[00:00:03]
[CALL TO ORDER]
THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION.I HAVE THE TIME AT 6 34, UH, PM UH, CALLING THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
AND, UM, AS, UH, AS NORMAL PROCESS, WE'LL GO AROUND AND JUST DO A, A ROLL CALL.
AGAIN, MY NAME IS STEVEN APODACA, AND, UH, I AM REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO.
UH, WE'LL GO TO MY LEFT IN THE ROOM TO START.
HI, THIS IS COMMISSIONER CUBY REPRESENTING DISTRICT SEVEN.
UH, AND THEN I'LL CALL EACH OF THE COMMISSIONERS ONLINE.
COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD, REPRESENTING DISTRICT EIGHT, COMMISSIONER PVI.
COMMISSIONER PVI, REPRESENTING DISTRICT 10 COMMISSIONER, HERITAGE COMMISSIONER HERITAGE REPRESENTING DISTRICT FOUR AND COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. WE'LL JUST WAIT FOR YOU TO START YOUR VIDEO.
COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS REPRESENTING DISTRICT 10.
UM, LET ME JUST TAKE A, A ONE MINUTE TO WALK THROUGH THE AGENDA TODAY.
I'M GONNA CALL MOST OF THE ITEMS OUT OF ORDER.
[PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL]
SO WE'LL START WITH, UH, CITIZEN, UH, WITH PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.WE DO HAVE A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC WHO'S HERE TODAY.
UH, FROM THERE, WE'LL MOVE TO THE LAST ITEM ON OUR AGENDA.
THAT'S AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE, A PRESENTATION BY MIMI STYLES, UM, FROM MEASURE.
AND THEN, UM, AFTER THAT, WE'LL SKIP BACK TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER THREE AND WORK ON OUR, UH, ANNUAL REPORT AND PLAN.
THAT'S DUE BACK TO, UH, THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE.
AND THEN IF WE STILL HAVE TIME, UH, WE'LL APPROVE THE OUTSTANDING MINUTES.
SO WITH THAT, UH, WE'LL START OFF WITH, UH, CITIZEN COMMUNICATION.
AND WE DO HAVE THE MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC HERE.
UH, I'LL LET HER INTRODUCE HERSELF.
AND, UH, YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.
MY NAME IS MARINA ROBERTS, AND I'M AN ORGANIZER WITH THE NO ALPS COALITION, A GROUP OF 40 AND COUNTING COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS WHO OPPOSE AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS IN ANY FORM.
I'M TESTIFYING TONIGHT TO URGE THE URGE, THE TECH MISSION TO PASS A RESOLUTION CONDEMNING THE USE OF APRS.
AS YOU LIKELY KNOW, APRS ARE DEVICES AFFIXED TO INFRASTRUCTURE, THAT RECORD, PHOTOS, VIDEO, AND EVEN AUDIO THAT IS TRANSFORMED BY AI INTO QUERYABLE DATABASES OF LOCATION INFORMATION ABOUT US, WHERE WE LIVE, WHERE WE WORK, WHERE WE DROP OUR KIDS OFF AT SCHOOL.
WE'RE ALSO LEARNING ABOUT HOW APRS ARE BEING ENHANCED WITH NEW CAPABILITIES THAT WILL ALLOW THEM TO TRACK US BY IDENTIFYING OUR DEVICES TO UNDERSTAND THE DANGER OF THIS TECHNOLOGY, I WOULD FIRST EMPHASIZE THE BUSINESS MODEL RELIED UPON BY VENDORS OF ALPS, WHICH ARE TECH COMPANIES OPERATING AS DATA BROKERS.
THIS MEANS THAT DESPITE THE MANIPULATIVE ASSURANCES PROVIDED DURING SALES PITCHES, ASSURANCES, WHICH ARE CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT FROM CONTRACT LANGUAGE, AS WE SAW DURING AUSTIN'S OWN A LPR PILOT, THE DATA HARVESTED BY THESE COMPANIES DOES NOT BELONG TO AUSTIN.
IT IS BEING COPIED TO THE VENDORS PRIVATE SERVERS PRIOR TO BEING DELETED, AND IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE BROKERED BY THE COMPANY FOR PROFIT.
BUT THERE ARE OTHER HARMS THAT NEED TO BE EMPHASIZED TO OUR ELECTED LEADERS HARMS RELATING TO THE REPEATED USE OF APRS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT TO STALK WOMEN AND CARRY OUT PERSONAL VENDETTAS.
I WOULD FLAG THAT DURING AUSTIN'S A LPR PILOT, 20% OF APDS A LPR SEARCHES WERE MADE WITHOUT A PROPER INVESTIGATIVE PURPOSE ENTERED, MEANING THIS KIND OF ABUSE VERY LIKELY WAS HAPPENING HERE, THERE ARE OTHER HARMS ARISING FROM ERRONEOUS READS BY A L PS, WHICH HAVE LED TO A SHOCKING NUMBER OF WRONGFUL ARRESTS, MANY OF THEM VIOLENT, MOSTLY IMPACTING PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND MANY OF THEM LEADING TO LEGAL SETTLEMENTS, PAYING OUT MILLIONS IN OUR TAX DOLLARS TO VICTIMS. FINALLY, THERE ARE HARMS ARISING FROM THE HACKING OF THIS DATA BY BAD ACTORS LIKE MEXICAN CARTELS WHO USE THE DATA TO HUNT AND MURDER INFORMANTS OR RUSSIAN HACKERS WHO STOLE THE ENTIRE UK'S A LPR DATASET AND SOLD IT ON THE BLACK MARKET.
CITY COUNCIL NEEDS YOUR EXPERTISE BECAUSE OTHERWISE THEY'RE HEARING UNCHECKED CLAIMS FROM A LPR VENDOR.
PLEASE URGE THEM TO OPPOSE ALPS AND PLEASE PROVIDE THEM WITH ACCURATE TECHNICAL EXPERTISE REGARDING WHAT APRS ARE CAPABLE OF AND THE VULNERABILITIES INHERENT IN THIS KIND OF MASS SCALE DATA COLLECTION.
UM, IF I HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME LEFT, I WOULD JUST, UH, EMPHASIZE THAT IT'S VERY DIFFICULT, I THINK, FOR CITY COUNCIL TO GET A HANDLE ON THE TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES OF APRS WITHOUT THE EXPERTISE OF THIS COMMISSION.
I THINK THAT, UH, AGAIN, I WOULD JUST EMPHASIZE THEY'RE BEING USED TO FACILITATE MASS DEPORTATIONS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
THERE ARE A LOT OF REALLY PROFOUND HARMS INHERENT IN THIS TECHNOLOGY.
UM, WE KNOW OF A CASE IN JOHNSON COUNTY WHERE APRS WERE USED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT TO TRACK A WOMAN WHO HAD, UH, SELF-MANAGED AND ABORTION WITH INTENT TO PROSECUTE HER FOR CRIMES RELATED TO HER ABORTION.
AND SO WE KNOW THERE ARE A LOT LIKE JUST A LITANY OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, UM, THAT ARE INHERENT IN HERE.
[00:05:01]
I APPRECIATE IT.THANK YOU SO MUCH, MARINA, AND THANK YOU, UH, FOR, UM, CONTINUING TO, TO KEEP A PULSE ON ALL OF THESE EMERGING ISSUES.
AND, UH, WE WILL, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY, UH, WORK TOGETHER AS, AS A COMMISSION TO COLLABORATE PERHAPS WITH YOUR ORGANIZATION, WITH OTHERS, UH, TO PROVIDE DIRECTION TO CITY COUNCIL.
[Additional Item]
WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE TO, UH, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE AS DISCUSSED.UH, WE DO HAVE MIMI STYLES HERE IN THE ROOM.
UM, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO HER.
HOPEFULLY YOU CAN HEAR ME OKAY.
WELL, FIRST OF ALL, NOW I CAN HEAR MYSELF,
SO GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO COME AND SHARE SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING AT MEASURE.
UM, I AM THE, UH, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER OF A RESEARCH AND DATA ACTIVISM ORGANIZATION CALLED MEASURE.
UM, WE'VE BEEN AROUND FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS NOW, UM, AND JUST VERY, UM, UH, VERY EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO SHARE THIS WORK.
THIS IS A STUDY THAT WE STARTED LAST YEAR, UM, AND OVER THE COURSE OF QUITE SOME TIME, UM, WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO, UM, GATHER SOME FEEDBACK AND DATA FROM OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, SO IN THE SPIRIT OF IW WELLS WHO GATHERED DATA ABOUT HER COMMUNITY AND ABOUT THE, SOME ATROCITIES THAT HAVE HAPPENED, UM, AND SHARED THAT DATA FOR LIBERATION AND HEALING AND JUSTICE, UM, THAT IS HOW I GREET YOU ON TODAY.
SO, UM, AS AI BECOMES EVEN MORE EMBEDDED IN OUR CITIES, UM, THE QUESTION THAT I HAD TO ASK MYSELF IS WHO ACTUALLY GETS TO SHAPE IT? RIGHT? UM, AND SUBSEQUENTLY THEN, WHO ACTUALLY GETS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF AUSTIN? UM, THIS PROJECT IS CALLED COMMUNITIES IN THE LOOP.
IT IS MEASURES RESPONSE TO THAT QUESTION.
UM, AND IT'S ALSO, UM, A PLETHORA OF OTHER ORGANIZATIONS WHO HAVE ALREADY ENDORSED THIS WORK.
UM, VERY SPECIFICALLY, IT'S A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN MEASURE THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UM, AND THE AUSTIN AI ALLIANCE.
BUT IT, AGAIN, MORE IMPORTANTLY, IT IS A PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, BECAUSE IF AI IS GOING TO SHAPE ALL OF OUR LIVES, THEN WE, THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SAY HOW IT'S GOVERNED SHOULD BE GOOD.
SO WHAT DID WE ACTUALLY DO? WE DESIGNED A MULTI SESSION COMMUNITY LED ENGAGEMENT PROCESS THAT BROUGHT TOGETHER OVER 409 PEOPLE ACROSS AUSTIN RESIDENTS, OUR NEIGHBORS.
UM, THAT NUMBER REALLY INCLUDES 117 PARTICIPANTS THROUGH CITY LED SESSIONS.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, WE WERE ABLE TO, UM, THAT NUMBER ALSO INCLUDES SOME OF THE FOLKS FROM THIS COMMISSION'S GATHERING, UM, AS WELL.
UM, AND WHAT GROUNDED ALL OF THIS WORK IS OUR CARE MODEL, COMMUNITY ADVOCACY, RESILIENCE, AND EVIDENCE.
THIS IS A PROCESS THAT WE'VE BEEN USING OVER THE LAST DECADE IN THE CITY TO REALLY MAKE CHANGE THAT IS DATA DRIVEN, BUT PEOPLE LED.
UM, AND HERE'S WHAT MAKES THAT DIFFERENT.
WE DID NOT TREAT RESIDENTS LIKE JUST PARTICIPANTS THROUGH THIS STUDY.
WE ACTUALLY EMBRACED THEM AS CO-CREATORS, AS CO-RESEARCHERS, UM, OF GOVERNANCE A LOT OF TIMES.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN I FIRST STARTED MEASURE, I WOULD, THERE WAS A LOT OF TIMES WHERE I WOULD BE LOOKED AT AS, YOU KNOW, UM, NOT RIGOROUS ENOUGH BECAUSE WE WERE ELEVATING COMMUNITY, AND WE SAID, NO COMMUNITY REALLY DOES HAVE THE SOLUTIONS IF YOU JUST ASK THEM, RIGHT? UM, AND I WAS CHALLENGED ON THAT A LOT.
YOU KNOW, I WANNA SAY I'M GRATEFUL 10 YEARS LATER, YOU KNOW, OUR REPORTS ARE NOW CREATING CHANGE COMPLETELY ACROSS THE NATION.
[00:10:01]
SO, UM, IF YOU JUST BELIEVE THE PEOPLE SO GRATEFUL TO BE ABLE TO SHARE SOME OF THE KEY FINDINGS FROM THE COMMUNITY.UM, NUMBER ONE, WHEN WE LISTENED TO COMMUNITY, FIVE THEMES ACTUALLY SHOWED UP VERY CONSISTENTLY.
SO WE USED A PROCESS CALLED THEMATIC ANALYSIS.
UM, SOMETIMES YOU CAN, YOU CAN ALSO LOOK AT IT AS LIKE RICH DATA.
YOU CAN LOOK AT IT AS, UM, PHENOMENOLOGICAL DATA TO SEE SORT OF WHAT ARE THE THEMES THAT KIND OF ARE CONSISTENTLY SAID OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
UM, YOU KNOW, AFTER 24 INTERVIEWS, YOU USUALLY ARE ABLE TO PINPOINT WHAT THOSE THEMES ARE.
THAT'S KIND OF WHAT QUALITATIVE DATA LOOKS LIKE.
WE TALKED TO 409 PEOPLE, OKAY.
SO WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF DATA THAT THAT HAS BEEN, THAT, YOU KNOW, WAS CODED AND LOOKED AT AND, AND ALL THE THINGS, UM, THESE ARE THE THEMES THAT REALLY POPPED UP FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
PEOPLE WANT BROADER, MORE INCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ARE USUALLY LEFT OUT OF THE CONVERSATIONS.
UM, SECONDLY IS TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY.
PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW WHEN IS AI BEING USED? HOW IS IT MAKING DECISIONS? AND WHO IS ACTUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM? THIRD IS HUMAN OVERSIGHT.
UM, THERE'S A MAJOR CONCERN RIGHT NOW, UM, IN OUR CITY OVER, UM, ABOUT AUTOMATION.
AI SHOULD SUPPORT DECISION MAKING, AND IT SHOULD NOT REPLACE HUMAN JUDGMENT.
THERE'S A LOT OF ANXIETY IN OUR CITY RIGHT NOW ABOUT AI.
PEOPLE ARE AFRAID THEY ARE GOING TO LOSE THEIR JOBS.
THERE'S DRIVERS OUT THERE THAT ARE AFRAID OF THE AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE, BOOM, RIGHT? UM, RIGHT NOW, THERE ARE SEVERAL, UM, FOLKS THAT ARE LOOKING FOR JOBS WHERE THE FIRST PERSON THAT THEY TALK TO WHEN THEY'RE BEING INTERVIEWED IS NOT ACTUALLY A PERSON.
