[CALL TO ORDER ]
[00:00:06]
IN THAT CASE, I'LL CALL TO ORDER THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE OF THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL.
IT'S 9:00 AM AND WE ARE MEETING IN THE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS AT CITY HALL.
UM, MEMBERS OF THE ORDER THAT WILL GO IN TODAY IS WE'LL THAT WE WON'T HAVE PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AT THE BEGINNING BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ANY SPEAKERS THAT HAVE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS.
WE WILL GO TO ITEM ONE, WHICH IS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES IN A MOMENT.
THEN WE WILL HAVE DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES IN THE RAINY STREET DISTRICT MEMBERS.
WE HAVE 17 SPEAKERS THAT HAVE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM AND, UM, THEY'LL HAVE EACH HAVE TWO MINUTES A PIECE, UH, TO SPEAK TO US.
UH, ITEM NUMBER THREE WILL BE A STAFFING UPDATE, AND WE HAVE A NUMBER OF PEOPLE HERE FOR THAT.
AND ITEM NUMBER FOUR WILL BE A PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITIES UPDATE.
UH, WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO GO TO
[1. Approve the minutes of the Public Safety Committee meeting of January 10, 2023. ]
ITEM NUMBER ONE AND IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING ON JANUARY 10TH? IT IS, UH, THE MOTION IS MADE TO APPROVE THOSE MINUTES BY COUNCIL MEMBER VELA SECOND BY COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE.IS THERE ANY OBJECTION? NO OBJECTION.
[2. Discussion and possible action on public safety issues in the Rainey Street district. ]
THE DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES IN THE RAINY STREET DISTRICT DISTRICT.UM, WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE SPEAKERS COME FIRST, AS I SAID A MINUTE AGO, WE'LL HAVE TWO MINUTES EACH FOR, UH, THE SPEAKERS AND I WILL ASK, UM, OUR STAFF TO HELP US OUT IN GOING FORWARD WITH THE SPEAKERS AND I WELCOME ALL OF THEM.
FIRST, IS JAY REYES HERE IN PERSON? NO.
IS THERE A JAY REYES ONLINE? DO WE HAVE A JOHN ALIMA ALI MAMA? AND WE CAN RUN THROUGH THIS LIST AGAIN.
DO WE HAVE A TARA HODA, H O D A? LET'S LET TARA HODA SPEAK.
UM, I AM HERE TO, TO TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT JASON AND ASK THAT, UM, YOU CONSIDER SOME CHANGES TO, UH, THE TRAIL.
SO UNFORTUNATELY, I WILL HAVE TO LIVE, UH, WITH A MYSTERY FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE, NOT KNOWING HOW OR WHY MY PARTNER FELL INTO THE WATER AND DROWNED HIS DEATH AND WILL HAVE TO LIVE THE REST OF MY LIFE WITHOUT THE PEACE OF MIND OF KNOWING EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED IN THE FINAL MINUTES OF HIS SHORT LIFE.
NOBODY ELSE SHOULD HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS LACK OF CLOSURE, AND IT COULD ALL HAVE BEEN PREVENTED WITH CAMERAS AND LIGHTS ON THE TRAIL.
JASON WAS A SOCIAL BUTTERFLY I LOVED BY EVERYONE HE MET.
HE LOVED HIS LIFE AND HE LOVED THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
HE WAS THE ONE WHO ACTUALLY CONVINCED ME TO MOVE WITH HIM IN 2020 AFTER I TRIED TO CONVINCE HIM TO MOVE TO SALT LAKE CITY.
I HAVE NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO LOSE A PERSON YOU LOVE AND HAVE PLANNED TO BUILD A LIFE WITH AT 30 YEARS OLD, BUT AT THE VERY LEAST, WE CAN ENSURE THAT NOBODY ELSE HAS TO EXPERIENCE THIS PAIN.
I UNDERSTAND THE ARGUMENT AGAINST LIFE ON THE TRAIL DUE TO HABITAT DISTURBANCE.
I'M A WILDLIFE CONSERVATIONIST BY PROFESSION, AND I'M CURRENTLY IN A GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAM AT THE YALE SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENT FOCUSED ON CONSERVATION.
THERE'S VALUE IN KEEPING PARTS OF THE HIKE AND BY TRAIL DARK TO PRESERVE THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT, BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO DO THAT IN A HEAVILY TRAFFICKED AREA RIGHT NEXT TO A MAJOR ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT IN DOWNTOWN AUSTIN.
AND YOU DON'T LET JASON JUST BE ANOTHER NAME ADDED TO THE LIST OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIED ON THE ANNIN ROY BUTLER HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL.
MANY PEOPLE HAD TO BE SACRIFICED FOR THIS CHANGE TO COME, BUT PLEASE MAKE JASON THE LAST BY INSTALLING CAMERAS ON THIS PORTION OF THE ANNIN ROY BUTLER HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL.
AND WE'RE SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS.
WE APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME TO TALK TO US TODAY.
BEFORE WE GO TO THE NEXT SPEAKER, UH, I WANNA POINT OUT THAT WE HAVE ALL OF THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, BUT WE'RE ALSO JOINED BY MAYOR PRO TIM PAGE ELLIS, COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON AL ALTER ON, ON, UH, REMOTELY.
AND WE'RE ALSO JOINED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN AL ALTAR IN PERSON.
[00:05:01]
PLEASE GO TO THE NEXT SPEAKER, A CHACO GIAN LUKUH, MY NAME IS LUCA RANO AND I WAS AM AND WILL FOREVER BE A FRIEND OF JASON JOHN.
THIS PAST MONTH HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT PERIODS OF MY LIFE.
TO GO FROM SHARING LASTING MEMORIES ONE MINUTE TO THEN SEARCHING COUNTLESS HOURS ANOTHER, AND THEN FINDING OUT THE WORST OUTCOME.
ALL WITHIN AN EIGHT DAY SPAN WAS PAINFUL TO SAY THE LEAST, TO TO HEAR THE CRYING SCREAM OF A LOVING MOTHER, THE SOFT CRYING OF A HEARTBROKEN FATHER.
AND TO FEEL THE UNCONTROLLABLE SHAKING OF A DEVASTATED PARTNER ARE THINGS I WISH NO ONE IN THIS WORLD HAS TO EXPERIENCE.
I'M HERE TODAY TO ASK FOR THE CITY'S INVESTMENT AND PUBLIC SAFETY MEASURES AROUND LADYBIRD LAKE NEAR RAINY STREET.
WE NEED LIGHTING, CAMERAS AND EMERGENCY BLUE LIGHT STATIONS TO BE INSTALLED IN THIS AREA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO AVOID THIS TERRIBLE SITUATION FROM HAPPENING AGAIN.
IT PAINS ME TO SAY THROUGH SIMILAR EXPERIENCE AS US, AND YET STILL NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE.
I KNOW YOU ALL DIDN'T KNOW JASON PERSONALLY, BUT IF YOU DID, YOU KNOW WHY SO MANY OF US CAME TO THE AID OF HIS FAMILY AND THEIR TIME OF NEED.
LIFE WAS TO LEAVE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.
AND HOW HE FOUND IT BY DOING IT TO JASON WAY, WHICH WAS BY MAKING OTHERS FEEL SAFE.
TRULY HONOR JASON AND THE LEGACY HAS LEFT BEHIND IS TO CONTINUE HIS PURPOSE AND HELP MAKE THIS WORLD A BETTER AND SAFER PLACE.
TODAY, UM, I AM ALSO, UH, I'VE KNOWN JASON MY ENTIRE LIFE.
WE GREW UP TOGETHER AND I AM HERE ON BEHALF OF, UM, EVERYONE THAT LOVES AND CARES ABOUT JASON TO URGE THIS COMMITTEE TO PUT IN PUBLIC SAFETY MEASURES ON LADY LAKE.
UM, AS A FEW OTHER PEOPLE HAVE MENTIONED, THERE'S NO REASON WHY ANY OTHER FAMILY SHOULD LOSE THEIR LOVED ONE BECAUSE THERE ISN'T ADEQUATE LIGHTING, ADEQUATE CAMERAS, OR ANY OTHER SAFETY MEASURES PLACED IN THE AREA THAT IS SO HIGHLY TRAFFICKED.
WE ARE URGING YOU TO TAKE A MOMENT TO CONSIDER THAT ALL WE'RE ASKING IS TO PUT UP SOME LIGHTS AND A LITTLE BIT OF SAFETY.
SO WE'D LOVE TO BE ABLE TO HONOR JASON'S MEMORY IN MAKING SURE THAT THIS DOESN'T HAPPEN TO ANYONE ELSE AND TO REALLY MAKE AUSTIN A SAFER PLACE FOR EVERYONE.
MY NAME IS JEN, AND I'M A FRIEND OF JASON AND HIS PARTNER TARA.
I'VE RECENTLY LEARNED THAT AUSTIN HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST CRIME RATES IN AMERICA COMPARED TO COMMUNITIES OF ITS SIZE.
ONE CHANCE OF BECOMING A VICTIM OF CRIME IS ONE IN 24.
SAFETY IS BOTH A HUMAN RIGHT AND A HUMAN NEED.
WHILE THE TOPIC OF SAFETY IS BROAD, I'D LIKE TO FOCUS ON PHYSICAL SAFETY ON LAKE PATH.
IN 2020, AUSTIN BEGAN AN INITIATIVE TO RE REIMAGINE PUBLIC SAFETY.
THIS INITIATIVE INCLUDED GATHERING FEEDBACK FROM RESIDENTS ON HOW THEY RATE THEIR SAFETY.
OF THOSE WHO RESPONDED LESS THAN HALF REPORTED FILLING, THEIR SAFETY WAS GOOD.
WITH THE MAJORITY REPORTING, THEIR SAFETY FELT FAIR OR POOR.
WHILE IMPRESSIVE IMPROVEMENTS IN AUSTIN HAVE BEEN MADE WITH THE TRANSITION TO FOCUS ON REIMAGINING PUBLIC SAFETY, NONE OF THE MEASURES FOCUS ON THE PUBLIC SAFETY OF THE WELL-KNOWN PATH.
THE ANN AND ROY BUTLER TRAIL IS NOT ONLY PITCHED BLACK AT NIGHT, BUT IT IS COVERED IN TREES AND SHRUBBERY BLOCKING MUCH OF THE TRAIL FROM THE PUBLIC ROADS.
WITHOUT PROPER LIGHTING AND EMERGENCY LIGHTS, IT IS INEVITABLE THAT MORE PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE TO GO MISSING.
WHILE THE CONVERSATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IS A SEPARATE TOPIC, I FIRMLY TESTIFY THAT NOBODY SHOULD HAVE TO LOSE THEIR PARTNER, BROTHER, SON, AND FRIEND TO QUESTIONABLE CIRCUMSTANCES.
HAD THERE BEEN MORE TRACTION ON THE PREVIOUS PUBLIC REQUESTS OF SAFETY MEASURES ON THIS TRAIL, IT UNDOUBTEDLY COULD HAVE SAVED JASON'S LIFE, OR AT THE VERY LEAST, PROVIDED JUSTICE, JUSTICE TO JASON FOR THE UNFORTUNATE WAY HE LEFT.
THE SAFETY OF THOSE ENJOYING THE PATH IS A NON-NEGOTIABLE.
TWO THINGS THAT WILL STRENGTHEN PUBLIC
[00:10:01]
SAFETY.FOR THOSE THAT HAVE LOST, THAT MAY SO THAT NO MORE, MORE MAY LOSE THEIR LIVES IS ONE RAPID RESPONSE PLANNING, WHICH INCLUDES EMERGENCY BLUE LIGHTS ON THE TRAIL, AND TWO, INTEGRATING LIGHT ON THE BOARDWALK TRAIL.
YOU'LL EXPERIENCE A PATH COMPLETELY WET 24 7.
THERE IS NO REASON FOR THIS NOT TO ALSO BE THE CASE ON THE TRAIL PATH.
ADDING LIGHT FOR THOSE USING THE PATH AT NIGHT IS A SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE APPROACH WITH THE EFFORTS OF THE TRAIL CONSERVATIVE PROJECT IN FULL SWING, THE TIME TO IMPLEMENT LIGHTING AND OTHER PUBLIC AND SAFETY MEASURES AS LONG PAST DUE AND SHOULD URGENTLY BE IMPLEMENTED.
WE'LL RUN THROUGH THIS LIST AGAIN AT THE END.
THE NEXT SPEAKER, MIRANDA ZIMMER.
JOHN HANI MASU CHACO LOVE LIFE.
SORRY, I DIDN'T HAVE YOU UNMUTED.
UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO SPEAK WITH YOU TODAY.
UH, I'M A COUSIN OF JASON JOHN, AND, UH, I WANTED TO SPEAK BECAUSE THIS PROPOSAL IS NEON DEAR TO MY HEART.
AS JASON WAS, UH, JASON WAS SOMEONE THAT, THAT LOVED LIFE.
HE LOVED HIS FAMILY, HE LOVED HIS FRIENDS, HE LOVED HIS PARTNER TARA, AND HE LOVED HIS DOG RUFFLE.
UH, HE WAS A FREE SPIRIT AND ANYONE THAT MET HIM JUST INSTANTLY LIKED HIM.
UH, TO ME HE WAS LIKE A LITTLE BROTHER.
UH, HE WAS ALSO LIKE AN UNCLE TO MY KIDS.
UH, ONE OF MY DAUGHTERS ATTENDS, UH, TEXAS STATE AND SAN MARCOS, AND HE OFFERED TO BE THE, UH, UH, THE EMERGENCY CONTACT, IF ANYTHING, IF SHE NEEDED ANYTHING.
UH, MY SON IS PLANNING ON ATTENDING UT AUSTIN NEXT YEAR, AND HE OFFERED TO BE, UH, KEEP AN EYE ON HIM FOR ME, UH, AND ALSO HELP HIM WITH ANYTHING.
HE OFFERED HIS HIS PLACE TO STAY WHEN, UH, THEY WANTED TO ATTEND AUSTIN CITY LIMITS LAST YEAR.
HE WAS VERY GENEROUS, VERY KIND.
UM, I MEAN, IT, IT, I'M SURE THE REST OF HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY HAVE EXPRESSED THIS AND HOW, HOW MUCH OF A LOSS, UH, THE THE HURT AND LOSS THAT WE FEEL, UH, WITH HIM BEING GONE.
BUT WE FEEL THAT THIS LOSS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.
UH, AS EVERYONE MENTIONED IT, ANNE AND ROY BUTLER, TRAIL BY LADY BIRD LAKE HAS LIGHTING, NO CAMERAS, NOT EVEN EMERGENCY BLUE LIGHT TOWERS.
UH, EVEN THOUGH THIS AREA BY RAINY STREET IS A POPULAR WALKWAY FOR MANY PATRONS AT NIGHT.
UH, SINCE HIS JASON'S DISAPPEARANCE AND DEATH, I'VE ALSO COME TO LEARN THAT HE WAS NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO LIVE THIS LIFE IN THAT LAKE.
UH, THERE HAD BEEN OTHERS BEFORE.
AND, AND IF NOTHING IS DONE, THERE WILL BE COUNTLESS OTHERS.
SOME PLEADING WITH YOU TODAY FOR THE SAKE OF HUMAN LIFE TO INSTALL LIGHTS AND CAMERAS ON THE TRAIL TOILE PLAY, AND TO GIVE PEDESTRIANS A SAFER EXPERIENCE WHEN WALKING IN THAT AREA AFTER DARK.
PLEASE DO THIS NOT JUST FOR JASON AND THE OTHERS THAT HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES IN LATE BEFOREHAND, BUT FOR ALL FUTURE SONS AND DAUGHTERS, SIBLINGS, FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS THAT MAY WALK IN THAT AREA IN THE FUTURE.
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE TIME THAT YOU'VE GIVEN ME TODAY, AND I HOPE THAT YOU'LL PASS THIS PROPOSAL.
IS IT THE THREE 20 NUMBER? YES, MA'AM.
I'M A FAMILY FRIEND OF THE JOHN FAMILY AND A BEST FRIEND OF TARA HODA, HIS PARTNER.
I'M HERE TO SPEAK ON THE PUBLIC SAFETY ISSUES AND ACTIONS NEEDED ON THE RAINY STREET DISTRICT.
I'M REFERENCING FIGURE FIVE DASH EIGHT CURRENT LIGHTING CONDITIONS, WHICH CAN BE FOUND ON PAGE 41 OF ONE 17 ON THE 2021 SAFETY AND MOBILITY STUDY ON THE LADY BOARD, BUT IT SHOWS THE ENTRANCE OF RAINY AT THE HIGH PRIORITY AREA OF CONCERN DEEMED BY THE PUBLIC.
AS YOU CONTINUE ALONG THE PATH TOWARDS I 35, THERE ARE MORE UNLIT AND PUBLIC AREAS OF CONCERN.
IT IS CLEARED EXACTLY WHERE THE DISAPPEARANCE FROM THE DEATH OF MARTIN GUTIERREZ AND MY FRIEND JASON JOHN, AND MORE THAN THAN 10 OTHERS OCCURRED ARE THE PLACES OF CONCERN FOR THE PUBLIC.
WE NEED SAFETY MEASURE MEASURES SUCH AS EMERGENCY BLUE, LIGHT BOXES, WORKING CAMERAS AND LIGHTS IN THESE AREAS.
[00:15:01]
I'M AWARE THAT THERE ARE STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS THAT GO INTO PLACING THESE CERTAIN INFRASTRUCTURES INTO THE GROUND.HOWEVER, IT HAS NOW BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE THE STUDY WAS PUBLISHED AND AFTER MY CONVERSATION WITH PAR AND MATERIAL CONSERVANCY, IT SEEMS THAT WE HAVE TO WAIT EVEN LONGER FOR MORE PROPOSALS BEFORE ANY WORK CAN ACTUALLY BE DONE.
HOW IS IT THAT THE DEATH OF MARTIN GUTIERREZ OCCURRED IN 2018 AND ONE YEAR LATER IN 2019, CHRISTIAN PEW SURVIVED A HORRIFIC FALL, OR JUST AS PAST JULY, JOSH CROW WAS FOUND BY THE I 35 BRIDGE, BUT NO PROPOSALS HAVE BEEN MADE.
HOW IS IT THAT THE PEOPLE OF AUSTIN HAVE ASKED FOR CHANGE, BUT YEARS LATER, NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE? I'M HERE NOT ONLY TO SAY THAT THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, BUT ASK THAT OUR VOICES WILL NOT ONCE AGAIN FALL ONTO DEATH.
MITCHELL GUTIERREZ BEGGED FOR LIGHTS AND CAMERAS FOUR YEARS AGO, BUT HERE WE ARE ONCE AGAIN ADVOCATING FOR THE SAME THING.
IF YOU HAVE LISTENED TO HIS CONCERNS, THEN MAYBE JASON WOULD BE ALIVE RIGHT NOW, OR AT THE LEAST WE WOULD KNOW WHAT HAVE HAPPENED TO HIM.
THESE DEATHS THAT HAVE OCCURRED IN LADY BIRD LAKE ARE ON THE HANDS OF THE CITY OFFICIALS THAT HAVE IGNORED PUBLIC PLEA FOR CHANGE IN THE LAST FIVE DAYS.
WE'VE COLLECTED OVER 1700 SIGNATURES TO RALLY FOR THIS CHANGE, AND WE ARE JUST GETTING STARTED.
SO I'M HERE NOW TO HOLD ALL OF YOU ACCOUNTABLE FOR THIS CHANGE.
AGAIN, I AM AWARE THAT THERE IS A PROTOCOL FOR ESTABLISHING THIS INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT I ASKED FOR A FORMAL TIMELINE, ADDING RICE AND CAMERAS, INCLUDING THE EMERGENCY BLUE BOXES, PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SECTION BETWEEN SPEAKER.
YOUR TIME IS EXPIRED, SHOULD BE A PRIORITY.
WE HAVE SEVERAL OTHER PHONE NUMBERS AND WE'RE GONNA ASK THEM TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS WE UNMUTE THEM.
WE HAVE PEOPLE ONLINE, BUT WE'RE NOT SURE OF THEIR NAMES, SO WE'LL HAVE THEM IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS, BUT THERE'RE PEOPLE THAT WOULD WOULD'VE SIGNED UP ALREADY.
I'LL ASK YOU TO UNMUTE 5 12 9 23 AND SPEAKER, IF YOU'LL IDENTIFY YOURSELF, AND THEN WE'LL START YOUR TIME.
WE'LL COME TO, WE'LL COME BACK TO THAT SPEAKER.
WE'LL UNMUTE 9 1 4 3 2 OH SPEAKER IF YOU'D IDENTIFY YOURSELF AND THEN WE'LL START YOUR TIME.
I AM THE ELDEST BROTHER OF JASON JOHN.
UH, ONCE WE FOUND THAT, UH, JASON WAS MISSING, UH, IT WAS INSTANT PANIC FOR OUR FAMILY.
UH, WE KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG.
UH, AND THEN THE MANY DAYS AFTER THAT WE WERE SEARCHING FOR HIM.
ALL I COULD THINK WAS THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED.
WE SHOULD NOT BE SEARCHING FOR MY BROTHER DAY AFTER DAY WITHOUT ANY SORT OF KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WHEREABOUTS OR WHAT OCCURRED.
UM, AND AS I DUG DEEP WITH THE HELP OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY, WE FOUND OUT THAT THIS IS A COMMON ISSUE.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT HAS HAPPENED AGAIN AND AGAIN.
UM, AND SPEAKING WITH THE FAMILIES THAT HAVE LOST LOVED ONES, THEY HAVE PLEADED, THEY HAVE CRIED, UH, THEY HAVE FOUGHT TO GET SOME CHANGE AND NOTHING HAS HAPPENED.
AND NOW WE ARE COMING WITH THE STRENGTH OF NUMBERS AND WE'RE ASKING FOR CHANGE.
THERE HAS TO BE LIGHTS IN PLACE EVEN ON A, UH, A SENSOR BASIS.
THERE HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF, UH, CAMERA SET UP.
HI, MY NAME IS MIRANDA ZIMMER LEE.
UM, JASON WITH MY GOOD FRIEND AND NEIGHBOR.
AND I'M HERE TO ADVOCATE FOR CHANGE IN HIS MEMORY AND IN HIS LEGACY.
UM, THE FACT THAT HE ISN'T HERE RIGHT NOW STILL FEELS SURREAL.
WE'RE HERE TODAY ASKING FOR SAFETY MEASURES BOTH ON THE TRAIL AND AT THE BARS, STARTING WITH THE TRAILS.
I'VE LONG EXPRESSED HOW UNBELIEVABLE IT IS THAT HAS SUCH A HEAVILY TRAFFICKED AND POPULAR TRAIL, AND AUSTIN DOESN'T HAVE BETTER LIGHTING, NOT JUST REMOTE PARTS OF THE TRAIL AT STEPPING OUT OF MY APARTMENT AT 6:00 PM IN THE WINTER AND HITTING A PATCH SO DARK, JUST TWO MINUTES INTO MY WALK THAT I HAVE TO TURN AROUND BECAUSE I FEEL SO UNSAFE.
AND WE ALL KNOW HOW PITCH BLACKETT IS AT NIGHT, WHERE JASON WENT MISSING, WHICH IS ALSO RIGHT BY APARTMENTS AND HOTELS.
THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR IT TO BE UNLIT.
UM, WHEN I FIRST MOVED HERE, I WAS WARNED OF TWO THINGS.
[00:20:01]
GO RUNNING ON THE TRAIL IN THE EARLY MORNINGS BECAUSE YOU MIGHT GET RAPED AND BE CAREFUL AT THE BAR.SO THERE'S A LOT OF ROOFING GOING ON, ESPECIALLY ON RAINY AND WEST SIXTH.
I WANTED TO LAUGH IT OFF AS URBAN LEGEND, BUT I GOOGLED BOTH AND NUMEROUS ARTICLES AND REDDIT THREADS EXIST THAT CLEARLY ARTICULATE THIS ISSUE.
I ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO GOOGLE THOSE AND READ THOSE STORIES THAT PEOPLE HAVE FIRSTHAND ACCOUNTS, UM, BECAUSE IT'S HAPPENING ALL OVER.
