[00:00:03]
[CALL TO ORDER ]
PRESENT.AND COMMISSIONER CHARLA'S HERE.
DO WE HAVE ANYONE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION? NO.
WE HAVE NO PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
[Additional Items]
BEFORE WE GET STARTED ON THE AGENDA, I WANNA NOTE A COUPLE OF THINGS.ITEM NUMBER FIVE, I'D LIKE TO ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO MOVE THAT TO JANUARY.
I HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO MEET WITH ANY OF THE CULTURAL CENTER PEOPLE.
SECOND BY COMMISSIONER GRAY, OR MOTION BY COMMISSIONER GRAY.
I THINK I SAW COMM, UH, COMMISSIONER ANDERSON.
ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? UH, SCHOCK AND CHARLA, YOU WERE IN FAVOR OR OPPOSED FAVOR? THAT'S FINE.
AND CHARLA, YOU WERE IN FAVOR OR OPPOSED? SHE KEEPS FREEZING FROZEN.
SO WE'RE MOVING THAT ITEM NUMBER FIVE TO JANUARY, AND THEN ON WORKING GROUP UPDATES.
ITEM NUMBER 14, COMMISSIONER, UM, ANDERSON HAS NOT TOLD ME THAT SHE HAS NOT HAD A CHANCE TO UP TO CONVENE THAT GROUP.
SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE THAT TO JANUARY AS WELL.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? UH, A MOTION, I'LL MOTION ON THAT AS WELL.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SMBA.
ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? GREAT.
SO LET'S GET ON WITH THE AGENDA.
I WAS NOTICING THE AGENDA IS LACKING THE PUBLIC INFORMATION THAT TYPICALLY IS IN OUR AGENDA.
WHAT PUBLIC INFORMATION AT THE VERY END OF THE MEETING? IS IT IN THERE? MAYBE I'M MISTAKEN.
I'M NOT SURE WHAT YOU MEAN BY PUBLIC INFORMATION.
WELL, TYPICALLY AT THE END, THE LAST ITEM OF THE MEETING, THE COMMISSION IS ABLE TO, UH, ADDRESS OR RECOGNIZE, YOU KNOW, EVENTS THAT ARE HAPPENING AT THE COMMUNITY.
KIND OF JUST PUBLIC INFORMATION.
WE USUALLY DO THAT UNDER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. WELL, NO, THAT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ARE FOR NEXT MEETING.
BUT SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE, MS. COMMISSIONER GARZA SINCE, WELL, I'VE BEEN HERE FOR LONGER THAN YOU HAVE.
EVERY SINGLE TIME THAT I'VE BEEN HERE, TYPICALLY THAT ITEM IS ADDED AT THE END AFTER THAT ITEM.
SO I'M JUST ADDRESSING THAT IT'S NOT IN THERE TODAY BECAUSE I DO HAVE SOME ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I LIKE TO MAKE IN OUR COMMUNITY AND PROVIDE INFORMATION TO OUR CITIZENS OF OPPORTUNITIES TO ENJOY THE BEAUTIFUL WORK THAT OUR MEMBERS OF OUR ARTS COMMUNITY CREATE FOR THEM.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT I HAVE THE AGENDAS FOR ALL THE MEETINGS THAT I'VE BEEN TO AND THEY ALL END WITH FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. THE CORRECT WAY TO ASK FOR THAT IS TO SAY THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE A PERSONAL POINT OF PRIVILEGE.
OH, WELL THANK YOU AND I'LL BE HAPPY TO RECOGNIZE YOU.
ALRIGHT, WELL I'D LIKE TO MAKE THAT POINT.
ANYTHING ELSE? NO, THAT'S ALL.
ALRIGHT, NOW GETTING ONTO THE AGENDA, CHAIRERS, REAL QUICK.
I JUST WANTED TO, UM, SHARE WITH YOU ALL FROM THE STAFF SIDE THAT THAT'S ACTUALLY SOMETHING THAT WAS REMOVED FROM THE CLERK'S OFFICE OVER SIX MONTHS AGO.
SO IT USED TO BE ON THE AGENDAS, BUT FOR ALL BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, THAT'S BEEN REMOVED.
COMMISSIONER SPOCK, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING? THAT'S WHAT I WAS GONNA SAY.
THAT WAS SHARED WITH US SIX MONTHS AGO OR SO.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES ]
THE AGENDA FOR THE APPROVAL OF MINUTES.HAS EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK OVER THE MINUTES? AND MAY I HAVE A MOTION FOR APPROVAL? MOTION TO APPROVE.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER ANDERSON.
ANY DISCUSSION OF THE MINUTES? I WOULD LIKE TO RECOGNIZE THAT COMMISSIONER MALDONADO HAS JOINED THE DI SEEING NO DISCUSSION.
ALL IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES AS SUBMITTED.
ANY OPPOSED? SAYING NO OPPOSITION.
[00:05:01]
WE'RE MOVING TO ITEM NUMBER[2. Update on actions taken at the December 1st Art in Public Places Panel by Commissioner Schmalbach ]
TWO, UPDATE ON ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE DECEMBER 1ST ART AND PUBLIC PLACES PANEL BY COMMISSIONER.UM, WE, THE MEETING HAD A LONG DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CHANGES, THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE A A PP ORDINANCE IN RESPONSE TO THE COUNCIL RESOLUTION FROM MARCH.
UM, AND WE WILL, THAT'LL BE TALKED ABOUT LATER ON IN THE AGENDA.
UM, IT ALSO RESULTED IN THE A IP PANEL CO-CHAIRS, AND THEN SUPPORTED BY THE FULL PANEL WRITING A LETTER OF, UM, SUPPORT SLASH CONCERN TO THE CITY COUNCIL FOR OUR, HOPEFULLY FOR OUR OFFICIAL, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO THAT'S IN THE BACKUP AND I BELIEVE, UM, WE'LL TALK ABOUT IT DURING THE AGENDA ITEM, BUT I'M ALSO HAPPY TO READ IT NOW.
JUST WHAT WHOEVER STAFF SHOULD TELL US, OR CHAIR, PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU PREFER.
AND THEN IN ADDITION TO THAT ACTION ITEM, WE, UM, HEARD SOME WONDERFUL UPDATES FROM THE OTHER TWO, UM, CONVENTION CENTER PROJECTS.
THAT WAS LIKE MID, MID REVIEW CONCEPTUAL REVIEW.
OKAY, WE'LL SEE SOMETIME SOON.
CAN WE MOVE ITEM NUMBER NINE UP TO NOW? CAN I GET A MOTION ON THAT? THAT'LL ALLOW, UM, ME TO, IT'S ACTUALLY ITEM 11 IS THE PRESENTATION FOR Y'ALL TO DISCUSS THE BACK MATERIAL ITEM 11.
CAN I GET A MOTION TO MOVE ITEM 11 UP TO RIGHT NOW? ITEM NUMBER THREE.
I'M GONNA CALL THE QUESTION ALL IN FAVOR OF MOVING ITEM NUMBER 11 UP TO HAVE THE DISCUSSION ON A IPP.
ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? SEEING NO OPPOSITION.
[items 9 &11]
UH, LET'S APPROVE RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL FOR RECOMMENDED UPDATES TO THE ART AND PUBLIC PLACES, ORDINANCE, GUIDELINES, AND POLICIES PER CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION NUMBER AS PRINTED PRESENTATION BY JAIME CASTILLO, ART AND PUBLIC PLACES MANAGER.I'M GONNA FILIBUSTER A LITTLE BIT TO MAKE SURE WE GOT THE PRESENTATION OVER TO, TO THE TECH
SO, UH, I DID WANNA TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY AS PART OF, UH, ITEM NUMBER NINE, STAFF UP OR STAFF UPDATES FOR A IPP.
UH, GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.
I'M THE MANAGER FOR ART AND PUBLIC PLACE FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, LIKE I, AS I MENTIONED, WHILE WE GET SOME TIME TO GET THE, THE PRESENTATION PULLED UP, I DID WANNA MAKE YOU AWARE THAT WE, UM, WE HAD AN A PUBLIC ARTWORK DEDICATION, UM, NOT THIS PAST SUNDAY, BUT THE PREVIOUS SUNDAY, UH, OUT IN DISTRICT FIVE, I WANNA SAY THE CORNER OF SLAUGHTER LANE AND ESCARPMENT, UM, BLOSSOM GAZES BY YULI LAINA.
UM, A RELATED ARTWORK, UH, DEDICATION, UH, ON THE SLAUGHTER LANE CORRIDOR, UM, CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IS AT, UH, MARY MOORE SEARIGHT PARK DRIVE AND SLAUGHTER LANE.
UH, AND THAT DEDICATION IS HAPPENING THIS WEDNESDAY AT 10:00 AM SO IF YOU AVAILABLE TO JOIN US, WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU THERE.
UM, AND I CAN SEND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THAT.
AND THEN I ALSO WANTED TO, UH, MAKE Y'ALL AWARE THAT THE REGINALD ADAMS LONGHORN DAM PROJECT IS HAVING ITS FINAL COMMUNITY WORKSHOP AT THE MOSAIC WORKSHOP.
UM, I'M FORGETTING THE EXACT ADDRESS RIGHT NOW, BUT IT'S OVER THERE ON, ON AIRPORT BOULEVARD.
AND SO, UM, REGINALD LA IS HOSTED A NUMBER OF COMMUNITY WORKSHOPS, UH, WHERE EVERYONE IS INVITED TO ACTUALLY HELP PLACE TILE MOSAIC TILE FOR THE FINAL ARTWORK.
UM, SO WE'LL HAVE A, ANOTHER, A FINAL COMMUNITY WORKSHOP THIS SATURDAY THE 20TH.
UM, AND I WISH I HAD THE, I THINK IT'S, IT STARTS AT 11.
UM, BUT AGAIN, I'LL SEND THAT INFORMATION OUT SO WE HAVE ACCURATE, UM, DATA ON THAT.
UM, BUT I WANTED TO MAKE YOU AWARE ABOUT THOSE THREE COMMUNITY, UM, EVENTS.
AND NOW WE HAVE THE PRESENTATION UP SO I CAN GET INTO THIS.
UM, SO BEFORE I GET STARTED, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE YOU AWARE, THIS IS SAME PRESENTATION THAT I PRESENTED TO THE A PP PANEL, UH, TWO WEEKS AGO AT THEIR DECEMBER MEETING.
AND SO THIS IS, UH, PREPARED FOR YOU TONIGHT.
UH, WANTED TO GIVE YOU A QUICK REMINDER OF, OF HOW WE GOT HERE, UH, LAST FALL.
THERE WAS, UH, INTEREST FROM THE IPB PANEL
[00:10:01]
TO, TO REVIEW GUIDELINES TO MAKE SURE THAT THE, WE UNDERSTOOD, UM, THE OPTIONS WHEN SELECTING ARTISTS, UM, FOR DIFFERENT PROJECTS, UM, WERE CLEAR AND SEE IF THEY HAD ANY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THEY MIGHT MAKE.UH, THEN IN JANUARY OF, OF THIS YEAR OF 2025, UM, THE A-A-I-P-P PANEL APPROVED THE PHASE ONE ARTIST SELECTIONS FOR THE AIRPORTS A EDP, UM, PHASE ONE, UM, PROJECTS, UH, THAT FILE THE FOLLOWING DAY, THE PANEL HAD, UH, A, A RETREAT AND THAT'S WHERE, UH, THE PANEL REVIEW WERE.
WE HAD INTENDED TO REVIEW THE GUIDELINES, BUT, UH, IDENTIFIED THAT IT WAS GONNA BE A LOT MORE WORK THAN THAT COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED AT THAT RETREAT.
SO THEY ESTABLISHED THE GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP SO THAT THEY CAN, UH, MEET, UH, IN MUL IN SERIAL OR IN MULTIPLE TIMES TO, TO REVIEW THE GUIDELINES AND, AND PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS.
LATER IN JANUARY, COUNCIL APPROVED THE CONVENTION CENTER D SESSIONS, WHICH WAS ONE OF THE, THE THINGS THAT BROUGHT UP THE PANEL'S INTEREST.
IN REVIEWING THE GUIDELINES IN FEBRUARY OF 2025, THE AIRPORT ARTIST SELECTIONS, UH, THE, THE RCA OR THE, THE REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION GOT PULLED FROM THE COUNCIL AGENDA AS THERE WERE QUESTIONS, UM, FROM THE COMMUNITY AND FROM COUNCIL.
UH, AND SO WE PULLED IT SO THAT WE COULD CLARIFY INFORMATION, UH, SORT OF AS AN ASIDE, BUT IT ALSO IMPORTANT.
UH, IN FEBRUARY, WE CONTRACTED WITH PAST MATTERS TO, UH, CONDUCT A COLLECTION SURVEY.
THE CONTRACT WITH PAST MATTERS WAS THAT THEY WOULD COME TO AUSTIN AND, UH, GET EYEBALLS ON EVERY SINGLE ARTWORK IN OUR COLLECT EV EVERY 400 PLUS ITEM IN OUR COLLECTION.
THEY WERE GONNA SEE, ASSESS, AND PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS ON, UM, REPAIRS, RESTORATIONS, ET CETERA.
IN LATE FEBRUARY, THE OFFICE OF ARTS CULTURE, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT WAS CREATED.
AND THEN IN MARCH, COUNCIL PASSED RESOLUTION, UH, INFORMING US OR ASKING US TO ASSESS, UM, DO A PROGRAM ASSESSMENT, BUT ASSESS THE A IP ORDINANCE AND GUIDELINES AND COME BACK WITH RECOMMENDATIONS.
UH, YOU'LL, YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT LATER IN MARCH, ACME LEADERSHIP, CITY MANAGER AND CITY COUNCIL EXPLORED WAYS TO BE ABLE TO SAVE THE ARTWORKS AT THE CONVENTION CENTER.
THEN IN APRIL, THE A IPP PANEL APPROVED THE PHASE TWO ARTIST SELECTIONS FOR THE AIRPORT A EDP PROJECTS.
AND THEN LATER IN APRIL, THE ARTWORKS WERE, UM, SAFELY REMOVED FROM THE CONVENTION CENTER.
AND, UH, AGAIN, FOR CONTEXT, ACME, THE CREATIVE RESET WAS LAUNCHED, UH, IN MID-MAY OR LATE MAY.
AND THEN JUNE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED, UH, THE AIRPORT, PHASE ONE, PHASE TWO ARTIST SELECTIONS, AND THEN IN JULY APPROVED THE PHASE THREE SELECTIONS.
SO ALL OF THAT WAS JUST, UH, CONTEXT TO, TO INFORM HOW THE WORK THAT WE DID.
AND SO WITH THE RESOLUTION, WE IDENTIFIED THAT WE NEEDED TO BREAK DOWN THE WORK IN DIFFERENT PHASES.
AND IN PHASE ONE WAS THAT, THAT PROGRAM ASSESSMENT WHERE WE LOOKED AT HISTORICAL DATA BENCHMARKING, UM, REVIEWED ALL OF OUR POLICIES, NOT JUST THE ORDINANCE GUIDELINES, BUT ALSO THE, UM, THE LOAN AND DONATION POLICY ACQUISITION, DSES POLICY.
AND THEN THROUGH THE, THROUGH WORKING WITH THE A IPP, UH, GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP, UH, I PULLED UP THE, THE BYLAWS FOR THE A IPP PANEL AS WELL TO BE REVIEWED.
AND SO WE, WE WENT THROUGH AND WE REDLINED ALL THE POLICIES WITH RECOMMENDATIONS AND TOOK A LOOK AT OUR, OUR PROGRAM NEEDS.
AND SO OUR, OUR FOCUS GROUP DURING THIS PHASE WAS REALLY WITH THAT GUIDELINES WORKING GROUP, UH, CONSISTING OF, OF THE A IPP PANEL MEMBERS, UH, AND, UH, ARTS COMMISSIONERS.
UM, AGAIN, THE, I'VE PRESENTED THIS BEFORE.
SO JUST AS A REMINDER TO THE THEMES THAT WE CAME OUT FROM THESE FOCUS GROUP, THESE CONVERSATIONS WERE THAT, UH, WE WANTED LOCAL ARTIST PARTICIPATION AND THAT THERE WAS A, A GENERAL LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF, OF HOW THE PERCENT FOR ART, UH, PROGRAM WORKS.
AND THE INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAME FROM THESE CONVERSATIONS WAS TO UPDATE THE POLICIES FOR CLARITY AND INCLUSION, UPDATE COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING FOR TRANSPARENCY AND INFORMATION, AND TO EXPLORE, UH, RESOURCES FOR ARTISTS.
UH, WITH, WITH THIS FIRST DRAFT OF RECOMMENDED CHANGES TO THE POLICIES, WE WENT INTO PHASE TWO, WHERE WE ESTABLISHED A CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL WORKING GROUP AND AN ACTION PLAN FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF, OF THESE CHANGES.
AND WITH THIS CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL WORKING GROUP, WE REVIEWED THE POLICIES THAT, THAT WE PROVIDED IN THE BACKUP, AS I MENTIONED, THE ORDINANCE GUIDELINES, DONATION AND LOAN POLICY ACQUISITION, DEACCESSION POLICY, AND THE BYLAWS FOR THE A IPP PANEL.
UH, WE, WE DID A NEEDS ASSESSMENT, UH, PLAN AND FEASIBILITY, AND WE BENCHMARKED OUR PROGRAM, UH, AGAINST THE UT LANDMARKS AS THERE WAS A, A SPECIFIC RESOLUTION BULLET POINT, UH, THAT REFERENCED THAT PROGRAM.
AND WE PROVIDED UPDATES TO ACME LEADERSHIP.
UM, HERE IN THIS PHASE, WE HAD FOCUS GROUPS THAT, THAT WERE, UH, EXPLICIT FROM THE RESOLUTION, WHERE WE MET WITH ARTISTS THAT EXPERIENCED A REMOVAL OF THEIR ARTWORK, UM, BOTH FROM OUR COLLECTION AS WELL AS, UH, ON PRIVATE PROPERTY.
[00:15:01]
GROUP OF CURATORS, DEVELOPERS, UH, AND FABRICATORS TO GET THEIR, UM, FEEDBACK ON THE PROGRAM.AND, UH, AS MENTIONED, THE CROSS-DEPARTMENTAL WORKING GROUP PROVIDING, PROVIDING THEM INFORMATION AND THE RECOMMENDED CHANGES.
AND AGAIN, FROM THESE CONVERSATIONS, THE THEMES THAT WE HEARD WAS THERE'S THE GENERAL LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF HOW OUR PERCENT FOR ART PROGRAM WORKS AND A DESIRE FOR MORE ARTISTS SUPPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAME OUTTA THIS PHASE WERE THE MORE TRANSPARENCY OF OUR PROCESS, UH, HAVING A PROCESS FLOW CHART AND PROVIDING RESOURCES FOR ARTISTS.
UH, NOW WE'RE, WE'RE IN PHASE THREE TRYING TO, TRYING TO WRAP UP THIS PHASE, BUT, UM, TRYING TO GET POLICIES ADOPTED WHERE WE'RE, UH, CONTINUED TO WORK WITH CROSS DEPARTMENT OF WORKING GROUP, FINALIZING RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, HAD A LEGAL REVIEW THE RECOMMENDATIONS BEFORE WE PRESENT TO COUNCIL, UM, GETTING, UH, PROVIDING UPDATES TO THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE, AS WELL AS, UH, DIRECTORS OF, OF, OF, OF OUR WORKING GROUP, UH, DEPARTMENTS, UH, LOOKING TO GET ORDINANCE ADOPTION BECAUSE THE ORDINANCE IS APPROVED BY COUNCIL.
AND THEN AFTER THAT GETS APPROVED, WE'LL COME BACK TO THROUGH THE PANEL AND, AND YOU, THE ARTS COMMISSION TO GET A GUIDELINE AND, AND THE OTHER POLICIES UPDATED.
UM, WE, WE ARE PROVIDING ALL OF THOSE POLICIES NOW SO THAT YOU ARE, YOU HAVE THAT OVERVIEW OF, OF WHAT WE'RE RECOMMENDING AND HOW IT ALL WORKS TOGETHER, BUT WANTED TO BE CLEAR THAT THE ORDINANCE IS APPROVED BY COUNCIL, AND THE OTHER POLICIES CAN BE APPROVED, UM, FROM THIS BODY.
THE ARTS COMMISSION, UH, AND I'LL GO THROUGH A LITTLE BIT MORE IN FURTHER ALONG IN THE, IN THE PRESENTATION, BUT WANTED TO POINT OUT PROGRAMMATIC UPDATES THAT WE IDENTIFIED EARLY ON.
AND, AND THAT WOULD BE CONTRACT CHANGES, CLARIFYING THE ROLES OF ARTISTS, UH, A PILOT PROGRAM TO, UM, REGARDING A MAINTENANCE, AN ANNUAL MAINTENANCE REPORT, AND, UH, A TIERING OF OUR ARTISTS ART CALLS SO THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS, UH, THE OPPORTUNITY BEING MORE FOR EMERGING ARTISTS VERSUS ESTABLISHED ARTISTS VERSUS, UM, VERY EXPERIENCED PUBLIC ARTISTS.
AND THEN, UH, WE DEVELOP AN A IPV FLOWCHART THAT SHOWS OUR PROCESS AND, AND CAN CLEARLY IDENTIFY OR HELP, UH, DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS IDENTIFY WHERE THEY ARE IN THE PROCESS.
AND COMMUNICATIONS UPDATES, WHICH I'VE MENTIONED BEFORE.
