Oct 08, 2025 Technology Commission

AND THEN I'LL JUST, UH, GO AHEAD AND CALL IN COMMISSIONERS IN THE ORDER THAT I SEE THEM.

UH, COMMISSIONER COMBY, UH, COMMISSIONER COMBY AND DISTRICT SEVEN.

COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD, DISTRICT EIGHT COMMISSIONER.

COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD.

HERITAGE, UH, COMMISSIONER HERITAGE DISTRICT FOUR.

AND COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, DISTRICT ONE.

I KNOW THAT, UH, JASMINE IS BUSY WITH, UH, CHECK FOR ALL FEST AND WITH ALL THE ACTIVITIES GOING ON WITH DIGITAL, DIGITAL INCLUSION WEEK HAPPENING NOW.

SO WITH THAT, UM, WE DO HAVE A QUORUM.

UM, SO WE'LL MOVE TO OUR FIRST AGENDA ITEM, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.

UH, WE DO NOT HAVE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC SIGNED UP TO SPEAK.

UM, SO WE DO HAVE A NUMBER OF AGENDA ITEMS, INCLUDING APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.

WE HAVE, UH, JASMINE FROM, UM, AUSTIN FREENET.

UM, WE HAVE A DISCUSSION, UH, POINT ON, UM, THE GT OS GRANT, UH, APPROVAL OF, OF THE MEETING CALENDAR FOR THE REST OF, UH, FOR NEXT, UH, CALENDAR YEAR.

AND THEN, UH, SOME DISCUSSION ON, UH, POTENTIAL CONSOLIDATION OF COMMISSION WORK GROUPS.

BUT, UM,

[2. Review of Digital Inclusion Week activities across the City of Austin and Austin Free Net’s Tech for All Fest (Jasmin Vargas, Chief Executive Officer, Austin Free-Net) ]

UM, SO WANTED TO GIVE JASMINE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO GO FIRST.

SO IF SHE NEEDS TO DROP, UM, SHE CAN DO SO.

BUT, UH, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU, JASMINE.

ENCOURAGE ALL COMMISSIONERS TO DO THAT AS WELL.

UH, CHAIR, AKA AND APOLOGIES.

I'M GETTING OVER A COLD.

UM, WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO BE HOLDING OUR TECH ROLL FEST THIS SATURDAY AT THE DEITY CENTER.

UM, WE EXPECT OVER 200 PARTICIPANTS TO COME, UM, LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR SERVICES.

AND THEN, UM, WE ARE, UH, HAVING THIS EVENT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AUSTIN FILM SOCIETY.

UM, WE, UM, WILL HAVE, UM, DIFFERENT, UM, INTERACTIVE ACTIVITIES FOR PARTICIPANTS.

UM, A LOT OF COMMUNITY PARTNERS, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, GOODWILL AND AUSTIN AREA URBAN LAKE, WILL BE BRINGING THEIR VR HEADSETS TO, UM, SHOW OFF WITH, UM, ALLOW COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO USE THE TECHNOLOGY.

UM, WE'LL BE, UM, SHARING WITH, UM, PARTICIPANTS, UM, HOW THEY CAN SIGN UP TO EARN A FREE DESKTOP COMPUTER THROUGH OUR PROGRAMS. UM, WE'LL ALSO HAVE LIVE MUSIC.

BDB BANDA WILL BE PERFORMING A LOT OF OUR COMMUNITY IS VERY EXCITED TO, UM, SEE THIS PERFORMANCE.

WE'LL HAVE FREE FOOD FOR THE FIRST 250, UH, PARTICIPANTS AND, UM, PROFESSIONAL HEADSHOTS, COURTESY OF BOSTON FOLK SOCIETY.

UM, WE ALSO WILL BE ACCEPTING ANY REFURBISHED DEVICES.

SO IF ANY OF YOU OR PEOPLE FROM YOUR COMMUNITY WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE OR BRING IN THEIR OLD DEVICES WOULD BE ACCEPT ACCEPTING THEM THERE AS WELL.

UM, AND WE'LL ALSO BE RAFFLING OUT A COUPLE TECH PRIZES.

UM, GOODWILL WILL BE RAFFLING OUT A COUPLE TABLETS, UM, WITH SIX MONTHS OF HOTSPOT SERVICE.

AND THEN WE'LL BE RAFFLING OUT A COUPLE LAPTOPS AS WELL.

UM, SO VERY EXCITED FOR THIS EVENT.

UM, I KNOW THE, UM, GOODWILL HAD AN EVENT EARLIER THIS WEEK, UM, TO SHARE WITH THEIR PARTNERS.

SO WE WERE INVOLVED AND HELPED, UH, TABLE FOR THEIR EVENT.

AND I KNOW UNIVERSAL TECH MOVEMENT ALSO, UM, HAD AN EVENT, UM, HAS AN EVENT TONIGHT AND TOMORROW, UM, FOR JUST DIGITAL LITERACY COURSES.

SO, YEAH.

UM, DID Y'ALL HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR ME ABOUT THE EVENT? YEAH, I WOULD LOVE TO, UH, THANK AND THANK YOU FOR THAT, JASMINE, AND THANK YOU FOR THE WORK, UH, THAT YOU AND, UH, THE REST OF AUSTIN F NET IS DOING FOR THE COMMUNITY.

UM, IT WOULD, WOULD YOU MIND WORKING THROUGH DAN OR JESSE AND SENDING OUT, I KNOW THERE'S AN EVENT FLYER SENDING THAT OUT TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL, AND I KNOW THAT THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES TO VOLUNTEER FOR THE DAY.

SO ENCOURAGE ALL, UH, COMMISSIONERS TO LOOK INTO THAT.

I KNOW THE BOARD DID REACH OUT, DID DO A DIRECT REACH OUT TO ALL THE CITY COUNCIL OFFICES AS WELL AS THE MAYOR'S OFFICE ON THIS, BUT, UH, WANTED TO

[00:05:01]

YEAH, I'M HAPPY TO SEND OVER, UM, MATERIALS FOR THE EVENT AND WOULD LOVE FOR ALL OF YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN ME.

ANY QUESTIONS FOR JASMINE FROM THE COMMISSION? WELL LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING, UH, SOME OF YOU THERE.

AND, UH, YEAH, LOOKING FORWARD TO A GREAT SATURDAY.

A UM, IF YOU DO COME, IT WILL BE WARM.

SO DRESS LIGHT, , .

IT'LL BE INDOOR AND OUTDOOR, BUT, UM, YEAH, THERE'S NO, YEAH, .

[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]

SO WITH THAT, I'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE US BACKWARDS IN OUR AGENDA TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE.

AND THAT'S, UH, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM LAST TIME, UM, FROM OUR MEETING ON SEPTEMBER 10TH.

SO I'LL GIVE COMMISSIONERS, UH, JUST A COUPLE MINUTES TO, UH, REVIEW THAT.

I KNOW I DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE TO DO IT MYSELF, ACTUALLY, SO I'M JUST GONNA TAKE A QUICK SPIN THROUGH IT AND, UM, THEN I WILL ACCEPT A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES MOVE ADOPTION OF THE MINUTE.

WAS, UH, I'M SORRY, DID SOMEONE SAY SOMETHING? YEAH.

UH, MOVE ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES.

UH, IS THERE A SECOND? AND I SECOND.

I SECOND.

ALRIGHT.

UH, MOTION PUT FORWARD BY COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD, SECONDED BY, UM, COMMISSIONER, UH, HERITAGE.

UH, ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION AMENDMENTS, NOT SEEING ANY.

ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES AS PRESENTED, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY AYE.

MOVE US TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER THREE.

ANY, UH, ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY.

LOOKS LIKE WE ARE UNANIMOUS IN OUR ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES.

SO WITH THAT, I'LL

[3. Discussion and approval of the Grant for Technology Opportunities FY26 Improvement Action Plan ]

UH, SO DAN IS GONNA GO AHEAD AND TAKE THIS ITEM.

I WILL TURN IT OVER TO DAN FOR THE GTOP SFY 26, UH, IMPROVEMENT ACTION PLAN.

HOWDY COMMISSIONERS, DAN MARTINEZ, AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

UM, YEAH, WE JUST WANTED TO OVERVIEW A COUPLE OF ITEMS THAT WE PLAN ON, UH, ADOPTING FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR OF GTOP S UH, PROGRAMMING.

UM, AND WE WANTED Y'ALL'S, UH, YOU KNOW, PERSPECTIVE ON SOME OF THESE ITEMS. UM, I, I'VE SENT OVER THE FULL DOCUMENT, UH, SO YOU GUYS CAN READ OVER THAT LANGUAGE, BUT EVERYTHING HERE IS GONNA BE A MORE CONDENSED VERSION.

UM, SO YEAH, LET'S JUST JUMP INTO IT.

UH, LET'S SEE IF THIS, THERE WE GO.

ALRIGHT.

SO THE BIG, UH, FIRST CATEGORY IS, UH, REVIEW PROCESS UPDATES, UH, SPECIFICALLY GOING OVER, UH, YOU KNOW, REVIEW PANELISTS AND, UH, THE, UH, THAT PROCESS OF APPROVING OR, OR, OR SCORING THE, UH, GTOP S APPLICATIONS.

UM, AND SO MOST OF THESE ARE CORE CENTRIC, BUT THERE ARE SOME THAT APPLY TO ALL PATHWAYS.

UH, THE FIRST BIG ONE IS A DISCONTINUATION OF OUR REVIEW BINDER.

UH, THIS HAS BEEN LIKE A MAJOR PART OF THIS PROGRAM FOR A WHILE.

UM, A LOT OF OUR REVIEW PANELISTS, UH, PREFER TO HAVE A PHYSICAL DOCUMENT TO ACTUALLY WRITE ON AND KEEP NOTES WITH, AS WELL AS READ ALONG ON, UH, WE ACKNOWLEDGE THIS, BUT THERE'S, THERE WAS SEVERAL DELAYS THIS LAST YEAR, UH, ON TOP OF, UH, YOU KNOW, DIFFICULTIES WITH OUR NEW GRANT MANAGEMENT PORTAL NAMED WISE HIVE.

I'M GONNA NAME DROP THAT A LOT.

UM, SO WE HAVE DECIDED TO MAYBE TRY TO, UH, STRAY AWAY FROM THE REVIEW BINDER.

UM, LAST YEAR, LIKE I SAID, IT WAS DELAYS.

IT WAS REALLY LONG.

IT WAS ABOUT A THOUSAND PAGES.

UM, AND PRINTING LIKE SIX BINDERS COST ABOUT A, YOU KNOW, A, A HEFTY AMOUNT.

UM, SO WE WANT TO COME UP WITH AN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION, UH, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, THEIR REVIEW PANELISTS CAN STILL KEEP NOTES AND FOLLOW ALONG, BUT THAT ISN'T AS, UH, INTENSIVE ON OUR FUNDS AS WELL AS ON, UH, RESOURCES.

AND, UH, THE NEXT ONE IS ENHANCED OVERSIGHT OF THE Q AND A PROCESS.

UH, THIS ONE, UH, ALSO CAME ABOUT JUST DUE TO DELAYS AND, AND, UH, A FEW ROADBLOCKS THAT WE HAD WITH THAT PORTION OF THE GTOP REVIEW PROCESS.

UM, THROUGHOUT THE REVIEWS HALFWAY THROUGH, WE'LL ALLOW THE PANELISTS TO ASK QUESTIONS DIRECTLY TO THE,

[00:10:01]

UH, APP APPLYING ORGANIZATIONS.

WE SEND THOSE QUESTIONS OUT AND RECEIVE ANSWERS BACK FROM THOSE APPLICANTS, AND THEN WE GIVE THAT TO THE, UH, REVIEW PANELISTS TO ADD THAT ADDED CONTEXT TO THEIR DECISION.

UM, BUT, UH, WE TRY TO KIND OF PUT THIS MORE IN THE HANDS OF THE REVIEW PANELISTS SO THAT, UH, JESSE AND I, UH, COULD HAVE A LITTLE MORE BANDWIDTH.

UH, BUT THAT DIDN'T REALLY WORK OUT SO WELL.

SO, UH, WE'RE GONNA BE MORE INVOLVED IN THE PLANNING OF THAT PROCESS AS WELL AS A SIT-IN ON THOSE PANELS TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE ISN'T ANY SORT OF GROUP THINK OR, UH, OVERLAP IN TERMS OF THE QUESTIONS THAT THEY'RE ASKING.

UH, WE JUST WANT TO BE, UH, RESPECTFUL OF THE PROCESS AS WELL AS OF OUR APPLICANTS.

UH, SO, UH, A LITTLE MORE OVERSIGHT FROM OUR PART WOULD GO A LONG WAY.

UH, THE NEXT ONE IS THE APPLICATION REVIEW TUTORIAL.

UM, THIS IS A BIG ONE THAT PEOPLE HAVE REQUESTED IN THE PAST, AND, YOU KNOW, JESSE AND I HAVE KIND OF KICKED IT AROUND.

UH, BUT WE WANT TO CREATE SOME SORT OF VIDEO OR DOCUMENT THAT SHOWS, UH, EACH PANELIST HOW TO CONDUCT A REVIEW OF AN APPLICATION FOR EACH PATHWAY.

I THINK, UH, SETTING AN EXAMPLE OF, OF THE PROPER GUIDELINES AND BEST PRACTICES TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN CONDUCTING YOUR REVIEWS WOULD BE A GREAT WAY TO, UH, KIND OF, UH, MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE GETTING THE BEST QUALITY REVIEWS AND, UH, OPINIONS AND, AND THOUGHTS ABOUT, UH, THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE PROCESS, UH, VERSUS LEAVING THAT, UH, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, LEAVING THAT PROCESS A LOT MORE, UH, VAGUE, OPENS IT UP TO A LOT MORE COMPLICATIONS OR PROBABLY A LACK OF CLARITY, UM, OR COHESION.

