[CALL TO ORDER]
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I'M CALLING TO ORDER THE, UH, COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING.
TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12TH.
IT IS 6:49 PM UH, TODAY WE ARE, UM, MEETING AT THE PER PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
MOST OF OUR COMMISSIONERS ARE ALSO JOINING REMOTELY.
MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC CAN, UH, WATCH OUR LIVE VIDEO FEED@AUSTINTEXAS.GOV WITHIN THE AT X IN WEBSITE.
SO, WITH THAT, UH, WE WILL START WITH A ROLL CALL VOTE.
SO IF EVERYONE CAN JUST HAVE THEIR, UM, CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS READY.
MY NAME IS STEVEN ACCA, REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO, THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, I'M JUST GONNA GO ACROSS MY SCREEN.
IF YOU COULD, UH, INDICATE YOURSELF PLEASE.
UH, COMMISSIONER GRIFFIN RICE DISTRICT FIVE.
SUBMIT SUPTA REPRESENTING DISTRICT 10.
COMMISSIONER ANGA, EBA ANGA REPRESENTING DISTRICT NINE.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. HELLO, BRIAN AM WILLIAMS REPRESENTING DISTRICT ONE.
COMMISSIONER GABRIEL ZAKI REPRESENTING DISTRICT SIX.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'LL MOVE ON TO OUR MEETING AGENDA.
UH, DO NOT BELIEVE WE HAVE ANY OF THE MEMBERS OF OUR PUBLIC SIGNED UP TO SPEAK, SO WE'LL SKIP OVER THAT ITEM.
[2. “New Goodwill T.E.C.H. program initiative for community device distribution” Presentation by Goodwill Central Texas (Linsey McQuistion, Manager of Career Services, Goodwill Central Texas”]
LOOKING TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS, UM, WE DO HAVE OUR ESTEEMED GUEST, UH, LINDSEY MCQUISTON FROM, UH, GOODWILL CENTRAL TEXAS.UM, IF THERE IS, IF NO ONE IS, UM, UM, IF, IF THERE'S NO DEBATE, I'D LIKE TO CALL THE ITEMS OUT OF ORDER AND GO AHEAD AND GIVE LINDSAY AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, JUST GO FIRST.
SOUNDS LIKE NO ONE IS, UH, UPSET ABOUT THAT.
SO, LINDSAY, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
UM, AS MENTIONED, MY NAME IS LINDSAY IAN.
I AM THE MANAGER OF CAREER SERVICES WITH GOODWELL CENTRAL TEXAS.
AND I THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.
AND I'M, I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE, UM, THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR DIGITAL INCLUSION PROGRAMMING AND OUR NEWEST, UM, PROGRAM THAT WE ARE LAUNCHING THIS SUMMER.
UM, SO I'VE BEEN WITH GOODWILL FOR NINE YEARS, UM, NEXT MONTH, AND THROUGHOUT MY TIME, UM, WITH GOODWILL CENTRAL TEXAS, I'VE, I'VE SERVED IN A VARIETY OF, OF ROLES, UM, WORKING DIRECTLY WITH OUR CLIENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS, UM, AS WELL AS PROVIDING SUPPORT AND, AND LEADERSHIP TO, TO VARIOUS PROGRAMS. AND THROUGHOUT ALL OF MY, UM, DIFFERENT ROLES AND EXPERIENCES WITH THE ORGANIZATION AND SERVING OUR COMMUNITY, UM, I THINK ONE OF THE MOST ENLIGHTENING, UM, OPPORTUNITIES THAT I'VE HAD IS TO REALLY EXPLORE, UM, THE IMPACT THAT DIGITAL SKILL BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES, UM, OPPORTUNITIES TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS DEVICES, TO ACCESS THE INTERNET, UM, HAS ON ON OUR CLIENTS AND THEIR SUCCESS IN JOB SEARCHING, UM, FINDING EMPLOYMENT AND RETAINING THAT EMPLOYMENT.
UM, OVER, OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, WE HAVE HAD A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPAND OUR PROGRAMMING, UM, AND I'M EXCITED TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU TONIGHT.
UM, SO OUR CAREER ADVANCEMENT TEAM AT GOODWILL CENTRAL TEXAS STARTED, UM, OFFERING FORMAL DIGITAL INCLUSION, UM, WORKSHOPS AND LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES IN 2017.
WE REALLY DOVE INTO STANDARDIZING THOSE PROCESSES IN 2018 USING THE NORTH STAR DIGITAL SKILL BUILDING CURRICULUM.
UM, AND THEN THROUGHOUT COVID LEVERAGED, UM, THE ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORM THAT THEY OFFERED.
UM, IN 2023, WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO DIVE INTO, UM, DEVICE ACCESS.
SO THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP WITH GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL, AND INDEED, WE WERE ABLE TO START OFFERING NOT ONLY DIGITAL SKILL BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES, BUT ACCESS TO DEVICES.
AND WE FOUND THAT THE ABILITY TO PROVIDE SOMEBODY A COMPUTER, TO PROVIDE SOMEBODY INTERNET ACCESS AND PUTTING THAT ALONGSIDE DIGITAL SKILL BUILDING INCREASED THEIR COMMITMENT TO PARTICIPATING AND MOVING THROUGH
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THE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES THAT THEY IDENTIFIED WANTING TO PARTICIPATE IN.BUT WE ALSO SAW THAT THEY WERE GREATER SKILL GAINS, UM, FOR THE, THE INDIVIDUALS THAT PARTICIPATED IN THAT PROGRAM, THE ABILITY TO NOT RELY ON COMING INTO ONE OF OUR CENTERS TO ACCESS A COMPUTER OR THE INTERNET, BUT BEING ABLE TO, TO WORK ON THOSE SKILLS AT HOME, UM, REALLY PROVIDED A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR LAYERING, UM, SKILLS AS WELL AS SEEING OUR CLIENTS UTILIZE THOSE SKILLS TO THEN ONLINE JOB SEARCH AND FIND EMPLOYMENT.
UM, REALLY SEEING THEM ACTIVELY ENGAGE IN THAT PART OF OUR SERVICE MODEL.
UM, AND SO WE'VE REALLY LOOKED FOR ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPAND AND CONTINUE, UM, WITH THAT SERVICE MODEL.
UM, WE DID HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY, UM, TO SUPPORT THE AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM.
WE, WE DID RECEIVE A GRANT THROUGH THE FCC, UM, TO DO OUTREACH AS WELL AS, UM, ENROLLMENT INTO THAT PROGRAM.
UM, UNFORTUNATELY, AND WITH THAT PROGRAM ENDING, WE, WE ENDED UP SHIFTING, UM, OUR MODEL, UM, TO GO BACK TO INCLUDE, UM, MORE TRADITIONAL INTERNET ACCESS SUPPORT.
UM, SO OUR NEWEST PROGRAM IS CALLED GOODWILL TECH.
UM, IT STANDS FOR, UM, TECHNOLOGY, UM, EDUCATION, CONNECTIVITY AND HOPE.
UM, AND WE REALLY WANTED TO, UM, CONTINUE TO PROVIDE, UM, TAILORED APPROACHES TO PROVIDING SKILL BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES.
SO THROUGH THAT PROGRAM, UM, WHICH IS FUNDED THROUGH METHODIST HEALTHCARE MINISTRIES, UM, OVER A THREE YEAR PERIOD, WE WILL WORK WITH 400 HOUSEHOLDS ACROSS OUR GOODWELL, CENTRAL TEXAS TERRITORY.
UM, OUR TWO MAIN LOCATIONS ARE IN AUSTIN.
WE IMAGINE THAT A GOOD NUMBER OF HOUSEHOLDS THAT WE SERVE WILL COME FROM THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY.
UM, HOWEVER, WE WILL ALSO BE LOOKING TO SUPPORT, UM, INDIVIDUALS FROM OUR WILLIAMSON COUNTY AND HAYES COUNTY COMMUNITIES WHERE WE HAVE PHYSICAL CAREER CENTER LOCATIONS.
UM, AND THEN WE'LL BE LOOKING TO PARTNER WITH ORGANIZATIONS, UM, IN OUR OTHER COUNTIES, UM, WITHIN OUR TERRITORY.
UM, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE I GOT NUMBER, RIGHTS NUMBERS RIGHT.
SO THOSE 400 HOUSEHOLDS OVER A THREE YEAR PERIOD, UM, WILL ALL GO THROUGH DIGITAL SKILL BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES BEFORE THEY RECEIVE THEIR DEVICES.
UM, WE REALLY FOUND THAT THIS, UM, PROVIDES A LEVEL OF COMMITMENT, UM, FOR PARTICIPANTS, UM, TO KNOW THAT THEY, UM, HAVE A, A TANGIBLE, UM, SOMETHING THAT THEY ARE WORKING TOWARDS AS WELL AS THAT ABILITY, ONCE THEY COMPLETE THEIR TRAINING PLAN AND THE TRAININGS THAT THEY'VE IDENTIFIED IS IMPORTANT TO THEM.
WE'VE ALSO SEEN FOLKS THEN CONTINUE TO CIRCLE BACK TO TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, SO OUR DIGITAL NAVIGATOR WILL NOT ONLY FOLLOW OUR PARTICIPANTS THROUGH THEIR TRAINING PLANS AND THE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES THAT THEY'VE IDENTIFIED ON THE PRE-WORK END, BUT THEY'LL ALSO CONTINUE TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH THOSE PARTICIPANTS.
UM, AT THE ONE, UM, ONE MONTH MARK AND THEN THE THREE MONTH MARK TO, UM, IDENTIFY, ARE THERE ADDITIONAL SKILLS THAT YOU'VE IDENTIFIED NOW THAT YOU'VE RECEIVED YOUR DEVICE, YOU'VE BEEN USING YOUR DEVICE, AND HOW CAN WE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT YOU? UM, THE DEVICES THAT INDIVIDUALS WILL BE ABLE TO RECEIVE ARE REFURBISHED LAPTOPS, UM, TABLETS WITH KEYBOARDS, AND THEN HOTSPOTS THAT WILL COME WITH 12 MONTHS OF INTERNET.
UM, WE DO HAVE SOME FUNDING SET ASIDE FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO MAY NEED SOME SORT OF SPECIALIZED DEVICE.
UM, SO IN THE PAST WE'VE HAD, UM, SOME OF OUR CLIENTS COME THROUGH THAT ARE ATTENDING AN OCCUPATIONAL TRAINING PROGRAM, UM, OR PERHAPS THEY ARE, UM, WORKING IN A CERTAIN CAREER FIELD WHERE THEY'RE NEEDING A, A VERY SPECIFIC, UM, SORT OF DEVICE WITH, UM, CERTAIN SPECIFICATIONS.
WE DO HAVE FUNDING SET ASIDE TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THOSE INDIVIDUALS AND THEN PURCHASE A DEVICE TO MEET THEIR NEEDS.
BUT MOST OF OUR PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE, UM, A STANDARD REFURBISHED LAPTOP THAT WE HAVE, UM, RECEIVED FROM, UM, A PARTNER, UM, AGENCY.
UM, ONCE, UH, AN INDIVIDUAL, UM, IS REFERRED INTO TO THE PROGRAM, AS I MENTIONED, UM, THEY'RE GOING TO BE CONTACTED BY OUR DIGITAL NAVIGATOR.
AND THAT DIGITAL NAVIGATOR IS GOING TO WORK WITH THAT, UM, PERSON TO IDENTIFY, UM, THEIR SKILL GAPS, UM, AS WELL AS THEIR DIGITAL ACCESS NEEDS.
SO DO THEY NEED A, A HOTSPOT? DO THEY NEED A LAPTOP? DO THEY WANT A TABLET? DO THEY NEED, DO THEY NEED BOTH? DO THEY NEED, UM, THAT LAPTOP AND THE HOTSPOT? UM, SO WE WANTED TO BE ABLE TO PAIR ITEMS TOGETHER OR PROVIDE THEM INDIVIDUALLY BASED ON NEED AND PREFERENCE, UM, OF, OF THE CLIENTS.
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MENTIONED, ONCE THE CLIENT COMPLETES THEIR, THEIR TRAINING GOALS, UM, THEY RECEIVE THEIR DEVICE AT, UM, EITHER A ONE-ON-ONE DEVICE DISTRIBUTION, UM, OPPORTUNITY, OR THEY, UM, WILL COME TO A DISTRIBUTION DAY WHERE WE DISTRIBUTE DEVICES, UM, IN A SMALL GROUP SETTING, UH, WITH OUR DIGITAL NAVIGATOR.AND THAT WILL LIKELY DEPEND ON, UM, INDIVIDUAL SKILL LEVEL.
UM, DOES THAT PERSON NEED MORE ONE-ON-ONE SUPPORT VERSUS IS IT, UM, A PARTICIPANT WHO HAS A HIGHER LEVEL OF DIGITAL SKILLS ALREADY? AND, UM, WE CAN PAIR THOSE FOLKS WITHIN A GROUP SETTING, UM, AND EVERYONE'S NEEDS WILL BE MET.
UM, AND THEN ONCE THAT INDIVIDUAL HAS THEIR DEVICE, AS I MENTIONED, AT ONE MONTH AND THREE MONTHS WORTH FOLLOWING UP, UM, OUR DIGITAL NAVIGATOR WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE, UM, SPECIAL PROGRAMMING OUTSIDE OF OUR REGULAR TRAINING CALENDAR.
UM, SO WE'LL BE OFFERING SPECIAL WORKSHOP DAYS FOR PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS TO, TO CIRCLE BACK AND CONTINUE TO BUILD, UM, DIFFERENT DIGITAL SKILL OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, SOME OTHER POINTS OF THE PROGRAM THAT ARE ON THE HORIZON, UM, LATER THIS YEAR AND INTO YEAR TWO OF, OF THE GRANT PROGRAM.
UM, IN YEAR TWO, WE'RE REALLY GONNA BE FOCUSING ON EXPANDING OUR PUBLIC COMPUTER LAB ACCESS.
SO WE HAVE, UM, LARGE PUBLIC COMPUTER LABS AT OUR GOODWILL COMMUNITY CENTER IN NORTH AUSTIN.
WE HAVE A COMPUTER LAB SPACE AT OUR GOODWILL RESOURCE CENTER IN SOUTH AUSTIN.
UM, WE'LL BE REPLACING THOSE DESKTOP COMPUTERS, UM, FOR ONES THAT WORK
UM, BUT ALSO WE WILL BE ABLE TO PUT MORE COMPUTERS IN SOME OF OUR SPACES.
SO WE'LL BE EXPANDING OUR SPECIFIC TRAINING LAB, UM, AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER LOCATION.
WE WILL BE, UM, EXPANDING OUR COMPUTER LAB ACCESS, UM, IN SOME OF OUR SMALLER CAREER CENTERS OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY.
UM, WE'RE ALSO REALLY EXCITED THAT IN YEAR TWO, THIS GRANT WILL ALLOW US TO, UM, PURCHASE EQUIPMENT FOR OUR DIGITAL EQUITY VAN.
UM, SO THROUGH A, UM, A, A GENEROUS GIFT, UM, FROM INDEED WE WERE ABLE TO PURCHASE, UM, A VAN.
UM, IT'S BIGGER THAN A MINIVAN, UM, BUT NOT QUITE A BUS
UM, THE, THE BACK IS, UM, FITTED OUT WHERE THERE IS A TRAINING SPACE THAT FITS ABOUT THREE PEOPLE.
UM, WE'LL HAVE ROOM TO, TO SIT WITH OUR CLIENTS, UM, AND, UM, AND HAVE FOLKS ON LAPTOPS PROVIDING, UM, EITHER ONE-ON-ONE OR TWO IN ONE, UM, WITH OUR DIGITAL NAVIGATOR, UM, FOR DIGITAL SKILL BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, WE'LL ALSO LIKELY USE THIS SPACE, UM, TO DO ONE-ON-ONE FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT TRAINING.
