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OUR COVID 19[1 21-1839 A briefing providing updates on the COVID-19 Community Response and Equity Coalition (CREC) including the new structure of the Coalition and the emphasis on health equity. [Anita K. Kurian, MBBS, MPH, DrPH, Assistant Director, Health]]
COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION.UH, WE HAVE KATHY SHIELDS AND DR.
TAYLOR HERE, SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO THEM.
UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING A PART OF THIS CHAIR.
SHALL WE TAKE, UH, ROLL CALL, PLEASE? OH, YEAH, SORRY.
I THOUGHT THERE WAS A COUNTDOWN OR SOMETHING.
IS THAT JUST WHEN WE HAVE THE FULL COUNCIL MEETING? WELL, I THINK WE CAN DO BOTH.
WE CAN DO A, A COUNTDOWN FOR THE BENEFIT OF AV IF THEY NEEDED IT, AND THEN THEREAFTER TO ME, AND I'LL TAKE ROLL.
AV, DO YOU WANNA DO THE COUNTDOWN? ARE WE LIVE? ALRIGHT, WE'RE LIVE.
GO AHEAD, NANCY, IF YOU WANNA TAKE A ROLL CALL.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN HERE.
UH, WELCOME EVERYONE TO THE FEBRUARY 25TH COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND EQUITY COMMITTEE.
UH, WE DO NOT HAVE MINUTES, UH, TODAY, BUT WE WILL BEGIN WITH, UH, THE FIRST AGENDA ITEM.
UH, YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS POWERPOINT PRESENTATION IN YOUR EMAIL AT ABOUT 1:30 PM OR 12:30 PM IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT, PLEASE, UH, SHOOT AN EMAIL TO TO MY TEAM.
WE'LL MAKE SURE TO GET IT TO YOU.
I'LL TURN IT OVER TO MR. MCCAREY.
I, I MAY HAVE TO ADD, UH, COUNTDOWNS INTO MY TASK IN THE FUTURE, SO MY APOLOGIES, EVERYONE.
SO I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND TURN IT OVER TO, UH, DR.
TAYLOR AND KATHY FOR THE FIRST PRESENTATION, UH, C OVID 19 COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION UPDATE.
I THINK IT COMES TO ME FIRST, BUT I, OH, AND AMANDA, OF COURSE, IS WAY AHEAD OF US IN SHOWING THE SLIDES, SO THANK YOU, AMANDA.
UM, SO THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR HAVING US.
UM, IT'S REALLY MY HONOR AS ALWAYS TO CONTINUE TO BE A PART OF THE COVID RESPONSE AND TO GIVE Y'ALL AN UPDATE ON THE PROGRESS OF THE COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION.
UH, KATHY AND I ARE GONNA BE PRESENTING TOGETHER, UM, I THINK YOU KNOW, BOTH OF US.
SO, UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO START BY INTER UH, INTRODUCING THE NEW CO-CHAIR FOR THE COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION.
COLLEEN BRIDGER AS THE CORRECT CO-CHAIR.
SORRY, I TOLD MYSELF I WASN'T GONNA SAY IT THAT WAY.
BRIDGER, AS YOU ALL KNOW, HAS RECENTLY TRANSITIONED AWAY FROM HER POSITION AS METRO HEALTH'S INTERIM DIRECTOR, BUT WILL CONTINUE TO WORK IN THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE AS ASSISTANT SEATING MANAGER WITH PRIMARY OVERSIGHT OF THE CITY'S COVID 19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW DR.
KIAN, UH, SHE CURRENTLY SERVES AS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF METRO HEALTH COMMUNICABLE DISEASE DIVISION.
WE HAVE WORKED TOGETHER CLOSELY AROUND THE H I V EPIDEMIC IN SAN ANTONIO FOR AT LEAST THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
AND IN ADDITION TO BEING OVER COMMUNICABLE DISEASE, SHE HAS LED SEVERAL ASPECTS OF THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE, AS WELL AS THE MASS VACCINE INITIATIVE CURRENTLY UNDERWAY AT THE ALIBI DOME.
