[00:00:05]
AND THERE'S AMY, WE'RE GONNA GO
[CALL TO ORDER]
AHEAD AND GET STARTED WITH THE SEPTEMBER SESSION FOR THE ARTS COMMISSION MEETING.ARE SHE? THEY, I AM THE WOMAN OF COLOR WITH MY HAIR.
PULLED BACK WITH SOME BIG GOLD EARRINGS TODAY.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
GO AHEAD AND TAKE, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.UH, WE HAVE OUR FIRST PERSON HERE IN THE ROOM AND ONE PERSON SIGNED UP VIRTUALLY.
UM, ANTHONY, DO YOU SEE SYLVIA? OCO ON.
LET'S GO AHEAD AND HAVE HER PRESENT FIRST.
HELLO, CAN YOU HEAR ME? HI SYLVIA.
WE CAN HEAR YOU GO AHEAD AND BEGIN WHEN YOU'RE READY.
I'M EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MEXICO ART MUSEUM.
UM, DURING THE AUGUST ARTS COMMISSION MEETING THE CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION STAFF PRESENTED AN UPDATE ON THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX.
THE CURRENT FY 22 APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE HOT CULTURAL ARTS FUND IS 6.6 MILLION.
AS OF AUGUST OF THIS YEAR, THERE WAS 11.4 MILLION IN THE HOT CULTURAL ARTS.
ADDITIONALLY, THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE FUNDS THAT WILL BE COLLECTED FROM AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER AS NOTED BY THE STAFF.
THERE IS MUCH MORE FUNDING FOR THE CULTURAL ARTS FUND THAN IT WAS ESTIMATED.
IN ADDITION, IT WAS STATED THAT WITH THE INCREASE OF THE HOT FUNDS ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE THRIVE PROGRAM BUDGET AND THE AWARD AMOUNTS ARE BEING CONSIDERED, THIS LETTER AND PRESENTATION IS TO REQUEST THAT THE THRIVE PROGRAM BUDGET BE ADJUSTED TO REFLECT THE INCREASE OF THE CURRENT HOT FUNDS AND THAT THE MAXIMUM AWARD AMOUNT BE INCREASED AT 200,000 AS RECOMMENDED BY THE CULTURAL ART DIVISION STAFF IN THE CURRENT DRAFT GUIDELINES OF MAX, A MAXIMUM AWARD FOR THE THRIVE PROGRAM IS 150,000.
THE FOLLOWING NOTE WAS INCLUDED IN THE DRAFT, UH, THRIVE DRAFT GUIDELINES, CHANGE SUMMARY.
THIS AMOUNT 150,000 IS BASED ON THE FINANCIAL LIMITATIONS DUE TO THE PANDEMIC.
THE STAFF DEMANDS THAT THIS REQUEST AMOUNTS FOR THIS PROGRAM BE AS HIGH AS 200,000 IN FUTURE IN THE FUTURE.
WHEN THE HOT FUND BUDGET ALLOWS AS OF AUGUST, AGAIN, THE HOT FUND HAD AN ADDITIONAL $5 MILLION, AND THIS WILL INCREASE WITH WHAT WE BEEN COLLECTED IN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER.
THE HOT FUND BUDGET CLEARLY ALLOWS FOR THE THRIVE PROGRAM BUDGET TO INCREASE AND FOR THE AWARD AMOUNT TO INCREASE A 200,000, WE REQUEST THAT THE THRIVE PROGRAM, TOTAL BUDGET INCREASE, AND WE REQUEST THAT THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT AWARD INCREASE, THE 200,000, THESE INCREASES ARE NEEDED TO THE GOALS OF THE THRIVE PROGRAM TO ADDRESS THE LONG TERM NEED OF INTENTIONAL INVESTMENT, TO SUPPORT AND DEVELOP ART ORGANIZATIONS AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS OF BY AND FOR COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN INSTITUTIONALLY MARGINALIZED UNDERFUNDED BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN, CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION.
THIS FUNDING IS NEEDED TO PROVIDE FUNDS TO SUSTAIN AND GROW ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE DEEPLY ROOTED IN AND REFLECTIVE OF OUR COMMUNITIES.
THE INCREASE IN THE THRIVE PROGRAM, BUDGET AND THRIVE PROGRAM, MAXIMUM AMOUNT, MAXIMUM AWARD ARE ESSENTIAL TO ADDRESS THE HISTORIC INEQUITIES IN PAST FUNDING MODELS.
THE CULTURAL DIVERSE LEGACY ORGANIZATIONS MUST RECEIVE E EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES LIKE OTHERS HAVE HAD IN THE PAST AND PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR OTHERS TO GROW AND FLOURISH.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK IN THE COMMUNITY, YOUR SUPPORT AND YOUR CONSIDERATION.
IN ADDITION TO, TO ME, UH, UH, SIGNING THIS LETTER, UH, CYNTHIA FROM LAP PENIA, LUIS ORLA FROM THERO VIV CHEWY CHA FROM ROY LOS HAVE ALSO ADDED THEIR NAMES TO AN UPDATED, UH, LETTER, WHICH YOU WILL ALSO RECEIVE.
AND, UH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR ONGOING SUPPORT.
LET'S GO AHEAD AND TAKE ROLE, WHICH I NEGLECTED TO DO UPON KICKOFF HERE.
UH, I HAVE HEIDI SMALL BOX STILL ATTEMPTING TO LOG IN, BUT IN THE ROOM WE HAVE COMMISSIONER P HELLO, COMMISSIONER GRAY HERE, NEW TO THE DI WE HAVE COMMISSIONER MAL.
HEY, COMMISSIONER FLORES AND COMMISSIONER
[00:05:01]
GARZA.AND I AM IN COMMUNICATION WITH COMMISSIONER SCHMALL, VICE CHAIR, SCHMALL.
AND, UH, SHE CAN'T HEAR, BUT SEE US.
LET'S SEE IF I CAN COMMUNICATE WITH HER.
UM, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO OUR CHAIRS REPORT HERE.
ONE MORE, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, UH, LUO VIA FROM LUCETO STUDIO.
COME ON UP AND YOU CAN SPEAK TO US HERE AT THIS PODIUM AND WE'LL MAKE SURE YOUR MIC IS ON AND YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.
UM, I'M NOT SURE I WILL TAKE THE THREE MINUTES, BUT IT'S GONNA BE SHORT AND SWEET.
I AM THE OWNER OF LUCETO STUDIO.
UH, I AM A MINORITY AND WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS IN AUSTIN.
AND TODAY I CAME HERE TO INVITE YOU TO SOMETHING THAT WE DOING THIS WEEKEND.
IT'S A SHORT NOTICE, BUT MAYBE SOMEONE IS FREE AND AVAILABLE.
UH, AS YOU KNOW, THERE IS NOT ALL SPACES, UM, FOR SPANISH SPEAKERS FOR CONTINUED EDUCATION.
SO THIS WEEKEND WE CREATE THIS CLASS OF PHOTOGRAPHY, UH, FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO START A BUSINESS OR THEY HAVE LIKE A, JUST A HOBBY OR THEY JUST WANNA MAKE THEIR SKILLS BETTER.
SO THIS WEEKEND WE HAVE LIKE A TWO DAY INTENSE PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS FOR, UH, ANYONE UP TO, UH, STARTING AT 16 YEARS OLD UP TO ANYTHING.
UH, WE WERE GONNA SEE EVERYTHING YOU'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO USE YOUR CAMERA OR EVEN YOUR PHONE.
I HAVE SOME FLYERS HERE WITH ME AND I ALSO, I HAVE, UM, MY BUSINESS CARDS, WHATEVER QUESTIONS YOU HAVE.
AND, UM, I DON'T KNOW, IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT CLASS.
IT'S GONNA BE BY ME AND ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPHER, AN AMAZING PHOTOGRAPHER THAT I BRING FROM MEXICO.
HE WORKS, UH, WITH INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES LIKE HOME DEPOT.
HE LIKE REALLY BIG COMPANIES OVER THERE.
SO IT'S REALLY LIKE A BIG OPPORTUNITY FOR SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO, UH, LEARN AND, AND JUST MAKE THEIR SKILLS THE BEST THEY CAN.
UH, DID SHE SAY WHERE THAT WAS? SHE'S COMING BACK UP.
SO THOMAS, UM, AS YOU KNOW, LATINITAS HAVE THEIR HEADQUARTERS AND, UH, SPRINGDALE GENERAL, UH, LAURA WAS VERY NICE, UH, TO LEND THE SPACE FOR US.
SO IT'S GONNA BE SATURDAY, STARTING AT 10:00 AM.
WE'RE GONNA FINISH ABOUT LIKE, I BELIEVE IT'S FOUR OR FIVE AND SATURDAY ABOUT THE SAME HOURS SATURDAY.
I THINK WE'VE FINISHED BEFORE.
UH, AND THE REASON IS BECAUSE TODAY IS, IS BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT TO HAVE LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE ALL THE INFORMATION, BUT ALSO THE PRACTICE.
AND ALSO ONE THING THAT I FORGOT IS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE, LIKE, OF COURSE, A FACEBOOK GROUP, WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO CONTINUE TO TALK AND LIKE REVIEW AND YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR THINGS AFTER WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO DO IT IN THE COMMUNITY THERE AND EVERYTHING IS IN SPANISH.
SO LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING MORE.
I'LL BE FOLLOWING UP FOR INFORMATION THAT WE CAN SHARE THROUGH OUR, OUR OUTLETS TO GET IT OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND GET INTO MY CHAIRS REPORT, WHICH WILL BE BRIEF.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
ANYBODY HAVE ANY CORRECTIONS FOR THE MINUTES? OKAY.[2. Discussion of Chair’s Report regarding Hellos and Goodbyes… by Chair Zisman ]
UM, I WANTED TO TAKE THIS MOMENT TO INTRODUCE OUR NEWEST COMMISSIONER MO.
NOW, THOUGH, AND I HAVE A BRIEF BIO I'D LIKE TO SHARE BECAUSE SHE IS SOMEONE IN THE COMMUNITY THAT, UM, IS DOING REALLY SIGNIFICANT AND IMPORTANT WORK.
UM, MONICA MO WAS AN AUSTIN NATIVE WITH 20 PLUS YEAR WITH 20 PLUS YEAR CAREER IN MULTIFAMILY, PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, BOTH HER CAREER AND ROOTS IN AUSTIN, GIVE HER A PERSONAL UNDERSTANDING OF GENTRIFICATION PAIRED WITH HER DEEP PASSION FOR ARTS AND MUSIC.
MONICA NATURALLY BECAME INTERESTED IN CULTURAL PRESERVATION.
IN 2003, MONICA WORKED UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF EVA LINDSAY AND EFFORTS TO PRESERVE HIS, THE HISTORIC VICTORY GROW ON EAST 11TH STREET.
EVENTUALLY THE PROJECT ENDED, BUT HER PASSION FLAME FOR THE ARTS AND MUSIC ALWAYS STAYED LIT.
SHE FOUNDED MOSCO DUDA IN THE SUMMER OF JUNE, 2021, AN ARTS ORGANIZATION THAT CELEBRATES AND ADVANCES GUDA BY EMPOWERING AND ADVOCATING FOR LATINO ART ARTISTS
[00:10:01]
AND IDEAS.MONICA IS A 2022 DIVIV INC CHAMPION OF CHANGE, RISING STAR NOMINEE, UH, A PAST A I P P JUROR FOR THE DOVE SPRINGS HEALTH FACILITY, A CAP METRO COMMITTEE MEMBER.
AND MOST RECENTLY MONICA WAS INVOLVED IN A COLLABORATIVE 21 MURAL PROJECT IN UVA.
AND IF YOU GUYS HAVEN'T SEEN THE MURALS FROM THIS PROJECT, LIKE PERSONALLY, THANK YOU FOR FACILITATING SUCH A PHENOMENAL EFFORT, UM, IN THAT COMMUNITY ONE THAT IS HURTING SO MUCH RIGHT NOW, AND I CAN JUST THE JOY THAT IS COMING AND THE LIGHT AND HOPE THAT IS COMING FROM THOSE MURALS IS PERMEATING MY MOM IN CALIFORNIA.
UM, WHEN I WAS MENTIONING TO HER THIS PROJECT, SHE WAS LIKE, OH MY GOSH, I SAW ON THE NEWS.
AND SO I JUST LOVE THAT THE IMPACT HAS REALLY REACHED NATIONAL RECOGNITION AS IT WELL DESERVES.
UM, AND WITH THE JOY OF WELCOMING MONICA, I ALSO HAVE THE SADNESS OF SAYING GOODBYE.
UM, COMMISSIONER KEATON HAS OFFICIALLY RESIGNED, UH, FROM THE COMMISSION.
SHE IS PURSUING A PHD PROGRAM AND MANY OTHER THINGS WITHIN THE ARTS COMMUNITY LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY.
AND SHE HAS REQUESTED THAT I READ HER LETTER OF RESIGNATION.
UM, SHE DID A TRIP TO AFRICA THIS SUMMER.
SHE SAYS I'VE BEEN BACK IN THE STATES FOR A BRIEF STINT AND THOUGHT LONG AND HARD ABOUT WHAT I'M ABOUT TO SHARE.
I WILL BE RESIGNING FROM THE COMMISSION EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 6TH, 2022.
AT THIS TIME I AM IN THE LAST STAGE OF MY DOCTORAL COURSEWORK AND PREPARING TO WRITE MY DISSERTATION AS THE NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE DOUGLAS CLUB OF AUSTIN, SITTING ON THE BOARD OF THE TARRANT COUNTY BLOCK, BLACK GEN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY.
AND MY COMPANY AND LIFE IN GENERAL WILL NOT ALLOW MUCH MORE FOR MY PROFESSIONAL CALENDAR.
I MET, WORKED WITH AND LEARNED A LOT FROM THE ARTS COMMISSIONERS, UM, WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
I ALWAYS LIKE TO FINISH WHAT I STARTED.
AND THEN AGAIN, IF I CANNOT CANNOT, I MUST HONOR THE PROCESS IN WHICH MY LIFE IS GOING.
I WILL BE WRITING A FORMAL LETTER TO THE COMMISSION AND WILL HAVE IT SENT ON THE DATE, STATED ABOVE IT HAS BEEN A PLEASURE WORKING WITH ALL OF YOU.
SO, UM, I THANK COMMISSIONER KEATON FOR HER SERVICE, AND I'M SO GRATEFUL TO HAVE HER FOR THE TIME THAT WE DID TO HAVE HER LIVED EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM WITH US, UM, IN THIS WORK, UH, DURING SOME VERY IMPORTANT DECISIONS THAT WERE MADE OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS.
AND WITH THAT, I WANNA CONTINUE TO EXTEND THIS INVITATION OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
WE ARE ALL, UM, ALL OF OUR PERSPECTIVES AND LIVED EXPERIENCE ARE WELCOMED IN THIS WORK.
AND SO IF YOU FIND YOURSELF DRAWN TO BEING, UM, ACTIVE WITHIN THIS COMMUNITY AND WANTING TO GET ENGAGED WITH FUNDING AND COMMUNITY WORK WE'RE HERE, AND PLEASE APPROACH US AND ASK QUESTIONS.
IF THIS IS SOMETHING YOU'RE CURIOUS ABOUT, THERE'S MANY WAYS FOR OUR COMMUNITY TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE WORK THAT WE DO HERE WITH THE CITY.
SO WITH THAT, UM, WE HAVE SOME REPORTS COMING UP, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A PRESENT, UH, PRESENTER THAT HAS A TIME CONSTRAINT.
SO I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND MOTION TO MOVE, UM, ITEM SIX, OR HAVE COMMISSIONER PULLER MOTION.
YOU WANNA MOVE ITEM SIX ABOVE ITEM THREE, THREE MM-HMM
I SECOND I SECOND, WE HAVE THREE SECONDS.
[6. Presentation on the East Austin Creative Coalition by Harold McMillan (Part 1 of 2)]
ALL RIGHT, ANTHONY, IF WE CAN HAVE, UH, HAROLD MCMILLAN PULLED OVER AND THIS IS GONNA BE A PRESENTATION ON THE EAST AUSTIN CREATIVE COALITION BY HAROLD MCMILLAN.ARE YOU, ARE YOU ABLE TO HEAR ME NOW? WE CAN HEAR YOU, HAROLD.
I HAD TO REINSTALL THE SOFTWARE.
UH, SO I, MY, UH, UPDATE, MY UPDATE IS NOT TERRIBLY FORMAL IN TERMS OF A PRESENTATION.
I CAN GIVE YOU SOME BACKGROUND ON WHERE WE'VE COME FROM AND WHERE WE, WHERE WE ARE NOW.
UM, THE, UH, EAST CREATIVE COALITION, UH, BEGAN PROBABLY THREE OR FOUR YEARS AGO WHEN I BROUGHT SOME PEOPLE TOGETHER, UH, BECAUSE WE WERE CONCERNED ABOUT, UM, THE CITY'S LACK OF ATTENTION TO A DESIGNATED CULTURAL HERITAGE DISTRICT THAT THEY DESIGNATED, UM, SOME 15 YEARS AGO.
UH, IT, I AM ESPECIALLY,
[00:15:01]
LAST, I GUESS, FOUR YEARS, I STARTED DOING RESEARCH ON THE CITY'S HISTORY OF URBAN RENEWAL, UH, AND CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN, AUSTIN, AND BASICALLY THEIR COMPLICITY IN DISPLACEMENT RELOCATION, DISLOCATION OF THE CORE OF THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY THAT ONCE LIVED HERE, THE STUFF THAT IN MY THESIS RESEARCH SOME MANY YEARS AGO SAID TO ME THAT, UH, THIS IS A NATURAL CULTURAL AND HISTORIC DISTRICT, AND SOMETHING SHOULD BE DONE ABOUT THAT.SO I, I BROUGHT TOGETHER A, UM, ESSENTIALLY A DISCUSSION GROUP, A THINK TANK TO TRY TO STRATEGIZE ON, ON WAYS TO, UM, GET THIS BACK IN FRONT OF COUNCIL.
AND, UH, THE TIMING WORKED OUT THAT, UH, THE CITY WAS BEGINNING TO HAVE THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE CULTURAL TRUST AND THEN EQUITY AND THE EQUITY LENS FOR ALL CITY SERVICES AND, AND EXPENDITURES.
AND THEN GEORGE FLOYD, UM, AND RIGHT ALONG IN, THERE WAS THE CITY'S DESIGNATION OF THE RED RIVER CULTURAL DISTRICT, WHICH THEY APPARENTLY TOOK VERY SERIOUSLY.
AND THEY TOLD THE CITY MANAGER TO GET THE CAR KEYS AND THE CHECKBOOK AND JUST GO MAKE IT HAPPEN.
UH, SO I STARTED DOING RESEARCH IN, UH, PRIOR LEGISLATION AND I STARTED WRITING A RESOLUTION TO PUT IN FRONT OF COUNCIL AND I STARTED MAKING MEETINGS, UM, LIKE I DID SOME TIME AGO TO COME AND SPEAK TO YOU, TO, TO THIS COMMISSION, UH, TRYING TO GET SUPPORT FOR THAT.
AND AT THAT TIME, UM, I'M VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE FACT THAT YOU LISTENED AND ASKED GOOD QUESTIONS AND GAVE ENDORSEMENT OF, OF OUR RESOLUTION.
YOU CAME SHORT OF ENDORSING THE PART OF IT THAT DEALT WITH THE CULTURAL TRUST, AND THAT MADE PERFECT SENSE TO ME, UM, WHERE WE ARE NOW.
AND I NEED TO PLUG THIS COMPUTER IN.
SO YOU NEED TO GIVE ME ABOUT SEVEN SECONDS PLEASE.
[00:20:08]
UM, I FORGOT TO SAY WHERE YOU CAN FIND THE INFORMATION.SO
YOU CAN FIND ALL THE INFORMATION, HOW YOU SUBSCRIBE ALL, ALL THE THINGS ARE IN SPANISH THOUGH.
DO WE KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH, UM, OUR PRESENTER, ANTHONY? IS HE STILL THERE OR DID THAT COMPUTER BATTERY? WE WERE, I WAS GIVING HIM A MINUTE TO FIND HIS CHARGER.
WE MIGHT HIS COMPUTER, IF IT WAS RUNNING LOW, LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON.
WHEN HAROLD POPS BACK ON, WE'LL BE ABLE TO PICK UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF LET'S HE'S GONE.
[3. Discussion of the Art in Public Places Liaison Report by Commissioner Gray]
GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON OR GET BACK ON, ON SCHEDULE TO, UM, UH, ITEM THREE DISCUSSION OF THE ART AND PUBLIC PLACES, LIAISON REPORT WITH COMMISSIONER GRAY.UM, FIRST I'D LIKE TO, UM, THANK THE A I P P PROGRAM MANAGER, STANCE WHITE FOR CONSOLIDATING ALL OF THE INFORMATION TOGETHER IN ONE DOCUMENT, NOT ONLY FOR OUR A I P P MEETING, BUT FOR THE COMMISSION.
UM, THE PANEL REVIEWED ARTISTS, UM, UH, UH, PHASE TWO OF, UH, AUSTIN BERKS FROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TERMINAL EXPANSION.
UM, AND THERE WERE SOME QUESTIONS, UH, WITH REGARD TO THAT, SO I'M SURE THERE'S GONNA BE ANOTHER REVIEW.
UH, THERE WAS AN APPROVAL OF TWO FINAL DESIGNS, ONE, UH, UH, UH, APPROVAL OF, UH, TWO DESIGNS, ONE FOR, UM, THE AFD AND EMS STATIONS, 25 AND 10, AND ALSO FAR TENNIS CENTER.
UH, THE PANEL ALSO APPROVES THE QUARTER THREE LAUNCH OF NEW ART AND PUBLIC PLACES PROJECTS.
AND I WILL ADD THIS INCLUDES PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS, SELECTION, PROCESSES, AND BUDGETS FOR 22 UNIQUE A I P P PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES.
AND YOU WILL SEE THOSE LATER IN THE MEETING.
HAROLD, ARE YOU BACK IN WITH US, PERHAPS? HAROLD, CAN YOU HEAR US? WE CANNOT HEAR YOU.
AND THEN HAROLD, JUST SHOUT OUT WHEN WE GOT THINGS CONNECTED.
[4. Discussion of the Austin Economic Development Corporation/Cultural Trust Advisory Committee by Austin Economic Development Corporation Board Member Carl Settles]
UM, ITEM FOUR OF THE DISCUSSION OF THE AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, A EDC CULTURAL TRUST ADVISORY COMMITTEE BY AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, BOARD MEMBER, CARL SETTLES.UH, HELLO? UH, GOOD TO BE HERE.
THERE'S WE'RE STILL IN A HOLDING.
UM, NOTHING NEW HAS HAPPENED AS OF YET WITH THE, UM, WITH THE A E D C UM, STILL HAVE THE 19.7 MILLION, UH, THAT'S THAT'S PENDING.
UM, WE'RE STILL GOING THROUGH DUE DILIGENCE ON THE 14, UH, PROJECTS ON THE SHORTLIST.
UH, I BELIEVE OUR REAL ESTATE, UM, COMMITTEE IS GONNA BE MEETING THIS WEEK, UH, TO THEY'RE DOING DUE DILIGENCE, UM, ON THOSE, UM, I SUSPECT THAT, UH, A LITTLE BIT LATER ON THIS, THIS FALL, UH, WILL, WILL, WILL WE'LL GET THOSE PAIRED DOWN.
WE STILL HAVE THE, THE ADDITIONAL, UM, PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE AND CONTINUING TO, UH, MAKE CONTACT WITH THOSE PEOPLE AS WELL.
AND I THINK THAT'S, UH, MOSTLY IT HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTION, JO MIGHT HAVE, I THINK THAT'S IT.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS OUT THERE, COMMISSIONER? POLGAR NOT A QUESTION.
JUST A THANKS, CARL, FOR YOUR WORK IN THAT SPACE AND YOUR REPRESENTATION OF THE ARTS COMMUNITY ON THE AEDC BOARD.
[00:25:01]
IT.GO AHEAD AND PICK RIGHT UP WHERE YOU LEFT OFF.
WE DON'T HAVE SOUND FOR YOU, HAROLD.
WELL, YOU'RE GOOD ON YOUR END.
UM, I'M LOOKING AT TECH AND HE SAYS YOU SHOULD BE GOOD TO GO.
DO YOU WANNA TRY, LOOK FOR THE UNMUTE? THERE'S AN ICON AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SCREEN.
