[00:00:01]
WE'RE GOING TO GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED BECAUSE IT'S, AND WE DO HAVE A QUORUM AND IT'S 6 0 5.[CALL TO ORDER]
UM, THE MEETING TO ORDER AND TAKE ROLL.SO WE HAVE, UM, THIS IS THE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MADE AND IT IS FEBRUARY 22ND, 2022 TO 2222, WHICH IS KIND OF EXCITING.
AND I WILL GO AHEAD AND TAKE ROLL.
UM, VICE-CHAIR DIPLOMA PRESENT, UM, OR MEMBER RINALDI, IF NOT, I THINK SHE'LL BE HERE.
UH, BOARD MEMBER DICARLO, PRESENT BOARD MEMBER, MORE BOARD MEMBER FAUST, PRESENT BOARD MEMBER HAGMAN, PRESENT BOARD MEMBER BERNARD, PRESENT BOARD MEMBER TAYLOR.
AND I DON'T THINK BOARD MEMBER COTTONS CYBIL BUT I WILL GO BOARD MEMBER RINALDI.
SO, UM, WE ARE HERE AND BEFORE WE GET STARTED, LET'S GO AHEAD AND SEE IF WE HAVE ANY CITIZEN
[CITIZEN COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
COMMUNICATION, VICE CHAIR, DEPALMA.WE DO, WE HAVE THREE INDIVIDUALS FOR CITIZENS COMMUNICATION AND THEY'RE ALL EXPERIENCED AND THEY DON'T NEED ANY INSTRUCTION.
AND SO I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND CALL OUR FIRST SPEAKER SHARON BLIGHT.
THEN SHARON REPLIED, YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.
WE HAVE A PRESENTATION, PLEASE STAND BY, UH, BOARD MEMBER TAYLOR IS, SHE SAID SHE'S ON.
SO I DON'T REMEMBER TAYLOR, IS SHE ON? WELL, LET'S GIVE, WE'LL GIVE OUR, YES, THEY JUST MOVE ME.
SHE'S LOOKING FOR MY PRESENTATION.
GOT A LOT GOING ON OVER THE COMMAND CENTER CENTER.
A LONG TIME CEMETERY ADVOCATE.
I JUST WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT DEDICATED CEMETERY PROPERTY SHALL BE USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR CEMETERY PURPOSES UNTIL THE DEDICATION IS REMOVED BY COURT ORDER AND THAT'S UNDER HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SEVEN 11.035.
ALSO STATE LAW MANDATES AND SEVEN, UH, HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE SEVEN THIRTEEN.ZERO ONE ONE PER PROPERTY PER CITY IS REQUIRED TO PROPERLY MAINTAIN LAWNS RUBBERY AND OTHER PLANS.
UH, CURRENTLY WE HAVE THE AUSTIN MEMORIAL HAVE RESTROOMS ARE COMPLETELY, UH, IN DISREPAIR.
I'VE NOT SEEN ANY MOVEMENT TO GET THEM REPAIRED.
NEXT SLIDE RECENTLY, A YOUNG BOYS TREE THAT MY CEMETERY ADVOCATES PLANTED IN 2010, THAT CUT DOWN OUR PRESUMED BY THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.
THE HARRIS FAMILY IS VERY, VERY UPSET ABOUT THAT DESTRUCTION OF HIS, HIS TREE.
SHE TOLD ME THE OTHER DAY ON THE PHONE, IT WAS LIKE DESECRATING AS A GRAVE.
NEXT HERE'S A CLOSER LOOK AT IT.
HERE'S MY TREE THAT ALSO GOT CUT DOWN.
I CIRCLED THE, PUT A RECTANGLE AROUND THE TRUNK.
IT WAS, IT WAS CUT CLEAR TO THE GROUND.
WE'D BEEN WATERING THAT TREE FOR AND SINCE 2010.
AND I'M VERY UPSET ABOUT THAT.
AND THERE HAS BEEN NO INDICATION BY THE PARKS DEPARTMENT THAT THEY'RE GOING TO REPLACE THOSE TREES THAT WERE CUT THERE.
I TOOK WAIT, UH, A FRIDAY AFTERNOON, VERY LATE.
YOU COULD SEE THREE TOILET PAPER ROLLS LAYING OUT THERE ON THE GROUND.
UH, AND THEN THE JASON WALKER, THE MANAGER, UH, THE MAINTENANCE MANAGER OUT THERE TOLD ME, HE'D FIX THIS FENCE.
I SAID, BUT, BUT JASON, IT'S, IT'S NOT FIXED PROPERLY.
I MEAN, AND HE SAID, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? GET A PIECE OF FENCE AND PUT A NEW FENCE AND PUT UP.
[00:05:01]
APPROPRIATE.THE HOUSE WAS A MARKERS ARE DOWN AS A CEMETERY.
NEXT SLIDE FLOWERS ARE NOT PICKED UP.
YOU CAN PARK, CANNOT TAKE CARE OF THE CEMETERY CURRENTLY.
AND NOW THEY WANT TO TAKE ON MORE RESPONSIBILITY, OVERSEEING OUTSIDERS, WANTING TO PUT A PRAIRIE RESERVATION PROJECT IN THERE.
I DON'T BELIEVE IT'S TEMPORARY.
UM, AND, UH, THIS IS WHAT PART THINKS IT'S GOING TO LOOK LIKE AFTER THEY RESTORE THE PRAIRIE HIGH GRASS WEEDS WITH PLAT PASS THROUGH THERE.
THE CEMETERY IS A SACRED PLACE OF FAMILIES AND VETERANS, AND IT'S THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CITY TO TAKE CARE OF IT.
UM, YOU NEED TO HONOR THE DEAD IN.
I'M ASKING MS. MCNEELY TO STOP THIS MADNESS AND REPLANT THE STREETS CUT BY YOUR STAFF.
OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS KEVIN RAINA'S WITH AUSTIN ROWING CLUB.
HELLO, AGAIN, NICE TO SEE YOU ALL.
AND, UH, IT'S GOING TO GIVE YOU A BRIEF UPDATE ON A COUPLE OF THINGS.
FIRST I'D LIKE TO THANK ACTUALLY A BIG THANK YOU TO DIRECTOR MCNEILLY AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.
KELA VOCA FOR THEIR WORK IN ASSESSING THE FUTURE OPTIONS FOR THE AUSTIN ROWING CLUB TO CONTINUE TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY HERE IN AUSTIN, AS WE HAVE FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS.
AND WE'RE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THAT AND ALSO GRATEFUL FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE BARK'S BOARD OF, OF THAT EFFORT.
AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING HOW THAT PROGRESSES, UM, IN TERMS OF OUTREACH, IT'S BEEN A STRUGGLE WITH COVID AS YOU MIGHT.
WELL, IMAGINE AS WE'RE ALL HERE WITH MASKS, BUT WE WERE ABLE TO START OUT A NEW STEM EDUCATION PROGRAM CALLED STEM TO STERN.
WE CAN'T HELP, BUT USE A BOATING ANALOGY.
SO WE'RE WORKING WITH TWO AISD LEADERSHIP ACADEMIES FOR YOUTH.
SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE SIX YOUNG GIRLS, YOUNG WOMEN FROM BERTHA SANDLER MEANS LEADERSHIP ACADEMY AND SIX BOYS FROM THE GUS GARCIA LEADERSHIP ACADEMY PARTICIPATE.
AND THEN THE THIRD ORGANIZATION WE'VE LAUNCHED THIS INITIATIVE WITH IS BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB, WHERE THEY'LL HOSTED AT THEIR HOME CAMPUS UP NORTH.
WHAT'S REALLY COOL ABOUT IT IS IT CONNECTS THE KIDS DIRECTLY TO A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE BECAUSE WE COMBINE THE, IF YOU WILL CLASSROOM STEM EXPERIENCE WITH, OKAY, LET'S PUT THAT PHYSICS AND MATH AND BODY MOTION THAT YOU'RE LEARNING ABOUT AS PART OF STEM AND TRY IT OUT ON THE WATER.
SO IT'S A WONDERFUL PLATFORM TO CONNECT THE EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR STEM WITH AN ACTUAL PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THOSE STEM PRINCIPLES.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
AND LASTLY, PLEASE CONSIDER THIS A PERSONAL INVITATION DESPITE THE WEATHER TO CO COME DOWN THE FESTIVAL BEACH THIS WEEKEND, WE'RE HOLDING THE 40TH ANNUAL HEART OF TEXAS REGARDING RIGHT OFF OF FESTIVAL BEACH.
THE STARTING LINE IS ACROSS THE WATER FROM THE YOUTH HOSTEL FINISHED LINE IS JUST BEFORE HIGHWAY 35.
IT'LL RUN ALL DAY SATURDAY, SUNDAY, WE HAVE 24 ROWING ORGANIZATIONS FROM SEVEN STATES ACROSS THE COUNTRY THAT ARE COMING TO AUSTIN AND COMPETE.
THIS IS A COMBINATION OF YOUTH CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS, COLLEGIATE TEAMS AND MASTERS.
SO THERE'S OVER 580 ENTRIES, WHICH REPRESENTS ABOUT A THOUSAND PARTICIPANTS, UM, AND SIX LANES OF RACING'S FOR A THOUSAND METERS.
SO IT'S A GREAT SPECTATOR SPORT IN TERMS OF TO SEE THE ROWING OUT ON THE WATER WITH, UH, THE KIDS AND THE ADULTS AND THE COLLEGIATE ATHLETES GOING FOR GOLD.
I'LL, I'LL USE THAT GIVEN WE'RE IN AN OLYMPIC YEAR.
SO IT'S A FUN EVENT, A LOT HAPPENING, AND IT'S A GOOD WAY TO KIND OF SEE, UH, THAT, UH, SPECIAL ACTIVITY THAT WE HOLD HERE IN AUSTIN OFF A FESTIVAL BEACH.
AND OUR NEXT SPEAKER, ANGELA RICHTER WITH AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION.
IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE BEEN TO ONE OF THESE IN PERSON, BUT I HAVE BEEN LURKING ONLINE, SO IT'S REALLY GOOD TO SEE EVERYBODY, UM, RICH ALREADY INTRODUCED ME.
UM, THE MAIN THING I WANTED TO SAY DURING THE, THIS OPEN COMMUNICATION WAS
[00:10:01]
TO INVITE ALL OF YOU TO IT'S MY PARK DAY, WHICH IS SATURDAY, MARCH 5TH.MOST OF YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS EVENT AND I'M SURE HAVE BEEN IN THE PAST.
UM, BUT IT HAPPENS TWICE A YEAR, FALL AND SPRING.
UM, AND I'VE ORGANIZED ALL OF THE PRO ALL OF THE EVENTS BY DISTRICT.
SO IF ANY OF YOU ARE CURIOUS OR HAVING TROUBLE SORTING THE WEBSITE, FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO ME AND I CAN SEND YOU WHICH PROJECTS ARE GOING ON IN YOUR DISTRICT.
I ALSO WANTED TO USE THIS TIME TO BEGIN TO INTRODUCE YOU, UM, TO A PROJECT AROUND SILK OR PARK, AND I'LL CONTINUE THIS DURING, UM, ITEM NUMBER THREE, BUT, UM, MIKE CANADY BEGAN DISCUSSING THIS LAST TIME AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION AND BARTON SPRINGS CONSERVANCY RECEIVED A GRANT LAST FALL FROM A GROUP CALLED AUSTIN TOGETHER.
UM, BASICALLY IT'S TO GO THROUGH A FACILITATED PROCESS WITH THE 17 GROUPS THAT ARE OPERATING WITHIN ZILKER, UM, FOLKS THAT OFFER PROGRAMMING AND THE, THE PROCESS ITSELF IS BASED ON THE COLLECTIVE IMPACT MODEL.
I'M GOING TO TAKE THIS DOWN BECAUSE IT'S BUGGING ME.
UM, AND THAT'S A PROVEN SUCCESS MODEL, UM, THAT MANY FOLKS HAVE USED INCLUDING GROUPS LOCALLY, LIKE THE TEXAS CHILDREN IN NATURE NETWORK AND THE HILL COUNTRY CONSERVATION NETWORK, UM, TO FIND, TO BASICALLY ASK THIS QUESTION, WHAT CAN WE DO BETTER TOGETHER, UM, AND BUILD THAT SORT OF LONG-TERM STRUCTURE FOR SUCCESS FOR THE BENEFIT OF ZILKER PARK.
UM, SO WE BEGAN MEETING REGULARLY LAST FALL AND CONTINUE TO DO SO, UM, THROUGH THIS PROCESS, UM, LIKE I SAID, WE'RE ASKING THAT BIG PICTURE QUESTION.
WE'RE REALLY THINKING OUT INTO THE FUTURE.
AND I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS PROCESS BECAUSE THESE GROUPS COLLECTIVELY OFFER SO MANY RESOURCES AND EXPERIENCES TO LOOK FOR PARK VISITORS.
UM, AND I THINK WE'VE ALREADY BEGUN TO SEE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE WHEN WE'RE MORE COORDINATED.
SO LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING MORE LATER.
THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR, THAT CONCLUDES OUR GENERAL SYSTEMS COMMUNICATION.
SO BEFORE WE, UM, BOARD MEMBERS, THIS IS JUST A VERY, UM, MINOR THING, BUT, UH, I KNOW IT SAYS CITIZEN COMMUNICATION ON OUR, UM, THING, BUT WE'RE SO W WE JUST RECENTLY, ON THIRD, LAST THURSDAY, THE CON THE COUNCIL DECIDED TO CHANGE IT FROM CITIZEN COMMUNICATION TO PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
AND SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE YOU AWARE AND MAKE THE PUBLIC AWARE THAT WE ARE GETTING USED TO THE TRANSITION.
SO WE DIDN'T SET YOU UP FOR SUCCESS BECAUSE WE PUT THE WRONG WORD HERE ON THE AGENDA.
BUT I THINK IF WE JUST ALL CAN REMIND EACH OTHER THROUGH NOT AFTER TODAY, I'M NOT ASKING YOU TO SAY ANYTHING PUBLICLY TODAY, BUT JUST IN GENERAL, WE'LL JUST HAVE TO KEEP REMINDING EACH OTHER UNTIL IT BECOMES JUST PART OF OUR HABIT, BECAUSE WE DIDN'T SET YOU UP FOR SUCCESS BECAUSE WE KNOW FROM THE FORUM.
AND I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE KNEW THAT IT WASN'T BECAUSE BOARD MEMBER DEPALMA DOESN'T CARE IT'S IT'S.
IT'S BECAUSE WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T SET YOU UP FOR SUCCESS.
SO THE NEXT THING IS THE APPROVAL
[A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
OF MINUTES.SO HOPEFULLY EVERYBODY HAD TIME TO LOOK AT THE MINUTES AND SEE IF THERE WERE ANY MODIFICATIONS OR ANYTHING THAT NEEDED TO BE FIXED DELETED.
IF NOT, THEN IF I COULD HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE, MOVE, TO APPROVE WHERE MEMBERS CAN I HAVE A SECOND, SECOND INVITE BOARD MEMBER RENALDI ALL IN FAVOR.
BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO NEW BUSINESS, I AM GOING TO MOVE THAT.
WE CHANGE A COUPLE OF MOVE, A COUPLE OF THINGS ON THE AGENDA.
AND, UH, TO ME, THE COUPLE OF THE ACTION ITEMS TO THE FRONT, BECAUSE MY HOPE, MY GOAL FOR THIS MEETING AND THIS, WE ARE NOT HERE PAST 10 O'CLOCK, BUT I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT JUST IN CASE SOMETHING HAPPENS AND WE ARE HERE LONGER THAN WE THINK THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE WE TAKE CARE OF THESE TWO ITEMS. SO I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE THAT WE TAKE ITEMS, LET'S SEE FOUR AND SIX AND MOVE THEM WITH HER.
UM, THE SUMMER CAMP CLOWNS WITH A FOCUS ON RESILIENCY IN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WHICH IS FROM A BOARD MEMBER RINALDI, AND THEN TALK ABOUT CHANGES TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE.
SO IF WE COULD MOVE THOSE SO WE COULD START OUT WITH THOSE, THAT WOULD BE, UH, I THINK THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
CAN I HAVE A SECOND, SECOND? THANK YOU.
VICE CHAIR TO PROM ALL IN FAVOR.
SO I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD IF THIS IS OKAY.
BOARD MEMBER, WHEN ALL THE, AND JUST START WITH THE SCHEDULE CHAIN.
[B.6. Discussion and possible action regarding change to Parks and Recreation Board meeting schedule.]
SO WE TEND TO SKIP THAT OUT OF THE WAY.UM, AND THAT IS DISCUSSING IMPOSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING CHANGES TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MEETING
[00:15:01]
SCHEDULE.SO WE HAVE HAD, UM, SOME PEOPLE WILL COMPLAIN OR HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE FACT THAT OUR MEETINGS COINCIDE WITH THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS, WHICH ALSO TAKE PLACE ON TUESDAY ABOUT THIS TIME.
AND THEREFORE IT MAKES IT DIFFICULT IF ONE OF US HAS SOMETHING THAT HAS COME BEFORE THE BOARD AND WANTS TO GO OVER AND TALK TO PLANNING ABOUT IT.
SO WE DO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY IF WE WANT TO MOVE OUR MEETINGS TO, TO MONDAY NIGHT AT THE SAME TIME, IF WE WANTED TO DO THAT.
AND, UM, FOR ME, I I'M OKAY WITH THAT.
LIKE, DOESN'T, YOU KNOW, I DON'T HAVE A REALLY STRONG OPINION ABOUT IT.
IT PROBABLY WOULD BE HELPFUL AT TIMES, BUT, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, SO I JUST WANT TO SEE IF ANYBODY HAS, UM, WANTS TO DO THAT IF THEY DON'T WANT TO DO THAT.
AND THEN WE, I BELIEVE FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND FROM DIRECTOR MCNEELY, THAT WE NEED TO MOVE ON THIS BECAUSE THEY WANT US TO MAKE A DECISION SOON.
SO I'LL JUST OPEN IT UP AND SEE IF ANYBODY HAS ANYTHING THEY WANT TO SAY ABOUT THAT.
AND I KNOW YOU DO VICE-CHAIR DIPLOMA.
IT WAS JUST FOR CLARIFICATION ON WHICH, UH, MONDAY.
IT WOULD BE JUST THE DAY BEFORE THE FOURTH MONDAY, CORRECT? YEP.
AND DID YOU SAY, I DO HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, THIS IS, THIS IS WHAT REMEMBER TAYLOR.
IT WOULD BE SO HELPFUL TO ME BECAUSE OUR SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS ARE ON THE SAME, UM, NIGHT AND I'M, WELL, IT SEEMS LATELY I'VE BEEN VERY ENGAGED IN EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENING AT THE SCHOOL BOARD LEVELS.
AND, UH, I, I HATE TO MISS THOSE MEETINGS, SO IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL TO MOVE THEM TO MONDAY NIGHT FOR ME.
WELL, I GUESS I AM CURIOUS ABOUT, UM, I HADN'T HEARD THAT.
I MEAN, I KNOW OF ONE OCCASION WHEN IT WAS A CONFLICT WITH PLANNING COMMISSION FOR MYSELF.
UM, SO I HADN'T HEARD ABOUT THAT.
AND I WAS CURIOUS LIKE HOW MUCH WHO, WHAT THE LEVEL OF PEOPLE THAT ARE REALLY AFFECTED BY THIS.
AND THEN MY MAIN QUESTION AS IT PERTAINS TO OUR BOARD IS RIGHT NOW, THE BACKUP IS POSTED, YOU KNOW, FRIDAY AFTERNOON, USUALLY KIND OF AS THE WORKDAY IS CLOSING, WHICH LEAVES THE WEEKEND TO READ THE BACKUP.
AND THEN WE DO HAVE MONDAY, YOU KNOW, TWO BUSINESS DAYS TO GET QUESTIONS ANSWERED.
UM, AND IF I WANT TO GET IN TOUCH WITH SOMEONE, NOT AT STAFF, BUT MAYBE A STAKEHOLDER OR SOMETHING, I HAVE THE BUSINESS DAY MONDAY AND THE BUSINESS DAY TUESDAY.
SO MY ISSUE WOULD REALLY BE, HOW LONG DO I HAVE, DOES THE BACKUP GET POSTED ON THURSDAY? HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO REVIEW BEFORE THE MEETING MONDAY NIGHT? AND THEN MY CONCERN IS I NOW HAVE JUST THAT DAY MONDAY TO GET QUESTIONS ANSWERED AND TALK WITH PEOPLE, UM, WHETHER OR NOT THEIR STUFF.
SO THAT'S SURE THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
MY ASSUMPTION WOULD BE THEY WOULD CHANGE THE DAY OF POSTING, BUT I CAN'T ANSWER THAT QUESTION BECAUSE I'M, I'M NOT ON STAFF CHAIR.
OH, IS THIS SONG, UH, WE COULD, UH, UH, MAKE, UH, AN INTERNAL EFFORT TO GET THE AGENDA AND BACKUP DOCUMENTS POSTED A DAY EARLIER IF THE MEETING WAS, IT WAS A DAY CENTER.
I THINK I AGREE WITH AN EFFORT ISN'T GOING TO, I CAN'T GET THE BACKUP FRIDAY AFTERNOON FOR A MEETING MONDAY NIGHT, BECAUSE IF I HAVE A FULL DAY OF WORK MONDAY AT THAT'S, RIGHT.
THAT'S GOING TO BE A REALLY DIFFICULT, I DON'T, I MEAN, I'M NOT TO SAY THAT YOU WON'T DO IT, BUT I WOULD NEED TO KNOW, LIKE FOR SURE IT'S GOING TO BE, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME.
IS THERE, WOULD THERE BE AN ISSUE WITH DOING IT A DAY EARLIER IF THE MEETING WAS ON MONDAYS INSTEAD OF TUESDAYS TO HAVE IT OUT ON THURSDAYS, WHAT DOES CODE REQUIRE? YEAH, I WOULD ONLY REQUIRE A CODE REQUIRES A 72 HOURS PRIOR TO THE MEETING, I BELIEVE.
BUT I'M GOING TO JUST SAY TO YOU THAT TIM SAYS HE'S GOING TO MAKE AN EFFORT BECAUSE THIS IS HIS WHATEVER WEEK IT IS.
UM, BUT YES, WE CAN, WE CAN, UM, SET OUR SCHEDULES, RIGHT? CAUSE WE CAN SET OUR INTERNAL SCHEDULES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE OUR BACKUP IN TIME TO POST ON THE THURSDAY, WHICH MEANS IT WOULD GIVE YOU JUST LIKE YOU HAVE NOW YOU'D HAVE ALL DAY, FRIDAY, AND THEN YOU'D HAVE MONDAY TO BE ABLE TO, RIGHT.
IF YOU GET IT DONE ON FRIDAY A LOT EASIER TO SIT DOWN FOR THREE HOURS AND READ EVERYTHING OVER THE WEEKEND THAN IT IS DURING THE WORKDAY FRIDAY.
I'M FINE WITH MOVING TO MONDAYS.
UM, IF WE HAVE THAT EXTRA DAY, RIGHT.
I THINK THE EXTRA DAYS IMPORTANT AND WITH STAFF IS THAT BECAUSE THEY SOMETIMES ALSO HAVE TO PRESENT THE PLANNING AS WELL.
WOULD THAT MAKE IT EASIER FOR THEM TO NOT HAVE THE MEETINGS TO COINCIDE AT THE SAME TIME? OH, I THINK THERE'S SOME, I THINK THAT THERE ARE SOME OCCASIONS THAT WE CAN POINT TO WHERE STAFF HAD TO GO BACK AND FORTH, NOT JUST THIS YEAR, BUT YOU KNOW, IN YEARS PAST.
[00:20:01]
THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION IS THAT CERTAINLY ON VERY SPECIFIC OCCASIONS, WHEN THERE'S A PARTICULAR ITEM, I THINK IT WOULD MAKE IT EASIER ON STAFF.I DON'T KNOW TO BOARD MEMBER FAST POINT.
I DON'T KNOW HOW OFTEN THAT HAPPENS, BUT AVOIDING IT ALTOGETHER IS CERTAINLY HELPFUL.
OF COURSE, ME SAYING THAT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT, UH, MEETINGS ARE ON MONDAY NIGHTS THAT WE MIGHT HAVE TO GO TO BECAUSE WHILE PLANNING, COMMISSIONS, ONE OF THEM, WE ALSO OFTEN GO TO THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION.
WE OFTEN GO TO ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION.
WE OFTEN GO TO ARTS COMMISSION.
SO WE GO TO A LOT OF , BUT, UM, TO, TO, YOU KNOW, THAT IDEA, I'M CERTAINLY, IT WOULD RE ELIMINATE THAT CONFLICT WHEN THAT, WHEN IT HAPPENED.
UM, DID YOU HAVE ONE SINCE I THINK BOARD MEMBER BERNARD? YES.
UM, THE FOURTH, MONDAY I HAVE ANOTHER BOARD MEETING.
I CAN DO A DIFFERENT MONDAY, BUT NOT THE, IT'S NOT THE FOURTH, NOT THE FOURTH.
AND DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING? IT WOULD BE VERY CONVENIENT FOR ME TO HAVE IT MONDAY.
I TEACH A CLASS TUESDAY NIGHTS AND I RIGHT NOW AND MISSING THOSE CLASSES.
SO I WOULD LOVE TO MOVE IT TO MONDAY.
SO YES, IT WOULD DEFINITELY BE HELPFUL FOR YOU.
I KNOW THAT BOARD MEMBER COTTON CYBIL SAID SHE WAS GOOD WITH THAT, SO SHE'S NOT HERE AND SPICED HER DIPLOMA.
DID YOU WANT TO SAY ANYTHING? I CHECKED THE OTHER THINGS THAT I SERVE ON AND EXTRA THE FOURTH MONDAY WORKS FINE.
BUT I'M GOOD WITH TUESDAY AS WELL, SO.
AND MORE MEMBER MORE? YEAH, IT SHOULD BE FINE.
AND, UM, FORMER MEMBER OF THE CARLA.
UM, I GUESS I HAVE A QUESTION.
HOW SOON MIGHT THE CHANGE BE IMPLEMENTED? I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW.
WE'RE UM, WE WERE ASKED THE QUESTION, I THINK TWO WEEKS AGO AND WE DECIDED TO PUT IT ON THE AGENDA.
UM, BUT CHAIR LEWIS, I BROUGHT IT TO CHAIRMAN THIS'S ATTENTION AND SHE DECIDED TO BRING IT FORWARD, BUT I WOULD HAVE TO FIND OUT WHEN IT WOULD ACTUALLY, UM, WHEN THE TRANSITION WOULD HAPPEN.
I, I COULDN'T ANSWER THAT RIGHT THIS SECOND.
UM, I DO CURRENTLY HAVE A CONFLICT.
I USUALLY HAVE A WORK CONFLICT ON MONDAY EVENINGS, BUT WITH ADEQUATE TIME I COULD POTENTIALLY GET IT CHANGED.
SO BOARD MEMBER RENARD, IS YOUR SITUATION SET IN STONE? YOU REALLY, UM, FOR NOW IT IS, BUT I CAN BRING IT UP THE NEXT TIME WE MEET AND SEE IF WE CAN MOVE THE BOARD MEETING.
SO, WELL, FROM WHAT MY UNDERSTANDING AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, UM, DIRECTOR MCNEELY, WE PROBABLY, IF WE'RE GOING TO DO THIS, WE NEED TO MAKE A DECISION TONIGHT BECAUSE THEY WANT A DECISION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
THE DIRECTION THAT I RECEIVED AS THE SOONER, THEY KNOW THE BETTER, I THINK THE LONGER THAT WE DON'T GIVE AN ANSWER, THEN MORE IN JEOPARDY, IT IS THAT IT WON'T BE AVAILABLE TO US.
BUT I CAN'T SAY THAT FOR SURE THAT THE, THE DIRECTION THAT I WAS GETTING INTO THE SOONER, THE BETTER AN ANSWER THIS SOONER IS BETTER THAN LATER.
SO I'M JUST GOING TO OPEN IT UP FOR EMOTION IS SOMEBODY, UNLESS SOMEBODY ELSE HAS SOME THING THEY WANT TO SAY ABOUT IT.
AND IF ANYBODY WANTS TO MOVE TO MOVE TO MOVE THE MEETING TO MONDAYS, THEN PLEASE GO AHEAD AND, UM, DO SO.
AND I DON'T, I MOVE, I LIKE TO MAKE THE MOVE THAT WE MOVE IT TO MONDAY THAT WE MOVED THE MEETINGS.
SO WE HAVE REMEMBER HUGGING MEN AND BOARD MEMBER TAYLOR.
WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND.
WELL ALL IN FAVOR OF MOVING IT TO TWO MONDAYS, JUST, UM, FOURTH, MONDAY OF THE MONTH, EVERYBODY WANT TO VOTE IN FAVOR.
THE ONLY THING THAT REALLY CONCERNS ME IS THAT YES, IT IS A BIG CONCERN.
SO ARE YOU GOING TO CALL FOR VOTES AGAINST YES.
SO I'M AGAINST AS WELL JUST SINCE I DON'T.
SO WE HAVE, UM, I USED TO TEACH FOURTH GRADE.
CAUSE WE NEED SIX AFFIRMATIVE VOTES TO PASS ANYTHING.
IT DOESN'T HAVE, SO WE WILL STAY ON TUESDAYS.
THANK YOU FOR THAT CLARIFICATION BOARD MEMBER RENALDI.
MOVING ONTO THE NEXT ITEM, WHICH IS, I DON'T, I DON'T WANT TO BELABOR THIS, BUT ARE YOU OKAY? HERE'S WHAT I HAVE.
JUST SO YOU ALL CAN DOUBLE CHECK AND SEE IF THIS WAS CORRECT.
[00:25:01]
TAYLOR AND HUG HIM IN MOTION AND SEGMENT SECOND AND THEN RENALDI MORE DEPALMA AND LOUIS VOTING.SO THAT WOULD, THAT IS, I'M ASSUMING THAT THE FOLKS THAT MADE THE MOTION IN THE SECOND, UM, VOTED.
AND THEN THAT WOULD MEAN FAST BERNARD AND DECARLO.
UH, NO WITH, UM, BOARD MEMBER COTTON CYBIL ABSENT TODAY AND ONE VACANCY.
SO THAT WOULD BE 6, 3, 1 ABSENCE AND ONE VACANCY, WHICH EQUALS 11.
GOSH, ALL THOSE FOURTH GRADERS I USED TO TEACH HER PROBABLY TOTALLY ILLITERATE AND MATH AND IT WAS KIND OF SCARY.
CAN I MAKE ONE COMMENT BEFORE WE MOVE ON, PLEASE? JUST FOR, PROBABLY FOR TIM.
SO WE SPECIFICALLY SET THE FINANCIAL COMMITTEE MEETINGS SO THAT IT WOULDN'T LIKE END UP WITH HAVING ANYWAYS, IF WE'RE GOING TO BE ON MONDAYS, WE SHOULD PROBABLY GO THROUGH AND CHECK THE SCHEDULE AND MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT GOING TO END UP WITH SOMEBODY BEING OVERBURDENED WITH MEETINGS.
THEY SHOULDN'T BE THE SAME WEEKS, BUT JUST AT OUR NEXT MEETING, BRIEF US ON HOW THAT AFFECTS ANYTHING.
WE COULD PUT THAT ON YOUR SKIN, THE FINANCIAL COMMITTEE MEETINGS SCHEDULE TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S REVIEWED AND YOU HAVE THE INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED.
[B.4. Discussion and possible action regarding 2022 Summer camp plans with a focus on resiliency and the COVID-19 Pandemic.]
FOUR, WHICH IS NOW NUMBER TWO, DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING 2022 SUMMER CAMP PLANTS WITH A FOCUS ON RESILIENCY AND THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC.AND THAT IS, UM, I'M GOING TO LET BOARD MEMBER RINALDI, THIS IS HER, UM, ITEM.
AND I'M GOING TO HER GO AHEAD AND TAKE THE LEAD ON THAT.
UM, SO IT, UM, THIS ISSUE CAME UP FOR ME BECAUSE I HEARD FROM A NUMBER OF PARENTS LAST YEAR WHO WERE FRUSTRATED THAT IN 2021, UM, THE PARKS DEPARTMENT OFFERED, UM, ABOUT HALF OF THE SEATS, THE SPOTS THAT WE TRADITIONALLY OFFER FOR SUMMER CAMP, UM, UH, IN THE SUMMER OF 2021 BECAUSE OF COVID-19.
AND, UM, I, YOU KNOW, UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS AND, YOU KNOW, RULES AND RESTRICTIONS THAT WE HAVE TO CONFORM TO, BUT I AM REALLY, REALLY INTERESTED IN HEARING HOW WE CAN MAKE PLANS AND PREPARATIONS TO AVOID THAT SITUATION THIS YEAR.
SO I WANTED TO PUT THIS ON THE AGENDA SO THAT WE COULD LEARN A LITTLE MORE FROM THE PARKS DEPARTMENT STAFF, ABOUT WHAT KINDS, YOU KNOW, WHAT KIND OF PLANS AND MEASURES HAVE BEEN PUT IN PLACE.
UM, THUS FAR TO ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THERE ARE CHANGING PUBLIC HEALTH CONDITIONS, WE ARE NOT CANCELING SUMMER CAMP SPOTS THAT FAMILIES THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE GOING TO BE ABLE TO ATTEND.
UM, AND SO I WOULD, UM, I KNOW THAT WE DON'T HAVE A PRESENTATION ON THE AGENDA, UM, BUT THERE IS DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION.
SO I WOULD JUST LIKE TO HEAR BRIEFLY FROM, YOU KNOW, FROM THE STAFF THAT ARE HERE ABOUT, IF YOU CAN SPEAK TO GENERALLY, WHAT KINDS OF, WHAT KINDS OF PLANS HAVE BEEN MADE TO ENSURE THAT WE CAN BE RESILIENT AND, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE TO OFFER THOSE SUMMER CAMPS AT FULL CAPACITY BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE SO IMPORTANT, THEY'RE IN HUGE DEMAND.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IT REALLY, UM, I WANT TO KNOW THAT WE CAN OFFER THOSE KIDS IN THOSE FAMILIES, THAT SAFE PLACE THIS SUMMER, WHERE THEY CAN, THEY CAN DO MEANINGFUL ACTIVITIES.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE GOING TO BE IN A PLACE WHERE WE KNOW THAT ALL THE PUBLIC HEALTH GUIDELINES ARE FOLLOWED.
SO, UM, I WOULD, UH, I'D LIKE TO OPEN IT UP TO STAFF TO SPEAK TO THAT.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE CAN HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT RESOURCES Y'ALL NEED TO ENSURE THAT, THAT, UM, THAT CAN CONTINUE TO HAPPEN.
