* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [CALL TO ORDER] [00:00:03] MEETING OF THE MAYOR'S COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH. UM, WE'RE HERE AT CITY HALL, SO I THINK WE WILL START WITH THE ROLL CALL. THANKS, NABEL. CAN YOU DO ROLL? OKAY. CHAIR KELLY HERE. UH, VICE CHAIR MEYER. UH, DELANIA. COER. HAGENS. I'M HERE. UH, AUDREY DIAZ? YEAH, LISA CHAIN. LISA, I THINK YOU'RE ON MUTE HERE. KRISTEN VASSALLO. HERE. ELIZABETH SLATE. LYNN MURPHY. MICKEY ANTE. AND GABRIEL ARIANO HERE. OH, UH, LYNN. COMMISSIONER MURPHY. ARE YOU ABLE TO TURN ON YOUR CAMERA AND SAY PRESENT? GIVE HER A MINUTE. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. WE CAN MOVE FORWARD. OKAY. OKAY. [PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL] ALRIGHT. UH, FIRST THING ON THE AGENDA WILL BE PUBLIC COMMUNICATION. WE'VE GOT, UH, MELINDA FROM THE GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE. GOOD EVENING. UM, I JUST WANTED TO COME AND SAY ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, THAT I'D LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THE SUCCESS OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S ABILITY WE FESTIVAL HELD THIS PAST OCTOBER. UM, OUR COMMITTEE WAS PROUD TO COLLABORATE WITH THE CITY BY PARTICIPATING IN THE PLANNING PROCESS ALONGSIDE A DEDICATED AND CREATIVE TEAM. THE FESTIVAL WAS A WONDERFUL CELEBRATION OF INCLUSION, ACCESSIBILITY, AND COMMUNITY SPIRIT, AND THE ATTENDANCE WAS STRONG. THERE WAS POSITIVE ENERGY THROUGHOUT THE EVENING THAT WAS REFLECTED IN THE CITY'S COMMITMENT TO CREATING SPACES WHERE ALL AUSTINITES CAN PARTICIPATE AND BE CELEBRATED. LOOKING AHEAD, WE SEE AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND OUTREACH SO THAT NEXT YEAR'S FESTIVAL REPRESENTS THE FULL DIVERSITY OF THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY. THIS YEAR'S EVENT HAD A GREAT TURNOUT, PARTICULARLY FROM THE DEAF COMMUNITY. AND BY BROADENING ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS, WE CAN ENSURE THAT PEOPLE WITH ALL TYPES OF DISABILITIES FEEL EQUALLY WELCOMED AND REPRESENTED. WE WANT TO THANK THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THE A ABILITY PLANNING TEAM FOR THEIR PARTNERSHIP AND LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCING ACCESSIBILITY AWARENESS. THANK YOU. THANKS MON. YEAH. AND, UH, ALL THE CREDIT GOES TO COMMISSIONER ANO FOR PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER. [1. Approve the minutes of the Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities regular meeting on September 12, 2025.] ALRIGHT. UH, NEXT ON THE AGENDA, WE HAVE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM SEPTEMBER 12TH, 2025. UM, GO AHEAD. IF YOU'RE APPROVE THE MINUTES, YOU CAN RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY, AYE, AYE. AND MOVE. OH, YEAH, SORRY. I'LL, I'LL MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES. CAN I GET A SECOND? DO WE GET SECOND? OH, OKAY. ALL RIGHT. AND THEN, UH, RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY AYE. AYE, AYE. OKAY. AND THEN, UH, THE [2. Approve the minutes of the Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities regular meeting on July 11, 2025.] NEXT ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM JULY 11TH, 2025. I'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE FOR THAT. CAN I GET A SECOND? COMMISSIONER ELLO. ALL RIGHT. MM-HMM . AND, UH, IF YOU'D LIKE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES, RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY A AYE AYE. SO [2. Staff briefing regarding therapeutic recreation programs. Presentation by Sara Carlson, Recreation Program Manager, Austin Parks and Recreation and Evan Kessler, Recreation Program Supervisor, Austin Parks and Recreation.] WE'RE GONNA START OUR MEETING TODAY WITH A STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING THE THERAPEUTIC RECREATION PROGRAMS, AND THAT'S GONNA BE WITH SARAH CARLSON. DO WE HAVE SARAH? HELLO? HI, SARAH. I HAVE EVAN KESSLER HERE. THERE WE GO. OH, DID WE WANT OVER? YEAH, YOU CAN SEE US. OKAY. LEMME SEE. SORRY. ARE WE READY? ALL RIGHT. I'M SARAH CARLSON. I AM THE DISTRICT MANAGER OVER THERAPEUTIC RECREATION. UH, EVAN KESSLER, UH, RECREATION, UH, SUPERVISOR. OKAY. WE CAN START OUR PRESENTATION. WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THERAPEUTIC RECREATION SERVICES WITH AUSTIN PARK RECREATION. [00:05:02] ALRIGHT, SO HERE'S A LIST OF, UH, THE SITES THAT WE OFFER OUR, UH, THERAPEUTIC SERVICES AT. UH, SO WE'RE PROVIDING RECREATION OPPORTUNITIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF AUSTIN AT MACBETH'S RECREATION CENTER, ALAMO, JORDAN PARKA, AND WE ALSO HAVE OUR MODIFICATION AND SUPPORT, UH, SERVICES TEAM. WE CURRENTLY PROVIDE PROGRAMS FOR 472 YOUTH INDIVIDUALS AND 867 ADULTS. UM, OUR TEAM WAS MADE UP OF 18 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, 16 THAT ARE CERTIFIED RECREATION THERAPISTS. AND WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY 47 TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES WORKING HANDS-ON WITH OUR PROGRAMS. HERE'S KIND OF JUST A, A BROAD OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAMS THAT WE OFFER. SO WE HAVE, UH, PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES. WE HAVE OUR DAY PROGRAMS, SPECIAL OLYMPICS, ADULT ENRICHMENT AND JOB SKILLS PROGRAM FOR YOUTH AND TEENS. WE HAVE, UH, YOUTH THERAPIES ENRICHMENT, YOUNG ATHLETES PROGRAM, AND, UH, THERAPEUTIC SUMMER CAMPS AND SPECIAL EVENTS. WE HAVE, UM, WE HAVE A A PD COMMUNITY EVENT, UH, ADAPTIVE FIELD DAY AND ART IN THE PARK AT, UM, IT WAS AT FESTIVAL BEACH LAST YEAR. MM-HMM . WE ALSO HAVE A MODIFICATION AND SUPPORT TEAM. THIS TEAM PROVIDES SERVICES ACROSS THE ENTIRE CITY AND DEPARTMENT. THEY PROVIDE ASSESSMENTS FOR PARTICIPANTS MODIFICATION PLANS, AND THEY HAVE PARENT REVIEW MEETINGS. UM, WE DO PROVIDE SUPPORT STAFFING FOR YOUTH PROGRAMS FOR AFTERSCHOOL CAMP DAYS AND SUMMER CAMPS. WE ALSO PROVIDE TRAINING ON, UM, SUPPORT SERVICES FOR INDI WITH INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES. AND WE ALSO PROVIDE A SL INTERPRETERS. SO THERAPEUTIC RECREATION IS GROWING RAPIDLY AND THE DEMAND IS OUTPACING OUR ABILITY TO MEET IT. ADDITIONAL INVESTMENTS WOULD ALLOW THERAPEUTIC RECREATION TO ENHANCE CURRENT SERVICES AND EXPAND OFFERINGS. OUR HOPE FOR THE FUTURE WOULD BE TO, UM, IMPLEMENT MORE OF A UNIVERSAL DESIGN WITHIN ALL SPACES AND ALL OF OUR PROGRAMS ACROSS THE DEPARTMENT. WE ALSO WOULD LIKE TO INVEST IN ADDITIONAL ADAPTIVE TOOLS AND DIFFERENT SUPPORT MATERIALS. UM, SO WE CAN GROW AND PROVIDE THE BEST SERVICES WITHIN THE REQUESTS FOR MODIFICATIONS. UM, WE'D LIKE TO START PROGRAMMING FOR OUR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS SUPPORT DIFFERENT EDUCATION PROGRAMS. UM, WE'D LIKE TO DEVELOP NEW ENRICHMENT PROGRAMS FOR YOUTH, TEENS AND ADULTS, AND ALSO EXPAND OUR THERAPEUTIC RECREATION GROUP THERAPY PROGRAMS. AND WE PROVIDED OUR WEBSITE FOR YOU TO CHECK OUT MORE. GREAT. THANKS. YEAH. HI. UM, I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS. SO WHAT IS THE AMOUNT OF YOUR BUDGET? THE DOLLAR AMOUNT? OUR BUDGET IS, I DUNNO THE EXACT AMOUNT. IT'S THAT'S OKAY. AROUND, I THINK IT'S LIKE $1.2 MILLION IN TOTAL AND YEAH. BETWEEN THOSE KIDS. THAT'S FINE. AND YOU'RE IN THE PARKS BUDGET, RIGHT? YES. OKAY. AND IN TERMS OF EXPANSION OR GROWTH, I GUESS, WOULD YOU GO TO MORE SITES OR WOULD YOU JUST ENHANCE THE PROGRAMS THAT YOU CURRENTLY HAVE? I THINK WE COULD DO BOTH. OKAY. FOR SURE. IT ON, UM, THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAD AVAILABLE TO EXPAND, I THINK OUR, SOME OF OUR CURRENT SITES COULD EXPAND. UM, ALSO TO REACH THE NEED OF THE PUBLIC, WE MIGHT NEED TO EXPAND ACROSS DIFFERENT FACILITIES. UM, WE ALSO WOULD HAVE TO FIND SPACE WITHIN OUR FACILITIES. RIGHT. UM, A WOMAN SPOKE TO US SOME MONTHS AGO, AND I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH ALL OF THESE REC CENTERS. ARE THEY CONCENTRATED IN ONE AREA? DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE A DISTRIBUTION THROUGHOUT THE CITY? UM, WE'RE DISTRIBUTED AROUND THE CITY. WE DON'T MEET, WE DON'T TOUCH THE ENTIRE CITY. SO WE HAVE ONE INSIDE ZIL PARK, ONE OFF OF, UM, SEVENTH STREET ON THE EAST SIDE. AND THEN ALAMO AND DADDY JORDAN ARE A LITTLE BIT FARTHER NORTH, STILL ON THE EAST SIDE. OKAY. AND IN TERMS OF PARTICIPATION, CAN EVERYONE PARTICIPATE THAT WANTS TO, DO YOU HAVE WAITING LISTS? WE DO HAVE WAIT LISTS. UM, MOST OF THEM ARE [00:10:01] FOR OUR YOUTH PROGRAMS. SURE. OKAY. AND YEAH, A LOT ARE FOR CAMPS AND ALSO FOR, UM, OUR MODIFICATION AND SUPPORT PROGRAMS. CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THAT, WHAT THAT MEANS? UM, WITH THE WAIT LIST? NO, THE MODIFICATION AND SUPPORT TEAM. WHAT DOES, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? OH, YEAH. SO WHEN AN INDIVIDUAL WITH A DISABILITY ENROLLS IN A PROGRAM ANYWHERE IN ANY OF OUR PROGRAMS, UM, THEY MAY REQUEST ADDITIONAL SUPPORT. SO OUR TEAM MEETS WITH THE FAMILY, CONDUCTS AN ASSESSMENT USUALLY ON SITE WHERE THE CHILD IS REGISTERED, WHERE THE PARTICIPANT IS REGISTERED, AND THEN THEY WILL CREATE A MODIFICATION PLAN, REVIEW IT WITH THE FAMILY, MAKE SURE THAT WE CAME UP WITH A GOOD SUPPORT STRATEGY, AND THEN THEY WILL MEET WITH THE, UM, TEAM AT THE FACILITY AND REVIEW IT AND CONNECT WITH THE TOOLS. OKAY. YEAH. UM, THAT'S GREAT. I REALLY APPRECIATE WHAT YOU DO. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND AS FAR AS EXPANDING TO NEW SITES, WHAT KIND OF RESOURCES ARE REQUIRED IN TERMS OF PERSON POWER AND, AND RESOURCES? LIKE, I DON'T KNOW WHETHER OR NOT YOU NEED SPECIFIC, LIKE, SPECIAL FACILITIES THERE OR, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN USE EXISTING FACILITIES IN OTHER PLACES AROUND THE CITY. UM, I THINK THAT WE COULD POTENTIALLY USE WHAT'S AVAILABLE. WE WOULD DEFINITELY NEED MORE STAFFING, UM, APPROVAL TO UTILIZE OTHER PEOPLE'S SPACE TOO IS SOMETHING. SO POTENTIALLY WE COULD FIT INTO WHAT AUSTIN NER ALREADY HAS, BUT WE ALSO MIGHT NEED MORE. AND SO IT SOUNDED LIKE, OH, I'M SORRY. GO AHEAD. COMMISSIONER CHANG. UM, IF YOU WANTED GO AHEAD. I CAN GO NEXT. YES. SORRY. COMMISSIONER CHANG, YOU'RE BREAKING UP A LITTLE. WE CAN'T HEAR YOU. YEP. OKAY. UM, WELL, I WAS CURIOUS WHERE YOU SAY THAT YOU'RE, UM, OUTPACING THE NEED, OR SORRY, THE, THE NEED IS OUTPACING, UM, WHAT'S AVAILABLE. AND IF YOU'RE TRACKING, UM, WHERE MANY OF THE RESIDENTS ARE, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANT TO INCREASE SERVICES IN THE EXISTING , THERE'S, UM, A NEED IN A, IN A GEOGRAPHIC DOESN'T PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES AT ALL. WHERE YOU'RE SAYING MOST OF THE, UM, I THINK WE MISSED A PRETTY DECENT AMOUNT OF YOUR QUESTION. YOU MIGHT, COULD YOU REPEAT IT? SORRY. YEAH, WE'RE TYPING IT. OH, SORRY. I DON'T KNOW IF I'M BREAKING UP. IS IT ANY BETTER? YEAH, I THINK SO. GIVE IT, LET'S GIVE IT A TRY. OKAY. OKAY. UM, I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT, UM, WHERE YOU SAY THAT THE, UH, THE REQUESTS ARE OUTPACING WHAT'S AVAILABLE AND IF YOU'RE TRACKING WHERE MOST OF THOSE RESIDENTS ARE BASED. SO, UM, WE ALL REPRESENT DIFFERENT DISTRICTS, AND SO WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO GIVE THAT FEEDBACK TO OUR DISTRICT COUNCIL MEMBERS AND SAY, A NEEDS TO HAPPEN AT A SPECIFIC SITE, OR IF THERE'S A NEED TO CREATE A NEW ONE AND A, A NEW PART OF AUSTIN THAT SIMPLY DOESN'T HAVE ONE THAT'S CLOSE ENOUGH. YEAH. SO WE ACTUALLY HAVE MORE OF OUR TEAM HERE, , UM, MOVING, UH, LAPTOPS HERE. HI, I'M JODY. JI SERVE AS THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR AUSTIN PARKS AND RECREATION. THERAPEUTIC RECREATION IS UNDER MY AREA OF, UM, SUPERVISION. I ALSO RUN, UM, ALL OF OUR RECREATION CENTERS, SENIOR CENTERS, UM, LAND MANAGEMENT TEAM AND FORESTRY TEAM. I WOULD SAY THAT, UM, WE HAVE, UM, DONE A ANALYSIS OF A GAP ANALYSIS IS WHAT WE'RE CALLING IT WITHIN THE CITY SYSTEM. AND IT IS IDENTIFYING SEVERAL, FIVE AREAS OF TOWN THAT DOES MEET THAT WE ARE NOT MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY, WHETHER IT'S THERAPEUTIC RECREATION, SENIOR PROGRAMMING, UM, YOU KNOW, SPORTS, UM, AND OR, UM, RECREATION, UM, CENTERS, SUMMER CAMP, THINGS LIKE THAT. UM, AND, UH, WE, LIKE I SAID, WE'VE IDENTIFIED FIVE. ALL OF THEM HAVE BEEN, UM, FAR NORTHEAST, EAST, SOUTH, AND SOUTHEAST. THOSE, UM, AND, UH, I CAN MAKE SURE THAT SARAH GETS YOU GUYS A LINK TO THAT GAP ANALYSIS THAT'S CITYWIDE. AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS, UM, PLANNING, I'M SURE YOU'RE AWARE OF, UH, ABOUT THE NEXT [00:15:01] BOND ELECTION. AND, UM, THE DEPARTMENT WILL BE PRIORITIZING, UM, AN EXPANSION AND OR NEW FACILITY IN NORTHEAST AUSTIN. AND THAT WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY. AND BY NORTHEAST AUSTIN, I SAY, I MEAN FAR NORTHEAST AUSTIN. AND THAT WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY THAT PEOPLE FROM THE MAYOR'S COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES COULD SAY, HEY, IF WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT THAT, WE WOULD REALLY LIKE SOME IDENTIFIED SPACE IN THAT EXPANSION, UM, THAT COULD MEET THE NEEDS OF THE THERAPEUTIC RECREATION TEAM. UM, AND, UH, THE OTHER THING THAT WE WILL BE PRIORITIZING IN THE NEXT BOND ELECTION, WHICH IS, UM, NOVEMBER OF 26, UM, WE'LL BE PURCHASING LAND IN SOUTHEAST, FAR SOUTHEAST, I WOULD SAY, UM, CLOSE TO DELL VALLEY. THAT IS A GAP. UM, AND, UM, THAT WILL JUST BE PURCHASING OF LAND AND WE WOULD HAVE TO WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOND CYCLE BEFORE WE COULD BUILD A NEW FACILITY. BUT WE HAVE LEARNED IS THAT BUYING AND BUILDING A RECREATION CENTER THAT ONLY SERVES ONE, UM, POPULATION ISN'T A GOOD USE OF CITY DOLLARS. AND, UM, OUR RECOMMENDATION MOVING FORWARD WOULD BE BUILDING FACILITIES THAT HAVE WINGS AND CAN MEET THE NEEDS OF ALL US TONIGHT. UM, I THINK I ANSWERED THAT QUESTION, BUT HERE TO, UM, ELABORATE IF YOU HAVE MORE. NO, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT. AND, UM, I AM BASED IN DISTRICT TWO, UM, REPRESENTED BY, UH, MAYOR PRO TE, UH, FUENTES AND MM-HMM . UH, SORRY, THAT'S NOT, THAT'S NOT RIGHT. UM, SORRY. MAYOR PRO. YES. . YES. SO, OKAY. I APOLOGIZE. UM, SO THAT SOUTHEAST SITE WOULD BE, UM, SOMETHING I COULD BRING TO THEIR ATTENTION AND MM-HMM . UM, POTENTIALLY WORK WITH YOU AND THEIR OFFICE TO YEAH. AS WE'RE DEVELOPING THE NEXT BOND. FOR SURE. THANK YOU. SO I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION ON THAT, AND THAT'S VERY HELPFUL. SO ARE YOU TRY, WHEN YOU SAY WINGS AND MULTIPLE PURPOSES, UM, IS THAT BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT MULTIPLE PROGRAMS GOING ON? SO TO HAVE A THERAPEUTIC RECREATION PROGRAM THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE DESIGNED IN AT THE BEGINNING, OR TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, I MEAN, HOW DELIBERATE DO THEY NEED TO BE WITH THAT IN THE BOND OR IN PLANNING? I THINK IT WOULD HAVE TO BE IN THE PLANNING IN THE PLAN SIDE, UM, TO BUILD A NEW RECREATION CENTER. THE ESTIMATE AT TODAY'S DOLLARS IS $50 MILLION, RIGHT? SO IF YOU WANT TO BUILD A RECREATION CENTER, WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO, AS A CITY BUILD, YOU KNOW, FOUR NEW RECREATION CENTERS THAT ONLY SERVE, UM, A TRADITIONAL RECREATION CENTER. RIGHT. AND WE CAN'T BUILD TWO MORE THAT ARE ONLY FOR SENIORS AND TWO MORE. SO WHAT I'M SAYING IS WHEN WE'RE START, WHEN WHEN WE'VE IDENTIFIED THE FUNDING, THE FUNDING BECOMES AVAILABLE, AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CIP FUNDING, WHICH IS ON, UH, WE, 98% OF THE TIME, THAT IS THROUGH THE BOND CYCLE. UM, UH, THAT WOULD BE DURING THE PLANNING PHASE. UM, AND, UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT Y'ALL'S VOICES ARE PART OF THAT, THAT, THAT PLANNING ONCE THE FUNDING IS IDENTIFIED. OKAY. THANK YOU. THAT ANSWERED THE QUESTION. YES. I JUST A QUICK FOLLOW UP ON, ON THAT $50 MILLION MM-HMM . THAT $50 MILLION THAT YOU'RE SAYING THAT WOULD BE OF ALL INCLUSIVE OF DIFFERENT POPULATIONS, LIKE YOU SAID IT WOULD, IT'S THE, IT IS THE, YEAH, IT'S THE, IT'S THE ESTIMATE TO BUILD A NEW RECREATION CENTER. IT DOESN'T INCLUDE PURCHASING OF LAND. THAT WOULD BE SEPARATE. AND SO HAVE YOU IDENTIFIED LAND FOR THIS, UM, NORTHEAST REC CENTER THAT WE HAVE, YEAH. THE, THE PARKS DEPARTMENT HAS, UM, HAS A PREFERRED LOCATION, WHICH WOULD BE IN THE GUS GARCIA, UM, RECREATION CENTER SITE. UM, AND IT WOULD BE AN EXPANSION AT THAT LIKE LOCATION. UM, BUT, UM, THE CITY DOES OWN SOME PARKLAND IN FAR NORTHEAST AUSTIN, UM, THAT COULD, UM, BE A STANDALONE FACILITY. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . FOR THOSE FIVE AREAS THAT YOU IDENTIFIED A TOWN THAT, THAT AREN'T, YOU KNOW, ADEQUATELY SERVED, ARE THERE ANY EXISTING FACILITIES IN ANY OF THOSE AREAS THAT COULD BE REPURPOSED AT A LESSER [00:20:01] COST AND PROBABLY SHORTER TIMELINE? UM, WELL, YOU CAN ALWAYS, THESE ARE FACILITIES THAT, UM, ARE NOT MEETING THE GROWING DEMAND IN THAT, THE, THOSE PORTIONS OF THE, OF AUSTIN, RIGHT. SO THIS IS WHERE WE USE DEMOGRAPHER INFORMATION TO TELL US THAT THIS IS WHERE WE WILL ANTICIPATE BUILDING AND HOME HOMES AND MULTIPURPOSE HOMES, UM, MOVING IN. AND IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A FIVE TO 10 YEAR, UM, OUTLOOK. SO, AND I THINK, GO AHEAD. SORRY. GO AHEAD SHARON. SO IT SOUNDS LIKE, UH, IT WOULDN'T BE FEASIBLE TO REPURPOSE EXISTING REC CENTERS THAT WEREN'T FIT FOR THERAPEUTIC RE RECREATION TO THAT PURPOSE IN, IN ANY OF THOSE AREAS? I THINK THAT CURRENTLY THE, THE, THE, THE EXPANSION OF THE GUS GARCIA SITE WOULD BE ONE OF THE, THE SHORTEST TERM LOCATIONS. IF WE'RE LOOKING AT ALL OF OUR OTHER RECREATION CENTERS, UM, THEY ARE AT CAPACITY, RIGHT. UM, WE HAVE COMPLETE, UM, WAIT LISTS IN THE PROGRAMMING THAT WE ARE HAVE AND, UM, AND THOSE WOULD ALSO REQUIRE OUTS AND, UM, BOND CYCLES. GOT IT. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . ONE LAST QUESTION ABOUT WAIT LIST. WHAT'S THE AVERAGE WAIT TIME? I KNOW IT VARIES ACROSS, BUT I'LL SEND THAT BACK TO SARAH. SO IT DEPENDS ON, UM, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. BUT HONESTLY, I THINK ONE OF THE BIG ISSUES IS THAT WE'RE JUST NOT MEETING THE NEEDS OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY. IT'S NOT NECESSARILY HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ON THE WAIT LIST. IT'S THE PEOPLE WHO ARE STILL IN SCHOOL, THEY'RE GONNA GRADUATE, UM, WHAT DO THEY DO NEXT, THAT KIND OF THING. THAT WE ARE FULL WITH THE ADULTS THAT WE SERVE, THAT THE NEXT STEP FOR THE PEOPLE, THE INDIVIDUALS IN SCHOOL THAT NEED AN ADULT PROGRAM. WE DON'T HAVE THE SPACE FOR THEM. SO THAT'S ACTUALLY A LOT OF PEOPLE. SO DO YOU WORK WITH THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN TERMS OF, WELL, I GUESS IF YOU DON'T HAVE ROOM, I JUST, I FEEL LIKE IT'S, UM, MAYBE I'M BEING NAIVE. THAT'S NOT VERY WELL KNOWN. EVEN THOUGH YOU'VE GOT THESE WAIT LISTS. I MEAN, DO YOU WORK WITH SCHOOLS, UM, WITH HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AND LETTING THEM KNOW WHAT THE AND PARENTS AND WHAT'S AVAILABLE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? YEAH, WE GO TO TRANSITION FAIRS, UM, OUR TEAM. OKAY. YOU'VE MET WITH PEOPLE RECENTLY? YEAH, WE DO WORK WITH THE SCHOOLS. WE ARE, UM, DISCUSSING, TRYING TO HELP THE A ISD MEET SOME OF THE NEEDS THAT THEY HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO WITH SPECIAL OLYMPICS AND THAT TYPE OF THING. UM, THERE'S SOME BARRIERS THERE ALSO. THAT'S WHY WE LIKE TO HAVE MORE PARENT EDUCATION SO THAT THE PARENTS DO KNOW WHAT TO DO NEXT, LOOK INTO FUNDING, HELP EDUCATE ON HOW TO MOVE THROUGH WITH THEIR CHILD BECOMING AN ADULT. YEAH. THINK THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT. YEAH. I THINK THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT. AND I THINK, UM, HAVE YOU HEARD OF THE GO PROGRAM? YES. YEAH. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU IF YOU'RE PART OF THAT OR NOT, BUT, UM, I'M ASSUMING NO, BUT, OR ARE YOU? NO, THEY, SO THEY'RE THE STEP THAT YOU WOULD GO TO FOR YOU WOULD GO TO THE GO PROJECT FIRST AND THEN ONCE YOU GRADUATE OUT THE PROJECT? YEAH. SO WE DO HAVE A FEW PROGRAMS THAT, UM, PROGRAMS LIKE THE GO PROJECT ALSO PARTICIPATE IN. LIKE THEY WILL JOIN IN WITH US. OKAY. AND THEY ALSO COME TO OUR EVENTS. WE HAD AN ADULT DAY, OR WE HAD JUST A DANCE TODAY AND IT HAD 300 INDIVIDUALS THERE. AND THAT INCLUDED SOME OF THE SCHOOLS FROM A SD AND SOME OF THE GO PROJECT, THE LOCAL DAY, HABS AND, UM, GROUP HOMES. MY SON WAS THERE. . THAT'S SO . OKAY. YES. YEAH. ALL RIGHT. THAT'S GREAT. THANK YOU. YEAH. UM, I JUST, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I CAN SPEAK TO THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. 'CAUSE I, I'M A, I'M A SPECIAL ED TEACHER IN THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. I'M ALSO A PARENT OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES THAT ARE TRANSITIONING INTO SOME OF THOSE PROGRAMS. AND I CAN SAY THAT, UH, SCHOOL DISTRICT IS REALLY WORKING HARD. THEY HAVE REALLY STEPPED UP THEIR TRANSITION PLANNING AND TRAINING US ABOUT TRANSITION PLANNING AND, UM, OFFERING MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR [00:25:01] PARENTS TO LEARN ABOUT TRANSITION PLANNING. MM-HMM . UM, SO I THINK, I THINK ONE OF THE PROBLEMS IS THERE'S ALL THESE LITTLE PROGRAMS AND THERE'S NO LIKE, CENTRAL AGENCY THAT'S PUSHING THEM ALL OUT. AND IT SOUNDS LIKE PEOPLE ARE WORKING ON GETTING THAT TOGETHER AND GETTING THE INFORMATION TO THE COMMUNITY, THE PEOPLE THAT NEED IT. SO I JUST, THAT'S MY 2 CENTS THAT, THAT I'M JUST, THAT, THAT'S WHAT I'VE EXPERIENCED AS A TEACHER AND A PARENT. ALL RIGHT. DO WE HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS FOR THE PARKS DEPARTMENT? NO, I'M, UH, LEADING A SUBGROUP ON THERAPEUTIC RECREATION, SO WE CAN BE IN LINE WITH THE BUDGET CYCLE AND THE BOND CYCLE. SO, UM, I'LL PROBABLY BE FOLLOWING UP WITH YOU. UM, UH, WHAT YOU DO IS VERY IMPORTANT AND, UM, WE APPRECIATE IT. I THINK WE HAD ONE QUESTION. THANK YOU. JUST A QUICK QUESTION. IS THERE A WAY THAT Y'ALL CAN SHARE WITH US THE POWERPOINT THAT YOU PRESENTED? YEAH, I THINK, UM, YOU GUYS HAVE IT RIGHT? IT'LL BE POSTED. OH, WE HAVE IT. THAT WAS THE ATTACHMENTS. OKAY, GREAT. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . THANKS AGAIN FOR JOINING US AND, UH, ANSWERING OUR QUESTIONS. AND PLEASE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, WHEN THESE ISSUES ARE COMING UP BEFORE CITY COUNCIL OR ANYTHING THAT, OR LIKE THAT AND A RECOMMENDATION MIGHT BE HELPFUL FROM OUR COMMITTEE. JUST, YOU KNOW, PLEASE REACH OUT AND LET US KNOW SO THAT WE CAN HELP. THANK YOU SO MUCH. OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THANKS AGAIN. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. UH, NEXT ON [3. Staff briefing regarding the Digital Accessibility Compliance Project. Presentation by Luisa Apolaya Torres, Senior Service Designer, Austin Technology Services.] OUR AGENDA, WE HAVE A STAFF BRIEFING FROM THE DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY COMPLIANCE PROJECT. I KNOW THEY'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET AHOLD OF US FOR A WHILE, SO, UH, WE HAVE LUISA TORRES IS GONNA GIVE US A PRESENTATION. THANKS FOR JOINING US, LOUISA. OF COURSE. IT'S VERY AWESOME TO SEE Y'ALL. I KNOW. UH, COMMISSIONER CHANG, I HAD THE PLEASURE OF SPEAKING TO YOU DURING THE JOINT INCLUSION COMMITTEE A FEW MONTHS AGO. UM, SO IT'S GREAT TO MEET ALL OF YOU. UM, I'M HERE REPRESENTING THE AUSTIN TECHNOLOGY SERVICES AND AUSTIN COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT DEPARTMENTS AS A SENIOR SERVICE DESIGNER, BUT MOSTLY IN THIS SITUATION AS A COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT LEAD FOR THE DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY COMPLIANCE PROJECT. UM, THIS PROJECT IS, UH, EVER EVOLVING, UH, PROJECT TO TRY TO IN INGRAIN DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY INTO THE CITY'S, UH, SYSTEMS AND STRUCTURES, AND ALSO IS LED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE'S MANDATE, UM, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT IN JUST A LITTLE BIT. UM, AWESOME, THANK YOU. SO, UH, THESE FIRST THREE SLIDES THAT YOU'LL SEE HERE ARE THE THREE SLIDES THAT WE HAVE BEEN PRESENTING ACROSS THE CITY WITH ABOUT WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO INGRAIN DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY PRACTICES INTO OUR DIGITAL PRODUCTS. UM, WE START OFF BY SAYING THAT ACCESSIBILITY IS A PART OF AN EQUITABLE DESIGN PROCESS. UM, IT'S A RESPONSIBILITY AS CITY OF AUSTIN TO PROVIDE EQUAL ACCESS AND INFORMATION REGARDLESS OF THE PERSONAL, PHYSICAL, DEVELOPMENTAL ABILITIES OR IMPAIRMENTS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. WE ALSO LEAD WITH THE PO, UH, THE STATISTIC THAT 20% OF THE US POPULATION HAS REPORTED SOME KIND OF DISABILITY. NEXT SLIDE. AND THEN WE PRESENT THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF DISABILITIES THAT ARE, UH, PRESENT, UH, IN OUR, IN OUR SOCIETY. UH, AND WE GO THROUGH ALL OF THESE, UM, AS, AGAIN, THIS IS AN INTRODUCTION. I KNOW I'M PREACHING TO THE CHOIR, BUT I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW KIND OF HOW WE ARE DEVELOPING THIS, UH, INFORMATION DELIVERY WITHIN THE CITY. NEXT SLIDE. SO WHAT ARE WE DOING IS THE BIG QUESTION. UM, SO ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO, UM, THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FINALIZED THE RULE AND THEIR TITLE II, THAT STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS MUST WAKE, MUST MAKE WEB CONTENT AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS MEET WCA GUIDELINES 2.1 SPECIFICALLY LEVEL DOUBLE A. NEXT SLIDE. SO, IN RESPONSE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS SET AN INTERNAL DEADLINE BY APRIL 24TH, 2026, THAT ALL PUBLIC FACING DIGITAL EXPERIENCES, AND WE'LL GET INTO THE DEFINITION OF WHAT THAT MEANS IN A LITTLE BIT. THAT INCLUDES WEBSITES, APPS, ATTACHED DOCUMENTS, ET CETERA, TO MEET THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES. NEXT SLIDE. SO, AS FAR AS WHAT IS IN SCOPE, UH, TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND TITLE TWO COMPLIANCE, THIS DEFINITION WAS CREATED BY ONE OF OUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS. UM, HIS NAME IS, UH, BRETT BUCHANAN, AND ALSO WITH, UH, COLLABORATION ACROSS, UH, THE COMMITTEE [00:30:01] THAT IS LEADING THIS WORK. SO ACCORDING TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND TITLE II'S DEFINITIONS, UM, THERE ARE 50 SUCCESS CRITERIA THAT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE OUR DIGITAL PRODUCTS MEET. UM, BUT ALL OF THAT CAN KIND OF BE SUMMARIZED AND APPLIES TO THE ASSETS THAT INCLUDE PUBLIC FACING WEBSITES AND MOBILE APPS. THAT INCLUDES, UH, SOCIAL MEDIA, FOR EXAMPLE, EMBEDDED TOOLS AND TRANSACTIONS. SO FOR EXAMPLE, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN UTILITIES PORTAL WHERE PAYMENTS APPLICATIONS ARE, ARE VERY COMMONLY USED DIGITAL DOCUMENTS PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC. SO THAT INCLUDES PDFS AND AUDIO AND VIDEO PROVIDED BY PROVIDED TO THE PUBLIC. SO ANY SORT OF, UM, A TXN VIDEO, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT EXISTS IN OUR SOCIAL, UH, SOCIAL MEDIA LIKE YOUTUBE. NEXT SLIDE. AND I ALSO WANTED TO PROVIDE Y'ALL SOME CONTEXT ABOUT WHAT IS OUT OF SCOPE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TITLE TWO RULING THAT WE ARE WORKING ON HERE. UM, WE AT LEAST, UH, MY TEAM IS, UH, DIGITAL DIGITAL STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS. AND WE BELIEVE VERY HOLISTICALLY AROUND, UH, ACCESSIBILITY AND WHAT THAT MEANS TO BE AS THOROUGH AS POSSIBLE. UM, FOR EXAMPLE, THINGS LIKE PLAIN LANGUAGE IS SOMETHING THAT WE VALUE VERY HIGHLY. UM, AND ALSO DISABILITY INCLUSIVE DESIGN, UM, USABILITY TESTING, RIGHT? FOR SOME OF Y'ALL THAT MIGHT BE FAMILIAR WITH THE CONCEPT OF USABILITY TESTING IS, UM, MORE BRINGING IN COMMUNITY MEMBERS OR PEOPLE WITH ACTUAL DISABILITIES TO TEST OUR PRODUCTS AND GET THEIR DIRECT APPROVAL AS OPPOSED TO RELYING ON SOMETHING LIKE AN AUTOMATED TESTER LIKE SITE IMPROVE. UM, SO JUST KIND OF SHARING THAT, UM, USABILITY TESTING IS KIND OF OUTTA SCOPE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, UH, YOU KNOW, COMPLIANCE PART OF THIS PROJECT. UM, SO WE WE'RE NOT RUNNING MANDATES, UH, PER DEPARTMENT TO RUN, UH, DISABILITY INCLUSIVE DESIGN OR USABILITY TESTING IN THAT WAY. UM, BUT WE ARE RECOMMENDING IT, UM, IF POSSIBLE AND AS PER THE, UM, ABILITY AND RESOURCES OF EACH DEPARTMENT, AND WE ARE PROVIDING, UM, PROVIDING TRAINING AND KIND OF ENCOURAGEMENT OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE. UM, AND AS FAR AS PLAIN LANGUAGE AS WELL, UH, PLAIN LANGUAGE IS ACTUALLY, AND MY TEAM TOLD ME TODAY, UH, PLAIN LANGUAGE IS NOW PART OF THE CITY'S BRANDING GUIDELINES. SO EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT PART OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TITLE TWO COMPLIANCE CRITERIA, IT IS PART OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S NEW BRANDING GUIDELINES. SO HOPEFULLY THAT MIGHT COVER SOME OF THE GOVERNANCE AROUND, UH, MORE HOLISTIC, UH, ACCESSIBILITY. NEXT SLIDE. ALL RIGHT. I'VE, I'VE THROWN AROUND A LOT OF WORDS ABOUT LIKE THE COMMITTEE AND CHAMPIONS AND ALL OF THAT. SO, UM, HOW IS THIS PROJECT BEING IMPLEMENTED ON THE GROUND FOR THE CITY? SO, UM, AUSTIN TECHNOLOGY SERVICES AND AUSTIN COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT CREATED A DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY COMMITTEE. AND AGAIN, I'M PART OF THAT COMMITTEE AS THE COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT LEAD, OUR ROLE IS TO CREATE TIMELINES AND STRATEGY FOR THE CITY AROUND WHAT IT MEANS TO MEET THESE DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY CRITERIA, CREATE AND MANAGE INTER-DEPARTMENTAL COMPLIANCE, UM, CREATE TESTING RESOURCES AND PROVIDE GUIDANCE AND OVERSIGHT, UH, FOR THE CITY. WE ARE A COMMITTEE COMPOSED OF, UM, A DA EXPERTS INTERNALLY, UM, DESIGNERS, UM, SOME CONTENT STRATEGISTS AND, UH, INTERNAL ACCESSIBILITY ADVOCATES THAT HAVE BEEN TRYING TO PUSH FORWARD THIS WORK FOR A LONG TIME, UM, TO ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT THE WORK WITHIN DEPARTMENTS. WE HAVE DESIGNATED ACCESSIBILITY CHAMPIONS. WE HAVE ASKED DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS TO DESIGNATE CHAMPIONS, UH, THAT WILL BE LEADING THE DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY COMPLIANCE WORK WITHIN THEIR DEPARTMENTS. AND THEIR ROLE IS TO FACILITATE, UH, QUESTIONS FOR, UH, PEOPLE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT. SO, ANSWER QUESTIONS, SHARE UPDATES AND REMINDERS, AND TRACK REPORT TOWARDS THE DEPARTMENT'S PROGRESS TOWARDS COMPLIANCE. UM, AT THIS POINT, WE'VE ACTUALLY DESIGNATED ABOUT 40, UH, ACCESSIBILITY CHAMPIONS. WE'RE STILL WAITING TO HEAR BACK FROM A FEW DEPARTMENTS, BUT, UH, THOSE ARE, UH, SET AND WE'RE MEETING WITH THEM ON A WEEKLY BASIS. FINALLY, DEPARTMENT TEAMS, UM, THE QUE THE ULTIMATE QUESTION IN, UH, IMPLEMENTING A PROJECT LIKE THIS IS WHO IS GONNA FIX THE WEBSITES OR THE PDFS THAT ARE NOT COMPLIANT, RIGHT? SO OUR EXPECTATION IS FOR DEPARTMENT TEAMS AND THEIR ASSET OWNERS. SO, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, SOMEBODY THAT HAS MADE A WEBSITE ON AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV, UM, THEY ARE THE ONES IN CHARGE OF UNDERSTANDING WHAT IT MEANS TO MAKE THAT, UH, PIECE OF DIGITAL CONTENT COMPLIANT, AND THE CHAMPION WILL FACILITATE THE TRAINING AND [00:35:01] THE RESOURCES FOR THEM TO DO SO. NEXT SLIDE. AS FAR AS DATES, RIGHT, SO IN AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENTATION, I SHARED THAT APRIL 24TH, 2026 IS A DEADLINE SET BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, AND WE HAVE, UH, ASSEMBLED THIS COMMITTEE, UM, A AROUND MAYBE FIVE, SIX MONTHS AGO. UM, SO WE'RE DEFINITELY RUNNING ON KIND OF A SHORT TIMELINE, UM, BUT WE'RE TRYING, WE'RE REALLY TRYING OUR BEST AND THE DEADLINES THAT HAVE BEEN DECIDED RECENTLY BY SOME OF OUR EXECUTIVE MEMBERS IS, UM, FOLLOWING THIS WORKFLOW. SO WE'RE ENCOURAGING DEPARTMENTS TO INVENTORY AND PRIORITIZE THEIR PUBLIC FACING ASSETS THROUGH A DIGITAL INTAKE FORM, WHERE WE ARE TRACKING ALL THE ASSETS THAT DEPARTMENTS OWN, AND WE'RE ENCOURAGING THEM TO PRIORITIZE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, ASSETS THAT MIGHT BE HIGHLY USED BY PEOPLE FROM, UH, BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OR JUST BY PEOPLE IN GENERAL TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE ARE REMEDIATED FIRST. UM, BUT ULTIMATELY THEY ARE INVENTORYING ALL OF THE ASSETS. AND THE DEADLINE TO DO THAT IS DECEMBER 1ST. THEN WE ARE TESTING THE ASSETS FOR COMPLIANCE USING SITEIMPROVE, LIKE I MENTIONED, OR OTHER TOOLS. UH, AN EXCEPTION TO THAT WOULD BE AN APP LIKE THREE ONE. THE 3 1 1 APP WOULD HAVE TO BE MANUALLY TESTED, UH, RIGHT. SO, UH, THAT'S WHAT WE MEAN BY OTHER TOOLS. AND THE DEADLINE TO DO THAT WOULD BE DECEMBER 12TH AND FINALLY REMEDIATING, RIGHT? SO WE WOULD WANT, BY THE END OF DECEMBER DEPARTMENTS TO HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE SCOPE OF THE WORK THAT HAS TO BE DONE BY THEIR DEPARTMENT, AND THEN WORK THROUGH APRIL TO FIX THOSE ASSETS TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE COMPLIANT, UH, WITH VCA GUIDELINES. NEXT SLIDE. UM, I THINK THE SLIDE DIDN'T UPDATE, UH, UNFORTUNATELY. UM, SO I'LL, I'LL JUST KIND OF, UH, GO VERBALLY AND I'LL RESEND A SLIDE THAT HAS THE MOST UPDATED INFORMATION, BUT I'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT SOME OF OUR ACHIEVEMENTS SO FAR. UM, THERE ARE ABOUT, UH, 40 CHAMPIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED, UM, BY DEPARTMENTS. WE HAVE DISTRIBUTED THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FEDERAL DEADLINES, UM, THROUGH THREE CITY NEWSLETTERS. WE HAVE, UH, CREATED THE COMMITTEE. WE HAVE, UH, ESTABLISHED SOME WEEKLY, UH, OFFICE HOURS WITH DEPARTMENT CHAMPIONS AND HAVE STARTED, UH, CREATING THESE INVENTORY FORMS. WE HAVE CREATED A SHAREPOINT SITE WHERE WE'VE, UH, COMPILED ALL THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE GUIDELINES, EXCEPTIONS, ET CETERA. UM, AND WE HAVE CONNECTED WITH FOUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS SO FAR. SO I PERSONALLY HAVE MET WITH THE ARC, UH, AUSTIN LIGHTHOUSE, UM, UH, CHRIS, UH, CHRIS COLE REHABILITATION CENTER, AND NO ABILITY TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND HOW MAYBE WE COULD PARTNER WITH COMMUNITY PARTNERS ON THE GROUND. UM, AND YEAH, WE'RE, WE'RE PRETTY DILIGENTLY AND DYNAMICALLY TRYING TO MOVE AS, AS DYNAMICALLY AS WE CAN, UH, MOVING FORWARD. ALL RIGHT. AND, UH, ANOTHER QUESTION YOU MIGHT HAVE WOULD BE, HOW ARE WE TRAINING OUR, UM, CHAMPIONS? SO, THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION. UH, IF YOU, IF YOU DID HAVE, UH, THAT QUESTION, AND THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE ARE CONTINUOUSLY TRYING TO REEVALUATE. UH, WE ARE DEPENDING ON DEPARTMENTS TO TRAIN, UH, THEMSELVES ON HOW TO DO THIS REMEDIATION. AT THE END OF THE DAY, THAT'S THE MODEL THAT HAS BEEN CHOSEN. SO, UM, MY, MY ROLE IN WITHIN THE COMMITTEE IS TO DESIGN LUNCH AND LEARNS. SO AGAIN, I MENTIONED THAT WE CONNECTED WITH AUSTIN LIGHTHOUSE. SO, UH, ON TUESDAY WE'RE HAVING OUR FIRST LUNCH AND LEARN. IT'S, UH, HOW DO, IT'S TITLED HOW DO AUSTINITES WEAR BLIND OR HAVE LOW VISION EXPERIENCE WEBSITES? AND THE GOAL FROM THAT LUNCH AND LEARN IS TO HAVE SOME OF AUSTIN LIGHTHOUSE'S STAFF WALK US THROUGH THEIR EXPERIENCES, UH, USING SOME OF OUR CITY WEBSITES AND GIVING US SOME FEEDBACK ON SOME OF THE STRENGTHS AND MAYBE SOME OF THE BLOCKERS THAT NEED TO BE REMEDIATED. SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THAT, AND I'VE BEEN PUB PUBBING THAT ACROSS THE CITY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. UM, SECONDLY, WE HAVE AN ACCESSIBILITY PDF REMEDIATION, UH, STEP-BY-STEP TRAINING COURSE AT BOWDEN JONES, AN INTERNAL CITY OF AUSTIN, ACCESSIBILITY ADVOCATE AND EXPERT. UH, HE HAS, UH, DESIGNED THIS BY HIMSELF. HE HAS ACTUALLY DELIVERED THIS TRAINING INTERNALLY TO THE CITY, UM, MULTIPLE TIMES DURING THE LAST COUPLE YEARS, JUST OF HIS OWN INITIATIVE. UM, AND HE'S OFFERED TO DO THIS MORE FORMALLY AS PART OF THE COMPLIANCE PROJECT, UH, AS SETTING THE STANDARD OF WHAT IT MEANS TO HOW TO STEP BY STEP REMEDIATE [00:40:01] PDFS, WHICH IS, UH, A BIG CONCERN OF OURS. AND WE ARE AWARE THAT THERE ARE MANY PDFS THAT EXIST ACROSS THE CITY. UM, SO WE'RE TRYING TO, AGAIN, UNDERSTAND WHAT IS THE PRIORITIZATION OF THOSE PDFS TO REMEDIATE THEM ACCORDINGLY, UM, AND ALSO DO IT AS THOROUGHLY AS WE CAN AS, UH, TO COMPLY WITH GUIDELINES. UM, WE ARE PLANNING ACCESSIBILITY, ETIQUETTE, UH, TRAININGS. SO BECAUSE WE ARE ENCOURAGING USABILITY TESTING IN THE FUTURE, UM, WE UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S IMPORTANT FOR DEPARTMENTS TO KNOW HOW TO ENGAGE WITH PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. SO WE CONNECTED, UH, WITH AN ACCESSIBILITY ETIQUETTE EXPERT WHO HAS OFFERED TO DO AN IN-PERSON WORKSHOP FOR DEPARTMENT STAFF. UM, AND FINALLY, AI ACCESSIBILITY TOOLS. UM, BY THAT, WE WERE TRYING TO TAP INTO ALREADY EXISTING COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE CITY TO KIND OF SPREAD THE WORD MORE ABOUT, UH, ACCESSIBILITY. SO, UM, WE WERE TRYING TO PARTNER WITH THE KIND OF A AI, UH, TOOL TRAINING, UH, COMMUNITY THAT EXISTS AND SEEING IF THERE'S ANY WAY THAT WE COULD LEVERAGE SOME OF OUR INTERNAL TOOLS TO, UM, GARNER EXCITEMENT, ERRATIC, UH, DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY, ESPECIALLY AROUND, UH, OUR USE OF COPILOT AS AS CITY STAFF. UM, WE'RE ALSO PROVIDING PRIORITIZATION AND SCOPE GUIDANCE TO DEPARTMENT STAFF. SO WE'RE CREATING A DOCUMENT THAT, UH, INCLUDES GUIDANCE ON HOW TO IDENTIFY HIGHEST LEGAL RISK, UH, ASSETS, HIGHEST IMPACT ON RESIDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AND HIGHEST USE SERVICES AND TRANSACTIONS. AND THEN SCOPE GUIDANCE, THAT IS THE SUMMARY OF THE 50 WCAG SUCCESS CRITERIA. UM, AND THEN TRAININGS, UH, SITE IMPROVE, AND LINKEDIN TRAINING. UM, ALL RIGHT. I THINK I'VE, THAT THAT'LL JUST PROBABLY, UH, THERE MIGHT BE ONE MORE. YES. AWESOME. SO HOW MIGHT COMMUNITY PARTNERS GET INVOLVED? UM, YOU'RE WELCOME TO, I, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT Y'ALL MIGHT BE CONNECTED WITH, UH, DIFFERENT COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS AUSTIN. SO IF YOU ARE AND