WE, YOU KNOW, WE WOULD NEED TO UPDATE OUR WEBPAGES, MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE ARTIST RESOURCES, AND THAT OUR OPEN CALLS ARE AVAILABLE, AND THAT WE ARE CONDUCTING OUTREACH OUT IN THE COMMUNITY TO MAKE SURE ARTISTS ARE AWARE THAT OUR CALLS ARE AVAILABLE.
AND WITH THE ANTICIPATION OF POLICY ADOPTION, WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO PHASE FOUR, WHERE WE WILL LAUNCH OUR OPEN CALLS WITH THE CHANGES THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED IN PHASES ONE THROUGH THREE AND ANNOUNCING, UH, AND IMPLEMENTING NEW PROGRAMS SUCH AS, UH, MENTORSHIP PROGRAMS. IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HEARD THROUGH OUR CONVERSATIONS.
UH, WE DID HAVE THE, THE LAUNCHPAD PROGRAM.
AND SO WE WANT TO EVALUATE THAT AND SEE WHAT TWEAKS WE CAN MAKE, UM, TO BETTER, UH, ADDRESS THE CONCERNS THAT WE'VE BEEN HEARING IN OUR CONVERSATIONS.
AND, UH, OF COURSE WE'LL BE DOING, UM, A LOT OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH AROUND THAT SO THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS WHAT WE'VE DONE, WHERE WE CAME FROM, AND, AND, AND HOW WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD.
SO JUST AGAIN, WANTED TO REMIND YOU THAT THE RESOLUTION THAT COUNCIL PASSED BACK IN MARCH OF 2025, UH, IT STARTS OFF IDENTIFYING THAT A IPP ORDINANCE WAS STARTED IN 1985 TO DIRECT INCLUSION OF WORKS OF ART IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS TO EXPAND CITIZENS' EXPERIENCE WITH VISUAL ART, UM, AND ENHANCING AUSTIN STANDING AS NATIONAL LEADERS IN THE ART.
THE RESOLUTION CALLED FOR SPECIFIC THINGS FOR US TO, TO REVIEW.
I, I MEAN, IT TOLD US TO DO A PROGRAM ASSESSMENT AND MAKE RECOMMENDED CHANGES TO OUR POLICIES.
UM, BUT POINTING OUT THESE SPECIFIC THINGS, ONE WAS TO INCLUDE P THREES, UH, WHILE EXEMPTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING, UH, PROJECTS OR COSTS, AND FINDING, UH, UH, ALTERNATIVE COMPLIANCE THAT MEETS OR EXCEEDS THE CITY STANDARDS WHEN, WHEN DEALING WITH P THREES, UH, WANTED TO LOOK AT OTHER PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS AND PROGRAMS SUCH AS THE PUDS OR THE PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENTS OR DENSITY BONUS PROGRAMS TO SEE HOW WE COULD ENCOURAGE, UH, PUBLIC ART REQUIREMENTS IN THOSE PROGRAMS, ASKING US TO ALLOW FLEXIBILITY FOR THE USE OF FUNDS FOR MAINTENANCE, RELOCATION, STORAGE, DEACCESSION, REINSTALLATION, ET CETERA, ASKING US FOR GREATER FLEXIBILITY IN HOW WE USE FUNDS IN, IN THE NEARBY VICINITY OF PROJECTS.
UM, SO IF IT IMPROVES PUBLIC VISIBILITY AND ENGAGEMENT, UM, AND SPECIFICALLY CALLING OUT THESE OTHER, UM, ENTITIES OF THE CITY, UM, MAKE SURE THAT IT IS CITY OWNED PROPERTY AND THESE, THESE ENTITIES, UH, OWNERSHIP OF THAT PROPERTY IS INCLUDED AS CITY PROPERTY, UH, ALLOWING SOLICITATION OF CURATORIAL SERVICES.
THIS IS THE, THE BULLET POINT THAT WHERE, WHERE WE REFERENCED THE UT LANDMARKS PROGRAM AND IS IT SOMETHING THAT WE ALREADY HAD THE ABILITY TO DO SO, BUT WE MADE SURE WE WERE, UH, COMPARING NOTES WITH, WITH OUR, OUR, OUR,
[00:20:01]
UM, WITH OUR COLLEAGUES ON, ON THE UT CAMPUS.AND THEN THE FINAL BULLET WAS TO, UH, ADDRESS POTENTIAL OBSTACLES TO LOCAL PARTICIPATION BY ARTISTS AND FABRICATORS.
A COUPLE OF FURTHER RESOLVE WAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPORT, UH, ART ON PUBLIC SPACES THAT ARE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY.
AND THEN, UH, ASKED US TO DO ENGAGE STAKEHOLDERS THAT HAVE EXPERIENCED THE REMOVAL OF THEIR ARTWORK.
FROM OUR INITIAL ASSESSMENT, WE BASICALLY, AND OUR RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAME FROM WORKING WITH THE A FPB PANEL WORKING GROUP, WE IDENTIFIED BASICALLY THREE CATEGORIES IN WHICH WE CAN MAKE CHANGES OR, OR RECOMMEND UPDATES.
UM, THE FIRST ONE IS THE POLICY UPDATES, AND THAT THOSE WERE, WOULD REQUIRE THE, THE PROCESS THAT WE'RE GOING THROUGH NOW, MAKING SURE THAT WE GET, UH, APPROVAL THROUGH THE DIFFERENT BODIES, UH, ART, THE CITY COUNCIL AND YOURSELVES, THE ARTS COMMISSION, UM, PROGRAMMATIC UPDATES.
THESE ARE UPDATES THAT, UH, WE WANTED TO MAKE, BUT WE DID NOT REQUIRE ANY SORT OF POLICY CHANGES.
UM, AND THIS IS SPECIFICALLY THE CURATORIAL SERVICES, AS I MENTIONED, IS SOMETHING WE ALREADY DO.
JUST WANTED TO BE CLEARER ABOUT WHEN WE USE THAT OPTION.
AND HOW, UM, AND THEN THE PRIVATE PROPERTY, PUBLIC ART SUPPORT, UH, INITIALLY THAT BULLET POINT, WHEN I READ THAT, I WAS LIKE, THERE'S NO WAY WE CAN DO ANYTHING PRIVATE PROPERTY.
BUT AS WE HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH ARTISTS AND CURATORS, UM, AND, AND THE STAKEHOLDERS, UH, CAME TO UNDERSTAND IT WAS LIKE, WE CAN SUPPORT ARTISTS BY PROVIDING, UM, RESOURCES SUCH AS TEMPLATES OR CONTACT INFORMATION TO ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS TEXAS ACCOUNTANTS AND LAWYERS FOR THE ARTS.
UM, SO IN THAT SENSE, WE, WE WILL BE ABLE TO ADDRESS THAT, THAT, UM, POINT IN THE RESOLUTION.
AND THEN COMMUNICATION UPDATES, YOU KNOW, WE KNOW THAT WE NEED TO REACH OUT TO PUBLIC ARTISTS AND LET THEM KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AND, AND THAT'S HOW WE'RE GONNA INCREASE LOCAL ARTIST PARTICIPATION AND COMMUNICATE CLEARLY WITH THEM WHEN WE ARE GOING INTO CONTRACTS WITH THEM, MAKE SURE THAT THEY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS THAT THEY'RE SIGNING, WHAT, UM, RESPONSIBILITY THAT THEY WILL HAVE, AND, UH, WHAT IT MEANS TO HAND A TITLE OVER FOR AN ARTWORK TO THE CITY.
AND SO, UH, THIS IS JUST THE BREATHER.
SO I CATCH MY BREATH, AND WE'RE GONNA JUMP INTO THE POLICY UPDATES.
SO IN THE DOCUMENTS THAT WE PROVIDED, THEY WERE ALL MARKED UP REDLINED.
UM, BUT WHAT, WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO WAS TO JUST TO MAKE, UM, CONSISTENT LANGUAGE UPDATES THROUGHOUT WE, BECAUSE THE A IPP PANEL IS A COMMITTEE OF THE ARTS COMMISSION, BUT WE HAVE NOT REFERRED TO IT AS SUCH.
THERE IS SOME CONFUSION ABOUT WHAT THAT BODY DOES AND, AND, UM, HOW IT OPERATES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE ARTS COMMISSION AND THE, AND THE PUBLIC, THE COMMUNITY.
SO WE'RE RECOMMENDING THAT WE CH WE UPDATE THE NAME TO THE A IPP COMMITTEE SO THAT IT IS CLEAR THAT IT IS A COMMITTEE OF THE ARTS COMMISSION.
UM, UH, THE ORDINANCE AND GUIDELINES HAVE, UH, OUTDATED JOB TITLES.
SO WE'RE JUST RECOMMENDING THAT WE UPDATE THAT, UM, SPELLING OUT A IPP SO THAT WE ARE CLEAR THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ART IN PUBLIC PLACES, UH, SINCE ACME WAS CREATED, MAKING SURE REFERENCES TO THE FORMER, UH, DEPARTMENT THAT WE WERE LOCATED IN, AND, UM, UPDATING OUR LANGUAGE REGARDING OUR PROSPECTUS, ALTHOUGH THE PROSPECTUS IS A, IS A FAIRLY ACCURATE TERM OF WHAT WE DO, WE FELT THAT, UH, ART CALL IS A, A MORE, UM, STANDARD LANGUAGE THAT ANYONE CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
UH, MID DESIGNED TO CONCEPT AND, UH, UPDATING THE, THE TERM JURY TO ARTIST SELECTION PANEL, AGAIN, FOLLOWING THIS LINE OF THINKING IF, IF WE HAVE THE ARTS COMMISSION.
AND THEN THE A IPP COMMITTEE IS A COMMITTEE OF THE ARTS COMMISSION.
UM, THERE'S BEEN CONFUSION REGARDING THE A IB PANEL VERSUS THE ARTIST SELECTION PANEL.
SO JUST BEING CLEAR, UM, ABOUT ALL THE DIFFERENT, UM, GROUPS THAT WE'RE TALKING, TALKING ABOUT AND REFERRING TO DA AND CONSISTENT LANGUAGE OF SPONSOR DEPARTMENT.
UM, THERE'S SPONSOR DEPARTMENT VERSUS USER DEPARTMENT.
AND, AND SO JUST GETTING CLARITY ON THAT, WITHIN THE ORDINANCE SPECIFICALLY, WE ADDED AND UPDATED DEFINITIONS TO BE CLEAR ABOUT WHAT, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
WE, WE WERE ABLE TO INCORPORATE P THREE REQUIREMENT, UH, THROUGH CONVERSATIONS WITH OUR PARTNERS.
WE IDENTIFIED THAT THE P THREE, THE TERM P THREE OR PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IS, IS TOO GENERIC OF A TERM.
SO ALTHOUGH WE UNDERSTOOD WHAT COUNCIL WAS ASKING US TO DO, UH, OUR PARTNER DEPARTMENTS HELPED US FIND ALTERNATE LANGUAGE THAT, THAT MET THE REQUIREMENT, WHICH, WHICH IS, UM, ALTERNATE DELIVERY MODELS.
SO CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS UTILIZING ALTERNATE DELIVERY MODELS SUCH AS P THREES OR SUCH AS, UM, THE AUSTIN PUBLIC FACILITY CORPORATION.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING WHAT COUNCIL ASKED US, BUT WE'RE USING SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT LANGUAGE.
AND, AND THIS IS ME CONNECTING THE DOTS TO, TO SHOW THAT WE DID OUR WORK.
UM, WE ARE LOOKING AT, UH, DIFFERENT, UH, PROGRAMS TO ENCOURAGE THE PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT TO
[00:25:01]
INCLUDE PUBLIC ART.AND WE ARE ENCOURAGING THEM TO INCLUDE PUBLIC ART AT A 2% ALLOCATION, SIMILAR TO OUR PROGRAM.
UM, IT WON'T BE A REQUIREMENT, BUT IF THEY CHOOSE TO PURSUE PUBLIC ART AS PART OF A, UM, UH, WHAT'S IT CALLED AS AN INCENTIVE, THAT WE HAVE CLEAR LANGUAGE ABOUT HOW THEY ACCOMPLISH THAT, UH, WE ARE RECOMMENDING TO REMOVE THE CAP ON THE AUSTIN WATER WASTEWATER FACILITIES, AND WE ARE INTRODUCING ALTERNATE COMPLIANCE LANGUAGE, UM, AS WE HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH AUSTIN WATER AND, AND THEY DO WANNA PARTICIPATE IN OUR PROGRAM.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE VERY, UH, GRATEFUL FOR THAT CONVERSATION.
AND, AND WE HAVE THAT LANGUAGE THAT WILL ALLOW US TO DO THAT, UH, PULLING UNUSED FUNDS, UM, WITHOUT LEGAL RESTRICTIONS.
SO THAT'S THE THING WE WANNA BE CLEAR WITH, WITH OUR PARTNERS IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS, THAT WE'RE NOT TRYING TO BREAK THE LAW.
WE'RE NOT TRYING TO GET THE CITY IN TROUBLE AND HOW WE USE OUR MONEY OR IN HOW WE ACCOUNT FOR IT.
UM, SO THAT LIMITED US A LITTLE BIT IN TERMS OF, OF WHAT WE CAN DO WITH THE FLEXIBILITY THAT COUNCIL ASKED US, BUT WE DID FIND SOME THINGS.
SO, UM, WE'LL, WE'LL TALK THAT ABOUT THAT MORE, UH, UPDATING, UH, THE COST CALCULATION TO BE CLEAR THAT IT'S NOT CONSTRUCTION COST, AS THAT IS A GENERIC INDUSTRY TERM, AND WE WANT TO BE SPECIFIC ABOUT CAPITAL PROJECT COST.
UM, AND THEN MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS.
UH, BEING CLEAR THAT, ALTHOUGH THE ORDINANCE ALREADY SAYS THAT THE DEPARTMENT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTENANCE, WANNA BE CLEAR THAT DEPARTMENTS DO MA UH, ROUTINE MAINTENANCE.
AND A IPP DOES REPAIRS AND RESTORATIONS.
AND THAT'S ALSO WHY WE'RE INTRODUCING THE ANNUAL MAINTENANCE REPORT TO HELP GATHER THE DATA TO, TO DEMONSTRATE WHEN WHEN'S THE LAST TIME THAT WE TOUCHED AN ARTWORK AND WHEN, YOU KNOW, LET'S TRY TO PREVENT THE NEED FOR REPAIR AND RESTORATIONS, AND WE'LL WORK TOGETHER TO GET THERE.
UM, I'M JUST GOING OVER THE HIGHLIGHT OF THINGS SO WE CAN GO A LITTLE BIT QUICKER.
UM, SO THAT WAS THE ORDINANCE, LIKE I SAID, APPROVED BY COUNCIL.
UM, THE ORDINANCE IS WHAT WE DO, AND THE A IPP GUIDELINES TELL US HOW WE DO IT.
AND THE, THESE GUIDELINES, UM, THROUGH THE PANEL WILL BE APPROVED BY YOU.
THE ARTS COMMISSION, UH, AGAIN, WE UPDATED AND ADDED NEW DEFINITIONS, UH, UPDATED THE TERM CONSTRUCTION COST TO CAPITAL, PROJECT COST, AND WE INCLUDED, UM, ANYTIME A, A CAPITAL PROJECT GOES BACK TO COUNCIL FOR MORE MONEY, WE SHOULD HAVE 2% OF THAT INCREASED COST, UH, INCORPORATED THE, THE P THREES, AS I MENTIONED, WITH, WITH THE, THE TERM, WITH THE VOCABULARY THAT WE RECEIVED FROM APARTMENT DEPARTMENTS, THE ALTERNATE COMPLIANCE LANGUAGE FOR AUSTIN WATER.
UM, AND HERE'S WHERE WE GOT THE FLEXIBILITY OF USING THE FUNDS A LITTLE BIT, IS THE FUTURE BOND APPROPRIATIONS CAN POOL THE 2% IN EACH PROPOSITION.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, IF IN THE NEXT BOND, UH, ELECTION, WE HAVE A PROPOSITION FOR, UH, TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS, AND THERE'S FOUR OF THEM, AND THREE OF THOSE FOUR PROJECTS ARE ELIGIBLE PROJECTS FOR THE 2% ALLOCATION, WE'RE GONNA ADD A FIFTH PROJECT THAT SAYS THIS, A IPP PROJECT COMES FROM THE THREE ELIGIBLE PROJECTS, AND WE GOT 2% OF THOSE PROJECTS, AND WE HAVE THIS MONEY.
AND BY DOING THAT, WE ARE THEN ABLE, WE'LL, WE'LL, WE WILL, WE WILL HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY OF LOCATING, UM, WE'LL HAVE THE LO ABILITY OF POOLING THE MONEY.
SO WE COULD POTENTIALLY HAVE JUST ONE LARGE BUDGET, AND WE CAN DECIDE WHICH OF THE THREE, UH, PROJECTS ARE WE GOING TO LOCATE THE ARTWORK.
SO IT GIVES US GREATER FLEXIBILITY.
IT, IT MAY BE THAT WE PUT PROJECTS ON ALL THREE, BUT IT GIVES US THAT FLEXIBILITY TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION WITH THE PARTNER DEPARTMENT, UM, AND, AND GIVE US GREATER FLEXIBILITY OF MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE ART IN EVERY PART OF THE CITY.
AS YOU KNOW, A LOT OF OUR CIPS TEND TO FOCUS HISTORICALLY HAVE BEEN DOWNTOWN OR THE AIRPORT.
AND SO WANTING TO FIND THOSE OPPORTUNITIES TO REALLY SPREAD OUT PUBLIC ART THROUGH THE CITY, UH, MORE UPDATES IN THE GUIDELINES.
UM, THIS IS A THING THAT'S ALREADY HAPPENING, BUT WE WANTED TO DOCUMENT IT AND MEMORIALIZE IT.
AND THIS TO ENCOURAGE DI DEPARTMENTS TO COLLABORATE WITH ARTISTS TO MAXIMIZE OUR ART INVESTMENT.
THEY DO THIS WHEN WE'RE WORKING WITH THEM.
THIS IS TALKING ABOUT LIKE, UH, IF THEY'RE GONNA POUR CONCRETE AND WE NEED A FOUNDATION THAT'S GONNA NEED CONCRETE POURED FOR THE FOUNDATION OF THE ARTWORK, UH, WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER TO COORDINATE THAT.
WHEN THEY POUR THEIR CONCRETE, THEY'RE POURING THE FOUNDATION FOR US.
AND THAT SAVES A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY.
UM, AND OVERALL IT SAVES THE CITY MONEY.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE TRYING TO MAXIMIZE THAT INVESTMENT BY WORKING TOGETHER.
WE ALREADY DO THAT, JUST MEMORIALIZING IT IN THE GUIDELINES NOW.
UH, AND MAINTENANCE OF THE SPONSOR DEPARTMENT, AS I MENTIONED, ROUTINE MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT REPAIR, UH, RESTORATION, A IPP AND THE, UH, MAINTENANCE REPORT, ANNUAL MAINTENANCE REPORT.
THE DEES LANGUAGE IS UPDATED A LITTLE BIT.
UM, JUST SO THAT WE ARE CLEAR THAT IF THE ARTWORK CANNOT BE REPAIRED, THAT IS AN OPTION FOR US, OR IT IS A PATH THAT WE NEED TO FOLLOW.
[00:30:02]
UH, ACQUISITION DEES POLICY, UH, JUST ADDING LANGUAGE, MAKE SURE THAT IT IS CLEAR THAT ARTWORK BECOMES PROPERTY OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AND, AND WE CAN MANAGE IT ACCORDING TO OUR POLICIES IN THE LOAN AND DONATION POLICY.UH, WE ADDED THE ART AND PUBLIC PLACES PROGRAM, UH, VERSUS, UH, CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION.
THE BYLAWS FOR THE ART AND PUBLIC PLACES PANEL, AS I MENTIONED, WENT THROUGH AS WE WERE LOOKING AT THESE, THE GUIDELINES HAD HAD EVOLVED INTO A, A POLICY THAT WAS BOTH GUIDELINES THAT DIRECTED STAFF'S WORK AS WELL AS GUIDELINES DIRECTING THE PANEL.
AND THOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.
AND SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT IS CLEAR OF THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR EACH BODY.
AND SO, UH, BRINGING BACK THE BYLAWS OF THE A IPB PANEL SO THAT THEY, WE CAN DEVELOP ANY FURTHER, UM, REQUIREMENTS IN THAT POLICY VERSUS IN ONE THAT'S SHARED WITH STAFF.
UM, AND SO YOU'LL SEE HERE A COUPLE THINGS THAT WERE UPDATED, BUT REALLY, UM, IT WAS JUST CONSISTENCY OF LANGUAGE ACROSS ALL POLICIES.
ANOTHER BREATHER, SORRY, I'M LOSING SOME OF Y'ALL
UM, AND SO YEAH, THAT'S OUR, THAT'S THE UPDATE.
THIS IS THE PRESENTATION THAT WE PROVIDED STATE FB PANEL A COUPLE WEEKS AGO.
UM, AND YOU HAVE THE RED LINE DOCUMENTS IN THE BACKUP FOR YOUR REVIEW.
UH, COMMISSIONER MACH AS OUR REPRESENTATIVE, DID YOU HAVE ANY, ARE THERE ANY ISSUES, CONCERNS, RED FLAGS? UM, NO.
UH, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF DIALOGUE ABOUT THESE CHANGES THERE.
AS JAIME WENT OVER, AND WE'VE SEEN A FEW ITERATIONS OF THIS, UM, THERE WAS A COMMITTEE THAT WORKED CLOSELY WITH STAFF ON THESE UPDATES.