CAN ANYONE HELP ME KNOW IF LAURA IS, UM, HAS TUNED IN, UM, VIRTUALLY IF NOT, I'LL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER THE QUESTION.
SO, UM, HERE'S WHAT I CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, AND WE ARE HAPPY TO HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK SO THAT WE CAN PROVIDE YOU A MORE COMPREHENSIVE PRESENTATION AND ALSO, UH, TALK TO YOU, UH, NEXT, NEXT MONTH ABOUT, UH, IF WE DO, IF WE HAVE ANY CHALLENGES, HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO WORK THROUGH THOSE CHALLENGES OR WHAT THOSE CHALLENGES ARE.
SO WE DID OPEN UP REGISTRATION FEBRUARY 5TH AND IT'S OPEN AT A HUNDRED PERCENT SUMMER CAMP CAPACITY.
SO IT IS OUR INTENTION TO RUN SUMMER CAMPS THIS YEAR AT A HUNDRED PERCENT CAPACITY.
ONE THING THAT'S DIFFERENT THIS YEAR THAN WAS THEN AND HAPPENED IN 2020 IS THAT CHILDREN ARE ABLE TO BE VACCINATED THIS YEAR.
RIGHT? AND SO THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR.
[00:30:01]
WE HAD, UM, SOME DIFFERENT RESTRICTIONS BASED UPON CDC RECOMMENDATIONS AND BASED UPON OUR LOCAL, UM, PUBLIC HEALTH DEPARTMENT, THE WAY THAT THEY THOUGHT THAT IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO RUN CAMPS, TO KEEP CHILDREN AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE.AND WE HAD TO RUN THEM IN PADS AND SIX FEET APART AND ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT REGULATIONS THAT WE WORKED WITH THEM ON.
BUT THIS YEAR IT'S A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT.
IT DOESN'T MEAN WE DON'T HAVE PRECAUTIONS.
I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO THINK THAT IT'S JUST EXACTLY THE WAY IT WAS, BUT WE DO HAVE THE DIFFERENCE THIS YEAR THAT WE CAN, THERE, IT HAS, SOME CHILDREN CAN ELECT, OR PARENTS CAN ELECT TO MAKE SURE TO HAVE THEIR CHILDREN VACCINATED IF THEY WOULD LIKE.
SO WE ARE PLANNING A HUNDRED PERCENT CAPACITY AND WE'VE CONDUCTED AN EARLY REGISTRATION, UH, AT THIS PARTICULAR POINT.
AND WE STILL WE'RE ABOUT AT 15% CAPACITY AND WE'RE GOING TO BE INCREASING OUR REGISTRATION.
WE CONDUCTED OUR EARLY REGISTRATION FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO, UM, WERE A PART OF OUR FINANCIAL AID PROGRAM AND, OR NEEDED, UM, SPECIFIC COMBINATIONS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL CAMP.
AND WE CALL THAT ADAPTIVE RECREATION.
SO WAS THERE SOMETHING THAT WE NEEDED TO DO TO ADAPT OUR PROGRAM, TO MAKE SURE THAT IT WAS AVAILABLE TO ANY CHILD WHO WANTED TO PARTICIPATE? UM, UM, WE HAD REGULAR REGISTRATIONS OPENED UP FOR CULTURAL FACILITIES ON FEBRUARY 19TH AND WE'LL OPEN FOR THE NATURE AND THE OUTDOOR CAMPS ON FEBRUARY 26TH AND, UM, COMMUNITY RECREATION CENTERS ON MARCH 5TH.
AND SO REGISTRATION IS HAPPENING IN PHASES SO THAT WE DON'T CRASH OUR SYSTEM AS HAS HAD.
AND IN THE PAST BOARD MEMBER DEPARTMENT AND OTHERS WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED ON THAT PARTICULAR SITUATION.
SO WE'RE DOING IT VERY METHODICALLY IN PARTICULAR SO THAT WE CAN AVOID THAT.
UM, WE JUST DON'T WANT TO OVERWHELM THE SYSTEM AND WE ARE WORKING ON A MARKETING PLAN TO ENCOURAGE RECRUITMENT.
SO WE HAVE INSTRUCTORS AND COUNSELORS, AND WE HAVE, WE'RE ALREADY IN THE PROCESS OF RECRUITING AND DOING, WE HAVE A FULL TRAINING COMPLIMENT THAT WE WILL PUT ALL OF OUR STAFF MEMBERS THROUGH WITH THAT.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN STRUGGLING WITH UP TO THIS POINT, AND IT'S NOT JUST THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT, RIGHT? BUT IT'S EVERYWHERE THAT YOU MAY BE HEARING ON TV IS THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE WILLING TO COME BACK TO WORK.
AND SO THIS IS NOT UNIQUE TO OUR SUMMER CAMP PROGRAM, BUT IT IS ALSO SOMETHING THAT MIGHT, WE MIGHT BE SEEING IN OUR LIFEGUARDING PROGRAM.
I'M NOT TRYING TO GET ANYONE SCARED.
I'M JUST PUTTING IT ON THE TABLE IN FEBRUARY, BUT IN MARCH, I THINK WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT OUR RECRUITMENT EFFORTS LOOK LIKE, WHAT OUR INCENTIVE PROGRAM TO GET PEOPLE, TO SIGN UP AND BE A PART OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT FOR THE SEASONAL WORK.
AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHARE WITH YOU, MAYBE SOME OF THOSE CHALLENGES AND YOU'LL HAVE SOME SUGGESTIONS OF HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO WORK THROUGH THAT.
BUT AT THIS POINT, WE THINK THAT WE HAVE GOOD PROTOCOLS IN PLACE WE'VE ACTUALLY RAN.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ARE AWARE, AWARE, BUT DURING COVID WE, WE, UH, OFFERED WHAT WE CALLED CAMPS FOR EMPLOYEES.
UH, SO WE HAD, UH, UH, UH, OPPORTUNITY FOR EMPLOYEES WHO ARE WORKING FOR THE CITY TO BE ABLE TO REGISTER THEIR CHILDREN, UM, TO BE ABLE TO BE IN A CAMP THAT HELPED THEM GO THROUGH SCHOOL AND ALL THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
ANYWAY, THE BOTTOM LINE WAS, IS WE HAD ZERO INCIDENCES OF COVID EVEN DURING THE TIME WHEN COVID WAS, UM, OF, OF ITS HIGHEST CAPACITY, ZERO INCIDENCES THAT WE KNOW OF WHERE CHILDREN WERE IMPACTED BY THAT.
SO WE THINK WE HAVE GREAT PROTOCOLS IN PLACE, AND WE THINK THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO DO THAT, UM, THROUGH THE SUMMER.
SO WE WE'D LOVE TO GIVE YOU SOME MORE INFORMATION, BUT WE'D ALSO LIKE TO SEEK YOUR FEEDBACK ON WHAT ARE YOU MOST INTERESTED IN KNOWING ABOUT, LIKE, WHAT ARE THOSE PROTOCOLS SPECIFICALLY LOOK LIKE? WHAT ARE WE GONNA, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE OUR CONTINGENCY PLANS? CERTAINLY JUST GIVE US THAT INFORMATION AND WE'LL INCLUDE IT IN OUR PRESENTATION, IN LAUNCH AT THIS TIME.
ARE YOU PLANNING ON BRINGING BACK FIELD TRIPS AND AQUATIC ACTIVITIES? BECAUSE I BELIEVE THOSE WERE NOT PART OF THE 20, 21 SUMMER CAMP PROGRAMMING.
I BELIEVE THE ANSWER IS YES, BUT I'M GOING TO BE ASKING SOMEONE TO TEXT ME ANYONE WHO'S OUT THERE TO TEXT ME THEN ANSWER.
AND LET'S GO ON TO QUESTION NUMBER TWO, AND I THINK I'LL HAVE THE ANSWER FOR YOU IN JUST A MINUTE.
I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM THE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS AS WELL.
SO, BUT WE HAVE, UM, FOUR MEMBER, UM, MORE, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS? NOT AT THIS TIME, BUT GIVE ME A MINUTE.
I DON'T, I DON'T THINK I REALLY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT MY EXPERIENCE WITH, UM, ALL KINDS OF CHILDREN'S PROGRAMMING IN TERMS OF AFTER-SCHOOL CARE, SUMMER CAMPS, SCHOOL, HOLIDAY CAMPS, EVERYTHING IS DEPENDENT ON STAFFING.
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT FOR CHILDCARE CENTERS TO FIND QUALIFIED WORKERS THAT ARE BACKGROUND CHECKED AND GET THEM TRAINED.
I MEAN, I HAVE HAD, UM, ONE OF, ONE OF THE SCHOOLS WHERE THEY WERE NEVER ABLE TO OPEN AFTER-SCHOOL CARE THE SPRING SEMESTER.
AND SO I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON.
[00:35:01]
I'M REALLY HOPEFUL THAT YOUR RECRUITMENT WORKS OUT.I'M REALLY HOPEFUL THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVING ALL THE KIDS BE VACCINATED AND AS WELL AS, UM, YOU KNOW, MORE, MORE AND MORE PEOPLE.
SO HOPEFULLY THE STAFF, I THINK FOCUSING, I MEAN, UNFORTUNATELY IT, LIKE YOU SAID, PEOPLE AREN'T COMING BACK TO WORK AND I DON'T KNOW, IT'S NOT REALLY ABOUT, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S ABOUT THE PAY SCALE.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS, BUT I KNOW THAT ALL THE SPORTS AND ACTIVITIES AND CHILDCARE I'M INVOLVED WITH HAVE EVERYTHING'S TENTATIVE.
I MEAN, IT'S LIKE, WE HOPE ALL THE CAMPS MAKE IT HAPPEN.
AND IT'S VERY, AS YOU'VE MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY TRYING FOR PARENTS AND IT'S VERY DIFFICULT BECAUSE WE DON'T KNOW IF THE CHILDCARE IS GOING TO BE AVAILABLE.
AND FRANKLY, YOU KNOW, THE SCHOOL DISTRICT CANCELED TWO EXTRA DAYS OF SCHOOL THIS SEMESTER WITH VERY LITTLE WARNING.
UM, AND NOW THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE TWO MORE IN THE FALL.
AND I, YOU KNOW, BEST OF LUCK, I REALLY HOPE YOU'RE ABLE TO HIRE THE STAFF.
AND I THINK IF ANYTHING, MAYBE THE CITY COUNCIL COULD OFFER, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU NEED ADDITIONAL BUDGET FOR THE MARKETING AND RECRUITMENT, BECAUSE TO ME, THAT'S PROBABLY GOING TO BE THE HARDEST PART.
I DO KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE EXCITED FOR THE, UM, NEXT SET OF REGISTRATIONS TO OPEN FEBRUARY 26TH.
WE'RE ALL GOT IT ON OUR CALENDARS AND OUR COMPUTER AND MARCH 5TH.
AND IF THERE IS A WAY WE CAN MAKE THE MOTION REALLY SPECIFIC TO CITY COUNCIL WITH WHAT WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL.
I'D LIKE TO HEAR THAT, I GUESS.
OH, I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME.
THANK YOU, BOARD MEMBER TAYLOR.
I DON'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS EITHER.
UM, MOST OF MY QUESTIONS, UH, INVOLVE AQUATICS AS WELL.
UM, I KNOW THAT LAST YEAR, SOME OF THE SWIM TEAMS DIDN'T MAKE BECAUSE OF THE POOLS WERE CLOSED DOWN.
UM, AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THAT AGAIN, THIS YEAR, WHICH SCHOOLS WILL BE OPEN, PARTICULARLY FOR SWIM LESSONS AND SWIM TEAM.
A BOARD MEMBER, HOCHMAN, NO QUESTIONS ASKED HER DIPLOMA.
THANK YOU, DIRECTOR MCNEELY FOR TALKING ABOUT SUMMER CAMPS AND BRINGING ME UP BECAUSE IT'S SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO INCREASE OVER THE YEARS AS YOU VERY WELL KNOW.
AND THEN WE ALWAYS HAVE THE CHALLENGES WITH REGISTRATION SYSTEM AND I'M THRILLED FOR THOSE WHO, WHO ARE, UH, GOING THROUGH IT THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SUCH AN INTENTIONALITY.
I'M NOT SURE WHICH VENDOR WE SELECTED ON REGISTRATION.
YOU JUST SHAVED YOUR HEAD NOW THAT MAKES ME SAD, BUT UM, OKAY.
SO, BUT AS FAR AS REALLY MAKING SURE THAT IT'S EASY TO ACCESS AND THAT YOU HAVE A REALLY GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE, UM, IN REGISTERING FOR SUMMER CAMPS.
SO LAST YEAR IN MAY, WE KIND OF SPRINTED AT THE LAST MOMENT FOR A CONTINGENCY AND WORKING WITH AISD TO TRY TO OPEN UP SOME OF THE CAMPUSES THAT WERE AVAILABLE IN ORDER TO EXPAND SUMMER CAMP, OR HOPEFULLY LEVERAGING SOME OF THE FEDERAL FUNDING THAT AISD HAD RECEIVED.
AND THE FANTASTIC PROGRAMMING THAT WE DO AS A DEPARTMENT AND, YOU KNOW, NOBODY DOUBTS LIKE SUMMER CAMPS IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO ABSOLUTELY THE BEST.
AND THAT'S WHY WE HAVE SO MANY PEOPLE WHO, WHO RUSH TO IT AND TRY TO DO IT.
AND WE KNOW THAT WE DON'T SERVE ALL THE KIDS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, PARTICULARLY IN LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC COMMUNITIES, BUT JUST NOT ONLY SOCIOECONOMIC COMMUNITIES.
SO IN THE PAST, WE'VE TRIED TO BRING IN ADDITIONAL MONEY FOR SUMMER CAMP.
I THINK WE ARE ACTUALLY SUCCESSFUL IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY OUT OF THIS BUDGET YEAR OR A PREVIOUS BUDGET YEAR.
AND IF WE DIDN'T GET TO UNFORTUNATELY SEE THE RESULT OF THAT, BUT ANYTHING THAT WE CAN DO IN THE BUDGET ITEM TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND ADDITIONAL MONIES FOR THAT SUMMER CAMP, BOTH AT CIL, ALLOW US TO ACCESS ANOTHER SPACES AND TO HIRE INTO BOARD MEMBER OF ALICE'S POINT IS ABSOLUTELY THE CASE.
ONE OF THE BIG CONVERSATIONS WE HEARD AT THE TEXAS RECREATION AND PARKS SOCIETY CONFERENCE LAST WEEK WAS THAT ALL OF THE PARKS DEPARTMENTS THAT I SPOKE WITH WERE HAVING TROUBLE RECRUITING FOR LIFEGUARDS.
AND THEY'RE TRYING TO FIND WAYS IN WHICH TO BE ABLE TO REMEDY THAT BECAUSE OF COURSE EVERYBODY WANTED TO GET BACK OUT THERE.
SO I SUSPECT IF WE'RE NOT REALLY PROACTIVE WITH THE DIFFERENT WAGE RATE AND SOME OTHER INCENTIVES, WE ARE GOING TO FOLLOW SUIT JUST AS WELL.
AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A WHOLE BUNCH OF ANGRY FOLKS WHO DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT THE LIFEGUARDS TO WANT TO GET OUT THERE.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF OPTIONS, UM, FOR FUNDING RIGHT NOW, OR FOR, FOR SALARIES RIGHT NOW THAT, THAT THEY HAVE ACCESS TO.
[00:40:01]
JUST PROVIDING SOME INSIGHTS, A LOT OF IT'S JUST FOR MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS RELATING TO THAT PARTICULAR ISSUE.AND, UM, I SUPPOSE, SUPPORT THE RESOLUTION.
AND I'M HAPPY TO MAKE A MOTION WHEN APPROPRIATE FOR BOARD MEMBER IN ALL OF THESE, UM, MOTION THAT SHE HEARD HER RECOMMENDATION, SHE HAS SUBMITTED VIA ONLINE THROUGH EMAIL.
IF I MAY ANSWER A BIRD NUMBER AND ALL THESE QUESTION, THE ANSWER IS AS WE HAVE PLANS FOR FIELD TRIPS AND FOR SWIMMING POOL ACTIVITIES, UM, I, I THINK THAT WAS WHAT YOUR QUESTION WAS, AND WE CAN PROVIDE MORE DETAILS ABOUT THAT AT OUR PRESENTATION.
SO I, UM, AGAIN, I, I'M GRATEFUL TO BOARD MEMBER RENALDI FOR, UM, FOR BRINGING THIS UP.
I MEAN, I KNOW THAT, UM, THERE'S LOTS OF FAMILIES WHO DEPEND ON THESE SUMMER CAMPS AND, YOU KNOW, IN A PERFECT WORLD, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY WOULD HAVE ACCESS TO THEM AND BE ABLE TO HAVE THEIR CHILD BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE THE KIND OF OPPORTUNITIES AND ADVENTURE THAT YOU CAN HAVE AT THOSE.
AND I KNOW IT IS COMPLICATED AS WE'VE ALL WE'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT WITH RECRUITMENT, WITH FUNDING, WITH ALL THE PIECES THAT FALL INTO IT.
AND, AND OF COURSE THE RECOVERY FROM THE PANDEMIC, BUT I'M GLAD THAT SHE'S GOT, YOU KNOW, THIS, UM, WANTS TO RECOMMEND THAT WE REALLY, AS A, FOR THOSE WHO SUPPORT THIS AS A, AS A BOARD, DO, UM, REALLY ENCOURAGE THE STAFF AND THE COUNCIL TO DO WHAT THEY CAN TO MAKE SURE IT HAPPENS.
AND IF YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD AND, UM, DO YOU, YOU HAVE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS? YEAH, I DO HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION.
I'M CURIOUS, WHAT'S THE PAY SCALE CURRENTLY FOR THE SUMMER CAMP EMPLOYEES? SO THE MINIMUM IS THE $15 PER HOUR FOR OUR SEASONAL EMPLOYEES.
I WOULD, I WOULD HAVE TO CHECK EXACTLY WHAT THE SCALE, LIKE, WHAT THE STEP IS.
OBVIOUSLY, IF YOU HAVE A, A ROLE THAT MAKES YOU MORE OF A SUPERVISOR, EVEN IF IT'S SEASONALLY, THERE'S A STEP IN THERE, BUT I DON'T, I DON'T HAVE IT MEMORIZED, BUT WE CAN DEFINITELY PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION FOR YOU EITHER VIA EMAIL OR IN THAT PRESENTATION.
CAUSE I, I BET THAT THAT WOULD GO A LONG WAY TOWARDS RECRUITMENT AS IF, YOU KNOW, THE DEPARTMENT WAS ABLE TO OFFER MORE COMPETITIVE WAGES THAN OTHER SUMMER JOBS THAT THAT FOLKS HAVE.
SO THAT WOULD BE, I'D BE INTERESTED IN HEARING MORE ABOUT THAT.
UM, YEAH, SO I, I PUT TOGETHER THIS DRAFT RESOLUTION THAT I SENT YOU ALL TO, UM, VIA EMAIL, UM, I LIKE FORD MEMBER OF FALSE IDEA OF DOING, YOU KNOW, INCLUDING SOME KIND OF MORE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE REGARDING, UM, A, YOU KNOW, UH, REGARDING, UH, UH, A PORTION OF THE BUDGET.
ALTHOUGH I THINK THAT, I THINK YOU MAY HAVE BEEN REFERRING TO WHEN WE MAKE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.
WELL, IF YOU HAVE A, UM, AN AMENDMENT ALONG THOSE LINES THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST ADDING IN HERE, UM, I WOULD WELCOME THAT.
I DON'T HAVE A GOOD COPY OF MAYBE JUST ADD SOMETHING TO THE FIRST BULLET HARD-ON FOR SUMMER CANCER CAPACITY, INCLUDING FUNDING REQUIRED FOR APPROPRIATE MARKETING, QUALIFIED STAFF.
UM, YEAH, I CAN WRITE IT DOWN.
WHAT ABOUT, OKAY, SO, UM, I WILL, I WILL ADD THAT IN HERE.
SO THIS IS MY OWN EMOTION, BUT I, I BELIEVE THAT I CAN MOVE TO AMEND MY OWN MOTION.
UM, SO I MOVED TO, UM, YES, I MOVED TO ADD A SECOND BULLET POINT THAT SAYS, UM, UH, EMPOWER AND ADEQUATELY RESOURCE PART TO, UM, TO RECRUIT AND RETAIN SUMMER CAMP STAFF, UM, THAT ARE INCLUDING THROUGH COMPETITIVE WAGES.
[00:45:01]
WANT? CAUSE I HA I THINK I HAVE BOARD MEMBER FILES IS A LOT OF HER LANGUAGE IF YOU WANT IT'S UP TO YOU.I JUST WOULDN'T WRITE IT DOWN WHEN YOU WERE SAYING IT.
SO I WAS TRYING TO, SO WHERE, WHERE I DID KIND OF LEAVE OFF, BUT EMPOWER INADEQUATE RESOURCE PART TO OFFER SUMMER CAMPS AT PRE PANDEMIC CAPACITY AND FUNDING TO, TO ENSURE THAT THE MARKETING AND HIRING OF STAFF AND THAT'S WHERE I LEFT OFF.
SO HOW ABOUT INCLUDING FUNDING TO ENSURE, UM, UH, ADEQUATE RECRUITMENT OF STAFF.
SO DO I HAVE A SECOND TO MY MOTION TO SO AMEND THIS SECOND RESOLUTION.
SO ALL IN FAVOR OF THE MOTION, PLEASE SAY AYE, AYE.
TO CARLA FOR MEMBER D THE CARLO.
MAYBE SHE STEPPED OUT, SO, OKAY.
DID YOU WANT TO SUPPORT THE, UM, MOTION? YES, I'M IN FAVOR.
SHE HAS TO BE ON CAMERA FOR THE VOTE.
DO WE HAVE ANYBODY OPPOSED? NO.
WHAT I THINK JUST HAPPENED IS AS YOU VOTED TO AMEND, BUT WHAT WAS ON THE TABLE? SO NOW YOU HAVE TO VOTE TO, UM, THE MAIN MOTION, RIGHT? I MOVE TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION.
SO FIRST WE VOTED TO AMEND IT.
SO LET'S GO AHEAD AND VOTE FOR THE RESOLUTION AGAIN.
SO, UM, I MOVED TO APPROVE THE RESOLUTION AS AMENDED.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? I DO FROM VICE-CHAIR DIPLOMA ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ANY OPPOSED? NOBODY OPPOSED PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
AND I WOULD, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ADD TO THAT, UM, I WOULD APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, AS YOU KNOW, PUBLIC HEALTH CONDITIONS EVOLVE, UM, TO JUST REVISIT THIS TOPIC CONTINUOUSLY OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS, LEADING UP TO THE ACTUAL INCEPTION OF PROGRAMMING, UH, BECAUSE WE STILL REGISTRATION IS HAPPENING NOW, BUT YOU KNOW, WE STILL HAVE A WAYS TO GO BEFORE THE KIDS ACTUALLY START THE SUMMER CAMP.
SO I'D REALLY LIKE TO, UM, FOR US TO CONTINUE TO BE ENGAGED IN THAT, SO WE KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING.
[B.1. Presentation and discussion related to the development of Onion Creek Metro Park, highlights of the consent agreement between COA, Onion Creek Metro Park District and Austin Goodnight Ranch LP, current operation and maintenance responsibilities including current and planned capital investments.]
AND DISCUSSION RELATED TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF ONION CREEK.METRO PARK, HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CONSENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY OF AUSTIN, ONION CREEK, METRO PARK, DISTRICT, AND AUSTIN, GOODNIGHT, RANCH LP, CURRENT OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE RESPONSIBILITIES, INCLUDING CURRENT IMPLANT CAPITAL INVESTMENTS.
DO WE HAVE ANY CITIZEN COMMUNICATION ON THIS? OKAY.
SO IN THAT CASE, WE HAVE, UM, MR. SOLEUS RECORDER SALISE AND NIKKI CROCKETT COCKRELL, EXCUSE ME, IS THAT RIGHT? A BOARD MEMBER, MADAM CHAIR.
MY NAME IS RICARDO SOLACE AND I SERVE AS A DIVISION MANAGER FOR THE PARK PLANNING, UH, DIVISION FOR THE PARKS DEPARTMENT, UM, WITH ME, UH, WELL, UH, NICKI COCKRELL IS JOINING ME VIRTUALLY WHO SERVES AS THE PARK MANAGER HIRED BY THE ONION CREEK PARK DISTRICT.
UM, THANKS RICARDO FOR THE INTRODUCTION.
UM, NIKKI COCKEREL, THE PARK MANAGER FOR THE AGNEW CREEK METRO PARK DISTRICT.
THE DISTRICT OVERSEES THE OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, ALL THE DEVELOPED AREAS WITHIN GOODNIGHT RANCH, UM, AND IN THE DISTRICT, WHICH IS CURRENTLY ABOUT 72 ACRES.
UM, AND WE ALSO OVERSEE AND MANAGE THE 50 DEVELOPED ACRES, UM, AT THE SOUTHERN CORNER OF THE METRO PARK.
UM, ON THE SCREEN, YOU WILL, UH, OH, OKAY.
WE HAVE, THIS IS JUST A MAP OF THE CURRENT UN-ENCRYPTED METRO PARK, UH, GREENBELT AND A PORTION OF THE, UH, BUYOUT AREA, BUT IT'S ALL WE ALL CALL THIS UNENCRYPT METRO PARK.
SO THIS IS IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF THE CITY, BASICALLY,
[00:50:01]
UM, NEAR PLEASANT VALLEY AND WILLIAM AND KENNAN.SO IT'S IN DISTRICT TWO ON THE SCREEN, YOU HAVE JUST A TIMELINE THAT I'M JUST GOING TO JUST TALK ABOUT.
UM, IN 1998 WE ACQUIRED THE ONION CREEK METRO PARK WITH, UH, THE 98 BOND FUNDS.
UH, SO WE, WE PURCHASED IT AND LAND BANKED IT.
AND SO JUST LIKE WE DID MANY OTHER LARGE PARKS IN THE, IN THE PARK SYSTEM.
SO, UM, WE WERE ABLE TO GET MONEY AT THAT TIME JUST FOR ACQUISITION.
SO WE DID THAT AND, AND THAT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY KNOWING THAT, THAT, UH, WE NEEDED TO, UH, AND THAT PART OF THE CITY ALSO WAS NOT AS, AS DEVELOPED AS WELL.
SO IT WAS JUST REALLY IN A RURAL AREA.
AND, UH, SO WE HAD THAT OPPORTUNITY AND WE TOOK IT AND WE, WE BOUGHT 550 ACRES AT THAT TIME.
SO, UM, JUMPING TO 2013 AS DEVELOPMENT WAS HAPPENING IN THE SOUTHEAST AREA, UM, THE PLANNERS AND DEVELOPER FROM THAT, THAT AREA CAME AND MET WITH US AS STAFF AND SAID, HEY, WHAT IS IT GONNA TAKE TO DEVELOP THE METRO PARK, THE 500 ACRES, THE 550 ACRES THAT YOU PURCHASED BACK IN 98.
AND, UM, AT THAT TIME WE DID HAVE DEVELOPMENT MONEY, BUT WE CERTAINLY DID NOT HAVE AN IDEA OF, OF HOW WE WERE GOING TO MAINTAIN THE PARK.
SO THEY, THEY CAME TO US AND SAID, LISTEN, WE'RE, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT A PARK DISTRICT KIND OF, UM, IDEA WOULD HAVE TO GO TO THE STATE LEGISLATURE TO ESTABLISH THIS PARK DISTRICT.
AND THIS DISTRICT WAS GOING TO ALLOW THEM TO DEVELOP THEIR LAND REALLY WAS ACROSS THE STREET, ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE METRO PARK.
UM, IT WAS THE, THE GOOD NIGHT DEVELOPMENT.
AND BY ESTABLISHING THIS PARK DISTRICT, THEY WERE, THEY COULD TEXT THEMSELVES TAX THE PEOPLE IN THIS DISTRICT WHERE A PORTION OF THAT MONEY COULD GO TOWARDS MAINTENANCE OF NOT ONLY THEIR PARKS THAT THEY'RE DOING WITHIN THEIR DISTRICT, BUT ALSO OUTSIDE OF THE DISTRICT, WHICH WOULD MEAN ACROSS THE STREET AT THE METRO PARK.
UM, WE THOUGHT THIS WAS A GREAT IDEA FOR US TO PURSUE.
SO AT THE TIME WE WORKED ON WHAT WE CALL THE WELL IN 2013, THE DISTRICT WAS CREATED BY THE, BY THE, BY THIS LEGISLATURE.
UM, IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAT, WE WORKED ON THE CONSENT AGREEMENT, MEANING WHAT THE DEVELOPER WOULD BRING TO THE TABLE WITH THE CITY WOULD BRING TO THE TABLE AND, AND HOW WE WOULD MANAGE THIS PARK.
SO, AND THAT'S WHAT WAS CALLED THE CONSENT AGREEMENT.
IT WAS SIGNED IN 2014 AND AT THE TIME WE REALLY, WE DID NOT HAVE A VISION PLAN FOR THAT METRO PARK EITHER.
OR DID WE HAVE THE FUNDING FOR IT? SO THE DEVELOPER DID, UH, UH, HELP US OUT WITH THAT, UH, PARTNERING WITH THE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION, THEY FUNDED A VISION PLAN FOR THE PARK, AND THAT WAS COMPLETED A WELL, THAT WAS, WE DID THAT IN 2014 AND THE COUNCIL ADOPTED THAT PLAN IN 2015.
SO OUR PART OF THE DEAL, THE CITY'S PART OF THE DEAL WAS THAT WE WERE GOING TO INVEST $4 MILLION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THAT PARK.
THAT'S THE FUNDING THAT WE HAD.
AND, AND SO WE MOVED FORWARD IN 2019 TO DEVELOP THAT AT LEAST THE FIRST PHASE OF THAT PARK, UM, A YEAR AFTER THAT.
UM, SO IN 2019 WE FINISHED, WE COMPLETED THE, THE IMPROVEMENTS TO THAT PARK.
IT WAS A LITTLE SLOW FOR US TO GET GOING AND TO FINISH THIS, THIS, UH, CONSTRUCTION BECAUSE, UM, THE CONTRACTOR WENT OUT OF BUSINESS AT THE TIME AND, AND JUST DID THE PARK TO A CERTAIN POINT AND LEFT.
SO IT TOOK SOME TIME TO GET ANOTHER CONTRACTOR ON BOARD TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT.
SO IT WAS FINALLY COMPLETED EARLY PART OF 2020, UM, AT THE SAME TIME, UH, THE CITY, UH, WATERSHED PROTECTION AND THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, UH, WAS THEY WERE WORKING ON WHAT WE CALL THE BUYOUT AREA, WHICH IS ALSO ADJACENT TO THE METRO PARK.
IT ADDED A HUNDRED ACRES TO THE METRO PARK, NORTH OF THE CREEK.
AND SO, UM, AND THAT BECAME DEDICATED PARKLAND ONCE THAT WAS
[00:55:01]
COMPLETED.AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT SHORTLY.
UM, MORE SO, UM, IN 2020, WE, WE DID AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSENT AGREEMENT BECAUSE THERE WERE THINGS THAT WE NEEDED TO, UM, TO DO AND TO INCLUDE WE, WE NEEDED TO WORK ON SOME DEFINITIONS, THINGS THAT WE'VE LEARNED THAT WE LEARNED AT THE TIME THAT WE NEEDED TO CLARIFY.
SO WE WORKED ON THE CONSENT AGREEMENT AND IT WENT TO COUNCIL IN 2020.
SO, UM, I THINK I COVERED A LITTLE OF THIS, BUT THE CONSENT AGREEMENT OUTLINES THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF EACH PARTY.
SO FOR THE, FOR THE METRO PARK DISTRICT, THEY, THEY ARE COLLECTING THE TAX.
UM, AND THAT WAS FOR THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE, NOT ONLY FOR STRICT, WHICH MEANS WITHIN THERE, IT'S A PLANNING OF DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THEIR PUD AND ACROSS THE STREET.
WHAT WE ARE CALLING OUT OF DISTRICT, WHICH IS THE METRO PARK, UM, THEY WERE ALSO GOING TO NOMINATE FOUR MEMBERS TO THIS BOARD.
SO THIS BOARD WAS CREATED FROM THIS PARK DISTRICT WHERE THE PARK DISTRICT WOULD HAVE FOUR MEMBERS AND THE CITY WOULD HAVE THREE MEMBERS.
SO THE CITY'S RESPONSIBILITY WAS THAT WE ELECT, WE, WE SELECTED A 0.3 MEMBERS TO THAT BOARD, THAT BOARD, UM, WE COMPLETE THE BASIS IMPROVEMENTS THAT, THAT I TALKED ABOUT AT $4 MILLION.
AND BECAUSE THIS IS, THIS IS A PUD.
UM, WE WERE, WE WOULD BE COLLECTING PARKLAND, DEDICATION FUNDING FROM THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT OF THAT PUD.
SO WE AGREED THAT ANY OF THE FEES THAT WERE COLLECTED WITHIN THAT PUD WOULD BE DEDICATED TO THE, UM, THE METRO PARK.
SO, AND SO WE AGREE TO THOSE IN THE CONSENT AGREEMENT, UM, THE GOODNIGHT RANCH, UH, AUSTIN, GOODNIGHT RANCH, THEY FUNDED THE VISION PLAN IN 2015 AND, UM, ADVANCED FUNDING FOR, UM, THESE WERE IMPROVEMENTS WITHIN THEIR DEVELOPMENT.
SO IT'S A THREE MILE LOOP WITH OTHER, OTHER AMENITIES THAT WILL BE OTHER PARK AMENITIES AND OPEN SPACE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE DEVELOPING.
UM, EVEN THOUGH IT'S WITHIN THEIR DEVELOPMENT, IT'S OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
SO THE IDEA WAS THAT THE METRO PARK WOULD SIT ON ONE SIDE OF THE STREET.
WE WOULD HAVE CONNECTIVITY TO THE SOUTH CONNECTING TO THEIR PARKS.
AND, UH, IF YOU WERE A USER OF THAT PARK, YOU, YOU COULDN'T, YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO TELL THAT IT WAS, IT WAS JUST A CONTINUOUS PARK.
UM, AND SO WE'RE, UH, WE ARE GOING TO PUT SIGNAGE TO SAY, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE NOW ENTERING THE CITY OF AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION, OR YOU'RE ENTERING THE DEVELOPERS, YOU KNOW, PARK WHEN IT COMES TO MAINTENANCE, PER SE.
SO IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT'S AN ISSUE IN THAT KIND OF THING.
SO, SO, UM, THOSE ARE JUST LITTLE DETAILS THAT WE, THAT WE'D LIKE TO IRON OUT AS FAR AS MAINTENANCE IS CONCERNED AND, AND TO THE PUBLIC, IF THERE'S A CONCERN THAT THEY CAN, WHO TO CALL, UM, LET'S SEE HERE.
