[00:00:04]
ORDER THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY
[CALL TO ORDER ]
AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING WEDNESDAY, MAY 18TH, 2024 AT 6:40 PM WE ARE MEETING IN AUSTIN CITY HALL IN THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ROOM.AND, UM, MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC CAN ACCESS, UM, RECORDING ON AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV WITHIN THE A TXN WEBSITE.
UH, WE'LL START WITH OUR, UH, ROLL CALL.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND START WITH MYSELF, AND THEN WE'LL CONTINUE IN THE ROOM.
AND THEN I'LL GO AHEAD AND CALL COMMISSIONERS ONLINE FOR YOU ALL TO, UM, UM, TO INDICATE YOUR PRESENCE.
UH, STEVEN APODACA AND I AM REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO.
COMMISSIONER, I'M TRANSCRIPTER REPRESENTING DISTRICT 10.
COMMISSIONER MUJA, CAN YOU GO NEXT? COMMISSIONER KU REPRESENTING DISTRICT SIX.
COMMISSIONER ALDER, REPRESENTING DISTRICT THREE.
COMMISSIONER PINA VIA COMMISSIONER ILLA REPRESENTING THE MAYOR BOSTON.
COMMISSIONER RICE, IF YOU'D BE SO KIND TO, UM, COME ON CAMERA.
AND IT LOOKS LIKE WE JUST LOST HIM.
WE'LL GIVE HIM JUST A MOMENT TO REJOIN.
LET'S, LET'S, AND WE WILL GIVE COMMISSIONER RICE JUST A COUPLE MORE MINUTES TO REJOIN.
LOOKS LIKE HE MAY BE REJOINING RIGHT NOW.
COMMISSIONER RICE, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, WE'LL GIVE YOU JUST A MOMENT TO RECONNECT YOUR AUDIO AND, UH, TURN IT OVER TO YOU FOR YOUR, UM, REDUCTION.
YOU SEE THAT YOU MAY HAVE CONNECTED THROUGH AUDIO? YEAH, IT'S THROUGH MY CELL PHONE, SO I THINK IT IS LESS THAN IDEAL, BUT I GUESS I'M HERE.
WE'LL GO AHEAD AND, UH, PROCEED IF, UM, YOU CAN, UH, PROVIDE YOUR NAME AND, UM, CITY COUNCIL NUMBER, UH, GRIFFIN RICE DISTRICT FIVE.
WELL, WE ARE, WE ARE CALLED TO ORDER, IF EVERYONE CAN GO ON MUTE.
UM, FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS PUBLIC
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
COMMUNICATION.WE HAVE A DISTINGUISHED GUEST WITH US.
UH, CHAIRMAN NEHA FROM THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION HAS A PRESENTATION FOR US, SO I WILL GO AHEAD AND TURN
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IT OVER TO HIM.I'M CHAIR OF THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION.
I HAVE A MASTER'S IN COMPUTER SCIENCE AS WELL AS ECONOMICS.
SO FEEL FREE TO TALK TECHNICAL.
UM, I'M COMING HERE ON TWO TOPICS.
UH, THE FIRST ONE IS THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION'S NOT WORKING PARTICULARLY WELL.
WE HAVE WONDERFUL, AMAZING MEMBERS, UH, BUT WE'RE NOT PRODUCING MANY RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE HAVE TROUBLE MEETING QUORUM.
SO WE HAVE TROUBLE EVEN MAKING QUORUM.
THEY USE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY.
WE'RE USING GROUP TEXTS, SLACK, GOOGLE DOCS, GOOGLE SHEETS, WIKIS.
THESE ARE ALL LIKE MODERN TOOLS FOR COMMUNICATING FOR GROUPS.
UH, WE'RE NOT USING THESE TECHNOLOGIES BECAUSE OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
UM, AND BECAUSE OF THE RESTRICTIONS OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S TECHNOLOGY.
I'VE ASSUME YOU'VE DONE THE TRAINING AND ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT.
UM, I'M TRYING TO DO THIS AS FAST AS POSSIBLE FOR Y'ALL.
UM, SO, UH, I DON'T KNOW ALL THE DETAILS OF THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS I DO KNOW IS CITY CA COUNCIL HAS CREATED ITS OWN MESSAGE BOARD.
THEY'VE CREATED TECHNOLOGY TO, TO WORK WITH THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT AND IMPROVE COMMUNICATION.
UH, SO I WOULD LIKE THIS COMMISSION'S HELP IN MAKING MY COMMISSION WORK BETTER AND HOPEFULLY MAKING ALL BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS WORK BETTER, UH, TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE, WHAT TECHNOLOGY IS LEGAL TO USE WITH THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT, AND TO EITHER BUILD IT OURSELVES, WHICH I THINK IS POSSIBLE.
LIKE I'VE DEFINITELY LIKE SET UP WIKIS BEFORE.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT INSTANT MESSAGING PLATFORMS, BUT WE CAN FIND SOMETHING THAT, UH, MATCHES.
I'D BE WILLING TO CONTRIBUTE SOME MONEY TO SET UP A FOUNDATION OR WHATEVER TO MAKE SURE IT FULFILLS ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OR TO ASK ANOTHER OPTION IS TO ASK CITY COUNCIL TO MAKE TECHNOLOGY ACCESSIBLE TO THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
SO I THINK THAT'S MY FIRST THING FOR Y'ALL.
UH, THE SECOND THING IS, UH, COMPLETELY UNRELATED.
I RAN INTO AN INTERESTING PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY.
I THINK THE CITY OF AUSTIN SHOULD USE IT.
SO CITY COUNCIL DOES PUBLIC COMMENT.
UH, SO WHEN THEY'RE GOING TO PASS A LAW, THEY HAVE PEOPLE COME IN AND THEY'RE ALLOWED TO SPEAK FOR THREE MINUTE TURNS OR TWO MINUTE, DEPENDING ON THE RULES.
UM, I'VE HEARD MULTIPLE FORMER MAYORS COMPLAINT ABOUT THIS PROCESS.
I'VE HEARD PRESIDENT CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS PROCESS.
UH, BUT CITY COUNCIL WANTS TO GET FEEDBACK.
THEY, THEY READ POLLS, THEY MEET WITH GROUPS OF RESIDENTS.
THEY'RE IN, THEY'RE ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
THEY'RE TRYING TO GET THIS FEEDBACK.
IT'S JUST THIS PROCESS IS NOT THAT GREAT FOR IT.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES, THERE'S A SHORTAGE OF MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION.
IT, IT'S REALLY HARD TO PACKAGE THE COMPLETE IDEA THAT YOU'D LIKE TO COMMUNICATE IN THREE MINUTES.
IT'S HARD TO GET CITY COUNCIL TO EVEN LISTEN BECAUSE THEY'RE LISTENING.
YOU KNOW, WITH THE, THE HOUSING MEETINGS RECENTLY HAD OVER 12 HOURS OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
SO TRYING TO GET THEM TO PAY ATTENTION IN THAT IS DIFFICULT.
EVEN IF YOU HAVE A GOOD IDEA, IT'S HARD FOR CITY COUNCIL TO GET A SENSE OF WHETHER OR NOT THE WHOLE ROOM, LIKE THE WHOLE OF AUSTIN ACTUALLY AGREES WITH THAT SENTIMENT.
UM, AND THE PEOPLE SPEAKING AT THAT IN PUBLIC COMMENT ARE THE ONES AVAILABLE TO SPEAK AT THAT TIME OR CALL IN AT THAT TIME, WHICH MEANS A LOT OF AUSTIN DOESN'T ACTUALLY PROVIDE FEEDBACK.
SO THE TECHNOLOGY I FOUND OUT ABOUT IS POLIS.
POL IS, THAT'S THE URL AND THE NAME OF IT.
UH, IT'S A WEBSITE THAT WORKS ON ALL INTERNET DEVICES.
IT CAN QUICKLY AND EASILY GATHER THE OPINION OF THOUSANDS OF USERS AT ONCE, AND THE USERS ARE ALLOWED TO CONTRIBUTE IDEAS AND GET FEEDBACK FROM THE OTHER USERS OF IT.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE A DEMO.
I'M LOGGED IN AND I COULD SHOW YOU KIND OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE.
SO THIS IS A DEMO ON POLIS THAT I'VE SET UP.
UM, UH, THE, DAN SHOULD HAVE SENT Y'ALL A LINK IF YOU, IF YOU WANNA SEE IT CLOSER.
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UM, SO WHAT POLIS DOES IS YOU TYPE, YOU START WITH A WHOLE BUNCH OF SET STATEMENTS AND PEOPLE CAN AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH A STATEMENT.SO, UH, I SET UP AN EXAMPLE FOR THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS COMMUNICATION.
SO WE JUST TALKED ABOUT, OR I JUST TALKED ABOUT, LIKE HOW COMMUNICATION IS AN ISSUE FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
SO YOU COULD PARTICIPATE IN THIS POLL AND AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH STATEMENTS.
SO THE STATEMENT ON MY SCREEN SAYS, BOARD'S COMMISSION MEETINGS SHOULD BE HELD IN PERSON AND NOT ALLOW MEMBERS TO ATTEND BY VIDEO CONFERENCE.
SO YOU COULD AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH THAT STATEMENT OR PASS, AND SO I'LL DISAGREE.
AND THEN YOU'RE SHOWN ANOTHER STATEMENT.
IN THIS CASE, CITY OF AUSTIN SHOULD IMPROVE COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS.
SO POLIS, THIS IS THE INTERACTION FOR USERS.
IT'S VERY QUICK, IT'S VERY SIMPLE.
MOST USERS ARE JUST GOING TO CLICK AGREE OR DISAGREE.
THEY MAY SEE 10 STATEMENTS AND THEN DECIDE THEY'VE COMMUNICATED ENOUGH, OR THEY MAY GO THROUGH MORE.
THERE'S A LOT OF MATH BEHIND THIS.
IT ALLOW, SO POLIS IS SHOWING THE QUESTIONS THAT WILL PROVIDE THE MOST INFORMATION FROM THAT USER.
SO IF IT'S ALREADY KNOW SOME ATTRIBUTE ABOUT THE USER AND HAS SEEN CORRELATION IN OTHER ANSWERS FROM OTHER USERS, IT WON'T ASK CERTAIN QUESTIONS OF THAT USER.
IT'LL ASK THE QUESTION THAT IT CAN LEAST PREDICT FOR THAT USER.
AND LIKEWISE FOR THE WHOLE GROUP, IT'S TRYING TO, IF A QUESTION HAS NOT BEEN ANSWERED BY ANYONE, THAT'S PROBABLY THE FIRST ONE YOU'LL GET.
UM, SO IT'S TRYING TO GET AS MUCH INFORMATION.
UH, THE OTHER THING IT DOES IS IT DOES THAT MATHEMATICS AND WILL IDENTIFY GROUPS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE ANSWERING THE SAME WAY.
AND SO THERE MAY BE LIKE THREE GROUPS THAT IT IDENTIFIES THAT ARE ANSWERING THE SAME WAY.
AND YOU CAN SEE WHICH QUESTIONS THOSE GROUPS OVERLAP ON WHICH ONES THEY AGREE ON AND WHICH ONES THEY DON'T ON WHICH THEY DIFFER.
AND I THINK THAT'S VERY USEFUL FOR CITY COUNCIL TO FIGURE OUT, LIKE, WHAT DOES A LOT OF AUSTIN AGREE ON? WHAT CAN THEY WORK ON QUICKLY AND PUSH FORWARD WITHOUT MUCH FEEDBACK OR MUCH PUSHBACK FROM, FROM RESIDENTS OF AUSTIN.
THE SO PULLIS IS NOT JUST THE INITIAL STATEMENTS.
IF ANYBODY WANTS TO LOWER ON THE SCREEN, IS, IS THIS BOX AND YOU CAN ENTER A NEW STATEMENT THAT OTHER PEOPLE CAN VOTE ON.
I DON'T THINK MOST USERS WILL USE THAT, BUT I THINK MANY ACTIVISTS WILL, MANY ACTIVISTS WILL SAY, HEY, THIS IS OUR PLATFORM.
LET'S SEE IF MOST OF AUSTIN AGREES WITH IT OR MAYBE FIND THE DISTINCTION.
ONE OF THE USEFUL THINGS HERE IS TO TAKE A STATEMENT AND THEN, OH WAIT, LET'S REFINE THAT STATEMENT.
YOU KNOW, IS IT, YOU KNOW, THE QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT BOARD THAT'S IN COMMISSION SHOULD BE IN PERSON OR NOT.
UM, IT COULD BE SHOULD BE, YOU KNOW, DEFAULT TO IN PERSON AND, BUT STILL ALLOW VIDEO CONFERENCE.
SO YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO FIND A, A MORE CONDITIONED STATEMENT THAT MORE PEOPLE AGREE WITH.
SO I THINK THIS IS A REALLY INTERESTING TECHNOLOGY IN TERMS OF GETTING OPINION FROM EVERYBODY.
IT CERTAINLY FALLS INTO THIS COMMISSION'S AREA, NOT ECONOMIC PROSPERITY.
UH, SO I'VE BROUGHT IT TO YOU AND MY HOPE IS THAT YOU'LL PICK IT UP, TAKE A LOOK AT IT AND PASS IT ON AS A RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL.
ARE WE ABLE TO ASK QUESTIONS FROM PUBLIC TESTIMONY? UH, I DO HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS AND THEN WE CAN UP, WE CAN OPEN IT UP TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
I AM CURIOUS, WHAT OTHER COMMISSIONS HAVE YOU ENGAGED WITH ALREADY AROUND THESE TOPIC AREAS ON THESE? NONE.
UM, YEAH, SO FOR US, UH, SO CHAIR NEHA AND I ACTUALLY, UH, MET ONE-ON-ONE OF A COUPLE TIMES ALREADY.
AND, UM, LEADING IN THIS CONVERSATION, I ACTUALLY PUT AN AGENDA ITEM, UH, FOR, UH, FOR US AS A COMMISSION TO ACT ON LATER IN, IN THE MEETING TO STAND UP A, A FORMAL WORKING GROUP TO WORK WITH HI WITH HIM, AS WELL AS THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION ON THESE TOPIC AREAS AS WELL AS ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE MIGHT IDENTIFY.
SO, UM, IF, UM, IF YOU ALL, UM, IF OTHER COMMISSIONERS ARE INTERESTED IN, UH, ENGAGING WITH, UH, CHAIRMAN NEHA AS WELL AS THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION, DEFINITELY RAISE YOUR HAND LATER IN THE, UM, IN THE MEETING.
BUT I'LL GO AHEAD AND OPEN IT UP TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION MEMBERS IF YOU ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR CHAIRMAN NEHA
UM, YOU WERE MENTIONING WHAT ALL THESE, OOPS, YOU WERE MENTIONING ALL THE SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS, ET CETERA.
UM, UNFORTUNATELY I THINK
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AND ALL THOSE RESTRICTIONS, UH, THAT COME ALONG.AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF WE ARE ANY BETTER OFF THAN YOU ARE WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, ONLINE OR SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLS THAT WE CAN USE.
SO MY BELIEF IS LIKE, LONG AS IT, THE DISCUSSIONS ARE PUBLIC AND INVOL ARE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL COMMISSIONERS, I BELIEVE THERE, THERE IS ROOM TO LIKE MAKE SOMETHING THAT'S USEFUL.
UM, ALSO THERE IS, UH, SECTION 5 51 0.006, WHICH IS, I BELIEVE WHERE CITY COUNCIL GOT THEIR MESSAGE BOARD.
AND I THINK THAT, UH, THAT SECTION IS BROADER THAN JUST A MESSAGE BOARD.
AND SO WE COULD INVESTIGATE MM-HMM.
LIKE, WE'VE, WE'VE BUILT SOME BETTER COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS IN THE LAST 20 YEARS.
BUT YOU KNOW, AS FAR, I'M SORRY TO CARRY ON WHAT I WAS SAYING.
UH, THIS WHOLE IDEA ABOUT, UM, UH, PARTICIPATING ONLINE STARTED WITH THIS COMMISSION.
WE KEPT PUSHING AND PUSHING, AND FINALLY, THIS IS THE FIRST MEETING I'M ATTENDING IN PERSON IN THREE YEARS.
UM, OPPORTUNITIES TO, TO, TO REIMAGINE HOW WE WORK AS A COMMISSION, AS A CITY, UM, AS ADVISORS TO CITY COUNCIL.
UM, SO LOOKING FORWARD TO, TO ENGAGING WITH, UH, WITH YOUR COMMISSION ON THESE ITEMS. UH, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO THE COMMISSIONERS ONLINE AS WELL.
UM, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO COME ON CAMERA AND ASK CHAIRMAN NEHA ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY.
NO, I DON'T THINK WE'RE GETTING ANY QUESTIONS ONLINE.
I WANT TO THANK YOU CHAIR NEHA FOR, UH, THE PRESENTATION AS WELL AS COMING IN PERSON.
AND I THINK I FIGURED OUT HOW TO STOP SHARING
UM, YEAH, I, JUST TO NOTE, I DON'T KNOW HOW JOINT WORKING GROUPS MEET WORK.
SO WE MAY WANNA ASK STAFF ABOUT THAT.
WE'RE, AFTER WE GET THE, THE GROUP OF, UH, COMMISSIONERS WHO ARE INTERESTED TOGETHER, WE'LL COORDINATE THROUGH OUR RESPECTIVE, UM, LIAISONS FOR SURE.
IN THE INTEREST OF, UH, SO WE DO HAVE, UH, ADDITIONAL STAFF BRIEFINGS AND DISCUSSION ITEMS, UM, IN THE INTEREST OF ALLOWING, UM, OUR GUEST SPEAKERS TO POTENTIALLY DROP EARLY AND NOT HAVING TO SIT THROUGH, UH, ADDITIONAL ITEMS. I'M GONNA CALL THE ITEMS OUT OF ORDER, UM, UNLESS THERE IS ANYONE WHO DISAGREES NOT HEARING ANYONE.
SO, UH, I'M GONNA SKIP TO DISCUSS
[3. FY 24-29 Consolidated Plan Community Needs Assessment Presentation & Discussion (Chris Duran, Senior Research Analyst; Julie Smith Community Engagement Specialist) ]
TO DISCUSSION ITEM NUMBER THREE NOW, UM, FROM THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT.SO WE HAVE SOME ESTEEMED GUESTS, CHRIS DURAN, JULIE SMITH, I BELIEVE THOSE ARE OUR, AS WELL AS JAMES MAY, UH, WANT TO GIVE, I'M NOT SURE WHO'S PRESENTING ON THOSE ITEMS, BUT WANT TO GIVE YOU ALL, UH, THE FLOOR.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, UM, HAVING US.