UM, I GUESS THE CONCERN, UM, IS NOT ABOUT THE PROPOSED UPDATES, BUT RATHER THE, WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT IN OUR LAST MEETING AROUND THE DEFINITION OF CONSTRUCTION COSTS AND THE CLAR, THE NEED FOR CLARIFICATION, BECAUSE CONSTRUCTION COSTS MEANS SOMETHING REALLY SPECIFIC IN LIKE ARCHITECT AND DEVELOPMENT WORLD.
UM, AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE IN FACT, BASING THE BASE 2% OR THE, THE BASE COST UPON WHICH THE 2% ARE APPLIED ARE THE PROJECT COSTS.
UM, SO THAT'S WHAT THE LETTER THAT YOU SEE IN THE BACKUP, UM, THAT THE A A P PANEL AUTHORED, UM, IS ADDRESSING IS JUST TO GO ALONG WITH, AND WE'RE, ARE WE DOING NINE AND 11 RIGHT NOW? 'CAUSE I THINK THAT IF WE'RE DOING 11, THEN THE ACTION, UM, FOR US IS TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION, RIGHT? IN SUPPORT OF THE CHANGES, RIGHT? UM, IN SUPPORT OF THE PROPOSED CHANGES.
AND I THINK, AND STAFF CAN CLARIFY IF I'M WRONG, ABOUT THE PROCESS ORDER HERE, IS THAT THE LETTER, UM, FROM A-A-P-A-I-P-P PANEL COULD BE LIKE INCLUDED IN THAT AS A, AS A KIND OF REITERATING THAT THIS IS WHY DEFINING, YOU KNOW, CLARIFYING THE DEFINITIONS IS IMPORTANT.
SO I THINK THAT'S THE, THERE'S CERTAINLY ACTION ON SUPPORTING, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE'RE DOING THAT.
DID WE MOVE NINE AND 11 UP? YES, I KNOW.
SO, SO YEAH, THE ACTION THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR IS A RECOMMENDATION, AN OFFICIAL ARTS COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION, WHICH FOLLOWS THE A IPP PANEL RECOMMENDATION, A A PP COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION TO ENCOURAGE, UM, COUNCIL TO ADOPT THESE CHANGES TO THE ORDINANCE.
AND TO PUT PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO THAT, UM, 2% LANGUAGE.
UM, IS THE, IS THE DSES POLICY GONNA BE INCORPORATED INTO CONTRACTS AND THE LANGUAGE CLEARLY SPECIFYING THAT THE PIECE COULD BE DESTROYED IF THE CITY FINDS THE NEED TO DO SO? YES, THERE'S, UH, THERE IS LANGUAGE THAT WE INTRODUCED INTO THE CONTRACT, UH, ALMOST IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING, UH, THE JANUARY CONVERSATION AT CITY COUNCIL.
UM, AND IT IS A, WE HAVEN'T HAD A LOT OF OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE THIS, BUT WE HAVE, UM, MADE SURE TO CALL THAT OUT WHEN WE, UH, GET INTO KICKOFF MEETINGS WITH THE ARTISTS, UM, JUST WHEN THEY'RE SIGNING THEIR CONTRACT, MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, THAT THAT LANGUAGE IS IN THERE, THAT WE REVIEW IT, AND WE, WE REMIND THEM THAT THE ARTWORK BECOMES
[00:35:02]
PROPERTY OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN.YOU CREATED IT, BUT IT'S OURS, AND WE HAVE POLICIES AND HOW WE CARE FOR IT.
BUT DOES IT SPECIFY THAT THE WORK COULD BE DESTROYED? I THINK, I THINK THAT'S JUST IMPORTANT TO BE UPFRONT WITH PEOPLE AND SAY THAT WHAT THIS MEANS IS WE HAVE THESE POLICIES, AND THERE COULD BE INSTANCES IN WHICH WE HAVE, WE FIND THAT WE HAVE TO DESTROY YOUR ART.
UM, UM, I'M HAVING TROUBLE REMEMBERING THE EXACT LANGUAGE THAT WE USED IN THE CONTRACT.
UM, BUT I MEAN, WHAT YOU JUST SAID RIGHT NOW, I'LL POINT, I WAS LIKE, WE'RE NOT GONNA DESTROY THEIR ART.
LIKE THEY HAND THE TITLE OVER, IT'S OUR ART.
WELL, WHAT THEY MADE, I MEAN, IT'S THEIR CREATION.
MY, MY CONCERN IS THAT IT'S ABOUT TRANSPARENCY, AND THAT IF WE'RE, IF WE'RE UPFRONT IN THE BEGINNING, THEN WE DON'T GET INTO SITUATIONS LIKE WE HAD IF WE'RE UPFRONT AND SAY, LOOK, THIS IS THE BOTTOM LINE, IT COULD BE DESTROYED.
AND THIS IS PEOPLE'S HARD WORK.
UM, I, LIKE I SAID, I'LL, I'LL HAVE TO DOUBLE CHECK, UM, THE LATEST VERSION OF THE CONTRACT THAT WE HAVE.
UM, THAT'S, COULD I CLARIFY THOUGH, JAIME, THAT THAT'S PART OF THE GUIDELINES, NOT THE ORDINANCE, IS THAT CORRECT? LIKE THE, THE SPECIFICITIES OF CONTRACT LANGUAGE? YEAH.
AND, AND SO, SO WE HAVE ANOTHER ROUND OF TALKING ABOUT THE GUIDELINE UPDATES.
THERE WOULD BE SOME DIRECTION IN THE GUIDELINES, MORE EXPLICIT DIRECTION IN THE DS, THE ACQUISITION DEES POLICY.
AND THEN WE'LL HAVE THE CONTRACT SPECIFICALLY THAT, THAT WE USE THE CONTRACT TEMPLATE THAT WE'LL USE WHEN ENTERING CONTRACTS.
THAT'S WHY I'M HAVING TROUBLE REMEMBERING THE EXACT LANGUAGE IN THE CONTRACT.
BUT, BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT IS GONNA COME UP AT A LATER TIME, AND WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE CLEAR.
WE, I, I WILL BE PRESENTING THIS AGAIN, MINUS THE ORDINANCE TO YOU.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? I'LL, UH, COMMISSIONER MALDONADO.
UM, HI, MAY I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION ON, UH, THE ORDINANCE UPDATES WHERE IT SAYS REVISED OR NEW LANGUAGE? UM, AS FAR AS THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF PRIVATE DEVELOPMENTS TO INCLUDE THE 2%, DOES ENCOURAGEMENT, DOES THAT MEAN INCENTIVIZE? AND IF THERE ISN'T, LIKE, DOES, IS THERE AN INCENTIVE? WHAT IS ENCOURAGEMENT? I WOULD LIKE JUST SOME CLARIFICATION AROUND THAT.
SO THE EXISTING EXAMPLE THAT I HAVE IS THAT, UM, WE HAD, UH, AN APPLICATION FOR PLANNED UNIT DEVELOPMENTS, WHICH IS HANDLED BY, UM, THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
AND THAT IN THAT APPLICATION, IN THE ZONING APPLICATION, ACTUALLY, LET ME BE CLEAR.
IN THE ZONING APPLICATION, THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPERS TO PURSUE INCENTIVES.
AND ONE OF THE INCENTIVES TO, TO RECEIVE TIER TWO CERTIFICATION IS PUBLIC ART.
BUT THE REQUIREMENT FOR THAT, ALL IT SAYS IS TALK TO A IPP TO EITHER, YOU KNOW, CREATE PUBLIC ART OR TO MAKE A CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROGRAM.
SO I WANT, I USE THAT AS A JUMPING OFF POINT.
IT'S LIKE, I WANT TO UPDATE THAT LANGUAGE TO BE CLEAR ABOUT NOT ONLY DO THEY NEED TO COME TALK TO A IPP, BUT UM, HAVE THE EXPECTATION SET UP AS LIKE, THIS IS WHAT'S GONNA BE REQUIRED.
YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO, 2% OF OF YOUR PROJECT COSTS WILL GO TO PUBLIC ART.
SO THAT WE CAN THEN HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT THAT, UM, WHAT THE COST TRADE OFF MIGHT BE.
IS, IS 2% PUBLIC ARTWORK, UH, A BETTER VALUE OR IS, UH, UM, CONTRIBUTION TO THE I PPP PROGRAM, UH, IN TERMS OF LIKE THE MAINTENANCE FUND, IS THAT A BETTER VALUE FOR THAT, FOR THAT, UM, ZONING APPLICATION FOR, FOR PUDS? AND SO WE WANTED TO TAKE THAT SIMILAR SCENARIO AND APPLY IT TO, CAN WE APPLY IT TO THE DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM AGAIN, IN OTHER CONVERSATION THAT WE WERE HAVING WITH THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
UM, AND CAN WE TAKE THAT AND USE IT WITH CULTURAL DISTRICTS, A CONVERSATION THAT WE'LL TAKE UP WITH THE CULTURAL DISTRICTS TEAM IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
UM, BUT THAT'S THE WAY THAT WE WOULD ENCOURAGE PRIVATE DEVELOPMENTS TO PURSUE PUBLIC ART, IS BY USING THOSE MECHANISMS THAT THE CITY ALREADY OFFERS IN TERMS OF INCENTIVES IN DEVELOPMENT AND BE, PROVIDE CLEAR CRITERIA FOR PUBLIC ART.
SO WOULD YOU SAY THAT RIGHT NOW, THE CONTRIBUTION, SINCE IT'S BASED ON CONTRIBUTIONS, WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE, WOULD YOU SAY, UP TO THIS POINT IT'S BEEN UNDER 2%, UH, WE HAVEN'T HAD A LOT OF EXAM.
WOULD THAT BE A FAIR STATEMENT? UH, NO.
WE HAVEN'T HAD A LOT OF EXAMPLES OF, OF PUDS COMING IN AND WANTING TO GET THAT TIER TWO CERTIFICATION.
UM, I, THE ONLY ONE THAT I CAN THINK OF RIGHT NOW
[00:40:01]
WOULD BE THE, WHAT WAS NICKNAMED THE SCHLOTZKY'S PUD.UM, THEY HAVE AN ARTWORK ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR DEVELOPMENT THAT THEY USED THIS AND, AND THEY ASKED A IPP TO, TO REVIEW THE ARTWORK.
UM, THEY FOLLOWED OUR SELECTION PROCESS.
UM, BUT I COULD NOT SPEAK TOWARDS THE BUDGET OF THAT PROJECT, SO I DON'T, I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO QUALIFY WHAT, WHAT YOU'RE ASKING.
UM, THE OTHER THING I WAS CURIOUS ABOUT WAS THE UNUSED PROJECT FUNDS.
SO, CURRENTLY, JUST SO THAT I UNDERSTAND, CURRENTLY, WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE UNUSED PROJECT FUNDS IF THEY'RE, UH, NOT IF THEY'RE NOT FLEXIBLE USE NOW? YEAH.
IF WE, IF WE HAVE A PROJECT AND WE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE'VE DELIVERED THE ARTWORK AND THE ARTISTS GOT PAID AND WE'VE PAID EVERYTHING RELATED TO THAT PROJECT, AND THERE'S STILL MAYBE $200 LEFT THAT GETS, THAT GETS TAKEN BACK UP MM-HMM
AND WE DON'T, WE DON'T GET TO USE THAT BECAUSE WE, WE HAVE TO USE THE MONEY BECAUSE IT'S MORE THAN LIKELY BOND MONEY, AND WE HAVE TO USE IT AS DESCRIBED BY THE BOND, WHICH FOR US IS AS DESCRIBED FOR THE A IPB PROJECT.
AND SO WE, WE LOSE OUT THE MONEY.
SO FOR FLEXIBLE USE, WOULD THAT INCLUDE IT BEING, IT BEING ABLE TO USE IT FOR MAINTENANCE WHEN YOU'RE, WHEN YOU SAY FLEXIBLE USE, LIKE WHAT IS FLEXIBLE USE? WHAT ARE YOU, UH, COVERING WITH THAT? SORRY, I DID HEAR THAT.
TO CREATE PUBLIC ART IN OTHER AREAS OF TOWN THAT MAYBE DO NOT GET SOME OF THAT MONEY.
THAT WAS MY, THIS IS OUR INTERPRETATION OF WHEN COUNCIL PASSED THE RESOLUTION, THAT WHEN THEY SAID, BE, FIND OUT HOW WE CAN BE FLEXIBLE IN USING THIS MONEY.
THAT WAS OUR UNDERSTANDING THAT MM-HMM
THEY WANTED TO ALLOW US TO MOVE THAT MONEY OVER TO USE IT FOR MAINTENANCE, BUT WE KIND OF ALREADY KNEW, AND WE HAD OUR PARTNERS CONFIRM FOR US AS LIKE, IF WE ARE USING BOND MONEY, WE CAN'T USE BOND MONEY FOR MAINTENANCE.
WE HAVE TO USE IT ACCORDING TO WHAT THE BOND PROPOSITION SAID.
AND SO TO GET, THAT'S WHY WE, THAT'S WHY I CAME UP WITH, WE CAME UP WITH THAT IDEA OF BEING ABLE TO PULL AT THE PROPOSITION LEVEL SO THAT IT GIVES US GREATER FLEXIBILITY AND WE CAN REALLY DEFINE THE PROJECT BETTER, AND WE CAN SHARE THAT THOSE FUNDS BETWEEN THOSE PROJECTS WITHIN A PROPOSITION A LITTLE BIT EASIER.
DO WE KNOW HOW MUCH MONEY HAS GONE BACK OR WENT BACK MAYBE THE LAST, LAST YEAR, UH, THAT WAS UNUSED, THAT WENT BACK INTO THE CITY'S BUDGET? I DO NOT HAVE THOSE NUMBERS.
IT WOULD REQUIRE SOME, SOME HEFTY HOMEWORK.
JUST AGAIN, THESE ARE JUST NOTES THAT I'VE BEEN MAKING ALONG THROUGH THE PRESENTATION.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATION TO, ON THE UPDATES THAT AREN'T IN PUBLIC PLACES, ORDINANCE GUIDELINES AND POLICIES, DIRECT UPDATES.
ANY MORE DISCUSSION? SAYING NONE.
I'LL CALL THE QUESTION ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? SAYING NO OPPOSITION.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HARD WORK.
WE'RE NOW MOVING TO ITEM NUMBER THREE, UPDATE
[3. Update on actions taken at the November 19th Downtown Commission meeting by Commissioner Houston ]
ON ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE NOVEMBER 19TH DOWNTOWN COMMISSION MEETING BY COMMISSIONER HOUSTON.UH, SEVERAL THINGS GOING ON DOWNTOWN.
THEY'RE, THEY ADOPTED A BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGN RESOLUTION BECAUSE AUSTIN IS IN THE MIGRATORY PATH OF MORE THAN 400 SPECIES OF MIGRATORY BIRDS.
THERE IS AN EXEMPTION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECTS BECAUSE IT CAN BE RATHER EXPENSIVE TO DO THE BIRD FRIENDLY DESIGNS.
THE CENTRAL DISTRICT, THE CENTRAL CITY DISTRICT PLAN IS A 10 YEAR BLUEPRINT FOR FUTURE GROWTH AND INVESTMENTS.
THEY'RE PUTTING TOGETHER AN ADVISORY GROUP OF 50 MEMBERS OF TECHNICAL AND STATE HOLDER INDIVIDUALS.
CENTRAL HEALTH IS UNDERGOING A $101 MILLION EXPANSION
THEY HAVE A $91 MILLION RESERVE TO HELP COVER THE COSTS ON THAT EXPANSION.
AND THEY ARE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING, UH, TWO-WAY STREET CONVERSIONS DOWNTOWN AND CONVERTING STREETS FROM ONE WAY TO TWO WAY.
THEY SAY THAT THEY WILL, UM, DO AN INVESTIGATION OF EACH, EACH STREET INDIVIDUALLY TO DETERMINE WHAT'S BEST IN EACH PLACE.
AND THE NEXT MEETING IS THIS COMING WEDNESDAY? I'M NOT SURE
[00:45:01]
I'M GONNA BE PRESENT, BUT I'LL, I'LL WATCH IT AND GIVE AN UPDATE IN JANUARY.MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER FOUR,
[4. Discussion and possible recommendations to Spanish language contracts for Austin Arts, Culture, Music, and Entertainment (AACME) grants ]
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATIONS TO SPANISH LANGUAGE CONTRACTS FOR AUSTIN FOR ACME GRANTS.AND I PUT A DRAFT RECOMMENDATION IN BACKUP, UM, MY CONCERN WITH THE ISSUE, AND IN THE, IN THE DRAFT RECOMMENDATION, I ACTUALLY SAID THAT THE CONTRACTS BE TRANSLATED INTO WHATEVER LANGUAGE THE APPLICANT USES TO SUBMIT THE APPLICATION IN THE EVENT THAT WE MOVED TO MORE LANGUAGES THAN, UM, TRANSLATION THAN SPANISH.
UM, JUST BECAUSE IT'S, IT SEEMS DISINGENUOUS FOR US TO SAY WE'RE TRYING TO BE ACCOMMODATING AND HELP PEOPLE WITH, UM, ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE OR THIRD LANGUAGE, BUT NOT GIVING THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF LEGAL INFORMATION TO THEM IN THAT LANGUAGE THAT THEY PREFER.
WE CANNOT VOTE ON THIS RECOMMENDATION, BUT I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND HAVE ANY DISCUSSION NOW SO THAT WE CAN JUST PASS IT ON CONSENT IN JANUARY IF POSSIBLE.
ANY DISCUSSION? COMMISSIONER GARZA? UH, CHAIRMAN, I JUST WANNA THANK YOU FOR THE VERBIAGE YOU USE IN THIS, UH, RECOMMENDATION.
HAVING LIVED IN AUSTIN AS LONG AS I HAVE AND WORKING IN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND WORKING WITH STUDENTS FROM BASICALLY EVERY SINGLE CONTINENT IN THE WORLD, EXCEPT FOR US, UH, ANTARCTICA.
SO I WORKED WITH KIDS FROM EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY ALL OVER THE WORLD WITH SPANISH AND FRENCH AND PERSIAN AND ARABIAN AND WHATNOT.
AND THE BEST WAY FOR US TO WELCOME THOSE MEMBERS INTO OUR COMMUNITY AND TO INVITE THEM TO BE PARTICIPANTS IN WHAT WE LOVE OUR PUBLIC ART SPACES AND OUR ART PROGRAMS AND ALL THAT IS TO INCLUDE THAT LANGUAGE TO MAKE SURE THAT WHETHER YOU'RE FROM THAILAND OR WHETHER YOU'RE FROM AFRICA OR WHEREVER YOU'RE FROM, IF YOU WANT TO JOIN OUR COMMUNITY, WE WELCOME YOU AND THANK YOU FOR THAT.
UM, I'M JUST RECALLING, UH, SOME CONVERSATIONS THAT WE HAD WITH THE LONG CENTER, AND I'M WONDERING JUST HOW, UH, THE TRANSLATIONS WILL BE FUNDED.
AND I DON'T KNOW THAT WE NEED TO SPECIFY THAT IN OUR RECOMMENDATION, BUT IT'S JUST A CONSIDERATION BECAUSE IT'S KIND OF A HOT POTATO THAT MIGHT GET PASSED AROUND BETWEEN THE THIRD PARTY AND THE STAFF.
AND IS THERE, IS THERE A CITY FUNCTION THAT DOES THIS FOR PEOPLE WHEN IT IS NEEDED THAT'S ALREADY PAID FOR, OR, THAT'S MY QUESTION.
DO WE KNOW IF THAT'S FUNDED OR IF LEGAL HAS THE CAPACITY? 'CAUSE IT WOULD BE LEGAL'S RESPONSIBILITY TO TRANSLATE THE CONTRACT.
LAURA ODEGAARD ACTING, UM, DIVISION MANAGER FOR ACME.
UM, LEGAL DOES NOT HAVE THE FUNDING TO DO THAT.
UM, AGAIN, THIS WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT ACME THE CITY AND THE LONG CENTER WOULD NEED TO INCORPORATE INTO FUTURE CONTRACT AMENDMENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE WAS AVAILABLE FUNDING FOR THEM TO THEN TAKE ON THAT TRANSLATION EFFORT FOR FUTURE FOR OTHER, UM, LANGUAGES BEYOND ENGLISH.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE IN DISCUSSIONS ABOUT RIGHT NOW IS EVEN THOUGH THE SIGNED COPY NEEDS TO BE IN ENGLISH, IF THERE CAN BE A TRANSLATED COPY AS A REFERENCE FOR OTHER FOLKS.
SO THAT IS WHAT WE ARE TALKING THROUGH RIGHT NOW.
UM, APOLOGIES, I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK THROUGH THE RECOMMENDATION, UM, THAT YOU MADE CHAIR, BUT, UM, BUDGET, YES.
UM, COMMISSIONERS, THAT IS ALWAYS, THAT IS ALWAYS A CONCERN THAT WE'RE TRYING TO NAVIGATE.
SO MY QUESTION WOULD BE HOW DOES LEGAL DO CONTRACTS WITH FOREIGN ENTITIES IF THEY DON'T HAVE THE BUDGET TO TRANSLATE CONTRACTS? THE CITY OF AUSTIN ONLY DOES CONTRACTS IN ENGLISH, AND IT IS UP TO THE, THE VENDOR, THE OTHER VENDOR TO POTENTIALLY GET THAT TRANSLATED FOR THEM TO UNDERSTAND THINGS AND, AND SIGN IT IF THEY WANT TO WORK WITH THE CITY.
