* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:01] UM, I'M GONNA CALL TO ORDER THIS, UH, FRIDAY, APRIL 10TH MEETING OF THE, THE MARRIAGE COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. AND WE WILL START WITH ROLL CALL CHAIR KELLY HERE. VICE CHAIR CHANG. PRESENT. COMMISSIONER ARIANO? HERE. COMMISSIONER COMER HAGANS. HERE. COMMISSIONER ANTE. COMMISSIONER MURPHY. COMMISSIONER SAM MARTIN. YES. COMMISSIONER SLADE. COMMISSIONER VASSALLO CHAIR HERE. OKAY, GREAT. WE'LL START WITH, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS. AND FIRST UP WE HAVE HASAN KAIA. WELCOME. THANKS FOR JOINING US. YEAH, THANK YOU. UH, BEFORE I BEGIN, I WOULD LIKE TO APOLOGIZE FOR MY ENGLISH. NOT KNOWING A LANGUAGE CAN ALSO BE A TAPE OF BARRIER. IT REMINDS US THAT BARRIERS ARE NOT ONLY PHYSICAL. LET ME BRIEFLY INTRODUCE MYSELF. MY NAME IS HASSAN KAYA AND I AM FROM TURKEY. I WAS BORN WITH A PHYSICAL DISABILITY. FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS, I HAVE CARRIED OUTRIGHTS BATS WAR TO PROTECT THE RIGHT RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES AND TO STRENGTHENS RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY. I HAVE SERVED AS A PRESIDENT ON BOARD MEMBER IN VARIOUS DISABILITIES, CIVIL ASSOCI ORGANIZATIONS. I SPECIAL WORKED ON DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS CLAIMANT MECHANISMS AND OR PROJECTS RELATED TO EMPLOYMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP. I STUDIED SOCIOLOGY AT UNIVERSITY AND LATER COMPLETED A MASTER'S DEGREE IN HUMAN RIGHTS LAW. I HAVE WRITTEN ARTICLES IN JOURNALS AND NEWSPAPERS TO SUPPORT THE, THE DEVELOPMENT AND EXPANSIONS OF VISIBILITY RIGHTS. IN 2015, IP UH, PUBLISHED A BOOK TITLED THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. TODAY, I WOULD LIKE TO EMPHASIZE THAT DISABILITY IS NOT ONLY A SOCIOLOGY, IT IS DIRECTLY A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE. THE UNITED STATES HAS MADE IMPORTANT PROGRESS THROUGH LAWS SUCH, UH, AS THE, THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT AND THE REHABILITATION ACT. THESE LAWS ARE CRITICAL FOR PREVENTING DISCRIMINATION AND ENSURING EQUAL ACCESS TO EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, AND PUBLIC SERVICES. HOWEVER, FROM A HUMAN RIGHT PERSPECTIVE, THERE ARE CITY STEPS TO BE TAKEN WRITING UNITED NATIONS CONVENTIONS ON. RIGHT. UH, THE RATES OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WOULD ON, UH, NOT ONLY BE ILLEGAL STEP, BUT ALSO A STRONG COMMITMENT TO PART SPAIN AND RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY. PERSONS WITH DISABILITY STILL FACE SERIOUS BARRIERS IN ACCESS, EDUCATION, HEALTH, AND EMPLOYMENT. THESE ARE FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS. ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE IS ON AN ESSENTIAL PART OF HUMAN DIGNITY. WORK IS NOT ONLY ABOUT EARNING INCOME, IT IS ALSO ABOUT PARTICIPATING IN SO SOCIETY BEING VISIBLE AND COLONIZED AS EQUAL. FOR THIS REASON, A PARA PARA SHIFT IS NEED. PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES SHOULD BE SEEN NOT ONLY AS EMPLOYEES, BUT ALSO AS EMPLOYEES ACCESS TO EDUCATION, EQUIPMENT AND FINANCES RESOURCE TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS. BUSINESSES SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A RIGHT, NOT A PERIC AT THIS POINT, LOCAL AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS [00:05:01] HAVE IMPORTANT RESPONSIBILITIES. AT THE, THE SAME TIME, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS DO PRIVATE SECTOR AND CIVIL ASSOCIATED MUST WORK TOGETHER WITH THE ACTIVE PARTICIPATION OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. PARTICIPATION IN DECISION MAKING PROCESS IS NOT A FAVOR, IT IS THERE. FUNDAMENTAL, RIGHT. INCLUSIVE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROJECTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN THIS CONTEXT. THIS IS CONTEXT. PROJECTS HAVE THE POWER TO CREATIVE CHANGE, NOT ONLY ECONOMICALLY, BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE. AND EQUALLY, I WOULD LIKE TO CLEARLY EXPRESS THAT I AM READY TO SUPPORT ANY RISE RIGHTS BASED WORK THAT STRENGTHS THE DIGNITY AND RISE OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. AS A FINAL WORD, WHATEVER WE DO, WE SHOULD NOT DO IT FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES, BUT TOGETHER WITH PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I WOULD BE HAPPY TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS. THANK YOU, HASSAN. DEFINITELY AGREE WITH ALL OF THOSE STATEMENTS. YEAH, IT'S VERY, AND I HEARD YOU ARE ALSO INTERESTED IN SERVING ON THE COMMISSION, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU IF YOU'RE ABLE. YEAH. THANK YOU. YEAH, HE'S REALLY VERY HAPPY TO BE PARTICIPATED IN THIS. ALRIGHT, GREAT. UM, I KNOW WE'RE LOOKING FOR TWO COMMISSIONERS RIGHT NOW, SO I'LL SEE. I'LL TALK WITH THE CAP AND SEE WHAT WE CAN DO. THANK YOU AGAIN. UH, NEXT UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, WE HAVE MELINDA RACOM FROM THE, UH, THE STATE DISABILITY COMMITTEE. IS MELINDA HERE? YES. CAN YOU HEAR ME? YEP. OKAY, GREAT. UH, GOOD EVENING, CHAIR KELLY AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION. MY NAME AGAIN IS MELINDA ROCOM WITH THE GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE ON PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. I WANTED TO BRIEFLY SHARE TWO OPPORTUNITIES CURRENTLY OPEN ACROSS THE STATE THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST TO YOUR NETWORK. FIRST, WE HAVE OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED THE 2026 NATIONAL DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AWARENESS MONTH POSTER ART COMPETITION. THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY PROTECTS ITS ARTISTS WITH DISABILITIES TO SUBMIT ORIGINAL ARTWORK THAT HIGHLIGHTS THE VALUE AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN THE WORKFORCE. THE SELECTED ARTWORK WILL BE FEATURED IN OUR STATEWIDE ENDING CAMPAIGN WITH THOUSANDS OF POSTERS DISTRIBUTED ACROSS TEXAS. THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS JUNE 30TH. SECOND, WE ARE CURRENTLY ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2026 LEX FREEDOM EMPLOYMENT AWARDS, WHICH RECOGNIZE EMPLOYERS, ENTREPRENEURS, AND INDIVIDUALS WHO DEMONSTRATE LEADERSHIP IN ADVANCING EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR TEXANS WITH DISABILITIES. NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN THROUGH JULY 31ST, AND WE ENCOURAGE SUBMISSIONS ACROSS A VARIETY OF CATEGORIES, INCLUDING SMALL, MEDIUM, AND LARGE EMPLOYERS, NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS AND ENTREPRENEURS. I'VE SHARED A FLYER WITH MORE INFORMATION ON BOTH OPPORTUNITIES, AND I ENCOURAGE YOU TO HELP US SPREAD THE WORD WITHIN YOUR COMMUNITIES AND NETWORK. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND FOR THE WORK YOU DO TO ADVANCE ACCESSIBILITY IN AUSTIN. THANK YOU, MELINDA. GOOD TO HEAR FROM YOU. AND, UH, YEAH, WE'LL DEFINITELY KEEP THOSE OPPORTUNITIES IN MIND. I KNOW THEY'RE ALWAYS POPULAR. AWESOME. THANK YOU SO MUCH. OKAY, WE'LL MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER ONE. APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES REGULAR MEETING ON MARCH 13TH, 2026. UH, WE'LL MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES A SECOND. ALL RIGHT. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY AYE. AYE. OKAY. THEN WE WILL MOVE ON TO NUMBER TWO, A STAFF BRIEFING, UH, THE STAFF BRIEFING FROM THE URBAN DESIGN DIVISION OF AUSTIN PLANNING RE REGARDING UPDATES TO THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM AND ACCESSIBILITY IMPROVEMENTS. AND WE HAVE JILL FROM AUSTIN PLANNING JOINING US. UH, I ASKED, UH, THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM HERE TODAY 'CAUSE I KNOW THEY'VE DONE A LOT OF, UM, GOOD WORK IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA. AND SO WE JUST WANTED TO HEAR A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT. AND THEN, YOU KNOW, TO THE EXTENT ANY OF THAT IS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ACCESSIBILITY CONCERNS. WELCOME, JILL. THANK YOU. GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. MY NAME IS JILL ESCO AND I AM THE PRINCIPAL PLANNER IN AUSTIN PLANNING'S URBAN DESIGN [00:10:01] DIVISION. AND, UH, AS I JUST MENTIONED THIS EVENING, I'LL BE GOING OVER AN UPDATE ON THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM, AND THAT WILL INCLUDE BOTH THE UPDATE OF THE PLAN ITSELF AS WELL AS THE STANDARDS THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO HOW DOES THIS COMMITTEE, THE MAYOR'S COMMITTEE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, RELATE TO GREAT STREETS? SO IN THINKING ABOUT OUR BEST EXAMPLE OF GREAT STREETS, THIS IS AN IMAGE OF ALONG SECOND STREET FRONT OF JOE'S, UM, COFFEE HOUSE AND LOOKING AT HOW THAT GREAT STREETS IS FOR EVERYONE. AND SO, BECAUSE THIS IS PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY, NOT ONLY THE PEDESTRIAN ZONE, THAT YOU CAN SEE WHERE THE LEAVES ARE IN THIS PHOTO, UM, BUT THAT SPACE THAT'S CLEAR FOR EVERYONE TO BE ABLE TO WALK THROUGH AS WELL AS AN EXAMPLE OF, UM, WHAT IS SHOWN IN THIS IMAGE WITH A SPACE THAT IS OPEN FOR A WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBILITY. I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT THOUGH, THAT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT IN, UM, ONE OF THE COMMENTS THAT WAS JUST PRESENTED THAT, UM, DISABILITIES ARE, ARE NOT JUST, UH, PHYSICAL, THAT IT IS, UM, HAS A WIDE VARIETY OF, UH, VISIBLE AND NON-VISIBLE, UM, ITEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT, AND THAT IT AFFECTS A LOT OF PEOPLE. