS.
AND WE WEREN'T EXACTLY SURE HOW TO DO THAT OR WHAT THAT MEANT AT THAT TIME.
SO WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME WORKING WITH THE EQUITY OFFICE.
UH, WE HIRED, UH, AN EXTERNAL CONSULTANT, A GUY NAMED TAWNY WARD WHO, UM, FACILITATED, UH, EQUITY AND ENVIRONMENT, UM, UH, FULL DAY SESSIONS FOR ALL CLIMATE PLAN PARTICIPANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN AND REALLY BREAK DOWN AND PEEL BACK AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND RACIAL EQUITY ALIGN, AND WHY DO THOSE TWO TOPICS CONNECT? AND SO, WHILE WE'RE TRYING TO ELIMINATE THE USE OF FOSSIL FUELS, WE'RE ALSO TRYING TO ELIMINATE DISPARITIES THAT CAN BE PREDICTED BY RACE.
THE PLACE THAT THOSE CONNECT REALLY IS AT THE ROOT OF THOSE ISSUES AND THE EXPLOITATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND PEOPLE, AND IT'S THE SAME SORT OF ROOT CAUSE THAT'S CAUSING THOSE THINGS TO HAPPEN.
SO WE, THROUGH COLLABORATION IN THOSE MEETINGS, WE DEVELOPED THE SEVEN GOALS IN THE CENTER, WHICH ARE GOALS THAT, UH, THESE SEVEN THEMES, THESE THEMES WENT ON TO ACTUALLY GO INTO AN EQUITY TOOL THAT WE CREATED, WHERE WE SCREENED EVERY SINGLE THING IN THE PLAN TO ENSURE THAT WE WERE TRYING TO MAXIMIZE THOSE BENEFITS FOR ALL PEOPLE IN AUSTIN.
SO THE BOTTOM LINE WITH THIS AND THE REAL SORT OF LEARNING A PLACE FOR ME WAS THAT IF WE ARE NOT PROACTIVELY ADDRESSING EQUITY AND CENTERING IT IN OUR PLAN TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE, WE WOULD JUST BE PERPETUATING INJUSTICE.
AND THAT THERE ISN'T A WORLD WHERE WE CAN FIX CLIMATE CHANGE WITHOUT AND STILL HAVE, UM, EQUITY CONCERNS.
SO WE WERE REALLY BIG ON PROCESS.
THIS IS THE ORGANIZATIONAL CHART FOR, UH, CREATING THE PLAN.
THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE HAS A CITY COMMISSION THAT, UH, WE STARTED WITH IN THE BEGINNING TO CHART OUT WHAT WE WERE GOING TO COVER.
THE STEERING COMMITTEE WAS MADE UP OF 25 COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO, UH, DONATED TIME TO ESSENTIALLY BE MY BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THIS PROJECT.
UM, THEY HELPED WITH EVERY MAJOR DECISION AND I WORKED WITH THEM.
WE HAD MEETINGS EVERY OTHER WEEK FOR OVER A YEAR, I THINK, 30 SOME MEETINGS.
UM, AND THEN WE HAD THESE FIVE ADVISORY GROUPS.
UM, THE CLIMATE ENVIRONMENT LEADERSHIP TEAM IS A, UH, UH, A CITY GROUP MADE UP OF DIRECTORS IN THE, THAT HELPED OVERSEE THE PROCESS AS WELL THROUGH ALL THROUGHOUT EACH ONE OF THESE ADVISORY GROUPS WAS MADE UP OF ABOUT FIVE OR SIX CITY STAFF AND THEN 15 TO 20 COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
SO IN ALL OF THE GROUPS TO CREATE THIS PLAN AND EVERYTHING IN THIS, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, OUTNUMBERED CITY STAFF AT ALL AT ALL LEVELS.
THESE, THIS IS THE GROUP OF FOLKS WHO WERE THE STEERING COMMITTEE.
UH, ALMOST ALL OF THESE FOLKS STAYED WITH US FOR THE ENTIRE PROCESS.
WE HAD VERY FEW THAT DROPPED OFF.
UM, WE REALLY STRIVE FOR DIVERSE, UH, PARTICIPATION AND SORT OF LEADERS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND I CAN'T THANK THESE FOLKS ENOUGH FOR HELPING US GET THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
UH, AS I MENTIONED, UH, CITY STAFF WERE OUTNUMBERED BY OUR COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS PARTICIPATING IN THIS PROCESS.
SO THIS IS JUST A HIGHLIGHT OF MANY OF THE ORGANIZATIONS WHO PARTICIPATED AND HAD STAFF THAT DONATED TIME TO, TO WORK ON THIS PLAN AND WORK ON OUR ADVISORY GROUPS AND REALLY CRAFT ALL THE DETAILED RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE PLAN.
AND THEN FINALLY, UH, PARTICIPATING DEPARTMENTS, WE COLLABORATED WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS ON THIS, UH, FROM, YOU KNOW, THE
[01:00:01]
DIRECTOR LEVEL DOWN TO ASSISTANT DIRECTORS AND STAFF, PEOPLE PARTICIPATING IN THE GROUP MEETINGS, WORKING, COLLABORATING ALL THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS.SO THE IMPORTANT THING ABOUT A PLAN LIKE THIS AS IT, IT JUST COVERS SO MANY AREAS, UM, OF THE CITY ORGANIZATION THAT COLLABORATION IS, IS NUMBER ONE.
SO NOW TO THE DETAILS OF THE PLAN AND OF THE SPECIFICS HERE, SO THIS IS THE CITY OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY CARBON FOOTPRINT.
UH, MY OFFICE COLLECTS DATA AND CALCULATES GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FOR, UH, FOR OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY CITY OF AUSTIN AS THE BOUNDARY, UH, 2019 IS THE MOST RECENT DATA THAT WE HAVE ON THIS.
WE'LL BE DOING THE 2020 INVENTORY VERY SOON.
SO THERE'S EMISSIONS IN 2019 ARE ESTIMATED AT 12.3 MILLION METRIC TONS FOR ALL OF OUR CITY OF AUSTIN ACTIVITIES.
ALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS, BUSINESSES, EVERYONE INCLUDED LARGEST PORTION OF EMISSIONS COME FROM TRANSPORTATION.
SO MOST OF THAT IS ON ROAD GASOLINE AND DIESEL POWERED VEHICLES.