UM, WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS VAN.
UM, OUR GOODWILL, CENTRAL TEXAS TERRITORY IS 13 COUNTIES, AND SO THIS ALLOWS US TO REACH MORE OF THOSE, UM, COUNTIES, BUT IT ALSO ALLOWS US TO WORK WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS WITHIN AUSTIN, TRAVIS COUNTY, UM, IN A, IN A DIFFERENT WAY RIGHT NOW.
I THINK WE, WE REALLY RELY ON EITHER FOLKS COMING INTO OUR PHYSICAL SPACE OR OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS HAVING SPACE FOR US TO COME IN AND PROVIDE SERVICES, AND THAT'S NOT ALWAYS POSSIBLE.
UM, SO BEING ABLE TO BRING THESE SERVICES TO DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES, UM, AND, UM, WHERE OUR CLIENTS NEED US IS REALLY, UM, IS REALLY EXCITING.
UM, ALSO ON THE HORIZON, UM, WE'LL BE LOOKING TO PARTNER WITH DIFFERENT COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS SPECIFICALLY FOR, UM, DEVICE DISTRIBUTION BASED ON THEIR PROGRAMMATIC NEEDS.
AND THEN WE WILL BE WORKING WITH OUR GOODWILL RETAIL AND POST RETAIL TEAM MEMBERS.
UM, OFTEN THESE TEAM MEMBERS IN OUR STORES OR IN OUR WAREHOUSES ARE ALSO, UM, EXPERIENCING THE SAME BARRIERS TO, UM, DIGITAL ACCESS SKILL BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES AS, AS OUR TRADITIONAL CASE MANAGEMENT CLIENTS.
AND SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO GO VISIT MORE OF OUR RETAIL AND POST RETAIL LOCATIONS AND PROVIDE SERVICES ONSITE TO THEM.
UM, I TOLD MYSELF I WOULDN'T KEEP GOING ON AND ON 'CAUSE I COULD TALK ABOUT
UM, BUT I WANNA MAKE SURE I I LEAVE TIME FOR QUESTIONS.
SO, UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE, LINDSAY.
THIS SOUNDS LIKE AN AMAZING PROGRAM.
UM, I DO HAVE A COUPLE QUESTIONS AND I'LL TURN IT OVER TO THE, THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS WHO MIGHT HAVE QUESTIONS.
UH, I'M CURIOUS, DO YOU HAVE ANY PRESENTATION MATERIALS THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH THE COMMISSION? UM, ARE WE ABLE TO, TO ACCESS, UM, DETAILS IN THE PROGRAM ON THE GOODWILL CENTRAL TEXAS SITE? UM, WHERE'S ALL THAT HOUSED? YES, I AM MORE THAN HAPPY TO SEND, UM, A PRESENTATION.
I'M TRAVELING, AND SO I DIDN'T HAVE THE ABILITY TO LIKE, SHARE OUT SOMETHING AND, AND SHARE MY SCREEN.
AND SINCE I JUST HAVE MY MY LAPTOP AND Y'ALL,
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I, I COULD DEFINITELY IMAGINE MYSELF SHARING LIKE, OH, HEY, HERE'S EVERYBODY'S FACE.UM, BUT I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO, TO SHARE, UM, THE PRESENTATION MATERIAL THAT WE'VE SHARED, UM, INTERNALLY TO OUR STAFF PREPPING THEM FOR THE PROGRAM.
UM, OUR MARKETING TEAM IS WORKING ON SOME UPDATES TO OUR WORKFORCE ADVANCEMENT, UM, SECTION OF OUR WEBSITE WHERE THEY'LL BE POSTING MORE DISTINCT INFORMATION ABOUT OUR BROADER DIGITAL INCLUSION PROGRAMMING, HOW TO, UM, TAP INTO, UM, THE GOODWILL TECH PROGRAM, UM, AS WELL AS ONCE THE, UM, THE VAN WHO WE'RE CALLING BETTY, BRINGING TECHNOLOGY OR BRINGING EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY TO YOU.
UM, BUT TOO ON THE WEBSITE, UM, OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND REQUEST A VISIT FROM, FROM BETTY, UM, AND, UM, ANY PROGRAMMING THAT WE'RE ABLE TO OFFER THROUGH, THROUGH THE VAN.
UH, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS.
COMMISSIONER DES GUPTA, PLEASE.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
YOU KNOW, I HAVE GREAT REGARD FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION.
I'VE WORKED WITH THEM BEFORE AND OTHER MATTERS AND HAVE GREAT RESPECT FOR THEM.
THEIR, THEIR OUTREACH IS SO MUCH, YOU KNOW, SO IMPRESSIVE.
UH, CAN YOU HEAR ME BY THE WAY? UM, KIND OF, UM, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU CAN'T HEAR ME.
I'LL TRY TO SPEAK UP AS LOUDLY AS POSSIBLE.
YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE THIS VAN THAT GOES OUT THERE TO THE COMMUNITY, UH, THREE STUDENTS AT A TIME.
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED PARTNERING WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS AND GETTING THEIR CLASSROOMS? WE, WE HAVE IN SOME INSTANCES.
SO WE DO ALSO OPERATE, UM, A YOUTH WIOA PROGRAM, UM, THAT WE, UM, RECEIVE FUNDING THROUGH THE TEXAS WORKFORCE COMMISSION.
AND SO WE DO PARTNER WITH SOME SCHOOLS.
UM, OFTENTIMES THOSE ARE SCHOOLS THAT HAVE, UM, A HIGH RATIO OF OPPORTUNITY YOUTH, SO, UM, YOUTH WHO ARE PRESENTING WITH BARRIERS TO EDUCATION AND, AND FUTURE EMPLOYMENT.
UM, SO WE HAVE GONE INTO THOSE LOCATIONS TO USE THEIR SPACES AND THEIR COMPUTER LABS.
THE SECOND QUESTION IS, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S VERY KIND OF YOU TO GIVE OUT EQUIPMENT, BUT EQUIPMENT IS JUST LIKE A TOY UNLESS IT'S CONNECTED TO THE WEB.
SO IS THERE ANY PROGRAM THAT SUBSIDIZES BROADBAND ACCESS? SO WE WILL BE PROVIDING FOLKS WHO NEED INTERNET ACCESS AS WELL, HOTSPOTS, AND THOSE HOTSPOTS WILL COME WITH ONE YEAR OF INTERNET.
UM, THE LAST TIME WE HAD THIS PROGRAM LED RIGHT INTO A CP, OBVIOUSLY THE AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM, UM, IS NO LONGER OPERATING.
UM, SO OUR PLAN IS TO WORK TO PAIR THIS PROGRAM ALONG WITH THOSE CLIENTS PARTICIPATING IN OUR, UM, FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT TRAINING, UM, WORKING WITH FOLKS TO SET A MONTHLY BUDGET, IDENTIFY, YOU KNOW, WHAT THEIR INTERNET NEEDS WOULD BE AFTER THAT USE OF THE HOTSPOT ENDS, AND TRYING TO PREP THEM TO INTEGRATE THAT COST INTO THEIR MONTHLY BUDGET.
UM, OFTENTIMES OUR, OUR CLIENTS ALSO DON'T KNOW THAT WELL, THE AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM HAS ENDED.
THERE MAY BE OTHER LOWER COST INTERNET AVAILABLE.
AND SO OUR HOPE TOO IS THAT THIS CAN KIND OF BE A STOP GAP AS FOLKS ARE ABLE TO PREP AND THEN IDENTIFY WHAT INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER DO THEY WANT TO USE, WHAT IS THAT COST GOING TO BE, AND HOW DO THEY PREPARE FOR THAT? OKAY.
BUT, YOU KNOW, ONE COULD THINK OF, UH, POTENTIALLY GOING OUT TO ALL THE TECH COMPANIES, ALL THE, ALL THE LEADERS IN THE TECH INDUSTRY, YOU KNOW, IMMEDIATELY YOU THINK OF MICHAEL DELL, BUT THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE, UH, NOT NEARLY AS RICH, BUT CERTAINLY VERY WELL OFF.
AND THERE ARE COMPANIES THAT ARE DOING VERY WELL, LIKE SAMSUNG, LIKE IBM, LIKE DELL, AND, AND, AND YOU NAME IT, YOU KNOW, IT IS IN THEIR ENLIGHTENED SELF-INTEREST TO PROMOTE THIS KIND OF TECHNOLOGY TO BE PERVASIVE THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
THAT MEAN, THAT MEANS THAT'S HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE THEY CAN RECRUIT.
SO IN, HAVE YOU CONSIDERED GETTING THEM TO GET INTO SOME KIND OF A PARTNERSHIP MODEL? SO THEY GIVE YOU FUNDING EVERY YEAR? SO THIS KIND OF PROGRAM CONTINUES, LIKE, SAY THE BROADBAND SUBSIDY IS NOT FOR ONE YEAR, BUT IT'S A CONTINUING THING UNTIL THAT PERSON CAN PAY FOR IT HIMSELF OR HERSELF.
WE HAVE A DEVELOPMENT TEAM THAT OFTEN LOOKS FOR PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, IN THE PAST WE'VE WORKED CLOSELY WITH INDEED ON SOME DIFFERENT PROJECTS.
UM, AND, AND CERTAINLY, UM, THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO BEING ABLE TO, TO PURCHASE THE VAN, UM, WAS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT IN KIND OF SEEING THAT THAT DREAM COME TO REALITY.
UM, WE'VE PARTNERED WITH DELL TECHNOLOGIES, UM, FOR A FEW DIFFERENT
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EVENTS AND, AND WORKING WITH VOLUNTEERS ON THEIR END.WE WERE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR, UM, DIFFERENT FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES, WHETHER THAT'S GRANT FUNDING, UM, PRIVATE DONATIONS, FOUNDATION OPPORTUNITIES, UM, TO BE ABLE TO SUSTAIN, UM, PROGRAMS LIKE, LIKE THIS OR REALLY ANY OF OUR, OUR PROGRAMS. AND MY LAST QUESTION IS RELATING TO THE ACQUISITION OF HARDWARE.
YOU KNOW, THERE ARE A LOT OF TECH COMPANIES.
I USED TO WORK FOR TWO OF THEM, AND EVERY THREE TO FIVE YEARS WE RECYCLING THE RECYCLE THE HARDWARE.
THERE'S STILL A LOT OF LIFE LEFT IN THE, IN THOSE BOXES.
YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT THE LATEST, WHICH MEANS WE, YOU KNOW, WE SORT OF PUSH THEM OUT.
DO YOU HAVE A PLAN IF THEY PUSH IT OUT TO HAVE THAT PATHWAYS LEADING STRAIGHT TO YOU? SO WE HAVE IN THE PAST OPERATED A COMPUTER WORKS LOCATION, UM, WHERE WE DID RECEIVE, UM, DEVICES, THOSE DEVICES WERE REFURBISHED AND THEN TURNED AROUND FOR SALE.
UM, I THINK SOMETIMES THE CONUNDRUM WITH OUR ORGANIZATION IS WE, WE HAVE OUR MISSION SERVICE SIDE, AND THEN WE DO HAVE OUR RETAIL SIDE, AND IT'S OFTEN A BALANCE OF HOW DO WE PIPELINE AND SUPPORT EACH ONE OF THOSE ARMS OF OUR ORGANIZATION.
UM, THAT'S, YOU KNOW, I THINK WHY WE'VE REALLY LOOKED FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO PURCHASE THE REFURBISHED DEVICES, WHETHER, UM, IF AT A DISCOUNT OR BEING ABLE TO PARTNER WITH AN ORGANIZATION TO JUST RECEIVE THOSE DEVICES.
UM, BUT, BUT YEAH, I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST THE STRUCTURE OF ORGANIZATIONS SOMETIMES MAKES THAT CHALLENGING AND IT'S, IT'S HARD TO MAKE AN ARGUMENT OF, YOU KNOW, BEING ABLE TO, TO SELL SOMETHING IN OUR STORE, WHICH THEN GENERATES REVENUE FOR MISSION.
YEAH, THANK YOU SO MUCH, LINDSAY.
UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, PLEASE.
UM, SO I, I ALSO HAVE A, A SPECIAL SPOT FOR GOODWILL.
UM, IN A PAST LIFE, I'VE DONE A NONPROFIT CONSULTING PROJECT FOR GOODWILL OUT OF DC AND LEARNED QUITE A BIT ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION, ITS MISSION, WHO IT HELPS AND HOW, AND HOW IT GOES ABOUT IT.
AND IT'S A VERY HONORABLE MISSION.
BUT AS A, A COMPUTER NERD AND AND TECH PERSON MYSELF, I HEAR A COUPLE OPPORTUNITIES, UH, ONE BEING, UH, THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SELF-DIRECTED TRAINING ONCE AN INDIVIDUAL HAS A DEVICE.
UM, I WAS CURIOUS IF THERE WERE ANY THOUGHTS OR OPINIONS THERE, AND IF THERE'S ANY OPEN, UH, OPENNESS FOR ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS AND OPINION.
UH, REASON BEING IS OF, UH, BEEN RESPONSIBLE FOR REMOTE TRAINING WITH A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO WERE, UM, YOUNG ESSENTIALLY AND JUST NEEDED TO BE UPSKILLED.
AND WE FOUND OURSELVES USING A, WHAT IS IT? UH, I THINK UDEMY.
YEAH, I THINK OUR, WE WERE USING UDEMY, UM, BECAUSE THEY PARTNER WITH NONPROFITS LIKE UDEM Y.COM.
UM, THEY HAVE COURSES THAT ARE MADE BY THE COMMUNITY OF UDEMY, AND THEY CAN BE AS CHEAP AS $20 OR AS EXPENSIVE AS WHATEVER YOU'RE WILLING TO PAY.
USUALLY UPWARDS OF 200, THEY GO ON SALE OFTEN, AND THEY CAN UPSKILL A PERSON FROM LITERALLY NOT EVEN KNOWING WHAT THE TERMS MEAN, ALL THE WAY UP TO BEING, UH, PRETTY NOVEL IN TECHNOLOGY.
AND WITH A YEAR'S TIME OF FREE INTERNET, THAT'S MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME FOR A PERSON TO GET COGENT IN MANY OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES.
SO MY QUESTION, IS THERE A PATHWAY TO GET THESE INDIVIDUALS SOME SORT OF SELF-DIRECTED, UH, HIGH SKILLS TRAINING WITH THE DEVICE WHILE THEY HAVE THAT FREE INTERNET FOR YEAR? YES.
SO WE'VE TALKED ABOUT A FEW, A FEW DIFFERENT CONCEPTS.
UM, THE FIRST IS, UM, OUR SUBSCRIPTION WITH NORTH STAR, UM, ALLOWS US TO ENROLL FOLKS INTO THEIR ONLINE LEARNING PLATFORM.
SO OUR HOPE IS THAT BY PROVIDING THE ONE-ON-ONE OR SMALL GROUP LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, WE'RE ABLE TO PAIR THAT WITH AN INDIVIDUAL HAVING AN ACCOUNT, BEING ABLE TO GO IN, CONTINUE TO BUILD THOSE CONCEPTS.
THEIR PLATFORM COVERS A, UM, I THINK A, A GOOD ARRAY OF BASIC DIGITAL CONCEPTS.
UM, SO OUR HOPE IS THAT'S KIND OF THE FOUNDATIONAL ASPECT.
UM, OUR DIGITAL NAVIGATOR HAS BEEN WORKING ON, UM, DOING SOME DIFFERENT RECORDINGS AND, UM, KIND OF LIKE MINI TUTORIALS ON SOME KIND OF MIDDLE LEVEL CONCEPTS.