SO THIS IS JUST AN IMAGE OF THE WHOLE, OF THE PARK OF THE METRO PARK.
UM, THE, THE WHITE AREA THAT IS TO THE NORTH, YOU SEE THE LITTLE TAIL THAT GOES UP, AND THEN THERE'S, UH, TWO WHITE AREAS THAT REPRESENTS THE, UM, THE BUYOUT AREA THAT IS NOW, UH, UH, DEDICATED PARKLAND.
SO REALLY NOW, NOW, UH, NOT ONLY THE GREEN, THE COLORED AREA, BUT THE TWO AREAS THAT ARE THERE ON THE NORTH PART OF THE PARK ARE ALL, IS ALL PARKLAND NOW UM, THIS IS THIS MAP.
THIS, THIS JUST YOU SEE IN RED IS WHAT THE OUTER DISTRICT OR THE DEVELOPMENT, UH, PORTION OF THE, IN THE GEOGRAPHY THERE, AND THEN THE METRO PARK TO THE NORTH.
SO THAT JUST GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF WHERE THE DEVELOPMENT IS VERSUS THE METRO PARK.
UM, THE IMAGE TO THE TWO ON THE TOP, RIGHT, IS OUR METRO PARK.
UM, AND THE IMAGES TOO ON THE, ON THE BOTTOM, RIGHT, ARE FROM THE, THE DEVELOPMENT OPEN SPACE AND GREEN SPACE THAT THEY'RE DEVELOPING THROUGH THE, UH, THROUGHOUT THE PUD, THE CAPITAL INVESTMENTS.
UM, I TALKED ABOUT THE BASE IMPROVEMENTS THAT THE CITY WAS GOING TO DO.
WE PUT IN $4 MILLION FOR THE FIRST PHASE, WHICH INCLUDED, UH, WHICH INCLUDES 30 ACRES OF IRRIGATED, A GREAT LAWN AND 20 ACRES OF, UM, JUST A NATURAL AREA, A LOOP TRAIL, A PARKING LOT, UH, 50 SPACE PARKING
[01:00:01]
LOT.UM, AND, AND SO THOSE, THOSE ARE COMMITMENTS THAT WE'VE MADE, UM, FUTURE CIP PROJECTS THAT I TALKED ABOUT, AND THIS IS FOR THE MONEY THAT IS GOING TO BE COLLECTED IN THE FUTURE WOULD GO TOWARDS, UH, ADDING TWO TO TWO MORE AMENITIES AS OUTLINED IN THE, IN THE VISION PLAN FOR THE, FOR THE PARK.
UM, WE DO HAVE A PARTNER AS WELL, THAT IS DOING SOME FUNDRAISING FOR, UM, FOR A VERY, UH, IMPORTANT ENTITY THAT WE'RE REAL EXCITED ABOUT THE ALL ABILITIES PLAYGROUND THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO, TO, TO BUILD HERE AT UNENCRYPT METRO, UM, WE'RE ESTIMATING ABOUT A $5 MILLION INVESTMENT BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S NOT ONLY THE PLACE SCAPE ITSELF, BUT IT'S THE SUPPORT FACILITIES LIKE THE RESTROOMS AND, AND, UH, UM, DRINKING FOUNTAINS AND CONNECTIONS TO THE PARKING LOT AND THAT TYPE OF THING, AND POSSIBLY MORE PARKING, SO THAT, THAT WE DO HAVE A PARTNER THERE.
UM, AND SO WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THAT, THAT OPPORTUNITY.
SO, UM, THERE'S WHERE WE ARE WITH THE METRO PARK AND OUR PARTNER WITH, UH, THE PARK DISTRICT, MAINTAINING THE PARK.
UM, ANOTHER, ANOTHER THING IS THAT AS WE, AS WE COLLECT MORE FUNDING AND DO MORE INVESTMENT IN THE PARK, UH, THE BOARD OF THE PARKS, UH, THE PARK DISTRICT IS, IS COMMITTED TO HELP US WITH THE MAINTENANCE AS WELL.
UM, HOWEVER, THEY HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT THEIR FUNDING IS THERE TO DO THAT.
SO, UM, NIKKI, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT I'VE LEFT OUT OR THAT I SHOULD, UH, DO YOU WANT TO COVER, THANKS FOR CARDELL.
UM, I CAN TALK, UH, BRIEFLY ABOUT SOME OF THE, UM, DISTRICT DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN DONE SO FAR AND COMPLETED SO FAR, AND SOME THINGS THAT ARE IN THE WORKS RIGHT NOW, UM, ONGOING PROJECT.
SO LET ME JUST SPEAK TO THOSE FOR A FEW MINUTES.
UM, I KNOW ON ONE OF THE SLIDES, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF PICTURES OF SOME INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS.
UM, BUT WE HAVE THE, UM, NORTH WEST POND WINTER PARK.
UM, THAT'S ACTUALLY IN THE PHOTO, THAT'S BEING SHOWN ON THE SLIDE THAT SORT OF BOTTOM LEFT PICTURE.
UM, WE HAVE A BLAZE PARK WHICH SITS IN THE, UM, VERTEX CHANNEL.
IT'S KIND OF TUCKED IN, UM, TO THAT CHANNEL.
UM, WE HAVE THE VERTEX POLAND AS WELL.
UM, WE RECENTLY, UM, TOOK OVER MAINTENANCE, UM, SEVERAL MONTHS AGO OF THE ALDERMAN CHANNEL AND TRAILWAY, UM, WE HAVE SLATER AND KERRYN POCKET PARKS, AND THEN WE ALSO MAINTAIN ALL STREETSCAPES, UM, WHICH IS THE AREA BETWEEN THE SIDEWALK AND THE CURB.
UM, SO ESSENTIALLY THE RIGHT OF WAY.
AND WE OVERSEE THE IRRIGATION, UM, AND TREE CARE FOR THOSE AREAS.
UM, WE HAVE SOME PROJECTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING DEVELOPED OUT, AND THAT IS THE EAST WEST TRAIL GREENWAY, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY SLAUGHTER LANE.
UM, THE NORTH SIDE OF SLAUGHTER LANE AND THE MEDIAN, UM, THAT PROJECT IS, UM, IN PROGRESS RIGHT NOW AND SHOULD BE COMPLETED SOON.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE ON THE, UM, SOUTH SIDE OF SLAUGHTER, WE HAVE STREETSCAPES THAT WE'LL BE GOING IN WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF HOMES, RESIDENTIAL HOMES IN THAT AREA AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN WE ARE ABOUT TO OVERTAKE MAINTENANCE, UM, OF A POND ON THE SOUTH SIDE.
THAT'S BEEN, UH, THAT'S BEEN DEVELOPED OUT AS WELL RIGHT NOW.
SO THOSE ARE JUST, UH, CURRENT IN-DISTRICT, UM, DEVELOPMENTS AND THINGS THAT ARE COMING ON BOARD, BUT WE ALSO DEFINITELY OVERSEE AND TAKE CARE OF, UM, THE 50 ACRES THAT WERE DEVELOPED OUT, UM, BY THE CITY, UM, AT THE METRO PARK.
AND WE'LL, WE ARE COMMITTED TO CONTINUING, UM, TO DO SO AS ANY IMPROVEMENTS ARE MADE WITHIN THE METRO PARK, ALONG THE WAY.
UM, AS RICARDO SAID, WE DEFINITELY HAVE A FINANCIAL COMPONENT THAT WE HAVE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, MONITOR AS WE CONTINUE TO COLLECT, UM, THE TAX BASE IN ORDER TO MAKE ALL OF THESE, TO, TO OVERSEE AND MAINTAIN ALL THE PARKLAND, UM, AND STREETSCAPES.
UM, BUT THAT IS OUR COMMITMENT, UM, TO THE CITY.
UM, THE PRESENTATION I'D LIKE TO, UM, HAVE BOARD MEMBER DECARLO, UM, ASK HER QUESTIONS FIRST, BECAUSE THIS IS IN HER DISTRICT AND THIS IS AN ITEM I KNOW THAT SHE WANTED TO SEE COME BEFORE US.
SO IF YOU, UM, I CAN'T SEE RIGHT NOW BUT I'M, I KNOW YOU'RE THERE.
SO IF YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD AND, UM,
[01:05:01]
AND START WITH YOUR QUESTIONS FOR NUMBER TWO, CARLA YOU'RE OH, YOU CAN'T SEE ME.WELL, I CAN SEE THE PRESENTATION.
AND SO IT'S, YOU KNOW, WE'RE KIND OF LIMITED WITH, YOU KNOW, HOW IT WORKS.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I LIVE NEARBY ONION CREEK PARK AND, UM, IT'S SUCH A TREASURE TO HAVE IT THERE.
UM, JUST, YEAH, IN THE LAST FEW YEARS I CAN SEE HOW MUCH HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED IN PHASE ONE.
I FEEL LIKE MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE GOING THERE AND ENJOYING THE BIG OPEN SPACE AND THE TRAILS, UM, KIND OF EXPLORING SPACES THAT THEY REALLY DIDN'T KNOW WHERE WERE THERE IN THEIR BACKYARD.
UM, AND I KNOW A LOT OF NEARBY RESIDENTS ARE STAYING ACTIVE IN VOLUNTEERING THERE AND ADVOCATING FOR THE PARK AS WELL.
UM, THAT BEING SAID, I GUESS, KIND OF THE, THE REASON BEHIND THIS PRESENTATION COMING UP IS, UM, I'VE ALSO BEEN HEARING, UM, FROM NEARBY RESIDENTS, PARTICULARLY IN WHO LIVE IN THE GOODNIGHT RANCH DEVELOPMENT THAT THEY'RE KIND OF HAVING THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PARK AND KIND OF WHERE IT IS WITH ALL OF, WITH THE VISION PLAN.
AND, UM, AND WHAT'S GOING TO BE HAPPENING NEXT WHEN IT'S GOING TO BE HAPPENING.
KIND OF GETTING THE SENSE OF LIKE THEY'RE FEELING KIND OF LIKE OUT OF THE LOOP, I GUESS.
UM, AND, AND NOT REALLY UNDERSTANDING HOW THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ARE WITHIN THE CITY WITH PARD VERSUS THE DISTRICT AND THE DEVELOPMENT.
UM, SO, UM, I GUESS I'LL START WITH MY QUESTIONS AND NIKKI, THESE MIGHT BE, UM, MORE FOR YOU.
UM, HOW, I GUESS, HOW DOES, UM, THE DISTRICT COMMUNICATE WITH THE RESIDENTS IN, WITHIN GOODNIGHT RANCH ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE PARK? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
UM, WE ACTUALLY ARE, HAVE BEEN WORKING QUITE CLOSELY WITH, UM, THE HOA AND THE HOA HAS THE DATABASE THAT ALLOWS US TO E-BLAST, UM, RESIDENTS AS NEEDED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM, UM, ABOUT ANY ISSUES THAT WE HAVE OR ANY CHANGES IN SCOPE THAT WE'RE DOING, UM, WITHIN THE DISTRICT OR, UM, WE LET THE RESIDENTS KNOW WE'RE DOING PRUNING OR, UM, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE MULCH SERVICE.
AND SO, UH, IT'S DEFINITELY A WAY THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO COMMUNICATE DIRECTLY TO THE RESIDENTS WITHIN GOODNIGHT RANCH.
UM, UNFORTUNATELY I CAN'T COMMUNICATE, I THINK AT THIS POINT OUTSIDE OF GOODNIGHT RANCH.
UM, BUT WE HIT QUITE A FEW, UM, PARK USERS BY BEING ABLE TO ACCESS THAT DATABASE.
AND SO THAT IS DEFINITELY ONE WAY THAT WE'RE DOING THAT RIGHT NOW.
SO, SO LIKE YOU SPEAK WITH, YOU GO TO THE HOA AND THEN THEY KIND OF COMMUNICATE WITH EVERYONE.
WE, WE WORK CLOSELY WITH, UM, GOODWIN WHO IS, WHO OVERSEES THE HOA FOR GOODNIGHT RANCH.
AND SO THEY DISSEMINATE THE INFORMATION THAT WE NEED TO, AND THEY HAVE ALL OF MY CONTACT INFORMATION, THE PARK MANAGER EMAIL, THE, UM, MY PHONE NUMBER, EVERYTHING THAT GOES OUT AND GETS, YOU KNOW, EVERY STATEMENT WE MAKE HAS ALL OF THAT INFORMATION INCLUDED WITH IT.
AND SO WE'RE STARTING TO SEE THE RESIDENTS KNOW A DIFFERENCE.
UM, WE RECENTLY HAD AN, AN ISSUE WITH IN THE STREETSCAPE RIGHT AWAY.
THE RESIDENT KNEW THROUGH SOME OF THE COMMUNICATION THAT WE HAD DONE TO REACH OUT TO ME DIRECTLY.
AND SO I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM THEM.
A LOT OF TIMES PEOPLE ARE VERY CONFUSED, WHETHER THEY SHOULD GO TO THE CITY, WHO'S IN CHARGE OF THAT.
AND SO WE HAVE TRIED VERY HARD OVER THE LAST, UM, PROBABLY YEAR NOW, I'VE BEEN WITH THE DISTRICT A LITTLE OVER 18 MONTHS AND WE STARTED WORKING WITH THE HOA ABOUT A YEAR AGO TO TRY TO REALLY COMMUNICATE TO THEM, UM, UH, THROUGH THAT AVENUE.
AND SO, UM, SO IT SOUNDS LIKE IF THE RESIDENTS HAVE AN ISSUE OR A CONCERN, LIKE THEY KNOW THAT THEY CAN, UH, REACH OUT TO YOU ABOUT IT.
AND I KNOW THAT IS JUST SOMETHING THAT WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO SEND OUT TO THEM.
I WAS ON, UM, LISTENING IN, ON THE HOA MEETING THE OTHER NIGHT.
IT WAS LAST WEEK AND, UM, GOODWIN EVEN, UM, MADE MENTION OF IT DURING THEIR PHONE CALL, THEIR ANNUAL MEETING WITH RESIDENTS.
IF YOU HAVE ISSUES, WE PUT UP A HUGE MAP.
WE'RE TALKING TO THEM ABOUT THE DIFFERENT AREAS THAT THE HOA OVERSEES THAT THE DISTRICT OVERSEES AND THAT INCLUDES OVERSEEING THE METRO PARK.
[01:10:01]
OKAY.UM, AND THEN IN REGARDS TO, TO THE, THE ONION CREEK BOARD, UM, IS ANY OF THE INFORMATION THAT THE BOARD DISCUSSES, LIKE MEETING MINUTES OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT SHARED WITH, UM, THE RESIDENTS? OKAY.
THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION.
UM, THAT THIS WAS, UH, BROUGHT UP BRIEFLY AT OUR LAST BOARD MEETING IN JANUARY AND IT DOES GET POSTED.
THIS IS WHERE, UM, MYRA GAB HAS A LOT MORE INFORMATION THAN I DO.
AND I THINK THERE WAS TALK ABOUT POSSIBLY AT THIS NEXT MEETING, WHICH IS ACTUALLY NEXT WEEK, UM, TO START, THEY WOULD HAVE TO MAKE AN EMOTION AND AN ACTION ITEM, I BELIEVE, UM, TO POST IT OTHER PLACES.
AND SO THEY HAVE TO FOLLOW THE ORIGINAL, UM, ACTION ITEM IS WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE TO ME.
SO I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE COMING DOWN THE LINE IS THAT IT, IT, UM, COULD BE MORE READILY ACCESSIBLE.
UM, YEAH, I THINK THAT WOULD BE GOOD.
HAVE I'VE HEARD FROM RESIDENTS ARE KIND OF CURIOUS ABOUT THE BOARD.
I'M NOT REALLY SURE WHAT GOES ON AND, YOU KNOW, WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT IT.
I'LL DEFINITELY MAKE A NOTE AND WHAT THE DISTRICT'S ATTORNEY KNOWS SO THAT THEY CAN, THEY CAN WORK ON THAT.
UM, AND THEN LET'S SEE, I THINK MY OTHER QUESTIONS ARE MORE FOR BARD.
UM, SO WITH THE, UM, THE FUTURE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLANS TO COMPLETE THAT ARE NEEDED TO COMPLETE PHASE ONE, UM, RICARDO, I THINK YOU MENTIONED THAT THOSE FUNDS WILL BE COLLECTED FROM THE FEES, UM, THAT YOU HAD MENTIONED.
UM, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH, OR IF ANY OF THOSE FEES HAVE BEEN COLLECTED SO FAR TO COMPLETE THAT PHASE ONE? UM, UH, LIKE I SAID, THE, UH, THE, THE FEES THAT WE'RE COLLECTING, THE PARKLAND DEDICATION FEES SO FAR, IT'S BEEN, UH, UM, I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT AMOUNTS.
I HATE TO JUST SAY THAT, BUT I KNOW THAT WE HAVE BEEN COLLECTING THEM, UM, AS, AS THE FEES ARE BEING PAID, IT TAKES, IT TAKES A LITTLE WHILE FOR THE CITY TO, OR FOR THE COUNCIL TO APPROPRIATE THOSE FUNDS.
SO THERE'S A LAG IN TIME, BUT I KNOW THAT FEES ARE BEING PAID AND, AND WE'RE COLLECTING THEM.
SO, SO, UM, WHATEVER'S BEEN COLLECTED THIS, THIS FISCAL YEAR.
WE'LL GET, UH, APPROPRIATED IN OCTOBER.
AND SO AFTER THAT, THEN WE'LL, YOU KNOW, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE ACTUAL FUNDS THAT WE HAVE.
UM, YOU KNOW, SO WE CAN START LOOKING AT, UM, THE FUTURE CAPITAL BOARD MEMBER DECARLO, IF I COULD ADD TO THAT, WE CAN DEFINITELY GET AN ESTIMATE AS TO WHAT WE BELIEVE WILL BE COLLECTED, UH, IN THAT OCTOBER TIMEFRAME.
SO YOU HAVE AN IDEA IN ADVANCE OF OCTOBER, WE CAN WORK ON THAT FOR YOU AND THE REST OF THE BOARD.
AND, UM, YEAH, IT'S GREAT TO, FOR UNGROUPED HAD THE PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION.
UM, I KNOW IT'S REALLY EARLY STAGES FOR THE ALL ABILITIES PLAYGROUND.
UM, BUT DO Y'ALL KNOW IF THERE'S ANY, ANY IDEA OF WHERE IN THE PARK IT WOULD BE LOCATED? UM, I I'M THINKING THAT IS GOING TO BE NEAR THE BIG PARK, UH, PARKING LOT THAT WE HAVE, BUT, UM, I'M NOT TOO FAMILIAR WITH, WITH THE ACTUAL PLANS THEMSELVES, BUT, BUT IT'LL BE CLOSE TO THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE HAVE.
UM, WE'RE, WE'LL BE SUPPORTIVE OF, OF, UM, YEAH, NEAR THAT PARKING LOT.
SO WHETHER WE NEED TO EXPAND THAT THAT'LL BE THE CENTRAL PARKING AREA AND THEN THE PEOPLE VISITING OPEN LAWN AREA WILL HAVE ACCESS TO THE RESTROOMS AND, YOU KNOW, THE THINGS THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT WITH THIS ALL ABILITIES PLAYSCAPE.
UM, AND THEN LET'S SEE, UM, WE'VE ALSO BEEN KINDA CONTACTED JUST ABOUT, I THINK THIS HAS BEEN COMMUNICATED BEFORE, BUT ABOUT, UM, DUMPING PROBLEMS IN THIS AREA, IN THIS PARK, YOU KNOW, IT IS STILL LIKE LESS DEVELOPED AND, AND ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY.
SO, UM, THERE IS A DUMPING PROBLEM THERE, UM, AS WELL AS THINGS LIKE A RECENT INCREASE IN HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS, WHICH I KNOW IS A CITY WIDE PROBLEM.
AND, AND, UM, AND ALL OF THIS IS, IS
[01:15:01]
KIND OF AGGRAVATED BY THE STAFFING SHORTAGES, WHICH WE'VE ALREADY DISCUSSED TONIGHT.UM, I GUESS I WAS JUST CURIOUS, YOU KNOW, IN ORDER TO REALLY MAINTAIN A PARK THIS SIZE WITH CLEANUP, UM, CLEAN UP THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
UM, HOW MANY STAFF DO YOU THINK WOULD, WOULD IT TAKE TO KIND OF BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THAT, UM, BETTER, HOW MANY STAFF OR PHYSICIANS DO YOU THINK MIGHT BE NEEDED? SO MICKEY DID YOU, I KNOW, I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN DEALING A LOT WITH THE DUMPSTER ISSUE NOW.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT PARK OPERATIONS IS, IS DOING OR THAT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU ALL, SO I CAN SPEAK TO THAT FOR JUST A FEW MINUTES.
UM, WE DID HAVE, EXCUSE ME, UM, I SWALLOWED WRONG.
UM, WE DID HAVE, UH, SOME LARGE DUMPSTERS ON SITE IN THE PARKING LOT, AND WE HAD THEM FOR QUITE A WHILE.
UM, WHEN I CAME ON BOARD AND WE MONITORED THAT WEEKLY, UM, OUT AT THE DISTRICT MULTIPLE TIMES A WEEK.
AND SO, UM, AT TIMES IT WOULD BE GOOD AND AT TIMES IT WOULD BE NOT SO GOOD.
AND SO IN WORKING WITH RICARDO AND GIRLS AND ALL THE STAFF, UM, FOR PARKS AND REC, UM, WE DECIDED AFTER PROBABLY ABOUT A YEAR OF MONITORING IT, THAT WE WOULD TAKE THOSE AWAY.
AND WE ARE, UM, LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR, UM, WHO ALSO OVERSEES OUR PORTAGE, UM, REMOVES TRASH AND TAKES IT TO, UM, THE LOCATION AT THE, UM, DOWN THERE WILLIAM CANNON AREA.
AND THAT THAT'S THE AGREED UPON SLOT, UM, OR PLACE FOR THEM TO NOW DUMP.
AND SO OUR TRASH THAT WE GATHER.
AND SO IF WE HAVE ANY LARGE AND THAT HAS ACTUALLY SOLVED A MAJORITY OF THE BULK ITEMS THAT HAVE BEEN DROPPED OFF, UM, IN THAT AREA, UM, WE HAVE SEEN SOME LARGE DUMPING, UH, THE CORNER OF KNUCKLES CROSSING AND BAXTON ROAD.
UM, THERE'S A TRAIL HEAD RIGHT THERE.
AND, UM, THERE ACTUALLY HASN'T BEEN MUCH SINCE I'VE COME ON BOARD.
AND WHEN I SEE IT, I EITHER SUBMIT TO 3, 1, 1, OR I WORK WITH, UM, RICARDO AND HIS STAFF AND THEY GET IT REMOVED PRETTY QUICKLY.
UM, AND WE ALSO HAVE SEEN AN AREA DOWN KNUCKLES CROSSING, KIND OF WHERE PLEASANT VALLEY WILL, UM, CUT THROUGH, UM, AT THAT, THAT BEND IN THE ROAD AND NICHOLAS CROSSING.
UM, WE'VE SEEN SOME THERE AS WELL, BUT AGAIN, A LOT LESS DUMPING OF LARGE ITEMS SINCE WE REMOVED, UM, THE LARGE DUMPSTERS THAT WERE ONSITE IN THE PARKING LOT, WHICH IS GREAT NEWS.
WE DON'T HAVE AS MUCH TRASH TO PICK UP.
UM, A LOT OF IT WAS FILLING UP THE DUMPSTERS AND THEN LAYING AROUND ON THE GROUND AND IT WAS JUST CAUSING A MASSIVE HEADACHE FOR, UM, OUR LANDSCAPE CONTRACTOR.
SO IT'S BEEN SO MUCH BETTER SINCE WE REMOVED THEM.
NIKKI, I WAS JUST GOING TO SAY RIGHT THERE AT THE PLEASANT VALLEY AND NICHOLS CROSSING AREA.
NOW ONCE THAT MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENT IS COMPLETED AND FILLED, I BET YOU WERE, THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT MORE EYES ON THAT AREA.
SO I'M HOPING THAT THAT DUMPING WILL EVEN GET EVEN LESS JUST BECAUSE, SO YOU'LL HAVE ALL THESE PEOPLE LIVING RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET LOOKING AT AT THAT, FOR SURE, FOR SURE.
AND I, I HAVEN'T PERSONALLY SEEN MUCH HOMELESSNESS, UM, IN THE AREA THAT WE MAINTAIN AND OPERATE, UM, UH, JUST AS AN FYI.
I THINK MY LAST QUESTION, AND I'LL LET SOMEONE ELSE TAKE A TURN, UM, CONSIDERING, UH, THE VISION PLAN FOR THIS PARK WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WAS DONE IN 2014, 2015, AND THEN, AND THEN APPROVED IN 2015.
UM, AND I GUESS THIS IS A QUESTION FOR ANY VISION PLAN THAT MIGHT BE THIS OLD NOW, BUT, BUT WHEN WOULD IT BE APPROPRIATE FOR MORE ENGAGEMENT TO BE DONE OR KIND OF UPDATING WITH THE COMMUNITY, UM, TO ENSURE THAT THE PLAN IS LIKE STILL RELEVANT AND IN LINE WITH WHAT THE COMMUNITY WANTS AND NEEDS FOR THE PARK BOARD MEMBER, AS, AS WE, AS A VISION PLAN, IS THERE IS IT'S VERY GENERAL.
UM, IT, UH, TALKS ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, PROGRAMMING THE PARK.
UM, ONCE WE HAVE FUNDING FOR THAT PARTICULAR PROGRAM OR FOR THAT AMENITY, WE ENGAGE, WE ENGAGED WITH, WITH THE COMMUNITY AT THAT TIME TO JUST MAKE SURE THAT IT'S STILL RELEVANT.
IT'S STILL SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'D LIKE TO SEE.
[01:20:01]
WITH A GROUP HERE FROM THE GOOD NIGHT, UM, UH, DEVELOPMENT ON AN OFF-LEASH AREA, FOR INSTANCE, AN ADDITIONAL OFFI AWFULLY SHERIA.AND, AND SO, UM, WE'VE JUST BEEN MEETING, I GUESS, NIKKI, MAYBE ABOUT THREE TO THREE MEETINGS SO FAR, BUT, BUT WITH ANY AMENITY THAT WE'RE, THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, WE WOULD ENTER INTO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO MAKE SURE HOW RELEVANT IT IS, AND TO REALLY LOOK AT THE, YOU KNOW, THE DETAILS AS TO WHAT WE'RE PURSUING AND HOW IT, YOU KNOW, HOW IT RELATES TO THE PARK AND THAT TYPE OF THING.
SO THERE'S STILL ANOTHER LEVEL OF, OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THAT WE WILL, UM, GET INTO ONCE WE'RE READY FOR DEVELOPMENT.
UM, I THINK THAT'S EVERYTHING I HAVE RIGHT NOW.
UM, BUT THANK YOU ALL AGAIN, SO MUCH FOR COMING IN AND PRESENTING TO US AND GIVING US AN UPDATE.
UH, BOARD MEMBER TAYLOR, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY.
NO, I DO NOT WANT, I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PRESENTATION WAS REALLY THRILLED.
BERNARD, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I DO NOT, BUT, UM, I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE ALL ABILITIES PLAYGROUND.
AND I ALSO WAS VERY EXCITED TO HEAR ABOUT THAT PLAYGROUND.
SO LOOKING FORWARD TO LEARNING MORE.
I WAS WONDERING WHAT'S THE AVERAGE RESIDENT TAX BILL FOR THE PARKS DISTRICT? UH, I DON'T KNOW THAT QUESTION.
UH, THE ANSWER, UM, D NAKED, DO YOU KNOW? UM, I GUESS, YEAH, YOU CAN, I'VE ACTUALLY SPENT SOME TIME, BUT I'VE GONE INTO, UH, THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT AND KIND OF LOOKED AT ADDRESSES TO SEE.
CAUSE I WAS INTERESTED TO SEE THAT THE PARK DISTRICT IS LEE IS THERE AND SURE ENOUGH, IT IS.
SO IT'S, I GUESS IT'S BASED ON THE, ON THE VALUE OF THE, OF THE LAND AND SO, UH SURE.
UM, CAN I JUST JUMP IN THERE? SURE.
UM, YEAH, I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY, BUT I HAVE HEARD.
UM, AND IF I HEARD YOUR QUESTION, RIGHT.
UM, I THINK RESIDENTS FEEL LIKE AN EXTRA $600 A YEAR IN TAXES, LIKE FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF THE PARK.
DID YOU HEAR THAT BOARD MEMBER FELT, UM, I CAN SPEAK TO THE FACT THAT THEY PAY 20 CENTS FOR EVERY $100 EVALUATION, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE AVERAGE IS.
UM, I CAN CERTAINLY FIND OUT, BUT I, I JUST DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION TONIGHT.
AND HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE IN THE DISTRICT THAT ARE PAYING THAT? UNFORTUNATELY, THAT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT I KNOW OR, UH, I THINK AT THIS POINT HAVE ACCESS TO, UM, I KNOW HOW MUCH WE COLLECTED, UM, LAST YEAR IN WHAT WE PLAN TO COLLECT THIS YEAR, UM, FROM TAX REVENUE.
UM, IN 2021, UM, THE TOTAL INCOME WAS, UH, $278,684.
UM, THAT WAS 189,318 OF TAX REVENUE.
AND THEN WE HAVE PILOT, UM, PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES OF $89,036 IN A LITTLE BIT OF INTEREST INCOME.
UM, AND THEN THIS YEAR WE ARE PROJECTED TOTAL INCOME OF 436,454 WITH TAX REVENUE OF 304,270.
AND AGAIN, YOU HAVE THAT PILOT, UM, PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES OF $89,087.
AND THEN WE HAVE, UM, UH, PROJECTED QUITE A BIT OF INTEREST INCOME OF $43,000.
AND SO IF THAT GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF HOW MUCH RIGHT NOW WE'RE COLLECTING, SO, OH, THANK YOU.
BOARD MEMBER, HUFFMAN, WHO WAS THE DEVELOPER FOR GOODNIGHT RANCH.
I USED TO FOLLOW IT AND, UM, WELL THERE'S MULTIPLE DEVELOPERS, THERE'S MULTIPLE BUILDERS, UH, RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL.
SO I WOULD SAY THERE'S AT LEAST FOUR OR FIVE RESIDENTIAL, AND THEN I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE COMMERCIAL.
YOU DON'T REMEMBER THE PRIMARY DEVELOPER, THERE WAS ONE WAS TALKED ABOUT FOR SO
[01:25:01]
LONG.THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I THINK IT WAS, UM, UH, MO MO MARK.
I'M TRYING TO GET MY BEARINGS.
AND A REAL EXCITED, I LOVE THIS DEVELOPMENT.
I WAS EXCITED WHEN IT CAME THROUGH AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION, WAY BACK IN THE DAY WHEN I SERVED ON THAT BOARD AND WE THOUGHT, HOW INNOVATIVE WITH THE PARKS DISTRICT TO BE ABLE TO GET THIS ADDITIONAL FUNDING.
I APPLAUD ALL THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO WERE MOVING THERE WITH THAT INTENTIONALITY OF GO AHEAD AND PAYING INTO THE PARKS DISTRICT.
UM, AND, AND SO IT'S ALL GREAT.
AND THERE WAS SOME FANTASTIC QUESTIONS FROM BOARD MEMBER TO CARLO AND THE COMMUNITY OF DISTRICT TWO SPECIFICALLY, BECAUSE I'VE ALSO LOOKED INTO, YOU KNOW, THE, HOW IT'S GOING WITHIN THE PARKS DISTRICT, UH, YOU KNOW, HAS IT BEEN MEANINGFUL, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE MONEY IS GOING AND THE WEBSITE THAT I FOUND.
UM, AND SO IT WOULD BE GREAT, YOU KNOW, IT, IT ACTUALLY LET ME BACK UP REAL QUICK.
WE'RE LUCKY ENOUGH WITH THAT PARKS DISTRICT, THAT THERE'S TWO BOARD, FORMER PARKS BOARD MEMBERS WHO SERVE ON THAT BOARD.
UH, SUSAN ROTH IS THE PRESIDENT OF THAT BOARD.
AND THEN, UM, TRYING TO, UH, ALICIA LARKINS WHO FORMERLY REPRESENTED DISTRICT TWO AS, AS THE APPOINTMENT TO THE PARKS BOARD SERVES ON THAT BOARD AS WELL AS A DIRECTOR.
AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF GREAT EXPERIENCE WHEN YOU GO ON THE WEBSITE, THOUGH, IT REALLY IS DIFFICULT.
IT'S I WOULD TAKE THAT BACK BEYOND THAT TRANSPARENCY SIDE AND, AND MAYBE IT'S WITH THE GENERAL COUNCIL THAT YOU ALL HAVE, AND I BELIEVE YOUR COUNSEL IS ALLEN BOONE, HUMPHREYS AND ROBINSON.
AND I THINK THEY MANAGE THE SITE FOR THE DISTRICT, WHICH MAKES A LOT OF SENSE WHILE LAW FIRMS MANAGE THE SITES FOR, FOR, UH, UTILITY DISTRICTS AND SPECIAL DISTRICTS.
BUT WHEN YOU GO BACK TO THE AGENDA AND MINUTES, IT'S ONLY GOING TWO MONTHS IN 2021, AND THEN THE JANUARY MEETING IN 2022.
SO IT MIGHT WANT TO TAKE THAT INITIATIVE.
NOW, THE CITIZENS CAN'T GO AND FIND THE APPROVED BUDGETS FROM 2020 AND 2021 AND 2022, ALL THE FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND, UH, 18 AND 19 AND 20 THE FINANCIAL REPORTS.
UM, I GUESS THE QUESTION I HAVE FOR THE DIRECTOR ARE, UH, SORRY, NIKKI.
I, I FORGOT WHAT YOUR, YOUR POSITION, YOUR TITLE IS, BUT MANAGER, ARC MANAGER.
AND SO IT IS, IS THE PROJECTED FUNDING FROM THE PROPERTY TAX, UH, TRACKING AS ORIGINALLY PLANNED OR AS IT EXCEEDED BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF THE PROPERTY GROWTH, UM, AND THEN, UH, OR ALSO CHALLENGED BY THE INCREASED COST OF EXPENDITURES.
I'D LIKE TO JUST KIND OF HEAR ABOUT THAT ONCE SINCE I HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY WITH YOU.
THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION.
UM, RIGHT NOW, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN FULLY ANSWER THAT TONIGHT, BUT I DO KNOW THAT WE ARE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT, UM, THE TAX BASE AS IT IS CURRENTLY, AND THEN WHAT WILL BE COMING ONLINE ON THE SOUTH SIDE.
AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF, UM, FACTORS THAT GO INTO ALL OF THAT.