SO WE HOPE TO HAVE THAT READY BEFORE THE NEXT GTOP S CORE CYCLE.

AND WE GOT A FEW MORE JUST, UH, WAITING FOR THE CLICKER TO GO THROUGH.

THERE WE GO.

ALL RIGHT.

UH, THE NEXT ONE IS ALSO ANOTHER DISCONTINUATION, ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT, OR ANOTHER PART OF THE PROCESS THAT WE THOUGHT WASN'T AS EFFECTIVE AS WE'D HOPED.

UM, WE HAD OFFICE HOURS IMPLEMENTED THIS LAST CYCLE, WHICH WERE JUST SCHEDULED OUT CHUNKS OF TIME, USUALLY ABOUT THREE HOURS THAT WE'D SET ASIDE IN OUR CALENDARS FOR GTOP S APPLICANTS TO COME THROUGH AND ASK WHATEVER QUESTIONS THEY HAD, AND WE COULD ASSIST THEM IN ANY WAY POSSIBLE.

UH, BUT THIS DIDN'T REALLY ATTRACT MANY APPLICANTS.

THEY, WE DID HAVE PEOPLE COME IN TO ASK QUESTIONS, BUT MOST OF THE TIME THEY COULDN'T MEET FOR THE SCHEDULED OFFICE HOURS.

SO WE'D STILL HAVE TO MEET WITH THEM ON, ON ONE-ON-ONE BASIS.

SO INSTEAD OF, YOU KNOW, HAVING THESE SET PERIODS OF TIME, WE'RE JUST GONNA, UH, YOU KNOW, OPEN OUR SCHEDULES UP AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE FOR THOSE ONE-ON-ONE APPOINTMENTS.

UH, THE NEXT ONE IS MINI IN CAPACITY, TIMELINE CHANGE.

THIS IS KIND OF A BIG ONE, UH, THIS YEAR.

AGAIN, A LOT OF DELAYS AND ISSUES DUE TO, UH, LOTS OF ROADBLOCKS.

BUT, UH, A BIG ONE THAT WE DIDN'T REALLY ANTICIPATE WAS HOW MINI IN CAPACITY, UM, THE TIMELINE WITH, UH, GTOP S CORE, UM, THEY KIND OF INTERFERED WITH ONE ANOTHER.

UM, IT LED TO A LOT OF LACK OF FOCUS AND LACK OF BANDWIDTH BETWEEN JESSE AND MYSELF.

SO WE THINK THAT HAVING ALL OF THESE APPLICATIONS OPEN UP AT THE SAME TIME WOULD DEFINITELY ASSIST IN TERMS OF OUR FOCUS AND BANDWIDTH, SO THAT WAY ALL THE CONTRACTING HAPPENS DURING THE SAME PERIOD.

ALL THE APPLICATION WINDOWS HAPPEN DURING THE SAME PERIOD.

UM, AND THEN ADDITIONALLY, WE CAN GET THOSE FUNDS TO PEOPLE EARLIER IN THE YEAR.

UM, SO THAT'S JUST SOMETHING WE'RE GONNA TRY THIS YEAR.

UM, HOPEFULLY WE WON'T GET OVERWHELMED, BUT I THINK IT'LL WORK WELL AND HELP US FOCUS.

AND THE LAST ONE'S NOT TOO BIG OF A DEAL, UM, BUT WE ARE GOING TO OFFER SPANISH LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE FOR CAPACITY IN MANY.

UM, WE ALREADY OFFER THIS FOR CORE.

UH, WE JUST HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE ON THE APPLICATION THAT, UH, TELLS THE APPLICANT WHO TO CONTACT IF THEY WISH TO APPLY, UH, BUT IF THEY'RE ONLY A SPANISH SPEAKER, UM, SO WE'RE GONNA ADD THAT SAME LANGUAGE TO CAPACITY IN MANY AND OFFER THOSE SERVICES FOR THOSE PATHWAYS.

TRY THIS ONE.

I THINK THAT ONE MIGHT BE DEAD.

THERE WE GO.

I GOT A BETTER CLICKER.

NOW.

I HAVE A QUESTION BEFORE YOU MOVE ON.

FOR CORE, A LOT OF THE SAME STUFF IS REQUESTED FOR MANY IN CAPACITY.

SO FOR THE MINI AND CAPACITY TIMING ALIGNMENT, UM, ANY SENSE OF, UH, TO WHAT DEGREE NONPROFITS, UH, APPLY TO BOTH OF THOSE? I'M JUST LIKE CONCERNED THAT THERE MIGHT BE LIKE AN EXTRA LIKE BURDEN OR LOAD MM-HMM .

PLACED ON, UH, UH, ORGANIZATIONS INTERESTED IN APPLYING TO BOTH OF THEM.

'CAUSE THEY NOW THEY HAVE TO SUBMIT MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS AS WELL, RIGHT? YEAH, THAT'S DEFINITELY A CONCERN THAT WE THOUGHT ABOUT.

UM, I WILL SAY THAT THE POOL OF APPLICANTS FOR CORE AND MANY CAPACITY DIFFER A LITTLE BIT.

I FEEL LIKE MANY IN CAPACITY HAS ITS OWN AUDIENCE AND CORE HAS A DIFFERENT AUDIENCE.

THERE IS A LOT OF OVERLAP, BUT, UH, THEY'RE NOT ONE-TO-ONE.

UH, BUT ADDITIONALLY, I THINK, YOU KNOW, THE CAPACITY IN MANY APPLICATIONS AREN'T AS STRESSFUL, AND THOSE ARE PROBABLY GONNA COME AFTER THE CORE ONE OPENS UP.

SO EVERYBODY WHO IS APPLYING FOR CORE, HOPEFULLY, UM, HAS ALREADY, UH, SUBMITTED A LETTER OF INTEREST.

AND SO ALREADY HAS LIKE, AT LEAST A VAGUE INCLINATION OF WHAT THEIR PROGRAM AND PROJECT IS GONNA BE.

UM, AND THEN IF ANYTHING, I THINK IF YOU HAVE ALL THOSE MATERIALS, UH, YOU KNOW, READY TO APPLY

[00:15:01]

SO IT, IT MIGHT SORT OF HELP BECAUSE WE'RE ASKING FOR THE SAME FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, WE'RE ASKING FOR THE EXACT SAME.

UM, WELL, THAT'S A BIG ONE.

BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE THAT OVERLAP WILL ALSO HELP OUR APPLICANTS.

WE'RE, WE'RE TESTING THIS OUT, IT'S ON A TRIAL BASIS, SO HOPEFULLY IT, IT DOESN'T CREATE TOO MUCH BURDEN.

UM, BUT I, I THINK WE WILL KICK AROUND ALSO THE IDEA OF MAYBE, UH, PUSHING, UH, CAPACITY IN MANY, A LITTLE BIT MORE OUTSIDE OF THE CORE WINDOW TO MAKE SURE THEY DON'T COMPLETELY OVERLAP.

JUST THAT THE APPLICATION AND CONTRACTING PHASES ARE AROUND THE SAME AREA TO KEEP US FOCUSED.

IF, IF I MAY, UM, ANNIE AND ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WE COULD ALSO CONSIDER UTILIZING THE SAME APPLICATION AND PROVIDE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO LET US KNOW IF THEY WANNA BE CONSIDERED FOR MULTIPLE AWARDS, THEN THEY DON'T HAVE TO APPLY A SECOND TIME.

SO THERE'S CERTAINLY LOTS OF, WE CAN'T DO THAT.

UH, JESSE RODRIGUEZ, PRO PROGRAM MANAGER, UM, JUST A QUICK NOTE THAT, UM, THERE IS SOME OVERLAP ACROSS THE APPLICATIONS, BUT, UH, FOR INSTANCE, GTOP S CAPACITY, UH, HAS MORE, UH, A MORE, MORE OF A FOCUS ON JUST CAPACITY BUILDING.

IT'S NOT A SERVICE DELIVERY FOCUS GRANT.

SO THE APPLICATIONS WOULD LIKELY BE VERY DIFFERENT, UH, FOR CAPACITY.

UM, FOR, FOR MINI, UH, AND CORE, UH, THERE'S A POSSIBILITY THAT WE COULD BUILD MORE OVERLAP, BUT, UH, RIGHT NOW THE FUNDING THRESHOLDS ARE, ARE SET DIFFERENTLY.

MINI IS, UH, SET TO BE A $10,000, UH, PROJECT BASED GRANT, WHEREAS CORE CAN GO, UH, CURRENTLY UP TO 35,000.

AND WE HAVE ANOTHER PROPOSAL, UH, RELATING TO THAT.

AND I THINK IF WE GET TO THE SLIDES ABOUT SOME PROPOSALS FOR THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE COMMISSION TO CONSIDER, DEPENDING UPON THE DIRECTION, WOULD ALSO HELP INFORM HOW WE IMPLEMENT THE APPLICATION PROCESS TOO.

QUICK QUESTION HERE, COMMISSIONER COMBY, UM, ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT OVERLAP, LIKE NOT HAVING ENOUGH, UM, REVIEWERS FOR THAT TIME PERIOD IF YOU'RE HAVING THE, THE TERMS OF WHEN THEY'RE DUE AS SIMULTANEOUS? UH, YEAH, THAT'S DEFINITELY A CONCERN.

I THINK, UH, REVIEW PANELISTS HAVE BEEN SOMETHING HISTORICALLY HAVE BEEN HARD TO, UH, BOTH KEEP, UH, IN THE PROCESS, UM, AS WELL AS, UH, YOU KNOW, AGGREGATION, IF THAT'S THE RIGHT WORD, COLLECTING REVIEW PANELISTS OR, OR GATHERING INTEREST, I GUESS.

UM, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, NOT TO CALL Y'ALL OUT, BUT, UH, IF THE COMMISSION WOULD BE WILLING TO, UH, STEP IN ON SOME OF THESE REVIEW PANELS, IF WE HAD AT LEAST ONE COMMISSIONER FOR EACH ONE, THAT WOULD DEFINITELY ASSIST.

UM, IT'S NOT TYPICAL THAT WE HAVE A COMMISSIONER ON EACH PANEL.

UM, OUTSIDE OF THE, UH, UH, THE, UH, WHAT'S THE, NO, WHAT'S THE NAME OF THE POSITION? EX OFFICIO.

THE EX OFFICIO CHAIR.

RIGHT.

BUT A PARTICIPATING MEMBER WHO ACTUALLY, UH, COMPLETES REVIEWS AND SCORES.

IF WE COULD GET ONE COMMISSIONER TO SIT ON EACH PANEL THIS YEAR, THAT WOULD HELP CARRY THAT BURDEN.

WE ONLY NEED FIVE REVIEW PANELISTS, MINIMUM FOR CORE THREE FOR MANY, AND THREE FOR CAPACITY, ALTHOUGH WE'D ALWAYS LIKE MORE.

UM, BUT YEAH, WE'RE ALSO GONNA HELP, UH, OR WE'RE ALSO GONNA ASK OUR PIO TEAM TO HELP, UH, WITH, UH, GETTING INTEREST FOR THE, UH, REVIEW PANELIST POSITIONS.

UH, THEY DID A GREAT JOB LAST YEAR.

UM, I THINK IF ANYTHING, UM, OUR NEW GRANT MANAGEMENT PORTAL AS WELL AS A LOT OF ROADBLOCKS THAT JESSE AND I HAD MAY HAVE CAUSED MORE FRICTION.

UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THAT'S BEEN IRONED OUT, AND SO HOPEFULLY THE, THE MARKETING TEAM CAN PULL THROUGH AGAIN AND, AND HELP COLLECT INTEREST.

AND RUNWAY TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS IF THEY ARE REQUIRED.

AND LET ME ADD SOME ADDITIONAL CONTEXT AS TO WHY, UH, WHY IT IS WE'RE PROPOSING TO, UH, MOVE THE GTOP S CAPACITY AND MANY APPLICATIONS EARLIER IN THE YEAR.

UM, WHAT WE EXPERIENCED THIS LAST YEAR IS, UH, THERE WERE DELAYS IN, IN, UH, PROCESSING BECAUSE OF THE GRANT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

WE LOST, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE, UH, AS WE, YOU KNOW, TALK THROUGH SOME OF THE OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS.

UH, WE LOST ABOUT TWO MONTHS IN THE PROCESS DUE TO DELAYS WITH, UH, IT ISSUES WITH THE SYSTEM.

UM, AND, UH, WHAT THAT DID IS IT PUSHED ALL OF OUR PROCESSES FARTHER BACK IN THE YEAR.

UM, IN, IN THE PAST WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ADJUST TIMELINES, AND WE THOUGHT THAT WE WERE GONNA BE ABLE TO JUST ADJUST TIMELINES ENOUGH.

UM, BUT WHAT IT, WHAT THE RESULT WAS IS THAT WE, WE DIDN'T MAKE SOME OF THE MINI, UH, GTOP S MINI PAYMENTS UNTIL SEPTEMBER, WHICH IS CLOSE TO THE END OF THE CITY'S FISCAL YEAR.

UH, AND SO THAT CAUSED IT, IT, IT'S JUST TOO CLOSE TO THAT, YOU KNOW, END OF YEAR DEADLINE FOR US TO LOCK IN THOSE FUNDS.

UM, WITH, UH, THE APPLICATION PROCESS FOR THOSE BEING IN APRIL AND MAY LAST YEAR, WE'RE REALLY ONLY BUMPING UP THE APPLICATION WINDOW BY A COUPLE OF MONTHS.

BUT IT WOULD AT LEAST GIVE US A LOT MORE FLEXIBILITY

[00:20:01]

MOVING ON TO MORE, UH, ITEMS ON THE G TOPS APPLICATION PROCESS.

OH, SORRY, LEMME GO BACK.

ONE, UM, THIS ONE, IT, IT'S, UH, NOT A SUPER BIG DEAL, BUT AGAIN, IT DID CAUSE, UH, UH, A LOT OF DELAYS IN ISSUING A PAYMENT TO ONE CONTRACTOR SPECIFICALLY THIS YEAR.

