[00:00:03]
UH, DO ME A FAVOR, LET'S GO ONE BY ONE.
UH, COMMISSIONER GARZA, CAN YOU HEAR ME? LET ME HEAR YOU.
AND HELLO? UH, I SEE WE HAVE A NEW COMMISSIONER ONLINE THERE.
UH, YOU KNOW, FINALLY I WAS ABLE TO MEET THE MOST OF YOU, SO, YEAH.
I THINK, UH, I, I CAN GIVE YOU AN INTRODUCTION OF MYSELF, UH, OR IF, UH, WELL, NOT JUST YET.
I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU COULD HEAR ME.
WELCOME TO THE, UH, THE MEETINGS.
UH, WE'RE ABOUT TO GET STARTED.
UH, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU COULD HEAR ME FIRST.
[CALL TO ORDER ]
OKAY.WE'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND, UH, GET STARTED.
CALLING TO ORDER OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED, UH, SCHEDULED MEETING TODAY OF THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
WE'RE MEETING HERE AT THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS MEETING ROOM, UH, AT CITY HALL, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER THE EIGHTH, 2023 IN OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, ROOM NUMBER 1101.
SOME MEMBERS OF THE BOARD AND COMMISSION HERE ARE PARTICIPATING VIA VIDEO CONFERENCE, AND THE MEETING MAY BE VIEWED ONLINE AT H TTT HTTP SLASH SLASH WWW.AUSTINTEXAS.GOV/PAGE/WATCH AT XN LIVE.
AND WITH THAT, WE'LL BEGIN WITH A ROLL CALL.
UH, I'LL BEGIN AND THEN PROCEED IN THE ROOM BEFORE I GO TO THE COMMISSIONERS ONLINE.
UH, AS I MENTIONED, MY NAME IS NEHEMIAH III.
I REPRESENT DISTRICT ONE, AND I'M THE CHAIR STEVEN APODACA.
REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO IS PRESENT.
KARINA ALTE, REPRESENTING DISTRICT THREE IS PRESENT.
AND WITH THAT, WE'LL START ONLINE AND I'LL BEGIN, UH, WITH COMMISSIONER GARZA.
CHRISTINA GARZA, DISTRICT FOUR.
AND COMMISSIONER SUPTA SUPTA, REPRESENTING DISTRICT 10.
AND COMMISSIONER PENA VIA COMMISSIONER ILLA, REPRESENTATIVE MAYOR OF AUSTIN.
UH, WELL WITH THAT, UH, WE ARE CALLED TO ORDER, UH, AND WE HAVE OUR QUORUM REPRESENTED.
WE'LL BEGIN TO SEE IF THERE'S ANY PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, AND THERE'S BEEN NO ONE THAT SIGNED UP AND NO ONE IN THE ROOM, SO WE'RE GOOD TO GO THERE.
UH, WE CAN PROCEED THEN WITH OTHER THINGS, BUT BEFORE WE DO THAT, UH, SINCE WE'VE GOT SOME NEW FACES, UH, I'D LIKE TO GIVE OUR NEW COMMISSIONERS A CHANCE TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES AND, UH, FEEL FREE TO TELL ANYONE, UH, WHATEVER THEY'D LIKE TO THEM TO KNOW, UH, AS THIS IS GONNA BE PART OF THE PUBLIC RECORD AND PERMANENT RECORD.
SO IF I COULD, I'LL GO AHEAD AND BEGIN IN THE ROOM, UH, WITH COMMISSIONER ALRE.
UM, 20 YEARS IN THE CREATIVE ADVERTISING SPACE, UM, IN TECHNOLOGY SPACE, AND THEN, UH, WORKING ON BIG TELCO BRANDS.
UH, SOME OF THE TOP THREE BRANDS, UM, THAT WE ALL KNOW AND USED.
UM, AND THEN MOST RECENTLY HAVE BEEN WITH A CONSULTING FIRM, AGAIN, ONE OF THE TOP THREE, UM, IN THEIR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATION SPACE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE.
AND, UH, WITH THAT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND PIVOT ONLINE.
UH, COMMISSIONER PEN VIA WELCOME TO THE COMMISSION.
UH, MY NAME IS KEITH PENA HERE AGAIN.
UM, I HAVE EXPERIENCE AS A MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT.
I WORK WITH, UH, ONE OF THE BIG FOURS, UH, DETROIT CONSULTING, WHERE I HAD, LIKE, UH, CLIENTS IN THE TECH SPACE.
AND I CURRENTLY WORK IS IN THE SOFTWARE SPACE FOR A MAJOR SUSTAINABILITY, UH, TECH COMPANY.
UM, YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S VERY MUCH MY, MY BACKGROUND.
WELL, THANK YOU FOR THAT AND FOR, FOR COMING.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
UH, I'D LIKE TO CONFIRM, JUST SO I MAKE SURE I ADDRESS YOU PROPERLY, UH, SHOULD I ADDRESS YOU AS, UH, COMMISSIONER PENA OR PENA VIA, OH, NOT LAST NAME.
OF, OF COURSE, WITH THE NAME LIKE NEHEMIAH, I TRY TO GET NAMES RIGHT IF I CAN.
[00:05:01]
OKAY, GREAT.WELL, WITH THAT THEN, UH, WE ARE DELIGHTED TO HAVE A BODY OF 10 COMMISSIONERS NOW REPRESENTED HERE, UH, WITH JUST ONE VACANCY.
UH, AND TO BE IN FULL SWING HERE FOR THIS MEETING.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES ]
WE'LL GO AHEAD AND TRANSITION TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE, THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM OUR MEETING ON JULY 12TH.UH, YOU SHOULD ALL HAVE A SOFT COPY IN THE CALENDAR INVITATION, CALENDAR HOLD TO BE ABLE TO REVIEW.
HOPEFULLY YOU'VE HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THAT ALREADY.
UH, AND FOR THOSE IN THE ROOM, WE'VE GOT A HARD COPY AS WELL.
CHAIR PITTS, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED.
UH, THANK YOU, VICE CHAIR POCA.
GOT A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED BY VICE CHAIR POCA AND A SECOND BY COMMISSIONER GARZA.
WITH THAT, WE CAN HOLD A VOTE.
ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED.
IS THERE ANYONE OPPOSED? OKAY, WE'RE UNANIMOUS IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THESE MINUTES.
THAT WOULD BE SIX IN THE AFFIRMATIVE.
ZERO OPPOSED? THESE MINUTES ARE NOW APPROVED.
[2. “You’re Being Watched – AI & Surveillance in Public Places” Presentation (Sharon Strover – Director, Technology & Information Policy Institute, Phillip G. Warner Regents Professor of Communication, Moody College of Communications, University of Texas at Austin) ]
IN OUR AGENDA TO AGENDA ITEM TWO UNDER STAFF BRIEFINGS.UH, AND JUST TO NOTE FOR THE COMMUNITY, UH, THIS WILL BE A BRIEF STATEMENT, UH, BECAUSE THE, YOU'RE BEING WATCHED PRESENTATION, AI, AND SURVEILLANCE AND PUBLIC PLACE, UH, PLACES, UH, IS NOT GONNA TAKE PLACE TODAY.
WE'RE GOING TO BE POSTPONING THAT FOR A LATER DATE TO ALLOW OUR SPEAKER, UH, TO ATTEND.
SO, WITH THAT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND TABLE THAT ITEM AND MOVE FORWARD IN THE AGENDA
[3. Call for commission input on Grant for Technology Opportunities Program Updates Action Plan for FY24 ]
TO AGENDA ITEM THREE, CALL FOR COMMISSION INPUT ON GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES, PROGRAM UPDATES.UH, AND THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS FOR HAVING ME TODAY.
UM, MY NAME IS JESSE RODRIGUEZ.
I'M THE PROGRAM MANAGER FOR THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY DIVISION OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, I WORK IN THE FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT, AND, UM, UH, SINCE WE HAVE A LOT OF NEW FACES HERE TODAY, UH, WHAT THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY DIVISION DOES IS WE MANAGE THE, UH, UH, THE DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAMMING THAT THE, THE, THE CITY HAS SOME OF THE DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAMMING.
UM, ONE OF THE BIGGEST, UH, PROGRAMS THAT WE MANAGE IS THE GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM.
AND THE MEMORANDUM THAT I'M, UH, PRESENTING HERE TODAY IS OUR ANNUAL ACTION PLAN.
AND SO EVERY YEAR, UH, WE DISTRIBUTE $400,000 IN COMMUNITY GRANTS TO NON-PROFITS THAT ARE DOING DIGITAL EQUITY WORK.
UM, AND, UH, WHILE WE'RE DOING THAT, WE COLLECT FEEDBACK FROM ANY OF THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT PARTICIPATE, ANY OF THE, UH, COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO HAVE INPUT, THE REVIEWERS WHO PARTICIPATED, UM, AND ANY OTHER SOURCES THAT WE CAN, INCLUDING THIS BODY.
UM, AND, UH, WE BASICALLY TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHAT, UH, WE NEED TO DO IN THE NEXT YEAR TO IMPROVE THE PROGRAM.
THIS ACTION PLAN IS A RESULT OF THAT RESEARCH.
AND SO, UH, WHAT I'M HERE TO PRESENT TODAY IS THE CHANGES THAT WILL BE, UH, UH, UH, MOVING AHEAD WITH, FOR THE GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM.
UM, THE, THIS COMMISSION DOES HAVE A, A SIGNIFICANT CONNECTION TO THE GTOP S PROGRAM, UH, THE GT OSS CORE PATHWAY, WHICH IS ONE OF THE, UH, WHICH IS THE LARGEST OF THE, THE OSS, UH, GRANT PATHWAYS.
UH, THIS BODY, UH, UH, APPROVES THE AWARDS ANNUALLY.
AND, UH, SO, UH, THIS, THIS BODY ALSO APPOINTS REVIEWERS TO REVIEW THE GRANTS, UM, FOR, UH, THE GT OSS CORE PATHWAY.
SO, WITH THAT BEING SAID, AS, UH, INTRODUCTION, I'M GONNA HOP INTO THE ITEMS HERE.
I'M GONNA MOVE VERY QUICKLY, UM, SINCE WE HAVE A TOTAL OF 19 RECOMMENDATIONS THIS YEAR, UH, FEEL FREE TO STOP ME AT ANY TIME IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, UM, UH, ABOUT ANY OF THE ITEMS. UM, SOME OF THESE ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE DRY THAN OTHERS, BUT, UM, UH, HOPEFULLY THESE ARE ALL, UM, UH, GOOD ITEMS FOR, FOR GENERAL KNOWLEDGE.
SO, UM, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED HERE.
OUR FIRST ACTION ITEM REVOLVES AROUND ENHANCEMENTS TO THE APPLICANT AND REVIEWER EXPERIENCE.
AND WE HAVE FOUR RECOMMENDATIONS UNDER THIS TOPIC.
UM, THE FIRST IS, UH, TIMELY RECOGNITION FOR REVIEWERS.
WE, WE DO PROCESS, UH, UH, CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION, UH, FROM FORMALLY FROM THE CITY FOR OUR GRANT REVIEW PANEL.
[00:10:01]
UM, AND WE ALSO HAVE GIFT CERTIFICATES FOR OUR GTT OS CORE REVIEWERS.UM, WE'VE, NO, WE NOTICED DURING THIS PAST CYCLE THAT, UM, IT'S REALLY HARD TO GET THE REVIEWERS TO COME BACK IF WE DON'T DELIVER, UH, THOSE PIECES OF RECOGNITION AT OUR LAST TOUCHPOINT.
UM, AND SO WE JUST REORG WANNA, WANNA REORGANIZE OUR PLAN AND OUR SCHEDULE THIS YEAR, AND, UH, MAKE, UH, YOU KNOW, MOVE THE RECOGNITION EARLIER IN THE PROCESS WHILE WE STILL HAVE, UH, FOLKS IN, YOU KNOW, UH, EASY ACCESS TO THE PROGRAM.
UH, OUR SECOND RECOMMENDATION IS TO BUILD SOME SELF-SERVICE AND AUTOMATION ENHANCEMENTS TO THE APPLICATION PROCESS.
UH, THE FIRST ITEM UNDER THAT CATEGORY IS, UH, CONTACT MANAGEMENT.
UH, WE HAVE CREATED AND POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE, UH, FORM, UH, THROUGH WHICH ANY ORGANIZATION CAN ADD CONTACTS, UH, SEND, SEND US CONTACTS TO GET UPDATES ABOUT GTOP S UM, IF THEY'RE INTERESTED IN, UH, PARTICIPATING IN THE GRANT.
UM, AND SO THAT ACTION ITEM IS ALREADY COMPLETED.
UH, WE RECEIVE FEEDBACK ABOUT, UH, ORGANIZATIONS THAT PARTICIPATE IN THE GT OS ECOSYSTEM, UH, DOING VOLUNTEER SHARING.
SO ORGANIZATIONS, UH, THE, ALL OF THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT WORK WITH US HAVE SOME SORT OF DIGITAL EQUITY FOCUS, UM, AND THEY HAVE VOLUNTEER NETWORKS.
AND SO THERE WAS SOME, SOME CONVERSATION ABOUT, UH, SHARING THOSE VOLUNTEER NETWORKS.
UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY INVESTIGATING WAYS THAT WE CAN DO THAT AND SUPPORT THAT, UM, IN, IN MANAGING THE GRANT, UM, WE ARE ALSO, UH, LOOKING AT, WE, WE RECEIVED A COUPLE COMMENTS ABOUT AUTOMATING, UH, THE PROCESS TO PROVIDE RECORDS TO BACK TO APPLICANTS.
UH, SO ONE OF OUR GRANT PATHWAYS, UH, THE FORM, THEY SUBMIT A FORM ONLINE, AND UP UNTIL NOW, THEY HAVEN'T AUTOMATICALLY GOTTEN A CONFIRMATION, UH, OR A COPY OF THEIR, UH, THEIR RECORD, THEIR APPLICATION RECORD.
SO WE'RE BUILDING THAT AUTOMATION SO THAT THEY WILL AUTOMATICALLY GET A COPY OF THEIR APPLICATION.
UH, WE'RE MOVING, UH, OUR GTOP S CORE, OUR LARGEST GRANT PATHWAY.
UH, MOST OF THE NARRATIVE IN THE SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE, WHICH IS CALLED PARTNER GRANTS, UH, NOW ALLOWS FOR RICH TEXT FORMATTING.
UM, THERE'S, THERE'S TECHNICAL REASONS WHY WE HAVEN'T HAD IT UP UNTIL THIS, THIS TIME, BUT WE RECEIVED A TON OF FEEDBACK THIS YEAR THAT IT WAS A CHALLENGE FOR FOLKS TRYING TO CONVEY THEIR MESSAGE TO NOT HAVE RICH TEXT FORMATTING OPTIONS WHEN IT COMES TO THE NARRATIVE.
UH, SO WE, WE'VE ADDED BRIDGE TEXT TO THE MAJORITY, THOUGH, NOT 100% OF THE APPLICATION.
UH, AND THE LAST ITEM IN THIS CATEGORY IS RESOURCE SHARING.
IN THE AWARD DISPOSITION EMAIL, UM, EVERYBODY THAT PARTICIPATES IN GTOP S THEY GET AN EMAIL AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE PROCESS, THANKING FOR THEM FOR THEIR PARTICIPATION AND, AND NOTING, UH, IF THEY'VE RECEIVED FUNDING OR NOT.
UH, WE'RE JUST GONNA ADD SOME RESOURCES TO THAT EMAIL THAT POINTS THEM TO OTHER GRANT OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE HAVE, UH, DEVICE GRANTS, UH, AND, UH, COMMUNITY RESOURCES THAT WE WANT THEM TO BE AWARE OF.
UH, WE'RE ALSO GONNA BE POINTING THEM TO OUR COMMUNITY, UH, DI THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN, WHICH IS A, A, A NONPROFIT NETWORK, UH, OR AN, OR A NETWORK OF ORGANIZATIONS INTERESTED IN THE DIGITAL EQUITY SPACE.
AND SO THAT'S A, A PLACE FOR THEM TO PLUG IN IF, UH, THEY WANNA STAY ENGAGED.
OUR SECOND I, UH, ACTION ITEM IS, UH, TARGETED UPDATES TO OUR PROGRAM GUIDANCE MATERIALS.
THERE WERE A NUMBER OF, UH, CIRCUMSTANCES THAT WE, UH, THAT, THAT AROSE THIS YEAR THAT REALLY HASN'T, THE PROGRAM HASN'T ENCOUNTERED UP, YOU KNOW, AS, AS LONG AS I'VE BEEN HERE.
SO, UH, WE JUST WANTED TO BUILD OUT OUR PROGRAM GUIDANCE SO THAT, UH, WE, YOU KNOW, HAVE SOME GUIDANCE TO POINT TO IN, IN THESE PARTICULAR AREAS.
UM, THE FIRST ONE IS, UH, THE GUIDANCE ON REVIEWER SCORE REMOVAL.
WE HAD A CIRCUMSTANCE WHERE, UM, WE HAD A QUESTIONABLE SET OF SCORES, UH, SUBMITTED FOR ONE OF THE GRANT PATHWAYS.
UM, AND SO THAT LED US TO THIS ITEM OF WE WANTED TO BUILD OUT SOME GUIDANCE THAT WE CAN POINT TO AND STICK TO ON WHEN CAN WE, AND CAN'T WE REMOVE A SET OF, UH, REVIEWER SCORES.
UM, AND ESSENTIALLY, UH, IT COMES DOWN TO, UM, WHEN THERE ARE IDENTIFIABLE PATTERNS IN THE SCORING THAT DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE FULL SCORING SPECTRUM.
UH, SO IF, IF ALL OF THE SCORES ARE ZERO OR 50 OR 100, OR A MIX OF ZERO, 50 AND 100, UM, THEN THAT WOULD BE A, A RED FLAG FOR US THAT WE COULD, UH, USE TO, UH, TO, TO NOT MOVE AHEAD WITH A SET OF REVIEWER SCORES.
UM, IF WE, IF WE IDENTIFY THAT A REVIEWER HAS SCORED ON AN APPLICATION WHERE THERE WAS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST THAT WASN'T IDENTIFIED AHEAD OF TIME, BUT, BUT DID COME TO LIGHT LATER ON IN THE PROCESS, THAT WOULD BE ANOTHER CIRCUMSTANCE THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE, UH, THAT WE WOULD, UH, ELIMINATE A SET OF SCORES.
UM, AND ANY OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE WHERE INCLUSION
[00:15:01]
OF THE, UH, SET OF REVIEWER SCORES, UH, WOULD, WOULD DAMAGE THE OVERARCHING SCORING PROCESS.UM, SO WE'RE, WE, WE BUILT THAT OUT, UH, IN OUR FORMAL ADMINISTRATIVE GUIDE.
UM, AND, AND HOPEFULLY, UH, HOPEFULLY THAT'S A RARE CIRCUMSTANCE.
WE, WE HONESTLY HAVEN'T, UH, EVER HAD TO DO THE, UH, THAT BEFORE, BUT WE DID HAVE A CIRCUMSTANCE THIS YEAR WHERE WE HAD TO CONSIDER THAT.
UM, THE SECOND ITEM UNDER THIS CATEGORY IS NOTIFICATION OF AWARD ROUNDING.
UM, JUST AS A MATTER OF, UH, CONVENIENCE AND, AND PROCESS.
WE'VE ROUNDED SCORES FOR A FEW YEARS NOW, UM, BECAUSE IT'S OFTEN, UH, DIFFICULT FOR, JUST AS DIFFICULT FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO RECEIVE, UH, AN AWARD THAT HAS SOME, SOME SENSE ATTACHED TO IT,
SO, AS A MATTER, OF COURSE, WE'VE JUST BEEN ROUNDING TO THE NEAREST DOLLAR.
UM, WE, GOING FORWARD, WE'LL JUST HAVE THAT POSTED SO THAT FOLKS ARE AWARE THAT WE ROUND TO THE NEAREST DOLLAR.
UM, THE THIRD ITEM IS THAT WE'RE GONNA CREATE, WE HAVE CREATED DETAILED PROGRAM GUIDANCE ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF REVIEW PANELS AND PANELIST, REMOVAL AFTER APPOINTMENT, UM, THAT WE HAD ANOTHER ODD CIRCUMSTANCE THAT HASN'T COME UP BEFORE THIS YEAR.
AND, AND THE, THE BASIC SUMMARY IS THAT, UM, UH, WE'VE, WE'VE, GIVEN, WE'VE WRITTEN OUT THE PROCESS FOR HOW THE, HOW EACH OF THE PANELS ARE CONSTRUCTED, AT WHAT POINTS, UH, ARE THE PANELISTS CONSIDERED VESTED, UH, YOU KNOW, HAVING SOME RIGHT TO THE POSITION AND HOW WE WOULD GO ABOUT REMOVAL.
AND IN ONE CIR WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES WE WOULD DO.
SO OUR THIRD ACTION ITEM IS CHANGES TO THE GTOP S TIMELINE.
UH, THE BIG ITEMS ARE THAT WE WANTED TO ADD IN MORE TIME FOR THE PRINTING OF THE REVIEWER BINDER.
UH, WE HAVE TO GO TO AN OUTSIDE CONTRACTOR FOR, FOR THESE PRINT JOBS.
THERE TO, IT'S, IT'S A VERY THICK BINDER,
UM, AND, AND IT, IT'S BEEN A CHALLENGE TO FIT THAT CONTRACT JOB IN THE TIMEFRAME THAT WE HAD.
SO WE JUST ADDED A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME FOR THAT IN OUR OVERARCHING TIMELINE.
UM, AND ANOTHER PIECE OF FEEDBACK IS THAT, UH, ALL OF OUR, OUR APPLICATION DEADLINES TENDED TO BE UP UNTIL NOW ON SUNDAY.
THE REASON WHY WE MADE IT SUNDAY IS BECAUSE IT WAS PREVIOUSLY FRIDAY, AND WE WERE GETTING A LOT OF COMMENTS BACK IN THE DAY, UH, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, IT WAS THE END OF THE DAY ON FRIDAY, AND THEY NEEDED JUST A LITTLE BIT OF EXTRA TIME, UH, TO SUBMIT THEIR APPLICATIONS.
