[00:00:04]
[CALL TO ORDER]
ALL RIGHT.TODD, ARE YOU TALKING? CUZ IF YOU ARE, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU, BUT I SAW YOUR MOUTH MOVING.
NO, YOU JUST SAID HELLO SO I WAIT.
AND WE CAN'T HEAR YOU CONFIRM, CONFIRM CONFIRMATION.
UM, SO WELCOME TO OUR, UH, SPECIAL CALLED MEETING OF THE WATERFORD TASK FORCE.
UM, AND WE WILL GO AHEAD AND GET GOING.
I, I DO WANNA TAKE A MINUTE TO NOTE, UM, CUZ I THINK THAT ONE OF THESE ROOMS IS NAMED AFTER SH SHOOTING FAT HERE, RIGHT? AT THE, OR IS IT? OR IS IT MAYBE AT THE AUSTIN ENERGY BUILDING? SO AUSTIN ENERGY, THINK IT WAS HUDSON ENERGY.
ANYWAY, WE WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE PASSING OF S****Y FAT.
SHE WAS A GREAT AUSTIN ENVIRONMENTALIST AND A REAL INSPIRATION TO ME AND LOTS AND LOTS OF PEOPLE AND MADE IT TO THE RIP BULL AGE OF 106.
I ALSO HEARD THAT SHE WAS THE OLDEST REGISTERED VOTER IN TRAVIS COUNTY, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS PRETTY COOL.
BUT ANYWAY, SHE'S DONE A LOT OF GOOD FOR OUR COMMUNITY, THREE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND OTHER THINGS.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES AS OUR FIRST AGENDA ITEM.FOLKS HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW THE MINUTES.
WHOA, WHERE ARE MY MINUTES? HERE THEY ARE.
DO WE HAVE A FIRST? DO WE HAVE A SECOND? ALL RIGHT, THANKS VANESSA.
ANY DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR? AYE.
UM, ANY OPPOSED OR ABSTENTIONS? ALL RIGHT.
[2. Update on water supply conditions, presented by Austin Water staff]
DISCUSSION ITEMS TODAY, UM, WE'VE GOT A UPDATE ON WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS.THERE'S LOTS OF WATER OUT THERE.
IT'S IN THE AIR RIGHT NOW,
UM, SO, UH, IS THAT YOU, MARISA? YEAH.
CAN WE PULL UP THE SLIDES FOR THE WATER SUPPLY UPDATE? THANK YOU SO MUCH.
AND YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO WE'VE GOT AN UPDATED GRAPH HERE, UH, SHOWING HIGHLAND LAKES INFLOWS.
WE SHOW THIS AT EVERY TASK FORCE MEETING.
WE NOW HAVE OUR INFLOW TOTAL FOR NOVEMBER 20,864 ACRE FEET FOR THE MONTH.
UM, A BIT MORE POTENTIALLY THAN WE WERE EVEN EXPECTING FOR NOVEMBER.
HOWEVER, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE GOTTEN SOME RAIN WITHIN THE PAST MONTH, WE ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THIS IS NOT A DROUGHT BUSTER.
UM, WE'RE STILL LIKELY GOING TO BE EXPERIENCING SOME DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS, UH, THROUGH THE REST OF THE SPRING.
ALTHOUGH IN THE SPRING, WELL, I'M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF, BUT IN THE SPRING THERE'S ABOUT A 75% CHANCE OF US TRANSITIONING TO ENZO NEUTRAL CONDITIONS, UM, MOVING OUT OF THE CURRENT LA NINA CONDITIONS.
UM, THIS GRAPH IS SHOWING THE COMBINED STORAGE OF LAKES BUCHANAN AND TRAVIS JANUARY 1ST, 2005 THROUGH DECEMBER 1ST, 2022.
WE SEE A LITTLE BIT OF AN UPWARD TICK IN COMBINED STORAGE DUE TO SOME OF THE, UH, WETTER CONDITIONS THIS PAST MONTH.
BUT AGAIN, UH, COMBINED STORAGE IS STILL ABOUT 50% OR A LITTLE OVER 50% FULL.
AND NEXT SLIDE, OUR NEXT SLIDE IS THE WATER WEEKLY FROM TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD.
UM, THIS IS THE DROUGHT MONITOR MAP FROM WITH CONDITIONS AS OF NOVEMBER 29TH.
SO A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO SHOWS A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE AREA OF THE STATE THAT'S IMPACTED BY DROUGHT.
AND AGAIN, IF WE LOOK AT OUR THREE MONTH OUTLOOK FOR, WE DO SEE, UH, ABOVE AVERAGE CHANCES, LEANING ABOVE AVERAGE CHANCES FOR HIGHER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES, AND THEN ABOUT EQUAL, UH, OR BELOW AVERAGE CHANCES FOR, UM, OUR PRECIPITATION THAT WE WOULD NORMALLY SEE IN THIS PERIOD OF TIME.
[00:05:01]
THE NEXT SLIDE, L CRA HAS POSTED AN UPDATED FORECAST, UM, USING THEIR MODELS, THEIR STOCHASTIC MODELING THAT LOOKS OUT INTO THE FUTURE ABOUT, UH, SIX MONTHS.WE SEE THAT THROUGH JUNE, 2023.
IN THIS FORECAST, WE DO DIP DOWN A LITTLE BIT BELOW, UM, 900,000 ACRE FEET.
UM, SO THAT WOULD BE OUR TRIGGER FOR STAGE TWO DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLAN RESTRICTIONS.
THOSE ARE FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
WHAT IS THAT? OH, IT STAYS ABOVE, SORRY, I CAN'T SEE ON THIS THING.
IT'S STAGE ABOVE 900,000 ACRE FEET ALL THE WAY OUT TO JUNE, 2023.
SO WE WOULD STILL STAY ABOVE OUR STAGE TWO DROUGHT RESTRICTIONS THROUGH JUNE, 2023.
UM, THAT'S GIVEN THE EXTREME DRY CONDITIONS LINE.
OF COURSE, THIS IS, YOU KNOW, INCORPORATING, UH, THE ENZO FORECAST ENZO, UM, PROBABILITIES, AS WELL AS HISTORICAL HYDROLOGY REQ SEQUENCING THAT HYDROLOGY TO DEVELOP THIS FORECAST.
SO IT'S NOT A PREDICTION SO MUCH AS A POTENTIAL PROJECTION.
SO WE'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS IF ANYONE HAS ANY.
DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE, UM, THE WATER SUPPLY CONDITIONS? ALL RIGHT, I SEE SOME HEADS AND NODDING, ROBERT, ANYTHING.
I'M GLAD THAT WE'VE GOT SOME RAIN.
WE WERE JOKING AROUND THAT, UH, NOVEMBER'S THE NEW OCTOBER.
HOPEFULLY THAT'S NOT REAL, BUT IT FELT LIKE IT THIS YEAR
[3. Incorporating Equity into the Water Forward Process, presented by Equity Office Staff]
UM, OUR NEXT ITEM IS THE EQUITY OVERVIEW PRESENTED BY THE EQUITY OFFICE STAFF.SO I REALLY, UM, I KNOW THAT, UM, NOT ONLY AUSTIN WATER STAFF, BUT THE EQUITY OFFICE HAS REALLY TAKEN A LOT OF TIME TO WORK WITH THE TASK FORCE.
WE'VE HAD SOME EVENING WORKSHOPS AND OTHER THINGS, AND, AND, UH, WE WANTED TO BE ABLE TO BRING TOGETHER AS MUCH AS THE TASK FORCE AS POSSIBLE TO, UM, TO HEAR THE, THEIR EXCELLENT PRESENTATION AND TO REALLY INFORM AND GUIDE US AS WE MOVE INTO THE UPDATE TO THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
UM, WE REALLY WANNA TRY TO, WELL, I WON'T SPEAK.
WE, I REALLY WANT TO TRY TO, UH, DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE EMBEDDING, UM, PRINCIPLES INTO THE WATER FORWARD PLAN TO WHERE THIS IS A PLAN THAT REALLY BENEFITS ALL PARTS OF AUSTIN IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
SO, UM, I, UH, APPRECIATE Y'ALL BEING HERE AND, AND, UM, AND YOU ALL THE FOLKS THAT ARE ONLINE TOO, SO WE CAN GO AHEAD AND, AND I DON'T KNOW WHO'S RUNNING THAT, BUT YEAH, WE HAVE LOTS OF GUESTS HERE, SO PROBABLY LOTS OF FOLKS WE DO.
SO OUR EQUITY OFFICE STAFF ARE JOINING US HERE, AND I THINK MAYBE I'LL LEAVE IT TO THE EQUITY OFFICE FOLKS TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES.
UM, WE HAVE A GREAT PRESENTATION HERE.
WE'RE TARGETING ABOUT AN HOUR.
I THINK AMANDA IS GOING TO KICK US OFF.
ACTUALLY, I GUESS I'LL, I'LL, YEAH, I'LL START US OFF.
I'M, UM, THE, I WORK WITH THE EQUITY OFFICE AS A PROGRAM COORDINATOR.
UM, TYPICALLY WORKING WITH DEPARTMENTS THAT FALL UNDER THE CITY STRATEGIC, UM, OUTCOMES RELATED TO HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT OR CULTURE AND LIFELONG LEARNING.
UM, BUT WE'RE A VERY COLLABORATIVE OFFICE, SO THAT'S WHY THERE'S, UM, SO MANY OF US HERE TODAY.
UH, THIS IS A SHORTENED VERSION OF OUR TYPICAL WORKSHOP.
UM, WE USUALLY TAKE ABOUT THREE HOURS.
UM, I THINK SOME OF YOU ATTENDED, UH, OUR LAST WORKSHOP IN SEPTEMBER.
UM, AND, AND WE LIKE TO DO THAT BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE TO KIND OF GET A SENSE OF WHO'S IN THE ROOM, UM, WHERE EVERYONE IS COMING FROM WHEN THEY THINK ABOUT, UH, RACIAL EQUITY IN OUR CITY.
UM, BUT WE APPRECIATE THE TIME THAT Y'ALL HAVE MADE FOR US.
AND, UM, RATHER THAN STARTING OFF WITH INTROS, BECAUSE IT DOES TAKE A LONG TIME, UM, WE THOUGHT WE COULD START OFF WITH THIS REFLECTION QUESTION OF, UM, WHAT ARE THE VALUES OF WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE, UM, AND HOW, HOW ARE THE REALITIES, UM, IN THE CITY DIFFERENT FROM THESE VALUES? SO TYPICALLY, UM, IN OUR LONGER WORKSHOP, WE TALK ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, HISTORICAL, HISTORICALLY, UH, OUR COUNTRY IS BUILT ON VERY HIGH-MINDED VALUES THAT WE ALL LOVE AND AGREE WITH.
UM, ONE OF THE EXAMPLES IS, UH, A LINCOLN'S, UH, DEMOCRACY, UH, OF THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE.
UM, BUT WE KNOW THAT EVEN THOUGH THIS WAS A STATED VALUE, UM, THE REALITY WASN'T ALWAYS MEETING THAT VALUE.
[00:10:01]
SO I WAS HOPING WE CAN REFLECT AS A GROUP ON SOME OF THE VALUES THAT THIS TASK FORCE HAS AND HOW THEY MAY, UM, HOW THEY MAY OVERLAP OR BE KIND OF AT ODDS WITH THE REALITY FOR, YOU KNOW, AUSTINITES.SO, UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF MY, THE REST OF THE TEAM WANTS TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES QUICKLY FIRST, OR SURE.
UM, I AM A PROGRAM MANAGER IN THE EQUITY OFFICE.
I, UM, MY FOCUS AREAS ARE, ARE KIND OF AROUND MOBILITY AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY AND AFFORDABILITY.
UM, BUT I'VE, I'VE SUPPORTED THIS WORK IN THE PAST, AND SO WE'RE HAPPY TO, TO BE HERE AGAIN, UM, TO DO THAT.
UM, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME USUALLY ON OUR INTROS BECAUSE WE LIKE KNOWING WHO'S IN THE ROOM.
AND WE DO THINK THAT RELATIONSHIP BUILDING IS, IS PART OF, IS A FOUNDATION OF, OF THE WORK THAT WE DO IN THE EQUITY OFFICE.
SO, I'M SORRY WE WON'T GET TO DO THAT TODAY, BUT HOPEFULLY, UM, IN THE FUTURE WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO A FULL TRAINING WITH Y'ALL, OR WE'LL BRING YOU IN TO SOME OF OUR OTHER TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES.
HI EVERYBODY, MY NAME IS JEREMY GARZA.
UM, I WORK IN THE EQUITY OFFICE AS THE NEIGHBORHOOD LIAISON, AND I DO A LOT OF WORK, UH, TO SUPPORT, UH, ANNA AND AMANDA, UM, AS WELL AS DOING A LOT OF WORK TO SUPPORT OUR EQUITY RELATED COMMISSIONS, INCLUDING THE JOINT INCLUSION COMMITTEE.
UM, BEFORE JOINING THE LIBRARIES, UH, I'M SORRY, BEFORE JOINING THE EQUITY OFFICE, I WORKED IN THE LIBRARIES WE'RE AWESOME.
PUBLIC LIBRARY, UH, FOR FOUR YEARS, AND THEN PUBLIC LIBRARY IS GENERALLY FOR 14 YEARS BEFORE I JOINED THE EQUITY OFFICE, SORRY, 12, 12, 5, DON'T KNOW WHY I JUMPED TO 14
UM, BUT I AM VERY GRATEFUL TO BE HERE AND TO GIVE THIS PRESENTATION TO EVERYBODY.
UH, WE, THIS IS KIND OF ONE OF THE FOUNDATIONAL PIECES IS EQUITY 1 0 1 TRAINING THAT WE GO AROUND PROVIDING TO NOT ONLY LOTS OF CITY, UM, DEPARTMENTS, COMMISSIONS, ET CETERA, BUT ALSO TO COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS.
SO I'M EXCITED FOR Y'ALL TO, TO SEE THIS IN THE, ESPECIALLY HERE, UM, THIS HISTORY, THIS LOCAL HISTORY.
UM, I WAS BORN AND RAISED, UH, HERE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
SO A LOT OF THIS HISTORIES ARE VERY NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART, AND I'M EXCITED TO SHARE IT WITH FOLKS WITH A LOT OF FOLKS WHO DON'T KNOW A LOT ABOUT THIS TYPE STUFF.
MY NAME IS, I SHAHAN, MY PRONOUNS ARE SHE HER.
UM, I JUST WRAPPED UP MY FIRST WEEK AT THE EQUITY OFFICE.
UM, I'M A COORDINATOR AND WILL BE CONTINUING THE WORK THAT ANNA HAS STARTED.
UM, AND WE'LL BE WORKING WITH, UM, DEPARTMENTS UNDER HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT, CULTURE, AND LIFELONG LEARNING.
UM, HOWEVER, I'VE BEEN WORKING AT THE CITY FOR ALMOST FIVE YEARS.
I WAS THE ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY ARCHIVIST AT THE AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER.
UM, SO I'M REALLY EXCITED TO BRING THAT HISTORY LENS, UM, TO MY WORK AT THE EQUITY OFFICE.
I APPRECIATE HOW GROUNDED THE EQUITY OFFICE IS IN OUR HISTORY.
UM, SO I'M JUST REALLY HAPPY TO BE HERE AND SUPPORT Y'ALL IN THE FUTURE.
HEY, I THINK WE HAVE ONE MORE, UH, TEAM MEMBER THAT'S JOINING US VIRTUALLY, INA, IF YOU WANT TO.
UM, I'M SORRY I CAN'T BE IN PERSON WITH Y'ALL TODAY.
I'VE BEEN, UH, I'VE BEEN SICK, SO TRYING NOT TO SPREAD THOSE DMS
UM, MY, MY NAME IS INA MY PRONOUNS ARE SHE, AND THEY, UM, I AM THE PUBLIC INFORMATION SPECIALIST AT THE EQUITY OFFICE.
UM, SO THAT MEANS LIKE DOING A LOT OF COMMUNICATIONS RELATED THINGS MOSTLY.
UM, BUT THEN JUST, YOU KNOW, KIND OF HELPING OUT WHEREVER.
UM, LIKE ON A SAID, WE'RE A PRETTY COLLABORATIVE, UM, WORK ENVIRONMENT AND YEAH, I WISH, I WISH WE HAD MORE TIME WITH Y'ALL TO REALLY GET TO KNOW FOLKS IN THE ROOM.
UM, BUT I HOPE WE CAN DO THAT ANOTHER TIME.
UM, AND I THINK BEFORE WE GET INTO THE HISTORY, WE DID WANNA DO THE REFLECTION QUESTION.
UM, SO IF ANYONE WANTS TO SPEAK ON THE VALUES OF WA, THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE AND HOW THAT MATCHES WITH THE REALITY OF, UM, FOR PEOPLE HERE IN THE CITY, I GUESS, I GUESS I'LL GO AHEAD AND THROW IN, UM, RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE, AND SAFE WATER FOR ALL AUSTIN NIGHTS.
DID YOU WANNA SPEAK TO HOW THE REALITY IS FOR THAT? UM, WELL, I GUESS WE'VE HAD SOME CHALLENGES WITH SAFETY, BUT
I MEAN, AND I GUESS THE, ON THE RELIABILITY PART, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR.
[00:15:01]
STEPPING IT UP, I GUESS, FROM WHAT'S TYPICALLY DONE, LOOKING AT PAST DROUGHTS.SO WITH AUSTIN LOOKING AT, AT CLIMATE CHANGE AND, AND SO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN IS THERE ON THE RELIABLE SIDE.
UM, AND THEN, UM, UM, I'M SURE THERE ARE FOLKS THAT STRUGGLE WITH PAYING THEIR, THEIR WATER BILLS AND BILLS IN GENERAL.
SO, UM, THERE'S PROBABLY WORK THERE, BUT, YOU KNOW, INCREASE IN THE SAFETY AND RELIABILITY ALSO HAS COST PRESSURE.
SO THOSE ARE THINGS WE HAVE TO CONSIDER WHEN WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT AFFORDABILITY.
SO THERE'S STILL, THERE'S STILL WORK TO DO.
UM, DOES, DOES ANYONE, UH, THAT'S ONLINE ON THE TASK FORCE WANNA, OR ANY OF THE, THE, UM, OTHER ORGANIZATIONAL LIAISONS, THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT WORD, BUT, UM, OUR OTHER KIND OF EX OFFICIO MEMBERS WANNA PROVIDE ANY COMMENTS? I CAN'T SEE ANYONE, SO JUST SPEAK UP IF YOU DO.
UM, WELL, I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, THE VALUES OF THE WATER FORWARD TASK FORCE, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE PROBABLY.
UM, I THINK THAT OUR WATER FORWARD PLAN, UM, HAS, HAS, UM, IS, IS CHARTING OUR PATH FOR HOW WE'RE GOING TO PROVIDE WATER SUPPLIES IN AUSTIN IN THE FUTURE.
AND I REALLY FEEL LIKE WE ARE ON A, A BETTER PATH AND, AND, UH, AND THAT WE ARE TRYING TO BE REALLY GOOD NEIGHBORS TO SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES, WHICH IS WHERE IN MANY CASES WATER COMES FROM.
UM, WE'RE TRYING TO RELY ON LOCALLY AVAILABLE WATER SUPPLIES.
WE'RE TRYING TO REALLY LOOK AT THE MULTIPLE BENEFITS AVAILABLE IN OUR COMMUNITY FROM THE WAY WE MANAGE WATER AND KIND OF MOVE BEYOND THAT MY, BEYOND THE, UM, WE'RE PROVIDING, YOU KNOW, SAFE, RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE DRINKING WATER, BUT TO HAVE AN, IN ADDITION TO OTHER THING, OTHER THING, BENEFITS WE CAN PROVIDE OUR COMMUNITY.
SO I'M REALLY PROUD OF THAT AND, AND, UM, AND I SEE THAT IT'S GONNA BE A CHALLENGE, UM, AND THAT THE AFFORDABILITY PIECE IS HUGE AND I'M REALLY GLAD TO GET TO SEE THIS PRESENTATION AGAIN, CUZ I'VE SEEN IT ONCE WHEN WE DID OUR KIND OF EVENING SESSIONS WITH THE SUBSET OF THE GROUP AND, AND, AND IT WAS A LOT.