WE'RE HA WE'RE, I'M HAPPY TO LOOK INTO THAT MORE, BUT ALL, UM, COMMUNICATION WE'VE HAD WITH THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT SO FAR HAS BEEN PRETTY STRONG ON THE FACT THAT THE CITY CAN ONLY CONTRACT IN ENGLISH.
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON AND THEN COMMISSIONER GARZA.
UM, ONE THING I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT IS THAT OUR, OUR OWN COMMUNITY ENDS UP
[00:50:01]
ATTEMPTING TO PROVIDE THIS SERVICE FOR ITSELF.AND, UM, UH, THAT BECOMES PROBLEMATIC AND HAS, I THINK, CREATED A SENSE OF FRUSTRATION.
UM,
SOME PEOPLE FROM OUR COMMUNITY ARE EMPLOYED TO DO THAT OR HIRED TO DO THAT, UM, AT A VERY, VERY, VERY LOW RATE.
AND I JUST WANTED TO, I'D JUST LIKE TO REQUEST THAT WE, UM, FIGURE OUT WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS IN THE END AND, 'CAUSE I DON'T THINK IT SHOULD BE OUR COMMUNITY.
I, THE COMMISSIONER GARZA AND THEN COMM COMMISSIONER.
WELL, I UNDERSTAND THAT VENDORS MIGHT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR FINANCING THAT KIND OF THING.
OUR CONTRACTORS ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM OUR CITY VENDORS.
WE DON'T HAVE MULTIPLE MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACTS OUT THERE.
NOW, ONE THING I DO KNOW FOR ABSOLUTE FACT IS THAT THE INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL THROUGH AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS PROVIDES TRANSLATIONS IN 18 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.
THIS IS ANOTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY AND I THINK WE WOULD BENEFIT FROM EVERY NOW AND THEN COOPERATING WITH OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS, WHICH IS ALSO A GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY, WHICH PROVIDES TRANSLATIONS IN 18 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.
MAYBE WE CAN GET ASSISTANCE FROM THEM.
SMALL, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING? I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD.
AND ON THE BACK OF WHAT COMMISSIONER GARZA JUST SAID, UM, I GET MY AUSTIN ENERGY BILL AND THERE'S AT LEAST SEVEN LANGUAGES ON THAT BILL.
SO THERE'S PEOPLE IN AUSTIN THAT CAN HELP WITH TRANSLATION.
SO, UM, ANY OTHER DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT? ITEM NUMBER FOUR, UH, CHAIR HOUSTON, IF I MAY PROVIDE A LITTLE CONTEXT.
MORGAN, MORGAN MESSICK, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ACME.
UM, WE HEAR YOU ON SEEING THAT OTHER CONTENT IN THE CITY IS AVAILABLE IN LANGUAGES THAT OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ARE DOING THIS VERY SUCCESSFULLY.
WE HAVE A CHALLENGE OF NAVIGATING A LEGALLY BINDING CONTRACT THAT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT OUR DEPARTMENT DECIDES.
WE ARE VERY COMMITTED TO KEEPING THE CONVERSATION ALIVE AND APPRECIATE YOUR PARTNERSHIP TO ELEVATE THAT THIS IS A PROBLEM.
WE ARE NOT, WE'RE NOT THE ONLY COMMUNITY EXPERIENCING THE PROBLEM.
WE'RE NOT THE ONLY COMMISSION TALKING ABOUT IT.
SO IT'S A REALLY GREAT TO SEE Y'ALL PUTTING YOUR POWER BEHIND THAT WE SUPPORT THIS.
THANK YOU FOR KEEPING IT GOING.
WE'RE HAVING THE SAME CONVERSATIONS ON OUR SIDE WHEN IT'S A LEGALLY BINDING DOCUMENT, WHICH IS DIFFERENT FROM LIKE A BILL.
THERE ARE DIFFERENT GUIDELINES AND THE CITY DOES TEND TO HAVE MORE CONSERVATIVE POLICIES BECAUSE WE GET SUED A LOT, WHICH I'M SURE Y'ALL HAVE HEARD ABOUT.
AND SO LAW HAS A DIFFERENT SET OF, UM, YOU KNOW, PARAMETERS THEY OPERATE UNDER WHENEVER IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S LEGAL.
AND SO WE COMMIT TO CONTINUING TO PROD THAT AND EXPLORE HOW THAT CAN BE WORKED THROUGH.
UM, AND I JUST WANTED TO SHARE FOR COMMISSIONER GARZA, UM, WE HAVE ANOTHER HURDLE THAT WE HAVE TO WORK THROUGH THE CITY OF AUSTIN WHEN IT'S SOMETHING THAT OUR DEPARTMENT IS WORKING FOR IN TRANSLATIONS.
THE CITY WORKS WITH LOTS OF VENDORS TO CREATE MASTER AGREEMENTS THAT HAVE A LIST OF VENDORS WHO ARE PRE-APPROVED.
AND SO THE WAY THEY DO THAT IS TO, UM, THEY DO AN RFQ AND THEY GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS TO TRY TO HAVE PURCHASING POWER FOR EXPENSIVE SERVICES LIKE TRANSLATIONS.
AND SO WE'RE ACTUALLY REQUIRED WHEN WE DO TRANSLATION OR INTERPRETATION OR ANY NUMBER OF SUPPORT SERVICES, WE HAVE A LIST OF PEOPLE THAT WE ARE REQUIRED TO GET QUOTES FROM AND WORK WITH.
WE'RE NOT ALLOWED TO WORK OUTSIDE OF THAT.
UM, BUT ONE THING I THINK WE CAN ENCOURAGE OUR AUSTIN COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT DEPARTMENT WHO MANAGES AND OVERSEES THAT PROCESS AND PUTS OUT THOSE, UH, REQUESTS FOR QUALIFICATIONS WHEN THEY GET THE BIDS.
UM, I LOVE YOUR SUGGESTION OF WORKING LOCALLY WITH THE SCHOOLS AND THESE OTHER IDEAS.
SO I, I WILL PROMISE TO ELEVATE THAT.
I'M NOT SURE WHEN THAT COMES UP AGAIN, WHETHER OR NOT IT'S IN 2026 OR THE FOLLOWING YEAR, BUT I THINK IT HAPPENS EVERY THREE YEARS TO BUILD OUT THAT VENDOR LIST THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO.
UM, AND I FEEL LIKE THAT'S A REALLY BUREAUCRATIC THING TO LIKE BRING FORWARD.
BUT, UH, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE SOME CLARITY WHAT, WHENEVER Y'ALL GIVE US SUGGESTIONS OF FOLKS TO WORK WITH, WE APPRECIATE THAT.
AND ALSO IN THE PURCHASING SIDE OF THINGS WITH THE CITY, UM, THERE ARE SOME THINGS WE'RE JUST NOT ALLOWED TO DO.
UM, UH, WHILE WE'RE ON, UH, COMMISSIONER ANDERSON, SORRY, JUST ONE MORE THING.
SINCE THE CONTRACT THAT IS ACTUALLY THE, THE, THE ARTIST SIGNS IS ACTUALLY WITH THE LONG CENTER, IT REALLY SHOULD BE THE LONG CENTER'S RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE THE CONTRACT IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE, RIGHT? I MEAN, OR IS IT BECAUSE IT'S LIKE A THREE-LEGGED
[00:55:01]
STOOL THAT THE CITY SHOULD HAVE TO PROVIDE IT? I DON'T KNOW.I DON'T DUNNO THE ANSWER TO THAT, BUT LET'S JUST REMEMBER THAT OUR ARTISTS ARE NOT SIGNING A CONTRACT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THEY'RE SIGNING IT WITH A LONG CENTER.
UM, COMMISSIONER, I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO WORK THROUGH RIGHT NOW IS HOW WE CAN PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES BECAUSE WE DO HAVE, THE CITY IS ONE STEP REMOVED.
AND SO THOSE ARE THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'RE HAVING WITH LONG CENTER STAFF AS OUR PARTNERS WHO ARE HERE TONIGHT.
UM, BECAUSE WE DO WANNA MAKE SURE WHETHER THAT'S TRANSLATING THE CONTRACTS AS A RESOURCE DOCUMENT FOR EVERYONE IN AT LEAST SPANISH, BUT ALSO, UM, THE EIGHT LANGUAGES THAT THE CITY RECOMMENDS WE TRANSLATE THOSE INTO AND WHAT THAT COST WILL BE.
UM, SO WE CAN, WE CAN EAT THE COST IN THE CONTRACT TO PROVIDE THAT SERVICE TO COMMUNITY.
SO THEY'LL HAVE THAT, UM, AS WELL AS MAKING SURE WE HAVE, UM, EXTRA STAFF, UM, AND EXTRA, UH, THIRD PARTIES BUILT INTO THAT CONTRACT SO THEY CAN WALK FOLKS THROUGH IT.
BECAUSE WE, WE AGREE WITH YOU THAT IT IS NOT FAIR FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO BE PROVIDING THAT SERVICE AND NOT BE SUPPORTED.
UM, SO A HUNDRED PERCENT AGREE WITH YOU AND WE'RE TRYING TO WORK THROUGH THAT BEFORE OUR NEXT AMENDMENT.
IS THIS SOMETHING WE SHOULD BE TAKING UP WITH OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS GIVEN THAT IT'S CITY POLICY? OR SHOULD WE LET YOU GUYS DO YOUR THING AND WORK THE MACHINE FROM THE INSIDE? MORGAN, AGAIN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR ACME.
UM, LAURA IS WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH LONG CENTER TO MAKE SURE THE RIGHT NOW ISSUES HAVE A SOLUTION.
I THINK IF WHAT YOU'RE HOPING TO DO IS MAKE LONGER TERM MORE SYSTEMIC, EQUITABLE POLICIES, ABSOLUTELY SPEAKING WITH YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS IS THE, THE NUMBER ONE WAY THAT WE'RE GONNA MAKE PROGRESS HERE.
UM, WE CAN DO OUR ADVOCACY TO SHARE, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'VE HEARD OUR EXPERIENCES.
ABSOLUTELY, BUT THE, THE CONNECTION THAT YOU ALL HAVE IS, IS A VALUABLE TOOL TO MAKE ACTUAL POLICY CHANGE AT THAT LEVEL.
AND I THINK IT WOULD BE, UM, ESPECIALLY BENEFICIAL TO, FOR THOSE OF US WHO HAVE COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO ARE BILINGUAL, MULTILINGUAL, TO, TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT THE DISCONNECT THAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND.
UM, ANOTHER THING THAT, UH, WAS BROUGHT UP IS THAT COMMUNICATION BETWEEN APPLICANTS WHO HAVE APPLIED IN SPANISH IS IN ENGLISH.
SO HOW IS THERE A WAY TO, TO HAVE ENGLISH AND THEN A TRANSLATION OF WHAT'S BEEN SAID IN ENGLISH? YEAH, I'D BE CURIOUS TO HEAR ANY RECENT CASES OF THAT BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN, UM, THE LONG CENTER HAS BEEN TRANSLATING EVERY MESSAGING THAT'S BEEN GOING OUT IN ENGLISH INTO SPANISH BEFORE SENDING THOSE NOTIFICATIONS OUT TO FOLKS THAT HAVE STARTED AN APPLICATION IN SPANISH.
SO THAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING.
SO IF YOU FIND ANY INSTANCES WHERE THAT IS NOT, UH, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
WILL DO ANY OTHER DISCUSSIONS.
ALSO, IF ALSO IF, UH, OH, SORRY.
COMMISSIONER MALDONADO, COMMISSIONER MALDONADO, I'LL SAY THIS, I'LL SAY THIS AS SOMEONE WHO'S A FIRST GEN SPANISH SPEAKER AND MY ENTIRE TEAM ONLY SPEAKS SPANISH WHERE I WORK AT.
AND THERE'S ALSO, YOU KNOW, AND I HOPE THIS DOESN'T COME OFF THE WRONG WAY, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO EMPOWER OUR OWN PEOPLE.
AND I WILL SAY THAT EVERYONE ON MY TEAM HAS, UM, EVERYTHING GETS TRANSLATED AUTOMATICALLY.
SO EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE RECEIVING EMAILS IN ENGLISH OR MESSAGES, THERE ARE TOOLS.
SO ALSO JUST CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH RESOURCES TO HELP THEM TRANSLATE INFORMATION THAT THEY'RE RECEIVING IN ENGLISH, UM, IS ALSO JUST A LEVEL OF EMPOWERMENT THERE.
UM, AND OBVIOUSLY I'VE DEALT WITH THIS MY WHOLE LIFE WITH HAVING TO TRANSLATE FOR MY PARENTS OR WHATNOT, BUT IT IS, WHEN IT COMES TO LEGAL BINDING DOCUMENTS, UM, DEFINITELY ACCUSTOMED TO THOSE DOCUMENTS BEING IN ENGLISH, RIGHT? THAT IS JUST VERY STANDARD ACROSS THE BOARD.
IF YOU GO AND ANYWHERE BUY A CAR, EVERYTHING'S GONNA BE IN ENGLISH, RIGHT? SO WE ALSO JUST NEED TO BE VERY REALISTIC AS FAR AS WHAT WE'RE EXPECTING THE CITY TO PROVIDE.
AND AGAIN, I'M SAYING THIS AS A PERSON WHO IS BILINGUAL AND HAS HAD TO TRANSLATE MY ENTIRE LIFE,
UM, I WAS, I KNOW THAT THE, UM, AND I'M SURE STAFF IS AWARE OF THIS, THE AUSTIN COMMUNICATION AND ENGAGEMENT, UH, TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING WITH SOME FOLKS AT UT ON BUILDING A MULTILINGUAL LIKE CHATBOT
[01:00:01]
SITUATION SPECIFICALLY FOR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.SO LIKE PEOPLE CAN GET AUDIT, YOU KNOW, IMMEDIATELY TRANSLATED INFORMATION.
UM, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER THEIR, IT'S AT LEAST THE A LANGUAGES THAT WE SEE ON BILLS, BUT I, BUT I SAW A PRESENTATION WHERE THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT MANY MORE LANGUAGES THAN THAT.
SO, SO HEARD ABOUT THE COMPLICATIONS WITH THE LEGALLY BI LIKE CONTRACTING AND LIKE THE THING THAT IS SIGNED BEING IN A LANGUAGE OTHER THAN ENGLISH.
BUT I STILL THINK, YOU KNOW, WELL LAURA JUST SPOKE ABOUT THE PROVISION OF A RESOURCE DOCUMENT THAT'S LIKE A TEMPLATED DOCUMENT.
AND IF THAT USES AI THEN MAKING CERTAIN THAT IT'S BEEN REVIEWED BY A NATIVE SPEAKER.
SO I THINK THAT THAT, EVEN IF IT'S NOT THE THING THAT GETS SIGNED, IF THE, IF THE CONTRACT YES, IS STILL SIGNING THE ENGLISH VERSION, LIKE HAVING SEEN A TEMPLATED DOCUMENT IN, IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE THAT HAS BEEN REVIEWED BY, YOU KNOW, AND, AND HAS ALL THE PERTINENT INFORMATION, LIKE HOPEFULLY THAT'S A WAY THAT WE DON'T GET CAUGHT UP IN ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU JUST EXPLAINED, WHICH MAKES SENSE ABOUT, ABOUT THE LEGAL SIDE OF THINGS, BUT ALSO PROVIDE THE THING THAT WE KNOW HAS BEEN AN ISSUE LIKE HOPEFULLY THAT COULD BE, AND PEOPLE IN THE CITY ARE, ARE WORKING ON THAT.
SO, UM, ALONG WITH THE ACME STAFF.
SO HOPEFULLY THAT COULD BE, YOU KNOW, A, A, A SOLUTION.
UH, I WORK FOR THE LONG CENTER.
UM, IT ALWAYS MAKES MY EARS PERK UP WHEN I HEAR SOMEBODY SAY SOMETHING LIKE HOT POTATO.
'CAUSE THERE'S ALWAYS AN INFERENCE THAT PERHAPS MAYBE THERE'S, UH, SOMEONE THAT DOESN'T WANT TO DO SOMETHING OR THAT WE'RE BEING OBSTINATE FOR A PARTICULAR REASON.
I DO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THE COMMISSION KNOWS THAT WE'LL DO WHATEVER IS ASKED OF US, UH, IF WE CAN FIGURE IT OUT.
I THINK THE SENSITIVITY THAT, UH, IS AROUND A LEGALLY BINDING DOCUMENT, IT'S ON, I DON'T ONLINE PEOPLE.
DO YOU HEAR ANYTHING COMING FROM THE DAIS? OKAY.
CAN YOU HEAR ANYTHING FROM MY MICROPHONE? HELLO? HELLO? HELLO? HELLO? CAN Y'ALL, THEY'RE SPEAKING NOW.
CAN Y HEAR THEM? HELLO? YOU CAN HEAR ME NOW? I CAN HEAR.
GIMME A THUMBS UP IF YOU CAN HEAR THE, THE GUEST SPEAKER.
CAN YOU HEAR THE SOUND OF MY VOICE? GOOD EVENING.
MAYBE SHOULD LOG OFF AND COME BACK.
HEIDI CAN HEAR ME FROM THIS MIC.
COMMISSIONER MACH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? NO.
COMMISSIONER SMALL HAS IS NOT HEARING ANYONE.
I JUST SENT HER A MESSAGE TO REBOOT.
WOULD IT BE BENEFICIAL TO CHANGE THE LANGUAGE IN THE RECOMMENDATION TO SAY SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF, UH, FIND, FIND SOLUTIONS FOR THE TRANSLATION OF CONTRACTS INTO A TEMPLATE JUST TO MAKE THAT WE LOVE SOLUTIONS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS.
YEAH, I THINK OUR, OUR SENSITIVITY EARLIER WAS AROUND WHETHER IT WAS A LEGALLY BINDING DOCUMENT, AND I THINK THAT THERE'S AN EASY WAY FOR US TO PROVIDE A DRAFT THAT'S TRANSLATED IN WHATEVER SERVICES SOMEBODY ASKS FOR UPFRONT.
SO I WILL MAKE AN EDIT TO THE LANGUAGE AND THE RECOMMENDATION THEN ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? CLARIFICATION, COMMISSIONER ANDERSON? YEAH.
UH, DID, DID YOU SAY THAT RIGHT NOW IF A PERSON APPLIES IN SPANISH, THEY SHOULD BE RECEIVING COMMUNICATION IN SPANISH.
IS THAT TRUE? YES, THAT IS CORRECT.
IF THEY'RE USING THE SPANISH APPLICATION PORTAL.
SO WHEN YOU GO INTO THE SUBMITTABLE SYSTEM THERE, THERE'S THE SPANISH OPTION, THE ENGLISH OPTION.
IF THEY START THE APPLICATION FROM THE SPANISH SIDE OF THINGS, THEY SHOULD BE GETTING EMAILS AND NOTIFICATIONS
[01:05:01]
IN SPANISH.I THINK THAT MIGHT NOT BE HAPPENING.
UM, YOU JUST MIGHT WANNA CHECK ON IT IN THE AGE OF TEXTING, WHEN WE'RE HAVING THESE MEETINGS, I'M HAVING PEOPLE SENDING ME TEXTS,
SO, UM, IF YOU MIGHT JUST WANNA JUST CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT THE SYSTEM IS IN FACT WORKING.
AND IF YOU'D LIKE, I CAN SEND YOU SOME EXAMPLES OF SPANISH APPLICANTS THAT, UM, GOT ENGLISH REPLIES.
COMMISSIONER, PLEASE, IF YOU'LL SEND THOSE TO US, WE'LL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF IT.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER ANDERSON.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? I WILL WORK ON UPDATING THE LANGUAGE IN THE DRAFT TO PRESENT IT FOR NEXT MEETING, AND IT WILL BE UP FOR ACTION TO SEND TO COUNCIL.
NOW WE'RE ON TO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.
[6. Staff briefing regarding an update on the Hotel Occupancy Tax by Jesús Pantel, Cultural Funding Supervisor. ]
SIX, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING AN UPDATE ON THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX BY JESUS PANTEL, CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR.JESUS PANTEL CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR.
UM, AND FOR THOSE OF YOU AT HOME, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN SEE ME HERE, BUT, UM, I AM A LATINO WITH LONG GRAY HAIR, A SALT AND PEPPER BEARD.
AND, EXCUSE ME, I'M WEARING A GREEN SWEATER WITH, UH, BLACK AND GRAY, UH, STRIPE DECORATIONS.
UM, AND TODAY I WILL BE TALKING ABOUT THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, GIVING YOU AN UPDATE ON THAT.
UM, AND LET ME GET THE SLIDE PRESENTATION.
UM, SO FOR THE TOTAL HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX COLLECTION IN NOVEMBER WAS $6,559,815.
THIS MEANS THAT OUR HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX FOR THE CULTURAL ARTS FUND COLLECTION NUMBERS IN NOVEMBER WERE $627,810.
WITH THESE NOVEMBER NUMBERS, WE ARE APPROXIMATELY 21% TOWARDS OUR FY 26 APPROVED BUDGET.
AND AS A REMINDER, THERE IS A DELAY IN HOW HOT REPORTING HAPPENS AGAIN, THIS DECEMBER PRESENTATION SHOWS FUNDS COLLECTED IN NOVEMBER FOR HOTEL STAYS IN OCTOBER.