AND SO WE'RE LIKE, ALL RIGHT, WELL, WE'LL GIVE YOU THE WEEKEND, BUT ON MONDAY WE HAVE TO MOVE AHEAD.
AND SO WE JUST MADE THE, THE DEADLINES ON SUNDAY.
WELL, POSTING THE DEADLINES AS SUNDAY HAS CAUSED A LOT OF FOLKS, UH, TO FEEL LIKE THEY'RE REQUIRED TO WORK ON A WEEKEND
UM, AND SO WE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE RECEIVED MULTIPLE POINTS OF FEEDBACK THAT IT WAS AN ODD DEADLINE FOR US TO SET.
SO, UH, WE'VE GONE IN A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT DIRECTION NOW, AND WE'VE MADE THE DEADLINES GO TO THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK.
SO ALL OF THE DEADLINES ARE ON WEDNESDAY,
UH, SO WE'RE GONNA, WE'RE GONNA TRY THAT OUT AND SEE HOW THAT WORKS THIS YEAR.
UM, THE FOURTH BUCKET OF ITEMS IS CHANGES TO THE GTOP S APPLICATIONS.
UM, SO WE HAVE, UH, FOR FOLKS THAT DON'T KNOW, WE HAVE THREE DIFFERENT, UH, THIS YEAR WE HAVE THREE DIFFERENT PATHWAYS.
LAST YEAR WE HAD FOUR, UM, AND I'LL GET TO THAT IN A MINUTE.
UM, AND EACH OF THOSE HAS ITS OWN APPLICATION PROCESS AND TIMELINE, UM, FOR ONE OF THOSE GTOP S CAPACITY, THE, UM, WE JUST ADDED A QUESTION ON THE APPLICATION CONCERNING OR DIRECTLY CONNECTING HOW THE FUNDING, UH, WILL BE BENEFITING DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAMMING.
SO WE ASKED, UH, AS A PART OF THE, THE APPLICATION ALREADY, UH, WHAT DO THEY DO AS AN ORGANIZATION AND WHAT DOES THE PROJECT DO? UM, BUT FOR SOME OF THE APPLICATIONS THAT WE RECEIVED, THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE TWO OF THE TWO OF THOSE THINGS WASN'T SUPER CLEAR.
AND SO WE JUST ADDED THAT QUESTION AS A BRIDGE, UM, SO THAT IT'S CLEAR WHAT THE DIGITAL EQUITY IMPACT IS FOR THE AWARDS.
UM, FOR OUR GTOP S MINI, UH, PATHWAY, WE'RE GONNA MAKE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE PERFORMANCE MEASURE FORM.
UH, IT WAS ACROSS THE BOARD A CHALLENGE FOR ORGANIZATIONS PARTICIPATING, UH, THIS YEAR.
IT'S MAYBE A COUPLE OF YEARS OLD.
AND, AND SO IT'S, UH, UH, WE'RE, UH, WE'RE JUST NEEDING TO UPDATE IT, MAKE IT MORE USER FRIENDLY.
UM, AND THE LAST ITEM UNDER THIS ONE IS ENHANCEMENTS TO THE Q AND A PROCESS FOR, FOR GTOP S CORE.
UM, WE RECEIVED FEEDBACK FROM, UH, FROM BOTH REVIEWERS AND APPLICANTS THAT THE, THE QUESTION AND ANSWER PROCESS, UH, RESULTED IN SOME CHALLENGES.
UH, SOME OF THOSE BEING, UH, THE FOLKS FELT LIKE THE, THERE WERE QUESTIONS ASKED THAT WERE DUPLICATIVE, UM, THAT THERE WERE QUESTIONS THAT WEREN'T WELL FORMATTED, UM, AND THAT THERE WAS QUESTIONS ASKED THAT WERE ALREADY
[00:20:01]
ANSWERED IN THE SUBMITTED MATERIALS.AND SO, UH, TO TRY AND ADDRESS THAT THO THOSE THINGS AS BEST AS WE CAN, UM, WE'RE, UH, WE'RE CHANGING THE Q AND A PROCESS TO BE INDIVIDUAL, UH, WHICH IS WHAT IT WAS BEFORE EACH, EACH REVIEWER GENERATES THEIR OWN QUESTIONS AND WOULD SUBMIT IT TO US.
UH, WE'RE MAKING IT A GROUP ACTIVITY.
UH, SO EACH, UH, GROUP OF REVIEWERS WILL GET TOGETHER, UH, AND TOGETHER DECIDE ON A SET OF QUESTIONS TO ASK.
AND HOPEFULLY THAT REDUCES DUPLICATION AND HELPS WITH, UH, THE FOLKS WILL HAVE TO AGREE ON FORMATTING AND, AND HOW TO ASK THE QUESTION.
UM, SO I'M HOPING THAT, THAT THAT'LL HELP WITH SOME OF THE CONCERNS THAT WE HAD FROM THE APPLICANTS.
UM, AND, AND THE REVIEWERS WILL BE ABLE TO SHARE INFORMATION IF THERE, IF THERE'S A QUESTION RAISED.
UM, AND ONE OF THE OTHER REVIEWERS, UH, KNOWS THAT THAT WAS ALREADY ANSWERED, THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO JUST NOTE THAT AND HOPEFULLY ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR THAT QUESTION.
WE'RE RECOMMENDING, OR WE'RE, WE'RE MOVING AHEAD WITH THE, UM, UH, PANEL SIZES TO BE INCREASED ACROSS THE BOARD.
UM, THIS YEAR AND LAST YEAR, WE'VE, WE'VE HAD MORE CHALLENGES THAN WE HAVE HISTORICALLY IN GETTING ALL OF THE REVIEWERS TO PARTICIPATE FOR THE FULL DURATION OF THE, THE, THE GRANT.
UM, AND SO WE'RE JUST GONNA ADD ONE MORE SLOT FOR, FOR BUFFERS IN CASE FOLKS HAVE TO DROP OUT.
UM, AND SO FOR THAT, WHAT THAT WOULD MEAN IS THAT FOR GT OSS CORE, WE WOULD HAVE EIGHT MEMBERS.
AND FOR GTOP S CAPACITY, WE'D HAVE FOUR.
UM, THE SIX ACTION ACTION ITEM IS, UH, EXPLORING WAYS TO ENCOURAGE AND FACILITATE EXPOSURE TO NETWORK EXPOSURE AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRANTEES.
WE HAVEN'T, UH, MADE HEADWAY ON THIS ITEM YET.
UM, THIS ACTION PLAN ACTUALLY WAS IMPLEMENTED, UH, OR, UH, SIGNED A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO.
UM, AND WE'RE ACTIVELY WORKING THROUGH THESE ITEMS. UM, THIS ONE WE'RE NOT QUITE SURE, UH, ABOUT YET, BUT WE DID RECEIVE A LOT OF FEEDBACK ABOUT GRANTEES WANTING WAYS THAT THEY CAN CONNECT AND ENGAGE WITH EACH OTHER.
UM, AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT WAYS THAT WE CAN, UM, UH, DO MORE, UH, SHARING OUT OF WHAT THE COOL WORK THAT THEY'RE DOING.
UM, POSTING NEWSLETTERS, HIGHLIGHTS, THINGS LIKE THAT, SHARING TO, UH, TO THE DECA COMMUNITY, UH, ABOUT THE, UH, THE GRANTS THAT ARE HAPPENING, BUT THEN ALSO CREATING SOME SPACES WHERE, WHERE THEY CAN COME AND NETWORK, UH, WITH EACH OTHER.
UM, SO THAT COVERS ITEM, UH, THAT ITEM AND ACTION ITEM SEVEN.
THERE'S A NUMBER OF CHANGES THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT FOR US TO MAKE THAT ARE RELATED TO CHANGES TO OUR BOILERPLATE CONTRACT.
UM, AND SO ALL OF THE ITEMS HERE, UH, IN ACTION ITEM SEVEN, HAVE TO DO WITH CHANGES TO THE CONTRACT.
UM, WE CAN'T, AT THIS TIME PROMISE THAT THESE CHANGES ARE GONNA MAKE IT INTO THIS ROUND OF G TOPS, BUT THEY ARE ACTIVELY BEING CONSIDERED BY ALAR, OUR LAW DEPARTMENT.
UM, THE FIRST IS, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO FIND OUT IF WE CAN, UM, USE GTOP IF WE CAN ALLOW ORGANIZATIONS TO USE GTOP S FUNDS FOR INSURANCE COVERAGES THAT ARE REQUIRED BY GTOP S.
UP UNTIL NOW, WE HAVE GIVEN GUIDANCE TO OUR, OUR, UH, APPLICANTS THAT, UM, ANY, ANY INSURANCE COVERAGES REQUIRED BY THE GRANT, THEY, THEY ACTUALLY HAVE TO PAY FOR WITH LEVERAGE FUNDS, UM, UH, THAT FOR THE SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS THAT COMPETE FOR FUNDS, THAT THAT IS A CHALLENGE.
UM, AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE CONSULTING WITH OUR LAW DEPARTMENT TO SEE IF THAT'S A REQUIREMENT THAT WE CAN WAIVE.
UM, I THINK THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO GET THERE FOR, FOR THIS ITEM.
I'M PRETTY POSITIVE ON THAT ONE.
UM, THE SECOND ITEM IS, UH, THE SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS THAT, THAT WE, WE CONTRACT WITH HAVE ALSO EXPRESSED THAT OUR INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS ARE HARD FOR THEM TO MEET IN MANY CIRCUMSTANCES.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, THERE'S, UH, FOUR OR FIVE REQUIRED INSURANCE COVERAGES, AND THEY, YOU KNOW, THE COST CAN ADD UP FOR SMALL ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, AND SO, UH, NOBODY ELSE IN THE CITY THAT I'M AWARE OF HAS EXPLORED THIS, BUT I'M, I'M TRYING TO SEE IF WE CAN OFFER THE OPTION OF A BLANKET LIABILITY WAIVER IN FAVOR OF THE CITY AND JUST NOT REQUIRE INSURANCE FOR THE ORGANIZATION, UM, WHICH WOULD SAVE, SAVE THEM MONEY, BUT IT WOULD, YOU KNOW, RAISE THE RISK FOR THEM.
UM, SO I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT ONE.
THAT MAY BE, THAT MAY BE A BRIDGE TOO FAR FOR OUR, OUR LEGAL AND RISK DEPARTMENTS
UH, BUT I'M, I'M ASKING, I, WE HAVE POSED THAT AS A QUESTION TO SEE IF WE CAN, UH, MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER, UH, TO CONTRACT WITH US.
UM, WE RECEIVE FEEDBACK FOR, UH, WE HAVE A CLAUSE IN THE CONTRACT THAT, UH, IS AN AUDIT CLAUSE.
AND, UH, RIGHT NOW IT RE WOULD REQUIRE, UM, ANY TYPE OF, UH, UH, CLIENT LEVEL DATA TO BE SUPPLIED TO US AT OUR REQUEST.
UH, WE, WE RECEIVED A, A, UH, FEEDBACK ITEM FROM SOMEBODY THAT THEY WANTED TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT
[00:25:01]
THE PII, THE PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION OF THEIR CLIENTS AND NOT HAVE TO SUBMIT THAT BACK TO THE CITY.UM, WE'RE FINE WITH THAT, AS, YOU KNOW, AS AN ORGANIZATION AS TARA.
UH, BUT WE, WE NEED TO VET THAT WITH THE LAW DEPARTMENT.
UM, SO WE'RE POSING THAT AS A QUESTION.
CAN WE PAUSE THERE FOR A SECOND? SURE.
UH, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHY WE'RE CURRENTLY CAPTURING THAT INFORMATION? IF IT'S A CHALLENGE? UH, WE AREN'T, AS A MATTER OF COURSE, BUT IT IS A PART OF THE CONTRACT, THE FACT THAT WE COULD BUT REQUEST IT.
UH, AND DO WE KNOW WHY? UH, AS FAR AS I KNOW THIS, THIS CLAUSE HAS BEEN THERE FOR, UH, IT, IT'S A STANDARD CITY CONTRACT CLAUSE TO ALLOW FOR, UH, AUDIT, UH, OF CLIENT LEVEL DATA.
UM, SO IT, IT'S JUST PART OF BOILERPLATE LANGUAGE THAT THE CITY UTILIZES.
UM, WE'VE ONLY HAD TO, UH, DO, UH, TO EXECUTE THE AUDIT CLAUSE MAYBE TWO TIMES IN THE, THE SEVEN YEARS THAT I'VE BEEN WITH THE GTOP S PROGRAM.
UM, AND, UH, YEAH, THIS, THIS HASN'T BEEN A, AN ISSUE IN, IN THE PAST.
UM, BUT BECAUSE WE DID RECEIVE THE, YOU KNOW, THE QUESTION FROM THE ORGANIZATION, UM, WE ARE FINE WITH, UH, THE INFORMATION BEING REQUESTED TO BE, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DON'T NEED PII, BUT IF IT'S AGGREGATED DATA THAT WOULD S SUFFICE FOR US.
UM, SO DOES, DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? IT, IT DOES, IT DOES.
I ASSUME LEGAL'S GOING TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE, UH, FROM A STANDPOINT OF, UH, RISK AVERSION AND EXPOSURE FOR THE CITY.
UM, AND I ASSUME THAT WOULD ALSO INCLUDE WHATEVER VALUE PROPOSITION IS INCLUDED WITH THE REQUEST FOR THE DATA TO BEGIN WITH.
UH, IF THERE'S, I MEAN, AN AUDIT IS SUPPOSED TO VALIDATE THAT CERTAIN THINGS ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
SO I COULD SEE HOW THERE MAY BE SOME CHALLENGES IF THERE'S NO WAY TO CONFIRM THE PEOPLE THAT IT HAPPENED FOR.
UH, BUT I WILL LET LEGAL PROVIDE THEIR GUIDANCE, AND THEN WE CAN REACT TO THAT.
AND, UM, YEAH, SO THERE'S, THERE'S NORMAL DATA REQUIREMENTS.
UH, THERE'S NORMAL REPORTING, UH, REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL OF OUR GTOP S CONTRACTS.
THEY HAVE TO SUBMIT TWO PERFORMANCE REPORTS DURING THE YEAR AND THE CLOSEOUT REPORT.
WHAT WOULD E WHAT WOULD CAUSE, UH, UH, THE TRIGGERING OF THE AUDIT CLAUSE IS IF THEY HAD, UH, BEEN UNRESPONSIVE AND NOT SUBMITTING ANY OF THE REQUIRED REPORTING, UM, OR IF ANY OF THE REPORTING INDICATED SUCH A SEVERE UNDERPERFORMANCE THAT IT CAUSED, UH, REASON FOR CONCERN FOR, FOR THE CONTRACT.
UM, AND AGAIN, THAT'S ONLY HAPPENED A COUPLE TIMES IN, IN THE EIGHT YEARS, UH, GOING ON EIGHT YEARS THAT I'VE, I'VE BEEN AROUND.
UM, AND, AND WE WOULD BE FINE IF WE WERE TO VALIDATE THE PERFORMANCE OR AND FINANCE DATA IN AGGREGATE RATHER THAN CLIENT LEVEL.
BUT WE ARE CONSULTING WITH THE RISK DEPARTMENT AND THE LAW DEPARTMENT TO SEE IF, UM, IF THEY CONCUR OR IF, UH, WE'RE, WE SHOULD STICK WITH THE EXISTING LANGUAGE.
UH, THE LAST ITEM IS WE HAVE A TERMINATION WITHOUT CAUSE CLAUSE, UH, IN THE CONTRACT.
UM, AND THAT WAS ALSO, UH, BROUGHT UP BY ONE OF THE ORGANIZATIONS AS, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR A ONE YEAR CONTRACT, HAVING A TERMINATION WITHOUT CAUSE FOR SMALL ORGANIZATION, UH, ADDS A LEVEL OF UNCERTAINTY THAT THEY WEREN'T, UH, COMFORTABLE WITH.
UM, WE'VE NEVER HAD TO EXECUTE DETERMINATION WITHOUT CAUSE CLAUSE, UH, SINCE I'VE, UH, BEEN AROUND.
AND, UH, IT WOULD, IT WOULD BE, I I, IT WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR ME TO IMAGINE A SCENARIO WHERE IT WOULD BE REQUIRED.
WE DO HAVE TERMINATION FOR CAUSE DEFINED WELL IN THE CONTRACT, UH, THAT WOULD COVER ANY ISSUES OF PERFORMANCE OR, UH, YOU KNOW, FINANCIAL OR REPORTING DEFICIENCIES.
UM, AND SO I, UH, YOU KNOW, I WOULD, I WOULD BE FINE IF WE GOT RID OF THAT CAUSE, UH, WITHOUT CAUSE CLAUSE.
UM, BUT AGAIN, WE USE, UH, STANDARD CITY BOILERPLATE LANGUAGE FOR A LOT OF OUR CONTRACTS.
SO THAT'S JUST A CHANGE THAT NEEDS TO BE VETTED BY OUR LAW DEPARTMENT.
AND, AND THE LAST ITEM IS, UH, ACTION ITEM EIGHT TO REINCORPORATE THE GT OS CONNECT FUNDING TO OTHER GT OS PATHWAYS.
UH, WE GT OS CONNECT IS A PATHWAY THAT WE HAD LAST YEAR, AND THAT WAS OUR SECOND YEAR RUNNING THE CONTRACT.
UM, THAT GRANT WAS CONNECTED TO THE AFFORDABLE, THE FEDERAL AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM, UH, WHICH IS A FEDERAL PROGRAM, A A FEDERAL INTERNET SUBSIDY.
UM, AND WHAT WE WANTED TO DO AT GTOP S CONNECT IS TO HAVE A LOCAL CONTRACT, UH, WHERE WE COULD HAVE A LOCAL ORGANIZATION DOING RECRUITMENT INTO THE FEDERAL ACP PROGRAM, UM, DEVELOPING MATERIALS TO CIRCULATE IN THE COMMUNITY, UM, AND THING, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
SUPPORTING THE FEDERAL ACP PROGRAM.
THE FUNDING OF THE FEDERAL PROGRAM
[00:30:01]
IS, UH, HAS BEEN IN QUESTION WITH THE, THE CHALLENGES, UH, THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS HAVING, UH, WITH, UH, APPROVING FUNDING.UH, AND SO WE COULDN'T, UH, WE, WE DIDN'T KNOW IF THE PROGRAM WAS GONNA BE FUNDED THROUGH THE PERIOD THAT THIS ACTION PLAN COVERS.
SO, UH, BECAUSE OF THAT UNCERTAINTY, WE'VE, UH, PUT A PAUSE ON THE GT OSS CONNECT PROGRAM.
WE WOULD LOVE TO BRING IT BACK, UM, IN FUTURE CYCLES IF THE PROGRAM IS REFUNDED.
UM, BUT UNTIL NOW, UH, OR UNTIL THEN, UH, WE'RE GONNA REALLOCATE THE GTOP OS CONNECT CONNECT FUNDS ACROSS THE OTHER THREE GRANT PATHWAYS, UM, UNTIL, UNTIL THE, UH, UH, CERTAIN THE, THE FUTURE OF THE AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM BECOMES CLEAR.
UM, WITH THAT BEING SAID, THOSE ARE ALL OF MY UPDATES, AND I'M OPEN IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, YES, I'VE GOT A FEW OTHER QUESTIONS, AND THEN I'LL PASS IT AROUND THE ROOM.
UH, SO LET'S GO BACK TO ACTION ITEM NUMBER FOUR, CHANGES TO THE DETOX APPLICATIONS.
ONE, UH, THE CAPACITY APPLICATION QUESTION, CONNECTING FUNDINGS, DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAMMING.
UH, I WANNA MAKE SURE I CLARIFY SOMETHING, UH, BECAUSE I RECALL SOME OF THESE DYNAMICS IN THIS PROCESS AS WELL.
AND, AND FOR THE BENEFIT OF EVERYONE HERE, UH, ESPECIALLY THE NEW COMMISSIONERS, UH, THIS IS IMPORTANT.
UH, AS JESSE MENTIONED, UH, G OS IS A CRITICAL PROGRAM, UH, AND IT'S ONE THAT THIS COMMISSION PLAYS A, A CRUCIAL ROLE IN, UH, AND THE, THE 400,000 THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH NOW.
UH, I LOVE THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, JESSE SAYS IT'S JUST SO MATTER OF FACTLY, UH, BUT WHEN, WHEN I STARTED, IT WAS A HUNDRED THOUSAND AND OUR COMMISSION GOT IT INCREASED TO 400,000.
SO THAT'S NOT TO BE UNDERSTATED BECAUSE, UH, FRANKLY, I'D LIKE TO SEE US GET AN INCREASED TO FIVE.
UM, BUT THAT OBVIOUSLY WOULD TAKE A FULL VOTE IN SUPPORT OF THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
SO JUST CONTEXT FOR EVERYBODY HERE FOR THAT.
UM, BUT IN TERMS OF THIS QUESTION, IT IT, UNLESS I'M MISTAKEN, THIS QUESTION IS DESIGNED BASICALLY TO GIVE US A WAY TO FURTHER VALIDATE THAT THIS 5 0 1 C THREE THAT'S APPLYING FOR CAPACITY FUNDING TO HELP WITH DIGITAL INCLUSION IS ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING DIGITAL INCLUSION RELATED.
IS, IS THAT FUNDAMENTALLY WHAT THIS QUESTION'S ABOUT? UH, YES.
AND, UH, TO CONNECT THE, UH, THE FUNDING THAT WILL BE RECEIVED TO THAT DIGITAL EQUITY IMPACT, UH, SPECIFICALLY.
SO, UM, FOR THE, FOR THE COMMISSIONERS WHO AREN'T FAMILIAR, GT OS CAPACITY IS A BRANCH OF THE, THE PROGRAM, UH, THAT IS PURELY, IT'S A, IT'S A MICRO GRANT.
IT'S ONE, IT'S A UP TO $2,500 FOR ORGANIZATIONS MAKING LESS THAN A MILLION DOLLARS IN REVENUES.
UM, AND, UH, ITS GOAL IS TO JUST BUILD THE CAPACITY OF THOSE SMALL ORGANIZATIONS.
AND, AND WE DEFINE CAPACITY AS THE PURCHASE OF, UH, UH, OF EQUIPMENT, UH, TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE STAFF.
SO ATTENDANCE AT CONFERENCE OR MEMBERSHIP IN, UH, UH, PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE DIGITAL EQUITY FOCUSED.