OKAY? UM, AND, YOU KNOW, AND SO WHEN WE, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THIS IDEA OF HUMAN OVERSIGHT, IT, IT JUST, WHAT, WHAT COMMUNITY SAID WAS THAT IT CANNOT REPLACE HUMAN JUDGMENT.
THERE'S NOTHING THAT CAN, UM, THAT CAN REPLACE, UM, THAT, THAT REAL HUMAN TOUCH.
FOURTH IS PRIVACY AND SAFEGUARDS.
UM, I WAS A PRIVACY OFFICER FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE DOING THE WORK OF MEASURE, AND SO I KNOW HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS.
UM, BUT FOR OUR COMMUNITY, THEY PINPOINTED, THEY ARE THAT PRIVACY AND SAFEGUARDS IS IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO SURVEILLANCE TO DATA USE AND TO PROTECTING YOUNG PEOPLE.
AND SO, THE YOUNG LADY TALKED A MOMENT AGO ABOUT LICENSE PLATE READERS.
THIS IS A MAJOR CONCERN WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
FIFTH IS ABOUT LITERACY, RIGHT? WHILE THERE IS A FEAR, AND WHILE THERE, WHILE THERE IS ANXIETY, THE PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW HOW TO USE THESE SYSTEMS. IF WE EXPECT COMMUNITIES TO ACTUALLY ENGAGE IN THIS, IN, UM, IN AI, THEN WE HAVE TO INVEST IN HELPING THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEMS THAT ARE ACTUALLY SHAPING THEIR LIVES.
SO, AI LITERACY, UH, MANY WAYS I'VE, I'VE HEARD IT WAS, IT'S JUST AS IMPORTANT AS READING
UM, PARENTS ARE CONCERNED THAT THEIR ASTUTE, THAT THEIR KIDS ARE GONNA KNOW, YOU KNOW, HOW TO USE THESE TOOLS.
AND THEY'RE NOT, UM, TEACHERS ARE CONCERNED THAT THE STUDENTS ARE, ARE, THIS IS THE ONE, AS A MATTER OF FACT, THIS IS THE ONE THING THAT WHEN YOU GO INTO COLLEGE, THE STUDENTS ARE WAY MORE ADVANCED THAN EVEN THE PROFESSORS AT THIS POINT.
AND WHAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT IS THAT THESE FIVE FINDINGS ARE NOT ABSTRACT IDEAS.
THEY'RE VERY MUCH SO EMBEDDED IN, IN THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF OUR COMMUNITY, UM, AND THEY'RE TRANSLATED INTO GOVERNANCE PRIORITIES.
SO WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT HERE IS A BLUEPRINT IN MANY WAYS, A COMMUNITY CREATED BLUEPRINT.
UM, AND THAT'S AGAIN, WHY WE, WHY, WHY I CALL THIS COMMUNITIES IN THE LOOP.
[00:15:03]
ALSO WANTED TO MENTION, UM, A LOT OF FOLKS HAVE HEARD THE SAYING, IF YOU'RE IN THE TECH COMMUNITY, YOU'VE HEARD THE SAYING, UM, HUMAN IN THE LOOP, RIGHT? I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HUMAN IN THE LOOP, BECAUSE WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT THERE'S ONE HUMAN RIGHT, OR A PERSON THAT IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE OUTPUTS OF AI.THEY ARE SORT OF THE AGENTIC ORCHESTRATOR, AND THEY'RE, AND THEY'RE MAKING SURE THAT, UM, THAT THE AI IS USED, HOPEFULLY THE RIGHT WAY, BUT THAT HUMAN ALSO BRINGS THEIR OWN BIASES TO THE SYSTEM.
I WAS JUST PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL, A COUPLE OF, UM, UH, LAST MONTH AND, UM, AND ABOUT OUR, UM, WHAT'S CALLED THE THEORY OF INTERROGATIVE REASONING.
AND AT THE CORE OF IT, IT JUST CHALLENGES HUMAN IN THE LOOP AND REPLACES THAT HUMAN IN THE LOOP WITH COMMUNITIES IN THE LOOP, HUMANS IN THE LOOP, AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE, UM, THAT IT'S A COLLECTIVE DECISION ABOUT WHAT THE AI OUTPUT IS.
SO HERE ARE THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR, FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UM, WE TOOK EXACTLY WHAT WE HEARD AND TRANSLATED IT INTO ACTION.
THE FIRST IS TO ESTABLISH A PERMANENT COMMUNITY AI ADVISORY STRUCTURE.
AND I KNOW THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME, SOME CONVENINGS AND SO FORTH, BUT IT CANNOT JUST BE A ONE TIME, TWO TIME, THREE TIME THING.
THIS TECHNOLOGY IS MOVING SO RAPIDLY THAT IF WE, IF WE ARE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN KEEP UP WITH IT, WE HAVE TO BE CONSISTENT.
AND SO THAT MEANS HAVING THIS CONSISTENT COMMUNITY ADVISORY STRUCTURE.
AND THERE ARE SO MANY ORGANIZATIONS HERE IN AUSTIN THAT HAVE A TECH FOCUS, UM, I MEAN, COUNTLESS THAT WOULD BE HAPPY, I'M SURE, TO HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE ON THIS TYPE OF COMMUNITY ADVISORY STRUCTURE.
SECONDLY, UM, CREATE AN AI TRANSPARENCY REGISTRY SO RESIDENTS CAN ACTUALLY SEE WHERE AND HOW AI IS BEING USED.
YOU SEE A PICTURE HERE OF DA, OF, UM, MR. COLADA WITH THE CITY.
AND WHAT HE DID AT EACH ONE OF THESE SESSIONS WAS ACTUALLY PROVIDE A TRANSPARENT, UN LIKE, CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT TYPE OF AI THE CITY WAS USING.
AND THAT, IN MANY WAYS WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT MOST PEOPLE HAVE EVER SEEN THAT LEVEL OF INFORMATION.
SO HAVING THIS REGISTRY WHERE ANYONE CAN TAP INTO AND SEE THIS INFORMATION IS REALLY CRITICAL.
THIRD, IS TO MAINTAIN HUMAN OVERSIGHT REQUIREMENTS SO THAT THERE'S ALWAYS ACCOUNTABILITY, RIGHT? BEYOND THAT ALGORITHM.
AND FOURTH IS TO EXPAND AI LITERACY PROGRAMMING.
AND THIS IS SO THAT PEOPLE CAN MEANINGFULLY PARTICIPATE.
YOU KNOW, IT CANNOT JUST BE ONE OR TWO COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT HANG THEIR HAT ON THIS.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT ALL CITY COUNCIL NEEDS TO GET AROUND, RIGHT? WE CAN'T BECAUSE IT'S, THIS, AI IS IN MANY WAYS A BURDEN, Y'ALL, AND IT'S TOO HEAVY FOR ONE OR TWO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO HOLD.
BUT IF WE ALL AS A COMMUNITY COME AROUND IT, WE CAN GOVERN THE RIGHT WAY.
FIFTH IS TO DEVELOP PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS. AND THIS IS SO THAT HARM CAN BE ADDRESSED AND DECISIONS CAN ACTUALLY BE CHALLENGED.
I DO WANNA APPLAUD THE RESOLUTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN, THAT HAVE, UM, BEEN PUT FORTH, UM, AROUND DATA CENTERS.
UM, RESOLUTION 55, AROUND TRANSPARENCY AND SUPPORT.
BUT AGAIN, THESE ARE RESOLUTIONS THAT NEED TO BE TURNED INTO POLICY.
AND SIX, UM, WE ARE ASKING THE CITY TO INTEGRATE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE INTO AI GOVERNANCE BECAUSE THESE SYSTEMS DO NOT EXIST OUTSIDE OF BROADER INEQUITIES.
[00:20:01]
AI AND WHAT THEY DO ON COMMUNITIES.WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE OVER 52 OR SO DATA CENTERS JUST WITHIN OUR METRO AREA.
UM, AND SO MAKING SURE THAT ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, AGAIN, I MEAN, THAT COULD ACTUALLY BE ITS OWN ADVISORY,
SO WHAT THIS WORK REALLY DOES SHOW IS THAT COMMUNITY ISN'T A BARRIER TO INNOVATION.
IT'S ACTUALLY WHAT MAKES INNOVATION IN THIS CITY POSSIBLE.
THIS PROJECT IS TRULY GROUNDED IN WHAT I JUST MENTIONED ABOUT THE THEORY OF INTERROGATIVE REASONING AND THIS THEORY OF INTERROGATIVE REASONING.
IT TELLS US THAT PEOPLE CLOSEST TO THE HARM MUST BE PART OF, OF INTERROGATING THE SYSTEM AND THROUGH THE MEASURE CARE MODEL.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE MEASURE CARE MODEL WAS CREATED AT HOUSTON TILLSON UNIVERSITY, UM, OVER 400 COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
400 IS JUST THE NUMBER FOR, FOR US, UM, CAME TOGETHER IN ORDER TO PUT TO, TO PUT THIS, UM, THIS EVALUATION METHOD, UM, TOGETHER.
UM, BUT IT'S REALLY SHOWING WHAT, WHAT IT, WHAT COMMUNITY VOICE, UM, CAN, CAN, CAN MEAN FOR ACCOUNTABILITY.
AND WHAT'S REALLY EXCITING IS THAT IT DOES NOT HAVE TO JUST STAY IN AUSTIN.
THIS CAN ACTUALLY BE A NATIONAL MODEL FOR DEMOCRATIC AI GOVERNANCE.
SO I WILL LEAVE THIS WITH YOU ALL.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, I HAVE A REPORT.
IT IS NOT ON DIGITS, INSTEAD, IT IS REALLY ON PAPER.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S OKAY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.
BUT, UM, I WANTED TO PRINT THIS OUT FOR THIS COMMISSION, AND I WANTED TO GIVE THIS TO YOU,
SO THAT 10, 20, 30, 50 YEARS FROM TODAY, WHEN, WHEN HOPEFULLY WE DO NOT HAVE MASS INEQUITY, OR HOPEFULLY WE, WE DO NOT NEAR, YOU KNOW, AN UNEMPLOYMENT RATES THAT ARE ASTRONOMICAL, WHEN HOPEFULLY OUR STUDENTS ARE STILL UTILIZING THEIR CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS WHEN HOPEFULLY WE'RE MAKING DECISIONS THAT COME FROM US AND OUR HEART AND OUR SOUL.
AS A MATTER OF FACT, I DO WANNA SAY ONE LAST THING BEFORE I CLOSE OUT.
AND, UM, WE SUFFERED A BIG LOSS IN OUR COMMUNITY RECENTLY.
UM, LIKE MY FRIEND JOSHUA BEAR WHO, UM, SOMETHING, SOME, UH, JUST SUCH A SPECIAL PERSON.
UM, AS A MATTER OF FACT, HE FIRST GAVE MEASURE A, A GOLDEN TICKET 10 YEARS AGO.
AND HE SAID, HEY, MIMI, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN TRY TO BUILD THIS IDEA OUT.
UM, HIS WORK, REALLY, THE BLACK FUND OF CENTRAL TEXAS WOULDN'T BE WHAT IT IS WITHOUT HIM.
UM, AND I WAS ABLE TO SIT ON A PANEL WITH HIM, UM, JUST ABOUT A WEEK BEFORE HE TOOK THAT FLIGHT.
AND, UM, WE SAT THERE AND WE LAUGHED, AND WE TALKED ABOUT AI.
AND HE HAD SO MANY HOPES AND DREAMS, LIKE BIGGER THAN EVER.
UM, AND I SAID TO HIM AND EVERYONE ELSE, I SAID, YOU KNOW, JOSH, WE'RE GOING TO GET, AUSTIN IS GOING TO GET THROUGH THIS MOMENT OF AI BECAUSE AUSTIN HAS A SOUL.
UM, AND HE LOOKED AT ME, AND I KNEW HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT I MEANT.
'CAUSE WE'VE ALREADY PUT IN ALL OF THE GROUNDWORK IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT AI DOES NOT CREATE THE EXTREME INEQUITY, THAT I KNOW THAT IT WILL IF WE DO NOT DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, IF WE DO NOT CREATE THE GUARDRAILS, AND IF WE DO NOT PRIORITIZE THE PEOPLE.
SO IF WE WANT AI TO SAVE, UH, TO SERVE THE PUBLIC,
COMMUNITIES HAVE TO BE IN THE LOOP.
SO I DO HOPE THAT THIS FRAMEWORK IS ONE THAT YOU CAN TAKE.
I DO HOPE THAT THE, UM, COMMISSION CAN LOOK AT IT, REVIEW IT, AND POSSIBLY ENDORSE IT THEMSELVES.
THERE WE HAVE A COUPLE OF, UM, OTHER KIND OF PUBLIC CONVENINGS THAT WE'LL BE DOING
[00:25:01]
IN EARLY AUGUST.WE WILL BE HAVING A PRESS CONFERENCE TO FORMALLY PRESENT THIS ALSO TO THE CITY MAYOR, AND ALSO FORMALLY PRESENT THIS TO THE CITY MANAGER.
SO, SO, UM, AND I'M HERE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE.
WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH, MIMI, FOR ALL YOUR WORK ON THIS COMING AND PRESENTING.
UM, I HAVE A QUESTION AND I'LL TURN IT OVER TO MY COLLEAGUES.
UM, I'M CURIOUS, I MEAN, IS THIS ONE OF THE FIRST, OR, OR ONLY REPORTS OF THIS THAT HAS POOLED MANY DIFFERENT, UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS ORGANIZATIONS TOGETHER? SO IS THIS ALMOST LIKE, UM, UH, FIRST OF ITS KIND? WONDERING IF YOU COULD TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT? ABSOLUTELY.
YOU KNOW, I TRAVEL THE WORLD
UM, I'VE BEEN TO MOST OF THE MAJOR CONVENINGS.
UM, AS A, IN ALL TRANSPARENCY, I'M ALSO, UM, SUPPORTED BY THE ROBERT WOODS JOHNSON'S FOUNDATION, WHO HAS A VERY, UM, A KEEN FOCUS ON, UM, TECHNOLOGY FOR GOOD.
I'M ALSO, UM, JUST, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH JUST SO MANY FOLKS IN THIS ARENA, IN THIS WORLD OF AI GOVERNANCE, AND HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT YET, HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.
UM, SAN JOSE HAS DONE A GREAT JOB AT CONVENING INDUSTRY PARTNERS, UM, AND AROUND AI GOVERNANCE.
THEY'VE BUILT OUT SOME INCREDIBLE FRAMEWORKS THAT WAY.
