* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:07] THIS IS A HARD ONE. MOVEMENT TRICKLED TO WOMEN OF COLOR, BUT IT SHOULDN'T SILENCE ANY DAUGHTERS OR MOTHERS, WOMEN OF ANY NATIONALITY. AGREED. OUR IDENTITIES AND OUR RIGHTS SHOULD BE RESPECTED EQUALLY HARD ONE. COUNCIL MEMBER TREVINO HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER . HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER R GARCIA. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ. PRESENT. COUNCIL MEMBER CAB HAR. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL. COUNCIL MEMBER EZ. HERE. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY HERE. AND MAYOR BERG. HERE. MAYOR, WE HAVE A QUORUM. GOOD MORNING EVERYONE. WELCOME TO OUR SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING. TODAY WE HAVE THE CANVASSING OF THE, UH, NOVEMBER ELECTION RESULTS. UH, THE TIME IS 10:05 AM SO WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER. UM, BEFORE WE GET STARTED, I'D LIKE TO BEGIN WITH AN INVOCATION. UM, JOHN, WHO DO WE HAVE, UM, WITH US FOR THAT? UH, SIR, I'LL, I'LL PROVIDE THAT AT THIS POINT, UM, JUST BECAUSE OF THE LATE NOTICE. SO, UH, LET US PRAY. SPIRIT OF JUSTICE, CREATOR SPIRIT, HELP US TO MAKE THIS CITY GREAT A HOME FOR ALL ITS DIFFERENT PEOPLES AND GRANT TO OUR GOVERNMENT AND ITS REPRESENTATIVES, IMAGINATION, SKILL, AND ENERGY THAT THERE MAY GROW MORE PEACE AMONGST US, AN ETERNAL GOD FOUND OF WISDOM. WE ASK YOU TO BLESS THIS CITY COUNCIL AND GRANT IT THROUGH THEIR DISCUSSIONS AND DECISIONS. WE MAY SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS EFFECTIVELY AND ENHANCE THE WELLBEING OF OUR CITY. AMEN. AMEN. AMEN. THANK YOU, JOHN. ALRIGHT. IN OUR PLEDGE, I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. OKAY. UH, [1. 20-6721 Ordinance canvassing the official results of the Special Sales and Use Tax Election held on November 3, 2020. [Tina J. Flores, City Clerk]] OUR ONLY ITEM ON THE AGENDA TODAY IS THE CANVASSING OF THE NOVEMBER ELECTION RESULTS. SO LET ME HAND IT OVER TO, UH, OUR CLERK, MADAM CLERK. GOOD MORNING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. ITEM ONE IS AN ORDINANCE CANVASSING THE OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE SPECIAL SALES AND YOUTH TAX ELECTION HELD ON NOVEMBER 3RD, 2020. I FIRST WANNA THANK BEXAR COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICE, JACKIE CALLANAN AND HER STAFF FOR THE TREMENDOUS JOB THAT THEY HAVE UNDERTAKEN DURING THIS ELECTION. THIS WAS A RECORD TURNOUT HER, UM, STAFF HANDLED THE ELECTION VERY WELL WITH GRACE AND, AND KEEPING ALL OF THE, UH, POLL WORKERS, UH, SAFE. AND I WANNA THANK HER SO MUCH FOR HER WORK. I ALSO WANNA THANK OUR STAFF FOR THE WORK THAT THEY HAVE DONE, SPECIFICALLY MELINDA AND FRANCISCO, FOR ALL OF THE LEG WORK REGARDING THE NOTICES OF ELECTION AND AS WELL AS CAM AL WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE WHO, UM, HAS DONE HER BEST AS ALWAYS, TO HELP OUR OFFICE, UM, IN EVERYTHING THAT SHE DOES FOR US. SO, CAM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP. I APPRECIATE YOU ALL. WE'RE GONNA GO OVER THE, UM, CANVASSING REPORT. AS YOU KNOW, PROPOSITION