SO WE'RE REALLY LUCKY TO HAVE DR.
KIRAN ON BOARD AS OUR NEW CO-CHAIR.
AND THEN THE ONLY OTHER THING I WANNA SAY ON THIS SLIDE IS THAT THIS PICTURE SOME OF Y'ALL MAY RECOGNIZE WAS TAKEN RECENTLY AT THE EDGEWOOD EDGEWOOD I S D ADMINISTRATION BUILDING.
SO THIS IS SOME OF THE AMAZING WORK THAT'S UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW TO SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS EQUITY WITHIN THE C OVID 19 RESPONSE.
SO BETWEEN JANUARY 11TH AND THE 29TH, THE HEALTHY NEIGHBORHOODS TEAM AND STANDUP ESSAY WERE DEPLOYED TO HELP INCREASE C OVID 19 VACCINE APPOINTMENTS AMONG HIGH RISK INDIVIDUALS AND RESIDENTS IN ASSOCIATED FOCUSED OUTREACH AREAS.
SO THOSE AREAS WERE DETERMINED BY THEIR EQUITY INDEX SCORE, THE NUMBER OF C 19 CASES AND THE COVID 19 MORTALITY IN THAT REGION.
AND THEN TEAMS SUCH AS WHAT YOU SEE HERE, WORK DIRECTLY WITH THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS ON THE NEAR EAST, SOUTH, AND WEST SIDE OF TOWN TO IDENTIFY MEMBERS WHO WOULD QUALIFY FOR VACCINATION UNDER THE TIER ONE A AND ONE B CRITERIA.
AND THESE TEAMS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH 25 LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS, WORK TO MAKE APPOINTMENTS FOR MORE THAN 5,400 PEOPLE THROUGH THESE POP-UP EVENTS WHERE PEOPLE COULD
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DRIVE UP AND GET REGISTERED.SO THE TEAMS WILL CONTINUE OUTREACH EVENTS AS MORE VACCINE DOSES HOPEFULLY BECOME AVAILABLE.
SO, TO GIVE YOU ALL A HISTORY OF THE TIMELINE AND THE EVOLUTION FROM WHAT BEGAN AS THE COVID 19 TESTING TASK FORCE TO OUR CURRENT ITERATION, IT ACTUALLY STARTS WITH THE FORMATION OF THE TESTING TASK FORCE, WHICH KATHY LED IN MARCH OF 2020.
UM, IN APRIL OF 2020, MANY OF US ACTUALLY ON THIS ALL, WERE A PART OF THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM AND GENERATING THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM REPORT.
AS Y'ALL MAY REMEMBER, EQUITY FORMED A CORE GUIDING PRINCIPLE OF THAT REPORT, AND IN FACT, A SECTION OF THAT REPORT, AND WE WERE, I WOULD SAY, ONE OF THE FEW CITIES AND COUNTIES THAT SPECIFICALLY INCLUDED EQUITY WHEN THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT TRANSITIONING.
THE COVID 19 COMMUNITY RESPONSE COALITION WAS FORMED IN MAY OF 2020, AND REALLY CAME OUT OF THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM REPORT AND THE RECOMMENDATIONS THEREIN IN AUGUST OF 2020, THERE IS THE RESOLUTION ON RACISM.
AND THEN AFTER MUCH DISCUSSION OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS IN JANUARY OF 2021.
SO LAST MONTH, WE WORKED ON RESTRUCTURING THE COVID TO 19 RES COMMUNITY RESPONSE COALITION INTO WHAT IS NOW CALLED THE C TO 19 COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION, OR THE C R E C.
SO IT, I AM GIVING THIS PRESENTATION IN THE PRESENCE OF Z AND SO I KNOW THAT SH THAT THERE WILL BE MUCH MORE TO COME ABOUT EQUITY AND Z WILL DO, UM, IS DEFINITELY THE EXPERT AND WILL DO A BETTER JOB THAN I ABOUT THIS.
BUT JUST TO REMIND US ALL, WHAT, WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SPECIFICALLY WITHIN THE C R E C WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HEALTH EQUITY, IT MEANS THAT OUR POLICYMAKING, SERVICE DELIVERY AND DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES ACCOUNT FOR DIFFERENT HISTORIES, CHALLENGES AND NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE AND COMMUNITY WE SERVE.