SO THOSE ARE JUST THE THREE FOCUS AREAS FOR THE CAPACITY FUNDING.
UM, AND SO WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IS THE ORGANIZATIONS WOULD TELL US, WE'RE GONNA, UH, USE THIS FUNDING TO BUY FOUR IPADS.
AND AS AN ORGANIZATION, THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE DO LIKE.
SO THOSE ARE TWO QUESTIONS THAT ALREADY EXISTED, BUT IT WASN'T ALWAYS CLEAR HOW THOSE DEVICES WERE GONNA BE USED IN THE DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAMMING.
AND SO THAT'S THE, THE BRIDGE THAT WE WERE TRYING TO, TO MAKE WITH THIS QUESTION.
SO, AS YOU MENTIONED, YOU TY IT TO A PROGRAM.
UH, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE LEVEL SETTING WITH THE, AGAIN, THE ORIGINAL GOAL OF CAPACITY, BECAUSE CAPACITY IS A PATHWAY THAT WAS CREATED.
UH, AGAIN, LIKE FOR, FOR BACKGROUND.
UH, SO FOR COMMISSIONERS, UH, THAT ARE NEW, UH, WHEN I JOINED AND WHEN JESSE JOINED, UH, THIS WAS A HUNDRED THOUSAND, A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS GRANT WITH A SINGULAR PATHWAY.
NOW WE'RE GONNA SCALE BACK TO THREE.
CAPACITY IS ONE OF THOSE NEW PATHWAYS DESIGNED, UH, TO ENABLE SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS THAT DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE CAPACITY, UH, IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO GET, YOU KNOW, INFRASTRUCTURE, SO TO SPEAK, FOR THEIR PROGRAMS. UH, I RECALL THE SPIRIT OF THAT BEING, UH, DESIGNED, UH, TO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE TIED TO A PROGRAM IF THERE ARE, THERE ARE A LEGITIMATE AND, UH, ESTABLISHED 5 0 1 C THREE THAT'S FOCUSED ON DIGITAL INCLUSION.
UH, SO I, I, I GUESS I WANT TO LEVEL SET THAT FROM, FROM, UH, YOUR RECOLLECTION OF IT TOO, JESSE, AND THEN ALSO SEE IF,
[00:35:01]
IF, IF, IF THAT'S NOT THE CASE, THEN ARE WE MAYBE TRYING TO SOLVE A DIFFERENT CHALLENGE, UH, BY FOCUSING ON THE PROGRAM? UH, YOU KNOW, IF THAT'S NOT THE CASE, FOR EXAMPLE, THEN DO WE NEED TO FIND A BETTER WAY TO CONFIRM THAT THEY MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF BEING AN ELIGIBLE APPLICANT? IN WHICH CASE, WHY DO WE NEED A PROGRAM FOR CAPACITY? SO YOU'RE, YOU'RE CORRECT IN THAT THE FUNDING, THE G OS CAPACITY IS SPECIFICALLY NOT FOR SERVICE DELIVERY.UM, SO THE, THAT'S WHY WHEN WE TALK ABOUT WHAT THE FUNDS CAN BE USED FOR, IT'S NOT TO BE USED TO PAY FOR PEOPLE LIKE, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, PEOPLE'S TIME ON A PROJECT, FOR INSTANCE.
LIKE WE WANT, WE WANT IT TO BE USED FOR, UH, PURCHASING ITEMS THAT ARE NEEDED TO DELIVER DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAMMING, UH, STAFF TRAINING AND MEMBERSHIP IN, IN ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, SO, SO YES, UH, IT, IT, IT IS SPECIFICALLY NOT FOR, UH, A SPECIFIC PROGRAM, BUT IT, IT IS FOR, UH, BUILDING THE ORGANIZATION'S CAPACITY TO DO DIGITAL EQUITY THINGS.
SO FROM WHAT I RECALL THOUGH, UH, YOU KNOW, CAPACITY IS ONE OF THOSE THINGS WITHIN A SMALL ORGANIZATION WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WEARING MULTIPLE HATS.
SO ANY RESOURCE THAT ADDS EFFICIENCY TO A SMALL ORGANIZATION THAT IS FOCUSED ON DIGITAL EQUITY WORK IS GOING TO INCREASE THEIR OUTPUT FOR DIGITAL EQUITY WORK.
BUT TO TIE IT, TO SAY THAT IT HAS TO BE USED SPECIFICALLY FOR THAT, TO ME, THAT SEEMS TO BE AGAINST THE SPIRIT OF WHAT CAPACITY WAS MEANT FOR, TO BEGIN WITH.
SO THAT'S WHERE I'M SEEING A RUB THERE.
DO YOU, DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M SAYING? I, I, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THAT I, I FOLLOW, BUT I'LL, UH, YEAH.
WELL, LET, LET, LET, LEMME BREAK IT DOWN A LITTLE FURTHER.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, SMALL ORGANIZATION, UH, LET'S SAY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE USING OUTDATED EQUIPMENT, UH, AND WE'VE GOT A PROGRAM THAT, UH, MAY OR MAY NOT, UH, I MEAN IT, LET'S SAY, LET, LET'S SAY THAT SPECIFIC COMPUTER THAT'S OUTDATED IS BEING USED FOR, UH, FOR ADMIN AND HR FOR THE ORG, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
BUT THEY ARE, UH, UH, UH, A LEGITIMATE AUTOPSY APPLICANT THAT MEETS THE CRITERIA.
SO THEN IF THEY GET A NEW COMPUTER TO HELP THEM HANDLE ADMIN AND HR BETTER, UH, THE AD WON'T HAVE TO SPEND AS MUCH TIME DOING THAT.
THEY COULD SPEND MORE CYCLES FOCUSED ON, UH, DEVELOPMENT OR OUTREACH AS AN EXAMPLE, RIGHT? YES.
BUT THAT COMPUTER IS NOT BEING USED FOR A PROGRAM.
SO, AND WHICH WOULD, WOULD BE FINE OF THOSE RULES.
'CAUSE THE, WHAT I THOUGHT WAS, UH, THE QUESTION, THE WAY IT'S PHRASED, DESCRIBE DIGITAL EQUITY RELATED PROGRAMMING THAT THIS FUNDING WOULD HELP TO BUILD CAPACITY FOR, DESCRIBE HOW THIS FUND WILL IMPACT THAT PROGRAMMING.
SO THEY WOULD THEN HAVE TO SAY, YOU'RE GONNA FREE UP TIME FROM I AD BASICALLY, YEAH.
IF THAT, IF THAT'S THE, THE CONNECTION THAT THEY THINK IS THE MOST SALIENT, THEN YES.
UH, BUT WHAT WE SAW IS WE HAD, WE HAD A COUPLE OF APPLICATIONS THIS YEAR THAT THERE WERE LIKE ONE LINE, COUPLE WORD RESPONSES FOR ALL OF THE, THE CATEGORIES.
AND SO IT, IT REALLY JUST WASN'T CLEAR, YOU KNOW, IT, IT WAS CLEAR THAT, THAT SOMETHING WAS BEING PURCHASED, BUT THE BRIDGE BETWEEN THAT AND HOW, YOU KNOW, THE, THE IMPACT WASN'T VERY CLEAR.
SO, SO THIS IS JUST TO HELP THAT.
BUT, BUT YES, THE DEVICES CAN BE USED FOR THE ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES OF THE ORGANIZATION.
WE JUST WANT IT, UH, WE JUST WANT ORGANIZATIONS TO BE ABLE TO MAKE THAT CASE.
THAT, THAT'S, THAT'S FINE WITH ME THEN THAT, FOR THAT ONE.
UH, IN TERMS OF ACTION ITEM NUMBER SIX, EXPLORE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE AND FACILITATE EXPOSURE AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRANTEES.
UH, I, I LOVE THIS IDEA, BUT I DON'T THINK IT SHOULD BE LIMITED TO AWARDEES.
UH, I, I THINK THAT ESPECIALLY IF IT'S EXPOSURE AND NETWORKING, IT SHOULD BE FOR APPLICANTS, UH, CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT SOME OF THE APPLICANTS NEED THAT NETWORKING THE MOST, THE ONES THAT DON'T GET AWARDED, THEY NEED THAT, THAT KIND OF NETWORKING AND COLLABORATION THE MOST.
UM, AND AGAIN, THE SPIRIT OF EQUITY, NOT CREATING A SCENARIO WHERE THOSE WHO ARE GETTING SOMETHING CAN, CAN FIND A WAY TO GET BETTER AT IT, BUT LET OTHERS INTO THAT CIRCLE SO THEY CAN JOIN IT.
WE'RE, WE'RE HAPPY TO MAKE THAT EDIT.
UH, AND THEN ONE LAST THING, AND I'LL PASS THE MIC, UH, WITH ACTION ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, REINCORPORATE Q TOPS CONNECT FUNDING TO OTHER Q TOPS PATHWAYS.
UH, YEAH, I MEAN, I, I, I ENTIRELY UNDERSTAND THIS AND APPRECIATE IT.
UH, WOULD IT BE APPROPRIATE, PERHAPS, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT WE
[00:40:01]
HAVE OTHER SUBSIDIES AND, AND FEDERAL FUNDING, UH, MECHANISMS WE CAN ADD ONTO, UH, TO CREATE A PATHWAY THAT'S BASICALLY STRUCTURED THAT WAY, AND THEN FOR US TO LOOK TO, TO, TO OFFER FEEDBACK ON WHAT IT SHOULD BE YEAR TO YEAR BASED ON WHAT IT IS.SO FOR EXAMPLE, UH, WE NOW HAVE A BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS, RIGHT? UH, AS OF TODAY, UH, IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE IF, UH, THERE WAS A WAY TO LEVERAGE SUBSIDIES FROM A PROGRAM LIKE THAT OR, UH, FROM PREVIOUS, UH, SUBSIDIES, ARPA, OTHER THINGS, UH, OR WOULD IT BE BETTER TO JUST KIND OF ADDRESS THAT ON AN ONGOING BASIS? BUT THE QUESTION IS, SHOULD WE BASICALLY CREATE A SUBSIDY PATHWAY? WE'RE DEFINITELY OPEN TO SUGGESTION ON, UH, NEW PATHWAYS OR DIFFERENT PATHWAYS OR, OR WAYS FOR US TO ORIENT THE, THE GRANT.
UM, I, LIKE I SAID, I, I WOULD LOVE TO BRING BACK GTOP S CONNECT.
I THINK THAT THE, THE ACP IS AN A, A AN IMPORTANT FEDERAL PROGRAM, UH, THAT WE DEFINITELY WANT TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND IT'S JUST A MATTER OF UNCERTAINTY AND INABILITY TO PLAN, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, THE ANNUAL PATHWAY AROUND THAT.
UM, SO YEAH, I MEAN, WE'RE OPEN TO SUBJECT SUGGESTION IF, IF ANYBODY REALLY HAS IDEAS ON DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE CAN, UH, ORGANIZE THAT FUNDING.
I WILL SAY THAT, UH, IT IS A, UH, ONE OF THE HEAVIEST LIFTS, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO MAKING CHANGES TO GTOP S IS BUILDING OUT A NEW PATHWAY.
UM, 'CAUSE WE HAVE TO CREATE A WHOLE SET OF RULES AND GUIDELINES, UH, TO, FOR, FOR EACH NEW PATHWAY.
UH, SO WE TRY, UH, WE'VE DONE THAT MANY TIMES.
AND SO I'M NOT SAYING THAT IT, IT, IT CAN'T BE DONE, BUT IT IS ONE OF THE, THE HEAVIER LIFTS FOR US.
UM, BUT, BUT WE'RE, WE LOVE FEEDBACK.
SO, UH, IF YOU HAVE IDEAS, PLEASE SEND 'EM OUR WAY.
ALRIGHT, WELL, WE'LL TAKE THAT INTO A WORKING GROUP AND, UH, AND TALK ABOUT IT.
BUT WITH THAT, UH, LET'S SEE WHO ELSE HAS QUESTIONS.
UH, VICE THANK YOU AND THANKS, JESSE, FOR ALL OF YOUR, YOU AND, UH, TARA'S LEADERSHIP ON THIS.
UH, FIRST QUESTION I HAD WAS UNDER ACTION ITEM ONE.
YOU HAD MENTIONED SOME CHANGES TO, UH, UH, PROGRAMMATICALLY AROUND USING, UH, SOME AUTOMATED TOOLS.
UH, JUST CURIOUS, UH, YOU KNOW, I WAS, UH, BOTH CHAIR PITTS AND I HAVE SERVED AS REVIEWERS IN THE PAST.
IS THIS JUST ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONALITY IN THE GRANT PROGRAM THAT HADN'T BEEN UTILIZED YET? OR, OR IS TERRA SWITCHING TO A NEW, UH, SOFTWARE SOLUTION? JUST CURIOUS.
WE'RE, WE'RE NOT SHIFTING OUR, OUR SOFTWARE.
UM, SO TWO OF OUR GRANT PATHWAYS, GTOP S MINI AND GT OS CONNECT ARE, ARE RUN THROUGH AIRTABLE, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY AN ONLINE SPREADSHEET TOOL WITH SOME, UH, SOME FORM, UH, SOME FORMS THAT YOU CAN BUILD A AROUND IT.
UM, THEY, OVER THE LAST COUPLE YEARS ADDED SOME AUTOMATION FUNCTIONALITY TO WHERE IF LIKE A RECORD IS ADDED, THEN YOU CAN HAVE CERTAIN, UH, ACTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT OR DATA'S CHANGED.
UM, WE HAVEN'T BEEN SUPER FAMILIAR WITH IT, UH, BUT IT HAS BEEN ON OUR RADAR IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE TRYING TO LEARN ABOUT.
UM, SO FOR THAT ITEM SPECIFICALLY, IT'S JUST NEW, NEW ABILITY WITHIN THE SAME PROGRAM THAT HAS BEEN ADDED THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO TAP INTO AND, AND USE FOR THIS PURPOSE.
UM, FOR THE OTHER TWO, UH, VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY SHARING AND GTOP S CON CONTACT MANAGEMENT, THAT THOSE, I WOULDN'T EVEN, I WOULDN'T NECESSARILY QUALIFY AS AUTOMATION, BUT I WOULD PUT THOSE IN THE SELF-SERVICE CATEGORY.
UH, SO WE WANT TO BE CREATING THOSE PORTALS THAT PEOPLE CAN INTERACT WITH, UM, TO GIVE US INFORMATION, UH, UH, THAT WE CAN THEN HELP TO BUILD THE, UH, VALUE FROM.
UH, SO THOSE ARE MORE SELF-SERVICE ENHANCEMENTS USING, AGAIN, EXISTING TECHNOLOGY.
AND THEN, UH, I SEE THE, THE UPDATES AROUND THE RICH TEXT FORMATTING ONE, UM, POINT OF FEEDBACK THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT PROVIDED AS A REVIEWER IN THE PAST WAS, UH, THE LENGTH OF, UH, ABILITY FOR THE LENGTH OF CONTENT FOR THE REVIEWER TO, UH, TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE IT WOULD, I FOUND IT TO BE QUITE SHORT, JUST SPEAKING FOR MYSELF.
SO, UH, WE'LL, REVIEWERS, UH, IS THERE THE ABILITY TO, TO MAKE ENHANCEMENTS, UH, FOR REVIEWERS TO ADD ADDITIONAL CONTENT TO THEIR, UM, UM, REVIEWS OF THE, OF THE GRANTS? YEAH, THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.
UH, AND I THINK THE ANSWER IS YES, UH, THAT WE CAN, UH, GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE REVIEW FORM IN THE PARTNER GRANT SYSTEM, UH, AND, AND SEE IF WE CAN ALSO MAKE THAT A RICH TEXT FIELD MM-HMM.
[00:45:01]
AND MORE DETAIL.SO I, I THINK THE ANSWER TO THAT IS YES.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL CHECK ON THAT ACTUALLY TOMORROW BEFORE, UH, WE GO LIVE.
WE'RE ABOUT TO HIT THE LAUNCH BUTTON TOMORROW,
YEAH, I THINK THAT, YEAH, I THINK INCREASING THE CHARACTER LIMIT WOULD BE, UM, WOULD, I, WOULD, I WOULD HIGHLY ENCOURAGE THAT.
WE'LL, WE'LL INVESTIGATE THAT TOMORROW.
AT THE VERY LEAST, WE CAN ALWAYS INCORPORATE, UH, SEPARATE WORD DOCUMENT FEEDBACK.
BUT YEAH, IF WE CAN MAKE IT WITHIN THE FORM, THAT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER.
AND THEN ANOTHER QUESTION I HAVE UNDER ACTION ITEM FOUR IN THE, UH, ITEM NUMBER THREE.
SO YOU MENTIONED THERE'LL BE A BIT OF A, A WORKING GROUP, UM, THAT, THAT THE, UM, THE RAIDERS WILL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN AND THEY'LL DEVELOP THEIR OWN QUESTIONS.
UM, I'M JUST CURIOUS, WILL THE, WILL THEY HAVE ANY SORT OF GUIDANCE ON QUESTIONS? 'CAUSE I, I COULD CERTAINLY SEE, YOU KNOW, EVERYONE'S VERY SPIRITED, WANTS, WANTS TO, YOU KNOW, DO THE BEST.
UM, BUT I THINK HAVING SOME SORT OF, SOME SORT OF GUARDRAILS FOR FOLKS MIGHT BE HELPFUL.
YEAH, THAT, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
WE HAVE AN AG WE HAVE A REVIEW PANEL ORIENTATION GUIDE, WHICH HAS LIKE DO'S AND DON'TS GENERALLY, UM, UH, TO KEEP GUARDRAILS ON, ON THE PROCESS, UH, FROM A HIGH LEVEL LENS.
THAT, THAT WE'LL HAVE TO EVALUATE, UH, HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO PUT SOME GUARDRAILS ON THAT.
AND THEN LAST QUESTION, UM, ON THE CLOSING OF GTOP S CONNECT.
SO JUST CURIOUS, UH, I KNOW ACP, UM, IS CERTAINLY IS, UH, UP IN THE AIR AT A FEDERAL LEVEL, BUT JUST CURIOUS IF, UM, ACP RECRUITMENT, UH, OUTREACH IS GOING TO BE INCORPORATED INTO ANY OF THE OTHER PATHWAYS, OR IF THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BE A DIFFERENTIATOR FOR SOME OF THE DIFFERENT PATHWAYS MOVING FORWARD, ASSUMING IT DOES GET FUNDED AGAIN AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
UH, IF, IF YOU WERE TO TAKE ANY TYPE OF APPLICATION THAT G OS CONNECT WOULD'VE RECEIVED, IT COULD JUST BE A GT OSS CORE GRANT.
UM, GTOP S CONNECT WAS JUST A WAY FOR US TO KIND OF EARMARK THAT FUNDING FOR THAT PURPOSE.
UM, SO, SO YES, WE CAN STILL SUPPORT, UH, APPLICATIONS THAT HAVE THAT INTEREST.
UM, BUT YEAH, WE WOULD, WE WOULD LOVE FOR, FOR US FOR, TO HAVE FUNDING SPECIFICALLY ALLOCATED FOR THAT PURPOSE IF, IF THE PROGRAM CONTINUES, UH, TO BE FUNDED.
UM, WE ACTUALLY HAVE, UH, WE HAVE ANOTHER SET OF, OF HIGH LEVEL CHANGES THAT WE'RE, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT, WHICH MAY HAVE SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS ON, ON GTOP S IN, IN FUTURE YEARS THAT ARE ATTACHED TO, UH, THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS THAT WE'RE, WE'RE UNDERGOING RIGHT NOW.
UM, IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR, THE CURRENT DIGITAL INCLUSION STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN WAS PASSED IN 2014.
AND WE'RE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF, UH, UH, REFRESHING THAT PLAN.
AND I'M, I'M THINKING CERTAINLY IN THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT YEAR, MAYBE IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF NEXT YEAR, UH, THAT THAT PLAN IS GONNA BE, UH, LAUNCHED.
AND THEN THERE'S GONNA BE A FOLLOW ON QUESTION, UH, A CHALLENGE THAT WE ALL HAVE TO THINK ABOUT.
HOW DO WE MEET THOSE OBJECTIVES AND HOW DO WE RESOURCE THOSE OBJECTIVES? YEAH.
UH, AND SO I THINK THERE MIGHT BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT GTOP S UH, FUNDING TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE, THE STRATEGIC PLAN.
UH, AND SO THAT ALSO MIGHT PROVIDE SOME WAYS FOR US TO FUNNEL RESOURCES INTO SPECIFIC COMMUNITY PROJECTS.
UH, COMMISSIONER SUPTA HAS RAISED HIS HAND.
UH, SO COMMISSIONER SUPTA, UH, PLEASE PROCEED.
UH, LET'S SEE IF I CAN REMEMBER ALL THREE OF THEM.
UH, NUMBER ONE, MOST RECENT ONE FIRST, UH, YOU MENTIONED THAT FOR CAPACITY BUILDING FOR A SMALL C THREE, THE BUDGET LIMIT IS $2,500.
IS THAT SUFFICIENT OR SHOULD BE CONSIDERED INCREASING THAT MAYBE? SO YEAH, THE, THE GTOP S CAPACITY, THE CAPACITY BUILDING PORTION OF OUR, OUR ACTIVITY IS $25,000 TOTAL OUT OF THE WE'RE THOUSAND BOTH.
THAT, THAT'S TWO 25,000 FOR THE WHOLE PATHWAY.
UH, AND INDIVIDUAL AWARDS WITHIN THAT ARE UP TO $2,500.
UM, SO I WOULD, I WOULD SAY YES, THAT IS A, A SMALL AMOUNT FOR SMALL ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, IT IS THE LEAST TRAFFICKED OF OUR THREE GRANT PATHWAYS AT THIS TIME.
UH, SO WE, WE GENERALLY ONLY HAD, UH, HAD TO ELIMINATE ONE OR TWO
[00:50:01]
ORGANIZATIONS FROM THAT PATHWAY.SO ONLY ONE OR TWO ORGANIZATIONS THAT, UH, REQUESTED FUNDING DID NOT GET FUNDING.
UH, IN CONTRAST, THE GTOP S CORE PATHWAY, WHICH IS OUR LARGEST PATHWAY, UM, WE HAD MAYBE 23, AND WE HAVE GONE UP TO, UH, 30, 33 IN, IN RECENT YEARS APPLICATIONS, AND WE ONLY HAVE 10 FUNDING SLOTS.