UM, A GTOP S MINI APPLICANT THIS YEAR WASN'T REGISTERED AS A CITY VENDOR, UH, BEFORE APPLYING FOR THE APPLICATION, UH, EVEN THOUGH IT'S ALREADY A REQUIREMENT.

UH, SO INSTEAD, WE'RE GONNA IMPLEMENT A QUESTION INTO ALL G OS APPLICATIONS THAT, UH, REQUEST YOUR CITY OF AUSTIN VENDOR REGISTRATION NUMBER.

UM, IT'S EASY TO GET AS AN ORGANIZATION, AS A NONPROFIT, SO HOPEFULLY, UH, IT WON'T HINDER ANYONE FROM APPLYING.

UM, SO YEAH, WE JUST WANT TO ADD THAT REQUIREMENT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT, UH, TRYING TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN AT THE LAST SECOND AND DELAYING PAYMENTS AGAIN.

UH, THE NEXT ONE IS SETTING A, A SPECIFIC TOS PROTEST WINDOW.

THIS IS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE DELAYS THAT WE HAD THIS YEAR THAT KEPT US FROM MAKING A FINAL DECISION.

UM, WE JUST HAD, UH, TOO MANY PROTESTS COME IN, UH, AT A, AN EX A PEER A POINT IN TIME THAT WAS, UH, TOO REMOVED FROM THE ACTUAL DECISION DATE.

UM, SO INSTEAD, WE WANT TO SET A FORMAL WINDOW.

SO E EVERYBODY'S INFORMED OF THE GTOP S UH, AWARD DECISION ON THE SAME DAY.

SO THEY WILL HAVE A WEEK TO SUBMIT A PROTEST AFTER THAT, UH, INITIAL, UH, DECISION.

AND THEN, UH, A WEEK AFTER THAT PROTEST, UH, SUBMISSION WINDOW IS WHEN WE WILL, UH, RESERVE TIME TO ADJUDICATE THOSE PROTESTS, UH, WITH THE HELP OF CHAIR AKKO, OF COURSE.

UM, SO THAT'LL JUST HELP KEEP THINGS MOVING ALONG.

'CAUSE, UH, TWO WEEKS IS, IS A DELAY THAT WE CAN WORK WITH.

I THINK WE ARE VERY GOOD AT, UH, KIND OF, UH, STRETCHING OUT AND, UH, AND MAKING THINGS OR HELP OR MOVING THINGS FORWARD, UH, DESPITE DELAYS AND, AND TWO WEEKS IS, UM, THE, THE MOST TIME WE WOULD OPTIMALLY WANT TO, UH, YOU KNOW, KICK THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD.

UH, AND THIS LAST ONE ON THIS SLIDE IS ENHAN ENHANCEMENTS TO THE GTOP S APPLICANT GUIDE.

UM, I'VE DETAILED THEM IN THE, IN THE, UH, DOCUMENT THAT IS ATTACHED TO THE CALENDAR HOLD, BUT I'LL GO THROUGH THEM HERE.

UM, THE BIG CHANGES THAT WE'RE GONNA DO IS, UH, MANDATE THAT THE GT OS BOILERPLATE CONTRACT IS REQUIRED READING PRIOR TO THE APPLICATION.

THE APPLICANT GUIDE HAS ALREADY REQUIRED READING.

UM, BUT WE WANNA SPECIFICALLY ADD LANGUAGE THAT THE BOILERPLATE IS ALSO, UM, AND SPECIFICALLY WE WANNA INCLUDE LANGUAGE ABOUT FUNDABLE VERSUS NON FUNDABLE ITEMS, AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE READ THAT BEFORE APPLYING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL.

UM, THE NEXT THING THAT WE WANT TO ADD IS, UH, GUIDELINES AROUND, UH, GENERATIVE AI USE FOR APPLICATIONS.

UM, WE HAVE ENTERED THE AI ERA, SO THEN WE SAW A LOT OF THAT THIS LAST YEAR FOR APPLICATIONS FOR CORE MINI AND CAPACITY.

UM, FOR SOME APPLICANTS, I CAN SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, GENERATIVE AI CAN BE OF GOOD USE, UM, BUT OTHER APPLICANTS LEANED ON IT IN A WAY THAT WASN'T AS PRODUCTIVE.

SO WE'D WANNA OFFER SOME BEST PRACTICES AS WELL AS, UH, SOME GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ABOUT, UH, WHAT CAN AND, OR WHAT IS, IS NOT APPROPRIATE.

UM, ADDITIONALLY, UH, WE WANT TO ADD MORE, UH, WE DON'T WANNA ADD LANGUAGE AROUND THE FACT THAT ALL, UH, OF ALL APPLICANT MATERIALS OR APPLICATION MATERIALS ARE SUBJECT TO PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUESTS.

UM, THAT BY NATURE OF WORKING WITH THE CITY AND FOR THE CITY, UM, THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN ON THE TABLE.

UM, BUT WE'VE RECEIVED A LOT MORE PIR WITHIN THE LAST, UM, YEAR, I WANNA SAY JUST THE LAST, LIKE, UH, CALENDAR YEAR.

UM, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE PEOPLE ARE, ARE INFORMED IN THAT WE DON'T WANNA SURPRISE ANYBODY, UM, WHEN THEY FIND OUT THAT, YOU KNOW, THEIR INFORMATION WAS SHARED.

UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE ARE LEGALLY REQUIRED TO DO IT IF SOMEBODY HAS A A PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST FOR THE RECORD, CAN YOU SHARE WITH THE COMMISSION WHAT A PIR IS? YES, A PIR IS A, A PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST THAT ANYBODY CAN SUBMIT ONE OF THESE, UM, AND REQUEST SPECIFIC INFORMATION FROM, UH, DIFFERENT, UH, PARTS OF THE CITY, CITY STAFF.

UM, AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S OUR JOB TO DELIVER THAT INFORMATION IN A TIMELY MANNER.

UM, AND THE LAST PORTION, UH, WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT CAPACITY HAS NO, UH, PERFORMANCE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

UM, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'VE STRUGGLED WITH IN THE PAST.

UM, SO JUST PUTTING IT OUT THERE AND, AND MAKING SURE TO HIGHLIGHT THAT IN THE APPLICANT GUIDE, UM, WOULD PROBABLY GO A LONG WAY.

ALL RIGHT.

DAN, A I HAVE A FOOLISH QUESTION FOR YOU REAL QUICK.

UM, ON THE VENDOR REGISTRATION, DOES THAT, THAT DOES THAT ALSO, THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE THE CAPACITY, CORRECT.

'CAUSE A LOT OF THAT GOES DIRECTLY TO INDIVIDUALS.

UH, NO.

WE STILL NEED THEM TO HAVE A VENDOR REGISTRATION NUMBER BECAUSE IF WE'RE, UH, MAKING A PAYMENT TO THEM, THEN THEY ARE A VENDOR FOR THE CITY, UM, AND CAPACITY.

TO THAT, UH, NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.

EVEN THOUGH IT'S LIKE THE SMALLEST AMOUNT, UM, IT'S STILL REQUIRED TO ISSUE THAT CHECK OR MAKE THAT WIRE TRANSFER, AND WE MAKE THAT TO A ORGANIZATION, THAT INDIVIDUAL, YEAH, WE MAKE IT OUT DIRECTLY

[00:25:01]

THEY, THE CHECKS ARE NEVER CUT TO ANY INDIVIDUAL AS A PART OF IT.

SO, UH, THAT NUMBER IS, IS A REQUIREMENT TO GET PAID.

AND SO THE ONLY ITEM I HAVE FOR PERFORMANCE REPORTING UPDATES, UM, THE SIMILAR TO THE, THE ONE ABOUT CAPACITY, BUT FOR MANY, UH, WE ACTUALLY WANNA FLESH OUT THE PERFORMANCE REPORTING, UH, GUIDELINES AND, AND, UH, MATERIALS.

UM, WE HAVE HISTORICALLY HAD ISSUES WITH THE, THE SUBMITTED, UH, APPLICATION PERFORMANCE MEASURE, UM, UH, GOALS.

AND, UH, YOU KNOW, NOT EVERYBODY FILLS OUT THE TEMPLATE CORRECTLY.

UM, SO JESSE AND I WANTED TO PROVIDE MORE LANGUAGE ABOUT HOW TO PROPERLY FILL THAT OUT, WHAT A, THE, WHAT A GOOD PERFORMANCE MEASURE ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE, AS WELL AS, UH, HAVING A TEMPLATE WITH VARIOUS EXAMPLES AND, UH, HAVE, UH, STRICT LANGUAGE ABOUT WHAT YOU NEED, WHAT YOU NEED OR DON'T NEED, UH, TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE METRIC FOR G TOPS MINI.

AND, UH, THIS IS ANOTHER, UH, SOMEWHAT DISCONTINUATION ITEM FOR GTOP S CORE.

UM, THIS LAST YEAR WE HAD, UH, CONTRACT OVERVIEW MEETINGS WITH EACH INDIVIDUAL ORGANIZATION THAT APPLIED FOR GTOP S OR THAT, UH, RECEIVED GTOP S CORE, AND WE HAD 13 AWARDED ORGANIZATIONS.

SO THAT'S 13 HOURS OUT OF JESSE AND I SCHEDULE THAT, OR NO, IT WAS AN HOUR AND A HALF.

SO IT'S A LITTLE MORE THAN THAT, ALMOST 24 HOURS THAT WE DEDICATED TO JUST MEETING WITH, UH, ORGANIZATIONS AND, AND REPEATING ALMOST THE SAME INFORMATION VERBATIM.

UM, SO IT'D JUST BE A LOT EASIER IF WE CONSOLIDATED THIS ALL INTO ONE LONG OR NOT LONG, BUT ONE MEETING, UH, THAT'S MANDATORY FOR ALL, UH, RE RECIPIENTS.

UM, JUST SO THAT THEY CAN KNOW MORE ABOUT THE CONTRACTING PROCESS, INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS, AND THEN THE EXHIBIT NEGOTIATION PROCESS.

AND, UH, THIS IS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST ONE.

UM, I WANT TO DEDICATE PROBABLY THE MOST TIME TO THIS.

UM, AND FEEL FREE TO STOP ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS AT ANY POINT, AND THE WHOLE TEAM CAN ANSWER.

UM, BUT WE'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE AWARD ALLOCATIONS FOR GTOP S CORE MINI CAPACITY.

UM, WE HAVE A FEW OPTIONS AND WE WANT TO PRESENT THEM WITH YOU.

UM, WE ARE SPECIFICALLY, UH, LEANING TOWARDS OPTION A, WHICH IS THE ONE THAT'S INCLUDED IN THE ACTION PLAN DOCUMENT ON THE CALENDAR HOLD.

UM, BUT WE'RE OPEN TO DISCUSSION.

UM, THE, THE MAJOR REASON FOR THIS CHANGE HAS TO BE THAT, UM, 13 CONTRACTS WAS A LOT FOR US, UH, FOR CORE, AND THAT ALSO LED TO MORE DELAYS FOR MANY INCAPACITY.

UH, SO RIGHT NOW, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, ADJUSTING GTOP S CORE, UH, TO HAVE MORE, UH, BANDWIDTH FOR, FOR OUR OTHER, UH, UH, TO, TO LIMIT THE AMOUNT OF CONTRACTING, UH, REQUIREMENTS AND THE CONTRACTING STRESS AND LACK OF BANDWIDTH FOR JESSE AND I.

UM, SO WE'VE PRESENTED A FEW OPTIONS.

THE FIRST ONE, UH, THE MAIN ONE THAT WE ARE LEANING TOWARDS IS, UM, HAVING, UH, EIGHT, SORRY, IT'S HARD TO READ FROM HERE.

OH EIGHT, WE WE'RE LEANING TOWARDS HAVING EIGHT 40,000 CORE AWARDS.

AND THEN, UH, YES, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UH, WE'RE LEANING TOWARDS HAVING EIGHT $40,000 CORE AWARDS, SIX, 10,000 MINI AWARDS, SO THAT ONE WOULD STAY THE SAME.

UM, AND THEN, UH, 8 2500 CAPACITY AWARDS.

NOW, IN THE PAST, G TOPS CORE HAS HAD VARYING AWARDS, UH, WITH A UPWARDS CAP OF ABOUT $35,000.

I CAN'T RECALL EVER, UH, ANYONE RECEIVING A FULL $35,000 AWARD, EVEN THOUGH THE, UH, REQUESTS ARE USUALLY FULL OF FULL $35,000.

UM, AND THAT'S WHAT LEADS TO EXHIBIT NEGOTIATIONS.

'CAUSE PEOPLE HAVE TO ADJUST THEIR PERFORMANCE METRICS ACCORDING TO HOW MUCH MONEY THEY'RE RECEIVING.

UM, SO IF EVERYBODY RECEIVED THE SAME AMOUNT OF MONEY ACROSS THE BOARD, THEN, UH, THEN AND GOT THAT FULL REQUEST, THEN, UH, THAT WOULD HELP, UH, LIMIT THE, THE EDITING OF, OF PERFORMANCE EXHIBITS.

UM, AND SO THAT PART OF OUR, UH, CONTRACTING PROCESS WOULD BE CUT DOWN A LOT.

SO, WHICH WOULD ASSIST US.

AND THEN ALSO CUTTING OUT A FEW CONTRACTS AND FOCUSING IN ON, UM, JUST A, JUST A STRONG PROGRAMS, UM, HELPS NOT ONLY US WITH OUR BANDWIDTH, BUT ALSO, UM, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT HOW, UH, RIGHT NOW THERE'S A, A LACK OF FUNDING FOR A LOT OF NONPROFITS THAT WE WORK WITH.

UM, SO A LOT OF THE MONEY THAT THEY'RE KIND OF LEANING ON RIGHT NOW IS G TOPS SPECIFICALLY.

