Apr 06, 2026 Music

UH, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS.

SO THIS REPORT IS THROUGH FEBRUARY AND THE COLLECTIONS FOR FEBRUARY WERE 389,910.

UM, THE COMMU CUMULATIVE, UH, AMOUNT IS 2,157,000, AND THAT REPRESENTS AN 8% INCREASE OVER THIS PERIOD LAST, UH, LAST YEAR.

AND EXCUSE ME, THAT MY CAMERA IS NOT WORKING.

I CAN'T SEEM TO GET THE CAMERA TO COME ON, UH, TO SHOW MY FACE, BUT, UM, UH, I'M SURE THAT'LL BE ALL RIGHT.

ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE REPORT? THANK YOU, KIM.

THANK, THANK YOU.

MOVING ON TO THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM,

[3. Staff briefing on FY24 Austin Live Music Fund final reports by Erica Shamaly, Division Manager, Music & Entertainment Division, AACME. ]

STAFF BRIEFING ON FY 24 AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND.

FINAL REPORTS BY RICO SHAMALI, DIVISION MANAGER, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION.

ACME.

GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.

ERICA SHAMALI WITH THE MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION WITHIN ACME, THE ARTS, CULTURE, MUSIC, ENTERTAINMENT.

UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

SO, AS YOU KNOW, THIS IS OUR REPORTING DATA FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 2024 AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND GRANT PROGRAM.

AND, UH, AS YOU CAN SEE, WE'RE MAKING GREAT STRIDES OF BEING ALMOST TOTALLY COMPLETE WITH THIS PROGRAM.

SO OUT OF THE 136, UM, AWARDEES 115 PAY SECOND PAYMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE SO FAR, WHICH IS 85%.

AND OUT OF THE A HUNDRED THIRTY SIX SIXTY EIGHT FINAL PAYMENTS HAVE MADE, BEEN MADE, WHICH MEANS WE HAVE 68 FINAL REPORTS AND MAKING GREAT STRIDES.

AS A REMINDER, IT'S A TWO YEAR PROGRAM, SO WE'RE STILL WELL WITHIN THE GRANT AGREEMENT PERIOD.

HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

THANK YOU, ERICA.

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONER? THANK YOU.

THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM IS

[4. Staff briefing on Austin-Bergstrom Airport (AUS) live music performances/booking by Erica Shamaly, Division Manager, Music & Entertainment Division, AACME. ]

STAFF BRIEFING ON, UM, AUSTIN AIRPORT, LIVE MUSIC PERFORMANCES, BOOKING BY RICO SHAMALI, DIVISION MANAGER, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION.

ACME, THANK YOU AGAIN, ERICA.

HELLO EVERYBODY.

ERICA SCHAL, MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION MANAGER.

UM, WE'VE MADE GREAT STRIDES WITH THE HIRING OF THE AIRPORT MUSIC COORDINATOR.

WE HAVE A FINAL CANDIDATE IN MIND AND HAVE, UH, HAVE STARTED THE PROCESS TO CONFIRM THE FINAL CANDIDATE.

AND, UM, IF ALL GOES WELL, THIS PERSON WILL BEGIN, UH, AT THE END OF APRIL AND THAT'S IT.

[00:05:01]

AND THINGS STARTED MOVING RIGHT ALONG TOO WITH BOOKING ALL AS WELL.

UM, EVEN WITH ALL OF THE, THE LONG WAITS, UM, WE HAVEN'T HAD ISSUES WITH ADVANCING THE SHOWS AT THE AIRPORT.

THANK YOU, ERICA.

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS ON THIS TOPIC? THANK YOU.

MOVING ON.

[5. Staff briefing on AACME funding programs by Laura Odegaard, Acting Division Manager, AACME.]

HAVE STAFF BRIEFING ON ACME FUNDING PROGRAMS BY LAURA AGARD, ACTING DIVISION MANAGER, ACME.

GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.

I'M LAURA ODEGAARD, ACTING DIVISION MANAGER AT AUSTIN ARTS CULTURE MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT.

UM, SO TONIGHT I'LL BE PRESENTING AN UPDATE ON OUR 2026 FUNDING AWARDS, UM, WHICH IS AN EXCITING MILESTONE THAT REPRESENTS BOTH OUR LARGEST CULTURAL INVESTMENTS YET, UM, AND THE FIRST FULL CYCLE SHAPED BY THE CREATIVE RESET.

SO WE MADE OUR AWARD ANNOUNCEMENTS ON MARCH 16TH.

UM, AS Y'ALL KNOW, WE HAD, UM, A HUGE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS THIS YEAR, UM, WITH OUR JOINT ACME FUNDING PROGRAMS APPLICATION.

WE HAD 1,606 APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED ACROSS ALL PROGRAMS AND ACROSS ALL PROGRAMS. WE HAD 731 AWARDS ANNOUNCED, UM, WHICH REPRESENTS 24, JUST OVER $24 MILLION IN GRANT AWARDS.

UH, JUST TO NOTE, WE HAD OVER $67 MILLION OF REQUESTS.

UM, SO STILL A HUGE, UH, A HUGE GAP IN THE REQUESTS VERSUS THE FUNDING WE HAVE AVAILABLE.

SO HERE YOU CAN SEE THE BREAKDOWN OF OUR DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. WE HAD 399 AWARDS, UM, FOR THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND REPRESENTING JUST OVER 7 MILLION.

WE HAD 22 AWARDS FOR THE CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM REPRESENTING JUST OVER 1.3 MILLION.

WE HAD 288 ELEVATE AWARDS ANNOUNCED, UM, WHICH REPRESENTED JUST OVER 12.8 MILLION.

AND THEN WE HAD $3 MILLION, WHICH WENT TO TWO, UM, 22 AWARDS FOR OUR HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANT.

AND SO WITH THE DECK TONIGHT, I'M JUST GONNA GO THROUGH SOME OF OUR, UM, DEMOGRAPHICS.

SO NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

SO THE AWARD NOTIFICATIONS, UM, THIS WAS HOW EVERYONE WAS NOTIFIED ON THE 16TH.

UM, IT INCLUDED, THE NOTIFICATION LETTER INCLUDED BOTH THE APPLICANT'S SCORE AS WELL AS THE MINIMUM SCORE REQUIRED PER PROGRAM.

SO YOU CAN SEE, UM, THE BREAKDOWN OF WHAT THAT WAS FOR AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND FOR MUSICIANS AND PROMOTERS AT $20,000, THE MINIMUM SCORE REQUIRED WAS A 47 FOR THOSE MUSICIANS AND PROMOTERS APPLYING AT THE $5,000 LEVEL.

IT WAS 17 WAS THE SCORE REQUIRED TO RECEIVE FUNDING.

AND THEN FOR THE MUSIC VENUES, THEY NEEDED TO RECEIVE AT LEAST A 64 IN ORDER TO RECEIVE FUNDING.

UM, YOU CAN ALSO SEE OUR OTHER PROGRAMS, YOU NEEDED A 75 TO RECEIVE FUNDING FOR THE CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

UM, THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ELEVATE, UM, AWARDS ALSO HAD VERY HIGH COMPETITIVE SCORES THERE.

IT WAS AN 88 FOR NONPROFITS, A 92 FOR ARTS GROUPS, AND THEN A 93.33 FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS.

UH, AND THEN FOR OUR HERITAGE, WE HAD 36.67, UM, FOR CAPITAL AND 54.67 FOR HERITAGE EVENTS.

SO WE ALSO SENT, UH, A CUSTOM REPORT OF ALL OF THE SCORES, UM, AND PANEL COMMENTS IF APPLICABLE, UH, TO APPLICANTS ON THAT SAME DAY.

UM, AND THEN FOR THOSE THAT APPLIED IN, UM, IN PROGRAMS THAT HAD PANEL PROCESSES, WE ALSO INCLUDED LINKS TO PANEL MEETING RECORDINGS IN THEIR, UM, IN THEIR NOTIFICATIONS.

UH, AND THEN AGAIN, THE AWARD LIST.

UM, AND ALL DETAILS ARE ALSO POSTED ON OUR WEBSITE.

UH, FUN FACT YOU PROBABLY NOTICED THIS, BUT OUR WEBSITE DECIDED TO HAVE A COMPLETE REHAUL THE SAME WEEK THAT WE WERE ANNOUNCING FUNDING.

SO WE ANNOUNCED THINGS ON THAT MONDAY, AND THEN STAFF HAD TO QUICKLY RE-UPLOAD ALL OF THE THINGS WHEN THE NEW WEBSITE WENT LIVE ON THURSDAY.

UM, SO THINGS LOOK A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE, AND THAT IS WHY.

SO HERE YOU CAN SEE, AND I'M NOT GONNA GO THROUGH ALL OF THIS, BUT HERE ARE THE TOTAL APPLICANT DEMOGRAPHICS.

SO AGAIN, THIS WAS THE TOTAL APPLICANTS ACROSS ALL PROGRAMS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

AND THEN YOU CAN COMPARE IT TO THE TOTAL AWARDEE DEMOGRAPHICS.

UM, AGAIN, I'M NOT GONNA READ THROUGH EVERYTHING, BUT YOU HAVE THIS ALL IN BACKUP, UM, AND IT'S ON THE WEBSITE IN CASE YOU WANNA DIVE INTO THIS MORE.

OUR WEBSITE AS WELL, WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY GET A DISTRICT SPECIFIC LIST AND IT'LL HAVE THE DEMOGRAPHICS FOR YOUR SPECIFIC DISTRICT AS WELL AS THE AWARDEES AND THE TOTAL, UM, INVESTMENT FOR YOUR DISTRICT.

WE ALSO HAVE, UM, I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL THE TOTAL BREAKDOWN BY DISTRICT.

SO THIS IS KIND OF A HIGH LEVEL ROLLUP FOR EACH DISTRICT, AND THIS IS ALL AVAILABLE ON

[00:10:01]

SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S COME IN HANDY WHEN WE'VE BEEN TALKING TO COUNCIL OFFICES ABOUT THE FUNDING PROGRAMS. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.

UM, SO THIS IS SOME DETAILS ABOUT THE 5 0 1 C3 ELEVATE, UH, AWARDEES.

SO WE HAD 154 NONPROFIT ARTS NONPROFIT AWARDEES FOR THIS PROGRAM.

UH, ONE THING, I WON'T GO THROUGH ALL OF THE DETAILS AGAIN, BUT I JUST WANTED TO POINT OUT HERE SOMETHING THAT THE ARTS COMMISSIONERS HAD MENTIONED, WHICH WAS THE, UM, THE MOST REPRESENTED DISCIPLINE FOR ELEVATE ARTS NONPROFITS WAS ACTUALLY MUSIC.

SO WE HAD 30 ARTS NONPROFITS THAT WERE MUSIC, UM, ORGANIZATIONS REPRESENTING 19% OF TOTAL AWARDEES.

SO JUST WANTED TO POINT THAT OUT TO YOU ALL.

FOR ARTS GROUPS, UM, MUSIC WAS VERY WELL REPRESENTED AS WELL.

WE HAD 11 MUSIC GROUPS IN THE ARTS GROUPS.

UM, THERE WERE 79 ARTS GROUPS THAT WERE AWARDED, AND THIS GROUP RECEIVED $2.6 MILLION.

AND THEN FOR OUR ELEVATE INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS.

SO AGAIN, THIS IS ONE THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTING TO YOU ALL BECAUSE THERE WERE SOME FOLKS THAT APPLIED AS BOTH, UM, AS MUSICIANS FOR THE ELEVATE INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS, AS WELL AS FOR THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND PROGRAM.

SO WE HAD, UM, 58 INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS AWARDED IN THIS PROGRAM REPRESENTING $1.3 MILLION.

UM, AND MUSIC WAS THE HIGHEST, UH, REPRESENTED DISCIPLINE HERE.

UM, AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE ALL OF THE, THE RACIAL GENDER, UM, L-G-B-T-Q AND DISABILITY, UM, AND VETERAN STATUS IN THIS BACKUP.

UM, I'LL TRY TO FOCUS MORE ON THE MUSIC ONES FOR Y'ALL.

UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

OKAY, SO FOR AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND VENUES, SO THERE WERE 21 MUSIC VENUES THAT RECEIVED, UM, AN OFFER FOR FUNDING.

UM, AND SO THIS REPRESENTED $1.4 MILLION.

AND AGAIN, THESE WERE $70,000 AWARDS.

UM, THE RACIAL BREAKDOWN FOR THE VENUES, UM, WE HAD 16 WHITE LEAD APPLICANTS WON HISPANIC OR LATINO LEAD APPLICANT, ONE ASIAN AND THREE MULTIRACIAL.

UM, AND THEN AS FAR AS THE GENDER BREAKDOWN, WE HAD FIVE WOMEN AS THE LEAD APPLICANT, 15 MEN, UH, OR MEN IDENTIFIED AS MEN, UM, AND ONE NON-BINARY FOR THE VENUES.

AND WE HAD ONE OF THESE FOLKS IDENTIFY AS L-G-B-T-Q.

SO FOR OUR LIVE MUSIC FUND PROMOTERS, SO I'M BREAKING IT DOWN BY PROMOTERS AND THEN MUSICIANS.

SO WE HAD TOTAL OF 23 INDEPENDENT PROMOTERS THAT RECEIVED OFFERS FOR FUNDING REPRESENTING $325,000 OF INVESTMENT.

THERE WERE SEVEN AT THE $5,000 LEVEL.

AND AS A REMINDER, THESE ARE THE MORE EMERGING, UM, APPLICANTS HERE.

UH, SO THAT WAS A $35,000 INVESTMENT AND THEN 16, UM, INDEPENDENT PROMOTERS AT THE $20,000 LEVEL, AND THAT WAS $320,000 INVESTMENT.

UM, THE RACIAL BREAKDOWN FOR THE PROMOTERS, THERE WERE 16 WHO IDENTIFIED AS WHITE FIVE, OR SORRY, THREE, IDENTIFY AS BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN, TWO HISPANIC OR LATINO.

AND TWO, PREFERRED NOT TO ANSWER.

UM, WE HAD MORE THAT IDENTIFIED AS WOMEN IN THIS PROGRAM.

UH, SO THERE WERE 12 WOMEN, UM, EIGHT MEN, ONE NON-BINARY, AND TWO PREFERRED NOT TO ANSWER SIX L-G-B-T-Q AND FOUR THAT IDENTIFIED AS PART OF THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY.

WHITE WITH 173 REPRESENTING 49%.

AND THEN FOR OUR MUSICIANS.

SO WE, UM, OFFERED FUNDING TO 355 PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS, WHICH REPRESENTS AN INVESTMENT OF OVER $5 MILLION.

WE HAD 119 AT THE $5,000 LEVEL.

AND AGAIN, THIS IS THE EMERGING, UM, EMERGING MUSICIAN EMERGING BAND LEVEL, WHICH REPRESENTED JUST OVER HALF A MILLION DOLLARS.

AND THEN WE HAD 236 AT THE $20,000 LEVEL.

AND SO THAT REPRESENTED JUST UNDER $5 MILLION.

UM, FOR THIS ONE, UH, WE HAD 85 IDENTIFIES L-G-B-T-Q 30 IDENTIFY AS PART OF THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY.

UM, WE HAD 193 IDENTIFY AS MALE AND 125 AS WOMEN.

UM, 19 NON-BINARY AND 18 PREFERRED NOT TO ANSWER.

UM, THE LARGEST RACIAL DEMOGRAPHIC HERE WAS

[00:15:01]

UM, AND THEN WE HAD 21% HISPANIC OR LATINO, 10% BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN, UM, AND THEN A SMATTERING OF OTHER RACES, UM, AND PREFERRED NOT TO ANSWER AS WELL.

THEN FOR OUR CREATIVE SPACE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS. SO WE WERE OFFERING FUNDING TO 22 AWARDEES, UM, REPRESENTING 1,320,000.

UM, ON THIS ONE, OBVIOUSLY FOR THE MUSIC SIDE OF THINGS, I WASN'T BREAKING IT DOWN BY DISCIPLINE, BUT FOR CSAP, UM, WE DO HAVE A GOOD DISCIPLINE BREAKDOWN FOR THESE AWARDS.

SO FOUR WERE ART SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS, FOUR WERE MUSIC.

UM, WE HAD THREE MULTIDISCIPLINARY, THREE THEATER, MUSICAL THEATER OR OPERA.

UM, TWO ARTS ED, TWO LITERARY ARTS, ONE DANCE, ONE FILM, ONE MUSEUM, ONE VISUAL ARTS.

UM, THE LARGEST, UH, RACE IDENTIFIED HERE IN THIS PROGRAM, UM, WAS 55% WHITE.

UM, AND THEN WE HAD 64% IDENTIFY AS WOMAN.

UM, AND AGAIN, THIS IS THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE LEAD APPLICANT, UM, SIX IDENTIFIED AS L-G-B-T-Q AND FOUR IDENTIFIED AS PART OF THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY.

AND THEN OUR HERITAGE PRESERVATION PROGRAM.

SO WE HAD ONE AND A HALF MILLION GO TO EIGHT CAPITAL PROJECTS AND ONE AND A HALF MILLION GO TO 14 HERITAGE EVENTS.

UM, SO AGAIN, YOU CAN SEE THE DISCIPLINE BREAKDOWN.

WE HAD TWO ACTUALLY THAT IDENTIFIED AS MUSIC ORGANIZATIONS HERE FOR THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION.

UM, NOT GONNA SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON THIS ONE, BUT HERE'S THE INFORMATION FOR Y'ALL.

14 OF THOSE 31 THAT MUST PICK ONE OR THE OTHER.

ALL RIGHT, AND THEN THE NEXT STAGE OF THINGS WAS THE APPEALS PROCESS, OR IS THE APPEALS PROCESS.

UM, AND SO ALL APPLICANTS, UM, IF THEY WERE AWARDED OR IF THEY GOT A DECLINATION LETTER, THEY RECEIVED INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO SUBMIT AN APPEALS REQUEST FORM.

AND SO THE DEADLINE TO SUBMIT AN APPEAL WAS MARCH 30TH.

UM, IT'S VERY STRICT.

THERE ARE ONLY THREE REASONS FOR INELIGIBLE APPEAL AND Y'ALL CAN SEE THOSE IN, UM, APPENDIX C OF OUR GUIDELINES, WHICH IS HYPERLINKED HERE FOR EASY ACCESS.

UM, BUT ESSENTIALLY IT'S JUST THE PANEL ADMINISTRATION ERROR, A CONFLICT OF INTEREST OR A REVIEWER OR STAFF ERROR.

UM, AND SO YOU CAN SEE THAT WE RECEIVED 48 ELEVATE APPEALS, 27 AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND APPEALS, SEVEN CSAP APPEALS, AND ONE HERITAGE PRESERVATION GROUP, UH, GRANT APPEAL.

UM, AND SO WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IS STAFF IS CURRENTLY REVIEWING THOSE APPEALS AND IF THEY HAVE MERIT TO THEM, UM, IF IT MEETS ONE OF THOSE THREE ELIGIBLE REASONS, THEN IT GOES TO THE APPEALS WORKING GROUP.

AND SO THIS IS A JOINT, UM, THIS IS A WORKING GROUP THAT IS ESSENTIALLY FRONTED BY THE ARTS COMMISSION AS THE PRIMARY WORKING GROUP.

UM, BUT I KNOW SHELBY SENT INFORMATION FOR YOU ALL TO VOLUNTEER.

WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE ONE OR TWO MUSIC COMMISSIONERS SUPPORT, UM, THIS PROCESS AS WELL, UM, AS WE'RE TRYING TO DO THINGS UNIFIED, UM, FOR OUR FUNDING PROGRAMS WITH ACME.

AND SO ESSENTIALLY STAFF IS REVIEWING AND COMPILING INFORMATION NOW AND THEY'LL SEND EVERYTHING TO THE WORKING GROUP BY THE END OF THIS WEEK.

AND THEN THE APPEALS WORKING GROUP WILL MEET SOMETIME NEXT WEEK, THE WEEK OF THE 13TH, AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS WILL MOVE TO THE FULL COMMISSION AT THE ARTS COMMISSION MEETING ON APRIL 20TH.

UM, AND AGAIN, IT IS VERY, UM, SPECIFIC ABOUT THE REASONS FOR AN ELIGIBLE APPEAL.

I DON'T WANNA SAY, PLEASE COME JOIN US FOR THE BUREAUCRACY OF THE PROCESS, BUT THAT IS A LOT OF WHAT THIS IS.

IT'S LOOKING AT PANEL COMMENTS.

UM, IT'S LOOKING AT HOW THINGS WERE SCORED, UM, EXACTLY THE THREE THINGS THAT ARE, THAT ARE LISTED HERE.

SO, UM, IF WE HAVEN'T RECEIVED VOLUNTEERS, SAD, BUT I THINK WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE FROM THE MUSIC COMMISSION.

SO, UM, IF WE CAN GET THOSE ONE OR TWO FOLKS FINALIZED BY TOMORROW, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.

UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

ALL RIGHT, AND THEN, SO JUST TO LET YOU ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT FOR THE AWARDEES.

UM, SO ESSENTIALLY EVERYONE HAD TO EITHER ACCEPT OR DECLINE THEIR AWARD AND COMPLETE AN AWARD DECISION FORM BY APRIL 2ND AT 5:00 PM UH, WHICH WAS LAST WEEK, LAST THURSDAY, I THINK THERE WERE MAYBE A HANDFUL THAT HADN'T COMPLETED IT YET.

AND I KNOW STAFF WAS TRYING TO CALL FOLKS AND TRY TO GET THEM ACROSS THE FINISH LINE TO ACCEPT OR DECLINE THOSE AWARDS.

UM, WE HAD 31 AWARDEES THAT RECEIVED MULTIPLE GRANTS, WHICH IS ALLOWABLE FOR SOME THINGS.

AND THEN WE HAD

[00:20:01]

SO IF SOMEONE RECEIVED, FOR EXAMPLE, AN AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND AWARD AND AN ELEVATE AWARD, THEY HAVE TO SELECT ONE.

THEY CANNOT RECEIVE BOTH AWARDS IN THE SAME FUNDING CYCLE.

SO AFTER ACCEPTING OR DECLINING THEIR AWARDS, THEN THEY ATTEND A PRE AGREEMENT KICKOFF MEETING.

UM, AND WE'VE HAD SEVERAL BOTH IN PERSON AND VIRTUAL MEETINGS FOR THAT.

UM, NEXT THEY COMPLETE A PRE AGREEMENT FORM AND A QUIZ TO MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND, UM, ALL THE REQUIREMENTS THAT ARE A PART OF THESE FUNDS.

UM, NEXT THEY DO A FINANCIAL INFORMATION FORM, CLOSE OUT ANY OUTSTANDING FINAL REPORTS THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE FOR ANY OF OUR PROGRAMS, AND THEN SIGN THE GRANT AGREEMENTS BY THE END OF THIS MONTH.

AND THEN NEXT STEPS FOR US INTERNALLY AS ACME.

UM, WE'VE BEEN GOING OVER DIFFERENT, UM, DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'VE NOTICED, UH, IN THIS PAST CYCLE, AS WELL AS REVIEWING SURVEY DATA FROM BOTH THE PANELISTS, REVIEWERS, UM, THE APPLICATION EXPERIENCE SURVEY WHERE WE HAD 152 RESPONSES.

AND THEN THE COMMISSIONER PERSPECTIVE SURVEY, WHICH LAST I CHECKED, WE ONLY HAD TWO RESPONSES ACROSS MUSIC AND, UM, THE ARTS COMMISSION.

SO I WAS KEEPING IT OPEN A LITTLE BIT LONGER IN CASE ANYONE FELT REALLY INSPIRED TO SUBMIT THEIR PERSPECTIVES, UM, ABOUT THE ENTIRE CYCLE.

SO WE CAN HELP, UM, YOU KNOW, IDENTIFY AREAS FOR ENHANCEMENTS AND IMPROVEMENTS BEFORE THE JULY LAUNCH.

UM, WHETHER THAT'S THE PROCESSES, THE DEFINITIONS, EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN HELP, UM, CLEAN UP BEFORE JULY.

AND THEN THE GOAL IS TO SHARE UPDATES IN MAY BEFORE WE ACTUALLY HAVE OUR JULY LAUNCH.

AND THEN JUST A FINAL NOTE TO EVERYONE, UM, THAT OUR NEXUS PROGRAM IS NOW OPEN.

SO IF FOLKS DID NOT RECEIVE FUNDING AND THEY'RE STILL, UM, REALLY EXCITED ABOUT A PROJECT, UM, THAT THEY WANNA TRY TO DO THIS YEAR, THE NEXUS PROGRAM IS 5,000 AND $10,000 GRANTS.

UM, AND IT'S JUST FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS AND ARTS GROUPS.

SO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS CANNOT APPLY FOR NEXUS.

UM, BUT BASICALLY IF IT'S FOR PUBLIC ART PERFORMANCES, CULTURAL PROJECTS, ALL SORTS OF THINGS, UM, IT DOES HAVE A BUILT-IN AUTOMATIC ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION.

WE HAVE A VARIETY OF WORKSHOPS THAT ARE POSTED ONLINE, UM, AS WELL AS IN PERSON.

AND WE HAVE OPEN OFFICE HOURS EVERY TUESDAY, UM, WHILE A PROGRAM IS OPEN.

SO WE STILL HAVE ONE TOMORROW MORNING, WE HAVE ONE NEXT TUESDAY, AND THEN ON THE 16TH WE'LL HAVE ALL DAY OPEN OFFICE HOURS.

UM, SO IF FOLKS ARE INTERESTED, THAT IS HOW YOU CAN GET IN TOUCH WITH STAFF AND ASK ALL YOUR QUESTIONS.

AND I THINK THAT'S IT.

YEAH, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, LAURA.

UM, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONER CARDENAS, ALL HERE NEXT TO COMMISSIONER ENG ENGLAND.

UM, WHAT'S THE FOLLOW UP LIKE THAT YOU GUYS ARE GONNA BE DOING? 'CAUSE I THINK EVERYTHING THAT YOU'RE SAYING ABOUT LIKE, YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE THAT RECEIVED DUPLICATE AWARD OR THAT DIDN'T ARE NOT, OR HAVING TO MAKE A CHOICE BETWEEN ELEVATE OR THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND.

UM, IS THERE A FOLLOW UP TO ALL THE APPLICANTS FOR THAT? OR IS IT JUST TO THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE TO MAKE THAT CHOICE? BECAUSE I THINK IT'D BE GREAT FOLLOW UP JUST SO PEOPLE AREN'T YEAH, I MEAN, IF THEY SAW THAT LY, YOU KNOW, THE OPTICS OF IT OR DECLINE, EXCUSE ME, SORRY.

I I THINK MY CONNECTION MIGHT HAVE CUT OUT FOR JUST A SECOND THERE.

I WAS SAYING YES, ALL APPLICANTS HAVE TO EITHER ACCEPT OR DECLINE THEIR AWARDS, SO IT'S NOT JUST THOSE 14 THAT HAD HAD BOTH, BUT EVERYONE HAS TO ACCEPT OR DECLINE THEIR AWARD.

WELL, I MEANT LIKE THE FOLLOW COMMUNICATION TO THAT.

SO LIKE AFTER, IS THERE SOMETHING THAT YOU GUYS ARE KIND OF SENDING OUT TO EVERYBODY, NOT JUST THE PEOPLE THAT, NOT JUST THE 14 PEOPLE, BUT LIKE EVERYONE, EVEN THE PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T, THAT MAYBE GOT DENIED.

'CAUSE I'VE GOTTEN SOME FEEDBACK WHERE PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT THE OPTICS OF IT AND THEY SEE THOSE DUPLICATE NAMES.

AND SO JUST SO IT KIND OF PROTECTS YOU GUYS AND THE REPUTATION AND THE INTEGRITY OF WHAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING.

'CAUSE YOU'RE DOING ALL THIS WORK BEHIND THE SCENES AND OBVIOUSLY WE'LL DO OUR, OUR PIECE TO COMMUNICATE THAT.

BUT JUST TO KIND OF KEEP THAT COMMUNICATION GOING.

IS THERE ANYTHING LIKE THAT OR, YEAH, SO, SO TRULY IT'S KIND OF THAT PART IS HAPPENING AND THE APPEALS PART IS HAPPENING, AND THEN WE'RE ESSENTIALLY GOING TO HAVE A REVISED, UPDATED FINAL LIST OF AWARDEES.

AND SO WE'LL BE ABLE TO UPDATE THE WEBSITE, UPDATE THE FINAL LIST OF WHO IS ACTUALLY RECEIVING THE FUNDS, NOT JUST WHO WAS OFFERED, UM, THE GRANT.

SO THAT WILL BE A FOLLOW UP THAT WILL HAPPEN, UM, PROBABLY THE WEEK OF THE 27TH, UM, OR THE FIRST WEEK OF MAY.

UH, CLAYTON ENGLAND, DISTRICT TWO.

COMMISSIONER ENGLAND,

[00:25:02]

HI LAURA.

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.

APPRECIATE YOU.

UM, I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR YOU THIS EVENING, UH, AND I APOLOGIZE IF THEY'VE ALREADY BEEN ADDRESSED.

SO I APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE AND TIME.