UM, I THINK IT'S THE FIRST TIME I'VE BEEN INTRODUCED AS ESTEEMED.
UM, SO WE, UM, WANNA RESPECT YOUR TIME TONIGHT, BUT WE DEFINITELY ALSO REALLY VALUE YOUR INPUT, SO I'LL GET RIGHT INTO IT.
I AM, UM, OUR GRANTS PROGRAM MANAGER WITH THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
ONLINE WITH US TODAY ARE ALSO JAMIE MAY, MY COLLEAGUE, WHO'S OUR, UM, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OFFICER.
AND, UM, WE, SO WE WERE, WE CONDUCTED A COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT FOR OUR FIVE YEAR, WHAT'S CALLED CONSOLIDATED PLAN, BUT IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S A FIVE YEAR PLAN, STRATEGIC PLAN FOR, UM, FEDERAL SPENDING, UM, PARTICULARLY FOR FEDERAL GRANTS THAT WE GET FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT.
AND I'M GONNA GO IN, UH, INTO THIS PRESENTATION A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THAT CONNECTS TO THE WORK THAT YOU ALL DO ON THIS COMMISSION, HOW IT CONNECTS TO COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY, PARTICULARLY ISSUES AROUND DIGITAL DIVIDE, ET CETERA.
BUT, UM, I WILL TRY TO NOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THE PRESENTATION JUST BEING THAT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT, OR REALLY A KEY PART REASON OF US COMING BEFORE YOU ALL TODAY IS TO POTENTIALLY GET YOUR INPUT ON, UM, WHAT YOU ALL SEE
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AS THE, UM, OR WHAT YOUR ADVOCACY IS FOR COMMUNITY NEEDS AND SPENDING PRIORITIES AND ANY INPUT THAT YOU HAVE FOR THE CITY AND FOR THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT IN PARTICULAR ON THIS PROCESS.AND AS I'LL GET TO IN A FUTURE SLIDE AS WELL, UM, IT, IT, IT'S, IT MIGHT KIND OF BE A LOT THAT WE'RE COVERING IN THESE SLIDES, BUT WE CAN DEFINITELY TAKE INPUT FROM THIS COMMISSION GOING FORWARD.
UM, AND I'LL SHARE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT.
BUT IT, WE DON'T HAVE TO JUST GET YOUR INPUT TONIGHT.
IT'LL BE AN OPPORTUNITY GOING FORWARD, UM, TO GET US INPUT DIGITALLY AS WELL.
CAN YOU ALL SEE MY SCREEN OKAY, OR ACTUALLY, I THINK SOMEBODY ELSE IS PROJECTING THAT.
SO, UM, THANK YOU FOR THAT NEXT SLIDE.
UM, AND, UH, IN INTEREST OF TIME, I'LL, UM, I'LL, I'LL MOVE FORWARD HERE.
THIS IS JUST A TABLE OF CONTENTS.
YOU ALL WILL HAVE THIS, UH, SLIDE DECK FOR YOUR REVIEW.
SO, UM, JUST TO SET THE TABLE A LITTLE BIT REGARDING HOW WE FUND OUR PROGRAMMING HERE AND WHAT WE'RE TA WHAT FUNDING STREAMS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS EVENING, UM, ON YOUR SCREEN, AND LIKE I SAID, YOU'LL HAVE THE SLIDE DECK.
THESE ARE THE DIFFERENT, UM, FUNDING STREAMS FOR THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, BOTH LOCAL AND FEDERAL.
UM, AND WHAT WE'RE GOING TO, UH, ZERO IN TODAY ON ARE THE HUD AND I, MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE SAID, UH, THAT'S AN ACRONYM FOR US DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, UH, THE ANNUAL GRANTS THAT WE GET FROM THEM.
SO, UM, THE US DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, HUD ALLOCATES FUNDING TO MUNICIPALITIES AND STATE THAT WE GET THROUGH A FORMULA BASIS ANNUALLY.
UM, THESE, UH, FUNDS ARE, UM, TYPICALLY IN RECENT YEARS, THEY'VE BEEN APPROXIMATELY $14 MILLION.
WE JUST ACTUALLY, UM, THIS IS ONE OF THE FIRST PRESENTATIONS WE'RE GIVING WHERE WE ACTUALLY HAVE OUR FY 24 25 AMOUNTS.
UM, WE WERE SURPRISED TO SEE IT GO DOWN A LITTLE ABOUT 13.7 MILLION FOR FY 24 25.
UM, BUT EVEN WITH THAT SMALL DECREASE, UM, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE NEXT FIVE YEARS THAT WE'RE PLANNING FOR, UM, IT'S STILL LIKELY IN THE 60 TO $70 MILLION RANGE OF FUNDS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
SO IT'S A PRETTY IMPORTANT PROCESS.
WE REALLY DO VALUE YOUR INPUT.
UM, THESE FOUR GRANTS ARE FOR AREAS IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND PUBLIC SERVICES.
SO IT'S NOT JUST STRICTLY HOUSING.
THERE'S, UM, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PIECES, UM, THUS, YOU KNOW, REALLY KIND OF GETS INTO A LOT OF DIFFERENT SPACES.
AND SO WE'RE VISITING WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT COMMISSIONS, UM, THAT COVER DIFFERENT TOPICS.
THIS IS JUST A QUICK PICTURE OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AS FAR AS OUR, UM, PLANNINGS, UH, REGIME THAT WE'RE UNDER WITH HUD.
UM, THEY REQUIRE THAT WE SUBMIT ANNUAL ACTION PLANS AS WELL AS ANNUAL PERFORMANCE AND EVALUATION REPORTS.
THOSE ARE ALL AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE.
UM, BUT RIGHT NOW WE'RE DOING OUR FIVE YEAR CONSOLIDATED PLAN.
UM, AND THAT'S A PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT YEAR BEING THAT IT ALLOCATES, UM, OR IT SETS THE STRATEGIC PRIORITIES THAT WE'LL BE FUNDING OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS AND ALLOCATES FUNDING TOWARDS THOSE PRIORITIES.
UM, AND THESE ARE THE GRANTS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
AND LIKE I SAID EARLIER, I KNOW WE'RE GOING THROUGH A LOT OF INFORMATION QUICKLY.
YOU'LL HAVE ALL THIS INFORMATION, BUT WE DO LIKE TO TRY TO GIVE, YOU KNOW, THE CONTEXT OF WHAT EXACTLY WE'RE ASKING YOUR INPUT FOR.
UM, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT, I'D SAY WOULD BE MOST, UM, THE MOST IN THE, THE GRANT THAT THIS, UM, COMMISSION WOULD HAVE THE MOST INTEREST IN.
BEING THAT IT'S DEFINITELY THE GRANT OUT OF THE FOUR THAT HAS THE MOST DIVERSE ARRAY OF ELIGIBLE USES.
UM, SO WHILE AS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF YOUR SCREEN, YOU HAVE HOME INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS, IT'S, IT'S QUITE FOCUSED ON CREATING AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR LOW INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, PERIOD.
SO IT'S HOUSING PROGRAMS, UM, I'LL GET INTO WHAT EXACTLY THOSE ARE CURRENTLY.
BUT COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT, THOSE PROVIDE, UM, BOTH, YOU KNOW, DECENT HOUSING AND SUITABLE LIVING ENVIRONMENT.
BUT ALSO THERE'S, UNDER ITS REMIT IS EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOW INCOME PEOPLE.
UM, AND THAT CAN INCLUDE A LOT OF DIFFERENT PUBLIC SERVICES.
AND THEN, UM, WE DO HAVE, UH, HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERSONS WITH AIDS AND EMERGENCY SOLUTIONS GRANT, THE LATTER BEING, UM, A FOCUS SOLELY ON HOMELESSNESS AND THOSE TWO BOTTOM GRANTS, ALTHOUGH WE'RE THE LEAD AGENCY, UM, RECEIVING THE FUNDS FOR THE CITY, THEY'RE ADMINISTERED BY AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
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SO HOW ARE FUNDING DECISIONS MADE? UM, THIS IS A KEY PROCESS WE'RE GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW WITH THE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION.UM, BUT WE ALSO, UM, CONSIDER, UM, HOUSING AND NEEDS AND MAR DATA FROM HOUSING NEEDS AND MARKET ANALYSIS THAT OUR STAFF CONDUCT, AS WELL AS OTHER PLANNING EFFORTS THAT ARE DONE LOCALLY AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AT THE CITY.
UM, AND ALSO, UH, ELIGIBILITY OF FUNDS AND THE AVAILABLE USE OF FUNDING.
UM, THE, UH, AMOUNT OF FUNDING WE GET DOES FLUCTUATE ANNUALLY, AS I ALLUDED TO EARLIER.
UM, JUST IN INTEREST OF TIME, I'M GONNA, UM, MOVE FORWARD, UM, HERE, NEXT SLIDE.
SO WHAT WE'RE HEARING FROM THE COMMUNITY, UM, WE FEEL LIKE IT'S GOOD TO CHECK IN WITH, UM, GROUPS LIKE YOU ALL JUST TO, UM, KIND OF USE YOU AS A SOUNDING BOARD FOR WHAT WE'RE HEARING.
AND, UM, YOU, YOU KNOW, IT TENDS TO, UM, GENERATE GOOD DISCUSSIONS OR INPUT AS FAR AS WHAT WE'RE MISSING OR WHAT WE DEFINITELY ARE GETTING RIGHT AS FAR AS, UM, WHAT WE'RE DOCUMENTING AS LIKE INPUT IN OUR COMMUNICATE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS.
SO, KEY FEEDBACK THEMES THAT WE'RE, UM, NOTING, UM, ARE I NEED IMMEDIATE HELP.
UM, I, AND THEN, UH, I, I GUESS IT'S, I DIDN'T WANT TO GO OUTTA ORDER, BUT I'M SKIPPING TO THE BOTTOM.
I NEED HELP MAINTAINING STABILITY.
UM, I JUST SEE THAT DISTINCTION AS IMPORTANT BEING THAT WE DO HAVE PROGRAMS THAT ASSIST FOLKS WHO, FOLKS, FAMILIES WHO ARE IN, YOU KNOW, A A MORE OF A CRISIS SITUATION OR JUST NEEDING IMMEDIATE HELP, UM, IN A, IN AN URGENT SITUATION.
BUT WE DO HAVE A LOT OF CLIENTELE THAT PERHAPS ARE NOT IN THAT IMMEDIATE NEED, BUT ARE PERHAPS ONE PAYCHECK AWAY OR ONE EMERGENCY AWAY FROM HAVING STABILITY.
AND SO THEY'RE SEEKING, UM, SOME ASSISTANCE IN, UM, GETTING A, A STRONGER FOUNDATION OF STABILITY.
UM, ALSO I WANT THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD WEALTH AND LONG-TERM STABILITY.
AND, UM, THE, I THINK ONE OF THE BIGGEST, UM, THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT WE'VE HEARD THIS YEAR IN THIS COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT PROCESS, AND IT REALLY, UM, I THINK DOVETAILS KIND OF WELL INTO YOUR PUBLIC SPEAKER EARLIER, IS I NEED A MORE ACCESSIBLE PROCESS.
UM, THERE ARE A LOT OF WAYS THAT WE CAN ADDRESS THIS, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY ONE OF THE HOT, THE, THE, I I WOULD SAY A TOP THEME THAT WE'VE HEARD KIND OF EMPHASIZED TO US THIS YEAR.
AND, UM, I JUST, I JUST SAY THERE'S A LOT OF WAYS TO ADDRESS THIS BEING THAT I APPRECIATED HEARING, UM, YOU KNOW, THE EXPLORATION THAT'S GOING ON, UH, WITH TECH THAT YOUR PUBLIC, PUBLIC, UM, SPEAKER EARLIER ALLUDED TO.
UM, WE'RE ALSO GETTING OTHER, UH, INPUT FROM SUCH, UH, FOLKS SUCH AS AT THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION WHO HAVE EMPHASIZED THAT MAYBE, UM, IN ADDITION TO ALL WE'RE DOING DIGITALLY, UM, SOMETIMES YOU CAN'T REPLACE, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT PERSON TO PERSON CONTACT AND MAYBE BRINGING BACK A LITTLE BIT OF OUR, UM, OUR TARGETED NEIGHBORHOOD DOOR TO DOOR EFFORTS.
SO WE'RE GETTING A DIVERSE ARRAY OF INPUT ON HOW WE CAN ADDRESS THAT.
BUT THAT'S A, A TOP THING AND DEFINITELY SOMETHING WE, WE'D LOVE TO LOOK TO THIS COMMISSION TOO FOR ANY ADVICE GOING FORWARD IN THE YEARS TO COME.
AND, UM, AGAIN, JUST IN THE, UH, UH, UH, JUST FOR FOR TIME, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND I THINK I'VE KIND OF COVERED THESE, SO, UH, WE CAN SKIP THE NEXT, UH, THREE OR FOUR SLIDES.
SO, UM, THIS IS WHERE I'LL GIVE Y'ALL A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK, UM, HEARING ME TALK, I AM GONNA PASS IT OFF TO JAMIE MAE, OUR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, TO GIVE Y'ALL A SNAPSHOT OF, UM, WHAT EXACTLY WE CURRENTLY FUND WITH, UH, THESE GRANTS.
THIS IS ALSO A CHANCE FOR CHRIS TO GO TAKE A BREATH AND, UH, TAKE A DRINK, SO, OH, THANKS.
UM, THROUGH OUR, UH, THROUGH OUR, UM, MULTIPLE PROGRAMS THROUGH THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT AND AUSTIN HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION, WE PRIMARILY FOCUS ON THE CDBG AND HOME COLUMNS THAT YOU SEE HERE.
UH, AS CHRIS MENTIONED, UH, AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH MANAGES THE HOPWA AND THE ESG DOLLARS.
UM, SO JUST TO START WITH THE CDBG AND HOME, UH, WE DO DEPLOY THOSE DOLLARS THROUGH OUR RENTAL AND OWNERSHIP HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. THOSE PROVIDE GAP FINANCING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
UM, WE ALSO MARRY THOSE WITH SOME OF OUR DEVELOPER INCENTIVE BASED PROGRAMS SUCH AS SMART HOUSING OR AFFORDABILITY UNLOCKED.
THOSE DON'T PROVIDE ANY, UH, UH, FUNDING, UH, FOR DEVELOPMENT.
HOWEVER, THEY DO INCREASE ENTITLEMENTS AND MAKE THOSE DOLLARS GO FURTHER.
WE ALSO HAVE RENTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS, UH, WHEREIN WE HAVE A CONTRACT WITH THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN FOR A TENANT-BASED RENTAL ASSISTANCE THAT IS ESSENTIALLY A VOUCHER PROGRAM.
UM, AND WE PROVIDE ARCHITECTURAL
[00:30:01]
BARRIER REMOVAL, UH, WHICH, UH, WOULD BE THE INSTALLATION OF RAMPS FOR A HOME, UM, OR FOR GRAB BARS IN A BATHROOM, OR WIDENING DOORWAYS OR HALLWAYS, THINGS LIKE THAT.UM, WE ALSO FUND A TENANTS RIGHTS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, UH, THROUGH, UH, TEXAS RIO GRANDE LEGAL AID.
NOW, WE ALSO SUPPORT HOMEOWNERS, UH, ALSO THROUGH AR, ARCHITECTURAL BARRIER REMOVAL.
UM, SO WE DO THAT BOTH FOR RENTERS AND FOR HOMEOWNERS.
UM, AND WE ALSO HAVE MULTIPLE REPAIR PROGRAMS FOR HOMEOWNERS, UH, THAT PROVIDE, UH, ANYWHERE FROM $5,000, UH, IMPROVEMENT TO UP TO A FULL REPLACEMENT OF THE UNIT.
UM, NOW THAT, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IS QUITE EXPENSIVE, SO WE DON'T LIKE TO DO THAT VERY OFTEN.
UH, BUT WE CAN PROVIDE UP TO $75,000 PER IMPROVEMENT THAT CAN REPLACE A ROOF REPAIR, A FOUNDATION, OR, UH, UM, JUST MAKE THE HOUSE LIVABLE.
UNDER OUR HOME BUYER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, WE DO PROVIDE DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE UP TO $40,000 FOR HOUSEHOLDS EARNING LESS THAN 80% OF THE MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME.
NOW, $40,000 AS A DOWN PAYMENT DOESN'T GO VERY FAR IN A MARKET LIKE AUSTIN, WHERE THE AVERAGE RE UH, HOME PRICE IS JUST NORTH OF 500,000.
UM, HOWEVER, THESE PROGRAMS DO, UH, UH, LEAN AND LEVERAGE AGAINST OUR OWNERSHIP HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, AS WELL AS OUR COMMUNITY LAND TRUST.
FINALLY, UH, IF YOU LOOK DOWN BELOW, UNDER HOMELESSNESS AS ASSISTANCE, WE ALSO HAVE OUR, WE HAVE NOTED OUR TENANT-BASED RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IS SUPPORTING INDIVIDUALS EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS, UM, AS WELL AS SEVERAL PROGRAMS THROUGH AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
UM, AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH ALSO MANAGES OUR SPECIAL NEEDS ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS THROUGH FOR YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, SENIOR SERVICES AND CHILDCARE.
AND THEN FINALLY, OUR FRIENDS AT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT HAVE MANAGED OUR FAMILY BUSINESS LOAN PROGRAM, AND WE HAVE PROVIDED FUNDING FOR CHODOS, WHICH ARE COMMUNITY HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS.
AND THESE ARE NONPROFIT ENTITIES THAT, UH, PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
WE CAN GIVE THEM UP TO $50,000 IN OPERATING EXPENSE GRANTS PER YEAR.
UH, MY COMPUTER'S ABOUT TO DIE, SO I'M GONNA PASS IT BACK OVER TO CHRIS.
UM, SO WE MAY LOSE JAMIE, BUT THAT'S, THAT'S OKAY.
UM, SO IF WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
AND, UM, ACTUALLY, I, I WILL, I WILL STAY HERE BECAUSE THIS IS A, A GOOD POINT OF WHERE WE COULD GET INPUT, JUST WHO DO WE SERVE? WE SERVE A BIT OVER 3000, UM, HOUSEHOLDS THAT COULD BE FAMILY OR, UM, I'M SORRY, INDIVIDUALS OR FAMILIES.
