[00:00:09]
YOU'RE[Call to Order]
ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24TH MEETING VIRTUALLY AT THIS TIME, I'M GOING TO DO A QUICK ROLL CALL SO THAT, UH, WE CAN GET THINGS STARTED.UH, VICE CHAIR PULLED OUR PRESENT, UH, DISTRICT FOUR COMMISSIONER BARNS RESIDENT.
UH, I SHOULD HAVE, I SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS DOWN, UM, COMMISSIONER FANTE PRESENT, UH, COMMISSIONER, UH, VANDYKE.
UH, AND COMMISSIONER CISMEN IS THAT? THANK YOU.
AND I SEE COMMISSIONER FLORES IS ON, BUT HER MIC IS STILL MUTED AND NO VIDEO.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? I CAN HEAR YOU NOW.
AND I HAD A QUICK, OR YOU, WHEN YOU FINISH TAKING ROLL, I, SOMEBODY WANTED TO SAY SHE DIDN'T HAVE A LEVEL OF I'M HERE AS WELL.
WE'RE WRAPPED UP WITH ROLL CALL.
YOU, YOU SAID YOU HAD A COMMENT? OH YES, PLEASE.
ANN MARIE SAID SHE DID NOT GET THE LINK TO CITIZENS.
[Item 1]
SO FIRST ON OUR AGENDA IS A CITIZENS' COMMUNICATION.CAN YOU REPEAT THE I, THAT SOUNDED REALLY LOW COMMISSIONER FLORES, UM, MOTION TOO, AT THE TIME TO TWO AND A HALF MINUTES.
IT'S CITIZENS COMMUNICATIONS MOTION BY FLORES HAD LIMIT TIME TO TWO AND A HALF MINUTES SECONDED BY BARNES ALL IN FAVOR NEOPOST EXTENSIONS.
UM, SO WE'RE, WE'RE GOING TO TAKE CITIZENS COMMUNICATION THAT TWO AND A HALF MINUTES.
WE WANT TO MAXIMIZE OUR TIME AND DISCUSSION OF A FUNDING MATRIX.
SO, UM, FIRST UP ON OUR CITIZENS COMMUNICATION IS, UH, CHRIS COWDEN.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE CAN HEAR YOU.
YOU HAVE TWO AND A HALF MINUTES.
UH, I'M CHRIS COWDEN FROM THE CENTER FOR WOMEN IN THEIR WORK.
AND THANKS AGAIN FOR GIVING ME THIS OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS YOU, UH, WHAT I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT WITH THE FUNDING MATRIX AND TO BEGIN BY SAYING, I COMPLETELY SUPPORT THE EQUITY AND ARTS FUNDING AND THE WAY THAT HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED.
AND, UM, BUT WHAT I WANTED TO SUGGEST THAT THE ARTS COMMISSION CONSIDER IS CITY OF AUSTIN PROTOCOL IN CONSIDERING WOMEN AS AN UNDERREPRESENTED GROUP, THERE ARE SEVERAL DIVISIONS IN THE CITY, ONE IN PARTICULAR, UH, MINORITY OWNED AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES, UH, THROUGH CAN APPLY THROUGH A PROCUREMENT DIVISION.
UH, AND IT'S IN RECOGNITION OF THEIR NOT BEING, UH, AS THAT THEY ARE AS AN UNDERREPRESENTED GROUP, MY REQUEST WOULD BE TO BE CONSIDERED WITH THE GROUP THAT INCLUDES THE OTHER GROUPS, OTHER UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS, DISABILITY, LGBTQ, UM, ONE THING JUST TO CLOSE OUR RESEARCH SHOWS THAT OFTEN ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE DEVOTED TO ETHNIC AND RACIAL GROUPS ALSO CONTINUE TO PUT WOMEN AT THE BOTTOM OF THEIR, UM, SCHEDULES AND THAT THEY ARE NOT EQUALLY REPRESENTED WITHIN THOSE GROUPS.
SO WOMEN IN THEIR WORK WOULD JUST LIKE TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIVERSE WOMEN ARTISTS.
UM, AND THANK YOU FOR CONSIDERING THIS.
I KNOW IT'S A LAST MINUTE, BUT I THINK WOMEN ARE UNDERREPRESENTED.
THE CITY RECOGNIZES THAT AND I WOULD JUST APPRECIATE IT IF THE COMMISSION WOULD THINK ABOUT THAT AS BEING INCLUDED WITH THAT, UH, THIRD TRONCH THE DISABILITY AND LGBTQ.
NEXT UP WE HAVE, UH, ETHAN AZARIAN ARE YOU ONLINE? YES.
UH, I THINK I HEARD YOU, IF YOU JUST SPEAK UP A LITTLE BIT, I'LL HAVE TWO AND A HALF MINUTES.
I'M JUST HIT THE UNMUTE BUTTON.
SO HOPEFULLY EVERYBODY CAN HEAR ME.
[00:05:01]
ETHAN IS ERIN FROM BLUE CODE STUDIO.THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR LETTING PEOPLE CALL IN.
AND I APPRECIATE ALL YOUR TIME.
I HAVE A, JUST A REAL QUICK QUESTION.
I PROBABLY KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS, BUT MAYBE THIS WILL HELP OTHER LISTENING TO MY QUESTION WOULD BE, WELL, THE FUNDING AWARDS OR FYI 21, BE A PERCENTAGE OF THE AWARDED FUNDING AMOUNT.
SO I UNDERSTAND THERE'S DEFINITELY THESE PERCENTAGES, WHICH I AGREE WITH, BUT FROM THE LAST MEETING AND THE QUESTION AGAIN, WAS THE FUNDING AWARDS FOR FYI TO ANYONE BE A PERCENTAGE OF THE AWARDED FUNDING.
WE WERE HAVING A REAL HARD TIME HEARING YOU.
IS THERE ANY WAY WE CAN, UH, UH, SPEAK UP LOUDER, TURN UP THE VOLUME ON, ON YOUR DEVICE.
WE DIDN'T CATCH THAT QUESTION THAT YOU ASKED.
I HAVE A CRAPPY INTERNET PHONE.
MY QUESTION WOULD BE WILL FUNDING AWARDS FOR,
I HOPE YOU GUYS HEARD THAT AND I APOLOGIZE FOR MY BAD CONNECTION.
SO I JUST WANT TO CONFIRM YOUR QUESTION AS KEN FUNDING AWARDS A BE FOR FISCAL YEAR 21, BE A PERCENTAGE OF THE AWARDED FUNDING AMOUNT, UH, THAT APPLICANTS RECEIVED IN FISCAL YEAR 20.
SO, SO IT'S AN INTERIM YEAR AND THE WARDS THAT WE GOT FOR
UM, SO WE'RE AS A COMMISSIONER, NOT ABLE TO RESPOND TO YOUR QUESTION DIRECTLY DURING THIS TIME.
UM, BUT WE'LL KEEP THAT IN MIND AS WE, AS WE HAVE DISCUSSION LATER ON TODAY.
UH, THE NEXT STEP WE HAD, YOU GUYS ARE THERE AND THANK YOU.
WE HAVE MARTHA MORTENSON, A HORN.
ARE YOU ON THE LINE? MARTHA?
UH, NEXT WE HAVE SYLVIA OROZCO.
YOU HAVE TWO AND A HALF MINUTES.
I'M SYLVIA ROSCOE WITH MEXICO AT THE MUSEUM.
I ALSO WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT TO REQUEST THAT THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED $5 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR THE AUSTIN, NONPROFIT ARTS ORGANIZATIONS FOR JOB RETENTION AND SUSTAINING OPERATIONS DURING THE PANDEMIC, YOU, OUR REPRESENTATIVES AND OUR VOICE, WE IN THE ARTS COMMUNITY WILL ALSO EXPRESS OUR VOICE AND THE NEED FOR THE $5 MILLION IN EMERGENCY FUNDING TO CITY COUNCIL.
WITH YOUR SUPPORT, WE ARE STRONGER AND VIEW THE ARTS AS AN ESSENTIAL FOR THE WELLBEING OF OUR COMMUNITY.
I ALSO WANT TO ADDRESS THE CULTURAL FUNDING MATRIX AND MAKE THE LUNGS INNOVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS.
WE ARE IN A PANDEMIC AND ECONOMIC CRISIS.
THE IMPACT OF THE ECONOMY WILL LAST FOR SEVERAL YEARS.
IT IS TIME TO REVIEW THE WAY THAT THE ARTS ARE FUNDED AND DISTRIBUTED IN AUSTIN.
THIS HAS BEEN DONE TO A CERTAIN DEGREE WITH THE CURRENT STUDY, BUT WE MUST TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE IN PROTECTING THE ESSENTIAL NEED THAT WE ALL BELIEVE IN THE ARTS.
MY SUGGESTIONS IS TO LOOK AT THE CURRENT FUNDING SOURCE AS THE ONLY, THAT IS THE ONLY SOURCE FOR IT TO FUND THE ARTS ORGANIZATIONS.
WE CANNOT LONGER JUST WAIT AND SEE HOW MUCH FUNDING THERE WILL BE IN THE BED TAX.
WE NEED A NEW MODELS THAT THERE WAS SECURITY FOR THE CORE SUPPORT OF OUR, OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS.
NUMBER TWO, IF THE BED TAX IS THE ONLY SOURCE, THE ARTS ORGANIZATIONS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SHARE THIS FUNDING WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN, CULTURAL ARTS DIVISION.
THIS YEAR $662,499 IS RECOMMENDED FOR PARK ARTS, ADMINISTRATION, PROMOTION, ET CETERA.
THE MATRIX SAYS EXPENSES THAT CANNOT CHANGE.
THIS MONEY SHOULD COME FROM THE GENERAL FUND.
NUMBER THREE, IF MORE THAN 500,000 ARE BEING USED FOR PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION, MAYBE SOME OF THIS FUNDING COULD BE USED TO WRITE GRANTS, TO OBTAIN OTHER FUNDING FROM FUNDERS, FROM FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OR FOUNDATION.
I APPRECIATE THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE AND THE STAFF AND USING THE EQUITY LENS.
MEXICO HAS BEEN RECEIVING FUNDING SINCE 1984
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IN 1993.LATINO ORGANIZATIONS RECEIVE 17% OF THE FUNDING IN 1998, 20%.
LAST YEAR, THE GROUPS RECEIVED 10%.
THIS YEAR IS PROJECTED 13%, BUT THERE IS A CUT OF 322,160.
WE CANNOT SUSTAIN MORE REDUCTIONS, PLEASE RECONSIDER.
WE NEED TO USE THE EQUITY LENS, BUT WE NEED TO SEE THE WHOLE PICTURE.
WE NEED TO LOOK AT HISTORY OF FUNDING.
WE NEED TO CONSIDER THE POPULATIONS BEING SERVED.
THE HISTORY OF OUR COMMUNITIES, KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION ARE KEY TO MAKING CHANGE.
WE HAVE TO ACT ADVOCATE AND FIND SOLUTIONS SO THAT WE CAN GROW AS A COMMUNITY WHERE ART IS ESSENTIAL AND AVAILABLE TO ALL SO THAT WE CAN ALL BREATHE THE SAME, JUST AS MUCH AIR AS EVERYONE.
ARE YOU ON THE LINE? HELLO? YES.
AND YOU HAVE TWO AND A HALF MINUTES.
MY NAME IS ALMA JACKIE FALSETTO, AND I WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS THE
I'M VERY PLEASED THAT RACHEL RACIAL EQUITY AND RESPONSES TO COVID-19 ARE BEING CENTERED AS PRIORITIES FOR THE COMING YEAR.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO SHOW MY SUPPORT.
I AM ALSO A VOLUNTEER BOARD MEMBER WITH THE LOCAL NONPROFIT AUSTIN INTERNATIONAL DRAG FOUNDATION.
AND PLEASE DON'T LET THE NAME FOOL YOU.
WE ARE NOT FUNDED BY A FOUNDATION.
WE ARE A GROUP OF ENTIRELY UNPAID VOLUNTEER BOARD MEMBERS DOING THIS FOR THE LOVE OF OUR COMMUNITY, LGBTQ PLUS FOLKS AND THEIR ALLIES IN AUSTIN.
AND BEYOND A NOTE ON THE INTERSECTIONALITY OF OUR BOARD, WE ARE MOSTLY LATIN X QUEER PEOPLE OF COLOR ASSIGNED FEMALE AT BIRTH.
AND SEVERAL OF US ARE LIVING WITH DISABILITIES ON BEHALF OF THE AUSTIN INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION, A PREVIOUS GRANTEE, AND ONE OF THIS YEAR'S APPLICANTS, I WOULD LIKE TO STATE THAT THE FUNDING MATRIX IS GUIDELINES LEADING WITH A RACIAL EQUITY LENS AND RESPONSE TO COVID-19 ARE DEEPLY APPRECIATED BY OUR ARTISTS AND OUR AUDIENCES.
AS A NONPROFIT, WE HAVE DEMONSTRATED HISTORY OF SHOWCASING AND HOSTING PERFORMERS WHO ARE MOSTLY BLACK AND PEOPLE OF COLOR AND ACROSS THE SPECTRUM IN TERMS OF GENDER IDENTITY, OUR SIGNATURE EVENT, THE AUSTIN INTERNATIONAL DRAG FESTIVAL PRIDES ITSELF ON BEING ONE OF THE MOST INCLUSIVE DRAG FESTIVALS IN THE NATION BY HOSTING UNCONVENTIONAL ARTISTS AND STYLES AND SHOWCASING TALENT BEYOND WHAT MAINSTREAM TELEVISION VIEWS IT STRIDE.
THIS FESTIVAL IS ALSO THE SITE OF WORKSHOPS ON DANCE, MAKEUP, MANAGING BUSINESS, MENTAL HEALTH, SELF CARE, POC, COMMUNITY BUILDING, AND LGBTQ PLUS HISTORY.
