Oct 14, 2026 Technology Commission

UM, SO IF, IF YOU ALL WANNA TAKE THE LEAD ON, UH, FINDING A DATE AND TIME, UH, FOR THOSE PLANNING SESSIONS, I THINK, AND YOU WERE INVOLVED WITH SOME OF THIS WHEN WE DID OUR LISTENING SESSION BACK IN MARCH, JESSE.

UM, WE HAVE ASSETS, CONTACTS, UH, WITH NONPROFITS AS WELL AS LIKE CITY COUNCIL, UM, CONTACTS WHO I'M SURE WOULD BE EXCITED TO, UM, TO PROVIDE INPUT, ASSISTANCE, SUPPORT AS WELL.

WE COULD ALSO REACTIVATE SOME OF THE PLANNING DOCUMENTATION AT A DETAILED LEVEL THAT WE HAVE.

UM, SO LEVERAGING ALL THAT, THE MUSCLE MEMORY THAT WE HAVE, UM, I'M EXCITED TO, TO PARTNER WITH Y'ALL ON DOING THAT.

YEAH, THAT SOUNDS, THAT SOUNDS WONDERFUL.

UM, MY, MY PLAN AND I'M, I'M INTERESTED IN HEARING Y'ALL'S FEEDBACK, UM, MY DEFAULT WOULD BE FOR US TO FORM A, A PLANNING COMMITTEE, UH, UH, AND THEN COME UP WITH A, YOU KNOW, A FACILITATION PLAN, YOU KNOW, A BROAD IDEA FOR THE DATE, THE TIME, THE LOCATION, UH, WHAT WE WOULD LIKE TO HAPPEN, HAVE HAPPEN AT, UH, THAT MEETING.

UM, AND THEN BRING IN CITY COUNCIL, UH, FOLKS AT THAT POINT JUST SO THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE TAKING SOME STUFF OFF THEIR PLATE IN THE EARLY PLANNING PROCESS AND WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING TO PRESENT TO THEM.

UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, IF, IF THEY HAVE ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK OR WANNA, YOU KNOW, MAKE ADJUSTMENTS, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO DO THAT.

BUT I'D RATHER GET MOST OF THE LEGWORK DONE - SURE.

AND THEN GET THE COUNCIL MEMBERS ENGAGED.

I THINK THAT'S A GOOD IDEA.

UM, YEAH, DEFINITELY COUNT ME IN.

I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO FORM A WORK, FORMAL WORKING GROUP FOR THIS.

I THINK COMM - INDIVIDUAL COMMISSIONERS CAN JUST RAISE THEIR HAND, UM, AS LONG AS WE DON'T HIT SIX, WHICH I DON'T THINK WE WILL.

BUT IF ANYONE WANTS TO BE INVOLVED IN THAT, CAN WE JUST LET YOU, YOU KNOW, JESSE? I JUST HAD A QUICK QUESTION AND, UM, DAN, IF WE COULD JUST GET THE SIGN IN THING.

UM, I THINK ONE QUESTION I HAD IS, IS THE INTENT...

YOU HAVE A BALLPARK MONTH THAT YOU'RE INTERESTED IN AND I UNDERSTAND LIKE THAT'S AS FAR AS WE'VE GOTTEN SO FAR, WHICH IS FULLY UNDERSTANDABLE.

IS THERE, UM, YOU KNOW, LAST TIME WE HELD IT HERE IN A SINGULAR LOCATION, IS THERE, ARE YOU ALL OPEN TO CONTEMPLATE HOLDING IT IN LIKE, I DON'T KNOW, THE YMCA AT TOWN LAKE, UH, OR NOT TOWN LAKE AT, UM, LIKE ON, UH, 183 OR JUST KIND OF IN DIFFERENT PARTS OR IS THE GOAL JUST TO HAVE ONE SESSION TO RULE THEM ALL THIS YEAR KIND OF LIKE LAST YEAR? I THINK THAT, UH, DEFINITELY WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE, UH, WE'RE SHOOTING FOR TWO, UH, SO DEFINITELY TWO IS WHAT THE TARGET IS.

UM, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO PULL OFF MORE IF, IF THERE'S, YOU KNOW, STRONG INTEREST FROM, UH, THE PLANNING GROUP TO, TO HELP US OUT WITH THAT.

UM, YOU KNOW, UH, I DON'T, I'M NOT S- SUPER WORRIED WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, ADDING ANOTHER MEETING IF WE WOULD LIKE.

UH, MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE, AND THIS IS UP FOR DISCUSSION WITH THE PLANNING GROUP, UH, MY PERSONAL PREFERENCE IS ACTUALLY TO NOT HAVE IT IN CENTRAL, UH, UH, CITY.

SO TRYING TO FIND A LOCATION TOWARDS THE, YOU KNOW, THE OUTSKIRTS, UH, YOU KNOW, IS WHAT MY PREFERENCE WOULD BE.

I WAS THINKING LIKELY, UH, NORTHEAST FOR THE, UH, ONE AND SOUTHEAST FOR ANOTHER AS THE TWO PRIMARY LOCATIONS IF WE CAN FIND, YOU KNOW, GOOD SPOTS, UH, TO LAND IN, IN THOSE PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY.

UM, SO THAT'S MY INITIAL THOUGHT, BUT CERTAINLY I'M OPEN TO SUGGESTION.

NO, I THINK THAT'S HELPFUL BECAUSE I THINK IT'S, AS LOVELY AS IT IS TO HAVE THE SPACE, IT'S NICE TO BE ABLE TO HAVE IT IN A PLACE WHERE FOLKS AREN'T HAVING TO MAKE THE TREK.

SO, OKAY.

YEAH, HAPPY TO BE ADDED TO THOSE CONVERSATIONS AND SUPPORT IS ABLE.

DO YOU THINK WE'D BE ABLE TO START, LIKE, MAYBE A KICKOFF MEETING WITH A CORE GROUP OF PEOPLE, UM, MAYBE, MAYBE IN NOVE - I MEAN, WE'RE TAKING DECEMBER OFF, SO MAYBE HAVING, LIKE, SOME INITIAL CONVERSATIONS THE TAIL END OF THE CALENDAR YEAR.

IS THAT - Y- YES.

I THINK MID-NOVEMBER IS WHEN WE WERE TARGETING, UH, A FIRST GATHERING FOR THE PLANNING GROUP.

WE'LL JUST COMMUNICATE OFFLINE ABOUT THAT AND, UH, THANKS FOR GETTING THINGS STARTED, JESSE, IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.

HAPPY TO DO IT.

ANY OTHER, UM, INITIAL HIGH LEVEL THOUGHTS ON, UM, ON THAT ITEM BEFORE WE MOVE ON? I MEAN, I CAME IN LATE, SO I CAN SIDEBAR ABOUT IT LATER.

SURE.

NO WORRIES.

UM, AND JUST FOR THE PUBLIC, WE'VE HAD, UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, WELCH AND, UM, ALDRETE, UH, JOIN US AS WELL.

FORWARD TO HAVING, UH, ANOTHER COUPLE TOWN HALL LISTENING SESSIONS IN 2027.

WELL, UM, WITH THAT, UM, SO, UH, WE ARE LOOKING

[00:10:01]

UH, BUT WITH THAT, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE

[4.Approval of Grant for Technology Opportunities Program (GTOPs) 2027 Updates ]

TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FOUR, AND THAT IS APPROVAL OF THE, UH, GTOPS, UH, 2027 PROGRAM.

SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO JESSE FOR THAT ITEM.

JESSE RODRIGUEZ, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT AGAIN.

UM, AND I'LL BE, UH, UPDATING YOU ALL ON OUR PLANS FOR, UH, UPDATING THE GTOPS PROGRAM FOR THIS YEAR.

UH, FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR, THE, UH, GRANT FOR TECHNOLOGY OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM IS A CITY GRANT OPPORTUNITY THAT'S BEEN FUNDED, UH, SINCE 2001, AND ITS PURPOSE IS TO, UH, PROMOTE DIGITAL EQUITY, UH, PROJECTS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE BEING DONE BY THE, OUR NONPROFIT PARTNERS.

UM, AND AGAIN, WE HAVE $400,000 PER YEAR, UH, AS OF NOW THAT WE DISTRIBUTE.

AND EVERY YEAR WE ENGAGE IN A PROCESS IM, UH, IMPROVEMENT, UM, EFFORT TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE KEEPING UP WITH, UM, YOU KNOW, KEEPING THE PROGRAM AS EFFICIENT AND, UM, YOU KNOW, MEETING THE COMMUNITY'S NEEDS AS WE CAN.

UM, AS Y'ALL MIGHT KNOW, WE, UH, THE CITY WAS FACING A TOUGH BUDGET CYCLE FOR THIS YEAR, AND SO WHILE WE WERE DRAFTING THESE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, IT WAS, UH, LIKELY AT THE TIME THAT WE WERE GONNA HAVE TO, UH, REDUCE THE OVERALL SIZE OF THE PROGRAM.

UM, AND IT WASN'T UNTIL THE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE 11TH HOUR THAT WE WERE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO ESCAPE BUDGET CUTS.

UM, UH, BUT THAT BEING SAID, YOU KNOW, UH, WE KNOW THAT THE CITY'S FACING ANOTHER TOUGH BUDGET IN THE COMING CYCLE, UH, AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, CUTS IN, IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR ARE, ARE STILL POSSIBLE.

SO, UH, IT'S A GOOD MOMENT FOR US TO, UM, MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, TIGHTENING DOWN THE PROGRAM AS MUCH AS WE CAN, UM, AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT, UH, WE'RE FOCUSING ON THE, THE MOST STRONG PARTS OF THE PROGRAM AND THAT WE'RE ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE, UM, YOU KNOW, BETTER STORYTELLING ABOUT THE GRANT, COLLECTING BETTER DATA ABOUT THE PROGRAM, UM, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY MAKING SURE THAT WE CAN, UH, SHARE ITS STRENGTHS.

UM, SO THAT'S THE FRAMING OF OUR, UH, OUR, OUR CHANGES FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR FOR GTOPS.

UM, OUR NORMAL PROCESS, UH, EACH YEAR IS THAT WE COLLECT, UH, FEEDBACK, UH, FROM ANYBODY WHO HAS INTERACTED WITH THE PROGRAM, UH, WHETHER THEY'RE AN APPLICANT, A VOLUNTEER REVIEW PANELIST, UH, A COMMISSION MEMBER, UM, EVERYBODY RECEIVES A FEEDBACK SURVEY, UH, AND HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO TELL US WHAT THEIR EXPERIENCE WAS, WHAT THEY LIKED, WHAT THEY DIDN'T, AND WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO CHANGE.

UM, WE, WE DID THAT AGAIN THIS YEAR.

UM, WE ALSO HAVE CLOSEOUT REPORTS FOR ALL OF OUR EXISTING CONTRACTORS, UH, AND THEY GIVE US FEEDBACK IN THE CLOSEOUT REPORTS AS WELL.

UM, AND LASTLY, WE DID HAVE A, UH, UH, A FEEDBACK SESSION WITH THE COMMUNITY, UM, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, POSTED ON EVENTBRITE TO, UH, YOU KNOW, ALLOW FOLKS TO COME AND REVIEW THESE CHANGES, UH, YOU KNOW, THE DRAFT ONE OF THESE CHANGES.

WE RECEIVE FEEDBACK AND, AND ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FROM THAT SESSION, WHICH ARE INCORPORATED HERE AS WELL.

UM, SO THOSE ARE THE INPUTS TO THIS PROCESS.

OH, AND, AND OF COURSE, UH, DAN AND I AND, AND THE REST OF, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN STAFF THAT ARE INTERESTED IN GTOPS, WE DOCUMENT OUR THOUGHTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, UH, TO, TO NOTE ANY CHANGES, UM, THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO, UM, WORK ON OVER THE NEXT YEAR.

AND SO THOSE ARE ALSO INCLUDED HERE.

AND WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO RUN THROUGH THE CHANGES THAT WE'RE PROPOSING HERE, UM, VERY QUICKLY, BUT FEEL FREE, IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A SPECIFIC ITEM, FEEL FREE TO STOP ME OR YOU CAN WAIT TILL THE END.

EITHER WAY, I'M FLEXIBLE.

UM, OUR FIRST, UH, MAJOR CHANGE FOR GTOPS IS, UH, THAT, UH, WE ARE GOING TO BE RECOMMENDING AN ELIMINATION OF THE GTOPS CAPACITY PATHWAY AND REAPPORTIONMENT OF THE GTOPS CAPACITY FUNDS INTO THE GTOPS MINI PROGRAM.

UM, THE REASON FOR THIS CHANGE IS, UM, UH, GTOPS CAPACITY IS, UH, THE SMALLEST PORTION OF OUR PROGRAM, BUT HAS AN OUTSIZED IMPACT ON OUR ADMINISTRATION OF THE PROGRAM.

UH, SO, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, WE, WE LAST YEAR DISTRIBUTED, UM, 25,000, I BELIEVE, UH, IN AWARDS, AND THAT'S 10 AWARDS, UM, UH, AND IT, THEY'RE $2,500 AWARDS EACH.

UM, BECAUSE OF THE PAYMENT STRUCTURE, WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF WAYS OF, UM, ENFORCING CONTRACT COMPLIANCE.

THERE IS NO CONTRACT WITH THE PAYMENT, UH, AND THERE'S NO, YOU KNOW, WAY FOR US TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT THE DELIVERABLES ARE MET ESSENTIALLY.

AND SO IT'S THE, UH, IT WAS THE PORTION, UH, OF GTOPS W - THAT WAS ON THE

[00:15:01]

SHAKIEST FOOTING OF COMPLIANCE.

UM, SO FOR THAT REASON, WE'RE GONNA BE ELIMINATING THAT PATHWAY AND FOCUSING ON OUR CONTRACT-CENTRIC PATHWAYS, UH, GTOPS MINI AND GTOPS CORE.

UM, WE ARE GONNA BE ADDING MANDATORY FOCUS AREAS, UM, AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS EVERY APPLICATION THAT WE GET FOR GTOPS CORE HAS TO FALL WITHIN ONE OF THESE, UH, FOCUS AREAS.

UM, THEY COVER MOST OF THE CONTENT THAT WE WOULD'VE NORMALLY SEEN, BUT IT ALLOWS US TO KIND OF CHARACTERIZE ALL OF THE, THE, UH, APPLICATIONS THAT COME IN INTO SPECIFIC TOPICAL AREAS, UM, AND IT'LL, IT ALSO IMPACTS THE, THE NEXT RECOMMENDATION AS WELL.

BUT BEFORE I GET THERE, UH, I'LL RUN THROUGH OUR FOCUS AREAS REAL QUICK.

UM, OUR FIRST FOCUS AREA IS WORKPLACE DIGITAL SKILLS TRAINING.

UH, THIS PATHWAY, UH, WILL INCORPORATE, UH, UH, ALL TYPES OF, UH, DIGITAL SKILL DEVELOPMENT FROM BASIC DIGITAL SKILLS UP THROUGH CODING.

UM, SO THE WHOLE, WHOLE DIGITAL SKILLS, UM, GAMUT.

OUR SECOND IS DIGITAL CREATOR SUPPORT.

SO WE WANNA SUPPORT, UH, PROGRAMS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT MAKE, UH, THAT DEVELOP PEOPLE'S CREATOR SKILLS, NOT JUST BEING DIGITAL CONSUMERS, BUT ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE DIGITAL CREATION, UH, ECONOMY, WHETHER THAT'S PODCASTING OR FILM OR, UM, VIDEO GAME DESIGN, ANY, ANYTHING LIKE THAT.

UM, WE HAVE A PATHWAY FOR FREE AND LOW COST PUBLIC INTERNET ACCESS OPTIONS.

SO IF THERE ARE NONPROFITS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE LOOKING TO SET UP TECHNOLOGY LABS, UH, COMPUTER LABS, THAT SORT OF THING WHERE PEOPLE CAN ACCESS TECHNOLOGY DIRECTLY, UM, WE HAVE A PATHWAY FOCUSED ON THAT.

WE HAVE ONE FOR DEVICE DISTRIBUTION, SO IF FOLKS WANT TO HAVE A PROGRAM TO REFURBISH COMPUTERS, GET THEM OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY, OR TO HAVE A LOW COST DEVICE PROGRAM OF SOME SORT, UH, THAT, THAT WOULD BE COVERED IN THAT PATHWAY.

AND LASTLY, WE HAVE ONE FOR OPEN SOURCE OR PUBLIC RESOURCE CREATION.

UM, UH, THIS ONE IS THE MOST, UH, OR THE, THE, WE HAVEN'T REALLY SEEN ANYTHING, UH, CLOSE TO THIS, UH, BUT WE WANTED TO LEAVE THE, THE DOOR OPEN FOR PROGRAMS, UH, THAT ARE TRYING TO SOLVE SOME TYPE OF A COMMUNITY PROBLEM WITH AN OPEN SOURCE PROGRAM.

UM, IF THERE WAS, LIKE, A RESOURCE HUB THAT SOMEBODY WANTED TO CREATE OR A OPEN SOURCE TOOL OR A SHARED DIGITAL LITERACY CURRICULUM, SOMETHING THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, A BUNCH OF PEOPLE COULD BENEFIT FROM, WE WOULD, WANTED TO INCLUDE THAT AS WELL.

QUICK QUESTION, JESSE.

SURE.

UM, THOSE, SO THE, THE FOUR FOCUS AREAS, WHICH I THINK ARE GREAT, DID, WERE THOSE SOURCED FROM SOME OF THE FEEDBACK THAT YOU COLLECTED FROM, UM, THE SURVEY PARTICIPANTS? UH, THE ORIGINATION OF THESE CATEGORIES IS WE LOOKED AT THE 2023, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY, UH, UH, ACTION PLAN OR THE, THE DIGITAL EQUITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT, UM, AND THE DIFFERENT RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, THAT THAT REPORT CAME UP WITH.

UM, AND WE COMPARED THAT TO THE CITY'S CURRENT SERVICES OFFERINGS AND TRIED TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THE DELTAS WERE.