SECOND LARGEST IS ELECTRICITY, WHICH HAS BEEN STEADILY SHRINKING.
UH, AND THEN WE HAVE NATURAL GAS, WHICH IS USED FOR HEATING, UH, HEATING HOMES AND WATER AND COOKING REFRIGERANTS, WHICH ARE CHEMICALS THAT ARE USED IN COOLING AIR CONDITIONING, FREEZERS, THAT SORT OF THING, UH, INDUSTRIAL EMISSIONS, WHICH IN AUSTIN PRIMARILY COME FROM THE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY AND THEN FINALLY WASTE WHICH THAT SMALL SECTOR IS JUST FROM LANDFILLS IN THE AUSTIN AREA.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE, THAT PIE CHART, BUT SPREAD OUT, UH, FROM 2010 TO CURRENT, THIS IS THE OVERALL TREND OF THE EMISSIONS.
SO OUR BASELINE IS 2010 FOR COMMUNITY-WIDE EMISSIONS.
WE THINK EMISSIONS PEAKED FOR THE COMMUNITY IN ABOUT 2011 AND HAVE BEEN GOING DOWN EVER SINCE.
SO THIS IS WHILE THE POPULATION HAS BEEN GROWING DRAMATICALLY, WE'RE ADDING PEOPLE, WE'RE ADDING BUSINESSES, UH, WE'RE ADDING HOMES, CARS, ALL THAT STUFF, AND WE'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT REDUCING EMISSIONS.
SO THAT'S A, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD STORY THERE.
AND WHEN, UH, WHAT THIS, WHAT THIS SLIDE IS MEANT TO SAY THOUGH, IS THAT OUR PREVIOUS SCHOOL THAT'S CURRENTLY ADOPTED BY COUNCIL IS THAT WE WOULD AIM TO GET TO NET ZERO COMMUNITY-WIDE EMISSIONS BY 2050.
SO USING ALMOST NO FOSSIL FUELS IN THE COMMUNITY BY THEN, UM, IN THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY RESOLUTION THAT WAS PASSED IN 2019 COUNSEL ASKED STAFF TO LOOK AT THAT GOAL AND DETERMINE, DID IT NEED TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE THAN IT NEEDED TO BE REVISED? SO WE SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH THE STEERING COMMITTEE, UH, DISCUSSING THIS AND LOOKING AT DIFFERENT OPTIONS, LOOKING AT BENCHMARKS AND GLOBAL REPORTS AND ALL SORTS OF THINGS.
AND WHAT WE'VE COME UP IS THIS NEW PROPOSED GOAL, WHICH IS TO TRY TO AIM TO GET TO NET ZERO EMISSIONS BY 2040, AND TRY TO FOLLOW THIS MUCH STEEPER PATH.
THE STEEPER PATH HERE IS IN LINE WITH, UM, A C 40, UM, TREND LINE OF HIGH INCOME AND HIGH EMISSION, UH, PER CAPITA CITIES.
SO THIS IS A BIG STEP, UH, MANY, MANY CITIES ACROSS THE WORLD, AND MANY U S CITIES ARE NOW INCREASING THE URGENCY OF THEIR TARGETS UP TO 2040, AND EVEN EARLIER THAN 2040.
SO WE THINK THIS IS, UH, AN IMPORTANT STEP FOR THIS PLAN AND FOR THE CITY TO, UM, TO MOVE TOWARDS A MORE AGGRESSIVE TARGET.
SO THIS SLIDE IS THE, THE SUMMARY OF EVERYTHING THAT'S IN THE PLAN.
WE FIGURED WE WOULD JUST COVER ALL THE QUANTITATIVE THINGS AT ONE TIME.
SO THIS IS NOW LOOKING AT 2020, THEN PROJECTING OUT INTO THE FUTURE.
SO IF WE STOPPED DOING ALL ACTIVITIES ON CLIMATE, IF AUSTIN ENERGY STOPPED IMPLEMENTING THEIR PLANS, IF EVERYONE, IF WE JUST STOPPED WORKING ON CLIMATE EMISSIONS, WE PROJECT WOULD JUST CLIMB.
THEY WOULD CONTINUE TO GROW AS POPULATION GROWS.
SO AS YOU S YOU STACK UP, YOU SEE THESE COLORS, UM, THOSE ARE ESSENTIALLY WEDGES OF EMISSIONS THAT WE FEEL LIKE WE CAN ACHIEVE THROUGH AGGRESSIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF EVERYTHING.
THAT'S IN THIS PLAN OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT 10 YEARS.
SO YOU SEE, WE DON'T QUITE GET TO, UM, THE PROJECTED TREND LINE, THE NET ZERO TREND LINE THERE.
UH, YOU CAN SEE THE GREEN AT THE BOTTOM GREEN IS, UH, ADDITIONAL SEQUESTRATION FROM NATURAL SYSTEMS, WHICH WE FEEL LIKE CAN OFFSET SOME OF THE GAP.
AND THE BOTTOM LINE HERE IS THAT WE COULD HAVE, YOU KNOW, DRAWN THE WEDGES JUST TO FILL IN THE GAP AND JUST SAY, WE THINK WE'RE GOING TO MEET, WE'LL JUST MAKE UP THE NUMBERS TO MEET THE TARGET.
WELL, WE DIDN'T THINK THAT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
WE THOUGHT THAT WE NEEDED TO BE AGGRESSIVE, BUT REALISTIC ON.
WE THOUGHT WE, WHAT WE COULD ACHIEVE.
AND SO THOSE TARGETS ARE IN THE PLAN.
AND WHILE WE, UM, DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS TO, TO REACH THIS SUPER AGGRESSIVE TARGET BY 2030, WE KNOW THAT WE'RE GOING TO REVISE THE PLAN IN FIVE YEARS.
WE KNOW THAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING AT THE FEDERAL LATERAL LEVEL.
WE KNOW THAT THINGS WILL CHANGE OVER TIME, AND WE HOPE THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO REACH THAT TARGET BY 2030.
UM, AS I SPOKE ABOUT EARLIER, A COMPLICATED THING WITH THIS IS THAT, UH, THERE ARE MANY OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE AND WORKING ON INTEGRATING CLIMATE INTO THEIR PLANS.
[01:05:01]
NUMEROUS PLANS THAT ADDRESS THESE ISSUES.SO WE HAD TO FIT WHAT'S IN THIS CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN INTO THIS SPACE.