SO I'M GLAD TO SEE IT A SECOND TIME BECAUSE I THINK THAT THAT WHAT WE'RE LEARNING HERE AND IS REALLY GONNA INFORM HOW WE MOVE FORWARD, UM, BECAUSE THE REALITIES THAT I SEE ARE DIFFERENT THAN REALITIES THAT A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE SEE.
SO I THINK THAT THAT'S REALLY KIND OF INFORMATIVE AND, AND MY RECOLLECTION IS, IS, UM, THE WAYS THAT THE DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN ARE ACTUALIZING THIS, UM, TO ME WAS REALLY EYE-OPENING AND REALLY COOL TO SEE.
AND IT REALLY PROVIDED ME AN EXAMPLE OF HOW WE CAN, CAN, UM, TRY TO TRY TO EMBED EQUITY INTO THE TASK FORCE, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDATIONS INTO OUR REPORT.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW IF I REALLY NECESSARILY ANSWERED THAT, BUT IT'S JUST KINDA LIKE HOW I'M, HOW I'M TRYING TO APPROACH IT BECAUSE I THINK THAT WE HAVE SO MUCH POTENTIAL AND WE KIND OF GOTTA GET OUR ARMS AROUND IT AND THINK ABOUT WHAT IT IS.
AND WE'VE ALSO, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF AUSTIN'S READY TO DO LOTS OF THINGS, BUT WE GOTTA GET ALL THE INFORMATION TOGETHER THAT WE CAN AND HEAR FROM LOTS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE.
UM, MAYBE WE CAN TAKE ONE MORE, ANY OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS OR ANYONE CAN SPEAK UP.
I, I COULD GO AGAIN, BUT I DON'T WANT TO TAKE ANYBODY'S VOICE AWAY.
IS YOUR MIC ON YOU? OH, YEAH, IT IS.
UM, I, I THINK WE, WE VALUE, UM, HEARING EVERYBODY'S VOICE, BUT, UH, BUT I THINK THE REALITY IS, IS THAT'S BEEN BEEN HARDER.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE PUBLIC MEETINGS AND PART OF IT'S THE NATURE OF WATER.
NOBODY REALLY FREAKS OUT UNTIL YOU TURN THE FAUCET ON AND THERE'S NONE THERE.
UM, IN, IN PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS WITH THE EQUITY OFFICE, WHICH HAVE BEEN BEEN GREAT, IS THAT, UM, A LOT OF TIMES FOLKS THAT STRUGGLE WITH THE AFFORDABILITY ISSUES, THEY'RE, THEY'RE DEALING WITH BIGGER ISSUES OF LIKE, HOW TO GET FOOD ON THE TABLE AND PAY RENT.
AND SO, UM, BUT WE STILL WANT TO, YOU KNOW, HEAR THOSE VOICES, HEAR THOSE CONCERNS, HEAR THOSE THOUGHTS AND IDEAS.
YEAH, I WILL DEFINITELY SAY THAT Y'ALL ARE NOT ALONE AT THE CITY AND, UM, YOU KNOW, NEEDING NEW STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND, UM, LIKE ACTUALLY TALKING TO PEOPLE.
SO I THINK WE'RE ALL WORKING TOWARDS DOING THAT BETTER.
UM, BUT THANKS FOR Y'ALL'S REFLECTIONS.
[00:20:01]
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE, WE CAN REVISIT THIS AT THE END OF THE, UM, AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION, BUT IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S IMPORTANT.SO, AND I WILL PASS IT TO INA WHO WILL GIVE YOU A LITTLE HISTORY OF OUR OFFICE.
UM, SO YEAH, WE'LL JUST DIVE RIGHT IN.
UM, LIKE ASHA SAID, WE ARE DEFINITELY, UH, AN OFFICE VERY MUCH ROOTED IN HISTORY.
AND, UM, ON THE FLIP SIDE, YOU KNOW, THE, ONE OF THE, WE CAN DO OUR HOMEWORK OUTSIDE OF THIS, BUT ONE OF THE TENDONS OF WHITE SUPREMACY IS TO A HISTORICIZE AND DECONTEXTUALIZE WORK.
UM, THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT MAKES THINGS FEEL IRRELEVANT, MAKES THINGS FEEL A BURDEN, AND OFTENTIMES WHAT MAKES EQUITY FEEL LIKE AN ADD-ON.
BUT WE WANT TO FLIP THAT NARRATIVE AND BRING IN HISTORY, BRING IN THE CONTEXT, UM, ROOT OUR WORK INTO SOMETHING BIGGER.
WE TALK ABOUT THE HISTORY, UM, INCLUDING THE HISTORY OF OUR OFFICE.
UM,
UM, EVEN THOUGH WE WERE, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE WHO WERE PART OF THE OFFICE, PEOPLE WHO WERE KIND OF WORKING TO, UM, ORGANIZED TO HAVE THE OFFICE W HAD BEEN WORKING TO DO THAT FOR YEARS.
SO I JUST WANT THAT TO BE KNOWN.
UM, BUT IN 2015, UM, THERE WERE KENNEDY'S NATIONAL AND LOCAL, UM, NEWS BEING, UH, PUBLISHED AND BEING, YOU KNOW, KIND OF READ ABOUT.
AND TWO OF THE MAIN HEADLINES THAT WE ALWAYS LIKED TO TALK ABOUT THAT KIND OF DROVE THE, THE, THE CREATION OF OUR OFFICE THROUGH, UM, COMMUNITY ORGANIZING ARE THESE TWO HEADLINES.
SO IN 2015, US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, UM, SAID THAT AUSTIN IS THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN THE NATION, OR THE BEST CITY EVER, RIGHT? TO LIVE IN THAT IN, IN 2015.
AND THEN AT THE SAME TIME, UM, A TORONTO BASED, UH, RESEARCH INSTITUTE CALLED MARTIN PROSPERITY INSTITUTE, UM, DEEMED AUSTIN, ONE OF THE MOST ECONOMICALLY SEGREGATED CITIES IN THE COUNTRY.
SO THESE TWO TRUTHS WERE KIND OF LIVING SIDE BY SIDE IN 2015.
SO WE WONDER THE NATURAL, YOU KNOW, QUESTION OR CURIOSITY IS HOW CAN BOTH THESE THINGS BE TRUE? HOW CAN AUSTIN GET, BE BOTH THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE, BUT ALSO ONE OF THE MOST ECONOMICALLY SEGREGATED PLACES TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY? AND SO, UM, THAT I THINK KIND OF SPEAKS TO THE WORK THAT WAS HAPPENING LOCALLY AT THE TIME WHERE, UM, COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, UM, SUCH AS MAMA ASANA, VIBRANT WOMAN, UH, SUCH AS COMMUNITIES OF COLOR UNITED FOR RACIAL JUSTICE, UM, WERE WERE BASICALLY COALESCING TRYING TO MOVE, UM, AUSTIN RESIDENTS TO UNDERSTAND THE TERRIBLE OUTCOMES THAT THE CITY WAS CREATING, UM, IN 2015.
AND HOW TO COMBAT THOSE TERRIBLE OUTCOMES.
UM, INCLUDING THAT ECONOMICALLY SEGREGATED PIECE WHERE, UM, PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN CERTAIN COMMUNITIES WERE NOT GETTING THE SAME SERVICES OR TREATMENT FROM CITY, UM, OFFICIALS VERSUS FOLKS WHO WERE LIVING IN OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY AS WELL.
YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE NOW.
UM, AND SO THIS BASICALLY LED TO, EXCUSE ME, THIS BASICALLY LED TO, UM, PEOPLE ORGANIZING AT CITY HALL DURING CITY HALL, UM, DURING CITY COUNCIL, UH, SESSIONS SPEAKING AT CITY HALL.
YOU KNOW, THEY WERE, THERE WERE A LOT OF, UH, PARENTS THERE WITH THEIR BABIES.
I MEAN, IT WAS A MULTI-GENERATIONAL, YOU KNOW, CROSS COMMUNITY ORGANIZING THAT WAS HAPPENING IN 2015.
AND THIS WORK THAT, YOU KNOW, EVERY DAY AUSTIN RESIDENTS DID IN 2015 PUSHED CITY COUNCIL TO PASS THIS RESOLUTION.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE THAT'S THE RESOLUTION ON THE SIDE OF THE POWERPOINT RIGHT HERE.
I'M LIKE, TURNED AROUND RIGHT HERE,
AND I ALWAYS LIKE TO LIKE MINE SOME OF THAT CUZ THERE'S SUCH GOOD DATA IN THIS RESOLUTION.
UM, SO JUST TO SPEAK TO THOSE TWO HEADLINES, YOU KNOW, THE, THE CITY WAS CONSIDERED TO HAVE A REDUCTION IN THE LOCAL POVERTY RATE.
AND I'M READING FROM THE SECOND PARAGRAPH.
LIKE, WE HAVE A DECREASE IN POVERTY, THAT'S GREAT.
AUSTIN IS THE BEST PLACE TO LIVE.
BUT THIS DECREASE IN POVERTY WAS BECAUSE LOW INCOME RESIDENTS WERE BEING PUSHED OUT OF AUSTIN.
THEY WERE BEING PUSHED OUT INTO BASTROP, INTO HAYES IN OTHER COUNTIES.
SO WHAT LOOKED LIKE ON THE SURFACE, A WIN FOR AUSTIN WAS ESSENTIALLY A LOSS FOR A
[00:25:01]
LOW INCOME FAMILIES WHO COULD NO LONGER AFFORD TO CALL AUSTIN.UM, AND THIS RESOLUTION HAS SOME GREAT DATA LIKE THAT, UM, WELCOME YOU TO READ IT.
AND, UM, WITH THIS RESOLUTION BEING PASSED, THE CHIEF EQUITY OFFICER WAS HIRED IN 2016, UM, AND IT WAS BRIAN OAKS.
AND, UM, BRIAN REALLY WANTED TO STAY TRUE TO THE SPIRIT OF THIS RESOLUTION.
AND HE PULLED IN THOSE ORIGINAL COMMUNITY RE, YOU KNOW, COMMUNITY FOLKS ORGANIZATIONS TO CREATE, TO CO-CREATE THIS EQUITY ASSESSMENT TOOL.
AND SO VOLUNTEERS, THOSE AUSTIN RESIDENTS WHO HELPED ORGANIZE, UM, DEVOTED OVER 900 HOURS OF THEIR TIME FOR FREE UNPAID LABOR, UM, TO CO-CREATE THIS EQUITY ASSESSMENT TOOL THAT WE NOW USE AS THE EQUITY OFFICE.
AM I ALSO DOING THE DEFINITION, Y'ALL? YES, YES.
UM, SO THE, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD IDEALLY, IF WE HAD A LOT MORE TIME WITH Y'ALL, WOULD REALLY TALK THROUGH A LOT OF DATA, UM, AND HOPEFULLY WE GET TO DO SOME OF THAT TODAY.
BUT, UM, WHEN WE CREATED THE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S EQUITY OFFICE, YOU KNOW, A SHARED LANGUAGE WAS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE IF WE GO AROUND THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW AND WE ASK EVERYONE WHAT THEIR DEFINITION OF EQUITY IS, IT WILL BE DIFFERENT FOR EACH OF US.
SO IN ORDER FOR US TO HAVE A SHARED GOAL, WE HAVE TO HAVE A SHARED LANGUAGE AS WELL.
AND WITH THAT BEING SAID, UM, THE, THE CITY DEFINED RACIAL EQUITY, UH, DEFINED EQUITY TO LEAD WITH RACE, UM, AND TO IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE EQUITY IS ACHIEVED IS TO IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE RACE IS NO LONGER THE PRIMARY DETERMINANT OF A PERSON'S QUALITY OF LIFE.
UM, AND THEN THERE ARE ALSO THESE GRAPHICS HERE TO SHOW YOU THE MEANING OF EQUITY BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE CONFLATE EQUITY WITH EQUALITY, UM, BY ALL PEOPLE BEING TREATED EQUALLY.
AND THAT'S NOT SO, UM, AND THIS KIND OF SHOWS YOU HOW THESE THINGS DIFFER IN MY, IN MY WORDS, I WOULD SAY EQUITY IS MEETING PEOPLE WHERE THEY'RE AT TO GET THEM WHERE THEY NEED TO BE.
AND COMMUNITIES ARE GONNA BE AT DIFFERENT JOURNEYS, DIFFERENT POINTS IN THEIR JOURNEYS, GIVEN THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY.
UM, BUT THE GRAPHICS HERE, YOU CAN SEE WHEN WE THOUGHT, TALK ABOUT EQUALITY, YOU KNOW, YOU SEE THOSE THREE, UH, PEOPLE, THEY'RE TRYING TO LOOK OVER THIS FENCE TO WATCH THIS GAME.
UM, AND YOU CAN SEE THEIR DIFFERENT HEIGHTS.
AND YET, UM, THEY'RE DIFFERENT HEIGHTS AND THEY'RE AT DIFFERENT PLACES IN THIS KIND OF SLOPEY, LUMPY HILL THING THAT THEY'RE STANDING ON, BUT THEY'RE GIVEN THE SAME HEIGHT BOXES.
SO YOU SEE THE PERSON WHO'S YELLOW CAN'T SEE OVER THE FENCE, BUT THEN THE PERSON IN BLUE CAN, EVEN THOUGH THEY'VE BEEN GIVEN THE SAME HEIGHT, UM, THEY'VE BOTH BEEN GIVEN THE SAME THINGS TO SEE OVER THE, THE FENCE.
THAT'S WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER EQUALITY.
IT SOMETIMES LETS PEOPLE FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS.
NOW, EQUITY, WE WOULD THINK IS IF WE COULD MEET THE SHORTEST PERSON OUT OF THE THREE AND GIVE THEM THE HEIGHT THEY NEED TO SEE OVER THE FENCE, WHAT THEY NEED IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT THAN THE TALLEST PERSON IN THE GROUP, UH, WHO ONLY NEEDS ONE BOX.
NOW, IDEALLY, JUSTICE IS WHERE WE DON'T HAVE THE FENCE AT ALL, WHERE EVERYONE CAN JUST GO SEE THE GAME AND NOT HAVE TO HAVE TO LOOK OVER THE FENCE OR, YOU KNOW, UM, CAN'T, YOU KNOW, HAVE TO LIKE AFFORD TO, TO ATTEND THE GAME IN THE FIRST PLACE.
SO OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A BIG METAPHOR, UM, ABOUT WHAT EQUITY, EQUALITY, AND JUSTICE CAN MEAN.
UM, AND I, I HOPE THAT SHED SOME LIGHT ON HOW WE DEFINE EQUITY IN THE CITY, BUT HAPPY TO TAKE QUESTIONS LATER OR, OR NOW I DON'T KNOW WHEN WE'RE DOING THAT, BUT YEAH.
SO, UM, THANK YOU INA FOR THE DEFINITION.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A FRAMEWORK FOR HOW WE DO THIS WORK.
UM, THE CARRYING PEOPLE THROUGH THE DEFINITION AND COMING TO A SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY RACIAL EQUITY, UM, IS, IS ONE PIECE THAT WE WOULD CALL NORMALIZING.
UM, IT'S MAKING SURE THAT EVERYONE IS ON THE SAME PAGE, THAT WAY WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS THE SAME GOALS.
UM, AND THEN WE CAN MOVE INTO ORGANIZING, UM, WHERE WE'RE, UM, BUILDING CAPACITY, UM, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS OR WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS OFTEN AT THE CITY.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, UM, IMPLEMENTING AND OPERATIONALIZING
[00:30:01]
ACTUALLY MAKING CHANGES TO THE PRACTICES AND POLICIES, UM, THAT WE'RE ALL CARRYING OUT DAY TO DAY.AND, UM, THIS EQUITY FRAMEWORK COMES FROM A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION CALLED THE GOVERNMENT ALLIANCE, UM, FOR RACIAL EQUITY.
AND IT'S NOT LINEAR, UM, ON PURPOSE, IT'S IN A CIRCLE BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZE THAT SOMETIMES, UM, YOU'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF OPERATIONALIZING AND YOU MAY NEED TO GO BACK TO ORGANIZING, UM, OR, YOU KNOW, YOU MAY EVEN NEED TO REVISIT THE DEFINITION, UM, MAYBE LIKE NEW DATA COMES OUT.
UM, AND WE NEED TO RETHINK OUR STRATEGIES.
UM, OFTEN WE'RE DOING THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME OR GOING BETWEEN STEPS.
UM, AND LIKE AMANDA WAS TALKING ABOUT, UH, BEFORE OUR OFFICE REALLY PRIORITIZES RELATIONSHIP BUILDING BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZE, UM, THAT THERE'S, UM, FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS, UH, POWER IS USUALLY BUILT ON OUR COLLECTIVE STRENGTH.
UM, AND UNDERSTANDING WHERE PEOPLE'S POWER COMES FROM, UH, HOW THEY EXERCISE POWER IN THE CITY OUTSIDE OF THE CITY, IS CRITICAL TO UNDERSTANDING HOW WE CAN CHANGE THESE SYSTEMS. UM, SO I THINK, UH, THIS IS PART OF OUR REFLECTION QUESTIONS TOWARDS THE END.
UM, BUT WE REALLY LIKE TO ASK FOLKS, UM, TO REFLECT ON WHAT KIND OF POWER THEY HAVE IN THEIR JOBS, UM, AND WHAT KIND OF, WHAT, WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO ACTUALLY MAKE, UM, CHANGES THAT IMPACT THE COMMUNITY, UM, WITHIN THIS SYSTEM.
SO I'M, I'M NOT GONNA READ THE SLIDE WORD FOR WORD, BUT, UM, BUT IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOT ONLY IDENTIFY, UM, WHO HAS THE ABILITY TO MAKE THESE CHANGES.
LIKE MAYBE IT'S THE CITY MANAGER, MAYBE IT'S THE TASK FORCE, UM, AND THEN RECOGNIZING WHAT IT WILL TAKE FOR PEOPLE TO, YOU KNOW, MOVE THEM.
UM, AND WE CALL THAT POWER MAPPING.
SO NEXT WE'LL TALK JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE DA THE DATA.
UM, TYPICALLY WE HAVE A LOT MORE, BUT, UM, THIS IS KIND OF A CONDENSED VERSION OF THIS PRESENTATION, AND I THINK MOST OF YOU WILL PROBABLY RECOGNIZE A LOT OF THESE TRENDS AND, AND HAVE SEEN THEM BEFORE.
UM, SO THIS MAP IS A MAP OF AUSTIN BY MEDIA AND INCOME.
I THINK THIS IS NOT THE MOST RECENT CENSUS DATA, UM, BUT IT'S, IT'S FAIRLY RECENT.
UM, AND YOU'LL SEE, I THINK THIS REPEATED AND MAP AFTER MAP, UM, WEST AUSTIN IS TYPICALLY HIGHER INCOME.
UM, AND EAST AUSTIN IS THE, IS LOWER INCOME.
THERE'S SOME SHADED, UH, CENSUS TRACKS.
THOSE ARE WHERE, UH, THOSE ARE CENSUS TRACKS THAT HAVE A HIGH DENSITY OF, UM, IMMIGRANTS.
UH, THIS WAS ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR OUR, UM, OUR IMMIGRANT AFFAIRS, UH, PERSON.
UM, BUT AS MOST PEOPLE ARE PROBABLY AWARE, UH, THERE'S A PRETTY STARK DIVIDING LINE THROUGH THE CITY, UM, BASED, YOU KNOW, BASED ON HISTORY, BUT, UH, RELATED TO, YOU KNOW, THE TYPE OF SERVICES PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO.
UM, AND IT, AND IT LOOKS VERY SIMILAR FOR EDUCATION OUTCOMES, HEALTH OUTCOMES, WHO HAS A CAR, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN GET ALL KINDS OF DATA FROM THE CENSUS.
AND ONE THAT ALWAYS STICKS WITH ME IS LIKE, HOW MANY VEHICLES PEOPLE HAVE.
AND IT'S ALMOST THIS EXACT SAME MAP REPEATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
UM, AND SO THEN, YOU KNOW, WHY, HOW DID WE GET HERE? UM, WE'LL, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT LATER.
UM, AND THIS JUST SHOWS THE AVERAGE INCOME OF AUSTIN RESIDENTS B BROKEN DOWN BY RACE.
UM, ONE OF THE PROJECTS OUR OFFICE HAS, UM, TAKEN ON WHEN WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS IS JUST COLLECTING, UM, DATA THAT'S BROKEN DOWN BY RACE.
