* 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. [00:00:19] ANDERSON. [CALL TO ORDER] GOOD EVENING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. THIS IS JEANNIE HOUSTON, CHAIR OF THE AUSTIN ARTS COMMISSION. CALLING THE MEETING TO ORDER AT WHATEVER THE CURRENT TIME IS. 6 0 1 P. WE DO HAVE QUORUM. I'M GONNA CALL THE ROLE GINA HOUSTON. PRESENT. AISHA GRAY. PRESENT. KIRA KEYS PRESENT. MONICA MALDONADO. FELIPE GARZA. HERE. HEIDI SCHACH. I SEE COMMISSIONER SMBA, BUT I DO NOT HEAR HER. LOOKS FROZEN. MM-HMM . IS SHE FROZEN? SHE'S FROZEN. OKAY, WE'RE GONNA HOLD, I THINK WE HAVE COMMISSIONER SMBA, BUT WE'LL COME BACK TO SEE IF SHE GETS FIXED. MINA HUI. SELENA ZIMAN. FAJA FRANEY. PRESENT. SHARON ANDERSON PRESENT. NA ME NAGA ALI CHARLA AND COMMISSIONER MACH HAS DISAPPEARED. SO WE WILL CONFIRM WHEN SHE'S ABLE TO JOIN THE MEETING. [PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL] WE'LL GO AHEAD AND START WITH OUR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION. WE HAVE THREE CITIZENS SIGNED UP. UM, FOUR CITIZENS SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION. FIRST WE HAVE MARIA LUISA GUTIERREZ FROM CASA COST. AND FOLLOWING HER WILL BE LUIS ORGA FROM RO, MS. GUTIERREZ, LATINA, [00:05:43] HEAR FROM LUIS OR, AND THEN FROM HECTOR OR FROM READY START THE TIMER. . UH, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. GOOD EVENING. UH, STAFF, COMMUNITY, EVERYONE. UH, MY NAME IS LUIS RODAS GUTIERREZ. I'M THE ARTISTIC AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PORO. I'LL BE AS BRIEF, UH, AND TO THE POINT AS POSSIBLE, UM, BECAUSE I KNOW WE ALL LIVE IN A VERY HECTIC, BUSY, CAPITALISTIC WORLD WHERE WE WEAR SO MANY HATS. UM, AS MOST OF YOU ALL KNOW, BEYOND BEING A CONTRACTOR FOR OUR ORGANIZATION, WE SUPPORT AND GUIDE OTHER ARTISTS, SPECIFICALLY IN THE LATINO ARTS COMMUNITY, TO GO THROUGH THE FUNDING PROGRAMS THAT ARE ROLLED OUT THROUGH THE CITY TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO BE FIRST APPLICANTS AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO GET IN THE CITY RESOURCES. FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS, WE HAVE BEEN COACHING MANY ARTISTS, SPECIFICALLY IN SPANISH. WE HAVE, UH, BEEN, WE'VE BEEN HERE, UH, I REMEMBER I THINK IN 2022 WHEN THE FIRST NEW ROLLOUT CAME OUT, WE FLAGGED MANY. AND WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, ABHORRENT LANGUAGE TRANSLATIONS, THE ROLLOUT WAS PAUSED. THERE WAS AN EXTENSION GIVEN TO SPANISH APPLICANTS TO BE ABLE TO RECEIVE COACHING, SO WE HAD TIME TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE COACHING THEM THROUGH THE APPLICATION. FAST FORWARD TWO APPLICANTS RECEIVED FUNDING. LONG CENTER DID NOT PROVIDE A LEGAL CONTRACT IN SPANISH. FAST FORWARD, AGAIN, SECOND YEAR, SAME THING HAPPENED. NOW, THESE TWO ARTISTS SUCCESSFULLY FOR GRANTED THANKS TO OUR COACHING. THEY, THEY, THEY RECEIVED FUNDING AND WE ARE ELATED THAT THEY'RE PART OF OUR ECOSYSTEM AT THIS CAPACITY. BUT WHAT HAPPENS IS THAT THE LONG CENTER FOR A SECOND TIME AROUND DOES NOT PROVIDE A SPANISH LANGUAGE CONTRACT. ONE OF THE CONTRACTORS SIGNED UNDER DURESS. SHE NEEDED THE MONEY. SHE PERFORMED HER SHOW LAST WEEK, AND SHE JUST SIGNED TO GET THE MONEY. THE OTHER ARTIST, UH, MS. GUTIERREZ, WE ADVISED HER TO HOLD OFF AS MUCH AS SHE COULD TO SEE WHAT RESOURCES THE ALONG CENTER WOULD PROVIDE. THEY CONNECTED HER WITH TALLAH, WHICH TALA DID NOT RESPOND IN THREE WEEKS AND STILL HASN'T NOW, NOTHING AGAINST THEM. I LOVE THEM. UH, WE'VE WORKED WITH THEM IN OTHER PROJECTS. UM, I REACHED OUT TO LONG CENTER AND ACCOUNTABILITY, WHY OUR CONTRACTORS WALKED THROUGH EVERYTHING IN SPANISH. BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENT IS NOT IN A LANGUAGE THAT THEY UNDERSTAND. THEIR RESPONSE WAS, IT WAS NOT A REQUIREMENT PER THEIR AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN. I INQUIRED FURTHER AND, UH, AND RIGHT NOW WE'RE IN CONVERSATION WITH ACME AND WITH MARJORIE. SHE'S BEEN GREAT, YOU KNOW, BEING REALLY TRANSPARENT. AND THE ANSWER ULTIMATELY IS THAT THE CITY HAS TO CONTRACT IN ENGLISH. BUT IF IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING, THE LONG CENTER IS NOT THE CITY. THEREFORE, THE LONG CENTER DOES NOT HAVE THAT REQUIREMENT. THEY CAN PROVIDE A CONTRACT IN SPANISH BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONES CONTRACTING THE ARTIST, NOT THE CITY. NOW, FURTHERMORE, IT'S REALLY HEARTBREAKING THAT WE AS A CITY HAVE TO REQUIRE SOMEONE TO BE HUMANE, TO BE ETHICAL, TO BE CARING ABOUT SOMEONE. I HATE THAT WE HAVE TO BE HERE AFTER THREE YEARS COMING TO YOU ALL, GOING TO THE LONG CENTER, SITTING WITH CITY STAFF, AND WE STILL HAVE THESE VERY BIG ISSUES. AND I CLOSE WITH THE FACT THAT SADLY, THESE TRANSLATIONS ARE ACROSS THE BOARD. WE WERE SUCCESSFULLY ABLE TO GET THE MAC ARTIST ACCESS PROGRAM PAUSED BECAUSE OF THOSE TRANSLATIONS THREE WEEKS AGO. RIGHT NOW, EVERYTHING THAT'S BEING ROLLED OUT, THIS IS VERY PRECARIOUS FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN. EVERYTHING THAT'S BEING ROLLED OUT IN SPANISH SAYS, FINANCING THE FIRST LINE. WHEN YOU THINK OF FINANCING, YOU THINK OF LOAN, YOU THINK OF RATES, YOU THINK OF EVERYTHING THAT COMES WITH FINANCING. WE [00:10:01] CANNOT HAVE THIS HAPPEN IN TEXAS WHERE SPANISH IS IN CESAR CHAVEZ. GUADALUPE BASOS, OUR FOOD IS CONSUMED, OUR TEQUILA IS CONSUMED. A LITTLE BIT MORE RESPECT. THANK YOU, MR. OROZ. WE THANK YOU. WE WILL DEFINITELY LOOK INTO THAT. HECTOR ORDAZ AND THEN CEDRIC LAN FROM ASIAN SEASON A TX. THANK YOU, MR. ORDAZ. YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES. HELLO? UM, GOOD AFTERNOON, ALL. UH, MY NAME IS RAS, UH, DIRECTOR WITH RO, ALSO FREELANCING ARTIST, UH, AUDIO VISUAL ARTIST WITHIN AUSTIN. UM, I WAS JUST WANTING, UM, TO CONVEY, UM, I GUESS A, A WORRY OF MINE THAT I'VE SEEN RECENTLY IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS AS, UH, THE PREVIOUS PERSON SPOKE. UH, YOU KNOW, THERE'S PROGRAMMING AND, UM, PROGRAMMING THAT'S BEEN ROLLED OUT. APPLICATIONS, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR APPLICA, FOR, FOR REQUESTS OVER, UH, SOLICITING OF MONEY, UH, POLICIES, THIS AND THAT. BUT I FEEL LIKE, UM, THAT NONE OF, NONE OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN WORKING FOR IS, IS, IS KIND OF TAKING PLACE, UH, SPECIFICALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, TO ADDRESS THE INEQUITIES WITHIN THE ARTS. UH, IF YOU GUYS KNOW OR, OR NOT KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE MOST RECENT REPORT THAT WAS DONE ONCE AGAIN, AND, YOU KNOW, WHO KNOWS HOW MANY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WAS INVESTED IN PROCURING THIS, YOU KNOW, UM, RESEARCH. UH, BUT THAT WAS IN 2022, YOU KNOW, WHERE IT SHOWED THE VAST AND DRASTIC, UH, DISPARITIES BETWEEN, UM, UH, COMMUNITIES, UM, AS IT PERTAINS TO THE ART. AND WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ADDRESSING THAT. NOW. THAT'S KIND OF PART OF THE REASON WHY AGMA, YOU KNOW, CAME, HAS COME TO BE, YOU KNOW, FOR AGES. WE'VE ADVOCATED FOR THE CITY TO HAVE ITS OWN ENTITY TO OVERSEE ARTS, CULTURAL ARTS. UM, AND I FEEL LIKE WE'RE MISSING, YOU KNOW, LIKE SIGNIFICANCE OF WHAT THAT MEANS. AND THE POINT IN TIME THAT WE'RE IN WHERE WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DIRECT AND BUILD, YOU KNOW, AN ARTS ECOSYSTEM THAT'S LIKE, YOU KNOW, WORLD QUALITY, LIKE WORLD RENOWNED, LIKE THERE'S A LOT OF TALENT HERE, AND THERE'S NO REASON WHY WE CAN'T HAVE THE RESOURCES TO DO OUR ART, BUT THEY'RE ALSO EXPOSE IT TO THE WORLD. UM, SPECIFICALLY, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THE CULTURAL CENTERS THERE, THEY'RE NOW UNDER ACME. AND THAT'S A BIG WORRY OF MINE AS WELL. AND I'LL SPEAK A LITTLE BIT MORE. I'LL TRY TO KIND OF, UM, BE AS BRIEF AS POSSIBLE WITHIN, YOU KNOW, UH, I GUESS THIS MOMENT. BUT MY EXPERTISE COMES AS AN ARTIFICIAL DIRECTOR, SOUND ENGINEER, SO IT'S MORE TECHNICAL. UM, AND THE, THE, THE, THE, THE LAST FEW CONVERSATIONS I'VE HAD WITH FOLKS OVERSEEING CENTERS, THERE'S STILL AN ISSUE, EVEN THOUGH CENTERS HAVE BEEN REVAMPED, UM, UH, REBUILT, UH, RENOVATED, UH, YOU KNOW, THE CARVER, IT HAS STATE OF THE ART EQUIPMENT, BUT YET IT CAN BE USED BECAUSE THERE'S NO, UM, UH, EXPERTS OR THERE'S NO PERSONNEL, UM, THAT KNOWS HOW TO OPERATE IT. FURTHERMORE, YOU KNOW, THE ARTISTS DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO IT. UM, AND THAT'S BECOME A CHALLENGE, AND THAT'S JUST AT THE CARVER. AND THAT'S KIND OF LIKE THE ONLY CENTER RIGHT NOW THAT'S FULLY FUNCTIONAL AND OPERATIONAL. BUT IT GOES ACROSS THE BOARD. SAME THING HAS HAPPENED AT THE D. SAME THING HAS HAPPENING, HAPPENED AT HILLSIDE. UM, IF YOU GUYS ARE AWARE, THE MAC, UH, WAS SUPPOSED TO BE OPEN NOT TOO LONG AGO, BUT THE OPENING HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK, YOU KNOW, FOR SOME CHALLENGES. BUT THE SAME SITUATION HAS COME OVER THERE. YOU KNOW, WE GO TO SEE AN UPDATE ON, ON, AND I ASKED FOR TECHNICAL ASPECTS, AND WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HAVING A MEDIUM SIZED THEATER THAT HASN'T HAPPENED BECAUSE OF, YOU KNOW, BUDGET. BUT THERE WAS LIKE A 20 SOMETHING, $24 MILLION BOND APPROVED TO RENOVATE THE MAC AND ITS SYSTEMS. AND THE UPDATE THAT WE RECEIVE TWO MONTHS FROM OPENING AS IT PERTAINS TO TECH IS A PICTURE OF AN AUDITORIUM THAT'S USED FOR GENERAL PURPOSES, INSTALLING A TRACK RAILING FOR A CURTAIN. AND SO IT'S LIKE $24 MILLION ONE TO LIKE, YOU KNOW, $24 MILLION WAS APPROVED. NOT FOR THAT ORIGINALLY WAS TO HAVE A MEDIUM SIZED THEATER. AND IT SEEMS LIKE ALL OF THIS IS JUST KIND OF GOING BY THE HAY SIDE. AND I COME HERE AS, YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS BEING AN ENTITY TO RECOMMEND AND PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS DIRECTION, UM, TO ACME. AND I'D LIKE TO SEE MORE OVERSIGHT OF THESE CENTERS, BUT JUST THE WHOLE LIKE ECOSYSTEM THAT WE ARE, WE'RE, WE'RE ON THE RIGHT PATH OR A GOOD PATH, YOU KNOW, FOR SUCCESS FOR, FOR OUR ARTISTS. AND I'M NOT SPEAKING ABOUT HISPANIC LATINO COMMUNITIES. I'VE NEVER MENTIONED THAT WORD IN MY SPEECH BECAUSE IT'S A BROAD THING. ALL OF OUR ARTISTS ARE FACING THAT. AND I THINK IT'S TIME ALSO THAT, YOU KNOW, WE GET PAST THAT, THE COLOR PART, YOU KNOW, WE LEAVE IT ASIDE, BUT WE'RE HERE AS ARTISTS AND WE ALL HAVE THAT SAME COMMON DENOMINATOR OF PRODUCING, MAKING ART AND [00:15:01] TOUCHING PEOPLE AND MOVING PEOPLE. THANK YOU, MR. ARDAS. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE YOUR TIME. WE'LL NOW HEAR FROM CEDRIC SALON FROM ASIAN SEASON AND A TX. GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. GOOD EVENING. YOU HAVE, UH, THREE MINUTES. THANK YOU. I'M CEDRIC LAN, ONE OF THE CO-FOUNDERS OF OUR AGENCIES IN A TX. I WANTED TO INVITE EVERYONE TO, TO JOIN US AT BERG BREWING ON DECEMBER 14TH FOR OUR FIRST HOLIDAY MARKET. WE'RE ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR VENDORS, ARTISTS, AND PERFORMERS THAT SHOWCASE LOCAL A API COMMUNITY. UH, WE'D LOVE TO SEE YOU THERE. AND DETAILS ARE GONNA BE AVAILABLE@AGENCIESANDETX.ORG. THANK YOU. GIVE ME THAT, GIMME THAT WEBSITE AGAIN. ASIAN SEASON ATX.ORG. AND YOU SAID IT WAS DECEMBER 14TH? YES, MA'AM. 12 TO FIVE. DECEMBER 14TH, 12 TO FIVE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. AND THAT'S ALL WE HAVE FOR, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION TONIGHT. SO WE'LL MOVE INTO [APPROVAL OF MINUTES] THE AGENDA. FIRST ITEM ON THE AGENDA IS APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE ARTS COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING ON OCTOBER 20TH. HAS EVERYONE HAD TIME TO REVIEW THE AGENDA? I WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THAT COMMISSIONER MACH IS PRESENT. COMMISSIONER MALDONADO ALSO PRESENT. YES. COMMISSIONER MALDONADO IS PRESENT. DEB, DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES? COMMISSIONER GRAY MOVES. DO I HAVE A SECOND? I CAN SECOND. WHO IS THAT? I DON'T KNOW. MALDONADO. MALDONADO. SECOND. WE HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE. AND SECOND, ANY DISCUSSION? CHANEY'S ABSTAINING BECAUSE SHE WAS NOT PRESENT. UH, WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE THAT? COMMISSIONER NAVAL CHARLA IS ON THE DAES. COMMISSIONER GARZA ABS PRESENT. COMMISSIONER GARZA IS ABSTAINING BECAUSE HE WAS NOT PRESENT. ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? WE'VE GOT THE MINUTES APPROVED FROM THE OCTOBER MEETING ONTO [2. Update on actions taken at the November 3rd Art in Public Places Panel by Commissioner Schmalbach] DISCUSSION ITEMS. FIRST STEP DISCUSSION ITEM NUMBER TWO, UPDATE ON ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE NOVEMBER 3RD, ART AND PUBLIC PLACES PANEL BY COMMISSIONER SCH MABA. HELLO? YES, WE HAD A NICE LONG MEETING. UM, THINGS THAT YOU WILL NOT SEE. WE, THE ACTIONS THAT WERE TAKEN WERE, UH, APPROVING THE THINGS THAT ARE ON OUR AGENDA TONIGHT. SO THE ATRIUM INFILL PROJECT AT THE AIRPORT, UM, WHICH WAS APPROVED BY A A PP TO MOVE FORWARD TO FULL COMMISSION APPROVAL. AND THEN THE NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER GARAGE FACADE ART AND PUBLIC PLACES CALL, UM, WHICH IS A ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY MODEL LIKE P THREE PROJECT THAT WAS CONDITIONALLY APPROVED ON A CHANGE BEING MADE TO THE, UM, SORT OF STRICTNESS OF THE, UH, MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS THAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR IN THE ARTIST. UM, IT WAS A, IT SEEMED TO US TO BE A REALLY HIGH BAR TO ME, AND WE ASKED FOR THAT TO COME DOWN SO THAT IT WOULD BE MORE ACCESSIBLE TO A BROADER, UH, RANGE OF ARTISTS. AND THAT IS REFLECTED IN WHAT YOU ALL SEE IN OUR BACKUP FOR THAT ITEM TONIGHT. UM, AND THEN STUFF THAT'S NOT ON OUR AGENDA, BUT JUST TO UPDATE Y'ALL, IS WE GOT REALLY WONDERFUL, UM, MID DESIGN UPDATES FOR FIVE OF THE CONVENTION CENTER REDEVELOPMENT, UM, A A PP PROJECTS, UM, WITH, YOU KNOW, ROBUST DISCUSSION AND, AND FEEDBACK TO THE ARTISTS. SO, UM, WE WILL BE SEEING THOSE EVENTUALLY, AND I CAN ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. ANY QUESTIONS FOR COMMISSIONER MACH? I JUST WANTED TO KNOW, COMMISSIONER MACH, WERE THERE ANY CONCERNS OR, OR, UM, ISSUES WITH ANY OF THE SUGGESTIONS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT TONIGHT OF THE TWO PROJECTS THAT WERE OF THE CALL AND THE THE FINAL DESIGN? THE FINAL DESIGN? NOTHING SPECIFIC. NOTHING ON, NO, NOTHING ON THE FINAL DESIGN. OKAY. UM, THAT'S GONE THROUGH MANY, YOU KNOW, MANY, MANY ROUNDS [00:20:01] OF, OF FEEDBACK, UM, AT THIS POINT. AND THEN, LIKE I SAID, THE OTHER, THE CALL WAS, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED THROUGH THE CONCERNS, HAD IT CONDITIONALLY APPROVED ON SOME CHANGES, THOSE CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE. UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A BROADER CONVERSATION ABOUT WHEN IT'S APPROPRIATE TO USE INVITED CALLS. THAT'S AN ONGOING CONVERSATION AT A A PP, UH, PANEL. AND I THINK WE'VE HAD THAT DISCUSSION HERE TOO. I THINK THERE'S A STRONG PREFERENCE, UM, ON A A PP PANEL TO DO OPEN CALLS AS, AS MUCH AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. THIS PROJECT IN PARTICULAR, UM, IS ON A PRETTY COMPRESSED TIMELINE. PART OF THAT IS BECAUSE IT IS AN ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY PROJECT. UM, AND THEN THERE'S SOME OTHER ISSUES THAT I THINK WE'LL TALK ABOUT, UM, LATER ON IN THE AGENDA. OKAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR REPORT, COMMISSIONER MALACH. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY, MOVING ON. UH, YEP. COMMISSIONER MALTO. YES. SORRY. UM, HEIDI, IS THERE ANY WAY, UH, YOU CAN MAYBE JUST SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, I KNOW THOSE FIVE DESIGNS ARE IN, UM, I GUESS MID DESIGN, BUT I KNOW THERE WAS SO MUCH, I GUESS, CONTROVERSY, FEEDBACK AND A LOT GOING WITH WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE CONVENTION CENTER, WITH THE ART THAT CAME DOWN. MM-HMM. SO, I'M JUST CURIOUS AS FAR AS THAT FEEDBACK GOES. 'CAUSE IT SOUNDED LIKE IT WAS A LOT OF FEEDBACK, . UM, WHAT DOES THAT KIND OF AROUND, IS IT AROUND, UM, JUST THE TYPE OF INSTALLATIONS DESIGN OR JUST YEAH, IT'S MORE ABOUT, CAN YOU JUST TOUCH ON THAT? YEAH. YEAH. THE FEE, THE DISCUSSION WITH THE ARTIST IS REALLY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THEY, UH, AT THIS POINT, WE'LL, YOU KNOW, EACH ONE IS IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT PHASE, BUT ARE SHOWING KIND OF CONCEPTUAL, UM, RENDERINGS OF WHAT THE WORK WILL LOOK LIKE, TALKING THROUGH MATERIALS WHERE THEY ARE IN THE PROCESS. UM, AND, YOU KNOW, ALL OF THE WORK THAT WE WERE SEEING IS THAT, I'M JUST MAKING SURE THIS IS TRUE, IS EXTERIOR. SO IT'LL BE VISIBLE TO, YOU KNOW, THIS IS NOT WORK THAT'S GONNA BE INSIDE THAT YOU HAVE TO BE INSIDE OF THE COMMISSION CENTER TO SEE IT IS ALL, UM, ON THE INTEGRATED INTO THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE BUILDING. SO THAT WAS A LOT OF THE CONVERSATION IS JUST TALKING THROUGH, YOU KNOW, MATERIALITY, UM, YOU KNOW, KIND OF CONCEPT DIRECTION, UM, INTERPRETATION AND, YOU KNOW, WHETHER, YOU KNOW, THE PANEL FEELS LIKE THE, UM, THE MESSAGE THAT THE ARTIST IS TRYING TO CONVEY IS GONNA LAND, YOU KNOW? OKAY. ALL OF THAT SORT OF STUFF. SO IT WAS LIKE A VERY, A VERY RICH DISCUSSION. UM, NOT, THOSE CONVERSATIONS DID NOT, UM, GET INTO THE PREVIOUS CONTROVERSY ABOUT MM-HMM . THE REMOVAL OF ARTWORK, WHICH, YOU KNOW, IS A RELATED BUT SEPARATE TOPIC. RIGHT. THANKS FOR ASKING. YEAH. I, I JUST FEEL LIKE THERE'S OBVIOUSLY GONNA BE A LOT OF EYES ON THE WORK THAT GOES UP. ABSOLUTELY. BIG TIME AS THERE SHOULD BE. YES. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK, COMMISSIONER OCK. [3. Update on actions taken at the October 15th Downtown Commission meeting by Commissioner Houston] MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER THREE, UPDATE ON ACTIONS TAKEN ON THE OCTOBER 15TH DOWNTOWN COMMISSION MEETING BY COMMISSIONER HOUSTON. I GAVE THIS UPDATE LAST MEETING AND THE NEXT DOWNTOWN COMMISSION MEETING IS THIS COMING WEDNESDAY. 'CAUSE THE FIRST WAS ON A SATURDAY . MY WHOLE MONTH IS, IS VERY WONKY NOW. UM, SO MY NEXT UPDATE WILL BE AT THE DECEMBER MEETING FOR THE NOVEMBER DOWNTOWN COMMISSION MEETING. DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT DOWNTOWN COMMISSION THAT YOU NEED ME TO ASK? OKEY DO. OH, COMMISSIONER SMALL. UH, YEAH, I DO HAVE JUST GENERAL QUESTION ABOUT LIKE, HOW WELL THE ARTS, I KNOW THAT'S A BIG QUESTION, BUT LIKE, REPRESENTATION OF THE ARTS, UH, DIFFERENT SECTORS IS ON THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION. ARE ARE YOU, ARE YOU AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE KIND OF IT, OR ARE THERE OTHER FOLKS WHO REPRESENT THE INTERESTS OF ART AND ARTISTS ON THAT? I HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO JUST KIND OF SCHMOOZE WITH THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS ON THE COMMISSION. OKAY. SO I REALLY DON'T KNOW. I, I JUST KNOW THAT I CAN ALSO LOVE THAT THERE'S A, I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT KNOW. I, I, I, I REALLY DON'T. I JUST KNOW THAT THERE'S A SEAT FOR ART. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSIONER SPECIFICALLY ARTS THE, THE, FROM WHAT I COULD UNDERSTAND, THERE'S OVERLAPPING STUFF. IT'S RESIDENTS OF DOWNTOWN IN ADDITION TO OTHER. SO I DON'T KNOW IF I, I'LL HAVE TO DELVE INTO IT IN MY FUTURE REPORTS. I'LL LET YOU KNOW. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY, GREAT. MOVING ON [4. Update on the TEMPO 2025-26 Artist Selection by Mandi Thomas, Chief Operating Officer, The Trail Conservancy and Rebecca Rende, Art in Public Places Coordinator Senior.] TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR, UPDATE [00:25:01] ON THE TEMPO 25, 20 25, 26 ARTIST SELECTION BY MANDY THOMAS, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER DE TRAIL CONSERVANCY, AND REBECCA REDI, ART AND PUBLIC PLACES COORDINATOR SENIOR, BUT I SEE JAIME CASTILLO, SO WE'LL SEE'S DOING WHAT? . GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. JAIME CASTILLO, MANAGER FOR ART IN PUBLIC PLACES. UM, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE A A A BRIEF INTRO TO MANDY BEFORE SHE GETS THROUGH, UH, THE PRESENTATION. UH, I JUST WANTED TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT, UH, I GUESS IT WAS A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, WHAT, EARLY 2024, UM, DUE TO A IPP STAFF CAPACITY AND, UH, THE TRI CONSERVANCY HAVING AN APPROVED ARTS AND CULTURE MASTER PLAN, UH, WE FOUND THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PARTNER, UM, AND CONTRACT THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY TO RUN THE TEMPO PROGRAM. UH, AND WE, WE WENT, WE ENTERED INTO THAT PARTNERSHIP. UM, THEY DID A GOOD JOB. UH, MANNY WILL TOUCH ON SOME LESSONS LEARNED, AND, UH, WE WANTED TO CONTINUE THAT PARTNERSHIP. UH, I PRESENTED EARLIER THIS YEAR EXPLAINING THAT WE WANTED TO EXTEND THIS CONTRACT ANOTHER YEAR. UM, YEAH, TO GO ANOTHER ROUND WITH, WITH THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY. GIVE, GIVE A IPP. UM, ALTHOUGH WE ARE STAFFED UP, GIVE US A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME TO, TO BE ABLE TO, TO PLAN. WE STILL HAVE AN OPTION, THE POTENTIAL TO EXTEND THE CONTRACT ANOTHER YEAR. BUT, UM, I THINK WE GOTTA TALK, GET THROUGH THIS YEAR FIRST AND, AND WE'LL TALK, UM, TRAIL CONSERVANCY HAS BEEN GREAT PARTNERS ON THIS, ON THIS PROJECT. AND SO, UH, YEAH. WITH THAT, I'LL INTRODUCE MANDY THOMAS, THE CHIEF OPERATING, CHIEF MARKETING, CHIEF MARK CHIEF MARKETING, UH, OFFICER AT THE SHOW. CONSERVANCY . I WEAR ALL HATS. HELLO COMMISSIONERS. UM, WE CAN, I DON'T KNOW WHO'S, OH, I, OH, LOOK, LOOK AT THIS LITTLE FANCY THING. OKAY. I AM MANDY THOMAS, AND I'M THE CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER FOR THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY. FOR THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW, WE ARE THE NONPROFIT PARTNER OF THE CITY AND RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ANNE ROY BUTLER HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL, THE 10 MILE TRAIL, AND ALMOST 300 ACRES OF PARKLAND THAT SURROUNDS THE TRAIL. AS JAIME MENTIONED, WE DEVELOPED AN ARTS AND CULTURE PLAN THAT WAS ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL IN MARCH OF 2023, AND THAT LIFTED A 10 YEAR MORATORIUM ON ART AROUND THE BUTLER HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL. THIS ARTS AND CULTURE PLAN WAS DEVELOPED AFTER THREE YEARS OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A IPP. AND IT REALLY OUTLINED THE COMMUNITY'S DESIRE TO HAVE ART THAT ENRICHED THE TRAIL EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD DRAW ART LEVERS TO THE TRAIL AND EXPOSE TRAIL LEVERS TO ART AND REALLY EMBRACE THE CONNECTION TO THE COMMUNITY, THE CITY, AND THE ECOSYSTEM SYSTEM. AS JAIME MENTIONED, WE HOSTED THE CALL, UM, IN THE 20 24, 20 25, AND THERE WERE A LOT OF LESSONS THAT WE LEARNED. THIS WAS OUR FIRST REAL PUBLIC FORAY INTO PUTTING ART BACK ON THE TRAIL. AND TEMPO WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE FOR US. WE WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH A IPP. UM, WE LEARNED, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW, AND, AND REALLY CONNECTING TO ARTISTS. AND SO THIS YEAR WE HAVE REALLY, UM, JAIME AND HIS TEAM HAVE, HAVE REALLY HELPED US TO SHEPHERD THIS EVEN MORE. THERE WAS A LOT OF GOOD MEDIA, A LOT OF GOOD ATTRACTION AROUND HAVING TEMPO ON THE TRAIL, AND SO THE COMMUNITY REALLY ENJOYED IT. WE, UM, LAUNCHED OUR ART CALL FOR THIS ROUND OF, UM, TEMPO ARTIST IN AUGUST, AND WE HOSTED TWO OPEN HOUSES BETWEEN THE TWO OPEN HOUSES. WE HAD ABOUT 50 PEOPLE ATTEND IN TOTAL, AND THE ARTS AND OUR ARTS AND CULTURE COMMITTEE, WHICH IS MADE UP OF PUBLIC ART PROFESSIONALS THROUGHOUT AUSTIN, THEY SERVED AS OUR SELECTION PANEL. IN THAT CALL, WE MIRRORED WHAT AIP P'S REQUIREMENTS ARE OF THE PROGRAM. IT'S REALLY MEANT FOR EMERGING ARTISTS. WE, YOU COULD NOT HAVE MORE THAN ONE PREVIOUS TEMPO PROJECT, AND YOU COULD NOT CURRENTLY BE UNDER CONTRACT WITH A IPP. IT WAS FOR AUSTIN AREA RESIDENTS, 18 AND OLDER, AND WE REALLY LEANED IN ON, ON, ON TRYING TO FIND SOME NEW ARTISTS AND GIVE THEM THIS EXPERIENCE. AND THEN IT WAS EVALUATED ON THE CREATIVE AND ARTISTIC MERIT. WAS IT AN ORIGINAL IDEA? WHAT WAS THE CONTEXTUAL RELEVANCE? WAS IT RELEVANT AND CONNECT TO THE TRAIL? AND WAS IT ENGAGING AND HAVE COMMUNITY IMPACT? BECAUSE THOSE WERE ALL OF THE QUALITIES THAT WE HEARD IN OUR ARTS AND CULTURE [00:30:01] PLAN THAT THE TRIAL COMMUNITY WANTED. WE WERE EXCITED TO HAVE 113 APPLICANTS THIS ROUND. IN COMPARISON, WE HAD 43 APPLICANTS THE FIRST ROUND, SO ALMOST TRIPLED, UM, THE ATTENTION TO IT. WE ALSO HIRED A PUBLIC ART CONSULTANT, SARAH VANDERBEEK AT DORF TO HELP US THROUGHOUT THIS PROCESS. AND SO HAVING 113 APPLICANTS, OUR COMMITTEE ASKED US TO PRE-SORT THOSE APPLICATIONS FOR ELIGIBILITY. SO SARAH, MYSELF, AND ONE OTHER TTC TEAM MEMBER COMBED THROUGH AND READ EXTENSIVELY ALL 113 APPLICATIONS AND CVS. AND WE TOOK, SAYS 32, WE ENDED UP TAKING ABOUT 40 BACK TO OUR COMMITTEE FOR DISCUSSION AND A TOTAL OF NINE WERE SELECTED. OUR NEXT STEPS IN THIS PROCESS, WE'VE ALREADY NOTIFIED THE ARTIST, BOTH WHO WERE SELECTED AND WERE NOT, AND THEY ARE WORKING ON FINAL DESIGNS, WHICH ARE DUE TO US THIS WEEK. THOSE GO THROUGH A TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP FOR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS. AND THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP IS MADE UP OF THE TRIAL CONSERVANCY STAFF, A IPP STAFF, VARIOUS PARKS DEPARTMENTS SUCH AS MAINTENANCE EVENTS AND FORESTRY AUSTIN WATERSHED PROTECTION AND URBAN URBAN TRAILS AND PUBLIC WORKS, BECAUSE WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE AND ALL OF THE DEPARTMENTS THAT WE WORK WITH ON A DAILY BASIS CAN HELP US TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE RESILIENT ART IN THE PARK FOR THE NEXT YEAR. THEY WILL MOVE INTO FABRICATION ONCE THAT IS SIGNED OFF ON, WHICH WE ANTICIPATE BEING LATER THIS MONTH OR IN DECEMBER. AND OUR GOAL IS REALLY TO HAVE THEM INSTALLED THE END OF FEBRUARY, THE BEGINNING OF MARCH. WHAT IS DIFFERENT THIS YEAR IS THE WAY THAT WE'RE INSTALLING LAST YEAR. WE PHASED THEM AND WE PUT TWO IN A MONTH FOR FOUR MONTHS, AND THIS YEAR WE'RE DOING AN INSTALLATION WITHIN TWO TO THREE WEEKS SO THAT WE CAN DO A BIG LAUNCH AND CELEBRATE ALL OF THE ART AT ONE TIME. TO BRIEFLY GO THROUGH, WELL, FIRST I'LL SHOW YOU, THIS IS THE MAP OF THE LOCATIONS WHERE WE WILL HAVE ART ON THE TRAIL THIS YEAR. UM, THERE ARE A FEW NEW LOCATIONS IDENTIFIED HERE. THOSE AREN'T NEW TO US. THEY WERE JUST LOCATIONS THAT WHERE WE DID NOT HAVE ART LAST YEAR. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT WE HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL OF WHEN WE'RE PUTTING ART OUT ON THE TRAIL IS THE FLOODPLAINS AND MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE STAYING OUTSIDE OF THOSE FLOODPLAINS. SO, TO BRIEFLY TALK THROUGH SOME OF THE ARTISTS THAT WERE SELECTED, WE HAVE JA BEDARD. SHE'S A NEW MEDIA ARTIST AND PHOTOGRAPHER, AND SHE REALLY, HER WORK EXPLORES MOVEMENT AND HUMAN CONNECTION. SHE WILL HAVE A 3D SCULPTURE NEAR THE SEA HOME INTAKE FACILITY, ENFOLD COLLECTIVE. THEY ARE A COLLECTIVE THAT DESIGN PUBLIC ART, UM, USING COMMUNITY VOICES AT THE CENTER OF THEIR WORK. AND THEY WILL HAVE A 3D PIECE AT THE PFLUGER CIRCLE. JAMAL HUSSEIN, WHO IS A MEDIA BASED, HE WORKS ON MEDIA BASED INSTALLATIONS AND SCULPTURES, REALLY CREATING AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE. AND HE WILL HAVE A NEW MEDIA PROJECT AT THE ODOM PAVILION. JC KING, WHO IS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST WHO MIGRATED TO THE US FROM COLUMBIA AS A CHILD. HE IS VERY INFLUENCED BY MUSIC IN HIS LIFE AND WORK. AND HE WILL HAVE A 3D SCULPTURE, UM, THAT INCORPORATES SOUND AT THE HOLLY SHORES OVERLOOK. THOMAS LEMANSKI, WHO PREVIOUSLY WORKED FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL, UM, NONPROFIT. IT'S REALLY SHAPED HOW HE APPROACHES MATERIALS, AND HE USES FALLEN TREES AND DEAD PLANTS AND ALL OF HIS PIECES. HE WILL HAVE A 3D SCULPTURE AT THE NEW HOLLY SHORES FISHING PIER, VICTORIA MARQUEZ, WHOSE WORK EXPLORES THEMES CONNECTED TO NATURE AND CREATURES INTERSECTING INTO THE REALM OF SURREAL. AND SHE WILL HAVE A MURAL UNDER THE LAMAR BRIDGE. VIGO AN ARTISTIC, SHE'S AN ARTIST, A PHYSICIAN, AND AN ACTIVIST WHO WAS RAISED BY, UM, REFUGEE PARENTS. AND SHE WORKS WITH NATURAL AND FOUND MATERIALS AROUND THE TRAIL. SHE WILL HAVE A 3D PIECE SCULPTURE AT AUDITORIUM SHORES, PRISCILLA LESSIG, AND STEVE, STEVE CROACH. UM, THEY'RE A COLLECTIVE TEAM AND THEY WORK WITH MATERIAL AB, ABSTRACT AND SENSORY EXPERIENCE, AND THEY WILL HAVE A 3D SCULPTURE AT INTERNATIONAL SHORES. AND THEN SETH PRESSWOOD, WHO HAS WORKED ACROSS MANY PLATFORMS IN THE ART INDUSTRY, BUT IS REALLY EXCITED ABOUT DOING AN IMMERSIVE PIECE, ENCAPSULATING HIS APPRECIATION FOR THE CITY AND TA WILL HAVE A MURAL UNDER THE DRAKE BRIDGE, [00:35:01] WHICH IS FIRST STREET. OUR ALTERNATES WERE ADAM OWENS, JARED ACKER, AND DANIEL DENBERG. AND SO THEY ARE ALL ON HOLD PENDING ANY, YOU KNOW, UNFORESEEN ISSUES WITH THE NINE ARTISTS THAT WERE SELECTED. ANY ? THANK YOU SO MUCH. ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS, THESE ARE ALL COMMISSIONER RO. WERE THESE ALL ARTISTS THAT I GUESS WERE ALREADY PART OF THE TEMPO POOL THAT THE CITY HAS, OR WERE THEY JUST, IT WAS A, A BRAND, LIKE A NEW OPEN CALL. SORRY. WE DID A NEW OPEN CALL. UM, IT WAS SUPPORTED BY A IPP AND IT WAS SENT OUT. WE'VE ALSO, OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS, WORKED TO BUILD A DATABASE OF ARTISTS WHO HAVE SEEN WORK AND ARE INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH THE TRAIL. AND SO IT WAS PUSHED OUT VIA, UM, SEVERAL AVENUES AND IT WAS OPEN FOR, FOR A MONTH. COMMISSIONER OCK, UH, SORRY, I WAS GONNA ADD THE, A IPP DOES NOT HAVE AN ACTIVE PRE-QUALIFIED POOL OF ARTISTS, SO IT, IT'S COMING SOON, BUT WE DON'T HAVE IT ACTIVE RIGHT NOW. COMMISSIONER MACH AND THEN COMMISSIONER GARZA. UM, I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION, WHICH IS, I KNOW YOU MENTIONED A LOCATION SELECTION, NOT FOR THIS ROUND, BUT, UM, AVOIDING THE FLOODPLAIN, AND OBVIOUSLY THAT MAKES SENSE FOR NOT WANTING ART TO BE, UH, IN THE FLOODPLAIN AND AT RISK OF BEING FLOODED. HOWEVER, I DO THINK THERE'S AN REALLY GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO ACTUALLY, IF WE CONTINUE DOING THIS TO THINK ABOUT, AND THERE MAY BE OTHER REASONS, BUT, UM, CALLS SPECIFICALLY AROUND CALLING IT TO, LIKE, ARTISTS WHO ARE ENGAGING WITH ISSUES OF CLIMATE AND, UH, FLOODING. I MEAN, IT'S A HUGE ISSUE FOR OUR COMMUNITY, AND I THINK LIKE THAT SITEWISE ACTUALLY OPENS UP A REALLY COOL, UM, AND POWERFUL OPPORTUNITY TO, TO ACTUALLY CITE SOME THINGS IN THE FLOODPLAIN, OBVIOUSLY, THAT ARE DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR THAT PURPOSE. UM, SO JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT IF WE, IF WE DO THIS AGAIN. THANK YOU COMMISSIONER GARZA. THANK YOU. I, I LIVE THE HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL. I WORK RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE HIKE AND BIKE TRAIL. I'M THERE AT LEAST ONE TIME A WEEK EVERY SINGLE WEEK. I HAVE BEEN FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS OR SO. I LOVE IT. UM, I'M ALSO, UH, GOOD FRIENDS WITH SOME OF THE BUTLERS, AND SO I'M HAPPY TO GO TO THE RANCH EVERY NOW AND THEN. UH, NOW I'M ALSO HAPPY TO BE THE, PROBABLY ONE OF THE LONGEST SERVING MEMBERS OF THIS COMMISSION. SO I REMEMBER THE ORIGINAL INTENT OF THE TEMPLE PROJECT, AND PART OF THE ORIGINAL INTENT WAS TO EXPOSE CITIZENS TO ART, TO LINK ARTISTS WITH RESOURCES, PROMOTE NEW INTEREST AND INCREASE PARTICIPATION AND TO CULTIVATE TOURISM ACTIVITIES AROUND THE CITY OF AUSTIN. NOW YOU SAID THAT THE HIKING BIKE TRAILS IS ABOUT 300 SQUARE ACRES. IT'S 300 ACRES, YES. 300 ACRES OR SO. UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN, OF COURSE, IS ABOUT, UH, 204,000 ACRES. SO THE HIKING BACK TRAIL COUNTS FOR 0.0015% OF THE ENTIRE CITY OF AUSTIN, OR ABOUT ABOUT LESS THAN TWO MILES, WHEREAS ABOUT THE CITY OF AUSTIN RUNS ABOUT 20 MILES ON EACH SITE. UM, ONE OF THE THINGS I REALLY LIKED ABOUT THE ORIGINAL, AND NOT, NOT SAYING I DON'T LIKE THE CURRENT, UH, TRAILS PROJECT, WAS THAT THE ARTWORKS WERE DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CITY OF AUSTIN. EVERY SINGLE DISTRICT HAD A TEMPLE PROJECT IN IT. AND THAT, I BELIEVE WAS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN BECAUSE IT ATTRACTED TOURISM NOT ONLY TO THE CENTRAL DISTRICT WHERE WE ALWAYS HAVE TOURISM, BUT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CITY OF AUSTIN AND GIVEN YOU OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEMBERS OF ONE COMMUNITY TO VISIT ANOTHER COMMUNITY THAT THEY WEREN'T IN, MAYBE HAD NOT VISITED ON A REGULAR BASIS, UH, BUT CAN NOW EXPERIENCE THAT ART AND EXPERIENCE THE UNIQUENESS OF EACH COMMUNITY, THE CULTURAL HISTORY, THE THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN HISTORY, UH, THE HORRIBLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN HISTORY AS WELL. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, I LIKE ABOUT PUBLIC ART IS THAT IT OFTEN EXPOSES PEOPLE TO THINGS THEY DIDN'T KNOW BEFORE. UH, EDUCATION IN TEXAS IS VERY, VERY FUNNY. IF YOU READ A TEXAS HISTORY BOOK IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND THEN YOU READ TEXAS HISTORY AFTER YOU GRADUATE COLLEGE, YOU KNOW, IT'S A BUNCH OF CRAP , I SHOULD PUT IT LIGHTLY, BUT ANYWAY, [00:40:01] GIVE THEM THAT KIND OF THINGS. HOW, AND SO MY MAIN THING IS I REALLY HAVE SOME SERIOUS RESERVATIONS ABOUT GOING ON FORWARD BEYOND THIS YEAR AS FAR AS THE TRAILS CONSERVED, UH, CONTROLLING THE ENTIRE TEMPLE PROJECT. UH, LIKE AGAIN, I DO BELIEVE THAT ALL 10 DISTRICTS SHOULD HAVE THEIR OWN. SO WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT? I'M ASKING HER, NOT YOU. WELL, UH, IT'S, IT'S BECAUSE THE TEMPO PROGRAM IS PART OF THE ART AND PUBLIC PLACEMENT PROGRAM. UHHUH, THE QUESTION REALLY IS A QUESTION TOWARDS THE PROGRAM. OKAY. SO, UH, THE CONTRACT, AS I SAID, UH, IS ONLY FOR THIS YEAR. RIGHT. WE WILL EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY OF EXTENDING IT ANOTHER YEAR. OKAY. BUT THE FACTORS THAT, THAT, UH, WILL INFORM THAT ALRIGHT, IS THAT, UH, WE DON'T WANT TO RUN AGAINST, UH, CONTRACTING RULES. SO WE CAN'T REPEAT CONTRACTS WITHOUT DOING, YOU KNOW, A FULL WELL, THAT'S ALWAYS BEEN A RULE, RIGHT? YEAH. OKAY. EXACTLY. SO, YOU KNOW, TWO YEARS WE'RE, WE'RE SAFE. THIRD YEAR, THERE'S A QUESTION AS TO WHETHER THAT'S GONNA BE AN ISSUE OR NOT. MM-HMM . UM, AND THEN SECONDLY, UH, I AGREE WITH, WITH YOUR ASSESSMENT, LIKE TEMPO'S SUPPOSED TO BE AROUND THE WHOLE CITY. AND SO WE ARE TRYING TO FIND WAYS OF HOW WE DO MOVE TEMPO, MAKE SURE THAT EVERY CITIZEN GETS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE PUBLIC ART. AND THAT WOULD BE IF WE NEEDED ADDITIONAL TIME TO PLAN AROUND THAT MM-HMM . THAT WOULD BE ONE OF THE REASONS WE GO INTO ANOTHER, ANOTHER YEAR CONTRACTING WITH THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY. UM, BUT WE'RE NOT QUITE THERE IN MAKING THAT DECISION. BUT I JUST WANTED TO EMPHASIZE LIKE, YES, I AGREE WITH YOUR ASSESSMENT. TEMPLE REALLY DOES NEED TO BE SHARED WITH, WITH EVERYONE IN THE CITY AND, YOU KNOW, TWO YEARS IN CENTRAL AUSTIN. UM, I THINK THERE'S BEEN ENOUGH EXPOSURE THERE, BUT, AND WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE THIS, WE CAN, WE CAN USE THIS AS A PILOT, RIGHT? UH, THE TRUCK CONSERVANCY IS NOT THE ONLY CONSERVANCY THAT, THAT THE CITY HAS ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT TO OVERSEE OUR PARKS. THERE'S A POTENTIAL WITH PEACE PARK CONSERVANCY, UM, THERE ARE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THROUGHOUT THE CITY THAT POTENTIALLY WE COULD PARTNER UP AND FOLLOW THIS FRAMEWORK WHERE THEY ARE HOSTING TEMPO FOR A YEAR. AND IN THAT WAY WE CAN MOVE AROUND AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ABLE TO FIND A GOOD PARTNER, UM, TO HELP PROMOTE THE OPPORTUNITIES AND MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE LOCATIONS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE FOR, FOR CITING PUBLIC ART. I WILL ADD THE, THE TRAIL DOES TOUCH FIVE COUNCIL DISTRICTS. I KNOW, AND ACROSS THE 10 MILES YOU DO TOUCH SEVERAL COMMUNITIES. WE HAVE 5 MILLION VISITS A YEAR TO THE TRAIL. UM, MANY OF THOSE ARE AUSTIN RESIDENTS THAT ARE COMING TO THE TRAIL, AND WE HAVE ACTIVELY PROGRAMMED AROUND THE ART WITH DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS TO BRING PEOPLE TO THOSE ART PIECES FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD. SO WE ARE TRYING TO, TO EXTEND AND TO EVERYONE. AND WHICH DISTRICT SPECIFICALLY DID YOU, UH, DO THAT FOR? OR WHICH ORGANIZATIONS YOU PARTNERSHIP TO TRY TO BRING IN TOURIST OR CITIZENS THROUGHOUT THE CITY? I DON'T, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, I DON'T HAVE, YOU DON'T. THANK THAT. THERE WERE A COUPLE, THERE WERE A COUPLE OF BIKE GROUPS IN THE EAST THAT WE WORKED WITH. WE ALSO HOSTED WITH A-I-P-P-A FEW WALK AND TALKS. OKAY. UM, MS. EXCUSE ME, MS. THOMAS ON THE TECH ADVISORY GROUP, IS THAT ALL CITY STAFF OR IS THERE ANY OUTSIDE? THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP IS ALL CITY STAFF, AND THE REASON BEING IS BECAUSE THEY'RE, THE, THE FINAL DESIGNS ARE APPROVED THROUGH THE ARTS AND CULTURE COMMITTEE, WHICH IS OUTSIDE CITY STAFF. UM, THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP, BECAUSE THEY'RE LOOKING AT THE ENGINEERING, THE MATERIALS THAT ARE USED, WHETHER THE PAINT IS SUSTAINABLE, MAKING SURE THAT IT WON'T END UP IN THE WATER OR IT WON'T BE HARMFUL. THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP IS MADE UP EXCLUSIVELY OF CITY STAFF AND IT'S VERIFYING THAT EVERYTHING MEETS CITY GUIDELINES. CORRECT. AND IF THEY DO HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PIECES, THEY'RE ABLE TO GIVE US COMMENTS AND WE GO BACK TO THE ARTIST. WE'VE EVEN SET UP MEETINGS IN THE PAST WITH THAT SPECIFIC DEPARTMENT SO THAT WE COULD HELP KIND OF SHEPHERD THE NEW ARTIST INTO WHAT WORKS FOR PUBLIC ART. OKAY, GREAT. ONE MORE COMMENT, PLEASE. ARE ANY OF YOUR APPLICATIONS IN SPANISH, HAVE THEY EVER BEEN IN SPANISH BEFORE? YES, OUR APPLICATIONS ARE IN SPANISH. THANK YOU. AND THEN JUST SINCE THIS IS OVERLOOKED, THIS PROGRAM'S OVERLOOKED NOW BY THE TRAIL CONSERVANCY. THAT MEANS THAT THE ARTISTS THAT ARE SELECTED OR THE DESIGNS, THEY DON'T GO TO A IPP? THAT'S CORRECT. RIGHT? THE, UH, FOR APPROVAL OR REVIEW. RIGHT. THE DESIGN APPROVAL IS NOT TAKEN TO THE FULL PANEL, BUT WE DO, WE DID ASK FOR PRESENTATIONS TO BE UPDATED, [00:45:01] SO AS, AS THE, WE HAD THE SAME PRESENTATION LAST MONTH OR LAST MEETING. RIGHT. THE ARTISTS HAVE NOT SUBMITTED THEIR FINAL DESIGNS. THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW. SO WE DON'T REQUIRE FINAL DESIGN. WE DO A REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS IN OUR, OUR CALL. AND SO ONCE WE HAVE THE FINAL DESIGNS, WHICH SHOULD BE SOMETIME THIS WEEK, AND THEY'RE APPROVED BY THE CITY, WE WILL TAKE THOSE BACK TO THE A IPP PANEL. I HAVE A, JUST A REALLY QUICK QUESTION TOO. THE ACTUAL INSTALLATIONS FOR, UH, IT'S, IS IT FIVE? IS THAT CORRECT? NINE OTHER. TOTAL. NINE. NINE, SORRY. UH, DO THEY ALL HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME, LIKE SIMULTANEOUSLY OR THEY'RE SCHEDULED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR OR WHAT IS THAT? WE ARE TR LAST YEAR WE PHASED THEM ACROSS FOUR MONTH, FOUR MONTHS WITH TWO INSTALLATIONS, UH, UH, EACH MONTH THIS YEAR WE'RE TRYING TO GET THEM ALL IN THE GROUND SIMULTANEOUSLY SO THAT WE CAN BE, DO A LARGER, MORE MEANINGFUL ANNOUNCEMENT AND PROGRAMMING AROUND THOSE PIECES. SO OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE THEM IN BEFORE SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST THIS YEAR. WOW. COMMISSIONER CHENEY. YES. HELLO? UM, MY SEAT IS VERY LOW. SORRY, . I FEEL LIKE A TODDLER. UM, ANYWAY, I WANTED TO SHARE THAT I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT SEEING MEDIA ARTS AS PART OF THIS, UM, SELECTION OF ARTISTS. I FEEL LIKE OFTENTIMES WE, UM, OVERLOOK THE POWER OF LIKE TECHNOLOGY AND ART, UM, WHICH I WANTED TO MAKE EVERYONE IN THE ROOM AWARE OF, BUT ESPECIALLY Y'ALL. UM, AUSTIN HAS THE DESIGNATION, UM, THROUGH UNESCO CREATIVE CITIES IS A MEDIA ART CITY, AND I ACTUALLY AM A PART OF THAT COMMITTEE AS WELL. AND WE WOULD LOVE TO HELP YOU CROSS PROMOTE, UM, BECAUSE THIS IS UPHOLDING, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN AS A MEDIA ART CITY. AND IT'S JUST EXCITING. I'M A MEDIA ARTIST AS WELL, SO IT'S JUST EXCITING TO SEE TECHNOLOGY BEING USED IN PUBLIC ART MORE IN AUSTIN. AND JUST THANK YOU FOR THAT. AND I WAS ALSO A PART OF WATER WORK, WHICH I, YEAH, WHICH ALSO, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT IT'S A REALLY UNIQUE WAY OF LOOKING AT INSTALLATION WORK THAT YOU CAN HAVE A HIGH VOLUME OF ARTISTS PARTICIPATE AND IT DOESN'T ACTUALLY ALTER ANY SORT OF STRUCTURE, UM, WHICH IS REALLY UNIQUE IN, IN PUBLIC ART SETTINGS. