[00:00:01]
WELL, EVERYBODY'S GOT THEIR CAMERA ON AND YES.I NEED ALL THE COMMISSIONERS WHO ARE ONSCREEN TO STAY ON SCREEN.
UM, WE WILL HAVE HOPEFULLY A LITTLE BIT OF A BUFFER IN A LITTLE WHILE.
UM, UH, SO I GUESS I'LL START BY TAKING
[CALL TO ORDER 4:00-4:05pm]
THE ROLE.UM, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT IS HERE.
UM, COMMISSIONER, UH, SIERRA, UH, HERE, UH, COMMISSIONER AUSTIN, UH, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ HERE, UH, COMMISSIONER HALL, MARTIN, UH, COMMISSIONER HOUSE IN FLUKE AND THAT'S RIGHT.
UH, COMMISSIONER KIRA COFF HERE, UH, COMMISSIONER LANE ALSO OUT, UM, COMMISSIONER LEWIS IS OUT AND COMMISSIONER WEBER.
AND I DIDN'T CALL ANY OF YOU COUNCIL MEMBERS THIS TIME.
UM, SO, UH, I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE CALLED THE MEETING.
DID I CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER? I'M CALLING THE MEETING TO ORDER NOW IF I DIDN'T ALREADY, UM, AND WE'LL START WITH PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
[Public Communication 4:05-4:15pm (from speakers signed up to speak)]
CARLOS LEON FIRST AND FOREMOST, GRAZIA SAW THE HOLES FOR LETTING ME SHOW INTEL PUBLIC SAFETY THREAT CAP, METRO BUS DRIVER, DAVID R. HARRIS OPERATOR ID NUMBER 300 TO THREE ZERO VIDEO FROM MAY 7TH, 2021 SHOWS HARRIS MAKING A DEATH THREAT AGAINST ME.THEN MAKING MULTIPLE FALSE STATEMENTS ABOUT IT TO THE INVESTIGATING APD OFFICER AT 7:15 AM.
CAMERA THREE RECORDS, HARRIS NODDING HIS HEAD UP AND DOWN AND POINTING AT HIS OWN CHEST.
BOTH TIMES I LOUDLY TOLD HARRIS YOUR CRIMINAL, THEN LOOKING DIRECTLY AT ME.
HARRIS MAKES THE THROAT SLASH GESTURE ACROSS HIS OWN THROAT BEFORE DRIVING AWAY.
NOW ON SCREEN WITH AUDIO STOP VIDEO.
THE APD OFFICER TOLD HARRIS WHO CAME ON SCENE LATER ABOUT ME, QUOTE.
HE CLAIMED THAT WHEN HE WAS OFF THE BUS, YOU WENT DEMONSTRATING A THROAT SLASHING MOTION.
I TOLD HIM, GET ON OFF THE BUS AND JACE JUST STAY OFF THE BUS, MAKING A BOLD MOTION FROM HIS CHEST OUTWARD.
THE OFFICER MIMICS HARRIS, HIS MOTION TO WHICH HARRIS SAYS, YEAH, THE OFFICER AGAIN SHOWS THE THROAT'S LAST GESTURE TO HARRIS WHO SAYS, NA ROLL CLIP TWO NOW.
NO, THE SECOND ONE IS THE APD VIDEO.
HE'S CLAIMING THAT, UH, WHEN HE WAS AT THE BUS THAT YOU HAD BEEN LIKE THE LITTLE KNIFE TOWARDS HIM, YOU DID THIS BULLSHIT AND HE PROBABLY INTERPRETED IT THAT YOU DID THIS.
DID HE MAKE ANY THREATS TOWARDS HIM AS YOU HEARD AND SAW HARRIS LIED AT LEAST TWICE TO THE OFFICER CLAIMING HE MADE A BOLD, STRONG MOTION FROM HIS CHEST OUTWARD THAT HE NEVER DID AND CLAIMING HE DID NOT MAKING A THROAT SLASHING GESTURE, WHICH HE DID BECAUSE THE THROAT SLASHING MOTION IS A DEATH THREAT.
UNITED STATES V SOTO MARTINEZ.
AND BECAUSE HARRIS, HIS THREAT OF BODILY HARM WAS IMMINENT.
HARRIS IS GUILTY OF ASSAULT BY THREAT VIOLATING TEXAS PENAL CODE 22.0182 BECAUSE HARRIS KNOWINGLY MADE FALSE STATEMENTS MATERIAL TO A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION TO A PEACE OFFICER WITH INTENT TO DECEIVE HARRIS MADE FALSE REPORTS TO PEACE.
OFFICER VIOLATING, TEXAS PENAL CODE 37.08 A ONE BECAUSE HARRIS WAS OBSERVED DRIVING A BUS MEMORIAL DAY 2022 CAT METRO CONTINUES EMPLOYING HIM DESPITE KNOWING HE ACTED CRIMINALLY THREATEN
[00:05:01]
THE USE OF DEADLY FORCE AND LIED TO AN INVESTIGATING APD OFFICER ABOUT IT.THEREFORE, I TELL THIS COMMISSION, TELL KAT METRO TO FIRE HARRIS IMMEDIATELY AND THE CITY ATTORNEY, THE PROSECUTOR.
UM, SO I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMUNICATION UNLESS I'VE MISSED SOMEONE.
UM, SO WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE APPROVAL OF
[1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – May 2, 2022 4:20pm-4:25pm]
THE MINUTES.UM, DO ANY OF THE COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY ADDITIONS OR EDITS TO THE MINUTES? UM, SO WE CAN JUST, UH, DEEM DEEM THEM.
WHAT IS IT CALLED? DEEM THEM ADMITTED, DEEMED THEM APPROVED, UH, WITH NO EDITS.
[2.a. Austin Police Department Quarterly Report – creation of a working group on the make up of the Austin Police Department Quarterly Report metrics (sponsors: Commissioner Bernhardt and Ramirez) 4:25pm-4:30pm]
BUSINESS.UM, UH, SO THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, UM, QUARTERLY REPORT, WE WANTED TO ESTABLISH A WORKING GROUP, UM, TO, UH, WORK ON WHAT THE METRICS SHOULD BE, UH, FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS, QUARTERLY REPORT.
UM, AND I THINK LET'S SEE, UM, WELL, I WAS PART OF THIS DISCUSSION, BUT, UM, DOES, UH, COMMISSIONER WEBER WANT TO, UH, SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS OR SHOULD WE JUST, UH, I GUESS TALK ABOUT, OKAY.
UM, GET VOLUNTEERS FOR WHO WANTS TO BE ON THIS, UH, WORKING GROUP.
IS THERE ANYBODY WHO WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THE WORKING GROUP, COMMISSIONER WEBER AND COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ, UM, AND MAYBE MYSELF.
UM, SO I THINK THAT'S THE WORKING GROUP, UH, BERNHARDT, RAMIREZ AND WEBBER, UM, AND IT WILL ALSO LIKELY INCLUDE, UM, MEMBERS FROM APD.
SO I THINK WE CAN MOVE ON, UH, TO NEW BUSINESS.
[3.a. Public Safety Organizations Quarterly Report – Austin-Travis County EMS (sponsors: Commissioner Hausenfluck and Gonzales) 4:30pm-4:45pm]
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE WE NEED TO DO TO CREATE A WORKING GROUP? OKAY, SOUNDS GOOD.SO, UM, LET'S HEAR, UH, FROM EMS AND HEAR THEIR QUARTERLY REPORT.
I'M TERESA GARDNER ASSISTANT CHIEF WITH THE EMS DEPARTMENT WITH OUR QUARTERLY REPORT.
THIS WILL BE UP FOR THE SECOND QUARTER OF FISCAL YEAR 22.
SO THIS INFORMATION WILL BE UP TO MARCH 31ST OF THIS YEAR.
UM, THE FIRST SLIDE THAT WE'LL SEE HERE WILL, UH, JUST BE REFLECTIVE OF OUR INCIDENTS, TOTAL INCIDENTS, WHICH IS ALL OF OUR CALL VOLUME THAT COMES INTO OUR NINE 11 CALL CENTER TO OUR CALL TAKERS.
AND THAT'S OUR BLUE LINE AT THE VERY TOP.
THE ORANGE LINE IS REFLECTIVE OF OUR PATIENT CONTACTS AT TREND LINE, WHICH IS A LITTLE LESS THAN WHAT OUR TOTAL INCIDENTS ARE.
AND THEN OUR PATIENT TRAN TRANSPORTS, WHICH IS, UM, A LITTLE BIT LESS, BUT FOLLOWS THAT SAME TREND LINE FOR THE PAST YEAR, SINCE JANUARY OF 2021, GOT TO ASK THEM EACH TIME.
HOW DO YOU WANT THE CLICKER AS WELL? UH, WE'LL JUST DO NEXT SLIDE.
UM, THIS IS OUR, UH, PRIORITY ONE COMPLIANCE BY DISTRICT, UM, OR FISCAL YEAR 22 FOR THE SECOND QUARTER.
UH, THIS WILL SHOW EACH DISTRICT, UH, AND THE PERCENTAGE OF TIME THAT WE ARE COMPLIANT WITH PARTY.
ONE COMPLIANCE THAT COMPLIANCE IS 9 59, UM, AND EACH DISTRICT SHOWS, UM, WHAT PERCENTAGE OF TIME THAT WE WERE COMPLIANT WITH THAT? THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, ON THIS SLIDE, THIS IS AGAIN, BROKEN DOWN BY EACH DISTRICT THAT BLUE SHADED AREA SHOWS IN THE 90TH PERCENTILE.
WHAT OUR TIME INTERVAL ACTUALLY IS.
YOU SAW IN THAT FIRST SLIDE, UM, PERCENTAGE WISE, IF WE'RE 80%, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, FOR A PARTY, ONE COMPLIANCE OUR ACTUAL TIME IN THE 90TH PERCENTILE IN DISTRICT ONE WOULD BE A LITTLE LESS THAN 11 MINUTES.
UM, GETTING TO PARTY ONE, UM, CALLS IN THAT DISTRICT THAT ORANGE SHADED AREA SHOWS, UH, AN INDICATION OF WHAT PERCENTAGE OF ALL PARTY CALLS IN THAT DISTRICT ARE PARTY ONE.
SO IT DOES SHOW THAT, UM, IT'S A LITTLE LESS THAN 8% FOR PARTY ONE CALLS IN DISTRICT.
AND THIS SLIDE BY DISTRICT, AGAIN, JUST BREAKS DOWN EACH PRIORITY CALL FOR EACH DISTRICT BY PARTY 1, 2, 3, 4,
[00:10:01]
AND FIVE PARTY ONE AND TWO BEING THE HIGHEST PRIORITY FOR EACH CALL.AND THEN AS WE GET INTO THESE NEXT SLIDES AND UNDERSTANDING THAT AS WE GET INTO SOME OF THE OTHER CONVERSATIONS TODAY ABOUT STAFFING, THIS INFORMATION IS GOING TO BE CURRENT UP UNTIL MARCH 31ST, AS, AS WE DISCUSSED EARLIER, THERE WAS A REQUEST FROM ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS ABOUT, UH, SOME OF THE INFORMATION REGARDING, UM, OUR ATTRITION RATE VACANCY RATES, UM, AND WHEN PEOPLE WERE LEAVING IN THE DEPARTMENT.
SO I APOLOGIZE IF SOME OF THIS GETS CONFUSING BECAUSE THESE ARE GOING TO BE DIFFERENT SNAPSHOTS IN TIME AS WE GO THROUGH THIS.
UM, BUT AGAIN, THIS IS MARCH 31ST, 2022, AND THIS WAS OUR VACANCY RATE AT THAT PARTICULAR SNAPSHOT IN TIME.
AND THIS IS REFLECTIVE OF OUR SWORN STAFF AT THAT POINT IN TIME AND GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
THIS IS OUR SWORN SEPARATIONS THROUGH MARCH 31ST, 2022.
AGAIN, AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN BLUE IS A RESIGNATION.
THERE WERE 40 SEPARATIONS, UH, WITHIN THAT TIMEFRAME AGAIN, THE BLUE IS RESIGNATIONS AND THEN THE ORANGE, OUR RETIREMENT.
SO WE HAD 11 RETIREMENTS WITHIN THAT TIMEFRAME AND 29 RESIGNATIONS, THE BULK OF THEM WERE IN OUR EMS FIELD MEDIC.
OUR NEXT SLIDE, THIS SLIDE, I BELIEVE IS THE SPECIFIC QUESTION THAT, UM, UH, COMMISSIONER RAMIREZ, I BELIEVE IT WAS YOUR QUESTION THAT YOU HAD ABOUT WHAT WAS A TENURE THAT PEOPLE HAD WHEN THEY WERE RESIGNING.
WE DO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT ARE LEAVING, UM, WITHIN THAT ONE YEAR.
AND YOU CAN SEE THERE THERE'S THAT LIGHTER BLUE COLOR IN THE EMS MEDIC FIELD.
THERE ARE 10 PEOPLE WITHIN THAT RANGE THAT LEFT WITHIN LESS THAN A YEAR.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S ANOTHER ONE TO FIVE YEAR RANGE THAT IS IN THAT GROUP AS WELL.
THERE'S ALSO A CLINICAL FIELD SPECIALIST WITHIN A ONE TO FIVE RANGE THAT, UH, THERE ARE FIVE THAT LEFT ONE WITHIN THAT RANGE.
THESE ARE VACANCY RATES BASED ON, UM, PER MONTH FOR BOTH THE SWORN AND THE CIVILIAN SIDE SINCE OCTOBER OF 2021, YOU'LL SEE SOME OF THIS REPEATED AND SOME OF THE INFORMATION, UM, WHEN WE STARTED TALKING ABOUT OUR STAFFING PLAN, AS WE GO FORWARD, OUR NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
AND AGAIN, OUR TURNOVER RATE COMPARING OUR SWORN TURNOVER RATE AND OUR CIVILIAN TURNOVER RATE.
AND SOME OF THAT DIFFERENCE, UM, CAN ALSO BE ATTRIBUTED TO JUST THE, THE NUMBER AND THE VOLUME OF PEOPLE THAT ARE IN EACH.
WE HAVE A MUCH SMALLER NUMBER OF CIVILIAN STAFF COMPARED TO OUR, UH, SWORN STAFF IN THOSE CATEGORIES.
I'M GOING TO SWITCH GEARS A LITTLE BIT AND, AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT A COUPLE OF PROGRAMS THAT WE DON'T OFTEN HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT.
AND THERE ARE TWO THINGS THAT I'M GOING TO TALK VERY HIGH-LEVEL ABOUT, AND I'M GOING TO GIVE PROBABLY JUST A VERY TIP OF THE ICEBERG, UM, INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THESE PROGRAMS. AND HOPEFULLY, UM, WE CAN COME BACK AT A LATER DATE AND GIVE YOU MUCH MORE DETAIL ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING AND THE IMPACT THAT WE'RE HAVING WITH THESE PROGRAMS. EXCUSE ME, THE FIRST OF THESE IS OUR OPIOID USE DISORDER SUPPORT PROGRAM.
AND THIS PROGRAM IS WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDIC TEAM.
UM, IT IS A PROGRAM THAT WE USE TO REACH OUT TO PEOPLE WHO'VE EITHER EXPERIENCED AN OVERDOSE AND HAS BEEN REPORTED TO THE EMS STAFF WITHIN 24 HOURS OF AN OVERDOSE EVENT, IS THIS OFFERED EDUCATION ON THE, UM, MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT PROGRAM, UH, FOR THE OVERDOSE USE DISORDER PROGRAM, IT PROVIDES NAVIGATION AND CONNECTION TO THE MAT AND ESTABLISHES THE FUNDING FOR THE TREATMENT.
IT ALSO PROVIDES A CONNECTION TO OTHER SUPPORT SERVICES THAT AREN'T NECESSARY FOR THE SUCCESS LIKE PRIMARY CARE, MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT AND OTHER SERVICES.
IT ALSO PROVIDES THE OVERDOSE RESCUE KITS LIKE NARCAN'S TO SUPPORT ANYONE WHO BELIEVES THEY MAY NEED THAT THEIR NEXT SLIDE.
THIS ALSO SUPPORTS OUR BUPRENORPHINE BRIDGE PROGRAM.
AND THE FIRST SIX MONTHS OF THIS U D SUPPORT PROGRAM, WE IDENTIFIED PEOPLE THAT WERE SEEKING MAT OFTEN WAITED SEVEN TO 10 DAYS FOR AN INTAKE APPOINTMENT IN A CENTER.
AND THERE'S PLENTY OF FUNDING FOR THESE, BUT THERE'S A LONG DELAY GETTING INTO A TREATMENT FACILITY.
AND THERE WERE PEOPLE OVERDOSING WHILE ON THE WAIT LIST FOR TREATMENT.