AND AS YOU SAY, IN THAT EXTREMELY LOW INCOME ERA, UM, BRACKET, UM, THAT'S DEFINITELY E EVERY YEAR.
THAT'S THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR CLIENTELE, UM, THAT ARE, UM, THAT WE SERVE.
UM, A LITTLE UNDER UNDER 30% MFI IS MFI BEING MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME IS HOW HUD REQUIRES, WE KIND OF TRACK OUR, OUR DEMOGRAPHIC DATA AND JUST TO TRY TO KIND OF, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, THREAD THE NEEDLE INTO HOW THIS THREAD THE NEEDLE.
OH, GOSH, I THINK I'M HAVING SOME WEIRD TEXT, THIS WEIRD TEXT ECHOING.
THE, UM, A LOT OF OUR CLIENTELE THAT WE ENGAGE WITH IN THE, THAT ZERO TO 30% MFI RANGE DEFINITELY, UM, FROM OUR, OUR, UM, RESEARCH AND, AND EVEN JUST OUR ANECDOTAL WORK WITH THE CLIENTELE, THEY REALLY, UM, ARE KIND OF THE KEY FOLKS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.
UM, AND A LOT OF THE WAYS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE REALLY THRIVE AND GET CONNECTED AND, YOU KNOW, ARE ABLE TO SUBMIT, SUBMIT JOB APPLICATIONS AND, UM, YOU KNOW, TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SERVICES.
UM, IT'S REALLY, IT'S REALLY, IT BECOMES A BARRIER FOR THEM.
UM, WHICH IS WHY A HUD UM, IS REALLY KIND OF, KIND OF TURNING, UM, AN EYE TO TECHNOLOGY AND THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AS REALLY THINKING OF IT MORE AS, UM, YOU KNOW, A HOUSING ISSUE IN THE SENSE OF, YOU KNOW, WE EVENTUALLY WANT TO GET ALL HOUSING, UM, TO THE POINT WHERE THEY'RE CONNECTED, UM, TO LESSEN THIS DIGITAL DIVIDE.
UM, AND SO A LOT OF OUR CLIENTELE ARE THOSE, UM, THAT REALLY, UM, NEED ASSISTANCE AND GETTING THAT FOUNDATION AND GETTING, GETTING PLUGGED IN IN THAT SENSE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, I THINK THIS JUST 'CAUSE WE HAD, UM, SENT A, OUR, OUR, UH, PRESENTATION A FEW MONTHS AGO, AND THEN, AND THEN QUORUM WAS AN ISSUE.
THIS IS A, A LITTLE BIT OF AN OLD SLIDE.
UM, SO IT DOESN'T HAVE, WHAT I WANTED TO SHARE WAS, WHICH WAS THAT, UM, ACTUALLY MAYBE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
[00:35:03]
OKAY.AT LEAST HAS A LITTLE BIT OF THE INFORMATION.
UM, I, I, I WANT TO END AND KIND OF TURN IT OVER TO Y'ALL FOR ANY QUESTIONS OR ANY INPUT FOR, UM, FOR US.
BUT, UM, I THINK A KEY THING IS HIGHLIGHTING, UM, THIS URL WWW.SPEAKUPAUSTIN.ORG/MY COMMUNITY NEEDS.
UM, IF YOU'RE KIND OF PROCESSING THIS INFORMATION AND DON'T HAVE, YOU KNOW, TOO MUCH INPUT FOR US THIS EVENING.
UM, AND I KNOW Y'ALL HAVE PROBABLY HAVE, UM, A LOT MORE TO GET TO ON YOUR AGENDA.
THIS IS, UH, A PLACE WHERE WE CAN TAKE INPUT FROM YOU EITHER INDIVIDUALLY OR FROM A GROUP.
AND WHEN I SAY WE, IT'S, UM, NOT ONLY THE, UM, THE, THE, THE TEAM HERE, BUT THE, THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT, THE LEADERSHIP, UM, AS WE DIGEST ALL OF THE INPUT THAT COMES IN AT THIS LINK, UM, IT'S, UH, IT REALLY HELPS, UH, GUIDE OUR DECISIONS FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS GOING FORWARD.
UM, PARTICULARLY, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, THERE'S SO MANY, THERE'S SO MANY GOOD NEEDS, RIGHT? AND OF COURSE, DIGITAL CONNECTION IS ONE OF MANY GOOD NEEDS.
AND SO THE MORE INPUT WE GET FROM YOU ALL, UM, THE MORE WE CAN KIND OF UTILIZE, UM, THAT EXPERTISE AND THAT ADVICE, UH, IN THIS AREA.
SINCE, YOU KNOW, BEING A HOUSING DEPARTMENT, WE DO GET INTO A LOT OF AREAS WHERE MAYBE WE DON'T HAVE AS MUCH EXPERTISE, UM, IN ADMINISTERING, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE PROGRAMS THAT ARE TANGENTIALLY, UH, CONNECTED TO HOUSING LIKE THIS.
AND SO THERE'S ALSO INFORMATION HERE THAT YOU CAN REACH OUT TO US AT, UM, FOR, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'D LIKE US TO COME BACK OR IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO TO EMAIL OR CALL.
UM, WE, UH, HAVE, UH, INCREASED, UM, SOME OF OUR, UH, UH, COMMUNICATION OPTIONS THIS YEAR.
YOU CAN TEXT MY COMMUNITY TO 2 3 2 2 4.
UM, AND, UH, WE ARE RECEIVING INPUT THAT WAY AS WELL.
AND I THINK MY INFORMATION MIGHT BE ON THE NEXT SLIDE IF WE WANT TO GO THERE, ACTUALLY, HERE, YOU CAN JUST, THERE WE GO.
UH, AND ACTUALLY, UH, IF WE COULD GO BACK THREE SLIDES TO THE PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD INFORMATION, I DO WANNA LET Y'ALL, OR I THINK IT'S 22 NEXT ONE.
I JUST WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THIS, UM, WHAT WE ARE, IF, IF ANYONE IN YOUR COMMUNITY OR ANYONE IN YOUR DISTRICTS IS INTERESTED IN KIND OF, UH, ADVOCATING TO GET THEIR, THEIR INPUT, KIND OF, YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY IN FRONT OF OUR DECISION MAKERS AND OUR LEADERS, WE ARE HAVING A, A PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE CITY COUNCIL ON THURSDAY, MAY 30TH REGARDING FEDERAL FUNDING USE, UH, GOING FORWARD FOR THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT.
AND ON MAY 14TH, WE'LL HAVE A PUBLIC HEARING BEFORE THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION.
UM, A AS WAS DISCUSSED EARLIER, IT CAN BE HARD TO MAKE THOSE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS ATTEND.
SO FORTUNATELY, THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSIONS MEETINGS ARE IN THE EVENING.
UH, AND THAT'S A, A PRETTY, UH, STRONG WAY TO ADVOCATE, UM, FOR, UM, PRIORITIES IN THIS PLAN.
BUT I'LL JUST GO TO THE LAST, UM, SLIDE LIKE WE WERE JUST ON SO Y'ALL CAN SEE MY INFORMATION.
AND THEN IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, WE CAN TAKE THOSE NOW.
HEY, CHRISTIAN, THIS IS, UH, STEVEN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, UH, THE AMAZING, WE CAN MUTE HIM FOR THE AMAZING PRESENTATION.
UH, I DO HAVE, UM, JUST A FEW QUESTIONS.
UM, YEAH, THE FIRST, UM, SO OUR COMMISSION, AS WELL AS ALL THE OTHER COMMISSIONS RECENTLY SUBMITTED BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND IT, IT SOUNDS FROM YOUR, FROM, UM, YOUR PRESENTATION THAT YOU REFERENCED PRIMARILY WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION.
I'M JUST CURIOUS, DID ANY, UM, WERE, WAS THAT COMMISSION OR ANY OTHER COMMISSION ABLE TO MAKE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT ON YOUR BEHALF? UM, SO WHEN IT COMES TO BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, UM, I CAN'T SPEAK TO THOSE WITH VERY MUCH EXPERTISE.
WE WERE ABLE TO GET BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS FROM COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION.
UM, FOR THE, THE FEDERAL LEVEL, I GUESS WE JUST DIDN'T CALL THEM BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.
IT WAS MORE JUST RECOMMENDATIONS FOR OUR, OUR FEDERAL SPENDING, SO TO SPEAK.
UM, I'M NOT SURE IF JAMIE'S STILL HERE, AND HE COULD SPEAK TO THAT A LITTLE MORE THAN ME, BUT DOES THAT, DOES THAT SOMEWHAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? UM, YEAH, THAT, THAT, THAT ANSWERS IT.
UM, I'M ALSO CURIOUS, UH, YOU HAD MENTIONED THAT, UM, YOU'VE HAD COMMUNITY LISTENING SESSIONS, UH, NOT SURE IF YOU HAVE THIS INFORMATION OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD, BUT I'M PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN WHAT TECHNOLOGY RELATED NEEDS, UM, YOU ALL MAY HAVE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY.
YEAH, I, UM, I'M TRYING TO THINK OFF THE TOP OF MY
[00:40:01]
HEAD.AND I KNOW THAT, UM, OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST, JULIE SMITH IS, IS ON, I DON'T KNOW IF SHE, UM, MIGHT WANNA CHIME IN.
UM, WE'VE JUST HEARD SO MUCH FEEDBACK THAT NOTHING IS COMING
TO, TO MIND FOR ME, RIGHT NOW, I'M, I'M KIND OF LIKE RACKING MY BRAIN A LITTLE BIT.
UM, YEAH, I CAN JUMP IN REAL QUICK.
I, I WOULD SAY AS WE'RE, AS WE'RE GETTING FEEDBACK, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE WHO COME FORWARD OR AND HAVE SUCH OFTEN IN VERY DESPERATE NEED, UM, HAVE A LOT OF IMMEDIATE NEEDS.
AND SO WE'RE HEARING PRIMARILY ABOUT HOUSING NEEDS.
HOWEVER, AS CHRIS, WE HEAR REG, WE, I'M SORRY, CAN YOU STILL HEAR ME? WE CAN HEAR YOU.
UM, AS CHRIS MENTIONED EARLIER, WE HEAR SO REGULARLY THAT WE NEED A MORE ACCESSIBLE PROCESS.
AND I'D SAY THAT'S WHERE THIS FITS MOST IS PEOPLE SAYING, STOP SENDING ME QR CODES OR MAKE IT EASIER FOR ME TO CONNECT FROM MY, FROM MY DEVICE.
SO WE GET ALL OVER THE BOARD IN TERMS OF, YES, GIVE US MORE DIGITAL ACCESS, AND ALSO, UM, PLEASE, CAN WE GET PAPER COPIES? CAN WE, UH, CAN YOU COME TO US IN PERSON? SO, UM, I DUNNO IF THAT EXACTLY ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION, BUT I WOULD SAY WE HEAR KINDA A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING IN TERMS OF YES, MORE DIGITAL, NO, PLEASE, LESS DIGITAL, WHICH OF COURSE MEANS WE DO NEED TO HELP, UH, UH, FOLKS WHO DON'T HAVE ACCESS.
UM, SO WE'RE TRYING TO, I THINK WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, APPROACH IT FROM BOTH ANGLES TO SAY, YEAH, HOW DO WORK WITH ORGANIZATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES HAVE DIGITAL ACCESS, AND ALSO FOR THOSE WHO DON'T HAVE WE REACH THEM.
UM, AND I KNOW CHRISTIAN HAD MENTIONED THE DIGITAL DIVIDE MAYBE TIED TO THAT.
DID, HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO CAPTURE ANY DATA, UM, FROM THESE POPULATIONS THAT YOU'RE SURVEYING ON, LIKE BARRIERS TO INTERNET ACCESS? IS IT ALL AFFORDABILITY, OR ARE THEY JUST FOCUSED ON, UM, THAT THEIR HOUSING, SO, YOU KNOW, CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET AND, AND, AND THOSE ISSUES ARE SORT OF LIKE A SECONDARY PRIORITY? UH, JUST WANNA GET A SENSE OF THAT.
SORRY, I'LL GET SOME BARKING DOCS.
UM, I, WE DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF DATA.
WE HAVEN'T NECESSARILY ASKED FOR IT AGAIN.
UM, AND WHERE WE, CAN I SAY, HOW ARE YOU HEARING THAT WOULD ALSO, UM, JULIE, YOU MAY, YOU MAY TRY GOING, IT'S PRIMARILY FROM OUR LOW INCOME, UM, FOLKS WHO MM-HMM.
I THINK THERE'S SOME, SOME ASSUMPTIONS WE CAN MAKE, BUT WE DON'T ASK SPECIFICALLY WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS.
UH, AND JULIE, YOU, YOU WERE SORT OF CUTTING OUT, SO YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER, UH, TURNING OFF YOUR CAMERA SO WE CAN HEAR YOU.
UH, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO, TO SOME OF THE OTHER, UH, COMMISSIONERS.
I KNOW COMMISSIONER DES GUPTA IN THE ROOM, UH, MAY HAVE SOME QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS.
UH, MIA, THANK YOU FOR ENLIGHTENING PRESENTATION.
THERE'S A LOT OF INFORMATION HERE, UH, SPECIFIC TO YOUR, UH, SLIDE NUMBER 11.
SO IN SLIDE NUMBER 11, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HOUSING NEEDS AND OTHER NEEDS.
SO UNDER OTHER NEEDS, YOU KNOW, WE ARE, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY.
WHY ISN'T CONNECTIVITY ONE OF THOSE OTHER NEEDS? IN MY MIND, IF IT'S NOT WRITTEN DOWN, IT DOESN'T EXIST
SO, YEAH, I MEAN, I THINK IT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
I THINK THAT THESE CONVERSATIONS KIND OF HIGHLIGHT THAT WHEN WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SUCH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH FOLKS ABOUT THESE SUCH LIKE, YOU KNOW, THAT THEIR MINDS ARE JUST, THAT THEIR MIND IS ON HOUSING.
HOW AM I GONNA GET, YOU KNOW, LIKE, YOU KNOW, HOW AM I GONNA HAVE A ROOF OVER MY HEAD TOMORROW? YOU KNOW, WE'RE WORKING WITH A LOT OF HOMELESS MM-HMM.
UM, I THINK WE COULD PROBABLY DO A MUCH BETTER JOB OF, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE TO KEEP THE, YOU KNOW, DIGITAL DIVIDE QUESTION, YOU KNOW, ON PEOPLE'S MINDS AND KIND OF ON, ON PAPER.
BUT, UM, LIKE JULIE SAID, IT, IT DEFINITELY, IT, IT JUST, IT, IT JUST DOESN'T, I THINK THERE'S BEEN SUCH A, A, A INTENTIONAL, UM, EFFORT FROM HUD FOR US TO BE FOCUSING ON THIS BECAUSE WHEN WE'RE FOCUSING, UH, WHEN WE'RE LISTENING TO PEOPLE ON THE GROUND, IT'S JUST, IT JUST DOESN'T ALWAYS, OR OFTEN DOESN'T REALLY COME UP BECAUSE THEY'RE SO FOCUSED ON, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, RENT REALLY CORE NEEDS.
SO, SO, YOU KNOW, CARRYING ON, ON THAT, ON, ON THAT WAVELENGTH, UH, I WONDER IF DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY WOULDN'T BE A MEANS TO THE
[00:45:01]
END IN SOLVING SOME OF THEIR CRISES.I MEAN, IF THEY WERE BETTER CONNECTED, IF THEY KNEW WHERE TO GET HELP, ET CETERA, WOULDN'T THAT BE A SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM? PART OF THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM? CHRIS, DO YOU MIND IF I JUMP IN? YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
UM, FIRST OFF, THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION.
THAT'S EXACTLY THE TYPE OF THINKING THAT WE, THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR IN THESE MEETINGS.
UM, THE, UH, UH, OUTSIDE THE BOX SOLUTIONS, UH, AND, AND, UH, CROSS CONNECTIVITY OVERLAPPING, UH, EXPERTISE, THAT'S HOW WE'RE GOING TO FIND SOLUTIONS TO THESE INTRACTABLE PROBLEMS. MM-HMM.
UM, I THINK THAT IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO, TO POINT OUT THAT, UM, UH, CHRIS AND JULIE HAVE BEEN, UH, HAVE BEEN DOING THE YEOMAN'S WORK OF THIS, UH, FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS, UH, REALLY REACHING OUT TO COMMITTEES THAT WE'VE NEVER TALKED TO AND, UH, UM, TALKING TO PEOPLE AND HEARING, UH, THINGS THAT, THAT WE'VE BEEN, UH, UM, WE HAVEN'T HAD TIME TO GO OUT AND ASK THE QUESTIONS ABOUT.
UM, SO I THINK THAT THIS IS A FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY IN THIS FIVE YEAR CONSOLIDATED PLAN, UM, ENDEAVOR, UH, TO REALLY TAKE THAT TYPE OF INFORMATION, UH, AND, AND, UM, USE IT AS WE GO, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
NOT JUST WITH OUR FEDERALLY FEDERAL FUNDING, BUT WITH OUR, OUR LOCAL FUNDS, WITH OUR GEO BONDS, WITH EVERYTHING THAT WE, THAT WE DO WITH THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT.
JUST MAKING SURE THAT WE CONSIDER THESE THINGS, UM, AND KEEP IT PART OF THE CONVERSATION.
SO I, I, I THINK THAT THE FACT THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IT IS THE GOAL OF, OF, UH, THIS OUTREACH THAT, UH, CHRIS AND JULIE AND I HAVE BEEN, HAVE BEEN WORKING ON.
AND I HOPE THAT WE CAN CONTINUE THAT CONVERSATION.
MAY I ASK A COUPLE MORE QUICK ONES? UH, IN SLIDE 17, YOU'VE GIVEN A DISTRIBUTION OF WHO YOU SERVE, AND YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT 3000 HOUSEHOLDS.
IS THAT ALL THE PROBLEM WE HAVE? THAT SOUNDS LIKE AN AWFULLY SMALL NUMBER BECAUSE IN MY MIND, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S SOMEWHAT OF A VENN DIAGRAM.
YOU'VE GOT THOSE WHO ARE HOUSING DEPRIVED, THOSE THAT ARE DIGITALLY DEPRIVE DEPRIVED, AND IT'S NOT REALLY ONE AND THE SAME.
AND SHOULDN'T YOU BE TALKING ABOUT REALLY A UNION OF THOSE TWO AREAS AS FAR AS THE, UH, THE POPULATION SERVED? UH, CHRIS, PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT I BELIEVE THAT THAT IS ONLY A SUBSET OF THE PROGRAMS. UM, ESG IS NOT INCLUDED IN THAT AND SOME OTHER, UM, METRICS.