UM, BUT I HAVE NOT YET SEEN A SPACE WHERE COMMUNITY THAT'S MOST IMPACTED OR THAT WILL BE MOST IMPACTED BY, UM, BY AI ACTUALLY FRAMING A GOVERNANCE BLUEPRINT.
AND AGAIN, THIS TOOK SOME TIME.
SO WE STARTED, YOU KNOW, LAST, LAST YEAR, UM, AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO, TO GET TO THIS POINT.
AND THERE'S A LOT MORE DATA TO COLLECT, AND IT'S GOING TO CHANGE BECAUSE AI CHANGES SO RAPIDLY THAN THE CULTURE IS GOING TO CHANGE AROUND IT.
I KNOW THAT MOST OF YOU HAVE SEEN ALREADY, IF YOU'RE ON ANY TYPE OF SOCIAL MEDIA, YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED.
YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW WHAT'S REAL OR NOT ANYMORE.
UM, AND SO, UM, SO THIS REPORTS LIKE, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I HOPE THAT THIS ADVISORY BOARD COULD CONTINUE TO CREATE TO, TO GATHER A PULSE ON HOW WE'RE FEELING IN, IN AUSTIN.
BUT YEAH, I HAVE NOT, I HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING YET, LIKE A, THAT'S, THAT'S AMAZING.
UM, MY COLLEAGUE IN THE ROOM, UH, VICE CHAIR, PLEASE GO AHEAD.
HI, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
IT WAS REALLY ENLIGHTENING, AND I APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THAT YOU PUT INTO THIS.
I'M CURIOUS, IN TALKING WITH ALL THESE DIFFERENT COMMUNITY MEMBERS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF CONCERN ABOUT ALL THE NEGATIVE POSSIBILITIES HERE, BUT DID PEOPLE HAVE ANY, LIKE, DREAMS THEMSELVES OR HOPES FOR BENEFICIAL USES OF AI? ABSOLUTELY, YES.
UM, THERE IS, UH, AND I'LL QUOTE ONE OF MY OTHER GOOD FRIENDS, HIS NAME IS CHRIS HIMES.
UM, HE, UM, HE'S MY CO-CHAIR FOR THE, I'M ALSO THE, THE CHAIRWOMAN OF THE HBCU AI CONFERENCE.
UM, AND HE AND I PUT THAT ON TOGETHER, AND HE SAYS, YOU KNOW, IS HE AFRAID OF AI? UM, YOU KNOW, OR, OR DOES HE OR, OR NOT? AND HE JUST SAYS, OR, OR, OR, THE QUESTION IS, IS DOES HE HAVE HOPES OR DOES HE, OR DOES HE THINK THAT IT'S GOING TO BE HORRIBLE? AND HE JUST SAYS YES.
YOU KNOW? UM, AND THAT'S, I THINK THAT'S REFLECTIVE OF WHAT WE HEARD, RIGHT? WE SEE MANY COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT BELIEVE THAT THIS COULD BE, THIS IS FINALLY THEIR CHANCE AT BEING ABLE TO START A BUSINESS.
UM, IT'S FINALLY THEIR CHANCE TO BE ABLE TO CREATE, TO WRITE, YOU KNOW, A, A, A NEW NEWSLETTER OR A, SOME, A BOOK.
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE WHOLE BOOK THING WITH AI, BUT, YOU KNOW, WHATEVER IT IS THAT THEY WANT, YOU KNOW, BUT THEY SEE EXTREME OPPORTUNITY.
UM, BUT IT'S ALMOST LIKE, IN MANY OF THE CONVERSATIONS THAT I HAD, IT'S ALMOST LIKE, WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO SACRIFICE FOR IT? LIKE, THAT'S SORT OF WHERE IT, IT KIND OF ENDS UP, LIKE, I KNOW THAT, UM, THAT BY USING IT, I'M, I'M, I'M GIVING UP SOMETHING.
SO THAT, THAT KIND OF, THAT FEELING IS SOMETHING THAT I, THAT I SEE ALL THE TIME.
I'VE HAD SEVERAL DEBATES ABOUT AI, UM,
[00:30:01]
A SYSTEM THAT'S BEING TRAINED BY OUR DEBATE, YOU KNOW? AND SO WE, SO THERE IS THAT REALIZATION THAT WE ALL FEEL AND CONTEND WITH EVERY DAY.UM, ANYONE ON LINE WOULD LIKE TO ASK MIMI A QUESTION? WELL, YES.
THIS IS, UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, I HAVE A QUESTION.
UM, SO FIRST, THANK YOU FOR THIS WORK.
I'M FAMILIAR WITH THE WORK OF MEASURE AND OF MRS. STOUTS.
UM, MY QUESTION IS SURROUNDING THE, UH, INTERPLAY THE COMMISSION HAS HAD WITH THE LEGAL BARRIERS AROUND CITY LAW AND STATE LAW.
UM, OUR AUDIENCE FOR, UH, THE COMMISSION IS OBVIOUSLY THE CITY.
AND THROUGH SOME OF THE THINGS WE'D LIKE TO SEE DONE, SOME OF IT LEAKS OVER INTO THE STATE.
UM, SO WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH STATE ACTORS OR DEPARTMENTS IN ORDER TO, TO MAKE IMPACT.
MY QUESTION FOR THE STYLES IS FOR THE FRAMEWORK THAT, UH, SHE PRESENTED ON, UM, IS THERE A, A SPACE OR AN INTENT TO MAKE A, UH, A STATE FACING SORT OF PRESENTATION OR SOMETHING THAT CAN TALK TO A STATE LEVEL, UH, ACTOR THAT MAY BE ABLE TO IMPACT IN WAYS THAT THE CITY CAN'T? BECAUSE AS A COMMISSION, WE'VE, THERE'S SOME THINGS WE CAN AND CANNOT DO AS A RESULT, BUT THE PEOPLE DON'T CARE, RIGHT? THE PEOPLE JUST WANNA SEE THE, THE, UH, OUTCOME.
SO IF, UH, MIMI'S DATA, UH, IS STATE FACING, UH, MAYBE IT CAN AFFECT SOME OF THE NARRATIVE IN WAYS THAT CITY NARRATIVE CANNOT.
SO I WAS CURIOUS TO SEE IF THAT, UH, IF THAT APPROACH IS, IS IN WORKS IN CONSIDERATION, OR ALREADY FINISHED.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER FOR THE QUESTION.
I, I ALWAYS SAY, YOU KNOW, WHAT STARTS IN AUSTIN, UM, HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REVERBERATE ACROSS THE STATE AND THEN ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND MANY WAYS ACROSS THE WORLD.
UM, JUST AS AN EXAMPLE, WE WERE ABLE TO GET THE, THE CROWN ACT PASSED HERE IN AUSTIN FIRST, RIGHT? AND THEN IT WAS PASSED IN PFLUGERVILLE, AND THEN IT WAS PASSED IN THE ENTIRE STATE.
AND STATE REPRESENTATIVE RTA BOWERS SAYS THAT IF IT HAD NOT, IF IT WAS NOT PASSED HERE IN AUSTIN, IT WOULD'VE BEEN A LOT HARDER FOR HER TO GET IT PASSED IN FOR THE ENTIRE STATE.
UM, AND SO THIS, I BELIEVE THIS FRAMEWORK, AND AGAIN, I CAN'T DO IT ALONE.
IT HAS TO BE A CITY SUPPORTED, UM, UH, INITIATIVE, UM, THAT, THAT PROVIDES THE, UM, THAT PROVIDES THE BELIEF, I THINK, IN THE PEOPLE IN ORDER FOR US TO GET THERE, TO BE ABLE TO MOVE THE STATE IN A WAY THAT I BELIEVE THAT THEY SHOULD.
AND, AND YES, I BELIEVE THAT THIS GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK CAN BE SOMETHING THAT'S REFLECTIVE FOR THE STATE.
I ALSO BELIEVE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A VERY, THIS HAS NO, YOU KNOW, THERE, THIS IS COMPLETELY BIPARTISAN.
THERE'S, IT'S NO RIGHT OR LEFT OR ANY OF THAT, BECAUSE THIS IS ONE SUBJECT WHERE WE SEE EVERYONE IS ASKING QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW.
RIGHT? WE'VE, WE'VE SEEN EVEN STATES, UH, LATELY HAVE, UH, FILED LAWSUITS,
AND I ALSO CAN TELL YOU RIGHT NOW THAT I WILL BE THERE NEXT.
UM, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, UM, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ONLINE? I'M NOT SEEING ANY.
WELL, MIMI, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR, UM, THE PRESENTATION.
WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO, UH, TO PARTNERING WITH YOU ON, UM, ON FUTURE COMMUNITY CONVENINGS.
AND I KNOW WE'LL BE TAKING AS AN ACTION ITEM, UM, TO, UH, UH, WORK WITH THE CLERK'S OFFICE TO DETERMINE IF WE CAN FORMALLY ENDORSE THIS MM-HMM
AND IF SO, UH, WE'LL PUT IT ON A FUTURE AGENDA ITEM.
BUT THANK YOU AGAIN, AND, UH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING TO COLLABORATE WITH YOU.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE WORK THAT Y'ALL DO.
WELL, UM, WITH THAT, UH, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND SHIFT GEARS HERE.
UM, WE MIGHT TAKE, UH, ANOTHER LIKE 30 SECONDS TO A MINUTE TO STAGE.
DAN, I DID SEND YOU THE LINK TO, UM, THE ITEM THAT WAS IN WORK,
[00:35:01]
BUT THAT I, I HAD WORKED ON, UH, IN PREPARATION FOR THIS MEETING.[3. Final discussion and approval of Technology commission 2026 annual report and 2027 work plan]
WE'LL SHIFT TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER THREE.AND THAT'S, UM, DISCUSSION AND APPROVAL OF THE ANNUAL REPORT AND WORK PLAN.
SO, UH, TO GIVE SOME BACKGROUND ON THIS, UH, THIS IS A REPORT THAT, UM, AS CHAIR I'M REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TO, UM, THE CLERK'S OFFICE ON A YEARLY BASIS.
UH, THEY DID PROVIDE THOSE QUESTIONS, AND ESSENTIALLY THIS YEAR, IT'S JUST A FORM, UH, TO FILL OUT.
BUT THOSE QUESTION ITEMS ARE, UM, REPLICATED ON THIS DOCUMENT HERE.
SO FIRST THING I WANT TO DO IS GO THROUGH EACH OF THE LINE ITEMS, ENSURE THAT THE, EACH OF THE COMMISSIONERS AGREED, UM, WITH THE ITEMS. AND THERE'S A COUPLE THAT WE NEED TO TALK THROUGH.
UH, AND THEN, UH, SORT OF THE LAST QUESTION ITEM IS, UH, OUR PLAN FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR.
SO THAT'S WHERE WE'VE BROUGHT, BROUGHT IN OUR FRIEND, UH, OF THE COMMISSION, COTON HARMON, UH, TO HELP FACILITATE THAT DISCUSSION.
UM, AND HAVE, OH, THANK YOU FOR THAT.
JUST A LITTLE SMALL ON THE SCREEN.
UM, SO FIRST QUESTION THERE, UM, WE'RE THE TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION, UM, FROM MY STANDPOINT, WE HAVE, UH, ALL OF OUR ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT WITH THE BYLAWS.
UM, IT ALSO ASKED, UM, THE NUMBER OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND TO NAME THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE DID PASS.
SO BY MY COUNT, UH, WE PASSED SEVEN RECOMMENDATIONS.
MOST OF THEM WERE DURING, UM, THE, THE BUDGET FOCUSED MEETING, BUT WE HAD A COUPLE OTHERS AS WELL.
UM, HOPEFULLY I DIDN'T MISS ANYTHING.
IF ANYONE DID, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
BUT THOSE WERE OUR SEVEN RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND THEN, UH, IF WE'RE GOING TO ITEM FIVE, UM, WHICH RECOMMENDATIONS WERE CLOSELY ALIGNED? UH, I THINK ALL OF THEM WERE ALIGNED BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL FOCUSED ON DATA CENTERS, AI, UM, TECHNOLOGY RELATED, UM, UM, UH, CONTRACTS AND THEN ALL THE BUDGET ITEMS, G TOPS AND, AND ALL OF THAT.
UM, DOES ANYONE WANNA CHIME IN HERE? I JUST WANT TO KIND OF GET A PULSE FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSION.
EVERYONE SORT OF AGREE WITH THAT ASSESSMENT, SEEING HEADS NOD.
UM, SO WE'RE GONNA SAY THAT THEY WERE ALL CLOSELY ALIGNED, SO FOR NUMBER SIX.
SO FOR ITEM SIX, WE'LL JUST PUT, NOT APPLICABLE.
UM, AND THEN ITEM SEVEN, SHARE ANY FUTURE CONTEXT THAT COULD SUPPORT OR EXPLAIN YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS.
I WOULD JUST SAY THAT ALL OF THEM WERE, UM, FOCUSED ON EITHER THE BUDGET PRIORITIES OR ON EMERGING, UM, TECHNOLOGY TOPIC AREAS.
BUT I'M OPEN TO, TO HAVING A DIALOGUE ABOUT THIS.
I DON'T THINK IT NEEDS TO BE SUPER LONG, BUT EVERYONE'S OKAY WITH THAT.
WE'LL MOVE ON TO QUESTION EIGHT THEN.
UM, IS THERE ANOTHER BODY THAT OVERLAPS? I'M GONNA SAY NO.
UM, AND THIS WAS REEMPHASIZED DURING THE TIMEFRAME AT SOME POINT LAST YEAR WHEN WE WENT THROUGH, UM, THE CLARK'S AUDIT.
UM, SO I THINK WE HAVE SORT OF A LEG TO STAND ON ON HERE.
UM, THEY CAME TO THE, THE ASSESSMENT THAT THERE WERE NO OTHER COMMISSIONS THAT WERE, UM, THEY HAD OVERLAPPING ROLES WITH OURS AS WELL.
SO I'LL PLAN TO MARK NO FOR THAT ONE.
WE DID DO A REVISION OF THE BYLAWS, UM, IT'S BEEN A COUPLE YEARS AGO NOW.
UM, BUT WANTED TO ASK THE REST OF THE COMMISSION, UM, DO, IS THERE ANYTHING THAT'S NOT COVERED IN THE BYLAWS, UM, THAT FOLKS WOULD HAVE AN APPETITE FOR ADDING, AMENDING, ANYTHING LIKE THAT? I DON'T THINK SO.