UM, FOR THE 2024, UH, GRANT RECIPIENTS OF THE, UM, $30,000, WHICH WERE 24 MONTHS, UH, AWARDS, CORRECT? MM-HMM .

WERE THOSE AWARDEES FROM 2024 FOR THE 30 K IN THE 24 MONTH, UH, PROGRAM? WERE THEY ELIGIBLE FOR THE 2025? UH, THAT WAS JUST AWARDED? SO YES.

SO THEY WERE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR THIS LAST CYCLE BECAUSE THIS IS TECHNICALLY OUR 2026 CYCLE.

SO GRANTS AREN'T STARTING UNTIL 2026.

AND SO THE, THE FOLKS THAT RECEIVED THE 24 FUNDING, THEY DIDN'T ACTUALLY HAVE A 25 PROGRAM TO APPLY TO.

SO EVEN THOUGH THE APPLICATION STARTED IN 2025, IT WASN'T OUR FISCAL YEAR 2025, IT WAS AFTER OCTOBER ONE.

AND SO IT TECHNICALLY IS IN OUR FY 26.

SO WE DID ALLOW FOR FOLKS THAT HAD RECEIVED A $30,000 AWARD IN 24 TO APPLY FOR THIS 26 PROGRAM.

UM, YEAH, THEY STILL HAVE TO CLOSE OUT, LIKE ERICA WAS SHOWING WHO, LIKE THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT HAD CLOSED OUT AND RECEIVED THEIR FINAL PAYMENTS FOR THE 24 AWARDS.

SO EVERYONE HAS TO CLOSE THINGS OUT BEFORE THEY, UM, ENTER INTO A NEW AGREEMENT.

BUT I THINK, THINK NEXT MONTH I'LL PROBABLY SHARE THE NUMBER OF FIRST TIME AWARDEES AND THE DUPLICATES, NOT THE DUPLICATES, BUT LIKE THE RETURNING AWARDEES, UM, FOR Y'ALL AS WELL.

I APPRECIATE THAT.

UM, I WAS ALSO CURIOUS, UH, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT CLARIFICATION BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE HAVE ASKED ME FOR OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND, YOU KNOW, I WAS JUST UNSURE.

UM, BUT WHAT MEASURES ALSO ARE IN PLACE TO PREVENT INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS FROM LET'S SAY A 24 MONTH CONTRACTS, UH, FROM APPLYING, UH, FOR THE GRANTS, UH, AND BEING A AWARD OF RECIPIENTS? ARE, IS THEIR PORTAL JUST CLOSED ESSENTIALLY AND THEY CAN'T APPLY FOR IT? LIKE WHAT SORT OF RESTRICTIONS ARE IN PLACE TO, TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM DOING THAT? YEAH, SO WHEN THE JULY LAUNCH HAPPENS FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF PROGRAMS, FOLKS THAT RECEIVED A $20,000 AWARD WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY IN JULY.

RIGHT? AND, AND SO WE, UM, WE MANAGE THAT THROUGH THE SUBMITTABLE SYSTEM.

UM, AND SO WE, WE KNOW WHO HAS WHAT ACTIVE AGREEMENTS CURRENTLY, AND WE HAVE, I WOULD SAY SUBMITTABLE IS WHERE ALL OF THE, EVERYTHING HAPPENS.

UM, AND THEN WE HAVE LOTS OF EXCEL SHEETS AS WELL, BUT IT IS VERIFIED THROUGH THE INTAKE FORM AND THE ELIGIBILITY FORM.

SO THAT'S WHEN STAFF IS REVIEWING BEFORE FOLKS EVEN HAVE ACCESS TO AN APPLICATION.

UM, AND SO WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW THAT CAN BE STREAMLINED MORE FROM, UM, FROM THIS LAST CYCLE.

BUT THERE STILL IS A MANUAL, LIKE ARE YOU ABLE TO MOVE FORWARD RIGHT NOW, YES OR NO? AND STAFF KEEPS FOLKS THAT ALREADY HAVE AN ACTIVE AWARD FROM MOVING FORWARD AT THAT POINT.

GOTCHA.

RIGHT? AND I, I DO WANNA SAY THAT IT IS TWO SEPARATE APPLICATIONS, AND IT WAS TWO SEPARATE APPLICATIONS BECAUSE THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS, UM, AS FAR AS I UNDERSTAND IT ANYWAY, WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS A RECOMMENDATION FROM THIS COMMISSION THAT THERE WAS THE FUNDING FOR, UM, FOR ESTABLISHED MUSICIANS THAT HAD A HISTORY OF PERFORMANCE, HAD A HISTORY IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, AND THEN THERE WERE THE EMERGING ARTISTS.

I APPRECIATE THAT.

THAT ALSO SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF WORK, SO THANKS.

APPRECIATE IT.

UM, THE NEXT QUESTION I HAVE FOR YOU, UM, IS DO YOU HAVE THE NUMBER OF HOW MANY APPLICANTS THAT WERE, UH, DENIED, UM, FROM THE, UH, 20 K, UH, THAT SCORED BETWEEN THE 5K REQUIREMENTS AND THE 20 K REQUIREMENTS? OKAY, I'M JUST TRYING TO WRITE THIS DOWN.

SO I, I CAPTURE, COULD YOU SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME? THE NUMBER DENIED FROM THE 20,000 TO THE 5,000, RIGHT.

SO, SO, UH, LET'S SAY THAT IF SOMEONE HAD APPLIED FOR THE 20,000 RIGHT? AND JUST TRYING TO MAKE SURE I'M UNDERSTANDING RIGHT, AND SOMEONE HAD THE PEOPLE WHO SCORED IN BETWEEN THE 47 AND THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 5K, I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT THAT NUMBER IS.

I THINK IT WAS 17, CORRECT? YEAH, 17, CORRECT.

SO THE, THE THE, UM, THE SCORING, THE AMOUNT OF APPLICANTS THAT WERE DENIED THAT HAD APPLIED FOR THE $20,000 GRANT, HOW MANY OF THEM WERE IN BETWEEN THE 17 AND 47? I'M CURIOUS TO KNOW.

YEAH, WE CAN LOOK AT THAT INFORMATION, UM, AND, AND FOLLOW UP, UM, BY EMAIL WITH YOU ALL FOR THAT, OR I CAN REPORT BACK OUT NEXT MONTH AROUND THAT.

UM, BUT I DO WANNA CLARIFY, 'CAUSE THIS IS A QUESTION THAT WE'VE GOTTEN BEFORE TOO, ABOUT LIKE WHY HAVEN'T THE PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T GET THE 20,000, WHY WEREN'T THEY AUTOMATICALLY CONSIDERED FOR THE 5,000?

[00:30:01]

SO, SO IT'S NOT EXACTLY APPLES TO TO APPLES.

IT'S, I GUESS THAT'S, THAT'S RIGHT.

UM, SO IT'S, IT'S TWO, IT'S TWO DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS.

SO IT'S NOT AS EASY TO JUST SAY, OKAY, WELL IF YOU DIDN'T SCORE THIS, THEN WE'LL ROLL YOU INTO THIS OTHER PROGRAM.

UM, BUT I WILL SAY THAT'S SOMETHING, BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO OUR ATTENTION MULTIPLE TIMES, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, TO SEE WHAT MAYBE WE COULD DO BEFORE JULY.

I DON'T WANNA MAKE ANY PROMISES, BUT IT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING, UM, THAT HAS BEEN RAISED TO US SO FAR.

AND I KNOW THAT I'VE RAISED THAT, SO I APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE WITH THAT.

UH, SPECIFICALLY, YOU KNOW, I'M JUST LOOKING FOR ANY DATA TO, TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND, EVEN BASED ON THE PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATION FROM THIS COMMISSION, UH MM-HMM .

YOU KNOW, IF WE CAN MAKE A BETTER INFORMED ONE BASED ON WHAT THAT DATA LOOKS LIKE AND THE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE INTENTION BEHIND THE INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS THAT ARE APPLYING FOR THIS, UH, UH, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT IT IS VERY CLEAR FROM THE COMMISSION'S RECOMMENDATION AND ALSO FROM ACME STAFF, I THINK THAT YOU HAVE MADE A VERY GOOD JOB OF WHY THAT'S CLEAR, BUT OFTEN THAT DOESN'T GET INTERPRETED, YOU KNOW, WHICH IS NOT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY OBVIOUSLY, BUT, UH, IF THE DATA IS THERE THAT SHOWS THAT MAYBE THERE'S A LARGER GROUP OF PEOPLE, UM, THAT OBVIOUSLY COULD HAVE QUALIFIED FOR SOMETHING.

I KNOW YOU SAID IT'S NOT APPLES TO ORANGES, BUT THERE WERE, YOU KNOW, MORE OPPORTUNITY FOR WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.

UM, YOU KNOW, I WOULD THINK IT WOULD BE, UH, BEHOLDEN TO US TO FIGURE OUT IF THERE WAS A WAY TO BE ABLE TO BETTER CONNECT WITH THOSE PEOPLE.

SO THAT'S THE ONLY REASON I BRING IT BACK UP AGAIN.

UM, YEAH, FOR SURE.

AND I'LL BRING YOU THOSE NUMBERS.

UM, I'LL FOLLOW UP BY EMAIL WITH THOSE NUMBERS FOR YOU.

UM, MY NEXT QUESTION IS, UM, WHEN MUSIC VENUES WERE APPLYING, UM, AND THE UNDER THEIR ELIGIBILITY TO MEET THE CITY DEFINITION OF, UH, WHAT A MUSIC VENUE IS, UM, WHAT SORT OF PROOF, UH, AN ASSET FORM OR OTHERWISE DID VENUES HAVE TO SUBMIT TO BE ABLE TO MEET THAT CITY DEFINITION FOR ELIGIBILITY? HMM, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.

I DON'T KNOW IF ERICA WANTS TO PIPE IN ON THIS ONE BECAUSE I WASN'T A PART OF THE BUILDING OF THIS APPLICATION ITSELF.

UM, I KNOW THERE WERE VERIFICATIONS THAT I DIDN'T WANNA, I DIDN'T WANNA SKIP YOU AND GO STRAIGHT TO ERICA, BUT YES, ERICA, IF YOU DO HAVE THE TIME, I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW.

HELLO, ERICA SCHAL, MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION MANAGER.

SO JUST LIKE THE REST OF THE QUESTIONS, IF YOU CHECKED OFF LIKE OF THE DEFINITION, THERE'S LIKE FIVE PARTS, AND ONE OF THOSE HAS SEVERAL PARTS.

IF YOU CHECKED THAT OFF, YOU HAD TO UPLOAD PROOF SHOWING THAT, AND IT COULD HAVE BEEN LIKE AN INVOICE, A PHOTO OF YOUR VENUE SHOWING A BUILT IN STAGE, WHATEVER IT WAS.

AND SO, AND THAT'S THE, HOW WE'VE BEEN DOING IT WHEN CSAP ACTUALLY FIRST STARTED BACK IN 2017, UH, USING THE LIVE MUSIC DEFINITION.

SO AGAIN, IF YOU, IF YOU CLICK OFF ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE VENUE, THEN YOU HAVE TO UPLOAD THE EVIDENCE.

UM, LAURA, MY LAST QUESTION FOR YOU IS, UH, AS FAR AS THE APPEALS THAT HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED, UM, I, I DID A LITTLE BIT OF RESEARCH, I TRIED TO, SO I DON'T WASTE TOO MUCH OF BOTH OF Y'ALL'S TIME.

THANK YOU ERICA AS WELL.

THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE SUBMIT APPEAL FORMS FOR LIKE THE AWARD AMOUNT, UM, AND THEY WANNA BE CONSIDERED FOR MORE MONEY AND AWARD AMOUNTS IS NOT AN APPEALABLE REASON.

UH, WHAT DOES THE, UH, AMOUNT OF APPEALS CURRENTLY THAT STAND, HOW DOES THAT COMPARE TO PREVIOUS YEARS IN THE APPEALS PROCESS? SO I THINK THE INTERESTING THING TO NOTE HERE IS THAT PREVIOUSLY THE APPEALS PROCESS WAS ONLY REALLY FOR THE CULTURAL ARTS FUND PROGRAMS. UM, SO I THINK THE LAST TIME THAT WE LAUNCHED ELEVATE, I THINK WE HAD 22, LIKE LOW 20 TWOS AS FAR AS THE APPEALS SUBMITTED.

UM, AND OF THAT, I WANNA SAY UNDER FIVE WERE ELIGIBLE FOR, UM, FOR A SUCCESSFUL APPEAL, UM, AND, AND THEN RECEIVED A GRANT.

UM, FROM THAT, I THINK FOR, FOR THIS CYCLE, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT'S, IT'S MUCH LARGER NUMBERS BECAUSE WE HAVE NEVER LAUNCHED ALL FOUR PROGRAMS AT THE SAME TIME BEFORE.

SO IT SEEMS, UM, IT SEEMS LIKE A LOT LOOKING AT THE NUMBERS JUST FROM THE RAW, HOW MANY PEOPLE SUBMITTED AN APPEAL.

I WILL SAY

[00:35:01]

AND SO SOME PEOPLE, THEY WANT TO SUBMIT THE APPEAL JUST TO SAY, YES, I SUBMITTED AN APPEAL, I DID MY, LIKE, DUE DILIGENCE AND AS MUCH AS I COULD, BUT THEY KNOW FULL WELL THAT THEY WON'T ACTUALLY BE ELIGIBLE FOR AN APPEAL BECAUSE IT'S NOT A VALID REASON.

SO, UM, I WANNA SAY OF THE 27 APPEALS SUBMITTED FOR THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND, MAYBE A HANDFUL OF THOSE, UM, LIKE FIVE OR LESS WILL GO ONTO THE APPEALS WORKING GROUP TO ACTUALLY REVIEW THE MATERIALS.

AND SO THE APPEALS WORKING GROUP, THEY'LL REVIEW APPLICATION MATERIALS, UM, THE SCORING THAT THE, THAT THEY RECEIVED FOR EACH QUESTION, THE DETAILS ABOUT, UM, LIKE IN THE APPEALS REQUEST FORM, THEY HAVE TO DETAIL WHAT, UM, WHAT HAPPENED, WHAT WENT, WHAT WENT WRONG, WHAT WAS THE ERROR OF THE REVIEWER, OR WHAT WAS THE ERROR OF THE PANEL, OR WHAT WAS THE ERROR OR CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

SO THEY HAVE TO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION IN THE FORM ITSELF.

SO I WANNA SAY THAT THERE WILL BE PROBABLY UNDER FIVE, UM, LIVE MUSIC FUND APPEALS THAT GO TO THE WORKING GROUP.

UM, AND THE PROCESS FOR THEM, IF YOU DO, LET'S SAY, UH, ARE GRANTED AN APPEAL MM-HMM .

RIGHT? AND, AND THEN YOU ARE MM-HMM .

UM, AWARDED THE FUNDS.

UH, ARE THEY REQUIRED UNDER THE SAME TIMELINE, UH, AS EVERYONE ELSE THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN, UH, GRANTED AN AWARD? THEY, THEY ARE.

SO IT'S THE SAME, IT'S THE SAME PROCESS, THE SAME CYCLE, OBVIOUSLY.

UM, YOU KNOW, THEY COULDN'T ACCEPT THEIR AWARD BY APRIL 2ND, SO IT'LL BE, YOU KNOW, SEVEN DAYS OR WHATEVER IT IS AFTER WE MAKE THOSE ANNOUNCEMENTS.

UM, SO WE'LL GIVE, YOU KNOW, THE APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF TIME TO FOLKS IF THEY DO RECEIVE A SUCCESSFUL, UM, APPEAL.

GOT YOU.

AND AS FAR AS IF THERE ARE ANY, UH, APPEALS THAT ARE GRANTED, UM, WILL THOSE AWARDEES ALSO BE POSTED, UH, AS BEING GRANTED AS A PART OF THE APPEALS PROCESS? UM, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.

SO WE'VE NEVER LIKE, HAD A LITTLE ASTERISK NEXT TO AN AWARDEE'S NAME THAT'S LIKE, OKAY, LAURA ONLY GOT FUNDING THROUGH THE APPEAL PROCESS.

UM, WE WILL REPORT OUT TO YOU ALL IN THE ARTS COMMISSION.

LIKE THESE ARE HOW MANY APPEALS, THESE ARE THE FOLKS THAT, UM, RECEIVED A SUCCESSFUL APPEAL.

SO WE, WE WILL SHARE THAT INFORMATION WITH YOU ALL, BUT THEN WE BASICALLY DO AN UPDATED LIST.

SO FOLKS THAT MAYBE DECLINED AN AWARD AND THEY ONLY ACCEPTED ELEVATE AND THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE SUCCESSFUL APPEALS, THAT'S WHEN THE NEW LIST WILL BE POSTED AND IT'LL BE KIND OF ALL OF THOSE THINGS, UM, HAVE CALMED DOWN AND THIS IS WHAT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH, WITH THESE FUNDS.

GOTCHA.

SO THEY'LL JUST BE A PART OF THE WHOLE EVERYTHING WHEN IT COMES BACK OUT.

THANK, THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER.

CORRECT.

UM, THAT'S ALL I'VE GOT.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

AND THANK YOU COMMISSIONER.

OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? COMMISSIONER CA.

LAURA.

HI THERE.

UM, THANK YOU FOR GOING THROUGH PROVIDING THE DEMOGRAPHIC, UM, INFORMATION, UH, AS I WAS THINKING THAT THROUGH.

SO IN TERMS OF RACE AND SOMETHING IN TERMS OF LIKE A VENUE OR PROGRAM SPACE OR NONPROFIT, THE, YOU ARE SAYING THAT THE, THE, THE LEAD APPLICANT, THE THE PERSON WHO IS A LEAD APPLICANT, THAT'S THE RACE, THAT'S WHO YOU'RE LOOKING AT TO, TO DETERMINE THEIR RACE BASICALLY? CORRECT.

SO THIS IS PART OF THE INTAKE FORM WHERE THE APPLICANT BASICALLY PROVIDES THAT INFORMATION, SO WE PULL A REPORT FROM THAT.

AND SO IT, IT DOESN'T REALLY HAVE MUCH TO DO WITH LIKE, YOU KNOW, WHO THE AUDIENCE IS OR WHO THEY'RE SERVING, OR I DON'T, I DON'T UNDER QUITE UNDERSTAND THAT METRIC, BUT ARE THERE INTERNAL GOALS THAT ACME'S TRYING TO, IS IT JUST MORE KIND OF DATA GATHERING AND SEEING TRENDS OR SOMETHING? OR IS, ARE THERE INTERNAL GOALS THAT, UM, YOU ALL ARE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH WITH THE DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION? YEAH, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE GREAT QUESTIONS.

UM, SO WE DO ACTUALLY CAPTURE THE AUDIENCES SERVE.

IT'S ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WE ASK ALL APPLICANTS, UM, WHICH I DON'T THINK WE'VE PULLED THAT PARTICULAR DEMOGRAPHIC YET, BUT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN INCLUDE MOVING FORWARD.

'CAUSE I'M PRETTY SURE WE'VE ASKED THAT, UM, FOR SOME OF OUR PROGRAMS AT LEAST.

SO I'LL, I'LL LOOK BACK INTO

[00:40:01]

THAT ONE.

UM, AS FAR AS GOALS, WE DON'T HAVE ANY SPECIFIC GOALS WITH ACME JUST YET.

THIS IS KIND OF OUR INFORMATION GATHERING OF OUR FIRST YEAR AND DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC PLAN AND TRYING TO, TO FIGURE OUT, UM, WHAT OUR GOALS AND MISSION AND, AND EVERYTHING IS AS A NEW DEPARTMENT.

UM, I WILL SAY THAT WE HEAR A LOT FROM DIFFERENT QUALITY OF LIFE COMMISSIONS.

UM, AND THEY ARE VERY KEEN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT OUR MARKETING HAS BEEN, WHAT DEMOGRAPHICS ARE GETTING FUNDED, HOW CAN WE, UM, MAYBE INCREASE MARKETING OR INCREASE ASSISTANCE WORKSHOPS OR SOMETHING IF WE'RE SEEING A REALLY SMALL GROUP OF, UM, I DON'T KNOW, PEOPLE IDENTIFYING AS DIFFERENT ASIAN RACES, FOR EXAMPLE, MAYBE WE WANNA HAVE MORE WORKSHOPS UP AT THE ASIAN AMERICAN RESOURCE CENTER OR TRANSLATE APPLICATION MATERIALS INTO MORE THAN JUST SIMPLIFIED CHINESE.

MAYBE WE ALSO NEED TO INCLUDE MORE PROMOTION IN VIETNAMESE, FOR EXAMPLE MM-HMM .

UM, SO IT HELPS US AS WE'RE, AS WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT MARKETING STRATEGIES, BUT THERE'S NEVER, UM, THERE'S NEVER LIKE A, A BAR OF, WE NEED TO FUND AT LEAST, YOU KNOW, 50% WHITE PEOPLE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

SURE.

SO, BECAUSE I'M NOT AS FAMILIAR WITH THE NUANCES OF LIKE, SAY THE, THE NON-PROFIT OR, OR EVEN LIKE THE, THE MUSIC VENUE, DO YOU LOOK AT WHO, WHO THE STAFF IS OR THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ARE, OR IS IT SIMPLY WHO IS SUBMITTING THE GRANT? SO WHAT I PRESENTED TONIGHT WAS JUST WHO IS SUBMITTING THE GRANT? SO WE'VE DONE THINGS, WE'VE COLLECTED THINGS DIFFERENT WAYS.

I WOULD SAY OVER THE PAST 10 YEARS WE'VE DONE IT WHERE WE ASK FOR REPRESENTATION, UM, LIKE OF THE BOARD.

SO MAYBE 50% THIS RACE AND 50% THIS RACE, OR 5% MEN AND 95% WOMEN OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN A BOARD.

UM, OR WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

SO WE ASK SOME QUESTIONS.

HONESTLY, I'M NOT TRYING TO, I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT SPECIFICALLY IS IN THIS YEAR'S APPLICATION AROUND THE BOARD MAKEUP.

UM, IT HAS, YOU KNOW, SOME YEARS IT IS REALLY GREAT TO PRESENT ON THESE THINGS.

IN SOME YEARS IT IS NOT VERY GREAT TO PRESENT ON THESE THINGS.

UM, AND YOU KNOW, PREVIOUSLY OUR FUNDING PROGRAMS WERE FOCUSED VERY MUCH ON RACIAL EQUITY.

AND SO IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE KEEPING TRACK OF THESE THINGS AND SEEING HOW DEMOGRAPHICS OF AWARDEES SHIFTED OVER TIME AND WITH THE PROGRAMS THAT WE WERE OFFERING MM-HMM .

UM, THAT IS NOT OUR, LIKE, END ALL BE ALL FOR, FOR FUNDING IN THE CURRENT STATE OF THINGS.

SURE.

UM, SO WE DO, WE DO COLLECT THAT INFORMATION, BUT IT HASN'T BEEN PRESENTED TONIGHT AND IT'S, NONE OF IT IS SCORED ON.

JUST TO RECREATE AND CLARIFY, IT'S ALL'S ALL MERIT BASED IN TERMS OF CORRECT PERFORMANCE OR EVENTS OR WHATEVER.

WELL, I MEAN, I, I LOVE DATA POINTS AND I'M JUST KIND OF CURIOUS AS TO, IN TERMS OF TRACKING THAT INFORMATION, WHAT ARE, I WAS JUST, I THINK YOU ANSWERED THE QUESTION, BUT I WAS MORE CONCERNED LIKE, WHAT DO WE DO WITH THIS INFORMATION? WHAT ARE THE GOALS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT? AND HOW DO WE BECOME BETTER, UH, AT THE WHOLE PROCESS? SO THANK YOU FOR, FOR PROVIDING SOME LIGHT ON THAT.

ANYTIME.

THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER.

THANK YOU LAURA.

UH, COMMISSIONER CARVALHO, I DON'T REALLY HAVE A QUESTION, BUT I DID APPLY FOR THE VENUE ONE, AND I DO REMEMBER, UM, THERE WAS A SPECIFIC QUESTION ABOUT GENDER, RACE, AND ETHNICITY FOR MYSELF AS THE APPLICANT AND ALL OF THE MEMBERS OF THE LLC AND WHAT THEY WERE.

BE SCORED AT A CERTAIN LEVEL.

SO THE, THE DATA IS THERE FOR EVERYBODY, IF THAT ANSWERS IT TO YOU AT ALL.

'CAUSE UM, IT DID ASK WHAT, HOW MANY MEMBERS WERE PART OF THE COMPANY AND WHAT THE LLC WAS MADE OUT OF, AND IF IT WAS A PARTNERSHIP AND, UH, RACE AND ETHNICITY WE'RE THERE.

SO GLAD .

OKAY, GOOD.

I'M GLAD I'M NOT IMAGINING THAT.

NO, YOU'RE NOT.

NO, I, I REMEMBER IT PRETTY VIVIDLY.

I WAS LIKE, DO I HOPE THEY, THEY KNOW I'M BROWN, RIGHT? , THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER.

UM, I THINK, BUT THESE ARE, THESE ARE, UM, UM, VOLUNTEER INFORMATION, RIGHT? YOU CAN, YOU CAN VOLUNTEER OR YOU CAN SAY PREFER NOT TO SAY SO.

NONE OF NONE OF THIS INFORMATION IS BEING SCORED ON.

UM, DEFINITELY THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMISSION AND WHAT THE DEPARTMENT, UM, AS I'VE SEEN HAVE ALSO FOCUSED ON IS BROAD INCLUSIVITY, UH, FOR THESE GRANTS ACROSS THE BOARD, WHETHER IT'S CULTURAL ARTS GRANTS OR MUSIC GRANTS, OUR RECOMMENDATIONS CENTERED AROUND THAT AS WELL.

AND I THINK SOME OF THE THINGS THAT LAURA, YOU'RE MENTIONING AROUND MARKETING EFFORTS TO REACH MORE TO THE DIASPORIC COMMUNITIES TO CREATE AWARENESS OF THESE GRANTS, UH, THE RANGE OF, UM, ANSWERS, UM, LEGITIMATE ANSWERS THAT ARE ACCEPTED AS, AS, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, THAT WOULD

[00:45:01]

UH, I THINK WE BUILD, UM, INCLUSIVENESS AND ACCESSIBILITY THROUGH HOW THEY ARE SCORED.

SO I THINK, AND, AND, AND IT REALLY, UM, LOOKS LIKE THAT HAS WORKED VERY WELL FOR OUR COMMUNITY IN LOOKING AT THE RESULTS, UH, ON, ON WHAT IT HAS YIELDED IN TERMS OF, UH, UM, EXPERIENCED FOLKS GETTING THE GRANTS, BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF DEMOGRAPHICS IN MULTIPLE WAYS.

IT HAS YIELDED GOOD OUTCOMES, UH, MOVING IN THIS DIRECTION, MAKING IT MORE ECONOMICS, UH, YOU KNOW, ECONOMIC, UH, I THINK INPUTS, UH, USING, UM, OH, WHEN I SAY ECONOMIC INPUTS, LET ME NOT CONFUSE THAT TO SOME OF THE PREVIOUS QUESTIONS THAT WE ARE BEING ASKED, BUT ECONOMIC IMPACT, SORRY, WOULD WOULD BE THE WORD, UH, ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT DO YOU DO IN THE COMMUNITY MENTORING OTHERS, UH, SUPPORTING NONPROFITS, ET CETERA.

UH, SO THOSE KIND OF BROAD QUESTIONS, UM, HAVE IT LOOKS LIKE HAVE REALLY YIELDED US GREAT OUTCOMES, UH, WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.

I MEAN, BASICALLY I THINK THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE FILLING OUT THE GRANTS, THE LEAD APPLICANT, I MEAN, THAT IS A MAGIC KEY IN ORDER TO GO THROUGH THIS SYSTEM AND, AND FILL OUT THE GRANT.

SO I'M REALLY, UH, I THINK YOU SAID THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT SPECIFIC MARKETING TO WHO IT, WHO IT, IT FALLS IN THE DEVELOPMENT BUCKET.

IT FALLS IN THE FUNDRAISING BUCKET AND MAKING SURE THAT, THAT, THAT IS, THAT WHOEVER IS, THAT IS THE LEAD APPLICANT, WHO IS THE, THE GRANT WRITER, SO TO SPEAK, THAT, THAT THAT'S A POWERFUL POSITION FOR ANY, YOU KNOW, ORGANIZATION.

AND SO I WAS JUST KIND OF MORE CURIOUS ABOUT THAT THAN, THAN ACTUALLY WHAT THE NONPROFIT OR MUSICIAN OR WHATEVER WAS DOING.

SO THAT'S WHERE I WAS ALMOST COMING FROM.

UH, CARDENA, UH, CLARIS CARDENAS, DISTRICT THREE.

I HAVE ONE LAST QUESTION.

SO I LOVED THAT, UM, THE SPREADSHEET THAT YOU HAD OF THE BREAKDOWN OF ALL THE DISTRICTS.

DO YOU HAVE THAT FOR LAST YEAR AS WELL? SO WE CAN COMPARE THE TWO AND WE CAN KIND OF SEE WHERE THERE'S BEEN AN INCREASE AND, YOU KNOW, WE CAN BE ADVOCATES FOR THAT.