IS THERE ANY WAY A MASTER CONTROL? WE CAN, NO, WE DID.
[6. Presentation on the East Austin Creative Coalition by Harold McMillan (Part 2 of 2)]
DID THAT WORK THAT WORKED.DID, UH, THIS IS INDICATIVE OF MY TECHNOLOGY DAY.
I'M SITTING IN FRONT OF A ROOM AIR BECAUSE MY AIR CONDITIONING WENT OUT.
SO YOU MIGHT HEAR NOISE FROM THE FAN BEHIND MY HEAD AND THE AIR CONDITIONER.
UH, WHERE I ENDED, UH, WHERE I ENDED UP WAS SAYING BASICALLY THAT WE WENT THROUGH THAT WORK, ESSENTIALLY POLITICAL WORK, WHICH IS NOT REALLY SOMETHING THAT I LIKE, BUT WE GOT THE RESOLUTION PASSAGE COUNCIL 10 ZERO, UH, IN SEPTEMBER.
AND THE GUTS, THE MEAT OF THE RESOLUTION IS ABOUT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE DISTRICT WRITTEN LARGE, MORE SO THAN ANY ONE PARTICULAR ORGANIZATION OR PROJECT.
SO AFTER WE GOT THE RESOLUTION PASSED, WE WENT ABOUT ORGANIZING AN OFFICIALLY REGISTERED NONPROFIT IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND WE HAVE A 5 0 1 C APPLICATION IN FRONT OF THE IRS RIGHT NOW.
UM, THE, I THINK THE OVERALL PICTURE OF, OF WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO BE VERY SERIOUS ABOUT USING THE TERM COALITION IN THE NAME OF THE ORGANIZATION.
SO WE ARE TRYING TO CONTACT PARTNER WITH, UH, GET INPUT FROM THE VARIOUS ART CULTURE AND PRESERVATION ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE INTEREST IN BUSINESS IN CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN, AUSTIN.
UM, SO WE'RE ORGANIZATION BUILDING RIGHT NOW, UH, LOOKING FOR FUNDING, LOOKING FOR PARTNERS, UM, LOOKING FOR FORMALITY FOR THE ORGANIZATION SO THAT WE COULD, UM, INCREASE CAPACITY TO DO WORK.
AND THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
THANK YOU, HAROLD COMMISSIONERS.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER MOCK.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE READ ABOUT HOW THE CITY HAS BUDGETED A MILLION DOLLARS FOR ALL THE AFRICAN AMERICAN NONPROFITS.
WERE YOU ABLE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT, UH, AND, AND, UM, MAYBE HELP TO MOVE THINGS FORWARD FASTER.
UM, AND I'M GOING TO TRY TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION WITH THIS LITTLE SNARK AS POSSIBLE, UM, PRESS RELEASES, UH, COME OUT AHEAD IN FRONT OF ACTION AND NO, WE'RE NOT THERE YET.
WE'RE NOT THERE YET AMONG THE THINGS THAT I'M WORKING ON RIGHT NOW IS THAT THE CITY ALLOCATED, UH, A GOOD AMOUNT OF MONEY A FEW YEARS AGO FOR PLACEMAKING AND WAY FINDING AND STREET SCAPE KIND OF EXPENSES, UH, FOR THE DISTRICTS.
[00:30:01]
AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR A FEW YEARS NOW WITH TRYING TO COMPEL THE CITY TO ACTUALLY SET UP A DIVISION, UH, FOR DISTRICTS, OUR DISTRICT AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE DISTRICT WAS THE FIRST DESIGNATION IN 2007.UH, AS OF THIS YEAR, THE CITY OF, OF AUSTIN.
I THINK THEY NOW SAY THAT THERE ARE SIX DESIGNATED DISTRICTS, SO THEY ARE JUST WRAPPING UP THAT PROCESS.
UH, SO THEY'RE, THEY ARE, HOPEFULLY THEY ARE HEADED TO THIS PLACE WHERE THEY RECOGNIZE THAT, UM, WE'RE THE HOME OF THE FLAGSHIP UNIVERSITY.
THERE ARE ALL OF THESE HISTORIC SITES TIED TO POLITICAL ENTITIES IN THE STATE CAPITAL AND CETERA, ET CETERA.
UM, THERE NEEDS TO BE A DIVISION THAT DEALS WITH DISTRICTS AND PROMOTES THAT, UH, TO ENCOURAGE CULTURAL TOURISM AROUND THOSE ISSUES, BUT OUR THINKING IS AHEAD OF THEIR ACTION.
SO THAT'S THE WORK THAT THAT IS KIND OF ON THE FRONT BURNER FOR US.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMITMENT AND, UH, I THINK FOR YOUR PASSION AND FOR YOUR UNMUTING AND WAIVERING MARCHING FORWARD.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER FLORES.
UM, THANK YOU FOR RECOGNIZING ME.
THANK YOU, HAROLD SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR WORK OVER THE YEARS.
UH, AND I'M SO HAPPY YOU ARE WHERE YOU ARE.
ALSO, I LOOK FORWARD TO EMULATING SUCH FOR A HISPANIC, UH, CULTURAL DISTRICT IN THE COMMUNITY AS WELL.
SO LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU.
UH, I WILL HOPEFULLY BE IN THE LEGISLATURE IT'S JANUARY, AND WE'LL BE LOOKING AT, UH, THINGS THAT WE CAN DO AT THE STATE LEVEL TO GET SOME, UH, HELP IN THE AUSTIN AREA REGARDING CULTURAL DISTRICTS IN PARTICULAR, ONE FOR HER HISPANIC DISTRICT, WHICH WHO'S ALSO BEEN DISAPPEARING RAPIDLY, UM, AND ALL THE OTHER GROUPS THAT, THAT NEED SUCH RECOGNITION.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK AND YOUR LEADERSHIP, AND LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
I, I, I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENT.
AND JUST, UH, KIND OF A FUNNY ASIDE IS THAT IN THE LAST MEETING THAT I HAD WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE FOLKS THAT ARE CHARGED WITH WORKING ON THE DISTRICTS, I BROUGHT UP THE FACT TO THEM THAT WE GOT THE DESIGNATION IN 2007, BUT THERE ARE ACTUAL SIGNS NOW, DOWNTOWN AND EAST OF I 35 THAT SAYS PROCLAIMS MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CORRIDOR.
AND I'M LIKE, WHERE WE SUPPOSED TO BE FIRST, YOU KNOW, SO IT, IT SHOULD NOT, I DON'T THINK IT SHOULD BE ALL OF THIS POLITICAL STUFF IT'S LIKE THERE'S WORK TO DO.
AND THERE NEEDS TO BE A TASK LIST AND WE JUST NEED TO BE WORKING.
THE TIMELINE ROADBLOCKS THAT THE CITY HAS ABOUT GETTING WORK DONE.
THAT'S ALL COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR HAROLD WHILE WE HAVE HIM? OKAY.
VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
I'M HOPING TO, UM, CIRCLE BACK WITH YOU AND ANY TIME THERE ARE UPDATES, I KNOW WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT THEM AB ABSOLUTELY.
AND IF YOU CAN PASS ALONG MY PHONE NUMBER AND EMAIL ADDRESS, UM, I, ESPECIALLY WITH THE LATINO, THE MEXICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY AT EAST AUSTIN, UH, I WELCOME CONVERSATIONS THAT SPEAK ABOUT COLLABORATION BECAUSE THE, YOU KNOW, CITY ORDINANCE, THE CITY PLAN OF 28, WASN'T JUST ABOUT BLACK FOLKS.
AND WE NEED TO, I THINK WE NEED TO ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES TOGETHER AT WHATEVER PARTS OF INTERSECTION WE CAN FIND.
WELL, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BEING HERE.
YOU TOO, WITH THAT, WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE DISCUSSION OF DOWNTOWN COMMISSION WITH COMMISSIONER MOCK.
UM, I I'M, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION MEETING ON WEDNESDAY.
SO AT THIS POINT I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO REPORT, SO STAY TUNED, BUT, UM, MAYBE TOWARDS THE END, WHEN WE ARE LOOKING AT, UM, UH, AGENDA ITEMS, I WOULD LIKE
[00:35:01]
TO CALL YOUR ATTENTION TO A, UH, GREENWAY PROJECT THAT IS, UH, YOU KNOW, ALSO, YOU KNOW, ASSOCIATED WITH, WITH THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AS WELL.SO I CAN, I CAN, UM, HOLD ON UNTIL LATER, BUT AS FOR, UH, DOWNTOWN COMMISSION, WE, WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL I HAVE THE MEETING.
[7. Presentation by Faiza Kracheni of Motion Media Arts Center (Austin School of Film & Austin Cinemaker Space) regarding an update on the organization and services offered ]
I TAKE THIS TO ITEM SEVEN PRESENTATION BY FAIA.CROTCH OF MOTION, MEDIA ART CENTER, AUSTIN SCHOOL OF FILM AND AUSTIN SY MAKER SPACE REGARDING AN UPDATE ON THE ORGANIZATION AND SERVICES OFFERED.
FORGIVE ME IF I MISPRONOUNCE YOUR LAST NAME, YOU ACTUALLY SAID IT PERFECTLY.
UM, SO BEFORE I GET STARTED WITH THE PRESENTATION, I JUST WANNA TAKE A MOMENT AND INTRODUCE MYSELF TO YOU ALL.
UM, I AM A MEXICAN AND ARAB AMERICAN BORN AND RAISED IN EAST AUSTIN.
UM, AND THIS ORGANIZATION IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME PERSONALLY, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT, UM, DISPLACEMENT, UH, BARRIERS AND BORDERS, JUST WITHIN ALL OF SECTORS OF THE CITY, NOT JUST THE ARTS, UM, IT IS A LIVED EXPERIENCE FOR ME, UM, AS SOMEONE WHO GREW UP IN EAST AUSTIN, UM, AS SOMEONE WHO HAD A FAMILY THAT WAS DISPLACED AS SOMEONE WHO HAD A FAMILY THAT BUILT THEIR HOUSE IN THE 1940S, AND NOW THE PROPERTY IS VALUED OVER $2 MILLION.
SO IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS A LIVED EXPERIENCE FOR ME.
UM, AND IT'S WHY THIS ORGANIZATION AND THESE PROGRAMS ARE VERY VITAL TO THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY, BUT SPECIFICALLY IN EAST AUSTIN, WHICH IS WHERE WE'RE SITUATED.
UM, SO JUST SO YOU HAVE SOME CONTEXT NOW ON WHO I AM, I'M ALSO AN ARTIST AND A FILMMAKER AND A MUSICIAN.
UM, IF YOU TALK TO ANYONE WITHIN THE ARTS WHO IS CURRENTLY MAKING, THERE ARE PROBABLY THREE TO FOUR THINGS.
UM, I'VE PLAYED SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.
I'VE HAD FILMS AND FESTIVALS AROUND THE ENTIRE WORLD, I'VE TOURED THE ENTIRE WORLD.
UM, AND SO JUST TO KIND OF GIVE SOME PERSONAL CONTEXT TO WHAT THIS MISSION IS, WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO ME, WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY.
UM, SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO HERE IS THE PROGRAM.
OH, WOW, THIS IS REALLY HELPFUL DOWN HERE.
UM, SO WE ARE THE MOTION MEDIA ART CENTER.
WE RUN AUSTIN SCHOOL OF FILM, WHICH IS A 20 YEAR RUNNING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM IN EAST AUSTIN.
SO IT'S VERY MUCH A COMMUNITY FILM SCHOOL.
AND IN 2015, WE LAUNCHED AUSTIN CINEMA MAKER SPACE, WHICH I'LL GET MORE INTO IN A BIT.
UM, BUT FOR, UM, TRANS TRANSPARENCY'S SAKE, WE HAVE EDUCATION WORKSPACES, FILM, AND VIDEO STUDIOS.
AND IN ALL AGES ARTS VENUE, IF WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO THIS IS LIKE A TIMELINE FOR CONTEXT.
OBVIOUSLY I, YOU KNOW, COULDN'T FIT EVERYTHING IN FOUR SQUARES.
UM, BUT JUST TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A VISUAL REPRESENTATION, UM, SOME FURTHER CONTEXT AS THE ORGANIZATION WAS STARTED ACTUALLY IN THE NINETIES, AND IT WAS TWO EXISTING ORGANIZATIONS CENTER FOR YOUNG CINEMA, WHICH WAS THE FIRST YEAR ROUND FILM PROGRAM FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES.
AND THEN, UM, CINEMA MAKER CO-OP OR AUSTIN CINEMA MAKER CO-OP, WHICH IS WHERE WE GET THE NAME AUSTIN CINEMA MAKER SPACE FROM THAT WAS A COLLECTIVE OF ARTISTS THAT DID SKILL SHARING WORKSHOPS, UM, AND SCREENINGS AND PUBLIC EVENTS.
UM, SO THEY WERE BOTH DOING THESE PROGRAMS AND THEY WERE ACTUALLY HOUSED IN THE SAME FACILITY IN EAST AUSTIN, AND THEY MERGED TO CREATE AUSTIN'S FIRST MEDIA ART CENTER, MOTION MEDIA ART CENTER IN 2002.
UM, WE FORMALLY KIND OF DID A DBA IN 2004 TO AUSTIN SCHOOL FILM.
AND SIMPLY BECAUSE THE WORD MEDIA ARTS WAS A VERY NEW TERM, UM, AND PEOPLE DIDN'T REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT WAS, YOU KNOW, THEY MIGHT HAVE THOUGHT IT WAS A NEWSPAPER OR SOMETHING THAT WAS MORE JOURNALISM BASED.
UM, SO AUSTIN SCHOOL OF FILM WAS SIMPLY PUT, UM, WE'RE FIRM BELIEVE BELIEVERS IN USING ACCESSIBLE LANGUAGE, BECAUSE IF YOU'RE CREATING ACCESSIBLE PROGRAMS FOR THE COMMUNITY, BUT THE LANGUAGE IS NOT ACCESSIBLE, THEN WHO ARE YOUR PROGRAMS FOR? UM, SO AUSTIN SCHOOL OF FILM, UM, AS I STATED AS A COMMUNITY FILM SCHOOL, WE PROVIDE YEAR ROUND EDUCATION FOR ALL AGES.
SO ANYONE CAN TAKE A CLASS WITH US.
THERE ARE NO KIND OF INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS ON TAKING A CLASS.
WE ALSO HAVE SCHOLARSHIPS AND PAYMENT PLANS, AND ALL OF OUR CLASSES ARE TAUGHT BY INDUSTRY INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS.
AND OUR ADULT PROGRAMS ARE ACTUALLY CERTIFIED WITH A TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY FOR CONTINUED PROFESSIONAL CREDITS.
SO WE HAVE FOLKS THAT ACTUALLY COME FROM ALL OVER TEXAS TO TAKE CLASSES WITH US.
UM, AND SO WE TEACH EVERYTHING FROM FILM PRODUCTION TO POST-PRODUCTION SOFTWARE TRAINING.
WE'RE THE ONLY CERTIFIED TRAINING CENTER IN ALL OF TEXAS.
IT'S OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR DAVIN RESOLVE, WHICH IS A VERY, UM, REVOLUTIONARY EDITING PROGRAM, UM, FOR
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VIDEO AND COLOR GRADING.UM, SO YEAH, AND THEN IN 2014, UM, WE STARTED DOING BETA TESTING, UM, TO BE, TO BEGIN AUSTIN CINEMA MAKER SPACE, WHICH IS AN AFFORDABLE WORKSPACE IN ART STUDIO PROGRAM.
AND THE REASON FOR THIS IS VERY SIMPLE, UM, YOU KNOW, AS AN EAST AUSTIN NATIVE AND AS SOMEBODY WHO BENEFITS FROM PROGRAMMINGS LIKE THIS, UM, I WAS SEEING THAT THERE WASN'T ANY PLACE IN AUSTIN THAT WAS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC WHERE PEOPLE COULD ACTUALLY CONTINUE THEIR CRAFT AND WORK AT IT AND ALSO HAVE ACCESS TO TOOLS.
AND I'M NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT IN FILM, I'M TALKING ABOUT MULTIDISCIPLINARY.
SO IN THE ARTS, UM, SO IN 2014, WE KIND OF STARTED DOING OUR BETA TESTING, GETTING COMMUNITY FEEDBACK, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT WE CONTINUE TO DO.
AND THEN IN 2015, WE OPENED UP 2200 TILLERY STREET, WHICH IS A 12,000 SQUARE FOOT FLEXIBLE ART SPACE FOR THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY.
UM, WE COMPLETELY BUILT OUT THIS SPACE AND SELF-FUNDED THE BUILD OUT FOR THIS BUILDING? UM, IT WAS AN OLD SCREENWRITING, UH, SCREENWRITING
THERE WAS GRAFFITI EVERYWHERE THE COPPER WIRE HAD BEEN STOLEN.
UM, SO WE HAD TO PUT A LOT OF LOVE INTO IT.
AND SOMETHING THAT I DO WANNA NOTE IS THIS SPACE IS EVOLVING AS THE NEEDS CHANGE IN THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY, THE SPACE CHANGES.
SO IT IS, I DON'T USE THE TERM FLEXIBLE LIGHTLY.
LIKE IT IS QUITE LITERAL, A FLEXIBLE SPACE WITH MOBILE WALLS.
UM, OUR CLASSROOMS ARE HYBRIDS, WHICH YOU WILL SEE IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE DIDN'T MEAN TO CL
UM, SO I'VE KIND OF SAID THIS IN A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT WORDS, BUT I THINK, UH, SEEING THE MISSION ON THE SCREEN ALSO SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
SO WE'RE NOT JUST A FILM SCHOOL, WE'RE NOT JUST A STUDIO SPACE.
WE PROVIDE EDUCATION INCUBATION AND PUBLIC EVENTS THROUGH A SERIES OF PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE, AND AT THE ROOT OF IT ALL, IT'S TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES, UM, IN THE ARTS, BY BREAKING BORDERS AND BARRIERS THAT ARE INSTITUTIONALLY THERE, THAT, THAT BAR PEOPLE FROM ACCESS.
UM, I'VE ALREADY SAID THIS LIKE FIVE TIMES, SO NEXT SLIDE.
SO IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, SO AUSTIN SCHOOL OF FILM, WE, WE HAVE ABOUT 5,000 STUDENTS PER YEAR THAT COME THROUGH OUR DOORS FOR CLASSES.
UM, AND ABOUT 80% OF OUR PROGRAMS ARE FOR ADULTS AND 20% FOR YOUTH.
UM, WE DO GET FOLKS, UM, FROM OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN, WE DO GET FOLKS FROM OUTSIDE OF TEXAS, AND THEN WE ALSO GET FOLKS FROM ALL AROUND THE US AND THEN EVEN INTERNATIONALLY.
UM, SO WE HAVE AROUND 250 TO 300 CLASSES, YEAR ROUND THAT ARE SHORT AND LONG TERM.
SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS WE HAVE WEEKEND WORKSHOPS THAT ARE MORE TRAINING ORIENTED, AND THEN WE HAVE LONGER FORM CLASSES WHERE YOU ACTUALLY CREATE A FILM OR CREATE A PIECE OF ART, AND THEN YOU PRESENT IT TO THE PUBLIC NEXT SLIDE.
UM, SO THIS IS KIND OF A BREAKDOWN.
UM, SO YEAR ON CLASSES, WE ALSO HAVE A CERTIFICATE PROGRAM FOR ADULTS.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE THE YEAR ROUND PROGRAMS FOR YOUTH AND THE SAME KIND OF SPECIALTIES.
WE ALSO HAVE LAUNCHED A FREE ANNUAL THREE MONTH FILM PRODUCTION INTENSIVE FOR THOSE OVER THE AGE OF 18.
AND SIMPLY PUT WHAT THAT IS, IS IT'S A KIND OF LIKE CLASS RESIDENCY HYBRID, WHERE WE GIVE, UM, PEOPLE APPLY AND THEN WE GIVE THEM ACCESS TO EDUCATORS, BUT ALSO TOOLS AND MATERIALS TO CREATE A SHORT FILM, UM, THAT IS FESTIVAL READY.
AND WE ALSO HAVE CERTIFIED TRAINING IN MEDIA SOFTWARE.
SO EVERYTHING FROM THE ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD, CINEMA, 4D, DAVINCI RESOLVE PREMIER PRO, ET CETERA.
AND THEN LASTLY, WE PARTNER WITH, UM, AREA ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, SO SOME OF THEM ARE LIKE, ELWEN SAMANO WE DO A YEAR ROUND, UH, YOUTH MEDIA PROGRAM WITH THEM THAT IS KIND OF SPANNING LIKE PHOTOGRAPHY ANIMATION FILM.
WE JUST WRAPPED A PARTNERSHIP WITH SAFE THIS SUMMER, CREATIVE ACTION, HEADWATERS LAGUNA, GLORIA THIS PAST, UH, OH, YESTERDAY, YESTERDAY I WAS AT THE CONTEMPORARY AND WE DID A DROP IN WORKSHOP ON 16 MILLIMETERS.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I HAVEN'T MENTIONED IS THAT WE, UM, ALSO HAVE A VERY ROBUST ANALOG FILMMAKING COMPONENT.
SO WE TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO SHOOT ON 16 MILLIMETER AND SUPER EIGHT CAMERAS AND ALSO DEVELOP THEIR OWN FILM, WHICH IS MORE ECONOMICAL THAN SENDING IT OFF, WHICH GETS VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE, VERY FAST.
SO THESE ARE SOME PICTURES TO PUT, LIKE SOME WORDS, UM, ARE SOME IMAGES TO MY WORDS.
UM, SO THIS IS A COHORT FOR DIGITAL FILMMAKING, WHICH IS AN EIGHT WEEK ENTRY LEVEL, UH, PRODUCTION CLASS.
AND THIS WAS OUR COHORT IN FALL OF 2021.
SO ALL OF THESE PICTURES ARE RECENT, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS IMPORTANT.
UM, THIS IS A SPECIAL EFFECTS MAKEUP WORKSHOP WHERE SOMEONE IS BEING TURNED INTO A WOL THAT IS IN OUR BLACK BOX STUDIO.
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VARIOUS TECHNICAL WORKSHOPS.SO WE HAVE A CINEMA CAMERA WORKSHOP ON THE LEFT, WHICH ARE, UM, MOTION, PICTURE CAMERAS THAT YOU USE FOR FILMING.
AND THEN ON THE RIGHT, WE HAVE A, UH, INTRO TO SOUND RECORDING FOR FILM AND VIDEO WORKSHOP.
UM, THESE ARE SOME YOUTH PROGRAMS. SO ON THE LEFT, WE HAVE OUR SUMMER CAMPS AND ON THE RIGHT, WE HAVE ELWEN NEXT SLIDE.
AND THEN THIS PICTURE WAS ACTUALLY TAKEN ONE WEEK AGO TODAY.
UM, THIS IS OUR, UH, FALL 2022 COHORT FOR OUR DIGITAL FILMMAKING CLASS.
SO THE SAME CLASS THAT YOU SAW THE PICTURE FROM A YEAR AGO, AT FIRST, YOU'RE SEEING THE NEWEST PICTURE, NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS IS WHAT AUSTIN CINEMA MAKER SPACE IS.
UM, SO THIS IS A NEWER PROGRAM, SO IT'S A, LOWCOST FREE PUBLIC WORKSPACE AND STUDIO PROGRAM PROVIDING EITHER MONTHLY OR DROP IN ACCESS TO EQUIPMENT.
SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS YOU CAN HAVE A MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP OR YOU CAN JUST DROP IN AND HAVE ACCESS TO IT.
UM, YOU HAVE ACCESS TO EQUIPMENT, RESOURCES, VIDEO, AND PHOTO STUDIOS, PUBLIC EVENTS ARE ALWAYS FREE.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE AN ALL AGES ARTS VENUE, INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS CAN BOOK FILMMAKERS, CAN BOOK FILMMAKERS OR CREATIVES OR SMALL BUSINESSES, AND IT'S SLIDING SCALE.
SO FOR, UM, INDIVIDUALS, UM, IT'S TYPICALLY FREE.
WE DONATE THIS SPACE AND FOR SMALL BUSINESSES, WE DO A SLIDING SCALE DEPENDING ON KIND OF WHAT THE EVENT IS, UM, AND WHAT IT IS IS IT'S A HYBRID.
SO IT'S DESIGNED AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL STUDIO SPACES AND COWORKING SPACES.
SO IT'S LIKE COMBINING THOSE TWO THINGS AND THEN ALSO CUSTOMIZING IT TO THE ARTS.
