[00:00:03]
WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND GET STARTED.
[CALL TO ORDER]
WAIT FOR OUR COUNT, UM, COMMISSIONERS TO COME ON STAGE.THIS IS OUR NORMAL MEETING OF THE AUSTIN ARTS COMMISSION.
WE'RE GONNA START WITH ROLL COMMISSIONER MOCK HERE.
WE GOT COMMISSIONER SMBA HERE.
DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMUNICATION? OH, AND COMMISSIONER HOUSTON IS JOINING US.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL ]
PUBLIC COMMUNICATION TODAY? ACTUALLY, WE KNOW WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE.WE'VE GOT NATALIE EARHART FROM ALMOST REAL THINGS, AND YOU CAN COME RIGHT OVER HERE, DARLING.
I'M NATALIE FROM ALMOST REAL THINGS.
I JUST WANTED TO, UM, LET YOU KNOW ABOUT AN OPEN CALL THAT WE'RE HAVING RIGHT NOW FOR OUR THIRD ANNUAL TOUCH THE ART PROGRAM.
SO THIS IS OUR PROGRAM THAT WE DO WITH, UH, PARTNERED WITH THE TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED.
UM, SO THERE'S TWO WAYS THAT ARTISTS CAN PARTICIPATE.
THEY CAN APPLY TO BE IN OUR COLLECTIVE, OUR MENTORSHIP.
THEY'RE GONNA BE GIVEN $500 STIPENDS.
UH, THEIR MATERIAL COSTS WILL BE COVERED.
AND BASICALLY THEY'RE GOING TO THE SCHOOL ONCE A WEEK FOR SIX WEEKS TO WORK WITH THE STUDENTS ON A COLLABORATIVE INSTALLATION.
AND THEN THEY'RE RECEIVING TRAINING ON HOW, HOW TO WORK WITH PEOPLE WITH NEURODIVERGENT, UM, ABILITIES AND VISUAL IMPAIRMENT.
UM, AND THEN YOU CAN APPLY TO JUST HAVE WORK IN THE SHOW.
THE SHOW WILL BE UP APRIL AND MAY.
UM, SO THE ONLY CONDITION IS THAT YOUR WORK NEEDS TO BE TOUCHED OR WILL BE TOUCHED BY A LOT OF PEOPLE.
UM, SO THAT OPEN CALL IS GOING ON RIGHT NOW.
THE MENTORSHIP, UH, DEADLINE IS THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 31ST.
THE DEADLINE FOR GALLERY SUBMISSIONS IS FEBRUARY 16TH.
UM, SO PLEASE IF YOU CAN PUSH IT OUT TO ANYBODY YOU THINK WOULD BE GOOD, UH, THE LINK IS ALMOST REAL THINGS.COM/OPEN-CALL.
IT'S A WONDERFUL EXHIBITION FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT SEEN IT BEFORE.
LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS THIRD ITERATION.
UM, DO WE HAVE ANY ELSE IN? OKAY, THAT'S IT FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
NEXT IS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
DO WE HAVE MOTION TO APPROVE? MOTION TO APPROVE BY COMMISSIONER GRAY.SECOND, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER MOCK.
ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES FROM DECEMBER.
NEXT IS DISCUSSION OF THE CHAIR'S
[2. Discussion of Chair’s Report on Happy New Year by Chair Zisman]
REPORT.I AM THE PERSON OF COLOR WEARING AN OLIVE SWEATER AND SHORT HAIR.
WE'RE GETTING STARTED TO A PRETTY DEPRESSING START, FRANKLY.
UM, BUT LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT OPPORTUNITIES WE CONTINUE TO EXTEND TO OUR ARTS COMMUNITY.
UM, WE'RE ALREADY DEEP IN CONVERSATION WITH COMMUNITY AND STAFF ABOUT WAYS TO CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THESE PROGRAMS THAT WE'LL BE ROLLING OUT THIS YEAR.
AND I LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING TO EXTEND THAT INVITATION TO MORE AND MORE COMMUNITY MEMBERS AS WE, UM, CONTINUE TO DEEPEN RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE NEW CITY MANAGER AND NEW COUNCIL THAT WILL BE JOINING US, UM, IN FEBRUARY.
[3. Report of the Art in Public Places Liaison concerning actions taking during the January 14th meeting of the Art in Public Places Panel by Commissioner Maldonado ]
GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO THE REPORT OF ART AND PUBLIC PLACES, UH, WITH OUR ART AND PUBLIC PLACES LIAISON CONCERNING ACTIONS TAKEN DURING THE JANUARY 14TH MEETING OF THE A IPP PANEL BY COMMISSIONER MALDONADO.UM, SO WE ACTUALLY HAD QUITE A BIT OF ACTION ITEMS, UM, DURING THE LAST IQP MEETING, AND I'M JUST GONNA RUN DOWN THE LIST OF THEM SUPER QUICKLY.
UH, WE APPROVED THE FINAL DESIGN FOR THE LONGHORN DANBRIDGE.
UM, AND THAT ARTIST IS, UH, ORIGINAL ADAMS. SO THAT'S A REALLY EXCITING PROJECT IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH IT.
THE LONGHORN DAM IS OBVIOUSLY, UM, DOWN LADY BIRD LAKE
UM, SO THE NEXT ONE, IT'S GONNA BE THE BEVERLY SHEFFIELD POOL ART IN PUBLIC PLACES.
AND THAT WAS APPROVED ALSO THE FINAL DESIGN.
UH, THE NEXT FINAL DESIGN THAT WAS APPROVED WAS FOR HIGHLAND PARK ART, UH, AND THE ARTIST IS SAMARA BARKS, AND THERE ARE STILL A FEW MORE.
ANOTHER APPROVED FINAL DESIGN WAS FOR THE SOUTH LAMAR CORRIDOR, AND THAT IS WANDA MONTE MEOR.
UH, WE DID APPROVE A FEW RF QS.
ONE INCLUDES THE RFQ FOR THE ST.
[00:05:01]
UH, WE ALSO WENT THROUGH THE SELECTION PROCESS FOR THE AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, PHASE ONE.SO THAT SELECTION PROCESS WAS APPROVED AS WELL.
SO A LOT FROM THE LAST A IPP MEETING.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
COMMISSIONERS, ANY QUESTIONS? NO, I HAVE A QUESTION, BUT IT'S NOT ABOUT COMMISSIONER CHENEY.
MY QUESTION IS NOT ABOUT THAT, ACTUALLY.
IT'S ABOUT, UM, IS THERE A WAY TO DO SUBTITLES ON THE VIDEOS? IT'S JUST A LITTLE HARD FOR ME TO HEAR.
CAN WE DO SUBTITLES LIVE OR NO CITY STAFF? IS THAT A POSSIBILITY? WE WE'RE, THAT WE CAN DO THAT.
OR JUST IF WE COULD CRANK THE VOLUME, MAYBE THAT WOULD HELP AS WELL.
COMMISSIONER MALDONA, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
[4. Update on actions taken at the January 15th Downtown Commission meeting by Commissioner Mok]
ON ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE JANUARY 15TH DOWNTOWN COMMISSION MEETING BY COMMISSIONER MOCK.UH, UNFORTUNATELY I DIDN'T ATTEND THE MEETING, SO I HAVE NOTHING TO REPORT EXCEPT THAT, UH, I HAVE READ SOME OF THE NOTES THAT THAT IS, UH, A RESOLUTION TO MAYBE MERGE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION WITH OTHER, UH, COMMISSION TOGETHER AS A ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
SOMETHING THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BE AWARE OF, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THERE, THERE ARE DIFFERENT PROPOSALS ON THE RESOLUTION ABOUT MERGING DIFFERENT COMMISSION.
DO YOU KNOW, WILL WE STILL HAVE A STANDING? UM, LIKE WILL WE STILL HAVE AN APPOINTEE? YEAH.
SO IF, IF IT IS GOING TO MERGE, UH, SO A LIAISON, WE DON'T KNOW.
YOU KNOW, WE HOPE WE WILL HAVE BECAUSE IT'S SO CONNECTED.
THE DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT IS SO CONNECTED WITH THE CULTURAL ARTS MM-HMM
SO WE SHOULD, YOU KNOW, THE ARTS COMMISSION SHOULD LOOK AND INSIST.
YOU KNOW, AND THERE'S A LOT OF CHANGES ALSO ON SIXTH STREET.
AND THERE'S A LOT POSSIBILITY.
AND MY PET PEEVE IS ALWAYS THE LOAD YES.
WELL, THIS IS MAYBE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO RECOGNIZE THAT, UM, COMMISSIONER MOCK IS REACHING THE END OF THEIR TERM AND MAY OR MAY NOT BE WITH US IN FEBRUARY.
IT'S STILL KIND OF UP IN THE AIR.
UM, BUT WE SOLEMNLY SWEAR TO UPHOLD THE PURSUIT OF THE DILLO.
UM, BUT ALSO TO LET THE COMMISSION KNOW THAT I'LL DO IT.
WE'LL NEED A, UM, A DOWNTOWN COMMISSION LIAISON.
SO THAT IS, IF ANYBODY'S LOOKING TO DO THAT, AND MAYBE COMMISSIONER GRAY'S ALREADY, MAYBE THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT IT.
UM, BUT THAT'LL BE IN A POSITION THAT WE'LL NEED TO, UM, TO APPOINT, UM, ONCE COMMISSIONER MARK GOES OFF.
YOU'LL BE THE MASCOT FOR THE DOUGH.
AND I DID WATCH THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION MEETING FROM NOVEMBER, DECEMBER, WHERE WE, THERE WERE THE PRESENTATIONS ON ALL THE DEVELOPMENTS HAPPENING.
SO, UM, I HAVE PLANS TO COMMUNICATE WITH MELISSA BERRY OF THE DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCE, JUST TO SEE IF THEY'D BE WILLING TO COME PRESENT TO US ON ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE GOING JUST TO KEEP US IN THE LOOP.
I ALSO WANNA RECOGNIZE THAT WE HAVE COMMISSIONER GARZA WITH US NOW IN THE ROOM.
[17. Presentation by Zac Traeger from Museum of Human Achievement on MOHA ~ state of the arts (process, grants, etc)]
NEXT WE HAVE A PRESENTATION BY ZACH TRAGER FROM THE MUSEUM OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT ON MOHA STATE OF THE ARTS PROCESS AND GRANTS.THANK YOU, ZACH, FOR BEING HERE.
WHO'S DOING SLIDES? OH, TALKING GREAT.
I'M ZACH TRAGER, THAT'S MY CAT GRAVY.
UH, I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MOHA.
UH, I'VE GOT A BACKGROUND IN TOURING AND MUSIC AND COMMUNITY ORGANIZING.
I'VE BEEN DOING THIS WORK FOR 25 YEARS.
I STARTED AT THE YMCA AT 13 WHEN THEY HIRED ME BECAUSE WE WERE DOING PUNK ROCK SHOWS, AND THEY JUST COULDN'T FIGURE OUT HOW WE WERE GETTING 300 PEOPLE TO SHOW UP TO THEIR YOGA ROOM.
SO, UH, I'VE CERTAINLY REALLY BELIEVE IN THIS WORK.
AND, UM, I'VE TRIED ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT STRATEGIES.
AND THE CONTEXT I'LL SHARE WITH MOHA AND SOME OF WHAT I'M DOING HERE TONIGHT IS THAT, UM, MUSEUM OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT HAS BEEN AROUND FOR 12 YEARS.
IN 2024, LAST YEAR WE DID A SERIES OF 14 FREE GRANT APPLICATION HANGOUTS.
SO THESE SPACES ARE MEANT TO BE WELCOMING PLACES FOR COMMUNITY TO COME TO LEARN ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES AND TO WORK ON, UH, WHAT CAN BE LIKE A CHALLENGING HURDLE TOGETHER.
UM, THESE WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL.
SO LAST YEAR THROUGH THESE WORKSHOPS, UH, ABOUT $1.4 MILLION OF FUNDING WAS DISTRIBUTED
[00:10:01]
TO GRANT APPLICATION WORKSHOP ATTENDEES.AND AMONGST THOSE ATTENDEES, 80% WERE FIRST TIME GRANT GRANT APPLICANTS.
SO WE REALLY, UH, ARE PRETTY PROUD OF THAT STATISTIC AND, UH, WANNA CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO NAVIGATE THESE SYSTEMS. SO, UH, SLIDE ME, OH, WAIT, THAT WAS, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? THAT'S ANOTHER, I HAVE A PHOTO OF GRAVY ON EVERY SLIDE JUST TO LIKE LIGHTEN THE MOOD HERE.
SO, UH, MY INTENTIONS TONIGHT, UH, I'M GONNA MEANDER A LITTLE BIT, BUT I WANT TO USE VALUES THAT I SEE WITHIN ARTS AND THE CULTURAL COMMUNITY AS A FRAMING MECHANISM TO PREPARE FOR SB 6 89, WHICH RICK IS GONNA TALK ABOUT HERE IN A LITTLE BIT.
UM, BUT JUST THE PREVIEW HERE IS THAT THERE'S A BILL, UH, THAT IS MOVING ITS WAY THROUGH THAT WOULD BAN WHERE IT'S LIKE SOCIAL JUSTICE FROM FUNDING PROGRAMS. UM, I ALSO WANNA GIVE A LITTLE FEEDBACK ON NEXUS, BUT I WANT TO USE ALL THE THINGS I'M SAYING AS A INTERCONNECTED IDEA.
SO, UM, THE POINTS I'M GONNA COME BACK TO IS THAT WORDS ARE IMPRECISE, BUT INTENTIONS CAN BE CLEAR.
COMMUNITY IS A VALUABLE PARTNER AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH.
AND THEN I WANT US TO CONTINUE TO CONSIDER THE, UH, ECONOMICS AND THE RISK OF GENERALIZATION.
SO, SLIDE INSIDE OF THE COMMUNITIES I MOST FREQUENT OF ARTISAN ORGANIZERS.
I DO FIND AN ENDURING SPIRIT AND A, LIKE A DEEP UNBOUNDED CARE FOR EACH OTHER.
SO THIS TALK IS, UH, INVITATION TO ASPIRE, TO USE THIS KINDNESS AND IMAGINATION AS THE, THE POSITIVE QUALITIES WE CAN LEAN INTO AND TO BE PROACTIVE MEMBERS INSTEAD OF REACTIVE MEMBERS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE WE WANNA SEE.
SO, TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, AS WE DEAL WITH MORE AND MORE STRUCTURAL OPPRESSION AND BARRIERS TO ACCESS, WE FACE BILLS LIKE SB 6 89.
LET'S REMEMBER THAT WE HAVE TALENT, RESILIENCE, EXPERIENCE, CREATIVITY, AND INTEGRITY AND HOPE.
AND OH, IN ALL THIS, I'LL QUOTE ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITES.
UH, IF YOU DON'T KNOW HER, YOU SHOULD IN, IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, DEBRA HAY, DEBRA HAY SAYS, TURN YOUR F*****G HEAD.
AND WHAT SHE MEANS IS, DEBRA HAY BEAUTIFULLY SPEAKS ON THE SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE THAT EVERY TIME SHE TURNS HER HEAD, SHE EXPERIENCES A WHOLE NEW WORLD.
SO I WANT TO USE THESE STRATEGIES AND LEAN INTO THIS PHILOSOPHY OF CARE AND ABUNDANCE, AND TO SPEAK A TRUTH AND BE CLEAR.
UH, YEAH, I WILL ASK A FEW THINGS OF EVERYBODY AND THEN I'LL TALK ABOUT SOME POINTS.
I KNOW WE'RE GETTING A PRESENTATION TONIGHT, BUT AS WE NAVIGATE A STATE AND A POLITICAL WILL THAT'S ACTIVELY PUTTING BARRIERS IN PLACE, THAT'LL HAVE DIRECT IMPACTS ON THE WAY FUNDING IS DISTRIBUTED.
I KNOW Y'ALL UNDERSTAND THESE CHALLENGES, AND I, IT'S UNCLEAR TO ME, BUT, UH, WHOEVER IS LISTENING, I WISH THAT STAFF HAD MORE LEEWAY TO SPEAK ON THESE CHANGES AND TO SPEAK ON THESE BARRIERS.
IT'S STRANGE NOT TO HAVE TO, IT'S STRANGE TO HAVE TO READ ARTICLES AND CONSTANTLY YOU'D BE READING BETWEEN THE LINES TO FIGURE OUT THE REAL THINGS HAPPENING.
UH, AS RICK TALKS HERE TONIGHT, LET'S THINK AHEAD OF IT.
LET'S BE LESS REACTION, MORE PROACT ACTION.
UH, AND I WOULD SAY THAT WITHIN THIS ROOM, AND WITHIN EDD STAFF, YOU HAVE SOME OF THE MOST EXPERIENCED ARTS ADMINISTRATORS I KNOW.
SO THE GOAL, IN MY OPINION, IS I WANT RESOURCES TO DO, I WANT RESOURCES TO BE DISTRIBUTED WITH FAIRNESS, INTEGRITY, AND HONOR.
AND TO ME, TO REPRESENT THESE WORDS, WE HAVE TO TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION THE ECONOMIC MATERIAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE GRANT APPLICANT.
SO STRUCTURALLY, WE HAVE A STATE THAT'S CONTINUALLY TRYING TO PREVENT SOME OF THESE CONSIDERATIONS AND BE IT OUTTA FEAR OR OUTTA CRUELTY.
TO ME, IT MATTERS IS VERY LITTLE.
I WOULD INVITE Y'ALL TO CONSIDER THAT THE MACHINE ITSELF THAT IS IMPLEMENTING THESE BARRIERS IS OLD.
IT'S DULL, IT'S BORING, IT'S DUMB, AND IT'S VERY SLOW.
UH, I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT HOW, LIKE HERE TODAY I COULD HAVE DOORDASH DELIVER ME WEED AND I COULD GO GAMBLING.
AND I DON'T THINK ANY OF THOSE THINGS ACTUALLY ARE LEGAL.
SO I DO THINK THAT'S A DEMONSTRATION OF THE MACHINE THAT WE'RE UP AGAINST HERE.
SO, ONE MORE, WHAT IF, SO, IN SB 6 89, ALTHOUGH THE BANNING OF THE WORDS ANTI-RACIST CERTAINLY HAS SOME GRIM IMPLICATIONS IN BOTH PRACTICAL APPLICATION AND WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER GRAMMATICAL VIOLENCE.
WHAT IF WE CREATE ANTI, ANTI, ANTI-RACIST PROGRAMS? WHAT IF WE MAKE NEW WORDS FOR BEING FAIR, KIND, GOOD, THOUGHTFUL.
UH, MY CONSIDERATION OF THESE WORDS IS EXPANSIVE AND IT TAKES INTO ACCOUNT ALL THE WAYS PEOPLE EXIST IN THE WORLD.
SB 6 89 SEEMS LIKE IT WILL MOST LIKELY MAKE IT TO THE PLACE WHERE RIGHT NOW WE SHOULD BE PREPARING TESTIMONIALS.
WE SHOULD ADVOCATE TO THOSE THAT KNOW AND UNDERSTAND THESE SYSTEMS, UH, AND WE'LL DO OUR BEST.
YOU DON'T WANT TO BE GIVING TESTIMONIALS WHEN IT GOES INTO THE PUBLIC FORUM.
AND RICK CAN SPEAK MORE ABOUT THIS REGARDING NEXUS ITSELF.
AND JUST COMING BACK TO ALL THE THINGS I'VE BEEN SAYING, UH, NEXUS IS NOW A MULTIPLE CHOICE GRANT.
I ACTUALLY HAVE, UM, THE OF THE OPINION THAT THIS IS KIND OF COOL.
I THINK THAT MULTIPLE CHOICE GRANTS ARE ACTUALLY WONDERFUL FOR ACCESS AND RESPECTIVE TIME FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO LACK TIME OR CONFIDENCE IN GRANT WRITING.
BUT IF WE'RE GOING THIS DIRECTION, WE HAVE TO TAKE CARE IN THE QUESTIONS IF WE'RE GONNA POSITION THE ARTISTS AND THE ARTS AS THE ECONOMIC DRIVER THAT THEY ARE.
SO, UH, GENERALLY I FEEL LIKE IF WE ARE ALWAYS TRIANGULATING, WE'RE GONNA MISS THIS GAP IN THE MIDDLE, THAT IT'S GONNA BE HAMFISTED AT BEST.
SIMILAR TO THIS LIST OF WORDS YOU'RE GONNA HEAR LATER, THEY'RE JUST APPROXIMATIONS.
AND I, I WOULD ENCOURAGE MORE INTENTION BEHIND THAT APPROXIMATION.
[00:15:01]
SO ONE OF THESE THINGS IS THAT RIGHT NOW, UH, THERE'S A LEANING INTO THESE QUALIFIED CENSUS TRACKS.AND FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW, THAT'S JUST LOOKING AT THE ECONOMICS OF YOUR SURROUNDING AREA, YOUR QUALIFIED CENSUS TRACK.
I THINK THAT IF WE'RE GOING TO START GREENLINING COMMUNITIES, THERE'S A PROBLEM AND A PERSONAL CONCERN FOR ME BECAUSE IT ONCE AGAIN, PUNISHES THOSE WHO HAVE HAD NEIGHBORHOODS AND WEALTH GROW AROUND THEM.
AND A LOT OF MY COMMUNITY AND FRIENDS HAVE, UH, SEEN THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS, YOU KNOW, ANGULAR TOWNHOUSES AND JUST EVERYTHING CHANGE AROUND THEM.
IT'S, IT'S NOT A SHARP ENOUGH TOOL TO, TO MAKE AND TAKE CARE OF THOSE WHO HAVE HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER OF THE CHANGE AROUND THEM.
SO, ON THE FLIP SIDE THOUGH, IF WE DO ASK STAFF TO COLLECT SENSITIVE DATA, LIKE TAX RETURNS, I DON'T KNOW, LIKE, I'M NOT SURE ABOUT TRUSTING THE STATE WITH THAT INFORMATION.
IT'S NOT THAT I DON'T TRUST STAFF, BUT IT IS A, A TRICKY ONE.
UM, WHAT I WOULD ENCOURAGE IS, UH, UH, ADRIAN MARIE AND BROWN QUOTE, WHO I QUITE LIKE TRUST THE PEOPLE AND THE PEOPLE WHO TRUST YOU.
SO IT SEEMS LIKE THE QUESTIONS THAT WE NEED ARE, WHAT ARE YOUR CURRENT ECONOMIC CONDITIONS? WHAT'S YOUR ACCESS TO WEALTH AND RESOURCES? THE WAY I'VE LIKED TO ASK THESE QUESTIONS ARE THINGS LIKE, CAN YOU AFFORD GROCERIES? DO YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A PHONE OR LAPTOP? DO YOU HAVE DEBT THAT SOMETIMES PROHIBITS YOU FROM ACQUIRING YOUR BASIC NEEDS? WHAT ARE YOUR BASIC NEEDS? THESE GET TO, UH, CURRENT MATERIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, IN MY OPINION, AND GRANTS AND RESOURCES SHOULD BE AWARDED TO THOSE THAT, UH, ARE LACKING THOSE RESOURCES.
SO, UM, MY QUESTION, OH, NEXT ONE FOR ME, THE, I KNOW WE'RE ALL DOING OUR BEST, BUT FROM THE POSITION OF BEING A EDUCATOR FOR THESE THINGS, I'M ALWAYS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW CAN I TEACH LONG-TERM SKILLS AND SKILLS THAT GROW AND SKILLS THAT YOU CAN APPLY TO OTHER SITUATIONS.
SO, UH, I WOULD ENCOURAGE REFERENCING THINGS LIKE TEXAS COMMISSION ON THE ARTS, THE NEA, UM, EVEN CREATIVE CAPITAL, BECAUSE THOSE SKILLS, WHEN I'M HELPING SOMEBODY WRITE A BIO, THEY'RE REPLICABLE SKILLS.
IF WE'RE CONSTANTLY SHIFTING THE GRANT PROGRAMS IN A WAY THAT'S REACTIVE, IT PROHIBITS MY ABILITY TO TEACH THESE LONG TERM.
AND, UH, I DUNNO, THE SCAFFOLDING.
SO I THINK THE PACE OF CHANGE IS THE THING THAT, IN MY OPINION, IS THE HARMFUL, BUT THE, THE HARMFUL THING.
BUT THE QUESTIONS AND THE INTENTIONS THEMSELVES, I DON'T, I DON'T THINK ARE, ARE BAD.
IT'S JUST THE REACTIONARY BEHAVIOR.
SO I AM ENCOURAGING ATTENTIONAL INTENTIONAL PLANNING TOGETHER.
UM, OH, FISCAL SPONSORSHIP IS A GOOD THING.
SO IN MY OPINION, IT CAN BE GOOD.
I COULD DO A WHOLE SPIEL ON THIS.
BUT FISCAL SPONSORSHIP IS JUST THE MECHANISM OF A NONPROFIT UMBRELLAING AN INDIVIDUAL OR INFORMAL ORGANIZATION.
IT IS A TAX MECHANISM WHERE INSTEAD OF AN INDIVIDUAL RECEIVING A LARGE SUM SUM OF MONEY, UH, THE NONPROFIT OR THE UMBRELLA CAN RECEIVE THIS.
THIS CAN BE WEIRD, BUT WHY WE USE IT AT MOHA AND WHY OTHERS SHOULD USE IT IS THAT IF YOU'RE ON DISABILITY, IF YOU'RE ON SOCIAL WELFARE OF ANY KIND, IF YOU RECEIVE FOOD STAMPS, FOOD STAMPS WERE ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS IN MY LIFE I EVER COULD TRY TO KEEP.
THEY'LL TAKE 'EM AWAY FROM YOU REALLY QUICK.
SO YOU NEED SOME BARRIERS THERE.
AND SPEAKING FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, LIVE MUSIC FUND, NOT ALLOWING FISCAL SPONSORSHIP, WE DID HAVE PEOPLE ON DISABILITY, WE HAD VETERANS COME TO US THAT WE COULDN'T ADVISE THEM TO TAKE THAT GRANT BECAUSE UNLESS YOU'RE VERY GOOD AT YOUR TAXES AND SCHEDULE C, YOU ARE AT RISK OF LOSING WHAT CAN BE A LIFELINE, UH, SUPPORT.
UM, OH, I'M A STRONG ADVOCATE FOR LOWER GRANT AMOUNTS AND MORE FREQUENT GRANTS.
I THINK THAT A $5,000 GRANT'S GREAT, BUT ONCE A YEAR IS REALLY HARD FOR NEW ORGANIZERS AND YOUNG PEOPLE TO ORGANIZE, I DUNNO, THEIR IDEAS AROUND.
UM, AND FINALLY, OH, SHARING INFORMATION SHOULD BE ENCOURAGED.
I THINK THE WORKSHOPS ARE VERY COOL.
I ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO SHARE THEIR ANSWERS AND THEIR RESOURCES.
UM, I THINK THEY'VE BEEN REALLY IMPACTFUL.
ONE MORE
UM, THINK ABOUT ECONOMICS THOUGHTFULLY.
THAT'S BASICALLY THAT TAKEAWAY.
UH, WORDS ARE EMPHASIZED, BUT INTENTIONS CAN BE CLEAR.
LIKE THERE'S A THING THAT LIVES BEHIND ALL THESE WORDS.
IN THE WORDS THAT, UH, RICK'S GONNA LIST HERE IN A SECOND.
THE USE OF INTENT IS THE IDEA I'M TRYING TO ENCOURAGE INSTEAD OF, UH, USE OF LANGUAGE.
UH, JUST, I WANNA, I ENCOURAGE WORKING OUTSIDE OF A POPULAR AND VOCABULARY BECAUSE YOU HAVE REACTIONARY POLITICS, UM, BANNING THE, THESE, THE WORDS, BUT OUR INTENTIONS CAN BE SHARED.
AND THEN, UH, CONSIDER COMMUNITY AS A PARTNER THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
IT WAS A REALLY BEAUTIFUL AND THOUGHTFUL AND INTENTIONAL PRESENTATION, AND I'M VERY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR PRESENCE HERE AND CONTRIBUTION TO THIS COMMISSION.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR ZACH? THANK YOU, ZACH.
AND I GET MISTAKEN FOR DEBORAH ALL THE TIME.
OH, REALLY? I MEAN, THAT'S COOL PERSON.
I'M YOUNGER, BUT WE'VE BEEN AROUND EACH OTHER FOR A LONG TIME.