UM, IT'S NOT ALWAYS COLLECTED, UM, BUT AS YOU CAN SEE, THE, UM, THE AVERAGE INCOME FOR BLACK AND LATINA RESIDENTS IS MUCH LOWER ON AVERAGE THAN WHITE AND ASIAN AUSTINITES.
AND I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE COULD TALK A LOT ABOUT LIKE WHY THIS IS, UM, OFTEN PEOPLE WILL TALK ABOUT, UM, PAY GAP BASED ON GENDER, UM, AND IT IS, IT IS MORE COMPLICATED, BUT THE REALITY REMAINS THAT, UM, BLACK AND LATINA PEOPLE AND, UH, ESPECIALLY WOMEN, ARE EARNING LESS ON AVERAGE THAN THEIR WHITE AND ASIAN COUNTERPARTS.
[00:35:01]
FINALLY WE INCLUDED THIS ONE.UH, WHO POLLUTES AND WHO IS IMPACTED? UH, SO THIS CAME FROM A 2019 ACADEMY OF SCIENCES STUDY, UM, THAT BASICALLY, I KNOW THAT THIS KIND OF GRAPH IS A LITTLE BIT HARD TO READ, BUT, UM, BUT I GET THE SENSE THAT Y'ALL ARE DATA PEOPLE.
UM, BUT IT'S BASICALLY SHOWING THAT, UM, BLACK AND LATINA PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR LESS POLLUTION, BUT ARE EXPOSED TO MORE.
AND WE HAVE SOME HISTORICAL EXAMPLES, UM, THAT ARE FOLLOWING.
BUT A LOT OF TIMES IT'S RELATED TO, UM, WHERE THEIR HOMES ARE LOCATED, UM, THE TYPE OF JOBS THAT THEY HAVE.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THESE PRETTY SERIOUS CAN CAUSE INCREASED RISK OF, UM, CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, RESPIRATORY ILLNESS, DIABETES, BIRTH DEFECTS.
UM, AND SO WHEN WE LOOK AT HEALTH INDICATORS, THIS IS, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S A PROBLEM.
HOW DO Y'ALL, I'M GONNA TAKE US OVER AND, UH, GIVE US, START INTRODUCING OUR, UH, HISTORY OF AUSTIN IN PARTICULAR.
UM, AND THEN FOR THIS SECTION, UM, WE DO LIKE TO START WITH, UM, LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, UM, ESPECIALLY FOR NATIVE AMERICAN COM.
UM, LET'S SEE IF I CAN GO TO THE NEXT ONE.
UM, BEFORE I I START ON THAT THOUGH, I DID JUST WANT TO SHARE OUT THIS, UM, UH, RESOURCE FOR FOLKS.
I'M SURE MANY OF YOU MAY HAVE SEEN IT BEFORE.
UH, IT'S A ONLINE WEBSITE, UH, UH, NATIVE-LAND.CA.
UH, REALLY GREAT RESOURCE, UM, TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE, THE HISTORY AND THE TRIBES JUST TO BE THE LOCATIONS OF DIFFERENT NATIVE AMERICAN PEOPLES, ESPECIALLY HERE IN TEXAS.
IT DOESN'T MAP FOR ALL OF THE UNITED STATES.
UM, BUT IN PARTICULAR, UM, WE LOVE, UH, SHOWING THIS AND SHARING THIS OUT SO FOLKS CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY.
UM, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND JUMP INTO OUR LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TOO, AND I DO WANT TO KIND OF JUST REITERATE THAT, UM, THIS IS A VERY SPECIAL FOR US.
UM, ONE OF OUR COLLEAGUES, ROCO LOBOS, UM, HELPED CREATE THIS LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND IS PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT UNIQUE FROM THE REGULAR LAND ACKNOWLEDGE YOU MAY HAVE SEEN OR HEARD OF AT DIFFERENT EVENTS.
UM, WE REALLY BELIEVE THAT WE KIND OF HAVE TO, UM, BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT OUR LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND NOT JUST SAY IT AS IN TERMS OF, UH, A SHOW OF WORDS, UM, BUT TO REALLY MEET IT IN TERMS OF THE VALUES AND TO REALLY RECOGNIZE THE ONGOING COLONIZATION OF NATIVE PEOPLES THAT CONTINUES TO THIS DAY.
UM, SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, FOR BEING HERE AND TO LISTEN, BEING ABLE TO LISTEN TO THIS IN PARTICULAR.
BUT WE'D LIKE TO START BY, UH, WISHING TO RECOGNIZE AND RESPECT NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AS THE ORIGINAL STEWARDS OF THE LAND BEFORE IT BECAME KNOWN AS AUSTIN, TEXAS.
AND THE ENDURING RELATIONSHIP THAT EXISTS BETWEEN NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND THEIR TRADITIONAL TERRITORIES TO RECOGNIZE THE LAND IS AN EXPRESSION OF GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION TO THOSE WHOSE TERRITORY WE RESIDE ON, AND A WAY OF HONORING THE NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WHO HAVE BEEN LIVING AND WORKING ON THE LAND FROM TIME.
IM IN MEMORIAL LAND, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS DO NOT EXIST IN THE PAST TENSE OR HISTORICAL CONTEXT.
COLONIALISM IS A CURRENT AND ONGOING PROCESS, AND WE NEED TO BE MINDFUL THAT WE ARE PARTICIPATING IN IT BY LIVING ON COLONIZED LAND.
WE ACKNOWLEDGE WITH RESPECT THAT THE LAND WE ARE ON IS THE TRADITIONAL AND ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS OF THE TOWA, THE APACHE, THE PUEBLO, THE TRIBE, THE TEXAS BAND OF YAKI INDIANS, THE KLOK, AND ALL THE OTHER TRIBES, NOT EXPLICITLY STATED.
ADDITIONALLY, WE'D LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND PAY RESPECTS TO THE ALABAMA CROAT TRIBE OF TEXAS, THE OO TRIBE OF TEXAS, PUEBLO, WICHITA, CHICKA, AND WACO NATIONS, AND ALL THE NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND COMMUNITIES WHO HAVE BEEN OR HAVE BECOME PART OF THESE LANDS AND TERRITORIES IN TEXAS HERE ON TURTLE ISLAND, THE ORIGINAL LA NAME FOR THESE LANDS.
NOT ALL NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LISTED CLAIM TEXAS AS ANCESTRAL LAND, AND THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW AS MANY INDIGENOUS PEOPLE WERE FORCIBLY RELOCATED TO TEXAS FROM THEIR ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS.
IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE LONG HISTORY THAT HAS BROUGHT US TO RESIDE ON THE LAND AND TO SEEK AND ACKNOWLEDGE OUR PLACE WITHIN THAT HISTORY.
THE STATE OF TEXAS IS A PRODUCT OF VIOLENCE CARRIED OUT BY COLONIAL POWERS WHO WERE INVESTED IN UPHOLDING WHITE SUPREMACY.
MULTIPLE GENOCIDES WERE COMMITTED ON NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS PEOP AND ON NATIVE AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF CENTRAL TEXAS AS THEY WERE HUNTED, DETAINED, CONVERTED, AND COLONIZED IN SUCCESSIVE WAVES.
MANY PEOPLE WERE ALSO ASSIMILATED, INCLUDING MOST PEOPLE'S LA
WE'D ALSO LIKE TO NOTE THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS AN INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO HUMANITY'S LONG HISTORY OF INEQUALITY AND INJUSTICE PERPETUATED BY LEGACIES OF COLONIALISM AND SLAVERY BASED ON THE EXPLOITATION
[00:40:01]
OF PEOPLE LAND AND NATURE.TODAY, THE ONGOING DISPLACEMENT OF BLACK, INDIGENOUS AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR ON AUSTIN'S EAST SIDE IS CONNECTED TO LEGACIES OF EXTRACTED LABOR, THEFT OF LAND, TRANSFORMATION OF LANDSCAPES AND ERASURE OF CULTURES AND PURSUIT OF RESOURCES, COUNTRIES, COUNTIES, AND COUNTRIES DESTROYED MANY OF THESE ECOSYSTEMS AND TRADITIONAL HUMAN KNOWLEDGE AND INTERACTIONS NECESSARY FOR PREVENTING CLIMATE CHANGE.
THEREFORE, WE NEED TO BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT HOW WE BUILD RESPECT FOR THE LAND AND HER INDIGENOUS PEOPLES.
I THINK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, FOR LISTENING TO THAT.
UM, WE REALLY LIKE TO GIVE, UM, THE SPECIFIC LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT, AND ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF THE UNIQUE HISTORY THAT EXISTS HERE IN TEXAS.
UM, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, UH, SIX FLAGS IS, IS IS NOT JUST A THEME PARK.
UH, IT'S A, A TONE TO THE HISTORY, UH, OF TEXAS.
UH, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE SUCCESS OF WAVES, UH, UH, OF COLONIZATION THAT HAVE EX UH, HAVE BEEN IN THIS LAND, INCLUDING COLONIZATION, UM, FROM, UH, FROM SPAIN, UM, FROM THE, FROM THE FRENCH, UM, IN FRANCE, UM, FROM THE MEXICAN, UM, GOVERNMENT WHEN MEXICO WAS, UM, FORMED FROM THE STATE OF TEXAS WHEN IT WAS ITS OWN, UH, UM, COUNTRY, THE COUNTRY OF TEXAS, THEN TO THE UNITED STATES, AND THEN TO THE CONFEDERACY, AND THEN BACK TO THE UNITED STATES.
AND SOMETIMES I LIKE TO JOKE, WE'RE HAVING A SEVENTH WAVE OF COLONIZATION RIGHT NOW FROM CALIFORNIA AND THIS WHOLE WAVE OF NEW PEOPLE COMING IN.
UM, AND THE REASON WHY I KIND OF SPEAK TO THIS, UH, NOT ONLY TO TO JOKE ABOUT IT, BUT TO BE REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT THE FACT THAT, UM, WHAT THE EFFECT OF MULTIPLE WAVES OF COLON INSTITUTION DOES TO, TO PEOPLE AND TO THE LAND AND THE COMMUNITY.
AND WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SPECIFIC MAP THAT'S KIND OF ON THE SCREEN, IT KIND OF ONLY SHOWS A, A ONE OR TWO OR THREE, UM, OF ACTUAL RESERVATIONS THAT EXIST IN, IN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND THERE'S A REASON FOR THAT.
WHEN COLONIZATION GOT TO TEXAS, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF, OF OF, OF EUROPEAN SETTLERS, UH, COMING FROM, UM, THE EASTERN SHORE OF THE UNITED STATES NOW, UM, THEY REALIZED WHAT THAT RELATIONSHIP WAS, UM, WEREN'T IN TERMS OF WORKING WITH NATIVE, UM, COMMUNITIES, ISSUING TREATIES, UH, ET CETERA, WHICH MEANT, UH, SOME SORT OF CONCESSION OR NEGOTIATION WITH THOSE PEOPLE.
AND WHEN BY THE TIME THEY GOT HERE TO TEXAS, THEY WEREN'T WILLING AS MUCH TO PROVIDE THOSE CONCESSIONS TO.
AND THERE WAS A, A REALLY, UM, VIOLENT, UH, UH, PATTERN OF WHICH TRYING TO ERASE, UH, THE KNOWLEDGE, UH, UM, AND THE EXISTENCE OF THESE PEOPLE BY NOT ISSUING THEM TREATIES, BY NOT ISSUING THEM, UM, RESERVATIONS, ET CETERA.
AND TO ALSO THINK, AGAIN, TO AS KIND OF STATED IN, IN THAT LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF PEOPLE WHO WERE PUSHED TO THIS LAND, UM, FROM THEIR ANCESTRAL HOMELANDS ELSEWHERE, UH, IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES, UH, AND HOW THAT DIRECTLY AFFECTS, UH, THE COMMUNITY THAT CONTINUE TO EXIST HERE.
SO I'M GONNA MOVE ON JUST SLIGHTLY HERE, UM, ESPECIALLY SINCE THIS IS THE, YOU KNOW, WATER FORWARD PRESENTATION IN PARTICULAR.
UM, WE ALSO KIND OF WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE, UM, THE HISTORY, UM, OF, OF, OF THE SACRED WATERWAYS, UH, THAT EXIST, UH, HERE, UH, IN TEXAS, ESPECIALLY SPECIFICALLY HERE IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
UM, REALLY THINKING, UH, ABOUT THE EDWARDS TRINITY AQUIFERS AND HOW IT FEEDS, UM, ALL, UM, OF THE, WHAT WE'RE KNOWN TO NATIVE PEOPLES AS SACRED WATERWAYS, SACRED LANDS FOR CEREMONY, ET CETERA.
UH, INCLUDING THE SAN SOLOMON SPRINGS, COMANCHE SPRINGS, BLUE HOLE, KAMAL SPRINGS, SAN MARCO SPRINGS, BARTON SPRINGS, THE KRAUSE SPRINGS, AND JACOB SWELL, AND A FEW OTHERS.
UM, THIS PARTICULAR IMAGE THAT'S ON THE SCREEN, UM, IS ACTUALLY ART, UM, FROM THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO FROM NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES ACTUALLY MAPPING OUT THE DIFFERENT SACRED WATERWAYS THAT EXIST HERE IN CENTRAL TEXAS, UH, AND HOW THESE WERE FOR, YOU KNOW, CEREMONIAL PURPOSES.
AND FOR, UM, CEREMONY PURPOSES.
THIS WAS VERY SACRED, UM, FOR FOLKS.
AND THE FACT THAT Y'ALL TWO ARE INVOLVED IN THE STEWARDSHIP, UM, OF WATERWAYS THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE STEWARDSHIP OF NATIVE PEOPLE FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
AND TO ALSO KIND OF ACKNOWLEDGE THE HISTORY THAT WHEN COLONIZATION HAPPENED AND WHEN THE STATE OF TEXAS IN PARTICULAR WAS, WAS CREATED, UM, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WERE BARRED FROM ACCESSING THESE WATERWAYS WERE BARRED FROM ACCESSING THESE SPRINGS WERE BARRED FROM BEING ABLE TO PERFORM, UH, THEIR NATIVES, THEIR TRADITIONAL CEREMONIES ON THESE LANDS.
UM, AND THAT HISTORY OF EXCLUSION CONTINUED KIND OF INTO MORE OF OUR MODERN DAY WHEN WE THINK ABOUT JIM CROW, UH, AND, UM, AND RACISM, ESPECIALLY HERE IN TEXAS, HOW PEOPLE OF COLOR, BLACK PEOPLE, INDIGENOUS, UH, AND, AND HISPANIC LATINO PEOPLE CAUSE WE'RE BARRED FROM ACCESSING SO MANY OF THESE WATERWAYS, INCLUDING BARTON SPRINGS UNTIL, UH, THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.
UM, AND THAT THERE IS A VERY CONCERTED HISTORY OF, OF LOCAL ORGANIZING, ESPECIALLY HERE IN TEXAS, TO REGAIN ACCESS FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR, UM, FOR BARTON SPRINGS ITSELF.
UM, SO WE REALLY WANTED TO JUST TO, TO BRING IN THIS SPECIFIC PIECE, ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE WATERWAYS AND, AND THIS PARTICULAR HISTORY OF EXCLUSION, UH, AND HOW THE WORK THAT Y'ALL ARE DOING IS IN INTIMATELY TIED, UH, TO THAT HISTORY AND TO THAT LEGACY.
UH, AND THE WORK THAT Y'ALL DOING, ESPECIALLY AS STEWARDS OF THE WATERWAYS
[00:45:01]
HERE IN CENTRAL TEXAS ARE INTIMATELY CONNECTED, UH, TO INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES.AND FOR Y'ALL NOT TO FORGET THAT AND TO, AND TO THINK ABOUT HOW US FORGETTING THAT IS US PARTICIPATING IN THE ONGOING COLONIZATION AND ERASURE, UM, OF NATIVE PEOPLES
UM, AGAIN, THIS WAS AGAIN, JUST TALKING A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, ABOUT THE SPECIFIC TRIBES, UH, HERE IN, IN CENTRAL TEXAS, UM, AND WHICH I HAVE NAMED.
AND THEN MOVING FORWARD, WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND THINK MORE, UM, ABOUT MORE OF OUR MODERN HISTORY HERE IN TEXAS, STARTING WITH THE 1928 PLAN.
AND, AND EVERYONE WHO WENT BEFORE.
UM, YEAH, WE ARE, WE'RE DEFINITELY FAST FORWARDING A BIT INTO THE CITY'S FIRST OFFICIAL CITY PLAN, WHICH I'M SURE MANY OF Y'ALL KNOW ABOUT AND HAVE, UM, OR I DON'T KNOW IF YOU'VE, IF SEEN THE DOCUMENT.
UM, THERE ARE, UH, A COUPLE COPIES AT THE AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER, BUT, UM, THIS IS THE, THE TEMPLATE FOR CITY GROWTH, UM, THAT WE'VE HAD, UH, UNTIL ABOUT THE MID 1950S.
THIS WAS SORT OF OUR, OUR OFFICIAL CITY DOCUMENT, AND IT CREATED, UM, A LOT OF OUR CITY DEPARTMENTS LIKE PARKS AND REC, UM, AND IT, IT FORMALIZED, UM, HOW WE INTERACT WITH, UH, EACH OTHER AS DEPARTMENTS AND WITH THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE.
UM, AND AT THE TIME, COMMUNITY WAS REALLY ABOUT, UH, LANDOWNERS AND, UM, MAJORITY WHITE FOLKS, UH, IN THE AREA.
UM, BECAUSE AS YOU'LL, IF YOU'VE SEEN THE PLAN, YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE, UM, SPEC, THERE'S SPECIFIC LANGUAGE IN THERE TO TALK ABOUT HOW, UM, HAVING FOLKS OF COLOR LIVING, UH, THROUGHOUT AUSTIN, UM, WAS WHAT THEY DEEMED A RACE SEGREGATION PROBLEM, UM, IN THAT THEY, UH, CITY PLANNERS AT THE TIME COULD NOT, UM, LEGALLY SEGREGATE FOLKS, UM, BY RACE.
SO, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE CREATIVE AND, AND DID THIS IN OTHER WAYS.
AND SO, UM, FOR BLACK FOLKS SPECIFICALLY TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS CITY RESOURCES, UM, THEY NEEDED TO MOVE TO A VERY SPECIFIC PART OF CENTRAL, WHAT WE CALL CENTRAL EAST AUSTIN TODAY, UM, AT THE TIME WAS EAST, JUST EAST OF EAST AVENUE.
UM, AND THEN, UM, I SHOULD ALSO SAY THAT COMMONLY WE TALK ABOUT PEOPLE OF COLOR AND LATINOS IN THIS GROUP.
UM, THIS DOCUMENT DIDN'T EXPLICITLY NAME LATINOS IN, IN THE DOCUMENT, BUT BECAUSE THERE WERE, UM, PATTERNS OF SEGREGATION IN TERMS OF LIKE, UM, RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS AND DEEDS, UM, AND, UH, RISING PROPERTY TAXES, UM, LATINOS SORT OF FOLLOWED SUIT IN TERMS OF, UM, BEING DISPLACED FROM, UM, AREAS WHERE THEY WERE LIVING LIKE IN DOWNTOWN, UM, WHERE CITY HALL IS TODAY, THAT WAS A PREDOMINANTLY LATINO COMMUNITY.
REPUBLIC SQUARE IS THERE AND HAS A LONG HISTORY OF BEING A VERY IMPORTANT PLACE TO THE LATINOS IN THE, IN THE AREA.
UM, SO LIKE A DECADE LATER, UH, IN 1937, WE HAVE THE HOUSING ACT PASSED AN ESTABLISHED, UM, LBJ, UM, YOU KNOW, MANY FOLKS SAY TO BE A CHAMPION, UM, OF, OF SUBSIDIZED HOUSING.
UM, I WILL SAY THOUGH, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN WAS THE FIRST IN THE COUNTRY TO KIND OF EMBARK ON THIS, THIS WHAT THEY CALLED A PROJECT.
UM, AND, UH, WE HAVE SANITA COURTS AS THE VERY FIRST SUBSIDIZED HOUSING PROJECT IN, IN THE NATION, UM, AND IN AUSTIN, UM, FOLLOWED BY ROSEWOOD COURTS AND THEN CHALMERS.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, EL LBJ GAVE A FAMOUS RADIO ADDRESS, UM, CALLED TARNISH ON THE VIOLET, UH, ON THE VIOLET CROWN.
AND WHAT HE WAS SPEAKING ABOUT WAS EAST AUSTIN.