SO AS A SUB PROGRAM, WE'RE ABLE TO BRIDGE THAT SEVEN TO 10 DAYS WHILE PEOPLE ARE WAITING TO GET INTO THESE PROGRAMS. THERE'S AN ONSITE MEDICAL
[00:15:01]
TREATMENT THAT HELPS WITH WITHDRAWALS.WE'RE ABLE TO ADMINISTER, YOUPRENEUR SURFING TO DO THE DAILY DAILY DOSING TO PREVENT THE WITHDRAWAL, AND THEN WAIT TO BEGIN A MAT ENROLLMENT.
THIS PREVENTS THEM FROM HAVING TO USE OPIOIDS DAILY WHILE WAITING TO ENTER THEIR TREATMENT.
AND THROUGH THIS, THESE BBP PATIENTS HAVE A 91% SUCCESS RATE AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR MAT TREATMENT COMPARED TO A HOSPITAL REFERRAL PROGRAMS THAT HAVE AS LOW AS A 10% SUCCESS RATE.
OUR NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, OUR SUPPORT AND STAFFING FOR THESE PROGRAMS ARE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDIC TEAM.
WE HAVE ONE CHP SUPPORT CASE MANAGER, AND HE IS PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NAVIGATION AND CONNECTION FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN GETTING HELP WITH THEIR OED.
HE MANAGES APPROXIMATELY 50% OF THE UDI SUPPORT PATIENT OUTREACH, FOLLOWING OVERDOSES AND MANAGES 90% OF THE BPP PATIENTS, THE ENTIRE SIEGE TEAM, CHP TEAMS SHARES IN UHHH SUPPORT FOLLOW-UPS AFTER OVERDOSES AND IN DAILY DOSING OF THE BPP PATIENTS.
NEXT SLIDE, YOU'VE HEARD RECENTLY OF THE INCREASE IN THE ACTIVITY AND OVERDOSE AND, UH, OPIOID USE WITHIN TRAVIS COUNTY.
AGAIN, THIS INFORMATION ONLY GOES THROUGH MARCH 31ST, 2022 THROUGH HER SECOND QUARTER.
UM, WE'LL HAVE MORE INFORMATION AS WE GO THROUGH, UM, THE MORE RECENT MONTHS IN THE MORE RECENT ACTIVITY, BUT YOU CAN SEE HOW WE CERTAINLY HAVE HAD AN INCREASE IN THE OPIOID OVERDOSES AND USE OF THE REFERRALS.
WE'VE ALSO BEEN ABLE TO CONNECT MORE PEOPLE TO THESE PROGRAMS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
AGAIN, HERE'S ANOTHER REFLECTION OF THE ACTIVITY THAT WE'VE HAD OVER THE LAST 12 MONTHS.
ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE UP AND RUNNING WITHIN OUR PROGRAMS IS OUR COLLABORATIVE CARE COMMUNICATION CENTER, WHICH WE REFER TO AS C4.
AND THIS IS AN INITIATIVE THAT WE HAVE USING AN EFFORT TO CONNECT PATIENTS IN DIFFERENT WAYS TO THE RIGHT TYPE OF HEALTHCARE.
UM, YOU'VE OFTEN HEARD US SAID THAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO THINGS, NOT EVERYBODY NEEDS AN EMERGENCY ROOM.
UM, SO WE ARE TRYING TO DEVELOP PATHWAYS AND PROCESSES TO MEET CHANGING NEEDS AND EXPECTATIONS OF PATIENTS OUTSIDE OF THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT.
AND THE GOALS HERE INCLUDE REDUCING CALL VOLUME AND WORKLOAD ON EMS TRANSPORT UNITS BY USING EXPANDED TRIAGE AND SINGLE PROVIDER RESPONSE UNITS TO MITIGATE LOW ACUITY CALLS, PROVIDE CITIZENS A PATIENT-CENTRIC CHOICE THAT INCLUDES TREAT IN PLACE AND ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT OPTIONS RATHER THAN TRANSPORT TO AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT, REDUCE TRANSPORT TIMES AND OVERCROWDING OF THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM AND DEVELOP AVENUES TO INTEGRATE HEALTHCARE DISCIPLINES, NOT TRADITIONAL TO EMS IN AN EFFORT TO PROVIDE A HIGHER LEVEL OF PATIENT CARE AND ADDRESS EMS STAFFING SHORTAGES.
NEXT SLIDE, OUR TREAT IN PLACE ALTERNATIVE DESTINATIONS TELE-HEALTH PROGRAMS THAT WE'VE HAD IN QUARTER ONE AND QUARTER TWO IN 2022, WE REFER TO THINGS IN EMS AS AVERAGE UNIT, OUR UTILIZATION, AND FOR US, THAT'S A REFLECTION OF, UM, BASICALLY WORKLOAD AND, UM, ON AVERAGE, A WORKLOAD FOR, UH, AN AMBULANCE ON A CALL IS A LITTLE OVER AN HOUR WHEN WE USE TELE-HEALTH.
UM, THAT GETS REDUCED TO A LITTLE OVER 30 MINUTES FROM JANUARY 1ST, 2021.
UM, TO NOW SEE FOUR HAS PROVIDED SERVICES TO 3025 PATIENTS WITH A LITTLE OVER 49% SUCCESSFUL MITIGATION RATE.
AND WHAT WE MEAN BY MITIGATION IS THAT WE WERE ABLE TO CONNECT PATIENTS TO OTHER RESOURCES OF HEALTHCARE VERSUS TAKING THEM TO AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT.
AND THAT RATE CONTINUES TO IMPROVE MONTHLY.
AND THE FIRST QUARTER OF 22, WE PROVIDE SERVICES TO 938 PATIENTS WE'RE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF 466 PATIENTS WITHOUT THE USE OF AN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT, WHICH INCLUDED 242 TELE-HEALTH CONSULTS, 60 TO TREAT IN PLACE AND 10 TRANSPORTS TO AN ALTERNATE DESTINATION IN THE SECOND QUARTER, THAT WAS 293, TELE-HEALTH CONSULT 68 TREAT IN PLACE AND NINE TRANSPORTS TO AN ALTERNATE DESTINATION.
AND THIS C4 LINE IS BASED ON EQUITY AND SERVICES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO EVERY RESIDENT IN AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY.
SO UTILIZE MOST IN THE QUARTER.
THE CITY HAS BEEN USED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE RESPONSE TO OUT AREAS.
YOU CAN SEE IN THE HEAT MAP AND OUR STAFFING AND HOURS OF OPERATION IS THAT IT HAS EIGHT FULL-TIME PERSONNEL, FIVE CLINICAL SPECIALISTS, TWO CAPTAINS, AND ONE COMMANDER.
AND OUR CURRENT HOURS OF OPERATION ARE FROM 7:00 AM TO 10:00 PM.
AND THAT'S JUST A VERY HIGH LEVEL OF THOSE, THOSE COUPLE OF
[00:20:01]
URBAN SETTING.I CAN CERTAINLY TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT, UM, COMMISSIONERS.
WELL, I CAN'T SEE YOU, BUT, UH, UM, DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? NOPE.
OH, CAN WE SH OR VICE-CHAIR RAMIREZ? YEAH.
I JUST, JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU FOR, UM, GETTING US THOSE, UM, THE MORE DETAIL ON ATTRITION AND WHEN PEOPLE ARE SEPARATING, THAT WAS REALLY HELPFUL AND CREATED SOME ADDITIONAL CONTEXT FOR, FOR STAFFING STUFF.
SO THANK YOU COMMISSIONER HERE, COUGH, NOT A QUESTION, JUST A COMMENT TO A CHIEF GARDENER.
UH, YOUR PARAMEDICS HAVE TRAVELED WITH US ON THE HONOR FLIGHT LAST WEEKEND, DID AN OUTSTANDING JOB.
THEY ENJOY THAT MISSION VERY, VERY MUCH.
UM, CHIEF GARDNER, I HAVE SORT OF A QUESTION.
I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAM ADDRESSING OVERDOSES.
UM, AND I FEEL LIKE I AM VERY UNDER-QUALIFIED TO UNDERSTAND, UM, OVERDOSE RESPONSE.
UM, BUT ONE THING THAT I DO UNDERSTAND IS THAT, UM, THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED A FENTANYL TEST STRIP THAT WE KIND OF CAN'T USE BECAUSE IT'S CONSIDERED DRUG PARAPHERNALIA UNDER TEXAS LAW.
I'M NOT SURE IF I'M TOTALLY RIGHT ABOUT THAT.
UM, DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THAT? OKAY.
YOU, HAVEN'T HEARD ABOUT TEST STRIPS THAT ALLOW PEOPLE TO TEST FOR FENTANYL.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS? OH, COMMISSIONER WEBER HAS A QUESTION.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANKS FOR INCLUDING THE LITTLE SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THE INTERESTING PROGRAMS. UM, I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE QUARTERLY REPORTS BE MORE OF A CHANCE FOR THE DEPARTMENTS TO, YOU KNOW, TELL US ABOUT ALL THE GOOD, INTERESTING THINGS THEY'RE DOING.
WE'D CERTAINLY LOVE TO TELL YOU MORE ABOUT IT AND, UM, CERTAINLY WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO GO INTO MORE DETAIL INTO SOME OF THOSE PROGRAMS. I'M NOT DOING THEM JUSTICE, THAT SOME OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT THESE IS THAT THEY ARE POWERED BY PEOPLE WITH A LOT OF INGENUITY AND A LOT OF CREATIVITY THAT, THAT MAKE THEM WORK.
AND I WOULD LOVE FOR THEM TO COME AND TELL YOU THE STORY AND TELL YOU THE GREAT WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING SO ABSOLUTELY ANY TIME.
[3.b. Fiscal year 2022-2023 Budget, Public Safety Agencies, City of Austin (sponsors: Commissioner Ramirez and Bernhardt) 4:45pm-5:20pm]
GET STARTED WITH A BUDGET.IS EVERYBODY READY FOR THAT? THE TRANSITION.
UM, SO, UM, WE'VE GOT, UH, SEVERAL SPEAKERS.
I, SHOULD WE START WITH, UM, MICHELLE SMITH, UH, FROM THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
I'M THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
I'LL BEGIN WITH, UM, JUST A REVIEW OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS, F Y 22 BUDGET R F Y 20 TO APPROVE BUDGET IS $443.1 MILLION.
THAT INCLUDES 1,809 SWORN AND 558 CIVILIAN POSITIONS.
[00:25:13]
ALL RIGHT.UM, SO THE FY 22 APPROVED BUDGET IS 443.1 MILLION THAT INCLUDED 1,809 SWORN AND 558 CIVILIAN POSITIONS.
NEARLY HALF OF THIS BUDGET IS FOR NEIGHBORHOOD BASED POLICING.
21% OF IT IS FOR INTERFUND TRANSFERS AND 13% FOR INVESTIGATIONS.
UM, JUST TO REVIEW THAT SOME OF THE FY 22 BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED, UM, THE RE-IMAGINE FUND DECOUPLE FUND COMMUNICATIONS AND FORENSICS WERE ALL TRANSFERRED BACK TO APD TO COMPLY WITH HOUSE BILL 1900, THERE WAS INCREASED FUNDING FOR SWORN AND CIVILIAN PENSION FUNDS.
UM, THERE WAS FULL FUNDING FOR TWO CADET ACADEMY CLASSES, FIVE, UM, VICAP SPECIALISTS, TEMPORARY FTES, SOME REPLACEMENT CAST RIFLE, PLATE VESTS, AND A REPLACEMENT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT FOR FORENSICS, A GAS CHROMATOGRAPH, MASS SPECTROMETER.
SO MOVING INTO THE Y 23 FORECAST BUDGET, UM, THIS FORECAST ESTIMATE OF $451.7 MILLION FOR APD IS VERY PRELIMINARY.
IT'S FROM THE
THE CITY'S PROPOSED BUDGET IS STILL UNDER DEVELOPMENT FOR CITY COUNCIL'S APPROVAL IN AUGUST.
UM, THE 23 FORECAST INCLUDES 1,812 SWORN POSITIONS, 499 CIVILIAN POSITIONS.
THERE ARE A COUPLE OF, UM, COST DRIVERS BASED COST DRIVERS IN THIS FORECAST, INCLUDING PERSONNEL COST DRIVERS OF $14.4 MILLION.
THIS PRIMARILY CONSISTS OF INCREASED SWORN PENSION COSTS AND INCREASED INSURANCE COSTS AND INCREASE PAY FOR TELECOMMUNICATORS AND VICTIMS SERVICE EMPLOYEES.
THERE'S ALSO AN INCREASE OF $4.9 MILLION TO INTERFUND TRANSFERS.
THESE ARE RELATED TO TECHNOLOGY INCREASES, LIABILITY RESERVE, VEHICLE FUEL AND MAINTENANCE INCREASES, AND A SLIGHT DECREASE TO THE 3 1, 1 COST ALLOCATION.
AND THERE'S A $1.5 MILLION INCREASE IN CONTRACT AND OPERATING, UM, INCREASES.
THIS INCLUDES APPROXIMATELY $800,000 RELATED TO TWO NEW FTES TRAINING AND A FOLLOWUP AUDIT RELATED TO THE SEXUAL ASSAULT LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT.
THERE'S ALSO INCREASES TO THE JOYCE JAMES GROUNDWATER ANALYSIS TRAINING AND THEN MANDATORY INSPECTIONS, UM, FAA HELICOPTER INSPECTIONS THAT BRINGS THE TOTAL POLICE ESTIMATE FOR FYI 23 IN THE FORECAST TO $20.8 MILLION.
THIS IS OFFSET BY THE CREATION OF THE FORENSIC SCIENCE DEPARTMENT, WHICH WOULD DECREASE APDS BUDGET BY $12.2 MILLION FOR A TOTAL INCREASE OF 8.6 MILLION OR 2%.
I'LL NOW TALK ABOUT A COUPLE OF, UM, COUNCIL INITIATIVES AND DEPARTMENT UNFUNDED PRIORITIES.
I THINK WE HAVE FIVE OF THOSE.
AND THE FIRST ONE, UM, IS A HELICOPTER REPLACEMENT, UM, UH, A COST OF $1.5 MILLION.
APD IS REQUESTING TO REPLACE THE PUBLIC SAFETY HELICOPTER.
IT'S AN AIRBUS H ONE 20, WHICH IS 22 YEARS OLD.
NOW WE WOULD BE TRADING IT IN FOR AN AIRBUS H 1 25.
THE AIR SUPPORT UNIT AT APD IS UTILIZED IN A VARIETY OF PUBLIC SAFETY MISSIONS, INCLUDING SEARCH AND RESCUE FIRE SUPPRESSION, FLOOD AND WATER RESCUE CITY OF AUSTIN ARBORISTS, ANNUAL OAKWELL SURVEY, AUSTIN ENERGY, POWER LINE MANAGEMENT, FACILITY INSPECTIONS, AND POWER GRID CHECKS AND AUSTIN WATER FACILITY INSPECTIONS.
THE 22 YEAR OLD HELICOPTER HAS SEVERELY DEGRADED AND POWER AND CAPABILITIES.
AND THE PARTS FOR THIS AIRCRAFT ARE NO LONGER MADE THE MANUFACTURER ENDED.
IT SERVICE AND SUPPORT PROGRAM APPROXIMATELY FOUR YEARS AGO.
UM, THE CURRENT WE'RE CURRENTLY OPERATING ON TWO SEPARATE HELICOPTER HELICOPTER PLATFORMS, AND THIS REPLACEMENT WOULD MOVE THE DEPARTMENT TO THE SAME PLATFORM, WHICH WOULD REDUCE TRAINING COSTS AND IMPROVE SAFETY.
AS THE EMERGENCY PROCEDURES WOULD BE IDENTICAL ON THE TWO HELICOPTERS.
THE SECOND UNFUNDED REQUESTS IS 11 NEW CIVILIAN FTES PER THE CRO REPORT RECOMMENDATION AT A COST OF $1.2 MILLION.
THIS RECOMMENDATION INCLUDES SEVEN CIVILIAN FTES FOR THE TRAINING ACADEMY AND FOUR FTES FOR THE DATA AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIVISION AT THE ACADEMY.
[00:30:01]
CURRICULUM AND THE 140 FOURTH PILOT ACADEMY AND CIVILIAN STAFF HAS ASSUMED THE RESPONSIBILITY OF DIRECTING THESE CHANGES.HOWEVER, CURRENT STAFF, CURRENT STAFFING ONLY ALLOWS FOR INVOLVEMENT IN CADET TRAINING, WHICH IS ONGOING AND AS INDICATED BY CROLL, SIMILAR WORK IS REQUIRED IN THE OTHER TWO ACADEMY UNITS, WHICH ARE CONTINUING ED CONTINUING EDUCATION AND LEARN SKILLS UNIT TO ENSURE THAT CURRICULUM CHANGES ARE IMPLEMENTED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE ACADEMY AND UPDATED REGULARLY CHRO ALSO NOTED ISSUES AND APDS DATA, THE IMPACT
THE REQUESTED BUSINESS PROCESS CONSULTANT AND SPECIALIST POSITIONS WILL ADDRESS THIS ISSUE WITH CURRENT DATA AND AN IT PROGRAM MANAGER WILL ADDRESS THE LONG-TERM SYSTEM ISSUES THEN THAT CANNOT BE ADDRESSED BY THE ANALYTICS STAFF TO ENSURE THAT FUTURE SYSTEMS DO NOT CREATE THESE SAME DATA PROBLEMS. AGAIN, THE NEXT REQUEST IS TO CIVILIANIZED SIX WARN FTES AT THE REAL TIME CRIME CENTER.