COMMISSIONER CEI, MINE IS NOT A QUESTION, IT'S MORE OF A COMMENT, WHICH I THINK IS IMPORTANT, IS THE, THE STATISTIC
[00:20:01]
OF HOW MUCH MONEY YOU HELPED INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS GET THROUGH GRANT FUNDING.AND A LOT OF THAT IT SEEMS LIKE FROM THIS PRESENTATION IS DEMYSTIFYING THE LANGUAGE.
AND I THINK THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UM, JUST IN GENERAL PEOPLE SHOULD THINK ABOUT IS LIKE, HOW IS YOUR LANGUAGE ACCESSIBLE? AND IF, WHAT IS THE INTENT OF THE GRANT? RIGHT? WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO GET TO APPLY TO THESE GRANTS? ARE YOU WANTING SOMEBODY THAT HAS A TRADITIONAL FOUR YEAR DEGREE AND A MASTER'S DEGREE AND THAT'S WHO YOU IDENTIFY AS AN ARTIST, YOU KNOW, THAT HAS THESE ACADEMIC RESOURCES? OR ARE THEY SELF-TAUGHT ARTISTS? OR ARE THEY A MIX OF THINGS? AND I THINK THAT THE ISSUE THAT I'VE SEEN IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU POINTED OUT, IS THAT THE CONSISTENT CHANGES IN THE GRANTS MAKE IT HARD FOR SOMEBODY THAT MAYBE DOESN'T HAVE A TRADITIONAL PATHWAY IN THE ARTS TO KEEP UP MM-HMM
AND I THINK THE, THE STRIPPED DOWN NATURE, UM, OF THE NEXUS GRANT, JUST TO COMMENT ON THAT, I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, TALKING ABOUT LEARNING HOW TO WRITE AN ARTIST BIO OR AN ARTIST STATEMENT OR EVEN EXPLAIN WHAT YOU'RE DOING AS AN ARTIST IN THIRD PERSON IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
AND IT OFTEN LEADS TO BIGGER IDEAS FOR THAT ARTIST.
AND SO TAKING THAT AWAY IS REALLY DOING A DISSERVICE IF THE INTENT IS TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO NEW ARTISTS, ESTABLISHED ARTISTS, ARTISTS FROM DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHICS.
I ALSO WANT TO STATE, AND MAYBE THIS ISN'T KOSHER SAYING IN A GOVERNMENT SETTING, BUT I REALLY DO LIKE THE ANTI-CAPITALIST IDEOLOGY THAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR PRESENTATION, BECAUSE AT THE ROOT OF CREATING ART, IT'S NOT ABOUT THE, THE, THE PURPOSE OF ART IS NOT PURELY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
UM, IT IS WHAT MAKES US HUMAN AND CONNECT.
AND I THINK WE OFTEN FORGET THAT IN THIS ROOM.
SO THANK YOU FOR, UM, THE TURN YOUR F*****G HEAD.
THE, AND CERTAINLY THE BYPRODUCT OF ART CAN BE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
UM, I THINK I WILL SHARE THE SECRET OF THE WORKSHOPS, AND I KNOW NATALIE DID SOME GREAT ONES AS WELL.
UH, ALL YOU NEED IS INTENTIONAL INVITATION.
YOU TEXT YOUR FRIENDS, UH, YOU HAVE SNACKS ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
AND THEN I ALWAYS ASK EVERY NEW APPLICANT, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR PROJECT, BUT EXPLAIN IT TO ME LIKE I'M YOUR AUNT WHO'S NEVER BEEN TO A MUSIC THING OR AN ART THING, OR WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING.
EXPLAIN IT AT THE MOST BASIC LEVEL AND TALK TO ME ABOUT IT.
AND USUALLY EVERYONE HAS A GREAT ANSWER IN THERE.
IT'S JUST, UH, HERE'S MY OTHER SECRET ON THE PUBLIC FORUM.
WHEN PEOPLE SAY WORDS LIKE, MATERIALITY, MY AUNT DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.
AND MAYBE NO ONE KNOWS THAT THAT MEANS HONESTLY, BUT, UM, YEAH, JUST LIKE BASIC, THE SYSTEM ITSELF IMPLIES THAT THE ANSWER SHOULD BE COMPLICATED BECAUSE THE SYSTEM IS COMPLICATED.
IT, IT ISN'T, UH, THIS BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO ACCESS.
JUST TRANSLATING, HAVE SOME SNACKS, HAVE A NICE TIME.
WELL, AND I THINK TO ADD TO THAT, WHEN YOU HAVE PANELISTS THAT ARE ALSO WANTING TO OVERCOMPLICATE IT OR MAYBE OVERSIMPLIFY SOMETHING THAT'S OVER COMPLICATED, THAT'S WHERE IT STARTS GETTING MESSY.
AND I THINK THAT'S A LOT OF THE FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE GOTTEN ON THE GRANT SO FAR IS PEOPLE'S IDEAS AND THE WAY THAT THEY'RE INTERPRETED.
AND WHICH IS ALWAYS GONNA HAPPEN.
RIGHT? BUT IF YOU, BUT IF YOU'RE MORE INTENTIONAL WITH THE QUESTION THAT YOU'RE ASKING, THE RESPONSE IS GOING TO FOLLOW.
YOU SHOULDN'T MAKE ARTISTS READ BETWEEN THE LINES ON WHAT YOU'RE ASKING, WHICH IS I FEEL OFTENTIMES WHAT PLAGUES ALL GRANTS.
I DO APPLAUD IN MY LAST ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE GRANTING SYSTEM IS I APPLAUD THAT WE'VE MOVED AWAY FROM ARTISTIC MERIT.
'CAUSE I THINK ARTISTIC MERIT IS PROBLEMATIC AT BEST.
AND I DON'T SUPER BELIEVE IN IT.
UM, THE IDEA THAT WE ARE JUST LOOKING AT WHO ARE YOU SERVING? HOW ARE YOU DOING IT? WHAT'S YOUR HISTORY DOING THAT THING? THAT IS WHO ARE YOU, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? WHY ARE YOU DOING IT? WHAT'S YOUR HISTORY AND WHAT, HOW, WHAT'S THE OUTCOME GONNA BE IS BASICALLY EVERY GRANT I SEE.
SO IF I CAN ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO HAVE GOOD ANSWERS TO THAT QUESTION, THAT IS BUILDING REPLICABLE LONG-TERM SKILLS.
UM, SO I DO, I'M PRO MULTIPLE CHOICE.
UM, BUT THESE KINDS OF QUESTIONS I DO THINK, UH, ARE MUCH MORE MEANINGFUL TO ME THAN SUBMIT A CV AND LOOK AT YOUR VIDEO SAMPLES OR WHATEVER ARE ARE TOUGH.
IT'S TOUGH TO TRAIN PANELISTS.
IT'S ALWAYS GONNA BE SLIPPERY COMMISSIONERS.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FOR ZACH? I LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY.
FA I DO HAVE ONE COMMISSIONER GRAY.
I JUST WANNA DO OH, IT DOES WORK.
YOU KNOW, AND JUST A BROAD KIND OF STATEMENT AS WELL.
MANY TIMES, UM, IF YOU'RE NOT IN THAT GRANT WORLD, UH, HAVING WORKED WITH THE NEA AND TCA FOR DECADES, UM,
[00:25:01]
MANY PEOPLE THINK THAT IF AN ARTIST NEEDS MONEY OR A NONPROFIT NEEDS MONEY, IT'S A CHARITY TO ME.WE NEED TO ALSO THINK, IF YOU DO THINK THAT WAY, IT'S AN INVESTMENT MM-HMM
AND IT'S AN INVESTMENT IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO EVERYTHING YOU PUT UP THERE IS THAT IF WE DON'T INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY AND LOOK AT ALL OF THIS AS INVESTING IN THE COMMUNITY, THEN WE'RE NOT IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
I THINK I SEE SOME MEASURE OF FRIENDS IN THE AUDIENCE TONIGHT.
I I WOULD ENCOURAGE THAT AS WE CONTINUE TO BE IN A HOSTILE CLIMATE, CLIMATE FOR SOCIAL CONDITIONS, THE ARTS HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN ECONOMIC DRIVER.
WE'RE JUST BAD AT TALKING ABOUT IT.
BUT THE MORE WE CAN SUPPORT THAT WITH THE DATA THAT EXISTS, QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE DATA, THE MORE WE'LL POSITION OURSELVES IN THE WAY IT'S ALL TRUTHFUL AND SHINING TO LIGHT ON THE SURFACE.
IT'S JUST, UH, ARTIST EIGHT SPREADSHEETS FOR THE MOST PART.
ANY OTHER QUE? COMMISSIONER GARZA.
UH, I HAD MOST OF THE DAY OFF TODAY, AND I'D LIKE TO LOOK THE AGENDA.
SO I WENT THROUGH YOUR WEBPAGE.
I LOVE EVERYTHING YOU'RE DOING.
I, I KNOW YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A WHILE MM-HMM
AND I REALLY LIKE THE WAY YOU'LL ALLOW ARTISTS TO COME AND CONNECT, COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER.
ESPECIALLY ABOUT WITH NEXUS AND SOME OF THE OTHER GRANTS.
UH, WE NEED YOU TO MYSTIFY THE LANGUAGE IN OUR APPLICATIONS.
AND THE ONLY WAY THAT'S GONNA HAPPEN IS BY PEOPLE AND CAN HELP EACH OTHER OUT AND INTERPRET WHAT IT MEANS FOR EACH OTHER.
AND SO WE CAN, YOU KNOW, BUILD A COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS.
I, I FEEL LIKE THE WHOLE GOAL IS TO MAKE IT 50%, IF NOT MORE OF THE CHALLENGES.
FOLLOW UP TEXTS WITH INDIVIDUALS, BUT ALSO EVERYONE FEELS KIND OF DUMB APPROACHING THESE THINGS, AND THAT YOU'RE, AS SOON AS SOMEBODY'S FEELING DUMB, LIKE WHAT CAN YOU DO TO ENCOURAGE 'EM THAT THIS IS ALL, THIS ISN'T HOW HUMANS TALK.
AND, UH, THE BEST TEACHERS ARE COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO EACH OTHER.
SO AS SOON AS SOMEBODY CAN EXPRESS TO THEIR NEIGHBOR, HEY, THIS IS HARD FOR ME.
HOW ARE YOU DOING? AND THEY SAY, THIS IS TERRIBLE.
LIKE, NOW THEY'RE GONNA TALK TO EACH OTHER.
THEY CAN HIRE EACH OTHER, ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS.
UH, WE WE'RE ALWAYS TRYING TO ENCOURAGE, UH, FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM, CHEATING ON THE TEST.
'CAUSE THAT IS POSITIVE GROWTH.
UM, IF I DON'T LOSE MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT ALREADY, IT'S ALREADY GONE.
UM, I, YOU SAID SOMETHING THAT SPARKED SOMETHING THAT I TRULY BELIEVE.
I DON'T BELIEVE THAT ART SHOULD BE COMPETITIVE.
SO, UM, BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT ART NEEDS A STRONG MISSION.
AND, AND AGAIN, YOU JUST SAID IT, IT COULD BE VERY SIMPLE.
ART IS IN THERE, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO COMPARE APPLES AND ORANGES IN THE SAME CATEGORY.
BUT THE ARTIST NEEDS TO BE CLEAR ABOUT HOW THAT ART DOES SOMETHING AND WITH THE COMMUNITY.
I'M JUST KINDA BRINGING IT FULL CIRCLE.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS FOR ZACH? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
THE, THE OPTIMISM AND THE CLARITY AND THE SIMPLICITY IN WHICH YOU TALK ABOUT REALLY COMPLEX CONCEPTS IS REALLY REFRESHING.
UM, AND I THINK FOR A COMMISSION THAT IS REALLY MOTIVATED ON MAKING THINGS AS ACCESSIBLE AS POSSIBLE AND AS, UM, EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE, IT FEELS REALLY GOOD TO HEAR THAT WE'RE GETTING CLOSE TO THAT MM-HMM
AND THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ALWAYS KNOW THAT THERE'S WORK TO BE DONE.
UM, BUT AS SOMEBODY WHO'S BOOTS ON THE GROUND WITH ARTISTS FILLING OUT THESE APPLICATIONS EACH, EACH ROUND, UM, TO HEAR THAT THERE ARE GOOD, ALONG WITH THE BAD, I THINK IS REALLY, UM, REASSURING FOR ME.
SO I'M, I APPRECIATE YOUR OPTIMISM AND GENERAL POSITIVE ATTITUDE ABOUT THE DIRECTION THAT WE'RE GOING.
I THINK I'M AND THE CAT, I THINK THAT'S NOW A REQUIREMENT FOR MOVING FORWARD.
I WANT BELLY PICTURES ON ALL PRESENTATIONS.
AND GRAVY FOR BEING HERE TODAY.
WITH THAT, WE'RE MOVING ON TO STEP
[5. Staff briefing regarding the upcoming State Legislative Session by Carrie Roger, Intergovernmental Relations Officer ]
BRIEFINGS.THIS IS A PERFECT SEGUE, UM, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING UPCOMING STATE LEGISLATIVE STA UH, LEGISLATIVE SESSION BY RICK RAMIREZ.
WE DO NOT HAVE CARRIE ROGER HERE WITH US.
UM, INTERGOVERNMENT RELATIONS OFFICER.
RICK, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
YOU GET TO PICK WHERE YOU WANNA SIT.
NOW, I DON'T HAVE ANY PICTURES OF MY CAT.
CAN YOU ALL HEAR ME? UH, I DON'T HEAR YOU IN THE, DO YOU HAVE TO SPEAK RIGHT INTO IT? IT'S GREEN.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? BUT OUR, OUR FOLKS ON SCREEN AND THOSE WATCHING AT HOME WILL NEED YOU TO SPEAK INTO THE MIC.
DON'T HAVE ANY PICTURES OF MY CAT, BUT I DO HAVE A NICE LITTLE TABBY CAT.
AND, UH, I HAVE A LOT OF BELLY PICTURES OF
[00:30:01]
HIM.WE'LL GO OVER TO THE NEXT SLIDE AS WELL.
SO, UM, MY NAME IS RICK RAMIREZ.
I AM THE DEPUTY INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS OFFICER FOR THE CITY.
UM, WE HAVE A KIND OF A NEW TEAM, UH, OVER THERE.
SO I'M SURE THAT Y'ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH BRIE.
AND SHE HAS, UH, PRO PROVIDED SOME UPDATES TO Y'ALL IN THE PAST.
UH, WE HAVE A NEW OFFICER, HER NAME IS CARRIE ROGERS.
SHE COMES TO US FROM DALLAS, AND SHE HAS MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE LEGISLATURE.
I CAME FROM THE CITY OF SUGAR LAND, UH, AND WAS 11 YEARS AS THEIR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS DIRECTOR THERE.
UM, WE HAVE TWO DIVISIONS IN, UH, INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS.
WE HAVE A LEGISLATIVE DIVISION, WHICH IS THE DIVISION I'M OVER.
AND WE ARE HIRING A GRANTS DIVISION.
SO THAT'S GONNA BE VERY EXCITING, UH, FOR EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM.
AND ALSO, UH, ALL OVER THE PLACE.
UM, WE'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, A DEPARTMENT THAT'S GONNA BE FULLY DEVOTED TO COMPETITIVE GRANTS.
AND SO WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO FIND WAYS TO SAVE OUR CITIZENS MONEY, UH, FOR, UH, VARIOUS DIFFERENT, UH, THINGS OUT IN, UM, IN THE CITY.
SO IT'S VERY EXCITING TIME FOR THE CITY RIGHT NOW.
SO THIS IS OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA AT A GLANCE, AND YOU CAN FIND ALL THIS INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE.
UH, WE HAVE ONE PAGERS THAT AT KIND OF GIVE YOU KIND OF THE OVERALL VIEW OF WHAT OUR LEGISLATIVE OFFICE DOES.
BUT IN GENERAL, IN A NUTSHELL, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS PRESERVE LOCAL AUTHORITY, LOCAL DECISION MAKING, MAKING SURE THAT WE MAKE, WE CAN HAVE OUR CITY COUNCIL MAKE DECISIONS THAT ARE BASED ON OUR COMMUNITY THE WAY THAT WE WANT TO SEE OUR COMMUNITY, UH, BE.
UH, WE ALSO WANT TO BE, UM, ADVOCATE FOR FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO MAKE DECISIONS ON OUR FINANCES AND DO NOT WANT TO BE PREEMPTED BY THE STATE OR ANY OTHER GOVERNMENT TO BE ABLE TO MAKE DECISIONS ON OUR FINANCES.
UH, WE ALSO WANT TO PROTECT AND PROMOTE THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND SAFETY.
AND WE ALSO WANT TO PROTECT AND, AND PROMOTE THE ENVIRONMENT AND OUR INFRASTRUCTURE'S RESILIENCE.
SO, GOING INTO THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION, IT'S GOING, IT'S VERY POLITICALLY CHARGED.
UM, THE, UH, UH, ELECTION RESULTS WITH THE NEW ADMINISTRATION AT THE WHITE HOUSE, YOU'RE GONNA SEE A LOT OF THAT INFLUENCE WHAT HAS BEEN FILED.
AND, UH, YOU ALSO SEE THAT IT HAS INFLUENCED SOME OF THE COMMITTEES THAT HAVE BEEN, THE NEW COMMITTEES THAT HAVE BEEN FORMED.
UM, AND SO THAT IS TRICKLING DOWN TO STATE GOVERNMENTS.
AND YOU CAN ALSO SEE IT IN SOME PARTS OF THE STATE TRICKLE DOWN TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AS WELL.
UH, THERE'S A NEW HOUSE SPEAKER.
UM, AND THIS IS THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE SEVENTIES THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW WHO THE SPEAKER WAS GONNA BE ON THE FIRST DAY.
SO IT'S KIND OF A NEW ERA FOR US WHERE IT, IT'S, IT'S, UH, IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR US TO KIND OF GET STARTED.
'CAUSE WE HAD TO, WE HAD TO WAIT TO SEE HOW THE COMMITTEES WERE GONNA SHAPE UP TO KNOW WHAT BILLS WERE GONNA BE MOVING.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE NEW, UH, RULES.
AND BECAUSE WE HAVE A NEW SPEAKER, WE HAVE ALL THESE, UH, NEW COMMITTEES AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN I PUT DOWN HERE SCHOOL FINANCE AND SCHOOL VOUCHERS.
NOT BECAUSE IT'S A CITY RELATED ISSUE, BUT SOMETIMES THESE BIG ISSUES THAT ARE THERE AT THE CAPITOL TAKE UP TIME AND TAKE UP THE LEGISLATURE'S, UH, ATTENTION.
AND SO THAT'S GONNA BE ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT WE'RE GONNA BE WATCHING, BECAUSE THAT MIGHT TAKE AWAY FROM, YOU KNOW, EITHER A CITY PRIORITY BILL OR BILLS THAT WE DON'T LIKE.
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THERE'S ALL THIS TIME SPENT ON THAT, UH, DISCUSSION.
AND THE POWER GRID IS GONNA BE A VERY BIG, UH, THING TO TALK ABOUT AS WELL.
I WILL SAY THOUGH, ON, ON THE HOUSE SPEAKER, UM, WE HAVE THE NEW, UH, COMMITTEES.
THERE WAS ONE THING IN PARTICULAR ABOUT, OH, ACTUALLY WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UH, 'CAUSE I'M GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT THE BIG THREE.
SO ON, ON THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
UM, ONE THING THAT WAS VERY INTERESTING ABOUT THAT IS THAT WHEN HE CAME IN, HE CAME IN WITH THE UNDERSTANDING, UM, AND, AND GOT VOTES WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY WERE NOT GONNA HAVE ANY DEMOCRAT, UM, CHAIRS.
HOWEVER, UM, HE DID, UH, GET A LOT OF VOTES FROM DEMOCRATS TO BE ELECTED.
AND THE WAY THAT HE DID THAT WAS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE DEMOCRAT, UM, SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRS.
SO HE HAS THESE SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIRS THAT ARE ALL DEMOCRATS, AND THAT'S THE WAY THAT THEY HAVE INPUT INTO LEGISLATION THAT'S GOING THROUGH, GOING UP TO THE GOVERNOR.
THE GOVERNOR IS ELECTED BY VOTERS FOR A FOUR YEAR TERM.
UH, AND HE'S, HE WASN'T UP FOR REELECTION THIS CYCLE.
[00:35:01]
YOU HAVE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, WHO IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE, UH, WHO IS, UM, HANDLING EVERYTHING.AND HE'S KIND OF THE, THE COMMITTEE OF ONE PERSON THAT DECIDES WHAT BILLS GO UP IN THE SENATE.
UM, SO YOU HAVE THOSE THREE THAT ARE GONNA BE, UH, WHEELING AND DEALING WITH EACH OTHER AND, AND DECIDING WHAT'S GONNA BE MAKING IT UP TO THE LEGISLATURE.
RIGHT NOW, AS WE GO INTO, UH, THE VERY EARLY PARTS OF THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION, THE GOVERNOR HAS A LOT OF CONTROL AS FAR AS SETTING OUT HIS PRIORITIES.
HE'LL BE DOING THAT SOON, LETTING EVERYBODY KNOW WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT HE WANTS TO SEE PASSED.
AND THEN HIS POWER WILL KIND OF TAKE A BACK SEAT AS WE GET INTO THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
AND YOU'LL SEE THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR AND THE SPEAKER START TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE POWER AS WE GO INTO APRIL, UH, IN MAY, THE GOVERNOR'S POWER STARTS TO COME BACK UP AGAIN.
UM, THAT'S WHEN LEGISLATORS ARE GONNA START CHECKING THEIR WORK AND CHECKING WITH THE, THE, UH, GOVERNOR TO MAKE SURE THAT HE'S NOT GONNA VETO HIS BILL, UH, THEIR BILLS.
SO THAT'S WHEN HE WILL START TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE INFLUENCE, UH, THERE AS WELL.
DURING THAT TIME IS USUALLY WHERE THE CITY KIND OF DOES NOT HAVE ANY MORE, UH, ABILITY TO INFLUENCE BECAUSE THEY'VE ALREADY GOTTEN THROUGH COMMITTEE.
WE HAVE TO TRUST THE SYSTEM AND LET IT GO.
UM, NOW I, I'LL SWITCH OVER TO THE HOUSE AND SENATE CHAMBERS.
JUST TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF NUMBERS HERE.
UH, FOR THE 89TH SESSION, WE'RE GONNA HAVE, UH, REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED HOUSE AND SENATE.
UH, IT'S BEEN LIKE THAT FOR QUITE AN, UH, QUITE A WHILE NOW.
UM, WE HAVE, IN THE SENATE, WE HAVE 20 REPUBLICANS AND 11 DEMOCRATS.
AND IN THE HOUSE WE HAVE 88 REPUBLICANS AND 62 DEMOCRATS.
SO WE DO HAVE SOME CHANGES IN THE HOUSE.
AS I SAID, WE DO HAVE A NEW SPEAKER.
WE, UH, HAVE NO MINORITY PARTY CHAIRS, BUT WE WILL HAVE MINORITY VICE CHAIRS.
UM, AND WE HAVE TWO NEW STANDING COMMITTEES.
AND, UH, ONE OF THEM IS GONNA BE THE DELIVERY OF, UH, GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY, WHICH KIND OF MODELS SOME OF THE, UH, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION'S GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY, UH, THAT HE CREATED.
AND THEN, UH, WE HAVE A, UH, COMMITTEE OF, UH, INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS.
AND THEN, UH, THERE WERE SIX, UH, STANDING COMMITTEES THAT WERE ABOLISHED.
UH, OF INTEREST IS THE, UH, UH, TRADE AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, UH, COMMITTEE THAT WAS, UM, FORMED BY WRAPPING THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE AND THE BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY, UH, COMMITTEE ALL IN ONE.
AND THEN THERE'S ALSO 11 SUBCOMMITTEES.
THERE'S A NEW INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, UH, AND THAT INCLUDES THE COUNTY AND, AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS AND STATE AND FEDERAL AFFAIRS, AND PUT 'EM ALL TOGETHER.
THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF BILLS FILED THIS SESSION A LOT.
SO, UH, WE'VE GOTTEN CLOSE TO, UH, SINCE FRIDAY, AND IT'S PROBABLY INCREASED, UH, A LITTLE BIT MORE.
BUT SINCE FRIDAY, THERE'S BEEN, UH, NEARLY 300 BILL, UH, 3000 BILLS IN JOINT RESOLUTIONS FILED.
UM, THIS, YOU KNOW, FOR THE FIRST WEEK THERE WERE 1,670 BILLS FILED THAT HAD, THAT WAS A 67% INCREASE FROM, UH, WHERE WE WERE, UH, LAST SESSION.
SO WE ARE, WE HAD 8,000 BILLS THAT WERE FILED LAST SESSION.
WE'RE EXPECTING THAT TO BEAT THAT, UH, RECORD THIS TIME AROUND AS WELL.
SO WE READ EVERY SINGLE BILL, UH, AND WE, UH, RESPOND AND HAVE ALL OF OUR, UH, DEPARTMENTS, UH, REVIEW AND, AND LET US KNOW HOW THEY WANNA REACT TO THOSE BILLS AS WELL.
AND WE REACT TO THOSE BASED ON A COUNCIL ADOPTED LEGISLATIVE AGENDA.
NOW WE'RE GONNA GO INTO KIND OF SOME OF THE, UH, THE KEY ISSUES THAT ARE IMPACTING THE CITY, AND THEN I'LL GO INTO SOME OF THE BILLS THAT HAVE BEEN FILED.
UM, SO THE KEY ISSUES THAT, UM, THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, RIGHT NOW IS, UH, ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH, UH, UH, LAND USE AND THAT SORT OF THINGS, DIS ANNEXATION.
UM, AUSTIN WATER AND AUSTIN ENERGY ARE, ARE TWO, UM, UH, UTILITIES.
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S, UH, THAT THEY'RE PROTECTED.
THERE'S, THERE IS GONNA BE LEGISLATION THAT'S GONNA BE FILED DIRECTLY IMPACTING THE WAY AUSTIN ENERGY, UH, RUNS ITSELF.
UH, WE'RE IN THE BUILDING RIGHT NOW, UM, COMMUNITY ADVOCACY.
AND, UH, THAT ONE IN PARTICULAR IS THE USE OF, UH, CITY FUNDS TO PAY FOR LOBBYISTS OR JOIN ORGANIZATIONS THAT HIRE LOBBYISTS.
UM, WE CALL THAT COMMUNITY ADVOCACY BECAUSE ESSENTIALLY THAT'S, UH, SILENCING A COMMUNITY'S ABILITY TO, UH,
[00:40:01]
REPRESENT ITSELF AT THE CAPITOL.UH, HOMELESSNESS IS GONNA BE A BIG ISSUE AT THE CAPITOL.
THERE HAVE BEEN, UM, COMMITTEES, UH, THAT HAVE BEEN, UH, MEETING OVER THE INTERIM, AND THE CITY HAS BEEN IN, UH, TAKING PART IN THAT AS WELL.
UM, SENATOR PARKER, UM, OUT OF THE, UH, NORTH TEXAS HAS BEEN GATHERING CITIES AND, UM, PROVI HOMELESSNESS PROVIDERS AND, AND, AND ALL THAT, UH, ALL OVER THE STATE THROUGHOUT THE INTERIM.
AND WE'VE BEEN, UM, UH, BRINGING DAVID GRAY, OUR, UH, HOMELESS STRATEGY OFFICER WITH US TO TALK ABOUT HOW WE DO WHAT WE DO HERE.
UH, LAND USE, PREEMPTION, UH, DEBT RESTRICTIONS.
AND YOU'LL SEE THAT IN SOME OF THE BILLS THAT HAVE BEEN FILED.
AND THEN, UH, WHAT MIGHT BE OF IMPORTANCE TO YOU IS, UH, THE DEI BILLS THAT HAVE BEEN FILED.
SO I'M GONNA MOVE INTO BILLS, AND WE WILL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO THESE ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR CITY RELATED BILLS.
UH, AND THEN I'LL GO INTO SOME OF THE BILLS THAT THE ARTS COMMISSION MAY BE, UH, OF INTEREST.
UM, THERE HAS BEEN FILED THE DISTRICT OF AUSTIN BILL, UH, WHICH WOULD BASICALLY ABOLISH THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND CREATE THE DISTRICT OF AUSTIN THAT WOULD BE GOVERNED BY THE STATE.
UM, AND ODDLY ENOUGH, THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THAT BILL HAS BEEN FILED.