UM, SO A LOT OF EXPLORATION ON ONLINE SAFETY TIPS, UM, NAVIGATING DIFFERENT PLATFORMS. UM, YOU KNOW, LINKEDIN I THINK WAS A, A REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE THAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING THROUGH.
AND, AND HOW DO WE START, UM, PREPPING OUR CLIENTS TO UNDERSTAND THIS IDEA OF ONLINE NETWORKING IN A PROFESSIONAL MANNER? AND HOW DO YOU BUILD A PROFESSIONAL PROFILE AND WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LINKEDIN AND MAYBE, YOU KNOW, A, A MORE TRADITIONAL SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE FOR A, FOR A PERSONAL USE.
UM, WE ARE DEFINITELY INTERESTED IN CONTINUING TO EXPLORE HOW DO WE PIPELINE FOLKS FROM THOSE BASIC OR INTERMEDIATE, UM, TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES TO SOME HIGHER LEVEL CONCEPTS.
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IT, IT TENDS TO BE THAT SKILL GAP THAT A LOT OF OUR CLIENTS RUN INTO.UM, I THINK WE DO A, I KNOW NOT TO TOOT OUR OWN HORN, I THINK WE DO AN OKAY AND, AND PRETTY DECENT JOB WITH BASIC DIGITAL SKILLS.
UM, I THINK WE'RE, WE HAVE A LOT OF ROOM FOR GROWTH IS CONTINUE TO FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE SUPPORT THAT MIDDLE GAP, UM, THAT OUR CLIENTS HAVE.
SO THEY HAVE FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS, BUT THEY'RE NOT QUITE READY TO PIPELINE INTO HIGHER LEVEL DIGITAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES.
AND HOW DO WE CONTINUE TO EXPAND, UM, THOSE LEARNING, UM, OPPORTUNITIES, WHETHER IT'S IN PERSON OR VIRTUAL.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THOSE QUESTIONS.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? NOPE.
WELL WANT TO THANK LINDSAY FOR, UH, STICKING WITH US AND, UH, UH, PROVIDING YOUR, UH, YOUR BRIEFING TO US WHILE YOU WERE ON THE ROAD.
SO LOOKING FORWARD TO CONTINUING TO WORK WITH YOU WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
AND, UH, YEAH, CAN'T WAIT FOR ANOTHER BRIEFING.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
I JUST WANTED TO LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT I WAS PRESENT IN A, IN, IN ATTENDANCE, UM, SORRY, IT WASN'T, NOT ALLOWING ME TO SHARE MY VIDEO OR, UH, UNMUTE, UH, DURING ROLL CALL.
BUT I AM PRESENTING DISTRICT CRUZ.
ON THAT NOTE, I DID WANNA, UH, MAKE SURE, UM, LINDSAY, UH, WAS, WAS ABLE TO LOG OFF AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, ESPECIALLY SINCE SHE'S ON THE ROAD, BUT WE DO HAVE TWO NEW COMMISSIONERS WITH US.
SO JUST WANTED TO GIVE THEM A QUICK 30 SECONDS EACH TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, MAYBE WHERE THEY LIVE IN, IN AUSTIN AND WHAT GOT THEM INTERESTED IN, IN THE COMMISSION.
UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, I'LL LEAVE IT TO YOU FIRST.
MY NAME IS BRIAN ANNE WILLIAMS. UM, I AM IN DISTRICT ONE.
I'M ORIGINALLY FROM PENNSYLVANIA.
CLEARLY DISTRICT ONE DOMAIN AREA.
UM, I RUN A COMPANY CALLED WAYNE AND REED, WHICH IS A TECHNOLOGY CONSULTANCY.
YEAH, I'M JUST HAPPY TO BE HERE AND LOOKING FORWARD TO MAKING IMPACT ON AUSTIN.
I GOT MY MBA HERE QUITE A WHILE BACK.
I'M A LONGHORN, LOUD AND PROUD
UM, AND YEAH, I'VE BEEN OFF AND ON IN AUSTIN SINCE WOW.
SO I FEEL LIKE I HAVE THE TATTOO AT THIS POINT.
SO, PLEASURE AND PROUD TO MEET YOU ALL.
I AM EBA ANGA, FOUNDER OF ANGA HOUSE.
I AM IN DISTRICT NINE, SIMILAR TO BRIAN.
I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS NEW JOURNEY AND ADVENTURE OF JUST GETTING TO IMPACT AUSTIN IN A BRAND NEW WAY.
I'VE WORKED WITH SEVERAL COMPANIES AND NONPROFITS HERE IN AUSTIN THROUGHOUT MY TIME.
I MOVED TO AUSTIN IN 20, WHAT YEAR DID I MOVE HERE? I MOVED HERE FROM NIGERIA.
I'M NIGERIAN, UH, IN 2014, I BELIEVE.
UM, BUT I'M, I'M HAPPY TO BE IN THE CITY.
WELL, WE'RE EXCITED TO HAVE YOU BOTH.
THANK Y'ALL FOR YOUR SERVICE AND SPENDING YOUR WEDNESDAY EVENING WITH THE REST OF US.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA CONTINUE TO CALL THE ITEMS OUT OF ORDER AS WE ALLUDED TO BEFORE.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
UH, NEXT WILL BE THE APPROVAL OF MINUTES AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE.UM, SO WE WILL GIVE ALL OF THESE ITEMS SHOULD HAVE BEEN ATTACHED TO THE EMAIL THAT YOU RECEIVED FROM, UH, DAN.
SO WE'LL GIVE FOLKS JUST A MOMENT TO QUICKLY REVIEW THE MEETING MINUTES FROM WEDNESDAY MAY 8TH, AND THEN I'LL LOOK FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE.
THIS IS VICE CHAIR
DO WE HEAR SECOND? I'LL SECOND THE MOTION.
UM, I JUST, UH, WANT TO CHAIR AKA THERE ONE, UH, TYPO VICE.
OTHER THAN THAT, EVERYTHING IS FINE.
I'M TRYING TO LOOK FOR THE TYPO NOW.
THERE WAS A, A SMALL TYPO, BUT OTHER THAN THAT, OH, HERE WE GO.
NUMBER NINE, IT SAYS VICE CHAIR.
[00:30:01]
THE, THE WORD CHAIR IS MISSPELLED, TRYING TO BE NITPICKY.SO, UH, WE WILL MAKE THAT CORRECTION IS FINE ON AGENDA ITEM NINE AND, AND ENSURE THAT, UH, VICE CHAIR ATA IS TITLE IS SPELLED CORRECTLY.
UM, BUT WITH THAT, I HEARD A MOTION FROM VICE CHAIR, A SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ANY AGAINST? ANY ABSTENTIONS? NOPE.
SO WITH THAT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO, UM, OUR NEXT AGENDA ITEM.
AND AGAIN, I'M GONNA CONTINUE TO CALL THE ITEMS OUT OF ORDER, UM, JUST BECAUSE OF THE LOGICAL FLOW.
[6. Commission review and approval of proposed Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission bylaw revisions and additions]
ON TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SIX, THE COMMISSION BYLAW REVISIONS IN ADDITIONS.SO, UM, SO BACKGROUND ON THIS ITEM.
SO I THINK I'VE, I'VE TALKED WITH, WITH EACH OF YOU, UM, AND, AND, UH, A COUPLE OF YOU HAVE HAD OPPORTUNITIES TO ACTUALLY GO INTO THE, UM, THE, UH, BYLAWS AND MAKE REVISIONS.
SO, UH, I INTENTIONALLY KEPT THIS MEETING ENTA LIGHT BECAUSE WE HAVE, UH, SEVERAL PROGRAMMATIC ITEMS THAT WE NEED TO ACCOMPLISH, ONE OF WHICH IS, UM, EDITING THE BYLAWS.
AND THE OTHER IS, UM, COMPLETING OUR WORK ON THE, THE WORK PLAN FOR THE YEAR.
SO, UH, DAN DID SEND OUT A LINK TO ALL TO EVERYONE'S EMAILS, UH, JUST A LITTLE WHILE AGO TO THE REDLINED VERSION OF THE BYLAWS OF THE REVISED BYLAWS.
IT'S IN GOOGLE DOCS FORMAT, AND I'M ALSO PRESENTING IT NOW FOR THE PUBLIC.
IF YOU'D LIKE TO FOLLOW ALONG, YOU CAN PULL IT UP ON YOUR OWN COMPUTER.
UM, SO I'M GONNA WALK THROUGH, UM, THE EDITS THAT BOTH MYSELF AND COMMISSIONER DESTA HAVE MADE.
UM, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK I'VE SPOKEN TO EVERYONE ABOUT THIS VERY OPEN.
UH, YOU KNOW, I WANT EVERYONE TO CONTRIBUTE TO, UM, THE REVISION OF THE BYLAWS.
UH, AT THE SAME TIME, UM, I, THE LAST TIME THESE BYLAWS WERE UPDATED, I BELIEVE IT WAS 26, I'M LOOKING AT JESSE 2016 AT LEAST.
THAT WAS, THAT WAS THE LAST TIME THERE WAS A MAJOR REVISION.
SO THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY HERE TO, TO DO SOME PRETTY, UH, SUBSTANTIAL UPDATES.
UM, I'LL GIVE A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES.
IN NO PLACE IN THE BYLAWS WAS THE INTERNET EVER MENTIONED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, UM, OR WORK ON, ON THE GTOP S PROGRAM, WHICH I'VE, UH, I KNOW I'VE TALKED TO ABOUT THE, THE NEW COMMISSIONERS TO, UM, THE, THE, THE MORE TENURED COMMISSIONERS ARE, ARE FULLY AWARE OF THAT PROGRAM.
UM, THERE'S NOTHING NEW HERE THAT WE'RE NOT CURRENTLY DOING.
UM, THE UPDATES ON THE, ON THIS VERSION OF THE BYLAWS SIMPLY REFLECT, UM, THE THINGS THAT THE COMMISSION IS ALREADY DOING.
SO, WITH THAT, I'LL START WALKING THROUGH.
UM, AND IF YOU DO HAVE QUESTIONS, YOU KNOW, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
UM, I'LL TRY TO MAXIMIZE THESE WINDOWS HERE.
YOU KNOW, WHILE EVERYBODY REVIEWS IT, UH, I HAVE TO ADMIT I HAVE AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE BECAUSE YOU AND I WORKING ON THIS DOCUMENT,
AND SO, WHEN IT CAME TO ARTICLE EIGHT, ITEM NUMBER A WAS NOT SITTING WELL WITH ME.
SO I WENT AHEAD AND MADE IT THE CHANGE, HIGHLIGHTED IT FOR YOUR ATTENTION.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, THEN STRIKE IT.
YEAH, LET'S, LET'S GO IN ORDER THOUGH.
UM, SO FIRST, AND, AND PROBABLY THE, THE MOST MAJOR CHANGE, UM, UM, UH, I'M SUGGESTING THAT THE COMMISSION IS ACTUALLY CHANGING THE NAME OF THE COMMISSION.
SO RIGHT NOW THE NAME OF OUR COMMISSION IS CALLED THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.
EVEN, EVEN WHEN I'M GIVING MY SHORT, YOU KNOW, TALK SUMMARY ABOUT THE COMMISSION, THAT'S A WORD SALAD.
AND I SEE, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST THINKING ABOUT THE AVERAGE MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC, IF I HAVE TO SAY ALL THAT, THEIR EYES ALREADY START GLAZING OVER.
[00:35:01]
UM, SO ONE SUGGESTION WAS TO KEEP THE WORD TECHNOLOGY OR COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND DROP THE WORD TELECOMMUNICATIONS.I THINK THAT THE WORD TELECOMMUNICATIONS IS ALREADY PART OF TECHNOLOGY.
UM, BUT I THINK THAT WOULD HELP, NUMBER ONE, TO, UH, TO SIMPLIFY THE TITLE OF OUR COMMISSION.
AND NUMBER TWO, JUST MAKE US A LITTLE MORE APPROACHABLE BEING THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION.
UM, IT'S JUST A LITTLE MORE APPROACHABLE TO PUBLIC, BUT, UM, YEAH.
OPEN TO, I MEAN, THAT'S A PRETTY MAJOR CHANGE.
SO I WANT TO HEAR FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSION MEMBERS.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. UM, WHEN I WAS FIRST EXPOSED TO THIS COMMISSION, I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT THE WORD AUSTIN WAS IN THE BEGINNING.
UM, HAS THAT CHANGED OR AM I MISTAKEN? UM, IT'S NOT IN THE BYLAWS.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, I, I'D HAVE TO GO AND LOOK AT THE BYLAWS FOR ANOTHER COMMISSION, BUT, UM, YEAH, I, I I THINK IT'S JUST COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION.
LEMME SEE WHAT IT IS ON THE WEBSITE CHAIR, AKA, MAY I ADD A COMMENT TO THAT? YEP.
YOU KNOW, WHEN I WAS INTRODUCED TO IT, I THINK THEY USED THE TERM CITY OF AUSTIN FOR ALL COMMISSIONS.
SO LIKE AN, YOU KNOW, UNMENTIONED, BUT IT'S SORT OF LIKE A PREFIX THAT'S THERE FOR EVERY COMMISSION, CITY OF AUSTIN, COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOM COMMISSION.
BUT THE COA PART OF IT WAS UNDERSTOOD.
WELL PUT COMMISSIONER DAS GUPTA.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS? AND AGAIN, WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON THE, ON THE CHANGES IN THEIR ENTIRETY ONCE WE'VE GONE THROUGH EACH ITEM.
UM, THE ONLY THING I WAS GONNA MENTION IS THAT MAYBE, UH, REDACTING COMMUNITY AS WELL.
UH, COMMISSIONER DESTA, DID YOU WANNA SPEAK TO THAT? YEAH.
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF TECHNOLOGY, BUT HOW IT SERVES THE COMMUNITY CITY OF AUSTIN, PARTICULARLY THOSE WHO DENIED ACCESS, WHICH IS WHY I THINK THE WORD COMMUNITY HAS REAL MEANING HERE.
UH, IN FULL DISCLOSURE, I, I WILL ADMIT, UH, MY ORIGINAL SUGGESTION WAS TO ALSO DROP THE WORD COMMUNITY AND SIMPLY HAVE THE COMMISSION TITLE AS TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION.
UM, BUT I DUNNO, HEARING, UH, COMMISSIONER DES GUPTA'S THOUGHT ON THE MATTER.
UM, I COULD BE CONVINCED OTHERWISE, BUT I MEAN, LET'S LET CERTAINLY HASH IT OUT.
INTERESTED TO HEAR FROM OTHER COMMISSIONERS AS WELL.
GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. I CAN KIND OF SEE IT EITHER WAY.
UM, I MEAN, I, I'M HERE SPECIFICALLY TO MAKE SURE THAT COMMUNITIES ARE USUALLY LEFT OUT OR INCLUDED IN SOME WAY, IF I CAN.
UM, BUT MY UNDERSTANDING IS AS A COMMISSIONER OF RESPONSIBILITY IS, IS TO AUSTIN, RIGHT? AND AUSTIN KNIGHTS AS A WHOLE, AUSTINITES WHO ARE IN NEED, AUSTINITES ARE IN THE CITY, AUSTINITES OUTSIDE, YOU KNOW, LIKE WHEREVER AUSTINITE ARE.
UM, MY GOAL IS TO GET TECHNOLOGY MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THEM.
UM, SO I CAN EASILY SEE IT AS A BROAD, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION OR JUST TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION.
THAT MAKES PLENTY OF SENSE TO ME.
UM, ALSO BY HIGHLIGHTING THE WORD COMMUNITY, THAT THAT DOES FOCUS US A BIT IN THE DIRECTION THAT I THINK IS BEST ALSO.
SO I GUESS I'M, I'M VOTING EITHER WAY.
IF I HAVE TO CHOOSE ONE, I THINK I WOULD GO BROAD AND JUST CALL IT TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION.