THIS IS A ZERO COST, UM, TO THE DEPARTMENT TO THE GENERAL FUND WE'RE, UM, ASKING TO ALLOW SIX OFFICERS TO RETURN TO PATROL FUNCTIONS, UM, AND SALARY AND BENEFIT COSTS OF THE SIX CIVILIAN FTES AT $501,000 WOULD BE OFFSET BY INCREASING OUR SWORN VACANCY SAVINGS TO BE COST NEUTRAL.
THE NEXT REQUEST IS TO ADD FORSWORN DETECTIVE FTES TO OUR AUTHORIZED STRENGTH TO BENEFIT THE SEX CRIMES UNIT AT A COST OF $955,000.
UM, SEX CRIMES ARE COMPLEX CASES WHICH REQUIRE MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL REQUIRING LENGTHY AND INDIVIDUALIZED INTERACTIONS WITH SURVIVORS IN ORDER TO INVESTIGATE THE CASES, ACCORDING TO BEST PRACTICES, WE NEED TO DECREASE THE INDIVIDUAL DETECTIVE CASE LOADS SO THAT THEY CAN MORE EFFECTIVELY GIVE THEIR TIME TO EACH CASE.
SO WE'RE REQUESTING THE FOUR NEW DETECTIVES, UM, ASSIGNED TO THE SEX CRIMES UNIT BY INCREASING THE DETECTIVE AUTHORIZED STRENGTH FOR APD.
LASTLY, WE'RE REQUESTING SIX CIVILIAN FTES FOR COMPLIANCE WITH SENATE BILL ONE 11 AT A COST OF $491,000 SENATE BILL ONE 11 PLACED THE BURDEN OF EVIDENCE CERTIFICATION ON POLICE DEPARTMENTS.
THIS RESPONSIBILITY FALLS TO DETECTIVES AND INVESTIGATED CASES, BUT APD DOES NOT HAVE PERSONNEL TO COMPLETE THE TASK FOR DIRECT FILED ARREST FROM PATROL, GIVEN PATROL STAFFING ISSUES.
PATROL OFFICERS CAN NOT DO THIS WITHOUT SEVERELY IMPACTING PATROL SERVICE LEVELS.
AND WE'RE CURRENTLY USING TEMP EMPLOYEES, BUT THIS IS PROBLEMATIC GIVEN THE TRANSITIONAL NATURE, UM, CREATING TRAINING AND CONTINUITY CHALLENGES.
SO THE TOTAL OF THOSE REQUESTS IS APPROXIMATELY $4.1 MILLION.
SO THAT CONCLUDES APDS BUDGET PRESENTATION.
DID YOU WANT TO DO QUESTIONS IN BETWEEN OR HAVE ALL THREE OF US PRESENT FIRST? UM,
I WAS, THERE WAS A BRIEF MENTION ABOUT SOUNDED LIKE A PAYOUT FOR, UM, FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT.
COULD YOU, COULD YOU PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND ON WHAT, WHAT THAT WAS, I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH THAT CASE OR ANY SUCH PAYOUT? YES.
IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, THAT LAWSUIT WAS SETTLED IN FEBRUARY OF 2022 BY, UM, CITY COUNCIL AND AS PART OF THAT SETTLEMENT, UM, THE CITY AGREED FOR SOME INCREASED TRAINING AND A FOLLOW-UP AUDIT.
UM, AND SO THERE'S ALSO, UH, A REQUEST BY APD FOR TWO FTES TO FULFILL THE COMMITMENT IN THAT LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT.
ARE THERE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? UH, VICE-CHAIR RAMIREZ.
I JUST HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THE REAL TIME CRIME CENTER CENTER AND HOW THAT IS, UM, HOW THAT IS FUNDED ONGOING.
I HADN'T SEEN IT IN PREVIOUS BUDGETS SORT OF PRESENTATIONS THAT WE GOT.
AND SO SHE'S JUST INTERESTED IN HOW, HOW MUCH THESE ADDITIONS, THE CIVILIANIZING OF THESE POSITIONS,
[00:35:01]
UM, WHAT PERCENTAGE THAT 501,000 COST SAVINGS REALLY IS OF THE OVERALL PROGRAM.UM, CHIEF MASON, DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY FTES OR HOW MANY SWORN FTES ARE IN THE REAL-TIME CRIME CENTER? W WE'RE LOOKING AT IT FOR A TOTAL OF SIX.
SO I DON'T, I THINK THAT'S ALL WE HAVE RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN OVER TIME, IT'S OVER THE COURSE OF TIME, WE'VE HAD LESS AND LESS.
I THINK WE HAVE SIX F OFFICERS RIGHT THERE, AS WELL AS THE LIEUTENANTS THAT OVERSEE AND RUN THE PROGRAM.
SO THIS, THIS, I'M JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND WHAT, WHAT IS HAPPENING.
IT'S BEEN PRIMARILY STAFFED THROUGH SWORN OFFICERS.
AND SO THIS WOULD SWITCH THOSE POSITIONS TO CIVILIAN POSITIONS, IS THAT CORRECT? CORRECT.
WHAT WE WANT TO DO IS BE ABLE TO HAVE THE SIX OFFICERS THAT ARE CURRENTLY ASSIGNED THERE FULL-TIME TO BE ABLE TO START WORKING IN THE STREET BECAUSE OF OUR STAFFING SHORTAGES.
AND THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO BE ABLE TO HAVE CIVILIANS COME IN AND BE ABLE TO STILL WATCH THE CAMERAS AND, YOU KNOW, ANSWER, UH, PUBLIC INFORMATION LINES, STUFF LIKE THAT, TO BE ABLE TO KEEP THE OPERATIONS GOING UP THERE, UM, ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? OKAY.
UM, UH, HOW MUCH DOES THE NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER IN TOTAL COST TO RUN? I'M NOT SURE IF I HAVE THAT NUMBER IN FRONT OF ME, BUT I CAN GET THAT FOR YOU.
UM, IF THERE AREN'T ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, UM, THEN WE'LL MOVE ON TO DR.
PAULSON ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, UH, FOR THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT.
AS THE CHAIR MENTIONED, I'M RENELLE PAULSON, I'M THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
THE NEXT SLIDE, OUR CURRENT BUDGET IN
AND WE HAVE ABOUT 1,257 SWORN WE HAVE 143 CIVILIANS AND 60 CADET POSITIONS, BUT CURRENTLY WE HAVE UPWARDS OF 80 ACTUAL CADETS IN THE ACADEMY.
UM, SO THOSE ARE SORT OF PLACEHOLDER POSITIONS.
ABOUT TWO THIRDS OF OUR BUDGET IS SPENT ON, UH, OPERATIONAL PERSONNEL ARE THE FIRE.
THOSE ARE THE FIREFIGHTERS THAT ARE OUT IN THE STATIONS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UH, THE OTHER AREAS OF SUPPORT OR LIKE THE FIRE MARSHALL'S OFFICE, UM, AND THEN THE OTHER SUPPORT FUNCTIONS.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE TRANSFERS DEBT SERVICE AND OTHER OTHERS AS A PERCENTAGE OF OUR BUDGET.
AND IN THE CURRENT YEAR, OUR BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDED, UH, 864,000 TO ANNUALIZE THE STAFFING AT THE TRAVIS COUNTRY FIRE STATION.
IT OPENED IN FISCAL YEAR 21, BUT IT WAS ONLY A PARTIAL YEAR, SO THAT MONEY IS TO MAKE IT A FULL YEAR.
SO THAT NEXT YEAR, UM, THERE'S ALWAYS A FULL YEAR WITH THE FUNDING FOR THAT, THAT THIS, THE CREW AT THAT STATION.
UM, WE STARTED OUT IN THE BUDGET WITH ALMOST 700,699, UH, FOR THE STAFFING ADD, UH, ANOTHER NEW STATION LOOP 360 IN THE NORTHWEST AREA, BUT ON THE DAYAS, IT WAS, IT WAS SORT OF DISCOVERED THAT CONSTRUCTION WAS BEHIND AND WE PROBABLY WERE NOT GOING TO, IT'S STILL NOT FINISHED AT THIS POINT.
WE WEREN'T GOING TO HAVE THE CREW FOR STATION.
SO FROM THE DYESS COUNCIL MEMBER, ALTERNATE, A COUPLE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, REQUESTED THAT THAT FUNDING BE REPURPOSED AND AT 700,000, UH, FOR RESILIENCE INVESTMENTS, THESE ARE THINGS LIKE OPERATIONS AND WILDFIRE EQUIPMENT AND RESPONDING TO THE INTERFACE TRAINING, WHICH IS A, A TYPE OF WILDFIRE TRAINING FOR OUR FIREFIGHTERS.
UM, THIS YEAR WE ALSO HAD $50,000 TO FOCUS ON MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING FOR OUR STAFF THAT, THAT RESIDED THE PUBLIC SAFETY WELLNESS CENTER.
AND, UH, WE HAD 150,000 IN TECH EXPENSES AT THE, UH, FIRE MARSHALL'S OFFICE.
UH, THERE'S A SOFTWARE PROGRAM CALLED AMANDA.
THAT IS THE WAY IN WHICH ALL OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ARE TAKEN INTO THAT SITE.
AND WE NEEDED SOME HELP GETTING OUR PART OF THAT SOFTWARE UP TO UP TO PAR BASICALLY NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO OUR FORECAST FOR NEXT YEAR, AND AS WAS MENTIONED EARLIER, THIS IS JUST THE PRELIMINARY FORECAST.
THE PROPOSED BUDGET IS STILL TO COME OUT.
UM, THE FORECAST FOR NEXT YEAR GOES UP TO 228.7 MILLION JUST WITH COST DRIVERS.
AND THAT'S ONLY ADDING ONE SWORN AT THIS POINT IN TIME, THAT'S WARREN IS, UH, ASSIGNED TO THE AIRPORT AND THE REASON WE ADDED IT IN THE FORECAST IS WE'D ALREADY NEGOTIATED WITH THE AIRPORT FOR THAT POSITION.
UM, THEY PAY US TO PROVIDE A FIREFIGHTING SERVICE AT THE
[00:40:01]
AIRPORT.SO IT'S KIND OF A WASH WITH REGARD TO OUR BUDGET.
THE PERSONNEL COSTS DRIVERS, UH, ARE ALREADY AT 4.2 MILLION.
THESE ARE THE VARIOUS THINGS THAT HAPPEN WITH SWORN PERSONNEL AND CIVILIANS TOO, BUT MOSTLY SWORN, UH, WITH REGARD TO THEIR STEP RAISES THEIR LONGEVITY AND CALCULATING OUR WORKFORCE, UH, AS IT AGES OR GETS YOUNGER, THOSE SORTS OF THINGS IN THE INTERFUND TRANSFER CATEGORY, WHICH ARE THOSE SERVICES THAT LIKE, UM, THE WIRELESS OFFICE COMMUNICATIONS, UH, OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS, CORPORATE DEPARTMENTS, WE SAW AN INCREASE OF 2.2 MILLION, OR WE'RE PROPOSING.
THEY FORECAST HAS AN INCREASE OF 2.2 MILLION, MAKE SURE I GET THE RIGHT PART OF THE BUDGET CYCLE THERE.
WE DO ANTICIPATE ACTUALLY OPENING THE LOOP 360 STATIONS.
SO ONE QUARTER OF STAFF AND, UH, THE LAND LEASE THAT GOES WITH THAT WILL COST ABOUT A HALF A MILLION DOLLARS.
UM, IN ACTUALITY, IT'LL JUST COST A HALF A MILLION IN ADDITION TO THAT 700,000 FROM THE CURRENT YEAR.
SO TO OPEN A STATION LIKE GLUE THREE S 360 COSTS, 1.2 MILLION, WE'RE JUST INCREASING THE BUDGET BY THE HALF A MILLION TO COVER THE EXTRA.
WE, UM, WE ALL SAW A, A, A CHANGE TO POLICY WITH REGARD TO PAID PARENTAL LEAVE THIS YEAR, THAT IMPACTS THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WHERE WHEREBY SWORN, UH, ACHIEVED A BENEFIT THAT CIVILIANS HAD GOTTEN BEFORE.
UH, PAID PARENTAL LEAVE IS BASICALLY 240 HOURS OF LEAVE TO BOND WITH A NEW CHILD AT HOME.
UH, IN THE, IN THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, WE HAVE MANDATORY STAFFING.
AND SO FOR FOLKS TO GO OFF AND TAKE THAT PARENTAL LEAVE REQUIRES BACKFILL ON EVERY SINGLE APPARATUS, EVERY SINGLE SHIFT.
UM, THIS YEAR WE DIDN'T GET ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO COVER THAT, BUT IN THE FORECAST, WE HAVE ROUGHLY A MILLION DOLLARS TO COVER THAT BACKFILL FOR THAT ADDITIONAL BENEFIT.
PAULSON'S ROOTS WITH DEPARTMENT AND GO BACK TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
SO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WITH THE BACKFILL REQUIREMENTS IS WHAT, OKAY, THANK YOU FOR STRAIGHTEN ME OUT ON THAT.
DIDN'T EVEN HEAR MYSELF SAY THAT.
AND THEN FINALLY, IN TERMS OF THE FORECAST HIGHLIGHTS FOR THIS YEAR, THE CONTRACT INCREASES THAT WE SEE THESE ARE EVERYTHING FROM THE UTILITIES THAT ALL THOSE FIRE STATIONS TO TECHNOLOGY, UH, LICENSES TO THE UNIFORMS THAT THEY WEAR.
A LOT OF, A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH THE SUPPLIES ASSOCIATED WITH INFECTIOUS DISEASES.
UM, THOSE CONTRACTS WENT UP BY ANOTHER 1.4 MILLION.
THAT'S A TOTAL OF 9.3 MILLION.
AND IT IS, IT IS NOT EVEN TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE FACT THAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH CONTRACT NEGOTIATION OR LABOR NEGOTIATIONS RIGHT NOW.
SO WE ANTICIPATE, UH, THAT IT, IT COULD INCREASE FROM THIS FINALLY, THE UNFUNDED BUDGET PRIORITIES THAT WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON THIS YEAR.
UM, WE HAVE NARROWED IT DOWN SOMEWHAT, BUT, UH, WE'RE ASKING AGAIN, AS WE'VE DESCRIBED TO YOU LAST YEAR, UH, FOR A LADDER AT THE DEL VALLEY FIRE STATION, THAT'S 2.4 MILLION.
UM, AND WE NEED SOME PICKUP TRUCKS AND PPE TRANSPORT.
THAT'S 135,000 AND TECHNOLOGY AND EQUIPMENT SERVICE INCREASE OF 195.
BUT WHAT WE'RE REALLY FOCUSING ON IS THE FIRE MARSHAL'S OFFICE.
AS WE ALL KNOW, THERE'S BEEN AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF, OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THE FIRE MARSHALL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR APPROVING PLANS AND INSPECTING BUILDINGS AS THEY'RE CONSTRUCTED.
AND WE HAVE BEEN DOING THAT TO THE DETRIMENT OF BASIC SORT OF MAINTENANCE INSPECTIONS OF EXISTING PROPERTIES.
UM, SO KEEPING UP WITH GROWTH AND TAKING CARE OF THE MAINTENANCE SIDE OF WHAT'S GOING ON, UM, WE'RE ASKING FOR A TOTAL OF, UM, UH, 21, I DIDN'T ADD THEM ALL UP THERE DOING IT, MY HEAD, UH, IT THEY'RE SPLIT BETWEEN NINE FTES THAT ARE GENERAL FUND AND 12 THAT ARE FUNDED FROM ELSEWHERE.
AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT A LOT OF THE MAINTENANCE INSPECTIONS THAT GO ON WITH EXISTING PROPERTIES DO NOT BRING IN NEW FEES OR NEW PERMITS.
UM, AND WE NEED GENERAL FUNDING, UH, TO PAY FOR THOSE THAT'S SORT OF ON THE LOW END OF THE 1.2 MILLION, THE, UH, THE FUNDED ELSEWHERE WOULD BE FOR THE CAP, METRO METRO, NOT CAP METRO, I'M SORRY, PROJECT CONNECT, UM, DEVELOPMENT.
AND THE ROLE THAT THE, THE, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT PLAYS THAT, UM, WE WILL, WE HAVE BEEN TALKING TO, UH, THE, THE COMBINED, WHAT IS IT, THE TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY, UM, TO SEE IF THEY CAN'T FUND AN FTE FOR ALL THE INSPECTIONS THAT GO ALONG WITH THAT.