IT, THERE, THERE ARE, THERE ARE SOME THAT AREN'T INCLUDED.
THERE'S MORE THAT AREN'T INCLUDED IN THE, THE INCOME DEMOGRAPHICS, BUT, UM, YEAH, I, I WAS GONNA HIGHLIGHT THAT, YOU KNOW, JUST, JUST TO HIGHLIGHT THAT THIS IS JUST FEDERAL FUNDING FOR THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT, UM, OUR LOCAL FUNDING AND, AND MAYBE IT'S KINDA, IT'S KINDA UNIQUE SITUATION BEING A CITY LIKE AUSTIN BEING THE 10TH BIGGEST CITY IN THE COUNTRY, BECAUSE FOR A LOT OF COMMUNITIES, THIS FEDERAL FUNDING HERE IS LIKE THEIR BREAD AND BUTTER, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF LOCAL FUNDING WHERE WE ACTUALLY SERVE WAY MORE PEOPLE LOCAL.
SO JUST, JUST TO NOT JUST SAY THAT WE CAN'T ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, SERVE MORE AND INCREASE OUR PRODUCTION AND INCREASE OUR GOALS, BUT, UM, YEAH, THAT, I JUST WANTED TO, TO GIVE THAT CONTEXT.
THAT'S JUST FEDERAL FUNDING, NOT LOCAL FUNDING AS WELL.
AND THEN TO GET TO YOUR, THE SECOND PART OF YOUR QUESTION, UM, YEAH, I MEAN, I, I, I'VE NEVER HEARD IT PUT LIKE THAT AS A VENN DIAGRAM, AND THAT'S PROBABLY GONNA STICK WITH ME 'CAUSE THAT'S A REALLY GOOD IMAGE OF DIGITAL CONNECT CONNECTIVITY HOUSING.
UM, AND THERE'S A VENN DIAGRAM THERE, AND THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT, THAT WE'LL, WE'LL PUT IN, PUT INTO, UH, INTO LEADERSHIP AND INTO THE PLAN TO, TO, YOU KNOW, INPUT FROM S GROUP TO BE THINKING OF IT LIKE THAT.
AND I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ECHO THAT, UM, HOW HELPFUL THIS IS TO BE THINKING ABOUT IT THROUGH THIS LENS, BECAUSE AS JAMES, WE'RE THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT AND WE THINK ABOUT THINGS THROUGH HOUSING LENS.
WE'VE TRIED, WE'RE TRYING TO BE REALLY STRATEGIC THIS YEAR, MOVING FORWARD ABOUT NOT SILOING OUR EFFORTS EVEN, YOU KNOW MM-HMM.
SO HOW DO WE USE THIS IMPACT ACROSS OUR DEPARTMENT? AND ALSO HOW DO WE USE IT ACROSS THE CITY? SO HOW DO WE KNOW HOW TO WORK BETTER WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS, UM, FOR THESE VENN DIAGRAM TYPE OF, UM, UH, ISSUES.
AND THEY, THEY'RE ALL CONNECTED, RIGHT? SO REALLY APPRECIATE THIS CONVERSATION, AND I ESPECIALLY WANTED TO SAY, I HEAR YOU ON, WE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE IT LISTED AS A NEED, UH, AS WE WERE GOING THROUGH THOSE NEEDS.
SO, UM, WE WILL, WE WILL ADD IT.
AND APPRECIATE ALL THIS FEEDBACK.
ONE THOUGHT UNDER OTHER NEEDS, I SEE YOU HAVE UTILITIES
[00:50:01]
HIGHLIGHTED.I WONDER IF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE PIECE, INTERNET CONNECTIVITY IS PROBABLY BUCKETED WITHIN THAT.
IT, IT MAY, IT MAY MAKE SENSE JUST TO, UM, CAPTURE IT SEPARATELY.
YEAH, THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
I'LL OPEN IT UP TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS WHO ARE ONLINE GOING ONCE, GOING TWICE.
ONE LAST, I HAVE ONE LAST QUESTION FOR YOU ALL.
HOW CAN OUR, UH, COMMISSION BE THE MOST HELP TO YOU ALL IN THE COMING YEAR? MM-HMM.
AND I JUST PAUSED BECAUSE YOU SAID IN THE COMING YEAR, I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA SAY LIKE, TONIGHT,
YOU COULD CHOOSE WHATEVER TIMEFRAME MAKES THE MOST SENSE.
YEAH, THIS INPUT HAS BEEN GREAT GOING FORWARD.
IF THERE'S ANY MORE INPUT, MAYBE, YOU KNOW, ANY OTHER, OTHER COMMISSIONERS, IF YOU COULD GO TO THAT WWW.SPEAKOFAUSTIN.ORG/MY COMMUNITY NEEDS, UM, AND JUST SEND THAT IN.
OR EVEN IF YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE JUST KIND OF AGREEING WITH WHAT WAS HEARD.
I MEAN, THE MORE INPUT WE GET, THE BETTER.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, BE HERE, YOU KNOW, BE ABLE TO, WHEN WE'RE MAKING DECISIONS, TO BE ABLE TO POINT TO THE INPUT WE GOT, AND, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHERE WE CAN JUSTIFY IT, RIGHT? SO IF THERE'S MORE INPUT COMING IN ABOUT WHAT THE THEMES Y'ALL ARE TALKING ABOUT TONIGHT, THAT, THAT KIND OF HELPS US TO ADVOCATE FOR THEM.
BUT I THINK I REALLY LOVE THE QUESTION ABOUT GOING FORWARD THROUGH THE YEAR, AND WE, WE DEFINITELY ARE VERY MUCH WANTING TO KIND OF MOVE TOWARDS JUST KIND OF, YOU KNOW, CONTINUAL COMMUNICATION WITH OUR STAKEHOLDER GROUPS AND NOT JUST COMING TO Y'ALL ONCE A YEAR AND CHECKING IN.
AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE DEFINITELY BUILDING AND I THINK WE COULD FOLLOW UP WITH YOU ON.
UM, JULIE, DO YOU, I FEEL LIKE YOU MIGHT HAVE SOME THOUGHTS OR, OR JAMIE, IF YOU DO, I'LL LET JULIE GO FIRST IF YOU GOT ANYTHING.
I THINK JUST ECHOING, UM, CHRIS, WHAT YOU SAID, WE'D LOVE TO CONTINUE TO COME BACK AND, UM, MM-HMM,
UM, SO REALLY JUST HAVING AN OPEN COMMUNICATION IS REALLY HELPFUL FOR US, AND KNOWING THAT WE'RE HERE THAT WAY TOO.
SO, UM, AGAIN, I'M A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST.
I'M HERE TO LISTEN AND HERE TO BE AN ADVOCATE ON THE INSIDE OF OUR DEPARTMENT.
SO I WOULD LOVE, BE IN TOUCH WITH ME, UM, AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE.
WE'LL TAKE YOU UP ON THAT AND REACH OUT DIRECTLY.
WELL, I THINK, I THINK JAMIE MIGHT HAVE HEARD ONE THING,
AND ONE OF THE BEST PARTS ABOUT BEING PART OF THIS TEAM WITH, UH, JULIE AND CHRIS, IS THAT I GET INTRODUCED TO, UH, THE WHOLE NEW COMMITTEES THAT HAVE EXPERTISE ON THINGS THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT.
UM, AND JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER DEPARTMENT IN THE CITY, UH, THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT IS LOOKING AT OUR TECHNOLOGICAL, TECHNOLOGICAL NEEDS AND OUR, UH, RESOURCES.
SO I AM, I'M GONNA BE LOOKING YOU GUYS UP AND REACHING OUT AT SOME POINT.
THE, THE LAST THING I DID WANT TO SAY IS JUST YOU ALL GET, UH, MORE PUBLIC SPEAKERS OR MORE INFORMATION, UH, KIND OF AROUND THE TOPIC THAT WE HEARD EARLIER TONIGHT ABOUT HOW WE CAN, YOU KNOW, BE USING TECHNOLOGY TO ENGAGE IN OUR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS.
YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T THAT JUST HAVE TO BE CITY COUNCIL, RIGHT? COULD BE, UH, US CITY STAFF.
UM, AND I WAS KIND OF, YOU KNOW, TAKING NOTES ABOUT THIS, UH, POLL POLI, I THINK IT WAS, YOU KNOW, UM, IF Y'ALL, IF Y'ALL WANNA FORWARD THAT TO US, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S, UH, DEFINITELY, IT'S DEFINITELY HELPFUL JUST INFORMATION THROUGH THE YEAR.
WE WILL, UM, SEND YOU ALL ANY RELEVANT INFORMATION AFTER, ONCE WE'VE HAD A CHANCE TO MEET WITH, UH, THE OTHER COMMISSION CHAIR.
UM, WE'LL CONTINUE TO CALL THE ITEMS, UM, OUT OF ORDER.
I KNOW ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS IS HAVING ISSUES WITH THIS CAMERA.
[2. Presentation of the selected applications for the Grant for Technology Opportunities Program [GTOPs] Core 2024 (Jesse Rodriguez – Program Manager, Dan Martinez – Business Process Specailist, Telecommunications and Regulatory Affairs Division of the Financial Services Department, City of Austin) ]
SEE IF YOU ALL ARE READY TO, UH, PRESENT ON THE G TOPS TOPIC.[00:55:04]
ALL RIGHTY.UM, WE'VE GOT A SLIDE DECK GOING FOR Y'ALL, AND WE'LL HAVE IT UP SHORTLY.
UM, BUT YEAH, UM, HELLO EVERYBODY.
UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO I HAVEN'T MET IN PERSON, UH, MY NAME IS DAN MARTINEZ AND I'M ACTUALLY THE LIAISON OF THIS COMMISSION, THE CTTC.
UM, BUT, UH, I KNOW A LOT OF, YOU'RE NEW AND HAVE NOT BEEN EXPOSED TO GTOP S UM, IN YOUR, YOUR TERM SO FAR.
UM, AND I KIND OF WANTED TO, UH, JUST HAVE A BASIC REFRESHER OF WHAT THIS PROGRAM IS AND WHAT THE CTTS ROLE IS WITH THIS PROGRAM, AND HOW, UH, OUR WORK OVERLAPS AND TIES INTO ONE ANOTHER.
SO, YEAH, I'LL BE GOING OVER WHAT GTOP S IS, UM, NEXT SLIDE.
AND JUST TO START A LITTLE MORE ABSTRACTLY, UH, I WANTED TO GO OVER WHAT DIGITAL INCLUSION IS.
UM, DIGITAL INCLUSION IS BASICALLY, UH, THE, THE SORT OF ACT OF BRINGING TOGETHER A COMMUNITY AND MAKING SURE THAT NOBODY IS LEFT OUT OF THE DIGITAL ASPECTS OF OUR LIFE.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS TIME GOES ON, AND SINCE THE, UH, COVID PANDEMIC, UH, THE WORLD HAS BEEN, UH, MOVING TOWARDS MORE, UH, TECHNOLOGY FOCUSED COMMUNICATIONS, UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT IN SCHOOL IN OUR JOBS, AS WELL AS JUST THE WAY THAT WE COMMUNICATE WITH ONE ANOTHER OR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES.
UM, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT NOBODY IS LEFT OUT OF THAT ADVANCEMENT BECAUSE WITHOUT THESE TOOLS NOWADAYS, IT'S KIND OF HARD TO PARTICIPATE, UH, IN OUR SOCIETY AND ALMOST ANY ASPECT OF THAT, WHETHER IT'S LIKE MEDICAL GOVERNMENT, UM, OR BANKING.
AND, UH, G OS IS OUR GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM, AND WHICH WAS FOUNDED ON THIS VISION OF A COMMUNITY WHERE EVERYBODY'S ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN EVERY PART OF SOCIETY THAT DOES HAVE A MORE ONLINE AND DIGITAL FOCUS.
UM, AND OUR GOAL AT THE TECHNOLOGY AND RE REGULATORY AFFAIRS DIVISION, UM, IS TO CREATE, UH, AN AUSTIN COMMUNITY THAT IS VERY WELL, UH, DIGITALLY AND, UH, DIGITALLY CONNECTED.
AND THIS IS, AND IT'S EQUITABLE FOR ALL, UM, NO ONE'S LEFT BEHIND.
UM, AND WE GO ABOUT THAT IN THREE MAIN WAYS THROUGH OUR, UH, GRANTFORD TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM.
UM, ARE THREE MAIN MISSIONS THAT WE TRY TO, UH, TO FOCUS OUR, UH, THESE GRANTS AROUND, UH, THESE AWARDS AROUND IS, UH, THE INCREASE OF DIGITAL AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY DEVICES.
SO GETTING TABLETS, LAPTOPS, PHONES OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY AT, UH, LOW TO NO COST, UM, INCREASING KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS OF DIGITAL AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY, UM, THAT CAN GO, UH, THAT CAN VARY FROM LOW SKILL, JUST TEACHING SOMEBODY HOW TO ACCESS THEIR MEDICAL HEALTH PORTAL TO VERY, UH, LARGER SKILLSET LIKE HOW TO USE WORK TOOLS LIKE EXCEL OR, UH, CAD, A BUILDER.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, OUR OTHER MISSION IS TO INCREASE ACCESS AND USAGE TO THE INTERNET ALSO AT LOW OR, UH, NO COST TO THOSE WHO NEED IT.
AND SO THE GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM WAS BORN, UM, I WANNA BELIEVE IT'S ABOUT 20 YEARS OLD AT THIS POINT.
UM, AND WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS, UH, UH, IN THE PAST THIS PROGRAM HAD 20,002, UH, $200,000 OF, OF FINANCES TO SHARE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
AND WE ONLY HAD ONE PATHWAY, WHICH IS OUR MAIN ONE, GTOP S CORE.
UM, BUT THANKS TO THE WORK OF THE CTTC BACK IN 2020, THERE WAS A RECOMMENDATION THAT WAS, UH, PASSED THAT RAISED THE FUNDING FROM 200,000 TO 400,000, AND WE WERE ABLE TO CREATE, UH, TWO ADDITIONAL PATHWAYS AS A RESULT OF THAT.
UM, AND AS YOU CAN SEE HERE, WE HAVE THE THREE PRIMARY PATHWAYS.
UH, GT OS SCORE IS THE ONE THAT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT TODAY, THE ONE THAT WE JUST WRAPPED UP AND ARE CURRENTLY IN THE PROCESS OF CONTRACTING.
UM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE GTOP S CAPACITY AND GTOP S MINI, UH, GTOP S CAPACITY.
JUST TO SPEAK ON IT REALLY QUICKLY, IS, UH, MORE OF A, AS THE NAME IMPLIES, A CAPACITY BUILDING GRANT, UM, MA MADE TO HELP, UH, ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE ALREADY SERVICING THE COMMUNITY, THE COMMUNITY'S DIGITAL EQUITY NEEDS, AND HELPING THEM SORT OF FLESH OUT, UH, THEIR, THEIR PROGRAMS AND THEIR PRACTICES AND HELPING THEM, UH, HELPING SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS, UH, THOSE, UH, WITH LESS THAN 1 MILLION, $500,000 OF ANNUAL REVENUES, HELPING THEM KIND OF GET THAT GRASSROOTS FUNDING AND, UH, BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT WORK MORE FLUIDLY.
UM, AND MANY IS MORE, UH, DIRECTED TOWARDS ACTUALLY HELPING DIRECT SERVICE, UM, TO CLIENTS IN NEED OF DIGITAL EQUITY TOOLS.
UM, BUT IT'S A SMALLER GRANT MADE TO ALSO FLESH OUT, UM, ALREADY EXISTING DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAMS. UM, BUT GTOP S CORE IS OUR LARGEST PATHWAY.
IT HAS A AWARD RANGE BETWEEN 10,030 $5,000.
UM, AND THIS IS MADE TO EITHER, UM, HELP SUPPORT THOSE ALREADY PRE-EXISTING, UH, DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAMS,
[01:00:01]
OR HELP GET SOME OFF THE GROUND, UM, WITH, UH, WHAT IS SORT OF MATCH FUNDING, UH, C MATCH SEED FUNDING.UM, AND THIS YEAR WE ACTUALLY HAD AN INCREASE TO ALL OF THESE PATHWAYS.
UM, SO G TOPS CORE WENT FROM, I WANNA SAY, 300,000, CORRECT, TO 315,000 2 75, 2 70 5,000 TO THREE 15,000, UH, JUST DUE TO AN, UH, SURPLUS OF FUNDS THAT WE HAD TO REALLOCATE, UH, DUE TO THE CLOSURE OF THE A CP PROGRAM.
UM, BUT I'LL GO MORE INTO GTOP S CORE.
CAN YOU HIT THE NEXT SLIDE AND YEAH, I, I KIND OF HIT THESE ON THE LAST SLIDE, BUT, UH, IT, IT IS A, IT MEANT TO HELP ORGANIZATIONS INCREASE, UM, ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY, PROVIDE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY TRAINING, AND INCREASE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET, UM, HELP BUILD OUT THESE PROGRAMS AND PRE-EXISTING PROGRAMS. UM, AND, UH, THIS PROGRAM ISN'T JUST LIMITED TO THOSE THREE ASSETS OR THOSE THREE, UM, THOSE THREE GOALS.
UM, AS YOU'LL SEE, AND IF YOU'RE AROUND THIS COMMISSION FOR A WHILE, YOU'LL SEE SOME VERY CREATIVE PROJECTS COME DOWN THE PIPELINE.
UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I'M PERSONALLY ALWAYS EXCITED BY.
UH, I LOVE SEEING THE CREATIVITY THAT PEOPLE CAN HAVE IN DESIGNING A PROGRAM SURROUNDED AROUND OUR THREE GOALS THAT IS STILL ABLE TO MEET THOSE CRITERIA, UM, BUT DOING IT IN A WAY THAT IS MORE ADEPT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY.
UH, YOU KNOW, UH, JUST TO GIVE AN EXAMPLE, UH, I BELIEVE IT IS, UH, CHANGING EXPECTATIONS THAT IS DESIGNING, UH, AI CHATBOTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE.
SO IT'S, UH, YOUNG, UH, YOUNG STUDENTS WHO ARE DESIGNING THESE AI CHATBOTS TO SORT OF INTERACT AND BE ABLE TO, UH, UM, TRY AND, UH, CLOSE THAT SORT OF A, UH, WELL, YEAH, UH, IT IS, IT IS A VERY CREATIVE PROGRAM, UM, JUST TO SHOW LIKE THE, THE, THAT IT'S NOT VERY, IT'S NOT AS LIMITED AS IT MAY SOUND.