UM, AND SO IF, YOU KNOW, WE ALREADY HAD A STRONG FOCUS THERE, MAYBE IT WASN'T AS MUCH OF A PRIORITY, BUT IF THERE WERE THINGS THAT WERE M - BROUGHT UP IN THAT STUDY THAT WERE KIND OF ON THE SIDE OR OUTSIDE OF, OF THOSE THINGS, THEN WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COULD USE GRANT FUNDING TO SUPPORT THOSE THINGS.

UM, SO THAT WAS THE, THE GENESIS OF THE IDEA.

AND WE DID, UH, YOU KNOW, SHARE THOSE FOCUS AREAS TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE TOWN HALL, UH, TO GET FEEDBACK ON THEM.

WE DIDN'T GET ANY NEW IDEAS, UH, FOR THOSE, FROM THOSE SESSIONS, BUT, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY I'M OPEN IF, IF Y'ALL HAVE, IF Y'ALL THINK THAT THERE'S AN IDEA THAT DOESN'T FIT INSIDE OF ONE OF THESE PATHWAYS THAT WE WOULD LIKE GTOPS TO COVER, I'M, I'M OPEN TO THAT.

I THINK THAT PART OF THE SUCCESS IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS IS BECAUSE WE HAVE BETTER MARKETING, UH, OF GTOPS.

YES.

UM, SORT OF A QUESTION BOTH ABOUT THE CREATING THE CORE FOCUS AREAS AS WELL AS THE ELIMINATION OF CAPACITY.

UM, YEAH, I, UH - HEY, KEVIN, CAN YOU TURN YOUR MIC ON? OH, OF COURSE, SORRY.

UM, YES.

UM, I HEAR THE, UM, YEAH, I HEAR, UM, UM, BOTH ABOUT THE CHA - ADDING THE MANDATORY CORE FOCUS AREAS AND, UH, REMOVING CAPACITY.

UM, YEAH, I, I GET THE MOTIVATION BEHIND WHY, AND IT MAKES SENSE.

UM, I GUESS MY QUESTION WOULD BE, ARE THERE ANY SORT OF THINGS THAT UNDER THE OLD STRUCTURE MIGHT HAVE GOTTEN FUNDED THAT ARE THINGS WE'D WANT TO FUND THAT DUE TO THE HARDENED REQUIREMENTS MIGHT NOT BE FUNDED ANYMORE? I THINK THAT, UH, YES, UH, BECAUSE GTOP'S CAPACITY WAS DESIGNED TO, UH, BUILD CAPACITY FOR S - THE SMALLEST NONPROFITS.

UM, AND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WERE FUNDED IN, UH, THROUGH GTOP'S CAPACITY PREVIOUSLY WERE THINGS LIKE, UM, TRAVEL TO NDIA, WHICH IS THE NATIONAL DIGITAL INCLUSION ALLIANCES, UM, OR NET INCLUSION, UH, UH, THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR FOLKS TO TALK ABOUT DIGITAL

[00:20:01]

EQUITY ISSUES.

UM, I DO THINK THAT THAT HAS CAPACITY BUILDING, UH, BENEFITS.

UM, BUT ALSO FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO, UM, BE ABLE TO PURCHASE DEVICES IF THEY WERE, WANTED TO DO A, A STEM-BASED SUMMER CAMP, FOR INSTANCE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, GTOP'S CAPACITY COULD BE USED TO PURCHASE THE EQUIPMENT.

UM, IT WAS, UH, NOT DESIGNED TO BE A SERVICE DELIVERY GRANT, SO IT WAS JUST A BUILD CAPACITY, UH, USUALLY TO BUY SOMETHING PHYSICAL THAT SUPPORTS THEIR DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAM OR, UH, TO, UH, INVEST IN STAFF TRAINING AROUND, UH, THEIR DIGITAL EQUITY PROGRAMMING.

UM, SO I, I DO THINK THAT THERE WAS VALUE IN THE PROGRAM, FOR SURE.

UM, BUT, UH, UM, THE, THE CHALLENGES THAT WE RAN INTO WERE THAT BECAUSE IT WAS SUCH A SMALL PAYMENT, UH, IT DIDN'T REQUIRE A CONTRACT, UH, THAT WOULD, UH, THAT LIMITS OUR ABILITY TO KIND OF OVERSEE, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE, THAT THE, UM, PROGRAM ALWAYS MET THE DELIVERABLES THAT WE WANTED THEM TO BE MEETING.

UM, AND, UH, AGAIN, IT WOULD, YOU KNOW, THERE'S AN ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN OF HAVING A THIRD LEG OF THE PROGRAM, UH, THAT HAD AS MANY AWARDS AS GTOP'S MINI, UM, BUT WITHOUT, YOU KNOW, UM, UH, OR, YOU KNOW, WITH, WITH THE SAME ADMINISTRATION REQUIREMENTS FOR ME AND DAN.

NO, I GET IT HAS A, A FIXED COST THAT MAKES IT HARD TO ADMINISTER.

AND YEAH, I AGREE, NOT HAVING ACCOUNTABILITY ON THE MONEY GIVEN THE BUDGET SHORTFALLS DOESN'T LOOK GOOD.

I'M JUST KIND OF CURIOUS BECAUSE UNDER THE CHANGE STRUCTURE, I'M TRYING TO THINK IF THERE'S STILL WAYS THE THINGS YOU TALKED ABOUT COULD GET FUNDED MAYBE AS PART OF A LARGER UMBRELLA GRANT PROPOSAL.

I JUST, I'D HATE IF IN RESTRUCTURING IT, I AGREE, THE THINGS YOU JUST LISTED SOUND LIKE GOOD THINGS.

I'D HATE IF IN THE RESTRUCTURE, WE CANNOT ACCOMMODATE THOSE THINGS EVEN THOUGH WE'RE WORKING FROM THE SAME POOL OF MONEY CURRENTLY WOULD BE MY ONLY CONCERN.

I WOULD BE CURIOUS MAYBE JUST TO PIGGYBACK OFF OF WHAT YOU SAID, KEVIN, IT'S, IF WE WERE TO LOOK AT YOUR CATEGORIES THAT YOU HAVE LISTED HERE, GO BACK AND LOOK AT MINI, OR EXCUSE ME, CAPACITY AND THEN DETERMINE OF AN ADDITIONAL CATEGORY THAT IF IT'S NOT ALREADY ENCOMPASSED, YOU'LL HAVE TO TELL ME TOO, LIKE FROM A, A ALLOWABLE USE OF FUNDS PERSPECTIVE, BUT LIKE IF THERE WERE A WAY JUST TO CREATE AN ADDITIONAL CATEGORY TO CAPTURE SOME OF THAT SO WE DON'T LOSE POTENTIAL, UM, BUT YOU'RE STILL WITHIN THE SPIRIT OF CORE VERSUS CAPACITY.

SO JUST SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT, UM - YEAH, I, I DO THINK THAT, UH, THE PHYSICAL EQUIPMENT PART, UH, THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT RECEIVE GTOPS MINI AND GTOPS, UH, CORE, UH, FUNDING WILL BE ABLE TO STILL PURCHASE EQUIPMENT.

UH, SO THAT, THAT BENEFIT WILL STILL BE THERE FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT, YOU KNOW, WIN FOR GTOPS CORE AND GTOPS MINI.

UM, I THINK THAT THE STAFF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT IS THE PIECE THAT PROBABLY WOULD NOT, UH, FALL INTO, UH, GTOPS MINI AND CORE.

UM, SO YEAH, THAT, THAT WOULD BE MY ASSESSMENT OF WHAT WE WOULD TRULY BE LEAVING BEHIND.

YES, THAT, THAT'S CORRECT.

UH, QUESTION HERE.

I'M JUST, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, HAVING BEEN WORKING AS A PANELIST FOR BOTH MINI AND FOR THE CAPACITY, I MEAN, THIS, I THINK THIS CHANGE MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.

UM, UM, WERE, I'M JUST TRYING TO REMEMBER, WAS THERE A LOT OF OVERLAP BETWEEN AWARDS AND FOR CORE AND MINI AND CAPACITY, LIKE IN ORGANIZATIONS THAT RECEIVED THEM OR WERE, WAS IT MOSTLY DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS IN THE PAST? THERE WAS A LOT OF, UH, OVER- OVERLAP AND THERE CONTINUES TO BE A, A LOT OF OVERLAP BETWEEN PATHWAYS.

UM, I WOULD SAY THAT WE OFTEN GOT PARTICIPATION IN GTOPS CAPACITY, UH, FROM ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE HAD NOT HEARD OF BEFORE.

UM, SO GENERALLY THE SMALLER PATHWAYS IS WHERE WE GET THE NEWEST PARTICIPANTS, UH, JUST BECAUSE, LIKE, THEY'RE THE EASIEST PATHWAYS TO ENGAGE WITH.

UM, SO, UH, WHAT WE SAW IN THE PAST IS THAT ORGANIZATIONS WOULD, UM, COME TO US FIRST ON THE SMALLER PATHWAYS, BUT THEN THEY WOULD APPLY IN THE NEXT CYCLES FOR THE LARGER PATHWAYS.

UM, NOW, OUR INFORMATION ISN'T PERFECT IN THIS BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME OTHER THINGS THAT HAPPENED, UH, IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.

WE, WE GAINED ACCESS TO THE AUSTIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT'S COMMUNICATIONS TEAM, UM, AND I THINK THAT THEY'VE BEEN DOING A GREAT JOB AT BRINGING IN NEW FOLKS.

UM, SO I, I, UM,

[00:25:01]

UM, BUT THAT, THAT IS WHAT WE SEE IS THAT FOLKS TEND TO EN- ENGAGE FIRST IN, IN THE SMALLER PATHWAYS.

UH, I JUST SAY AS A PANELIST, I REALLY LIKE THE IDEA OF HAVING THESE, UM, DIFFERENT CATEGORIES AS, YOU KNOW, IT, IT ALSO PROVIDES KIND OF ADDITIONAL LEVEL OF SCREENING AND, LIKE, KNOWING THAT THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE APPLYING ARE FITTING IN WITH WHAT WE WANNA DO IN, INTO THE GRANT PROGRAM.

FAIRLY NEW TO THE PROGRAM, BUT, UM, I ALMOST, SPEAKING OF THE CATEGORIES, I ALMOST WONDER.

YEAH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? OKAY.

I, SORRY, WASN'T SURE.

UM, YEAH, I WAS ALSO SAYING, UM, I, ONCE AGAIN, TAKE ANYTHING I SAY AT THE GRAND START BECAUSE I'M NEW TO THE PROGRAM, BUT, UH, THE NEW CATEGORIES, I, I ALMOST WONDER IF, ONLY AS YOU SAID, BECAUSE THEY'RE, THE CAPACITY IS FIRST TIME ORGS, I WORRY THAT MAYBE WE ARE DESTROYING THE ON-RAMP TO NEW ORGS FIGURING OUT HOW TO GET THESE GRANTS.

AND I ALMOST WAS WONDERING, COULD WE ADD A CATEGORY THAT IS BASICALLY AN ORG WHO IS GOING TO HELP OTHER ORGS FIGURE OUT HOW TO BOOTSTRAP THEMSELVES TO GET GRANT FUNDING UNDER GTOPS, LIKE ALMOST A META CATEGORY? YEAH, I HAVEN'T THOUGHT ABOUT THAT.

UM, I'D, I'D BE INTERESTED IN, IN, YOU KNOW, WHAT THE, THE COMMISSION'S BROADER, UM, YOU KNOW, OPINION IS.

UM, I THINK I'M OPEN TO THE IDEA.

UH, IT WOULD MEAN, IT, I MEAN, WE, WE WOULD BE, UH, I, YEAH, I DON'T KNOW IF I HAVE A, LIKE A, AN IMMEDIATE OPINION, BUT - HEY, THAT WAS THOUGHT UP ON THE SPOT.

IT MIGHT BE A BAD IDEA.

JUST WANTED TO RAISE IT.

AND JESSE, I, I DO KNOW THAT HA- HA - IN THE PAST, HAVEN'T, UH, ORGANIZATIONS PARTNERED TOGETHER TO COME TOGETHER AND APPLY FOR SOME OF THESE LARGER, UH, GRANTS? SO MAYBE THAT'S, THAT WOULD KIND OF HELP MEET THAT, THE SPIRIT OF, OF WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.

AND WE'VE, WE'VE HAD, UH, WE'VE HAD PAST, UH, GTOPS PATHWAYS THAT HAVE BEEN, YOU KNOW, TRIALED AND SUNSET, LIKE, UH, GTOPS COLLABORATIVE, UH, WHICH WAS A GTOPS PROGRAM THAT WAS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, A LARGER BU- BUCKET OF FUNDING THAT WE WANTED PEOPLE TO COLLABORATE AROUND.

SO, LIKE, MULTIPLE APPLI- APPLICANTS WORKING TOGETHER ON A SEP - SINGLE PROGRAM.

UM, UM, SO, I MEAN, WE'VE, WE'VE TESTED THAT IDEA OUT IN THE PAST AS WELL.

WELL, LET ME KEEP ON ROLLING.

YEAH, KEEP, YEAH, KEEP, LET'S KEEP PUSHING FORWARD BECAUSE WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE GET TO EVERYTHING ON THE AGENDA.

UM, LET'S SEE.

SO OUR, OUR SECOND GROUP OF, OR OUR SECOND, OUR THIRD RECOMMENDATION IS STANDARDIZED PERFORMANCE MEASURES, AND THIS IS RELATED TO THE PRIOR AREA.

UM, SO WE WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO DO A BETTER JOB AT STORYTELLING WITH DATA, UM, WHAT HAPPENED ACROSS ALL OF OUR GTOPS PROGRAMS. AND WHEN EVERY, UH, CONTRACT IS UNIQUE, IT'S HARD TO KIND OF SH - TELL A, A SINGULAR STORY ACROSS THE PROGRAM.

UM, AND SO THE FOCUS AREAS ARE ONE THING TO HELP US TO FOCUS, UH, THINGS INTO SPECIFIC, UH, IDEAS.

AND THEN WE'RE GONNA ADD MANDATORY PERFORMANCE MEASURES, UH, THAT, UH, WE'RE GONNA BASICALLY SAY, IF AN ORGANIZATION IS APPLYING WITHIN ONE, A FOCUS AREA, THERE'S A SET OF PERFORMANCE MEASURES THAT WE EXPECT FOR THEM TO REPORT ON.

UM, AND SO WHEN THEY'RE PREPARING THEIR APPLICATIONS, UH, THEY'LL SELECT INTO THEIR PATHWAY AND, AND THEIR, UH, PERFORMANCE FILES ARE GONNA BE PRE-POPULATED WITH, UH, THE, THE MEASURES THAT WE REQUIRE OF THAT AREA.

AND SO NUMBER ONE, IT'LL MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER FOR, UH, NONPROFITS TO COME UP WITH WHAT PERFORMANCE MEASURES WE'RE ACTUALLY LOOKING FOR.

UM, AND NUMBER TWO, IT'LL ALLOW US TO HAVE SHARED, UH, MEASURES THAT WE CAN KIND OF ROLL UP ACROSS ORGANIZATIONS DOING, UH, WORK IN THOSE FOCUS AREAS.

SO THAT'S A, A BIG CHANGE TO OUR PROGRAM.

UM, THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT THERE.

UH, WE'LL SEE, WE'LL HAVE TO SEE HOW IT, UH, YOU KNOW, WORKS IN DEPLOYMENT.

I THINK THAT IT'S THE MOST COMPLEX PIECE FOR OUR APPLICANTS TO ENGAGE WITH, UH, JUST BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE TO, UH, OPT INTO A, A PATHWAY AND THEN THEY HAVE TO ENGAGE WITH PRESET PERFORMANCE MEASURES ON OUR FORM.

I THINK THAT WE'VE DONE A GOOD JOB AT CREATING, UH, UH, DOCUMENTATION TO HELP WALK FOLKS THROUGH THE, THE CREATION, UH, OR THE FILLING OUT OF THE PERFORMANCE FORM.

UM, BUT WE'LL BE KEEPING AN EYE ON THAT TO SEE, YOU KNOW, HOW, HOW APPLICANTS, UH, DO WITH THAT.

AND YOU ALL PROVIDE WHITE, WHITE CLUB SERVICE IF THEY NEED IT - WE DO.

AS WELL.

UH, SO YEAH, WE, WE HAVE AN ORIENTATION THAT'S PUBLIC AND ANYBODY CAN, UH, ATTEND TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT, UH, THE PROCESS AND ANY OF THE DOCUMENTATION.

UH, AND WE ALSO ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO SCHEDULE ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS WITH ME AND DAN, UM, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO MEET WITH ANYBODY ABOUT YOU KNOW, ANYTHING

[00:30:01]

UM, OUR FOURTH CHANGE IS, UH, THAT WE'VE DONE AN OVERHAUL TO THE DEMOGRAPHICS, UH, PORTION OF OUR, UH, APPLICATION.

UM, WHAT WE NOTICED WAS HAPPENING IN PRIOR CYCLES IS WE HAVE A DEMOGRAPHIC SECTION WHERE, UH, WE ASKED WHICH POPULATIONS ARE YOU INTENDING TO SERVE? UM, AND WHAT WE WANTED TO GET OUT OF THAT IS IF THE PROGRAM WAS FOCUSING ON PARTICULAR PORTIONS OF THE POPULATION THAT WE KNOW HAVE THE HIGHEST DIGITAL NEEDS.

UH, BUT WHAT TENDED TO HAPPEN IS EVERYBODY WOULD SAY THAT THEY SERVE ALL POPULATIONS.

UH, AND SO THAT, THAT JUST DOESN'T GIVE US GOOD INFORMATION.

UM, AND SO WE TOOK OUT THOSE QUESTIONS.

WE'VE ADDED A SEPARATE DEMOGRAPHICS FORM AND WE'RE ASKING A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT QUESTION.

WE TOOK THE FOCUS AREAS, THE, THE PORTIONS OF THE POPULATION THAT WE KNOW HAVE HIGH DIGITAL NEEDS, UH, FROM THE 2023, UH, CITY OF AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY NEEDS ASSESSMENT.