UM, THERE'S ALSO, UH, UH, UNDER DEBT, THERE'S THESE BILLS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION.
THESE ARE, UH, CERTIFICATES THAT LOCAL GOVERNMENTS CAN ISSUE IN ORDER TO DO IMPORTANT, UM, UH, PROJECTS.
THESE WOULD, UH, HAVE LIMITATIONS ON, UH, WHEN YOU COULD GO OUT FOR CERTIFICATES OF OBLIGATION AND HOW, HOW YOU DO THAT.
UM, YOU HAVE FIREARMS AT EVENTS AND PUBLIC LAND.
THIS IS A, UH, BIG BILL BY, UH, BRISCOE KAIN HP 1715.
THIS WOULD, UM, BASICALLY, UH, MAKE IT SO THAT EVENT ORGANIZERS CANNOT PROHIBIT THE USE OF GUNS AT, UM, UH, EVENTS THAT ARE ON CITY OWNED PROPERTY.
UM, THAT MIGHT BE OF INTEREST TO THE ARTS COMMISSION.
UH, COMMITTEE ADVOCACY, WE, WE HAD TOUCHED ON THAT.
THAT'S HAVING TO DO WITH HIRING, UH, LOBBYISTS, UM, WITH, UH, CITY TAXPAYER FUNDS, UH, EXPENDITURE CAPS.
THEY HAVE ALREADY PASSED REVENUE CAPS, WHICH IS OUR ABILITY TO COLLECT REVENUES.
THEY'RE TRYING TO GO ON THE OTHER END AND HAVE, UH, LIMITS ON HOW MUCH WE CAN SPEND.
SO, UM, THEY'RE, THEY'RE GOING AT IT BOTH WAYS.
AND THEN LAND USE PREEMPTIONS.
WE'VE HAD, UH, QUITE A FEW OF, UH, LEGISLATION HAVING TO DO WITH SHORT TERM RENTALS AND, UM, UH, DENSITY AND ALL OF THAT.
SO, UH, A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT.
CONTINUING ON WITH MAJOR CITY BILLS.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, ETJ RELEASE BILLS.
UM, THIS IS FOLLOWING, UH, THE H HB 20 OR SB 2038 SB YEAH, SB 2038, WHICH WAS A BILL THAT WAS, UH, PASSED LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
UH, I THINK LEGISLATORS ARE SAYING TO KIND OF UNDERSTAND THAT THAT WAS NOT THE GREATEST IDEA.
AND SO THEY'RE, UH, FILING BILLS TO KIND OF BRING THAT BACK.
UM, HOMELESSNESS DATA SHARING WAS A, A GOOD BILL FROM WALE THAT WAS, UM, UH, FILED.
THIS WOULD ALLOW FOR, UM, DIFFERENT CITIES AND DIFFERENT, UH, CONTINUUM OF CARE FACILITIES TO BE ABLE TO SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS WHENEVER THEY'RE GOING FROM ONE CITY TO ANOTHER.
UM, THERE'S BEEN, UH, A BIG, UM, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BILL, UH, VERY, UH, COMPREHENSIVE.
WE'RE HAVING ALL OF CITY DEPARTMENTS KIND OF REVIEW, UH, BUT THERE, THERE WOULD BE LIMITATIONS ON HOW YOU USE AI, WHAT IT CAN BE USED FOR AND, AND THAT SORT OF THING.
UH, THERE'S A RIGHT TO CURE BEER BILL FROM COLLIER.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S A CER BIRTH CERTIFICATES AND HOMELESSNESS.
THERE'S TWO BILLS THAT WERE FILED, BASICALLY MAKING IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO, THAT ARE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS, TO BE ABLE TO ACQUIRE THEIR BIRTH CERTIFICATE, BECAUSE THAT IS USUALLY GONNA BE SOMETHING THAT YOU NEED TO, TO HAVE, UH, EMPLOYMENT AND THAT SORT OF THING.
SO IT'D MAKE IT SO THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR, UM, UH, ACQUIRING THEIR BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
UM, AND THEN ALSO PAYDAY LENDING BILLS, UM, ARE, ARE OUT THERE AS WELL.
AND THAT'S A, A BIG ISSUE FOR MANY CITIES THROUGHOUT THE STATE.
SO THESE BILLS ARE MOSTLY HAVING, UH, THAT WE THOUGHT WOULD BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION.
THESE ARE WHAT WE CALL THE, UH, KIND OF ARTS COMMISSION BILLS.
UM, THE FIRST I'D LIKE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT IS THESE GROUPS OF BILLS, UH, REGARDING DEI.
[00:45:01]
GREAT JOB OF KIND OF EXPLAINING, UH, KIND OF WHAT THEY DO.UM, THE, THE TEPPER BILL AND THE ALL LEO WILSON BILL, UH, BASICALLY PERMIT, UH, PROHIBITED CITY FROM HAVING A DEI PROGRAM IN GENERAL.
UM, THE GERTIE'S BILL IN, IN HUGHES BILL, THEY GO A STEP FURTHER BASICALLY THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN MENTION, UH, RACE OR RELIGION.
UH, YOU CAN'T, THE CITY CAN'T TAKE A POSITION, UH, THAT, UH, USES THAT LANGUAGE, ANTI-DISCRIMINATION AND, AND ALL THOSE THINGS.
THERE'S ALSO THE, UM, IMPACT THAT, UH, IT WOULD, UM, IMPACT THE WAY THAT WE, UH, AWARD FUNDS AND, UH, ANY KIND OF, UH, BENEFIT TO, TO ANYBODY.
AND YOU CAN'T USE RACE, UH, RELIGION OR COLOR OR ETHNICITY, UH, AS A DETERMINING FACTOR.
UH, SO THAT'S A BILL OF INTEREST.
UH, WE ARE HAVING ALL OF OUR CITY DEPARTMENTS, MOST OF OUR CITY DEPARTMENTS REVIEW THAT BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT PARTS OF THAT BILL THAT CAN HAVE SOME IMPACTS.
SO ALL OF THE DEPARTMENTS ARE LOOKING IN THAT RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE DEVELOPING A STRATEGY ON HOW WE WANT TO ADDRESS THAT BILL, THOSE BILLS.
AND, UM, WE CAN, UH, DEFINITELY GIVE Y'ALL AN UPDATE, UH, AT THE END OF THE SESSION ON, ON HOW THAT WENT.
UM, WE'LL GO NOW TO, I THINK THEY'RE ALL ON THE SAME ONE.
UM, THERE WERE ALSO BILLS, UH, FROM SPILLER AND CREIGHTON HAVING TO DO WITH MONUMENTS AND, AND MEMORIALS.
SO THESE PROVIDED THAT, UH, MONUMENT OR MEMORIAL LOCATED ON CITY PROPERTY FOR AT LEAST 25 YEARS MAY BE REMOVED, UH, ONLY AFTER A SUPER MAJORITY VOTE FROM THE CITY COUNCIL TO REMOVE THAT.
UH, THERE'S ALSO SOME THINGS IN HERE THAT SAY THAT, UH, IF YOU DON'T REMOVE IT, YOU CAN ALSO DO SOMETHING WHERE YOU PLACE ANOTHER MEMORIAL OR MONUMENT NEXT TO IT THAT IS EITHER COMPLIMENTING IT OR IN, IN CONTRAST SHOWING, UH, KIND OF CONTEXT FOR THAT MEMORIAL.
UM, AND WE'LL MOVE OVER TO THE FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION.
UH, BILL, UH, THIS WOULD CREATE A FILM EVENTS TRUST FUND AND A FILM PRODUCTION, UH, TAX REBATE TRUST FUND.
UM, WE'RE STILL GOING OVER THE BILL RIGHT NOW, BUT WHAT IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S TRYING TO DO IS DEVELOP A FUND TO BE ABLE TO FUND THESE KIND OF, UH, PROJECTS.
AND THE LAST ONE THAT WE WANTED TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION IS THE TEXAS AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE COMMISSION BY BORIS MILES, SENATOR BORE, BORIS SMILES.
IT WOULD JUST CREATE THAT COMMISSION, UH, TO IDENTIFY, PRESERVE, INTERPRET, AND PROMOTE SITES REFLECTING TEXAS'S AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE.
AND, UH, WITH THAT, I THINK THOSE ARE ALL OF THE BILLS.
IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, I DID ALSO BRING, UH, ALLISON ROSS, WHO IS OUR LEGISLATIVE EXPERT, UH, THERE AT, UH, THE CITY'S INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS OFFICE.
BUT WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR RICK? COMMISSIONER MOCK, SO THE CITY HAS NOT FILED ANY BILLS IN, IN REGARDS TO THE HOT FUND, HOW WE ARE GOING, YOU KNOW, THE PERCENTAGE CAN IT BE INCREASED? WE NEED TO FUND THE CULTURAL ARTS AND WE HAVE NOT FILED A A, A BILL, UH, REGARDING THAT.
SO
AND I WILL MENTION, SEE ME THERE YOU GO RIGHT INTO, YEAH.
WE NEED TO GO AFTER HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF THE HARD FUND, UH, SO THAT WE CAN FUND MORE, YOU KNOW, CULTURAL PROGRAMS MM-HMM
AND ALSO THE SHORT TERM RENTAL.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE ANY LEGISLATURE LEGISLATION TO COLLECT THOSE FUNDING.
WE, WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO, UH, COLLECT AS MUCH AS WE SHOULD.
SO, UH, IN REGARDS TO THE SHORT TERM RENTALS, UM, ACTUALLY THE, UH, CITY COUNCIL WILL BE TAKING ACTION, I BELIEVE NEXT MONTH.
Y'ALL SHOULD HAVE RECEIVED SOME PURPLE PAMPHLETS, IS WHAT WE'VE BEEN CALLING THEM.
OR YOU'VE GOT MINE TODAY, MAGENTA OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
I DON'T KNOW, COLORS, BUT WE'VE BEEN SENDING OUT, UH, LITERATURE ON THAT AS WELL.
WE ARE GONNA DO SOME CHANGES TO SDRS, UH, SHORT TERM RENTALS.
UM, WOULD, AND THEY'RE MOSTLY IN REGARDS TO HOW WE REGULATE THE PLATFORMS AND WHAT WE CAN DO WITH, UH, PEOPLE, UH, WHO ARE LICENSED WITH THE CITY, WHO HAVE, UH, FOR SOME REASON, UM, WE HAVE REMOVED THEIR LICENSE BECAUSE OF SOMETHING THAT THEY'RE NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH,
[00:50:01]
AND MAKING SURE THAT THE PLATFORMS ALSO REMOVE THEM AS WELL.SO THERE'S A LOT, UM, THAT WE'RE DOING ON, ON THAT REGARD.
WE HAVE, WE DON'T HAVE A, A BILL THAT WE'VE FILED IN ORDER TO COLLECT MORE REVENUE, BUT WE'RE DOING THE BEST WE CAN WITH WHAT WE HAVE.
WHO IS THE KING PERSON THAT IS SO HOSTILE TO AUSTIN BRISTOW, UH, BRISTOW CANE.
WHERE IS HE FROM? OH, WHERE IS BRISCOE CAME FROM? I'M NOT SURE WHERE HE IS FROM, BUT, UM, WHICH PART OF TEXAS IS HE FROM
COMMISSIONER HOUSTON, I KNOW THIS ISN'T YOUR PART, BUT CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT THE, THE DEPUTY, THE DIVISION FOR GRANTS AND LEGISLATIVE FUNDING WILL BE DOING? SO, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO WITH THAT DIVISION IS DEVELOP A UNIFIED OVERALL STRATEGY ON HOW WE GO FOR COMPETITIVE GRANTS.
UM, ONE THING THAT WE'VE NOTICED AS WE CAME INTO THE CITY IS THAT, UH, THERE ARE INSTANCES WHERE WE ALL HAVE ONE DEPARTMENT WANTING TO GO FOR, UH, A GRANT FUND, A FEDERAL GRANT, OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND THEN ANOTHER, UM, UH, DEPARTMENT IS ALSO TRYING TO GO FOR THE SAME FUNDS, AND WE END UP COMPETING WITH EACH OTHER FOR THE SAME GRANT FUNDING.
SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS CENTRALIZE THAT STRATEGY.
AND, UM, SO WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW IS CREATING A DATABASE OF HOW MUCH FUNDING THAT WE'VE RECEIVED OVER THE LAST YEAR.
SO WE COULD GET A BASELINE OF WHERE WE'RE AT, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA START DEVELOPING WHAT A UNIFIED STRATEGY MIGHT LOOK LIKE FOR THE CITY.
AND SO IT'S SPECIFICALLY FOR GRANTS THAT THE CITY IS GOING FOR? YES, MA'AM.
NOTHING TO DO WITH THE GRANTS THE CITY GIVES? I DON'T BELIEVE SO.
AND WE HAD BEEN WORKING, I MEAN, A, A WHILE BACK, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS CONVERSATION THAT STARTED WITH THE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS AROUND CROSS SECTOR COLLABORATION MM-HMM
AND WE HAVE BEEN TALKING AT COMMISSION AND ALSO WITH COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES AND HAVE, HAVE TALKED ABOUT IT WITH THE NEW CITY MANAGER AS WELL ABOUT MAKING SURE, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT COULD HAPPEN THROUGH THIS NEWLY ESTABLISHED OFFICE, IS MAKING SURE THAT ARTS ORGANIZATIONS, NOT ONLY THE CITY'S, UM, CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION, BUT ARTS ORGANIZATIONS ARE AT THE TABLE WHEN WE'RE PURSUING FEDERALLY FUNDED, ESPECIALLY GRANTS AS COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
BECAUSE WE'VE FOUND THAT EVEN WHEN THE CITY IS GOING AFTER FEDERAL GRANTS THAT INCLUDE, THAT ACTUALLY REQUIRE, UH, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN NUMBER OF PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS THAT OUR ARTS ORGANIZATIONS HAVE NOT, LIKE, BEEN CONSIDERED AS PART OF THAT MIX.
REALLY HOPING THAT ONCE THAT GETS OFF THE GROUND, THERE MAY BE SOME WAY THAT WE COULD CONNECT TO TRY TO, UM, I THINK, I DON'T THINK IT'S NEFARIOUS ANYWAY, IT'S JUST LIKE MM-HMM
MAYBE NOT A, A BREADTH OF UNDERSTANDING OF ALL THE THINGS, A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT ZACH TALKED ABOUT THAT ARTS BRING TO THE TABLE THAT AREN'T JUST ABOUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
SO ONCE THAT'S UP AND RUNNING, MAYBE THERE'S A CHANCE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE COULD, UM, BE IN CONVERSATION ABOUT HOW WE CAN ROLL OUT SOME OF THOSE, UM, CROSS SECTOR COLLABORATIONS THAT ARE GONNA BENEFIT EVERYBODY AND, UM, DON'T COST THE CITY ANY MONEY.
NO, I, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S GREAT.
AND I BELIEVE THAT THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE WANTING TO LOOK INTO IS HOW DO WE PARTNER WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE ALSO GOING FOR FEDERAL FUNDS AS WELL, AND MAKING SURE THAT, UH, IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN RELY ON A PARTNER OR HELP A PARTNER BE ABLE TO, TO, TO WIN FUNDS, UM, THAT WOULD ALLEVIATE US AND, AND ALLOW US TO BE ABLE TO GO FOR OTHER FUNDS IN A DIFFERENT AREA, MAYBE THE SAME TYPE OF PROJECT.
UM, SO THAT KIND OF UNIFIED STRATEGY, I THINK IS GONNA BE VERY IMPORTANT.
ANOTHER THING THAT I KIND OF GLANCED OVER A LITTLE BIT, UH, WHEN I WAS GOING OVER THE SLIDES IS, UH, AS PART OF, ON THE LEGISLATIVE SIDE, UM, IS WE'RE GONNA HAVE A LOCAL, REGIONAL, UH, UH, ADMINISTRATOR AS WELL.
SO WE'LL HAVE A PERSON WHO'S DEDICATED TO ENSURING THAT WE HAVE, UM, DISCUSSIONS AND COORDINATION WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES, UH, AND OTHER JUST ENTITIES IN GENERAL THAT ARE LOCAL IN NATURE, SO THAT WE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT TAKES TO BRING THIS WHOLE COMMUNITY AND BRING UP, UH, OUR CITIZENS.
SO IT'S GONNA BE REALLY IMPORTANT.
I, I THINK THAT AND THE COMBINATION OF THE LOCAL, REGIONAL, THE GRANTS DIVISION AND WHAT WE DO ON THE LEGISLATIVE SIDE IS GONNA BE VERY, IT, IT'S VERY SYNERGISTIC AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO THINGS THAT WE HAVEN'T DONE IN THE PAST.
AND I, AND WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IT.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE REALLY PUMPED ABOUT.
[00:55:01]
YEAH.JUST TO EMPHASIZE THAT, I THINK ONE, PLEASE LET US KNOW WHEN THAT, THAT, UM, GROUP HAS BEEN FORMED AND, UM, REALLY COMING TO US AND ASKING HOW DOES THIS LOOK? 'CAUSE I THINK, YOU KNOW, TO HEIDI'S POINT, THERE'S JUST A GAP OF UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT ARTS CAN PROVIDE.
UM, AND JUST HOW THE ART SECTOR IS A BEAUTIFUL INTERSECTION OF COMMUNITY.
WE, WE HAVE LOTS OF DIFFERENT, YOU KNOW, COLORS, CREEDS THERE, BUT WE ALSO HAVE JUST DIFFERENT CONTRIBUTORS TO THE ECOSYSTEM MM-HMM
UM, AND THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, IS OUR HOT OR OUR PROGRAMS ARE FUNDED BY HOT.
AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF LIMITATIONS THAT COME WITH THAT FUNDING.
AND SO KNOWING THAT THE CITY IS PURSUING GRANTS THAT THEN WILL INCLUDE AT ITS FOUNDATION AND POLICY LEVEL ARTS ORGANIZATIONS, THAT'S JUST OTHER WAYS THAT WE CAN FEED, BE FEEDING OUR COMMUNITY FINANCIALLY.
UM, MY FAVORITE EXAMPLE THAT HEIDI SHARED WITH AND HEIDI IS THE ED OF PLANET TEXAS 2050.
SO SPECIFICALLY ON CLIMATE RESILIENCE IS MM-HMM
HOW THE CITY CAN PARTNER WITH INSTITU CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS LIKE MUSEUMS, SO THAT WHEN WE HAVE EXTREME WEATHER DAYS, BE IT HOT OR COLD, THAT WE CAN PUSH PEOPLE TO OUR MUSEUMS AS A WAY TO SORT OF SHELTER FROM WEATHER.
BUT THE MUSEUMS CAN BE SUPPORTED THROUGH MONIES FROM THE CITY.
SO THERE'S AGAIN, LIKE OTHER WAYS THAT WE CAN BE FEEDING AND SUPPORTING OUR CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS AND CULTURAL CONTRIBUTORS, WHILE ALSO PROVIDING A SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY AND IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE AND CONTINUING TO EXPOSE THE NEXT GENERATIONS TO THE ARTS AND CULTURE IN AUSTIN.
SO THERE'S JUST A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY THAT LOOKS MUCH MORE, UM, INTRICATE AND SIGNIFICANT THAN SLAPPING A MURAL IN A BUILDING AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT.
AND THAT'S SORT OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN RELEGATED TO UP UNTIL THIS POINT.
AND SO IT'S REALLY EXCITING TO HEAR ABOUT THIS GRANTS DEPARTMENT, UM, AND REALLY BEING GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO EDUCATE THEM ON, ON WHAT ARTS AND INTERSECTIONALITY, UM, HOW IT CAN LOOK IN TRANSPORTATION, IN CLIMATE, RESILIENCE, AND PUBLIC SAFETY.
'CAUSE IT, IT TOUCHES ALL OF THOSE PARTS OF OUR CITY.
UH, BY THE WAY, I'M GONNA DO A, A QUICK PLUG REAL QUICK.
WE ARE, UH, TRYING TO FILL POSITIONS.
UH, WE HAVE A BRI, UH, BUSINESS PROCESS CONSULTANT POSITION, UH, FOR GRANTS THAT'S, UH, OUT THERE, UH, RIGHT NOW, UH, IT, THE, THE JOB POSTING IS OPEN.
UH, WE ARE, UH, WE HAVE AN OFFER OUT FOR A NEW DEPUTY OFFICER FOR GRANTS AS WELL.
UH, SO IT, YOU KNOW, ENCOURAGE YOUR FRIENDS, ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GO TO THE CITY'S WEBSITE.
UM, THE, JUST GOOGLE CITY OF AUSTIN JOBS INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS, AND YOU'LL, YOU'LL FIND US THERE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? IT'S, I GUESS I DO HAVE A REALLY, UH, I DON'T KNOW HOW QUICK IT'S GONNA BE, BUT WITH RESPECT TO THE NEW ANTI DEI BILLS MM-HMM
IS THE ADVICE THAT YOU'RE GIVING, JUST SO IT'S CLEAR TO THE PUBLIC TOO, LIKE HOW, I DUNNO HOW TO PHRASE THE QUESTION.
LIKE, WHAT IS THE BALANCE OF BEING PROACTIVE AND PREEM PREEMPTIVE ON OUR END, ON LIKE, LOOKING AT OUR GRANT MAKING PROCESSES AND THINGS THAT WOULD OBVIOUSLY BE IMPACTED BY THESE BILLS.
VERSUS WAITING TO SEE IF THEY GO INTO EFFECT, KNOWING THAT THE TIMELINE ON THESE THINGS IS WHAT WILL BE OCTOBER.
WHAT, WHAT OR WHEN DOES, WHEN DO BILLS THAT WERE PASSED GO INTO EFFECT? UH, IT DEPENDS ON, ON EACH INDIVIDUAL BILL.
SOME OF THEM ARE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, SOME OF THEM ARE EFFECTIVE UPON SIGNING BY THE GOVERNOR, AND SOME OF 'EM ARE, MAKES EVEN MORE COMPLICATED.
IT SEPTEMBER 1ST, BUT LIKE HOW, JUST, YOU KNOW, I DON'T NEED YOU TO BE SUPER SPECIFIC YEAH.
BUT JUST SO WE, AND, AND OTHERS LISTENING UNDERSTAND LIKE HOW THE CITY STRIKES A BALANCE.
BETWEEN PREPARING FOR WHAT, LIKE READING, READING THE TEA LEAVES OR WHATEVER AND YEAH.
I EXPECTING THE WORST VERSUS, YEAH.
SO WHAT, WHAT I WOULD RECOMMEND TO ANYBODY LISTENING, OR JUST ANYBODY WHO'S IN, INTERESTED IN, IN TRYING TO AFFECT CHANGE AT, AT THE CAPITOL IS, UH, DO, DO SO EARLY, UM, UH, AT, YOU KNOW, GET, GET OUT THERE.
IF YOU'RE DOING IT AT A HEARING, IT'S PROBABLY A LITTLE TOO LATE.
UM, YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO SPEAK WITH THE AUTHOR AND, AND, AND TALK TO THEM ABOUT WHAT THEY'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH.
UH, MANY TIMES WHAT YOU'LL SEE, UM, AT, AT A LEGISLATIVE HEARING IS NOBODY'S COME UP TO ME TO TALK ABOUT THE BILL, SO IT MUST BE FINE.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I WOULD ENCOURAGE, YOU KNOW, ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS OR ANYBODY WHO'S INTERESTED IN THIS TYPE OF LEGISLATION, GO SPEAK WITH YOUR, WITH THE LEGISLATOR, SPEAK WITH THE AUTHOR OF THE BILL, AND THEN SPEAK WITH WHOEVER REPRESENTS YOU DIRECTLY.
UM, AND, AND THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE BIGGEST ADVICE THAT WE HAVE.
OUR OFFICE, UM, WE MAKE SEVERAL TRIPS TO THE CAPITOL, UH, EVERY WEEK TO TALK ABOUT ALL THE DIFFERENT BILLS THAT HAVE BEEN FILED.
UM, AND IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO BE ABLE TO JUST TOUCH BASE WITH THEM EARLY AND OFTEN.
[01:00:01]
BUT LIKE I SAID, BY THE TIME THAT IT'S GONE TO A HEARING, YOU'RE ALREADY KIND OF TOO LATE.WILL YOU READ THE LIST OF WORDS? YES.
SO IT IS PROMOTING AN OFFICIAL POSITION, UH, OF THE ENTITY.
A A PARTICULAR OPINION REFERENCING UNCONSCIOUS OR IMPLICIT BIASED CULTURAL APPROPRIATION, ALLYSHIP, TRANSGENDER IDEOLOGY,
SO BASICALLY YOU CAN ONLY JUST BE LIKE A HUMAN,
WELL JUST, UH, THANK YOU FOR THIS UPDATE AND FOR THE WORK THAT YOU DO AND READING THOUSANDS OF CRAZY THINGS, TRANSLATING THEM FOR US.
IT'S REALLY REMARKABLE THAT YOU WELL, YOU'RE VERY WELCOME.
THIS IS THE WORK THAT WE LOVE TO DO.
AND PLEASE, IF YOU CAN, UM, I KNOW YOU'RE INTERIM, I DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THAT MEANS, BUT PUTTING ON YOUR SCHEDULE TO COME BACK TO US, UM, DEFINITELY AT THE END OF THE SESSION SO THAT WE CAN KIND OF HAVE A RECAP OF, OF WHERE THINGS STAND.
BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, EVEN A MIDWAY POINT I THINK WOULD BE HELPFUL BECAUSE THIS SO DIRECTLY IMPACTS THE WORK THAT WE DO.
UM, SO HAVING A TIGHTER RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR DEPARTMENT, I THINK WOULD REALLY BE BENEFICIAL FOR US TO UNDERSTAND LIKE, WHAT ARE THE CONFINES THAT STAFF IS WORKING WITHIN? UM, AND IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE BROAD STROKES.
IT CAN BE REALLY GRANULAR, UM, IN TERMS OF SPECIFIC BILLS THAT WE'VE, LIKE ARTS COMMISSION BILLS, AS YOU SAID.
SO, UM, AS TIME ALLOWS, I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE EXTREMELY BUSY AND I WOULD NEVER WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR TIME, BUT DEFINITELY A, A FOLLOW UP ON THE BACK END WOULD BE REALLY APPRECIATED.
WITH THAT, WE'RE MOVING ON TO ITEM
[6. Staff briefing regarding an update on the Hotel Occupancy Tax by Jesús Pantel, Cultural Funding Supervisor]
SEVEN, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING AN UPDATE ON THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, UM, BY JESUS PENTEL, BUT I DON'T THINK JESUS IS GIVING US, WE HAVE MATT SCHMIDTTHE PRESENTATION WILL BE PULLED UP SHORTLY.
JUST SPEAK RIGHT INTO THAT MIC.
I FEEL WE'VE HAD LOTS OF TALL SPEAKERS THAT HAVE TO HUNCH OVER INTO THAT MICROPHONE.
SO, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
MATTHEW SCHMIDT, ACTING CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION MANAGER.
WE'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, AS YOU MAY NOTE, THIS PRESENTATION MAY LOOK VERY FAMILIAR, UM, UH, DUE TO SOME DISRUPTIONS FROM, UH, STAFF VACATIONS AND SOME EARLIER THAN EXPECTED BABY ANNOUNCEMENTS.
OH, UNFOR, I DID NOT, UH, I'LL JUST BREAK THE NEWS TO Y'ALL.
OUR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, MORGAN MESSICK, DID HAVE HER BABY, UH, EARLY.
SO SHE IS OUT FOR MATERNITY LEAVE AND OUR, UH, ACTING ASSISTANT DIRECTOR WILL BE VAN JOB.
HE IS IN OUR CROWD TODAY, SO HE'LL, HE'LL WAVE OVER THERE.
UM, SO SHE'LL BE OUT FOR THE NEXT FOUR MONTHS OR SO.
UM, AND SO THAT'S WHY, UH, UNFORTUNATELY WE WERE NOT ABLE TO CAPTURE OUR NUMBERS FOR OUR HOT COLLECTIONS FOR, UH, NOVEMBER.
UM, SO WE'LL JUST BE REPORTING THE NOVEMBER NUMBERS THAT, AGAIN, AS A REMINDER, A REFLECTION OF THE HOTEL STAYS FROM OCTOBER.
UH, SO JUST AGAIN, AS A REMINDER, THE HO THE HOT COLLECTION, UH, REPORT FROM NOVEMBER, 2024, UH, HOT COLLECTIONS WERE 5,806,193.