AND, UH, I WANNA SPEAK MORE TO THE COMMISSION'S PART IN ALL OF THIS AND, UH, WHAT WE'RE HERE, UH, MOSTLY TO, UH, SORT OF PRESENT TO YOU ALL.
SO THE COMMISSION ROLLS, AS YOU'LL SEE ON THE RIGHT SIDE.
THIS IS A PORTION OF CITY CODE SECTION TWO DASH ONE DASH 1 0 7.
UM, AND IT'S BASICALLY, UH, TYING TOGETHER THE WORK THAT YOU ALL DO AS WELL AS THE WORK THAT I DO IN THE DAYTIME.
UM, BUT WHAT, UH, THE THREE LARGER THINGS THAT THE COMMISSION TAKES PART IN FOR THIS WHOLE PROCESS IS THE SELECTION AND THE APPROVAL OF THE GTOP S CORE REVIEW PANEL.
UM, THE SELECTION AND THE PARTICIPATION OF AN EX OFFICIO CHAIR POSITION, AS WELL AS THE APPROVAL OF THE SELECTED APPLICATIONS, UM, USUALLY HOW THAT GOES DOWN.
UM, I BELIEVE SOME OF YOU MAY RECALL, I BELIEVE THIS IS OUR JANUARY MEETING OR OUR FEBRUARY MEETING AS IT SAYS THERE, UH, WE PRESENTED THE COMMISSION WITH, UM, A, A PACKET OF DIFFERENT APPLICANTS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THIS REVIEW PANEL FOR THE PROGRAM.
AND, UM, YOU GUYS MADE A SELECTION OUT OF THOSE, UH, 10 APPLICANTS, I BELIEVE NARROWED IT DOWN TO EIGHT FOR US.
AND, UM, THEN FROM THERE, UH, WE HAVE AN EX-OFFICIO CHAIR POSITION ON THAT PANEL, UM, WHO USUALLY JUST SERVES TO OVERSEE THE PROCESS AS WELL AS ANSWERING ANY QUESTIONS, GUIDING THE GROUP, UM, AND, UH, SITTING IN ON DIFFERENT EVENTS SUCH AS THE FINAL SCORING DELIBERATION, AS WELL AS THE ORIENTATION.
AND THEN THAT LAST PORTION, THE APPROVAL OF SELECTED APPLICATIONS.
UH, WE HAD TO DO THIS, UH, OFFLINE THIS YEAR JUST TO STAY ON, UH, TRACK FOR OUR SCHEDULES, UH, FOR, FOR THE GTOP S PROGRAM.
BUT USUALLY WE'D PULL TOGETHER, UM, ALL THE SCORES, UH, THAT WERE, UH, SUBMITTED BY THE REVIEW PANEL.
AND WE'D HAVE YOU ALL, UH, APPROVE THE SELECTION THAT THEY MADE, UM, BASED OFF OF THAT SCORE.
UH, AND WE WOULD USUALLY PRESENT THAT AT THE, UH, CTTC REGULAR APRIL MEETING.
AND I KIND OF JUST WANT TO GO DOWN HOW THIS PROCESS WENT DOWN THIS YEAR.
UM, SO WE HAD 21 LETTERS OF INTEREST SUBMITTED, AND THAT IS THE FIRST STEP TO APPLYING FOR GT TOPS.
AND THEN FROM THOSE 21 LETTERS OF INTEREST, 20 ACTUALLY SUBMITTED A FINAL APPLICATION.
AND THOSE 20 WERE THE, UH, APPLICATIONS THAT WERE REVIEWED BY THE REVIEW PANEL.
UM, AND AT OUR FEBRUARY MEETING, UH, THE C-C-T-T-C APPROVED, UH, AN EIGHT PERSON REVIEW PANEL.
UM, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES AND SCHEDULING, THREE OF THOSE REVIEWERS HAD TO DROP OUT, UM, WHICH IS WHY WE TEND TO HAVE A, A LARGE PANEL OF EIGHT, UM, JUST TRYING TO MAKE ROOM, UH, IN CASE THERE IS SOME OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES THAT FORCE A REVIEWER TO HAVE TO STEP DOWN.
UM, BUT FROM THAT REVIEW PANEL, WE HAD AN ORIENTATION, GOT EVERYONE SITUATED, UM, AND THEY BEGAN THE SCORING PROCESS.
AND THEN FROM THERE, THEY'RE GIVEN A CHANCE TO, UM, SUBMIT QUESTIONS THAT THEY WOULD LIKE OUR GT OS APPLICANTS TO ANSWER, UM, IF THEY'RE LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL CONTEXT FOR THOSE APPLICATIONS
[01:05:01]
THAT WERE SUBMITTED.UM, AND USUALLY WE GET THOSE ANSWERS BACK WITHIN A WEEK, AND WE GIVE THEM BACK TO THE REVIEWERS JUST TO ADD AND FILL IN ALL THOSE LITTLE HOLES THAT THE APPLICATIONS MAY NOT HAVE ANSWERED.
UM, FROM THERE, THEY'RE, THEY'LL FINISH UP SCORING.
AND WE HAVE A FINAL DELIBERATION THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER.
UM, IT'S AN ALL DAY SESSION WHERE ALL THESE REVIEWERS GET TOGETHER IN PERSON, AND WE DISCUSS EACH APPLICATION ONE BY ONE BY ONE, STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, UM, THINGS THAT THEY MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT OTHER REVIEWERS MAY NOT HAVE NOTICED.
UM, AND IT, IT'S, IT DOESN'T, IT'S NOT AS BORING AS IT SOUNDS.
UM, IT'S USUALLY A LOT OF FUN.
UM, AND, UH, WE GET TO GO THROUGH THESE, LOOK AT THESE, UM, IN, YOU KNOW, THESE PROJECTS AND GET TO BOTH SCRUTINIZE THEM AND APPRECIATE THEM IN, IN MORE DETAIL.
BUT FROM THERE, ONCE ALL THOSE FINAL SCORES ARE SUBMITTED, UH, CITY STAFF, WHICH MEANS ME AND JESSE, UH, WE'LL RANK THE SCORES AND WE'LL AVERAGE THEM ACCORDING TO OUR OLYMPIC STYLE SCORING SYSTEM.
UH, WHICH MEANS WE DROP THE HIGHEST AND THE LOWEST OF THE SCORES, AND THEN WE AVERAGE IT AGAIN, UH, OR WE AVERAGE IT.
UM, AND THEN WE ASSIGN ALL THE BONUS POINTS AFTER THAT.
UH, AND THEN WE INPUT ALL OF THOSE FINAL SCORES INTO AN ALGORITHM THAT WE HAVE DESIGNED THAT ALLOCATES, UH, THE AWARD AMOUNTS BASED ON THAT FINAL SCORE.
AND THEN FROM THERE, WE'LL USUALLY PRESENT THE APPLICATIONS AT A-C-T-T-C MEETING.
BUT AS I MENTIONED, IN ORDER TO STAY ON SCHEDULE, WE HAD TO DO THIS OFFLINE.
SO WE MET WITH CTTC, UH, LEADERSHIP, UM, WHO RECOMMENDED THAT WE EXPAND OUR ORIGINAL LIST OF 10 ORGANIZATIONS TO 12 THIS CYCLE.
UM, UH, WE TEND TO FUND, WE, WE, THE MOST WE HAD FUNDED IN THE PAST, I BELIEVE WAS 11 TO 10.
UH, BUT BECAUSE OF THE ADDITIONAL FUNDING, UH, WE WERE ABLE TO FUND AN ADDITIONAL, UH, APPLICATION THIS CYCLE.
UM, I DON'T BELIEVE WE'VE DONE 1212 IN THE PAST, BUT THERE WAS JUST ADDED MONEY IN THE BUDGET.
UM, AND THE, THE CTCC LEADERSHIP, UM, RECOMMENDED THAT, UH, WE FUND AS MANY AS WE CAN ABOVE A 70%, UM, FUNDING QUOTA AND LAST SLIDE.
AND SO THIS IS WHAT THAT BREAKDOWN KIND OF LOOKED LIKE THIS YEAR.
UM, AS I MENTIONED, WE DID, UH, OLYMPIC SCORING TO, UH, DETERMINE THOSE FINAL SCORES.
UM, OH, LIKE I SAID, THE AWARDS ARE BASED ON A, PRESENTED A PERCENTAGE OF REQUESTS IN ALIGNMENT WITH THEIR FINAL SCORE RANKING.
UM, AND WE TEND TO ROUND THESE TO THE NEAREST DOLLAR.
UM, THE ONLY EXCEPTION BEING THE BOTTOM ONE, UH, JOI COMMUNITY OUTREACH, UH, WE HAD A SURPLUS OF $2.
SO, UH, AND THEY WERE, UH, AT, THEY HAD THE LOWEST AWARD DUE TO HAVING THE LOWEST SCORE, SO WE JUST GAVE THEM THE EXTRA $2 TO USE UP THE REST OF THOSE FUNDS.
UM, AND THE, ALL THESE AWARDEES WERE APPROVED OFFLINE, AS I MENTIONED, ON THE 17TH OF APRIL.
UM, AND AS YOU CAN SEE THERE ON THE LEFT IS THE, UH, AWARDEES IN ORDER, UH, AND ACCORDING TO THEIR SCORES AS WELL AS THEIR AWARD AMOUNTS.
UM, I WILL NOTE THAT CREATIVE ACTION, UM, THEIR AWARD IS FOR 70, $17,000.
UM, THEY JUST HAD A LOWER REQUEST.
UM, IT, THEY DID NOT REQUEST THE FULL 3,500 OR 35,000.
UM, THERE'S ALSO A MEMO ATTACHED TO THE OUTLOOK HOLD, AND THIS IS THE FORMAL MEMO THAT WE TEND TO PRESENT TO THE COMMISSION.
UM, AND, UH, IT, IT BASICALLY GOES INTO MORE DETAIL, UM, REGARDING EVERYTHING THAT I SPOKE TO TODAY, UM, WHAT THAT PROCESS LOOKED LIKE THIS YEAR, UH, HOW THE DECISION IS MADE, AND WHAT THE CRITERIA ARE FOR THE ALGORITHM, UH, IN ORDER TO ASSIGN THOSE SCORES.
SO, I, I IMPLORE YOU ALL PLEASE LOOK OVER IT.
UM, WE'D LOVE TO GET YOUR INPUT, UM, AS ALWAYS, AND IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS OR WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS THIS FURTHER, UM, WE CAN CHAT ABOUT IT NOW.
UH, JUST WANNA, UM, UH, REEMPHASIZE A COUPLE OF ITEMS THAT YOU HAD ALREADY TOUCHED ON.
SO, 400,000, THAT'S, THAT, THAT'S AN INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF FUNDS THAT, UM, OUR COMMISSION HAS THE ABILITY TO INFLUENCE, UH, DIRECTLY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
NOT EVERY COMMISSION HAS, UH, THAT OPPORTUNITY.
SO THAT'S THE FIRST THING I WANTED TO CALL OUT.
UM, SECONDLY, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, NOW FORMER CHAIR PITTS AND MYSELF MET WITH DAN AND JESSE ON THE AWARD RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, THE CYCLE.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND, AND AS DAN ALLUDED TO, WE JUST FELT IT WAS PRUDENT TO TRY AND, UM, DO AS MANY AWARDEES AS POSSIBLE.
UM, YOU KNOW, FROM JUST, JUST FOR MYSELF, I THINK IT'S BETTER THAT NONPROFIT DOING THIS IMPACTFUL WORK RECEIVE SOME SORT OF FUNDING AS OPPOSED TO, TO NOTHING.
UH, EVEN IF SOME OF THE OTHER AWARDEES HAVE TO GIVE UP, UH, A SMALL AMOUNT.
I THINK THE SORT OF SPREADING,
[01:10:01]
UM, AS MUCH OF THIS FUNDING AROUND THE COMMUNITY, UM, WILL IMPACT THE COMMUNITY TO A LARGE EXTENT.UM, AND THEN FINALLY, JUST WANTED TO ADD A QUESTION FOR THE TWO OF YOU.
SO WE, SO EXOFFICIO CHAIR, THAT WAS FORMER CHAIR PITTS FOR THE, THE LARGER SUM.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE G OS AWARD? I KNOW MYSELF, CHAIR PITTS, MAYBE OTHER COMMISSIONERS IN THE PAST HAVE SERVED AS, AS PANELISTS, UM, UH, OR REVIEWERS IN, IN THE PAST.
SO WANTED TO SEE WHAT'S ON THE HORIZON FOR G OS NEXT.
SO WE HAVE, UH, JUST WRAPPED UP THE PROCESS FOR GTOP S CORE, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY.
WE HAVE TWO ADDITIONAL GRANT PATHWAYS THAT DAN MENTIONED EARLIER IN THE PRESENTATION.
WE HAVE GTOP S MINI AND GTOP S CAPACITY, AND BOTH OF THOSE ARE CURRENTLY ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND SO WE WILL BE PULLING TOGETHER REVIEW PANELS FOR THOSE TWO, UH, THOSE TWO OPPORTUNITIES.
UH, THE WAY THAT THE COMMISSION USUALLY PLUGS IN FOR THOSE TWO IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN THE WAY THEY DO FOR, THAN Y'ALL DO FOR CORE.
UM, FOR MANY IN CAPACITY, WE ACTUALLY ASK FOR AT LEAST ONE MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION TO SERVE ON THE PANEL AS A VOTING MEMBER, RATHER THAN THE EXOFFICIO CHAIR ROLE, UH, THAT WE HAVE FOR GTOP S CORE.
UM, SO CERTAINLY IF ANY OF, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT'S UP TO THE COMMISSION TO DECIDE, UH, YOU KNOW, WHO WOULD LIKE TO, UH, STEP INTO THAT ROLE.
UH, BUT, UH, DAN, DO YOU, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE, UH, THE DATES AVAILABLE WHEN WE ARE PLANNING ON PULLING THOSE PANELS TOGETHER? YEAH.
UM, SO GTOP S MINI APPLICATIONS SHOULD CLOSE MAY 15TH.
SO, UM, JUST DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS THAT WE RECEIVED THIS YEAR, UH, I FULLY INTEND ON HAVING A REVIEW PANEL FORMED, UH, BY SOME TIME, UH, LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER THE 15TH.
UM, SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THAT PANEL OR PERHAPS THE CAPACITY ONE, UM, JUST REACH OUT.
IT, THEY'RE BOTH RELATIVELY EASIER PROCESSES OR PROCESSES, UH, COMPARED TO G TOPS CORE, I'D SAY IT'S ABOUT 10 TO 15 HOURS OF, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, SOLO WORK TIME, UH, JUST READING THROUGH THEM AND THEN EVALUATING EACH ONE.
UM, SO ANYBODY WHO'S INTERESTED, PLEASE REACH OUT.
UM, THERE'S MORE THAN ENOUGH ROOM FOR EVERYBODY, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, PLUG IN AT LEAST ONCE, UM, AT SOME TIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
BUT YEAH, WE'D LOVE TO HAVE ANYBODY, UH, JUST, YEAH, AND JUST A COUPLE OF CLARIFIERS.
UM, THERE'S ALWAYS THE POSSIBILITY THAT WE HAVE TO EXTEND THE DEADLINE.
IT REALLY DEPENDS ON HOW MANY APPLICATIONS WE RECEIVE.
UH, WE USUALLY DON'T KNOW UNTIL THE, THE DEADLINE HAS PASSED BECAUSE MOST OF THE APPLICATIONS THAT WE RECEIVED FOR ANY OF OUR PATHWAYS COME IN THE LAST DAY OR TWO.
UM, AND SO, UH, THERE'S ALWAYS THAT POSSIBILITY THAT WE'LL NEED TO EXTEND THE DEADLINE, IN WHICH CASE WE USUALLY GIVE, UH, MAYBE TWO TO THREE ADDITIONAL WEEKS AND DO ADDITIONAL MARKETING.
UM, SO THAT COULD IMPACT THE TIME TIMELINE.
UM, GENERALLY, UH, WE WOULD EXPECT, OR WE WOULD, WE WOULD OFFER UP ONE TO TWO SLOTS, UH, FOR THE COMMISSION TO SELECT REPRESENTATIVES FOR MM-HMM,
UM, FOR GTOP S MANY, WE USUALLY END UP WITH AROUND 5 0 5 OR SIX TOTAL REVIEWERS.
UM, AND THEN FOR GTOP S CAPACITY, WE REALLY ONLY HAVE THREE.
ONE OF THOSE IS A-C-T-T-C MEMBER.
UM, AND THE OTHER IS A MEMBER OF THE COMMUN COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, JUST A LITTLE BIT OF NUANCE THERE.
AND SPEAKING TO THAT, BOTH MYSELF AND CHAIR PITTS HAVE SERVED AS REVIEWERS PREVIOUSLY.
UM, SO AS WE MOVE FORWARD, DEF CERTAINLY WANT TO GIVE OTHER COMMISSIONERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO STEP INTO THE ROLE, UM, AND REPRESENT THE COMMISSION.
SO, UM, ONCE DAN AND JESSE, ONCE YOU ALL HAVE A BETTER, UM, UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE APPLICATIONS LOOK LIKE, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
AND THEN, UH, WHETHER WE HAVE TO DO IT OFFLINE OR, OR DURING A COMMISSION MEETING, WE CAN SELECT ONE OR MORE COMMISSIONERS, HOWEVER MANY SPOTS ARE, UM, ARE AVAILABLE TO REPRESENT THE COMMISSION.
SO, UH, I GUESS FOR, FOR ALL THE COMMISSIONERS, YOU KNOW, BE THINKING ABOUT WHETHER YOU WANNA RAISE YOUR HAND TO BE, UM, TO FILL THAT ROLE, UH, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
I WOULD, I WOULD SUGGEST THIS BEING MY LAST YEAR, ACTUALLY, I TIMED OUT TWO YEARS AGO, BUT MY COMMISSIONER, MY COUNCIL MEMBER, DECIDED TO EXTEND ME BY TWO MORE YEARS.
AND SO I THINK THE, THE, THE PERSON WHO WOULD BEST FIT IN THIS ROLE WOULD BE SOMEBODY WHO MAYBE ONE YEAR IN THE COMMISSION, MAYBE TWO YEARS, SO THAT YOU GET SOME CONTINUITY.
[01:15:01]
MY 2 CENTS.AT THE SAME TIME, IT'S A TYPE OF THING WHERE THERE'S A DEFINED TIME PERIOD MM-HMM.