AND SINCE IT IS PRIDE MONTH, I MUST REMIND EVERYONE THAT THE MODERN GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT STARTED BECAUSE OF DRAG PERFORMERS AND TRANS WOMEN OF COLORS WHO ARE ON THE FRONT LINE.
COVID-19 CLOSURES HAVE ERADICATED VENUES FOR DRAG ARTISTS IN AUSTIN AND EVERYONE ELSE.
AND THE LOSS OF INCOME TO ARTISTS IS A HUGE PROBLEM, BUT ANOTHER DISRUPTION THAT HAS A PROFOUND IMPACT AND NO ONE TALKS ABOUT IS THAT WE ARE FEELING THE LOSS OF SAFER SPACES FOR EXPRESSION, COMMUNITY BUILDING AND INCLUSION.
THE COVID-19 CRISIS HAS FORCED US TO RETHINK, AND REINVISION WHAT TYPE OF FESTIVAL MIGHT BE POSSIBLE IN THE COMING YEAR.
THE CIVIL WAR SILVER LINING IS THAT ART IS BECOMING ACCESSIBLE IN NEW WAYS.
FOR EXAMPLE, STREAMING ALLOWS AUDIENCES TO EXPERIENCE PERFORMANCES, INCLUDING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES WHO MIGHT NOT FOUND TRADITIONAL VENUES TO BE ACCESSIBLE.
AGAIN, I WOULD LIKE TO SHOW MY SUPPORT FOR THE FUNDING MATRIX, GUIDING PRINCIPLES, RACIAL EQUITY, AND RESPONSES TO COVID-19.
UH, MARTHA
I UNDERSTAND RAMDAS YOU DECIDED NOT TO JOIN US.
UH, SO THAT CONCLUDES CITIZENS' COMMUNICATION.
UH, EMORY, I JUST WANT TO NOTE THAT BOTH COMMISSIONER GARS AND COMMISSIONER MACH JOINED US ON THE DIOCESE, UH, MOVING ALONG ON THE AGENDA TO THE APPROVAL
[Item 2]
OF MINUTES, MOTION TO APPROVE MOTION TO APPROVE BY POLGAR SECONDED BY MARK.ANY EDITS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS HEARING NONE.
NO, JEFF, NO OBJECTIONS PASSES ON CONSENT.
[Item 3]
STAFF BRIEFINGS.LET'S GO TO 21 CULTURAL FUNDING UPDATE.
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MADE HIM WELLS, CULTURAL ARTS, UH, DIVISION MANAGER.I'D LIKE TO OFFER THIS OPPORTUNITY FOR HIS PENTEL CULTURAL ARTS, UM, FUNDING SUPERVISOR TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, UH, UH, THAT HELPS TO CLARIFY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAD AT THE LAST MEETING, AS WELL AS JUST, UM, GO INTO A LITTLE MORE DETAIL AS FAR AS WITH MONEY MATRIX RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, ANNE MARIE MCCASKILL DAVIS, UM, ALSO ON THE CULTURAL PLANNING TEAM, CULTURAL FUNDING, UM, SUPER, UH, STAFF MEMBER SENIOR WILL ALSO, UH, CHIME IN, UH, SO I YIELD MY, MY, UH, MY REPORT TO THEM.
MA'AM COMMISSIONER SAID GOOD AFTERNOON.
THIS IS SU'S PANHELL CULTURAL FUNDING SUPERVISOR.
I'M GOING TO GO OVER A SHORT PRESENTATION, PROBABLY ABOUT FIVE OR 10 MINUTES.
AND AS MEGAN SAID, KIND OF RECAPPING WHAT WE TALKED ABOUT AT THE LAST MEETING AND ANSWERING SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WERE PRESENTED AT THE LAST MEETING.
SO A REMINDER THAT TODAY'S PRESENTATION IS FOR DISCUSSION ONLY, YOU ALL WILL VOTE ON THE
SO TWO DAYS FROM NOW, THE 26TH AT 1:00 PM, I'M ON WANTING TO GIVE A BRIEF, BRIEF RECAP, AS I SAID.
UM, AND I ASK THAT YOU HOLD YOUR COMMENTS UNTIL THE END, IF WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UM, SO FUNDING MATRIX WORKING GROUP IS CHAIRED BY COMMISSIONER FLORES AND IS COMPRISED OF COMMISSIONERS GARZA HOGAR AND ZISMAN AND OF CAMMIE RUBIN FROM THE ART AND PUBLIC PLACES PANEL REMINDER THAT SIX MEETINGS WERE HELD FROM MAY 14 THROUGH JUNE 12TH, LOOKED AT OVER A HUNDRED SCENARIOS AS INFORMATION KEPT CHANGING.
AND WE WERE TRYING TO THINK OF AS MANY POSSIBILITIES FROM AS MANY ANGLES AS POSSIBLE.
UM, AGAIN, WE RECEIVED 10 LESS APPLICATIONS, UH, THIS YEAR AND THE CORE AND CULTURAL HERITAGE FESTIVALS PROGRAMS. AND WE DID LAST YEAR SEVEN LESSON CORE, THREE LESS IN CULTURAL HERITAGE FESTIVALS, NEXT SLIDE.
AND THE TOTAL, UM, HOT ALLOCATIONS ARE DOWN, UM, FROM ABOUT 12.8 MILLION TO ABOUT 7.2 MILLION THIS YEAR.
AGAIN, THIS IS FOR ALL OF THE STUFF THAT HOT FUNDS, UM, BUT THE HOT FUNDS FUND, NOT JUST THE CULTURAL CONTRACTS, BUT, UM, ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE.
UH, NEXT SLIDE AGAIN, THE WORKING GROUP CONSIDERATIONS WERE TO LOOK AT THE FUNDING RECOMMENDATION THROUGH AN EQUITY LENS, FOR INSTANCE, IN FY 20, UH, 29% OF THE APPLICANTS WERE ALLANA.
UH, BUT THEY ONLY RECEIVE 25% OF THE OVERALL, UM, PORTION OF HOT FUNDS.
ADDITIONALLY, WE KNOW COVID-19 HAS A GREATER IMPACT ON ALANA COMMUNITIES OVERALL.
UM, AGAIN, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT THE AVAILABLE FUNDS.
IT IS DOWN FROM LAST YEAR, UH, THERE WAS DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATION ON WHETHER OR NOT HE USED THE FULL 10% RESERVE AS WE TALKED ABOUT AT THE LAST MEETING.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, WITH THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, WHICH PROGRAMS REDUCE OR ELIMINATE WHAT THE IMPACT WOULD BE ON FUNDING AND
UM, AND FINALLY, UH, THEY CONSIDERED THE IMPACT ON A LARGER ORGANIZATIONS VERSUS SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, THE NUMBER OF POTENTIAL JOBS, LAWS, UM, ACCESS THAT, UM, DIFFERENT GROUPS DEPENDING ON THEIR BUDGET SIZE AND STAFF SIZE MIGHT HAVE, UM, AND ACCESS TO OTHER RESOURCES ON THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO AGAIN, I WANT TO READ THIS COMMITMENT TO EQUITY THAT WE MENTIONED AT THE LAST MEETING, UM, THAT JUST SO YOU GET AN IDEA OF WHAT OTHER FUNDERS ARE THINKING ABOUT, ALTHOUGH THIS ISN'T COVID-19 FUNDS IS IN THIS PARTICULAR QUOTE, JUST TO GIVE WHAT OTHER FUNDERS ARE THINKING ABOUT.
UM, AND JUST SO YOU KNOW, THIS IS, UH, FROM JUSTIN LANG WHO HE'S A CONSULTANT NOW, BUT HE DID USE TO WORK WITH THE HEINZ ENDOWMENTS IN PITTSBURGH FOR OVER 10 YEARS.
UM, AND SO THE COMMITMENT TO EQUITY SAYS, QUOTE, ACKNOWLEDGED THAT WHILE THIS IS A MOMENT OF STRESS BLACK AND INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE OFTEN IN DISTRESS YOU TO SYSTEMIC WHITE ADVANTAGING AND THAT THIS FUND COMMITMENT TO EQUITY, INSTEAD, IT WILL ADDRESS THIS INEQUITY NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
SO, UM, WE DID RUN NUMBERS BASED ON COMMISSIONERS FUND PHASE REQUESTS FROM THE LAST MEETING OF NO CUTS TO HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.
SO CONTRACTORS FROM THE ATLANTA, LGBTQ AND DISABILITY COMMUNITIES, UM, WE KEPT ALL OF THE OTHER, UM, ASSUMPTIONS, THE SAME, JUST NO CUTS, UH, THAT THOSE PARTICULAR CONTRACTS, UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, THAT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN A, UM, 81% REDUCTION IN FUNDS FROM THE
[00:20:01]
MOVING TO THE NEXT SLIDE WE TRIED, WELL, WHAT IF WE HAD A 30% CUTS TO LGBTQ AND DISABILITY COMMUNITY MEMBER CONTRACTS? UM, WE RAN THE NUMBERS.WE WERE ACTUALLY ABLE TO GET THAT DOWN TO 29% THAT THE LOWEST A WEEK TO DO IF WE HAD A 0% CUT TO ATLANTIC CONTRACTORS WOULD BE A 72% REDUCTION FOR GENERAL CONTRACTORS, UH, FROM THE F BY 20 LEVEL.
I'M MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, ALSO COMMISSIONER PONT HAD ASKED US TO, UM, LOOK AT, UM, OTHER SCENARIOS JUST SO THAT OUR COMMISSION KIND OF GETS, UM, UH, A SENSE OF THE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS SINCE WE DID LOOK AT OVER 100 THAT, UH, THE WORKING GROUP WAS CONSIDERING.
SO SCENARIOS RANGE, BECAUSE THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT WE HAD AVAILABLE, YOU KNOW, CHANGED FROM WHAT WE HAD INITIALLY THOUGHT, UM, IN THIS PARTICULAR SCENARIO, UH, IT WAS WHEN WE INITIALLY THOUGHT WE HAD ONE POINT $2 MILLION TOMORROW TO WORK WITH.
SO WE WERE LOOKING AT A 5% RESERVE, UM, CULTURALLY SPECIFIC MARKET AND SUPPLEMENT HOLES.
SO THIS WAS SOMETHING, UM, EVEN IN THIS VERY EARLY SCENARIO, YOU CAN SEE WAS A CONSIDERATION FROM VERY EARLY ON, IF NOT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF WHEN ALL OF THESE, UM, CONSIDER OR ALL THESE SCENARIOS WERE CONSIDERED, UM, IN THIS PARTICULAR, UM, UH, SCENARIO, THERE WAS NO FUNDING FOR TEMPO OR FOR COMMUNITY INITIATIVES.
UM, WE DID LOOK AT A NO CUT TO A LOT OF CON CONTRACTORS IN THIS PARTICULAR SCENARIO, UM, UH, WHICH RESULTED IN A 56%, UH, REDUCTION IN F 20 AWARDS OR WITH NO MINIMUM AWARD OF $3,000, BUT GOING ONTO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, AFTER FUNDING WAS REDUCED BY ONE POINT $2 MILLION.
UM, THIS ONE BID LOOK, UM, AT LEADING WITH AN EQUITY LENS, AGAIN, KEEPING THE CULTURALLY SPECIFIC MARKETING SUPPLEMENT HOLE 5% IN RESERVES.
UM, WE DID FUND TEMPO AT A HUNDRED THOUSAND IN THIS SCENARIO AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES AT 200,000.
UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT A 65% REDUCTION IN FUNDS FOR GENERAL CONTRACTORS, 52% TO LGBTQ AND DISABILITY COMMUNITY CONTRACTORS.
UM, AS WELL AS A 42% CUT TOO, A LOT OF CONTRACTORS ARE GOING TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, THIS, THIS ONE LOOKED AT, UM, KEEPING BLACK CONTRACTORS ALL.
UM, AND SO, UM, MOST OF THE OTHER ASSUMPTIONS, UH, STAYED THE SAME.
YOU CAN SEE THE RESULT IN A 57% REDUCTION, UM, FROM AFLAC CLINIC LEVELS TO GENERAL CONTRACTOR.
IT'S 46% FOR LGBT AND DISABILITY COMMUNITIES AND 36% TO OTHER ALLANA CONTRACTORS.
UM, SO GOING TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, HOPEFULLY THAT GIVES YOU A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE VARIOUS CONSIDERATIONS.
THE WORKING GROUP HAS CONSIDERED.
THOSE, YOU KNOW, WERE BASICALLY THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT.
WE WANT TO KEEP THE CULTURALLY SPECIFIC MARKETING SUPPLEMENT FOR HOW MUCH GOES IN RESERVES, HOW MUCH FOR TEMPO AND COMMUNITY INITIATIVES AND OTHER PROGRAMS. UM, IN ADDITION, UM, THE OTHER REASONS THERE WERE SO MANY SCENARIOS AS WE WOULD HAVE TO RUN ITERATIONS OF THE SCENARIO TO SEE, OKAY, WE WANT TO TRY SOMETHING LIKE THIS, AND WE'D SEE IF WE EVEN HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO DO THAT.
AND LOTS OF TIMES THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH MONEY.
SO WE DO ITERATIONS OF THE SCENARIO, UM, OR OF THE ASSUMPTIONS TO GET AS CLOSE AS WE COULD POSSIBLY.
UM, AND ANOTHER CONSIDERATION WAS, UM, KEEPING THE ADJUSTMENTS NO LOWER THAN $40,000.
UM, AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE IN A LATER SLIDE, BUT BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO HAVE, IN CASE THERE'S MATH ERRORS OR NUMBER ERRORS, WE WANT TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF SOMETHING.
AND WE USUALLY HAVE THAT, I MEAN, 40 AND 70 OR 40 AND $80,000 IN WANTING TO GO NO LOWER THAN, UM, 40,000.
UM, SO AFTER FOUR MEETINGS, WE THOUGHT WE WERE DONE, BUT THEN WE FOUND OUT, UM, THERE WAS LESS MONEY AVAILABLE, EVEN LESS MONEY AVAILABLE.