SO EQUITY IS ACHIEVED WHEN ONE'S IDENTITY AND SOCIAL ECONOMIC STATUS DO NOT PREDICT ONE'S HEALTH OUTCOMES.
SO HOW DO WE KNOW WHEN HEALTH EQUITY EXISTS? HEALTH EQUITY EXISTS WHEN ALL PEOPLE CAN REACH THEIR FULL HEALTH POTENTIAL AND ARE NOT DISADVANTAGED FROM ATTAINING IT BECAUSE OF THEIR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STATUS OR OTHER ASPECTS OF THEIR PERSON.
SO, AS I MENTIONED, EQUITY HAS BEEN A PART OF THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF ORIGINALLY THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM, AND THEN THE C TO 19 COMMUNITY RESPONSE COALITION FROM THE BEGINNING.
SO A COUPLE EXAMPLES OF HOW THE C R C HAS DEMONSTRATED OUR COMMITMENT TO EQUITY WITH OUR WORK OVER THE LAST MONTHS SINCE OUR FOUNDING INCLUDE THINGS LIKE PRIORITIZING THE INCLUSION OF RACE ETHNICITY DATA IN C OVID 19 CASE DATA, AND THAT APPEARING ON A DASHBOARD AND BEING TRANSPARENT ABOUT THOSE NUMBERS.
UM, VERY EARLY ON, ACTUALLY EVEN BEFORE THE C R C WAS FORMED IN THE FORMAT OF THE COVID TESTING TASK FORCE, WE WORKED VERY HARD TO EXPAND AND INCREASE FREE TESTING OPPORTUNITIES ON THE SOUTH SIDE AND RECOGNIZE THE NEED FOR WALK-UP TESTING SITES.
SO THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE LAS PALAMAS LIBRARY WHERE THERE WAS WALK-UP C OVID 19 TESTING.
WE WORK WITH METRO HEALTH ON THE RELEASE OF WEEKLY AND MONTHLY EPIDEMIOLOGY REPORTS AND HOW THOSE ARE FRAMED.
THOSE PROVIDE RACE AND ETHNICITY DATA THAT COVER THREE DIFFERENT AREAS.
ONE IS A BREAKDOWN OF TOTAL CASES, THE OTHER IS THE PERCENT OF, OF ALL COVID 19 RELATED DEATHS, UH, RABBLES OF VARIOUS RACES AND ETHNICITIES.
AND THE THIRD IS THE BREAKDOWN OF VACCINATIONS IN BEXAR COUNTY.
WE PROVIDE PERIODIC REPORTS ON RACIAL DISPARITIES.
IN COVID 19, THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND PREVENTION TEAM HAS UTILIZED THE EQUITY INDEX TO WORK WITH SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES AND FOCUS EFFORTS IN SPECIFIC COMMUNITIES.
AND FINALLY, AS I MENTIONED FROM THE, ON THE FIRST SLIDE, THERE IS THE TARGETING OF AREAS FOR VACCINE REGISTRATION USING THE EQUITY INDEX IN WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HEALTH DISPARITIES IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, AS FAR AS GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR EQUITY FOR US, THESE GUIDING PRINCIPLES WERE DE DEVELOPED BY A TEAM OF METRO HEALTH STAFF WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE RESTRUCTURING OF THE C R C INTO THE C R E C AT THE END OF 2020.
SO THEY WERE DEVELOPED TO PROVIDE AN ANCHOR AND GUIDEPOST FOR THE C R E C, SIMILAR TO THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM, SO THAT WE KEEP EQUITY AT THE CENTER OF
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ALL OF OUR PLANNING, SERVICE, DELIVERY, AND POLICIES MOVING FORWARD.SO THESE ARE OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLES.
I WON'T NECESSARILY READ THROUGH EVERY ONE OF THEM, BUT I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE, BECAUSE IT DOES FORM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING.
IT'S ABOUT CREATING A PEOPLE-CENTERED SYSTEM, UM, TO ADDRESS SYSTEMIC RACISM.