YOU KNOW, SERVING IN THAT ROLE PREVIOUSLY.
UM, IT'S A LOT OF WORK UPFRONT REVIEWING THE APPLICATIONS, DOING THE RATING SYSTEM, BUT, UM, THERE'S AN END DATE MM-HMM.
AND, UM, IT DOESN'T REALLY GO BEYOND THAT.
SO WANTED TO POINT THAT OUT FOR OTHER COMMISSIONERS AS WELL.
ANYONE ONLINE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? YEAH, I WILL.
COMMISSIONER PENA VIA, YOU CAME ON CAMERA.
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? COMMENT? YES.
I WANT TO ASK, UH, FOR THE, SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS PROGRAM, FOR THE
UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE ACTUALLY, UH, SUGGESTED IMPLEMENTING THIS YEAR.
UM, FOR, UH, ANYBODY WHO BOTH DOES AND DOESN'T RECEIVE THE AWARD, UH, WE WANT TO HAVE SOME SORT OF RESOURCE, UM, UH, DOCUMENT THAT IS ABLE TO, UH, CONNECT THEM WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE SIMILAR GRANTS, UM, AS WELL AS, UH, SIMILAR LIKE NETWORKING EVENTS WHERE, UM, PEOPLE CAN GET CONNECTED WITH OTHERS THAT, UH, DO SIMILAR WORK AND ARE LOOKING TO FUND SIMILAR WORK.
UM, SO IT IS SOMETHING WE'RE ACTIVELY TRYING TO GROW OUT.
UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, UM, WE WE'RE ALWAYS, UH, LOOKING TO SUPPORT ANYBODY WHO REACHES OUT AND IS LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.
AND JUST, UH, TO ADD IN THERE, UM, THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION.
UH, WE, THERE'S CERTAINLY MORE THAT WE CAN, WE CAN BE DOING TO, TO REACH OUT TO THE, THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE APPLYING, UH, COMPETING, COMPETING FOR THESE FUNDS.
UM, AND AS DAN MENTIONED, WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD OUT THE PROGRAMMING, UH, THAT WE CAN SUPPORT THOSE ORGANIZATIONS MORE.
UM, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, UH, SHARING, FOR INSTANCE, VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH, UM, AND, UH, FACILITATING MORE NETWORKING BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT RECEIVE FUNDING.
UM, BOTH OF THOSE ARE, UH, THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO.
THIS IS THE FIRST YEAR THAT, UM, THAT, THAT THOSE ITEMS WERE ON THE RECOMMENDATION LIST.
UM, THERE'S ALSO SEPARATE WORK THAT WE DO WITH THE BROADER DIGITAL EQUITY COMMUNITY IN AUSTIN.
UM, SO WE DO FACILITATE MONTHLY MEETINGS FOR THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN, OF, OF WHICH MANY ARE G OS, UH, AWARDEES.
UM, AND, UH, WE TRY AND BRING, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE KIND OF, UH, IN THE PROCESS OF, UH, BUILDING OUT A NEW STRATEGY FOR THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, WE'RE A COUPLE OF MEETINGS INTO THAT NEW STRATEGY NOW.
UM, AND, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO WITH THAT IS TO BRING MORE, UH, MORE INSIGHTS FROM THE NON-CITY PERSPECTIVE,
AND SO, UH, AT OUR PAST MEETING, FOR INSTANCE, WE HAD A, A, A UT PROFESSOR, UH, WHO WAS DOING RESEARCH AROUND TECHNOLOGY AND HOMELESSNESS, UH, COME TO A PRESENTATION TO THAT GROUP OF FOLKS, JUST TO, TO KIND OF PRESENT OUT ON THE ACADEMIC RESEARCH THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING.
UH, A PRESENTATION THAT WE'RE WORKING TO GET IN THE FUTURE IS, UH, WORKING WITH THE, THE LEAGUE OF TEXAS, UH, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS, UH, TO HAVE A PRESENTATION ON THE DIGITAL ASPECTS OF THE ELECTION.
UM, WHAT ARE THE, WHAT SHOULD THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE WORKING ON DIGITAL EQUITY, UM, BE THINKING ABOUT, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO THE INTERSECTION OF THE ELECTION AND THE DIGITAL WORLD? UM, ARE THERE DIGITAL TOOLS THAT WE SHOULD BE SHARING, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, SO ON AND SO FORTH.
AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO THINK ABOUT THOSE INTERSECTIONS OF, UM, THINGS THAT WE DON'T NORMALLY TALK ABOUT ON A DAILY BASIS.
LIKE WHAT'S THE INTERSECTION OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND DIGITAL EQUITY? WHAT'S THE INTERSECTION OF HEALTHCARE AND DIGITAL EQUITY? AND, AND WE'RE TRYING TO SOURCE, UH, FOLKS THAT HAVE EXPERTISE IN THOSE AREAS AND BRINGING THEM INTO THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN MEETINGS TO, TO JUST HELP US ALL TO LEARN, UH, FROM THE OTHER WORK THAT'S HAPPENING IN THE COMMUNITY.
UM, BUT EVERY YEAR AFTER THE DECISION HAS BEEN MADE, UM, WE TEND TO HAVE A PROCLAMATION HERE AT CITY HALL, UM, WHERE A, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER WILL, UM, READ OFF AND, UH, RECOGNIZE THOSE WHO WERE AWARDED THE GT OS GRANT THIS YEAR.
UM, SO THIS YEAR IT'S GONNA BE HAPPENING JULY 18TH, UH, 9:00 AM AT CITY HALL.
SO IF ANY COMMISSIONERS WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US, UM, PLEASE REACH OUT.
JUST GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT IT'S LESS THAN SIX OF YOU.
UM, BUT WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU HERE.
[01:20:01]
ALL TO SEE HOW THE WORK THAT YOU DO, OR THE WORK THAT YOU DO IMPACTS THE COMMUNITY WOULD LOVE IF YOU GUYS MET THE AWARDEES AS WELL.UM, SO YEAH, JUST REACH OUT TO ME IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN JOINING.
UM, SO I, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, ATTEND THE, UH, EVENT LAST YEAR.
UM, IT WAS A GREAT CEREMONY, GREAT CELEBRATION, GREAT MEETING OF MINDS.
SO ENCOURAGE, UM, I KNOW IT'S THURSDAY MORNING, MOST PEOPLE ARE AT WORK, BUT IF YOU DO HAPPEN TO BE AVAILABLE OR IF YOU CAN GET AWAY FOR A FEW HOURS, UH, AS LONG AS THERE'S LESS THAN SIX OF US, UH, HIGHLY ENCOURAGE, UM, COMMISSION REPRESENTATION AT THAT EVENT.
SO YOU SAID, YOU SAID JU JULY 18TH, AT WHAT TIME? UH, JULY 18TH.
USUALLY, UH, PROCLAMATIONS HAPPEN FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, SO I DON'T HAVE A DEFINITIVE TIME, BUT WE'RE THE FOURTH ONE SLOTTED.
SO I WANT TO SAY NINE 30 ISH IF, IF YOU WANNA, UH, ATTEND TO BE HERE AROUND NINE 30 ISH.
BUT, UM, FOR ANYONE WHO DOES PLAN ON ATTENDING, I'LL HAVE A FULL EMAIL WITH ALL THE DETAILS COME OUT, UH, PROBABLY A MONTH IN ADVANCE.
AND IF, IF YOU DO WANNA ATTEND, JUST MAKE SURE TO COORDINATE WITH DAN TO MAKE SURE THERE'S LESS THAN SIX OF US.
AND, UM, QUICK PLUG, MY OWN COMMISSIONER OR COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES WILL BE SPONSORING THE, UH, THE RESOLUTION.
SO WANT TO THANK HER FOR THAT.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS, COMMENTS, QUESTIONS FROM FOLKS ONLINE? HEARING NOTHING, WE CAN, UH, GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON IN THE AGENDA.
UM, CONTINUING TO CALL THE ITEMS OUT OF ORDER.
AND I BELIEVE, UH, I WAS JUST TEXTING WITH ONE COMMISSIONER, AND THEY MAY HAVE THEIR CAMERA SET UP NOW.
SO, UH, WE MAY BE ABLE TO, TO, UM, TAKE ACTIONS.
UM, IS A COMMISSIONER, PINA VILLA COMMISSIONER, KU COMMISSIONER AL RE, AND COMMISSIONER RICE, ARE YOU ALL ABLE TO, TO, UM, COME ONTO CAMERA? JUST WANT TO CONFIRM BEFORE WE MOVE ON IN OUR AGENDA? AWESOME.
COMMISSIONER KU AND COMMISSIONER ALDERETTE, ARE YOU ALL ABLE TO COME ONTO CAMERA? AWESOME.
JUST ONE MORE, JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE DON'T HAVE TO TABLE ANY ITEMS,
IT'S, UM, I'M, I'M STRUGGLING TO TRY TO GET ON CAMERA, UM, FROM MY PHONE.
UM, MY CONNECTION WAS UNSTABLE, SO I NEEDED TO COME TO AN ALTERNATE LOCATION.
WE'LL GIVE YOU A COUPLE MINUTES.
WHY ARE YOU WAITING ON JESSICA GOOD WATER? SURE.
[7. Conduct CTTC Officer Elections ]
BE LOOKING TO COVER NEXT ARE THE OFFICER ELECTIONS.SO, UH, THAT'LL BE FIRST ELECTING THE CHAIR AND THEN, UH, THE VICE CHAIR.
AND, UM, YEAH, WE CAN SEE, WE CAN SEE NOW.
OR WE SEE I HAVE COME TO COFFEE SHOP.
UH, WE HAD COMMISSIONER, UM, IN THE ROOM.
UH, JUST STEP OUT FOR A MOMENT.
SO WE'RE JUST GONNA GIVE HIM A COUPLE MINUTES.
I WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW WHEN HE IS BACK,
[01:25:03]
AND WE'LL BE COVERING ITEM NUMBER SEVEN.IT'S OUT OF, I'M CALLING THEM OUT OF ORDER, BUT IT'S ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, CONDUCTING THE CTTC OFFICER ELECTIONS.
AND, UH, WE'LL CONTINUE IN JUST A COUPLE MINUTES ONCE WE HAVE ALL COMMISSIONERS IN THE ROOM.
WE HAVE, UH, COMMISSIONER DESTA BACK SO WE CAN NO WORRIES.
SO WE CAN CONTINUE IN OUR AGENDA.
SO ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, CONDUCTING, UH, OFFICER ELECTIONS.
UM, SO AS YOU ALL KNOW, WITH THE DEPARTURE OF, UH, NOW FORMER CHAIR PITTS, UH, WE NEED TO ELECT A NEW CHAIR.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'M JUST LOOKING AT JESSE AND DAN FOR GUIDANCE.
WE'RE WE'LL OPEN NOMINATIONS FOR THE CHAIR.
UM, SO NOW EX THE, THE ACTING CHAIR IS NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS.
IS IT TIME TO NOMINATE? IT'S TIME TO NOMINATE.
I AM PROUD TO NOMINATE VICE CHAIR, APODACA, OR CHAIR.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS FOR CHAIR? I SECOND THAT.
UM, COMMISSIONER KU, UH, ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS FOR CHAIR? WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYONE HAS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY? YOU CAN EVEN SELF NOMINATE, I BELIEVE.
HEARING NONE, UH, I BELIEVE WE NEED TO TAKE A VOTE.
SO, UM, ALL THOSE, YOU NEED TO ACCEPT THE NOMINATION.
UM, YEAH, I MEAN, I'VE REACHED OUT TO, I BELIEVE ALL OF YOU ONE-ON-ONE.
I MEAN, UH, I, MY VISION FOR MOVING FORWARD, UH, FOR OUR COMMISSION IS TO HAVE, UH, CLOSE TO COLLABORATION, NOT ONLY WITH EACH OTHER, BUT WITH OTHER COMMISSIONERS AS WELL.
UM, ALSO HAVE A NUMBER OF IDEAS FOR REFRESHING OUR WAYS OF WORKING, UH, WHICH ARE ALL PART OF THE AGENDA, WHICH WILL CONTINUE ON.
SO I'M EXCITED ABOUT, UM, UM, ALL THOSE THINGS.
AND I, I, UH, I LOOK FORWARD TO, TO BRINGING A RENEWED SENSE OF ENERGY TO THE COMMISSION.
UM, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF, UM, MYSELF AS, AS CHAIR SAY, AYE.
ALL THE, ANYONE AGAINST, ANYONE ABSTAINING? I BELIEVE IT'S, UH, MOTION CARRIES UNANIMOUS.
I'M EXCITED TO, UH, TO, TO OFFICIALLY TO OFFICIALLY BE NOW THE CHAIR OF THE COMMISSION.
SO WITH THAT, UH, OUR NEXT ORDER OF BUSINESS IS WE NEED A VICE CHAIR.
SO WE WILL, UH, OPEN NOMINATIONS FOR VICE CHAIR.
ANYONE INTERESTED IN, UH, NOMINATING ANOTHER, ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL OR THEMSELVES? WE WILL TAKE THOSE NOW
[01:30:01]
IN LIEU OF ANYBODY STEPPING UP.UM, I'M HAPPY TO NOMINATE MYSELF.
ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS? GOING ONCE.
WELL, COMMISSIONER ALDERETTE, DO YOU WANT TO SAY A FEW WORDS AROUND YOUR, YOUR VISION FOR, UH, ACTING AS, AS VICE CHAIR BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE? I'M EXCITED.
ANYONE AGAINST ANY ABSTENTIONS? CONGRATULATIONS.
CONGRATULATIONS TO BOTH OF YOU.
EXCITED TO BE WORKING WITH YOU.
UM, CONTINUING TO CALL THE ITEMS OUT OF ORDER.
[4. CTTC standard work/meeting procedure reminders and updates to implement moving forward ]
TO DISCUSSION ITEM NUMBER FOUR IN THE, AS IT'S PRESENTED IN THE AGENDA.UM, SO THIS WAS, THIS WAS A LEGACY ITEM THAT WAS PUT IN SOME TIME AGO AROUND WORK MEETING, PROCEDURE REMINDERS, UPDATES, UM, TO IMPLEMENT MOVING FORWARD.
SOME OF THIS WILL BE COVERED IN THE DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS. UM, JUST WANNA REMIND COMMISSIONERS ON A FEW THINGS.
UM, ONE, THE CHAIR DOESN'T ALWAYS HAVE TO SET THE AGENDA FOR THE MEETING.
IT ONLY TAKES TWO COMMISSIONERS.
SO YOU CAN DO THAT BY, UH, PARTNERING WITH THE OTHER COMMISSION MEMBER.
AND JUST LETTING DAN KNOW, UM, IT'S PRETTY INFORMAL PROCEDURE, JUST SENDING AN EMAIL.
SO IF, IF YOU ALL MOVING FORWARD, IF, IF YOU ALL HAVE ANY IDEAS FOR ADDITIONAL ITEMS THAT YOU'D LIKE TO DISCUSS AT FUTURE MEETINGS, PLEASE DO SO.
UM, ALSO, THIS WAS BROUGHT UP BEFORE, BUT JUST A REMINDER ON THE WALKING QUORUM ITEMS. SO, UM, AT ANY EVENT, WE CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN FIVE COMMISSIONERS, UM, TOGETHER, THAT WOULD VIOLATE WALKING QUORUM ISSUES.
UM, NOT TO PUT JESSE ON THE SPOT, BUT ANY OTHER ITEMS YOU JUST WANT TO, GENERAL REMINDERS THAT YOU WANNA REMIND THE, THE COMMISSION OF WAYS OF WORKING PROCEDURES, UM, MAYBE, MAYBE THE STANDING COMMISSION, THE STANDING WORKING GROUPS.
UM, I KNOW THAT WE, WE TALKED A BIT ON THAT.
IT, IT MIGHT JUST HELP IF YOU PROVIDED A LITTLE BIT OF CLARITY ON WHY WE'VE HAD TO SHIFT, UM, TO TEMPORARY WORKING GROUPS AS OPPOSED TO STANDING.
UM, SO, UH, JESSE RODRIGUEZ, PROGRAM MANAGER OF COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY.
I'M THE PREVIOUS LIAISON TO THIS COMMISSION.
UM, AND, AND SO I HAVE SOME BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE OF, UH, OF HOW THIS, UH, WORKS.
UH, JUST SOME INFORMATION ON HOW WE HAVE IN THE PAST CONDUCTED WORKING GROUPS.
UM, FOR A LONG TIME WE HAD A NUMBER OF STANDING WORKING GROUPS WITH THIS COMMISSION.
UM, UH, AND I, I FORGET THE NAMES OF ALL OF THEM.
I KNOW THAT WE HAD THE DIGITAL INCLUSION, UH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WORKING GROUP.
WE HAD AN INFRASTRUCTURE WORKING GROUP, UM, AND, UH, KNOWLEDGE AND DATA STEWARDSHIP WORKING GROUP.
UH, AND, AND THOSE WERE MONTHLY MEETINGS WITH, UH, SUB QUORUM GROUPS OF COMMISSIONERS.
UH, AND, UH, THEY KIND OF FUNCTIONED IN A WAY THAT THERE WASN'T ANY ONE SET THING THAT THE, THOSE GROUPS WERE, WERE HANDLING.
UH, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, VARIOUS TOPICS WOULD BE ASSIGNED TO THE, THE VARIOUS WORKING GROUPS.
WELL, WE, WE RECEIVED FEEDBACK FROM THE CLERK'S OFFICE THAT, UH, THAT WASN'T THE WAY THAT WE SHOULD BE HANDLING WORKING GROUPS.
UH, THAT THE WAY THAT, UH, WORKING GROUPS ARE APPROPRIATELY, UH, DONE IS THAT THEY SHOULD BE TIME BOUND, UH, AND, AND SPECIFIC, UH, AND THAT THEY, UH, THEY DON'T REPORT OUT AT EVERY MEETING.
UM, BUT THAT ONCE THE, UH, ITEM THAT THEY HAD BEEN CONVENED TO DO IS COMPLETED, THEY WOULD HAVE A FINAL REPORT TO THE COMMISSION.
UH, AND THAT WOULD ESSENTIALLY, UM, UH, CLOSE THAT WORKING GROUP.
UM, AND SO, UH, WHAT WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO NOW IS, UH, TO THINK ABOUT WHICH WORKING GROUPS, THE, THE COMMISSION WOULD LIKE TO HAVE.
UM, AND, UH, UH, I THINK WE HAD A COUPLE OF ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION ON THE AGENDA TODAY, UM, TO DO THAT.