I FEEL LIKE WE JUST UPDATED THAT HONESTLY.
UM, IT'S PRETTY, IT WAS PRETTY RECENT.
UM, I THINK IT MIGHT BE APPROACHING TWO YEARS, BUT IT'S STILL, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF OTHER COMMISSIONS, I THINK THAT'S PRETTY RECENT.
AND I, WE REVIEWED THE BYLAWS AS PART OF THE WHOLE JUSTIFICATION PROCESS LAST.
YEAH, DAN, IF YOU COULD ADD THAT IN THAT, UM, WE ALSO
[00:40:01]
REVIEWED IT DURING THE, UM, JUSTIFICATION AUDIT PERIOD.UH, I FORGOT WHAT THE EXACT TERMINOLOGY DURING THAT PERIOD WAS.
SO THE NEXT COUPLE ITEMS IS SORT OF WHERE I WANTED TO FOCUS A LOT OF THE DISCUSSION.
SO ON A SCALE OF ONE TO 10, HOW ENGAGED ARE THE BOARD OR COMMISSION MEMBERS? UM, I DON'T REMEMBER THE SCALE THAT WE PUT LAST YEAR.
UM, COTON MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE IT IN HER FILE THERE.
UH, I THINK WHEN THEY WERE DOING, OR WHEN WE WERE DOING THAT AUDIT AROUND THE DIFFERENT, THE TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION AND BLENDING IT, OR WE HAD ANSWERED THESE QUESTIONS THERE AS WELL.
UM, KOAN MY MISTAKE, I DON'T THINK IT'S GONNA BE IN THAT, UM, DOCUMENT.
UM, ADMITTEDLY I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT WE PUT.
I THINK IT WAS HIGHER THAN I, YEAH, IT WAS IN THE HIGHER END.
UM, SO, UH, I MEAN, I FEEL LIKE THE MEMBERS WHO ARE ACTIVE, UM, WHICH IS THIS CORE GROUP HERE ARE, ARE PRETTY ENGAGED.
SO I MEAN, I WOULD PUT IT AS AN EIGHT OR A NINE.
WHAT ARE Y'ALL THINKING? YEAH, I THINK THAT'S WHAT IT WAS.
UM, YEAH, I THINK THAT ON THAT PREVIOUS, YEAH.
NOW, I THINK THIS IS WHERE, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS WE HAVE SOME WORK TO DO.
AND I THINK WE, FOR ITEM 11, UM, I THINK WE DID MAKE SOME STRIDES THIS PAST YEAR WITH THE, UM, THE COMMUNITY CONVENING, BUT I STILL THINK THERE'S, AND WE HAVE HAD MORE, UM, SPEAKERS COME AS WELL, BUT I THINK THERE'S ALWAYS AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENGAGE THE, UM, COMMUNITY A LITTLE MORE.
UM, I WOULD RATE THIS ONE AS A FOUR OR A FIVE.
WHAT ARE Y'ALL THINKING? I THINK WE JUST NEED MORE CONTROVERSIAL AGENDA ITEMS.
YEAH, I WOULD, I WOULD GO FOR FIVE VERSUS FOUR BECAUSE THERE WAS A LOT OF FOLKS ENGAGED IN THESE MOST RECENT, UM MM-HMM
AND THAT KIND OF STEMMED INTO OTHER EVENTS AROUND AUSTIN.
YEAH, I THINK THAT PAIRED WITH THE, THE MARCH CONVENING THAT WE DID, THE CONVERSATIONS, THE FOLKS THAT CAME AND SPOKE ON THE ONE A TS, AND THEN I THINK, UM, AND THEN A LOT OF THE ENGAGEMENT AROUND THE DATA CENTER SIDE.
YOU KNOW, CONTENT DRIVES, I'M SURE THE, THE INTEREST.
AND SO MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING AS WE THINK ABOUT MOVING FORWARD, WHAT ARE THE TOPICS THAT WE CAN TRY TO BE, AND WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT COME AND PRESENT UPDATES ON GRANTS, WHICH IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
UM, BUT WHAT'S THE BAROMETER OF THE COMMUNITY INTERESTED IN? AND MAYBE, MAYBE CAN HELP US THINK THROUGH SOME OF THAT FURTHER TOO.
AND I'D ALSO EMPHASIZE WE'VE HAD A, YOU KNOW, CONTINUAL SERIES OF PRESENTATIONS FROM UT AUSTIN, FROM THE, THE COUNTY, FROM, YOU KNOW, RADIO COMMUNITY.
I MEAN, WE, WE'VE ENGAGED WITH LOTS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE OVER THE LAST YEAR TO COME AND TALK AND TALK MORE BROADLY TO AUSTIN THROUGH US.
YEAH, I'M GOOD WITH, UM, WITH THAT ONE AS WELL.
SORRY, I WAS GONNA, SOMEONE GONNA SAY SOMETHING? OKAY.
UM, DO YOU SEE ANY GAPS IN IMPORTANT POLICIES THAT ARE NOT COM CURRENTLY COVERED BY A BOARD OR COMMISSION? UM, CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, VARIOUS AI, YOU KNOW, EMERGING TECHNOLOGY TOPIC AREAS.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WE PURPOSELY LEFT THAT SOMEWHAT VAGUE IN OUR BYLAWS SO THAT WE COULD SORT OF ABSORB THOSE ITEMS. BUT IF THERE'S ANYTHING THAT SPECIFICALLY SHOULD BE CALLED OUT OR NAMED, UM, WE CAN DO IT HERE.
WELL, DOES THIS MEAN GAPS IN POLICIES NOT COVERED BY A BORDER COMMISSION? THAT IS NOT OUR BORDER COMMISSION, OUR COMMISSION.
I, I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE QUESTION IS GETTING AT.
LIKE, ESSENTIALLY LIKE HAVE WE COME ACROSS LIKE A TOPIC THAT WOULDN'T FIT INTO EITHER OUR COMMISSION OR ANOTHER ONE THAT SHOULD BE ABSORBED? ANYONE? I DON'T THINK I'VE SEEN SOMETHING THAT HASN'T ALREADY BEEN, I THINK BETWEEN SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE DONE WITH ON THE DATA CENTER RESOLUTION
[00:45:03]
OR RECOMMENDATION LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, WE, YOU KNOW, WE PARTNERED WITH SOME OTHER COMMISSIONS AS WELL, SO I DON'T THINK WE'RE MISSING ANYTHING.YEAH, WE'LL PUT NO FOR THIS ONE.
SO THIS IS THE POINT, UM, WHERE, UH, WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIST, UH, OUR COMMISSION'S GOALS AND OBJECTIVES, UH, FOR THE NEXT CALENDAR YEAR.
SO WE DO HAVE LAST YEAR'S, UH, TO LEVERAGE AS A BASE.
AND THIS IS A LOT OF THE REASON WE BROUGHT KOAN IN TODAY.
UM, SO KOAN WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU HELP US, UM, HELP FACILITATE THIS CONVERSATION.
'CAUSE I THINK THIS PART WILL BE A LITTLE MORE LENGTHY THAN THE OTHERS.
HELLO CHAIR, AKA AND COMMISSIONERS.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS INVITATION TO BE HERE AND TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR WORK PLAN FOR NEXT YEAR.
UM, LOOKING AT WHAT YOU HAD, UH, FOR 2026, THERE ARE CERTAIN CATEGORIES, CHAIR, AKA WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO GO THROUGH THE CATEGORIES AND SEE AND READ THROUGH IT AND SEE IF WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO KEEP FOR THIS YEAR? YEAH, MAYBE LET'S GO THROUGH THE CATEGORIES AT A HIGH LEVEL.
AND THEN MAYBE PERHAPS WE COULD JUST TO SORT OF LEVEL SET.
THEN WE CAN DRILL DOWN TO EACH ONE.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? ABSOLUTELY, HOWEVER YOU GIVE ME THE DIRECTION.
SO YOU HAD GT OS AND GRANT MAKING IN 2026.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND LISTENING SESSIONS, LEGISLATIVE STRATEGY AND COUNCIL RESOLUTION, DIGITAL EQUITY, ARTS AND OUTREACH.
AND THEN UNDER TECHNOLOGY, INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION, YOU HAD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, TELECOM, BROADBAND, CONNECTIVITY AND AFFORDABILITY.
CITY, UTILITIES AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH AND TELECOM UNDER KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION AND DATA STEWARDSHIP.
YOU HAD COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH, DIGITAL RESOURCES AND ECOSYSTEM SUPPORT, GRANTS AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT AND WEBSITE MONITORING AND TESTING.
AND THEN YOU ALSO HAD STRUCTURALLY SOME WORKING GROUPS.
SO LET'S, LET'S DIG INTO EACH.
SO G OS, UH, YOU HAD PLANNED FOR WORK SESSIONS ON GT OS UPDATES FOLLOWING THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION A AND B REVIEW PROPOSED CHANGES TO GT OS, EEG, LONGER GRANT TERMS, LARGER AWARD AMOUNTS, THAT'S GT OS.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO? DO YOU, WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE A DISCUSSION? YEAH, YEAH.
I'D LIKE, I'D LIKE TO, I GUESS FOR THIS SPECIFIC TOPIC, I'D LOVE FOR SOME OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS TO CHIME IN, GET THEIR THOUGHTS ON HOW GTOP S IS RUNNING.
I WAS INVOLVED IN G OS AGAIN THIS YEAR AS ONE OF THE PANELISTS.
AND YEAH, I MEAN IT SEEMS LIKE FROM, YOU KNOW, WHEN I STARTED ENTERING THIS COMMISSION, I MEAN THE PROGRAM IS CONTINUING.
IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT'S EXPANDING A LOT JUST DUE THE BUDGET CONSTRAINTS THAT WE HAVE, BUT IT IS CONTINUALLY BEING TWEAKED TO TRY TO FIND THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO USE FUNDS TO SUPPORT LOTS OF DIFFERENT EFFORTS.
UM, IT'S WELL WORTH, YOU KNOW, CONTINUE OUR CONSIDERATION AND OVERSIGHT.
AND THEN WITHOUT KNOWING THE CITY BUDGET, MAYBE THIS IS A QUESTION FOR COTON, JESSE, OTHERS IN THE ROOM.
UM, ARE WE EXPECTING LIKE, DIFFERENCES IN IN PATHWAYS, UH, TO, TO GTOP S THIS UPCOMING YEAR? IS THAT SOMETHING WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT INFLUENCING OR PROVIDING THOUGHTS ON FOR YOU ALL TO CONSIDER? THAT'S WONDERFUL.
I THINK OUR ASSISTANT DIRECTORS HERE IN THE ROOM WHO CAN ADDRESS THAT, BUT WE WON'T KNOW ANYTHING UNTIL THE BUDGET IS PASSED.
UM, AND THEN WE WILL BE ABLE TO GIVE STRUCTURE TO WHAT WILL BE ON THE BUDGET FOR GT OS MOVING FORWARD.
UNLESS THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE TO ADD.
I THINK ANN EATON'S WALKING UP.
ANN EATON, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CITY MANAGER.
UM, BUDGET OFFICE IS SCHEDULED TO PRESENT THE PROPOSED BUDGET ON THURSDAY, JULY 16TH.
FROM THEIR COUNSEL WILL, WE'LL HOST SEVERAL BUDGET DISCUSSIONS.
UM, SO ONCE THE PROPOSED BUDGET IS RELEASED, UM, I PLAN TO PROVIDE THE COMMISSION AN UPDATE VIA EMAIL END OF NEXT WEEK.
UM, BUT ONCE WE HAVE THE PROPOSED BUDGET, THAT'S WHERE THE DISCUSSIONS START FOR COUNCIL TO TAKE THE
[00:50:01]
CONSIDERATIONS FOR FUNDING, UM, FOR ALL OF OUR SERVICES, REALLYSO EVEN THE INDIVIDUAL PATHWAYS, THERE'S NO IDEA YET ON WHAT'S GONNA BE, WHAT THE STRATEGY IS GONNA BE ON THAT UNTIL, THERE WAS A MEMO THAT WAS RELEASED EARLIER THIS WEEK OF HOW SOCIAL, THE SOCIAL SERVICES FRAMEWORK IS.
THEY'RE ANTICIPATING A REDUCTION OF $8 MILLION THAT'S BEEN SENT TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
UM, BUT AS FAR AS LIKE WHERE EXACTLY ALL OUR WE'LL HAVE TO AWAIT FOR THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
BUT I'M HAPPY TO SEND THE COMMISSION AN UPDATE BEFORE END OF NEXT WEEK, AND I CAN ATTACH THE PROPOSED BUDGET AND ANY SPECIFIC REFERENCES TO THIS COMMITTEE'S WORK, OUR COMMISSION'S WORK.
SO FOR GT OS, MAYBE IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO DISCUSS WHAT HAS WORKED AND WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO IMPROVE FOR 27.
SO LAST YEAR THERE WAS A LINE ITEM, UM, ON GTOP S UPDATES FOLLOWING THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
I CAN'T REMEMBER WHAT THAT WAS IN REFERENCE TO.
I THINK IT WAS JUST A SCHEDULING THING.
WE HAD A, A LEGISLATIVE UPDATE WE HAD PLANNED FOR THE THAT'S RIGHT.
SO MAYBE WE CAN MODIFY THAT ONE TO, TO, NOT TO BE AGNOSTIC OF THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION, BUT, UM, I KNOW YOU ALL DO YEARLY OR QUARTERLY UPDATES ON G TOPS ANYWAY, SO THAT'S, I THINK, PART OF YOUR STRATEGY ANYWAY.
MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE JUST UNDER, IT COULD BE SOMETHING LIKE, UM, THERE'S A WORK SESSION ON UPDATES.
THERE'S REVIEW PROPOSED CHANGES.
I DON'T KNOW IF THIS, THIS IS KIND OF GIVEN, BUT I, WE, IF WE WANTED TO, WE COULD HAVE CONTINUED AND, UM, YOU KNOW, BRINGING IN THE, THE GRANT RECIPIENTS TO COME AND PRESENT ON SOME OF THEIR EFFORT.
I KNOW SOMETHING I FEEL LIKE NICK, YOU CAME UP WITH A FEW MONTHS AGO, THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN EVEN LAST YEAR, WAS SOMETHING AROUND LIKE, WHAT'S THE IMPACT THAT WE'RE SEEING AS A RESULT OF SOME OF THESE GRANTS? I CAN'T, I DON'T WANNA PUT WORDS IN YOUR MOUTH, BUT THAT COULD BE SOMETHING ELSE.