SO THE FIVE SECTIONS, THERE ARE THE NEW SECTIONS THAT ARE, WE CREATED GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR IN THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
SO JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE ON, UH, COMMUNITY INPUT.
SO AFTER WE CREATED THE FIRST PLAN, UH, THE FIRST VERSION OF THE PLAN, WE RELEASED THAT IN SEPTEMBER OF 2020.
UM, WE, UH, PUT THAT OUT TO THE PUBLIC ON SPEAK-UP AUSTIN.
WE HAD A SURVEY, WE DID NUMEROUS PANEL PRESENTATIONS, WEBINAR RECORDINGS, TALK TO THE CHAMBER, TALK TO NUMEROUS BUSINESS GROUPS.
UH, WE PRESENTED TO OVER, UH, YOU'LL SEE, IN A SECOND 25 BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
AND THE KEY THING HERE WAS THAT, UH, WE NOT ONLY WANTED TO USE SORT OF TRADITIONAL MECHANISMS, BUT WE ALSO, UM, DID IN-PERSON WORKSHOPS.
WE ALSO DID THE COMMUNITY CLIMATE AMBASSADORS PROGRAM, WHICH I'M GOING TO TELL YOU ABOUT HERE IN A SECOND.
THE CLIMATE AMBASSADORS PROGRAM.
THIS WAS, UH, AN INNOVATIVE THING THAT WAS ACTUALLY, UH, THE IDEA, UH, EITHER CAME FROM CITY COUNCIL OR CAME FROM THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE, BUT THE IDEA WAS TO ENGAGE COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT WOULDN'T TRADITIONALLY BE, UH, AT THE TABLE IN THE CITY PROCESS, AND REALLY HEAR FROM THEM ABOUT HOW THEY EXPERIENCED CLIMATE CHANGE, HOW THEY EXPERIENCED THE ENVIRONMENT AND GET THEIR INPUT DIRECTLY INTO THE PLAN.
SO WE RECRUITED ALL THE MEMBERS ON THE SCREEN THERE EXCEPT FOR, UH, THE WOMAN IN THE DENIM THAT CELINE CELINE WORKED FOR ME AND RAN, HELPED RUN THIS PROGRAM.
SO WE REIMBURSED THESE INDIVIDUALS FOR THEIR TIME.
THEY TALK TO THEIR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS THAT GATHERED INPUT ON HOW ARE PEOPLE, UM, ACROSS THE CITY, UH, THINKING ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE, HOW DOES IT AFFECT THEM? WE CAME UP WITH PRIORITIES AND CONCERNS, AND THIS INFORMATION WAS ROLLED DIRECTLY INTO THE PLAN.
SO WE GOT THE REAL VOICE OF, UM, OF THIS DIVERSE SET OF INDIVIDUALS AND THE PROCESS.
UH, WHEN THE PLAN WAS RELEASED ONLINE, WE GOT OVER 1600 COMMENTS TO A SURVEY THAT WE CREATED AROUND THE PLAN.
UM, WE GOT PRETTY DIVERSE REPRESENTATION OF, OF RESPONSES ACROSS THE CITY.
THERE WERE LESS IN A FEW OF THE DISTRICTS.
UM, I WON'T GO INTO ALL THE DETAILS ON THIS.
THE, YOU KNOW, IT WAS GOOD TO SEE THAT OVER 80% OF FOLKS SAID THAT THEY WERE AT LEAST SOMEWHAT CONCERNED ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE.
THAT'S A POSITIVE, UM, WE GOT 30% OF THE RESPONSES THAT WERE ANTI-SCIENCE ANTI-GOVERNMENT CLIMATE CHANGES, UM, NOT CAUSED BY HUMANS.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS WAS A GOOD SORT OF REALITY CHECK FOR US IN TERMS OF WHAT DO PEOPLE, UH, HOW DO PEOPLE REALLY SEE THIS, UH, ISSUE AND HOW THEY SEE IT AFFECTING THEM? EXCELLENT.
AS I SAID, WE PRESENTED THE DRAFT PLAN TO 25 DIFFERENT BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS OVER THE COURSE OF A TWO MONTH TIME PERIOD.
UM, UM, THE PANDEMIC SORT OF MADE THIS POSSIBLE BECAUSE I DID ALMOST ALL OF THESE SITTING IN MY, IN MY, UH, IN MY HOME OFFICE.
UM, MANY OF THESE COMMISSIONS PASSED A RECOMMENDATION, SUPPORTING THE PLAN.
THERE WERE A COUPLE OF THAT PAST RECOMMENDATIONS WITH, AND COMMENTS AND REVISIONS, AND WE'VE ADDRESSED THIS AS WELL.
ANOTHER THING THAT WE DID TO GAIN A BUSINESS INPUT AND BUSINESS SUPPORT IS WE CREATED A CLIMATE LEADERS PLEDGE.
WE ESSENTIALLY SHARE THE DRAFT PLAN AND REACHED OUT TO BUSINESSES ACROSS, UM, OUR NETWORKS AND ASK BUSINESSES TO COMMIT TO SOME ACTIONS, AND THEN BASICALLY WRITE A LETTER SAYING THAT THEY SUPPORT THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
SO THESE ARE THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT COMPLETED THAT PROCESS AND SENT US BACK A LETTER SAYING THEY SUPPORT THE PLAN.
SO EVERYTHING FROM SMALL BUSINESSES DOWN TO REALLY LARGE, ALL THE WAY UP TO REALLY LARGE BUSINESSES SUPPORTING THIS.
SO ALMOST DONE WITH THIS SLIDE HERE.
UM, I'M NOT GOING TO GO THROUGH ALL THE DETAILS OF WHAT'S IN THE PLAN.
BASICALLY THE OVERVIEW IS THAT THERE ARE FOUR CROSS-CUTTING STRATEGIES THAT WE'RE PUTTING FORWARD.
THESE ARE BIG PICTURE THEMES THAT EMERGED ACROSS ALL OF THE SECTIONS OF THE PLAN.
THERE ARE 17 QUANTITATIVE TARGETS THAT ARE ALL FOCUSED ON 2030.
SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO MEASURE SPECIFIC PROGRESS TOWARDS MEETING THOSE TARGETS.