UM, SO IT'S LIKE BY DAY IT'S A CO-WORKING SPACE BY NIGHT, IT'S A VENUE SORT OF THING.
UM, LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS KIND OF SHOWS, UM, A BREAKDOWN OF WHAT IT IS.
SO AS I SAID, MONTHLY MEMBERSHIP OR DROP IN RATES, UM, WE ALSO SPONSOR ARTISTS AND SMALL BUSINESSES.
SO RIGHT NOW WE HAVE 37 LOCAL SPONSORED ARTISTS AND SMALL BUSINESSES THAT GET COMPLETELY FREE ACCESS TO THIS PROGRAM.
WE ALSO HAVE A LOCAL RESIDENCY PROGRAM CALLED ARTISTS IN MOTION THAT PROVIDES A PLATFORM FOR ARTISTS WHO HAVE NEVER EXHIBITED WORK, UM, PRIMARILY THOSE IN THE BIPO COMMUNITY AND ALSO KIND OF LIKE REDEFINING WHAT WE FIND MUSEUM WORTHY AND CREATING SPACES FOR PEOPLE THAT DON'T FIT WITHIN THOSE BOXES.
UM, ACCESS TO FOUR STUDIO SPACES RANGING FROM 225 TO 730 SQUARE FEET WITH EQUIPMENT ACCESSORIES AND ESSENTIALS.
AND THEN OUR CO-WORKING SLASH VENUE SPACE IS 4,300 SQUARE FEET.
AND WE PARTNER WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT LOCAL BUSINESSES TO PRODUCE FREE PUBLIC MEDIA ARTS EVENTS, YEAR ROUND.
SO LIKE EXHIBITION SCREENINGS, LOW PRESSURE LEARNING, LIKE WHAT WE DID WITH THE CONTEMPORARY YESTERDAY.
UM, SO WE HAVE A MUSIC VIDEO SHOOT ON THE LEFT, AND THEN WE HAVE TRANS TEXAS ON THE RIGHT THAT WAS DOING KIND OF AN INTERVIEW SERIES.
UM, THIS IS TWO WILDLY DIFFERENT THINGS FROM THE FIRST SLIDE.
SO WE HAVE LADY EARTH, UH, MUSIC VIDEO, UM, THIS IS OF THE FINAL PRODUCT.
AND THEN ON THE RIGHT, WE HAVE A PHOTO SHOOT WITH A LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS CALLED WHISKEY RIVER VINTAGE.
SO ON THE LEFT HERE, WE HAVE TANYA PENNY WHO IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, AND SHE RUNS DANCE, AFRICA FEST AND LANAIA DRUM AND DANCE.
SHE'S ALSO A MEMBER OF AUSTIN CINEMA MAKER SPACE.
SO SHE WAS DOING SOME INTERVIEWS HERE.
AND THEN ON THE RIGHT, WE HAVE ISAAC RORY WHO IS A LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER DOING A SHOOT WITH A MODEL.
SO THIS IS WHERE WE ARE 2200 TILLERY.
I TOOK THIS SCREENSHOT A WHILE AGO, SO IT MAY EVEN LOOK DIFFERENT NOW WITH HOW EVERYTHING'S BEING BUILT UP, BUT YOU CAN KIND OF GET SOME CONTEXT TO WHERE IT IS NEXT SLIDE.
SO THIS IS THE LAYOUT OF OUR SPACE, JUST SO YOU CAN KIND OF PUT A VISION TO, UM, THE PHOTOS THAT YOU JUST SAW.
SO I'LL JUST GIVE THAT LIKE A COUPLE SECONDS.
SO THESE ARE SOME EVENTS THAT WE'VE HAD.
SO WE HAVE ANER IMMERSIVE DIGITAL ARTS EXHIBITION.
THAT WAS FROM RIGHT BEFORE THE PANDEMIC ON THE LEFT AND ON THE RIGHT.
WE HAVE A, UM, EVENT THAT WE DID THAT WE HOSTED BY FRANK WOMAN COLLECTIVE, WHICH IS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY, UM, ARTS COLLECTIVE THAT DOES ALL KINDS OF SHOWS IN AUSTIN.
NEXT SLIDE
THIS IS AN, UH, FASHION SHOW ALSO HAPPENING IN THIS SPACE.
THIS IS MAMA DUKE, WHO IS JUST ON THE COVER OF THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE, UM, THIS SUMMER.
AND THEY SHOT THE COVER AT AUSTIN SY MAKER SPACE.
AND THEN ON THE RIGHT, WE HAVE A PHOTO FROM AN EVENT THAT WE JUST HAD LAST MONTH CALLED ANALOG NIGHT, WHERE EVERYBODY SHOT
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ON ANALOG PHOTOS.AND THIS IS ONE OF THE PHOTOS BY ONE OF THE ATTENDEES.
SO THESE ARE THE EXACT SAME SPACES, BUT NOW WITH EDUCATION, AND THE REASON WHY I DID THIS IS I WANT YOU TO SEE HOW OOPS, HOW FLEXIBLE THEY ARE.
UM, SO ON THE LEFT, YOU'RE SEEING A CAMERA WORKSHOP IN OUR WHITE BOX CLASSROOM HYBRID, AND THEN ON THE RIGHT, YOU'RE SEEING L BLEND IN THE SAME, UH, GALLERY SPACE.
NOW YOU'RE SEEING THE BTS OF THE LADY EARTH MUSIC VIDEO THAT YOU SAW THIS STILL FROM, UM, THAT IS IN OUR BLACK BOX STUDIO SLASH CLASSROOM, AND THEN ANOTHER MUSIC VIDEO IN THE SAME STUDIO SPACE, THE SPECIAL EFFECTS MAKEUP, WHICH YOU SAW EARLIER, AND THEN A YOUTH WORKSHOP IN THE BLACK BOX.
UM, DEFINITELY A ROBUST SPACE AND GLAD TO KNOW SORT OF THE SCOPE OF, OF EVERYTHING THAT YOU GUYS OFFER, WHICH SEEMS JUST LIKE IMMENSE, UM, COMMISSIONERS, ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER MARK, MS.
I DUNNO WHY I HAVE LIVED IN AUSTIN SINCE 1983 AND HAVE THOUGHT HURT ABOUT YOU.
UM, SO YOU HAVE DONE AMAZING, GOOD WORK.
SO I'M WONDERING WHAT IS A NONPROFIT, RIGHT.
SO WHAT IS YOUR ANNUAL BUDGET TO RUN THIS NONPROFIT? YEAH, SO OUR ANNUAL ANNUAL BUDGET IS UNDER A MILLION DOLLARS, SO IT'S RIGHT AROUND SEVEN 50 AND, AND YOU OWN ALL THIS SPACE.
UM, SO OUR RENT FOR FULL TRANSPARENCY IS $22,000 A MONTH, $22,000.
I'M JUST, YOU KNOW, HOW BIG IS YOUR BOARD? AND I MEAN, THE REASON WHY I'M ASKING ALL THESE QUESTION IS I WANT YOU TO, TO BE IN THE POSITION THAT YOU CAN SUSTAIN YOURSELF, YOU KNOW? AND SO, UH, THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY HERE, I THINK IN AUSTIN, UH, THERE WAS A TALK ABOUT HAVING THE SECOND HOLLYWOOD MOVE INTO TOWN.
SO, UM, AND I ALSO SERVE ON THE BOARD OF THE AUSTIN PBS, AND THEN WE JUST HAVE A, A NEW, UH, AUSTIN MEDIA CENTER AT THE ACC, UH, HIGHLAND CAMPUS.
SO I'M WONDERING, UM, DO YOU, UH, OR ARE YOU CONNECTED WITH THE AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY NOW WITH THE, UH, THE AUSTIN MEDIA CENTER AND, UH, ARE YOU SERVE ON THE BOARD OF A CTV? YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW IF THEY STILL EXIST, BUT THEY HAVE THREE LOCAL CHANNELS.
UM, SO I'M JUST THINKING WITH ALL YOUR EDUCATION, ALL THE PEOPLE YOU HAVE TRAINED, UH, WHERE DO YOU SHOWCASE THEIR PRODUCTS? YEAH.
SO TO KIND OF ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS, UM, IN THE ORDER THAT THEY WERE ASKED, SO OUR BOARD IS SMALL IT'S OF SIX, UM, SIX BOARD MEMBERS.
AND SOMETHING THAT I'M REALLY PROUD OF IS OUR BUSINESS MODEL, UM, WHICH WE ARE SELF SUSTAINING, OBVIOUSLY WHEN IT COMES TO COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE, THAT'S A WHOLE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT BEAST AND THE AFFORDABILITY AND ITS SUSTAINABILITY IN AUSTIN FOR SMALL BUSINESSES AND INDEPENDENT ARTISTS IS THIS INCREDIBLY SCARY LANDSCAPE.
UM, BUT WE SURVIVED THROUGH THE PANDEMIC THROUGH OUR WORK THAT WE DO, AND WE HAVE THIS VERY UNIQUE, UH, BUSINESS MODEL THAT I WON'T GO INTO TOO MANY DETAILS ON, UM, WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT.
SO I'M REALLY PROUD OF OUR STAFF.
I'M REALLY PROUD OF OUR BOARD FOR IMPLEMENTING THAT EARLY ON.
I'VE BEEN WITH THE ORGANIZATION FOR 10 YEARS.
UM, I'VE COME IN, UH, I'VE COME IN FRONT OF THE COMMISSION MANY TIMES.
UM, AND SO I THINK THAT THERE IS OFTEN CONFUSION WITH THE AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY, WHICH IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ORGANIZATION.
WE HAVE BEEN ROOTED IN EAST AUSTIN.
I HAVE BEEN A CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND A, AND A WOMAN OF COLOR IN A LEADERSHIP POSITION AT THIS ORGANIZATION FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
AND THE REASON WHY I'M GETTING KIND OF PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS IS BECAUSE THIS IS THE VERY REASON WHY I'M HERE BECAUSE PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE OFTEN FORGOTTEN.
UM, AND THEIR WORK GOES UNNOTICED, EVEN THOUGH, YOU KNOW, THE SCALE OF OUR WORK IS LARGE, IT GOES UNNOTICED.
WE DON'T HAVE CELEBRITIES BACKING US.
WE DON'T HAVE, YOU KNOW, REALLY RICH BOARD MEMBERS THAT DONATE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS.
WE'VE BOOTSTRAPPED THIS ORGANIZATION AND WE'VE GROWN ORGANICALLY THROUGH COMMUNITY SUPPORT, WHICH I THINK IS REALLY, REALLY IMPACTFUL.
UM, AND IS SOMETHING THAT CHANGED MY LIFE.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, THIS ORGANIZATION WAS AN ORGANIZATION
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THAT HELPED ME WHEN I WAS IN MY TWENTIES.UM, AND IT HELPED ME BUILD THE CAREER I HAVE TODAY AND THE COMMUNITY THAT I HAVE TODAY.
SO, UM, WE DON'T HAVE AN AFFILIATION WITH AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY.
WE ARE NOT, I'M A PART OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE OR ANY OF THOSE.
WE ARE VERY ROOTED IN INDEPENDENT ARTISTS TELLING THEIR STORY AND PEOPLE GETTING JOB TRAINING AND ALSO SKILLS TO TELL, MAKE MEANINGFUL ART AND TELL THEIR STORIES.
SO WE DO HAVE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC EVENTS.
UM, OUR EVENTS USUALLY RANGE FROM A HUNDRED TO 300 PEOPLE.
OUR ANALOG EVENT THAT WE HAD LAST MONTH HAD 250 PEOPLE THAT CAME TO IT.
UM, SO WE'RE HERE, WE'RE IN EAST AUSTIN.
WE'VE BEEN HERE AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO BE HERE.
I WANNA MAKE SURE I HAVE THE MIC ON YAY.
AND ALSO JUST BEING ABLE TO ARTICULATE EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO THERE IT'S REALLY AMAZING AND INSPIRING.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT STOOD OUT TO ME WAS THE SLIDING FEE SCALE.
SO I'M JUST INTERESTED IN KNOWING OUT OF YOUR CONSUMERS THAT COME AND USE THE SPACE.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THOSE ARE USING THE SLIDING SKI, THE, THE SLIDING FEE SCALE, ALL OF THEM, THEM
SO WHEN I SAY WE'RE ACCESSIBLE, WE ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, UM, TO JOIN AUSTIN CINEMA MAKER SPACE.
THE SIMPLE ASK IS TO SCHEDULE A TOUR SO THAT THERE'S TRANSPARENCY ON OUR SERVICES AND WHAT WE OFFER AND HOW OUR SCHEDULING SYSTEM WORKS, UM, BECAUSE IT IS VERY UNIQUE AND I'M SUPER PROUD OF IT.
UM, AND JUST KIND OF MAKING SURE THAT THE PERSON'S A RIGHT FIT FOR THIS SPACE.
LIKE HOW DO THEY WANNA USE UTILIZE THIS SPACE? BECAUSE WE HAVE A NUMBER OF THEATER GROUPS THAT USE THIS SPACE, LIKE PINFOLD THEATER FI I ALWAYS SAY IT WRONG, FILIGREE THEATER THEATER, I'M SAYING IT WRONG ANYWAY.
THEY DO REHEARSALS AND TABLE READS.
WE HAVE DANCE GROUPS LIKE BLIP SWITCH, USE IT FOR REHEARSALS.
WE HAVE, UH, FILMMAKERS DO SCREENINGS.
WE HAVE INDEPENDENT ARTISTS DO, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY DO IN THE STUDIO.
UM, SO IT'S DIFFERENT FOR EVERY PERSON BECAUSE IT, IT VERY MUCH IS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ART SPACE.
SO NO APPLICATION FOR CLASSES EITHER YOU CAN EITHER JUST SIGN UP ON THE WEBSITE.
WE ALSO DO PAYMENT PLANS, SLIDING SCALE, AND SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THOSE, WHICH ALL THAT INFORMATION IS ON THE WEBSITE AS WELL.
AND I JUST HAVE A LAST QUESTION.
SO YOU TOUCHED ON DISPLACEMENT.
SO HOW LONG IS YOUR LEASE FOR IF THAT'S SOMETHING YOU'RE COMFORTABLE SHARING AND IS YOUR GOAL ULTIMATELY TO OWN THE SPACE AND WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION? YES.
UM, I AM ALL ABOUT TRANSPARENCY.
SO WE SIGNED OUR LEASE OCTOBER 1ST OF, UH, 2015 AND WE HAD TWO, FIVE YEAR TERMS, ONE, ACTUALLY, ONE OF THE TERMS CAME UP DURING THE PANDEMIC AND IT WAS EITHER MOVE OUT OR SIGN IT, WHICH IS REALLY SCARY, WHICH IS WHY I'M SO INCREDIBLY PROUD OF EVERYONE AT THE ORGANIZATION.
WE MADE IT THROUGH AND WE PAID OUR RENT
UM, AND SO OBVIOUSLY $22,000 IS NOT AN EASY FEAT WHATSOEVER TO, TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN.
SO OUR SECOND TERM WILL END IN 2025 AND THEN IT GOES TO MARKET RATE.
SO WHEN I'VE COME TO THE, UM, ARTS COMMISSION MEETINGS IN THE PAST, I WAS BASICALLY UPDATING THEM ON THE SPACE.
WE HAVE THE RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL.
UM, AND SO WE WANT TO OWN THIS BUILDING.
WE'VE PUT IN PROBABLY CLOSE TO A MILLION DOLLARS, IF NOT MORE INTO IT, WE'VE PUT IN HALF A MILLION IN JUST THE BUILD OUT AND JUST WHAT WE'VE DONE OVER THE YEARS TO MAKE IT WHAT IT IS AND CONTINUE TO DO.
UM, IT WOULD BE VERY DEVASTATING TO HAVE TO EITHER PAY MARKET RATE, WHICH WHO KNOWS WHAT'S THAT WHAT THAT'S GOING TO BE, UM, OR FIND A NEW SPACE, WHICH, WHO KNOWS IF THAT'S VIABLE AT ALL.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THEY'VE BEEN BABY STEPS AND BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC, I PERSONALLY FEEL LIKE WE TAKE TWO STEPS FORWARD ONE STEP BACK, TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK BECAUSE YOU KNOW, UP UNTIL SIX MONTHS AGO, EVERYTHING WAS KIND OF UP AND DOWN, UP AND DOWN ANYWAY.
UM, SO THAT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL I CAN SAY TO THAT IS WE'RE WE'RE TRYING
YOU REMIND ME OF WHEN I WAS 35 YEARS OLD.
I KNOW WHAT THAT $750,000 BUDGET FEELS LIKE.
UM, HOW MANY STAFF MEMBERS DO YOU HAVE? FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME
[01:00:01]
SO FULL-TIME WE HAVE FOUR.AND NOW I'M GONNA GET TRANSPARENT QUESTION AS WELL.
HOW MUCH DEBT DO YOU HOLD RIGHT NOW? SO, HM, LET ME THINK ABOUT IT FOR A MINUTE.
SO ACTUALLY, SO WE TOOK OUT A BUILDING LOAN, UM, TO PAY FOR THE LAST 150,000 THAT WE NEEDED TO GET.
AND WE HAVE ABOUT 16,000 LEFT ON THAT.
WE PAID IT THROUGH THE PANDEMIC.
UM, WE HAVE NO CREDIT CARDS, SO WE HAVE NO CREDIT CARDS.
UM, AND I'M, I'M SURE EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS, BUT EVEN AS A NONPROFIT, YOU HAVE TO SIGN YOUR PERSONAL STUFF TO IT.
AND THAT'S JUST NOT SOMETHING ANYONE WANTS TO DO, OBVIOUSLY.
UM, AND THEN WE DID TAKE OUT, UM, A SMALL SBA, LIKE THE E I DL, BECAUSE IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT A NONPROFIT WAS ABLE TO, UM, BE APPROVED MM-HMM SO WE DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY LIKE REAL DEBT.
THE DEBT I THINK, IS IN THE BUILDING ITSELF.
YOU KNOW, IF WE WERE TO, IF WE WERE TO HAVE TO MOVE, THAT'S A LOAN THAT WE PAID OFF FOR NOTHING ESSENTIALLY.
TAKE IT FROM SOMEBODY THAT DECLARED BANKRUPTCY, TRYING TO KEEP A NONPROFIT ALIVE.
HOW BOOKED IS THIS SPACE? YEAH, SO THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION.
AND THAT'S A QUESTION WE GET ON TOURS.
SO THE WAY THAT OUR SCHEDULING SYSTEM THAT WE BUILT ON THE BACK END OF OUR WEBSITE WORKS IS WE HAVE IT AT 80% CAPACITY, MEANING THAT IT CAN NEVER BE A HUNDRED PERCENT BOOKED OUT SO THAT WE CAN ALWAYS TAKE LAST MINUTE REQUESTS.
UM, I DON'T KNOW WHY I KEEP CLICKING.
UM, BUT ALSO THE OTHER THING THAT I WANT TO NOTE, UM, IS THAT EVERYONE USES THE SPACE FOR DIFFERENT REASONS.
NOT EVERYONE IS A PHOTOGRAPHER, A FILMMAKER.
UM, AND SO ACTUALLY, I DON'T KNOW WHERE I WAS GOING WITH THIS THOUGHT.
I HAD IT IN MY HEAD AND IT JUST WENT OUT SO NEVER MIND.
UM, ARE ALL THE, ARE ALL THE FLOORS CEMENT? YEAH.
UM, WOULD YOU CONTACT ME THROUGH CITY OR WHATEVER? I MAY BE ABLE TO HELP.
IN SOME WAY OR HELP EACH OTHER IN THAT SITUATION.
MAGIC HAPPENING FROM THE DIAS COMMISSIONER FLORES.
UM, CONGRATULATIONS BOTH TO YOU AND THE ORGANIZATION, UH, YOU KNOW, BEING A LATINA.
AND THAT'S A REALLY, YOU KNOW, GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT ON YOUR, ON YOUR PART AND, UH, ON BEHALF OF THE ORGANIZATION AS WELL.
I MEAN, I HEARD THE SLIDING SCALE AND THAT'S GREAT.
AND NOW YOU JUST SAID 80% CAPACITY SO THAT YOU HAVE TIME TO MAKE SURE THAT OTHERS CAN UTILIZE THE SPACE, UH, YOU KNOW, ON A SHORT, MAYBE A SHORT NOTICE BASIS OR SHORTER NOTICE, BUT I WAS CURIOUS, I'M SURE YOU KEEP YOUR, YOUR DEMOGRAPHICS AND EVERYTHING.
AND I WAS CURIOUS HOW MANY, YOU KNOW, PAC ORGANIZATIONS OR INDIVIDUALS ACTUALLY UTILIZE THE SPACE.
ARE THEY ABLE TO UTILIZE IT? UH, MAYBE AS YOU SAID, THE, THE NAME IN THE PAST WAS KIND OF A, A MISNOMER AND FOLKS MAYBE DIDN'T REALIZE EXACTLY WHAT YOU HAD TO OFFER.
AND SO MAYBE THAT WAS A BARRIER IN THE PAST, BUT HOW, HOW ARE Y'ALL DOING IN THAT REGARD? YEAH, SO I WOULD SAY THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE THAT UTILIZE OUR SPACE ARE FROM THE BICO BIPO AND QUEER COMMUNITY.
OUR STAFF IS 80% BIPO AND QUEER INDIVIDUALS.
UM, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I'M VERY PROUD OF.
THAT'S ALSO SOMETHING THAT WE'RE MINDFUL WITH.
UM, ALL REPRESENTATION IS NOT EQUAL.
AND SO HAVING SOMEONE IN A LEADERSHIP POSITION THAT IS A PERSON OF COLOR, OBVIOUSLY ATTRACTS OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR BECAUSE IT CREATES SPACE.
UM, MICHAEL MENDEZ WHO'S RIGHT BACK HERE ALSO IS OUR PROGRAMS MANAGER, HAYES MORRIS, WHO IS A NINE NON-BINARY ARTIST FROM EAST AUSTIN, AUSTIN, AS WELL AS OUR COMMUNITY MANAGER.
UM, AND SO WITH THAT ALL SAID, IF I HAD TO PUT A NUMBER ON IT, I WOULD SAY AT LEAST 70% OF OUR MEMBERS ARE FROM THE BIPO COMMUNITY.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE PUT AT THE FOREFRONT OF OUR MISSION.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE PUT ON THE FOREFRONT ON ALL OF OUR EVENTS, UM, ALL OF OUR EVENTS, I GET UP AND TALK.
AND I, I SAY VERY SIMILAR THINGS, UM, BECAUSE I ALSO REALLY BELIEVE IN TRANSPARENCY.
I DO THINK THAT OFTENTIMES PEOPLE CAN PUT BLACK AND BROWN PLACE FACES IN HIGH PLACES, BUT IT'S NOT, UM, FOR THE REASONS THAT WE THINK, AND SOMETIMES IT'S LIP SERVICE AND I'M HERE TO SAY, THIS IS NOT LIP SERVICE.
THIS IS A LIVED EXPERIENCE FOR ME.
AND IT IS A LIVED EXPERIENCE FOR THE OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR AND
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THE QUEER PEOPLE THAT WE WORK WITH THAT WE EMPLOY.UM, SO YEAH, IT'S SOMETHING THAT I'M VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT.
WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SHARING THAT AND FOR, YOU KNOW, MAKING IT, UH, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC HERE.
UH, I'M SURE THIS GIVES YOU A PLATFORM AT LEAST TO, YOU KNOW, ENCOURAGE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS OR OTHER INDIVIDUALS TO UTILIZE YOUR SERVICES AND, YOU KNOW, THE BEST OF LUCK IN MAKING SURE THAT YOU CAN RETAIN YOUR LEASE.
I UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFICULT THAT IS IN THIS COMMUNITY, CUZ IT'S GETTING INCREASINGLY MORE EXPENSIVE AND, AND MORE, MORE DIFFICULT.
IT'S A NU WE'VE TRIED TO CRACK, BUT HAVEN'T QUITE YET ACCOMPLISHED THAT, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF HELPING THE ARTS ORGANIZATIONS, YOU KNOW, MAIN MAINTAIN SPACES.
SO, UH, CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN AND, AND THANK YOU FOR SERVING THE, THE VARIOUS COMMUNITIES AND, AND UH, YOU KNOW, MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES THAT YOU DO HELP, UH, SERVE AND, AND GIVE THEM OPPORTUNITIES AND SPACE, UH, TO UTILIZE.