UM, BUT AGAIN, I WILL DEFER TO THE CHOICE OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS.
COMMISSIONER NKU, DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER THOUGHT? YEAH, NO.
UM, UH, I THINK, UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS ENDED UP BEAUTIFULLY.
'CAUSE, UM, WHAT, UH, COMMISSIONER DAS GROUP IS, IS ENTIRELY RELEVANT AND, AND COMPLETELY TRUE.
I WAS JUST SAYING IT'S MORE INHERENT WITH THE PURPOSE OF THE BOARD, UM, PRIOR SERVING ON THE LIBRARY COMMISSION.
I THINK A LOT OF THE REASON THE OTHER BOARDS, LIKE LACK THE PREFIX COMMUNITY IS BECAUSE IT'S INHERENT WITH LIKE, WHAT THE BOARD'S NATURE IS BY, BY DEFINITION, BECAUSE IT'LL BE A CHALLENGE FOR US TO SERVE A PURPOSE OUTSIDE OF OUR COMMUNITIES INHERENTLY.
I THINK THAT THAT MAKES SENSE.
UM, VICE CHAIR ALTA, WANNA SEE IF YOU HAD ANY THOUGHTS ON THIS ITEM? YES, I, I, UM, I ALSO THINK THAT, UH, THE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN IMPLIES COMMUNITY.
UM, AND SO I, I TEND TO AGREE WITH, UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS AND, UM,
[00:40:01]
UH, THE PREVIOUS COMMISSIONER THAT JUST SPOKE AS WELL.UH, I, I, I THINK IT IMPLIES THAT, YES, THAT'S, I THINK, UM, I, I UNDERSTAND YOUR POINT, BUT I JUST FOR SIMPLICITY, I THINK, UH, THE SIMPLER THE BETTER, ESPECIALLY AS WE TRY TO GET THIS RESONATING, UH, WITH BROADER AUDIENCES.
UM, MY, MY GOAL IS TO HAVE, I, I KNOW WE'RE STUCK ON THIS ONE PIECE, AND HOPEFULLY, UM, IT'S, IT'S THE BIGGEST PIECE, BUT MY, MY GOAL IS TO HAVE FULL CONSENSUS ON OUR, UM, THE CHANGES OUR BYLAWS.
HOPEFULLY WE DON'T HAVE ANYONE, UM, VOTE AGAINST IT.
BUT, UM, I DUNNO, BACK, BACK TO YOU, UH, COMMISSIONER DAS GUPTA.
UM, JUST WANNA HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS, REACTIONS TO SOME OF THE OTHER COMMISSION MEMBERS.
MY CONCERN IS IF WE JUST HAVE TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION, WE WILL BE EXPLAINING IT ALL CONSISTENTLY AS TO WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMISSION? MM-HMM.
AND THAT'S WHY I THOUGHT THAT THE WORD COMMUNITY BELONGS THERE.
BUT, YOU KNOW, I, YOU KNOW, LOOK, I, I'M NOT HUNG LOVE ABOUT IT.
PLUS, YOU KNOW, ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SPEAKING ARE GOING TO BE CARRYING THIS TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION FORWARD.
I'VE GOT SIX MORE MONTHS TO GO.
SO I THINK THE PEOPLE WHO ARE NEW TO THE COMMISSION AND WHO ARE GOING TO BE LIVING WITH IT SHOULD HAVE A BIGGER VOICE THAN I DO.
WELL, WELL, HEY, LET'S, LET'S, LET'S GO THROUGH THE REST OF THE DOCUMENT AND LET'S COME BACK TO IT AND LET'S JUST, LET'S LET THINGS SETTLE A LITTLE BIT.
SO ARTICLE TWO, UH, ITEMS ONE THROUGH FIVE, I DID NOT TOUCH.
UM, YOU CAN EVEN GO LOOK AT THE, THE ORIGINAL, UH, BYLAWS ON OUR COMMISSION WEBSITE.
I ADDED NEW ITEMS, SIX, WHAT'S NOW 6, 7, 8, 9.
UM, YOU KNOW, THESE, THESE ARE ITEMS I, I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN.
I, I KNOW I DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO ANY OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS, BUT, UM, ADVISE CITY COUNCIL ON DIGITAL EQUITY ISSUES, BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT, DIGITAL LITERACY, INTERNET AFFORDABILITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY.
UM, WANTED TO GET EVERYONE'S THOUGHTS ON THESE BROAD LISTS OF ITEMS. UM, IF ANYONE HAD SUGGESTIONS FOR CHANGES OR EVEN ADDITIONS TO, UM, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T, I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD HAVE A LIST THAT'S TOO LONG.
UM, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I THINK THAT THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, AT LEAST PAST SEVERAL YEARS, WARRANTED ADDING THESE ITEMS. SO OPEN TO DISCUSSION.
SO, JUST TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND, UH, CLEARLY, UH, ITEMS 12 THROUGH 15, UM, IT'S JUST LIKE A, A DRAFT OF, OF REDACTING ITEMS SIX THROUGH NINE.
YEAH, I'M, I'M SORRY ABOUT THAT.
I ADDED THEM AT THE END, UH, INITIALLY, AND THEN I MOVED THEM UP, UM, EARLIER IN, IN THE LIST.
NO, I'M, I'M IN, I'M IN FAVOR OF, OF REMOVING, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS, 20 YEARS.
SO AS LONG AS THIS COMMISSION HAS BEEN AROUND, SO WE MIGHT AS WELL CODIFY IT IN THE BYLAWS.
UH, I DIDN'T CATCH IT ON MY, MY INITIAL READ.
I WOULD SUGGEST USING DIGITAL SKILLS, PERHAPS INSTEAD OF DIGITAL LITERACY.
IT'S A, IT'S JUST A BROADER TERM.
OKAY, WELL, I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD MANAGING MULTIPLE WINDOWS HERE.
UH, POINT OF CLARIFICATION, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE YOU MIGHT HAVE BEAT ME TO IT.
UH, I WANTED TO ASK WHAT NUMBER SEVEN MEANS? BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT? YES.
UM, SO THE WAY I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT, AND, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, I'M OPEN TO, TO EDITS HERE IS, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT, UM, AROUND THE CENTRAL TEXAS REGION AND AREA.
SO I'M THINKING, YOU KNOW, SOME SPECIFIC EXAMPLES, LAYING OF FIBER OPTIC HARDWARE, UH, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO, SO SINCE YOU'RE ON THE TOPIC, UH, CHAIR
[00:45:01]
DEVELOPMENT, BUT BROADBAND ACCESS, THAT'S WHAT WE ARE GONNA BE PROMOTING.SOMEBODY ELSE GONNA DO THE DEVELOPMENT.
SO WE SAY ACCESS
UM, SPECIFICALLY, WE, WE'VE, UH, BEEN INVOLVED WITH THE RESPONSE THROUGH THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN.
SO IN THAT CASE, WOULD WE, WOULD IT BE MORE ACCURATE TO SAY BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT AND ACCESS? SURE.
HOW DOES EVERYBODY ELSE FEEL? I LIKE THE ADDITIONAL DEFINITION AND CLARITY.
I, OKAY, SO I'M CLOSING THAT PIECE OUT.
UH, THE COMMISSION SHALL CONDUCT PUBLIC HEARINGS REGARDING ISSUES THAT INCLUDE THE PERFORMANCE OF ACCESS TO TELEVISION CONTRACTORS OF THEIR COMMUNITY CONTRACTORS.
THAT'S, THAT'S LEFT UNCHANGED.
AGAIN, I DIDN'T DELETE ANY EXISTING CONTENT.
THIS IS NEW, UH, THE IDENTIFICATION OF COMMUNITY CABLE TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INTERNET AND BROADBAND ACCESS DEVICE, AND OTHER TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER TECHNOLOGY NEEDS.
SO I THINK THIS SECOND POINT GOES RIGHT INTO, UM, BLEEDS INTO MUCH OF LINDSAY'S PRESENTATION FROM EARLIER.
UM, BUT WANTED TO GET INPUT FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSION HERE.
I, I THINK MY NEWNESS IS SERVING ME WELL.
UM, I LIKE NUMBER ONE AND NUMBER TWO, AND I THINK THEY'RE PRUDENT.
UM, MY QUESTION IS REALLY ABOUT, UM, THE INVISIBLE NUMBER THREE.
UM, ARE THERE OTHER THINGS WE SHOULD HEAR FROM THE PUBLIC OTHER THAN THESE TWO? I THINK THESE TWO ARE VERY APPROPRIATE.
I'M JUST KIND OF CURIOUS ABOUT IF THERE'S MORE.
UM, DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS? NOT SPECIFICALLY.
UM, I JUST DON'T WANNA CAP THE, THE PUBLIC OFF, RIGHT? LIKE, I WANT THE PUBLIC TO BE ABLE TO COME IN AND SPEAK ABOUT ANY OF OUR SORT OF BROAD OBJECTIVES, UM, IF IT PERTAINS TO THEIR NONPROFIT OR TO THEIR, YOU KNOW, PUBLIC NEED.
I MEAN, WHAT I WILL SAY IS, YOU KNOW, PREVIOUSLY THIS ITEM TOO WASN'T HERE AGAIN, YOU KNOW, I DID A CONTROL.
YOU CAN GO TO WHAT'S SITTING UP ON THE WEBSITE.
NOW, THE INTERNET IS NOT MENTIONED IN OUR PREVIOUS BYLAWS AT ALL.
BUT WE'VE HAD NUMEROUS, UM, FOLKS GIVE TESTIMONY, UM, GIVE, UH, TALK ABOUT THEIR ORGANIZATIONS THAT HELP PROMOTE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET AND PROVIDE DEVICE DONATIONS.
SO I, I WOULD SUGGEST THAT, I MEAN, THESE ARE PRETTY BROAD.
UM, SO UNLESS THERE'S A NEED TO CALL SOMETHING ELSE OUT, UM, I MEAN, I'M, I'M CERTAINLY OPEN TO IF, IF THERE'S A BLIND SPOT, IF WE'RE MISSING SOMETHING.
UM, BUT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO SPECIFICALLY NAME THE INTERNET BROADBAND DEVICES.
WELL, UM, LITERALLY NEXT WEEK, I'M, I'M GOING TO, TO GIVE A CONVERSATION, UH, IN A PANEL SPEAKING ENGAGEMENT ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND WEB3 AND THE IMPACT OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES ON BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT AND EDUCATION, AND ALL THE PLACES WHERE THE IMPACT WILL BE HELD.
I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT THE PUBLIC WOULDN'T BE INTERESTED IN HAVING SOME CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHAT THE IMPACT OF THESE THINGS WILL BE, ESPECIALLY GIVEN THE FACT THAT AUSTIN IS REALLY INFLUENCING MANY OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES.
UM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS FOR THIS SECTION OF OUR BYLAWS, BUT I THINK THAT IF THIS IS GONNA LAST FOR SEVERAL YEARS, WITHIN THE NEXT YEAR, TWO YEARS, FOUR YEARS, I'M, I'M CONFIDENT THAT THERE'LL BE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE THINGS THAT AREN'T MENTIONED HERE SO FAR.
UM, I DON'T KNOW HOW WE INCLUDE THAT, BUT SOME LANGUAGE THAT DISCUSSES NEW AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AND ITS IMPACT ON GOVERNMENT OR IMPACT ON THE CITY, OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO THE PUBLIC.
UM, I WOULD LOVE TO INVITE THE PUBLIC IN FOR THAT.
UH, GIVEN THAT ALL THE MAJOR TECHNOLOGY, NCE, IT MAY BE ALL THIS STRONG, BUT MANY OF THE MAJOR TECHNOLOGY COMPANIES ARE HERE.
YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU SAID JUST TRIGGERED SOMETHING FOR
[00:50:01]
ME.UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE RECENTLY ADVISED CITY COUNCIL ON AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, UM, UH, POLICY FOR THE CITY, AND THAT'S NOT COVERED HERE EVEN BROADLY.
UM, SO I WENT AHEAD AND ADDED ITEM NUMBER THREE, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND OTHER EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.
YEAH, I THINK THAT, THAT'S A GOOD WAY TO SAY IT.
SO FOR ITEM NUMBER TWO, UM, I THINK THAT IT COVERS IDENTIFICATION OF NEEDS, AND I'M THINKING ABOUT THE OTHER SIDE OF THE EQUATION FROM NEEDS, WHICH WOULD BE PERHAPS RESOURCES.
SO NEEDS AND RESOURCES, THOUGHTS ON ADDING AND RESOURCES TO ITEM TWO, NOT HEARING ANYONE AGAINST.
THE COMMISSION SHALL CONDUCT PUBLIC HEARINGS REGARDING ISSUES THAT INCLUDE THE PERFORMANCE OF ACCESS TELEVISION CONTRACTORS AND OTHER COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY CONTRACTORS.
TELEVISION CONTRACTS SHOULD BE CONTRACTS.
THE IDENTIFICATION OF COMMUNITY CABLE, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, INTERNET AND BROADBAND ACCESS, INTERNET BROADBAND ACCESS DEVICE, AND OTHER TECHNOLOGY NEEDS AND RESOURCES, AND THEN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND OTHER EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.
I GUESS I HAVE A QUESTION BECAUSE, UH, I COULD BE ENTIRELY REMISS, BUT I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE.
UM, I ALWAYS ASSUME THAT TELECOMMUNICATIONS,
COULD YOU REPEAT IT, PLEASE? SURE.
I, I WAS SAYING THAT, UM, I, I PRESUME THAT TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENCOMPASSED INTERNET AND BROADBAND ACCESS, BUT I WAS WONDERING IF THERE'S A DISTINCTION I'M UNAWARE OF.
UH, UH, WELL, UH, I THINK BROADBAND SPECIFICALLY IS A, IS A HARDWARE SOLUTION TO ACCESSING THE INTERNET.
INTERNET IS THIS, THIS THING THAT EXISTS THAT CONNECTS EVERYBODY, BUT HOW DO YOU CONNECT IT? IT'S THROUGH BROADBAND.
AND BROADBAND COULD BE ALL, BOTH HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE.
I MEAN, UM, E EITHER WIRELESS OR HARDWARE.
SO I THINK BY SAYING BROADBAND, IT SORT OF FOCUSES ON THE FACT THAT YOU NEED BROADBAND TO TRULY ACCESS THE INTERNET.
INTERNET IS SORT OF, IT'S A CLOUD BASED THING.
IT'S A SET OF PRODUCT IS NOTHING BUT A SET OF PROTOCOLS.
ANY OTHER, ANY OTHER STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT THIS? OKAY.
ANY OTHER THOUGHTS ON THIS SECTION? OKAY.
I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND CHECK THESE, AND WE CAN ALWAYS GO BACK.
I JUST WANNA GET A CLEAN VERSION.
MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SECTION.
COMMISSION SHALL PROMOTE ACCESS TO TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES, COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGIES IN THE INTERNET BY METHODS INCLUDING PROMOTING PUBLIC AWARENESS USE, AND VIEWERSHIP OF ACCESS TELEVISION PROGRAMMING.
THE OTHER COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY MEDIA, AGAIN, THIS IS UNCHANGED, IDENTIFYING COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY NEEDS AND PROBLEMS IN THE CITY, DEFINING INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMING APPROACHES TO THOSE NEEDS AND PROBLEMS, AND ENABLING, ENHANCING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY AND COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY ISSUES, AND COLLECTING COMMUNITY INPUT VIA OPEN SESSIONS AS AND WHEN NEEDED TO ADDRESS TOPIC TOPICS RELEVANT TO THIS COMMISSION.