UM, AND WE'VE, UH, WE'RE, WE BASICALLY ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT, UM, UH, IF THEY ARE DESIGNING THEIR PROGRAM TO SPECIFICALLY SUPPORT ANY OF THESE POPULATIONS, AND IF SO, HOW? UH, AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE KIND OF REFRAMING IT, BEING MUCH MORE EXPLICIT.

THE FIRST OPTION IS WE DON'T FOCUS ON ANY SPECIFIC POPULATION OR I, I FORGET WHAT WE SAY, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY THAT THEY'RE, THEY, THEY SERVE ALL POPULATIONS, YOU KNOW, UM, WITH, THEY, THEY DON'T HAVE A FOCUS ESSENTIALLY.

UM, AND, UH, THEN IF THEY SELECT ANY OF THE SPECIFIC POPULATIONS THAT WE WANNA FOCUS ON, THEN, UH, THERE'S MORE QUESTIONS THAT THEY CAN, UH, FILL OUT.

THERE'S BONUS POINTS ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, THAT FORM IF THEY ARE FOCUSING ON, UH, THE PORTIONS OF THE POPULATION THAT WE KNOW HAVE THE HIGHEST NEEDS.

UM, FOR ALL OF OUR BONUS POINTS, WE'RE MOVING TO, I THINK WE PREVIOUSLY HAD A FIVE POINT, UH, SYSTEM AND IT WAS ALL OR NOTHING.

UH, WE'RE NOW GONNA HAVE A THREE POINT SYSTEM AND WE, WE'RE ALLOWING PARTIAL POINTS, UM, AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE, THE, UH, REVIEW PANEL SCORE THE BONUS POINTS, ESPECIALLY FOR THE DEMOGRAPHICS.

UH, AWARDEES WOULD BE IMPACTED FOR THIS NEXT CYCLE.

KEEPING US MOVING HERE, WE HAVE, UH, WE'RE ALSO GONNA START ENFORCING PERFORMANCE BASED TIMEOUTS, UH, FROM THE PROGRAM.

UM, SO, UM, ONE OF THE BIG THINGS ABOUT, UH, GTOPS PREVIOUSLY IS, UM, WE MAKE THE AWARD IN TWO PARTS.

SO WE, WE PREPAY HALF OF THE AWARD AND THEN WE HAVE HALF OF THE AWARD, UH, UPON SUCCESSFUL SUBMISSION OF THEIR MIDTERM PERFORMANCE REPORT.

UM, AND IT, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S, UH, SO, SO THEY HAVE TO FILL OUT THAT MIDTERM PERFORMANCE REPORT IN ORDER TO UNLOCK THE SECOND HALF.

THE PROBLEM IS WE DON'T NECESSARILY KNOW AT THE MIDTERM OF THE, THE PROGRAM, HOW SUC- SUCCESSFUL THEY'RE GONNA BE BY THE END.

UM, WHAT THE, WHAT THE CITY AND OTHER, WHAT OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY DO, DOES, UH, WHAT OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY DO, UH, IS THAT THEY HOLD BACK 10% OF THE AWARD AMOUNT, UH, UNTIL ALL OF THE DELIVERABLES HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED AND THEN THEY PAY LIKE THAT THIRD, OR THAT LAST PAYMENT AT THE END.

BECAUSE WE WORK WITH NONPROFITS AND WE, UM, UH, IT, THE GRANT SIZE ISN'T VERY LARGE TO BEGIN WITH, UM, WE'D LIKE TO BE ABLE TO GET THE RESOURCES TO THE NONPROFITS EARLY ON IN THE PROGRAM SO THAT THEY CAN THEN SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENT.

UM, BUT THAT MEANS THAT, AGAIN, WE, WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF, UH, UH, ABILITY WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE ONE YEAR CONTRACT TO DO CONTRACT ENFORCEMENT.

SO WHAT WE HAVE DECIDED TO START DOING IS PERFORMANCE BASED TIMEOUTS OF THE PROGRAM.

SO IF YOU DON'T MEET, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, A THRESHOLD OF PERFORMANCE IN YOUR CONTRACT, UH, THEN YOU'RE GONNA GET A ONE YEAR TIMEOUT.

AND THERE'S A DELAY BECAUSE OF THE WAY THAT THE TIMING WORKS.

UM, THE MOST RECENT, UH, PRO - UH, THE MOST RECENT GTOPS YEAR IS STILL ONGOING AT THE TIME WE'RE SOLICITING FOR THE NEXT ROUND.

SO IT, IT'S, IT'S ACTUALLY A, YOU KNOW, AN EXTRA YEAR DELAY IN BETWEEN, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.

UM, BUT WE ARE GONNA START IMPLEMENTING THOSE PERFORMANCE BASED TIMEOUTS.

WE'RE VERY LENIENT AND, AND WE CAN, WE CAN GET MORE, UH, STRICT, UH, AS NEEDED DEPENDING ON, YOU KNOW, HOW THINGS GO.

UM, BUT EVEN WITH OUR LENIENT STANDARDS, UH, THERE ARE SOME ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE GONNA BE TIMED OUT, UH, FOR THE NEXT CYCLE.

BASED ON PREVIOUS PERFORMANCE? YES, BASED ON PREVIOUS PERFORMANCE.

AND I THINK THAT WOULD BE, UH, FY25.

YEP.

FY25 AWARDS,

[00:35:01]

UM, LET'S SEE.

UH, THE REST OF THE ITEMS ARE A LITTLE BIT SMALLER IN SCOPE.

WE PUT ALL OF THE, THE BIG ONES EARLIER.

UM, WE ARE GONNA BE CHANGING OUR NARRATIVE SECTION CHARACTER LIMITATIONS BECAUSE WHAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED IS, UH, OUR APPLICANTS ARE STARTING TO USE, UH, UH, LLMS MORE, UH, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

AND WHAT THOSE MODELS DO, UH, AT LEAST IN THE WAYS THAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING IS IT'LL MAX OUT THE CHARACTERS, UH, IN THE RESPONSE.

UM, AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, IF WE, WE GIVE A 5,000 CHARACTER LIMIT, IT'LL GIVE US 5,000 CHARACTERS, UM, WHICH IS FINE, BUT WE DIDN'T DESIGN THE CHARACTER LIMITS WITH THE IDEA THAT EVERYBODY WOULD BE MAXING IT OUT ALL THE TIME.

UH, SO FOR THE SAKE OF OUR REVIEW PANELISTS, UH, WE LOOKED AT THE OVERARCHING SIZE OF THE APPLICATIONS AND THEY'RE EXPANDING VERY QUICKLY ON THEIR, UH, HOW MANY PAGES EACH APPLICATION IS.

WE HAD SOME THAT WERE 84 PAGES LONG, UH, THIS CYCLE, WHICH IS, UH, YOU KNOW, JUST INSANELY LONG FOR, UH, WHAT WE WOULD LIKE THE SCOPE OF THE APPLICATIONS TO BE.

SO WE'RE TIGHTENING THOSE DOWN, UH, TO SOMETHING THAT'S MORE MANAGEABLE, UM, IF EVERYBODY USES ALL OF THE REAL ESTATE THAT WE'RE GIVING THEM.

SO WHAT I'M HEARING IS, WHAT I'M HEARING IS THE OLD LIMIT WAS ABSURDLY GENEROUS.

YOU COULD GET UP TO 80 PAGES.

SO IT'S NOT LIKE WE'RE GIVING PEOPLE NO ROOM TO WORK WITH, WITH THIS REDUCTION.

CORRECT.

YEAH, THE, WE HAD VERY GENEROUS LIMITS IN THE PAST JUST BECAUSE WE DIDN'T ASSUME THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD BE MAXING IT OUT AND WE DIDN'T WANT TO BE CUTTING PEOPLE OFF IF THEY NEEDED THE SPACE.

UM, BUT WITH THAT IN MIND, WE'RE JUST BEING MORE INTENTIONAL WITH THE CHARACTER LIMITS.

CAN I ASK, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU GUYS ALREADY MENTIONED THIS, IS THERE AN, UH, BEST PRACTICES AI USAGE THING TO FILLING THE FORM OUT? OKAY.

WE DO HAVE AN AI SECTION IN OUR, UH, APPLICANT GUIDE NOW.

UM, AND WE DO TALK ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE ALLOW, LIKE, WE'RE NOT GONNA KICK YOU OUT, UH, OR N - DISALLOW YOU IF YOU'RE USING AN LLM, UM, BUT WE WANT PEOPLE TO BE THOUGHTFUL ABOUT THE WAY THAT THEY'RE USING LLMS, UH, BECAUSE WHAT WE SEE IS THAT, UH, THE LANGUAGE THAT WE OFTEN GET, UH, IF IT'S IDENTIFIABLY FROM AN AI, IT'S OFTEN NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD BY THE REVIEW PANELISTS BECAUSE IT TENDS TO BE VERY HIGH LEVEL LANGUAGE, VERY VAGUE, UH, YOU KNOW, IT SEEMS LIKE IT'S SAYING THE RIGHT THINGS, BUT YOU KIND OF FINISH READING IT AND YOU'RE LIKE, "I'M NOT ACTUALLY SURE STILL WHAT IT, WHAT THE, IS BEING PROPOSED." UM, AND SO PEOPLE CAN DEFINITELY USE IT FOR LIKE A FIRST DRAFT, BUT WE ENCOURAGE FOLKS TO COME BACK, ADD MORE HARD LANGUAGE AND SPECIFICS, UH, IF THEY DECIDE TO USE IT.

SO YEAH, WE, WE DO HAVE SOME LANGUAGE TO HELP FOLKS OUT.

I THINK THE LAST BIG CHANGE.

UH, KEEPING US MOVING.

UH, WE DID EXPERIENCE, UH, A, A FINAL DAY SUBMISSION CHALLENGE WHERE SOME FOLKS WERE HAVING DIFFICULT, DIFFICULTY, UH, UPLOADING INFORMATION ON THE FORM.

UM, WE ENDED UP GETTING EVERYBODY'S INFORMATION IN, BUT IN FUTURE CYCLES, UH, WE JUST WANT TO HAVE A FALLBACK IN CASE WE DO HAVE CHALLENGES.

SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PDF, UH, FORM THAT FOLKS CAN FILL OUT IF THEY END UP HAVING CHALLENGES WITH OUR, UH, SYSTEM, THEY'LL BE ABLE TO FILL OUT THE PDF FORMS, UH, AND JUST EMAIL ME AND DAN AND, AND NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT MISSING A SUBMISSION DEADLINE.

UM, W- WE ARE ADDING LANGUAGE JUST TO SAY THAT ALL APPLICATIONS ARE PRESUMED FINAL AT THE TIME OF SUBMISSION BECAUSE WE'VE HAD FOLKS KIND OF, UM, SUBMIT THE WRONG DOCUMENTATION AND, AND WANT US TO CHANGE IT AFTER THE APPLICATION DEADLINE.

UM, WE CAN AND, AND WILL CHANGE DOCUMENTATION UP UNTIL THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE, BUT AFTER THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE, UH, WE, WE CONSIDER THE APPLICATIONS FINAL.

AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, IT, WE, WE JUST WANT THAT TO BE CLEAR TO EVERYBODY BECAUSE AS SOON AS THE APPLICATIONS CLOSE, WE'RE STARTING TO COMPILE, UH, DOCUMENTATION FOR THE REVIEW PANELISTS AND, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE JUST NEED TO KEEP THINGS MOVING.

UM, SO IF THERE ARE EDITS THAT ARE NEEDED, WE'LL, WE'LL HAPPILY FACILITATE ANYTHING AHEAD OF THE DEADLINE.

UM, BUT ANYTHING AFTER, UH, WE, WE GENERALLY WOULD NOT DO.

AND THE ONLY EXCEPTION, EXCEPTION THAT DAN AND I TALKED ABOUT EARLIER IS IF THERE IS A FILE THAT WAS CORRUPTED IN, IN THE PROCESS OF UPLOAD.

SO OBVIOUSLY IF, IF THEY GOT WHAT THEY NEEDED TO GET UPLOADED, UPLOADED, BUT SOMETHING HAPPENED AND THE FILE WAS CORRUPTED, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL GIVE A BRIEF PERIOD OF TIME TO SWIPE OUT A FORM.

UM, WE ARE ALSO GONNA BE REMOVING THE Q&A PROCESS.

THIS IS PROBABLY,

[00:40:01]

UH, THIS IS THE LAST BIGGER CHANGE.

WE'RE GONNA BE REMOVING THE Q&A PROCESS THAT USED TO HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GTOPS CORE, UM, UH, REVIEW PERIOD, UH, ONLY FOR GTOPS CORE AND ANY OF THE OTHER PATHWAYS HAD A Q&A PROCESS.

UM, AND THE REASON IS, UH, WE'VE, UH, OVER THE PAST FEW CYCLES, UH, WE'VE HEARD NEGATIVE FEEDBACK FROM EVERYBODY IN SOME WAY.

UM, AND SO REVIEW PANELISTS, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, HAVE, UH, EXPRESSED THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST ADDITIONAL BACK AND FORTH THAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REVIEW PERIOD.

APPLICANTS HAVE EXPRESSED THAT IT'S AN ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENT THAT HAPPENS, THAT THEY HAVE TO BE RESPONSIVE TO INFORMATION IN THE MIDDLE OF THE REVIEW PERIOD.

AND THEY'VE, UH, UH, HAD ISSUES OF THE REVIEWERS ASKING QUESTIONS THAT THEY THOUGHT WERE ALREADY ANSWERED IN THE APPLICATION.

UH, AND SO THEY'RE LIKE, DID THEY NOT READ THE APPLICATION BECAUSE THIS WAS ALREADY IN THE APPLICATION AND, YOU KNOW, THAT'S CAUSED CHALLENGES.

UM, AND SO, UM, RATHER THAN HAVING THAT ARTIFICIAL AR- AR - YOU KNOW, ARTIFICIALLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROCESS, WE'RE JUST GONNA, YOU KNOW, UH, WE'RE GONNA LEAVE, LET THE APPLICATION STAND AS IT'S, AS IT IS AT THE POINT OF SUBMISSION, UH, AND, UH, NOT HAVE THE ADDITIONAL BACK AND FORTH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PROCESS.

THAT DOES ALLOW US TO COMPRESS THE OVERARCHING GTOPS TIMELINE BY A LITTLE BIT AS WELL, UH, WHICH HELPS WITH CONTRACTING DEADLINES, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO GET TIMELY JULY 1ST STARTS.

UM, IT REDUCES COMPLEXITY ON, UH, FOR ALL PARTIES.

UM, AND SO WE THINK THAT, THAT, THAT'S JUST A GOOD CHANGE, IT'S A GOOD EXCHANGE OF VALUE.

UH, YOU KNOW, WE RECOGNIZE THAT SOME FOLKS MIGHT BENEFIT FROM A Q&A PROCESS, UM, BUT WHAT WE'VE SEEN IS THAT THE BENEFIT, UH, I- IS NOT OUTWEIGHED BY THE COST, UH, OF KIND OF HAVING THAT ADDITIONAL WRINKLE IN THE PROGRAM.

UH, WE HAVE CHECKED WITH A COUPLE OF OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY, UH, OTHER GRANT PROGRAMS AND Q&A PROCESSES TEND, UH, W- WE, NOBODY ELSE HAS A Q&A PROCESS, UH, THAT I'M AWARE OF.

UM, SO, UM, IT'S, YOU KNOW, AN EXTRA PIECE THAT WE, WE'VE DONE IN THE PAST, BUT WE'RE GONNA START NOT, UH, NOT DOING THAT IN THE FUTURE.

UM, LET'S SEE.

OUR LAST COUPLE OF ITEMS HERE ARE, UH, LET'S SEE, I HAVE THREE MORE ITEMS. UM, WE'VE, WE'RE MAKING CHANGES TO THE FTE APP - UH, FORM, THE, UH, UH, FULL-TIME EM- EMPLOYEE APPLICATION OR FORM.

UM, IT'S CAUSED CONFUSION IN THE PAST, UH, AND SO WE, WE'VE JUST GIVEN IT A FACELIFT TO MAKE IT MORE CLEAR AND EASY TO ENGAGE WITH.

UM, AND, UH, WE'RE NOW REQUIRING PROOF OF MATCH.

UH, SO WE HAD A PROOF OF MATCH, UH, FIELD, UM, BUT IT WAS AN OPTIONAL FIELD.

AND, UH, SO WHAT, WHAT WE'VE SEEN IS, UM, THAT SOME, SOME FOLKS, UH, SUBMIT REALLY GOOD PROOF OF MATCH, SOME FOLKS DON'T.

UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE WANNA MAKE SURE, UH, THAT EVERYBODY HAS, UH, YOU KNOW, AN EQUAL SHOT WITH THE GRANT REVIEW PANELISTS, UH, BECAUSE THE GRANT REVIEW PANELISTS STARTED LOOKING AND, AND SAYING, "WELL, THIS ORGANIZATION HAS PROOF OF MATCH, OTHER FOLKS DON'T." AND, UH, YOU KNOW, SO IT, UH, IT, IT KIND OF CAUSES A DISPARITY IN THAT REVIEW.

UM, AND SO IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT THE REVIEW PANELISTS VALUE HIGHLY, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE REQUIRING IT OF EVERYBODY, ESSENTIALLY.

JESSE, JUST QUICK QUESTION ON THE MATCH.

IS MATCH A REQUIREMENT FOR THE MINI? UH, MATCH IS NOT A REQUIREMENT FOR THE - OKAY, SO THIS IS JUST APPLIED TO CORE.

IT'S, YEAH, IT'S, IT'S NOT REQUIRED FOR GTOPS MINI.

OKAY, PERFECT.

UM, AND, AND SO YES, THAT, THAT ONLY APPLIES FOR GTOPS CORE.

THAT HOPEFULLY WILL OFFER MORE CLARITY TO WHY THEY SCORED THE WAY THAT THEY SCORED, UH, TO THE APPLICANTS.