THANK YOU REALLY AMAZING, AMAZING WORK COMMISSIONERS.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR FAIA? JUST BRAVO.
AND PLEASE DON'T BE A STRANGER.
UM, KEEP US IN THE LOOP WITH YOUR EVENTS AND OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, YOU HAVE OUR CONTACT INFORMATION.
WE'D LOVE TO HELP AMPLIFY OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH YOUR SPACE, CUZ WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS PHENOMENAL.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME.
OH, AND HEIDI IS, I'M LOOKING AT, UM, ITEM EIGHT DISCUSSION POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, UH, AUSTIN DESIGN THINKING CLASS.
I DON'T THINK WE HAD ANY STUDENTS THAT WERE ABLE TO JOIN US.
I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND JUST PUT A PIN IN THAT.
CAUSE I WOULD LIKE HEIDI PRESENT SHE'S SHE'S LISTENING AND CAN SEE US, BUT IS NOT HERE.
I'D LIKE TO PRESENT THAT TOGETHER.
UM, AND POTENTIALLY NEXT MONTH WE MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE STUDENTS FROM THAT COURSE HERE WITH US.
SO LET'S GO AHEAD AND SKIP THAT ITEM FOR THIS MONTH
[9. Staff briefing regarding affordable housing for Artists by Mandy DeMayo, Deputy Director, Housing & Planning Department and Patrick Russell, Manager, Real Estate Development Division]
AND MOVE US ONTO ITEM NINE, STAFF BRIEFINGS.UH, WE'RE GONNA BE, UH, HEARING FROM MANDY DE MAYO, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF HOUSING PLANNING, UH, DEPARTMENT AND PATRICK RUSSELL MANAGER OF REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT DIVISION ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING US HERE THIS EVENING.
I'M DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
UH, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
WE'RE EXCITED TO TALK TO YOU TONIGHT ABOUT, UH, AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND HOPEFULLY DO A LITTLE BIT OF A DEEP DIVE INTO HOUSING FOR THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY.
SO TODAY, UH, I WANT TO GO OVER, PROVIDE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF OUR DEPARTMENT.
AGAIN, THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT, OUR HP D TALK BRIEFLY ABOUT THE STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT.
TALK ABOUT OUR HOUSING INVESTMENTS, WHICH, UH, WE HAVE SOME PRETTY COOL THINGS THAT ARE COMING ONLINE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION, WHICH WAS MENTIONED IN THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATION AND THEN HOPEFULLY OPEN IT UP FOR QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
SO THE CITY OF AUSTIN, OUR HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT UH, HAS A MISSION TO PARTNER WITH THE COMMUNITY TO SHAPE A MORE EQUITABLE AUSTIN AND TO PREVENT THE DISPLACEMENT OF PEOPLE AND SERVICES USING PLANNING, DISCIPLINES AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING RESOURCES.
I SHOULD NOTE THAT OUR DEPARTMENT IS RELATIVELY NEWLY FORMED.
WE WERE CREATED, UH, ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO THROUGH THE COMBINATION OF TWO, UH, LEGACY CITY DEPARTMENTS.
ONE WAS THE PLANNING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT AND THE OTHER WAS NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
THOSE TWO DEPARTMENTS CAME TOGETHER.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE, UM, ABOUT 120 FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT EMPLOYEES.
UH, SO WE'RE A MODERATELY SIZED DEPARTMENT AND WE DO A LOT OF INTERESTING WORK ACROSS FIVE DIFFERENT DIVISIONS, WHICH YOU CAN SEE IN OUR ORGANIZATION CHART HERE.
UH, ONE OF THE DIVISIONS IS ZONING AND URBAN DESIGN, WHICH COVERS EXACTLY WHAT IT, IT SAYS IT DOES, UM, ARE ALL OF OUR REZONINGS AND OUR ZONING CASE MANAGEMENT, AS WELL AS OUR HISTORIC PRESERVATION, OUR URBAN DESIGN AND OUR GREAT STREETS PROGRAM.
WE ALSO HAVE A RELATIVELY NEW DIVISION CALLED INCLUSIVE PLANNING, UH, WHICH DOES BOTH SMALL NEIGHBORHOOD PLANS, UH, LONG TERM PLANNING, UH, COVERS IMAGINE AUSTIN, UM, LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE REVISIONS, UH, AS WELL AS, UM, UH, RESEARCH POLICY PLANNING AND RESEARCH RELATED TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UH, AND OTHER PLANNING DISCIPLINES.
OUR NEWEST DIVISION IS CALLED DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION.
UM, THIS WAS REALLY BORN OUT OF THE INCREASING, UH, FOCUS ON THE PRESSURES THAT WERE OCCURRING ACROSS THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND CAUSING BOTH GENTRIFICATION AND DISPLACEMENT, PARTICULARLY OF OUR LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR.
[01:10:01]
THAT DIVISION IS HEADED UP BY NEFERTITI JACKMAN, WHO IS OUR VERY FIRST COMMUNITY, UH, DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION OFFICER.WE HAVE A FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION DIVISION, WHICH COVERS, UH, JUST THAT SUPPORT SERVICES FOR OUR ENTIRE DEPARTMENT, UM, AND THEN PROGRAM DELIVERY AND REAL ESTATE SERVICES COVERS ALL OF OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROGRAMS. PATRICK IS GONNA GET INTO THE DETAILS OF SOME OF THOSE.
UM, BUT THOSE REALLY RANGE FROM, UM, OUR INDIVIDUAL SERVICES, OUR CLIENT SERVICES, FOR AS AN EXAMPLE, LOW INCOME HOMEOWNERS.
WE HAVE A, A SUITE OF, UH, HOME REPAIR PROGRAMS FOR OUR LOW INCOME HOMEOWNERS.
WE HAVE A DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM TO HELP MOVE LOW MODERATE INCOME FOLKS INTO HOME OWNERSHIP.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF, UM, MULTIFAMILY PROGRAMS, WHICH WE WILL TALK ABOUT.
SOME OF Y'ALL MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT.
IT'S OUR VERY FIRST, UM, PLAN REALLY RELATED TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
IT WAS ADOPTED BY AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL IN 2017, AND IT'S A 10 YEAR PLAN FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UH, IT RECOGNIZES, UM, A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT GOALS, UM, AND IT REALLY RECOGNIZES FOUNDATIONALLY THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS GROWING.
AND IN ORDER TO ACCOMMODATE THAT GROWTH, WE NEED TO ACCOMMODATE PEOPLE ACROSS THE INCOME SPECTRUMS, INCLUDING THE VERY, UH, FOLKS AT THE VERY LOWEST INCOMES.
UM, OVER 10 YEARS, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S GOAL IS TO CREATE OR PRESERVE 135,000, UH, NEW UNITS OF HOUSING ACROSS ALL OF THE INCOME SPECTRUMS. AND YOU'LL SEE IN THE DONUT THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW, UH, THESE REPRESENT THE DIFFERENT INCOME LEVELS.
THE RED IN THE UPPER RIGHT IS REALLY OUR LOWEST INCOME FOLKS THAT ARE THAT FOLKS BETWEEN, UH, ZERO AND 30% MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME.
TYPICALLY THOSE ARE RANGE FROM PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AT THE LOWEST END, UH, TO PEOPLE LIVING ON FIXED INCOMES, WHICH OFTEN SENIORS AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN THE ORANGE.
WE HAVE FOLKS BETWEEN 30, UH, AND 50%, UM, MEDIAN, FAMILY INCOME.
AND, UH, THAT TYPICALLY REPRESENTS OUR, OUR, UH, LOW INCOME WORKING POOR IN THE BLUE.
WE HAVE FOLKS BETWEEN 60 AND 80% MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME THAT SOMETIMES GETS TO FOLKS ENTERING HOME OWNERSHIP.
ALTHOUGH HOME OWNERSHIP IS INCREASINGLY OUT OF REACH IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND THEN WE HAVE FOLKS WHAT WE TYPICALLY CALL WORKFORCE, UH, HOUSING BETWEEN 80 AND 120% MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME.
AND THEN THE BIG GRAY AREA IS ABOVE THAT.
AND THAT'S WHAT THE MARKET SHOULD PRESUMABLY SERVE IN TERMS OF CREATING AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
OUR DEPARTMENT IS FOCUSED, FRANKLY, OUR DEPARTMENT IS FOCUSED ON THE LOWEST INCOME, SO THAT THE RED AND YELLOW, UH, A LITTLE BIT OF THE BLUE AND SOMETIMES A LITTLE BIT OF THE GREEN AS WELL.
WE'RE REALLY FOCUSED ON SERVING THE HARDEST TO SERVE.
UM, AND SOMETIMES THAT TAKES A VARIETY OF INTERRELATED STRATEGIES, INCLUDING SUBSIDIES.
UM, UH, WE WORK CLOSELY WITH AN ORGANIZATION, A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION CALLED HOUSING WORKS THAT PROVIDES, UM, UH, INFORMATION ON OUR DEMOGRAPHICS, UH, ON AN ANNUAL BASIS.
AND OBVIOUSLY WE'RE SEEING CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS, INCLUDING RACE AND ETHNICITY, UM, AND THE COST OF HOUSING, UH, OVER THE PAST, WELL, OVER THE PAST 10, 20 YEARS, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY, UH, INCREASED AND ACCELERATED OVER THE PAST HANDFUL OF YEARS.
UM, RIGHT NOW THE MEDIAN, THIS IS, UH, FROM ABOUT SIX MONTHS AGO, AND THEN YOU YOU'LL SEE THE MEDIAN HOME PRICE IS 536,331.
THAT IS, THAT IS LONG IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR.
WE'RE NOW LOOKING AT ABOUT 650,000.
UM, BUT YOU SEE THE INFORMATION THAT'S PROVIDED RANGES FROM FOLKS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS ALL THE WAY UP TO, UM, PEOPLE GETTING READY FOR HOME OWNERSHIP.
UH, WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOUSING MARKET CONDITIONS.
I WILL JUST DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE VERY DRAMATIC GRAPH ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE ACCELERATION IN BOTH HOME PRICES FOR PURCHASE, AS WELL AS RENT.
WE HAVE NOTICED THE PANDEMIC STOPPED MANY THINGS.
IN FACT, WE SAW AN ACCELERATION OF BOTH HOME SALES PRICE AS WELL AS RENT INCREASES OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS.
AND WE DO NOT SEE AN END IN SIGHT, ALTHOUGH THE HOME SALES MARKET HAS, UM, HAS MODERATED JUST A TAD RECENTLY, UH, EVERY YEAR.
SO WE WORK WITH HOUSING WORKS AND THEY DO A, A SCORECARD.
THEY ESSENTIALLY PROVIDE US A REPORT CARD OF HOW WE'RE DOING IN TERMS OF MEETING OUR STRATEGIC HOUSING BLUEPRINT GOALS.
AGAIN, THOSE WERE TENURE GOALS FROM 2017 TO 2027.
UM, WE'RE DOING WELL IN SOME AREAS
[01:15:01]
WE'RE DOING NOT SO WELL IN OTHER AREAS.UM, I WILL SAY, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE VERY PROUD OF IS OUR ABILITY TO FOCUS OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UM, IN OUR IMAGINED AUSTIN, UM, CENTERS AND CORRIDORS, UH, IN PROXIMITY OF PUBLIC TRANSIT AND WHERE WE SEE PROJECT CONNECT, UM, WE'LL BE DEVELOPING OVER THE COMING YEARS.
UM, SO THAT IS ONE AREA THAT WE'RE DOING, UH, WELL IN AREAS THAT DEFINITELY NEED IMPROVEMENT ARE DEEPLY AFFORDABLE, UH, UNITS FOR OUR LOWEST INCOME FOLKS, INCLUDING THOSE AT 30% OR BELOW MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME.
AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT.
SO OUR REPORT CARD OVER THE LAST THREE YEARS, UM, AND AGAIN, WE RECOGNIZE WE WANNA KNOW THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.
WE RECOGNIZE WHERE THERE IS A LOT OF WORK TO DO.
UM, AND I WILL SAY TWO AREAS THAT ARE, UH, HIGH PRIORITIES FOR US.
ONE IS THE DISPERSION OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING ACROSS THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
WE TRACK IT BY CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT, UM, AND WE HAVE A TOUGH TIME GETTING DEEPLY AFFORDABLE HOUSING WEST OF MOPAC.
UM, SO THERE ARE ABOUT, THERE ARE THREE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS WHERE WE ARE STRUGGLING TO PRODUCE THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING THAT WE KNOW THAT WE NEED IN THAT AREA.
UM, THE OTHER AREA THAT WE SEE, UH, A LOT OF ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT ARE THOSE DEEPLY AFFORDABLE UNITS OR UNITS THAT ARE AFFORDABLE TO FOLKS 30% AND BELOW.
WE'VE MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS THOUGH IN RECENT YEARS.
AND WE'RE GONNA START SEEING THE, UH, FRUITS OF OUR LABOR SHORTLY, AND I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO PATRICK RUSSELL.
WHO'S GONNA TALK THROUGH SOME OF OUR PROJECTS.
YOU WANNA HEAR ME? PATRICK RUSSELL, UH, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER WITH, UH, HOUSING AND PLANNING, BUT PRIMARILY THROUGH AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCES CORPORATION, WHICH MANDY MENTIONED, WHICH IS A NONPROFIT GOVERNMENTAL AFFILIATE OF THE CITY.
OUR BOARD ARE OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS.
SO IT'S ALL THE SAME PEOPLE AND THEY HELP US DIRECT OUR INVESTMENT IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UH, I'LL JUST MENTION REAL QUICKLY, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT HAS FUNDED A LOT OF OUR WORK RECENTLY IS A BOND THAT VOTERS APPROVED ABOUT FOUR YEARS AGO.
AND THAT'S THE 2018 GO BOND FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UH, 250 MILLION, I BELIEVE.
UM, AND WE'VE ALMOST SPENT ALL OF IT, WHICH IS PRETTY CRAZY, CUZ THERE'S A LOT OF MONEY, BUT I THINK THAT SPEAKS TO THE NEED THAT'S IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, I REALIZED I TURNED IT OVER TO YOU TOO EARLY.
DO YOU WANNA SPEAK MORE TO IT? NO.
YOU LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT, TURN IT BACK TO ME.
I I'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, THE, THE MIDDLE TWO R H D A AND O H D A, UH, THAT STANDS FOR RENTAL HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE AND OWNERSHIP, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE.
WE REFER TO THOSE AS GAP FINANCING PROGRAMS. AND THAT JUST MEANS WHEN YOU PUT TOGETHER THE GAP, THE CAPITAL STACK FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, THERE'S STILL A GAP, RIGHT.
AND THOSE GEO BONDS CAN HELP FILL THAT GAP.
UH, AND THEN OF COURSE WE MADE A LITTLE, UH, OF THE PROCEEDS AVAILABLE TO EXISTING HOMEOWNERS TO REPAIR THEIR HOME.
THE THINKING BEING WITH ENERGY IMPROVEMENTS, THE COST OF OPERATING AND OWNING THAT HOME GOES DOWN, WHICH HELPS PRESERVE AFFORDABILITY.
BUT THE ONE THAT WAS REALLY EXCITING AND THAT I'M PARTIAL TOO, BECAUSE WHEN PART OF THE DIVISION IS THE LAND ACQUISITION BUCKET, AND THIS IS WHEN COUNCIL SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT WE WANT TO DO SOME LAND BANKING, SOME STRATEGIC LAND BANKING OVER TIME.
UH, WE KNOW WE'RE GONNA NEED AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN THE FUTURE, BUT WE MIGHT NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY TO BUILD NOW.
SO USE A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS TO GO BY LAND.
UM, AND TO DATE, WE HAVE SPENT ABOUT 80 MILLION OF THAT WITH THE OTHER BUCKETS THERE, I WOULD SAY 90% EXPENDED TO THIS DATE, UH, PROBABLY FULLY EXPENDED BY THE END OF THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR.
UM, THIS JUST SPEAKS TO THE VARIOUS SOURCES WE HAVE IN ADDITION TO THE 2018 GO BONDS.
UM, IT'S MOSTLY GEO GEO BONDS.
AND TO DATE WE HAVE PRODUCED OR HELPED FINANCE OVER 5,000, UH, RENT RESTRICTED UNITS.
AND WE HAVE INVESTED OVER 181 MILLION AND OF THOSE UNITS 3000 UNITS ARE BELOW AT OR BELOW 50%.
AMFI UM, I CAN NEVER RECALL THESE EXACT INCOME FIGURES, UH, BUT MANDY'S PULLING OUT A FOLDER THAT PROBABLY HAS IT, BUT JUST FOR CONTEXT, A TWO PERSON HOUSEHOLD AT 50% AMFI COULD MAKE NO MORE THAN $44,000.
UM, AT 60% AIM, IF I FOR SAY A FOUR PERSON HOUSEHOLD THAT CAN MAKE NO MORE THAN $66,000.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT DOES CAPTURE QUITE A FEW HOUSEHOLDS, OF COURSE, IN OUR CITY, WE HAVE QUITE THE PIPELINE.
SO IN ADDITION TO THE UNITS THAT ARE ALREADY COMPLETED, UM, WE HAVE, UH, SEVERAL THOUSAND UNITS, UM, IN, IN CONSTRUCTION AND THAT'S MOSTLY ON THE RENTAL SIDE.
I WOULD SAY THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF OUR INVESTMENT IS IN THE RENTAL SIDE, SIMPLY BECAUSE
[01:20:01]
OF MATH, RIGHT? WE CAN GET MORE UNITS, UH, FOR FEWER DOLLARS THERE.THIS IS WHERE THIS IS WHERE I CAN SPEAK, UH, YOU KNOW, TO, TO WHAT MY TEAM IS WORKING ON.
UM, SO THE REAL ESTATE DIVISION DOES WHAT WE LIKE TO CALL PRIVATE PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.
UH, AND THIS IS ONE THAT WE DID ABOUT FOUR, THREE YEARS AGO.
WE ENTERED INTO AND I JUST HEARD LAST WEEK THAT IT IS NOW A HUNDRED PERCENT OCCUPIED.
THIS IS V COLINA ON OLD TURF, NEAR PLEASANT VALLEY, A REALLY EXCITING PART OF TOWN, UH, WITH A LOT OF HISTORY THAT'S FACING SIGNIFICANT DISPLACEMENT PRESSURE.
UH, YOU COULD THROW A ROCK AND HIT THE ORACLE CAMPUS IF YOU HAD A STRONG ARM.
UM, AND IT WAS A PARTNERSHIP WITH A GREAT, UH, DEVELOPER, LOCAL DEVELOPER, A WOMAN OWN FIRM OF SDA DEVELOPMENT, 170 UNITS.
AND WHEN WE'RE INVOLVED, LIKE MANDY SAID, WE REALLY TRY TO PUSH DEEP AFFORDABILITY.
SO WE HAVE 71 UNITS AT 50% AMFI AND BELOW IT'S A HUNDRED PERCENT AFFORDABLE.
AND WE'RE ALSO ABLE TO PUT IN, UH, QUITE A FEW MULTI BEDROOM UNITS FOR THIS DEVELOPMENT.
UM, I REALIZED THAT I PUT IN THE WRONG PICTURE, UH, ON THE WAY HERE.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE A COOL PICTURE ON MY PHONE OF A MURAL THAT WAS DONE HERE BY ZUZU, UH, WHICH, UH, OUR LOCAL DEVELOPER O S D A, UH, COMMISSION TO DESIGN.
AND IT'S LIKE FOUR, FOUR STORIES TALL AND IT OVERLOOKS THE POLE.
UM, Y'ALL SHOULD DEFINITELY GO CHECK IT OUT IF YOU EVER GET THE CHANCE AND SOMETHING THAT WE'VE STARTED TO DO QUITE A BIT RECENTLY ARE, UH, WHAT WE CALL LAND RFPS AND THAT'S REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS.
SO I THINK BACK AGAIN, TO THAT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS, WE WENT ON A SHOPPING SPREE FOR FOUR YEARS AND BOUGHT OVER 50 ACRES IN CENTRAL AUSTIN.
AND WHAT WE'VE NOW STARTED TO DO IS DISPOSE OF THOSE PROPERTIES.
SO THIS WAS AN RFP THAT WE ISSUED, I BELIEVE IN 2021, IT'S ABOUT NINE ACRES.
UM, IT'S ON TANA HILL, REALLY CLOSE TO THE HOGPEN NEIGHBORHOOD IN EAST AUSTIN, UM, NEXT TO NORMAN SIMS ELEMENTARY.
AND WE ACQUIRED IT FROM, UH, AUSTIN ISD.
THE WINNING PROPOSAL WAS FROM A PARTNERSHIP FROM FOUNDATION COMMUNITIES AND GUADALUPE NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
THE RENTAL PORTION, WHICH IS BEING DELIVERED BY FOUNDATION COMMUNITIES IS ABOUT 140 UNITS.
AND THEN G DC IS GONNA DELIVER ABOUT 30 OR SO TOWN HOMES, WHICH YOU SEE IN THE FOREGROUND.
UH, AND IT'LL HAVE A ONSITE LEARNING CENTER, WHICH FOUNDATION COMMUNITIES IS REALLY FAMOUS FOR, UH, IN THEIR DEVELOPMENTS.
AND THIS IS WHEN I THINK WE CAN START TALKING A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HOW WE PERTAIN TO THE ARTS COMMISSION.
SO THIS IS A RECENT RFP THAT WE DID EARLIER THIS YEAR.
UH, THIS IS IN THE MLK NEIGHBORHOOD RIGHT NEXT TO MUELLER WHERE IAN FRANKLIN TURNS IN THE BEMAN AT MAINER ROAD, IT'S CALLED SEABROOK SQUARE.
UH, IT'S ABOUT A THREE ACRE SITE.
UH, WE PURCHASED THIS FROM TWO LANDOWNERS.
ONE WAS THE CITY OF AUSTIN PUBLIC WHERE THE OTHER WAS A PRIVATE LANDOWNER.
AND THE WINNING PROPOSAL WAS A JOINT PARTNERSHIP AMONG CAPITAL A, WHICH IS A LOCAL DEVELOPER NHP, WHICH IS A NATIONAL NONPROFIT DEVELOPER AND INTEGRAL CARE, UH, WHICH IS OUR LOCAL MENTAL HEALTH AUTHORITY.
AND, UM, IT'S ABOUT 202 UNITS FOR FAMILIES IN WORKFORCE.
AND THEN IT'S ALSO ABOUT 60 UNITS OF PERMANENT SUPPORT HOUSING.
AM I DONE? NO,
I JUST WANNA KEEP TRACK OF HOW LONG WE'RE GOING, BUT YES, PLEASE CONTINUE.
UH, AND THE OTHER, ANOTHER BUILDING ON THIS SITE, THIS, THIS RENDERING DOESN'T DO JUSTICE TO HOW LARGE THIS SITE IS, BUT ANOTHER BUILDING IS ABOUT 60 UNITS, UH, PERMANENT SUPPORT OF HOUSING, HOUSING EFFICIENCY UNITS FOR THOSE EXITING HOMELESSNESS.
UH, SO 260 UNITS ALL IN TOTAL, UH, OF THOSE UNITS, 10 OF THE 202 UNITS, 10 ARE LIVE WORK UNITS, HOPEFULLY FOR LOCAL EAST AUSTIN ARTISTS.
UH, AND I WOULD SAY THE DEVELOPER HERE PRIMARILY CAPITAL A HAS BEEN VERY INTENTIONAL IN TRYING TO BRING TOGETHER LOCAL ARTISTS FROM THIS PART OF OUR CITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIAL SPACE THERE, UH, SIX SQUARE WILL BE AFFIRMATIVELY MARKETING, THOSE UNITS, HOPEFULLY TO THE ARTISTS.
UH, THERE'S GONNA BE A REALLY COOL CAFE IN OUR HOUSE AND WE'VE, UH, UH, ALREADY EXECUTED A CONTRACT WITH ORIGIN STUDIO HOUSE TO HAVE A RIGHT, TO LEASE THAT SPACE.
AND THEN MURALS AND COMMUNITY EVENTS WILL BE PROVIDED BY RAISIN IN THE SUN.
UH, AND THEN ANOTHER DEVELOPMENT THAT I JUST WANT TO GO OVER BRIEFLY IS CALLED LIVE, MAKE APARTMENTS.
UM, THIS, UH, RENDERING DOES NOT DO JUSTICE.