UM, AS PART OF OUR ONGOING EFFORTS TO STRENGTHEN ANALYSIS OF THE HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX COLLECTIONS, UH, SOME SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN, UH, EVENTS IN OCTOBER OF 2025 ARE LISTED ON THIS SLIDE.
UM, WHILE THIS LIST IS NOT CAPTURE THE FULL SPECTRUM OF TOURISM DRIVING EVENTS, IT HELPS ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOT REVENUE TRENDS.
AND ACCORDING TO AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT REPORTS, TOTAL PASSENGER TRAFFIC IN OCTOBER, 2000 AND OCTOBER, 2025 WAS 2,086,037, MARKING THE BUSIEST MONTH EVER FOR THE AIRPORT AND REPRESENTING AN 8.92% INCREASE COMPARED TO OCTOBER OF 2024.
AND THIS GRAPH HERE SHOWS OUR MONTHLY PROGRESS TOWARDS THE APPROVED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 26 OF JUST UNDER $16 MILLION.
OUR HOT CULTURAL ARTS FUND ACTUALS, UH, FOR FISCAL YEAR 26 TO DATE ARE $3.3 MILLION.
AND AS A REMINDER, THE FUNDS COLLECTED IN FY 26 WILL BE USED TO FUND PROGRAMS IN THE FISCAL YEAR 2027.
AND THEN THIS GRAPH SHOWS A FIVE YEAR QUARTERLY AND TOTAL COMPARISON OF THE CULTURAL ARTS FUND.
UH, WE STILL HAVE ONE MORE MONTH OF COLLECTIONS FOR QUARTER ONE, WHICH WILL BE REPORTED IN JANUARY.
AND YOU CAN SEE ALREADY WE ARE ALMOST AT OUR FISCAL YEAR 23 QUARTER, ONE PEAK OF $3.4 MILLION.
SO I WILL OPEN IT UP TO ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL MAY HAVE.
ANY QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSION? COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT.
I, I LOVE THE LOOK OF THAT LAST SLIDE WITH THE QUARTERLY STUFF THAT, THAT MAKES IT REALLY VISIBLE.
UH, APPRECIATE YOUR PRESENTATION.
[7. Staff briefing regarding update on the Cultural Arts Funding Programs by Jesús Pantel, Cultural Funding Supervisor. ]
ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, STAFF BRIEFING REGARDING UPDATE ON CULTURAL.CULTURAL ARTS FUNDING PROGRAMS BY JESUS PENTEL, CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR.
I AM BACK COMMISSIONER JESUS PENTEL, CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR.
UM, AND IN THIS PRESENTATION I WILL BE SHARING UPDATES ON THE CULTURAL ARTS FUNDING PROGRAMS. UM, WE WILL BE GOING OVER CONTRACTS AND PAYMENTS, UM, AS WELL AS GRANT FUNDED ACTIVITIES IN TODAY'S PRESENTATION.
UH, SO CONTRACTS AND PAYMENTS FIRST,
[01:10:01]
UM, FOR ELEVATE, UH, WE ARE IN OUR LAST MONTH OF ELEVATE.SO ELEVATE ACTIVITIES, UH, LAST UNTIL, UH, DECEMBER 31ST IS THE FINAL, UH, DATE FOR ELEVATE ACTIVITIES FOR THIS YEAR.
UH, FINAL REPORTS WILL BE, WILL BE DUE 30 DAYS AFTER THAT.
SO JANUARY 31ST IS WHEN FINAL REPORTS WILL BE DUE.
UM, WITH THAT BEING SAID, WE STILL HAVE BEING SAID, WE STILL HAVE 97 OUT OF 230 OR ABOUT, UH, 42% OF OUR, UH, UH, GRANTEES HAVE, UH, RECEIVED, UH, PAYMENT, UH, THEIR FINAL PAYMENT FOR, UH, SUBMITTING THEIR FINAL REPORTS.
UH, WITH THAT BEING SAID, THERE IS THE VAST MAJORITY THAT WILL BE TURNED IN, UM, IN JANUARY.
UM, NEXUS WE ARE CLOSE TO, UH, CLOSING OUT.
UM, AND THEN FOR THRIVE, UH, BASICALLY UNCHANGED.
WE DO HAVE, UH, ONE PERSON THAT WE WERE WAITING TO GET INTO A CONTRACT.
UM, BUT THE NUMBERS ARE BASICALLY THE SAME.
UM, WE ARE GETTING READY TO ENTER INTO YEAR TWO OF THE THRIVE CONTRACT.
SO THAT WILL START IN JANUARY OF 2026.
UM, AND SO THOSE ARE THOSE NUMBERS.
UM, AND THEN FOR GRANT FUNDED ACTIVITIES, UM, FOR THE, UM, ORDER OF TIME, I WILL NOT READ EVERYTHING THAT ARE ON THESE SLIDES, BUT THESE ARE THE UPCOMING EVENTS.
JUST AS A REMINDER, UH, BETWEEN NOW ACTUALLY THE FIRST TWO EVENTS ON HERE ARE HAPPENING TONIGHT.
SO IF ANYBODY IS, UH, WATCHING LIVE, UM, UM, I'M NOT SURE EXACTLY OF THE TIMES, BUT THERE ARE A COUPLE OF EVENTS TODAY, UM, BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT ARTS COMMISSION MEETING.
SO, UH, SOME OF THE ONES TONIGHT ARE BY KATIE FOLGER OR THE ARMSTRONG COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL.
UM, AND THEN FOR, UH, THE REST OF THE TIME PERIOD, WE HAVE JESSE WILSON.
UM, WE HAVE GROUND FLOOR THEATER, THE MUSEUM OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT, RED LIGHT LIT AUSTIN AND ALGO, UH, AS WELL AS LAUREN SANDERS, URBAN ECHO AND A ZOO ALL HAVE EVENTS, UH, COMING UP IN THE NEXT, UH, MONTH OR SO.
AND WITH THAT, THAT IS A PRESENTATION AND WE'LL OPEN UP TO ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL MAY HAVE.
ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER GARZA? NO REAL QUESTIONS.
I JUST ALSO WANNA ADD THAT, UH, A A SALON DANCE COMPANY IS HAVING A PERFORMANCE ON WEDNESDAY.
IT'S A MIDDLE FIST ROAD AT THE A FS CINEMA AS LANDES COMPANY, OF COURSE IS CELEBRATING THEIR 50TH YEAR AT HERE IN, YOU KNOW, SERVING IN AUSTIN.
SO CONGRESSIONALS OF THEM TO SALINAS AND RYAN SALINAS, OF COURSE, IN THE LATE MARIA SALINAS FOR ALL THE WONDERFUL WORK THEY'VE DONE TO PROVIDE, YOU KNOW, THOSE KINDS OF PERFORMANCES AND CULTURAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE ENTIRE CITY.
SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL SEE SOME PEOPLE THERE.
ANYONE ELSE? I JUST WANNA CALL OUT 'CAUSE I HAVE TO, WE ARE IN FISCAL YEAR 26 AND WE HAVE FOUR PEOPLE THAT HAVE NOT COMPLETED THEIR SECOND PAYMENT FOR FISCAL YEAR 24 OR ELEVATE.
SO I'M JUST SAYING, I I'M GONNA CALL THAT EVERY MEETING.
[8. Staff briefing regarding an update on the AACME Funding Programs by Laura Odegaard, Acting Division Manager, AACME.]
TO ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, STAFF BV BRIEFING REGARDING AN UPDATE ON THE ACME FUNDING PROGRAMS BY LAURA.LAURA ODEGAARD, ACTING DIVISION MANAGER, ACME.
I WILL TURN THE MICROPHONE ON.
UH, I'M LAURA ODEGAARD, ACTING DIVISION MANAGER FOR ARTS AUSTIN ARTS CULTURE, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT.
I'M HERE TO GIVE YOU SOME UPDATES ON OUR FUNDING PROGRAMS. SO AS YOU ALL KNOW, I TALKED ABOUT THIS LAST MONTH.
UM, ALL OF THE FUNDING PROGRAMS, UM, ARE NOW UNDER ONE DIVISION WITHIN ACME.
SO THAT INCLUDES THE AUSTIN LIFE MUSIC FUND, CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE, ELEVATE HERITAGE, AND ALSO NEXUS, UM, AND THRIVE.
SO THIS APPLIES TO EVERYTHING THAT WAS THE, THE PREFACE THERE.
UM, SO AS YOU HAVE PROBABLY, HOPEFULLY HEARD BY NOW, ACME EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP MADE THE DECISION TO EXTEND OUR APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR THOSE WHO COMPLETED THE INTAKE FORM BY THE ORIGINAL DEADLINE OF DECEMBER 4TH.
AND THE NEW APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR THOSE IN THE PIPELINE IS NOW THIS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19TH AT 6:59 PM SO THE REASONS WHY THIS WAS DONE, UM, IT IS A BRAND NEW FUNDING PROCESS WITH MULTIPLE NEW STEPS AND ENHANCEMENTS, AND WE SAW MANY APPLICANTS WHO SUBMITTED THEIR INTAKE FORMS ON TIME NEED ADDITIONAL SUPPORT TO COMPLETE BOTH ELIGIBILITY AND THE APPLICATION PHASES.
SO WE RECOGNIZED THIS WAS A NEW PROCESS FOR OUR COMMUNITY AND WANTED TO EXTEND THE DEADLINE TO ENSURE
[01:15:01]
APPLICANTS WHO SUBMITTED THEIR INTAKE FORMS ON TIME HAVE ADEQUATE SUPPORT TO COMPLETE ALL THE STEPS.THIS HONORS ACME'S COMMITMENT TO ACCESSIBILITY, EQUITY AND MEETING THE COMMUNITY WHERE THEY ARE.
ADDITIONALLY, JUST WANTED TO NOTE THAT THE REQUESTS FOR AN EXTENSION, THEY CAME STRAIGHT TO US AND THEY ALSO CAME TO CITY COUNCIL.
AND SO WHEN ISSUES ARE ELEVATED TO A COUNCIL LEVEL, IT BECOMES AN ISSUE, UM, OF INTEREST TO THEM.
AND WE WANTED TO PROACTIVELY ADDRESS THOSE CONCERNS.
SO THIS IS THE REVISED TIMELINE.
SO AGAIN, PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY IN THE PIPELINE, NOT NEW APPLICANTS, THEY HAVE UNTIL THIS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19TH AT 6:59 PM IN ORDER TO MEET THIS NEW DEADLINE, ANY NEW ELIGIBILITY FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY TUESDAY, TOMORROW AT 6 59.
AND ANY REVISED ELIGIBILITY FORMS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY TOMORROW, TUESDAY THE 16TH AT 6 59.
SO WE HAD SOME FOLKS THAT THEY DID PART ONE, THEY DID THE INTAKE FORM, BUT THEY DIDN'T REALIZE THEY ALSO NEEDED TO DO THE ELIGIBILITY FORM, OR MAYBE THEY SUBMITTED THE ELIGIBILITY FORM, BUT THEY DIDN'T PROVIDE ENOUGH DOCUMENTATION.
AND WHEN STAFF IN THE LONG CENTER ASKED FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, THEY DIDN'T GET IT BACK TO US IN TIME FOR US TO REVIEW THAT DOCUMENTATION EDIT.
SO ALL EDITS, ALL NEW ELIGIBILITY FORMS IS DUE TOMORROW EVENING AT 6:59 PM WHICH THEN GIVES STAFF INTERNALLY AS WELL AS LONG CENTER STAFF A DAY TO REVIEW ANY NEW ELIGIBILITY SUBMISSIONS.
AND THEN WE CAN OPEN THE APPLICATIONS UP TO FOLKS WHO HAVE NOT STARTED THEIR APPLICATION YET TO GET THAT DONE BY FRIDAY THE 19TH AT 6 59.
SO IF YOU HAVE SUBMITTED YOUR APPLICATION OR IF YOU HAVE NOT SUBMITTED YOUR APPLICATION, BUT YOU HAVE ACCESS TO IT, ALL APPLICATION FORMS HAVE BEEN OPENED ON THE BACKEND SO ANYONE CAN MAKE EDITS TO THEIR APPLICATION.
ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WE HAD WAS WE WANTED TO PROVIDE MORE DOCUMENTATION OF ACTIVITIES, MAYBE WE DID THIS WEEKEND.
THAT APPLICATION IS OPEN AND YOU CAN MAKE THOSE EDITS NOW, UM, AGAIN, ANYTIME BEFORE THE 19TH AT 6:59 PM UM, IT WAS EASIER AND AND MORE EFFICIENT TO OPEN ALL APPLICATIONS INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO COME TO US AND ASK FOR THE APPLICATION TO BE OPENED.
UM, SO WE WERE TRYING TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR COMMUNITY BY OPENING EVERYTHING AND THEY WILL ALL BE HARD CLOSED ON FRIDAY AT SEVEN O'CLOCK.
SO WE DIDN'T WANNA PENALIZE ANYONE THAT MAY HAVE SUBMITTED ALREADY.
THEY DON'T HAVE ANY EDITS TO MAKE, BUT THEY DIDN'T REALIZE THEY NEED TO RESUBMIT.
SO WE'RE JUST TRYING TO COVER OUR BASES WITH THAT.
UM, AND AGAIN, THOSE WHO DID NOT COMPLETE AN INTAKE FORM BEFORE LAST THURSDAY'S DEADLINE OF 6 59 ON DECEMBER 4TH WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR FUNDING IN THIS CYCLE.
SO OBVIOUSLY WITH THE HOLIDAYS AND THIS WEEK LONG EXTENSION, THIS MEANS EVERYTHING IS GETTING PUSHED BACK APPROXIMATELY ONE MONTH.
SO AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE FUNDING TIMELINE IS STRUCTURED AROUND SEVERAL FIXED SEQUENTIAL STEPS THAT CANNOT BEGIN UNTIL ALL APPLICATIONS ARE SUBMITTED.
THIS INCLUDES PANEL TRAININGS, PANEL ASSIGNMENTS, SCORING ACROSS ALL OF THE PROGRAMS, APPEALS TIMELINE, AS WELL AS THE CITY'S FINANCIAL PROCESSING CYCLES.
SO DELAYING THE APPLICATION CLOSE DATE PUSHES EACH OF THOSE STEPS BACK.
UM, SO YOU CAN SEE HERE THE NEW REVISED DEADLINE OF THIS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19TH AT 6:59 PM WILL THEN MEAN THAT THE PANELISTS TRAINING AND ASSIGNMENTS FOR ELEVATE AND HERITAGE PRESERVATION WILL TAKE PLACE IN EARLY JANUARY.
AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THOSE SPECIFIC DATES IN A MINUTE.
UM, AND THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND AND CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, THOSE WILL BE SCORED IN JANUARY, IN FEBRUARY IS WHEN THE PANEL MEETINGS WILL OCCUR.
AND THEN FUNDING DECISIONS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN MARCH.
AND THAT IS ALSO WHEN THE APPEALS PROCESS WILL HAPPEN AFTER THE FUNDING DECISIONS ARE ANNOUNCED.
ADDITIONALLY, IN MARCH IS WHEN NEXUS WILL BE OPENING IN APRIL IS WHEN WE'RE ANTICIPATING FUNDING DISTRIBUTION WILL BEGIN.
AS A REMINDER, THESE ARE FOR ACTIVITIES THAT ARE STILL FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 2026.
SO THESE FUNDS COVER JANUARY THROUGH DECEMBER, 2026 AS, UM, AS WRITTEN IN THE GUIDELINES
[01:20:02]
FOR ELEVATE SPECIFICALLY.UM, AND THEN IN JULY WILL BE THE NEXT ROUND OF A GRANT APPLICATION CYCLE OPENING, AND THAT WILL INCLUDE THRIVE ELEVATE, AUSTIN LIFE MUSIC FUND AND HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANT.
AND THAT WILL BE FOR ACTIVITIES STARTING IN JANUARY OF 2027.
BUT IN THE MEANTIME, I DID WANNA GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON THE NUMBERS THAT WE HAVE, UM, AS OF LAST, UM, AS OF LAST THURSDAY WHEN EVERYTHING CLOSED, UH, OR THE, THE OFFICIAL AND NOW CHANGED EVERYTHING CLOSED.
UM, SO WE HAD 2,364 INTAKE FORMS SUBMITTED, AND THAT WAS BY THAT DECEMBER 4TH DEADLINE.
UM, OF THOSE 31 WERE IN SPANISH AND THE REST WERE IN ENGLISH.
UM, YOU CAN SEE THE BREAKDOWN OF THE NUMBER OF ELIGIBILITY FORMS SUBMITTED.
SO THERE WERE 2,319 ELIGIBILITY FORMS SUBMITTED FOR OUR PROGRAMS. UM, AND THEN WE SENT APPLICATIONS TO FOLKS WHO WERE ELIGIBLE AND WE HAD 1038 APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED BY LAST THURSDAY.
SO THIS, UM, WILL CHANGE DUE TO THE EXTENSION, BUT AGAIN, I JUST WANTED TO GIVE YOU ALL AN UPDATE, UM, FOR WHERE WE SEEM TO BE RIGHT NOW.
UM, SO OF THOSE ELIGIBILITY FORMS THAT WERE SUBMITTED, I BROKE IT DOWN BY PROGRAM.
SO YOU COULD SEE A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE PREVIOUS YEAR AND NOW.
AND AGAIN, THIS WAS JUST THE ELIGIBILITY FORMS, NOT THE APPLICATIONS THEMSELVES, BUT AT LEAST WE GET A SENSE OF WHO WAS INTERESTED AND WHO WAS TRYING TO RECEIVE FUNDING IN WHAT PROGRAM.
UM, SO YOU'LL SEE THAT FOR AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND, WE HAD A 17.5% INCREASE FOR CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
WE ACTUALLY HAD A 17.8% DECREASE FROM THE LAST TIME WE HAD THIS PROGRAM OPEN IN 2023 FOR ELEVATE, WE HAD AN 83% INCREASE FROM 2024.
AND FOR HERITAGE PRESERVATION, WE HAD A 427% INCREASE IN INTERESTED FOLKS FROM 2024.
UM, JUST AS A, AGAIN, THIS MIGHT CHANGE, BUT ROUGHLY 81% OF SUBMITTED ELIGIBILITY FORMS WERE DEEMED ELIGIBLE TO MOVE ON TO THE APPLICATION.
AND WHEN I COME BACK NEXT MONTH, WE'LL TRY TO HAVE A REPORT OF THE INELIGIBLE FOLKS FOR THE PROGRAMS AND WHY THE KEY REASONS WERE THAT FOLKS WERE DEEMED INELIGIBLE FOR EACH PROGRAM.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, JUST, UH, AS A REFERENCE POINT, 54% OF ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS SUBMITTED THEIR APPLICATION FORM BY THAT ORIGINAL DECEMBER 11TH DEADLINE.
NEXT ON THIS SLIDE, I JUST WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL, UM, THE INCREDIBLE APPLICATION ASSISTANCE THAT STAFF HAS BEEN PROVIDING TO OUR COMMUNITY, UM, WHICH TOTALS OVER 374 HOURS OF ASSISTANCE TO DATE.
AND OVER 2,681 PEOPLE ASSISTED TO DATE, WHICH ARE HUGE NUMBERS.
I DON'T KNOW IF ANY OF YOU RECALL PREVIOUS NUMBERS, BUT THIS IS, UM, I DON'T WANNA SAY UNHEARD OF, BUT STAFF IS DOING A TREMENDOUS, TREMENDOUS JOB.
AND THIS DOES NOT COUNT, UM, THE EXTRA HOURS OF ASSISTANCE THAT OUR PARTNERS AT THE LONG CENTER ARE ALSO PROVIDING FOR COMMUNITY.
UM, SO THIS IS JUST A QUICK SNAPSHOT OF SOME OF THOSE OPPORTUNITIES WHERE WE HAD 10 WORKSHOPS, WE HAVE HAD 11 OPEN OFFICE HOUR SESSIONS TO DATE, AND ADDITIONAL DATES HAVE BEEN ADDED.
SO I WILL ENCOURAGE EVERYONE THAT IS LOOKING TO FINISH AND EDIT THEIR ELIGIBILITY FORM OR TO WORK ON THEIR APPLICATION.
WE HAVE 10:00 AM TO 4:00 PM TODAY, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY DONE AS WELL AS TOMORROW THE 16TH AND ON THE 17TH.
SO WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17TH, WE HAVE OUR FINAL ALL DAY OFFICE HOUR.
UM, YOU CAN CLICK ANY OF THESE LINKS, UM, TO GET THERE.
THE BITLY SLASH FUNDING OPEN OFFICE IS, UM, A QUICK WAY TO REMEMBER IT, UM, AND WILL ALWAYS BE OUR OPEN OFFICE HOURS LINK.
UM, FOR THESE AS WELL AS FOR OUR NORMAL TUESDAY OPEN OFFICE HOUR, UM, OPPORTUNITIES, UM, WE HAVE HAD 142 OVER 142 ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS BOOKED VIA THE BOOKING LINK, UM, WHICH COVERS 71 HOURS AND 158 ATTENDEES.
UM, WE STAFF HAS BEEN ATTENDING OVER 20 COMMUNITY EVENTS.
UM, THERE HAVE BEEN OVER 17,000 DIRECT
[01:25:01]
MESSAGES SENT TO HELP SHEPHERD POTENTIAL APPLICANTS THROUGH THE PIPELINE AT DIFFERENT STAGES.UH, AGAIN, THIS INFORMATION WILL CHANGE AS WE ARE CURRENTLY ASSISTING FOLKS.