THAT WE
UM, THE OTHER THING I WOULD GENERALLY CONSIDER DOING IS CONSOLIDATING AND MAYBE GIVING OUT LARGER GRANTS AND LESS NUMEROUS GRANTS, BUT GRANTS THAT ARE LARGER IN NA IN NATURE, SO WE GET MAYBE HIGHER QUALITY APPLICATIONS.
UM, I THINK IT'S HARD TO JUSTIFY AN ORGANIZATION SPEND SIGNIFICANT TIME ON GRANT, ON SMALL GRANT APPLICATIONS.
AND SO LIKE, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE LIKE MEDIA MORE MEANINGFUL APPLICATIONS FOR LARGER PROJECTS AND THE OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO FUND THOSE PROJECTS OVER THESE SMALLER SORT OF ONE-OFF THINGS.
UM, AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WORTH LOOKING AT.
I THINK HAVING A LARGER GRANT ALSO INCENTIVIZES MORE APPLICATIONS FROM ORGANIZATIONS.
AND SO I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD CONSIDER LOOKING AT.
KOAN, JESSE, DAN, IS THAT, UM, IN ALIGNMENT WITH LIKE THE BROADER G OS STRATEGY? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT COULD BE IMPLEMENTED? I KNOW IT HAS BEEN DISCUSSED AND I'LL TURN TO JESSE AND DAN, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS BEING CONSIDERED.
JESSE RODRIGUEZ, UH, COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY DIVISION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
UM, WE ARE OPEN TO ANY SUGGESTIONS THAT THE COMMISSION HAS ON, UH, THE NUMBER OF GRANTS THAT WE FUND PER YEAR.
THE DISTRIBUTION, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE, THE FUNDING AMOUNT, THE NUMBER OF AWARDS.
WE DID MAKE SIGNIFICANT ADJUSTMENTS TO THE LAST CYCLE.
UH, WE WENT FROM, UH, IF MEMORY SERVES, UM, UH, 2025 OR APPLICATIONS.
UH, THE NUMBER, THE CEILING, UH, WE HAD 12 LAST YEAR FOR COURT.
SO WE, WE FUNDED 12 CORE APPLICATIONS LAST YEAR.
UM, AND WE FUNDED EIGHT APPLICATIONS THIS YEAR.
UM, BUT WE FUNDED THEM AT A HIGHER AMOUNT, SO WE'RE UP UP TO A $35,000 CEILING.
UM, THERE ARE, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE'S PLENTY OF ROOM FOR US TO GO HIGHER.
UM, I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN GO UP TO, UH, 70,000, UH, JUST, JUST OVER $70,000 PER YEAR WITHOUT CHANGING OUR PROCESS SIGNIFICANTLY.
ANYTHING ABOVE THAT AMOUNT, WE WOULD HAVE, UH, WE WOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES BECAUSE THAT GOES OVER THE CITY MANAGER'S SPEND AUTHORITY, AND SO EVERY INDIVIDUAL CONTRACT WOULD THEN NEED TO GO TO CITY COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL.
THAT WOULD INCREASE OUR TIMELINES.
SO UP TO ABOUT $70,000 FOR A SINGLE AWARD IS WHAT OUR, UH, REASONABLE
[00:55:01]
CAP WOULD BE.UM, I WOULD LIKE TO MENTION THAT, UH, WE DO PLAN ON HAVING A DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN SESSION DEDICATED TO, UM, IDEATION ON G OS.
UH, AND THAT SESSION IS COMING UP IN AUGUST.
UH, ALL OF THE COMMISSION MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO COME AND PARTICIPATE ALONG WITH THE COMMUNITY.
SO IF, IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS WITH US DIRECTLY TO IDEATE, UM, WE'RE OPENING, UH, YOU KNOW, UP A SPACE FOR THAT.
YEAH, THAT WOULD BE GREAT IF YOU COULD, UM, IF DAN COULD SEND OUT THAT INVITATION AND THE DETAILS FOR THAT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
UM, AND THEN I THINK THE OTHER ITEM IS JUST LIKE UNDERSTANDING OR MEASURING IMPACT.
I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL ARE DOING THIS, AND I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS IN THE SPIRIT OF COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD OF WHAT YOU WERE SORT OF GETTING AT.
UM, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF Y'ALL ARE ALREADY DOING THIS, JESSE, DAN SORT OF LIKE CAPTURING PERHAPS LIKE IMPACT STATEMENTS AND, YOU KNOW, IT'S PARTIALLY BEING DONE THROUGH THE PRESENTATIONS THAT WE'VE COORDINATED, BUT I THINK LIKE ONE THING THAT WE COULD PUT IN PLACE IS, UM, A REQUIREMENT THAT EACH OF THE AWARDED ORGANIZATIONS AT SOME POINT COME AND PRESENT OUT TO THE COMMISSION ON THE GREAT WORK THAT THEY'VE, THAT THEY'VE DONE.
WE'RE NOT THE ONES BEING PROACTIVE ABOUT IT.
YEAH, WE'RE ABSOLUTELY HAPPY TO, UH, MOVE FORWARD WITH THAT.
I WILL NOTE THAT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF DATA SETS THAT WE COLLECT.
SO EVERY CONTRACT THAT WE HAVE, UH, WE COLLECT PERFORMANCE MEASURES.
SO WE DO HAVE DATA BACKING UP THE, THE PERFORMANCE ON EACH CONTRACT THAT WE ISSUE.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE CLOSEOUT REPORTING, UH, AND IN THE CLOSEOUT REPORTING, WE RECEIVED NARRATIVE FROM THE GRANTEES ON THE SUCCESSES, CHALLENGES, UH, AND OUTSTANDING ISSUES THAT THEY, THEY MIGHT HAVE EXPERIENCED.
SO WE DO HAVE NARRATIVE BACKING UP EVERY APPLICATION THAT WE'VE CLOSED OUT SO FAR.
UM, UH, I WOULD SAY THAT, UH, DAN AND I ARE ACTUALLY ACTIVELY THINKING ABOUT HOW WE CAN BETTER, UM, CAPTURE THE STORY AND SHARE THE STORY OF THE APPLICATIONS THAT, UH, HAVE BEEN FUNDED.
UH, SO AGAIN, I I WELCOME IDEATION ON HOW WE CAN, UH, BETTER SHARE THOSE STORIES.
COMMISSIONER ESTO, ARE, ARE SOME OF THOSE SPECIFIC ITEMS IN THE SPIRIT OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING AT? YEAH, I THINK SO FOR THE MOST PART.
UM, I THINK THE ONE THING THAT I WOULD SAY THAT'S, THAT'S WORTH GOING FORWARD IS TAKING, UM, AT LEAST, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS IS HAPPENING, BUT JUST THE CONSOLIDATION OF FUNDS TO, UM, INCREASE THE NUMBER OF NEW APPLICANTS.
AND I THINK WE'VE SEEN AN INCREASE IN NEW APPLICANTS, UM, YEAR OVER YEAR.
UM, BUT I WOULD JUST LIKE TO SEE THAT APPLICANT POOL EXPANDED.
YEAH, IF WE CAN ADD IN ADD IN THAT CONTENT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
UM, LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE IT FORWARD.
JUST LOOK AT THE TIME IN ORDER
SO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND LISTENING SESSIONS.
THERE ARE THREE ITEMS. INCREASE ENGAGEMENT WITH DECA, DECA BEING THE DIGITAL EQUITY COMMUNITY OF AUSTIN.
AND NEXT ONE IS COORDINATE LISTENING SESSIONS WITH OTHER COMMISSIONS.
AND YOU HAVE LISTED LIBRARY COMMISSION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION AND COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
LASTLY, EXPAND PARTICIPATION IN DECA PLANNING.
SO, UM, I THINK WE, YOU KNOW, WE DID SOME OF THAT, THE LISTENING SESSIONS.
UM, YOU KNOW, I I FEEL LIKE ALL OF THIS CAN STAY.
WAS IT DIGITAL EQUITY COMMUNITY OF O OR WAS IT THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT? COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT.
YEAH, THAT MUST HAVE BEEN A TYPO.
ARE THERE ANY OTHER, UM, JUST WANNA GET IDEAS FROM THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS HERE.
ANY OTHER ITEMS OUTSIDE OF THESE THREE? I EXPECT, WE'LL, WE'LL KEEP IT, WE'LL KEEP THESE THREE, BUT ANYTHING ELSE FOLKS WANTED TO ADD? I FEEL LIKE THIS IS FAIRLY GENERIC ENOUGH TO APPLY ACROSS THE BOARD, SO, UM, I I THINK THIS MAKES, THIS PIECE MAKES SENSE.
I WOULD BE CURIOUS, YOU KNOW, LETTER D IS GONNA COVER A LOT
THAT'S WHAT I, I'M THINKING ABOUT WHAT WE DID IN, IN MARCH.
SO, UM, I FEEL LIKE IT'S FAIRLY BROAD ENOUGH TO COVER WHAT, WHAT WE MIGHT NEED REALISTICALLY.
YEAH, IF WE COULD JUST MAKE THOSE EDITS.
I THINK WE'RE PROBABLY GOOD WITH THE SECTION, SO KEEP ALL THREE.
THE NEXT SECTION, UH, HAS SIX ITEMS UNDER LEGISLATIVE STRATEGY AND COUNCIL
[01:00:01]
RESOLUTIONS.YOU HAVE LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP POST JUNE 2ND, TEXAS LEGISLATOR DEADLINE, IGRO TO PRESENT NEXT MONITOR AND RESPOND TO AI RELATED LEGISLATION DURING THE 38 DAY VETO PERIOD.
NEXT TRACK PREEMPTION BILLS FOR AI AND TELECOM, ENGAGE LOCAL AND STATE POLICY MAKERS AND PROVIDE INPUT TO LOCAL ORDINANCE RULEMAKING FOR TELECOM AND BROADBAND.
NEXT IS SUPPORT CITY ENGAGEMENT IN FEDERAL STATE RULEMAKING, DIR, UH, BROADBAND AFFORDABILITY.
AND LASTLY, FOCUS ON AVOIDING DUPLICATION OF EFFORTS ON AI RESOLUTIONS.
SO COLLABORATE WITH STAKEHOLDERS.
SO COMMISSIONER EAST WOULD PROBABLY BE, UH, CLOSER TO SOME OF THESE ITEMS, ESPECIALLY THE LEGISLATIVE, UH, CALENDAR.
SO, UM, I'M NOT SURE WHEN THE LEGISLATURE, MAYBE YOU CAN LET US KNOW.
UM, CONVENES IS OUT OF SESSION IN 2027, UM, BUT THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A BRIEF.
YEAH, IT CONVENES, UH, I THINK IT'S JANUARY 12TH, 2027 AND THEN IT ADJOURNS, UH, MAY 31ST.
SHOULD WE DO ANYTHING ABOUT LIKE A PRE-FILING OR LIKE LAST DATE OF FILE? ANYTHING? SO, UH, NOVEMBER IS WHEN PRE NOVEMBER 9TH IS WHEN PRE-FILING OPENS, AND THEN I THINK THE FILING DEADLINE IS THE BEGINNING OF MARCH.
SO STEVEN, THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING LIKE, I ALWAYS THINK IT'S NICE TO DO A LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP THAT'S RELEVANT FOR THIS GROUP.
SO I WOULD RECOMMEND KEEPING THAT.
I'D BE CURIOUS, NICK, FROM A, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR ROLE IS ADVISING, INTEGRATING, GATHERING, AND LISTENING FROM A COMMUNITY INPUT WRIT LARGE.
SO I'M KIND OF CURIOUS IF THERE'S ANYTHING LIKE THAT WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT TO INFORM FROM A PRE-FILING SIDE.
FOLKS ARE ALREADY GONNA BE DOING THAT.
UM, BUT I'M JUST CURIOUS IF THERE'S ANYTHING WE SHOULD THINK OF IN THAT LENS.
UM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS ARE THERE.
UM, I MEAN, I THINK GENERALLY IT WOULD BE THE COMMISSION COULD DRAFT A LETTER TO SEND TO, UM, AUSTIN, IGR ABOUT GENERAL TECHNOLOGY PRIORITIES FOR THE CITY TO CONSIDER GOING INTO THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
UM, LIKE TO COUNCIL AND IGR AND TO THE CITY MANAGER BEING LIKE, WE RECOMMEND X, Y, AND Z POLICY POSITIONS GOING FORWARD.
AND THEN MAYBE WE CAN, THAT COULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY AS WELL WHERE WE, IF THAT'S A LETTER THAT WE'RE DRAFTING, THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT WE ALSO REFERENCE ANY OF THE PREVIOUS, LIKE, RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE PASSED IN PRIOR.
OR IT COULD BE LIKE A RESOLUTION THE COMMISSION ADOPT, UM RIGHT.
THAT GETS SENT TO THOSE ENTITIES.
MAYBE WE CAN, WE WE SHOULD DEFINITELY ADD THAT IN.
AND THEN DO WE WANT TO, UM, SORT OF KEEP EVERYTHING, MONITOR THE LEGISLATION DURING THAT VETO PERIOD? UM, PROVIDE INPUT TO LOCAL ORDINANCE? RULEMAKING IS THE PREEMPTION PIECE.
I FELT LIKE THAT WAS VERY RELEVANT AT THE TIME.
I MEAN, IT STILL IS, BUT THAT WAS, I FEEL LIKE THAT WAS RESPONDING SPECIFICALLY TO SOME OF THE MM-HMM
UM, I THINK IT WAS LIKE A 10 YEAR MORATORIUM ON AI, LOCAL AI BILLS.
I COULD BE WRONG OR ORDINANCES, BUT IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO MAINTAIN? UH, OR DO WE FEEL LIKE THAT'S COVERED? IS THAT TOO SPECIFIC TO THE TIME THAT IT WAS WRITTEN? YES.
I I'LL LOOK TO COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD.
WASN'T THERE SOMETHING, I DON'T THINK IT'S, I I DON'T THINK IT'S TOO SPECIFIC, THE CON UH, IN TERMS OF MAINTAINING THAT PREEMPTION STANCE WE CAN KEEP IT'S GENERIC ENOUGH.