I PROMISE YOU THERE'S A BUILDING THERE MM-HMM
UM, BUT THIS IS A REALLY COOL SITE ALSO ON TILLERY, BUT THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF TILLERY, UNLIKE YOUR PREVIOUS SPEAKER, UH, THERE'S A BEAUTIFUL PECAN GROVE THERE THAT Y'ALL MIGHT KNOW ABOUT IF YOU, UH, HAVE BEEN TO THIS PART OF TOWN OR LIVED THERE.
UM, IT'S A PARTNERSHIP WITH, UH, A DEVELOPER CALLED MR. CAPITAL AND THEN A NONPROFIT CALLED IMAGINE
[01:25:01]
ART AND IT'S 66 UNITS, UH, 40 OF WHICH ARE AT 50% AIM IF I, AND BELOW A HUNDRED PERCENT AFFORDABLE, UH, HFC PARTNERED WITH, UH, ARTS AND REC AND THEY ACQUIRED TWO ACRES FROM US TO PRESERVE THAT PECAN ORCHARD.UH, AND THEN IMAGINE ART IS DELIVERING SOMETHING LIKE 8,000 SQUARE FEET OF, UH, ART SPACE, WHICH IS REALLY EXCITING.
SO AS A SAMPLING OF THAT 1100 SQUARE FEET FOR A GALLERY 400 SQUARE FEET FOR A PAINTING STUDIO FOR THE RESIDENTS, 1600 SQUARE FEET WITH A FULL CERAMIC STUDIO, UH, BEEN ON CALLS WHERE THEY TALK ABOUT ALL THE STUFF THAT GOES INTO, YOU KNOW, MAKING THAT HAPPEN AND THEN 2000 SQUARE FEET FOR A COMMUNAL KITCHEN AND DINING SPACE.
UM, AND THIS DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE PUTTING A SHOVEL IN THE GROUND IN JANUARY.
UH, SO VERY EXCITED ABOUT, UM, UH, IMAGINE ART AND WHAT THEY'RE GONNA BRING TO THIS PART OF AUSTIN.
AND THEN I'LL JUST IN HERE BEFORE I TURN IT BACK TO MANDY.
UM, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A HUNDRED MILLION, WE'VE SPENT 80 MILLION ACQUIRING LOTS OF SITES, AND WHAT'S REALLY, REALLY EXCITING ABOUT THIS MAP IS THAT IT'S ALREADY MISSING A LOT OF BLUE DOTS, RIGHT? THIS IS AN OLDER MAP, AND THESE ARE THE SITES THAT WE'VE ACQUIRED AROUND AUSTIN.
UH, LIKE I SAID EARLIER, IT'S OVER, IT'S OVER 50 ACRES AND WE CURRENTLY HAVE A GOAL, THE REAL ESTATE DIVISION OF, UH, INITIATING AT LEAST FOUR DEVELOPMENTS EVERY YEAR ON THE LAND THAT WE OWN.
UM, AND WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS, UH, CLEAN OUR SLATE, RIGHT? LIKE GET RID OF ALL THESE SITES, PUT 'EM IN THE, IN THE PRE-DEVELOPMENT STAGE, GET 'EM TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE WE KNOW, UH, MORE THAN LIKELY WITH PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, WELL, EXACTLY WITH PROJECT CONNECT AND POTENTIALLY OTHER FUTURE SOURCES OF FUNDING, WE WILL GO BUY MORE LAND.
UH, SO WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW CAN GET DEVELOPED AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.
AND I'LL SAY, YOU KNOW, AS IT PERTAINS TO ART, UH, SEABROOK SQUARE AND, UH, LIVE MAKE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE FOCUS ON ART WAS ALMOST SERENDIPITOUS.
AND THAT CERTAINLY IMPRESSED THE PANELISTS THAT WERE ASKED TO SELECT WINNERS FOR THESE RFPS.
I THINK IN THE FUTURE, WE'LL THINK MORE INTENTIONALLY AS STAFF ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES TO INCLUDE, UH, OR MANDATE SPACE FOR ART, UH, UNITS SPECIFICALLY RESERVED FOR ARTISTS.
AND I THINK WE HAVE SOME SITES IN OUR CITY THAT ARE VERY APPROPRIATE FOR THAT, THAT I WOULD LOVE TO COME BACK AND TALK TO YOU ALL ABOUT IN THE FUTURE.
UM, I WANTED TO TALK, I'LL GO THROUGH THIS QUICKLY.
I KNOW WE, WE HAVE A, A TIME LIMIT OUR COMMUNITY LAND TRUST.
UM, THIS, UH, MAY BE OF INTEREST TO FOLKS IN THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY.
UH, A COMMUNITY LAND TRUST IS ESSENTIALLY A MECHANISM FOR AFFORDABLE HOME OWNERSHIP.
AS I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, THE AVERAGE SALES PRICE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS CURRENTLY $640,000, NEEDLESS TO SAY, UM, THAT SERVES A VERY SMALL SLICE OF THE MARKET AND CERTAINLY A SMALL SLICE OF THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY MARKET, UH, COMMUNITY LAND TRUST ESSENTIALLY SEPARATES THE LAND THAT'S OWNED BY THE COMMUNITY LAND TRUST.
IN THIS CASE, THE NONPROFIT AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION FROM THE IMPROVEMENTS, UM, AND THE AFFORDABLE HOMEOWNER OWNS THE IMPROVEMENTS, UM, AND CAN LIVE, UH, AND CAN CONVEY TO ERRORS JUST LIKE A REGULAR HOME, UM, BUT RECEIVES A LIMITED AMOUNT OF EQUITY.
IT FUNCTIONS SOMEWHAT LIKE A LIMITED EQUITY COOPERATIVE WHEN YOU SELL, YOU HAVE TO SELL TO ANOTHER AFFORDABLE HOME BUYER.
UM, SO WE ESSENTIALLY END UP WITH PERPETUAL AFFORDABILITY.
ALL OF OUR HOMES ARE MARKETED TO FOLKS AT, OR BELOW 80% MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE 15 OCCUPIED COMMUNITY LAND TRUST HOMES, PRIMARILY IN CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN.
UH, WE HAVE 29 HOMES IN THE PIPELINE.
WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF REHABBING AND PUTTING OUT FOR, UH, A LOTTERY.
WE STARTED OUR FIRST LOTTERY PROCESS OF OUR FIRST HOME IN JUNE.
THIS IS THE HOME 10 18 LINDEN, UH, WHICH IS IN CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN.
AND WHILE YOU CAN'T SEE IT, IT IS SURROUNDED BY THERE'S PROBABLY MILLION DOLLAR HOMES ON BOTH SIDES.
UM, THIS IS A GREAT THREE BEDROOM, TWO BATH HOME THAT WE'RE SELLING FOR.
UM, I'LL QUICKLY GO THROUGH THIS.
THIS IS INFORMATION THAT YOU CAN FIND ON OUR WEBSITE ABOUT THE NEXUS BETWEEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND PROJECT CONNECT.
AS I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, WE'VE BEEN VERY INTENTIONAL, UH, ABOUT WHERE WE ARE PLACING AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UH, REALLY MINDFUL OF THE FACT THAT NEXT TO HOUSING TRANSPORTATION IS TYPICALLY A HOUSEHOLD SECOND, UM, BIG EX EXPENSE.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE PROVIDE ACCESS FOR OUR LOW AND MODERATE INCOME RESIDENTS TO, UH, HIGH FREQUENCY TRANSIT.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT, UH, OF OUR 26,663, UM, UH, INCOME RESTRICTED UNITS,
[01:30:01]
UH, THE MAJORITY OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY WITHIN A HALF MILE OF HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT, 58%.UH, I MENTIONED DISPLACEMENT PREVENTION.
IT IS A PRIORITY AND A DIVISION IN OUR DEPARTMENT.
WE ARE ALSO TASKED WITH ADMINISTERING THE $300 MILLION THAT VOTERS APPROVED IN 2020 IN ANTI DISPLACEMENT FUNDING.
I AM PLEASED TO SAY THAT THE FIRST, ALMOST 60 MILLION BY SEPTEMBER 30TH, WHICH IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER, UH, WILL BE COMMITTED THOSE 60 MILLION, UH, WHICH IS OUR FIRST TWO YEARS OF FUNDING, UH, ARE ROUGHLY EVENLY DIVIDED BETWEEN, UH, HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE.
SO THAT GAP FINANCING SUBSIDY FOR DEVELOPERS WHO ARE DEVELOPING AFFORDABLE HOUSING ALONG THE PROJECT CONNECT LINES ABOUT A THIRD OF THE FUNDING WENT TOWARD THAT.
A THIRD OF THE FUNDING WENT TOWARD LAND ACQUISITION, WHICH PATRICK, UH, OVERSEES, UM, PATRICK AND HIS TEAM.
UH, WE HAVE ACQUIRED TWO, UH, COMPLEXES.
ONE IS NATURALLY OCCURRING, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UH, RIGHT AT THE JUSTIN LANE, UH, RED LINE.
AND WHAT WILL ULTIMATELY BE, UH, THE ORANGE LINE AS WELL, A SMALL COMPLEX THERE AS WELL AS A CURRENTLY INCOME RESTRICTED, UM, SENIOR APARTMENT COMPLEX IN SOUTH AUSTIN.
UH, IN ADDITION, WE'RE, WE'RE CURRENTLY EXPLORING ACQUISITION OF VACANT LAND ALONG PROJECT CONNECT.
AND THEN THE THIRD AND FINAL BIT OF THAT, UH, FUNDING IS FOR OUR COMMUNITY INITIATED SOLUTIONS PROGRAM.
UH, THAT IS GOING THOSE 14 NONPROFITS THAT HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED FOR A TOTAL OF 20 MILLION ARE GOING TO THE A H C BOARD, WHICH IS PATRICK MENTIONED IS OUR MAYOR AND COUNCIL ON SEPTEMBER 29TH IN OUR DIVISION THOUGH, I SHOULD SAY, WE ALSO DO A VARIETY OF TENANT STABILIZATIONS PROGRAM, TENANT STABILIZATION PROGRAMS, UM, INCLUDING EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE, EVICTION PREVENTION, RENTERS, RIGHTS ASSISTANCE.
AND THEN I DO WANT TO GET TO, THIS IS OUR RENT PROGRAM, A HOSTS, UM, A HOSTS IS OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING ONLINE SEARCH TOOL.
YOU CAN FIND IT ON OUR WEBSITE OR JUST BY GOOGLING IT, UM, AND HAVING WORKED WITH THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY IN THE PAST, I WILL SAY THAT OFTEN THERE ARE SOME MISINFORMATION, UM, ABOUT WHO CAN LIVE IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
WHAT IS INCOME RESTRICTED HOUSING, HOW MUCH MONEY CAN I MAKE AND STILL LIVE IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, AND THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING ONLINE SEARCH TOOL, UH, WILL ENABLE YOU TO PLUG IN ELECTRONICALLY ON THE WEBSITE, UH, YOUR PARAMETERS, UH, WHERE YOU WANT TO LIVE, HOW BIG YOUR HOUSEHOLD IS, WHAT YOUR INCOME IS.
AND THEN WHAT WILL POP UP ACROSS THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, WE HAVE MORE THAN 26,000 INCOME RESTRICTED UNITS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
SO SOME POSSIBILITIES OF POSSIBLE MATCHMAKING, UH, FOR FOLKS WHO ARE, UH, BELOW 80% MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME, UH, WILL POP UP ON THE MAP AND IT'LL PROVIDE CONTACT INFORMATION, UM, FOR THOSE COMPLEXES.
SO I DEFINITELY ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT, AND THEN WE'RE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
AND I KNOW WE WENT THROUGH STUFF PRETTY QUICKLY.
THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
UM, THIS IS A, A FOLLOW UP PRESENTATION, UM, INITIATED BY A CONVERS, UM, THAT, UM, HEIDI MALACH VICE CHURCH MALACH, UM, INITIATED.
AND I JUST REALLY APPRECIATE MANDY FOR SITTING WITH US.
WE ALMOST AN HOUR THAT DAY, AND REALLY WALKING US THROUGH A LOT OF THE TOOLS AND MECHANISMS THAT, UM, THAT ARE OUT THERE AND THE THINGS THAT ARE COMING DOWN THE PIPELINE.
I'M GONNA MOVE TO MY COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER FLORES.
HAVE TROUBLE FINDING THE BUTTON.
FIRST OF ALL, FOR THIS PRESENTATION, IT'S, UH, IT WAS REALLY QUIET, ROBUST, AND A LOT OF INFORMATION, UH, ESPECIALLY TO SOMEBODY WHO IS VERY INTERESTED IN THE TOPIC AND ALSO JUST, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S ENCOURAGING ALL THE WORK THAT IS BEING DONE.
IF IT MAY, MAY BE BEHIND THE SCENES FOR, FOR A LOT OF US.
SO APPRECIATE THIS PRESENTATION.
A COUPLE OF THOSE COMPLEXES THAT YOU MENTIONED ARE IN MY SOON TO BE DISTRICT.
I WON'T, YOU KNOW, SAY THAT AGAIN BECAUSE I'M VERY EXCITED THAT SOUTH AND EAST AUSTIN, ESPECIALLY OLD TOF AND, UH, IN PLEASANT VALLEY, WHICH IS RIGHT AROUND MY NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND I DIDN'T RECOGNIZE THE PICTURE, BUT WHEN YOU MENTION THE MURAL, IT, I, IT, IT, I MEAN, IT CAME TO, IT CAME TO ME BECAUSE I, I AM IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD A LOT.
SO YES, THANK YOU FOR THE WORK THAT'S BEING DONE AND FOR MAKING, ESPECIALLY MAKING AFFORDABLE HOUSING AVAILABLE TO ARTISTS AND, AND HELPING THEM WITH THEIR SITUATION.
I KNOW PERSONALLY I RENT TAR AND I DO AT BELOW MARKET
[01:35:01]
WAY BELOW MARKET VALUE.AND I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, THE IDEA OF MAYBE INCENTIVIZING PRIVATE, UH, UH, HOMEOWNERS OR RENTAL RENTAL OWNERS, UH, TO MAYBE RENT, TO ADD BELOW MARKET VALUE TO ARTISTS OR FOLKS WHO CAN'T NECESSARILY AFFORD THE PRICES THAT ARE NOW BEING, UH, YOU KNOW, I GUESS FORCED UPON US BY OUR TAXES, BUT, YOU KNOW, TO DO, IF THEY, IF YOU'RE ABLE TO, I THINK MAYBE HAVING SOME SORT OF AN INCENTIVE, LIKE A TAX REBATE, YOU KNOW, THAT CAN BE, YOU KNOW, SIGN, YOU KNOW, CAN BE, UM, WHAT DO YOU GONNA CALL IT, UM, ACTUALLY SHOWN, UH, IN, IN REAL DOLLARS, YOU KNOW, TO, UH, THE TAXING ENTITY THAT MIGHT HELP ENCOURAGE OTHERS WHO, WHO MIGHT WANT TO RENT TO FOLKS WHO ARE, UH, EITHER ARTISTS OR, YOU KNOW, FOLKS WHO MAY NOT BE ABLE TO AFFORD THE PRICES OUT THERE ON THE RENTAL, UH, MARKET.
SO JUST PUT THAT PIN IN YOUR EAR, IN YOUR HEAD.
I HAVE MENTIONED IT BEFORE TO OTHERS, BUT, YOU KNOW, I, I REALLY THINK IT COULD BE, CUZ YOU, YOU COULD POS YOU KNOW, YOU COULD, UH, DOCUMENT HOW BELOW MARKET VALUE YOU ARE RENTING YOUR PROPERTY.
AND PERHAPS THERE COULD BE SOME SORT OF A, OF A TAX, UH, BREAK ON, ON THAT BY THE CITY.
SO ANYWAY, BUT I JUST WANTED TO SAY, THANK YOU, PUT THAT THOUGHT IN YOUR HEAD AND APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT'S BEING DONE.
I, UM, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU.
AND COULD I BRIEFLY, UH, RESPOND TO COMMISSIONER FLORES? UM, WE DO HAVE, UH, AN EXAMPLE THAT IS SOMEWHAT ANALOGOUS TO WHAT YOU, YOU TALKED ABOUT.
AND THAT IS, UH, THE ALLEY FLAT INITIATIVE, WHICH IS, UM, A, A PROGRAM THAT WAS REALLY SPEARHEADED BY AN ORGANIZATION CALLED COMMUNITY POWERED WORKSHOP.
AND THEY WORKED WITH MODERATE INCOME HOMEOWNERS WHO WANTED TO BUILD ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS OR GRANNY FLATS IN THEIR BACKYARDS.
UM, AND IF THEY AGREED TO RENT BELOW MARKET TO, TO SOMEBODY 80% OR BELOW FOR FIVE YEARS, THEY WERE ABLE TO TAP INTO SOME CITY FEE WAIVERS THROUGH OUR SMART HOUSING PROGRAM.
UH, I DON'T HAVE THE MOST CURRENT NUMBERS IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY HAVE IN FACT PRODUCED OVER THE YEARS.
UM, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY MORE, MORE THAN A HANDFUL.
UM, IT'S NOT THOUSANDS OF UNITS, UH, BUT IT, IT, THEY WERE ABLE TO REALLY, UH, WORK WITH THOSE MODERATE INCOME HOMEOWNERS, UM, AND AT LEAST SECURE SOME BELOW MARKET AFFORDABILITY THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
BUT IF, TO GET FOLKS WHO OWN, YOU KNOW, RENTAL PROPERTY AND WHO WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN, IN AFFORDABILITY IN THE COMMUNITY, I THINK MAYBE HAVING IT FOR, UH, SOME SORT OF A PROGRAM IN THAT REGARD COULD HELP, YOU KNOW, UH, PRIVATE OWNERS OF RENTAL UNITS MAYBE PARTICIPATE IN THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING MARKET IF, IF, IF THEY WERE INCENTIVIZED TO DO SO AND, AND COULD AFFORD TO DO SO.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUCH A THOROUGH.
I LEARNED SO MUCH FROM THIS PRESENTATION.
NUMBER ONE IS I LEARN ABOUT THIS FAMILY OF SINGLE MOTHER THAT SHE HAS THREE DEPENDENT CHILDREN AND SHE JUST FINISHED HER MASTER FIND A JOB AS A TEACHER.
AND BECAUSE SHE WAS TRYING TO TAKE HERSELF OUT OF POVERTY.
SO HER CREDIT, UM, WON'T ALLOW HER, I MEAN, SHE CANNOT RENT ANY APARTMENT BECAUSE SHE JUST, UM, FIND A JOB AS A TEACHER AND SHE DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH, I GUESS, PAY STUFF.
I WAS REALLY SHOCKED, YOU KNOW? SO, UM, SO I DON'T KNOW HOW TO ADDRESS THAT, YOU KNOW, UM, THIS CREDIT, UH, THAT IS REQUIRE IN ORDER TO RENT AN APARTMENT.
THAT'S ONE THOUGHT THE SECOND THOUGHT IS, UH, I HAVE LIVED IN AUSTIN SINCE 83 AND I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED LIKE THREE DIGIT HEAT AND, YOU KNOW, UH, IN, IN MAY.
SO, UH, SO THIS YEAR WE STARTED HAVING THREE DIGIT HEAT IN MAY.
SO IT, YOU KNOW, AND I, I, I READ ON THE NEWS AND THE STUDIES SAID THAT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN A, UM, A DISADVANTAGE, I GUESS, UH, NEIGHBORHOOD, THAT THEY HAVE A MUCH HIGHER HEAT INDEX, YOU KNOW? SO I JUST WANTED TO REMIND YOU TO BE MINDFUL ABOUT THE DESIGN IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE
[01:40:01]
PAY ATTENTION, YOU KNOW, TO THIS HEAT WAVE.I DON'T THINK IT WILL GO AWAY ANYTIME SOON.
AND ALSO, UM, I THINK, UH, LANDSCAPE ART, YOU KNOW, IS, IS ALSO PART OF THE PUBLIC ARTWORK.
SO, UH, I, I HOPE THAT WHEN YOU ARE MAKING DESIGN ON THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO PAY ATTENTION TO THAT, AND THE THIRD THING IS, UH, GIVE ME, I KNOW WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ANOTHER 300 MILLION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING, YOU KNOW, FOR THE, FOR THE NEXT PHONE.
UM, GIVE ME AN ELEVATOR, UH, TYPE OF MARKETING TOOLS.
HOW CAN I CONVINCE FOLKS THAT THIS IS IMPORTANT?
UH, SO I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT QUESTION.
I WILL SAY AS, UH, CITY STAFF, WE ARE NOT, UH, ABLE TO ADVOCATE FOR, OR AGAINST, UH, THE, UH, A BALLOT INITIATIVE, LIKE THE GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS.
WE SIMPLY PROVIDE THE FACTS, WHICH HOPEFULLY THE PRESENTATION, WHICH ALSO, UH, WILL BE IN BACKUP, UM, PROVIDE SOME DETAILS OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE WITH OUR 2006, 2013, AND THEN 2018 BONDS.
UM, I WILL SAY ALSO WE'RE GETTING READY TO PUBLISH, AND IT WILL BE ON OUR WEBSITE, A GEO BOND FACT SHEET, AGAIN, NOT AN ADVOCACY PIECE, BUT REALLY JUST LOOKING AT HOW YOUR DOLLARS, OUR DOLLARS, UM, AS CITY OF AUSTIN RESIDENTS HAVE BEEN INVESTED, UM, OVER THE COURSE OF OUR THREE TRANCHES OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS.
I'LL, I'LL JUST ADD A FEW THOUGHTS AS WELL.
AND I'LL JUST CLARIFY WITH THE 2018 GO BONDS, UH, JUST KEEP IN MIND THAT WAS NOT THE SOLE SOURCE OF FINANCING.
WE, WE CONSTANTLY PUSH OUR PARTNERS AND OURSELVES TO LEVERAGE THAT.
AND I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF THAT $250 MILLION LED TO OVER A BILLION, PERHAPS EVEN $2 BILLION OF REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN OUR CITY, AGAIN, ALL AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, AND THEN COMMISSIONER, YOU KNOW, REGARDING TENANT PROTECTIONS.
I, I WANTED TO MENTION THAT THOSE GO BONDS WHEN WE GET INVOLVED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT WHERE WE REQUIRE DEVELOPERS TO COMPLY WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN, LEASE ADDENDUM, UH, MIGHT BE HFC LEASE ADDENDUM, AND IT DOES HAVE TENANT PROTECTIONS IN THERE, UH, REGARDING THINGS LIKE CREDIT CHECKS AND CRIMINAL HISTORY AND, AND WHATNOT.
I WOULD SAY IT'S NO ACCIDENT THAT A LOT OF THE PROPERTIES THAT WE HAVE HELPED FINANCE OR DEVELOPED ARE ALMOST ALL CLOSE TO A HUNDRED PERCENT OCCUPIED, AND THAT SPEAKS TO JUST THE DEMAND.
AND OFTENTIMES UNFORTUNATELY, UH, THERE'S NOT ANY AVAIL AVAILABILITY FOR FAMILIES.
AND WHEN THEY GO TO A DEVELOPMENT THAT DOESN'T HAVE THAT LEASE ADDENDUM, UH, IT'S, IT'S MUCH EASIER TO GET TURNED AWAY, ESPECIALLY IN OUR STATE.
UH, AND THEN REGARDING SUSTAINABILITY, ALL OF OUR DEVELOPMENTS FOR THE MOST PART, I WOULD SAY ARE AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING CERTIFIED.
UH, SOME OF, SOME OF THEM ARE EVEN LEAVE CERTIFIED.
AND THEN FOR OUR LARGER DEVELOPMENTS, LIKE THE ONES THAT I SHOWED YOU, THERE'S USUALLY, UH, A COUPLE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS BUDGET FOR LANDSCAPING AS WELL.
SO WE CERTAINLY TAKE ALL THOSE POINTS INTO CONSIDERATION.
AND IF I COULD PIGGYBACK ON THE LAST, UH, COMMENT ABOUT, UM, UH, UH, GREEN BUILDING, I WILL SAY ALSO AS A DEPARTMENT, THE HOUSING AND PLANNING DEPARTMENT IS, UH, PARTNERING CLOSELY WITH OUR OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY AND OUR NEW, UM, RESILIENCY OFFICE, UH, TO LOOK AT STRATEGIES FOR INCORPORATING, UM, CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATIONS INTO OUR AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS.
SO IT IS SOMETHING WE ARE KEENLY ATTUNED TO AND WORKING ON COLLABORATIVELY.
THAT'S REALLY, I'LL JUST PHENOMENAL.