SO GOING TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, THE ARTS COMMISSION WORKING GROUP DID COME UP WITH THEIR FINAL RECOMMENDATION, UM, AFTER TWO MORE MEETINGS.
UM, AND THAT FINAL RECOMMENDATION WAS TO MAINTAIN THEIR CULTURALLY SPECIFIC MARKETING SUPPLEMENT AT CURRENT LEVELS.
UH, THE VAST MAJORITY OF RECIPROCAL RECIPIENTS OF THE CULTURALLY SPECIFIC MARKETING SUPPLEMENT ARE HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED ALLANA LGBTQ, WHERE DISABILITY COMMUNITIES, UM, IN CANING, THE SUPPLEMENT TIES INTO LEADING WITH EQUITY, UM, MAINTAIN, UH, CCI FUNDING, UH, COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, FUNDING AT CURRENT LEVELS AND FUNDING TEMPO AT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.
THE WORKING GROUP FELT THAT IT'S IMPORTANT TO PROVIDE FUNDS IN TEMPO AND IN COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, WHICH ARE PROGRAMS THAT HAVE A FOCUS ON SUPPORTING THE WORKS OF EMERGING ATLANTA, ARTISTS AND ARTS ORGANIZATIONS TO COMPLETELY DEFINE THESE PROGRAMS. WE PREVENT THOSE NEWCOMERS FROM ACCESSING NEEDED RESOURCES TO BEGIN TO DEVELOP THEIR PROGRAMMATIC OFFERINGS AND WOULD RESULT IN FEWER ATLANTA ARTS LEADERS IN THE FUTURE.
UM, AND THIS ALSO ALIGNS WITH THE FOUR
[00:25:01]
PILLARS OF THE ARTS COMMISSION, UH, CULTIVATE LEADERSHIP AND ENCOURAGE EQUITY, FOSTER COLLABORATION AND INSPIRE EVOLUTION.UM, THIS FINAL SCENARIO OR FINAL RECOMMENDATION ALSO MAINTAINS A TWO AND A HALF PERCENT, UH, OR KEEPS TWO AND A HALF PERCENT IN THE RESERVE.
UM, MOVING A CUSHION, EVEN A SMALL ONE WILL HELP PROVIDE FOR A SMALLER DIP INTO
UM, ESPECIALLY AGAIN, IF
AND
THE WORKING GROUP PRIMARILY FOCUS THEIR DECISION MAKING ON ENSURING THAT THE FUNDING RECOMMENDATION WAS ROOTED IN EQUITY OFTEN IS THE ONLY MAJOR GROWING CITY IN THE U S WITH A DECLINING BLACK POPULATION AND BLACK ATLANTA AND LGBTQ AND DISABILITY COMMUNITIES ARE HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED, UNDER RESOURCED.
AND WITH LESS DISPOSABLE INCOME, AS MENTIONED EARLIER, THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 HAS HAD A GREATER IMPACT ON THE ILANA COMMUNITY.
AS A RESULT OF THE RECOMMENDATION, UM, INCREASES A PERCENT OF TOTAL HOT FUNDS GOING THROUGH A LINE OF CONTRACT OR SOME 25% LAST YEAR, THE 31% IN THE PROPOSED WHILE ALL, UM, CONTRACTORS RECEIVED IT.
IT WAS A BALANCE OF MINIMIZING CUTS FOR HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES WHILE STILL TRYING TO LIMIT OVERALL CUTS.
UH, GOING TO THE NEXT SLIDE WILL BE A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF WHAT THE CONCLUSIONS WERE FROM THE FINAL MEETING.
SO AGAIN, KEEPING THE CULTURALLY SPECIFIC MARKETING SUPPLEMENT HOLE, KEEPING TWO AND A HALF PERCENT IN THE RESERVES, UH, FUNDING TEMPO AT $100,000 FUNDING COMMUNITY INITIATIVES AT A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS, UM, A 58% IN REDUCTION, UH, FROM ATHLETIC 20 LEVELS FOR GENERAL CONTRACTORS, UM, 48% REDUCTION, 20 LEVELS TO LGBTQ AND DISABILITY, UM, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, CONTRACTORS, UH, 30% REDUCTION OF FYA, 20 LEVELS TO ILANA CONTRACTORS, UH, 10% A REDUCTION OF
AND I FORGOT TO MENTION, UH, KIND OF THE RATIONALE OR WHY WE KEPT THE, UH, IT'S RECOMMENDED TO KEEP $3,000 MINIMUM AWARD.
UH, NEARLY A THIRD OF
A COMMUNITY INITIATIVES AWARD WILL LIKELY BE IN THE TWO TO $3,000 RANGE.
UM, AND SO IDEALLY CORE AWARD SHOULD BE EQUAL TO, OR MORE THAN THE COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, MAXIMUM AWARD, UM, 90% OF CONTRACTORS RECEIVING A $4,000 AWARD, AND IT'S LIKE 20, WHICH WAS THE MINIMUM AWARD THEN, UM, S UM, I PLACE HERE, UH, 90% OF THOSE RECEIVING THE $4,000 MINIMUM AWARD, UM, IN AFLAC WHEN WE WERE FIRST TIME APPLICANTS, AND OVER 60% RECEIVED SCORES ABOVE 80 AND 29% RECEIVED SCORES OF 90 OR ABOVE, UH, SOME CONTRACTORS WHO RECEIVED THE $4,000 AWARD, UH, BECAUSE THEY HAD SMALL ANNUAL BUDGETS AND WAS NOT A REFLECTION OF A PORT SCORE, UH, 55%.
SO OVER HALF OF THE 4,000 RECIPIENTS, A $4,000 MINIMUM OF WORK, EXCEPT FOR, AND
UH, SO AGAIN, JUST SOME OF THE RATIONALE FOR THAT.
SO GOING ONTO THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE HOW THIS COULD HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE PRIORITIES.
THE WORKING GROUP WAS CONSIDERED, UH, CONSIDERING AGAIN, LOOKING THROUGH AN EQUITY LENS AND THAT BY 2020 9% OF ILANA APPLICANTS RECEIVED 25% OF FIVE FUNDS.
UM, BUT WITH THE FR 21, UH, RECOMMENDATION, UH, THEY WILL RECEIVE 31% OF THE HOT FUNDS.
UM, THE AVAILABLE FUNDS, AGAIN, GO DOWN FROM ABOUT 4.8 MILLION TO ABOUT 7 MILLION, UM, AND, UM, A FULL 10% RESERVE AND FYI POINT B WAS USED TO HELP KEEP THAT FLIGHT 20 CONTRACTS WHOLE.
UM, AND SO FOR 21, WE'RE KEEPING A TWO AND A HALF PERCENT RESERVE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, AND THIS SHOWS, UM, WHAT, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW THE DIFFERENT FUNDING PROGRAMS, UM, COMPARES
[00:30:01]
FYI 20 TO 21.UM, YOU WILL SEE SOME OF THE EXPENSES THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED.
UH, WE LOOKED AT ALL OF THOSE AS WELL TO SEE IF THERE WERE ANY THAT COULD BE CHANGED.
AND WHILE IT'S NOT A LOT, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE MARKETING WAS REDUCED FROM $40,000 TO $20,000.
AND THE TOURISM AND PROMOTION WAS REDUCED FROM $20,000 TO 10,000.
SO A STAFF AND THE WORKING GROUP DID ASK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S LIKE, OKAY, THESE CAN NOT BE CHANGED, BUT IS THAT REALLY THE CASE? CAN WE REALLY LOOK AT THAT? SO WE DID SCRUB AND LOOK TO SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE COULD FUND THOSE POSSIBLY FROM OTHER FUNDING SOURCES, UM, OR JUST REDUCE, UH, WHAT THOSE WERE.
UM, SO THIS IS WHAT THE, UM, OVERALL RECOMMENDATION, UM, IS IF WE GO TO THE FINAL SLIDE, UM, JUST KIND OF WRAPPING UP AGAIN, THIS WAS A, UH, THIS WILL BE A DISCUSSION ONLY MEETING.
UM, YOU WILL VOTE AT THE JUNE 26 MEETING FOR ANY MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY WHO WOULD LIKE TO SIGN UP FOR CITIZENS COMMUNICATION.
YOU NEED THE EMAIL AND ALREADY AT EMORY BATON MCCASKILL AT AUSTIN, TEXAS.GOV.
UM, I, I BELIEVE IT'S NOON ON THE 25TH.
BY, UH, NOON, UH, JUNE 25TH, WHICH IS TOMORROW, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK AT CITIZENS COMMUNICATIONS AT THE FRIDAY MEETING, WHICH WILL BE, UM, AT ONE.
SO THAT IS MY PRESENTATION COMMISSION, AND I WILL OPEN IT UP TO ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE, UNLESS THERE'S ANYTHING, UM, MEGAN OR AMARIE WANTED TO ADD FIRST, NO.
OR LULU OR ANYONE FROM THE AXES AND THE COMMISSIONER FOR THIS, OR ANYONE FROM LUMBER.
[Item 4]
YEAH.BEFORE, BEFORE THE WORKING GROUP COMES IN.
I JUST WANTED TO GIVE EVERYBODY A REMINDER THAT WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT IS A SINGLE YEAR, UH, IN, IN TWO YEARS AGO, WHEN THE HOT FUNDS DIPPED AND, UH, ORGANIZATIONS WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THAT REDUCTION, THE CONCERN WAS THAT IT WASN'T JUST AFFECTING THAT SINGLE YEAR.
IT WAS AFFECTING THE WHOLE CYCLE THE FIRST YEAR AND THE INTERIM YEAR.
AND WHEN WE WENT INTO CONTRACT WITH M J R, WE WERE RACING AGAINST THE CLOCK TO COME UP WITH NEW GUIDELINES.
WE AT, AT THE END OF LAST YEAR, WE REALIZED THAT WE NEEDED MORE TIME.
WE NEEDED TO PROCESS THE INFORMATION THAT WE WERE GATHERING FROM THE COMMUNITY.
AND WE ALL AGREED THAT WE WOULD INTRODUCE THIS BRIDGE YEAR TO GIVE, UH, THE REVIEW PROCESS MORE TIME TO COME UP WITH HOLISTIC GUIDELINES, THAT ADDRESS RACIAL EQUITY, UH, AND A PATH FORWARD.
UM, AND SO JUST A REMINDER, WE'RE LOOKING AT FISCAL YEAR 21, IT'S A BRIDGE YEAR, IT'S A SINGULAR YEAR.
AND OF COURSE ON TOP OF THAT, WE'RE NOW DEALING WITH A PANDEMIC, UH, THAT HAS SHUT DOWN OUR ABILITY TO MEET IN GROUPS, WHICH IS PRETTY MUCH THE BASIS OF ALL OF OUR ARTS THAT WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER AND MEET.
SO, AS WE'RE GOING, WE'RE UNSURE, WE'RE GOING TO DEEP DIVE INTO THE NUMBERS AND, AND, AND GET INTO THE WEEDS, BUT KEEP THIS IN MIND THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT ONE YEAR, WE'RE LOOKING AT FUNDING THAT IS STILL NOT CERTAIN.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THOSE FINAL NUMBERS ARE GOING TO BE IN WHEN THEY COME IN.
UM, AND WE DON'T KNOW HOW LONG THIS PANDEMIC IS GOING TO AFFECT OUR ABILITY TO COME TOGETHER AND HOLD EVENTS.
SO WITH THAT WORKING GROUP, IF YOU HAD ANYTHING TO ADD COMMISSIONER PULL GUARD, THANK YOU.
AND THANK YOU FOR THAT FRAMING.
UM, I MAY, I, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE KNEW WHEN WE STARTED THE CONVERSATION I'M IN THE MATRIX WORKING GROUP.
WE WERE CLEAR THAT THESE ARE EXTRAORDINARY TIMES.
THIS IS AN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE.
THIS WAS NOT WHERE WE WANTED TO BE.
UM, AND WE, THIS WAS INCREDIBLY PAINFUL AND DIFFICULT AND NUANCED WORK FROM ALL OF US, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WANTED EVERYONE TO KEEP IN MIND AND WE KEPT USING AS OUR TOUCHSTONE IS, AS WE ARE NEGOTIATING THESE TIMES, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE COMMUNITY KNOWS IT'S THE WHOLE COMMUNITY THAT BRINGS US OUT OF THIS.
THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY SHOULD BE LEADING US OUT OF OUR CURRENT SITUATION.
AND WHAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO IS SEE WHAT RESOURCES WE HAVE COLLECTIVELY NOT JUST HOT, BUT SPACE AND CAPACITY BUILDING AND TECHNOLOGY, AND UNDERSTANDING ALL OF THOSE THINGS TOGETHER AND ALL OF THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER.
SO I JUST WANT TO SORT OF KEEP THAT IN MIND, AS EVERYTHING IS NOT ON HOT SPECIFICALLY, THIS IS A PIECE OF A MUCH LARGER PUZZLE.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE CITY HAS BEEN ROBUST IN ITS RESPONSE AS AN EMERGENCY SUPPORT NETWORK.
THERE IS A CONTINUUM OF RESOURCES AVAILABLE, AND WE'VE BEEN TRYING TO TRACK AND BE MINDFUL OF WHAT RESOURCES
[00:35:01]
ARE AVAILABLE AT WHAT LEVELS AND FOR WHAT THINGS AND TRYING TO BE AWARE OF WHO'S FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS AND HOW WE DEAL WITH THAT.SO, NO, IT'S A, IT'S A GIANT PUZZLE.
RECUSAL STAFF HELPED ME OUT HERE IS IF, IF SOMEONE HAS A CONFLICT, THEY CAN'T EVEN BE PART OF THIS DISCUSSION, CORRECT.
ANYONE IS A CULTURAL CONTRACTOR.