UH, THE LAST ITEM IS, UH, WE, UH, HAVE ALSO GIVEN A FACELIFT TO THE, UH, GTOPS REVIEWER FEEDBACK FORM AND PROCESS.

UM, UH, WE DID GET A COUPLE OF, UH, COMPLAINTS THIS CYCLE, UH, FROM OUR APPLICATION, OUR, OUR, OUR APPLICANTS THAT THEY GOT FEEDBACK, UH, FROM THE REVIEW PANELISTS THAT WAS, UH, TOO BRIEF OR TOO UNHELPFUL.

UM, AND, UH, AND SO ALTHOUGH WE'VE, IN OUR ORIENTATION SESSION FOR REVIEWERS GIVEN FEEDBACK ABOUT WHAT GOOD FEEDBACK LOOKS LIKE, AND WE DO REQUIRE FEEDBACK, UM, WE'RE SEEING THAT WE'RE, WE'RE JUST NOT GETTING THE QUALITY FEEDBACK THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO GET.

AND SO WE'RE ADDING MORE REQUIREMENTS INTO THAT PROCESS TO TRY AND GET MORE, UH, COMPREHENSIVE FEEDBACK FROM THE REVIEW PANELS, UM, UH, UH, PANELISTS, UM,

[00:45:01]

SO WITH THAT, THOSE ARE ALL OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE HAVE FOR THIS NEXT COMING ROUND OF GTOPS.

UM, I'M, I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY FINAL QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE, UM, IF ANY HAVE COME UP.

I, I THINK Y'ALL DID AN AMAZING JOB WITH, UH, PUTTING THIS TOGETHER, INCORPORATING ALL THE FEEDBACK AS WELL AS EXPERIENCES, UH, FROM, UM, THE PREVIOUS, THE PREVIOUS CYCLES.

UM, I MEAN, YOU HEARD SOME OF OUR FEEDBACK ALREADY, MAYBE PERHAPS, LIKE, OPPORTUNITIES TO, FOR, UM, FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO COLLABORATE TOGETHER.

ONE OF THE, UH, POINTS I HAD, AND, UH, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY RELATED TO THE PROCESS AND ALL THAT, BUT MORE RELATED TO THE OUTREACH, THE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY.

UM, SO AS, UH, THOSE COMMUNICATION SPECIALISTS ARE PUTTING TOGETHER THAT OUTREACH STRATEGY FOR GTOPS, UH, WOULD LOVE FOR THAT TO BE PRESENTED TO THE COMMISSION.

UM, YOU KNOW, WE MAY HAVE, UH, INPUT.

UM, YOU KNOW, WE ALL HAVE CONNECTIONS WITH OUR CITY COUNCIL OFFICES AS WELL AS THE MAYOR.

UM, YOU KNOW, THOSE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ARE ALWAYS, ALWAYS HAVE AN APPETITE TO HELP AMPLIFY THIS.

SO, UM, AS THAT'S BEING PUT TOGETHER, UM, I GUESS WHAT, WHAT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE, UH, JUST AS, AS A THOUGH IS, LIKE, A COMMUNICATE - DETAILED COMMUNICATIONS PLAN BY DAY AT THE LINE ITEM LEVEL, UM, SO THAT WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO EITHER SHARE IT, PROVIDE INPUT, UH, AND/OR, UM, UH, OFFER SOME, SOME ADVICE AND, AND AMPLIFY IT FURTHER.

ANYONE ELSE HAVE THOUGHTS ON WHAT'S BEEN PRESENTED? UM, JUST TO RESPOND REALLY QUICK, UM, I THINK THAT'S A GREAT SUGGESTION.

AND, AND DAN AND I HAVE, FOR THE FIRST TIME, UH, WE, WE'RE, WE'RE PULLING TOGETHER A DETAILED COMMUNICATIONS - GREAT.

UH, PLAN, UH, FOR ALL OF OUR, UH, ALL OF THE SERVICES THAT WE OFFER, G- GTOPS INCLUDED, BUT ALSO INCLUDING, UH, ACTIVITIES THAT AUSTIN FREENET, UH, YOU KNOW, O- OVERSEES THE, THEIR, THEIR, UM, UH, DIGITAL SKILLS TRAINING CURRICULUM, UM, OUR COMMUNITY PC PROGRAM TO GET LOW-COST DEVICES TO NONPROFITS, UM, OUR LAPTOP LENDING LIBRARY, UM, THE TOWN HALLS, UH, AND FIX IT CLINICS.

UM, SO THOSE ARE ALL THINGS THAT WE, WE'RE, WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING A FULL COMMUNICATIONS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN, AND, AND YES, WE'RE HAPPY TO SHARE THAT ONCE IT'S, UH, READY TO, UH, READY TO GO.

AMAZING.

UM, AND YOU ALL NEED A VOTE ON THIS, CORRECT? UM, I DON'T THINK IT'S REQUIRED, BUT I WOULD, UH, WELCOME A VOTE IF Y'ALL WOULD LIKE TO.

UM, I'LL GO AHEAD AND MAKE THE MOTION TO ADOPT THE RECOMMENDATION ON THE GTOPS 2027 ACTION PLAN AS PRESENTED.

SECOND.

SECONDED BY, UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, EASTWOOD.

UH, JUST LOOKING FOR COMMISSIONER ALDERET TO COME ON FOR OUR VOTE.

ANY FINAL DISCUSSION ON THIS ITEM? NOT SEEING ANYTHING, NOT HEARING ANYTHING.

ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF, UM, SUPPORTING THE, UH, REVISED GTOPS, UH, 2027 ACTION PLAN AS PRESENTED, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY AYE.

AYE.

ANY EXTENSIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY.

WE ARE UNANIMOUS.

UM, YES, PLEASE KEEP US ENGAGED WITH HOW IT'S GOING.

AND, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE ALSO EXCITED TO, UH, POTENTIALLY SERVE AS REVIEWERS.

SO PLEASE KEEP US UP TO DATE ON THE TIMING FOR ALL OF THAT.

AND, UH, UH, DAN, DO WE HAVE A DATE FOR, UH, REVIEW PANEL, UH, APPLICATIONS? UH, YEAH.

THEY'RE ALWAYS OPEN.

I CAN SEND IT TO THIS COMMISSION.

UM, BUT IT WOULD JUST BE A FORMALITY.

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, JUST SHOOT ME AN EMAIL.

UM, BUT WE'LL GO AHEAD AND KEEP Y'ALL INFORMED ABOUT WHEN WE'RE DOING THE RUN UP FOR THAT.

UM, BUT I'LL STILL SEND Y'ALL THE APPLICATION FORM JUST SO YOU CAN GET IT IN AND DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT EVER AGAIN.

TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE, AND THAT'S, UH, DISCUSSION AND, UH, UH, POSSIBLE APPROVAL OF THE RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL RELATED TO OUR, TO PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGIES.

SO WITH THAT, UH, MOVING ON

[5.Discussion and approval of recommendation to council related to Public Surveillance Technologies ]

UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, UM, WAS THE PRIMARY AUTHOR ON, UH, THIS ITEM.

UH, CAME UP FOR, UH, REVIEW LAST TIME AROUND, BUT I'LL GO AHEAD AND TURN IT OVER TO HIM TO, UH, WALK US THROUGH, UH, THIS RECOMMENDATION.

TAKE IT AWAY, COMMISSIONER.

UH, BEFORE I BEGIN, I, I HAVE A, A POINT OF INFORMATION ON THE AGENDA, UH, FOR NUMBER FIVE AND NUMBER SEVEN.

[00:50:01]

THE CONTENT THEREOF, UH, SEEMS TO, TO MIRROR ONE ANOTHER.

UH, WOULD IT MAKE SENSE TO COLLAPSE THOSE? YEAH.

SO, UM, AND DAN, JESSE, HELP ME OUT HERE.

SO, UH, THE WAY, SO FOR, FOR THIS ONE, UH, ONE ITEM IS IN REFERENCE TO THE RECOMMENDATION ITSELF, AND THEN ITEM SEVEN IS, UH, FOCUSED ON OUR GENERAL WORKING GROUP.

UM, SO ANY, ANY GENERAL STATUS.

IS THAT RIGHT, DAN, JESSE? YEP.

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? SO THAT'S A DISTINGUISHING...

GO AHEAD COMMISSIONER HERITAGE.

SO WE WILL FOCUS HERE ON THE AUSTIN TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION ALPR SURVEILLANCE RECOMMENDATION.

UH, LAST TIME WE SPOKE, THERE WERE A COUPLE CONCERNS ABOUT THE SCOPE.

AND IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN, UH, SOME OF THE LANGUAGE AROUND HOW IT WILL COVER WHAT IT COVERS.

UH, SO WHAT WE DID IS WE ADDED SOME LANGUAGE TO THE END POINT THAT TRIED TO CLOSE THE SCOPE TO, UH, AREAS WHERE CITY INFLUENCES, RIGHT? SO CITY COUNCIL, UH, EXCUSE ME, AUSTIN CITY VENDORS AND CONTRACTS, UM, AS WELL AS ANYTHING THAT IS CITY INFLUENCED OR, UH, LET ME SEE WHAT THE LANGUAGE SAYS EXACTLY.

DO YOU GUYS HAVE COPIES OF THIS OPEN AND AVAILABLE TO YOU? WE DO.

WE HAVE HARD COPIES IN THE ROOM.

LOVELY.

SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE LAST PORTION AT THE BOTTOM, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED AND FURTHER RESOLVED.

UM - DID YOU HAVE - SORRY, BRIAN.

I JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION.

THIS, UM, PRINTED COPY, THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WAS POSTED YESTERDAY.

IS THAT CORRECT? IS THAT WHAT THE CHANGE WAS? YES.

UM, THIS WAS PROVIDED TO ME EARLIER YESTERDAY, I WANNA SAY.

AND THE OTHER VERSION WAS JUST AN ITERATION I UPLOADED AS BACKUP SINCE WE HAVE TO UPLOAD THOSE AHEAD OF APPROVING RECOMMENDATION.

BUT THIS IS THE UPDATED DRAFT THAT WILL BE UPLOADED AS THE FINAL RECOMMENDATION, UH, TOMORROW MORNING.

COOL.

SO THE PRINTED COPY IS THE LATEST AND GREATEST.

SWEET.

AWESOME.

SORRY BRIAN, GO AHEAD.

AT THE BOTTOM - SORY, IS THE QUE - IS COPY ATTACHED TO THE CALENDAR INVITE, THE CURRENT ONE OR THE OLDER ONE? YES, IT IS THE ONE THAT'S LABELED V2.

I DID REMOVE THE PREVIOUS VERSION, SO THE ONLY ONE ON THERE SHOULD BE THE ONE THAT WE'RE ALL SEEING IN THE ROOM AS WELL.

WITH A, A FRIEND OF MINE WHO'S INFORMED ON THIS STUFF WHO BASICALLY ASSURED US THAT THE CITY'S ABILITY TO REGULATE WHAT COMPANIES LIKE WAYMO ARE DOING AS MUCH AS THEY MIGHT WANT TO IS EXTREMELY LIMITED TO NON-EXISTENT BY STATE LAW.

THE NEWEST COPY SHOULD HAVE IN ITS LAST SENTENCE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL ADOPT...

THAT IS NEW MATERIAL.

IF YOU DO NOT SEE THAT, YOU HAVE AN OLD ONE.

SO I THINK EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT ONE, BUT I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE BECAUSE I MADE IT A POINT TO ADD THAT PIECE AND THAT'S MY LATEST EDIT.

SO MY HOPE IS THAT EVERYONE SEES THAT IN THE LAST, WHAT IS IT, SENTENCE OR TWO, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL ADOPT A POLICY THAT MINIMIZES THE COLLECTION AND STORAGE...

SO HOPEFULLY WE'RE ALL FEELING GOOD.

WE'RE ALL ON THE ONE PAGE.

UM, THERE'S ONE OTHER ADDITION TOO IN THE, UH, SERIES OF WHEREAS CLAUSES.

UH, LET'S SEE.

AND IT IS THE CLAUSE THAT SAYS WHEREAS, WHAT IS IT, FOURTH FROM THE BOTTOM? ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR.

WHEREAS THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS A CHOICE IN ITS CONTRACTING AND VENDOR AGREEMENT TERMS, INCLUDING DATA PRIVACY AND HANDLING CONDITIONS.

UH, THOSE TWO PIECES WERE HOPEFULLY MEANT TO KIND OF PULL THIS IN A BIT AND TO MAKE IT SUCH THAT THE PLACES WHERE AUSTIN CITY, UH, IS MAKING DECISIONS ON ITS CONTRACTORS, VENDORS, AND OTHERS THAT IT WORKS WITH, UH, THAT IT USES ITS INFLUENCE TO ENSURE THAT, UH, THE CITIZENS HAVE A SAY IF THEY'RE GOING TO BE SURVEILLED OR IF THEY'RE GOING TO BE VIEWED IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM.

SO THAT IS THE, THE SPIRIT AND THE GOAL HERE.

UH, BUT MY GOAL IS TO ULTIMATELY GET SOMETHING THAT THIS BODY CAN STAND BEHIND AND FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH.

SO I WOULD LOVE TO, UH, HEAR IF ANY OF THESE THINGS ARE OFF BULLSEYE FOR US SO WE CAN GET THEM, UH, RIGHTLY ALIGNED.

JUST A POINT OF CLARIFICATION AND, UM, BRIAN, UH, BRIAN, FIRST OF ALL, GREAT JOB ON THIS.

I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, SORRY TO GO BACK TO THE COPY.

SO THE ONLY CHANGES MADE ON THIS LATEST AND GREATEST PRINTED COPY IS THE ADDITION OF THE LAST SENTENCE ON THE NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, THE ONE THAT STARTS WITH BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, THAT, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.

AND THEN NUMBER TWO IS WHEREAS THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS A CHOICE.

THOSE ARE THE ONLY ADDITIONS, IS THAT CORRECT? NOT ONLY ADDITIONS, NO.

THOSE ARE THE LATEST ADDITIONS THAT HAVE SOME, UM, SOME INFLUENCE.

I THINK, KEVIN, IF YOU CAN HELP ME HERE.

I THINK WE MADE SOME IN THE WORKING GROUP, SOME CHANGES AT THE BEGINNING AS WELL, LIKE LANGUAGE WISE.

WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT.

THE MAIN THING WE TRIED TO DO WAS, UM, AS, UH, I THINK AT THE MEETING IN SEPTEMBER AS, UH, COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD CORRECTLY POINTED OUT, WE MIGHT HAVE BEEN GETTING OUTSIDE OF WHAT THE CITY COULD ACTUALLY LEGALLY DO IN SOME OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS, ESPECIALLY AROUND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES.

SO YOU'LL KNOW WHILE THERE'S STILL A MENTION OF ALPRS IN A MOBILE, POSSIBLY AUTONOMOUS CONTEXT, UM, IT'S BASICALLY WE'RE TRYING NOT TO GIVE COUNCIL ADVICE WHERE THEY DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE ANY LEGAL POWER.

I ACTUALLY WAS, UM, DOING A LITTLE RESEARCH TALKING

[00:55:01]

SO I DO THINK, UH, IT WAS VERY GOOD THAT COMMISSIONERS WOULD CALL THAT OUT AND KEPT US IN SCOPE ON WHAT WE CAN ACTUALLY RECOMMEND TO COUNCIL.

INDEED.

WELL, LET'S DO THIS.

I KNOW - OH, AND, UM, EXCUSE ME.

THERE IS ONE OTHER, UH, UH, POINT OF INFORMATION THAT THE COMMISSIONER SHOULD KNOW.

UH, WE TRIED TO GET MORE STRENUOUS ON HOW LONG DATA IS STORED AND HOW THAT DATA IS HELD.

UH, SO AT THE BEGINNING, YOU SEE, UM, THE LAST SORT OF PHRASE IS, "AND DO NOT STORE DATA AT ALL BEYOND ABSOLUTE NEED." UM, THE GOAL HERE IS, IS PRETTY CLEAR, RIGHT? WE DON'T WANT ANY DATA STORED.

IF YOU ARE GONNA TAKE PICTURES OR HAVE CAMERAS, UM, THE GOAL IS WE DON'T WANT SOME ANGRY EX-BOYFRIEND GOING BACK THROUGH AND FINDING YOU, RIGHT? WE WANT THE DATA TO NOT BE THERE.

UM, IF WE HAVE, UH, ANY MEANS TO FACILITATE THAT BEYOND ITS USE.

IF WE'RE USING IT TO SEE IF WE'RE FINDING SOMEONE ON THE RUN, OKAY.

BUT ONCE WE LOCATE THAT PERSON, WE DON'T NEED TO CONTINUE TO...

YOU SE WHERE I'M GOING? LIKE WE SHOULD ONLY HAVE THE DATA FOR WHAT WE NEED IT FOR, AND THEN PAST THAT POINT, WE SHOULDN'T JUST STORE IT OR HOLD ONTO IT AT ALL UNLESS WE HAVE GOOD JUSTIFICATION OR THE CITIZENS HAVE SOME RECOURSE.

THANK YOU FOR, FOR THAT.

AND THOSE ARE REAL LIFE EXAMPLES, JUST FOR THE RECORD THERE.

UM, SO LET'S DO THIS.

I KNOW A FEW COMMISSIONERS, UH, HAVE, UH, ALREADY REACHED OUT.

THEY MAY HAVE SPECIFIC, UH, AMENDMENTS THEY, THEY'D LIKE TO MAKE.

SO HOW ABOUT I GO AROUND THE ROOM JUST TO TRY AND KEEP US, UH, YOU KNOW, FOCUSED? UM, LET'S START WITH COMMISSIONER PRIBICH, UM, WHO, UM...

I, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU.

EXPLORING PROHIBITED USES.

I, I, I SPOKE TO YOU GUYS BRIEFLY.

UM, I WAS CURIOUS, FIRST OFF, HOW THIS RELATED TO THE...

WELL, FOR CONTEXT, I, I MISSED THE SEPTEMBER MEETING, SO I'M MAYBE MISSING SOME CONTEXT OR WHERE THIS SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATION MIGHT HAVE COME FROM.