UH, AND OF THAT THE HOT, UH, CULTURAL ART FUNDS COLLECTION OF THAT IS 559,306, WHICH IS ABOUT 9.6% OF THOSE COLLECTIONS.
AGAIN, JUST A LITTLE VISUAL REPRESENTATION, UH, OF OUR PROGRESS FOR FY 25.
UH, TO DATE, WE'VE RECEIVED 2.9 MILLION OF OUR FUNDS, AGAIN, FOR OUR APPROVED BUDGET,
[01:05:01]
OR FY 25, WE HAD RECEIVED 16 MILLION.UH, AND AGAIN, FOR THE FY 25 FUNDS THAT WE COLLECT, THOSE WILL BE SPENT FOR FY 26.
UH, AND THIS IS JUST A COMPARISON CHART OVER THE PAST FOUR YEARS OR SO OF, UH, OUR COLLECTIONS, UH, OF THE, OVER THE YEARS.
UH, AND AS YOU'LL NOTE, UH, OF OUR PAST QUARTER, CURRENTLY WE ARE $250,000 BELOW WHERE WE WERE AT THIS TIME LAST YEAR.
AND WE'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS, ANY QUESTIONS FOR MATT ABOUT HOT AND HOT LEVELS? COMMISSIONER HOUSTON? THIS, THIS PRESENTATION ISN'T IN THE BACKUP.
ITEM NINE, UH, IT'S IN, IS LABELED.
IF YOU GO INTO IT NOW, SAME LINK, IT'S THERE.
THEY UPDATE THEM USUALLY THE SAME DAY.
I THINK IT'S LIKE WHEN WE GET OUR FIRST LINK, THE CITY STUFF IS NEVER THERE, BUT IF YOU GO, I DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY'RE UPLOADED, BUT IT'S CLOSER TO THE ACTUAL MEETING.
IT WILL BE UP THERE IF IT'S NOT, AND IT'S THE SAME PRESENTATION AS LAST MONTH'S.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? AND WE KNOW WE'RE A LITTLE BEHIND, SO I GUESS NEXT MONTH WILL WE HAVE DOUBLE REPORTS? YEAH.
NEXT MONTH WE WILL INCLUDE THE DECEMBER AND JANUARY REPORTS.
SO THAT WILL COVER NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER HOTEL STAYS.
OH, JUST WANNA MAKE A NOTATION.
I WENT BACK INTO THE LINK AND I STILL DON'T SEE IT.
AND I SEE ITEM NINE IS LAID AT, IS LABELED AS WHOLESALE OCCUPANCY TAX.
AH, BUT IT'S THE MEASURE REPORT.
I STILL, I THINK YOU'RE OFF THE HOOK.
NEXT WE HAVE ITEM EIGHT STEP BRIEFING ON THE
[7. Staff briefing on the Cultural Arts Funding Programs by Jesús Pantel, Cultural Funding Supervisor]
CULTURAL ARTS FUNDING PROGRAMS BY JESUS PINEL, CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR.I'M THE CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR.
I AM A LATINO WITH, UH, GRAY HAIR, A SALT AND PEPPER BEARD, WEARING A BLACK, UH, BLAZER AND A BLACK SHIRT.
UM, I WILL BE GIVING AN UPDATE ON THE CULTURAL ARTS FUNDING PROGRAMS TODAY.
UM, TODAY WE WILL BE DISCUSSING, UH, CONTRACTS AND PAYMENTS.
I'LL GIVE AN UPDATE ON THE FY 25 NEXUS PROGRAM, UM, AS WELL AS, UH, GRANT FUNDED ACTIVITIES THROUGH OUR VARIOUS CULTURAL ARTS FUNDING PROGRAMS. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO AGAIN, SIMILAR TO, UM, WHAT WE HAVE BEEN SHOWING YOU ALL THE PAST FEW MONTHS.
UH, JUST UPDATING IT WITH, UM, NEW INFO IN THE RED BOXES.
SO WE HAVE JUST OVER THREE QUARTERS OF OUR ELEVATE.
UH, GRANTS HAVE BEEN, UM, CLOSED OUT, UM, ABOUT, UM, ALMOST 100% OF OUR FY 23 NEXUS FALL, WINTER, UM, HAVE BEEN CLOSED OUT.
UM, MOST OF OUR, UH, NEXUS SUMMER HAVE BEEN CLOSED OUT AS WELL.
UM, AND THEN FOR THRIVE, UM, IT JUST, UM, ACTUALLY STILL HASN'T CLOSED YET.
IT WILL BE CLOSING, UM, ON FRIDAY.
SO WE WILL BE GETTING MORE FINAL REPORTS, UM, FOR THRIVE SOON.
UH, NEXT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT NEXUS.
UM, AND SO, AS MENTIONED, UH, LAST MONTH AS WELL AS AT THE OCTOBER ARTS COMMISSION MEETING, NEXUS IS MOVING TO A SINGLE APPLICATION PER YEAR.
UH, NEXUS APPLICATIONS WILL OPEN TOMORROW, UH, JANUARY 28TH.
UH, THEY WILL, UM, CLOSE ON MARCH 6TH, AND THERE WILL BE FOR ACTIVITIES THAT OCCUR BETWEEN MAY 1ST, UH, 2025 THROUGH APRIL 30TH, 2026.
UM, AND THAT MEANS FINAL REPORTS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN MAY 30TH.
THEY ARE DUE, UH, 30 DAYS AFTER THE FINAL ACTIVITY.
UM, BUT IN NO CASE, IN NO CASE LATER THAN MAY 30TH, SINCE THE LATEST THE ACTIVITY CAN BE IS APRIL 30TH, AGAIN OF 2026.
SO, FOR A GRANT OVERVIEW, UM, JUST A REMINDER THAT NEXUS IS DESIGNED TO NURTURE NEW AND EMERGING APPLICANTS IN AUSTIN'S CREATIVE COMMUNITY.
IT, THE FUND SUPPORTS ARTS AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES OF ALL KINDS.
NEXUS WILL PRIORITIZE APPLICANTS WHO ARE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED.
THIS MAY INCLUDE APPLICANTS THAT ARE ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED BECAUSE OF THEIR STATUS AS A VETERAN OR APPLICANTS WHO HAVE SUFFERED THE EFFECTS OF DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES.
NEXUS WILL ALSO PRIORITIZE APPLICANTS WHO HAVE NEVER RECEIVED CITY
[01:10:01]
OF AUSTIN CULTURAL FUNDING AWARDS IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS.AND 100 WARDS OF $5,000, UH, WILL BE AWARDED.
UM, AND THE NUMBER OF AWARDS IS NOT A LIMIT.
UM, IT IS SUBJECT TO THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS IF WE HAVE ANY TIES, BUT WE ARE LOOKING, UM, TO FUND A HUNDRED WARDS AT $5,000 EACH.
AND SO, UH, SOME OF THE CHANGES, UH, FOR THE FY 25 NEXUS GRANT, UM, IT IS DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS ITERATIONS OF NEXUS.
UM, THE NEXUS APPLICATION IS MOVING FROM A BIANNUAL LAUNCH SCHEDULE TO AN ANNUAL LAUNCH CYCLE.
UH, WITH THIS, THE AWARDEES WILL HAVE UP TO 12 MONTHS TO COMPLETE THEIR ACTIVITIES AND SPEND FUNDS AS OPPOSED TO THE PREVIOUS, UH, SIX MONTH CONTRACT PERIOD.
LONG ANSWER NARRATIVE QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE NEXUS APPLICATION AND HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH 10 MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS AND TWO SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS.
UH, SOME OF THE WORK SAMPLES CAN ALSO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL POINTS.
AND THEN FY 25 NEXUS APPLICATION IS MULTIPLE CHOICE.
THIS HAS BEEN, UH, MENTIONED EARLIER.
UH, SCORING WILL BE FACILITATED BY AUTO CALCULATIONS IN THE SUBMITTABLE PLATFORM, AND REVIEWED BY CULTURAL FUNDING STAFF AND OUR THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATORS.
THE LONG CENTER, UH, AGAIN, THE TOP SCORING, THE TOP 100 SCORING APPLICATIONS WILL BE SELECTED FOR AWARDS AND TO ALIGN WITH THE PRACTICES OF OTHER AUTO SCORED APPLICATIONS IN OUR DEPARTMENT.
THE NEXUS SCORING RUBRIC AND REVIEW FORMS WILL NOT BE MADE AVAILABLE TO APPLICANTS THIS ROUND.
UM, SO I GAVE, UH, THE KIND OF TIMELINE, UM, AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXUS, UH, SECTION OF THE PRESENTATION, BUT THERE'S, UH, SOME MORE, MORE IMPORTANT DATES, UH, TO CONSIDER.
UM, AGAIN, THE NEXUS APPLICATION OPENS TOMORROW, TUESDAY, JANUARY 28TH AT 10:00 AM CENTRAL TIME AND APPLICATIONS ARE DUE ON THURSDAY, MARCH 6TH, UH, BY 7:00 PM CENTRAL TIME VIA THE ONLINE SUBMITTABLE APPLICATION PLATFORM.
AGAIN, CITY STAFF WILL REVIEW ELIGIBILITY AND APPLICATIONS WILL BE SCORED THROUGHOUT MARCH AND APRIL WITH AWARDS ANNOUNCED BY MID-APRIL.
UH, THERE ARE SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES TO RECEIVE APPLICATION SUPPORT THROUGHOUT THE APPLICATION PERIOD, UM, INCLUDING A NEXUS INFORMATION SESSION.
UH, WE PRESENTED THIS PAST WEEKEND IN SPANISH AT THE SPICEWOOD SPRINGS LIBRARY.
UH, WE'LL HAVE AN ASK ME ANYTHING, UH, PROGRAM Q AND A AT THE EDDA LIBRARY ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH AT 6:30 PM AND, UH, THE NEXUS GRANT FROM DRAFT TO DONE AT THE DEWITT JOB TRAINING CENTER, WHERE APPLICANTS CAN USE A COMPUTER LAB TO SUBMIT THEIR NEXUS APPLICATION WITH PROGRAM STAFF AVAILABLE ONSITE TO ASSIST WITH ANY QUESTIONS AS THE APPLICANTS WORK ON THEIR APPLICATIONS.
UM, AND OPEN OFFICE HOURS WILL BE HELD EVERY TUESDAY BETWEEN JANUARY 28TH, UH, SO STARTING TOMORROW, UH, AND MARCH 10TH FROM 10:00 AM TO NOON.
UM, AND SO OUR OPEN OFFICE HOURS ARE NORMALLY THE SECOND AND FOURTH TUESDAY.
BUT DURING APPLICATION, UM, LAUNCHES WHEN THEY'RE OPEN, WE DO 'EM EVERY TUESDAY, UH, 10:00 AM TO NOON.
AND THEN WE'LL ALSO, UM, BE AVAILABLE 10:00 AM TO 6:00 PM ON THE APPLICATION DUE DATE OF THURSDAY, MARCH 6TH.
SO FOR THE GRANT FUNDED ACTIVITIES, NEXT SLIDE.
UM, I'M NOT GONNA READ WHAT ALL OF THE EVENTS ARE.
I'LL JUST, UH, LET YOU ALL KNOW WHO THE, UM, UH, DIFFERENT, UH, ACTIVITY OR ARTISTS AND ARTS GROUPS WE HAVE, UH, COMING UP, UH, WITH, UH, VARIOUS ACTIVITIES.
UM, AND WE HAVE A MIXTURE OF ELEVATE, THRIVE, AND NEXUS IN HERE.
SO I'VE JUST KIND OF, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST KEPT THEM AS GENERAL FY 23 THROUGH 24 CULTURAL FUNDING GRANTEE ACTIVITIES.
UH, WE HAVE FRONTERA FEST, UM, COMING UP JANUARY 4TH THROUGH FEBRUARY 15TH, HYDE PARK THEATER.
UH, SHE WAS HERE BY AUSTIN PLAYHOUSE.
UM, A MUSEUM EXPERIENCE BY EQUITY THROUGH ART AND HER MAJESTY, A CELEBRATION OF BLACK WOMEN IN MUSIC BY TAMIKA JONES.
UM, MOTHER FIGURES, UH, BY DANCE WATERLOO COMMUNITY IMPRESSIONS WORKS BY KIM BISHOP AND LUIS VALEZ.
UH, AT CORONADO PRINT STUDIO, UH, WE HAVE MAHA BARTA TALES BY AUSTIN SHAKESPEARE AND TWILIGHT, THE AERIAL SHOW, UH, BY SKY CANDY
AND THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, WE HAVE HARD TANGO, UH, BY A TX CHAMBER MUSIC AND JAZZ QUEER CINEMA LOST IN FAN SERIES BY AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY, A CG ORIGINALS PHANTOM OF THE OPERA BY AUSTIN CLASSICAL GUITAR.
AND THEN SUNDAY SERVICE CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH, UH, BY THE EAST SIDE KINGS FOUNDATION.
AND THAT CONCLUDES, UH, MY PRESENTATION.
AND HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU ALL MAY HAVE.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR JESUS? QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? COMMISSIONER NEY? YEAH, I HAVE, UM, SOME QUESTIONS AND SOME COMMENTS.
COULD YOU PUT THAT MY WAY SO I CAN SEE? SO,
[01:15:01]
UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT THE, UM, NEXUS APPLICATION NOW IS MULTIPLE CHOICE, UM, WHICH I CAN SEE CAN BE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO FOLKS TO FILL OUT, UM, BY MOBILE PHONE.AND THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS TALKED ABOUT, UM, FOR THE MUSIC COMMISSION.
AND SO I GUESS MY FIRST QUESTION IS, UM, IS THIS, UM, NEXUS GRANT MODELED AFTER THE MUSIC COMMISSION GRANT, OR, UM, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY MODELED AFTER IT, BUT, UM, THE MUSIC, UH, THE LIVE MUSIC FUND DOES HAVE A MULTIPLE CHOICE APPLICATION.
AND, UM, SO YES, WE DID COLLABORATE, UH, UH, WITH THE MUSIC DIVISION ON CREATING THE, UH, NEXUS APPLICATION TO MAKE SURE WE'RE FOLLOWING BEST PRACTICES, UH, LEARNING WHAT WORKED FROM THEM WITH THEIR MULTIPLE CHOICE APPLICATION.
UM, SO SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS I FEEL CAN BE KIND OF CONFUSING.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF YOUR TOTAL ANNUAL INCOME COMES FROM YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE? AND SO, TO MY UNDERSTANDING, IF YOU HAVE MORE MONEY THAT'S COMING FROM YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE, YOU SCORE HIGHER.
AND IF YOU HAVE LESS MONEY COMING, UM, ANNUAL INCOME COMING FROM YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE, YOU SCORE LOWER.
IS THAT CORRECT? UM, I, BASED ON THE RUBRIC, I WOULD NEED TO LOOK MORE CLOSELY AT THE RUBRIC, BUT I BELIEVE THAT IS, UH, CORRECT.
SO WE WANT TO, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THE PRIORITY IS, UM, TO FUND ARTISTS THAT ARE, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, WORKING ARTISTS AND THOSE WHO, UM, HAVE LIVED HERE IN AUSTIN, UH, DOING THE WORK AND MAYBE HAVE NOT BEEN FUNDED.
SO, SO NEWER ARTISTS IN ARTS GROUPS, AGAIN, NOT FUNDED IN BY US IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
BUT I GUESS WHAT, WHERE I'M COMING FROM IS THAT IT CAN, YOU CAN BE AN ARTIST AND YOU CAN HAVE GENERATIONAL WEALTH.
LIKE, LET ME PAINT A PICTURE FOR YOU.
MY NAME IS MARK, AND I HAVE A TRUST FUND, AND, BUT I DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE A JOB, SO I MAKE $0.
BUT SOMETIMES I PLAY SHOWS AND I GET PAID, MAYBE LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, VENUES DON'T PAY MUSICIANS VERY WELL.
BUT LET'S SAY I, YOU GET PAID $50 AND YOU PAY A COUPLE SHOWS A QUARTER, YOU COULD SAY A HUNDRED PERCENT OF YOUR INCOME COMES FROM YOUR CREATIVE PRACTICE.
BUT ALSO TECHNICALLY ON PAPER, IF YOU ARE LOOKING AT YOUR ANNUAL INCOME, THAT'S ALSO 100%.
BUT THEN YOU HAVE THIS LIKE, SECRET MONEY.
AND, AND THE REASON WHY I'M GIVING YOU THIS, THIS SCENARIO IS IT'S PLAUSIBLE.
IT IS VERY PLAUSIBLE TO HAPPEN.
I KNOW LOTS OF ARTISTS THAT HAVE TRUST FUNDS AND I KNOW LOTS OF ARTISTS THAT WORK, YOU KNOW, FIVE JOBS AND LIVE IN CHERRYWOOD, WHICH WOULD PUT THEM AT A DISADVANTAGE.
UM, SO THESE ARE JUST KIND OF THINGS THAT I'M THINKING ABOUT.
I, I UNDERSTAND THE INTENT, BUT I ALSO WOULD HAVE REALLY LIKED TO WEIGH IN ON THIS AS AN ARTS COMMISSIONER, AS AN ARTIST, AS SOMEBODY THAT IS FROM AUSTIN, WHO IS LOWER INCOME AS WELL.
UM, JUST BECAUSE THESE ARE KIND OF THINGS THAT I THINK ABOUT WHEN I'M, I'M READING THIS AND I'M SURE I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE.
BUT THEN I ALSO THINK OF PEOPLE THAT COULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS METRIC SYSTEM AS WELL, UM, BECAUSE I AM CONCERNED ABOUT OVERSIGHT ON, YOU KNOW, I COULD PUT IN ALL THE RIGHT THINGS FOR THIS AND I COULD GET THE FUNDS, BUT I'M NOT NECESSARILY THE PERSON THAT IT'S INTENDED FOR IF I'M MARK THIS IMAGINARY PERSON THAT I'VE MADE UP.
UM, SO YEAH, I GUESS THOSE ARE A LOT OF COMMENTS AT ONCE, BUT I HAVE A LOT OF, I GUESS, FEEDBACK AND ALSO SUGGESTIONS FOR THIS GRANT MOVING FORWARD.
UM, ULTIMATELY I JUST WISH THAT OUR VOICES WERE A PART OF THAT CONVERSATION IF THERE WERE GOING TO MAKE SUCH, UM, DRASTIC CHANGES TO THE GRANT, BECAUSE THIS IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT GRANT FROM THE PRIOR YEAR.
UM, AND REALLY WE HAD NO INPUT.
SO THAT'S JUST, THOSE ARE JUST KIND OF MY THOUGHTS, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING IT WAS A PILOT PROGRAM AND WE'RE STILL KIND OF IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING FEEDBACK FOR THAT AS WELL.
AND I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT SOME OF THESE WERE IN CONSIDERATION OF CREATIVELY, UM, THINKING ABOUT HOW WE CAN, UM, SUPPORT PEOPLE THAT ARE HISTORICALLY UNDERSUPPORTED, UM, AND UNDERREPRESENTED IN THE ARTS.
BUT, UM, I JUST HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS AND FEEDBACK THAT I WOULD LOVE TO TELL YOU AND FOR THEM TO ACTUALLY BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN DRAFTING NEW GRANTS.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER SCHMUCK.
YEAH, I JUST GONNA SECOND A LOT OF WHAT COMMISSIONER CHENEY SAID.
UM, IT DOES FEEL REALLY DIFFERENT.
LIKE THE GRANT FEELS LIKE WHEN WE SEE A SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON OF WHAT'S CHANGED AND THE, I THINK LAST MEETING, THE FOCUS WAS ON ONE CYCLE INSTEAD OF TWO AND MULTIPLE CHOICE.
[01:20:02]
JUST, I, I DID A SIDE BY SIDE OF THE SUMMER RUBRIC AND THIS RUBRIC RUBRIC, UM, AND THIS ONE ALMOST FEELS MORE MYSTERIOUS, LIKE IN HOW WE GET TO 11 POINT UP TO 17 POINTS WITH MULTIPLE CHOICE.IS IT JUST LIKE TWO POINTS FOR EVERYTHING YOU CHECK OFF? THERE'S JUST A LOT.
AND, AND I, I AGREE AND, AND, AND BACK UP.
LIKE WE KNOW THAT THE INTENTION IS THERE, BUT IT FEELS LIKE, AGAIN, I THINK WE'RE FEELING LIKE WE DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO SEE THIS AND WEIGH IN ON IT AND, AND ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT LIKE, AND MAYBE LIKE POKE SOME HOLES AND GIVE, YOU KNOW, EXAMPLES, STRAW MAN EXAMPLES IF THEY ARE.
BUT LIKE ABOUT LIKE, WHO, WHO MIGHT BE APPLYING FOR THIS GRANT THAT WOULD TAKE IT OFF COURSE FOR WHAT I THINK WE'VE ALL AGREED WE'RE TRYING TO DO.
AND THEN JUST SOMETHING THAT FAA DIDN'T SAY THAT I ALSO HAVE A CONCERN ABOUT IS OUR, THE WAY THAT OUR CURRENTLY, LIKE THREE GRANT PROGRAMS ARE WORKING TOGETHER, UM, PARTICULARLY AROUND SCAFFOLDING AND HELPING OUR ARTISTS LIKE GROW INTO, YOU KNOW, HIGHER LEVELS OF SUPPORT OR WHATEVER THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE WHEN, AND I THINK IT'S WONDERFUL THAT WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT PRIORITIZES PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT HAD FUNDING FROM THE CITY BEFORE, BUT WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THEY GET IT FOR ONE YEAR AND THEN, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST NOT REALISTIC THAT SOMEONE'S GOING TO THEN IMMEDIATELY MOVE UP INTO THE ELEVATE CATEGORY.
SO I FEEL LIKE WE DON'T, WE'RE JUST LIKE NOT QUITE HITTING IT ON HOW WE LIKE HELP CREATE THIS SCAFFOLDING THROUGH THE LIMITED FUNDING THAT WE HAVE THAT CAN HELP REALLY SUPPORT AND GROW THE CAPACITY OF INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS, OUR SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS, AND THEN TO SOME EXTENT EVEN OUR MID-SIZE ORGANIZATIONS.
SO IT'S JUST ANOTHER, LIKE, AND I KNOW WE'RE GONNA HEAR FROM MEASURE LATER, BUT LIKE THIS NEED TO LIKE ZOOM OUT AGAIN FOR A MINUTE AND BE LIKE, OKAY, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE THE PILOTS, WE'VE TRIED IT OUT, WE'VE SEEN, WE HAVE DATA TO SAY WHAT'S HAPPENED.
WE HAVE STORIES, WE HAVE EXPERIENCES FROM PEOPLE WHO'VE PARTICIPATED.
IS THIS WHAT WE INTENDED? AND IF NOT, LIKE WHAT, WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO TO FIX THAT? AND AGAIN, WE'LL SAY THAT I THINK WE CAN SPEAK FOR ALL THE COMMISSION.
LIKE WE REALLY WANNA BE PART OF THAT ON A MORE INTENSIVE LEVEL BECAUSE THIS IS SO IMPORTANT.
THIS IS, SO THIS IS LIKE WHAT WE DO AS A COMMISSION AND, AND IS THE MAIN THING THAT THE CULTURAL ARTS DEPARTMENT DOES IS, IS THIS GRANT MAKING? AND SO, YEAH, JUST REITERATING WHAT WE SAID IS LIKE, WE REALLY WANT TO BE MORE INVOLVED AND NOT KIND OF COMING IN AT THE LAST MINUTE AND BEING LIKE, WAIT, WHAT? THIS ISN'T, THIS DOESN'T SEEM LIKE WHAT WE THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA BE.
AND NOT TO TAKE UP TOO MUCH OF THE FLOOR AGAIN, AND I MEAN THIS WITH SO MUCH RESPECT BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT Y'ALL ARE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THIS.
I JUST DON'T WANNA FEEL LIKE I'M A BULLY.
YOU KNOW, LIKE WHEN THESE CHANGES ARE MADE AND WE AREN'T, UM, ABREAST OF ANY OF THE CHANGES.
I THINK THAT IS WHERE WE FALL SHORT, UM, AS A COMMISSION BECAUSE THEN WE FEEL BLINDSIDED AND THEN WE HAVE FOLKS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THESE CHANGES.
AND THEN WE ARE, WE ARE NOT EVEN AWARE OF THEM REALLY UNTIL THEY'RE ALREADY PUBLISHED.
AND IT JUST DOESN'T REALLY SEEM LIKE, UM, WE'RE LEVERAGING THE TALENT THAT IS ON THIS DAIS.
UM, AND THE YEARS OF EXPERIENCE TO COMPLIMENT THAT PROCESS, RIGHT? TO COMPLIMENT IT, TO WORK TOGETHER SO THAT WE HAVE A UNITED VOICE AND WE HAVE CONVICTION IN WHY WE'RE DOING THINGS THE WAY THAT WE ARE, RATHER THAN US SITTING HERE ASKING THESE QUESTIONS NOW.
I'M, I'M GONNA BE HONEST, LIKE, I FEEL BAD.
I FEEL BAD WHEN I HAVE TO DO THIS AND I'VE HAD TO DO IT SEVERAL TIMES.
UM, AND I DON'T WANNA FEEL BAD BECAUSE I'M ON Y'ALL'S SIDE AND I, I REALLY CARE ABOUT, UM, SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION.
ONE OF THE WORDS THAT I'M NOT ALLOWED TO SAY, I AM GONNA SAY IT, UH, OH, WELL, YEAH, I'LL SAY IT LIKE 20 TIMES TONIGHT.
UM, AND, AND IN CREATIVE SOLUTIONS.
BUT IF WE'RE NOT A PART OF THAT CONVERSATION, WE JUST WASTE TIME GOING OVER THINGS THAT LITERALLY ARE ALREADY SET IN STONE AND WE CAN'T REALLY DO ANYTHING ABOUT THEM.
SO, UM, I'LL BE THE, YOU KNOW, BULLY FOR NOW, BUT I DON'T WANNA BE THE BULLY FOREVER.
AND I REALLY WANT Y'ALL TO WORK WITH US SO THAT WE CAN WORK ON THESE THINGS TOGETHER.
BECAUSE AS YOU SAID, THEY ARE VERY IMPORTANT AND THEY ARE ONE OF THE BIGGEST THINGS THAT THE CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION DOES THAT REACHES SO MANY LIVES.
AND THE LAST THING THAT I'M GOING TO SAY IS I REALLY DO THINK THAT NEXUS SHOULD HAVE SMALLER DOLLAR AMOUNTS MORE TIMES A YEAR IF IT IS FOR NEW AND EMERGING FOLKS.
BECAUSE IF YOU'RE SCALING THIS OFF OF MULTIPLE CHOICE, $5,000
[01:25:01]
IS ACTUALLY A TON OF MONEY FOR SOMEBODY THAT YOU COULD DO $2,000 OR MAYBE YOU COULD DO A FEW $5,000 AND A FEW $2,000.SEE, I'M ALREADY TRYING TO LIKE, THINK OF DIFFERENT WAYS THAT YOU CAN REACH DIFFERENT PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY WITH COMMUNITY FEEDBACK THAT WAS HERE TONIGHT.
I JUST THINK THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT ARE GIVING FEEDBACK, BUT IT'S NOT BEING, UH, DISCUSSED OUTSIDE OF THIS ROOM.
UM, AND IT'S A LITTLE FRUSTRATING IF I, IF I HAVE TO SAY, SO I'M GONNA OPEN THE FLOOR TO COMMISSIONER GRAY, BUT ECHOING WHAT OUR PREVIOUS COMMISSIONERS HAVE SAID, YOU KNOW, WE UNDERSTAND THAT OUR CHARGE IS TO, TO ADVISE COUNSEL, BUT NOTHING FEELS MORE DISJOINTED AND DIVORCED THAN SOMEBODY FEELING LIKE THEY'RE CIRCUMVENTING THE PROCESS.
WE ARE IN THIS ROOM TOGETHER, WE'RE FRIENDS, WE WANNA COLLABORATE.
UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS A LIFT TO DO WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
WE UNDERSTAND THE PATIENCE AND THE DILIGENCE AND THE DEDICATION THAT IT TAKES TO MAKE THESE THINGS COME TO FRUITION.
BUT WE'RE RIGHT HERE AND THE COMMUNITY IS CALLING OUT THIS, THIS DISJOINTED RELATIONSHIP.
UM, AND WE HAVE BRILLIANT MINDS IN THE ROOM.