UM, BUT, UH, ANYTHING THAT IS STANDING WOULD NEED TO BE A COMMITTEE RATHER THAN A WORKING GROUP.
[01:35:01]
UH, IT IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU ALL TO CREATE COMMITTEES, BUT YOU WOULD HAVE TO, UH, YOU WOULD HAVE TO TAKE A VOTE TO AMEND YOUR BYLAWS TO CREATE A STANDING COMMITTEE.UM, AND, AND SO THAT, THAT'S JUST, UH, SOMETHING FOR YOU ALL TO CONSIDER.
UH, STANDING COMMITTEES ARE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT FROM WORKING GROUPS IN THAT THEY ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE STAFF, UH, REPRESENTATION TO SUPPORT.
SO, UH, DAN, IN OTHER WORDS, WOULD BE PROVIDING LIAISON SUPPORT TO ANY, UH, APPROVED COMMITTEES, WHEREAS WORKING GROUPS DO NOT RECEIVE, UH, UH, STAFF, UH, UH, SUPPORT BY DEFAULT, ALTHOUGH WE'RE HAPPY TO PARTICIPATE IN SUPPORT, UH, AT THE REQUEST OF THE COMMISSION.
UM, WHEREAS, UH, COMMITTEES, UH, WOULD, WOULD GET THAT, UH, JUST BY BEING COMMITTEES.
UH, COMMITTEES ALSO HAVE TO REQ, UH, THEY'RE REQUIRED TO ADHERE TO TOMA MEETING REQUIREMENTS.
AND SO THEY'RE MUCH MORE FORMAL.
UM, SO THEY WOULD, THEY WOULD BE RECORDED.
UH, THEY NEED TO BE HELD AT ACCESSIBLE, UH, PUBLIC LOCATIONS, UM, YOU KNOW, OPEN, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
UH, WHEREAS WORKING GROUPS GENERALLY CAN OPERATE OFFLINE IN A PRIVATE MANNER, UM, AND, AND DON'T HAVE THOSE TOMO REQUIREMENTS PLACED ON THEM.
SO, UH, JUST SOME, UH, INFORMATION ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO.
UM, AND I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE.
UH, I THOUGHT WE ACTUALLY HAD TRIED TO ADD COMMITTEES IN OUR BYLAWS AND GOT TURNED OUT BY THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
ISN'T THAT TRUE? A FEW YEARS AGO? UH, WELL, NOT, NOT TO MY RECOLLECTION.
I KNOW THAT WE, THE COMMISSION HAD, UH, CONSIDERED THEM IN THE PAST.
UH, BUT I DON'T THINK WE EVER GOT AS FAR AS TAKING, UH, A, A VOTE ON A BYLAWS AMENDMENT.
SO THERE WAS SOME BACK AND FORTH THAT, THAT WE DID HAVE.
UH, THERE'S A PROVISION IN THE CTCS BYLAWS THAT SAYS THIS COM, THIS, THIS, UH, COMMISSION WILL NOT HAVE COMMITTEES.
AND THAT WAS A CAUSE FOR, UH, I THINK A MISUNDERSTANDING THAT THAT'S A PROHIBITION OF COMMITTEES.
BUT IT, BUT IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT A PROHIBITION OF COMMITTEES.
IT'S JUST A STATEMENT, UH, OF THE, THE CURRENT STATE OF AFFAIRS THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE COMMITTEES.
UM, BUT IT WOULD REQUIRE A BYLAWS AMENDMENT TO CHANGE THAT.
UM, AND IT, AND IT WOULD REQUIRE FURTHER COUNSEL ACTION RIGHT.
SO IT, I MEAN, IT, IT IS A LOT OF EFFORT.
IT DOES, WOULD REQUIRE A LOT OF TIME.
BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT Y'ALL CAN PURSUE.
ANY QUESTIONS ON ANY OF THE ITEMS, WAYS OF WORKING THAT JESSE HAD OUTLINED? OKAY.
[5. Commission Review of current CTTC Bylaws ]
THE NEXT ITEM, UM, DISCUSSION.ITEM NUMBER FIVE, COMMISSION REVIEW OF THE CURRENT BYLAWS.
SO THIS IS GONNA FLOW INTO THE SERIES OF, OF ACTION ITEMS. SO, UH, IF YOU ALL HAVE NOT REVIEWED THE BYLAWS THAT ARE ON OUR, ON THE CTTC MICROSITE, DEFINITELY ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO DO SO.
UM, I'VE TALKED WITH YOU ALL INDIVIDUALLY ABOUT ALL THESE.
I THINK THERE'S SOME OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE SOME CHANGES, AMENDMENTS, UM, NOT, I WOULDN'T, I WOULDN'T CLASSIFY THEM AS SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES, BUT IT'S THINGS THAT WE ARE ALREADY DOING TODAY MM-HMM.
I'LL GIVE A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES.
THERE'S NOTHING IN OUR CURRENT BYLAWS THAT COVERS DIGITAL EQUITY WORKING IN THE COMMUNITY TO PROMOTE AFFORDABILITY AND ACCESS.
UM, I'VE, I'VE READ THIS IN, IN DEPTH, AND I THINK THAT'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADD IN SOME OF THOSE ACTIVITIES, WHAT WE'RE TO WHAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING.
I THINK THAT WOULD GO A LONG WAY TO, TO GETTING US ON THE SAME PAGE TO, UH, TO SOME OF THE WORK THAT, THAT WE, THAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING.
ANOTHER THING IS, IS THE INTERNET ISN'T, ISN'T INDICATED ANYWHERE.
UM, ANOTHER EXAMPLE, THE WORK THAT WE DO ON G TOPS, MM-HMM.
SO AGAIN, THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING AND THAT SHOULD BE REFLECTED IN OUR, UM, OUR BYLAWS AND, AND PURPOSE AND DUTIES AND THINGS THAT, THAT WE, UM, WE ARE INDICATING THE COMMUNITY THAT WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING ON.
UM, SO YOU'LL SEE, UM, IN A MOMENT, UH, I'D LIKE TO STAND UP A WORKING GROUP TO TAKE THIS ITEM UP, DO SOME RESEARCH ON, UH, PERHAPS CHANGES THAT WE CAN MAKE, AND THEN BRING IT BACK TO THE FULL COMMISSION
[01:40:01]
FOR REVIEW.AND IF NECESSARY, UM, IF THEY ARE I GUESS, SUBSTANTIVE ENOUGH CHANGES, UH, SEND IT TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE AT CITY COUNCIL, UH, FOR APPROVAL OF THOSE CHANGES.
[6. 2024 commission working groups refresh discussion. ]
ITEM SIX, THE WORKING GROUPS REFRESH.SO, UH, YOU'LL SEE THE, THE SUBSEQUENT, UM, DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS. AGAIN, THESE ARE THINGS THAT I'VE ALREADY TOUCHED BASE WITH YOU ALL INDIVIDUALLY.
YOU HEARD JESSE TALK ABOUT HOW ALL OF OUR, ALL OF OUR WORKING GROUPS NEED TO BE TIME BOUND.
THEY NEED TO BE DELIVER DELIVERABLE BASED.
UM, AND THEY NEED TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO, UH, TO REPORT OUT AT A FUTURE COMMISSION MEETING.
UM, SO GOING, GOING AHEAD AND MOVING ON TO ITEM
[8. Commissioner assignment and approval of a working group formed to draft 2023 CTTC Annual Report ]
EIGHT, UM, ON THE ANNUAL REPORT.SO FIRST ITEM, WE HAVE AN ANNUAL REPORT DUE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IN JULY, THAT THE CHAIR IS RESPONSIBLE FOR SUBMITTING MM-HMM.
UM, IN ORDER TO, TO AVOID THAT, I'D LIKE TO STAND UP A, A WORKING GROUP TO DO MOST OF THE WORK AND THEN BRING IT TO THE FULL COMMISSION MEETINGS.
SO, UM, WANTED TO SEE WHO WAS INTERESTED IN HELPING ME DEVELOP THIS ITEM, UH, IN TIME FOR SUBMISSION TO CITY COUNCIL.
I BELIEVE IN DAN, JESSE, HELP ME OUT HERE.
UM, I WOULD EXPECT TWO TO THREE HOURS OF WORK OVER THE NEXT MONTH OR SO.
UM, SO WE WOULD MEET AS A WORKING GROUP, UH, DO LIVE CHANGES, DO LIVE UPDATES TO, TO, UH, TO THE EXISTING, UH, DOCUMENT AND THEN BRING IT TO THE FULL COMMISSION AT OUR JUNE MEETING FOR, FOR APPROVAL.
SO IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN HELPING ME WITH THIS.
YOU JUST MENTIONED A MAGIC WORLD LIVE UPDATES.
SO CAN WE USE GOOGLE DOCS AND AS A PLATFORM FOR UPDATING A DOCUMENT, YOU KNOW, STARTED WITH MICROSOFT WORD POSTED IN GOOGLE DOCS, AND THEN WE JUST, YOU KNOW, INTERACTIVELY WORK ON IT, MODIFY, CHANGE THIS, CHANGE THAT.
SO THE COMMISSION CAN USE WHATEVER TECHNOLOGY TOOLS, UH, THAT, THAT YOU WOULD LIKE IN, IN THE CONTEXT OF YOUR WORKING GROUPS OR OFFLINE.
IT'S, IT'S JUST IMPORTANT THAT YOU ALL ARE, UH, ONLY EXTENDING ACCESS TO THAT DOCUMENT TO A SUB QUORUM OF THE COMMISSION.
IT'LL BE LIKE A WORKING GROUP, LIKE YOU SAID.
SO THE FIVE WILL GET ACCESS TO THIS GOOGLE DOC AND YEAH.
WE'LL MEET SEPARATELY AND WORK ON IT.
WHO ELSE IS INTERESTED IN HELPING ME DEVELOP THIS DOCUMENT? NO, I WOULD, I WOULD ASSUME THAT SINCE SO MUCH OF THIS TIME INVOLVED, UH, FORMER CHAIR PITTS, WOULD HE BE, BE ABLE TO
I ACTUALLY SPOKE WITH, UH, NOW FORMER CHAIR PITTS, UH, THIS MORNING.
AND HE, HE'S, UH, GRACIOUSLY AGREED TO HELP US WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS DOCUMENT.
SO, BUT THAT DOESN'T COUNT TOWARDS QUORUM
SO HE, HE WOULD BE INVITED TO, TO ANY OF OUR WORKING SESSIONS, BUT THAT WOULDN'T COUNT AGAINST QUO.
THANKS FOR THE REMINDER ON THAT.
AND, AND JUST AS A CLARIFIER, UH, UM, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, THE COMMISSION CAN APPOINT ANYBODY, UH, TO A WORKING GROUP, WHETHER IT'S, UH, SOMEBODY WHO'S SERVING ON THE COMMISSION NOW.
COMMISSIONER P VZ, I SAW YOU COME ON CAMERA.
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN HELPING ME WITH THIS ITEM? I THINK YOU'RE ON MUTE.
I THINK HE'S TRYING TO SAY YES, BUT
UM, I'M NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO DO ALL THESE ITEMS MYSELF, SO, UM, I APPRECIATE YOU ALL JUMPING IN TO HELP ME.
SO WE'LL HAVE MYSELF, COMMISSIONER DES GUPTA AND COMMISSIONER PINA VIA, UM, FOR THIS ITEM.
SO AS NEXT STEP, I'LL SEND OUT, UM, UH, SOME OPTIONS,
[01:45:01]
UH, FOR TIMES TO MEET, UH, I'LL SEND OUT A CO, UH, SEVERAL OPTIONS AND WE MAYBE MEET A COUPLE TIMES.I DON'T THINK IT'LL TAKE AN EXTREMELY LONG TIME.
LIKE I SAID, TWO TO THREE HOURS OF WORK OUTSIDE OF THIS.
IF WE ALL JUST, UM, UM, FIND SOME TIME, FIND SOME FOCUS TIME TO, TO PUT THIS TOGETHER.
UH, NEXT ITEM THAT WE, UH, ITEM NUMBER NINE THAT WE HAD REFERENCED BEFORE, UM, I'D LIKE TO STAND UP A WORKING GROUP.
THANK YOU FOR THE REMINDER ON THAT.
SO I WILL ACCEPT A MOTION TO, FOR THE COMMISSIONER, ASSIGNMENT FOR MYSELF, COMMISSIONER DAS GUPTA AND COMMISSIONER PEN VIA TO FORM A WORKING GROUP AROUND DRAFTING OF THE CTTC ANNUAL REPORT.
SO I MOVE TO FORM THAT WORKING GROUP.
I'LL SECOND BASED ON THE DESCRIPTION THAT, UH, CHAIR A JUST SAID.
SO COMMISSIONER PINA VIA COMMISSIONER RICE, COMMISSIONER AL, DIRECT COMM JA WILL NEED YOUR YOU ALL TO COME ON CAMERA TO VOTE TO STAND UP THIS WORKING GROUP.
WE WILL JUST GIVE COMMISSIONER AL DURT ANOTHER FEW SECONDS.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF FORMING THE WORKING GROUP AS PREVIOUSLY DESCRIBED, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ANY OPPOSED? I THINK THE MOTION CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY.
COMMISSIONER DESTA AND COMMISSIONER PEN VIA FOR VOLUNTEERING TO HELP.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE A COUPLE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A FEW MORE VOTES HERE JUST TO GIVE Y'ALL A HEADS UP ON FORMATION OF THESE ADDITIONAL WORKING GROUPS.
[9. Commissioner assignment and approval of working group to refresh CTTC Bylaws ]
TO ITEM, UH, NINE, COMMISSIONER ASSIGNMENT AND APPROVAL OF WORKING GROUP TO REFRESH THE CTTC BYLAWS.SO THIS WAS, UM, RELATED TO THE PREVIOUS ITEM THAT I MENTIONED.
UH, I THINK THERE, I DON'T THINK THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF WORK HERE.
I THINK, UH, ONE TO TWO HOURS OVER THE NEXT MONTH WITH, UH, A WORKING GROUP TO MAKE SOME OF THE CHANGES TO THE BYLAWS AND THEN SUBSEQUENT PRESENTATION TO THE FULL COMMISSION.
WANTED TO SEE WHO ELSE WAS INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING THIS AND ACTUALLY LEADING THE EFFORT.
UM, AS CHAIR, I, I DO WANT TO BE A PART OF IT, BUT I'D LIKE SOMEONE ELSE TO REALLY LEAD THE SCHEDULING AND, UM, DOCUMENT OWNERSHIP.
UH, SO THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ANOTHER COMMISSIONER TO SHOW, UM, SOME ADDITIONAL LEADERSHIP.
SO IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, UM, DEFINITELY WOULD LOVE FOR YOU TO SPEAK UP.
AGAIN, THIS SHOULD BE A RELATIVELY LIGHT LIFT.
I COULD PARTICIPATE IN IT, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO SHARE IT.
'CAUSE THERE ARE TOO MANY THINGS HAPPENING IN MY LIFE IN MAY AND JUNE.
IS ANYONE INTERESTED IN, YOU KNOW, CHAIRING IS A LOADED TERM.
I WOULD SAY SCHEDULING COORDINATION IS WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR.
SOMEONE TO LEAD BY THE WAY THERE.
I ASSUME THERE'S A SOFT COPY DOCUMENTATION
[01:50:01]
VERSION OF IT, A WORD, WORD VERSION, THE BYLAWS? UH, YES, WE SHOULD HAVE.UH, SO THE BYLAWS LIVE ON THE CTCS MICROSITE.
UH, SO IT IS PUBLISHED, IT'S DOWNLOADABLE.
WELL, I DON'T WANNA WASTE TOO MUCH MORE TIME.
AND I, I'LL BE GLAD TO BE THE SCRIBE FOR THIS.
SO AS SOON AS I CAN GET A SOFT COPY, I CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS.
APPRECIATE YOU WILLING TO HELP.
SO FOR NOW, IT'LL JUST BE MYSELF AND COMMISSIONER DESTA.
UM, ON THE REFRESH OF THE CTTC BYLAWS, UM, AGAIN, THIS IS GONNA BE A VERY LIGHT LIFT.
I DON'T EXPECT A WHOLE LOT OF CHANGES.
I DON'T EXPECT MORE THAN ONE TO TWO HOURS OF WORK ON THIS.
UM, SO IF ANYONE DOES DECIDE THAT THEY'RE INTERESTED, PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME.
UM, BUT IN THAT CASE, WE WILL, UH, WE'LL HOLD A VOTE MAYBE, UH, TO STAND UP THIS WORKING GROUP.
UH, LOOKING FOR YOU VICE CHAIR RETA, SINCE VICE CHAIR RED.
DID YOU COME ON TO LEND YOUR ASSISTANCE? I MEAN, I CAN HELP OUT AS WELL, UM, AS NEEDED.
SO ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPOINTING MYSELF, COMMISSIONER GUPTA AND VICE CHAIR ALDERT, UH, TO THE WORKING GROUP.
TO REFRESH THE CTTC BYLAWS, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY.
[10. Commissioner assignment and approval of working group to draft onboarding materials for new commissioners ]
ON TO ITEM 10.UH, COMMISSIONER ASSIGNMENT APPROVAL OF WORKING GROUP FOR TO DRAFT ONBOARDING MATERIALS FOR NEW COMMISSIONERS.
SO, REALLY QUICKLY, I THINK I'VE CONNECTED WITH MOST OF YOU ON THIS ONE AS WELL.
UM, I HAVE A CURRENT, VERY EARLY VERSION OF, UM, A DOCUMENT TO ONBOARD NEW COMMISSIONERS.
UH, THE MOST RECENT COMMISSIONER THAT I'VE TRIED THIS, UH, APPROACH WITH IS, UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, WHO UNFORTUNATELY COULDN'T BE HERE TODAY, THE NEW COMMISSIONER FOR D ONE.
UM, I THINK HE REALLY APPRECIATED THE ONE-ON-ONE TIME, ME TAKING HIM THROUGH THE BYLAWS, OUR WAYS OF WORKING OUR SCOPE AS A COMMISSION.
AND I THINK ANY NEW COMMISSIONER WOULD BE WELL SERVED TO HAVE, UM, A VERY SHARP ONBOARDING FOLLOWING THEIR, UH, THEIR, UM, CITY CLERK ONBOARDING TO JUST TO GET UP TO SPEED BEFORE THEIR FIRST COMMISSION MEETING.
UM, SO AGAIN, I ALREADY HAVE SOMETHING IN DRAFT.