YOU WANNA GET INVOLVED WITH WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE, UH, FEEL FREE TO SEND ME A NOTE OR A DIGITAL ACCESSABILITY EMAIL. UH, SEND US A NOTE AND I'D BE HAPPY TO MEET WITH YOU AND KIND OF SHARE THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING. UM, IT'S, I ALSO WANTED TO EXTEND AN OPEN CALL FOR YOU TO GIVE US FEEDBACK ON, UH, HELPING US PRIORITIZE THE REMEDIATION OF ASSETS. RIGHT? I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU IF THERE ARE ANY DIGITAL ASSETS THAT MIGHT NEED, UM, MAYBE MORE ATTENTION, RIGHT? IF YOU KNOW THAT THERE ARE SOME OF YOUR CONSTITUENTS THAT, UH, HAVE A REALLY HARD TIME USING A PARTICULAR PDF IN A PARTICULAR DEPARTMENT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT FOR US TO KNOW, UH, TO, SO WE COULD PASS ON THE WORD TO THAT DEPARTMENT AND, UH, MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS PART OF THEIR PRIORITIES AS THEY START DOING THEIR INTERNAL PRIORITIZATION. UH, AND FINALLY, UM, WE, UH, I MENTIONED THAT WE PARTNERED WITH AUSTIN LIGHTHOUSE, UH, FOR THE LUNCH AND LEARNS. UM, SO IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN PROVIDING SOME SORT OF LUNCH AND LEARN FOR OUR STAFF, I'D BE HAPPY TO FACILITATE THAT. UM, AND YEAH, I THINK THAT'S IT, UNLESS THERE'S A NEXT SLIDE. AWESOME. YES. SO THAT'S, THAT'S THE EMAIL OF THE INITIATIVE, DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY@AUSTINTEXAS.GOV. UM, AGAIN, MY NAME IS LISA, AND I'LL TRY MY BEST TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE ABOUT THE INITIATIVE. UM, MY PROJECT MANAGER COULDN'T JOIN US TODAY. HER NAME IS MARTHA FOOT, AND SHE DEFINITELY HAS A LOT MORE NUANCE INTO THE EXECUTIVE RESOURCING THAT IS . BUT, UH, I'LL DO THE BEST THAT I CAN. SO THANK YOU. THANKS, LUISA. WE REALLY APPRECIATE THAT PRESENTATION. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. DOES ANYONE ELSE WANNA START OFF THE QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER CHANG? SO TO, FOR COMING IN. UM, I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT, UM, IS THIS KIND OF THE PHASE ONE OF MEETING THE A DA THAT YOU'VE PRESENTED? AND IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR, UM, POTENTIAL HELP, UM, DO THIS? I, I, AND I KNOW THAT THIS MIGHT BE A POTENTIAL LUNCH AND LEARN THAT WHERE THEY WOULD LIKE TO HELP. UM, AND I WAS WONDERING YOU'RE WORKING WITH GROUPS LIKE THAT DO THAT? I THINK, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR I, YEAH, I THINK, SORRY. I THINK WE, YEAH, WE MISSED PART OF IT. YEAH. OKAY. UM, I FEEL LIKE THIS IS PHASE ONE COMPLIANCE [00:45:05] NOW WE'RE, WE'RE STILL GETTING YOU, MAYBE YOU TURN OFF YOUR CAMERA, SO SORRY. I, OKAY, I'LL TRY THAT. OKAY. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YEAH, IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S BETTER NOW. HELLO. OKAY, GREAT. UM, SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. AND I WAS CURIOUS, JUST KIND OF THE PHASE ONE OF THE MEETING, THE AD COMPLIANCE, UH, PRIORITIZING, UM, THE WEB PAGES THAT REALLY NEED UPDATING FIRST, BUT, UM, THEY'RE TEACHING TO, UM, FOR THE PEOPLE WHO MANAGE THOSE PAGES TO DO THE WORK THEMSELVES. UM, I REPRESENT OPEN AUSTIN, UM, AND I WAS CURIOUS IF I BE ABLE TO HELP WITH SOME OF THE CAPACITY IF, UH, OR FEEDBACK ON WHAT PAGES OR, UM, PEOPLE WHO DO HAVE A DISABILITY ARE NOT ABLE TO EXECUTE TASKS OR GET THE INFORMATION THAT THEY NEED. 'CAUSE I WAS WONDERING, BESIDES PRIORITIZING PAGES BASED ON HOW MANY VISITS THEY RECEIVE OR, UM, THE ONES WITH THE MOST LEGAL, UM, UH, I DON'T KNOW, CONSEQUENCES IF, IF THOSE THINGS ARE NOT CORRECT, HOW ELSE, UM, PEOPLE MIGHT BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON PRIORITIZING CERTAIN PAGES. GOT IT. UM, FIRST MY APOLOGIES, I THINK I CUT OFF KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE THERE. UM, BUT I THINK I, I GOT YOUR QUESTION. ONE OF THEM WAS, IS IF THIS, AND FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, IF THIS IS THE FIRST PHASE OF REMEDIATION, UM, YES, I WOULD SAY THAT THE COMMITTEE IS KIND OF SEEING THIS PROJECT AS, UH, WHAT IS THE FUNDAMENTAL REMEDIATION, UH, PROCESS THAT WE NEED TO GET THROUGH TO BE ABLE TO COMPLY WITH THE MANDATE. BUT THERE IS INTEREST IN DOING A LOT MORE HOLISTIC, UM, REMEDIATION AND ALSO CONTINUING THIS PROCESS THROUGH ASK THE MANDATE DATE. UM, THERE HAS BEEN TALK INTERNALLY ABOUT, UH, POTENTIALLY, UM, CONSIDERING AN ACCESSIBILITY OFFICER, RIGHT, FOR THE DIGITAL TEAM. UM, WE HAVE TALKED TO ORGANIZATIONS LIKE MARYLAND, UM, THE STATE OF MARYLAND, WHICH HAS A VERY IMPRESSIVE, UH, ACCESSIBILITY INFRASTRUCTURE WHERE THEY RELIED INITIALLY ON INTERNS, UH, ASSIGNING AN INTERN TO EACH DEPARTMENT TO BE AN ACCESSIBILITY, UH, SUPPORT IN REMEDIATION. UM, AND THAT LED TO THE LIFT OF, AND THAT LED TO THE, UM, TO, TO UNDERSTANDING THE NEED ON THE GROUND FOR, UM, A MORE DEDICATED PERSON IN EACH DEPARTMENT OVERSEEING ACCESSIBILITY LONG TERM. SO I KNOW THAT'S SOMETHING THAT MY PROJECT MANAGER HAS BEEN CONVERSING, SEEING IF IT IS FULL. UM, BUT AGAIN, ALL OF THAT DEPENDS ON RESOURCING. AND I, I REALLY CAN'T SAY WITH CERTAINTY HOW, HOW, UM, STRONGLY, UH, THAT IS, THAT IS CONSIDERED. UM, IN ANY CASE, WE'RE VERY HOPEFUL AND WE DO SEE THIS AS A VERY, UH, STRONG FIRST STEP. UM, WE ARE TRYING TO DO THE LUNCH AND LEARNS, CREATE A MORE ORGANIC CULTURE, CITY STAFF TO KIND OF COME TOGETHER AROUND, UM, YOU KNOW, THE EVERY, LIKE, THE INTEREST AROUND ACCESSIBILITY. UM, AND WE HOPE THAT MOMENTUM CONTINUES AGAIN, PAST THE DEADLINE. UM, AND TO YOUR SECOND QUESTION, I THINK, UH, FROM WHAT I UNDERSTOOD WAS, UH, IS WHAT THE CRITERIA FOR PRIORITIZATION, AND I WOULD ACTUALLY BE REALLY CURIOUS TO SEE IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY, UH, SUGGESTIONS AROUND THAT BECAUSE, UM, IT DEFINITELY IS, UH, IN THE DRAFTING STAGES. UM, THE, THE ONLY CURRENT KIND OF DESIGN CRITERIA AROUND THE PRIORITIZATION GUIDE IS, UM, SOME OF OUR OWN KIND OF RESEARCH EXPERTISE AND ALSO SOME OF THE, THE TEAM'S, UM, NEEDS TO REDUCE, UH, LEGAL LIABILITY. UM, BUT I KNOW FROM A HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN STANDPOINT, I UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE ADVOCATING FOR, UM, THE THINGS THAT ARE MOST USED BY RESIDENTS, UM, AND PARTICULARLY MOST USED BY RESIDENTS WITH, UH, DISABILITIES. UM, AND SO, BUT IF THERE MIGHT BE ANY OTHER CONSIDERATIONS. COMMISSIONER CHANG, DID YOU HAVE ANY FOLLOW UP? THANK YOU SO MUCH. [00:50:01] YES, AND I THINK, OH, FOR, UM, YOUR RESPONSE AND, UM, I WILL BE EMAILING YOU SEPARATELY. THERE IS AN OPENNESS TO PARTNERING WITH, UM, VOLUNTEER WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER THEIR TIME TO HELP WITH THIS PROCESS. UM, I DON'T KNOW IF, IF THAT'S POSSIBLE OR NOT, BUT, UM, I, I DO KNOW A CIVIC TYPE ORGANIZATION THAT I WORK WITH CLOSELY THAT WOULD BE INTERESTED IN, IN HELPING OUT, UH, WITH THIS PROJECT. AWESOME. AND FEEL FREE TO EMAIL US AND, UH, WE'LL GET BACK TO YOU AS SOON AS WE CAN. THANK YOU. HI, LUISA HAD HAD A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS AS WELL. SO THE DEADLINE FOR THE INVENTORY IS DECEMBER 1ST. DOES THAT MEAN THAT WORK? NO WORK HAS BEEN DONE ON IT SO FAR. RIGHT? IT JUST, JUST AT THE INVENTORY STAGE, NOTHING'S ACTUALLY BEEN REMEDIATED YET. THAT IS OUR UNDERSTANDING. UM, AND ALSO, UH, LET ME SEE IF I CAN PROVIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE CONTEXT. SO THE INVENTORY FORM WAS RELEASED TO DEPARTMENTS ON, UM, I BELIEVE IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF OCTOBER. AND AT THIS POINT WE'VE HAD, AND DEPARTMENTS SUBMIT THEIR INVENTORY FORMS, AND THERE ARE SOME THAT ARE TAKING THE INITIATIVE TO START TRAINING ON THEIR OWN USING THE LINKEDIN TRAINING AND SET IMPROVE RESOURCES. SO THERE HAS BEEN SOME REMEDIATION GOING ON, BUT THE VISIBILITY AROUND THAT REMEDIATION IS NOT, UH, COMPLETE BECAUSE, UM, OUR REMEDIATION TRACKER HAS BEEN, WILL BE RELEASED NEXT WEEK, AND WE ARE DEPENDING ON THAT TRACKER FOR THE VISIBILITY ON THE REMEDIATION OF THOSE ASSETS. GOT IT. UH, THAT TRACKER WILL, WILL HAVE, UH, A SECTION FOR TESTING, COMPLIANT TESTING, UH, STATUS, COMPLIANCE STATUS AND REMEDIATION STATUS. AND THOSE WILL BE OUR MAIN, UM, VIEWS, UH, COMPLIANCE. AND I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE ACCESSIBILITY CHAMPIONS. IS THERE, ARE THERE PENALTIES FOR NON-COMPLIANCE? IS THIS MANDATORY FOR CITY DEPARTMENTS TO COMPLETE BY APRIL 1ST? UM, THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION. THERE ARE, AS FAR AS I'M AWARE, THE ONLY, UM, TANGIBLE KIND OF PENALTY THAT MIGHT INCUR, UH, BY NOT COMPLYING WOULD BE, UH, AGAIN, THE LEGAL RISK. SO, UH, IF, IF A DEPARTMENT IS NOT COMPLIANT, THEY ARE LIABLE LEGALLY, UH, IF ANYBODY DOES COME FORWARD AND START, UH, SOME SORT OF LEGAL CASE. UM, INTERNALLY WE ARE, UM, ONE OF OUR PROJECT MANAGERS IN AUSTIN, IN AUSTIN TECHNOLOGY SERVICES IS MEETING BIWEEKLY WITH DIRECTORS ACROSS THE CITY TO LET THEM KNOW ABOUT THE STATUS, UM, THAT WE ARE SEEING IN THE REMEDIATION TRACKER. AND WE HOPE BY DOING THIS, THE DIRECTORS WILL SEE THE VISIBILITY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK, UH, AND CONTINUE TO PUSH THE WORK WITHIN THEIR DEPARTMENTS. UM, SO AS FAR AS I'M AWARE, WE ARE RELYING MORE ON THIS, UH, KIND OF GOVERNANCE, UH, SUPERVI SUPERVISION STRUCTURE TO MOVE THE WORK FORWARD AND NOT RELYING ON ANY TANGIBLE PENALTIES. SO IF THERE, IF IT ISN'T COMPLETED BY APRIL 1ST, THERE'S NO PLAN TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT. IT'S BASICALLY VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE BY THE CITY DEPARTMENTS, DESPITE IT BEING A LEGAL