THEY FEEL THAT THEY HAVE A, AND THEN IN ORDER TO RECUSE THEMSELVES, WE JUST ASK HIM THAT YOU TURN OFF YOUR VIDEO FEED.
THAT WAY WE RECOGNIZE THAT YOU'RE OFF THE DAYAS COMMISSIONER.
I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT THAT'S ACTUALLY NOT WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING.
WE'VE BEEN A PART OF THE CONVERSATION AND RECUSING OURSELVES FROM THE VOTES, IF NECESSARY.
THAT'S WHAT WE DID FOR THE BRIDGE YEAR COMPENSATION AND WHAT WE DID LAST YEAR AS WELL.
I WOULD JUST SUGGEST THAT IF HE, TO MAKE CLEAR TO THOSE WATCHING, UH, T TO, UM, EVEN IF YOU'RE PART OF THE, WE DON'T REALLY HAVE A DIOCESE, BUT EVEN IF YOU'RE PART OF THE VIDEO CAPTURE THAT MAYBE YOU MAKE CLEAR THAT YOU ARE PLANNING TO RECUSE YOURSELF FROM THE DISCUSSION AND THE VOTE COMMISSIONER FLORES.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, I WANTED TO THANK STAFF AND THE COMMITTEE, UH, OR THE WORKING GROUP, UH, FOR, YOU KNOW, ALL THE HOURS THAT WERE PUT INTO THIS.
IT WAS, IT WAS REALLY EXCRUCIATING FOR US TO HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS.
WE WERE HOPING THAT HATS, UH, OR THE DROP IN THE, UH, HOT PHONES WOULD NOT BE, I MEAN, WE EXPECTED BAD, BUT WE WERE HOPING THAT WE WERE, YOU KNOW, UH, IT WOULDN'T BE AS BAD AS WHERE WE ENDED UP AND I'M HOPING TO KEEP OUR FIRST CONSIDERATION WAS TO TRY TO KEEP STEADY AT FIVE 20 LEVELS TO, FOR FUNDING FOR EVERYBODY.
UNFORTUNATELY, AS YOU'VE SEEN THE FUNDS KEPT DROPPING ON US AND WE WERE FORCED TO, UH, YOU KNOW, ACT, UM, ON BAT IN THERE.
UM, WE TRIED, YOU KNOW, WE TRY TO, YOU KNOW, TURN OVER EVERY ROCK THAT WE COULD TO FIND ADDITIONAL FUNDS, INCLUDING THOSE ADMINISTRATIVE FUNDS THAT, UH, MS. LITTLE SCHOOL IT ALLUDED TO IN HER COMMENTS, UH, WE LOOKED AT ALL THOSE, AND WE WERE, WE'RE UNABLE TO, WE REDUCE WHERE WE COULD, AND WE WERE, UH, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE COULD NOT, WE HAD TO LEAVE THOSE IN THERE.
UH, AS WE, AS EVERYBODY KNOWS, WE LED WITH AN EQUITY LENS TO DEAL WITH THE EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES WE'RE FACING NOW.
AND THOSE GROUPS THAT ARE BEING IMPACTED MOST HEAVILY.
AND WE WANT IT TO TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION AS WELL.
BUT I MOSTLY JUST WANTED TO SAY THIS WAS REALLY HARD GUT WRENCHING.
WE HATE TO SEE ANY REDUCTIONS TO ANY OF THE GROUPS, BUT UNFORTUNATELY, UH, THE REALITY IS THAT THESE ARE THE FUNDS THAT WE HAVE TO WORK WITH.
AND WE DID THE BEST WE COULD TO BE AS FAIR AND EQUITABLE AS WE COULD TO TRY TO DO THE LEAST AMOUNT OF HARM TO THE MOST PEOPLE.
SO, UM, FOR THOSE IMPACTED MORE GREATLY, WELL, ANYWAY, THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY.
I KNOW THAT I HEARD FROM THE WORKING GROUP, BUT I'M PUTTING THIS OUT SO THAT EVERYBODY UNDERSTANDS CURRENTLY THE SCENARIO THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, WE STILL HAVE MONEY FOR TEMPO.
WE STILL HAVE MONEY FOR COMMUNITY INITIATIVES.
UM, AND I GUESS FOR THE MARKETING SUPPLEMENT AS WELL, THAT I SHOULD PUT THAT IN THAT SAME GROUP, BUT WE REFER TO CORE PRO TO THE CORE PROGRAM AS CORE, BECAUSE IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME WHERE WE FIND OURSELVES WHERE WE NEED TO MAKE CUTS, THAT THAT IS THE ONE PROGRAM THAT WE WILL TRY TO KEEP HOLDING.
SO I'M ASKING THE COMMISSION AND THE WORKING GROUP, WHY ARE WE NOT CUTTING THESE EX THESE OTHER PROGRAMS, COMMISSIONER FLORES, HOW'D, YOU KNOW, WELL, COMMUNITY INITIATIVES.
I KNOW THE CORE IS, ARE THE, ARE THERE ARE BASIC PROGRAMS. UH, WE HAVE
[00:40:01]
ADDED TO THOSE, THE, UH, CULTURAL HERITAGE FESTIVALS AS WELL AS COMMUNITY INITIATIVES IS ONE OF OUR THREE MAJOR FUNDING PROGRAMS, INITIATIVES AS HAS BEEN DESCRIBED IS, UH, AN ENTRANCE, UM, GATE FOR SMALLER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS IN GROUPS THAT ARE TRYING TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO THE COMMUNITY AND ARTS TO THE COMMUNITY, UM, AND ARE NOT YET AT THE LEVEL TO WHERE THEY CAN, UM, NECESSARILY APPLY FOR THE CORE FUNDS.PERHAPS THEY'RE NOT A 501
THEY'RE MORE COMMUNITY BASED AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE, AND A LOT OF THOSE ARE ALLANA AND OR DISABILITY, LGBTQ, UM, GROUPS THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, JUST GETTING OFF THE GROUND.
SO WE FELT THAT THIS IS A THEATER, UH, PROGRAM THAT DOES PROVIDE NEEDED FUNDING FOR ARTS PROGRAMMING, UH, UH, IN THE COMMUNITY, BY THE COMMUNITY, UH, BY SMALLER GROUPS WHO ARE FIGHTING TO GET A LEG UP.
SO THEREFORE, UH, PERSONALLY I FEEL THAT THAT'S AN, UH, AN IMPORTANT, UM, PROGRAM TO BE FUNDING AS WELL.
WE LEAD THAT WITH A VERY HIGH EQUITY, I MEAN, UH, AN EQUITY LENS AS WELL.
AND SO IT'S AN ENTREE FOR THOSE GROUPS WHO HAVE NOT YET AT THE LEVEL TO APPLY FOR FUNDING AS FAR AS TEMPO GOES.
IT WAS ON HIATUS LAST YEAR BECAUSE IT WAS REORGANIZING AGAIN, UM, FELT THAT WE COULDN'T QUITE FUND IT AT LEVELS THAT IT HAD BEEN PRIOR TO HAVING GONE ON HIATUS.
UH, BUT THAT WE COULD RESTORE SOME FUNDING, UH, FOR AT LEAST MAYBE THE, A TO D PROGRAMMING.
AND AGAIN, UH, WITH THE DISCUSSION THAT THESE, UM, THESE PARTICULAR AWARDS ALSO BE, UH, PERHAPS IN A, UH, UH, A STRONGER EQUITY LENS AND TO HAVE FOR, UH, ALLANA AND LGBTQ AND DISABILITY GROUPS TO PERHAPS PARTICIPATE IN THESE, UH, PROGRAMS. AND ALSO BECAUSE THESE ARE THIS PROGRAMMING FOR OUTDOOR ART, THAT IT WOULD BE PROBABLY, UM, THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE SINCE RIGHT NOW, UH, DURING THE PANDEMIC, UH, GOING OUTDOORS IN LIMITED NUMBERS IS PROBABLY HAVING MORE ACCESS TO THAT PARTICULAR ART AND OTHER, UM, ADDITIONAL METHODS.
SO THOSE ARE THE DISCUSSIONS WE HAD, AND THAT'S, I'M JUST TRYING TO SOME BACKGROUND ON
ALSO TO ADD TO THE COMMUNITY INITIATIVES CONVERSATION, THIS WAS A BRIDGE YEAR.
IT WOULD HAVE UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES WITHOUT THE SHIFTS THAT WE'RE ANTICIPATING BEEN A YEAR, THAT WE WOULD HAVE STARTED A NEW CYCLE.
AND SO THERE WERE ORGANIZATIONS SORT OF IN THAT COMMUNITY INITIATIVES PIPELINE, WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN APPLYING FOR CORE THIS YEAR, IF THAT HAD BEEN AN OPTION BETWEEN THAT AND THE SIGNIFICANT EQUITY LENS THAT WE HAVE PUT ON CGI IN THE LAST TWO YEARS, WE FELT LIKE LOCKING THOSE ORGANIZATIONS OUT COMPLETELY.
THAT WAS STILL SORT OF AN AGREEMENT THAT WE HAD MADE AS A CITY WITH THAT PROGRAM AND THAT COMMUNITY THAT WE DIDN'T, WE WANTED TO HONOR.
ONE, UM, IN HIS OPENING REMARKS CHAIR CASTILLO POINTED OUT THAT WE AS A GROUP, UM, DECIDED TO GO WITH THE BRIDGE OF YOUR CONCEPT, AND WE SORT OF LOCKED OURSELVES INTO THAT AND POINT OUT THAT I VOTED AGAINST THE CONCEPT OF A BRIDGE YEAR.
I'D NEVER LIKED THE IDEA BECAUSE I THINK THAT WE WERE GETTING INTO THIS PROBLEM BEFORE WE EVEN REALIZED WE WERE GETTING THIS PROBLEM AND THEN THE PANDEMIC CAPITAL.
SO, UM, I WASN'T ABLE TO VOTE IN THE CORE OF A PORTION OF THAT, BUT IN THE CULTURAL HERITAGE FESTIVAL CONCEPT.
AND I MADE MY CASE FOR NOT DOING A BRIDGE YARD.
AND I THINK WE'RE NOW KIND OF SET IN THIS WHERE PEOPLE HAVE THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT THEY FEEL THAT THEY ARE GETTING SET IN STONE.
AND WE'RE TAKING A PERCENTAGE OFF OF A SERIES OF MONEY THAT THEY'VE GOTTEN FROM LAST YEAR, WHICH WAS BASED ON A SERIES OF MONEY THEY GOT FROM THE YEAR BEFORE THAT.
SO THERE IS A SORT OF, UM, THIS MONEY IS EXPECTED MENTALITY THAT GOES WITH THAT, THAT I THINK THE PANDEMIC IS MAKING IT ESPECIALLY HARD SO THAT EVERYTHING IS BEING LOOKED AT WELL, IT'S 29% OF THIS.
IT'S 70% OF THAT, BUT IT'S ALSO, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, 88% OF THE THING WE HAD
[00:45:01]
THE YEAR BEFORE, WHICH IS ALSO BASED ON THESE SCORES THAT CAME FROM PEER PANELS, THAT ALMOST EVERY SINGLE PERSON WE TALKED TO, UM, DISAGREED WITH, UH, IT FELT LIKE IT WAS NOT A FAIR PROCESS.SO, UH, IF THERE WAS EVER A YEAR TO, UM, BURN IT ALL DOWN AND START FROM SCRATCH, UH, I REALLY DO FEEL LIKE THIS IS THE YEAR ALSO TO GET BACK TO THE I'M RECUSING, ACTUALLY REALIZING THAT THE THING THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE RECEIVING FUNDING FROM ARE SUPPOSED TO RECUSE THEMSELVES IS A VOTING ON THE GUIDELINES, THE COURT GUIDELINES.
SO THE CULTURAL HERITAGE FUNDING GUIDELINES, I ACTUALLY WAS ON THE FUNDING MATRIX FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS.
SO, UM, YOU RECEIVING MONEY FROM A PROGRAM? LIKE, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S PERSONALLY, BUT I KNOW FOR ME, FOR BEING ON A BOARD OF AN ORGANIZATION, IT'S OKAY TO VOTE ON THE FUNDING MATRIX BECAUSE THE MONEY IS NOT TIED TO ANY SPECIFIC AMOUNT THAT YOU KNOW, THAT YOU WOULD BE RECEIVING.
UM, SO THAT'S HOW WE DID IT BEFORE.
UM, WHAT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IN TERM, OH, AND ALSO FINALLY, LOU, I THINK, UH, SORRY, COMMISSIONER FLORES MADE EXCELLENT POINTS ABOUT WHY WE'RE KEEPING THE COMMUNITY INITIATIVES AND TEMPO AND CULTURAL.
UM, ALL IN ADDITION TO THE CORE, I FULLY AGREE WITH ALL OF THOSE STATEMENTS.
I THINK THAT COMMUNITY INITIATIVES IS A REALLY IMPORTANT FEEDER PROGRAM THAT IF WE WERE TO GET RID OF IT, WE'RE ACTUALLY REDUCING OPPORTUNITIES FOR UNDERSERVED GROUPS TO ENTER INTO THE ART SPACE THAT BEING SAID, UH, AND I, AND I WANT TO APPLAUD THE WORKING GROUP FOR ALL THE DIFFERENT SCENARIOS THEY LOOKED AT.
IT SEEMS LIKE YOU DID A LOT OF DIFFERENT, UM, MANIPULATION OF, UM, SORRY, I'M LOOKING AT THE BOTTOM OF SOMETHING.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON WITH, GIVE US YOUR THOUGHTS.
THAT WAS A LITTLE DISTRACTING.
UM, I REALLY, I THINK YOU GUYS DID A GREAT JOB LOOKING AT VARIOUS SCENARIOS BASED AROUND AN EQUITY LENS.