WE DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHY JASON OR ANY OF THESE OTHER MEN ENDED UP IN THE WATER.
WE ALL RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS A COMPLEX SITUATION AND BUDGETS AND STAFFING ISSUES ARE CHALLENGES, BUT THE CITY IS MAKING MONEY OFF OF TOURISM AND THE GROWTH THAT'S HAPPENING IN AUSTIN.
AND SOME OF THAT MONEY NEEDS TO GO BACK INTO COMMON SENSE SAFETY PROTOCOLS LIKE LIGHTING CAMERAS, EMERGENCY LIGHTS ON THE TRAIL.
IT SOUNDS LIKE THE TRAIL CON CONSERVANCY HAS SOLUTIONS AVAILABLE THAT PROVIDE ADEQUATE LIGHTING WHILE ALSO PROTECTING WILDLIFE.
EVEN IF THAT SOLUTION COSTS MORE, I BELIEVE IT IS WORTH IT.
JASON, LOVE NATURE AS THROUGH THE MAJORITY OF THE TRAIL USERS AND A SOLUTION THAT PROTECTS BOTH WILL HELP KEEP NATURE LOVERS AND SAFETY LOVERS HAPPY ALIKE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME TODAY.
I KNOW YOU ALL HAVE LOVED ONES THAT YOU WANT TO PROTECT, AND I HOPE THAT YOU PUSH THESE CHANGES, UM, IN HONOR OF JASON AND OTHERS WHOSE LIVES WERE CUT SHORT IN SIMILAR WAYS AND ALSO TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING TO ANYONE ELSE IN THE FUTURE.
CAN YOU PLEASE CONFIRM IF YOU CAN HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN.
UH, AS MENTIONED, MY NAME IS VAON VAY.
I AM A COUSIN BROTHER OF JASON JOHN.
UH, I WANTED TO THANK YOU ALL FOR GIVING, UH, GIVING ME AND US THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO ALL OF YOU.
UH, LAST FEW WEEKS HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT AND PAINFUL FOR ALL OF US, FOR ALL OF JASON'S FRIEND AND FAMILY.
AS WE WERE GOING THROUGH THIS PAINFUL PERIOD LAST FEW WEEKS, WE ALSO HAD A CHANCE TO MEET OTHER FAMILY, ME, OTHER FAMILIES WHO HAD LOST THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS IN SIMILAR CIRCUMSTANCES.
IN LADYBIRD LAKE AUSTIN IS A FAST GROWING CITY KNOWN FOR ITS WELCOMING COMMUNITY, ESPECIALLY WITH THE GROWTH OF THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.
BUT 50 AND SECURITY ARE A MAJOR PRIORITY.
AS OTHERS MENTIONED BEFORE ME ON THIS CALL, LADY BIRD LAKE AND THE TRAIL AROUND IT, IT'S EXTREMELY DARK EVEN THOUGH IT IS SO CLOSE TO THE, TO THE CORE OF THE CITY LIFE AND THE NIGHTLIFE OF RAINY STREET, UH, WHERE A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN JOGGING.
A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE ARE JOGGING THROUGHOUT THE DAY, BUT AT NIGHT IT'S COMPLETELY PITCH DARK.
WE HAVE SPENT A LOT OF EVENINGS IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, LOT OF NIGHTS ALL DAY, ALL NIGHT LOOKING FOR JASON.
AND WE SAW FIRSTHAND HOW EXTREMELY DARK IT GETS THERE.
WE WOULD LIKE FOR YOU ALL TO PLEASE CONSIDER TO EXPEDITE THE PROCESS TO GET NEW STREET LIGHTS INSTALLED, TO GET, UH, EMERGENCY BLUE BOXES INSTALLED AND IF POSSIBLE, TO INSTALL SECURITY CAMERAS SO THAT WE CAN AVOID ANOTHER INCIDENT LIKE THIS HAPPENING SO THAT WE CAN AVOID ANOTHER CASUALTY, SO THAT WE CAN AVOID ANOTHER FAMILY SUFFERING FROM SUCH DEEP PAIN, OFTEN OF A FAMILY MEMBER BEING LOST EARLY.
SO AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
THANK YOU FOR GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK, BUT PLEASE, WE ALL REQUEST THAT YOU EXPEDITE THE PROCESS TO MAKE SOME CHANGES.
HI, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN.
THE AMOUNT OF TIMES THESE WORDS WERE REPEATED THROUGHOUT THE SEARCH FOR JASON IS RIDICULOUS.
AND THE REASON WE HAD TO SEARCH FOR THE CAMERA FOOTAGE FROM SURROUNDING AREAS IS BECAUSE THERE WAS NO PRESENCE OF LIGHT NOR CAMERAS DEDICATED TO THE TRAIL ITSELF.
AND IF THERE HAD BEEN, I TRULY BELIEVE JASON COULD HAVE BEEN FOUND MUCH, MUCH SOONER.
I WANT TO KEEP THIS SHORT BECAUSE IT'S HEARTBREAKING THAT WE ARE HERE SAYING THIS AFTER LOSING JASON WHO WAS A BROTHER, A FRIEND, A SON, AND A GIVER.
AND AS A GIVER, I KNOW THAT IF JASON WERE HERE AND IT WERE SOMEONE ELSE THAT HAD GONE MISSING, HE'D BE HERE PLEADING FOR THE SAME THING.
SO LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN TO ANYONE BY INSTALLING LIGHTS AND
[00:25:01]
CAMERAS AND BLUE LIGHT BLOCK BOXES ALONGSIDE THE TRAIL OF LADY BIRD LAKE.THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
I'D LIKE TO GO BACK TO ONE ONLINE SPEAKER THAT MAY HAVE HAD DIFFICULTY WITH THE TECHNOLOGY.
IF YOU'LL UNMUTE THAT SPEAKER.
AND ON DECK IN PERSON WILL BE CHRISTOPHER PUGH.
CALLER, CAN YOU HEAR US? 5 1 2 9 2 3.
HI, MY NAME IS GIE JOHNSON AND I HAVE LIVED IN AUSTIN FOR THE PAST 27 YEARS.
UM, UM, AND, AND WE DO USE, UM, THE LADYBIRD, UM, JOHNSON LAKE FOR PADDLE BOARDING AND, UM, AND KAYAKING DURING DAYTIME.
I HAVE TWO CHILDREN WHO ARE 27 AND 23 YEARS OLD.
I BLATANTLY REQUEST THEM NOT TO GO TO THE TRAIL AT NIGHT BECAUSE ON AND OFF I HEAR DEATH AND RAPE AND UM, AND ASSAULT ON THE, ON THE TRAIL.
UM, JASON IS A FAMILY FRIEND OF OURS AND IT WAS SO EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GRIEF OF THE JASON'S FAMILY.
AND I BELIEVE IT IS THE SAME FOR FAMILIES WHO HAVE LOST LOUD ONES ON THE TRAIN, ON UN UH, UH, IN, IN UNSAFE CONDITIONS.
IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE, UH, THAT THE CITY INSTALL CAMERAS AND LIGHTS AND HAVE, UH, THE, THE AREA VERY SAFE SO THAT THE PUBLIC CAN GO TO THE TRAIL AND ENJOY THE TRAIL DURING NIGHTTIME AND EVENING TIMES.
AND ALSO, I WOULD REQUEST TO ADD SOME KIND OF SECURITY PERSON, UM, UNTIL THE LIGHTS AND CAMERAS ARE INSTALLED, UM, SO THAT WE CAN ENJOY THE LAKE.
UH, WHAT IS THE POINT OF HAVING A TRAIL WHICH IS SO DANGEROUS FOR, FOR THE CITIZENS TO USE? AND IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY AND IT IS, UH, UH, THE, THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CITIZENS AS WELL AS THE GOVERNMENT OR THE CITY COUNCIL OR WHOEVER IS GOVERNING THAT AREA TO HAVE, UH, THE PLACE AND ALL OTHER TRAILS, UH, SAFE FOR HUMAN BEINGS TO, TO UH, TO USE AND ENJOY.
AND, UH, I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR GIVING US, UH, THIS OPPORTUNITY TO COME UP AND, UM, AND TALK ON THIS ISSUE.
NEXT SPEAKER IS IN PERSON, CHRISTOPHER PUGH.
MY SON CHRISTIAN PUGH WENT MISSING OFF THE RAINEY STREET, UH, UH, STATE, UH, STREET, UH, BACK IN, UH, NOVEMBER 16TH, 2019.
UH, WE SPENT A LITTLE OVER SIX WEEKS IN THE HOSPITAL, UH, IN BETWEEN A NEURO REHABILITATION FACILITY AND THE, UH, INTENSIVE CARE UNIT DOWN IN DALE SETON.
UH, JUST TRYING TO GET HIM BACK ON HIS FEET, ANOTHER EIGHT MONTHS JUST TRYING TO GET HIM TO WALK, TALK, BREATHE, AND ACT LIKE A NORMAL PERSON AGAIN.
UH, SPENT A LITTLE OVER A MILLION DOLLARS DOING SUCH.
AND YOU KNOW, THE BIGGEST THING I HEAR, BIGGEST THING THAT I HAVE, AND THE BIGGEST PROBLEM I HAVE IS I REALLY APPRECIATE THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR THEIR HELP AND FINDING MY SON.
SO THE BIGGEST PROBLEM I HAVE IS THE GAP.
THE GAP THAT I THINK ALL THESE FAMILIES HAVE THAT EVERYBODY ON THE PHONE HAS IS WHAT IS GOING ON AND WHY CAN WE NOT FIND ANY ANSWERS ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR CHILDREN? I MEAN, HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF YOUR CHILDREN WENT OUT ON A FRIDAY NIGHT, SATURDAY NIGHT AND DIDN'T COME HOME FOR THREE OR FOUR OR FIVE DAYS, MAYBE EIGHT DAYS, AND THEN YOU FIND 'EM DEAD OR YOU FIND 'EM WITH HUGE INJURIES THAT THEY'RE GONNA LIVE WITH FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES THAT YOU CANNOT REPAIR AND YOU CANNOT FIX? AND THE DAM, OH, SORRY.
AND THE POLICE DEPARTMENT CANNOT TELL YOU ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOUR CHILD.
THEY HAVE NO ANSWERS OTHER THAN THEY WALKED OFF.
AND IT MIGHT BE THEIR FAULT THAT THEY WENT OFF THIS BRIDGE OR THEY WENT OFF INTO THE LAKE OR THEY WENT OFF INTO WHEREVER.
I DON'T BELIEVE THAT FOR A SECOND.
AND THE ONLY ANSWER THAT WE ARE GONNA HAVE IS IF SOMETHING GETS INSTALLED DOWN THERE, SOME LIGHTS AND SOME CAMERAS THAT MAYBE THAT YOU HAVEN'T ANSWERED NEXT TIME THIS HAPPENS.
CUZ BELIEVE ME, IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN AGAIN.
AND IT'S UP TO YOU WHETHER YOU WANT TO HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THAT NEXT FAMILY OR NOT.
SO PLEASE TRY TO HAVE AN ANSWER FOR 'EM BECAUSE THIS TOTALLY SUCKS AND EVERY TIME IT HAPPENS, WE GET TO RELIVE IT.
THE GUTIERREZ FAMILY'S HAD TO RELIVE IT TWO TIMES AT LEAST, MAYBE THREE OR FOUR.
EVERY TIME THIS HAPPENS, THEY RELIVE IT.
EVERY ONE OF THE JASON FAMILY, JOHN'S FAMILY IS GONNA HAVE TO RELIVE IT.
AND I HAVE HAVE TO RELIVE IT EVERY SINGLE TIME.
SO TRY PUTTING YOURSELF IN OUR SHOES FOR JUST A MINUTE AND UNDERSTANDING LIKE WHAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH EVERY SINGLE TIME THIS HAPPENS IN Y'ALL CITY, AND WE SEE IT ON THE NEWS, AND THEN WE HAVE TO REAL DEAL WITH IT.
AND THEN COME DOWN HERE AND TALK TO Y'ALL ABOUT IT.
PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO AT LEAST MAYBE HAVE AN ANSWER FOR THAT NEXT THING.
[00:30:01]
THE NEXT SPEAKER IS CALLING FROM 9 1 4 3 2 OH.OUR FAMILY IS GOING THROUGH SUCH UNIMAGINABLE SORROW AND DESPAIR OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS.
JASON WAS A GIFT OF GOD FROM HEAVEN.
HIS NAME MEANS HEALER, AND IN FACT, HE WAS A HEALER TO MANY.
JASON WAS ONE OF THE MOST LOVING, CARING, AND EMPATHETIC PERSON ANYONE COULD MEET OR HAVE KNOWN BY NATURE.
JASON WAS VERY GENEROUS AND COMPASSION MADE.
HE HAD A SENSE OF INTUITION AND PER BEYOND HIS AGE, HE
JASON MADE SO MANY FRIENDS IN AUSTIN IN THE LAST TWO YEARS.
JASON WAS BORN AND RAISED IN NEW YORK, HOWEVER, HE LOVED AUSTIN SO MUCH AND THE PEOPLE THERE AND HE AND GREG, US ALL OF US TO MOVE TO AUSTIN.
AND NOW WE ARE FRIGHTENED TO MOVE THERE.
HIS LOVE FOR AUSTIN AND THE COMMUNITY FORCED US TO BURY HIM IN AUSTIN INSTEAD OF NEW YORK.
WHILE ALL THE NEW YORK PEOPLE WERE WAITING FOR HIM TO BE BURIED IN NEW YORK, HE ACTUALLY IN SCHOOL, HE WENT TO CHARTERED SCHOOL.
HE WAS THE PRESIDENT OF DIVERSITY CLUB.
HE WENT TO MANY, MANY, MANY CONFERENCES, UM, FOR OTHER PEOPLE, HELPING OTHER PEOPLE TO ADVISE THEM TO NYU.
AND JOHN FAMILY IS VERY MUCH INVOLVED IN THE CHRISTIAN FAITH AND CHURCH.
WE RAISED THE LIAISON WITH THE CHRISTIAN VALUES, WHICH REFLECTED IN HIS LIFE.
HE ALSO HAD A KEEN LOVE FOR ADVENTURE.
HE WAS DOING HIKING AND BIKING, WHICH WAS ALL INSPIRED BY HIS GIRLFRIEND CLARA.
HE WAS ORIGINALLY PROMOTED AT HIS COMPANY AND HE WAS WELL RESPECTED BY ALL HIS COWORKERS.
THE FABRIC OF OUR TIGHT LOVING FAMILIES NOW PRAYED.
THIS IS A PEACE OF OUR HEART THAT HAS BEEN EXERCISED AND NEVER CAN BE REPLACED.
WE MOURN AT THIS TIME, OVERCOME WITH SORROW, DIGITAL UNIMAGINABLE AND UNFATHOMABLE LOSS OF OUR DATA.
WE WILL CHERISH THE OF COUNTLESS SWEET AND LOVE MEMORIES WE HAVE OF HIM.
WE AS THE FAMILY WILL HOLD ON OUR CHRISTIANS FAITH.
THEY COMFORT AT THIS TIME THAT HE'S THAT EMBRACED BY OUR LORD AND SAY, WHICH IS CHRIST AND RESTING IN HIS LOVING ARMS. HOWEVER, WE DO NOT WANT ANOTHER FAMILY TO FACE THE HEARTBREAKING PAIN WHICH WE HAVE EXPERIENCED SEARCHING FOR OUR SON THE WHOLE NOW IN OUR HEART FOR THE REST OF OUR LIFE.
JASON FAMILY, JOHN FAMILY IS REQUESTING TO MAKE ALL THE NECESSARY ACTIONS TO PROTECT THE LIFE OF THE PEOPLE OF AUSTIN NEAR AT THE LADYBIRD LAKE.
I ALSO ASK YOU TO CHANGE THE SCARY NAME AND THE HISTORY OF RAINY STREET TO JASON STREET TO BRING HEALING TO THE FAMILY AND THE COMMUNITY.
THERE ARE MANY THINGS, OUR FAMILY, WHICH HAD MA'AM, INCLUDING BETH MA.
MA'AM, I'M VERY SORRY TO, I I'M VERY SORRY TO INTERRUPT YOU AND, AND FEEL DEEPLY YOUR LOSS.
AND I'M SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS, BUT, UM, I APOLOGIZE, BUT YOUR TIME HAS EXPIRED.
ARE YOU NEXT SPEAKER? MICHELLE GUTIERREZ MITCHELL.
SO I'LL HAVE A LITTLE SPEECH HERE.
UH, ONCE AGAIN, MY NAME IS MITCHELL GUTIERREZ.
UH, DATE THAT FOREVER CHANGED MY LIFE.
MY LITTLE BROTHER, MARTIN GUTIERREZ, 25 YEARS OLD, JUST MOVED TO AUSTIN, TEXAS, LIVED WITH ME AND MY WIFE.
HIM AND I WENT DOWNTOWN ALL THE TIME.
HE WAS THE HAPPIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD YOU WOULD EVER MEET.
HE DECIDED TO GO OUT WITH SOME FRIENDS ON SUNDAY NIGHT ON RAINY STREET, AND HE NEVER CAME BACK.
THE NEXT DAY WE KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG.
WE CALLED THE POLICE, SEARCHES WERE DONE.
WE WERE ALL OVER SOCIAL MEDIA.
KX A N, FOX NEWS, CBS B I DID INTERVIEWS EVERY DAY, SPOKE WITH THE POLICE EVERY DAY, AND WE DID SEARCHES EVERY DAY.
20 TO 30 PEOPLE FOR SIX DAYS AND WE FOUND THEM MARCH ON NO, NOVEMBER 26TH IN LADY BIRD LAKE.
EVERY INTERVIEW YOU FIND ONLINE, YOU'RE GONNA FIND ME BEGGING AND BEGGING FOR SURVEILLANCE AND LIGHTING.
A YEAR LATER, CHRISTIAN WENT MISSING ON THE, NEARLY THE EXACT SAME DATE MY BROTHER DID.
AND ONCE AGAIN, I WAS ALL OVER THE NEWS BEGGING FOR LIGHTING SURVEILLANCE AND NOTHING WAS EVER DONE.
MULTIPLE PEOPLE HAVE GONE MISSING WITH NO CHANGE, NO PROGRESSION INTO THE CASES ROLLING.
EVERYTHING IS ACCIDENTAL AND IT'S NOT.
AND I GOT TO MEET JASON'S FAMILY AND IT WAS LIKE STARING IN A MIRROR WITH MY FAMILY FOUR YEARS AGO.
IT WAS SO MUCH PAIN COMING BACK EVERY DAY.
I SAW EVERYTHING THAT THEY'RE GOING THROUGH AND I HAD TO SIT DOWN WITH HIS MOM LOOKING
[00:35:01]
AT MY MOM AS WELL WITH NO ANSWERS.SOMETHING SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE YEARS AGO, EVEN BEFORE MARTIN.
HELLO, MY NAME IS EMILY CROWE AND I'M A LIFELONG AUSTINITE AND, UM, HOMEOWNER IN DISTRICT DISTRICT THREE.
YOU KNOW, MAY, YOU MAY KNOW MY FATHER ALVIN CROWE.
HE HAS BEEN A RESIDENT IN AUSTIN SINCE THE SEVENTIES AND A FIXTURE ON THE AUSTIN MUSIC SCENE.
UM, TODAY I SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE CROW AND GELLER FAMILIES AND FOR JOSHUA ALVIN CROWE, WHO CAN NO LONGER TELL HIS STORY.
ON THE 22ND OF JULY, 2022, I RECEIVED A PHONE CALL FROM MY FATHER THAT WOULD FOREVER ALTER MY LIFE.
I HAD A STRANGE FEELING AS I ANSWERED THE PHONE AS IT WAS NOT A TIME HE'D NORMALLY CALL ME.
HIS VOICE, HIS VOICE, FILLED WITH PAIN AND AGONY.
WHISPERED, YOUR BROTHER JOSH DIED.
PRIOR TO THAT, I HAD NEVER HEARD MY FATHER CRY OR EXPRESSED MUCH EMOTION AND MY 44 YEARS OF LIFE.
OVER THESE PAST SEVEN MONTHS, I HAVE SEEN AND HEARD MY FATHER CRY MORE TIMES THAN ANY PERSON SHOULD.
AND MY PURPOSE IN SPEAKING TODAY IS TO RAISE AWARENESS REGARDING THE SAFETY ISSUES IN THE RAINY STREET DISTRICT.
JOSH WAS RIDING HIS BICYCLE FROM RAINY STREET TO HIS APARTMENT AT TENON FORD AND RIVERSIDE DRIVE.
AFTER WORK, SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY HE REALIZED HE'S LEFT, HE LEFT HIS KEYS AT THE BAR HE WORKED AT ON RAINY STREET.
HE TURNED AROUND TO HEAD BACK TO RAINY STREET AND WAS BIKING NORTH ON THE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE WHEN THE CRASH OCCURRED.
JUST PRIOR TO THE FIRST SWITCHBACK TURN, JOSH DIED FROM BLUNT, FOR BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA TO THE HEAD AND CHEST FROM A COLLISION WITH A FIXED OBJECT.
ACCORDING TO THE MEDICAL EXAMINER'S REPORT, HE WAS FOUND BY ANOTHER PERSON WHO WAS WALKING HOME FROM WAYNE RAINY STREET AND 9 1 1 WAS CALLED AT 2:56 AM ATTEMPTS TO RESUSCITATE JOSH WERE MADE.
BUT WHEN C M S AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED, JOSH WAS DECLARED DECEASED AT 3:13 AM HIS ORGANS WERE NOT VIABLE FOR DONATION DUE TO HIS UNWITNESSED DEATH.
AND AUSTIN HOMICIDE WAS ASSIGNED TO THE CASE.
JOSH'S DEATH WAS EVENTUALLY DECLARED AN ACCIDENT AND WE WERE TOLD THE CASE WOULD BE CLOSED.
WITH JOSH BEING A VERY SEASONED BICYCLIST, IT HAS BEEN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO ACCEPT.
HIS DEATH OCCURRED DURING A TRIP HE COULD PROBABLY MAKE IN HIS SLEEP SINCE HE RODE THE ROUTE TWICE DAILY FOR WORK.
MY SISTER AND I RETRACED THE ROUTE JOSH TOOK AND AS WOBBLY SCOOTERS ZIPPED, ZIPPED PAST US AND BICYCLISTS THANK YOU STRUGGLE TO MAKE THE TIGHT SWITCHBACK TURNS DUE TO THE CONGESTION FROM JOGGERS DOGS AND BABY STROLLERS, WE NOTICED THERE WAS NO LIGHTING IN THE AREA, NO REFLECTIVE TAPE TO MARK THE MIDDLE BARRIERS.
NO POLICE CALL BOXES, NO CAMERAS, UM, AND NO SIGNS TO WARN OF UPCOMING SWITCHBACKS.
I I DID PETITION THE CITY OF AUSTIN PARKS.
UM, AND THERE ARE SIGNS PRESENT NOW ON THE SWITCHBACK TURNS, BUT WE WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO JOSH.
WE WON'T KNOW IF AN OBJECT FROM I 35 HIT HIM OR IF A PLAZA RAN OUT IN FRONT OF HIM OR ANYTHING.
SO I JUST IMPLORE YOU TO PLEASE, UM, INCREASE THE SAFETY MEASURES JUST SO THAT SOME FAMILIES MAY HAVE CLOSURE AND KNOW EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR LOVED ONES.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
GAIL, THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE.
I'M A FRIEND AND FORMER ROOMMATE OF JASON JOHN.
TODAY I STAND HERE, UM, IN FRONT OF YOU ALL TO ASK YOU MY ELECTED OFFICIALS, UM, AND THOSE IN CHARGE OF OUR PARKS AND TRAILS TO MAKE COMMON SENSE SAFETY REFORMS, TO PREVENT ANY MORE TRAGEDIES AND TO MAKE SURE NO OTHER AUSTINITE HAS TO BE PULLED OUT OF OUR LAKES.
BECAUSE TO BE QUITE FRANK, THIS HAPPENS WAY TOO OFTEN.
UH, AT LEAST 25 TIMES SINCE 2014.