UM, WASN'T THERE SOMETHING COMING DOWN THE PIPE AROUND LIKE A PAUSE ON DATA CENTERS? COULD THAT BE, MIGHT THAT BE POTENTIAL LEGISLATION, NICK? THERE WILL CERTAINLY BE A NUMBER OF BILLS TO ADDRESS DATA CENTERS GOING INTO NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
SO MAYBE ON ITEM H, IF WE CAN ADD JUST DATA CENTERS TO THAT ONE.
IT MIGHT BE INTERESTING FOR THIS GROUP TOO TO UNDERSTAND.
I DON'T KNOW, UM, BUT SOME OF THE
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SB SIX REQUIREMENTS THAT WENT THROUGH FOR LIKE, IT MIGHT BE MORE OF AN ENERGY, THE AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, OUR PARTNERS ON THE ENERGY COMMISSION.I'M FORGETTING THE NAME RIGHT NOW, BUT, UM, I, I'M CURIOUS IF THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT WE WANNA TALK THROUGH AS WELL.
SO WHEN WE SAY DATA CENTERS, IT'S LIKE HOW DID THE POWER, THE THING, THE COMMUNITY SENTIMENT SIDE, THE WATER SIDE.
SO CONTINUING TO PARTNER WITH OUR COMPASS, LIKE THE UT CREW THAT CAME IN MM-HMM
AND APRIL, I WONDER IF THAT'S A, YOU KNOW, GET AN UPDATE FROM THEM AS WELL.
LIKE CONTINUE TO PARTNER OR ENGAGE COMPASS DATA CENTERS.
I MEAN, THAT COULD BE SOMETHING, RIGHT? 'CAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO PLAN A TOUR.
SO ENGAGE, NOT COMPASS DATA CENTERS, ENGAGE COMPASS, THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH, I GUESS.
UM, SO, AND DAN, I'M, I'M BUTCHERING THE LANGUAGE, BUT I CAN GET YOU BETTER LANGUAGE LATER AS YOU'RE WRITING THIS
SO JUST TO CLARIFY, KEEP F THROUGH K AND ADD THE LAST BIT ABOUT DATA CENTERS.
THE NEXT SECTION IS ON DIGITAL EQUITY ARTS AND OUTREACH.
AND IT HAS TWO ITEMS. OUTREACH, COLLABORATION WITH ACME AND ARTS COMMISSION TO LEARN FROM CULTURAL GRANT PROCESSES.
AND NEXT, PROMOTE COMMUNITY CENTERED AI AND TECH AWARENESS, INCLUDING FRAUD PREVENTION, EEG, CRYPTO SCAMS AND RECOVERY RESOURCES.
YEAH, I CAN START AND THEN, UM, PASS IT OFF.
I HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOW WHAT ITEM L WAS REFERRING TO.
I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT A CME AND ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ORG COMMISSION WAS, BUT I KNOW IN THE SECOND ITEM THERE, I FEEL LIKE WE KIND OF DID A LITTLE BIT OF EDUCATION ON THAT DURING THE COMMUNITY CONVENING.
UM, ALWAYS, YOU KNOW, AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO MORE.
BUT, UM, OH, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE MY INITIAL THOUGHTS ON THOSE TWO ITEMS. A CME IS A AUSTIN ARTS CULTURE, MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT.
Y'ALL WANT TO KEEP THESE AS STATED? I THINK THEY'RE BROAD BASED.
UM, YEAH, IF WE COULD JUST SPELL THAT OUT ON THE NEXT ITERATION OF THIS ACME.
ARTS, CULTURE, MUSIC, ENTERTAINMENT.
AND THE NEXT SECTION Y'ALL HAVE IS ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND YOU HAVE, THIS IS UNDER TECHNOLOGY, INFRASTRUCTURE AND INNOVATION.
YOU HAVE SIX ITEMS. THE FIRST ONE IS FOLLOW UP WITH INNOVATION OFFICE, DANIEL COLADA ON AI STRATEGY.
NEXT IS ENGAGE ON UPSKILLING INITIATIVES WITH UT AND A C.
C FOR CITY EMPLOYEES AS WELL AS THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
NEXT IS MONITOR INTERNAL AI USE CASES, PROCUREMENT, AUTOMATION AND SERVICE DELIVERY.
NEXT DOCUMENT RULES, EFFICIENCIES, GUIDELINES, AND BEST PRACTICES.
NEXT IS BENCHMARK AGAINST OTHER CITIES, UH, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, TDOT, AND INTERNATIONAL MODELS LIKE THE EUROPEAN UNION AI ACT, HELSINKI AI REGISTRY, AND FINALLY PROMOTE TRUST, TRANSPARENCY, AND APPEAL PROCESSES FOR AI DECISION MAKING.
FOR THAT FIRST ITEM THERE, IS DANIEL COLADAS STILL THE BEST PERSON OR IS THERE, IS THERE ANOTHER? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
SO INNOVATION OFFICE IS NOW BUDGET AND OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE? I BELIEVE SO.
AND HE IS ENGAGED WITH THAT GROUP AND HE CAN ASSIGN SOMEONE FROM HIS TEAM? YES.
WHAT DO Y'ALL THINK ABOUT THE OTHERS? I FEEL LIKE THESE ARE BROAD AND SPECIFIC ENOUGH.
WE'VE KIND OF ALREADY WE KIND OF ALREADY HIT ON SOME OF THIS WITH OUR, THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE HAVE MADE, SO.
I THINK WE SHOULD PROBABLY JUST KEEP THEM.
NEXT IS TELECOM, BROADBAND CONNECTIVITY AND AFFORDABILITY.
YOU HAVE FIVE ITEMS. FIRST IS REFRESH RELATIONSHIPS WITH T-MOBILE,
[01:10:01]
AT AND T, GFI AND OTHER PROVIDERS.AND INVITE, I GUESS, IS INVITE THEM TO GIVE TESTIMONY ON SERVICE AND CONNECTIVITY TO UNDERSTAND EXISTING OFFERINGS.
LET'S TAKE EACH OF THESE ONE AT A TIME.
UM, SO THIS, THIS PAST YEAR WE HAD, Y'ALL HELP ME REMEMBER WE HAD GOOGLE FI.
WE HAD SPECTRUM, WE HAD GOOGLE FIBER.
SO WE DIDN'T GET T-MOBILE, WE DIDN'T GET T-MOBILE.
AND YOU KNOW, I THINK THE OTHER ONE THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTING, I KNOW I'VE HAD SOME FOLKS REACH OUT FROM STARLINK AS WELL, SO COULD BE SOMETHING ELSE TO EXPLORE.
CAN WE ADD THOSE TO THE LINE ITEM? OKAY.
I THINK THE NEXT ONE I WOULD MAYBE BRING SOMETHING AROUND, UM, NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION LISTENING SESSIONS ON MOBILITY COVERAGE.
THAT WAS PROBABLY ME,
BUT, UM, I THINK THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT MAYBE WE ADJUST TO LIKE EXPLORE ISP NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION AND LIKE MULTI-DWELLING UNIT, LIKE, UH, COVERAGE EXPERIENCES.
'CAUSE I KNOW THAT WAS SOMETHING FROM THE DIGITAL, FROM THE LISTENING SESSION WE HELD IN MARCH.
UM, THERE WAS A LOT OF PARTICULAR CONCERNS AROUND FOLKS THAT LIVE IN MULTI-DWELLING UNITS, APARTMENT COMPLEXES AND STUFF.
SO I THINK THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT WE JUST ADD AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE IN THERE.
AND ISP STAND FOR INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS FOR ANYONE LISTENING.
AND SO THE QUESTION IS, UH, EXPLORING EXPERIENCE AND COVERAGE FOR MDUS MULTI-DWELLING UNITS.
NEXT ONE IS ADVOCATE FOR LOCAL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AFTER A CP, WHICH IS THE AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM.
IT WAS A FEDERAL PROGRAM THAT HAS SUNSET.
I'M NOT SURE THAT THIS COMMISSION HAS THE POWER TO DO THAT.
I THINK WHAT WE DID WAS WE PASSED SOME LIKE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP RECOMMENDATION.
UH, I DON'T THINK IT WAS RELATED TO A CP SPECI, YOU KNOW MM-HMM
FUNDING OF A SUBSIDIZED BILL PER SE.
BUT I THINK IT WAS, HOW CAN WE, THERE WAS A SLEW OF RECOMMENDATIONS AROUND HOW MIGHT THE CITY PARTNER OR BEG, BORROW AND STEAL FROM OTHER COMMUNITIES THAT ARE DOING THINGS AROUND DIGITAL ACCESS AND EQUITY AND SOME AFFORDABILITY.
I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE CAN TECHNICALLY ADVOCATE FOR, BUT MAYBE, MAYBE THE LANGUAGE IS MORE JUST SIMILAR TO THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WHEN BENCHMARK AGAINST OTHER CITIES.
UM, SO I SEEM TO RECALL WHEN WE WERE MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT, UM, EQUITABLE TECHNOLOGY DISTRIBUTION, WE WERE TRYING TO ENCOURAGE, YOU KNOW, BUNDLING SERVICE WITH THOSE, WE'RE FINDING WAYS TO MM-HMM
BASICALLY IF YOU GIVE SOMEONE A COMPUTER, WE WANNA MAKE SURE IT GETS CONNECTED AS WELL.
JUST, I WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE GETTING THE LANGUAGE.
SO YOU'RE SAYING TO BENCHMARK AGAINST OTHER CITIES FOR BEST PRACTICES FOR DIGITAL EQUITY.
IS THAT, AM I HEARING THAT CORRECTLY? HOW YOU LIKE IT? I THINK YES, I THINK SO.
AND I'M SORRY, KATAN, I KIND OF RATTLED THAT OFF.
UM, THE OTHER ONE I'M CURIOUS ABOUT.
SO, SHORT ANSWER, YES, I THINK THAT'S RIGHT.
THE OTHER ONE I'M CURIOUS ABOUT IS, UM, YOU KNOW, IT WOULD BE INTERESTING, AND I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE LANGUAGE IS, BUT YOU KNOW, WHEN, UM, JOHN MICHAEL CAME AND PRESENTED FROM G FIVE AS FAR AS THE PARTNERSHIPS THEY HAVE WITH SOME OF THE HAKA, THE HOUSING AUTHORITY SITES, I'M WONDERING IF THERE'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN MAYBE JUST REFERENCE AGAIN, JUST TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, FOR, FOR ANY SITES PROVIDED COVERED, YOU KNOW, THAT ARE ESSENTIALLY CITY UNDER THE HAKA AUTHORITY.
ARE THERE ANY, IS THERE SOMETHING THAT WE COULD DO JUST UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE SERVICE OPTIONS ARE THERE? UM, MAYBE SOMEONE CAN HELP ME TAKE MY BUTCHERED
UM, AND THAT, THAT MIGHT GET BACK TO THE MDU ONE THAT WE
[01:15:01]
HAD ABOVE AS WELL.YEAH, THAT'S A GOOD, CAN WE JUST PUT THE HAKA PIECE IN THE MD? YEAH.
THAT WOULD JUST BE MORE EFFICIENT.
THE NEXT ONE YOU HAVE IS ENGAGE WITH LOCAL INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS ON AFFORDABILITY STRATEGIES.
I THINK WE KEEP DOING THAT THROUGH, UM, ITEM YEAH.
AND K IS CONTINUE ENGAGEMENT IN STATE LEVEL TELECOM RULEMAKING.
IS THAT, DO YOU NEED MORE SPECIFIC I, IS THAT BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE OR IS THIS SOMETHING DIFFERENT LEGISLATION? I THINK THAT WAS THE SPIRIT OF IT WITH THE BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE.
COONE, I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT ON THAT.
UM, I'M NOT SURE THAT WE AS A COMMISSION HAVE YEAH.
MY CURRENT UNDERSTANDING IS THAT IT HAS TO GO THROUGH THE CITY YEAH.
UM, BUT THAT COULD BE COORDINATED.
YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME TO MAKE ANY KIND OF RECOMMENDATION, BUT THE CITY HAS ITS OWN PROCESS.
SO MAYBE WE CAN MODIFY THAT TO SAY OKAY.
UM, MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO IGRO ON, UM, RELEVANT, UM, UM, STATE LEVEL.
IS EVERYONE ELSE GOOD WITH THAT? GREAT.
AND THEN, UH, YOU ALSO HAVE A NEXT SECTION, EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.
I SEE THREE ITEMS, BUT THERE MIGHT BE MORE.
UH, YEAH, YOU HAVE FOUR ITEMS HERE.
ONE IS TRACK AND ASSESS THE MUNICIPAL IMPACT OF MAJOR EMERGING TECH BILLS.
SECOND IS ENGAGE IN SMART CITY TECH INITIATIVES WITH ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION EDD, INCLUDING COMMUNITY-WIDE GUARDRAILS.
NEXT IS INVESTIGATE MILITARY USE CASES AND THEIR INFLUENCE ON LOCAL EMERGING TECH EFFORTS, INCLUDING ADVANCED AIR MOBILITY AND READINESS.
AND YOU HAVE, FOR EXAMPLE, HOUSTON AUTONOMOUS AUTONOMOUS AIR TAXIS.
AND LASTLY, MONITOR AND ASSESS THE SUFFICIENCY OF DRONE SLASH AV AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES TESTING METRICS IN DIFFERENT CITY AREAS.
I DIDN'T REALIZE HOUSTON HAD AUTONOMOUS AIR TAXIS.
ONE THING I'M CURIOUS ABOUT IS, UM, YOU KNOW, AUSTIN FORUM ON TECHNOLOGY MIGHT BE AN INTERESTING PARTNER TO COME, OR STAKEHOLDER TO COME AND PRESENT ON, UH, SOME OF THE EMERGING TECH THING, ISSUES THAT ARE AROUND THE, THE DRONE PIECE.
AND, YOU KNOW, UM, AIR RIGHT OF WAY, FOR LACK OF A BETTER PHRASE, I THINK IS GONNA BE AN INTERESTING ONE.
UH, THAT WILL, THAT WILL GROW A LITTLE BIT MORE WITH, UH, SOME OF THE, THE NEW STARTUPS IN TOWN.
SO THAT COULD BE SOMETHING WHERE WE INVITE O FOUR MONTH TECHNOLOGY OR, OR ONE OF THEIR PARTNERS TO COME AND PRESENT.
'CAUSE THAT'S, THAT'S GONNA BE AN EMERGING ONE, PROBABLY IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE.
IF WE COULD ADD THAT IN AND THEN SCRATCH THE HOUSTON AUTONOMOUS AIR TAXIS PIECE.
I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT'S A THING.