UM, WHAT I DIDN'T SEE ANY SCENARIOS WITH AND I THINK IS SOMETHING THAT IS REALLY WORTH LOOKING INTO IS SCENARIOS BASED AROUND, UM, ORGANIZATION, UH, SUPPORT LEVELS, PROJECT SUPPORT LEVELS.
AND MAYBE NOW IS THE TIME THAT GROUPS THAT ARE, UM, YOU KNOW, BUDGETED OVER $500,000, UH, ALREADY ARE NOT RECEIVING THE SAME PERCENTAGE OF FUNDING AS EVERYBODY ELSE, CONSIDERING ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THAT OFTEN HAVE A DEVELOPMENTAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, A SPONSORSHIP OFFICER, AND THEY'RE ABLE TO HAVE ACCESS TO FUNDRAISING CAPABILITIES THAT A SMALLER GROUP, UM, DOESN'T HAVE ACCESS TO.
SO IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A 25% CUT, JUST AS A, AS A TYPICAL NUMBER, YOU CAN SAY THAT AN ORGANIZATION WITH A BUDGET OF A MILLION DOLLARS FEELS A 25% CUT, UH, MORE THAN A SMALLER ORGANIZATION BECAUSE THEY HAVE A BIGGER BUDGETS.
SO THEREFORE YOU'RE CUTTING MORE THEIR MONEY, BUT ACTUALLY THAT'S NOT TRUE BECAUSE THEY HAVE, UH, IF YOU'RE AT THAT BUDGET LEVEL, YOU HAVE THE RESOURCES TO MAKE UP MONEY LIKE THAT A LOT EASIER THAN YOU DO, UH, SMALLER GROUPS, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'RE CONSIDERING THAT THE SMALLER GROUPS ARE OFTEN THESE UNDERSERVED GROUPS THAT HAVE TRADITIONALLY FELT THE PANGS OF, UM, SYSTEMATIC ECONOMIC OPPRESSION, WHICH IS ALL I CAN SAY ABOUT, UM, THE HISTORY OF, UH, FUNDING THROUGHOUT AMERICA.
NOT, NOT TO EVEN SAY AUSTIN, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE DEALING WITH THE FACT THAT WE HAVE SYSTEMATIC ECONOMIC OPPRESSION BASED ALONG RACIAL LINES BASED A LOT BASED ALONG, UM, HETERONORMATIVE LINES BASED ALONG, UH, DISABILITY LINES.
I THINK THE RACIAL LINES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY NOW.
AND I THINK THAT THE SPECIFICALLY, UM, THE FUNDING FOR BLACK ORGANIZATIONS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT.
UM, BUT THAT BEING SAID, YOU KNOW, I WOULD LOVE FOR US TO OPEN UP SOME OTHER POSSIBILITIES OF WHERE TO CUT MONEY BACK FROM DIFFERENT GROUPS RATHER THAN SPECIFICALLY, UM, ALONG RACIAL LINES, BECAUSE I THINK THAT THERE ARE PROBABLY GROUPS THAT COULD DEAL WITH A LOT MORE FUNDING BEING SHAVED OFF SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SOME OTHER GROUPS WHOLE, I PERSONALLY, UH, WON'T SUPPORT ANY, ANY, UM, FUNDING MATRIX THAT DOES NOT HAVE 100% FUNDING OF THE ASK FROM BLACK ORGANIZATIONS.
I'D ALSO LIKE TO SEE A HUNDRED PERCENT FUNDING FROM A LOT OF ORGANIZATIONS FROM LAST YEAR, ALSO REMEMBERING THAT THEY ARE ALREADY CUT LAST YEAR.
AND THIS IS, YOU KNOW, THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE CUTTING BACK ON PEOPLE PEOPLE'S FUNDING.
SO
HI, I WANTED TO GO BACK AND I THINK THIS WAS THE COMMENT THAT YOU MADE.
HI, MAY I DON'T REMEMBER EVER TALKING ABOUT
[00:50:01]
CORE PROGRAMS BEING SORT OF UNTOUCHABLE BECAUSE THEY WERE DESIGNED TO BE THE CORE PROGRAMS AND THAT YOU WOULD CUT FROM OTHER AREAS BEFORE YOU WOULD ADDRESS THE CORE PROGRAMMING.TO ME, I TAUGHT MANY OF THE DECISIONS MADE AROUND NAMING THINGS WERE BASED UPON SIZE OF BUDGETS OF ORGANIZATIONS AND NOT NECESSARILY, UM, BEN, ANYTHING ELSE.
SO IF I'M WRONG IN THAT ASSUMPTION, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR WHEN THAT DECISION WAS MADE, THAT, UM, BECAUSE YOU ARE EXCLUDING SMALLER ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS, IF YOU'RE SAYING CORE, CAN'T BE TOUCHED, UM, BECAUSE, AND THAT'S TYPICALLY BASED UPON THEIR, UM, THEIR, THEIR BUDGET SIZE, NOT NECESSARILY THEIR IMPORTANCE OR RELEVANCE TO THE ARTISTIC COMMUNITY.
SO I JUST WANTED SOME CLARIFICATION ON THAT.
UM, SO I I'LL HAVE TO ASK STAFF TO HELP WITH THIS, BUT AS I RECALL, IT WAS AT THE VERY BEGINNING STAGES OF OUR CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS FUNDING WORKING GROUP.
AND IT WAS A CONVERSATION AROUND WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND I FORGETTING THE YEARS, BUT WHEN THERE WAS A DIP AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAD TO CUT BACK ON PROGRAMMING AND CORE WAS THE PROGRAM THAT WAS KEPT.
NOW THIS IS ESPECIALLY A SPAM PEDAL, UM, OR I CAN WAIT TILL THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS, MAKE THEIR COMMENTS GO AHEAD AND SPEAK ON IT.
UM, YEAH, SO TRADITIONALLY, SO WE HAD THAT DISCUSSION PROBABLY, I DUNNO, IT SEEMS LIKE IT WAS THREE, FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AGO, AND IT WAS KIND OF BASED ON WHAT HISTORICALLY HAD BEEN DONE.
UM, THE REASON THAT IT'S BEEN CALLED BEFORE PROGRAMS WAS CAUSE IT WAS KIND OF THE MAIN PROGRAM.
NOW THIS WAS WHEN CORA WAS CREATED.
IT WAS BEFORE, UM, THE CREATION OF THE CULTURAL HERITAGE FESTIVALS PROGRAMS. UM, BUT IN THE PAST, AND WE DID HAVE DOWNTURNS WHEN IT WAS JUST, UH, COMMUNITY INITIATIVES AND IT'S KIND OF PREDECESSOR THE SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM.
UM, WHENEVER THERE WERE DOWNTURNS, IF I'M REMEMBERING CORRECTLY, WE EITHER DID TAKE MONEY FROM THOSE PROGRAMS ARE FUNDED AT A VERY SMALL LEVEL.
UM, BUT CORE WAS BASICALLY THE ONLY PROGRAM WE HAD THERE.
SO, YOU KNOW, BUT WE DID HAVE THAT DISCUSSION.
I REMEMBER AT THE COMMISSION, YOU KNOW, LIKE I SAID, THREE, FOUR OR FIVE YEARS AGO AND THERE WAS DISCUSSION AMONGST THE COMMISSIONERS.
UM, AM I STILL HERE? IT LOOKS LIKE OTHER PEOPLE ARE GOING AWAY.
UM, THERE WAS DISCUSSION AMONGST OTHER COMMISSIONERS THAT, UM, UM, IS THAT THE CASE THAT WE, THAT WE WANT TO DO THAT.
SO I THINK IT'S GOOD FOR JERICHO CASTILLO TO BRING THAT UP FOR DISCUSSION.
AND SO HOPEFULLY THAT REMINDS SOME OF THOSE WHO WERE HERE AT THAT TIME, UH, WHAT WE DISCUSSED AT THAT.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER BARNS.
UM, UM, SO NOT REALLY, UM, BUT WELL, I WOULD JUST I'LL I CAN GO BACK AND LOOK AT AND SEE, BECAUSE AGAIN, I, I REALLY, IN MY AGING MIND, UM, JUST REMEMBER SORT OF AT THE NASCENCE OF MANY OF THESE PROGRAMS, IT WAS BASED UPON WHERE YOU WOULD FIT INSIDE THIS ORGANIZATION SUPPORT OR ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT TO, OR CORE BASED UPON BUDGET SIZE.
I MEAN, I KNOW IT WAS PROGRAMS STARTED SHIFTING AND THINGS CHANGING.
UM, I NEVER HAD, HAD HEARD OF, AGAIN, US SAYING THE CORE GROUP WOULD ALWAYS BE THE ONES THAT WE WOULD HOLD HARMLESS.
UM, BECAUSE AGAIN, I DO THINK THAT THAT SETS UP HAVES AND HAVES NOTS, UM, THAT HAVE PEOPLE HAVE ADDRESSED IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
SO I JUST, I CAUTION US ABOUT THAT BECAUSE I'M NOT, THAT MIGHT BE FLAWED THINKING AND IN MY ESTIMATION, YEAH.
I MEAN, I DON'T GET TOO HUNG UP ON IT.
LIKE WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY THAT'S COMMISSIONER FONT.
THEY SAID, IT'S THE BURN IT ALL DOWN.
LIKE I JUST THROW IT OUT THERE.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I BELIEVE WE DISCUSSED BEFORE A COMMISSIONER AND THE COMMISSIONER FOR US.
UH, LIKE, LIKE COMMISSIONER FLORES WAS SAYING, AND PERMISSION PORTER WAS SAYING THIS WAS A VERY LONG AND DIFFICULT DISCUSSION THAT WE HAD.
AND I'M GLAD THAT WE STARTED THIS DISCUSSION LAST YEAR, AS FAR AS STARTING TO LOOK AT EQUITY AND STARTED LOOKING AT MAKING CHANGES IN THE WAY WE FUND THINGS.
BECAUSE ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DID BOTHER ME IT BEFORE WAS THAT THERE WAS LIKE, I BELIEVE, UH, REBECCA WAS SAYING THAT SOME FOLKS GET THIS MENTALITY BECAUSE OF
[00:55:01]
PREVIOUS FUNDING SITE, THAT THEY WOULD ALWAYS GET A CERTAIN PERCENTAGE, CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY.AND BECAUSE THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS DONE BEFORE.
AND THE THING IS NOTHING IS GOING TO BE DONE THE WAY IT WAS DONE BEFORE, BECAUSE WE'RE LOOKING AT THINGS MUCH DIFFERENTLY.
NOW WE'RE LOOKING AT THINGS AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ADDRESS EQUITY.
AND WE'RE LOOKING AT THE HISTORY OF INEQUITY HERE IN AUSTIN.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I DID, I WAS FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO REACH OUT TO SOME OF OUR CONTRACTORS, UH, AND DO SOME RESEARCH.
I LOOKED AT THE HISPANIC QUALITY OF LIFE REPORTS, THE AFRICAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE REPORT.
AND ONE OF THOSE REALLY DISTURBING TO ME WAS THE, UH, POLICE INCIDENT SHOOTINGS REPORTS HERE IN AUSTIN, TEXAS.
AND JUST THE DISPARITIES THAT YOU WOULD SEE HOW OUR MINORITY COMMUNITY, PARTICULARLY OUR BLACK COMMUNITY WAS NOT RECEIVING THE SERVICES, NOT RECEIVING ANYTHING THAT THEY DESERVED IN THE SHOOTINGS.
FOR EXAMPLE, OUR BLACK COMMUNITY MAKES UP 8% OF THE COMMUNITY, BUT MAKES UP 31% OF THE SHOOTINGS INVOLVED THAT'S FOUR TIMES.
UM, AND THAT REMINDED ME OF BACK WHEN I WAS LIKE 10 YEARS OLD IN 1970, WHENEVER EVENTS ON A SATURDAY WAS MURDERED IN AN LA DURING THE CHICANO, UH, PROTEST.
AND I'VE BEEN REMEMBERING THAT ONE.
AND I REMEMBER RICHARD SCENTLESS COY.
I REMEMBER THE BEATINGS THAT PAULA HAD HERE IN AUSTIN, JUST FOR TRYING TO PROTECT THE COMMUNITY.
AND SO I KNEW THAT WE HADN'T BEEN ADDRESSING EQUITY IN ANY WAY THAT WAS EVEN REMOTELY THE WAY IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE.
AND SO I WAS REALLY GLAD THAT WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT THIS YEAR.
AND WE LOOKED AT ALL KINDS OF SCENARIOS.
ONE OF THE THINGS LIKE I SAID BEFORE, YOU JUST TALKED TO ONE OF MY CONTRACTORS IS WE LOOKED AT, OKAY, WHAT ARE WE KEEP EVERYONE THAT WE'LL DO WITH LAWN OR ANYBODY OF COLOR? THE OTHER ONE WAS, WHAT IF WE JUST GIVE ALL THE PEOPLE OF COLOR, ALL THE ARTISTS OF COLOR, ALL THEIR FULL MONEY.
AND AGAIN, THE DISCUSSION WAS WELL THAT WOULDN'T BE FAIR TO ALL THEIR GENERAL CONTRACTS.
SO WE HAD TO FIND A BALANCE AND THAT BALANCE WAS REALLY DIFFICULT TO FIND LIKE WAS THERE, WE HAD A HUNDRED DIFFERENT SCENARIOS THAT WE LOOKED AT AND EVERY SINGLE TIME SOMEONE ELSE WOULD BRING UP AN ISSUE.
EVERY SINGLE TIME WE WOULD JUST, WHEN WE THOUGHT WE'RE DONE MORE BAD NEWS CAME.
AND SO WE JUST KEPT GOING AT IT, KEPT GOING AT IT.
BUT THE THING IS YOU'VE GOT TO REMEMBER IS THAT THERE'S NEVER, EVER BEEN A GUARANTEE OF FUNDS FOR ANYBODY.