UM, HOW LOOKING OUT OF THE CAPITOL, UM, YOU KNOW, TOURING EAST AUSTIN, UM, HE DIDN'T LIKE WHAT HE SAW, UM, AND REALLY TALKED ABOUT ALL OF EAST AUSTIN, WHERE PREDOMINANTLY PEOPLE OF COLOR WERE BEING, UH, FORCED INTO.
UM, HE TALKED ABOUT IT AS A TARNISH, AS A STAIN, AS A BLIGHT, UM, ON OUR COMMUNITY.
DID HE CONSIDER IT A BLIGHT BECAUSE THE PROJECTS ARE BEING BUILT? OR DID HE CONSIDER THE PROJECTS LIKE THE, THE ACTUAL IDEA OF, OF THESE PROJECTS AND, AND, AND THE PEOPLE
[00:50:01]
AND ENFORCING PEOPLE INTO THEM, OR, YOU KNOW, HAVING THIS BE THE DESIGNATED AREA OR THE ACTUAL DEVELOPMENT ITSELF? I THINK IT WAS PROBABLY BOTH.UM, BUT WHAT SPURRED I THINK A LOT OF HIS ADVOCACY AROUND HOUSING, UM, WELL, I MEAN, IT WAS VERY POLITICAL, BUT UM, WASN'T OUT OF THIS KIND OF LIKE BENEVOLENT KIND OF ACT.
YOU KNOW, IT WAS, UM, HE DIDN'T LIKE WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN, IN EAST AUSTIN, UM, AND, YOU KNOW, BUT THAT WAS SORT OF LIKE REMOVED FROM CONTEXT IN TERMS OF HOW THE CITY REALLY CREATED THAT.
UM, AND SO, YEAH, I ALSO DO THINK ALONG WITH THE, WITH THE SUBSIDIZED HOUSING THAT CAME, THERE WAS STUFF LIKE URBAN, UH, RENEWAL PROJECTS THAT CAME SHORTLY AFTER AND FURTHER DISPLACED MORE FOLKS.
AND THIS WASN'T REALLY SOLVING THE ISSUE.
UM, IT WASN'T GETTING AT ANY SORT OF LIKE ROOT, ROOT ISSUE.
IT WAS, UM, NOW, OKAY, WE'RE GONNA COME AND BUY UP A LOT OF PROPERTY WHERE WE HAVE FORCED FOLKS TO COME AND LIKE LIVE ON THIS LAND.
UM, AND NOW WE'RE GONNA, YOU KNOW, TAKE THAT PROPERTY BACK THROUGH EMINENT DOMAIN AND BUILD PARKS, OUR RESOURCES AND AMENITIES WE NEED.
UM, BUT THERE WASN'T LIKE A CLEAR PATH FOR FOLKS TO, UM, GET BACK INTO HOUSING AFTER, UM, AFTER THEIR PROPERTY WAS SEIZED AND WITH, THERE WERE PROMISES OF THAT.
UM, SO A LOT OF PEOPLE ENDED UP BEING FUNNELED INTO THIS SUBSIDIZED HOUSING THAT WAS IN EAST AUSTIN NOW, UM, BECAUSE URBAN REMOVAL HAPPENED A FEW YEARS AFTER, YOU KNOW, THESE, THE HOUSING PROJECTS WERE BUILT, UM, AND WHAT YOU SEE HERE, IT'S ACTUALLY AN IMAGE FROM A COLLECTION AT THE AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER.
UM, A WHITE APPRAISER, UM, WAS GOING AROUND AND TAKING PHOTOS OF ALL THE, ALL THE PROPERTIES THAT WERE, UM, LIKELY GOING TO BE SEIZED.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, ALL, THERE'S SO MANY IMAGES WHERE THERE'S JUST, YOU KNOW, LITTLE KIDS PLAYING OUTSIDE, UM, UH, POSING FOR THE CAMERA, YOU KNOW, THIS IS SORT OF LIKE A NOVELTY HAVING THIS PERSON IN THEIR COMMUNITY, LIKE TAKING PHOTOS.
UM, AND SO, YEAH, IT'S, IT'S REALLY, UH, THESE IMAGES REALLY LIKE STRIKE A CHORD, UM, JUST TO SEE FOLKS LIVING AND SMILING AND UNBEKNOWNST TO THEM THAT THEY'RE, THEY WEREN'T GONNA HAVE A HOME TO LIVE IN NECESSARILY.
UM, SO YEAH, SO I THINK THESE IMAGES ARE REALLY POWERFUL.
I ALSO SAW ISHA LOOKING OVER AT ME.
IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU WANNA ADD, UM, YOU CAN JUMP IN.
WE'RE A HIGHLY COLLABORATIVE OFFICE.
WE DON'T GO ANYWHERE BY OURSELVES, SO THERE WE ALWAYS A CREW.
AND SO AS I SAID EARLIER, UM, THE 1928 PLAN KIND OF SERVED AS THE, UH, CITY'S OFFICIAL TEMPLATE FOR GROWTH UNTIL THE FIFTIES.
AND THIS WAS THE, THE NEXT PLAN.
AND THIS IS WHERE, UM, UH, REALLY SOLIDIFIED INDUSTRIAL USE IN, IN EAST AUSTIN.
UM, AND SO RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL WERE KIND OF COINCIDING IN, IN THIS, UM, BECAUSE OF THIS PLAN.
UM, AND THEN OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY AS WELL, BUT IT WAS REALLY CONCENTRATED IN, IN EAST AUSTIN.
UH, SO I KNOW YOU CAN'T READ IT AND IT'S, IT'S A BIT BLURRY, BUT THESE PLANS ALSO, UM, KIND OF LIVE AT THE AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER.
UH, AND THAT'S WHERE, THAT'S WHERE THEY'RE FROM.
UM, YEAH, I'M JUST GONNA MOVE FORWARD.
I KNOW WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME.
UM, AND THEN AGAIN, WE HAVE ANOTHER PLAN AFTER THAT FROM THE EIGHTIES.
UM, AND THIS IS SORT OF WHERE WE START PLACING, WELL, WE'VE BEEN PLACING VALUE AS A CITY ON CERTAIN AREAS OF TOWN OVER OTHERS.
UM, BUT THIS IS WHERE WE START DEEMING WHAT HAS ENVIRONMENTAL OR QUA AGRICULTURAL VALUE.
AND, UM, THIS IS WHERE, YOU KNOW, OUT OF THIS, LIKE IN THE NINETIES, IS WHEN WE, UH, HAVE THE DESIRE DEVELOPMENT ZONE KIND OF BE CREATED IN EAST AUSTIN VERSUS THE DRINKING WATER PROTECTION ZONE IN WEST AUSTIN.
UM, AND SO WEST AUSTIN'S LANDSCAPES AND, UM, EVERYTHING THAT PART OF TOWN, UH, WAS VALUED SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER.
AND WE SEE HOW THAT IS REALLY TIED TO PEOPLE.
UM, AND SO IF WE WERE TO LOOK AT A MAP, IT WOULD BE KIND OF DIVIDED ALONG LIKE WHAT ANNA SHOWED EARLIER.
UM, IT WOULD STILL BE DIVIDED ALONG THOSE LINES OF LIKE, WHAT HAS A, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE VERSUS
[00:55:01]
WHERE WE DON'T.UM, AND THAT'S ALSO TIED TO PEOPLE.
AND SO WE DIDN'T SHOW IT, BUT I'M SURE YOU AL ALSO HAVE SEEN THE, THE REDLINING MAPS, UM, FROM THE THIRTIES.
AND OUR MAPS TODAY LOOK VERY SIMILAR TO THAT IN TERMS OF, UM, WHERE YOU COULD ACCESS MORTGAGES IF YOU'RE A PERSON OF COLOR, UH, WAS ONLY IN THESE REDLINED AREAS AND THAT REDLINED AREA WAS, UM, ALSO DEEMED HAZARDOUS.
AND SO YOU SEE AGAIN, LIKE HOW WE'VE BEEN KIND OF APPLYING VALUE TO PEOPLE, UM, NOT WHO LIVE IN CERTAIN PARTS OF, OF AUSTIN.
UM, AND, AND SO WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE VALUE OF LAND, WE'RE NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT LAND, WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES AND, UM, THAT'S KIND OF ALWAYS HOW WE'VE DONE THAT.
AND YOU KIND OF SEE IT RECREATED THROUGHOUT THESE PLANS.
UM, WE, YEAH, WE ALSO HAVE A FEW SLIDES ABOUT, UH, AUSTIN'S CONTINUOUS, UH, DECLINE IN IN OUR BLACK POPULATION.
THIS IS A STUDY FROM A DECADE AGO, BUT, UM, IT'S STILL REALLY RELEVANT.
AND WHEN, YOU KNOW, THIS PATTERN BECAME A PATTERN, UM, THERE, THIS, UH, PROFESSOR DR.
TANG, UM, AT UT AUSTIN, UH, YOU KNOW, DID THESE LIKE SURVEYS.
UM, AND THE TOP REASON FOLKS WERE LEAVING WAS, WAS FOR BECAUSE OF AFFORDABILITY OR LACK OF AFFORDABILITY.
UM, YOU'LL SEE THE THIRD, UH, REASON TOP REASON WAS RACISM, UH, RACISM AND A FEELING OF, UH, UNWELCOMENESS IN, IN AUSTIN.
UM, AND SO I THINK THIS ALSO IS SORT OF A PRODUCT OF THESE DECADES AND DECADES OF DISINVESTMENT IN OUR COMMUNITIES, UH, OF COLOR, PARTICULARLY ON THE EAST SIDE.
I'M GONNA PASS IT BACK TO, TO JEREMY.
ALL RIGHT, Y'ALL, WE'D LIKE TO, UH, SEGUE A LITTLE BIT INTO THIS HISTORY ABOUT THE TANK FARMS HERE IN EAST AUSTIN, CUZ WE THINK IT'S REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT, UH, TO CONSIDER, UM, HOW THE LOCAL KIND OF HISTORY OF RACISM AND THE VIOLENCE THAT KIND OF PERPETUATES ON OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES IN PARTICULAR.
UM, FOR 35 YEARS, THE TANK FARMS, UM, WERE A COMPLEX, A PETROLEUM AND CHEMICAL TANKS OWNED BY MAJOR OIL COMPANIES THAT WERE HELD IN LARGE AMOUNTS OF FUEL AND TOXIC CHEMICALS IN, IN THE HEART OF EAST AUSTIN.
SO AGAIN, JUST THINKING ABOUT THE HISTORY THAT YOU JUST HEARD ABOUT, UM, UH, INSIDE A PUSH TO, FOR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR TO BE PUT INTO THIS PARTICULAR AREA OF TOWN, AND THEN FOR THE CITY TO GO ABOUT PUTTING A, A LARGE CHEMICAL TAR, UH, UH, TANK FARM RIGHT IN THE HEART OF IT, UH, THE TANK FARMS WERE DEVELOPED AS PETROLEUM PRODUCT STORAGE FACILITY AND WHAT USED TO BE PECAN GROVE IN EAST AUSTIN STARTING IN 1948 AND OVER TIME THE TANK FARM EXPANDED UNTIL IT GREW INTO A 52 ACRE INDUSTRIAL SITE RIGHT AT THE, UH, CORNER OF SPRINGDALE ROAD AND AIRPORT BOULEVARD.
WHICH DRIVE OVER THERE THESE DAYS LOOKS VERY DIFFERENT, THAT'S FOR SURE.
THE SITE WAS OPERATED BY SIX, UH, CO-LOCATED MAJOR OIL COMPANIES THAT INCLUDED CHEVRON STAR ENTERPRISE, CITIGO, UM, COASTAL STATES, EXXON, AND MOBILE.
THEY HOUSED MORE THAN 10 MILLION GALLONS OF TOXIC FUEL.
UM, MOST OF THE FUEL, OF COURSE WENT TO POWERING THE LOCAL AUSTIN REGION.
AND, AND THEY WERE STORED IN ABOVE GROUND STORAGE TANKS, UM, ADJACENT RIGHT NEXT TO RESIDENTIAL HOMES AND WITH ONE WITHIN ONE MILE OF SEVERAL SCHOOLS.
UM, MOST OF AUSTIN'S ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION RESOURCES, OF COURSE, HAVE BEEN DEVOTED TO IMPROVEMENTS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE CITY AND HAVE BEEN PRIMARILY, UH, BEEN DESIGNED TO PROTECT THE WATERSHEDS IN THOSE AREAS.
THUS, ON THE WEST SIDE, THE CITY GOVERNMENT BOUGHT LARGE TRACKS OF LAND, PUT EASEMENT ON DEEDS, AND WE SOLD THE PARCELS TO THE ORIGINAL LANDOWNERS OR TO A LAND TRUST IN ORDER TO PROTECT THE AQUIFER AND WILDLIFE, WHILE THE EAST SIDE WAS A CONCENTRATION OF INDUSTRY AND POLLUTION.
SO, UM, WE DO HAVE, UM, A VIDEO TESTIMONIAL, UM, UM, THAT IS INCREDIBLY POWERFUL.
UM, SPECIFICALLY, UH, ABOUT THIS HISTORY.
UM, I DON'T BELIEVE WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHARE IT OUT TODAY JUST BECAUSE, UM, WE'RE LIMITED ON TIME, BUT I AM GONNA SEE IF I CAN, BUT I AM GONNA SEE IF I CAN SHARE THE LINK PERHAPS WITH Y'ALL STAFF LIAISON TO BE SHARED OUT TO ALL, UM, THE COMMISSIONERS CUZ IT'S AN INCREDIBLY POWERFUL TESTIMONY TO HEAR.
DO Y'ALL HAVE TIME? WE HAVE TIME.
LET ME SEE IF I CAN, UM, FIND IT.
WHAT IS RIGHT HERE? MAYBE YOU HAVE TAKEN OUT THINKING THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE TIME.
YEAH, Y'ALL ARE GOING, Y'ALL ARE GOING QUICKLY.
WE HAVE ONE OTHER AGENDA ITEM AFTER THE CENTER.
SO IS IT ON THIS SLIDE THAT IT IS OR DO WE TAKE THAT OUT? YEAH, I THINK IT SHOULD BE, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO CLICK INTO IT AND PUSH PLAY.
SO IF THE PERSON WHO'S CONTROLLING THE SCREEN RIGHT NOW, IF THEY CAN MAYBE CLICK INTO THAT SCREEN, THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY THESE TESTIMONIALS.
IT'S NOT, I MIGHT BE ABLE, OH, IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S NOT WORKING ON IT.
[01:00:01]
OKAY.IT LOOKS LIKE OUR EMBEDDED LINK MAY NOT BE WORKING, UM, AT THE CURRENT MOMENT, BUT LIKE I SAID, I'M REALLY INTERESTED IN SHARING THIS OUT WITH ALL OF Y'ALL TO BE ABLE TO HEAR THE FOLKS KIND OF IN, IN THEIR OWN VOICE.
AND I CAN KIND OF PROVIDE A SUMMARY TOO, UM, OF SOME OF THE, THE WORK THAT THEY DID.
UH, IT STARTED IN 1991, ABOUT 31 YEARS AGO, UH, TO EAST AUSTIN GRASSROOTS, UM, ORGANIZATIONS JOINED TOGETHER TO ADVOCATE FOR THE SHUTDOWN AND THE REMOVAL OF THE TANK FARMS, THE EAST AUSTIN STRATEGY TEAM AS WELL AS PODER, WHICH STANDS FOR PEOPLE ORGANIZED IN DEFENSIVE EARTH AND HER RESOURCES.
AND, UH, TOGETHER PODER AND EAST BEGAN MEETING WITH COMMUNITY AND LOBBYING LOCAL, STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, UH, TO REALLY TAKE ON, UH, ACTION, UH, FOR THIS ISSUE.
UM, THEY WERE EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL, ESPECIALLY IN BRINGING TOGETHER, UM, THE GALVANIZING SUPPORT FROM THE MAINSTREAM ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS THAT WERE PREDOMINANTLY WHITE AND PREDOMINANTLY FOCUSED ON ISSUES OF WEST AUSTIN, LIKE PROTECTING BARTON SPRINGS, BARTON CREEK, AND THE EDWARDS AQUIFER.
AND YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT LIKE THE HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTALISM IN THE UNITED STATES.
I MEAN, AUSTIN HOLDS A VERY SIGNIFICANT PIECE IN THAT HISTORIC, IN THAT HISTORY, ESPECIALLY BECAUSE OF THE ADVOCACY THAT HAD EXISTED IN WEST AUSTIN.
AND FOR THIS PARTICULAR MOMENT TO KIND OF BE A WEDDING OF, OF THESE KIND OF MORE WHITE AFFLUENT, UH, ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS, UH, TOGETHER WITH WORKING CLASS COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND THE EAST SIDE.
IT WAS A VERY SIGNIFICANT MOMENT IN THAT HISTORY, UH, IN TERMS OF COLLABORATING AND CROSS COALITION BUILDING, HOW IT WAS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THE EAST AUSTIN LEADERS SUCH AS, UM, PODER REALLY MOTIVATED THE COMMUNITY TO SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES SO THEY COULD TACKLE THESE PROBLEMS ON THEIR OWN, NOT NEAT AND AS NOT TO SAY THAT NEEDED WHITE PEOPLE IN ORDER FOR THIS TO, TO BE SEEN AND TO BE HEARD, BUT THE FACT THAT THEY COULD BE EMPOWERED IN THEMSELVES TO TELL HER OWN STORIES.
UM, BUT LIKE I SAID, THERE WAS A LOT OF COALITION BUILDING LAWS WORKING TOGETHER.
AND AGAIN, I WISH WE COULD GET THAT VIDEO WORKING BECAUSE IT KIND OF REALLY SHOWED US A LOT OF THAT ADVOCACY, A LOT OF THE PROTESTS THAT EXISTED AND EAST AUSTIN IN PARTICULAR AT THAT TIME.
AND, AND TO HEAR IT FROM THEIR OWN WIMS, LIKE I SAID, IS REALLY POWERFUL.
BUT KIND OF MOVING FORWARD, UM, THE EAST AUSTINSON COMMUNITY LEADERS CONTINUED TO BRING ATTENTION TO THIS CASE BY RALLYING OUTSIDE OF THE TANK FARM AND DEMANDING THAT THE TANK FARM BE CLOSED, UM, THE CONTAMINATION BE CLEANED UP AND A HEALTH CLINIC BE OPENED, AND A STUDY TO ALSO BE CONDUCTED, UH, TO UNDERSTAND THE HEALTH EFFECTS, UM, AND FOR ALSO FOR THE RESIDENTS TO BE COMPENSATED FOR THEIR DEVALUED HOMES.
AND, UM, BY THE END OF MAY OF THAT YEAR, FOUR OF THE SIX OIL COMPANIES WERE PROPO WERE PROPOSING CLEANUP PLANS FOR THE TANK FARMS. HOWEVER, A COUPLE YEARS LATER IN 1993, UH, EXXON, THE LARGEST OF THE SIX COMPANIES AND THE LAST ONE HOLDING OUT FINALLY AGREED TO SHUT DOWN THEIR OPERATIONS.
HOWEVER, THE SHUTDOWN OF THESE OIL TANK FARMS WAS, WAS NOT THE END OF THE SAGA.
UM, WHILE THE OIL COMPANIES STARTED DISMANTLING THE TANK FARMS IN 92.
IT TOOK MANY, MANY MORE YEARS FOR THEM TO CLEAN UP THE CONTAMINATION AROUND THE SITE.
AND MANY MORE YEARS OF WORK FOR THE EAST AUSTIN COMMUNITY AND LOCAL AND STATE MONITORING BEFORE THE OIL COMPANIES REACHED THE CLEANING REQUIREMENTS.
AND OF COURSE, THERE WAS ALSO A CIVIL SUIT INVOLVING MORE THAN 170 RESIDENTS.
WHOM'S HOMES, UM, WERE SPECIFICALLY DEVALUED BECAUSE OF CONTAMINATION FROM THE TANK FARM THAT WASN'T SETTLED UNTIL 1996.
AND OF COURSE, BIG SURPRISE, THE CITY WAS THE LAST PLAINTIFF TO SETTLE IN 1997.
SO FAST FORWARDING A COUPLE OF YEARS, AGAIN, WE'RE HERE IN DECEMBER, 2008.