WE WANT TO BE VERY INTENTIONAL ABOUT BEING INCLUSIVE.
I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE WORKING ON IS BEING MORE INCLUSIVE.
WE HAVE PRIORITIZED, UM, ON THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM, VERY MUCH EXPERTISE WAS PRIORITIZED, AND I THINK WE ARE, AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE PANDEMIC, WE NEED TO PRIORITIZE WHO ARE THE REAL EXPERTS IN GETTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE ROOM TOGETHER AS WE HAVE CONTINUOUSLY THROUGHOUT THE LAST 11 MONTHS.
UM, CREATING A SPACE TO AN OPPORTUNITY TO IDENTIFY AND FOCUS ON COMMUNITY DRIVEN NEEDS, CENTERING THE PERSPECTIVES OF BLACK, INDIGENOUS, AND PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND HONORING HISTORICAL LIVED EXPERIENCE OF THOSE COMMUNITIES, IDENTIFYING PRIORITY POPULATIONS, INCLUDING IDENT INDIVIDUALS FROM PRIORITY POPULATIONS, AND GIVING THEM DECISION MAKING POWER, CREATING SPACE FOR STORYTELLING AND IDENTIFICATION OF NEEDS, AND THEN HONORING THE TIME THAT EVERYONE IS PUTTING INTO THIS SO THAT WE CAN CREATE A SAFE SPACE TO HAVE DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS ABOUT EQUITY AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC WITHOUT RUSHING THE PROCESS.
SO AS OF JANUARY 1ST, 2021, THE EXISTING COMMUNITY COVID 19 COMMUNITY RESPONSE COALITION HAS REFRAMED IN, IN THE COVID 19 COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION.
AND OUR NEW STRUCTURE GOES FROM A, AN ARRAY OF WORK GROUPS.
YOU ALL HAVE SEEN THE C R C FRAMEWORK BEFORE, SO YOU'LL RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS TWO ACTIVE WORK GROUPS, THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP, AND THE POLICY AND ADVOCACY WORK GROUP, AND THEN FIVE OTHER ADVISORY COMMITTEES.
THE ADVISORY COMMITTEES WILL MEET AS NEEDED DEPENDING ON THE NEEDS OF THE PANDEMIC RESPONSE.
THIS REALLY REFLECTS THE FACT THAT INFRASTRUCTURE HAS BEEN PUT INTO PLACE TO ADDRESS THESE THINGS OVER THE LAST 11 MONTHS, BUT STILL INPUT AND ADVICES NEEDED AS WE GO FORWARD FOR THE TWO WORKING GROUPS.
EDUCATION IS LED BY A PARTNER OR A COMMUNITY MEMBER.
IT WORKS ON CREATING EDUCATIONAL MESSAGES AND MATERIALS.
IT WORKS TO TRAIN AND PROVIDE RESOURCES TO THE COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS, AND IS CURRENTLY AND HAS BEEN FOR MANY MONTHS, USE USING A PEER INFLUENCER MODEL TO TRY TO MOVE FORWARD COMMUNITY ACTION IN A WAY THAT IS TRULY COMMUNITY DRIVEN.
THE POLICY AND ADVOCACY WORKING GROUP IS LED BY METRO HEALTH AND SUSTAINED AT METRO HEALTH, BUT ALSO HAS DIVERSE COMMUNITY INPUT WITHIN THE WORK GROUP.
IT WORKS TO PROMOTE POLICY PRIORITIES THAT ADDRESS INEQUITABLE IMPACTS OF THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC, AND TO IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES FOR INVESTMENT AND ADDRESS ROOT CAUSES OF COVID 19 RELATED DISPARITIES.
SO THIS IS OUR CURRENT C R E C FORMULATION, AND I'M NOW GONNA PASS IT ON TO KATHY.
MY NAME IS KATHY SHIELDS, AND I'M VERY EXCITED AND HONORED TO BE HERE TO, UH, CO-PRESENT THIS PRESENTATION.
SO, UM, WHAT, WHAT I AM GOING TO DO NOW IS TO FOCUS ON WHAT IS CURRENTLY HAPPENING WITHIN THE C R E C.