UM, AND SO WE HAVE, UH, THREE TIMES THE NUMBER OF, UH, APPLICANTS AS WE DO THE NUMBER OF, UH, FUNDING SLOTS.
UM, SO I THINK BOTH, BOTH IS TRUE, UH, THAT YES, IT IS A SMALL AMOUNT OF FUNDING AND WE WOULD LOVE TO GIVE MORE TO ORGANIZATIONS, BUT THE, THE HIGHEST DEMAND, THE MOST DEMANDED, UH, PATHWAY IS THE LARGEST GTOP SCORE.
THE SECOND THING IS THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT PRINTING A DOCUMENT, YOU KNOW, OF THE, THE PROJECT DOCUMENT AND THAT IT'S A RATHER INVOLVED AND TIME CONSUMING THING.
UH, HAVE YOU CONSIDERED GOING ONLINE, WHY DO WE NEED TO WASTE PAPER? WHY NOT JUST PUT IT ONLINE, PUT USE THE CLOUD TO ADVANTAGE? SO I, I THINK THAT'S IN REFERENCE TO THE PERFORMANCE MEASURE FORM THAT WE HAVE.
UH, SO THE APP, THE APPLICATION ITSELF IS IN AN ONLINE, VIA AN ONLINE FORM.
UM, BUT WE HAVE EXHIBITS, UH, THAT WE HAVE CREATED FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO UPLOAD AS A PART OF THEIR APPLICATION.
AND WHAT THAT DOES IS IT ALLOWS THEM TO WORK OFFLINE AND NOT WORRY ABOUT CONNECT CONNECTION ISSUES WHILE THEY'RE ENTERING DATA AND THEY CAN JUST UPLOAD A FILE.
AND IT ALSO RELIES ON, UH, UH, SOFTWARE THAT MOST PEOPLE, MOST ORGANIZATIONS HAVE ACCESS TO, LIKE MICROSOFT EXCEL.
UM, THAT BEING SAID, UH, WE COULDN'T, WE HAVEN'T YET FOUND A WAY TO MAKE THAT FORM ACCESSIBLE IF WE WERE TO JUST BUILD THAT INTO THE, THE ONLINE FORM.
UH, SO IT, JUST, THE WAY THAT WE HAVE IT RIGHT NOW, UM, THERE'S CALCULATIONS THAT, THAT AUTOMATICALLY HAPPEN IN THE FORM.
THE, YOU KNOW, IT'S A, AN EXCEL SHEET, UM, THAT PREVENT SOME, SOME WORK AND SOME ERRORS, UH, ON BEHALF OF THE ORGANIZATION.
UM, BUT LIKE I SAID, WE, WE'VE, WE GOT A LOT OF FEEDBACK THAT IT WAS JUST HARD TO NAVIGATE.
UM, AND SO WE JUST NEED TO FIND A BETTER WAY.
UH, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT IS YET, BUT WE'RE OPEN TO SUGGESTION.
AND THE LAST QUESTION IS, UH, LET ME REMEMBER NOW.
SO I GO BACK TO MY, MY PAST EXPERIENCE WITH THE, YOU KNOW, THE MALCOLM BALDRIDGE, UH, QUALITY AWARD PROGRAM, WHERE THE WINNERS ARE REQUIRED TO SERVE AS, UH, MENTORS TO FUTURE, UH, YOU KNOW, APPLICANTS.
DO WE HAVE A SIMILAR, UH, SYSTEM WHEREBY, UH, UH, UH, UH, AN ORGANIZATION OR A COMPANY THAT HAS, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, EARNED SOME, UH, MONEY FROM THIS PROGRAM HAS, UH, SUCCEEDED, UH, ARE USED TO PROMOTE THE, THE, THIS PROGRAM BECAUSE IT'S SUCH AN IMPORTANT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE OUR DIGITAL, YOU KNOW, DRIVE TOWARDS DIGITAL EQUITY AND OUR DIGITAL CAPABILITY THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
SO HAVE YOU CONSIDERED ANYTHING LIKE THAT? YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.
WE DON'T REALLY HAVE ANYTHING BUILT RIGHT NOW, BUT I DO THINK THAT HAS A NATURAL FIT WITHIN, UH, THE ACTION ITEM NUMBER SIX.
UH, IT COULD BE A FOUNDATION FOR, UM, CONVERSATIONS THAT WE HAVE IN, IN THE CONTEXT OF BRINGING, UH, APPLICANTS AND AWARDEES TOGETHER TO HAVE THESE CONVERSATIONS IN, IN FACT, YOU KNOW, IF WE CAN, IF WE CAN, UH, USE THEM OUR PAST AWARDEES AND PAST WINNERS TO PROMOTE THIS PROGRAM, IT WOULD ALSO CREATE GREATER DEMAND.
AND WHICH PROBABLY WOULD HELP US TO DO WHAT THE CHAIR KS WAS SAYING EARLIER THAT WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE.
LIKE HE SAID, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE STARTED, IT WAS A HUNDRED THOUSAND YARDS GROWN TO TWO 50 TO 400.
NOW, WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE, I'VE GOT ONE MORE YEAR IN THIS COMMISSION.
I'D LOVE TO SEE BEFORE THE END OF THE COMMISSION THAT WE ROUNDED OUT TO A 500,000 BUDGET.
UM, AND IT, IT PAINS US EVERY YEAR, UH, TO SEE HOW MANY ORGANIZATIONS ARE REQUESTING AND, UH, AND NEEDING FUNDING.
AND EVEN RIGHT NOW IN THE GT OS, YOU KNOW, CORE PATHWAY, AGAIN, WE HAVE THREE TIMES THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS, UH, AS WE HAVE FUNDING SLOTS.
UH, SO THE, THE NEED IS DEFINITELY THERE.
UM, AND I AM, I AM A HUNDRED PERCENT SURE THAT WE'RE NOT REACHING EVERY ORGANIZATION IN THE COMMUNITY THAT IS, UH, IN THIS SPACE.
AND SO, UM, I WOULD DEFINITELY, UH, I DEFINITELY THINK THAT WE NEED TO CONTINUE EFFORTS TO BRING MORE PEOPLE IN.
THANK YOU FOR THOSE QUESTIONS.
UH, NOW I SEE YOUR HAND THERE, UH, COMMISSIONER PEN.
UH, BUT I DO WANT TO GO BACK TO, UH, THE ROOM.
'CAUSE I KNOW COMMISSIONER ALDER HAD SOME QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS.
THANKS FOR THE THOROUGHNESS OVERALL THOUGH, JESSE, APPRECIATE IT.
UM, IN ADDITION TO WHAT, UM, COMMISSIONER SUMIT ASKED, UM, ACTION ITEM THREE, UM, POINT NUMBER ONE, JUST MORE REVIEW FOR BRI BINDER PRINTING TIME, JUST GIVEN THE COSTS AND TIMELINES FOR
[00:55:01]
PRINTING.CURIOUS AS TO WHY WE'RE NEEDING THIS.
SO ALL OF THE, THE REVIEWERS DO HAVE ACCESS TO THE DIGITAL VERSIONS.
UM, AND THIS QUESTION ALWAYS COMES UP.
AND, UH, WHAT WE HAVE FOUND IS THAT, UH, IT'S SUCH A, A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF DOCUMENTATION.
UH, THE BINDERS ARE ABOUT THIS THICK.
WHEN WE MM-HMM,
UM, FOR THE REVIEWERS THAT OPT OUT OF THE, THE PRINTED BINDER, SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK TO US AND ASK FOR IT BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ANY WAY TO TRACK NOTES, UH, AS THEY'RE GOING THROUGH THE DOCUMENTATION.
UM, SO OUR, OUR SOFTWARE, OUR PARTNER GRANTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, UH, THERE'S NOT REALLY A WAY TO NOTARIZE AS YOU'RE GOING THROUGH.
AND SO, UM, THAT'S THE REASON WHY WE STILL PRINT
UM, WE WOULD, WE WOULD LOVE IT IF WE COULD GET, GET OUT OF THAT, BUT, UM, REVIEWERS ARE TELLING US THAT IT'S IMPORTANT, SO WE DON'T WANNA FOREGO IT QUITE YET.
UH, UH, AND, UH, COMMISSIONER PINA VIA, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO COMMISSIONER GARZA.
UH, I JUST HAVE A QUESTION, UH, BUILDING UPON WHAT THE COMMISSIONER DESTA MENTIONED, UM, IN ORDER TO, TO MAKE IT MORE COMPETITIVE FOR DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS, UH, IN THE COMMUNITY, ARE THERE, ARE THERE ANY GUARDRAILS OF, UH, AROUND, UH, REAPPLYING TO THIS PROGRAM, LIKE, UH, MULTIPLE YEARS OR APPLYING TO MULTIPLE, UH, UH, TO, TO THE DIFFERENT, UH, PATHWAYS? YES.
WE, UH, SO LAST, LAST QUESTION FIRST, WE'VE, WE'VE TRIED TO DESIGN THE THREE REMAINING PATHWAYS AS PROGRESSIVE, UH, MEANING, UH, IT, YOU KNOW, WE, WE HAVE A VERY LOW BARRIER TO ENTRY ON GTOP S CAPACITY, WHICH IS OUR SMALLEST AWARD.
UM, A SLIGHTLY HIGHER BARRIER TO ENTRY ON GTOP S MINI.
AND THEN, UH, OUR MOST DIFFICULT TO ACCESS PATHWAY AND IS OUR LARGEST GTOP S CORE.
UM, SO THERE IS A KIND OF A, YOU KNOW, A PATHWAY FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, INTO THE ECOSYSTEM STARTING OFF WITH THE, THE SMALLEST GRANTS AND MOVING UP THE CHAIN THERE.
UM, AND THAT'S PART OF THE DESIGN.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, ENCOURAGE, BRING, BRING IN FOLKS THAT MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO HANDLE A FULL BLOWN CONTRACTING PROCESS, UH, WITH INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS, WHICH IS WHAT GTOP S CORE REQUIRES.
UM, SO WE POINT PEOPLE TO THE SMALLER OPPORTUNITIES.
NOW THAT BEING SAID, ORGANIZATIONS CAN, CAN ENTER AT ANY OF THOSE LEVELS, DEPENDING ON WHAT IT IS THAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR.
UM, AND NOW THAT I SAID LAST, FIRST, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT YOUR, YOUR FIRST QUESTION WAS, IF YOU CAN REMIND ME,
SO IT, IT WAS ABOUT, UH, YES, IT WAS ABOUT, UH, IF, UH, GRANTEES CAN RECEIVE THE APPLICATION MULTIPLE TIMES, UH, AH, YES.
AND, UH, SO FOR OUR LARGEST PATHWAY, GTOP S CORE, UH, ORGANIZATIONS ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE FUNDING THREE TIMES IN A ROLLING FIVE YEAR PERIOD.
UM, AND SO THE WAY THAT, THE REASON WHY WE DO IT THAT WAY IS TO BUILD CHURN.
WE DON'T WANNA FUND THE SAME 10 ORGANIZATIONS EACH YEAR.
SO IF ANY ORGANIZATION IS VERY SUCCESSFUL AND THEY GET FUNDED THREE TIMES IN A ROW, THEY ACTUALLY HAVE TO SIT OUT TWO YEARS BEFORE THEY'RE ELIGIBLE AGAIN.
UM, AND SO THAT IT BUILDS IN SOME, SOME CHURN INTO WHO IS THE, WHO IS GETTING FUNDING.
BUT THAT BEING SAID, ORGANIZATIONS CAN APPLY, UH, YOU KNOW, YEAR OVER YEAR AS LONG AS THEY'RE NOT BECOMING TOO SUCCESSFUL IN KIND OF MONOPOLIZING THE GRANT.
UM, AND THEN FOR THE OTHER PATHWAYS, GTOP S MANY IN GTOP S CAPACITY AT THIS TIME, WE DON'T HAVE ANY, UH, UH, RESTRICTIONS ON YEAR OVER YEAR FUNDING, BUT THOSE ARE ALSO TWO, YOU KNOW, TWO RELATIVELY NEW BRANCHES.
UH, SO WE WE'RE NOT QUITE SURE HOW YEAR OVER YEAR, UH, IS IT THE SAME ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE APPLYING, THAT ARE GETTING FUNDED.
SO IT, THAT'S STILL TO BE DETERMINED.
COMMISSIONER GARZA, YOU HAD A QUESTION AS WELL.
IT IS JUST A SMALL COMMENT BACK TO THE PRINTING AND THEN I'LL LEAVE IT ALONE.
UH, BUT FOR, IF IT'S USEFUL FOR REFERENCE, I'VE BEEN PART OF, UM, GRANT REVIEW COMMITTEES WHERE THE APPLICA VERY RECENTLY, WHERE THE APPLICATIONS ARE INCREDIBLY LONG AND HEFTY AND INCLUDE A LOT OF FINANCIAL, SO DETAIL, AND NOBODY IS GIVEN OR EXPECTING A, A HARD COPY.
NOW, PEOPLE CAN PRINT THEIR OWN IF THEY REALLY WANT A HARD COPY, BUT, UM, FOR A LOT OF GRAND COMMITTEES, PEOPLE JUST DON'T, UH, PRINT COPIES FOR THAT, IF THAT HELPS YOUR, YOUR CASE.
COMMISSIONER GARZA, ESPECIALLY FROM, UH, THE INSIDER'S
[01:00:01]
PERSPECTIVE.UH, I'LL SAY FROM MY PART, UH, THAT, UH, HAVING BEEN INVOLVED FOR THE PAST SEVEN YEARS, UH, AND GOTTEN A BINDER EVERY YEAR, UH, THERE HAVE BEEN, BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE.
I, I'VE GOTTEN THE BINDERS FOR CERTAIN YEARS.
UH, BUT ONCE YOU GET A SYSTEM DOWN WITH EXCEL AND USING, UH, A SOFT COPY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE THE HARD COPY AS MUCH.
IT'S JUST A MATTER OF GETTING THAT FLOW AND GETTING SYSTEM DOWN.
UH, WITH THAT, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, UH, OR, OR FEEDBACK FOR, FOR JESSE HERE RELATED TO THIS, UH, MEMO AND THE GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM 2023 ACTION PLAN.
WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION AND FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK ON THE PROGRAM.
UH, THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS.
LET'S ALL, LET'S ALL GIVE IT UP,
[4. Commission Discussion on Digital Empowerment Community of Austin (DECA) Mission and Structure ]
AHEAD AND PROCEED, UH, TO THE NEXT ITEM ON OUR AGENDA HERE.UH, DISCUSSION ITEMS, NUMBER FOUR, COMMISSION DISCUSSION ON DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT, COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN DECA MISSION AND STRUCTURE.
SO FOR THIS ITEM, I'D LIKE TO SHARE MY SCREEN, AND IT'S JUST GONNA BE A SHARE OF THE WEBSITE, AND WE'LL WALK THROUGH AND TALK THROUGH, UH, DECA AS WELL AS SOME, UH, SOME THINGS, UH, ADDITIONAL RESOURCES THAT JESSE SHARED TODAY, ALONG WITH THE CALENDAR.
UM, BUT BEFORE I DO THAT, I DO WANNA MENTION, UH, PERHAPS AN AUGMENT TO THE RECOMMENDATION, UH, A WAY TO INCLUDE, UH, APPLICANTS THAT AREN'T AWARDEES, UH, PRETTY MUCH, UH, NOT BY DEFAULT, BUT PERHAPS AN OPTION FOR THEM TO OPT INTO DECA AS PART OF THE APPLICATION.
UH, SO THAT WOULD, YEAH, THAT WOULD APPEAR A COUPLE TIMES ACTUALLY IN, IN, IN THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND ONE, THERE'S TWO OPPORTUNITIES THAT I'M THINKING ABOUT.
ONE IS, UH, ALL APPLICANTS, AGAIN, RECEIVE AN EMAIL AT THE END OF THE, YOU KNOW, EACH PROCESS THAT THEY'RE PARTICIPATING IN.
I WOULD LOVE TO INCLUDE, UH, THE DECA WEBSITE AND INFORMATION ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN, IN, UH, DECA EVENTS IN THAT, THAT EMAIL.
UM, AND I'M SURE THAT THERE'S A LOT OF OVERLAP WITH THE GENERAL GTOP S UH, NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES IN, IN THE LARGER DECA SPACE.
SO I THINK BOTH OF THOSE WOULD BE RELEVANT.
GRANT, GRANT, I JUST COULDN'T, THAT JUST CAME TO MIND.
WANTED TO MAKE SURE TO GET THAT OUT THERE.
SO EVERYONE CAN SEE MY SCREEN, HOPEFULLY.
UH, AS JESSE MENTIONED AND REFERRED TO EARLIER, UH, DECA IS THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, AND YOU'LL GET ASKED, UH, IS IT DECA, UH, OR, OR DECA, AND IT'S, IT'S DECA,
AND SO, WITH THAT DEFINITION IN PARTICULAR, I FRANKLY CONSIDER, UH, THIS COMMISSION DECA MEMBERS.
UH, AND AT THE SAME TIME, UH, I WOULD CLEARLY SAY THAT, UH, A VARIETY OF EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, UH, UT, UH, HOUSTON TILLSON, UH, ST.
ED'S HAVE PLAYED THE ROLE OF, OF DECA MEMBERS AS WELL, AND OR ACTIVE DECA MEMBERS.
UH, SAME WITH THE LIST OF NONPROFITS OF VARIOUS STAS AND SIZES.
UH, AND WHAT IT SPEAKS TO IS THE FACT THAT IT'S A VERY ECLECTIC GROUP AND NETWORK.
UH, BUT IT'S BEEN A VERY POWERFUL AND ROBUST ONE.
UH, I KNOW THAT FROM THE BEGINNING WHEN I JOINED AS A COMMISSIONER, I REMEMBER, UH, ESPECIALLY BACK THEN, WE DID A WHOLE LOT MORE IN PERSON THINGS, UH, UH, WHICH I KNOW THAT THEY'RE TURNING AND WORKING TOWARDS DOING MORE OF, UH, WHICH WE HAD TO STOP 'CAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC.
UM, AND IT WAS JUST, YOU KNOW, GREAT KNOWING YOU HAD A, A, A SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR, FOR THESE KINDS OF THINGS.
AND, AND SO THEN SEEING IT OVER TIME, AS THE COMMISSION'S EVOLVED AND, UH, AND, AND THINKING ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS THE COMMISSION HAS DONE, UH, AND, AND WORK THAT WE'VE TRIED TO ACCOMPLISH HERE IN THE DIGITAL INCLUSION SPACE, WE THINK ABOUT AND HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES, UH, AND, AND, AND WHAT DECA COULD BE, AND, OR, UH, HOW IT
[01:05:01]
COULD ADD ADDITIONAL VALUE AND COMPLETE, PERHAPS FILL SOME GAPS THAT WE IDENTIFIED IN THE ECOSYSTEM FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION IN DIFFERENT WAYS.THAT BEING SAID, UH, WE'RE JUST ONE OF A HOST OF X NUMBER OF MEMBERS, AND WHAT I APPRECIATE THAT HAS BEEN DONE AT, UH, THE CONFERENCE CALL LEVEL WITH SUPPORT FROM THE COMMISSION AS WELL AS OTHER DECA MEMBERS, IS A MOVEMENT TOWARDS, UH, CREATING A MORE SLIGHTLY FORMAL STRUCTURE TO BE ABLE TO GET CERTAIN THINGS DONE, LIKE ACTIONS AND, AND VOTES AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
UH, WELL, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE EVERYONE HERE AT THE COMMISSION A CHANCE TO PROVIDE SOME FEEDBACK ON THAT, MAINLY BECAUSE THE WAY WE'RE STRUCTURED, WE HAVE TO AVOID WALKING QUORUMS. SO DECA IS A SPACE WHERE IT HAS BEEN HISTORICALLY LIMITED TO JUST ONE WORKING GROUP, BECAUSE DECA IS ABOUT DIGITAL INCLUSION BY DEFAULT.
IT'S BEEN LIMITED TO THE DIGITAL INCLUSION WORKING GROUP.
UH, BUT IT, IT'S A ROBUST COMMUNITY.
AND BECAUSE OF THE ROLE OF GTOP SI, I FEEL LIKE IT, IT'S AN IMPORTANT TIME FOR US TO ALL OFFER THOUGHTS AND FEEDBACK, UH, RECOGNIZING THAT WE'RE EQUAL MEMBERS JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE, THAT WE DON'T HAVE ANY MORE POWER, UH, PER SE, EVEN THOUGH WE CLEARLY HAVE OUR OWN DISTINCT LEVEL OF POWER.
AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO, TO POINT THAT OUT.
UH, I LIKE TO CALL IT STATURE, BECAUSE WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO IT, POWER IS A FLUID THING.
AND, UH, DEPENDING UPON THE SITUATION, POWER CAN BE REFLECTED AND DEMONSTRATED BY A SMALL ENTITY, BY A LARGE ENTITY OR, OR AN ESTABLISHED ONE LIKE THIS THAT ACTUALLY MAKES, UH, DIRECT RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, THE KEY THING ABOUT US, OF COURSE, IS THAT WE ARE PUBLIC OFFICIALS.
AND, UH, THAT COURSE MEANS A LITTLE BIT MORE, I THINK, IN TERMS OF OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS FIDUCIARIES TO PROCESS AND TO ACT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF OUR COMMUNITY THAT WE SERVE.
UM, IT DOESN'T MEAN, THOUGH, THAT THE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS DON'T HAVE THAT SAME KIND OF STANDARD, UH, BUT IT DOES MEAN THAT THERE'S A DISTINCTION, RIGHT? OTHER ORGANIZATIONS HAVE, ESPECIALLY 5 0 1 C THREES, THEY HAVE BOARDS THAT THEY ANSWER TO, AND THAT'S THE FIRST, UH, IF YOU WILL, THE, THE, THE, THE FIRST GROUP THEY HAVE TO ANSWER TO.
UM, EVEN THOUGH THERE'S SYNERGY AND AN IMPORTANT COLLABORATION AND SERVICE OF THE COMMUNITY, IN OUR CASE, OUR BOARD IS OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, RIGHT? WE ANSWER TO THEM BECAUSE WITHOUT THEIR APPOINTMENT, YOU KNOW? UH, BUT BECAUSE OF THAT OATH, AND AGAIN, BECAUSE OF, UH, WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A PUBLIC OFFICIAL, WE HAVE, UH, OTHER DEMANDS, UH, AND OTHER EXPECTATIONS FOR US.