SO THOSE OTHER 12, WE ARE LOOKING FOR FUNDING IN PRIMARILY ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENTS, UM, TO SEE IF THEY CAN HELP US OUT AND LIGHTEN THE LOAD ON THE GENERAL FUND.
WHEN YOU ADD UP THOSE ACTS THAT WE SUBMITTED AS A PART OF THE FORECAST, YOU CAN SEE THEY RANGE
[00:45:01]
FROM 3.9 MILLION TO 6.3 MILLION.UM, THAT'S IN ADDITION TO THE FORECAST THAT WE HAD IN THERE BEFORE, AND BASICALLY, UM, THE ONE, THE ONE GOOD OFFSET THAT WE CAN TRANSCRIBE IN HERE IS WE THINK WE WILL GET AN ADDITIONAL MILLION DOLLARS IN REVENUES COMING BACK TO US BECAUSE OF THE INVESTMENT IN PREVENTION, INSPECTORS, ENGINEERS, AND ADMINS.
AND THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION ON THE FIRE BUDGET.
UM, COMMISSIONERS, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY.
I DON'T, I DON'T SEE ANY HANDS.
UM, UH, THIS MR. UM, LEDESMA LEDESMA.
MY, MY HEAD IS LIKE NOT, NOT WORKING RIGHT THIS MOMENT.
UM, LET'S HEAR ABOUT, UH, THE EMS BUDGET.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, CARLOS LEDESMA.
I'M THE INTERIM ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AT EMS, UH, FOR OUR FYI 22 APPROVED BUDGET.
UH, EMS IS $105.8 MILLION THAT CONSISTS OF 664 SWORN IN 81 AND A HALF.
UH, CIVILIANS ARE OUR SOURCES FOR THE, FOR OUR 1 0 5 0.8 FUNDING IS A 63% TAX PURPOSES.
AND THEN 36.9 ON THE FEES ARE 22.
UH, SOME OF OUR BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS IS 12 NEW FTES FOR THE LOOP 365 NEW SORN FTES FOR THE DEMAND UNIT AND TRAVIS, TRAVIS COUNTY, THREE NEW DIVISION CHEESE FOR THE LEADERSHIP ENHANCEMENT AND ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR OVERTIME AND EQUIPMENT.
UH, SOME OF THIS WAS FOR SOME BALLISTIC VEST.
UH, AS MY COLLEAGUES HAVE MENTIONED, THIS IS OUR FY 23 FORECAST.
UM, EMS WERE PROJECTING OR FORECASTING 111, $11 MILLION, OUR SWORN, UH, 665 AND CIVILIANS OF 80.5.
SO OUR OVERALL COUNT IS THE SAME.
IT WOULD JUST CONVERTED A CIVILIAN TO A SWORN POSITION.
AND OUR FYI 23 REVENUES INCREASING SLIGHTLY TO 41.8 MILLION.
UH, THE INCREASE IS DUE TO HHSC PAYMENT.
UH, WE'RE ANTICIPATING A ADDITIONAL INCREASE FROM PREVIOUS YEAR.
UH, SOME OF OUR BASE COST DRIVERS, UM, AS THEY, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO, YOU MENTIONED IT'S, UH, FOR THE PERSONNEL, IT'S YOUR, YOUR INSURANCE, YOUR CREW PAYROLL, UH, PAID PARENTAL LEAVE.
STEP ADJUSTMENTS ARE SIMILAR TO THEIRS FOR INNER FUND $1.2 MILLION.
YOU HAVE YOUR CTM, YOU SEE TECH, YOUR WIRELESS SUPPORT FLEET.
UM, OUR CONTRACT INCREASE OF $103,000 IS JUST VARIOUS SUPPLIES.
UM, WE WERE SEEING A LOT OF INCREASES IN OUR SUPPLIES CURRENTLY IS ALSO A LAG ON GETTING SUPPLIES IN.
SO WE WERE ANTICIPATING ADDITIONAL INCREASE IN THE YEARS TO COME, UH, FOR OUR MEDICAL SUPPLIES, UH, OPERATING INCREASES, UM, A HUNDRED THOUSAND TO CONTINUE THE BALLISTIC VEST, UH, FUNDING.
UH, WE HAD PARTIAL FUNDING PREVIOUS YEARS, AND THEN WE HAVE A REMOVAL OF ONE-TIME FUNDING, UH, THAT WILL JUST, THOSE ARE TWO, IT WAS A 50,001 TIMES LIVING WAGE ADJUSTMENT, AND THEN A 44,000 STIPEND ADJUSTMENT FOR A TOTAL OF 5.2 OR 4.7%.
SOME OF OUR, WE HAVE FIVE DEPARTMENT OF FUNDING PRIORITIES.
THIS CONSISTS OF NINE FTES FOR A TOTAL OF $2.1 MILLION WITH 1 MILLION BEING, UM, 1.1 MILLION BEING ONE TIME.
AND THIS CONSISTS LIKE TO KIND OF PIGGYBACK OFF WHAT CHIEF BARNETT SAID EARLIER ABOUT OUR VACANCY.
UH, OUR VACANCIES, WE HAVE A 25, 20% VACANCY RATE WHERE WE'RE A PART OF THE UNITED FTES CONSISTS OF STAFF FOR RECRUITING TO INCREASE OUR, OUR RECRUITING TEAM, UM, TRAINING TRAINING STAFF AS WELL.
AND WE HAVE THE 1,000,001 TIME IS FOR A SIMULATION EQUIPMENT, UH, TO HOPEFULLY EXPEDITE SOME TRAINING.
OUR NEXT PRIORITY IS, UM, DATA ANALYTICS WITH TWO FTES FOR A FOUR, $366,000, UH, TRYING TO BE MORE EFFICIENT AND COST EFFECTIVELY DEPLOY ASSETS INDEPENDENTLY BASED ON OUR POPULATION, DEMOGRAPHIC AND HEALTH OUTCOME, DATA AND LOCATION OF OTHER EMS ASSETS ON OUR THIRD ONE.
UM, THE 1.5 MILLION, THIS IS FOR OUR WHOLE BLOOD PILOT PROGRAM THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING.
UM, IT'S WHOLE BLOOD IS CURRENTLY BEING ADMINISTERED
[00:50:01]
IN BASTROP AND WINNING SOME COUNTING.UM, AND THIS IS PRIMARILY A ONE TIME FUNDING.
UH, IT ALSO INCLUDES TWO VEHICLES FOR THIS PROGRAM.
OUR STAFF ENGAGEMENT CONSISTS OF ONE FTE FOR THE $397,000.
THIS IS TO ENHANCE OUR INTERNAL SYSTEMS, UH, TO, TO USE OUR SHAREPOINT SITES AS WELL.
UM, AND IT IS, I SAID AT FTE, OUR LAST UNFUNDED PRIORITY, THIS IS OUR REVENUE ENHANCEMENT, UH, RIGHT HERE.
I KNOW WE HAVE, OR WE HAVE EITHER A CONTRACTOR OR STAFF WHERE WE HAVE DECIDED TO GO WITH THE STAFF, WHICH IS THE NINE FTES.
UM, AND THIS IS TO HELP WITH OUR BILLING BACKLOG TO, TO GET ENOUGH STAFF, TO KEEP UP WITH DEMAND AND FOR A TOTAL OF ALL OUR UNMET NEEDS OF, UH, I MEAN, UNFUNDED PRIORITIES FOR 1.5 $0.16 MILLION.
I BELIEVE THIS, THIS IS THE LAST LIVE.
SO ANY QUESTIONS, ARE THERE ANY, OH, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ? UM, YEAH, MAYBE I'M A LITTLE BIT BEHIND, I APOLOGIZE.
UH, THE NUMBER THREE WHOLE BLOOD STAYING ON THE LEADING EDGE OF EMS. CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT? I DON'T THINK I KNOW ABOUT THAT PROGRAM.
I WOULD DEFER TO CHIEF BARGAIN.
AND SO WE RECENTLY WITH A PARTNERSHIP THROUGH THE OFFICES OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, WE STARTED A PROGRAM OF, UH, DEPLOYING WHOLE BLOOD.
IT'S A TREATMENT THAT IS INITIATED IN THE FIELD FOR, UM, TRAUMATIC INCIDENTS.
SO ANYBODY WHO HAS BEEN, UM, A HEMORRHAGIC EVENT, SO STABBING SHOOTING SOME SEVERE BLOOD LOSS, WE ARE ABLE TO ADMINISTER A WHOLE BLOOD IN THE FIELD BEFORE THEY GET TO THE HOSPITAL WITH SOME SIGNIFICANT, UM, SURVIVAL RATES WITH THAT.
IT IS, WE ONLY HAVE IT AVAILABLE ON TWO AMBULANCES RIGHT NOW, OR TWO UNITS I SHOULD SAY IS ON A COMMAND UNIT AND, UM, DESIGNATED A MEDICAL OFFICER, UM, AND A COUPLE OF OTHER SINGLE UNIT RESPONDERS.
WHAT WE'D LIKE TO DO IS EXPAND THAT INTO THE COMMUNITY AND HAVE IT MORE AVAILABLE ON OTHER UNITS.
SO THAT HAS EXPANDED INTO THE COMMUNITY.
UM, IT IS AN EXPENSIVE ENDEAVOR.
IT DOES REQUIRE, UM, REGULATORY, UM, MEASURES WITH THE STORAGE CONTAINERS, WITH THE, UH, IVY TUBING THAT IS REQUIRED, UM, JUST THE BLOOD PRODUCT ITSELF.
UM, SO IT REQUIRES, UH, SOME SPECIALIZED EQUIPMENT TO DO THAT AND THAT IT HAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY AND THOSE PATIENTS THAT WE SERVE IN THAT WAY.
UM, ARE THERE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS? OH, VICE-CHAIR RAMIREZ.
UM, HI THERE, I ACTUALLY, IT WAS A GENERAL QUESTION FOR WHOEVER, WHOEVER THE THREE OF YOU COULD ANSWER.
I KNOW THAT WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS.
UM, AND SO WHEN DO CONTRACT NEGOTIATION CHANGES IMPACT BUDGET? IT WOULDN'T BE TO THE SUMMING THIS FULL CYCLE, I'M ASSUMING, BUT AT WHAT POINT WILL THOSE KICK IN? IT REALLY DEPENDS ON WHEN THE CONTRACT IS RATIFIED BY COUNCIL.
UM, EACH OF THE THREE CONTRACTS WILL BE COSTED OUT BY THE BUDGET OFFICE.
AND WHEN IT GOES THROUGH THE PROCESS OF THE COUNCIL, ACCEPTING THAT CONTRACT, THEN WE WILL PUT THE MONEY IN THE BUDGET.
IT'S ALWAYS HOPED THAT WE'LL GET IT DONE BEFORE THE OCTOBER 1ST STARTED THE FISCAL YEAR, BECAUSE IT'S A LOT EASIER TO CHANGE UP ALL THE DOCUMENTS.
UM, BUT OFTENTIMES NEGOTIATIONS GO A LITTLE BIT LONGER THAN THAT, AND IT HAS TO BE DONE WITH AN AMENDMENT TO THE BUDGET.
UM, SO IF THERE AREN'T ANY MORE QUESTIONS, UH, WE CAN MOVE ON TO, UM, OH, GO FOR IT.
CAN I ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? AND THEN I'M A ONE.
UH, SO I HAVEN'T TALKED TO MY DIRECTOR SINCE YOU ASKED THE QUESTION AND KEEP IN MIND WHEN I TELL YOU THIS NUMBER, IT, IT, IT'S NOT BROKEN OUT BETWEEN NINE 11 AND POLICE DISPATCH, UH, AND ALSO KEEP IN MIND THAT, UH, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT ANSWERS ALL NINE 11 CALLS AND THAT IT, THEN WE FARM IT OUT TO THE POLICE, FIRE EMS, OR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FROM THERE.
SO, UH, THIS NUMBER INCLUDES OVERTIME AS WELL AS STAFF, AS WELL AS SOFTWARE HARDWARE.
THAT'S REQUIRED TO KEEP THE, UH, THE FLOOR UP AND RUNNING.
SO, UH, OUR BUDGET'S OVER 17 MILLION A YEAR, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
[00:55:01]
ADDITIONAL SPEAKER, UM, ON THE BUDGET AND THAT IS KATHY MITCHELL, UH, FROM JUST LIBERTY TO TALK ABOUT THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET, AND SHE IS VIRTUAL.CAN YOU HEAR ME? UM, WE CAN HEAR YOU CATHY, BUT WE CAN'T SEE YOU.
UM, CAN YOU TURN YOUR CAMERA ON OR DO WE NEED TO DO THAT? HANG ON.
I DON'T BELIEVE IT'S REQUIRED IF SHE CANNOT TURN ON HER CAMERA.
UM, WE STILL CAN'T SEE YOU, BUT YOU CAN SPEAK.
UM, AND WE'LL JUST HEAR THE AUDIO.
IT'S SHOWING ME I CAN SEE MYSELF, BUT APPARENTLY NO ONE ELSE CAN, SO YEAH.
THANK YOU FOR, FOR THIS MOMENT.
UH, I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET PROPOSAL THAT 30 ORGANIZATIONS, UH, COLLABORATED ON THIS GEAR.
THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND NOISE.
I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA WORK ON THAT ONE.
SO, UH, UH, WE HAVE PROPOSED THAT NEW MONEY, UH, FOR IN GENERAL REVENUE BE FOCUSED ON WHAT WE BELIEVE ARE SOME OF THE MOST URGENT PUBLIC SAFETY NEEDS.
AND YOU HEARD SOME OF THAT JUST NOW IN YOUR PRESENTATION, BUT WE HAVE BEEN SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON AMS IN THE PUBLIC SAFETY ARENA BECAUSE THE, UH, STAFF SHORTAGES AT PMS ARE BRUTAL RIGHT NOW.
UH, AND I DO WANT TO, UM, POSIT A QUESTION OR, OR NOTE SOMETHING FROM THE Q AND A THAT I JUST HEARD.
ALL OF THE CONTRACTS ARE INDEED IN NEGOTIATION.
AND, UM, TO ONE OF THE MEMBERS QUESTIONS, THE, THE IMPACT IS ON THIS COMING BUDGET YEAR.
SO PRESUMABLY EVEN IF THE NEGOTIATIONS LAG AND IT HAS TO BE DONE BY A BUDGET AMENDMENT, IT IS DEFINITELY GOING TO IMPACT THIS YEAR'S BUDGET.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE REALLY TALKED A LOT ABOUT AS COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND WHAT THE PRIORITIES SHOULD BE FOR THIS COMING YEAR WAS THAT EMS, UM, NEEDS TO SEE THE KIND OF WAGE INCREASES THAT IT HAS BEEN REQUESTING IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO HIRE AT THE LEVEL THAT IT NEEDS TO HIRE.
SO WITHOUT EVEN CONSIDERING THE NEW POSITIONS THAT YOU HAVE BEEN, UH, PRESENTED WITH, WE BELIEVE THAT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO IS TO SERIOUSLY INCREASE THE WAGES THAT WE'RE PAYING OUR PARAMEDICS SO THAT THEY CAN HIRE THEM, UH, AND FILL THOSE CLASSES THAT THEY HAVEN'T BEEN FILLING.
SO, AS A MATTER OF COMMUNITY PRIORITIES, THERE WERE 30 ORGANIZATIONS THAT WORKED ON IT.
UH, WE ARE NOW AT, I THINK, 32 WITH MORE ORGANIZATIONS COMING ON THIS MONTH TO SUPPORT THESE PRIORITIES.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF COURSE, OF NON DIRECTLY PUBLIC SAFETY PRIORITIES THAT ARE IN THAT PROPOSAL AS WELL.
UM, MOST URGENTLY, UH, THERE WAS WIDESPREAD SUPPORT AMONG MANY ORGANIZATIONS FROM ALL DIFFERENT PARTS OF OUR COMMUNITY, FROM ENVIRONMENT TO, UM, TO SOCIAL SERVICES, TO, UM, PLAN FOR, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN SUPPORT EVICTION PREVENTION PRIMARILY IN TERMS OF, UH, HELPING PEOPLE WITH RENTAL ASSISTANCE.
WE KNOW THAT WE DID THAT LAST YEAR WITH ONE TIME FUNDS.
AND SO TO DO IT OUT OF GENERAL, REVENUE IS A HEAVY LIFT, BUT WE THINK IN TERMS OF PRIORITIES, IT'S ONE OF THE VERY, MOST IMPORTANT URGENT CRISES THAT WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS YEAR.
UH, NEXT YEAR, THERE MAY BE DIFFERENT ISSUES THAT WE'RE FACING, BUT THIS YEAR IT'S, THESE MASSIVE RENT INCREASES ARE REALLY DRIVING THE CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW WE SHOULD SPEND OUR MONEY.
SO, UM, THE WHOLE THING IS AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO LOOK AT AT EQUITY ACTION, ATX.ORG.