PEOPLE WITH LOTS OF EXPERIENCE WRITING GRANTS AND APPLYING FOR PROGRAMS AT ALL LEVELS.
UM, WE REALLY NEED TO MAXIMIZE THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE.
AND YOU HAVE, YOU GUYS HAVE AT YOUR DISPOSAL, COMMISSIONER GRAY, UM, I THIRD, OR ACTUALLY I FORTH ALL OF THIS, UM, I HAVE FELT LIKE A BULLY FOR NOW.
I'M GONNA BE IN THE FIFTH YEAR OR FOUR YEARS.
I'VE BEEN SAYING THE SAME THING THIS WHOLE TIME.
AND I DON'T THINK IT'S THAT THE STAFF DOESN'T HEAR IT AND THAT STAFF IS NOT WORKING THEIR BUTTS OFF FOR THE SAME GOAL.
BUT THERE'S NO, THERE'S NO CYCLE OF KNOWLEDGE FROM THE COMMISSION THAT'S IN, IN THE TRENCHES.
UM, AND IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING STAFF AND BEING PART OF THE ART COMMUNITY, ARTS COMMUNITY.
AND I HAVE SEEN THE ARTS COMMUNITY GO AROUND THE ARTS COMMISSION BECAUSE THEY DON'T BELIEVE WE'RE CONNECTED TO YOU OR YOU'RE CONNECTED TO US, OR ANY OF US ARE CONNECTED TO THEM.
AND WE HAVE TO FIGURE THAT OUT TOGETHER.
HOW CAN WE FIGURE THAT OUT TOGETHER? 'CAUSE IT'S GOTTA CHANGE OR WE'RE ALWAYS GONNA HATE THESE MEETINGS.
WE'RE GONNA HATE 'EM BECAUSE NOTHING FEELS LIKE IT GETS DONE.
IT'S NOT LIKE THINGS ARE NOT HEARD.
BUT FROM THIS SIDE OF THE TABLE FOR THE LAST FOUR YEARS, I'LL SEE PEOPLE I'VE, I'VE KNOWN AND LOVED THAT AREN'T IN THE ROOM WORKING THEIR BUTT OFF ON STAFF.
THEY'LL HEAR IT AND THEN WE DON'T KNOW WHERE IT WENT, HOW IT GOT DISCUSSED.
AND WE COULD GO, THAT'S REALLY NOT RED, IT'S GREEN.
DID YOU KNOW THAT'S GREEN? AND WE COULD HELP.
AND I THINK THERE'S GOTTA BE A WAY TO COMMUNICATE THAT.
OTHERWISE WE'RE A BIG WASTE OF TIME AND I'M TIRED OF BEING A WASTE OF TIME.
I THINK THE BIG THING THAT, THAT I BELIEVE WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, THAT'S ALSO BEING MISSED IN THE PICTURE, WHATEVER'S CAUSING IT.
AND I THINK IT'S A CITYWIDE STATEWIDE GOVERNMENT, WHATEVER WIDE IS, AND IT GOES BACK TO THE 5,000, 2000 AND THE GRANTS IN GENERAL.
SUSTAINABILITY, YES, WE NEED EQUITY SUPPORT.
WE NEED TO GIVE MONEY TO PEOPLE THAT HAVE NOT HAD IT TO GET THEM STARTED TO GET THEM IN THERE.
BUT THEN IF IT DROPS OFF, WHAT HAVE WE DONE? WHAT HAVE WE DONE? AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE, I MEAN, YOU HAVE TO THINK OF THE BIG PICTURE AS, AS MICHELLE USED TO SAY, THE 30,000 FOOT LOOK, IT'S STILL NOT THERE.
AND WE DID, WE GET THE STUFF AGAIN, FOUR YEARS OF IT, WE GET IT RIGHT BEFORE IT HAPPENS.
AND WE'LL HEAR WHERE WE, THERE WAS A SURVEY OR WE, WE HEARD YOU.
COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, SUSTAINABLE.
IT'S LIKE, WHAT IS IT? AND NOW, AND WE'LL DO IT LATER WORKING GROUP ON WHAT MAY INVOLVE AND HOPEFULLY INVOLVE ELEVATE.
WILL WE EVEN MAKE A DIFFERENCE? EVEN THOUGH A WORKING GROUP HAS COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND ARTS COMMISSIONERS IN IT.
MAYBE IT NEEDS A STAFF MEMBER, I DON'T KNOW.
BUT WE'VE GOTTA START COMMUNICATING AND GETTING THINGS DONE OTHER THAN PUTTING PILOT PROGRAMS TOGETHER AND THEN PUTTING BAND-AIDS ON IT TO TRY TO MAKE IT BETTER.
INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT WHAT'S GOING ON.
IT'S LIKE, WHAT'S THE BIG PICTURE? AGAIN, I DON'T THINK THAT WE ARE NOT ALL SAYING THE SA WANT THE SAME THING.
AGAIN, I'M SO SORRY, BUT I'M NOT SORRY.
AND I WANNA POINT OUT THAT IT'S HELPFUL TO STAFF IF YOU COME TO US AND ALLOW US TO BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION BECAUSE OUR CONNECTIONS WITH THE COMMUNITY
[01:30:01]
ALLOW US TO SAY TO THE COMMUNITY, WE HAD THIS CONVERSATION WITH STAFF, WE'VE HAD THESE DISCUSSIONS, THIS IS HOW WE CAME TO THIS CONCLUSION SO THAT THEY UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS AND YOU ALL AREN'T SUBJECT TO THEIR FRUSTRATION AT THE MEETINGS.WE CAN HELP YOU IF YOU LET US
ANY OTHER COMMENTS BEFORE I JUMP IN? THERE'S A OKAY,
UM, YEAH, I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'VE BEEN HAVING SOME DISCUSSIONS.
THE THREE OF US IN PARTICULAR, AND I KNOW THERE'S BEEN CONVERSATION IN THE WORKING GROUP, BUT THERE'S A, A QUESTION IN PARTICULAR THAT'S PRETTY CONCERNING WHEN IT COMES TO A SCORED QUESTION ABOUT REGION AND WHAT, WHAT PART OF TOWN YOU'RE, YOU OCCUPY FOR YOUR STUDIO.
I CAN'T WRAP MY MIND AROUND HOW THAT COULD BE A SCORED QUESTION.
IT, THERE'S A LOT OF ASSUMPTION AROUND WHERE WE THINK IT'S AFFORDABLE AND WE JUST DON'T KNOW.
TO ZACH'S POINT, WE, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF US OCCUPY A PART OF TOWN THAT HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN AFFORDABLE, BUT NOW WE'RE SEEING MULTIMILLION DOLLAR HOUSES GO UP AROUND US.
AND I MIGHT HAVE A FRIEND OF A FRIEND THAT CAN PROVIDE ME A WAREHOUSE OR A STUDIO IN WESTLAKE, BUT THAT'S BECAUSE I HAVE A HANDSHAKE, YOU KNOW, AGREEMENT WITH THEM TO PROVIDE ME SOMETHING, BUT I'M GONNA BE PENALIZED ESSENTIALLY.
SO IT'S A VERY SUBJECTIVE QUESTION THAT FRANKLY I THINK IS PRETTY INAPPROPRIATE IN TERMS OF SCORING.
I LOVE THE DATA COLLECTION PERSPECTIVE, BUT ULTIMATELY YOU'RE ASSUMING A LOT, THE GRANT IS ASSUMING A LOT BY SAYING BY, BY SCORING, BY ZIP CODE.
I THINK THAT'S A, THERE'S A REAL PROBLEMATIC, UM, JUST PERSPECTIVE IN IN, IN BEING IN ASSUMING THAT YOU CAN GLEAN INFORMATION ABOUT AFFORDABILITY, UM, WITHOUT ANY SORT OF CONTEXT.
UM, AND NOT HAVING A QUESTION ABOUT THE PROJECT THAT'S SCORED.
SO, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE'RE RELEASING THIS TOMORROW.
I DON'T KNOW HOW I IMPACTFUL THE CONVERSATION IN THIS MOMENT WILL BE ABOUT THIS NEXT ITERATION, BUT TO ME THOSE THINGS SHOULD BE FLIPPED.
WE SHOULD BE SCORING IN GENERAL A QUESTION ABOUT THE PROJECT AND THE VALIDITY AND THE IMPACT OF AN ARTISTIC PROJECT AND NOT SCORING WHERE SOMEBODY HAPPENS TO RESIDE THAT FEELS VERY, LIKE, JUST INSIGNIFICANT.
THAT'S THE WORD I'M LOOKING FOR.
UM, YOU JUST, YOU CAN'T MAKE ANY, YOU CAN'T REALLY GLEAN A FULL PICTURE WITHOUT CONTEXT.
AND IT IT JUST BECAUSE SOMEBODY MIGHT OCCUPY A ZIP CODE THAT HAS A HIGHER MEDIAN INCOME, IT'S NOT GONNA TELL YOU WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT THAT PERSON HAS ACCESS TO AND DOESN'T COMMISSIONER SCH MOBA, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD OR PUSHER? AND ONE QUESTION THAT WAS REMOVED THAT I THINK WAS REALLY HELPFUL IN THE REGARD OF, UM, ACCESS POINTS, RIGHT? THERE WAS A, THERE WAS A QUESTION ABOUT INSURANCE BEFORE, LIKE, DO YOU HAVE IN, DO YOU HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE? AND I THINK THAT WAS SUPER HELPFUL BECAUSE IT WAS LIKE, YES, I HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE, UM, AND I'M EMPLOYED BY MY EMPLOYER.
OR WAS LIKE, UM, NO, I DO NOT GET HEALTH INSURANCE THROUGH MY EMPLOYMENT.
I THINK THAT THAT'S REALLY TELLING, UM, ON LIKE KIND OF WHERE SOMEONE IS, UM, ECONOMICALLY IF THEY'RE ABLE TO AFFORD INSURANCE OR IF THEY HAVE A JOB THAT GIVES THEM INSURANCE.
UM, I THOUGHT THAT WAS A REALLY SMART QUESTION AND I WAS SAD TO SEE IT NOT IN THE GRANT THIS TIME.
I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS A SCORED QUESTION BEFORE, BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN.
'CAUSE IT IS TELLING OF SOMEBODY'S ECONOMIC STATUS.
THANK YOU JESUS, FOR ALWAYS BEING ON THE END OF THESE SPEECHES.
UM, I DID WONDER FOR LIKE A LONGER LOOK BACK ON PREVIOUS, UH, GR CITY GRANT MAKING.
LIKE HAVE WE EVER CONSIDERED OR PURSUED LIKE COMMUNITY LED GRANT MAKING, PARTICULARLY FOR THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL ARTIST GRANTS.
LIKE I JUST WONDER ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY WHO LIKE TAKE IT UPON THEMSELVES OFTEN TO CONNECT AND ARE JUST ON THE GROUND.
LIKE THE, THE FOLKS WHO KNOW THE ARTISTS WHO ISN'T CONNECT HAS NEVER BEEN CONNECTED TO CITY GRANT MAKING BEFORE.
YOU KNOW, LIKE WE HAVE PLENTY OF AMAZING ORGANIZATIONS WHO COULD BE RESOURCED THEMSELVES, LIKE THROUGH FUNDING.
WE HAVE TO COADMINISTER I'M THINKING OF LIKE, UH, THEY DON'T MAKE GRANTS IN REGIONAL REGRANTING IN AUSTIN, BUT LIKE THE ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION'S LIKE REGIONAL REGRANTING, YOU KNOW, TO LIKE 30 PLUS REGIONS IS IS IN,
[01:35:01]
YOU KNOW, A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MULTIPLE COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS AND THEY GET TOGETHER.THEY TYPICALLY REPRESENT LIKE, WELL ANDY WARHOL'S VISUAL ARTS, BUT DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT ASPECTS, DIFFERENT MEDIA IN THE ARTS AND, AND SET THE AGENDA BASED ON WHAT IS NEEDED AND, AND WHAT THE PRIORITIES ARE FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY.
AND I JUST WONDER IF THAT'S SOMETHING LIKE KNOWING THE CAPACITY LIMITATIONS THAT WE'RE GONNA CONSTANTLY RUN INTO WITH THE CITY STAFF TIME AND LIKE ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT Y'ALL COULD BE DOING IS ONE, ONE THING THAT WE MIGHT LOOK AT, UM, DOING DIFFERENTLY IS HOW COULD WE EQUIP SOME OF OUR LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS TO LEAD THE GRANT MAKING SPECIFICALLY FOR THE SMALL, LIKE INDIVIDUAL ARTIST GRANTS AND SMALL ORGANIZATIONAL GRANTS.
AND PEOPLE DO IT ALL THE TIME AND WE KNOW HOW TO COVER LIKE, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND OF COURSE THAT'S GONNA COME UP AS CONCERN.
THE POINT BEING THAT LIKE WE HAVE ENTITIES THAT ARE ON THE GROUND AND JUST BETTER CONNECTED WITH WHAT IS GOING ON AND WHAT THE NEEDS ARE IN THE COMMUNITY.
THEN WE ARE, AND WE COULD ALSO BE RESOURCING ORGANIZATIONS TO DO THAT WORK.
SO JUST SOMETHING THAT I FEEL LIKE WE COULD TALK ABOUT AS WE'RE COMING OUT OF THE PILOT PHASES AND JUST REASSESSING LIKE WHAT IT IS THAT WE'RE DOING AND WHY IS LIKE HOW, HOW MIGHT WE DO IT MORE EFFICIENTLY AND MORE EFFECTIVELY BY RESOURCING OUR ARTS COMMUNITY TO DO THE GRANT MAKING
AND I WONDERED IF WE'VE EVER DONE THAT BEFORE.
'CAUSE I HAVEN'T BEEN HERE FOR MORE THAN FOUR YEARS.
JESUS, DO YOU WANNA RESPOND TO THAT QUESTION? LIKE SUB GRANTING? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO? OR? 'CAUSE WHAT WE HAVE DONE IS WE'VE HAD, WE CALLED THEM I THINK COMMUNITY NAVIGATORS.
UM, BUT WE HAD, WE HAD PEOPLE WHERE WE WOULD GO, WE WOULD, YOU KNOW, THEY WOULD TALK ABOUT OUR GRANT PROGRAMS AND INVITE US, BUT THEY WOULD GO OUT AND, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE MEMBERS OF THEIR SPECIFIC, VARIOUS SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES.
SO WE HAVE DONE STUFF LIKE THAT BEFORE.
WE HAD YEARS AGO, UM, A COLLABORATION GRANT WHERE IT WAS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN A LARGER NONPROFIT.
I MEAN THIS WAS LIKE MID TWO THOUSANDS LIKE THAT LONG AGO.
AND WE HAD THAT FOR ONE OR TWO YEARS.
IT DIDN'T REACH THE GOALS THAT, THAT WE WANTED TO DO.
SO, UH, WE NO LONGER HAVE THE COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS, UH, PROGRAM.
UM, UM, SO YEAH, THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING WE COULD LOOK INTO.
UM, UM, SOMEONE MENTIONED EARLIER THE LIMITATIONS ON THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX STATUTE.
SO YOU KNOW, WE'D HAVE TO LOOK IN THAT AND SEE IF IT, YOU KNOW, WOULD THAT BE, UM, 'CAUSE LIKE WHEN WE HAD THE COMMUNITY NAVIGATORS, I DON'T KNOW IF WE PAID FOR THAT OUT OF OUR GENERAL OPERATING BUDGET INSTEAD OF OUR HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, YOU KNOW, CULTURAL FUND.
SO, BUT DEFINITELY SOMETHING TO LOOK INTO TO SEE IF THAT WOULD BE, UM, SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE FEASIBLE.
AND COMMUNITY NAVIGATOR I DON'T THINK IS QUITE THE PARALLEL THAT, THAT HEIDI'S BRINGING UP.
COMMUNITY NAVIGATOR WASN'T WAS AN ASSET SERVICE.
IT WAS, IT WAS A RESOURCE FOR HELPING ACCESS GRANTS.
IS THIS MORE OF A SUBGRANT THING? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO? I'M SAYING LIKE HAND, SORRY.
UH, LIKE IN THE EXTREME SENSE IT'S HANDED OVER.
LIKE SAY WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE THE GRANTS.
THE CITY OF AUSTIN CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION IS NOT GOING TO MAKE THE GRANTS TO INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS.
WE'RE GOING TO CONVENE A CONSORTIUM OF ON THE GROUND ORGANIZATIONS WHO ARE WORKING WITH ARTISTS TO MAKE THE GRANTS.
AND IT WOULDN'T BE SUB GRANTING, IT WOULD BE A CONTRACT, RIGHT? YEAH.
UM, MATTHEW SCHMIDT, ACTING CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION MANAGER.
I MEAN, I GUESS WHAT I'M UNDERSTANDING WOULD KIND OF BE LIKE WHAT THE LONG CENTER CONTRACT IS, BUT JUST MORE OF A COLLECTIVE OF ARTS ORGANIZATIONS.
'CAUSE THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE HAVE WITH THE CONTRACT WITH THE LONG CENTER.
THEY ARE ADMINISTERING OUR GRANTS AND WE HAVE A CONTRACT THAT GUIDES THEM AT HOW THEY'RE ADMINISTERING, BUT A LITTLE BIT MORE IN DEPTH WHERE CLOSER TO THAT, WHERE WOULD A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTROL OVER THAT.
WHERE WE HAVE, WE'RE ASKING THE PEOPLE WHO KNOW, WHO REALLY TRULY KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHAT IS NEEDED TO HELP SET THE AGENDA WITHIN THE, TO TO, TO MAKE THE RUBRIC AND DO, DO THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE GRANTS.
I DON'T THAT WE HAVE BE PAID TO DO THAT THAT FAR.
AND I WAS LIKE, I JUST, I THINK THE CONCEPT, WE HAVE THAT CONCEPT WITH THAT AGREEMENT WITH THE BELONG CENTER.
I JUST DON'T THINK WE'VE GONE AS FAR AS TO WHAT YOU'RE EXPLAINING.
AND IT'S POSSIBLE NOBODY WANTS TO DO THAT.
I'M JUST LIKE THROWING IT OUT AS AN IDEA TO PURSUE.
I THINK THE LIMIT THAT WOULD EXPLORE WOULD, I MEAN, IT'D BE CUTTING OUT MORE OF THE HOT FUNDS TO BE ADMINISTERED TOWARDS THAT ORGANIZATION.
SO THAT WOULD LIMIT, I MEAN THAT'S SOME OF THE ARGUMENT OF WHY WE PROBABLY WOULDN'T EXPLORE IT AS MUCH, BUT THAT, I MEAN THAT'S JUST SOME OF THE REASONS.
BUT WE WOULD STILL EXPLORE IT.
I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD ALWAYS LOOK AT.
I THINK WHAT WHAT UH, UH, COMMISSIONER SCH SMALL BOX'S GETTING AT IS TO GET THE, THE GRANTING CLOSER TO THE INDIVIDUALS AND THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND WHEN I THINK ABOUT WHAT THE LONG CENTER
[01:40:01]
IS DOING, THE LONG CENTER IS A PRO IS A PRODUCING ORGANIZATION.IT IS NOT AN ARTISTIC ORGANIZATION.
IT USED TO BE MORE OF THAT, BUT IT'S NOT, IT'S A PRODUCER.
SO THAT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT ANIMAL.
ALTHOUGH IT COULD WORK IN KIND OF THE SAME WAY AS ADMINISTERING.
BUT WHAT'S LOOKED AT IN THE COMMUNITY OF NEED, COMMUNITY OF WHAT'S GOING ON, IT'S MUCH CLOSER TO THE, THE GRASSROOTS OF WHAT'S GOING ON.
WHEN THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS WAS ADMINISTERING AND WAS OUR THIRD PARTY, THEY WEREN'T PARTICIPATING IN THE RUBRIC BUILDING AND THE DESIGNING OF THE GRANT.
THEY WERE JUST FACILITATING PAYMENT.
AND THAT'S WHAT THE LONG CENTER DOES NOW.
THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, UM, WEREN'T, WASN'T THAT OUR COMMUNITY OR THE THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR FOR GRANTS PRIOR TO THE PILOT PROGRAMS? COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS OR WHO WAS IT? OH, WE HAD LIKE A BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU FOR SOME LIKE ARPA GRANTS.
YEAH, IT WAS BBB, BUT THAT WAS LIKE FEDERAL.
UM, THERE WASN'T, I'M THINK EVEN BEFORE THAT, WAS THERE A THIRD PARTY? I THOUGHT I THOUGHT IT WAS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OR FOUNDATION'S COMMUNITY.
COMMISSIONER MOCK, YOU'VE BEEN WAITING SO PATIENTLY.
I HAVE SERVED QUITE A FEW NUMBER OF YEARS ON THIS ARTS COMMISSION AND AS I'M GETTING CLOSER TO MY RETIREMENT FROM THIS ARTS COMMISSION, I'M VERY DISTURBED FROM TO TONIGHT'S CONVERSATION.
WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO BE MORE FRIENDLY, KINDER, YOU KNOW, TO, TO THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY.
AND WE AS OUR, YOU KNOW, COMMISSION TRYING TO DO BETTER.
BUT FROM THIS CONVERSATION, I THINK WE WENT BACKWARD.
IT IS, IT IS REALLY DIS CONTINUOUS.
YOU KNOW, I THINK WHEN WE WERE, WHEN WE WERE, WHEN WE CONTRACT SOMEBODY THREE, FOUR YEARS AGO AND HAVE THE COMMUNITY CONVERSATION, HAVE THE COMMISSION CONVERSATION AND TRYING TO BE A BIG FAMILY, BUT THEN TOWARDS THE END WE ARE DISJOINTED AND STILL THE STAFF MAKING THE APPLICATION WITHOUT THE INPUT FROM THE COMMISSION.
THAT IS SO, I MEAN, I'M JUST SO OUTRAGEOUS AND I'M GOING TO HAVE MY CONVERSATION WITH MY COUNCIL AND MAYBE THE CITY MANAGER.
SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE A, TO HAVE A BETTER PROCEDURE.
I HAVE SERVED ON OTHER COMMISSION BEFORE.
YOU KNOW, THE STAFF AND THE COMMISSIONERS ALWAYS HAVE A CONVERSATION, HAVE SOME KINDS OF UNDERSTANDING ABOUT ARE WE ON THE SAME PAGE? BUT I, I'M JUST SO SORRY TO HEAR ALL THESE NEW COMMISSIONERS, I MEAN RELATIVELY
AND JUDGING FROM ALL THIS QUESTIONNAIRE, YOU, YOU, YOU GOT TO SEE BEFORE THE COMMUNITY TOMORROW.
I HAVE ALREADY HAVE PROBLEM WITH THOSE QUESTIONS THAT YOU RAISE AND WE ARE ROLLING IT OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH THE PICTURE? SO I DO NOT KNOW, UH, HOW DID THIS DECISION BEING MADE? WHO MADE THIS DECISION? I AM GOING TO POSE THIS QUESTION TO THE CITY MANAGER AND TO MY CITY COUNCIL BECAUSE THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS.
I GUESS I CAN BE BOTH SINCE I'M LEAVING COMMISSIONER GRAY, JUST REALLY SHORT.
AND IT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME, IT'S NOT THE FIRST YEAR THIS HAS HAPPENED.
AND I WILL SAY IT AGAIN AND AGAIN, I KNOW THAT THIS STAFF WORKS BUTT OFF, BUT JUST COMMUNICATION, WE CAN LEARN SO MUCH FROM ARTS AND PUBLIC PLACES AND HOW THAT PROCESS WORKS.
IT'S NOT THE SAME, BUT WE CAN LEARN A LOT FROM THAT PROCESS.
COMMISSIONERS, ANYBODY ELSE? I MEAN, I GUESS I'D JUST LOVE TO HEAR A RESPONSE.
I KNOW YOU'RE TAKING IT IN, BUT I THINK WE'RE SHARING A LOT AND BEING PRETTY VULNERABLE HERE.
WHAT'S THE PLAN? I MEAN, THE PLAN IS, YOU KNOW, THESE ARE PILOTS.
WE'RE LOOKING AT THEM, WE'RE SEEING WHAT CAN CHANGE.
WE'RE MAKING ITERATIVE CHANGES.
[01:45:01]
THAT WE CONTINUE THE PROGRAM SO THAT, YOU KNOW, ARTISTS AND ARTS GROUPS AREN'T LOSING OUT ON FUNDING.AND YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN, THERE'S BEEN CHALLENGES WITH, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THE ROLLING OUT OF, UH, JUST VARIOUS TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF, UH, THE APPLICATION AND HAVING TO FIX THOSE.
THERE'S, YOU KNOW, JUST, YOU KNOW, SO THERE'S, AND I, I HEAR YOU.
I UNDERSTAND YOU AND YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST, UM, THERE ARE LOTS OF MOVING PARTS I GUESS IS, IS REALLY WHAT IT IS AND, YOU KNOW, AND CAN WE DO A BETTER JOB AT COMMUNICATION? YES.
SO, BUT WE DO HEAR YOU, WE DO TAKE IT INTO ACCOUNT.
IT'S, UM, SOME OF YOU MAY REMEMBER ME TALKING ABOUT THIS DURING THE CULTURAL FUNDING REVIEW PROCESS, BUT THE EXAMPLE I WOULD ALWAYS GIVE IS WE'RE WE'RE GETTING DISPARATE, UH, TYPES OF FEEDBACK.
SO ONE PERSON'S TELLING US THIS, ANOTHER PERSON'S TELLING US THIS, IT'S DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED.
SO HOW DO WE TAKE THOSE TWO DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSED POINTS OF VIEW AND TRY AND BUILD SOMETHING TOGETHER? SO YOU TALK TO US.
'CAUSE I THINK WE ARE HEARING THE SAME THINGS, COMMENTS AND, AND CONTRIBUTIONS AND, AND SUGGESTIONS THAT ARE IN OPPOSITION.
BUT WE'RE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE AND I THINK WE CAN HELP FRAME THINGS FOR STAFF THAT WILL HELP SORT OF PRIORITIZE THAT FEEDBACK.
UM, WE WANNA BE INVOLVED, RIGHT? I MEAN, I JUST DON'T, IT'S, IT'S SAD.
I I WANT SOMETHING IN WRITING.
YOU KNOW, I KNOW AGAIN, LIKE WE ARE NOT, YOU ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO TAKE OUR FEEDBACK AND IMPLEMENT IT.
WE ARE BEING DIRECTED TO GO TO COUNCIL, BUT WHAT AN ASK BACKWARDS WAY TO DO THINGS.
SO I UNDERSTAND THAT TOMORROW IS TOMORROW AND THERE'S NOT A LOT THAT CAN BE DONE.
AND I WOULD BE PREPARING YOURSELVES FOR FEBRUARY.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY PEOPLE CAN MAKE THE MOST OF THIS GRANT AND AND IT'LL ROLL OUT AND IT'LL BE GREAT.
BUT, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO SEE LIKE OUR FEEDBACK IMPLEMENTED.
I THINK OUR FEEDBACK DOES HAVE A PRIORITY.
WE'RE WATCHING THE SAUSAGE BEING MADE MONTH AFTER MONTH AFTER MONTH.
UM, IT'S, IT'S JUST HEARTBREAKING TO, TO DO THIS WORK AND TO COME HERE MONTH AFTER MONTH.
AND I, AND I DON'T WANNA PICK ON YOU, JESUS, IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S THE PROCESS.
BUT, BUT WE REALLY FEEL UNDERUTILIZED REALLY, LIKE IN A REAL WAY.
AND IT JUST, IT JUST, IT'S TIRESOME TO HAVE TO REPEAT OURSELVES IN THIS WAY.
UM, WE'RE DOING IT FOR FREE
UM, AND WE DO IT BECAUSE WE LOVE IT.
AND YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANNA BE AT BROOKLYN RECORD.
I WANNA HEAR WHAT MEASURE HAS TO SAY, I WANNA MOVE ON.
UM, BUT YEAH, I WOULD LOVE, ESPECIALLY WITH NEW FACES, MATT, UM, WHO, WHOEVER WILL BE SUBBING FOR MORGAN, ANOTHER FRESH BASE.
BUT LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE SAME WAY THAT I WAS TRYING TO RENDER SOME SORT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN COMMISSIONERS.
CAN WE RENDER AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN COMMISSION AND STAFF? UM, I KNOW THAT THERE ARE LEGAL LIMITATIONS IN TERMS OF WHAT CAN BE RELEASED, BUT LIKE THIS IS JUST NOT WORKING.