SO WE, WE DON'T HAVE THAT POSTED ON THE WEBSITE, BUT THAT'S DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT WE CAN PULL AND HAVE A COMPARATIVE, UM, RESOURCE FOR YOU ALL.

UM, I KNOW THIS QUESTION CAME UP, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, OUTSIDE, EARLIER ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS HAD A QUESTION AROUND, IS THE APPLICATION, UH, AVAILABLE IN A PRINT FORMAT OUTSIDE OF, UH, SUBMITTABLE WHERE, YOU KNOW, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER ONE APPLIED FOR IT OR NOT, WE AS A COMMISSION CAN LOOK AT THE ENTIRE APPLICATION, THE ACTUAL QUESTIONNAIRE.

CAN THAT BE MADE AVAILABLE TO US OR IT'S AVAILABLE SOMEWHERE ALREADY? YEAH, SO IT, UM, IT IS AVAILABLE ON, UM, BOTH THE LONG CENTER SITE AS WELL AS ON OUR WEBSITE.

SO WE HAD POSTED, I THINK THIS IS ONE THAT MIGHT'VE GOTTEN DROPPED WHEN THE WEBSITE SHIFTED OVER TO THE NEWS SYSTEM, BUT WE DID POST ALL QUESTIONS WITH, UM, THE SCORE PER QUESTION, UM, LIKE A DETAILED RUBRIC.

SO IF THAT HASN'T, UM, I WILL CHECK WITH MY TEAM AND MAKE SURE THAT IS BACK ON THE WEBSITE AND SHARE THAT LINK WITH Y'ALL.

YEAH, IT LOOKS LIKE IT IS AVAILABLE ON THE, UH, ON THE SITE RIGHT NOW.

THE APPLICATION PREVIEW.

CORRECT.

SO ACTUALLY, SO I'M TALKING ABOUT A DIFFERENT ONE.

SO THE APPLICATION PREVIEW, THE QUESTIONS THAT ARE BROKEN DOWN, UM, BUT WE ACTUALLY HAD LIKE A PDF DOCUMENT AS WELL THAT WAS, UM, LINKED ON THE WEBSITE, SO YOU COULD SEE THE QUESTIONS AS THEY LOOKED IN SUBMITTABLE AS WELL AS THE POINTS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT QUESTION SPECIFICALLY.

OPEN, I WOULD SAY IF YOU COULD TRY TO GIVE US, UM, ANY FEEDBACK EITHER THROUGH THAT SURVEY OR DIRECTLY EMAILED TO ME ABOUT SPECIFIC QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE CONCERNS AROUND.

UM, I KNOW YOU HAVE VARIOUS, UM, MECHANISMS TO GET FEEDBACK IN, AND WE'VE ASKED THIS BEFORE, UM, AND, UH, MY APOLOGIES, WE HAVE ALREADY KIND OF, UH, YOU KNOW, PROVIDED THESE DATES, BUT, UM, IF THE COMMISSION NEEDS TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK, UH, AT THIS POINT, I MEAN, I THINK, UM, UM, THE, THE QUESTIONS AND, YOU KNOW, THE, THE RUBRIC, UH, HAS TAKEN A LOT OF INPUTS FROM OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE COMMUNITY, FROM THE CREATIVE RESET, UM, AND IF WE HAVE FEEDBACK, I THINK IT WOULD ALSO KIND OF REALLY REVOLVE AROUND ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND FEEDBACK WE MAY HAVE AROUND ACTUAL QUESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ON THE FORM.

UM, WHAT WOULD BE THE DROP DATE BY WHEN THIS COMMISSION EITHER INDIVIDUALLY OR THROUGH A GROUP, CAN PROVIDE FEEDBACK SO THAT THOSE CAN BE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED BEFORE THE JULY ROLLOUT? EXCUSE ME.

UH, SO THE COMMISSIONER PERSPECTIVE SURVEY IS A GREAT PLACE TO PUT ALL OF THAT IN THERE, UM, WHICH I DID NOT CLOSE TWO WEEKS AGO BECAUSE THERE WAS NOT A LOT OF, UH, FEEDBACK YET FROM YOU ALL.

SO IT IS STILL

[00:50:01]

UM, I WOULD SAY APRIL 17TH AT THE LATEST, PLEASE.

17TH.

17TH PLEASE.

WE DID, UM, I WOULD POST THIS TO LAURA AS WELL AS COMMISSIONERS, UM, A VIABLE THING FOR US TO DO TO, UM, BRING THAT DISCUSSION TO THE NEXT COMMISSION MEETING HERE, SO WE CAN ALSO, UM, PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL OR COLLECTIVE FEEDBACK IF YOU WOULD LIKE.

UM, I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO EITHER USE THIS TOPIC OR CREATE A NEW DISCUSSION ITEM JUST TO, UM, FOR ALL OF US TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE ANY SPECIFIC FEEDBACK, UH, BECAUSE WE DO HAVE A SHORT RUN THIS TIME.

UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WE WILL HAVE TO GET ANY FEEDBACK THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO GET IN PRETTY SOON HERE FOR THOSE TO BE CONSIDERED FOR THE NEXT ROUND.

SO IF THAT'S OKAY, YOU KNOW, IT'LL BE UH, MAY, BUT, UH, PLEASE ABSOLUTELY GO AHEAD AND SEND, UH, THE FEEDBACK BEFOREHAND THROUGH THE FORMS AND SURVEYS THAT ARE AVAILABLE.

UH, BUT DEFINITELY LET'S ALSO USE THIS FORM, UM, IN MAY TO GET ANYTHING ELSE IN.

UH, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, UM, WE CAN GO FROM THERE.

UM, THE LIST OF UM, UH, EV AWARDEES ARE ALREADY UP AND, UM, ONCE ACCEPTANCE, UH, YOU KNOW, DATA IS THERE, YOU WILL JUST UPDATE THAT LIST BASICALLY THAT'S CORRECT.

WITH SUCCESSFUL APPEALS, UM, WITH THE FINAL ACCEPTED OR DECLINED.

UM, SO IT'LL, IT'LL CLEAN UP.

THE NUMBERS WILL CHANGE, UM, A SMIDGE PROBABLY.

UM, SO WHEN I PRESENT TO YOU ALL IN MAY, UM, THAT WILL BE ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THE NUMBERS WON'T EXACTLY BE THE SAME, PROBABLY.

IS THAT WHAT THE SETUP IS? OR HAVE WE MOVED UP THE DATE BY WHEN, WHICH THEY NEED TO EXPEND THE $24? I MEAN, I THINK AGAIN, IT'S GONNA BE ON A CASE, CASE BY CASE BASIS.

UM, AND FOR APPLICANTS THAT ALREADY GOT THE GRANT IN 2024 AND IT'S A TWO YEAR PERIOD, UH, IS THE GOAL ESSENTIALLY THAT THEY CAN STILL ACCEPT THE 2026 GRANT IF THEY GOT IT, BUT BE ABLE TO EXHAUST THE FUNDS IN THE PREVIOUS TIMELINE THAT WAS AVAILABLE TO THEM TILL, YOU KNOW, IN THE TWO YEAR PERIOD AND THEN THEY CAN COME AND ACCESS THESE GRANTS? OR HAVE WE MOVED UP THAT DEADLINE SO THEY HAVE TO CLOSE OUT THEIR APPLICATION BEFORE THEY CAN, OR THEY HAVE TO CLOSE OUT THEIR PREVIOUS AWARD BEFORE THEY CAN ENTER INTO THIS NEW AWARD? AND SO I THINK IT WAS, UM, WAS IT LIKE 83% OR FIF, SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THAT HAD DONE SECOND PAYMENTS.

SO HOPEFULLY FOLKS THAT DID RECEIVE AWARDS THIS TIME AROUND WILL BE ABLE TO CLOSE THOSE 24 PAYMENTS SOON AND THOSE ACTIVITIES SOON HAS, UM, GO AHEAD, PLEASE.

WE, I WAS JUST GONNA SAY WE, I THINK INTERNALLY WE HAD A HARD DEADLINE OF LIKE APRIL 30TH WAS WHEN YOU NEEDED TO HAVE EVERYTHING CLOSED OUT FROM YOUR PREVIOUS AWARD AND YOU NEEDED TO SIGN THE CURRENT AWARD.

UM, BUT THAT BEING SAID, WE NEED TO LOOK MORE IN DEPTH ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY CROSSOVERS AND RETURNING AWARDEES AND IS THAT FEASIBLE? DO WE GIVE THEM A TWO WEEK EXTRA WINDOW OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? SO WE ARE SAYING APRIL 30TH TO TRY TO CLOSE EVERYTHING OUT FROM YOUR PREVIOUS AWARD BEFORE ENTERING INTO THIS ONE.

UM, BUT ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS, UM, STAFF ARE ALWAYS PRETTY, PRETTY AMENABLE TOO.

THANK YOU TO, TO LIFE.

THANK YOU FOR BEING, UH, FLEXIBLE AROUND IT BECAUSE IT IS THE, APRIL 30TH WAS NOT THE PREVIOUS DEADLINE FOR, THAT'S NOT WHERE THE PREVIOUS TWO YEARS ENDS THOUGH, RIGHT? IT COMES CORRECT LATER.

SO IT DEPENDS ON WHEN THEY SIGNED THEIR PREVIOUS, UM, AGREEMENT.

SO IF SOMEONE SIGNED THEIR 24 AWARD IN AUGUST, FOR EXAMPLE, THEY HAVE UNTIL AUGUST OF THIS YEAR, RIGHT, TO FINISH EVERYTHING OUT IN SEPTEMBER TO CLOSE OUT THEIR FINAL REPORT.

UM, SO YES, BUT THE FUNDS FOR THIS CYCLE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SPENT IN 2026 IN 2027 DEPENDING ON WHEN, UM, WHAT TYPE OF AWARD THEY RECEIVED.

SO SOMEBODY WHO'S CLOSING OUT, UH, SORRY, NOT TO DELAY THIS, BUT SOMEBODY WHO'S CLOSING OUT THEIR 2024 GRANT IN AUGUST, UH, CAN STILL ACCEPT 2026 GRANT, BUT ACCESS THE DOLLARS ONLY IN SEPTEMBER FROM THIS FUND.

THEY WOULD STILL, I, I GUESS WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET TO IS WOULD A 2024 RECIPIENT HAVE THE ENTIRE TWO YEARS THAT WAS ALLOCATED TO THEM FOR, TO USE THAT GRANT AND STILL BE ABLE TO ACCEPT THE 26 GRANT BUT ONLY ACCESS THE DOLLARS FROM THIS, THE LATER GRANT AFTER THEY EXHAUST THE LAST ONE?

[00:55:01]

I THINK WE WOULD LIKE EVERYONE TO CLOSE IT OUT SOONER IF POSSIBLE, IF THEY'RE GOING TO ACCEPT THIS AWARD.

HOWEVER, LIKE IF SOMEBODY'S RECORDING AN ALBUM, IF SOMEBODY'S GOING ON TOUR THIS SUMMER, LIKE WE UNDERSTAND THAT, IT JUST MEANS THAT THEIR, THEIR WINDOW FOR THIS NEW GRANT IS GONNA BE MUCH, MUCH SMALLER TO SPEND THE MONEY DOWN.

IF THEY CAN'T ACCESS THIS GRANT UNTIL SEPTEMBER.

UM, AND AGAIN, WE DON'T, WE DON'T WANT THAT TO BE THE CASE FOR THE MAJORITY OF, OF THE RECIPIENTS OF THIS, OF THIS YEAR'S FUNDS.

GOT IT.

BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO GET EVERYONE ON THE SAME LIKE CALENDAR CONTRACTING CYCLE.

BUT ALWAYS PEOPLE CAN, CAN REACH OUT TO US.

I MEAN, UH, YOU, I, I THINK, I THINK WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE IN THAT YOU REALIZE THAT THERE ARE, UH, FOLKS THAT WE'RE GONNA USE THE ENTIRE TWO YEARS TO EXPAND THEIR DOLLARS FROM THE LAST GRANT.

AND IF THAT IS A RECORDING PROJECT OR SOMETHING THAT THEY NEED TO EXTEND IT, THEY HAVE TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT, BUT THEY SHOULD NOT BE CUT OUT FROM THE CURRENT, UH, FROM THE NEW GRANT IN THAT, IN THAT CASE.

UM, ALSO, UM, 2027, IF FOLKS RECEIVE THE GRANT THIS YEAR, THEY WILL NOT, THE LIVE MUSIC FUND, THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO APPLY IN 27, BUT IF THEY, IF FOLKS DO APPLY FOR NEXUS RIGHT NOW, THAT'S OPEN TILL APRIL 16TH, AND IF THEY GET THAT GRANT, THEY CAN STILL GO AHEAD AND APPLY FOR LMF AND ELEVATE AND ANYTHING THAT'S AVAILABLE IN JULY, CORRECT? CORRECT.

THAT'S CORRECT.

BECAUSE THE APPLICATION CYCLE THAT WE WILL LAUNCH IN JULY, IT'LL BE FOR FY 27 AND FOR ACTIVITIES STARTING JANUARY OF 2027.

SO WE'RE ACTUALLY GETTING BACK ON THE RIGHT, UM, CADENCE HERE.

SO THE, THE NEXUS PROGRAM WILL BE FOR FUNDING ACTIVITIES THAT ARE IN THIS CALENDAR YEAR AND THEN THEY CAN, YOU KNOW, LIKE YOU SAID, UM, CHAIR, THEY CAN APPLY FOR THE JULY, UM, LAUNCH CYCLE FOR A GRANT.

THAT WILL BE FOR NEXT YEAR.

STAFF BRIEFING ON ACME LONG CENTER CONTRACT REVIEW BY MORGAN MESSICK, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ACME.

UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU.

THANK YOU SO MUCH LAURA.

THANK Y'ALL.

THE NEXT AGENDA ITEM IS

[6. Staff briefing on AACME-Long Center contract review by Morgan Messick, Assistant Director, AACME.]

GOOD EVENING COMMISSIONERS.

UM, THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

I AM HERE TO CHAT A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CONTRACT THAT WE HAVE WITH THE LONG CENTER ABOUT THE RECENT REVIEW PROCESS AND WHAT OPTIONS ACME IS LOOKING AT FOR THE FUTURE OF GRANT ADMINISTRATION.

IT'S KIND OF A BIG IN NEBULOUS TOPIC, SO FORGIVE ME, I WILL SPEED THROUGH THE BACKGROUND ON HISTORY AND TRY TO SPEND MORE TIME ON THE, WHAT WE LEARNED WITH OUR CONTRACT REVIEW AND WHAT OUR PLANS ARE FOR THE FUTURE.

UM, AND I JUST WANNA SAY, I KNOW THAT THIS HAS BEEN IN THE MEDIA BECAUSE THERE'S BEEN A SERIES OF ARTICLES FROM THE AUSTIN CURRENT.

IT'S ALSO BEEN A QUESTION, YOU KNOW, KIND OF OVER THE YEARS OF JUST, UM, WHAT ARE THE TRUE BENEFITS OF THE CONTRACT AND WHAT IS THE WHY BEHIND IT? SO IF ANY COMMISSIONERS WHO ARE A LITTLE LESS FAMILIAR WITH HOW WE GOT TO PARTNERING WITH A THIRD PARTY FOR OUR GRANT ADMINISTRATION HAS QUESTIONS, YOU KNOW, OF COURSE FEEL FREE TO JOT THOSE DOWN AND WE CAN TRY TO DIVE INTO THEM.

BUT WITH THAT BEING SAID, I'LL GET STARTED.

LOCAL, FROM OUR INTERNAL REVIEW THAT WE DID, AND WE STARTED TO DEVELOP SOME RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEADERSHIP TO CONSIDER AS WE MOVE FORWARD.

CURRENT STATE, NEXT SLIDE.

WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW.

SO WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT OUR GRANT ADMINISTRATION PROCESS.

OF COURSE ACME IS JUST OVER 1-YEAR-OLD.

AND SO AS WE TRANSITION OUT OF AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND THE MANY OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND COME TOGETHER, WE HAVE WORKED ON ALIGNING OUR DEPARTMENT.

AND SO WHERE WE'RE AT NOW, WE'RE KIND OF LOOKING AT THE PAST ISSUES THAT WE HAD WITH GRANT ADMINISTRATION AND KIND OF REVISING WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE FOR OUR NEW DEPARTMENT IN THE FUTURE SO WE CAN BETTER PLAN STRATEGICALLY.

SO, UM, WE HAVE GONE THROUGH A LOT OF THINGS WITH THESE PROGRAMS, INCLUDING A PIVOT TO RELIEF AND RECOVERY FUNDING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, WHICH RESULTED IN A CALL FOR A THIRD PARTY, WHICH BROUGHT US TO WHERE WE'RE AT NOW AND WHAT WE LEARNED WHEN WE BEGAN TO TAKE A LOOK THIS YEAR AT THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE AND FUTURE PLANNING.

UM, WE WERE LOOKING AT THE ROLES FOR CONTRACT MANAGEMENT WITHIN OUR DEPARTMENT, THE CAPACITY THAT WE HAVE.

UM, AS YOU ALL KNOW, WE HAVE LIMITED SUPPORT SERVICES, INCLUDING A FINANCE STAFF, AND IT'S REALLY CHALLENGING TO PLACE THOUSANDS OF CONTRACTS UPON OUR STAFF WHO ARE ALSO ADMINISTERING THESE PROGRAMS. UM, WE WERE LOOKING AT THE TOOLS THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO, BOTH AS A CITY AND WITHIN OUR DEPARTMENT, AND ALSO WHAT THE BEST PRACTICES ARE.

WE LOOKED AT DIFFERENT FINDINGS, UM, FROM OUR

[01:00:01]

SO THE LAST PART OF OUR PRESENTATION WILL BE TALKING ABOUT WHERE WE'RE GONNA GO, AND IT'S REALLY WHAT WERE ALL THOSE OPTIONS, UM, THAT WE DECIDED AS A TEAM.

LOOKING BACK AT PAST ISSUES, SO FOR ANYBODY WHO'S A LITTLE LESS FAMILIAR WITH THE CREATION OF ACME, WE USED TO HAVE A CULTURAL FUNDING TEAM, UM, KIND OF HOUSED ON ITS OWN AT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND THEY HAVE HAD A LOT OF CHANGES OVER THE YEARS, AND EVENTUALLY WE ADDED NEW PROGRAMS AND NEW GRANTS, INCLUDING THE HERITAGE PRESERVATION GRANT, THE LIVE MUSIC FUND, UM, BOTH OF WHICH ARE NEWER THAN THE HISTORICAL CULTURAL FUNDING PROGRAMS THAT HAVE EXISTED USING HOTEL OCCUPANCY TECHS.

AND SO A LOT OF PROBLEMS THAT WE EXPERIENCED OVER THE YEARS INCLUDED THE VOLUME OF CONTRACTS, WHICH I ALREADY MENTIONED, OVER 100 CONTRACTS PER STAFF MEMBER.

AND IF ANYBODY IS A LITTLE LESS FAMILIAR WITH CONTRACT MANAGEMENT, THE CITY OF AUSTIN, IT'S REALLY IN DEPTH.

THERE ARE A LOT OF REQUIREMENTS.

THERE IS, UM, GENERALLY A LOT OF OVERSIGHT, A LOT OF CHECKING, AND IT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO MANAGE EACH CONTRACT AT THAT LEVEL.

SO WE'VE HAD TO DEVELOP, UH, DIFFERENT PROCESSES TO HELP US MANAGE IT AS BEST WE CAN.

ADDITIONALLY, EVERY CONTRACT COMES WITH A SERIES OF MID, UH, MID-CONTRACT SUPPORTS, UH, REPORTS, FINAL REPORTS, AND THEN OTHER NEW CONTRACTS OPENING TO RESTART THE PROCESS, SOMETIMES IN THE MIDDLE OF OTHER ACTIVE CONTRACTS.

SO THIS REQUIRED A LOT OF THREE CONTRACTING WORK FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN STAFF.

FROM A FINANCE PERSPECTIVE, WE WERE WAITING ON A LOT OF FINANCE, UM, BACKGROUND THINGS TO HAPPEN TO GET THE MONEY OUT THE DOOR, COULD BE UP TO 30 DAYS FOR INVOICE PROCESSING.

AND WE USED TO ONLY OFFER CHECKS AND WE NOW HAVE A DIRECT DEPOSIT OFFERING THROUGH OUR PARTNERS AT THE LONG CENTER.

ADDITIONALLY, BECAUSE OF THE RULES AND BECAUSE OF ALL OF THE BUREAUCRACY TIED TO THIS, THE BULK OF THE TIME FOR OUR, OUR STAFF ENDED UP BEING SPENT ON BEING THE ENFORCERS INSTEAD OF SPENDING THEIR TIME BEING SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, DOING WRAPAROUND SERVICES, BUILDING UP RESOURCES, AND MAKING THIS A BETTER EXPERIENCE FOR APPLICANTS.

ADDITIONALLY, REVIEWING ALL THESE MATERIALS TAKES A LOT OF TIME.

SO WE'VE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE APPLICATION PROCESS TONIGHT WITH LAURA.

AND SO JUST A LITTLE HIGH LEVEL PEEK AT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.

THE APPLICATION IS SUBMITTED AT ANY POINT DURING THE APPLICATION PERIOD.

EVENTUALLY IT MOVES ON TO THE REVIEW PROCESS.

UM, SOMETIMES FOR MANY PROGRAMS, INCLUDING THE PEER PANEL PROCESS, WHICH HAS A WHOLE SUBSET OF THINGS THAT IT TAKES TO, UM, RECRUIT FOR THE PEER PANEL, TO TRAIN THE PEER PANEL, TO SET THEM UP, TO SCHEDULE THE PEER PANEL REVIEW DAYS.

IT'S ITS WHOLE OWN ECOSYSTEM.

THEN WE HAVE TO DO THE AWARD NOTIFICATIONS AND THEN THERE ARE ALL THE PRE-CONTRACT STEPS REQUIRED FOR CONTRACTING WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN.

AND THEN THE CONTRACTS ARE ACTIVATED AND THEN THE CONTRACTS ARE MONITORED AND EVENTUALLY THE FINAL REPORT IS SUBMITTED AND THE FINAL FUNDS ARE DISTRIBUTED TO THE AWARDEE.

MOST OF THE TIME HAPPENS ACTUALLY IN THE PRE-CONTRACT STEP TWO WEEKS TO 10 MONTHS, DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH INFORMATION OUR AWARDEES NEED TO PROVIDE AND WHAT BARRIERS THEY EXPERIENCE TO PROVIDE THOSE.

SO A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE TIMELINE.

80 DAYS CAN BE SPENT IN THAT PRE-CONTRACT PERIOD.

40 DAYS CAN BE SPENT FOR FINAL REPORTING, RECEIVING, UM, THE INVOICING, THE WHOLE FINAL PART.

AND THIS WAS IN THE BEFORE TIMES.

BEFORE TIMES.

PEOPLE WERE ANXIOUS TO GET THE FUNDS OUT.

SO THEN DURING COVID-19, WE HAD TO STOP DOING OUR NORMAL CULTURAL FUNDING CYCLES AND WE HAD TO PIVOT TO DOING RELIEF AND RECOVERY FUNDING USING FEDERAL DOLLARS.

UM, MOSTLY THROUGH ARPA.

IF YOU ALL REMEMBER THAT WE WERE DISTRIBUTING GRANT FUNDS THROUGH USING ARPA DOLLARS AND WE GOT A GLIMPSE AT WHAT GRANTS COULD BE BECAUSE WE WEREN'T ABLE TO SPEND THAT QUICKLY AND DO IT OURSELVES.

UM, SO WE WERE ABLE TO HIRE AND WORK WITH THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATORS TO GET EVERYTHING UP AND RUNNING.

AND OUR STAFF DID SUCH AN INCREDIBLE JOB.

I WAS NOT ON THE TEAM AT THAT TIME, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO, OH, NO, MY HEAD, I THINK MY HEADPHONES JUST DEAD.

I HOPE YOU CAN STILL HEAR ME.

YOU'LL TELL ME IF YOU CAN.

OUR TEAM DID AN AMAZING, AMAZING WORK DURING THAT TIME.

UM, LAURA AND ERICA WERE TWO OF THE MAIN STAFF MEMBERS WORKING ON THAT.

MANY OF THE TEAM THAT YOU KNOW AND LOVE TODAY WERE HERE DURING THAT PERIOD AND THIS WAS A NEW WAY FOR THEM TO WORK.

AND SO DURING THIS TIME, COUNCIL DIRECTIVE CAME FORWARD, UM, TO CREATE THAT PRO PROGRAM DESIGN AND DISTRIBUTE FUNDS WITH LESS THAN SIX MONTHS TO GET IT DONE.

AND THEY DID.

AND SO WE WERE ABLE TO DEVELOP KIND OF TWO LANES OF RESPONSIBILITIES, LIKE WHAT SHOULD WE DO AND WHAT COULD A THIRD PARTY PARTNER TAKE? NEXT SLIDE.

AND SO A SIMPLE EQUATION EMERGE.

THERE WERE INCREASING HIGH EXPECTATIONS, ESPECIALLY AS UM, WE BOUNCED BACK FROM THE PANDEMIC.

[01:05:01]

THE LIVE MUSIC FUND WAS LAUNCHING.

THE LANDSCAPE WAS SHIFTING.

SO THOSE EXPECTATIONS PLUS THE NEW HOT FUNDED PROGRAMS PLUS OUR LIMITED STAFFING 'CAUSE WE DID NOT INCREASE OUR STAFF AT ALL DURING THAT TIME, EQUALED A NATURAL LEAN TOWARDS DOING A PROCUREMENT PROCESS TO LOOK AT GETTING THAT THIRD PARTY PARTNER.

SO WE WERE ABLE TO DO THE PURCHASE, UH, THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND ACT, UM, TLC.

THE LONG CENTER AROSE AS THE CANDIDATE WHO SUBMITTED THE APPLICATION, WHO WAS ABLE TO MEET THE DEMAND OF THE WORK THAT WE NEEDED.

AND SO WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH THEM EVER SINCE THEN.

AND THIS LITTLE MAP IS A NON EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF WHAT THAT PARTNERSHIP KIND OF LOOKS LIKE IN ACTION.

THERE ARE SOME THINGS PROBABLY MISSING FROM HERE, BUT GENERALLY EVERYTHING IN GREEN IS THE ITEMS THAT THE ACME TEAM TAKES CARE OF.

AND EVERYTHING IS IN BLUE IS THE ITEMS THAT OUR THIRD PARTY PARTNERS HELP US TAKE CARE OF.

AND WE DO ALL OF THESE TOGETHER BECAUSE YOU CAN SEE THEY ARE VERY SEQUENTIAL.

SO WE HAVE TO MEET, UM, REALLY FREQUENTLY WITH THESE, UH, FOLKS, THIS TEAM AND WE STAY REALLY CLOSE AND TRY TO WORK THROUGH THIS PROCESS FROM THE VERY FIRST START, EVEN BEFORE CREATING THE APPLICATION ALL THE WAY THROUGH, UM, SUBMITTING THOSE FINAL REPORTS AND GETTING THOSE FINAL DOLLARS OUT THE DOOR.

SOME OF THE BENEFITS THAT HAVE, UH, AROSE FROM WORKING WITH THE LONG CENTER IS DECREASED BURDEN ON AWARDEE FOR THE, UH, PRE-CONTRACT MATERIALS.

WE HAVE ELIMINATED THE CITY PURCHASING PROCESS, WHICH HAS SPED THINGS UP.

WE'VE INCREASED THE SPEED OF PAYMENTS, WE'VE INCREASED THE TYPES OF PAYMENT OPTIONS THAT ARE AVAILABLE.

REMEMBER I SAID BEFORE COVID TO 19, WE WERE ONLY DOING CHECK PAYMENTS AND NOW WE HAVE DIFFERENT OPTIONS.

WE, UM, HAVE INCREASED STAFF CAPACITY TO SCORE THE LIVE MUSIC FUND APPLICATIONS AND WE HAVE TROUBLESHOOTING.

UH, WE HAVE WORKED WITH THEM TO TROUBLESHOOT TECHNICAL ISSUES THAT OCCUR WITH SUBMITTABLE, WHICH IS THE CURRENT SOFTWARE WE ARE USING.

ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE RE OUTLINED WHAT THOSE RESPONSIBILITIES LOOK LIKE.

UM, SO THERE'S A SPLIT BETWEEN WHAT ADMINISTERING THE ACTUAL TOOL LOOKS LIKE AND WHAT PROVIDING OPERATIONAL DIRECTIONS LOOK LIKE.

SO ESSENTIALLY WE, OUR STAFF AT ACME ARE PROVIDING ALL OF THE OPERATIONAL DIRECTIONS ANNUALLY.

WE ARE PROVIDING CHECKLISTS AND TEMPLATES, EQUITY TRAINING, UM, CONFIRMING FINAL REPORT RECEIPTS AND PAYING CONTRACTOR INVOICES TO THE LONG CENTER.

AND THEY ARE DOING A LOT OF THAT INTERFACING WITH THE APPLICANTS AND WITH THE AWARDEES ON THAT PEOPLE FACING SIDE.

OUR FINANCIAL STRUCTURE OF THE CONTRACT IS SET UP SO THAT AWARDS ARE BUDGETED PER PROGRAM.