AND I'M GONNA START WITH THIS MEMBERSHIP SURVEY.
SO, AS YOU KNOW, UM, ONE OF THE PRIORITIES THAT WE HAVE, UM, OUTLINED, UH, IN, IN OUR EFFORT TO BE MORE, UH, IS OUR, IS AN EFFORT TO BE MORE INCLUSIVE IN OUR MEMBERSHIP.
AND SO THE FIRST STEP WAS THAT WE NEEDED TO BASICALLY, UM, TAKE A LOOK AT OUR CURRENT MEMBERSHIP.
IT WAS CONSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE OUR TEAM WITH VALUABLE INSIGHT INTO THE CURRENT MEMBERSHIP OF THE C R E C.
UM, SOME OF THE INFORMATION THAT WE ATTAINED WAS INCLUDED, ETHNICITY, GENDER IDENTITY, HOUSEHOLD INCOME, AND OTHERS THAT ARE LISTED HERE ON THIS SLIDE.
UH, WE ALSO WANTED TO COLLECT C OVID 19 SPECIFIC INFORMATION.
WE INCLUDED THAT BECAUSE WE WANTED TO KNOW HOW MANY OF OUR MEMBERS HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN PERSONALLY AFFECTED BY C OVID 19 IN THIS PANDEMIC.
AND SO UTILIZING THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE SURVEY, THE DATA THAT WE COLLECTED, UH, THIS WILL, UM, GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMPLETE A GAP ANALYSIS AND UNDERSTAND WHAT POPULATIONS ARE MISSING FROM OUR MEMBERSHIP.
UM, AND BY THE WAY, THE SURVEY WAS ANONYMOUS.
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AND SO, THE PROFILE OF OUR MEMBERSHIP IS, IS REALLY INTERESTING.WE, UH, SO FAR WE HAVE RECEIVED 44 RESPONSES.
UH, WE LAUNCHED THIS SURVEY AT THE BEGINNING OF JANUARY, AND WE SENT THIS SURVEY OUT TO ALL OF THE MEMBERS OF THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP AND THE POLICY WORK GROUP.
UH, AND SO FROM THAT, UM, BODY OF INDIVIDUALS, WE HAVE LEARNED A GREAT DEAL.
80, 85% OF OUR CURRENT MEMBERSHIP, UM, WITHIN THOSE WORK GROUPS IS EITHER HISPANIC OR CAUCASIAN.
UM, APPROXIMATELY 76% OF THE MEMBERS ARE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 35 AND 64.
AND THAT'S THE VISUAL THAT YOU SEE ON THE GRAPH THERE.
THE AGE DISTRIBUTION OF OUR MEMBERS.
UH, ALSO, 65% OF OUR, UH, CURRENT MEMBERS ARE WOMEN AND IDENTIFY AS WOMEN.
AND 32 OUT OF 44 INDIVIDUALS SURVEYED IDENTIFY AS HETEROSEXUAL.
AND OVER 95% OF THE C R C MEMBERS ARE, UH, FULLY EMPLOYED.
THE HOUSEHOLD INCOME OF OUR MEMBERS RANGES BETWEEN 25,002, OVER 200,000, AND ALL OF THE INDIVIDUALS SURVEYED HAVE COMPLETED AT LEAST A YEAR OF COLLEGE.
SO, UM, THIS REPRESENTS, UH, A BIT OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE.
THIS, UH, SHOWS US THE OTHER ASPECT OF THE SURVEY, WHICH IS REALLY TALKING ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY COVID.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT THIS PARTICULAR, UH, SLIDE, WE ARE PROVIDING A LITTLE BIT OF A PROFILE ABOUT HOW THEY ANSWERED THE COVID QUESTIONS.
SO, UH, 95% OF THE MEMBERS HAVE NOT TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID.
UM, AND OUT OF THAT 95%, APPROXIMATELY 20% HAD NEVER BEEN TESTED.
UH, 36% OF THE C R C MEMBERS HAVE HAD A FAMILY MEMBER TEST POSITIVE FOR COVID.