REQUIREMENT, UH, TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, THERE IS NO, UM, THERE IS NO ADDITIONAL PENALTY, UM, UH, AS PLANNED RIGHT NOW BY THE, BY THE COMMITTEE. OKAY. UM, AND SO YOU SAID THAT THE CITY PAYMENT PORTALS WOULD BE ENCOMPASSED, IS THAT GONNA INCLUDE UTILITIES AS WELL, OR IS THAT LIMITED TO OTHER, YOU KNOW, EXCLUSIVELY SITTING AROUND THINGS LIKE PARKING OR, UM, IT WOULD ENCOMPASS ALL DIGITAL PUBLIC FACING WEBSITES OR ASSETS. SO IF THOSE ARE OWNED BY A CITY DEPARTMENT OR LINKED, UH, BY A CITY DEPARTMENT ON A CITY DEPARTMENT WEBSITE, THEN WE ARE INCURRING ALL OF THAT TO BE, UH, AS UNDER THE, THE SCOPE OF THIS PROJECT. SO I, I ADMIT I'M NOT AS FAMILIAR AS I PROBABLY SHOULD BE ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF THE UTILITIES THEMSELVES, BUT, YOU KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, AUSTIN ENERGY, WOULD AUSTIN ENERGY BE WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THIS OR OUTSIDE THE SCOPE? IT WOULD BE WITHIN THE SCOPE. OKAY. OKAY, GREAT. YES, WE HAVE A SYSTEM. YEP. MM-HMM . AND YOU TALKED ABOUT THE BRAND GUIDELINES, INCLUDING PLAIN LANGUAGE. IS THAT A REQUIREMENT FOR NEW CONTENT THAT'S BEING [00:55:01] DEVELOPED, OR IS IT JUST A SUGGESTION? UM, IT IS, AS TO MY BEST OF KNOWLEDGE, IT IS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS TO DESIGN NEW CONTENT. UM, AS, AS CITY STAFF WE RECEIVE, WE HAVE A BRAND PORTAL THAT DIS, UH, DESIGNATES ALL THE, UH, DIFFERENT KINDS OF COLORS AND DIFFERENT KINDS OF FONTS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO USE. UM, AND PLAIN LANGUAGE IS SOMETHING THAT IS INCLUDED WITHIN THOSE REQUIREMENTS. UM, AND AT LEAST ON MY END, I KNOW THAT MY COMMUNICATIONS TEAM AND A TS DOES, UH, KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR ALIGNMENT WITH THOSE GUIDELINES. SO THE WAY THAT I INTERPRET IT IN MY OWN WORK IS THAT IT IS A REQUIREMENT, BUT I CAN'T SPEAK TO, UM, HOW OTHER DEPARTMENTS, UH, OVERSEE. UNDERSTOOD. UM, SORRY, I LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT. , UH, OH, YEAH. I WAS GONNA ASK, UH, HAVE YOU BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN LEGAL DEPARTMENT IN ANY WAY TO HELP KIND OF IMPRESS ON, UH, THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS THE IMPERATIVE OF COMPLYING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WIC AG GUIDELINES? I, UM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT OUR MANAGER HAS RECENTLY CONTACTED OR IS PLANNING TO CONTACT ONE OF OUR FULL REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE CITY. UM, I, I DON'T THINK THAT WE HAVE DONE THAT YET, BUT, UH, THAT IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN ON OUR RADAR SINCE WE TALKED TO THE STATE OF MARYLAND ABOUT THEIR ACCESS BASED STRATEGY. UM, AND IT, THEY, THEY REALLY DID STRESS HOW HIGHLY IMPORTANT IT COULD BE FROM, FROM A LEGAL PERSPECTIVE OF REDUCING THE LIABILITY FOR, FOR THE CITY, UM, AFTER THE DEADLINE. SO WOULD, WOULD, I'M NOT, THAT HASN'T DONE YET. GOT IT. UM, WOULD IT BE HELPFUL IF WE WERE TO PRESENT THE CITY COUNCIL WITH ANY KIND OF RECOMMENDATION, UH, REQUESTING THAT THEY REQUIRE CITY DEPARTMENTS TO COMPLY WITH THE NEW GUIDELINES OR STRONGLY ENCOURAGE IT BEYOND WHAT'S ALREADY, UH, HAPPENING? UH, I'M JUST THINKING OF WAYS THAT WE COULD POSSIBLY ASSIST AND MAKE SURE THAT THAT DEADLINE'S MET. UH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, FOR SUGGESTING THAT, UM, YOU CAN GET BACK TO US TOO. YOU KNOW, I DON'T WANNA PUT YOU ON THE SPOT. DON'T . YOU MIGHT, YOU MIGHT NOT BE AUTHORIZED TO SAY THAT. THAT'S OKAY. NO, I, I, I THINK I MIGHT NOT BE AUTHORIZED, AND I'M THINKING ABOUT THE GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE WITHIN THE COMMITTEE OF WHO MIGHT BE THE BEST TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION. UM, BUT I, I CAN SAY FROM MY OWN PERSONAL, I THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE AN EXCITING, UM, PROSPECT, UH, JUST THINKING ABOUT DIFFERENT WAYS OF MAKING SURE THAT IT IS EMPHASIZED THAT THE WORK IS IMPORTANT ACROSS THE CITY. CAN YOU TAKE THAT BACK TO, TO THE COMMITTEE THEN AND ASK THEM? DEFINITELY, I CAN, YES. UH, IF, IF YOU CAN ALSO EMAIL US TO THE DIGITAL DISABILITY, UM, EMAIL THAT'LL REACH ALL OF US AND, UH, WE'LL BE ABLE TO MAKE THE BEST, UH, GOVERNANCE KIND OF, UH, CONVERSATION HAPPEN. OKAY. GREAT. SORRY, UH, SORRY FOR MONOPOLIZING ALL THE QUESTIONS. WOULD, WOULD ANYONE ELSE LIKE TO CHIME IN? ALRIGHT, WELL, THANKS SO MUCH FOR JOINING US, LISA. IT WAS GREAT TO HEAR ABOUT THAT. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALL HOPEFUL THAT WE CAN GET THE, THE WEBSITES AND ALL THE PDFS AND ALL THE PORTALS IN, INTO COMPLIANCE. I KNOW THAT WILL BE HELPFUL FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT STRUGGLE WITH THIS SORT OF THING. UM, YOU KNOW, I, I FEEL LIKE AT A BARE MINIMUM, THE UTILITIES PAGES AND ALL THAT SHOULD BE, YOU KNOW, COMPLIANT AND ACCESSIBLE. AND I THINK THAT IT, IT'S A, YOU KNOW, GREAT OPPORTUNITY REGARDLESS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REQUIREMENTS. BUT THANK YOU FOR JOINING US IN PRESENTING. I KNOW, UH, YOU ALL HAVE A LOT TO DO. OF COURSE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS OR FEEDBACK, PLEASE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ABOUT DIFFERENT KIND OF ASSETS THAT WE SHOULD BE KEEPING IN MIND. SO FEEL FREE TO EMAIL US AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE OPPORTUNITY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT, SO WE DON'T [4. Presentation of AWEbility Festival Awards. Community Award to be presented to ADAPT of Texas. Government Award to be presented to Travis County Services for Deaf. Individual Award to be presented to Hayley Broadway.] RUN OUTTA TIME. I'M GONNA KEEP MOVING. UM, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO COMMISSIONER ARIANO FOR THE PRESENTATION OF THE ABILITY FESTIVAL AWARDS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. [01:00:02] UM, I AM COMMISSIONER, UH, GABRIELLE ARIANO, AND I'M HAPPY TO BE HERE. UM, AS MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE WITH YOU ALL, WE ARE SO PROUD TO RECOGNIZE OUR FIRST THREE, UH, CHAMPIONS, UH, WITH THESE AWARDS, UM, FOR THEIR LEADERSHIP AND THEIR SERVICE AND THEIR ONGOING, UM, SUPPORT FOR THE COMMUNITY. UH, FIRST, UH, HOLD ON JUST A SEC, WEB ABILITY FOR THIS FIRST WEB ABILITY, UM, FESTIVAL. AND I WANNA SEE, WE HAVE ONE, UH, AWARD RECIPIENT HERE. UM, I'M GONNA START WITH THE TWO THAT ARE NOT HERE, AND, UH, THEN WE'LL GET A PICTURE TOGETHER. SO FIRST GOES TO TRAVIS, UM, COUNTY SERVICES FOR THE DEAF IN AUSTIN, AND FOR THEIR UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO ACCESSIBILITY AND ADVOCACY AND EMPOWERMENT FOR THE DEAF COMMUNITY, UH, FOR THEIR COMMITMENT FOR, UH, THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE. AND, UH, WE WANNA THANK THEM WITH THIS AWARD. I WILL TAKE IT OVER TO THEM WHEN I HAVE AN, UH, OPPORTUNITY. SECONDLY, UH, THE INDIVIDUAL AWARD FOR HALEY BROADWAY FOR HER LEADERSHIP, UM, AND COOPERATE, UH, COLLABORATION, UH, FOR PEOPLE WITH THE DIS UH, IN THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY, UM, LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY. AND HALEY, UH, HALEY'S WORK REFLECTS THE SPIRIT OF INCLUSION AND, UH, AS SHE'S JUST WONDERFUL. SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. AND LASTLY, THE AWARD GOES TO, UM, IT'S A COMMUNITY AWARD PRESENTED TO ADAPT OF TEXAS FOR THEIR, OH, FOR SO MANY, UM, DECADES, YEARS AND YEARS OF SERVICE AND ADVOCACY AND ONGOING, UH, COMMITMENT FOR RIGHTS AND INDEPENDENCE AND INCLUSION OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ALL OVER THE STATE OF TEXAS. UM, SO WE ARE, YOUR WORK HAS INSPIRED US AND WILL CONTINUE TO INSPIRE CHANGE, UH, WITHIN THE DIS DISABILITY COMMUNITY. SO I'D LIKE, UH, IT'S MY GREAT PLEASURE TO, UH, PRESENT YOU WITH THIS AWARD TODAY. OH, THANK YOU. THANKS SO MUCH. REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE AND BE RECOGNIZED BY THE COMMITTEE. . GREAT. IT'S A LOT OF, YEAH. GET, WE CAN DO IT. OKAY. EVERYONE'S IN. EVERYONE'S CLOSE. SAY CHEESE. NICE. CONGRATULATIONS. OH, YOU BET. [01:05:10] YOU GO. YEAH, COME ON. SORRY. I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT A GOOD WAY TO FIT EVERYBODY IN ON ZOOM. WELL, WE'RE GONNA GET EVERYBODY ON HERE. UH, MY NAME IS NANCY K CROWTHER. I'M A LIFELONG MEMBER OF ADAPT. UH, I THINK IT'S, UH, RELATED TO MY DISABILITY AND THE IN INEQUALITY INEQUALITY WE HAD AS A A CHILD, UH, BEFORE THE A DA WAS PUT TOGETHER, THERE WAS NOT WHAT WE HAVE TODAY. IT HAS TAKEN 40 YEARS TO DEVELOP ACCESSIBLE TRANSPORTATION IN PUBLIC AUSTIN BEING THE FIRST, UH, CITY TO HAVE THEIR OWN ACCESSIBLE, UH, FIX AROUND BUSES. AND HOUSTON WAS SECOND, JUST SO YOU KNOW, WE'RE A LITTLE COMPETITIVE. UM, THE OTHER THING IS THAT, UH, MONEY FOLLOWS A PERSON IS ACTUALLY A NATIONAL PROGRAM RIGHT NOW THAT HELPS PEOPLE TO GET OUT OF INSTITUTIONS AND MOVE INTO THE COMMUNITY. AND THE COST, OF COURSE, OF WHAT IT TAKES FOR A PERSON TO BE IN A COMMUNITY, UH, SETTING IS LESS THAN AN INSTITUTION. SO THEY GET ALL THE SERVICES THEY NEED, BUT AT THEIR OWN PLACE. AND THIS IS, UH, EVOLVED INTO A NATIONAL PROGRAM, UH, RECOGNIZED BY THE CENTERS FOR MEDICAID AND MEDICARE. SO IT'S A BIG TO DO AND WE'RE VERY HAPPY TO BE A PART OF IT. UM, ONE OF THE MAJOR THINGS WE'RE, WE'RE PUTTING OUT THE WORD, UH, WE'RE GETTING OLDER. I AM A LITTLE CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING PEOPLE TAKE OVER THE FIGHTS THAT WE HAVE. AND IT'S EVERY DAY. IT DOESN'T JUST GO AWAY WITH THE LAW. UM, BUT WE NEED TO GET MORE PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THE ADVOCACY AND ACTION MOVEMENT AND WORKING WITH OUR LEGISLATURE AND CHANGING LAWS AND INCREASING HOPEFULLY, UH, SALARIES FOR THE COMMUNITY ATTENDANCE THAT HELP PEOPLE WITHIN THEIR HOMES. THAT HAS BEEN A 15 YEAR STRUGGLE. THAT'S A LOT OF LEGISLATIVE MEETINGS. AND OUR ATTENDANCE ARE NOW GETTING AND AVERAGE AT $13 AN HOUR. SO FOR THOSE OF US THAT USE COMMUNITY ATTENDANCES REAL HARD TO RECRUIT, UH, AT THAT WAGE. SO WE'RE, WE'RE ASKING PEOPLE TO BE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS, HELP US WITH A LOT OF OUR ACTIONS AND OUR INTEGRATION, UH, AS WE WORK THROUGH A LOT OF THE ACCESSIBILITY TO ALL THE SERVICES AND EVERYTHING FOR NOT ONLY JUST AUSTIN, NOT ONLY JUST TEXAS, BUT WE COVER THE NATION. SO I WANT YOU TO KNOW IT'S OVER 40 YEARS. IT'S BEEN AMAZING WHAT HAS GOTTEN DONE, AND I'M PLEASED TO BE A PART OF IT. AND I'M REALLY PLEASED AS A FORMER COMMISSIONER OF EIGHT YEARS, I DID MY TIME, UH, TO THANK YOU FOR HAVING US RECOGNIZE AND THANK YOU FOR KNOWING THAT, UH, WE, WE ARE HERE AND WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED. 