NOW 15 YEARS AFTER THE FACILITY CLOSED, WHEN THE TEXAS COMMISSIONED ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY DECLARED THAT THE OIL COMPANIES HAD FINISHED THE CLEANUP REQUIREMENTS ON THE TANK FORMS. HOWEVER, THAT DECLARATION THAT IT WAS CLEANED UP.
AS WE KNOW IN OUR GREAT STATE OF TEXAS, THE STATE REGULATIONS, UM, FOR QUAL CLEANUP QUALITY IS NOT NEARLY WHAT IT SHOULD BE.
AND MANY OF THE POLLUTIONS REMAINED ON THE TANK FARM PROPERTY, CUZ AGAIN, THE STATE DOES NOT REQUIRE THE COMPANIES TO REMOVE AT ALL.
THE STATE LAW SETS TWO STANDARDS FOR CLEANUP.
THE HIGHER STANDARD WILL REQUIRE THEM TO REMOVE ALL OF THE POLLUTANTS TO ALLOW RESIDENTIAL USE ON THE PROPERTY.
ALTERNATIVELY, PROPERTY OWNERS CAN APPLY FOR DEED RESTRICTIONS TO PREVENT ANY FUTURE RESIDENTIAL USE OF THE CONTAMINATED PROPERTY AS A METHOD TO, TO PREVENT FUTURE EXPOSURE IN LIEU OF ACTUALLY REMOVING THE CONTAMINANTS.
OF COURSE, THE TANK FARM OIL COMPANIES MOSTLY CHOSE THE LOWER STANDARD, ALLOWING THE COMPANIES TO LEAVE MORE POLLUTION ON THE SITE AS LONG AS THE REMAINING CHEMICALS WOULD NOT MIGRATE ONTO SURROUNDING PROPERTIES.
AND THIS STANDARD LIMITS TO THE PROPERTY, TO NON-RESIDENTIAL USES ONLY.
OF COURSE, ANYONE GOING AROUND ESAU IN THESE DAYS KNOWS THAT IT'S, UH, LOTS OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY, UM, POPPING UP OVER THERE.
AND IN MAY, 2020 IN THE LAND THAT, UM, WHERE THE TANK FARMS ACTUALLY STOOD, THE J PAUL COMPANY BROUGHT IN, UH, CITY NEW DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL TO TRANSFORM THE 30 ACRE SITE INTO A MIXED USE, UH, PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENT CALLED SPRINGDALE GREEN.
UM, LAND IS ALREADY BROKEN THERE.
I'M SURE EVERYONE CAN SEE THE BIG CRANES, UM, THAT ARE THERE IN EAST AUSTIN.
THAT IS EXACTLY WHERE THE TANK FARM IS TO BE.
AND NOW IT'S GOING TO BE A HUGE REDEVELOPMENT, WHICH I, YOU KNOW, IS A GOOD THING.
BUT WHEN WE THINK ABOUT ACCESS AND EQUITY, UH, WHO IS MOST LIKELY GONNA BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO LIVE IN THOSE NEW DEVELOPMENT HOUSING, I CAN GUARANTEE THAT IS MOST
[01:05:01]
LIKELY NOT GONNA BE WORKING CLASS PEOPLE OF COLOR.UM, AT LEAST BY THE STANDARDS OF THE OTHER HOUSING THAT CURRENTLY EXIST IN EAST AUSTIN, THEREFORE, CONTRIBUTING TO A PUSHING OUT OF PEOPLE.
AND SO, NOT ONLY DID THE CITY OF AUSTIN, SO THE CITY GOVERNMENT ITSELF PUSH PEOPLE TO THIS PARTICULAR LAND AND THEN CREATED POLICIES, THE POISON THAT PEOPLE ON THAT LAND BY DESIGNATING IT AS AN INDUSTRIAL ZONE.
NOW HERE WE ARE, UH, IN OUR CONTEMPORARY MOMENT WHERE THERE'S A GREAT REDEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA, BUT WHO IS GONNA BENEFIT AND WHO IS GONNA PROFIT AND WHO'S GONNA BE ABLE TO GAIN WEALTH FROM THAT LAND? IT'S MOST LIKELY GOING TO BE UPPER CLASS, UM, WHITE DEVELOPERS, ET CETERA, UNLESS SO FOR THE COMMUNITIES THAT ACTUALLY LIVED AND EXISTED THERE THROUGHOUT THIS HISTORY.
UM, SO LIKE I SAID, WE REALLY LIKE TO BRING THAT UP AGAIN TO THINKING, UM, ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT AND HOW THIS INTERSECTS HOW, UM, COALITION BUILDING, ESPECIALLY INTERRACIAL COALITION BUILDING IS.
THERE'S A HISTORY OF THAT IN OUR, IN OUR, IN OUR CITY.
UM, BUT ALSO A VERY, UH, DEDICATED LEGACY OF THE DECISIONS THAT THE CITY ITSELF AS AN ENTITY CREATED, UM, THAT PERPETUATED INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF HARM.
AND THAT CONTINUES TO PERPETUATE INCREDIBLE AMOUNTS OF DISPLACEMENT.
AND THERE, THERE, THERE ARE STILL THE SAME NO FORMS OF OPERATIONS OR ANY TYPE OF JUSTICE.
IF WE CAN THINK ABOUT WHAT JUSTICE WOULD LOOK LIKE FOR THIS CASE, UM, TO THINK ABOUT THE COMMUNITIES IN PARTICULAR WHOSE LIVES WERE LOST DUE TO THAT, THOSE CONTAMINATION IN THE CANCER, ET CETERA.
DO WE, DO WE HAVE TIME TO PLAY IT? THAT'S THE END OF MY SPEECH, BUT IF PEOPLE WANTED TO, TO LISTEN, UH, IT'S ABOUT SEVEN MINUTES LONG.
I'M NOT SURE HOW WE ARE ON TIME.
WE JUST WANNA RESERVE 30 MINUTES AT THE END OF THE MEETING, SO FROM ONE 30 TO TWO TO HAVE OUR LAST PRESENTATION.
SO NOT SURE HOW MUCH MORE TIME YOU WANT FOR SLIDES AND THEN POTENTIALLY DISCUSSION WITH THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
STARTING BACK IN JANUARY, 1992, RESIDENTS OF EAST AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOODS DISCOVERED THAT MOBILE OIL COMPANY WAS SEEKING TO EXPAND ITS FACILITIES.
THE MOBILE OIL FACILITY IS IN A RESIDENTIAL AREA, AND THERE ARE AT LEAST SIX SCHOOLS LOCATED WITHIN A ONE MILE RADIUS OF MOBILE OIL CONCERNED.
RESIDENTS STARTED ASKING QUESTIONS AND BY FEBRUARY STORIES WERE BEING REPORTED ALMOST EVERY DAY IN THE NEWSPAPERS AND ON TV HEADLINES ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH, RED GAS STORAGE SITES, FUEL DEBATE, EAST AUSTIN GROUP'S FEAR NEARBY TANKS CAUSING ILLNESSES.
TWO DAYS LATER ON THURSDAY, AIR TESTS WERE TAKEN IN THE TANK AREA, STATE OF TEXAS AIR CONTROL BOARD.
ON FRIDAY THE 14TH, THE RESULTS OF WATER AND SOIL TESTS WERE ANNOUNCED.
THE FRONT PAGE HEADLINE, READ EAST AUSTIN SOIL WATER CONTAMINATED FUEL SITE TESTS SHOW HIGH LEVEL OF CARCINOGEN RESIDENTS IN THE AREA ARE MEETING AND SPEAKING OUT AMONG THEMSELVES AND IN PUBLIC ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES OF LIVING BY WHAT IS NOW KNOWN AS THE TANK FARM.
I'VE BEEN GETTING REAL BAD HEADACHES FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS NOW.
UM, MY, EVERYTHING IN MY HOUSE SHAKES FROM THE VIBRATION FROM THE TANKS, AND, UH, THE TREES ARE DYING BACK THERE.
THEY'RE ALL ALMOST ALL DEAD BACK THERE.
THE WHEN IT RAINS ALL OR WHATEVER, ALL THAT, YOU KNOW, STUFF JUST COMES DOWN FROM THOSE BERMS THAT ARE RIGHT IN THE BACK OF THE HOUSE.
SO THAT'S WHAT I HAVE TO SAY IS JUST TERRIBLE BACK THERE.
ABOUT JUST ABOUT THREE OR FOUR MONTHS, ONE BUNCH OF BREAK OUT AND THEY'RE BUSTING DRY.
THEN ANOTHER BUNCH OF OUT PAT.
MY CHILD HAS BEEN SICK AND THEY SAID HE WAS, IT WAS A CONDITIONING OF HIS BLOOD.
A BLOOD CELLS OR BLOOD COUNT WAS DOWN.
BUT IT'S, IT'S JUST CUZ KIND OF STRANGE THAT ANOTHER CHILD ALSO HAS IT AND MAYBE DOWN THE ROAD THERE'S ANOTHER ONE AND THEY'RE DIAGNOSING IT AT THE SAME THING.
I WANNA SEE IF MAYBE THERE IS, I'M SAYING THERE IS AND IT'S NOT.
MAYBE TOO, THERE IS SOMETHING THERE WITH THAT GAS TANK THAT ARE AFFECTING THESE CHILDREN AND RASHES.
ALL THESE RASHES, THEY'RE, THEY'RE COMING ON, UM, A LOT OF WHERE THEY CAN'T BREATHE.
NOSE BLEEDS, NO APPARENT REASON.
I MEAN, ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE THEY ARE WITH NOSE BLEEDS, SO LET'S GO THAT WAY.
THESE LADIES, I'VE GONE AND SEEN THEM PICKING UP THESE QUESTIONNAIRES.
[01:10:01]
HAVE HEADACHES.THEY, THEY DON'T, THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY'RE COMING FROM.
I HAVE LIVED IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD FOR 28 YEARS, GOING ON 29 YEARS NOW.
I RAISED, UH, ALL MY KIDS DOWN HERE.
I RAISED 11 KIDS AND I HAVE 28 GRANDCHILDREN.
SO YOU, UM, UNDERSTAND THE WAY I FELT.
I HAVE, I HAVE LIVED A CONTENDED LIFE TILL JANUARY OF THIS YEAR WHEN I FOUND OUT IN ALL THESE YEARS WE'VE BEEN, UH, ASLEEP.
WE MIGHT, MIGHT MIGHT SAY THAT WE'VE BEEN ASLEEP.
WE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT WAS GOING ON.
YOU KNOW, WE, UH, WE USED TO HAVE HEADACHES AND, AND THIS AND THAT, YOU KNOW, NOSE BLEEDS, ITCHY, WATERY EYES.
AND WE USED TO TAKE ASPIRIN AND, YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES GO TO THE DOCTOR.
I HAVE A SON THAT IS, HE'S GOT A, A A PROBLEM WITH, UH, LIKE ALLERGIC, YOU KNOW, HE'S GOT, UH, HIS NOSE.
AND HE'S, UH, ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, SICK.
I HAVE TAKEN HIM TO THE DOCTOR.
HE'S, THEY THINK THAT SHE'S ALLERGIC TO THIS AND THAT.
HE GOES OFF TO CAMP AND HE SAY HE FEELS GREAT OUT THERE, BUT AS SOON AS HE COMES BACK INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD, HE'S THE SAME PROBLEM ALL OVER AGAIN.
I HAD BOUGHT SOME PROPERTY HERE.
IF I HAD KNOWN THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW, I WOULD'VE NEVER BOUGHT ANY PROPERTY OUT HERE WHEN I FIRST MOVE OUT HERE.
THAT, THAT WENT, UH, I THINK WE'RE ONLY THREE, UH, TANKS OUT HERE.
AND NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY'RE, THEY'RE JUST MOVING.
THEY'RE, THEY'RE MOVING INTO THE, INTO THE PEOPLE'S BACKYARD.
THEY'RE KILLING US WITH THEIR ADMISSIONS THAT THEY'RE GASOLINE AND WHATEVER THE THEY ADVANCING AND ALL THIS, THEY'RE, THEY'RE KILLING US.
WHOSE PROBLEM IS IT? IT'S CERTAINLY NOT OURS.
WE DIDN'T, WE DIDN'T, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT INVADING THEM.
THE GAS TANKS, IF THERE'S NO CONTAMINATION OF WHY DID THEY DEVALUE OUR HOMES AROUND HERE? ME, I'M ALREADY HALFWAY THERE, BUT I, I, I DON'T CARE.
BUT I'M CONCERNED IS ABOUT MY, MY GRANDCHILDREN HERE, THE, THE LITTLE THE LITTLE KIDS THAT WILL COME.
THAT'S OUR FUTURE RIGHT THERE.
MOVE THOSE TANKS, MOVE THOSE TANKS, MOVE THOSE TANKS, MOVE THOSE TANKS, MOVE THOSE TANKS, MOVE THOSE TANKS, MOVE THOSE TANKS, MOVE THOSE.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR, UM, FOR WATCHING THAT.
I'M GLAD THAT WE WERE ABLE TO GET IT ON THERE.
UM, I THINK THAT IT'S SO IMPORTANT FOR US TO, UH, TO KNOW THESE HISTORIES BECAUSE WITHOUT KNOWING THE HISTORY, IT WILL REPEAT ITSELF.
AND, AND SADLY, IT HAS REPEAT ITSELF.
THIS, THIS CALENDAR YEAR ACTUALLY.
UM, THE, WITH THE EXPANSION THAT'S HAPPENING AT THE CITY AIRPORT, UM, THEY'RE EXPANDING FUEL TANKS, UH, SIT VERY SIMILAR TO THE ONES THAT WERE HERE.
UM, AND THEY ARE LOCATED WITHIN 500 FEET OF RESIDENTIAL HOMES, UM, WHERE THAT IS PREDOMINANTLY LATINX, LATINO, LATINA, HISPANIC.
SO THERE'S A REASON WHY THIS HAPPENS.
UM, AND, UH, WE REALLY HAVE TO UNDER UNDERSCORE IT, AND ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF THE RELEVANCE TO THE WORK THAT YOUR COMMISSION DOES, UH, NOT ONLY IN TERMS OF, OF ENVIRONMENTALISM AND IN STEWARDSHIPS OF THE WATERWAYS, ET CETERA, UM, BUT JUST ALSO THINKING ABOUT THE IMPACT THAT IT HAS, UM, ON UNC COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, UH, IN LOW INCOME COMMUNITIES, AND THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT WE ALL HAVE, UM, TO KNOW THIS HISTORY SO THAT IT DOESN'T REPEAT ITSELF.
UM, AND TO DO OUR WORK TO ADVOCATE AND TO BE ABLE TO UPLIFT OTHER COMMUNITIES AS WELL, UH, IN SOLIDARITY.
AND I THINK WE CAN GO BACK TO OUR PRESENTATION AND I THINK WE JUST HAVE A LITTLE BIT LEFT, UH, IN THERE FOR
[01:15:01]
YEAH, THANK YOU, JEREMY.UM, I'VE SEEN THIS VIDEO A COUPLE OF TIMES AND IT'S, YOU KNOW, IT NEVER GETS EASIER TO WATCH.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH THAT WAS 30 YEARS AGO, LIKE JEREMY WAS SAYING, UM, THIS IS A CONTINUED REALITY THAT WE'RE FACING AND, UH, PEOPLE THAT WORK IN THE CITY TODAY ARE CONTINUING TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT AFFECT, UM, YOU KNOW, NA WORKING, UH, AND POOR BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES IN THIS CITY.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, I CON WE CONSIDERED TALKING MORE ABOUT THE JET FUEL TANKS THAT ARE GOING IN AT THE AIRPORT, UM, BUT FELT THAT, YOU KNOW, FOR THIS GROUP, THIS EXAMPLE MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, LIKE ON THEME.
SO, UH, JUST, YOU KNOW, LIKE I WAS SAYING, PEOPLE OFTEN THINK THAT THESE EFFECTS OF RACISM ARE A THING OF THE PAST.
THAT THIS HISTORY IS NOT, UM, CONTINUED INTO OUR PRESENT DAY.
UM, BUT WE'VE SEEN, UH, WE'VE SEEN THE PRIORITIZATION OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT, UM, AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, UM, JUST THIS YEAR AND IN THE PAST FEW YEARS WITH THE BUILDING OF THE TESLA GIGAFACTORY, UM, IN DEL VALLEY.
AND, UM, SO THE PROPERTY THAT THE ONE 30, UM, AND PART OF THE TRACT OF LAND IS IN AUSTIN WATER JURISDICTION.
UM, BUT THE EASTERN TRACT, UM, IS IN HORNSBY BEND UTILITY, WHICH IS A SUBSIDIARY OF SOUTHWEST WATER COMPANY.
UM, AND SO THIS, UH, PRIVATE WATER COMPANY, UM, IS MORE EXPENSIVE.
THE QUALITY IS NOT AS GOOD AS AUSTIN WATER.
UM, AND THE GIGAFACTORY WANTED TO GET ALL OF THE PROPERTY, UM, ON AUSTIN WATER.
AND SO THERE'S, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF RESEARCH ABOUT HOW MUCH WATER THESE PLANTS USE, UM, AND WHETHER OR NOT, UH, THE STATED AMOUNT THAT THEY WILL USE IS ACTUALLY LIKE WHAT, UH, WHAT ENDS UP BEING USED, UM, YOU KNOW, OVER THE YEARS.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS, UM, THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, THAT REALLY ILLUSTRATES THIS POINT IS THAT, UM, TESLA WAS ABLE TO, UH, GET AN EXPEDITED RELEASE FROM SOUTHWEST WATER COMPANY, UM, WHILE THERE'S LOW INCOME NEIGHBORHOODS IN HORNSBY BEND THAT REMAIN ON THIS PRIVATE UTILITY.
UM, AND IT'S JUST, UH, ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF HOW PEOPLE THAT THESE SYSTEMS ARE BUILT FOR, UM, CERTAIN PEOPLE, AND THEY'RE, IT'S EASY FOR THEM TO NAVIGATE.
UM, IF, YOU KNOW, IF TESLA WANTS AUSTIN WATER, TESLA'S GONNA GET IT.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, THIS NEIGHBORHOOD GARDEN VALLEY, UM, HOW DO THEY GET ON THIS BETTER QUALITY WATER? UM, YOU KNOW, THEY DON'T HAVE LAWYERS OR PEOPLE TO, UM, TO HELP THEM NAVIGATE THAT PROCESS.
SO, UM, THIS WAS JUST LAST YEAR THAT IT KIND OF WENT THROUGH.
UM, AND A LOT OF TIMES, UH, THIS STUFF HAPPENS KIND OF UNDER THE RADAR BEFORE THE PUBLIC REALLY KNOWS ABOUT IT.
UM, BY THE TIME, YOU KNOW, BY THE TIME NEIGHBORS FIND OUT ABOUT IT, IT'S, IT'S ALMOST LIKE TOO LATE FOR THEM TO DO ANYTHING.
UM, SO WE WANTED TO INCLUDE THAT.
I INCLUDED, I KNOW THAT, UH, OUR, OUR COLLEAGUES ARE GONNA SHARE THIS PRESENTATION WITH YOU.
SO I, I RECOMMEND AND URGE Y'ALL TO CHECK OUT THE SOURCES THAT ARE LINKED AT THE BOTTOM.
UM, IT TALKS A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THIS ISSUE, UM, AND SPECIFICALLY WITH THE GIGAFACTORY, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE GOT, THEY'VE ALREADY GOTTEN A LOT OF TAX BREAKS FROM THE COUNTY AND, AND DEL VALLEY, I S D.
SO WHY IS IT THAT WE CONTINUE TO PRIORITIZE, UM, HELPING THESE, UM, THESE BUSINESSES OVER RESIDENTS? AND THAT WILL TAKE US TO OUR LAST COUPLE OF SLIDES.
UM, I DID WANNA, SORRY, ANNA, REAL QUICK.
UM, I DID WANNA JUMP IN REAL QUICK, AND I KNOW OTHERS IN THIS ROOM COULD DEFINITELY SPEAK TO THIS MORE, MORE THAN I CAN.
UM, I ALSO KIND OF RECENTLY LEARNED THAT THIS SERVICE EXTENSION REQUEST THAT YOU KIND OF BROUGHT UP ANNA, THAT ALLOWED TESLA TO ACCESS AUSTIN WATER.
UM, THEY WERE ABLE TO, TO GET IT, AND I THINK THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO GO BEFORE ANY COMMISSION BECAUSE THIS AREA IN EAST AUSTIN IS PART OF THE DESIRE DEVELOPMENT ZONE.