AND THEN THERE ARE 74 STRATEGIES THAT ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE THE ACTUAL ACTIONS THAT WOULD BE ACHIEVED THROUGH CITY ACTION AND COMMUNITY ACTION OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
UH, THE WAY THAT YOU END UP SEEING EQUITY THROUGHOUT, UH, BAKED INTO THIS PLAN IS IN THE DETAILS OF THE STRATEGIES.
UM, AS SHANE MENTIONED EARLIER, WHEN WE CREATED THIS EQUITY TOOL, WE HAD EACH ONE OF THE ADVISORY GROUPS GO THROUGH THESE EQUITY QUESTIONS WHEN THEY WERE CRAFTING THE PLAN OR IN CRAFTING WHAT THEY WERE PROPOSING.
SO WE, UH, THE SPECIFICS OF ACTUALLY, HOW SHOULD THINGS GET DONE AND HOW SHOULD THINGS GET IMPLEMENTED IS WHERE WE WOULD SEE, UM, THESE SORTS OF THINGS ON THE SCREEN HERE, ACTUALLY DELIVERING EQUITY RESULTS IN CONNECTION WITH CLIMATE.
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EXCELLENT.SO THE FOUR CROSS CUTTING STRATEGIES, THESE ARE THE BIG PICTURE, UM, CONCEPTS.
SO GREEN JOBS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, OBVIOUSLY THAT'S IMPORTANT, UH, TO LIFT PEOPLE UP IN THE COMMUNITY AND HAVE GOOD JOBS THAT ARE CONNECTED TO CLIMATE CHANGE CONNECTED TO EQUITY, UM, AND HELPING PEOPLE WITH GOOD WAGES, PRIORITIZING LOCAL COMMUNITY INITIATIVES.
YOU KNOW, THIS IS ONE OF THESE CLIMATES, ONE OF THESE COMPLEX TOPICS WHERE THERE'S, YOU KNOW, BIG FLASHY SOLUTIONS.
THERE ARE MANY COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE DOING SO MUCH WORK IN OUR COMMUNITY AROUND THIS.
SO FOCUSING ON THEM FIRST AND LIFTING UP WORK, THAT'S ALREADY OCCURRING A REGIONAL COLLABORATION, YOU KNOW, IN CONNECTION TO THE SLIDES THAT WE JUST SAW RELATED TO THE CENSUS.
UM, THIS IS, UH, A CHALLENGE FOR THIS SORT OF PLAN THAT WE SORT OF STOP AT THE CITY BOUNDARY, BUT WE KNOW THAT OUR SURROUNDING COUNTIES AND SURROUNDING CITIES HAVE MANY PEOPLE LIVING THEM.
UM, AND THAT THOSE SURROUNDING CITIES AND COUNTIES DON'T HAVE CLIMATE PLANS.
SO WE NEED TO DO AS MUCH AS WE CAN TO COLLABORATE WITH OUR NEIGHBORS AROUND, UH, THINGS IN THIS PLAN.
AND THEN FINALLY, UH, UH, A BIG THING THAT YOU'RE NOW HEARING ABOUT MORE AND MORE ON THE SORT OF FEDERAL LEVEL AND THE GLOBAL LEVEL.
IT'S ABOUT HOW DO WE PULL MORE CARBON OUT OF THE ATMOSPHERE? UH, CARBON DIOXIDE IS FOOD FOR PLANTS AND TREES.
SO HOW CAN WE SUPPORT MORE CARBON REDUCTION PROJECTS, CARBON DIOXIDE REMOVAL, OFFSETS TO PULL MORE CARBON DOWN, UM, WHERE POSSIBLE? EXCELLENT.
UM, I'M NOT GOING TO GO THROUGH ALL THE GOALS AND STRATEGIES IN THE PLAN.
UH, THE, THERE ARE TWO SECTIONS THAT ARE FOCUSED ON TRANSPORTATION.
UH, TRANSPORTATION IS THE LARGEST SECTOR OF EMISSIONS AND ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING TO REDUCE.
UH, SO TRANSPORTATION OF LAND USE ONE OF THE GOALS HERE IS FOCUSED ON TRYING TO GET TO 50% OF TRIPS MADE, NOT USING A SINGLE OCCUPANCY VEHICLE BY 2030.
UH, THEN THE SECOND ONE HERE IS AROUND ELECTRIC TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION.
WE REALIZED THAT IT'S GOING TO BE HARD TO ELIMINATE ALL THE CARS IN THE AUSTIN AREA, AND THEY'RE ARE LIKELY GOING TO BE CARS IN OUR CITY FOR A LONG TIME.
SO HOW DO WE ELECTRIFY AS MANY OF THOSE VEHICLES, AS MANY OF THOSE, UM, TRIPS AS POSSIBLE, NEXT SLIDE.
AND THEN THE FINAL THREE CATEGORIES ARE SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS.
SO SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS IS LOOKING AT THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT, NOT NECESSARILY LIKE THE CARBON INTENSITY OF THE ELECTRICITY, BUT WHAT ARE THE ACTUAL BUILDINGS LOOK LIKE AND HOW DO THEY PERFORM? SO, UH, ONE OF THE GOALS HERE IS TO AIM, TO GET TO ALL NEW BUILDINGS, BE NET ZERO CARBON, REDUCING EMISSIONS FROM EXISTING BUILDINGS, AND THEN REDUCING EMISSIONS SPECIFICALLY FROM THE NATURAL GAS RELATED EMISSIONS BY 2030 FOOD AND PRODUCT CONSUMPTION.
THIS SECTION IS AROUND, UH, LOOKING UPSTREAM.
SO ABOUT THINKING ABOUT CIRCULAR ECONOMY BEYOND JUST RECYCLING AND END OF LIFE.
SO THIS, THE SECOND GOAL HERE THAT'S HIGHLIGHTED IS AROUND TRYING TO REDUCE OUR UP OUR UPSTREAM FOOTPRINT OF GOVERNMENT COMMERCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL PURCHASING.
AND THEN THE LAST GOAL IS AROUND NATURAL SYSTEMS. THIS IS A BRAND NEW SECTION FOR THE PLAN.
THERE ARE NUMEROUS GOALS IN THE SECTION RELATED TO REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE AND PROTECTING EXISTING WILDLANDS.
SO THE LAST GOAL HIGHLIGHTED HERE IS ABOUT, UH, MANAGING CITY LANDS.
SO WE'RE ENSURING THAT WE'RE CAPTURING AS MUCH CARBON AS POSSIBLE ON CITY OWNED LANDS LAST NIGHT.