UM, AND WE THINK THAT RIGHT NOW A LARGER, UH, INVESTMENT WOULD GO A LONGER WAY THAN IN THE PAST FOR A CORE HAS KIND OF BEEN, UH, ON THE SMALLER SIDE OF GRANTS, UH, BUT STILL HEFTY.

UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, INCREASING THAT AMOUNT WOULD PROBABLY, UH, HELP LONG TERM.

UM, BECAUSE RIGHT NOW I HAVE A SLIDE TOWARDS THE END OF THIS, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, IN PREVIOUS YEARS, THE AVERAGE AWARDS HAVE BEEN AROUND LIKE 22,000 UPWARDS TO LIKE 32,000.

UM, SO

[00:30:01]

ALMOST AN INCREASE OF ABOUT 10 K FOR, UH, ALMOST EVERY AWARD.

UM, AND, AND WE THINK THAT ADDITIONAL 10 K WOULD GO A LOT LONG, UH, A LOT FURTHER FOR THOSE EIGHT ORGANIZATIONS THAN, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, 20,000 AWARD WOULD GO BETWEEN 13 DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS.

CAN I JUST ASK A QUICK QUESTION? YEAH.

SO THIS, WHAT, JUST TO CLARIFY, YOU'RE SAYING NOW THERE WOULD BE A GUARANTEED 40 K FOR EIGHT.

EIGHT, CORRECT.

SO THERE'S NO, LIKE, VARYING AWARD SIZES, 40 K FOR THOSE EIGHT, UH, RECIPIENTS.

OPTION DOES STILL INCLUDE VARYING AWARD SIZE.

UM, AND, UH, THE SECOND OPTION THAT WE, UH, ALSO WANT TO, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT WE KICKED AROUND WAS HAVING 10 $35,000 CORE AWARDS.

SO OBVIOUSLY MORE PEOPLE GETTING THAT, UH, MORE ORGANIZATIONS, INDIVIDUAL ORGANIZATIONS GETTING THAT INVESTMENT.

UM, AND IT'S ONLY $5,000 LESS THAN THE $40,000 ONE.

UM, AND THEN WE WOULD ALSO HAVE, UH, THE SAME, UH, WE WOULD HAVE FIVE, $10,000 GTOP S MINI AWARDS.

SO THAT WOULD EQUAL 400,000.

BUT, UH, THAT WOULD ALSO LEAD US TO SUNSET CAPACITY.

UM, RIGHT NOW, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS OPTION I FEEL LIKE COULD GO A LONG WAY.

UM, THE, THE CAPACITY THOUGH IS THE EASIEST APPLICATION TO APPLY FOR.

SO WE'RE KIND OF REMOVING THAT, BUT, UH, FOR THE SAKE OF HAVING, UM, UH, BIGGER POOLS FOR MORE APPLICANTS, UH, VERSUS EVERYBODY RECEIVING SMALLER AMOUNTS.

AND THE LAST OPTION, WHICH IS MORE IN LINE WITH WHAT WE HAVE NOW, BUT WITH A FEW ADJUSTMENTS, UM, WOULD BE TO HAVE 10 VARYING CORE AWARDS.

THAT'S KIND OF THE STANDARD NOW, EVEN THOUGH THE, UM, THIS COMMISSION HAS BEEN VOTING TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF IN INDIVIDUAL AWARDS.

SO IT, IT WAS 12 20, 24, IT WAS 13 THIS YEAR.

UM, SO WE'D, WE'D MOVE IT BACK DOWN TO 10, BUT THE REQUEST CAP WOULD BE RAISED TO 40,000.

AND I'VE DONE THE MATH ON THE NEXT SLIDE, AND I HAVE ABOUT A ROUGH AVERAGE OF, OF ABOUT WHAT, UH, EVERYBODY'S AWARD WOULD BE.

UM, BUT THAT WOULD ALSO LEAD TO REDUCTIONS IN G TOPS MINI IN CAPACITY.

UM, WE WOULD ONLY HAVE 4G TOPS MINI AWARDS, AND THEN EIGHT, UH, CAPACITY AWARDS.

OH, YEAH, SORRY, , .

AND HERE'S JUST, UH, I'M OUTLINING SOME OF THE PROS AND CONS, UM, AS WELL AS LIKE THE TOTAL FUNDING BUCKETS.

AS YOU CAN SEE UNDER OPTION A, IT'S 320 FOR CORE 60 K FOR MINI, WHICH IS STAYING THE SAME, AND THEN 20 K FOR CAP.

UM, SO THAT'S A $5,000 INCREASE FOR CORE, AND THEN A, UH, $5,000 DECREASE FOR CAPACITY.

AND SO THE PROS FOR THIS, AGAIN, DEEPER IMPACT, UH, FUNDING, YOU KNOW, A BIGGER POOL OF MONEY HAS MORE IMPACT FOR THE LESS ORGANIZATIONS.

UM, AND THEN ALSO DECREASED CONTRACT PROCESSING TIME FOR MINI CORE AND, UM, POTENTIALLY CAPACITY SINCE WE'RE CUTTING DOWN SOME OF THOSE TWO.

UM, BUT THE, ONE OF THE LARGER CONS IS THAT WE'D BE GOING FROM THE 28 AWARDS THAT WE GAVE OUT LAST YEAR TO 22 AWARDS.

AND THEN FOR OPTION B, UM, ONE OF THE PROS AGAIN, IS THAT WE'D HAVE MORE BANDWIDTH BETWEEN ALL OF THE PATHWAYS.

REMOVING CAP ENTIRELY WOULD OPEN UP A, A LOT MORE FOR JESSE AND I IN TERMS OF, UH, YOU KNOW, TURNING CONTRACTS AROUND.

UM, AND THIS IS ALSO THE OPTION THAT HAS THE MOST, UH, THE, THE HIGHEST AMOUNT OF CORE FUNDING, UM, WHICH CORE I WOULD SAY IS OUR, OUR LARGEST AND MOST POPULAR PATHWAY AND COMPETITIVE.

UM, BUT THEN, UH, IT'LL ALSO HAVE DEEPER IMPACT.

FOR CORE, IT'S A GUARANTEED $35,000 VERSUS RIGHT NOW, THE, THE REQUEST CAP IS $35,000, BUT THE CHANCES OF SOMEBODY RECEIVING 35,000 IS SLIM TO NONE JUST BECAUSE OF THE WAY THAT WE ALLOCATE FUNDS.

UM, BUT THE CONS IS THIS, THIS IS THE LEAST AMOUNT OF AWARDS, UM, BETWEEN ALL OF THESE.

IT WOULD ONLY BE 15 AWARDS, SO THAT'S A REDUCTION OF ABOUT 13 FROM THIS YEAR.

UM, AND IT WOULD ALSO REMOVE, UH, GTOP S CAPACITY, WHICH IS THE EASIEST APPLICATION TO ACTUALLY, UH, APPLY FOR.

UM, SO YEAH, THAT, THAT'S ONE OF THE BIGGER CONS.

AND THEN OPTION C, THE ONE THAT'S LIKE MOST, UH, AKIN TO WHAT WE HAVE NOW, UM, THIS ACTUALLY HAS THE MOST INDIVIDUAL AWARDS.

UH, THERE'S 23 TOTAL AWARDS.

UM, AND, AND IT'S THE MOST OUT OF ALL THESE OPTIONS, UM, AND IT WOULD CUT DOWN ON MANY AND CAPACITY CONTRACTING PROCESSING, AND WE CAN FOCUS IN ON CORE.

UM, A LOT OF THE CORE PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS WOULD REMAIN THE SAME ON US, UM, JESSE AND I.

UH, BUT REDUCING OR INCREASING THE, THE, THE CAP OF REQUESTS WOULD, UH, ALSO DECREASE THE AMOUNT OF CONTRACTS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY PROVIDE FOR CORE, UM, SINCE MOST PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY BE REQUESTING THE FULL $40,000.

UM, SO THAT ALSO WOULD HELP, UH, CUT DOWN ON OUR PROCESSING TIME.

UH, AND THEN THE, THE ONLY CONS TO THIS, AGAIN, LESS INDIVIDUAL AWARDS.

ALL OF THESE OPTIONS ARE GONNA LEAD TO LESS AWARDS ACROSS THE BOARD.

UM, AGAIN, AND THEN THIS

[00:35:01]

UH, WHICH AGAIN, THAT IS ONE OF THE LARGER DELAYS IN OUR PROCESSING TIME IS, UH, HAVING TO NEGOTIATE THINGS BASED ON AWARD SIZE.

UM, AND THEN ALSO IT WOULD HAVE THE SMALLEST, UH, INDIVIDUAL CORE OPTION AVERAGE, WHICH I HAVE SHOWN HERE.

UH, UNDER OPTION, OH, SORRY, UNDER OPTION A, UM, EVERYBODY WOULD HAVE STANDARDIZED AWARDS, LIKE I SAID, 320,000 FOR EIGHT ORGANIZATIONS FOR CORE AT $40,000 AWARDS.

UH, $60,000 TOTAL IN THE MINI BUCKET FOR SIX $10,000 AWARDS.

AND THEN 20 K FOR THE CAP BUCKET FOR EIGHT $2,500 AWARDS.

AND, UH, IT'S PRETTY SIMILAR UNDER OPTION B EXCEPT FOR THE, UH, REMOVAL OF CAP, BUT ALSO STANDARDIZED AWARDS JUST, UH, FOR A DIFFERENT NUMBER OF ORGANIZATIONS.

UH, BUT UNDER OPTION C, YOU CAN SEE, UH, MANY INCAPACITY, PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD.

UH, BUT, UH, I HAVE THIS LITTLE IMAGE RIGHT HERE WHERE YOU CAN SEE IF, IF EVERYBODY REQUESTED $40,000, THE TOP 10 ORGANIZATIONS THAT, UM, ARE AWARDED WOULD PROBABLY RECEIVE AWARDS AROUND THIS RANGE, 33,000 TO $32,000, DEPENDING ON HOW THEY SCORED, UH, DURING THE REVIEW PROCESS.

UM, SO I'D KEEP THAT IN MIND.

UM, EVEN THOUGH THE REQUEST CAP IS INCREASING AND THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL AWARD, UM, EVEN THOUGH THAT IS, UH, UH, STAYING ABOUT RELATIVELY THE SAME, THE AVERAGE AWARD SIZE IS, IS NOT AS, UH, HIGH AS IT WOULD BE UNDER OPTION A AND OPTION B.

AND THIS IS JUST SOME HISTORICAL DATA SO THAT YOU CAN SEE THE CHANGES THAT IT WOULD LIKE CREATE.

UM, I'M JUST INCLUDING, UH, INFORMATION FROM 2023 TO 2024, BECAUSE WE WERE ALL PRESENT FOR THE 2025 SELECTION.

UM, BUT YOU KNOW, USUALLY, UH, WE RECEIVE, UH, 20 TO 22 APPLICATIONS THIS YEAR.

I THINK WE WERE LIKE UPWARDS OF 30, UM, OR A REALLY HIGH AMOUNT.

UM, AND, UH, FOR CORE THAT IS, UM, AND THE, UH, AVERAGE REQUEST WAS ABOUT $34,000, UM, $32,000.

IT JUST USUALLY DEPENDS ON ONE OR TWO ORGANIZATIONS THAT DON'T REQUEST THE FULL AMOUNT.

UM, BUT YEAH, I JUST HAVE THIS DATA HERE IN CASE YOU WANT TO COMPARE AGAINST THE OPTIONS THAT ARE THERE.

UM, BUT I'LL GO BACK TO, UH, I, I THINK, I THINK YOU'RE, THIS SLIDE'S BETTER, BUT YEAH.

UM, JUST SO YOU GUYS CAN MULL IT OVER, BUT, UM, DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER ITEM THAT WAS PROPOSED TODAY? I'LL START OFF WITH A COUPLE QUESTIONS.

UM, YOU MENTIONED JUST EARLIER ABOUT, YOU KNOW, KIND OF PERFORMANCE TRACKING FOR THE AWARDS.

UM, DO YOU, I MEAN, IN TALKING ABOUT REDUCING THE NUMBER OF AWARDEES, DOES THAT GIVE YOU MORE CAPACITY TO LIKE, HELP MEASURE THEIR PERFORMANCE AND UNDERSTAND HOW EFFECTIVE THE AWARDS HAVE BEEN? OF COURSE.

SECOND HALF PAYMENT IS CONDITIONED ON, UH, A GOOD PERFORMANCE, UH, AS A PART OF THAT, UH, MIDTERM PERFORMANCE REPORTING.

UM, I THINK RIGHT NOW, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, PERFORMANCE METRICS, WE, WE ANALYZE THAT DATA AT THE END OF THE YEAR, UM, AND IT, IT IS, UM, EXTENSIVE.

IT, IT'S A LOT OF MATH.

UM, AND SO, UH, REDUCING THAT NUMBER WOULD ALSO, UH, HELP US CREATE MORE ACCURATE RESULTS, I FEEL, UM, AS WELL AS, UM, INCREASE OUR OVERSIGHT OR ABILITY TO HAVE OVERSIGHT OVER SOME OF THESE PROGRAMS. UM, WE DON'T NORMALLY CONDUCT, UH, LARGE SCALE AUDITS OR, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, DO ANY KIND OF, UH, INVESTIGATION IN TERMS OF IF WE SEE LIKE LOW PERFORMANCE, UM, MM-HMM .

THAT'S SOMETHING WE TRIED TO DO THIS LAST YEAR, BUT WITH LESS CONTRACTS, THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD DEFINITELY INCREASE, UM, FOR THE NEXT, FOR THE, FOR THE FOLLOWING CONTRACT YEAR.

UM, WE COULD INCREASE OUR ABILITY TO HAVE THAT OVERSIGHT AND, AND CHECK IN ON, UH, OUR AWARDEES REGULARLY.

YEAH, I MEAN, MY MAIN CONCERN IS JUST SAYING I WASN'T SURE HOW WELL WE'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, VALIDATING THAT THE AWARD MONEY IS BEING, UH, USED.