UM, I KNOW WE'VE GOT ONE MORE QUESTION HERE.
I DID WANNA JUST CHIME IN WHEN YOU HAVE THAT FAQ PAGE PREPARED, WILL YOU PASS THAT ALONG TO US? CAUSE I THINK AGAIN, THE MORE THAT WE CAN HELP AMPLIFY, UM, WHAT'S COMING UP IN NOVEMBER AND PEOPLE CAN BE REALLY FEEL INCLUDED, UM, IN, IN ALL THAT'S THAT'S HAPPENING, COMMISSIONER GRAY.
UH, AND I MAYBE ASKING QUESTIONS OF WHICH Y'ALL HAVE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT IN, IN OTHER MEETINGS, BUT, UM, IT'S SO EXCI FIRST OF ALL, THANK YOU.
JUST THANK YOU, CUZ WE DO NEED SO MUCH OF THIS, BUT I, MY BRAIN IS GOING AROUND OUR WORKING GROUP OF ARTS NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE FACT THAT THERE ARE ARTISTS IN AUSTIN THAT NOT ONLY CAN'T AFFORD TO FIND A PLACE TO LIVE, THEY CAN'T AFFORD TO FIND A PLACE TO DO THEIR ART, CUZ NOT MANY ARTISTS ARE IN OUR GRAPHIC ARTISTS OR DIGITAL ARTISTS OR PAINTERS.
THEY'RE PERFORMING ARTISTS AND
[01:45:01]
THEY'RE MUSICIANS.AND I WOULD HOPE AS WELL, YOU KNOW, IN THE PLAN OF GOING FORWARD THAT, THAT, THAT IT'S, THAT BLOCKS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IS VERY IMPORTANT, BUT THEY'RE ALSO ISOLATORY OR THEY'RE ISOLATED, WHATEVER THE WORD THAT IS, THEY ISOLATE, WE NEED NEIGHBORHOODS, WE NEED COMMUNITIES.
WE NEED SPACE THAT HAS INCREDIBLE AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR THE PEOPLE THAT DO NEED IT DESPERATELY, BUT PERHAPS THE VENUES AND NOT ONLY, AND YES, A COUPLE OF YOUR PLACES YOU IMAGINE, YOU MENTIONED IMAGINE ARTS, YOU MENTIONED THE, UH, CAFE ART HOUSE PERFORMANCE SPACE, ET CETERA.
MY BIG QUESTION IS, IS THAT HAPPENING ON YOUR END OF ASKING FOR THOSE THINGS TO HAPPEN OR IS THAT HAPPENING BECAUSE YOU HAVE PEOPLE RESPONDING TO THE RFPS WITH THOSE IDEAS? I WOULD SAY IT'S THE LATTER TO DATE, BUT GOING FORWARD, WE WANT TO DO THE FORMER.
UM, THAT'S WHAT I WAS HOPING TO HEAR.
AND YOU KNOW, THERE'S ACTUALLY, UM, THE, THE FINANCING SOURCE THAT WE USE THE MOST IS IT'S CALLED THE LOW INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT.
SO IT'S A FEDERAL PROGRAM AND UH, THERE ARE, UH, THREE POPULATIONS YOU CAN SERVE ONCE THE GENERAL PUBLIC ONE'S ELDERLY.
AND A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THIS THIRD IS ARTISTS, UH, BUT IT'S HARDLY EVER USED AND THERE THERE'S LEGITIMATE REASONS FOR THAT, BUT I THINK IT'S WORTH THINKING THROUGH, UH, THOSE REASONS AND CONCERNS AND COMING UP WITH A SOLUTION.
SO OUR TEAM IS CERTAINLY RESEARCHING THAT AND THINKING ABOUT THAT FOR FUTURE LAND RFPS.
AND CAN I ALSO ADD THAT OUR, OUR TEAM IS WORKING CLOSELY ON SOME FUTURE SOLICITATIONS, UM, WITH THE, UH, A E D C THE AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION.
UM, WE HAVE TWO PARCELS IN PARTICULAR, ONE WHERE WE HAVE AN ACTUAL M MOU WITH THE A E D C
UM, SO THAT'S ONE WHERE WE'RE SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT CREATIVE SPACE.
SO AFFORDABLE HOUSING WOULD BE A COMPONENT, BUT CREATIVE SPACE.
UM, AND THE OTHER, UH, IS A LARGE PARCEL.
WE, UH, PURCHASED FROM AUSTIN ENERGY IN SOUTHEAST AUSTIN OFF OF RIVERSIDE.
UM, AND WE ARE LOOKING AT BECAUSE OF THE SIZE, IT'S GONNA BE MORE THAN JUST AFFORDABLE HOUSING, SOME OF OUR SMALLER PARCELS.
UH, IT REALLY MAKES SENSE FOR IT TO BE, YOU KNOW, MORE OF A SINGLE USE.
UM, BUT SOME OF OUR LARGER PAR PARCELS, WE CERTAINLY WANNA EXPLORE, UM, HOW TO LEVERAGE BOTH OUR FINANCING AND THE EXPERTISE OF OTHER ENTITIES LIKE THE A E D C.
AND I FORGOT TO ASK
SO I WANTED TO CIRCLE BACK A LITTLE BIT TO, UM, BACK TO THE ART AND THE ARTIST AND THOSE OPPORTUNITIES.
SO WHAT I FOUND INTERESTING IS THAT YOU'RE USING DIFFERENT DEVELOPERS
SO I GUESS MY QUESTION IS THE ASPECT OF THE ART.
IS IT AN AFTERTHOUGHT OR IS IT SOMETHING THAT'S, UM, BEING WORKED INTO, YOU KNOW, THE DESIGN OF THESE DEVELOPMENTS AND WHAT KIND OF THAT LOOKS LIKE, AND ALSO, UM, THE ARTISTS, AS FAR AS THE AREAS THAT YOU'RE BUYING LAND, UH, WHAT THE PROCESSES OF YOU DECIDING WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AS FAR AS THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE ARTISTS AND THE COMMUNITY FOR THE ART THAT'S GOING INTO THESE NEW DEVELOPMENTS? I WOULD, I WOULD JUST SAY, YOU KNOW, WE, WE RELY EXTENSIVELY ON OUR PARTNERS TO HELP WITH THIS, OUR DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS.
AND I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A REASON WHY THEY'RE SELECTED IN THESE VERY COMPETITIVE RFPS AND IT'S BECAUSE THEY SHOW SINCERE INTENTION IN THINKING ABOUT THOSE THINGS.
AND IT TOTALLY SHINES THROUGH.
SO, YOU KNOW, WITH SEABROOK SQUARE, WHICH I SHOWED YOU, MM-HMM
UM, FOR MANY OF THE DEVELOPMENTS THAT I'VE BEEN IN TODAY THAT DIDN'T EVEN GO OVER.
I SEE THE DEVELOPER PARTNERS INTENTIONALLY REACHING OUT TO LOCAL ARTISTS, ORGANIZATIONS, OR GROUPS HERE, UH, AND ASKING IF THEY CAN HANG THEIR ART ON THE WALL OR GREAT, LET ME REPHRASE THAT IF THEY CAN PAY THEM FOR THEIR ART, RIGHT.
UM, SO DEFINITELY RELY ON OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
AND I WOULD SAY THEY'VE BEEN DOING A GREAT JOB TO DATE.
SO THE ART THAT'S BEING COMMISSIONED IS IT IT'S PART OF THE BUDGET FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.
UM, AGAIN, THE ONE BY MUELLER ON IAN FRANKLIN
[01:50:01]
AND, AND BERKMAN, THERE IS A BUDGET, FOR EXAMPLE, TO PUT A MURAL ON THAT DEVELOPMENT.UM, AND YOU ALWAYS HOPE RIGHT, WHEN YOU GET TOWARDS THE END OF CONSTRUCTION, MM-HMM
UH, AND THAT WAS THE CASE WITH V COLINA, THE ONE ON OLTORF AND THE DEVELOPER AND US, WE WERE ABLE TO HIRE ZUZU TO COME OUT AND DO THIS, YOU KNOW, VERY LARGE MURAL.
SO CERTAINLY WHEN WE GET TOWARDS THE END AND WE HAVE MONEY LEFT OVER, WE THINK ABOUT CREATIVELY SUSPEND IT.
THANK YOU, COMMISSION POKER, AND I'LL BE QUICK.
UM, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING.
UM, AS ONE OF A HANDFUL OF COMMISSIONERS WITH ARTS AND MUSIC THAT WE'RE WORKING REALLY EARLY ON WITH TRYING TO GET A NEW STUB IN THE LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE FOR ARTS, MUSIC, AND CULTURE, AND, AND REALLY ENCOURAGING THE CITY TO LOOK AT ARTS MUSIC AND CULTURE AS A LENS THROUGH WHICH WE LOOK AT ALL CITY POLICIES.
UM, AND I THINK GIVEN THE PRESSURES ON, ON FI FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY IN TOWN FOR, FOR ARTISTS, PARTICULARLY FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY, BUT ESPECIALLY FOR THE ARTS COMMUNITY, UM, I AM ENCOURAGED AND, AND JUST SO EXCITED TO SEE THIS HAPPEN.
UM, AND I'M ALSO REALLY INTERESTED, UM, MY EARS PERKED UP WHEN YOU SAID LIVE, SELL AND LIVE WORK, SELL, THAT'S BEEN A PLACE THAT WE'VE HAD A REAL CHALLENGE.
SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE, CONTINUE TO LOOKING AT, AT NOT JUST THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING PIECE, BUT ALSO HOW CAN WE DEVELOP AREAS THAT PROVIDE FOR ALL OF THAT INTEGRATION? UM, LOVE TO SEE THAT.
THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU BOTH SO MUCH ON BEHALF OF COMMISSIONERS, VICE CHURCH MALACH AND MYSELF REALLY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR TIME, UM, IN BOTH SESSIONS AND PLEASE DON'T BE A STRANGER AS DEVELOPMENTS COME DOWN, AS THINGS ARE BEING RELEASED, ANYTHING THAT WE CAN HELP PASS ALONG TO OUR COMMUNITY WE WANNA HEAR ABOUT.
[10. Staff briefing regarding an update on the Hotel Occupancy Tax by Laura Odegaard, Cultural Investment Program Manager ]
AND WITH THAT, REMOVING ONTO ITEM 10 STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING THE UPDATE ON THE WHOLE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX WITH LAURA ODE GUARD.I'M LAURA OGAR CULTURAL INVESTMENT PROGRAM MANAGER WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
I'M A WHITE WOMAN WITH LONG BROWN HAIR WEARING A BLACK BLAZER TONIGHT.
MY PRONOUNS ARE SHE HER? UM, I'LL BE GIVING OUR HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX UPDATE THIS MONTH, BUT BEFORE I GET STARTED, I DIDN'T KNOW IF CHAIR SAYS MENU WANTED TO INTRODUCE OUR NEW ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, DAVID GRAY, WHO IS ON THE LINE.
YES, I WASN'T SURE IF HE MADE IT.
WE HAD A WONDERFUL, UH, VICE CHURCH, SMALL BLACK, AND I HAD A WONDERFUL MEET AND GREET WITH HIM THIS MORNING.
VERY EXCITED TO HAVE HIM BACK IN E D D.
AND JUST THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, DAVID.
HE'S GOT TWO YOUNG KIDS AND IS JUGGLING.
HOW'S IT GOING? CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE CAN HEAR YOU.
I I'LL BE BRIEF CAUSE I KNOW IT.
WAS JUST PUTTING THE BOYS THAT BEDROOM, THE OTHER BOYS GOING TO BED IN THAT BEDROOM.
UH, HAVE THE PLEASURE OF SERVING NOW WITH THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, UM, OVERSEEING OUR CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION HARRIS, TOURISM DIVISION, AND OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM.
UH, PRIOR TO THIS ROLE, I ACTUALLY WORKED WITH MANDY MAYO, UH, OVER IN HOUSING, UH, AND PLANNING AS THEIR INTERIM ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.
AND BEFORE THAT I WAS WITH E D D UH, AT THE COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER AND ALSO AS OUR COVID 19 ECONOMIC RECOVERY PROGRAMS MANAGER.
UH, I'M SORRY THAT I CAN'T BE THERE TONIGHT.
UM, BUT I DO PLAN TO SLING BY IN PERSON FOR THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, AND, UH, YEAH, I THINK THE WORK THAT YOU ARE DOING IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.
UH, I WAS SHARING WITH FOLKS EARLIER TODAY THAT I'M A NATIVE OF NEW ORLEANS.
UH, BOTH OF MY PARENTS ARE CREATIVES.
MY OLDER BROTHER, UH, WORKS IN MEDIA DURING THE DAY, BUT ALSO HAS A STANDING GIG ON BOURBON STREET EVERY NIGHT.
UH, UH, AND I UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR, OF OUR CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS, WHAT THEY MEAN TO THE SOUL OF THIS CITY, UH, WHAT, WHAT THEY MEAN TO THE IDENTITY OF AUSTIN AND WHAT THEY MEAN TO OUR ECONOMY.
AND WE'RE AT A POINT RIGHT NOW IN OUR CITY WHERE, UH, WE'RE EITHER GONNA GO DEEP IN OUR INVESTMENT TO SUPPORT OUR CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS IN OUR CREATIVE SECTORS, UM, OR WE'RE GONNA LOSE IT.
AND SO, UH, JUST ON BEHALF OF THE ECONOMICS, BUT I'M MORE EXCITED TO SEE ALL OF YOU HERE.
[01:55:01]
FOR VOLUNTEERING TO SERVE, UH, IN THIS WAY AND TO SERVE YOUR COMMUNITY IN THIS WAY.UM, AND AGAIN, I LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU ALL NEXT MONTH, BUT WITH THAT, UH, I'LL ACTUALLY HAND IT BACK TO LAURA SO SHE CAN GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE HOT TECH UPDATE.
UH, AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN KEEP YOU ON SCHEDULE TO, TO GET YOU OUTTA HERE AT A REASONABLE HOUR.
UH, SO LAURA, DO YOU WANT TO TAKE AWAY? GREAT.
I THINK I HAVE THE POWER IN THE CLICKING TONIGHT, RIGHT? ALL RIGHT.
SO OUR TOTAL HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX COLLECTION IN AUGUST WAS 15 MILLION, $55,418.
THIS BRINGS OUR HOT YEAR TO DATE NUMBER TO OVER 134 MILLION, WHICH IS 92% OVER THE APPROVED BUDGET OF 69.7 MILLION AND 25% OVER THE CURRENT YEAR ESTIMATE OF 107 MILLION.
SO JUST FOR COMPARISON THIS TIME LAST YEAR, OUR TOTAL YEAR TO DATE HOT COLLECTION WAS 53.3 MILLION.
SO THIS MEANS OUR HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX CULTURAL ARTS FUND COLLECTION NUMBERS FOR AUGUST WERE $1,437,792 FOR COMPARISON.
OUR AUGUST, 2021 COLLECTION WAS $196,104.
AND JUST AS A REMINDER, THERE'S STILL ONE MORE MONTH OF COLLECTIONS FOR FY 22.
SO HERE YOU CAN SEE IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, MORE VISUAL WAY, HOW FAR WE ARE OVER OUR ORIGINAL APPROVED BUDGET OF 6.6 MILLION.
UH, SO OUR HOTEL CULTURAL HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX CULTURAL ARTS FUND ACTUALS ARE $12,840,347.
AGAIN, THIS IS 92% ABOVE THE ORIGINAL APPROVED BUDGET FOR FY 22.
UH, AS I MENTIONED, LAST MONTH, STAFF IS WORKING ON UPDATED BUDGETS FOR NEW PROGRAMS BASED ON THESE ACTUAL RECEIPTS.
SINCE WE'RE RECEIVING MORE THAN WAS ESTIMATED WE'RE ADJUSTING PROGRAM BUDGETS, AWARD AMOUNTS, AND AWARD AMOUNTS, BASED ON WHAT WE HEARD FROM YOU ALL AND FROM THE COMMUNITY, WHILE ALSO KEEPING A HEALTHY RESERVE TO ACCOUNT FOR ANY UNCERTAINTIES RELATED TO THE PLANNED CONVENTION CENTER EXPANSION, ANY POTENTIAL THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATION OF ELEVATE OR ANY POTENTIAL PANDEMIC VARIANCE IN THE FUTURE.
SO WE STILL AREN'T READY TO REPORT ANYTHING FIRM TONIGHT, BUT AS A REMINDER, WE'LL BE TAKING A BUDGET AMENDMENT TO COUNSEL IN NOVEMBER, UH, WITH THOSE UPDATED NUMBERS.
AND WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS, ANY QUESTIONS FOR LAURA? I HAVE A LITTLE ONE COMMISSIONER GRAY.
WHEN WILL WE KNOW ABOUT THAT CONVENTION CENTER SHORTFALL, IF ANY, THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION.
I WILL DEFER TO MEGAN WELLS IN CASE SHE HAS ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THAT.
I DON'T, I DON'T, BUT, UH, HAPPY TO HAPPY TO COME UP AND TALK ABOUT IT.
WE HAVE BEEN IN CONVERSATION WITH THE CONVENTION CENTER.
WE, AS YOU HEARD, AND AS WE KNOW, THERE WILL BE AN IMPACT.
WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THERE IS CLOSE ALIGNMENT BETWEEN THE CONVENTION CENTER AND, UH, THE ANTICIPATED GAP.
THEY KNOW THAT THERE'S GONNA HAVE TO BE SOME ARRANGEMENTS MADE TO ACCOMMODATE THE VISITORS THAT WOULD NORMALLY BE USING THE CONVENTION CENTER.
AND THAT'S CONTRIBUTING TO OUR HOT FUNDS AND WE ARE HAVING A CONVERSATION SOON.
WE WANTED TO JUST GET THROUGH THE BUDGET CYCLE AND THEN HAVE A CONVERSATION AFTER THE NEW FISCAL YEAR STARTS, WHICH IS IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
SO I ANTICIPATE WE'LL BE HAVING THAT CONVERSATION SOON, AND I'LL BE GLAD TO BRING YOU BACK WHAT I HEAR.
UM, I KNOW THAT IT IS A CONCERN ON EVERYBODY'S MIND.
WE ARE ALSO, YOU KNOW, VERY, UM, VERY, UH, INTERESTED IN HEARING WHAT THE PLANS ARE SO THAT WE CAN BEST PREPARE OUR FUNDING, OUR PROGRAMS, AND ALSO JUST THE VENUES THAT ARE IMPACTED BY OUR CREATIVES WHO USE THE CONVENTION CENTER SO THAT WE CAN BE OUR BEST ADVOCATES FOR THAT TRANSITION PERIOD.
BUT I'M HAPPY TO BRING BACK WHAT I KNOW HOPEFULLY VERY, VERY SOON.
SO YOU, YOU SAID YOU WOULD GO BACK AND ASK FOR A BUDGET AMENDMENT IN NOVEMBER.
WILL YOU GUYS COME BACK TO US IN OCTOBER AND GIVE US SOME INFORMATION AHEAD OF TIME SO WE CAN HELP ADVOCATE AND GIVE THE MESSAGE OUT TO THE COMMUNITY, PLEASE? PRETTY PLEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP.
[02:00:01]
I JUST WANNA, LIKE, I I'LL HARKEN BACK TO THE CONVERSATION WE HAD BACK IN JUNE AND WHAT WE CLEARLY SAID AS A COMMISSION WERE OUR PRIORITIES AND PLEASE MAKING SURE THAT BASED ON THE DEEP WORK THAT WE DID WITH THE COMMUNITY TO GET THEIR FEEDBACK ON, ON HIGHEST AND BEST USE AND NEED AND ALL OF THE THINGS, AND WE LOVE YOU, AND WE APPRECIATE YOU.AND THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER FLORES.
I WAS A LITTLE BIT, UH, TAKEN ABOUT THE CONVENTION SHORTFALL IN THE SENSE THAT, AND, AND THE NUMBERS ARE LAURA REPORTED THE 6.6 MILLION OVER APPROVED, OR I MAYBE I HAVE THAT SLIGHTLY OFF.
UH, BUT THAT DEALS WITH OUR 15% CORRECT.
I MEAN, THEY'RE OF THE MONEY THAT IS AVAILABLE THROUGH TO THE ARTS CULTURE, UH, IS THAT GONNA BE THAT 15% GONNA BE IMPACTED BY SHORTFALLS IN THE CONVENTION CENTER, CUZ THEY ALREADY GET THEIR 64 PLUS PERCENT.
SO PLEASE EXPLAIN THAT TO ME, IF IT'S GONNA IMPACT OUR 15%, LET ME MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND YOUR QUESTION.
ARE YOU ASKING WHETHER THE PROPOSED CONVENTION CENTER CONSTRUCTION PROJECT WILL AFFECT THIS YEAR'S MONEY OR A QUESTION IS NO BECAUSE CONVENTION CENTER CONSTRUCTION HAS NOT HAPPENED.
WE'RE JUST THINKING FORWARD MM-HMM
SO THIS NUMBERS THAT YOU REPORTED NOW ARE BASICALLY SET OTHER, OTHER THAN THE SEPTEMBER NUMBERS THAT NEED TO STILL COME IN, WHICH MAY NUDGE IT UP JUST A BIT.
AND THAT JUST THREW ME FOR A LOOP A LITTLE BIT, BUT WE'RE TALKING PERSPECTIVELY IN TERMS OF HOW THAT WHOLE SCENARIO WILL IMPACT THE ENTIRE HOT CORRECT UNIVERSE.
AND I'LL, I'LL RESERVE MY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ACTUAL CULTURAL FUNDING, UH, UNTIL YOU MAKE YOUR PRESENTATION MEGAN, ON THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM.
UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS COMMISSIONERS ABOUT THE HOT TAX REPORTING? VERY EXCITING.
[11. Staff briefing regarding the Cultural Arts Funding Programs by Meghan Wells, Cultural Arts Division Manager, and Laura Odegaard, Cultural Investment Program Manager]
YOU DON'T GET TO LEAVE US.YOU GET TO STAY, UH, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING THE CULTURAL ARTS FUNDING PROGRAMS BY MEGAN WELL'S CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION MANAGER.
AND WELCOME BACK FROM YOUR AMAZING TRAVELS DOWN ON HERE.
I BROUGHT A COLD BACK WITH ME, SO, OH, NOT A KANGAROO, NOT A KANGAROO.
UM, WHILE MY PRESENTATION'S COMING UP, MY NAME IS MEGAN WELLS.
I'M THE CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION MANAGER.
I'M A WHITE WOMAN WITH BROWN SHOULDER LENGTH HAIR GLASSES AND A BLUE OUTFIT WITH A COLORFUL NECKLACE.
UM, I WILL GO TO MY NEXT SLIDE HERE, WHICH SHOULD LOOK FAMILIAR TO MOST OF YOU.
UM, THIS IS THE, UH, NEXT STEPS DIAGRAM THAT I TYPICALLY, UM, REPORT ON EVERY MONTH TO MAKE YOU AWARE OF WHERE WE ARE.
UH, WE ARE, AS YOU CAN SEE, WRAPPING UP THE PRE-LAUNCH PHASE OF OUR PROCESS, WE ARE AT THE VERY END OF THAT TWO TO THREE MONTH PERIOD, AND WE'VE GOTTEN A LOT DONE.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING DILIGENTLY WITH OUR INTERNAL DEPARTMENTAL DATA AND COMMUNICATIONS TEAMS TO PREPARE OUR NEW IN-HOUSE SYSTEM CALLED PORTAL, WHICH IS REPLACING ZOOM GRANTS.
AND WE'LL BE COM WE'LL BE COORDINATING SOON WITH OUR EXISTING COMMUNITY NAVIGATORS TO BE PREPPED, TO ASSIST APPLICANTS AND PROMOTE OUR OPPORTUNITIES TO APPLY FOR OUR FIRST PROGRAM CALLED THRIVE.
SPECIFICALLY, I WANNA MENTION THAT ART SPARK AND MUSEUM OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT ARE THE TWO COMMUNITY NAVIGATORS WHO ARE ON CALL TO ASSIST THE CREATIVES.
THERE ARE OTHERS, OF COURSE, IN THE COMMUNITY NAVIGATOR POOL WHO ARE AT THE READY, BUT THESE TWO HAVE A SPECIAL INTEREST AND EXPERTISE IN HELPING OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WE'LL BE SHARING INFORMATION OUT ABOUT HOW TO WORK WITH THEM, UM, SO THAT PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO REACH THEM, WHAT THEY DO AND WHAT THE PROCESS IS, UH, THAT WILL BE COMING THE NEXT, UM, WEEKS BEFORE THE LAUNCH OF THRIVE.