AND I BELIEVE, UM, THE DEVELOPER IS WORKING ON THAT INTERNALLY TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION TO ME SO THAT WE CAN PLAN ACCORDINGLY.
UM, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE, UM, CURRENTLY UNDERTAKING AND WE GOT BOARD APPROVAL LAST MONTH IS TO TAKE THE, UM, CURRENT ONM MANUAL, WHICH IS PART OF THE, UM, THE CONSENT AGREEMENT.
AND THAT WAS DONE THREE YEARS AGO.
AND IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE LOOKED AT AND UPDATED EVERY THREE YEARS.
AND SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE DOING IT NOW.
AND WITHIN THAT, WE WILL TAKE WHAT WAS PROJECTED AND PUT IN THE NEW INFORMATION OF WHAT WE CURRENTLY ARE DOING AND CURRENTLY OVERSEEING.
IT WAS A GOOD STARTING POINT, BUT IT'S NOT IN THE FIELD RIGHT NOW WITH WHAT WE HAVE GOING ON.
AND SO WE'VE GOT TO GO IN AND UPDATE IT.
AND THEN, AND THEN ALSO LOOK AT THOSE FINANCIAL NUMBERS AND TIE IN, UM, WHAT WE'RE SPENDING ON EACH AREA, UM, SPECIFICALLY WITHIN DISTRICT, UM, AND HOW THAT COMPARES TO WHAT WAS PROJECTED.
SO WE'RE SHORT ANSWER IS WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF THAT RIGHT NOW, AND IT'S GOING TO TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME TO DO THAT.
UM, AND IN THE MEANTIME, WE'LL BE GETTING INFORMATION AND DATA FROM THE ACTUAL DEVELOPER, UM, WHO WILL HELP US WITH TAX BASE AND BEING ABLE TO LOOK AT, UM, THE FINANCIAL COMPONENT.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY LOOK AT THE MNO AND JUST SET OUT THAT THE
[01:30:01]
IMPACT IS GOING TO BE BEFORE YOU, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY IF SOMEBODY, CITIZENS ARE LOOKING FOR A LOT OF THESE CAPITAL PROJECTS TO BE DONE.AND, UM, I'D BE HESITANT TO PUSH IT DOWN TO TOO QUICKLY.
UH, DO YOU HAVE THE, THE AVERAGE SPEND PER, PER RESIDENT ON AN ANNUAL BASIS RIGHT NOW RELATING TO PARKS, SPECIFICALLY PARKS AND REC? I DO NOT THAT W ACTUALLY NUMBER, IF YOU COULD DO ME A FAVOR, I KNOW, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE YOUR OWN SPECIAL DISTRICT, OR YOU'RE NOT, WE'RE HERE AS A FAVOR AND WE APPRECIATE IT.
AND I KNOW EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CITY, UM, BUT THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
AND BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE THIS CONVERSATION ON NATIONAL BASIS, WHAT IS THAT AVERAGE AMOUNT OF MONEY PER SPEND THAT SHOULD REALLY GO INTO HAVING ROBUST PARKS? YOU KNOW, THE BENEFIT IN PARTICULAR PART OF THIS AGREEMENT AND GOING OUT FOR THE SPECIAL DISTRICT IS THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE THIS A GREAT PARK SYSTEM.
THAT'S NOT GOING TO BE THE ADDITIONAL BURDEN WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND IT AS, I MEAN, IT'S A IT'S WELL MAINTAINED.
I MEAN, IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S STILL SOME ISSUES WITH YOUR FOLKS, BUT OVERALL, AND SO LIKE TO SEE HOW WELL THAT'S WORKING OUT.
CAUSE WE LOOK AT OTHER COMMUNITIES, WHETHER THEY'RE A TIER OR T I T I R Z OR WHATEVER, UH, TEARS.
THANK YOU, TOURIST, LIKE OVER MUELLER AND THEY HAVE THIS GREAT SYSTEM, SO THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
AND THEN THE OTHER ONE IS FOR STAFF.
UM, IS IT WELL, AND ACTUALLY A QUESTION FOR YOU IS COTTON BLUFF ALSO IN ONION CREEK, OR IS THAT IN A DIFFERENT COMMUNITY? DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR OR ARE DAN LEE PLATT OR DONNELLEY PLATT COTTON BLUFF? UH, THERE'S A STREET COTTON BLUFF, BUT YOU'RE, YOU'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT, UH, IS THERE A DEVELOPMENT SPECIFIC? WELL, WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT RIGHT NOW, WHEN I LOOK AT PARKLAND EDUCATION ONLINE AND PLANNING AREA 25, WHICH I BELIEVE IS A NEW GREEK AND IT LOOKS LIKE ONION CREEK IS WHERE THE DOTS ARE DEDICATION POINTS AVAILABLE FOR COTTON BLUFF.
AND I'M TRYING TO JUST GO TO THE QUESTION AS TO HOW MUCH MONEY MAY BE IN PARKLAND, DEDICATION THAT COULD BE ALLOCATED.
THIS WOULD BE FOR, FOR ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION.
IF THE INFORMATION IS NOT UP TO DATE, BUT FOR COTTON BLUFF, WE HAVE $469,983.
SO I HAVEN'T, I DON'T RECALL SEEING THAT AMOUNT OF MONEY AND PARKLAND DEDICATION AND HE PUT PARTICULAR, UM, PROJECT IN THE PAST.
THE OTHER ONE IS DAN LEE PLAT SIX $67,268.
SO IF THOSE ARE ALL PART OF THAT, THAT SEEMS LIKE IT WOULD BE A GREAT WAY.
SO WE'D PROBABLY THAT ONE I WOULD REQUEST IF WE CAN GET AN UPDATE TO THE BOARD, IF THAT'S THE ADDITIONAL, IF THAT IS THE PARKLAND INDICATION THAT THAT'S CURRENTLY HELD FOR REINVESTMENT, I THINK THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL.
AND WITH THAT, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE.
UH, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I'M I'M I THINK MOST OF MY QUESTIONS WERE ANSWERED.
I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION ABOUT, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THEY GAVE, THEY PAID FOR THE VISION PLAN IN 2015, HOW MUCH THEY DONATED, OR IT WAS BETWEEN 350 AND 400,000 WAS BETWEEN 350 AND 400,000.
YEAH, IT WAS, IT IS INTERESTING.
AND TO, UM, TO LEARN ABOUT THIS AND TO SEE HOW THE PARK DISTRICT WORKS.
AND I APPRECIATED ALL THE QUESTIONS BOARD MEMBER, UH, DECARLO BROUGHT UP ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPARENCY WITH THE COMMUNITY AND GLAD THAT YOU'RE GOING TO FOCUS ON THAT, UM, MORE AND WE'RE INTERESTED IN SEEING WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WITH ALL THIS.
AND I HOPE THAT LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE HAD THE ALL ABILITIES PLAYGROUND COMES TO FRUITION.
SO THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR WORK ON THIS AND FOR THE PRESENTATION.
[B.2. Presentation and discussion related to City of Austin Community Engagement and Surveying Practices. Presenters: Justin Schneider, Community Engagement Specialist, Parks and Recreation Department, John Nixon, Public Information and Marketing Program Manager, Parks and Recreation Department and Marion Sanchez, City of Austin Community Engagement Division Manager]
THE PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION RELATED TO CITY OF AUSTIN, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND SURVEYING PRACTICES, AND I THINK WE HAVE JUSTIN SNYDER AND, OH, I'M SORRY.AND WE HAVE A CITIZEN COMMUNICATION FOR, THANK YOU.
SO, UH, MADAM CHAIR, WE DO HAVE ONE CITIZEN.
WE HAVE ONE PUBLIC MEMBER FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, AND THAT IS SHARON BLIGHT.
UM, I SAW THIS ON THE AGENDA AND I DECIDED TO HANG AROUND TO SPEAK TO Y'ALL ABOUT IT.
UM, ONCE AGAIN, THE CEMETERY CITIZEN COMMUNICATION BACK TO THE PUBLIC DOES NOT A FACT OF THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE A BIG VIRTUAL MEETING.
[01:35:01]
I THINK I'M MORE CHANCE.I NEVER GOT AN EMAIL FROM HARSH DEPARTMENT AND THEN ANNOUNCING TO ME THAT MEETING, IT WAS FORWARDED TO ME BY ANOTHER STAKEHOLDER.
HE SAID, DID YOU GET THIS SHARON? I SAID, NO, I DID NOT.
AND EVEN TODAY IN THIS CAME OUT LIKE A WEEK AGO, EVEN TODAY, I STILL DON'T HAVE THAT EMAIL.
SO THERE'S SOME, EITHER THEY'RE SCREENING THEIR PEOPLE OUT OF IT, OR THEY'RE, SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH THEIR SYSTEM OR THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE PEOPLE THAT ARE SENDING OUT THOSE EMAILS, BECAUSE CERTAINLY I WOULD'VE GOTTEN IT IF IT WAS EFFECTIVE AND IT'S NOT EFFECTIVE THEIR COMMUNICATION.
THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR, THAT CONCLUDES PUBLIC MEMBER COMMUNICATION FOR THIS AGENDA ITEM.
SO ONTO THE PRESENTATION, I THINK WE HAVE, UM, LET'S SEE, UH, JUSTIN SNYDER AND JOHN NIXON AND MARIANNE SANCHEZ.
IS THAT RIGHT? THAT IS CORRECT.
UH, IT'S GOOD TO SEE ALL AGAIN, EVEN IF IT'S A, FROM THE HOUSE RIGHT NOW, BUT HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE THERE.
MY NAME'S JOHN NIXON, I'M PARTS COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT MANAGER.
I'M HERE THIS EVENING WITH MY COLLEAGUES, MARTY ON SANCHEZ, THE CORPORATE MANAGER OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THE CITY OF BOSTON, AS WELL AS, UH, JUSTIN SCHNEIDER, OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST WITHIN THE PARKS DEPARTMENT.
UH, WE'RE EXCITED TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND TO YOUR INQUIRY ABOUT THE CITY SURVEY AND PRACTICES AS WELL AS HOW THOSE TOOLS ARE UTILIZED AS PART OF OUR COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES.
UH, WE SEE SURVEYS AS ONE TOOL AND AN EVER-GROWING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TOOLBOX.
UM, THEY ARE GREAT AT MEASURING FEEDBACK ON A VARIETY OF TOPICS.
HOWEVER, THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS THE BEST TOOL TO REACH AUSTIN'S DIVERSE AUDIENCES.
UM, ABOUT A DECADE AGO, I'VE BEEN WITH THE CITY NOW FOR COMING UP ON 12 YEARS.
AND RIGHT AROUND THE TIME I CAME ON, THERE WAS REALLY A SHIFT FROM THE TRADITIONAL OUTREACH METHODS TO MORE COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES.
UH, WE BEGAN TO REALLY RECOGNIZE AROUND THAT TIME THAT THE TRADITIONAL THREE MINUTE COMMENT PERIODS AND STANDARD PHONE SURVEYS THAT WERE GOING OUT WERE NOT REALLY EQUITABLE ENGAGEMENT PLATFORMS. AND THERE WAS A CONCERTED EFFORT BY THE CITY AS A WHOLE TO TRY TO SHIFT AWAY TO, UM, UH, MORE STRATEGIC COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, UH, PLANNING.
UM, THE CITY WAS JUST FLAT OUT MISSING MANY OF THE VOICES YOU DESERVE TO BE PART OF THEIR LOCAL GOVERNMENT'S DECISION-MAKING PROCESS.
SO OVER THIS LAST DECADE, UM, THE CITY REALLY MOVED TOWARDS IDENTIFYING THE BEST METHODS OF REACHING AND ENGAGING SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES WITHIN AUSTIN.
UH, WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAYS TO GO TO ADDRESS SYSTEMATIC INEQUITIES THAT HAVE OCCURRED OVER TIME, BUT WE'VE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS AND ARE CONTINUING TO REFINE OUR STRATEGIES FOR BOTH WHEN AND HOW WE SURVEY AUDIENCES AND WHICH FORMS OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROVIDE THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.
UH, THE PAST TWO YEARS, AS YOU ALL KNOW, AS WELL, HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY CHALLENGING FOR OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT FOR US, UH, COMMUNITY MEETINGS WERE FORCED ONLINE AND MANY NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS WERE DISBANDED OR HAD LIMITED AVAILABILITY.
A LOT OF THEM DIDN'T FUNCTION ONLINE AND LATER ON, WE'RE ABLE TO GET ON THANKFULLY AND HAVE SOME POINTS OF CONNECTION.
UM, PART IS GRADUALLY GETTING BACK INTO THE COMMUNITIES AS HEALTH CONDITIONS ALLOW, UH, BUT WE'RE STILL COMMITTED TO MEETING COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN THE MOST ACCESSIBLE WAY POSSIBLE GIVEN STAFFING AND FUNDING CHALLENGES, BUT RECOGNIZE THAT NO PUBLIC PROCESS IS PERFECT.
UM, I'LL NOW TURN THIS PRESENTATION OVER TO MARIANNA AND JUSTIN, UH, JESSICA KING, OUR SUE'S COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR WAS TRYING TO BE HERE, BUT JUST HAD TO STEP OFF RIGHT BEFORE, UH, AND HAD A INTRO FOR MIGHTY ON.
SO I'LL READ THAT BRIEFLY AND ALLOW HER TO GO AHEAD AND TAKE, TAKE, UH, HOLD, UH, MADDIE ON AS THE CITY'S, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, CORPORATE MANAGER, MONTE ON SUPPORTS MENTORS AND ADVISORS ABOUT 250, UH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PRACTITIONERS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION.
UM, SHE MANAGES AND DESIGNS ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES FOR THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, AS WELL AS MANY OTHER CRITICAL INITIATIVES FOR THE CITY.
WITH OVER 37 YEARS OF COMMUNICATIONS EXPERIENCE, MAORIAN USES EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES TO MODEL ENGAGEMENT DESIGNS THAT ARE WELCOMING, UH, PROVOCATIVE AND EFFECTIVE.
SHE HAS DEDICATED HER CAREER TO LEARNING, TESTING, AND IMPLEMENTING ACTION RESEARCH MODELS, TO ENGAGE WITH MULTICULTURAL MULTI-LANGUAGE AND HARDER TO REACH COMMUNITIES, ALL YOURS MYRIAM.
WELL, NOW I AM BREAD AND I AM FEEL MYSELF WAR.
[01:40:01]
JUSTIN, BOTH OF US WILL DO THIS PRESENTATION TOGETHER.SO JUSTIN, PLEASE JUMP IN IF I'M MISSING ANYTHING.
AND QUITE FRANKLY, I'M QUITE EXCITED AND TOUCH THAT YOU ALL WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW WE DO OUR ENGAGEMENT PRACTICES.
WE ONLY HAVE A FEW MINUTES TODAY, BUT IF YOU'RE STILL CURIOUS AND YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE, OR IF YOU WANT TO PROVIDE A FEEDBACK, I'LL BE HAPPY TO VISIT.
IF YOU HAVE A WORKING GROUP AND TALK MORE ABOUT IT.
THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS TO TALK AND, AND TO TAKE ACTION.
SO I THINK I'M GOING TO MOVE SLIDE ONE TO SLIDE TWO.
AND WE DO HAVE FUN OUTLINE HERE, AND WE BASICALLY GOING TO TALK ABOUT OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT SO WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
OH, AND THEN THERE IS ME WITH KARA AND VALERIE, MY CO-CONSPIRATORS ON, ON THESE ENGAGEMENTS SO WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO I'M JUST SAYING, ARE YOU GOING TO TALK ABOUT THAT ONE? DO YOU WANT ME TO TALK ABOUT THIS ONE? I'M ASKING TOO MANY ON, UM, SO THIS IS, UH, THIS PRESENTATION IS IN RESPONSE FROM A BOARD MEMBER, FOUL QUESTION AS THE END OF THE NOVEMBER, UH, 2021 MEETING.
UM, AND, AND SOME OF THE KEY QUESTIONS, THAT KEY QUESTION.
WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS FOR CITY OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY SURVEYS, WHICH PLATFORMS DOES THE CITY OF AUSTIN USE? WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS FOR EVALUATING INPUT AND WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS FOR PRESENTING TO BOARDS ON RESULTS? SO THOSE QUESTIONS WILL GUIDE OUR CONVERSATION AND OUR PRESENTATION RIGHT BACK TO YOU, MARIO.
CAN WE GO TO THE NEXT ONE? THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
SO I LIKE TO TALK THAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TO WORK RATINGS.
SO MS. TENDERS, IN TERMS OF HOW WE DO OUR REACH AND ENGAGEMENT IN, IT REALLY DEPENDS ON HOW COMPLEX THE PROJECT.
MY V SOME PROJECTS ARE NOT VERY COMPLEX, AND WE JUST NEED A, A QUICK UNDERSTANDING OF HOW COMMUNITY FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS AND ASPIRATIONS LOOK LIKE.
AND SOME PROJECTS TAKE A LOT MORE TIME AND DEDICATION.
AND SO, ACCORDING TO THE EXTENT OF THE PROJECT, WE ALWAYS TRY TO LOOK AT EVERY PROJECT INDIVIDUALLY, AND WE ASK OURSELVES CERTAIN QUESTIONS THAT I THINK ARE VERY IMPORTANT BEFORE WE START ENGAGEMENT.
AND THOSE QUESTIONS INCLUDE WHAT INFLUENCE THE COMMUNITY HAS.
AND WE LOOK AT A SPECTRUM OF ENGAGEMENT, WHICH IS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY SCREEN, AND THAT HELPS US DEFINE WHAT THEN GETS MISSED GOING TO LOOK LIKE.
WE ALSO ASKED THE QUESTION ABOUT WHO ARE THE MOST EFFECTED COMMUNITIES AND HOW WE BRING DIVERSITY TO THE ROOM.
WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS FOR PEOPLE TO ENGAGE AND HOW WE CAN BREAK THOSE BARRIERS? WHO ARE THEY USUAL VOICES TO PARTICIPATE AND SO FORTH.
AND WE'RE BASICALLY DOING WHAT I CALL AN EQUITY LENS INTO OUR ENGAGEMENT, BECAUSE WE WANT TO HAVE WHAT IS CALLED DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT.
AND WE WANT TO HAVE A CERTAIN CREATIVE TENSION WHEN WE'RE HAVING THESE CONVERSATIONS OR PLAT, BECAUSE WE LOOK AT ENGAGEMENT AS A FORM OF RESEARCH BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DATA.
PEOPLE'S COM PEOPLE, INFORMATION, PEOPLE, THOUGHTS, PEOPLE'S IDEAS ARE TWITTER.
WITH THE MOST RESPECT, ALMOST LIKE A GIFT THAT WE'RE GETTING THEIR TIME AND THEIR EXPERIENCE.
AND WE TRY TO UNDERSTAND AS DEEP AS POSSIBLE, WHAT WE HEARD AND HOW THOSE THOUGHTS CAN INFLUENCE THE PROCESS.
AND SO BY LOOKING AT IT AS A, WE SEARCH A PLATFORM, IT ALSO GAVE US THE COMMITMENT TO FOLLOW.
UH, I WILL SAY, UH, A JOURNEY ON HOW WE START AND HOW WE END THE PROCESS.
SO MANY TIMES WHAT I DO IS THAT I LOOK AT COMMUNITY AND I TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT ARE THE COMMON PRACTICE? WHAT ARE THE COMMUNITY PATTERNS? WHAT ARE THE QUILTS, LOW PATTERNS OF A SPECIFIC COMMUNITY AND HOW WE CAN TAKE THOSE LESSONS? AND THEN THE SIGN, OUR OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT IN SUCH A WAY THAT WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR IS FOR COMMUNITY TO FEEL WELCOMING, TO FEEL CARE, AND TO FLOW.
UM, I WOULD EXAMPLE OF THAT WILL BE THE ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE INITIATIVE, WHICH WE DESIGNED A FEW YEARS BACK.
AND WE GOT TREMENDOUS SUCCESS LEARNING ABOUT THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY
[01:45:01]
AND ESPECIALLY UNDERSTANDING HOW WE CAN BETTER ENGAGE WITH COMMUNITIES.THAT QUITE FRANKLY, WE DIDN'T HAVE A KNOW WHERE THEY WERE LIVING, WHERE THEY WERE ENTERTAINING.
UM, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE PATTERNS THAT WE'RE FOLLOWING, AND THAT HELP US PUT US IN THIS JOURNEY TO DO BETTER ENGAGEMENT AND BRING BETTER DIVERSITY OF THOUGHT.
AND SO THAT'S KIND OF LIKE AN OVERALL PICTURE ON HOW WE LOOK AT OUR ENGAGEMENT AND HOW WE MAKE IT WELCOMING.
UM, I KNOW THE QUESTION IS HOW WE PUT, UH, CERTAIN PRACTICES IN PLACE.
AND QUITE FRANKLY, I WANT TO BE HONEST, WHEN WE HAVE PROJECTS THAT ARE COMPLEX, WE TRY TO OPEN OUR MIND AND REALLY CLEAR ANY UNDERSTANDING.
AND IT START FROM SCRATCH BECAUSE COMMUNITY CHANGE IS JUST LIKE LANGUAGE, UH, THAT ECOLOGY CHANGED OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ENGAGEMENT MATCH THE CURRENT SITUATION OF THE COMMUNITY THAT WE ARE TRYING TO LISTEN TO AND LEARN.
UM, JUSTIN, DID I MISS ANYTHING THAT, SHOULD I ADD TO THIS? I THINK THAT, THAT SOUNDS GOOD.
AND IF THERE ARE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS WE CAN, WE CAN POCKET.
SO I THINK WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND GUESS MY TOOLS, MY GOODNESS, HOW EXCITING.
I ALWAYS, I JUST LOVE TO TALK ABOUT ALL THIS.
SO OBVIOUSLY WE'VE BEEN IN THIS JOURNEY TOGETHER.
AND WHEN, I MEAN TOGETHER IS COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS A STAFF.
AND IN THIS JOURNEY, WE ALL HAS BEEN LEARNING ABOUT WHAT ARE THE BEST TO ENGAGE.
AND I WANT TO TELL YOU ONE THING, NOTHING, NOTHING IS BETTER THAN HAVING COFFEE WITH SOMEONE AND LISTEN MANY TIMES.
AND THOSE ARE THE TIMES THAT YOU LEARN THE MOST ABOUT THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY, THE CHALLENGES THAT UNIQUENESS OF THE COMMUNITY, AND EVEN THE VERY DEEP THOSE ASPIRATIONS, WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES? WHAT, HOW CAN WE IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE, BUT IN, IN A WORLD THAT IS SO FAST MOVING, AND THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS HAPPENING.
WE HAVE TO MIX BETWEEN COFFEES WITH COMMUNITY.
ALTHOUGH WE'RE NOT HAVING THAT MANY TODAY AND SURVEYS THAT ARE ONLINE.
SO THINK OF IT ON THIS SPECTRUM.
AND I TYPICALLY TRY TO LOOK AT IT, THROWN AT THIS DESK, PERFECTIVE, HOW CLOSE I AM ENGAGING WITH SOMEONE VERSUS HOW FAR THAT TOOL MIGHT BE.
SO ON THE CLOSEST SIDE OF THE SPECTRUM, WE'LL BE HAVING COFFEE ON THE FARTHER SIDE OF THE SPECTRUM.
IT WILL BE HAVING THE SURVEYS ONLINE, WHERE, YOU KNOW, QUITE FRANKLY, YOU DON'T GET TO KNOW THE PERSON THAT WENT BEHIND THE SURVEY.
YOU JUST HAVE ALL THESE DATA THAT COMES TOGETHER, BUT WE DO HAVE MANY TOOLS.
AND ONE THING THAT WE HAVE LEARNED DURING THIS PAST TWO YEARS OF COVID IS THAT PEOPLE HAVE CONTINUED TO ENGAGE A, THEY ARE PICKING UP SOME KNOWLEDGE, THEY'RE ADDING TO THEIR TOOLBOX.
THEY ARE BEGINNING TO FIGURE OUT NEW WAYS TO LISTEN TO THEIR NEIGHBORS, HAVING CONVERSATIONS AND SO FORTH.
AND SO WE ARE JUST TAGGING ALONE, AS COMMUNITY ARE BASICALLY LEARNING TO HOW TO WE SOCIALIZE IN THE CHALLENGES OF COVID.
AND I GOOD EXAMPLE, EXAMPLE WILL BE SOON IS ONE TOOL THAT WE'VE BEEN TESTING FOR A YEAR AND WHERE YOU SENT IT.
AND HE SOUNDS LIKE PEOPLE ARE HAPPY TO PARTICIPATE ON IT.
UM, AND SO WE'RE ADDING THAT TO THE TOOL.
BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ALSO HAVE A SPEAK-UP AUSTIN, BUT REMEMBER NO THING IS BETTER THAN BEING IN FRONT OF SOMEBODY, RIGHT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, SINCE WE'RE NOT IN FRONT OF SOMEBODY RIGHT NOW, WHAT WE'RE DOING IS DOING ALL THESE FOOLS THAT ARE MOSTLY, WE CALL IT THEIR TOOL ENGAGEMENT, AND WE'RE BASICALLY ENGAGING NEW COMMUNITIES.
IT'S ALSO GIVEN US THE ABILITY TO PRACTICE LANGUAGE ACCESS IN A NEW WAY.
IT'S GIVEN US THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO BE MORE ACCESSIBLE WITH PEOPLE THAT HAVE, UM, MANY DIVERSE ABILITIES.
AND SO WE'RE CHALLENGING OURSELVES AS WE'RE LEARNING HOW TO USE IT AND COMMUNITY CHALLENGES, OZ.
AND SO THE TOOL IS VERY RICH AND WE KEEP ADDING TO IT AND WE CAN LEARN INTO IT.
BUT QUITE FRANKLY, A LOT OF OUR LEARNING COME FROM COMMUNITY.
AND THEN WE ASKED THE QUESTION, HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO DO THAT? AND SO FORTH AT THE BEGINNING OF ALL OF IT, WE
[01:50:01]
WERE USING CISCO WEBEX AS OUR MEETING PLATFORM AND WHY, FRANKLY, THAT WAS DIFFICULT.CHALLENGING PEOPLE DIDN'T TRUST THE TOOL AND LITTLE BY LITTLE, WE'RE GETTING A LITTLE BIT MORE EXPERIENCED USING OTHER TOOLS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE DO I ADVERT? WHAT IF YOU HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS, I'M HAPPY TO LISTEN TO IT.
I DON'T MIND FAILING ON THOSE TESTS BECAUSE I CAN LEARN TOO.
BUT A LOT OF TIME WE LEARNED QUITE A BIT AND WE DO A LOT BETTER NEXT TIME.
ANYTHING ELSE THAT I TOLD SOLD IN? I THINK WE CAN GO INTO THE NEXT SLIDE.
OH, WELL, WANT TO TALK ABOUT, YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT? I'M HAPPY.
I'M ASKING YOU, WE TALKED ABOUT ALL THE TOOLS AND JUST THE WAYS THAT WE'RE DOING.
AND SO THIS IS CONTINUING TO THE QUESTION, UH, BOARD MEMBER FOUL THAT YOU, UH, PROPOSED IN NOVEMBER.
UM, THE SURVEY PLATFORMS, UH, SPEAK UP.
AUSTIN IS ONE OF THE, UH, THE MAIN LANDING PAGES.
IT'S LIKE A HUB FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES.
UM, AND SO YOU GO ON THERE AND THERE'S MORE THAN 60 ACTIVE CITY PROJECTS.
UH, ONE OF THE, THE IN ON SPEAK UP AUSTIN, IT HAS MULTIPLE TOOLS THAT WE USE, UM, SUCH AS TRADITIONAL SURVEYS, AS WELL AS FORUMS OR DISCUSSIONS.
UM, YOU CAN ALSO POSE QUESTIONS THAT YOU CAN JUST RESPOND TO, UM, AS WELL AS, UM, ALMOST LIKE YOU CAN CREATE A SCAVENGER HUNT ACTIVITIES AS WELL.
UM, IT DOES EVERYTHING PRETTY WELL, BUT NOTHING'S VERY WELL.
AND SO WHENEVER WE WANT A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, UH, UH, OPPORTUNITY OR AVAILABILITY, WE, WE TURN TO PUBLIC INPUT.COM, WHICH IS WHERE WE'VE HAD SEVERAL OF THE, THE ZILKER PARK, UH, VISION PLAN SURVEYS.
UM, AND RIGHT NOW THERE'S MORE THAN 80 ACTIVE CITY PROJECTS ON THERE.
UM, AND THIS ONE, ONE OF THE REASONS WE, WE REALLY APPRECIATE PUBLIC IF THE.COM, BECAUSE IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE SEAMLESS WHEN IT COMES TO LANGUAGE ACCESS, UM, AND PROVIDING SURVEYS AND MORE THAN JUST ENGLISH, UM, THE, THE PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT, AS WELL AS OTHER DEPARTMENTS CONTINUE TO USE SURVEY MONKEY.
UM, AND WE DO THAT FOR, FOR SOME MORE FOCUSED SURVEYS OR ALSO INTERNAL, UH, DEPARTMENT SURVEYS, SUCH AS, YOU KNOW, UH, GIVE FEEDBACK ON THIS TRAINING AND QUESTIONS LIKE THAT.
AND MICROSOFT FORMS AS WE HAVE CONTINUED TO INCREASE, UH, UM, SORRY, UH, IMPLEMENT MORE OF THE MICROSOFT TOOLS WITHIN THE CITY.
AUSTIN, MICROSOFT FORMS IS ALSO IMPROVING AND PROVIDING MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FEEDBACK, AS WELL AS A SURVEY TYPE QUESTIONS AND INTEGRATION INTO, UM, UH, ONLINE VIDEOS.
BUT RIGHT NOW THAT THERE'S A FIREWALL, SO THAT THAT'S JUST INTERNAL CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, TOTALLY RIGHT NOW, DURING MEETINGS, WE USE POLL EVERYWHERE.
UM, ZOOM POLLS, AS WELL AS OTHER SURVEYS.
UM, JUNE POLLS ARE VERY INTEGRATED IN JUNE, BUT WE USE POLL EVERYWHERE.
AND THEN, UH, IN THE LAST, UH, ZOOM MEETING, WE ALSO USE MENTIMETER AND WITH POLL EVERYWHERE, AND MENTIMETER ALLOW FOR, IS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE WATCHING ON FACEBOOK OR YOUTUBE, THEY CAN STILL PARTICIPATE IN THE MEETING POLLING LIVE.
UM, WHEREAS IF YOU'RE IN ZOOM, UH, AND JUST DOING THE POLLING AND YOU'RE WATCHING ON FACEBOOK, YOU CAN'T PARTICIPATE DIRECTLY.
AND THEN ALSO ALL OF THOSE ARE WHAT WE CALL MORE COMMUNITY SURVEYS.
UM, THOSE ARE ONES WHERE WE ARE TRYING TO PROVIDE, UH, AS MUCH INFORMATION TO THE, THE PROJECT TEAM AS POSSIBLE, A LOT OF QUALITATIVE DATA, BUT THEY ARE NOT DESIGNED FOR A STATISTICALLY VALID RESULTS.
UM, WE SEEK REPRESENTATIVE DATA, BUT, UM, THE, THE QUESTIONS ARE NOT MEASURED AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO STANDARD DEVIATION NUMBER WE'RE LOOKING AT WITH SOME OF THOSE, WHEREAS, UM, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY, THE DATA ANALYTICS TEAM, UH, AS WELL AS OTHER VALID SURVEY STATISTICALLY VALID SURVEYS, UM, WE HAVE, UH, USED SOME OF THOSE TOOLS SUCH AS FOR THE HANCOCK GOLF COURSE THAT AUSTIN ENERGY ASSISTED WITH.
UM, AND THEN FOR THE AL PARKS, OUR FUTURE LONG RANGE PLAN BACK IN 2018, THAT WAS THE EPC INSTITUTE, WHICH FORMERLY ALSO DID THE CITYWIDE SURVEYS.
AND ONE OF THE REASONS WE DON'T USE THOSE MORE OFTEN IS BECAUSE THEY ARE, UM, UH, FAIRLY PRICEY.
AND, UM, WHAT WE FIND IS THAT THEY ALSO STILL HAVE SOME OF THE SAME ISSUES WE ALL FACE, WHICH IS, UH, UNDER-REPRESENTATIVE DATA, DATA FROM HARDER TO REACH GROUPS.
SO, UM, THIS, I CAN TALK ABOUT PART, BUT, BUT,
[01:55:01]
UH, MARIANNA, DO YOU WANT TO JUST TALK ABOUT IN GENERAL, UM, UH, UH, THE, THE DATA AND HOW YOU, UH, USE AND SEE THE DATA THAT YOU GET? ABSOLUTELY.SO, LIKE I SAID BEFORE, WE GET TYPICALLY TWO TYPE OF DATA.
ONE IS ANALYTICAL, IT WILL COME FROM MOSTLY SURVEYS.
AND THEN THERE IS ONE THAT I CALL STORYTELLING OR QUALITATIVE, AND THE STORYTELLING QUALITATIVE, WHAT WE DO, WHAT THEIR RECOMMENDATION IS TO HAVE TWO TO THREE TEAMS TO READ THAT DATA.
AND THAT WAY, MAKE SURE THAT IT'S POINTING TO A RIGHT REACTION AND WE CALL THAT TRIANGULATION.
AND SO IF THE THREE TEAMS LOOK AT THE DATA AND EVERYBODY COMES TO THE SAME CONCLUSION, WHAT THE COMMON THINGS ARE, THEN IT GAVE ME THE IDEA THAT WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRAJECTORY OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS OVERALL FEELINGS AND EMOTION.
NOW, THE REALITY IS THAT FOR A SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES THAT ARE HAVING A HARDER TIME TO ENGAGE FOR WHATEVER REASON, WHETHER IT'S CULTURAL OR ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY, OR PERHAPS A LANGUAGE ACCESS, OR, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER REASON WE TYPICALLY TRY TO TAKE THAT DATA OUT OF THE POOL, ANALYZE IT INDIVIDUALLY.
AND THE RECOMMENDATION IS TO CREATE A CHAPTER ABOUT WHAT THE LESSONS LEARNED FOR THOSE AS SPECIFIC DEMOGRAPHIC.
AND SO, UM, WE HAVE A VERY GOOD EXAMPLE, AND THAT WAS THE BOSS OF THE PARK PLANNING.
YOU HAVEN'T MENTIONED IT ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
IT WAS THE PARK PLANNING PROCESS, RIGHT? SO A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, SO ON THAT PARTICULAR ONE, WE HAD ABOUT, I BELIEVE IT WAS LIKE 120,000 DATA POINTS TO READ AND ANALYZE.