WELL, I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, LOTS OF GROUPS, LOTS OF, LOTS OF NEEDS OUT THERE, BUT I, YOU KNOW, WANNA MAKE SURE IF WE'RE ADDING MORE MONEY TO THE POOL, WE'RE SPENDING IT WISELY.

UH, YEAH.

LET ME JUMP IN HERE.

UH, JUST TO CLARIFY, UH, SO THAT IT'S JUST CLEAR, UM, WE DON'T HAVE, UH, PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR, UH, GTOP S CAPACITY, SINCE THAT'S A CAPACITY BUILDING, UH, GRANT PATHWAY.

USUALLY IT'S, THE REQUEST WAS TO, UH, YOU KNOW, PURCHASE SOME EQUIPMENT AND, AND SO THEY HAVE A CLOSEOUT REPORT AND THEY'LL LET US KNOW THAT THEY PURCHASED THE EQUIPMENT, BUT IT'S NOT A FORMAL PERFORMANCE MEASURE.

UM, BUT FOR GTOP S MINI AND GTOP S CORE, BOTH WE DO HAVE, UH, PERFORMANCE MEASURES THAT ARE NEGOTIATED AND THEY'RE IN THE CONTRACT.

UM, AND WE, UH, FOR GTOP S CORE HAVE, UH, A MIDTERM PERFORMANCE REPORT AND A CLOSEOUT PERFORMANCE REPORT.

UM, AND, UH, LIKEWISE FOR GTOP S MINI, WE HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, AT THE MIDTERM, UH, WE CHECK THE PERFORMANCE MEASURES.

THEY, THEY SUBMIT A STATUS REPORT AND WE CHECK ON THE MEASURES.

AND AFTERWARDS, UM, WE HAVE A CLOSEOUT, UH, PERFORMANCE REPORT.

UM, AND SO USUALLY THAT

[00:40:01]

UH, BUT AS, OKAY.

SORRY.

AND, AND JUST TO CLOSE OUT, UH, FOR, UM, UH, UH, AS DAN MENTIONED, WE DO WANT TO HAVE MORE AUDITING CAPABILITY.

UM, THIS YEAR WE DID TRIAL, UH, YOU KNOW, SELECTING A FEW ORGANIZATIONS OR A FEW OF OUR CONTRACTS THAT WERE UNDERPERFORMING FOR AUDITS.

UH, AND WE DID, UH, WE DID SOME DATA AUDITS, SO WE REQUESTED ADDITIONAL DATA FROM THE ORGANIZATIONS, AND THEY HAD RESPONDED, UM, BUT WE DIDN'T GET TO THE LEVEL OF GOING FOR, UH, ONSITE AUDITS, WHICH IS WHAT WE ASPIRE TO BE ABLE TO DO.

UM, AND SO SOME OF THESE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE HAVE, UH, TO, TO OPEN UP SOME OF OUR ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY COULD BE GOING TOWARDS, UH, JUST MORE EXTENSIVE, UH, ABILITY TO AUDIT AND OVERSEE SOME OF THESE CONTRACTS.

AND THEN MY QUESTION, UM, SO ON THE REQUESTS YOU SHOWED THE HISTORICAL LIKE REQUEST, IT WAS LIKE BETWEEN 35 AND 38, RIGHT? BALLPARK RANGES, 33 AND 32.

UM, IS THE, DO YOU, IF WE MOVE TO THE STANDARD, UM, AWARD AMOUNT, DO YOU FORESEE ANY, UM, ANY NEGATIVE IMPACT TO THOSE ORGANIZATIONS WHERE THEY CAN'T UTILIZE THE MONEY, UM, SUFFICIENTLY? UM, YEAH, I DON'T THINK THAT, UH, I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS, UH, BEING ABLE TO UTILIZE THE FUNDING.

UH, ONE OF THE NUMBER ONE REQUESTS THAT WE ALWAYS HEAR IS THAT, UH, A $35,000 AWARD IS ALREADY A PRETTY SMALL AMOUNT FOR A LOT OF THE PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING PROPOSED.

UM, AND, AND LIKE DAN MENTIONED EARLIER, UH, BECAUSE OF THE SCALED AWARD PATTERN, THE MOST THAT YOU'RE LIKELY TO GET IS SOMEWHERE IN THE 32, 30 $3,000 RANGE.

UM, AND MANY ORGANIZATIONS, ESPECIALLY, UH, IF YOU REQUESTED LESS, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT WE, WE HAD AWARDS, UH, AS LOW AS $13,000 THIS YEAR FOR OTHER, UH, OTHER REASONS.

BUT WE, YOU KNOW, WE HAD LOWER AWARD AMOUNTS THIS YEAR, UM, FOR SOME AWARDS.

UM, I THINK THAT THE MAIN IMPACT OF, UH, THE, THE, THE MAIN NEGATIVE IMPACT OF INCREASING THE CAP AND STANDARDIZING, UH, THE AWARD AMOUNTS IS JUST THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO FUND FEWER ORGANIZATIONS.

UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE DON'T, UH, THAT THAT'S NOT AN OUTCOME THAT WE WANT, BUT IT IS AN, UH, SOMETHING THAT, UH, JUST FROM THE, UH, EXPERIENCE THAT WE HAD WITH CONTRACTING OVER THIS PAST YEAR, UH, IT WAS, IT WAS A CHALLENGING CONTRACTING YEAR.

AND SO, UH, WE ARE LOOKING TO KIND OF ROLL BACK THAT ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN A LITTLE BIT.

UM, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, WE, WE AT LEAST HOPE THAT THE TRADE OFF OF HIGHER AWARDS WILL OFFSET THE VALUE TO THE COMMUNITY A LITTLE BIT.

THANK YOU FOR THAT.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? YES, COMMISSIONER, I JUST ACTUALLY ON THIS SLIDE, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE, UM, APPLICATIONS RECEIVED FOR LIKE MINI INCAPACITY, IS THERE OVERLAP THERE? SO, SO IT WOULD BE LIKE 10 AND 12, BUT IT WAS OVERLAP, I GUESS.

YEAH, I MEAN, THOSE APPLICATIONS ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.

THEY'RE FOR DIFFERENT PROGRAMS, BUT THE ORGANIZATIONS APPLYING, OF COURSE, THERE'S, THERE'S OVERLAP AND WE SEE A LOT OF THE SAME, AT LEAST BETWEEN 2023 AND 2024.

BEFORE WE HAD LIKE A REALLY STELLAR MARKETING TEAM, WE, WE SAW A LOT OF THE SAME PEOPLE APPLYING.

UM, NOW WE'VE OPENED UP A LOT MORE.

SO THE SAME ORGANIZATION IS REPRESENTED IN LIKE THIS MINI APPLICATIONS NUMBER.

THAT MIGHT BE IN A DIFFERENT, OKAY.

RIGHT.

SO I, I I'M SURE THERE ARE, UH, APPLICANTS THAT APPLY FOR CORE MINI AND CAPACITY.

BOTH IN 2023 AND 2024.

HA, WE HAVEN'T HISTORICALLY HAD THAT FOR GTOP S MINI OUR CAPACITY, ALTHOUGH WE WOULD BE OPEN TO DOING THAT.

AND AFTER THEY'VE RECEIVED SO MANY AWARDS, THEY HAVE TO GO THROUGH A COOL OFF PERIOD.

CORRECT.

ONLY FOR CORE.

UM, THAT'S JUST TO KEEP THE DIVERSITY OF PROJECTS AND PROGRAMS. UM, BUT FOR MANY IN CAPACITY, UM, WE DON'T HAVE THOSE LIMITS.

'CAUSE THOSE, UH, UH, GRANTS ARE DIRECTED TOWARDS ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE ON THE SMALLER SIDE.

SO THEY COULD REALLY DO FOR THE FUNDING, UM, I THINK IT'S LIKE SUB 2 MILLION FOR MINI AND 1.5 MILLION FOR CAPACITY.

SO LOCKING THEM OUT OF THIS CYCLE COULD BE A LOT MORE DETRIMENTAL THAN, UM, SOME OF THE SUPERSTARS THAT APPLY FOR CORE EVERY YEAR.

UM, YOU KNOW, THEY MIGHT NEED A COOL OFF PERIOD TO GIVE THEM A CHANCE, THE SMALLER ORGS TO A CHANCE TO REALLY SHINE THROUGH, UM MM-HMM .

SO, YEAH.

UM, IT, IT'S JUST FOR CORE.

AND I'LL JUST ADD THAT, UM, THE, THE CURRENT COOL DOWN PERIOD FOR G TOPS CORE IS, UH, THAT AN ORGANIZATION CAN RECEIVE FUNDS THREE TIMES IN ANY FIVE YEAR PERIOD.

UM, AND IT, SO FOR INSTANCE, IF THEY GOT FUNDED THREE TIMES IN A ROW, THEN THEY HAVE TO TAKE TWO YEARS OFF.

UM, WE DON'T

[00:45:01]

BOTH OF THOSE PROGRAMS, BOTH OF THOSE BRANCHES ARE HITTING THE FIVE YEAR MARK, UH, OR WE'RE ROUGHLY AROUND THAT FIVE YEAR MARK NOW.

UM, AND SO WE INTENTIONALLY DIDN'T WANNA PUT, YOU KNOW, ANY TYPE OF, UH, RESTRAINTS EARLY ON AS WE WERE PILOTING OUT THE, THE PROGRAMS. BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE PRETTY ABOUT FIVE YEARS INTO HAVING MANY IN CAPACITY.

AND SO, UM, THAT'S A RECOMMENDATION THAT WE'RE OPEN TO IF THE COMMISSION WOULD LIKE US TO CONSIDER.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSION? DO YOU THINK YOU COULD SEND THESE SLIDES, UH, DAN IN ADVANCE? I KNOW I'VE GOT YOUR DOCUMENT AS WELL, BUT I'M JUST WONDERING IF YOU COULD SEND THE, THE SLIDES IN THERE TOO.

AND FORGIVE ME, I THINK IT MIGHT BE IN THE TECH COMMS BRIEFING, ACTUALLY, I JUST FOUND IT.

UM, ONE QUESTION I WOULD HAVE, I GUESS JUST LIKE ON THE BALANCING ACT OF THINGS, JUST GIVEN THAT THESE ARE VERY SMALL GRANTS, I'M CURIOUS THE LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE REPORTING.

UM, BUT HAVE WE DONE A BIT OF A, I, I THINK A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, I THINK, DAN, YOU MENTIONED MAYBE DOING SOME FEEDBACK OR ASSESSMENTS FROM THE, THE GRANTEES THEMSELVES.

HAVE WE GOTTEN A SENSE OF, UM, JUST THAT LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE REPORTING THAT GOES INTO EACH OF THESE DIFFERENT PATHWAYS? AND DOES IT SCALE? I KNOW, DOES IT SCALE ACCORDING TO THE PATHWAY AS WELL? YEAH, IT DEFINITELY DOES SCALE ACCORDING TO PATHWAYS, LIKE WE SAID, CAPACITY IS, NOR PERFORMANCE METRIC REPORTING.

UM, MINIS IS A LOT LESS, UH, STRENUOUS AND, UH, REQUIRED.

UM, THERE ACTUALLY IS NO, UM, WE HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A GTOP S MINI, UH, PERFORMANCE METRICS, BUT THERE ISN'T ANYTHING SET IN STONE.

UM, THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS LIKE CONCRETE LIMITS ON LIKE THE MINIMUM NUMBER OF METRICS THAT YOU NEED IS, UH, CORE.

UH, BUT I WILL SAY IN TERMS OF LIKE ACTUAL EFFORT AND COLLECTING DATA, IT DOES SCALE DOWN WITH THE SIZE OF THE AWARD AND WITH EACH PATHWAY.

UM, AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE STILL HEARD THAT CORE, UH, DESPITE US KIND OF LIKE, UH, BEING A, UH, REDUCING THE REQUIRE OR THE REPORTING REQUIREMENTS YEAR OVER YEAR, UM, WE STILL GET A LOT OF, UM, FEEDBACK THAT IT'S A LOT FOR THE SIZE, SIZE OF THE AWARD.

UM, SO YEAH.

UM, DID THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? I'M SORRY.

I THINK SO.

I THINK JUST, I JUST FEEL LIKE HAVING DONE SOME OF THIS CONTRACT MANAGEMENT, BUT FROM A STATE LEVEL, IT'S, IS THE JUICE THE JUICE WORTH THE SQUEEZE FROM JUST THE, THE METHOD OR MEANS FROM A PERFORMANCE REPORTING PERSPECTIVE? SO I'M JUST KIND OF CURIOUS FROM AN ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN ON US AND THEN ON FOLKS THAT ARE RECEIVING THESE GRANTS, ARE WE JUST HAVING THAT CAUTION, UM, IN THE BACK OF OUR MIND AS WE'RE LOOKING AT, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, OPTION B FOR EXAMPLE, SUNSETTING CAPACITY IN ORDER TO LIKE, CREATE MORE SPACE FOR SOME OF THESE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES? I'M GLAD TO SEE SOME OF THE PERFORMANCE REPORTS OR, UH, CAPACITY DOESN'T HAVE THAT IN THERE.

UM, SO JUST WANNA BE MINDFUL ABOUT ADMINISTRATIVE EFFORT ON THE RECEIPT RECIPIENTS END AS WELL.

AND, AND COMMISSIONER HERITAGE, JUST TO ADD A LITTLE BIT OF, OF, UH, HISTORY, UM, WE USED TO HAVE QUARTERLY REPORTS.

UH, IT USED TO BE THAT THERE WAS ONLY ONE GTOP S PATHWAY, IT WAS ONLY GTOP S CORE.

UM, AND, UH, IT USED TO BE QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE REPORTS, UM, AND IT USED TO BE MONTHLY REIMBURSEMENTS, , UH MM-HMM .

AND, UH, WE OBVIOUSLY HAD A LOT OF FEEDBACK THAT MADE ALREADY YEAH.