SO EACH PROGRAM HAS A DIFFERENT AMOUNT OF FUNDING THAT WE'LL DISTRIBUTE AND IT COSTS A DIFFERENT AMOUNT TO ADMINISTER.

WE DO HAVE AN ADMINISTRATIVE FEE CAP, UM, IN PLACE FOR THIS CONTRACT.

WE HAVE A QUARTERLY INVOICING MODEL AND WE HAVE A TASK-BASED ADMINISTRATION CATEGORY.

SO WE HAVE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES OUTLINED IN OUR CONTRACT, UM, GUIDING WHAT TASKS OUR PARTNERS WILL TAKE ON.

IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE IF YOU'RE LOOKING, UM, AT ANY OF THE INVOICES OR LOOKING AT THE FINANCIAL DATA, THAT ALL OF OUR ADMINISTRATIVE FEES ARE TIED TO TASKS AND NOT OUTCOMES.

SO THE TASKS ARE HOW MANY HOURS DOES IT TAKE YOU TO BUILD OUT THE APPLICATION OR DO ANOTHER ADMIN TASK.

ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE INVOICED AND WE PAY MONTHLY REGARDLESS OF ANY PERFORMANCE METRICS RELATED TO THE PROGRAMS. NEXT SLIDE.

ALRIGHT, SO WE, UM, PERFORMED AN INTERNAL CONTRACT REVIEW IN A DESK AUDIT THIS YEAR.

WE HAVE ONE CONTRACT SPECIALIST ON OUR TEAM WHO CAME OVER FROM AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

LAURA AND I PARTNERED WITH THEM TO DO A DEEP DIVE ON THE CONTRACT.

AND HERE'S A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT WE LEARNED.

UM, PORTAL SYSTEM FAMILIARITY.

UM, SO SOME OF THE CONTRACT REVIEW STEPS THAT WE TOOK, WE HAVE MANY DIFFERENT FORMS BECAUSE WE ARE THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND WE LOVE OUR FORMS AND OUR BUREAUCRACY.

SO OUR, UM, MARK MASON, OUR STAFFER, HE HELPED US PERFORM A RISK ASSESSMENT, A DESK REVIEW AND INVOICE RE REVIEW, AND HE LOOKED AT OUR CONTRACT DELIVERABLES TO REVIEW THOSE AS WELL.

AND ON THE RIGHT HERE IS JUST A LITTLE SAMPLE OF WHAT THE DESK REVIEW REPORT LOOKS LIKE.

SO IT'S A PRETTY STRAIGHTFORWARD LOOK ASSESSING, UM, DIFFERENT WAYS THAT THIS CONTRACT STACKS UP WITH THE BEST PRACTICES THAT THE CITY HAS IN PLACE.

NEXT STEP, SOME OF THE HIGH LEVEL FINDINGS BETWEEN THAT WORK AND THE WORK THAT LAURA AND I HAVE DONE INCLUDED, UM, RE-IDENTIFYING SOME OF THOSE STRENGTHS, INCLUDING THAT RAPID DEPLOYMENT CAPABILITY.

UM, HAVING A STRONG FINANCIAL TEAM IN PLACE AT THE LONG CENTER TO HELP DISTRIBUTE THAT MONEY.

THEY HELPED US PROCURE SUBMITTABLE AND THEY'RE FAMILIAR WITH THAT SYSTEM AND CAN ALWAYS HELP US.

THEY HAVE PAYMENT PROCESSING EFFICIENCY AND CAN DIVERSIFY THE WAY WE MAKE THOSE PAYMENTS.

AND THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO PROCURE SERVICES QUICKER WITH LESS RED TAPE THAN WE CAN.

FOR EXAMPLE,

[01:10:01]

IF WE ARE NEEDING TO EXPEDITE TRANSLATIONS OR A SERVICE LIKE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO GET THREE DIFFERENT QUOTES AND VET THEM AND GO THROUGH THE CITY PROCUREMENT PROCESS OR WORK THROUGH THE IDENTIFIED MASTER AGREEMENT LIST AND ALL OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT WE ARE REQUIRED TO DO AS THE CITY, THEY CAN DO THAT MORE EASILY.

WE ALSO, OF COURSE, LEARN DIFFERENT AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT, INCLUDING THAT LACK OF PERFORMANCE METRICS TIED TO THE ADMINISTRATIVE FEES.

UM, OFTENTIMES WE WOULD SEE SOME BLURRED LINES BETWEEN CITY OVERSIGHT AND CONTRACTOR COMPLIANCE, KIND OF JUST LOSING, LOSING THE THREAD ON WHO DOES WHAT AT SOME POINT.

UM, LIMITED BENCHMARKING OF COST EFFECTIVENESS.

UH, WE DIDN'T HAVE A PREVIOUSLY BUILT IN EXTERNAL EVALUATION FEATURE.

AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE COST VISIBILITY BY PROGRAM, UM, VARIES FROM DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. NEXT SLIDE.

SO WE PUT TOGETHER A PLAN AFTER WE COMPLETED OUR REVIEW TO LOOK AT KIND OF, UM, THE NEXT 90 DAYS, THE NEXT UH, SIX MONTHS, AND THEN ONGOING IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE WANTED TO IMPLEMENT IMMEDIATELY, IMMEDIATELY.

SO WE ARE IN PHASE ONE RIGHT NOW AND WE'RE LOOKING AT JUST GOVERNANCE IMPROVEMENTS.

HOW DO WE, WE WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS AND WE'VE BEEN IN REALLY CLOSE CONTACT WITH OUR PARTNERS AT THE LONG CENTER.

LAURA MEETS WITH THE TEAM WEEKLY.

I MEET, UM, AS OFTEN AS I AM ABLE TO, BUT A FEW TIMES A MONTH.

AND WE TALK ABOUT, UM, SOME OF THESE THINGS WE WANNA IMPLEMENT THESE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES MATRIX WHAT ESTABLISHING QUARTERLY CONTRACT, UM, MEETINGS, LOOKS LIKE DOCUMENTING MEETING MINUTES, CREATING THIS BASELINE OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE TO HELP US JUST GET CLEAR ON WHAT WE'RE DOING, WHAT WE'RE RECORDING, AND MAKING SURE WE ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO REFLECT UPON.

SO THAT'S BEEN IMPLEMENTED IMMEDIATELY ALONG WITH SOME OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE IMPROVEMENTS.

SO JUST MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE CLEAR ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING SO THAT WE CAN HELP BUILD BETTER TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY IN THE GREAT WORK THAT WE'RE DOING FOR PHASE TWO.

OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, WE'RE LOOKING, UM, EXCUSE ME, WE ARE WORKING ON A CONTRACT AMENDMENT AND SOME OF THIS WORK WILL BE PHASED IN OVER THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.

SO WE ARE LOOKING AT EXECUTING THE CONTRACT AMENDMENT TO INTRODUCE PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS AND CLEARER REPORTING STANDARDS.

AND IN THE FUTURE WE'RE GONNA WORK ON REQUIRING GREATER TRANSPARENCY OF THOSE ADMIN COSTS AND THE PROGRAM EXPENSES AND JUST ONGOING AS PARTNERS, WE HAVE AGREED TO DO BETTER MONITORING AND REPORTING WHERE WE'LL IMPLEMENT QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE MONITORING, ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REVIEWS, AND WE'RE GONNA USE ALL THE FINDINGS THAT WE HAVE, UM, TO JUST KIND OF ALWAYS DO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.

SO WE'VE HAD SOME HURDLES JUST WITH INTERNALLY IN OUR DEPARTMENT, BUT WE'RE HOPING TO WORK ON THIS NEXT SLIDE.

SOME OF THE IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT WILL, UM, LOOK AT STRENGTHENING THAT CONTRACT MANAGEMENT INTERNALLY.

SO LAURA, THE CONTRACT MANAGER FOR THIS NOW, UM, AND SHE HAS A PRETTY GOOD HANDLE OF HOW WE'RE GONNA WORK ON THESE PRACTICES AND SHE HAS A GREAT PARTNERSHIP WITH HER COUNTERPARTS AT THE LONG CENTER.

ADDITIONALLY, THEY'RE GONNA WORK TO KEEP THOSE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES CLEAR AND CLEAN, AND WE'RE GONNA WORK TO INCREASE THAT FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY THROUGH THINGS LIKE BREAKING DOWN THE EXPENSES ON THE INVOICE MORE CLEARLY SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO REFERENCE BACK TO THE CONTRACT.

UM, WE'RE GONNA WORK ON THAT REPORTING AND ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS AND CAPTURE LESSONS LEARNED.

SO A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING, SO THAT'S GREAT YOU'VE DONE ALL THIS WORK, BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN, WHAT'S NEXT? SO LET'S LOOK AT WHERE WE ARE GOING.

WE HAVE SEVERAL CONSIDERATIONS BEFORE US RIGHT NOW.

WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS THE MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE APPROACH, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING.

THIS, UH, 90 DAY, SIX MONTH AND ONGOING PLAN IS GONNA HELP US, UM, YOU KNOW, TAKE SOME KEY ACTIONS TO STRENGTHEN THE CONTRACT MANAGEMENT, CREATING, CREATING THOSE PERFORMANCE METRICS AND MAKING IT MORE CLEAR IN OUR QUARTERLY MONITORING.

ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE HOPING TO LOOK AT BENEFITS, UM, WHICH INCLUDE MAINTAINING THE CONTINUITY OF OUR PROGRAM STABILITY AS WE WORK ON THIS AND MAINTAIN OUR RELATIONSHIP.

THERE WILL BE A CLEAR FORWARD PROGRESSION OF THE NEXT LAUNCHES THAT WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED ADVERTISING.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS INCLUDE RETAINING THE EXISTING ADMIN STRUCTURE AND CREATING IMPROVEMENTS THAT WOULD FOCUS ON OVERSIGHT INSTEAD OF STRUCTURAL CHANGE.

SO JUST BUILDING BETTER LEVELS OF OVERSIGHT WITHIN ACME TO SUPPORT THE CONTRACT MANAGEMENT.

VALIDATION OF THE STRENGTHS THAT WE HAVE ALREADY IDENTIFIED, AS WELL AS ACCOUNTABILITY IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.

ADDITIONAL LAYERS THAT WE ARE CONSIDERING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT ON TOP OF THAT MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE APPROACH IS TWO HIGHER AND EXTERNAL AUDITOR.

SO IF WE DID THAT, THAT WOULD REALLY HELP US BUILD SOME TRUST AND TRANSPARENCY TO SAY WE HAVE MADE AN EVALUATION, BUT WE'RE GONNA LOOK EITHER INTERNALLY WITHIN THE CITY OR LOOK OUTWARD AND LOOK AT, UM, THE COST EFFECTIVENESS AND WHAT WE COULD GAIN FROM THAT.

AND SO AN EXTERNAL AUDITOR OUTSIDE OUR OUTSIDE OF OUR DEPARTMENT COULD CONDUCT THE REVIEW OF THE GRANT ADMIN MODEL.

THEY COULD DO BENCHMARKING COSTS AND LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT ADMIN PRACTICES COMPARING TO OTHER CITIES AND OTHER CONTRACTS.

UM, AND OF COURSE THERE ARE A LOT OF BENEFITS TO THAT, INCLUDING, UH, THE INDEPENDENT

[01:15:01]

SO SOME OF THE CONSIDERATIONS OF COURSE, ARE COST AND TIME.

WE'RE NOT SURE IF WE'LL BE ABLE TO SWING THE FINANCES.

WE'RE LOOKING INTO IT AND WE'RE NOT SURE IF SOMEBODY WITHIN THE CITY WHO HAS AN AUDITOR ON STAFF COULD SPARE THEM TO SUPPORT THIS.

SO THIS IS A CONSIDERATION NEXT STEP.

THE OTHER CONSIDERATION WE ARE LOOKING AT IS WE WERE ALREADY LOOKING AT RELAUNCHING THE PROCESS FOR THE NEXT, UM, RFQ OR RFP, AND THIS IS THE REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS OR REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL TO HELP US SUPPORT WHATEVER THE NEXT THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATION CONTRACT IS.

SO WHEN THIS CONTRACT IS UP, WE WERE ALWAYS GONNA HAVE TO GO BACK OUT FOR BID BECAUSE THAT'S HOW IT IS WITHIN THE CITY.

UM, WE'RE NOT, WE WE AREN'T ABLE TO JUST CREATE ADDITIONAL EXTENSIONS BEYOND THE CONTRACT PERIOD.

WE HAVE TO GO BACK FOR A COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT.

AND THE LONG CENTER, OF COURSE, HAS EXPRESSED THEIR INTEREST IN REAPPLYING.

WHEN THIS DOES COME BACK UP, IF THIS IS, UM, THE DIRECTION THAT WE KEEP MOVING TOWARDS IF WE WANNA MAINTAIN OUR THIRD PARTY MODEL.

AND SO SOME KEY ACTIONS INCLUDE ISSUING THAT RFQ TESTING FOR MARKET COSTS.

THERE MIGHT BE A CHANGE IN EXPENSES, LOOKING AT SPECIFIC EX EXPERTISE IN THE COMMUNITY AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY, FIGURING OUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.

UM, WHEN WE GO BACK OUT AGAIN FOR OUR STAFF, IF THE LUNG CENTER DID NOT APPLY OR WERE NOT THE TOP CANDIDATE IN THAT PROCESS, UM, SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER WOULD BE THE TRANSITIONING OF PROGRAM ADMIN TO WHOEVER A NEW PERSON IS, WHICH COULD COME WITH SOME DELAYS.

AND SO THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING WE WOULD NEED TO PLAN FOR.

UM, THERE'S A LOT OF BENEFITS TO GOING BACK OUT.

OF COURSE, PROVIDING AN OPPORTUNITY TO BENCHMARK PRICING WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS AND LOOK AT SERVICES ACROSS THE MARKET.

OF COURSE, I MIGHT INTRODUCE THOSE UNKNOWN FACTORS AS WELL.

UM, PROCUREMENT AND TRANSITION TIMELINES COULD ABSOLUTELY DELAY PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION, POSSIBLY DELAYING LAUNCHES DEPENDING ON WHAT THE OUTCOME IS.

SO WE ARE GONNA START PLANNING FOR THIS INEVITABILITY NOW, UM, SOMETIMES WITHIN THE CITY THIS CAN TAKE 12 MONTHS OR 18 MONTHS TO GET THIS LAUNCHED AND OFF THE GROUND.

SO WE ALREADY HAVE OUR CONTRACT STAFF LOOKING INTO THIS TO MAKE SURE WE CAN GET AHEAD OF IT.

OUR CONTRACT WITH THE LONG CENTER IS NOT UP UNTIL 2028, SO WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME, SO WE'RE NOT PANICKING.

THE OTHER OPTION THAT WE HAVE BEEN ASKED TO CONSIDER AND PUT TOGETHER, UM, KIND OF A PLAN FOR FEASIBILITY ON IS WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE TO BRING THIS WORK FULLY BACK IN HOUSE? AND SO LOOKING INTO THIS, UM, THE PLANNING AND FEASIBILITY WILL HAVE TO BE PHASED BECAUSE RIGHT NOW WE ARE IN THE BUDGET CYCLE FOR FISCAL YEAR 26, 27.

AND SO SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE HAVE DONE IS LOOKED AT WHAT WOULD SOME OF THE STAFFING BE THAT WE WOULD NEED TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

AND WE HAVE ALREADY GONE AHEAD AND ADDED THOSE, UH, FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES, THOSE FTE REQUESTS INTO OUR BUDGET ENHANCEMENTS THAT WE PUT FORWARD.

ADDITIONALLY, THERE ARE OTHER NEEDS BESIDES HAVING A STAFF TO ACCOMPLISH THE WORK THAT WE DO.

WE NEED TO ASSESS TECHNOLOGY NEEDS, INTERNAL PROCESSING NEEDS, AND DEVELOP GOVERNANCE AND COMPLIANCE FRAMEWORK INTERNALLY.

SO THERE'S A LOT OF WORK THAT GOES INTO THIS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT.

UM, ADDITIONALLY, THIS WILL REQUIRE FUTURE BUDGET REQUESTS.

WE WON'T BE ABLE TO KNOCK IT OUT IN ONE BUDGET CYCLE.

AS YOU KNOW, IT'S A TIGHT BUDGET.

SO IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THE CITY WOULD CHOOSE TO DO, IT WOULD TAKE A FEW YEARS TO BUILD UP TO IT.

ADDITIONALLY, IT WOULD REQUIRE PROGRAM TRANSITION AND CHANGES IN PROGRAMMING, POTENTIALLY CHANGES IN THE SOFTWARE AND OTHER UNKNOWN CHANGES IF WE TRANSITION BACK TO THE CITY ON TOP OF, UM, OF COURSE, CONCERNS FOR HOW WE CAN MANAGE THE ONSLAUGHT OF PILING ON OF CONTRACTS.

SO AS WE ARE GETTING READY TO ENTER INTO 870 PLUS CONTRACTS, WE ARE FACING A LAUNCH THAT'S OPEN RIGHT NOW FOR GRANTS AND A LAUNCH THAT'S COMING FORWARD IN JULY.

AND SO VERY QUICKLY IT TURNS INTO THOUSANDS OF NEW CONTRACTS EVERY YEAR, MANY OF WHICH HAVE A TWO YEAR CYCLE.

SO WE REALLY HAVE TO THINK ABOUT OUR CAPACITY AS WE LOOK AT THIS NEXT SLIDE.

ALL RIGHT, SO WE'RE IN THE EXPLORATION PHASE.

SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE.

WE'RE SHARING AND BEING TRANSPARENT ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING.

WE'VE ALREADY TALKED WITH OUR PARTNERS AT THE LONG CENTER AND WE'RE JUST LOOKING AT THE BENEFITS OF ALL THESE OPTIONS AND WHAT SOME OF THE RISKS ARE.

SO WE CAN LOOK AT THIS AND PRESENT THAT TO OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM AS WE MOVE FORWARD.

ADMINISTRATOR VERY EARLY ON TO ADMINISTER THE LIVE MUSIC FUND.

I DID IT.

THAT'S IT, .

I APOLOGIZE IF IT WAS TOO MUCH INFORMATION TOO QUICKLY.

I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.

MORGAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, UH, PRESENTING THIS TODAY.

UM, AND WE REQUESTED THIS EARLIER AND, UH, IT'S, IT'S A VERY, UM, THOUGHTFULLY DONE, UH, UM, PRESENTATION AS WELL AS OF COURSE THE WORK THAT WENT BEHIND IT.

UH, IT JUST SEEMS LIKE A VERY BALANCED, UH, VIEW OF, UM, THIS, UM, UH, ISSUE, THIRD PARTY ISSUE.

JUST SO FOR COMMISSIONERS WHO WERE, UH, HAVE MORE RECENTLY JOINED, UH, THE MUSIC COMMISSION DID RECOMMEND A THIRD PARTY

[01:20:01]

AND, UH, SO WE HAD MADE THAT RECOMMENDATION AND VERY MUCH WERE IN SUPPORT OF HAVING A THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR, UM, UH, TO, TO ADMINISTER THESE GRANTS.

UH, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM THE COMMISSION.

COMMISSIONER ENGLAND, UH, CLAY ENGLAND, DISTRICT TWO.

HI MORGAN, HOW YOU DOING? THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THAT.

AND I KNOW THAT'S NOT THE FIRST TIME YOU'VE HAD TO SAY THAT EITHER.

UH, SO I APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND EFFORT AS WELL AS EVERYBODY ON STAFF.

UM, MY ONLY QUESTION FOR YOU IS THE CONSIDERATION OF BANDWIDTH WITHIN, UH, STAFF FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS.

UH, AS YOU STATED, YOU'RE ALREADY GOING INTO ANOTHER PHASE, RIGHT? UH, AND ALSO ALL OF THE GRANT AWARDEES BEING PUT OUT, PLUS WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IN JULY NEXUS THAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, UM, AS, AS WELL AS A LOT OF PUBLIC ATTENTION FOR THE THE THIRD PARTY ON THIS.

UM, MY QUESTION FOR YOU IS, DO YOU ALL FEEL THAT YOU HAVE THE ADEQUATE STAFF AND THE ADEQUATE BANDWIDTH TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH ALL OF THESE THINGS WITHIN A TIMELINE THAT MAKES SENSE FOR ALL OF THE PROGRAMS? SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.

UM, DIPLOMATICALLY, I WILL SAY WE, OUR CALENDAR OF LAUNCHES HAS CHANGED DRAMATICALLY WHEN, WHENEVER WE WERE THROWING THE CURVE BALL OF ACPI BEING CREATED AND, YOU KNOW, KIND OF HAVING TO BUILD THE PLANE AS WE WERE FLYING IT, I THINK IS THE ANALOGY PEOPLE WERE THROWING AROUND LAST YEAR.

IT'S BEEN QUITE A LOT.

THERE HAS BEEN, UM, AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF WORK THAT WENT INTO THE CREATIVE RESET AND THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMPLETELY REWRITING THE GRANT GUIDELINES.

LIKE, LIKE, I WON'T SUGARCOAT IT, THAT LIKE OUR STAFF HAS GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND AND WE'RE REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THE WORK THEY'VE DONE.

IT WAS A REALLY CHALLENGING FIRST LAUNCH FOR THESE PROGRAMS. I THINK WE'RE IN A PLACE RIGHT NOW WHERE WE CAN HANDLE WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, BUT WE ARE ALREADY FUTURE PLANNING FOR ONCE THOSE CONTRACTS GO OUT FOR THAT NEXT JULY LAUNCH, WHICH WILL BE ELEVATE, THRIVE AND THE LIVE MUSIC FUND AGAIN, RIGHT? PILING ON HUNDREDS OF MORE CONTRACTS.

LAURA IS WORKING REALLY STRATEGICALLY WITH HER TEAM TO THINK ABOUT WHAT THAT DIVISION OF WORK LOOKS LIKE.

SHE HAS, UM, YOU KNOW, NEW TEAM MEMBERS.

'CAUSE WE HAVE REALIGNED THE STAFF IN OUR DEPARTMENT OVER THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS.

SO WE'RE KIND OF LOOKING AT LIKE, WHAT DOES SUSTAINABILITY LOOK LIKE AND WHAT MORE SUPPORT DO WE NEED? SO AS WE GO INTO THIS BUDGET CYCLE, WE HAVE ALREADY REQUESTED MORE FINANCIAL STAFF, UM, TO HELP WITH CONTRACT COMPLIANCE, CONTRACT MANAGEMENT, BUT WE ARE KEENLY AWARE THAT WHAT WE'RE ASKING STAFF TO DO IS, IT'S TOO MUCH.

LIKE, IT WOULD BE, IT WOULD BE A LIE TO SAY THAT IT'S NOT.

SO WE ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT WORK WITH WHAT WE HAVE BECAUSE WE'VE MADE REQUESTS, BUT WILL WE GET THEM? WE DON'T KNOW.

IT'S A TIGHT BUDGET CYCLE AS YOU GUYS KNOW.

SO WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE AND, UM, I DO LOSE A LITTLE SLEEP OVER IT.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CANDOR.

I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.

A PUBLIC SERVANT AND, AND SOMETHING THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO EVERYBODY ON THIS TEAM IS IMPARTIALITY.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS THAT COMMISSIONER CARVAL, THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION THAT WAS SO THOUGHTFUL AND THOROUGH AND EVEN I COULD UNDERSTAND IT.

I THINK SO.

THAT WAS AWESOME.

UM, MY, IT'S MORE OF A COMMENT QUESTION ISH.

UM, DO WE EVER WORRY, UM, AS STAFF THAT MAYBE THIS WE COULD BE A LITTLE TOO REACTIONARY TO THINGS THAT HAPPEN ON THE INTERNET AND LIKE COMMENTS THAT ARE MADE OUTSIDE OF STAFF AND MUSIC COMMISSION THAT, UM, COULD SEEM TO BE SWAYING THE DIRECTION OF WHERE THEY SHOULD GO? AS IN LIKE, IT DOESN'T FEEL FROM WHERE I'M AT THAT IT'S A FLAWED SYSTEM.

IT'S A SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE TWEAKED A BIT AND IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE'S REALLY PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION ON HOW TO DO IT AND TO THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATH WATERS COULD BE AN OPTION HERE IF WE TAKE ENOUGH DIRECTION FROM SO MANY PEOPLE THAT THINK THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S NOT WORKING WHERE I HUMANLY DISAGREE, I THINK IT'S AN AWESOME PROGRAM AND I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT'S MISMANAGED, EVEN THOUGH I DON'T HAVE ANY REAL TRUE INSIGHT ON HOW IT WORKS.

I JUST, FROM SOMEBODY WHO TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE PROCESS AND IS HERE BECAUSE I DO LOVE THE PROCESS AND APPRECIATE WHAT IT DOES TO THE COMMUNITY, UM, I WOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT TAKING SO MUCH INPUT FROM OUTSIDE OF THE COMPANIES THAT ARE WORKING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? AM I BEING AN IDIOT? IT DOES.

I LOVE WHEN Y'ALL MAKE ME WORK TO FIND THE, THE DIPLOMACY INSIDE OF MY RESPONSE.

UM, , THAT'S AN ABSOLUTE CONCERN.

I WILL SAY A REALLY BIG PART OF BEING

[01:25:01]

YOU KNOW, WE, WE LISTEN TO UNDERSTAND, WE WANNA KNOW WHAT YOU THINK DOESN'T WORK, EVEN IF WE DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, LIKE THAT IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF WHAT WE DO.

AND AND IF YOU WATCH ANY CITY COUNCIL MEETING, YOU WILL SEE THE IMMENSE PATIENT OF EVERY COUNCIL MEMBER.

UM, OUR JOB IS TO HEAR FROM PEOPLE AND WE'RE HAPPY TO HEAR FROM THEM, BUT LISTENING DOES NOT MEAN WE SHOULD REACT, RIGHT? WE CREATED THESE GUIDELINES IN PARTNERSHIP WITH A LOT OF FOLKS IN THE COMMUNITY.

I KNOW EVERYBODY DOESN'T FEEL HEARD, BUT WE SET A STANDARD AND WE SAID, THESE GUIDELINES ARE GOOD FOR THREE YEARS.

WE ARE WILLING TO MAKE ITERATIVE CHANGES ALONG THE WAY, BUT WE ARE NOT WILLING TO MAKE REALLY BIG SWINGS OF CHANGES BASED ON NEGATIVE FEEDBACK OR BAD PUBLICITY.

UM, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO OUR STAFF, LIKE WE DO WANNA LISTEN IN HEAR.

AND ALSO ONE VOICE DOES NOT OUTWEIGH THE THOUSANDS OF OTHER PEOPLE THAT WE'RE ALSO HEARING FROM.

SO THERE'S ALSO LIKE A, A BIG BALANCE THAT WE ARE, ARE SEEKING AS WE'RE TRYING TO BE GOOD PUBLIC SERVANTS, GOOD STEWARDS OF THIS FUNDING AND GOOD PARTNERS TO EVERYBODY.

YOU KNOW, WE, WE HEAR A LOT OF BAD THINGS ABOUT US AND THAT CAN BE HARD TO HEAR.

SO WE SPEND A LOT OF TIME REFRAMING THE, THE COMMENTS THAT WE HEAR FROM THE COMMUNITY.

SO THANK YOU FOR THAT AND, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR FEEDBACK AROUND YOUR OPINIONS ON IT.

AND, UH, THANK YOU MORGAN FOR ADDRESSING THAT.

IT'S, UH, KIND OF DEFINITELY ON SOME OF OUR MINDS, UM, UM, UH, IT'S, UM, WHICH IS WHY, UH, I HAVE TO AGAIN, YOU KNOW, GIVE YOU KUDOS FOR SUCH A BALANCED, UH, PRESENTATION HERE.

UM, AND TO THAT END, UM, IT, IT'S PROBABLY A QUESTION I'VE NOT ASKED AND I'M PROBABLY NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT COMFORTABLE ASKING EITHER.

BUT, UM, I KNOW THE ARTICLES HAVE COME OUT IN AUSTIN CURRENT AND I ACTUALLY REALLY APPRECIATE, UM, ANDREA BALL, UH, LOOKING INTO, UM, ANY CONCERNS, UH, THAT MIGHT HAVE COME UP, UH, IF THERE ARE EVEN QUESTIONS THAT MIGHT HAVE COME UP AND, AND KIND OF PUTTING ATTENTION TO THAT.

UM, AND, AND THEN ALSO FROM WHAT YOU ALL ARE DOING FROM AN ACME PERSPECTIVE TO, UM, YOU KNOW, ANSWER PUBLIC CONSENTS LIKE YOU, LIKE YOU MENTIONED, UM, BUT SOMETIMES CAN THINK CAN THINGS CAN GET BLURRED.

AND I JUST WANNA ASK A DIRECT QUESTION.

I CAN SEE THAT THERE ARE GOVERNANCE ISSUES.

I CAN SEE THERE COULD BE IMPROVEMENTS MADE IN REPORTING SLAS, PERFORMANCE METRICS, AMENDMENTS TO BE MADE TO THE CONTRACT.

HAS THERE BEEN ANY FINDINGS OF WRONGDOING OR MALFEASANCE IN THIS ENTIRE PROCESS? NO.

UM, LAURA AND I, AS WE REVIEWED THE WORK, WE OF COURSE WE FOUND NO, NO UNDERLYING, UM, SHOCKERS THAT WOULD, YOU KNOW, INDICATE WE SHOULD MAKE MORE CHANGES MORE QUICKLY.