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK IS REALLY IMPORTANT IN THINKING ABOUT HOW WE PROCEED WITH THE GREAT STREETS UPDATE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO, A HISTORY OF THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM AND THE EARLY TWO THOUSANDS GREAT STREETS WAS ADOPTED BY COUNCIL, AND THAT NOT ONLY INCLUDED THE PLAN AND STANDARDS, BUT ALSO THE DOWNTOWN DESIGN GUIDELINES AS WELL AS THE GREAT STREETS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. SO FROM THERE, WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY FUNDING JUST YET, SO WE JUST HADN'T ADOPTED PLAN AND STANDARDS. BUT THEN IN 2003, COUNCIL DEDICATED A PORTION OF THE PARKING METER REVENUE TO GREAT STREET. SO EVERY YEAR, $728,000 IS FUNDED, UM, SINCE THAT TIME INTO THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM. AND THEN IN 2014, COUNCIL ESTABLISHED GREAT STREETS AS A DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS GATEKEEPER REQUIREMENTS. SO ONE OF THE GATEKEEPER REQUIREMENTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM IS GREAT STREETS. SO THE TOWERS THAT YOU SEE IN DOWNTOWN, NOT ALL OF THEM, BUT MOST OF THEM ARE GREAT STREETS PROJECTS OF WHICH, LIKE IN THIS EXAMPLE HERE, YOU SEE GREAT STREETS AT THE BASE OF THOSE TOWERS DUE TO THAT, UM, COUNCIL, UH, ESTABLISHING GREAT STREETS AS A GATEKEEPER REQUIREMENT. SO IN THE LAST 25 YEARS, THAT HAS BEEN A LOT THAT HAS HAPPENED, UM, AS FAR AS, UH, NEW TYPES OF FURNISHINGS THAT ARE AVAILABLE, NEW FURNISHES. UM, AND SO JUST NEW, UM, CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE IN DOWNTOWN THAT NEED TO BE IMPLEMENTED AS PART OF THE GREAT STREET STANDARDS AND PLAN. SO THAT IS WHY WE'RE DOING AN UPDATE AT THIS TIME. AND THAT CALLS FOR THAT IN THAT PLAN. SO WHAT WE DID, UM, WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY DATA AS FAR AS, UM, IN THE LAST 25 YEARS THAT HAD BEEN DONE. SO MY TEAM AND I IN THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, WE HAVE COMPLETED AN EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS, AND I'LL GO OVER THAT IN MORE DETAIL ON THE NEXT SLIDE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. ALL RIGHT. SO OUR EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS, WHAT WE DID, WE DID TWO THINGS. ONE, LIKE I JUST SAID, WE CREATED THE FIRST EVER INVENTORY THAT HAD EVER BEEN COMPLETED IN THE LAST 25 YEARS FOR GREAT STREET. SO MY TEAM AND I, OVER THE COURSE OF EIGHT MONTHS, WALKED 230 BLOCK FACES IN DOWNTOWN THAT WHERE GREAT STREETS IS ALL ALREADY INSTALLED, LIKE ON SECOND STREET, FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH IS A CIP PROJECT. SO WE NOT ONLY HAVE DATA ON ALL GREAT STREETS ELEMENTS, BUT WE ALSO HAVE AN EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS. SO LOOKING AT WHAT IS THE CONDITION OF THOSE ELEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN INSTALLED PREVIOUSLY FOR THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM. SO WHAT WE FOUND WAS THE HIGHEST AND LOWEST SCORING ELEMENTS IN EACH OF THOSE CATEGORIES FOR OUR ANALYSIS. SO THIS WAS DONE DURING DAYTIME HOURS. SO LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE LIGHTING, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, THERE'S A LARGE CAVEAT THERE THAT SCORED AT A HIGHER CATEGORY, BUT IT WAS, WE'RE NOT LOOKING AT THE QUALITY OF THE LIGHT. WE WERE JUST SEEING IF THERE WAS A LIGHT POLE PRESENT, THE CONDITION OF THE BULB, SEE IF THERE WAS A BULB IN THE LIGHT POLE, IF THERE WAS EVEN, UM, A LIGHTING FIXTURE IN PLACE WHERE IT SHOULD BE IF THERE WAS JUST A BASE. SO THAT'S WHAT WE, UH, FOUND WITH THE LIGHTING AS WELL AS BIKE RACKS. SO THE BIKE RACKS ARE FAIRLY INDESTRUCTIBLE. THE U RACK THAT YOU SEE IN DOWNTOWN, UM, THAT IS IN FAIRLY GOOD CONDITION OVERALL AS WELL AS THE TREES. SO THIS FELL INTO THE HIGHEST SCORING CATEGORY. BUT THE TREES OVERALL, THERE'S DEFINITELY ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT IN THINKING ABOUT HOW TREES, LIKE WHAT THE SPECIES IS, WHERE THEY'RE LOCATED, HOW THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM OPERATES IN RELATION TO TREES MOVING FORWARD. AND THE LOWEST SCORING ELEMENTS INCLUDED BENCHES. SO I'M SURE MANY OF YOU HAVE SEEN THE TRADITIONAL GREAT STREETS BENCH THAT WAS PRESENTED ON THE SECOND SLIDE OF THIS PRESENTATION. UM, BUT THAT BENCH HAS RECEIVED A LOT OF USE AND SOME OF THEM ARE A LITTLE OLDER, SO THERE MAY BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO RETHINK THAT GREAT STREETS BENCH. UM, SO WALKING AROUND IN, OVER THE COURSE OF EIGHT MONTHS, I DIDN'T SEE [00:15:01] ANY TRASH IN DOWNTOWN D DOWNTOWN AUSTIN ALLIANCE DOES AN EXCELLENT JOB WITH THEIR TEAM AND OTHERS AT THE CITY TO MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THE TRASH IS, UM, PICKED UP THROUGHOUT THE STREETS OF DOWNTOWN ALONG THE SIDEWALK AND FURNISHING ZONE. BUT I DID SEE TRASH, UM, AT THE, SOMETIMES AT THE TRASH AND RECYCLE AND RECEPTACLES WHERE IN THIS PHOTO ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF YOUR SCREEN WHERE THE, THE LOCK WAS SOMETIMES BROKEN, THERE WAS SOMETIMES A TRASH THAT WAS RUMMAGED THROUGH AND THERE WAS SOMETIMES TRASH AROUND, UM, SOME OF THESE TRASH AND RECYCLE AND RECEPTACLES. SO WITH THAT, THERE MAY BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, THIS WAS A LOWER SCORING ITEM TO RETHINK THOSE TRASH AND RECYCLE AND RECEPTACLES AS FAR AS THE DESIGN OF EACH OF THOSE BINS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO THE GOALS OF THE UPDATE, THESE ARE CURRENTLY UNDER, UM, REVIEW AND REFINEMENT BY OUR COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP, BUT THESE WERE THE GOALS AS OF A FEW MONTHS AGO, WHAT WE HAD AS PART OF THE UPDATE PER THE URBAN DESIGN DIVISION. SO IN THIS LIST, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THERE ARE MANY ONCE IN A GENERATION PROJECTS HAPPENING IN DOWNTOWN RIGHT NOW. SOME EXAMPLES ARE CAP AND STITCH PROJECT CONNECTS THE SIXTH STREET REDEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, THE TOWERS IN DOWNTOWN. AS I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, THE UPDATE TO THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, AS WELL AS THE, UM, CENTRAL CITY DISTRICT PLAN. SO THERE AND OTHERS, THERE'S SOME OF THAT I'M FORGETTING. SO THERE'S LOTS OF THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING LIKE THE CONVENTION CENTER FOR EXAMPLE. AND SO HOW DO ALL THESE PROJECTS RELATE TO THE GREAT STREETS PLAN AND HOW ARE WE GOING TO IMPLEMENT GREAT STREETS IN EACH OF THOSE INITIATIVES MOVING FORWARD? THAT'S THE FIRST POINT. SO SECOND IS HAVING A HOLISTIC CONVERSATION ABOUT ALL ELEMENTS IN THE RIGHT OF WAY. SO GREAT STREETS, AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF CITY HALL IN THIS PHOTO IS, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THE FURNISHING ZONE AND, UM, THE PEDESTRIAN ZONE. SO THAT, THAT WAS CALLED SOMETIMES A CLEAR ZONE. AND SO WHERE THE TREES AND THE STREET FURNISHINGS ARE LOCATED, UM, HOW DO ALL OF THOSE ELEMENTS RELATE TO THE ADJACENT USES? SO IF YOU HAVE BETWEEN THE CURBS, LIKE IN THE STREET ITSELF, THERE'S A TRAVEL LANE OR PARKING, HOW DOES THAT RELATE TO THE FURNISHING ZONE? AND THEN IN THE BUILDING SIDE, HOW DOES THE BUILDING RELATE TO GREAT STREETS IN THAT PEDESTRIAN ZONE? THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE STUDYING AS PART OF OUR UPDATE AND THEN THE FOCUS ON THE EXPERIENCE. SO WHAT DOES THAT HUMAN SCALE LIKE, WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO, UM, WALK ALONG GREAT STREETS? SO WE CAN TALK ABOUT THESE STANDARDS ALL DAY LONG FOR NOT MEETING THE INTENT OF GRAY STREETS AND HAVING, UM, AN EXPERIENCE THAT IS FOR EVERYONE. THAT IS, UH, ONE OF OUR GOALS OF THE UPDATE. AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO MODERNIZE AND HAVE MORE SPECIFICITY AROUND THE STANDARD. SO, UH, RIGHT NOW THERE, AS I MENTIONED, THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW FURNISHINGS THAT ARE AVAILABLE. THERE ARE LIKE BENCHES, FOR EXAMPLE, AND BIKE RACKS. THERE'S NEW MATERIALS THAT ARE AVAILABLE THAT WEREN'T EVEN, UM, REALLY CONSIDERED 25 YEARS AGO OR EVEN EXISTENCE. AND SO THERE'S OPPORTUNITY TO RETHINK EACH OF THE STREETSCAPE FURNISHINGS AND POTENTIALLY EVEN THE