SO, SCROLLING DOWN HERE, THERE'S MORE HISTORY IN TERMS OF HOW DECA STARTED.
IT, IT, IT ACTUALLY STARTED, UH, IN 2015, THE YEAR BEFORE JESSE AND I BOTH STARTED.
AND HERE WE ARE TODAY, UH, WITH A VERY ROBUST AND ACTIVE, ACTIVE COMMUNITY, UH, THAT SUPPORTS EACH OTHER, THAT SUPPORTS EVENTS, UH, THAT REALLY SHOWS UP FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK, UH, IN PARTICULAR.
UH, AND, AND THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY SO MANY ORGANIZATIONS, UH, WERE ACKNOWLEDGED WITH THEIR WORK FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK AS PART OF DECA AND, AND PART OF THIS ROBUST COMMUNITY, UH, WITH MERRILL PROCLAMATIONS THIS PAST, UH, THIS PAST SUMMER OR, UH, EARLY FALL, I SHOULD SAY.
SO, WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO ACTUALLY PAUSE AND JUST GIVE EVERYONE A CHANCE TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS.
UH, RECOGNIZING AGAIN, THAT WE'RE NOT MAKING ANY FORMAL DECISIONS HERE.
WE'RE JUST GONNA BASICALLY CHAT ABOUT THINGS WE MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS TO BRING TO A DECA CALL FOR DECA TO THEN BE ABLE TO ACT ON AS ITS OWN ENTITY.
UH, AND ONE OF THOSE DISCUSSION POINTS COULD BE WAYS PERHAPS TO EXPAND INVOLVEMENT FROM THE COMMISSION BEYOND JUST THE DIGITAL INCLUSION WORKING GROUP, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, AND I'VE GOT SOME IDEAS, BUT I DON'T WANNA DOMINATE THE CONVERSATION, SO I'D LIKE TO PAUSE AND GIVE ANYONE A CHANCE TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS.
LOOKS LIKE NO IMMEDIATE THOUGHTS.
SO I, I'LL GO AHEAD AND OFFER SOME IDEAS, UH, IN, IN, IN TERMS OF, OF, OF THIS, UH, IN, IN TERMS OF OUR WORKING
[01:10:01]
GROUP DYNAMIC RIGHT NOW.UH, I'M GONNA STOP SHARING MY SCREEN BRIEFLY SO YOU CAN SEE MY FACE.
OH, COMMISSIONER SSTA DOES YOUR HAND UP FOR THIS ONE? YES.
SO, YOU KNOW, THIS RELATES TO THE DISCUSSION WE'VE HAD, UH, LAST MONDAY, FOR INSTANCE, AS TO HOW, WHAT IS THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN DECA AND, UH, THIS INFRASTRUCTURE EFFORT THAT, YOU KNOW, THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN PUSHING AND THERE'S FUNDS COMING OUR WAY.
HOW CAN WE CAPITALIZE ON SOME OF THOSE FUNDS SO THAT WE CAN, UH, PROVIDE GREATER, YOU KNOW, BROADBAND SUPPORT TO THE COMMUNITY THAT HAS EITHER IS UNSERVED OR UNDERSERVED, ET CETERA.
HOW DOES, WHERE, WHERE IS THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN THESE TWO? BECAUSE AS YOU KNOW, THIS IS A TOPIC THAT IS VERY NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART.
UH, IF I UNDERSTAND YOUR QUESTION CORRECTLY, UH, I, I THINK THE INTERSECTION IS, UH, PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD.
BUT THIS DISCUSSION RIGHT NOW IS REALLY FOCUSED ON THE STRUCTURE AND THE MISSION OF DECA.
SO I GUESS IF THE QUESTION IS, UH, HOW DOES DECA SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT, UH, RIGHT, AS AN EXAMPLE, UH, OKAY, THEN I WOULD SAY IT, IT DOES IT PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD, UH, IN, IN TERMS OF IT.
AND, AND AS FAR AS ENCOURAGING COLLABORATION AND PARTNERSHIP CURRENTLY, UM, I THINK THAT, UH, AR ARGUABLY, UH, THE, THE WORK OF THE SUMMIT AND THE COMMISSION, UH, TO BRING TOGETHER STAKEHOLDERS IS ANOTHER KEY WAY.
UM, ALTHOUGH IT'S NOT A OFFICIALLY A, UH, UNIQUELY AND ONLY DECA EVENT, AGAIN, BECAUSE OF THE, THE MEMBERSHIP AND THE BAR FOR BEING CONSIDERED A DECA MEMBER BEING JUST PARTICIPATION, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN THAT, BUT IS YOUR FOLLOW UP THERE, COMMISSIONER KUTA? YEAH, YEAH, I AGREE.
AND, AND IN FACT, YOU USED A, A TERM THAT I WANT TO SORT OF ADD TO IT, IS THAT COULD DECA BE ALSO A BE A PRIME MOVER IN PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS SUCH THAT, UM, UH, ITS MISSION CAN BE, YOU KNOW, ACHIEVED, UH, MORE EASILY.
UH, I THINK THAT, UH, THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD BRING BACK TO THE DECA TEAM AND TALK ABOUT AND SEE HOW DECA MEMBERS FELT ABOUT THAT.
I KNOW THAT FROM MY PART, IT'S, IT'S JUST INTERESTING, UH, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE WHAT PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS WOULD DO FOR ANY 5 0 1 C THREE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED IS GIVE THEM RESOURCES, CAPACITY, UH, YOU KNOW, ADDITIONAL CAPABILITIES.
UH, I, I DON'T SEE TOO MANY NONPROFITS TURNING THEIR BACK ON THAT.
UH, SO IN MY ESTIMATION, THEY WOULD BE VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THAT.
SO THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR THOUGHTS ON THIS ONE? TO MY KNOWLEDGE, GOOGLE'S BEEN THE ONLY PRIVATE ENTITY INVOLVED IN DECA.
IN FACT, UH, DELL TECHNOLOGIES, INDEED.
UH, AND THOSE ARE JUST A COUPLE EXAMPLES.
UH, BUT, BUT THERE ARE, UH, BUT WHEN IT COMES, BUT OBVIOUSLY GOOGLE FIBER IS A DISTINCT YEAH, UH, PRIVATE, UH, ENTITY BECAUSE OF THEM BEING AN ISP AND, AND A COMMUNITY PARTNER, UH, YOU KNOW, THE ANCHOR INSTITUTION CONTRACT.
I MEAN, THERE'S DIFFERENT LAYERS TO THAT.
UH, BUT YEAH, THEY, THEY, THEY DO HAVE SOME COMPANY, AND THEN THEY EVEN HAVE COMPANY, UH, IN THE PROVIDER SPACE THAT JOINS, UH, UH, HUMAN IT, ALTHOUGH THEY'RE A NON-PROFIT, THEIR PROVIDER, UH, AT AND T JUMPS IN EVERY NOW AND THEN AND PARTICIPATES, UH, SAME WITH T-MOBILE, UH, ON THE CALLS.
UM, CHIP, MAY I ASK ANOTHER QUESTION? UH, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
UH, COMMISSIONER SUPTA, UH, I DON'T WANT TO HOG THE CONVERSATION, BUT, UH, IS THERE AN INTERSECTION BETWEEN WHAT DECA IS DOING AND WHAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE OUTREACH, UH, EFFORT THAT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DOES THROUGH ITS, UH, DDC, YOU KNOW, THE DIVISION OF DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT? IS THERE AN INTERSECTION THAT MAYBE THE, THE TWO ORGANIZATION, TWO EFFORTS CAN BE, UH, YOU KNOW, SORT OF BE COOPERATING FOR THE COMMON GOOD? WELL, THERE'S LOTS OF, UH, INTERACTION BETWEEN, UH, THE EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN OUR ECOSYSTEM AND DECA, UH,
[01:15:02]
BUT AGAIN, DECA, AS I I MENTIONED EARLIER, RIGHT NOW, IS AN INFORMAL NETWORK.SO THERE IS NOT ANYTHING FORMAL OR, OR STRUCTURED ABOUT THAT.
WHAT YOU WOULD HAVE IS DIFFERENT DECA MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS WORKING WITH, UH, EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS FOR RESEARCH, LIKE THE CITY OF AUSTIN, FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY DIVISION.
UH, JESSE, DO YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT THAT AND SHARE SOME THOUGHTS? I, I THINK THAT, UM, THE WAY THAT YOU CHARACTERIZED IT IS CORRECT IN THAT, UM, DECA IS A, YOU KNOW, A LOOSE NETWORK OF FOLKS.
UM, IT'S, IT'S NOT A MEMBERSHIP ORGANIZATION.
ANYBODY CAN PARTICIPATE, UM, AND, AND CONSIDER THEMSELVES A DECA MEMBER OR, OR NOT
UM, SO IT'S A LITTLE BIT NEBULOUS.
UH, I, I APPRECIATE THESE QUESTIONS OF HOW DECA INTERACTS WITH OTHER ECOSYSTEMS AND NETWORKS AND ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, AND I, I DON'T THINK THAT THERE'S A COHESIVE ANSWER TO THAT AT THIS MOMENT, BECAUSE, UH, EACH ORGANIZATION IS, UH, YOU KNOW, REPRESENTING, REPRESENTING THEMSELVES INDIVIDUALLY, UM, EVEN THOUGH WE COME TOGETHER AND HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHAT WE'RE ALL DOING FROM A DIGITAL EQUITY PERSPECTIVE AND HOW WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO COLLABORATE.
SO, UH, THERE, THERE'S DEFINITELY ALWAYS MORE WAYS THAT WE CAN, UM, WE CAN DO MORE, UH, ENGAGE MORE, UH, WITH EACH OTHER, UH, ENGAGE MORE WITH FOLKS THAT WE'RE NOT CURRENTLY ENGAGING WITH.
UM, ONE OF THE STRENGTHS THOUGH, OF DECA IS THAT IT IS SO NIMBLE OF, OF AN ASSOCIATION.
UM, AND SO, UH, WE DON'T REALLY HAVE A, YOU KNOW, A GOVERNING WE BODY OR STRUCTURE OR, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WE'VE, WE, WE JUST AT OUR LAST MEETING ADOPTED A SYSTEM OF VOTING
UH, SO, UH, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT ANSWERS THE QUESTION, BUT
YOU SAID IT IS SORT OF LIKE A LOOSE, YOU KNOW, ASSOCIATION SHOULD IT BE FORMALIZED TO GIVE IT MORE STRENGTH TO GIVE IT MORE TEETH? WE, WE'VE FLOATED THAT IDEA IN THE PAST, UH, AND, AND THE FEEDBACK THAT WE GOT IS THAT THE PARTICIPATING ENTITIES ARE ACTUALLY REALLY, UH, MORE IN FAVOR OF THE, THE LOOSE ASSOCIATION, UH, AND, AND DON'T WANT US TO ADD MORE STRUCTURE.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE FLEXIBILITY OF, OF ASSOCIATION AND MOVEMENT AND THE EASE OF PARTICIPATING, UH, WHEN, WHEN YOUR CAPACITY OPENS UP, AND THEN WHEN YOUR CAPACITY DOESN'T, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU KNOW, NOT, NOT BEING, FEELING AN OBLIGATION TO, TO, TO ATTEND.
UH, FOLKS HAVE JUST APPRECIATED THAT.
UM, I, I DO THINK THAT THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY DACA IS ONE OF THE LONGEST STANDING, UH, UH, UH, DIGITAL EQUITY, LOCAL DIGITAL EQUITY, UH, NETWORKS, YOU KNOW, IN, IN THE NATION.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE FIELD A LOT OF CALLS FROM OTHER CITIES, UH, WHO ARE PART OF THE NATIONAL DIGITAL INCLUSION ALLIANCE, ASKING ABOUT, UH, DECA AND HOW WE KEEP THINGS TOGETHER AND RUNNING.
AND, AND ONE OF THE, THE, THE THINGS THAT KEEPS US TOGETHER AND RUNNING IS THAT THERE'S SUCH A FLEXIBILITY OF, UH, YOU KNOW, WHO WE ARE, WHAT WE DO, AND, UH, HOW OFTEN WE MEET AND, AND HOW WE ENGAGE WITH EACH OTHER,
UH, AND SO IT IS WHAT WE MAKE OF IT.
UM, SO I, UH, I, I THINK THAT IS A STRENGTH THAT DOES OFFER UNIQUE CHALLENGES IN TERMS OF SETTING, UH, UH, YOU USING DECA OR DECA, UH, YOU KNOW, ENGAGING AND, AND DOING THINGS DIRECTLY.
UM, BUT WE CAN SUPPORT EACH OTHER, UH, IN OUR INDEPENDENT INITIATIVES QUITE, QUITE WELL AND NOT QUITE NICELY AND, AND FLEXIBLY THROUGH, THROUGH THIS MEDIUM.
COMMISSIONER SUPTA, UH, COMMISSIONER GARZA, DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION HERE? I, I WASN'T SURE IF YOU WERE OKAY.
UH, I THINK THAT'S A GOOD PLACE TO END WITH THAT PIECE O OF, OF, OF THE CONVERSATION.
I KNOW THAT, UH, THE ONE THING THAT I, I, I DO WANT TO SAY, AND IT DOES RELATE TO WHAT, WHAT JESSE JUST STATED, IS PERFORMANCE, UH, YOU KNOW, EFFECTIVENESS, UM, AND OTHER MEASURES ARE, UH, SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO QUANTIFY, UH, IF THERE ISN'T MORE, UH, YOU KNOW, FORMAL DATA POINTS, UH, YOU KNOW, BUT, YOU KNOW, AND SO I GUESS YOU, ONE COULD JOKE THAT IF, IF THERE'S NO, UH, BAR FOR WHAT PARTICIPATION IS, UH, YOU COULD CLAIM SUCCESS EVERY YEAR, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR ANY ORGANIZATION, RIGHT? UH, IF YOU DON'T DEFINE WHAT SUCCESS IS, UH, YOU KNOW, IF, IF JUST BEING ABLE TO SAY YOU'RE STILL FUNCTIONING MEANS YOU'RE STILL DOING YOUR THING, THAT'S ONE THING.
[01:20:01]
BUT WE KNOW IN THIS CASE, UH, WE'VE HAD BASICALLY A LOOSE STRUCTURE WHILE ALSO SHOWING AND DEMONSTRATING AS A COMMUNITY YEAR OVER YEAR, UH, THE, THE IMPACTS OF COLLABORATION, RIGHT? SO THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING, UH, SO TO SPEAK, EVEN IF THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN, IT, IT, IT SPEAKS TO THE MAXIMUM POTENTIAL, RIGHT? AND, AND THAT'S THE REASON WHY I PUT THIS ON THE AGENDA, UH, NOT TO SUGGEST THAT SOMETHING EARTH SHATTERING HAD TO HAPPEN, BUT JUST TO GET US THINKING ABOUT WHAT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE ART OF THE POSSIBLE AND, AND WHAT WE COULD POTENTIALLY ACHIEVE, UH, WITH DECA IF WE WANTED TO.AND IF WHAT WE WERE LOOKING TO POTENTIALLY ACHIEVE WITH DECA IS NOT DESIRED BY DECA MEMBERS, THEN IT MEANS THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY PERHAPS FOR CAPACITY OR, OR FOR THAT GAP TO BE FILLED SOME OTHER WAY, UH, RIGHT? UH, AND THE FACT THAT WE NOW HAVE, UH, A STATE BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE FUND, UH, IS WONDERFUL.
UH, IF ONLY WE ALSO HAD A STATE BROADBAND EQUITY FUND, RIGHT?
SINCE EQUITY'S NOT A GREAT WORD, UH, TO BE USED BY OUR STATE LEDGE.
UH, BUT THAT BEING SAID, IT, IT'S STILL ALL ABOUT WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER.
AND SO, ULTIMATELY, JUST WANTED TO, TO SAY THAT.
SO, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR THOUGHTS ABOUT A DECA BEFORE WE MOVE ON? UH, HERE? I THINK WE'VE KIND OF, WE'VE, WE'VE IDEATED A LITTLE BIT ON THIS.
AND, AND AGAIN, THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THAT WASN'T MEANT TO HAVE AT VOTING ACTION TODAY, BUT JUST TO GET PEOPLE THINKING, UH, ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES.
AND SO, UH, FEEL FREE TO COME BACK WITH ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS.
LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON FORWARD IN OUR AGENDA, THEN.
[5. Commission Discussion of Digital Inclusion Ecosystem Stakeholder Summit and alignment with Federal Digital Equity Plan and State Digital Opportunity Plan calls for public comment ]
FIVE, COMMISSION DISCUSSION ON THE DIGITAL INCLUSION ECOSYSTEM STAKEHOLDER SUMMIT, AND ALIGNMENT WITH THE FEDERAL DIGITAL EQUITY PLAN AND STATE DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY PLAN CALLS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.UH, SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA SHARE MY SCREEN AGAIN, UH, BUT I'M GONNA BEGIN BY SHARING SOME BACKGROUND, UH, FOR THE NEW COMMISSIONERS ESPECIALLY.
SO IN 2000, UH, BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, I WANNA SAY IT WAS 2018.
UH, AND I, I DON'T HAVE TO GUESS, UH, WHEN I SHARE MY SCREEN, I'LL BE ABLE TO LEVEL SET.
THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE, EVERYBODY HERE.
I'M NOT GONNA SPEND ANY MORE CYCLES HERE, UH, ON THE, ON, UH, SCREEN SHARING, BUT JUST TALKING THROUGH IT, UH, NO, I DO WANNA SHARE.
I SEE WEBEX IS DEFAULTING ON, WHICH, WHICH BROWSER IT WANTS TO SHARE FROM, AS OPPOSED TO JUST SHARING FROM EVERY BROWSER SO THAT THERE LIES THE PROBLEM.
SO I'M GONNA STOP THAT ONE LAST TIME.
SO, UH, IT WAS A CONCEPT THAT, UH, BEGAN REALLY BACK IN, UH, 2019.
UH, BEFORE THAT, WHAT WE DID IS, AS A COMMISSION, WE RECOGNIZED SOME CHALLENGES.
WE WERE HAVING, UH, YOU KNOW, WE WE'RE OPERATING WITH A, IN A SPACE THAT, AS WE JUST GOT THROUGH DISCUSSING, IS GREATLY IMPACTED BY THE STATE, BY, BY THE FED AND OTHER DYNAMICS.
UH, WE WERE OFTEN PUT IN A SITUATION WHERE WE WERE HAVING TO REACT TO POLICIES AFTER THE FACT, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, FEELING LIKE WE WERE CAUGHT, UH, UNPREPARED, FRANKLY.
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AND, AND IN ADDITION TO THAT TIMING ISSUE, UH, BECAUSE OF FEDERATED MODELS FOR DECISION MAKING, UH, AND HOW THAT IMPACTS OTHER THINGS, IT JUST SEEMED LIKE IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO BREAK DOWN SILOS THAT, YOU KNOW, REAL SOLUTIONS FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION REQUIRED PEOPLE THINK COLLABORATIVELY TO THINK, UH, BEYOND JUST THEIR OWN FOUR WALLS AND, AND OFTENTIMES BEYOND, BEYOND THEIR OWN SECTOR IN ORDER TO REALLY BE ABLE TO GET THINGS DONE.UH, AND, AND THEN WE STARTED TO, TO REALLY IDENTIFY, UH, THE SPACE OF DIGITAL INCLUSION AS AN ECOSYSTEM THAT NEEDED TO BE, UH, THOUGHT OF STRATEGICALLY AND, AND HOW TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER, UH, WITH THE INTERSECTIONS IN MIND, UH, TO BE ABLE TO ADDRESS SOLUTIONS CREATIVELY.
AND SO, UH, WE WENT TO A CONVENING OF DECA, UH, WHICH INCLUDED ONLY A FEW COMMISSIONERS AS IT COULD.
AND, AND I THINK ONE, OR ONE OR TWO OTHER COMMISSIONERS, UH, UH, THERE WAS OTHER DECA MEMBERS THOUGH, THOUGH, UH, A VARIETY OF NONPROFITS, AND THERE WAS BROAD SUPPORT FOR PRODUCING A, A STAKEHOLDER SUMMIT.
AND, UH, AT THAT TIME, BECAUSE WE WERE FOCUSED COLLECTIVELY ON DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK, IT MADE SENSE TO THEN TRY TO PUSH FOR DOING AN EVENT DURING DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK.
UH, AND SO, UH, THAT'S WHAT WE SET OUT TO DO.
UH, BUT THEN THE PANDEMIC HAPPENED, RIGHT? SO THEN WE LOOKED AT POTENTIALLY TRYING TO DO SOMETHING ONLINE, UH, AND THEN WE DECIDED TO WAIT TO TRY TO DO IT THIS YEAR.
UH, AND WE STARTED A PLANNING PROCESS FOR THAT, UH, EARLY THIS SPRING, UH, ALONG WITH A, A WHOLE HOST OF, UH, OF DECA MEMBERS, UH, WITH THE GOAL OF PRODUCING AN EVENT, UH, DURING DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK TO START AND LAUNCH THE WEEK.
UH, WE WERE DELIGHTED TO HAVE SUPPORT FROM, UH, DELL TECHNOLOGIES AND INDEED TO HOST THE EVENT AT THE MOODY THEATER TO, UH, AND, UH, WE WERE ALL IN, IN TERMS OF THAT PROCESS, UH, MEETING, UH, BIWEEKLY, UH, TWO SITE VISITS, UH, WITH THE GROUP ONE, UH, JUST INDIVIDUALLY TO THE MOODY CENTER.
UH, A, I'M NOT SURE I'VE LOST TRACK OF HOW MANY ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS.
UH, BUT THAT BEING SAID, WE RAN INTO A CHALLENGE, UH, WHEN, A COUPLE OF WEEKS OUT, UH, OF THE EVENT, WE HAD TO CHANGE THE VENUE, UH, BECAUSE WE, FRANKLY, WE WEREN'T ABLE TO SATISFY, UH, AND UNDERSTANDABLY SO, A, A PRE-REGISTRATION ATTENDANCE COUNT, UH, THAT MADE OUR, OUR SPONSORS FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH SECURING THE MOODY SPACE.