UM, AND I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW, KEVIN MIGHT, OR SOMEONE ELSE IN HERE MIGHT BE ABLE TO CORRECT ME, BUT THAT, THAT'S SOMETHING I JUST LEARNED.
AND THAT'S LIKE IN OUR LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE.
SO I THINK WE HAVE OPPORTUNITIES LIKE NOW, RIGHT? AS A, AS A CITY WHERE WE CAN INTERVENE AND KIND OF LIKE LOOK AT THIS STUFF.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO ADD THAT ON.
I DON'T KNOW IF ANYBODY WANTED TO CLARIFY ON THAT OR,
[01:20:08]
SO LAND KEVIN CRITON AND AUSTIN WATER, UM, LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE DOES REQUIRE THAT SERVICE EXTENSION REQUESTS IN THE DRINKING WATER PROTECTION ZONE DO HAVE TO GO TO COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL.THEY DO NOT REQUIRE ANY S SCRS ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE CITY.
THEY HAVE TO GO TO THE, UM, COUNCIL IN THE, THEY'RE ASKING FOR, UM, UH, UNLESS WE'RE OVERSIZING THEM.
SO IF WE PARTICIPATE IN THE COST, UM, IN THIS CASE, THEY DID NOT REQUEST FOR ANY COST REIMBURSEMENT.
UM, AND SO THAT KIND OF BRINGS US TO OUR, UH, WHERE ARE WE NOW AND, AND REALLY WHY, UM, OUR OFFICE, UH, LIKES TO HAVE ADVOCATE FOR EXPLICITLY ANTI-RACIST, UM, POLICY.
UM, SO WE WENT KIND OF THROUGH THE HISTORY WHERE, UM, WE DID HAVE, YOU KNOW, EXPLICITLY RACIST, UM, DOCUMENTS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, SEGREGATED PEOPLE WITHIN THE CITY.
AND, UM, WHILE THOSE HAVE BEEN OVERTURNED OR REPLACED, UM, THEY HAD A, A REALLY BIG IMPACT ON THE OUTCOMES, UM, ACROSS ALL OF THESE INDICATORS FOR QUALITY OF LIFE, UM, FOR BLACK AND BROWN FOLKS SPECIFICALLY.
UM, AND NOW WE'RE KIND OF IN THIS RACE NEUTRAL, UM, ERA OF POLICY WHERE, UH, THE EXAMPLE WE LIKE TO USE IS THE GI BILL, UM, WHERE THIS BENEFIT IS OFFERED TO ALL VETERANS, RIGHT? UM, BUT BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE RECEIVING THE BENEFIT WITHIN AN ENVIRONMENT IN A SYSTEM THAT HAS HISTORICALLY EXCLUDED PEOPLE, UM, THE OUTCOME IS THAT IT BENEFITS SOME MORE THAN OTHERS.
UM, SO FOR THE GI BILL, YOU KNOW, THIS IS GIVING VETERANS, UM, ACCESS TO EDUCATION AND, UM, YOU KNOW, HOMES.
BUT BECAUSE OF REDLINING, UM, VETERANS OF COLOR MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EVEN GET THE MORTGAGE, EVEN THOUGH THE BENEFIT WAS, YOU KNOW, OFFERED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WHEN THEY WENT TO APPLY FOR PLACES THEY WERE UNABLE TO GET OR HAD LIKE, UM, YOU KNOW, A MORE PREDATORY, UH, LOAN.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY, UH, WE BELIEVE THAT RACE NEUTRAL POLICIES ARE NOT ENOUGH, AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO LEAD WITH RACE AND HAVE EXPLICITLY ANTI-RACIST POLICIES, UM, THAT RECOGNIZE THE HISTORICAL, UM, ENVIRONMENT THAT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE ARE WORKING AND LIVING IN AND, AND HOW THESE SYSTEMS IMPACT THEIR LIVES.
I DON'T KNOW IF ANYONE FROM THE TEAM WANTED TO ADD ANYTHING.
I THINK, UM, UM, YEAH, SO THAT, THAT'S WHY WE, WE BELIEVE IN EX EXPLICITLY ADVANCING RACIAL EQUITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE PLENTY OF DATA THAT SHOWS THAT THESE DISPARITIES EXIST.
UM, AND THE ONLY WAY THAT WE CAN, UM, YOU KNOW, BRING EVERYBODY TO THE SAME STANDARD OF LIVING IS BY ADDRESSING THESE HISTORICAL RACIAL INEQUITIES.
UM, SO I KNOW WE ONLY HAVE ABOUT FIVE MINUTES UNTIL Y'ALL GO ON TO YOUR NEXT, UM, PRESENTATION, BUT, UH, TYPICALLY WE LIKE TO DO A CLOSING REFLECTION.
SO, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD REFLECT ON HOW MUCH OF THIS HISTORY YOU KNEW, UM, HOW DOES THE HISTORY IMPACT YOUR WORK, PARTICULARLY WHEN YOU'RE THINKING ABOUT YOUR INDIVIDUAL POWER OR YOUR POWER AS A TASK FORCE, UM, AND HOW CAN WATER FORWARD, YOU KNOW, ADDRESS AND AVOID RECREATING THIS HISTORY IN THE CITY.
UM, IT'S, UH, IT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO GET, UH, TO LEARN ABOUT OR GET REMINDED ABOUT THE HISTORY IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, I WANT TO SEE IF ANYBODY THAT'S PARTICIPATING ONLINE FROM THE TASK FORCE, CAUSE I CAN'T SEE YOU ALL, IF YOU'RE GONNA BRING UP, DOES, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY, ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS OR REFLECTIONS FROM THE PRESENTATION? JUST SPEAK UP IF YOU DO.
YEAH, THIS IS VANESSA PUIG WILLIAMS. I, UM, JUST WANTED TO THANK Y'ALL.
I HAD ATTENDED ONE OF THE EARLIER SESSIONS THAT WE HAD.
I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS, SO I WAS FAMILIAR WITH, UM, SOME OF WHAT YOU TALKED ABOUT, BUT IT WAS STILL REALLY
[01:25:01]
INTERESTING TO HEAR IT AGAIN.AND, UM, JUST ALWAYS, UM, REALLY IT JUST, YOU KNOW, IT'S STARRING HEAR IT FOR A SECOND TIME.
UM, AND IT DOES, I THINK, REALLY MAKE YOU THINK ABOUT, UM, HOW WE SHAPE POLICY AND WHAT WE NEED TO BE THINKING ABOUT WHEN WE'RE DOING THAT.
UM, I DID FIND A, A STORY MAP ON THE TANK FARM, WHICH I THINK MAYBE Y'ALL, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS THE LINK THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THAT YOU WERE TRYING TO CLICK ON.
UM, IT, IT, I WAS SCROLLING THROUGH IT AS Y'ALL WERE TALKING TOO.
IT, UM, IT HAS A LOT OF GOOD INFORMATION ON THERE AS WELL.
YEAH, I THINK THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE FOUND THE WATERSHED PROTECTION DEPARTMENT'S MM-HMM.
IT'S, UH, IT'S AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE.
ANYONE ELSE? UM, I, UH, AS WE MOVE FORWARD, YOU KNOW, I'M NOT EXACTLY SURE HOW, HOW THIS GETS REFLECTED IN, IN OUR, IN OUR UPDATE OF THE WATER FORWARD PLAN IN PARTICULAR.
UM, I KNOW THAT WE ARE DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY THIS TIME, REALLY TRYING TO, WE'VE, UM, MARISSA AND HER TEAM HAVE DONE EXCELLENT WORK, UM, PHARMACY FORMING, UM, OUR CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE, UM, REALLY TRYING TO GO AND GET THAT PIECE THAT ROBERT WAS REFERRING TO EARLIER AND GETTING MORE, UM, INPUT INTO, INTO THE WATER FORWARD PLAN, AND THEN HOW WE TAKE THAT.
AND, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT WE, UM, IN THE WATER FLOOR PLAN HAVE TRIED TO REALLY DO THAT I THINK IS DIFFERENT THAN WATER PLANS THAT I'VE SEEN, IS REFLECT COMMUNITY VALUES AND TO HAVE IT, UH, BE KIND OF ABOUT MORE THAN WATER SUPPLY.
I MEAN, THAT IS IT'S CORE FUNCTION, BUT, UM, BUT I THINK FOR THE FIRST ONE, WE DIDN'T NECESSARILY HAVE A LOT OF INPUT ON WHAT THOSE COMMUNITY VALUES ARE, AND WE TRIED TO REFLECT WHAT WE THOUGHT THEY WERE, BUT YOU KNOW, WE'RE JUST A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE WITH OUR OWN IDEAS ABOUT THE WORLD.
SO, UM, I'M REALLY GLAD THAT THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN THIS TIME AND I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO, TO HOW THAT ALL IN.
AND THIS IS VERY HELPFUL IN, IN, UM, THINKING THAT THROUGH AND THINKING IT THROUGH THE LENS TOO, OF HOW DO WE NOT RE REPEAT MISTAKES OF THE PAST.
I MEAN, I WAS JUST LOOKING AT THE HEARING ABOUT THE TANK FARM.
I MEAN, I WAS YOUNG PERSON IN AUSTIN HEARING ABOUT THAT.
THINK EVERYBODY IN AUSTIN KNEW ABOUT IT.
I MEAN, IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT FOR, FOR A REALLY, YOU KNOW, TERRIBLE THING THAT WAS HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, AND I WAS JUST DRIVING HOME FROM THE AIRPORT LAST NIGHT AND SAW THE HUGE DEVELOPMENT THAT'S HAPPENING THERE.
AND IT WAS THINKING ABOUT, UM, THE HOME VALUES THAT GOT DEPRESSED THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IN THE VIDEO THERE AND, AND HOW EVERYONE AT EAST IS REALLY DEALING WITH INCREASING HOME VALUES AND IT'S BECOMING HARDER TO HOLD ONTO YOUR HOME.
AND NOW THAT SITE HAS BEEN REHABILITATED AND HAS A BIG DEVELOPMENT COMING ON IT.
WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO HOME VALUES AROUND THERE? AND IS IT GONNA MAKE IT EVEN HARD? SO YOU'VE LIKE LIVED THROUGH THAT.
YOU'VE, YOU'VE, UM, YOU'VE, YOU'VE SURVIVED THAT YOU'VE BEEN IN THE COMMUNITY, YOU'VE HAD THIS BIG GIANT EMPTY LIKE, KIND OF SPACE THAT'S BEEN LIKE A CAR LOT AND A FLEA MARKET AND ALL KINDS OF THINGS OVER THE YEARS.
AND NOW THIS BIG THING IS COMING IN AND WHAT IS IT DOING TO HOME VALUES? I HOPE THERE'S SOMETHING BEING DONE TO PROTECT, UM, PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIVED THERE FOR A LONG TIME WITH HOME VALUES.
I KNOW THAT WITH PROJECT CONNECT, THERE'S, THERE'S BEEN SOME, UM, I, I'M NOT THINKING OF THE WORD NOW, BUT WE AS PART OF THAT HAVE THIS LIKE $300 MILLION YEAH.
UM, ANYWAY, THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT JUST KIND OF OCCURRED TO ME THERE.
AND THAT'S REPEATING MISTAKES IN THE PAST AND THE TANKS AT THE AIRPORT ARE, I JUST, I CAN'T EVEN, I WAS SHOCKED WHEN THAT WAS UNDER CONSIDERATION CONSIDERING THAT PAST IN OUR COMMUNITY.
BUT, UM, LET'S, LET'S DO OUR BEST NOT TO REPEAT MISTAKES OF THE PAST AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND, AND I APPRECIATE YOU BRINGING UP THE WHITE SHAMAN PANEL, WHICH IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS IN TEXAS, BUT CONNECTING WHAT WE'RE DOING TO, TO THAT, THAT, THAT EXISTING LEGACY, I THINK WAS REALLY NEAT.
AND I, AND I DID LEARN QUITE A BIT FROM, I WAS AWARE OF THE TANK FARM STORY, BUT NOT, NOT THE DETAILS OF IT.
SO REALLY APPRECIATED, UM, HEARING THAT.
SO I'LL JUST POP IN TO PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT AND WE SO APPRECIATE THE EQUITY OFFICE FOR BEING HERE AND PROVIDING US WITH THIS HISTORY AND BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW.
IN JANUARY AT OUR NEXT TASKFORCE MEETING, WE'LL BE COMING BACK WITH THE FIRST DRAFT OF OUR EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY ROADMAP FOR THE UPDATE OF THE WATERFORD PLAN.
UM, RIGHT NOW, UH, JANE JANELLE IS WORKING WITH OUR COMMUNITY AMBASSADORS.
THEY'RE GOING OUT AND DOING INTERVIEWS
[01:30:01]
AND, UM, DOING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND GETTING FEEDBACK IN ALIGNMENT WITH SOME, UM, KEY VALUES THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED WILL BE, UM, TAKING ALL OF THAT INPUT IN AND WILL BE DRAFTING UP A FRAMEWORK THAT'LL SERVE AS OUR, UM, RACIAL EQUITY TOOL THAT WE USE TO EVALUATE WATER FORWARD 2024 STRATEGIES THROUGH AS WE'RE BUILDING OUT THIS PLAN.IT WAS MENTIONED ON ONE OF THE SLIDES, WE KIND OF LOST RIGHT OVER IT, BUT, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE CAN TRY TO KEEP FROM REPEATING THESE MISTAKES IS BY USING SOMETHING LIKE A RACIAL EQUITY TOOL.
WE'VE TAKEN THAT TO HEART, AND SO WE'RE INCORPORATING THAT INTO OUR PLANNING PROCESS.
UM, SO THIS IS A GREAT FOUNDATION.
THERE WERE SOME GREAT LINKS IN THERE.
THE PRESENTATION MATERIALS HAVE BEEN SENT TO YOU, AND THEY'RE ALSO POSTED ON OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS PAGE.
IF FOLKS WANT TO DIVE IN MORE TO SOME OF THE OTHER INFORMATION THAT WAS PROVIDED, WE'LL COME BACK IN JANUARY AND OUR WHOLE MEETING IN JANUARY WILL BE ON THAT EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY FRAMEWORK.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT, MARISSA, THAT YOU HAVE TALKED ABOUT, AND I JUST WANNA LIKE KINDA STICK A PIN ON THIS SO MAYBE WE CAN LEARN MORE IN THE FUTURE TO CONTINUE THIS IS, I DON'T REMEMBER WHEN AND WHAT CONTEXT IT WAS IN, AND I THINK IT WAS IN THOSE EVENING TRAININGS THAT WE DID, BUT I, I THINK THAT YOU HAVE DONE SOME RESEARCH ON, UM, ON, UM, LIKE INVESTMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE AND, AND AUSTIN AND, AND, UM, AND WHERE OUR WATER INFRASTRUCTURE IS.
UM, AND I THINK IT'S, YOU KNOW, WE JUST HAD A LITTLE SNIPPET OF IT AT THE TIME, BUT I THINK THAT THAT MAY JUST BE KIND OF LIKE AN INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE KIND OF EXTENSION LITTLE PIECE OF THIS THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT TODAY.
UM, AND IT MAY BE REFLECTIVE OF THE MAPS THAT, THAT PEOPLE ARE USED TO SEEING IN AUSTIN WHERE THERE'S A, YOU KNOW, RIGHT AND LEFT SIDE THAT LOOK DIFFERENT.
SO JANEEL AND I, AND ROSS ACTUALLY WENT TO THE AUSTIN, WE WENT TO THE AUSTIN HISTORY CENTER, AND WE SPENT A COUPLE DAYS THERE DIVING THROUGH SOME, YOU KNOW, FIRST, WHAT DO YOU CALL IT, FIRST PERSON MATERIAL, YOU KNOW, PRIMARY, PRIMARY SOURCE MATERIAL,
SO DO YOU WANNA SPEAK TO SOME OF WHAT YOU THINK? YEAH, SO OUR EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY, UH, ROADMAP MAP, UM, IT'S GONNA BE A FRAMEWORK, BUT THERE'S ALSO GONNA BE A WRITE-UP PORTION THAT INCORPORATES A LOT OF THAT HISTORY THAT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT AND, AND SOME OF THE MAPS THAT WE'VE FOUND.
UM, WE HAVEN'T FOUND ANYTHING THAT IS EXPLICITLY, UM, RELATED TO RACE FROM, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN WATER AUSTIN ENERGY UTILITY STANDPOINT FROM BACK IN THE DAY THEY WERE COMBINED.
UM, BUT I THINK IT'S MORE ABOUT THAT RACE NEUTRAL LANGUAGE THAT, UM, ANNA WAS TALKING ABOUT.
IT'S ALL VERY, UM, FACT AND SCIENCE BASED, WHICH ISN'T A TERRIBLE THING, BUT IF WE WANT TO KIND OF REMEDY SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED IN THE PAST AND BE VERY CONSCIOUS OF, YOU KNOW, UM, THE IMPACTS OF OUR DECISIONS AND, AND RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES MOVING FORWARD, WE WANNA REALLY BE ABLE TO INCORPORATE, UM, THOSE FINDINGS AND EVEN ADD SOME DATA SO THAT WE HAVE AN EQUITY AND AFFORDABILITY TOOL, UM, LATER ON.
ARE WE READY TO MOVE ON YOUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM? I WANNA THANK ALL OF YOU, THE, UM, EQUITY OFFICE TRAVELING IN A PACK TOGETHER, UM, COMING TO VISIT WITH US.
UM, I KNOW YOU'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH OUR TASK FORCE AND YOU DO WITH, UM, WITH LOTS OF THE OTHER BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AND CITY DEPARTMENTS, AND WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE AND, UM, HELPING TO SHARE SOME OF OUR HISTORY, UM, THAT WE COULD GO OUT AND FIGURE OUT OURSELVES.
BUT THANKS FOR BRINGING IT INTO POWERPOINT FORM.
WHOOPS, I'LL JUST TURNED MY MIC OFF.
[4. Update on Water Forward 2024 project status, presented by Austin Water Staff : Overview of population projections ]
GONNA MOVE ON TO THE UPDATE ON WATERFORD 24 PROJECT STATUS.UM, LOTS GOING ON AND I BELIEVE MARIK WILL BE LEADING THAT.
SO, UM, MYSELF AND SARAH EMAN WILL BE GIVING THIS PRESENTATION AND THE, UM, FOCUS OF THE PRESENTATION WILL BE ON OUR POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS, UH, THAT WE'LL BE USING IN THE UPDATE TO THE WATER FORWARD PLAN.
UH, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT HOW THESE PROJECTIONS ARE USED IN THE PLAN.
WE'LL, UH, TALK, UH, SARAH WILL TAKE US THROUGH THE PROCESS TO DEVELOP OUR 2020 POPULATION UNEMPLOYMENT ESTIMATES, OUR PROCESS TO DEVELOP OUR 100 YEAR PROJECTIONS, AND WE HAVE SOME MAPS, UM, TO SHOW YOU WITH SOME OF THOSE, UH, UH, UH, RESULTS.
AND THEN WE'LL TOUCH BRIEFLY ON NEXT STEPS IN THIS PROCESS.
SO HOW THESE PROJECTIONS ARE USED.
OUR AUSTIN WATER POPULATION UNEMPLOYMENT ESTIMATES ARE USED IN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT INITIATIVES, UM, AND EFFORTS INCLUDING STATE REPORTING AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES AND UTILITY PLANS, PARTICIPATION IN THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING PROCESS, INFRASTRUCTURE
[01:35:02]
PLANNING, UM, SCRS AND SERVICE EXTENSION REQUESTS AND PIPE SERVICING.UM, AND ALSO WITH IN ALIGNMENT WITH OUR BUDGET PLANNING TODAY, WHAT WE'RE GONNA FOCUS ON THOUGH IS HOW THEY'RE USED IN WATER FORD AND OUR DISAGGREGATED DEMAND MODEL TO DEVELOP OUR PROJECTIONS OF FUTURE DEMANDS.
UM, SO JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND AS WE LAUNCH INTO THIS PRESENTATION.
THIS IS 100 YEAR STRATEGIC PLANNING.
UM, SO WE ARE CREATING THESE PROJECTIONS OUT FOR THE FULL 100 YEAR PLANNING HORIZON, BUT WE HAVE TO NOTE THAT GREATER ACCURACY MAY BE POSSIBLE TO ATTAIN IN THE NEWER TERM YEARS IN THE FIRST 2010 TO 20 YEARS.