UH, FIVE OUT OF 44 OF THE RESPONDENTS HAVE EXPERIENCED THE LOSS OF A LOVED ONE DUE TO COVID.
UM, 50% OF THE C R E C MEMBERS, UM, POLLED, HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED THEIR VACCINATION.
AND, UM, OF THOSE WHO HAVE NOT YET RECEIVED IT, MOST OF THEM WILL PLAN TO RECEIVE IT.
AND THEN THE MEMBERS, UM, MEMBERS, WE ALSO ASKED WHERE DID THEY FIND THEIR COVID INFORMATION? AND SO THIS VISUAL ON THE GRAPH, ON THE GRAPH ON THE, ON THE SLIDE HERE SHOWS US THAT, UM, MOST MEMBERS RECEIVED THEIR C OVID 19 UPDATES FROM, UH, INFORMATION FROM METRO HEALTH, THE C D C, AND THOSE NIGHTLY, UM, BRIEFINGS, AND ALSO SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS, SOCIAL.
SO AGAIN, THE POWER OF THIS SURVEY, AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS SURVEY IS TO PROVIDE US A SNAPSHOT OF THE CURRENT MEMBERS.
SO WHO IS AT THE TABLE WITH US.
AND, AND THIS WILL ALLOW US, AGAIN, TO REALLY DO A GAP ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE WHAT POPULATIONS ARE NOT REPRESENTED OR ARE MISSING THAT WE WANT TO WORK TO INCLUDE.
SO NOW I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT THE WORK GROUPS AND WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING, UM, IN THE WORK GROUPS RECENTLY.
SO I'LL START WITH THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP.
UM, THE FIRST ITEM ON THE, ON THE SLIDE HERE IS, UH, THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS SUMMIT.
AND I WANNA JUST TELL YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UM, THAT SUMMIT, THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP, UH, REALIZED, UM, BECAUSE THEY HAVE MANY COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS THAT HAVE BEEN PARTICIPATING ON THE WORK GROUP, THAT COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS WERE SUCH AN IMPORTANT PIECE OF THE PANDEMIC RESPONSE THAT WAS REALLY OPERATING UNDER THE SURFACE, UM, ALL OVER SAN ANTONIO, THROUGHOUT MANY ORGANIZATIONS.
AND THEY WERE DOING SOME REALLY AMAZING, FANTASTIC WORK.
AND SO, UH, THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS RECOMMENDED OR REQUESTED THAT WE CONSIDER DOING A SUMMIT TO BRING ALL OF THEM TOGETHER TO BE ABLE TO SHARE AND TALK ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE RESPONDING TO COVID.
AND SO THE FIRST SUMMIT WAS HELD ON JANUARY 12TH.
UH, WE HAD 152 PEOPLE JOIN THE SUMMIT.
IT WAS VIRTUAL, OF COURSE, BUT OF THAT 152 INDIVIDUALS ON THE CALL, 77% OF THEM IDENTIFIED AS COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS.
SO IT WAS A FANTASTIC, UM, MIX OF COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS FROM ALL OVER SAN ANTONIO AND ACTUALLY BEYOND SAN ANTONIO.
UH, WE HAD COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS JOIN FROM OTHER PARTS OF TEXAS.
SO IN THE, IN THEIR SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS, WHICH WE USED ZOOM AND HAD BREAKOUT SESSIONS AND LARGE SESSIONS, BUT IT WAS REALLY FANTASTIC THAT THEY HAD A CHANCE TO TALK ABOUT THE SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES OF THE PAST YEAR.
UM, THEY TALKED ABOUT THEIR WORK IN THE COMMUNITY, THEIR PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS, UM, HOW, UH, TEAMWORK WAS SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF THEIR WORK, RESPONDING
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TO COVID.THEY ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE LIMITATIONS AND THE CHALLENGES OF COVID AND AS A COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER, WHAT WAS, WHAT WAS A CHALLENGE FOR THEM IN THE COMMUNITY.
AND THINGS LIKE INTERPERSONAL CONNECTIONS, UM, BECAME VERY HARD, OF COURSE, WITH, WITH THE PANDEMIC AND, AND THE QUARANTINE, UM, RESTRICTIONS.