AND SO THE NUMBERS FOR TODAY'S OPEN OFFICE HOURS SESSION TOMORROW AND WEDNESDAY WILL ALSO BE INCLUDED IN THE JANUARY UPDATE THAT I PROVIDE TO YOU ALL.
AND THEN SWITCHING GEARS JUST A SMIDGE, UM, I WAS ALWAYS PLANNING ON GIVING A SHORT UPDATE ON THE PANEL PROCESS AT THIS DECEMBER MEETING, SO WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND DO THAT TOO.
UM, SO AS A REMINDER, UM, OUR TWO OF OUR FOUR OPEN PROGRAMS GO THROUGH A PANEL PROCESS.
SO THAT INCLUDES THE ELEVATE PROGRAM AS WELL AS THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANT, THE PANELIST RECRUITMENT PROCESS, UM, AGAIN, SLIGHTLY A THREE STEP PROCESS.
WE LIKE THE THREE STEP PROCESSES THIS YEAR.
UM, WE HAD OUR INITIAL INTEREST FORM, WHICH WAS, UM, PUBLICLY ACCESSIBLE ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE AND WE SENT OUT BY NEWSLETTERS AND SOCIAL.
UM, THIS IS A FORM THAT LIVES IN SUBMITTABLE AND WAS BUILT OUT BY THE LONG CENTER AND IS ACTUALLY A ROLLING ACCEPTANCE.
SO WE ARE STILL, UM, TAKING FOLKS THAT ARE INTERESTED IN BEING A PANELIST FOR FUTURE PROGRAMS, BUT FOR THE PURPOSE OF ELEVATE AND HERITAGE PRESERVATION AFTER DECEMBER 1ST, THAT WAS THE CUTOFF WE HAD FOR THESE PROGRAMS. SO WE HAD 376 PANELISTS, UM, OR POTENTIAL PANELISTS SUBMIT INTEREST FORMS BY THAT DECEMBER 1ST DATE.
UM, THOSE FOLKS THEN RECEIVE A SECONDARY FORM THAT IS MORE PROGRAM SPECIFIC, UM, AND IT ESSENTIALLY IS ASKING FOR PEOPLE'S DATE AVAILABILITY, PREEMPTIVELY IDENTIFYING ANY CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, ASKING QUESTIONS ABOUT OTHER LANGUAGES OR SKILL SETS OR DISCIPLINE EXPERTISE THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE.
AND THEN AFTER THOSE FOLKS SUBMIT THE SECONDARY FORM, THE APPLICATIONS ARE SCORED BASED ON DIFFERENT SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTISE, LOOKING AT CONFLICTS OF INTERESTS AND STAFF BASICALLY REVIEWS AND MAKES ASSIGNMENTS.
AND SO THAT IS WHAT'S GOING TO BE HAPPENING IN EARLY JANUARY.
AND I SPELL THAT OUT IN A MINUTE AS WELL, BUT THE TRAINING AND EXPECTATIONS OF PANELISTS.
UM, SO THE REQUIRED TRAINING IS A ONE HOUR TRAINING THAT EVERYONE MUST PARTAKE IN IF THEY WILL BE A PANELIST FOR OUR ACME FUNDING PROGRAMS. IT ESSENTIALLY IS AN OVERVIEW OF ACME'S MISSION, THE CREATIVE RESET, UM, TALKS ABOUT HOT REGULATIONS, PROGRAM GUIDELINES AND SCORING RUBRICS.
UM, WE HAVE A LOT OF IN-DEPTH, UH, SLIDES ON CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICIES AND PROCEDURES AS WELL AS HOW TO USE THE SUBMITTABLE UM, SYSTEM.
SO THERE'S THE TECHNICAL TRAINING ASPECT OF IT.
AND THEN THERE'S ALSO A PRETTY IN-DEPTH, UM, BEST PRACTICES FOR CONSTRUCTIVE WRITTEN AND SPOKEN FEEDBACK THAT WE'VE INCORPORATED THIS YEAR, UM, AS WELL AS PANEL DAY LOGISTICS AND EXPECTATIONS.
I WILL NOT GO THROUGH ALL THE PANELISTS RESPONSIBILITIES, BUT ESSENTIALLY THEY HAVE TO DO THE TRAINING.
THEY HAVE TO READ AND REVIEW ALL THE APPLICATIONS THEY'VE BEEN ASSIGNED.
THEY HAVE TO SCORE, THEY HAVE TO WRITE COMMENTS FOR EVERY APPLICATION, PARTICIPATE.
I'M READING ALL OF THESE THINGS NOW.
BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF, UH, RESPONSIBILITIES THAT WE, UM, ASK THE PANELISTS TO TAKE ON.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS, UM, FOR US AS A DEPARTMENT IS MAKING SURE WE'RE AVOIDING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.
UM, AND WE DEFINE THAT BY ANY FINANCIAL ASSOCIATION OR RELATIONSHIP WITH AN APPLICANT OR ANY SITUATION WHERE A PANELIST FEELS THEY CANNOT BE UNBIASED.
UM, WE REQUIRE DIFFERENT ACTIONS BY PANELISTS AND THEY'RE BUILT INTO EVERY STEP OF THE PROCESS.
SO IN THE INITIAL SECONDARY FORM THAT GOES OUT TO EVERYONE, THEY HAVE TO DISCLOSE ANY POTENTIAL OR ACTUAL CONFLICTS BEFORE RECEIVING ASSIGNMENTS.
AFTER THEY RECEIVE THE ASSIGNMENTS, THEY HAVE TO NOTIFY STAFF IMMEDIATELY.
THEN IN SUBMITTABLE THERE IS A CONFLICT OF INTEREST ATTESTATION BEFORE EACH APPLICATION.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY THEY HAVE TO RECUSE THEMSELVES FROM REVIEW, REVIEWING AND SCORING ANY CONFLICTED APPLICATION.
IF A PANELIST FAILS TO DISCLOSE CONFLICTS, THEY MAY BE DISMISSED AND THEY WOULD BE DISQUALIFIED FROM ANY FUTURE REVIEW OPPORTUNITIES.
AND THIS IS ALSO WHERE THE APPEALS PROCESS COMES IN IN MARCH.
IF THERE IS AN APPLICANT THAT FEELS LIKE THERE WAS A CONFLICT THERE, IS THAT BUILT-IN, UM, STEP AS WELL FOR THEM TO DISCLOSE WHAT THEY FELT WAS A CONFLICT.
[01:30:01]
WANTED TO SHARE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW WE GET TO OUR DIFFERENT PANELS AND HOW MANY PANELS WE HAVE.UM, SO THIS IS JUST FOR ELEVATE AND OBVIOUSLY IT WILL BE BASED ON APPLICATIONS RECEIVED, BUT WE HAVE DIFFERENT APPLICANT TYPES.
SO YOU FALL INTO ONE OF THOSE THREE CATEGORIES FROM INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS TO ARTS GROUP TO 5 0 1 C3.
WITHIN THAT, EACH APPLICANT HAD TO SELF-IDENTIFY WHAT DISCIPLINE THEY SAW THEIR ORGANIZATION OR THEY SAW THEMSELVES IN.
AND THEN WITHIN THAT DISCIPLINE, THEN IT IS BROKEN DOWN FURTHER BY BUDGET SIZE.
SO WE HAVE LARGE BUDGET, MID-SIZE BUDGET, AND SMALL BUDGET.
SO WE HAVE AT THE VERY LEAST THIS NUMBER OF PANELS.
UM, BUT DEPENDING ON THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVED, THERE WILL BE SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 30 AND 40 IS WHAT WE'RE ANTICIPATING RIGHT NOW.
SO OUR REVISED PANEL TRAININGS WILL BE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7TH, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8TH, AND SATURDAY JANUARY 10TH.
ONCE A PANELIST IS TRAINED, THEN THEY WILL RECEIVE THEIR ASSIGNMENT TO START REVIEWING APPLICATIONS.
THEY WILL DO THOSE INDEPENDENT REVIEWS, DO THOSE INDEPENDENT SCORING AND MAKE WRITTEN COMMENTS BEFORE.
AND WE HAVE A POLICY WRITTEN IN RIGHT NOW WHERE THEY HAVE TO PROVIDE SCORES AT LEAST THREE DAYS PRIOR TO THE PANEL MEETING ITSELF.
SO WE MAKE SURE EVERYONE HAS BEEN ACTIVELY PARTICIPATING BEFORE WE GET TO THAT MEETING ITSELF.
UM, THE ELEVATE PANELS WILL BEGIN FEBRUARY 2ND.
AS I SAID, IT'S GOING TO BE ROUGHLY 30 TO 40 PANELS TOTAL AND WE HAVE FIVE TO SEVEN PANELISTS PER PANEL.
UM, THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION, THAT'S SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.
THERE HAS TO BE AN INTERDEPARTMENTAL CITY STAFF REVIEW TO MAKE SURE IT MEETS CERTAIN LEGAL, UM, REQUIREMENTS, UM, FOR SOME OF THE HISTORIC DESIGNATION STATUSES.
AND THEN AFTER IT GOES THROUGH THAT INTERDEPARTMENTAL REVIEW, THEN IT CAN BE ASSIGNED TO THE PANELISTS AND THEY WILL HAVE, AGAIN, WE TRY TO GIVE THREE TO FOUR WEEKS FOR FOLKS TO REVIEW APPLICATIONS.
AND SO THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION PANELS WILL BE TOWARD THE END OF FEBRUARY.
ALSO, JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT SOME RECENT PANEL ENHANCEMENTS SINCE THE CREATIVE RESET.
UM, PART OF THAT IS THE STREAMLINED PANELIST RECRUITMENT.
SO THAT TWO STAGE APPLICATION PROCESS, WE'VE ENHANCED THE TRAINING CONTENT.
SO IT'S VERY COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING WITH VERY SPECIFIC GUIDANCE ON HOW TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK IN WRITING AND ALSO HOW TO DO THAT VERBALLY IN A WAY THAT IS RESPECTFUL FOR THEIR FELLOW PANELISTS AS WELL AS FOR THE APPLICANT AND THE COMMUNITY ITSELF.
UM, WE HAVE OLYMPIC STYLE SCORING THIS TIME AROUND, SO THE HIGHEST AND LOWEST SCORES FOR EACH APPLICATION ARE REMOVED BEFORE AVERAGING THE REMAINING SCORES.
AND THIS HELPS TO REDUCE ANY OUTLIERS AND HELP ENSURE FAIRNESS ACROSS THE BOARD.
WE'VE ALSO INTRODUCED, UH, SOMETHING CALLED THE APPLICANT INTRODUCTION STATEMENT.
AND THIS IS NOT A SCORED UH, COMPONENT WITHIN THE APPLICATION, BUT IT DOES PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE ADDITIONAL CONTEXT AN APPLICANT MIGHT THINK THE REVIEWER NEEDS TO KNOW.
AND THIS CAN BE DONE BY A WRITTEN NARRATIVE OR A VIDEO TO PROVIDE THAT EXTRA CONTEXT ABOUT THEIR CREATIVE WORK.
AND THEN FINALLY, SOMETHING THAT WE ARE REQUIRING THIS YEAR IS REQUIRED WRITTEN COMMENTS FOR EACH APPLICATION.
AND THIS IS WITHIN THE SUBMITTABLE SYSTEM.
LAST TIME AROUND, I BELIEVE IT WAS OPTIONAL.
AND SO THERE WERE SOME CONCERNS AROUND THAT.
SO WE WERE MAKING SURE THAT IT IS A REQUIRED THING WITHIN THE SYSTEM.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE'RE REQUIRING VERBAL COMMENTS FROM ALL PANELISTS, NOT JUST THE PRIMARY AND SECONDARY REVIEWER.
AND WITH THAT, UM, I JUST WANTED TO EMPHASIZE THAT ACME IS DEEPLY COMMITTED TO LEARNING FROM THIS FIRST CYCLE OF OUR NEW FUNDING PROCESS.
IT IS A YEAR OF EVOLUTION, AND YOUR FEEDBACK ALONG WITH THE DATA WE'RE SEEING IN REAL TIME IS HELPING US REFINE THE SYSTEM SO IT BETTER SUPPORTS OUR CREATIVE COMMUNITY MOVING FORWARD.
AND WHILE THIS EXTENSION IS A TARGETED RESPONSE TO THE UNIQUE CHALLENGES OF LAUNCHING A BRAND NEW PROCESS, IT IS NOT A PRECEDENT FOR FUTURE CYCLES.
INSTEAD, IT REFLECTS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE FAIRNESS, CLARITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY AS WE CONTINUE STRENGTHENING THIS FRAMEWORK.
AND WE APPRECIATE THE PATIENCE, PARTNERSHIP AND INSIGHT OF OUR COMMISSIONERS AND OUR COMMUNITY, AND WE REMAIN COMMITTED TO GETTING BETTER WITH EACH STEP OF IMPLEMENTATION.
[01:35:01]
WITH THAT, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.UM, ANY QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER OCK, AND THEN COMMISSIONER CHARLA.
UM, CAN I GO, I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT LIKE FUTURE ITERATION, SO IF PEOPLE HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT RIGHT NOW, THEY CAN GO FIRST.
UM, UH, THANK YOU, UH, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE NORMALIZATION OF THIS COURSE.
UM, UH, I SAW THAT WE'LL BE REMOVING THE, THE HIGHEST AND THE LOWER SCORES, WHICH I THINK WOULD BE, UH, I THINK, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
I WAS ALSO WONDERING IS THERE ANY NORMALIZATION BETWEEN DIFFERENT PANELS BECAUSE A HIGH SCORE AND, OR IS IT AN ABSOLUTE COMPARISON? BECAUSE THERE ABSOLUTELY I THINK NEEDS TO BE, UH, A NORMALIZATION OF SCORES BETWEEN DIFFERENT PANELS BECAUSE, UH, UH, AN EIGHT FOR SOMEBODY IN ONE PANEL WOULD BE A SIX FOR SOMEBODY ELSE, OR, OR EVEN THE SAME THING WITH THE LOW SCORES.
SO, UH, I THINK THAT WOULD MAKE IT FAIR.
I JUST WANTED TO SEE IF THAT'S ALREADY IN PLACE.
COMMISSIONER, MAYOR, CHARLIE, WE LOST YOUR VIDEO.
SO AT MY END, LET ME, LET ME JUST TRY RESTARTING IT.
CAN YOU SEE ME NOW? WE CANNOT.
SO YEAH, I MEAN, THAT WAS MY QUESTION ESSENTIALLY IS ARE WE NORMALIZING THE SCORES BETWEEN DIFFERENT PANELS? BECAUSE A HIGH SCORE FOR SOMEBODY COULD BE NINE IN ONE OF THE PANELS AND IN ANOTHER PANEL IT COULD BE A SEVEN, AND THEN IT'S NOT A FAIR COMPARISON OF SCORES BETWEEN DIFFERENT PANELS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT QUESTION, COMMISSIONER.
UM, I AM HAPPY TO LOOK INTO THAT AND GET, GET MORE INFORMATION FOR YOU NEXT MONTH.
I'M NOT SURE OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD HOW THAT WORKS.
I DO KNOW THAT APPLICANTS ARE NOT SCORED AGAINST EACH OTHER.
THEY'RE SCORED AS AN INDIVIDUAL THING AGAINST THE RUBRIC.
UM, SO I WILL LOOK INTO THAT AND GET BACK TO YOU NEXT MONTH.
WELL, MY POINT JUST TO BE VERY CLEAR, IS IF THERE IS ONE PANEL, UH, YOU KNOW, SCORING, UM, YOU KNOW, 10 APPLICANTS AND A DIFFERENT PANEL SCORING THE NEXT 10 APPLICANTS, WHEN IT COMES TO GIVING THE BOARD, I WOULD BELIEVE THAT THERE IS A COMPARE.
YOU KNOW, ALL THESE WILL BE STACKED AGAINST EACH OTHER.
AND UNLESS WE NORMALIZE THIS COURSE ACROSS THE PANELS, I DON'T SEE HOW WE CAN STACK THESE AGAINST EACH OTHER UNLESS I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS CORRECTLY.
CAN, CAN I CLARIFY COMMISSIONER MACHALA OR DO YOU MEAN IN THE 5 0 1 C APPLICANT TYPE? THE, THE DIFFERENT PANELS FOR THE DIFFERENT SIZE ORGANIZATIONS OR THE DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES ANYWHERE? WE ARE COMPARING SCORES TO GIVE OUT GRANTS BETWEEN TWO DIFFERENT PANELS.
I THINK NEED TO BE, THOSE SCORES NEED TO BE NORMALIZED.
I THINK SHE MEANS LIKE CALIBRATED ACROSS.
SO LIKE IF YOU HAVE A SCORE LIKE A ONE PANEL WHO SCORES HARDER THAN ANOTHER PANEL, YES, THAT'S GONNA BE TRUE FOR EVERYONE WHO HAD THOSE PANELISTS, BUT NOT FOR SOMEONE WHO WAS EVALUATED BY A DIFFERENT SET OF PANELISTS.
AND SO THE WAY THAT'S DONE IN OTHER, IN OTHER PROCESSES IS TO, TO TO CALIBRATE BY LOOKING AT LIKE AVERAGE OR MEDIA.
AND I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THE MATH BEHIND IT, BUT LIKE YOU CAN, YOU CAN LOOK ACROSS, I THINK THAT'S WHAT YOU MEAN, RIGHT? ABOUT NORMALIZING, LIKE, YES, ABSOLUTELY.
SO YOU, SO IT'S APPLES TO APPLE, SO YOU ADJUST LIKE, OKAY, IF ON AVERAGE THIS PANEL SCORED 0.5 POINTS LOWER THAN THE OTHER THREE GROUPS OF PANELS, THEN THERE'S AN ADJUSTMENT THAT'S MADE.
SO YOU'RE, SO IT'S AS IF THE SAME PANELISTS, ANONYMOUS PANELISTS SCORED EVERYTHING.
SO IT'S APPLES TO APPLES TO APPLES.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? YES, THANK YOU.
SO, UH, SHE'LL GET BACK WITH YOU THAT NEXT MONTH.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR DISCUSSION? UH, COMMISSIONER ZIMAN, I JUST WANTED TO, UM, BRING SOME ATTENTION TO THE DECREASE IN, IN APPLICATIONS FOR THE CSAP PROGRAM, UM, JUST TO SORT OF STATE FOR THE RECORD THAT THE ELIGIBILITY FOR THAT PROGRAM WAS ALTERED.
AND SO WHEN WE LOOK AT A DECREASE IN ELIG OR A DECREASE IN INTEREST, TWO THINGS.
ONE, IT'S A TOTALLY DIFFERENT BALL GAME.
AND SO TO REALLY PUT FORTH A D UH, A LOWERED
[01:40:01]
PERCENTAGE ISN'T COMPARING APPLES TO APPLES WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE METRICS FROM ONE PROGRAM TO THE OTHER.THE SECOND IS, UM, OF THOSE 125, LIKE WE KNOW THAT THAT POOL IS THE SMALLEST THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH.
SO OUR WITH THE DECREASE WAS JUST A LITTLE ACTIVATING FOR ME.
'CAUSE I'M LIKE, WELL, CAN WE EVEN SATISFY THE DEMAND FOR THAT PROGRAM, EVEN IF WE'RE DEMONSTRATING A DECREASE? SO I, I'M RETICENT TO LIKE PUT THAT METRIC FORWARD TO COUNCIL OR TO LEADERSHIP BECAUSE IT INSINUATES THAT THERE'S, OH, NOT NECESSARILY A DEMAND, BUT REALLY IT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ELIGIBILITY, UM, MATRIX.
AND SO THE PEOPLE THAT WERE INTERESTED IN WOULD'VE APPLIED WERE RENDERED AND ELIGIBLE.
AND THEN ALSO FROM 2023, WHAT ORGANIZATIONS ARE LEFT.
LIKE WE HAVE TO BE REALLY HONEST WITH OURSELVES IN TERMS TERMS OF THE DISPLACEMENT, THE ERASURE, UM, AND WHO STILL LEFT STANDING TO EVEN APPLY, WHO HAS THE RESOURCES TO APPLY.
SO I, I WOULD JUST ASK THAT THAT DECREASE BE JUST ELIMINATED FROM ANY PRESENTATION THAT GOES FORWARD BECAUSE IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE AN ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF THE NEED, EVEN IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS NEW ELIGIBILITY.
LIKE IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT APPLES TO APPLES.
IF ANYBODY ELSE WANTS TO PLEASE, I, YEAH, I I WOULD JUST JUMP INTO THAT.
SORRY, ACE, I SEE YOU HAVE YOUR HAND RAISED, BUT, UM, IS LIKE, AND YES, AND THE FACT THAT THAT WAS A DECREASE WHEN OTHER PROGRAMS SHOWED LIKE BAZILLION PERCENT INCREASES IS LIKE SOMETHING'S UP WITH THAT.
SO IT DOES BEAR, LIKE WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE ELIGIBILITY ON C SAP AND WHAT IT'S DOING AND WHO IT'S FOR THAT LED TO A DECREASE TO COMMISSIONER AMANS POINT.
IT'S, IT'S NOT APPLES TO APPLES, BUT WHEN WE SEE AN INCREASE IN EVERY OTHER PROGRAM, SOME TO LIKE THE 400%, UM, EXTENT, LIKE, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THIS COMMISSION EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT CSAP AND THE ELIG, THE NEW ELIGIBILITY AND, YOU KNOW, NOT BEING OPEN TO PEOPLE WHO OWN THEIR SPACES, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO I DO THINK THAT, UM, I THINK WE'LL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO TALK ABOUT IT ONCE THE APPLICATIONS ARE DONE AND WE SEE HOW EVERYTHING SHAKES OUT.