AND IT ALWAYS CHANGES ANY OF ANY, ANY ARTISTS FEEL THAT THERE'S A GUARANTEE THAT THEIR DO, THEY SHOULD JUST COMPLETELY GET THAT THOUGHT OUT OF THEIR HEAD BECAUSE THINGS WILL NEVER BE DONE THE WAY OVER THE WORD BEFORE.
AND I'M GLAD THAT WE DID IT THE WAY WE DID IT THIS WAY.
AND WE TRIED TO ADDRESS EVERY SINGLE GROUP THAT WAS OUT THERE.
UH, AND SO THIS IS WHAT WE CAME UP WITH.
I STAND BY THIS, BY THIS DECISION.
AND I THINK IT, IT IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST DECISIONS WE EVER MADE.
DID WE ACHIEVE EVERYTHING WE WERE SUPPOSED TO ACHIEVE? NO WAY, NO WAY AT ALL.
MAYBE WE WOULD HAVE DONE MORE THINGS, DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN.
UH, I'M GLAD ARTISTS ARE ASKING FOR $5 MILLION MORE.
AND IF THIS COVID KEEPS GETTING WORSE AND THEY NEED TO COME UP WITH MORE MONEY, THEN I'LL BE GLAD TO SUPPORT THE MASTER.
YOU WOULD MORE, YOU KNOW, IF THERE'S ANOTHER STIMULUS, STIMULUS CHECKS AND OTHER STIMULUS ROUNDS OF FUNDS COMING THROUGH, AND WE DESERVE THAT MONEY BECAUSE WE'RE STILL GETTING HURT AND LET'S KEEP GETTING IT AND LET'S KEEP IT.
WE NEED TO CHANGE THE WAY WE'RE WRITING OUR PROGRAMS A LITTLE BIT MORE TO HAVE MADE SURE THAT OUR PEER PANEL IS A VOTE, RIGHT.
LET'S MAKE THOSE KINDS OF CHANGES.
BUT RIGHT NOW WE'RE SORT OF STUCK AND THERE'S REALLY NOT MUCH WE CAN DO BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY TO DO IT.
SO WHAT I SAY, THANK YOU JUST THREE MINUTES LEFT.
I WON'T BELABOR TOO MUCH, BUT I KIND OF HAVE A RECOLLECTION.
I KNOW CORE, I GUESS GET LIKE COMMISSIONER BARNES WAS SAYING, IT'S HIS NAME FROM IT FUNDS THOSE CORE FUNCTIONS OF, UH, ADMINISTRATIVE, UH, IN PROGRAMMING FOR CULTURAL ARTS, UH, CONTRACTORS THAT'S THAT IT, IT ALWAYS HAS HAD, UH, BECAUSE THAT'S, YOU KNOW, AT THE FOREFRONT OF WHAT WE DO IS TRY TO SUPPORT OUR ARTS ORGANIZATIONS WITH ADMINISTRATIVE AND PROGRAM DOLLARS.
UH, I KNOW WE'VE HAD, YOU KNOW, BUT I ALSO FEEL THAT THE INITIATIVES IT'S A, IT'S A FREESTANDING PROGRAM.
AND AS, AS CULTURAL HERITAGE TESTAMENTS CAME ON BOARD AS WELL, UM, I KNOW WE'VE ALWAYS HAD DISCUSSIONS AS TO WHETHER OR NOT WE DIP INTO OR LOWER THE AMOUNTS WITH COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, BUT I THINK WE'VE PRETTY MUCH HELD FIRM THAT THAT'S AN ENTREE LEVEL, UH, OR A PROGRAM THAT'S VERY IMPORTANT FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, ENTERING GROUPS.
AND I WON'T BELABOR THAT POINT.
I DID HAVE A BRIEF COMMENT ON WHAT, UH, UM, MR. FONTAINE SAID ABOUT, YOU KNOW, UH, THE WHOLE ENTITLEMENT AND THEN ALSO COMMISSIONER GARZA.
[01:00:01]
IS NO ENTITLEMENT IN FOLKS THERE, BUT WE DO HAVE A BASIC, UM, UNDERSTANDING THAT THIS IS WHAT WE DO.WE FUND OUR ART, WE HELP FUND THE ARTS ORGANIZATION.
UH, AND SO AT OUR VERY CORE AND OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR THESE ORGANIZATIONS.
SO, UH, I GUESS WE CAN GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD ABOUT HOW WE'D DO THAT AND GO ABOUT IT.
BUT I THINK FUNDAMENTALLY THERE IS, UH, AN EXPECTATION, UH, AND, AND RIGHTFULLY SO THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN FUND THE ARTS IN FAR FUND ARTS ORGANIZATIONS.
SO WHAT I WANTED TO SAY IS NOW AT THIS TIME OF COVID IS PERHAPS NOT THE TIME TO PULL THE RUG.
AND THAT'S, I THINK WE, THE WORKING GROUP WAS MINDFUL OF THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, BASED ON WHAT'S GOING ON NOW.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S, WE DIDN'T WANT TO ADD ADDITIONAL STRIFE IN, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, CUTTING OUT ALL FUNDING.
YOU'RE DRASTICALLY REDUCING IT TO ALL THE CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS WE HAVE DONE THAT, BUT I'M SAYING COMPLETELY PULL THEM UP, PULL THE RUG OUT FROM UNDER THEM COMPLETELY FROM SOME OF THIS FUNDING.
AND I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU GO ABOUT, SINCE WE HAVE TO DO THIS BLINDLY, I GUESS WE COULD ASK STAFF, YOU KNOW, WHAT ORGANIZATIONS GET A MILLION AND MORE, OR, OR, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN AMOUNT OF MONEY.
AND JUST TELL US IN TERMS OF RAW NUMBERS, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A NUMBER, THIS IS WHAT IT WOULD COST.
THIS IS THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT GOES TO THOSE TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS, BECAUSE I DON'T THINK WE CAN LOOK INTO PARTICULAR AND SPECIFIC ORGANIZATIONS AS TO WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND WHAT THEY'RE FUNDING, BECAUSE WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO, UH, WE'D GO AT BECAUSE BLINDLY.
AND SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I WOULD HAVE TO HAVE VERY GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF HOW WE'RE GOING TO ACCOMPLISH THAT WITHOUT VIOLATING THAT PARTICULAR TENANT.
UM, COMMISSIONER FANTA, TO GO BACK TO YOUR COMMENT ABOUT, UH, ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE OF A CERTAIN SIZE AND THEIR ABILITY TO POTENTIALLY HAVE STAFF TO DO SOME OF THIS WORK.
UM, I WOULD SAY THAT IN OUR CONVERSATIONS, IN THE WORKING GROUP, THAT WE'RE SUPER MINDFUL THAT AN ORGANIZATION THAT MIGHT HAVE A LARGER ORGANIZATIONAL BUDGET IS ALSO PROVIDING JOBS FOR ARTISTS IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND REMEMBER THAT THESE ARE HOTEL OCCUPANCY, TAX FUNDS, THESE ARE TOURISM GENERATED DOLLARS, RIGHT.
SO IT'S ALL PART AND PARCEL OF A LARGE ECOSYSTEM.
AND SO WHILE WE'RE LEADING WITH THE EQUITY LENS AND WHY I AM PARTICULARLY PASSIONATE ABOUT DOING THAT, I DON'T WANT, LIKE, AS WE WERE LOOKING AT THIS, I DIDN'T WANT TO DECIMATE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE THERE AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE ECONOMY AND CONTRIBUTING TO THE ECOSYSTEM IN HUGE, SIGNIFICANT WAYS.
UM, SOME OF THOSE ORGANIZATIONS DID GET PPP MONEY THAT MOST OF THAT PPP MONEY HAS GONE AGAIN, THE WHOLE TIME I'M LOOKING AT WHAT IS THE CONTINUUM OF THE SURVIVAL MECHANISMS THAT ARE OUT THERE FOR THE COMMUNITY AND FOR THESE ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY REMEMBER THAT THESE ARE CONTRACTS FOR SERVICES, RIGHT? SO FOR A NUMBER OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS, WHAT THEY DO AND HOW THEY DO IT IS FUNDAMENTALLY ALTERED AT THE MOMENT AND FIGURING OUT WHAT IT'S GOING TO TAKE TO GET THEM BACK TO FUNCTIONING AND WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE AND WHAT OTHER KINDS OF THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO NEED TO DO.
HOW WERE, HOW WERE THEIR EARNED INCOME REVENUES GOING TO CHANGE? BECAUSE THEIR CAPACITIES ARE SMALLER.
ALL OF THESE ARE PART AND PARCEL OF THE CONVERSATION IN THIS MOMENT.
UM, SO YEAH, WE, WE CAME UP, IT WAS A BRIDGE YEAR AND THEN EVERYTHING TURNED UPSIDE DOWN.
SO WE ARE IN THIS SNAPSHOT AND THERE ARE LOTS OF OTHER THINGS TO UNPACK ABOUT HOW WE'VE DONE THINGS HISTORICALLY AND HOW WE WANT TO DO THINGS MOVING FORWARD.
BUT I THINK FOR ME, WHEN IT CAME DOWN TO IS IN THIS MOMENT, WHAT IS THE TRIAGED QUITE LITERALLY OF HOW WE SURVIVE AS A COMMUNITY AND HOW WE KEEP MOVING FORWARD AND HOW WE KIND OF BUY OURSELVES SOME TIME TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE DO THAT.
UM, THE CITY WAS ABLE TO KEEP EVERYBODY WHOLE ALL THE WAY THROUGH
BUT IN ORDER TO DO THAT, WE ENDED UP FURTHER IN THE HOLE FOR 21.
AND THAT'S SOME OF THE STUFF THAT WE'RE DOING AND WE'RE STILL BORROWING AGAINST THE FUTURE RIGHT NOW, AS WE HAVE IT SET UP.
SO WE'RE JUST TRYING TO JUGGLE MULTIPLE PRIORITIES.
AND I GUESS I WANTED ALL OF YOU TO KNOW.
SO SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WERE IN OUR BRANDS AND IN OUR CONVERSATIONS THIS WEEK LOOKED AT ALL OF THIS.
I MENTIONED A COUPLE OF THINGS, CLARIFY WHAT SOME OF THE COMMISSIONERS HAVE ALREADY SAID, BUT THANK YOU.
UM, SO JUST TO MAKE A LITTLE BIT MORE DISTINCT WORD COMMISSIONER POLGAR WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT NOW IS, YOU KNOW, UM, EVEN MORE DISTINCTIVE, NOT JUST JOBS, BUT LIKE, YOU KNOW, SOMEONE IS A LARGER ORGANIZATION,
[01:05:01]
YOU KNOW, WHAT KIND OF THINGS ARE WE LOOKING AT IS A 50, 60, $70,000 CUT? IS THAT A POSITION OR TWO, YOU KNOW, WITH THEIR SALARY AND BENEFITS AND, YOU KNOW, UM, WHATEVER'S NEEDED, THAT'S, ISN'T ALL THAT THAT NEEDS TO BE FOR THEM.SO THAT'S JUST ONE THING JUST TO, I THINK THAT'S WORKED EMOTIONAL COLOR.
AND I'M GOING BACK TO THE, UM, UM, OR VERSUS COMMUNITY INITIATIVES, UM, THIS, YOU KNOW, AGAIN LIKE COMMISSIONER POLGAR AND OTHERS HAVE SAID, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS KIND OF WHAT HISTORICALLY HAD BEEN DONE.
IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME BEFORE WE HAD A DEEPER EQUITY LENS.
UM, AND IT WAS ALSO A DIFFERENT COMMISSION, WHICH HAD DIFFERENT PROGRAMS AND DIFFERENT PRIORITIES.
UM, AND IT WAS BEFORE WE HAD THE FOUR PILLARS IN PLACE.
SO AGAIN, BEFORE THAT, THE CHAIRS BEING THAT, BRINGING THAT UP FOR DISCUSSION, BUT JUST TO GIVE A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, UH, CLARIFICATION ON THAT FOR Y'ALL TO CONSIDER, AND IT IS TWO OH SEVEN, TWO OH EIGHT.
NOW I'M SORT OF 22 MINUTES LEFT AGAIN.
OH, AND ONE OTHER THING WE HAVE DISCUSSION ON THIS, WE WILL BE VOTING ON FRIDAY.
WE HAVE TO GET THE, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE BUDGET OFFICE ON FRIDAY THE 26TH IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE, UM, UM, TO GO TO A CITY COUNCIL FOR THE JULY 13TH, UH, BUDGET.
SO WE CAN POSSIBLY DO SOMETHING BETWEEN NOW AND FRIDAY, BUT IT WILL HAVE TO BE ADOPTED ON SLACK.
LET ME JUST SAY THAT
I HAD A QUESTION, UH, COMMUNITY FEEDBACK.
UM, DID WE RECEIVE ANYTHING IN WRITING? HAVE WE HEARD ANYTHING ELSE? I MEAN, OTHER THAN THE, THE COMMUNITY CITIZENS COMMUNICATION TODAY, HAVE WE HAD ANY OTHER FEEDBACK THAT'S BEEN RECEIVED FROM THE COMMUNITY? UM, AND I HA I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT WE WERE GOING TO GET SOME AT THIS MEETING, BUT PERHAPS THIS UNDERSTANDING OF I HAVEN'T GOTTEN IT ME.
THIS IS DAN MARIE, UM, MCCASKILL DAVIS, THIS DEFINITELY A SONG FOR THE ARTS COMMISSION.
I HAVEN'T RECEIVED ANY WRITTEN COMMENTS, UM, REGARDING THE CULTURAL FUNDING MATRIX.
UM, THERE MAY BE ONE OR TWO FOLKS, OR MAYBE MORE AFTER THIS MEETING, SINCE THERE IS STILL OPPORTUNITY FOR CITIZENS COMMUNICATION.
UM, AT THE MEETING ON FRIDAY, THERE MAY BE MORE FOLKS WHO WANT TO SIGN UP.