IF YOU GO TO OUR CAMPAIGNS, WE'VE POSTED IT THERE.
UM, AND A NUMBER YOU'LL SEE ALL THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE SIGNED ON AND YOU'LL SEE ALL THE SPECIFIC PROPOSALS.
UH, WE DO HAVE SOME OTHER THINGS IN PUBLIC SAFETY.
WE ARE CONTINUING TO SUPPORT, UH, VIOLENCE PREVENTION,
[01:00:01]
ESPECIALLY GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION IN THIS CURRENT MOMENT AND ALSO SERVICES FOR CRIME VICTIMS AND ALL OF THAT IS IN THERE.SO I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY ENOUGH THINGS TO THROW AT YOU, UM, OVER THE PHONE.
SO IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, UM, I CAN ANSWER THEM.
UM, ANY QUESTIONS FOR MS. MITCHELL? OKAY.
UM, I, I THINK WE'RE IN A KIND OF EXTRAORDINARY, GOOD SHAPE IN TERMS OF TIME.
UM, UH, SHALL WE MOVE ON TO THE, WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE STAFFING STUDY, UM, FOR PUBLIC SAFETY AGENCIES.
ARE WE IN A POSITION? OH, SORRY.
UM, COMMISSIONER CONSOLE IS SORRY.
SO IN THE PAST WE HAVE, UM, AFTER WE GET THE BUDGET PRESENTATIONS, WE GO LINE BY LINE THROUGH THE UNFUNDED AND EXTRA REQUESTED BUDGETS AND TAKE A VOTE ON IT IF WE SUPPORT THEM OR NOT TO SEND THAT MEMO ON TO, UM, COUNT CITY COUNCIL.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAD PLANNED TO DO THAT THIS YEAR OR IF WE WERE GOING TO DO IT OFFLINE, BUT WE HAVE DONE THAT THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT THERE JUST IN CASE YOU HAD FORGOTTEN OR WEREN'T PLANNING ON DOING IT.
UM, NO, I THINK THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA.
UM, YEAH, I'M VERY CONFUSED BY THIS.
THIS ISN'T REALLY THE BUDGET LANGUAGE.
UM, I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THAT.
UM, IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING'S GOING TO GET DONE ALL AT ONCE AT THE END, WHICH IS NOT HOW YOU SHOULD DO A BUDGET, BUT ANYWAY, UM, I'M NOT IN CHARGE.
UH, WHY DON'T WE, WHY DON'T WE DO THAT? SO I GUESS WE WOULD START WITH, UM, THE, UH, THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS, UH, SORT OF, UM, NOT OFFICIALLY PART OF THE MAIN PRESENTATION WISHLIST.
THAT'S NOT WHAT IT'S CALLED, IS IT, CAN WE PUT THAT, CAN WE GO BACK TO THE, UM, THE SLIDES AND FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT? IS THAT POSSIBLE? I BELIEVE IT'S THE LAST LIGHT OF ALL OF THE PRINTS.
IT PROBABLY IS THE LAST SLIDE OF EACH PRESENTATION THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
AND REFRESH MY MEMORY, UH, COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ.
WE'VE HAD SOME BRIEF CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THIS BEFORE WE'VE, UH, VOTED ISN'T THAT RIGHT? YEAH.
WELL, WE JUST OPENED IT UP TO QUESTIONS AND SEE IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS.
AND THEN, UH, IN THE PAST WE BASICALLY SAID, UM, YOU KNOW, DO WE SUPPORT ALL OF THEM OR IS THERE SOME THAT WE DON'T SUPPORT AND THAT WE WOULD, THE RECOMMENDATION WAS JUST IN GENERAL, HERE'S THE THINGS THAT WE SUPPORT AND CALLING OUT ANYTHING THAT WE DON'T.
UM, AND I GUESS I WOULD LIKE TO GET A LITTLE CLARIFICATION ON THE HELICOPTER.
THIS IS, UM, APDS, SECOND HELICOPTER.
IS THAT RIGHT THERE? THERE ARE TWO.
OH, THERE ARE THREE, THERE ARE ACTUALLY THREE.
UM, LISO HELICOPTER THAT IS NOT, NOT USED REGULARLY.
SO THIS WOULD BE THE SECOND PUBLIC SAFETY HELICOPTER FOR APD.
SO THERE'S ONLY TWO PATROL HELICOPTERS THAT ARE SET UP WITH THE CAMERAS AND THE SYSTEMS, ET CETERA.
UH, THE THIRD ONE, WHICH, UH, MICHELLE WAS TALKING ABOUT IS USED FOR TRAINING.
SO IT'S, IT'S NOT SET UP FOR ANY TYPE OF PATROL TYPE OF FUNCTIONS, BUT IT'S USED FOR TRAINING AT STRATUS AND THE COST OF HOURS IS MUCH CHEAPER TO FLY AND TO TRAIN ON THAT, UH, LIKE, AND LIKE I SAID, IT WAS FROM LISA FROM MILITARY, BUT IT'S SAYING COMPLETELY, YOU KNOW, UH, PAINTED AND DESIGNED FOR APD.
SO IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ANY TYPE OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT ANYMORE.
UM, SO, UM, DO COMMISSIONERS, I CAN'T SEE ANY OF Y'ALL.
THIS IS GOING TO BE REALLY HARD TO DO.
UM, WELL NOW I CAN SEE COMMISSIONER GONZALES ONLY.
I HAVE A, I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION AND IT'S JUST ABOUT LOGISTICALLY, LIKE MAKING SURE I UNDERSTAND WHERE THIS, WHERE THIS MONEY COMES FROM AND WHY.
SO, UM, SO FOR EXAMPLE, THE FOUR SWORN, UM, DETECTIVE FTES FOR THE SEX CRIMES UNIT, THAT'S 955,000, UM, H HOW I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW THAT ENDS UP ON AN UNFUNDED LIST, SEEING IF THAT IS REQUIRED BY A SETTLEMENT THAT WAS ALREADY, SO
[01:05:01]
WHY DOESN'T IT FALL UNDER THE BUCKET OF THE, THE OTHER, THE 451 MILLION THAT YOU ALREADY HAVE IN PLACE? CAN YOU EXPLAIN, I WANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THINGS ENDED UP HERE VERSUS JUST GETTING TAKEN OUT OF THE 4 51, RIGHT THERE.ACTUALLY, THOSE ARE ACTUALLY TWO SEPARATE ITEMS. SO THE LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT, UM, FROM THE SEXUAL ASSAULT LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT FROM FEBRUARY, THAT IS IN THE FORECAST BUDGET, THE ITEMS THAT WERE REQUIREMENT UNDER THAT SETTLEMENT, THIS, UM, ADDITIONAL ITEM, THIS ADDITIONAL UNFUNDED PRIORITY IS IN ADDITION TO THOSE THINGS, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE DEPARTMENT HAS IDENTIFIED THAT IS NEEDED.
IT IS NOT PART OF THE FUNDING THAT'S IN OUR
DOES THAT CLARIFY THAT, THAT, THAT ONE IN PARTICULAR, BUT I THINK MY QUESTION IS A LITTLE BIT MORE OF, IT'S MORE OF A HIGH LEVEL QUESTION ABOUT HOW, HOW ARE THINGS IN THE, IN THE OVERALL BUDGET, SAY THE $451 MILLION A YEAR THAT WE ARE, WE LOOKED AT THAT YOU GUYS HAVE ALREADY ACCOUNTED FOR ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE IN THAT LIST ARE ALL OF THE THINGS IN THAT LIST, APPROVED ITEM BY ITEM, OR IS THERE NO INTERCHANGEABILITY, LIKE, ARE THERE THINGS IN PLACE THAT, THAT, THAT KEEP YOU FROM REPLACING SOMETHING THAT'S 955,000 IN THE FOUR POINT $451 MILLION BUCKET WITH THIS? LIKE, I'M JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW, HOW YOU END UP WITH UNFUNDED PRIORITIES.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? I THINK, YEAH.
LET ME SEE IF I CAN TRY TO HELP ANSWER THAT IN THE FORECAST NUMBER, THE 400, UM, THE $451 MILLION.
THAT INCLUDES, UM, WHAT WE CALL BASE COST DRIVERS.
SO THOSE CATEGORIES, UM, OF THE PERSONNEL COSTS TO INTERFUND TRANSFERS AND THOSE VERY SPECIFIC CONTRACT AND OPERATING INCREASES, UM, THE DIRECTION FROM CITY MANAGER AND DEVELOPING THIS BUDGET, UM, WAS TO JUST KIND OF HOLD THE LINE WITH ONLY BASE COST DRIVERS INCLUDED IN THESE FIGURES, ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF THAT BASE COST DRIVER, WE KIND OF HAD TO PUT ON THIS EXTRA, UM, THE DEPARTMENTS COULD COME UP WITH UNFUNDED PRIORITIES AND THEN THOSE WOULD BE LOOKED AT BY, UM, CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL AND THE COMMISSIONS.
THAT, THAT ACTUALLY PERFECTLY ANSWERS IT.
I WAS JUST TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF THAT.
JUST TO CLARIFY ONE MORE THING.
AND THIS IS, I THINK THAT THE KICKER THAT ALWAYS KIND OF GETS US NOTHING EVER STOPS THE CHIEF OR THE LEADERSHIP FROM, UM, NOT PUTTING A CERTAIN NUMBER OF OFFICERS ON PATROL, AND INSTEAD USING THAT MONEY TO HIRE DETECTIVES WHO CAN WORK ON SEX CRIMES, THAT THAT DETERMINATION COULD BE MADE BY LEADERSHIP.
LIKE THE CITY MANAGER DOESN'T DECIDE THAT THE CHIEF DOES RIGHT.
CAN WE MAKE SURE I'M ANSWERING THIS CORRECTLY? WE ARE, WE DO HAVE, UM, AN AUTHORIZED STAFFING, UM, ORDINANCE BY THE CITY THAT'S ADOPTED AT BUDGET.
AND DURING, IN THAT ORDINANCE, UM, CITY COUNCIL AUTHORIZES PER RANK, WHAT WE'RE ALLOWED TO HAVE AS A DEPARTMENT, WHAT WE'RE ALLOWED TO AUTHORIZE, UM, HOW MANY POSITIONS? OH, SO YOU CAN'T MOVE PEOPLE FROM DETECTIVE TO PATROL.
LIKE THOSE TWO, THOSE THINGS CANNOT BE MOVED AROUND.
DO, UM, DO OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO, UM, AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENTS? UM, SORT OF HOPE, I GUESS, HOPEFUL LIST.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO CALL THIS UNFUNDED.
SO, UM, SHALL WE, DO WE WANT TO GO DOWN THIS ONE BY ONE OR DO FOLKS WANT TO VOTE ON THEM ONE AT A TIME? IS THERE A SENSE THAT WE'RE ALL FOR THIS? OKAY.
Y'ALL UM, YOU'RE NOT, YOU'RE NOT GIVING ME ANY GUNS.
YOU'RE NOT GIVING ME ANY GUIDANCE HERE.
UM, UM, I THINK I'LL START OFF BY SAYING THAT I, I, FOR SURE I'M ON BOARD WITH ANY EFFORTS TO CIVILIANIZED POSITIONS.
UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UM, I, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S HARD TO MAKE IT A DECISION EITHER WAY WITHOUT KNOWING MORE, MORE SPECIFICS, BUT IN AS, UH, AS A GENERAL SORT
[01:10:01]
OF MONIKER THAT I'M, I'M IN, I'M IN FAVOR OF CIVILIANIZING POSITIONS WHEREVER WE CAN.SO I WOULD SAY YES TO THOSE THINGS, FOR SURE.
WE HAVE IN THE PAST VOTED AGAINST THE HELICOPTER.
SO I'M A LITTLE WORRIED ABOUT PUTTING ALL OF THESE UP TOGETHER BECAUSE I, WE HAVE NOT HAD THE VOTES FOR THE HELICOPTER IN THE PAST.
SO MY INSTINCT IS TO GO ONE AT A TIME.
UM, WHY DON'T WE, WHY DON'T WE DO THAT, EVEN THOUGH IT'S GOING TO BE KIND OF A DRAG.
UM, I GUESS WE'RE GOING TO NEED THE LIST UP AGAIN.
UM, SO FIRST WE'RE GONNA, UH, VOTE YAY OR NAY ON SUPPORTING THE HELICOPTER REPLACEMENT.
UM, UH, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT VOTES.
RAMIREZ, NO, UM, COMMISSIONER SIERRA
UM, UH, COMMISSIONER, AUSTIN'S NOT HERE.
COMMISSIONER HOUSE AND FLICK IS NOT HERE.
I MEAN, IF YOU'RE GONNA TRY TO KEEP A HELICOPTER FLYING THAT YOU CAN'T GET REPLACEMENT PARTS FOR.
I THINK IT'S A DEFINITELY UNSAFE, SO I WOULD VOTE FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF THE HELICOPTER.
UM, COMMISSIONER LANE IS NOT HERE.
NEITHER IS COMMISSIONER LEWIS, COMMISSIONER WEBBER.
NO, FOR THE SAME REASON I DID LAST YEAR, WHICH IS, UM, IT'S NOT THAT WE WANT AN UNSAFE HELICOPTER FLYING AROUND THE SKIES OF OUR COMMUNITY, BUT RATHER WE WANT MONEY INVESTED IN PUBLIC SAFETY INITIATIVES THAT WE BELIEVE WORK.
AND, UM, WELL I'M SPEAKING FOR MYSELF ACTUALLY THAT I BELIEVE I'M VOTING.
NO, BECAUSE I DON'T BELIEVE THAT THIS IS A GOOD USE OF OUR TAXPAYER MONEY.
UM, SO, UH, I BELIEVE THAT MEANS WE DON'T SUPPORT THE HELICOPTER REPLACEMENT.
UM, SHALL WE MOVE ON TO THE, UM, THE 11 CIVILIAN FTES, I GUESS THESE ARE CIVILIAN FTES, WHO WOULD PER CROWS REPORT RECOMMENDATION WORK IN, UH, TRAINING OFFICERS, UM, IN NOT NECESSARILY CADETS, BUT MORE EXPERIENCED OFFICERS.
UM, IS THAT A GOOD SUMMARY? YES, THAT IS A GOOD SUMMARY.
AND THEN ALSO IN THE DATA TECHNOLOGY DIVISION AS WELL.
UM, SO DO YOU FOLKS HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THAT? WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ADDITIONAL CIVILIAN FTES, UH, FOR DATA AND TECHNOLOGY AND ALSO, UH, FOR TRAINING, UM, UH, MORE EXPERIENCED OFFICERS, NOT CADETS AT THE TRAINING ACADEMY.
UM, SO, UH, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT VOTES? YES.
UM, UH, COMMISSIONER SIERRA
UM, SO THIS ONE'S A LITTLE CONFUSING WE'RE VOTING FOR SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T COST ANY MONEY.
UM, SO CIVILIANIZING SIX SWORN FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES IN THE CRIME CENTER.
UM, DOES ANYONE NEED AN EXPLANATION ON THIS ONE? ARE WE GOOD? OKAY.
UH, COMMISSIONER OR, UH, VICE-CHAIR RAMIREZ.
UM, COMMISSIONER SIERRA AREBALO YES.
UH, FOR SWORN DETECTIVE FTES FOR THE SEX CRIMES UNIT, UH, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M GOING TO SAY THIS, BUT COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT VOTES.
UH, COMMISSIONER SIERRA AREVALO YES.
[01:15:01]
COMMISSIONER WEBBER.UM, AND THEN SIX CIVILIAN FTES FOR COMPLIANCE WITH SENATE BILL ONE 11.
UM, DO YOU FOLKS KNOW WHAT THIS IS? UM, I, I THINK I CAN EXPLAIN A LITTLE BIT.
THIS IS THE BILL THAT BASICALLY SAYS THERE WAS, THERE WAS AN OFFICER IN HOUSTON WHO MAY BE HID SOME EVIDENCE IN HIS GARAGE AND IT MAY BE CAUSED A WRONGFUL CONVICTION.
AND SO THEY TOOK THIS TO THE LEGISLATURE AND SAID THAT COPS NEED TO SIGN A STATEMENT THAT SAYS THAT THEY BROUGHT ALL THEIR EVIDENCE TO THE DA.
I BELIEVE THAT'S THE BACKSTORY ON THIS BILL.
THIS IS LEGISLATION THAT SAYS THAT THE POLICE HAVE TO TAKE ALL THE EVIDENCE THEY HAVE AND GIVE IT TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY.
SO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY CAN GIVE IT TO THE DEFENSE.
THAT'S ALL THIS, THAT SB ONE 11 DOES FOLKS.
AND THE REASON, THE ARGUMENT FOR ADDITIONAL STAFF IS THAT NOW THEY HAVE TO LIKE, MAKE SURE THAT THEY FOUND EVERYTHING AND SIGN A PIECE OF PAPER THAT SAYS THAT THEY HANDED IT OVER AND THAT'S CREATING EXTRA WORK.