AND THAT'S THE SUMMARY OF EVERY, UM, EVERYTHING THAT'S IN THE PLAN.
UM, AS I SAID, IT'S, IT'S A HUNDRED PAGES IN 17, 17 MAJOR GOAL.
SO IF WE WERE TO GO THROUGH EVERYTHING, IT WOULD TAKE A LOT LONGER.
SO, UM, WE'RE HERE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND FOR, FOR LISTENING TO THIS LONG PRESENTATION.
UM, I WANT TO EXTEND MY GRATITUDE TO KATIE AND SHANE AND MY ORI AND THE WHOLE STEERING COMMITTEE AND THE 120 FOLKS WHO WERE PART OF THE CORE, UM, EFFORT TO MAKE THIS BE THE, THE, THE PLAN THAT MEETS OUR NEEDS OF TODAY, BOTH WITH RESPECT TO EQUITY AND CLIMATE.
UM, SIMILARLY I KNOW THIS WAS AN ENORMOUS, UH, EFFORT AND LABOR OF LOVE ON THE PART OF ZACH AND LUCHEA AND THE REST OF THE SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE.
UM, AND, UM, IT WAS CERTAINLY WORTH THE WAIT, ALTHOUGH, UM, I WISH WE COULD HAVE DONE THIS NINE MONTHS SOONER.
UM, AND I THINK THAT WHAT WE, WHAT WE HAVE BEFORE US TODAY IS, UM, A PLAN THAT HELPS US TO MEET OUR CLIMATE GOALS, UM, AND REMINDS US IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS THAT HOW WE IMPLEMENT HOW WE GET TO THAT GOAL MATTERS FOR EQUITY, BUT ALSO FOR ACHIEVING OUR CLIMATE GOALS.
UM, AND THAT IS REALLY THE CHALLENGE THAT IS THROWN DOWN WITH THIS GAUNTLET.
UM, THE COUNCIL DID IN OUR CLIMATE EMERGENCY DECLARATION ASK TO ACCELERATE THE GOALS,
[01:15:01]
UM, AND YOU GUYS, UM, ROSE TO THE CHALLENGE AND, AND FIGURED OUT STEPS THAT WE COULD TAKE, UM, TO GET THERE EQUITABLY.AND SO I WANT TO THANK YOU, UM, FOR THAT, FOR THOSE WHO ARE WATCHING, I WANT TO POINT OUT THAT WE HAVE TWO ITEMS RELATED TO THE CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN ON OUR AGENDA.
THIS WEEK, WE HAVE ITEM 99, WHICH IS ACTUALLY TO APPROVE AND ADOPT THE PLAN.
AND THEN WE HAVE ITEM 110, WHICH IS A RESOLUTION THAT I HAVE SPONSORED, UM, WITH ORIGINAL CO-SPONSORS OF COUNCIL MEMBERS, TOVO, UM, POOL COSAR.
AND I'M PLEASED TO SAY THAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, LS, KITCHEN, AND MAYOR ADLER HAVE JOINED ON AS CO-SPONSORS.
UM, AND THAT IS A RESOLUTION THAT RECOGNIZES THAT THE PLAN IS ONLY AS GOOD AS ITS IMPLEMENTATION AND ASK THE CITY MANAGER TO TAKE, UM, IMPORTANT STEPS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE MOVING FORWARD.
UM, WE WILL HAVE A SLIGHTLY REVISED VERSION OF THAT PROBABLY TOMORROW THAT WE WILL POST BEEN WORKING WITH COUNCIL MEMBER FONTUS ON A FEW ADDITIONS TO THAT.
UM, AND, UM, WE WILL POST THAT TO THE MESSAGE BOARD.
UM, SO THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO'S INVOLVED.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, NOW AS WE TAKE THIS PLAN, I HOPE THAT YOU WILL STAY ENGAGED, UM, BECAUSE THE STRATEGIES ARE NOT EASY AND THEY ARE GOING TO REQUIRE, UM, ENGAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT, UM, MOVING FORWARD, COLLEAGUES, DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS THAT FOLKS WANT TO MAKE KINDS OF MEMBER ELLIS? THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER.
UM, I REALLY APPRECIATED THAT PRESENTATION AND I'M SO APPRECIATIVE OF ALL OF THE HOURS OF HARD WORK THAT THE COMMUNITY PUT INTO THIS IT'S.
UM, IT'S GREAT TO GET TO THIS POINT FOR US TO BE ABLE TO ADOPT SOMETHING THIS WEEK.
UH, WHAT I REALLY NOTED ABOUT IT WAS HOW MUCH OUR TRANSPORTATION HABITS AND PATTERNS ARE AFFECTING CLIMATE CHANGE.
UM, LOCALLY, AS WE'VE SEEN WITH, YOU KNOW, ISSUES LIKE STORMS, FLOODS, WILDFIRES BECOMING MORE AND MORE COMMON, IT'S CLEAR THAT WE AT THE CITY NEED TO STEP UP AND BE LEADERS.
UM, I APPRECIATED THE CALL-OUT TO THE ASM P GOALS ABOUT 50 50 MODE SHIFT.
UH, IT'S HEARTENING TO SEE THE VOTERS APPROVING PROJECT CONNECT AND THE SAFE MOBILITY BOND THAT ACCOMPANIED IT, THAT I WAS PLEASED TO SPONSOR, UM, $460 MILLION OF BIKE LANE INFRASTRUCTURE, SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL, URBAN TRAILS.
AND IT'S REALLY EXCITING TO SEE THAT, UM, A YEAR OF WORK HAS ALREADY GONE INTO THAT.
SO I LOVE WHAT THIS HAS IDENTIFIED FOR OUR COMMUNITY, HOW MUCH A FACTOR OF TRANSPORTATION IS, IS AFFECTING CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND ALSO THE OTHER ASPECT OF THAT IS HOW DO WE LIVE, WORK AND PLAY IN COMPLETE COMMUNITIES? AND HOW DO WE MINIMIZE OUR FOOTPRINT BY CREATING MORE OPPORTUNITIES, CLOSE TO HOME PLACES THAT ARE WALKABLE AND CONNECTED, AND FIRST AND FOREMOST, SAFE FOR PEOPLE TO BE, UH, GETTING AROUND TOWN IN.
I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD, UM, GOOD INFORMATION IN IT.
AND I'M APPRECIATIVE TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER'S WORK ON THE ACCOMPANYING RESOLUTION.