AND IS IT STILL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION? YES, IT'S STILL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
UM, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF A LAG HERE.
UM, I WAS JUST CURIOUS IF THIS WAS RELEVANT, BUT DID YOU MENTION THAT THE CITY OF EL PASO HAD REACHED OUT ABOUT A PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATION? WOULD THAT BE SOMETHING THAT MIGHT BE RELEVANT TO MENTION HERE? UM, THEY DID AND I HAVEN'T HEARD BACK.
BUT WE COULD SAY SOMETHING GENERIC LIKE, UM, ENGAGE WITH OTHER, OTHER MUNICIPALITIES ON MM-HMM
UM, EMERGING TECHNOLOGY ISSUES AND BEST PRACTICES.
HOW'S THAT SOUND? SOUNDS GOOD.
I'D BE CURIOUS IF WE HAD, THIS IS PROBABLY TOO MUCH, BUT IT WOULD BE INTERESTING FOR JUST
[01:20:01]
MORE REPRESENTATION OF THIS BODY ON OTHER BODIES AS WELL.AND SO I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S, UM, LIKE SMART CITIES, UH, SMART CITIES CONNECT OR SMART.
UM, IT MIGHT BE INTERESTING IF WE EXPLORE SOME OTHER PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS WHERE WE CAN, I KNOW STEVEN AND YOU'VE SPOKEN AT CONFERENCES IN THE PAST.
UM, SO SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES THAT WE MIGHT WANNA HAVE SOME, SOME INVOLVEMENT IN.
AND IT MIGHT BE SORT OF JUST PIGGYBACKING ON THIS PIECE, LIKE SOME OF THE INDUSTRY GROUPS AROUND THAT TOO.
THAT MIGHT BE MORE IN THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SUBSECTION.
I THINK THAT'S, UH, PERHAPS SOMETHING WE CAN ADD IN ABOVE TON.
SO, UM, IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMISSIONERS MM-HMM
UM, TO, UM, PARTICIPATE IN OTHER TECHNOLOGY RELATED FORUMS. AND I KNOW A LOT OF US ALREADY DO THAT.
I KNOW SOME OF US ARE WITH THE AUSTIN AI ALLIANCE AND MM-HMM
UH, JESSE AND I WERE JUST DOING A QUICK SIDEBAR THAT THIS COMMISSION, OF COURSE CAN DO ANY KIND OF ADVISING AND WORK, BUT IT CANNOT REPRESENT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WHICH I KNOW IS KNOWN.
I JUST WANT TO GO ON THE RECORD MM-HMM
BUT JUST SAYING THAT, SO REACHING OUT TO OTHER MUNICIPALITIES, ENSURING THAT IT'S NOT AUSTIN REACHING OUT, BUT THIS COMMISSION.
UH, SO THE NEXT, UH, UH, SHOULD WE MOVE ON? YEAH.
AND IF WE JUST WANT TO ENSURE THAT THE LANGUAGE YES.
UH, REFLECTS I GUESS THE SPIRIT OF WHAT YOU'RE, YES.
WE'LL LOOK AT THAT AND MAKE SURE THAT'S OKAY.
UH, THE NEXT SECTION IS CITY UTILITIES AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE.
YOU HAVE AUSTIN ENERGY UNDER THAT, AND YOU HAVE ONE, TWO ITEMS. INVITE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE ENERGY COMMISSION ON OVERLAPPING TOPIC AREAS.
NEXT, REVIEW AE INFORMATION FROM RECENT OUTAGES, SMART METERING STRATEGY, SOLAR ADOPTION, CLIMATE PREPAREDNESS, AND RESILIENCE, AND NEED FOR INCREASED POWER GENERATION
YEAH, I THINK, I THINK IT IS AN INTERESTING ONE WOULD BE AROUND, UM, I KNOW AUSTIN ENERGY PARTNERED WITH, I DON'T THINK THEY'RE THE ONLY ONE, BUT LIKE, GROUPS LIKE BASE POWER WHO ARE IN THE OLD AUSTIN STATESMAN BUILDING NOW.
AND SO I THINK THERE MIGHT BE SOME INTERESTING THINGS AROUND, LIKE, SPECIFICALLY AS IT RELATES TO DATA CENTERS, GRID RESILIENCE, THINGS LIKE VIRTUAL POWER PLANT INITIATIVES, OR JUST SOME OF THE THINGS THAT THEY'RE DOING THERE.
SO IT, IT MIGHT BE, IT'S, IT'S A BIT OF A STRETCH OUTSIDE OF THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY WORK THAT WE DO, BUT IT'S RELEVANT IN THE SENSE OF, IF WE'RE CONCERNED ABOUT DATA CENTERS, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE TOOLS IN THE TOOL BELT THAT THE CITY HAS TO ADDRESS, LIKE GRID RESILIENCE AND RATE, RATE EFFECTS.
SO, UM, SO THAT MIGHT BE ONE THAT WE CONSIDER.
AND THEN OTHER, OTHER THINGS LIKE, AGAIN, CONTINUING, THIS MIGHT BE A GOOD PLACE AGAIN TO ADD IN THE, UM, I THINK WE ALREADY HAVE IT.
JUST SOMEONE ON THE, THE AUSTIN ENERGY, EITHER THE COMMISSION OR SOMEONE TO HELP EXPLAIN SOME OF THE WAYS, UM, FROM A POWER GEN OR DISTRIBUTION SIDE, THIS WORK IS DONE.
SO ARE YOU GOOD WITH THAT KOAN? YES.
UH, YOU HAVE THREE ITEMS. INVITE REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE WATER AND WATER WASTEWATER COMMISSION ON OVERLAPPING TOPIC AREAS.
NEXT, INVITE EXPERTS RELATED TO THE CONVERGENCE OF CLEAN TECH ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
AND LASTLY, EXAMINE WATER DELIVERY INTELLIGENCE, REMOTE METER ACCESS, LEAK DETECTION, LARGE SCALE COOLING NEEDS, AND GRAY WATER INCENTIVES.
YEAH, WE NEVER DID
UM, YEAH, I THINK ALL OF THESE ARE PROBABLY COULD.
AND THEN LASTLY, YOU HAVE PUBLIC HEALTH AND TELEHEALTH TWO ITEMS. INVITE TEXAS EHEALTH ALLIANCE FOR PRESENTATION AND ANALYZE INTERSECTIONS OF DIGITAL ACCESS AND PUBLIC HEALTH GAPS, ESPECIALLY RURAL AND UNDERSERVED AREAS.
[01:25:01]
WHO HAD THE RECOMMENDATION ON EHEALTH ALLIANCE? THAT WAS PROBABLY ME.I THINK IT, UM, A LOT OF WHAT NORA DOES OVER THERE IS LIKE A LEGISLATIVE ROUNDUP RELATED TO ALL BILLS ON, LIKE DIGITAL HEALTH OR TELEHEALTH.
SO IT, IT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT WE DO.
IT MAY BE VERY NICHE TO THIS GROUP.
UM, SO I DON'T KNOW THAT WE NECESSARILY, IT MAY BE, IT'S JUST MORE SO INVITE INDUSTRY EXPERTS FOR PRESENTATIONS RATHER THAN EHEALTH SPECIFICALLY.
UM, ALTHOUGH I'M A FAN OF NORA, SO THAT MIGHT BE SOMETHING THAT WE DO IN STEM.
CAN WE JUST MAKE, MAKE IT A LITTLE MORE GENERIC? KOAN? THANK YOU.
AND THEN I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT RURAL MM-HMM
UH, AUSTIN IS NOT A RURAL AREA.
I THINK WE COULD PROBABLY ELIMINATE THAT.
AND JUST KEEP THE UNDERSERVED AREAS.
NEXT IS KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION AND DATE OF STEWARDSHIP.
YOU HAVE COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH, AND THERE ARE TWO ITEMS. REQUEST BRIEFINGS FROM AUSTIN PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, HOW RELEVANT LEGISLATIVE UPDATES ARE BEING COMMUNICATED TO THE PUBLIC.
AND NEXT, IDENTIFY WHAT THE COMMUNITY NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT AI BROADBAND AND DIGITAL EQUITY.
I THINK FOR THAT FIRST ONE THERE, THE AUSTIN PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, I DON'T, I DON'T THINK IT'S JUST LEGISLATIVE UPDATES.
I THINK IT'S LIKE HOW DATA IS BEING, UM, USED, UM, WITHIN THE CITY.
HOW, YOU KNOW, ENSURING THE PUBLIC THAT AI IS BEING, UM, LEVERAGED IN, IN, IN AN ETHICAL WAY, UM, AS OPPOSED TO LIKE THE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE PIECE.
MAY I, THAT'S MY EDIT FOR THAT ONE.
SO HOW DATA IS BEING, UH, USED WITHIN CITI? WELL, WAIT A MINUTE.
HOW DATA WITHIN CITI IS, I'M A LITTLE CONFUSED ON THIS.
BASICALLY, AI IS LEVERAGED IN ETHICAL WAYS WITHIN THE CITY AND HOW THAT IS COMMUNICATED OR HOW AI IS LEVERAGED ETHICALLY IN THE CITY, LARGER CITY.
IS IT THE GOVERNMENT CITY OR THE COMMUNITY CITY? THE COMMUNITY CITY.
ANYONE ELSE WANNA PROVIDE INPUT ON THIS SUBTOPIC? OKAY.
NEXT ONE, UM, IS DIGITAL RESOURCES AND ECOSYSTEM SUPPORT.
YOU HAVE THREE ITEMS. PROVIDE FEEDBACK TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT ON MAINTAINING AND PROMOTING THE DIGITAL RESOURCE LIST, INCLUDING COLLABORATING WITH EXISTING COMMUNITY RESOURCE INFORMATION PROVIDERS.
NEXT CROSSWALK, G OS AWARDEES WITH DIGITAL EQUITY RESOURCES AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT STRATEGIES.
AND LASTLY, SUPPORT UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES THROUGH STRATEGIES, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION OF CITY PROGRAMS. SO FOR ITEM C, THERE ARE, ARE YOU ALL STILL, IS YOUR DEPARTMENT STILL MAINTAINING THAT LIST? UH, I'M GONNA CALL ON OUR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND EATON.
ANN EATON, UH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.
I JUST WANT TO ENSURE THAT AS WE'RE ASSISTING WITH THE WORK PLAN THAT WE MAKE, WE MAINTAIN WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE COMMISSION, WHICH IS TO ADVISE COUNSEL, NOT DIRECT STAFF.
SO, UM, OF COURSE, WE'RE HERE TO BE A SUPPORT MECHANISM.
JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT MM-HMM
WE'RE CLARIFYING WHAT THE ASK IS.
AND THE OTHER THING, UM, APPRECIATE ALL THE INTEREST, ESPECIALLY WITH UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS.
I'M GONNA CONSULT OUR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AND ASK 'EM HOW ARE WE LEVERAGING COMMISSIONS TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO TAP THIS BODY OF WORK FOR INPUT, ESPECIALLY IF
[01:30:01]
THERE'S MATTERS THAT WOULD REQUIRE LIKE, TESTIFYING OR OTHER LEVELS OF SUPPORT.SO I WILL CIRCLE BACK WITH THE COMMISSION IN THE COMING MONTHS SO WE CAN BE VERY CLEAR ALSO HOW WE LEVERAGE THIS BODY TO INFORM OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, AND ESPECIALLY AS YOU'RE WORKING WITH YOUR RESPECTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I GUESS ONE QUESTION BACK TO YOU REALLY QUICK.
SO I, I THINK IN THE PAST WE HAVE PROVIDED FEEDBACK, INPUT TO THAT DIGITAL RESOURCE LIST.
IS THAT WHAT YOU WERE, I GUESS, REFERRING TO? YEAH.
WELL 'CAUSE WE CERTAINLY WANT TO, YOU KNOW, WE'LL CERTAINLY ALWAYS WELCOME THE FEEDBACK.
I JUST WANNA BE VERY CLEAR THAT, UM, THE MAIN GOAL OF THIS BODY IS TO INFORM COUNSEL.
BUT WE WILL CERTAINLY ALWAYS WELCOME FEEDBACK.
WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT, UM, USING LANGUAGE LIKE DIRECTING STAFF OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
BUT WE WILL ALWAYS WELCOME THE FEEDBACK TO ENSURE WE'RE RESPONDING TO COMMUNITY.
UH, DIRECTLY TO DIGITAL RESOURCE LIST.
DO YOU ALL, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SPEAK TO THAT VERY QUICKLY? ARE WE MAINTAINING IT? GO AHEAD, PLEASE.
I KNOW THAT, UH, DAN AND I TALKED EARLIER TODAY ABOUT, UM, WE HAVE A RESOURCE LIST ON AFFORDABLE INTERNET OPTIONS.
AND SO WE DO HAVE A PLAN TO KEEP THAT LIST UP TO DATE.
WHAT I DON'T RECALL IS IF THIS SPECIFIC, UH, REFERENCE IS TO A PREVIOUS RESOURCE LIST THAT, UH, WE HAD DEVELOPED IN, UH, A PARTNERSHIP WITH TRAVIS COUNTY, UH, SERVING THE 2023, UM, RESEARCH ON, UH, THE REGIONAL DIGITAL EQUITY STRATEGY.
UM, THAT IS A DOCUMENT THAT WE NO LONGER MAINTAIN MM-HMM
BUT WE DO HAVE THE, YOU KNOW, A NEWER LIST OF AFFORDABLE INTERNET OPTIONS THAT WE DO CURRENTLY MAINTAIN.
YEAH, I THINK THIS WAS IN REFERENCE TO THE OTHER ONE, BUT, UM, AND WHAT'S THE TITLE OF THAT? IS IT JUST, WHAT'S THE TITLE OF WHICH ONE? THE, THE NEW LIST.
IS IT JUST AFFORDABLE INTERNET OPTIONS? UH, IT IS PROBABLY SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF LOW COST AFFORDABLE INTERNET OPTIONS ACROSS AUSTIN, TEXAS.
UM, BUT WE CAN GET THAT SPECIFIC LANGUAGE TO Y'ALL BEFORE Y'ALL FINISH THIS REPORT.
SO MAYBE THE ADJUSTMENT HERE IS INSTEAD OF THE DIGITAL RESOURCE LIST, IT'S A TITLE OF OKAY.
THAT THE DIGITAL RESOURCE LIST CHANGES TO THE AFFORDABLE ISB OR LOW COST AFFORDABLE.
WE'LL FIND THAT AND REPLACE IT.