UM, SO, UM, LET'S VOTE ON THIS, UM, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT VOTES.
UM, AND I GO LAST, I'M TRYING TO ACTUALLY, I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA VOTE.
I AM PERSUADED BY YOU BECKY ON THIS SINCE YOU KNOW MORE ABOUT IT THAN I DO.
UM, SO I GUESS THAT ONE DOES NOT PASS EITHER.
UM, I THINK WE CAN, IF IT'S POSSIBLE, MOVE ON TO THE LAST PAGE OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT'S PRESENTATION.
I'M NOT DOING THIS VERY QUICKLY.
TARA FOR EXPEDIENCE SAKE SHOW.
UM, MAYBE WE SAY, DO A VOTE ON IF WE THINK ALL OF THEM WILL PASS AND THEN EITHER DO THEM ALL OR NONE.
I MEAN, DOES THAT MEAN, DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? LIKE IF WE, LIKE THERE'S, MAYBE WE SHOULD GET COMMENTS ON IF SOMEONE DOESN'T THINK ONE IS, UH, SUPPORTED AND THEN INSTEAD OF GOING ONE BY ONE.
UM, DO YOU WANT TO ACTUALLY DO A VOTE ON WHETHER OR NOT WE CAN VOTE FOR ALL OF THESE TOGETHER, OR I I'D JUST LIKE TO HEAR FROM ANYONE WHO OBJECTS TO VOTING RIGHT HERE, IF ANYONE OBJECTS TO VOTING FOR ALL OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS, UNFUNDED REQUESTS, UH, AS A UNIT, UH, LET ME KNOW YOU HAVE CONCERNS THAT WE CAN'T SORT OF DO IT ALL AT ONCE.
UM, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT, UH, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT'S REQUESTS BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE? ALL RIGHT.
UM, LET'S VOTE, UH, BACK TO MY LIST.
ON THE FIRE DEPARTMENT REQUESTS.
I GUESS WE'VE GOT ONE MORE TO GO.
WHILE THERE I'M PUTTING THAT UP.
MA'AM SO I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE THAT WE ADOPT THE, UM, COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET OR THAT WE RATHER, UH, RECOMMEND THAT COUNCIL ADOPT THAT.
[01:20:02]
I'LL GIVE A SECOND.WELL, UM, SO YOU BUTTON WHAT'S THAT.
WHETHER OR NOT WE ARE ADOPTING THE, UM, COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET.
UM, SO COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT VOTES? YES.
UM, SO MS. JACKSON, DID YOU GET THAT VOTE? YES.
SO ON THE COMMUNITY INVESTMENT BUDGET.
UM, SO AGAIN, DOES ANYONE, UM, HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT VOTING, UH, FOR THE UNFUNDED REQUESTS FOR EMS? OKAY.
CAN I CLARIFY SOMETHING ON EMS FOR NUMBER FIVE? UH, WE WOULD, UH, IT'S GONNA BE AN OFFSET BY REVENUE.
WE ANTICIPATE TO INCREASE OUR REVENUE TO OFFSET THAT COST FOR NUMBER FIVE.
SO IT'S LIKELY THAT THAT'S REALLY NOT IN ADDITION TO THE BUDGET.
DID EVERYBODY GET THAT? JUST TINY LITTLE NODS IN THE CORNER.
UM, SO LET'S, UH, VOTE ON THIS AS A UNIT.
UM, IF EVERYBODY'S READY, THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS.
UM, COMMISSIONER BERNHARDT VOTES? YES.
UH, COMMISSIONER SIERRA AREVALO YES.
I THINK WE MIGHT BE DONE VOTING.
DID WE MAKE IT THANK YOU ALL FOR SURVIVING.
AND SOMEONE'S BEEN TEXTING ME THROUGH THIS WHOLE THING, SO I'M SURE SOMETHING WENT WRONG ANYWAY.
CAN WE PULL OVER CHIEF, JUST CON FOR AS A PANELISTS, UM, FOR THE STEPPING PORT PORTION OF THE POLICE, CAN WE DO WHAT FULL OVER STUFF'S GONE AS FAR AS PANELISTS.
[3.c. Staffing Study, Public Safety Agencies (sponsors: Commissioner Lewis and Ramirez) 5:20pm-5:35pm]
STUDY AND START WITH CHIEF CHECK ON.UH, COMMISSIONERS JOSEPH CHUCK ON CHIEF OF POLICE.
UM, JUST MAKING SURE THAT OUR PRESENTATION IS COMING UP, BUT WHILE IT'S COMING UP, UM, I WANTED TO TAKE AN OPPORTUNITY TO JUST KIND OF PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF A BACKGROUND ON, ON AREN'T PART OF THE STAFFING, UH, STUDY.
THAT WAS, THAT WAS MOVED FORWARD.
AND REALLY WHAT WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IS, IS MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE BEING, UH, DATA-DRIVEN AND EVIDENCE-BASED AS A POLICE DEPARTMENT IN, IN ALL THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING, INCLUDING, UH, HOW WE ARE GOING TO BE MOVING OUT, UM, ANY TYPE OF STAFFING OR STAFFING RECOMMENDATIONS FORWARD, UH, TO COUNCIL, UM, THE, THE MEMORANDUM THAT ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER ARIANO, UH, MOVE FORWARD, UH, REALLY KIND OF HIGHLIGHTS THAT, UH, FROM OUR PORTION, UH, WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, THE SWORN AS WELL AS, UH, THE CIVILIAN POSITIONS THAT WE HAVE AND WHERE WE NEED TO BE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.
UM, TWO ITEMS REALLY KIND OF DRIVE THIS CONVERSATION.
THE FIRST IS OUR ABILITY TO REDUCE ATTRITION IN OUR DEPARTMENT AND, UH, HANG ON SOME MORE PEOPLE, BOTH ON THE SWORN AND CIVILIAN SIDE.
AND THEN THE OTHER THING IS, UH, BEING ABLE TO INCREASE OUR TRAINING CAPACITY, UM, WHICH, UH, DR.
JONATHAN CRAIG, AND I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND TURN IT OVER TO HIM SO THAT HE CAN KIND OF HIGHLIGHT BOTH OF THESE.
I KNOW THAT OUR TIME IS LIMITED.
SO REALLY THIS WILL BE A VERY KIND OF HIGH LEVEL, UM, OPPORTUNITY TO, TO JUST SEE WHAT, WHAT APD HAS PUT FORWARD AS STAFFING PLAN AND ALL CERTAINLY BEYOND TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT THERE MIGHT BE DR.
SO REALLY QUICKLY WHAT WE DID AND THEY, IN THE, UM, STAFFING AND STUDY, AS WE TOOK A LOOK AT, UH, WHAT THE CURRENT AUTHORIZATION IS, WE TOOK A LOOK AT A COUPLE OF OTHER SOURCES AND PUTTING THE CRIME COMMISSION'S WORK ON THE PATROL ELEMENTS.
[01:25:01]
UM, AND WE TOOK A LOOK AT HISTORICALLY WHERE WE WERE AT WHEN WE HAVE THIS LOW OF AN AUTHORIZATION, WHAT THE POPULATION OF THE CITY LOOKED LIKE, WHAT THE POPULATION LOOKS LIKE NOW AND WHAT THE PROJECTIONS ARE FOR THE FUTURE.ON THE CIVILIAN SIDE, WE LOOKED AT STAFFING IN THE DEPARTMENT, UM, RELATIVE TO THE UNITS WE EXPECT CONTINUES.
SO THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF DISCREPANCY BETWEEN WHAT YOU GOT IN BUDGET AND WHAT'S IN HERE, BECAUSE THIS IS BASED UPON THE IDEA THAT FORENSICS IS GOING TO BE DECOUPLED.
SO THE CIVILIAN NUMBERS DO NOT REFLECT, UH, THOSE PEOPLE WORKING IN THE FORENSICS DEPARTMENT.
SO I'M GOING IN AN ORDER ON PAGE 15 OF THE APOLOGIES ON PAGE, ON PAGE 15 OF THE DOCUMENT, IF YOU'VE GOT AN ADOBE, WHICH HAS, I THINK ACTUALLY PAGE 13 IN THE, IN THE, UH, PAGES IN THAT, IF YOU WANT TO FLIP TO THAT PAGE REAL QUICK, JUST GIVE YOU A QUICK RUNDOWN.
UH, BASICALLY WE TOOK A LOOK AT MODELING ON WHAT FORECASTED FORECASTED CRIME LOOKED LIKE, UM, BASING IT ON THOSE.
UH, AND THEN ON THIS, WE TOOK A LOOK AT A STAFFING PLAN THAT WAS SUBMITTED BY THE DEPARTMENT SEVERAL YEARS AGO, UM, OF WHICH NO POSITIONS WERE ACTUALLY, UH, AUTHORIZED.
UM, SO YOU'LL NOTICE IN THE COLUMN ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE HERE, THESE ARE THE POSITIONS THAT WERE IN 2019 REQUESTED WAS A TOTAL OF 78 POSITIONS FOR THE DIFFERENT CIVILIAN UNITS.
UH, THE SECOND COLUMN, THAT'S THE THIRD COLUMN REQUESTED POSITIONS.
THESE ARE THE POSITIONS THAT WE ARE REQUESTING OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS FOR THE DEPARTMENT, UH, BROKEN DOWN BY WHICH, UH, WHICH PART OF THE ORGANIZATION.
SO WE REQUESTED 137 ADDITIONAL POSITIONS, UM, TO ACTUALLY MEET A NEED.
AGAIN, STARTING WITH THE 2019 PLAN.
WE WENT THROUGH A VIGOROUS PROCESS OF ASSESSMENT OF CAPACITY.
UH, KEEP IN MIND THAT MANY OF THESE POSITIONS RELATE TO DEPARTMENTS THAT, UH, HAVE BURGEONING WORKLOADS.
SO THERE'VE BEEN A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF CHANGES AND IN A VARIETY OF OPERATIONAL ISSUES, UM, WHERE WE'RE HAVING DIFFICULTY, IN FACT, MAINTAINING STAFF, BECAUSE THE WORKLOADS ARE INCREDIBLE.
WE HAVE A TREMENDOUS PROPORTION OF THE CIVILIAN STAFF THAT WORKS MANDATORY OVERTIME, UH, AND BURNOUT RATES ARE GOING UP QUITE A BIT.
IF WE FLIP FORWARD, UH, THE NEXT PAGE, SORRY, ONE MORE PAGE.
UM, THIS IS WHERE WE TOOK A LOOK AT WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH PROJECTED CRIME AND PROJECTED POPULATION BASED UPON SOME FORECASTING MODELS.
AND WHAT'S RELEVANT IS DOWN THE BOTTOM WE'VE ACTUALLY ASKED FOR IS, UH, 200.
AND, UH, WE'VE ASKED FOR, UH, 2074 POSITIONS.
THAT'S 265 ADDITIONAL SWARM POSITIONS OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS BECAUSE OF TRAINING CAPACITY AND HIRING CAPACITY.
WE'VE ASKED FOR THOSE TO BE INTRODUCED ON A STAGGERED BASIS.
UM, WE'LL HAVE TO RAISE OUR TRAINING CAPACITY.
IF YOU FLIP TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I'LL GIVE YOU AN INDICATION HERE.
SO ON PAGE 16, WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS THAT AT AN AUTHORIZATION OF 2074 OFFICERS BY 2027, UM, EACH OF THE DEPICTS, THE VACANCY RATE FOR SWORN PERSONNEL COMPARED TO AN INCREASE IN TRAINING CAPACITY, YOU CAN SEE THE CURRENT TRAINING CAPACITY IN THE UPPER LEFT-HAND QUARTER ARE ALL WE DO BY ADDING VACANT POSITIONS IS ADD VACANCIES.
WE REALLY HAVE TO INCREASE OUR TRAINING CAPACITY BY ABOUT 75% THE NEXT 18 MONTHS IN ORDER TO ACTUALLY BEGIN TO REDUCE, UM, OUR VACANCY RATE BASED ON FORECASTS, UH, UH, BY USING CURRENT VACANCY DATA.
SO, UM, OUR GOAL IN THE DEPARTMENT IS, AND WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF, UM, ASSESSING POSSIBILITIES FOR THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO RAPIDLY INCREASE, UM, HIRING AND TRAINING CAPACITY.
SO YOU HEARD ABOUT SOME POSITIONS THAT WERE IN BUDGET THAT RELATE TO OUR ABILITY TO DO THAT.
UM, THE PROJECTION BASED UPON CURRENT VACANCY RATES OR CURRENT ATTRITION RATES, UM, REALLY PUTS US, UH, KIND OF IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER RIGHT NOW.
SO WE HAVE TO REALLY WORK TO GET OUR TRAINING CAPACITY AND HIRING CAPACITY IN LINE.
WE HAVE VERY LIMITED AMOUNT OF TIME TO DO THAT.
HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
SO, UM, I KNOW I USUALLY ASK THE COMMISSIONERS IF THEY HAVE QUESTIONS FIRST, BUT, UM, I'M IMMEDIATELY A LITTLE BIT EMBARRASSED ABOUT MY VOTES ON THE BUDGET.
AND I, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE, FOR THE CHIEF AND FOR DR.
CRINGING, UM, WHICH IS IF WE DIDN'T, IF THE W UH, I GUESS, DO YOU HAVE OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD, AN IDEA OF WHAT PERCENTAGE OF ARRESTS, UM, ANNUALLY APD MAKES, UH, THAT ARE DRUG CRIMES VERSUS EVERYTHING ELSE? I DON'T KNOW THAT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, UH, COMMISSIONER, I'M NOT SURE WHETHER A DOCTOR PREMIUM HAS ANY SENSE FOR THAT, BUT I THINK WE WOULD PROBABLY NEED TO DO SOME RESEARCH TO BE ABLE TO FIGURE THAT OUT.
YEAH, WE CAN, WE CAN LOOK INTO IT TO GIVE YOU AN EXACT NUMBER.
[01:30:01]
WHAT I CAN SAY IS THAT, UM, WITH, I THINK WHAT A LOT OF THE DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT RELATES TO WOULD BE THINGS THAT SORT OF FALL NOW INTO THE SITE MOVE ARREST CATEGORY.SO I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT, UM, THAT FOR, YOU KNOW, MINOR DRUG OFFENSES, THAT THOSE ARE ACTUALLY A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF OUR ARRESTS.
AND, UH, PARTICULARLY UNDER A THEORY THAT IT WOULD ADJUST OUR WORKLOAD, UM, AGAIN, BECAUSE WE REPORT AND I'LL UNDER, UM, THAT WE'VE REPORTED OUT FOR SEVERAL YEARS ON, ON RESTS THAT OCCUR IN LIEU OF CITATION.
UH, WE HAVE SOME PRETTY STRONG DATA THAT SINCE THAT 2020 DROP THAT, THAT RATE PRETTY SUBSTANTIALLY, BUT I'M HAPPY TO LOOK IN TO GET YOU AN ACTUAL NUMBER OF ARREST.
WELL, YEAH, THAT WOULD ONLY, BUT THAT WOULD ONLY WORK FOR MARIJUANA BECAUSE EVERYTHING ELSE, POSSESSION OF COCAINE, METHAMPHETAMINE, HEROIN, UH, EVERY OTHER CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE IN TEXAS IS A FELONY.
SO THOSE ARE NOT CITE AND RELEASE CASES, EVEN IF IT'S A VERY SMALL AMOUNT.
SO I THINK WHAT I'LL, WHAT I'LL TRY TO DO FOR YOU IS REAL TRY TO GET THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS FOR POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, THAT OWNER, OR THE SOLAR, THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS FOR POSSESSION OF A CONSULTANT CALLED SUBSTANCE THAT HAVE UNDER SOME OTHER CRIMINAL ELEMENT BEING ARRESTED FOR AT THE SAME TIME.
UM, AND THEN THE NUMBER OF TOTAL ARRESTS THAT WE MAKE.
SO THAT SHOULD GIVE YOU A PRETTY CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE, AND I'M TALKING ABOUT DEALING TOO.
I'M NOT, I MEAN, I'M, I'M TALKING ABOUT STREET DEALING ALSO.
I, AND THE POINT THAT I GUESS I'M GETTING TO IS THAT I THINK A HUGE AMOUNT OF WHAT APD DOES.
UM, AND I THINK PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO MAKE THIS POINT FOR A LONG TIME, UM, YOU KNOW, PATTING PEOPLE DOWN AND, UH, ARRESTING PEOPLE FOR, UH, BEING LOW LEVEL DRUG USERS AND DRUG DEALERS IS ENTIRELY POINTLESS AND NEEDS TO STOP.
AND I'M NOT SURE WE HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF POLICE FORCE WE'D NEED IF WE STOPPED FIGHTING THE DRUG WAR, UM, AND PATROL COULD MAYBE BE HALF THE SIZE IT IS RIGHT NOW, IF POLICE OFFICERS WEREN'T STOPPING PEOPLE LARGELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF SEARCHING THEIR VEHICLES, UH, FOR A SMALL AMOUNT OF COCAINE OR OPIATE.