'CAUSE IT'S NOT A ONE MAN SHOW, LEMME TELL YOU. BUT I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO THOR AND GIVE HIM TIME TO SPEAK TO. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. IF YOU'RE A COMMISSIONER FOR EIGHT YEARS, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY BE UP HERE RUNNING THIS MEETING. GOSH, . NO, . THANK YOU. THANK YOU, UH, TO THE COMMITTEE. AND, UH, THANK YOU TO NANCY. UM, YEAH, I I COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER. UM, I, I'M THE ONE OF THE YOUNGEST AT ADAPT, AND, UH, I, UH, I THINK BUILDING THAT BRIDGE BETWEEN, UH, THE OLD [01:10:01] AND THE YOUNG IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HAS TO DO WITH, UH, AGEISM AS WELL AS THE DISABILITY, UH, EXPERIENCE. AND I, I'M JUST GLAD TO HAVE BEEN BROUGHT ONTO BOARD. UH, I WORKED 28 YEARS AT THE TEXAS SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED BEING A, UH, WALKING, UH, AT THE TIME, UH, USING A, A, A WALKER AS WELL AS A CANE. UH, UH, AN EXAMPLE OF, UH, CROSS DISABILITY. AND THAT'S ANOTHER THING THAT, UH, ADAPT, UH, BRINGS ATTENTION TO IS, IS, UH, BECAUSE THE INABILITY OF DIFFERENT DISABILITY, UH, GROUPS NOT TO WORK WITH EACH OTHER, DEFLATES, DEFLATES WHAT WE KNOW AS THE POWER OF NUMBERS. SO THAT WAS WHAT I LIKED SO MUCH ABOUT THE, UH, THE FESTIVAL THAT, UH, WAS SPONSORED BY THE COMMITTEE, UH, SEVERAL WEEKS AGO. AND, UM, I REALLY COMMEND THE COMMITTEE FOR PUTTING THAT TOGETHER. THANK YOU AGAIN. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU BOTH FOR JOINING US. AND ALWAYS KEEP US IN MIND IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU EVER WANT TO PUT IN FRONT OF THE, THE CITY, WHETHER IT'S THE COUNCIL OR ANY OF THE DEPARTMENTS, YOU KNOW, WE'RE ALWAYS HAPPY TO SERVE AS A CONDUIT, AS I'M SURE YOU KNOW, HAVING BEEN ON THE COMMITTEE, BUT WE'RE STILL HERE, SO, UH, IF, IF EVER WE CAN DO ANYTHING TO, TO HELP BEYOND, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING, YOU KNOW, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LET US KNOW. OKAY. UH, COMMISSIONER ARIANO, DO [5. Discussion of the AWEbility WEE Festival regarding a recap of the event.] YOU HAVE, UH, THE NEXT ITEM, WHICH IS DISCUSSION OF ABILITY FESTIVAL AND A RECAP. EXCITED TO BE SO, UH, PART OF THIS, UH, FESTIVAL ESPECIALLY, UM, BECAUSE, UH, WE CAME UP WITH A SIGN FOR ALL ABILITY AND THE SIGN IS LIKE THIS, AND IT MEANS ALL PEOPLE, ALL PEOPLE ARE, WERE INVOLVED WITH THE FESTIVAL. UM, AND WE WERE QUITE A TEAM WORKING TOGETHER, AND WE CAME UP WITH THIS SIGN, UH, TO REPRESENT THE FESTIVAL. I THINK THAT'S AMAZING. UM, IT, IT BEAT OUR EXPECTATIONS. WE HAD A HUNDRED, 107, UH, DIFFERENT, UH, PEOPLE IN ATTENDANCE, UH, FROM A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT GROUPS, UM, AND SKILLS AND DISABILITIES AND JUST A, UM, BIG VARIETY OF PEOPLE THAT CAME. AND IT WAS GREAT TO SEE, UM, HOW HAPPY EVERYBODY WAS. THEIR EYES WERE, THEY WERE WIDE-EYED AND, AND IT JUST WANNA KEEP IT GOING. UM, SO THAT, I, I JUST, IT JUST FILLED ME WITH ENERGY FOR THE, THE REST OF THE WEEK. SO I WANTED TO THANK, UH, THE TEXAS, UH, COMMISSION, UM, UH, ON DISABILITIES FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND CITY HALL FOR PROVIDING THE LOCATION. UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE FACILITY, UH, THE DESIGN HELP AND HELPING TO MAKE THE EVENT, UM, HAPPEN. WE REALLY WORKED HARD TOGETHER FOR SIX MONTHS TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. AND, UH, WHEN THE DAY CAME, IT WAS JUST SO GREAT TO SEE. UM, AND EVERYBODY AGREES THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE IT AN ANNUAL EVENT. UH, WE'LL HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL WORKING, UH, GROUP MEMBERS, UH, THAT WOULD LIKE TO FOCUS ON THE, UH, NEXT MONTH WE'LL GET TOGETHER OF PEOPLE WHO, UM, WHO WILL BE ON THE NEW WORKING GROUP. AND WE HAVE THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S CIVIL, UH, I'M SORRY. UM, HUMAN RIGHTS, I GUESS IS SHARON. UH, SHIP. SHIP, YES, YES. THANK YOU. WHO WILL BE COMING TO HELP, UH, WITH THAT. YES, THANK YOU. AND M IS COMING AS WELL. AND SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, FOR ALL OF IT. UM, I'M SO LOOKING FORWARD TO MAKING THIS AN ANNUAL FESTIVAL. UM, AND BECAUSE OF THE FOCUS ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND OUR ABILITY TO SHOW THAT WE ARE HERE, WE ARE PART OF THE, THE COMMUNITY AND, UH, WE MAY BE DIFFERENT, BUT WE'RE AWESOME. THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER ANO, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PUTTING THAT TOGETHER. I KNOW, UH, COMMISSIONER MURPHY ENSLAVED YOU. I KNOW YOU BOTH, UH, PUT A LOT OF EFFORT INTO IT TOO, SO THANK YOU. AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE CERTAINLY LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING WHAT, WHAT WE COME UP WITH NEXT YEAR TOO. THANK YOU. UH, I BELIEVE I HAVE [6. Discussion regarding the submission of budget priorities to Budget Working Group Members. (Current Members: Chair Kelly, Commissioner Chang, and Commissioner Vassallo).] [01:15:01] THE NEXT ITEM. SO, UH, WE'RE GETTING CLOSE TO THE END OF THE YEAR WHEN WE NEED TO START THINKING ABOUT BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS. I KNOW YOU PROBABLY ARE STILL HEARING ABOUT THIS YEAR'S BUDGET, BUT IT GETS STARTED VERY EARLY AND WE HAVE TO MAKE OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, AS FAR AS I UNDERSTAND IT, KIND OF TOWARDS THE BEGINNING OF 2026, BUT NO LATER THAN THE END OF MARCH. SO HOW THE, HOW IT WORKS IF YOU HAVEN'T GONE THROUGH THE BUDGET PROCESS IS WE DON'T RECOMMEND A SPECIFIC AMOUNT. WE JUST RECOMMEND ITEMS FOR THE CITY COUNCIL TO SUPPORT. SO, UM, YOU KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, IF, IF WE WANT THEM TO SUPPORT SOMETHING RELATED TO THERAPEUTIC RECREATION, YOU KNOW, WE SAY, YOU KNOW, UH, A LOT FUNDS TOWARDS THERAPEUTIC RECREATION, BUT WE DON'T SAY A LOT, $5,000 TOWARDS THE THERAPEUTIC RECREATION. SO IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS, UM, MAYBE A GOOD WAY TO START WOULD BE TO SEND NABA AN EMAIL AND WE CAN THINK ABOUT, UH, CREATING A RECOMMENDATION FOR, UH, ONE OF THESE BUDGET ITEMS. SO I DON'T, I THINK WE PROBABLY ONLY HAVE A COUPLE PLANS SO FAR, AND I KNOW A LOT OF OTHER COMMITTEES SUBMIT, YOU KNOW, NINE 10. SO PLEASE FEEL FREE IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT THAT'S IMPORTANT TO YOU TO BRING IT UP. UH, ALSO, I KNOW COMMISSIONER CHANG AND COMMISSIONER VISLO ARE ON THE BUDGET COMMITTEE, AND I'LL, I'LL WORK ON SETTING UP A MEETING FOR US SOMETIME SOON SO WE CAN, WE CAN GET STARTED. UM, I THINK I ALSO HAVE THE NEXT ITEM, WHICH [7. Approve a recommendation to Council for support of the Elisabet Ney Museum renovations.] WAS TO APPROVE A RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL FOR SUPPORT OF THE ELIZABETH NA MUSEUM RENOVATIONS. UM, AS YOU, IF YOU WERE AT THE MEETING RECENTLY, WE HEARD FROM THE FRIENDS OF ELIZABETH NAY MUSEUM AND THEY'RE UNDERGOING A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT RENOVATION AT THE MUSEUM. AND THEY ALSO HAVE PLANNED, UM, AN A DA ACCESSIBLE BATHROOM. UH, THEY STILL ARE LOOKING FOR FUNDING TO BUILD THAT PORTION OF THE, UH, OF THE RENOVATIONS. AND SO IT'S OBVIOUSLY NOT QUITE THE TIME WHERE WE SUBMIT BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT THEY DID REQUEST THAT WE, IF POSSIBLE, PROVIDE GENERAL SUPPORT, JUST LETTING THE CITY COUNCIL KNOW THAT IT WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE GOOD IF THE COUNCIL CAN SUPPORT THE AADA, A ACCESSIBLE BATHROOM PIECE RENOVATION GENERALLY. AND SO I PUT TOGETHER A RECOMMENDATION TO THAT EFFECT. UH, I THINK IT SHOULD BE ATTACHED TO THE AGENDA ITEMS. AND IF WE WOULD, WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO DISCUSS BEFORE WE PUT IT UP FOR A VOTE? I HEAR SILENT, SO I THINK, I THINK THAT WILL PROBABLY BE A NO. I'LL, I'LL MOVE TO, UH, APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL SUPPORTING THE ELIZABETH NAY MUSEUM RENOVATIONS. CAN I GET A SECOND? I'LL SECOND. OKAY, GREAT. AND ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY I RAISE YOUR HAND. I, AYE, . OKAY. THANK YOU ALL. UH, I'M SURE THEY'LL APPRECIATE THAT, UH, A LOT. I KNOW THEY'RE, THEY'RE TRYING TO GET RECOGNITION FROM THE CITY COUNCIL FOR THAT. UH, THE LAST ITEM BEFORE WE CLOSE TODAY [8. Approve the 2026 annual schedule of the Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities.] IS, WELL, ONE OF THE LAST ITEMS IS APPROVE THE SCHEDULE FOR NEXT YEAR. UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S