UM, WE ARE ALSO PLANNING TO ONBOARD ANOTHER, A THIRD COMMUNITY NAVIGATOR SPECIFICALLY TO SERVE OUR COMMUNITY SO THAT WE CAN, UH, PREPARE FOR, UM, A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS THAT MAY COME UP AS WE TRANSITION TO A NEW APPLICATION SYSTEM AND NEW PROGRAMS. WE KNOW THAT, UM, THERE'S GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, SOME QUESTIONS AND SOME ADAPTATIONS AND SOME ADJUSTMENTS.
SO WE JUST WANNA BE AS HELPFUL AS WE CAN.
WE WILL ALSO BE OFFERING WORKSHOPS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO THE COMMUNITY WITH THE LAUNCH OF THRIVE.
AND THESE DATES AND TIMES WILL BE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE, WHICH IS AUSTIN CREATES.COM AT LEAST A WEEK.
IF NOT MORE BEFORE THE THRIVE APPLICATION IS LIVE ALONG WITH THE GUIDELINES, THEY WILL BE ONLINE.
[02:05:01]
WORKSHOPS AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE WILL BE OFFERED ONLINE AND IN PERSON ACROSS THE CITY IN PARTNERING WITH SOME, UM, LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TO HELP GET THE WORD OUT AND THEY'LL BE OFFERED AND STAFFED BY BOTH THE CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION STAFF AND COMMUNITY NAVIGATORS TOGETHER.NEXT SLIDE IS, OH, HERE IT IS.
SO AS A REMINDER, AND YOU'VE HEARD THIS BEFORE, THRIVE IS OUR FIRST PROGRAM TO LAUNCH AND IT'S LAUNCHING ON OCTOBER 12TH, THERE WILL BE A SIX WEEK APPLICATION PERIOD TAKING US THROUGH THANKSGIVING IMMEDIATELY.
AFTER THAT, WE WILL HAVE THE EVALUATION AND PANEL PROCESSES AND MOVE FORWARD, RECOMMENDED AWARDS TO COUNCIL.
RIGHT NOW WE ARE ANTICIPATING TAKING THOSE PROPO PROPOSED AWARDS TO COUNCIL IN JANUARY WITH CONTRACTING TO FOLLOW IN FEBRUARY.
WE PLAN TO MOVE AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN IN THIS TIME PERIOD, BUT THE HOLIDAYS ARE, ARE IN THE MIX AS WELL.
UH, IF YOU WOULD LIKE A REFRESHER ON ANY OF OUR PROGRAMS, INCLUDING THRIVE, YOU CAN CLICK ON, UH, AUSTIN CREATES.COM AGAIN, WHICH IS OUR HOMEPAGE.
AND THEN, UH, CLICK ON CULTURAL FUNDING OR WATCH ANY PREVIOUS ARTS COMMISSION PRESENTATIONS REACH OUT TO US AS STAFF, UM, OR ATTEND ANY OPEN OFFICE HOURS.
WE WILL BE HAPPY TO TALK YOU THROUGH ANY OF OUR PROGRAMS. IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, THE CULTURE OF FUNDING WEBSITE WILL BE GIVEN A FACELIFT, WILL BE DOING SOME UPDATING OF THE CONTENT AND THE NAVIGATION, INCLUDING THE MJR FINAL REPORT AND INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAUNCH OF THRIVE TOGETHER, BOTH THE MJR REPORT AND THE THRIVE INFORMATION WILL BE OFFERED IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH.
INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE TRANSLATED INTO OTHER LANGUAGES UPON REQUEST.
AND JUST TO REMIND EVERYONE RIGHT NOW, CURRENTLY THE HERITAGE TOURISM GRANT PROGRAM IS CURRENTLY OPEN.
SO GO APPLY IF YOU HAVE A HISTORIC ASSET OR A TOUR UNTIL OCTOBER 17TH, THERE ARE GRANT AWARENESS WORKSHOPS COMING UP FOR THAT PARTICULAR APPLICATION ON SEPTEMBER 22ND, 28TH AND OCTOBER 5TH.
AND JUST AS A REMINDER ABOUT THAT PROGRAM, THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANT IS A RE REIMBURSABLE TWO YEAR HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUNDING FOR CAPITAL PLANNING, CAPITAL SORRY, CAPITAL PLANNING, EDUCATIONAL OR MARKETING PROJECTS.
AND JUST AS A FINAL REMINDER ABOUT OUR PANEL RECRUITMENT, PLEASE CONTINUE TO HELP US SPREAD THE WORD WE NEED.
PANELISTS OF ALL BACKGROUNDS, MANY DIVERSE EXPERIENCES, DEMOGRAPHICS INSIGHTS.
ALTHOUGH WE WOULD LOVE A LOT OF LOCAL REPRESENTATION.
THERE ARE LINKS ON OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES, NEWSLETTER, AND WEBSITE, BUT ALSO SHARING THE LINK HERE.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE IT WITH ANYONE YOU THINK MIGHT BE A GOOD FIT.
WE ARE LOOKING FOR A DIVERSE POOL OF PANELISTS IN TERMS OF ETHNICITY, RACE, AGE, GENDER, AND ABILITY, BOTH LOCAL AND OUT OF TOWN WITH A VARIETY OF ARTISTIC EXPERIENCES, INCLUDING PRACTITIONERS AND ADMINISTRATORS.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE 184 SUBMISSIONS SO FAR WELL, BUT WE WILL NEED LOTS FOR ALL THE VARIOUS DIVISIONS PANELS.
ALSO, JUST TO NOTE, STAFF HAS BEEN WORKING CLOSELY WITH OUR IN-HOUSE EQUITY AND INCLUSION LIAISON IN THE HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT TO DEVELOP OUR EQUITY AND UNCONSCIOUS BIAS TRAININGS FOR OUR PANELISTS.
IT'S COMING TOGETHER REALLY NICELY.
THE PANEL INTAKE FORM THAT I MENTIONED WILL BE OPEN ALL YEAR LONG, BUT TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE THRIVE PANEL, YOU MUST APPLY BY SEPTEMBER 30TH.
UM, ONE LAST, UH, UPDATE ABOUT THE MJ MJR FINAL REPORT.
UM, AS I SAID, THIS WILL BE POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE IN THE COMING WEEKS.
AND WE WILL INCLUDE A VOLUMINOUS APPENDIX OF PROCESS DOCUMENTS THAT WE AS STAFF AND WE AS COMMUNITY PRODUCED ALONG THE WAY, WE ARE PROUD OF THIS JOURNEY THAT WE'VE BEEN ON TOGETHER AND FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT THE CLOSING THIS CHAPTER ON THE REVIEW PROCESS AND MOVING INTO PROGRAMMING.
UM, AND WE WILL BE GLAD TO NOTIFY, NOTIFY YOU ALL WHEN THE REPORT IS UP, WE PLAN TO, UH, SPREAD THE WORD BY, BY A SOCIAL AND THROUGH OUR NEWSLETTER AND OTHER CHANNELS.
HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS, ANY QUESTIONS FOR MEGAN COMMISSIONER FLORES.
THANK YOU, MEGAN, FOR THE UPDATE AND FOR THE REFRESHER AND ALL THE DEADLINES.
I, I TRIED SENDING IT OFF TO SOME FOLKS TO SEE IF THEY MIGHT BE INTERESTED OUT OF TOWN, UH, WHATEVER YOU NEVER KNOW.
SO, UH, I'LL, I'LL CONTINUE TO, TO TRY TO DO THAT.
UM, JUST VERY QUICKLY, UH, TO TALK ABOUT THE EXTRA MONEY THAT WAS JUST TALKED ABOUT BY LAURA, IN TERMS OF THE 6 MILLION OVER, YOU KNOW, THE BUDGETED, UH, I WAS JUST CURIOUS, AND MAYBE THIS IS PREMATURE, BUT HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHEN OR IF THE ADDITIONAL, THE ORIGINAL, BUT, YOU KNOW, BUCKETS, UH, FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD FOR EACH OF THE PROGRAMS THAT WERE, WERE WERE OBVIOUSLY,
[02:10:01]
UH, CREATED GIVEN THE 6 MILLION BUDGET THAT WE THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA HAVE.SO HAS THERE BEEN ANY KIND OF, UH, DISCUSSION OR THOUGHT OR ABOUT HOW THOSE BUCKETS ARE GONNA BE INCREASED FOR EACH OF THOSE PROGRAMS OR AT LEAST TWO OF THOSE PROGRAMS AND HOW THAT WOULD IMPACT EITHER THE NUMBER OF APPLICANTS FOR EACH OF THOSE BUCKETS AND THE AMOUNT OF THE AWARDS IN EACH OF THOSE BUCKETS AND HOW THOSE WOULD BE ADJUSTED UPWARD? UH, I'M REALLY CURIOUS TO, UM, YOU KNOW, TO UNDERSTAND WHERE, WHERE WE ARE ON THAT.
AND IF, IF THERE IS ANYTHING TO REPORT OR, UH, AT LEAST, UH, GIVE US AT THIS POINT, YES, THERE HAS BEEN LOTS OF DISCUSSION.
NO, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO REPORT YET.
UM, WE, YOU KNOW, HONESTLY, LOOKING BACK AT WHEN WE GOT OUR INITIAL NUMBER FROM THE CONVENTION CENTER, I DON'T THINK ANYONE IN THEIR WILDEST DREAMS COULD FORECAST THAT WE WOULD BE IN THE PLACE WHERE WE ARE NOW.
UM, AND SO EACH MONTH THAT WE GET A, A REPORT IN WITH OUR ACTUALS, IT'S, IT'S SORT OF, UM, I MEAN, PLEASANTLY MIND, MIND BLOWING, BUT A LITTLE BIT MIND BLOWING NONETHELESS.
SO WHAT WE DO, WHAT WE ARE DEVELOPING ARE SOME SCENARIOS WITH OUR PROGRAMS THAT WILL, UM, TAKE INTO ACCOUNT, UM, KIND OF THE VARIABLES THAT WE STILL HAVE.
SO WE HAVE ACTUALS, RIGHT? AND WE HAVE THOSE THROUGH, UM, LET'S SEE THE ONES WE HAVE THIS MONTH GO CAPTURE AUGUST, AUGUST.
UM, SO WE STILL HAVE A AUGUST.
LET'S SEE, WE STILL HAVE SEPTEMBER TO GET THROUGH.
WE DON'T KNOW WE'RE GONNA HAVE, THAT'S A VARIABLE, BUT WE DO HAVE, YOU KNOW, 90, 99% OF, OF WHAT WE KNOW WILL HAVE IN FUNDING PRETTY MUCH NAILED DOWN.
UM, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE STILL NEED TO BUILD IN FOR CONVERSATION WITH Y'ALL.
AND I THINK, UM, SOME OF THOSE THINGS ARE THINGS THAT WE'VE BROUGHT FORWARD IN THE PAST, LIKE TEMPO, UM, LIKE OUR INVESTMENT IN WITH VISIT US AND OUR PARTNERSHIP TO PROMOTE, UH, THE CREATIVES, AS I DID MENTION, IF WE DO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF AWARDS THAT WE HAVE IN ANY PROGRAM, REALLY, WE'RE GONNA BE HAVING TO LOOK AT STAFF CAPACITY.
AND IF WE INCREASE PARTICULARLY ELEVATE, UM, WHICH I KNOW HAS BEEN BROUGHT UP BY THE COMMISSION AS A PRIMARY PLACE TO FOCUS, UM, WE WILL, WE ARE CONSIDERING HOW A THIRD PARTY MIGHT HELP US ADMINISTER THAT PROGRAM.
UM, JUST BECAUSE WE ANTICIPATE THERE WILL BE A, IT WILL BE VERY POPULAR WITH LOTS OF APPLICANTS, LOTS OF AWARDS.
UH, AND WE DO KNOW THAT IF A THIRD PARTY WERE TO HELP US, THERE WOULD BE AN ADMINISTRATION FEE THAT HASN'T BEEN HAMMERED OUT YET OR DECIDED, BUT IN THE COMING WEEKS, WE WILL KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THE, THIS THAN THAT.
UM, SO I'LL BRING, I'M HOPING TO BRING BACK TO YOU AT NEXT MONTH'S MEETING A MORE KIND OF DEFINITIVE PLAN WITH SOME OF THOSE VARIABLES BUILT IN, EVEN THOUGH WE WON'T HAVE ALL OF THEM FIGURED OUT, IT WILL GIVE US A SENSE, I THINK NEXT MONTH, WHERE WE'LL LAND FOR THE FISCAL YEAR.
SO STAFF HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT.
WE'RE STILL CONTINUING DIALOGUE, BUT, UM, AT THIS POINT TONIGHT, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING FIRM, BUT I HEAR YOU ALL.
AND I, I KNOW THAT, UM, YOU'RE EAGER TO HEAR WHAT WHAT'S IN OUR BRAINS.
AND SO WE'LL PLAN TO BRING THAT BACK TO YOU NEXT MONTH.
WELL, VERY MA THAT'S VERY GOOD.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO LIKE, CUZ THRIVE IS ACTUALLY GETTING READY TO LAUNCH.
SO IF THERE WERE TO BE ANY INCREASES, I GUESS THAT WOULD JUST BE A PLEASANT SURPRISE OR THERE WOULD BE ADDITIONAL APPLICANTS THAT WOULD BE ACCEPTED.
OR, YEAH, THAT'S THE ONLY REASON WONDERING EITHER ONE.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO HIT THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN A WORKABLE COHORT THAT WE DON'T WANNA MAKE TOO LARGE.
UM, BUT I, I ANTICIPATE THERE WILL PROBABLY BE SOME INCREASE IN THE WORN AMOUNTS.
I JUST DON'T HAVE, I, I DON'T WANNA PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE AND PLEDGE SOMETHING THAT I HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, WALK BACK.
UM, BUT I IMAGINE SINCE WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, SINCE WE'RE, YOU KNOW, OUR RECEIPTS ARE UP MORE THAN WE THOUGHT, UM, THERE WILL BE SOME CHANGES TO THAT, YOU KNOW, IN THE POSITIVE WITH PROBABLY POTENTIALLY MORE AWARD CEILINGS, HIGHER AWARD CEILING, OR MAYBE MORE IN THE COHORT.
I JUST WANNA, YOU KNOW, I WANNA TALK THROUGH THAT WITH THE, THE TEAM AND MAKE SURE I'M NOT, UM, YOU KNOW, OBLIGATING US TO SOMETHING WE CAN'T DELIVER ON, BUT WE WILL HAVE TIME OBVIOUSLY AT OCTOBER MEETING TO HAVE INPUT.
UH, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY THERE, THE APPLICATION PROCESS YOU SAID WAS A SIX WEEK PERIOD.
AND I MEAN, ONCE WE PUT IT OUT, UM, WE'D LIKE TO HAVE A SENSE OF WHERE THOSE AWARDS MIGHT FALL, BUT YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES THOSE ARE, UM, THOSE ARE NOT COMPLETELY FINALIZED UNTIL WE GET TO THE END OF THE SCORING.
ANYWAY, LIKE YOU SAID, SO, UM, IT WON'T PROHIBIT US.
IT WON'T PREVENT US FROM PUTTING THE, YOU KNOW, THE APPLICATION OUT THERE AND STARTING TO GET PEOPLE THINKING ABOUT HOW THEY WANNA APPLY.
BUT, UM, WE MAY NOT HAVE ALL THE DETAILS NAILED DOWN, RIGHT? WHEN WE LAUNCH IT MAY, LIKE YOU SAID, KIND OF CONTINUE TO BE INFORMED BY OUR DISCUSSION AT THE ARTS COMMISSION MEETING NEXT MONTH AND WITH COMMUNITY AND, UM, YOU KNOW, CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS,
[02:15:01]
TALKING WITH OUR EXECUTIVE TEAM, ALL THE, ALL THE GOOD STUFF.LOOK FORWARD, TALKED OVER
SO TALK ABOUT A PLEASANT SURPRISE.
I KNOW THAT IT'S, IT'S A GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE.
I WON'T EVEN, I WON'T EVEN SAY IT'S A PROBLEM.
IT'S A GOOD CONTEXT TO BE IN WHAT A DELIGHT AND OUR MEETING FOR OCTOBER IS THE 17TH.
SO IT DOES QUICKLY FOLLOW THAT LAUNCH DATE.
AND WITH SIX WEEKS AS A WINDOW, IT SEEMS LIKE WE'VE GOT SOME GOOD TIME TO YEAH.
HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT YOU GUYS COME UP WITH.
WE'LL BE BRINGING BACK SOME MORE NUMBERS TO YOU NEXT MONTH.
WONDERFUL, EXCITING COMMISSIONERS.
I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE THAT WE APPROVE ON CONSENT.
UM, LULU, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SECOND THAT MOTION? I'LL SECOND.
SECOND, WE HAVE A THIRD AS WELL.
UH, ALL IN FAVOR OF MOVING, UH, 12 THROUGH 23 ON CONSENT.
AND I WILL SAY, I JUST WANNA TAKE THIS MOMENT.
SO PASS THIS ON CONSENT CONSTANCE.
I WOULD LOVE AT SOME POINT, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR MEETINGS FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS, LIKE MARJORIE WAS TOTALLY IGNORED FOR A LONG TIME TOO.
AND WE REALLY DO CARE AND ARE IN LIKE INVESTED AND WANNA HEAR ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT'S HAPPENING.
UM, I LOVE THE DOCUMENT THAT YOU PUT TOGETHER FOR OUR BACKUP.
IT IS 95 SLIDES, 97, TAKE IT, TAKE IT, YOU KNOW, AND SO I THINK I LOVE THIS MIGRATION AND, AND DAVID WAS REALLY SINGING YOUR PRAISES EARLIER AT OUR MEETING.
UM, AND JUST SAYING LIKE WHAT AMAZING WORK YOU'VE DONE TO CREATE LIKE REALLY EFFECTIVE SYSTEMS IN, IN YOUR DEPARTMENT.
AND SO IF WE CAN CONTINUE TO MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION, SO THAT AT TWO AND TWO HOURS, TWO AND A HALF HOURS INTO OUR MEETING, YOU KNOW, WE CAN GET BASICALLY SORT OF A SUMMARY OR A SUMMARIZED, UM, DO NOT PULL UP THAT 97 SLIDE.
BUT YOU KNOW, LIKE, CUZ WE DO, I THINK WOULD LOVE TO HEAR LIKE, UH, A SYNOPSIS OF, OF THINGS THAT ARE IN PROGRESS OR HAPPENING, YOU KNOW, UH IT'S IT'S ON US.
THE ONUS IS ON US AS COMMISSIONERS TO REVIEW THE BACKUP AND TO BRING TO YOU QUESTIONS THAT WE HAVE IN THAT MOMENT.
SO IF THERE WERE EVER ANY ITEMS THAT WE WANTED TO PULL OUT AND SINGLE OUT AND HAVE A DISCUSSION, UM, AROUND THAT, I KNOW THAT WE WOULD DO THAT, BUT I, I, IN THAT MOMENT, LIKE I ALSO STILL WANT TO HAVE YOU FEEL INCLUDED.
WE WANT YOU HERE AND TO HEAR FROM YOU COMMISSIONER FLORES, UH, JUST TO ADD TO THAT, UH, I AGREE, BUT I DON'T WANT A, I P P TO FEEL LIKE WE'RE IGNORING THEM.
I READ EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE OF EVERY SINGLE, UH, UH, UH, PRESENT, UH, WHATEVER BACKUP MATERIAL.
UH, OBVIOUSLY IF THERE WERE QUESTIONS WE WOULD DEFINITELY PULL IT.
BUT I THINK AS A SUGGESTION, IT WOULD BE THAT PERHAPS AT ONE OF OUR MEETINGS, WE DON'T HAVE AS MANY PRESENTATIONS OR OTHER AND WE CAN RESERVE A CERTAIN ALLOT LOTT OF TIME FOR AIP P SO THAT WE CAN AT LEAST HEAR FROM ANTS AND THE, AND THE, AND THE STAFF AND THEN SOME OF THE PROJECTS AND OTHER, OTHER DISCUSSIONS THAT WE NEED TO HAVE ABOUT A I P P BECAUSE, UH, YES, WE, UH, ARE MOVING FORWARD ON CONSENT AND THAT'S JUST SHOWING THAT WE HAVE CONFIDENCE IN, IN YOUR PROCESS AND WHAT'S BEEN, UH, DONE AND PRESENTED TO US.
SO ANYWAY, I JUST WANTED TO ECHO AND ADD THAT.
THANK YOU, AIP P IS A CROWN JEWEL COMMISSIONER MARK.
IT'S JUST FOR MY PERSONAL PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.
I THINK IT'S A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE TO HAVE ALL OF US VIEW TOGETHER OF ALL THOSE WONDERFUL ARTWORKS TOGETHER.
SO I'M HOPING THAT EVEN IF WE DON'T VIEW ALL OF IT, I MEAN, AT LEAST BRING BACK SOME THAT IS EXCITING THAT WE CAN ALL VIEW TOGETHER, YOU KNOW? AND, UM, AGAIN, I MEAN, I JUST MISS THAT EXPERIENCE, BUT I ALSO DO NOT WANT TO HAVE A MEETING UNTIL 10 O'CLOCK
I JUST WANNA SAY THAT I NEVER WOULD MAKE THAT MOTION.
HAVE I NOT BEEN IN THESE WONDERFUL A I P P MEETINGS? I NEVER WOULD'VE MADE THAT MOTION BECAUSE IT IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE.
WHAT'S GOING ON AND THANK YOU STANCE AND THANK YOU A PPP, BIG FACTS, COMMISSIONER PULLER.
I WAS GONNA ACTUALLY REITERATE WHAT COMMISSIONER GRADUATE
[02:20:01]
SAID.I KNOW THE LEVEL OF WORK AND LIFT THAT HAPPENS IN WHAT THAT PANEL AND I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE ON THE ARTS COMMISSION.
IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE IN THE ROOM TO PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO DO THAT.
UM, YOUR WORK IS EXTRAORDINARY.
UM, AND, AND AS COMMISSIONER JUSTMAN SAID, THIS IS A CROWN JEWEL OF THIS PROGRAM.
IT IS EVERYWHERE ALL OVER TOWN AND EVERYBODY SHOULD GO AND EXPERIENCE AND JUST RELISH THE AMAZING WORK THAT IS PART OF THE COLLECTION FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, YEAH, JUST A HAPPY, HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL PLACE.
I SECOND THAT THANK YOU STANCE.
I JUST WANNA SAY, UM, IN, IN AN EFFORT TO CREATE MORE EFFICIENCIES AND TIME FOR STAFF, THAT IS WHAT, UM, PROMPTED THE FORMAT CHANGE.
AND, UM, AND THEY REALLY DID FREAK OUT ABOUT THE CHANGE MORE SO BECAUSE OF THEIR WANT, THEIR STRONG DESIRE TO, UM, HAVE A, YOU KNOW, BEAUTIFUL PRESENTATIONS FOR YOU ALL.
UM, AND SO I TOLD THEM THAT THEY COULD BLAME EVERYTHING ON ME, UH, BECAUSE IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, ONE LESS THING THEY HAVE TO DO IN CREATING TWO ADDITIONAL PRESENTATIONS, UM, UP FOR EVERY PROJECT, YOU KNOW, TIMES 22.
AND SO, UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TRUST AND, UH, FOR AIP P P THAT'S ON STANDBY.
[24. Discussion and possible action on forming a joint Arts/Music Commission Working Group addressing urban core issues ]
MOVING ON TO, UH, ITEM 24 DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON FORMING A JOINT ARTS AND MUSIC COMMISSION WORKING GROUP ADDRESSING URBAN COURT ISSUES.UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE TALKED ABOUT BRIEFLY LAST MONTH, UM, VICE GEORGE MOBL AND I ARE IN CONSTANT COMMUNICATION WITH THE CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR OF THE MUSIC COMMISSION.
WE ARE RECEIVING VERY SIMILAR PRESENTATIONS.
WE HAVE VERY SIMILAR CONCERNS AND QUESTIONS FOR DEVELOPERS FOR THE CONVENTION CENTER.
AND SO IT IS OUR THOUGHT THAT WE SHOULD BE CONSOLIDATING OUR EFFORTS AND JOINING FORCES AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
UM, IN THE REGARD TO ACCOUNTABILITY, THE WERE BEING MADE LOTS OF SHINY PROMISES THAT WE WANT TO SEE COME TO FRUITION, AND WE FEEL LIKE A JOINT EFFORT ON THAT FRONT WOULD HELP, UM, HELP US ALL IN THE LONG RUN.