IF WE DID, WE WOULD BE TAKING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACHES FROM THIS MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE MODEL THAT WE'RE DOING NOW.

ADDITIONALLY, OUR CONTRACT MANAGER DIDN'T FIND ANY FINANCIAL FRAUD OR ANYTHING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT IN THAT FINANCIAL REALM.

OF COURSE, WE, LIKE I MENTIONED, ARE LOOKING AT ADDITIONAL LAYERS OF AUDIT TO JUST KIND OF BACK THE INTEGRITY OF OUR FINDINGS.

UM, WE HAVE REALLY GREAT PARTNERS, AS YOU KNOW, THIS IS A REALLY CHALLENGING PROCESS AND THERE ARE A LOT OF RUMORS, UM, MANY OF WHICH I HEAR, AND MANY OF WHICH ARE NOT ROOTED IN REALITY AND, AND ARE KIND OF MORE ROOTED IN FEAR OR, UM, MISUNDERSTANDING.

SO WE CAN DO A LOT BETTER TO COMMUNICATE ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING, BUT THERE HAS BEEN NO FRAUD THAT WE HAVE SEEN IN THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE.

THIS PARTNERSHIP IS, IS JUST QUITE STELLAR WHEN IT COMES TO JUST THAT ONE SINGLE THING.

THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THAT.

AND I THINK, YES, THAT IS, UM, I GUESS IT'S, THAT'S WHAT WOULD COME FROM, UH, CREATING MORE TRANSPARENCY AROUND THIS PROCESS, WHETHER IT'S THROUGH PUBLIC DASHBOARDS, WHETHER IT'S, UH, THROUGH, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, CREATING WAYS OF ACCOUNTABILITY, YOU KNOW, MORE INFORMATION AROUND, UH, THE GRANTS AND, UM, I THINK SOME KIND OF A PUBLIC FACING INFORMATION AROUND HOW THINGS ARE PANNING OUT THROUGH THE PROCESS, UM, I THINK WOULD ALLEVIATE, UM, ANY CONCERNS THAT MAY EXIST RIGHT NOW.

I DON'T REALLY THINK THEY'RE BROAD BASED, UH, BUT WE DO HEAR, UH, OR, OR THERE'S A PERCEPTION SOMETIMES AND I THINK, UH, I'M, I'M, YOU KNOW, THANKFUL THAT YOU JUST ADDRESSED THAT DIRECTLY AS WELL.

UM, OVERALL I DO WANNA MAYBE JUST SHARE SOME, YOU KNOW, COLLECTIVE THOUGHTS AROUND THIS PROCESS.

I THINK, UM, OVERALL THE MUSIC COMMISSION DID RECOMMEND THIS AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T RECOMMEND THE LONG CENTER, UH, DIRECTLY, BUT I UNDERSTAND THAT THAT WAS THE ONLY, UH, ORGANIZATION THAT ACTUALLY APPLIED, UM, AND WERE, WERE AVAILABLE TO AND WERE CAPABLE HAD SHOWED THE CAPABILITY TO, UH, ADMINISTER THESE GRANTS.

I THINK ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN, IN GRANT ADMINISTRATION WOULD BE HOW FAST DO YOU GET THE GRANT DOLLARS TO, UM, THE AWARDEES AND TO SEE THE TIMELINE CHANGE FROM 94 DAYS TO 10 DAYS.

UM, I REALLY THINK THAT IS, THAT IS SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION.

IT IS NOT A MARGINAL IMPROVEMENT.

SO I THINK WHAT WE HAVE GOTTEN THERE FROM IN THIS, IN, IN WITH

[01:30:01]

UM, I'VE ALSO, AND WE HAVE SEEN HOW QUICKLY WHEN THE IN-HOUSE SYSTEM DIDN'T WORK, WE WERE ABLE TO PIVOT TO SUBMITTABLE.

UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE ALSO, YOU KNOW, UH, IT HAS COME UP IN THE PAST WHERE, WHERE EVEN WITH THE CREATIVE RESET, IN THE SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME THAT WAS AVAILABLE TO BRING UP THE NEW APPLICATION FOR MULTIPLE GRANTS, IT WAS QUITE AMAZING HOW QUICKLY THAT APPLICATION WAS BROUGHT UP TO ROLL THE GRANTS OUT.

UM, SO OVERALL, I DON'T JUST REALLY SEE ANY STRUCTURAL ISSUES.

IT'S A MODEL THAT'S VERY CLEARLY WORKING FOR THE COMMUNITY.

AND TO WHAT YOU SAID, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT IS PROBABLY THE NEXT STEP WOULD BE LOOKING AT IMPROVEMENTS ESSENTIALLY FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WHAT ARE THE AMENDMENTS THAT ARE NEEDED, WHAT ARE THE PERFORMANCE METRICS, SLAS IN TERMS OF HOW QUICKLY SOMEBODY NEEDS TO RESPOND TO A COMMUNICATION, HOW QUICKLY DIFFERENT STEPS IN THE GRANT PROCESS NEED TO HAPPEN, BUILD SLAS AROUND IT AND, AND, AND HAVE PERFORMANCE METRICS.

UM, IT IS, IT IS A STRUCTURE THAT I THINK ALSO ALLOWS US VERY CLEARLY FASTER ITERATION.

UM, IT IS, AND, AND I SAW THIS NOTE ABOUT TASK-BASED BILLING, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S THE INDUSTRY'S STANDARD OR NOT, BECAUSE, BUT THE ADVANTAGE, IT CAN, IT CAN GO BOTH WAYS, PROS AND CONS, BUT THE ADVANTAGE OF HAVING TASK-BASED BILLING IS YOU ALSO GET MORE GRANULARITY AROUND WHERE THE DOLLARS ARE BEING SPENT, WHERE THE PUBLIC MONEY IS BEING SPENT.

SO I THINK WHETHER IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, A FIXED RATE OR A, OR A OR A TASK-BASED BILLING, UM, THE IDEA WOULD BE TO JUST HAVE THE RIGHT THRESHOLDS IN THE CONTRACT AROUND IT, YOU KNOW, UP TO WHAT AMOUNT YOU COULD SPEND, YOU KNOW, BILL, UH, FOR A CERTAIN TASK AND MAYBE IT NEEDS MORE APPROVALS AFTER THAT.

JUST HAVE THE RIGHT THRESHOLDS AROUND WHAT THAT WOULD ENTAIL.

AND, AND I ALSO SAW THAT YOU ARE REQUESTING MORE DETAILED ITEMIZATION AROUND, UH, THINGS LIKE THAT.

SO I DON'T THINK IT'S THE RIGHT OR WRONG THING AS MUCH AS IT IS JUST BUILDING THE RIGHT PARAMETERS AROUND SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

UM, AND, AND I THINK OVERALL I WOULD WORRY ABOUT DISRUPTING A MODEL THAT'S WORKING REALLY WELL FOR THE COMMUNITY AND, AND TRYING TO REINVENT THE WHEEL.

WE JUST HAD A CREATIVE RESET.

WE HAVE A NEW DEPARTMENT.

UM, IT IS A MODEL THAT HAS WORKED, I THINK VERY WELL, UH, THIS ROUND.

AND, UH, AND IT WOULD BE GREAT IF WE CAN LOOK INTO THE OPTION OF ESSENTIALLY IMPROVING THE CONTRACT, IMPROVING THE GOVERNANCE AROUND IT, AND UM, AND, AND JUST BUILDING FROM THERE RATHER THAN REINVENTING THE WHEEL.

UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS, UM, UH, LEGALLY BUILT IN OR YOU ARE REQUIRED TO GET THE NEW RFQ AT THIS POINT, BUT GIVEN HOW NEW THE CREATIVE RESET IS, IF WE CAN EVEN GET AN EXTENSION TO THAT, AND THIS IS MY PERSONAL VIEW, UM, TO THE LONG CENTER AND HAVE THEM ADMINISTER THE GRANTS A COUPLE MORE YEARS BEFORE WE GO IN AND DO AN RFQ, UM, I THINK EVEN THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL IN STABILIZING THE SYSTEM BECAUSE IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE THAT SOMEBODY OR THE DEPARTMENT ITSELF, UH, MIGHT BE CAPABLE OF ADMINISTERING THE GRANTS, UH, JUST, YOU KNOW, RIGHT, RIGHT AWAY AS SOON AS THEY GET THE CONTRACT, BUT THE CHANCES OF HAVING ISSUES IN THAT SYSTEM ARE ALSO PRETTY HIGH, UH, WITH SOMEBODY COMING IN REALLY FRESH.

SO I WOULD REALLY, UM, ENCOURAGE THE DEPARTMENT TO ESSENTIALLY LOOK AT IMPROVING WHAT WE HAVE IN HAND.

IT'S A MODEL THAT'S VERY CLEARLY WORKING FOR US.

UM, AND, AND JUST, JUST HOW BETTER PERFORMANCE METRICS, HOW BETTER EXPECTATIONS, UH, WRITTEN OUT IN THE, IN THE CONTRACT ITSELF, EXCUSE ME, UM, IN THE CONTRACT ITSELF.

SO, UM, I, I WOULD YIELD, UM, UH, TO MORGAN, IF YOU HAVE COMMENTS ON THAT OR ANY, UM, COMMISSIONERS WHO WANT TO HAVE FURTHER COMMENTS, I'LL, UM, I, I'LL JUST SAY I APPRECIATE ALL THAT FEEDBACK AND YOU KNOW, WE, WE TAKE EVERYTHING Y'ALL SHARE VERY SERIOUSLY AND, AND TAKE IT BACK AND TALK ABOUT IT THE NEXT DAY AFTER WE'VE HAD TIME TO SOAK IT ALL IN.

BUT JUST SOME IMMEDIATE THOUGHTS, I'LL, I'LL SAY, UM, THIS IS A REALLY UNIQUE CONTRACT FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND WE DIDN'T DEVELOP THIS CONCEPT OF LIKE TASK-BASED, YOU KNOW, INVOICING OR ALL OF THESE UNIQUE THINGS ABOUT THE CONTRACT.

UM, OUR TEAM DIDN'T COME UP WITH THOSE.

WE WORKED WITH THE PROCUREMENT OFFICE, THEY MANAGED THE WHOLE PROCESS AND HELPED US SET UP THE CONTRACT, WHICH IS A SUBSECT OF, UM, FINANCE WITHIN THE CITY, LIKE AT A CORPORATE LEVEL, NOT WITHIN OUR DEPARTMENT.

[01:35:01]

SO WE, WE WORKED, YOU KNOW, WITH CITY EXPERTS TO CREATE THIS REALLY UNIQUE MASTER AGREEMENT WITH SOMEBODY TO FULFILL THIS VERY COMPLICATED PROCESS.

THE FIRST YEAR WAS VERY CHALLENGING, AND EVERY YEAR SINCE THEN, WE HAVE IMPROVED UPON THAT.

WE HAVE BEEN REACTIVE WHERE IT'S BEEN APPROPRIATE FOR THINGS LIKE THE, THE SYSTEM THAT WE ARE USING.

IF YOU ALL EVER APPLIED UNDER OR REMEMBER THE PORTAL SYSTEM, WE GOT A LOT OF NEGATIVE FEEDBACK FROM BOTH OUR COMMISSIONS AS WELL AS FROM THE COMMUNITY.

AND THAT WAS SOMETHING THE LONG CENTER WAS ABLE TO HELP US IMPROVE UPON.

SO WE'VE MADE BIG SWINGS AND CHANGES WHERE IT MAKES SENSE AND OTHERWISE, YOU KNOW, CREATING THESE ITERATIVE IMPROVEMENTS OVER TIME IS A VERY NATURAL PART OF CONTRACT MANAGEMENT, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'RE THIS EARLY IN THAT.

SO THANK YOU.

UM, THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THAT NAGA VALLEY.

WE'LL, WE'LL TAKE IT BACK.

AND I ALSO JUST WANTED TO QUICKLY ASK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, ADMINISTRATIVE FEES COMES INTO PICTURE A LOT OF TIMES, AND I UNDERSTAND WE HAVE ADMINISTERED THROUGH THE LONG CENTER AROUND $49 MILLION IN GRANTS SO FAR.

UM, AND IF I LOOK AT THE NUMBERS, IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S SIX TO 7% OF THE TOTAL GRANTS THAT HAVE BEEN ADMINISTERED IN TERMS OF ADMINISTRATION FEE.

FIRST OF ALL, PLEASE CORRECT ME IF THAT NUMBER'S WRONG.

UM, BUT IS THAT, IS THAT PAR INDUSTRY STANDARD BELOW INDUSTRY STANDARD ABOUT INDUSTRY STANDARD? WHERE DOES THAT FALL? YES, GREAT QUESTION.

UM, IF LAURA'S STILL ABLE TO COME OFF MUTE, I'D LOVE TO DOUBLE CHECK THAT PERCENTAGE PERCENTAGE WITH HER OF, UM, WHAT THE COST COMPARISON IS.

I THINK YOU SAID SIX TO 7%, UM, IS THAT CORRECT? UH, THAT'S WHAT I SAID, BUT I'M, I'M NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT SURE ABOUT THAT NUMBER.

YEAH, YEAH.

HI, IT'S ME AGAIN.

UH, I'M PULLING IT UP RIGHT NOW, BUT IT DEPENDS ON EACH PROGRAM.

IT'S PULLING UP RIGHT NOW.

UM, SO IT'S 6.91% FOR OUR ADMIN COSTS OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.

UM, SO IT WAS $42 MILLION IN GRANT FUNDS AND JUST OVER $3 MILLION IN ADMIN COSTS AND AROUND 200,000 IN ONE-TIME COSTS.

UM, SO THAT BREAKS DOWN TO, UM, JUST UNDER 7% FOR THE ADMIN COST, UM, ADMIN FEE ACROSS ALL PROGRAMS. IT'S OBVIOUSLY HIGHER FOR SOME PROGRAMS LIKE THE LIVE MUSIC FUND WHERE THE ADMINISTRATION FROM THE LONG CENTER TEAM IS MUCH MORE HANDS ON WITH THE SCORING AND THE VERIFYING OF ALL THE EVIDENCE IN THE APPLICATIONS.

UM, AND IN PROGRAMS LIKE OUR HERITAGE PRESERVATION FUND, IT'S MUCH LOWER, BUT ALL, ALL IN IT'S JUST UNDER 7%.

AND I THINK BEING UNDER 10% IS LIKE A GOOD STANDARD, UM, FOR ADMIN OVERHEAD ON THE CONTRACT.

THANK YOU LAURA AND MORGAN, UH, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS? COMMISSIONER, I HAVE ONE QUESTION.

PLEASE GO AHEAD.

UH, SO RIGHT NOW YOU'RE SORT OF IN THE PROCESS OF EVALUATING THE DIFFERENT OPTIONS THAT YOU HAVE.

DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU EXPECT TO MAKE A DECISION OR, OR START LEANING TOWARDS A RECOMMENDATION? UM, BECAUSE I KNOW THE CLOCK IS TICKING BEFORE 2028, IT'LL GET HERE FASTER THAN WE EXPECT.

YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.

SO WE'RE ALREADY EXPLORING STARTING, UM, THE RFQ PROCESS AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF LIKE BACKEND PAPERWORK TO JUST EVEN GET THAT LAUNCHED.

SO WE'RE GONNA PURSUE DOING THAT ANYWAYS 'CAUSE THAT DOESN'T COST US ANY DOLLARS TO JUST GET THAT STARTED.

SO WE'RE DOING THAT AND AT ANY POINT WE CAN PAUSE IT IF WE NEED TO, IF WE DECIDE TO GO A DIFFERENT DIRECTION.

UM, FROM A FINANCIAL STANDPOINT FOR THE CONCEPT OF BRINGING THE PROGRAM BACK IN HOUSE, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE STARTED A BUDGET REQUEST ON AND THIS BUDGET CYCLE AND WE'LL HAVE TO BE BUILT UPON FOR A FEW YEARS.

SO WE'LL KNOW BY, UM, THIS SUMMER AS THEY MOVE INTO THE BUDGET CONVERSATIONS AT CITY COUNCIL, WHETHER OR NOT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT EVEN MADE IT TO THE TABLE TO CONVERSATE ABOUT.

'CAUSE THINGS GET CUT ALONG THE WAY AS THEY GET TO THAT POINT TO BALANCE THE BUDGET.

SO WE'LL KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING THEY'RE CAN CONSIDERING AND IF IT'S NOT SOMETHING THEY'RE CONSIDERING, THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NO WAY WE COULD BRING IT IN-HOUSE.

AND SO THAT WILL REMOVE ITSELF AS A CONTENDER FOR OPTIONS WE HAVE.

UM, AND THEN FOR THE CONCEPT OF LOOKING AT AN EXTERNAL AUDITOR, WHETHER THAT BE SOMEBODY WHO HAS AN AUDIT JOB TITLE WITHIN THE CITY OR SOMEBODY THAT WE CAN, UM, WORK WITH OUTSIDE THE CITY, THAT IS ALSO A BUDGET CONVERSATION THAT WE'LL KNOW MORE ON, YOU KNOW, OVER THE NEXT THREE MONTHS AS WE GO THROUGH BUDGET.

FUND, I, I, I DIDN'T QUITE UNDERSTAND, UM, THE CONTRACT WITH THE LONG CENTER.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER, CASADA? UM, I CERTAINLY APPRECIATE THIS CONVERSATION.

I REMEMBER WHEN I JOINED THE COMMISSION, I THINK IT WAS IN 20 23, 1 OF THE FIRST QUESTIONS I HAD WAS, WHAT'S UP WITH THE LONG CENTER? HOW DOES THAT WORK? YOU KNOW, FROM, YOU KNOW, WITH THE LIVE MUSIC

[01:40:01]

AND THEN AS WE'VE PROGRESSED, I MEAN, I TOO THINK THAT IT'S AN INCREDIBLE PARTNERSHIP.

I HAD QUESTIONS, I THINK IT'S ANY INTELLIGENT PERSON WOULD HAVE QUESTIONS AND DIVE INTO THE NUANCE OF WHAT EVERYTHING MEANS.

BUT, UM, I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF THIS MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE.

UM, I THINK IT'S ALMOST LIKE A, YOU KNOW, UM, WITH SCIENCE YOU WANT TO KEEP THE EXPERIMENT RATHER STEADY AND THEN CHANGE THINGS SLOWLY TO SEE HOW IT REACTS.

AND THAT TO ME SEEMS, UM, LIKE A HEALTHY, UM, PROCESS THAT YOU ALL ARE VERY MUCH UNDERTAKING.

AND IN TERMS OF NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS, UM, I THINK WHAT WE'RE, I DON'T WANNA COMPARE THIS TOO MUCH 'CAUSE I'M OUT OF MY ELEMENT WITH THIS, BUT FISCAL SPONSORSHIPS FOR, IF YOU HAVE AN UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION THAT'S GIVING A NONPROFIT, MANAGING A GRANT, BECAUSE MAYBE THEY'RE NOT A FULL ON NONPROFIT.

I MEAN, THAT FISCAL SPONSORSHIP ADMIN FEE CAN BE ANYWHERE FROM FIVE TO 15% IF NOT MORE.

SO I THINK THAT THE SIX TO 7% IS RIGHT ON TARGET THERE.

SO, UM, BASED ON THE DATA AND THE THE PLAN THAT YOU ALL HAVE, IT SEEMS EXTREMELY THOUGHTFUL AND I THINK IT IS DEFINITELY HEALTHY FOR OUR COMMUNITY TO ASK QUESTIONS AND YOU ALL PROVIDE ANSWERS, BUT I THINK YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK.

AND I'M, I AM VERY THANKFUL FOR THE TRANSPARENCY AND, UM, AND, UM, AND EXPLORING THE WHOLE PROCESS.

AND IF ANYTHING, WE CAN CIRCLE BACK AROUND TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN, LIKE PERMITTING PROCESS, YOU KNOW, , LET'S NOT GO THERE.

LET'S LET'S JUST APPLAUD WHAT WE HAVE SO FAR AND, UM, MAINTAIN AND IMPROVE.

I REALLY ENJOYED SEEING THAT IN YOUR PRESENTATION.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

AND I DID REACH OUT TO COMMISSIONER ENGLAND AND RAJO ON THE PERMITTING PROCESS, SO IF YOU GUYS HAVEN'T SEEN THAT EMAIL YET, HIT ME BACK.

WE WANNA GET TOGETHER AND TALK MORE ABOUT IT.

THANK YOU, COMM COMMISSIONER CASADA.

UM, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING? UM, THANK YOU.

UM, YES, UM, I WANTED TO CHECK IN WITH THE COMMISSION AND UH, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN VOTE ON, UM, NEXT TIME BECAUSE, UH, UM, SHALL WE JUST, AGAIN, I'M TALKING WORKING GROUP, THE DREADED WORD WORKING GROUP.

UH, CAN WE, UM, CAN WE, UM, VOTE TO WE TO GET A WORKING GROUP GOING THIS TIME? OR DO I HAVE TO ADD THAT AS A DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEM NEXT TIME? YEAH, SO I THINK FOR THE NEXT, UH, NEXT MONTH'S AGENDA, I WOULD, I WOULD SUGGEST THAT WE VOTE ON, UH, POTENTIALLY AT LEAST CONSIDER, UH, CREATING A SMALL WORKING GROUP TO BE ABLE TO GET BACK, UM, TO CITY STAFF, UH, AS TO, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, HOW WE, IF WE HAVE ANY THOUGHTS AROUND, UH, THIS CONTRACT, UM, AND THE CURRENT CONTRACT AS WELL AS, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, DOING THIS CONTRACT WITH LONG CENTER IN FUTURE.

UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS? THANK YOU.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, FOR THE PRESENTATION AGAIN.

UH, COMMISSIONERS.

MORGAN, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE? UH, I DO NOT.

IF Y'ALL HAVE ANY FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS, YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND ME.

UM, I'M GONNA STAY ON IN CASE I CAN HELP WITH ANY FUTURE CONVERSATION TONIGHT, BUT I'M GONNA GO OFF CAMERA.

TO DISCUSSION ITEMS. WE HAVE SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST 2026, UPDATE BY DEV SHERLOCK, DIRECTOR SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE, AND BRIAN HOPS, VICE PRESIDENT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST MUSIC.

OKAY, MOVING ON TO, HOLD ON GUYS.

I'VE LOST TRACK OF MY, UH, SHEET HERE.

CARRYING AN OLD ONE, LOOKING AT AN OLDER ONE.

[7. South by Southwest 2026 update by Dev Sherlock, Director, South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference, and Brian Hobbs Vice President, SXSW Music.]

UM, THANK YOU DEV AND UH, BRIAN FOR BEING HERE THIS EVENING.

HELLO, MY NAME IS DEV SHERLOCK.

I'M DIRECTOR OF MUSIC FOR SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.

I'M BRIAN HOBBS, UH, VP OF MUSIC FESTIVAL AT SOUTH BY, UH, TONIGHT WE JUST HAVE A QUICK RECAP OF SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST 2026.

AND, UH, MOVING TO THE NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

I'LL START WITH AN OVERVIEW OF WHAT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST THIS YEAR LOOKED LIKE FOR AUSTIN ARTISTS.

UM, YEAR ON

[01:45:01]

YEAR, WE'LL SEE THAT THE NUMBERS HAVE INCREASED IN TERMS OF NOT JUST INVITATIONS FOR AUSTIN ARTISTS.

WE WERE AT 250 THIS YEAR, BUT OVERALL NUMBER OF PERFORMANCES, UH, WHICH WERE SHOWCASE SETS THAT THE ARTISTS PLAYED, WERE AT 332 THIS YEAR, UH, WHICH IS A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT NUMBER.

UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

WE HAD NUMEROUS OFFICIAL SHOWCASE PRESENTERS FROM AUSTIN.

UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

UM, REPRESENTING NEARLY 20% OF OUR OVERALL 176 TOTAL PRESENTERS, AND THESE ARE PRESENTERS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.

EVERYTHING FROM TOKYO CALLING TO BRITISH MUSIC EMBASSY TO WARNER, LATINO, UM, WARNER LATIN RATHER, SORRY.

SO THE FACT THAT AUSTIN WAS REPRESENTED WITH AT LEAST 32 LOCAL PRESENTERS IS A PRETTY SIGNIFICANT NUMBER IN THE MIX OF ALL THE STUFF THAT WE DO PRESENT FROM ALL OVER THE GLOBE.

UM, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.

UM, THERE ARE ALSO SOME REALLY HIGH PROFILE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THESE ARTISTS, INCLUDING ON THE ROLLING STONE STAGE, STUBBS, BBC, INTRODUCING THE RADIO DAY STAGE AND THE BILLBOARD STAGE.

UM, SO I JUST THINK IN BRIEF IT WAS A REALLY IMPACTFUL YEAR FOR AUSTIN ARTISTS.

WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF PRESS AND A LOT OF, UH, BUSINESS BEING DONE WITH THESE ARTISTS, UH, IN THE AFTERMATH.

I EVEN HEARD, UH, A BAND ON BBC THE OTHER NIGHT WHEN I WAS LISTENING TO STEVE LEMACK, WHO'S ONE OF THE MORE INFLUENTIAL DJS IN THE WORLD.

HE, UH, FOUND A BAND CALLED MUGGER THAT HE STUMBLED ACROSS AT, UH, I THINK IT WAS CHESS CLUB, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN.

UM, SO YEAH, WE FEEL IT WAS A REALLY GOOD YEAR FOR AUSTIN ARTISTS AND WE HOPE TO CONTINUE DOING THAT.

UM, I'M GONNA HAND OVER TO NOW TO BRIAN WHO CAN KIND OF ZOOM OUT AND GIVE A BROADER OVERVIEW OF THE FESTIVAL THIS YEAR.

YEAH, UM, I DON'T HAVE ANY SLIDES, SO WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT, BUT I MEAN, BASICALLY I THINK THE BIGGEST GOAL FOR US THIS YEAR, YOU KNOW, WE TOOK IT INCREDIBLY PERSONALLY WHENEVER EVERYONE TRIED TO BASICALLY BURY US AND SAY THAT MUSIC WAS DONE AT SOUTH BY AND MUSIC'S DEAD AT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.

SO WE SPENT AN ENTIRE YEAR JUST COMING UP WITH WAYS TO PROVE THAT THAT WAS INCORRECT.

AND I THINK THAT WE ACCOMPLISHED THAT THIS YEAR.

OUR OVERALL MUSIC ATTENDANCE AT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST 2026 WAS UP 20% FROM 2025.

AND OUR BIGGEST, LIKE THE BIGGEST PEAK DAY THAT WE HAD WAS ACTUALLY DOUBLE THE ATTENDANCE OF 2025.

SO, YOU KNOW, MUSIC REALLY, REALLY CAME IN BIG THIS YEAR.

YOU KNOW, WE HEAR A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY THAT THEY WANT TO SEE THE BIGGER HEADLINERS COME BACK, LIKE, YOU KNOW, FROM 10, 12 YEARS AGO.

AND I FEEL LIKE WE DID A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF BRINGING THAT BACK THIS YEAR.

BUT, YOU KNOW, WE NEVER STRAY AWAY FROM THE TALENT DISCOVERY ASPECT.

WE ENDED UP INVITING ABOUT 1200 TOTAL ARTISTS AND BANDS THIS YEAR UP ABOUT 200 FROM THE YEAR BEFORE.

AND WE HAD AN EXTRA NIGHT OF MUSIC PROGRAMMING.

I'VE BEEN AT SOUTH BY SINCE 2012, SO I DON'T WANNA SAY THAT THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE.

'CAUSE I DON'T KNOW, YOU KNOW, THE THE NUMBER OF DAYS OF EVERY YEAR, BUT AT LEAST SINCE I'VE BEEN HERE, WE'VE NEVER DONE SEVEN NIGHTS OF MUSIC BEFORE.

WE'VE NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED IT.

SO WE DID SEVEN NIGHTS OF MUSIC THIS YEAR AND EVERY NIGHT THERE WAS PACKED VENUES FOR US.

NOT SEEING PEOPLE STANDING AROUND ON THE STREETS IS A GOOD THING.

'CAUSE THAT MEANS THAT PEOPLE ARE INSIDE THE ROOMS SPENDING MONEY AT THE VENUES AND, AND SEEING THE ARTISTS THAT WE'RE PROGRAMMING.

SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED TO SEE OUR ATTENDANCE NUMBERS FROM THIS YEAR.

ANOTHER THING THAT I THINK IS A REALLY GOOD SIGN WAS THAT A LOT OF THE BRAND PARTNERS CAME BACK AND SUPPORTED MUSIC WHO HADN'T BEEN SUPPORTING MUSIC A LOT, ESPECIALLY SINCE, YOU KNOW, POST, UM, YOU KNOW, COVID PANDEMIC SHUTDOWN YEARS.

WE HADN'T SEEN A LOT OF THESE BIG BRANDED PARTNERS COME IN AND PUT INVESTMENTS BEHIND MUSIC, AND THEY DID COME BACK AND DO THAT THIS YEAR.

NO, WE HAD SPOTIFY, UNDER ARMOUR, RIVIAN SUPERHUMAN, AND YAHOO ALL CAME IN AND SUPPORTED MUSIC SPECIFICALLY THIS YEAR.