BUT YOU KNOW, THAT'S, THAT REMAINS A PRETTY BIG CONCERN.
AND A FOLLOW ON QUESTION ABOUT CSAP WAS, WAS THIS YEAR OR FUTURE YEARS CSAP, UM, IMPACTED BY THE BUDGET CRISIS? I, I REMEMBER SEEING THE CONVERSATION IN SOME OF THE COUNCIL MEETINGS WITH DIRECTOR MEANS PRESENTING, BUT I DIDN'T FOLLOW WHAT THE, SO WHAT THE RESOLUTION WAS WA WAS THERE A DECREASE FOR THIS ROUND? THERE WAS NOT A DECREASE IN OUR EXPECTED CSAP ALLOCATIONS THIS YEAR.
COMMISSIONER GRAY, DID YOU GET YOUR QUESTION ANSWERED? NO, I JUST WANTED TO, UH, JUST, UH, AGREE WITH WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN SAID.
THERE'S, THERE'S, UH, ORGANIZATIONS THAT WERE PART OF CSAP IN THE PAST THAT WERE NOT ELIGIBLE JUST IN THE, IN THE SHORT, UH, CHANGES.
AND AGAIN, WITH UH, UH, COUNCILMAN, UH, COUNCILWOMAN ZIMAN, SAME THING.
WHO'S, WHO'S BEING LEFT OUT? JUST THE, YEAH.
SO, YEAH, UH, I I DO HAVE A QUESTION THOUGH.
UM, AND I BELIEVE I ALREADY HAVE AN ANSWER, BUT I, UH, TWO THINGS.
UM, TO REITERATE FOR THE AUDIENCE, THERE'S NO REASON TO RESUBMIT IF YOU HAVE SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION, CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT.
JUST WANTED TO BE SURE THAT WAS CLARIFIED.
AND BECAUSE OF THE DELAYS THAT WE'VE TAKEN EVEN BEFORE THIS LAST, UH, UH, EXTENSION FOR 20, 27 APPLICATIONS WILL START MUCH EARLIER.
SO THAT PROJECTS STARTING IN JANUARY WILL BE MUCH MORE FEASIBLE IN FUNDING THAN IT'S LAYING OVER THIS YEAR, OR SHOULD SAY JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH AND PART OF APRIL
BECAUSE OF THE CREATIVE RESET, WE DIDN'T LAUNCH THESE PROGRAMS RIGHT UNTIL OCTOBER, WHICH, UM, WAS A CRUNCH FOR ALL PARTIES INVOLVED, ESPECIALLY THE COMMUNITY.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY JULY WILL BE WHEN THE NEXT, UM, WHEN OUR, WHEN WE GET BACK ON OUR REAL SCHEDULE, UH, IN JULY OF 26, THAT WILL BE THE APPLICATIONS OPENING.
SO WE CAN HAVE AWARD ANNOUNCEMENTS AND FIRST PAYMENTS PRIOR TO JANUARY, 2027.
BUT IT'S STILL AN ANNUAL YEAH.
AN ANNUAL ALLOCATION, NOT A SEASONAL TWO, YOU KNOW, NOT MULTIPLE APPLICATION CYCLES IN A SINGLE YEAR, CORRECT? CORRECT.
FOR THE BIG PROGRAMS, IT IS ONCE A YEAR AND IT WILL BE IN JULY.
SO NEXUS IS MARCH AND SEPTEMBER.
COMMISSIONER SMALL, DID YOU GET YOUR FUTURE QUESTION ANSWERED? NO.
AND MY SOUND JUST WENT OUT AGAIN FOR A MINUTE.
[01:45:01]
YOU HEAR ME? YES.I DIDN'T HEAR THE EXTENT OF OF LAURA'S RESPONSE TO THAT LAST ONE.
WAS IT JUST A YES, IT'LL BE, IT, IT STILL BE ANNUAL FOR THE BIG PRO.
NOW, THE FUTURE QUESTION, FUTURE FOCUS QUESTION IS, WELL, FIRSTLY, LIKE Y'ALL, THIS IS A CRAZY AMOUNT OF WORK THAT SAF HAS HAD TO DO IN A REALLY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME.
AND I KNOW THAT THE PUSHBACK IS GONNA MAKE IT EVEN EVEN MORE INTENSE.
UM, WITH THAT SAID, LIKE WHAT IS, WHAT IS GAINED BY MAKING THE ELIGIBILITY FORM A REQUIREMENT? BECAUSE I DO UNDERSTAND THAT THE ELIGIBILITY THING, LIKE THE PROCESS AND ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS AND KNOWING LIKE, HERE'S WHAT WE'RE ELIGIBLE FOR IS USEFUL, PARTICULARLY FOR THE APPLICANT, BUT I'M A LITTLE UNCLEAR.
LIKE I FEEL LIKE WE'VE ADDED IN LAYERS OF, WITH THE INTENT OF MAKING THE PROCESS SIMPLER, HAVE IN FACT MADE IT MORE COMPLICATED.
AND SO THAT'S WHAT I'M WONDERING GOING FORWARD IS LIKE, DID WE GAIN SOMETHING FROM MAKING THE ELIGIBILITY FORM THE INTAKE ELIGIBILITY APPLICATION PROCESS, 1, 2, 3 ALL REQUIRED? OR IS THERE A WORLD IN WHICH THE ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONNAIRE COULD BE A RESOURCE TO PEOPLE WHO MAY NOT KNOW WHAT THEY'RE ELIGIBLE FOR AND DON'T WANNA WASTE TIME APPLYING FOR SOMETHING THAT THEY'RE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR, BUT DOESN'T NEED TO BE PART OF A REQUIRED THREE-STEP PROCESS? THAT OBVIOUSLY LEADS TO CHALLENGES.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT COMMENT SLASH QUESTION COMMISSIONER.
UM, THAT IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING TO BE DISCUSSED.
UM, AND WE'RE PLANNING ON HAVING SOME LESSONS LEARNED OR TOWN HALLS OR SOME KIND OF FEEDBACK LOOP IN JANUARY TO HEAR FROM APPLICANTS TO, TO SEE WHAT THAT EXPERIENCE WAS LIKE FOR THEM.
OBVIOUSLY WE'VE HEARD SOME FOLKS, THEY DIDN'T REALIZE THAT IT WAS A TWO PART BEFORE THE FOURTH, UM, AND THEN THE APPLICATION, SO, SO HEARD THAT THERE WERE A LOT OF, UM, QUESTIONS AROUND THIS PROCESS.
UM, AS A REMINDER, THE, WE'VE GONE BACK AND FORTH AND SOME OF YOU THAT HAVE BEEN IN THIS ROLE FOR A WHILE WILL REMEMBER THAT, UM, MANY, MANY MOONS AGO WE DID HAVE AN ELIGIBILITY COMPONENT BEFORE FOLKS COULD ACTUALLY ACCESS THEIR APPLICATION IN ZOOM GRANTS THAT STAFF HAD TO REVIEW BEFORE OPENING UP THE REST OF THE APPLICATION.
THEN COMMUNITY ASKED US NOT TO DO THAT, SO THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO DECIDE WHICH PROGRAMS THEY ARE ELIGIBLE FOR AND COULD JUST GO STRAIGHT TO THE APPLICATIONS.
SO WE MOVED TO THAT METHOD OF DOING THINGS, UM, AND THEN WE HEARD FROM COMMUNITY THAT THAT WAS A WASTE OF TIME IF THEY SPENT ALL THIS, THIS TIME AND ENERGY FILLING OUT AN APPLICATION THAT THEY WEREN'T EVEN ELIGIBLE FOR.
AND SO WE NEEDED TO HAVE BETTER STOP GAPS IN PLACE TO PREVENT THE COMMUNITY FROM DOING THAT WORK WHEN THEY WEREN'T EVEN ELIGIBLE FOR THE PROGRAM.
SO ALL OF THAT TO SAY IT IS A, IT IS A PROCESS.
WE ARE HAPPY TO CONTINUE TRYING NEW THINGS, UM, BUT I, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE IS A PERFECT SOLUTION, BUT WE ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO WORK WITH YOU AND WORK WITH APPLICANTS IN THE REST OF THE COMMUNITY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE BEST SOLUTION IS THIS NEXT TIME AROUND.
UM, AND I KNOW OUR PARTNERS AT THE LONG CENTER ARE ALSO, UM, VERY HAPPY TO MAKE ANY ITERATIONS IN OUR PROGRAMS BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD WITH THE NEXT LAUNCH.
COMMISSIONER GRAY, UH, HAVE YOU FOUND, HAVE YOU HAD THE FEEDBACK COME BACK THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY THE SECOND STAGE OR THE SECOND PHASE THAT MESSED MOST PEOPLE UP? THAT IT WASN'T JUST WHAT WAS REALLY ANNOUNCED AHEAD OF TIME? THAT THERE WOULD BE AN ELIGIBILITY FORUM AND THEN AN APPLICATION, WHICH IS REALLY WHAT I THINK THE MINDSET WAS FOR SO LONG? WE'VE HEARD ALL SORTS OF FEEDBACK.
COMMISSIONER GRAY,
BUT I THINK, UM, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'LL BE LOOKING AT DOING IN JANUARY JUST TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THOSE HURDLES WERE.
UM, AND WHETHER IT WAS THE INTAKE FORM, WHETHER IT WAS THE ELIGIBILITY, DO THOSE ACTUALLY NEED TO BE TWO THINGS? MM-HMM
UM, SO WE'RE, AT THIS POINT WE'RE OPEN SURE.
UM, IT'S BEEN SO LONG, I DON'T REMEMBER IF TCA WAS EVER DIFFERENT, BUT I DO KNOW NEA IS TWO STAGES AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN.
SO THIS, YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT.
COMMISSIONER GARZA, JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS.
FIRST OF ALL, UH, I ATTENDED THE MEETING AT THE REESE CENTER REESE LIBRARY.
THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THOSE WORKSHOPS THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
I'M SURE SOME OF OUR COMMISSIONERS ALSO ATTEND IN THEIR DISTRICTS.
UH, ANOTHER THING I WANNA SAY, YOU TALKED ABOUT AN APPLICANT
[01:50:01]
INTRO STATEMENT, CORRECT? SOMETHING LIKE THAT.ONE OF THE CONCERNS I HAVE WITH THAT IS THAT NOT APPLICANTS ARE CREATED EQUAL.
SO SOME APPLICANTS ARE GONNA BE ABLE TO PRODUCE A MUCH BETTER VIDEO STATEMENT THAN OTHERS.
SO MAYBE YOU WANNA TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION AS ALSO FINALLY, AS SOMEONE WHO'S APPLIED AND WISH THERE HAD BEEN AN ELIGIBILITY STATEMENT INCLUDED IN THE APPLICATION, THANK YOU FOR PUTTING THAT IN BECAUSE IT DOES SAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, SOME TIME TO, OH, YOU KNOW WHAT, MAYBE I SHOULDN'T APPLY.
'CAUSE I KNOW I SPENT A COUPLE OF DAYS WITH AN APPLICATION THAT, UH, I PROBABLY SHOULDN'T HAVE.
AND I JUST WANTED TO ADD FOR YOUR FIRST, UM, COMMENT ABOUT THE INTRO, THE APPLICANT INTRO STATEMENT PORTION OF THINGS, PART OF OUR TRAINING TO ALL PANELISTS IS TO REMIND THEM TO LOOK BEYOND GRANTSMANSHIP AND BEYOND THE MONEY THAT SOME ORGANIZATIONS MAY HAVE TO, TO HAVE SOMEONE PRODUCE A QUALITY, HIGH QUALITY, UM, VIDEO FOR THAT VERSUS SOMEBODY JUST TALKING IN THEIR PHONE,
AND HOPEFULLY WE'RE INCORPORATING SOME OF THAT INTO OUR TRAININGS.
AND YOU SAID YOU'RE LOOKING AT WHETHER THE INTAKE AND ELIGIBILITY HAVE TO BE TWO SEPARATE THINGS? IF THEY CAN BE ONE THING, WE ARE LOOKING AT EVERYTHING.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMISSIONERS? COMMISSIONER GRAY? JUST ONE MORE COMMENT.
I MEAN, TO HAVE IT ALL IN ONE THING AND GO THROUGH A TREMENDOUS APPLICATION PROCESS AND THEN FIND OUT YOU'RE NOT ELIGIBLE.
I DON'T BELIEVE IT'S A, I THINK THAT'S A HARD THING TO ASK FOR.
COMMISSIONER CHARLA, I THINK COMMISSIONER ANDERSON, THANK YOU.
UM, YEAH, I MEAN, UH, THE ELIGIBILITY FORM MAKES SENSE, UH, THAT THE, THE IDEA MAKES SENSE.
I THINK IT WOULD BE GREAT IF, UH, THERE'S SOME WAY TO COMBINE IT WITH THE INTAKE FORM AND IT'S ALL DONE IN ONE SHOT OR IT'S AUTOMATED TO WHERE, UH, SOMEBODY ENTERS THEIR PROFILE AND THE SYSTEM TELLS YOU WHICH APPLICATIONS YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR, AND THEN THOSE FORMS BECOME AVAILABLE.
I DO IN PRINCIPLE ALSO, JUST REALLY LIKE WHAT COMMISSIONER SCHMUCK SAID IS, IS OUGHT TO PROVIDE THAT AS A RESOURCE SO PEOPLE CAN TAKE THE CHANCE OF WHETHER THEY WANNA GO FILL THE APPLICATION OR IF THEY WANNA PRE-CHECK IF THEY'RE ELIGIBLE.
THEY COULD, THEY COULD CHECK, BUT MAKE IT OPTIONAL THEN, THEN, YOU KNOW, UH, AS A, BECAUSE IT DID, IT DID SURPRISE ME WHEN THE TWO STEP PROCESS ENDED UP BEING A THREE STEP PROCESS.
AND WE ARE HERE DISCUSSING THIS EVERY MONTH.
SO, AND IF IT'S SURPRISED, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE OF US, THEN YOU KNOW, IT, IT PROBABLY WAS, YOU KNOW, MUCH MORE, UH, IT'S SOMETHING THAT MANY FOLKS MIGHT HAVE NOT ANTICIPATED, BUT I, I THINK SOME WAY OF AUTOMATION IN SUBMITTING AN ORIGINAL PRO, UH, AN INITIAL INTAKE FORM AND THE APPLICATION BASED ON YOUR PROFILE, LETTING YOU KNOW WHAT ALL YOU CAN APPLY FOR WOULD BE, WOULD BE GREAT TO SEE IN THE FOLLOWING YEARS.
I JUST WANTED TO SAY, UM, FOR PRIOR APPLICANTS AND PRIOR RECIPIENTS OF GRANTS, I WONDER IF THAT, THAT, UM, PRE-QUAL STAGE COULD BE, COULD BE SKIPPED VOLUNTARILY, UM, WHICH WOULD BE LESS WORK FOR YOU GUYS TOO.
UM, ALSO JUST AS A, I MEAN, AGAIN, PART OF OUR JOB HERE AS COMMISSIONERS IS THAT THE COMMUNITY TALKS TO US AND SAYS THINGS THAT THEY'RE NOT GONNA COME SAY A PUBLIC COMMENT
SO I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW, UH, WHAT SOME PEOPLE HAVE SAID TO, TO US, WHICH HOPEFULLY YOU HAVE HEARD SOME OF THIS.
UM, AND THAT IS THAT THEY'RE HOPING THAT THE PROCESS, UM, BEGINS TO KIND OF HAVE AN AIR OF MORE PROFESSIONALISM.
UM, SO DEADLINES OR DEADLINES AND THOSE WHO CAN, THOSE WHO ACTUALLY READ THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE THE ONES WHO WILL BE
I'VE HEARD QUITE A BIT OF THAT.
UM, I'VE ALSO HEARD PEOPLE REALLY FRUSTRATED BECAUSE THEY'RE TRYING TO, YOU KNOW, ACTUALLY PRODUCE SOMETHING IN Q1.
AND UNLESS THEY HAVE REALLY, UH, A LOT OF ROOM ON THEIR CREDIT CARDS, THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO DO THAT NOW.
UM, AND FOR IN PARTICULAR THEATER SECTOR PEOPLE WHERE THERE'S DOZENS OF PEOPLE INVOLVED IN A SPACE, YOU HAVE TO RENT WELL IN ADVANCE AND, YOU KNOW, RIGHTS YOU HAVE TO PAY ACCORDING TO SPECIFIC DATES AND IT, IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO PLAN, UH, WHEN THIS HAPPENS.
AND SO PEOPLE WILL LOSE JOBS BECAUSE OF THE DELAY.
SO I JUST WANTED TO EXPRESS THAT AND THAT, THAT THAT'S SOME FRUSTRATION THAT WE'RE HEARING AS COMMISSIONERS.
SO MAYBE YOU'VE HEARD ALL THAT TOO, BUT, OKAY.
BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK AND FOR THE REALLY CLEAR PRESENTATION, AND I ALSO APPRECIATE HOW IT SOUNDS LIKE, UM, YOU'RE VERY MUCH TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE COMPLICATION OF THE THREE STEP PROCESS.
AND SO I THINK THE COMMUNITY WILL APPRECIATE HEARING THAT.
UM, THERE WERE COMMENTS ALSO MADE THAT IT SOUNDED LIKE, UM, WE'RE EXTENDING IT BECAUSE THE APPLICANTS NEED MORE TIME.
AND IT'S LIKE, WELL, WE'RE SENDING IT BECAUSE THE PROCESS WAS A LITTLE CONFUSING.
[01:55:01]
TO SAY IT.SO, UM, PEOPLE, PEOPLE DID COMMENT TO US ABOUT THAT.
SO, SO THANK YOU FOR THE TONE TONIGHT AND FOR THE, THE GOOD CLEAR PRESENTATION AND, UM, I KNOW IT'S BEEN SO MUCH WORK, SO THANK YOU.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS, QUESTIONS? THANK YOU SO MUCH.
WE APPRECIATE ALL THE HARD WORK THAT YOU ALL ARE PUTTING IN.
WE UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S A BIG LIFT AND WE APPRECIATE THAT Y'ALL ARE SOLDIERING ON.
[10. Approve a recommendation to support of Rally Austin 2026 Bond Proposal. ]
UP TO ITEM NUMBER 10 TO APPROVE RECOMMENDATION TO SUPPORT THE RALLY AUSTIN 2026 BOND.MOTION TO APPROVE FROM COMMISSIONER GRAY.
SO WE GOT A MOTION FROM ZIMAN AND A SECOND FROM GRAY.
MOTION FROM ZISMAN SECOND FROM GRAY.
ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT THE VALLEY AUSTIN 2026 BOND PROPOSAL? SEEING NO DISCUSSION? ALL IN FAVOR? HOLD ON.
I JUST WANNA, I JUST WANNA STATE FOR THE RECORD THAT I, I WILL SUPPORT THE BOND MOVE, BUT, UM, I REALLY WANNA SEE THE CURRENT PROJECTS AND PIPELINE BE COMPLETED.
AND I'D JUST LIKE TO SAY OUT THERE TO ANY CITY EMPLOYEES WHO ARE, UH, CAUSING DELAYS IN THAT PROCESS, PLEASE HELP RALLY AUSTIN FINISH THOSE PROJECTS.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER ANDERSON.
ANY OTHER DISCUSSION? ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SIGNIFY BY RAISING YOUR HAND.
ANY OPPOSED? COMMISSIONER NAVAL, ARE YOU ABSTAINING? IS THAT AYE? AYE.
SO THAT PASSES AND NOW WE'RE, WE'VE ALREADY DONE ITEM 11.
[12. Action to reconvene the selection panel to recommend one new panel member for the Art in Public Places Panel]
ITEM 12, ACTION TO RECONVENE THE SELECTION PANEL TO RECOMMEND ONE NEW PANEL MEMBER FOR THE ART AND PUBLIC PLACES PANEL.AND I HAVE JAIME CASTILLO APPROACHING.
ARTS COMMISSIONERS, JAIME CASTILLO, MANAGER FOR ART AND PUBLIC PLACES.
UH, WE RECENTLY WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS OF, OF INTERVIEWING CANDIDATES TO SERVE ON THE A IPP PANEL.
UM, WE FACED A LITTLE BIT OF DELAY THAT THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, SORT OF AT THE END OF SUMMER, BEGINNING OF FALL.
WE IDENTIFIED TWO NEW PANEL MEMBERS AND, UH, WE KNEW THIS WAS COMING, BUT A PANEL MEMBER HAS ENDED THEIR TERM.
SO THEY, UH, YEAH, THEY, THEY ROLLED OFF, UM, OFF THE PANEL.
SO WE NEED ANOTHER PANEL MEMBER.
AND SO WHAT, UH, WHAT WE'RE BRINGING TONIGHT IS A RECOMMENDATION FOR, FOR Y'ALL TO REFORM THAT INTERVIEW PANEL IMMEDIATELY, WHICH CONSISTED OF THE A IPP PANEL CHAIR, THE VICE CHAIR, THE, UH, COMMISSION LIAISON, AND ANOTHER REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ARTIST COMMISSION.
SO THAT WAS CHRIST ANN SHEER, ANDREW DANZINGER, HEIDI SCHMO, AND, UH, AC GRAY.
AND SO THEY, BY YOU REFORMING THEM, THEY WILL BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THE APPLICANT, THE CANDIDATES THAT WE HAD IN THE POOL FROM THIS LAST ROUND AND SEE IF WE, WE CAN IDENTIFY SOMEONE OR IDENTIFY WE CAN HAVE INTERVIEWS OF THOSE CANDIDATES THERE AND MAKE ANOTHER SELECTION.