SO WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO NOT MAKE CHANGES? UH, WE ALL KNOW THE SAYING ABOUT THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY.
SO WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO HAPPEN BEFORE YOU ACT? SO WHAT ACTIONS DO WE WANT? TO BE HONEST, THERE'S A LOT.
WE DO WANNA TALK ABOUT OUR STRUGGLES TO RECEIVE A POLICE RESPONSE AND THE RESOURCES WE NEED.
WE DO WANNA TALK ABOUT THE DRUGGING ON RAINY STREET AND HOW TO STOP THOSE.
BUT OUR TOP PRIORITY FOR TODAY'S MEETING IS THE INSTALLATION OF LIGHTS, CAMERAS, AND BLUE LIGHT EMERGENCY CALL BOXES.
AND IF WE ALREADY HAD THOSE, WOULD THEY HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE? I THINK SO.
ON THE NIGHT JASON WENT MISSING, THERE WAS A WITNESS WHO WAS SMOKING A CIGARETTE ON EAST AVE.
HE SAID IT WAS TOO DARK TO SEE ANYTHING LIGHTS ON THE TRAIL WOULD ALLOW HIM TO SEE THE INCIDENT.
MAYBE SAVE JASON LIGHTS WOULD ALLOW ANYONE ON THE TRAIL TO SIMPLY SEE WHERE THEY ARE GOING.
CHRIS, THE UN HOMEMED INDIVIDUAL WHO HOBBLED FROM THE WATER TO THE HOLIDAY INN WHILE SUFFERING FROM HYPOTHERMIA TO CALL 9 1 1, COULD HAVE GOT HELP A LOT QUICKER WITH A CONVENIENTLY LOCATED EMERGENCY CALL BOX.
JASON MAYBE COULD HAVE EVEN HAVE HIT THE BUTTON ON THE BOX ON HIS OWN IF HE NEEDED THE HELP BEFORE HE SOMEHOW
[00:40:01]
GOT INTO THE WATER.AND THE UNANSWERED QUESTION THAT IS TORMENTING SO MANY OF US TODAY OF WHAT HAPPENED TO JASON, WHAT HAPPENED TO MARTIN, CHRISTIAN, JOSHUA, AND ALL THE OTHER VICTIMS COULD EASILY BE ANSWERED IF WE HAD FOOTAGE CAPTURING THESE DANGEROUS HEAVY TRAFFIC AND HIGH RISK INCIDENT AREAS.
HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE THAT THOSE ENJOYING A NIGHT ON RAINY STREET AND SIXTH STREET GET HOME SAFELY AND NOT IN THE WATER? A PLACE THEY HAD NO BUSINESS BEING IN TO BEGIN WITH? THIS ISN'T A PADDLEBOARD ISLAND TRAGEDY.
THIS IS A NOT GETTING HOME SAFE TRAGEDY.
LOOK, ALL THESE INCIDENTS COULD HAVE BEEN TRAGIC ACCIDENTS OR THERE COULD HAVE BEEN FOUL PLAY.
I'M SORRY, I JUST HAD, IF I COULD JUST FINISH MY THOUGHT.
I'D LIKE TO CALL AGAIN FOR JAY REYES.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER SPEAKERS IN PERSON WHO HAVE NOT BEEN CALLED, THAT CONCLUDES OUR SPEAKERS IN PERSON AND ONLINE.
UH, FOR THE RECORD, I ALSO WANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT COUNCIL MEMBER VELAZQUEZ HAS, HAS JOINED US.
UM, I'LL RECOGNIZE COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE.
UM, AND I, I WANT TO THANK THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBER VELAZQUEZ, UM, FOR FOR ALL THEIR HELP WHEN IT CAME TO FINDING JASON.
UM, YOU KNOW, JUST THE WORK THAT THEIR OFFICE HAS PUT IN.
UH, BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, I WANT, I WANT TO THANK JASON'S FAMILY.
UM, YOU KNOW, NO FAMILY, UH, SHOULD HAVE TO GO THROUGH WHAT, WHAT THEY'VE GONE THROUGH AND TO SHOW THE, UH, TREMENDOUS, UH, COURAGE AND LOVE, UM, OF THEIR SON, OF THEIR FRIEND OF THEIR PARTNER.
UM, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S INSPIRING AND, AND JUST THEIR, UM, PASSION TO MAKE SURE THAT REAL CHANGE HAPPENS.
UM, I THINK IS IS HEARD FROM ALL OF US HERE ON THE DIAS, UH, FROM THOSE TUNING IN AND THOSE WHO HAVE READ ABOUT THIS CASE AND, AND KNOW ABOUT THIS CASE.
UH, AND, AND I I'M SO SORRY, UM, THAT I, I WAS NEVER ABLE TO MEET JASON.
UM, AND I THINK WHAT THE FAMILY HAS, UH, SPOKEN OF WHEN THEY'VE SPOKEN OF JASON AND THE FRIENDS OF WHAT THEY'VE SPOKEN OF WHEN THEY'VE SPOKEN OF JASON SAYS A LOT ABOUT HIM, UH, AND, AND THE PERSON HE WAS.
UH, AND, AND I'M ALSO SO SORRY TO ALL THE OTHER FAMILIES, UH, THAT ARE HERE, UH, MARTIN'S FAMILY, CHRISTIAN'S FAMILY, JOSHUA'S FAMILY, AND SO MANY OTHER FAMILIES, UH, THAT HAVE LOST LOVED ONES.
RIGHT? I, I, I WISH WE WEREN'T HERE TODAY TALKING ABOUT THIS ISSUE.
YOU KNOW, I, I I WISH AFTER THE FIRST INCIDENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENED, UH, WE TOOK CARE OF IT.
I'M SO DEEPLY SORRY FOR ALL THE FAMILIES, UH, THAT HAVE LOST LOVED ONES.
UM, AND THE REASON I REQUESTED THIS ITEM TO BE ON THE AGENDA TODAY, UH, IS TO GIVE A DEDICATED TIME AND SPACE FOR THESE FAMILIES TO TALK ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES AND DAYLIGHT ISSUES THAT THIS COUNCIL CAN TAKE UP, UH, TO INCREASE THE SAFETY ALONG RAINY STREET.
UH, I'VE BEEN IN TALKS WITH, UH, DIRECTOR MCNEELY FROM PAR, UH, THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY, UH, ASSIST ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, ALANA'S OFFICE, THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER, UH, JESUS GARZA, CITY LEGAL, UH, CHIEF CHACON, UH, ON WHAT NEXT STEPS, UH, WOULD ENTAIL.
UH, AND I'M FOCUSED ON GETTING INTERIM LIGHTING, UH, UNTIL THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY COMPLETES THE CONSTRUCTION FROM THEIR PROJECT, WHICH IS EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED BY THE END OF 2023.
UH, THE EMERGENCY BLUE LIGHT BOXES THAT MANY FOLKS HAVE HAVE MENTIONED, UH, AND HALO CAMERAS IN THE VICINITY.
UH, CUZ ONE THING THAT I, I DO WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT, THAT HAS BEEN MENTIONED IS THERE WERE NO WORKING CAMERAS, UM, ANYWHERE THAT HAD ANY VISUAL OF THE TRAIL.
UH, AND, AND, AND THAT COULD, YOU KNOW, IF NOT HAVE STOPPED THE INCIDENT AT LEAST ANSWERED A LOT OF QUESTIONS.
AND WHAT A LOT OF THESE FAMILIES ARE, ARE DEALING WITH RIGHT NOW, UH, ARE THE LACK OF ANSWERS OF, OF WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR LOVED ONES.
BUT, UH, WITH THAT, I WOULD LIKE TO TRANSITION TO QUESTIONS FOR STAFF.
UH, AND I'D I'D LOVE TO START WITH CHIEF CHACON TO GET, UH, SOME MORE BACKGROUND ON, UH, WHAT'S HAPPENED, UH, ON RAINY STREET.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, JOSEPH CHACO, CHIEF OF POLICE.
UM, WHAT QUESTIONS SPECIFICALLY CAN I ANSWER YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER? YEAH.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE THIS MORNING AND I REALLY DO APPRECIATE YOUR HELP, UM, IN THE SEARCH FOR JASON.
BUT, UH, I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE COUNCIL, UH, TO UNDERSTAND THE BACKGROUND AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF, OF DEATHS THAT HAVE OCCURRED, UH, IN LADYBIRD LAKE JUST IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS.
TH THESE ARE FOLKS WHO, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE UNFORTUNATELY WERE, WERE FOUND IN LADYBIRD LAKE.
UM, WE'RE WORKING ON THAT REQUEST.
WE TALKED ABOUT THAT AT THE TIME WHEN THIS INVESTIGATION WAS GOING ON.
UM, WE DON'T BREAK IT OUT NECESSARILY INTO, UH, THOSE WHO, UH, IN THIS TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANCE HAVE, UM, HAVE COME FROM RAINY STREET OR FROM OUR DOWNTOWN ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT, UH, AS OPPOSED TO THOSE WHO ARE ON THE LAKE AND, UH, MIGHT BE IN A BOAT AND FALL OFF THE BOAT AND, AND DROWN.
UH, SO MY TEAM IS STILL WORKING ON THAT AND, UH, I'D BE GLAD
[00:45:01]
TO PROVIDE THOSE NUMBERS ONCE WE HAVE 'EM.UH, AND THEN WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR ACQUIRING FOOTAGE FROM BUSINESSES THAT MAY BE HELPFUL IN FINDING OUT THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF A MISSING PERSON OR, OR DROWNING OF AN INDIVIDUAL? UM, GENERALLY WE CAN GO TO A BUSINESS AND SIMPLY REQUEST IT.
UH, THE, THE BUSINESSES ARE GENERALLY VERY COOPERATIVE AND WILL TURN OVER THE VIDEO THAT THEY HAVE.
UM, FOR THOSE, UM, WHO, UH, SAY THAT THEY NEED MORE, SUCH AS A COURT ORDER, WE CAN OBTAIN A GRAND JURY SUBPOENA, UH, OR POTENTIALLY EVEN A SEARCH WARRANT IF NECESSARY TO BE ABLE TO GET THAT INFORMATION.
UH, DON'T HAVE TO GO THAT ROUTE VERY OFTEN, BUT, UM, BUT THOSE ARE GENERALLY, YOU KNOW, MOST OF THE TIME BUSINESSES ARE TURNING THOSE OVER VOLUNTARILY.
AND THEN, WHAT'S THE PROCESS FOR CLASSIFYING YOUR PERSON AS A MISSING PERSON AND THE PROTOCOL TO FOLLOW AFTER THAT? YOU KNOW, GENERALLY, UM, IF, IF SOMEONE, IF THEY'RE CHECKING IN ON A REGULAR BASIS, THEY HAVE REGULAR COMMUNICATION WITH THEIR FAMILY, AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THAT COMMUNICATION CUTS OFF, UM, SOMEONE CAN ALWAYS CALL THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND GENERATE A, UM, A REQUEST TO LOCATE.
UM, AND, UH, THEY AREN'T NECESSARILY DEEMED A MISSING PERSON AT THAT POINT.
UM, AND THE AMOUNT OF INVESTIGATIVE RESOURCES THAT WE CAN APPLY IS USUALLY PROPORTIONATE TO, UH, WHETHER WE THINK THAT THERE ARE FOUL, IF THERE'S FOUL PLAY OR SOME, YOU KNOW, UH, SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES TO THEIR DISAPPEARANCE.
UM, YOU KNOW, IN THIS CASE, UM, THE, THE CALL CAME IN ON FEBRUARY, UM, THE FIFTH.
AND BY, UM, THE MORNING OF, OR THE AFTERNOON OF FEBRUARY 6TH, IT WAS ASSIGNED TO THE MISSING PERSONS UNIT.
AND, UM, AND RECOVERY EFFORTS WERE BE, WERE BEGUN IMMEDIATELY.
UM, AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION, UM, INVENTORY FOR PLACING A, A HALO CAMERA.
UM, NOT SURE IF YOU, IF YOU'RE THE, THE PERSON ASKED THIS QUESTION, BUT, UH, PLACING A HALO CAMERA IN THIS AREA, UH, IF ONE IS NOT AVAILABLE, WHAT DOES THE COST LOOK LIKE? WHAT DOES THE PROCESS OF, UH, OF ACQUIRING ONE? YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, UM, OVER 60 HALO CAMERAS THAT ARE DEPLOYED CITYWIDE.
MOST OF THOSE ARE IN THE DOWNTOWN ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT, UH, UH, AROUND THE SIXTH STREET AREA.
UM, THERE HAVE BEEN REQUESTS IN OTHER AREAS, UH, TO, TO SET THOSE UP.
UH, THE COST CAN, UH, SOMETIMES BE PROHIBITIVE AS WELL AS THE TECHNOLOGY THAT'S NEEDED TO GO AHEAD AND SET THAT UP, UH, WHETHER IT'S GOING TO BE A WIRED CAMERA OR A WIRELESS CAMERA, AND THEN PROVIDING A POWER SOURCE TO IT.
SO WE'VE HAD FROM TIME TO TIME TO BE ABLE TO, UM, KEEP CAMERAS OPERATIONAL, MOVE THEM, UH, BECAUSE WE, WE, UH, DON'T HAVE A POWER SOURCE FOR 'EM.
AND, UH, THAT HAS PROVED A LITTLE BIT CHALLENGING.
AND WE'RE IN THE NEXT, UH, PHASE RIGHT NOW OF, UM, MAKING OUR HALO SYSTEM BIGGER AND MORE CAMERAS, UH, BUT WE, TO MY KNOWLEDGE, ARE NOT LOOKING AT ONE, HAVE NOT LOOKED AT ONE ON THE TRAIL, UH, IN THIS AREA THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
UH, THANK, UH, THANK YOU CHIEF.
I, DO YOU HAVE ONE QUESTION FOR, FOR CHRISTIAN'S FATHER, IF HE HAS, UM, A CAPACITY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS SAID WHAT TO FOR CHRISTIAN'S FATHER, YOU WANT ASK REMEMBER THE PUBLIC.
UM, NO, I, I JUST HAD A QUESTION BECAUSE, UH, YOU KNOW, UNLIKE THE, THE OTHER FAMILIES WHO HAVE SPOKEN, UH, WHO HAD LOST LOVED ONES TO, AND, AND I BELIEVE THAT A LOT OF THOSE WERE ATTRIBUTED TO ACCIDENTAL DROWNINGS, UH, WHAT WAS THE, THE CAUSE FOR YOUR, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT WAS THE POLICE REPORT? WHAT WAS THE CAUSE OF YOUR SON'S SON'S ACCIDENT? WE WERE, IF YOU DON'T MIND, STATE YOUR NAME FOR THE RECORD.
SO WE WERE, MY NAME IS CHRISTOPHER PUGH.
UM, MY, MY SON'S ACCIDENT, UH, IT WAS DEEMED AN ACCIDENT.
UM, THEY, THEY SAID THEY COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHETHER HE FELL OFF THE BRIDGE, JUMPED OFF THE BRIDGE, OR WAS THROWN OFF THE BRIDGE.
BUT JUST SO YOU KNOW, THERE WAS ANOTHER INCIDENT TWO WEEKS, EXACTLY, ALMOST TWO WEEKS BEFORE THAT, WHERE A YOUNG LADY WAS ON THE BRIDGE WITH A GROUP OF HER FRIENDS DURING THE DAYLIGHT, WAS ATTACKED BY A HOMELESS INDIVIDUAL WHO WAS ATTEMPTING TO THROW HER OVER, WAS INTERVENED BY A JOGGER.
UM, AND THIS WAS ACTUALLY PUT ONTO THE CITY MAYOR RACE.
IT WAS ACTUALLY ON RUNNING A COMMERCIAL FOR CITY PUBLIC SAFETY.
UM, AND THIS GENTLEMAN, I THINK HIS NAME WAS MIKE DOLAN, MAY HAVE THAT INCORRECT, BUT I THINK THAT WAS HIS NAME.
ANYWAY, HE INTERVENED AND HE WAS AFRAID THAT SHE WAS GONNA GET THROWN OVER THE BRIDGE.
AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT, I MEAN, ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE THINK HAPPENED TO MY SON IS HE WAS ATTACKED, THROWN OVER THE BRIDGE.
THERE'S REALLY NO EASY WAY TO JUST FALL OFF OR STUMBLE OFF THE CONGRESS STREET BRIDGE.
BUT I CAN'T BELIEVE, AND THAT'S SUCH A HIGH TRAFFIC AREA RIGHT THERE, WHERE THOSE BATS COME OUT FROM UNDER THAT BRIDGE.
THERE'S NOT A DAMN CAMERA ONE WORKING INSTALLED, NOTHING.
I'M NOT TRYING TO BE MEAN, BUT I JUST LIKE, I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT.
[00:50:01]
BUSINESSES ALL UP AND DOWN THAT PLACE.IN FACT, IF YOU LOOK UP, THERE'S A CAMERA ON THE POLE RIGHT AT THE LIGHT WHERE HE WENT OFF NOT WORKING, NOT WORKING.
BUT IT WASN'T AN ACCIDENT, YOU KNOW, IT CLEARLY WASN'T AN ACCIDENT THOUGH.
I MEAN, HE HAD CONTUSIONS ON THE FRONT OF HIS HEAD, ON THE SIDE OF HIS HEAD, WHEN YOU FALL, YOU'RE ONLY GONNA HIT YOUR HEAD IN ONE AREA.
YOU'RE NOT GONNA HIT IN MULTIPLE AREAS WHEN YOU FALL.
SO HE WAS ATTACKED THAT, THAT'S, WE FEEL LIKE THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT, BUT WE HAVE NO ABSOLUTELY NO ANSWERS AND NOTHING TO GO OFF OTHER THAN HE'S JUST AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BRIDGE AND THAT'S WHERE WE COME.
UM, AND THANK YOU, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER FOR BRINGING THIS FORWARD.
I THINK IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE NEEDED AS A COUNCIL TO ADDRESS FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
I ACTUALLY HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS FOR STAFF.
FIRST ONE'S PROBABLY FOR THE POLICE CHIEF.
UM, IF, IF I COULD ASK YOU, HOW DOES TRAFFIC SAFETY IN THE AREA OF RAINY STREET PLAY INTO THE SAFETY OF THE PATRONS WHO ARE DOWN THERE? ARE THERE ANY IMPROVEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL ON RAINY STREET THAT THE CITY HAS NOT HAD A CHANCE TO FOLLOW THROUGH YET WITH, OR THAT SORT OF THING? UH, NO COUNCIL MEMBER, NOT TO MY KNOWLEDGE.
WE HAVE LOOKED AT TRAFFIC SAFETY ON RAINY STREET AND, UH, ACTUALLY RAN A PILOT PROGRAM, I CAN'T REMEMBER IF IT WAS LAST YEAR OR THE YEAR BEFORE, UH, WITH REGARD TO OPENING RAINY STREET TO VEHICULAR TRAFFIC, UM, AND, UH, DETERMINED THAT IT WAS NOT SAFE TO DO SO DUE TO THE HEAVY PEDESTRIAN TRAFFIC THAT WE HAVE THERE.
UM, SO, UM, WE HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED, UM, YOU KNOW, ANY TRAFFIC, MAJOR TRAFFIC INCIDENTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED THERE, BUT, UM, HAVE CONTINUED TO HAVE CONTINUED TO, UH, PLACE PEOPLE ON RAINY STREET, UM, FOR THE PURPOSE OF, UH, OF SAFETY IN THE AREA OVERALL.
WELL, PEOPLE ARE CHECKING OUT THEIR SLIDE DECK.
I DIDN'T WANT TO INTERRUPT THE POLICE.
SHE'S, THANK YOU FOR YOUR ANSWER ON THAT.
UM, DO YOU THINK THAT THERE HAVE BEEN MORE, UM, PATRONS ON RAINY STREET BASED ON WHAT YOU'VE OBSERVED SINCE COVID HAS KIND OF COME TO A LITTLE BIT OF A LOW, I BEG YOUR PARDON? YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO MORE WHAT? I'M SORRY.
WHAT HAS THE PATRON POPULATION INCREASED BEEN LIKE ON THE WEEKENDS ON RAINY STREET SINCE COVID? UM, YOU KNOW, DURING COVID, OBVIOUSLY ALL OF OUR ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT, UM, POPULATION WAS DOWN.
UH, IT HAS REBOUNDED VERY STRONGLY, AND YOU ADD TO THE FACT THAT ON RAINY STREET WE HAVE, WE HAVE RESIDENTS THAT ACTUALLY LIVE ON RAINY STREET, UH, AND IT'S A, IT'S A VERY, VERY DENSE AREA.
SO IF YOU GO DOWN TO RAINY STREET ON A WEEKEND NIGHT AT MIDNIGHT, ONE IN THE MORNING, UH, THE STREET IS ABSOLUTELY PACKED.
UM, SO YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S GENERALLY WHAT YOU'RE GONNA SEE.
AND COULD YOU TELL ME WHAT'S BEING DONE TO MONITOR FOR WEAPONS WHEN CROWDS REACH THEIR WEEKEND PEAKS ON RAINY STREET, IF ANYTHING? UH, SAY THAT AGAIN.
IS ANYTHING BEING DONE TO MONITOR FOR WEAPONS OF ANY KIND ON RAINY STREET? ESPECIALLY SO, SO THERE, IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, METAL DETECTORS AND SUCH, NO, WE DON'T HAVE THAT.
UM, OUR OFFICERS ARE CERTAINLY, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVE THE EXPERIENCE AND HAVE BEEN TRAINED ON, ON, UH, YOU KNOW, WEAPON DETECTION.
UM, BUT AGAIN, SIMPLY CARRYING A WEAPON IS NOT ILLEGAL, RIGHT.
AND, UM, IT, IT HAS TO BE CARRIED IN THE COM AND THEN A COM THEY'RE IN THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME, UH, FOR THAT TO BECOME ILLEGAL.
SO, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY OUR FOLKS ARE, ARE WATCHING OUT FOR THAT.
I MIGHT HAVE A QUESTION FOR AUSTIN ENERGY, JUST IF THEY'VE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO EVALUATE THE AREA FOR ADDITIONAL LIGHTING, AND IF THEY'RE NOT AVAILABLE NOW, IF THEY COULD PROVIDE THAT AT A DIFFERENT TIME.
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY FROM AUSTIN ENERGY WAS EXPECTED TO BE HERE THIS MORNING.
WE'LL, WE'LL GET YOU, WE'LL GET YOU TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION THOUGH.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP ON THIS.
UM, THE STORIES THAT WE HEARD TODAY WERE NOTHING SHORT OF TRAGIC, AND IT'S UNFORTUNATE IN A LOT OF SITUATIONS THAT CHANGE HAPPENS AFTER THERE'S AN INCIDENT THAT OCCURS.
AND I WANT NOTHING MORE THAN FOR OUR COMMUNITY TO FEEL SAFE AND TO PREVENT INCIDENTS LIKE THE ONES THAT WE HEARD ABOUT TODAY FROM HAPPENING AGAIN.
SO, COUNCIL MEMBER QUADRI, IF THERE'S ANYTHING I CAN DO TO SUPPORT YOU IN THIS INITIATIVE, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY, ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS AT THIS POINT? COUNCIL MEMBER, CADRE, I'LL, UH, TURN IT TO YOU TO CLOSE.
UM, YOU KNOW, JUST, JUST ECHOING OFF OF WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY JUST SAID, I JUST WANT TO ECHO THE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE STORIES THAT WE ALL HEARD TODAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, A LOT OF US ARE, ARE SEVEN WEEKS ON THE DIAS, BUT I DON'T WANT TO GO INTO YOUR TWO, INTO YOUR THREE, INTO YOUR FOUR AND CONTINUE TO HAVE FAMILIES THAT HAVE, HAVE LOST LOVED ONES, UH, REACH OUT TO OUR OFFICE.
I I WANNA DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS NOW.
UM, AND, AND I VERY MUCH WANT TO, WANT TO THANK JASON'S FAMILY, UH, FOR THEIR TREMENDOUS ENERGY.