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER ANDERSON. AND THEN COMMISSIONER KEYS, DID YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? OKAY. COMMISSIONER ANDERSON. OKAY. HI. THANK YOU. UM, THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION. I JUST WONDERED IF, UM, FOLLOWING UP ON KIND OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT THAT CAME EARLIER, WERE ANY OF THE APPLICATION APPLICATIONS IN SPANISH, UM, BY ANY CHANCE? AND ALSO, UH, ARE YOUR CONTRACTS OFFERED IN SPANISH? JUST CURIOUS IF WE WANNA BE CONSISTENT ACROSS PROGRAMS. THANK YOU. WE DID PROMOTE OUR CALL IN SPANISH AND WE HAD THE APPLICATION IN SPAN THE, ON A ONLINE APPLICATION IN SPANISH BOTH THIS YEAR AND LAST YEAR. UM, WE, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO, TO TRANSLATE THE CONTRACTS. UM, WE HAVE NOT HAD THAT REQUEST COME THROUGH US TO US YET. OKAY. AND DID YOU HAVE ANY, UH, APPLICATIONS IN SPANISH OR NO, WE DID NOT. OKAY. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR MS. THOMAS? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. I'M SENDING YOU BEST OF EVERYTHING THAT YOU GET NINE PROJECTS IN THE GROUND BEFORE SOUTH BY . FINGERS CROSSED. [5. Staff briefing regarding an update on the Hotel Occupancy Tax by Jesús Pantel, Cultural Funding Supervisor.] NOW WE'RE MOVING INTO STAFF BRIEF BRIEFINGS. ITEM NUMBER FIVE, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING AN UPDATE ON THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX BY JESUS TEL CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR. GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. CAN YOU HEAR ME? AH, OKAY, NOW CAN YOU HEAR ME? THERE WE GO. GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. JESUS PANTEL CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR. MY PRONOUNS ARE HE, HIS, I AM A LATINO WITH LONG GRAY HAIR AND SALT AND PEPPER BEARD, WEARING A GRAY SHIRT. AND WITH THIS PRESENTATION I WILL BE SHARING OUR HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX COLLECTION NUMBERS. UM, LET'S SEE. SO THE TOTAL HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX COLLECTION IN OCTOBER WAS $27,915,677. THIS MEANS OUR HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX CULTURAL ARTS FUND COLLECTION FOR OCTOBER WAS $2,669,756. WITH THESE OCTOBER NUMBERS, WE ARE APPROXIMATELY 70 17% TOWARDS OUR APPROVED, UM, FY 26 BUDGET. UM, [00:50:01] AND AS A REMINDER, THERE IS A DELAY IN HOW HOT REPORTING HAPPENS. UH, THIS NOVEMBER PRESENTATION SHOWS FUNDS COLLECTED IN OCTOBER FOR HOTEL STAYS IN SEPTEMBER. UM, AND AS PART OF OUR ONGOING EFFORT TO STRENGTHEN ANALYSIS OF HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX COLLECTIONS, UH, SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN UH, SEPTEMBER ARE LISTED ON THE SLIDE. AND WHILE THIS DOES NOT CAPTURE THE FULL SPECTRUM OF TOURISM DRIVING EVENTS, IT DOES HELP ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOT REVENUE TRENDS. AND ACCORDING TO THE AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT REPORTS, UH, TOTAL, UH, PASSENGER TRAFFIC IN SEPTEMBER, UM, WAS 1,729,398, WHICH REPRESENTS A 3.87% INCREASE COMPARED TO SEPTEMBER, UH, 2024. AND THIS GRAPH SHOWS OUR MONTHLY PROGRESS ONE MONTH IN, UH, TOWARDS THE APPROVED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 26. UM, AGAIN, OUR HEART CULTURAL ARTS FUND ACTUALS FOR FISCAL YEAR 26, UM, OUR $2,669,756. AS A REMINDER, THE FUNDS COLLECTED IN FY 26 WILL BE USED TO FUND PROGRAMS IN THE FISCAL YEAR 2027. AND I HAVE ASKED FOR A REPORT ON SHORT TERM RENTALS SHARE OF A HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX AND WILL PROVIDE THAT INFO WHEN IT IS RECEIVED. I HAVE NOT RECEIVED THAT BACK YET. UM, AND WITH THAT I WILL ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL MAY HAVE. CAN I SHARE MABO? HI, JESUS. DID YOU HAVE THE SLIDE THAT SHOWS AND I JUST TUNED OUT, UM, THIS, YOU KNOW, OCTOBER COLLECTION THIS YEAR VERSUS LAST YEAR? I DO NOT HAVE ONE, UH, SHOWING THIS YEAR TO LAST YEAR, UM, AS THAT SLIDE IS LIKE FOR THE QUARTER. UM, SO I REMEMBER LOOKING AT IT, I DON'T HAVE THAT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I KNOW IT WAS A LARGE AMOUNT COLLECTED IN OCTOBER OF LAST YEAR AS WELL. JUST LIKE IT'S A LARGE AMOUNT COLLECTED, UH, THIS YEAR. MM-HMM . OKAY. I JUST REALLY WANNA KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE CHANGES. UM, GIVEN THE CLOSURE, AS I KEEP SAYING OF THE, UM, CONVENTION CENTER. AND I DID GET NUMBERS FROM THREE POINT PARTNERS, UH, ABOUT WHAT PERCENTAGE, UM, OF HOT IS COMING FROM, UH, THE SHORT TERM RENTALS VERSUS, YOU KNOW, REGULAR HOTEL STAYS FOR THE LAST TWO QUARTERS OF LAST FISCAL. AND IT DOES SEEM LIKE THE HOTEL, LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE SAW THIS IN THE OVERALL NUMBERS THAT OUR OVERALL POT IS SLIGHTLY LOWER, UM, BUT NOT BY THAT MUCH. AND IT DOES APPEAR THAT THAT UNIFORM COLLECTION OF STR HOT IS MAKING UP FOR THE LOSS IN OVERALL LIKE TOURISM SLOWDOWN AND THE, YOU KNOW, SLOWING OF HOTEL STAYS, I GUESS BECAUSE OF PRESUMABLY PARTIALLY INFLUENCED BY THE CONVENTION CENTER CLOSURE. IT JUST FEELS LIKE SUPER, SUPER IMPORTANT THAT SOMEBODY'S KEEPING TRACK OF THIS AND PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO IT BECAUSE IT IS THE DRIVER OF ALL OF OUR CULTURAL GRANTS. UM, AND SO WE JUST REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE PATTERN IS TELLING US SO THAT WE CAN BE PREPARED SINCE WE'RE MOVING INTO SOMEWHAT OF AN AUSTERITY TIME ANYWAY WITH ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE GOING ON IN THE CITY AND FEDERALLY. SO JUST MY SOAPBOX AGAIN, BUT I DID GET SOME ANSWERS ON THAT. UM, AND THAT'S WHAT THE TREND SEEMS LIKE IT'S SHOWING. UM, BUT YEAH, ANY MORE INFORMATION THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE OBVIOUSLY IS STILL VERY WELCOME. THANK YOU. NATIONAL GARZA. KIND OF FOLLOWING UP A LITTLE BIT ON HEIDI'S THING, UH, ABOUT SHOWING THE BAR GRAPH. I'D LIKE TO SEE THE BAR GRAPHS GOING FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR. UH, ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK BAR GRAPHS HELPS US DO IS TO SEE WHERE THE PEAKS AND THE VALLEYS ARE AS FAR AS TOURISM GOES. I THINK THAT WOULD BE EXTREMELY HELPFUL FOR OUR CONTRACTORS SO THAT THEY DON'T PLAN THINGS WHEN YOU'RE ON A DEEP VALLEY. UH, NOW I KNOW THAT, UH, WE'RE HAVING LESS TOURISTS AND WHATNOT, AND THERE'S VARIOUS REASONS FOR THAT, INCLUDING DEMOGRAPHICS, YOU KNOW, JUST LIKE OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS IS LOSING POPULATION, SO IS THE CITY IN SPECIFIC AREAS, UH, WE'RE HAVING LESS AND LESS KIDS GOING TO SCHOOL. UH, NOT BECAUSE THERE'S, BECAUSE THERE'S LESS AND LESS KIDS. WE'RE HAVING LESS AND LESS KIDS. THIS THE WHOLE, THE ENTIRE COUNTRY IS, UH, WE'RE NOT EVEN AT THE TWO, TWO KIDS PER COUPLE ANYMORE. WE'RE BELOW THAT. UH, AND THAT TRANSLATES GENERATION TO GENERATION TO GENERATION. THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE SUCH A HIGH NUMBER OF SENIOR CITIZENS NOW AS OPPOSED TO MAYBE 20, 30 YEARS AGO. AND OF COURSE, AS THE CITY GETS OLDER, MORE GRAY [00:55:01] HAIR GOING ON, UH, THE LESS STUFF YOU DO, YOU GO OUT IN THE PUBLIC, YOU KNOW, UH, AS MUCH AS I LOVE GOING TO SHOWS AND WHATNOT, YOU KNOW, I THINK I LOVE HANGING OUT WITH MY GRANDKIDS A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN WATCHING THE BALLET EVERY NOW AND THEN. AND SO WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF THAT THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF AUSTIN. UH, YEAH, WE'RE GONNA KEEP HAVING A LITTLE BIT, A LITTLE BIT LESS MONEY COMING IN THROUGH TOURISM, JUST LIKE THEIR SCHOOL DISTRICT IS HAVING A LITTLE BIT LESS AND LESS MONEY COMING IN BECAUSE THERE'S LESS AND LESS PEOPLE COMING IN. THAT'S ALL THERE IS TO IT. UH, BUT, UH, AGAIN, I WOULD REALLY, REALLY LIKE TO SEE A MONTHLY, UH, BAR GRAPH SO WE KNOW EXACTLY AND EVERYBODY CAN PREDICT A LITTLE BIT BETTER WHERE THE PEAKS AND VALLEYS ARE. AND THEN WE CAN EVEN GO BACK AND COMPARE, YOU KNOW, THE CURRENT PEAKS AND VALLEYS TO WHEN BEFORE THE CONVENTION CENTER, ARE WE STILL FOLLOWING THE SAME PEAKS AND VALLEYS OR HAVE THEY ALTERED? THAT WOULD BE REALLY NICE TO KNOW, ESPECIALLY FOR OUR CONTRACTORS WHO ARE PLANNING THEIR ACTIVITIES AND PLANNING THEIR CONTRACTS AND, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY GET MORE MONEY. THANK YOU. ON THE, ON THE FIRST SLIDE, JESUS, WHAT IS HOTEL MOTEL PENALTIES AND INTEREST? THAT FIRST LINE? UM, SO THE PENALTIES AND INTEREST WOULD BE, UM, I'M NOT SURE WHAT, UM, ANY PENALTIES WOULD BE, BUT INTEREST, YOU KNOW, ANY INTEREST THAT THAT IS ACCRUED, UM, IN THE ACCOUNT, UM, GETS, UM, ADDED IN. UM, AND SO IT'S A HOTEL OCCUPANCY, TAX AMOUNTS ACTUALLY COLLECTED. CAN YOU, UH, BRING THAT, UH, SLIDE UP AGAIN PLEASE? JUST SO THAT WAY WE CAN SEE WHAT THE CHAIR IS TALKING ABOUT? OKAY. YEAH, THAT TOP LINE. SO THE HOTEL MOTEL, OCCUPANCY TAX PENALTIES AND INTEREST. UM, SO WITH THE APPROVED BUDGET IS 511,000. UM, I'M LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT, UH, UM, WELL IN THE, IN THE FIRST COLUMN, UH, 166 MILLION, ALMOST 167 MILLION BROUGHT IN TOTAL. UM, BUT OVER HALF A MILLION IN, UM, UH, PENALTIES AND INTEREST. THAT'S A POSITIVE NUMBER. SO THAT WOULD BE, UM, INTEREST AND, UM, THINGS THAT ARE COMING IN THAT WAY, WHICH LEADS TO THE TOTAL REVENUE OF THE 167 MILLION. SO WE DO, UH, UH, BUDGET THAT IN, UM, INCLUDING THE TRANSFER INTO THE CULTURAL ARTS FUND OF 15.9 MILLION. OKAY. SO IT'S INTEREST THAT WE'RE EARNING ON THE REVENUE COLLECTED. THAT IS MY UNDERSTANDING, YES. OKAY. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU, JESUS. MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER [6. Staff briefing regarding update on the Cultural Arts Funding Programs by Jesús Pantel, Cultural Funding Supervisor.] SIX, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING UPAND CULTURAL ARTS FUNDING PROGRAM BY JESUS PANTEL, CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR. ALL RIGHT, I AM STILL HERE, COMMISSIONERS, UH, THIS TIME TALKING ABOUT THE CULTURAL ARTS, UH, FUNDING PROGRAM UPDATE. UM, OOPS, THERE WE GO. SO, UH, TODAY WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT CONTRACTS AND PAYMENTS AS WELL AS OUR GRANT FUNDED ACTIVITIES. UM, CONTRACT AND PAYMENTS. UH, NOTICE WHAT YOU DO NOT SEE ON THIS SLIDE IS THE FY 23 ELEVATE GRANTS, UM, INFORMATION. THEY HAVE ALL BEEN CLOSED OUT, UM, FY 24 ELEVATE GRANTS, UH, GO THROUGH DECEMBER 31ST, 2025. UM, THE MAJORITY OF THOSE WILL, UM, FINAL REPORTS ARE DUE JANUARY 31ST, 2026. UH, SO YOU'RE NOT REALLY GONNA SEE, UM, UH, LOWER NUMBERS OR HIGHER NUMBERS, YOU KNOW, IN THAT PAYMENT. THREE ISSUE DOWN AT THE BOTTOM FOR THAT FAR 24 ELEVATE, UH, TILL JANUARY OR FEBRUARY SINCE THE VAST MAJORITY OF, UM, OUR CONTRACTORS DO TURN IN THEIR FINAL REPORTS. UM, AT THAT TIME, UH, WE HAVE, UM, UH, ONE MORE IN, UH, FY 24 NEXUS. UH, WE'RE TRYING TO CLOSE THAT, UH, CLOSE OUT AND, UH, MAKING GOOD PROGRESS ON OUR THRIVE, WHICH IS A TWO YEAR PROGRAM. UM, SO WE'RE ALMOST, UH, TO THE END OF YEAR ONE AGAIN. UM, IT GOES THROUGH DECEMBER, JUST LIKE, UH, ELEVATE DOES AND THEN YEAR TWO OF THRIVE, UH, WILL BEGIN IN JANUARY. UM, AND THEN GRANT FUNDED ACTIVITIES, UM, I WILL NOT, UH, READ ALL THE ACTIVITIES, BUT I WILL JUST READ THE NAME OF SOME OF THE GRANTEES THAT WE HAVE, UH, WITH THE, UM, EVENTS COMING UP BETWEEN NOW AND YOUR NEXT ARTS COMMISSION MEETING, UH, THE MOSAIC WORKSHOP, SMALL WONDERS ENTERTAINMENT, WALKING SHADOW, SHAKESPEARE PROJECT, AND BROAD THEATER ALL HAVE EVENTS COMING UP AS DO, UH, AUSTIN, AUSTIN BATCAVE, THE AUSTIN IRANIAN PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION, AS WELL AS GREAT PROMISE FOR AMERICAN INDIANS STUDIO 22 PRODUCTIONS AND AFTER VIOLENCE PROJECT. AND THAT IS THAT PRESENTATION, UM, ON THE CULTURAL FUNDING UPDATES. AND I WILL, UM, ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU ALL MAY HAVE. THANK YOU, JESUS. ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT CULTURAL FUNDING PROGRAMS? COMMISSIONER CHENEY? HI, THANK YOU FOR THAT. I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION. UM, UNDER THRIVE, [01:00:01] IT SAID THERE WAS 35, UM, AWARDEES, AND YOU'VE PROBABLY ANSWERED THIS BEFORE, BUT 35 AWARDEES, BUT ONLY 34 CONTRACTS. AND SINCE IT IS A TWO YEAR GRANT, DOES THAT MEAN IT'S LIKE A DOUBLE QUESTION. FIRST QUESTION IS, IS DOES THAT MEAN ONE APPLICANT JUST CHOSE OR DIDN'T DO THE CONTRACT? SO WE ARE STILL WORKING WITH THEM TO, THEY WERE LATE IN THEIR PREVIOUS ONE AND WE'RE WORKING TO GET EVERYTHING SIGNED WITH THEM. UH, THEY DO HAVE TO GET IT IN BEFORE YOU KNOW, THE, THE NEXT YEAR. UM, BUT UM, SO THEY HAVE NOT DECLINED THEIR CONTRACT YET, BUT WE ARE WORKING WITH THEM TO GET THEM INTO IT. GOT IT. SO THEY WERE A THRIVE RECIPIENT LAST TWO YEAR CYCLE, BUT THEY HAVEN'T DONE THE FINAL REPORT FOR THAT ONE, SO THEY CAN'T GET THE NEW ONE. WELL, THEY HAVE NOW, BUT AT THE TIME, YES. SO THAT'S THE WAY ALL OF OUR CONTRACTS WORK, IS YOU CANNOT, EVEN IF YOU ARE AWARDED IN ONE, YOU CANNOT ENTER INTO THE NEW CONTRACT UNTIL YOU CLOSE OUT, UH, YOUR PREVIOUS FINAL REPORT. SO THAT IS WHERE WE ARE WITH THIS ONE. SO IT'S JUST A LITTLE BIT OF A, UM, UM, BUBBLE OVER IS NOT THE RIGHT WORD, BUT IT, YOU KNOW, DELAY, DELAY CARRY OVER EFFECT. YEAH. OKAY. THAT WAS IT. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UM, JUST ACKNOWLEDGING THAT COMMISSIONER GARZA HAS LEFT THE EYES, WHICH SHOULD BE BACK MOMENTARILY. COMMISSIONER MADLA, THANK YOU CHAIR. UM, WELL, UM, MAYBE NOT A DIRECTLY RELATED QUESTION, BUT I THINK IT PROBABLY STILL IMPACTS, UH, THE GRANTS AND, UH, HOW THEY GET DELIVERED, UH, WITH ALL THE, UH, NEW BUDGET CONSIDERATIONS. UH, ARE THERE, UM, ARE THERE ITEMS, LINE ITEMS FOR ACME, UH, THAT ARE BEING CUT? I WOULD LIKE TO UNDERSTAND, UM, IF YOU ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE INFORMATION, UH, ON WHAT KIND OF, UH, CUTS THAT I WOULD ASSUME WOULD BE ACROSS THE BOARD, ACROSS SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE BEING PROPOSED. HOW DOES IT, UH, IMPACT OR MAY POTENTIALLY IMPACT ACME? UM, I WOULD ASSUME THE HOT PROGRAMS WILL NOT GET IMPACTED, BUT ANYTHING THAT'S COMING OUT, GENERAL FUNDING, UH, IF YOU COULD PLEASE PROVIDE ANY UPDATE ON THAT. THANK YOU. BEFORE I TURN IT OVER TO ASSISTANT DIRECTOR MORGAN MESSICK. UM, YES, THE LATTER PART OF, UH, WHAT YOU WERE SAYING THERE, UM, IT WILL NOT IMPACT HOT BECAUSE WE MOVED FROM OUR PROJECTIONS TO ACTUALS A FEW YEARS BACK. SO WE KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY WE HAVE TO AWARD OUT, UM, IN ALL THE HOT FUNDING PROGRAMS, NOT JUST THE CULTURAL FUNDING PROGRAM, BUT IN THE LIVE MUSIC FUND, UM, AND IN THE HERITAGE TOURISM GRANTS AS WELL. BUT FOR OTHER ACME EFFECTS, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO ASSISTANT DIRECTOR MORGAN MESSICK. THANK YOU. EVENING COMMISSIONERS. UM, MORGAN MESSICK, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ACME. AND UM, THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION. SO THIS IS BUDGET WEEK. WE ARE ON THE HEELS OF THE TAX RATE ELECTION, NOT PASSING. AND SO THE CITY MANAGER HAS PUBLISHED, UM, HIS UPDATED BASE BUDGET AND TOMORROW COUNCIL, CITY COUNCIL WILL CONVENE TO START DISCUSSIONS AROUND HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT THE BASE BUDGET AND THE, UM, SUGGESTED CHANGES THEY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE AND KIND OF GO BACK THROUGH THAT PROCESS AGAIN. IT'S SUPPOSED TO WRAP UP BY THIS FRIDAY, WHICH IS A REALLY FAST PROCESS. SO THIS MORNING WE WERE REVIEWING THE COUNCIL MESSAGE BOARDS, UM, IN CASE YOU ALL ARE NOT FAMILIAR, CITY COUNCIL, UM, POSTS A LOT OF INFORMATION ON THEIR MESSAGE BOARDS. AND WE DID DISCOVER TODAY THAT AN ITEM CAME FORWARD FROM A COUNCIL MEMBER WHO WAS LOOKING TO CUT, UH, THE CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AS PART OF THEIR RECOMMENDED BUDGET CUTS. OF COURSE, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FINAL BUDGET WILL BE UNTIL THEY PASS IT, RIGHT, THAT THEY, THERE WILL BE A NUMBER OF CONVERSATIONS ABOUT POTENTIAL THINGS THAT BELONG IN THE GENERAL FUND THAT COULD BE CUT TO BE TRANSITIONED TO OTHER SERVICES. AND FOR OUR DEPARTMENT, THAT IS A POTENTIAL IMPACT THAT WE LEARNED ABOUT TODAY THAT WE WILL BE TRACKING. UM, IT IS $500,000 AND IT IS WRAPPED UP IN THE ECONOMIC INCENTIVE RESERVE FUND, UH, WITH AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WHERE OUR PROGRAMS HAVE TRANSITIONED FROM. SO WE, UM, ARE ALSO TRYING TO GET CLARITY ON THAT, BUT THAT'S OUR UNDERSTANDING IS THAT HAS A, A RECOMMENDATION THAT HAS BEEN MADE. THANK YOU. UH, SO THE, THE LINE ITEM THAT SAYS, UH, OH, I DID LOOK AT THE MESSAGE BOARD, THE LINE ITEM THAT SAYS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, THAT'S WHERE THIS, THIS AMOUNT IS SITTING. I DIDN'T OBVIOUSLY CONNECT IT TO CSAP OR ANYTHING ELSE. YEAH. YES, IT UM, I WOULD, I DON'T HAVE IT IN FRONT OF ME AND I FORGOT MY LAPTOP, SO I ACTUALLY CAN'T PULL IT UP. OKAY. BUT IT'S ON THE MESSAGE BOARD AND UM, IT'S, LIKE I SAID, IT'S NOT SET IN STONE. IT'S JUST A CONVERSATION THAT SOME, THE DISCUSSION ITEM, SOME COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL BE BRINGING FORWARD. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'LL BE SPOKEN ABOUT TOMORROW, THE COUNCIL MEETING OR IN THE, IN THE NEXT COMING DAYS, UM, YOU KNOW, THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE WEEK. BUT IT WILL BE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION I ANTICIPATE. OKAY, THANK YOU. UH, WHAT IS THE IMPACT OR, OR POTENTIAL IMPACT OR PROPOSED IMPACT TO THE DEPARTMENT ITSELF? UM, OH, DEPARTMENT WIDE IMPACTS OVERALL? YES. SO THE, AND THE CITY MANAGER'S NEW BASE [01:05:01] BUDGET HE PUT FORWARD, THEY DID CUT, UM, I BELIEVE AROUND $200,000 FROM THE ACME BUDGET THAT WAS ORIGINALLY PROPOSED FOR THIS YEAR. AND WHAT THAT HAS RESULTED IN IS, UM, SOME GENERAL FUND BUDGET DECREASES AS WELL AS SOME POTENTIAL IMPACTS TO THE FINANCE POSITIONS WE WERE SUPPOSED TO RECEIVE FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR. UM, AND SO AGAIN, THE BASE BUDGET IS JUST THE STARTING POINT. WE WILL SEE WHERE THEY LAND AS THEY HAVE THEIR DISCUSSIONS THIS WEEK. SO, UM, NOTHING IS SET IN STONE, I'LL SAY THAT, BUT YES, THE, THE, THE CITY MANAGER DID MAKE SOME CUTS TO THE BASE BUDGET IN REGARDS TO OUR DEPARTMENT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. COMMISSIONER GARZA HAS RETURNED TO THE DIET. I'D LIKE TO ADD JUST A LITTLE BIT OF, IF NOT CLARITY, BUT UM, YEAH, MAYBE CLARITY IS A GOOD WORD. UH, SO CSAP IS NOT FUNDED BY THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, SO THAT'S WHY IT IS, UH, POTENTIALLY UP FOR HAVING A REDUCTION IN FUNDING. THE REST OF THE PROGRAMS ARE FUNDED BY HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, SO THEY ARE NOT IN DANGER OF GETTING FUNDING OR RECEIVING LESS FUNDING, BUT CSAP IS NOT FUNDED BY HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, SO THAT'S WHY IT IS POTENTIALLY ON, UH, THE CHOPPING BLOCK OR BEING REDUCED OR WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE. DO YOU NEED US TO, UH, NUDGE OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS REGARDING NOT CUTTING THE KNEES OFF OF A NEW DEPARTMENT DIVISION THAT WE'VE BEEN ASKING FOR FOREVER? AND IF THEY HOBBLE YOU AT THE GATE, THEN THAT'S A PROBLEM. YOUR ADVOCACY IS ALWAYS WELCOMED. . THANK YOU VERY MUCH. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER SHOW CHENEY? YES. UM, WHEN DO THEY, I THINK IT'S LIKE NEXT, I DON'T KNOW, WHEN DO THEY DECIDE ON THE BUDGET? BUDGET ADOPTION IS SET FOR POTENTIALLY THIS THURSDAY, BUT THEY ALSO SCHEDULED A A FR A FRIDAY MEETING IN CASE THEY NEED MORE DELIBERATIONS. SO THEIR GOAL IS TO HAVE IT WRAPPED UP BY THE END OF THIS WEEK. SO BASICALLY BY THE END OF THIS WEEK, WE'LL KNOW IF CSOP IS CUT OR NOT. ABSOLUTELY. THAT'S THE GOAL. OKAY. WELL TIME TO GET TO WORK. . ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER KEYS? YEAH, SO I JUST WANTED TO KNOW HOW THEY WERE EVALUATING. 'CAUSE IF, IF SOME OF THE CREATIVE SPACES ARE, COULD POSSIBLY OR BUDGET COULD BE CUT, UM, IS MAYBE LIKE THE CREATIVE, I THINK IT'S RESET PHASE SURVEY, IS THAT GOING TO HELP DETERMINE, DETERMINE MAYBE HOW RESOURCES ARE ALLOCATED BASED ON THE BUDGET? SO FOR THE, FOR THE CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, THAT'S, UM, SPECIFICALLY THE FUNDS ARE FOR THE GRANT. SO IT HASN'T BEEN TIED UP IN ANY CONVERSATIONS AROUND THE CREATIVE RESET PHASE TWO, BUT THAT EFFORT IS, UM, HEAVILY FOCUSED ON, YOU'RE RIGHT, THE CULTURAL FACILITIES AND CREATIVE SPACES AROUND THE CITY. WHAT I ANTICIPATE IS ONCE THE BUDGET IS SETTLED THAT WE AS A DEPARTMENT WILL HAVE TO DO AN INTERNAL AUDIT OF LIKE, WHERE DO OUR FUNDS LIE? UM, BECAUSE OUR FUNDS ARE LIMITED AND WE REALLY HAVE TO FIGURE OUT AN EQUITABLE WAY TO DISTRIBUTE ACROSS PROGRAMS AND FACILITIES. SO I, I DO ANTICIPATE THE FEEDBACK WE GET FROM THE CREATIVE RESET PHASE TWO, WHICH IS ONGOING. UM, RIGHT NOW THERE, THERE'S A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEETING HAPPENING UP NORTH AT THE ASIAN AMERICAN RESOURCE CENTER AS WE SPEAK, UM, THAT WILL INFORM THE DIRECTION, BUT IT WON'T, IT WON'T BE WRAPPED UP IN WHATEVER HAPPENS WITH THE CSAP PROGRAM. GOTCHA. UM, AND WHEN DO YOU KNOW WHEN THAT WRAPS UP? UM, AND, AND HONESTLY, LIKE I, I WAS GOING TO SHARE IT , UM, BUT WHEN I LOOKED AT IT AND I SAW SOME OF THE FIRST COUPLE OF QUESTIONS, I SAW IT, IT WAS LIKE LOADED WITH UNINTENDED BIAS. AND SO I JUST, I'M LIKE, THESE WERE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT I HAVE MENTIONED THAT WE'VE HAD PEOPLE CONTINUOUSLY MENTION ABOUT THE CULTURAL CENTERS. AND SO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS WERE LIKE, OH, IN THE PAST YEAR, HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU HAVE YOU, YOU KNOW, ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THESE SPACES? HAVE YOU VISITED THESE SPACES? AND SO SOME OF THEM ON THERE WERE THE PINK HOUSE, THE CARVER, THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE FACILITY AND MILLENNIUM. AND THERE WAS NO CONTEXT ABOUT A LOT OF TIMES, LIKE FOR INSTANCE, THE CULTURAL HERITAGE FACILITY NOT BEING OPERATIONAL AND NOT HAVING STAFF. SO THERE'S NOT ABLE TO BE PROGRAMMING THERE IF THERE'S NOT STAFF TO ACTUALLY HAVE PROGRAMMING. AND THEN I EVEN SAW THAT WITH THE PINK HOUSE AND EVEN WITH THE CARVER, CARVER HAS BEEN DOING A LOT OF PROGRAMMING, HONESTLY, EVEN WITHOUT, YOU KNOW, BEFORE HAVING AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR. BUT I THINK EVEN WITH THAT, THAT KIND OF ADDS TO INSTABILITY IN SOME OF THE CULTURAL SPACES. AND SO I GUESS, YOU KNOW, MY QUESTION IS LIKE, HOW ARE WE [01:10:01] ADDRESSING THE UNINTENDED BIAS? 'CAUSE INITIALLY I SAW IT IN THE FIRST TWO QUESTIONS, IT WAS LIKE, UM, MAYBE I'M JUST TOO CLOSE TO THIS. AND THEN I PUT IT IN CHAT GBT AND IT GAVE LIKE 10 DIFFERENT PLACES WHERE THERE WERE UNINTENDED BIAS IN THE SURVEYS. AND SO I JUST WANTED TO KNOW, LIKE, YOU KNOW, ARE WE, HOW ARE THOSE QUESTIONS, HOW ARE THOSE SURVEYS BUILT? BECAUSE THAT CAN CONTINUE TO PERPETUATE SOME OF THE INEQUITIES THAT PEOPLE ARE VOICING CONCERNS ABOUT. I APPRECIATE THAT FEEDBACK. UM, I WISH I HAD MORE INFORMATION. I DON'T PERSONALLY LEAD THAT PROJECT, UM, SINCE I'VE BEEN SO FOCUSED ON THE CREATIVE RESET PHASE ONE AND THE GRANTS WORK. BUT WHAT I'M HAPPY TO DO IS, UM, GET WITH, UH, CANDACE COOPER, OUR INTERIM CAO AND LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT. UM, AND I, I KNOW SHE ALWAYS FOLLOWS UP AND WATCHES THE COMMISSIONS LATER, SO WE'LL MAKE SURE SHE GETS EYES ON YOUR FEEDBACK AND WE CAN CIRCLE UP WITH YOU. AND I THINK YOU STARTED OFF WITH A QUESTION ABOUT THE TIMELINE FOR THAT. AND WE CAN ALSO MAKE SURE WE SEND OUT, UM, SOME, JUST INFORMATION ABOUT PHASE TWO AS WELL. AND WE CAN COME BACK AT THE NEXT MEETING AND DO A FORMAL PRESENTATION ON THAT. I THINK THAT'LL BE A GREAT CHANCE FOR US TO, TO HAVE LIKE SOME DIALOGUE ON RECORD AS WELL TO HELP IMPROVE IT. GOTCHA. FOR SURE. 'CAUSE I WANNA JUST PICK AS FAR AS LIKE, YOU KNOW, JUST THE TIMELINE, IF THAT'S IMPACTING OR INFORMING WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THAT, THEN IT KIND OF MATTERS, YOU KNOW, IF THOSE, YEAH, WE HAVE TO REEVALUATE THAT. BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH. APPRECIATE IT. JUST TO CLARIFY, IF CSAP GETS CUT, THAT IS A POT OF MONEY BY ITSELF. IT JUST GETS, THEY JUST CUT THE PROGRAM. THAT IS MY UNDERSTANDING. THAT'S WHAT WE'VE SEEN WHEN OTHER, UM, CHUNKS OF MONEY THAT ARE NOT RELATED TO HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, THINGS RELATED TO THE GENERAL FUND OR THESE OTHER MORE MALLEABLE BUCKETS OF MONEY WHEN THEY ARE UP TO BE REMOVED. UM, THEY ARE GENERALLY REMOVED ONGOING FOREVER. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU SO MUCH. MOVING [7. Staff briefing regarding an update on the AACME Funding Programs by Laura Odegaard, Acting Division Manager, AACME.] ON TO ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING AN UPDATE ON THE ACME FUNDING PROGRAMS BY LAURA ODEGAARD, ACTING DIVISION MANAGER. ACME. GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. THERE IT IS. AWESOME. UM, MY NAME IS LAURA ODEGAARD, ACTING DIVISION MANAGER WITH ACME. UM, AND FUN NEW UPDATES FOR YOU ALL. SO SINCE LAST MONTH, UM, WE'VE HAD A REALIGNMENT WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT. THIS IS PART OF AN ONGOING PROCESS, UM, WITH OUR CREATIVE RESET, WITH LOOKING AT THE FUNDING PROGRAMS, WITH LOOKING AT THE CULTURAL FACILITIES AND THE OTHER PHASES TO COME. UM, AND AS PART OF THAT, WE'RE TRYING TO OPTIMIZE WHERE OUR STAFF LIVES WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT. UM, AND SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS NOW I AM THE ACTING DIVISION MANAGER OVER ALL FUNDING PROGRAMS SO THAT IT INCLUDES NOT JUST THE CULTURAL ARTS FUND, WHICH IS THE NEXUS ELEVATE AND GRANT AND AND THRIVE PROGRAMS, UM, BUT ALSO THE LIVE MUSIC FUND, UM, THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANTS, CSAP CURRENTLY, UM, AS WELL AS SOME SPECIAL PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE, UM, UNDER CONTRACT WITH THE DEPARTMENT. UM, SO THAT JUST STARTED THIS MONTH. UM, EXCITING. SO WITH THAT, I'M HOPING TO GIVE A MORE HOLISTIC, UM, OVERVIEW AT ARTS COMMISSION, AT MUSIC COMMISSION AT OTHER COMMISSIONS THAT WE PRESENT AT, UM, DURING, UM, DURING THIS PROCESS. UM, SO YOU ALL ARE AS UP TO DATE WITH ALL OF THE PROGRAMS AS POSSIBLE. UM, SO THE GUIDELINES, AS Y'ALL KNOW, THIS CAME OUT OF THE PHASE ONE. UM, SO JUST WANTED TO LINK THEM HERE, UH, AGAIN, FOR EASY ACCESS. UH, A REMINDER THAT ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS THERE IS THE THREE STEP PROCESS WHERE THERE'S THE INTAKE FORM THAT HAS TO BE COMPLETED BY THE LEAD APPLICANT. UM, JUST WANT TO, WE HAD SOME QUESTIONS FROM FISCAL SPONSORS ABOUT IF THEY SHOULD APPLY FIRST OR IF THEIR SPONSORED PROJECT SHOULD APPLY FIRST IN THE INTAKE FORM, THE SPONSORED PROJECT MUST COMPLETE THE INTAKE FORM INDEPENDENT OF THEIR FISCAL SPONSOR, AND THEN THEY CAN ADD THEM ON AFTERWARDS. UM, ADDITIONALLY, JUST AS A REMINDER, I'M GONNA SAY THIS AGAIN TO PLEASE SELECT ALL GRANT PROGRAMS YOU THINK YOU MIGHT BE ELIGIBLE FOR AT THIS STAGE BECAUSE THAT DETERMINES WHAT ELIGIBILITY FORMS YOU WILL THEN BE SENT. UM, SO THE INTAKE AND ELIGIBILITY FORMS, THOSE ARE DUE BY 6 59 ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4TH. AND THEN ONCE YOU ARE IN THE SYSTEM, THEN YOU'LL HAVE UNTIL THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11TH TO FINISH YOUR ACTUAL APPLICATION. BUT YOU WILL NOT HAVE THAT EXTRA WEEK UNLESS YOU ARE ALREADY COMPLETED THE INTAKE AND ELIGIBILITY [01:15:01] FORMS. UM, SO JUST WANTED TO GIVE A QUICK, VERY QUICK HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF THE FOUR PROGRAMS OPEN NOW, WHICH YOU SHOULD ALL BE FAMILIAR WITH. BUT ALSO YOU HAD MENTIONED LAST MONTH THAT YOU WANTED A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANT. UM, SO FIGURED I WOULD JUST THROW THEM ALL IN HERE FOR AWARENESS PURPOSES. UM, SO THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND, HOPEFULLY MOST OF YOU'RE PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THIS ONE, TO ENCOURAGE, PROMOTE, IMPROVE, AND SHOWCASE AUSTIN'S DIVERSE MUSIC INDUSTRY. AND SO THIS PROGRAM, THERE ARE THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF AWARDS. THERE'S ONE TYPE WHICH IS $60,000 FOR LIVE MUSIC VENUES, AND THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF AWARDS FOR PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS AND INDEPENDENT PROMOTERS. AND SO THERE'S THE $5,000 LEVEL, AND THAT IS A 12 MONTH GRANT AGREEMENT. AND THEN THERE'S A $20,000 LEVEL, WHICH IS A TWO YEAR OR 24 MONTH GRANT AGREEMENT TERM. UM, THIS PROGRAM, IT'S MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS THAT ARE AUTO SCORED AND YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR EACH OF THESE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS. UM, AND THE EVIDENCE IS THEN REVIEWED BY OUR THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR. AND THAT'S HOW, UM, AWARDS ARE DETERMINED FOR THIS PROGRAM. CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. WE'RE GOING TO BE OPTIMISTIC HERE. IT IS A $60,000 AWARD TO SUPPORT COMMERCIAL CREATIVE SPACES FACING DISPLACEMENT, UM, OR NEW LEASES AT HIGHER LEVEL OF RENTS. UM, WITH ALL OF THESE, UM, AGAIN, THIS IS JUST VERY, VERY HIGH LEVEL, UM, SPECIFIC DEFINITIONS ARE IN THE GUIDELINES, UM, AND STAFF IS ALWAYS HAPPY TO TALK THROUGH ANY OF THIS WITH YOU. UM, FOR ELEVATE, YOU SHOULD BE MOST FAMILIAR WITH THIS ONE, HOPEFULLY. BUT THESE ARE ONE YEAR AGREEMENTS THAT SUPPORT ARTS NONPROFITS, ARTS GROUPS, AND INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS PRODUCING PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE ARTS AND CULTURE ACTIVITIES. UM, THE EVALUATION REVIEW AND SCORING FOR ELEVATE, UM, AS YOU ALL KNOW, IT'S PANEL REVIEWS. UM, AS PART OF THIS, UH, APPLICATION THIS YEAR YEAR, THE APPLICANT DECIDES IF THEY SHOULD BE CONSIDERED IN THE EXHIBITION TYPE OF PANEL, THE PERFORMANCE TYPE PANEL OR THE ARTS EDUCATION, ART SERVICE, ART THERAPY PANEL. AND THEN WITHIN THOSE THREE TYPES OF PANEL PANELS, UM, THE APPLICANTS ARE THEN REVIEWED WITH GROUPS OF SIMILAR BUDGET SIZES. UH, SO WE HAVE THE THREE DIFFERENT, UH, TYPES OF AWARDS FOR ELEVATE. WE HAVE THE 5 0 1 C3 ARTS NONPROFIT AWARDS, THE STATE OF TEXAS NONPROFITS OR ARTS GROUP AWARDS, AND THEN THE INDIVIDUAL ARTIST AWARDS, AND THEN THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANT. SO THIS ONE IS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT. UM, SO HOPEFULLY YOU ALL CAN DO MORE RESEARCH AND LEARN ABOUT THIS ONE. UM, BUT ITS AIM IS TO PRESERVE AND PROMOTE PRESERVATION PROJECTS, EXPAND ACCESS TO HISTORIC SPACES AND HERITAGE RESOURCES TO SHOWCASE LOCAL STORIES ROOTED IN HISTORY AND TO SUPPORT THE CREATIVE ECONOMY TO ATTRACT AND EXPAND AUDIENCES AND ENGAGE TOURISTS. UM, SO THERE ARE MULTIPLE TYPES OF APPLICANTS ALLOWED WITH THIS PROGRAM. THE EVALUATION REVIEW AND SCORING FOR HERITAGE PRESERVATION IS SIMILAR-ISH TO ELEVATE IN THAT THERE IS A PANEL REVIEW PROCESS FOR HERITAGE PRESERVATION, BUT DIFFERENT FROM ELEVATE. THERE IS AN INTERDEPARTMENTAL STAFF REVIEW THAT LOOKS AT EVERY APPLICATION BEFORE IT GOES TO THE PANEL PROCESS BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF STATE MANDATED ELIGIBILITY IN THIS PROGRAM. AND SO WE HAVE TO DO AN INTERNAL CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL STAFF REVIEW BEFORE IT CAN MOVE TO THAT STAGE. AND THEN IT'S REVIEWED BY SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, WHETHER THAT'S PRESERVATION ARCHITECTS, MUSEUM EDUCATORS, UM, AND FOLKS LIKE THAT. AND SO THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANTS. THERE'S THE HERITAGE EVENTS AND THEN THERE'S THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS. AND SO FOR THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS, YOU HAVE TO HAVE HISTORIC DESIGNATION AND OWNER AUTHORIZATION, AND IT'S A TWO YEAR, 24 MONTH TERM UP TO $250. AND THEN THE HERITAGE EVENTS SIDE OF THINGS, THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT TYPES WITHIN THE HERITAGE EVENTS GRANT. ONE, YOU DO NOT NEED ANY TYPE OF HISTORIC DESIGNATION. AND ONE YOU DO FOR THE ONE THAT YOU DO NEED, UM, HISTORIC DESIGNATION, YOU CAN GET AN AWARD UP TO $150,000. AND THEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE THAT, UM, DESIGNATION, YOU CAN GET UP TO $50,000. AND SO TYPES OF HERITAGE EVENTS, UM, IN THIS GRANT INCLUDE THINGS LIKE EVENTS, FESTIVALS, PROGRAMS, UM, TOUR DEVELOPMENT, BUT IT'S REALLY ROOTED IN THE SPACE AND TELLING STORIES OF THAT [01:20:01] SPACE, WHETHER IT'S A, UM, A BUILDING OR SOMETHING SIMILAR. AND THEN I ALSO WANTED TO JUST GIVE YOU ALL AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED SO FAR. UM, SO WE HAVE RECEIVED FI 953 INTAKE FORMS IN SUBMITTABLE. AGAIN, THIS IS THE FIRST STAGE OF THE PROCESS. UM, FOUR OF THOSE WERE IN SPANISH. UM, AND THEN I HAVE IT BROKEN DOWN BY EACH PROGRAM AND WHETHER IT WAS IN ENGLISH OR SPANISH, UH, APPLICATION. AND SO THE DIFFERENT STAGES ARE THE INTAKE FORM, OBVIOUSLY FOR EVERYONE. AND THEN THE ELIGIBILITY FORMS. SO THIS IS THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE SAID IN THE INTAKE FORM. THEY ARE INTERESTED IN THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND, THE CREATIVE SPACE PROGRAM, ELEVATE OR HERITAGE PRESERVATION. AND SO WE HAVE SENT OUT 1,435 ELIGIBILITY FORMS ACROSS ALL PROGRAMS. AND THEN ONCE PEOPLE REVIEW THEM AND THEN THEY DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT THEY'RE GOING TO FILL OUT THE ELIGIBILITY FORM, WE'VE RECEIVED BACK IN SUBMITTABLE 652 OF THOSE ELIGIBILITY FORMS. ONCE WE RECEIVE THE ELIGIBILITY FORMS STAFF AND OUR WONDERFUL PARTNERS AT THE LONG CENTER REVIEW THE DIFFERENT ELIGIBILITY FORMS AND MAKE THE DETERMINATION IF THAT APPLICANT IS OR IS NOT ELIGIBLE. AND IF THEY ARE ELIGIBLE, THEN THEY RECEIVE AN APPLICATION FOR THAT PROGRAM OR THE LINK TO, UM, TO ACCESS THE APPLICATION. UM, SO WE HAVE SENT OUT 459 APPLICATIONS SO FAR ACROSS ALL PROGRAMS, AND WE HAVE ACTUALLY HAD 76 APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED SO FAR. UM, AGAIN, THE FIRST TWO PARTS OF THIS, THE ELIGIBILITY FORM AND THE INTAKE FORM, THOSE ARE DUE ON DECEMBER 4TH. AND THEN THE APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED IS THE DECEMBER 11TH DATE. SO AS WE ALL KNOW, PEOPLE TEND TO WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE, BUT WE WOULD ENCOURAGE EVERYONE THAT IS INTERESTED IN APPLYING TO, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE START EARLY. UM, AGAIN, JUST SOME QUICK REMINDERS THAT THE INTAKE FORM, UM, YOU CAN SELECT MULTIPLE THINGS AT THAT STAGE. UM, WE'VE HAD SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE LIVE MUSIC FUND SPECIFICALLY AND JUST WANTED TO, TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL AS WELL THAT PREVIOUS RECIPIENTS CAN APPLY IN THIS CYCLE. UM, BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT, UH, A CYCLE THIS PAST YEAR. UM, ALSO YOU CANNOT, FOR THE LIVE MUSIC, YOU CANNOT APPLY FOR BOTH THE $20,000 LEVEL AND THE $5,000 LEVEL. YOU HAVE TO PICK ONE AND MOVE THROUGH THE PROCESS LIKE THAT. UM, AND RELATED TO THAT IN THE GUIDELINES AND IN THE APPLICATION, UM, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SCORING CRITERIA, THERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS AROUND MUSIC INDUSTRY ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT ARE ONLY FOR APPLICANTS AT THE $20,000 LEVEL. UM, AND THEN JUST ANOTHER