UM, BUT LAST SEPTEMBER, WE PUT OUT RECOMMENDATION FOR ESTABLISHING COMMUNITY INPUT AND TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION REVIEW FOR SENSITIVE TECHNOLOGY CONTRACTS.

UM, AND THERE'S A SECTION IN THERE WHERE WE HAVE SOME ESTABLISHING PROHIBITED USES WHERE I WAS WONDERING IF THERE WOULD BE SOME SORT OF POSSIBILITY TO MAYBE REFERENCE THAT BACK IN THIS NEWER RECOMMENDATION OR IF YOU GUYS COULD JUST TELL ME WHAT'S CHANGED OR WHAT THIS IS SPECIFICALLY LIKE BUILDING ON FROM THERE.

I MEAN, I'M THE ONE WHO PUT IN THE PROHIBITED USES THING OR PROPOSED IT A YEAR AGO.

UM, I OBVIOUSLY LIKE IT BECAUSE MY, MY CONCERN WAS THAT WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE TRUST ACT, THAT EVENTUALLY THAT WOULD BECOME A RUBBER STAMP AND THAT ALSO WE WOULD KEEP RE-LITIGATING AND DEBATING THINGS THE CITIZENS HAVE ALREADY WEIGHED IN ON AND SAID THEY DON'T WANT.

SO IT WAS MY HOPE THAT WE COULD HAVE KIND OF A LIVING LIST THAT AS THE CITIZENS OVER TIME LEARN WHAT WE DON'T WANT, WE JUST KNOW THAT WE'RE NOT EVEN GONNA CONSIDER VENDORS TO DO THAT.

SO I WOULD HAVE NO OBJECTIONS TO SPECIFICALLY REFERENCING - YEAH.

OUT WHERE I LIKE THESE MENTIONS OF THE TRUST ACT.

THAT, SO THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IS THE SCOPE OF THIS SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATION, ARE WE SAYING ALPRS EQUALS PROHIBITED USE? I'D LIKE THAT, BUT ALSO IT DEPENDS ON HOW WE ALL FEEL.

IT'S...

THERE'S, SO THERE'S SOME, SOME FUZZINESS, I THINK, IN JUST THE FIRST FEW SENTENCES THAT, FOR US TO THINK ABOUT.

UM, WHAT WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT, WHAT, WHAT COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS JUST BROUGHT UP WHERE HE WAS TALKING ABOUT DO NOT STORE DATA AT ALL BEYOND ABSOLUTE NEED.

I THINK TECHNICALLY THAT'S ALREADY WHAT COMPANIES LIKE FLOCK SAY THAT THEY DO IN A, IN A WAY.

SO I'M NOT SURE HOW IT HELPS US TO JUST HAVE IT WRITTEN OUT HERE WITHOUT BEING REALLY SPECIFIC AND MAYBE GIVING A LITTLE MORE EVIDENCE OR EXAMPLES.

I, I REMEMBER LAST YEAR, KEVIN, YOU BROUGHT UP THE NEW HAMPSHIRE, YOU KNOW, YOU'D RATHER IT NOT BE STORED, BUT IF, IF IT IS STORED, WE HAVE THIS EXAMPLE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE WHERE IT'S STORED FOR 15 SECONDS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

SO MAYBE THERE'S SOME OPPORTUNITY FOR US HERE AND FRANKLY THROUGHOUT TO BE MORE SPECIFIC.

UM - I DO THINK THESE ARE GOOD POINTS BECAUSE WHILE OBVIOUSLY I DON'T BUY COMPANIES LIKE FLOCK'S ARGUMENT THAT KEEPING THE DATA LONGER IS IN ANY WAY NECESSARY, YOU'RE RIGHT, THEY HAVE LAWYERS WHO DO ARGUE THAT.

SO MAYBE BEING A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC THAT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO SAY IS THAT DATA COLLECTED MUST BE, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S SIMILAR...

YOU SEE THIS IN WEBSITE CONTEXT AND CONTRACTS WHERE YOU GATHER DATA THAT IT'S REALLY MAKING QUITE CLEAR THAT IT IS, IT IS NECESSARY TO PROVIDE THE DIRECT SERVICE AND NO ANCILLARY INDIRECT SERVICES.

LIKE IN THE ALPR EXAMPLE, IF YOU'RE GONNA USE THEM AT ALL, IT IS YOU NEED THE DATA IN RAM TO SCAN A LIST AND, AND CHECK.

YOU DON'T NEED IT FOR ANYTHING BEYOND THAT TO PERFORM THE GOAL OF IS THIS ON THE HOT LIST? AND I THINK SOMETHING I, I CALLED

[01:00:01]

THAT'S SOMETHING THAT'S CHANGED SINCE WE WROTE OUR RECOMMENDATION LAST YEAR.

UM, AND THEN THERE'S THE POINT, I'M WONDERING IF THIS HAS STAYED THE SAME, THE THIRD PARTY TECHNOLOGY CONTRACTS.

AND THEN THAT KIND OF LAST BIT THAT YOU ADDED I THINK IS GREAT BECAUSE IT'S, UM, A LITTLE MORE DIRECTIVE TOWARDS CITY COUNCIL.

UM, BUT THERE IS SOME PLACES HERE WHERE I THINK IF WE CAN JUST ADD, IT'S, IT'S COMES OFF SUBJECTIVE WHEN WE DO ACTUALLY HAVE FACTS FOR IT.

SO I THINK IT WOULD BE, UM, GOOD TO KIND OF DO A RUN THROUGH AND SEE IF THERE'S SPECIFIC EXAMPLES TO CALL OUT AND MAYBE, UM, LEAN ON THOSE A LITTLE MORE.

I THINK THAT WAS ALSO MY RECOMMENDATION IS I THINK THE KEY POLICY PRINCIPLE OF THIS RECOMMENDATION I GENERALLY AGREE WITH, RIGHT? WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PROTECTING RESIDENTS' PRIVACY, LIMITING UNNECESSARY SURVEILLANCE, ESTABLISHING APPROPRIATE OVERSIGHT.

I THINK THE CONSIDERATION TO BOLSTER FROM MY PERSPECTIVE TO MAKE THIS EASIER TO ADOPT SO IT'S NOT TOO BROAD AN ADVOCACY STATEMENT IS TO ADD A LITTLE BIT MORE OF, MAKE IT A LITTLE MORE SURGICAL WITH THE PRECISION ON THE REFERENCES OF THE EXAMPLES.

YOU DID TALK ABOUT THE ONE IN PFLUGERVILLE, WHICH I THINK WAS KIND OF RECENTLY, UM, IN THE NEWS, BUT SO MAYBE A LITTLE BIT MORE EVIDENTIARY BASIS AND THEN SOME ACTIONABLE RECOMMENDATIONS SUCH AS, OR IN REFERENCE TO X, Y, Z EXAMPLE.

AND I THINK THAT MIGHT HELP COUNCIL KIND OF GUIDE TOWARD A, AN ACTUAL HANDHOLD TANGIBLE EXAMPLE THAT THEY COULD LEAN ON.

AND I THINK IT HELPS TO BOLSTER A LITTLE BIT FURTHER.

SO THAT WOULD BE, THAT WAS ONE THING THAT I THINK JUST THROUGHOUT, UM, WOULD MAYBE HELP ELEVATE IT UP JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE FROM A, THE, THE, THE P - THE PRINCIPLE, BUT THEN ADDING SOME EVIDENTIARY EXAMPLES FOR IT.

FIND SOMETHING THAT MAKES SENSE, UM, OR, UM, HAVE AN INTERPRETATION THAT PROPERLY LIMITS WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO SO THAT WE, WE HIT THE SPIRIT OF WHAT THE, THE CITIZENS ARE LOOKING FOR.

SO LET'S FOCUS IN ON, UH, THE CHANGES TO THE TEXT, UH, IF WE WANNA TRY AND PASS SOMETHING TONIGHT.

SO WHAT I HEARD, UH, FROM COMMISSIONER PREBICH IS PERHAPS ADDING, UH, A, A WHEREAS STATEMENT REFERENCING OUR PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATION FROM, UH, FROM LAST, FROM SEPTEMBER OF 25.

IS THAT RIGHT? DID I HEAR THAT CORRECTLY? YEAH.

A, A REFERENCE TO THAT AND HOW THIS SORT OF BUILDS OR SCOPES, THIS SCOPE IS RELATED TO THIS.

BUT ALSO I THINK A BIG RECO - UH, RECOMMENDATION OF MINE WOULD BE IN THE BEGINNING TO ADD SOME SORT OF DEFINITION OF, OF MAYBE A MORE CONCRETE DEFINITION OF ALPRS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT SAYS TO ENSURE THAT ANY FUTURE USE OF ANY BROAD SURVEILLANCE TOOLS SUCH AS ALPRS OR OTHERS, THAT'S A REALLY WIDE NET.

AND I THINK IT WOULD BE GOOD TO DEFINE ARE WE, WHAT, WHAT DOES BROAD SURVEILLANCE TOOL MEAN? UH, WHAT ARE WE, UH, THIS IS WHERE I, I THINK THE SCOPE JUST KIND OF LOST ME A LITTLE.

UM, I COULD ADD THAT I THINK THE ANSWER TO WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THAT IS IN A SENTENCE THAT I THINK, WELL, YEAH, I THINK IT'S ONE THAT CAME OUT OF ME AND BRIAN TALKING, THAT'S RIGHT.

BUT YEAH, YOU'LL NOTE AT THE VERY END THERE, I THINK THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION OF WHAT DOES IT MEAN IS, UM, A TECHNOLOGY THAT COLLECTS AND STORES DATA NON-CONSENSUALLY FROM CITIZENS WHERE THE CITY OR CITIZENS DO NOT HAVE INFLUENCE OF THE DATA COLLECTION OR DATA HANDLING, ESPECIALLY LOCATION DATA OR OTHER PERSONALLY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION THAT ALLOW FOR THE HISTORICAL RECREATION OF INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS MOVEMENTS OR DAILY ACTIVITIES.

THAT'S WHAT WE MEAN THERE BASICALLY.

AND WHEN YOU'RE SAYING THAT, I'M ACTUALLY JUST THINKING TO MYSELF AS JUST AN E- EX- EXERCISE, IS THERE SOMETHING THAT WE CURRENTLY ENGAGE WITH THAT DOES THIS THAT WE'VE ACCEPTED? UH, JUST BECAUSE THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE SEEN THIS, SO I'M JUST CURIOUS - YES.

IF WE'RE GONNA GET OURSELVES IN IT.

SEE, UM, I WANNA TALK TO A COUPLE DIFFERENT POINTS.

UH, ONE, THE CITY HAS ALPRS, UM, VIS-A-VIS THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, RIGHT? AND HOW THEY HOLD DATA AND WHAT THEY'RE ACCOUNTABLE TO IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE SEE FROM THE, UH, SORT OF FLOC CATEGORY OF THE WORLD.

SO ALPRS OVERALL, UH, EXIST IN OUR CITY IN DIFFERENT CAPACITIES.

AND THOSE USES ARE ALSO DIFFERENT, WHICH IN MY MIND MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO DEFINE HOW, UH, AN OPERATIONAL CHANGE CAN BE EXECUTED WITHIN THE COMPANIES THAT HAVE IT.

SO FOR INSTANCE, IF FLOC ONLY NEEDS IT FOR 100 MILLISECONDS TO CHECK AGAINST THE DATABASE, THAT'S ONE SET OF USES.

BUT IF THE POLICE ARE USING SOMETHING LESS SOPHISTICATED OR, UM, A SERIES OF SYSTEMS TO CHECK AGAINST FEDERAL DATABASES THAT MAY TAKE MUCH MORE TIME OR HAVE A DIFFERENT PROCESS, UM, I DON'T THINK WE HAVE ENOUGH INSIGHT TO BE ABLE TO KIND OF MAKE SOMETHING THAT SPECIFIC.

UM, ALTHOUGH I DO AGREE THAT THIS IS BROAD ENOUGH TO, TO KIND OF FALL INTO A CHASM WITH REGARD TO HOW, UH, A LARGE COMPANY WOULD SAY WHAT ABSOLUTE NEED MEANS TO ME, RIGHT? AND THAT COULD EASILY BE SOMETHING THAT THEY ALREADY DO AND THEY CAN KIND OF SKIRT THE RULE, UH, THE SPIRIT OF THE RULE.

UM, SO I THINK THERE'S A GRAY AREA THERE THAT, UH, WE CAN HOPEFULLY

[01:05:01]

UM - YEAH.

FOR THE PURPOSE OF, UM, IF WE WANNA JUST, YOU KNOW, MOVE FORWARD WITH WHAT KEVIN SUGGESTED WHERE WE TAKE THAT LAST SENTENCE AND KIND OF PUSH IT UP IN A WAY, UM, AND YOU, OR USE IT IN THE DEFINITION, I'M COOL WITH THAT AND WE CAN JUST SEE WHAT IT FEELS LIKE, UM, FOR THE REST OF THE...

AND, UH, JUST TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION OF THE PLACES WHERE THIS HAS HAPPENED, I DON'T KNOW IF PEOPLE WERE ACCEPTING THIS.

THEY DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A CHOICE AND THE LAW ACTUALLY HAS CHANGED HERE, BUT UNTIL THE 2017 SUPREME COURT CARPENTER DECISION, UH, CELL PHONE LOCATION DATA WAS BEING ROUTINELY ACCESSED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT WITHOUT A WARRANT BASICALLY.

SO THAT'S AN EARLIER EXAMPLE OF WHERE THIS WAS HAPPENING TILL THE SUPREME COURT ACTUALLY CLOSED THAT LOOPHOLE AND STARTED REQUIRING WARRANTS.

SO WHAT I'M HEARING IS, UM, MOVING SOME OF THE TEXT, UH, FROM THE BOTTOM WHERE IT DEFINES, UH, DATA THAT IS NON-CONSE - CONSENSUALLY COLLECTED FROM CITIZENS WHERE THE CITY OR CITIZENS DO NOT HAVE INFLUENCE IN DATA COLLECTION AND/OR DATA HANDLING, ESPECIALLY LOCATION DATA OR OTHER PERSONALLY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION THAT ALLOW FOR THE HISTORICAL RECREATION OF INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS MOVEMENTS OR DAILY ACTIVITIES, UM, AS THE DEFINITION OF, UH, WHAT WE'RE DISCUSSING.

OF THE BROAD SURVEILLANCE TECH THAT WE HOPE TO - OF BROAD SURVEILLANCE TECH.

IF WE WANT TO KEEP IT AT BROAD SURVEILLANCE TECH, BECAUSE WE COULD ALSO JUST SCOPE IT TO ALPRS, WHICH I THINK WAS THE INITIAL SORT OF IMPETUS FOR THIS.

AND I'M OKAY WITH THAT TOO.

I JUST DON'T KNOW IF THAT GETS AWAY FROM THE SPIRIT OF THE RECOMMENDATION.

SAY THAT ONE MORE TIME.

SO IF WE WANTED TO, INSTEAD OF DEFINING THE BROAD SURVEILLANCE TOOLS THIS COULD APPLY TO, IF WE WOULD WANT TO JUST SCOPE IT TO ALPR IS THE WAY THAT THEY'RE DEFINED MORE NARROWLY.

I THINK IT'S PROBABLY BETTER BROADER GIVEN THAT THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL HAS ALREADY TAKEN ACTION - ON THE...

I AGREE BECAUSE IT ALMOST RAISES THE QUESTION OF THEY'VE BANNED THEM, WHAT ARE WE ASKING FOR IF WE'RE JUST TALKING JUST ABOUT THAT? OKAY.

I ALSO WANTED TO, TO INQUIRE TO, UH, COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD IF THIS, UM, FITS THE SCOPE OF YOUR PREVIOUS, UH, FEEDBACK FROM LAST MEETING.

YEAH, I THINK IT DOES.

I THINK IT ADDRESSES WHAT I WAS CONCERNED WITH.

SO HERE'S THE CHANGE AS I UNDERSTOOD IT.

UM, IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH, UH, IT WOULD READ, "THE CITY OF AUSTIN SHALL DISCONTINUE THE USE OF AUTOMATIC LIST LICENSE PLATE READERS OR, UM, OR ALPRS IN ALL THEIR FORMS AND, UH, ENSURE THAT ANY FUTURE USE OF BROAD SURVEILLANCE TOOLS," HERE'S THE ADDITION, "DEFINED AS DATA NON-CON - UH, CONSENSUALLY COLLECTED FROM CITIZENS WHERE THE CITY OR CITIZENS DO NOT HAVE INFLUENCE IN DATA COLLECTION AND/OR DATA HANDLING, ESPECIALLY LOCATION DATA OR OTHER PERSONALLY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION THAT ALLOW FOR HISTORICAL RECREATION OF A, OF AN INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS MOVEMENT OR DAILY ACTIVITIES." COULD WE, UM, IT SAYS, "WHERE CITIZENS DO NOT HAVE INFLUENCE IN DATA COLLECTION AND/OR DATA HANDLING." IS IT, UM, IMPORTANT TO USE INFLUENCE OR COULD WE USE ALSO OR ADD TRANSPARENCY INTO DATA COLLECTION AND/OR DATA HANDLING? I THINK THAT'S, I THINK THAT'S A FAIR IMPROVEMENT THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU, IF YOU DON'T HAVE VISIBILITY, EVEN IF THE, EVEN IF YOU WERE PART OF THE PROCESS, IF YOU CAN'T AUDIT, CHECK IT, CONFIRM IT ALIGNS WITH WHAT YOU THOUGH YOU WERE AGREEING TO, IT'S STILL A PROBLEM.

SO SHOULD WE, UM, REPLACE INFLUENCE OR SHOULD WE JUST REPLACE, UH, SORRY, REPLACE INFLUENCE WITH TRANSPARENCY, UM, OR ADD IT IN? I THINK REPLACE.

REPLACE.

ALSO, THIS IS THE TINIEST NITPICK, BUT IT'S BUGGING ME.