[00:55:01]
UM, I WANT TO THANK JOSH FOR, YOU KNOW, JUST ALWAYS BEING IN CONTACT WITH, WITH MYSELF AND OUR OFFICE.UM, YOU KNOW, ONE DEATH IS, IS IS ONE DEATH TOO MANY? UH, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE COST OF A, OF A HUMAN LIFE? YOU KNOW, WHEN, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST IN MY OWN DIGGING AND GOING DOWN THE, YOU KNOW, THE RABBIT HOLE ON THE INTERNET, YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN OVER 10 FOLKS WHO HAVE, WHO HAVE DIED, UM, YOU KNOW, AND FOUND IN LADYBIRD LAKE.
UH, AT THE VERY LEAST, UH, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
SO I'M, I'M THANKFUL FOR, UH, THE MAYOR'S LEADERSHIP ON THIS.
AND LIKE I SAID, SO MANY FOLKS, UH, ON THIS DIAS, UH, AND, AND, AND I AM, I AM SO SORRY FOR, FOR Y'ALL'S LOSS.
YOU KNOW, I JUST WANT TO CONTINUE TO SAY THAT, UH, BUT I PROMISE THIS, THIS COUNCIL WILL BE, WILL BE PROACTIVE, UH, AND, AND MAKE SURE WE DO RIGHT BY BY YOUR LOVED ONES.
WE'LL, THE, THIS COMMITTEE WILL MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS AND WE'LL BRING 'EM BACK.
THIS, UH, APPRECIATE EVERYBODY THAT'S BEEN HERE AND EVERYBODY THAT'S TESTIFIED, UH, ON THIS, UH, IT'S AN IMPORTANT ISSUE AND, AND WE'LL BE, WE'LL BE REVISITING IT WITH, UH, DISPATCH.
UH, WITH THAT WE'LL GO TO ITEM NUMBER
[3. Staffing Update (Emergency Medical Services Department, Austin Fire Department, Austin Police Department). ]
THREE, WHICH IS A STAFFING UPDATE.UH, UM, WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO, WE'VE GOT, UH, A LOT OF FOLKS HERE TO HELP US WITH THIS STAFFING UPDATE.
THE WAY, UH, IT HAD BEEN PRESENTED TO ME THAT Y'ALL WOULD BE PREPARED, BUT YOU TELL ME IF, IF THIS IS NOT THE CASE, IS THAT WE WOULD FIRST HEAR FROM A F D, THEN EMS, AND THEN A P D.
UM, HAS THAT CHANGED ON ME? THE ORDER, UM, IS THE SAME AS YOU RECEIVED IT AND THE POWERPOINT, WHICH SHOULD BE A P D, AND THEN A F D, AND THEN E EMS. WELL, THAT'S DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I, THE WAY I RECEIVED IT.
SO, UH, WE'LL START WITH A P D THEN.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? OKAY? GOOD MORNING.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, AGAIN, JOSEPH CHUCK ON CHIEF OF POLICE.
SHE IS, UH, THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
AND, UM, WHAT WE'LL DO IS DO A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF, OF OUR STAFFING TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA, UM, NOT JUST OF THE SWORN STAFFING RIGHT NOW, BUT OF OUR CIVILIAN STAFFING AS WELL, WHICH, UH, IS, IS, UH, EVEN KIND OF MORE IN DIRE STRAITS.
UH, IF I CAN GET THE FIRST SLIDE, PLEASE, AND I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND TURN IT OVER TO DIRECTOR SCHMIDT RIGHT NOW TO, UH, START WITH CIVILIAN STAFFING.
I'M MICHELLE SCHMIDT, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT.
UM, THIS SLIDE ON OUR CIVILIAN STAFFING SHOWS THAT WE ARE AUTHORIZED FOR 506 CIVILIAN POSITIONS CURRENTLY.
UM, AS OF THE PAY PERIOD ENDING FEBRUARY 11TH, WE HAVE, UM, FILLED POSITIONS OF 381 AND VACANT POSITIONS OF 125.
THIS IS INCLUSIVE OF OUR EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER, WHICH MAKES UP APPROXIMATELY HALF OF THOSE VACANT POSITIONS.
UM, THE REMAINING HALF ARE FROM THE CIVILIAN PROFESSIONAL STAFF, WHICH INCLUDES, UM, VACANCIES IN OUR FINANCIAL SERVICES DIVISION, OUR VICTIM SERVICES DIVISION, OUR CRIME ANALYST, UM, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, OFFICE OF COMMUNITY LIAISON, NEIGHBORHOOD LIAISONS, UM, AND OUR ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION.
I'LL TURN IT BACK TO CHIEF CHAON TO TALK ABOUT THE EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS STAFF.
UH, THANK YOU DIRECTOR SCHMIDT.
AND I KNOW THAT WE WANTED TO BREAK THIS DOWN A LITTLE BIT MORE BECAUSE I KNOW THAT THIS HAS BEEN A, UM, YOU KNOW, POINT OF HIGH INTEREST FOR THIS COUNCIL AND FOR THE COMMUNITY, UH, TO GIVE YOU EXACTLY, AND I SAY EXACTLY THIS IS A POINT IN TIME.
UH, IT'S KIND OF FLUID AND, AND SOME OF THESE NUMBERS HAVE ACTUALLY, UM, GONE UP AND SOME HAVE GONE DOWN.
BUT, UH, AS OF FEBRUARY 11TH, UM, WE HAVE A HUNDRED, UH, AND 40, YES, 143 AUTHORIZED POSITIONS, UM, IN EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS.
UM, 10 OF THOSE ARE SUPERVISOR, UH, POSITIONS.
EIGHT OF THEM ARE CURRENTLY FILLED, TWO ARE VACANT.
AND THEN WE HAVE 11 LEAD POSITIONS OF WHICH EIGHT ARE FILLED AND THREE ARE VACANT.
THIS IS THE, UH, MOST IMPORTANT, UH, WITH REGARD TO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION? UH, WE HAVE 75, UH, DISPATCHER POSITIONS, UH, THAT ARE AUTHORIZED.
58 OF THOSE ARE FILLED AND 17 ARE VACANT, AND THEN 104 CALL TAKER, UH, POSITIONS, 58 ARE FILLED AND 46 ARE VACANT.
UM, IF I CAN GET THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, THIS IS, UH, WHAT WE HAVE, THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WE CURRENTLY HAVE IN TRAINING FOR THOSE TWO POSITIONS, DISPATCHERS AND CALL TAKERS, 11
[01:00:01]
DISPATCHERS CURRENTLY IN TRAINING.UH, WE'VE TAKEN A NUMBER OF MEASURES OVER THE LAST REALLY TWO YEARS TO, UH, TO WORK ON THIS ISSUE, INCLUDING, UH, SHORTENING THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT IT TAKES TO TRAIN A CALL TAKER OR A DISPATCHER, UH, TO ONE OF THE SHORTEST TRAINING PERIODS THAT YOU CAN, YOU'RE GONNA FIND RIGHT NOW IN THE STATE, STILL ABOUT TWO AND A HALF MONTHS, UM, FROM THE TIME THAT THEY START TO THE TIME THAT, UM, THEY'RE REALLY OPERATIONAL.
BUT, UH, THAT IS TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE PUTTING OUT GOOD QUALITY, UH, FOLKS TO ANSWER 9 1 1 CALLS AND TO BE ABLE TO DISPATCH THOSE CARS.
UM, WE ARE BACKFILLING RIGHT NOW, UM, ON OVERTIME FROM CURRENT STAFF TO FILL THE VACANCIES THAT WE HAVE, GENERALLY ON EVENINGS AND NIGHT SHIFTS, BUT ALSO ON DAYS, AND THEN AS WELL AS BRINGING IN SWORN STAFF, UM, TO BE ABLE TO DO THE SAME THING.
UM, I HAVE 21 SERGEANTS WITH ANOTHER FIVE SERGEANTS THAT ARE IN TRAINING RIGHT NOW, AND THEY COME IN AND THEY FILL IN OVERTIME ANSWERING 9 1 1 CALLS.
FINALLY, UM, WE JUST RECEIVED AUTHORIZATION TO BEGIN, UH, DOING DOUBLE OVERTIME AS OPPOSED TO THE 1.5 NORMAL OVERTIME, UH, FOR OUR NIGHT SHIFTS TO BE ABLE TO GET, UM, THOSE SHIFTS FULLY FILLED.
UM, WE DO A VERY SIMILAR THING WITH THE SWORN STAFF.
IT HAS HELPED TREMENDOUSLY WITH FILLING OUR NIGHT SHIFTS, UH, TO WHERE THERE ARE A FEW VACANCIES AND, UH, WE FEEL THAT THERE WILL BE A SIMILAR EFFECT IN OUR NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER ONCE WE GET IT UP AND RUNNING.
WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THE HR AND PAYROLL PIECES RIGHT NOW.
UH, TRANSITIONING TO OUR SWORN STAFF, UH, THIS IS A NUMBER OF AUTHORIZED SWORN OFFICER POSITIONS THAT WE HAVE.
1,812 OF THAT 1,548 ARE CURRENTLY FILLED, UH, WITH, UH, VACANCIES RIGHT NOW OF 264.
THE WAY THAT, UH, OUR PROMOTIONAL SYSTEM AND, AND OVERALL STRUCTURE WORKS, IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER AT WHAT RANK SOMEONE RETIRES OR DECIDES TO LEAVE THE ORGANIZATION.
UH, THAT VACANCY WILL ALWAYS COME BACK DOWN TO THE OFFICER RANK.
WE STILL HAVE, WE ARE STILL DOING PROMOTIONS FOR ALL, ALL THE VARIOUS RANKS, DETECTIVE, CORPORAL, SERGEANT, LIEUTENANT AND COMMANDERS.
AND SO, UM, ONCE SOMEONE AT ANY OF THOSE RANKS RETIRES, WE PROMOTE PEOPLE UP INTO THOSE RANKS AND THEN THAT, THAT VACANCY WILL RESIDE AT THE OFFICER RANK.
WHAT WE'VE HAD TO DO IS TO BRING, TAKE SOME UNITS OFFLINE.
I, I KNOW Y'ALL ARE WELL AWARE OF THAT, UM, AND, AND SEND THOSE, UH, OFFICERS BACK ON A PERMANENT BASIS TO PATROL.
AND CURRENTLY WE ARE BACKFILLING PATROL USING, UM, THE SPECIALTY OFFICERS AND INVESTIGATORS, THE DETECTIVES, UM, TO FILL IN, TO BRING US UP TO MINIMUM STAFFING LEVELS.
UH, USUALLY ANYWHERE FROM 40 TO APPROXIMATELY 55 PEOPLE PER MONTH ARE HAVING TO COME BACK ON A TEMPORARY BASIS, PUT CASELOADS TO, TO THE SIDE SO THAT THEY CAN ANSWER 9 1 1 CALLS.
UM, JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF, UM, SOME QUESTIONS THAT HAD COME TO A P D WITH REGARD TO SEPARATION NOTICES FOR THIS YEAR, AND PARTICULARLY SINCE THE MIDDLE OF FEBRUARY.
UM, 49 RETIREMENTS IN EIGHT RESIGNATIONS SINCE THE BEGINNING OF CALENDAR YEAR 2023.
UH, AND SINCE FEBRUARY 13TH, 17 RETIREMENTS AND ONE RESIGNATION FOR A TOTAL OF, UM, 57, UM, PEOPLE THAT HAVE EITHER RETIRED OR RESIGNED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR.
UM, THESE ARE INCLUSIVE OF NUMBERS THAT ARE PROJECTED.
SO, UM, WE'RE REALLY SEEING HIGHER NUMBERS IN THE MONTH OF MARCH AS WE NEAR THE EXPIRATION OF THE CONTRACT.
AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF RETIREMENTS, MAYBE AS MANY AS 20 TO 25, WHICH WE HAVE NOT RECEIVED PAPERWORK ON YET, UH, THAT ARE STILL, UM, THAT ARE STILL IN PROCESS RIGHT NOW.
UM, TALKING ABOUT HOW WE'RE TRYING TO REFILL OUR RANKS, I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT OUR INCREASED PACE AT THE ACADEMY.
WE'RE STARTING NEW ACADEMIES ABOUT EVERY THREE AND A HALF MONTHS.
UM, THE 1 47 CLASS, WHICH STARTED LATE LAST YEAR IS IN WEEK 20.
AND WE STARTED WITH 55 CADETS OF THE 55, 38 REMAIN.
UH, AND THEY WILL GRADUATE ON MAY THE 19TH.
AND THEN WE BEGAN A CLASS AT THE END OF LAST MONTH, FOUR WEEKS AGO, UH, WITH THE ONE 48TH THERE IN WEEK FOUR.
UH, WE STARTED WITH 34 CADETS, AND THERE ARE CURRENTLY 30, AND THEY ARE PROJECTED TO GRADUATE ON SEPTEMBER THE EIGHTH.
SO CURRENTLY 68 PEOPLE THAT ARE IN TRAINING AND, UM, WILL BE ADDED TO,
[01:05:01]
UH, TAKE AWAY FROM THOSE VACANCIES THAT, THAT YOU SEE ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDES.AND, UM, WE CAN TAKE ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE.
UH, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I, AND I'LL, I'LL GO TO, UH, I'LL ASK A COUPLE COUPLE QUESTIONS REAL QUICKLY.
FIRST OF ALL, UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE, THE INITIAL SLIDES WHERE YOU SHOW, UM, THE, THE VACANCIES, THE NUMBER OF VACANCIES, THOSE VACANCIES, HOW LONG HAVE THEY THAT, HAS THAT PROBLEM BEEN GOING ON? WELL, THE, THE DEPARTMENT ALWAYS CARRIES VACANCIES.
IF YOU GO BACK TO, I BELIEVE IT WAS 2018, UM, WE HAD ABOUT 70 VACANCIES.
UH, AND THAT WAS PRETTY NORMAL.
UH, WE WERE LOSING FIVE TO SEVEN OFFICERS PER MONTH, UH, GENERALLY TO, UH, JUST NORMAL ATTRITION, AND WE'RE RUNNING, UH, PRETTY HEALTHY SIZE ACADEMIES AT THAT TIME.
SO, UM, WE GOT VERY CLOSE TO FILLING OUR VACANCIES IN 2000, I THINK 2000 16, 17, 18 TIMEFRAME.
UM, AND THEN BEGAN TO LOSE PEOPLE, OBVIOUSLY AT A GREATER RATE HEADING INTO 2019, 2020.
UH, AFTER, UH, MAY OF 2020, THAT'S WHEN THE, THE PACE REALLY INCREASED.
UH, AND THIS IS THE MOST VACANCIES THAT WE'VE HAD DURING THAT TIME.
AND, AND I WANT TO TALK ABOUT 9 1 1 FOR FOR A SECOND.
UM, WHY IS IT THAT WE HAVE SUCH A BIG VACANCY? WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? WHAT IT, IT STRIKES MOST FOLKS, UH, THAT I VISIT WITH AND, AND ME TOO, THAT IF YOU'VE GOT THAT MANY VACANCIES IN 9 1 1, YOU DO WHATEVER IT IS TO HIRE, TO FILL THOSE VACANCIES.
HOW IS IT THAT WE, AND, AND, AND I WANT TO POINT OUT, THIS DIDN'T START IN JANUARY EITHER.
THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR SOME TIME, RIGHT? THAT'S CORRECT.
UM, WHY IS IT WE CAN'T SEEM TO, OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME FILL THOSE POSITIONS? IT, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE ISSUES CERTAINLY WAS PAY, AND AT ONE POINT THE STARTING PAY FOR A CALL TAKER WAS AT $18 AN HOUR, AND WE JUST WERE NOT COMPETITIVE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THAT STARTING PAY NOW IS OVER $24 AN HOUR.
UM, UH, THE, FOR THE NINE ONE, UH, DISPATCHER, IT'S 25, 20 $6 AN HOUR.
SO IT HAS GOTTEN MUCH MORE COMPETITIVE W WITH WHAT WE WERE SEEING WITH OTHER LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS WHO WERE TRYING TO HIRE, UM, DISPATCHERS AS WELL.
AND, UH, SO THAT WAS ONE ISSUE AND, AND WE, WE SEEMED TO BE IN THE, IN THE RIGHT BALLPARK FOR STARTING PAY, CERTAINLY.
UM, THE OTHER ISSUE IS WITH REGARD TO LICENSING.
SO IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, UH, IT IS STATE LAW THAT IN ORDER TO ANSWER A 9 1 1 CALL, YOU HAVE TO BE A TELECOMMUNICATOR, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU HAVE TO HAVE A TCO LICENSE.
THE TEXAS COMMISSION ON LAW ENFORCEMENT, THE SAME LICENSE THAT A POLICE OFFICER HAS TO BE ABLE TO DO HIS OR HER DUTIES TO GET THAT LICENSE IS PRETTY TOUGH.
UM, IT REQUIRES A NUMBER, YOU KNOW, A, A GREAT DEAL OF, UM, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY A GREAT DEAL OF TRAINING.
YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO GO THROUGH A BACKGROUND, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST, ALL THE SAME THINGS THAT THE POLICE OFFICERS DO.
SO FOR A CIVILIAN POSITION, UH, THAT DOES NOT PAY, SAY WHAT A POLICE OFFICER PAYS, IT'S AN ONEROUS, UH, KIND OF THING TO GO THROUGH TO GET, TO GET TO THAT LEVEL, UM, THAT LEVEL OF PAY.
UH, THE OTHER THING IS WITH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF IN LINE WITH THE TCO LICENSE IS MAKING SURE THAT YOU QUALIFY FOR, TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SYSTEMS. UM, THAT MEANS THAT YOU HAVE TO ABSOLUTELY HAVE A CLEAN RECORD, UM, AND NOT HAVE ANY OF THE DISQUALIFIERS THAT TCO HAS FOR THAT OR THAT THE FBI HAS FOR THAT.
SO ALL OF THOSE THINGS MAKE IT TOUGH TO FIND FOLKS THAT KIND OF ARE WILLING TO DO THIS WORK AND YET JUMP THROUGH ALL OF THOSE HOOPS TO GET THERE.
SO IS THIS A PROBLEM IN OTHER CITIES AS WELL? IT IS.
UH, SPEAKING OF, OF A PROBLEM BEYOND AUSTIN'S, UH, JURISDICTION, UH, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT YESTERDAY, UM, UH, COLONEL MCCRAW, UH, THE LEADER OF DPS TESTIFIED AT A HOUSE, I THINK IT WAS AN APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE ON THEIR LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATION REQUEST THAT THEY WERE OVER 500.
I THINK I'M, I'M RIGHT ABOUT THIS SWORN OFFICER SHORT AND WERE, THEY WERE HAVING DIFFICULTY, UH, RECRUITING TO GET TO THEIR FULL STAFFING LEVELS.
AND, UH, WHEN I READ, UH, WHEN I READ NATIONAL REPORTS, IT APPEARS THAT, AND WHILE THERE'S GOING SOME BE SOMETHING UNIQUE TO EVERY CITY, AND I DON'T WANT TO, AND THERE WILL BE THINGS UNIQUE TO AUSTIN, AND I DON'T WANT TO, UH, MINIMIZE THAT, BUT HIRING POLICE OFFICERS AND MEETING STAFFING LEVELS, THAT IS NOT A UNIQUELY AUSTIN PROBLEM.
IS THAT RIGHT? OH, NOT AT ALL.
UM, BIG CITIES PARTICULARLY ARE STRUGGLING WITH IT,
[01:10:01]
BUT EVEN FOR SMALL DEPARTMENTS, AND I WOULD TELL YOU IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, UM, THE AVERAGE SIZE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS ABOUT SEVEN TO 12 POLICE OFFICERS EVEN HAVING ONE OR TWO MISSING.I MEAN, YOU DO THE PERCENTAGE, IT'S, IT'S SIMILAR THING FOR THEM.
SO ALL POLICE DEPARTMENTS RIGHT NOW ARE STRUGGLING WITH STAFFING SWORN AND CIVILIAN.
UH, WHAT I'M GONNA DO FOR THOSE THAT ARE PAYING ATTENTION IS, UM, AND I KNOW I'VE GOT TWO PEOPLE THAT ARE ON VIRTUAL, UH, I POINTED 'EM LIKE THEM, THEY KNOW I'M POINTING AT THEM, DON'T YOU? YEAH.
UM, WE'VE GOTTEN GOOFY IN, AT LEAST I'VE GOTTEN GOOFY IN THE, IN THE ZOOM ERA MM-HMM.
SO CAST MEMBER RYAN AL ALTER, I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT, YOU MENTIONED USING SERGEANTS OR OTHER SWORN OFFICERS AS CALL TAKERS.
WHAT IS THE COST DISPARITY OR THE PAY DISPARITY? HOW MUCH DO WE PAY A SERGEANT PER HOUR? UH, WE'RE PAYING THEM NOT ONLY ON HOUR, BUT ON OVERTIME, RIGHT, RIGHT.
SO, UM, I DON'T KNOW, DO YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THAT, MICHELLE? YEAH, I DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER IN FRONT OF ME, BUT IT, IT'S A PRETTY BIG DIFFERENTIAL, UM, OBVIOUSLY, AND I, I WANNA THANK THAT AVERAGE OVERTIME RATE FOR THE SERGEANT IS SOMEWHERE AROUND 70 TO $75 AN HOUR.
IT WOULD SEEM TO ME, IF STARTING PAY IS $24 AN HOUR AND WE'RE WILLING TO PAY SERGEANTS UPWARDS OF $75 AN HOUR, THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE THAT WE COULD ATTRACT MORE PEOPLE AND SAVE MONEY, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS.
SO, UH, I DON'T, YOU KNOW, THAT THAT'S A BUDGET QUESTION.
I, I, I THINK WE'D HAVE TO FIGURE THAT OUT, BUT IT, IT SEEMS THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY THERE IF WE'RE SPENDING THAT KIND OF MONEY ANYWAYS, THAT WE COULD ALLOW OUR SERGEANTS TO DO WHAT WE ENVISION THEM TO BE DOING IN THE COMMUNITY AND, AND ATTRACT MORE CALL TAKERS.
I'LL, I'LL PUT A PIN IN THAT FOR ANOTHER TIME.
BUT, UM, THE, ANOTHER QUESTION I HAD SIM SIMILARLY RELATED IS DO WE HAVE ANY DATA ON HOW MUCH EXTRA WE'RE SPENDING ON OVERTIME FOR OUR SWORN OFFICERS OR NON-SWORN FOR THAT MATTER, BUT HOW MUCH EXTRA WE ARE SPENDING IN OVERTIME VERSUS IF WE WERE JUST FULLY STAFFED? UM, WELL, WHAT I'LL SAY ON THE SWORN SIDE PARTICULARLY IS WE HAVE TO HAVE MINIMUM STAFFING LEVELS TO BE ABLE TO SAFELY SEND A SHIFT OUT, UM, ON THE STREET.
AND FOR EVERY SHIFT BASED ON THE NUMBER OF HOURS, IT'S GENERALLY A PERCENTAGE.
SO WHAT WE TRY TO DO IS HIT THAT PERCENTAGE AS MUCH AS WE CAN, AND KNOWING THAT WE'RE NOT AT FULL STAFFING, BUT WE'RE AT LEAST AT AT MINIMUM STAFFING.
AND I CAN TELL YOU THAT MANY TIMES WE DON'T EVEN HIT MINIMUM STAFFING.
UM, WE ARE HIRING THOSE OFFICERS ON OVERTIME AND ARE PAYING THEM BASED ON OUR SALARY SAVINGS TO A LARGE EXTENT RIGHT NOW, OUTSIDE OF OUR OVERTIME BUDGET, UM, BE JUST KNOWING.
SO I, I'LL LET, UH, DIRECTOR SCHMIDT TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT KIND OF THE NUANCES OF THAT, BUT, UM, SHE'LL HELP PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL.
YES, IF I'M UNDERSTANDING THAT QUESTION CORRECTLY, UM, WE'RE STILL COMING WITHIN OUR BUDGET FOR, UM, F Y 22.
I THINK WE SPENT SOMETHING LIKE 99.5% OF OUR BUDGET.
SO OUR OVERTIME IS BEING OFFSET BY THE VACANCY SAVINGS, UM, FROM THE FULLY FUNDED SALARY POSITIONS, BUT WE'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT EXCEEDING THAT AMOUNT.