UM, AND AGAIN, SIGNING UP FOR THAT IS JUST AN EMAIL TO ME, UM, BY NOON TOMORROW.
UM, AND I CAN GET ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION OR THEY CAN SEND ME WRITTEN COMMENTS AND I'LL SHARE WITH THE ENTIRE COMMISSION.
I WANT TO EMPHASIZE ANN MARIE, WHAT YOU JUST SAID, LIKE IT'S, IF ANYONE'S WATCHING THIS, LISTENING TO THIS, IF YOU PLAN ON SPEAKING ON FRIDAY, DID YOU SIGN UP BEFORE NOON TOMORROW, BUT ESPECIALLY SEND IT IN WRITING TO ANN MARIE, SO SHE COULD FORWARD TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION SO THAT WE KNOW GOING IN FRIDAY.
IT, YOU KNOW, IF, IF YOU SEND IT IN TODAY, WE CAN AT LEAST REACT TO IT SOMEHOW.
CAUSE FRIDAY WE'RE KIND OF JUST GOING TO TAKE A VOTE.
WE MAY HAVE TIME FOR, YOU KNOW, WE WILL HAVE TIME FOR SOME DISCUSSION, BUT WE'RE GOING TO VOTE ON FRIDAY.
SO IT'D BE NICE IF WE HAD INFO BEFORE, UM, COMMISSION FLOORS, A PROCESS QUESTION, PLEASE, UH, REGARDING ANOTHER ITEM ON THE AGENDA.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH MORE TIME WE'RE GOING TO HAVE ON DISCUSSION RIGHT HERE, BUT THERE IS ANOTHER ITEM THAT IS ON THE AGENDA ON THE AGENDA TO THE AGENDA THAT I WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS POSSIBLE BASED ON THE RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL THAT WE VOTED ON AT OUR LAST MEETING NOTED.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WE ARE WRAPPING UP THIS CONVERSATION.
FIRST COMMISSIONER FANTE BEN BARNES.
I'M IF I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS, THE WORKING GROUP HAS PUT FORTH THIS FUNDING MATRIX AND WE'RE VOTING ON THIS FUNDING MATRIX ON FRIDAY, AND WE HAVE TO GIVE SOMETHING TO CITY COUNCIL THAT DAY.
SO BASICALLY WE'RE KIND OF LOCKED IN ALREADY.
WE CAN, WE CAN ASK FOR CHANGES.
NOW WE CAN, UH, ASK FOR CHANGES VIA EMAIL AND WE HAVE A NEW PRESENTATION FRIDAY, BUT FRIDAY WE'RE ONLY LIMITED TO SPEAKING ABOUT THE FUNDING MATRIX.
SO YEAH, WE HAVE OPPORTUNITY TO CHANGE IT, WHICH I THINK WHICH WAS WHAT I WAS GOING TO SAY FOLLOWING UP ON YOU.
LIKE, WHAT DOES THIS LOOK LIKE IF WE'RE FUNDING BLACK ORGANIZATIONS THAT A HUNDRED PERCENT LIKE, NO, SORRY.
I JUMPED IN, I JUST WANT TO GO BACK TO SOMETHING.
[01:10:02]
UM, OH, SORRY.UM, YOU JUST WANT TO GO BACK TO WHAT WAS SAID? I CAN'T REMEMBER WHO IT WAS.
I APOLOGIZE, BUT JUST IN TERMS OF LIKE, I THINK IT'S ABOUT TO RAIN HERE.
MAYBE, MAYBE I'M GETTING, UH, THAT IT WOULDN'T BE FAIR IF WE CUT, IF WE, IF WE CUT EVERYBODY, IF WE TOTALLY DECIMATED OTHER PEOPLE'S FUND FUNDING AND, UH, AND I WOULD SAY, YEAH, SURE.
BUT IT ALSO ISN'T FAIR THAT CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS HAVE HAD SYSTEMATIC RACISM EFFECTING THEM FOR YEARS.
SO I ACTUALLY DON'T CARE IF IT'S FAIR.
AND TO ME, THE ONLY WAY THAT WE MOVE FORWARD IS TO RE IS TO LEAD WITH EQUITY, WHICH IS WHAT WE SAY WE'RE DOING.
UM, YOU KNOW, UH, HAYES'S BROUGHT UP, UH, JUSTIN LANG, UM, AND I, AND I WANT TO READ THE FIRST SENTENCE OF HIS, OF HIS REPORT ON COVID RESPONSE FUNDS AND SAYS THERE ARE A NUMBER OF FUNDING PROGRAMS FOR NONPROFITS COMING FROM PREDOMINANTLY WHITE LED ORGANIZATIONS AND RESPONSE COVID-19 AND THE WAY RACIAL CAPITALISM WORKS WITHOUT A DESIGNED INTERRUPTION, IT IS CERTAINTY.
THESE FUNDS WILL BENEFIT PREDOMINANTLY WHITE LED NONPROFITS.
WE NEED A DESIGNED INTERRUPTION
I SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN THAT DOWN, BUT JUST WITH REGARDS TO THAT, I DON'T DISAGREE THAT, THAT THERE'S A TIME THAT WE NEED TO BURN IT DOWN AND START ALL OVER.
I JUST, I THINK AS, AS COMMISSIONER FLORIDA'S SAID, I'M NOT SURE THE TIME OF A PANDEMIC WHERE EVERYBODY IS STRUGGLING IS THE BEST TIME TO DO IT.
UM, BUT, UM, I GET, I GET WHAT YOU'RE SAYING.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO, TO SAY THAT, AND I THINK TOO, THERE IS, UM, UH, IF PEOPLE HAVE INFORMATION, THEY CERTAINLY CAN MAKE THE BEST, UM, COURSE CORRECTION.
SO DOING IT IN A TIMELY WAY, YOU KNOW, AND I THINK, AGAIN, WE HAD SORT OF TALKED ABOUT THERE WOULD BE LEAD IN TIME TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU'VE PREPARED AND THAT YOU'RE READY FOR IT.
AND I'M NOT SURE THAT US DOING IT IN THIS WAY GIVES THEM AMPLE TIME, UM, TO, TO SET THE FOUNDATION THAT WILL HELP THEM, UM, SHOULD THERE BE HUGE, SIGNIFICANT LOSSES, UM, AT THIS TIME BECAUSE OF THE MATRIX.
UM, AND THEN ALSO TO, UM, I DON'T REMEMBER WHO'S COMING IN, BUT FOR PEOPLE SIGNING TO SPEAK UP ON THEIR FUNDING FOR THE CITY, TO ME IT'S IS CRAZY.
UM, AND I KNOW THE CITY IS, UH, THE CAD STAFF HAS DONE A GREAT JOB OF ABOUT SENDING COMMUNICATIONS.
BUT AGAIN, IT'S JUST, I THINK FOR PEOPLE THAT, THAT EITHER HAD THE ABILITY TO, OR TOOK THE TIME TO, UM, SPEAK UP ABOUT THE FUNDING TO ME IS COMPLETELY UNREALISTIC WHEN WE HAD A GYM FULL OF PEOPLE THAT ONE YEAR WHEN FUNDING WAS GOING TO BE CUT.
SO I'M JUST NOT SURE WHAT CAN BE DONE DIFFERENTLY ABOUT GETTING MORE COMMUNITY FEEDBACK.
THAT'S GONNA IMPACT THEM, WHETHER FIVE, AN ADDITIONAL 5 MILLION GOES FORWARD OR WHETHER WHATEVER, LIKE THIS IS STILL, YOU KNOW, A HOLE THAT THEY'D HAVE TO DIG THEMSELVES OUT OF IT SHOULD, SHOULD THERE BE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES.
DID I SEE YOUR HAND UP? YOU'RE AFTER POLDER, HOLD ON.
AND, UH, COMMERCIAL CLAUSES, HIS HANDS IN THE AIR TOO.
UM, SHOULD IT BE QUICK? I WOULD, MY QUESTION IS, IS THERE A DIRECTION FROM THIS BODY TO THE WORKING GROUPS BETWEEN NOW AND FRIDAY? LET ME KNOW THAT BEFORE THE END OF THE DAY, RIGHT? CARS, LITTLE FLORES, THEN FANTE YOU'RE MUTED.
LIKE I SAID, WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT SOME OF THE REPORTS THAT CAME OUT, ADDRESSING EQUITY IN THE CITY, IT WAS THE HISPANIC AND THE AFRICAN AMERICAN QUALITY OF LIFE REPORTS.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS IN THOSE REPORTS AND WAS A REQUEST THAT WE HAVE STAFF MEMBERS WHOSE MAIN JOB IS TO LOOK FOR MINORITY APPLICANTS AND TO NURTURE MINORITY UP AGAINST AND HELP MINORITY APPLICANTS GROW, EXPAND.
WE REALLY DUMBED THAT BECAUSE WE'VE KEPT OUR NUMBERS OF MINORITY APPLICANTS, PRETTY STEADY, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE GIVEN THEM A WORKSHOPS TO HELP PEOPLE BECOME BETTER
[01:15:01]
APPLICANTS OR WHATNOT, THE NUMBERS ARE STILL THE SAME.SO HOPEFULLY ONE OF THE THINGS WE CAN DO IS THAT THIS TIME AS HAVE OUR STAFF MEMBERS GO OUT AND REACH OUT MORE TO OUR MINORITY APPLICANTS, UH, THAT HAS NOT HAPPENED.
YOU KNOW, THOSE QUALITY REPORTS CAME OUT YEARS AGO AND WE STILL HAVEN'T ADDRESSED THOSE THINGS.
SO THERE ARE THINGS THAT WE HAVEN'T ADDRESSED THAT MAYBE THIS TIME WE DO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS AND WE CAN READ CRAFT AND RETAILER OR APPLICATION SYSTEM FOR NEXT TIME.
UH, WE'RE UP AGAINST THE DEADLINE, WE'RE UP AGAINST A WALL AND THERE'S NOT MUCH WE CAN DO.
WE CAN CHANGE SOME NUMBERS AROUND.
WE WANT TO, BUT THAT'S NOT GOING TO GET ADDRESSED.
THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE LACK OF APPLICANTS UNTIL WE GET THOSE APPLICANTS UP UNTIL WE GET THOSE APPLICANTS READY UNTIL WE GET THOSE APPLICANTS CONSISTENT UNTIL WE GET THOSE ACLU APPLICATIONS TO EXPAND FOR OUR MINORITY APPLICANTS ON THE MARINA, WE'RE ARTISTS, IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
AND, UH, JUST GIVING THEM MORE MONEY, THAT'LL HELP OUT A LOT.
ABSOLUTELY THAT'LL HELP OUT TREMENDOUSLY.
BUT WE ALSO GOT TO THINK ABOUT EVERYBODY ELSE AND WE DO, WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT EVERYBODY ELSE.
AND SO LET'S JUST KEEP THAT IN MIND.
THEN FANTA, YOU MUTED FLORES MISSIONER BARS.
I AGREE WITH WHAT HE JUST SAID IN TERMS OF NUMBERS AND THE PIE CHARTS IT'D BE, LOOK, I MEAN, OUR PERCENTAGES ARE GREAT.
WE'VE BEEN TRYING OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, IT ALL HAS TO DO NUMBER OF APPLICANTS PERCENTAGES OF IN EACH COMMUNITY.
AND I THINK WE'RE TRYING TO DO, AND WE, YOU KNOW, WE OBVIOUSLY ARE THAT SLIDE SAID, WE FREEZE THE AMOUNT GIVEN TO A LOT OF GROUPS, UH, TO AT LEAST BE PAR WITH THE NUMBER OF APPLICANTS 29%, AND WE'LL GET GETTING 31%.
AND THAT HAS, YOU KNOW, IT HAS TO DO WITH, YOU KNOW, A NOD TO THE WHAT'S GOING ON WITH IT.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT AT THE OVERALL STRUCTURAL CHANGE THAT WE'RE DOING.
THIS IS AGAIN, A BRIDGE YEAR WE'RE TRYING TO LEAD, YOU KNOW, TRY TO STEM THE, YOU KNOW, THE FLOOD DUE TO TRIAGE, LIKE A FULL BAR SAID, AND YOU KNOW, THIS IS WHERE WE ARE AT THIS TIME.
UH, WE'RE MINDFUL OF WHAT IT IS THAT NEEDS TO GET DONE.
UH, WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING THAT AND BURNING DOWN EVERYTHING AND DOING THAT.
THAT'S WHERE WE ARE WITH THE CONSULTANT.
AND HOPEFULLY FOR THE NEXT CYCLE, WE WILL BE THERE.
THIS IS JUST ONE OF THESE TIMES AT WORK.
AND WE'RE ESPECIALLY PRESSED NOW WITH FOLDED AND THE BROCK WITH A HOT PHONES.
AND I REALLY DO WANT TO ADDRESS THE OTHER AGENDA ITEMS. SO HOPE WE CAN DO THAT.
JUST QUICKLY TO SPEAK TO WHAT COMMISSIONER BURNS SAID.
WE ONLY HAD FOUR SPEAKERS TODAY.
I DO THINK IT'S A BIG PROBLEM THAT WE'RE ASKING PEOPLE TO MEET AT ONE O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON DURING THE WORKDAY, UH, REALIZING THAT MOST PEOPLE IN AUSTIN ARE NOT MOST ARTISTS IN AUSTIN ARE NOT ABLE TO ONLY WORK THAT JOB, OR IF THEY ARE WORKING THAT JOB, THEY HAVE ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH WITH THE COVID RESPONSE TO TAKE TIME OUT, TO BE AT A MEETING.
UM, SO YEAH, IF WE REALLY WANT TO GET A LARGER GROUP OF FEEDBACK WHERE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO HAVE A MEETING IN THE EVENING.
UH, SO COMMISSIONERS, THIS IS THE CHALLENGE FOR YOU.
THE CHALLENGE FOR US TIME IS NOT OUR FRIEND.