SO I THINK THAT'S A VERY GOOD SIGN FOR THE FUTURE.

WE BROUGHT BACK THE, YOU KNOW, THE CLASSIC SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST UNDERPLAY FOR SOME OF THESE REALLY BIG BANDS.

SPECIFICALLY LIKE DEV MENTIONED, THE, UM, LOS LOBOS AT CONTINENTAL CLUB WAS HUGE.

WE HAD, YOU KNOW, NOAH KHAN WHO JUST SOLD OUT A SUMMER STADIUM TOUR IN LIKE ONE DAY, PLAYED FOR 500 PEOPLE AT VENUE SIX.

I MEAN, THOSE ARE ALL CLASSIC SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST KIND OF MOVES.

SO WE'RE REALLY EXCITED TO BRING A COUPLE OF THOSE BACK THIS YEAR.

UM, MUSIC WRISTBAND SALES JUST BLEW PAST OUR PROJECTIONS, WHICH WAS, YOU KNOW, PROJECTIONS DON'T GET SET LOW AROUND THERE.

SO TO BE ABLE TO BLOW PAST THE PROJECTIONS ON SOMETHING MUSIC RELATED, AS ALWAYS, SUPER EXCITING, UH, MULTIPLE VENUES SET SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST ALCOHOL

[01:50:01]

SALES RECORDS.

WE HEARD BACK FROM A, FROM AT LEAST A HANDFUL OF VENUES WHO SAID, YOU KNOW, SATURDAY NIGHT OR SUNDAY NIGHT, BIGGEST ALCOHOL SALES WE'VE EVER HAD DURING SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.

SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK WHAT'S, WHAT'S GOOD FOR THEM IS GOOD FOR US.

SO THAT WAS REALLY EXCITING TO HEAR IT TOO.

BUT OVERALL, I THINK THIS WAS A VERY SUCCESSFUL YEAR FOR MUSIC AT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.

YEAH, I THINK WE HEARD FROM LOWDOWN THAT THEY RANG THEIR BIGGEST SINGLE NIGHT IN THEIR HISTORY DURING SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST THIS YEAR.

SO, UH, AND WE'RE ALSO HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

CLAYTON ENGLAND, DISTRICT TWO.

THANK YOU, UM, DEV AND BRIAN FOR, UH, BEING HERE AND PROVIDING US THIS UPDATE.

UM, UM, HAVE A GREAT APPRECIATION FOR, UH, THE FESTIVAL AND WHAT IT BRINGS ECONOMICALLY, UM, AND CREATIVELY FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

UH, AND OF COURSE WITH US SITTING HERE AT THE MUSIC MISSION, WE ARE VERY WELL AWARE OF THE HOT TAXES.

THAT'S SOMETHING AN ENTITY LIKE SOUTH BY OR ACL AND FORMULA ONE.

YOU ARE KIND OF SOME OF THE VERY KEY PLAYERS IN THIS, UM, IN THIS TOWN THAT BRING HOT REVENUE THAT THEN FEEDS INTO CREATIVE GRANTS, WHICH HAS BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, MAJORITY OF THE DISCUSSION HERE TODAY.

UM, I WILL YIELD TO THE COMMISSION TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS OR IF THEY HAVE ANY COMMENTS, PLEASE.

COMMISSIONER ENGLAND.

HI Y'ALL.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE AND ESPECIALLY YOUR PATIENCE AS WE GO THROUGH EVERYTHING ELSE HERE IN THE COMMISSION.

I KNOW IT CAN BE KIND OF LATE SOMETIMES, SO, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

UM, UH, I HEAR WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, UH, ESPECIALLY AS SOMEONE WHO'S MANAGED SMALL VENUES AND LARGE VENUES HERE IN TOWN WHO ALSO PLAYS AND HAS TOURED, UH, THERE WAS A BIT MORE OF A BUZZ WITH EVERYBODY.

YOU KNOW, EVERYONE KIND OF FELT LIKE IT WASN'T GONNA BE, AND IT WAS SURPRISING IN A GOOD WAY, I THINK, FOR EVERYONE.

UM, SO I THINK THAT THAT'S WONDERFUL.

MY QUESTION FOR YOU ALL IS, UM, AFTER HUGH'S DEPARTURE, UH, BECAUSE OF, UH, PENSKE AS FAR AS I UNDERSTAND, UH, AND THEN APPOINTING, IS IT JENNY? CORRECT? YEAH, JENNY CONLEY IS THE ACTING CEO.

RIGHT, RIGHT.

UH, AND SHE, DID YOU, HAVE YOU SEEN ANY MAJOR SHIFTS FROM WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE INTERNALLY? UH, AS FAR AS HOW THE PROGRAM IS MOVING FORWARD, NOT JUST WITH LIKE TIMES, BUT MUSIC PROGRAMMING? UH, HAS THERE BEEN A SHIFT IN THE EMPHASIS AT ALL? UH, BECAUSE OF THAT KIND OF SHAKE UP AND, AND RESTRUCTURING OF, UM, OPERATIONS? I WOULD SAY THAT WE MADE A LOT OF CHANGES THIS YEAR.

A LOT OF THEM WERE SMALL TWEAKS THAT MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN NOTICEABLE EXTERNALLY.

UM, BUT JENNY DID ALLOW US TO HAVE THE FREEDOM TO SORT OF MAKE THESE CHANGES.

YOU KNOW, IN AN INSTITUTION THAT'S BEEN GOING FOR 40 YEARS, THERE'S A LOT OF SET WAYS OF DOING THINGS.

SO THIS YEAR WE WERE CHALLENGED TO RETHINK THE WAY WE APPROACH A LOT OF THINGS.

ONE EXAMPLE OF THAT IS THAT WE TOOK SOME OF OUR BUDGET AND APPLIED IT TO, UM, SUPPLYING BACKLINE AT EVERY SINGLE VENUE BECAUSE OCCASIONALLY IT'S BEEN A, A PROBLEM WITH BACKLINE, SOME VENUES HAVE IT, SOME DON'T.

SOMETIMES THE BANS GET TOGETHER TO, TO PROVIDE BACKLINE.

THIS YEAR WE SOLVED THAT PROBLEM BY JUST RENTING THE BACK LINE OURSELVES, SETTING IT IN EVERY VENUE FOR ALL SEVEN NIGHTS AND, YOU KNOW, ABSOLVED THAT ISSUE NOT JUST FOR OURSELVES AND OUR STAGE MANAGERS, BUT FOR THE BANDS MORE IMPORTANTLY.

SO THAT'S ONE EXAMPLE OF WHERE HER IMPACT HAS ALLOWED US TO KIND OF RETHINK AND, AND CHANGE THINGS.

UM, OTHER THAN THAT, I THINK IT'S REALLY, I MEAN, WE HAVE BEEN GRANTED A FEW THINGS, YOU KNOW, UM, IN TERMS OF THE EMPHASIS ON THE COMMS AND THE PUBLICITY FOR MUSIC.

UM, THEY ARE MUSIC FANS THAT REALIZE THAT MUSIC IS REALLY THE HEART AND SOUL OF SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST IN MANY WAYS.

UM, SO I THINK WE WERE MAYBE LOOKED AFTER A LITTLE BIT THIS YEAR.

UM, BRIAN, YEAH, I MEAN JUST, I'LL JUST SAY IT JUST LIKE THIS.

WE GOT MORE SUPPORT IN INSIDE OUR BUILDING IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS THAN THE MUSIC TEAM SPECIFICALLY THAN WE HAD GOTTEN IN A REALLY, REALLY LONG TIME.

I THINK IT SHOWS SOME.

YEAH, I REALLY DO.

MM-HMM.

UM, MY ONLY OTHER QUESTION FOR YOU, THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE, UH, IS I KNOW THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF EXTRA HURDLES AS FAR AS OPERATIONS AND LOGISTICS WERE CONCERNED WITH THE LACK OF FACILITY FOR THE CONVENTION CENTER.

MM.

RIGHT.

AND, AND HOW THAT PLAYED OUT.

AND, UH, AT LEAST WHAT THE INTERNET TELLS ME IS THAT, UH, EVERYONE DID A REALLY GREAT JOB AS FAR AS REDISTRIBUTING WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE AS FAR AS LABOR FORCE WAS CONCERNED, UH, SCHEDULING WHAT THE FLOW LOOKED LIKE TOO.

UM, AND I'M CURIOUS, UH, BECAUSE OF THE USE OF MORE INDEPENDENT ENTITIES FOR WHAT THE, THE PLANNING PROCESS LOOKED LIKE FOR THE, UM,

[01:55:01]

YOU KNOW, UM, WHAT WORD AM I LOOKING FOR? EVERYONE WHO'S SHOWING UP ALL OF THE, UH, CREDENTIALS, THE WHOLE ENTIRE PROCESS, LIKE THE PRE-PLANNING PROCESS FOR, FOR LOGISTICS, THE LOGISTICS ASPECT, RIGHT? THE WHOLE THING.

UM, ARE YOU GOING TO CONTINUE USING, UM, INDEPENDENT ENTITIES TO DO THAT ACROSS THE CITY? BECAUSE I THINK THAT KIND OF BROUGHT EVERYONE AROUND THE CITY A LITTLE BIT BETTER, UH, IN MY OPINION.

AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE VERSUS USING THE CONVENTION CENTER, BUT DO YOU PLAN ON TRYING TO UTILIZE THAT MORE OR ARE YOU GOING BACK TO THE CONVENTION CENTER, UH, AS THE MAIN HUB? I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY OUTSIDE OF, UH, ME AND DEB'S JOB SCOPE TO EVEN KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT RIGHT NOW.

FAIR ENOUGH.

BUT WHILE WE DON'T HAVE A CONVENTION CENTER AT ALL, WE WILL ABSOLUTELY CONTINUE TO BUILD ON THE FOUNDATION THAT WE LAID THIS YEAR.

AND I THINK THAT, UH, THE, THE MUSIC, THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT WAS PROBABLY THE, UH, THE LEAST, UM, NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BY NOT HAVING A, A CENTRAL HUB IN A CONVENTION CENTER.

WE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WANTED TO BE ABLE TO DO THINGS IN MORE MUSIC VENUES AND YOU KNOW, ESPECIALLY THINGS LIKE OUR DEMO LISTENING SESSIONS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE A BAND WHO CAME TO SOUTH BY SIGNED UP FOR A DEMO LISTENING AND YOU'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO PLAY, YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU THINK IS YOUR BEST SONG IN FRONT OF AN A AND R THAT YOU'RE A FAN OF, AND THEN YOU GET IN THERE AND IT'S, YOU KNOW, SPEAKER ON A STICK IN A CONVENTION CENTER ROOM VERSUS BEING IN A MUSIC VENUE REALLY LIKED BEING ABLE TO PUT THAT INTO A MUSIC VENUE THIS YEAR.

SO THAT WAS, THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT WE WERE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT AND I, WE WILL JUST CONTINUE TO BUILD ON THAT.

AND THEN ONCE THE CONVENTION CENTER'S BACK, WE WILL WORK WITH WHATEVER THEY TELL US TO WORK WITH .

I MEAN, WE WERE ALSO, WE WERE ABLE TO PUT A STAGE OUT IN THE BACKYARD OF RIGHT, THE DOWNRIGHT HOTEL.

WE HAD A RADIO DAY STAGE, UM, AND WE HAD A GLOBAL STAGE AT NIGHT OUT THERE.

AND THAT CREATED MORE OF A MUSIC VIBE.

WE WERE ABLE TO DO A LOT MORE.

AND I THINK WE'RE LOOKING TO LEAN INTO THAT EVEN FURTHER NEXT YEAR.

AND THERE WE HAD A LOT OF REALLY COOL IDEAS FOR THE MUSIC HUB THAT WE DIDN'T QUITE GET TO THIS YEAR, BUT WE HOPE TO DO THAT IN THE NEXT YEAR OR TWO.

SO TO BRIAN'S POINT, WE WERE PROBABLY THE LEAST DISAPPOINTED ABOUT NEEDING TO SORT OF MOVE OUT OF THE CONVENTION CENTER.

WONDERFUL.

THANK YOU ALL.

APPRECIATE IT VERY MUCH.

UM, COMMISSIONER CARVAL, THANKS FOR COMING ON AND TALKING TO US.

UM, REALLY APPRECIATE IT AND THANKS FOR, AGAIN, FOR STAYING THROUGH THE REST OF THIS.

I APPRECIATE Y'ALL HAVING US .

I ABSOLUTELY, I'M HUGE FAN OF MUSIC OF AUSTIN, OF SOUTH BY, IT'S KIND OF ALL ONE AND THE SAME TO ME AT THIS POINT.

UM, SO THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO.

ALSO, UM, NOT SUPER CRAZY QUESTIONS, BUT THE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'VE ALWAYS REALLY APPRECIATED ABOUT SOUTH BY AND JUST THE SHEER LIKE VOLUME OF PEOPLE AND ARTISTS BEING IN ONE SPACE IS, AND I, IT FEELS LIKE IT'S LESS AND LESS NOW AND I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHY.

OR MAYBE I JUST DON'T NOTICE IT AS MUCH.

IS THERE USED TO, I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO ASK THIS.

AND UM, AND I MEAN IT, WITH ALL THE SUPPORT THAT I HAVE FOR SOUTH BY, IT'S JUST, IS THERE A PLAN TO KEEP MUSICIANS IN THE EYES OF TALENT AGENCIES AND AGENTS OUT THERE THAT ARE LOOKING TO ACQUIRE THESE ARTISTS FOR THEIR LABELS OR, UM, 'CAUSE THAT WAS SUCH A COOL OPPORTUNITY.

IT'S BEEN AN OPPORTUNITY.

I'M SURE IT'S NOT GONE, BUT IS THERE A PLAN TO ENFORCE THAT OR TO EVEN MAKE IT BETTER MOVING FORWARD, OR TO GIVE ARTISTS A BIGGER CHANCE AND BIGGER PLATFORMS TO BE ABLE TO SIGN TO AGENCIES AND RECOGNIZE? I MEAN, IT DEFINITELY STILL HAPPENS OUT HERE EVERY YEAR.

UM, I MEAN, IT'S, WE CAN'T, I, I DON'T THINK WE CAN, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T FORCE ANYBODY TO COME TO SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.

ME, I'M JUST KIDDING, .

BUT, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR GOAL IS TO HELP EVERY ARTIST GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL OF THEIR CAREER, NO MATTER WHAT RIGHT LEVEL THEY'RE CURRENTLY AT.

SO IF IT IS, IF THEY'RE AT THE LEVEL WHERE THEY'RE LOOKING FOR A BOOKING AGENT OR A, YOU KNOW, A A VERY EXPERIENCED MANAGER, WE ARE GONNA GIVE THEM THE, THE PLACE TO GET IN FRONT OF THEM.

WE JUST, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THEY'RE, IF THEY COME TO TOWN, THEY COME TO TOWN, RIGHT? AND I THINK THE LAST TWO YEARS SPECIFICALLY, WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAD TAKEN SOME YEARS OFF COME BACK AND ARE, AND THEN AS FAR AS INDUSTRY PEOPLE GO, AND THEN THEIR FEEDBACK TO US IS LIKE, DAMN, I HAD A BETTER TIME AT SOUTH BY THAN I DID 10 YEARS AGO.

'CAUSE IT'S, IT'S STILL, YOU KNOW, IT'S A CHAOTIC BEAST, BUT IT'S E IT'S A LOT EASIER TO MANAGE IN 2025 AND 2026 THAN IT WAS IN 2010 TO 2015.

IF YOU'RE COMING OUT HERE AS AN AGENT, THERE'S, IT'S EASIER TO CUT THROUGH WHEN THERE'S NOT 2200 BANDS BEING INVITED.

IF THERE'S HALF THAT NUMBER, IT'S A LOT EASIER TO, YOU KNOW, FIND WHO YOU'RE LOOKING FOR AND

[02:00:01]

BE ABLE TO GO SEE.

IT'S NOT, YOU'RE NOT GETTING LOST IN THE MIX AS MUCH.

RETURNING TO THE EARLIER POINT ABOUT THE ROOMS BEING FULL AND THE STREETS BEING LESS FULL, ALSO, MORE IMPORTANTLY, IS A LOT OF THE FEEDBACK WE GOT IS THAT THE ROOMS WERE FULL WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE.

THE PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY THAT WERE THERE TO DO BUSINESS WITH THE BANDS, THAT'S WHAT I MEANT.

AND DISCOVER TALENT AND, AND FIND THEM.

AND I THINK IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT FOR US TO EMPHASIZE THAT IN TERMS OF REPRESENTATION, THERE WERE MORE ARTISTS FROM AUSTIN THAN REALLY ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA.

MORE THAN GREAT BRITAIN, MORE THAN AUSTRALIA, MORE THAN CANADA, MORE THAN, YOU KNOW, THESE TRADITIONALLY BRING VERY LARGE DELEGATIONS OF ARTISTS.

UM, AND THE BAR THAT WE SET FOR INVITING AN ARTIST AND WE GET THOUSANDS OF APPLICATIONS AND WE SPEND OUR WHOLE SUMMER IN AUTUMN GRADING THESE APPLICATIONS.

THE BAR IS QUITE HIGH TO INVITE AN ARTIST FROM ANY OTHER REGION IN THE WORLD.

BUT WHEN IT COMES TO AUSTIN ARTISTS, WE WANT THEM TO HAVE THAT SAME OPPORTUNITY THAT THESE EXPORT READY ACTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD HAVE.

AND, YOU KNOW, A VERY LIMITED NUMBER OF THESE ACTS GET TO COME AND SHOWCASE IT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST AUSTIN.

ARTISTS ON THE OTHER HAND, WERE A LOT MORE OPEN TO GIVING THEM THAT OPPORTUNITY AND LETTING THEM BE ON THAT SAME STAGE AND HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITY THAT THESE SORT OF READY TO BREAKTHROUGH ARTISTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD ARE HERE GETTING.

SO I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT THESE ARTISTS VALUE AND THAT WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE FOR THEM.

AND IN ADDITION TO THESE PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES, THERE'S ALSO THE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE CONFERENCE, THE MENTOR SESSIONS THAT WE OFFER, THE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

YOU KNOW, FOR AN ARTIST TO BE ABLE TO BE IN THAT MIX AT, WITH A LEVEL OF ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD AT WHAT IS, YOU KNOW, THE WORLD'S LARGEST MUSIC SHOWCASE EVENT IS A PRETTY GREAT OPPORTUNITY.

UM, BUT WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT WE'RE HERE SET UP IN THEIR BACKYARD FOR A WEEK USING ALL OF THEIR VENUES AND, AND ALL THAT SORT OF THING TOO.

SO IT'S A MUTUAL RESPECT, I THINK THAT WE AFFORD THEM.

UH, COMMISSIONER CARDENAS, UH, CLARIS CARD IN THIS DISTRICT THREE.

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH.

I KNOW WE KIND OF TALKED EARLIER ABOUT THERE BEING SOME UPHILL CHALLENGES OF EVERYTHING BEING SPREAD OUT, BUT I CAN SEE, LIKE YOU'RE SAYING WITH MUSIC AND IT AFFECTING THE VENUES, HOW IT'S DIFFERENT.

I'M GONNA BE VERY CURIOUS TO SEE, 'CAUSE WITH IT BEING CONDENSED, JUST OVERALL THE FESTIVAL FROM THE 10 DAYS TO THE SEVEN DAYS, HOW THAT IS GONNA AFFECT THE HOT TAX JUST FOR, YOU KNOW, THE LIVE MUSIC FUND AND ALL THAT FUNDING FOR US.

UM, I DO HAVE SOME FEEDBACK THAT I RECEIVED FROM PATRON, WHICH WAS REALLY COOL.

UM, I WAS, 'CAUSE AGAIN, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT THAT.

AND I SPOKE TO SOME VERY, LIKE, VARIOUS PEOPLE FROM VIRGINIA THAT CAME AND THEY'RE STAYING THE WHOLE TIME.

THEY WERE LIKE, I DECIDED TO STAY THE WHOLE SEVEN DAYS VERSUS LEAVING EARLY.

SO I THOUGHT THAT WAS GREAT.

AND THEY WERE LIKE, YOU KNOW, WE, 'CAUSE IT WAS JUST THE WEEK VERSUS IT BEING THE 10 DAYS.

SO HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, THAT KIND OF SPILLS OVER TO EVERYBODY ELSE.

UM, SO THAT WAS GREAT.

I'M CURIOUS AS TO, I KNOW YOU SAID THAT Y'ALL HAD LIKE THE MOST MUSIC WRIST BANDS AND AGAIN, WITH SHOWS, UM, WHAT PRIORITY IS PROGRAMMING BEING GIVEN? JUST 'CAUSE I DID GO TO NAM THIS YEAR AND JUST SEEING THE ARTIST DEVELOPMENT AND I MEAN, EVERYTHING FROM, I KNOW THAT'S MORE TECHNICAL, BUT I'M JUST CURIOUS WHAT YOUR, WHAT YOUR PLAN IS FOR THAT.

I MEAN, OUR PLAN IS, I DON'T WANNA SAY IT'S THE SAME EVERY YEAR MM-HMM .

BUT OUR OVERALL GOAL IS THE SAME EVERY YEAR.

AND THAT'S TO JUST HIGHLIGHT TALENT DISCOVERY NUMBER ONE ABOVE ALL ELSE.

YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR THING IS FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO GO TO THE, TO THE ACLS AND THE, AND THE COACHELLAS OF THE WORLD AND TELL, YOU KNOW, YOUR FRIEND THAT'S SITTING THERE WITH YOU WATCHING THE HEADLINER, LIKE, HEY, I SAW THEM AT SOUTH BY WITH, YOU KNOW, A HUNDRED PEOPLE AT THIS BAR FIVE YEARS BEFORE ANYBODY ELSE EVER HEARD OF THEM.

LIKE, THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S WHAT WE LOOK FOR IN OUR PROGRAMMING EVERY YEAR.

LIKE, YOU KNOW, IT'S GREAT WHENEVER YOU CAN FILL UP STUBS OR THE, OR, OR, UM, ACL THEATER OR ANY OF THE, THE HUGE VENUES.

THAT'S AWESOME.

BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT WE GO INTO THIS EVERY YEAR ONLY THINKING ABOUT, WE'RE TRYING TO BE ABLE TO BRAG ABOUT, WE BOOKED, YOU KNOW, BILLIE EILISH WHEN SHE WAS 17 BEFORE SHE BLEW UP.

LIKE THAT'S OUR, OUR GOAL EVERY YEAR IS TO DO THINGS LIKE THAT.

GOT IT.

AND ON THE CONFERENCE SIDE OF THINGS AS WELL, WE WANT TO CONTINUE TO OFFER PROGRAMS TO EDUCATE ARTISTS AND UPLIFT ARTISTS.

I MEAN, WE HAVE PARTNERS THIS YEAR THAT INCLUDED SPOTIFY FOR ARTIST WORKSHOPS, APPLE MUSIC FOR ARTIST WORKSHOPS, YOU KNOW, BEAT MASTERS, PRODUCER SUMMITS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

SO THAT WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO DO THAT SORT OF STUFF.

I MEAN, FROM A 1 0 1 LEVEL RIGHT ON UP TO LIKE REALLY ADVANCED CONVERSATIONS ABOUT AI AND MUSIC AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

GREAT.

UH, COMMISSIONER CASADA.

UM, OOPS.

[02:05:01]

I, UH, VERY MUCH ENJOYED SOUTH BY THIS YEAR AND THE OVERALL AUSTIN EXPERIENCE OF SOUTH BY, UM, I'M CURIOUS ABOUT, AND, AND I'M SO SUPPORTIVE OBVIOUSLY, OF AUSTIN, UM, MUSICIANS, BUT PART OF WHAT SOUTH BY DOES IS BRING IN INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS.

AND I AM CURIOUS, DID YOU HAVE TO PROVIDE ANY ADDITIONAL SUPPORT OR ASSISTANCE FOR VISAS OR FOR INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS TRAVELING TO OUR COUNTRY? IN TERMS OF ANY INTERESTING CHALLENGES THIS YEAR, I WOULD SAY WE PROBABLY NEEDED TO PROVIDE MORE REASSURANCE.

UM, BUT WE HAVE A PRETTY STANDARD PROCESS.

THE ARTISTS WILL QUALIFY FOR A VISA WAIVER IF THEY'RE ONLY COMING TO SHOWCASE AND, AND NOT PERFORM IN ORDER TO BE PAID OR TO GO ON TOUR OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

IF YOU'RE DOING ANYTHING MORE THAN SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST, YOU'RE GOING TO NEED A, A WORK VISA.

LIKE ANY INTERNATIONAL TOURING BAND WOULD NEED TO COME HERE.

BUT WE DO HAVE THIS WAIVER THAT ALLOWS THEM TO COME AND SHOWCASE.

WITH THAT COMES AN ENTRY LETTER AND A VISA SUPPORT LETTER AND DOCUMENTS LIKE THAT, THAT WE DO PROVIDE.

UM, IT'S NO DIFFERENT THIS YEAR TO WHAT WE'VE PROVIDED IN PREVIOUS YEARS, BUT WE DID DO A BIT MORE THIS YEAR IN TERMS OF WEBINAR AND PREP AND EVEN ARTIST EMAILS, GIVING THEM A FEW MORE DETAILS AND A FEW MORE REMINDERS ABOUT HOW TO NAVIGATE PASSPORT CONTROL AND HOW TO BEHAVE AND WHAT YOU CAN AND CANNOT DO.

DID, OKAY.

WAS THERE, WAS THERE LIKE AN ECONOMIC IMPACT FOR INTERNATIONAL TOWARDS SOUTH BY, IN TERMS OF HAVING, UM, INTERNA, YOU KNOW, INTERNATIONAL MUSICIANS HERE? DID YOU SEE NUMBERS UP OR DOWN AT ALL IN TERMS OF INTERNATIONAL MUSICIANS COMING TO SOUTH BY? I CAN'T SPEAK TO THE LARGER ATTENDANCE OF ATTENDEES, BUT IN TERMS OF MUSICIANS, WE WERE ACTUALLY SLIGHTLY UP ON INTERNATIONAL THIS YEAR.

OKAY, THAT'S GREAT.

AND OUR GOAL WAS REALLY TO KEEP LEVEL.

SO THE FACT THAT WE'VE SURPASSED THAT WAS, AND IS SYDNEY SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST HAPPENING? OR DID THAT ENDED? THAT WAS A THREE YEAR PROGRAM THAT HAS NOT BEEN RENEWED.

IT WAS NOT RENEWED.

SO, BUT IT WAS THEIR BIGGEST YEAR, YEAR ON YEAR THEY GREW AND HAD A REALLY SUCCESSFUL YEAR.

SO, YOU KNOW, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT COULD ALWAYS RETURNED, POSSIBLY.

ARE, ARE THERE ANY OTHER INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST THAT ARE PERCOLATING OR WE SHOULD BE MADE AWARE OF AS WE'RE PLANNING FOR, YOU KNOW, OUR, THE LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL OF THE WORLD HERE? WELL, SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST LONDON WILL CONTINUE AGAIN THIS YEAR AND I THINK FOR SUBSEQUENT YEARS.

GREAT.

ON THE UNDER DISCUSSION ITEMS IS, UH,

UH, THANK YOU BRIAN AND DEV.

I ALSO WANT TO, UM, ACKNOWLEDGE, UM, UH, THE, AND, AND HOW MUCH, UH, EMERGING ARTISTS WERE SUPPORTED, UM, THE, THIS SOUTH BAY AND IN THE PAST AS WELL.

AND, UH, REALLY ALSO GIVE KUDOS TO, UM, THE CITY DEPARTMENT AS WELL, TO ERICA, UH, GREG, UH, WORKING IN COLLABORATION, UH, WITH, UM, WITH, WITH SOUTH BAY, AS WELL AS, UH, LOCAL NONPROFITS INCLUDING EQ AND OTHERS, UM, IN REALLY CREATING OPPORTUNITY, UH, FOR, UH, LOCAL AUSTIN MUSICIANS, A LOT OF THEM WHO HAVE NEVER PLAYED SOUTH BY BEFORE AND, BUT WE ARE READY TO GO.

UM, AND IT WAS QUITE AMAZING TO SEE THAT.

AND ALSO, UM, THE GENRE DIVERSITY THAT CAME IN THOSE SHOWCASES LOCALLY.

UM, IT WAS, UH, SHOWCASES ACROSS HIP HOP, R AND B, UH, GLOBAL SHOWCASES, UM, LATIN MUSIC.

HE KINDA, IT'S, IT WAS QUITE AMAZING TO SEE THE DIVERSITY THAT WAS BROUGHT INTO THE MIX, UM, IN THIS COLLABORATION WITH CITY, UH, AND SOUTH BY, AT LOCAL VENUES, UH, JUST, UH, OVER, OVER THE ENTIRE, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, WEDNESDAY TO WEDNESDAY.

UH, SO THAT WAS QUITE FASCINATING TO SEE.

AND HOW, UM, WELL FIRST OF ALL, QUITE A LOT OF THE YOUNG ARTISTS WERE VERY, VERY THRILLED AT THE OPPORTUNITY, RIGHT? AND, AND, BUT THE REAL OPPORTUNITY THAT ALSO CREATED, THAT CREATED FOR THEM.