[00:55:02]
AND I SHOULD MENTION THAT MOST OF THIS SECTION WAS DRAFTED BY COMMISSIONER DESTA, I BELIEVE.SO WE'RE ALL ALIGNED ON THE COMMISSION PROMOTING ACCESS TO TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES TECHNOLOGIES IN THE INTERNET BY THESE METHODS.
I WOULD BE SURPRISED HOW EFFICIENT WE ARE BEING RIGHT NOW.
THE COMMISSION SHALL SUPPORT THE GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES, UM, GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS.
ITEM ONE, AND I SHOULD NOTE THAT, UH, JESSE PROVIDED INPUT TO THIS SECTION HERE, UH, TO ENSURE ALIGNMENT.
UH, ITEM ONE, ADVISE CITY STAFF IN THE SELECTION AND APPROVAL OF VOLUNTEER GRANT REVIEW PANELISTS TO EVALUATE AND SCORE GTOP S APPLICATIONS.
ITEM TWO, APPOINT COMMISSION MEMBERS TO SERVE AS NON-VOTING CHAIRS, EX-OFFICIO CHAIR OF GRANT REVIEW PANELS AS NEEDED TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND LEADERSHIP TO REVIEW THE PANELISTS AND SUPPORT THE PROCESS OF GT OS PROTESTS.
ITEM THREE, APPOINT COMMISSION MEMBERS TO SERVE AS VO VOTING REVIEW PANEL MEMBERS AS NEEDED, AND, UH, ADVISE STAFF ON FINAL ALLOCATION OF G OS AWARDS.
AGAIN, I'LL JUST QUICKLY MENTION NOTHING ABOUT GT OS WAS IN THE CURRENT VERSION OF THE, UM, OF THE BYLAWS.
UH, THIS IS JUST FORMALIZING WHAT WE, THE ITEMS THAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING AROUND GTOP SI KNOW COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS HAS SIGNED UP TO BE A REVIEWER, SO WANT TO ALSO RECOGNIZE AND THANK HIM FOR THAT.
AND I KNOW COMMISSIONER DESTA, UM, HAS A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH GTOP PS IN HIS PAST 10 YEARS.
LOOKING TO YOU TO, FOR ANY FINAL INPUT AS WELL AS OTHER COMMISSIONERS WHO MAY HAVE NOT SPOKEN UP YET, NOT HEARING ANYTHING.
IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'RE OKAY WITH THIS, JESSE.
DAN, JUST WANT TO DO A, A FINAL CHECK WITH YOU ON THIS LANGUAGE.
UH, YEAH, THIS LOOKS GOOD FROM STAFF'S PERSPECTIVE.
OKAY, WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON THEN.
UM, I MADE SOME VERY MINOR UPDATES HERE UNDER, UNDER ARTICLE THREE.
THE BOARD IS COMPOSED OF 11, 11 MEMBERS APPOINTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE MAYOR, UM, WHICH IS FACTUAL.
SO I'M JUST GONNA GO AHEAD AND CLICK THAT THE MEMBER SERVES AT THE PLEASURE OF CITY COUNCIL AND THE MAYOR, UH, CHAIR.
AT THAT DID THE FIRST SENTENCE AS YOU WERE READING IT, I THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
THE CITY COUNCIL CONSISTS OF 10 MEMBERS AND THE MAYOR.
SO IF YOU WERE GOING TO SAY, SAY, CITY COUNCIL, THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD SAY ABOUT THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE MAYOR.
AND WHAT'S, 'CAUSE MAYOR IS PART OF THE CITY COUNCIL, SO THAT'S REDUNDANT THEN.
YEAH, THAT'S A, THAT'S A GOOD POINT.
SO, UM, IT'S JUST BACK TO WHERE ORIGINALLY WAS REMOVING THE MAYOR.
UM, I'M NOT GONNA READ THROUGH ITEMS C THROUGH F BECAUSE THOSE REMAIN UNCHANGED.
BOARD MEMBERS SERVING FOUR YEARS MAY NOT ACT IN AN OFFICIAL CAPACITY, UM, BEING ABSENT.
THESE ARE, THESE ARE ALL CONSISTENT WITH CITY CODES, SO WE CAN'T REALLY CHANGE THESE ITEMS. UM, I DID ADD SOME SPECIFICITY HERE, UM, AROUND THE PROCESS TO, FOR A COMMISSION MEMBER TO RESIGN.
[01:00:01]
IN THE PAST, WE'VE HAD, UH, A LAG TIME BETWEEN A, UH, COMMISSIONER RESIGNING AND NOTIFYING OUR LIAISON, BUT NOT NOTIFYING THEIR COUNCIL MEMBER OFFICE.AND SO THEIR COUNCIL MEMBER OFFICE WAS, WEREN'T AWARE THAT THEY HAD RESIGNED.
AND, UH, THERE'S THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE, TO, UH, IDENTIFY A NEW COMMISSIONER.
UM, SO I THINK THAT THIS IS JUST PART OF, I THINK IT'S PRIMARILY PART OF ONBOARDING, WHICH I'VE DONE WITH THE NEW COMMISSIONERS.
BUT, UM, I THINK FORMALIZING IT INTO OUR BYLAWS, UM, WILL HELP A BIT.
ANY ISSUES THERE? NO, I THINK THAT'S APPROPRIATE.
UM, NO CHANGES TO THE OFFICERS.
WE HAVE A CHAIR AND WE HAVE A VICE CHAIR, UM, ELECTED ANNUALLY ON APRIL 1ST, UNLESS, UH, UH, SOMEONE RESIGNS.
AND, UH, WE NEED TO HAVE ANOTHER ELECTION.
I THINK I MAY HAVE JUST ADDED A SPACE HERE.
I MEMBER MAY NOT HOLD MORE THAN ONE OFFICE AT A TIME.
UM, AGAIN, THE SUBSTANCE OF ARTICLE FOUR REMAINS UNCHANGED.
UM, I DID MAKE SOME MINOR UPDATES TO THE DUTIES OF OFFICERS HERE.
UM, SO THE ORIGINAL, AS IT READ, WAS THAT THE CHAIR SHALL PRESIDE AT BOARD MEETINGS, APPOINT ALL COMMITTEES, REPRESENT THE BOARD CEREMONIAL FUNCTIONS, AND APPROVE EACH FINAL MEETING AGENDA.
WHAT I ADDED WAS THAT OTHER COMMISSIONERS MAY ATTEND CEREMONIAL FUNCTIONS PROVIDED THAT QUORUM IS NOT REACHED.
UM, WITHOUT GETTING INTO THE SPECIFICS OF THIS, UH, WE HAVE, WE HISTORICALLY, WE'VE HAD SOME BACK AND FORTH, AND WHETHER OTHER COMMISSIONERS COULD ATTEND CEREMONIAL EVENTS AT CITY HALL.
UM, SO I THINK THIS IS JUST PROVIDING ADDITIONAL CLARITY AS WELL AS INVITING OTHER COMMISSIONERS TO BE MORE ACCESSIBLE, INVOLVED, AND VISIBLE, UH, AS PART OF THE COMMISSION.
ANY ISSUES ON THIS ITEM? THIS IS A VERY GOOD ADDITION.
ON THAT NOTE, DAN, DO YOU WANNA, UM,
UM, I'VE MENTIONED THIS BEFORE ON THE RECORD, I BELIEVE, BUT JULY 18TH, WE WILL BE HOST, OR THE CITY HALL WILL BE HOSTING A PROCLAMATION CEREMONY FOR THE AWARDEES OF THE GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OP OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM FOR THIS YEAR.
UM, WE'RE EXTENDING THE INVITE TO ALL OF YOU, UM, BUT GRANTED ONLY FIVE OF YOU MAY ATTEND DUE TO WALKING QUORUM LIMITATIONS.
BUT WE WANT TO HAVE YOU GUYS, AS WELL AS OUR REVIEW PANELISTS AND THE AWARDEES, UH, AVAILABLE FOR THE CEREMONY AS WELL AS CITY STAFF, JUST TO HAVE A, A GOOD IDEA OF EVERYTHING THAT GOES INTO GTOP S CORE AND CELEBRATE THAT THIS FUNDING IS GOING INTO THE COMMUNITY.
UM, SO THAT'LL BE JULY 18TH AT CITY HALL 9:00 AM UM, DRESS SHARP.
UH, THEY'LL TAKE LOTS OF PICTURES, UH, MAYBE SOME WITH THE MAYOR.
UM, SEND ME AN EMAIL IF YOU'D LIKE TO ATTEND.
WE GET TO SMILE AND MEET EACH OTHER, TAKE PICTURES.
HOPE TO SEE, UH, A SUB QUORUM OF, UH, COMMISSIONERS THERE.
AND THEN I DIDN'T CHANGE ITEM B, ABSENT THE CHAIR.
VICE CHAIRSHIP PERFORM ALL DUTIES OF THE CHAIR.
UM, DIDN'T CHANGE ANYTHING ON THE AGENDAS, THE BOARD LIAISON OR MEETINGS.
UM, THERE'S A TYPO HERE ON ITEM D JUST TO CORRECT THE SPELLING FOR CANCELED.
SO I ASSUME THAT NO ONE WILL HAVE AN ISSUE WITH THAT SIX MEMBERS CONSTITUTE A QUORUM.
UM, THE REST OF OF THIS WAS REMAINS UNCHANGED BECAUSE IT, IT ALL REFERS TO CITY CODE AND THE TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION ACT.
THIS IS WHAT I HIGHLIGHTED, UH, CHAIR
AND DID NOT LIKE THE WAY HE WAS FELT THAT IT DOES NOT HAVE, UH, COMMITTEES NOW OR IN THE PAST.
YOU KNOW, IT SORT OF PUTS US IN THE BACK FOOT.
I CHANGED IT TO THINK COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY MAY HAVE COMMITTEES AS AND WHEN NEEDED
SO THIS WAY WE ARE TAKING A FORWARD, FORWARD, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S A FORWARD STEP.
WE ARE NOT LOOKING IN THE BACK WHAT WAS DONE IN THE PAST.
[01:05:01]
YEAH.ON THIS ONE, WE DID GET SOME COACHING FROM JESSE ON THE LANGUAGE.
JUST WANT TO QUICKLY GET HIS ADVICE.
UM, YEAH, SO I, I FORGET WHAT MY PREVIOUS COACHING WAS, UH,
IT SHOULD REALLY JUST LAY OUT THE PROCESS.
UM, AND, AND I WOULD, I WOULD RECOMMEND FOR THIS FIRST ITEM, A, UH, THE LANGUAGE THERE MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT CONTROVERSIAL BECAUSE IT, UH, IT, IT'S NOT THAT THE COMMISSION CAN SIMPLY IMPLEMENT A COMMITTEE.
THERE'S, THERE'S A PROCESS WHICH WOULD HAVE TO TRANSPIRE.
SO THE COMMISSION WOULD HAVE TO VOTE TO, TO AMEND THE BYLAWS TO INCLUDE A COMMITTEE, WHICH WOULD THEN APPEAR IN YOUR BYLAWS IN ORDER FOR THAT TO HAPPEN.
SO IT, UH, I'M A LITTLE BIT WARY OF THE SECOND HALF OF THAT, UH, THAT LANGUAGE.
AND I, I THINK THE, THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE COMMISSIONER DETO, YOU DIDN'T DO THE SUGGESTING MODE WAS, UH, YEAH, I DIDN'T, I FORGOT TO TURN IT ON.
UM, SO SOME, HIS, SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT ON THIS.
I KNOW WE'VE GONE BACK AND FORTH ON THE WAY THAT IT READ BEFORE.
UM, IT SORT OF LIKE CONTRADICTED ITSELF.
I THINK IT WAS THE CTTC HAS NO COMMITTEES, AND THEN BELOW IT BASICALLY GAVE THE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CREATE THE COMMITTEES.
UM, BY, SO BY CHANGING THE LANGUAGE TO CURRENTLY HAS NO COMMITTEES, A FUTURE COMMISSION ITERATION OF THE COMMISSION COULD SIMPLY JUST STRIKE THE WORD AND THEN, UM, OUTLINE WHAT COMMITTEE THEY WANTED TO CREATE.
COULD I ADDRESS THE CONCERN THAT JESSE HAS? YEAH.
UH, THERE'S NO QUESTION THAT IT DID.
THE, THE BYLAWS HAVE TO BE APPROVED.
THE CHANGE IN THE BYLAWS HAVE TO BE APPROVED.
BUT ONCE APPROVED, THEN GOING FORWARD, THE BYLAWS SHOULD SAY THAT WE CAN HAVE COMMITTEES AS AND WHEN WE NEED IT, AS REQUIRED BY THE, BY THE NEEDS OF THE COMMISSION.
SO I'M SORT OF LOOKING FORWARD AFTER THE CHANGES HAVE BEEN APPROVED.
NO QUESTION THAT IT HAS TO BE APPROVED.
BUT ONCE APPROVED, A NEW COMMISSIONER DOESN'T CARE WHETHER IT WAS APPROVED YESTERDAY OR THE BEFORE YESTERDAY OR WHEN, BUT IT WAS APPROVED AND GOING FORWARD, HE OR SHE SHOULD KNOW THAT IF NEEDED A FUTURE, A FUTURE, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, CHAIRPERSON WOULD KNOW THAT WE CAN FORM COMMITTEES.
SO THAT'S, THAT WAS THE INTENT OF MY CHANGING THE WORDS.
SO DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR CONCERN? UH, JESSE, I THINK MY, MY CONCERN, UH, IS, UH, LET'S SEE, AND I DON'T HAVE A VERSION IN FRONT OF ME.
UH, UH, THERE WAS LANGUAGE THAT WAS AT THE END AS AND WHEN NEEDED.
AND, UH, I COULD, I, I DON'T WANT TO PUT US IN A SITUATION WHERE A FUTURE SET OF COMMISSIONERS, UH, TAKES THAT LANGUAGE TO MEAN THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY, IF THERE WAS A VOTE AT THE COMMISSION LEVEL THAT DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS A NEED FOR A COMMITTEE, THAT THAT WOULD BE SUFFICIENT.
SO LET'S STRIKE THE AS AND WHEN NEEDED, YOU KNOW, AS AND WHEN NEEDED AND APPROVED BY WHOEVER.
APPROVED BY WHAT, WHAT IS IT? IS IT THE, THE COUNTY CLERK OR, UM, CITY CLERK'S OFFICE? UH, YEAH.
AND LET ME, LET ME ADD A LITTLE BIT OF CONTEXT.
UH, THE WAY THAT THIS, THIS ITEM, ARTICLE EIGHT A IS HANDLED, IT'S, THIS IS STOCK LANGUAGE FOR ALL COMMISSION BYLAWS, UH, SECTION A, UH, OKAY.
FOR FOUR COMMISSIONS THAT ARE, THAT DO NOT HAVE COMMITTEES, THAT'S WHERE THAT FIRST, THAT THE PREVIOUS LANGUAGE COMES FROM, WHICH SAYS THIS COM COMMISSION WILL NOT HAVE ANY COMMITTEES,
[01:10:01]
UH, THAT WHAT THAT MEANS IS JUST THAT IT DOES NOT HAVE ANY, UH, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU CANNOT HAVE ANY, IT JUST MEANS THAT IT CURRENTLY DOES NOT.IF Y'ALL DID HAVE COMMITTEES, THEN THIS IS WHERE THOSE COMMITTEES WOULD BE ENUMERATED.
SO RATHER THAN IT SAYING, THIS COMMISSION DOES NOT HAVE ANY COMMITTEES, IT WOULD SAY THIS COMMISSION HAS, UH, YOU KNOW, COM UH, COMMITTEE A AND IT WOULD DEFINE WHAT THAT IS.
UM, SO THAT'S THE PURPOSE OF THIS ARTICLE A, OF THIS SECTION.
AND THE, AND JUST FOR CLARITY, THE ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RAN, READ THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELE TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION WILL HAVE NO COMMITTEES.