AND AS WE GET FURTHER AND FURTHER OUT INTO OUR HUNDRED YEAR PLANNING HORIZON, THERE'S GREATER UNCERTAINTY IN TERMS OF THE GEOGRAPHIC RESOLUTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT THROUGHOUT THE CITY, UM, TO TRY TO HANDLE SOME OF THIS UNCERTAINTY, WE ARE PROJECTIONS AND WATER FORWARD WILL BE INCLUDING THE USE OF RANGES.
UM, SO JUST AS A THROWBACK TO OUR OVERVIEW OF OUR SCENARIO PLANNING APPROACH, UM, WE ARE GONNA BE USING THREE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS OF DEMAND.
UM, THESE SCENARIOS DON'T REPRESENT THE PROBABILITY OR LIKELIHOOD OF ANY PARTICULAR OUTCOME, UM, BUT THEY'RE JUST TRYING TO CAPTURE A RANGE OF UNCERTAINTY.
OUR HISTORICAL POP AND EMP SHOW A HUGE RANGE OF GROWTH RATES.
AND SO WE'RE USING THIS DATA AS WELL AS FUTURE TRENDS TO, UM, OUR EXPECTATIONS AROUND FUTURE TRENDS TO ESTABLISH AN ENVELOPE OF PLAUSIBLE DEMANDS, POP AND PLAUSIBLE POP AND EMP.
UH, WE'LL HAVE A HIGHER ASK A QUICK QUESTION.
OH, YES, I'M SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOU'S.
I KNOW YOU'S WRONG FLOW THIS, THIS IS TODD.
YES, I KNOW YOU'RE, YOU'RE LOOKING AROUND FOR THE VOICE.
UM, WE, YOU KNOW, AS, AS YOU KNOW, WAY BETTER THAN I DO, WE, WE WENT THROUGH A PRETTY EXTENSIVE PROCESS TO DO MUCH OF THIS WORKED A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN WE WERE BUILDING THE PLAN.
DO WE BELIEVE THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE MATERIAL MATERIALLY DIFFERENT, UM, SET OF PROJECTIONS? WE'RE REDOING IT, UM, AS PART OF OUR FIVE YEAR UPDATE TO ALLOW US TO ADAPT TO, UM, THE CHANGING CONDITIONS THAT WE HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING.
AND ALSO WE GOT NEW CENSUS DATA.
SO THE DECENNIAL CENSUS CAME OUT IN 2020.
THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO RECALIBRATE OUR PROJECTIONS.
WE HAD THE FIRST, UM, SET OF CENSUS DATA FOR, UH, FOR THE LAST PLANNING PROCESS FROM 2010.
AND AS WE GET FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY FROM THAT CENSUS, AGAIN, GREATER AND GREATER UNCERTAINTY.
SO NOW 2020 CENSUS DATA HAS COME OUT, WE'RE ABLE TO RECALIBRATE AND UPDATE THOSE PROJECTIONS.
AND WE DID ACTUALLY START OFF OUR PROCESS, UH, SARAH WILL TALK MORE ABOUT THIS.
WE STARTED OFF OUR PROCESS LOOK, TAKING A LOOK AT THE WATERFORD 18, UH, GROWTH RATES, UM, AT A TOTAL BASIS WORKING WITH OUR CITY DEMOGRAPHER AND THEN, THEN AT THE D T I LEVEL.
SO WE WERE BUILDING OFF OF THAT FRAMEWORK AND MAKING ADJUSTMENTS AS NECESSARY BASED ON CHANGING CONDITIONS, BASED ON NEW INFORMATION THAT WAS AVAILABLE TO US.
AND WE DO HAVE SOME CHANGES THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO SHOW YOU ON, ON THE CONTROL TOTAL SIDE IN A, A FEW SLIDES DOWN.
UM, SO OUR PROJECTIONS ARE USED TO CALCULATE OUR WATER DEMAND, UH, WATER USE FACTORS AMONG OUR DIFFERENT DEMAND SECTORS.
I'M GONNA BREEZE RIGHT THROUGH THIS.
UM, WE CREATE THESE PROJECTIONS OF POPULATION AND THEN WE TRANSLATE THEM INTO ESTIMATES OF MULTI-FAMILY AND SINGLE FAMILY UNITS.
THEN OUR, UH, PROJECTIONS OF EMPLOYEES, THE TOTAL EMPLOYMENT IS DIVIDED INTO DIFFERENT EMPLOYMENT SUB-SECTORS.
THE REASON WE DO THAT IS SO THAT WE CAN APPLY THOSE SUB-SECTORS AND THOSE DIFFERENT TYPES OF RESIDENTIAL AGAINST WATER USE FACTORS.
OUR WATER USE FACTORS ARE DEVELOPED BY LOOKING AT THE USAGE WITHIN A DTI POLYGON FOR A A SPECIFIC SECTOR OR SUB-SECTOR.
SO WITHIN THIS POLYGON, FOR EXAMPLE, WE'VE GOT, UM, AN EXAMPLE THAT'S SHOWING, LET ME GO BACK ONE, SORRY.
UM, WE'VE GOT AN EXAMPLE THAT SHOWS IN RED COMMERCIAL PARCELS IN BROWN MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL PARCELS.
AND IN YELLOW SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL PARCELS, WE HAVE SPATIALLY ALLOCATED BILLING DATA.
AND SO WE'RE ABLE TO SUM UP THE USAGE FROM THE, UM, UH, EACH OF THE LOTS WITHIN THE SUB-SECTORS.
THAT GIVES US AN OVERALL ESTIMATE OF THE USAGE, UH, WATER USAGE WITHIN THE DTI POLYGON.
AND WE DIVIDE THAT BY THE NUMBER OF SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS, MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS AND COMMERCIAL EMPLOYEES PER COMMERCIAL SUB-SECTOR TO IDENTIFY OUR WATER USE.
THIS SLIDE SHOWS IN A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
SO WE WOULD TAKE THE SUM OF THE TOTAL SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL BILL TO VOLUME, DIVIDE THAT BY THE SUM OF THE SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS WITHIN
[01:40:01]
THIS DTI POLYGON.AND THAT WOULD GIVE US A SINGLE FAMILY WATER USE FACTOR, AS WE CALL IT WOLF.
THAT'S EQUIVALENT TO THE GALLONS THAT'S USED PER HOUSEHOLD PER YEAR.
THAT WOLF FORMS THE BASIS FOR OUR PROJECTIONS FOR THE FUTURE, UM, WILL MAKE, UH, PROJECTIONS OF A FUTURE POPULATION WITHIN THIS POLYGON.
WE'LL, UH, DIVIDE THAT OUT INTO SINGLE FAMILY, RESIDENTIAL, MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS.
WE'LL MULTIPLY, MULTIPLY THIS BASE WOLF AGAINST OUR PROJECTED FUTURE NUMBER OF SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL UNITS.
AND THAT WILL GIVE US AN ESTIMATE OF THE FUTURE WATER DEMAND FOR A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL WITHIN THIS POLYGON.
WE DO THAT FOR ALL OF THE VARIOUS SUB-SECTORS WITHIN EACH INDIVIDUAL DTI POLYGON.
THAT'S KIND OF THE BACKBONE OF OUR DISAGGREGATED DEMAND MODEL STRUCTURE.
SO AGAIN, JUST ANOTHER EXAMPLE SHOWING WE'VE GOT OUR DIFFERENT SECTORS ALL THE WAY AT THE LEFT, SINGLE-FAMILY, MULTI-FAMILY, COMMERCIAL, WHOLESALE, ET CETERA, SUB-SECTORS THAT ARE BREAKING OUT THAT USAGE, UH, INTO A, UM, MORE DETAILED LOOK.
WE TAKE OUR BASE YEAR SUB-SECTOR WOLF, MULTIPLY THAT BY THE NUMBER OF PROJECTED UNITS OR EMPLOYEES, AND GET OUR TOTAL SUBSECTOR VOLUME FOR A FUTURE PROJECTION YEAR.
SO AS MARISA MENTIONED, WE HAVE A PRETTY DETAILED PROCESS FOR HOW TO COME UP WITH, UH, THOSE DEMANDS THROUGH THE WATER FORWARD PROCESS.
BUT, UM, WE'LL TALK ABOUT THEN HOW WE DEVELOPED JUST OUR BASELINE 2020 POPULATION ESTIMATE, WHICH THEN FEEDS INTO THE LARGER MACHINE TO DEVELOP THOSE LONG-TERM DEMAND PROJECTIONS.
SO WE USED A PARCEL DRIVEN APPROACH, WHICH ALLOWED US TO USE UNIT COUNTS FROM A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT SOURCES, INCLUDING AUSTIN WATER AND ENERGY BILLING, UM, COUNTY PROPERTY APPRAISERS, WHERE IT'S OUTSIDE OF OUR BILLING AREA, UM, AND COORDINATION WITH HOUSING AND PLANNING AND OTHERS.
UH, AND THEN WE USED SOME OF THE PEOPLE PER HOME DATA THAT CAME FROM THE CENSUS BLOCK DATA.
SO THIS IS WHAT WE'RE CALLING OUR CENSUS INFORMED 2020 POPULATION ESTIMATE.
WE WERE ABLE TO USE THE BILLING DATA FOR THE AREAS THAT WE SERVE TO DEVELOP A THRESHOLD THAT SORT OF HELPS US UNDERSTAND WHETHER ANY PARTICULAR UNIT IS OCCUPIED OR NOT.
AND THEN WE ALSO LOOKED, SO THAT APPLIES TO OUR RETAIL SERVICE AREA.
AND THEN YOU CAN SEE IN THIS LAST FRAME IN THE GREEN, THAT'S OUR RETAIL PLUS THE PINK IS OUR WHOLESALE SERVICE AREA.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE HAD TO GATHER SOME DATA FROM OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTY AND OUTSIDE OF OUR, UH, DIRECT, YOU KNOW, NOT INFORMED BY OUR DIRECT BILLING DATA, BUT GOT SOME PEOPLE PER HOME FROM THE CENSUS.
UM, AND UNIT COUNTS FROM COUNTY TASK DISTRICTS, HOUSING AND PLANNING AGAIN, AND SOME ADDRESS DATABASES NEXT
SO THE, THE 2020 POPULATION SERVED ESTIMATES YOU CAN SEE ARE TOTAL FOR WHOLESALE RETAIL.
AND THE GRAND TOTAL FOR 2020 GETS US TO 1,084,000 PLUS OR MINUS A FEW LOUDER.
AND THIS SLIDE ALSO SHOWS, UM, WHICH WE'LL START TO GET INTO SOME OF THE COMPLEXITIES IN TERMS OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL EXTENT OF THESE DIFFERENT AREAS.
SO THIS IS OUR POPULATION SERVED.
UM, WE'RE ALSO COORDINATING WITH OTHER SOURCES OF POPULATION.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THE IMPACT FEE BOUNDARY IS SHOWN ON THIS MAP IN PINK.
AND OUR RETAIL SERVICE BOUNDARY IS THE GREEN.
SO LIKE I SAID, WE'RE COORDINATING ACROSS A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT SOURCES OF INFORMATION.
UM, SOME OF THAT GETS A LITTLE BIT COMPLICATED WHEN WE'RE DIVIDING IT ABOUT AGAINST DIFFERENT LINES, UM, DIFFERENT GEOMETRIC AREAS.
SO ONE OF THE COMPARISONS THAT WE DID WAS TO COMPARE THE POPULATION ESTIMATED IN THE 115 CENSUS TRACTS, WHICH ARE COMPLETELY WITHIN OUR RETAIL SERVICE AREA.
AND THAT 2020 CENSUS ESTIMATE, UM, COMPARED TO OUR AUSTIN WATER PARCEL BASED CENSUS INFORMED ESTIMATE, THERE WERE ONLY 0.8% DIFFERENT.
UH, AND WE FELT LIKE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE NUMBER OF UNITS WAS PROBABLY MORE ACCURATE GIVEN THEIR ACCESS TO THE BILLING DATA.
UM, AND THAT INFORMATION HAS ACTUALLY BEEN PART OF THE DATA THAT WAS SUBMITTED BY HOUSING AND PLANNING AS A, UM, PROTEST TO THE CENSUS DATA.
SO, UM, I THINK WE'RE IN PRETTY GOOD STANDING.
WE HAVE HAVE ACCESS TO REALLY GOOD INFORMATION THERE.
NEXT, SO THE WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS THAT WE SERVE CURRENTLY, THIS IS YET ANOTHER COMPONENT TO TACKLE IN OUR POPULATION ESTIMATE.
[01:45:01]
A NUMBER OF WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS WHO, UH, FOR WHOM AUSTIN WATER IS NOT THEIR SOLE SOURCE.AND SO FOR THOSE WE WERE ABLE TO COME UP WITH LIKE A MULTIPLIER BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF WATER USED IN TOTAL TO ESTIMATE THE PORTION OF THEIR POPULATION, WHICH IS EFFECTIVELY SERVED BY AUSTIN WATER NEXT.
ALL RIGHT, SO THAT GOT US TO OUR 2020 BASELINE, UH, WHICH IS HARDER THAN IT SEEMS LIKE IT SHOULD BE, BUT
SO THIS WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ALIGN WITH THE CENSUS AND NEW INFORMATION.
SO NOW WE HAVE OUR A HUNDRED YEAR PROJECTIONS.
ALRIGHT, THE POPULATION ESTIMATES HAPPEN, OF COURSE, IN CONCERT WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT ESTIMATES ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, THE CITY DEMOGRAPHER ANNUALLY PROJECTS THE TOTALS FOR THE CITY AND MSA, AND THEN OUR, UM, COLLEAGUES IN SYSTEMS PLANNING WATER AND WASTEWATER, UH, PROJECT TOTALS FOR THE POPULATION SERVED BY THOSE SERVICES.
AND THEN WE HAVE DEVELOPED THE DTI PROCESS, WHICH KIND OF EXTENDS BEYOND THOSE BOUNDARIES AND ASSUMES, UM, A RATE OF GROWTH TO, UM, FOR EACH POLYGON TO CREATE TOTALS FOR EACH DTI POLYGON.
BUT THAT COVERS BOTH OUR WATER SERVICE AREA, WASTEWATER SERVICE AREA, AS WELL AS OUR WHOLESALE CUSTOMER AREAS.
AND SO THIS SORT OF JUST ILLUSTRATES THAT THESE PROJECTION EFFORTS ARE HAPPENING ON AN ANNUAL BASIS FOR THE FIRST TWO.
AND THEN, UH, OUR OBVIOUSLY DEEPER DIVE EVERY FIVE YEARS AS A PART OF THE WATER FORWARD PLAN UPDATE IN THE LAST, IN THE LAST COMPONENT THERE.
SO WE STARTED WITH A, UM, A CONTROLLED TOTAL POPULATION PROJECTION.
UM, SO WE ARE LOOKING HERE AT HISTORICAL WATER SERVED AUSTIN WATER SERVED POPULATION GOING BACK TO 1915.
SO TRYING TO PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE HISTORICAL CONTEXT.
AND THEN YOU CAN SEE THE SHORTER ORANGE BAR ABOVE HOVERING SLIGHTLY ABOVE OUR MAIN TRACK OF LINES IS THE HOUSING AND PLANNING TRAVIS COUNTY PROJECTION.
AND THEN THE BLUE HOVERING SLIGHTLY BENEATH IS THE CITY OF AUSTIN TOTAL FROM HOUSING AND PLANNING.
AND SO WE WOULD EXPECT TO SEE OURSELVES RIGHT BETWEEN, AND THAT'S WHERE WE LANDED THE FUCHSIA PROJECTION IS OUR 2018 WATER FORWARD PROJECTION.
AND THEN AS MARISA MENTIONED, WE ARE WORKING WITH RANGES AND ACKNOWLEDGING UNCERTAINTY OF PROJECTING A HUNDRED YEARS INTO THE FUTURE.
AND SO WE HAVE A HIGH AVERAGE AND LOW PROJECTION THAT STAY PRETTY CLOSELY ALIGNED UP UNTIL OUR 50 YEAR PLANNING THRESHOLD, WHICH IS WHEN OF COURSE WE'LL, WE'LL DIVERGE FROM HAVING THE PRESCRIPTIVE PLAN TO HAVING AN ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE START TO SEE A LITTLE BIT MORE DIVERGENCE AND, UM, UNDERSTANDING THAT WE CAN'T NECESSARILY KNOW WHETHER WE'LL BE CLOSER TO THE 350 OR THREE 8.5 MILLION OR DOWN AT THE 2.5 MILLION MARK, BUT EVERY FIVE YEAR UPDATES WILL ALLOW US TO COURSE CORRECT AS WE GO.
SO THE, THE SHIFT FROM HAVING, UM, ACTUALLY THE NEXT SLIDE IS PROBABLY MORE OR ILLUSTRATIVE.
UM, THAT FUSIA LINE KIND OF ARCING UP REFERS BACK TO THE DECISION IN THE WATER FORWARD 18 PLAN TO, UM, TO DROP DOWN TO A CERTAIN LEVEL GROWTH RATE AND THEN MAINTAIN THE GROWTH RATE AS CONSTANT.
AND SO OF COURSE THAT IF YOU HAVE THE SAME RATE ACTUALLY CAUSES A REAL ADDITION OF MORE AND MORE PEOPLE EACH YEAR.
SO YOU STARTED TO SEE THAT POPULATION LINE KIND OF SHOOT UP TOWARDS THE END, UM, INFORMED BY RESEARCH AND INPUT FROM THE, UM, CITY DEMOGRAPHER.
WE HAVE OPTED INSTEAD TO HAVE THAT GROWTH RATE CONTINUE TO DECLINE ON KIND OF A LEVEL TRAJECTORY, UM, WHICH SHOULD BE REFLECTIVE OF, IT'S LESS LIKELY TO FIND HIGHLY DEVELOPABLE GREENFIELD AREA WITHIN THE SERVICE AREA.
YOU'RE GONNA HAVE MORE REDEVELOPMENT AS OPPOSED TO NEW DEVELOPMENT.
SO THIS WILL BE CONTINUING DENSIFICATION, BUT A LITTLE BIT SLOWER RATE OF DENSIFICATION ALL THE WAY OUT THROUGH THE A HUNDRED YEAR PLANNING HORIZON.
AND YOU CAN SEE OUR LOW AVERAGE AND HIGH GROWTH RATES, UM, PROJECTED FOR EACH OF THOSE INTERIM HORIZONS NEXT.
SO ONCE WE'VE GOT OUR 2020 ESTIMATE, WE'VE GOT A PROJECTION FOR THE SERVED POPULATION.
UM, THEN WE STARTED TO WORK THROUGH DISAGGREGATING THAT SPATIALLY INTO OUR DTI POLYGONS.
[01:50:01]
WERE ABLE TO, YEAH, GEOGRAPHICALLY DISTRIBUTE OUR, OUR GROWTH BASED ON THE, UM, THE 2018 WATER FORWARD PLAN GROWTH RATES AS A PRELIMINARY PROJECTION.AND THEN WE WERE BRINGING IN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, UM, OUR, YOU KNOW, UPDATED TRANSIT PLANNING, IMAGINE AUSTIN.
AND THEN OF COURSE DEVELOPMENT INFORMATION FROM SERVICE EXTENSION REQUESTS DID A LOT TO INFORM WHERE WE EXPECT TO SEE THAT FUTURE GROWTH, CURRENT AND FUTURE GROWTH.
UM, AND THEN WE CIRCLED BACK WITH OUR DELPHI TEAM, WHICH IS INTERNAL, UM, TO AUSTIN WATER AS WELL AS FOLKS FROM HOUSING AND PLANNING AND UM, DEVELOPMENT SERVICES WHO WERE ABLE TO SORT OF TALK THROUGH SOME OF THE AREAS WHERE WE EXPECTED TO SEE DIFFERENCES IN PROJECTION OR WHERE FOLKS HAD EXPERIENCED OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS WORKING WITH OUR PREVIOUS PROJECTIONS OVER OR UNDER ESTIMATES OF GROWTH.
SO THE DELPHI TRENDS AND IMAGINE AUSTIN, THE DTI PROCESS INCLUDED, UM, USING THE BEST INFORMATION AVAILABLE AND THEN REFERRING BACK TO FOLKS WHO HAD INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF WHERE DEVELOPMENT IS OCCURRING OR ISN'T MAYBE OCCURRING AS QUICKLY AS YOU'D EXPECT.