COULD WE ALSO STRIKE THE AND BEFORE AND TO ENSURE IT'S TECHNICALLY GRAMMATICALLY INCORRECT WITH THAT AND? AND IT'S BEEN BUGGING ME, SORRY.

RECREATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS MOVEMENTS OR DAILY ACTIVITIES." SURE.

SO I'M GONNA READ THAT PARAGRAPH AGAIN AS I UNDERSTOOD IT.

AND I KNOW, UH, DAN'S WORKING ALSO.

SO, UH, THAT, THAT PARAGRAPH READS, "THE CITY OF AUSTIN SHALL DISCONTINUE THE USE OF AUTOMATIC LICENSE PLATES READERS OR ALPRS IN ALL OUR FORMS TO ENSURE THAT THEY, THAT ANY FUTURE USE OF BROAD SURVEILLANCE TOOLS DEFINED AS DATA NON-CONSENSUALLY COLLECTED FROM CITIZENS WHERE THE CITY OR SYSTEMS DO NOT HAVE TRANSPARENCY IN DATA COLLECTION AND/OR DATA HANDLING, ESPECIALLY LOCATION DATA OR OTHER PERSONALLY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION THAT ALLOW FOR HIS, THE HISTORICAL

[01:10:01]

I FEEL THAT THAT IS A PROPER WAY TO DESCRIBE BROAD SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO HERE.

UM, JUST GOT A REQUEST IN THE ROOM TO READ IT ONE MORE TIME A LITTLE MORE SLOWLY.

SO, UM, IT READS, "RECOMMENDATION.

THE CITY OF AUSTIN SHALL, UH, DISCONTINUE THE USE OF AUTOMATED LICENSE PLATE READERS OR ALPRS IN ALL THEIR FORMS TO ENSURE THAT ANY FUTURE USE OF BROAD SURVEILLANCE TOOLS, UH, DEFI - SORRY, IN ALL THEIR FORMS...

DEFINED AS? YEAH, SORRY.

ALPRS IN ALL THEIR FORMS, ANY FUTURE USE OF BROAD SURVEILLANCE TOOLS DEFINED AS DATA NON-CONSENSUALLY COLLECTED FROM CITIZENS WHERE THE CITY OF, OR CITIZENS DO NOT HAVE TRANSPARENCY IN DATA COLLECTION AND/OR DATA HANDLING, ESPECIALLY LOCATION DATA OR OTHER PERSONALLY IDENTIFYING INFORMATION THAT ALLOW FOR THE HISTORICAL RECREATION OF AN INDIVIDUAL CITIZEN'S MOVEMENTS OR DAILY ACTIVITIES." THAT'S GOOD.

I, I THINK, UM, IT, IT WOULD JUST BE INFLUENCE INTO DATA COLLECTION, JUST LIKE A GRAMMAR THING.

I THINK OVERALL THIS CHANGE STRENGTHENS THE DOCUMENT.

I GUESS THE OBVIOUS FOLLOW-UP QUESTION, AND I JUST WANT TO ADDRESS IT SINCE IT DIRECTLY TIES IN, IS HOW ARE WE CHANGING THE LANGUAGE AT THE END? WILL WE JUST MIRROR IT ALMOST LIKE A OPENING AND CLOSING MIRROR STATEMENT? WILL WE COMPRESS IT? WILL WE STRIKE IT FROM THE END? I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CONSIDER THAT SINCE WE'RE BASICALLY PULLING THAT LANGUAGE FROM THE END.

UM - I THINK THEY SHOULD MATCH.

I THINK WE CAN FEEL IT OUT AS WE, AS WE GO KIND OF - YEAH, LET'S WORK THROUGH THE REST OF THE DOCUMENT SINCE THE, THE LAST PIECE IS THE ACTIONABLE ONE.

ARE WE, UM, ARE WE ENDING THE FIRST PARAGRAPH WITH ACTIVITIES WE'RE STRIKING SUCH AS ALPRS OR OTHERS ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO CITIZENS OF AUSTIN AND DO NOT STORE DATA BEYOND ABSOLUTE NEED? ARE WE STRIKING THAT? THAT WAS I THINK JUST ONE - I WOULD LIKE US NOT TO STRIKE THE END OF THAT.

IS BEING COLLECTED, USUALLY THE CON, THE CONSENT BASIS AROUND THINGS LIKE GDPR IS THAT, AS I SAID, IT MUST BE THE SERVICE THE USER IS REQUESTING CAN LITERALLY NOT BE PERFORMED WITHOUT COLLECTING THE REQUESTED DATA THAT LIKE, YOU WANT ME TO DO THIS AND I CAN'T DO IT UNLESS I COLLECT THIS DATA FROM YOU.

THE PIECE THAT SPEAKS TO ACCOUNTABILITY TO THE CITIZENS AND WHAT HAVE YOU.

UM, BUT SOME OF THE GRAMMAR BEFORE THAT I THINK WILL NEED SOME ALTERATION.

OR I THINK, BRIAN, THE, UM, ACCOUNTABILITY LINE I BELIEVE IS ALSO IMPORTANT.

THE DO NOT STORE DATA AT ALL BEYOND ABSOLUTE NEED, I DON'T THINK WE NEED THAT.

DID WE JUST SAY THAT? UH, WE WERE LOOKING FOR A WAY TO GET SPECIFIC ENOUGH THERE TO GIVE IT ENOUGH POWER TO NOT NECESSARILY GET CIRCUMVENTED.

UM, SO I DON'T KNOW IF WE FOUND A WAY TO DO THAT, BUT I WANNA HAVE SOMETHING THERE THAT SPEAKS TO THE SPIRIT OF NOT KEEPING DATA, UH, BEYOND WHAT THEY NEED.

I, I AGREE WITH YOU.

I AGREE WITH YOU, BUT I THINK THE SENTENCE ITSELF - BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SAY THAT HERE.

YEAH, EXACTLY.

THE SENTENCE ITSELF IS JUST A LITTLE SUBJECTIVE IN TERMS OF ABSOLUTE NEED BECAUSE DIFFERENT GROUPS DEFINE ABSOLUTE NEED IN DIFFERENT WAYS.

SO I AGREE WITH YOU THAT THE ACCOUNTABILITY PIECE IS, IS SUPER IMPORTANT.

SO I'M WONDERING HOW WE CAN WEAVE THAT IN WITHOUT, UH, BY USING MAYBE MORE OF THAT LIKE OBJECTIVE LANGUAGE.

I'M GONNA HAVE TO THINK IT THROUGH.

I'M NOT SURE WHAT TO SUGGEST.

INDEED, I AGREE.

UH, QUESTION FOR COMMISSIONER WELSH, DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT ON HOW THIS HAS BEEN HANDLED OR, UM, HAVE YOU SEEN EXAMPLES OF HOW THAT LANGUAGE FOR LIMITING THE USE OF DATA, UM, HAS OCCURRED IN OTHER PLACES OR OTHER MUNICIPALITIES IN YOUR EXPERIENCE? MM, I WOULD HAVE TO GO CHECK SPECIFICALLY TO SEE HOW THIS IS HANDLED IN, IN DATA CONSENT GATHERING COLLECTION CONTEXT.

I KNOW GENERALLY, MY BROAD UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE WAY IT IS PUT THAT THE DATA MUST BE DIRECTLY NECESSARY TO PROVIDE THE SERVICE BEING OFFERED TO THE END USER.

UM, BUT WHAT'S INTERESTING HERE IS THERE'S A DISCONNECT WITH ALPRS BECAUSE WITH, WITH A WEBSITE, THE PERSON CONSENTING IS THE PERSON WHOSE DATA IS BEING GATHERED.

WITH A TOOL LIKE AN APL ARE THE CUSTOMER, THE PEOPLE USING THE ALPRS ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE SAME PEOPLE AS THE PEOPLE WHO ARE HAVING THEIR DATA BEING COLLECTED.

THE WHOLE PART OF THE ISSUE IS THERE'S NO OPPORTUNITY FOR CONSENT HERE.

SO, I MEAN, I CAN TELL YOU BROADLY IN, IN, IN THE CONTEXT WHERE IT IS THE PERSON WHOSE DATA

[01:15:01]

I THINK THAT'S WHERE I GET A LITTLE CONFUSED WITH IT BECAUSE I THINK IN THIS USE CASE, ABSOLUTE NEED IS DEFINED BY THE END USER OF THE DATA WHOSE DATA IT'S NOT THEIRS.

AND SO I THINK IT GETS A LITTLE BIT MESSY.

AND I, I THINK WE'RE JUMPING RIGHT INTO THE TENSION WITH THIS TECHNOLOGY WHY JUST CONSENT DOESN'T WORK FOR REFORM HERE BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE NOT CONSENTING.

CAN WE JUST CHANGE IT TO AT ALL BEYOND, FROM AT ALL BEYOND ABSOLUTE NEED TO UNNECESSARILY? OR IS THAT TOO VAGUE FOR THIS - UM...

GROUP? AND I KNOW THAT'S UP TO INTERPRETATION AS WELL.

YEAH, WHAT'S NECESSARY? UM, MAY- MAYBE WE GET AROUND THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE SINCE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT REAL TIME DATA COLLECTION SYSTEMS, MAYBE, MAYBE, HMM, MAYBE WE COULD TIME BO - OH, OKAY, WE COULD GET VERY TECHNICAL WITH IT.

MAYBE WE COULD TIME BOX IT TO SAY THAT IT MUST BE RELATED, WELL, BECAUSE IF WE GET TOO TECHNICAL, I DON'T KNOW THE, THE SOFTWARE DETAILS OF CERTAIN VENDORS, BUT I WAS GONNA SAY SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF THAT IT NEEDS TO BE DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE REAL TIME PROCESSING EVENT OCCURRING AND COULD NOT BE SAVED OR ARCHIVED FOR FUTURE RETRIEVAL OR PROCESSING AT A LATER DATE.

I MEAN, WHAT IF WE, UH, THAT'S, THAT'S A LOT.

I KNOW.

AND, AND AS I SAID, PEOPLE COULD ATTACK IT WITH THAT'S NOT WHAT OUR SYSTEM DOES.

SO, SO, I MEAN, WHAT IF WE JUST SAY TO, TO, JUST TO SIMPLY SAY NOT STORING DATA? BECAUSE THAT WOULD, THAT WOULD GET AROUND, I MEAN, IF YOU'RE PROCESSING THE DATA, YOU'RE USING IT, YOU'RE NOT STORING IT.

RIGHT.

I MEAN, IT GETS INTO WHAT DOES STORE MEAN? BUT I THINK MOST PEOPLE WOULD AGREE IN RAM IS NOT STORING, BUT PUTTING ON A HARD DRIVE SOMEWHERE IS STORING.

MAYBE WE CIRCLE BACK.

I THINK WE'RE LOSING THE FOREST FOR THE TREE A LITTLE BIT ON THIS ONE.

FAIR.

LET'S, UM, LET'S TABLE THAT PIECE AND MOVE ON.

COMMISSIONER PREBICH, DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION? I HEARD SOMETHING ELSE AROUND JUST REFERENCING OUR OTHER - THE...

RECOMMENDATION.

UH, YEAH.

WE CAN SAY WHEREAS...

I, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ALL HAVE DONE THAT BEFORE REFERENCING THE PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATION.

I, I ALREADY, I KIND OF DRAFTED SOMETHING LIKE THAT.

SO WHAT - AS LONG AS THERE'S JUST SOME REFERENCE, IT'S GOOD.

SO, SO IMMEDIATELY UNDER THAT FIRST PARAGRAPH, ADDING A WHEREAS STATEMENT TO, UM, WHEREAS THE TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION PREVIOUSLY PASSED RECOMMENDATION NUMBER 2025091004 ON SENSITIVE TECHNOLOGY CONTRACTS.

AND THEN WE MOVE ON TO THE FIRST - YEP.

WHEREAS STATEMENT.

I THINK THAT'S A GOOD WAY.

WE DON'T HAVE TO MASSAGE LANGUAGE.

WE JUST SAY, LOOK AT WHAT WE DID BEFORE.

YEP.

UM, A RECOMMENDATION NOW ON THIS, UM, FIRST PIECE, WHEREAS LICENSE PLATES READERS ARE KNOWN TO COLLECT SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF DATA FROM THE PUBLIC THAN WHAT IS USED, ULTIMATELY USED FOR PUBLIC SAFETY.

UM, MAYBE MY SUGGESTION WOULD BE TO JUST REFRAME THAT AROUND PAST ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, BECAUSE THAT IS DEFINED PUBLICLY, A PRIMARY PURPOSE FOR THAT TECHNOLOGY.

LET ME JUST READ THE CHANGE OUT LOUD.

"WHEREAS LICENSE PLATES READERS ARE KNOWN TO COLLECT SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF DATA FROM THE PUBLIC THAN WHAT IS ULTIMATELY USED FOR PUBLIC SAFETY BEYOND ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE.

"WELL, I WOULD SAY THEN WHAT IS ULTIMATELY USED BEYOND ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE.

I THINK YOUR INTENTION IS SPECIFICALLY TO TRY TO TIE IT INTO THIS IDEA OF WE'RE TRYING TO SCOPE IT TO DIRECT WHAT IT'S DESIGNED TO DO AND NOT THEN LATER ANCILLARY.

YOU'RE TRYING TO TIE IT INTO THAT WITH THAT LANGUAGE CHANGE.

THAT, THAT MAKES SENSE TO ME.

LET ME READ IT AGAIN.

WHEREAS LICENSE PLATE READERS ARE KNOWN TO SIGNI - TO COLLECT SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF DATA FROM THE PUBLIC THAN WHAT IS ULTIMATELY USED BEYOND ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE.

YES.

MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ONE.

DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER ONE, COMMISSIONER PLIEBICH? UM, NOT RIGHT NOW.

UH-UH.

I THINK ONE QUESTION I HAD WAS AROUND, WHERE IS THE LANGUAGE ON SELF-DRIVING VEHICLE? THERE IT IS.

UH, LET'S MOVE ON TO COMMISSIONER HERITAGE.

I MEAN, I THINK WE COVERED A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT I HAD.

UM, ONE QUESTION ON.

[01:20:02]

OTHER PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE OPERATIONS ARE ACTIVE WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN, INCLUDING ON SOME SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES THAT ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE AUSTIN PUBLIC.

IS THAT A CHANGE FROM WHAT WAS IN THERE BEFORE? SORRY, CAN YOU READ THAT, UM, THE PORTION THAT YOU'RE REFERENCING INTO THE MIC? SORRY.

I'M SORRY.

I'M JUST THINKING OUT LOUD HERE.

I'M FIRST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S DIFFERENT ON THIS PRINTED SHEET VERSUS WHAT WE HAD POSTED.

AND SO, UM, I JUST WANTED TO CONFIRM IF THE SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES COMMENT THERE WERE RESTRICTLY, LIKE THE SPIRIT OF THIS RECITAL IS RESTRICTLY, IS SPECIFIC TO CITY OF AUSTIN VEHICLES.

WE'RE NOT TRYING TO MAKE COMMENTS ON A WAYMO OR A TESLA OR WHATEVER, RIGHT? UNFORTUNATELY OR NOT, WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO, SO.

I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE.

UM, THAT ADDRESSES THAT QUESTION.

I THINK...

I GOT THAT ONE.

COME BACK TO ME BECAUSE I NEED TO LIKE RE- RECONCILE WHAT I HAVE PRIOR.

COMMISSIONER EASTWOOD, ANY AMENDMENTS YOU'D LIKE TO MAKE BEYOND WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN CALLED OUT? NO, I THINK IT'S FINE AS A GENERAL POSITION STATEMENT.

I THINK IT'S PERFECTLY IN THE SCOPE OF WHAT WE CAN ASK THE CITY TO DO.

UH, COMMISSIONER WEALTH, I'M, I'M GONNA, I'M GONNA HOLD ON YOU AND I'M GONNA GO TO OUR VIRTUAL COMMISSIONERS AND JUST CHECK IN ON THEM.

I ALREADY SCOPED A LOT OF THIS.

WE CANNOT...

UM, VICE CHAIR COMBI, UM, ANY AMENDMENTS YOU'D LIKE TO OFFER UP THAT HAVE - NO, I DON'T HAVE ANY AMENDMENTS AT THIS TIME.

COMMISSIONER FROCK, YOU JUST CAME ON CAMERA.

YEAH, NO AMENDMENTS FOR ME.

UM, I THINK JUST ECHOING SOME OF THE COMMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN SAID, LIKE IT IS A VERY GENERAL RECOMMENDATION, WHICH I DON'T THINK IS BAD.

I THINK JUST RECOGNIZING THAT.

AND SO IF THERE ARE MORE SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS IN THE FUTURE, UM, I THINK IT WAS COMMISSIONER HERITAGE WHO CALLED OUT LIKE PROVIDING EXAMPLES AND THEN SAYING, "BECAUSE OF THIS, THIS IS HOW, LIKE, HERE'S A RECOMMENDATION WE HAVE." I THINK IT COULD BE BENEFICIAL TO DO THAT IN THE FUTURE IF WE WANNA GET A LITTLE BIT MORE SPECIFIC.

BUT AS A GENERAL RECOMMENDATION, I FEEL GOOD HERE.

THAT'S WHY I DON'T HAVE, LIKE, I THINK A LOT OF MINE WOULD TAKE TIME IF WE'RE GONNA ACTUALLY ADD TO BOLSTER.

AND SO STEVEN, IF WE NEED TO, IF THERE'S A REASON THAT WE'RE DRIVING A VOTE TONIGHT, THEN I WON'T BE ABLE TO MAKE AMENDMENTS TO IT, TO BOLSTER.

IF WE DON'T NEED TO MAKE THOSE AMENDMENTS TO ENACT THE RECOMMENDATION, THEN THAT'S FINE.

I DID ACTUALLY JUST THINK OF A POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL EXAMPLE THE CITY WAS RECENTLY ENGAGED IN.

THE DIGITAL KIOSKS THAT MIGHT USE FACIAL RECOGNITION MINORITY REPORT STYLE THAT ALSO, BECAUSE THE KIOSKS ARE AT FIXED LOCATIONS, COULD POTENTIALLY IDENTIFY PEOPLE AND PROVIDE MOVEMENT.