I, I GUESS WHAT I'M TRYING TO ASK, AND IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF AN UNKNOWABLE THING, BUT IF WE'RE SPENDING 50% MORE ON OVERTIME OFFICERS WHEN, WHEN, WHEN THEY'RE DOING OVERTIME, IF THERE WAS A WAY TO, AND IT'S A CHICKEN AND EGG PROBLEM A LITTLE BIT, BUT REDIRECT THAT INTO HIGHER SALARIES TO GET MORE PEOPLE.
SO WE'RE NOT PAYING SO MUCH OVERTIME.
I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S, UH, I'M, I'M CURIOUS IF ANY ANALYSIS HAS BEEN DONE IN TERMS OF MAYBE WE CAN SAVE ON OVERTIME IF WE PAY OFFICERS MORE.
UM, AND, AND ONCE AGAIN, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S POTENTIALLY I THINK AN UNKNOWABLE, BUT I JUST WANNA KNOW IF THAT'S A, SOMETHING Y'ALL THOUGHT ABOUT.
UM, I HAVE NOT PERFORMED AN ANALYSIS ON THAT SINCE THAT WOULD BE AN ADJUSTMENT TO THEIR BASE WAGE, SO.
AND THEN THE LAST QUESTION I HAVE FOR THE INDIVIDUALS AT THE ACADEMIES WHO HAVE DROPPED OFF, HAVE WE CONTACTED THEM OR, OR TRIED TO STEER THEM MAYBE TOWARDS THE CALL TAKER SIDE OR, YOU KNOW, THEY OBVIOUSLY HAVE SOME INTEREST IN PUBLIC SAFETY.
UM, YES, WE HAVE ACTUALLY, SO COUPLE THINGS.
WHEN WE HAVE OUR HIRING FAIRERS, UM, WE HAVE BOTH, UM, FOLKS FROM THAT ARE TRYING TO HIRE POLICE OFFICERS, BUT THEN WE'LL HAVE
[01:15:01]
FOLKS FROM THE NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER THAT ARE THERE AS WELL, UM, TRYING TO, TRYING TO SAY, HEY, IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE A SWORN POLICE OFFICER, THAT'S OKAY.WE'VE GOT A JOB FOR YOU OVER HERE.
A LOT OF TIMES, UM, THE, THE FOLKS THAT WE'RE LOSING IN THE ACADEMY ARE DUE TO, SAY, AN ACADEMIC, THEY HAVE NUMEROUS ACADEMIC FAILURES AND SIMPLY, UM, ARE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT MAKING THAT MARK.
AND THEN SOMETIMES THEY GET HURT AND THEY CAN'T PERFORM PHYSICALLY PERFORMANCE NECESSARY TO BE ABLE TO GRADUATE.
AND WHAT WE DO IS OFFER THEM, UH, WE LET THEM KNOW THAT THEY ARE GONNA BE, UH, WHAT, WHAT WE CALL A RECYCLE.
SO WE'LL PUT THEM, MOVE THEM FORWARD INTO THE NEXT CLASS AND RECYCLE 'EM INTO THAT CLASS.
AND IN THE MEANTIME, UM, WE'RE GLAD TO HIRE YOU IN OUR NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER AND GET YOU, GET YOU GOING THERE AND, AND WE CAN GET 'EM TCO LICENSED.
UH, THEY CAN ANSWER 9 1 1 CALLS AND SOMETIMES THEY AVAIL THEMSELVES TO THAT, BUT WE ARE, WE ARE OFFERING IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER ALTAR, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY, IT'S VICE CHAIR KELLY.
UM, THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER RYAN AL ALTER FOR BRINGING UP THE PAY DISPARITY BETWEEN THE CALL TAKER VERSUS SERGEANT SKIDDING OVER TIME.
IT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS BROUGHT UP BY ME LAST YEAR AND, UM, I'M GLAD WE'RE REVISITING IT BECAUSE I KNOW THAT IF I WERE IN THAT POSITION, I WOULDN'T APPRECIATE KNOWING THAT I WASN'T GETTING PAID MORE FOR DOING THE SAME JOB.
AND I'M SURE THAT SOME OF OUR CALL TAKERS PROBABLY FEEL THAT WAY AS WELL.
SO I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT ADDRESS.
UM, CHIEF, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH ADDITIONAL MONEY WE'RE PAYING WHEN WE NEED TO RELY ON OUTSIDE AGENCIES TO FILL SPOTS DURING SPECIAL EVENTS? UM, AND IF NOT, YOU CAN GET BACK TO ME.
I'M JUST WONDERING WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AS FAR AS BUDGETING GOES SO THAT I CAN, I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT NUMBERS, VICE CHAIR.
BUT I CAN TELL YOU THAT WE PAY, WE PAY THAT OUTSIDE, UNDER THE OUTSIDE VENDOR CONTRACT.
WE PAY MORE THAN WE WOULD FOR AN OFFICER ON OVERTIME.
AND THEN REGARDING THE COMMUNICATION CENTER, I'M CURIOUS IF YOU'VE CONSIDERED CROSS-TRAINING.
SO LET ME JUST EXPLAIN FOR A MINUTE SO THAT YOU CAN UNDERSTAND IT.
A SHORT TIME AGO I RECEIVED A TEXT MESSAGE FROM A MEMBER OF AD'S DISPATCH AREA, AND IT SAID, I WISH I COULD FIGURE OUT A WAY TO GET SOME FIRE PEOPLE OVER TO APD TO HELP ANSWER THEIR CALLS.
AND I UNDERSTAND PERSONALLY FROM WHAT YOU'VE EXPLAINED, THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO BE LICENSED TELECOMMUNICATORS AND THERE'S A COST AND TIME INVESTMENT INVOLVED.
BUT I'M WONDERING IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT YOU'VE CONSIDERED IF A P D OR, OR IS WILLING TO WORK WITH A F D AND EMS TO MAYBE HELP FILL SOME SPOTS THAT WAY? YOU KNOW, WE, IT WAS CONSIDERED AND, UH, ESSENTIALLY WAS DISMISSED BECAUSE OF THE, THE AMOUNT OF TRAINING THEY HAVE TO BE TCO LICENSED, RIGHT? SO YOU'RE, THEY'RE LOOKING AT 10 WEEKS OF, OF MINIMUM OF TRAINING TO BE ABLE TO, UM, TO BE ABLE TO PERFORM THE FUNCTION.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, IN, IN MANY RESPECTS, AFD AND EMS ARE KIND OF IN THE SAME, SAME BOAT WE ARE.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, EMS IS A LITTLE BIT WORSE AND, UM, AND DON'T REALLY HAVE THE STAFF TO JUST, YOU KNOW, DEDICATE OVER THERE TO HELP WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY RIGHT NOW POLICE FUNCTION.
THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING THAT.
AND THEN I WOULD JUST ASK THAT STAFF ADD THESE PRESENTATIONS TO BACK UP BECAUSE THEY'RE CURRENTLY NOT THERE, AND I'VE BEEN GETTING QUESTIONS FROM THE COMMUNITY REGARDING WHERE THEY COULD FIND THAT INFORMATION, SO THANK YOU.
VICE CHAIR KELLY, VICE CHAIR VELA, UH, CHIEF, I'VE HEARD ANECDOTALLY THAT WE'RE LOSING CALL CENTER FOLKS TO, UH, SOFTWARE COMPANIES THAT DO, WHERE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE, THEY'RE DO THE SAME KIND OF JOB, OBVIOUSLY NOT IN AN EMERGENCY CONTEXT, BUT YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY PROVIDE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, PHONE SUPPORT, UH, AND THAT THE SOFTWARE COMPANIES, APPLE HAS BEEN ONE OF THE ONES THAT'S MEN MENTIONED ARE PAYING LIKE, YOU KNOW, LIKE 25, 20 $7 PER HOUR, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UH, AND ALSO THEY CAN WORK FROM HOME, YOU KNOW, BA BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT IF YOU'RE A TRAINED EMERGENCY, UH, UH, CENTER CALL CENTER PERSON, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD POTENTIALLY JUMP OVER THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND, AND, YOU KNOW, GET A, A PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL BUMP IN YOUR PAY.
ARE YOU AWARE OF THAT? IS THAT TRUE? UH, AGAIN, IT'S JUST, YOU KNOW, I DON'T HAVE ANY DATA ON IT, BUT IT'S A THEME THAT, THAT PEOPLE HAVE, HAVE MENTIONED TO ME.
UM, I, I WOULD SAY THAT THAT IS ACCURATE.
UH, I DON'T HAVE ANY DATA ON IT E EITHER, BUT TALKING TO THE MANAGERS, I KNOW NOT ONLY ARE WE LOSING OUR CALL TAKING CENTER, BUT MANY OF OUR CRIME ANALYSTS ARE BEING HIRED BY PRIVATE COMPANIES AT A MUCH HIGHER RATE.
WITH ALL THE BENEFITS THAT YOU JUST TALKED ABOUT, THERE WAS EVEN A, YOU KNOW, A BIG BOX RE RETAILER, UH, HERE IN TOWN THAT WAS PAYING MORE TO SIMPLY GO WORK THERE INSTEAD OF WORKING FOR THE CITY.
AND THAT'S WHY WE HAD TO, WE REALLY HAD TO RAISE THAT PAY UP.
UM, LIKE I SAID, I THINK, I FEEL LIKE IT IS, IT IS COMPETITIVE.
UM, I'VE GOT A HUNDRED APPLICANTS RIGHT NOW IN THE PIPELINE FOR A CALL TAKER, AND I BELIEVE I HAVE 75 CALL TAKER, UH, I'M SORRY, 75 APPLICANTS FOR DISPATCHER
[01:20:01]
RIGHT NOW.UM, THE PROBLEM IS, IS THAT WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU FINALLY WORK YOUR WAY THROUGH THOSE, THOSE HUNDRED FOR THE, FOR THOSE WHO RETURN THE CALL WHO YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY SHOW UP AND THEN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE CAN'T GET THROUGH, CAN'T GET THROUGH ALL THE BACKGROUND STUFF AND ALL THOSE KIND OF THINGS, IT, IT, THEY'RE SMALL NUMBERS.
LIKE I SAID, RIGHT NOW IT'S 11 AND SEVEN THAT WE HAVE IN TRAINING, BUT, UM, BUT WE ARE MAKING BETTER PROGRESS THAN WE'VE MADE IN A REALLY LONG TIME.
WELL, UH, VERY MUCH, UH, UH, APPRECIATE.
DO YOU THINK THAT THAT $24 AN HOUR, DO YOU THINK THAT'S, THAT IS IN THE COMPETITIVE RANGE? I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH, YOU KNOW, A PRIVATE COMPANY, LIKE A SOFTWARE COMPANY WOULD PAY FOR, UH, YOU KNOW, TECH SUPPORT KIND OF CALL TAKER, BUT DO YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT THAT'S A, THAT'S A, A GOOD COMPETITIVE SALARY? YOU KNOW, I'M, WHAT I'M GONNA SAY ON THAT AND REALLY KIND OF, UM, DEFER A LITTLE BIT TO HR ON THAT MM-HMM.
UH, THE GREATER NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS, THE GREATER NUMBER OF PEOPLE WE HAVE RIGHT NOW IN TRAINING THAT ARE ON THEIR WAY TO BECOMING A DISPATCHER OR CALL TAKER.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THOSE NUMBERS KIND OF SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.
AND, AND, AND IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, I THINK THIS IS, CUZ THIS WAS GOING ON RIGHT WHEN I STARTED ON COUNCIL ABOUT A YEAR AGO, IT WAS WHAT, $18, $19 AN HOUR? LIKE THAT'S CORRECT, YES, SIR.
UH, THAT, THAT GIVES A LOT OF CONTEXT.
AND LAST QUESTION ARE, HOW IS TRAVIS COUNTY SHERIFFS DOING IN TERMS OF STAFFING? I USED TO BE INTIMATELY FAMILIAR WITH THEM WHEN I WAS IN AND OUT OF THE JAIL ALL THE TIME, AND I'VE HEARD, AGAIN, JUST KIND OF COMMENTS.
YOU, YOU MIGHT WANT TO ASK THAT QUESTION DIFFERENTLY,
UH, BUT I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE HAVE BEEN, UH, THAT THERE ARE, UH, EXPERIENCING PRETTY SUBSTANTIAL, UH, SHORTAGES ON THE SHERIFF AND ON THE JAILER SIDE AS WELL.
ARE ARE, DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT INTO THAT? YEAH, MY, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T, I CERTAINLY DON'T KNOW THEIR NUMBERS, BUT IN MY CONVERSATIONS WITH THE SHERIFF, I KNOW SHE IS SENDING, UH, STAFF FROM THE STREETS BACK TO, TO GO STAFF THE JAIL BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE STRUGGLING AS WELL.
AND LIKE I WAS, UM, SAYING EARLIER, I MEAN, THIS IS NOT JUST A, AN AUSTIN PHENOMENON OR AN APD PHENOMENON.
AND THAT'S, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS A PLAN TO TRY TO TRY TO, UH, UH, GET SOME OF THE TRAVIS COUNTY SHERIFFS TO DO A PATROL AND STUFF, BUT I MEAN, IF THEY DON'T HAVE THE STAFFING, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO KIND OF SUB IN FOR US, HUH? UH, THAT, YEAH, THAT'S CORRECT.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, UH, I'LL RECOGNIZE VIRTUALLY COUNCIL MEMBER ALISON AL ALTER.
UM, SO FIRST I WANNA, UM, YOU KNOW, THANK OUR CALL TAKERS AND OUR DISPATCHERS WHO HAVE BEEN WORKING UNDER REALLY DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS NOW.
UM, THIS PROBLEM AND THIS PHENOMENON IS NOT NEW.
UM, IN SUMMER OF 21, I HAD A BUDGET RIDER WITH RESPECT TO A COMPENSATION STUDY.
WE HAD MANY, MANY CONVERSATIONS WITH THE THEN CITY MANAGER CRONK ABOUT, UM, 9 1 1 AND THE NEED TO, UM, IMPROVE THOSE WAGES.
UM, IT TOOK WELL OVER A YEAR FOR THERE TO BE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES.
AND I THINK, UM, I'M PLEASED TO SEE HOW INTERIM CITY MANAGER GARZA, UM, AND THE MAYOR ARE, YOU KNOW, REALLY LEANING INTO THIS AT THIS POINT IN TIME.
UM, THIS ISSUE REQUIRES AN URGENCY.
UM, AND IT'S LONG PAST DUE, UM, JUST BY WAY OF, UM, BACKGROUND FOR MY COLLEAGUES WHO ARE NEW TO THE DIAS.
UM, NOT ONLY DID WE HAVE A BUDGET RIDER, UM, AND LOTS OF DISCUSSIONS IN 21 ABOUT WHAT WE WERE GONNA DO ABOUT PAY.
WE HAD SEVERAL RESOLUTIONS ALONG THE WAY.
WE HAD DISCUSSIONS, UM, THIS BUDGET ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE MOVE TO $20 AN HOUR AND THEN WHATEVER THAT WOULD MEAN FOR THE CALL CENTER WOULD ACTUALLY FIX THE PROBLEM.
UM, AND AS I STATED DURING THE BUDGET, I DIDN'T THINK THAT THAT ALONE WOULD FIX, UM, THE ISSUE.
SO WE ARE WHERE WE ARE NOW, UM, AND WE NEED TO REALLY BE THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX.
UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS HAPPENING EVERYWHERE, BUT 9 1 1 IS ALSO THE CORE OF OUR BUSINESS AS A GOVERNMENT.
AND SO WE REALLY NEED TO LEAN IN.
IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS, IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE 44% VACANCY RATE, AND THAT'S NOW AFTER HAVING DONE A LOT OF STUFF, UM, COMPARED TO THE 15% FOR SWORN WHEN WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME TALKING.
SO THIS REALLY, REALLY DOES REQUIRE, UM, A LOT OF URGENCY.
UM, I WANNA ASK, UM, I HAVE SUBMITTED, UH, A LENGTHY SET OF QUESTIONS TO THE CITY MANAGER TO GET ANSWERS ABOUT HOW THE CALL CENTER IS FUNCTIONING AND OPTIONS WE HAVE TO SCALE IT.
AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, I WAS ON HOLD FOR 28 MINUTES THE OTHER WEEKEND TRYING TO CALL 9 1 1.
UM, THAT IS A PARTICULAR SITUATION THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE DAILY,
[01:25:01]
UM, EXPERIENCE OF SOMEBODY THAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE SOMETHING CALLED BULK ARRIVAL IN A CALL CENTER WHEN A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE CALLING AT ONCE.UM, AND SO SOME OF MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU CHIEF, HAVE TO DO WITH WHAT, WHAT SYSTEMS DO WE HAVE IN PLACE TO DEAL WITH BULK ARRIVAL? IN THE INSTANCE OF, UM, THE CALLS ON FEBRUARY 18TH, WE HAD, YOU KNOW, 200 AND SOME CALLS COMING IN OVER THAT PERIOD OF TIME.
AND THEN WE ALSO THOUGH HAD THE SHORT STAFFING.
UM, BUT THERE ARE WAYS THAT CALL CENTERS HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE SITUATION OF BULK ARRIVAL.
UM, BUT I, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HOW WE HANDLE THOSE SITUATIONS.
WHAT ARE THE LEVERS THAT WE HAVE TO SCALE OUR APP OPERATIONS AND ADJUST CAPACITY WHEN WE GET A, A SUDDEN INCREASE IN DEMAND, WHICH DOES SOMETIMES HAPPEN.
THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION, COUNCIL MEMBER.
AND I'M NOT SURE I'M GONNA BE ABLE TO AN ANSWER TECHNI, YOU KNOW, FROM A TECHNICAL STANDPOINT TO, UH, YOUR SATISFACTION RIGHT NOW.
I'D PROBABLY NEED TO BRING ADDITIONAL STAFF ON TO DO THAT.
WHAT I DO KNOW IS THAT WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT, UM, THE ISSUE OF INCREASED, UH, CALL LOAD COMING IN AND HOW WE CAN HAVE SOME AUTOMATION THAT WOULD, UM, ASSIST WITH THAT AND BE ABLE POTENTIALLY TO DIVERT PEOPLE AWAY.
UH, YOU KNOW, IF THEY'RE CALLING ABOUT THE EXACT SAME THING THAT, YOU KNOW, 50 OTHER PEOPLE ARE, ARE CALLING ABOUT SOME TYPE OF AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE THAT THEY WOULD RECEIVE AS WELL AS A QURY.
SO, UM, AFTER A CERTAIN NUMBER OF RINGS, IT WOULD ACTUALLY DIVERT THEM FROM IT.
IT ASKS THE QUESTION, IF YOU NEED POLICE, GOD ONE, IF YOU NEED, YOU KNOW, AFD, DIAL TWO AND SO FORTH.
UM, THOSE THINGS RIGHT NOW WITH OUR CURRENT VENDOR, I BELIEVE WE'RE HAVING PROBLEMS I IMPLEMENTING.
AND, UH, I KNOW THAT THE CAPITAL AREA, UH, COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS CAP COG, UH, WHICH IS REALLY KIND OF OVERSEES, UM, THE, THE, THE COMBINED COMMUNICATION CENTER IS LOOKING, UH, POTENTIALLY AT, UM, YOU KNOW, WHETHER THEY NEED TO, UM, HAVE ANOTHER, HAVE ANOTHER VENDOR.
AND, UH, AND WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE IS THROUGH AN RFI OR R P.
I REALLY WANNA, UM, EMPHASIZE THE NEED FOR US TO GET THIS TECHNOLOGY RIGHT.
IT'S GONNA TAKE QUITE A LONG TIME TO GET, UM, THE DISPATCHERS IN THERE ACCORDING TO WHAT WE CAN TELL RIGHT NOW, ABSENT A MAJOR INCREASE IN SALARY, WHICH AS MY COLLEAGUE COUNCIL MEMBER BRIAN TER MENTIONED IS PERHAPS COST EFFECTIVE.
AND SO THESE, THESE TECHNOLOGY AND THESE, UM, DATA THINGS I THINK ARE REALLY IMPORTANT.
UH, ONE THING YOU DIDN'T MENTION WAS A TEXT TO 9 1 1.
UM, IS THAT SOMETHING I THINK WE HAD PROVIDED DIRECTION ON THAT AT SOME POINT.
WHAT IS THE STATUS OF THAT AND IS THAT AN OPTION? I DUNNO, DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT? I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA HAVE, UH, CHIEF HENDERSON COME UP AND TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL.
I'LL TELL YOU WHAT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, CAN WE, YEAH, I'M GONNA HAVE TO DEFER THAT QUESTION TO JUST MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BEING ACCURATE.
UM, I WASN'T PREPARED TO ANSWER ABOUT TEXT TO 9 1 1 THIS MORNING.
I APOLOGIZE, BUT, UH, WE'LL GET THAT COUNSEL, I MEAN THAT ANSWER BACK TO YOU AND THE OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS I MENTIONED, I DID PUT TOGETHER THIS WHOLE LIST OF QUESTIONS AND, AND, AND I, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO, TO THE ANSWERS TO THAT.
BUT I THINK THERE ARE, THERE'S THE TECHNOLOGY QUESTIONS WHICH YOU RAISED WITH THE, THE CALL TREE AND PUTTING THE ANNOUNCEMENT ON AND PERHAPS THE TEXT TO 9 1 1.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S SORT OF HOW ARE WE LOOKING AT THE DATA THAT WE HAVE TO DO THE SCHEDULING WITH THE RESOURCES THAT WE DO HAVE? UM, WE DON'T HAVE ELECTRONIC TIME SHEETS.
I MEAN, LIKE WHAT IS THE SYSTEM THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE USING, AS I UNDERSTAND IT FOR A TYPICAL CALL CENTER, NINE ONE ONE OR, OR NOT THERE, THERE'S A LOT OF SCIENCE TO THIS, UM, IN HOW TO GET IT RIGHT AND THERE ARE A LOT OF LEVERS THAT THAT CAN BE PULLED.
UM, WHAT ARE WE DOING, UM, TO MANAGE THAT FLOW OF THE STAFFING, YOU KNOW, IN A SYSTEMATIC WAY? I'M GONNA HAVE TO, UH, FIND OUT WHETHER THIS IS TRUE FOR THE NINE ONE CALL CENTER AS WELL.
BUT WHAT WE DO FOR, UH, DEPLOYMENT OF OUR OFFICERS BASED ON CALL LOAD, BASED ON WHERE SECTOR LINES ARE DRAWN AND HOW OUR OFFICERS ARE DEPLOYED ON THEIR VARIOUS SHIFTS.
JONATHAN KREGAN, OUR CHIEF DATA OFFICER TO SYNTHESIZE ALL OF THAT DATA AND TO FIGURE OUT, UH, IF WE'RE DEPLOYING IN AN EFFICIENT MANNER, UM, AND HE IS, UM, USING HIS FOLKS TO DETERMINE DO WE NEED TO, LIKE I SAID, REDRAW SECTOR LINES TO MAKE ONE SECTOR BIGGER OR SMALLER, UH, TO REDEPLOY OUR FOLKS TO EITHER, UH, A DIFFERENT SHIFT OR TO INCREASE CERTAIN SHIFTS AND DECREASE OTHER ONES, UM, SO THAT WE CAN BE AS EFFICIENT AS
[01:30:01]
WE CAN.I'LL JUST NEED TO FIND OUT WHETHER THEY'RE DOING THE SAME THING IN THE NINE ONE ONE CALL CENTER, WHICH I BELIEVE THEY SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO.
I THINK THAT'S A REALLY CRITICAL PART AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE LEANING IN.
UM, AND THE OTHER THING THAT I WANTED TO POINT OUT IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE TALK A LOT ABOUT THIS SWORN VACANCIES, SO I'M GLAD THAT YOU STARTED WITH THE CIVILIAN VACANCIES, BUT I DO WANT TO NOTE THAT WE'RE TALKING HERE ABOUT A 25% VACANCY ON THE CIVILIAN SIDE AND ABOUT A 15% VACANCY RATE ON THIS FOREIGN SIDE.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, THERE WAS, THERE WAS NOTHING THAT COUNCIL DID THAT HAD AN IMPACT ON THE CIVILIAN SIDE IN TERMS OF FUNDING LEVELS OR ALLOWANCES IN THE WAY THAT HAPPENED WITH THE ACADEMY.