BUT TECHNOLOGY LIMITATIONS AND ISSUES BECAME A CHALLENGE FOR THEM.
PERSONAL HEALTH ISSUES BECAME A CHALLENGE AND JUST, UM, MIS MISUNDERSTANDING AND MISCOMMUNICATION, UM, ABOUT COVID BECAME A CHALLENGE.
SO THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER SUMMIT WAS A, WAS A, AN INCREDIBLE SUCCESS, AND SO MUCH SO THAT THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS RECOMMENDED THAT WE DO MORE.
SO, ANOTHER SUMMIT IS PLANNED.
THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP IS PLANNING THAT SUMMIT AGAIN, AND IT WILL HAPPEN ON MARCH 2ND.
IT GOT DELAYED BECAUSE OF THE STORM LAST WEEK, BUT IT IS SCHEDULED FOR NEXT WEEK, AND WE EXPECT A GREAT TURNOUT AS WELL.
SO THAT IS THE FIRST PIECE OF, UH, WORK HAPPENING IN THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP THAT I WANTED TO SHARE.
THE OTHER ITEMS THAT THEY'VE BEEN WORKING ON, UH, ARE ABOUT DEVELOPING A VACCINE F A Q.
UM, SO THE FIRST VACCINE, F A Q WAS DEVELOPED AND IS POSTED ON THE WEBSITE, AND THERE'S A SNAPSHOT OF IT RIGHT THERE.
SO THIS IS REALLY BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT, UM, WHO SHOULD GET THE VACCINE, WHO CAN GET IT, UH, WHERE DO YOU GO TO GET IT, HOW MUCH DOES IT COST? AND THINGS ABOUT SAFETY AND MYTHS ABOUT THE VACCINE.
SO THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP CREATED THAT, THAT ENTIRE F A Q.
UM, IT TOOK THEM A FEW WEEKS TO GET IT ALL PULLED TOGETHER AND ACCURATE.
AND THEN WE'VE GOT IT POSTED ON THE WEBSITE.
UM, THEY ARE ALSO, UH,
AND I'M JUST GONNA DO A, A WHILE YOU'RE GETTING BACK ON A QUICK TIME CHECK WITH THE COMMITTEE.
WE, UH, WE WANNA HEAR FROM DAN AND THEN, UH, WRAP THIS UP AROUND, UM, THREE O'CLOCK SO WE HAVE TIME TO GET TO, UM, THE OTHER AGENDA ITEM AND HAVE A GOOD DISCUSSION ON THAT ONE.
WHENEVER YOU'RE, YOU'RE READY.
CAN YOU HEAR ME AGAIN? AH, CAN YOU HEAR ME AGAIN? THANK YOU.
FOR SOME REASON MY PHONE TIME'S OUT.
I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT I'M SO SORRY.
UM, SO AS I WAS MENTIONING, THE F A Q INFORMATION HAS ACTUALLY ALSO BEEN TURNED INTO A, A HANDOUT THAT IS BEING USED BY THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS OUT IN THE FIELD, JUST TO HELP PEOPLE REALLY UNDERSTAND, UM, AND ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VACCINE.
A SECOND, F A Q IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT, AND IT IS GOING TO BE FOCUSING ON POST VACCINE QUESTIONS.
THERE'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS ABOUT THE VACCINE AND WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I GET IT.
THERE'S A LOT OF MISCONCEPTIONS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS, AND SO THAT F A Q IS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY, AND WE HOPE THAT IT'LL BE READY WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK OR TWO, UH, SO THAT, UM, THAT REPRESENTS THE WORK OF THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP.
THE POLICY AND ADVOCACY WORK GROUP.
SO IF THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP IS ABOUT HOW DO WE OUTREACH AND INFORM THE COMMUNITY ABOUT, ABOUT COVID AND OTHER RESOURCES, THE POLICY AND ADVOCACY WORK GROUP IS THE SPACE WHERE WE CONVENE COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND STAKEHOLDERS TO IDENTIFY AND PROMOTE SOLUTIONS FOR AN EQUITABLE RECOVERY.