PAVEMENT, UM, ALONG THE PEDESTRIAN ZONE ITSELF AS WELL. AND THERE'S ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY TO CONTINUE TO PROMOTE CHAMPIONS FOR THE UPDATE. SO INTERNALLY AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN EVERY DAY ON SITE PLAN REVIEWS, URBAN DESIGN WORKS WITH OUR SISTER DEPARTMENTS LIKE AUSTIN WATER, AUSTIN ENERGY. WE WORK WITH AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC WORKS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND OTHERS TO ACTUALLY HAVE APPROVED SITE PLANS FOR THOSE TOWERS IN DOWNTOWN, WHICH IS THE NUMBER ONE WAY, AT LEAST IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, WHICH WE'VE IMPLEMENTED GREAT STREETS AND THEN EXTERNALLY AS WELL. SO HAVING THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY, THE DEVELOPERS, THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS AND ARCHITECTS, UM, ON BOARD. UM, AS FAR AS HOW THIS UPDATE IS GONNA LOOK LIKE MOVING FORWARD IS WHAT WE'RE PROMOTING CURRENTLY WITH OUR COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP. SO I'M GONNA GET TO HERE AT THE END OF THIS PRESENTATION IN MORE DETAIL AND ALSO WORKING FLEXIBILITY AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION INTO THE STANDARDS. SO EVERY SINGLE TREE IN DOWNTOWN HAS A CONFLICT WITH UTILITIES. AND SO WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? DO WE MOVE THE TREE TO THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD? PROBABLY NOT. WE HAVE TO MOVE THE UTILITIES TO PLANT THOSE TREES PER THE VISION OF GREAT STREETS TO HAVE, UM, THIS HOLISTIC APPROACH, UM, TO IMPLEMENT THAT VISION. AND THEN LASTLY, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, IS FUNDING. SO HOW DOES THE FUNDING FOR GREAT STREETS, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE MOVING FORWARD? IS IT GONNA CONTINUE TO BE, UM, THROUGH JUST THE PARKING METER FUND OR ARE THERE OTHER, UM, OPPORTUNITIES FOR REVENUE TO FUND THIS PROGRAM MOVING FORWARD AS WELL? NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. ALRIGHT, SO THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OVARY, MY FAVORITE PART OF THE PLANNING PROCESS. SO FROM SINCE LAST JULY UNTIL EARLIER THIS WEEK, WE ARE CONTINUING OUR ENGAGEMENT PORTION OF THIS UPDATE. SO WE HAVE SPOKEN WITH, UM, THOSE AT THE LARGER CITY OF AUSTIN COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS EMPLOYEES WHO WORK IN DOWNTOWN AS WELL AS THOSE WHO VISIT DOWNTOWN. SO WE HAVE CURRENTLY OVER A THOUSAND COMMENTS, PROBABLY MORE AT THIS POINT THAT WE HAVE CAPTURED THUS FAR. WE HAD AN ONLINE SURVEY LAST FALL THAT HAD OVER 300 PARTICIPANTS. WE HAD A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL OPEN HOUSE THAT INCLUDED OVER 75 ATTENDEES AT AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY AS WELL AS STAKEHOLDER [00:20:01] MEETINGS. THIS PHOTO SHOWS A WALKING TOUR WHERE WE TOOK, UM, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS AND THOSE WHO ARE PROPERTY OWNERS IN DOWNTOWN TO LOOK AT HOW GREAT STREETS IS MAINTAINED. SO WE HAD AN EXCELLENT WALKING TOUR JUST SHOWCASING THE SUCCESSES OF GREAT STREETS. WE'RE ALSO PART OF THE IMAGINE AUSTIN SPEAKER SERIES, NOT ONLY HAVING THE OPEN HOUSE AS A ONE TOUCH POINT FOR THE COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO GOING OUT TO THE COMMUNITY AGAIN AND HAVING THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE, THE SAME TYPE OF FEEDBACK THAT WAS OFFERED AND GETTING THE WORD OUT ABOUT THE UPDATE IN THAT SPEAKER SERIES EVENT. SO FROM THERE, UM, OUR TEAM IS CURRENTLY ANALYZING THOSE RESULTS AND CAPTURING THAT IN THE PLAN ITSELF. WE'LL CONTINUE TO FORMULATE RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON WHAT WE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY THUS FAR. SO CURRENTLY WE HAVE 22 RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE CURRENTLY UNDER REVIEW BY THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP. AND SO WE'LL CONTINUE TO REFINE THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND INCLUDE THOSE IN THE PLAN MOVING FORWARD. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO WHAT DID WE HEAR THUS FAR? SO WE HAD, FOR THE SURVEY SPECIFICALLY, UM, FOR GREAT THE GREAT STREETS UPDATE, WE HAD 600 OPEN-ENDED SURVEY COMMENTS. SO WE, I WISH I COULD SHOW YOU THE, THE SLIDE THAT, UM, HAS ALL OF THAT ANALYSIS, BUT IT IS, IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO READ. BUT WE, WE TOOK THE COMMON THEMES THAT WE HEARD FROM THE SURVEY AND DISTILLED 20 COMMUNITY THEMES FROM THAT. AND THEN FROM THAT WE DISTILLED, UH, SIX CORE VALUES. SO ONE IS, I KEEP MENTIONING IS PEOPLE, FIRST, THIS IS A PEDESTRIAN ORIENTED PLAN, FOCUSING, FOCUSING ON THE PEDESTRIAN EXPERIENCE IN DOWNTOWN THAT CREATES VIBRANT PUBLIC LIFE FOR EVERYONE. SO IT'S NOT ONLY, UM, JUST WALKING THROUGH DOWNTOWN, BUT IF YOU CAN SPEND TIME IN DOWNTOWN ON A BENCH, THIS IS, I ALWAYS SAY THIS IS LIVE MUSIC CAPITAL, THE WORLD. SO THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A MUSICIAN TO HAVE PERMISSION TO SIT ON A BENCH AND HAVE THIS SPACE WHERE PEOPLE ARE GATHERING. THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT GREAT STREETS IS ABOUT. NOT ONLY WALKING THROUGH DOWNTOWN, BUT ALSO THAT, UM, SENSE OF PUBLIC LIFE AS WELL. AND ALSO SHADE AND COMFORT. SO WE HAVE TREES AS PART OF THE UPDATE, UM, AND CURRENTLY FOR THE GREAT STREETS PLAN, BUT ALSO IF THERE ARE OTHER, OTHER OPPORTUNITIES FOR, FOR SHADE AS WELL. AND ALSO SAFETY. THIS IS A REALLY IMPORTANT ONE. SO WHAT I SAW IN THE CONDITION, EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS WAS THAT SAFETY IS KEY. SO WHEN WALKING ALONG STREETS WHERE THERE WERE NOT GREAT STREETS, IT WAS REALLY DANGEROUS, WHERE THE SIDEWALK WAS REALLY NARROW. UM, SOMETIMES THERE WAS CONSTRUCTION FENCING OR CONSTRUCTION HAPPENING. AND THEN HAVING A TRAVEL LANE WITH HIGH SPEED FELT LIKE HIGH SPEED TRAFFIC, LIKE RIGHT NEXT TO THE PEDESTRIAN ZONES. THAT WAS, UM, A LITTLE SCARY IN MY EXPERIENCE. BUT HAVING GREAT STREETS WHERE ADJACENT TO THOSE AREAS AND JUST WALKING DOWN, I KEEP MENTIONING SECOND STREET FOR EXAMPLE, AND JUST HAVING, UM, THAT SAFETY, THAT BUFFER, WHERE'S ACTUAL TREES AND FURNISHINGS BETWEEN THE TRAVEL LANE AND THE PEDESTRIAN ZONE IS REALLY IMPORTANT. MOVING FORWARD AND MAINTAINING THAT VISION. AND THEN HAVING CONNECTIVITY SO WE CAN SPEND TIME IN DOWNTOWN AND GREAT STREETS, BUT ALSO MAKING SURE THAT WE CAN SAFELY GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B. AND AS I MENTIONED BEFORE, MAKING SURE THAT GREAT STREETS IS WELL MAINTAINED IS ONE OF THE, UM, THINGS THAT WE HEARD FROM THE, THE SURVEY SPECIFICALLY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. ALL RIGHT, SO THIS IS THE TYPICAL PLANNING PROCESS. UM, AS I MENTIONED, WE, UH, COMPLETED A FEW MONTHS BACK THE EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS AND RIGHT NOW WE ARE CONTINUING IN THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PHASE. SO THAT STARTED AS I MENTIONED LAST SUMMER, AND THAT WILL CONTINUE INTO THIS FALL OF 2026. WE HAVE A COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP AGAIN, I'LL MENTION THAT, UM, IN MORE DETAIL AT THE END OF THIS PRESENTATION. BUT THAT COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP IS COMPRISED OF DEVELOPERS, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS AND ARCHITECTS WHO ARE IN THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY THAT, UM, HAVE KNOWLEDGE ON THE IMPLEMENTATION SIDE OF GREAT STREETS AND OTHERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING WITH THE GREAT STREETS UPDATE. UM, OR IN THAT GROUP. UM, WE'VE DONE BRIEFINGS FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS JUST LIKE THIS ONE, UM, IN THE PAST ABOUT THE GREAT STREETS UPDATE AND WE'LL CONTINUE THAT, UM, THROUGH THIS FALL. AND WE HAD A PUBLIC MEETING, UH, LAST FALL AS WELL AS WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER PUBLIC MEETING LATER THIS YEAR AS WELL. UM, NEXT WEEK IT'S REALLY EXCITING. WE HAVE A TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP MEETING THAT'S KICKING OFF THAT COMPRISE IS COMPRISED OF INTERNAL STAFF. SO AS I MENTIONED, LIKE AUSTIN WATER, AUSTIN ENERGY, AUSTIN TRANSPORTATION, PUBLIC WORKS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, THOSE STAFF MEMBERS AND CAPITAL METRO WILL BE IN THOSE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP MEETINGS INTERNALLY. AND THEN WE'LL ALSO HAVE DESIGN WORKSHOPS. SO WE'RE GOING TO DRAFT THESE STANDARDS FOR THE UPDATE, BUT BEFORE WE IMPLEMENT THEM, WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT, UM, THE STANDARDS ARE ACTUALLY WORK. AND SO DOING A TEST FIT WITH THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY AND DESIGN PROFESSIONALS TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE STANDARDS CAN ACTUALLY BE APPLIED EFFECTIVELY. AND THEN FROM THERE WE WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE ALL THAT FEEDBACK, COMPILE IT, AND ANALYZE IT AND FEED THAT DIRECTLY INTO THE DRAFT PLAN AND STANDARDS ITSELF. OUR GOAL IS IN THE WINTER, REALLY 2027 AND JANUARY, 2027 TO GO TO COUNCIL FOR POTENTIAL ADOPTION FOR THIS PLAN AFTER GOING TO BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. NEXT [00:25:01] SLIDE, PLEASE. ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANYTHING THAT I JUST WENT OVER ON THE GREAT STREETS UPDATE? YEAH, SURE. COMMISSIONER SAN MARTIN. I, UH, I, HI JOE. UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AND UH, IT'S REALLY YOU, IT'S A REALLY GOOD INFORMATION. UH, I HAVE JUST LIKE A, I GUESS A, A QUESTION AND LIKE A FOLLOW UP BASICALLY. SO, UM, MY QUESTION IS, UH, HOW MANY STREETS IN DOWNTOWN ARE PARTICIPATING WITH THE GREAT STREETS PROJECT? DO YOU HAVE, UM, LIKE A NUMBER OF STREETS LIKE IN DOWNTOWN THAT ARE PARTICIPATING? ARE THEY YEAH, SO THEY FOCUSING ON, OR YEAH, SO THEY'RE, I DIDN'T MENTION THIS, APOLOGIES. SO THE, THE BOUNDARIES OF GREAT STREETS CURRENTLY IS THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT. SO THAT IS LAMAR TO THE WEST I 35 TO THE EAST, MLK TO THE NORTH, AND CESAR CHAVEZ TO THE SOUTH. SO THAT IS THE, THE CURRENT BOUNDARIES OF THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM. HOWEVER, WE, WE HAVE NOT IMPLEMENTED ON EVERY SINGLE STREET GREAT STREETS YET. SO WE HAVE IDENTIFIED 230 BLOCK FACES THAT CURRENTLY HAVE GREAT STREETS, AND THAT HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED REALLY IN TWO WAYS, PRIMARILY THE MOST SUCCESSFUL WAY AS A DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, AS WELL AS THROUGH CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS. SO LIKE SECOND STREET AS I KEEP MENTIONING CESAR CHAVEZ AND BRAZOS, POTENTIALLY OTHERS THAT WERE PART OF CIPS WHERE GREAT STREETS WAS INSTALLED. DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? UH, YES. AND THEN I HAVE LIKE A FOLLOW UP, UM, ON THAT. UH, SO WILL YOU, OR DO YOU ANTICIPATE ADDITIONAL STREETS TO BE INCLUDED IN THE PROJECT, LIKE IN THE FUTURE? OR IS IT JUST LIKE THAT CENTRAL CORRIDOR, UM, THAT YOU'RE SPEAKING OF? THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. SO, AS I MENTIONED THAT CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT IS THE BOUNDARIES CURRENTLY, HOWEVER, LIKE ON RAINY STREET FOR EXAMPLE, THAT'S NOT IN THE BOUNDARIES OF GREAT STREETS, BUT THERE ARE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROJECTS THAT ARE ALONG RAINY STREET CURRENTLY. SOME OF THEM ARE. AND SO GREAT STREETS IS ON RAINY. SO THERE MAY BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND THE GREAT STREETS BOUNDARIES TO RAINY STREET, FOR EXAMPLE, TO CAPTURE, UM, RAINY STREET. AND THAT ADJACENT THE RAINY STREET DISTRICT AS PART OF THE GREAT STREETS UPDATE. THERE MAY ALSO BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND THE BOUNDARIES TO OTHER AREAS, BUT IT GETS REALLY CHALLENGING BECAUSE THE NICE GRID THAT WE HAVE IN DOWNTOWN, UM, IS REALLY WHAT GREAT STREETS IS SET UP FOR. WHEN YOU HAVE, UM, JUST THINKING ABOUT LIKE A MORE NARROW RIGHT OF WAY WHERE YOU HAVE A LOT OF CURB CUT, CURB CUTS, IT GETS REALLY DIFFICULT TO INSTALL GREAT STREETS, BUT THERE'S, THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPAND THE BOUNDARIES, UH, POTENTIALLY WITH THIS UPDATE. YEAH, I THINK IT'S, IT WOULD BE GOOD TO LIKE EXPAND IF IN PLACES THAT YOU POSSIBLY CAN. I, I'M SURE THERE'S NOT, LIKE, NOT EVERY SPACE IN DOWNTOWN IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, WOULD BE I GUESS GOOD WITH THIS PROJECT, BUT IT, IT ALWAYS, IT WOULD ALWAYS LIKE BE GOOD TO LIKE, YOU KNOW, LOOK AT LIKE EVERY SPACE AND YOU KNOW, WHERE YOU CAN MAYBE EXPAND OUR LIKE AD STREETS TO THE PROJECT. 'CAUSE IT SEEMS LIKE A GOOD PROJECT FOR, YOU KNOW, EVERYONE IN, IN AUSTIN. SO YEAH. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. THANK YOU COMM COMMISSIONER SLO. UM, YES, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION AS WELL. I'M WONDERING, DOES GREAT STREETS COINCIDE WITH THE RAIL IN TERMS OF, UM, THE MASS TRANSIT? HOW DOES THAT COINCIDE? ARE YOU REFERRING TO PROJECT CONNECT OR EXISTING? YES, I AM INFRASTRUCTURE. OKAY. YEAH, SO, OH YEAH, THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION. SO WITH PROJECT CONNECT, URBAN DESIGN HAS BEEN IN CONVERSATIONS FOR AT LEAST THREE, ALMOST FOUR, MAYBE EVEN LONGER, UM, YEARS AS FAR AS FIGURING OUT HOW GREAT STREETS IS GOING TO INTERACT WITH THAT PROJECT. SO WE ARE CURRENTLY, UM, IN THE STAGE OF THINKING ABOUT MORE ON THE, ALONG THE LINES, LIKE THE CONSTRUCTION SIDE, LIKE GETTING INTO LIKE THE NITTY GRITTY AS FAR AS LIKE HOW THAT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO WORK. BUT WHAT WE'RE COMING UP WITH IS CROSS SECTIONS THAT LIKE AN ACTUAL DRAWING, LIKE WHAT THE BACK OF CURB LOOKS LIKE TO MEET GREAT STREETS, UM, HAVE THE POTENTIAL, WELL THE PROPOSED VOLUME OF PEDESTRIANS AND, UM, OTHER MODES OF TRANSPORTATION THAT WILL BE ALONG THAT LIGHT RAIL AS THOSE STATIONS ARE CONSTRUCTED. BUT WE'RE, WE'RE STILL IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE FOR GREAT STREETS AND MAKE SURE THAT, UM, WE'RE THINKING ABOUT EVERYONE WITH THE THE LIGHT RAIL PROJECT. DOES THAT ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? IT DOES. I'M JUST WONDERING, AS THE RAIL COMES OUT OF DOWNTOWN, I WOULD THINK THERE'S GOING TO BE SOME KIND OF WORK ON THE SIDEWALKS FOLLOWING THE RAIL. I DON'T KNOW, KNOW IF IT'S GREAT STREETS OR SOMETHING ELSE, BUT SOMETHING'S GONNA HAVE TO HAPPEN. SO I, I CAN SPEAK TO THE UNIVERSITY NEIGHBORHOOD HOOD OVERLAY, LIKE NORTH SIDE OF GREAT STREETS. OKAY. THAT'S ANOTHER PROGRAM THAT'S UNDER, UM, CONTINUES TO BE UNDER URBAN DESIGNS PURVIEW. UM, REALLY OUTSIDE OF THAT, THAT IS, UM, WE'RE INVOLVED AS, [00:30:01] AS LIKE A DESIGN CONSULTANT, BUT WE'RE NOT, WE DON'T HAVE LIKE STANDARDS AND, UM, URBAN DESIGN DOES NOT THAT, THAT WE'RE A PART OF. SO THERE'S CONTINUED CONVERSATIONS OUTSIDE OF THAT. BUT FOR UNO, FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERT OVERLAY, UM, FOR THOSE DESIGN STANDARDS AND THOSE STREET, STREET STATE STANDARDS, WE'RE SAME CONVERSATION. LIKE WE'RE CONTINUING TO BE INVOLVED IN THOSE CONVERSATIONS TO HAVE A CROSS SECTION THAT MEETS UNO AND ALSO PROJECT CONNECT. OKAY. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER SAN MARTIN. HI, I I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION FOR YOU, JILL. SO, UM, I GUESS GOING BACK TO WHAT I WAS ASKING ABOUT, UM, ADDING STREETS OR ADDING SECTIONS OF LIKE DOWNTOWN. SO IF THAT WERE TO HAPPEN, UM, I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THERE WOULD BE MORE FUNDING THAT WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, I GUESS YOU WOULD NEED, I GUESS, TO MAKE THAT, I GUESS, YOU KNOW, OR GET THAT ACCOMPLISHED, RIGHT? SO, UM, HAVE YOU LIKE, LOOKED AT, UM, LET'S SAY YOU'RE ADDING LIKE RAINY STREET SECTION OF, LIKE DOWNTOWN. SO DO YOU KNOW OR HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THE COST WOULD BE? OR HAVE YOU GOTTEN TO THAT, I GUESS POINT YET? I DON'T OR LOOKED AT, LOOKED AT THAT YET? NO. SO AS I MENTIONED, AS PART OF THE, IT'S ACTUALLY REALLY GREAT, IT'S PART OF THE, THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM, URBAN DESIGN IS, IS NOT ASSOCIATED WITH WITH COSTS AT ALL BECAUSE THE DEVELOPER FOR THOSE, THOSE, MOST OF THOSE TOWERS IN DOWNTOWN ARE CHOOSING TO PARTICIPATE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM. THEREFORE, THEY, AS, AS ONE OF THE GATEKEEPER REQUIREMENTS TO PARTICIPATE, THEY'RE INSTALLING GREAT STREETS. SO THEY ARE, UH, MAINTAINING AND THEY'RE INSTALLING GREAT STREET'S INFRASTRUCTURE BECAUSE THEY'RE, THEY'RE BEING ALLOWED TO CONSTRUCT THAT TOWER. SO AS FAR ANYTHING WITH COST, UM, WE HAVE DONE SOME STUDIES ALONG, UM, 35 WHERE WE COULDN'T INSTALL GREAT STREETS, AND SO WE HAVE LIKE A COST PER SQUARE FOOT, UM, BASED ON PEDESTRIAN VOLUME, BUT OUTSIDE OF LIKE THE ACTUAL SQUARE FOOT COSTS, WE DON'T HAVE LIKE A, YOU KNOW, PER BLOCK, LIKE HOW MUCH IT WOULD BE. I MEAN, WE CAN RUN THE NUMBERS ON THAT, BUT THAT, THAT DATA IS A LITTLE OUTDATED IN THE LAST LIKE THREE YEARS AS THE COST OF CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES TO GO UP, WE WOULD NEED TO CONTINUE TO PROJECT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE FOR US. THAT WOULD NEED TO BE PART OF THE ANALYSIS WITH THE UPDATE. AND THEN, UM, JUST TO FOLLOW UP, SO, UM, YOU'RE GETTING FUNDING WITH THE PARKING METER, PARKING METER REVENUE, RIGHT? MM-HMM . SO ARE THERE ANY OTHER LIKE, ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF REVENUE FOR THE GREAT CHASE PROJECT AT, AT THIS MOMENT OR NOT? NOT CURRENTLY. IT'S 100% FUNDED THROUGH THE PARKING METER REVENUE AND THE, THE PARKING METER REVENUE THAT IS, THAT DOESN'T GO DIRECTLY AS INCENTIVES TO DEVELOPERS DOES IT, THAT JUST KIND OF GOES TO PROGRAM SUPPORT. YEP. SO THAT, THAT IS ACCURATE. SO THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS COMPONENT OF ACTUALLY INSTALLING GREAT STREETS