AND WE HAD A LOT OF, A LOT OF LONG AND IN-DEPTH SEC SESSIONS TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE MAY OR MAY NOT SEE IN A HUNDRED YEARS.
AND YOU KNOW, THE JOKE THAT WE BRING UP IN EVERY MEETING, WE'RE ALWAYS GONNA BE WRONG, BUT AT LEAST WE'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE BEST PEOPLE TO, TO HELP US TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S WHAT'S PLAUSIBLE.
SO THAT WAS USED TO DISTRIBUTE OUR POPULATION FOR THE A HUNDRED YEAR PROJECTION AS WELL AS ADJUST GROWTH AS NEEDED.
AND THEN NEXT SLIDE WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS.
UM, IN THIS CASE WE STARTED WITH OUR WATER FOUR 18 EMPLOYMENT PROJECTIONS AND THEN WE WERE ABLE TO COMPARE THAT AGAINST THE ESRI BUSINESS ANALYST PRODUCT, WHICH GIVES AN ESTIMATE OF THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN EACH GEOGRAPHICAL AREA.
SO THAT WAS REALLY USEFUL AND THAT AGAIN, IS ABLE TO BE COMPARED WITH THE SERVICE EXTENSION REQUEST AND DEVELOPMENT DATA AND DELPHI TEAM FEEDBACK TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ACCOMMODATING THE TYPE OF GROWTH WHEN WE SEE MIXED USE OR COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS IN A CERTAIN AREA.
THAT THAT IS INCORPORATED INTO OUR PROJECTIONS FOR, UH, EMPLOYMENT.
AND NEXT WE HAVE THE, THE SHOW PIECE, WHICH IS ALL OF OUR MAPPING THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO DO.
SO, UM, THIS IS OUR 2020 COMBINED DENSITY MAP AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE IS QUITE A BIT OF WHITE SPACE.
SO THIS IS DISAGGREGATED DOWN TO THE D T I POLYGON, THAT'S THE SORT OF GEOGRAPHIC UNIT THAT WE'RE WORKING, WORKING WITH.
THESE DENSITIES YOU CAN SEE IN THE RIGHT HAND ARE DARK BLUE IS THE LOWEST DENSITY AND THE YELLOW IS THE HIGHEST AS YOU WOULD ASSUME.
UM, AND THE WHITE SPACE IS UNDEVELOPABLE AREA, UM, COMING FROM 25 YEAR FLOODPLAIN PARKS, CEMETERIES, PLACES WHERE WE ARE NOT LIKELY TO SEE DEVELOPMENT.
AND MARI DID A LOT OF THE, UH, LEGWORK.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANNA ADD INTO THAT? OH NO, WE'VE JUST GOT SOME OF THE BIG SPACES THAT YOU SEE.
AGAIN, THEY'RE LIKE B C C P AREAS.
IT'S INTENTIONAL SO THEN WE CAN, UM, BUT IF THERE IS SOMETHING MISSING, LET US KNOW.
WE CAN STEP FORWARD INTO THE FUTURE AS WE SEE OUR DENSITY STARTING TO GROW.
AND THIS IS A COMBINED DENSITY OF POPULATION AND EMPLOYEES.
I THINK ONCE YOU START TO SEE JUST POPULATION OR JUST EMPLOYMENT, YOU CAN SEE SOME AREAS THAT LOOK LIKE DEAD SPACES, BUT THIS GIVES US A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTINUOUS LOOK AT THE CITY.
SO HERE'S 2040, YOU START TO REALLY SEE, UM, THAT CENTRAL CORRIDOR IS APPROACHING WHAT WE NOW SEE AS DOWNTOWN DENSITY.
UM, AND THEN JUMPING UP TO 2080, UM, YOU REALLY START TO SEE EVERYTHING UM, SPREADING.
CERTAINLY UP NORTH THERE'S A LOT OF GROWTH IN THESE IMAGES.
AND THEN JUMPING OUT TO 2120, I THINK THIS IS KIND OF AMAZING WHEN YOU THINK BACK TO WHAT THAT 2020 ESTIMATE LOOKED LIKE.
YOU HAVE REALLY HIGH DENSITY SPREADING THROUGH A SIGNIFICANT AREA OF THE CITY.
UM, CERTAINLY A LOT OF GROWTH ALONG CORRIDORS AND A LOT OF GROWTH OUT TO THE EAST AS WE WOULD EXPECT.
UM, THERE'S UH, A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT, UM, A COUPLE OF LIKE HIGHLIGHTS THAT YOU CAN CERTAINLY SEE.
THERE'S A LOT OF OF GROWTH AROUND THE TESLA AREA.
THERE'S A LOT OF GROWTH AROUND SOUTH DOWN THE SH ONE 30 CORRIDOR.
UM, AND OF COURSE, CENTRAL AND DOWNTOWN AUSTIN CONTINUE TO GROW AND DENSIFY A COUPLE INTERESTING CONVERSATIONS OF IF WE HAVE CAP AND STITCH ON I 35 AND WHERE DOES DOWNTOWN END? YOU KNOW, IT CONTINUES OUT, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS FROM NOW.
SO IT COULD BE A VERY DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE.
[01:55:01]
IMAGINE HOW DIFFERENT RAINY STREET LOOKS IN THE LAST 10 YEARS AND THAT COULD CONTINUE TO EXTEND.SO, UM, PRETTY HARD TO, YOU KNOW, KNOW WHAT IT ACTUALLY WILL LOOK LIKE.
BUT THIS GIVES YOU A PRETTY, A PRETTY GOOD IDEA OF A, OF A HIGH DENSITY CITY.
AND THE NEXT LINE, YOU GET TO SEE ALL OF THEM LINED UP NEXT TO EACH OTHER AND CAN KIND OF COMPARE AND MAYBE THIS IS A GOOD SPOT IF THERE ARE ANY, UH, QUESTIONS OR THOUGHTS.
WE HAVE A COUPLE MORE MAPS THAT WE CAN GO THROUGH, BUT I WANTED TO SEE IF, IF ANYBODY HAS ANY GUT REACTIONS OR FEEDBACK.
THESE MAPS ARE KIND OF STUNNING.
AREN'T THEY BEAUTIFUL? MARI IS GOOD AND IT'S AN ARTISTIC MAP MAKER'S, IT'S SO INTEREST.
DID YOU MAKE THESE MARISA? YEAH.
SHE SPENDS ALL HER TIME IN ADDITION TO ALL THE OTHERS WIGGLING US.
I, THIS ISN'T REALLY IT JUST TO ALL THE OTHER STUFF YOU JUST, WOW, OKAY.
I DO, I DO HAVE A QUESTION, BUT SARAH DID ALL THE NUMBERS AND I JUST MADE THEM, SHE USED TO BE THE ARTIST.
I DO HAVE A QUESTION FOR MARISSA.
SO, SO YOU TALKED ABOUT THE WATER USE FACTORS, UM, BUT YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE MUNICIPAL EMBEDDED ONSITE WATER.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, YOU HAD A LOT OF WOOF, BUT NOT A LOT OF MEOW
I WAS LIKE, WHAT IS THAT? CAN I BRING MY SYMBOLS NEXT TIME? YEAH, THAT'S VERY GOOD.
SO MY NEEDS A LITTLE, SURELY YOU HAVE THAT ON YOUR IPAD ALREADY
SO, SO ONE QUESTION ON THE DISTRIBUTION, IT LOOKED LIKE, UH, IS IT, THERE'S LIKE A LITTLE NEIGHBORHOOD ALONG MOPAC KIND OF, NOT QUITE AT THE RIVER, BUT, BUT IT WAS STAYING LOW DENSITY MM-HMM.
UM, IS THAT WHAT, WHAT IS THAT? THERE ARE SOME AREAS AND WE LOOKED BACK AT THE, UM, CENSUS DATA FROM, GOSH, I THINK THE, I THINK THE REAL DETAILED ANALYSIS, WE WENT BACK TO LIKE 2000 AND LOOKED AT THE HISTORICAL GROWTH RATES IN SOME OF THOSE AREAS WHERE YOU HAVE LARGE SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCES AND THERE JUST HAS BEEN VERY LITTLE HISTORICAL GROWTH RATES.
SO, UM, OUR, YOU KNOW, OUR ESTIMATE OF WHAT A 2120 DENSITY LOOKED LIKE IS THAT YOU MAY HAVE A FEW MULTI-FAMILY, YOU KNOW, APARTMENTS AND MIXED USE SALON CORRIDORS, BUT LARGELY THERE'S STILL GONNA BE SOME AREAS THAT ARE GONNA REMAIN LARGE LOT SINGLE FAMILY.
AND THAT'S TRUE OF A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PLACES, BUT IT'S CERTAINLY TRUE OF A LOT OF THE WESTERN SIDE OF TOWN.
AND CAN WE BRING THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS UP SO WE CAN SEE IF THEY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? CAN WE PUT THEIR FACES ON THE SCREEN? HEY, THERE Y'ALL ARE.
ANY, UM, ANY QUESTIONS OR, OR OBSERVATIONS, UM, FOR THIS STUNNING, UH, FUTURE OF AUSTIN? AND WE DO HAVE DETAILED POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT SEPARATED OUT AS A COUPLE OF ADDITIONAL SLIDES IF WE WANNA LOOK AT THOSE TWO, IF ANYBODY HAS ANY THOUGHTS NOW? OKAY.
PERRY, ARE YOU, ARE YOU LEANING IN TO MAKE A COMMENT? I'M WATCHING Y'ALL RIGHT NOW.
I JUST, I'M AMAZED AND I'M, I'M JUST WONDERING HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO DOING THIS LONG ENOUGH TO TEST WHETHER OR NOT YOUR PROJECTIONS ARE HEADED IN, ARE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION? I SUSPECT THAT YOU HAVE, UM, HOW LONG, FIRST OF ALL, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN MAKING THESE PROJECTIONS, NUMBER ONE AND NUMBER TWO, HAVE THEY BEEN CORRECT?
I HAVE ONLY BEEN HERE, I HAVE NOT BEEN HERE FOR VERY LONG.
THIS IS MY FIRST SET OF PROJECTIONS WITH AUSTIN WATER.
BUT, UM, I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DO THIS WITH THE TEXAS WATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, UM, AS A PART OF THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING PROCESS AND THAT'S BEEN GOING ON SINCE THE NINETIES.
AND THEY HAVE SOME REALLY GOOD ASSESSMENT, UM, TOOLS OF THEIR OWN PROJECTIONS HISTORICALLY AND SHOW HOW CLOSE THEY'VE COME TO, UM, TO, TO THE, TO MEETING THEIR PROJECTED POPULATION AND DEMAND NUMBERS.
AND UM, AND THAT'S, I THINK A REALLY USEFUL TOOL AND I THINK WE'VE CERTAINLY BEEN INFORMED BY A LOT OF THAT METHODOLOGY.
UM, AND THE BEAUTY I GUESS OF THE FIVE YEAR UPDATE CYCLE IS THAT WE'LL CONTINUE TO REFINE OUR APPROACH AND, UM, I THINK IT'S ALSO, IT'S BEEN A LOT, IT'S A HEAVY LIFT EVERY TIME, BUT IT'S A LOT EASIER TO START WITH THE GROUNDWORK THAT WAS LAID IN THE 2018 WATER FORWARD PLAN.
THIS REALLY HAS JUST BEEN AN UPDATE AS OPPOSED TO A WHOLE, YOU KNOW, A WHOLE FRESH START.
SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO USE A LOT OF THAT INFORMATION AND, UM, AND GET DOWN INTO SOME,
[02:00:01]
SOME REAL DETAILS FOR THIS PROJECTION.I MEAN, AT LEAST FOR THE FIVE YEAR FROM LAST WATER FORD, OUR, OUR BASELINE LAST TIME WAS 2015 AND UM, OUR BASELINE THIS TIME IS 2020.
OUR 2020 ESTIMATE WAS PRETTY CLOSE, AND THEN THERESA'S BEEN HERE 30 YEARS, SO.
YEAH, I WAS GONNA SAY
YOU KNOW, OVER THE MANY YEARS WE'VE BEEN DOING PROJECTIONS SINCE THE EIGHTIES AND WE HAVE BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, VERY MUCH ON TRACK PRETTY MUCH AS A CITY ON POPULATION AND EMPLOYMENT.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE WORK CLOSELY WITH THE CITY DEMOGRAPHER'S OFFICE AND, AND, UH, REALLY WORK HARD AT DOING THAT.
AND, AND AUSTIN HAS, YOU KNOW, CONTINUED TO HAVE SUCH A KIND OF STEADY AND PREDICTABLE, UH, RATE OF GROWTH THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'VE, WE'VE UM, WE'VE HAD GOOD RESULTS STAYING ON TRACK.
AND I, I WAS NOT, UM, TRYING TO DIMINISH OR CRITICIZE IN ANY WAY.
UM, BUT, UH, I WAS JUST CURIOUS BECAUSE LIKE ALL PROJECTIONS, YOU ACTUALLY GET A CHANCE TO FIND OUT AT SOME POINT AND, UH, THANKS FOR DOING IT AND I HAVE NO REASON TO DOUBT IT ALL MAKE SENSE TO ME.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS FROM, FROM BILL OR HANEY, VANESSA? WELL, I'D LIKE TO SAY THAT THIS IS A GREAT WORK, UM, UM, GOOD JOB, UM, VERY, UM, INTERESTING BUT NOT SURPRISING, UH, ON HOW THIS IS GONNA BE MOVING IN THE FUTURE.
WHEN, WHEN WE PLAN YOU HAD THREE DIFFERENT PROJECTIONS.
ARE WE SHOOTING FOR THE MIDDLE ONE THEN? IS THAT WHAT WE'RE PLANNING FOR? OR IS IT ALL THREE ARE KIND OF PART OF THE STOCHASTIC TYPE ANALYSIS? ALL THREE ARE PART OF THE MIX.
I THINK THE, THE IDEA WILL BE TO MEASURE THE SUCCESS OF ANY OF OUR WATER MANAGEMENT STRATEGY PORTFOLIOS AS HOW WELL THEY PERFORM OVER THE BROADER RANGE.
SO OUR ABILITY TO ADAPT TO ANY ONE OF THOSE OUTCOMES FOR THE PURPOSES OF SYNCING UP WITH THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING PROCESS, WE'LL PROBABLY USE THE MIDDLE LINE, BUT YOU KNOW, WE YET TO BE DETERMINED.
SO THAT'S AN IMPORTANT PIECE WHERE WE KIND OF REALLY LOOK AT WATER USE PATTERNS ON, UM, IS IT CENSUS BLOCK OR IT'LL BE ON THE D T I POLYGON.
DTI POLYGON JUST, WELL WE HAD TO MAKE UP A DIFFERENT NAME FOR DIFFERENT LETTERS,
BUT ANYWAY, SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, NOT LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, WATER USE CUZ WE KNOW IT'S NOT LIKE A HUGE BLOCK ACROSS THE CITY.
SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO TAKE THIS DATA AND THEN BREAK THE CITY DOWN INTO POLYGONS AND, AND REALLY KIND OF TRY TO PROJECT AND PREDICT WATER USE ON THOSE AREAS AND THAT WILL HELP US HAVE MORE ROBUST PLANNING, SO.
IS THAT A GOOD SUMMARY OF YOUR LAST SLIDE? YEAH, I BELIEVE SO.
WE DO HAVE, YEAH, I DON'T KNOW IF MUDDY SAID, DO YOU WANNA GO THROUGH THOSE LAST ONES OR DO YOU WANNA OH, UM, I THINK IF WE HAVE A FEW MINUTES WE CAN JUST TALK ABOUT THE NEXT STEPS.
I DID WANNA MENTION THAT, UM, JUST A SHOUT OUT TO OUR, OUR COLLEAGUE MIGUEL MORALES, WHO DID A LOT OF THE HEAVY LIFTING TO DEVELOP THE 2020 POPULATION ESTIMATE.
A REALLY, REALLY DETAILED WORK TO GET ALL OF THOSE ESTIMATES OF UNITS SO THAT WE COULD DEVELOP OUR, OUR POPULATION ESTIMATE.
UM, SO, UH, HE'S OUT ON LEAVE RIGHT NOW WITH HIS NEW LITTLE BABY.
UM, BUT WE ARE VERY APPRECIATIVE TO HIM AND ALL OF HIS WORK THAT HE'S DONE.
AND I GUESS WE DON'T NEED TO BRING UP THE SLIDES NECESSARILY.
YOU HAVE SOME OF THESE IN YOUR PACKETS.
UM, BUT, UH, WE DID WANNA MENTION THAT OUR NEXT STEPS WILL INCLUDE SEEKING FEEDBACK FROM SOME OF OUR WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS ON THE PROJECTIONS THAT WE INCLUDED FOR THEM.
WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THE REGION, UH, THE REGIONAL WATER PLANNING, UH, PROJECTIONS, MUNICIPAL PROJECTIONS AS THOSE COME OUT.
WE'LL BE DEVELOPING OUR PROJECTIONS, UM, FOR DEMANDS FOR OTHER CUSTOMERS THROUGHOUT THE BASIN TO INCLUDE IN OUR WATER AVAILABILITY MODELING.
AND THEN WE'LL BE WORKING TO INCORPORATE OUR DATA INTO THE DISAGGREGATED DEMAND MODEL.
WE ANTICIPATE THAT THAT'LL TAKE US, THIS PART IS WE'RE FINISHING UP THIS PART.
IT'LL TAKE US ABOUT THREE MONTHS TO GET, UM, ALL THIS INCORPORATED INTO THE DDM.
AND SO WE ANTICIPATE COMING BACK TO Y'ALL WITH RESULTS IN FROM THAT WORK IN PROBABLY EARLY APRIL.
UM, BUT, UH, I, I JUST WANNA POINT OUT THAT, UH, JANE JANELLE, I BELIEVE SENT OUT THE MEETINGS THAT WE AGREED TO AT OUR LAST, OUR WATER FOUR TASK FORCE MEETINGS FOR 2023.
SHOULD HAVE GOT CALENDAR INVITES FOR ALL OF THOSE.
[02:05:01]
SO THOSE SHOULD ALL BE ON YOUR CALENDAR.UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS LAST TIME, BUT THERE'S CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS.
SOME OF THEM AREN'T RESOLVED YET, BUT HOPEFULLY WE'LL HAVE NEW MEMBERS IN 2023.
AND I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF YOU ALL ARE, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S A CHANGE IN COUNCIL MEMBER OR IF YOU THINK YOU MAYBE, OR ARE PLANNING TO OR WHATEVER, GO OFF THE TASK FORCE.
IF SO, PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME.
UM, I'LL BE REACHING OUT TO Y'ALL TOO, OR, AND, OR REACH OUT TO MARISA.
UH, CUZ WE WANNA, UM, BE ABLE TO HIT THE GROUND RUNNING, UM, NEXT YEAR WITH, UH, WITH FULL TASK FORCE.
UM, AND SUPER EASY QUORUM ACHIEVING.
YES, WE'LL BE DOING OUR OUTREACH TO THE COUNCIL OFFICES TO TRY TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO APPOINT NEW TASK FORCE MEMBERS.
AND, AND WE ENCOURAGE Y'ALL TO, IF YOU KNOW PEOPLE JUST TO PILE ONTO THAT, IF YOU KNOW ADDITIONAL PEOPLE WHO WOULD BE GREAT FITS FOR THE TASK FORCE FIRST.
AND HAVE A REALLY HAPPY HOLIDAY, EVERYONE.
WE'RE CRUISING RIGHT INTO THE HOLIDAY SEASON.
HOPE EVERYONE'S TAKING, UM, SOME TIME OFF.
AND, UH, AND WE'LL SEE Y'ALL SOON.
UM, Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE RECEIVED AN EMAIL OR INVITATION ALREADY, BUT THERE IS AN EVENT THIS THURSDAY TO MEET THE CANDIDATES, UM, FOR OUR NEW AUSTIN WATER DIRECTOR.
IT'LL BE AT 6:00 PM IN THIS BUILDING.
UM, THE PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT, THE PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT, UH, CENTER WHERE WE ARE HERE.
SO YEAH, THAT EMAIL CAME THIS MORNING.
DID, DID EVERYBODY GET THAT? WHO WAS IT FROM? I FORGET.
BUT DID, DID, UH, DID FOLKS GET THAT OR DID SOMEBODY THAT WANTS TO GET THAT, NOT GET IT? IF NOT, LET ME KNOW AND I'LL JUST FORWARD IT TO YOU OR, OR, OR ME SEND JANE WORK.