SO THAT PROMPT US INTO THE CHALLENGE OF, WELL, WHAT DO WE DO WITH SUCH A LARGE CITY AND GROWING? AND SO WE STARTED DOING RESEARCH AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW COULD WE GO USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO HELP US AT LEAST FIGURE OUT WHAT ARE THE COMMON THEMES AND WHAT ARE THE SENTIMENT OF THOSE THEMES IN A MATTER THAT WILL BE MORE PRODUCTIVE AND AT THE SAME TIME, MORE EFFICIENT.
AND SO WE HAVEN'T FOUND THAT TOOL, BUT PUBLIC INPUT HAVE A PRETTY GOOD, I WILL SAY, PRELIMINARY.
UM, THE SIGN THAT ALLOWS TO DO SOME OF THOSE, UM, BEGINNING RESEARCH AND LOOKING FOR ANSWERS IN TERMS OF WHAT ARE THE COMMON THEMES COMING FROM THE DATA POINTS.
BUT, YOU KNOW, AS THE CITY GROWTH, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LOOK FOR AN AVENUE THAT WE CAN READ HUNDREDS OF THOUSAND DATA POINTS AND, AND, AND SOMETHING THAT IS IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT THAT I WAS ALWAYS NOT A QUESTION THAT IS BEING ASKED TODAY, BUT IT WAS ASKED BY THE AMAZING LADY THAT WAS TALKING THOSE THREE MINUTES AND EXPRESSING HER CONCERNS OF NOT GETTING KAREEM WELL, I'M TELLING YOU THAT BREAKS MY HEART.
I WANT TO SEND AN EMAIL TO EVERYBODY.
I WANT TO CALL EVERYBODY FOR SURE, BUT I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT WITHOUT PARTICIPATION, WE DON'T GET INFORMATION.
AND QUITE HONESTLY, IF SOMEBODY PASSED YOU, THEY EMAIL AND GIVE YOU THE INFORMATION, THEN THAT MEANS THAT SOMETHING IS WORKING IS THE IDEA IS THAT THEY ARE, WHICH IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY AND EXPERIENCE BETWEEN THE CITY STAFF AND THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO I THANKED HER VERY MUCH.
SO FOR CALMING, FOR TALKING FOR PAYING ATTENTION AND FOR THAT GOOD FRIEND THAT SENT THAT EMAIL TO HER, BECAUSE I KNOW SHE'S GOING TO GO TO THE MEETING AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT SHE HAS TO SAY.
WE DO DO NOT IN ANY WAY OR FASHION WANTS TO HAVE A MEETING WHERE EVERYBODY HAVE THE SAME OPINION THAT DOESN'T HELP ANYBODY.
IT DOESN'T HELP THE PROJECT DOESN'T HELP THE COMMUNITY.
WE WANT TO HAVE THAT CREATIVE TENSION WITH EVERYBODY'S IS STRUGGLING AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S THE BEST SOLUTION.
AND THE ONLY WAY WE CAN DO THAT IS BY OPENING THE DOORS FOR EVERYBODY.
SO SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT IS THE OUTREACH EFFORT AND HOW IMPORTANT AND CRITICAL IT IS THAT EVERYBODY THINKS A LITTLE BIT OF, OF THAT RESPONSIBILITY AND HELP US PASS THE VOICE.
UH, I, I AM SENDING AN EMAIL TO MS. FLIGHT AS WE SPEAK, BUT, UM, ACTUALLY AFTER WE SPEAK, BUT I ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT WE STILL HAVE SOME MORE THINGS ON THE AGENDA.
SO LET'S, LET'S JUMP INTO THE NEXT ONE, WHICH WAS, UH, RESPONDING TO THE QUESTION ABOUT, UH, PRESENTATION TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, AND, UM, THIS WAS ONE THAT, UH, UM, WE, WE ALL TALK ABOUT, UH, THE, THE MIGHTY ONE DIDN'T SPEND TOO MUCH TIME, BUT, BUT I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO LOOK AT THE CITY OF BOSTON PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PRINCIPLES THAT MARTY AND HER TEAM DEVELOPED.
UM, AND THAT'S, THAT'S A GUY IN, IN ONE OF THOSE THINGS, UH, IS TO CALL US TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE, THEY ARE, UM, HAS BEEN MAKING SURE THAT, THAT ALL OF OUR
[02:00:01]
ENGAGEMENT COMMENTS, SURVEY, SUMMARIES, AND OTHER DATA WE POST ON THE PROJECT WEBPAGE.SO IF YOU GO TO ZILKER VISION PLAN, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU'LL SEE ALL OF THAT DATA THERE.
WE DON'T TYPICALLY, UM, UH, PROVIDE, UM, UH, UH, THE UPDATES ON A REGULAR BASIS, BUT JUST LIKE A, THE NEXT PRESENTATION THAT I'LL BE A PART OF INDIVIDUAL BOARDS OR COMMISSIONS AND REQUEST PRESENTATION.
UM, AND WE CAN PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION.
UM, AND THEN DATA IS ALSO SHARED WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
ONE OF THE, THE SIGNIFICANT, UH, UH, THINGS THAT, THAT WE ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO DO IS TO SHOW AND CONNECT THE DOTS WHERE YOUR INPUT HAS IMPACTED THE DECISIONS THAT ARE MADE.
AND, UM, SOMETIMES WE HAVE MEETINGS THAT WE SAY WHAT WE'VE HEARD, AND WE ASK FOR VERIFICATION ON THAT AS WELL, SHOWING THAT DATA AND SAYING, WHAT DID WE MISS? DID WE MISINTERPRET ANYTHING? IS THIS WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO? SO THAT'S ONE OF THE, THE WAYS THAT WE SHARE THAT INFORMATION OUT AND, UH, JUST TO ENCOURAGE YOU AS THE PARKS AND REC BOARD, THAT YOU CAN REQUEST THESE CONVERSATIONS AT MEETINGS.
UM, AND THEN ON THE NEXT ONE, WE WANT TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE ONGOING CHALLENGES AS WELL.
I SAW THIS LITTLE, UH, COMIC STRIP ON MY INSTAGRAM AND IT SAYS, WE KNOW YOU HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME RIGHT NOW, BUT WE'D LOVE TO TAKE IT AWAY FROM YOU.
AND AS A PERSON WHO JUST DOESN'T LIKE TO BOTHER PEOPLE, I KNOW THAT THAT, UM, THERE'S A CHANCE THAT IT FEELS LIKE A BOTHER, BUT I'M ALSO DRIVEN BY THE FACT THAT, THAT, UH, GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY DOESN'T WITHOUT PARTICIPATION, WE FACE SOME SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES, ESPECIALLY CONNECTED TO THE COVID PANDEMIC.
UM, AS JOHN MENTIONED IN THE INTRODUCTION, UM, SURVEYS ARE JUST ONE TOOL, BUT THE COVID PANDEMIC, AS IT HAS BECOME MORE DIFFICULT TO CONNECT TO IN-PERSON THERE HAS BEEN GREATER RELIANCE ON SURVEYS, UM, SIGNIFICANTLY IN PART FOR THE IN-PERSON GATHERINGS.
WE'VE ALSO TRIED TO USE THIS TO OUR BENEFITS BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS AT ONE SET POINT OF TIME, AND ONE SET LOCATION ONLY SERVE VERY FEW, BUT IF WE CAN RECORD THOSE VIRTUAL OFFERINGS AND THEN PROVIDE AN EXTENSION OF THE MEETINGS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO CONNECT SOME MORE PEOPLE, UM, REGARDING UNDER-REPRESENTATION THE DEMOGRAPHICS, UM, WHO, UH, DID SHOW COMMUNITY GROUPS THAT ARE UNDERREPRESENTED ARE CONSISTENTLY UNDERREPRESENTED.
UM, BUT THEY'RE ALSO THE GROUPS THAT ARE CONSTANTLY STOPPED BY EVERYONE, OR ARE, UM, UH, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR FOR OUR LOWER INCOME FOR OUR RENTERS, UM, FOR OUR FAMILIES.
AND, AND EVEN UNDER 18 FOR KIDS, THOSE GROUPS ARE UNDERREPRESENTED, NOT JUST IN CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, SURVEYS AND DATA, BUT, BUT IN, IN ALMOST ALL FORMS. AND, UM, WE ALSO KNOW THAT THOSE TWO TOP CHALLENGES TOGETHER, UM, THAT, THAT THE COVID PANDEMIC HAS BEEN JUST HAS DISH, EXCUSE ME, DISPROPORTIONATELY AFFECTED, UH, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND, UM, PEOPLE ON THE LOWER SOCIOECONOMIC LEVELS, UM, DISPROPORTIONATELY COMPARED TO OTHERS WHO ARE OFTEN ALREADY OVERREPRESENTED IN OUR DATA POINTS.
UH, QUICK CREATION SURVEYS REQUIRE FEWER RESOURCES FOR CREATING.
UM, BUT, BUT WE STILL SUFFER SOME OF THOSE ISSUES OF ACCESS, UM, WHERE IF YOU SUFFER ON, ON, UH, THE, UH, THE SIDE OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, WHERE YOU DON'T HAVE EASY ACCESS TO ONLINE SURVEYS, YOU WILL, IT'S HARD TO GET A PAPER SURVEY TO YOU AND GIVE YOU THAT OPPORTUNITY.
UM, AND THEN THE BIG ONE THAT WE TALK A LOT ABOUT, AND WE ARE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO CREATE, UH, AND IDENTIFY NEW STRATEGIES IS OUR, UH, MAXIMIZING OUR EFFORTS TO, UM, COMBAT, UH, THE WHITE SUPREMACY CULTURE AND TO, UH, ENGAGE IN RACIAL EQUITY.
UM, THE REALITY IS WITH A LOT OF OUR, UM, SYSTEMS THAT ARE IN PLACE, COMMUNITY MEETINGS AND EVEN SURVEYS, THERE ARE EXPECTATIONS BY THOSE WHO HAVE TRADITIONALLY HELD POWER, THAT IF, UM, IF THEY GET ENOUGH PEOPLE THERE, OR IF THEY GET ENOUGH PEOPLE TO COMPLETE THE SURVEYS, THAT, THAT IT WILL BENEFIT THEM AND THEIR, UM, OPINIONS WITHOUT GIVING A FAIR CHANCE TO OTHERS WHO MAY BE UNDERREPRESENTED.
UM, SO, UM, WITH THAT, THAT KIND OF, UH, CLOSES OUT OUR, OUR PRIMARY PRESENTATION.
MARIO, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANTED TO ADD, UM, TO THIS AS WELL BEFORE WE OPEN UP FOR QUESTIONS, I'M EXCITED TO HEAR FEEDBACK COMMENTS OR ANY QUESTIONS THAT ANYBODY MIGHT HAVE.
THANK YOU FOR THE, UH, THE PRESENTATION BEFORE WE
[02:05:01]
GET TO QUESTIONS.UM, TIM BOARD MEMBER COTTON, CYBIL SAYS SHE'S TRYING TO GET INTO THE MEETING.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOU SEE HER OR MAYBE SOMEBODY COULD SEND HER THE, MAYBE SHE HAS THE WRONG LINK.
SHE SAYS SHE'S IN A WEBEX BY HERSELF.
DO YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD AND START THE QUESTIONS? SURE.
HI, MARYON, IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU HOPE YOU'RE DOING WELL AND APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE AND IN FRONT OF IT.
I KNOW THAT THE GREAT JOB YOU DID FOR THE ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE COMMISSION.
UM, I DO WANT TO TALK, I MEAN, THERE'S A LOT TO TALK ABOUT, RIGHT? AND I'M GOING TO START OFF WITH THE PHRASE WE ALWAYS HAVE.
UNDER-REPRESENTATION WITHIN MINORITY COMMUNITIES AND IT'S SO TRUE.
AND I THINK THERE'S A REALLY SYSTEMATIC REASON AS TO WHY THAT'S THE CASE AND, YOU KNOW, INJUSTICE, JUSTIN, I'M A FAN OF YOURS, BUT YOU KNOW, WHEN, WHEN IT'S THE SAME FACES TALKING TO YOU, AND I KNOW YOU ALL, WHILE YOU'RE ALL PARKS, PEOP I IDENTIFIED WITH EVERYBODY BECAUSE WE'RE PARKS PEOPLE, BUT NOT EVERYBODY IS A PARKS PERSON.
AND SO WHEN THEY SEE THEY SEE SOMEBODY WHO DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THEM ALL THE TIME, TRYING TO ENGAGE THEM ON ISSUES, IT BECOMES A REAL CHALLENGE.
AND THEN YOU'VE BEEN BURNED FOR NOT JUST YEARS BUT DECADES.
AND SO HAVING THAT AUTHENTICITY, AND I THINK PART OF IT IS WE JUST ALWAYS STRUGGLE WITH THAT AUTHENTICITY.
AND IT REMINDS ME OF AN EMAIL WE RECEIVED DURING, RIGHT BEFORE THIS MEETING STARTED FROM, UH, PAUL SALDANIA, WHO, WHO TALKED ABOUT THE CONCERN OF NOT HAVING, UH, UH, BROWN AND BLACK AND UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES WITH PART OF THE SILK HERB.
BUT IT, IT, IT MAKES ME WONDER, LIKE HOW DO WE ADDRESS THESE ISSUES WHERE WE HAVE SAY A COMMUNITY THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY RE LIKE THAT HAS THE TIME AND HAS THE INFLUENCE, AND HAS THE ABILITY, AND HAS THE NETWORK, THE CHAIN OF COMMUNICATION CHAIN TO PUSH OUT MESSAGING.
HOW DO WE BALANCE THAT IN ANY SITUATION WITHIN THE GENERAL POPULATION? DO WE WAIT THE SURVEY RESULT? SO THEY, YOU ARE ASKING VERY INTERESTING QUESTIONS AND I APPRECIATE THEM SO MUCH.
SO ONE THING THAT IS IMPORTANT TO DO WHEN I'M NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT SILVER IN PARTICULAR, BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY SAME ISSUE ACROSS THE BOARD, BUT YES, I AGREE.
SO ONE PRACTICE THAT WE ARE TRYING TO INCORPORATE MORE AND MORE IS WHAT IS CALLED A STRATEGIC CO-CREATION.
AND WHAT IT IS, IS REALLY SITTING WITH COMMUNITY AND CREATING THE WHOLE OUTLINE ON HOW WE'RE GOING TO DO THIS ENGAGEMENT AND THESE OUTREACH.
AND SO THAT BRINGS EVERYBODY TO THE TABLE AT THE SAME TIME.
SO IF YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IT AS TWO JOURNEYS THAT ARE PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER, WE HAVE COMMUNITY ADVISING AND COMMUNITY PROVIDING THAT IS CALLED AGAIN.
I CALL IT A STRATEGICAL CREATION.
AND THEN WHAT'S BEEN THE, THE MEASURABLE IMPACTS OF THAT STRATEGY.
I WILL GO ABOUT TO THE ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE, BECAUSE YOU'RE FAMILIAR ON THAT ONE.
WE STRATEGIZE TOGETHER AND WE BE SIGNED THE ENGAGEMENT TOGETHER WITH FOUR WITH, WAS IT, WAS IT SPECIFIC OUTREACH TO THE AIR? PROBABLY PART OF THE OUTREACH.
CAUSE IT'S JUST, I MEAN, PART OF THE INTERRUPTION JUST IT'S SUCH AN INTERESTING COMPENSATION WAS THAT STRATEGY ON THE SURVEY AND IN THE ENGAGEMENT DIRECTLY TO THE ASIAN COMMUNITY ON AN ASIAN COMMUNITY QUESTION, OR WAS IT TO A GENERAL POPULATION QUESTION? THIS EXAMPLE THAT I'M USING A ONCE, THE ONE WHEN WE DID THE ASIAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF BLACK UNICITY AND WHAT IS STRATEGIC CO-CREATION DOES IS THAT IT BASICALLY STARTED FROM SCRATCH AND HIS COMMUNITY CENTER.
AND HE TELL US WHAT ARE THE BASE BEST AVENUES TO ENGAGE AND TO OUTREACH COMMUNITIES.
AND SO FACILITATORS OF THOSE IDEAS AS WE EXECUTE THE PLAN.
SO NOW USING THAT INFORMATION, WHICH IS THE METHODOLOGY, HOW HAS THAT NOW BEEN EMPLOYED IN OTHER THINGS TO DRIVE SUCCESS? ABSOLUTELY.
SO WE MAINLY HAVE ASKED AROUND THE ENGAGEMENT TEAM ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION WE'D HAVE BEEN TRAINED.
AND WE HAVE BEEN TRAINED BY A COMPANY THAT IS CALLED HUMAN TCIC.
THEY CAME TO AUSTIN AND THEY DID MANY TRAININGS AND THERE ARE SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS THAT YOU SAID STRATEGIC.
CO-CREATION NOT ONLY FOR ENGAGEMENT, BUT FOR MANY OF THEIR PROJECTS AS WELL.
AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO SEND YOU MORE INFORMATION THROUGH JOAN IF YOU'RE INTERESTED AND, AND YEAH, CAUSE RIGHT NOW I'M SEEING METHODOLOGY AND THEN WE SEE TRAINING AND, BUT I'M STILL LACKING THE IMPLEMENTATION SIDE
[02:10:01]
BECAUSE WE'RE, WE'RE NOT NECESSARILY SEEING IT RIGHT.WHEN WE LOOK AT THE ASSERT ALL THESE SURVEYS, WHEN WE LOOK AT, AND I UNDERSTAND, AND I'M GOING TO REALLY TAKE SOME TIME ON THIS BECAUSE I'M THE ONLY PERSON OF COLOR HAIR.
SO Y'ALL BEAR WITH ME BECAUSE I DO FEEL A SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY AND I FEEL DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF FOR NOT ADEQUATELY GETTING THAT MESSAGE OUT.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THAT, RIGHT, WE'RE NOT SEEING IT BEING TRANSLATED INTO RE DOESN'T EVEN MATTER WHAT IT IS WITH ZILKER OR SOMETHING ELSE.
AND SO I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE IS IT, WHERE'S IT BROKEN? IS IT BECAUSE ON THE RFQ PROCESS FOR THESE, FOR THESE SORT OF PROJECTS THAT WE DRIVE, IT'S A DRIVEN BY, WE'LL SAY WE'LL USE ZILKER, IT'S DRIVEN BY TO DESIGN THE DESIGNER AND THEN THEY HAVE A REQUIREMENT FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND WE GET THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
AND MAYBE IT'S NOT NECESSARILY REFLECTIVE.
I NOTE DIRECTOR, I MEAN, NEIL AND I HAVE HAD A CONVERSATION WITH THIS.
WE REALLY DO NEED TO GO OUT FOR THAT SEPARATE RFQ FOR HAVING UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE THE ABILITY TO REACH OUT TO SPECIFIC PORTIONS OF OUR COMMUNITY THAT ARE AT OUR ACCESS.
AND IF THAT'S THE CASE, IF THAT'S THE CASE, IT SHOULDN'T BE A PARKS DRIVEN THING.
THIS SHOULD BE A CITY OF AUSTIN DRIVEN THING.
THAT'S A REAL, I'M TALKING LOUD, NOT BECAUSE OF ANY ONE OF Y'ALL.
I HIGHLY RESPECT ALL OF Y'ALL, BUT THIS SHOULD BE DRIVEN WITH BUDGET FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN, THAT WITH A CONTRACT IN PLACE THAT WHETHER YOU'RE PUBLIC WORKS, YOUR TRANSPORTATION, YOU GOT THE MOBILITY GOING ON RIGHT NOW, WHETHER YOUR PARKS, IT ALL SHOULD BE WRAPPED IN TOGETHER.
AND THEN WE STILL GOT TO LOOK AT THE ADDITIONAL TOOLS, BE IT, YOU KNOW, AND I LIKE TAKING THE METHODOLOGY, GETTING THE IMPACT ON THAT SOCIAL MARKETING.
IS IT THE BUS WHERE YOU'RE SEEING SOME MESSAGING? IS IT, YOU KNOW, THE, UH, THE RADIO, LIKE AT THE HANO STATION THAT YOU'RE HEARING THE MESSAGING, IS IT AT THE, THE, YOU KNOW, THE BLACK CHURCH? I LOVE ALL THAT, BUT THEN HOW DO WE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT IT AND HOW, WHAT ARE THE FACES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF IT THAT GIVE IT CREDIBILITY? SO WHEN PEOPLE ARE COMING IN, THEY FEEL LIKE THEY'RE NOT UNIQUE.
THEY'RE NOT TREATED SPECIAL, THAT THEY'RE ACTUALLY VALUED.
AND WE WANT THEM AS AN ED, AS A RESIDENT OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO GET THEIR INPUT.
SO WE CAN HAVE PLACES THAT ACTUALLY MATTER FOR EVERYBODY.
I AM SO EXCITED WHAT YOU JUST SAID.
SO EXCITED THAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT YEARS AGO I USED TO HAVE MY COMPANY AND IT WAS ENGAGEMENT AND OUR REACH.
AND ONE THING THAT HAPPENED IS THAT COMPANIES SUCH AS THE ONE, I GOT INVEST ABOUT A HUNDRED HOURS TO PUT A PROPOSAL TOGETHER.
SO MANY TIMES THIS OUTREACH AND OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT COMPANY, THEY HAVE TO GO ON THERE, A PRIME CONTRACTOR IN ORDER TO HAVE PROJECTS WITH THE CITY, THE COUNTY AND OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY.
SO AT THIS MOMENT, I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT MY TEAM AND I ARE WORKING ON OUR REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS.
AND WE, THAT REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATION, WE'RE GOING TO ASK AS MANY COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUALS, BECAUSE WE APPRECIATE THE TALENT OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE IN ORDER TO BE OUT OF A POOL OF COMMUNITY BUSINESS, AND PEOPLE THAT ARE ORGANIZING THAT.
IF WE HAVE A NEED TO REACH OUT TO SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES, THEY DON'T HAVE TO DO AN ADDITIONAL REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.
THEY HAVE TO BE PART OF A LARGE GROUP.
THEY ARE IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE CITY OF FASTING AND WE'RE ABLE TO USE THEIR TALENTS IN A MUCH EFFICIENT WAY.
DON'T ASK ME ABOUT THE TIMING.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT WE FINALLY PROVE, READ THE ENTIRE SCOPE OF WORK AND THIS WEEK I'M SENDING IT TO MY PURCHASE TEAM SO THEY CAN DO THEIR DUE DILIGENCE IN TERMS OF PREPARING IT AND GETTING IT READY TO BE ON THE STREETS.
AND YOU ALL WILL BE INVITED TO PLEASE HELP ME REACH OUT TO COMMUNITY LEADERS, TO PEOPLE THAT HAVE TALENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY IN EITHER KNOCKING ON PEOPLE'S DOOR AND MAYBE APPLYING SURVEYS, BECAUSE WE WANT TO HAVE A VERY LARGE POOL.
THIS IS NOT ONE OF YOUR ROTATION.
THIS IS GOING TO BE, THEY NEED CONNECTED TO AN INDIVIDUAL OR A SMALL COMPANY, AND THEN IMMEDIATELY GETTING THAT PROJECT VICE-CHAIR TO CALL IF I CAN ALSO ADD, UM, REGARDING SOME OF YOUR OTHER ASPECTS, WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT CPI HAS COMING WITH THIS CONTRACT.
AND WE SEE LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES WITH THAT.
UM, I GET TO BE, UM, THE ASSIST GENDERED WHITE GUY WHO IS IN FRONT OF A LOT
[02:15:01]
OF PEOPLE AND ESPECIALLY, UH, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.AND, AND PART OF THAT IS THE ROLE.
AND, AND I RECOGNIZE THAT, BUT I ALSO RECOGNIZE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO HAVE PEOPLE FROM THE COMMUNITIES AND REPRESENTING THE COMMUNITIES ON OUR STAFF AND AS A PART OF THAT.
AND, AND I DON'T WANT TO, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, OBJECTIFY MY TEAM OR, OR PUT IT OUT THERE, BUT, BUT I HAPPENED TO BE THE ONLY WHITE GUY, I GUESS, OTHER THAN JOHN.
UM, BUT, UH, WE HAVE TWO COMMUNITY SERVICE COORDINATORS, UM, AND, UH, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING ANOTHER TEMPORARY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST, UM, WITH PEOPLE WHO REPRESENT AND LOOK MORE LIKE THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHERE THEY'RE REACHING OUT TO, AND, AND I'M VERY GRATEFUL AND HONORED TO WORK WITH THEM AND TO HAVE THEM BE A FACE THAT ISN'T MINE.
UM, AND SO I THINK WE'RE GETTING SOME HEADWAY THERE.
UM, I THINK THAT YOU, YOU CONTINUE TO SPEAK TO SYSTEMS AND WE KNOW THAT THAT'S A PART OF IT.
ONE OF THE THINGS WE DO WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT PRACTICALLY WE, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THIS IN THE ZILKER PRESENTATION.
UM, BUT WE DO DISAGGREGATE THE DATA.
SO WE ASK A NUMBER OF DEMOGRAPHICS QUESTION.
UM, AND ONE OF THE REASONS WE ASK THAT IS BECAUSE WE WANT TO SEE, OKAY, ARE WE GETTING CLOSER TO REPRESENTATION? WHERE DO WE NEED TO WORK ON? BUT THEN ALSO HOW DOES ONE GROUP BROKEN OUT COMPARED TO ANOTHER GROUP BROKEN OUT? AND WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, WHEN WE DO THAT, WE'RE NOT JUST TRYING TO LOOK AT PERCENTAGES PURELY.
WE'RE ALSO LOOKING FOR DIFFERENCES AND WE'RE LOOKING FOR WHERE IS A, UH, SIGNIFICANT DISAGREEMENT OR CONFLICT HAPPENING WITH THE DATA.
UM, IN, I THINK IT WAS THE SECOND SURVEY WE ASKED, UM, SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF, OF WHAT COULD MAKE THE ZILKER A MORE WELCOMING, UM, AND, UM, AND, UM, BUTCHERING THE RESPONSE.
BUT WHEN WE LOOKED AT, UM, THE QUESTIONS LIKE COMMENTS, LIKE I DON'T, OH, WHY DON'T YOU GO TO JOE GRILL MORE OFTEN? AND WHEN WE LOOKED AT THE QUESTIONS OF, I DON'T FEEL WELCOME THERE, IT WAS PRIMARILY FROM COMMUNITY MEMBERS OF COLOR.
AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY AND FOCUS ON.
UM, WE ALSO WANT TO, TO GET CREATIVE AND STRATEGIC.
AND SO WE PILOTED A COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS PROGRAM THAT WAS BASED OFF OF THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNITY, UM, AMBASSADORS WITH THEIR CLIMATE, UH, ACTION PLAN.
AND I KNOW THAT THEY ARE GETTING INTO THE NEXT ROUND AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS ARE TAKING ON THIS MODEL.
AND, UM, WE'RE EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES, UH, OF WHERE WE CAN RENEW THIS MODEL AS WELL.
AND THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO, UM, HAVE PARTICIPANTS AND THEY CAN EVEN BE A PART OF THE, UM, THE CONTRACT THAT MARIO'S TEAM IS WORKING ON SO THAT THEY CAN THEN BE CONTRACTORS WITH THE CITY SO THAT WE CAN COMPENSATE THEM FOR THE WORK THAT THEY DO TO REACH OUT TO THE COMMUNITY AND HAVE THEM AS A PART OF THE, UM, THE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS AND ULTIMATELY DECISIONS THAT ARE MADE THAT AFFECTED THEM IN THEIR COMMUNITIES.
UM, MOVING ON TO BOARD MEMBER RINALDI.
YEAH, I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
UM, I'M WONDERING IF Y'ALL CAN CLARIFY THIS, UM, THIS UPCOMING CONTRACT THAT THE CITY HAS FOR WHAT SOUNDS LIKE MAYBE A POOL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALISTS.
I'M SORRY, I DIDN'T FULLY UNDERSTAND THAT THE FIRST TIME THAT YOU EXPLAINED THAT THE IDEA IS TO COMPENSATE FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE ALREADY DOING ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH.
IN THE PAST, WE HAVE ASKED MANY COMMUNITIES TO HELP US PASS THE VOICE, SHARE THE EMAIL, KNOCK ON PEOPLE'S DOOR, AND EVEN THE CO-CREATION PROCESS OF SITTING WITH US AND HELP US PLAN THE OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT TOGETHER.
AND THIS IS AN AVENUE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THEM AS CONTRACTORS AND VENDORS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY COMPENSATE FOR THEIR TIME EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE.
AND SO THE, UM, THERE'LL BE KIND OF INDIVIDUAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS, BUT ALSO VENDORS.
IT SOUNDS LIKE MAYBE THERE'S A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF TYPES OF FOLKS REPRESENTED THERE.
I'M HOPING THAT THE SCOPE OF WORK WAS, AND IN SUCH A WAY, AND, AND I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS.
SO WE'RE AT THE TAIL END IN, IN A WAY THAT ANYONE WILL FEEL A NEW OPPORTUNITY AND AN EASY WAY TO BE PART OF OUR VENDOR LIST.
UH, PART OF THE PLAN THAT WE HAVE IS TO ACTUALLY DO SOME
[02:20:01]
WORKSHOPS, UM, ONCE THEY, THE RFQ IS PUBLISH AND REALLY HELP COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO EXPLAIN HOW TO FILL OUT THE FORMS AND HOW TO SUIT ME THE RESUME OR, YOU KNOW, EXPERIENCE.SO THEY CAN BE PART OF THE POOL FOR A FEW YEARS.
YEAH, THAT SOUNDS VERY EXCITING.
UM, I THINK, UH, I CAN DEFINITELY SEE A LOT OF BENEFIT TO THERE BEING EASIER RESOURCES TO ACCESS FOR, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE ON HAND FOR, UH, CITY PROCESSES.
SO THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA.
UM, I'M ALSO HOPING THAT YOU CAN TALK A LITTLE MORE ABOUT, UM, WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE A STATISTICALLY VALID SURVEY AND HOW, YOU KNOW, THE, THE AUSTIN ENERGY DATA, HOW THAT CAN BE, YOU KNOW, HOW THAT CAN BE USED AS THAT WAY, BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW NECESSARILY THAT, UM, AUSTIN ENERGY HAD MAYBE SOME OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION THAT WE WERE INTERESTED IN.
SO I'D LIKE SOME MORE, SOME MORE DETAIL ON THAT.
UH, IT'S A WHILE SINCE I'VE TAKEN MY RESEARCH STATISTICS CLASS, UM, AND, AND, UH, WE ALL KNOW THAT THE DATA SCIENCE JOBS AND DATA ANALYTICS JOBS, OR ARE DYE ROCKETING.
AND I THINK THAT THERE MAY BE MORE OPPORTUNITY FOR THAT IN THE FUTURE.
UM, THE WAY THAT, THAT WE HAVE OUR POSITION SET UP, WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF, UM, STATISTICALLY VALID SURVEY.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE IT IS A SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH METHOD METHODOLOGY THAT, UM, IS, IS, UH, IT, DOESN'T TRY TO SURVEY EVERYONE.
WE TRY TO GET MAXIMUM REACH A STATISTICALLY VALID SURVEY IS LOOKING FOR A RANGE OF BETWEEN 400 AND A THOUSAND RESPONSES, UM, THAT REPRESENTS DIFFERENT GROUPS.
AND THEN THOSE RESPONSES CAN THEN BE, UM, BASED ON THE METHODOLOGY, UH, ASSUMED TO BE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CITY AS A WHOLE, UM, OR, UH, BY GROUPS.
UM, SO FOR THE HANCOCK SURVEY, UM, UH, AUSTIN ENERGY LOOKED AT, UM, AND THEY HAVE, UH, JUST DATA THAT PEOPLE HAVE PROVIDED OVER THE YEARS.
SO THEY LOOKED AT, UM, FOLKS, I THINK IT WAS EITHER INTERESTED IN OUTDOOR AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT WAS THEIR SUBSET.
AND THEN THEY, UM, DID A COMMUNITY STYLE SURVEY WHERE ANYBODY COULD DO IT, BUT THEN THEY ALSO DID THEIR OUTREACH SURVEY AND THE WAY THAT THEY SELECT THOSE INDIVIDUALS IS ONE OF THE WAYS IN WHICH THEY TRY TO SEEK, UM, UH, STATISTICAL VALIDITY.
UM, THAT, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, UM, IS, IS, THAT'S KIND OF THE MAXIMUM EXTENT OF, OF MY KNOWLEDGE OF THAT.
AND IT IS AN AREA OF INTEREST OF MINE, BUT, UM, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF MARTY OWNER, JOHN, IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO THAT ANYMORE, I DON'T WORK WITH A STATISTICALLY VALID SURVEYS AS MUCH.
I TYPICALLY WORK WITH QUALITATIVE DATA AND SELECT THE COMMUNITIES PRECISELY BECAUSE I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE EXPERIENCE OF COMMUNITIES THAT TYPICALLY ARE UNDER REPRESENTED.
I'LL, UH, I'LL PIGGYBACK OFF WHAT MARYANN SAID.
I HAD GREATER EXPERIENCE DOING MORE STATISTICALLY VALID SURVEYS EARLIER IN MY CAREER, AND USED TO PRESENT MORE OF A BENCHMARK PLATFORM FOR WHAT YOU WERE TRYING TO ACHIEVE AS FAR AS COMMUNITIES, HOWEVER WAY WE'RE REALLY SEEING IN AUSTIN, ESPECIALLY WITH THE DISPLACEMENT OF COMMUNITIES, UM, FROM THE NATIVE AREAS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, THEY'RE NOT NECESSARILY CAPTURED IN THOSE TYPES OF SURVEYS.
UH, WE'RE STILL TRYING TO REACH OUT TO FOLKS THAT MAY HAVE ALREADY LEFT THE CITY AND FIND OUT WHY THAT OCCURRED AND, YOU KNOW, LEARN FROM THE KNOWLEDGE AND TRY TO WALK BACK WHERE WE CAN, SOME OF THE MISTAKES THAT HAVE BEEN DONE BY THIS INSTITUTION FOR DECADES NOW.
UM, AND THAT REALLY LENDS ITSELF MORE TO WHEN MARIANNA SAYING IS QUALITATIVE DATA IS PROVING TO BE MORE BENEFICIAL FOR BEING TRULY REPRESENTATIVE OF COMMUNITIES THAT ARE BEING AFFECTED THE MOST IN AUSTIN.
UM, AS OPPOSED TO A SLIGHTLY MORAL, STERILE APPROACH WITH A STATISTIC VALID SURVEY.
THAT'S, YOU KNOW, JUST A POINT IN TIME FROM CERTAIN POPULATIONS THAT WE'RE PRIVILEGED TO BE ABLE TO BE A PART OF THAT SURVEY TO BEGIN WITH.
WELL, I GUESS, I GUESS MY PERSPECTIVE ON THIS WOULD BE THAT, YOU KNOW, A STATISTICALLY VALID SURVEY, THE QUALITATIVE AND THE QUANTITATIVE DATA ARE COMPLIMENTARY TO ONE ANOTHER.