SO I THINK THE ISSUE WITH LIKE, AT LEAST TO ME IS LIKE IT'S VERY DIRECTIVE.
UM, AND THAT'S WHY I CHANGED IT TO WHAT I'M PRESENTING HERE CURRENTLY HAS NO COMMITTEES.
AND, AND I THINK THAT, THAT, THAT'S A VERY SIMPLE EDIT THAT SHOULDN'T CAUSE ANY ISSUES.
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK, COMMISSIONER DE I KNOW YOU FELT, YOU FEEL STRONGLY ABOUT THIS? YEAH.
I, NO, I'M JUST SAYING THAT I, YOU KNOW, I, I I, I'M SENSITIVE TO WHAT, WHAT, WHAT JESSE IS SAYING.
UH, HOW WILL A COEXIST WITH B UM, AFTER SOME BAN TERMS. I, I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.
SO IT SAYS, CURRENTLY HAS NO COMMITTEES, BUT THAT IS AT THIS TIME RIGHT NOW.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF THE STATEMENT DATE
AND, AND I THINK THE REST OF LIKE ITEM B, IF THERE THERE IS A COMMITTEE INSTITUTED, ANY COMMITTEES MUST BE ESTABLISHED BY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION OF THE BOARD CANNOT BE MET.
AND IT HAS TO GET APPROVED BY THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE OF COUNSEL AS WELL.
AND, UH, YEAH, IT'S COMING BACK TO ME.
MY, UH, MY ORIGINAL COMMENTS ON THIS, UH, OFFLINE, UH, I THINK IT JUST BEHOOVES Y'ALL TO WORD ANY EDITS TO THIS SECTION, SUCH THAT IF YOU DO IN THE FUTURE ADOPT COMMITTEES, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO REWORD THE WHOLE SECTION.
SO JUST FUTURE PROOFING THAT THE WORDING SO THAT IT, IT, IT IS AGNOSTIC TO WHETHER OR NOT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE COMMISSIONS OR COMMITTEES.
SO SHOULD WE SAY, UH, CHAIR, UH, INSTEAD OF SAYING JUST HAS NO COMMITTEES, HOW ABOUT HAD NO COMMITTEES IN THE PAST AND THEN B, IN THE FUTURE, ANY COMMITTEES OF THE COMMISSION?
THAT'S WHAT YOU AND I, I THINK THAT'S WHAT YOU AND I WERE GOING BACK AND FORTH ON VIA EMAIL.
BECAUSE IF WE DID INSTITUTE A COMMITTEE IN, IN THE FUTURE, WE WOULD STRIKE ITEM A AND REPLACE THAT WITH WHATEVER THE COMMITTEE WAS.
BUT THAT WOULD MEAN A CHANGE TO THE BYLAWS THEN.
IF WE WANT TO INSTITUTE A, A COMMITTEE IN THE FUTURE, WE WOULD HAVE TO CHANGE THE BYLAWS, SIMILAR PROCESS TO WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW.
HOPEFULLY MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD, BUT, YOU KNOW, IT WOULD BE A SIMILAR PROCESS.
IN THAT, IN THAT CASE, I'M OKAY.
I GUESS I HAVE A QUESTION, UM, IN REGARDS TO A, AS IT STANDS NOW, MM-HMM,
CAN YOU, UH, REPEAT THAT QUESTION A LITTLE LOUDER? SURE.
IN REGARDS TO, UM, AS IT STANDS NOW, WHAT'S THE SIGNIFICANCE OF, UM, A ITERATING THAT THERE'S NO COMMITTEES IN THE PRESENT AS OPPOSED TO LIKE REMOVING A, STARTING WITH B? OH, I SEE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
JUST REMOVING A COMPLETELY, YEAH.
I THINK, AS JESSE MENTIONED, THIS WAS STOCK CITY CODE, UH, LANGUAGE.
THAT, THAT THIS IS MOST OF THE BYLAWS ARE STOCK, UM, INCLUDING THIS SECTION.
I THINK THAT THE INTENT IS TO HAVE SECTION A, UM, DEFINE WHETHER OR NOT THE COMMISSION HAS ANY COMMITTEES,
[01:15:04]
I GUESS.UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT THE CONSEQUENCE WOULD BE LIKE NOT DOING OF REMOVING ITEM A.
LIKE WHAT WOULD THE CONSEQUENCE BE? I DON'T THINK THERE'S A CONSEQUENCE.
I THINK IT'S JUST CLARIFYING THE CURRENT STATUS OF OUR COMMISSION.
I, I WAS JUST WONDERING BECAUSE, UM, I NOTICED LIKE, LIKE FOR INSTANCE WITH, UM, TEXAS HOUSE BILL 2060, THE, THE VERBIAGE TO TRY AND ACKNOWLEDGE AI AS AUTOMATED DECISION SYSTEMS, BUT LIKE SOME OF THEM AREN'T NECESSARILY MAKING DECISIONS BUT ARE STILL NECESSARY TO BE CLASSIFIED IN THAT CATEGORY.
IT CREATES LIKE A WEIRD NUANCE.
THIS IS, UH, BRIAN WILLIAMS. I, I SHARE A SIMILAR SENTIMENT, UM, SPELLING THIS OUT.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH VALUE IT ADDS UNTIL WE HAVE A COMMITTEE.
UM, BUT I SEE NO REASON WHY SOME OTHER SECTION COULDN'T SAY, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE ELECT TO HAVE A COMMITTEE, WE'LL MAKE SURE TO DOCUMENT IT HERE.
AND TO SAY THAT IN MUCH MORE BEAUTIFUL ENGLISH THAN I JUST DID
WELL, I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE SUBSEQUENT BULLETS HERE DO.
'CAUSE THE REST OF THESE ITEMS ARE BASICALLY LIKE HOW TO THE RULES AROUND A COMMITTEE.
I WILL TELL YOU WHAT, LET'S COME BACK TO THAT ONE.
SO, ANY COMMITTEES OF THIS COMMISSION SHALL BE ESTABLISHED THROUGH A VOTE.
UM, ALL I DID WAS CLEAN UP THE LANGUAGE ON THAT ONE, BUT I'M OPEN TO ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS.
IT'S GOTTA BE APPROVED BY CITY, THE COUN CITY COUNCIL.
I'M GONNA TYPE THAT CITY COUNCIL AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE, JUST SO IT'S CLEAR FOR FUTURE COMMISSION MEMBERS, BOARD CHAIR SHALL APPOINT A COMMITTEE MEMBER AS COMMITTEE CHAIR WITH THE MEMBER'S CONSENT.
MAJORITY OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF APPOINTED COMMITTEE MEMBERS CONSTITUTES A QUORUM.
ALL COMMITTEES OF THIS COMMISSION SHALL MEET ON A REGULAR SCHEDULED BASIS.
AND AT LEAST QUARTERLY SHOULD BE ALL OR ANY COMMITTEES.
ALL COMMITTEES OF THIS COMMISSION SHALL MAKE ANNUAL REPORTS TO THE BOARD AT THE JANUARY BOARD MEETING THAT STOCK LANGUAGE AS WELL.
UM, ALL COMMITTEE MEETINGS OF THIS COMMISSION MUST BE POSTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE CHAPTER 5 5 1.
UM, SO THIS IS WHY THIS IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WE HAVEN'T INSTITUTED A COMMITTEE YET, IS BECAUSE WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE AN OPEN MEETING SIMILAR TO WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW.
JESSE, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD TO THAT? UH, NO.
I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT, UH, ABOUT THE NUANCE THERE.
UM, I, I DID HAVE A TYPO OR, OR GRAMMATICAL EDIT.
I DON'T THINK THAT COMMITTEE NEEDS TO BE CAPITALIZED.
ITEM F YOU MEAN? UH, AN AND EEF AND G COMMITTEE NEEDS TO BE CAPITALIZED.
DOES NOT NEED, DOES NOT NEED TO BE.
[01:20:05]
OKAY.SO WE'VE CLEANED UP THAT LANGUAGE.
DO WE WANT TO GO BACK BRIEFLY TO THE CTT? THE CTC CURRENTLY HAS NO COMMITTEES.
I GUESS FROM, FROM MY POINT OF VIEW, IT'S JUST STATING THE FACT THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE NO COMMITTEES.
I DEFINITELY TAKE, I DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S NOT REALLY ADDING ANY VALUE.
UM, AT THE SAME TIME, I'M JUST LOOKING AT THE STRUCTURE OF THE ORIGINAL AND WANT TO STAY, I WANNA TRY AND STAY CONSISTENT TO IT.
UM, SO LITERALLY ALL, ALL WE DID FOR THAT LINE IS CHANGE IT FROM WE'LL HAVE NO COMMITTEES TO CURRENTLY HAS NO COMMITTEES.
IF, IF I WERE TO, TO MAKE A SUGGESTION, AND EXCUSE ME, IF MY DAUGHTER PARTICIPATES IN OUR MEETING
WHAT, WHAT, WHAT IF THAT LINE INSTEAD OF, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW MATERIAL IT IS HERE, WHEN IT SAID THAT THERE COULD BE NONE WHEN IT ELIMINATED COMMISSIONS.
IT HAD A VALUE THAT WOULD DEFINE HOW THINGS WOULD GO FORWARD.
IN THIS MOMENT, IT DOESN'T REALLY DEFINE MUCH.
WHAT IF IT DID? WHAT IF IT GAVE US THE PERMISSION TO HAVE COMMISSIONS, OR EXCUSE ME, COMMITTEES.
UM, WHICH WOULD BE KIND OF JUXTAPOSED TO THE OTHER, UH, COMMISSIONS AND STILL KEEP THE STRUCTURE, BUT ADD VALUE, RIGHT? SO IN THE CASE, IN THIS CASE, INSTEAD OF SAYING CURRENTLY HAS NONE, MAYBE WE SAY SOMETHING LIKE IT MAY HAVE OR COULD HAVE OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE.
UM, AGAIN, I'M THE NEW GUY, SO, BUT JUST A, A SORT OF SUGGESTION THAT TO KEEP STRUCTURE, BUT ALSO TO ADD VALUE.
OUR COMMISSION CAN HAVE COMMITTEES.
MAYBE WE SHOULD SPELL IT OUT EXPLICITLY.
IT, IT ALREADY KIND OF IS, YOU KNOW, REITERATED IN THE REST OF THE POINTS.
JESSE, DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS WITH CHANGING IT TO THE CTC MAY HAVE COMMITTEES? UM, I, I THINK THAT, UM, IF IF WE, IF, IF THE COMMISSION WERE TO DO THAT, IT MAY HAVE TO REFER TO, OR IT MAY HAVE TO HAVE ADDITIONAL WORDS THAT SAID IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROCESS LAID OUT IN IN SECTION B, AND IT MAY OR MAY NOT BE A PROBLEM.
UH, WHAT I'M, WHAT WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO IS AVOID ANY PROBLEMS DOWN THE LINE IF, UH, ANY OF THESE CHANGES TO THE STRUCTURE.
CAUSE UH, YOU KNOW, A PROBLEM WHEN, UH, IF PASSED WITH THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
UM, SO THE, THE, THE TRUER THAT WE STAY TO WHAT IS ALREADY THERE, UH, THE LESS LIKELY IT IS THAT, UH, WE, WE RUN INTO A PROBLEM DOWN THE ROAD.
NOW, EITHER WAY, WE
BUT, UM, THAT, THAT'S MY ONLY THOUGHT.
I DON'T KNOW FOR SURE THAT IT WOULD BE A PROBLEM ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.
WELL, I, I LIKE THE POSITIVE, THE AFFIRM AFFIRMATIVE TONE OF THE LINE HERE.
I THINK, UH, UH, FOR EA YOU KNOW, I MEAN, I, I UNDERSTAND JESSE'S CONCERN.
SO MAYBE A QUALIFYING STATEMENT SAYING, UH, YOU KNOW, UNCONDITION, THAT THEY'RE APPROVED BY X, Y, Z, UH, YOU KNOW, GROUP IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WHATEVER THE RIGHT WORDS ARE.
THIS WAY WE ARE PRO, YOU KNOW, SORT OF LIKE HARD WIRING IT TO THE CONSIDERATION AND THE CONCERNS OF THE CITY AUTHORITIES.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, YOU HAVE FEATURE PROOFING IT, SAYING YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO BACK AND REDO THE, REDO THE, UH, THE, THE BYLAWS IN CASE WE GET APPROVED FOR COMMITTEES.
AND I, I THINK WHAT YOU JUST HIT ON IS ACTUALLY OUTLINED IN THE LINE BELOW IT.
SO MAYBE WE SHOULD MERGE A AND B.
WHAT IF WE, WHAT DO YOU THINK, JESSE? UH, YEAH, THAT, I THINK THAT WOULD ALLAY MY CONCERN BECAUSE IT'S PUTTING THE PROCESS WITH THE STATEMENT.
[01:25:08]
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, WHAT DO YOU THINK IT WAS YOUR SUGGESTION? I THINK MORE DEFINITION IS BETTER.UM, AND I THINK IT'S, IT'S MUCH MORE CLEAR WITH THE DEFINITION HERE.
SO I THINK IT CHECKS ALL OF THE BOXES.
I'M GONNA MO KEEP MOVING US DOWN.
UM, WORKING GROUPS, WHICH WE DO HAVE.
UM, I JUST CHANGED A MINOR ITEM HERE.
IT ORIGINALLY READ QUORUM MEETING REQUIREMENTS DO NOT APPLY TO WORKING GROUPS.
I CHANGED IT TO QUORUM REQUIREMENTS FOR A MEETING.
DO NOT APPLY TO WORKING GROUPS.
COMMISSIONER SUPTA CHANGED THIS TEXT.
I THINK THAT'S A PRETTY MINOR CHANGE.
THAT WAS JUST MORE A GRAMMATICAL THING THAN ANYTHING ELSE.
AND THEN I ACTUALLY DID NOT CHANGE THIS.
SO I'M JUST GONNA CLEAR THAT AND THAT.
SO WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH IT ONE MORE TIME, BUT I WANNA GO BACK TO THE TITLE.
'CAUSE I THINK WE GOT STUNG UP, HUNG UP ON THAT.
UM, IT SOUNDED LIKE WE HAD A MAJORITY OF FOLKS LEANING TOWARDS REMOVING COMMUN THE WORD COMMUNITY FROM OUR TITLE.
AND COMMISSIONER DES GUPTA HAS WALKED AWAY, BUT THAT IS OKAY.
ARE, ARE WE STILL AT COURT? I JUST WENT TO GET SOME WATER.
OH, COMMISSIONER RICE IS THERE.
I JUST WENT TO GET SOME WATER.
UM, SO PROPOSAL IS TO REMOVE THE WORD COMMUNITY AND SIMPLIFY THE TITLE TO SIMPLY TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION.
UM, MY RAW VOTE COUNT BEFORE WAS HEAD COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS RETA.
UM, I'M, I DON'T REMEMBER YOUR POINT OF VIEW ON THIS.
COMMISSIONER WAKU, BUT WANT YOU TO WEIGH IN AS WELL IN REGARDS TO THE TITLE.
I, I, I WAS IN FAVOR OF REMOVING COMMUNITY, JUST IN REFERENCE OF HOW THE ACTUAL COMMUNITY TENDS TO APPROACH THE, THE, YEAH.
SO COMMISSIONER DES GUPTA, I THINK WE'RE QUICKLY REACHING CONSENSUS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THAT WE, UM, HAVE A, WE PASS OUR CHANGES.
SO WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO WEIGH IN AS WELL.
NO, I, I, I EXPLAIN IT BEFORE, BUT YOU KNOW, AS I SAID, I THINK GOING FORWARD, UM, IF THAT IS THE CONSENSUS, THAT IS THE CONSENSUS.
BY WAY, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF PLACES I SAW THERE WAS LOWERCASE COMMUNITY.