AND BEFORE YOU GO, I JUST WANT TO MENTION THAT COUNCIL MEMBER OF ONE, JUST HIS BIRTHDAY.
UM, W WE, WE USUALLY DECLINED TO SING SINCE OUR, OUR SINGING, UM, DOES NOT MATCH THE OCCASION ONLINE.
WE TYPICALLY DO WHEN WE'RE HERE IN PERSON, OOH, I WANT TO HEAR THIS THING.
YOU DO NOT WANT ME TO DO BETTER WHEN WE HAVE A WHOLE CHAMBER IS WORTH, I DON'T, WE FINISHED THIS TOPIC AND THEN WE CAN, UM, IF SOMEBODY WANTS TO LEAD US IN SINGING, THEY CAN, UM, THEY CAN RAISE THEIR HAND AND, AND DO THAT.
I WILL NOT BE LEADING US IN SINGING.
I WILL NOT INFLICT THAT ON YOU.
UM, SO COUNCIL MEMBER FUND SAYS, AND THEN COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, KIEL THINKING COUNSELOR ALTAR.
I'M ALSO WANTING TO ECHO MY GRATITUDE FOR THIS PROCESS.
AND YOU CAN TELL JUST BY READING IT A COMMUNITY DRIVEN COMMUNITY INITIATED PLAN, AND I APPRECIATE ALL THE STAFFS WORKS IN THE COMMUNITY FOR JOINING TOGETHER TO BRING US THIS CLIMATE EQUITY PLAN.
WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AS THE GREAT EQUALIZER, BUT WE KNOW THAT CLIMATE CHANGE WHEN IT HAPPENS, DOES NOT AFFECT EVERYONE EQUALLY.
AND IT'S OUR, LOW-INCOME OUR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR THAT ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED AND DISPROPORTIONATELY BEAR THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
AND SO WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THIS PLAN IS THAT IT TRULY DOES CENTER RACIAL EQUITY AND EVERYTHING THAT IT DOES.
AND I THINK THAT IS WHAT I HOPE TO CONTINUE TO BRING TO THE TABLE IS CONTINUING TO VOICE THAT THIS IS ABOUT RACIAL EQUITY.
AND WHEN WE IMPLEMENT THIS PLAN, WE NEED TO ALWAYS KEEP THAT AT THE FOREFRONT.
UM, AND, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THE INTENTIONALITY, ESPECIALLY WHEN Y'ALL OPENED, UH, TODAY'S CONVERSATION OR TODAY'S PRESENTATION, UM, THE ASPECT OF CENTERING RACIAL EQUITY, AND THAT WE CAN'T TALK ABOUT SOLUTIONS TO CLIMATE CHANGE WITHOUT CENTERING RACIAL EQUITY AND WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT RACIAL JUSTICE AND ENVIRONMENTAL
[01:20:01]
JUSTICE.AND SO THOSE TWO THINGS GO HAND IN HAND, UH, AND I APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR LEADERSHIP ON THIS CONCERT FOR ALTER, WITH BRINGING FORWARD THE IMPLEMENTATION RESOLUTION.
AND I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE WORK THAT LIES AHEAD COLLEAGUES.
I AM INTERESTED IN CONTINUING, UM, WORKING ON HOW THE COUNCIL ENSURES THAT THIS PLAN IS IMPLEMENTED AND THAT WE'RE HOLDING EACH OTHER ACCOUNTABLE AND THAT WE'RE WORKING ALONGSIDE OUR COMMUNITY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN.
I ESPECIALLY LOVE THE CLIMATE AMBASSADOR COMMUNITY AMBASSADOR PROGRAM THAT'S LAID OUT IN THAT TYPE OF ENGAGEMENT PROCESS IS CERTAINLY A MODEL, A NATIONAL MODEL ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO OUR WORK TOGETHER, MR. BOMBER, I WANTED TO THANK YOU.
AND, UM, THE STAFF THAT YOU WORK WITH ON THE REALLY STRONG, UM, EFFORTS THAT HAVE BEEN ACCOMPLISHED OVER THE YEARS AND TO MS. COYNE, UM, INDEED FOR, FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AS WELL, NOT ONLY ON THIS, BUT ON A NUMBER OF OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES THAT MY STAFF, MY TEAM AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON FOR QUITE A WHILE.
I WANTED TO JUST SAY THAT WE DO STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE FOLKS WHO'VE COME BEFORE US.
AND WHEN I FIRST INTRODUCED ITEM 48 BACK IN 2015, WHICH I WAS NEW ON THE COUNCIL, UM, THAT WAS THE NET ZERO BY 2050 INITIATION FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
WE HAD INTERIM TARGETS FOR 20, 20, 20, 30, AND 2040, UM, WHICH WOULD ALLOW FOR UP TO 10% CARBON OFFSETS FOR ALL THE TARGETS.
THIS WAS WHEN WE CREATED THE JOINT SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE.
IT WAS PART OF THAT ITEM AS WELL.
THIS WAS RECOMMENDED OF COURSE, BY THE TRANSITION TASK FORCE FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, AGAIN, A COMMUNITY EFFORT FROM ALL ACROSS, ALL ACROSS THE BOARD.
AND THEN, UM, I BROUGHT ITEM 19, WHICH IS THE COMMUNITY CLIMATE RESILIENCE PLAN LITTLE DID WE KNOW THAT? UM, AND THAT WAS IN MAY OF 2019 LITTLE, DID WE KNOW, BUT IN LESS THAN A YEAR, WE WOULD BE DEEP IN THE THROWS OF THE PANDEMIC.
ONE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE WOULD BE EVEN MORE IMPORTANT.
I APPRECIATE COUNCIL MEMBER ALTERS, UM, WORK ON TRANSPORTATION, ELECTRIFICATION AND ACTION.
AND I'LL POINT TO AN ITEM THAT I'LL BE BRINGING ON THURSDAY, WHICH WILL LOOK AT CREATIVE, CREATING INCENTIVES FOR CITY OF AUSTIN EMPLOYEES TO LEASE, UH, EVS.
UH, THERE ARE SOME NEW STARTUPS IN TOWN THAT ARE OFFERING LOW COST LEASING FOR SHORT-TERM TO FAMILIARIZE PEOPLE WITH THE BENEFITS OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES.