A WAS TO AUTHORIZE THE CONTINUATION OF THE CURRENT ONE 8 CENT SALES AND USE TAX FOR AN ADDITIONAL EIGHT YEARS FOR THE BENEFIT OF PRE-K FOR SA PROGRAM. AND PROPOSITION B WAS TO AUTHORIZE THE REALLOCATION OF AN EXISTING ONE 8 CENT SALES AND USE TAX FOR THE READY TO WORK SA WORKFORCE PROGRAM FOR JOB TRAINING AND SCHOLARSHIPS, WE'RE GONNA REVIEW THE ELECTION RESULTS AND VOTES THAT WERE CAST. ELECTION RESULTS INCLUDE THE NUMBER OF ABSENTEE BALLOTS, WHICH ARE MAILED, MAILED IN, OR HAND DELIVERED TO THE BEXAR COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICE. [00:05:01] ELECTION RESULTS INCLUDE THE NUMBER OF OVERSEAS BALLOTS FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL AND THEIR DEPENDENTS, AND ALSO PROVISIONAL BALLOTS THAT COULD NOT BE VALIDATED AT POLLING PLACES, UM, BY ELECTION PERSONNEL. AND THEN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VOTES CAST. WE ALSO ARE INCLUDING THE UNDER VOTES AND PAPER OR MACHINE BALLOTS THAT WERE SUBMITTED FOR NO MARKINGS, WHICH ARE FOR OR AGAINST THE MEASURE. AND THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VOTES CAST INCLUDE THE NUMBER OF OVER VOTES, WHICH ARE PAPER BALLOTS CAST WITH MULTIPLE MARKINGS. THIS IS A TABLE OF PROPOSITION A. THERE WAS A TOTAL OF 364,455 VOTES FOR, THAT'S THE TOTAL DURING ELECTION DAY. THERE WAS 40,833 ABSENTEE MAIL-IN WAS 46,071 AND EARLY VOTING HAD A TURNOUT RECORD. TURNOUT OF 277,551 VOTES AGAINST WERE 1 32 8 8 1 TOTAL. THAT'S REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ELECTION DAY VOTES OF 14,190. THE ABSENTEE MAIL-IN VOTES OF 11,000 606 8 AND THE EARLY VOTING OF 107,023 VOTES. THE UNDER OVER VOTES AND THE UNDER VOTES ARE SHOWN ON THE SCREEN. AND THEN THE TOTAL VOTES CAST, UM, WERE 527,395. ON ELECTION DAY, THERE WAS 58,992 ABSENTEE MAIL-IN WERE 60 2006 83 AND EARLY VOTING WAS 404,152. I DO WANNA NOTE THAT WE ARE STILL PENDING THE PROVISIONAL VOTE COUNT, BUT THAT WILL NOT CHANGE THE, UM, OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION. AND WE WILL BE HAPPY TO PROVIDE A WRITTEN REPORT TO THE COUNCIL AS SOON AS WE GET THE FINAL PROVISIONAL VOTES FROM, UH, THE BEXAR COUNTY ELECTIONS OFFICE. PROPOSITION B TOTALS ARE 384,000 7 0 6 4. ON ELECTION DAY 43,964 VOTES FOR CAST ABSENTEE BALLOTS WERE 48,036 AND EARLY VOTING TOTALS WERE 292,706 AGAINST. THE PROPOSITION WAS 115,310. ELECTION DAY WAS 11,000 303 2 ABSENTEE 11,000 2 43 AND EARLY VOTING WAS 92,735. THE O OVER VOTES AND UNDER VOTES ARE SHOWN, AND THE TOTAL VOTES CAST 525,827 VOTES. ELECTION DAY WAS 58,000 909 2. THE ABSENTEE BALLOTS WERE 92,683 AND EARLY VOTING WAS A TOTAL OF 404,152. AGAIN, WITH THE NOTE OF THE PROVISIONAL BALLOTS ARE NOT IN YET, BUT WILL NOT CHANGE THE ELECTION. THE OUTCOME OF THE ELECTION, UH, VOTER DATA TOTAL VOTES CAST AGAIN IS 525,827. THERE ARE 839,917 REGISTERED VOTERS FOR THIS ELECTION, WHICH COMES OUT TO 63%. PARTICIPATION. STAFF RECOMMENDATION IS TO ACCEPT THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASSING REPORT AND DECLARE THE OFFICIAL ELECTION RESULTS OF THE NOVEMBER 3RD, 2020 CITY OF SAN ANTONIO SPECIAL