SO IT WAS, THAT WAS GREAT TO SEE.

UH, AND ALSO AGAIN, THANK YOU ERICA AS WELL FOR, UH, WHAT YOUR DEPARTMENT DOES, UH, FOR THIS.

UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU AGAIN, BRIAN.

GREAT TO HAVE YOU HERE.

UH, QUICK TIME CHECK COMMISSIONERS.

WE ARE AT 8:45 PM UH, THE NEXT ITEM

[8. Presentation on new local label “Native Fiction Records” and coaching services by Jane Ellen Bryant, Owner & Recording Artist. ]

[02:10:01]

PRESENTATION ON NEW LOCAL LABEL NATIVE FICTION RECORDS AND COACHING SERVICES BY JAY JANE, L AND BRIAN, OWNER AND RECORDING ARTIST.

THANK YOU, JANE.

HELLO, I'M JANE ELLEN BRYANT.

I'M AN AUSTIN MUSICIAN, BORN AND RAISED, AND WANTED TO PRESENT A NEW ARTIST RESOURCE THAT MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE CREATED.

IT'S BASICALLY THE RESOURCE THAT WE WISH WE HAD HAD ALL ALONG IN OUR JOURNEYS AS ARTISTS.

SO WHAT IT IS BASICALLY IS AN ONLINE COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS WHERE WE HAVE STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO TUTORIALS, BREAKING DOWN ALL THE VARIOUS TOPICS THAT ARTISTS HAVE TO FIGURE OUT AND THEMSELVES WHEN THEY GET STARTED ON THIS JOURNEY.

EVERYTHING FROM THE CREATIVE SIDE TO THE BUSINESS SIDE, AND WE REALLY WANT ARTISTS TO FEEL EMPOWERED.

IT CAN BE VERY, VERY OVERWHELMING TO START YOUR CAREER, TO NAVIGATE ALL THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF IT.

AND THROUGHOUT MY YEARS AS AN ARTIST, I HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM MY FELLOW ARTISTS.

AND SO THAT'S THE, THAT'S THE MAIN, UH, PURPOSE BEHIND THIS IS ARTISTS HELPING EACH OTHER AND EDUCATING EACH OTHER AS WE EACH NAVIGATE THIS JOURNEY.

SO WE WANT TO HELP ARTISTS LEARN WHO THEY ARE, KNOW THEIR BRAND, KNOW THEIR AUDIENCE, AND REALLY UNDERSTAND THE INDUSTRY, THE MODERN INDUSTRY THAT CHANGES ALL THE TIME THAT WE'RE ALL CURRENTLY NAVIGATING.

UM, AND AS I'M IN A BAND CALLED JANE LEO WITH MY HUSBAND, AND WE ARE, UM, FULL-TIME ARTISTS TOURING AROUND THE COUNTRY, GETTING OUR MUSIC LICENSE.

WE'RE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE INDEPENDENT.

WE'RE NAVIGATING EVERY ASPECT OF THIS OURSELVES, AND WE'RE SHARING EVERYTHING WE'RE LEARNING IN REAL TIME IN THIS PROGRAM, AS WELL AS HAVING OTHER ARTISTS AND EXPERTS, GUESTS IN IT AS WELL.

SO THE STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO TUTORIALS OFFER, UH, EVERYTHING FROM RELEASE, STRATEGY MANAGEMENT, PUBLICITY, BRANDING, HOW TO RECORD YOURSELF AT HOME, HOW TO KEEP A HEALTHY MINDSET, HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE STUDIO, PUBLISHING ROYALTIES, SYNC, LICENSING, TOURING, BOOKING AND MORE.

WE ADD NEW TUTORIALS EVERY MONTH TO THIS MEMBERSHIP.

AND WE ALSO HAVE INTERVIEWS EVERY MONTH THAT DROP.

UM, AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE HAVE LIVE GROUP CALLS WITH OUR ARTISTS SO THAT ARTISTS CAN CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER IN REAL TIME.

AND WE JUST LAUNCHED IN FEBRUARY.

SO, SO FAR THE, THE LIVE CALLS HAVE BEEN REALLY, REALLY MEANINGFUL.

ARTISTS HAVE STARTED FOLLOWING EACH OTHER AFTER THE CALLS AND SUPPORTING EACH OTHER.

WE'RE SUPPORTING THE RELEASE.

WE HAVE A COMMUNITY CHAT SPACE WHERE ARTISTS CAN SHARE ALL THE RELEASES, ASK QUESTIONS IN REAL TIME, UM, FROM, FROM GETTING ANSWERS FROM US AS WELL AS THEIR FELLOW ARTISTS.

AND LIKE I SAID, WE HAVE INTERVIEWS WITH OTHER ARTISTS WHO HAVE EXPERTISE THAT WE DO NOT HAVE, AND INDUSTRY EXPERTS SHARING, UH, THEIR INSIGHT IN THIS SPACE AS WELL.

AND WE ALSO OFFER OPTIONAL ONE-ON-ONE, LIKE COACHING SUPPORT CALLS IF AN ARTIST REALLY NEEDS SOME, YOU KNOW, VERY SPECIFIC GUIDANCE.

UM, AND THE IDEA IS THAT THIS IS GOING TO SAVE TIME FOR THE ARTISTS AND SO MUCH RESOURCES.

THEY'RE GONNA, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO LEARN BY TRIAL AND ERROR, THEY CAN COME AND ASK THEIR FELLOW ARTISTS WHAT'S ACTUALLY WORKING FOR THEM IN REAL TIME.

AND IDEALLY HELP THEM NOT GET TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT INDUSTRY PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT ARE UNFORTUNATELY OFFERING SOME SCAMMY THINGS THAT WE'VE ALL LEARNED FROM.

UM, AND WE WANT TO CONNECT ARTISTS WITH EACH OTHER.

YOU KNOW, IDEALLY AS THIS GROWS, IF AN ARTIST IN, IF IN NEW YORK WANTS TO COME TOUR IN TEXAS AND A TEXAS ARTIST WANTS TO TOUR IN NEW YORK, THEY COULD TRADE AND BOOK SHOWS FOR EACH OTHER, BUT BE GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER ON THESE, ON THESE GROUP CALLS.

WE WANT THEM TO SEE REALLY ALIGNED, TANGIBLE PROGRESS IN THEIR CAREER.

SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN REALLY LOOK BACK ON AND SAY, LIKE, I, I SET THIS SPECIFIC GOAL AND I MET IT, AND NOW HERE I AM ON THE NEXT STEP.

I CAN SEE THE GROWTH IN MY OWN JOURNEY AND TO ENJOY THE JOURNEY, OF COURSE, BECAUSE THAT IS WHAT WE SOMETIMES ALWAYS FORGET IS VERY IMPORTANT.

UM, AND LIKE I SAID, WE'RE ACTIVE ARTISTS ON THE FRONT LINES, CONTINUOUSLY LEARNING.

AND OVER THE YEARS, IT'S MEANT A LOT TO ME TO MENTOR YOUNG, YOUNG MUSICIANS OF ACTUALLY MUSICIANS OF ALL AGES AS I'VE GONE THROUGH THIS PROCESS.

AND, UM, I WANT TO CONTINUE DOING THAT AND CREATE A SPACE WHERE ARTISTS CAN FIND THEIR FELLOW ARTISTS TO CONNECT WITH.

SO IT'S, UM, NATIVE FICTION ARTIST ACADEMY.COM AND LIKE I SAID, WE JUST JUST LAUNCHED, UM, A COUPLE MONTHS AGO AND IT IS A, A MEMBERSHIP SO ARTISTS CAN SIGN UP FOR THE YEAR OR PAY MONTH TO MONTH.

IT'S A VERY AFFORDABLE RESOURCE, UM, TO SAVE A LOT OF MISTAKES THAT WE'VE MADE OVER THE YEARS.

THANK YOU JANE, SO MUCH FOR, UH, UM, COMING HERE AND PRESENTING THIS.

IT'S GREAT TO SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, INITIATIVES LIKE THIS COMING FROM WITHIN THE COMMUNITY, FOLKS WHO HAVE, UH, LIVED AND WORKED HERE.

UM, AND, AND, AND YOU'RE RIGHT IN WHAT WE WOULD GIVE TO HELP RESOURCES LIKE THAT WHEN, WHEN WE'RE, YOU KNOW, I THINK STARTING OUT, I THINK I CAN STILL USE SOME OF THESE RESOURCES.

UH, QUESTIONS, UH, COMMENTS FOR JANE HERE.

COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSIONER ENGLAND, THIS IS RAD.

OH, THANK YOU.

THIS IS GREAT.

THANK YOU FOR DOING THIS.

YEAH, THANK YOU.

COMMISSIONER

[02:15:01]

CARDENAS.

I JUST WANNA SAY I LOVE YOUR BAND.

OH, THAT'S NICE.

SO I WAS LIKE, I THOUGHT THAT WAS HER .

THANK YOU, ADA.

I LOVE YOUR BAND TOO.

OH, THANK YOU, .

UM, AND, UH, I'M SO PROUD OF YOU GUYS.

THAT SOUNDS AMAZING.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS AVAILABLE.

AND, AND SO IT'S FOR FOLKS OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN AS WELL? IT IS, YEAH.

SO IT'S ONLINE, SO WE HAVE, SO FAR WE'VE GOT ARTISTS IN, MOSTLY IN AUSTIN.

'CAUSE THAT'S WHO KNOWS US THE MOST.

BUT WE HAVE ARTISTS IN ARKANSAS AND IN ARIZONA.

AND JUST SO FAR IT'S VERY GRASSROOTS.

PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIKE FOLLOWED US, EACH OF US MM-HMM .

UM, IN OUR CAREERS.

SO, UH, BUT YES, IT IS AVAILABLE TO, TO ANYONE, BUT RIGHT NOW, MOSTLY ENGLISH SPEAKING, UH, PEOPLE WOULD BE THE ONES WHO WOULD BENEFIT THE MOST FROM IT, BUT, WELL, SURE.

I CAN, I CAN IMAGINE THAT THIS MIGHT BE ALMOST MORE SUCCESSFUL OUTSIDE OF THE AUSTIN MUSIC COMMUNITY BECAUSE WE ALL, YOU KNOW, IT'S SUCH A SMALL COMMUNITY HERE, BUT FOLKS OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN MAY NOT HAVE THEIR RESOURCES.

ABSOLUTELY.

AND SO THIS SEEMS REALLY SPECIAL.

THEY DON'T HAVE AS MANY FELLOW ARTISTS TO CONNECT WITH MM-HMM .

WHEREAS IN MY COMMUNITY HERE, I HAVE SO MANY FRIENDS TO ASK THAT HAVE BEEN NAVIGATING THIS ALONG WITH, ALONG WITH ME.

BUT IF YOU'RE IN ARKANSAS, THAT MAY NOT BE AS AVAILABLE TO YOU.

SO IT, IT, THE POINT IS FOR IT TO BE MM-HMM.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, COMMISSIONERS? THANK YOU SO MUCH, JEN.

AGENDA ITEM AND THE DISCUSSION ITEMS WE HAVE, UH, MUSIC COMMISSION ENGAGEMENT WITH COUNCIL DISTRICTS LED BY CHAIR, MAYOR, CHAIR.

AND, UH, GOOD LUCK WITH EVERYTHING.

I APPRECIATE IT.

MOVING ON TO THE NEXT STAGE

[9. Music Commission engagement with council districts led by Chair Medicharla.]

UM, WHAT COULD WE TURN OUT TO BE A LONG DISCUSSION BASED ON, YOU KNOW, UH, WHAT FEEDBACK COMMISSIONERS MIGHT HAVE ON THIS, BUT I JUST WANTED TO PUT THIS UP, UM, IN FRONT OF THE COMMISSION AND HOW WE COULD, UM, UH, BRING MORE ENGAGEMENT FROM ALL THE 10 DISTRICTS IN AUSTIN.

UM, AND AS WELL AS, UH, GET OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS INVOLVED IN MATTERS OF ART AND MUSIC.

UM, A VERY SIMPLE SUGGESTION, UM, THAT I HAD, AND I DO WANNA CHECK IN WITH, UH, SHELBY AND ERICA AND YOU, YOU COULD ADVISE US, UH, UH, LATER ON, THIS IS IF WE COULD, UM, TAKE ONE OF THESE MEETINGS, UH, IN THIS NEW YEAR, UM, ONCE A QUARTER TO ANOTHER LOCATION, NOT SOUTHEAST WEST, AND, UH, WE COULD INVITE, UH, THE LOCAL, UH, STAKEHOLDERS, WE COULD INVITE, UM, THOSE SPECIFIC COUNCIL MEMBERS TO ATTEND.

UH, SO THAT'S SOMETHING, UH, I WANTED TO PITCH, UM, AND SEE IF, UH, WE COULD HAVE TWO OF THE MEETINGS HERE ON REGULAR DATES AND AT LEAST MOVE ONE MEETING PER QUARTER, UH, TO ANOTHER CITY LOCATION, UH, IN ANOTHER PART OF TOWN.

I'LL PAUSE THERE.

UH, ANY THOUGHTS? AND, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, STAFF OF COURSE, IF YOU WANNA COME COMMENT ON IT, PLEASE DO.

IF NOT, UH, PLEASE, UH, MAYBE COME BACK NEXT TIME WITH, UH, THE FEASIBILITY OF DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

AND ANYTHING, ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS YOU WOULD HAVE, UH, ON, ON THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC? COMMISSIONER SVA? YEAH, I'M, I'M, I'M GLAD YOU RAISED IT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE TEND TO THINK ABOUT LIVE MUSIC CONCENTRATED DOWN IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, AND THERE ARE VENUES SORT OF IN ALL OUR DISTRICTS.

SO IT'S, IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, I DEFINITELY HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT HOW DO WE SUPPORT THE VENUES THAT ARE IN MY DISTRICT, BECAUSE THERE ARE NOT THAT MANY, BUT THEY DO NEED THE HELP AND, YOU KNOW, RESOURCES AND WHAT CAN WE DO TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR THEM TO PROMOTE AND SUPPORT THE ARTISTS WHO LIVE IN THE AREAS.

UM, I'M, I'M, I WOULD ENJOY, YOU KNOW, TAKING THE SHOW ON THE ROAD, UM, GOING OUT AND PROBABLY TRYING TO DO THAT, UH, IF WE ARE ABLE TO SORT OF INDIVIDUALLY AS A GROUP REALLY BEAT THE BUSHES AND GET PEOPLE OUT AND MAKE SURE THEY'RE AWARE OF IT, UM, SORT OF TANGENTIALLY AS WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THE LIVE MUSIC FUND AND OUR, OUR AWARDEES THAT WE'VE BEEN RECEIVING.

ONE OF THE THINGS I KEEP THINKING ABOUT IS, IS WHETHER OR NOT WE DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB OF SORT OF BRANDING THESE ARTISTS AND THEIR EVENTS THAT THIS IS A LIVE MUSIC FUND EVENT, OR PRODUCT OR TOUR OR NOT.

THIS MIGHT BE A QUESTION FOR STAFF OR TO CONSIDER, BUT DO WE ASK OR REQUIRE THEM TO YES, TO DO THAT.

ROUND NOW OUR THIRD TO REMIND PEOPLE ABOUT, YOU KNOW, BRANDING, EVERYTHING THEY DO, HASHTAG AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC, FUN, IT'S HOT.

THAT'S WHY, WHAT I WANTED TO FIND OUT, UM, THE OTHER PART OF IT TOO IS, IS, OH, I'M SORRY, ERICA, WERE YOU GONNA COMMENT? OH, I CAN JUST TELL YOU REALLY QUICK.

IT'S PART OF THEIR AGREEMENT.

IT'S HASHTAG FANTASTIC AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND ON, ON SOCIAL, ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA.

AND THEN ANY EVENTS WOULD BE PRESENTED BY THE AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND.

AND THAT WOULD BE FOR TOURS AND FOR LOCAL SHOWS.

AND SO THEY HAVE TO PUT THAT ON ALL OF THEIR AD MAT AND DIFFERENT ADVERTISING OUTLETS.

UM, WHICH WILL TAKE, YOU KNOW, NOT EVERYONE IS REMEMBERING OR MAY REMEMBER.

AND SO HERE AT THE BEGINNING, WE'RE ONLY IN OUR SECOND, YOU KNOW,

[02:20:01]

WE WANNA PROMOTE AUSTIN, UM, AS A DESTINATION TO COME SEE GREAT MUSIC.

SO, UM, WE WILL REITERATE THIS AGAIN WITH OUR NEXT SET OF AWARDEES.

ABSOLUTELY.

THAT'S GREAT, BECAUSE I DO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT OUR TAXPAYERS UNDERSTAND THAT WHEN WE PROVIDE THIS MONEY, EVEN THOUGH IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, IT'S PRIMARILY FROM THE HYPE TALKS, UM, THAT THERE IS A REASON WE SPENT THIS, WE SPEND THIS ENERGY AND TIME SUPPORTING THESE ARTISTS, AND THAT COMES OUT EVERYWHERE.

UM, SO YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S KIND OF THE MAIN POINT.

COMMISSIONER.

ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, UH, COMMENTS ON THIS OR IDEAS, UM, AROUND THIS TOPIC? COMMISSIONER KANAS? UM, I'M JUST CURIOUS, JUST BECAUSE IF WE'RE LOOKING AT LIKE, IT'S ALMOST NINE O'CLOCK AND THE TIME THAT WE DO HAVE IN HERE, I FEEL LIKE IT'S SO VALUABLE.

SO IF WE WANNA HIGHLIGHT ARTISTS AND LIKE YOU SAID, GET THAT PARTICULAR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER INVOLVED, DO YOU THINK MAYBE THE WEEKEND OR KIND OF MAKING IT MORE OF AN EVENT THAT WAY WE CAN HIT ALL OF THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS VERSUS IT JUST BEING QUARTERLY? IS THAT MAYBE AN OPTION? I DON'T KNOW.

I'M JUST THROWING SOMETHING ELSE OUT THERE.

EXCHANGING THE DATE OF THE, NO, LIKE, LEAVING OUR MEETING AS IS, LIKE, WE STILL HAVE THE FIRST MONDAY.

'CAUSE I MEAN, THE THINGS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IN THESE MEETINGS ARE REALLY IMPORTANT.

AND I'M NOT SAYING THOSE WOULDN'T BE IMPORTANT OVER IN THESE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS, BUT I JUST THINK IF WE WANNA HIGH, LIKE IF WE'RE GONNA GO THERE INTO A DIFFERENT DISTRICT, IT'D BE NICE TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE ARTISTS AND MAKE IT MORE INVOLVED WITH THEM SINCE IT'S FOR THAT DISTRICT, BUT NOT TAKING AWAY FROM THE TIME THAT WE HAVE IN HERE AS WELL.

I THINK, UH, THAT, THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE USED TO DO, AND AS PART OF THIS, I WANT TO SEE IF WE CAN REVIVE, IS WE USED TO HAVE AN ARTIST ACTUALLY PRESENT, EITHER LIVE IN THE PAST, BUT REALLY THROUGH VIDEO OR, UM, UM, YOU KNOW, SHELBY HAS BEEN HELPING PRODUCE THESE SHOWS THAT ARE BEING PRESENTED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING.

AND THEN WE WILL GO INTO THE ACTUAL COMMISSION MEETING AND THE OTHER AGENDA ITEMS. THAT'S THE FIRST AGENDA ITEM USUALLY.

UM, AND, UH, WE DID WANNA ASK IF THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN REVIVE AT LEAST START THERE.

UM, AND, UH, AT THAT POINT, WHAT WE DID WAS EACH COMMISSIONER BASICALLY SUGGESTED AN ARTIST THAT THEN WORKED WITH SHELBY TO RECORD.

AND THAT WAY THE ARTIST ALSO GOT PAID.

THEY GOT, UH, PROFESSIONAL VIDEO DONE, UM, AND THEN IT WAS PRESENTED AT THE COMMISSION.

AND MAYBE THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, WE COULD USE THAT AS A STARTING POINT.

AT LEAST WE CAN DEFINITELY PICK THAT BACK UP.

AND SO, UM, AND WE TYPICALLY GO IN THE ORDER OF THE DISTRICTS, WE CAN, YOU KNOW, FIGURE OUT WHAT MONTH SHOULD WE START AGAIN.

IT'LL BE UP TO SHELBY TOO WITH WORKING WITH A TXN, WHO IS OUR FELLOW PARTNER AND PRODUCER ON THESE VIDEOS.

BUT THEY'RE VERY HIGH QUALITY.

EVERY, UM, BAND MEMBER GETS PAID.

UM, OUR STANDARD RATE.

ONE THING WE DID LOOK INTO DOING LIVE EVENTS AT ELSEWHERE OUTSIDE THE CITY.

CAN'T DO THAT FOR YOU GUYS.

THAT WAS DETERMINED BY THE CLERK'S OFFICE.

SO IF YOU DO DO ANYTHING, YOU CAN'T HAVE A QUORUM, REMEMBER AS COUNCIL, AS, UH, COMMISSIONERS.

UH, BUT, BUT IT HAS TO BE ALL OF YOU GUYS ORGANIZING ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF THESE COMMISSION MEETINGS.

UM, UNLESS WE DO, LIKE, THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR LIKE A JOINT ARTS MUSIC KIND OF EVENT.

BUT AGAIN, IT'S LIKE SAME ROBERT'S RULES APPLIES WHERE WE HAVE TO ANNOUNCE IT AND SO THAT PEOPLE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO KNOW ABOUT IT AND TO PARTICIPATE.

SO THAT'S WHY WE FIGURED THAT THESE PRODUCE VIDEOS THAT, UH, SHELBY PRODUCED IS THE BEST WAY TO, AND THEN THEY CAN COME AND DO LIKE A QUICK LITTLE INTERVIEW.

SO WE SHOW THE VIDEO AND THEN THEY COME IN AND ANSWER QUESTIONS.

AND IF I MAY, IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PERFORMANCE THAT WORKS FOR THAT, IT IS A LOT OF ROOM FOR THAT.

LIKE ERICA SAID, IT'S, IT'S QUALITY.

THEY DO GET THE BODY OF WORK, AND IT'S AN INTERVIEW AS WELL.

IT SERVED AS CONTENT FOR THEM AS WELL AS CONTENT FOR US.

AND THEN ALSO GETTING TO SHOWCASE, UM, WHO YOU GUYS, WHETHER THEY'RE IN YOUR DISTRICT OR NOT, UM, FEEL, YOU KNOW, DESERVES AND WHO YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A CHANCE TO BE SHOWCASED.

UM, AS FAR AS A CONVERSATION, I'M NOT, I WANNA GET CLARITY ON THAT.

NAGA VALLEY, IF YOU WANNA JUST BRING COUNCIL MEMBERS TO DISCUSS AND, YOU KNOW, UM, HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ARTISTS.

I'M NOT, I WANNA GET CLARITY ON WHAT EXACTLY YOUR GOAL IS.

IS IT, UH, TALKING LIKE A WORKING GROUP WOULD TO COME UP WITH A RECOMMENDATION OR STRATEGY IDEAS OR IDEAS, OR IS IT JUST FOR MINUTES REQUESTING THE FOR FOUR MINUTES REQUEST? SORRY TO INTERRUPT.

UH, NO, YOU GOT IT.

UH, REQUESTING, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS TO ACTUALLY ATTEND THE COMMISSION MEETING PERIOD.

I, I, AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD PROBABLY REACH OUT TO THEIR STAFF ABOUT.

IT SOUNDS LIKE A SIMPLE INVITATION, BUT I CAN FOLLOW UP ON THAT.

BUT OUTSIDE OF HERE, UM, IT SOUNDS SIMILAR TO A WORKING GROUP TYPE OF THING, WHERE LESS THAN A QUORUM IS,

[02:25:01]

IS NECESSARY.

AND THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.

WE WOULD JUST WANNA KIND OF COORDINATE WITH YOU ON HOW WE'RE GONNA DO THAT YEAH.

AND COLLABORATE WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS STAFF.

I MEAN, WHEN I MENTIONED COUNCIL MEMBERS, IT WAS ESSENTIALLY EXTENDING THE INVITATION, ESPECIALLY ONCE A QUARTER, IF WE ARE LOOKING TO MOVE IT TO A DIFFERENT CITY LOCATION IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, COULD BE, UH, YOU KNOW, AND THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN TAKE UP UPON OURSELVES TO INVITE OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND, AND, YOU KNOW, IF THEY'RE AVAILABLE, THEY COULD ATTEND, UH, THE COMMISSION MEETING AND IT'S A REGULAR MEETING.

UH, NOTHING DIFFERENTLY DONE THAN HOW WE RUN OUR REGULAR MEETINGS JUST AT A DIFFERENT LOCATION, LIKE A BAR TO JUST TO BUILD, BUILD ENGAGEMENT.

UH, I WAS THINKING CITY LOCATIONS, BUT, UH, STAFF CAN ADVISE US ON IF WE CAN DO IT AT A BAR OR NOT.

, I THINK CITY LOCATIONS IS IDEAL FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS.

I MEAN, THESE MEETINGS ARE ALSO, I MEAN, EVERY FACILITY MIGHT NOT HAVE RECORDING CAPABILITIES AND ALL THAT, SO THESE MEETINGS ALSO HAVE TO BE COMPLETELY RECORDED.

UH, SO YEAH.

UH, COMMISSIONER ENGLAND, IS THERE ANY WAY TO MAKE AN ACTUAL MOTION TO REQUEST THAT WE, UH, UH, FIND A DATE TO START DOING THE PRODUCTION FOR THE ARTISTS? YOU DON'T NEED A MOTION? NO.

YOU CAN JUST, WE CAN ALL JUST PICK A DATE.

COOL.

LET'S MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

DO YOU NEED A MOTION FOR THAT? NO.

AND HONESTLY, WE CAN PROBABLY START BY SHOWCASING SOME OF THE FORMER ONES BECAUSE WE DO HAVE SOME NEW, UH, COMMISSION MEMBERS JUST SO YOU CAN GET AN IDEA OF WHAT WE'RE WORKING WITH.

AND SO THAT GIVES ME A CHANCE TO KIND OF GET THE NEXT CUBE OF, IT'S REALLY LIKE, THIS IS A WHOLE NEW BOARD WE'RE DEALING WITH MM-HMM .

SO IT'S A LOT OF CONTENT.

SO WE CAN KIND OF MOVE THROUGH WHAT WE'VE ALREADY RECORDED SO YOU GET AN IDEA OF WHAT WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST.

AND THEN I CAN TALK TO OUR NEW COUN, UH, COUNCIL.

I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL WANNA GO THERE, BUT COMMISSION MEMBERS AND WE CAN TALK ABOUT, UM, SETTING UP ARTISTS THAT YOU NOMINATE.

UM, PRETTY EASY.

CAN WE GET THAT ON THE AGENDA TO SHOW FOR NEXT MONTH? JUST AS AN EXAMPLE? MM-HMM .

A FEW AGENDA ITEMS. YEAH, FOR SURE.

AND, UH, ALL OF THAT CONTENT IS ON A TXN.

SO THEY HAVE THE PART OF THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL, BUT ALSO THE CONTENT WILL JUST RUN ON A TXN AS PART OF THEIR PROGRAMMING.

SO WE CAN DEFINITELY TEE IT SOMETHING UP FOR YOU GUYS TO SHOW A BEST OF.

THEY'RE ALL THE BEST THOUGH, SO I'LL JUST SHOW YOU.

LOVE IT.

UM, I WAS WONDERING, MAYBE PULL THIS UP, IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE TO HAVE FOLKS THAT WERE HERE PERFORMING, UH, THAT WERE ACCEPTED BY THE FUND, YOU KNOW, HAVE THEM.

WE'VE TALKED ABOUT EITHER IT'S SOMEONE FROM YOUR DISTRICT THAT IS PART THAT GOT ONE OF THE GRANTS, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS WE HAD TALKED ABOUT IS FROM AN EQUITABLE POINT OF VIEW OR PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM SPREADS THE WEALTH.

AND SO KEEP THAT IN MIND, UM, BECAUSE IT WAS SO COMPETITIVE.

ALWAYS IS.

AND WE WANT TO HIGHLIGHT A AS WIDE OF SWATH OF OUR COMMUNITY AS POSSIBLE.

SO JUST KEEP THAT, BEAR THAT IN MIND.

COMMISSIONER, UH, CARVALHO, I JUST WANTED SAY I LOVED THOSE VIDEOS.

THEY WERE AWESOME AND REALLY STOKED TO BRING THOSE BACK.

THAT WAS SUPER FUN PROGRAM.

IT WAS A COOL OPPORTUNITY FOR BANDS.

YEAH, I MEAN, I THINK, SO WE, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF OPTIONS DEFINITELY ROTATING THESE, UH, MEETINGS, UM, YOU KNOW, TO DIFFERENT CITY FACILITIES.

UM, I WOULD, UM, STILL LOVE TO LOOK AT WHAT COMMISSIONER CARDENAS WAS SAYING IN TERMS OF AN EVENT, MAYBE A TOWN HALL WITH MUSIC, UH, COMMISSIONERS AS COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, DEFINITELY NEED TO THINK THROUGH THAT A BIT MORE AND ALSO SEE WHAT'S POSSIBLE.

UH, BUT IF THAT IS SOMETHING WE COLLECTIVELY WANT TO DO, WE COULD SURELY LOOK AT.