AND IF WE WEREN'T JUST USING ALL THAT MONEY TO GIVE PEOPLE TREATMENT, UM, ANYWAY, I UNDERSTAND, UM, WHAT I'M GOING TO ADD TO IT JUST FOR EVERYONE'S AWARENESS, BECAUSE WE'LL NEED TO ADD THIS TO THE ANALYSIS, TO HAVE A REASONABLE DISCUSSION.
UM, THIS CAME UP A YEAR AND A HALF AGO WITH, UH, DH ANALYTICS AND THE WORK THAT THEY DID FOR THE, UM, CITY COUNCIL, A LITTLE BIT MISGUIDED.
UM, WE NEED TO LOOK AT IT FROM A TIME USE STANDPOINT, WHICH IS THE NUMBER OF MINUTES OFFICERS ACTUALLY SPEND IN A CAPACITY THAT LEADS TO THAT OUTCOME.
UM, THAT'LL TAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME.
I DO RECALL FROM THAT, UM, FROM THAT WORK, WHEN WE DID MOVE IT IN THE DIRECTION OF TIME USE IT IS, IT IS AN AMOUNT OF TIME THAT WE CAN MEASURE.
UM, SO LET'S, LET'S MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION.
SO WE'LL LOOK AT IT, NOT JUST FROM A NUMBER, UH, BUT ALSO SEE YOU HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF HOW MANY ACTUAL OFFICER HOURS ARE SPENT IN THAT CAPACITY.
YEAH, NO, I THINK IT WOULD BE INTERESTING, UM, BECAUSE I THINK THE TOLERANCE FOR THAT WORK IS GETTING, UM, WELL, A LITTLE BIT LESS IN THIS CITY, AT LEAST, ANYWAY, I'LL GET OFF MY SOAP BOX.
UH, VICE-CHAIR RAMIREZ, I JUST HAVE A LITTLE, UM, IT'S KIND OF A WISHLIST AND A WISHLIST ITEM AND A REQUEST MORE THAN AN IMMEDIATE QUESTION.
AND I DON'T KNOW THAT WE EVEN HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION THAT WE NEED, BUT I THINK BIG PICTURE, I THINK WHAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL FOR US TO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO TRACK OVER TIME IS GET A SENSE OF WHEN WE MAKE CHOICES ABOUT FUNDING.
LIKE FOR INSTANCE, UM, IN THE EMS QUARTERLY REPORT, WE HEARD ABOUT THE, THE, UM, THE, THE, UH, O U D PROGRAM AND THE BBP PROGRAM AND MAKING INVESTMENTS IN THOSE TYPES OF PROGRAMS AND WHAT THAT DOES IN TERMS OF TILTING THE SCALES WITH REGARDS TO ENFORCEMENT AND NEED FOR ENFORCEMENT ON THE OTHER END ON THE POLICE SIDE.
AND SO BIG PICTURE, I THINK I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN, IN LEARNING.
AND I SAID, I KNOW WE CAN'T DO THAT RIGHT.
THE SECOND IS I WANNA, I WANNA, I WANNA LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW DIVERTING FUNDS TO COMMUNITY REINVESTMENTS TIPS, THE SCALES, UM, AND, AND CHANGES AND CHANGES NEEDS, BECAUSE THAT'S, THAT'S THE POINT SUPPOSEDLY, RIGHT? AND SO I WOULD LIKE TO GET A BETTER SENSE OF THAT.
AND I DON'T KNOW THAT WE NEED AN ANSWER RIGHT NOW, BUT AGAIN, IT'S JUST MORE, MORE OF A STANDARD OUT LOUD FOR US, YOU KNOW, COMMISSIONER, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I CAN, THAT I CAN JUST BRIEFLY TALK ABOUT IS, YOU KNOW, THIS WEEK WE'RE GOING TO BE, UM, I'M GOING TO BE PARTICIPATING IN A GUN VIOLENCE SUMMIT THAT, UH, IS BEING HOSTED BY, UH, TRAVIS
[01:35:01]
COUNTY, BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN, THE DA'S OFFICE AND OTHERS, UH, TO TALK ABOUT PREVENTIVE EFFORTS, UM, IN THE AREA OF GUN VIOLENCE.SO, UM, THERE IS, UH, THERE IS A LARGE, YOU KNOW, UH, PART OF, UH, PART OF THE WORK THAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW TOWARDS THE PRE PREVENTIVE STRATEGIES, UM, AND WHERE WE CAN INVEST IN, IN, UM, SAY OFFICES LIKE THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION WITH THE CITY, UM, AND HOW APD AND OTHERS CAN SUPPORT THAT WORK.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, I, I, I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR THAT AT THE SAME TIME, WE STILL HAVE PEOPLE THAT ARE GETTING SERIOUSLY HURT IN THIS CITY BY GUN VIOLENCE.
AND SO IT'S GOTTA BE A BALANCED APPROACH, UM, TOWARDS, YOU KNOW, RESPONSE, YOU KNOW, BEING PREVENTED, BUT ALSO WE HAVE TO BE RESPONSIVE.
UM, I I'M SURE THAT THAT MANY OF THE SAME THINGS CAN BE APPLIED TO TOWARDS THE OTHER AREAS THAT, UH, THAT THE COMMISSION IS LOOKING AT AS WELL.
AND I REMAIN VERY OPEN TO HAVING THOSE KINDS OF DISCUSSIONS.
UM, DO OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? UM, SHOULD WE MOVE ON TO, UH, DR.
BRUNEL PAULSON, AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT SYSTEM DIRECTOR.
I'M ALSO HERE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE, UM, THE HIRING VACANCY STUDY THAT WE DID, OR THE SUMMARY THAT WE PROVIDED NEXT LINE.
AND I'M GOING TO TALK REALLY FAST, CAUSE I KNOW WE'RE TRYING TO GET ANOTHER DEPARTMENT IN HERE YET BEFORE THE END OF THE DAY ON THIS SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE THAT WE HOLD ALL OF OUR VACANCIES AT THE FIREFIGHTER RANK.
AS OF APRIL 1ST, WE HAD 108 VACANCIES.
WE HAD NINE CIVILIAN VACANCIES OUT OF THE 143 ON APRIL 1ST.
THE THINGS THAT DRIVE OUR VACANCY TRENDS ARE THE ADDITION OF NEW FTES FOR VARIOUS PROGRAMS OR OPENING A STATION.
UM, THE NUMBER OF CADETS WE CAN GRADUATE ANY GIVEN POINT, THE LAG IN HIRING.
WHEN WE RUN A CADET PROCESS, WE RUN THESE PROCESSES EVERY TWO YEARS.
WE HAVE ROUGHLY, UM, 2000 PEOPLE START THE PROCESS AND WE END UP WITH A COUPLE OF HUNDRED, UM, ACTUALLY IN JOBS, EACH OF THOSE PROCESSES.
AND THEN WE CURRENTLY ASSUME THAT OUR RETIREMENT OR SEPARATION RATE IS 1.5 PER PAY PERIOD.
AND THERE'S TWO PAPER IT'S EVERY TWO WEEKS.
SO THERE'S BASICALLY TWO PER PER MONTH.
THAT'S ABOUT THREE PEOPLE PER MONTH.
UM, SO WE ASSUME THAT, BUT WE'RE SEEING SOME CHANGES IN, AS I KNOW THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS ARE TOO NEXT SLIDE.
WE TEND TO TRACK OUR VACANCIES, UM, IN A CHART LIKE THIS.
AND WE, WE DID NOTE WHEN WE GRADUATED CLASS THE VACANCIES GO DOWN BECAUSE WE ADD NEW GRADUATES.
WHEN WE ADD A NEW FIRE STATION OR WE ADD NEW POSITIONS AT THE BEGINNING OF A BUDGET, THE VACANCIES GO BACK UP AND THEN THERE'S A GENTLE CLIMB GOING UP OF THAT 1.5 PER PAY PERIOD.
UM, THAT WILL TAKE IT GOING UP REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THERE'S AN EVENT OR NOT.
AND THEN AT THE BOTTOM, YOU CAN SEE WHERE WE HAD HIRING PROCESS IN THE, IN FISCAL YEAR 2019, AND A HIRING PROCESS IN FISCAL YEAR 21.
YOU CAN SEE THAT WE BOUNCE AROUND WITH VACANCIES RIGHT AROUND THE 80 VACANCIES.
UH, MARK, IT KIND OF GOES BELOW.
UM, RIGHT NOW WE'RE RIDING OUT JUST OVER A HUNDRED, UH, BUT WE'RE ABOUT TO GRADUATE CLASS 1 32 VERY SOON.
OUR PRIMARY CHALLENGES COME WITH RECRUITING IN NOT SO MUCH IN THE SENSE OF GETTING PEOPLE TO APPLY, BUT GETTING, UM, TARGETED RECRUITS, UH, TRYING TO DIVERSIFY OUR, OUR WORKFORCE, UH, THE LENGTH OF TIME.
UM, THE OTHER, THE OTHER CHALLENGE HAS TO DO WITH THE LENGTH OF TIME.
IT TAKES TO GO THROUGH ALL THE DIFFERENT STEPS IN THE CADET HIRING PROCESS, AS THEY'RE DETAILED IN OUR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT.
SO WE DO ONE WRITTEN TEST EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS, WE DO A ONE ORAL, UH, TEST OF ALL THE DIFFERENT APPLICANTS.
AND THEN WE ASSESS A SMALLER POOL WITH REGARD TO LOTS OF DIFFERENT THINGS, THEIR MEDICAL, THEIR ABILITY TO DO A CANDIDATE APTITUDE TEST, UH, YOU KNOW, A PHYSICAL APTITUDE TEST, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS.
UM, SO THOSE ARE OUR RECRUITING CHALLENGES, OUR RETENTION CHALLENGES.
WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF FIREFIGHTERS WITH LESS THAN 10 YEARS OF SERVICE LEAVING FOR OTHER TYPES OF OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, WE THINK OUR NEW SEPARATION RATE IS UPWARDS OF TWO PER PAY PERIOD.
A LOT OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE GREAT RESIGNATION THAT WE HEAR IN THE NEWS AND SEE IN SOCIAL MEDIA QUITE A BIT, THEY'RE LEAVING FOR REASONS THAT ARE VERY UN UN TRADITIONAL FOR US, VERY DIFFERENT FOR US.
UM, SO WE'RE WATCHING THAT TREND AND THEN FINALLY OUR CIVILIAN HIRING AND RETENTION, A LOT OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE PAY RATES FOR PARTICULAR POSITIONS THAT ARE IN HIGH DEMAND THROUGHOUT CENTRAL TEXAS.
AND MOST OF THOSE ARE IN THE ENGINEERING AND PLANS REVIEW THAT DEVELOPMENT.
UH, THE DEVELOPMENT ISSUES I WAS DESCRIBING EARLIER, WHERE THE CITY IS GROWING AT SUCH A HIGH RATE, NEXT SLIDE, THE
[01:40:01]
WAY THE FIRE DEPARTMENT LOOKS AT, UM, NEED IT HAS TO DO WITH RESPONSE TIMES.THIS IS A MAP THAT WE CALL OUR STANDARD OF COVERAGE.
THE BOTTOM LINE IS PURPLE IS BAD.
SO A FIRE CREW CAN GET TO YOU PRETTY FAST IN THE INNER CORRIDOR IN THE OUTER EDGES.
IT'S MUCH, IT TAKES A LOT LONGER FOR THEM TO GET THERE.
SO BACK IN MARCH OF 28, 20 18, THERE WAS A, AN EFFORT ON THE PART OF THE COUNCIL TO PASS A RESOLUTION, UH, DESIGNATING THE NEED FOR FIVE FIRE STATIONS WITHIN SIX YEARS.
UM, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE ADDITION OF EACH OF THESE STATIONS LIKE I DID WITH THE BUDGET PRESENTATION TO THE DEL VALLEY STATION, THE TRAVIS COUNTRY STATION, THE LOOP 360 STATION, THOSE ARE THE FIVE THAT WERE DESIGNATED OFF OF THIS 2017, UH, STANDARD OF COVERAGE MAP.
YOU CAN SEE THEM DENOTED ON THE MAP PRIMARILY IN AREAS THAT ARE PURPLE IN TERMS OF 1, 2, 3, 4, IN TERMS OF THE ORDER WE WERE GOING TO ADD THEM, UM, TURN TO BE MORE CLEAR ABOUT THE PURPLE BEING BAD PURPLE AREAS INDICATE THAT LESS THAN 50% OF THE TIME, THE AFD RESPONSE FROM CALL RECEIPT TO ARRIVAL ON SCENE WAS EIGHT MINUTES OR LESS.
IT'S ONLY HALF THE TIME WE'RE MEETING OUR GOALS IN THE, IN THE PURPLE AREAS.
I PROVIDED AN UPDATE REAL QUICK.
UM, JUST SO THAT YOU CAN SEE SINCE 2017 WAS QUITE A WHILE AGO, THAT WE'RE STILL HAVING ISSUES OUT IN THOSE AREAS AROUND THE PERIPHERY.
AND WE'RE STARTING TO SEE MORE IF RE ISSUES WITH INFILL TOWARDS THE INNER PART OF THE CITY WHERE THAT SORT OF UT BURNT ORANGE IS CREEPING IN.
UM, THAT'S GOT TO DO WITH, UH, INCREASED DENSITY IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS, IN THE DOWNTOWN AREAS.
UH, SO WE HAVE IN PLACE NOW, THE DEL VALLEY STATION SOUTHEAST THE TRAVIS COUNTRY STATION, SOUTHWEST, THE AREA AROUND LOOP 360, WHERE YOU SEE THE THREE ON THE MAP IS BEING BUILT RIGHT NOW.
AND THESE ARE NOT JUST FIRE STATIONS.
THESE ARE FIRE AND EMS STATION.
SO EACH OF THESE ALSO INCLUDES AN EMS CREW THAT'S LOCATED THERE, UH, LOOP 360.
NOW, GOODNIGHT RANCH IS SLATED TO BE THE NEXT IT IS TO THE SOUTHEAST WHERE THAT NUMBER IS DOWN.
I GUESS, NUMBER ONE DOWN THERE NOW, NO GOODNIGHT WRENCHES NUMBER FOUR TOWARDS THE VERY BOTTOM.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF GROWTH IN THAT AREA AND THEIR, THEIR RESPONSE TIMES HAVE GOTTEN MORE, MORE LENGTHY IN RECENT YEARS.
SO OUR PLAN TO FILL VACANCIES BASED ON THE PROJECTED STAFFING AND GETTING THOSE ADDITIONAL STATIONS, WHICH IS NOT ALWAYS WHAT COMES TRUE, THIS IS TRULY A PLAN.
IT IS NOT, UM, CURRENT STATE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING PARTICULARLY.
UM, IT SHOWS THAT, UH, EVEN IF WE GRADUATE ALL THE CLASSES WE HAVE PLANNED THAT ARE LISTED ON THE RIGHT SIDE, IF WE GET ALL THE PROJECTED STAFFING FOR THOSE STATIONS THAT ARE LISTED ON THE RIGHT SIDE, UH, THAT THE PROCESS WE GO THROUGH IN 2023, YOU KNOW, WE'LL TAKE OUR VACANCIES DOWN VERY LOW, BUT THEN IT'LL POP BACK UP AGAIN BECAUSE WE'LL ADD ANOTHER STATION OR SO, UM, WE, WE SUSPECT THAT OUR SEPARATION RATE THOUGH WILL GO HIGHER BECAUSE OF THIS PHENOMENON WE'RE SEEING SO THAT IT WON'T EVEN DIP AS LOW AS YOU SEE IT IN THIS TYPE OF, UH, UH, GRAPH.
SO THE SORT OF CONSIDERATIONS WE'D LIKE YOU TO WHAT WE ARE PROPOSING WITH REGARD TO THIS STUFFING STUDY IS WE AGREE WITH THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THERE IS AN EXTREME NEED TO EXPAND THE TRAINING FACILITIES TO FACILITATE THE OVERLAP IN TRAINING, IN OUR CASE TO FIRE CADET CLASSES AT THE SAME TIME, ALONG WITH OUR INCUMBENT FIREFIGHTERS, ALONG WITH THE POLICE CADETS AND ALONG WITH THE EMS CADETS, UM, THERE IS JUST NOT ENOUGH ROOM OUT AT THE FIRE ACADEMY ANY LONGER.
THE SECOND IS WE WOULD LIKE TO GET STARTED ON THAT GOODNIGHT RANCH STATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, BUT IT IS DEPENDENT ON WHETHER WE, UH, WHETHER THE CITY CAN AFFORD TO DO THE STAFFING FOR THAT, UM, RIGHT AWAY IN FISCAL YEAR 23, OR IF IT WILL BE DELAYED A BIT UNTIL FISCAL YEAR 24.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE WERE REQUESTING SOME REVIEWS TO UPDATE THE PAY RATES FOR THE POSITIONS IN HIGH DEMAND THROUGHOUT CENTRAL CHECKS IS IN OUR CASE, THOSE ARE ENGINEERS IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
THEY MAY BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT POSITIONS.