ANYBODY ELSE? REAL SHORT COACH.
I JUST HAVE ONE THING, WHICH IS, UM, I GUESS MY ULTIMATE CONCERN, OVERARCHING CONCERN WITH THE ROLLOUT TOMORROW IS BECAUSE THE GRANT IS SO DIFFERENT.
UM, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO BETTER UNDERSTAND, UM, HOW WE, HOW WE SHOULD HANDLE THAT.
BUT ALSO HOW ARE Y'ALL HANDLING THAT? BECAUSE OF COURSE I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE MOVING PARTS, LIKE WE'RE THE ONES THAT ARE APPLYING FOR THE GRANT AND WE'RE ALSO RUNNING ORGANIZATIONS AT THE SAME TIME.
SO LIKE, WE GET IT, EVERYBODY'S BUSY, EVERYBODY HAS LOTS OF THINGS GOING ON AT ONCE.
AND THERE ARE MECHANICAL ISSUES.
AND I SAID THIS TO YOU, MATT, WHEN WE MET.
THERE ARE MECHANICAL ISSUES THAT CAN BE FIXED, WHICH ARE TECHNICAL ISSUES, WHICH ARE VERY PRETTY BLACK AND WHITE.
DOES THIS PLATFORM WORK? IS IT ACCESSIBLE? DOES IT HAVE ERRORS? WE OBVIOUSLY FIGURED OUT THAT SUBMITTABLE IS A LOT EASIER THAN TRYING TO ENGINEER OUR OWN SYSTEM.
BUT THERE ARE JUST CREATIVE THINGS WHEN YOU'RE CRAFTING QUESTIONS THAT IT WOULD BE TWO TO YOUR ADVANTAGE TO HAVE MORE FEEDBACK WHEN IMPLEMENTING THESE TYPES OF SYSTEMS. ESPECIALLY IF THESE SYSTEMS ARE IN OPPOSITION OF VERY CHALLENGING.
UM, YOU KNOW, BILLS THAT ARE BEING PASSED.
THE MORE CREATIVE VOICES YOU HAVE IN THE ROOM, THE STRONGER YOU ARE.
AND I GUESS ULTIMATELY WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY IS, I, I DO
[01:50:01]
FEEL THAT PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE A LITTLE CONFUSED IF THEY'VE APPLIED FOR NEXUS BEFORE, LOOKED AT IT BEFORE ON THIS NEW ROLLOUT.UM, ESPECIALLY THE RUBRIC I FEEL IS, IS A LITTLE BIT CONFUSING.
UM, SO I WOULD LOVE TO SEE ANY SUPPORT MATERIAL THAT YOU'RE GOING TO ROLL OUT.
I'M SURE THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE HELPING PEOPLE APPLY LIKE SOME OF OUR PRESENTERS TONIGHT.
UM, AND I ALSO JUST THINK IN GENERAL, IN THE FUTURE, WOULD LOVE A HEADS UP IF THERE ARE GONNA BE SUCH DRASTIC CHANGE CHANGES BECAUSE IT'S, IT'S NOT THAT IT'S BAD LIKE THAT, IT'S HORRIBLE.
IT'S JUST THAT IT COULD BE BETTER.
YOU KNOW? I'M GONNA STOP TALKING.
COMMISSIONER GRAY'S GONNA DO SOMETHING REAL SHORT AND THEN WE CAN MOVE ON.
UM, I JUST WANNA ASK A QUESTION AND IT'LL, IT'LL COME UP LATER AND YOU, IT THIS HAD CAN BE A VERY SHORT ANSWER AND YOU MAY NOT EVEN KNOW.
THERE IS A WORKING GROUP, UH, ON THE CULTURAL FUNDING, UH, THAT INVOLVES COMMISSIONERS, IT INVOLVES COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
WE ARE SCHEDULED TO HAVE FOUR THE NEXT FOUR WEEKS OF DISCUSSION.
'CAUSE WE'RE STILL GATHERING THOSE COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
ARE WE WASTING OUR TIME WITHIN GIVING YOU A REPORT IN FEBRUARY AT FEBRUARY'S COMMISSION MEETING? NO, I DON'T THINK SO.
IT'S, I MEAN, THE REASON I ASK THAT, IT'S NOT TO SAY, UGH.
IT'S JUST LIKE, HAVE YOU ALL IS IS IS THERE SO MUCH ALREADY INVESTED EVEN IN ELEVATE? IT'S NOT HERE YET, BUT, OKAY.
SO WE'RE NOT WASTING OUR TIME.
AND UM, YEAH, MATT, YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING? I'D ALSO LIKE TO PLUG, JUST FOR FEEDBACK PURPOSES, I KNOW THAT Y'ALL MADE THAT RECOMMENDATION FOR THE PUBLIC INPUT PAGE THAT IT IS LIVE.
AND TO ENCOURAGE Y'ALL TO ASK Y'ALL'S COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND Y'ALL Y'ALLS SELVES TO VISIT THAT PAGE AND TO PROVIDE THAT INPUT FOR ALL THE PROGRAMS SO THAT WE CAN LOG THAT INFORMATION AND CONTINUE TO, UH, PROVIDE THAT SO THAT WE CAN MAKE THOSE CHANGES AS WELL.
OH, YES, I WAS, WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT LINK.
I'M SORRY, BUT I THINK WE ARE MORE THAN JUST COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO GIVE YOU THE INPUT, RIGHT? SO I I DON'T WANT TO BE JUST LIKE ONE OF THE COMMUNITY MEMBER TO GIVE YOU INPUT ON THE LINK.
WE WANT TO BE PART OF THE IMPROVEMENT TO THE APPLICATION BECAUSE WE PLAY A DIFFERENT ROLE.
YOU SEE WHAT I'M SAYING? SO I'M, I MEAN, WE ARE AT A, AT A, AT A DIFFERENT, UM, PROCESS THAN THE REGULAR FOLKS OUT FROM THE COMMUNITY.
SO I HOPE YOU TREAT US DIFFERENTLY AND UTILIZE US BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE ARE VOLUNTEER OUR HOURS TO, TO SERVE THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY WITH OUR TIME, TALENTS, SKILLS, AND KNOWLEDGE, YOU KNOW, BUT, BUT WE ARE NOT BEING TREATED AS SUCH AND THAT IS HUMILIATING.
[8. Discussion & Possible Action on update on MEASURE report by Meme Styles, Dr. Tiffany Ricks, Hanna Chun, and LaCole Foots]
ON TO ITEM NINE, DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE ACTION ON UPDATE FROM MEASURE REPORT BY MIMI STYLES, DR.TIFFANY RICKS, HANNAH CHUN, AND NICOLE FL.
TOUGH ACT TO FOLLOW Y'ALL, BUT THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
DO YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING FIRST? UM, IT'S UP TO YOU.
WHAT'S THAT? DO YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING FIRST? OKAY.
I DON'T OFTEN STICK TO THE SCRIPT, BUT I'M GONNA TRY TO DO THAT TODAY.
UM, I GET TO BE THE PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER OF MEASURE.
WE'RE A RESEARCH AND DATA ACTIVISM ORGANIZATION LED BY ALL BLACK WOMEN.
UM, AND, UM, TODAY I'M VERY MUCH SO HONORED TO INTRODUCE THIS GROUP BEHIND ME.
UM, THIS IS OUR EVALUATION TEAM.
WE AT MEASURE ENJOY BEING ABLE TO, UM, DISRUPT TRADITIONAL RESEARCH, UM, IN EXCHANGE FOR COMMUNITY LED UH, METHODOLOGIES, ENSURING THAT OUR COMMUNITY IS EQUIPPED WITH THE TOOLS TO
[01:55:01]
ALSO DO RESEARCH.UM, THUS FAR WE'VE TRAINED AND CERTIFIED OVER 38 LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO DO RESEARCH.
UM, AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE DO AT MEASURE OUR MISSION IS REALLY TO TRANSFORM REAL WORLD OR LIVED EXPERIENCE INTO ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS AND SUPPORT FAIR AND EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING.
AND SO IN COLLABORATION WITH, UM, THE, THIS DEPARTMENT, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO WORK AND EVALUATE THE CULTURAL PRO, THE CULTURAL PROGRAMMING FUNDING BY THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, FOCUSING ON ITS OVERALL EFFECTIVENESS, COMMUNITY REACH, ALIGNMENT WITH AUSTIN'S PRIORITIES FOR BROAD AND INCLUSIVE CULTURAL SUPPORT.
WE'RE HOPING TODAY THAT YOU'RE, THAT WHAT YOU'LL SEE IS THAT YOUR COMMUNITY IS SAYING MANY OF THE THINGS, UM, THAT YOU'RE SAYING
WE ALL KNOW THAT THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX HAS BEEN A VITAL RESOURCE FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, IT'S SUPPORTING AUSTIN'S VIBRANT, CULTURAL AND CREATIVE ECOSYSTEM.
UM, UM, OUR ROLE, UM, WAS REALLY TO ASSESS, AGAIN, THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE PROGRAMS AND THEIR ALIGNMENT WITH THE STATED GOALS THAT IT, THAT INCLUDE PROMOTING ACCESS, ENSURING THAT DIVERSE COMMUNITY VOICES ARE LIFTED AND ELEVATED.
UM, WE ALSO IDENTIFIED AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT, SO SOME RECOMMENDATIONS AS WELL, UM, TO ENHANCE ITS REACH AND ITS SUSTAINABILITY, WHICH WAS THAT WORD.
UM, FOR THESE INITIATIVES, WE CONDUCTED THIS EVALUATION USING A MIXED METHODS APPROACH THAT COMBINED BOTH QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE, UM, ANALYSIS, UH, OF PROGRAM PARTICIPATION DATA AND QUALITATIVE INSIGHTS GATHERED FROM FOCUS GROUPS.
UM, AND THIS GROUP IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO KIND OF WALK YOU THROUGH WHAT, WHAT WE LEARNED.
UM, AND I BELIEVE EVERYONE HAS HAD GOTTEN ACCESS TO THE FULL REPORT.
IT'S CALLED SOMETHING ELSE IN BACKUP THOUGH.
I AM GOING TO PASS IT ON FIRST TO, UM, LAKO FUTZ TO GET US STARTED.
UM, YEAH, MY NAME IS NICOLE FITZ.
I WAS SERVING AS THE QUALITATIVE, SORRY, THE QUANTITATIVE RESEARCHER FOR THIS PROJECT.
AND MY BACKGROUND IS IN QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS AND I'M ALSO A POET.
SO THIS IS PARTICULARLY OF INTEREST TO ME BECAUSE I, UH, LOVE SEEING ART GROW AND EVOLVE AND BEING ABLE TO SEE BEHIND THE SCENES AND DO THE ANALYSIS BEHIND IT HAS BEEN REALLY AWESOME.
IF YOU WANNA GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THIS IS KIND OF AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT WE'RE GONNA WALK THROUGH TODAY.
UM, THANK YOU MIMI, FOR HAVING ME ON THIS, UH, THIS PROJECT.
IT'S BEEN SUCH A PRIVILEGE TO LIKE WORK WITH THIS DATA SPECIFICALLY AROUND THIS TOPIC.
UH, SO WE'RE GONNA WALK THROUGH THE METHODOLOGY FOR THE QUANTITATIVE PIECES AND THEN I'LL PASS IT TO MY COLLEAGUES AND THEN WE'LL WALK THROUGH THE QUALITATIVE FINDINGS.
AND WHAT I THINK THE VIBES I'M GETTING FROM THIS ROOM IS THAT, AND I WANT TO NAME THAT, LIKE, AS A DATA ANALYST, THERE'S A COUPLE THINGS WE HAVE TO BE AWARE OF.
JUST LIKE THE NUMBER ONE BEING LAG IN DATA, RIGHT? SO THINGS ARE HAPPENING WHILE WE'RE NOT SEEING THE SNAPSHOT WITHIN THE DATA.
SO JUST BEING CONSCIOUS OF THAT, OF LIKE THE DATA COLLECTION CYCLES MIGHT NOT BE ALIGNING WITH THE ACTIONS THAT ARE BEING TAKEN TO CHANGE THE DATA, RIGHT? SO, UH, THAT'S THE FIRST THING TO KIND OF HIGHLIGHT.
AND THEN THE SECOND PIECE THAT I THINK THIS ROOM IS GRAVITATING TOWARD IS LIKE, WHERE ARE Y'ALL MOVING TOWARD? WHAT'S, LIKE, WHAT IS
SO IF YOU HAVE A CLEAR DIRECTION, YOU HAVE A THEORY OF CHANGE OF ACTION THAT YOU WANT TO, TO BE DONE, THEN YOU'LL BE ABLE TO ME TO MEASURE, UM, WHETHER OR NOT IT'S HAPPENING.
AND YOU'LL HAVE REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS OF WHEN YOU'LL SEE THE THINGS HAPPEN BECAUSE YOU'LL HAVE KIND OF A SCHEDULE, UM, THAT ALIGNS WITH YOUR CHANGES.
SO WITH THAT, I THINK I'M GONNA NEED THE, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
SO I WAS TALKING AND I WAS THINKING THAT THIS WAS GOING, BUT AGAIN, THIS IS OUR ORGANIZATION AGAIN, WE'RE A RESEARCH AND DATA ACTIVISM ORGANIZATION FOUNDED BACK IN 2015, AT THE HEIGHT OF THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT, WHEN WE KNEW THAT WE NEEDED MORE DATA,
[02:00:01]
UM, TO ELEVATE OUR VOICES IN OUR COMMUNITY.WE BELIEVE THAT LIVED EXPERIENCE IS DATA.
WE ALSO BELIEVE THAT ART IS DATA.
WE BELIEVE THAT MUSIC IS DATA.
AND SO DATA FOR MEASURE IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN, UM, THAN THE TRADITIONAL, UM, THOUGHTS AND UNDERSTANDINGS.
AND SO, UM, LIVED EXPERIENCE, AGAIN, WE BELIEVE IT'S VERY MUCH SO UNDERUTILIZED.
AND SO IN OUR REPORT, UM, IT'S, IT'S, UM, IT'S A FOUNDATION.
UM, AND AS I SAID, BEHIND ME, I THOUGHT THERE IT WAS UP, BUT
TIFFANY RICKS AND HANNAH CHEN.
SO THE, UH, NOW CAN YOU HEAR ME? PERFECT.
UM, THE PURPOSE OF THE ANALYSIS AS A WHOLE WAS AGAIN, TO EVALUATE THE BROADER IMPACT OF THE, UH, HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX.
UM, AND I THINK IT TOUCHES ON A LOT OF WHAT IT IS THAT Y'ALL HAVE MENTIONED TONIGHT, JUST TO SEE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND THE IMPACT OF IT WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
WE DID A MIXED METHODS APPROACH, SO WE'LL TALK THROUGH EACH OF THOSE DIFFERENT METHODS WITH THE QUANT AND QUAL.
BUT THE IMPORTANT PIECE OF THERE IS JUST COMBINING COMMUNITY INPUT WITH THE NUMBER SO WE CAN SEE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE WHEN A HUMAN SAYS THIS, LIKE HOW IT SHOWS UP ON A SPREADSHEET AND TRIANGULATE LIKE THE ACTUAL LIVED EXPERIENCE MULTIPLE WAYS.
UM, AND THEN ALSO WE WANTED TO GENERATE ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS SO THAT WE COULD OPTIMIZE THE INVESTMENT OF IT AND CONTINUE TO, UM, SUPPORT THE CULTURAL VITALITY ACROSS AUSTIN.
SO, FROM A METHODOLOGICAL POINT FOR THE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS, WHAT YOU SAW IN THE REPORT IS REALLY HIGH LEVEL EXPLORATORY DATA ANALYSIS, WHERE YOU JUST KIND OF SEE, AND A LOT OF THE INFORMATION IS ACTUALLY AVAILABLE ON THE DASHBOARDS THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE.
SO, GOODNESS, UH,
UM, SO WHAT YOU SAW, JUST LIKE THE HIGH LEVEL KIND OF TAKEAWAYS OF THE DIFFERENT DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWNS FOR THE DIFFERENT PROGRAM AREAS.
WHEN I WENT THROUGH THEM, IF THERE WAS ANYTHING THAT POPPED WITH STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE, I HIGHLIGHTED THEM.
HOWEVER, THERE WEREN'T, THERE WEREN'T ANYTHING THAT I FOUND PARTICULARLY LIKE, UH, PROBLEMATIC THROUGHOUT THE ANALYSIS.
AND THE GOOD NEWS THERE IS LIKE, THERE'S SLIGHTLY DIS SLIGHT DISPROPORTIONALITY.
A THING ABOUT PROGRAMS LIKE THIS IS IT'S BEST TO GET YEAR OVER YEAR ANALYSIS SO YOU CAN UNDERSTAND HOW YOU'RE TRENDING.
SO FROM THE REPORT THAT WE TURNED IN, WE ONLY HAD ONE YEARS OF ANALYSIS OF, UH, ONE YEAR OF DATA AVAILABLE.
BUT 'CAUSE WE STARTED THIS IN APRIL 24TH, SO THE TIMELINE'S IMPORTANT, RIGHT? AND WE'RE DOING THE ANALYSIS.
MEANWHILE, PROGRAMS ARE KICKING OR LAUNCHING, AND PEOPLE ARE JOINING THEM, AND WE'RE GETTING UPDATED DATA ABOUT THEM.
SO TOWARD THE END OF THE YEAR, I WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO SEE THE UPDATED DATA, UM, TO LOOK AT THE TREND LINES.
AND THE TREND LINES ARE REALLY FASCINATING BECAUSE THEY STILL KIND OF ALIGN WITH, UM, THE DIRECTION THAT I BELIEVE THIS ROOM WANTS TO GO IN.
UH, I THINK A LARGER CONVERSATION IS HOW Y'ALL WANT TO COMMUNICATE THOSE TREND LINES.
AND I WILL NOT SPEAK TO THAT BECAUSE THAT IS A COMMUNICATE, A CONVERSATION I THINK IS BEST FOR, UM, FOR Y'ALL TO HAVE.
LIKE, REALLY, HOW DO Y'ALL WANT TO COMMUNICATE THOSE TREND LINES AND THAT, AND LIKE, PROGRESS, RIGHT? SO THE ONLY LIKE BIG PIECE THAT I WANTED TO REALLY TALK ABOUT IN THE FINDINGS FOR THE QUANT PIECES, ACTUALLY, I'M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF, ALL THAT TO SAY, UH, I'LL BE BACK WITH MORE INFORMATION AFTER WE GET TO QUALITATIVE
UM, QUALITATIVE RESEARCH IS MY JAM.
UM, I'VE BEEN A RESEARCH SCIENTIST FOR MANY YEARS WITH A FOCUS ON EQUITABLE EVALUATION.
UM, SO I JUST WANT TO SPEAK TO THE QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS.
UM, WE USED OUR EQUITY FOCUS GROUP, WHICH WAS A, IS A TOOL THAT ME, ME, AND MEASURE CHAMPIONS.
UM, IT'S A PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH METHOD THAT IS CO-DESIGNED WITH PARTICIPANTS.
AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT WE INCLUDE, UH, PARTICIPANTS IN EVERY STAGE OF THE QUALITATIVE, UH, DATA GATHERING PROCESS.
UM, AND SO, UH, FOCUS GROUPS, WE DID EIGHT FOCUS GROUPS.
WE HAD SOME ISSUES WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, JUST IN FULL TRANSPARENCY, OUR, UH, SIGNUP SHEET WAS HACKED.
UM, AND SO WE HAD TO CONDUCT A, A SERIES OF FOCUS GROUP, THROW OUT
[02:05:01]
SOME FOCUS GROUP DATA THAT WE KNEW WAS NOT, UM, I USE THE WORD ACCURATE, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S THE RIGHT WORD, BUT WAS IT CAME FROM PARTICIPANTS WHO REALLY DIDN'T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THESE FUNDS, RIGHT? UM, BUT, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE REALIZED THAT WE GOT BACK ON TRACK AND CONDUCTED A SERIES OF FOCUS GROUPS UNTIL WE REACHED DATA SATURATION.AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I LIKE ABOUT OUR DATA ANALYSIS PROCESS IS EVEN ONCE WE THINK WE'VE REACHED THAT DATA SATURATION, WE STILL CONDUCT ANOTHER FOCUS GROUP JUST TO CONFIRM AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT HEARING ANYTHING NEW, RIGHT? UM, WE USE A METHOD, UH, UM, THAT WAS CREATED BY CLARK AND BRAUN FOR THEMATIC ANALYSIS.
UM, THE VERY FIRST STAGE OF THAT ANALYSIS IS, IS DATA IMMERSION.
SO HANNAH AND I, UH, WE SIT WITH THAT DATA, WE READ IT, WE MULL IT OVER, UM, AND THEN WE BEGIN TO PICK OUT KEY EXCERPTS, AND THEN WE CODE THOSE, AND THEN WE LOOK FOR EMERGING THEMES.
SO WE LET THE DATA SPEAK TO, YOU KNOW, TO US OVER A PERIOD OF TIME BEFORE WE LABEL IT, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
SO, UM, IT'S A VERY, UH, IT'S NOT AS ROBUST, OF COURSE, AS A PHENOMENOLOGY OR, OR ONE OF THE OTHER METHODOLOGIES, BUT, UM, IT, IT SERVES, UH, A VERY GOOD PURPOSE WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT LIVED EXPERIENCES.
AND I THINK I'M THE FIRST SHORT ENOUGH PERSON TO WHERE I DON'T HAVE TO LEAN
UM, SO JUST TO TOUCH ON THE PROCESS OF SELECTING FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANTS.
UM, SO WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE WERE COVERING A DIVERSE GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS.
SO NOT JUST DIVERSE FROM A RACIAL OR LOCATION BACKGROUND, BUT ALSO WITH THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH THE PROGRAMS. SO WE TALKED TO FOLKS WHO HAVE APPLIED FOR FUNDING AND WERE DENIED, TALKED TO MANY THAT, UM, WERE AWARDED FUNDING, UM, AS WELL AS THOSE WHO KNEW ABOUT THE PROGRAMS, BUT WERE TOO INTIMIDATED BY THE PROCESS TO START.
AND SO WE HAD A GOOD VARIETY OF, OF FOLKS THERE.
UM, AS WELL AS FOR THEIR ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY.
WE TALKED TO BUSINESS OWNERS, WE TALKED TO ARTISTS, UM, WE TALKED TO NONPROFIT OWNERS AS WELL.
AND SO THE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THIS, THESE FOCUS GROUPS WERE REALLY, UH, REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COMMUNITY.
UM, LIKE WE SAID, WE, UH, RECRUITED USING A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT METHODS.
SO WE DID SOCIAL MEDIA BLASTS, UM, WHICH LED TO THE
AND THEN, LIKE WE SAID, WE REACHED SATURATION AT 31 PARTICIPANTS, AND THAT WAS EIGHT FOCUS GROUPS.
UM, AND EACH FOCUS GROUP WAS ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF LONG.
WE ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW THEY LEARNED ABOUT THE PROGRAMS, UM, WHAT THEIR PROCESS WAS LIKE WITH THEIR, THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH APPLYING FOR THE FUNDS WAS HOW THEY USED THE FUNDS, UM, WHAT COULD MAKE THE PROCESS BETTER, WHAT THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO, UH, GET OUT OF THE PRO THE PROCESS OR THE FUNDS.
UM, AND IF THEY WERE TO THINK 10 YEARS IN THE FUTURE, WHAT WOULD AN IDEAL STATE LOOK LIKE FOR THEM AND HOW THESE PROGRAMS SUPPORT THEM.
AND SO THAT GAVE US A VERY CLEAR PICTURE OF KIND OF THE END TO END PROCESS, BUT ALSO LONG TERM, WHAT THESE PROGRAMS COULD HELP WITH.
AND THAT'S WHERE OUR FINDINGS COME FROM.
SO I'LL PASS IT BACK TO YOU, TIFFANY.
I'LL PUT THE GLASSES BACK ON
SO, UM, I WON'T READ THIS VERBATIM.
UM, I THINK, UH, TO NICOLE'S POINT, IT, OUR FINDINGS REALLY TOUCHED ON SOME OF THE, I DON'T WANNA SAY ISSUES, BUT SOME OF THE, UH, ISSUES THAT WE'VE, WE'VE ALREADY ADDRESSED AND TALKED ABOUT, UM, IN THIS MEETING, UM, WE LEARNED, YOU KNOW, TO NICOLE'S POINT ABOUT THE LAG, THAT IN OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH JUSTIN WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT THE FINDINGS THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN WAS, WAS ALREADY DOING SOME THINGS TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAME FROM THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT.
UM, BUT THERE ARE STILL SOME CHALLENGES RIGHT? IN, IN FULLY REPRESENTING AND SUPPORTING DIVERSE COMMUNITIES.
UM, UH, EXAMPLE HERE, UH, MAKING SURE IT'S UP THERE, AND IT'S ACTUALLY THE SAME THING, UH, PRETTY MUCH ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
BUT, UM, FOR EXAMPLE, ASIAN AND, AND, AND, UH, AFRICAN, AFRICAN-AMERICAN APPLICANTS, UM, OFTEN OVERPERFORM RELATIVE TO, UH, THEIR CITY POPULATION, WHICH WAS INTERESTING AND A LITTLE BIT SURPRISING, RIGHT? UM, BUT ON THE FLIP SIDE, HISPANIC AND LATINO APPLICANTS ARE GENUINELY UNDERREPRESENTED
[02:10:01]
COMPARED TO THEIR POPULATION SIZE.SO RECOGNIZING THAT THERE IS STILL SOME WORK TO BE DONE, AND NICOLE IS GOING TO GUIDE US THROUGH THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND SO ON THE NEXT SLIDE, WE HAVE
UM, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, AGAIN, WE'RE AMPLIFYING THINGS THAT I, I'VE HEARD LITERALLY TONIGHT.
SO, UM, SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS ARE SIMPLIFY THE APPLICATION PROCESS, PROVIDING CLEAR GUIDELINES AND TEMPLATES TO REDUCE THE BURDEN ON THE APPLICANTS AND PROMOTE EQUITY BUILD CAPACITY WITH RESOURCES AND TRAINING.
SO THAT'S BOTH IN THE APPLICATION PROCESS ITSELF, BUT ALSO DURING THE, UH, DURING THE PROGRAM SO THAT IT SPEAKS TO THIS PIECE OF SUSTAINABILITY, IT SPEAKS TO, UH, MENTORSHIP AND ALSO LIKE, UH, COMMUNITY GROWTH IN THE MATURATION OF THE ARTISTS THEMSELVES WHILE THEY'RE IN THE, IN THE PROC IN THE PROGRAM.
UM, FOSTER COLLABORATION AND GENUINE OUTREACH, AND THEN TRACK AND MEASURE LONG TERM IMPACT CREATIVELY.
SO, UM, THAT LOOKS LIKE A COUPLE DIFFERENT THINGS I'LL WALK THROUGH WHEN WE GET INTO THE THEORY OF CHANGE, SPECIFICALLY THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, A COUPLE MORE RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE WANTED TO RECOMMEND ADVANCING CULTURAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION.
SO THINKING THROUGH HOW WE ACKNOWLEDGE HISTORICAL INJUSTICES.
THAT'S WHAT I MEANT BY, IT'S HARD TO GAUGE WHAT PROGRESS IS IF YOU HAVEN'T IDENTIFIED WHAT YOU'RE AIMING FOR.
SO WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS, LIKE, IS PROPORTIONALITY WHAT YOU'RE AIMING FOR? OR IS AN OVERCORRECTION WHAT YOU'RE AIMING FOR? OR IS IT, I DON'T KNOW, I DON'T WANNA SPEAK FOR YOU, BUT HAVING THOSE TYPE OF GOALS AND LIKE CLEARLY ARTICULATE, ARTICULATED GOALS HELPS TO, UM, MAKE SENSE OF THE NUMBERS AND ALSO HELPS TO COURSE CORRECT SO YOU CAN REACH THOSE GOALS ALONG THE WAY.
ANOTHER PIECE IS TO PRIORITIZE, PRIORITIZE EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF FUNDS.
UM, SO IF THAT'S POSSIBLE, I KNOW WE'RE IN THE CLIMATE THAT WE'RE IN, BUT IF PUTTING ASIDE, LIKE HAVING SEPARATE SET ASIDES FOR SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST IS AN OPTION.
UM, ESTABLISHED COMMUNITY ADVISORY PANELS AND FUND RESTORATIVE AND, UM, REPARATIVE INITIATIVES.