GENERAL REMINDER THAT OUR PANELIST RECRUITMENT IS OPEN RIGHT NOW. SO THIS IS FOR OUR ELEVATE AND HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANTS. UM, THE LINKS ARE HERE AS WELL AS ON OUR WEBSITE. WE'VE HAD 162 INTEREST FORMS RECEIVED TO DATE. UM, AND WE'VE EXTENDED THE DEADLINE OF THAT UNTIL DECEMBER 1ST. AND ALSO JUST WANTED TO ADD TO YOU ALL, UM, THAT WE HAVE INCREASED THE HONORARIUM. SO PREVIOUSLY IT WAS $300 AND WE HAVE SINCE RAISED THAT TO $500, UM, FOR THE PANELISTS. SO IT IS, IT IS SOMETHING, AND WE WILL TAKE THAT IN THESE TIMES OF AUSTERITY. WE WILL TAKE THE SOMETHING, UM, SO HOPEFULLY THAT MIGHT ENCOURAGE MORE FOLKS TO APPLY TO BE A PANELIST. SO PLEASE, UM, SHARE WITH YOUR NETWORKS AND ENCOURAGE THEM TO BE A PART OF THIS PROCESS. UM, FINALLY JUST WANTED TO SHARE SOME UPCOMING, UM, APPLICATION ASSISTANCE FOR FOLKS. SO WE HAVE, WE'VE HAD, AND WE CONTINUE TO HAVE SEVERAL WORKSHOPS. UM, WE HAVE SEVERAL THIS WEEK. WE HAD A VIRTUAL ONE EARLIER TODAY. UM, WE HAVE ONE TOMORROW EVENING AT 5:00 PM UH, IT MIGHT BE LATER THAN THAT. ACTUALLY. WE HAVE ONE TOMORROW EVENING, UM, THAT WILL BE IN SPANISH. UM, AND WE WILL ALSO HAVE SPANISH, UM, INTERPRETERS THERE FOR QUESTIONS. UM, AND THEN LATER THIS WEEK WE HAVE ONE AT THE CARVER BRANCH LIBRARY AND WE WILL HAVE AN A SL INTERPRETER ON SITE FOR THAT WORKSHOP SPECIFICALLY. UM, ADDITIONALLY, JUST WANTED TO ADD IN CASE FOLKS DIDN'T KNOW THIS, IN ALL OF OUR OPEN OFFICE HOURS, IN ALL OF OUR EVENTBRITE LINKS, THERE'S AN OPTION TO SAY IF YOU NEED, UM, ACCOMMODATIONS [01:25:01] AND THAT INCLUDES THINGS LIKE TRANSLATION. AND SO WE'VE RECEIVED, UM, I THINK LAST WEEK OR THE WEEK BEFORE, WE DID RECEIVE SOMEONE THAT PUT IN THAT REQUEST WHEN THEY FILLED OUT THE EVENTBRITE FORM TO ATTEND ONE OF OUR WORKSHOPS. AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET A TRANSLATOR, UM, FOR THAT WORKSHOP. SO WE'RE, AGAIN, IT IS A PROCESS AND WE ARE TRYING, BUT THAT IS ONE MORE THING. UM, JUST SO YOU ARE ALL AWARE, UM, OF POTENTIAL LANGUAGE ASSISTANCE. UM, ADDITIONALLY WE HAVE THE OPEN OFFICE HOURS EVERY WEEK AS WELL AS THE SPECIAL SESSIONS THAT ARE COMING UP VERY SOON. UM, AND THE ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS BY THE BOOKINGS LINK. I THINK WE'VE HAD 35 MEETINGS SO FAR THROUGH THE DIFFERENT, THROUGH THE BOOKINGS LINK, UM, WHICH IS EXCITING. UM, AND ALSO WE'VE BEEN, UH, ATTENDING LOTS OF COMMUNITY EVENTS TO TRY TO JUST BE IN COMMUNITY WITH CREATIVES AND SHARE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAMS. AND WITH THAT, I WILL FINALLY STOP TALKING. HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS. QUESTIONS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER CHENEY, AND THEN COMMISSIONER GARZA. SO FIRST AND FOREMOST, THANK YOU LAURA, FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. AND ALSO I JUST WANT EVERYBODY TO ACKNOWLEDGE H LIKE HOW INCREDIBLE, BUT ALSO SIMULTANEOUSLY HOW MUCH WORK IT IS THAT ALL OF THESE GRANTS ARE GOING TO NOW BE UNDER THIS VERY SMALL STAFF OVER HERE. SO, UM, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO IT BEING STREAMLINED WITH CSAP AND LIVE MUSIC VENUE FUND. BUT ON A PERSONAL NOTE, I HOPE EVERYBODY'S BEING FAIRLY COMPENSATED FOR THAT AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT BUDGET TALKS. SO, UH, JUST PEPPERING THAT IN THERE FOR EVERYONE . UM, BUT WITH THAT ALL SAID, UM, ONE THING I WANTED TO POINT OUT THAT I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK ABOUT AND THEN I READ FURTHER THAT I JUST WANTED TO, UM, EXPLAIN TO ANYONE, UNLESS ANYONE ELSE ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK OUT HERE, WHICH IS, UM, I THOUGHT THAT THERE, AND I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE THOUGHT THIS, THAT I'VE TALKED TO IN THE COMMUNITY, THEY THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS A BUDGET CAP ON ALL NONPROFITS, UM, THAT THEY HAD TO HAVE A BUDGET OF $500,000 OR LESS TO QUALIFY FOR ELEVATE, WHICH DOESN'T REALLY MAKE SENSE BECAUSE IT'S A PROJECT BASED GRANT. SO IT'S LIKE A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN THRIVE, BUT I WAS HAPPY TO SEE 5 0 1 C THREES. THERE'S NOT A BUDGET CAP. AND THEN THE STATE NONPROFIT IS WHERE THAT 500, I THINK THAT'S WHERE PEOPLE ARE GETTING CONFUSED WHEN THEY'RE LIKE JUST SKIMMING IT. THAT IS CORRECT. IF YOU HAVE 5 0 1 C3 STATUS, IT IS ANY BUDGET LEVEL FOR A 5 0 1 C3 STATUS FOR AN ARTS NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION. YEAH. AS IT SHOULD BE. 'CAUSE IT'S A PROJECTS GRANT. UM, AND THEN MY THIRD THING IS KIND OF JUST MORE A COMMENT. IT'S NOT A QUESTION WHICH IS, I'M WONDERING IF THE RATIONALE ON CUTTING, UH, THE CREATIVE SPACES ASSISTANCE PROGRAM IS BECAUSE A LOT OF THE LANGUAGE, UM, IS VERY SIMILAR FOR THE LIVE MUSIC VENUE FUND, WHICH I DON'T AGREE WITH BECAUSE I THINK THERE'S DIFFERENT TYPES OF CREATIVE SPACES THAT SERVE PUBLIC THAT AREN'T JUST LIKE TRADITIONAL VENUES. RIGHT. BUT I'M, I'M CURIOUS IF THAT WAS THE RATIONALE AND I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT OUT LOUD. I SAW A NOD IN THE BACK, LIKE I KNOW YOU, YOU WERE GREEN , UM, BECAUSE I DO THINK THAT THERE'S A, A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A LIVE MUSIC VENUE AND LIKE A CREATIVE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC SPACE. BUT I DID WANNA ASK IF A VENUE, LIKE A MUSIC VENUE, CAN THEY APPLY FOR BOTH? CAN THEY TECHNICALLY GET BOTH? YES. IS THE ANSWER TO THAT THEY CAN APPLY FOR BOTH BECAUSE THEY'RE TWO DIFFERENT FUNDING SOURCES. OKAY. AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR OTHER FEEDBACK, . YEAH. OKAY. UH, HOW IS THAT FAIR? I'LL, UH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR MORGAN MESSICK, I'LL CHIME INTO AND SAY I I CAN, I MEAN, I CAN'T SPEAK FOR ANY OF THE COUNCIL MEMBERS IN AND LIKE THE REASONING, BUT I THINK THE GOAL WHEN THEY LOOK AT THE BUDGET CUTS IS TO LOOK FOR UNRESTRICTED FUNDING THAT CAN BE REALLOCATED. AND SO HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX IS A, A PROTECTED AND RESTRICTED FUNDING THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO. WHEREAS THE SINGULAR PROGRAM THAT WE MANAGE THAT IS, IS DIFFERENT THAN THAT IS THE CREATIVE SPACE FUNDING. SO TO, TO ME, THAT'S WHY I ASSUME THEY WERE LOOKING AT THAT BECAUSE IT HAS FLEXIBILITY. WHEREAS OTHER PROGRAMS WE RUN DO NOT. SO LIVE MUSIC VENUE FUND IS HOT TOO. IT'S OH, OKAY. THAT, THAT MAKES SENSE TO ME. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER GARZA. AND THEN COMMISSIONER GRAY, JUST WANNA THANK YOU FOR THE WORK YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN DOING, UH, ESPECIALLY YOUR COMMUNITY OUTREACH. I SAW JESUS OUT THERE AT THE PAN AM REC CENTER WHEN THEY HAD THE DES CELEBRATION AND THE COMIC-CON. THAT WAS REALLY COOL. UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT. UH, AS FAR AS PANELISTS, I'M NOT SURE THIS HAS EVER BEEN BROUGHT UP, BUT, UH, WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF FORMER COMMISSIONERS WHO [01:30:01] ARE PURELY FAMILIAR WITH THE FUNDING PROCESS. HAVE YOU REACHED OUT TO ANY OF THEM TO SEE IF THEY'D BE INTERESTED IN BEING PANELISTS? I THINK THAT WOULD BE A REALLY COOL IDEA. 'CAUSE THEY'VE GOT SOME INSIGHTS. YEAH, THAT'S A GREAT SUGGESTION. WE'LL CHECK OUR, UH, DATABASE AND SEE IF THAT HAS GONE OUT TO THEM YET. COOL. THAT'S FINE IF IT HASN'T, BUT WE WILL. HOW MANY TOTAL PANELISTS DO YOU NEED? THAT IS A GREAT QUESTION. , ACROSS, UM, ACROSS BOTH PROGRAMS, OUR ESTIMATE IS 264, 264. HOW MANY? 162. MM-HMM . COMMISSIONER GRAY . DID YOU FORGET IT OR? I I DID HAVE A COMMENT. DO YOU THINK MAYBE THAT CITY COUNCIL OR CITY'S LOOKING AT CSAP BECAUSE IT WASN'T THERE LAST YEAR? I THOUGHT MAYBE THAT'S LIKE A, OH, WHERE'D THAT COME FROM? JUST A THOUGHT. I TRULY DON'T KNOW, BUT I HAD A SIMILAR THOUGHT. UM, YEAH, MAYBE IT LOOKED LIKE SURPRISE FUN MONEY. YEAH. PERHAPS WONDERING AS MUCH AS THEY'RE LOOKING AT. BUT, UM, WE'LL, WE'LL BE AVAILABLE TOMORROW AT THE COUNCIL MEETING TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. A LOT OF TIMES WHEN THEY PUT THESE THINGS ON THE, UM, RADAR THAT THEY MIGHT WANNA SUNSET, UM, THEY'LL, THEY'LL, THEY'LL CALL US UP TO ASK QUESTIONS. AND SO DIRECTOR MEANS, AND I WILL BE, UM, HERE AT CITY HALL TOMORROW AVAILABLE TO ADVOCATE ON BEHALF OF CSA AND WE CAN ALL ASK COMMISSIONERS ALWAYS TO SAY TO OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT WE REALLY WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF THEY DIDN'T REMOVE CSAP. COMMISSIONER ME, CHARLOTTE. THANK YOU. SHE, UH, THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING ALL THE UPDATES. UH, I HAD A, I GUESS A, UH, JUST A USE CASE QUESTION. UH, NEXUS IS ROLLING OUT AT A LATER POINT IN TIME. SO ARE THEY, WILL SOMEBODY HAVE ACCESS TO APPLY FOR NEXUS IF THEY DON'T DO THE INTAKE AND ELIGIBILITY FORM RIGHT NOW BEFORE DECEMBER 4TH? YES, THEY WILL. OKAY. SO NEXUS IS SCHEDULED TO LAUNCH IN MARCH, AND SO AS PART OF THAT THERE WILL BE ANOTHER INTAKE ELIGIBILITY FOR THAT PROGRAM. GREAT. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . THANK YOU SO MUCH. COMMISSIONER CI HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION AND YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER, BUT I'M GONNA ASK IT ANYWAY. SO, LAST YEAR WHEN WE DID THE PANELS, DID Y'ALL HAVE MORE PEOPLE APPLY BY THIS, LIKE, POINT IN TIME THAN THE PRIOR YEAR OR, YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY? MAYBE YOU DO. I DON'T KNOW. . YEAH, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. I WOULD SAY AS WITH THE APPLICATIONS, PEOPLE WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE, WHETHER THAT'S APPLICANTS OR PANEL MEMBERS. SO USUALLY IT'S CLOSER TO THE END OF THE DEADLINE WHERE WE GET A BIGGER PUSH. GOT IT. AND WHAT'S THAT DEADLINE AGAIN? I ALREADY FORGOT DECEMBER 1ST. GOT IT. OKAY. THANK YOU. AND PANELS WILL TAKE PLACE IN JANUARY FOR ELEVATE AND THEN THE FIRST WEEK OF FEBRUARY FOR HERITAGE. COOL. THANKS. MM-HMM . ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER, MAYOR, CHARLA? UH, JUST ONE QUICK QUESTION, SORRY. UM, ARE WE SET UP TO HANDLE ANY BOTTLENECKS SET ON DECEMBER 4TH? UH, AND THERE'S JUST ONE WEEK TO FINISH THE APPLICATION AFTER THAT, IF A LOT OF PEOPLE, UH, END UP APPLYING FOR THE INTAKE AND ELIGIBILITY FORMS ON THAT DAY, THAT'S WHY IT'S A THURSDAY THAT IT IS CLOSING. AND THEN ALL STAFF IS IS BASICALLY ON CALL TO JUST CRANK THROUGH ANY LAST MINUTE ELIGIBILITY. OKAY. UH, THE LONG CENTER IS ALSO PREPARED TO BE CRANKING THROUGH THOSE ELIGIBILITIES, SO WE WANT TO GIVE FOLKS AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE, OBVIOUSLY BEFORE THAT 11TH DEADLINE. YEAH. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. MM-HMM . AND COMMISSIONER GRAY, I DO HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION. UH, 'CAUSE I, I HAD A QUESTION HERE. UM, AS FAR AS THE F THE FIRST, THE FIRST FIRST PHASE INTO THE SECOND PHASE INTO BEING ABLE TO DO AN APPLICATION, UH, SMOOTH SAILING IN A FEW DAYS. AND THEN I'VE ALSO HEARD, I HAVEN'T HEARD ANYTHING SECOND PHASE FOR TWO OR THREE WEEKS AFTER AND YET SINCE THEN THEY DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM. BUT IS THERE A, IS THAT A MANUAL THING THAT HAPPENS FIRST PHASE TO SECOND PHASE? SO I THINK PERHAPS THIS QUESTION, THE BOTTLENECK THING, YES, IT IS, IT IS MOSTLY A MANUAL PROCESS. UM, WE DO LIKE THE CULTURAL ARTS TEAM, THEY'RE PRIMARILY REVIEWING THE ELEVATE ELIGIBILITY FORMS. UM, THE LONG CENTER IS SUPPORTING THE LIVE MUSIC FUND ELIGIBILITY FORMS WITH CSAP. UM, OUR, OUR PARTNERS WITH RALLY ARE HELPING SUPPORT SOME OF THOSE ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONS. SOME OF THEM HAVE A MORE IN DEPTH ELIGIBILITY PROCESS, BUT WE TRY, THE GOAL IS WITHIN FOUR DAYS TO RESPOND TO AN ELIGIBILITY FORM. SO IF THAT IS NOT [01:35:01] HAPPENING, PLEASE ENCOURAGE WHOEVER IT MIGHT BE TO REACH OUT TO US DIRECTLY. IT HAPPENS. CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR. I SEE MANTEL, I WAS GOING TO REITERATE WHAT LAURA JUST SAID, THAT WE, UM, GIVE OURSELVES FOUR BUSINESS DAYS TO REPLY TO THAT. THE OTHER THING, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW OFTEN THIS HAPPENS, BUT IT HAPPENED WITH TWO PEOPLE THAT I WAS WORKING WITH. THEY STARTED THEIR INTAKE FORM, BUT THEY DID NOT ACTUALLY SUBMIT IT. SO, UM, YES, CALL US UP, MAKE SURE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT BEHIND THE BALL ON SOMETHING, BUT ALSO WE CAN MAYBE CHECK AND ALSO SEE IF YOU ACTUALLY DID NOT, UM, SUBMIT IT WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD DONE. SO IN THE EVENT THAT CSAP GETS CUT, WE'LL JUST SEND OUT A LETTER THAT SAYS, UNFORTUNATELY, DUE TO BUDGET CONSTRAINTS, WE'RE NOT ABLE TO OFFER THIS PROGRAM. WHATEVER HAPPENS THERE WOULD BE COMMUNICATION. YES. BUT WE ARE GOING TO MANIFEST SOME OPTIMISM THAT YES, WE'LL NOT BE AT THAT POINT. BUT YES. ALWAYS MANIFESTING OPTIMISM. YES. THANK YOU. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU. DID YOU HAVE, SO COMMISSIONER SMALL, I HAVE A QUESTION. , THANK YOU. UM, ON THE, JUST LIKE, WOW, SO MANY PANELISTS THAT NEED TO BE WRANGLED FOR THIS PROCESS, WHICH IS LIKE, OBVIOUSLY IMPRESSIVE ON THE STAFF SIDE, BUT, UH, SORRY IF THIS WAS ON THE SLIDES. IF YOU ARE AN APPLICANT IN A DIFFERENT PROGRAM, CAN YOU REVIEW THE SAME CYCLE? YES, YOU CAN BE A PANELIST AS LONG AS IT'S NOT WHAT YOU ARE APPLYING FOR. SO YOU, OKAY. YOU COULD BE A PANELIST FOR A DIFFERENT PROGRAM BUT NOT THE SAME PROGRAM. EVEN IF YOU OBVIOUSLY WOULD NOT BE REVIEWING YOUR OWN APPLICATION. I'M GONNA LET JESUS RESPOND TO THAT ONE. 'CAUSE HE IS THE KING OF THE PANEL PROCESS. SO, UM, SOMEONE COULD SERVE AS AN ELEVATE PANELIST AND ALSO BE AN ELEVATE APPLICANT. HOWEVER, THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE IN A DIFFERENT TRACK. SO OF COURSE IF THEY ARE APPLYING AS AN INDIVIDUAL ARTIST, THEN THEY COULD SERVE ON THE NONPROFIT PANEL OR VICE VERSA. THEY CANNOT APPLY AS AN INDIVIDUAL ARTIST. YOU GUYS JUST LOSE THE FEED ONLINE? UH, NO, WE STILL SEE YOU. CAN YOU HEAR US? COMMISSIONER MACH? WE CAN NOW. I THINK YOU BLIPPED FOR EVERYBODY ONLINE. OH, OKAY. FOR FOR A SECOND. BUT, UM, WE HEARD YOU COULD YOU, IF YOU'RE AN ELEVATE APPLICANT, YOU CAN REVIEW AND ELEVATE IN A DIFFERENT, SOMETHING IN, IN A DIFFERENT CATEGORY IN A DIFFERENT TRACK. SO WE HAVE TWO, UM, UH, DIFFERENT TRACKS, UM, OR THREE DIFFERENT TRACKS. UM, ARTS AND CULTURE, NONPROFIT, UH, INDIVIDUAL ARTIST, UM, AND THEN ARTS GROUP. SO WHEN I SAY ARTS AND CULTURE NONPROFIT, I MEAN 5 0 1 C STATUS. SO, UM, YOU CAN I SEE. OKAY. AND SO WE DON'T WANT YOU, EVEN IF IT'S A DIFFERENT PANEL DATE, WE DON'T WANT LIKE THE PERCEPTION OF, YOU KNOW, OH, I'M GOING TO BE HARDER ON ALL THE OTHER INDIVIDUAL ARTIST APPLICANTS. SO THAT WAY THEN MY APPLICATION, UM, YOU KNOW, RISES TO THE TOP. SO THAT'S WHY WE HAVE IT IN DIFFERENT TRACKS. BUT WE DO UNDERSTAND THE NUMBER OF, UH, PANELISTS THAT WE NEED. SO THAT'S WHY WE STILL ALLOW THEM TO APPLY. UM, TOTALLY. AND, AND SCORE AS LONG IT'S FOR A DIFFERENT PROGRAM OR A DIFFERENT TRACK. THAT MAKES SENSE. DO HOW, UH, JUST, YOU KNOW, I KNOW YOU WON'T HAVE EXACT NUMBERS ON THIS, BUT FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE, HOW FREQUENT DOES THAT FREQUENTLY, DOES THAT HAPPEN? LIKE, ARE WE SEEING PEOPLE WHO ARE APPLICANTS ALSO, UH, APPLYING TO BE PANELISTS FOR THE SAME CYCLE? I JUST, I ASK THAT 'CAUSE I WONDER IF PEOPLE KNOW THAT THEY'RE ELIGIBLE TO BE PANELISTS IF THEY'RE APPLYING. 'CAUSE YOU MIGHT JUST THINK, WELL, I I CAN'T BE A PANELISTS IF I'M APPLYING FOR GRANTS FROM THE CITY. YEAH, I'D SAY WE USUALLY HAVE ANYWHERE FROM MAYBE A QUARTER TO A THIRD OF THE, UM, PANELISTS ARE ALSO APPLICANTS. UM, OKAY. SOMETIMES MAYBE A LITTLE BIT MORE, MAYBE A LITTLE BIT LESS. BUT THAT'S A GOOD, COOL, YOU KNOW. PERFECT. THANK YOU. MM-HMM . COMMISSIONER GARZA. SO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS OPPOSED TO IN THE PAST, UH, PANELISTS NO LONGER CAN JUST, UH, CLAIM A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. 'CAUSE I REMEMBER I'VE, I VISITED SEVERAL OF THE PANEL MEETINGS WHEN I FIRST BECAME ON COMMISSION TO BECOME MORE FAMILIAR WITH IT. AND I REMEMBER SEEING LIKE, UH, LET'S SAY YOU WERE, YOU TWO WERE ON THE PANEL, ONE, YOU WOULD GET UP, I GOT A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. YOU YOU'D VOTE IT, THEN YOU GET UP AND HAVE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. AND I REMEMBER ONE TIME THERE WAS ABOUT THESE FOUR OR FIVE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. SO IS THAT GONE? NO, WE STILL HAVE OUR CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN THERE. UM, AND SO THEY HAVE TO DO THAT WHEN THEY'RE SCORING EACH APPLICATION. WE ALSO TALK ABOUT THAT, UH, AT THE ORIENTATION WE DO AT THE DAY OF, UH, PANEL MEETING. UM, SO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ARE STILL THERE AND WE'VE ALWAYS HAD SOME KIND OF VARIATION BACK WHEN WE HAD DISCIPLINE SPECIFIC PANELS. THE THEATER PANELISTS, FOR INSTANCE, APPLICANT COULD NOT SERVE [01:40:01] ON THE THEATER PANEL, BUT THEY COULD SERVE ON THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY OR SOMETHING ELSE. SO IT'S, IT'S A VARIATION OF SOMETHING WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE, BUT WE HAVE ALWAYS INCLUDED THOSE CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AS WELL. YEAH. COOL. AND TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS, IF YOU'VE NEVER ATTENDED ONE OF THE PANEL MEETINGS, I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO GO TO ONE AND SEE THE WHOLE PROCESS GO THROUGH. IT'S REALLY, REALLY COOL. I MEAN, SITTING THERE AND WATCHING YOU GUYS AND HEARING THE DIFFERENT PANELISTS TALK, UH, AND SEEING HOW SOME GROUPS DON'T GET ANY FUNDS AND SOME GROUPS GET A LOT AND IT'S REALLY INTERESTING. SO I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT TO THE COMMISSIONERS. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU, LAURA. THANK YOU, JESUS. MOVING [8. Staff briefing regarding an update on Art in Public Places by Jaime Castillo, Art in Public Places Manager.] TO ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING THE UPDATE ON ART IN PUBLIC PLACES BY JAIME CASTILLO, ART IN PUBLIC PLACES. MANAGER. GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS. IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE SEEN YOU LAST, SO IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOUR FACES AGAIN. I'M JAIME CASTILLO. I'M THE MANAGER FOR ART AND PUBLIC PLACES, UH, FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN WITHIN ARTS, CULTURE, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT. UM, I'M FORGETTING MY TIMELINE NOW. UH, I WANTED TO MAKE Y'ALL AWARE THAT, UH, TXDOT HAD RELEASED A MEMO SAYING THAT, UM, ALL CITIES IN TEXAS HAD TO, UM, BASICALLY REMOVE ANY MURALS THAT ARE NON-STANDARD MARKINGS ON STREETS, ON ROADWAYS. UH, AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, UH, HAD IDENT AFTER RECEIVING THAT MEMO IDENTIFIED 16, UM, ARTWORKS IN, IN THE CITY. UM, THREE OF THOSE PERTAINED TO A IPP OR TO ACME. UM, THEN WE HAD, UH, WE HAD A, WE HAD AN INTERNAL MEETING IDENTIFYING THAT, WHERE I WAS ABLE TO, UH, ADVOCATE FOR EXCEPTIONS FOR, UM, THE ARTWORKS THAT PERTAINED TO ACME A IPP, UM, SPECIFICALLY ONION CREEK MURAL, UH, MEMORIAL MURAL. UM, THAT'S A TEMPORARY MURAL THAT WE WERE PREPARING FOR, UM, PROCLAMATION THAT OCCURRED A COUPLE WEEKS AGO. AND SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WEREN'T GONNA ERASE IT EITHER PRIOR OR, OR IMMEDIATELY AFTER THAT PROCLAMATION EVENT. SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WAS ON THE EXCEPTION LIST. AND THEN THERE'S ALSO A RIVER CROSSING, UH, ON LAKE AUSTIN BOULEVARD RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE LCRA BUILDING THAT'S ACTUALLY IN OUR COLLECTION. IT WAS A DONATION. AND SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAD, YOU KNOW, IF WE WERE GOING TO BE FORCED TO REMOVE THAT, THAT WE HAD ENOUGH TIME TO FOLLOW OUR DEES PROCESS. UM, SINCE THAT MEMO CAME OUT, UH, MAYOR DID ANNOUNCE THE TASK FORCE OR ORGANIZING A TASK FORCE TO ADDRESS, UM, WHAT WE WOULD DO AS A CITY TO RESPOND, UM, OR WHAT WE WOULD DO IN, IN RESPONSE TO HAVING TO REMOVE THOSE MURALS. UH, AND SO ON A SIMILAR TRACK, UH, AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS, UM, SUBMITTED AN EXCEPTION ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN FOR ALL AT THAT POINT, ALL SIX 15 MURALS. UM, THE MURAL THAT GOT REMOVED WAS THE ONION CREEK MURAL BECAUSE IT IS ACTUALLY IN A PARKING LOT BECAUSE IT, IT USED TO BE A ROADWAY, BUT NOW THAT, UM, THE CITY BOUGHT OUT PROPERTIES AND IT'S A PARK NOW, SO WE WERE ABLE TO MOVE THAT ONE FROM THE LIST. UM, BUT A TPW DID SUBMIT THAT EXCEPTION LETTER, UM, OR, OR THE REQUEST TO THE, GET AN EXCEPTION ON ALL 15. IT ACTUALLY BECAME 14 BECAUSE ONE OF THEM TECHNICALLY WASN'T ONE OF OUR PROJECTS. UM, SO ANYWAYS, UH, CITY SUBMITTED THAT REQUEST. UH, THE TASK FORCE, UH, WAS CONVENED. UH, THE TASK FORCE HAS MET TWICE NOW. AND, UM, WANTED YOU TO BE AWARE THAT ACME A IPP IS SUPPORTING THAT TASK FORCE, UM, AS THEY WORK THROUGH RECOMMENDATIONS. AND THEN MY NEXT UPDATE WOULD BE THAT, UH, WE CONTINUE TO WORK ON THE RESOLUTION RESPONSE. UM, AS I'VE MENTIONED BEFORE, WE'VE, WE'VE HAD RED LINE DOCUMENTS, UH, OF RECOMMENDED CHANGES TO THE ORDINANCE, TO THE GUIDELINES, TO OUR ACQUISITIONS AND DEES POLICY, OUR DONATION AND LOAN POLICY, AND OUR A IPP BYLAWS. UH, WE'VE BEEN IN CONVERSATION WITH OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS THE PAST FEW MONTHS. UM, AND SO WE'RE STILL TRYING TO FINALIZE, UH, WE HAD A COUPLE OF OUTSTANDING ISSUES. WE'VE, WE'VE RESOLVED ONE AND WE STILL HAVE ONE MORE ISSUE TO, TO WORK THROUGH. UM, SO AGAIN, NO SIGNIFICANT, SIGNIFICANT UPDATE THIS MONTH. UM, BUT WE HOPE [01:45:01] TO GET THAT RESOLVED SOON. THANK YOU, JAIME. ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER GARZA, AND THEN COMMISSIONER SCHOCK. THANK YOU, JAIME. NOW LOWE'S, UH, THE ORDER FROM THE GOVERNOR, I BELIEVE RIGHT? TO REMOVE CERTAIN ARTWORKS. IS THAT ONLY ON STATE PROPERTY HIGHWAYS AND DOES IT INCLUDE SIDEWALKS WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED? BASICALLY, UM, MY READING AND UNDERSTANDING OF, OF, OF THE MEMO, BUT ALSO THE CONVERSATION WITH TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC WORKS IS THAT IT STATES, UM, NON-STANDARD MARKINGS IN THE ROADWAY. AND SO IF IT'S, IF IT'S IN THE STREET MM-HMM . AND I THINK, I BELIEVE IT INCLUDES THE CURB, UM, ANYTHING IN THERE, IF IT'S NOT A STANDARD STREET MARKING, IT NEEDS TO BE REMOVED. OKAY. SO, SO TO YOUR POINT, IT DOES LEAVE OPEN THE POSSIBILITY OF DOING ARTWORK ON A SIDEWALK. SO DO WE DO, UH, ARTWORKS ON CITY PROPERTIES, IT LIBRARIES OR PARKS AND STUFF LIKE THAT? FIRE DEPARTMENTS, THAT IS THE CONVERSATION THAT THE TASK FORCE IS WORKING THROUGH OF IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES TO, IF, IF WE HAVE TO MOVE THIS, REMOVE THIS MURAL, WHAT, WHERE CAN WE PUT IN ARTWORK THAT SPEAKS TO, AND I SUGGEST TEMPO. TEMPO WOULD BE A COOL WAY TO, YOU KNOW, DISTRIBUTE THAT KIND OF STUFF THROUGHOUT THE CITY. YOU KNOW, AND IT'S SUPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, ATTRACT PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE CITY. I THINK THAT WOULD BE PERFECT FOR THAT. IT AT LEAST CONSIDER IT, OF COURSE. UM, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE ARTS COMMISSION WAS INVITED TO BE PARTICIPATE IN THE PAST FORCE AND WHO'S OUR PARTICIPANT FOR THE ARTS COMMISSION. UH, THAT, THAT HAS NOT BEEN, UH, I, OR AT LEAST I HAVE NOT BEEN MADE AWARE, BUT I, MY UNDERSTANDING THE ARTS COMMISSION WAS SUPPOSED TO BE INVITED TO THAT TASK FORCE. OKAY. WERE WE INVITED CHAIR? I HAVE NOT GOTTEN AN EMAIL. YOU HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THAT? SORRY. OH, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. WAIT. , OH NO, NEVERMIND. PUBLIC PLACES, PUBLIC SPACES. TASK FORCE. CORRECT. PUBLIC PUBLIC SPACES. I'LL BRING IT UP LATER. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR JAIME? OH YEAH, COMMISSIONER SMALL. UM, YEAH, THANKS JAIME. THE FIRST, MY FIRST QUESTION WAS ALSO ABOUT THE TASK FORCE AND LIKE WONDER, I KNOW YOU SAID THAT ACME A-A-P-P-R SUPPORTING THE TASK FORCE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THAT MEANS THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO GIVE, YOU KNOW, PROFESSIONAL OPINION ON THIS IS SUCH AN ARTS CONVERSATION. IT FEELS LIKE REALLY CRITICAL THAT SOMEBODY FROM THE ARTS COMMUNITY IS INVOLVED IN THE, IN THE LIKE MEAT OF THE DISCUSSIONS. AND I KNOW SOMETIMES IF YOU'RE CITY STAFF THAT'S ON THE COMMITTEE OR SUPPORTING THE COMMITTEE, THAT MEANS THAT YOU'RE SILENTLY OBSERVING WHAT THE COMMITTEE IS SAYING. SO I'M JUST WONDERING IF, IF WE, IS THERE ANY REPRESENTATION IN THE CONVERSATION ABOUT THE ARTS? BECAUSE THIS IS AN ARTS CONVERSATION MORE THAN IT'S A TRANSPORTATION CONVERSATION, LIKE BY A LOT. RIGHT? UH, MY OBSERVATION OF THE PARTICIPANTS ARE THAT I, I DID NOT IDENTIFY IMMEDIATELY IDENTIFY ANYONE, UH, HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THE ARTS COMMUNITY. I MEAN, I, I DON'T KNOW EVERYBODY SO I COULD BE WRONG, RIGHT? UM, BUT I, YES, BUT IN THE CONVERSATION YOU CAN TELL THE CONVERSATIONS HAVE HEAVILY LEANED TOWARDS ART, ART MAKING, UH, CULTURAL REPRESENTATION. AND SO YES, UH, SOMEONE FROM THE ART COMMUNITY WOULD BE A BENEFICIAL VOICE TO HAVE IN THE ROOM. OKAY. THANK. AND THEN, UH, MY OTHER QUESTIONS ARE ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, WE'VE GOTTEN THE, WE'RE WORKING WITH THE PARTNER DEPARTMENTS IN YOUR PRESENTATIONS FOR A COUPLE TIMES ON THE A IPP ORDINANCE UPDATES, VIS-A-VIS THE RESOLUTION FROM COUNCIL THAT I THINK WAS IN MARCH. UM, AND I KNOW LIKE I WAS ON THE WORKING GROUP FOR THOSE, UH, REVISIONS AND I WORKING CLOSELY WITH STAFF OF COURSE. AND I FEEL LIKE WE GOT IT TO A REALLY GOOD PLACE LIKE IN JUNE OR JULY AND NOW IT'S JUST STALLED OUT. SO CAN YOU BE ANY MORE SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES AND LIKE, WHAT ARE THE OUTSTANDING ISSUES AND HOW CAN WE RESOLVE THE OUTSTANDING ISSUES? 'CAUSE IT FEELS LIKE STUFF'S GETTING HELD UP IN OTHER PLACES NOW AROUND A IPP BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T GOTTEN THESE THROUGH AND THEY'RE REALLY, YOU KNOW, THEY WERE IDENTIFIED BY COUNCIL OBVIOUSLY BECAUSE WE RAN INTO THOSE AWFUL SITUATIONS LAST YEAR WITH THE CONVENTION CENTER AND OTHER THINGS. AND I SEE , I SEE MORGAN COMING INTO THIS, INTO MY SCREEN. UH, [01:50:01] YES. SO AS WE PRESENTED THE RED LINE DOCUMENTS THAT WE DEVELOPED WITH THE, THE PANEL WORKING GROUP TO OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY HAD QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT EXACTLY THOSE CHANGES MEANT. UM, ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT WAS FLAGGED WAS, UH, THE MAINTENANCE PLAN. AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH, WITH MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS EXPLAINING THAT WE WERE CLARIFYING THAT THE ORDINANCE SAYS THAT MAINTENANCE, ROUTINE MAINTENANCE IS PART OF, UH, THE SPONSOR DEPARTMENT'S RESPONSIBILITIES. AND THAT REPAIR AND RESTORATION IS A RESPONSIBILITY OF A IPP AND THE PUBLIC ART FUND. AND SO WE WERE, WE WERE INTRODUCING LANGUAGE TO, TO MAKE THAT MORE CLEAR, BUT ALSO TO, UM, UH, WHAT'S THE RIGHT WORD? NOT JUSTIFY, BUT, UM, TO, YOU KNOW, DOCUMENT THAT THE WORK THAT WE WERE ALREADY STARTED OF, OF CREATING VERY THOROUGH MAINTENANCE PLANS AND, AND GATHERING BINDERS OF MAINTENANCE PLANS FOR EACH DEPARTMENT SO THAT THEY CAN PLAN BETTER FOR THEIR ROUTINE MAINTENANCE IN, IN THE BUDGET PROCESS. UM, AND EXPLAINING TO THE DEPARTMENTS THAT EVEN THOUGH THE LANGUAGE SAYS IT'LL BE AN ANNUAL REVIEW THAT THE DEPARTMENT MUST DO, LIKE REALLY WAS A IPP DOING THAT WORK AND, AND BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE THOSE DOCUMENTS TO THEM. SO WE WERE ABLE TO, TO TALK THROUGH THOSE ISSUES. UM, THE OTHER ISSUE WAS, UH, REGARDING P THREES. YOU, AS YOU MAY RECALL, THE FIRST BULLET POINT IN THE RESOLUTION WAS, WAS FOR A IPP TO, UM, INTRODUCE P THREES INTO, INTO THE PROGRAM. AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO, TO INTRODUCE LANGUAGE LIKE THAT. UM, BUT IT, WE LEARNED THAT P THREES AS A TERM TO IDENTIFY PROJECTS WAS TOO BROAD AND GENERIC. AND SO WE HAD A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS WITH, UM, THE REDEVELOPMENT TEAM UNDER IN FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO FIND A, A LANGUAGE THAT WAS MORE PRECISE AND ABLE TO RESPOND TO COUNCIL'S, UH, RESOLUTION POINT. UM, AND SO WE, WE WERE ABLE TO RESOLVE THAT. UM, WE INTRODUCED LANGUAGE TO CLARIFY, UM, HOW THE 2% IS CALCULATED FOR, RIGHT, THE A IPP ALLOCATION. AND WE HAD, UM, A DIFFERENCE OF OPINIONS OF, OF HOW THAT CALCULATION IS DONE. AND SO THAT IS THE CONVERSATION THAT WE HAVE CONTINUED, UM, TO DISCUSS. AND, UH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR MORGAN MESSICK, I'LL JUST ADD TO THAT AND SAY, UM, JAIME AND HIS TEAM HAVE DONE A REALLY EXCELLENT JOB WITH THIS CROSS DEPARTMENTAL WORKING GROUP AND OF COURSE WORKING WITH THE PANEL, UM, IT'S A REALLY MULTIFACETED ASK THAT CAME DOWN FROM CITY COUNCIL. AND, AND OF COURSE, LIKE ALL THINGS IN GOVERNMENT, IT'S VERY NUANCED AND THE TRUE HEART OF ART AND PUBLIC PLACES IS A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS WITH THESE PARTNER DEPARTMENTS. AND WE HAVE WORKED REALLY HARD TO BE ACCOMMODATING AND UNDERSTANDING AND TO, YOU KNOW, REALLY LISTEN TO WHAT THEIR CONCERNS ARE, UM, SO THAT WE CAN GET TO A FINAL PRODUCT THAT WE'RE ALL PROUD OF, THAT WE ALL FEEL GOOD ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER ON. AND AT THE SAME TIME, UM, WE'VE DONE, WE'VE DONE OUR JOB TOO OF ADVOCATING FOR AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE FOR THE PROGRAM BECAUSE THAT IS THE JOB. THAT'S WHAT JAIME'S HERE FOR, TO MAKE SURE WE'RE GETTING AS MUCH MONEY AVAILABLE AS POSSIBLE. AND SO WE HAVE HAD SOME HANGUPS WITH THAT. AND SO WE HAVE DEFERRED, UM, TO CITY LEADERSHIP TO FIGURE OUT A POLICY DECISION AROUND HOW WE CALCULATE THE PERCENT FOR ART. 'CAUSE WE JUST WANNA BE REALLY CLEAR BECAUSE IT HAS NOT BEEN CLEAR IN THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'VE HAD. AND SO IF IT'S MUDDY ACROSS THE CITY, UM, WE WANNA CLEAR THAT UP MOVING FORWARD. SO THAT'S THE GOAL THAT WE'RE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW AND WE DON'T HAVE THAT ANSWER TODAY, WHICH I KNOW IS DEEPLY UNSATISFYING. LIKE IT WOULD BE GREAT IF WE COULD SAY WE SOLVED THIS, EVEN IF IT'S NOT THE ANSWER THAT WE WERE HOPING FOR, AT LEAST IT WOULD BE SOLVED. BUT, UM, TODAY WE'RE STILL WAITING TO GET THE FORMAL ANSWER ON THAT. AND AS SOON AS WE HAVE THAT, WE WILL HAVE A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO MOVE FORWARD. OUR GOAL IS TO BRING THE ORDINANCE UPDATE TO COUNCIL ON DECEMBER 11TH, I BELIEVE. SO WE ARE WORKING TOWARDS, UM, GETTING THIS RESOLVED IN DECEMBER SO THAT WE CAN MOVE FORWARD. OKAY. WELL, I, I MEAN I TRUST THAT Y'ALL ARE WORKING ALWAYS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE A IPP PROGRAM. ARE YOU, SO WHAT IS THE DISCREPANCY ABOUT HOW THE PERCENTAGE IS CALCULATED? 'CAUSE THAT SEEMS HUGELY CONSEQUENTIAL FOR THE PROGRAM. I MEAN, WOULD YOU SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT CONSTRUCTION COSTS? IN THE 1985 ORDINANCE, THE A IPP PROGRAM WAS SET UP, UH, BASED OFF OF OTHER PERCENT FOR ART PROGRAMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IF, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, SEATTLE WAS THE PREMISE FOR, FOR OUR PERCENT FOR OUR PROGRAM. AND IN THAT ORIGINAL 85 ORDINANCE, IT DID CALL [01:55:01] OUT THAT THE 2% WAS CALCULATED BASED OFF OF QUOTE UNQUOTE CONSTRUCTION COST. AND THAT MEANT LABOR AND MATERIALS MM-HMM . AND SO, UM, AND THEN IT ALSO IDENTIFIED A COUPLE OF, OF EXCLUSIONS OR DEDUCTIONS. UM, IN 2002 WHEN THE ORDINANCE GOT UPDATED, THE LANGUAGE SHIFTED TO INCLUDE, UM, THE TOTAL PROJECT COST, UH, AND UH, EXPLICITLY OUTLINED THE DEDUCTIONS THAT WERE ELIGIBLE FOR MAKING THAT, THAT, UM, CALCULATION. AND SO OVER TIME, UM, EVEN THOUGH, UH, THE ORDINANCE READS AS TOTAL PROJECT COST, UM, IT DOES REFERENCE CONSTRUCTION COSTS AS PART OF DEFINING HOW TO CALCULATE. AND SO, UM, IT'S, IT'S TURNED OUT THAT THERE'S, UM, SOME PROJECTS THAT ONLY USED THE CONSTRUCTION COST. AND, AND SO THERE WERE, THERE SEEMED TO BE INCONSISTENCY AS, AS HOW THE PERCENT WAS BEING CALCULATED. AND SO IN, IN OUR RED LINE VERSION, AS WE DISCUSSED, AS WE REVIEWED WITH THE A IPP PANEL WORKING GROUP, WE IDENTIFIED THAT NEEDS TO BE CLARIFIED SO THAT THERE'S NO CONFUSION AS TO HOW TO CALCULATE. UM, AND SO YEAH, THAT, THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE. THE CONSTRUCTION COST OF, YOU KNOW, LABOR AND MATERIALS VERSUS PROJECT COSTS, WHICH INCLUDES PLANNING DESIGN AND AS WELL AS HARD OR YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY DEFINE AS SOFT COSTS AS PART, AS PART OF THAT CALCULATION. OKAY. SO THAT COULD BE A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE. AND THE, I'M JUST LIKE PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH WHAT OUR CURRENT ORDINANCE SAYS, HAVING WORKED ON THE WORKING GROUP AND IT FEELS PRETTY CLEAR ON WHAT IS EXCLUDED AND NOT EXCLUDED. SO I'M STILL A LITTLE BIT CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT THE PUSHBACK WOULD BE WHEN THE ORDINANCE, WHICH MY UNDERSTANDING IS THE LAW LOCALLY IS LIKE ENUMERATES THE THINGS THAT WOULD BE EXCLUDED. AND IT FEELS LIKE THAT'S A POSSIBILITY OF, ONCE AGAIN, LIKE SHORT CHANGING THE ARTS COMMUNITY, WHICH IS LIKE, THIS IS ONE OF OUR MAJOR, WE'VE GOT OUR GRANTS AND WE'VE GOT A A PP TO INVEST IN OUR LOCAL ARTS COMMUNITY. AND IT FEELS LIKE THIS IS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S, IT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, SO THERE MUST BE SOME REAL PUSHBACK ON THAT. UM, IS THERE ANY WAY THAT WE CAN GET IS THE, IS THE FINAL SAY, WHO HAS THE FINAL SAY ON IT? AND LIKE, DO WE HAVE ANY KNOWLEDGE OF HOW THINGS HAVE BEEN CALCULATED THUS FAR SINCE THE LAST, SINCE THE ORDINANCE WAS REVISITED 20 YEARS AGO? LIKE WHEN, WHO GETS TO, WHO TELLS US HOW MUCH THE A IPP PERCENTAGE IS? BECAUSE THAT, THAT FEELS LIKE IF YOU'RE TAKING OUT 20% OF THE BASE COSTS OR MAYBE MORE, I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH SELF COSTS TEND TO BE. THAT'S A BIG DIFFERENCE. CAN WE TALK TO THEM ? IT'S, UM, WHO'S MAKING THIS DECISION? SHOULDN'T IT BE A STRAIGHTFORWARD ANSWER? IT'S, UM, THE, THERE HAS BEEN SO MANY CHANGES AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN OVER THE YEARS, RIGHT? RIGHT NOW THE MAKEUP OF THE DEPARTMENTS ARE NOT WHAT THEY ONCE WERE. CAPITAL DELIVERY PROJECTS ARE NOT MANAGED IN THE SAME WAY THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SINCE 2002. AND SO WE HAVE PERSONALLY SEEN A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SPREADSHEETS THAT, UM, HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO CALCULATIONS OVER THE YEARS. SO WE DON'T KNOW, I DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER TODAY OF EXACTLY LIKE WHO IS THE PERSON PLUGGING THOSE NUMBERS IN AND DELIVERING IT. 'CAUSE IT'S A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE DEPENDING ON THE DEPARTMENT, DEPENDING ON THE PROJECT, DEPENDING ON THE FUND SOURCE. BUT WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS IT'S NOT US. WE'RE NOT THE PEOPLE PLUGGING THE NUMBERS IN. WE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO RECEIVE THE NUMBER AND THEN THAT IS THE, THE DOLLAR AMOUNT THAT WE MOVE FORWARD WITH. AND JAIME HAS, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR TEAM HAS A PROCESS ONCE WE RECEIVE THAT FUND. AND SO ONCE WE ARE IN RECEIPT OF THE DOLLARS, WE WORK THROUGH OUR PROCESS. BUT HOW WE GET TO THAT, UM, FOR US, ISN'T IT, IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF A GRAY AREA 'CAUSE WE HAVEN'T BEEN A PART OF THAT PROCESS. I'LL SAY THAT. OKAY. UM, YEAH, THIS AGAIN, LIKE WHY ISN'T IT, IT'S AN ORDINANCE. SO WOULDN'T THE LIKE, SPIRIT OF THAT BE UP TO THE, LIKE WHAT'S IN AN ORDINANCE IS COUNCIL TERRITORY. SO ISN'T THIS LIKE A QUESTION FOR THE CITY COUNCIL ABOUT LIKE, WHAT IS INTENDED, WHAT IS THE INTENT OF THIS ORDINANCE? SO THAT IS NOT AN INTERPRETATION BY SOMEBODY IN ANOTHER DEPARTMENT. THAT IS A PART OF WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH TO BETTER CAPTURE THE INTENT. UM, ORDINANCE IS ALSO INTERPRETED BY THE LAW DEPARTMENT BECAUSE [02:00:01] WITH ALL LAW, THERE'S, YOU KNOW, ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION AND THAT SURE, THAT CAN CHANGE DEPENDING ON THE CLIMATE OR WHO'S INTERPRETING IT. AND SO WE HAVE TRIED TO WORK WITH THE LAW DEPARTMENT WHEN WE SEE THESE DISCREPANCIES OR DIFFERENCES OF OPINIONS. AND OUR LAW DEPARTMENT, UM, HAS REFERRED US TO THIS, UH, THE UPPER LEADERSHIP IN THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE BECAUSE THEIR, UH, THEIR INTERPRETATION IS THAT IT IS A POLICY DECISION HOW WE, HOW WE INTERPRET THE WORD CONSTRUCTION COST. IT IS NOT A LEGAL DECISION, BUT IT'S NOT, I'M NOT FIGHTING BACK ON WITH TO YOU ON THIS MM-HMM . BECAUSE I KNOW THAT WE'RE, I ASSUME WE'RE ALL ON THE SAME PAGE ABOUT FUNDING THE A A PP PROGRAM SUFFICIENTLY, BUT IT'S NOT, IT, IT DOESN'T JUST SAY CONSTRUCTION COSTS, NO DEFINITION. THERE'S A LIKE VERY CLEAR DEFINITION OF WHAT IS MEANT BY CONSTRUCTION COSTS IN THE ORDINANCE. AND IT DOESN'T, I DON'T THINK IT EXCLUDES SOFT COSTS. SO WHY IS THAT NOT A LEGAL QUESTION? THAT'S JUST A, SOMEBODY IN THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE CAN DECIDE THAT MEANS WHATEVER THEY WANT IT TO MEAN. I THINK THEY'RE, I'M SORRY, I'M JUST LIKE, THIS LIKE MAKES ME REALLY P**S OFF THAT IT FEELS LIKE WE'RE GETTING ONCE AGAIN SHORTCHANGED AND WE ALREADY HAVE AN ORDINANCE THAT SAYS 2% OF OF COSTS AND THEY'RE VERY CLEARLY ENUMERATED WHAT IS EXCLUDED AND WHAT ISN'T EXCLUDED. BUT NOW WE'RE GOING BACK ON THAT TO SHORTCHANGE THE PROGRAM LIKE THAT DOESN'T SEEM RIGHT TO ME. YEAH, I I WISH THAT, I WISH I HAD A MORE CLEARER PICTURE, BUT WHAT I WILL TELL YOU IS WE HAVE BEEN WORKING FROM THE IDEA AND HOLDING THE LINE THAT THE DEDUCTIONS ARE LISTED OUT, AS YOU MENTIONED, THERE ARE FIVE DEDUCTIONS SPECIFICALLY STATED IN THE ORDINANCE AND THAT IS WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE AS THE DEDUCTIONS. UM, AND WE HAVE PARTNERS IN THE CITY WHO BELIEVE THAT, UM, WHO FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT CONSTRUCTION COST IS AN INDUSTRY TERM THAT DOESN'T START AT THE TOP. THAT THERE ARE ALREADY DEDUCTIONS OFF THE TOP OF A PROJECT TO GET TO CONSTRUCTION COSTS. AND SO WE, WE HAVE BEEN HOLDING SPACE FOR THAT INTERPRETATION. AND SO WE, WE ARE JUST WORKING THROUGH THE CITY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT DOES OUR LEADERSHIP PROPOSE THAT WE DO BECAUSE WE, WE JUST SIMPLY DON'T SEE EYE TO EYE ON THIS ONE PARTICULAR ISSUE. RIGHT. WELL I'M INTERESTED IF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS HAVE ANY FEELINGS ON THIS. 