SO IF WE NEED ANOTHER HARD EXAMPLE OF SOMETHING THE CITY'S BEEN DOING RECENTLY.

I PERSONALLY DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE ATTEMPTING TO MAKE AMENDMENTS ON EXISTING EXAMPLES THAT WE HAVE.

SO I WOULD BYPASS THAT FOR ME.

AND I JUST OFFERED THAT.

I DON'T HAVE ALL THE DETAILS IN FRONT OF ME.

IF WE ADDED IT, I'D INSIST ON CHECKING NEWS STORIES AND PRESS RELEASES TO SEE WE WERE ACCURATE.

IF YOU WANNA DO SO NOW, IF YOU DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE ENOUGH, MAYBE LET'S LEAVE IT OFF.

OH, YOU MEAN LIKE LITERALLY LOOK IT UP WHILE WE'RE WAITING AND DEBATING THIS? UM - YEAH.

YEAH, OKAY.

I CAN, GIVE ME A SEC.

I'LL SEE IF I CAN FIND SOMETHING.

UM, COMMISSIONER ALDERT, UH, ANY AMENDMENTS YOU'D LIKE TO MAKE? NO ADDITIONAL AMENDMENTS OR RECOMMENDATIONS FROM MY END.

COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, WE'LL COME BACK TO YOU.

I, HELLO.

I HAVE, UM, ONE MORE QUESTION.

UM, THERE IS, UH, THIS, "WHEREAS ALPR TRAINING SCENARIOS HAVE INCLUDED MONITORING PROTESTS, A VITAL FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTED ACTIVITY THAT MUST NOT BE SUBJECT TO PERCEPTIONS THAT THE GOVERNMENT IS TAKING ACTION THAT COULD CHILL CITIZEN PARTICIPATION." THAT ONE FEELS DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER ONES.

AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT, UH, IN GENERAL, BUT I'M CURIOUS IF THERE'S, UM, IF, IF WE CAN, UH, I'M, I'M NOT SURE WHAT TO DO WITH THAT LANGUAGE OR IF WE SHOULD MAYBE THINK OF A S - THIS, THIS IS A VERY GENERAL ALPR TRAINING

[01:25:01]

SCENARIOS PIECE.

AND SO NOW IT'S MORE FOCUSED, RIGHT, ON ALPRS, WHICH IS FINE, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF IT HELPS OR HURTS US HERE AS FAR AS LIKE A BROADER RECOMMENDATION.

IS YOUR COMMENT ABOUT POTENTIALLY REMOVING THAT RECITAL OR IS IT ABOUT MASSAGING SOME OF THE LANGUAGE? I WOULD JUST BE CURIOUS IN THE ARGUMENT WHERE, WHAT THAT, UM, HOW TO EITHER ADD A LITTLE MORE EVIDENCE TO THAT, UH, OR JUST TO BOLSTER IT OR TO, YEAH, MAYBE REMOVE IT IF IT DOESN'T FIT THE KIND OF FOCUS ON, UM, MISUSE OF DATA FOR THE REST OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS.

I THINK IT GETS BACK TO, AGAIN, THE GENERAL CONCERN OF, IF WE'RE PROPOSING SOMETHING FOR COUNCIL, I WOULD ENCOURAGE US TO, LIKE, CRAFT SOME...

I APPRECIATE THE EXAMPLES THAT YOU'RE PROVIDING, KEVIN, BUT I THINK IF WE'RE FROM A POINT OF ORDER THAT WE DO THIS IN ADVANCE A LITTLE BIT, SO THAT WAY WE FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE WITH, WE'RE GIVING CITED EXAMPLES SO THAT WAY THERE'S SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN REFERENCE BACK AS THEY'RE REVIEWING THE RECOMMENDATION.

AND SO, UM, PARDON ME FOR, FOR KIND OF CATCHING UP ON SOME OF THIS.

SO I, I TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THAT, BUT I THINK THAT'S ONE AREA WHERE I FEEL, I KIND OF AGREE WITH YOU A LITTLE BIT ON...

I THINK IT'S JUST, IT FITS IN THAT GENERAL CONCERN OF, UM, I AGREE WITH THE SPIRIT OF THE RECOMMENDATION.

I THINK FROM COUNCIL PERSPECTIVE, I WOULD WANT TO MAYBE OFFER SOME IMPORTANT OR SUPPORTING RESEARCH THAT DESCRIBES THE EXAMPLES FOR EACH OF THESE THINGS THAT, CLAIMS THAT WE'RE MAKING.

SO HOW ARE WE FEELING? I GUESS WHAT I'M HEARING IS A LITTLE BIT OF UNEASE, UH, WITH, UH, YOU KNOW, PASSING THIS TONIGHT, MAYBE DOING ANOTHER TURN ON IT.

I LIKE THE CHANGES WE'VE MADE.

I THINK IT'S...

AND I AGREE WITH THE PROTECT, AGAIN, THE, THE...

I APPRECIATE, KEVIN, YOU AND BRIAN'S WORK ON THIS BECAUSE I THINK THIS IS A CRITICAL PIECE AROUND PRIVACY, STEWARDSHIP OF DATA IF YOU COLLECT IT, AWARENESS OF IT THAT, AND LIKE AFFIRMATIVE ASSENT TO COLLECT THAT DATA AND UNDERSTANDING ITS USE.

THAT MIGHT ALSO BE ANOTHER PIECE THAT UNDERSTANDING USE OF INFORMATION.

I THINK WE CAN BOLSTER SOME OF THE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE CITIZENS OF AUSTIN SIDE.

SO, UM, I THINK FOR ME FROM A, JUST THIS IS THE ONE THING I WOULD WANT TO AMPLIFY THIS FURTHER WOULD BE SOME OF THOSE CITED - YEAH.

RESEARCH EXAMPLES OR JUST LIKE USE CASE EXAMPLES.

I THINK THE PFLUGERVILLE ONE IS REALLY HELPFUL, MAINE OR LEANDER BASTROP, UM, JUST SO THAT WAY WE CAN BOLSTER THE, HERE'S THE RISKS AND HERE'S SOME EXAMPLE, LIKE THINGS THAT HAVE ACTUALLY OCCURRED ACCORDING TO THOSE RISKS, YOU KNOW? I MEAN, UM, IS THERE A HARD NUMBER OF EXAMPLES YOU'RE LOOKING FOR WHERE YOU WOULD BE COMFORTABLE WITH PASSAGE? I MIGHT BE ABLE TO PRODUCE THOSE.

I DON'T THINK IT'S NUMBER.

I THINK, UM, IT'S MORE INTENT THAN QUANTITY.

I WOULD JUST SAY, YEAH, I MEAN, FOR EACH LIKE CLASS OF ABUSE EXAMPLES THAT WE HAVE, WE NEED TO PROBABLY HAVE AT LEAST ONE SIGHTING.

I MEAN, IT'S EVEN AS SIMPLE AS, UM, WHEREAS OUR NEIGHBOR- NEIGHBORING MUNICIPALITY PLUGERVILLE HAS DISCOVERED THAT THEIR CITIZENS' DATA WAS ACCESSED IN WAYS THAT CAUSED CONCERN.

IF WE JUST HAVE LIKE A EXAMPLE THERE, I THINK I, I MEAN, I WOULD BE FINE WITH THAT.

I CAN TELL YOU THE MAIN CAUSE OF CONCERN WAS THAT, UH, I DON'T HAVE THE EXACT NUMBERS, BUT BASICALLY THAT THE VAST, VAST, VAST MAJORITY OF LOOKUPS OF FLUGERVILLE'S ALPR DATA WAS NOT DONE BY FLUGERVILLE'S OWN POLICE DEPARTMENT.

IT WAS DONE BY S - I THINK, I WANNA SAY THERE WAS EVEN A POLICE DEPARTMENT IN ALASKA THAT LOOKED UP THEIR DATA FOR SOME REASON.

IT, BUT IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF REQUESTS FOR THEIR PFLUGERVILLE'S DATA FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENTS ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY.

THE ACTUAL REQUESTS FROM FLUGERVILLEVILLE PD WERE ALMOST NON-EXISTENT COMPARED TO THE EXTERNAL REQUESTS.

AND THAT WAS THE THING THAT HAD EVERYBODY GOING, "WHAT THE HELL?" YEAH, SO WE CAN JUST SAY, UM, "AND PFLUGERVILLE HAS DISCOVERED THAT THEIR CITIZEN DATA WAS ACCESSED, UM, BY HUNDREDS OF UNAUTHORIZED AGENCIES." I THINK I'M, CONSIDERING IT'S BROAD, I'M OKAY WITH THAT AS A...

EMPHASIS,

[01:30:01]

LIKE A LITTLE MORE.

WOULD YOU ALSO INCLUDE A CITATION OR SOMETHING THAT, THAT IS A REFERENCE POINT FOR CITY COUNCIL IN ADDITION? I DON'T THINK WE HAD THAT IN OUR PREVIOUS RECOMMENDATIONS, LIKE SPECIFIC CI- CITED SOURCES.

WE JUST DOUBLE CHECKED THAT THERE WAS A SOURCE FOR WHAT WE WERE PUTTING IN THERE.

GOT IT.

OH, AND ALSO THIS IS, UH, JUST A POINT OF INFORMATION.

UH, THE LIBRARY IS CLOSING, SO I AM GOING TO HAVE TO TAKE COMPUTER, SO I'M GOING TO GO OUT AND COME IN.

WELL, UM, WITH, WITH THAT, UM, LET'S GO AHEAD AND TABLE THIS.

UM, WHILE WE HAVE, UH, I KNOW COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO, TO DROP, BUT WHILE WE HAVE MOST OF THE FOLKS HERE, SO REMINDER, NEXT MONTH'S MEETING IS ONE WEEK EARLIER.

SO, UM, MAYBE LET'S FIND A TIME FOR A SUB QUORUM OF US TO GET TOGETHER BEFORE THAT MEETING, HAVE A WORKING SESSION, AND THEN WE CAN PRESENT IT AND PASS THIS BECAUSE WE'RE OFF IN, IN DECEMBER, REMEMBER.

YEAH, THAT WORKS.

WOULD Y'ALL BE AVAILABLE TO MEET NEXT WEEK, NEXT WEDNESDAY AT LIKE THE NORMAL, AT LIKE 6:30 AT THE NORMAL COMMISSION TIME? A FEW OF US.

I THINK I'VE, I'VE SHARED ALL MY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS, BUT I'M HAPPY TO JOIN THE MEETING AND WRAP IT UP.

COMMISSIONER PLIVICH, COMMISSIONER, UH, HERITAGE, ARE YOU AVAILABLE? YOU'RE NOT AVAILABLE AT THAT TIME? OKAY.

KEVIN? UM, I COULD DO NEXT WEDNESDAY AT THIS TIME.

BUT I COULD JUST MAKE SOME EDITS AND GOOGLE.

YEAH, IF YOU COULD DO IT LIKE OFFLINE AND SEND THEM DIRECTLY TO COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, I THINK THAT'D BE GOOD.

AND THEN IF ANYONE ELSE, UM, YOU KNOW, DO THE, DO THE SAME.

SEND IT DIRECTLY TO COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, DON'T INCLUDE THE REST OF THE COMMISSION, SEND TO DAN AS WELL.

UM, AND THEN, UH, MYSELF, KEVIN, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, COMMISSIONER PRIVICH, UM, ANYONE ELSE WANT, WHO WANTS TO JOIN, UH, WE CAN GET TOGETHER, UH, CONSOLIDATE, UH, RECONCILE THOSE CHANGES AND THEN WE'LL BRING IT BACK AT OUR NOVEMBER MEETING.

HOW'S THAT SOUND? IT'S FINE TO ME.

AND FOR ANY OF THE CASES THAT'S, UH, THERE IS A DESIRE TO HAVE A SPECIFIC LIKE THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED, IF THAT COULD JUST KIND OF BE SENT AS AN ENUMERATED LIST, I, I HAVE LOTS OF EXAMPLES, SO I CAN PROBABLY FIND A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF ANY OF THESE THINGS YOU NEED.

OKAY, GREAT.

WELL, WE HAVE A PLAN.

LET'S, UH, LET'S TRY OUR BEST TO, TO PASS A VERSION OF THIS IN NOVEMBER, BECAUSE THEN WE'RE NOT MEETING AGAIN TILL JANUARY.

AND, AND FRANKLY, I, I, ALL THE IMPROVEMENTS ARE GONNA MAKE IT BETTER, FRANKLY.

YES.

UM, IT'S BETTER WE DELAY AND GET IT PERFECT THAN, UH, WE RUSH IT.

THESE ARE GOOD SUGGESTIONS.

JUST LIKE LAST MONTH WAS A GOOD SUGGESTION.

INDEED.

UH, UH, I'M MAKING IT A POINT TO, TO SAY THIS, AS I SAID LAST MEETING, I WANT TO PUT IN A RECOMMENDATION THAT THIS ENTIRE COMMISSION FEELS GOOD ABOUT.

UH, SO AS LONG AS WE FEEL THAT THIS IS TRULY REFLECTING WHAT WE BELIEVE AUSTIN NIGHTS NEED, THAT'S WHAT I WANT TO PUT IN FRONT OF CITY COUNCIL.

UM, DON'T REALLY CARE HOW LONG IT TAKES.

UH, I JUST WANT IT TO BE THE RIGHT THING.

SO I'M HAPPY TO GET THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS AND THE, THE EDITS AND DIFFERENT THOUGHTS FROM EVERYONE WHO REPRESENTS THEIR DISTRICTS.

WE'LL PULL THEM TOGETHER AND WE'LL MAKE SURE THIS IS RIGHT BEFORE WE SEND IT OFF.

YEP.

AND COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, WOULD YOU TAKE THE ACTION TO SCHEDULE THAT MEETING VIRTUALLY OFFLINE? SINCE YOU'RE LEADING THE, THE CHARGE ON THIS? YES.

I'M GONNA TRY TO GET AHEAD OF, OF HALLOWEEN.

SO YEAH, I'LL TRY TO, TO GET SOMETHING TO YOU GUYS SOON SO WE CAN MAKE ACCOMMODATIONS.

WELL, WE HAVE A PLAN.

UM, WELL THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND, UH, HELPING TO DRIVE THIS FORWARD.

LET'S GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER

[6.Approve the Technology Commission 2027 meeting schedule]

SIX THEN.

AND THAT'S APPROVAL OF TECHNO - THE TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION 2027 MEETING SCHEDULE.

UM, EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE THAT IN FRONT OF THEM.

DAN, WOULD YOU LIKE TO WALK US THROUGH? YEAH.

NOTHING REALLY, UH, BIG TO SEE HERE.

JUST A COUPLE OF DATES THAT AREN'T ALIGNED WITH THE USUAL MEETING CADENCE THAT, UM, WE'D PROBABLY WANT TO CHECK OUT.

AND IF YOU GUYS ARE AWARE OF YOUR SCHEDULES OR IF THERE'S A MONTH THAT A MAJORITY OF Y'ALL WON'T BE ABLE TO ATTEND, THEN, UH, WE CAN ADDRESS THAT AS WELL HERE TONIGHT.

UH, BUT THE FIRST, THE ONLY TWO DATES THAT I WANNA CALL OUT ARE MARCH 3RD AND NOVEMBER 4TH.

UH, BOTH OF THOSE MEETINGS ARE, UM, EDITED FROM THE USUAL CADENCE.

THEY'RE A WEEK BEFORE.

THE MARCH ONE IS DUE TO, UH, SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST.

WE DON'T WANT Y'ALL DOWNTOWN HAVING TO DEAL WITH TRAFFIC, UM, TRYING TO GET DOWN HERE.

AND ALSO WANT YOU GUYS TO PARTICIPATE IN SOME OF THE SOUTH BY, UH, FESTIVITIES, SOUTH BY EDU, THINGS OF THAT NATURE.

UM, AND THEN THE NOVEMBER ONE, SAME DEAL.

UM, JUST TRYING TO AVOID THE HOLIDAYS BEFORE EVERYBODY'S OUT OF TOWN.

UM, ALTHOUGH I'M LOOKING AT MY CALENDAR RIGHT NOW AND THAT

[01:35:01]

SHOULD BE NOVEMBER 3RD.

SO I'LL MAKE THAT EDIT BEFORE I SUBMIT.

UM, BUT ARE YOU GUYS OKAY WITH THOSE TWO, UH, MEETINGS BEING OFF OF THE REGULAR CADENCE? IF, UH, IF NOT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

JUST LOOKING AT CALENDARS HERE.

THERE'S A CHANCE I WON'T BE AVAILABLE ON THE 14TH AND I ONLY THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE RELEVANT BECAUSE THERE'S A BOARD ELECTION, RIGHT? OFFICER ELECTION.

DO YOU NEED A VOTE? YEAH.

WE, WE STILL NEED A QUORUM FOR ANY OFFICER ELECTION.

I DON'T THINK WE, AS LONG AS SIX FOLKS SHOW UP, I THINK WE'RE GOOD FOR THAT.

UM, AND WE COULD ALWAYS DO A SPECIAL CALL IF, IF WE DON'T HAVE A QUORUM THAT DAY.

UM, BUT YEAH, WE DON'T NEED LIKE A SUPER QUORUM OR ANYTHING.

UM, SO AS LONG AS SIX CAN ATTEND ON THE 14TH, UM, WE CAN MAINTAIN THAT DATE.

BUT, UM, YOU KNOW.

IS IT INTENTIONAL THAT THE NOVEMBER 4TH IS NOT ONLY OFFSET A WEEK EARLIER, BUT IS A THURSDAY INSTEAD OF A WEDNESDAY LIKE ALL THE OTHERS? YEAH, THAT WAS A MISTAKE.

I, I MEANT TO CALL, I CALLED THAT OUT A SECOND AGO THAT, THAT SHOULD BE NOVEMBER 3RD AND I'LL MAKE THAT EDIT.

VERY GOOD.

SEVEN, WORKING GROUP UPDATE.