IT'S NOT THAT ONE IS LIKE THE ULTIMATE BETTER WAY TO DO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, BUT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU CAN LOOK AT THEM HOLISTICALLY, THAT'S I, IN MY OPINION, THAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DO IT.
[02:25:01]
I'M GOING TO TELL YOU WHAT I UNDERSTAND TO BE A STATISTICALLY VALID SURVEY.AND THEN MAYBE YOU CAN TELL ME IF I'M HAVE THIS RIGHT OR WRONG.
SO IF YOU WANTED TO BE, UM, IF YOU WANTED TO GET A STATISTICALLY VALID RESPONSE WITH REGARDS TO A DEMOGRAPHIC LIKE RACE, YOU MIGHT, UH, YOU, YOU KNOW, WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PROPORTIONS, THE RESPONSES TO YOUR SURVEY CORRESPOND WITH THE, YOU KNOW, PERCENTAGES OF THE POPULATION, TO THE DIFFERENT RACIAL CATEGORIES THAT YOU WERE TARGETING, WHERE YOU COULD DO THE SAME THING WITH LIKE AGE GROUP OR WHATEVER, YOU KNOW, IS THAT, IS, IS, IS THAT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A STATISTICALLY VALID? OR DO I HAVE THAT, AM I MISUNDERSTANDING THAT IT'S, IT'S ONE FACET, UM, AND IT'S STATISTICALLY VALID IS, IS FROM THE CREATION OF THE QUESTION.
UM, SO, SO EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY HAVE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE, THAT IS STILL STATISTICALLY VALID, UM, IT'S THE DEVELOPMENT OF QUESTIONS, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT'S ALSO THE, KIND OF THE, THE RANDOM SELECTION AND YOU CAN HAVE KIND OF FOCUSED RANDOM SELECTION, OR YOU CAN HAVE A MORE JUST BROAD.
AND SO IT'S, UH, OFTENTIMES WHAT WE'RE PAYING FOR IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUESTIONS INTO QUESTIONS THAT CAN BE CONSIDERED, UM, VALID AND SCIENTIFIC TOOLS, AS WELL AS THE, THE TARGETING OF, UM, UH, THE, THE AUDIENCE OF THE SURVEY.
SO THOSE TWO ASPECTS, ESPECIALLY THE TARGETING AND THE METHODOLOGY USED FOR THAT IS WHY THEY'RE, UM, MORE CONSIDERED MORE PRECISE.
SO YOU STILL NEED TO, EVEN IN THE SUBGROUPS HAVE A STATISTICALLY VALID AMOUNT OF RESPONSES.
UM, SO YOU STILL NEED TO HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE.
UM, IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT RENTERS WHO MAKE UNDER $30,000 A YEAR, YOU STILL NEED TO HAVE MORE THAN A HANDFUL TO REPRESENT ALL RENTERS WHO MAKE UNDER $30,000 IN AUSTIN.
AND SO THAT IS ONE OF THE CHALLENGES, AND THAT'S WHY, UM, FRANKLY THOSE ORGANIZATIONS CAN CHARGE A LOT ON, ON THE, ON THE PRIVATE SIDE FOR THIS.
YEAH, I DEFINITELY, UM, I WAS VERY INTERESTED TO JUST HEAR ABOUT HOW THE PARKS DEPARTMENT WENT ABOUT THAT, UM, THE METHODOLOGY WITH AUSTIN ENERGY.
CAUSE THAT JUST SEEMS LIKE IF WE HAVE THAT SORT OF DATABASE OF PEOPLE, UM, TO CONTACT, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THAT'S A HUGE RESOURCE THAT WE COULD BE TAPPING INTO MORE.
IT WOULD SEEM, UM, I THINK THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE DEFINITELY IS VALUE TO GETTING PEOPLE IN SMALL GROUPS TO KIND OF TALK ABOUT THINGS, UM, QUANTITATIVE OR QUANTIFY QUALITATIVELY.
BUT I THINK IT, YOU KNOW, ASKING SOMEBODY WHEN THEY'RE JUST TAKING THE SURVEY ALONE, YOU MIGHT GET A DIFFERENT SIDE OF THINGS THAN IF THEY'RE IN A GROUP WITH A BUNCH OF THEIR PEERS AND THEY FEEL PRESSURE TO SAY SOMETHING OR NOT TO SAY SOMETHING.
I MEAN, I THINK THAT JUST, THAT'S JUST THE NATURE OF A PUBLIC MEETING AND THAT'S NOT GOOD OR BAD.
THAT'S JUST, THAT'S JUST THE WAY IT IS.
UM, AND THAT'S WHY JUST VARIOUS TECHNIQUES, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THEM ALL RIGHT.
YOU WANT TO TRY AND MAXIMIZE AS MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT STYLES.
WELL, I GUESS, UM, YEAH, THANK YOU FOR THAT.
AND I JUST HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION.
UM, I GUESS SOMETHING THAT I, UM, I'M JUST STRUGGLING WITH WITH, UM, HEARING ABOUT THIS, AND I'M SURE IT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU ALL GRAPPLE WITH AS WELL IS, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU SAY THAT THE POLLING ISN'T ABOUT VOTING, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T THAT YOU DON'T NECESSARILY WANT TO DO SOMETHING JUST BECAUSE THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE SAID IN A SURVEY THAT THEY WANTED IT.
I MEAN, THAT'S A PRETTY, UM, THAT'S A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT VALUE JUDGMENT TO MAKE, YOU KNOW, HOW DO YOU RECONCILE THIS? YOU KNOW, THE, THE FACT THAT YOU'RE ASKING PEOPLE TO TAKE A SURVEY AND BE ENGAGED WHEN YOU MIGHT SORT OF, I DON'T KNOW IF I WANT TO SAY DISREGARD THEIR INPUT, BUT DECIDE ULTIMATELY THAT LIKE, WELL, THIS GROUP OF PEOPLE, UM, BUT SORT OF DECIDE THAT THEY, YOU KNOW, THAT IT'S, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WEIGH THAT AS, UH, AS HEAVILY AS MAYBE THEY THINK THAT YOU ARE.
I MEAN, THAT SORT OF SEEMS LIKE IF YOU'RE ASKING SOMEBODY TO FILL OUT A SURVEY OR TO TAKE ANY TIME TO CONTRIBUTE, YOU KNOW, THEY NEED TO BE HEARD, THEY NEED TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.
SO HOW DO YOU, LIKE, HOW DO YOU KIND OF MAKE THAT DECISION AND, AND, AND, AND GRAPPLE WITH THAT.
SO I'LL, UM, I'LL DO AN INTRODUCTION AND THEN YOU CAN JUMP ME.
BUT, UM, TYPICALLY THE BEST RESULTS WHEN WE DO ENGAGEMENT IS THROUGH US POOL OF DIFFERENT AVENUES FOR COMMUNITY TO ENGAGE AND PROVIDE THEIR FEEDBACK.
AND DEPENDING ON THE INFLUENCE
[02:30:01]
THAT WE UNDERSTAND COMMITTEE WILL HAVE WITH THE SIGNED THOSE TOOLS.SO ON THE SPECTRUM OF ENGAGEMENT, WE HAVE, FOR EXAMPLE, INFORM WHERE THERE IS VERY LITTLE INFLUENCE ALL THE WAY OUTSIDE THAT IS CALLED EMPOWER.
AND THEN THAT'S WHERE PEOPLE CAN SAY YES, DO IT OR NOT.
AND USUALLY THAT'S AN ELECTION TYPE OF ENVIRONMENT.
WHAT HAPPENED IS THAT POOLING, SINCE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR TOOL, IT ONLY ALLOWS FOR A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS AND NOT TOO MANY.
AND SO IT'S PART OF THE TRIANGULATION OF DATA.
AND SO THEY POOLING DOESN'T BECOME, AND YES AND NO, IT BECOMES ONE MORE OF A GROUP OF DATA THAT WE PUT TOGETHER WITH THE OLDER AVENUES THAT WE HAVE HEARD FROM COMMUNITY.
SO WE DON'T WANT TO PEOPLE TO BELIEVE THAT BY ANSWERING THAT POLL RIGHT AWAY, WE'RE GOING TO MAKE THAT DECISION BASED ON THAT PARTICULAR TOOL, BECAUSE THERE'S GOING TO BE MANY OTHER TOOLS.
AND SO AT THE END OF THE DAY, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING IS FOR US RICH DATA AS POSSIBLE, AS REPRESENTATIVE AS POSSIBLE AS, UM, IN DEPTH, ESPECIALLY WITH COMMUNITIES THAT TYPICALLY HAVE NOT BEEN ENGAGED AND THAT'S LOOKING FROM AN EQUITY LENS.
AND THEN WE HAVE TEAMS LOOKING AT ALL THE DATA AND COMING WITH THE THEMES OF WHAT WE HEARD.
AND SO, LIKE JUSTIN SAID, ONCE WE DO THE FIRST ANALYSIS, WE TYPICALLY GO BACK TO THE COMMUNITY AND WE ASK THE QUESTION, DID WE HEAR YOU? RIGHT? AND SO WE'RE MAKING A SMALL DECISIONS THAT WE MOVE ALONE.
WE DON'T TAKE ONE ONCE POOL OF THE RESEARCH INSTRUMENT, AND THAT'S GOING TO BE THE FINDING POINT BECAUSE WE ALSO NEED TO BE SENSITIVE THAT NOT EVERYBODY IS COMFORTABLE IN ANSWERING A CALL, JUST LIKE NOT, EVERYBODY'S COMFORTABLE IN HAVING COFFEE WITH ME OR ANYBODY ELSE.
AND SO I WILL THEN IMAGINE WHY NOT, BUT THOSE THINGS HAPPEN, BUT HE WANTS COFFEE WITH HIM.
AND SO THE IDEA BEHIND IS THAT WE HAVE THIS TOOLBOX OF DIFFERENT AVENUES THAT PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTABLE, MAYBE A SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION, MAYBE A SURVEY, MAYBE A POLL, MAYBE COMING TO A MEETING AND DOING A WORKSHOP, MAYBE PARTICIPATING IN A MEETING THROUGH SOON OR ANY OTHER AVENUES.
SO WE TRY TO DIVERSIFY THE TOOLS SO WE CAN GET MORE ACCESS TO THE PEOPLE THAT TYPICALLY HAVE THE LESS OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE.
SO LIKE, IF YOU GET A LOT OF SURVEY RESPONSES SAYING SOMETHING YOU YOU'LL SAY, HEY, IT'S GREAT THAT WE KNOW THIS, BUT THEN WE ALSO, WE'RE GOING TO GO AND COLLECT INFORMATION THESE OTHER WAYS AND TALK TO TALK TO PEOPLE.
I'M GOING TO MOVE ON BECAUSE WE ARE TAKING A LONG TIME WITH THIS.
I AM GOING TO, UM, BUT THANK YOU.
I'M NOT TRYING, I WANT EVERYBODY TO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY, BUT I AM GOING TO GO AHEAD AND GO WITH YOU.
UM, REMEMBER PHELPS, CAUSE I KNOW YOU HAVE A PRESENTATION AND I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED WITH THAT.
UM, I WANTED TO ASK BOARD MEMBER DEPALMA.
DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT YOU WANTED TO ADD AT THE END OF YOUR QUESTIONS? I DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU WERE WANTING TO GET ANOTHER CHANCE.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I THINK WE'VE GLEANED QUITE A, QUITE A BIT OF INFORMATION TONIGHT.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT FACETS TO THIS TOPIC AND, UM, JUST KIND OF, UH, UH, FIRST ITEM, THE CITY OF AUSTIN PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PRINCIPLES THAT WERE REFERENCED.
I'M NOT SURE WE WERE TOLD HOW TO GET A COPY OF THOSE.
SO IF WE CAN GET THOSE, THAT WOULD GREAT.
UM, IT'S HARD TO KNOW WHERE TO START.
I DO JUST WANT TO SAY, UM, I KNOW WE HAVE THE ZILKER PARK VISION PLAN COMING UP NEXT, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN DURING THAT DISCUSSION OR HOW MUCH TIME WE'RE GONNA HAVE.
AND SO I THINK WE, WE HAD A LOT OF GOOD, WE WERE GIVEN A LOT OF GOOD COMMENTS ON UNDER-REPRESENTATION AND HOW THE PARKS STAFF AND THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALISTS MANAGE THAT AND THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES THEY USE.
AND I'M ACTUALLY REALLY MUCH MORE CONCERNED NOW THAN I WAS BEFORE THAT PRESENTATION ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE ZILKER PARK VISION PLAN, ESPECIALLY, UM, WITH THE POP-UPS THAT HAVE BEEN DONE.
[02:35:01]
IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE WAS NO DIALOGUE, NO RECORDING OF COMMENTS, NO INFORMATION, NO DATA RECORDED FROM THOSE POP-UPS THAT WE DID THEM IN A LOT OF GOOD LOCATIONS AND SPENT A LOT OF EFFORT TO GET OUT IN THE COMMUNITY.AND THAT, UM, THE PEOPLE WERE TOLD TO GO ONLINE AND TAKE THE SURVEY BASICALLY, AND GIVEN THE WEBSITE, AND THAT DOESN'T SEEM TO LINE UP WITH WHAT, WHAT I'VE HEARD TONIGHT ABOUT WHAT WE WOULD LIKE REALLY, YOU KNOW, APPRECIATE TO HEAR THE, UM, THE ISSUES FROM THOSE COMMUNITIES, EVEN VERY LOW TECH SOLUTIONS, LIKE JUST WRITING DOWN SOME OF THE COMMENTS SO THAT WE HAVE THAT QUALITATIVE INFORMATION.
SO HOPEFULLY WE CAN ADDRESS THAT IN THE NEXT ITEM.
I WAS, UM, WE'VE HEARD ABOUT A LOT OF MORE INTERESTING THINGS.
I WAS REALLY SPECIFICALLY, UM, BROUGHT THIS ITEM UP BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE WHEN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IS PRESENTED TO THE BOARD, IT COMES IN THE FORM OF A POWERPOINT AND THERE'S USUALLY, UM, THERE'S DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DATA THAT'S PRESENTED TO US.
AND SOMETIMES IT'S VERY SUMMARY AND SOMETIME IT'S MORE THOROUGH.
AND I THINK THAT PROBABLY DEPENDS ON THE TOOL.
SO WE LEARNED TONIGHT LIKE THAT THE AUSTIN ENERGY STUDY WITH THE HANCOCK GOLF, UM, WAS STATISTICALLY VALID.
I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THE SPEAK-UP AUSTIN ONES ARE NOT.
UM, AND, BUT REALLY SPECIFICALLY, UM, THIS CAME UP FOR ME IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ZILKER CAFE CUP PRESENTATION, BECAUSE FOLLOWING THOSE PRESENTATIONS, I CAME, I, I REALIZED I WASN'T UNDERSTANDING WHAT WAS BEING SAID AND THE LANGUAGE THAT WAS BEING USED IN REPRESENTING THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT RESULTS.
SO I REALLY DON'T WANT TO REVISIT THAT ISSUE CAUSE IT WAS NOT ANY FUN, BUT IT IT'S AN EXAMPLE OF WHEN I REALIZED, I DON'T THINK I'M SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGE HERE IN TERMS OF HERE VOLUNTEER BOARD, HERE'S SOME INFORMATION AND YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE A DECISION AND THEN LIKE, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT INFORMATION? HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO GO DIG IN AND FIND ACTUAL DATA? AND SO, UM, THERE, CAN I JUST, I'M JUST GOING TO GO THROUGH THIS SUPER, SUPER FAST.
THIS IS JUST, UH, A PARD PRESENTATION AND, UM, I'LL REFER YOU TO THE SECOND BULLET POINT.
PARD CONDUCTED A PUBLIC SURVEY THAT INCLUDED AN OPEN-ENDED QUESTION REGARDING POSSIBLE MENU ITEMS. RESPONDENTS REPLIED WITH VARIOUS SUGGESTIONS, INCLUDING THE OPTION OF BEER AND WINE, UH, BASED ON STAKEHOLDER INPUT AND FEEDBACK FROM THE SURVEY PART, RELEASED A REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS WITH THE LANGUAGE AND THE SCOPE OF WORK THAT INDICATED CONCESSIONER MAY SELL BEER AND WINE.
SO PART TOOK ACTION BASED ON STAKEHOLDER INPUT AND FEEDBACK FROM THIS SURVEY.
THAT'S WHAT I UNDERSTAND FROM THIS SLIDE.
ON SEPTEMBER 28 PART PRESENTED AGAIN TO THE PARKS BOARD ON THIS ITEM AND, UM, THERE'S A LITTLE MORE DETAIL.
THEY GIVE THE QUESTION, WHAT ITEMS WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE AVAILABLE? AND THEN THESE BULLET POINTS, RESPONSES INCLUDED BEER, WINE WHISKEY, AND ALCOHOL AND REQUEST FOR A BEER GARDEN.
UM, OCTOBER SIX PART PRESENTED TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION, SAME LANGUAGE IS USE THE BULLET POINTS AND THEN THERE'S THIS ADDITIONAL BULLET POINT AT THE BOTTOM, NOTING THAT CITIZEN COMMENTS TO THE PARKS AND RECREATION BOARD MAY NOT REFLECT ENTIRE USER GROUP OF LARGE METROPOLITAN PARK.
SO IT DOESN'T SAY THAT THE SURVEY DOES REFLECT THE ENTIRE USER GROUP, BUT IT DOES DISTINGUISH THIS AND COMMENTS WITHOUT NOTING, UM, WHAT DOES REFLECT THE ENTIRE USER GROUP.
SO, YOU KNOW, ALONG THE WAY SOMEBODY CALLED ME AND SAID, HEY, I DON'T KNOW, YOU SHOULD LOOK AT THAT SURVEY.
I'M NOT SURE THAT IT REALLY SHOWS, YOU KNOW, IT LOOKS TO ME LIKE IT DOESN'T SUPPORT BEER AND WINE.
AND WE HAD A REALLY GREAT CONVERSATION EARLIER ABOUT HOW YOU DETERMINE USING JUST THE SURVEY RESULTS, USING JUST THE POLL OR GIVING, YOU KNOW, REAL CONSIDERATION AND WEIGHT TO DIFFERENT COMMUNITY GROUPS IN THEIR INTERESTS.
BUT WHEN I LOOKED AT IT, THIS IS WHAT I FOUND.
WHAT ITEMS WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE INCLUDED? YOU KNOW, WE WERE TOLD BEFORE BEER WINE AND ALCOHOL WERE, UM, RESPONDENTS REQUESTED BEER, WINE AND ALCOHOL.
I FOUND 15 RESPONDENTS REQUESTED BEER.
SO 3% 97% OF THE PEOPLE THAT ANSWERED THE QUESTION AND WROTE OUT WHAT THEY'D LIKE TO SEE AT THE CAFE DID NOT MENTION BEER.
HE SAID, WHISKEY BEER, WINE WAS THREE PEOPLE.
UM, AND THEN ON QUESTION SEVEN, ADDITIONAL COMMENTS, 220 PEOPLE ANSWERED.
AND, UM, THREE OF THOSE BASICALLY REFER A BEER GARDEN.
[02:40:01]
SLIDE PLEASE.AND THEN THIS IS JUST, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST SHOWING YOU HERE, LIKE THIS IS SO CRUDE, HOW I DID THIS.
I JUST DID A FIND ON A PDF WITH THE SURVEY RESULTS.
I DID ALSO ACTUALLY GET THE EXCEL DOUBLE CHECK IT THAT WAY, BUT UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
IT'S JUST SHOWING YOU HOW I DID IT.
UM, SO IN THE PDF WITH THE SURVEY RESULTS AND SOME OF THE OTHER QUESTIONS, THERE WAS SOME ANALYSIS, THERE WAS, YOU KNOW, WHAT WERE THE WORDS? THIS WAS LIKE, WHAT TIME OF DAY? SO I JUST WANTED TO SHOW THAT THERE WAS SOME ANALYSIS PROVIDED IN THE SURVEY RESULTS.
ONCE WE GOT AHOLD OF THEM, NEXT SLIDE.
BUT THIS WAS QUESTION SIX, THE ONE WHERE THEY WERE RELYING ON TO MAKE THIS DECISION AND IN THIS 58 PAGE PDF WITH THE RESULTS, YOU KNOW, I, THERE WASN'T ANY, ANY ANALYSIS PROVIDED HERE NOW, DID THEY DO SOMETHING ELSE? I DON'T KNOW.
UM, SO IF YOU GO, I DON'T, I DON'T NEED YOU TO GO BACK THROUGH THE SLIDES, BUT WE SHOWED THEM THESE BULLET POINTS THAT SAID, YOU KNOW, BASED ON THIS FEEDBACK, WE MADE THIS DECISION.
AND THEN ALSO JUST THE SUMMARY STATEMENT, RESPONDENTS INCLUDED.
SO AFTER THIS MEETING, I JUST, UM, FELT LIKE IF I JUST SEE A PRESENTATION, I WANT TO TAKE THAT INFORMATION ON AND USE IT IN MY DECISION-MAKING.
AND I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK THROUGH A 58 PAGE PDF AND 450 RESPONSES.
YOU KNOW, THAT'S NOT, I'M A VOLUNTEER AND I WANT TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS BASED ON THE INFORMATION I'M PROVIDED BY STAFF AND CITIZENS.
SO, UM, WHAT MY QUESTION, WHEN I WROTE THE QUESTION THAT SAID, LIKE, WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS FOR PRESENTING TO BOARDS? I REALLY MEANT LIKE, HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO TELL US ABOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT? LIKE WHAT LESS THAN 1% YOU WERE TRUTHFUL, RESPONDENTS INCLUDED, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SAYING NOBODY WASN'T TRUTHFUL BECAUSE THAT WAS THE TRUTH RESPONSES INCLUDED, BUT IT WAS ONE OUT OF 450.
SO WHAT ARE THOSE STANDARDS? THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT THE QUESTION WAS MEANT TO GET OUT.
HOW, HOW DOES, WHO DO YOU SIT WITH? IS IT WITH THE PUBLIC? YOU KNOW, THE THERE'S SEVERAL OFFICERS.
I UNDERSTAND THERE'S LIKE A CITY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OFFICE, THEN THERE'S ALSO PART, AND I HAVE LOTS OF OTHER, POTENTIALLY MORE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS ON THIS, NOT ON THIS ISSUE, BUT ON THE LARGER COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ISSUE.
BUT THIS WAS KIND OF ONE OF JUST THE TIPPING POINT FOR ME, WHERE I WAS LIKE, I'M, WE'RE NOT SPEAKING THE SAME LANGUAGE, REALLY.
SO THAT'S THE QUESTION I'D LIKE TO KNOW.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHAT TO TELL US? I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION, UH, TONIGHT.
I THINK I NEED TO GO BACK AND HAVE SOME MORE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE TEAM AND TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO COMMUNICATE TO YOU AND THEN HOW THOSE DECISIONS ARE MADE, BUT YOU DEFINITELY DESERVE AN ANSWER, BUT I, I DON'T HAVE A, I DON'T HAVE A CONCISE OR A SUMMARY ANSWER FOR YOU RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU DESERVE AN ANSWER AND WE'LL MAKE SURE WE GET IT FOR YOU.
SO I THINK YOU BRING UP REALLY GOOD.
YOU'VE BROUGHT UP REALLY GOOD POINTS.
I APPRECIATE, I THINK THAT YOU YOU'VE POINTED OUT SOME THINGS WHERE THERE ARE SOME FLAWS IN THE SYSTEM BY WHICH WE'RE SHARING INFORMATION.
SO LET'S GET A SET OF STANDARDS.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS WHAT ARE THE SET OF STANDARDS? AND I THINK WE MIGHT HAVE TO, UM, TO HAVE SOME CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THAT, BUT, OKAY, WELL, WHAT'S YOUR PROCESS.
I MEAN, YOU'VE GOT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALISTS, YOU'VE GOT A PUBLIC INFORMATION AND MARKETING PROGRAM MANAGER AND THEN THE CITY HAS A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DIVISION MANAGERS.
SO IF YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY'S WORKING ON A SPECIFIC ISSUE, MAYBE IT'S A, A PARK PLAN.
MAYBE IT'S A, ANOTHER TYPE OF POLICY ISSUE, MAYBE IT'S CONCESSIONS LIKE, AND THAT PERSON, THERE WAS A SURVEY DONE THROUGH SPEAK UP AUSTIN, AND THAT PERSON GETS THE RESULTS.
DO THEY WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PERSON TO SORT OF DEVELOP THE RESULTS OR WHAT'S THE PROCESS OF PUTTING THE INFORMATION IN A PRESENTATION? THAT'S YEAH.
I ALSO HAVE CONSULTANTS THAT WE, AND WE ALSO HAVE ENTITIES THAT WE HIRE AS PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OR AS PART OF THE PLANNING PROCESS WHERE WE ACTUALLY HIRE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FIRMS THAT COME UP WITH INFORMATION.
SO I KNOW YOU WANT ME TO PROVIDE YOU AN ANSWER TONIGHT, BUT I'M NOT PREPARED TO DO SO WITHOUT TALKING WITH THE TEAM, TO BE ABLE TO GIVE YOU A SET OF STANDARDS AND A BETTER, MORE, MORE, UM, UH, APPROPRIATE ANSWER.
BECAUSE RIGHT NOW I JUST BE GRASPING AT STRAWS TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING AND YOU DON'T DESERVE THAT THIS BOARD DESERVES BETTER INFORMATION THAN THAT.
AND SO I WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU THAT INFORMATION, BUT I NEED TO CONSULT WITH THE TEAM TO BE ABLE TO GIVE THAT SOMETHING THAT IS COMPREHENSIVE AND UNDERSTANDABLE, NOT JUST SOMETHING THAT'S ME GRASPING AT STRAWS.
SO WHEN I ASKED WHAT ARE THE STANDARDS FOR PRESENTATIONS OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TO BOARDS THAT DIDN'T NOBODY TRIGGERED THAT, THAT
[02:45:01]
WE KNEW.THAT WAS THE QUESTION AND THE FIRST SLIDE THAT, SO I BELIEVE THAT THE QUESTION THAT WE THOUGHT YOU HAD WANTED WAS HOW DO YOU, WHAT ARE YOUR STANDARDS FOR SURVEY? SO I THINK THAT WE'VE CROSSED OVER, OR WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T, IT DIDN'T COMPUTE WHAT YOU ASKED, WHAT YOUR, WHAT THE INTENT WAS AND WHAT WE THOUGHT WE WERE PROVIDING FOR YOU.
SO WE THOUGHT WE WERE PROVIDING THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION THAT WAS ASKED, BUT WE OBVIOUSLY MISSED THE MARK.
SO WE'LL COME BACK WITH THE RIGHT, WITH THE INFORMATION THAT THIS WHOLE BOARD DESERVES TO KNOW, BUT WE THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO UNDERSTAND HOW DO YOU MAKE IT? HOW DO YOU SURVEY WHAT'S YOUR PROCESS FOR SURVEY? WELL, YEAH, I MEAN, I THINK IT, IT, THERE ARE SEVERAL QUESTIONS.
I THINK IT WAS BOTH, UM, I THINK THE SURVEY IS VERY IMPORTANT, BUT OKAY.
AND I THINK, YEAH, I MEAN, THE GOAL IS REALLY TO GET TO WHERE WE ARE SPEAKING A COMMON LANGUAGE, WHERE IF YOU PUT A SUMMARY OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OR YOUR CONCLUSIONS AND A PRESENTATION THAT'S GIVEN HERE AND TO THE PUBLIC, THAT WE ALL UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN BY THAT, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY AS CLOSE AS WE CAN.
UM, A SEPARATE QUESTION THAT I HAD IS IN REGARD TO DIFFERENT, UM, DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, UH, THAT TAKES SURVEYS.
WHAT ABOUT CITY STAFF? DO THEY, UM, ARE THEY ENCOURAGED TO TAKE, PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OR TAKE SURVEYS THEMSELVES? AND IF THEY ARE, IS THAT, UM, RECORDED AS YOU KNOW, UH, A SUBGROUP OR IS IT JUST LUMPED IN WITH OTHER RESPONDENTS? I THINK THE ANSWER IS YES.
THEY'RE THEY'RE UM, THEY BEING STAFF IS OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE.
I THINK THAT JUSTIN OR JOHN MIGHT HAVE A BETTER ANSWER FOR YOU AS TO HOW THOSE PARTICULAR, UM, RESPONSES ARE INCLUDED.
I CAN SAY THAT, UH, ANY APPEAL TO STAFF, UM, AT LEAST FROM MY EXPERIENCE, UM, HAS BEEN TO SHARE SURVEYS TO TRY TO INCREASE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION.
NOW, STAFF, A LOT OF STAFF ARE CITY OF AUSTIN RESIDENTS AS WELL AND ARE ENGAGED INDIVIDUALS.
UM, PART OF THE REASON THEY WORK FOR MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IS THEY'RE VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT THEY DO.
UM, HOWEVER, I DON'T HAVE AN IN MY COMMUNICATIONS THAT MY TEAM SENT OUT, NOT SPECIFIC CALLS TO STAFF, TO BE SURE YOU DO THE SURVEY, UM, THAT THAT'S COMING OUT RIGHT NOW.
WE MAKE THEM AWARE OF WHAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES ARE CURRENTLY ON GOING ON AND WHAT IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AT THE SAME LEVEL, BUT THERE'S NO CONCERTED OR SPECIAL WAY THAT STAFF IS TREATED DIFFERENT THAN ANYBODY ELSE.
SO THERE'S NO OUTREACH TO STAFF TO SAY, PARTICIPATE IN THIS SURVEY.
THEY JUST DO IT LIKE THE REGULAR COMMUNITY DOES.
SO IF WE HAVE A SPECIAL EVENT, WE MIGHT SHUT UP AND SAY, YOU KNOW, THIS PROJECT IS HAPPENING AND THERE'S A SURVEY, YOU KNOW, FEEL FREE TO FILL OUT THE SURVEY AND, UM, YOU KNOW, SHARE YOUR INPUT.
AND, UM, A LOT OF TIMES PEOPLE ARE VERY INTERESTED IN IT AND SOMETIMES WE WOULD SAY, OH YEAH, THAT'S BY MY HOME.
OR, UM, UH, OH YEAH, I HEARD ABOUT THAT.
OR I'M NOT INTERESTED, YOU KNOW, I DON'T, I DON'T CARE.
I DON'T, I'M NOT GOING TO ALL RIGHT.
SO IT WAS JUST ON KIND OF AN ENGINEERING, HERE'S A SURVEY YOU MIGHT WANT TO FILL IT OUT LIKE THAT.
I MEAN, I WOULD SAY IN AT LEAST INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS FOR US, WE HAVE, UH, A DEPARTMENT NEWSLETTER THAT GOES OUT REGULARLY, REGULARLY DIRECT LINE.
PART OF THAT, WE COMMUNICATE WHAT'S GOING ON WITH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FOR THE DEPARTMENT AND THAT HIGHLIGHTS, UH, WE WOULD TALK ABOUT MEETINGS THAT WE'VE HAD RECENTLY, IF WE'RE DOING POP-UP EVENTS, IF A SURVEY IS CURRENTLY GOING ON.
UM, BUT WE JUST TRY TO KEEP EVERYBODY ELSE ON STAFF APPRISE OF WHAT'S GOING ON, JUST LIKE THE OTHER DIVISIONS, TRY TO TALK ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THEIR WORK AS WELL.
UM, ON THE, ON THE CITY BASIS, UH, HAVING WORKED IN CPIO BEFORE, UM, THEY ALSO PROMOTED OUT ON CITY VIEW, WHICH A LOT OF STAFF WATCH.
IT'S THE NEWS MAGAZINE SHOW THAT THE T THE ATX M PRODUCES AS WELL AS CITY NEWS, WHICH IS AN INTERNAL NEWSLETTER FOR THE CITY AS A WHOLE.
AND THAT SHARES A LOT OF THAT INFORMATION.
UM, UM, YEAH, ONE OTHER QUESTION I HAD IS, UM, RELATES TO DEMOGRAPHICS.
AND YOU WERE SAYING THAT IT'S, UM, YOU RELY ON QUALITATIVE DATA QUITE A BIT, BECAUSE IT'S DIFFICULT TO REACH A REPRESENTATIVE AUDIENCE FOR, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT WOULD REPRESENT LIKE THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF AUSTIN.
BUT I WAS WONDERING IF WITHIN THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, THERE'S SOME KIND OF STANDARD THAT YOU ATTEMPT TO REACH, LIKE, YOU KNOW, IF YOU CAN'T GET TO, UM, TO SOMETHING
[02:50:01]
SIMILAR TO OUR CITY DEMOGRAPHICS, WHAT DO YOU TRY TO GET TO? WHAT IS YOUR, WHAT IS YOUR GOAL THAT'S CONSIDERED LIKE, AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN GET? THE GOAL THAT I RECOMMEND IS TO AT LEAST BE ABLE TO REACH THE CURRENT DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE CITY.AND IF YOU CAN'T, WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH THAT INFORMATION? IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE RESOURCES OF THE DEPARTMENT, BUT TYPICALLY IF WE'RE DOING A SURVEY, WE'RE DOING CHECK POINTS AND SEE WHERE WE'RE AT, AND THEN WE, UH, TYPICALLY ADJUST OUR OUTREACH AND MARKETING EFFORTS IN ORDER TO PRY TO WHICH OF THOSE POINTS.
SO IF YOU WERE NOT GETTING CLOSE, I MEAN, WHEN YOU, YOU'RE SAYING LIKE, YOU WANT TO BE AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE, YOU DON'T HAVE LIKE A LOWER NUMBER OF THE DEMOGRAPHICS THAT YOU'RE SATISFIED WITH 10%.
I DON'T KNOW, YOU KNOW, OUR BREAKFAST NEEDS TO GO AHEAD.
I WAS GOING TO SAY OUR GOAL IS ALWAYS TO, TO REPRESENT THE CITY.
AND, UM, THAT IS WHAT WE STRIVE TO DO.
AND WE KNOW THAT, UM, OR GROUPS THAT ARE OFTEN UNDERREPRESENTED, THAT THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GOING TO FOCUS OUR EFFORTS.
AND THAT DEFINITELY ALWAYS RESULTS IN, UM, INCREASE, UH, PERCENTAGES.
UM, AND, AND THERE'S LOTS OF REASONS WHY, BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE MAY NOT BE INTERESTED IN THE PROJECT, ESPECIALLY IF WE'RE LOOKING AT EAST AUSTIN AND WE'RE TELLING THEM ABOUT SOMETHING ON THE WEST SIDE THAT THEY MAY NOT BE INTERESTED.
UM, AND THERE'S LOTS OF OTHER REASONS WHY.
AND SO WE, SOMETIMES WE SET GOALS IF WE SEE A SURVEY THAT IS THAT WE DID WELL ON, WE TRY TO MATCH THAT AND WE TRY TO DO THAT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE ANY FORMAL GOALS AS FAR AS NUMBERS OR, OKAY.