AND THEN WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER TWO? CHAIR, AKA G OS AWARDEES WITH DIGITAL EQUITY RESOURCES AND EDD STRATEGIES AND UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES THROUGH STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION.
THE CITY FOR ITEM D, UM, COMMISSIONER HERITAGE, THIS SOUNDS LIKE YOUR LANGUAGE
DO YOU REMEMBER ON, ON CROSSWALKING THE GTOP S AWARDEES, UM, WHAT THE SPIRIT OF THAT WAS? I THINK IT WAS PROBABLY JUST SAYING, UM, IF WE'RE AWARDING THESE GRANTS, HOW ARE WE UR THAT THOSE GRANTS ARE RELATED TO, LET'S SEE, OUR WORDING OF DIGITAL RESOURCES MM-HMM
I, I CAN'T RECALL AT THIS POINT.
IT WAS SOMETHING ABOUT, UM, TRYING TO MAP WHERE WE HAVE FUNDS GOING OUT, YOU KNOW, THAT THEY'RE MAPPED TO THE, THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OR DIGITAL EQUITY PLAN THAT THE CITY OR COUNTY PUT OUT.
SO, UM, I CAN'T RECALL, STEVEN.
BUT I THINK IT'S, AND I THINK LIKE, YEAH, AND I THINK LIKE SOME OF THIS IS COVERED BY OUR DISCUSSION ABOVE THE DATA THAT JESSE IS ALREADY COLLECTING.
YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'LL BE ASKING, YOU KNOW, FOR THE PROCESS OF LIKE CLOSING OUT A GRANT TO BE A, A PRESENTATION TO US.
SO MAYBE THIS JUST LIKE KIND OF NATURALLY HAPPENED.
COMMISSIONER HERITAGE, ARE YOU COOL WITH THAT? IF WE JUST REMOVE IT? I'M FINE WITH THAT.
ESPECIALLY SINCE I DON'T RECALL WHAT IT WAS.
AND I, I APPRECIATE REMOVING, 'CAUSE I DON'T ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THE TERM CROSSWALK MEANS.
SO, SO WE WILL OMIT, UH, D MM-HMM
PER YOUR REQUEST AND THEN SUPPORT UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES THROUGH STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION OF CITY PROGRAMS. THAT'S VERY BROAD.
I THINK LIKE THAT WAS, I THINK THE SPIRIT OF IT WAS HELPING TO PROMOTE THAT DIGITAL RESOURCE LIST, WHICH, YOU KNOW, WE CAN DO IN OUR PERSONAL CAPACITIES.
BUT I THINK THE OTHER PIECE OF IT IS, LIKE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE COMMUNITY LISTING SESSION, WE HAD THE TABLE, THE TABLING OF, UH, ALL OF THE PARTNERS.
SO, UM, I THINK THAT THIS ONE CAN, CAN STAY, CAN
[01:35:01]
PROBABLY STAY.AND YOU HAVE TWO MORE SECTIONS, GRANTS AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT.
THERE ARE THREE ITEMS. HOST WORK SESSION TO EVALUATE GT OS PARAMETERS AND IMPACT SURVEY AWARDEES AND STAFF FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO THE GRANT PROGRAM.
AND LASTLY, TRACK AND COMMUNICATE PERFORMANCE RESULTS FROM GT OS FUNDED ORGANIZATIONS.
I FEEL LIKE ALL OF THIS IS PART OF THE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR GTOP S RIGHT.
WHAT WAS THE LAST ONE? UH, THE LAST ONE IS TRACK AND COMMUNICATE PERFORMANCE RESULTS FROM GT OS FUNDED ORGS.
ARE THESE DAN AND JESSIE? YES.
UM, SO ALL OF THOSE ARE PART OF OUR BASIC, UM, YEARLY ANNUAL PLAN.
SO, UH, TOWARDS OCTOBER WE TEND TO DO STRATEGIC PLANNING ON HOW TO IMPROVE MM-HMM
AND THEN, UH, TOWARDS THE END OF OUR PROGRAM CYCLES, LIKE IN SEPTEMBER-ISH IS WHEN WE START TO DRAFT.
AND THEN IN JANUARY WE PUBLISH AN ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE PREVIOUS CYCLE.
UM, SO I CAN SAY, UH, THESE ITEMS ARE BEING ADDRESSED AND WITH THE CONTINUOUS INVOLVEMENT OF THE COMMISSION, UM, Y'ALL APPROVE OUR, UM, OUR, OUR AWARDEES LIST AS WELL AS THE ACTION PLAN FOR THE INCOMING YEARS.
UM, THE ONE THING I MIGHT ADD IS THAT THIS COMMISSION HASN'T RECEIVED A DEBRIEF ON THE ANNUAL REPORT, I BELIEVE IN SOME TIME.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD HONE IN ON.
SO GIVEN THAT ALL OF THESE ARE ALREADY LIKE BEING ACTIONED BY STAFF, I DON'T THINK, I THINK LIKE OUR SCOPE HERE IS TO APPROVE THE PLAN OR APPROVE AND PROVIDE INPUT TO THE PLAN.
COMMISSIONER HERITAGE, I THINK YOU WERE ABOUT TO SAY SOMETHING.
I JUST WONDER IF IT SHOULDN'T LIVE HERE OR WE ALREADY HAVE A UNDER SECTION ONE, DIGITAL INCLUSION CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, STR STRATEGIC POLICY IMPACT.
WE HAVE A GTOP S AND GRANT MAKING YEAH.
SO SHOULD WE JUST COLLAPSE THEM ALL UNDER THAT ONE? YEAH, THAT'S A GOOD CALL.
WHAT, WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO COLLAPSE? UM, SO, UH, REMOVE THE ENTIRE SUBSECTION AROUND GRANTS AND CONTINUOUS OKAY.
SO F, G, H AND LIKE THAT ALL GOES AWAY.
AND THEN UP IN SECTION, THE VERY FIRST SECTION OR GT OS IN GRANT MAKING.
UH, JUST ADD A LINE ITEM, UM, FOR THE COMMISSION TO, UM, REVIEW AND APPROVE THE PLAN AND, AND PROVIDE INPUT, UM, TO THE, THE YEARLY, UM, G TOPS, ANNUAL ANNUAL PLAN.
YEARLY G GS, SO THAT WILL BE GT OS GRANT MAKING.
I'M GONNA ASK JESSE IF THAT'S OKAY.
I, I JUST HAD A SIDEBAR WITH ASSISTANT DIRECTOR ANN EATON AND, UH, WE WANTED TO CONFIRM, UH, THAT WE HEARD YOUR, UH, PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATION TO, UH, KEEP THE RESOURCE LIST UP TO DATE.
AND SO, UH, WHAT WE PLAN TO DO IS TO REACH OUT TO OUR CONTRACTOR, AUSTIN FREENET, TO SEE IF WE CAN ESTABLISH A, UM, A PARTNERSHIP WITH THEM TO KEEP, YOU KNOW, UH, AN EVERY SIX MONTH UPDATE ON THAT RESOURCE LIST SO THAT WE CAN TRY AND KEEP IT UP TO DATE.
SO WE, WE WILL REINSTATE
AND THEN I BELIEVE YOU HAVE ONE MORE SECTION, UH, WHICH IS WEBSITE MONITORING AND TESTING.
CONTINUE TO MONITOR AND OFFER SUPPORT OF CITY OF AUSTIN WEBSITE REDESIGN AND INVITE PROJECT TEAM FOR PERIODIC, UH, PROGRESS UPDATES.
UM, IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE'VE HAD THAT TEAM.
I IMAGINE THEY'RE PROBABLY CONTINUING TO MAKE UPDATES, SO I'D LIKE TO LEAVE THIS ONE ON.
DIDN'T WE HAVE THEM IN JANUARY? YEAH.
WAS IT JANUARY? FEBRUARY? FEBRUARY? FEELS LIKE IT'S BEEN LONGER.
YEAH, WE SHOULD INVITE THEM BACK.
AND WE HAD MADE A RECOMMENDATION AFTER THAT POINT ABOUT, UH, CONTINUING THE WORK ON THAT MM-HMM
AND ALSO INCLUDING A LIBRARY AND AUSTIN ENERGY.
SO, UH, CHAIR, AKA WE ARE AT THE WORKING GROUP SECTION.
SO ON THIS ONE, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, ARE YOU AVAILABLE? I AM.
UM, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WORKING GROUP, HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT THAT?
[01:40:01]
I THINK IT'S SMART TO COME COMBINE WITH, UH, SURVEILLANCE.I FEEL MOST ISSUES WITH ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE EITHER INVOLVE RESOURCES OR INVOLVE SECURITY.
UM, SO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN AND OF ITSELF I THINK IS TOO BROAD.
AND WHEN COMBINED WITH, UH, SECURITY SURVEILLANCE, I THINK IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
I THINK IT MAKES SENSE TO MAINTAIN AND CONTINUE.
SO LET'S JUST, UM, COMBINE THE TWO.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE RIGHT.
AND THEN POTENTIAL NEW RECOMMENDATIONS, COMMUNITY LISTENING SESSIONS, WORKING GROUP.
UM, I SAY LET'S LEAVE THIS OFF FOR NOW.
WE CAN STAND IT UP WHEN THAT TIMEFRAME COMES AROUND.
SO WE DID IT IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR.
UM, MAYBE WE CAN SHOOT FOR DOING THIS YEARLY.
SO PERHAPS, YOU KNOW, WE CAN PLAN AS A COMMISSION TO DO IT IN MARCH OR APRIL OF NEXT YEAR.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT COMMISSIONER COMBI? THAT SOUNDS GOOD TO ME.
AND THEN TO BE CONSIDERED PROPOSED AT FUTURE MEETINGS, UH, STAND UP ADDITIONAL WORKING GROUPS BASED ON LEGISLATIVE OUTCOMES OR STRATEGIC NEEDS, AND CLARIFY WHETHER LISTENING SESSION PLANNING RESIDES WITH STAFF OR THE COMMISSION.
THE TWO ITEMS HERE, I THINK WE CAN REMOVE THESE.
I FEEL WEIRD ABOUT INCLU INCLUDING CONSIDERATIONS OR PROPOSAL IN OUR YEAR.
WE CAN JUST SEE HOW THINGS EVOLVE.
THAT BRINGS US TO THE END OF YOUR WORK PLAN.
UM, I GUESS A COUPLE TECHNICAL.
SO DO WE NEED TO VOTE ON THIS? DAN, JESSE? UM, HELP ME IF MEMORY SERVES.
I THINK THEY DO THINK THAT, UH, VOTING IS A FORMALITY.
AND THEY ENCOURAGE Y'ALL TO VOTE.
SO I WOULD SAY YES, BUT IT'S NOT NECESSARY, ESPECIALLY SINCE THERE ISN'T A FINAL PRODUCT NOW.
I THINK THE VOTE WOULD JUST BE TO OBSERVE AND ACKNOWLEDGE ALL OF THESE EDITS AND THAT THEY'LL SHOW UP IN THE FUTURE ITERATION OF THIS, UH, ANNUAL REPORT.
SO, YES, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION.
SO WE SHOULD HAVE A VOTE, UM, ON THE EDITS THAT HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED HERE TODAY.
AND THEN I'LL, AND THEN IT'S ON ME TO SUBMIT IT SEPARATELY.
SO YEAH, IF WE CAN'T HAVE COMMISSIONERS GO AHEAD AND COME ON CAMERON, WE CAN CLOSE THIS ITEM OUT.
IS THERE A MOTION TO, UM, ADOPT THE WORK PLAN AS DISCUSSED, UH, WITH THE EDITS PRESENTED?
ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY.
DOESN'T SOUND, DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ANYONE'S AGAINST.
WELL KOAN, UH, I'LL WORK WITH YOU DIRECTLY TO GET THE EDITS.
AND THEN I'LL PLAN TO SUBMIT IT HERE BEFORE JULY 31ST.
UM, AND THEN, UH, AS A FOLLOW UP, UH, WHATEVER I SUBMIT, CAN I SEND IT TO, TO DAN, JESSE, AND Y'ALL CAN POST IT AS BACKUP, AS A, AS A TAKEAWAY.
AND ANNE IS THE EXECUTIVE LIAISON.
PLEASE MAKE SURE
THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE THE COMMISSION.
THANK YOU FOR, UH, BEING PATIENT WITH US
UM, WELL I'LL CLOSE THIS OUT PRETTY QUICKLY HERE.
[4. Update from the Artificial Intelligence work group on their continued conversations with experts in the field of automated surveillance]
UM, ITEM NUMBER FOUR, UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, DID YOU WANT TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE, UM, ON THE WORKING GROUP? UH, NO SIGNIFICANT UPDATES OTHER THAN THE NEXT SCHEDULED, UH, GET TOGETHER.WHEN IS THAT? ARE, ARE YOU UM, GONNA SEND A SEPARATE EMAIL TO A LINE AND A DATE? YES.
I'M LOOKING TO PLAN FOR THE END OF THE MONTH BASED ON A PERSONAL MEDICAL OBLIGATION.
UM, SO THERE MIGHT BE A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT I NEED TO DO WITH MY KID SPECIALIST, BUT OUTSIDE OF THAT, YEAH, I'M LOOKING AT THE END OF THIS MONTH, UH, SOMETIME TO HAVE THAT MEET.
[APPROVAL OF MINUTES]
UM, I'M GONNA MOVE US BACKWARDS TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE.[01:45:01]
IT'S APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM APRIL 8TH.UM, IS THERE A MOTION TO ADOPT? I MOVE.
SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER HERITAGE.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES FROM APRIL 8TH AS PRESENTED.
PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND, SAY AYE.
GO AHEAD AND MOVE THIS FORWARD.
APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM, UH, MAY 13TH.
DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SECOND MOVE PUT FORWARD BY COMMISSIONER COMBY IS OUR SECOND.
I'M GONNA PICK COMMISSIONER P.
UH, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES FROM MAY 13TH AS PRESENTED? PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND.
I THINK WE'RE UNANIMOUS THERE.
ALRIGHT, WELL THAT BRINGS US TO THE CONCLUSION OF OUR MEETING.
UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR STICKING, UH, WITH US.
UH, THANK YOU TO OUR SPEAKERS.
UM, APPRECIATE Y'ALLS SERVICE TO THE CITY.
I WILL TALK TO YOU, TALK TO YOU ALL AND SEE YOU ALL, UH, NEXT MONTH, IF NOT BEFORE.