ELECTION. THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. MAYOR, I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE. GREAT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MADAM CLERK. AND THIS IS, UM, MORE OF MINISTERIAL ACTION THAN ANYTHING, BUT I DID WANT TO TAKE A MOMENT JUST TO RECOGNIZE, UH, THE HARD WORK OF, OF YOUR OFFICE AS WELL AS BEAR COUNTY ELECTIONS ADMINISTRATOR OFFICE. THIS WAS A, UH, QUITE A DIFFERENT ELECTION, UH, IN MANY RESPECTS AND VERY DIFFICULT UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. BUT, UH, EVERYTHING WAS DONE, UH, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW. UH, IT WAS DONE EXTRAORDINARILY SAFELY, FAIRLY, AND AS A RESULT, WE HAD ONE OF THE HIGHEST TURNOUTS, UH, IN RECENT HISTORY, UH, FOR THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO. UM, I ALSO WANNA RECOGNIZE THE VOTERS AND THANK THE VOTERS, UH, OF SAN ANTONIO FOR REAFFIRMING, UH, THEIR COMMITMENT TO ONE ANOTHER AND HELPING US ALL GET THROUGH THIS PANDEMIC. [00:10:01] UH, AND A COMMITMENT NOT JUST TO RECOVER FROM THE PANDEMIC, BUT ALSO TO COME BACK AS A CITY THAT'S STRONGER AND MORE EQUITABLE. UH, AND MORE JUST, UH, THESE PROPOSITIONS REPRESENT, UH, AN INVESTMENT IN PEOPLE UNLIKE WE HAVE EVER DONE BEFORE. IN FACT, WITH, WITH, UH, REGARD TO PROPOSITION B, UH, COUPLED WITH OUR ECONOMIC RECOVERY, OUR AND RESILIENCY PROGRAM IS THE SINGLE LARGEST IN INVESTMENT IN WORKFORCE IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY BY A LONG SHOT. AND IT'S BEING RECOGNIZED AS SUCH, UH, BY OTHER FOUNDATIONS AS WELL AS, UM, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, THE, THE COMMENTS MADE AND THE STATEMENT MADE BY MOODY'S INVESTOR SERVICES, UH, TWO WEEKS AGO. UH, THANK YOU TO MY COLLEAGUES, UH, FOR, UH, WORKING TOGETHER, UH, DURING THIS PANDEMIC TO ESTABLISH A PATHWAY FORWARD THAT I THINK WILL BE A MODEL FOR THE REST OF THIS COUNTRY'S RECOVERY. UM, AND LEADING TO ULTIMATELY, AGAIN, THE VOICE AND WILL OF THE PEOPLE OF SAN ANTONIO BY THE LARGEST MARGINS, UM, IN HISTORY. UH, A VOTER APPROVAL O OF BOTH ENDS OF OUR EDUCATIONAL WORKFORCE PIPELINE TO REALLY BECOME A CITY THAT IS EQUITABLE AND RESILIENT AND COMMITTED TO ALL PEOPLE AND ECONOMIC MOBILITY AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL. SO, UM, I AM EXTRAORDINARILY PROUD OF OUR CITY, OF OUR COMMUNITY, UH, AND I COULDN'T BE MORE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE DESPITE THE, DESPITE THE CHALLENGES THAT WE'RE ALL GOING THROUGH. SO, UH, WITH THAT, LET ME, UM, ASK, UH, COUNCILMAN COURAGE TO SPEAK AND THEN THANK YOU MAYOR. UH, I JUST WANNA KNOW, WHAT CAN WE DO TO GET THOSE, UH, 63% OF THE VOTERS TO VOTE AGAIN NEXT MAY? UH, CERTAINLY IT'S AN EXTRAORDINARY NUMBER AND I HOPE THAT WE CAN GET, UH, THAT MANY, UH, VOTING AGAIN IN OUR CITY ELECTIONS. THAT'S ALL. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE. UH, COUNCIL MEMBER VERAN. THANK YOU, MAYOR. I TOO, JUST WANTED TO THANK, UH, YOU AND ALL OF THE PARTNERS WHO HAVE BEEN PART OF THIS, UM, THIS ENORMOUS LIFT THAT WE HAD IN, I THINK IN A RECORD AMOUNT OF TIME, TURNAROUND TIME FOR OUR PROPOSITION B, UH, BUT WE SAW A NEED AND WE FILLED IT AND THE VOTERS SAID, YES, ARE TAKING CARE OF SAN ANTONIANS. SO THANK YOU TO ALL THE VOTERS, THANK YOU TO YOU, MAYOR, AND ALL OF OUR PARTNERS WHO WORKED ALMOST IT FELT LIKE ROUND THE CLOCK FOR GETTING THIS MOVING FORWARD. SO AGAIN, UH, THANK YOU TO, UM, ALL OF THE VOTERS AND I DO LOOK FORWARD TO ALL OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE ACCOMPLISHING TOGETHER. AND WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A MOTION, MOTION TO APPROVE THE, UH, CANVASSING. SEE SECOND. GREAT, THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER GRO, UH, I BELIEVE THERE WAS A MOTION, UH, BY COUNCIL MEMBER GRO AND A SECOND BY ANDREW SULLIVAN. UH, LEMME TURN IT NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN. UH, THANK YOU MAYOR AND THANK YOU TO ALL OUR COUNCIL COLLEAGUES. THANK YOU TINA, UH, FOR THE PRESENTATION. AND THANK YOU FOR WORKING WITH THE BEX COUNTY ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT TO BRING THIS INFORMATION FORWARD. WE KNOW THAT WE ARE TRULY STARTING TO BREAK STRONGHOLDS HERE IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO. AND THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO SPOKE TO WANTING TO SEE THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO RISE AND NOT HAVE THAT LABEL THAT WE'VE HAD, AGAIN, THE MOST POVERTY STRICKEN CITY. SO THIS IS JUST SHOWING HOW WHEN A CITY COMES TOGETHER AND UNITE FOR A MISSION THAT IS MORE THAN JUST A SINGLE AGENDA, WE PUSH FORWARD SOMETHING THAT CAN BE TRULY MEANT AS A MODEL FOR OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS. AND SO TO THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, THANK YOU FOR HAVING THE WHEEL TO WANT SOMETHING BETTER AND THEN MAKING THAT HAPPEN THROUGH YOUR VOTE. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU. CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, AND WE MOVE FORWARD IN THE MOST PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT THAT WE HAVE SEEN IN YEARS. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN. ALL RIGHT. UM, THAT'S EVERYONE WHO'S SIGNED UP TO SPEAK. THERE WERE NO, UH, FOLKS WHO SIGNED UP FROM THE PUBLIC TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM. UM, SO WITH THAT, THERE IS A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR APPROVAL OF, UH, ITEM ONE, WHICH IS THE CANVASSING OF THE NOVEMBER 3RD ELECTION. UM, HEARING NO FURTHER DISCUSSION, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. ANY DE OPPOSED? AYE. MOTION CARRIES. UM, NOW THE WORK BEGINS. , UH, ERIC, IS THERE A CITY MANAGER'S REPORT? JUST ON ONE QUICK NOTE, MAYOR. UM, WE ARE SCHEDULED, UH, FOR DECEMBER 2ND FOR A PRESENTATION OF COUNCIL B [00:15:01] SESSION ON THE, UH, READY TO WORK INITIATIVE AND, UH, WORK THAT'S ONGOING. WE HAVE OBVIOUSLY, IT'S A, IT'S A, UH, PORTION OF THAT WORK IS STARTED UNDER OUR, OUR PILLAR AND, UH, WE'LL BE UPDATED THE COUNCIL THERE, HERE IN TWO WEEKS. GREAT. ALRIGHT. UM, OKAY EVERYBODY, THAT'S, THAT'S ALL WE HAVE FOR TODAY. THE TIME IS 10:20 AM ON MONDAY, UH, NOVEMBER 16TH, 2020. AND THE CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING IS NOW ADJOURNED. THANKS EVERYBODY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.