AND SO, UH, WE DECIDED TO BASICALLY USE THAT DAY TO HOST A LAUNCH EVENT, UH, AND TO BRING TOGETHER OUR SPEAKERS, WHICH WERE CONFIRMED, UH, TO NETWORK AND TO MEET, BUT THEN TO FOCUS ON A NEW DATE.
AND WE WANTED THAT DATE TO, TO BE A STRATEGIC DATE, UH, IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO, TO JUSTIFY NOT JUST THE CHANGE, BUT PERHAPS TO EVEN, UH, DELIVER MORE WITH THAT DATE.
AND WE FOUND THAT IN THE NEXUS OF THE CALL TO ACTION.
WE HAD ORIGINALLY PLANNED FOR THIS EVENT AROUND COLLABORATION, PARTNERSHIP, AND CELEBRATION OF SUCCESSES, AND A CALL TO ACTION FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, BECAUSE WE WERE ADVISED, UH, FROM AN INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE, UH, THAT THE FEDERAL DIGITAL EQUITY PLAN AND THE STATE DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY PLAN WERE GOING TO BE RELEASED FROM A TIMING STANDPOINT, WHERE IF OUR EVENT OCCURRED ON THE 1ST OF DECEMBER, WE COULD ADD AND ENCOURAGE COORDINATED COMMENTS TO, IN RESPONSE TO THOSE PLANS.
AND SO THAT MADE THE, THE, THE DECEMBER 1ST DATE, UH, REALLY AN IDEAL BACKUP DATE.
WE SURVEYED THE GROUP, UH, OF, AT THAT TIME, ACTIVE PLANNING TEAM MEMBERS, AND THAT WAS THE DATE THAT WAS MOST SUPPORTED, UH, IN ADDITION TO THE SUPPORT FOR OTHER CHANGES.
UH, SO BECAUSE OF THE, UH, THE, THE EXPENSES INVOLVED AND BEEN ACTUALLY HOSTING AN EVENT AT THE MOODY THEATER, AT THE MOODY THEATER, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE BEING ONE OF THOSE LARGEST ONES, UH, WE STARTED LOOKING AT OTHER LOCATIONS.
WE ACTUALLY GOT QUOTES FROM AUSTIN PBS, UH, AND FROM THE AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY.
UH, AND, UH, WHEN IT CAME DOWN TO IT, UH, THE AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY WAS, UH, A WONDERFUL PARTNER IN BEING AN IN-KIND SPONSOR IN DONATING THE SPACE FOR THE EVENT.
SO, EVEN THOUGH WE STILL HAVE A GREAT PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY IN, IN FRONT OF US WITH, UH, AUSTIN PBS,
[01:30:01]
WHICH THEY'RE OPEN TO, UH, AFTER MEETING WITH, UH, THEIR COMMUNITY, UH, DEVELOPMENT, UH, DIRECTOR, UH, WE'LL BE HOSTING THE EVENT, UH, AT THE AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY SPECIAL EVENT CENTER.AND AS IS INDICATED, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT THE KEY THING REALLY IS TO EDUCATE THE PARTICIPANTS ABOUT THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND TO SHINE A SPOTLIGHT, UH, BLESS YOU ON ORGANIZATIONS, UH, DEDICATED TO ACHIEVING DIGITAL INCLUSION HERE IN, IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
AND AN EVENT LIKE THIS HASN'T BEEN DONE BEFORE, BUT YOU KNOW, THE, THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE IS TO, TO REALLY GET ALIGNMENT WITH OBJECTIVES AND, UH, STRATEGIES, UH, TO BE ABLE TO HAVE MORE IMPACT, UH, AND, AND THEN IN PARTICULAR, TO ENABLE FRESH PARTNERSHIPS AND, AND, UH, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, UH, PHILANTHROPIC PARTNERSHIPS, EVEN AS WAS DESCRIBED EARLIER, UH, BY COMMISSIONER DASS GUPTA.
BUT THE KEY THING IS NOW THAT IT'S ALSO DIRECTLY TIED TO PUBLIC COMMENT, UH, THE KEY THING BEING THAT EVERY COMMENT HAS TO BE RESPONDED TO, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENCOURAGE INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS TO DO SOMETHING WHICH OUR COMMISSION IS INTENDED TO DO, AND THAT'S PROMOTE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT BEYOND JUST DIGITAL INCLUSION, WHICH IS, OF COURSE, A, A MAJOR FOCUS OF OURS AS WELL.
UM, ALL FOCUSED ON OUR MISSION TO ENCOURAGE AND PROMOTE FUNDING FOR DIGITAL INCLUSION AND FOR, UH, EQUITABLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND, UH, TECHNOLOGY SERVICES.
UH, AND SO IT'S REALLY CAME TO A GREAT FIT.
I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IT, BECAUSE THE WAY IT'S GOING TO UNFOLD, UH, IS IT'S, IT'S REALLY, IT IS REALLY EXCITING.
I, I, I, I SEE IT, UH, IT'S BEEN TALKED ABOUT AS WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY POTENTIALLY TO ENCOURAGE, LIKE A, UH, A MAD LIB, UH, APPROACH TO PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, THAT'S OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, FILL IN THE BLANK, BECAUSE THAT'S ULTIMATELY WHAT THE PUBLIC COMMENT, UH, IS.
YOU KNOW, THEY, IF YOU'VE SEEN THEM, UH, THERE'S LITERALLY, YOU KNOW, A BOX THAT EXPANDS.
IT'S VERY MUCH LIKE A GRANT, UH, BECAUSE IT'S WRITTEN THAT WAY, BUT DIRECTLY TIED NUMBER BY NUMBER.
UH, YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT TO EACH SECTION.
AND WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO IS TO LEVERAGE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE DIRECT GUIDANCE.
SO AT OUR EVENT, UH, WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO HAVE JENNIFER HARRIS, THE, THE FEDERAL PROGRAM OFFICER SPEAK, UH, TO REQUEST THOSE SUBMISSIONS AND TO OFFER GUIDANCE.
THERE'S ACTUALLY GONNA BE SOME WORK SHOPPING THAT TAKES PLACE AT THE SUMMIT TO WALK THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
UH, WHILE IN ADDITION TO THAT, THERE'S GONNA BE PROGRAMMING FROM DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS.
UH, WE'RE GONNA FOCUS ON FUNDING, OF COURSE, AS THIS IS A, UH, A FUNDING MOMENT, UH, WE'RE GONNA BE FOCUSED ON, UH, DIGITAL INCLUSION RESEARCH, DATA AND POLICY, UH, INCLUSIVE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, UH, SMART CITIES, AND ALL WHAT THAT MEANS IN TERMS OF AI, PRIVACY, RESILIENCE, AND THEN, UH, ONCE MORE PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, UH, AND INNOVATION, AND GENERALLY FOR EQUITY.
THIS GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF LIKE THE EVENT SET UP AND HOW IT'S GONNA LOOK, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR THOSE THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO IMAGINE WHAT IT'S GONNA BE LIKE TO BE AT THE, AT THE LIBRARY, RIGHT? WE'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, IN FACT, THIS IS A GOOD CHANCE FOR SOME CALL AND RESPONSE.
UH, WHO ALL HAS BEEN TO THE, UH, SPECIAL EVENT CENTER AT THE MAIN LIBRARY DOWNTOWN? NO, ONLINE COMMISSIONER, UH, GARZA, WHO, WHO'S BEEN TO THE MAIN LIBRARY DOWNTOWN? OKAY.
SO WE'VE ALL BEEN TO THE MAIN LIBRARY.
SO THE SPECIAL EVENT CENTER IS BASICALLY THE GROUND FLOOR.
IF YOU COME UP FROM CESAR CHAVEZ, YOU ACTUALLY KIND OF WALK RIGHT BY THE SPECIAL EVENT CENTER, IF YOU GO UP THE, THE STAIRWELL, RIGHT? SO THAT BIG, UH, YOU KNOW, THE BIG, UH, GLASS, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE SECTION THAT TURNS INTO WALLER CREEK, I BELIEVE IT'S WALLER CREEK RIGHT THERE, RIGHT? UH, THAT'S ALL THE SPECIAL EVENT CENTER.
YOU GUYS KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT? IN FACT, SO ON, ON THE WALLER CREEK SIDE, WHERE THE BIKE RACKS ARE, UH, THE SPECIAL EVENT CENTER LOOKS OUT THERE, RIGHT? SO YOU ALL JUST KINDA WALKED RIGHT BY THE SPECIAL EVENT CENTER AND JUST DIDN'T REALIZE IT, RIGHT? BUT THAT'S, BUT THAT'S THE SPACE
[01:35:01]
I'M TALKING ABOUT.SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE SCHEMATIC HERE, IT SHOWS YOU CESAR CHAVEZ STREET AND HOW, YOU KNOW, THE BANQUET HALL IS SET UP.
BUT THEN WE'LL HAVE THESE AREAS ON THE TWO OPPOSING WALLS THERE NEXT TO THE STAGE.
UH, I'M SHARING MY SCREEN, SO YOU SEE MY MOUSE KIND OF DIRECTING YOU, BUT, UH, LET'S GET TO WHERE WE NEED TO BE.
OVER HERE FOR THE BREAKOUT EASELS HERE, AND THEN HERE, AND THEN THAT'S FOR THE PROGRAM ITSELF.
UH, THE EVENT BEGINS WITH NETWORKING AND BREAKFAST, RIGHT? SO WE'LL COME IN THE ENTRANCE HERE, ENGAGE, THERE'LL BE THE DECA EXHIBITOR SHOWCASE AND THE GRAB AND GO, UH, BREAKFAST IS THERE.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S ESPECIALLY EXCITING CONSIDERING THAT WE, WE HAVE ANOTHER WIN WITH THE PASSAGE OF PROPOSITION EIGHT, RIGHT? UH, BECAUSE WHAT THAT MEANS IS, UH, THERE'S GONNA BE ANOTHER RESONANT BULLET POINT FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO ENGAGE IN THE OUTREACH.
UH, THAT HAS TO BE ADDED TO OUR COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, UH, ABOUT THAT.
BECAUSE WHEN IT COMES TO INFRASTRUCTURE IN PARTICULAR, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS ARE, ARE DEFINITELY AN ANGLE FOR, UH, EXPANDING ACCESS AND, AND SERVICES.
SO, WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO PAUSE AND SEE IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS.
I DON'T SEE ANY, I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA STOP SHARING HERE.
OH, C COMMISSIONER, ASK TO PLEASE GO RIGHT AHEAD.
LEMME GO BACK TO THE SLIDE, TOO.
WE CAN'T HEAR YOU, BUT, UH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? I THINK YOU'RE MUTED RIGHT NOW.
UH, NO, I JUST HAVE A VERY QUICK QUESTION.
UH, UH, WHO ELSE IS REGISTERED FOR THIS, FOR THIS SUMMIT? UH, I KNOW YOU AND I ARE, UH, ANYBODY ELSE?
UH, THAT'S A, THAT'S A, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
UH, UH, I WAS, UH, I CAN SAY FOR MYSELF THAT, UH, I, VICE CHAIR AKA, HAS REGISTERED, UH, I KNOW THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IS HOW, ALTHOUGH THIS WOULD MAKE SENSE TO BE A PUBLIC INTEREST ANNOUNCEMENT TYPE EVENT, WE'RE CLEARLY CONDUCTING BUSINESS.
UM, IT'S JUST NOT UNIQUELY COMMISSIONED BUSINESS, IT'S JUST DIGITAL INCLUSION BUSINESS, RIGHT? WE'RE NOT DOING COMMISSION VOTING ACTIONS, WE'RE NOT DOING COMMISSION.
UH, WE MAY, WE MAY ARRIVE AT SOME, MIGHT DISCUSS SOME THINGS THAT LEAD TO VOTING ACTIONS, BUT WE WON'T BE DOING ANY ACTUAL OUTRIGHT BUSINESS.
SO, UH, BEFORE WE PUT THE, THE, WE GO FURTHER DOWN THAT PATH OF WHO'S GONNA ATTEND OR, OR WHO WE CAN CONFIRM, WE'LL ATTEND.
I'D LIKE TO GET JESSE'S THOUGHTS ON HOW WE COULD POTENTIALLY GET THIS TO, TO MADE INTO AN EVENT THAT EVERYBODY CAN PARTICIPATE IN.
I, YEAH, I, I THINK THAT THIS WOULD ANY WAY SLICE IT.
WE WOULD PROBABLY HAVE TO POST THIS AS A PUBLIC INTEREST ANNOUNCEMENT, WHICH WOULD ALLOW ANY OF, ANY NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS TO PARTICIPATE.
UM, AND I, SO, SO I GUESS THE, I I CAN'T SAY MORE THAN THAT, BUT WE WOULD HAVE TO FILE A, UH, PUBLIC INTEREST ANNOUNCEMENT AND MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WE GET A THUMBS UP,
SO THAT, SO, SO THAT'S GONNA PARTIALLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, COMMISSIONER SUPTA.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT WAS A LOADED QUESTION, AND JESSE JUST ANSWERED IT BECAUSE I HATE TO HAVE A QUORUM OR A WALKING QUORUM, AND WE'RE WALKING IN THERE UNLESS YOU PROVIDE, UH, MASKS, WE PUT ON MASKS, SO NOBODY KNOWS
UM, BUT I KNOW THAT AS CHAIR, I WOULD BE DERELICT IN MY RESPONSIBILITIES IF I LET US INTO A WALKING QUORUM.
UH, TWO, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO DO, BEST CASE, WE'RE ALL THERE, UH, YOU KNOW, AND SO IT JUST BECOMES A QUESTION OF WHETHER OR NOT WE CAN MAKE IT THAT WAY.
SO, WITH THAT, UH, THIS IS OFFICIALLY THE REQUEST THAT, TO PUT THAT IN MOTION.
UH, BUT WITH THAT BEING SAID, WE KNOW THAT THE DIGITAL INCLUSION WORKING GROUP, UH, CAN PARTICIPATE, BUT BECAUSE THE, NOT, BUT, AND BECAUSE THERE'S, UH, A COUPLE OPENINGS IN THAT, IT MEANS THEN, UH, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, SPACE FOR ADDITIONAL COMMISSIONERS, UH, TO PARTICIPATE.
UH, BUT WE'RE GONNA SPEAK ON THAT IN THE WORKING GROUP PORTION A LITTLE BIT, UH, OF, OF THE, UH, CONVERSATION AND THEN TALK ABOUT THE WORKING GROUPS
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BRIEFLY.UH, AND, AND THEN MAYBE THAT WORKING GROUP MEMBERSHIP WILL CHANGE, UH, AND, AND GET MORE FORMALIZED.
REAL QUICKLY, I JUST A QUESTION FOR JESS, JUST SO THAT WE'RE ALL CLEAR.
WHAT IS THE ACTUAL PROCESS TO, UM, TO REQUEST THAT STATUS FOR THE EVENT? DOES IT GO TO THE CLERK'S OFFICE? DOES IT GET POSTED PUBLICLY? JUST TACTICALLY? SO, YEAH, THANK, THANKS FOR THE QUESTION.
UH, THERE'S, THERE'S A COUPLE THINGS THAT I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT TO KNOW HOW THIS IS GONNA, UH, YOU KNOW, IF, IF WE'RE GONNA GET AUTHORIZATION OR NOT.
BUT THE, THE PROCESS IS THAT, UH, WE WOULD, UH, GENERATE A PUBLIC INTEREST ANNOUNCEMENT POSTING THAT, UH, WE WOULD, UH, VET WITH THE CLERK'S OFFICE, AND, UH, WE WOULD LIKELY HAVE TO DESCRIBE THE EVENT TO, TO THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
WHAT I DON'T KNOW IS, UM, UH, WHAT I RECALL ABOUT, UH, UH, WALKING QUORUM ISSUES THAT WE WOULD BE TRYING TO AVOID IS THERE MIGHT BE A CONCERN OVER, AS CHAIR PITTS MENTIONED, IS THIS TOO CLOSE TO TO COMMISSION BUSINESS? UH, IF IT'S, IF IT'S DEFINED AS COMMISSION BUSINESS, THEN IT ACTUALLY HAS TO BE POSTED AS A COMMISSION MEETING, NOT A COMMUNITY INTEREST ANNOUNCEMENT.
AND IF IT'S A COMMUNITY, IF IT'S A COMMISSION MEETING, THEN ALL OF THE COMMISSIONERS CAN PARTICIPATE.
UM, IF IT, UH, IF WE, FOR WHATEVER REASON, CAN'T, OR DON'T WANT THAT TO BE A COMMISSION MEETING, UH, THEN ONLY A SUB QUORUM OF THE COMMISSION WOULD BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE.
UM, AND SO I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT WHAT THE, THE RULES ARE TO KNOW WHICH WAY THAT'S GONNA GO, BUT THAT, THAT IS GONNA BE SOMETHING WE HAVE TO WORK THROUGH WITH THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
WELL, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS THERE, UH, BEFORE WE KIND OF START TALKING ABOUT THE, UH, MEMBERSHIP AND, AND OTHER THINGS LATER, WE'RE GONNA MOVE FORWARD IN THE AGENDA HERE SHORTLY.
BUT, UH, THE ONE THING I DO WANNA MENTION, THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT ACTUALLY.
NOW, UH, BEFORE WE PROCEED, UH, AS IT RELATES TO THIS, UH, AND I, I DO WANNA SHARE A DIFFERENT SCREEN FOR THAT AS WELL.
UH, SO THIS SLIDE IS HELPFUL, UH, TO TALK THROUGH THIS.
SO THIS EVENT IS BEING FISCALLY SPONSORED BY US IGNITE INCORPORATED, AND THERE ARE 5 0 1 C THREE AND, UH, THERE, UH, BASED IN DC BUT THEY HAVE LOCAL PRESENCE AND HAVE BEEN HERE FOR SOME TIME.
UH, AND THEY ALSO, UH, ARE VERY ACTIVE, UH, NATIONWIDE IN, IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT, UH, COMMUNITIES.
UH, SO A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR KNOWLEDGE, UH, SHARE AND, AND BEST PRACTICES, UH, SHARING.
BUT THE, THE KEY THING IS, UH, THEY'RE THE ONES WHO ARE SIGNING ALL THE CONTRACTS.
UH, THEY'RE THE ONES WHO ARE, UH, UH, EFFECTIVELY ASSUMING THE RISK, UH, OF ANYTHING FINANCIALLY, UH, AS WE'RE JUST MAKING THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, AS THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCTION PRODUCTION TEAM, YES, UH, DIRECTLY NEGOTIATING, UH, THE CONTRACTS, BUT THEY'RE THE ONES SIGNING THEM.
UH, AND WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT A WHOLE LOT OF CONTRACTS, BY THE WAY.
UH, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE CONTRACT FOR THE FACILITY, WHICH IS DIRECTLY WITH THE AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A CONTRACT FOR FOOD SERVICE, UH, WHICH IS GONNA BE WITH, UH, UH, THREE CHICKS, SOUL FOOD, A RECOMMENDATION MADE BY THE LIBRARY, UH, UH, FEMALE OWNED, MINORITY, MINORITY OWNED BUSINESS, UH, THAT HAD THE BEST QUOTE.
UH, IT'S GOING TO BE, UH, A, A CONTRACT WITH THEIR RECOMMENDATION FOR PRINT SERVICES.
ALSO, UH, WAITING TO HEAR BACK FROM THEM.
THERE'S ANOTHER, UH, TWO ON THAT LIST.
UH, BUT THAT'S ALL THAT THERE REALLY IS TO IT.
UM, AND IT ALSO, THANKFULLY, AS INCLUDES IN KIND AND FINANCIAL SPONSORS.
SO THE ALSO PUBLIC LIBRARY HAS BEEN A WONDERFUL IN-KIND SPONSOR, UH, AND A SIGNIFICANT ONE IN GIVING US THE SPACE.
UH, THE RGK CENTER FOR PHILANTHROPY AND COMMUNITY SERVICE, UH, WAS A FINANCIAL AND IN-KIND SPONSOR FINANCIALLY.
UH, THEY PROVIDED A THOUSAND DOLLARS, UH, TO BE USED FOR THE LAUNCH AND OR THIS EVENT, UH, WE USED, I THINK, LIKE 400 FOR PARKING AND FOR SNACKS AT THE LAUNCH RECEPTION, UH, THAT I KNOW JESSE AND DAN ATTENDED.
[01:45:01]
AND THE REST, THEY'RE PUSHING TOWARDS, UH, THE SUMMIT.UH, GOOGLE FIBER, UH, COMMITTED TO $2,500 FOR THE SUMMIT.
AND I THEN HAD A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN MICHAEL CORTEZ, UH, EXPLAINING HOW WE PIVOTED TOWARDS THE LAUNCH AND THE NEW VENUE.
AND, UH, HE WAS FINE WITH PUSHING THE FUNDS TOWARDS THE NEW, NEW DATE AND LOCATION.
WE'RE JUST WORKING THROUGH THE PROCESS OF GETTING US IGNITE FORMALIZED IN GOOGLE FIBER'S VENDOR SYSTEM SO THEY CAN ACTUALLY SEND THEM THE CHECK.
AND THAT'S IN THE PROCESS, ALL IN THE WORKS.
UH, BUT, UH, THEY'RE, IT'S IS STILL A CALL FOR ADDITIONAL SPONSORS.
AND, YOU KNOW, UH, DEFINITELY DON'T WANT TO USE TIME HERE TODAY GOING INTO THAT.
BUT WHAT I DO WANT IS TO BE ABLE TO SHARE ALL THIS INFORMATION WITH ALL THE COMMISSIONERS.
SO EVEN IF WE HAVE TO JUMP THROUGH SOME HOOPS AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T HAVE A WALKING QUORUM, AND, AND IT'S SUCH THAT WE CAN'T ALL POTENTIALLY ATTEND, UH, THIS IS THE KIND OF EVENT THAT I HOPE THAT WE'RE ALL STILL COMFORTABLE PROMOTING, UH, RIGHT, AND ENCOURAGING OUR NETWORKS TO PARTICIPATE IN.
UH, THE, THE KEY THING IS INTERSECTIONALITY.
UH, RIGHT? UH, I KNOW THAT THE WHOLE MESSAGE REALLY IS, IF YOU DON'T SEE YOURSELF ON THIS LIST, THEN INSERT YOUR NAME
THE QUESTION IS WHETHER OR NOT YOU KNOW IT OR NOT, THAT THAT'S WHAT IT BOILS DOWN TO.