UH, OUR, OUR MEETINGS ARE LIMITED TO 90 MINUTES BY THE CITY CLERK'S OFFICE WHERE YOU'RE TRYING TO PETITION FOR LONGER MEETINGS.
BUT SO FAR I'VE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL.
UH, THE BUDGET OFFICE HAS A TIMELINE THAT THEY HAVE TO HAVE THEIR NUMBERS IN SO THAT THEY CAN MAKE THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS TO CITY COUNCIL.
WE CANNOT AFFECT THAT TIMELINE.
WE ARE WORKING AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN WITH STAFF TO GET A RECOMMENDATION.
IT REALLY SUCKS THAT WE DON'T HAVE MORE SPEAKERS ON TODAY.
WE REALLY NEED TO HEAR FROM THE COMMUNITY, BUT THIS IS WHERE THE CHALLENGES FOR YOU AS COMMISSIONERS, YOU SHOULD BE REACHING OUT.
THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER GARCIA FOR DOING SOME RESEARCH, BUT EVERYBODY ELSE GET ON THAT AS WELL.
Y'ALL Y'ALL KNOW ARTISTS IN TOWN, Y'ALL KNOW ORGANIZATIONS GET ON THE PHONE, SEND THOSE EMAILS, GET THAT FEEDBACK.
WE ALL HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER TO GET THIS DONE.
UM, AND WITH THAT, THE FUNDING MATRIX WORKING GROUP, YOU WANTED SOME DIRECTION.
I WANT TO SEE A NEW SCENARIO WHERE A BLACK ORGANIZATIONS ARE AT 0% ALON ORGANIZATIONS ARE AT 0%.
I KNOW YOU HAVE YOUR REASONS, BUT I WANT TO SEE WHY THOSE THINGS BELOW THAT BLUE LINE WERE NOT TOUCHED.
I WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHY THOSE NUMBERS CAN'T BE REDUCED.
UM, THAT'S JUST ME PERSONALLY.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT WILL ACTUALLY AFFECT THE SCENARIOS, BUT I WANT TO UNDERSTAND BETTER WHY THOSE NUMBERS AREN'T BEING TOUCHED.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT NEEDS TO BE MADE THEM INTO EMOTION, IF SO, COMMISSIONER'S HELPED ME OUT.
[01:20:01]
WERE, WE CAN GET YOU THE INFORMATION I'VE ASKED HOW WE DID IT AND WHAT WE DID.I'LL PROVIDE THAT IN THE PRESENTATION.
I DON'T THINK WE NEED EMOTION.
WE JUST NEED DIRECTION AND I CAN RUN THOSE SCENARIOS.
SO ZERO CUTS TO BLACK AND ALLANA, UM, ORGANIZATIONS OR PRESENTATION ON WHY THE BLUE ITEMS WEREN'T TOUCHED.
I JUST WANT TO EMPHASIZE IF WE'RE LEADING WITH RACIAL EQUITY, IF THAT, IF THAT IS WHAT WE'RE COMMITTING TO, LET'S DO IT LIKE THIS 10%.
[Item 5]
YOU WANT TIME TO HAVE THE DISCUSSION ON THE OTHER AGENDA ITEM? LET'S MOVE FORWARD WITH NEW BUSINESS.ARE WE TALKING, UH, THE NEW, THE NEW, THE NEW, THE NEW ITEM? WELL, OKAY.
WE'RE MOVING ON TO NEW BUSINESS.
UH, I WAS GOING TO, UH, GIVE AN INTRODUCTION AND THEN I'LL CALL ON YOU COMMISSIONER FLORES.
UM, SO WE DID MEET AFTER OUR MEETING LAST WEEK, WE DID MEET WITH THE, UH, THE DRAFTERS OF THAT LETTER.
WE ASKED THEM TO INVITE KEY, UH, VOICES TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY WERE IN THE ROOM WITH US.
UM, WE GOT CLARIFICATION ON WHY THEY, UH, DECIDED ON 5 MILLION.
WE GOT SOME CLARIFICATION ON, UM, HOW THEY THOUGHT IT MIGHT WORK.
THEY COMMITTED TO ADDING A DEBT, OR THEY AGREED TO ADD AN ADDENDUM THAT ADDRESSES EQUITY, WHICH WAS A PART OF OUR CONVERSATION THAT WE HAD.
UM, AND SO WE, IN OUR, IN THE RECOMMENDATION THAT WE PROVIDED IN THE BACKUP, YOU'LL SEE SOME OF THAT LANGUAGE.
UM, BUT YEAH, IT WAS A CONVERSATION THAT WE HAD.
WE, WE DRAFTED THE RECOMMENDATION LETTER AND COMMISSIONER FLORES, IF YOU WOULD CONTINUE FROM HERE.
UH, THE ARTS VISION RECOMMENDATION THAT I HAD VOLUNTEERED TO, TO WORK ON WITH OTHERS AND HAVE HELPED, UH, FINISH A FULL BAR AND MR. CASTILLO AND BARNS, UH, WE, WE LISTENED, WE ADJUSTED IT'S BEFORE YOU.
UM, AND I ALSO HAVE, I WOULD LIKE TO ACTUALLY, UH, MAKE A MOTION, UH, TODAY TO ADD ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE TO THE RECOMMENDATION.
AND IF I CAN BE RECOGNIZED FOR THAT MOTION, I'D LIKE TO DO THAT MOTION BY FLORES TO ADD, UM, TO ADD THE FOLLOWING TO THE RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU HAVE HAD A YOU AND I THINK I JUST LOST EVERYBODY.
NO, YOU'RE STILL, WE CAN STILL HEAR YOU, BUT WE NEED IT BEFORE YOU MOVED ON.
WELL, I WAS GOING TO READ THE MOTION.
NOBODY HAS IT, BUT I'D LIKE TO CONTINUE FOR US.
ADD THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGE TO THE RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL FOR 5 MILLION IN EMERGENCY FUNDS WOULD BE ALLOCATED TO THE EDD C A D FOR PROCESS AND DISTRIBUTION GUIDELINES WOULD INCORPORATE AN EQUITY DRIVEN PROCESS AS OUTLINED BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN EQUITY OFFICE, ENSURING THAT HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED ALANA BIPAP AND MARGINALIZED, UH, LGBTQ DISABILITY, NONPROFIT ARTS ORGANIZATIONS ARE EQUITABLY SERVED GUIDELINES FOR ELIGIBILITY AND DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE DEVELOPED BY EDD SLASH CAD STAFF WITH THE ADVICE OF THE ARTS COMMISSION.
I'LL SECOND THAT MOTION MOTION BY FLORES TO, UH, ADD THAT LANGUAGE SECONDED BY MOC.
AND THE REASON I WAS SAYING IS THAT, UM, WE, YOU KNOW, THAT HELPS US, UH, UM, GIVE DIRECTION TO COUNCIL TO HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE, UM, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, UH, DIVISION AND, AND STAFF BE ALLOCATED THOSE FUNDS, THOSE EMERGENCY FUNDS, AND THAT THEY COME UP WITH A PROCESS THAT WE HAVE INPUT INTO TO HOW AS TO HOW TO DISTRIBUTE IT LEADING WITH AN EQUITY LENS AS WELL.
QUESTIONS, UM, COMMISSIONER MK.
UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW THE CITY HAS SOMETHING CALLED A WOMAN AND MINORITY, UM, CATEGORY.
SO WITH THIS ALLANA, UM, WE DON'T HAVE THE WOMEN GROUP IN IT.
I DO NOT KNOW NO, UH, IN THE CULTURAL ARTS FUNDING IS THE WOMEN ORGANIZATION AND IN THE STRUGGLING CATEGORY, NO, THEY ARE NOT TESTING THIS BEFORE YOU ANSWER COMMISSIONER MOCK.
THAT IS A QUESTION FOR FUNDING MATRIX CONVERSATION.
WE ARE ON TO THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE LETTER.
I'M TALKING ABOUT THESE TWO BECAUSE THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT EQUITY, BUT THEN, RIGHT.
[01:25:01]
THE, THE STATEMENT THAT WAS ADDED BY A COMMISSIONER A LITTLE, I MEAN, YEAH.SO I W I, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT EQUITY, UM, THAT ACQUITY, UM, DO WE ALSO, UM, BECAUSE ACQUITY, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT ALL STRUGGLING.
FOR ME THAT I, I UNDERSTAND THAT'S, FOR ME, THAT'S AN OUTSIDE CONVERSATION.
WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT EQUITY, I'VE ALREADY CLARIFIED THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT RACIAL EQUITY.
EVERYTHING ELSE IS INTERSECTIONAL.
IT WILL BE RAISED AS WE RAISE RACIAL EQUITY.
THAT SEUSS, DO YOU WANT TO ANSWER COMMISSIONER MARK'S QUESTION VERY QUICKLY? NO, IT IS NOT CONSIDERED IN THE LGBTQ DISABILITY.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS REGARDING THE, UH, THE LETTER ITSELF, THE RECOMMENDATION I'M SORRY, ITSELF OR THE ADDENDUM COMMISSIONER? POLGAR UH, YEAH, A COUPLE OF QUICK THINGS.
UM, WHEN THIS CAME BEFORE US, I VOTED IN SUPPORT BECAUSE I RECOGNIZE THAT THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE IN TROUBLE AND AGAIN, LOOKING AT THE CONTINUUM OF RESOURCES AVAILABLE, UM, KNOWING THAT THERE IS A NEED, I HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT THE WAY THAT THE LETTER WAS CRAFTED AND WHO WAS IN THE ROOM FOR THAT CRAFTING.
I HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT NOT HAVING YET SEEN THE, THE EQUITY STATEMENT THAT I KNOW THAT THEY'RE WORKING ON.
UM, SO I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR THAT MY SUPPORT OF THIS IS ABOUT SUPPORTING FUTURE FUNDS THAT BECOME AVAILABLE FOR NONPROFIT, NONPROFIT, ARTS ORGANIZATIONS, TO HELP THEM THROUGH THIS CRISIS.
AND THIS EMERGENCY I'D LIKE TO MOVE TO.
COMMISSIONER BARNES, IF YOU CAN'T SEE YOUR VIDEO, JUST SO THAT, YOU KNOW, COMING FROM THE FORUMS, DID YOU HAVE A COMMENT? UH, WELL, RIGHT.
WELL, WHAT I'M ASKING TODAY IS WE ALREADY VOTED ON THE MOTION TO REQUEST THE $5 MILLION BASED ON THE LETTER WE HAD.
I UNDERSTAND THEY'RE AMENDING THE LANGUAGE SAID WE WILL APPEND WHAT LETTER AND I UNDERSTAND THEY'RE ADDING AN EQUITY COMPONENT TO IT.
UH, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD MY MOTION.
THAT'S ON THE TABLE RIGHT NOW IS TO ADD THE DIRECTION FOR THE ALLOCATION OF THOSE FUNDS.
SHOULD THEY BE ALLOCATED, UH, TO GO TO THE EDD SLASH CA D AS WELL AS, UH, COMING UP WITH A PROCESS THAT'S EQUITY BASE TO JUST, JUST WE RECEIVED THEM.
AND I WOULD LIKE TO CALL THEM VOTE ON THAT.
DID EVERYONE GET A CHANCE TO READ THAT ADDENDUM?
WE CAN STILL VOTE ON THIS ON FRIDAY.
WE WON'T BE ABLE TO VOTE ON ANYTHING EXCEPT THE FUNDING MATRIX.
I WASN'T PLANNING ON BEING ABLE TO VOTE TODAY FOR, OR THE SAILOR, BUT I EXPLAINED SOMETHING CAUSE IT WAS RIGHT.
THIS RECOMMENDATION IS JUST THE WORKING THAT WE'RE GOING TO SEND THE CITY COUNCIL ABOUT OUR VOTES.
LAST TIME, I JUST WANTED TO ADD AN ADDITIONAL PORTION ABOUT THE ACTUAL ALLOCATION AND DISTRIBUTION THAT TO ADD TO THIS RECOMMENDATION, I'M HAPPY TO DISTRIBUTE RECOMMENDATIONS, JUST LANGUAGE THAT WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER.
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE ACTUALLY HAVE TO VOTE ON IT, BUT IF ANYBODY HAS ANY EDITS THE SENATE WORKING ON IT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO MOVE THAT WE, UH, I KIND OF COULD ADD THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGE BECAUSE IT WASN'T NECESSARILY, UH, ORIGINALLY IN THE PREVIOUS, RIGHT.
WE'RE AT TIME, I HAVE A COPY OF COMMISSIONER FOR HIS AMENDMENT THAT WAS FORWARDED VIA EMAIL.
AND THAT'S WHY I WAS ASKING IF EVERYONE RECEIVED IT AND READ IT.
I WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO COMMISSIONER FLORES FOR HER HEAVY LIFT ON THAT.
THE LANGUAGE THAT YOU'VE ADDED, I THINK IS GREAT.
UH, YOU, YOU ARE FREE TO ABSTAIN AS YOU WISH OR CALL THE VOTE TO ADD THE ADDENDUM LANGUAGE.
UM, THAT COMMISSIONER FLORES, UH, PROVIDED ALL IN FAVOR.
COMMISSIONER MOCK COMMISSIONER FLORES, COMMISSIONER BARNS, COMMISSIONER CISMEN COMMISSIONER POLDARK, COMMISSIONER GARZA, ANY AGAINST
[01:30:01]
NONE ABSTENTIONS COMMISSIONER, VAN VANDYKE.WE CAN UPDATE THAT AND MAKE SURE THAT IT GETS PROVIDED TO COUNSEL.
UM, WE'RE GOING TO MEET ON FRIDAY.
ANYBODY WATCHING, LISTENING, YOU CAN SIGN UP TO SPEAK BEFORE NOON TOMORROW, THURSDAY, THE 25TH, UH, SEND AN EMAIL CONTACT, EMORY, GET YOU SIGNED UP.
UH, THAT, AND THAT'S, THAT'S ALL WE HAVE FOR TODAY.