NOT HEARING ANY - CAN I MAKE A MOTION THAT WE ACCEPT? OKAY.

I'LL, I'LL SECOND THAT.

UH, SO MOTION PUT FORWARD BY COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, SECONDED BY MYSELF.

ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF ADOPTING THE, UH, 2027 MEETING SCHEDULE WITH THE DISCUSSED, UH, AMENDMENT TO, UH, NOVEMBER.

RAISE YOUR HAND, SAY AYE.

AYE.

ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? NOT SEEING ANYONE? GREAT.

WE, UH, HAVE ADOPTED OUR MEETING SCHEDULE.

WHERE ARE WE? UM, OKAY.

ITEM

[7. Update from the Artificial Intelligence work group on their recent meeting to reconfigure their latest public surveillance recommendation and next steps ]

COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, I THINK WE ALREADY HAD AN ACTION PLAN, BUT DID YOU JUST WANNA RESTATE FOR THE RECORD? UH, FOR THE RECORD, WE HAD A SHORT MEETING, UH, RECENTLY TO DISCUSS THE ALPR, UH, RECOMMENDATION.

UH, MYSELF, I CAUGHT SOME INFLUENCE FROM OTHER COMMISSIONERS, UH, MYSELF AND COMMISSIONER WELSH, UH, HAD A DISCUSSION.

UH, WE ARE USING A GOOGLE DOC, SO THERE ARE SOME ASYNCHRONOUS EDITS THAT'S HAPPENING BETWEEN MYSELF AND SEVERAL OTHER COMMISSIONERS.

IF ANY OF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THAT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

I WILL ADD YOU AS AN EDITOR.

UM, OUR GOAL IS, AGAIN, TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT OUR ENTIRE COMMISSION CAN BE PROUD OF THAT REFLECTS THE NEEDS OF BOSTON ARTS.

WE WILL HAVE OUR NEXT MEETING, UM, IN THE SECOND HALF OF OCTOBER TO FURTHER REFINE OUR RECOMMENDATION.

AND AGAIN, A SUB QUORUM AMOUNT OF THIS COMMISSION, UH, AND THE PUBLIC, FRANKLY, UH, ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND AND TO LEND THEIR INPUT.

UM, YEAH.

YEAH, I FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT.

UNLESS THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, UH, THAT'S MY REPORT.

BRIAN, WOULD YOU SHARE THE GOOGLE DOC WITH EVERYONE JUST SO THAT WAY WE COULD SEE IT AS EDITS ARE BEING MADE.

UM, IF, IF THERE ARE ANY EDITS BEING MADE BETWEEN NOW AND WEDNESDAY, I COULD MAKE ANYTHING OFF OF THAT AS WELL.

UM, CAN I CALL ONE THING OUT ABOUT QUORUM? SORRY.

UM, YOU CAN'T HAVE, UH, SHARED GOOGLE DOCS BETWEEN Y'ALL - OH YEAH.

ESPECIALLY IF THERE'S MORE THAN, UH, QUORUMS AMOUNT OF Y'ALL THAT IS CONSIDERED A FORM OF COMMUNICATION.

UM, SO JUST BE WARY OF THAT.

I'M, I'M NOT SURE IF YOU CAN HAVE THEM AT ALL, BUT, UM, I WOULD STILL JUST ADVISE Y'ALL TO HAVE A SUB QUORUM EDITING THAT DOCUMENT AT ONCE.

AND I THINK FOR NOW, RIGHT NOW IT'S MYSELF, BRIAN, KEVIN - IT'S THREE OF US RIGHT NOW.

SO, UM, BUT LET'S JUST CONNECT ON, ON THAT.

YEAH, THERE'S FOUR OF US.

SO FAR JUST TODAY I SHARED WITH ANOTHER COMMISSIONER.

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. UH, THE ONLY ITEM I, UH, HAD, UM, ASIDE FROM THE ITEMS THAT WERE ALREADY PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED OR STANDING ITEMS IS, UH, DAN, JESSE, I SENT A COMMUNICATION TO ANNE ABOUT SOME CONCERN, UH, THAT WAS SURFACED TO ME AROUND THE CITY KIOSKS, UM, AND THE FORMS OF ADVERTISEMENTS THAT ARE BEING PLACED ON THERE.

AND, AND SIX IS THE DANGER NUMBER? YES.

I'LL HAVE SPACE FOR ONE MORE.

[FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ]

UM, SINCE CITY KIOSKS ARE, UM, CITY ADJACENT RESOURCES, I HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT, UM, UH, JUST SOME OF THE, THE, THE, THE TYPES OF ADVERTISING THAT ARE BEING, UM, DISPLAYED ON THERE.

SO, UM, JUST WANTED TO LET THE REST OF THE COMMISSION KNOW THAT I'VE MADE A REQUEST TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TO SEE IF WE GET A REPORT OR WHOEVER, UH, I BELIEVE IT'S WITHIN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WHO'S OVERSEEING THOSE, UM, SO THAT WE COULD, UM, ASK SOME, SOME GENERAL QUESTIONS.

YEAH, WE CAN,

[01:40:01]

UH, JESSE RODRIGUEZ, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.

UM, I'M HAPPY TO BUMP THAT UP.

INTERNALLY, MY UNDERSTANDING WAS THAT OUR DEPARTMENT'S INVOLVEMENT, UH, WAS HEADED BY OUR OUTGOING, UH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UH, OR DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR, UM, WHO WORKS IN A DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT, UH, AT THIS TIME.

SO I'M NOT SURE IF THERE IS STILL A CONTACT AT AED, UH, RELATED TO THAT, BUT WE CAN DEFINITELY FIND OUT.

UM, AND EVEN IF IT'S NOT, WE CAN PROBABLY FIND OUT WHO IT IS IN CHARGE OF THAT EFFORT.

UM, OPEN TO OTHER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. I JUST HAD SOMETHING I WANTED TO ASK ABOUT, BUT IT JUST SLIPPED MY MIND.

OH, UM, I WAS WANTING TO KNOW WITH OUR LIAISONS, UM, SO THIS SORT OF CAME UP IN THE CONTEXT OF US TRYING TO, LIKE, IN WORKSHOPPING THE RECOMMENDATION ON ALPRS OF, LIKE, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T WANT TO BE MAKING RECOMMENDATIONS THAT THE COUNCIL LITERALLY COULDN'T ACT ON BECAUSE OF STATE LAW.

AND ONE THING THAT OCCURRED TO ME IS IT MIGHT BE NICE IF WE COULD MAYBE GET A PRESENTATION FROM CITY LEGAL ABOUT WHERE THE LINE BETWEEN STUFF THE CITY CAN REGULATE WHEN IT COMES TO TECHNOLOGY VERSUS WE'RE PREEMPTED BY STATE OR FEDERAL LAW SO THAT JUST WE CAN, WITH ALL FUTURE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THIS NATURE, BE, SAVE OURSELVES SOME TIME AND FROM THE BEGINNING, HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHERE WE CAN INFLUENCE THINGS AND WHERE WE CAN'T.

HEY, I HAVE A, A, A RESPONSE TO THAT.

UM, RECENTLY IT WAS PROBABLY ABOUT A MONTH OR TWO BEFORE YOUR TERM, WE HAD A VERY, VERY SIMILAR DISCUSSION WITH A PROFESSIONAL FROM UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, UM, WHERE, AND CHAIRMAN, PLEASE KEEP ME HONEST HERE.

I BELIEVE WHAT SHE BROUGHT BACK TO US WAS THAT THERE'S A DYNAMIC THAT WE'LL HAVE TO ENGAGE WITH DIR, UM, IN ORDER TO KIND OF FIND WHERE THE GRAY SPACE IS BETWEEN THE STATE AND THE CITY, UH, WITH, UH, JURISDICTION AND WHAT WE CAN AND CANNOT DO.

THIS SOUNDS LIKE A, LIKE IT HAS SOME VENN DIAGRAM OVERLAP WITH WHAT YOU'RE DISCUSSING.

UM, SO THERE MAY BE SOME PRECEDENT THAT THIS COMMISSION HAS DONE, UH, IN THAT DIRECTION.

UM - IS IT, IS IT ALSO QUITE POSSIBLE THAT THIS HAS ALREADY BEEN DISCUSSED AND I'M JUST NOW LEARNING ABOUT IT? I THINK THAT WAS IN REFERENCE TO DOING ADVOCACY, UM, ON POLICIES.

SO IF WE HAD A POINT OF VIEW ON THINGS THAT WE WOULD NEED TO WORK THROUGH GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, I, I VAGUELY REMEMBER THAT.

BUT IN ANY CASE, I DON'T KNOW, UM, MAYBE THE REQUEST, DAN JESSE, IS, UH, FOR A GENERAL PRESENTATION FROM A GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS CONTACT ON, UM, WHERE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS CAN MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, ESPECIALLY, UH, THE SPECIFICITY AROUND TECHNOLOGY AND WHERE, UH, THE STATE, UH, SORT OF STEPS IN.

AND, UH, I KNOW THAT SOME OF THOSE THINGS MIGHT CHANGE IN THIS UPCOMING LEGISLATIVE SESSION, UM, BUT MAYBE WE COULD START TO TEE UP THOSE, THOSE CONVERSATIONS.

TO GIVE A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE, AND I CAME UP IN THIS CONTEXT, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE WAS A, YOU KNOW, DISCUSSION WHERE I THINK WE WERE SORT OF THINKING, WELL, YOU KNOW, UH, TAKE LIKE, YOU KNOW, WAYMOS OR WHATNOT THAT LIKE, WELL, FINE, WE GET IT, IT'S A PRIVATE COMPANY, BUT SURELY THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAS A SAY BECAUSE IT'S OUR STREETS, RIGHT? AND NOT EVEN STATE-OWNED STREETS.

MOST OF THEM ARE OWNED BY THE CITY.

AND THEN THE ANSWER I EVENTUALLY LEARNED IS YOU'D THINK THAT, NO, THE STATE HAS PASSED A LAW, WE HAVE NO SAY EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE OUR STREETS.

SO IT'S STUFF LIKE THAT OF LIKE YOU, WE'RE, ESPECIALLY THINGS WHERE YOU MIGHT THINK THE CITY WOULD HAVE A ROLE AND IT'S LIKE, NOPE, YOU DON'T.

WE MIGHT EVEN BE ABLE TO TAKE THAT AT A WORKING GROUP LEVEL.

YEAH, I THINK, UH, THE, UH, WE'RE, WE'RE HAPPY TO CONNECT WITH, UH, AUSTIN GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS, UH, AND, UH, SEE IF THERE'S MAYBE A CITY LAWYER CONTACT THAT CAN HELP WITH ANSWERING THIS QUESTION.

UH, I THINK, UH, I, I THINK THAT THE ANSWER IS EITHER GONNA BE VERY SHORT AND VERY HIGH LEVEL OR VERY LONG AND VERY DETAILED.

UH, AT, AT THE VERY SHORT, UH, LAYER, SO THE CITY ISN'T ALLOWED TO PASS ANY RULE OR REGULATION, UH, THAT IS ALREADY ADDRESSED BY THE STATE OR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

AND SO WE'RE ONLY ABLE TO DO THINGS THAT, THAT THE OTHER LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT HAVEN'T ALREADY, YOU KNOW, UH, PASSED SOME RULE OR REGULATION ON.

UM, SO, BUT THEN THERE'S A LOT OF EXCEPTIONS WHEN YOU GET TO, UH, YOU KNOW, A VERY MICRO LEVEL.

OTHER ITEM THAT I ALSO HAD ON MY RADAR WAS, UM, THE PRESENTATION THAT WE HAD PLANNED IN, UH, NOVEMBER, UH, FROM, UH, A GROUP OF UT STUDENTS, THE APRI TEAM WHO HAPPENED TO BE IN THE AUDIENCE TODAY.

SO, UH, I'M HAPPY TO, UH, WORK WITH THE TEAM TO SEE IF WE CAN PULL TOGETHER SOME CONTACTS THAT COULD OFFER - YEAH.

[01:45:01]

UM, SO THEY ARE DOING SOME PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS ON, UH, DATA CENTER, UH, UTILIZATION IN THE STATE, UM, UH, POLICIES AROUND, UH, PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.

UH, THEY'RE DOING, I THINK IT'S A COMBINATION OF MACRO ANALYSIS, META-ANALYSIS, UM, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.

SO, UM, LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING, UH, THEIR INITIAL, UH, READOUT IN NOVEMBER.

I'VE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THEM AND, UM, YEAH, I THINK THEY'VE, AND THEY HAVE A FEW MORE PRESENTATIONS FOR US AS WE MOVE INTO 2027.

SO WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT FOR, THAT FOR THE COMMISSION AS WELL.

I DON'T KNOW IF WE, UM, SORRY, STEVEN, ARE YOU - I'M FINISHED.

I THINK IT MAY BE PIGGYBACKING OFF OF THAT, WE ARE, AND DAN, I CAN COORDINATE WITH YOU DIRECTLY.

UM, COMPASS DID COME BACK, UT, THE, UM, BUREAU FOR GEOLOGICAL SOMETHING, SOMETHING THAT'S ESCAPING ME AT 8:20.

UM, BUT THEY, DR.

LIN CAME BACK, AND SO THEY ARE HAVING AN IN-PERSON, UH, EVENT IN DECEMBER.

SO I THINK IT'S THE FIRST SIX OF US THAT ARE ABLE TO ATTEND.

I THINK IT'S $100.

I'LL SEND OUT THE LINK TO YOU, BUT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT I THINK IT WAS PREVIOUSLY GOING TO BE SCHEDULED IN MAY AND THEN IT GOT PUSHED OUT.

SO THEY'VE ACTUALLY RE- REFORMATTED IT TO, UH, DECEMBER.

SO, AND THE GOAL WOULD BE, I THINK, IS SORT OF A LISTENING SESSION FOR MULTIPLE COMMUNITIES TO COME TOGETHER.

SO, UM, WHAT'S THE RULE ON COMING NOT WEARING MY COMMISSION HAT? THAT I'M ALWAYS A COMMISSIONER? UH, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? LIKE NOT, YOU KNOW - I'M JUST TEASING WITH YOU.

I'M, I'M MAKING A QUORUM JOKE, DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.

AND JUST FOR MY OWN CONTEXT, UM, I THINK THIS WAS FIRST DISCUSSED BEFORE I JOINED THE COMMISSION.

WHAT IS THE EVENT IN DECEMBER? IT IS, I WAS PULLING IT UP.

UM, SO THERE'S A COMPASS COMMUNITY WORKSHOP, LARGE LOAD DEVELOPMENT IN TEXAS BASICS AND BEYOND.

UM, UT'S BUREAU OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, BASICALLY UT'S POSITIONING THEMSELVES AS KIND OF A GO-TO RESOURCE FOR LARGE LOAD GROWTH.

DATA CENTERS ARE ONE, ADVANCED MANUFACTURING'S ANOTHER.

ONE MIGHT SAY EVENTUALLY FLEET EV IS ANOTHER, UM, BY WAY OF EXAMPLE.

AND SO THEY'RE PUTTING TOGETHER, UM, A WORKSHOP DECEMBER 10TH THROUGH THE 11TH.

AND SO, UM, I'M GONNA FORWARD IT AROUND TO EVERYONE.

THEY INVITED FOLKS, BUT, UM, AND I BELIEVE IT WOULD BE, THERE MIGHT, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS IN ADDITION.

LAST TIME WE WERE GONNA HAVE A TOUR OF THE TEXAS ADVANCED COMPUTING CENTER.

SO I DON'T KNOW IF THIS IS IN ADDITION TO THAT, BUT I'LL FORWARD THAT OUT TO DAN TO SEND TO EVERYONE.

YEAH, THAT DEFINITELY COULD POTENTIALLY BE QUITE INTERESTED, ESPECIALLY IF IT INVOLVES THAT TOUR.

SO YES, WE'D LOVE TO LEARN MORE.

AND TWO QUICK NOTES, UH, JUST BECAUSE WE HAVE NEW FOLKS, UM, UH, COMMISSIONERS ARE ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY EVENTS, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, AS, AS THEMSELVES, NO PROBLEMS. UM, IF THERE IS A COMMUNITY EVENT, UH, THAT, UH, MORE THAN A QUORUM OR MORE, UH, OF COMMISSIONERS WOULD LIKE TO ATTEND, JUST LET US KNOW SO WE CAN POST IT AS A, A PUBLIC INTEREST NOTICE.

UH, SO IF THERE IS SOMETHING THAT MANY OF YOU ARE GONNA BE ATTENDING, PLEASE JUST LET US KNOW.

UM, AND IF YOU INTEND ON GOING TO AN EVENT, UH, AND REPRESENTING THE COMMISSION, UH, THEN, UH, THIS COMMISSION NEEDS TO TAKE AN ACTION KIND OF APPOINTING YOU TO THAT ROLE, UH, BEFORE YOUR ATTENDANCE.

SO JUST SOME, SOME, UH, HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS THERE.

WHAT, UH, WHAT COUNTS THOUGH AS FORM- FORMALLY REPRESENTING AS A COMMISSIONER? LIKE IF IT JUST CAME UP IN CASUAL CONVERSATION, YOU ARE A COMMISSIONER, IS THAT BEING A COMMISSIONER? OR, LIKE, DO YOU NEED TO KEEP MUM ABOUT YOU ARE ONE TO NOT BE OFFICIALLY REPPING AS A COMMISSIONER? YOU'RE, YOU'RE ALLOWED TO KIND OF JUST SAY WHO YOU ARE AND WHO YOU REPRESENT, UH, OR WHO, WHO YOU WORK WITH.

UH, BUT IF YOU'RE INTENDING TO POSITION YOURSELF AS SPEAKING ON BEHALF OF THE WHOLE COMMISSION, THEN YOU NEED THE WHOLE COMMISSION TO TAKE A, AN ACTION TO GIVE YOU THAT AUTHORITY.

THE, THE CLEAR THING IS YOU CANNOT BE REPRESENTING THE COMMISSION'S FORMAL POSITION ON A TOPIC IS THE NO-GO LINE.

GOT IT.

CORRECT.