UM, AND I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE, THAT WE UNDERSTAND THAT, UM, ON THE CIVILIAN SIDE, WHETHER IT'S 9 1 1, WHETHER IT'S VICTIM SERVICES, WHETHER IT'S OUR CRIME ANALYSTS OR, OR OUR HR SPECIALISTS, ET CETERA, ARE ALSO VERY CRITICAL TO PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE FUNCTIONS OF, UM, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT.
UM, AND SO WE SHOULD BE, WE SHOULD BE MINDFUL THAT THOSE ARE ALSO VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES.
UM, I HAVE LOTS MORE TO SAY ABOUT THE SWORN, BUT I WILL PASS IT BACK TO THE MAYOR.
UM, CITY MANAGER, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, UH, MEMBERS OF, UH, COUNCIL AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
I JUST WANT, UH, THIS IS, UH, AN ISSUE THAT IS BEYOND THE POLICE.
I MEAN, IT IS THE POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR THE THINGS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY, BUT THE ISSUES OF VACANCIES AND PAY, ET CETERA IS REALLY GONNA BE A TEAM EFFORT.
AND I'M TELLING YOU, THERE'S A FULL COURT PRESS RIGHT NOW THAT IS BEING PRESSED TO GET THESE A ANSWERS RESOLVE ARE, UH, ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU'RE OPPOSING TO RESOLVE.
AND WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA KEEP JUST GOING AT IT AND JUST, UH, BUT I WANNA, ME, CHIEF CHA'S DONE A GREAT JOB IN AT LEAST, UH, DOING SOME, UH, I GUESS STOP GAP MEASURES, BUT THEN WE AS AN ORGANIZATION NEED TO HELP HIM IN TERMS OF THE WHOLE QUESTION, THE WHOLE ANSWER TO THIS, THIS QUESTION, WHICH IS A LOT OF UPSTREAM WORK THAT NEEDS TO GET DONE BY HR AND OTHER ELEMENTS OF OUR ORGANIZATION AND WE'RE ON IT.
I JUST WANNA LET YOU KNOW THAT.
TIM, DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? WE CAN'T ACTUALLY HEAR YOU ONLINE.
UM, IS THERE A PROBLEM THAT THEY BACK NOW, BUT IT HAD CUT IN AND OUT.
OFFICE CITY MANAGER WAS SPEAKING WELL, HE COMPLIMENTED BOTH Y'ALL GREATLY.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE, UH, FOR A P D? WE APPRECIATE BOTH OF YOU, EXCUSE ME, FOR BEING HERE AND, AND, AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS AND, AND I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER ALISON AL ALTER HA HAS THAT LIST OF QUESTIONS AND WE ALL LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THE, THE ANSWERS TO THAT AS WELL.
WE'LL GO TO, UH, AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, MR. MAYOR, VICE CHAIR COUNCIL MEMBER ON THIS PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE.
JUST WANNA START OUT BY BRINGING YOU IN GREETS ON BEHALF OF ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN OF AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT AND JUST SAY THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT OUR STAFFING CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE HERE TODAY.
IF YOU LOOK AT THE SLIDE HERE, WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY 154, UH, FTES FOR OUR CIVILIAN STAFF, AND RIGHT NOW WE ARE AT 27 VACANCIES AND THAT'S REALLY DUE TO THE IT DEPARTMENT IN DEPARTMENT AND OUR PLAN EXAMINERS.
WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY 29 PLAN EXAMINER, BUT OWNING 11 VACANTS AT THIS POINT.
SO WHAT OUR OPPORTUNITIES IN THIS AREAS ARE TO REALLY WORK ON HOW CAN WE TRAIN SOME OF OUR ADMIN STAFF IN THE FIVE MARSHAL OFF TO BRING THEM UP TO SPEED TO COVER THOSE VACANCIES.
BUT LIKE ALL DEPARTMENTS YOU'RE GONNA HEAR HERE TODAY, HERE TODAY OUR COMPETITION IS THE, IS THE PRIVATE SIDE OF THE WORKFORCE COMPETING WITH OUR PLANT ASSEMBLY.
BUT RIGHT NOW THEY DO A WONDERFUL JOB IN TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE FAST GROWING PACE OF THIS GREAT CITY OF AUSTIN CITY.
UH, THE WILDFIRE DIVISION HAS SEVEN VACANCIES AND THAT'S REALLY DUE TO WE ARE RECLASSIFYING, RECLASSIFYING THAT DIVISION TO DO SOME, SOME CHANGES IN THERE TO REALLY BRING UP OUR, ENHANCE OUR PROCESSES AND HOW CAN WE REALLY, UH, DO A BETTER JOB IN PROVIDING SERVICES IN THE WILD LAND DIVISION.
AND THEN WE HAVE OTHER VACANCIES LIKE IN FI ADMIN POSITIONS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE ON CIVILIAN SIDE.
OUR AUTHORIZED STRENGTH IS APPROXIMATELY 1,266.
WE HAVE 74 VACANCIES RIGHT NOW.
WE HAVE SIX PEOPLE ON DEPLOYMENT AND ABOUT FOUR RETIREMENT EVERY MONTH.
[01:35:01]
CADETS ACTUALLY WE HAVE, UH, 43 THAT WILL BE GRADUATING THIS MAY AND 40 THAT WILL BE GRADUATING IN JULY OF 2023 THIS YEAR.UH, WE TAKE, WE HAVE A APPLICATION PROCESS STARTING, I BELIEVE MARCH THE 15TH, 20 THE 29TH.
AND USUALLY WE GET ABOUT 3500, 3800 TO 5,000 CANDIDATES THAT ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT.
SO THIS RECRUITING PERIOD, WE'RE LOOKING AT HOPEFULLY HIGHER APPROXIMATELY 200, UH, FIVE CADETS OVER THE NEXT TWO YEAR PERIOD.
SO AGAIN, WE GET CLOSE TO 3,800 TO 5,000 PEOPLE WHO SHOW INTEREST IN THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT AND, AND OUT THIS NEW HIRING PROCESS STARTING IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR.
WE WOULD NOT HAVE A NEW RECRUIT CLASS GRADUATING UNTIL MAY OF 2024.
BUT AGAIN, WANNA EMPHASIZE WE DO HAVE TWO RECRUIT CLASS RECRUIT CLASS THAT WILL BE GRADUATING THIS YEAR.
SOME OF OUR CHALLENGES, BUT YET OPPORTUNITIES AS YOU LOOK AT THIS SLIDE HERE, LOOP 360 STATION WILL BE OPEN TO MARCH AND WE NEED 16 FOUR-TIME EMPLOYEES FOR THAT POSITION.
OUR UNFUNDED, UNFUNDED NEED, WE NEED TWO AREA TRUCKS, ONE FOR LOOP 360 AND ONE FOR THE DA VET STATION.
I WANNA JUST REMIND COUNSEL, UH, THAT AROUND IN 1995 OR 93 OR 94 IN THAT AREA, THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS NOT ADDED ANY ADDITIONAL AERIAL TRUCKS TO THIS DEPARTMENT.
HAVE NOT ADDED THE CITY IS GROWING AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, WE NEED THOSE TRUCKS SO WE CAN, SO WE CAN CONTINUE TO GROW WITH THIS CITY TO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES THAT OUR CITIZENS EXPECT US TO PROVIDE FOR THEM.
UH, THE OTHER UNFUNDED NEED IS OUR TASK FORCE STAFFING.
THE TASK FORCE STAFFING IS REALLY THOSE MEMBERS ON THOSE UNFUNDED UNIT THAT HELP US MANAGE ANY TYPE OF HUMAN COALS OR NATURAL DISASTERS THAT WE HAVE IN THE CITY TO HELP US RESPOND TO SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, FOR EXAMPLE, TO HELP US RESPOND TO ACL, FOR EXAMPLE, AND AS WELL TO HELP US RESPOND TO THE SIXTH STREET DISTRICT ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AND EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.
SO WE STAFF THOSE UNITS, BUT WE ARE NOT FUNDED TO STAFF THOSE UNITS, BUT THERE'S EMERGER IMMEDIATELY NEED TO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES SO WE HAVE THAT QUICK RESPONSE TIME TO KEEP THOSE OTHER UNITS IN SERVICE TO RESPOND TO OTHER EMERGENCIES THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UH, WITH THAT WE'LL HAVE A GRADUATED CLASS I MENTIONED EARLIER IS BY 83 CADES SUMMER.
AND SO OUR GOAL, OUR BELIEF IS BY THE END OF THIS FISCAL YEAR WILL BE CLOSE TO ALMOST ZERO IN FAR AS VACANCIES WITH THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT, BUT OTHER UN UNMANNED FUNDS WE HAVE HERE IS THE MANDATORY FOUR-PERSON STAFFING.
UH, BEFORE I TALK ABOUT THAT, I DO WANT TO THANK COUNCIL.
I CANNOT THANK COUNCIL ENOUGH FOR ALLOWING US TO HAVE FOUR PERSON STAFFING.
IT MAKES A BIT DIFFERENT ON THOSE EMERGENCY SCENE FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR MEMBERS TO HAVE THE EXTRA BODY ON THE FIRE APPARATUS.
AND BECAUSE OF THAT, WE'RE ABLE TO DO THE JOB IN A SAFE AMOUNT THAN WE, THAN WE CAN WITH THREE PERSON STAFFING.
HOWEVER, WE DO NOT CURRENTLY REALLY HAVE THE BODIES TO SUPPORT FOUR PERSON STAFFING.
UH, IN THE PAST WE HAD THREE AND THREE STAFFING, WE HAD THE BODIES TO DO THAT.
WE STILL HAVE SOME OVERTIME AND NOW WE HAVE FOUR PERSON STAFFING.
BUT WE NEED EXTRA BODIES ABOUT, I WOULD SAY ABOUT 100 TO 125 AIR BY REALLY SUPPORT THE FOUR AND FOUR STAFFING THAT WE HAVE FOR THE, FOR THE DEPARTMENT.
UH, THE OTHER REASON FOR OUR, UH, SHORT STAFFING IN THOSE AREA IS, AS YOU SEE HERE, UH, WE AT THE BACKFIELD, THE VACANCIES POSITION, THE SEVEN FOUR POSITION, BUT WHEN THOSE RECRUITS GET OUTTA TRAINING, THAT'S GONNA HELP RE REDUCE THAT.
SO WE SAY WE IMAGINE THAT PRETTY WELL RIGHT NOW.
WE ALSO HAVE TO HAVE TRAINING ACTIVITIES AND WE, THE DOWNTOWN SAFETY INITIATIVE I TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, WE HAVE MEMBERS OF ABOUT 10 OR 15 THAT ARE ON ANGEL LEAGUE OR THEY ARE DOING PARENTING BONDING, WHICH IS A GREAT THING FOR OUR MEMBERS OF PARENT DE BARNING.
AND WE HAVE CADETS TRAINING THE, THE MEMBERS FROM OPERATION WE TAKE OFF THE UNIT, WE HAVE TO HAVE OVERTIME FOR THEM.
SO THEY GO TO THE TRAINING CENTER TO HELP STAFF THE TRAINING TO GET THOSE RECRUIT OUT AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE AND MAKE THEM AS QUALIFIED AS WELL.
AND THEN WE HAVE DIFFERENT COMMITTEES THAT WE PARTICIPATE WITH.
ALONG WITH THAT WE DO BACKFIELD FOR THE TEST TASK FORCE DEPLOYMENT.
IT CAN BE DEPLOYED ANYWHERE IN THIS STATE AND SOMETIME OUT THE STATE, BUT IT'S A GREAT RETURN ON INVESTMENT.
WE GET, UH, REFUNDED WELL, WE GET, UH, UH, UH, UH, REIMBURSED FOR THOSE DEPLOYMENTS, BUT IT ALSO GIVES OPPORTUNITY TO GET THAT ON HAND TRAINING THAT WE NEED IN, IN EVENT THE SOMETHING, UH, DISASTER HAPPENED HERE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
WE KNOW OUR MEMBERS NOT JUST BY
[01:40:01]
EMAILS, BUT WE CAN PICK UP THE PHONE AND CALL AND GET THAT HELP BACK TO US WHEN WE NEED IT BECAUSE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE TEXAS TASK FORCE.SOME OTHER STE UM, CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES WE HAVE HERE FOR FISCAL YEAR 24.
THE GOODNIGHT RANCH STATION OPENING PROJECTOR OPEN JANUARY, 2024.
SO WE WILL NEED COUNSEL AND ALL TO PROVIDE THE FOR 16 FOUR-TIME EMPLOYEES FOR THAT.
AGAIN, I'M ASKING FOR TASK FORCE POSITION BY 18 TO HELP COVER THOSE UNMANNED NEED.
SO MAKING MAKE SURE WE CONTINUE TO PROVIDE THE SERVICE THAT THE CITIZEN AS WELL AS COUNCIL MEMBER HAVE COME TO EXPECT FROM US.
UM, COMMAND TEST TO REALLY HELP THE CITYS GROWING.
THE LOT OF TRAFFIC'S GOING ON IN THE ROADWAYS, A LOT IS GOING ON FOR THOSE BATTALION CHIEF OFFICER TO TRY TO COMMAND THIS SCENE.
TO WORK, WORK ON THOSE CRITICAL FACTORS PRIOR TO GETTING ON THE SCENE IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.
SO NO COMMAND TESTS CAN REALLY HELP US MINIMIZE THE RISK FOR THAT.
YOU HEARD CHIEF CHACON TALK ABOUT THE DISPATCH CHALLENGER HE'S HAVE, AND I'M QUITE SURE, UM, MY COLLEAGUE CHIEF LUCK WAS ALSO MENTIONED HIS DISPATCH CHALLENGER RIGHT NOW IN AUSTIN AND FIRE, WE ARE AT FULL CAPACITY STAFFING FOR DISPATCHING.
HOWEVER, UH, AS SOON IT'S MY BELIEF THAT WHEN THE CITY CONTINUE TO GROW AND WHEN THE STAFFING LEVEL ARE MET IN EMS AS WELL POLICE, IT'S GONNA CAUSE A POSSIBLE BOTTLENECK IN THE FIRE SERVICE.
UH, BECAUSE WHEN THEY INCREASE THEIR STAFFING, IT'S GONNA FLOW MORE COST TO US.
SO THAT'S WHY WE NEED THOSE FOUR ADDITIONAL BUYERS TO HELP US MANAGE THOSE INCREASE OF COST VALUE.
AND ALONG WITH THE GROWTH IN THE CITY, WE PROJECT ALSO IN YEAR 24, UH, FISCAL YEAR 24, APPROXIMATELY 52 PLUS OR MINUS PEOPLE WILL RETIRE.
OUR APARTMENTS GETTING YOUNGER WHEN THE OLDER MEMBERS JUST SIMPLY RETIRING.
WE ALSO PROJECT TO HAVE ABOUT 70 CADETS TO GRADUATE IN FISCAL YEAR 2024.
THAT'S FROM THE 200 FROM THE LIST.
WE'RE PLAN ON HIRING FROM, FROM THIS PROMOTIONAL, I MEAN FROM THIS, UM, RECRUITMENT PROCESS WE'RE GONNA HAVE THIS MONTH.
SO AT THE END OF FISCAL YEAR 24, WE GIVE A ROUGH ESTIMATE OF APPROXIMATELY 32 VACANCIES.
UH, SO THAT'S STILL IS NOT TOO BAD FOR HER, US AND AUSTIN FIRE.
BUT MOVING FORWARD TO YEAR, FISCAL YEAR 2025, WHEN CANYON CREEK FIRE STATION OPENED APPROXIMATELY YEAR 2025 IN JULY, WHERE WE NEED 16 FTES FOR THOSE POSITION AND ADDITIONAL 18 TASK FORCE MEMBERS AGAIN.
SO WE CONTINUE TO TO MANAGE THE, UH, EMERGENCIES, THE TAPE PAYER IN THE CITY, ADDITIONAL 12 COMMAND TASKS.
AS YOU NOTICE, WE GRADUALLY ASKED THEM A BIT BY BIT, NOT ALL THAT ONE TIME AND WE, WE PROJECT A ESTIMATE OF 52 PEOPLE THAT WERE RETIRED.
BUT WE PROJECT ALSO TO HAVE AT LEAST 90 CADETS TO GRADUATE COME FISCAL YEAR 2025.
AND AT THE END OF THAT FISCAL YEAR, 2025, WE ESTIMATE TO HAVE APPROXIMATELY 39 VACANCIES.
THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION AND I WILL ATTEMPT TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CHIEF, UM, VICE CHAIR.
YEAH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY.
UM, I'M GLAD TO HEAR ABOUT THE CADETS.
I KNOW I SAW YOU THIS PAST SATURDAY AT THE FIREFIGHTER BALL AND MY DAUGHTER SAW THE PROGRAM.
SHE SO KINDLY REMINDED ME THAT I'M TOO OLD TO JOIN AF D
UM, SO THAT'S JUST TO MENTION THAT IF ANYBODY'S UNDER 36 YEARS OLD, SWEET, SWEET CHILD
YEAH, THEY SHOULD, THEY SHOULD CONSIDER JOINING AFD.
UM, I ALSO WANNA FLAG FOR MY COLLEAGUES THAT I HAVE AN ITEM IN THE WORKS THAT WILL ADDRESS SOME OF THOSE UNMET NEEDS THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
SO IF ANY MEMBER WANTS TO TALK AFTER THE MEETING ABOUT IT AND JOIN MY SUB QUORUM, I'D BE HAPPY TO HAVE THAT HAPPEN IN CHIEF.
UM, MY OFFICE WILL BE REACHING OUT TO YOUR OFFICE.
MY PEOPLE WILL CALL YOUR PEOPLE.
WE'LL SCHEDULE MEETINGS SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE IT'S BUTTONED UP PROPERLY.
BUT ALSO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT THE FIRE CHIEF'S CONFERENCE LATER NEXT MONTH.
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT.
YOU'VE BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE IN THE FIRE SERVICE ACROSS THE STATE RADIO AT THE SUPPORT OF OUR CONFERENCES.
UH, THOSE CHIEF, OTHER CHIEF FROM THE DEPARTMENT, THEY'RE VERY SURPRISED THAT WE HAVE A SITTING COUNCIL MEMBERS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FIRE SERVICE.
UM, MEMBERS, ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? UM, YES.
COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON AL ALTER.
UM, I WANT TO JUST, UM, REMEMBER BACK TO 2017 WHEN I CAME ON, THERE WERE A LOT OF VACANCIES.
WE WERE HAVING A VERY SERIOUS SET OF ISSUES WITH VACANCIES IN THE FIRE SERVICE AND WE WERE PAYING EXTRA FOR OVERTIME.
WE WERE ASKED TO DO MID-YEAR BUDGET, UM, REQUEST OF SOMETHING LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, 13 MILLION OF EXTRA OVERTIME.
[01:45:01]
THESE THINGS CAN BE ADDRESSED.UM, I'M REALLY PLEASED TO SEE WHERE WE'RE AT WITH RESPECT TO, TO STAFFING.
UM, IT, THERE IS A LINK THOUGH TO OVERTIME, WHICH WE HAVEN'T LOOKED AT MUCH WITH RESPECT TO POLICE.
AND WHAT I REALLY WANTED TO POINT OUT FOR MY COLLEAGUES IS THAT WE WILL BE GETTING AN OVERTIME AUDIT BACK AT OUR NEXT AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING, UM, WITH RESPECT TO FIRE.
UM, THAT'S LOOKING AT THAT, UM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FINDINGS ARE AT THIS POINT IN TIME.
UM, BUT WE DID PREVIOUSLY HAVE SOME ISSUES THAT WE WERE ABLE TO ADDRESS IN PART THROUGH, THROUGH THE CONTRACT AND, AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET MANY OF THOSE, UM, EXPENSES UNDER CONTROL SO THAT WE COULD INVEST IN OTHER FIRE PERSONNEL.
UM, CHIEF, I WANTED TO JUST ASK IF YOU COULD SPEAK A LITTLE BIT MORE TO THE NEED FOR THE LADDER AND WHAT THAT, THE LADDER, UM, TRUCK STAFFING AND WHAT THAT INVOLVES, UM, FROM AN OPERATIONAL STANDPOINT, SINCE IT DOES REQUIRE SO MANY STAFF.
AND THANK YOU SO MUCH COUNCIL MEMBER ALTA FOR THAT, FOR THAT QUESTION.
UH, ACCORDING TO THE, UH, NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION ASSOCIATION, WE CALL N F P A 1710, WE REALLY OUTLINED THE OPERATION IS SAFETY FOR FIREFIGHTERS.
UH, AND WHAT THEY STATE THAT A RESPONSE FROM A AREA UNIT SHOULD BE WITH FOR LOW EMERGENCIES, A MEDIUM HAZARD, ABOUT EIGHT MINUTES.
SO WE SHOULD HAVE A FIRE TRUCK, I MEAN A AREA TRUCK RESPOND TO ANY EMERGENCY LOW RISK EMERGENCY WITHIN EIGHT MINUTES.
HOWEVER, FOR HIGH RISK OR HIGH RISE OR HIGH RISK HAZARD, IT SHOULD BE ABOUT 10 MINUTES.
WE SHOULD HAVE HERE IN AUSTIN FOR EVERY HIGH RISE OR HIGH HAZARD, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO GET THERE FROM ABOUT 10 MINUTES AND 10 SECONDS.
WE RESPOND ON AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT 11 MINUTES AND 47 SECONDS 90% OF THE TIME.
WHAT THOSE TWO ADDITIONAL AERIAL TROPH DO WILL HELP US REDUCE THAT 12 MINUTES RESPOND TIME.
UH, SO THAT'S WHY IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO HAVE THAT.
KEEP IN MIND, THE CITY IS REALLY GROWING RAPIDLY SINCE 1995, AND THAT'S MY ESTIMATED TIME WHEN, WHEN WE'VE RECEIVED OUR LAST AREA TRUCK, BUT YET WE HAVE NOT ADDED ANY ADDITIONAL AREA TRUCK TO THE RAPID GROWING PACE OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND SO WE NOW, OUR RESPONSE TIME WITH THE AREAS CHARTS IS ALMOST 12 MINUTES, WHICH IS REALLY UNACCEPTABLE FOR A FIRE DEPARTMENT AT THIS SIZE TO HAVE A 12 MINUTE RESPONSE TIME WITH MUCH SUPPORT WE GET FROM COUNCIL.
THAT'S WHY I'M REALLY ASKING FOR THOSE TWO ADDITIONAL AREA CHARTS TO HELP US REDUCE THAT RESPONSE TIME, UH, TO THESE AREAS HERE.
AND CHIEF, CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE AERIAL LADDER STAFFING AND WILDFIRE? WELL, THE AERIAL LADDER STAFFING AND THE, AND THE WILDFIRE.
WE HAVE OUR OWN WILDFIRE UNITS AND WE HAVE OUR, UH, WE NOW WE HAVE A WILDFIRE BATTALION.
AND IN THAT BATTALION I THINK WE HAVE ONE AREA.
WE ONLY HAVE ONE AREA IN THAT AREA.
SO THE, THE STAFFING OF SUPPORT IN THE WILD LINE AREA, IT GIVE ADDITIONAL STAFFING POWER.
THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO ASSIGN TO THOSE UNITS CAN ALSO HELP RESPOND TO THOSE WILDLANDS AREA TO HELP MITIGATE, UH, WHEN THAT DISASTER HAPPEN.
KEEP IN MIND IT'S NOT A MATTER OF IF WE'RE GONNA HAVE A WILD LINE, A WILDFIRE DISASTER IN AUSTIN, IT'S WHEN WE'RE GOING TO HAVE IT.
AND SO BY HAVING THE STAFFING LEVEL IN PLACE AND TRAIN, TRAIN AT A HIGHER LEVEL, THEN WE'LL REQUIRED TO TRAIN THEM.