NOW, IT MAY BE THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING LIVES OFF THE GRID, UH, WHICH I ENVY,
SO TO SOME EXTENT, I THINK MAYBE THAT'S TRUE UNTIL, UH, UNFORTUNATELY, YOU KNOW, OR FORTUNATELY, SOMETHING HAPPENS WHERE EITHER IT'S A CHALLENGE, UH, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN MITIGATED BY ACCESS TO THE INTERNET DEVICE OR THE SKILLS THAT CAN USE THEM, OR AN OPPORTUNITY THAT COULD HAVE BEEN PROVIDED, UH, THAT THEY'RE JUST, UH, UNAWARE OF BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THAT.
UH, AND, AND THIS IS AN IMPORTANT THING TO NOTE, BECAUSE, UH, WE HAVE MADE A POINT OF ENGAGING WITH THE COMMUNITY FOR SOLUTIONS AND SOLUTIONING, UH, BECAUSE THE, THE, THE COMMUNITY IS OFTEN THE BEST, IF NOT ALWAYS THE BEST AT PROVIDING THEIR OWN SOLUTIONS, BECAUSE THEY ULTIMATELY, THEY HAVE TO, THEY HAVE TO BE ABLE TO, TO MAKE THINGS WORK FOR THEMSELVES OFTEN.
UH, BUT WHAT THAT MEANS IS THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GETTING BY DOING WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO, SURVIVING AND THRIVING, UH, DOING ALL THE THINGS THAT, UH, YOU CAN'T IMAGINE IF, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE, THE TOOLS TO SEE WHAT'S POSSIBLE.
UH, AND, AND SO WHAT THIS IS MEANT TO SAY IS IN NO MEANS BY NO MEANS ARE, ARE WE SUGGESTING THAT WE HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS, OR THAT WE NEED TO BRING THE ANSWERS TO THE COMMUNITY, OR, OR THAT WE NEED TO GET, UH, DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS TOGETHER TO TELL THE COMMUNITY WHAT TO DO? UH, BUT WHAT IT DOES MEAN IS BY GETTING DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS THAT SERVE THE COMMUNITY IN DIFFERENT WAYS, TO THINK ABOUT HOW WHAT THEY DO IS AFFECTED BY DIGITAL INCLUSION WILL THEN UNIQUELY AND, AND, AND INCREASINGLY AFFECT THE COMMUNITY IN WAYS THAT THE COMMUNITY CAN'T IMAGINE.
IT'LL CREATE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO THAT'S THE SPIRIT OF THIS IS TO, TO BRING US ALL TOGETHER, UH, TO THINK CREATIVELY, UH, ABOUT DIGITAL INCLUSION AND WHAT IT MEANS TO THINK ABOUT THE INTERSECTIONS.
UH, AND YOU'LL NOTICE IN TERMS OF THE PROGRAM, UH, IT'S BUILT WITH THAT INTENTION, UH, ON THESE PANELS.
THERE'S DIVERSE REPRESENTATION FROM, UH, DIFFERENT TYPES OF, OF GROUPS.
UH, YOU'VE GOT PEOPLE THAT ARE WORKING DIRECTLY FOR NONPROFITS, BUT THEN YOU'VE GOT, UH, PEOPLE THAT ARE WORKING, YOU KNOW, DIRECTLY FOR, UH, POLICY MAKERS, UH, AND OR CITY GOVERNMENT.
UH, YOU KNOW, AND IT'S THAT KIND OF INTERSECTION AND, AND, AND INTERACTION THAT I THINK WILL HELP WITH IDEATION.
THE SAME IS SAID, UH, I THINK CAN BE SAID ABOUT THE BUSINESSES, UH, THAT'LL PARTICIPATE IN THE OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS THAT WILL PARTICIPATE.
WHETHER WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, HOUSING PLANNING, UH, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, OF COURSE THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY DIVISION, WHICH, UH, WE WOULD HOPE WOULD BE IN ATTENDANCE, UH, OR WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, CTM AND OTHER DIVISIONS.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S IMPORTANT TOO, WITH INTERSECTIONALITY IN MIND IS HOW WE KNOW BASED UPON THE DATA,
[01:50:01]
UH, NOT JUST THE RESIDENTIAL TECHNOLOGY STUDY, NOT JUST, UH, THE, UH, DISPLACEMENT, UH, ANTI DISPLACEMENT TASK FORCE DATA THAT SHOWS A VARIETY OF MAPS, UH, HOW DISTRICTS 1, 2, 3, AND FOUR ARE THE ONES MOST IMPACTED BY THE DIGITAL DIVIDE HERE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.WHAT WE'RE ALSO LOOKING TO DO WITH INTERSECTIONALITY IN MIND IS TO HAVE A BIG PUSH TO DIFFERENT COMMISSIONS WHERE IT'LL BE IMPORTANT TO INVOLVE THEM IN BECAUSE THEY DON'T NECESSARILY SEE THEMSELVES IN THIS SPACE.
SO, WITH THAT, I WANT TO, UH, PAUSE AND JUST ONE MORE TIME TO SEE IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS, UH, OR THOUGHTS ABOUT AGENDA ITEM FIVE.
LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE FORWARD, UH, TO OUR AGENDA.
ITEM NUMBER SIX, DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS. OH, BUT I'M SORRY, BEFORE I DO THAT, UH, LET ME BACK UP AND SAY, UH, JUST ONE LAST, UH, STATEMENT IN TERMS OF AGENDA, UH, NUMBER FIVE, UH, EVEN THOUGH WE'RE GONNA WORK THROUGH OUR ISSUES ABOUT QUORUM AND, UH, PUBLIC INTEREST ANNOUNCEMENT, UH, I'M GOING TO WORK THROUGH, UH, DAN TO SEND OUT THE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, UH, THAT WAS WORKED ON INITIALLY BY US IGNITE, UH, THEIR MARKETING MANAGER, LIZETTE AASS, UH, AND THEN GIVEN ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK BY ME, AND THEN HAS BEEN SHARED WITH COMMISSIONERS, UH, GARZA AND, UH, VICE TRCA WHO'VE ADDED COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK, UH, FOR YOU ALL TO, YOU KNOW, FEEL FREE TO THEN DISPERSE TO YOUR NETWORKS, UH, AS YOU WILL.
UM, AND, AND THEN WE WILL LOOK FORWARD TO HOPEFULLY GETTING, UH, GREAT PARTICIPATION.
I KNOW I'M ALREADY EXCITED THAT WE'VE, UH, TO, TO, TO MENTION ON THE RECORD THAT WE HAVE, UH, TWO TABLES, UH, CONFIRMED, UH, ONE BY, UH, A, UH, ONE OF THE MAJOR ISPS AND ANOTHER, UH, BY ONE OF OUR MAJOR DECA PARTNERS, AND ABOUT, I THINK LIKE 12 OR OR SO, UH, UH, OR, OR 15 OR SO, UH, TICKETS, WHICH AT THIS STAGE IS FINE.
I ANTICIPATE THAT'S GONNA RAMP UP QUITE A BIT, BUT, OKAY, SO THEN I'LL PAUSE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY.
[6. Approval of the CTTC 2023 Meeting Schedule ]
BACK TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SIX, APPROVAL OF THE CTTC 2023 MEETING SCHEDULE.SO FOR THIS ONE, UH, WE HAVE THE MEETING SCHEDULED IN FRONT OF US.
UH, WE PRETTY MUCH, ACCORDING TO OUR BYLAWS ARE, ARE ASKED TO CONDUCT IN THIS PROCESS EVERY YEAR, UH, TO APPROVE A CALENDAR DURING OUR NOVEMBER MEETING.
THAT WILL TAKE EFFECT THE FIRST MONTH OF THE YEAR, JANUARY FOR OUR CALENDAR, WHICH RUNS FROM JANUARY TO DECEMBER.
NOW, I WANNA EXPLAIN WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT ON THIS CALENDAR FOR THE COMMISSIONERS THAT HAVE THE SOFT COPY, UH, AND THE COMMISSIONERS THAT HAVE THE HARD COPY IN FRONT OF THEM.
YOU HAVE THE DATE, WHICH IS THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH INDICATED.
AND IF ANYONE REALLY WANTS TO MAKE SURE, UH, I WOULDN'T BE MAD AT YOU IF YOU DOUBLE CHECKED EVERY DATE TO MAKE SURE IT WAS ACTUALLY THE DATE THAT IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT.
UM, AND THEN YOU HAVE QUARTER INDICATED, AND I WANNA EXPLAIN HERE, UH, THIS IS THE QUARTER OF THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICES, BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ATTENDANCE TRACKING SYSTEM.
AND IT WAS PUT HERE, UH, WITH A LITTLE, UH, UH, MISUNDERSTANDING.
UH, SO IT'S GOING TO BE REMOVED, AND THIS WILL NOT BE PART OF THE CALENDAR THAT GOES ON, UH, TO THE COMMISSION WEBPAGE, BUT IT IS HELPFUL FOR US TO HAVE AS A REFERENCE POINT, BECAUSE TWO THINGS WHEN IT COMES TO SPECIAL CALL MEETINGS, WE'RE LIMITED TO ONLY SO MANY PER QUARTER.
I, I'LL JUST SAY THAT GENERALLY SPEAKING, UH, AND THAT QUARTERLY SYSTEM WE'VE BEEN ADVISED BY THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE IS IN LINE WITH THE ATTENDANCE TRACKING SYSTEM.
UH, WE'RE STILL WORKING TO CONFIRM IF, UH, THAT'S NECESSARY, BUT THAT'S HOW IT IS.
[01:55:01]
HAVE CONFIRMED AFTER DIRECT OUTREACH TO LEGAL, UH, THAT BECAUSE QUARTERLY PURELY MEANS EVERY THREE MONTHS, UH, THE FACT THAT THIS QUARTERLY SYSTEM DOES NOT START AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT THEN THEREFORE CONTRADICTS THE BYLAWS.HOWEVER, IT ALSO DOESN'T ESTABLISH ANY JUSTIFICATION FOR WHY IT SHOULD HAVE PRECEDENCE OVER THE BYLAWS.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING TO CONFIRM WITH, UH, LEGAL NEXT, OR AT THE VERY LEAST, A JUSTIFICATION FOR WHY IT SHOULD.
UH, BECAUSE AS WE'VE DISCUSSED, UH, AMONGST OURSELVES, ALIGNMENT WITH, UH, THE TERM PERIOD IS ONE THING, BUT NO SPECIAL CALL MEETING THAT ANYONE SCHEDULES CAN TAKE PLACE UNLESS THEY'RE A COMMISSIONER.
SO, UH, I, I, AGAIN, I I SEE NO REASON WHY IT SHOULD HAVE CONTROL OVER HOW WE SCHEDULE OUR MEETINGS.
UH, SO WE'RE GONNA TRY TO FIND THAT OUT.
THE, THE LAST CALENDAR, UH, LAST COLUMN HERE IS, UH, YOU KNOW, CANCELED MEETING DATES AND EVENTS.
WELL, EXCUSE ME, IT SAYS CANCELED MEETING DATES AND EVENTS, BUT WHAT IT IS IS MAINLY, YEAH, CANCELED MEETING DATES AND EVENTS, BUT THERE'S ACTUALLY ONLY ONE CANCELED THAT'S, THAT'S
SO IS THAT WHAT THAT IS? IS THAT A TYPO? PROBABLY, YEAH.
SO WE'RE GONNA JUST SAY MEETING DATES AND EVENTS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, OR WHAT DID IT USED TO SAY? I DON'T HAVE THE, UH, I DON'T HAVE THE, UH, ORIGINAL CALENDAR ON ME.
YEAH, I THINK, I THINK IT'S JUST INADVERTENTLY, HAS THE WORD CANCELED IN THERE? YEAH.
BUT THEN YOU SEE AN EXPLANATION OF WHAT TYPICALLY TAKES PLACE DURING THESE, UH, MEETINGS.
SO TRADITIONALLY NOT MUCH HAPPENS, UH, UH, OUTSIDE OF OUR NORMAL AGENDA DURING THE JANUARY MEETING.
UH, FEBRUARY IS MAKING NOTE OF THE FACT THAT APPOINTMENTS ARE GIVEN, AND THEN THAT COULD START MARCH.
ONCE SOMEONE HAS FINISHED THEIR TRAINING AND, YOU KNOW, THEIR OATH OF OFFICE AND EVERYTHING, THERE'S THE GTOP PS 2023 UPDATE WITH THE APPLICATIONS BEING RECEIVED AND THE MEETING BEING HELD OUTSIDE OF THE CENTRAL CITY, TYPICALLY.
AND SO, BY EXAMPLE, WE'VE MET AT, UH, THE PERMIT AND PLANNING OFFICE.
WE'VE MET AT, IS IT SIX SQUARE? WHAT IS THE, THE AREA OVER, UH, JUST EAST, IS IT EAST 12TH OR EAST 11TH? UH, THERE, UH, THERE'S A STREET JONES BUILDING.
JUST, JUST AS A SIDE NOTE, UM, FOR HYBRID MEETINGS, WE WE'RE ONLY ALLOWED TO HAVE MEETINGS AT THREE LOCATIONS.
UH, ONE IS THE PDC ONE IS HERE, AND THE THIRD IS IN THE AUSTIN ENERGY BUILDING.
UM, WE ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE, UH, ALL IN-PERSON MEETINGS AT OTHER LOCATIONS, WHICH WOULD BE THOSE LIKE, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN PUBLIC FACILITY AND, AND OTHER LOCATIONS.
BUT, UM, FOR, FOR HYBRID MEETINGS SPECIFICALLY, WE ONLY HAVE THOSE THREE OPTIONS NOW.
UH, AND THEN THAT, THAT MARCH MEETING ALSO INCLUDES, UH, THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, FOR OUR CITY BUDGET, BUT OUR RE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE NOT LIMITED TO THAT TIMEFRAME.
THAT'S JUST ONE OF THE SWEET SPOTS TO GET IN.
UH, IF IN FACT, THE, THE FIRST ONE I SHOULD SAY.
THEN WE GO TO APRIL GTOP S AWARD RECOMMENDATIONS, ELECTION OF OFFICERS MAY WORK PLAN RETREAT THIS PAST YEAR WE DID THAT AT THE PERMANENT AND PLANNING OFFICE.
WE'VE DONE IT AT JONES STREET BEFORE JUNE.
THE COMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT BEING DUE, UH, THAT DOESN'T AFFECT REALLY WELL, IT, IT DOES AFFECT THE WHOLE COMMISSION, BUT PRIMARILY THE CHAIR, NOTHING LISTED FOR JULY.
AUGUST HAS BEEN THE DESIGNATED MONTH WHEN WE HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO HAVE MEETINGS.
THAT GOES BACK PRIOR TO MY TERM.
UH, AND THAT'S SOMETHING WHICH MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE TODAY.
AND THEN, UH, SEPTEMBER 11TH, WELL, THAT'S EERIE.
UH, 2023, WE'RE GONNA HAVE ATIL REVIEW IN 2024 RECOMMENDATIONS UNLESS WE CHOOSE TO HAVE A MEETING ON A DIFFERENT DAY, WHICH MIGHT
[02:00:01]
NOT BE A BAD IDEA.UH, BUT THEN OCTOBER SPACE, I THINK EVENTS SHOULD INCLUDE DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK FOR OCTOBER GOING FORWARD.
UH, AND THEN WE HAVE NOVEMBER ADOPT THE MEETING SCHEDULE LIKE WE'RE DOING NOW, AND THEN A BLANK DECEMBER THE 11TH.
I WANT, JESSE, I WANNA GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO OFFER ANY ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS, UM, THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE, AND THEN I'LL OPEN IT UP TO FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMISSION.
UH, THE ONLY ITEMS THAT I HAD THAT I WANTED TO MENTION ARE, UH, THERE'S A COUPLE OF TYPOS THAT WE'RE GONNA FIX.
UH, IT SHOULD, ANYTHING WE'RE REFERRING TO G TOPS FOR THIS YEAR SHOULD BE 2024.
UM, SO WE'LL, WE'LL MAKE THAT UPDATE.
UM, WE ALSO WANTED TO NOTE THE FEBRUARY DATE IS, UH, IS NOT OUR NORMALLY SCHEDULED DATE.
UH, SO THE COMMISSION NORMALLY MEETS ON THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF EACH MONTH.
UH, BUT THE REASON WHAT WE DID THAT IS BECAUSE FEBRUARY 7TH, UH, OR, OR THE NORMALLY SCHEDULED DATE FOR FEBRUARY FALLS DURING THE, UH, NDIA CONFERENCE, THE NA, NATIONAL DIGITAL INCLUSION, UH, ALLIANCE CONFERENCE, UH, OF WHICH DAN AND MYSELF AND LIKELY SOME OF THE COMMISSIONERS WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN IN PITTSBURGH.
AND SO, UM, WE'VE OFFERED UP FEBRUARY 7TH AS THE DATE.
UM, BUT THAT IS OF COURSE, SOMETHING THAT Y'ALL MIGHT DISCUSS THE DATE.
UH, WHAT, WHAT MIGHT WORK BEST FOR, FOR Y'ALL? IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE FEBRUARY 7TH.
UM, OTHER THAN THAT, UH, CHAIR PITTS ALREADY MENTIONED.
AUGUST IS OUR NORMAL, UH, IS THE COMMISSION'S, UH, NORMAL MONTH OFF DURING THE YEAR.
SO GENERALLY ONE MONTH DURING THE YEAR, UH, IS TAKEN OFF FOR THE, THE NORMAL REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETING.
THAT'S JUST WHAT WE'VE DONE UP UNTIL NOW.
SO THOSE, THOSE ARE THE ONLY ITEMS I WANTED TO BRING UP.
UH, SO JUST TO BE CLEAR, UH, AND MAYBE WE COULD ACTUALLY PUT THAT, UH, WELL, WE DON'T NEED TO.
WE DON'T, I WAS THINKING ABOUT PUTTING THE, THE NDIA EVENTS, UH, IN THE EVENTS, BUT THAT'S JUST FOR OUR KNOWLEDGE AND IT'S HELPFUL, UM, TO NOTE.
SO THE SEVENTH, WHAT DAY OF THE WEEK IS THAT? IS IT IT'S WEDNESDAY.
IT'S THE, IT'S THE SECOND WEDNESDAY FIRST.
IT'S THE FIRST, NO, FIRST WEDNESDAY.
WHAT, WHAT'S THE DATE OR INCLUSION? THE 13TH.
THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF, OKAY.
SO I HOPE EVERYBODY'S GOT THEIR CALENDARS OUT.
'CAUSE THIS IS DEFINITELY THE TIME TO CHECK YOUR, YOUR CALENDAR AND SEE WHERE YOUR CONFLICTS ARE AND TO LET US KNOW, UH, SO WE CAN PROACTIVELY ENABLE.
I JUST WANNA POINT OUT, I THINK THE MARCH 13TH DATE IS DURING SPRING BREAK AND SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S GONNA BECOME AN ISSUE IN TERMS OF REACHING QUORUM.
I KNOW THAT I HAVE THAT WEEK OFF FROM WORK, AND I USUALLY TRY AND GET AWAY FROM THE CITY.
YEAH, THANK YOU FOR, FOR MENTIONING THAT.
UH, I DO WANNA MENTION THAT, UH, THAT IS THE VERY REASON WHY WE HOSTED OUTSIDE OF THE DOWNTOWN AREA BECAUSE OF SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.
UM, AND HISTORICALLY GETTING A QUORUM DURING THAT MEETING HAS NOT BEEN A CHALLENGE.
BUT, UH, IT DOESN'T MEAN THOUGH, WE COULDN'T, YOU KNOW, LOOK TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT IF THERE WAS CONSENSUS.
IF IT'S WORKED FOR PEOPLE IN THE PAST, THEN UM, I DEFER TO YOUR HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE.
I HEARD SOMEONE ELSE CHIMING IN THERE.
UH, COMMISSIONER GARZA, UM, CHAPS, UH, WHICH DATE ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS? WAS IT THE MARCH MEETING OR THE MARCH? RIGHT.
UH, WELL, WHEN YOU SAY WE, UH, COMMISSIONER GARZA JUST REFERRED TO THE MARCH MEETING.
UH, IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO? OKAY.
UNFORTUNATELY I'LL MISS THAT MEETING.
SO THAT'S TWO COMMISSIONERS THAT WE MIGHT NOT HAVE FOR MARCH 13TH.
UH, DOES ANYONE ELSE KNOW THEY HAVE A CONFLICT? I HAVE A PERSONAL CONFLICT ON, UH, FEB.
[02:05:01]
WELL.SO, UH, SO COMMISSIONER ALRE HAS A CONFLICT FOR TWO SEVEN.
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE A CONFLICT ON TWO SEVEN? NO, BUT I WILL BE UNABLE TO ATTEND THE JANUARY 10TH.
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE A CONFLICT ON JANUARY 10TH? EXCUSE ME.
OKAY, SO WE HAVE ONE CONFLICT ON JANUARY 10TH.
WE HAVE ONE CONFLICT ON FEBRUARY 7TH.
I I HEARD TWO CONFLICTS ON MARCH 3RD.
UH, TWO CONFLICTS THERE, BUT YOU KNOW, I'LL BE OUT OF THE COUNTRY FROM THE 15TH OF FEBRUARY TO THE END OF MARCH.
SO, YOU KNOW, SO, UH, DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE A CONFLICT ON MARCH 13TH? SO WE, I'VE GOT COMMISSIONER GARZA AND COMMISSIONER AL ALZA.
ANYONE ELSE BESIDES YOU TWO? OKAY.
UH, LET'S JUST KINDA WORK THIS WORK THROUGH THE CALENDAR.
HOW ABOUT APRIL 10TH? EVERYBODY GOOD? APRIL 10TH? MM-HMM,
MY DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY, BY THE WAY.
UH, NOW COMMISSIONER SUPTA, IF I'M CORRECT, UH, BOTH YOU AND I WILL NO LONGER BE ON THE COMMISSION, COME JULY.
I'LL, I WILL BECAUSE, UH, ALISON, COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, UM, HAD A SPECIAL EXCEPTION FOR ME.
UH, YOU MAY WANT TO CHECK YOUR, UH, WHETHER YOU WERE, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE EXCEPTION.