IT REALLY JUST NEEDS TO BE POLISHED AND, UH, PUT TOGETHER IN A PRESENTABLE FORMAT.
UM, I AM AWARE THAT WE, THERE HAS BEEN ANOTHER, UH, COMMISSIONER APPOINTED, I BELIEVE IT WAS COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE'S, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER CADRE IS APPOINTED THAT, THAT COMMISSIONER.
SO THERE'S ANOTHER PERSON COMING ON PRETTY SOON, SO I'D WANT TO HAVE THAT READY FOR THEM.
UM, SO ANYONE INTERESTED IN HELPING WITH ONBOARDING MATERIALS? AGAIN, SUPER LOW LIFT.
I EXPECT ONE TO TWO HOURS OF WORK OVER THE NEXT MONTH.
UM, ANYONE WITH EXPERIENCE WITH AN HR OR, OR PEOPLE OVERSIGHT IN THEIR DAY JOBS, I THINK WOULD, UM, WOULD BE A, A GREAT FIT FOR THIS WORKING GROUP.
SO I'LL BE A PART OF THIS WORKING GROUP, OF COURSE, AND I'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ONBOARDING MATERIALS ON AN ONGOING BASIS, BUT CERTAINLY WANT INPUT FROM EVERYONE, ESPECIALLY THE MORE TENURED COMMISSIONERS.
SO I'LL OPEN IT UP FOR FOLKS INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING THIS.
ANY INTEREST IN SUPPORTING ONBOARDING
[01:55:01]
DOCUMENTATION FOR NEW COMMISSIONERS? I'M INTERESTED IN, IN, UH, HELPING FROM A, UH, FROM A NEW JOINER ONBOARDING, UM, EXPERIENCE PERSPECTIVE.I, UH, I WOULD, UH, LIKE TO LEAN ON SOMEBODY ELSE TO HELP DRIVE THIS, BUT, BUT HAPPY TO HELP WITH THE SOUNDING BOARD TO ENSURE THAT ALL THE MATERIALS ARE RELEVANT.
VICE CHAIR ALDERETTE, WE'LL PUT YOU DOWN.
ANYONE ELSE INTERESTED IN, UH, HELPING TO DRIVE THIS? AGAIN, I ALREADY HAVE SOMETHING IN DRAFT AND IT WOULD BE SCHEDULING AND, UM, OWNERSHIP OF THE DOCUMENT.
WELL, I WILL GO AHEAD AND, UM, OWN THIS AS WELL.
ALONG WITH, UH, VICE CHAIR ALDERETTE, I WILL TAKE A MOTION TO APPOINT MYSELF AND VICE CHAIR ALDERETTE TO THE, UM, WORKING GROUP FOR ONBOARDING.
COMMISSIONERS, IF WE CAN COME ON TO CAMERA.
JUST WAITING ON COMMISSIONER NOJA.
ALL IN FAVOR? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? AYE.
ANYONE AGAINST ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY.
EXCITED TO BE WORKING WITH YOU.
[11. Commissioner assignment and approval of working group to engage with Economic Prosperity Commission on items discussed during public testimony ]
SO, UM, THIS IS IN REFERENCE TO, UH, ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION.
WANT TO FORM A WORKING GROUP AROUND THIS.
UM, I KNOW HE'S DOING THE SAME THING ON HIS END, UM, TO, TO TALK, COORDINATE ON SOME OF THESE ITEMS. WANTED TO SEE WHO'S INTERESTED.
UH, AGAIN, I, I DON'T THINK THIS WILL BE MUCH WORK.
UM, I EXPECT THAT WE'LL PROBABLY MEET, UM, MAX ONE HOUR IN THE NEXT MONTH, UM, TO, TO SORT OF KICK THINGS OFF.
UH, JUST A, A I WANTED TO JUMP IN.
UH, I KNOW THAT THE COMMISSION HAS TENDED TO, IN THE PAST, FOCUS ON, UH, WORKING GROUPS COMING TOGETHER ON A SET SCHEDULE.
UM, THAT, THAT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE CASE THOUGH.
SO IF, IF ANY OF YOU'RE FEELING KIND OF A LITTLE BIT OF RES RETICENCE ABOUT THE CHALLENGES OF SCHEDULING, UH, THE LOGISTICS OF THAT, UM, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE AS MUCH OF A PROBLEM WITH COLLABORATING ON A SHARED DOCUMENT OR, UH, COMMUNICATING VIA EMAIL OR ANOTHER TOOL OF YOUR CHOOSING THAT IS A POSSIBILITY IF THAT'S A PREFERRED WAY OF COLLABORATION.
YEAH, THAT'S A GOOD CALL OUT, JESSE.
UM, I WAS ENVISIONING SHORT KICKOFF MEETING, BUT MOST OF THE WORK WOULD BE PROBABLY DONE OVER EMAIL OR THROUGH GOOGLE DOC REVISIONS, WHICH WE'RE ALL USED TO DOING.
SO ANYONE ELSE INTERESTED IN, UH, WORKING WITH ON MEETING THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION MEMBERS? SEEMED LIKE A GOOD, UM, OPPORTUNITY TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS AROUND POLIS.
DOES IT HAVE TO BE LIKE IN MAY, JUNE TIMEFRAME? WE HAVEN'T, WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN THAT FAR AS FAR AS SCHEDULING.
AND ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, I MEAN, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY, RIGHT? BASED ON THE PRESENTATION TODAY, ACTUALLY, THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE MORE WIDESPREAD.
I MEAN, THERE ARE OTHER COMMISSIONS THAT WE COULD BE WORKING WITH TOO.
SO RATHER THAN COMING UP WITH ONE CUSTOM SOLUTION OR ONE COMMISSION, THEN ANOTHER
[02:00:01]
ONE FOR ANOTHER, SHOULD WE BE TAKING A STEP BACK SAYING, HOW SHOULD WE BE WORKING WITH OTHER COMMISSIONS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO US MM-HMM.SHOULD WE BE ADDRESSING THAT POINT FIRST BEFORE WE ADDRESS THEIR SPECIFIC ISSUE? I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S A WISE CALL OUT.
UM, AND WE CAN DEFINITELY TALK ABOUT IT FURTHER.
UM, THE REASON I PUT THIS ON THE AGENDA IS BECAUSE, UH, CHAIR NEHA REACHED OUT TO ME.
SO THERE WAS A SHORT TERM YEAH.
BECAUSE YOU KNOW, THIS TOPIC OF THIS THREE MINUTE THING, I THINK IT'S ALREADY THE COUNCIL, I THINK HAS HEARD COMMENTS ABOUT THAT.
THE THREE MINUTES IS NOT ENOUGH.
AND, AND I THINK, WASN'T THERE AN ARTICLE WRITTEN IN THE AUSTIN AMERICAN ON THIS? OR, OR WHERE DID I READ IT SOMEWHERE? YEAH.
THE, THE COUNCIL IS CONCERNED ABOUT IT.
THEY, THEY PUT THE THREE, THREE MINUTE LIMIT SO THEY CAN GO HOME AT A REASONABLE HOUR.
SO, SO THAT'S WHERE THE DISCIPLINE CAME IN.
WHICH, YOU KNOW, FORMER STEVE ALER.
AND, UH, SO I THINK THE, THE, THE IDEA OF POLICIES A REALLY GOOD IDEA.
AND, UH, UH, AND IT MIGHT BE, YOU KNOW, MOVING FORWARD IN TECHNOLOGY SUCH THAT WE CAN HAVE ARCHA IN NEEDED TOO.
AND RATHER THAN, UM, OUR COMMISSION MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS IN A SILO MM-HMM.
I THINK THAT HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO GET MORE VISIBILITY.
SO, UM, MY SUGGESTION IS THAT WE FIRST DECIDE, YOU KNOW, ARE THERE, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE RIGHT APPROACH TO WORKING WITH OTHER COMMISSIONS? MM-HMM.
AND THEN TAKE THIS AS A FIRST INSTANCE OF HOW WE CAN PROVE THAT WE CAN DO THAT.
SO THIS WHOLE IDEA ABOUT, UH, UH, WHAT IS, WHAT'S THE NAME? UH, ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION.
THAT WOULD BE THE FIRST INSTANCE SURE.
RATHER THAN THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
I THINK, I THINK DOING THIS CAN BE A MODEL YEAH.
FOR OTHER, FOR ADDITIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH OTHER COMMISSIONERS.
AND IT COULD EVEN, I MEAN, WE'D HAVE TO STAND UP ANOTHER WORKING GROUP, BUT IT COULD BE THE SAME CORE GROUP OF, OF PEOPLE, BUT CERTAINLY WANNA GIVE EVERYONE AN OPPORTUNITY, THE SAME OPPORTUNITY, UM, TO BE A PART OF THIS.
NOW HOW MANY COMMISSIONERS DO WE HAVE SO FAR ON ONBOARDED? ARE WE AT EIGHT NOW? NINE.
I THINK THE NINTH ONE IS ONBOARDED UHHUH.
SO WE HAVE, WE HAVE EIGHT WITH THE NINTH COMING.
WELL, IN THE ABSENCE OF, I THINK THERE'S THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE ADDITIONAL, I THINK THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION ON THIS AND YEAH.
I'M NOT HEARING ANYONE, SO MAYBE WE JUST TABLE THIS ITEM FOR NOW.
I JUST WANTED TO THROW OUT A COUPLE OF, UH, DATA POINTS, UH, THAT MAY, THAT ARE RELEVANT TO THIS ITEM.
I KNOW THAT THE CITY COUNCIL HAS RECENTLY CHANGED THE, THE CITIZEN PARTICIPATION RULES SO THAT THEY ALLOWED, UH, PREVIOUSLY ONLY THREE MINUTES PER PERSON.
UM, AND THEN THEY CHANGED THAT RULE.
SO IT'S THREE MINUTES PER, PER ITEM THAT THEY'RE SPEAKING ON.
UM, AND, AND SO THAT WHAT, THERE WAS SOME MEDIA AROUND THAT CHANGE AS WELL.
IT'S BECAUSE OF THE LITIGATION.
SO THE, IT WAS, IT WAS ACTUALLY FOUND THAT, UH, I THINK THERE WAS A VIOLATION BY, OF THAT, THAT WAS AN INCORRECT INTERPRETATION OF THE RULES
UH, AND SO THE, THE CITY WAS FORCED INTO THAT CHANGE FROM, FROM MY UNDERSTANDING, THAT'S THE ONE.
UM, ANOTHER ITEM, UH, THAT WAS RELEVANT TO THE EARLIER PRESENTATION FROM CHAIR NEHA.
UM, MY UNDERSTANDING, WE'VE, WE'VE ASKED THE CLERK'S OFFICE RECENTLY, IN THE PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS ABOUT WHICH TECHNOLOGY TOOLS, UH, ARE THE COMMISSIONS ALLOWED TO USE, AND, AND IF THERE'S A POSSIBILITY OF GETTING ADDITIONAL LICENSES, UM, YOU KNOW, AND, AND RELATED, UH, ITEMS TO THAT, UM, AS A, YOU KNOW, JUST A WAY OF EXPLORING WHAT'S POSSIBLE.
UM, AND IN THAT CONVERSATION, UH, THE CLERK'S OFFICE LET US KNOW, UH, THAT, UH, THEY HEAR A LOT OF QUESTIONS FROM VARIOUS COMMISSIONS ABOUT, UH, WAYS THAT, UH, COMMISSIONS CAN PARTICIPATE.
UH, AND PEOPLE POINTING TO THE CITY COUNCIL MESSAGE BOARD AS A, HEY, IF CITY COUNCIL CAN DO THIS UNDER TOOMA, THEN WHY CAN'T WE? UM,
[02:05:01]
AND WHAT HER RESPONSE WAS IS THAT THERE'S A RULE THAT ONLY ONE TOOL CAN BE ALLOWED PER JURISDICTION.AND SO CITY COUNCIL HAS THAT ONE TOOL, AND THE CLERK'S OFFICE INTERPRETATION IS THAT MEANS THAT THE, UH, THE OTHER ENTITIES THAT ARE REQUESTING IT CAN'T HAVE IT BECAUSE CITY COUNCIL IS BASICALLY USING THAT ONE ALLOWANCE THAT WE HAVE.
UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IN DETAIL, UH, IF THERE'S, YOU KNOW, MORE NUANCED DISCUSSION THAT WE CAN INVESTIGATE ON THE POSSIBILITIES, LIKE, YOU KNOW, SEEKING OUT LEGAL INTERPRETATION OF, OF THAT RULE OR SEEING IF THERE'S A TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION TO THAT LIMITATION.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO CONVEY THAT THAT IS WHAT THE CLERK'S OFFICE HAS RECENTLY, UH, HOW THEY'VE RECENTLY DESCRIBED THAT, UH, REQUEST.
A LOT TO, A LOT TO UNPACK, A LOT TO DIGEST, AND, UM, YEAH.
UNFORTUNATELY, ITEMS WE'RE NOT GONNA RESOLVE IN THE NEAR TERM
SO I'M NOT HEARING, UM, INTEREST, AT LEAST AT THIS TIME, OF, UM, ASSISTANCE WITH ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION.
UM, IT, I'LL GO AHEAD AND PURSUE THIS INDIVIDUALLY AND WE'LL JUST TABLE THIS ITEM FOR NOW.
WE'LL BRING IT UP AT THE NEXT MEETING.
UM, MAYBE WE'VE HAD, WHEN WE'VE HAD A COUPLE MORE COMMISSIONERS ONBOARDING AND THEM ONBOARDED, AND THEY MIGHT BE INTERESTED, MAY I ASK ONE QUESTION? YEP.
I JUST LOOKED UP MESSAGE BOARD.
SO THAT'S AN ONLINE, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATION PLATFORM.
SO DOES THAT MEAN WE CAN USE IT TOO, OR IS IT ONLY THE CITY HALL CAN USE IT? SO THE CITY HAS ONE MESSAGE BOARD RIGHT NOW THAT THE CITY COUNCIL IS USING.
UH, BUT IT'S ONLY, UH, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO CAN ENGAGE IN IT.
SO WHAT I DON'T KNOW IS IF THERE'S A WAY THAT THE CITY CAN ADOPT A SINGLE TOOL THAT CAN PARTITION, YOU KNOW, CITY COUNCIL'S PART, AND THEN EACH COMMISSION'S PART
UH, OR LIKE, IS THAT THE, IS IT A TECHNOLOGICAL LIMITATION OR IS IT A LEGAL LIMITATION THAT ONLY ONE ENTITY IS ALLOWED TO HAVE THE MESSAGE BOARD? UM, AND, AND THE CURRENT WAY THAT IT'S BEING DESCRIBED IS THAT FROM A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE, ONLY ONE ENTITY WITHIN THE JURISDICTION CAN HAVE A MESSAGE BOARD.
AND SO, AGAIN, I, I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH TO KNOW THE, THE NUANCE OF THAT.
AND HENCE IT AS A CITY COUNCIL.
THAT, THAT'S THE CURRENT, THAT'S THE CURRENT INTERPRETATION.
SO
UH, AND OFFLINE, UH, DID WE CALL THE MINUTES? NO, WE DIDN'T.
SO, UM, IT APPEARS WE HAVE COME TO THE END OF OUR DISCUSSION ACTION ITEMS. AND JESSE JUST
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
REMINDED ME THAT WE SKIPPED AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FOR MARCH 26TH EARLIER THIS YEAR.SO LET'S GO AHEAD AND GET THAT FINISHED BEFORE WE, UM, GO TO A FUTURE, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. SO, UM, FOR THOSE OF YOU ONLINE, THOSE, THAT WAS A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING ON TUESDAY, THE 26TH.
UM, I'VE REVIEWED THE MINUTES, THEY SEEM OKAY TO ME, BUT WANT TO GIVE OTHER FOLKS AN OPPORTUNITY TO QUICKLY REVIEW THEM AND, UM, WE'LL OPEN UP, UM, WE'LL ACCEPT A MOTION FOR APPROVAL.
ONCE EVERYBODY'S READY, I MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FOR THE SPECIAL CALL MEETING, NOT HEARING ANY DISAGREEMENT.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND SECOND THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES AND WE'LL JUST WAIT FOR COMMISSIONER RICE AND WAKU TO, UM, TO COME ONTO CAMERA BEFORE WE HOLD A VOTE.
WE HAVE EVERYONE, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED FROM MARCH 26TH, PLEASE SAY, AYE.
ANYONE AGAINST ANY ABSTENTIONS? MOTION CARRIES UNANIMOUSLY.
I'M GONNA SKIP BACK TO THE END OF OUR AGENDA.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
ITEMS FOLKS WOULD LIKE TO BRING UP? AT THIS POINT? I'D LIKE TO CALL OUT ONE.UH, THE WORK PLAN IS ON THE SCHEDULE.
UM, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN THIS MONTH, BUT WE'VE PUSHED IT BACK DUE TO THE
[02:10:01]
LARGE AGENDA, THIS ONE, OR FOR THIS MONTH.UH, SO THROW THAT ON THERE FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. OKAY.
OH, AND, UH, BECAUSE THEY'RE DOING CONSTRUCTION HERE AT CITY HALL.
UM, AND MORE INFORMATION ON THAT.
I'LL UPDATE THE CALENDAR HOLD SOON.
UM, BUT I'M, I'LL PROBABLY CONFIRM THAT WITHIN THE NEXT ONE OR TWO DAYS.
IS THAT THE NEW BUILDING? MM-HMM.
OUR JULY MEETING WILL ALSO PROBABLY BE THERE AS WELL AS OUR AUGUST MEETING.
UM, THEY'RE DOING CONSTRUCTION HERE UNTIL JULY 12TH, I BELIEVE.
AND THEN OUR AUGUST MEETING JUST WAS OFF CYCLE THIS YEAR.
AND I, I GUESS IF YOU COULD MAKE SURE THE ROOM RESERVATIONS ARE DONE.
I DON'T WANT TO SPEND AN HOUR AND A HALF ON THIS SIDE.
WELL, UM, WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE ITEM FOR ADJOURNMENT, UM, OR FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. SO WE WILL MOVE ON TO ADJOURNMENT AND WE WILL GET YOU ALL FINISHED BEFORE 9:00 PM I MOVED TO ADJOURN.
I WILL SECOND, WE'LL JUST WAIT FOR COMMISSIONERS RICE AND WAKU TO COME ON SO WE CAN HAVE THIS FINAL VOTE.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF ADJOURNMENT, WE SAY AYE.
I THINK WE'VE GOT SOME GREAT WORK DONE.
DON'T YOU HOLD, HOW ARE THIS ALL THE.