UM, IF THEY DEEM THAT THEY DON'T SEE A, A CANDIDATE, THEN WE'LL HAVE TO OPEN IT UP TO GETTING MORE NOMINATIONS.
BUT WE FEEL CONFIDENT THAT WE DO HAVE, WE HAD SOME GOOD CONVERSATIONS, SO WE'LL, WE'LL FEEL CONFIDENT THAT WE WILL GET SOMEONE OUT OF THIS, UM, POOL.
UM, THIS IS, THIS IS COMMISSIONER GRAY'S LAST MEETING, SO WE CAN, WELL GO AHEAD.
IF IT FALLS WITHIN THIS MONTH PRIOR TO THE NEXT MEETING, IS IT POSSIBLE THAT I WOULD BE ABLE TO, PRIOR TO JANUARY, DO YOU THINK WE CAN GET DONE? WOULD I BE ABLE TO BEFORE JANUARY? THAT'S A BIG QUESTION, ISN'T IT? THAT'S, UH, BECAUSE I MEAN, I KNOW WE ALREADY KNOW THE OTHER PEOPLE.
DUKE, IT, IT WOULD BE A MATTER OF JUST, UH, ALIGNING SCHEDULES WITH THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE INTERVIEW PANEL.
YEAH, I WOULD, I WOULD DEFINITELY DO IT BEFORE THE NEXT, UH, COMMISSIONER TAKES OVER FOR SURE.
WE CAN WORK WITH THAT MORE WITH THAT, BECAUSE THE CO-CHAIR IS, IS YOU DON'T HAVE A NEW CO-CHAIR UNTIL THAT NEXT MEETING IN JANUARY, RIGHT? YEAH.
I'M, I'M OUT NEXT WEEK AND OTHER STAFF MEMBERS ARES, BUT AF THE WEEK AFTER, WE CAN MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN.
I CAN MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN, FOR SURE.
[02:00:01]
A MOTION TO RECONVENE THE SELECTION PANEL PANEL FOR A IPP PANEL MEMBERS.AND THAT IS THE CHAIR OF OUR, OUR REPRESENTATIVE, THE CHAIR OF THE PANEL, THE LIAISON FOR THE PANEL, AND COMMISSIONER GRAY, FOUR PEOPLE.
THE VICE CHAIR, THE LIAISON AND COMMISSIONER.
DO I HAVE A SECOND? I WILL SECOND ANY DISCUSSION.
WE'RE GONNA TRY TO GET THIS DONE BY JANUARY 19TH.
IF NOT, WE WILL COME BACK TO THE MEETING AND FIND ANOTHER, ANOTHER PERSON FOR YOU SEEING, UH, COMMISSIONER GRAY.
I JUST WANNA ADD, IT'S, IT'S COOL BECAUSE WE ALREADY HAVE TALKED TO AND SEEN EVERYBODY, SO IT SHOULD BE EASY TO DO BEFORE THE 19TH.
YEAH, WE INTERVIEWED FIVE OR SIX PEOPLE FOR TWO SPOTS, SO GREAT.
YEAH, THERE WAS FINALISTS, OTHER FINALISTS THAT WE CAN RETURN TO, TO START AT LEAST.
SO SEEING NO FURTHER DISCUSSION, I'D LIKE TO CALL THE QUESTION ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? SEEING NO OPPOSITION THAT PASSES.
WE HAVE RECONVENED THE SELECTION PANEL FOR A IPP.
WE ARE NOW, UH, CHAIR IF I MAY, UH, OH, GO AHEAD.
I FORGOT TO INCLUDE IN MY, UH, IN MY UPDATE, UH, WE ARE ACTUALLY, UM, THE AIRPORT ARTISTS FROM PHASE ONE, ACTUALLY PHASE ONE AND PHASE TWO ARE DOING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
IF YOU'VE BEEN TRAVELING, YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THEM TABLE AT THE AIRPORT THIS PAST WEEK, PAST WEEK AND A HALF.
UM, BUT THERE'S ONE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EVENT THAT'S ACTUALLY MANIFESTING AS AN EXHIBITION AT MASS GALLERY THAT OPENS JANUARY 17TH.
UM, SO YOU'RE ALL INVITED TO THAT, JUST IN CASE I CAN'T GET A MESSAGE OUT TO Y'ALL BEFORE THE NEXT MEETING.
AND IT'S, AND IT'S WHERE, AT MASS GALLERY? UM, I'M FORGETTING THE EXACT ADDRESS, BUT IT'S ON GUNTER JUST NORTH OF SEVENTH STREET.
[13. Update from joint Arts/Music Commission Working Group on Urban Core Issues with Commissioners Schmalbach, and Gray (chair).]
ON TO ITEM NUMBER 13, UPDATE FROM JOINT ARTS, MUSIC COMMISSION WORKING GROUP ON URBAN CORE ISSUES WITH COMMISSIONER, SMALL BLOCK AND GRAY CHAIR.WE DID NOT HAVE A MEETING IN NOVEMBER.
AND WE HA AND WE'LL NEED TO, WILL WE NEED TO ELECT A NEW PERSON OR GET SOMEONE ELSE TO JOIN THAT WORKING GROUP? UM, I WILL NOBEL LONGER BE ABLE TO SERVE AS CHAIR, SO THE CHAIR WOULD HAVE TO BE RESET THROUGH THE ARTS COMMISSION.
BUT I WOULD, AS A COMMUNITY MEMBER, SINCE IT IS A WORKING GROUP, I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO STAY ON THE WORKING GROUP.
BUT WE WILL NEED SOMEONE ELSE FROM THE COMMISSION.
WE, WE NEED TWO PEOPLE ON THE COMMISSION.
SO WE'LL PUT THAT ON NEXT MONTH.
AT LEAST ONE OTHER PERSON OR A COUPLE OTHER PEOPLE THAT JOIN US.
SO THAT IS ALL OF OUR NUMBERED AGENDA ITEMS. UH, COMMISSIONER GARZA WANTED TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR A POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE.
ONE M THAT WAS MISSING WAS THE, UH, I WAS RECENTLY APPOINTED TO THE MAYOR'S PUBLIC SPACES TASK FORCE, AND IT'S WANTED TO GIVE AN UPDATE ON THAT.
UH, WE MET RIGHT AFTER THE LAST COMMISSIONS MEETING.
WE'VE HAD ANOTHER MEETING ON THURSDAY.
AND SO WHAT WE'VE, THEY'VE ASKED THE MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED WAS TO COME UP WITH A COUPLE OF IDEAS FOR RESTORING SOME OF THE RAINBOW MURALS OR RAINBOW, YOU KNOW, WALKWAYS THAT WERE REMOVED OR ORDERED REMOVED BY GOVERNOR ABBOTT.
SO A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT I'M RECOMMENDING IS THAT WE HAVE, UH, LOTS OF UTILITY BOXES THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
WE'VE GOT RETAINING WALLS THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF THE AUSTIN.
UH, WE'VE ALSO GOT THE TEMPO PROJECT, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, COULD BE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE, THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
MAYBE WE CAN FOCUS DIVERSITY ON THAT.
SO THAT'S BASICALLY JUST MY UPDATE.
WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S ON THE AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, WE ARE LOSING TWO OF OUR COMMISSION COMMISSION MEMBERS.
SO I'D LIKE TO RECOGNIZE COMMISSIONER ZIMAN AND COMMISSIONERS GRAY TO MAKE THEIR FINAL STATEMENTS.
WHOEVER WOULD LIKE TO GO FIRST.
[02:05:02]
IT'S BEEN SUCH AN, I'M GONNA CRY TOO.IT'S BEEN SUCH AN HONOR AND A PRIVILEGE TO SERVE ON THE ARTS COMMISSION FOR A LITTLE OVER FIVE YEARS.
AND, UM, I FELT WHEN I WAS ASKED TO BE ON THE COMMISSION THAT I WAS A GOOD, UM, PERSON TO BE UP HERE, UH, RELATIVE TO THE COLLABORATIVE SPIRIT OF THE COMPANY THAT I RUN, WHICH HAS, UM, BEEN THE STARTING POINT OF A VERY DIVERSE GROUP OF ORGANIZATIONS AND, AND ARTISTS AROUND THE CITY THAT ARE STILL ALIVE.
UM, I HAVE GONE THROUGH, UM, HUNDREDS OF VOLUNTEER HOURS IN THESE, IN THESE FIVE YEARS AND NOT, UH, AS MUCH RECENTLY AS MAYBE I WOULD EVEN SAY I WOULD'VE BEEN UP FOR.
UM, UH, I THINK THAT, UH, SINCE I HAVE SERVED, THERE'S BEEN TREMENDOUS, UH, POSITIVE WORK ON THE ARTS COMMISSION, UM, THROUGH, UH, COV, UM, THROUGH THE FIRST ITERATION OF THE NEW GUIDELINES.
UH, MANY WONDERFUL THINGS HAVE CHANGED UP TO THIS DATE.
MANY WONDERFUL THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.
UM, I HAVE BECOME FAIRLY FRUSTRATED IN THE LAST, UH, OVER THE LAST YEAR.
UM, AND I BELIEVE, AND I WILL SAY THIS HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH STAFF.
I THINK IT'S SYSTEMIC IN, UH, CITY AND CITY POLICY AND THE, UH, UH, THE VISION OF THE CITY ITSELF.
UM, AND I'VE SAID IT ON THE DICE BEFORE, I THINK THAT, UH, MANY TIMES, ALTHOUGH TODAY THERE WAS THIS WONDERFUL WORK IN COMMUNICATION THAT'S HAPPENED, I FEEL, UH, MANY BANDAIDS ARE USED TO TRY TO MAKE THINGS WORK.
UH, THERE'S BEEN A COUPLE OF GREAT MEETINGS IN THE LAST, UH, TWO OR THREE WEEKS WHERE I FEEL, UM, AT LEAST TWO COMMISSIONERS INVOLVED IN THAT, UH, UH, REALLY LET IT BE KNOWN THAT THE COMMISSION WANTS TO BE HEARD, THAT THE COMMISSION WANTS TO BE TRUSTED, UH, AND WANTS TO BE INVOLVED IN, IN, UH, GUIDELINES.
AND OBVIOUSLY THERE'S THINGS ON THE ACME LEVEL STAFF NOW OR STAGE, UH, UH, STAGE NOW THAT THE ARTS COMMISSION WOULD NOT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH.
BUT WHEN I THINK ABOUT SETTING GUIDELINES FOR A GRANT PROCESS FOR ARTISTS, I THINK THAT'S WHERE YOU NEED TO USE, UH, THE, UH, PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE OF THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN IN THE ARTS FOR, UH, MANY YEARS AND ESPECIALLY, UH, IN AUSTIN.
AND I THINK THERE'S, UH, THERE'S SO MUCH THAT ARTISTS AND THOSE, UM, INDIVIDUALS THAT RUN ARTS ORGANIZATIONS HAVE EXPERIENCED, UH, THAT A STAFF MEMBER OF ANY KIND THAT'S NOT IN THE ARTS WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND.
AND A LOT OF IT INCLUDES, UM, THINGS THAT COULD BE A LOT SIMPLER, IT COULD BE A LOT EASIER.
THAT, UH, UH, THE MANY THINGS THAT THAT, UM, I'VE HEARD THAT WE CAN'T PLEASE EVERYBODY.
AND WHAT YET, WHAT I SEE, INCLUDING AN EXTENSION OF A, OF A DEADLINE IS THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, AT LEAST IN CULTURAL ARTS OF WHAT IT USED TO BE CULTURAL ARTS AND TODAY, IS THAT WE DO KEEP TRYING TO PLEASE EVERYBODY.
AND WE CAN'T, WE NEED TO SET THE, THE STANDARD WE NEED TO SET THE GOAL.
AND THERE HAS TO BE AN ELEMENT OF THE COMMUNITY STANDING UP TO THAT LEVEL OF PROFESSIONALISM AND NOT GETTING RID OF, UH, OUTREACH AND DIVERSITY AND TRYING TO LET PEOPLE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON.
AND, UH, NOT EVERYBODY IS READY TO GET MONEY.
NOT EVERYBODY CAN MANAGE MONEY, NOT, THERE'S JUST A LOT OF THINGS THAT I THINK, UM, MAYBE IT'S JUST ME, MAYBE I JUST DON'T AGREE WITH IT, BUT I THINK, UM, BUT I WILL ON TOP OF THAT, SAY THAT THERE'S BEEN TREMENDOUS, INCREDIBLE POSITIVE MOVEMENT IN WHAT'S GOING ON.
I'M, I'M EXCITED ABOUT, SO MUCH MORE EXCITED THAN I AM, EVEN THE DISAPPOINTMENT THAT I FEEL.
BUT I JUST FEEL THAT I'VE SERVED MY TIME THAT, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE I CAN REALLY DO TO HELP.
SO, UM, I DON'T WANNA DISAPPEAR.
LIKE I SAID, I WANNA SERVE ON WORKING GROUPS WHEN I'M NEEDED.
I'VE BEEN A WORKING ARTIST HERE SINCE 1984.
AND, UH, I THANK YOU STEPH, AND I THANK EVERYBODY, THE CURRENT COMMISSIONERS, AS WELL AS ALL THE PAST ONES THAT I'VE HAD THE HONOR TO SERVE WITH.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK AND TIRELESS EFFORT.
COMMISSIONER GRAY, COMMISSIONER DISMAN, UM, I WROTE MY REMARKS DOWN BECAUSE I'M NOT AS GOOD OFF THE CUFF AS COMMISSIONER GRAY, BUT, UM, I
[02:10:01]
ECHO MUCH OF WHAT HAS BEEN SHARED.UM, IT HAS BEEN A PRIVILEGE TO SERVE THE COMMUNITY FOR THE LAST NEARLY SEVEN YEARS.
UM, AND WITHOUT A DOUBT, THIS HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST FORMATIVE EXPERIENCES I'VE HAD AS AN ARTS PROFESSIONAL WHILE MY, WHILE MY DEPARTURE IS DURING A TIME OF INTENSE TRANSITION, I'M PROUD OF THE WORK THAT WE HAVE DONE AND CONTINUE TO DO AS A COMMISSION.
I WANNA EXPRESS MY SINCEREST GRATITUDE FOR MY, TO MY FELLOW COMMISSIONERS, TO THE ONES THAT SIT BESIDE ME NOW ON THE DIOCESE VIRTUALLY AS WELL AS TO THOSE THAT HELPED SHAPE MY EARLY DAYS ON THE COMMISSION.
I'M SO DEEPLY GRATEFUL TO THE CULTURAL ARTS STAFF FOR THE BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS THAT HAVE GONE INTO ARCHITECTING OF EQUITABLE AND ACCESSIBLE FUNDING PROGRAM.
I SEE YOU AND WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT AND SINCERITY, I THANK YOU.
UM, I WOULD FEEL A BIT REMISS IF I DIDN'T TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PUT FORTH MY HOPES FOR THE FUTURE.
AND I WANNA JUST PREFACE THIS WITH SAYING THAT ALONG WITH OTHER COMMISSIONERS, I'VE SPENT, UH, THE BETTER PART OF A YEAR GOING DOOR TO DOOR TO COUNCIL AND, UM, AND TO STAFF, UM, AT THE COUNCIL LEVEL TRYING TO REALLY FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT.
AND SO WHAT I SAY NEXT IS MEANT, UM, WITH A LOT OF RESPECT AND JUST DEEP TRANSPARENCY.
UM, TO ACME LEADERSHIP, PLEASE PRIORITIZE FILLING THE TWO VACANT POSITIONS, THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER WITH ARTS AND CULTURE EXPERTS.
THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO POSTURE YOURSELF IN A PLACE OF LISTENING.
UM, BUT PLEASE DON'T JUST PRIORITIZE.
THOSE ARE, THAT ARE THE LOUDEST AND THE MOST CONSTANT IN THE ROOM.
UM, BUT TO THE MANY VOICES WHO SHOW UP AND CONTINUE TO CONTRIBUTE THEIR TIME AND HARD EARNED WISDOM TO CITY COUNCIL AND THE MAYOR, RESPECTFULLY, PLEASE TAKE UP AN INTEREST IN THE ARTS.
ESTABLISHING A STANDALONE ENTITY IS NOT ENOUGH.
IF THERE IS NO MEANINGFUL INVESTMENT IN ITS SUCCESS, IN ITS SUCCESS, OUR VIBRANT ARTS COMMUNITY WILL ATROPHY AND VANISH BEYOND WHAT WE HAVE ALREADY LOST.
WITHOUT ACTIVE AND FOCUSED LEADERSHIP ARTISTS ARE THE COMMON GROUND.
WE ARE THE MORTAR BETWEEN THE BRICKS.
OUR PURPOSE AND OUR POTENTIAL GOES FAR BEYOND BEAUTIFICATION.
WE REPRESENT A UNIQUE INTERSECTIONALITY THAT CAN ONLY BETTER THE CITY.
WE ARE THE PARENTS TO THE CHILDREN IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
WE ARE THE CIVILIANS USING PUBLIC TRANSIT.
WE ARE THE VETERANS IN THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED IN NEED OF PUBLIC SERVICES.
WE ARE THE PEOPLE OF COLOR THAT ARE FACING ACTIVE AND AGGRESSIVE.
ERASURE AND DISPLACEMENT ARTISTS ARE AT THE INTERSECTION OF ALL OF THESE DEMOGRAPHICS AND MORE CONSIDER AND INCLUDE ARTISTS IN EVERY FACET OF THE CIVIC MACHINE BECAUSE ARTISTS CAN PROVIDE PERSPECTIVES, SOLUTIONS, AND INGENUITY, RARELY RETAINED BY OUR WHITE COLLAR COUNTERPARTS.
ARTISTS, AND THE SCAFFOLDING OF ADMINISTRATORS THAT BRING OUR VISIONS TO LIFE ARE THE PIONEERS AND THE VISIONARIES.
THE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE IDENTITY OF AUSTIN CANNOT BE UNDER STATED.
IMAGINE WHAT AUSTIN COULD BE LIKE IF ITS LIFEBLOOD WEREN'T FIGHTING TO EXIST.
BRING US TO THE TABLES AND LISTEN TO MY COMMUNITY.
THANK YOU COMMISSIONER SPEN FOR YOUR OUTSPOKEN VOICE FOR BEING THE ONE TO SPEAK.
WE ALWAYS NEED THE PEOPLE SPEAKING OUT AND WE HOPE WE WON'T STOP HEARING YOUR VOICE.
CAN'T GET RID OF ME THAT EASILY.
[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I HAVE A FEW.UM, ITEM NUMBER FIVE, DISCUSSION ON CREATING TECHNICAL WORKSHOPS.
THE CONTRACT TRANSLATION RECOMMENDATION IS GOING TO GO TO DISCUSSION AND ACTION FOR JANUARY.
WE'RE GOING TO, UM, DO I NEED TO GET MO I NEED TO GET SECONDS ON THIS, RIGHT? DO I HAVE SECONDS?
UM, WE NEED TO GET ANOTHER, AT LEAST ONE OTHER MEMBER OF THE URBAN CORE WORKING GROUP.
WE'RE GONNA DO THAT IN JANUARY.
CAN I GET A SECOND COMMISSIONER? GRAY SECONDS.
MY LAST COMMISSIONER GRAY'S LAST SECOND.
AND WE'RE GONNA BE SURE JUST THIS, I DON'T BELIEVE THIS NEEDS A SECOND.
UM, A, UH, UM, REPORT FROM THE MAYOR'S PUBLIC PLACES.
TASK FORCE FROM COMMISSIONER GARZA.
ANY OTHER ITEMS THAT NEED TO BE PUT ON THE JANUARY? YES, MORGAN.
UM, WE'VE BEEN IN CONVERSATION WITH OUR PARTNERS AT THE CONVENTION CENTER ABOUT, UM, THE FUTURE BENEFITS OF HOTEL OCCUPANCY TAX, AND WE KNOW YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT.
SO WE, UM, HAVE WORKED OUT WITH THE, SORRY, COMMISSIONER GRAY HAS CHANGED YOUR MIND, MIND DID, SHE'S NOT LEAVING.
THEY, UM, THEY HAVE EXPRESSED THEY HAVE SOME AVAILABILITY IN JANUARY AND WE WOULD LOVE TO INVITE THEM TO
[02:15:01]
COME AND PRESENT IF THAT IS AMENABLE.SO WE WILL MOST DEFINITELY ADD FOR THE CONVENTION CENTER PRESENTATION THAT WE ARE GETTING AFTER NINE MONTHS, MAYBE
ANYTHING ELSE FOR THE GOOD, FOR THE GOOD OF ART IN AUSTIN? SEEING NOTHING I AM ADJOURNING THE MEETING AT, OH, NO, I CAN'T.
DO WE HAVE THE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE SHEET? IT WASN'T, UH, IT WAS, IT WASN'T UP THERE.
WHEN I, OKAY, I'LL SIGN ON THE WAY OUT.
OKAY, WE'LL SIGN ON THE WAY OUT.
IF NOTHING ELSE, THEN WE ARE ADJOURNING.
I WILL BE LATE TO THE JANUARY MEETING.
UM, BUT I BELIEVE IF NO ONE ELSE IS HERE, COMMISSIONER GARZA WILL CHAIR
SO YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL EVENING.
BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA MISS KWANZA.
I HOPE IT'S FILLED WITH THE JOY AND LOVE OF ART.