CURRENTLY, HOW THAT HAS BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL, THAT IS SEPARATE FROM THE GREAT STREETS FUND. SO THE GREAT STREETS FUND GOES TO, I HAVEN'T MENTIONED THIS YET, THERE IS A DEVELOPER REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM WHERE DEVELOPERS WHO ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE DOWNTOWN DENSITY BONUS PROGRAM COULD CHOOSE OPT IN TO THE GREAT STREETS DEVELOPER REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM, OF WHICH THEY WOULD INSTALL GREAT STREETS FROM A SPECIFIC CREDIT CRITERIA. AND THEN MY TEAM WOULD GO OUT THERE, VERIFY THEY INSTALL GREAT STREETS, AND THEN THEY'D BE, WOULD BE REIMBURSED PER A PORTION OF THE INSTALLATION COSTS. SO THAT IS ONE EXAMPLE OF, UM, POTENTIALLY HOW THOSE FUNDS COULD BE USED AND WHAT THAT THE GREAT STREETS FUNDS ARE ALLOCATED TOWARDS. SO JUST TO KIND OF FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP ON THE, I GUESS THE, I GUESS THE FUNDING. SO LIKE, LET'S SAY LIKE A BUSINESS WANTS TO PARTICIPATE, IS THERE LIKE A TAX INCENTIVE FOR THEM TO DO SO, LIKE WITH THIS PROJECT OR NOT? NOT CURRENTLY. NOT CURRENTLY. OKAY. NO, BUT COULD THERE BE POSSIBLY, OR, I DON'T KNOW, I WOULD NEED TO GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT. AND SO IT SOUNDS LIKE JUST SUMMARIZING THE GREAT STREETS PROGRAM IS KIND OF CONTINGENT ON DEVELOPER INTEREST ON A BLOCK BY BLOCK BASIS. SO, YOU KNOW, BLOCKS WHERE THERE'S NO DEVELOPMENT OCCURRING, THERE'S PROBABLY NO OPPORTUNITY FOR GREAT STREETS EXPANSIONS RIGHT AT THIS TIME, UNLESS THERE WERE TO BE A CIP PROJECT IS AS THOSE ONES THAT I MENTIONED, LIKE SECOND STREET, FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE WE DO LIKE BOTH SIDES OF THE STREET ALL THE WAY DOWN ON ALONG BOTH, UH, STREET FRONTAGES. GOT IT. GOT IT. AND, AND I KNOW YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT KIND OF HUMAN CREATED CONDITIONS TOO, AS FAR AS GREAT STREETS, LIKE I KNOW YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, TRASH BEING AROUND THE TRASH RECEPTACLES. HAVE, HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED AT ALL LOOKING ABOUT MICRO MOBILITY OBSTRUCTIONS KIND OF IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA? SO THAT SPECIFICALLY WAS NOT INCLUDED AS PART OF PART OF OUR EXISTING CONDITIONS ANALYSIS, BUT IN JUST WALKING AROUND OVER THE COURSE OF EIGHT MONTHS, SPECIFICALLY LOOKING AT BACK OF CURB ELEMENTS, UM, AT THE PEDESTRIAN AND FURNISHING ZONE, WE DID NOTICE, UM, LIKE SOMETIMES THEY WOULD HAVE LIKE, I GUESS LIKE TAPE OR PAINT, MAYBE LIKE A, A BOX WHERE, UM, LIKE SCOOTERS COULD POTENTIALLY BE PARKED, FOR EXAMPLE, [00:35:01] OR JUST REALLY, UM, THAT'S A CONVERSATION THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN, CONTINUE TO BE ONGOING WITH URBAN DESIGN AND A TPW WHO'S, UM, REALLY LOOKING AT MORE OF MICRO MOBILITY. YEAH. THANK YOU. YEAH, I KNOW THAT'S A, THAT THAT'S BEEN A CONCERN OF THE COMMISSION FOR A WHILE, IS WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE, YOU KNOW, THE PRIVATE OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY THEIR COMMITMENT TO KIND OF KEEP THEIR, THE MICRO MOBILITY TRANSPORT OUT OF THE WALKWAYS. DID ANYONE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR JILL? COMMISSIONER ARIANO? HI. YES. UH, THIS IS COMMISSIONER ARIANO. UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS TODAY MENTIONING ABOUT THE, THE TREES AND KEEPING THE, UH, COOLNESS DURING THE SUMMER, ESPECIALLY WITH, UH, THE LARGE, UH, THE LARGE, THE LARGE AREA. IT'S VERY, VERY, YEAH. SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE URBAN DESIGN, UH, IMPLEMENTED HERE. UH, AND IMPORTANT TO KEEP THE TREES THERE SO THAT IT'S COOL AND MAYBE HAVE AN OVERHEAD HANG OR WHETHER THAT'S AT THE TRAIN STATION OR THE BUS STATION, SO THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE LOW VISION OR BLIND ARE ABLE TO AS, UH, UH, ACCESS THAT AREA AND MAYBE, MAYBE BE ABLE TO FEEL WHAT IS AROUND THEM AND THEY, THEY ARE ABLE TO NAVIGATE THEIR SURROUNDINGS. AND SO THEN, UM, AND THEN WE COULD HAVE SIGN LANGUAGE AS WELL, UM, THAT SIGNS THAT SHOW THAT, UH, WHAT THE SIGNS ARE FOR THE THINGS IN THE COMMUNITY SO WE CAN MAYBE IMPLEMENT THAT. AND THEN HOPEFULLY, UM, WE NEED TO BE MORE, UH, ADVOCATING FOR THIS APPROACH, UH, OF COOLING AREAS AND, UM, PEOPLE WHO HAVE DISABILITIES AND MAKING SURE THEY HAVE ACCESSIBILITY IN THOSE AREAS. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US, JILL. I WAS VERY COMPREHENSIVE. APPRECIATE YOU TAKING THE TIME OUT THIS EVENING. I KNOW IT'S LATE. THANK YOU. I HAVE ONE MORE, ONE MORE THING I WANTED TO, UM, ASK OR INVITE YOU ALL TO. SO WE CURRENTLY HAVE OUR COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP THAT I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE EVERYONE ON THIS COMMITTEE, UM, TO, I BELIEVE OUR NEXT COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP IS ON JUNE 17TH. I CAN PROVIDE, UM, Y'ALL MORE DETAILS ON THAT AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, BUT I JUST WANTED TO TO MENTION THAT AS WELL. THANK YOU. YEAH, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. ARE YOU ABLE TO SEND KIND OF LIKE A SHORT EMAIL ON THAT TO AVA? YES, I WILL. OKAY, GREAT. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. WE WILL MOVE ON TO DISCUSSION ITEM NUMBER ONE, WHICH IS ITEM NUMBER THREE ON THE AGENDA, A PRESENTATION BY SAVVY TECH REGARDING PDF AND ONLINE DOCUMENT ACCESSIBILITY. A PRESENTATION IS BY BENJAMIN CHEN, THE TECHNICAL LEAD AIM ROBOTICS JACKSON DAY DIGITAL DISABILITY RESEARCHER AT AT UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. AND CATHERINE CHEN, THE CEO OF AIM ROBOTICS. THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING US. UH, FIRSTLY, I JUST WANNA THANK YOU, UH, COMMISSIONER O'CONNOR FOR ALLOWING US, UH, SPONSORSHIP FOR THIS PRESENTATION. AND OF COURSE, THANK YOU NABA FOR FACILITATE FACILITATING THIS. IT'S, CAN YOU HEAR US OKAY? I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE JACKSON IS HERE. CAN YOU, JACKSON, MAY I PLEASE ASK YOU TO SAY HELLO TO ALL? HE'S ON THE PHONE. HELLO? CAN YOU, OH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? OH, YEAH. CAN YOU HEAR US OKAY? OKAY, PERFECT. THANK YOU, JACKSON. YEAH, FIRST OF ALL, OF COURSE, NICE TO MEET YOU ALL AND, UH, WE JUST WANT TO, UH, NEXT APPLY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO BASICALLY, I HAVE BEEN, UH, I MOVED TO AUSTIN, TEXAS IN 1995, SO ALMOST, UH, 31 YEARS BEING A AUSTINITE. AND I SEE THE HUGE GROWTH FOR AUSTIN CITIES. IMAGINE FROM 1995 TO 2 20, 26, AND I KNOW OUR POPULATION IS EXCEED 1 MILLION FOLKS HERE. AND, UH, I JUST, TODAY WE WANT TO FOCUSING ON, UH, TWO TO 3% FOR FOLKS WITH A BLIND OR LOW VISION. AND WE WANT TO ADVOCATE FOR THEM TO MAKE SURE, AND WE CREATE EQUALITY FOR THEM TO BE ABLE TO, UH, READ, UH, GET A, OBTAIN ENOUGH INFORMATION AND BE [00:40:01] EMPLOYED BY, UH, DIFFERENT VARIOUS KIND OF OFFICE WORKS. SO IMAGINE, UH, 1 MILLION POPULATION WITH A 2% TO 3% OF PEOPLE WITH A BLIND LOW VISION. THAT'S A 20, 30,000 PEOPLE. AND WE WANT TO EQUIP THEM TO BE ABLE TO READ ALL KIND OF INFORMATION IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN PORTAL AND TO BE ABLE TO, UH, ACCESS THE CITY OF AUSTIN DEVELOPMENT, UH, ORGANIZATION. THEY HAVE, UH, VARIOUS PDF FILES SO THEY CAN FILL IN THE FORMS, LIKE THEY CAN APPLY PERMIT, ET CETERA, ET CETERA. UH, LET ME START WITH THE STORY NEXT, UH, SLIDE PLEASE. WHAT, UH, WHOLE THING, UH, I STARTED WITH, UH, HAVE A FAMILY GATHERING WITH OUR FAMILY FRIEND. HIS NAME'S ALAN. ALAN IS A BOUTIQUE BUILDER IN EAST OF AUSTIN, AND HE IS LIKE A FAMILY RUN BUSINESS. AND HE HAS, UH, SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLER DAUGHTER. HIS, HER NAME IS SARAH. SO BEING A SMALL BUSINESS BUILDER, ALAN WANT TO KEEP EVERY OPERATION BUDGET THAT VERY IN A VERY, UH, VERY TIGHT, SO TO SPEAK. AND HE ALSO WANT HIS, UH, UH, DAUGHTER BE ABLE TO EARN SOME, DO SOME WORK FOR HIM. AND, UH, OF COURSE, HIS DAUGHTER GET ENOUGH EDUCATION IS, UH, YOU KNOW, TO BE ABLE TO FILL IN THE, UH, DIFFERENT KIND OF FORMS, SCHOOLWORKS. SO HE, ALAN TOLD ME ONE TIME HE TRIED TO, UH, DOWNLOADED SOME OF CITY OF AUSTIN DEVELOPING THE FORMS PDF FILES TO SUBMIT IT FOR BUILD FOR CITY OF BUILDING PERMIT OR DIFFERENT KIND OF A PERMIT NEEDED. AND HE TOLD ME THAT IT'S VERY, VERY DIFFICULT FOR HIS DAUGHTER TO UNDERSTAND WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION REQUIRED TO FILL IN THOSE PERMIT INFORMATIONS. LIKE, UH, VERY CONFUSING IN A NUTSHELL. SO HE HAS TO HIRE A, A REGULAR PERSON WHO HELP HIM TO DO THOSE OFFICE WORK, TO FILL IN A PERMIT TO DO ALL THINGS. AND THAT'S ADDITIONAL, UH, COST TO HIM AS A SMALL BUILDER. BUT THE WORST CASE IS HIS GOOD INTENTION TO KEEP THE, HIS DAUGHTER, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR DAUGHTER TO BE, TO WORK FOR HIM THAT JUST, UH, SEEMS, UH, YOU KNOW, FAILED. SO HE TALKED TO ME THROUGH A FAMILY DINNER, AND HE KNOWS SAVVY TECH