'CAUSE SEVERAL, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, VOTED ON IT.
AND I AM ONE OF THE EXCEPTIONS.
SHE DOESN'T WANT ME TO LEAVE BEFORE THE END OF HER IN HER TENURE.
SHE, HER TENURE ENDS END OF NEXT YEAR.
SO SHE'S ASKED ME TO STAY TILL END NEXT YEAR, WHICH MEANS, YOU KNOW, THREE MONTHS AFTER THAT.
WELL, UH, YEAH, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL HAVE TO GET WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, HARPER MADISON ABOUT THAT.
UM, UH, BUT OKAY, BE THAT AS IN MAY.
SO THEN JULY 10, NO CONFLICTS.
BOTH OF US GONNA BE TIED TO THE SAME.
JAMES
UH, SO AUGUST 14TH, CURRENTLY NO MEETING SCHEDULED, AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THAT CAN CHANGE, BUT, UH, LET'S TABLE THAT FACT FOR NOW.
UH, DOES ANYONE ELSE, DOES ANYONE HAVE CONFLICTS THAT DAY? NO CONFLICTS, NO.
OCTOBER 9TH AND THEN DECEMBER THE 11TH.
SO WHAT I'M HEARING IS LITTLE JUSTIFICATION FOR MAKING ANY CHANGES.
NOW I KNOW THAT THERE'S BEEN CONVERSATIONS OUTSIDE OF THIS MEETING ABOUT EVALUATING A DIFFERENT DATE TO HAVE OFF.
DO WE WANNA RESUME THOSE CONVERSATIONS NOW, OR, I'M LOOKING TO ANYONE THAT MIGHT SPEAK UP.
I, I WOULD RECOMMEND WE SWITCH TO A DIFFERENT DATE TO HAVE OFF.
UM, I WOULD RECOMMEND WE SWITCH TO, WE HAVE AT LEAST HAVE THE CONVERSATION TO SWITCH TO
[02:10:01]
A DIFFERENT DATE TO HAVE OFF.SO WHAT THE, WHAT DATE WOULD YOU LIKE TO DISCUSS HAVING OFF INSTEAD OF AUGUST 14TH? SO, I MEAN, LET'S, THE MONTH OF AUGUST, I SHOULD SAY PROBABLY DECEMBER.
UM, OR, UH, I KNOW THIS IS TOO FAR AHEAD, BUT JANUARY OF 25, UM, YOU KNOW, THE AUGUST MEETING, I KNOW THIS PAST YEAR THERE WERE A NUMBER OF ACTIVITIES LEADING UP TO DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK THAT I, AND WE NEEDED TO CALL, I BELIEVE WE ENDED UP CALLING A SPECIAL MEETING ANYWAY DURING THAT TIME PERIOD.
WE DID CALL A SPECIAL MEETING.
SO I WOULD SUGGEST THAT DURING THE HOLIDAYS, WHETHER IT'S DECEMBER OR JANUARY, WOULD BE A MORE LOGICAL TIME TO HAVE OFF AND TO PUT THAT, TRY AND GO AHEAD AND, AND MEET IN AUGUST AT THE PREDETERMINED DATE.
AND I, I'D LIKE TO GET JESSE TO GET, SHARE SOME THOUGHTS BECAUSE, UH, I'M DEFINITELY NOT A SUPPORTER OF, UH, OKAY.
WHERE WE'RE, WE, WE'RE A COUNTRY OPERATING UNDER THE RULE OF LAW.
STA DECISIS SUGGEST THAT PRECEDENT SHOULD MEAN SOMETHING.
UH, AND AT THE SAME TIME, SINCE WE WORK IN A SPACE FOCUSED ON INCLUSION, UH, WHICH IS ABOUT, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, FRANKLY, UH, ADDRESSING INEQUITY AND, UH, AND SYSTEMS THAT, UH, ARE IN PLACE BECAUSE OF PRECEDENT, OFTENTIMES WITHOUT OTHER GOOD REASONS FOR PRECEDENT, UH, TO ME, I LIKE TO THINK ABOUT THE REASONING FOR WHY IT, THERE WAS THE PRECEDENT, RIGHT? SO, FROM MY RECOLLECTION, AUGUST WAS THE LAST MONTH BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED, AND SO THAT WAS THE MAIN REASON THAT THAT MONTH WAS CHOSEN TO GIVE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE A CHANCE TO SPEND EXTRA TIME WITH THEIR FAMILIES DURING THE SUMMER AND A TIME WHEN THEIR KIDS ARE AROUND.
UH, MORE SO THAN THE HOLIDAYS, AT LEAST, BUT AT LEAST, UH, NOT NECESSARILY DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH TIME YOU HAVE OFFERED THE HOLIDAYS, RIGHT? UH, SO, BUT AGAIN, IT'S ABOUT FAMILY TIME.
UH, NOW, JESSE, WOULD YOU HELP SHARE YOUR, UH, KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THAT? 'CAUSE THAT WAS MY UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHY THAT MONTH WAS CHOSEN.
UH, I, I THINK THAT BEFORE IT WAS IN AUGUST.
I, I THINK IT WAS IN, UH, MARCH, PERHAPS, UH, WE MIGHT'VE HAD IT, UH, DURING, YOU KNOW, TO AVOID THE SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, UH, CONFLICT.
UM, BUT I, YEAH, I SUSPECT, UH, IT, THE OTHER POSSIBLE REASON THAT I CAN'T 100% REMEMBER, UM, I BELIEVE THAT CITY COUNCIL TAKES AUGUST OFF, BUT, BUT JESSE, I THINK THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S THE LAST MONTH BEFORE SCHOOL OPENS THAT THE COUNCIL DOESN'T, YOU KNOW, DOESN'T, DOESN'T, UH, MEET.
AND SO THEREFORE, THAT ALLOWS EMPLOYEES TO TAKE VACATION CITY EMPLOYEES AND, UH, BEFORE KIDS GO BACK TO SCHOOL.
I THINK IT'S SORT OF, YOU KNOW, IT SORT OF FILTERS DOWN FROM THE FACT THAT IT'S THE LAST MONTH BEFORE SCHOOL OPENS.
UM, I, I, YEAH, I THINK THAT THE, UH, THE CONVERSATION THAT I RECALL, WHICH WAS A LONG TIME AGO, HAD TO DO WITH ALIGNING WITH THE, THE COUNCIL, UH, ACTIVITY.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S UP, IT'S UP TO Y'ALL, SO, OH, WELL, YEAH, NO, NO, OF COURSE IT IS.
I JUST, WE JUST WANTED TO GET, IF YOU HAD A HISTORICAL REFERENCE, THAT'S ALL, UH, UH, DEFINITELY NOT SEEDING THE DECISION.
UH, AND THE FACT IS THAT, UH, THE DISCUSSION IS ONE THING, UH, WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THIS CALENDAR.
SO, UH, RIGHT NOW WE'RE JUST TRYING TO SEE IF THERE'S CONSENSUS FOR ANOTHER DATE.
UH, I I, I'LL BE CANDID IN SAYING THAT, WITH IMPACTING THIS, UH, WITH IMPACTING, WELL, SURE.
THAT'S, I THINK, UH, COMMISSIONER GARZA.
I THINK SINCE VICE CHAIR AKA PUT IT ON THE TABLE, I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE WITH HIM.
AND, UM, IF I HAD TO CHOOSE, I WOULD PICK THE DECEMBER MEETING TO BE THE MEETING THAT WE SKIP.
HOW ABOUT YOU ALL? BUT I'M USUALLY COMPLETELY BOOKED LEADING UP TO THE HOLIDAYS WITH, UM, HOLIDAY PARTIES, OTHER EVENTS IN THE COMMUNITY.
THAT'S JUST THE BUSIEST MONTH IN TERMS OF, UM, COMMITMENTS.
[02:15:01]
SO, UM, I WOULD, I WOULD PREFER DECEMBER.IF, IF NOT, THEN I'M ALSO BE HAPPY WITH AUGUST.
WE SHOULD LET WELL ENOUGH ALONE LEAVE IT AS IS.
UH, THAT'S, THAT'S ALSO FEEDBACK, RIGHT? SO, UH, I'M, I'M HEARING, UH, NO REAL CLEAR CONSENSUS, UM, FOR DECEMBER TWO.
UM, I, I AGREE THAT THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF STUFF USUALLY GOING ON DURING THAT TIME, AND, UH, I TEND TO TRAVEL A LOT DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON, SO THAT, THAT WOULD BE MY PREFERENCE IF WE'RE VOTING HERE.
WELL, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT VOTING YET.
WE'RE JUST KIND OF TALKING ABOUT IT, BUT WE WILL BE VOTING.
SO, AND, AND, AND HOW YOU FEEL IS IMPORTANT AHEAD OF THE VOTE.
'CAUSE ULTIMATELY, UH, YOU KNOW, HAVING AN UNDERSTANDING ABOUT WHY EACH OTHER, UH, UH, EACH OF US FEELS, HOW WE DO MIGHT INFLUENCE THE OTHER, YOU KNOW, HOW WE HAVE GOOD REASONS FOR THE, FOR THE REASONS WHY WE FEEL THE WAY WE DO.
UH, UM, I AGREE WITH, UH, DECEMBER, BUT WE ARE HAPPY TO TAKE A VOTE ON IT.
AND I DO NEED TO EXCUSE MYSELF.
I WILL JOIN ONLINE, UM, DOWNLOADED WEBEX, AND I'LL JOIN ONLINE HERE SHORTLY.
WELL, UH, I'M HEARING A CLEAR CONSENSUS.
UH, SO WITH THAT, UH, I'LL GO AHEAD AND SECOND, UH, WELL, WE HAVEN'T HAD A, WE'LL HAVE A MOTION TO, TO, WE DON'T NEED TO ACTUALLY HAVE A VOTE ON THE, UH, THE CHANGE OF THE DATE.
WE JUST HAVE TO HAVE A CONSENSUS ABOUT THE CHANGE AND THEN VOTE ON THE CALENDAR WITH THE CHANGE.
UH, SO I'M, I'M SEEING A CONSENSUS FOR THAT CHANGE.
UH, AND YOU KNOW, CANDIDLY, UH, THERE'S ANOTHER REASON WHY I THINK THIS IS A VALUE, UH, BECAUSE ALTHOUGH, UH, THE, THE MONTH OF MARCH IS A KEY MONTH IN TERMS OF BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, I THINK THE MONTH OF AUGUST IS AS WELL.
AND I SAY THAT BECAUSE IT'S THE LAST OPPORTUNITY AFTER THE BUDGET HAS BEEN INTRODUCED TO ACTUALLY THEN MAKE CHALLENGES TO IT.
UH, AND SO WHAT THIS MEANS IS, AS OPPOSED TO, UH, US NOT HAVING THAT OPTION, WE COULD POTENTIALLY THEN BE ABLE TO DRIVE ACTIONS AND THEN IMPACT THE, THE, THE, UH, YOU KNOW, RELEASED BUDGET, UH, WITH ACTIONS FROM THE AUGUST MEETING.
UH, SO I, I, I SEE A CLEAR CONSENSUS FOR THAT.
SO, WITH THAT, WHY DON'T WE GO AHEAD AND DO THIS THEN.
UH, I WILL MAKE A MOTION I TO APPROVE THE CALENDAR WITH THE DECEMBER 11TH DATE OFF IN LIEU OF, UH, THE PREVIOUS AUGUST DATE OFF.
AND, UH, I'LL LOOK FOR A SECOND.
SO WITH THAT, WE CAN HOLD A VOTE.
ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE CALENDAR AS PRESENTED.
UH, ACKNOWLEDGING THAT THE QUARTER SECTION IS GOING TO BE REMOVED, THE TYPOS ARE GONNA BE EDITED, AND THE DATE FOR OUR OFF MONTH WILL BE SWITCHED FROM AUGUST 14TH TO DECEMBER 11TH.
IS THERE ANYONE POST? OKAY, WE HAVE A CALENDAR, Y'ALL, AND WE CAN MOVE FORWARD IN OUR AGENDA, AND WE'RE GONNA BE OUTTA HERE BY NINE, BY THE WAY.
SO IF YOU, IF YOU COULD, I'LL GET US OUT HERE BY NINE.
I CAN'T HAVE YOU, YOU, YOU FEEL LIKE YOU NEED TO RUN OFF ON THE FIRST ONE.
GOTTA GET A GOOD INSIDE OF HERE AT A TIME THAT'S, THAT'S GONNA WORK FOR YOU.
[7. Update from Digital Inclusion, Civic Engagement, and Strategic Technology and Telecom Policy Working Group ]
WE'RE NOW MOVING FORWARD IN OUR AGENDA TO WORKING GROUP UPDATES, UH, BEGINNING WITH THE DIGITAL INCLUSION, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY, UH, AND, UH, TELECOM POLICY WORKING GROUP.WE TALKED ABOUT THE DIGITAL INCLUSION STAKEHOLDER SUMMIT.
UH, AND YOU'LL ALL BE RECEIVING THAT COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, UH, BY WAY OF DAN TO BE ABLE TO PUSH IT OUT IN ADDITION TO AN OVERVIEW OF THE ACTUAL EVENT ITSELF.
UH, A LOT GOING ON IN THIS SPACE, AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT PRIOR TO THE MEETING, UH, PROPOSITION, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, EIGHT HAS PASSED, SO WE NOW HAVE A BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT FUND, UH, WHICH IS AWESOME.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A VERY, UH, ACTIVE, UH, BDO OFFICE, UH, WHICH HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL AND ENGAGED.
UH, AND THEY'VE BEEN WORKING, UH, FRANKLY, UH, IN A VERY IMPRESSIVE FASHION AROUND THE STATE, UH, WITH PARTNERS LIKE CONNECTED NATION
[02:20:01]
AND, AND GETTING ENGAGING IN THE COMMUNITY.SO JUST SEEING GREAT WORK THERE.
THE ONE IMPORTANT UPDATE THERE THAT I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT, UH, GTOP S OF COURSE, WE KNOW IT, IT'S FORTHCOMING, SO THAT'S ALSO BIG.
THE ONE IMPORTANT UPDATE I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT WAS THE DIGITAL INCLUSION TOWN HALL LISTENING SESSIONS, RIGHT? SO I'VE VISITED BRIEFLY WITH, UH, THE BRANCH LIBRARIAN AT THE UNIVERSITY HILLS BRANCH, AND HE'S OPEN TO HAVING A TOWN HALL IN DECEMBER.
UH, SO WHAT I WAS HOPING TO DO WAS TO GET A SENSE, UH, AT LEAST PART AND PARCEL TO HOW WE'VE DONE IT BEFORE FOR YOUR AVAILABILITY.
I KNOW DECEMBER IS NOT A GREAT MONTH, BUT, UH, HE'S OPEN TO DOING IT IN DECEMBER, AND THAT SEEMS LIKE OUR ONLY BEST OPPORTUNITY TO DO ONE BEFORE THE YEAR'S OVER.
UH, AND, UH, THAT'S DEFINITELY A SPACE THAT REALLY IS IN NEED OF A VOICE, UH, THAT AIR OF TOWN.
ARE, ARE YOU AVAILABLE BY CHANCE ON DECEMBER? UH, UH, THE NINTH? I CAN MAKE MYSELF AVAILABLE BECAUSE DECEMBER THE NINTH IS THE DATE THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.
WHICH LIBRARY WAS THAT? UNIVERSITY HILLS.
NOW, HISTORICALLY, THE CITY HAS HAD A PRESENCE.
UH, IS THAT SOMETHING YOU GUYS ARE INTERESTED IN AGAIN? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
AND WE CAN, WE CAN SCOPE THE CALENDARS AND, UH, SEE, BUT YEAH, IF, IF WE CAN, WE'LL, WE'LL, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO HAVE SOMEBODY REPRESENT.
UH, THERE'S A FOLLOW-UP CONVERSATION AND COMMISSIONERS ONLINE AS WELL.
UH, A ANY CONFLICTS? UH, IT WOULD BE GREAT TO HAVE REPRESENTATION FROM, UH, REPRESENTATION.
I SEE ALL, NO, I SEE NO HEAD SHAKING ON NO CONFLICTS.
UH, COMMISSIONER ZAM, YOU'RE GOOD AS WELL.
JEFF, WOULD YOU REPEAT THE DATE OF THE NINTH? UH, YES.
WHERE, AND IN PERSON AT, AT THE, AT A LIBRARY YOU SAID? UH, YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
COMMISSIONER ZAM, UH, THE UNIVERSITY HILLS BRANCH LIBRARY.
UH, CHAIR, IT'S DECEMBER 9TH IS A SATURDAY.
UH, WE WILL GIVE YOU SOME TIME FOR THAT.
UH, BUT IT, IT SEEMS LIKE WE'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, NO PROBLEM HAVING GOOD REPRESENTATION.
IF ANYTHING, WE'LL JUST HAVE TO AVOID A, A WALKING QUORUM.
WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO SHOW UP, UH, AND, AND, AND IT'LL BE GREAT FOR THEM TO, TO, TO SEE US PRESENT.
UH, BUT FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW, TOWN HALL LISTENING SESSIONS ARE SOMETHING WE DO THAT WE STARTED THAT, UH, UH, WE'RE VERY PROUD OF BECAUSE IT HAS SPAWNED ITERATIONS, UH, THAT HAVE, UH, REALLY, UH, BEEN TAKEN TO THE NEXT LEVEL IN TERMS OF THE COUNTY AND, UH, CITY AND THE COMMISSION, AND A LOCAL AGREEMENT, UH, WITH, UH, INTERACTING AND COLLABORATING BETWEEN LOCAL NONPROFITS AND, UH, BENEFITING FROM THE, YOU KNOW, LIVED EXPERIENCES OF OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS DIRECTLY, LETTING THEM BE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN SOLUTIONING.
SO, UH, THAT WAS THE MAIN THING.
WE HAVE CONSENSUS AND AGREEMENT.
UH, WE ALREADY HAD THAT INTO THE WORK PLAN, SO, UH, JUST NEEDED TO WORK OUT THOSE DETAILS.
UH, SO WITH THAT, UH, LET'S GO AHEAD AND TRANSITION TO THE NEXT WORKING GROUP.
LET WHAT, ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY.
[8. Update from Knowledge, Information, and Data Stewardship Working Group ]
TRANSITION TO THE NEXT WORKING GROUP, THE KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION AND DATA STEWARDSHIP WORKING GROUP, WHICH IS CHAIRED BY, UH, VICE CHAIR APODACA.UM, SO FOR NEW COMMISSIONERS, KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION, UH, AND DATA STEWARDSHIP, UH, WE HAVE NOT MET FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS DUE BECAUSE MOSTLY DUE TO, TO MY AVAILABILITY, BUT WE ARE LOOKING TO, UH, KICKOFF MEETINGS AGAIN CURRENTLY.
UH, THE MEMBERSHIP IS MYSELF, UH, CHAIR PITTS AND COMMISSIONER GARZA.
SO AT LEAST, UH, TWO SPOTS AVAILABLE ON THAT ONE.
THE LAST ACTION WAS, UH, SUBMITTING THE FINAL REPORT TO, UH, THE COMMISSION AS, AS A WHOLE, WHICH HAD A READOUT.
UH, MAYBE AS A FOLLOW UP, UH, JESSE OR DAN, UM, SUBMITTING NOT ONLY THIS ONE, BUT THE FINAL REPORTS FOR, FOR THE REST OF THE, THE WORKING GROUPS TO SOME OF THE NEW COMMISSIONERS MIGHT BE A GOOD FOLLOW ON ITEM.
UM, BUT, UH, IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED, UH, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY WILLING TO MAKE ANY DECISIONS TONIGHT, UM, YOU KNOW, TAKE A LOOK AT, UH, THE SCOPE OF THE, UH, THE WORKING GROUP.
IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN GETTING INVOLVED.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR VICE CHAIR? OKAY.
UH, WELL, THANK YOU FOR THAT VICE CHAIR.
UH, AND, AND I SHOULD MENTION THERE'S TWO VACANCIES AS WELL, UH, ON THE, UH, DIGITAL INCLUSION AND, AND, UH, DATA STEWARDSHIP, EXCUSE ME, DIGITAL INCLUSION WORKING GROUP.
[9. Update from Technology, Infrastructure, and Innovation Working Group ]
NOW FOR THE TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING GROUP, UH, UH, THE, THE WORKING GROUP CHAIR, UH, SUPTA, UH, IF YOU COULD PLEASE BE EXTREMELY BRIEF.UH, WE WANNA TRY TO, TO KEEP
[02:25:01]
HASTA TO LEAVEUH, WE HAD JUST A SHORT DISCUSSION WITH CHAIR PITS AND I TALKED ABOUT IT, AND WE TALKED ABOUT BASICALLY, UH, THIS WHOLE BROADBAND, UH, PLAN THAT THE STATE OF TEXAS IS GOING FORWARD WITH.
AND THIRD, WE NEED MORE MEMBERS.
WE HAVE TWO VACANCIES, AND I INVITED THE TWO NEWEST MEMBERS.
I WOULD LOVE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS WORKING GROUP AND SEE IF I CAN ENTICE ONE OR BOTH OF YOU TO JOIN.
AND TO BE FAIR, WE ACTUALLY HAVE THREE VACANCIES ON THAT WORKING GROUP.
THAT'S NOT THAT, THAT'S NOT TRUE.
IN FACT, WE ADJUSTED THE SCHEDULE FOR HIM, SO HOPEFULLY HE'S, HE'S REALLY, UH, HE'S DEFINITELY THERE.
UH, WELL WITH THAT, UH, THAT TAKES CARE OF, UH, THAT PART OF THE AGENDA.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
NOW PROCEED, UH, TO FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. UH, NOW, UH, WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME HERE, UH, BUT UH, WHAT WE CAN DO IS HAVE A ROBUST DISCUSSION, UH, ONLINE AND OR IN OUR WORKING GROUPS.THAT'S NOT A WALKING QUO VIOLATION ABOUT WHAT THOSE CAN BE.
WITH THAT, UH, UNLESS THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE, I THINK WE'RE READY FOR OUR FINAL AGENDA.
WE HAVE A MOTION TO ADJOURN BY COMMISSIONER SUPTA, SECONDED BY VICE CHAIR POCA.
WITH THAT, WE CAN HOLD A VOTE.
ALL IN FAVOR OF ADJOURNMENT, PLEASE SAY AYE.