AGAIN, ANOTHER BIG STEP FORWARD IN THE WORK THAT THIS DIOCESE AND THE CITY, AND NOT JUST THIS COUNCIL, BUT PREVIOUS COUNCILS HAVE BEEN FOCUSED ON FOR MANY YEARS.
AND THEN OF COURSE, UM, AGAIN IN MAY, BUT THIS TIME IN 2020, I BROUGHT THE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE INITIATIVE, WHICH WE STARTED WORKING ON SHORTLY AFTER THE CLIMATE RESILIENCE INITIATIVE.
UM, AND THIS COUPLED WITH THE WORK THAT MY COLLEAGUE COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR DID WITH HER CLIMATE EMERGENCY, UM, RESOLUTION AND ALL OF THE DEEP DIGGING FROM STAFF, UM, AND, UH, THE LEADERSHIP IN OUR CITY HAS REALLY BROUGHT US TO A PLACE WHERE SOME PEOPLE LOOK AT AUSTIN IS KIND OF, UH, EASIER TO GET THESE THINGS PASSED THAN ELSEWHERE.
AND I WOULD URGE EVERYONE TO LOOK, UH, TO USE AUSTIN AS A MODEL FOR SURE, BECAUSE WE ARE ACCOMPLISHING GREAT THINGS HERE AND THEY ARE SUSTAINED IMPORTANT INITIATIVES, BUT IT ISN'T ENOUGH FOR US TO BE DOING IT ALONE.
WE HAVE TO EVANGELIZE AND SEND THEM MASTERS OUT TO THE FAR REACHES OF TEXAS AND ELSEWHERE.
OUR WORK HERE WILL NOT BE DONE UNTIL, AND UNLESS WE ARE ABLE TO REACH INTO OTHER COMMUNITIES THAT, UM, WHERE IT'S A HEAVIER LIFT, THE CHALLENGES ARE GREAT AND WE CAN GET GOOD MO MOTIVATION AND MOMENTUM HERE IN AUSTIN.
BUT THESE INITIATIVES HAVE TO GO WELL BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY AND THIS COUNTY.
SO I THANK YOU FOR THE WORK THAT YOU HAVE INVESTED TO THIS POINT AND KNOW THAT WE WILL BE RELYING ON YOU.
THE FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL FOR THE WORK THAT YOU DO BEYOND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY AND, AND TRAVIS COUNTY.
CAUSE I KNOW YOU GUYS WILL BE ABLE TO, TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES FURTHER OUT AND I THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR, FOR THAT EXTRA EFFORT BECAUSE THE ENERGY'S REQUIRED WILL BE GREAT.
THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER POOL, APPRECIATE, UM, YOUR COMMENTS AND YOUR LEADERSHIP ON THESE ISSUES OVER MANY, MANY YEARS.
UM, ANYONE ELSE HAVE COMMENTS, COUNCIL MEMBER CASAR.
UM, I JUST CAN'T EMPHASIZE HOW
[01:25:01]
SERIOUS THIS WORK IS.UM, I, YOU KNOW, IN THE, IN THE WINTER STORM, JUST THINKING ABOUT THAT CLIMATE IMPACT AND THE FACT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, I HAD CONSTITUENTS DIE CHOKING ON CARBON MONOXIDE, UH, THAT WE HAD, UH, PEOPLE IN EACH OF OUR COMMUNITIES WHO DIDN'T HAVE WATER TO DRINK, UH, PEOPLE WHO DIED BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE BASIC MEDICAL AND HEALTHCARE THAT THEY NEEDED.
UH, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE FLOODS THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED, JUST THE TRAUMA THAT FAMILIES HAVE EXPERIENCED ALL OVER OUR CITY, ESPECIALLY IN THE LOWEST INCOME PARTS OF OUR CITY.
AND WE KNOW THIS IS ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE.
SO WE HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO, TO LEAD AND SHOW THE COUNTRY HOW WE CAN, CAN INDEED, UH, ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ACCELERATING CHANGE THAT WE'RE EXPERIENCING IN THE CRISIS, BUT THEN ALSO TO PREPARE OUR COMMUNITY, UH, BECAUSE, UH, WE, WHERE WE'VE ALREADY EXPERIENCED TOO MUCH IN IT.
AND IT SOUNDS, IT DOESN'T SOUND REAL TO TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT THIS CLIMATE CRISIS COULD LEAD TO PEOPLE DYING BECAUSE THEY WERE TRYING TO USE GRILLS OR, OR THEIR OVENS TO STAY WARM.
BUT INDEED THAT IS ACTUALLY WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THIS YEAR.
THAT'S, WHAT'S ALREADY HAPPENED.
SO, SO, UH, SO DEADLY SERIOUS, AND I APPRECIATE HOW SERIOUSLY WE'RE TAKING IT.
UM, I WANT TO JUST POINT OUT A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT ARE IN THE IMPLEMENTATION RESOLUTION BECAUSE THIS PLAN IS AGAIN, ONLY AS GOOD AS THE IMPLEMENTATION.
UM, I KNOW IN THE PLAN IT CALLS FOR SOME SPECIFIC NEXT STEPS, UM, AS WELL, THAT COMPLIMENT WHAT'S IN, UM, AND ARE REINFORCED BY THIS RESOLUTION.
UM, ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WE HAVE WHEN WE ADDRESS CLIMATE ISSUES IS THAT THEY DON'T FIT NEATLY INTO THE BOXES THAT WE HAVE CREATED IN OUR CITY.
UM, AND SO WHAT WE'RE REALLY ASKING FOR YOU IS TO DEMONSTRATE, AND TO CREATE THE SYSTEMS THAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT LEADERSHIP HAPPENS ACROSS THE CITY BUILDING ON THE WORK OF OUR SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE.
BUT SO MUCH OF THIS WORK IS IN DEPARTMENTS, ET CETERA, THAT ARE FAR FROM SUSTAINABILITY.
AND THE LEVEL THAT WE NEED THIS WORK TO BE DONE IS BEYOND WHAT ONE OFFICE CAN DO, COMPELLING IT WITHOUT HAVING HIGHER LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP TO REINFORCE, UM, THE STEPS THAT WE NEED TO TAKE.
UM, SO ONE PIECE OF THIS IS REALLY ELEVATING THAT LEADERSHIP STRUCTURING IT, GETTING THAT CLARITY, PUTTING THE EMPHASIS BEHIND IT.