IT JUST REALLY HELPED MINIMIZE THAT RISK.
OH, YOU CHIEF FIRES WANNA ADD SOMETHING TO THAT? UH, ROB BYERS, CHIEF OF STAFF AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT.
SO TO ADD TO THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, AS WE WENT THROUGH A PROCESS OF RESTRUCTURING TO ADD THE WILDFIRE BATTALION, THE WILDFIRE RISK IS, AS YOU'RE VERY ADEPT TO, IS NOT THE SAME ON THE EAST SIDE OF AUSTIN, IS ON THE WEST SIDE OF AUSTIN.
AND SO A PART OF THE PLAN WITH THE WILDFIRE DIVISION, OR SORRY, WILDFIRE BATTALION, WAS TO CREATE TWO BATTALIONS GEOGRAPHICALLY, ONE ON THE EAST SIDE TO DEAL WITH THE WILDFIRE RISK THERE, ONE ON THE WEST SIDE.
TO DO THAT PROPERLY, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A, A SPAN OF CONTROL.
YOU HAVE TO HAVE ENOUGH SUPERVISION TO OVERSEE THIS TO HELP THAT WORK IN A FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY.
UH, BASED ON THE, THE ASSETS WE HAVE TODAY, WE WERE ABLE TO GET PART OF THAT IN PLACE.
SO WE DO HAVE A WILDFIRE BATTALION WITH ONE AERIAL WITH IT, WHICH GIVES YOU A CAPTAIN AND A SUPERVISORY AND LEADERSHIP CAPACITY TO BE ABLE TO EXPAND THAT.
SO WE COULD GET TO THE, THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF OUR PLAN OF THE BATTALION ON THE WEST SIDE AND A BATTALION ON THE EAST SIDE.
THAT'S WHAT THE SECOND AERIAL IS FOR.
SO JUST TO ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT MORE ON WHAT THE CHIEF WAS WAS SHARING THERE, JUST FOR FYI.
[01:50:01]
WANT TO ADD THE URGENCY OF, OF, UH, IT'S NOT DOOM AND GLOOM, BUT I NEED TO ADD THE URGENCY WHERE I HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY OF GETTING THOSE AREAS TRUCKS IN.IT'S THE BUILDING OF THOSE TRUCKS.
IT TAKES ABOUT 24 MONTHS TO 36TH MONTH.
SO AS SOON WE CAN GET APPROVED, WE CAN GET IN THE BUILDING PROCESS AND GET IN LINE TO GET OUR AERIAL TRUST BUILT.
IT'S A WEIGHT AND SEA GAME WHEN WE CAN GET IT.
IT'S SUPPLY AND DEMAND, THE FIRE SERVICE FOR THESE APPARATUS.
IT'S JUST SOMETHING I NEVER SEEN OF SEEN BEFORE MY 36 YEARS IN THE FIRE SERVICE.
I, I'M, I'M GONNA GO TO THE MAYOR PRO TIM, UNLESS COUNCIL MEMBER ALISON AL ALTER.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING MORE? MAYOR PRO TEM, DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO ASK OR MAKE A COMMENT? OH, THANKS.
MY QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
WE'LL NOW GO TO EMS. IT'S ALL YOURS, CHIEF.
NOT QUITE AS TALL AS CHIEF BAK
I I DON'T THINK ANYBODY'S QUITE THAT TALL.
SO, GOOD MORNING, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, MAYOR, THANK YOU, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOR, UH, UH, WELCOMING US TODAY AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE, UH, STAFFING CHALLENGES AS WELL AS SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING.
UM, IF THE EMS DEPARTMENT TO ADDRESS, UH, THESE ISSUES.
I'M JOINED TODAY BY CHIEF OF STAFF THERESA GARDNER.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN HERE JUST UNDER A YEAR, UH, COMING UP IN MY ONE YEAR.
AND CHIEF GARDNER HAS A LOT OF HISTORICAL CONTEXT THAT SHE MAY BE ABLE TO PROVIDE AS WE GO THROUGH THIS PRESENTATION.
UH, THE, TO START OFF HERE, I JUST HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A SNAPSHOT IN TERMS OF WHAT OUR CURRENT VACANCIES ARE.
UM, AGAIN, FROM HER HISTORICAL CONTEXT, UH, I'VE SHARED THIS IN THE PAST WHEN I'VE, UH, SPOKEN ON THIS ISSUE, BUT, UH, THE RECRUITING AND, AND RETENTION AND STAFFING CHALLENGES THAT WE SEE IN OUR DEPARTMENT IS VERY INDICATIVE OF WHAT WE'RE SEEING NATIONWIDE.
UH, THERE IS A PARAMEDIC SHORTAGE.
UH, ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE NATION ARE STRUGGLING TO FILL THOSE VACANCIES, UM, STRUGGLING TO GET INDIVIDUALS THROUGH THE TRAINING AND THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT, UH, PERIOD OF TIME THAT'S REQUIRED TO STAFF PEOPLE UP TO THE PARAMEDIC LEVEL.
UM, AND, UM, SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S, THAT WE'RE ADDRESSING AS WELL AS, UH, WE'RE SEEING NATIONWIDE IN TERMS OF HOW IT IS THAT WE, UH, IMPROVE THOSE.
WE DO HAVE THE BENEFIT, AND I'LL SHARE THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE AS WE GO THROUGH.
I, I SAY THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN.
WE TRULY HAVE THE BEST EMS SYSTEM IN THE COUNTRY HERE.
UM, AND AS WE GO THROUGH THIS, UM, PART OF OUR CHALLENGES AND PART OF OUR EFFORTS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO ADDRESS HERE IS HOW IT IS THAT WE GET THAT MESSAGE OUT, HOW WE RECRUIT PEOPLE.
UM, AND THAT REALLY COMES DOWN TO WHAT THE CORE OF WHAT OUR RECRUITING STRATEGY IS.
A COUPLE THINGS TO HIGHLIGHT HERE, IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THESE, UM, WE'VE HAD SOME SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON OUR MEDIC FIELD POSITION.
THAT IS OUR ENTRY LEVEL POSITION.
UM, IT IS AN EMT POSITION FOR INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE JOINING THE DEPARTMENT.
THERE'S 47 VACANCIES AT THIS TIME, WHICH ALTHOUGH HIGH, UH, CAN BE FILLED OVER THE COURSE OF A COUPLE ACADEMIES.
UM, WHAT'S MORE CONCERNING THAN WHAT I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT IS THE TWO, UH, AREAS THAT WE'RE SEEING SIGNIFICANT VACANCIES.
THE FIRST BEING THE CLINICAL SPECIALIST FIELD.
AND AGAIN, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, UM, THERE IS A LONG LEAD TIME FOR TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION TO GET FOLKS TO THAT, TO THAT LEVEL, UM, AS WELL AS INTERNALLY AS WE TRY TO TRAIN THOSE INDIVIDUALS UP.
AND I'LL SHARE WITH YOU IN A MINUTE, UM, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE WORKED THROUGH TO TRY TO ADDRESS THAT.
UM, THE OTHER AREA I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT IS THE MEDIC COMMUNICATIONS.
AS YOU CAN SEE, WE HAVE 11 OUT OF 14 VACANCIES AND THAT'S AN 80% VACANCY RATE AT THAT LEVEL.
UM, WE FACE THE SAME CHALLENGES THAT THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT DOES IN TERMS OF HOW IT IS THAT, UM, WE CAN STAFF OUR COMMUNICATION CENTER.
UM, WE ARE WORKING DILIGENTLY ON A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT ISSUES, BUT THAT CLEARLY, ALTHOUGH NOT FROM A RAW NUMBERS PERSPECTIVE, BUT FROM A PERCENTAGE STANDPOINT, WE ARE, UM, HAVING SOME SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES STAFFING OUR COMMUNICATION CENTER.
UM, AND I CAN SHARE WITH YOU A COUPLE OF REASONS THAT MIGHT BE, UM, NOT THE LEAST OF WHICH IS THAT WE ARE NOT A CIVILIAN DEPARTMENT.
THOSE ARE SWORN POSITIONS AND EVERYONE IN THOSE POSITIONS ARE REQUIRED TO BE MEDICALLY TRAINED IN MEDICALLY CERTIFIED, WHICH IS SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE SEE IN SOME OF OUR, OUR OTHER PUBLIC SAFETY COUNTERPARTS.
UM, AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO WORK THROUGH WAYS THAT WE CAN ADDRESS THAT AND I'LL SHARE SPECIFICS AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
CAN I ASK YOU A QUICK QUE I HATE TO INTERRUPT, BUT BUT IS THAT THE GROUP THAT'S AT THE E O C? YES, THAT IS THE INDIVIDUALS ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF CTECH.
SO, UM, YEAH, I VISITED THERE RECENTLY.
UM, AND, AND OF COURSE IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REAL CRISIS, BUT EVERY ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE IS, WAS SWORN EVERY SINGLE PERSON THERE IS SWORN YES.
SO THEY'RE ALL EMTS AT THIS POINT.
UM, BUT IN ADDITION TO BEING EMT, SO THE MEDIC FIELD, YOU NEED TO BE AN EMT TO GET STARTED TO BE A MEDIC COMMUNICATIONS.
YOU NOT ONLY NEED TO BE AN EMT, BUT YOU NEED TO BE A CERTIFIED EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCHER, WHICH IS AN ADDITIONAL, UH, MULTI-WEEK TRAINING PROCESS THAT THOSE FOLKS HAVE TO GO THROUGH.
[01:55:01]
WITH THOSE TWO TRAINING SKILLS AND ALSO INDIVIDUALS THAT DON'T WANT TO GO TO THE FIELD, CUZ AGAIN, THEY HAVE TO BE EMTS WHEN THEY START.SO WE HAVE TO TARGET INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE A DRAW TOWARDS THAT COMMUNICATION SIDE OF THE HOUSE.
AND YOU SAY THERE'S AN 80% VACANCY RATE, THERE'S AN 80% RATE VACANCY RATE AT THE MEDIC COMMUNICATION, THAT IS THE ENTRY LEVEL, THAT IS OUR CALL TAKER POSITIONS.
UH, YOU'LL ALSO SEE ON HERE CLINICAL SPECIALIST COMMUNICATIONS.
THAT IS THE, THE PROMOTION UP FROM MEDIC, UM, WILL BE EQUIVALENT TO A PARAMEDIC IN THE FIELD, BUT IN OUR COMMUNICATION CENTER THAT REPRESENTS OUR DISPATCHERS.
AND SO IF YOU'RE ASKING HOW WE FUNCTION WITH AN 80% VACANCY RATE, WHICH THAT BE THE NEXT, NEXT QUESTION, SO THANK YOU.
UM, IT'S HAVING THOSE DISPATCHERS THAT IN ORDER TO, TO BECOME A DISPATCHER, TO BECOME A CLINICAL SPECIALIST, YOU HAVE TO HAVE ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OF A MEDIC.
AND SO THEY ARE FILLING THOSE POSITIONS AGAIN AT THAT HIGHER CLASS.
UM, AND THEN WE ARE ALSO WORKING, AND WE HAVE SOME INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE CROSS-TRAINING FROM THE FIELD THAT WE ARE BRINGING OVER TO ASSIST.
HOW DO YOU RECRUIT FOR THAT, FOR THE MEDIC COMMUNICATION, MEDIC COMMUNICATIONS, UH, POSITION? UM, IT, IT'S A CHALLENGE FOR US, AGAIN, BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO BE AN E M T TO START.
UH, WE HAVE DONE SOME NATIONAL RECRUITING.
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT NOW AS WE GO INTO THIS FISCAL YEAR IS TRYING TO DO INTERNSHIPS, UM, AND TRYING TO FIND INDIVIDUALS IN, UH, THE COMMUNITY THAT MIGHT HAVE A DRAW TO THIS PARTICULAR FIELD AND DO ALL OF OUR TRAINING IN-HOUSE.
UM, AGAIN, OUR DEPARTMENT IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.
WE'RE THE ONLY PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT THAT REQUIRES YOU TO BE CERTIFIED BEFORE YOU CAN ENTER THE ACADEMY.
AND THAT POSES CHALLENGES FOR US.
SO WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THE ABILITY TO DO INTERNSHIPS TO GET PEOPLE TRAINED, UM, PRIOR TO ENTERING THE ACADEMY SO THAT THEN THEY CAN COME ON BOARD AS A, AS A, AS A CADET AND THEN A SWORN, UH, INDIVIDUAL.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO TEE UP A LITTLE BIT OF HOW IT IS THAT WE GOT HERE.
UM, AND IT'LL TAKE THREE SLIDES.
SO I'LL GO THROUGH THE, THESE THREE SLIDES IN A RELATIVELY QUICKLY.
UH, BUT YOU CAN SEE HERE THE YEAR OVER YEAR, THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE VACANCIES VERSUS THE CADETS.
UM, AND OBVIOUSLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS SLIDE TO START, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE VACANCIES ARE FAR OUTPACING, UH, THE CADETS THAT WE'RE BRINGING THROUGH.
WE ARE TRYING TO ADDRESS THAT AS I WAS SHARING A SLIDE OR TWO BY INCREASING THE NUMBER OF ACADEMIES THAT WE HAVE INCREASING OUR RECRUITING EFFORTS.
BUT IF WE TALK ABOUT WHAT THE ROOT CAUSES, IF YOU COULD GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UM, WHEN YOU LOOK AT SEPARATIONS VERSUS SWORN ADDITIONS OR NEW CADETS, WE'RE ACTUALLY DOING OKAY.
UM, YOU'LL SEE THAT WE HAD A NUMBER OF SEPARATIONS A FEW YEARS AGO, BUT AS YOU LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WE'VE BEEN ADDING OVER THE, THE, THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, WE ARE SEEING, UM, IMPROVEMENTS TO OUR ABILITY TO, UM, UH, TO STAFF THAT.
CAN YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE? OH, DID WE MISS THE SLIDE? OH, I'M SORRY.
UM, YES, IF YOU COULD GO BACK ONE SLIDE.
SO THIS, IF YOU SEE HERE, THIS IS OUR ATTRITION VERSUS OUR NEW CADETS.
THIS IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THAN THE, THE GRAPH THAT WE SAW PREVIOUSLY.
UM, AND SO THIS SLIDE HERE REPRESENTS THE FACT THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY KEEPING PACE WITH THE NUMBER OF FOLKS THAT ARE LEAVING THE DEPARTMENT.
SO THE BLUE REPRESENTING THE NUMBER OF FOLKS THAT ARE LEAVING THE DEPARTMENT, AND THE YELLOW REPRESENTING THE NUMBER OF FOLKS THAT ARE JOINING WITH THE ANOMALY BEING 2022.
AND THAT'S FOR A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT REASONS.
IN 2022, WE DID HIT JUST ABOUT 23 YEARS, UM, SINCE WE SAW A MASSIVE INCREASE IN OUR DEPARTMENT IN THE EARLY TWO THOUSANDS WHEN WE, WHEN WE MERGED TO FORM AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS AND ADDED A NUMBER OF NEW STATIONS AND A NUMBER OF NEW STAFF, WE ALSO WERE STILL FEELING THE AFTERMATH OF THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC.
UM, ACROSS THE INDUSTRY BETWEEN 2020 AND 2022, WE SAW ABOUT A 25%, UM, DEPARTURE FROM THE INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE.
AND WE DID FEEL THAT AS A DEPARTMENT, UM, WE ARE DOING BETTER AS WE LOOK INTO 2023, WE DO FEEL THAT THAT WAS AN ANOMALY THAT YEAR WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LEAVING.
IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THERE WE GO.
UM, WHAT THIS REPRESENTS IS THE SEPARATIONS ARE THE NUMBERS IN BLUE.
THE DARK BLUE, UH, THE NUMBERS IN THE LIGHT BLUE REPRESENT ADDITIONAL POSITIONS THAT WERE APPROVED BY COUNCIL.
AND SO IF YOU LOOK AT 2021 AND 2022, THAT WAS THE MASSIVE INCREASE IN OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDIC PROGRAM WHERE WE SAW 67 NEW POSITIONS ADDED IN 2021.
AND THEN IN 2022, WE SAW ADDITIONAL POSITIONS FOR OUR COMMUNICATIONS, UM, FOR OUR C4 LINE, OUR DIVERSION PROGRAM AND TELEHEALTH PROGRAM, UM, AS WELL AS THE ADDITION OF THE NEW STATIONS THAT HAVE HAPPENED OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.
AND SO I PUT THIS HERE TO HIGHLIGHT OVER THOSE PAST THREE SLIDES THAT, UM, THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WE HAVE IS NOT FOLKS LEAVING THE DEPARTMENT.
THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WE HAVE IS KEEPING UP WITH THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH HERE IN AUSTIN AND THE NEW PROGRAMS AND THE NEW ROLE THAT EMS IS TAKING.
EMS IS NOT THE SAME EMS THAT IT WAS A DECADE AGO OR TWO DECADES AGO.
IT'S NOT NECESSARILY ABOUT AMBULANCES THAT MAY BE OUR CORE BUSINESS, BUT MUCH LIKE THE FIRE SERVICE HAS SHIFTED AWAY FROM
[02:00:01]
PUTTING OUT FIRES TO DEALING WITH THE PREVENTION AND OTHER ISSUES, THE SAME IS TRUE FOR EMS. AND SO WE'RE SEEING GROWTH IN OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH PARAMEDIC PROGRAM, OUR OPIATE PROGRAM ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS, MENTAL HEALTH CARE, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, ALL OF THOSE ISSUES THAT HAVE A TRUE IMPACT ON THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING AND REDUCE THE, THE TAXATION ON, UM, THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SYSTEM DO REQUIRE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES.AND SO WE'RE SEEING THAT TRANSITION AND THAT'S WHAT'S REFLECTED IN 2021 AND 2022.
I MENTIONED SOME OF THESE AS WE WERE TALKING EARLIER, SO I'LL GO RELATIVELY QUICKLY.
SOME OF THE, UH, THINGS THAT WE'VE ADDRESSED SO FAR, UM, WE INCREASED FROM THREE TO FOUR ACADEMIES PER YEAR.
UM, WE DO HAVE 33 INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE EXPECTED TO GRADUATE FROM THE ACADEMY ON APRIL 7TH.
SO WE HAVE, THAT'S THE JANUARY ACADEMY.
UM, WE HAVE UP COMMITTEE ACADEMIES IN APRIL, UM, WHERE WE DO EXPECT, UM, OUR, WE'VE BEEN AVERAGING SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 20 AND 30 INDIVIDUALS PER ACADEMY IN JULY.
WE'LL ALSO BE ANOTHER ACADEMY AS WELL AS IN OCTOBER.
THAT JULY ACADEMY IS EXPECTED TO BE LARGER AS WE LOOK TO, UM, INCREASE OUR DIRECT HIRE PROGRAM, WHICH I'LL SHARE WITH YOU IN A SECOND.
I MENTIONED, LET ME JUST, I MENTIONED THE, UH, TELECOM INTERN PROGRAM.
UM, OUR CLINICAL SPECIALIST VACANCIES IS AGAIN, THIS IS THAT PARAMEDIC LEVEL.
UM, SO WE'RE GOING THROUGH THAT PROMOTIONAL PROCESS.
WE ARE TRYING TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF, UH, PROMOTIONAL PROCESSES THAT WE HAVE, BUT BECAUSE OF THE EXTENSIVE TRAINING THAT IS REQUIRED TO BECOME A CLINICAL SPECIALIST, WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, NAVIGATE THOSE WATERS AND FIGURE OUT WAYS TO BE CREATIVE.
WE'RE ADDING ADDITIONAL TRAINING OFFICERS SO THAT WE CAN GET THEM OUT IN THE FIELD AND GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
WE ALSO ARE PUTTING AN INCREASED EMPHASIS ON OUR DEPARTMENT PARAMEDIC PROGRAM.
UM, TRADITIONALLY, UH, IN THE INDUSTRY IN IN AUSTIN, WE'VE, FOLKS ARE EXPECTED TO GO FIND A PARAMEDIC PROGRAM, BECOME CERTIFIED, AND THEN PROMOTE.
UM, THAT IS NOT THE CASE IN OUR INDUSTRY ANY LONGER.
WE ARE NOW TAKING INDIVIDUALS AND SENDING THE PARAMEDIC SCHOOL THAT IS STAFFED BY OUR OWN EMPLOYEES, OUR OWN INSTRUCTORS.
IT IS A MULTI-YEAR PROCESS TO BECOME A PARAMEDIC, BUT WE'RE GOING THROUGH THAT PROCESS NOW TO GET INDIVIDUALS, UM, THROUGH THAT SO THAT THEY CAN BE ELIGIBLE TO BE A CLINICAL SPECIALIST.
AND THEN LASTLY, THE, THE LATERAL PROCESS UNTIL 2023, EVERYONE WAS REQUIRED TO BE HIRED IN AS A MEDIC, WHICH IS AT EMT LEVEL.
THAT MADE IT VERY CHALLENGING FOR US TO RECRUIT EXISTING PARAMEDICS CUZ THEY DID NOT WANT TO COME IN AT A LOWER RANK THAN WHAT THEY WERE CERTIFIED AT.
SO BEGINNING THIS YEAR, THIS ACADEMY THAT WE HAVE GOING ON RIGHT NOW, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE HAVE DIRECT HIRED PARAMEDICS INTO THAT CLINICAL SPECIALIST RANK.
THAT WAS A WORK THAT WE DID WITH THE ASSOCIATION AND PUT IN THE LAST COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT.
UM, THIS WAS A LITTLE BIT OF A VERY QUICK PROCESS TO, TO TRIAL IT.
SO WE ONLY HAD SEVEN, UH, INDIVIDUALS IN THIS ACADEMY, BUT WE HAVE ALREADY OPENED UP FOR THE JULY ACADEMY, SO WE'LL DO THIS TWICE A YEAR.
AND WE ARE EXPECTING A MUCH LARGER CLASS IN THAT YEAR IN THAT, UH, PERIOD.
UM, WE ARE VERY OPTIMISTIC, AGAIN, GOING FROM THREE ACADEMIES TO FOUR AS WELL AS INCREASING THE LATERAL CLASS.
WE ARE, UM, ANTICIPATING WE ARE GONNA GET OURSELVES THROUGH A GOOD PLACE.
UM, OF NOTE, WE HAD NO TURNOVER IN JANUARY.
NOT A SINGLE PERSON LEFT THE DEPARTMENT, AND SO WE'RE VERY, UH, EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
ON AVERAGE, WE AVERAGE ABOUT 1% PER MONTH OR ABOUT 10% PER, UH, PER YEAR, 10, 12% PER YEAR.
UM, WITH THE FOUR ACADEMIES AND THE GOAL TO HIRE 80, WE DO ANTICIPATE THAT, UM, HIRING 80 35 DEPARTING, WE SHOULD END UP WITH ABOUT A 10% VACANCY, UM, BARRING ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES.
NOW AGAIN, THAT'S BASED ON THE CURRENT STAFFING LEVEL, MUCH LIKE THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, WE'RE ADDING ADDITIONAL STATIONS.
WE HAVE GOOD, WE HAVE STAFF AND PORT RANCH LOOP 360, UM, GOODNIGHT RANCH AS WELL AS OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH PROGRAM THAT WE, WE LOOK TO GROW AND, AND HAVE MAKE AN IMPACT ON.
AND SO, UM, THAT NUMBER WILL LIKELY BE LARGER, UM, JUST BECAUSE WE'VE ADDED ADDITIONAL POSITIONS.
UH, JUST A COUPLE ITEMS. I MENTIONED THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM, ALSO DOING SOME OUTREACH TO THE MILITARY.
UM, FOR US, AGAIN, WE ARE A HANDS DOWN KNOWN ACROSS THE GLOBE AS A WORLD RENOWNED EMS SYSTEM.
UM, I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE, WHAT AUSTIN DOES THE WORLD WATCHES AND IT'S VERY MUCH TRUE IN OUR INDUSTRY.
PEOPLE PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT WE DO HERE.
UM, WE GET A LOT OF, UH, INTEREST.
WHAT I THINK ONE OF OUR LARGEST PROBLEMS FROM A RECRUITING STANDPOINT IS WE KIND OF TOOK THAT FOR GRANTED AND STOPPED TELLING OUR STORY.