I THINK IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE LOWERCASE.
SORRY, I THOUGHT YOU SAID, UM, YEAH, SEE FOR INSTANCE, THERE, COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY THERE, SHOULD IT STAY? THE WORD COMMUNITY IS PART OF THE TECHNOLOGY, YOU KNOW THE NAME, BUT HERE AS ITEM
[01:30:01]
NUMBER ONE.IF IT'S UPPERCASE HERE, IT'S PART OF THE, THE, THE, THE NAME OF THE COMMISSION.
BUT IF IT'S LOWERCASE, THERE'S A PURPOSE FOR IT.
I THINK I, I REMOVED IT FROM THE PLACES WHERE IT REFERENCED THE TITLE, RIGHT, YEAH.
COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY.
I WILL SAY I'VE BEEN WANTING TO DO THIS SINCE I JOINED THE COMMISSION.
I'VE BEEN WANTING TO MAKE REVISION, SO I'M, I'M EXCITED.
WELL, JESSE, YOU KNOW YOUR WORK
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WE, THIS, THIS DOES NEED TO GET APPROVED BY THE CLERK'S OFFICE AS WELL AS THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE OF THE, UM, OF CITY COUNCIL.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, WE CAN TALK A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THAT.
BUT MY CITY COUNCIL MEMBER SITS ON THE AUDIT AND FINANCE C COMMITTEE.
SO I PLAN ON REACHING OUT DIRECTLY TO HER AND JUST GIVING HER A HEADS UP AND ADVOCATING FOR THIS CHANGE.
UM, I'M NOT SURE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, WHO ELSE'S COUNCIL MEMBER SITS ON THAT SAME COMMITTEE.
IT DOES ALISTAIR ORDER SIT IN IT.
UH, JESSE, I WAS JUST TALKING, I WAS TELLING THEM THAT THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE WILL HAVE TO VOTE TO APPROVE THIS.
AND HE WAS ASKING WHETHER COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER SITS ON THE AUTO FINANCE OR JOSE VELAZQUEZ.
YEAH, I'M NOT SURE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
IT'S, IT'S ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN WEBSITE, BUT I CAN REACH OUT TO THOSE OF YOU WHO DO HAVE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
BUT IN ANY CASE, I MEAN, YOU ALL HAVE ACCESS TO THIS.
UM, I DON'T THINK THERE'S ANY MORE TYPOS, BUT IF THERE ARE, WE CAN MAKE, I THINK WE CAN STILL MAKE MINOR, MINOR UPDATES.
IT'S NOT CATCHING ANY, IT'S NOT RED LINING ANYTHING.
UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE TO, UH, TO, TO HAVE A VOTE.
UM, THAT WAY WE CAN SOLIDIFY THIS AND NOT WASTE TOO MUCH MORE TIME.
'CAUSE WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OTHER ITEMS TO GET TO.
IS THERE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER OR COMMISSIONER RETA.
UM, WE WILL NEED TO HAVE EVERYONE ON CAMERA TO DO THE VOTE.
SO, COMMISSIONERS, MAJA AND RICE.
ALRIGHT, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF, UH, APPROVING THE REVISION TO THE BYLAWS AS PRESENTED, PLEASE SAY AYE.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY.
UM, YEAH, THIS BRINGS US INTO, UH, OUT OUTLINES THE WORK THAT WE'VE ACTUALLY BEEN DOING FOR QUITE A BIT OF TIME.
UM, SO LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH JESSE AND DAN TO GET THIS PAST THE LAST COUPLE HURDLES, UM, THROUGH THE CLERK'S OFFICE, AS WELL AS, UM, UH, WORKING WITH THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE TO GET IT APPROVED AS WELL.
I THINK THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARDS MAKING US A BIT MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC.
UM, AND THEN COVER OUR, ALL OF OUR ACTUAL DUTIES THAT WE'RE DOING.
SO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEARING WITH ME HERE.
UM, DAN, I THINK Y'ALL HAVE ACCESS TO IT, SO YOU CAN JUST DOWNLOAD IT DIRECTLY, SO.
[3. Drafting and review of 2023 CTTC Annual Report]
NEXT ITEM OF BUSINESS.AND WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE A VOTE ON THIS TODAY, BUT I WANTED TO, UM, WORK ON THIS A BIT WITH Y'ALL.
SO I HAVE A, AN ANNUAL REVIEW, UM, FOR OUR COMMISSION DUE, I BELIEVE IT'S THE END OF JULY.
[01:35:01]
I NEED SOME HELP WITH FINISHING THIS UP.UM, I'LL GO THROUGH IT HERE IN A MINUTE, WHAT I'VE DRAFTED SO FAR.
BUT, UM, WANTED TO ASK WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN, UH, WORKING WITH ME OFFLINE OUTSIDE OF THIS MEETING TO COVER OFF ON, UM, ANY ADDITIONAL FUTURE FOCUSED ITEMS. UH, THE VOTE FOR THIS WILL BE IN JULY, BUT I WANTED TO START DISCUSSING IT NOW.
WHAT WOULD THE FUTURE FOCUS ITEMS BE? YEAH, GREAT QUESTION.
UM, I'LL BRING UP AN EXAMPLE OF WHAT WAS SUBMITTED LAST YEAR.
MY COMPUTER'S FREAKING OUT ON ME.
SO IF YOU GO TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN WEBSITE, GO TO OUR MICROSITE.
THERE'S ALSO AN ANNUAL REPORT, SO CLICK ON THAT.
THIS IS WHAT NOW FORMER CHAIR PITTS HAD WORKED ON LAST TIME.
THIS IS WHAT HE SUBMITTED LAST TIME.
SO ESSENTIALLY AT THE END OF EVERY YEAR, WE HAVE TO SUBMIT AN ANNUAL REPORT TO THE CLERK'S OFFICE, BASICALLY OUTLINING WHAT WE DID FOR THE YEAR.
UM, THIS IS JUST UPFRONT LANGUAGE, BUT THERE'S BASICALLY THREE KEY QUESTIONS.
ONE IS, DESCRIBE THE BOARD'S ACTIONS SUPPORTING THEIR MISSION DURING THE PREVIOUS CALENDAR YEAR.
UM, THIS IS PRETTY LENGTHY, BUT WHAT THE PREVIOUS CHAIR OUTLINED IS, UH, THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, THE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REQUEST THAT WE SUBMITTED.
UM, ALL OF THE, UH, THE BRIEFINGS THAT WE GOT.
SO LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE, THE BRIEFING THAT WE RECEIVED FROM LINDSEY EARLIER TONIGHT, ALL OF THAT IS OUTLINED HERE AS WELL AS THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE DID.
THE SECOND QUESTION IS WHETHER THE BOARD'S ACTIONS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR COMPLY WITH THE MISSION STATEMENT.
SO GENERALLY THAT'S A DEFAULT ANSWER, FULLY COMPLY.
THE THIRD ITEM, UH, TO YOUR QUESTION, UH, COMMISSIONER KU, IS LIST THE BOARD'S GOALS AND OBJECTIVES FOR THE NEW CALENDAR YEAR.
SO PREVIOUSLY WHAT WE'VE DONE IS OUTLINE IT BY OUR THREE MAJOR SECTIONS, THE DIGITAL INCLUSION, CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, STRATEGIC POLICY AND IMPACT.
THESE WERE PREVIOUSLY OUR WORKING GROUPS, UM, KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION, DATA STEWARDSHIP AND TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION WORKING GROUP.
AND BASICALLY WE OUT, WE WENT THROUGH AND OUTLINED ALL THE DIFFERENT ITEMS THAT WE WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH FOR THE YEAR.
SO I'LL GIVE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE.
ONE WAS REMOTE PARTICIPATION FOR THE BOARDS AND COMMISSION MEETINGS.
WE DID, WE MADE THAT PROPOSAL TO CITY COUNCIL.
UM, IN THE PAST WE'VE ADVOCATED FOR ZOOM LICENSES ADMINISTERED BY THE LIBRARIES, UM, INCREASING FUNDING FOR WIRELESS HUBS.
UH, THERE'S SOME ITEMS IN HERE AROUND GTOP S INCREASING FUNDING.
SO, UH, COMING UP WITH THAT INITIAL LIST.
UM, AND SOME OF THEM, SOME OF THE ITEMS FROM LAST YEAR MIGHT GET PUSHED TO THIS YEAR AS WELL.
UH, BUT THAT'S WHY I WANT TO WORK WITH A SMALLER GROUP ON, UH, TO EVENTUALLY PRESENT TO THE FULL COMMISSION NEXT MONTH.
SO THAT WAS A REALLY LONG-WINDED ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION.
SO IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN HELPING ME ON THAT, UM, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT NOT HEARING ANY TAKERS AT THE MOMENT.
THE TOM COULD TIME COMMITMENT.
WHAT'S THAT?
YEAH, I, I CAN, UH, UH, SUPPORT THIS EFFORT.
WITH, YEAH, WITH THE CAVEAT THAT I'M GONNA BE OUT OF TOWN FROM THE 29TH.
SORRY, THE, YEAH, THE 29TH OF JUNE TO THE, TO THE SEVENTH.
SO THERE'S GOING TO BE LIKE A EIGHTH DAY PERIOD WHEN I'M GONNA BE OUT OF TOWN.
BUT BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, I CAN HELP YOU.
SO IF WE MET THE WEEK OF JULY 8TH OR 15, THE, THE EIGHTH WOULD BE TOO
[01:40:01]
LATE.'CAUSE WE HAVE A COMMISSION MEETING ON THE 10TH.
SO WE SHOULD DO IT LIKE TOWARDS THE END OF THIS MONTH.
I THINK IN JULY IS TOO, YOU KNOW, BIT, BIT, YOU KNOW, BIT, BIT TOO CLOSE.
LIKE THE THIRD WEEK, THIRD WEEK, UH, LET'S SEE.
UH, TOWARDS THE END OF NEXT WEEK OR MAYBE BEGINNING OF, OR MIDDLE OF THE WEEK AFTER.
YEAH, I THINK IT CAN MAKE THAT WORK.
AND, UH, SO HOW ABOUT I REACH OUT TO YOU AND COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS DIRECTLY AND WE'LL FIGURE OUT A COUPLE MEETING TIMES, BECAUSE I THINK IT'S GONNA, I THINK IT'S GONNA TAKE A COUPLE MEETINGS TO CL TO DO IT.
UM, WE'RE NOT GONNA FORM A FORMAL WORKING GROUP AROUND THAT.
I THINK WE'LL JUST MEET AS INDIVIDUAL COMMISSION MEMBERS.
I DON'T THINK WE NEED TOO FORMAL WORKING GROUP, JUST YEAH.
BUT WHAT I DID WANT TO GO THROUGH WITH Y'ALL TODAY IS WHAT I'VE DRAFTED SO FAR, UH, AND GET INPUT FROM, UH, THE, THE REST OF, OF THE COMMISSION.
AND THEN, UM, AGAIN, AFTER WE'VE WORKED ON THIS, THERE'LL BE AN UPDATED VERSION.
UM, SO THE FIRST QUESTION, AS I ALLUDED TO BEFORE, IS DESCRIBE THE BOARD'S ACTION SUPPORTING ADMISSION DURING PREVIOUS CALENDAR YEAR.
SO I PUT SOME, UH, STOCK LANGUAGE IN HERE, UH, FROM OUR BYLAWS.
UM, AND YOU ALL HAVE ACCESS TO THIS AS, AS WELL.
BUT THE, UM, THE MEATY ITEMS, UH, WHAT I'VE TRIED TO DO IS BUCKET IT IN A FEW DIFFERENT AREAS.
SO OUR ACTIVITIES AND ENGAGEMENT.
SO WE, UH, ARE CURRENTLY SUPPORTING THE CITY OF AUSTIN WITH AN AI ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
SO I PUT A LINE ON WHAT WE'RE DOING THERE.
SO I SIT ON, I SUPPORTED MY, UH, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER ON THE RESOLUTION.
UH, SO ONE OUTCOME OF THAT WAS FORMING AN AI ADVISORY GROUP.
SO I REPRESENT US ON THAT BODY.
UM, THE G OS PANEL, EX OFFICIO CHAIR ROLE.
SO FORMER COMMISSIONER PITTS SERVED THAT ROLE.
UH, BEFORE, UM, THIS PAST WEEKEND, UM, OR NO, TWO WEEKENDS AGO, UH, VICE CHAIR, ATA AND I, UH, ATTENDED A, UH, VETERANS FOCUSED LISTENING SESSION, UM, ON DIGITAL EQUITY ISSUES, UH, LED BY FORMER COMMISSIONER PITTS.
SO, UM, WE ATTENDED THAT AS WELL.
AND FOR THE JULY MEETING, HE, UM, I'VE INVITED HIM TO DO A REPORT OUT ON THAT ITEM AS WELL.
IN FACT, UH, COMMISSIONER ATA, IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE AVAILABLE, DID YOU WANT TO JUST GIVE A QUICK SUMMARY OF THE YEAH.
EXPERIENCE YOU AND I JUST TO BRING IT TO LIFE FOR SOME OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS? ABSOLUTELY.
IT WAS A, IT WAS A GREAT, UM, GATHERING OF, UH, BUTCHER EXPERIENCE, UM, UH, MILITARY, WHETHER THEY'RE VETS OR MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS.
AND WE ALL GATHERED TO, UM, UH, CHAIR PITS CREATED THE SPACE FOR US TO TALK ABOUT THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND WHAT THAT MEANT.
UM, OBVIOUSLY IT'S A VERY LAYERED, COMPLEX ISSUE, UM, FROM JUST DIFFERENT GENERATIONAL GAPS TO AC ACCESS, ACCESSIBILITY TO, UM, DIGITAL, UH, LITERACY, ET CETERA.
BUT, UH, REALLY IT JUST CREATED THE SPACE FOR US TO TALK ABOUT IT AND, AND, UM, LEARN FROM EACH OTHER AND, UM, HELP EACH OTHER.
AND THEN IN ADDITION TO THAT, EACH ONE OF THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT WERE PRESENT ALSO, UM, PRESENTED, UH, WHAT THEY DO, UH, HOW THEY HELP, YOU KNOW, HOW WHAT, WHAT THEY DO IN, IN EFFORT TO HELP THE, THE MILITARY MEMBERS AND THEIR FAMILIES.
JUST THAT, THAT BROADER COMMUNITY AS WELL.
IT WAS, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, A SATURDAY WELL SPENT.
UM, AND I THINK THIS IS AN IMPORTANT, UM, PIECE OF, YOU KNOW, OF US BEING ABLE TO LIKE, GIVE BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, CARINA, WE, UM, AND THIS ISN'T THE FIRST SESSION THAT WE'VE EITHER BEEN A PART OF OR COORDINATED.
UM, THERE'VE BEEN OTHER SESSIONS FOCUSED ON THE HISPANIC SPANISH SPEAKING COMMUNITY.
ANOTHER SESSION FOCUSED ON THE UNHOUSED, UH, AROUND SOME OF THESE DIGITAL EQUITY ISSUES.
SO WE WANNA DEFINITELY CONTINUE IF WE'RE NOT LEADING THOSE AT THE VERY LEAST, PARTICIPATE.
UM, SO WHENEVER WE ARE INVOLVED WITH, UH, COORDINATING ANOTHER ONE, DEFINITELY WANT SOME OF THE NEW COMMISSIONERS TO, UM, TO GET INVOLVED.
UM, THERE'S JUST A SHORT TIMELINE ON THIS ONE, BUT, UM, WELL SAID.
AND THEN, UM, ALONG THOSE LINES.
SO WE DID SOMETHING SIMILAR AT THE UNIVERSITY HILLS BRANCH LIBRARY LISTENING SESSION.
UH, WE HAD THE ALTOGETHER TOGETHER INCLUSION SUMMIT BACK IN DECEMBER.