SO AT WHAT POINT DO YOU DECIDE YOU NEED TO LIKE, STOP AND RECALIBRATE, LIKE SAY, YOU KNOW, IT'S AN ONGOING PROCESS, BUT THAT DOES HAPPEN.
I HAVE A LOT MORE QUESTIONS, BUT I'M GOING TO MOVE ON SO THAT OTHER BOARD MEMBERS CAN SEE.
BERNARD, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? NO QUESTIONS.
I, I FIND IT CONCERNING, UM, THAT I'M AND I'M NEW AT THIS.
AND SO I SEE THINGS THROUGH THE LENS OF PROFIT AND LOSS THROUGH THE LENS OF SKILLED LABOR THROUGH, YOU KNOW, I DO SURVEYS FOR MY CUSTOMERS ALL THE TIME, AND WE DO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR CUSTOMERS, WERE ASKING THEM HOW THEY LIKED THE PRODUCT, UH, WHAT FEATURES DO THEY WANT TO SEE IN THE NEXT GENERATION OF SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT? UM, AND THE CITY, THE PEOPLE IS YOUR, IS YOUR PRODUCT.
AND YOU'RE TRYING TO GET INFORMATION, UH, ABOUT HOW YOUR CUSTOMERS FEEL ABOUT THE PRODUCT.
AND IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'RE HAVING A HARD TIME GETTING THE INFORMATION THAT YOU WANT, AND I APPLAUD YOU FOR ALL YOUR CREATIVE EFFORTS, YOUR COFFEES, AND SO FORTH.
WE'RE DEALING WITH HUMAN BEINGS HERE AND THAT'S LOVELY.
BUT, UM, IF YOUR, IF YOUR GOAL I'M DISTURBED BY SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU'VE SAID THIS EVENING, YOU MENTIONED THE TERM WHITE SUPREMACY.
IF YOUR GOAL IS TO PROVE A BAD THING, AND YOU'RE ONLY TALKING TO CERTAIN SOCIOECONOMIC GROUPS, HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO GET HONEST RESULTS? I THINK THAT'S A MORE NUANCED CONVERSATION.
AND, UM, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION AT ANY TIME.
WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT IS, UM, THE DECISION MAKERS WHO HAVE THAT UP IN THE SYSTEM THAT WE'RE IN WITH INITIALLY DESIGNED JUST FOR ONE GROUP OF THE POPULATION.
AND SO NOW WE ARE WORKING WITH, UM, THE RESULT OF THAT, WHICH OFTENTIMES HAS RESULTED IN, UM, UH, FEELINGS OF DISTRUST OR, UM, JUST A LACK OF EAGERNESS TO PARTICIPATE.
AND SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS SHIFT THAT TO REMIND PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE STILL A PART OF THIS CITY AND THAT THEY STILL GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO DISSIPATE.
AND SO WE ARE NOT TRYING TO DISCOUNT ANYBODY WE ARE TRYING TO ADD, AND WE ARE TRYING TO BRING PEOPLE IN.
AND WE KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO FEEL COMFORTABLE IN THIS SPACE, WHETHER IT'S AN ONLINE SURVEY SPACE, A VIRTUAL MEETING, OR STANDING UP IN A COMMUNITY MEETING AND SHARING.
WE KNOW THAT THERE'S LOTS OF PEOPLE WHO FEEL COMFORTABLE.
THAT WHAT WE ALSO KNOW IS THAT THERE'S A LOT
[02:55:01]
OF PEOPLE WHO DON'T.AND WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS WE WANT TO GO WHERE PEOPLE ARE AND WHERE THEY MIGHT FEEL COMFORTABLE.
WE DON'T WANT TO IMPOSE, BUT WE WANT TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN AND TO ENGAGE, AND WE WANT THEIR VOICES TO MATTER.
AND SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE LISTENING AND THAT WE'RE ABLE TO LOOK CLOSELY AT THE THINGS THEY TELL US, AND TO EXAMINE THAT WITH AN EYE THAT IS CRITICAL OF OUR OWN PROCESSES, UH, OF HISTORICAL PROCESSES AND HAS AN EYE TOWARDS THE FUTURE AND WHAT THAT MIGHT BRING.
SO IT'S, IT'S VERY, UH, COMPLICATED AND COMPLEX.
AND YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT IF WE ANSWERED TO THE PEOPLE.
UM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A, UH, A HISTORY OF ANSWERING TO SMALLER PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE AND WHAT MAKES UP THE WHOLE STATE, WELL, I LIKE EVERYTHING YOU SAY.
I BOARD MEMBER FASTS A DEEP DIVE INTO THE, THE ZILKER CUP EXAMPLE AND, AND THE, WHAT THAT REVEALED TO US.
SO I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR TAX DOLLARS THAT ARE PAYING FOR CITY SERVICES, UH, FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, THAT, THAT WHAT YOU'RE FINDING THAT YOU'RE NOT PUTTING A WHOLE LOT OF STOCK IN JUST A FEW ANSWERS THAT YOU ARE ENGAGED WITH ALL THOSE SMALLER GROUPS, BUT THAT COLLECTIVELY YOU'RE ACTING ON BEHALF OF THE LARGER ANSWERS.
YOU KNOW, NOT THE LESS THAN 1% THAT WANTED THE BEER AND WINE OR WHATEVER IT WAS.
UM, I CAN'T SPEAK TO THAT SURVEY, BUT I KNOW THAT, UH, I GUESS I'VE BEEN HERE, UH, THREE AND A HALF YEARS IN THIS POSITION.
AND IN THE LAST THREE AND A HALF YEARS, OUR PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES HAVE, UH, BECOME MORE FOCUSED ON THE THINGS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
I CAN'T SPEAK TO THIS SURVEY BECAUSE I THINK THIS WAS BEFORE MY TIME.
UM, I'M NOT SURE IF WHEN IT, WHEN IT WAS, BUT, BUT THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD PUT OUT IN THIS FORMAT NOW.
SO I THINK THAT, UH, USING THAT AS AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT WE DON'T WANT TO DO IS, IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF SOMETHING WE SHOULD POINT OUT AND NOT RETURN TO.
UM, BOARD MEMBER MORE, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I DON'T THINK SO.
I THINK I LET, UH, OKAY, GREAT.
CIBO, UM, I'M GOING TO DEFER TO THE QUESTIONS THAT I MISSED THE FIRST PART, UNFORTUNATELY.
SO I DON'T REALLY WANT TO TAKE UP ANY MORE TIME.
I DON'T HAVE ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS.
I THINK THE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS HAVE COVERED IT, BUT, UM, I'VE REALLY LEARNED A LOT AND APPRECIATE Y'ALL COMING HERE AND DOING SO MUCH EXPLAINING TO US.
SO I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE UP TOO MUCH TIME.
I DO WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
IT WAS INFORMATIVE, AND I THINK WE ALL LEARNED A LOT.
I, I DID WANT TO, UM, AND I, AND I WANT YOU TO KNOW HOW MUCH WE APPRECIATE WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
I DO WANT TO KIND OF ECHO A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT WERE, THAT WERE BROUGHT UP.
I KIND OF WANT TO, UM, PIGGYBACK ONTO WHAT, UH, VICE CHAIR DEPALMA SAID.
AND I DID HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT BECAUSE I'VE, I FEEL LIKE I'M, I'M GLAD THAT YOU'RE MAKING STRIDES AND HAVE CONSULTANTS AND ARE WORKING TO TRY TO DO WHAT YOU CAN TO INCREASE OUTREACH TO ALL COMMUNITIES.
BUT, YOU KNOW, I, WE LIVE IN A VERY VIBRANT CITY.
THAT'S MULTICULTURAL, AND WE HAVE LIVED THERE FOR A WHILE NOW.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT WE WOULD BE IN A BETTER PLACE, BECAUSE WHEN YOU LOOK AT, FOR EXAMPLE, THE, THE ZILKER SURVEY, IT WAS, YOU KNOW, IT WAS 70% WHITE, THE RESULTS THAT CAME BACK.
AND SO SOMETHING'S NOT WORKING.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I FEEL LIKE COULD BE IMPROVED AND YOU GUYS ARE THE EXPERTS.
I TOOK A COURSE IN SURVEY RESEARCH IN GRADUATE SCHOOL MANY YEARS AGO, BUT IS THE LANGUAGE THAT'S USED IN THE SURVEYS, BECAUSE I FIND THAT THE QUESTIONS, THE SURVEYS ARE REALLY LONG, AND I KNOW THERE'S A DROPOUT RATE BECAUSE THEY ARE SO LONG AND THE LANGUAGE IS NOT REALLY MAYBE RELEVANT TO EVERYBODY.
AND THERE'S NOT REALLY QUESTIONS ABOUT LIVABILITY OR CULTURE.
IT'S, THAT'S IN THE DEMOGRAPHICS FOR ETHNICITIES, BUT I DON'T SEE IT INCLUDED IN THE QUESTIONS IN THE, THE SURVEYS.
AND IT, IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE, YOU KNOW, THOSE, THE SURVEYS I THINK COULD BE REVAMPED.
I MEAN, I, I KNOW YOU GUYS PROBABLY LOOK AT LANGUAGE, BUT I, I FIND THAT KIND OF PROBLEMATIC THE QUEST, THE WAY THE QUESTIONS ARE WORDED AND WHETHER THAT'S REALLY GOING TO APPEAL TO PEOPLE ENOUGH FOR THEM TO FINISH THE SURVEYS OR PEOPLE OF COLOR OR ANYBODY, REALLY, IN SOME WAYS TO,
[03:00:01]
UM, TO GO FORWARD WITH YOUR SURVEYS.I DO THINK THAT THAT IS ONE WAY THAT YOU COULD IMPROVE THE EFFORT AND TO THINK ABOUT WHETHER THE ZOOM, YOU KNOW, HOW SUCCESSFUL THE ZOOM MEETINGS ARE WHEN YOU SEE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO, WHO SHOW UP AT THOSE.
AND THEN MANY TIMES IT IS JUST THE SAME PEOPLE, AND YOU'RE GIVING THEM A LOUDER MICROPHONE, BUT NOT REALLY EXPANDING YOUR, UM, YOUR BASE.
SO I THINK THERE ARE JUST SOME THINGS THAT, UM, THAT COULD BE DONE TO IMPROVE THE PROCESS.
I KNOW YOU'RE WORKING ON IT, BUT I WOULD, I JUST FEEL LIKE AT THIS POINT WE SHOULD BE IN A BETTER PLACE.
AND I WORK WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICT NOW, AND THEY HAVE THOSE SAME CHALLENGES, BUT THEY SEEM TO HAVE FIGURED OUT SOME WAYS TO, UM, BE ABLE TO RETAIL IT TO THEIR COMMUNITY.
SO THEY ARE GETTING SOME GOOD INPUT FROM SOME PEOPLE IN THE, UM, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND ALL OVER THIS A LITTLE BIT.
THEY GET A LITTLE BIT BETTER, UM, FEEDBACK FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN.
SO I DO APPRECIATE WHAT YOU DO, BUT I DO HOPE YOU WILL PUT MORE EFFORT INTO THOSE, UM, INTO WHAT YOU'RE DOING, JUST BECAUSE IT'S JUST SO IMPORTANT.
AND WE JUST DON'T WANT TO LEAVE.
AND I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE WORKING NOT TO LEAVE ANYBODY OUT OF THE PICTURE, BUT I DO THINK THAT'S REALLY, REALLY IN THIS DAY AND AGE IS JUST INCREDIBLY, UM, VALUABLE AND IMPORTANT TO HEAR FROM EVERYBODY WHO, WHO USES OUR PARKS AND, AND, UM, WANTS TO HAVE A VOICE INTO WHAT HAPPENS WITH THEM.
THIS IS KIM TAYLOR, THIS, UM, FOUR MEMBER TAYLOR.
I KNOW BEING ON A SCREEN, IT'S, IT'S HARD TO REMEMBER THAT WE'RE ALL HERE.
UM, ANYHOW, I JUST WANT TO SAY FIRST, I THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
I KNOW THIS IS A REALLY DIFFICULT CONVERSATION FOR EVERYONE TO HAVE.
UM, I JUST WANT TO JUST TO PUT IT OUT THERE, I'M ACTUALLY A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I DO IS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND I'M A SMALL BUSINESS MINORITY WOMEN OWNED BUSINESS.
AND I, UM, WE DO COMMUNICATION AND WE SPECIALIZE IN, UM, REACHING OUT TO MINORITY COMMUNITIES AND THERE ARE SOME TOOLS ACTUALLY THAT ARE COMING OUT OF AUSTIN THAT WE'VE, WE'VE HAD GREAT SUCCESS WITH, UM, OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS THAT I'M HAPPY TO SPEAK WITH ANY ONE OF YOU ABOUT IT.
ANYTIME, IF YOU WANT TO, UM, JUST GIVE ME A RING.
I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT SOME OF THE TOOLS THAT WE BE EVEN WHITE LABEL THEM.
AND WE USE THEM, UM, TO REACH COMMUNITIES.
TH TH THEY ACTUALLY, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO IS USE THEM.
YOU CAN HAVE PEOPLE TAKE SURVEYS ON THEIR PHONES, WHICH W WHAT WE KNOW, EVEN IF SOMEBODY DOESN'T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS, THEY HAVE, MOST OF THEM HAVE.
THEY THINK STATISTICALLY LAST ONE I SAW WAS LIKE 94% OF THE POPULATION HAS A SMARTPHONE OR A SMART DEVICE, BUT THAT'S THE NEW TECHNOLOGY.
AND THAT'S HOW THEY'RE REACHING PEOPLE ON THESE DEVICES.
AND YOU CAN INCENTIVIZE PEOPLE.
WE'RE TAKING THESE SURVEYS BY GIVING THEM EXTRA GAINING POINTS OR WHATEVER IT IS THAT WHATEVER APP THEY HAPPEN TO BE ON, ON THEIR PHONE.
BUT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF WAYS THAT YOU CAN, UM, DO THIS OUTREACH.
AND I KNOW THAT I'M, I KNOW THAT YOU ALL ARE TRYING, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE HOW GOOD DIFFICULTY IT IS, UM, HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO GET PEOPLE TO RESPOND TO THESE.
UM, AND, UH, I JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I DO APPRECIATE YOUR WORK, AND I'M HAPPY TO SPEAK WITH ANYONE OF YOU AT ANY TIME ABOUT, UH, SOME OF THE TOOLS THAT WE USE AT MY FIRM.
UM, AND THE ONLY OTHER THING I DO WANT TO SAY IS JUST TO, WHAT, WHAT, AFTER A BOARD MEMBER FALSE PRESENTATION WAS, UM, THAT WE, UM, WE DO, I APPRECIATE DIRECTOR AILING MCNEELY, BECAUSE IT REALLY IS KIND OF FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE TO SEE HERE'S WHAT THE SURVEY RESULTS WERE THAT WE SAW FROM HER PRESENTATION.
AND, AND THIS IS THE PRESENTATION WE GOT AND HOW IT WENT FROM THAT TO WHAT WAS PRESENTED TO US.
SO I THINK GETTING SOME CLEAR UP TO HIM THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL.
I KNOW YOU HAVE A REALLY TOUGH JOB AND IT'S, UM, AND YOU CERTAINLY HAVE A LOT OF EXPERTISE AND HAS BEEN REALLY INFORMATIVE AND HELPFUL.
UM, OKAY, SO LET'S MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM, WHICH IS PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION
[B.3. Presentation and discussion related to the community engagement and outreach efforts for the Zilker Metropolitan Park Vision Plan.]
RELATED TO THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH EFFORTS FOR THE ZILKER METROPOLITAN PARK VISION PLAN.AND I THINK WE HAVE, UM, GREG MONTES AND JUSTIN SNYDER, MADAM CHAIR, WE DO HAVE ONE, UH, I'M SORRY, GO AHEAD WITH OUR, WHAT PUBLIC MEMBER, UH, FOR VERSUS FOR COMMUNITY PUBLIC MEMBER COMMUNICATION.
I, ANGELA RICHTER FOR AUSTIN PARKS FOUNDATION.
Y'ALL UM, SO I WANTED TO KIND OF CONTINUE TO SHARE, UM, A BIT MORE ABOUT THE EFFORTS OF THE ZILKER COLLECTIVE
[03:05:01]
IMPACT GROUP.THAT'S A WORKING TITLE, UM, AND HOW WE'VE ENGAGED IN THE PROCESS.
UM, JUST TO GET YOU A BETTER IDEA OF WHO THESE GROUPS ARE.
SOME OF THE 17 ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDE THE GIRL SCOUTS OF CENTRAL TEXAS, THE AUSTIN SUNSHINE CAMPS, THIS LOOK LOOKER HILLSIDE THEATER, THE FRIENDS OF THE AUSTIN NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER, AND ALSO THE BOTANICAL GARDEN, UM, THE SCULPTURE GARDEN, AND OBVIOUSLY MANY MORE CAUSE THAT'S NOT 17 GROUPS.
UM, THE GROUP IS FOR SORRY, FOCUSED ON TWO PARALLEL PATHS.
SO FIRST WE ARE PROVIDING INPUT TO THIS LOOK OR VISION PLAN PROCESS, UM, BY UTILIZING THESE GROUPS, UNIQUE EXPERIENCES, UM, PROVIDING TH TH THAT LIKE VISITOR EXPERIENCE IN THE PARK, UM, BECAUSE ALL OF THOSE GROUPS KNOW HOW THOSE SITES ARE UTILIZED, WHO VISITS, HOW THEY GET THERE, UM, HOW MANY PEOPLE THEY SEE AND WHAT THEIR CHALLENGES ARE.
UM, WE DO APPRECIATE THE SIGNIFICANT EFFORT THAT'S GONE INTO THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT I HAD HEARD THAT THERE ACTUALLY WASN'T, UM, WASN'T ANY PUBLIC COMMENT TAKEN AT THOSE POP-UPS, WHICH IS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTING BECAUSE I HAD HEARD OF THAT AND THOUGHT, OH, THAT'S GREAT.
THEY'RE PROVIDING THAT THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, BUT ONE OF OUR GROUP'S CORE PRINCIPLES IS THAT ZILKER IS WELCOMING.
UM, ONE AREA WHERE WE HAVE DISCUSSED THAT THE ENGAGEMENT HAS BEEN WEAK, UM, IS BASICALLY REACHING OUT TO THE FOLKS THAT OPERATE IN THE PARK TO LEARN HOW THEIR VISITORS USE THE SPACE, UM, AND SORT OF VETTING SOME OF THESE NEW IDEAS FOR THE PARK.
UM, IN MANY CASES, THESE GROUPS HAVE HEARD ABOUT BIG CHANGES TO THEIR LOCATIONS FIRST IN ONE OF THESE LARGER PUBLIC MEETINGS.
AND SO SOME EXAMPLES OF THAT ARE REPURPOSING THE GIRL SCOUT CABIN.
THEY HEARD THAT AND HAD NO IDEA THAT THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS ON THE TABLE.
UM, SAME THING WITH MOVING THE HILLSIDE THEATER OR, UM, MOVING THE BOATING LOCATION.
UM, THERE WAS A PROPOSAL TO PUT A ROAD THROUGH THE NATURE AND SCIENCE CENTER AND THE NATURE AND SCIENCE THAT OUR FOLKS SAID THAT WOULD BE, UM, VERY DANGEROUS FOR OUR PRESCHOOLERS THAT ARE THERE.
AND SO JUST, UM, WE THINK MAYBE BEFORE MAKING SOME OF THESE THINGS PUBLIC, ACTUALLY HEARING FROM THE FOLKS THAT OPERATE THOSE SPACES, UM, LET'S SEE.
SO THE SECOND TRACK THAT THE GROUP IS WORKING ON IS THAT PROFESSIONAL FACILITATORS ARE WALKING US THROUGH A PROCESS TO DETERMINE A LASTING STRUCTURE FOR AN UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION.
I'M USING THAT TERM LOOSELY BECAUSE WE DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT IT'S GOING TO BE.
UM, BUT THE GOAL IS TO HELP ALL OF THESE GROUPS WORK BETTER TOGETHER, UM, ON PARK NEEDS, AND THEN TO ALSO IMPLEMENT THE VISION PLAN.
SO WHATEVER THE COMMUNITY DECIDES, UM, WILL COME FORWARD, AUSTIN PARKS, FOUNDATION, BARTON SPRINGS CONSERVANCY, AND THE OTHER GROUPS IN OUR COLLECTIVE HAVE PUT SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT INTO ZILKER IN THE PAST.
AND WE ALL ARE EXCITED TO CONTINUE TO DO SO INTO THE FUTURE.
UM, DID WE HAVE GREG MONTEZ AND, UH, JUSTIN SNYDER? NO.
DO YOU MEAN BOARD MEMBERS? UM, FRAGMENTED PART PLANNING, UM, EXCUSE ME.
WELL, YOU KNOW, I'M SERVING AS THE PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE ZOCOR VISION PLANNING EFFORT.
UM, AS YOU MENTIONED, CHAIR, JUSTIN SNYDER, WHO YOU ALREADY OBVIOUSLY MET, UH, WITH PARK COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT UNIT, UM, WILL BE, UH, ASSISTING ME TONIGHT TO BRIEF YOU ON, UM, OUR PLANNING PROCESS, BUT ALSO OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND OUTREACH EFFORTS THUS FAR.
UM, WE OBVIOUSLY WILL BE BOTH AVAILABLE AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION FOR ANY, UM, QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
UM, ARE YOU ABLE TO PULL UP THE PRESENTATION AT ALL? I DON'T SEE IT ON THE SCREEN.
IF YOU CAN, UM, ACTUALLY GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
[03:10:01]
UPDATING YOU ON WHERE WE ARE IN THE PLANNING PROCESS.JUSTIN WILL OBVIOUSLY BE TAKING OVER AND DISCUSSING SOME OF THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS AND WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED UP TO THIS POINT AND HOW WE'VE ALTERED.
I THINK WE DON'T HAVE A QUORUM RIGHT NOW.
WE NEED SIX PEOPLE ON THE DIOCESE, UM, TO PROCEED.
SO WE'LL JUST PAUSE FOR A SEC.
UM, THE NUMBER, I GUESS MY UM, SO THAT'S MY BIG CHALLENGE.
, YOU KNOW WHAT? I WAS GOING TO BRING THAT PART OF THE ENGAGEMENT.
WHAT I SEE THAT WASN'T WELL, I THINK I MOVE THAT.
ONE SECOND, BECAUSE I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE, UM, 30 MINUTES FOR NINE.
WELL, AND I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S KIND OF IT LIKE I'M, I DON'T KNOW.
I ALL RIGHT, SO HERE YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, IS THAT WHAT THIS IS RIGHT NOW? WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS THAT THIS, UM, ME AND HIM IS THAT WE, UM, WE HAVE 45 MINUTES LEFT OR LESS THAN 45 MINUTES.
AND WE, I DON'T THINK ANYBODY WANTS TO STAY PAST 10 O'CLOCK TONIGHT.
AND THIS ITEM IS GOING TO OBVIOUSLY GENERATE A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION.
SO WE'RE JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE BEST WAY TO, UM, TO MANAGE THAT, BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO ENOUGH PEOPLE HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT IT, AND I DON'T WANT TO STOP THEM FROM YOU KNOW, UM, DOING WITH THE INPUT THAT THEY WANT TO PROVIDE OR THE QUESTIONS THAT THEY DO HAVE.
SO I, UM, I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE BEST WAY TO MOVE FORWARD.
I DON'T, I HATE TO POSTPONE IT AGAIN.
I DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO JUST LISTEN TO IT AND WE COULD COME BACK.
AND, UM, HOW LONG DO YOU THINK YOUR, UM, PRESENTATION WILL LAST BECAUSE OF THE TIME CONSTRAINTS A CHAIR? I CAN SHORTEN MY PIECE.
UM, I THINK THE FOCUS OF THIS PRESENTATION WAS REALLY ABOUT SOME OF THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DATA THAT WE INGESTED WAS GOING TO SPEAK TO THIS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, THE DATA THAT WE'VE COLLECTED THUS FAR AND HOW WE'RE USING IT.
BUT I WAS GOING TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE AS TO WHERE WE ARE ON THE PROJECT SCHEDULE.
I THINK MOST OF YOU HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN MANY OF OUR ZILKER MEETINGS.
IT'S NOTHING THAT YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW, SO I CAN KEEP THAT VERY BRIEF.
UM, OR IF YOU PREFER FOR THE SAKE OF TIME, I'M GOING TO THE PUBLIC OR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ASPECT OF THE PRESENTATION, IF YOU, LIKE, I THINK THAT CONCERN IS, IS IT'S ZILKER PARK.
IT'S OBVIOUSLY A REALLY IMPORTANT PART THAT EVERYBODY AT THIS TABLE PROBABLY WANTS TO LEARN AS MUCH AS THEY CAN ABOUT AND, AND KEEP GROWING AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE.
SO I DON'T WANT TO CUT OUT THE INFORMATION THAT WE MIGHT BE PROVIDED TONIGHT BECAUSE, UM, WE'RE ALL HERE, WE'RE VOLUNTEERS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE BEST WAY TO, UM, AND TO BE HONEST, AT NINE 20, I'M ALWAYS A LITTLE TIRED.
SO I'M NOT, IF IT WAS SEVEN 30 IN THE MORNING, I'M A LITTLE BIT BETTER COMING UP WITH SOLUTIONS.
SO, UM, SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, I, I THINK YOU'LL HAVE THE PRESENTATION SO I CAN DO MY PART IN FIVE MINUTES AND,
[03:15:01]
UH, DIDN'T SAVE TIME.WELL, I THINK THAT THERE'S CERTAIN BOARD MEMBERS THAT WANT TO HEAR, WANT TO GET THE FULL PRESENTATION, SO I DON'T WANT TO DEPRIVE THEM OF THAT.
WELL, IS THERE, IS THERE ANYBODY WANTING TO GET THE FULL PRESENTATION? IS EVERYBODY FINE WITH GETTING AN ABBREVIATED VERSION? ANYBODY WANT THE FULL, I WOULD JUST SAY LIKE, WE MIGHT NEED TO RESERVE QUESTIONS, RIGHT.
LET'S DO THE READING, A BLUE ABBREVIATED VERSION.
WE'LL GET AS MANY QUESTIONS AS WE CAN END.
AND THEN WE'LL IF NECESSARY, WE MAY ASK ONE OF YOU TO COME BACK AND TAKE SOME MORE QUESTIONS IF THAT'S NOT TOO MUCH TO ASK.
ALL STOP WASTING EVERYBODY'S TIME.
WELL WITH THAT DIRECTION, UM, I, I KNOW THAT THE DMP BRING THAT PRESENTATION BACK UP.
UM, I THINK WE WERE GOING TO MOVE TO AND UPDATING WHAT WE WERE GOING TO COVER TONIGHT.
I THINK YOU ALREADY UNDERSTAND THAT.
UM, I THINK THE NEXT SLIDE WAS GOING TO BE THE PROJECT SCHEDULE THAT I WAS GOING TO SPEND SOME TIME ON.
I SOUNDS LIKE WE DON'T NEED TO DO THAT.
I THINK MOST OF YOU ARE PROBABLY FAMILIAR WITH WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS.
I THINK THAT IF WE NEED TO SPEND THE BULK OF THE TIME ON THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, WE CAN MOVE TO THAT SLIDE, WHICH I THINK IS LIKE FOUR.
IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, I THINK THAT'S SLIDE TWO, ONE SECOND.
SO WHILE WE'RE TALKING, WHILE WE'RE LOOKING FOR THAT, I CAN, UM, WE JUST HAD COMMUNITY MEETING, NUMBER FOUR, HELD VIRTUALLY WE HAD 177, UM, AT ONE POINT ON ZOOM WITH AN ADDITIONAL 27 WHO WATCHED AT LEAST ONE MINUTE ON FACEBOOK.
UM, AND THAT'S HOW THEY, THEY SHARE THE DATA STATISTICS.
AND THEN WE HAVE A SURVEY THAT IS AVAILABLE NOW THAT SHOWS THE THREE, UH, PLAN CONCEPTS.
SO WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PRESENT MUCH ON THAT.
SO WE'RE GOING TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SO FAR PRIOR TO THAT.
UM, AND, UM, I'LL JUMP INTO AS SOON AS WE CAN ABOUT, SORRY.
THERE'S SOME LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH THE TONIGHT.
IS IT OKAY IF I START SPEAKING JUST, UH, WHILE WE WAIT FOR THE PHONE, PLEASE.
I JUST WANT TO CONFIRM THAT THAT'S OKAY.
UM, SO THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SO FAR, THIS IS AN OVERVIEW PAGE THAT WE'LL GET TO EVENTUALLY.
AND AT THE TOP IT SAYS PUBLIC PARTICIPATION LEVEL INSULTS.
AND THIS GOES BACK TO WHAT MARTY OWEN WAS SAYING ON HOW WE PLAN.
AND SOME OF THE THINGS WE DECIDE FIRST, AS WE ARTICULATE WHO ARE THE DECISION-MAKERS AND ON A METROPOLITAN PARK CITY COUNCIL, AND THEN WHAT LEVEL OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION OVERALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS WILL HAVE.
AND THE CONSULTANT LEVEL ESSENTIALLY SAYS, WE ARE GOING TO LISTEN TO, UM, EVERYTHING.
AND THEN WE'LL, WE'LL LET YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR INPUT HAS INFLUENCED THE DECISIONS.
UM, AND SO THAT'S, UH, TO ACHIEVE THAT, WE USE MULTIPLE METHODS, UM, OF BOTH VIRTUAL IN-PERSON AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
AND WE KNOW THAT, UH, VARIOUS LOCATIONS AND TIMES HELPS US TO REACH OUT.
UH, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THERE IS SINCE COVID, UH, MORE DEPENDENCE ON VIRTUAL MEETINGS AND SURVEYS THAN BEFORE, IF WE CAN GO TO SLIDE FOUR AND THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
UM, SO THIS IS JUST A SNAPSHOT OF WHAT'S HAPPENED SO FAR ON THE LEFT IS SOME OF THE NUMBERS FROM THE MEETINGS AND THE SURVEYS.
UM, AND THEN ON THE RIGHT IS SOME OF THE IN-PERSON, UH, AND DIRECTED OPPORTUNITIES.
AND, UM, YOU SEE THE ADDITIONAL PART POP-UPS AND IN-PERSON OUTREACH 50 70 EVENTS, UH, IN ADDITION TO THE 23 POP-UP, UH, SERIES, THOSE WERE IN-PERSON, UM, EVENTS IN WHICH WE WENT TO LOCATIONS WHERE THEY WERE EITHER AT DELKOR OR THEY WERE, UM, UH, IN, IN SOME OF OUR STRATEGICALLY IDENTIFIED PLACES, UM, SUCH AS, UH, DISTRICT ONE TO FOUR, AS WELL AS DISTRICT SIX, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE TRYING TO GET IN CONNECT TO PEOPLE.
UM, AND, UM, I WANT TO JUST CLARIFY, YOU KNOW,
[03:20:01]
WE WERE ASKED BY A COMMUNITY MEMBER FOR SOME PUBLIC INFORMATION ON COMMENTS THAT WERE RECEIVED AND WE DIRECTED THEM TO THE SURVEYS.I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR THAT WE WEREN'T SAYING, OH, WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU GO ONLINE AND FILL THE SURVEY.
WELL, WE TOLD PEOPLE AND WE HAD CONVERSATIONS AND WE SAID, UM, WE ALWAYS HAD PAPER SURVEYS, UM, AS WELL AS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE SURVEYS ON THE PHONE.
AND WE SAID, WE'RE HERE TO TALK, WE'RE HERE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
WE WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY.
IT'S A COMPLICATED SURVEY ON A COMPLEX PART, AND IT'S AN EXTENSION OF THE MEETING.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE'VE DONE A LOT OF IN COVID TIMES IS THE QUESTIONS THAT ARE PRESENTED IN THE MEETINGS.
WE WANT TO EXTEND THOSE SO THAT PEOPLE WHO AREN'T ABLE TO MAKE THAT SPECIFIC TIME OR WHO WATCHED THE VIDEO LATER CAN STILL RESPOND TO THOSE QUESTIONS.
AND I THINK WE ALL KNOW THAT THE JOKER IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX, UM, PART PROJECTS PROBABLY AROUND, UM, AND, AND POSSIBLE.
AND, UM, SO THOSE OPPORTUNITIES, UM, I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY THAT WE, WEREN'T NOT TAKING COMMENTS, BUT WE WERE SAYING, IS THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU TO PUT COMMENTS ON THE PAPER SURVEYS.
THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS.
UM, AND SO WHENEVER PEOPLE WOULD, WOULD SPEAK TO US, WE WOULD TAKE THAT AS EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE ASKING THERE.
AND SO FEEL FREE TO, TO WRITE DOWN THOSE COMMENTS AND SHARE THOSE, AND WE WILL TAKE A LOOK AT IT.
AND SO IT JUST, THAT'S ONE POINT OF CLARIFICATION.
AND THEN JUST TO REALLY COMMEND, UM, MY TEAM, UH, SOME OF MY TEAM MEMBERS IN, IN DISTRICT ONE OR DISTRICT FOUR, AND, UM, TO BE ABLE TO GO INTO THEIR COMMUNITIES, WE HAD, UH, THROUGH THIS PROCESS, SPANISH SPEAKING, UM, UH, MANDARIN SPEAKING EVENTS AND, UH, EVEN, UM, USING IT FOR SOME, UH, UM, ARABIC AS WELL AS URDU WHEN, WHEN POSSIBLE.
SO WE ARE DOING OUR BEST TO CONNECT TO GROUPS THAT, THAT AREN'T, UM, FEELING ENGAGED OR DON'T FEEL ENGAGED, OR MAY NOT TYPICALLY ATTEND, UH, OR GO TO ZILKER.
WE ALSO HEARD SOME COMMENTS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, DON'T JUST SET UP A TABLE AT DELKOR, BUT, YOU KNOW, GO THROUGH.
AND SO MY TEAM MEMBER JUST ON, UH, WHEN WAS THAT GREG WEDNESDAY DID THREE MILES THROUGHOUT THE PARK, THREE MILES IN THE PARK.
AND THAT WAS A ABOUT STANDARD FOR, FOR HIM.
SO, UM, BUT WE CAN GO AHEAD AND JUMP INTO, BECAUSE I'M ALREADY CUTTING INTO MY, UH, TIME, MY ABBREVIATED VERSION.
UM, AND SO THIS IS JUST THE OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY SURVEY NUMBER FOUR, UM, AND DESPITE A VERY COMPLICATED, COMPLEX QUESTIONS, UM, WE HAD A SIGNIFICANT, UH, OVERALL PARTICIPATION.