FOLLOWING ROUGHLY THE SAME SCHEDULE AS THIS YEAR. IT, AND IT WILL BE ON THE SECOND FRIDAY OF EACH MONTH. AS YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD, IT'S DIFFICULT TO GET OTHER TIME SLOTS. IT, IT, YOU KNOW, MORE, MORE POTENTIALLY MORE DESIRABLE TIMES. SO THIS IS PROBABLY WHERE WE ARE FOR THIS YEAR. I THINK IF WE WANTED A DIFFERENT TIME SLOT OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES OR, OR A DIFFERENT DIFFERENT DATE, WE, WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO USE CITY HALL. UM, WE'D HAVE TO PROBABLY GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. SO, UM, UNLESS THERE ARE ANY, WELL, WELL, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR DISCUSSION ABOUT THE AGENDA FOR 2026? UM, YEAH, I THINK IT'S TOO LATE FOR 2026, BUT IN THE JOINT INCLUSION COMMITTEE, THE TIME HAS RECENTLY CHANGED. UM, OR NOT RECENT? WELL, IT'S CHANGING FOR NEXT YEAR. SO THE NEW TIME WILL NO LONGER, UH, IT WILL NO LONGER BE AT THREE O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON ON A WEDNESDAY, ON THE FOURTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH IT WILL BE HELD, UM, STILL THE SAME FOURTH WEDNESDAY, BUT AT SIX O'CLOCK. SO IT, IT'S POSSIBLE. BUT THEY SAID THAT THEY WOULD NEED TO WORK ON THAT FOR THE OCTOBER MEETING. UH, AND YES, THE, THE ROOMS ARE NOT GUARANTEED AT, AT CITY HALL. SO, UM, IF, IF THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE WANTED TO CONSIDER FOR MAYOR'S COMMITTEE, I WAS TOLD THAT WE WOULD'VE HAD TO LOOK AT IT STARTING IN SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER. OH, WELL THEN I GUESS WE CAN TAKE IT UP FOR NEXT YEAR. SO, UH, IN THAT CASE, I GUESS WE, I'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE TO OH SURE. COMMISSIONER DIAZ. UM, SO MARCH 13TH, THAT'S SOUTH BY AND I MEAN, I THINK Y'ALL TOOK A BREAK FOR ACL, WAS THAT RIGHT? UH, I THINK WE, WE, MOST PEOPLE JUST PARTICIPATED REMOTELY. [01:20:01] I THINK I, I CAME IN FOR ACL, WE, WE USUALLY STILL HOLD IT. IT'S JUST THAT OH, I, I'LL JUST LIKE STRUGGLE TO COME IN AND I THINK THAT, SO THAT'S USEFUL. IN THE PAST, WE HAVE HAD A COUPLE OF TIMES WHERE WE HAVE ALTERED IN THE SCHEDULE AND I DO WANNA SAY SPRING BREAK WAS ONE OF THEM. UM, LIKE I REMEMBER ONE YEAR, THE FOURTH FRIDAY OR THE SECOND FRIDAY FELL LIKE RIGHT ON VALENTINE'S DAY OR, YOU KNOW, AND SO WE HAVE CHANGED THE DATE SLIGHTLY FOR SOME OF THOSE THINGS. UM, BUT LIKE, UM, CHAIR KELLY SAID WE CAN PARTICIPATE, UH, REMOTELY AS WELL. SO MAYBE WHAT WE DO, IF, IF YOU THINK THERE IT, I MEAN IT'S OBVIOUSLY GONNA BE DIFFICULT GETTING DOWN HERE FOR SOUTH BY YEAH. AND ACL, BUT MAYBE WHAT WE DO IS APPROVE THE SCHEDULE NOW AND THEN JUST START THINKING ABOUT MODIFICATIONS WE NEED TO, TO MAKE, BECAUSE USUALLY IT'S NOT TOO HARD TO KIND OF MOVE AROUND A SINGLE MEETING. OH, OKAY. UM, AND, AND VO HAS USUALLY BEEN PRETTY GOOD ABOUT LIKE CHECKING OUT THE OTHER DATES AND STUFF. OKAY. YEAH, I JUST WANTED TO LET Y'ALL KNOW THAT THAT'S A SOUTH BY DATE FOR SURE. YEAH, I REMEMBER IT WAS DIFFICULT. , IT'S DIFFICULT THIS YEAR. UM, OKAY, SO MAYBE WE'LL, WE'LL FLAG THAT ONE AS MAYBE WE WILL THINK ABOUT CHANGING. I, YEAH, I DON'T, I DON'T THINK WE CAN MARCH 13TH. WE WILL HAVE TO CHECK THE AVAILABILITY, I THINK. BUT SO SHOULD WE JUST GO AHEAD AND APPROVE THE AGENDA NOW, I THINK OR THE, THE, I, I MOVE TO APPROVE AS IS AND THEN WE CAN DISCUSS MARCH WHEN IT GETS CLOSER. SECOND. YEAH. PERFECT. OKAY. UM, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HANDS OR SAY AYE. AND THEN, AYE, WHEN CAN WE SAY I, I HAD SOMETHING WHEN CAN, WHEN [FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS] CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? I JUST HAD SOMETHING I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT. OH, WE'RE ABOUT TO RIGHT NOW. OH, OKAY. IT'S ALL YOURS. UM, SO I VOLUNTEERED AT THE TEXAS TRIBUNE FEST AND IT, IT'S PRETTY TOUGH TO GET AROUND. I MEAN IT'S THE SAME WITH DIFFERENT FESTIVALS, ESPECIALLY SOUTH BY SOUTH BY, DEFINITELY I DON'T, I DON'T THINK THEY HAVE A GOLF CART, BUT I KNOW THEY HAVE, UM, TRANSIT BECAUSE I'VE TAKEN THE SOUTH BY TRANSIT, UM, FOR A DA BEFORE AND THAT'S PRETTY OKAY. UM, BUT FOR THE TEXAS TRIBUNE FEST, THERE'S NOTHING IN PLACE FOR, I MEAN, YEAH, THERE'S LIKE SEATING, YOU KNOW, FOR A DA BUT THERE'S NOTHING IN TERMS OF TRANSPORTATION GETTING TO AND FROM THE VENUES. UM, SO IT WAS PRETTY TOUGH FOR ME TO WALK TO AND FROM, UM, THIS IS MY SECOND TIME VOLUNTEERING FOR THEM. UM, AND I DEFINITELY BROUGHT IT UP LAST YEAR. UM, BUT YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY NO CHANGE WAS MADE. UM, I DIDN'T REALLY, I DIDN'T REALLY, UH, COME TO ANY CONCLUSION OR PROGRESS, UM, FROM THE INITIAL CONVERSATION OF LAST YEAR, BUT THIS YEAR, YOU KNOW, I REALLY TRIED TO PUSH IT, ESPECIALLY, YOU KNOW, LETTING THEM KNOW THAT I'M ON THE COMMISSION NOW. UM, SO HOPEFULLY JUST HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT A GOLF CART, BECAUSE THAT'S PRETTY MUCH ALL I CAN THINK OF, YOU KNOW, SO YOU WANT TO SET AN AGENDA ITEM NEXT TIME AND WE CAN MAYBE BRAIN BRAINSTORM MM-HMM . DIFFERENT WAYS WE COULD, YOU KNOW, TALK TO THEM OR GET THEM TO TAKE SOME ACTION ON THIS. RIGHT. AND I MEAN, I'M THINKING LIKE, JUST HEARING, UM, DIFFERENT, I DIFFERENT, UM, I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU SAY IDEAS OR MODES OF DISABILITY IN TERMS OF THE DIFFERENT PRESENTATIONS THAT WE HAD, BUT I MEAN, UM, FROM THAT FESTIVAL SPECIFICALLY THE TEXAS TRIBUNE FEST, THERE'S, THERE'S DEFINITELY A LOT MORE OLDER FOLKS. I DON'T WANNA SAY ELDERLY, BUT DEFINITELY A LOT MORE OLDER FOLKS THAT ATTEND THE FESTIVAL, UM, THAT DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE A WALKER. UM, BUT I MEAN, IT, IT, IT'S JUST BENEFICIAL FOR EVERYONE, YOU KNOW, TO HAVE SOME SORT OF TRANSPORTATION IN PLACE, YOU KNOW? YEAH, RIGHT. I MEAN I KNOW THAT THAT'S NOT A CITY FESTIVAL, BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT IT'S SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH THAT CITY MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP IN SOME WAY. SO I THINK MAYBE WE CAN EXPLORE THAT. YEAH. YEAH. AND I MEAN, UM, I JUST, I I KNOW I HAVEN'T BEEN, SORRY, EXCUSE MY ABSENCES. I JUST, THE, THE COMMISSION'S SO NEW TO ME AND I JUST, IT COMPLETELY WENT OVER MY HEAD THAT I HAVE TO ATTEND AND, YOU KNOW, MAKE TIME. I JUST FORGOT ABOUT THE DATES. UM, BUT I, I, I WENT TO BLUES ON THE GREEN AND I, I JUST FELT SO SORRY THAT I COULDN'T MAKE CHANGE THERE BECAUSE I HAD TO, I DON'T KNOW IF I ALREADY TOLD THE COMMISSION, BUT I HAD TO WALK FROM, FROM CHEWY'S, FROM FROM THE ZILKER PARK TO CHEWY'S, WHICH IS PRETTY FAR BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW WHERE I WAS GONNA GET PICKED UP. AND I MEAN, I KNOW THAT TRAIL OF LIGHTS IS COMING UP AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TRAIL OF LIGHTS IS LIKE, BUT I MEAN THAT'S DEFINITELY THE WHOLE REASON WHY I'M ON THIS COMMISSION IS TO HELP, HELP MAKE THE FESTIVALS AND UM, YOU KNOW, MUSIC EVENTS MORE ACCESSIBLE. YEAH. I, I ACTUALLY TALKED TO THE BLUES ON THE GREEN ORGANIZERS A BIT, QUITE A BIT. I TRY, I TRIED TO GET THEM TO DO, THEY, THEY CERTAINLY MADE A LOT OF STRIDES [01:25:01] IN TERMS OF KIND OF CREATING AN AADA ACCESSIBLE AREA, MAKING IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER TO GET TO THE, OR THEY, THEY SAID THEY WERE TO GET TO THE, THE LISTENING AREA, BUT I DON'T THINK THEY WERE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING WITH IT AS FAR AS THE, THE GETTING FROM THE BUS STOP TO THE, TO THE ACTUAL AREA. YEAH. AND I MEAN, IT'S NOT EVEN, IT'S NOT EVEN THAT THERE WAS A BUS STOP TO GET TO. I MEAN, I, WELL, I MEAN IN TERMS, I'M TALKING SPECIFICALLY IN TERMS OF METRO ACCESS. LIKE THERE WAS E EVEN THOUGH THEY SAID THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A DESIGNATED SPACE TO GO TO. I MEAN THERE JUST, THERE WASN'T. SO I DON'T KNOW. OKAY. WE'LL FOLLOW, WE'LL CERTAINLY WE CAN TRY AND FOLLOW UP WITH THEM. YEAH. SO NEVA, I THINK WE'LL SET THE, THE ITEM WE'LL BE TO DISCUSS, UM, THAT, DO Y'ALL THINK, DO Y'ALL THINK IT WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE, UM, FOR THE AGENDA ITEM SPECIFICALLY? 'CAUSE I KNOW WE HAVE TO BE REALLY CAREFUL ABOUT LIKE ONLY DISCUSSING WHAT'S ON THE AGENDA ITEM. DO WE WANNA DISCUSS SPECIFICALLY THAT FESTIVAL OR DO WE WANNA JUST DISCUSS ACCESSIBILITY FOR FESTIVALS JUST IN GENERAL FOR THE AGENDA ITEM? WELL, I WAS GONNA, I WAS GONNA TALK TO, UM, ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS FROM TEXAS TRIBUNE SOON. SO, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW IF I COULD TALK TO HIM BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING, BUT I'LL TRY, YOU KNOW. OKAY. SO MAYBE WE LIMIT THIS, THIS DISCUSSION SPECIFICALLY TO TEXAS TRIBUNE. SOUNDS GOOD. DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT TIME WE MEET? YES, I DO. UM, FOR NEXT MONTH, I WANTED TO BRING UP, UM, HOW WE COULD ADD NEW MEMBERS, UH, TO THE WORKING GROUP FOR THE FESTIVAL NEXT YEAR. THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT. AND ALSO HOW WE COULD WORK WITH, UM, THE BUDGETED, UM, GROUP TO SUPPORT, UH, TO SPONSORSHIP FOR SPONSORSHIP, EXCUSE ME. UM, HOW, HOW THAT WOULD WORK, WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE TO GET SPONSORSHIP FOR THE FESTIVAL NEXT YEAR. SURE. SOUNDS GOOD. ANY OTHER ITEMS? ALRIGHT, UH, IN THAT CASE I'LL MOVE TO ADJOURN THE MEETING FOR TODAY. CAN I GET A SECOND? A SECOND. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. RAISE YOUR HAND. AYE, AYE. THANK YOU EVERYONE. SEE YOU NEXT MONTH. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.