WHERE Y'ALL ARE FEELING, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR ME, I'M INCLINED TO ACCEPT JILL'S RECOMMENDATION.

UH, SO WE'VE, WE'VE COME A LONG WAY.

WE'VE, WE'VE, UH, UH, YEAH, HAD TO FIGHT TO REDUCE THE, UH, AMOUNT OF ADMINISTRATIVE, UH, YOU KNOW, OVERSIGHT TO, TO THE LEVEL THAT IT IS NOW.

UM, WE'RE ALWAYS OPEN TO, UH, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATION RECOMMENDATIONS FROM YOU ALL ON, UH, IF WE'RE IN THE RIGHT SPOT NOW OR NOT.

BUT, UM, WE HAVE HEARD, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY IN THE PAST THAT, THAT IT HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE.

UM, IT REALLY HAS NOT BEEN AS, UH, SEVERE IN THE PAST, YOU KNOW, UH, THREE, UH, THREE OR SO YEARS SINCE WE MOVED TO THE PREPAYMENT SYSTEM, UH, AND MM-HMM .

AND GOING DOWN TO JUST THE, YOU KNOW, THE ONE MIDTERM PERFORMANCE REPORT AND THEN THE CLOSEOUT PERFORMANCE.

UM, AND, AND THAT WAS A, A HAPPY MEDIUM THAT WE WERE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE WITH OUR PURCHASING DEPARTMENT.

UM, UH, SO IT, IT ALLOWS US TO, TO HAVE SOME LEVEL OF CONTROL OVER, UH, PER, YOU KNOW, SOME ATTACHMENT OF PERFORMANCE TO, UH, GETTING THAT SECOND HALF OF THE PAYMENT.

UM, SO THAT, THAT WAS THE, THE HAPPY MEDIUM THAT WE WERE ABLE TO REACH.

THANKS FOR THAT CONTEXT, JESSE.

UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? JUST WANNA GET A SENSE OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS

[00:50:01]

A, UM, IS ANYONE FEELING OTHERWISE? I'D, I'D BE CURIOUS JUST TO HEAR DAN OR JESSE, I KNOW YOU'VE PRESENTED THREE OPTIONS FOR US, BUT DOES STAFF HAVE PERSONAL, LIKE A RECOMMENDATION THAT, UM, YOU GUYS GUYS ARE LEANING TOWARDS YOURSELF? AND IF YOU CAN SHARE A LITTLE BIT MORE? SURE.

UH, YEAH, WE ARE, WE'RE VERY INCLINED TO GO WITH OPTION A.

UM, ONE OF THE, UH, THE, THE KEY REASONS IS, UM, B WOULD CUT THE CAPACITY PATHWAY.

UH, IF YOU HAD ASKED ME LAST YEAR, IF, IF I WOULD'VE RECOMMENDED THAT, I WOULD'VE BEEN MUCH MORE AMENABLE TO THAT BECAUSE WE HAD ABOUT 12, UM, APPLICATIONS AND I THINK MAYBE 11 AWARD SLOTS.

AND SO IT WASN'T VERY COMPETITIVE LAST YEAR.

UM, THIS YEAR WE HAD A REALLY GREAT MARKETING EFFORT AND, UH, HAD A VERY COMPETITIVE GTOP PS CAPACITY CYCLE, UM, WHICH INDICATES TO ME THAT THE PROBLEM WAS PROBABLY ON THE MARKETING SIDE AND NOT ON THE DEMAND SIDE.

AND SO I HESITATE TO CUT THE CAPACITY PATHWAY, UH, THIS YEAR.

UM, OPTION C, UM, THE MAIN DOWNSIDE IS THAT IT DOESN'T MOVE THE NEEDLE VERY MUCH, UM, FROM AN ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN PERSPECTIVE, IT DOES MOVE IT A LITTLE BIT.

UM, BUT AS DAN MENTIONED EARLIER, THE ONE OF THE BIGGEST, UH, ADMINISTRATIVE OVERHEAD SAVINGS OF OPTIONS, A AND B IS THAT THEY HAVE SET, UH, AWARD AMOUNT.

SO WHATEVER YOU REQUEST IS WHAT YOU, WHAT YOU WOULD ACTUALLY GET.

AND SO IT TAKES OUT A LOT OF THE NEGOTIATION, PART OF THE CONTRACT DEVELOPMENT PIECE OF, OF THE PROJECT OR THE PROCESS.

UM, AND, AND SO IF WE GET RID OF THAT, UH, IT, IT DOESN'T NET US AS MUCH IN THE WAY OF, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, FREEING UP SOME OF THAT ADMINISTRATIVE OVERHEAD.

UM, AND SO FOR, FOR THOSE REASONS, I THINK THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION IS OPTION A.

SO WITH THAT, UM, IF WE CAN STOP SHARING, I JUST WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS.

IT'S HARD TO KIND OF GAUGE.

EVERYONE'S OFF CAMERA.

UM, OKAY.

WELL, UH, ANY OTHER, ANY MORE DISCUSSION ON, UH, OPTION A, B, C, NOT HEARING ANY? WELL WAIT AND WE DO NEED TO TAKE A VOTE ON THIS.

JESSE, DAN? UM, I THINK IT'S UP TO THE COMMISSION.

UH, WE WOULD CERTAINLY APPRECIATE, UH, YOU KNOW, A, A VOTE TO, UH, SHOW SUPPORT, SUPPORT FOR A DIRECTION.

UM, WELL THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR ALL THE WORK THAT Y'ALL DONE.

I COULD TELL THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE PUT IN AN AMAZING AMOUNT OF, OF THOUGHT INTO THIS.

I THINK HAVING TO ME, LIKE JUST LIKE LISTENING TO IT AND TALKING IT THROUGH, I THINK LIKE HAVING THE SET AWARD AMOUNTS AND GIVING THE, THESE ORGANIZATIONS SOME PREDICTABILITY ON WHAT THEY WILL BE RECEIVING AS OPPOSED TO LIKE A REQUEST, AND THEN THEY'RE NOT GONNA GET THE REQUEST AND THEY'LL KNOW EXACTLY LIKE HOW MUCH, UM, THEY'RE ACTUALLY GOING TO RECEIVE BASED ON, YOU KNOW, ALL, ALL THE METRICS ON, ON THE RATING.

I THINK THAT THAT WILL, UH, HELP, UH, THESE NON-PROFITS THAT ARE DOING THE WORK IN THE COMMUNITY PLAN A LITTLE MORE EFFECTIVELY, WHICH WOULD BE GREAT.

AND ADDITIONALLY, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THE FACT THAT THERE WAS SO MUCH MORE INTEREST FOR THE CAPACITY GRANTS, BECAUSE I WAS ALSO LIKE IT TO ECHO COMMISSIONER HERITAGE, IS THE JUICE WORTH THE SQUEEZE? BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S STILL QUITE POPULAR, SO THIS FEELS LIKE A GOOD NEXT ITERATION OF THIS, AND YOU CAN SEE HOW IT WORKS FOR THE NEXT YEAR, AND THEN YOU, WE CAN ALWAYS REVISIT.

SO THAT SOUNDS GOOD.

CAN, YOU KNOW, BE SUSTAINABLE AND HAVE THAT LONG-TERM PLANNING AND ASSISTANCE.

AND IF I MAY ADD ONE OTHER THING FOR THE COMMISSIONS, UM, AWARENESS AND, AND INPUT, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER STRENGTH OF THE PROGRAM BEING WITHIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS AGAIN, LEVERAGING THE MARKETING EFFORTS AND SEEING THAT GREAT INCREASE IN CAPACITY.

BUT I ALSO WANT TO SHARE THAT WE HAVE, AS PART OF OUR SMALL BUSINESS TEAM AND RESOURCES, WE HAVE, UM, RESOURCES AND CLASSES AND COACHING FOR NONPROFITS MM-HMM .

IN FACT, WE HAD THE DAY OF LEARNING NONPROFIT CLASSES ARE GOING ON THIS WEEK.

AND SO ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE, I MEAN, FOR ALL LEVELS OF NONPROFITS, WHETHER THEY BE CORE CAPACITY, BUT AS WE'RE ENGAGING WITH THOSE NONPROFITS WHO ARE SEEKING THOSE, UM, THOSE AWARDS, WE CAN ALSO MAKE THEM AWARE OF OUR COACHING AND CLASSES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO ENSURE THAT THEY

[00:55:01]

AND THE RESOURCES ARE EVERYTHING FROM MARKETING TO BUDGETING, UM, BUSINESS PLANNING.

SO I JUST WANTED TO ALSO SHARE THAT'S ANOTHER STRENGTH THAT WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE LEVERAGING AND ALIGNING OUR TEAM'S EFFORTS.

HAVE THESE ORGANIZATIONS TAKEN ADVANTAGE TO DATE OF THOSE OPPORTUNITIES? I KNOW A FEW HAVE CONNECTED, BUT WE'D HAVE TO, WE CAN CERTAINLY SCRUB FOR THAT, BUT I DO THINK AS WE, ESPECIALLY AS WE WORK TO, YOU KNOW, LAST YEAR WE WERE JUST FOCUSED ON THE MARKETING, RIGHT? TRYING TO GET IT OUT.

BUT THIS YEAR, A COLLABORATIVE MARKETING EFFORT, SO NOT ONLY LIKE, HEY, ARE YOU INTERESTED IN APPLYING FOR A GTOP PS AWARD, DID YOU KNOW WE ALSO HAVE THIS? YEAH.

AND THAT'S THE GREAT THING, AGAIN, THAT WE CAN LEAN ON OUR MARKETING TEAM TO BUILD THAT MESSAGING FOR SURE.

WELL, WITH THAT, UM, I'LL GO AHEAD AND MAKE THE MOTION TO ACCEPT, UM, OPTION A AS THE DIRECTION FOR THE GTOP S 2026 ACTION PLAN.

IS THERE A SECOND? SECONDED.

SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PREVI IN THE ROOM.

UH, ANY MORE DISCUSSION ON THIS? NOT SEEING ANYONE.

ALL THOSE IN SUPPORT OF ACCEPTING THE PLAN AS PRESENTED, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND, SAY AYE.

ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT.

US TO NEXT ITEM AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FOUR.

WE'RE UNANIMOUS.

SO, UH, YEAH, LOOKING FORWARD TO, UH, HEARING HOW IT GOES.

AND, UH, PLEASE TAG US TO SUPPORT, UM, ALL PATHWAYS, UH, NOT ONLY, UH, THROUGH GTOP SCORE, BUT YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY TAG US TO SERVE AS, AS REVIEWERS AND, UM, UH, HELP WITH, UH, SPREADING AWARENESS AROUND THESE OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN, THROUGHOUT AUSTIN.

[4. Approval of the 2026 Technology Commission meeting calendar ]

UH, THAT'S THE APPROVAL OF OUR CALENDAR YEAR 26, UH, MEETING CALENDAR.

AND I KNOW DAN HAD A PROPOSAL FOR US ON THAT AS WELL.

SOUTH BY MASS ALTOGETHER? YEAH, YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.

IF WE WANNA BRING THAT UP, UH, YOU GUYS SHOULD FIND OUT ON THE CALENDAR HOLD, BUT, UH, WE'RE GONNA HAVE IT PULLED UP HERE IN THE ROOM SO THAT Y'ALL CAN SEE IT OVER THE WEBEX.

JUST GIVE IT A SECOND.

UM, THIS CALENDAR IS LARGELY THE SAME AS IT WAS THIS, UH, PREVIOUS YEAR.

A LOT.

UH, NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED IN TERMS OF MEETING ON THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF EVERY MONTH.

SO YOU CAN SEE I HAVE A FEW NOTES ON THE SIDE THERE.

UM, THE FIRST EDIT I WANT TO MARK, UH, BEFORE I SUBMIT THIS IS IT, RIGHT NOW IT'S, UH, LABELED THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, BUT WE'RE THE TECH COMMISSION, SO I'LL, I'M STILL GETTING USED TO IT, SO I'LL MAKE THAT EDIT BEFORE I SUBMIT.

UM, THE ONLY NOTABLE DATES, EVERYTHING ELSE HERE FALLS ON THE SECOND WEDNESDAY OF A MONTH.

UM, THE ONLY NOTABLE CHANGES RIGHT NOW, UM, SO FOR THE MARCH 11TH MEETING, UH, USUALLY WE PROPOSE TO NOT HOST IT WITHIN, UH, DOWNTOWN AUSTIN.

UH, WE HOST IT AT THE AUSTIN ENERGY BUILDING OR THE, UH, PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER.

UM, AND I TALKED TO CHAIR APCA ABOUT IT.

UM, SO USUALLY WE HOST OUTSIDE OF THE CITY TO AVOID SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST TRAFFIC.

UM, UH, AND I TALKED TO CHAIR AKA ABOUT HOW MARCH 11TH IS ACTUALLY BEFORE SOUTH BY, BUT IT STILL PROBABLY IS IN OUR BEST INTEREST TO MEET OUTSIDE OF THE CITY UNLESS, UM, YOU KNOW, ANYBODY IS AGAINST THAT.

BUT, YOU KNOW, MOST OF US JOIN ONLINE, SO I, I THINK IT, IT, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT A, A, A HUGE DEAL IF, IF WE MEET AT THE PDC INSTEAD.

UM, THE OTHER DATE THAT I WANTED TO NOTE WAS, UH, THE NOVEMBER 4TH ONE.

UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, THE 4TH OF NOVEMBER IS ACTUALLY THE FIRST WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH.

UM, SO I STILL MARKED IT FOR WEDNESDAY, BUT I BELIEVE, UH, THE WEEK AFTER THAT, WHICH WOULD BE, UH, NOVEMBER 11TH IS A CITY HOLIDAY.

UM, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHICH ONE SPECIFICALLY.

IT'S ONE OF THE WEIRD ONES.

LIKE VETERAN, IT'S VETERAN'S DAY.

OH, NO, IT IS NOT.

IT'S ONE OF THE, UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

YEAH, THANK YOU.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE.