UM, AND, UH, THIS IS, UH, JUST A LITTLE BREAKDOWN, SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS, UM, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS YOU'LL NOTICE, UM, DESPITE THE UNDER 25 GROUP, WHICH IS TYPICALLY 18 AND UNDER, AS WELL AS COLLEGE AGE, UM, PRETTY WELL SPREAD ON AGE DEMOGRAPHICS, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT THESE OTHER AREAS ARE, UM, UH, OBVIOUSLY PLACES WHERE WE NEED TO IMPROVE AND CONNECT, UM, BETTER WITH OTHER COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
UM, THIS IS ONE OF THE WAYS THAT I MENTIONED DURING THE SURVEY PRESENTATION THAT WE LOOK AT, UM, DIFFERENT CONVERSATIONS.
SO, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS I'M ALSO LOOKING@ANDTRYINGTOUNDERSTANDWITHTHEPUBLICINPUT.COM IS IT GAVE US A LARGE NUMBER, BUT REALLY THOSE WHO COMPLETED ALL OF THE QUESTIONS WAS ABOUT, UM, I DUNNO, 55% OF THAT.
SO I'M TRYING TO IDENTIFY THAT.
SO I WANT TO BE HONEST AND NOT ATTEMPT TO MISLEAD YOU, THAT WE TAKE THE NUMBER THAT PUBLIC INPUT GIVES US, BUT SOME OF THE RESPONSES ARE DIFFERENT, UM, WITH SOME OF THESE, BUT, BUT HERE'S ONE EXAMPLE OF HOW WE ARE LOOKING AT SURVEYS, UM, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE DON'T HAVE REPRESENTATION, OR EVEN WHEN WE DO HAVE REPRESENTATION, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH IT'S 52% FEMALE AND 48% WHO IDENTIFY AS MALE OR NON-BINARY, OR, UM, DIDN'T RESPOND, WE STILL WANT TO LOOK AT THOSE RESULTS BECAUSE WE'RE LOOKING FOR DIFFERENCES AND WE'RE TRYING TO IDENTIFY WHERE RESPONSES MIGHT BE DIFFERENT.
SO YOU CAN SEE HERE THE MAIN ONE, ADDITIONAL UNPAID TRAILS THROUGH PART THAT'S FAIRLY CONSISTENT, BUT THEN THE NUMBER TWO, UM, RESPONSE, UM, SHIFTS A LITTLE BIT FOR A LEAVE IT AS IT IS OVERALL TO, UM, ADDITIONAL PAVE SIDEWALKS THROUGHOUT THE PARK.
UM, WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT JUST THAT, UH, PEOPLE IDENTIFY AS BIO CLOCK, NEXT SLIDE.
UM, AND THEN THIS IS JUST OTHER WAYS WE'RE GOING THROUGH AND LOOKING AT THE DATA WE KNOW WITH THE SO MANY NEIGHBORS IN THE CITY CENTER THAT WE'RE GOING TO GET A LOT OF DISTRICT FIVE AND DISTRICT NINE AND DISTRICT 10 AND THAT'S REFLECTED.
UM, SO WE ALSO WANT TO LOOK AT RESPONSES, UM, EVEN WHEN IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, 2% IN DISTRICT SIX OR 4% IN DISTRICT FOUR, OR TO EXAMINE
[03:25:01]
THAT DATA MORE CLOSELY, AS WELL AS, UH, INCOME IN AGE, NEXT SLIDE.UM, THE COMMUNITY FIVE IS AVAILABLE.
UM, WE ARE ALSO CONNECTING ONE OF THE OTHER TOOLS WE USE IS TO HAVE MORE FOCUSED CONVERSATIONS AROUND, UM, UH, QUESTIONS AROUND EQUITY AND INCLUSION.
AND SO WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH, UM, REACHING OUT TO COMMUNITY LEADERS, UM, ACROSS THE CITY TO INVITE THEM, TO PARTICIPATE IN CONVERSATIONS.
AND, UM, HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET SOME GOOD INFORMATION IN THAT PROCESS.
AND THEN I THINK THAT IS THE PRESENTATION.
AND NOW WE'RE READY FOR QUESTIONS.
I APPRECIATE YOUR, UM, YOU'RE GIVING US THE ABBREVIATED, UM, FORM.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND, AND START WITH, UM, LET'S SEE, BOARD MEMBER, UM, FALSE.
WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO AHEAD AND START SINCE I KNOW YOU'LL HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, UM SURE.
UM, I RAISED THE ISSUE EARLIER ABOUT THE POP-UPS AND I WANT TO BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT EXACTLY WHAT INFORMATION WAS COLLECTED AND IS AVAILABLE TO THE STAFF AND TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, W DID YOU GET CONTACT INFORMATION FOR PEOPLE THAT YOU SPOKE WITH AT THE POP-UPS? UM, WE DON'T TYPICALLY ASK FOR CONTACT INFORMATION.
ONE OF THE THINGS WE, SORRY, THAT'S NOT TRUE.
WE HAVE A SIGNUP FORM THAT WE DO HAVE, AND SO IF PEOPLE SIGN UP, WE THEN PUT THAT INTO THE, THE, UH, EMAIL DISTRIBUTION LIST.
UM, WE KEEP THAT SEPARATE FROM ANY SURVEY DATA, BECAUSE WE FIND THAT THAT, UM, SOMETIMES MAKES PEOPLE FEEL A LITTLE LESS COMFORTABLE IF THEIR ANSWERS CAN BE TRACKED TO THEIR NAME.
BUT WE DO, WE DO HAVE, UM, SOME SIGN-UP SHEETS AND THAT INFORMATION, ONCE IT'S ENTERED INTO THE EMAIL DISTRIBUTION LIST, WE DON'T TYPICALLY HANG ON TO THAT BECAUSE IT IS A PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION.
DID YOU ASK PEOPLE, DID YOU, YOU KNOW, SORT OF JUST IN THE CONVERSATION THAT YOU'RE HAVING ASKED THEM ANY SPECIFIC, ANYTHING SPECIFIC YOU COULD WRITE DOWN THAT WE COULD LOOK BACK AT AND SAY, OH, HERE'S A THEME THAT EMERGED FROM THIS PARTICULAR POP UP.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE JUST HAD AN INDEX CARD AND THEY JUST WROTE DOWN LIKE, WELL, HERE'S, WHAT'S YOUR TOP PRIORITY? OR WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM? AND JUST ANYTHING, YOU KNOW, LIKE THAT WE COULD LOOK AT AND KNOW THAT THAT INFORMATION CAME FROM THAT PARTICULAR AREA THAT YOU VISITED? UM, NO, WE DON'T, UM, TYPICALLY WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN.
SO, UM, AT THE, UM, THE ZILKER TREE, UM, WHEN THE HOLIDAY TREE, WE WERE THERE FOR THE LIGHTING, UM, PEOPLE WOULD COME BY AND WE WOULD SAY, HEY, DO YOU COME TO ZILKER OFTEN? UM, DID YOU KNOW, THERE'S A ZILKER PARK, VISION PLANNING PROCESS HAPPENING, UM, AND PEOPLE WOULD, WOULD, YOU KNOW, SAY, OH YEAH.
AND, UM, SOMEBODY SAID, OH YEAH, WE NEED SOME BASKETBALL COURTS HERE.
AND I SAID, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE DOING A SURVEY RIGHT NOW.
AND WE'D LOVE FOR YOU TO SHARE THAT INFORMATION, UM, WITH THE TEAM.
AND SO THANK YOU THAT, THAT EXPLAINS THE QUESTION, BUT I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, I'VE DONE THE SURVEYS, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE LONG, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF DROP-OFF, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY'RE COMPLICATED, THERE'S A LOT OF PLANNERS SPEAK.
IS, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT'S JUST LIKE A LITTLE BIT MORE LOW TECH, WHICH IS KIND OF WHAT WAS DESCRIBED IN THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION AS THE IDEAL WAY TO GET FEEDBACK IS TO HAVE A CONVERSATION, WRITE DOWN WHAT THEY SAY.
AND THEN WE JUST KNOW, LIKE, AND ALSO, I MEAN, YOUR EXAMPLE, I WOULD SAY PEOPLE THAT CAME TO THE ZILKER TREE LIGHTING IS ALSO, YOU KNOW, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW, BUT NOT KIND OF THE UNDERREPRESENTED COMMUNITIES WE'RE MOST INTERESTED IN, ESPECIALLY THAT MAYBE HAVE A HARDER TIME GETTING TO THE PARK.
UM, BUT SO THAT, THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET CLEAR CLARITY ON IS WHAT YOU DO HAVE FROM THE POP-UPS.
AND THEN ALSO WITHIN THAT, YOU KNOW, IF THEY GO ONLINE AND TAKE THE SURVEY, I GUESS YOU HAVE DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION THAT WAS COLLECTED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SURVEY, BUT YOU DO, YOU KNOW, FROM THE, YOU KNOW, LET'S SAY FROM THE DOVE SPRINGS, POP-UP HOW MANY PEOPLE TOOK THE SURVEY THAT LEARNED ABOUT IT THERE, DO YOU HAVE ANY WAY OF, WE DO.
UM, IT'S JUST A PART OF OUR, UM, UH, PROCESS FOR THE NEW FISCAL YEAR.
WE ARE TRACKING, UM, UH, UH, NUMBERS BETTER, UM, THAN WE WERE PREVIOUSLY IN.
PART OF THAT WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THESE POP UPS, WE'RE TRYING TO, TO GO IN THERE AND TRYING TO CONNECT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WITH, WITH GETTING PEOPLE
[03:30:01]
ENGAGED IN THE PROCESS.SO THERE WAS A REAL CHALLENGE AND, AND I, UM, AM HAPPY TO SHARE THAT THIS SURVEY WAS NOT MY FAVORITE ONE.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT A FAVORITE SURVEY WOULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE FOR ME, BUT, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE TEAM REALLY WANTED TO FOCUS ON, I GUESS YOU COULD SAY WAS MAXIMIZING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR, UM, PEOPLE TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON ALL OF THESE COMPLICATED QUESTIONS.
SO THE RESULT OF THAT WAS THAT WE HAD A VERY COMPLICATED SURVEY.
SO ONE OF OUR ROLES AS THE SURVEY AT THE POP-UP WAS TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE WAS TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS AND HELP GUIDE THEM THROUGH, OH, WHAT DOES ECOLOGICAL UPLIFT MEAN? LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT RIGHT HERE, WHAT THAT IS.
AND SO THAT WAS ONE OF THE KEY ROLES WAS INFORMATIVE APPROACH SO THAT THEY COULD FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE RESPONDING.
AND WE ALWAYS SAID, YOU KNOW, IT'S A COMPLICATED SURVEY ANSWER WHAT YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE ANSWERING, AND THAT IS GOING TO HELP US.
AND THERE WAS AN ABRIDGED VERSION OF THAT SURVEY AS WELL, BECAUSE WE KNEW THAT SOME PEOPLE MAY, I'M NOT ONE TO SPEND THE TIME, UH, ANSWERING QUESTIONS THAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO OUR BEST WITH THE CONSULTANT TEAM TO INFORM THE, THE PARTICIPANTS IN OUR SURVEY.
SO WE, WE, WE CERTAINLY DIDN'T WANT TO, UM, LAWS OVER OR LEAVE OUT ANY INFORMATION THAT COULD PROVIDE THE PARTICIPANT TO ANSWER THE QUESTION IN AN INFORMED WAY.
NOW, ARE WE GOING TO MAYBE LOSE SOME PEOPLE BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE THINGS YOU BROUGHT UP OF FINER JARGON OR SOME TECHNICAL, UH, TERMINOLOGY THAT MIGHT BE ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, ECO RESTORATION AND THINGS OF THAT SORT, YOU, THAT'S PROBABLY SOMETHING THAT WILL HAPPEN, BUT WE FELT LIKE WE, IT WAS OUR, OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR OBLIGATION TO HAVE TO SHARE AS MUCH INFORMATION WITH FOLKS THAT THEY WERE BEST INFORMED TO, TO ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS, IF THEY FELT THEY DIDN'T WANT TO, THEY COULD SKIP THAT.
WE'LL GO TO THE ABRIDGED VERSION OF THE SURVEY.
WELL, LET ME GIVE YOU SOME FEEDBACK ON THAT ONE.
I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'VE NOTICED ABOUT IT IS IT THE WHOLE PROCESS SO FAR, IT ASKS EVERY SINGLE PERSON TO HAVE AN OPINION ON EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF THE PARK.
AND I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY APPROPRIATE AT SOME TIMES IN THE PROCESS, BUT I HAVEN'T FIGURED OUT HOW, YOU KNOW, IF I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN THE AREA AT THE GIRL SCOUT CABIN AND THE MACBETH RECREATION CENTER, AND THERE'S LIKE SOME GREENBELT ACCESS THERE, BUT IT'S REALLY STEEP AND HARD TO GET TO, OR, UM, I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO THERE'S, SO THERE'S LIKE WE HAVE COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST BASED ON THEIR DEMOGRAPHIC AND THEIR LOCATION.
AND THEN THERE'S ALSO PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN SPECIFIC THINGS.
BUT AS YOU JUST MENTIONED, THE SURVEY REALLY REQUIRES YOU ALL OF IT, THE ZOOM MEETINGS TO REQUIRE YOU TO SORT OF HAVE AN OPINION ON EVERY SINGLE ASPECT OF THE PLAN, UM, OR THE PLANS, AND, YOU KNOW, AS OPPOSED TO ALLOWING FOR LIKE, IF YOU WANT TO GIVE US YOUR INPUT ON THIS, THIS PART OF IT, YOU CAN DO THAT.
OR WITHIN THESE ZOOM MEETINGS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO BREAKOUT OPPORTUNITIES.
THERE'S NO, HEY, WE'RE GOING TO GO OVER TO THIS OTHER ROOM AND TALK ABOUT TRANSPORTATION, GET GETTING TO, AND FROM THE PARK, MUCH LESS GETTING TO THE, YOU KNOW, GETTING AROUND INSIDE THE PARK.
SO I WOULD SAY LIKE, JUST SOME FEEDBACK FROM A PERSON THAT'S PARTICIPATED IN THIS, UM, ON THE SURVEY IS, AND THE ZOOMS IS THAT IT'S A VERY BROAD RANGE AND YOU MENTIONED IT YOURSELF.
THERE'S A LOT OF, A LOT OF JARGON.
UM, AND I, YOU KNOW, WHEN PEOPLE NEED TO GET EDUCATED TO PARTICIPATE, BUT IT'S A STEEP CLIMB.
ANOTHER THING IS IN THE DISCUSSION OF THE ALTERNATIVES, I WOULD OFFER THIS AS FEEDBACK, ESPECIALLY AT THE LAST ZOOM MEETING.
IT'S SORT OF LIKE WE WERE LOOKING AT PUTTING THE HILLSIDE THEATER OVER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GREAT LAWN AT THE ROCK GARDEN.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? AND THERE WAS NO, UM, NO DISCUSSION OF TRADE-OFFS, HERE'S WHY THIS IS A GOOD THING.
HERE'S WHY THIS IS A BAD THING.
HERE'S WHAT THIS COULD ACCOMPLISH.
HERE'S WHAT WE'VE HEARD IS A PROBLEM WITH THE ZILKER THEATER.
AND HERE'S WHAT, WHY THIS SOLUTION IS BEING PRESENTED.
SO I FOUND IT VERY DIFFICULT TO WEIGH IN ON A LOT OF THE ALTERNATIVES AND OPTIONS WITHOUT BEING GIVEN CONTEXT.
AND THE OTHER PART OF THAT IS I AM NOT IN THIS PROCESS LEARNING ABOUT WHAT OTHER PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS AND THE SOLUTIONS ARE.
IT FEELS, YOU KNOW, IT'S, UM, LIKE, SO IF THE TRADE-OFFS WERE EXPLAINED, HERE'S THE PROBLEM WE HEARD ABOUT, AND HERE'S WHY WE'RE SUGGESTING THIS, THAT MIGHT HELP.
AND THAT MIGHT HELP WHAT I BELIEVE.
YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SURE, BUT IN THIS, MIGHT'VE BEEN IN YOUR PRESENTATION, BUT IT'S LIKE A 50% DROP-OFF RATE.
[03:35:01]
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT MEANS PEOPLE GET HALFWAY THROUGH AND QUIT OR HAVE, YOU KNOW, BUT IT'S, IT'S HIGH.UM, ALSO I HOPE YOU CAN DO ENCOURAGE THE CONSULTANTS TO DO SOME MORE FOCUS ON, UM, JUST THE ISSUES OF GETTING TO THE PARK, NOT JUST IN AND AROUND THE PARK AND REALLY FINDING OUT FROM THE POP-UPS AND THE OUTREACH EVENTS, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT THE SOLUTIONS COULD BE.
I THINK A VISION PLAN DOES NOT NEED TO BE THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE PARK.
THIS IS HOW DOES ZILKER PARK WORK IN AUSTIN.
AND I HAVEN'T REALLY SEEN ANY FOCUS ON THAT.
UM, I'M SORRY, I'M TRYING TO GO THROUGH A LOT OF POINTS REALLY QUICKLY.
COULD YOU GO BACK TO THAT? I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO SAY.
UM, IT JUST, THERE'S A LOT OF FOCUS ON HOW TO GET AROUND INSIDE THE PARK, BUT I HAVEN'T LEARNED ANYTHING IN THE PROCESS ABOUT THE, WHAT WE MAY INCLUDE IN THE VISION PLAN THAT WOULD DESCRIBE GETTING TO THE PARK, LIKE WHAT OPTIONS WE HAVE, WHETHER OR NOT THE THINGS, THE CITY OF AUSTIN CONTROLS, ARE THERE THINGS, CAPITAL METRO CONTROLS, BUT WHAT IS OUR VISION FOR ACCESS TO THE PARK? IS IT FREE SHUTTLES? IS IT MORE BUS ROUTES? IS IT MORE, MORE COMPLEX? UM, I'VE HEARD, I DO THINK I HEARD A MENTION ABOUT LIKE A CAR SHARE AREA, LIKE A PICKUP POINT.
SO I THINK THAT WOULD BE GREAT, BUT THAT'S NOT THAT ACCESSIBLE FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE STILL.
THAT'S ACTUALLY THE ONE AREA I THOUGHT THEY DID A DECENT JOB ON GETTING TO THE PARK.
WELL, TALKING ABOUT BREAKING IT DOWN, WHEN CERTAIN THINGS WERE DONE TO TRANSIT, THEN YOU WOULD TAKE OUT PARKING IN AND IF HE HAD THE SHUTTLE, YOU WOULD TAKE OUT PARKING.
SO I, I, I THOUGHT THAT WAS ACTUALLY OKAY.
WELL, WHAT'S THE BOARD MEMBERS.
I JUST, I BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE A LOT OF REALLY GREAT FEEDBACK AND SOME REALLY GREAT QUESTIONS.
I WANT TO THINK ABOUT IF WE BROUGHT THIS BACK AGAIN, RIGHT.
THAT WE MIGHT BE, UM, IT MIGHT BE ADVANTAGEOUS FOR US TO HAVE THE CONSULTANT HERE BECAUSE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, RIGHT.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, WE, WE PAID A CONSULTANT TO HELP US WITH, TO DO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
AND THE FOLKS THAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN TODAY ARE SUPPLEMENTING WHAT THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, UM, PROVIDED.
AND CERTAINLY WE CAN TAKE THAT INFORMATION BACK TO OUR CONSULTANT, BUT I'M JUST WONDERING IF SOME OF THIS CONVERSATION MIGHT NOT BE GOOD FOR THEM TO HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK ALSO BECAUSE IT MIGHT BE, UH, EVEN MORE IMPACTFUL FOR US TO IMPROVE UPON OUR PROCESS, NOT JUST FOR OUR OWN STAFF TO HEAR IT, BUT FOR OUR CONSULTANT TEAM TO REALLY DIGEST WHAT IT IS THAT YOU'RE SAYING, AND THEN INCORPORATE IT INTO THEIR PROCESS.
IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE WE'RE GOING TO MAKE IT THROUGH TONIGHT.
SO IF WE BRING IT BACK, I'M WONDERING IF THAT'S AN OPTION OR SOMETHING THAT THIS BOARD WOULD WANT TO HAVE HAPPEN.
AND KIMBERLY, UM, I MIGHT, I MADE IT, I MAKE A SUGGESTION TO, UM, THE BATH AND THE CONSULTANT TEAM HAVE MET SEVERAL TIMES WITH THE WORKING GROUP, FROM THIS PARK'S BOARD, FOUR MEMBERS.
UM, WE ARE TO HAVE TO COORDINATE ANOTHER MEETING BEING THAT WE JUST HAD OUR WORK COMMUNITY MEETING.
SO IF WE COULD MAYBE CONVENED THAT MEETING SOME OF THEIR INPUT, BECAUSE I REALIZED FOR ME PROFILES, UH, TAYLOR AND IN THE PALMA AND CHAIR ARE ALL MEMBERS OF THAT WORKING GROUP THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL BECAUSE THE CONSULTANT IS IN ATTENDANCE WITH THOSE.
AND THEN, THEN WE NEED TO FOLLOW UP AND COME BACK TO THE BOARD OR THE, OF THE WORKING GROUP WANTS TO UPDATE THE BOARD.
SO LET'S DO THIS, LET ME HEAR IT, LET HIM RESPOND TO THAT.
AND SO, AND I THINK, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS I HAD WHISPERED TO THE CHAIR WAS THE NEEDING TO GET TO THE WORKING GROUP.
WE KNOW THAT WE'VE HAD TO WORK IN GROUP MEETINGS.
UM, AND THEN THERE WASN'T ONE BETWEEN THREE AND FOUR.
SO COMMUNITY SESSIONS, THREE AND FOUR, I DON'T BELIEVE UNLESS THERE'S ONE THAT I ABSOLUTELY ACCIDENTALLY MISSED AND BOARD MEMBER FILES, MISS, AND THE CHAIR MISSED.
BUT, UM, SO IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO, TO GET BACK IN, TO PROVIDE THAT FEEDBACK.
AND, UM, MAYBE SOME SUGGESTIONS, I THINK IT'S A GOOD NOTICE ON WHAT SOME OF THOSE CHALLENGES ARE BEFORE FROM THE PREVIOUS AGENDA TO, TO WHAT WAS BRIEFLY DISCUSSED TODAY.
AND SO I BELIEVE THAT THE CONSULTANT OR INNER COMMUNICATIONS TEAM CAN GET TOGETHER BEFORE THAT, AND WE COULD HAVE A REALLY MEANINGFUL WORKING GROUP DISCUSSION.
AND I THINK WE'RE DO, CAN I JUST POINT OUT THOUGH? I WOULD, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A POINT.
I, THE ONLY THING I UNDERSTAND THAT, YES, I CAN GIVE MY FEEDBACK TO THE CONSULTANTS IN THE WORKING GROUP.
HOWEVER, THOSE ARE NOT OPEN MEETINGS TO THE PUBLIC CITIZENS CAN'T COME AND GIVE INPUT.
THEY CAN'T HEAR OUR DISCUSSION.
[03:40:01]
YOU KNOW, GIVE US FEEDBACK AFTER THE MEETINGS.SO I DO THINK THERE'S A LOT OF VALUE IN USING BOARD MEMBER TIME AND GETTING ALL OF THE OTHER BOARD MEMBERS INPUT INTO THE CONVERSATION.
THAT'S JUST ONE AND I, I CAN BRING THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
I GET, I CAN BRING THAT TO THE WORKING GROUP, BUT IT'S NOT THE SAME AS PEOPLE BEING ABLE TO HEAR THE CONVERSATION AND HEAR THE RESPONSES AND, YOU KNOW, THINK ABOUT THAT.
LET'S PLAN TO HAVE THIS COME BACK BEFORE THE, UM, THE BOARD AND THAT WAY, BECAUSE THE OTHER PIECE OF THIS IS THAT WE BOARD MEMBER FAST WAS ABLE TO ASK SOME OF HER QUESTIONS.
AND I KNOW THAT EVERYBODY ELSE PROBABLY HAD QUESTIONS AS WELL.
SO WHY DON'T WE PLAN TO HAVE IT COME BACK AND WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE THAT WORK WITH THE CONSULTANT.
AND WE CAN ALSO, YOU KNOW, HAVE DO THAT WITH SILK OR WORKING GROUP AS WELL.
SO WHAT WE'LL JUST PLAN I'LL, I'LL TALK TO, UH, THE DIRECTOR AND TO TIM AND WE CAN, WE CAN GO FROM THERE.
SO REALLY QUICKLY, I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
I KNOW THIS IS, YOU KNOW, YOU CAME BEFORE AND WE POSTPONE YOU AND NOW YOU'RE BACK AND WE'RE ASKING YOU TO COME BACK AGAIN AND I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU GUYS, UM, BEING HERE.
SO I JUST WITH, I WANTED TO JUST REALLY QUICKLY ITEM FIVE DISCUSSION
[B.5. Discussion and possible action regarding FY22-23 budget process and calendar memo as it relates to Parks and Recreation Board recommendations to the Budget Office.]
AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING FYI 22, 23 BUDGET PROCESS.ALL THIS REALLY IS, IS THAT WE, WE HAVE, UM, THE BUDGET PROCESS AND THE CALENDAR.
BASICALLY, WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION THAT TO COUNCIL BY MARCH 31ST, RIGHT.
THAT'S THE DATE I BELIEVE SO, IS THAT RIGHT? MARCH 21ST.
AND SO THIS YEAR, THIS TIME, LAST YEAR, WE KIND OF WERE, IT ALL CAME TO THE BOARD AND WE KIND OF REALLY QUICKLY TRIED TO PULL IT TOGETHER AND, UM, MAKE THIS A GOOD RECOMMENDATION AS WE COULD THIS TIME, WE ARE LUCKY THAT WE HAVE A FINANCE COMMITTEE.
AND SO THE WAY THE PROCESS IS GOING TO WORK AS THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, WHICH I BELIEVE MEETS ON MONDAY.
AND SO THEY'RE GOING TO START REVIEWING THIS AND COME UP WITH SOME RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE CAN THUS PROVIDE TO THE FULL BOARD AT OUR, OUR MARCH MEETING.
SO IF ANYBODY WHO IS NOT ON THE FINANCE COMMITTEE HAS ANY INPUT OR WANTS TO SHARE ANYTHING, PLEASE, UM, LET CHAIR FAUST KNOW SO WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY'S VOICE.
AND THEN OF COURSE IT WILL BE OPEN FOR DISCUSSION AT THE BOARD MEETING AND EVERYBODY CAN PROVIDE INPUT THEN AS WELL.
BUT THAT THAT'S REALLY ALL THAT WAS ABOUT IT.
BOREDOM OR CHERIF I MIGHT ADD.
SO FOR THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, WE HOPE TO HAVE A PRESENTATION THAT HELPS YOU UNDERSTAND THE PRIORITIES AND THE PROCESS AND HOW WE CAME UP IN THAT DOCUMENT IS THEN FOR YOU TO MASSAGE AND TO CHANGE.
HOWEVER IT IS THAT YOU BELIEVE IS APPROPRIATE.
SO IF WE DID THAT ON THE 28TH AND PRESENTED IT TO YOU, WE KNOW THAT YOU TYPICALLY HAVE ANOTHER FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING IN THE MONTH OF MARCH.
AND WE THOUGHT THAT WOULD GIVE YOU TWO OPPORTUNITIES TO LOOK AT THAT DOCUMENT BEFORE IT CAME BEFORE THE BOARD, AND TO AGAIN, MAKE IT YOUR OWN, MAKE YOUR OWN RECOMMENDATIONS ADVOCATE FOR THE THINGS THAT YOU BELIEVE ARE IMPORTANT.
SO WE'RE HOPING THAT TWO MEETINGS, TWO FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETINGS WILL GIVE YOU AMPLE TIME TO THEN BE ABLE TO PREPARE SOMETHING FOR THE BOARD FOR CONSIDERATION.
AND THEN REALLY QUICKLY, I KNOW THAT BOARD MEMBER COTTON SEIBEL WANTED TO GIVE A VERY QUICK UPDATE ABOUT THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT.
SO IF YOU JUST WANT TO GO AHEAD AND DO THAT, THAT WOULD BE YES.
THAT'S WHERE I WAS THE FIRST PART OF THIS MEETING BECAUSE OKAY.
I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE STRUGGLING.
UM, YOU KNOW WHAT BOARD MEMBER CUT AND, BUT WE'RE NOT ABLE TO HEAR YOU.
YOU'RE UM, WE'RE HAVING INTERNET ISSUES.
UM, YEAH, SO WE HAD MOSTLY THE E THIS EVENING, WE HAD A MEETING AND THAT'S WHERE I WAS EARLIER.
WE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, AND WE'VE ASKED THAT THEY BRING BACK, WE HAD A LOT OF CONDITIONS THAT WERE VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT THE PARKS BOARD HAD ON THE RECOMMENDATION ABOUT THE POD.
UM, SO WE'RE ASKING THAT THAT COMES BACK.
I KNOW, UH, JUST FROM ONGOING DISCUSSIONS, THERE HAVE BEEN SOME CHANGES THAT STARTED ABOUT WITH THE POD.
I KNOW THAT THEY'RE NOW PLANNING TO BRING THE, UM, BUILDING UP TO THE LEVEL OF THE SIDEWALK.
SO ACROSS FROM WHERE THE YETI STORE THEY'RE BUILDING WOULD START THERE.
AND THE CONCERN IS LOOKING AT IT FROM A PARKS ANGLE SPECIFICALLY THAT IT BLOCKS OFF BEING ABLE TO SEE FROM THE BRIDGE INTO THE PARK.
SO IT'S, IT'S LITERALLY BLOCKING ACCESS TO THE PARK FROM THE BRIDGE.
AND THEY HAVE ASKED ABOUT THIS ONE LITTLE SIDEWALK.
I THINK I'VE MENTIONED THAT BEFORE TO YOU TRYING TO GET TO THE THEY'VE MOVED THE GRAND STAIRCASE IN THE MIDDLE.
UM, WE'RE STILL TRYING TO WORK ON THAT, BUT THE, THE LATEST NEWS WAS ABOUT THE RAISING OF THE GRADES, SO THAT THERE'S THIS BIG BUILDING RIGHT THERE NEXT TO THE BRIDGE.
[03:45:01]
UH, HAVE BEEN REACHING OUT, I SPOKE WITH REACHING OUT TO THE RUTGERS GROUPS AND I'M GOING TO REACH OUT TO SOME OF THE BIKING GROUPS, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THIS IS GOING TO CAUSE REAL PROBLEMS FOR THE PUBLIC WHO IS USED TO USING THAT ACCESS TO THE TRAIL.SO THAT THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON RIGHT NOW THAT, UM, ARE OF CONCERN TO PARKS.
AND THAT PROBABLY COULD BE SOME DISCUSSION AS WELL.
REAL QUICK, UM, DIRECTOR MCNEELY, DO YOU WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING FROM THE DIRECTORS REPORT? NO.
EACH OF YOU I'M SURE CAN READ IT AT YOUR LEISURE.
I DO WANT TO LET YOU KNOW, THOUGH ON PAGE SIX IS SOME INFORMATION ABOUT BATHROOMS THAT ARE BEING RENOVATED AT AUSTIN MEMORIAL PARK CEMETERY.
AND SO LET'S JUST MOVE ON THEN, AND LET'S JUST GO TO, UM, UH, FUTURE,
[E. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
UM, AGENDA ITEMS. SO BOARD MEMBER, UH, RINALDI, I WOULD, UM, LIKE TO HAVE THAT FULL PRESENTATION ABOUT THE, UM, WHAT'S GOING ON WITH RESILIENCY OR SUMMER CAMPS.UM, SO LET'S, I CAN, CAN GET WITH CHAIR LEWIS ABOUT THAT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S ON OUR AGENDA FOR A MARCH OR APRIL.
GREAT, THANK YOU, BOARD MEMBER.
UM, MORE, YEAH, I'D LIKE TO, UM, HAVE PARKED STAFF PROVIDE A PRESENTATION AND STATUS UPDATE ON BONE ROAD, DISTRICT PARK, AND HE STOPS AND IT'S CURRENTLY IN UNDEVELOPED PARK, UM, TRYING TO CHANGE THAT.
ALSO LEARN, TRYING TO LEARN HOW A VISION PLANNING FOR THAT MIGHT COINCIDE WITH SOME OTHER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE AREA.
AND I ASKED SECOND, BOTH THOSE PRESENTATIONS, SO, UM, GREAT.
UH, REMEMBER KEY BOARD MEMBER OF BERNARD.
NO, REMEMBER HUDMAN NO A VICE-CHAIR DIPLOMA.
UH, NEXT MONTH I PLAN TO WORK WITH, UH, ONE OF MY BOARD MEMBERS.
I'M HOPING IT'S A LAURA COTTON.
CYBIL ON BRINGING JUST A RECOMMENDATION RELATING TO THE AUSTIN ROWING CLUB.
AND THE EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT CONTRACT UNTIL DEMOLITION OF THE FACILITY IS, IS MADE IN.
WE CAN DECIDE WHO'S GOING TO INCREASE THE RENT AND I'M GOOD EITHER WAY.
I'M, I'M CURIOUS TO SEE, GET AN UPDATE ON THE HELLO LIFE TRAILHEAD AND THE STATUS OF THAT.
I KNOW WE GOT ONE REPORT OF THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF COVID.
AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S BEEN SOME PUSHING PUSH FROM THE COMMUNITY TO MOVE THE ENTRANCE OF THAT TRAILHEAD.
SO I JUST WOULD LIKE TO GET AN UPDATE ON THAT.
AND I DON'T NEED A PRESENTATION, SOMETHING.
AND THIS, THIS MIGHT JUST GO TO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS I'M ABOUT, I'D LIKE TO BRING UP.
UM, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO LOOK ACTUALLY AT THE, THE WAY THAT WE'VE, WE, UM, HAVE SEASONAL LIFEGUARDS AND THEN WE HAVE MORE, MORE LONG-TERM GUARDS.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO EXAMINE HOW THAT IS HANDLED IN THE PARKS DEPARTMENT BUDGET TO SEE IF WE'RE TREATING THE, THE GUARDS FAIRLY, THAT, YOU KNOW, NEED TO HAVE BENEFITS AND THOSE SORTS OF THINGS.
SO I MIGHT TALK TO, UM, BOARD MEMBER FAXED A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT, TOO.
UM, THE, UH, I DON'T NEED A PRESENTATION, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO KIND OF GET, UM, JUST AN UPDATE ON, UM, PROPERTY CRIME IN THE PARKS.
AND, UM, JUST BECAUSE I KNOW THAT I'VE GOTTEN SOME CONCERNS ABOUT THAT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND NOT BEYOND, BEYOND JUST TO SEE WHERE WE ARE WITH THAT SO I CAN, UM, ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS MORE, UM, EFFECTIVELY.
SO WE DID IT, WE GOT OUT BEFORE 10 O'CLOCK.
Y'ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL REST OF YOUR MONTH AND WE'LL SEE.