'CAUSE IT'S, THIS FEELS KIND OF MAJOR AND IT COULD BE A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT HIT TO THE A A PP BUDGET. LIKE THE DIFFERENCE IS NOT INSIGNIFICANT AND IT FEELS LIKE THERE, I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU CAN'T JUST DECIDE ONE DAY THAT WHAT IS WRITTEN IN AN ORDINANCE MEANS SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN WHAT IT'S MEANT. LIKE WHO WAS AROUND WHEN THE LAST ORDINANCE WAS UPDATED THAT WE CAN TALK TO COMMISSIONER AND CAN WE TALK TO THESE DEPARTMENTS WHO ARE MAKING THESE DECISIONS? COMMISSIONER GRAY TAKE, LET ME TALK TO YOUR MANAGER. UH, NO, I JUST WANTED TO, UH, BACK UP HEIDI AS WELL. IT'S, THIS IS, UM, IT SEEMS THEY WOULD JUST GO HISTORICALLY ON WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON INTO THE, INTO THE DEPARTMENT. IT DOES, IT DOES LOOK LIKE IT'S AN EFFORT TO CUT FUNDS AND WHAT'S THE EASIEST THING TO DO, WHICH THE CITY IS PRETTY GOOD AT. SO THE LINE ITEM CITY THAT IS, THANKS GUYS. NOT GOOD. ANYONE ELSE? I APPRECIATE Y'ALL'S WORK ON THIS. I'M SURE THAT YOU'RE HAVING THE SAME FRUSTRATION, BUT IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT GOOD. UM, IT'S NOT SHOWING THE ITS COMMUNITY THAT ARTS MATTER AT ALL. COMMISSIONER CHENEY, WHO WOULD WE ASK WHERE THIS IS COMING FROM? SO IF YOU SAY LIKE, IT'S COMING FROM MULTIPLE DIFFERENT AREAS AND MAYBE YOU DON'T WANNA TELL US WHERE TO GO, UM, OR I SHOULD READ BETWEEN THE LINES OR WHATEVER. BUT IF I WERE TRYING TO INVESTIGATE WHY THIS CHANGE WAS HAPPENING AND WHO'S INTERPRETING WHAT, NOT, WHAT VERBIAGE IN A, A WACKY WAY, SO TO SPEAK, IF I WAS A PERSON THAT WASN'T SITTING ON THIS DA AND I WAS JUST A COMMUNITY MEMBER THAT WAS WATCHING AND I WANTED TO GO AND I WANTED TO TALK TO A DEPARTMENT ON WHY THESE CHANGES WERE HAPPENING, WHERE WOULD YOU TELL ME TO GO? WHAT OFFICE? WELL, I THINK YOUR COUNCIL OFFICE IS ALWAYS A GREAT PLACE TO START. UM, THE OR THE, THE RESOLUTION CAME FROM CITY COUNCIL, RIGHT. ASKING US TO LOOK INTO IT. AND, UM, WE HAD ACTUALLY ALREADY HAD PLANS TO LOOK INTO UPDATING THE ORDINANCE AND TO DOING A LOT OF WORK TO IMPROVE THE PROGRAM. AND SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO INCORPORATE SOME OF THE THINGS WE'RE ALREADY WORKING ON. UM, [02:05:01] FOR US, OUR GOAL IS TO CAPTURE THE INTENT OF CITY COUNCIL. ABSOLUTELY. THEY'RE THE PEOPLE WHO DIRECTED US TO LOOK AT THIS. AND I THINK THAT IF YOU CAN DIRECT YOUR ADVOCACY AT THEM, TO ME, I THINK THAT'S THE MOST HELPFUL PLACE. 'CAUSE REACHING OUT TO THE CITY DEPARTMENTS, UM, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DIRECT YOU TO DO THAT, BUT I, WHAT I WILL SAY FOR OUR PARTNERS IS WE ARE DO, WE'RE DOING OUR JOB. JAIME'S DOING A GREAT JOB TO HOLD THE LINE AND SAY WE'RE ADVOCATING FOR A IPP. AND I ALSO HAVE A LOT OF RESPECT THAT THEY HAVE A NUMBER OF PUBLIC BENEFITS THAT THEY'RE TRYING TO, TO FULFILL WITH THEIR MONEY. AND, AND WE, UM, WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM ON THAT. RIGHT? WE, WE SEE BOTH SIDES OF THAT AND WE'RE JUST, WE ARE ALL HERE TO CAPTURE AS MUCH MONEY FOR ARTS AS POSSIBLE. AND SO WE'RE TRYING TO MEET IN THE MIDDLE AND AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. AND WHILE I AGREE, I THINK LIKE THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE. CSAP IS A GOOD EXAMPLE, IS THESE AMOUNTS OF MONEY ARE, UM, IN, IN TERMS OF THE ACTUAL BUDGET, THE CITY BUDGET ITSELF ARE TINY, RIGHT? BUT THEY ARE ALL WE HAVE, RIGHT? SO EVEN THOUGH IT'S VERY TINY IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF EVERYTHING, IT HAS A DETRIMENTAL EFFECT. AND SO TO ME IT'S JUST DISHEARTENING TO SEE FUNDS THAT ARE THE EASIEST TO CUT OR TRYING TO GET AROUND VERBIAGE TO CUT. IT SEEMS LIKE SNEAKY AND WE ALREADY HAVE AN ISSUE WITH TRUST IN THE ARTS. SO THIS IS, AND UM, THIS IS NOT A SLIDE AT Y'ALL AT ALL BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER IT OBVIOUSLY, BUT IT, IT'S DISHEARTENING TO SEE BECAUSE WE ESSENTIALLY GENERATE ALL OUR TOURISM PRIMARILY THROUGH THE ARTS. SO TO NOT VALUE THE LITTLE BIT THAT WE HAVE IS LIKE A SLAP IN THE FACE. UM, BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO MOVE AWAY. IF WE DO NOT HAVE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS HERE AND WE DON'T HAVE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND WE DON'T HAVE GREAT PUBLIC SERVICES IN GENERAL, PEOPLE ARE GONNA MOVE AWAY. BUT IF WE WANT TOURISTS TO EXIST IN THIS ECONOMY AND WE WANNA GENERATE ECONOMIC REVENUE, THEN WE HAVE TO ADEQUATELY SUPPORT GRANTS, ARTISTS, ARTS ORGANIZATIONS. AND SO IT JUST SEEMS SO COUNTERPRODUCTIVE THAT IT'S, IT'S REALLY, UM, I DON'T KNOW. IT'S STUPID. I'M JUST GONNA SAY IT. SORRY. . JESUS. IS THIS A TIME THAT WE CAN TALK ABOUT THE PUBLIC SPACES TASK FORCE OR DOES THAT HAVE TO BE A DISCUSSION, AN ACTION ITEM? JESUS BARELLA. REPEAT THE QUESTION AGAIN. I'M SORRY. THE, THE PUBLIC SPACES TASK FORCE, UH, APPOINTING, I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION ON THIS ITEM TOO. HA, HAVING SOMEONE WHO WAS THAT? HEIDI. HEIDI, OKAY. HEIDI, SMALL BOB, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DISCUSS NOW OR DO WE HAVE TO PUT IT ON THE, ON AN AGENDA? I REPRESENTATIVE. SO WHAT I WANNA DO IS, IS TELL THE COMMISSION ABOUT IT AND FIND OUT IF ANYBODY WANTS TO DO IT. OKAY. GO AHEAD. UH, COMMISSIONER MACH. THANK YOU. SORRY, I KNOW I'M STILL ON THIS SOAPBOX, BUT, UM, JUST 'CAUSE MY, THE CITY I USED TO RUN THE ART IN PUBLIC PLACES PROGRAM FOR DID AN ORDINANCE REVISION ALSO, UM, LIKE IN 2017 OR 18. ARE Y'ALL FAMILIAR WITH OTHER CITY LIKE THAT? THE WAY THAT IT SOUNDS LIKE SOME OF THE OTHER, THE, THE WHOEVER'S GIVING YOU PUSHBACK ON THIS ARE ASKING FOR THE ORDINANCE TO BE INTERPRETED DOES NOT SEEM LIKE THE NORM BASED ON WHAT I'M AWARE OF FOR OTHER CITIES, PERCENT PROGRAMS, THAT'S NOT, THERE'S NOT A, THERE'S NOT A, UH, UH, EXCLUSION FOR, UM, SOFT COSTS IN THE BASE COST THAT THE PERCENTAGE FOR PUBLIC ART IS APPLIED TO THAT I'M AWARE OF. AND I'VE LOOKED AT A LOT OF 'EM. WE'VE DONE BENCHMARKING ACROSS 14 CITIES, SO WE HAVE VARYING DEGREES OF INFORMATION. UM, TO TO THE DATA POINTS THAT YOU'RE REFERENCING, UM, THAT INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED TO CMO, UM, TO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE. UM, WHAT DID YOU FIND? UH, I MEAN WE, IT, IT VARIES, RIGHT? IT'S, UH, 1%, ONE AND A HALF PERCENT. UM, DEDUCTIONS ARE JUST VARY ACCORDING TO CITY AND WHICH STATE THAT THEY'RE IN. [02:10:01] I MEAN, THEY'RE, THERE'S JUST VARIETY IN TERMS OF THERE'S NO INDUSTRY STANDARD, IT'S JUST WHATEVER THE CITY DECIDE. I MEAN, PERCENTAGES ARE DIFFERENT, BUT IN TERMS OF LIKE THE BASE COSTS UPON WHICH THE PERCENTAGE, WHATEVER THAT PERCENTAGE IS, WHICH VARIES BY CITY ARE APPLIED. I'VE NOT, I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH MANY CITIES WITH COMMENSURATE PROGRAMS TO OURS SAYING WE'RE NOT GONNA INCLUDE SOFT COSTS IN THAT LIKE LAND ACQUISITION. YEAH. AND THEN THERE'S ALWAYS LIKE AN EXCEPTION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND THINGS, DIFFERENT CONVERSATION, BUT LIKE, THAT'S NOT, I DON'T KNOW, THAT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE, UH, BEST PRACTICE FROM OTHER PLACES. SO JUST SAYING WE'RE GOING BACKWARDS FOR US AND WE'RE STEPPING OUT OF THE NORM FOR OTHER CITIES. ALSO, WE CAN SHORTCHANGE OUR PUBLIC ART PROGRAM, NOT COOL. SO AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT REPRESENTATION ON THIS, ON THIS TASK FORCE, THE EMAIL THAT, THE MAIL THAT THE MAYOR SENT WAS THAT WE MUST CONTINUE TO PROTECT AUSTIN'S VALUES AND OUR ABILITY TO SHOW OUR LOVE AND APPRECIATION FOR OUR COMMUNITY. WE'RE CREATING A TASK FORCE ON THE USE OF PUBLIC SPACES, INCLUDING SIDEWALKS AND OTHER TRANSPORTATION ITEMS TO CELEBRATE AUSTIN'S LOVE, DIVERSITY, AND CREATIVITY, AND HE WOULD LIKE MEMBERS OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS TO, TO SERVE ON THAT TASK FORCE. I AM UNABLE TO DO THAT. IS ANYONE, THEY'RE LOOKING AT THURSDAY EVENINGS FOR HYBRID MEETINGS. COMMISSIONER GARZA. INTERESTING. COMMISSIONER GAR, I I WILL SEND YOUR NAME. I ALSO WANTED TO MAKE A COMMENT TO, UH, JAIME. MM-HMM . GO AHEAD. OKAY, JAIME, UH, YOU SAID THAT OUR PROGRAM WAS, UH, PATTERN AFTER SEATTLE'S. IS THAT CORRECT? IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE ORIGINAL 1985 ORDINANCE WAS PATTERNED AFTER SEATTLE. AND HOW MUCH THIS, WHAT IS THE PERCENTAGE FROM SEATTLE AS FAR AS PUBLIC ART GOES? I, I DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO REPEAT THE BENCHMARKS. WHAT'S 1%, WHAT'S THE AVERAGE OF THE, THE CITIES THAT YOU STUDIED? UM, ONE AND A HALF. I MEAN, IT, IT IS LEANING TOWARDS 2%. IT'S HIGHER THAN 1%. IT'S HIGHER THAN 1%. IS IT, ARE WE AT THE HIGH END OR ARE WE AT THE LOW END? WE ARE AT THE HIGH END AT 2%. SO WE'RE AT THE HIGH END AT A TIME OF BUDGET CUTS. OKAY. SO COMMISSIONER GARZA SAID THAT HE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN THE PUBLIC SPACES TASK FORCE. DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY INTEREST IN THAT? THEN I'LL FORWARD HIS NAME ALONE TO THE MAYOR'S REPRESENTATIVE FOR THAT. THANK YOU COMMISSIONER GARZA FOR STEPPING UP ON THAT. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS REGARDING A IPP FOR JAIME? COMMISSIONER GRAY, REALLY QUICK. I MEAN, THIS HAS BEEN HELD UP SINCE JUNE OR JULY. IT, IT SOUNDS LIKE ALL THIS, AND THANK YOU BOTH FOR ALL. I MEAN, ALL, IT'S NOT STAFFED IN RELATIVE AND BUDGET CUTS RELATIVE TO PROPERTY TAXES DIDN'T HAPPEN UNTIL VERY RECENTLY. SO I THINK IT'S NOT A PERCENTAGE QUESTION. IT'S AN ELEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION QUESTION. THANK YOU. NOTHING ELSE. THANK YOU, JAIME. I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME. [9. Approve the Final Design for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport Atrium Infill / Terminal Expansion Phase II B Art in Public Places Project – Matthew Mazzotta and Josef Kristofoletti] NEXT TWO AGENDA ITEMS ARE APPROVAL OF THINGS THAT A IPP PANEL HAS ALREADY APPROVED, AND WE'RE STAMPING COMMISSIONER GRAY, I WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE NINE AND TEN SECOND THAT WE'VE GOTTA MOVE IN A SECOND TO APPROVE NINE AND 10 ON CONSENT. ANY DISCUSSION? ALL IN FA GO. COMMISSIONER. I THINK WE MIGHT WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE I'M, I'M PRO, UH, THE AIRPORT BECAUSE WE'VE LIKE BEEN INVOLVED IN THAT PROCESS. BUT ON THE, UM, JUST THE NORTHEAST, WHAT IS IT CALLED? I THINK WE MIGHT JUST WANNA HEAR ABOUT THAT. IT IS LIKE ONE NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER BECAUSE IT IS ONE OF THESE, LIKE P THREE RIGHT. ALTERNATIVE DELIVERY. I KNOW EVERYBODY'S TIRED, BUT LIKE, SO THAT'S AGENDA NUMBER. ITEM 10. YEAH. OKAY. SO COMMISSIONER SMALL BOX WOULD LIKE TO REMOVE ITEM 10 FROM CONSENT. ANY THAT'S SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GARZA. SO WE'RE VOTING ON ITEM NINE BY CONSENT, WHICH IS THE FINAL DESIGN FOR THE AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. ATRIUM INFILL TERMINAL EXPANSION, PHASE TWO B, ART AND PUBLIC PLACES PROJECTS. ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? THAT PASSES ON CONSENT. [02:15:01] MOVING ON TO ITEM [10. Approve Art Call for the Northeast Service Center Garage Façade Art in Public Places Project.] NUMBER 10, APPROVE ART CALL FOR THE NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER, GARAGE FACADE ART AND PUBLIC PLACES. JAIME. GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. JAIME CASTILLO, MANAGER FOR ART AND PUBLIC PLACES. UH, WE'RE GONNA GO OVER THE ART CALL FOR THE NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER GARAGE FACADE. UM, WE ARE LOOKING AT IT INVITATIONAL. UH, OUR SPONSORED DEPARTMENTS ARE THE AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY AND AUSTIN FLEET MOBILITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT. THE PROJECT BUDGET IS AT 1.8 MILLION. THE LOCATION IS WITHIN COUNCIL DISTRICT ONE, AND OUR A IPP PROJECT MANAGER, OR PROJECT COORDINATOR IS, UM, REBECCA. RANDY. UH, THE NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER IS LOCATED IN EAST AUSTIN. IT IS BEING, UH, BUILT AS A P THREE. SO, UH, AUSTIN FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT, UH, THROUGH THE AUSTIN PUBLIC FACILITIES CORPORATION IS, IS MANAGING THAT, THAT CONTRACT WITH THE P THREE DEVELOPER. UM, THIS NEW CAMPUS WILL CONSOLIDATE, UH, A LOT OF SERVICES INTO ONE LOCATION. SO, UH, A LOT OF THE NEEDS FOR FLEET MOBILITY REGARDING, UM, MAINTENANCE OF OF VEHICLES, UH, AS WELL AS NEEDS FOR AUSTIN RESOURCE RECOVERY, UM, TRASH COLLECTION, RECYCLING, COMPOSTING, ET CETERA. UH, A IPP, UH, THIS IS THE, THIS IS THE FIRST P THREE DELIVERY MODEL PROJECT THAT WE'RE, WE'RE DEALING WITH. UM, IF YOU RECALL, THE, THE PERMITTING AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER, AS WELL AS THE AUSTIN ENERGY HEADQUARTERS WERE, UM, ALTERNATE DELIVERY MODEL PROJECTS THAT WE WERE ABLE TO SORT OF RETROACTIVELY APPLY, UH, PUBLIC ART REQUIREMENTS. UM, SO THIS IS THE FIRST ONE THAT HAS COME TO US, AND WE'RE GOING THROUGH THE A IPP PROCESS FROM THE BEGINNING. UM, OVERALL ON THE CAMPUS OF, OF THIS NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER THERE, IT WILL BE $3 MILLION IN ARTS COMMISSIONS. AND SO TONIGHT WE'RE JUST LOOKING AT THE GARAGE FACADE. UM, AND SO AGAIN, WE'RE A IP, THIS IS THE FIRST P THREE THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH. SO WE ARE DEVELOPING THE OPPORTUNITIES AND THE BUDGETS. WE'RE LOOKING AT A PHASED APPROACH. WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT THE GARAGE FACADE NOW, BUT KNOW THAT THERE ARE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES COMING NEXT YEAR. HERE'S SORT OF A, A SITE MAP. UH, THE IMAGE ON THE LEFT IS THE NORTHERN END OF THE SITE, AND THE IMAGE ON THE RIGHT WOULD BE THE SOUTHERN END. THE RED STAR IS THE GARAGE FACADE THAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT. AND THEN, UH, THE YELLOW STARS ARE OTHER ARTWORK OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE HAVE ACROSS THE, THE CAMPUS. AND SO YOU'LL SEE SORT OF A, A BREAKOUT OF THE ARTWORK OPPORTUNITY BUDGETS, UM, AS WE'VE ALREADY I IDENTIFIED. SO THE GARAGE FACADE WILL ALSO HAVE AN INTERIOR OPPORTUNITY. AND THEN A NUMBER OF EXTERIOR OPPORTUNITIES, UH, INCLUDING MURALS AND SCULPTURES. SO FOR THIS ART CALL, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE GARAGE FACADE. WE WERE LOOKING AT A SITE SPECIFIC PERMANENT ARTWORK. IT'S GONNA COVER 7,500 SQUARE FEET, UM, OF, OF, OF THE FACADE. UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT HOPEFULLY, UH, PROVIDING KINETIC ARTWORK IF, IF IT IS POSSIBLE. UM, THE CONSIDERATIONS THAT WE TOOK AS WE DEVELOPED THIS CALL WERE THE USERS OF THE SITE. UM, SO THE, THE OFFICE SPACE, BUT ALSO THE, THE STAFF THAT WOULD BE, UM, USING, UH, THE FACILITIES, UH, PUBLIC WHO VISIT THE SITE. SO THIS, THIS SERVICE CENTER IS OUT ON JOHNNY MORRIS ROAD ABOUT, UH, I GUESS WE'LL, WE'LL GET TO A MAP SOON, BUT HALFWAY BETWEEN TWO 90 AND LOYOLA. AND SO IT'S JUST ABOUT, UH, TWO MILES NORTH OF COLONY PARK. UM, AND SO WE ARE TRYING TO USE THIS A WAY, AS A WAY TO SOFTEN THAT, THAT ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN, OR THAT TRANSITION BETWEEN THESE, YOU KNOW, UH, SORT OF INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES TO THE NEIGHBORING, UM, COMMUNITIES. UM, WE WILL HAVE PEDESTRIAN AND VEHICULAR TRAFFIC. WE'LL HAVE VIEWS, UM, FROM THE INTERIOR OF THE GARAGE, UH, DAY AND NIGHT. AND WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO ENGAGE THE STAKEHOLDERS AND COMMUNITY. THE ELIGIBILITY FOR THIS, OUR CALL IS A TEXAS BASED ESTABLISHED PUBLIC ARTIST. SO THIS IS, UH, UH, A LARGE BUDGET AND ALSO KIND OF ON A, A EXPEDITED TIMEFRAME BECAUSE IT IS BEING DELIVERED AS A, AS ALTERNATE DELIVERY MODEL OR, OR KNOW MORE COLLOQUIALLY KNOWN TO P THREES. UH, MOVING ON A FASTER TIMELINE. SO WE DO WANT AN ESTABLISHED PUBLIC ARTIST WHO CAN COME IN, JOIN THE TEAM AND, AND HIT THE GROUND RUNNING. UM, AND WE REALLY WANT THEM TO BE ABLE TO WORK WITH THE DESIGN TEAM AND, AND ABLE TO DO THAT ENGAGEMENT WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND COMMUNITY. UH, OUR PROCESS AS, AS WE HAVE IDENTIFIED RIGHT NOW, IS, UH, LAUNCHING THE CALL LATER THIS MONTH AFTER WE GET APPROVAL FROM FROM YOU. UH, WE'LL IDENTIFY SELECTION PANELISTS AND, AND WE, WHAT WE WANT IS TO IDENTIFY IT IS AN INVITATIONAL. UM, 'CAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE, THE PUBLIC, THE PRE-QUALIFIED ARTIST POOL SET UP YET. THAT IS A CALL THAT WE'RE HOPING TO LAUNCH, UH, EARLY NEXT YEAR. UM, SO WE'RE GOING TO ASK FOR NOMINATIONS, [02:20:01] UH, FROM A BOT FROM THE A IPB PANEL MEMBERS, AS WELL AS YOU ARTS COMMISSION, AND, UH, A FEW OTHER, UH, PUBLIC ART, UH, PROFESSIONALS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. UM, AND SO WE'LL HAVE A NOMINATING BODY AND WE'LL HAVE A SELECTION PANEL SEPARATELY, UH, IN DECEMBER, WE'LL CONDUCT THE SELECTION PANEL. SO WE'LL, WE'LL GO THROUGH, UH, THE NOMINEES THAT WE HAVE, IDENTIFY ARTISTS, UH, TO INVITE TO APPLY, REVIEW THEIR APPLICATIONS AND CONDUCT ARTIST INTERVIEWS. AND THEN WE'LL EXPECT TO DO THE, UH, APPROVAL AND CONTRACTING IN JANUARY. SO AFTER THE SELECTIONS DONE IN DECEMBER, WE'LL BE, WILL BRING, UH, THE ARTIST'S SELECTION TO THE A IPB PANEL AT THEIR MEETING IN JANUARY AND BRING IT TO YOU AT YOUR JANUARY MEETING. AND THEN GO TO COUNCIL BECAUSE IT IS ABOVE THE THRESHOLD. UM, GET COUNCIL'S CONTRACT APPROVAL AND START CONTRACTING WITH THE ARTIST. AND SO WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR TODAY IS APPROVAL FOR ON THE ART CALL SO THAT WE CAN, UH, START IDENTIFYING, I IDENTIFYING AND CONTACTING SELECTION. PANELISTS WILL ALSO, UH, EXTEND AN, AN, A FORMAL EMAIL TO Y'ALL FOR, UH, NOMINEES ON, ON PUBLIC ARTISTS THAT WE WANT TO INVITE. AND WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A VOLUNTEER FROM, FROM THE ARTS COMMISSION TO SIT ON THE ARTIST SELECTION PANEL. UH, AND BE AWARE THAT LIKE, AS I MENTIONED THERE, IT IS A CAMPUS. SO WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH THE ART CALL FOR THE GARAGE TONIGHT, BUT THERE WILL BE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES THAT, THAT WE CONTINUE TO, UH, DISCUSS WITH THE SPONSOR AND MANAGING DEPARTMENTS TO DEVELOP OUR CALLS FOR THOSE ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. AND THAT IS THE PRESENTATION. THANK YOU, JAIME. ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONER SMALL. AND THEN COMMISSIONER ANDERSON. LET ANDERSON GO FIRST. I'VE BEEN TALKING A LOT. . COMMISSIONER ANDERSON. MINE'S QUITE SIMPLE. WHAT IF THE, WHAT IF THE, UH, COUNCIL DOES NOT APPROVE THE OVERAGE? UH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. IF THE COUNCIL DOES NOT APPROVE THE CONTRACT FOR THE ARTIST, UM, I, I GUESS WE GO BACK AND FOLLOW WHATEVER DIRECTION THAT THEY GIVE US AS TO WHY THEY WILL NOT APPROVE IT. UM, AND SEE IF WE CAN, UH, ADJUST, UM, THE CONTRACT THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR. COMMISSIONER SMOOT. UM, JUST TWO THINGS. WELL QUE THE QUESTION IS WHAT, THIS IS A REALLY FAST PROCESS. WHY IS THIS SO FAST? AND I KNOW THAT THAT'S WHAT'S DRIVING THE USE OF AN INVITED CALL, WHICH WE, I, YOU KNOW, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT ALREADY IS NOT THE PREFERENCE OF A A PP. AND I AM PRETTY SURE WE'VE HAD THAT DISCUSSION AT FULL COMMISSION TOO, WITH THIS DESIRE TO BE, YOU KNOW, MORE, UH, RELIANT ON OPEN CALLS THAN, THAN INVITATIONALS, EVEN THOUGH THERE'S A TIME AND A PLACE FOR THAT AS WELL. BUT THIS IS, SO WHAT, LIKE IT'S A SUPER FAST TURNAROUND. WHY IS IT SO FAST? WHY CAN'T WE SLOW THAT DOWN? RIGHT? SO WHEN WE STARTED ENGAGING WITH, UM, WITH FFSD, THE, AND, AND THE, THE AUSTIN PUBLIC FACILITIES CORPORATION, UM, PROJECT MANAGER, UH, WE KNEW THAT IT WAS A P THREE AND IT WAS GONNA BE ON AN EXPEDITED TIMEFRAME. AND SO WE, YOU KNOW, WE WERE TRYING TO MEET THAT AND, AND WE WERE PREPARED TO PRESENT A CALL BACK IN MAY. UM, UNFORTUNATELY WE WERE ASKED TO PUT ALL OUR CALLS ON HOLD UNTIL WE GOT THE RESOLUTION APPROVED BY COUNCIL. SO THAT, UM, THAT WE HAD THEIR FULL SUPPORT ON, ON OUR PROGRAM. UM, AND SO AS WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO GET THAT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE, WE REACHED A POINT WHERE WE JUST COULD NOT WAIT ANY LONGER AND WE WERE ABLE TO GET, UM, A GREEN LIGHT TO BRING THIS FORWARD TO Y'ALL FOR APPROVAL. UM, SO THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DID, WE, WE WE'VE BEEN WAITING SINCE MAY TO TRY TO BRING THIS FORWARD TO Y'ALL. SO WE, WE LOST THAT TIME. UH, AND BECAUSE IT IS A P THREE, UM, EXPEDITED CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE THE PRESSURES THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH IN TERMS OF, OF THE QUICKNESS AS, AS THAT WE'RE MOVING, UM, REGARDING THE INVITATIONAL. UH, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A CURRENT PRE-QUALIFIED, UH, POOL OF ARTISTS, UM, WE HAD TO FIND A WAY TO, TO IDENTIFY, UH, EXPERIENCED ARTISTS THAT WOULD BE GOOD FITS FOR THIS AND, UM, AND STILL CONDUCT A PROCESS THAT WE WOULD PREFER, RIGHT? WE, WE KNOW THAT WE'VE GONE THROUGH THIS CONVERSATION ALREADY LAST YEAR REGARDING THE CONVENTION CENTER AND THE AIRPORT. UM, UH, WE WOULD'VE PREFERRED AN OPEN CALL, BUT THIS IS WHERE, UM, THERE WAS A DESIRE TO HAVE A, A DIRECT SELECT TO MAKE THE PROCESS EVEN [02:25:01] FASTER. AND SO THIS WAS THE COMPROMISE WHERE WE LIKE, LET'S DO AN INVITATIONAL SO THAT AT LEAST WE CAN DO INTERVIEWS WITH THE ARTISTS AND MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE THE RIGHT FIT, UM, FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY. UM, CAN I JUST CLARIFY THEN THAT THIS TIMELINE IS RUSHED IN PART BECAUSE WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET THE RESOLUTION, THE UPDATES TO THE A PP ORDINANCE VIS-A-VIS THE RESOLUTION BECAUSE OF THE HOLDUP THAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT FOR THE LAST 40 MINUTES? THAT IS CORRECT. WOW. OKAY. SO THAT'S MESSING UP ALL KINDS OF STUFF. CORRECT. THANKS. WHY CAN'T IT MOVE FORWARD? SORRY, I KNOW I SAID I'D STOP. WHY CAN'T THE REST OF THE THING, THE, THE PIECES THAT ARE NOT IMPACTED BY THE 2% CALCULATION, WHICH IS A HUGE DEAL, I'LL REITERATE, BUT LIKE, SEEMS LIKE THAT COULD BE SEPARATED OUT FROM ALL THE OTHER WORK THAT WE DID ON GETTING THE ORDINANCE UPDATED SO THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA, LIKE WHAT IF WE RUN INTO ANOTHER DEES DEBACLE AND WE HAVEN'T DONE THIS YET. HI, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR MORGAN MESSICK. UM, SO WE, IT WOULD BE OUR PREFERENCE TO MOVE THINGS FORWARD IMMEDIATELY. UM, WE ALSO WOULD LIKE TO BE RESPONSIVE TO THE ORDINANCE. SO WHEN WE STARTED THESE CONVERSATIONS BACK IN MAY, WE REALLY THOUGHT IT WOULD GO A LITTLE BIT QUICKER. UM, WE DIDN'T ANTICIPATE THAT IT WOULD TAKE SO LONG. UM, BUT AS A LEADERSHIP TEAM, WE HAD DISCUSSED HOLDING OFF ON LAUNCHING ANY OPEN CALLS SO THAT WE COULD LAUNCH UNDER THE NEW ORDINANCE. SINCE COUNCIL HAD AN INTEREST IN UPDATING THAT WE FELT LIKE OUR PROJECTS WOULD HAVE A LITTLE BIT MORE SUCCESS EARLIER THIS SPRING. ALL OF OUR PROJECTS THAT CAME FORWARD HAD A LOT OF SCRUTINY ATTACHED TO THEM AND IT WAS UNCLEAR IF THEY, IF THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO GET ENOUGH COUNCIL SUPPORT TO PASS. ULTIMATELY, UM, THE AIRPORT PROJECTS THAT WE BROUGHT FORWARD WERE ABLE TO PASS, BUT IT WASN'T WITHOUT A LOT OF BEHIND THE SCENES WORK. SO OUR GOAL WAS TO JUST GET IT FULLY OVERHAULED AND UPDATED SO THAT THERE WOULD BE A STRONGER PERCEPTION OF SUPPORT KNOWING THAT WE'RE IN THIS CLIMATE NOW THOUGH, UM, OBVIOUSLY WE BROUGHT THE NORTHEAST SERVICE CENTER FORWARD BECAUSE, UM, THERE WAS JUST A SENSE OF URGENCY WITH THE GARAGE FACADE. AND WE'RE ALSO GONNA BE TALKING INTERNALLY ABOUT ARE THERE OTHER IMPACTS THAT NEED TO BE MITIGATED, UM, TO WORK ON. BUT THIS IS THE ONLY PROJECT RIGHT NOW THAT WE HAVE DISCUSSED BRINGING FORWARD UNTIL THE ORDINANCE IS FULLY REVISED. THANK YOU. I'M DEPRESSED. IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT WE ARE IN THIS TIMEFRAME WHERE WE ARE LOOKING FOR MONEY ANYWHERE WE CAN FIND IT, CUTTING IT ANYWHERE WE CAN. AND AT THE SAME TIME WE HAVE HUNGRY MOUTHS OF ARTISTS THAT ARE SAYING I NEED TO WORK. SO WE CAN ONLY PRAY THAT WE'LL GET THROUGH THIS. WE'LL GET THROUGH IT, YOU GUYS. ANYTHING ELSE FOR JAIME? ON ITEM NUMBER 10, LOOKING FOR A MOTION? MOTION TO APPROVE. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER GARZA. SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GRAY. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION ON APPROVING THE CALL FOR ARTISTS SAYING NONE. ALL OF ALL IN FAVOR, PLEASE IDENTIFY BY SAYING AYE OR RAISING YOUR HAND. ANY OPPOSED? LOOKS LIKE IT PASSES. AND WE'RE ON TO CHAIR, CHAIR. UH, SORRY. UM, I THINK, UM, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS, I THINK COMMISSIONER ANDERSON, YOU ARE, HOW DID YOU VOTE? SORRY, I THOUGHT YOU VOTED NOW. COMMISSIONER ANDERSON, WE WANTED TO CLARIFY YOUR VOTE. UH, I'LL GO AHEAD AND VOTE YES. I'M AFRAID YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TROUBLE AT COUNCIL, BUT SO DID WE HAVE ANY OPPOSING VOTES? I DO NOT SEE ANY OPPOSING VOTES. THANK YOU. AND [11. Update from joint Arts/Music Commission Working Group on Urban Core Issues with Commissioners Schmalbach, and Gray(chair).] NOW WE'RE ON TO ITEM NUMBER 11. UPDATE FROM JOINT ARTS MUSIC COMMISSION WORKING GROUP ON CORE ON URBAN CORE ISSUES WITH COMMISSIONER MACH AND GRAY CHAIR. UH, MADAM CHAIR, I NEED TO DEFER TO, UH, COMMISSIONER SCHOCK. [02:30:01] 'CAUSE I WAS, I WAS NOT AT THAT MEETING AND REALLY NO ONE, NOT VERY MANY OTHER PEOPLE WERE EITHER BECAUSE WE HAD TO MOVE IT. UM, SO THERE'S NOT MUCH OF AN UPDATE ON THAT. OKAY, WE'LL GO WITH NO UPDATE FROM URBAN COURT. WE GOT LOTS OF ISSUES THOUGH AS YOU CAN HEAR. WE'VE GOT LOTS OF URBAN COURT ISSUES, BUT WE DON'T HAVE AN UPDATE NOW. ITEM [12. Update from Arts Commission Bylaws Working Group with Commissioners Houston, Garza, Keys, and Anderson (Chair)] NUMBER 12, UPDATE FROM ARTS COMMISSION BYLAWS WORKING GROUP WITH COMMISSIONERS, HOUSTON GARZA, KEYS AND ANDERSON CHAIR. UH, MY UPDATE IS THAT WE WILL HAVE AN UPDATE AT THE DECEMBER MEETING. . THANK YOU COMMISSIONER. WE LOOK FORWARD TO THAT. UM, WE ARE THROUGH WITH OUR AGENDA FOR THE EVENING. I WANT TO ASK COMMISSIONER CINI IF SHE WANTS TO TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO GIVE US AN ANNOUNCEMENT. HELLO TO EVERYONE HERE. I THINK EVERYONE HERE KNOWS WHAT'S GOING ON WITH ME, BUT IF YOU DON'T, I'M JUST GONNA SHARE A FEW WORDS. SO I HAVEN'T BEEN SUPER ACTIVE ON THE ARTS COMMISSION PROBABLY SINCE THE SUMMER AND IT'S BECAUSE I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER AND I HAVE STAGE THREE OVARIAN CANCER. I'M VERY OPTIMISTIC. UM, I'M CURRENTLY GOING THROUGH CHEMOTHERAPY, SO REALLY DEPENDING ON LIKE WHEN MY CHEMO IS, DEPENDS ON IF I'M HERE OR NOT. UM, I THINK IN DECEMBER I'M NOT GONNA BE HERE BECAUSE OF MY CHEMO SCHEDULE. I'M LOOKING AT YOU COMMISSIONER HOUSTON, JUST TO LET YOU KNOW, I DON'T IT, IT'S ALL KIND OF TOUCH AND GO, YOU KNOW, LIKE OBVIOUSLY I'VE NEVER HAD CANCER BEFORE, SO I DON'T KNOW HOW IT WORKS. UM, SO I'M KIND OF JUST GOING WITH THE FLOW. UM, I WILL SAY IT'S BEEN VERY DIFFICULT FOR ME, NOT IN THE SENSE OF IT SUCKING THAT I HAVE CANCER. LIKE OBVIOUSLY NO ONE WANTS TO HAVE CANCER, BUT IT SUCKS FOR ME IN THE SENSE THAT I DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. UM, AND BEING A PART OF THE ARTS COMMISSION AND LIKE THE MILLIONS OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THAT I VOLUNTEER WITH, UM, CONTROL IS A SENSE OF COMFORT. UM, KNOWING HOW WE CAN SUPPORT ARTISTS, SUPPORT COMMUNITIES, HAVE POLICIES IN PLACE THAT SUPPORT THE WELLBEING OF OUR COMMUNITY IS LIKE VERY IMPORTANT TO ME. AND UM, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T CONTROL POLITICS EITHER, BUT AT LEAST YOU, YOU CAN KIND OF KNOW WHAT'S COMING NEXT EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE, . UM, SO YEAH, THAT'S MY UPDATE. I WILL SAY THAT, UM, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO APPLYING AS AN ARTIST TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S, UM, ELEVATE GRANT BECAUSE I HOPE TO HAVE A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS THAT ARE GRANT FUNDED, BUT THEY MIGHT NOT BE. WHO KNOWS? UM, FOR IMMUNOCOMPROMISED ARTISTS. AND IF THERE ARE ANY ORGANIZATIONS IN AUSTIN THAT WORK IN THE ARTS SPECIFICALLY WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE IMMUNOCOMPROMISED, I WOULD LOVE TO TALK WITH YOU BECAUSE I'VE DONE A LOT OF RESEARCH AND A LOT OF, UM, CANCER ADVOCACY IS BASED AROUND LIKE FITNESS AND I DON'T WANNA RUN A RACE. OKAY? LIKE I DON'T WANNA DO THAT. I WANT TO MAKE ART WITH PEOPLE. UM, AND I THINK IT WOULD BE REALLY SPECIAL TO BE AROUND, NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, CAN PEOPLE BATTLING CANCERS OR SURVIVORS, BUT JUST IMMUNOCOMPROMISED ARTISTS THAT MAYBE DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO GO TO LARGE EVENTS THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE AT THEM BECAUSE YOU'RE AT RISK OF GETTING SICK. UM, SO IF YOU DO STUFF LIKE THAT, PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME, UM, THROUGH MY COMMISSIONER EMAIL. UM, IF YOU WANNA CHAT ABOUT BEING AN ARTIST THAT IS GOING THROUGH CANCER, ANY KIND OF ILLNESS, I WOULD LOVE TO CHAT 'CAUSE IT'S KIND OF LONELY SOMETIMES. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU COMMISSIONER CHENEY AND THANK YOU FOR PUSHING THROUGH AND DOING WHAT YOU DO AND CONTINUING TO CREATE. 'CAUSE I THINK THAT'S WHAT KEEPS US ALL GOING, CREATION. SO PRAYING FOR YOU. SO, UH, [FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS] FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I HAVE A FEW AND IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANYTHING THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO, TO OFFER. FIRST ONE THAT I HAVE IS A UPDATE ON THE PHASE TWO CREATIVE RESET. WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO HEAR AN UPDATE FROM ACME ABOUT PHASE TWO? I GOT A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER. SMALL BOX. OH YEAH. UM, I'D LIKE TO HAVE DISCUSSION IF POSSIBLE, A RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL REGARDING HOW WE CAN GET A SPANISH LANGUAGE CONTRACT BECAUSE WE HAVE INTERNATIONAL LAW IN THIS CITY. THERE'S NO REASON WE CAN'T GET A, A CONTRACT IN SPANISH. SO I'D LIKE TO ADD THAT TO THE AGENDA. A DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEM FOR RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL ABOUT GETTING THE CULTURAL ARTS [02:35:02] CONTRACTS IN SPANISH. CAN I GET A SECOND ON THAT? THANK YOU. THANK YOU. UM, THE THIRD ONE I HAVE IS A DISCUSSION ABOUT HOW WE CAN CREATE SPACE FOR TECHNICAL WORK SHOPPING IN OUR CULTURAL CENTERS SO THAT THE COMMUNITY CAN LEARN HOW TO USE THE TECHNOLOGY AND THEY CAN BE THEIR OWN RESOURCE IN THE WE. WE'D HAVE TO HAVE SOME KIND OF REGISTRATION AND CERTIFICATION AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF, BUT I, I'D LIKE TO TO HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT WITH THE WHOLE COUNCIL SO WE CAN START TO TRY TO GET BETTER ACCESS IN OUR COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL CENTERS. WE'RE, WE'RE SPENDING A LOT OF MONEY TO GET 'EM UP TO DATE, BUT NOBODY CAN USE 'EM 'CAUSE NOBODY KNOWS HOW. SO HOW CAN WE FIX THAT? CAN I GET A SECOND ON DISCUSSION OF TECH PERSONNEL AT CULTURAL CENTERS? SHARLA ANDERSON, SECOND , ALBA , EVERYBODY. DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANYTHING THEY WANNA SEE US TALK ABOUT COMMISSIONER CINI? SO I'M NOT GONNA BE AT NEXT MEETING THOUGH, BUT SOMETHING I WOULD LOVE TO UNDERSTAND BETTER IS HOW VISIT AUSTIN WORKS WITH ACME ON MARKETING BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN SOME OF THE MARKETING ROLLING OUT FOR ACME AND I'M CURIOUS, UM, LIKE I, I WAS TOLD IN THE PAST THAT THAT VISIT AUSTIN, WHICH IS LIKE SEPARATE, WERE THE ONES THAT WERE DOING THE MARKETING, BUT NOW IT'S INTERNAL MARKETING AS WELL. ASSET. I JUST WANNA UNDERSTAND HOW ASSETS ARE CREATED, UM, JUST BECAUSE I DO HAVE SOME FEEDBACK ON THEM. UM, I THINK THAT, UM, I, I LOVE THAT WE'RE USING THE INSTAGRAM MORE, BUT I THINK THAT THERE ARE UM, MORE IMPACTFUL WAYS THAT WE COULD LEVERAGE OUR DOLLARS, UM, IN THAT MARKETING POOL TO HAVE A BIGGER REACH. IT'S KIND OF MY LIKE THING IS LIKE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING. SO I JUST WANNA LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT AND ALSO THE PROCESS OF CREATING ANY SORT OF MARKETING TOOL, UM, ON THE CITY SIDE, ON THE ACME WEBSITE SO PEOPLE CAN ACTUALLY, UM, SEARCH, UM, AND SORT DIFFERENT TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS BECAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TALENT POOLS, RIGHT? SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE THAT HAVE ACCESS TO CERTAIN SKILL SETS, BUT WE'RE NOT LEVERAGING PEOPLE THAT WE'RE FUNDING. AND I TALKED ABOUT THIS LIKE A YEAR AGO AND I WAS TOLD LIKE THERE'S NO MONEY FOR THAT AND WE STILL DON'T HAVE MONEY. BUT I ALSO THINK THAT THERE'S LIKE SOME CREATIVE SOLUTIONS THAT I WOULD VOLUNTEER MY TIME TO LIKE CONSULT WITH Y ALL ABOUT THAT ARE VERY EASY. SO YEAH. CAN WE WRAP THAT INTO THE CREATIVE RESET UPDATE, LIKE VISIT AUSTIN? I WANNA UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT CONTRACT IS. SO MAYBE YEAH, WITH IS THAT TWO SEPARATE THINGS? OKAY, TWO SEPARATE THINGS. VISIT AUSTIN MARKETING. THAT'S WHERE ALL OF OUR EVENTS AND STUFF GO. MM-HMM . AND I SECOND THAT. ANYONE ELSE? COMMISSIONER ANDERSON. I THINK IT WOULD BE, UH, GREAT TO JUST GET AN UPDATE ON HOW THE ACME ACME FILLING OUT AT ITS FULL STAFF. I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW, UH, HOW THAT'S GOING, BECAUSE I'M NOT EVEN SURE THERE IS A MARKETING POSITION YET, RIGHT? I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S FILLED. MAYBE IT IS NOW, BUT IT WASN'T. MEGAN IS SHAKING HER HEAD. MORGAN. MORGAN, YEAH. IS SHAKING HER HEAD. NO. . SORRY. SO ANYWAY, IT WOULD BE GREAT TO JUST GET AN UPDATE ON WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE DEPARTMENT AND, UM, IF THERE ARE ANY ROLES NEEDING TO BE FILLED, WE CAN HELP PUSH OUT THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE KNOWLEDGE OF THAT SO YOU CAN GET, UH, MORE APPLICANTS FROM THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY. MAYBE. SO IS THAT A SECOND? A SEPARATE AGENDA? AGENDA ITEM MORGAN? SHE'S ASKING ABOUT, UM, UH, POSITIONS THAT ARE STILL IN NEED OF FILLING PER YEAH, PERHAPS WE COULD DO LIKE A STATE OF ACME UPDATE. WE'RE ABOUT LIKE 10 MONTHS IN. I CAN'T DO MATH. WE'RE LESS THAN A YEAR IN, BUT MANY MONTHS. SO MAYBE IT'S A GOOD TIME TO, BECAUSE THE BUS BUDGET WILL BE SETTLED TOO, SO IT MIGHT BE A GOOD TIME TO TALK ABOUT WHERE WE'RE MOVING FORWARD. THAT I THINK THAT WOULD WORK. OKAY. DO YOU WANT THAT TO BE SEPARATE FROM PHASE TWO? YEAH. OKAY. 'CAUSE I THINK PHASE TWO WE REALLY WANNA FOCUS ON THE, ON THAT PROJECT THEY'RE DOING WITH THE CULTURAL FACILITIES. OKAY. SO WE'VE GOT A REQUEST FOR THE STATE OF ACME E UPDATE. DO I HAVE A SECOND FOR, I CAN SECOND THAT 'CAUSE THAT'S COMMISSIONER ANDERSON'S STATE OF ACME UPDATE. ANYONE ELSE? OKAY. IT IS 8 41. OH, COMMISSIONER GARZA. [02:40:01] JUST INFORMATION. UHHUH . UH, COOL. JUST A COUPLE OF INFORMATION THINGS THAT, UH, MAYBE WERE LEFT OUT. UH, WE'RE OF COURSE WINDY NOTE NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN MONTH. UH, THIS SATURDAY AT THE EXPO CENTER IS, I'M SORRY, DO I NEED TO STOP? OKAY. OKAY. THIS SATURDAY IS THE POWWOW AT THE EXPO CENTER. SO, UH, GO AHEAD AND GO BY THERE. DON'T FORGET THAT FIRST SATURDAY, UH, CANOPY HAS OPEN STUDIOS, SO WE'VE GOT AN OPPORTUNITY TO VIEW ALL KINDS OF DIFFERENT ARTISTS. THERE. ALSO WANT TO GIVE A LITTLE SHOUT OUT TO, UH, RED SALMON ARTS, WHO ARE CELEBRATING THEIR 40TH YEAR HERE IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN. SO CONGRATULATIONS TO THEM. HOPEFULLY SEE ANOTHER 40 YEARS AND THE LEGACY OF EZ WILL GO ON. UH, WHAT ELSE? OH, UH, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HAYES, ISD MARIACHI BANDS. I WENT TO THE MARIACHI FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND AT LEHMAN HIGH SCHOOL. THERE WERE ABOUT SEVEN GROUPS FROM MIDDLE SCHOOL TO HIGH SCHOOL, AND A YOUNG LADY WHO SANG, UH, GOT JUAN GABRIELS LEFT EVERYBODY IN TEARS. UH, SO IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL EVENT AND CONGRATULATIONS ON AS WELL. THANK YOU FOR THOSE UPDATES. COMMISSIONER GARZA. I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS TO REACH OUT TO THEIR, THEIR, OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, OUR COMMISSIONERS TO REACH OUT TO THEIR COUNCIL MEMBERS. THAT'S ONE OF THE, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS OF, OF, OF POWER THAT WE DO HAVE, IS THAT WE HAVE DIRECT ACCESS TO CITY COUNCIL. REACH OUT TO YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, TALK TO THEM. AB OR YOUR REPRESENTATIVE OF YOUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, TALK TO THEM ABOUT NOT HOBBLING ACME AS IT'S JUST STARTING TO BECOME WHAT WE NEED IT TO BE. WHAT WE'VE ASKED FOR FOR DECADES. WE FINALLY GOT, AND NOW THEY'RE SAYING WE WANNA CUT. SO REACH OUT, REACH OUT ABOUT THE 2% A IPP UH, CALCULATION. REACH OUT, TALK TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVES IN YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER'S OFFICE, AND ALSO SEND OUT THE PANELISTS INFO SO WE CAN GET 265 PANELISTS FOR ELEVATE AND HERITAGE PRESERVATION. 'CAUSE WE NEED THOSE PEOPLE. ANYTHING ELSE FOR THE GOOD OF ART? AND AUSTIN TONIGHT LOOKS LIKE WE'RE DONE. YOU GUYS ADJOURNED AT 8 43. THANK YOU SO MUCH. * 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.