UM, IT, IT'S, IT'S JUST NOT, UH, YOU KNOW, I JUST COULDN'T REMEMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.

APOLOGIES.

THAT'S OKAY.

UM, BUT NOVEMBER 4TH INSTEAD OF NOVEMBER 11TH IS THE PROPOSED DATE.

AS LONG AS EVERYBODY'S OKAY WITH STILL MEETING ON WEDNESDAY, WE'RE JUST GONNA MOVE IT UP A WEEK.

UM, AND THAT ALSO ALLOWS Y'ALL TO HAVE TIME FOR THANKSGIVING.

SO, UH, OR FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

SO THREE ADDED WEEKS, UM, VERSUS TWO WEEKS BEFOREHAND.

UM, DID WE CHECK MIDTERMS NEXT YEAR? UH, NO ELECTION? I DID NOT.

HEY, DAN, THIS IS, UH, COMMISSIONER HERITAGE.

I WAS GONNA SUGGEST THIS YEAR WE ACTUALLY MOVED, UM, PARTICULARLY BECAUSE I, I'M NOT SURE IF ANY OF US ARE, HAVE TO ATTEND SOUTH BY FOR WORK RELATED STUFF, NOT SPEAKING FOR ANYONE OR MYSELF, BUT, UM, I THINK WE MOVED THE MARCH MEETING UP A WEEK.

CAN WE, ARE FOLKS OPEN TO THAT? JUST TO AVOID

[01:00:01]

UM, OPEN TO THAT.

SO LET'S, LET'S TAKE THE MARCH ONE FIRST.

I DON'T KNOW IF EVERYONE WANTS TO NOVEMBER, TAKE THEIR CALENDARS.

UM, AND THEN THEY SHOULD CLEAR THE PC.

ELECTION DAY'S NOVEMBER 3RD NEXT YEAR.

SO, WE'LL FINE.

SO WHAT IF, UM, I'M GOING TO 28TH.

26TH HERE.

IT'D BE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4TH.

YEAH, WE CAN MAKE THAT EDIT.

UM, SO AS LONG AS LIKE THAT WORKS WITH THE FACILITIES, UM, AND NO ONE ON THE CALL HAS ANY CONCERNS ABOUT THAT.

SPEAK UP NOW.

LET'S PLAN TO DO IT MARCH 4TH, SO THAT, THAT'LL BE THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND THEN, UH, NOVEMBER 4TH ELECTION DAY.

I KNOW ANN CALLED THAT OUT.

IT'S THE THIRD.

YEAH, IT'S 2026 IS NOVEMBER 3RD.

AH, BUT THAT'S MIDTERM, SO IT'LL BE A BIG ONE.

SO THEN WE SHOULD BE GOOD THEN.

THIS YEAR'S NOVEMBER, 2025.

GOT IT.

NOVEMBER 4TH, BUT 2026 IS NOVEMBER 3RD, SO IT'S AFTER, IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE FATIGUED, BUT .

AND SO, SO JUST TO CLARIFY, UH, OUR DISCUSSION IN THE ROOM.

SO, UH, NOVEMBER 4TH, 26, UH, IS THE DAY AFTER ELECTION DAY.

UM, 26.

SO I THINK WE SHOULD BE GOOD THERE, UNLESS ANYBODY, ANYONE HAVE ANY CONCERNS WITH THAT, THOSE TWO CHANGES OR WITH THAT ONE CHANGE? AND, UM, THE OTHER CHANGE THAT WE MADE, WAS IT TWO OR THREE YEARS AGO AT THIS POINT? THIS IS, THIS IS OUR FIRST YEAR DOING THIS WELL, SO IN THE PAST WE'VE TAKEN AUGUST OFF AND WE MET IN DECEMBER, BUT A FEW YEARS AGO WE, WE SWITCHED, WE CHANGED THAT AROUND TO GIVE FOLKS OFF FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

UM, BUT JUST WANTED TO PUT IT OUT THERE TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.

THAT IS AN OPTION.

WE COULD TAKE ANOTHER MONTH, A DIFFERENT MONTH OFF.

UM, SO I WANT TO SEE HOW FOLKS FEEL ABOUT CONTINUING TO TAKE DECEMBER OFF.

I THINK THAT'S FINE.

I THINK THAT'S A TOUGH ONE FOR DIFFERENT YEAH.

COMPANY HOLIDAY, YADA, YADA.

SO, YEAH, I KNOW FOR ME THERE'S A LOT GOING ON IN DECEMBER.

UM, OKAY, GREAT.

WELL, UM, WE'LL CHANGE THAT MAR MARCH DATE TO MARCH 8TH.

WAS THAT EIGHTH? FOURTH, THE EIGHTH, RIGHT.

FOURTH.

MARCH 4TH.

AND THEN, UH, I THINK WE HAVE OUR PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR, AND THEN DAN CAN START WORKING ON ROOM RESERVATIONS FOR US.

WE, UH, Y'ALL NEED A VOTE ON IT? YEAH.

DO WE NEED TO TAKE A VOTE ON IT? YEAH.

SECONDED, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER PREVI.

UH, ALL THOSE, UH, LET, I'LL MAKE A MOTION TO, UM, UH, APPROVE OUR MEETING SCHEDULE FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2026 WITH THE AMENDMENT, UH, TO MARCH.

ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF, UH, THE SAID, UH, UH, ADOPTION OF THE MEETING SCHEDULE.

PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND, SAY, AYE.

A AYE AYE.

ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY.

WE HAVE OUR MEETING SCHEDULE FOR NEXT YEAR.

ALONG TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE.

MOVING US

[5. Review of the current status and approval of consolidation of the Technology Commission’s working groups ]

UM, SO THIS IS SOMETHING I WANTED TO TALK TO THE ENTIRE, UH, COMMISSION ABOUT.

SO IT'S BEEN SOME TIME SINCE, UH, WE'VE MET ON THE PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE WORKING GROUP.

I KNOW MYSELF AND COMMISSIONER HERITAGE, UH, WE'RE PART OF THAT WORKING GROUP.

AND SINCE THAT TIME, YOU KNOW, SOME OF IT'S JUST ENDED UP THAT SOME OF THE PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE ITEMS HAVE, UH, NATURALLY MERGED INTO THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WORKING GROUP.

UM, SO I WAS GONNA PROPOSE THAT, UH, WE SIMPLY MERGED THE TWO GROUPS.

UM, SO PERHAPS JUST CALL IT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE WORKING GROUP.

UM, SINCE, UH, THERE IS SO MUCH OVERLAP AND I THINK EVEN THE MOST RECENT RECOMMENDATION, I'M GONNA LET COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS CHIME IN HERE IN A SECOND.

EVEN THE MOST RECENT, UM, RECOMMENDATION WAS MORE CLOSELY ALIGNED TO, WELL, IT WAS REALLY BOTH, BUT REALLY ALIGNED TO PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE AS WELL.

UM, BUT WANT TO OPEN IT UP TO THE REST OF THE, UH, COMMISSION BECAUSE, UH, LIKE I SAID, WE HAVEN'T MET.

UM, AND IT'D BE MUCH EASIER BOTH FOR THE AGENDAS,

[01:05:01]

UH, AS WELL AS LIKE REPORTING OUT TO JUST HAVE A SINGLE ONE AND, UH, REALLY, YOU KNOW, TO BE COMPLIANT WITH THE CLERK'S OFFICE.

WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SHOWING THAT WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS AND WE HAVEN'T REALLY MADE ANY PROGRESS ON THE PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE WORKING GROUP IN SUBTYPE.

UM, BUT LEMME CALL ON COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS FIRST, UH, WANTED TO MAKE SURE YOU WERE OKAY WITH, UM, MERGING THOSE TWO TOGETHER.

SINCE YOU RUN THE WORKING GROUP, I HAVE A COUPLE OPINIONS.

UH, ONE BEING THE CRUX OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM AI SURROUNDING PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE.

UH, WERE NOT AI RIGHT.

THE CRUX WAS TO CURTAIL PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE.

RIGHT.

SO IF THERE IS A COMMISSION ON PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE, I THINK IT SHOULD ADD THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.

IF NOT, UH, AI IS A MORE EFFICIENT TOOL FOR PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE, WHICH KIND OF MAKES IT A, A LARGER CONCERN THAN WHAT IT WAS BEFORE, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A LARGE CONCERN BEFORE.

SO I CAN SEE HOW THIS MAKES SENSE BECAUSE IT IS A ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ENABLED PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE ISSUE, RIGHT? SO I CAN SEE HOW THOSE TWO THINGS CAN EXIST.

UM, ALSO IT LEAVES FACE FOR THE OTHER CONCERNS AROUND, UH, PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE SLASH AI, LIKE FACIAL RECOGNITION.

IT'S KIND OF A PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE ISSUE.

UM, THE, THE SELF-DRIVING CARS, RIGHT? THAT REPORT THINGS BACK TO CITY GOVERNMENTS AND SOMETIMES DEPARTMENTS WITHOUT REALLY ANY OVERSIGHT REALLY, UH, IS A PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE ISSUE THAT INVOLVES AI.

SO THERE, THERE, IT MAKES SENSE THAT THERE WILL BE A LOT OF VENN DIAGRAM OVERLAP BETWEEN THESE TWO THINGS.

AND I THINK FOR THAT REASON, IT MAKES SENSE TO MERGE THESE THINGS, OR AT LEAST CREATE A RELATIONSHIP STRONG ENOUGH FOR THAT, UH, RECOMMENDATION SET TO COME FROM THIS SUBGROUP.

SO THAT'S MY OPINION.

I THINK IT MAKES SENSE TO PULL THEM TOGETHER.

ANY CONCERNS FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS? I'M NOT SEEING ANY.

UM, DO WE NEED TO VOTE ON THIS TO MERCH THE WORKING GROUPS TOGETHER? OKAY.

UM, I WILL, UH, MAKE A MOTION TO GO AHEAD AND COMBINE THESE WORK TO, UH, SUNSET OUR PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE WORKING GROUP AND MODIFY OUR WORKING INTELLIGENCE WORKING GROUP TO ENCOMPASS PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE AS WELL.

UH, IS THERE A SECOND? I ACTUALLY JUST HAD CONCERN THAT CAME TO MIND.

UM, YES.

DO WE HAVE ANY QUORUM ISSUES WITH COMBINING THE GROUPS? DO WE END UP HAVING A MEMBERSHIP THAT'S TOO LARGE? UH, WE CANNOT HAVE UP TO FIVE IN ANY OF THE WORKING GROUPS.

MANY, I JUST WASN'T SURE OF THE CURRENT MEMBERSHIP.

MANY, YEAH.

OF THE TWO.

COMMISSIONER , IS THAT ANY ONE TIME? I'M SORRY.

NO, NO, THAT'S OKAY.

GO FOR IT.

OH, I WAS ASKING ABOUT THE, UH, THE, THE QUORUM ISSUE THAT, UH, COMMISSIONER COMEY WAS, UH, REFERRING TO.

I THINK THAT IS ON A PER MEETING BASIS, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S A, A QUESTION FOR THE CHAIRMAN THAT'S ON A PER MEETING BASIS, AND I THINK IT WOULD ALSO APPLY TO YES.

A CORE GROUP.

SO, GOT IT.

RIGHT NOW, THAT'S MY QUESTION.

I MEAN, THE ONLY, YEAH, THE ONLY INDIVIDUALS THAT HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WORKING GROUP ARE MYSELF, BRIAN, UH, COMMISSIONER PLEBE.

I THINK THAT'S BEEN IT SO FAR.

SO ALWAYS OPEN TO HAVING MORE, UH, BUT IT HAS BEEN AN ISSUE SO FAR.

YEAH, AND I THINK WE WERE ALSO, OH, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY, I THINK WE WERE ALSO TALKING ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE HAD, UM, YOU KNOW, WE STILL NEED TO DISCUSS WHAT WE WOULD WANNA ACHIEVE WITH THE AI WORKING GROUP SO THAT WE HAD MORE STREAMLINED, UM, GOALS, I GUESS MM-HMM .

SO MAYBE THERE'S OPPORTUNITY THERE IF THERE BECOMES SOME SORT OF, UM, ISSUE WITH QUORUM THAT WE JUST KIND OF SPLIT INTO SUBGROUPS AS WELL.

SO DEFINITELY ALWAYS AN OPTION.

GOOD IDEA.

COMMISSIONER, COMMISSIONER, HERITAGE COMBI.

Y'ALL ARE GOOD WITH THAT.

OKAY, GREAT.

UM, SO I, I, I SECOND THE MOTION IF IT'S STILL ON THE FLOOR.

UH, SECONDED BY, UH, BY COMMISSIONER, UM, WILLIAMS. AND, UM, YEAH, ALL THOSE IN SUPPORT OF, UH, MODIFYING OUR WORKING GROUP.

PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND, SAY AYE.

I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND SKIP AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SIX.

ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY, I THINK WE ARE GOOD THERE.

SO WE'VE, UH, CONSOLIDATED TO NOW TWO, UH, WORKING GROUPS.

SO WITH THAT,

[7. Artificial Intelligence Working Group updates on the status of the group’s recommendation and any feedback from Austin City Council Members (Brian AM Williams, District 1 Appointee, Technology Commission) ]

WE NO LONGER HAVE THAT WORKING GROUP AND, UH, THERE'S NO UPDATE TO GIVE AND MOVE STRAIGHT TO, UH, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SEVEN.

SO I'LL INVITE, UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR SUCCESS SO FAR ON, ON OUR, UH, THE WORKING GROUP AS WELL AS, UH, UPCOMING PLANS

[01:10:01]

OVER TO YOU.

INDEED.

SO THE UPCOMING PLANS, MORE IMPORTANTLY, UH, BEFORE HALLOWEEN IN OCTOBER, UM, MY HOPE IS TO PULL TOGETHER THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED TO HAVE A DISCUSSION OVER OTHER ISSUES THAT INVOLVE THE, UH, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE.