AND AGAIN, WE ARE NOT, IF THAT WAY, MAYBE WE CAN EVEN HIT UP EVERY DISTRICT AND NOT JUST ONCE A QUARTER OR MAYBE IT'S ONCE A MONTH ON, ON A CERTAIN DATE WITH A PARTICULAR COUNCIL MEMBER.

UM, YEAH.

AND REALLY QUICKLY, MY SUGGESTION IS FOR THAT, UM, KIND OF BUILD A COMMITTEE WITHIN THAT'S LIKE LESS THAN QUORUM.

IT'S DEFINITELY POSSIBLE.

UM, AND THEN WHEN YOU ALL DECIDE THAT YOU ALL WANNA SUPPORT THAT EVENT, IF, IF IT COMES TO BE OR THE TOWN HALL, JUST LET ME KNOW SO WE CAN MAKE THE ANNOUNCEMENT.

IT IS SIMPLE, BUT IT, IT NEEDS TO, IT NEEDS TO BE IN ORDER.

UM, BECAUSE WHEN YOU'RE ALL IN ONE ROOM, WE GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT WE GIVE IT TO THE CLINIC'S OFFICE.

BUT YOU CAN DEFINITELY COORDINATE IT, LIKE ERICA SAID, IT HAS TO BE YOUR OWN WILL, YOUR OWN CONNECTIONS AND NETWORK.

AND WE CAN, I'M SURE WE CAN FIND A WAY TO COLLABORATE WITHIN REASON.

UM, BUT ONCE YOU'RE, I SUGGEST THAT YOU KIND OF FORM A SMALLER GROUP LESS THAN QUORUM, AND THEN WHEN Y'ALL ALL WANT TO GO AND SUPPORT IT, UM, LET ME KNOW.

IT'S JUST, YES, THERE'S A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF EXTRA MEETINGS YOU CAN DO ACCORDING TO THE CLERK'S OFFICE THAT ARE SPECIAL CALLED MEETINGS MM-HMM .

AND IT CAN BE A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING AT A DIFFERENT LOCATION.

UM, BUT AGAIN, ROBERT'S RULES AND ALL OF THE RULES STILL APPLY NO MATTER WHAT

[02:30:01]

LOCATION YOU'RE AT TO ENSURE THAT IT'S POSTED.

THAT THERE'S, YOU DON'T NECESSARILY NEED TO HAVE IT VIDEOED OR LIVE STREAMED, BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE LIKE A TRANSCRIPT OF WHAT TRANSPIRED, JUST LIKE YOU WOULD FOR ANY COMMISSION MEETING.

MAYBE A BETTER WAY TO LOOK AT THIS IS ALSO TALK TO ALL OF YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THEY'RE ALL DOING TOWN HALLS AND SAY, HEY, CAN I HIJACK THE FIRST 10 MINUTES OF YOUR TOWN HALL MM-HMM .

TO, YOU KNOW, HIGHLIGHT SOMEONE FROM YOUR DISTRICT AND WE CAN TALK TO THE COMMUNITY ABOUT WHAT WE DO.

MEAN, DEFINITELY.

UM, YEAH, I THINK WHATEVER, WHATEVER WE CAN SIMPLIFY.

I MEAN, IF WE, IF QUORUM BECOMES AN ISSUE, MAYBE IT IS A CERTAIN, UH, GROUP OF COMMISSIONERS THAT ATTEND WITHIN, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH, FOR A PARTICULAR TOWN HALL MUSIC SITUATION, A MUSIC PERFORMANCE SITUATION, RIGHT.

WITH, WITH THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, I THINK, UM, SURELY I THINK SOMETHING THAT MIGHT CALL FOR A, A SHORT WORKING GROUP, UH, TO KIND OF HASH THIS OUT AND IMPLEMENT THROUGH THE, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, IN THE UPCOMING MONTHS.

UH, AND SOMETHING THAT, UH, AT LEAST WE SHOULD PUT ON THE AGENDA AND SEE IF YOU WANT TO DO, UH, HAVE A LITTLE WORKING GROUP COME UP WITH SOME IDEAS, AND THEN GO AHEAD AND PUT THAT INTO ACTION, UM, LATER IN THE YEAR.

UH, BUT THANK YOU.

ANY OTHER, UH, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS ON THIS? OH, YES OR YES.

WE ALSO HAVE EVENTS COMING UP WITHIN OUR DEPARTMENT AS WELL.

SO IF IT'S KILLING ALL THE BIRDS WITH ALL THE STONES AND, AND GETTING IT DONE AND SUPPORTING THE ARTISTS THAT WE ALSO ARE COLLABORATING WITH IN THE DEPARTMENT MM.

WE CAN TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN SHOW UP FOR, FOR THAT AS WELL, SO THAT YOU'RE NOT OVEREXTENDING AND SIGHTING ON TO DO SOMETHING.

UM, 'CAUSE WE, I MEAN, JUNETEENTH IS COMING UP.

WE HAVE ALL THESE CULTURAL OBSERVATIONS COMING UP AS WELL AS OUR OWN PROGRAMMING FOR MUSIC AND COLLABORATORS.

WE HAVE OUTSIDE THAT ASK US ABOUT LISTS FOR ARTISTS THAT WE SEND THEM, YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S ALSO AVAILABLE TO YOU AS WELL, IF YOU HAVE YOUR OWN THING COMING UP.

WE HAVE LIKE A WHOLE LIST SERVE OF ARTISTS THAT SIGN UP FOR OUR PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES.

UM, IT'S JUST A LIST OF ALL THE ARTISTS THAT VOLUNTEER TO GIVE THEIR INFORMATION.

SO WHEN THE TIME COMES, UM, WE SHARE, YOU KNOW, GIVE US THE DISCIPLINE, THE, THE, THE SKILLS, THE SOUND THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR, AND WE CAN GIVE YOU A LIST OF ARTISTS, UM, HOPING THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU USE A SUGGESTED PAY RATE THAT WE, YOU KNOW, WORK WITH, BUT THAT LIST IS ALSO AVAILABLE TO YOU ALL AS WELL TO WORK WITH THE ARTISTS THAT WE HAVE IN OUR CATALOG.

SO ANY CITY EVENT, YOU HAVE TO USE THE PAY RATE, AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE COUNCIL MEMBERS, BUT WE CAN'T PAY FOR TALENT AT COUNT.

THOSE ARE SEPARATE MEETINGS.

THEY'RE KIND OF, WERE TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES.

HMM.

BUT COUNCIL OFFICES OFTENTIMES HAVE BUDGETS FOR THINGS LIKE THAT.

YOU JUST HAVE TO COORDINATE WELL IN ADVANCE TO SEE WHAT'S POSSIBLE.

UM, BUT ANYTHING LIKE, IF IT'S, YOU KNOW, AT A CITY FACILITY AT ANY OF OUR CULTURAL CENTERS OR FACILITIES, UM, THAT'S MUCH EASIER TO COORDINATE AS A, AS A EVENT.

YOU JUST CAN'T HAVE A QUORUM THERE.

MAYBE IT'S THE WORKING GROUP.

SO YEAH, WE CAN PROVIDE YOU A LIST OF UPCOMING STUFF.

I THINK, UM, WHEN IT COMES TO THE FORMAT THAT COMMISSIONER WAS SUGGESTING, AND EVEN IF WE COMBINE THAT WITH A, WITH A, WITH A TOWN HALL FORMAT WITH OUR, ONE OF OUR, ONE OR TWO OF OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS, I THINK WE COULD CONSOLIDATE THAT MAYBE ONLY COMMISSIONERS AROUND ARE RELEVANT TO THAT DISTRICT COULD ATTEND.

AND, AND WE KIND OF JUST MAKE IT EASIER FOR, UH, EVERYBODY AND STILL BE ABLE TO FACILITATE AND TAKE THESE, UH, YOU KNOW, DISCUSSIONS AND EVENTS INTO THE INDIVIDUAL DISTRICTS.

UM, WELL THANK YOU.

THANK YOU DEFINITELY FOR ALL THE FEEDBACK AND, UH, WE'LL SURELY COME BACK WITH, UM, SOME PLANS HERE.

UM, COMMISSIONER GARTNER, DID YOU HAVE, UH, A QUESTION EARLIER? OKAY.

UH, COMMISSIONER ENGLAND, UH, VERY QUICK AS A REMINDER, UH, SHELBY, DO WE STILL HAVE ONE MORE SPOT OPEN FROM THE MUSIC COMMISSION TO BE, UH, A PANELIST OR DID THAT SECOND SPOT ALREADY GET FILLED? OUR LEADER OF THAT PROGRAM SAID THERE'S ONE OR TWO.

AH, SO YES.

UH, GOTCHA.

LAURA DID MENTION THAT WE HAVE ONE OR TWO SPOTS OPEN SO SHE IS AWARE OF YOUR, UM, HAND TO VOLUNTEER.

SO IF YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF THAT GRANT APPEALS GROUP, LET ME KNOW BY THE END OF TONIGHT OR EMAIL, UM, ALL OF US, I SENT IT TO ALL OF YOU AND LAURA AND ERICA ARE CC'D ON THAT EMAIL AS WELL.

IF ANYBODY ELSE WANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT WITH ME, IT'D BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

WE HAVE, UH, COMMISSIONER ENGLAND AND COMMISSIONER KA AS VOLUNTEERING.

THERE YOU HAVE YOUR NAMES .

AWESOME.

THANK YOU SO MUCH.

ON, UH, DOWNTOWN COMMISSION UPDATE ON PRIORITIES AND RECENT ACTIONS BY PARLIAMENTARY SILVA.

ANYTHING ELSE ON THE TOPIC? ALRIGHT, UM, MOVING ON.

THANK YOU ERICA SHELBY.

UM, MOVING

[10. Downtown Commission update on priorities and recent actions by Parliamentarian Silva.]

I AM AWARE OF THE TIME, SO I'LL KEEP THIS VERY BRIEF.

UH, SO THE ONLY THING OF OF IMPORTANCE

[02:35:01]

TO THE COMMISSION THAT THE DOWNTOWN COMMISSION CONSIDERED WAS THEIR BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.

SO THEY HAD THREE THAT, THAT REALLY, UM, I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU.

UH, ONE WAS AN EXPANSION OF THE DOWNTOWN AMBASSADORS MUSICIAN ESCORT PROGRAM.

SO IF YOU'RE NOT AWARE, IT'S LET'S SAY HAVE TWO, TWO PERSONS WHO ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE A SAFE ESCORT FOR, FOR MUSICIANS TO THEIR CARS AT NIGHT.

UH, BUT THE ISSUE IS IT'S ONLY AVAILABLE UNTIL 10 O'CLOCK.

AND SO THEY'RE ASKING FOR ADDITIONAL, NO ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO EXTEND THAT TO UP TO FOUR PERSONS TILL 3:00 PM 3:00 AM.

UH, THAT'S ONE ITEM ON THEIR, UH, RECOMMENDATION.

THE SECOND WAS, UH, LET'S SEE, UH, TO CONDUCT A FINANCIAL STUDY ON FOR THE COST OF SUBSIDIZED, SUBSIDIZED PARKING DOWNTOWN FOR MUSICIANS AND SERVICE WORKERS TO HELP ALLEVIATE THAT COST.

AND THEN FINALLY, A THIRD ITEM WAS THAT THEY CONSIDER SUBSIDING THE COST OF A SAFE AND SOBER GREEN ROOM.

UH, FOR AREA MUSICIANS POSSIBLY AT SOMETHING LIKE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, UH, PROVIDES A WELCOMING SPACE IN BETWEEN GIGS WHERE THEY CAN PLACE THEIR INSTRUMENTS AND GEAR AND NOT BE IN AN ALCOHOL HEAVY ENVIRONMENT.

SO THOSE WERE THE RECOMMENDATIONS THEY SENT OFF TO COUNCIL.

UM, THOUGHT I'D SHARE THAT WITH Y'ALL.

THANKS.

ALRIGHT, THANK YOU COMMISSIONER.

THAT'S A GREAT UPDATE, UH, FROM COMMISSIONER SILVA.

UH, QUESTIONS, COMMENTS ON THIS TOPIC.

ALRIGHT, MOVING ON TO

[11. Music Commission Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Parliamentarian elections.]

DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS. ALL RIGHT.

THE FUN PART OF THIS EVENING.

MUSIC COMMISSION CHAIR, VICE CHAIR, SECRETARY.

I STILL CAN'T SAY SECRETARY CORRECTLY.

I FEEL SOMETIMES AND, UH, PARLIAMENTARIAN ELECTIONS.

UM, SO, UM, ALL, ALL ARE, UM, OPEN RIGHT NOW.

UM, I'M SERVING AS THE CHAIR COMMISSIONER CARVALHO IS SERVING AS THE VICE CHAIR.

UM, COMMISSIONER, THE SECRETARY, UM, POSITION WAS VACATED BY COMMISSIONER STRICKLAND.

AND, UH, COMMISSIONER SILVA IS CURRENTLY SERVING AS THE PARLIAMENTARIAN.

UH, SO WE'LL START WITH THE CHAIR.

UM, ELECTIONS, UH, DO WE HAVE A NOMINATION FOR CHAIR? I NOMINATE NAGA VALLEY FOR CHAIR.

UM, THANK YOU, UH, COMMISSIONER ENGLAND.

UH, THANK YOU COMMISSIONER BLEVINS.

UM, ALL IN FAVOR? UH, IS THERE A DISCUSSION, FIRST OF ALL? NO, NO, NO.

LET ME, LET ME NOT RUSH THIS RUSH.

NO, NO, NO, NO.

HOLD ON GUYS.

DO WE HAVE OTHER NOMINATIONS? OKAY.

IS THERE ANY, UH, DISCUSSION BEFORE I CALL A VOTE? OKAY.

UM, I AM GONNA BE A LITTLE EMOTIONAL, SO I'LL, UH, KEEP MY TALKING FOR LATER.

UM, DO WE HAVE, UH, NOMINATIONS FOR VICE CHAIR? UH, COMMISSIONER ENGLAND, NOMINATE CURRENT VICE CHAIR CARVALLO? MM-HMM .

UH, DO WE HAVE A SECOND? I'LL SECOND.

UH, WE HAVE, UH, OKAY.

WE HAVE A NOMINATION FOR COMMISSIONER CARVALLO FOR VICE CHAIR FROM COMMISSIONER ENGLAND.

AND WE HAVE A SECOND FROM, UM, COMMISSIONER PRICE.

UH, DO WE HAVE OTHER NOMINATIONS? ANY DISCUSSION BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE? ALL IN FAVOR.

CONGRATULATIONS.

UH, UM, NEXT UP IS, UM, SECRETARY.

UM, DO WE HAVE ANY NOMINATIONS FOR SECRETARY? YES, I WOULD.

UH, , LIKE TO NOMINATE.

I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE RAISE THEIR HAND, SO IF, DOES SOMEBODY ELSE WANTS TO TAKE THE NOMINATION OR, UH, NO.

NOMIN I WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE MS. CARD.

CONGRATULATIONS, COMMISSIONER.

COMMISSIONER CARD? YES.

DO WE HAVE A SECOND? OKAY.

A LOT OF SECONDS.

UH, WHO DID WE NOT TAKE A SECOND FROM? COMMISSIONER CASADA.

UM, CAN YOU NOMINATE, I'M SORRY, COMMISSIONER CARDENA FOR SECRETARY.

WE HAVE A NOMINATION FROM ME AND WE HAVE A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER CASADA.

DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS FOR SECRETARY? ANY DISCUSSION BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE? ALL IN FAVOR.

UH, YOU CAN ALSO VOTE FOR YOURSELF.

WE, WE HAVE NEW OFFICERS, SO .

[02:40:01]

ABSOLUTELY.

UM, NEXT UP IS PARLIAMENTARIAN.

DO WE HAVE ANY NOMINATIONS FOR PARLIAMENTARIAN? COMMISSIONER BLEVINS , COMMISSIONER SILVA.

WE HAVE A NOMINATION FROM, UH, FOR COMMISSIONER SILVA FROM, UH, COMMISSIONER BLEVINS.

DO WE HAVE A SECOND? WE HAVE A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER AGUILAR.

ARE THERE ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS? DO YOU OPPOSE THAT NOMINATION? ALRIGHT.

EXCITED.

CONGRATULATIONS, UH, COMMISSIONER SILVA.

IT'S A, IT'S, IT'S A FAIR QUESTION NOW GUYS WAS WILLING YEAH.

ANY, ANY, ANY DISCUSSION BEFOREHAND? THAT'S WHY I ALSO ASKING FOR DISCUSSION IF ANYBODY WANTS TO SAY NO, I DON'T WANNA BE NOMINATED.

SO, , UM, ANY DISCUSSION BEFORE WE TAKE A VOTE? ALL IN FAVOR.

AND, UH, ALL RIGHT.

UM, I, I, I JUST WANT TO PERSONALLY, UH, THANK EVERYBODY FOR THE VOTE OF CONFIDENCE.

UM, AND, UM, UH, I, I WILL SAY MORE WHEN I GATHER MYSELF.

UH, BUT, UH, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH.

UH, IT'S JUST, UH, BEEN AN ABSOLUTE HONOR SERVING ON THIS COMMISSION AS N AS CHAIR.

UM, AND, UH, I LOOK FORWARD TO BRINGING SOME NEW ITEMS IN.

UM, AND, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THIS CYCLE AND TIME SHOW LIES, UM, VERY QUICKLY, SO I WOULD REQUEST COMMISSIONERS IS TO, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BASELINE DISCUSSIONS AROUND GRANTS, ET CETERA, ARE GONNA CONTINUE.

THEY HAVE BEEN GOING ON FROM SEVERAL YEARS, BUT, UM, AS YOU SEE ITEMS THAT YOU FEEL PASSIONATE ABOUT, THAT WAY WE CAN HAVE AN IMPACT ON IN THE CONTEXT THAT WE ARE SERVING IN WITH, WITH THE GOVERNMENT IN ADVISING THE GOVERNMENT.

UH, PLEASE, UH, START ADDING THOSE, UH, MEANINGFUL TOPICS TO THE AGENDAS AS WE MOVE FORWARD.

AGENDA ITEMS. WE HAVE, UM, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION, APPROVAL OF MINUTES, STAFF BRIEFING.

UH, FUTURE

[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS]

WE HAVE AN, UH, ON LIVE MUSIC FUND COLLECTIONS BY KIM MC CARSON STAFF BRIEFING ON FY 24 AUSTIN LIVE MUSIC FUND.

FINAL REPORTS BY SHAMALI STAFF BRIEFING ON, UH, AIRPORT BOOKING MUSIC PERFORMANCES BY SHAMALI, TRYING TO SAY ON NAME, LIKE YOU PRONOUNCE IT.

UH, UM, STAFF BRIEFING ON ACME FUNDING PROGRAMS BY LAURA OARD, STAFF BRIEFING.

UM, SHOULD WE, UH, RETAIN THE UPDATE ON THE LONG CENTER? IS THERE GONNA BE ANY FURTHER UPDATES OR, UM, I WILL ACTUALLY, UM, UNLESS I'LL WAIT FOR, UH, UH, MORGAN TO INFORM ME ON THIS, UM, AND, AND SEE IF ANYTHING NEEDS TO BE ADDED.

BUT I THINK WE, WE GOT THE INFORMATION THAT WE REQUESTED TODAY.

UM, UNDER DISCUSSION ITEMS, WE HAVE, UH, DOWNTOWN COMMISSION UPDATE ON PRIORITIES, UH, AND RECENT ACTIONS BY PARLIAMENTARIAN SILVA.

UM, WE HAVE A DISCUSSION ON, UM, THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS AGAIN, AND HOW TO ENGAGE BETTER ENGAGE WITH, UH, THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS.

UM, ANYTHING ELSE IN THE DISCUSSION ITEMS THAT I MAY BE MISSING? BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS AND MUSIC PERFORMANCES.

BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.

WE ALREADY REC MADE THE RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT WE WANTED TO DISCUSS PRIORITIZATION AT OUR END AND SO THAT WE CAN SHARE, COLLECTIVELY SHARE THAT KIND OF INFORMATION WHEN WE ARE TALKING TO OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS.

SO THAT IS, UH, AND THEN DISCUSSION ON MUSIC PERFORMANCES, BRINGING BACK MUSIC PERFORMANCES TO MUSIC COMMISSION.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE THEM READY FOR NEXT MONTH OR DO YOU WANNA DISCUSS IT? COULD WE GO AHEAD AND ADD AN AGENDA ITEM ACTUALLY TO KICK OFF THE MEETING WITH THE MUSIC PERFORMANCE? OKAY.

AND THEN IT'S A DISCUSSION ITEM AS WELL TO TALK ABOUT IT, JUST TO, JUST TO ESTABLISH HOW WE ARE GONNA DO IT MOVING FORWARD.

WHAT WE DID, WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME, SO I, I'LL HAVE SOMETHING FOR SURE.

I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE IT WASN'T JUST A DISCUSSION.

IF I NEED TO PREPARE AN ACTUAL PERFORMANCE, I CAN, WE CAN GO WHAT WE USED IN THE PAST, WE CAN HAVE THAT READY.

WOULD THIS BE AN ARTIST THAT HAS NOT BEEN PRESENTED BEFORE OR? I CAN SEE IF I CAN FIND ONE THAT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE ONE THAT'S BEEN PERCENTAGE.

SO WE CAN, WE CAN OPEN UP THE MEETING WITH THE MUSICAL PERFORMANCE AND THEN DISCUSSION ON MUSIC PERFORMANCES FOR OUR NEW COMMISSIONERS AND EXPECTATIONS MOVING FORWARD.

[02:45:01]

IF WE CAN'T DO THE BEST OF, DEPENDING ON HHL AND STAFF .

I WOULD SUGGEST WE DO A BEST OF A VIDEO COMPILATIONS OKAY.

TO START.

WE JUST DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME AND, UH, THAT'S GREAT TO GET IT DONE.

THAT'S GREAT.

THE, WELL, THE WAY THAT SHE, SHELBY DOES IT SO WELL.

JUST CHECKING.

BUT I WOULD SAY BY MEETING AFTER NEXT, I MEAN, WE'LL, WE HAVE ENOUGH TIME.

GREAT.

BUT YOU CAN START SENDING YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR YOUR DISTRICTS RIGHT AWAY, YOU KNOW, SO THAT SHE CAN START ADVANCING.

WE CAN JUST DO A, A CHECK-IN IN THE NEXT COMMISSION MEETING ON WHERE WE ARE WITH MAKING THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.

WE'LL JUST LEAVE IT ON THE AGENDA.

UH, I DON'T THINK IT'S GONNA BE A VERY ELABORATE DISCUSSION ON THIS.

IT WOULD BE THE NEW COMMISSIONERS WHO CAN BRING, BRING SOME, MY RICH SUGGESTION WOULD BE TO GO DISTRICT BY DISTRICT, BUT IF WE WANNA START WITH THE NEW COMMISSIONERS, WE CAN ON THE AGENDA, WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT.

YOU WANT? YEAH.

THERE YOU GO.

WE CAN SEE HOW, BUT IF YOU KNOW WHO YOU WOULD RECOMMEND, JUST LET HER KNOW, BECAUSE IT TAKES TIME.

NOT EVERYBODY'S AVAILABLE WHEN YOU THINK IT IS.

IT'S ALWAYS KIND OF A, LET'S TALK ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW.

SOUNDS GOOD.

UM, AND IF, UH, YEAH, PLEASE.

SORRY, I JUST WANNA SAY SOMETHING REALLY QUICKLY.

SO I THINK FOR THOSE DISTRICTS, LIKE YOU'RE SAYING, I THINK IT JUST GIVES YOU ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO YOUR COUNCIL, LIKE YOUR CITY COUNCIL PERSON AS WELL.

AND THEN ALSO, LIKE YOU SAID, OPENING UP THAT DISCUSSION JUST IN THAT WAY.

SO, YEAH, LET'S DO THE BEST OF, THAT'S ONE AGENDA ITEM AT THE TOP OF THE MEETING, AND THEN WE'LL HAVE A DISCUSSION ITEM ON THIS.

ANYTHING ELSE IN THE DISCUSSION ITEMS? OKAY.

DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS. UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT A POTENTIAL WORKING GROUP, UM, UH, FOR, UM, FOR DISCUSSING, UH, THIRD PARTY CONTRACTOR, LONG CENTER, UM, AS A THIRD ADMINISTRATOR, HOWEVER YOU WANT TO ALL, I'LL FIND THE RIGHT WORDINGS, BUT ESSENTIALLY DISCUSSION ON THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATION OF GRANTS, UM, AND CREATE A WORKING GROUP AROUND THE TOPIC.

THE OTHER ONE, UH, THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT A WORKING GROUP WAS, UH, ON THE TOPIC OF, UH, MUSIC COMMISSION ENGAGEMENT WITH COUNCIL DISTRICTS AND WHAT KIND OF THINGS WE MIGHT WANNA DO UNDERNEATH THAT.

UM, WITH THAT, ANY OTHER DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS? PLEASE GO AHEAD.

LAST ONE, SORRY.

UM, THE MUSIC CENSUS THAT'S COMING UP.

'CAUSE I KNOW THAT'S FOR 2027, SO I JUST WANTED TO BRING THAT UP AS WELL.

FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEM.

GOT IT.

UM, AND THAT WILL BE UNDER DISCUSSION ITEMS, BASICALLY.

UM, OKAY.

WITH THAT COMMISSION, SORRY, SORRY.

WHAT HAPPENED WITH THE STRATEGIC GOALS THAT YOU DRAFTED? THE STRATEGIC GOALS FOR THE COMMISSION? YES.

RECOMMENDATIONS.

IS THAT THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATION? NO, IT'S DIFFERENT.

NO, IT'S DIFFERENT.

IT'S DIFFERENT.

THERE IS AN ANNUAL REPORT THAT THE CHAIR, UM, IS, IS ASKED TO DO.

AND THEN THERE IS THE BUDGET, UH, THE STRATEGIC GOALS REPRESENTED EARLIER, THE, SORRY, THE ANNUAL REPORT, WHICH HAD THE STRATEGIC GOALS WERE REPRESENTED EARLIER IN THE YEAR.

AND, UH, THE BUDGET OF COURSE CAME IN THIS TIME.

UM, WHEN I MADE THE DRAFT AND PUT IT IN FRONT OF THE COMMISSION.

I ALSO DID USE THE STRATEGIC GOALS TO KIND OF GET THAT ALIGNED WITH THE BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS.

SO WE HAVE SOME ALIGNMENT THERE.

THAT SAID, AS WE, AS I MENTIONED ABOUT ADDING NEW AGENDA ITEMS, THAT IS DEFINITELY A RESOURCE FOR US TO BRING AGENDA ITEMS INTO THE MIX, BUT IT'S NOT LIMITING TO WHERE YOU CANNOT ADD ANYTHING ELSE.

SO, BUT WE SHOULD DEFINITELY LOOK AT THAT AND INFORM OURSELVES ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THINGS WE COULD POTENTIALLY BRING TO THE AGENDA.

COMMISSIONER CASADA, DID YOU WANNA DO ANYTHING ELSE SPECIFIC TO THE STRATEGIC GOALS OR THE ANNUAL REPORT? UM, I GUESS I JUST WANNA SAY THAT, UH, IN THE PAST WE'VE HAD, UM, SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS THAT WE, YOU KNOW, SO WE CAN ALL CONSIDER, LIKE IN THE PAST WE HAD RAUL HERNANDEZ COME AND WE'VE HAD GRAHAM WILLIAMS COME MM-HMM .

TO JUST KIND OF GIVE US THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE, THE MUSIC ECOSYSTEM.

AND SO FOR NEW COMMISSIONERS, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.

COMMUNITY, YOU KNOW, MUSIC COMMUNITY LEADERS TO COME IN AND, AND SPEAK ON SOMETHING.

SO WE CAN MAKE IT A DISCUSSION ITEM FOR NEXT TIME TO TEASE IT OUT A LITTLE BIT MORE OR TALK OFFLINE OR WHATEVER THAT LOOKS LIKE.

THE MONTH PREVIOUS TO, YOU KNOW, AND JUST GET THE CHAIRS TO COORDINATE THAT.

I MEAN, WE COULD, WE COULD, UM, WE COULD ADD A DISCUSSION ITEM IF YOU WANNA GIVE IT A THOUGHT.

WE CAN, WE CAN DO THAT LATER, BUT IF NOT, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND ADD A DISCUSSION ITEM TO BRING IN, UH, UH, MUSIC INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS TO SPEAK AT THE COMMISSION AND HOW WE WANT TO, UH, YOU KNOW, PURSUE THAT FORWARD.

YEP.

UM, AND JUST A QUICK REMINDER, YOU CAN ALSO BRING AGENDA ITEMS UP DURING

[02:50:01]

ALL YOU NEED IS A SECOND.

AND, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, THE CHAIR DOES LOOK AT THE FINAL AGENDA AND APPROVE IT, BUT COMMISSIONERS JUST NEED A SECOND TO ACTUALLY PUT IT ON THE AGENDA.

UM, SO DO I HAVE, UH, A MOTION TO APPROVE ALL OF THE ABOUT DISCUSSED FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? SO A MOTION FROM COMMISSIONER CARVALHO.

UM, CAN I TAKE A SECOND FROM COMMISSIONER BLEVINS.