HAS BEEN DOING THE AUDITING FOR ALL KIND OF DIFFERENT PUBLIC SECTORS, UH, WEBSITE AND PDF FILES, FORMS, ET CETERA. AND HE SAY, HEY, YOU KNOW, CATHERINE, TAKE A LOOK AND SEE WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR US. WHAT YOU CAN DO TO ENABLE MY DAUGHTER SARAH CAN BE EMPLOYED BY MY BUSINESS. I'M A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER. SO WE TOOK THAT THE FORM PDF FORM, AND, UH, WE ASK OUR, UH, IT, UH, SOFTWARE, UH, ENGINEER, UH, QUALITY ASSURANCE, UH, FOLKS, UH, JACKSON, JACKSON, WHICH IS HERE. I SAY, HEY, JACKSON, TAKE A LOOK AT THESE PDF FILES AND TELL ME, UH, IS IT EASY FOR YOU TO FILL IN THE FORMS? AND ALSO FOR US TO BE IN THE BUSINESS FOR 10, FOR 15 YEARS? WE KNOW, UH, PDF IS NOT NATIVELY FRIENDLY TO PEOPLE, LOW VISION, DISABILITY BLIND FOLKS. SO OUR TECHNICAL TEAMS, UH, TOOK THE MATTER IN THEIR OWN HAND AND USING AI CONVERTED INTO A VERY FRIENDLY HTML FILE AND, UH, THE ENABLE BLIND PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO FILL IN THE FORMS FOR CITY. SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, NEXT PAGE PLEASE. AND, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE, INVITE JACKSON, WHO, UH, GRACIOUSLY, UH, AGREED TO, TO DO SOME COMPARISON FOR US BEFORE AND AFTER HE, HE'S GOING TO GIVE US HIS, UH, VIEW ABOUT, UH, HIS, UH, I GUESS FEEDBACK ABOUT THE CITY OF AUSTIN PDF FILES, AS WELL AS, UH, WHAT WE CONVERTED THE ACCESSIBLE FORMAT. AND, UH, JACKSON, YOUR TURN. PLEASE GIVE US SOME, UH, YOUR FEEDBACK. OKAY. OKAY. YES, I'M SORRY. THANK YOU. BY THE WAY, JACKSON, JACKSON IS, UH, HE'S CURRENTLY IS, UH, PURSUING A PHD DEGREE IN UT TEXAS. AND, UH, WE KNEW JACKSON FOR SINCE, UH, 10 YEARS AGO, JACKSON, RIGHT? AND JACKSON HAS BEEN DOING THE ACCESSIBILITY TESTING AND BASICALLY JACKSON, YOU ARE [00:45:01] A VERY SMART IT PERSON AND HE'S A BLIND IT PERSON. HE OVERCOME ALL THE BLINDNESS TO BE VERY SUCCESSFUL WITH FUTURE IT TALENT. JACKSON, GO AHEAD. THANK YOU, MS. CHEN, I APPRECIATE THE INTRODUCTION. THAT WAS VERY KIND OF YOU. UH, HELLO EVERYONE. MY NAME IS JACKSON BAY. AS MS. CHEN'S ALREADY SAID, I'M A PHD STUDENT PURSUING MY DEGREE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN. UM, IN TERMS OF PDF FILES, AS MS. CHEN HAS ALREADY SAID, MOST OF THE TIME THEY ARE INHERENTLY INACCESSIBLE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT KIND OF IT BACKGROUND EVERYONE HAS ON THIS CALL BESIDES MRS. CHEN TEAM. SO I'LL MAKE THIS AS DIGESTIBLE AS I CAN. UH, USUALLY WHEN YOU HAVE ANY KIND OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT, YOU'RE INTERACTING WITH YOUR COMPUTER THROUGH A PIECE OF SOFTWARE CALLED A SCREEN READER. THIS SCREEN READER, UH, SOFTWARE IS DESIGNED TO WORK WITH APPLICATIONS ON YOUR COMPUTER THAT WILL READ TEXT CONTENT TO YOU AUDITORILY. NOW, THESE PROGRAMS WORK, UH, MOSTLY BY HAVING THINGS TAGGED. WHAT I MEAN BY THAT IS A DOCUMENT OR WEBPAGE IS STRUCTURED IN SUCH A WAY THAT THE SCREEN READER CAN INTERPRET READING ORDER. UM, PDF FILES ARE OFTEN KIND OF TRICKY BECAUSE ORIGINALLY PDF FILES ARE BASICALLY IMAGES OF PAPER. AND IN ORDER TO GET A SCREEN READER TO READ THEM, YOU HAVE TO RUN THEM THROUGH WHAT'S CALLED AN OBSTACLE CHARACTER RECOGNITION PROGRAM, WHICH BASICALLY EXTRACTS, UH, TEXT FROM IMAGES. NOW ON THE PDF FILE OF THE FORM, THERE ARE SEVERAL INSTANCES WHERE THE SCREEN READER WILL, UM, RUB THE READING ORDER A LITTLE BIT. SO IMAGINE YOU'RE READING THE LEFT COLUMN OF THE FORM AND INSTEAD THE SCREEN READER SKIPS TO THE RIGHT COLUMN. UH, SO YOU'LL LOSE A LOT OF COMPREHENSION AS A READER THERE BECAUSE THE DOCUMENT IS NOT TAGGED CORRECTLY. AND SO THE SCREEN READER DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LOOKING AT. UM, IN TERMS OF THE HTML FILE, THESE ARE MUCH EASIER FOR SCREEN READERS TO MANAGE BECAUSE THEY'RE BAKED RIGHT INTO A WEB FORM. AND IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SCREEN READERS, YOU KNOW THAT, UH, DIFFERENT SCREEN READERS WORK BEST WITH DIFFERENT BROWSERS AND OPERATING SYSTEMS. SCREEN READERS ARE NOT STANDARDIZED. SO, FOR INSTANCE, WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT YOUR FORM, I WAS USING, UH, MAC OS AND VOICEOVER, BUT SOMEBODY ELSE MIGHT BE USING GOOGLE CHROME AND JAWS OR NBA. SO WHEN YOU ARE, UH, CONVERTING TO THE HTML FORMAT THAT MS. CHEN HAS GIVEN YOU, IT'S FAR MORE LIKELY THAT IT WILL BE ACCESSIBLE TO A SCREEN READER RATHER THAN A STANDARD PDF. UH, I KNOW I JUST THREW A LOT AT YOU. HAVE I LOST ANYONE? I THINK WE'RE FOLLOWING. THANK YOU. YEAH, JACKSON, YOU, UH, EXPLAINED IT VERY WELL. YEAH. SO, UH, YEAH, CONTINUE, PLEASE, OF COURSE. UH, AND SO, UH, YOU'LL SEE IN THE NOTES THAT I GAVE MS. CHAN, OR MAYBE THOSE ARE JUST INTERNAL, IF YOU READ THOSE NOTES, YOU'LL SEE THAT THE READING ORDER CAN BE A BIT FLUBBED, AND YOU'LL ALSO SEE THAT FOR SOME REASON, SOME OF THE FIELDS ARE REPEATED AUDITORILY THREE TIMES. UM, THERE ARE ALSO FIELDS WHERE I BELIEVE YOU PUT, UM, FLASHES OR UNDERSCORES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT IN THE FORM, AND THOSE ARE READ THREE TIMES. UH, THE HTML FILE THAT MS. CHAN AND HER TEAM GENERATED, UH, DON'T REALLY HAVE THOSE PROBLEMS. UM, WHAT IT WILL DO IS THE SCREEN MIRROR WILL JUST READ THE ORDER OF THE HTML FILE, WHICH IS MUCH EASIER TO TAG THAN SOMETHING LIKE A PDF THAT REQUIRES, UM, SPECIALIZED SOFTWARE WITH THAT OCR PROTOCOL I MENTIONED, UH, SOMETHING LIKE ADOBE ACROBAT WOULD SUFFICE. SO I GUESS BOTTOM LINE IS THIS HTML FORMAT WILL BE FAR MORE ACCESSIBLE TO THE CITY THAN A STANDARD PDF. IT WILL ALSO REMOVE ANY OF THE ISSUES YOU HAVE WITH, UH, VISUAL LOGO PROBLEMS. SO FOR INSTANCE, IF YOU HAVE THE LOGO FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN YOUR PDF, UH, A LOT [00:50:01] OF TIMES THE SCREEN READER WILL GET STUCK BECAUSE IT WILL JUST SAY IMAGE, FOR INSTANCE, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. UM, SO I GUESS POINT BEING THE HT L VERSION IS FAR AND AWAY MORE ACCESSIBLE THAN A PDF FILE IN GENERAL. I HOPE THAT WAS HELPFUL. YEAH, NO, UH, JACKSON, YOU EXPLAINED VERY WELL AND REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND GIVE THE INSIGHTS, YOU KNOW, FOR, UH, HOW IT GOES. AND WE REALLY SHOULD. THANKS, UH, OPEN AI, CLOUDETTE AND, UH, DIFFERENT AI PLATFORMS, WHICH ENABLED US TO BE ABLE TO CONVERT IT PDF FORMS AND TO HTML AND TO ENABLE FOLKS LIKE, UH, JACKSON TOTALLY BLIND BE ABLE TO UNDERSTOOD VERY WELL AND BE ABLE TO DO THEIR WORK. IMAGINE, UH, SARAH USING HTML FILE, SHE WILL ABLE TO FILL IN THE FORMS AND WORK FOR HER DAD. OKAY. SO WITH THAT BEING SAID, JACKSON, UH, I WILL TURN, THAT'S NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, AND MORE. NEXT SLIDE. UH, BEN BENJAMIN. YEP. UM, AUDIBLE. OKAY, PERFECT. UM, SO WE, WE'VE TALKED A BIT ABOUT, UH, WHY ACCESSIBILITY MATTERS, AND I JUST WANNA MAKE IT A BIT MORE CONCRETE, SO I WILL BE SHOWING AN, AN ACTUAL EXAMPLE NEXT SLIDE ON WHAT MAKES A PDF USABLE OR UNUSABLE? OH, I'M SORRY. CAN YOU GO BACK? UM, UM, JACKSON, THANK YOU FOR THE, UH, VERY TECHNICAL EXPLANATION. I WILL BE REPEATING SOME OF THAT INFORMATION HERE, SO I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE. I WILL TRY TO MAKE IT QUICK, UM, BECAUSE JACKSON'S VERY THOROUGH EXPLANATION, COVERED A LOT OF IT. UM, SO MY BAD, OH, NO, NO, NO, NO. YOU DID A, YOU DID A BETTER JOB THAN I WOULD, SO . THANK YOU, JACKSON. UM, SO ACCESSIBILITY ISN'T JUST ABOUT BEING ABLE TO OPEN A FILE, RIGHT? IT'S ALSO ABOUT WHETHER SOMEONE CAN ACTUALLY NAVIGATE IT, UNDERSTAND IT, AND INTERACT WITH IT. SO IN AN ACCESSIBLE PDFA USER CAN, AS JACKSON MENTIONED, A USER CAN MOVE THROUGH THE DOCUMENT HEADINGS AND SECTIONS, UM, UNDERSTAND CORRECT READING ORDER, UNDERSTAND IMAGES, TABLES, AND COMPLETE FORMS INDEPENDENTLY. BUT WHEN THOSE ELEMENTS AREN'T SET UP PROPERLY, THAT'S WHERE PROBLEMS BEGIN. FOR EXAMPLE, UM, A VERY COMMON LEGACY FORMAT ARE SCANNED PDFS, THEY'RE JUST IMAGES OF TEXT. SO THINK OF A SCAN DEED, FOR EXAMPLE. SCREEN READERS CAN'T READ THEM AT ALL. IF THE READING ORDER IS INCORRECT, CONTENT CAN COME OUT JUMBLED AND CONFUSING. AND FINALLY, IF THERE'S NO STRUCTURE, EVERYTHING BLENDS TOGETHER WITHOUT CLEAR SECTIONS. I'LL BE SHOWING AN EXAMPLE IN A BIT. UH, TABLES CAN ALSO BECOME HARD TO INTERPRET, UM, AND, UH, IT, AND SO IF A DOCUMENT LOOKS PERFECTLY FINE VISUALLY, UM, AT THE END OF THE DAY WITH A SCREEN READER LIKE VOICEOVER, IT BECOMES LARGELY, UH, IMPOSSIBLE TO USE. SO A NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. HERE'S A REAL EXAMPLE OF WHAT AN ACCESSIBLE PDF LOOKS LIKE IN PRACTICE. AS YOU CAN SEE, IT'S JUST A CORE SYLLABUS. AT FIRST GLANCE. IT LOOKS CLEAN AND WELL DESIGNED, BUT FOR A BLIND LOW AND NO VISION USER, THIS EXPERIENCE IS VERY DIFFERENT. AT THE TOP, THE, THERE'S A LOGO, BUT A BLIND USER, AND EVEN VOICEOVER DOESN'T KNOW THE MESSAGE BEHIND THAT IMAGE. SECONDLY, YOU CAN SEE THE INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS. UH, SECOND EDITION IS A LINK. VISUALLY IT'S CLEAR, IT'S A LINK, BUT