UM, SO JESUS, WILL YOU CLARIFY FOR ME, DO WE NEED TO MAKE A MOTION AND A, AND A VOTE ON THAT OR YES.
I'M GETTING SOME VERY ASSURED HEAD NODS, APPOINT MEMBERS.
UM, AND I'M GONNA, I HAVE A SATELLITE MEMBER HERE WHO I KNOW WOULD MORE THAN LIKELY WANNA BE A PARTICIPANT OF THIS AND PROBABLY SOMEBODY NEXT TO ME, WHO'S ALSO ITCHING TO BE ON ANOTHER WORKING GROUP.
UM, BUT YES, LET'S FORM THE WORKING GROUP AND APPOINT MEMBERS.
UM, CAN I GET A MOTION COMMISSIONER FLORES? LET'S CAN, WILL YOU UNMUTE AND DO IT ONE MORE TIME? I MOVED TO A POINT AND JOINT WORKING GROUP MUSIC ARTS ON THE, UH, ADDRESSING URBAN CORE ISSUES.
AND COMMISSIONER
UM, I'M GONNA PUT COMMISSIONER SMALL, A VICE CHAIR, SMALL BLOCK ON THAT GROUP.
I KNOW THAT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT SHE'S VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT AND HAS VOICE TO ME.
UM, LOTS OF THOUGHTS AND CONCERNS.
UM, AND SO I WANT, DEFINITELY WANT HER IN THAT ROOM AND I'M GETTING A HEAD NOD FROM COMMISSIONER GRAY.
SO WE HAVE TWO MEMBERS ON THAT GROUP COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER IN THE ROOM, UM, THAT WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THIS WORKING GROUP.
AND I'LL DEFINITELY BE TAKING IT TO THOSE THAT ARE NOT PRESENT.
UM, COMMISSIONER MALVO NO, I'M GETTING THIS SHE'S SHE'S GREEN.
WE'RE NOT, I'M NOT GONNA THROW HER TO THE SHARKS JUST YET.
OH, COMMISSIONER POLGAR HAS PLANS FOR YOU.
SO LET THE RECORD SHOW, WE HAVE VICE CHAIR, MALACH COMMISSIONER GRAY AND MYSELF, AND THEN NO DOUBT.
I BELIEVE ANNE CHARLOTTE CHAIR, CHAIR PATTERSON, AND COOL.
AND THEN, UH, I HAVE NOT SEEN THEIR MEETING FROM THIS MONTH THAT WE DO HAVE A STANDING CHAIRS RECAP, THE TUESDAYS FOLLOWING OUR MEETING.
SO WE'LL BE IN CONVERSATION WITH THEM TOMORROW.
OH, IF TO VOTE, WE HAVE TO TAKE A VOTE THAT, THAT HIT ME.
ALL IN FAVOR OF ESTABLISHING A WORKING GROUP TO ADDRESS URBAN CORE ISSUES.
LIKE IT LOOKS, WE GOT A UNANIMOUS PARTY OVER HERE.
ONLY BEEN THE CHAIR FOR LIKE SIX MONTHS.
YOU GUYS, I KNOW I'LL CATCH ON SOME POINT.
[02:25:01]
AND ACTION ITEMS APPROVE THE, UH, I'M SORRY.[25. Update from Equity Working Group with Community Arts leaders of the BIPOC/LGBTQIA/Disabilities Community/Women with Commissioners Keeton (chair) and commissioners Gray, Polgar, Zisman, and community members]
IT'S LATE UPDATE FROM THE EQUITY WORKING GROUP, UH, WITH COMMUNITY ARTS LEADERS.AND THIS WAS COMMISSIONER KEATON WAS OUR CHAIR OF THIS GROUP.
WE ALSO HAVE GRAY POLGAR AND MYSELF, ALONG WITH OTHER COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
I COULD PROBABLY GIVE A PRE, UH, UPDATE HERE.
THAT REPORT WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE FINAL, UM, REPORT WITH MJR THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE NEXT MONTH OR SO.
SO WE COULD PROBABLY CLOSE THAT GROUP OR FULGAR PLEASE.
REMEMBER THAT WE ESTABLISHED THIS AS OUR TOUCHPOINT FOR BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THIS WHOLE SHIFT IN THE CULTURAL FUNDING PROGRAM.
UM, SO I'D LI I KNOW IT'S UNUSUAL TO KEEP SOMETHING GOING, BUT THAT WAS SORT OF THE DESIGN OF THIS WORKING GROUP THROUGH THE PROCESS.
UM, AND I WAS GONNA MAKE A RECOMMENDATION IF COMMISSIONER MALTO IS INTERESTED BECAUSE YOU WERE ON THE EQUITY WORKING GROUP AS A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC.
NOW THAT YOU HAVE LOVE LOVINGLY JOINED US HERE AS A COMMISSIONER, I WOULD HOPE THAT YOU WOULD CONSIDER POTENTIALLY JOINING US AS A COMMISSIONER IN THAT SPACE.
SO I'M NOT, COULD YOU DO THAT? YAY.
AND THEN WE CAN RECONVENE AND FIGURE OUT OUR CHAIR POSITION AT THAT POINT.
THAT MY RECOMMENDATION, SO CHAIR T B D, BUT WE'LL REMOVE COMMISSIONER KEATON FROM THAT WORKING GROUP AND ADD COMMISSIONER MALTO WONDERFUL, BUT STILL STANDS THE REPORT THAT WE PUT TOGETHER AS A RESULT OF THE PRELIMINARY WORK LEADING INTO THE APPROVAL OF THE PILOT PROGRAMS WILL BE INCLUDED IN THAT FINAL REPORT FROM MJR.
AND I JUST WANNA SAY AGAIN, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THOSE DISCUSSIONS.
UM, SOMETIMES THE CONVERSATIONS WERE DIFFICULT, BUT I THINK THE ULTIMATE WORK IS, IS BENEFITED FROM EVERYONE'S INVOLVEMENT.
AND I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU AGAIN TO THE COMMUNITY FOR BEING PART OF IT, DOUBLE AND TRIPLE THAT, UH, ITEM 26 IS THE UPDATE FROM THE JOINT WORKING GROUP FOR THE JOINT CULTURAL COMMITTEE WITH COMMISSIONER'S POLGAR CHAIR, AND NOW THE SOLO MEMBER OF THAT GROUP.
SO I WENT TO CONNECTICUT AND I NEED TO GET THAT GROUP TOGETHER AND FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO BE CHAIR OF THAT.
[27. Update from Public Private Partnership (P3) Working Group Commissioners Barnes (Chair), Flores, Mok, and Schmalbach ]
YOUWHO'S THE CHAIR WHO, UM, HAD TO LEAVE US AT SEVEN 30 FLORES, MOCK AND SCHALK, UM, COMMISSIONER MOCK OR COMMISSIONER FLORES.
UH, IS THERE AN UPDATE YOU COULD GIVE OF? I UNFORTUNATELY MISSED THE LAST MEETING.
SO AMY
DID WE ANY KIND OF A NOTE? I, I THOUGHT THERE WAS A GOO, UH, WELL, THERE WAS A, A DOODLE POLL THAT I MISSED THE DEADLINE FOR, AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT HAPPENED OR NOT.
YEAH, WE, WE HAVE A DOODLE BOARD, BUT I DON'T THINK WE HAVE CONFIRMED A MEETING.
SO I DON'T THINK WE HAVE A MEETING YET.
AND WE, AND WE LOST, UM, UH, OUR FORMER A I P P UH, I KNOW MEGAN WAS STILL ON IT, BUT WE ALSO, UM, CONSTANCE IS COMING TO SAVE YOUR LUNCH.
YOU GUYS HANG ON A SECOND
AND, UH, SO I'LL SEND ANOTHER, UH, DOODLE POLL TO SEE IF WE CAN CONVENE.
UM, MEGAN AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON A DRAFT DOCUMENT.
THAT'S HOT AND READY FOR YOUR INPUT AND YOUR REVIEW.
AND SO YOU CAN LOOK FOR THAT DOODLE POLE TO, UM, COME INTO YOUR INBOX, UH, WITHIN THE NEXT DAY OR TWO.
I THINK THERE'S AN UPDATE BEFORE MARJORIE LEFT BECAUSE COMMISSIONER BARNES, UH, UH, ASKED THAT I REPLACE HIM ON THAT P THREE WORKING GROUP.
SO I DID GET THAT GOOGLE POLL.
CAUSE I REMEMBER SAYING THAT I COULDN'T MAKE IT, BUT I'LL WAIT FOR THAT NEXT ONE.
SHOULD WE, CAN WE UPDATE THE WORKING GROUP TO REFLECT THAT? THAT'S JUST WHAT I WANT TO VERIFY.
IF I'M REALLY ON IT, YOU ARE USUALLY VERY ON IT.
JUST HAVE YOU, I DON'T THINK THERE'S A WORKING GROUP THAT DOESN'T HAVE YOU ON COMMISSIONER GRAY.
I MEAN, YOU DON'T NEED TO SEE, I THINK I HAVE TO GROW INTO THAT IF
[02:30:01]
THAT HAPPENS, BUT DO WE HAVE, UM, ANY OTHER MEMBERS OF THAT GROUP THAT WOULD LIKE TO STEP IN AS THE CHAIR, COMMISSIONER MOCK COMMISSIONER, COMMISSIONER MOCK, LOOK AT YOU.NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.
WHEN I ASKED THE QUESTION, IT'S TOO LATE ENOUGH.
I WAS GOING TO THAT COMMISSIONER.
GRAY IS A NATURAL, UH, I SECOND THAT YOU CAN'T
WE ALL HAVE A VOTE AND WE ALL HAVE EQUAL OWNERS IN YOU JUST DESIGNATED.
SO HERE'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO.
YOU'RE YOU'RE ALL GONNA BUY A CONSTANT TONIGHT, LUNCH, COUPLE LUNCHES, COUPLE OF LUNCHES.
SO WE CAN ALL BE ON THE SAME PAGE AND PERHAPS IT IS A GREAT, AND WE DON'T, MAYBE WE DON'T DECIDE THIS IN THIS MOMENT.
MAYBE WE'LL CARRY THIS OVER TO YOUR FIRST WORKING GROUP MEETING THAT WILL HAPPEN.
AND YOU GUYS CAN DUKE IT OUT IN THAT VIRTUAL ROOM.
I MEAN, WHICH YOU'RE ALREADY KIND OF DOING WITH AIP P OKAY.
OH, I THINK GRAY JUST TOOK IT OVER.
SHE CONVINCED SOMEBODY STILL OBSESS LUNCH.
I STILL THINK THERE'S LUNCH THERE SOMEWHERE.
[28. Update from Quarterly Arts Community Commission Meet-ups Working Group with Commissioners Barnes, Garza (chair), Gray, and Zisman ]
UPDATE FROM THE QUARTERLY ARTS, UH, COMMUNITY COMMISSION MEETUPS WORKING GROUP WITH COMMISSIONERS BARNES GARZA, WHO HAS ALSO STEPPED OFF THE DIAS.AND I THINK BECAUSE COMMISSIONER GRAY IS HOSTING THE FIRST ONE NEXT WEEK ON MY CALENDAR, BUT WITH ME, I'VE GOT IT.
YOU WANNA, UM, GO AHEAD AND SURE.
TAPESTRY DANCE COMPANY IS HOSTING THE FIRST, UH, QUARTERLY ARTS COMMUNITY MEETING, UH, TAPESTRY DANCE COMPANY AT 2015 EAST RIVERSIDE DRIVE BEHIND TACO MORE AT SIX 30, I BELIEVE SIX 30.
YES, SIX 30 AND, UH, REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED NO STEAK AND POTATOES, BUT REFRESHMENTS AND HOPE THE COMMUNITY CAN MAKE IT.
SO IF THAT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, UM, THERE IS A FACEBOOK EVENT THAT IS LIVE ON OUR, UH, ATX ARTS AND CULTURE NEWS PAGE.
UM, THAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE LAST, UH, NEWSLETTER RECAP FOR AUGUST.
I'LL BE INCLUDING IT IF THIS GETS OUT BEFORE THEN, UM, IN THAT AS WELL.
BUT IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS, THEY CAN CONTACT US COMMISSIONERS.
I CAN SEND OUT THE LINK, ANYBODY THAT CAN HELP AMPLIFY THAT EVENT SO THAT PEOPLE KNOW THAT IT'S HAPPENING WOULD BE WONDERFUL.
AND, UM, I THINK WE ARE STILL WAITING ON A HOST FOR THE POTENTIAL OCTOBER MEETING.
WE ARE, UM, I GUESS A QUESTION THAT I HAVE AND, UH, FOR OFFICIAL BUSINESS COMMISSIONER GRAY WILL BE THERE.
OBVIOUSLY I'M PLANNING ON BEING THERE.
I BELIEVE COMMISSIONER BARN WILL BE THERE.
I WOULD HOPE COMMISSIONER GARZA, BUT WE NEED BASICALLY, I NEED TO CONFIRM ATTENDANCE.
AND IF THERE'S ONE MORE COMMISSIONER THAT WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US, IT'S MONDAY THE 26TH AT SIX 30, BECAUSE WE CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN, UM, SIX OF US THERE.
THERE CAN ONLY BE FIVE, RIGHT.
I HAD SAID IT THE LAST TIME THAT I, I WOULD, IT'S LIKE THROUGH THE HOOD.
I'LL BE, I MIGHT BE SWEATY CUZ I'M GONNA TRY TO BLOCK WALK.
LET 'EM KNOW, LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE.
SO WE'VE GOT COMMISSIONERS THERE.
WE WANT DIFFERENT COMMISSIONERS THERE EACH TIME.
SO IN OCTOBER, IF, IF FOLKS CAN SAVE THE DATE, I THINK WHAT DID YOU REMEMBER THE DATE WE HAD FOR OCTOBER? I DO ON MY CALENDAR, WHICH I DON'T HAVE.
WELL, WE'LL GET BACK TO YOU WITH THE OCTOBER DATE.
UM, I'LL PROBABLY BE CREATING A FACEBOOK EVENT.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE WERE WAITING ON.
I DON'T KNOW THAT THEY EVER CAME TO.
THE WORKING GROUP WILL BE HAVING A MEETING.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA CIRCLE BACK ON A LOCATION.
UM, WHEN THE NEWSLETTER GETS OUT, IT WILL HAVE THE OCTOBER LOCATION.
I'LL JUST EDIT MY STATEMENT FOR THAT.
UM,
IT HAS THE PEOPLE THAT MORE LIKE YES.
MAYBE CAUSE THE ROOM WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
YEAH, I THINK WE HAVE SOME GOOD IDEAS.
UM, NEXT UPDATE FROM THE EMERGENCY FUNDING, PROACTIVE STRATEGIES AND FUTURE FUNDING, WORKING GROUP COMMISSIONERS FLOS POLL GARMO, BUCK V DYKE, AND THIS MAN CHAIR THAT'S ME AND I'M THE CHAIR AND WE HAVE
[02:35:01]
NOT MET, BUT IT IS ON THE DOCKET.AND I KNOW WE SEND OUT LIKE A VERY PRELIMINARY DOODLE POLL AND YOU WANNA JUMP IN AND I WOULD LOVE US TO COME BACK TO STAFF WITH A RECOMMENDATION FOR A C C MM-HMM
YEAH, THIS IS, THIS IS, UM, PART ALSO OF OUR, UM, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND ARPA.
AND I KNOW WE STARTED TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION AND THERE'S JUST BEEN SO MUCH GOING ON IN THE MEANTIME THAT WE, THIS IS, I KNEW WE STARTED THIS CONVERSATION, SO WE'LL GET THERE, WE'LL GET THERE.
UM, IT'S SUMMER TRAVEL, EVERYBODY'S ZIPPING AROUND AND DOING THINGS, YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU'RE NOT FORGIVEN YET WITH THE CONNECTICUT STUFF.
[30. Update from Art Neighborhoods Working Group with Commissioners Gray, Mok, Zisman, and Van Dyke (chair)]
AND LAST ON OUR LIST OF UPDATES, UPDATE FROM THE ARTS NEIGHBORHOOD, WORKING WITH COMMISSIONERS GRAY, MOCK ZK AND BAND DY AS CHAIR.UM, RICK, DO YOU WANNA GIVE A BRIEF UPDATE? YEAH, I THINK IF I UNDERSTAND, RIGHT, WE WERE WAITING FOR STAFF TO GET BACK WITH KANGAROOS, I THOUGHT.
UM, BUT I DON'T SEE ANY KANGAROOS, SO IT LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE BACK ANYWAY.
SO HOPEFULLY WE GET TOGETHER AND, UH, START, UM, SEEING HOW TO IMPLEMENT IT.
THAT'S WHAT I REMEMBER AS WELL.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, NO KANGAROOS OR KOALAS.
UM, COMMISSIONER MULLO
SO I HAVE A DUTY TO INVITE YOU TO AN EVENT THAT I, UH, INVOLVED WITH AND KNOW ABOUT THAT'S FREE TO THE PUBLIC.
IT IS A 21 PHOTOGRAPHER LATINO PHOTOGRAPHER EXHIBIT.
SO WE WILL HAVE A CAR SHOW, UH, BEVERAGES MUSIC, AND IT IS HAPPENING THIS SATURDAY, THE 24TH, FROM SEVEN TO 10:00 PM AT VESPER, WHICH IS NEAR SPRINGDALE AND AIRPORT, BUT THE ADDRESS IS 14TH AND A HALF STREET, BUT YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION ON FACEBOOK.
UM, AND EVEN THROUGH SOCIAL, I WOULD LOVE TO THE RECAP NEWSLETTER MIGHT NOT GET OUT IN TIME, BUT WE CAN DEFINITELY UTILIZE THE FACEBOOK PAGE TO AMPLIFY, UM, THAT EVENT COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER EVENTS? IS THAT A HAND COMMISSIONER FLORES? OH, JUST THAT THE, UM, THE Y L A EXHIBIT IS, UH, LAUNCHED ON THIS PAST WEEKEND.
AND SO IT IS UP AT MEXICO THING.
I WAS UNABLE TO MAKE THE OPENING, BUT I LOOK FORWARD TO GOING BY AND LOOKING AT THE EXHIBIT.
UH, IT'S USUALLY VERY, UH, VIBRANT.
SO I KNOW THAT IS UP FOR, FOR SURE.
SO THERE IS ONE MORE WONDERFUL EXHIBIT THAT YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT DURING HISPANIC CARRIAGE MONTH OR ANY MONTH.
IT IS THE SAM, UH, SIR PROJECT THAT'S AT ACC HIGHLAND, UH, CAMPUS.
AND I WAS THERE FOR THE OPENING AND IT IS AMAZING.
AND THAT, BESIDES THAT THE ART IS FROM SAM CORONADO, THE STUDENTS WERE VERY INVOLVED.
AND SO IT'S JUST VERY IMPRESSIVE TO SEE, UM, THOSE TWO WORLDS COLLIDE.
SO AGAIN, ACC, UH, THE SAM CORONADO PROJECT IS AMAZING.
PHENOMENAL, AND I'LL DEFINITELY DO MY BEST TO GET THAT INFORMATION OUT THROUGH OUR CHANNELS.
UH, YES, A LATINA, THE EAST AUSTIN LATINO ARTIST.
WHEN YOU MENTIONED SAM CORONADO, THE SAM CORONADO STUDIO AT THE MAC, UH, HAD AN EXHIBIT AS AN EXHIBIT FROM THE, UH, AT THE DEJA, IS IT? AND, UH, FOR, UH, LATINO ARTISTS, THAT WAS AN EXHIBIT.
AND, UM, IT'S, IT'S IT'S UP AND RUNNING RIGHT, RIGHT NOW, AS WE SPEAK AS WELL.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
MOVE TO FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I WOULD LIKE TO ADD, UM, THAT WE BRING BACK THE A I P P SIGNUP LIST WHEN WE WERE TALKING WITH CONSTANTS AND AIM AND BEING, HAVING COMMISSIONERS IN THE ROOM AND FOR COMMISSIONER MARVO, UM, AT ONE POINT WITH ALL OF OUR COPIOUS FREE TIME, WE HAD COMMISSIONERS ATTENDING ONE OF THE MONTHLY, A I P P MEETINGS, JUST TO BE A FLY ON THE WALL, JUST TO SORT OF WITNESS AND HAVE A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THAT PROCESS IS LIKE.THERE'S A WHOLE SEPARATE PANEL OF AMAZING ARTISTS AND
[02:40:01]
CREATIVES IN THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE ALSO PHENOMENAL VOLUNTEERS THAT HELP GUIDE THAT PROCESS WITH CONSTANTS.UM, AND, UM, AC IS OUR, UH, FABULOUS LIAISON, BUT IT'S A, IT'S A GREAT WAY TO DEEPEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THAT PROCESS.
SO I WOULD LOVE IF WE COULD GET THE LIST OF DATES FOR ALL THE MEETINGS TO US, WE CAN CIRCULATE THAT TO THE COMMISSIONERS, HAVE FOLKS SIGN UP AND THAT WAY WE CAN, UM, START ATTENDING THOSE.
ARE THOSE IN PERSON OR ARE THEY VIRTUAL? WE'RE VIRTUAL.
SO IT SHOULD BE RELATIVELY EASY TO DO THAT.
AND SO, UH, FOR NEXT MONTH, WE CAN MAYBE DISCUSS THAT FURTHER PEOPLE CAN CALL DIBS ON MONTHS, OR WE'LL JUST REVISIT THAT COMMISSIONER MOCK.
I, I WOULD LIKE, UM, FOR YOU TO ENTERTAIN, UM, A PRESENTATION FROM THE GREENWAY, UH, PROJECT, UH, IT IS THE 11 ACRES, UH, OPEN GREENWAY SPACE THAT I JUST LEARNED ABOUT IT A COUPLE WEEKS AGO THAT I WAS INVITED TO THIS PRESENTATION.
AND I'M JUST SO AMAZED, CONTINUE TO AMAZED HOW MANY GOOD FOLKS IN OUR CITY HAVE BEEN DOING GREAT WORK QUIETLY.
I MEAN, THIS IS A, A HUGE PROJECT OF 11 ACRES OF GREEN SPACE.
AND A LOT OF THE PRIVATE CITIZENS HAVE PUT IN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, YOU KNOW, AND THIS PROJECT IS COMING UP.
IT IS GOING TO BE, UM, THE, THE GREENWAY FROM THE LADY BIRD LAKE ALL THE WAY UP TO THE WATERLOO PARK.
AND THEY, THE PRESENTATION IS JUST AMAZING.
SO I, I HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF, YOU KNOW, UH, ENJOYING IT.
SO I THINK I WOULD LIKE TO SEE ALL OF OUR COMMISSIONERS, YOU KNOW, GET, GET THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, REALLY ENJOY THAT IT IS GOING TO PUT AUSTIN ON THE MAP, YOU KNOW, OF OUR PARK, YOU KNOW, OF OUR GREEN SPACE AND THE DESIGN IS JUST AMAZING.
SO, UM, I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE A HUGE PUBLIC ARTS OF LANDSCAPE, SO I WOULD BE HAPPY TO CONTACT THEM.
UM, IF YOU LIKE TO ENTERTAIN, I WILL MORE THAN ENTERTAIN.
I WILL SECOND THAT AGENDA ITEM.
SO YEAH, IF YOU COULD GO AHEAD AND, AND MAKE CONTACT AND INVITE THEM AND LOOP THEM IN WITH JESUS.
SO IF THEY WANNA PREVENT, UH, PRESENT VIRTUALLY OR IN PERSON, I THINK THAT'D BE A WONDERFUL ADDITION TO OCTOBER'S AGENDA.
ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? UM, DO I NEED TO, OKAY.
ANY MOTIONS THAT MIGHT WANNA BE MADE COMMISSION FLORIDA, RIGHT.
OTHER THAN THE OBVIOUS WE'RE GONNA DISCUSS AND ABOUT THE CULTURAL FUNDING RIGHT.
AND THAT'LL BE UNDER ACTION ITEMS. THANK YOU.
WELL, IF THERE ARE NO OTHER FUTURE, I'LL MOVE TO AJO.
I SECOND GOT SECONDS ALL IN FAVOR.
AND ARE THERE ANYTHING YOU SEE HAPPY, FUN.
ARE YOU HAPPY PEOPLE? THE DREAM.