[01:45:01]
UM, WE WORKED WITH DECA, WHICH IS THE DIGITAL EQUITY, DIGITAL DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN.UM, ON A RESPONSE TO THE DIGITAL OPPORTUNITY PLAN AS WELL, UM, WE WORKED ON AN INCLUSION WEEK LAUNCH RECEPTION, UM, TECH FOR ALL FEST, ALONG WITH, UM, WITH, UM, WHY AM I BLANKING ON JESS'S NONPROFIT? AUSTIN FREENET, THANK YOU.
UM, THERE WERE ALSO SOME LISTENING SESSIONS LED BY THE BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE, UM, THAT WE ATTENDED THIS PAST YEAR AS WELL.
WE WORKED WITH TRAVIS COUNTY ON, UH, DEVELOPING A NEEDS ASSESSMENT AROUND DIGITAL EQUITY FOR THE TRAVIS COUNTY AREA.
AND, UM, ALONG THOSE LINES, TRAVIS COUNTY ALSO LED COMMUNITY CIRCLE MEETINGS THAT WE PARTICIPATED IN AS WELL.
UM, IN TERMS OF ACTIVITIES AND ENGAGEMENT THIS PAST YEAR, UM, WE'VE ONLY HAD A FEW BRIEFINGS.
WE HAD, WE HAD, WE HAD TO CANCEL A LOT OF, UM, MEETINGS DUE TO QUORUM ISSUES, WHICH I THINK, YOU KNOW, NOW THAT WE HAVE SOME NEW COMMISSIONERS THAT ARE REALLY ENERGETIC, UH, GETTING INVOLVED, I THINK THAT, UM, THERE'LL BE LESS OF AN ISSUE.
AND I DON'T BELIEVE JESSE OR DAN, I, I DON'T BELIEVE WE HAD ANY COUNCIL COMMITTEE AGENDA ITEM REQUESTS.
UH, WELL, THAT WOULD ACT, SO I HAVE, THIS WOULD COVER THE PERIOD FOR TODAY.
SO OUR ONE COUNCIL COMMITTEE AGENDA ITEM REQUESTS IS GONNA COVER THE, UH, CHANGE TO THE BYLAWS.
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT WE, WE HAVE TO SUBMIT TO GET IT APPROVED.
AND WE CAN CONFIRM WITH THE CLERK'S OFFICE JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE AGENDA REQUEST IS THE APPROPRIATE OKAY.
SO TBD, BUT THE ITEM THAT WE JUST PASSED TONIGHT WILL BE THERE.
AND THEN WE DID PASS A RECOMMENDATION ON, UM, FUNDING FOR, UM, GTOP S AND DIGITAL INCLUSION EFFORTS.
UM, SO BASICALLY, SO THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT WE DID FOR THE YEAR.
SO I GUESS WHAT I'M GONNA NEED HELP WITH THE SMALLER GROUP, AND EVENTUALLY WHEN WE MEET AGAIN NEXT MONTH, CERTAINLY WANT EVERYONE'S INPUT BEFORE WE, WE PASS THIS DOCUMENT, IS WHAT DO WE WANNA DO FOR NEXT YEAR? UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE HAVE SOME REALLY EXCITING, UM, YOU KNOW, THOUGHTS, AT LEAST FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN TONIGHT ON, UH, NEW THINGS THAT WE CAN DO.
SO IF YOU HAVE, IF ANYONE HAS ANY INITIAL THOUGHTS, YOU KNOW, WE CAN EDIT IT NOW OR YOU CAN WAIT UNTIL WE MEET IN THE WORKING GROUPS OR NEXT MONTH.
UH, AS FAR AS TECHNOLOGY, INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION.
I DON'T DO IT REAL TIME, BUT I'LL, I'LL BE GLAD TO ADD TO IT.
MY ONLY, UH, SUGGESTION IS THAT WE DO NOT IDENTIFY THEM AS WORKING GROUPS, BECAUSE THAT WILL STICK OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB THEN BECAUSE THE WORKING GROUPS HAVE BEEN, AS WE DISCUSSED, HAVE BEHAVING LIKE COMMITTEES.
UM, SO WE ARE NO LONGER THE GUIDANCE FROM THE CLERK OFFICES IS THAT WE ARE, DO NOT, SHOULD NOT HAVE STANDING WORKING GROUPS.
UM, WITH THAT SAID, I THINK THESE THREE BUCKETED AREAS, UM, ARE A GOOD WAY JUST TO LIKE, BREAK THINGS UP FOR PLANNING PURPOSES.
THOSE ARE BROAD AREAS OF INTEREST FOR OUR YEAH.
WELL, UM, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS NOW, I'LL ASK YOU NOT TO GO INTO THIS, UH, DOCUMENT SINCE WE WILL, THAT COULD CAUSE A QUORUM ISSUE.
IF YOU DO HAVE ANY IDEAS, SEND THEM EITHER DIRECTLY TO ME OR SEND IT TO DAN, JESSE, AND WE CAN MAKE SURE IT MAKES IT IN THERE.
UM, BUT EITHER WAY, I'LL BE FINDING TIME WITH, UM, WITH SUMIT AND BRIAN, UH, IN THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS TO START WORKING THROUGH THIS LIST.
WE'LL PRESENT IT TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
UH, EVERYONE WILL HAVE A FINAL OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE INPUT, AND THEN, UM, WE WILL GET THIS CLOSED OUT.
ANY OTHER, DID I MISS ANYTHING, JESSE OR DAN? UM, I'LL JUST REITERATE, UM, WHAT CHAIR AKA HAS ALREADY SAID, THIS IS ONE OF THE KEY OPPORTUNITIES, UH, FOR THE COMMISSION
[01:50:01]
TO SET ITS AGENDA FOR THE YEAR.UM, AND SO IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT YOU'RE, UH, PASSIONATE ABOUT OR THAT YOU WANT TO, UH, MEMORIALIZE IN THE WORK PLAN NOW IS, NOW IS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO.
SO I ENCOURAGE, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING IN MIND, PLEASE SEND IT, UH, TO CHAIR, ACA OR DAN, UM, SO THAT WE CAN INCLUDE IT GOING FORWARD.
COMMISSIONER, A QUESTION FOR JESSE.
JESSE, IF YOU REMEMBER, UH, SEVERAL MONTHS AGO WHEN YOU HAD SENT A NOTE OUT ASKING FOR QUESTIONS RELATED TO AI, AND I SENT YOU A BUNCH OF QUESTIONS, IF YOU REMEMBER, I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND THAT EMAIL.
WOULD, IF YOU HAVE IT READILY ACCESSIBLE, WOULD YOU KINDLY FORWARD IT BACK TO ME, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE PART OF THE INPUT I WOULD PROVIDE.
UM, I'LL, I'LL SCRAPE MY EMAIL.
THAT'S NOT RINGING ANY BELLS, UH, ON MY END, BUT, UH, YEAH, I'LL SCRAPE MY EMAIL TO SEE, UH, IF I HAVE ANYTHING.
YEAH, FOR ME, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, UM, YEAH, GO FOR IT.
I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING LIKE A NOVELTY, BUT IN TERMS OF, I GUESS A STARTING POINT TO JUST KEEP WITH THE SOCIAL PROBLEM, UM, MAYBE JUST STARTING DISCUSSIONS AROUND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN GENERAL TO INCLUDE MACHINE LEARNING AND THEN, UM, ALSO LIKE, HAVE SUBCATEGORY OF MAYBE LIKE, UH, AUGMENTED REALITY.
YEAH, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, UM, FOR SURE.
UH, BECAUSE, UM, AS I MENTIONED, I SIT ON THAT, ON THAT GROUP ADVISING THE CITY.
I THINK WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO, UH, TO MEET.
UM, SO THAT'LL BE COVERED AND WE'LL DEFINITELY ADD IT IN THERE.
UM, AND THEN THE, ON THE AUGMENTED REALITY PIECE, UM, WHAT SPECIFIC, I GUESS, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING SPECIFICALLY? I WAS THINKING SPECIFICALLY ON HOW LIKE, UH, LIKE TAKE, LIKE METAS, OCULUS, I BELIEVE IT'S CALLED, LIKE THE APPLE VISION PRO AND WHATNOT, HOW THEY'RE TRYING TO INTEGRATE THOSE INTO LEARNING COMMUNITIES.
UM, I CAN, I CAN FORESEE THAT BEING A CONVERSATION HOSTED HERE, OR JUST TO, TO PROCEED IT AS A POTENTIAL TOPIC.
YEAH, I THINK I'D, I'D WANNA UNDERSTAND A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT LIKE WHAT THE IMPACT IS TO BRIDGING DIGITAL DIVIDE OR DIGITAL EQUITY.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, HAPPY TO HAVE YOU, UM, WHETHER YOU WANT TO ALSO MEET WITH, UM, WITH SUMIT, MYSELF AND, AND BRIAN, I CAN, UH, I CAN ADD YOU TO THAT LIST OR IF YOU WANNA THINK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT MORE AND JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL, HAPPY TO DO IT EITHER WAY.
WELL, THANKS TO THE TWO OF YOU CORE, UM, CORE MEMBERS, UH, FOR DEVOTING YOUR TIME AND HELPING ME OUT
I, UH, I DON'T WANNA DO IT MYSELF, SO
[4. Commissioner assignment and approval of digital communications enhancements for City of Austin Commissions working group]
UM, ALRIGHT, WELL, I'M GONNA MOVE US ALONG TO ITEM FOUR, THE COMMISSIONER ASSIGNMENT APPROVAL OF DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS ENHANCEMENT FOR COMMISSIONER'S WORKING GROUP.SO THIS ITEM STEMMED FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ATTENDED LAST TIME FROM CHAIR NEHA, WHO LEADS THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION.
UM, HE HAS AN IDEA AROUND, UH, COMMUNICATION TRANSPARENCY AND, AND ENABLING COMMISSIONERS TO COMMUNICATE TO A LARGER DEGREE, UM, WITH EACH OTHER WITHOUT RUNNING INTO QUORUM ISSUES.
AND HE'S ACTUALLY ALREADY, AND HE'S ACTUALLY ALREADY DRAFTED A, UH, RESOLUTION HE WOULD LIKE US TO MIRROR.
SO, UM, I'D LIKE, UH, TO EXPLORE THAT.
SO WOULD LOVE FOR ANOTHER COMMISSION MEMBER TWO TO JOIN ME ON A MEETING WITH, UH, CHAIR NEHA.
IS ANYONE INTERESTED? SO WHAT TIME WOULD BE THE MEETING? WHAT WAS THAT? COMMISSIONER KU OH, WHAT, WHAT TIME WOULD THE MEETING BE? OH, UH, THAT'S TO BE SCHEDULED AND HE'S VERY FLEXIBLE, SO IF YOU'D WANT TO JOIN ME ON TALKING THROUGH THE SPECIFICS OF THAT, UM, I CAN, UM, EMAIL YOU SEPARATELY.
[01:55:01]
OKAY, GREAT.I'M HAPPY TO JOIN ON THAT AS WELL.
THANK YOU COMMISSIONER ENGA AND I, I THINK WE MAY HAVE LOST YOU FOR A LITTLE BIT.
DIGITAL DIVIDES A HITTING HOME.
UM, SO FOR THAT ITEM, UH, AS IT'S REFLECTED IN THE, UH, THE AGENDA, I DID WANT TO FORM A FORMAL WORKING GROUP AROUND THAT, WHICH I BELIEVE REQUIRES A VOTE.
UM, SO COMMISSIONER MAJA AND COMMISSIONER ANGA, IF, UM, IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU BOTH ARE INTERESTED, BUT WANTED TO, UH, FORMALIZE THAT START UP A, A WORKING GROUP TO WORK WITH CHAIRMAN NEHA, UH, BUT THAT WOULD REQUIRE A VOTE FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSION MEMBERS.
YOU ALL OKAY WITH THAT? NOT HEARING ANYONE AGAINST IT? UM, WE WILL NEED FOLKS TO COME ON CAMERA.
OH, COMMISSIONER MAJA, IF YOU DON'T MIND COMING ON CAMERA SO WE CAN HAVE THIS VOTE.
I, UH, I'M HAPPY TO, TO KICK IT OFF.
UM, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF FORMING A WORKING GROUP, UH, TO EXPLORE DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS ENHANCEMENTS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CHAIRMAN NEHA FROM THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION TO INCLUDE MYSELF, COMMISSIONER ANGA AND COMMISSIONER MUJA.
UM, SO I WILL MAKE THAT MOTION.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? I SECONDED.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? A AYE AYE.
ANYONE AGAINST ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY.
WE HAVE A NEW WORKING GROUP FORMED.
I'LL REACH OUT TO BOTH OF YOU AS WELL AS CHAIRMAN NEHA TO TALK TO SPECIFICS ON THAT, BUT I IMAGINE IT WOULD BE IN THE NEXT MONTH OR SO, AND I DON'T IMAGINE A HUGE TIME COMMITMENT, MAYBE AN HOUR AT THE MOST, UM, TO, FOR HIM TO WALK US THROUGH THE RESOLUTION THAT HE'S DRAFTED AND FOR US TO, UM, ESSENTIALLY DRAFT ONE OF OUR OWN AND BRING IT TO THE FULL COMMISSION.
I THINK THOSE ARE ALL OF OUR ITEMS.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]
ALL RIGHT.FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? UM, I, SO THIS IS THE POINT IN OUR MEETING FOR THOSE NEW COMMISSIONERS WHERE WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, BE CREATIVE.
UM, SO FOR NEXT TIME, UH, WE SHOULD HAVE A PRETTY SOLID DRAFT OF THE, UM, THE ANNUAL REPORT.
WE WILL HAVE A, UM, DRAFT VERSION OF A POTENTIAL RESOLUTION WITH IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CHAIRMAN NEHA FROM THE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY COMMISSION.
UH, WE'RE ALSO PLANNING TO HAVE FORMER COMMISSIONER PITTS, UM, GIVE A PRESENTATION ON THE, UH, EVENT THAT VICE CHAIR AND I ATTENDED TWO WEEKENDS AGO.
WHAT WAS PHILLIP ELAND? YEAH, THANK YOU.
UH, WE'LL HAVE A PRESENTATION FROM DR.
ELAND FROM, UH, A NONPROFIT CALLED CHANGING EXPECTATIONS TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE WORK THAT HE'S DOING AROUND DIGITAL EQUITY AND SOME OF THE WORK THAT HE'S BEEN ABLE TO DO, UH, AS A RESULT OF THE GT OS FUNDING THAT HE RECEIVED, I BELIEVE LAST CYCLE, MAYBE EVEN THE PE HAS HE RECEIVED MULTIPLE AWARDS? YEAH.
SO, UM, IF ANYONE HAS ANY ADDITIONAL AGENDA ITEMS THEY'D LIKE TO COVER, UM, CERTAINLY OPEN TO HEARING THOSE NOW.
WELL, IF NO ONE HAS ANYTHING NOW THAT'S OKAY.
UM, WE, UM, REMEMBER IT ONLY TAKES TWO COMMISSION MEMBERS TO ADD AN AGENDA ITEM, UM, TO A MEETING.
UM, SO JUST KEEP THAT IN MIND.
[02:00:01]
I'M EASY TO WORK WITH, SO IF YOU DO HAVE AN IDEA FOR AN AGENDA ITEM, JUST MESSAGE ME AND, UM, MORE THAN LIKELY WE'LL GET IT ON THERE.WE HAVE OUR LAST ITEM, ADJOURNMENT.
WE ADJOURN THE MEETING A SECOND.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF ADJOURNING A AYE, AYE.
ANYONE AGAINST? DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT.
YOU CAUGHT THE, SOME TIME AGO.
YOU, SO YOU HAD, NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU FOUND ALL THE THINGS AND.