THAT IS THE CONCLUSION OF OUR OVERVIEW.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? UM, IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THE COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, ASSISTANT CHIEF GARDENER, I THINK YOU'RE UP.
I'LL TRY TO GO THROUGH QUICKLY AS WELL.
UM, AND WE'LL START AND I ALREADY HAVE TO APOLOGIZE AND
[01:45:01]
OFFER A CORRECTION AND MY EFFORTS TO TRY TO KEEP THIS UPDATED, UM, WITH THE MOST CURRENT INFORMATION AND THAT FIRST COLUMN AT THE VERY BOTTOM FOR THE D THE DEPARTMENT, TOTAL OF OUR VACANCIES, THAT NUMBER SHOULD BE 1 46, NOT THE 1 63.UM, SO THIS IS OUR STAFFING LEVELS CURRENT FOR SWORN STAFF.
UM, AS OF TODAY, I GET THIS INFORMATION EVERY MONDAY.
SO WE DO MONITOR THIS ON A FREQUENT BASIS.
UM, SO THAT IS OUR VACANCY TOTALS FOR TODAY.
THIS WAS INCLUDED IN THE REPORT FROM ACM ARIANO.
UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, IT'S A RATHER BUSY AND IT IS OUR HISTORICAL VACANCY RATE AND THAT TREND AT THE VERY END FOR THAT OCTOBER, 2021, UH, THE ONE THAT GIVES US QUITE A BIT OF PAUSE AT VERY HIGH RATE IS IN OUR COMMUNICATIONS CENTER.
UM, WE HAVE TALKED QUITE A BIT ABOUT OUR FIELD VACANCY RATE, UM, AS A, UH, VACANCY RATE IN OUR COMMUNICATIONS CENTER, BECAUSE IT IS SMALL.
UM, WHEN WE HAVE THAT NUMBER OF VACANCIES, IT CREATES A, A PRETTY BIG VOID FOR US THERE.
UM, IT DOES CREATE A BIG CONCERN FOR US THERE.
WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT, UM, SOME STRATEGIES AND SOME, SOME CONCERNS THAT WE HAVE, AND, AND MAYBE SOME STEPS THAT WE CAN TAKE TO IMPROVE THAT IN THE FUTURE.
UM, BUT IT IS AN AREA OF CONCERN FOR US.
THIS IS SOME OF THE CONCERNS, AND WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THESE IN THE PAST, AND SO YOU'LL SEE A LITTLE BIT OF REPEAT HERE.
UH, WE HAVE HAD SOME GROWTH OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.
WE DID DOUBLE OUR VACANCY RATE IN 2021 WITH 64 NEW FTES.
UM, WHY THAT'S SIGNIFICANT IS THAT WHEN THAT HAPPENED IN 2021, NOT ONLY DOES IT TAKE TIME TO HIRE PEOPLE, UM, PUTTING THEM THROUGH A HIRING PROCESS, GETTING THEM THROUGH A TRAINING PROCESS, BUT THAT WAS ALSO THE START OF WHEN WE STARTED SEEING THE INCREASE IN HOUSING COSTS.
UH, WE WERE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PANDEMIC TRYING TO GET PEOPLE MOVING HERE.
UM, IT JUST, ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE SEEING EVEN MORE SO NOW WE'RE STARTING THEN, AND NOW I'VE JUST CALL THEM POUNDED AND OUR RECRUITING DIVISION.
UM, OUR DEPARTMENT HAS TWO CIVILIAN STAFF DEDICATED TO RECRUITING, UM, AND THAT STAFF HAS SHARED WITH OUR HUMAN RESOURCES DIVISION.
SO THEY ALSO DO BANNER PAYROLL.
UH, THEY HELP WITH FMLA PAPERWORK.
THEY DO A WHOLE HOST OF OTHER THINGS.
IN ADDITION TO RECRUITING, WE DO NOT HAVE ANY SWORN STAFF THAT ARE ASSIGNED TO THAT DIVISION THAT CAN HELP WITH, UM, JUST CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY OR ACROSS THE STATE OR LOCALLY, EVEN THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN A CAREER HERE, UM, TO CONNECT AND GET THEM ONBOARDED.
UM, WE DO HAVE PEOPLE THAT WE, UH, IDENTIFY AS RECRUITING AMBASSADORS.
THESE ARE FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, UM, THAT WE USE AS OUTREACH ON A LIMITED BASIS ON OVERTIME, OR, YOU KNOW, WHENEVER THEY'RE INTERESTED, BUT AGAIN, THEY'RE NOT DEDICATED EMPLOYEES IN A RECRUITING BASIS.
ANOTHER CHALLENGE IS OUR HIRING PROCESS AND THE BARRIERS THAT WE HAVE THERE, WE REQUIRE A MINIMUM OF AN EMT CERTIFICATION.
AND UNTIL RECENTLY 12 MONTHS, BECAUSE VARIANCE BEFORE YOU COULD BE HIRED HERE, AND WE HAD SEVERAL AUTOMATIC DISQUALIFIERS DISQUALIFIERS IN THE APPLICATION PROCESS THAT MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE AT THIS POINT.
AND WE HAD A LIMITED APPLICATION CYCLE, WHICH MEANT THAT THERE WAS THE APPLICATION PERIOD WAS ONLY OPEN FOR A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
UM, AND THERE ARE REASONS WHY IT HAS TO BE OPEN AND CLOSE, BUT IT WOULD, IT WOULD BE FOR A FOUR TO SIX PERIOD, SIX WEEK PERIOD OF TIME.
SO THERE WERE GAPS WHERE PEOPLE WOULD COME TO OUR WEBSITE AND YOU COULDN'T APPLY BECAUSE IT WASN'T, IT WASN'T EVEN OPEN.
OTHER, UM, CHALLENGES ARE OUR RETENTION.
WE HAVE CERTAINLY SEEN, AS MANY OF OUR PARTNERS HAVE TALKED ABOUT CAREER BURNOUT AND IT'S BEEN A DIFFICULT TWO YEARS.
UH, WE'VE HAD THE PANDEMIC, WE'VE HAD, UM, YOU KNOW, URI, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF, UM, SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN THE FIELD THAT HAVE LED TO PEOPLE CHANGING CAREERS.
UM, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF RETIREMENTS, UM, THAT HAVE HAPPENED OVER THE PAST YEAR.
UM, AND IT HAS BEEN A DIFFICULT TIME, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR FOLKS TO MAINTAIN THEIR CAREERS HERE, THEY'VE LOOKED FOR OTHER PLACES TO GO.
THEY'VE LOOKED FOR OTHER CAREERS THAT ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, EITHER IN HEALTHCARE OR IN SOME CASES COMPLETELY OUTSIDE OF THE HEALTHCARE FIELD.
WE ALSO HAVE A, UM, AN ISSUE WITH PROMOTION.
WE HAVE A, OUR HIGHEST NUMBER OF VACANCIES IS THAT OUR CLINICAL SPECIALISTS IN THE FIELD IS THE FIRST RANK THAT SOMEONE CAN PROMOTE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT IN THE FIELD.
UM, AND IT IS A HIGH NUMBER OF
[01:50:01]
VACANCIES AT THAT RANK.NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE MOVING ON TO SOME OF OUR PLANS TO FILL THESE VACANCIES.
WE'D LIKE TO INCREASE OUR RECRUITING STAFF, WHICH WOULD INCLUDE DEDICATED SWORN STAFF FULL-TIME STAFF IN THE RECRUITING THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO CONNECT DIRECTLY WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE EMT AND PARAMEDICS WORKING, UH, THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO, UM, RECRUIT FROM OTHER AGENCIES FROM, UH, EMT SCHOOLS, FROM PARAMEDIC SCHOOLS, FROM OTHER HEALTHCARE AGENCIES THAT, UH, WOULD BE INTERESTED IN WORKING HERE.
WE NEED TO IMPROVE OUR MARKETING AND RECRUITING MATERIALS.
WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE DEDICATED TO WORK ON THOSE, UM, JUST TO MAKE OUR PRESENCE KNOWN.
UH, WE RELY ON JUST PEOPLE KNOWING AUSTIN AND KNOWING THAT WE'RE HERE VERSUS BEING MORE PROACTIVE IN, IN ADVERTISING THAT, UM, AND THEN JUST INCREASING OUR VISIBILITY NATIONALLY THROUGH PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, EMS CONFERENCES, EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, AND OTHER PLACES NATIONALLY, NEXT SLIDE.
WE ALSO FEEL THERE'S OTHER BARRIERS THAT WE COULD REDUCE TO ENTRY.
AS I MENTIONED, WE'RE ELIMINATING THE ONE-YEAR EMS EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENT.
UM, WE FOUND OFTEN THAT THE ONE YEAR EMS EXPERIENCE THAT WE WERE REQUIRING THE WAS NOT REALLY NECESSARY.
UM, THAT EXPERIENCE DID NOT REALLY TRANSLATE WELL TO WHEN THEY WERE COMING HERE.
WE FELT LIKE WHAT BETTER PLACE TO GET THAT ONE YEAR EXPERIENCE THAN HERE WE HAVE THE TRAINING AND EDUCATION, THE MENTORING PROGRAMS TO ALLOW PEOPLE TO, TO GET THAT EXPERIENCE HERE.
UM, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF AUTOMATIC APPLICATION DISQUALIFICATIONS THAT, UM, JUST REALLY DIDN'T APPLY.
FOR EXAMPLE, THERE ARE AGENCIES THAT, UM, YOU MIGHT GET WRITTEN REPRIMANDS OR, YOU KNOW, DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS THAT WE WOULDN'T REALLY CONSIDER A, A SIGNIFICANT ISSUE THAT WOULD AUTOMATICALLY DISQUALIFY THEM.
WE'VE EXTENDED EACH HIRING CYCLE.
SO THERE IS A BEGINNING DATE AND AN END DATE, UM, FOR THE, UM, CIVIL SERVICE HIRING PROCESSES.
UM, BUT THEY IMMEDIATELY REOPENED, UH, THE NEXT DAY SO THAT THEY ARE EXTENDED EACH, EACH CYCLE.
WE'RE ALSO EVALUATING THE PREREQUISITE CERTIFICATION FOR THE EMS COMMUNICATIONS CENTER, JUST AS A SIGNIFICANT BARRIER INTO THE EMS COMMUNICATIONS CENTER ON TWO FRONTS.
ONE IS AGAIN, THE EMT BASIC CERTIFICATION.
SO WE ARE CONSIDERING REDUCING THAT TO AN EMERGENCY CARE ATTENDANCE CERTIFICATION, AND IT IS NOT REQUIRED TO BE AN EMT BASIC TO WORK IN THE EMS COMM CENTER.
UH, SO WE ARE CONSIDERING TO REDUCE THAT AND POTENTIALLY OFFER THAT TRAINING UPFRONT, UM, TO PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY.
THE SECOND BARRIER IS THAT BECAUSE OF THE, UH, BACKGROUND REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COMMUNICATION CENTER, UH, THERE ARE ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS THEY HAVE TO MEET, BUT WE ARE LOOKING AT REDUCING SOME OF THOSE BARRIERS TO ENTRY.
ANOTHER PLAN THAT WE'D LIKE TO EXPLORE IS PROVIDING A COMMUNITY EMT PROGRAM.
THIS IDEA IS, UM, THESE ARE OUR PLANS THAT TAKE A LITTLE BIT LONGER, UM, TO SEE REALLY, UM, I GUESS, THE FRUITS OF THE LABOR, SO TO SPEAK, UM, BUT TO BE ABLE TO PARTNER WITH COMMUNITY AGENCIES AND, UM, ORGANIZATIONS TO PROVIDE EMT PROGRAMS WITH PEOPLE WHO MAY NOT HAVE ACCESS TO EDUCATION PROGRAMS LIKE THIS, AND WOULD BE INTERESTED IN A CAREER, UM, WITH US.
SO BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE THIS TYPE OF EDUCATION, UM, AND IF THEY'RE SUCCESSFUL, UM, OFFER THEM PRIORITY STATUS TO AN ENTRY-LEVEL POSITION WITH US AND THE NEXT ONE, AND THEN REDUCING OUR BARRIER TO CLINICAL SPECIALISTS PROMOTION.
AND AGAIN, I APOLOGIZE, I NEED TO MAKE A CORRECTION HERE THAT OUR CLINICAL SPECIALIST IN THE FIELD IS ACTUALLY 10% OF OUR TOTAL SWORN STAFF.
UM, THEY CAN, OR IT'S 10% OF OUR TOTAL SWORN STAFF, THOSE VACANCIES AND THE VACANCIES AT THIS AS 50% OF ALL VACANCIES.
UM, SO IT'S A HIGH NUMBER OF THE TOTAL VACANCIES, AND WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH THE OFFICES OF THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER FOR THE TRAINING TO SEPARATE THESE TWO THINGS SO THAT, UM, THE CREDENTIALING PROCESS IS A LITTLE BIT SMOOTHER AND WE CAN GET MORE PEOPLE THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
AND, AND THEN TO HAVE PEOPLE MORE SUCCESSFUL THROUGH THE TRAINING.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, A COMMISSIONER, WHO'S GOT A HARD STOP AT SIX.
UM, SO I THINK WE NEED TO GAVEL OUT.
UM, OKAY, WELL, WE'RE GOING TO LOSE HIM, BUT, OKAY, THANKS.
[01:55:01]
OKAY.I THINK I'VE GOT LIKE TWO LEFT.
UM, SO REALLY FOR WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR IN TERMS OF ADDITIONAL FUNDING, LIKE WE MENTIONED, WE'RE LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL SUPERVISOR FOR RECRUITING, PUTTING IN HIRING PROCESSES, UM, THREE ADDITIONAL CIVILIAN INSTRUCTORS, UM, THAT WOULD TO BE, TO OFFSET SOME OF THE, UH, EMT INSTRUCTORS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT WITH, UM, UH, SOME OF THE DIRECT HIRE, AGAIN, MORE INSTRUCTORS FOR OUR ACADEMY, SO THAT WE CAN OFFSET SOME OF THE ADDITIONAL ACADEMY CLASSES, HIGH-FIDELITY SIMULATION TRAINING LAB TEXTBOOKS FOR SOME OF THE CLASSES AND FUNDING FOR MORE FIELD TRAINING OFFICERS TO FACILITATE MORE PEOPLE GOING THROUGH A NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
AND THIS IS JUST, AND THIS IS JUST A SUMMARY OF THE ACADEMY DAYS THAT ARE COMING UP AND OUR ONBOARDING PROCESSES.
UM, SO I JUST, UH, IF ANYBODY'S GOT, UH, AGENDA ITEMS, UH, JUST SEND THEM TO ME VIA EMAIL.
UM, AND DOES EVERYBODY HAVE TO DO I HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE, THE ROLE TO GET US OUT OF HERE AS SOON? UNFORTUNATELY, YOU DO, WHAT DO WE NEED TO ADDRESS? ARE YOU GOING TO WRITE THE PERSON ON YOUR POST-IT OR, OH, YES.
YES, I DID THAT IN MY HEAD AND I DIDN'T DO IT OUT LOUD.
[3.d. How it works? What are all of the publicly available Austin Police Department data sets? Where can the public find each of them and how can they be used? (sponsors: Commissioner Ramirez and Bernhardt) 5:35pm-5:50pm]
DID NOT GET TO OUR LAST ITEM AND I APOLOGIZE TO OUR TWO OF OUR PRESENTERS, UM, UH, MR. MATTSON AND MS. PERALTA.AND WE'D REALLY LIKE TO HAVE YOU BACK AT OUR NEXT MEETING, WHICH IS IN JULY IF YOU'LL COME BACK BECAUSE I'M SORRY.
UM, WE DIDN'T GET EVERYTHING DONE DURING OUR TWO HOUR MEETING.
UM, SO IF YOU'RE WILLING TO COME BACK, UH, WE WILL DO THIS ITEM, UH, NEXT TIME.
AND, UM, AND I GUESS I NEED TO ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO ADJOURN WHAT'S THAT? NO, SHE DID MENTION SECONDED.
[4. Future Agenda Items 5:50-6:00pm]
OH, GOOD QUESTION.HOW, HOW ARE Y'ALL DOING FOR JULY? UM, CAN YOU JUST LET A VICE-CHAIR RAMIREZ AND I KNOW IF YOU'RE GOING TO MAKE IT FOR JULY, JULY.
IT'S RIGHT AFTER THE 4TH OF JULY.
UM, SO, UH, COMMISSIONER WEBBER, UM, MOVE TO ADJOURN, AND I THINK THERE WAS A SECOND, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHO DID IT TO ME.
UH, AND COMMISSIONER GONZALEZ SECONDED.
ON JOURNEYING, UH, VICE CHAIR.