TO A SCREEN READER OR A BLIND USER, IT'S NOT OBVIOUS. IT MIGHT NOT BE PROPERLY STRUCTURED AS WELL. AND THEN FINALLY, THE TABLE BELOW MIGHT BE AN IMAGE, OR THE TABLE MIGHT NOT BE FORMATTED, UH, CORRECTLY. IN THIS CASE, THERE IS A PARTICULAR TERM CALLED SEMANTIC, MEANING, WHERE A USER MIGHT NOT KNOW WHAT, WHAT A HEADING IS, FOR EXAMPLE, IN A WEEK OR TOPIC. AND QUICKLY IT BECOMES, UH, JUMBLED. AND BY THE WAY, THESE AREN'T RARE ISSUES. THESE ARE COMMON IN EVERYDAY DOCUMENTS. OKAY. UH, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE, BY THE WAY, ON THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF LEGACY DOCUMENTS. SO THERE WAS A, UH, STUDY BY ADOBE WHERE THEY SAID THAT THERE'S 2.5 TRILLION DOCUMENTS ON THE WEB TODAY. AND OF THOSE 90% ARE PARTIALLY OR WHOLLY INACCESSIBLE. THAT'S A, THAT'S QUITE A LOT. ONE OPTION, I'LL SKIP OVER THIS BECAUSE CATHERINE AND JACKSON BOTH MENTIONED IT, IS TO USE HTML, WHICH ARE WEBPAGE INSTEAD OF PDFS IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS. AND HTML IS PRETTY MUCH WHAT WEBSITES ARE BUILT ON. IT COMES WITH ACCESSIBILITY IN MIND FROM THE START. A TABLE REPRESENTED IN HTML, FOR EXAMPLE, IS MUCH MORE READABLE TO A SCREEN READER THAN ONE THAT'S REPRESENTED BY IMAGE OR JUST TEXT. SO THIS WAY IT JUST MAKES IT VERY NATIVELY ACCESSIBLE. AND OF COURSE, THIS DOESN'T MEAN PDFS SHOULD GO AWAY BECAUSE THEY OBVIOUSLY ARE IMPORTANT, THEY ARE NEEDED FOR OFFICIAL OR FIXED FORMAT DOCUMENTS, FOR EXAMPLE. BUT THIS IS JUST MORE OF LIKE AN FYI. SO NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. OKAY. OKAY. SO THIS, THIS RAISES AN IMPORTANT QUESTION, AND IF THIS IS SUCH A KNOWN ISSUE, ESPECIALLY [00:55:01] WITH, UH, THE DOJ MANDATE COMING UP IN APRIL OF THIS YEAR, AS WELL AS APRIL OF NEXT YEAR, WE, WE COMMONLY WONDER WHY IT STILL EXISTS. AND THERE'S A FEW REASONS. FIRST, MANY DOCUMENTS, ESPECIALLY OLDER ONES, WERE NEVER CREATED WITH ACCESSIBILITY IN MIND. THIS HAS JUST BECOME A VERY RECENT THING, VERY RECENTLY, AND THERE'S A HUGE VOLUME OF LEGACY PDFS, AS I MENTIONED. SECOND, ACCESSIBILITY IS OFTEN MISUNDERSTOOD. PEOPLE ASSUME THAT IF SOMETHING IS READABLE VISUALLY, IT'S ACCESSIBLE. BUT AS JACKSON SHOWED, THAT IS CLEARLY NOT THE CASE. AND THIRD, FIXING DOCUMENTS MANUALLY IS SLOW AND EXPENSIVE. IT CAN TAKE SEVERAL MINUTES PER PAGE. WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO SHOWCASE WHAT REMEDIATING A DOCUMENT LOOKS LIKE TODAY, BUT IT'S, IT'S VERY MANUAL WHERE YOU, YOU GO THROUGH A DOCUMENT AND YOU TAG IT, UM, UH, MANUALLY, IT TAKES MINUTES. AND IF YOU WERE TO OUTSOURCE THIS TO A SERVICE, IT TAKES FIVE TO $12 PER PAGE DEPENDING ON COMPLEXITY. AND QUI, UH, CLEARLY LIKE AN ORGANIZATION, CITY OF AUSTIN, I THINK HAS THOUSANDS OF PDFS. IT QUICKLY BECOMES UNTENABLE. UM, BUT WHAT'S ALSO, WHAT'S CHANGING NOW IS THE URGENCY. SO WE'RE SEEING A STEADY RISE IN DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY LAWSUITS. THERE WAS THIS ONE, UH, LAW FIRM, I'M FORGETTING THE NAME, BUT IN 2024, THEY NOT ESTIMATED. THEY, THEY RECORDED THE FACT THAT REPORTED OVER 1200 WEB ACCESSIBILITY LAWSUITS WERE FILED. AND ADDITIONALLY, THOUSANDS OF A DA RELATED CASES HAPPENING EACH YEAR. AND AGAIN, THESE CASES ARE USUALLY ABOUT ONE THING. SOMEONE COULDN'T ACCESSING INFORMATION OR SERVICES. AND THAT'S THE IMPORTANT POINT HERE, WHERE THIS IS NOT REALLY A TECHNICAL ISSUE AS WE KEEP TALKING ABOUT, BUT RATHER A, A FORM OF DISCRIMINATION. SO TO SUMMARIZE THE EXPECTATION AND ENFORCEMENT AROUND THIS IS, IS VERY IMPORTANT AND INCREASING, ESPECIALLY RECENTLY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. I'LL HAND IT OVER TO CATHERINE. THANK YOU. YEAH, SO IT'S A NO BRAINER. UH, CITY OF AUSTIN, WE, YOU GUYS PROBABLY IN YOUR PORTAL, CITY OF AUSTIN PORTAL PROBABLY HAVE HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS, MAYBE MILLIONS OF PDF FILES. IT'S VERY, VERY, UH, IMPOSSIBLE, FINANCIALLY IMPOSSIBLE, YOU KNOW, TO MAKE THEM ALL ACCESSIBLE AT THE SAME TIME. SO PROBABLY DO NEED TO PLAN ACCORDINGLY. AND, UH, SO FIRST OF ALL, WE RECOMMEND IS INVENTORY ALL PUBLIC AVAILABLE PDF FILES, AND DEPENDS ON THE TRAFFIC. WE CAN IDENTIFY HIGH TRAFFIC, MEDIUM TRAFFIC, LOW TRAFFIC, AND ALSO SEE WHICH ONE IS MORE INFORMATIONAL BASED OR WHICH ONE IS ACTUALLY AS A BARRIER FOR THE EMPLOYMENT. WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT EQUALITY, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SELF SUSTAIN, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE ENCOURAGING EMPLOYMENT FOR PEOPLE, BLIND PEOPLE WITH THE DISABILITY, THOSE ARE ALL NEED TO TAKE INTO THE FACTOR TO PRIORITIZE THOSE. THEN WE WILL USE, UH, BASICALLY MORE AFFORDABLE AND A MORE ACCESSIBLE FORMAT TO TRANSFORM THOSE PDF INTO ACCESSIBLE, TO BE ABLE TO, UH, FRIENDLY TO PEOPLE, UH, BLIND FOLKS, AND ALSO MOST IMPORTANTLY, TRAIN STAFF TO CREATING THOSE PDFS GOING FORWARD. SO WE FIXED UP WHATEVER EXISTING PROBLEM. THEN WE HAVE CONTINUED TRAINING TO TRAIN STAFF TO CONTINUE ONLY CREATE THE PDF FILES, WHATEVER FILES TO MAKE IT ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE WITH ACCESS, UH, UH, BLIND PEOPLE WITH, UH, VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. SO, LONG STORY INSHOT IS, UH, UH, WE ARE REALLY SHOULD THANKS FOR AI AND WE HAVE SO MANY GOOD, EXCELLENT AI PLATFORMS BE ABLE TO REALLY CONVERTED THE PDF AT A SCALE WITH, WITH A VERY AFFORDABLE COST. AND, UH, SO WE JUST WANT TO JUMP IN OUR AVAILABLE AI IN PARTICULAR FOR PUBLIC AVAILABLE DOCUMENT. AND WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION BEING A, THAT, YOU KNOW, GOING THROUGH THE AI SOLUTIONS. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PUBLIC AVAILABLE DOCUMENTATION, GO THROUGH THE AI SOLUTIONS TO MAKE THEM ACCESSIBLE. SO NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. UH, THAT'S, UH, HOW SAVVY IS ABLE TO DO, YOU KNOW, WHAT OUR SOLUTIONS BE ABLE TO CONVERT THE PDF FILE TO A ACCESSIBLE HTML FILE. SO NEXT PAGE PLEASE. OKAY. OH, BEFORE THAT, I'M SORRY. OH, YOU'RE GOOD. YEAH. SO, OKAY. SO LET'S MAKE AUSTIN AND ALL INCLUSIVE CITY. IT'S, UH, VERY ACCESSIBLE, USABLE, SUPPORTIVE, TRANSPARENT, INCLUSIVE, NAVIGABLE. YOU KNOW, AT THE END OF THE DAY, I, YOU KNOW, WHAT I WANT IS I WANT TO SEE MY FRIENDS KIDS SON, WHOEVER WITH DISABILITIES, THEY CAN BE, UH, HIRED, THEY CAN BE, UH, INDEPENDENT, AND, UH, THEY BE ABLE TO, UH, GET SALARY INCOME TO SUPPORT THEMSELF. THEY ARE, BE ABLE TO LIVE LIFE JUST LIKE WE ARE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE FORTUNATE. OH, JUST FYI, ONE OF [01:00:01] MY EYES I CANNOT SEE, WELL, BECAUSE CATARACT, SO I GUESS I CAN CONSIDER MYSELF A LITTLE BIT VISION IMPAIRED. BUT, UH, LONG STORY IN SHORT IS WE JUST WANT TO MAKE, UH, AUSTIN A BETTER CITY FOR INCLUSIVENESS. OKAY. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. WE'LL OPEN THE FLOOR FOR QUESTIONS. COMMISSIONER CHANG, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. UM, A FEW MONTHS AGO, OR SEVERAL MONTHS AGO NOW, UM, WE HAD A MEMBER OF CITY OF AUSTIN'S WEB SERVICES TEAM VISIT US. AND DUE TO THE MANDATE THAT YOU MENTIONED EARLIER, UM, THEY WERE PRIORITIZING, UM, A LOT OF UPDATES TO THEIR WEBSITE, UH, IN ORDER TO BE IN COMPLIANCE. AND, UM, I CERTAINLY WISH THIS PRESENTATION HAD TAKEN PLACE BEFORE. UH, THEY CAME TO US ASKING US FOR ANY RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, ON, YOU KNOW, USEFUL PAGES FOR OUR, UM, UM, THE POPULATION THAT WE FOCUS ON HERE IN OUR COMMISSION. BUT, UM, I WAS WONDERING IF YOU HAD HAD CONVERSATION WITH THEM ALREADY ABOUT THIS TECHNOLOGY THAT YOU'RE REFERENCING, AND IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, UM, YEAH, BECAUSE AT THIS POINT I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE, UM, IN TERMS OF THEIR PROJECT. SO YEAH, IN FACT, UH, THANKS TO, UH, COMMISSIONER CONNOR, RIGHT? AND UH, HE CONNECT US WITH, UH, A LEAD OF ACCESSIBILITY LEAD. I THINK LAST TIME I HEARD IS THEY GOING TO DO, UH, IN-HOUSE TO DO SOMETHING IN-HOUSE, BUT WITH THE, WE JUST DON'T WANT TO ADVOCATE IS VERY, VERY SLOW TO DO IN-HOUSE. SO WE JUST DON'T WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY. SO SAYING IT'S A VERY URGENT MATTER FOR PEOPLE LIKE SARAH TO ENSURE WE, IT JUST A LAWSUIT. THE, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER YOU CALL, IT'S JUST VERY BECOME URGENT MATTER. SO ANY WORD CAN HELP A CITY OF AUSTIN FOCUSING THAT EFFORT TO ENABLE MORE FRIENDLY FOR PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY, LESLIE AND THE GOAL, RIGHT? I MEAN, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO DOING THE WORK THAT MAYBE COMPANY B HAVE A DIFFERENT SOLUTION. WE ARE JUST NOT TALKING ABOUT THE VERY FOCUSED PDF PART. THE REASON PDF PART MENTIONED IS BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF DEVELOPMENT FORMS IS IN THE PDF FORMAT. AND, UH, SO YEAH, WE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT WEBSITE, RIGHT? AND CITY OF AUSTIN PORTAL PROBABLY HAVE 10 THOUSANDS, A LOT OF WEBPAGE, BUT WE ARE JUST HERE FOCUSING ON A PDF FILE, HOW TO MAKE A PDF FILE MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR PEOPLE WITH A DISABILITY. YEAH, WE ARE TALKING WITH THEM. WHEN YOU TALKED TO THEM, DID IT, DID THEY HAVE A PLAN FOR PDFS OR ARE THEY JUST FOCUSING ON THE WEBPAGES? UH, WE WILL FOLLOW UP AGAIN. YEAH, WE, WE, OUR MAIN FOCUS IS HOW TO DO IT AT A SCALE AND VERY AFFORDABLE. RIGHT. AND, UH, YOU KNOW, CITY OF AUSTIN, WE HAVE A LIMITED MONEY WE CAN SPEND HERE, SPEND THERE. SO, BUT IF WE CAN OFFER VERY AFFORDABLE, VERY FAST SOLUTION, I'M SURE. YEAH. YOU KNOW, WE'LL CONTINUE PURSUE THEM. YEAH. 