UM, WE ARE ASKING YOU TO BE COMING BACK TO US ON A QUARTERLY BASIS AS A WHOLE BODY, BECAUSE THE, THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM IS SUCH THAT THE WHOLE BODY, UM, NEEDS TO BE PAYING ATTENTION, UM, ON A REGULAR BASIS.
UM, I MENTIONED EARLIER THAT WE HAD TO WAIT BECAUSE OF THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
WELL, WE CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO WAIT TO IMPLEMENT THIS TILL THE NEXT BUDGET.
SO ANOTHER PIECE OF WHAT WE'RE ASKING IS FOR YOU TO TAKE STEPS, UM, YOU KNOW, MID BUDGET OR MULTIPLE TIMES COME BACK TO US WITH THE THINGS THAT YOU NEED, UM, TO GET THIS MOVING IN TERMS OF STAFF OR OTHER PIECES.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE SOME FUNDING THAT WE PUT INTO RESERVES AT THE LAST PART OF THE BUDGET.
UM, WE CANNOT AFFORD TO YET AGAIN, WAIT TO MAKE INVESTMENTS INTO, UM, SUSTAINABILITY.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I WOULD INVITE YOU, UM, YOU KNOW, TO SPEAK TO SOME OF US IF YOU'D LIKE TO NOW, SO SURE COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.
AND AGAIN, I ECHO AND SHARE YOUR, UM, URGENCY AND THE COMMITMENTS FOR NOT ONLY TAKING THIS PLAN AND THE WORK THAT WENT INTO IT SERIOUSLY, BUT REALLY BUILDING OFF OF IT BECAUSE AS YOU NOTED, THIS IS A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS THAT NOT ONLY INCLUDES SO MANY DIFFERENT CITY DEPARTMENTS, UH, BUT WITH OUR COMMUNITY AND AS HAS BEEN ELOQUENTLY SAID BY YOU AND YOUR COLLEAGUES, WE NEED THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY TO BE SUPPORTIVE OF THIS, BUT WE ARE LEADERS, UH, AS THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN HELPING TO SUPPORT THOSE EFFORTS AND LEAD THOSE EFFORTS.
AND SO, UH, AS YOU'VE DEMONSTRATED, UH, IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS PLAN, UH, THOSE RELATIONSHIPS HAVE BEEN BUILT AND I AM COMMITTED TO ENSURING THAT YOU HAVE THE LEADERSHIP FROM ALL LEVELS OF THE ORGANIZATION, BUT THE TONE OF THE TOP HAS BEEN SET AS A RESULT OF THIS PLAN AND IMPLEMENTING THE PLAN.
AND AS, AND AS PART OF THAT, WE ARE ALSO TALKING ABOUT THE LEADERSHIP MORE BROADLY FOR CLIMATE AND SUSTAINABILITY.
THIS PLAN IS REALLY ONE PIECE OF OUR CLIMATE EFFORTS.
IT'S THE FOCUS ON THE REDUCTION OF EMISSIONS AND DOING IT IN A WAY THAT IS EQUITABLE.
UM, BUT THE CLIMATE RESILIENCE WORK, UM, ALL OF, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE CLIMATE MITIGATION WHERE WILDFIRE RESPONSE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S JUST A TON OF DIFFERENT THINGS, UM, THAT ARE, THAT ARE OUTSIDE THIS PLAN, UM, THAT ALSO, IF WE'RE GOING TO TACKLE
[01:30:01]
THESE, THE CLIMATE CHANGE AND THESE THINGS THAT WE ALSO, UM, NEED TO HAVE, THAT HIGH-LEVEL FOCUS, UM, AND THAT REPEATED AND REPETITIVE, UM, EFFORT GUIDING US TOGETHER WITH COMMUNITY TO GET TO SOLUTIONS.SO, UM, I JUST WANT TO POINT THAT OUT BECAUSE I THINK SOMETIMES IT GETS A LITTLE BIT CONFUSING FOR FOLKS BECAUSE, UM, THE PROBLEMS ARE SO BIG.
UM, AND SOMETIMES WE'RE, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE DOING SLICES HERE AND THERE.
UM, THIS PLAN IS NOT EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE DOING TO ADDRESS CLIMATE.
IT'S NOT EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE DOING TO ADDRESS EQUITY.
UM, IT IS THE, THE, THE TOOL AND MECHANISM THAT WE ARE COMMUNICATING HOW WE ARE GETTING TO OUR MISSIONS GOALS, AND WE'RE USING IT AS A MODEL, UM, SO THAT WE CAN HAVE THAT THOSE EQUITY APPROACHES, UM, IN ALL OF THESE SOLUTIONS.
UM, ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS BEFORE WE CONCLUDE? THANK YOU, MR. BOMBER FOR ALL YOUR WORK ON THIS AND ALL THOSE INVOLVED.
UM, SO, UM, I BELIEVE THAT WE HAVE, THOSE ARE OUR BRIEFINGS.
THEN WE HAVE, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY, WHICH IS SCHEDULED FOR ONE 30.
UM, SO WE WOULD, UM, RECESS UNTIL THE AUSTIN ENERGY MEETING.
DO PEOPLE WANT LONGER THAN TILL ONE 30? NO.
SO, UM, THEN IT IS, UM, 12:54 PM, AND I WILL RECESS THIS MEETING OF THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.
UM, WE WILL RECONVENE AT ONE 30, UM, IN THE AUSTIN ENERGY MEETING WITH COUNCIL MEMBER POOL AT THE GAVEL.
AND THEN AFTER THAT, UM, WE WILL RECONVENE THE COUNCIL MEETING AND I BELIEVE WE'LL BE MOVING INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR MOST OF THE AFTERNOON.
UM, WE'LL BE BACK DOWN HERE FOR AUSTIN ENERGY, BUT WE WERE DOING EXECUTIVE SESSION, UM, REMOTELY LOOKING DOWN.
YOU MAY NEVER SEE AND IT IS 5:21 PM
[E. Executive Session]
WITH REGARD TO THE OTHER EXECUTIVE SESSION THAT WE HAD A EXECUTIVE SESSION FOR WORK SESSION.WE ARE OUT OF CLOSED SESSION IN WORK SESSION, CLOSED SESSION.
WE DISCUSSED LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO ITEMS E 1, 2, 4, AND FIVE, AND PERSONNEL MATTERS RELATED TO ITEMS FOUR AND FIVE.
THERE WAS NO DISCUSSION OF ITEM