UM, AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO GET TO THE INDUSTRY CONFERENCES AND TO REMIND PEOPLE AND GET THEM SEEING.
I'VE BEEN IN THIS BUSINESS FOR ABOUT 26 YEARS.
I REMEMBER WHEN AUSTIN WAS ALL OVER AND THAT'S WHERE EVERYBODY WANTED TO GO AND THAT'S WHY I'M HERE.
BUT I THINK THE NEWER GENERATION OF EMTS AND PARAMEDICS NEED TO BE REMINDED OF THE GREAT WORK THAT WE DO HERE.
AND SO WE'RE REALLY STEPPING UP OUR, UM, UM, PARTICIPATION IN INDUSTRY CONFERENCES, GETTING OUR STAFF OUT TO SPEAK ABOUT THE GOOD PROGRAMS WE HAVE.
UM, AND EVEN WORKING INTERNATIONALLY.
UM, THERE IS AN E B THREE VISA, UM, FOR AUSTRALIANS TO BE ABLE TO COME OVER TO THE UNITED STATES.
WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF SUCCESS IN THE INDUSTRY.
UM, SOUTH CAROLINA IS DOING A LOT WITH INTERNATIONAL APPLICANTS.
UM, WE ACTUALLY HAVE GOTTEN THREE INQUIRIES FROM AUSTRALIA IN THE PAST TWO MONTHS, UH, INTERESTED IN COMING TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND SO WE DO WANT TO CONTINUE TO CAPITALIZE ON THAT NEXT SLIDE.
[02:05:01]
AND FROM A, UH, CHALLENGING, UH, CHALLENGES THAT WE'RE FACING, RECRUITING STAFF, AS I MENTIONED BECAUSE WE WERE SO, UM, UH, SUCH A PLACE THAT PEOPLE DESIRED TO WORK.WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A RECRUITING DEPARTMENT.
AND SO THE INDIVIDUALS IN OUR RECRUITING WERE FOCUSED MORE ON PROCESSING APPLICATIONS THAN SEEKING OUT INDIVIDUALS TO COME JOIN THE DEPARTMENT.
WE ONLY HAVE TWO POSITIONS IN OUR RECRUITING OFFICE AND ONE OF THEM IS VACANT.
UM, AND SO THAT BECAUSE IS A CHALLENGE FOR US AS WE LOOK TO DEDICATE RESOURCES TO GOING OUT AND DRAWING INDIVIDUALS IN.
UH, AND THEN ON THE TRAINING STANDPOINT, AGAIN, AS WE BRING IN MASSIVE NUMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS, WE NEED ADDITIONAL EQUIPMENT, TRAINING OFFICERS FACILITIES TO BE ABLE TO PROCESS ALL OF THOSE, UH, NEW EMPLOYEES.
IS THERE ONE MORE SLIDE AFTER THIS? AND WITH THAT, I CAN OPEN THE QUESTIONS.
UH, LET ME ASK ANY OF THE MEMBERS DO EITHER ONE OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER AND MAYOR PRO TIM ELLIS, UM, THAT ARE REMOTE.
DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS IN THAT CASE? I WANT CHIEF, I WANT TO, ON BEHALF OF EVERYBODY, I WANNA SAY THANK YOU.
AND, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S INTERESTING THAT WATCHING A A, A SLIDESHOW RELATED TO HIRING AND CLASSES AND ALL THAT REALLY EMPHASIZES SOMETHING YOU SAID ABOUT YOUR, IT'S NOT JUST AMBULANCES ANYMORE.
I MEAN, YOU ARE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND WE ARE HIRING HEALTHCARE PROVI, UH, MOBILE HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND, AND IT'S SOMETIMES, UH, WE LOSE SIGHT OF THAT.
AND UH, THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS I WAS ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS EARLIER IS, UH, THAT BECOMES A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT EMS. SO, UH, THE HEALTH, THE HEALTHCARE ASPECT, MORE THAN JUST GETTING SOMEBODY TO A HOSPITAL.
SO THANK YOU FOR WHAT Y'ALL DO.
[4. Public safety facilities update - emergency power generation capabilities and reliability. ]
WE'LL GO TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR AND THAT'S THE PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITIES UPDATE RELATED TO EMERGENCY POWER GENERATION CAPABILITIES AND RELIABILITY.AND, UM, WE'LL HAVE A BRIEF PRESENTATION ON THAT.
I, I'M NOT SURE HOW TO TURN ALL THAT ON.
THANK YOU AGAIN, THANK Y'ALL FOR ALLOWING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE.
I'M ASSISTANT CHIEF BRANDON WADE WITH THE AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT OVER OUR EMERGENCY OPERATIONS AND OUR FACILITIES, FLEET AND LOGISTICS.
AND I'M ASSISTANT CHIEF WESLEY HOPKINS WITH AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES.
I TOO OVERSEE OUR OPERATIONS SUPPORT FLEET AND FACILITIES.
UM, SO FIRST IT, IT'D BE REMISS AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, GENERATORS AND BACKUP, UM, SUPPLY AND POWER WITHOUT THINKING.
UH, I THINK WHAT BROUGHT US HERE IS, IS MANY OF THE STORMS THAT WE HAD, AND THOUGH WE, WE'VE GOTTA RECOGNIZE OUR FIREFIGHTERS AND EMS EMPLOYEES THAT STAYED AT MANY FACILITIES THAT DIDN'T HAVE WHAT WE WERE GETTING READY TO TALK ABOUT HERE.
AND THEY STAYED ON THE FRONT LINES SERVING THEIR DISTRICT, UH, TO ENSURE THAT THOSE RESPONSE TIMES STAYED RIGHT THERE.
SO WE DO WANT TO COMMEND THEM AND RECOGNIZE THE GREAT WORK THAT THEY HAVE DONE.
UM, SPEAKING WITH THAT, AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND, AND TALK ABOUT, UH, WHERE WE'RE AT, THERE WAS A RESEARCH PAPER IN, UH, BY THE NATIONAL FIRE PROTECTION AGENCY AROUND 2019 THAT IDENTIFIED GENERATORS AND BACKUP POWER, UH, ACROSS THE FIRE EMS SERVICE IN THIS COUNTRY.
AND WHAT THEY FOUND WAS THAT APPROXIMATELY 35% OF FIRE EMS STATIONS WERE WITHOUT BACKUP POWER.
A GENERATOR OR ANOTHER MEANS, UM, LESS THAN 2% OF THOSE CAME FROM MAJOR METROPOLITAN CITIES.
SO MAJORITY OF THOSE WITHOUT IT WERE IN SMALLER, UH, COMMUNITIES.
UH, RIGHT NOW, AS WE LOOK AT THE SCREEN AHEAD OF US, THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AUSTIN, FIRE DEPARTMENT EMS, WE'RE SITTING ROUGHLY AT 60 PLUS PERCENT OF OUR FACILITIES THAT DO NOT HAVE GENERATORS OR BACKUP POWER.
UM, AS WE BREAK THAT DOWN BY FACILITIES, THERE'S TIMES WHERE FIRE DEPARTMENT HAVE STANDALONE STATIONS.
AND THEN SOMETIMES EMS HAS STANDALONE STATIONS.
SO OF OUR COHABITATED FACILITIES, UH, OF THE NUMBER BEING 27, UH, 13 JOINT STATIONS HAVE WORKING GENERATORS.
14 STATIONS EITHER HAVE NO GENERATOR OR IT'S AT THE END OF ITS LIFE AND NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AND OR REPAIRED.
WITH, UH, THE, A FD STATIONS THAT WE DO NOT HAVE AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY EMS WITH US, UH, WE HAVE ROUGHLY SEVEN STATIONS THAT HAVE BACKUP POWER, THAT HAVE A GENERATOR ON SITE.
HOWEVER, 17 OF OUR STATIONS DO NOT HAVE A GENERATOR OR THAT GENERATOR IS IN NEED OF SOME SORT OF REPAIR TO GET IT BACK UP TO FUNCTIONING, UH, TO SUPPORT
[02:10:01]
THE CRITICAL ELEMENTS OF THAT FACILITY.ON THE, AT C EMS, STANDALONE STATIONS, THERE ARE FIVE OF THEM.
TWO STATIONS, UH, WILL HAVE GENERATORS AFTER THE 2018 BOND RENOVATIONS, WHICH ARE CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS.
AND THREE STATIONS DO NOT HAVE GENERATORS, THEY WON'T NEED THEM.
SO AS WE LOOK AT THIS, WHAT ARE THE FUTURE NEEDS? UH, AFTER THE WINTER STORM URI IN 2021, UH, ON THE FIRE SIDE, WE HAD OUR FACILITIES FOLKS GET WITH BUILDING SERVICES AND WENT OUT AND DID SOME ASSESSMENTS AT A FIRE STATION TO SEE WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO INSTALL A NEW GENERATOR.
UH, SO BUYING THE GENERATOR AND INSTALLING IT AT THAT TIME IN, IN 2021, A ROUGH ESTIMATE WAS ABOUT $80,000 WAS, UH, WHAT WE WERE TOLD, UM, AS WE WERE MOVING FORWARD.
MAKE SURE IF, IF YOU DON'T MIND ME INTERRUPT YOU, MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND.
WHEN YOU SAY $80,000 IS WHAT YOU WERE TOLD, $80,000 GETS, GETS YOU WHAT GETS YOU A GENERATOR? ONE GENERATOR, ONE GENERATOR FOR A FACILITY PLUS THE INSTALLATION OF PUTTING IT ON THE PAD SITE, THE WIRING, ENSURING TRANSFER SWITCHES INSIDE ALL OF THE DETAILS WITH IT.
SO THAT WAS THE ROUGH ESTIMATE WHEN WE WENT OUT ON SITE WITH BUILDING SERVICES AND ELECTRICIANS TO LOOK AT IT BACK IN 2021, UM, BASED ON INFLATION COST INCREASES, UH, WHAT WE ESTIMATED WAS ABOUT A HUNDRED THOUSAND.
UH, CURRENTLY WE'RE BEING TOLD AS LATE AS LAST NIGHT, WE RECEIVED EVEN A NEWER UPDATE THAT THAT COULD BE APPROXIMATELY A HUNDRED THOUSAND TO 130,000 DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE GENERATOR THAT WE'D BE LOOKING TO PUT IN A FACILITY.
IF I'M DOING SIMPLE MATH AND THAT'S ALL I'M DOING.
UM, AND TELL ME IF I GET THIS WRONG.
UH, IF I LOOK AT YOUR PREVIOUS SLIDE AND I PUT UP AND I JUST USED THE A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS NUMBER, CAUSE THAT'S EASIER FOR ME.
YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IN ORDER TO PROVIDE AT ALL THE STATIONS THAT DON'T EITHER DON'T HAVE A GENERATOR OR NEED TO HAVE A GENERATOR REPLACED, WE'RE TALKING 1.7 MILLION.
YOU'RE TALKING GREATER THAN THAT, SIR.
SO THERE'S ROUGHLY, I KNEW, I KNEW YOU WERE GONNA GRADE MY PAPER HARDER, BUT UM, YEAH, I'M, I'M HERE TO BREAK THE RECORD
YOU GOT IT RIGHT THERE FOR ME.
I DIDN'T HAVE TO SHOW HOW STUPID I WAS
AND, AND TALKING THROUGH THAT, WE, WE KIND OF HAD THAT ROUGH ESTIMATE OF THAT 3.4 MILLION AND, AND I'LL BUMP TO THE SECOND SLIDE.
I, I THINK WHAT WE WERE GONNA NEED TO DO WITH CONSTRUCTION PRICES SKYROCKETING AND INFLATION, WE NEED TO GO BACK AND DO ANOTHER ASSESSMENT OF THE FACILITIES AND REALLY PUT THAT TO COST.
THERE'S VARIATION IN THE DIFFERENT SITES, UH, WHERE NATURAL GAS RUNS.
SO THERE'S SOME WORK WE NEED TO DO JUST TO FIRM UP THAT NUMBER.
BUT WE KIND OF TALKED THROUGH A STARTING POINT BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE STATIONS THAT HAVE GENERATORS THAT ARE END OF LIFE, THAT ARE, UH, PRETTY SIMPLE REPLACEMENTS WHERE IT ALREADY HAS THE PAD TRANSFER SWITCH, ELECTRICAL SERVICE, WE'RE JUST REPLACING THE END OF LIFE GENERATOR.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT A MULTI-YEAR APPROACH.
AND THIS IS A GOOD JUMPING OFF POINT, BUT, BUT HELP ME UNDERSTAND, HELP US ALL UNDERSTAND THIS IS ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW AS WE GO INTO A BUDGETING PROCESS, RIGHT? SO, UM, AND, AND I, AND I, I'M GONNA BE REALLY EMBARRASSED IF IT'S ON THAT SLIDE AND I'M JUST NOT GETTING IT.
BUT WHEN YOU TELL ME THE ESTIMATED COST IS A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS PER INSTALLATION, AND I BELIEVE YOU TOLD ME IT WAS 17, THAT WAS 17, A AFD STANDALONE STATIONS THAT DO NOT HAVE BACKUP POWER.
IF YOU GO TO THE JOINT STATIONS IN WHICH AUSTIN EMS AND AUSTIN FIRE COHABITATE, THAT'S 14 STATIONS.
AND THAT'S HOW YOU, YOU GET YES, SIR.
THAT'S HOW YOU GET TO THE THREE POINT PLUS THE ADDITIONAL THREE STATIONS THAT AUSTIN EMS HAVE THAT ARE THEIR STANDALONE STATIONS, SIR.
I MEAN, WE REALLY WANT TO CLARIFY SOME OF THOSE THINGS BECAUSE TIMING, AND I'LL, AND I'LL SAY THIS, UH, TO YOU, I THINK YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT.
THERE NEEDS TO BE A CLEAR ASSESSMENT WITH ALL THAT'S HAPPENED WITH SUPPLY CHAIN AND INFLATION AND EVERYTHING.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE A RIGHT NUMBER.
MY GUESS IS THERE'S JUST ABOUT ENOUGH TIME FOR YOU TO DO THAT KIND OF ASSESSMENT BEFORE WE START THE, THE POLICY BUDGET PROCESS THAT I KNOW WE'RE ALL GONNA BE VERY INTERESTED IN.
SO A AS YOU SEE THE, THE 3.4 MILLION THAT WE HAVE UP THERE IS PROBABLY THE LOW NUMBER.
UH, AS AGAIN, AS I SAID, WE GOT AN UPDATE LATE LAST NIGHT OF ADDITIONAL COSTS, WHICH COULD RANGE A GENERATOR AND INSTALLATION UP TO POTENTIALLY 130,000
[02:15:01]
DEPENDING ON THE SITE.UM, BUT THAT'S WHERE WE GO TO THAT, THAT YES SIR, THAT'S WHERE WE ALSO GO TO THAT THIRD BULLET, UH, WHERE WE DO NEED TO ASSEMBLE THAT CROSS-DEPARTMENT TEAM LIKE WE DID BACK IN 2021, BUT PROBABLY EVEN, UH, INCLUDE SOME OTHER BUDGET SHOWING UP WITH US BUILDING SERVICES, THE ELECTRICIANS, CUZ WE REALLY NEED TO GO OUT TO EACH FACILITY, EVEN THOSE WITH A GENERATOR.
CUZ WHAT WE FOUND DURING THIS LATEST STORM WHEN EVERYTHING WENT OUT WAS WHAT WE THOUGHT WE KNEW WAS BEING SUPPLIED AT SOME OF THE FACILITY.
THE GENERATORS DID NOT SUPPLY POSSIBLY THE CRITICAL ELEMENT SUCH AS THE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT.
AND I THINK THAT'S JUST THROUGH YEARS AND YEARS OF TIME OF UPDATES OF FACILITIES BREAKERS BEING CHANGED AND, AND HAVING IT.
SO WE, WE TRULY NEED THAT ASSESSMENT, UH, WITH A CROSS DEPARTMENT TEAM TO GO OUT AND, AND DO AN ASSESSMENT OF EACH STATION.
OUR LAST POINT TALKS THROUGH THE NEED FOR ONGOING FUNDING.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THESE GENERATORS IS YOU NEED TO DO PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE ON 'EM.
AND WHEN THEY DO BREAK, THEY'RE QUITE COSTLY TO REPAIR.
AND SO A LOT OF TIMES OUR JUST OPERATING BUDGETS DON'T SUPPORT THE, THE MAINTENANCE OF 'EM.
SO THAT ONGOING FUNDING WOULD BE CRITICALLY HELPFUL.
AND I BELIEVE THAT COVERS THE, THE PRESENTATION AND, AND ANY OTHER QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MAY HAVE FOR US.
UM, SO WELL WHEN THE LAST WINTER STORM HAPPENED, UM, I'M A LITTLE UNIQUE IN MY POSITION.
I HAVE ACCESS TO WOC AND SO WHAT I SAW COME ACROSS AS A RESOURCE REQUEST WAS THE STATIONS WITHOUT POWER WAR STATION 5, 12, 16, 21, 33, 34, 47, 49 AND 51 IS, ARE THOSE THE STATIONS THAT WE ARE SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT TO GET GENERATORS FOR? YES.
WE'RE UM, I'M ASSUMING YOU'RE TALKING ON, ON THE FIRE, ANY EMS SIDE, SOMETIMES THE NUMBERS DON'T QUITE MATCH UP, RIGHT? YES.
UM, IS THERE ANY COUNCIL ACTION THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN SO THAT YOU ALL CAN PURSUE THE PURCHASE OF THESE GENERATORS AND THEN ALSO THE ONGOING MAINTENANCE? OR ARE YOU WORKING ON THAT ALREADY AS PART OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO CORRECT THE SITUATION? I BELIEVE RIGHT NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT SOME FUNDS AS WE SHOWED IN THE SLIDE, THERE'S BEEN SOME FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN ALLOCATED TO BUILDING SERVICES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT TO SUPPORT THE GENERATORS IN WHICH ARE SOME, UH, CRITICAL SITES THAT ARE CALLED, UM, AND I'D HAVE TO LOOK THE DEFINITION OF BUT SUPER NODE SITES FOR COMMUNICATIONS IN WHICH MULTIPLE, UH, AGENCIES DEPEND UPON THAT, UH, STATION AND THAT EQUIPMENT PLUS, UM, UH, FUELING SITES FOR STATIONS.
WE'RE LOOKING AND WORKING WITH BUILDING SERVICES TO PRIORITIZE SOME OF THOSE CUZ THAT HAS IMPACT ACROSS NUMEROUS DEPARTMENTS AS FAR AS FUTURE ACTION THAT NEEDS TO TAKE PLACE.
I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE ARE WORKING WITH, UH, OUR, UH, CHIEF OF STAFFS AND FIRE CHIEFS TO PUT PLANS TOGETHER AND I BELIEVE PROBABLY WORKING WITH YOUR STAFF AND BUDGET FOR FUTURE ACTIONS.
I, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IT'S KNOWN FOR MY COLLEAGUES THAT THIS IS DEFINITELY A PRIORITY FOR ME TO ENSURE THAT THESE CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES HAVE THE POWER THAT THEY NEED.
SO WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS DOES HAPPEN, WE'RE ABLE TO KEEP THEM POWERED UP AND CONTINUE DOING THE, THE CRITICAL WORK THAT YOU ALL PROVIDE FOR THE COMMUNITY.
UH, ARE THESE DIESEL POWERED GENERATORS? WHAT'S THE FUEL FOR THE GENERATORS? SO, SO THAT CAN LARGELY DEPEND ON THE SITE.
SOME SITES HAVE NATURAL GAS AND THAT'S THE PREFERRED METHOD TO SUPPLY THE GENERATORS.
BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE THAT AT THESE CERTAIN STATIONS, YOU MAY WELL VIEW THE DIESEL GENERATOR AND WE WOULD JUST SCHEDULE A DELIVERY OF DIESEL AT PERIODIC TIME INTERVALS AT THAT STATION IN INCLEMENT WEATHER OR IN A CATASTROPHIC POWER FAILURE.
UM, I KNOW FUEL SUPPLIES AND THE GENERATORS BECAME AN ISSUE.
UH, UH, OBVIOUSLY WHEN THERE'S A WIND STORM GOING ON AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE GOT A GENERATOR, BUT YOU REALIZE THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T HAVE DIESEL AND DON'T GET YOU DIESEL, YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S A, IT'S A TOUGH IS THERE ANY, AND I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, SOLAR ARRAY PLUS BATTERY BACKUP AS THEIR KIND OF ONSITE, YOU KNOW, NO FAIL, NO, YOU KNOW, DEPENDENCE ON THE OUTSIDE WORLD KIND OF, UH, IS THAT AT ALL FEASIBLE FOR, UM, UH, STATIONS? UH, IF, IF SPEAKING TO THAT I, I DON'T KNOW ALL THE DETAILS OF HOW MUCH SOLAR COULD POWER THE DIFFERENT NEEDS OF A FIRE, FIRE FACILITY, WE, WE WOULD HAVE TO WORK WITH A TEAM OF SPECIALISTS TO, TO LOOK AT THAT.
I DO KNOW, AS YOU BRING UP THE FUEL ASPECT OF IT AND TALKING WITH, UH, BUILDING SERVICES, THAT'S PART OF THAT ASSESSMENT.
AND I KNOW WE'VE HAD SOME DISCUSSION OF, UM, CHANGING DIESEL GENERATORS TO THE NATURAL GAS.
SO THAT GOES A PART OF THAT INSTALLATION ASSESSMENT IF WE NEED TO GO AHEAD AND, AND CHANGE THE GENERATORS THAT WE'RE GONNA PUT AT THE FACILITIES.
YEAH, I MEAN FROM AN OPERATIONAL POINT OF VIEW, IT WOULD SEEM LIKE IT WOULD BE SIMPLER TO JUST HAVE ONE FUEL SOURCE FOR ALL YOUR, UH, GENERATORS.
UH, AND I APPRECIATE, UH, THE ITEM,
[02:20:01]
HONESTLY, AFTER 2021, I'M, I MEAN IT'S VERY DISAPPOINTING, UH, YOU KNOW, TO BE FRANK THAT WE HAVE THIS MANY EMERGENCY FACILITIES THAT DON'T HAVE, UH, EMERGENCY POWER GENERATION, UM, JUST, YOU KNOW, UNACCEPTABLE AND, AND DEFINITELY WILL BE ONE OF MY PRIORITIES.AND, AND I WOULD IMAGINE, YOU KNOW, ONE OF OUR COUNCIL'S PRIORITIES.
THAT'S WHY WE, THAT'S A BIG REASON WE PUT IT ON THIS AGENDA IS CUZ WE WANTED TO HEAR THIS AND, AND, UH, MAKE SURE WE WERE MOVING IN THE DIRECTION WE NEED TO BE MOVING.
I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANYBODY VIRTUAL RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND I APOLOGIZE IF THERE IS AND I JUST DON'T KNOW IT Y'ALL HAVE ANYTHING MORE? UH, THANK Y'ALL VERY MUCH, UH, APPRECIATE THE, THE GOOD REPORT AND APPRECIATE YOUR BEING HERE.
IN FACT, LET ME JUST SAY THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY THAT'S BEEN HERE TO HELP REPORT ON THIS.
UH, IT'S, IT'S TAKEN SOME TIME, BUT I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US ALL TO, FOR US TO HEAR IT, BUT ALSO FOR THE PUBLIC TO HEAR ALL THE DIFFERENT REPORTS WE'VE HAD.
SO I WANT TO, UH, ON BEHALF OF THE, THE COMMITTEE AND THE OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT PARTICIPATED, I WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR ALL OF Y'ALL BEING HERE.
BEFORE WE ADJOURN, I JUST WANT TO, UH, ASK, UH, THE TWO VICE CHAIRS IF THEY HAVE ANYTHING THEY WANT TO, UH, TALK ABOUT TO MAKE SURE IT'S ON THE NEXT AGENDA.
OR WE WILL WORK ON THAT THROUGH A MESSAGE BOARD DOWN THE ROAD.
WHEN THAT, IN THAT CASE, WITHOUT OBJECTION, WE'RE ADJOURNED.