SO AGAIN, THAT MEANS LIKE SUPPORTING PROJECTS THAT ADDRESS HISTORICAL DAMAGE, REVITALIZE NEGLECTED COMMUNITIES AND PROMOTE LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY.
SO THAT'S REALLY IN THE TYPE OF CONTENT THAT YOU'RE SEEKING FROM YOUR APPLICANTS AND THE TYPE OF PROGRAMS THAT YOU WANT TO SUPPORT.
SO THAT'S REALLY ZOOMING IN AND WHEN YOU'RE LIKE JUDGING THE TYPES OF PROGRAMS THAT YOU'RE GETTING, UM, APPLICATIONS FOR.
SO I, YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO JUMP IN ON NUMBER SEVEN FOR A MOMENT, JUST BECAUSE IT WAS ECHOED WITHIN THE GROUP ABOUT ESTABLISHING COMMUNITY ADVISORY PANELS.
UM, I ALSO HAVE THE PLEASURE, THE PLEASURE OF BEING, UH, THE, UH, ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE BLACK FUND.
UM, AND SO THAT IS A A HUNDRED PERCENT COMMUNITY LED EFFORT IN US FUNDING OURSELVES.
AND SO THIS IDEA OF A, OF ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY ADVISORY PANEL, UM, IT COULD BE ADVISORY, BUT YOU COULD ALSO UPGRADE THAT IN SOME WAYS TO DECISION MAKING PANEL AS WELL, UM, GUIDING THE DECISION MAKING OF THIS FUND.
AND ON THE NEXT SLIDE, I'LL WALK THROUGH JUST KIND OF BRIEFLY THE THEORY OF CHANGE HIGH PIECES, BECAUSE I'LL, I WANNA OPEN IT UP FOR QUESTIONS FOR Y'ALL.
BUT, UM, WHEN WE LOOK AT THE THEORY OF CHANGE, THIS IS HOW WE THOUGHT BASED ON KIND OF THE INTERVIEWS THAT WE'VE DONE, THE DATA WE COLLECT, WE ANALYZED, UM, AND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS WITHIN IT.
THIS IS WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE THE THEORY OF CHANGE IN ORDER TO, UH, GET A, TO HAVE TO MAKE PROGRESS AND MEASURABLE PROGRESS ON THE GOALS THAT Y'ALL HAVE.
SO THE FIRST IS LIKE, AND IN GENERAL, IN GENERAL, A THEORY OF CHANGE IS LIKE, YOU DO THIS, THEN THIS HAPPENS.
SO THESE ARE COLLECTION OF IF THENS.
SO IF THE CITY OF AUSTIN PROVIDES FUNDING TO ARTISTS AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS, THEN THE COMMUNITY WILL BE ENRICHED AND AFFECTED.
AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN TO PROVIDE THOSE FUNDING TO ARTISTS IS, YOU KNOW, IT CREATES THIS PROGRAM.
IT HAS OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUNDING FOR ARTISTS.
UM, ONE OF THE PIECES, SUB PIECES OF THAT IS A CONCERN WE IDENTIFIED WAS THAT WITH THE APPLICATION PROCESS ITSELF, DUE TO ITS COMPLEXITY, UH, AND ITS SIGNIFICANT RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS, THE APPLICATION POTENTIALLY CAN SERVE AS A HINDRANCE OR A BARRIER TO APPLICANTS.
OUR RECOMMENDATION, AND WE'VE GONE OVER THIS, AND Y'ALL HAVE SAID THIS IN THE ROOM, SO WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, IS TO CREATE MORE EQUITABLE FUNDING LANDSCAPES, UM, A SIMPLIFY THE APPLICATION PROCESS, PROVIDE CLEAR GUIDELINES, TEMPLATES, AND RESOURCES.
AND AGAIN, I WANNA NAME THE TIMELINE FOR THIS PROJECT OCCURRING.
WE STARTED IN APRIL, WE FINISHED AROUND OCTOBER.
[02:15:01]
OF PROCESS, LIKE APPLICATIONS AND THINGS THAT HAPPEN.AND, UM, I WOULD JUST MAKE SPACE FOR THE TEAM TO ALSO VOCALIZE HOW THEY'RE MEETING THESE CHARGES BECAUSE WHEN WE WERE BUILDING OUT, JUST KINDA LIKE THE THEORY OF CHANGE, WHICH WE CO-CREATED, UH, AND THEN WORKING WITH JUSTIN, HE'S LIKE, YEAH, NO, WE'VE, WE'VE HEARD THAT FROM THE COMMUNITY.
LIKE, WE'RE WORKING ON IT, RIGHT? IT JUST TAKES TIME TO DO THOSE THINGS.
SO I WOULD SAY GIVE THE TEAM THE, A CHANCE TO SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES AND, AND SHOW HOW THESE EFFORTS ARE MOVING TOWARD AND LIKE MEETING THE NEEDS OF THIS THEORY OF CHANGE.
SO, UH, THAT'S A, LIKE A, A SEPARATE SUB-PIECE, BUT I'M GONNA NAME THAT NOW.
AND THEN THE SECOND PIECE, AS A DATA PERSON, ENSURING CONSISTENCY IN THE DATA THAT IS COLLECTED IS VITAL IN UNDERSTANDING TREND LINES.
SO IF YOU'RE COLLECTING ONE TYPE OF DATA, LET'S SAY THE HEALTH INSURANCE QUESTION ONE YEAR COLLECTED TWO, THREE MORE YEARS, OTHERWISE THAT ONE YEAR IS NOT RIGHT, RIGHT? THAT'S LIKE AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF IT.
SO WE'VE MADE LIKE THESE DATA RECOMMENDATIONS AS WELL, AND I THINK, UM, WE'RE, THE TEAM IS LIKE DEFINITELY RECEPTIVE TO THOSE PIECES.
SO ONTO THE NEXT PIECE, ADVERTISING THE PROGRAM.
I'M ONLY ON BULLET NUMBER TWO.
I THINK WE HAD SURFACED THAT THERE WAS LIMITED AWARENESS.
SO A RECOMMENDATION WAS TO BOLSTER THE AWARENESS THROUGH MAYBE DOOR-TO-DOOR ENGAGEMENT, MULTILINGUAL COMMUNICATIONS AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH LOCAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, UH, WHICH IS ALREADY IN THE WORKS.
UM, THE NEXT PIECE IS LIKE RECEIVING THE APPLICATION.
UM, A CONCERN WE IDENTIFIED IS THAT THE COMPLEXITY OF THE REQUIREMENTS MADE IT PROHIBITIVE FOR CERTAIN ARTISTS OR ORGANIZATIONS THAT DIDN'T HAVE PROFESSIONAL GRANT WRITING.
UH, ONE PIECE THAT'S IMPORTANT TO ME TO NOTE IS THAT WITH THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE THAT WAS PROVIDED, THERE WAS A STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE FOR OUTCOMES BASED ON RECIPIENTS OF THE TECHNICAL SUPPORT.
SO IF YOU RECEIVE THE SUPPORT, YOU'RE MUCH MORE LIKELY AS IN LIKE YOU WENT AND GOT THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MUCH MORE LIKELY TO GET APPROVED THAN IF YOU DID NOT SEE, RECEIVE THE REPORT.
UH, THAT BECOMES PROBLEMATIC IF JUST AS AN ARTIST, YOU CHOOSE NOT TO DO IT, BUT THAT AFFECTING YOUR LIKELIHOOD OF APPROVAL OF BEING.
I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE NOTED.
OUR, OUR RECOMMENDATION FOR THAT WAS TO JUST MANDATE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, LIKE IF IT'S THAT MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE IN OUTCOMES, JUST MAKE EVERYBODY DO IT.
AND THAT ITSELF IS HARD TO DO.
BUT, UM, THAT WAS THE ONLY GLARINGLY, STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT FINDING THAT I FOUND THROUGHOUT THE FAVOR.
AND THEN, UH, THE NEXT PIECE IS YOU RECEIVE APPLICATIONS.
UM, THE CONCERN THAT WE NAMED THERE WAS, AGAIN, IN THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PIECE AND HOW THAT ACTUALLY HAD DIFFERENTIATING OUTCOMES FOR DIFFERENT RACIAL GROUPS.
SO WE SAW NOT ONLY IF YOU RECEIVE THE, UH, THE SUPPORT VERSUS NOT RECEIVING THE SUPPORT, BUT IF A RACIAL GROUP OVER OTHER RACIAL GROUPS SAW THE REPORT, THEN THEY, UM, HAD BETTER, BETTER OUTCOMES.
SO PERHAPS ENGAGING WITH THE LONG CENTER AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE SUPPORT THAT THEY'RE PROVIDING AND UNDERSTANDING, UM, HOW IT IS, HOW IT'S SERVING THE COMMUNITIES IS A CONVERSATION.
ANOTHER PIECE THERE AS A DATA PIECE, THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE PROVIDED WASN'T COLLECTED IN THE SECOND YEAR OF DATA THAT I RECEIVED.
SO I ACTUALLY COULDN'T TRACK THE TREND LINE ON THAT ONE.
SO I WOULD JUST, AGAIN, ASK FOR THAT DATA TO BE COLLECTED.
UM, THE THIRD, THE FOURTH PIECE HERE IS, OR THE FINAL PIECE IN THE FIRST HALF IS, UH, THEY WILL PROVIDE FUNDING.
SO OUR CONCERN IS THAT SHORT TERM FUNDING CYCLES LIMIT THE ABILITY OF ORGANIZATIONS TO PLAN FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND GROWTH.
SO IT'S ACTUALLY, UH, ON, TO YOUR POINT TODAY, THIS IS A COUNTERPOINT, RIGHT? SO THERE'S A, AN ARGUMENT OF HAVING LIKE MORE SHORT TERM PIECES FUNDING, AND THEN A LONGER TERM, BOTH OF THEM CAN ENABLE SUSTAINABILITY IN DIFFERENT WAYS FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS.
SO THAT REALLY IS SOMETHING THAT IS LIKE, HAS TO BE RECONCILED.
UH, BUT THERE, IT REALLY DEPENDS ON THE ARTIST AS A POET, FIVE GRAND TODAY WOULD BE AWESOME, BUT 30 GRAND OVER TWO YEARS WOULD BE AWESOME TOO.
SO IT REALLY DEPENDS ON WHAT IT IS THE GOAL OF THE ART OF THE ARTIST AND THEN OF THE CITY AND WHAT THE OUTCOMES THAT THAT, THAT AND IMPACT THAT YOU WANT THE ART TO MAKE IN MAKING THOSE DECISIONS.
I JUST WANT TO CALL OUT THAT TENSION, LIKE THAT'S A VERY REAL TENSION OF LIKE, ARTISTS, ARTISTS' OBJECTIVE.
ALRIGHT, IN THE LAST COUPLE PIECES, I'LL JUST KIND OF GO THROUGH THE LAST PART.
UM, THEN THE COMMUNITY WOULD BE ENRICHED AND AFFECTED.
AND IN GENERAL, THE BIGGER TAKEAWAY FROM THIS IS HOW DO WE,
[02:20:01]
UM, IDENTIFY IMPACT? SO WE, UH, A RECOMMENDATION WAS ADOPTING A MIXED METHODS APPROACH TO THE EVALUATION OF THE ART ITSELF SO THAT IT'S NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY PEOPLE CAME AND SAW YOUR PLAY, BUT CAN YOU GET PEOPLE TO DO A QUICK TIKTOK OF THE IMPACT OF THE PLAY? OR CAN YOU GET THE COMMUNITY TO REALLY LIKE, DESCRIBE THE IMPACT OF THE ART ITSELF SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A MORE EVOLVED PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT IT MEANS TO IMPACT THE COMMUNITY AND, UH, LESS ONUS ON THE ARTIST ITSELF TO, TO WORRY ABOUT, UH, METRICS LIKE SHORT TERM OR SHORTSIGHTED METRICS THAT WILL TAKE AWAY FROM LIKE, THE INTEGRITY OF THE ART ITSELF.THE LAST COUPLE OF PIECES IS THAT, UM, THE ACTUAL IMPACT WOULD BE DOCUMENTED.
SO THE CITY COULD ENCOURAGE ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF IMPACTING DOCUMENTATION, LIKE A VIDEO TESTIMONY OR NARRATIVE REPORTS.
UM, AND THEN BEING ABLE TO AGGREGATE THAT DATA, I THINK WOULD HELP THE CITY IN CASE MAKING AS TO THE IMPORTANCE OF ALL THE RESPECTIVE PROGRAMS, IF YOU CAN SAY, NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, A HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE ATTENDED SOMETHING THAT WAS FUNDED BY US, BUT LIKE IT CHANGED THE LIVES OF 12 PEOPLE.
SO THAT WAS A RECOMMENDATION AS WELL.
BUT THAT WAS IN A VERY TIGHT NUTSHELL, KIND OF OUR FINDINGS, UM, AND OUR THEORY OF CHANGE CONVERSATION.
AND AGAIN, I JUST WANTED TO APPLAUD JUSTIN AND THEIR TEAM BECAUSE WHEN WE WERE WALKING THROUGH THIS, HE WAS VERY MUCH LIKE, YEAH, WE LITERALLY DO THAT.
LIKE, WE, WE JUST TRIED THAT THIS YEAR.
WE TRIED IT WITH THE ROLLOUT THAT JUST HAPPENED IN AUGUST, LIKE WE'RE, AND THERE WAS NO WAY FOR US TO CAPTURE THAT IN OUR REPORT, MOSTLY BECAUSE OF THE TIMEFRAME THAT WE HAD TO WRITE IT.
BUT, UH, I DO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE IMMENSE EFFORT THAT IT'S GOING TO ALREADY, LIKE ADDRESSING THE COMMUNITY NEEDS AND, UM, THE THINGS THAT WE HIGHLIGHTED.
CAN I MENTION ONE MORE THING? PLEASE.
AND WHEN YOU, WHEN YOU RECEIVE THE, THE LARGE REPORT, I DO WANNA SAY THIS, THAT MEASURE CREATES WHAT WE CALL BLACK PAPERS.
AND BLACK PAPERS GO BACK IN THE SEVENTIES FOR IT'S ACTUAL REPORTS THAT ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SAT ON, YOU KNOW, ON THE DESK, ON THE CORNER, BUT IT'S REPORTS THAT OUR COMMUNITY ARE, IS SUPPOSED TO USE IN ORDER TO SELF-ADVOCATE.
AND SO THE GOAL WOULD BE FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE ARTISTS AND CREATIVES TO BE HERE WITH THEIR BLACK PAPER IN THEIR HAND SAYING, WAIT A MINUTE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THIS, THIS COMMISSIONER IS SAYING THIS, AND THAT'S RIGHT, AS A MATTER OF FACT ON MY REPORT, THIS IS WHAT IT SAYS.
AND SO JUST BEING ABLE TO EMPOWER THE COMMUNITY WITH DATA IS ALSO, UM, A THING.
AND WE'RE HOPING THAT THE COMMISSION CAN ALSO SUPPORT US IN THAT.
AND I DID WANNA MENTION IN ONE OF THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS BEFORE I PASS THE MIC, UM, THERE WE ARE A, UM, A PHILANTHROPIC PEOPLE.
WE JUST STAR IN AUSTIN, WE LOVE TO GIVE, RIGHT? UM, AND THERE'S A, THERE IS A RECOMMENDATION IN YOUR REPORT THAT YOU'LL SEE WHERE WE ARE SAYING, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THERE'S ALSO ARTISTS THAT HAVE BEEN GRANTED SOME, YOU KNOW, FUNDING AND MAYBE THEY HAVE, YOU KNOW, 15 OR $20 LEFT THAT THEY DIDN'T SPEND ON.
AND SO MAYBE THERE SHOULD BE AN ADDITIONAL WAY IN WHICH THEY CAN GIVE, GIVE BACK TO OUR COMMUNITY, RIGHT? LIKE I, AND, AND NOT SAYING LIKE, OH, WE WANNA GIVE THEM MONEY AND TAKE IT BACK.
I'M NOT SAYING THAT, BUT MAYBE GIVING JUST THE OPPORTUNITY OF LIKE PAY IT FORWARD TYPE THING WHERE YOU'RE CONTINUING TO BUILD, I'M JUST THINKING SUSTAINABILITY WHERE YOU'RE CONTINUING TO BUILD THIS GRANT, KEEP IT VIABLE, KEEP IT LARGE, RIGHT? UM, AND, AND, AND AGAIN, GIVING US THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE BACK TO, UM, TO OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, JUST TO ADD, UM, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONER JUSTIN PARSONS EQUITY AND INCLUSION COORDINATOR FOR EDD.
UM, A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO THIS TEAM.
I'M SORRY, I'M ALL ON THE MIC.
UM, I APPRECIATE Y'ALL FOR THAT.
UM, BUT I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR NOT HAVING SENT YOU ALL THE FULL REPORT, AND I'LL MAKE SURE TO GET THAT TO YOU IMMEDIATELY.
UM, BUT IN THERE, AS WE GO THROUGH THE THEORY OF CHANGE AND, AND SEEING SOME OF THE PLACES TO WHERE WE AS A DEPARTMENT HAVE, HAVE LOOKED AT FROM THAT FIRST YEAR INTO THE SECOND YEAR OF HOW WE COULD DO BETTER WITH THIS, THERE ARE SEVERAL THINGS WHERE THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US TO WORK WITH YOU.
ALL RIGHT? AND, AND I WOULD BE HAPPY TO WORK WITH YOU ALL.
I KNOW YOU ALL HAVE A WORKING GROUP.
UM, AND I WOULD LOVE TO BE A PART OF THAT WHENEVER THAT IS, UH, SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO KIND OF ADDRESS SOME OF THE THINGS TO WHERE THERE ARE GAPS IN WHAT WE'RE DOING.
UM, AND, AND AGAIN, THAT'LL BE SHOWN IN THAT REPORT, BUT I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT, TO HIGHLIGHT THAT, YOU KNOW, I, I FORGOT HOW IT WAS PHRASED IN THE REPORT, BUT THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO,
[02:25:01]
TO ENVISION WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND AND TO MOVE THIS NEEDLE FORWARD, UM, IN WHATEVER WAY THAT MAY BE.AND FINALLY, I WOULD ALSO JUST LIKE TO MENTION, YOU KNOW, THINKING ABOUT HOW YOU SOCIALIZE THIS REPORT IS GOING TO BE CRITICAL MM-HMM
BECAUSE OF WHAT HAP IS, WHAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW AND BECAUSE OF THE INFORMATION THAT WE SAW SAW EARLIER TODAY, RIGHT? SO THINKING ABOUT HOW YOU SOCIALIZE THIS REPORT, HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WILL CONTINUE TO ENGAGE AND, AND AND SO FORTH WHEN THIS DATA DROPS BECAUSE IT'S HEAVY AND IT'S A LOT.
UM, AND SO I JUST WANT AS TO ALSO BE REALLY MINDFUL ABOUT THAT MEASURE IS CONSISTENTLY AND WILL ALWAYS BE A PARTNER OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND OF THE WORK THAT Y'ALL ARE DOING.
UM, AND SO IF THERE'S ANY WAY IN WHICH WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO SUPPORT YOU IN THAT, JUST LET US KNOW.
AND WE'RE REALLY JUST KIND OF OPENING UP FOR, OH NO, THERE'S MORE
THE, UH, THE BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS ARE THAT YEAH.
UH, COMMUNICATING OUR PROGRESS, MAKING SURE THAT THE STAFF IS COMMUNICATING THE PROGRESS THAT IS BEING MADE, THAT MULTI-YEAR DATA IS NEEDED IN ORDER TO TRACK THE EFFECTIVENESS SO WE CAN ALIGN WITH THE THEORY OF CHANGE AND THEN THAT IDEA OF COMMUNITY IMPACT METRICS, SO YOU KNOW, WHAT IT IS THAT YOU'RE MEASURING FOR AND YOUR INTENDED OUTCOMES AS FAR AS IMPACTS.
NOW THE NEXT SLIDE, NOW IT'S Q AND A.
THAT WAS A REALLY WONDERFUL PRESENTATION.
UM, A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE LOOKED AT WHAT WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO AND THOSE THAT CAME BEFORE US AS STAFF MEMBERS AND ARTS COMMISSIONERS, UH, AND THIS, YOU KNOW, IT'S WONDERFUL TO SEE WHAT YOU GUYS HAVE DONE.
I THINK, UM, JUST KIND OF PUTTING IT OUT THERE, I THINK, UM, WE HAVE TO FIND A WAY AND IT'S HOW WONDERFUL THAT YOU ARE WORKING TOGETHER AS A GROUP, HELPING THE COMMUNITY BECOME A COMMUNITY.
OUR COMMUNITY DOESN'T ENGAGE IN THIS SYSTEM UNLESS THEY FEEL THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH IT.
THAT'S A BIG THING THAT WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET TO.
AND I THINK WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THAT AS LONG AS I'VE BEEN ON, WE'VE, WE, THAT ENGAGEMENT, SO THIS, THIS BEAUTIFUL REPORT, I WOULD MENTION HOW MANY PERCENTAGE OF THE ARTISTS THAT ARE FUNDED OR NOT FUNDED EVEN KNOW THAT THIS WAS GOING ON, RIGHT? SO WHEN YOU SAY, YOU KNOW, BE CAREFUL OR BE SENSITIVE AND JUST INPUTTING IT OUT THERE, I THINK THE FIRST THING IS TO INTRODUCE THAT IT WAS EVEN DONE.
LIKE, AND 'CAUSE THAT'S IMPORTANT.
IT'S LIKE, WHY WAS THIS BROUGHT UP? WELL, IT WAS NEEDED.
WHY WAS IT NEEDED FOR THESE REASONS? AND I THINK THAT THE COMMUNITY WILL BENEFIT FROM ALL OF THE INFORMATION THEY SEE.
I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I REALLY LIKE THE WAY THAT YOU ALL TALK ABOUT DATA.
I THINK IT'S REALLY APPROACHABLE AND I APPRECIATE THAT.
LIKE FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE WATCHING PEOPLE THAT COME BACK AND LOOK AT THIS VIDEO, IT'S JUST VERY DIGESTIBLE, WHICH I THINK IS REALLY IMPORTANT WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY, RIGHT? WHICH IS WHAT THIS WHOLE STUDY KIND OF WAS SURROUNDING.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THOUGHT WAS, UM, REALLY GLARING, WHICH IS WAS A HUGE, HUGE CONCERN LAST YEAR, WAS THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.
AND I, I DO FEEL THAT IF IT'S YOU NEED, YOU NEED TO BE ONE-ON-ONE WITH A STAFF MEMBER IN ORDER TO NAVIGATE THIS GRANT, THAT TELLS ME THAT THERE ARE ISSUES SYSTEMICALLY WITH THE GRANT APPLICATION ITSELF.
AND IT IS NOT ACCESSIBLE BECAUSE YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT.
AS AN ARTIST THAT APPLIED FOR THIS GRANT, I HAVE A LOT OF GRANT MAKING EXPERIENCE BECAUSE I ALSO RUN A NONPROFIT.
SO I KNEW HOW TO NAVIGATE THAT GRANT, BUT MY COUNTERPART A DIFFERENT ARTIST DID NOT.
AND THAT IS MY PRIVILEGE, RIGHT? I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A DECADE AND I THINK THAT'S LIKE A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT PIECE.
UM, SECONDLY, UM, ON THE REPORT ITSELF, KIND OF, UM, WHAT THE OTHER COMMISSIONER WAS STATING, THERE IS A DISTRUST, AND I'M NOT SURE IF THAT WAS, UM, SPOKEN ABOUT IN THESE FOCUS GROUPS, AND IT IS BECAUSE OF THE DISJOINTED COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE STAFF AND THE COMMISSION, AND YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT, COMMISSIONER MOCK ON OTHER COMMISSIONS, THERE IS THIS KIND OF ALIGNMENT WHERE YOU'RE ALIGNING YOURSELF WITH STAFF AND, AND WHAT JESUS IS SAYING I ALREADY KNEW THREE OR FOUR DAYS AGO, RIGHT? BUT
[02:30:01]
THAT IS ACTUALLY NOT THE NORM IN THE ARTS COMMISSION AS FAR AS I'VE BEEN ON IT FOR THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF.AND TO MY UNDERSTANDING, THERE WAS A CHANGE A FEW YEARS AGO WHERE THE ARTS COMMISSION WAS ACTUALLY TOLD TO ADVISE CANCEL COUNCIL RATHER THAN BEING A PART OF THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
UM, WHICH I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT.
AND I WOULD LOVE FOR Y'ALL TO DO STUDY ON THAT BECAUSE I'M VERY INTERESTED IN THE DATA POINTS ON WHAT MADE THAT DECISION COME TO THE DECISION
AND I THINK ULTIMATELY MY TAKEAWAY FROM THIS IS THIS DATA IS VALUABLE, RIGHT? BUT IT'S ONLY AS VALUABLE AS THE FEEDBACK THAT WILL COME INTO THE NEXT ITERATION OF THE GRANT.
AND THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS, WE JUST SAT HERE TONIGHT AND WE TALKED ABOUT HOW A GRANT WAS COMPLETELY CHANGED, BUT YOU'RE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING YOUR DATA.
SO IT, IT'S, IT'S, AND, AND I'M NOT TRYING TO POINT FINGERS.
I THINK THAT EVERYBODY'S DOING THE BEST THAT THEY CAN, BUT DATA DOESN'T LIE.
WHETHER IT'S FROM LIVED EXPERIENCE, WELL, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, IN THIS CONTEXT TAKES LOT.
I MEANT WHEN WE'RE NOT GETTING A WHOLE VIEW OF THE DATA THAT YOU'RE COLLECTING, IT SEEMS LIKE A BAD MOVE TO TAKE PARTIAL DATA AND COMPLETELY CHANGE SOMETHING WITHOUT ALL THE INFORMATION.
RIGHT? AND, AND I GUESS THAT'S WHERE I'M KIND OF COMING FROM.
BUT THEN THE OTHER PIECE OF THE PIE THAT I THINK IS MISSING IS THE COMMUNICATION, WHICH WAS ONE OF YOUR POINTS.
UM, AND I ALSO WANTED TO, AND THIS IS THE LAST THING I'LL SAY, I ALSO WANTED TO, UM, CLARIFY WHAT I MEANT BY SMALLER GRANTS.
ONE THING THAT I THINK WOULD BE AN INTERESTING DATA POINT TO STUDY IS THAT ARTISTS ARE BEING ACTUALLY PUT IN THE SAME, UM, BUCKET AS ORGANIZATIONS.
AND SO WITH THE NEXUS GRANT, YOU CAN BE A SMALL BUSINESS, SO YOU CAN BE LIKE 10 PEOPLE THAT RUN AN ARTIST COLLECTIVE, OR YOU CAN BE AN INDIVIDUAL PAINTER OR YOU CAN BE, UM, A THEATER GROUP WANTING TO PUT ON A PLAY.
AND SO TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE INTERSECTION OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ARTS AND WHETHER YOU'RE AN INDIVIDUAL OR AN ORGANIZATION, IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK WOULD, AND AGAIN, I DON'T HAVE THE DATA, BUT IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO SEE, WOULD A THOUSAND TO $2,000 GRANT GO FURTHER WITH INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS? AND WOULD A $5,000 GRANT, UM, BE BETTER SUITED FOR A COLLECTIVE? AND HOW DO WE DIFFERENTIATE THAT IN OUR APPLICATION? UM, I THINK THAT'S KIND OF WHERE ME, AND NOT TO CALL HIM OUT, BUT ZACH, WHAT WE WERE KIND OF TALKING ABOUT IS THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF, AND SO MORE ARTS FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS VERSUS MAYBE THERE'S, YOU KNOW, ONE OR TWO TIMES A YEAR THAT YOU CAN GET THIS LARGER GRANT FOR AN ORGANIZATION.
UM, BECAUSE I DO THINK THAT ORGANIZATIONS ARE AT AN ADVANTAGE THAN AN INDIVIDUAL ARTIST BECAUSE THEY'RE JUST MORE PEOPLE, YOU KNOW? SO THOSE ARE JUST MY THOUGHTS, BUT I LOVE CONVERSATIONS LIKE THIS.
UM, I THINK THEY'RE REALLY GREAT.
AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING UP THE IDEA OF, YOU EITHER SAID MISTRUST OR DISTRUST, BUT, UM, THAT WAS A PERVASIVE MESSAGE AND IT'S ROOTED IN A LOT OF HISTORY.