'CAUSE I THINK MY EXPECTATION WOULD BE THAT THEY PROBABLY DON'T HAVE A PLAN FOR THE PDFS YET AND THEY'RE FOCUSING ON THE, JUST THE WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY BEFORE THEY GET TO ANYTHING LIKE THAT. SO IT SEEMS LIKE THERE'S PROBABLY STILL AN OPPORTUNITY THERE. EXACTLY. DO WE HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS FOR THE SAVVY TECH TEAM? WELL, THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING AND VISITING US. WE APPRECIATE LEARNING ABOUT IT. YEAH. THANK YOU JACKSON. THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS. AND THANK YOU. JACKSON, THANK YOU. THANK YOU. OKAY, WE'LL MOVE ON TO DISCUSSION ACTION ITEMS. UH, WE'LL AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FOUR, APPROVE THE ELECTION OF CHAIR. SO, UH, WE HAVE OUR ELECTIONS TODAY. AS YOU PROBABLY SAW, WE'RE GONNA START WITH THE CHAIR ELECTION. I THOUGHT I'D START BY TALKING THROUGH SOME OF THE RESPONSIBILITIES. SO YOU LEAD EACH MEETING. UM, THERE'S AN IN PERSON REQUIREMENT FOR LEADING THE MEETINGS, AND IF YOU CAN'T INTEND TO IN PERSON, THEN SOMEONE ELSE WILL LEAD IT. UM, TYPICALLY THAT FALLS ON THE VICE CHAIR, BUT SOMETIMES SOMEONE ELSE, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU DO COMPLETE A REPORT TO THE CITY EVERY SUMMER AND HELP LEAD PRIORITIES SETTING, UH, AND THE BUDGET OF COURSE. AND, YOU KNOW, YOU RESPOND TO CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE CITY AND, UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND, UH, KIND OF JUST BE THE GENERAL POINT OF CONTACT FOR PEOPLE WANTING TO LEARN ABOUT THE COMMITTEE. UH, MOST OF THAT COMES THROUGH EMAIL, SO I AM HAPPY TO CONTINUE IN THE POSITION THIS YEAR. OR IF SOMEONE ELSE WOULD LIKE A CHANCE, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE WELCOME TO SPEAK UP. UM, YOU'RE, FEEL FREE TO NOMINATE YOURSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE. I MOVE TO NOMINATE, UM, CHAIR KELLY. ALRIGHT. UH, DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER NOMINATIONS? NO. OKAY. UH, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. I'LL ABSTAIN, BUT THANK YOU . ALRIGHT. UH, IN, IN THAT CASE, WE WILL MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER [01:05:01] FIVE, APPROVE THE ELECTION OF VICE CHAIR. SO VICE CHAIR'S RESPONSIBILITY IS SIMILAR TO THE CHAIRS. YOU LEAD THE MEETINGS THAT THE CHAIR IS AVAILABLE, YOU CAN HELP SET PRIORITIES AND CONNECT WITH THE CITY AND THE COMMUNITY. YOU KNOW, IDEALLY YOU'RE AVAILABLE TO ATTEND SOME MEETINGS IN, IN PERSON, UH, IN CASE THE CHAIR'S NOT ABLE TO. UM, I'M GONNA START THIS OFF BY, UH, NOMINATING COMMISSIONER CHANG AND COMMISSIONER SAN MARTINEZ. THEY BOTH EXPRESSED AN INTEREST. OF COURSE, IF YOU ANYONE ELSE LIKE TO NOMINATE THEMSELVES OR SOMEONE ELSE, PLEASE FEEL FREE CHAIR FOR, FOR THE PREVIOUS VOTE, YOU WILL HAVE TO VOTE SINCE WE HAVE A BARE MINIMUM QUORUM. OH, OKAY. I VOTE. OKAY. , I VOTE FOR MYSELF. I'M HAPPY TO SECOND THE MOTION OR IS THAT A CONFLICT SO YOU CAN SECOND YOURSELF. OKAY. OR, UM, I'M HAPPY TO, UH, SECOND, BOTH OF, SECOND BOTH. OKAY. OKAY. UM, OR CAN I NOT? I, OKAY. IT WOULD BE EASIER TO NOMINATE ONE PERSON AT A TIME. OKAY. AND THEN SEE IF ANOTHER NOMINATION HAPPENS. SO, OKAY. SO SHOULD I START AND NOMINATE ONE PERSON AT A TIME? YES. OKAY. I'LL NOMINATE COMMISSIONER CHANG, I SECOND. OKAY. AND THEN I CAN PROCEED WITH ANOTHER NOMINATION. OKAY. AND THEN I'LL NOMINATE COMMISSIONER SAN MARTIN. I'M HAPPY TO SECOND. OKAY. UH, THEN WE'LL START WITH, UH, VOTING UNLESS ANYBODY HAS ANY COMMENTS. UM, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF COMMISSIONER CHANG, RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF COMMISSIONER SAN MARTIN, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY AYE. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. NABA. DID YOU GET THE, THE TALLIES? I DID. THAT WOULD BE INCONCLUSIVE. SO BASICALLY NO ONE WOULD WIN. SO DO WE, DO WE TRY AND GET A A WE WOULD NEED A, A MORE FULL MAJORITY PEOPLE. YEAH. WE WOULD NEED A, SO I GUESS WE PUT IT BACK ON THE AGENDA FOR NEXT TIME AND WE'LL TRY AND SEE IF WE CAN GET MORE PEOPLE HERE. I WOULD HOLD IT FOR WHEN WE GET MORE PEOPLE THOUGH. YEAH. JUST SINCE WE DON'T HAVE ANY PEOPLE HERE. I MEAN, YOU'RE WELCOME TO, BUT I FEEL LIKE IT'S GONNA BE WASTED. YEAH, YEAH, YEAH. WE'LL, WE'LL, YEAH, WE CAN, YOU KNOW, DEFINITELY ARE WELCOME TO, TO, YOU KNOW, KIND OF PITCH YOURSELF NICK A WE'LL ADD THAT TO THE AGENDA NEXT TIME. OKAY. WELL LET'S SEE IF WE CAN DO THE LAST ONE. UM, NUMBER SIX, APPROVE AN ALTERNATE FOR THE JOINT INCLUSION COMMITTEE. I NOMINATE, OH, SORRY. OH, SORRY. I JUMPED THE GUN. OKAY. OKAY. UH, THE JOINT INCLUSION, UH, COMMITTEE HAS MEMBERS FROM A NUMBER OF COMMITTEES INCLUDING THE COMMISSION ON AGING, L-G-B-T-Q, VETERANS AND A BUNCH MORE. THEY MEET ONCE A MONTH, UM, AS THE ALTERNATE YOUR JOBS TO ATTEND WHEN THE PRIMARY REPRESENTATIVE ISN'T AVAILABLE. UM, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE ALWAYS ENCOURAGED TO LISTEN EVEN WHEN YOU CAN'T, UH, JOIN AS THE PRIMARY REPRESENTATIVE YOU ATTEND VIRTUALLY DOES NOT NEED TO BE IN PERSON. UM, AND I THINK THE MEETINGS ARE ALWAYS ON THE THIRD WEDNESDAYS. IS THAT RIGHT? FOURTH WEDNESDAY. FOURTH WEDNESDAY, SORRY. OKAY. ACTUALLY MAYBE I'M WRONG. UH, THE NEXT UH, MEETING WILL BE APRIL 22ND. SO. OKAY. AND I APOLOGIZE, I WAS THE PRESENTLY THE ALTERNATE, BUT I AM NOT ABLE TO MAKE THAT TIME VERY EASILY AND SO I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO TO JOIN VERY MUCH. SO, UM, IF ANYONE'S OPEN TO THIS, THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY GET INVOLVED WITH ALL THE OTHER COMMISSIONS AND YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THEM HAVE A LOT OF INFLUENCE WITHIN THE CITY. SO IF YOU'RE ABLE TO DO THAT, PLEASE SPEAK UP. I HAVE A QUESTION. SURE. I HAVE A QUESTION REAL QUICK. UM, IT'S ON WEDNESDAYS, DID YOU SAVE THE TIME? IT HAS MOVED TO 6:00 PM AND IT IS NOW AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN. AUSTIN PLANNING AND IT'S NEAR, UM, A CC HIGHLAND. OKAY. OKAY. THANK YOU. UM, AND FOLKS ARE ALWAYS, UH, WELCOME TO PARTICIPATE REMOTELY. UM, THAT SAID, I WOULD LIKE TO NOMINATE COMMISSIONER, UM, ANO, I'LL SECOND THAT. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. THANK YOU COMMISSIONER. THAT, THAT'S GREAT THAT TO HAVE YOU THERE. OKAY. UH, FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT TIME, WHICH WILL BE THE MAY MEETING? I THINK WE'RE TALKING TO CAPITAL METRO. OH, ARE THEY COMING NEXT TIME? OKAY, GREAT. UH, FOR THE MAIN MEETING THEY CONFIRMED? NOT YET. THEY HAVEN'T CONFIRMED, BUT WE'RE COMMUNICATION HELPFUL. YEAH, I KNOW THEY CAN BE, THEY CAN BE DIFFICULT TO GET, GET IN THE ROOM. WE'VE HAD HAD THAT ISSUE LAST YEAR TOO. UM, OKAY. WELL IF YOU, YOU KNOW, I THINK PROBABLY THE AGENDA RIGHT NOW IS PRETTY LIGHT, SO IF ANYONE THINKS OF ANYTHING BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, YOU KNOW, PLEASE LET NICK ABA KNOW AND OKAY. UM, I, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD ONE, UM, WE HAVE JUST APPROVED A WORKING GROUP AT JIC SO THERE WILL BE, UM, A WORKING GROUP THAT WILL BE FOCUSED ON THE [01:10:01] AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT'S OFFICE AT THE COMMUNITY LIAISON. SO THERE, I BELIEVE THERE'S UM, ONE OR TWO SPOTS, UH, AVAILABLE IF ANYBODY IS INTERESTED IN JOINING. AND THEY'RE VERY ACTIVE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. I KNOW THEY HAVE THEIR KIND OF QUARTERLY MEETINGS, RIGHT? UM, OR IS THAT, THAT'S NOT THE OFFICE OF POLICE OVERSIGHT? IT'S DIFFERENT ONE. NO. NO. OH, OKAY. OKAY. GOT IT. GOT IT. OKAY. IT'S, UM, I THINK IT'S CIVILIAN, OFFICER LE OR UM HMM. IT, IT'S DIFFERENT. YES. GOT IT. GOT IT. OKAY. UH, DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? ALRIGHT, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND ADJOURN FOR THE DAY. UM, I'LL MOVE TO ADJOURN SECOND. ALL RIGHT. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR? RAISE YOUR HAND OR SAY AYE. AYE. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU ALL AND IF YOU CAN TRY AND GET ANY OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS TO BE HERE NEXT TIME SO WE CAN DO OUR VICE CHAIR ELECTION, THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL. THANK YOU. THANK YOU ALL. BYE-BYE. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.