I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE A NAME THAT'S THAT NAME, UH, WORKING GROUP, UH, TO DISCUSS AGAIN, SOME ISSUES THAT DO, UH, PERTAIN TO SURVEILLANCE, AS WELL AS DISCUSS SOME OF THE DIRECTION THAT THE CITY HAS ALREADY TAKEN, UH, WITH REGARD TO HOW AI IS, UH, HANDLED AND MANAGED.

UM, SO THAT IS A, A FUTURE STATE, CURRENT STATE.

IF YOU'VE HAD A CHANCE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE COMMISSIONER WEBSITE, YOU'LL SEE THE LATEST RECOMMENDATION POSTED THERE.

UM, I AM GOING TO DEFER TO CHAIRMAN TO FIND IF SLASH WHEN WILL HAVE THE CITY, UH, WEIGH IN ON THIS BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN SOME NEWS, BUT I HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING OFFICIAL.

UH, SO I'M ASSUMING THAT THERE IS A FUTURE STATE WHERE THE CITY WILL, UH, TAKE UP THIS RECOMMENDATION FOR CONSIDERATION.

YEAH, I KNOW I REACHED OUT TO, UM, JUST SPEAKING, YOU KNOW, FOR ME INDIVIDUALLY, I REACHED OUT TO MY, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER AND, UM, THEY HAVE, UH, REVIEWED IT AND I KNOW THAT THEY FORWARDED IT TO ANOTHER COUNCIL MEMBER WHO'S INTERESTED IN, UH, MAKING A FORMAL RESOLUTION, UM, WONDERING IF THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS HAD HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, BRING OUR RECOMMENDATION TO THEIR COUNCIL MEMBER OFFICES ATTENTION.

AND HOW DID THAT GO? YEP.

I, I MESSAGED MY COUNCIL MEMBER'S OFFICE AND I, UH, AM MEETING WITH THEM NEXT WEEK SO WE CAN DISCUSS IT.

OKAY, GREAT.

DID ANYONE ELSE HAVE SUCCESS? I'VE HAD A CONVERSATION.

SO WITH THAT, I'LL MOVE US TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER EIGHT.

GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. I'VE HAD A CONVERSATION WITH THE, WITH DISTRICT ONE AS WELL.

UH, NOT WITH, UH, COUNCILWOMAN HARPER MADISON, BUT WITH A, UH, A PERSON FROM THE OFFICE.

WE HAD A LONG CONVERSATION ABOUT AI AND THIS, AND IT WAS KIND OF ALREADY ON THEIR RADAR, SO THEY'RE HAPPY TO SEE IT COMING THROUGH.

GREAT.

COMMISSIONER COMBI, I THINK YOU WERE GONNA SAY SOMETHING.

YEAH, I HAD HAD A CONVERSATION WITH, UH, COMMISSIONER SIEGEL IN DISTRICT SEVEN, AND YEAH, THEY ALREADY ARE INCORPORATING LANGUAGE FROM OUR RECOMMENDATION TO, UH, POLICY PROPOSAL.

AMAZING.

WELL LOOKING FORWARD, UM, TO, FOR CONTINUING ENGAGEMENT WITH OUR, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS.

AND, UH, YEAH, I THINK THIS IS A REALLY SOLID RECOMMENDATION, LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING IT IN ACTION, UM, AND TO HAVING, UH, ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS AS WELL.

COOL.

UM,

[8. Town Hall listening session working group post meeting updates after discussion with district 2 and district 3 offices on a joint planning effort (Suzanne Heritage, District 4, Technology Commission) ]

UM, OUR TOWN HALL LISTENING SESSION.

UH, WE ACTUALLY HAVE NOT MET WITH THE D TWO AND D THREE COUNCIL OFFICES SINCE WE MET LAST, BUT WE DO HAVE A MEETING THIS UPCOMING FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10TH, UM, WITH, UH, WITH MO RAMEY AND AMELIA, UM, FROM A FEW OF THE COUNCIL OFFICES.

SO AT THAT MEETING, UH, WE PLAN TO WALK THROUGH THE, UH, OUR PROPOSED AGENDA AS WELL AS A LIST OF, UH, COMMUNITY PARTNERS, UH, WHO WILL HAVE, UH, THE OPPORTUNITY TO TABLE AT THE EVENT.

UM, SO THAT'S THE UPDATE ON THAT.

COMMISSIONER HERITAGE, UH, I KNOW YOU WERE YOU, UM, SENT THROUGH A NOTE AS WELL? DID YOU WANT TO, WAS THERE ANYTHING I MISSED THAT YOU WANTED TO COVER? NO, I THINK WE PUT TOGETHER GENERAL FLOW OF LIKE THE DAY OF THE EVENT.

IT'LL BE A HALF DAY EVENT.

UM, WE'VE GOT THINGS I THINK THAT THE CITY WANTS TO START WITH, UH, PRESENTATION JUST ON THE DIGITAL EQUITY REPORT, AND THEN JUMP INTO ANY CITY OF AUSTIN UPDATES, THINGS RELEVANT FOR UPCOMING POLICIES.

IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT HA SINCE THIS IS IN FEBRUARY, WHAT HAPPENS VIS-A-VIS THE, UM, THE AI RECOMMENDATION.

UM, AND THEN WE'LL TALK THROUGH THINGS LIKE AFFORDABILITY, EDUCATION AND SKILLS, SO TRAINING, DIGITAL LITERACY, WORKFORCE SKILLS, ACCESS AND INFRASTRUCTURE.

AND THEN THERE'LL BE A, UM, CLOSING PIECE.

AND SO WE'VE GOT A HANDFUL OF PROPOSED QUESTIONS ON EACH OF THOSE DIFFERENT TOPICS, JUST KIND OF OPEN-ENDED.

UM, THE GOAL HERE IS TO TRY AND GET AS MUCH REPRESENTATION AS WE CAN FROM EACH OF THOSE DISTRICTS.

D TWO, D THREE, D FOUR, UM, AND RIGHT NOW WE'RE TRYING TO WORK THROUGH SPECIFICS AROUND, SINCE THIS IS A SATURDAY THING, UM, UH, CHILDCARE, FOOD, AND, UM, ALL OF THAT.

SO A LITTLE BIT MORE LOGISTICS THAT WE NEED TO IRON OUT.

AND THEN WE'LL ALSO HAVE SOME PARTNERS, UH, NONPROFIT PARTNERS THAT'LL BE IN THE ROOM TABLING AS WELL.

SO, UM, AND IF I SAID

[01:15:02]

I CAN'T RECALL NOW DAY, UH, STEVEN, I'M, I'M BLANKING.

IS IT FEBRUARY 6TH OR SEVENTH? I CAN'T RECALL NOW IF IT'S A SATURDAY OR A SUNDAY.

SEVENTH THE SATURDAY.

AND, UM, YEAH, AND ON WANTED TO ASK THE EDD OFFICE SPECIFICALLY.

UM, MAYBE JESSIE OR, UH, SOMEONE ELSE WOULD, WOULD LOVE TO HAVE Y'ALL PRESENT OUT THE PREVIOUS REPORT AND THEN, YOU KNOW, WANT TO LEAVE SPACE FOR YOU ALL TO PERHAPS GATHER DATA INSIGHTS, UH, FOR THE NEW, UH, REPORT AS WELL.

YEAH, WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO PARTICIPATE IN WHATEVER, UM, WHATEVER FUNCTION THAT YOU ALL WOULD SEE US FOR THAT MEETING.

BUT IF THAT'S TO PRESENT OUT THE 2023 STUDY, UH, THAT WE DID WITH TRAVIS COUNTY, OR TO DO, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME DATA GATHERING AROUND THE 2014 STRATEGIC PLAN REFRESH, I THINK BOTH OF THOSE WOULD FIT, UM MM-HMM .

SO YEAH.

HAPPY TO PARTICIPATE.

UM, WOULD THAT BE YOU, JESSE? UM, I WANNA TRY AND KEEP IT SMALL FOR NOW, SO, UM, WE CAN INVITE MAYBE ONE OF YOU TO OUR NEXT PLANNING MEETING YEAH.

AND START GETTING YOU ENGAGED.

I'M HAPPY TO, TO BE THE POINT PERSON.

YEAH, WE WOULD, WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO STAFF AND SUPPORT WITH STAFF AND HOWEVER WE CAN, SO JESSE CAN BE THE LEAD AND OKAY.

HE CAN LET US KNOW WHAT'S NEEDED AND WE'LL DO OUR BEST TO SUPPORT, BUT YOU'LL CERTAINLY, WE'LL CERTAINLY BE THERE.

UM, SO I THINK BY, BY NEXT MONTH WE'LL HAVE, UH, MORE SUBSTANTIVE UPDATES, UM, ON THAT.

SO LOOKING FORWARD TO, UM, TO HAVING THAT.

UM,

[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]

UH, MOVING TO FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. UM, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS AN ITEM THAT I CORRESPONDED WITH COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD AND HERITAGE WITH ON INVITING, UM, SOME OF THE, UH, BROADBAND PROVIDERS.

COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD, DID YOU WANT TO GIVE A QUICK UPDATE ON THE PLAN FOR THAT? YEAH, SPECTRUM AND AT T HAVE CONFIRMED, GOOGLE SAID THEY CAN LIKELY ALSO MAKE THE, UH, THE NEXT MEETING.

AND SO I SENT THEM OVER WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT, UH, IN TERMS OF AGENDA ITEMS TO PREP, PREPARE PRESENTATIONS TO US ON.

UM, AND THEY'RE BOTH CHARTER AND AT T ARE BOTH PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT IT.

GOOGLE, UM, HAD TO CHECK ON IF THEIR LOCAL PERSON WAS GONNA BE IN TOWN, UM, BUT I SHOULD KNOW LIKE NEXT WEEK WHETHER OR NOT GOOGLE WILL BE MAKING A MEETING AS WELL.

AND THEN IF YOU COULD COORDINATE THAT THROUGH DAN.

UM, YEAH, I'LL LOOP DAN IN.

WHAT I'LL, UH, LINK DAN UP WITH THE GR PEOPLE AT AT T AND GOOGLE.

UM, SO LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING THEM.

UH, AND THEN, UH, DR.

SHARON TROOVER, WHO'S PRESENTED A NUMBER OF TIMES, UH, PREVIOUSLY HAS A NEW REPORT RELATED TO SURVEILLANCE, UM, AS WELL AS DATA INSIGHTS THAT, UH, SHE SHARED WITH ME OVER EMAIL AND INVITED HER TO, UH, TO COME TO THE COMMISSION TO SHARE AS WELL.

AND, UM, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, IF, IF WE HAVE A WORKING GROUP MEETING BEFORE THEN, UH, WOULD LOVE TO HAVE HER ON AS WELL TO GIVE US A PREVIEW OF WHAT SHE'S GONNA SHARE SO WE COULD DISCUSS AS A, AS A SMALLER WORKING GROUP BEFORE, UM, BEFORE THE SHOWCASE TO, TO THE LARGER COMMISSION.

SO, UM, YEAH, ONCE YOU GET SOMETHING SCHEDULED, JUST LEMME KNOW.

I'LL SEE IF I CAN GET THE OTHER MATERIALS AHEAD OF TIME TOO SO THAT THEY, THOSE CAN GET CIRCULATED FOR EVERYONE TO LOOK AT LIKE THEIR PRESENTATIONS.

GREAT.

UM, ANY OTHER, SO THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE MY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS TARGETING NOVEMBER.

DID ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANYTHING ELSE THEY WANTED TO PLACE ON THE AGENDA? YES, COMMISSIONER, UM, WE HAD TALKED ABOUT, UH, HAVING A PRESENTATION ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS IN NOVEMBER.

SHOULD WE TRY TO DELAY THAT IF WE HAVE A ALREADY PACKED SCHEDULE? UM, I THINK WE CAN MAKE IT WORK.

UM, WERE, WERE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT YOU WERE ENGAGED WITH LOOKING AT NOVEMBER BECAUSE THE NEXT TIME WE YEAH, THEY HAD ORIGINALLY OFFERED EITHER OCTOBER OR NOVEMBER.

AND SINCE WE SAID YOU SAID NOVEMBER WOULD BE BETTER.

THERE'S ENOUGH BANDWIDTH.

I MEAN, WE DON'T HAVE ANY OTHER ITEM.

DO WE HAVE TWO ITEMS? OKAY.

THE, I THINK YOU WANTED TO TRY TO PRESENT BEFORE THE WINTER SEASON HIT SO WE KNOW MORE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IF WE HAD FORM ISSUES.

SO ONE MOMENT, COMMISSIONER, UM, COMBY, GO AHEAD.

ANN, I BELIEVE YOU MENTIONED TWO ITEMS FOR NOVEMBER SO FAR, RIGHT? YEAH, SO I, I THINK IT'S AT THE WILL OF COMMISSION AND IF THERE'S, IF THERE'S A CONTACT THAT WE CAN, THAT COMMISSIONER COMBY YOU'VE BEEN WORKING WITH, WE'RE HAPPY TO REACH OUT TO AND, AND PROVIDE AN INVITATION.

YEAH, YEAH.

I, MY, MY, MY POINT WAS WE DON'T HAVE ANY STANDING ITEMS, UH,

[01:20:01]

FOR NOVEMBER.

WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT G TOPS OR ANYTHING.

SO IT WOULD BE THE BROADBAND PROVIDERS, IT WOULD BE SHARON STR, AND THEN, UM, EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS I THINK WOULD BE OUR AGENDA.

UM, OKAY.

YEAH, SO COMMISSIONER, I, I THINK, I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE GOOD.

UN UNLESS SOMETHING COMES UP.

SO YEAH, COMMISSIONER COMBY, IF YOU WANT TO PUT THEM IN TOUCH WITH DAN SO HE CAN SORT OUT LOGISTICS.

YEAH, I THINK WE'VE ALREADY HAD A EMAIL CONTACT, BUT, UH, GOOD.