BUT I ALSO FOUND THAT IT WAS ROOTED IN THIS IDEA OF THERE BEING ALMOST A LACK OF COMMUNICATION TO THE COMMISSIONER'S POINT ABOUT PROGRAMMING AND FEELING LIKE SOME OF THE PROGRAMMING WAS INACCESSIBLE FOR A MYRIAD OF REASONS, RIGHT? EITHER I DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT.
A FRIEND TOLD ME ABOUT IT, I HEARD ABOUT IT, JUST HAPPENSTANCE.
UM, AND SO IT WAS, IT WAS MULTILAYERED, RIGHT? SO VERY, VERY INTERESTING, UH, TO BE ABLE TO UNCOVER THE COMPLEXITY OF THE MISTRUST COMMISSIONER HOUSTON.
UM, I'M, I'M REALLY PLEASED TO SEE THAT, THAT YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS REFLECT WHAT WE'VE BEEN SAYING AT THE COUNCIL FOR, I MEAN, THE COUNCIL ON THE COMMISSION,
SO I'M, I'M REALLY PLEASED WITH THAT.
I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF CONCERNS JUST IN TERMS OF THE SAMPLE SIZE ON THE FOCUS GROUPS.
WHAT DOES DATA SATURATION MEAN? SO DATA SATURATION, QUALITATIVE, UH, DATA, UM, WORKS DIFFERENTLY THAN QUANTITATIVE, RIGHT? LIKE YOU DO A POWER ANALYSIS WITH QUANTITATIVE DATA AND YOU MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET TWO STATISTICAL, UM, SIGNIFICANCE WITH QUALITATIVE DATA.
DATA SATURATION MEANS THAT WE ARE, WE ARE NOT HEARING ANY NEW THEMES EMERGE.
[02:35:02]
SO WE COULD GET TO, YOU COULD HAVE A TARGETED SAMPLE, LET'S SAY A STUDY, YOU WANNA RECRUIT 15 PEOPLE, WE COULD TO THE 11TH PERSON.AND WE'RE LIKE, OKAY, WE ARE, WE ARE HEARING THE SAME THINGS.
WE'RE NOT HEARING ANYTHING NEW.
THE STANDARD PRACTICE, THOUGH, IS TO CONTINUE TO RECRUIT AND TO, UM, GATHER DATA JUST TO CONFIRM THAT WE'RE NOT HEARING ANYTHING NEW.
SO THAT'S ESSENTIALLY WHAT THAT MEANS.
SO I GUESS I DON'T, I GUESS 31 SEEMS LIKE A FOR, FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, 31 SEEMS LIKE A RELATIVELY SMALL SAMPLE SIZE.
AND WITH THE PROBLEMS WITH THE PLATFORM AND PEOPLE, NOT PEOPLE VOLUNTEERING AND BEING TOLD THAT THEY COULDN'T PARTICIPATE, ARE IS YOUR, ARE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS COMING MORE FROM THE, THE DATA THAT WE HAVE STATISTICALLY, OR IS IT MORE COMING FROM THE 31 PEOPLE THAT YOU TALK TO IN THE GROUPS? SO IT'S COMING FROM BOTH THE QUALITATIVE AND THE QUANTITATIVE DATA INFORM EACH OTHER, AND IT'S HARD FOR PEOPLE TO DIGEST THE, THE NOTION IN QUALITATIVE RESEARCH THAT THE, THE SAMPLE SIZE IS, IS SMALL PER SE.
AND THE WAY THAT WE CONTROL FOR THAT IS WHAT WE DO.
THE PUR, THE PURPOSIVE SAMPLING, UH, WHERE WE HAVE A, WE ARE INTENTIONAL ABOUT RECRUITING PEOPLE FROM A WIDE RANGE OF LIFE EXPERIENCES, BACKGROUNDS.
UM, HANNAH MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, THEY KNEW ABOUT THE PROGRAM, THEY DIDN'T, THEY WERE AWARDED, THEY APPLIED AND DIDN'T GET IT.
SO THAT'S HOW WE KIND OF CONTROL FOR THIS IDEA OF A SMALL SAMPLE SIZE.
SO IF WE ARE HEARING THE SAME STORIES FROM A WIDE RANGE OF PEOPLE, IT'S, IT'S OKAY TO STOP AT 25 30, EVEN THOUGH IT'S, IT'S A SMALL SAMPLE SIZE, IT'S STILL REPRESENTATIVE.
SO DID YOU HAVE, DID YOU HAVE, SO WE'LL HAVE, WE NEED X NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THIS AGE CATEGORY, X NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE IN THIS CATEGORY.
HOW DID YOU, HOW DID YOU VET THOSE PEOPLE TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAD THAT BROAD SAMPLE? YES, AND SO WE WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH JUSTIN AND HIS TEAM.
HE RECOMMENDED PEOPLE FOR US TO RECRUIT.
AND THAT'S THE THING, YOU CAN RECRUIT PEOPLE, BUT THEY DON'T PART, THEY MAY NOT PARTICIPATE.
SO IN THOSE INSTANCES, WE GOTTA GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD AND SAY, HEY, WE'RE OVER REPRESENTATIVE WITH WHITE MEN.
WE NEED SOME LATINA WOMEN WHO WERE AWARDED.
AND WE SPEAK TO ALL OF THAT IN THE REPORT.
SO ALL THAT'S IN THE FULL REPORT? YES, MA'AM.
COMMISSIONERS, ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER GARZA? I'M REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO LOOKING AT THE REPORT.
UM, I'VE STUDIED STATISTICS BEFORE, AND WHILE SOMETIMES A LOW NUMBER OF RESPONSES WOULD KIND OF MAYBE RESULT IN A SKEWED RESPONSE, I LIKE THE WAY YOU GUYS BALANCED IT OUT.
UH, OF COURSE, WE'RE ONLY TALKING TO ARTISTS, SO I'M NOT SURE 31, I THINK IT'S MAYBE 10% OF OR ABOUT 10% OF THOSE WHO WHO GET FUNDED.
UH, I KNOW ANYTHING BELOW 5% IS, IS REALLY NOT ACCEPTABLE.
SO YOU GUYS ARE IN THAT 10 TO 20% RANGE.
SO I'M GLAD, I'M GLAD TO HEAR ABOUT THAT.
UH, AND YOU DID HEAR A LOT ABOUT MISTRUST, UH, THAT THE ARTISTS AFTER THE COMMUNITY, UH, TOWARDS OUR COMMISSIONERS, TOWARDS EVERYONE ELSE.
I REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST JOINED THIS COMMISSION, OUT OF THE 11 COMMISSIONERS, FIVE OF 'EM WOULD USUALLY NOT VOTE ON THINGS BECAUSE THEY HAD A CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
AND WHEN OUR COMMUNITIES WOULD SEE THAT, A LOT OF FOLKS WOULD THINK, OH, THOSE ARE THE COMMISSIONERS THAT I NEED TO TALK TO BECAUSE THEY'VE GOT THE INSIGHT LINE ON HOW TO GET FUNDS AND WHATNOT.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID A FEW YEARS AGO BEFORE THE, UH, THE COVID PANDEMIC IS WE HAD PANEL PANELS.
ANYTIME WE, WE, WE HAD A PROBLEM, ARTISTS WOULD COME BY, UH, THEY'D CO COMPLAINT, WE REWRITE THE PROGRAM, WE WOULD TRY TO HAVE PANELS.
SO WE GOT REWRITTEN THIS TIME.
I'M NOT SURE WE HAD PANELS WITH COMMISSIONERS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS, UH, BEFORE THE NEXUS WAS, WAS REWRITTEN.
BUT, UH, I THINK ANYTIME THAT WE REWRITE A PROGRAM, WE HAVE TO HAVE COMMUNITY MEMBERS, WE HAVE TO HAVE COMMISSIONER PANELS COMING BY AND, UH, SHARE INFORMATION.
THANK, THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING, BECAUSE IT DOES ADD EXTRA TEETH TO ALL THE ARGUMENTS WE'VE BEEN MAKING HERE TODAY THAT OUR COMMUNITY FEELS UNDER REPRESENTATIVE.
UH, THERE'S BEEN THIS ERA OF MISTRUST.
I'M NOT SURE HOW MANY COMMISSIONERS
[02:40:01]
NOW HAVE CONFLICT OF INTEREST, BUT I KNOW WHEN I FIRST GET ON THE COMMISSION, THAT WAS ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MY, MY, MY APPOINTING COMMISSIONER, UH, COMMISSIONER WOULD ALWAYS TELL ME, MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T TAKE MONEY THAT WAY.YOU CAN VOTE FOR PROGRAMS LATER.
WE NEED YOU TO STAY OBJECTIVE.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT I'VE TRIED TO DO THIS WHOLE TIME.
AND I, I RECOMMEND THAT TO OUR COMMISSIONERS.
I RECOMMEND THAT YOUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, I KNOW WE'VE GOT SOME COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO WILL BE NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS COMING IN, AND HOPEFULLY SOME OF OUR COMMISSIONERS WILL REAPPLY.
BUT OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, I ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT A COMMISSIONER THAT JUST LIKE THEIR COUNCIL MEMBER LIVES AND WORKS IN THE COMMUNITY WILL HAVE A GREATER EAR TO THE GROUND OF WHAT'S GOING ON.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT REALLY WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS MAKE SURE OUR COMMISSIONERS, UH, REPRESENT THEIR COMMUNITY WELL, INTERACT WITH OUR COMMUNITY AND TALK TO 'EM ABOUT WHAT THEY THINK, THINK IS GOING ON.
I KNOW THIS LAST TIME WE GOT SOME FUNDING, UH, I WENT AND TALKED TO SOME OF OUR PEOPLE WHO ARE GRANTED AND SOME, AH, WELL, WE, WE, WE KINDA EXPECT THAT WE'RE GONNA GET LESS.
UH, WE ALWAYS GET A LITTLE, WE SORT OF, YOU SORT OF HIT LIKE THIS BELL SHAPED CURVE.
THEY'RE SAYING THE CITY LOST THE FUNDING.
YOU GO UP, YOU GO UP, GO UP THE FAN, THEY BRING YOU BACK DOWN AND SOMETIMES YOU, YOU GET SOME MONEY AND SOMETIMES YOU GET ZERO FUNDING.
AND SO THAT'S KIND OF HARD FOR A LOT OF ORGANIZATIONS WHO'VE BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE.
AND ALSO FOR THE COMMUNITY THAT RELY ON THOSE, ON THOSE ORGANIZATIONS TO, TO PROVIDE AN INTERACTION FOR THE COMMUNITY TO GO AND, AND, AND COMMUTE.
YOU KNOW, REALLY JUST TALK TO EACH OTHER AND ENJOY THE ARTWORK.
AND SO, AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
UH, I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO LOOKING AND DIGGING THROUGH ALL THE NUMBERS AND WHATNOT.
IT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I LOVE TO DO.
UH, PEOPLE THINK I'M KIND OF WEIRD ABOUT THAT.
BUT, UH, AND I WORK WITH AUSTIN HIGH SCHOOL SPECIAL ED DEPARTMENT, AND MY SPECIALTY IS ALWAYS, UH, ALGEBRA AND GEOMETRY.
SO ANYTIME ANYBODY HAS PROBLEMS WITH ALGEBRA AND GEOMETRY, I'M THE ONE THEY HIT UP.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER SCHMUCK.
WELL, I'M REITERATING, BUT THANK YOU.
THIS IS, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION AND ESPECIALLY THE WAY THAT YOU TOOK TIME TO BREAK DOWN YOUR METHODOLOGY.
SO I'M LIKE, YEAH, YOU DON'T NEED BIG EXAMPLES,
UM, AND, AND JUST MORE BROADLY, LIKE THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING TO CODIFY, LIKE LIVED EXPERIENCE AS DATA AND THEN EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES TO USE THEIR OWN DATA TO ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES, I THINK IS LIKE, JUST SO INCREDIBLE.
AND I THINK WE'RE REALLY LUCKY TO WORK WITH YOU ON THIS REPORT AND SUPER EXCITED TO LIKE, DIG INTO THE FULL THING.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR MEASURE? VERY GRATEFUL FOR YOU GUYS.
OH, ONCE WE GET THE FULL REPORT, IF WE HAVE QUESTIONS, WHO SHOULD WE SEND THEM TO? ALRIGHT.
I MEAN, IT'S, I'LL SAY FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, IT'S VERY, UM, IT'S EXCITING TO SEE THE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG, VALIDATED IN DATA, BUT IT, IT KIND OF CIRCLES BACK TO THAT LIKE, PLEASE LISTEN TO US.
LIKE WE ARE BEING COMMUNICATED DIRECTLY, LIKE THE OFFICIAL REPORT AND THE INFORMATION IS INCREDIBLY VALIDATING.
AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN TAKE TO THE HIGHER UPS AND SAY LIKE, HERE IT IS.
LIKE THIS IS THE PROFESSIONAL OPINION OF WHAT'S GOING ON.
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT'S LIKE IT'S BEING MIRRORED IN REAL TIME HERE.
SO IF, IF ANYTHING LIKE, LET'S, IT JUST BACKS UP.
WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR IS LIKE, WE'RE, WE'RE ALSO THE EAR TO THE GROUND FOR THE COMMUNITY.
WE'RE IN HERE, WE'RE APPLYING FOR THESE GRANTS, WE'RE TALKING WITH OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
UM, THAT SHOULD BUILD MORE TRUST WITH US, I THINK, AS A BODY, AND TO BE USED AS A RESOURCE, UM, SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT, YOU KNOW, AND, AND DO AN AUDIT EVERY TIME WE HAVE A PROGRAM ROLLOUT.
LIKE I THINK THAT SHOULD SPEAK TO AUTHENTICATING THE, THE FEEDBACK THAT WE'RE GETTING AND, AND WE'RE PASSING ALONG.
AND I WOULD JUST, UM, SUGGEST TOO, LIKE TO THAT POINT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE USING THIS REPORT AS THAT UNITY BUILDING TOOL BETWEEN THE COMMISSION AND THE STAFF, BASED ON WHAT I'VE HEARD AS A COMMUNITY MEMBER TODAY.
UM, AND JUST KNOWING THAT I'VE, YOU KNOW, IN THE VERY, AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF US DOING THIS WORK, I DID SEE A LOT OF SOME MEDIA ATTENTION AROUND, AROUND THIS PARTICULAR STUDY, RIGHT? I THINK IT WAS THE AUSTIN MONITORED IT, LIKE A STORY ON IT OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
AND SO IF THERE'S POTENTIAL FOR KIND OF LIKE THAT AGREEMENT AND COMING TOGETHER WITH LIKE, STAFF AND COMMISSION X, Y, Z LIKE THIS IS OUR THEORY OF CHANGE.
LIKE WE'RE, YOU KNOW, REALLY GONNA KIND OF POUR INTO THE RECOMMENDATIONS HERE THEN, YOU KNOW, USING IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE WITH THE BROADER COMMUNITY, USING MEDIA.
LIKE LETTING PEOPLE KNOW, I WOULD LOVE TO COME BACK HERE.
[02:45:01]
I STARTED MEASURE, RIGHT? SO I, I WANNA SEE THE CHECK MARKS.I WANNA SEE SOME MEASURABLE CHANGE, RIGHT? AND SO IT WOULD ALSO BE NICE TO COME IN HERE AND SEE THIS ROOM FILLED UP WITH, YOU KNOW, ARTISTS, RIGHT? CREATIVES, YOU KNOW, MY DAUGHTER, RIGHT? LIKE IN THE SEAT WITH HER, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYING? SO LIKE, USING IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CONSENSUS BUILDING FOR ADDITIONAL INQUIRY, UM, CHALLENGE, RIGHT? CHALLENGE MAKES US BETTER.
UM, IS A, IS JUST ANOTHER, UM, RECOMMENDATION THAT'S NOT ON THE BOOK.
SO, BUT ABSOLUTELY APPRECIATE WORKING WITH YOU JUSTIN.
IT'S AN INCREDIBLE PARTNER RIGHT HERE.
HUGE CHAMPION FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, AND EVERYONE ELSE THAT BROUGHT US ONTO THIS PROJECT, WELL DONE.
YEAH, AND I THINK JUST TO THAT POINT, LIKE WE, WE NEED A COMMUNITY PARTNER.
WE AS A BODY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE, HAVE OUR OWN PRESENCE.
LIKE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S NO NEWSLETTER THAT WE CAN SEND OUT AN OFFICIAL CAPACITY.
WE CAN'T HAVE OUR OWN INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT.
SO WE REALLY NEED A THIRD PARTY PARTNER TO BE AMPLIFYING THE PROGRESS AND THE UPDATES THAT HAPPEN ON THIS BODY.
SO, YOU KNOW, ANY NONPROFIT OUT THERE WANT TO TAKE IT ON, YOU KNOW, UM, I THINK AUSTIN COMMONS IS A REALLY PHENOMENAL EXAMPLE OF THAT AS A, A COMMUNICATOR AND A TRANSLATOR FROM A MUNICIPAL LANGUAGE LE LEGALESE TO REALLY SIMPLIFYING AND MAKING IT ACCESSIBLE TO THE LAYMAN AND JUST TO UNDERSTAND IN A REALLY NOT SCARY WAY, WHAT'S HAPPENING MONTH TO MONTH.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S A GAP IN OUR RESOURCE.
UM, AND CITY HAS A LOT OF LIMITATIONS WHEN IT COMES TO COMMUNICATIONS AND LEGAL, BUT ANYTHING WITH THE CITY LOGO ON IT HAS TO BE APPROVED BY THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE PRETTY CONFINED IN THAT RESPECT.
BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THERE CAN'T BE A COMMUNITY PARTNER THAT WE CAN'T WORK IN TANDEM WITH TO HELP SORT OF PUBLICIZE THIS, THESE COMMUNICATIONS AND, AND WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE.
BUT THANK YOU GUYS VERY MUCH APPRECIATE YOU.
[Items 9 -14]
AND MOVE ON.WE'VE GOT JUST A COUPLE THINGS LEFT.
COMMISSIONER GRAY, I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE TO APPROVE ON CONSENT ITEM 10 THROUGH 15.
ALL IN FAVOR OF MOVING THOSE ITEMS ON CONSENT.
[15. Update from joint Arts/Music Commission Working Group on Urban Core Issues with Commissioners Gray, Maldonado, and Schmalbach (chair). ]
GROUP UPDATES.UM, UPDATE FROM THE JOINT ARTS AND MUSIC COMMISSION WORKING GROUP ON URBAN CORE LAND ISSUES WITH COMMISSIONER GRAHAM MALDONADO AND ALBA COMMISSIONER MALDONADO.
ARE YOU STILL ON THAT ONE? NO, I'M NOT.
I HAVEN'T BEEN FOR A FEW MONTHS.
STAFF, CAN WE PLEASE REMOVE COMMISSIONER MALDONADO? YEAH.
I KNOW IT'S BEEN REQUESTED IN WRITING A COUPLE TIMES.
DOES ANYONE ELSE WANNA JOIN THE WORKING GROUP? WE ARE MEETING ON FEBRUARY 7TH, I THINK FIRST THURSDAY THE, YOU'RE ON THIS LAND USE WORKING GROUP.
UH, SIXTH URBAN CORE LAND USE AT NINE 30 IN THE MORNING, THURSDAY THE SIXTH AT NINE 30 IN THE MORNING.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT DOWNTOWN AS THE NAME SUGGESTS, LIKE ISSUES PARTICULARLY HAVING TO DO WITH LAND USE DECISION MAKING THAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR CORE NEIGHBORHOODS.
SO WE'VE BEEN KEEPING AN EYE ON MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS TO AND BEING SHOT DOWN, UM, TO ON CONVENTION CENTER PROJECTS.
UM, WE'VE WORKED REALLY CLOSELY WITH MATT'S FORMER WELL, YEAH, YOUR, THE TEAM THAT YOU WERE WORKING WITH BEFORE LEADING BEFORE WHEN DONALD ON SOME OF THE AMAZING WORK THAT THEY ROLLED OUT.
THERE'S JUST A LOT OF WORK HAPPENING AND NOW WE'RE MEETING AGAIN.
SO WE COULD USE ANOTHER REP IF SOMEBODY WANTS TO JOIN IT AND I'LL HAVE MORE UPDATES NEXT MONTH.
YEAH, I THINK THE TOUGH PART IS, IS WE'RE DOWN A COUPLE COMMISSIONERS, WE'RE LOSING A COMMISSIONER, UM, AND WE HAVE A, A COMMISSIONER, ONE COMMISSIONER THAT'S NOT HERE.
I'M HAVING DIFFICULTY MAPPING 3 6, 7, 8, 9 2.
UM, LET'S MAYBE CIRCULATE THAT REQUEST TO THE WHOLE COMMISSION.
I CAN'T JUMP TO IT 'CAUSE MY TIME COMMITMENTS ARE SHIFTING.
UM, BUT UM, YEAH, THAT'S GOOD TO, GOOD TO KNOW.
SO WE HAVE, IS IT JUST THE TWO OF YOU THEN? YEAH.
IT IS JOINT ON FROM IT'S JOINT.
COMMISSIONER GARZA, ANY INTEREST IN JOINING LAND, LAND USE? NO.
WHAT IF THERE'S SNACKS? ZACH SAID IF THERE'S SNACKS, PEOPLE LIKE TO COME TO THINGS YOU NEED ON MARGARITA BAR.
ALRIGHT, WE'LL, WE'LL CIRCLE BACK AND, AND MAKE IT KNOWN TO THE ENTIRE COMMISSION THAT WE'RE NEEDING A AN ADDITIONAL COM UH, COMMISSIONER ON THAT WORKING GROUP.
UM, ITEM 17, UPDATE FROM THE COMMUNITY
[16. Update from the Community Feedback on most recent release of the Cultural Funding Programs Working Group with Commissioner’s Kracheni, Maldonado, Gray, Houston, Medicharla (chair) ]
FEEDBACK ON, UH, COMMUNITY FEEDBACK WORKING GROUP ON MOST RECENT RELEASE OF THE CULTURAL FUNDING PROGRAMS. UH, WORKING GROUP WITH COMMISSIONER CNI, MALDONADO GRAY, HOUSTON MALDONADO.YOU ARE ON THAT ONE THOUGH, RIGHT? THE COMMUNITY FEEDBACK WORKING GROUP.
UH, GRAY HOUSTON AND CHARLA CHAIR CHARLA IS NOT PRESENT WITH US TODAY.
AND ON BEHALF, ON BEHALF OF COMMISSIONER
[02:50:01]
CHARLA WHO WE, UH, WE SPOKE IN PERSON BUT SHE ALSO, I SAID SEND ME A TEXT.UH, COMMISSIONERS HAVE MET A COUPLE OF TIMES SO FAR TO SET ON SCOPE OF WORK AND APPROACH.
THE WORKING GROUP WILL FOCUS ON ELEVATE WITH THE EXPECTATION THAT RECOMMENDATIONS BE CONSIDERED FOR 2025 ROLLOUT.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS SHORTLISTED AT THIS TIME AND MEETING INVITES WILL BE SENT OUT THIS EVENING BY, UH, COMMISSIONER CHARLA WEEKLY MEETINGS NOW FILL FEBRUARY COMMISSION MEETING, UH, EXCUSE ME, WEEKLY MEETINGS NOW TILL FEBRUARY COMMISSION MEETING IS WHERE WE WILL, UH, PRESENT.
CONCLUSIONS COMMISSIONERS MET WITH MATT SCHMIDT IN WORKING GROUP LAST WEEK TO UNDERSTAND HOW EDD IS PROCEEDING WITH ALL THE CHANGES IN LEADERSHIP AS WELL AS INFORMATION WE ARE GETTING AROUND RULINGS THAT WOULD IMPACT DEI.
OUR UNDERSTANDING IS THAT EDD IS CURRENTLY SEEKING FURTHER DIRECTION AND HASN'T DRAWN CONCLUSIONS YET.
THE COMMISSIONERS EMPHASIZE THE NEED FOR ARTS COMMISSION TO HAVE ON TIME COMMUNICATION WITH EDD.
THE COMMISSIONERS ALSO EXPRESSED CONCERN WITH HOW EQUITY IS BEING DELIVERED CURRENTLY AND THE NEED TO REVISIT THIS.
UM, AND JUST SO THAT IT'S ON PUBLIC RECORDS, STAFF HAS COMMUNICATED THAT ALL CHANGES, SUGGESTED CHANGES AND FEEDBACK NEED TO BE SUBMITTED BY THE FEBRUARY MEETING IN ORDER FOR, UM, WHICH I SENT Y'ALL VIA EMAIL.
UM, BUT JUST, JUST SO THAT THAT'S CLEAR ON THE RECORD THAT THAT ALL FEEDBACK NEEDS TO BE SUBMITTED BY FEBRUARY IN ORDER TO BE INTEGRATED, ANALYZED, INTEGRATED, AND UH, INCLUDED IN THE NEXT ROLLOUT OF ELEVATE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THAT UPDATE.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE RALLY TO COME PRESENT.THEY HAVE NOT COME TO SEE US IN A WHILE AND I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE UP TO IN MARCH.
THE ARTIST FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE A EDC.
UM, ANY OTHER FEATURE AGENDA ITEMS FOLKS? I KNOW IT'S GETTING LATE.
UH, GROSS STOCK COOKIES ARE ON SALE LORD.
UM, WE ARE STILL IN LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION, SO GET OUT THERE AND UM, GET INVOLVED, ATTEND STUFF.
THERE'S LIKE WAY TOO MUCH FOR ME TO LIST.
OUTSIDER FEST IS COMING UP AT MID MONTH.
THAT'S ANOTHER GREAT ONE HOSTED BY THE VORTEX.
I FOR UM, I WAS FLABBERGASTED.
BUT ON THE MINUTES, THE VORTEX SHOW IS CALLED THE MUTT CRACKER, NOT THE NUTCRACKER.
AND I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A SHOUT OUT THAT THE CITY PROJECT, THE MAHATA TALES I AM IN.
SO IF YOU WANT IT GOT A LITTLE SELF-PROMOTION HERE.
ANY OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS OR ITEMS FOR INFORMATION SINCE WE JUST FREESTYLE AT THE END OF THESE MEETINGS THESE DAYS? AMY THINKS SHE'S OFF THE HOOK, BUT I'M REALLY GONNA WORK HARD TO GET HER HERE IN FEBRUARY.
BUT IF, IF THIS SHOULD BE THE LAST MEETING OF OUR BELOVED AMY MOCK.
UM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.
UM, HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN ON THE COMMISSION? 'CAUSE YOU WERE HERE WHEN I LONG TIME YOU LOST THE NUMBER.
HOW MANY COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE YOU GONE THROUGH? RIGHT, EXACTLY.
BUT THANK YOU COMMISSIONER MOCK FOR YOUR SERVICE AND ALL OF THE WISDOM AND EXPERIENCE YOU'VE CONTRIBUTED TO THIS PROCESS.
SO YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO FIGHT ME LATER, BUT, UM, WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST IN YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS.
IT'S ONLY PROBABLY WHAT, 1, 2, 3, 4.
THEY DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
HAVE ACTUALLY RIDDEN ON THE DILLO COMMISSIONER MOCK THE PATRON SAINT OF THE DILLO
I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THERE IS A RESOLUTION THAT THE, UH, DOWNTOWN COMMISSION WILL MERGE WITH THE SOUTH CENTRAL WATERFRONT ADVISORY COMMISSION.
SO THEN I DON'T KNOW IF WE'LL FIND SOMEBODY TO FILL YOUR SHOES.
YEAH, WE, WE NEED SOME MORE COMMISSIONERS ON THIS BODY.
UM, ACTUALLY WHILE I HAVE EVERYBODY HERE, IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR NEW COMMISSIONERS, WE HAVE NEW COUNSEL COMING IN.
UM, I'M, WE STILL NEED TO EMAIL D SIX TO GET YOU 'CAUSE YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE.
YEAH, SHE SAID I'M GOOD, BUT PAPERWORK I GUESS HAS TO GO IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
WELL, WE STILL HAVE TWO SPOTS TO
[02:55:01]
FILL.SO IF YOU HAVE COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST, HAVE THEM GO AHEAD AND SUBMIT AN APPLICATION THROUGH THE CITY PORTAL.
AND THEN IN TANDEM WITH THAT, WE CAN SEND THEIR NAMES, INFORMATION, AND ROLL WITHIN THE COMMUNITY TO STAFF TO, FOR CONSIDERATION.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH EVERYBODY.