SO THIS SLIDE I'LL WALK YOU THROUGH.
UM, WHAT HA WHAT, WHAT HAS TAKEN PLACE WITHIN THE POLICY AND ADVOCACY WORK GROUP OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS? FIRST OF ALL, THEY CONVENED COMMUNITY PARTNERS TO IDENTIFY POLICIES THAT ADDRESS THE INEQUITABLE IMPACTS OF THE COVID PANDEMIC.
AND THIS CONVENING OF PARTNERS IS REALLY QUITE IMPRESSIVE.
IT, IT, THEY HAVE BROUGHT TOGETHER, UM, 35 DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS, UH, ACROSS SAN ANTONIO ORGANIZATIONS THAT REPRESENT CITY DEPARTMENTS, NONPROFITS, ADVOCACY GROUPS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, FAITH-BASED INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES, AND GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, AND SO THIS GROUP HAS COME TOGETHER AND MET, UH, IN A SERIES OF SEVERAL MEETINGS, AND THEY HAVE COMPLETE COMPILED A POLICY PRIORITY LIST AND RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, ABOUT EACH OF THOSE POLICY PRIORITIES RANGING FROM ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE, TO TRANSPORTATION ACCESS, AND, AND MANY OTHER, UM, POLICY PRIORITIES IN BETWEEN.
AND AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE NEXT SLIDE WILL SHOW YOU THAT, UM, THEY, THEY ARE WORKING TO PROMOTE PO UH, PRIORITIES AND SOLUTIONS THAT ADDRESS THE INEQUITABLE IMPACTS OF THE COVID PANDEMIC.
SO WHAT ARE THE POLICIES ABOUT?
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IT'S ABOUT ADDRESSING THE INEQUITABLE IMPACTS OF THE COVID PANDEMIC.WHAT DO WE NEED TO DO AS A COMMUNITY, AS A NATION, UM, TO RESPOND TO THE PANDEMIC? UM, THEY WILL, THEY ARE BUILDING A PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING AND A BROAD BASE OF SUPPORT FOR THESE PRIORITIES.
THEY'RE ALSO IDENTIFYING TOOLS AND RESOURCES NEEDED TO ADDRESS THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE COVID DISPARITIES AND, UH, SUPPORTING COORDINATED ACTION FOR AN EQUITABLE RECOVERY.
SO HOW DO WE ADVANCE THE PRIORITIES? AS A MATTER OF FACT, LET'S MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE SO YOU CAN SEE THE PRIORITIES.
HOW WILL WE MOVE THESE FORWARD? WELL, THE PRIORITIES LISTED THERE REPRESENT, UM, THE LIST THAT CAME OUT OF THAT WORK GROUP.
WHAT WE NEED TO DO NOW IS WE NEED TO DO SOME OUTREACH AND SOME STRATEGIC MESSAGING ABOUT EACH OF THESE PRIORITY AREAS.
AND WE NEED TO GATHER DATA TO DEMONSTRATE THE, THE ISSUES, THE, THE DISPARITIES IN EACH OF THESE, UH, SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH IS ESSENTIALLY WHAT, WHAT THEY ARE.
WE WILL BE, UH, WRITING AND PREPARING POLICY BRIEFS ON THESE ISSUES.
WE'LL BE HOLDING COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS TO COLLECT STORIES FROM RESIDENTS ABOUT THESE ISSUES AND HOW THEY HAVE IMPACTED THEIR LIVES.
WE WILL BE IDENTIFYING CHAMPIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL LEADERS, UH, AND EVEN ELECTED OFFICIALS TO ADOPT PRIORITIES AND ENACT RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND I BELIEVE, AND I THINK EVERYONE WITHIN THAT WORK GROUP BELIEVES THAT, UH, THIS IS HOW WE WILL ENSURE AN EQUITABLE RECOVERY AND COMMUNITY RESILIENCE.
UM, EVERYONE IS FAMILIAR WITH THE IMAGE.
UM, THESE IMAGES, UM, AS YOU SEE IN THE PICTURE THERE THAT ARE HAPPENING HERE IN SAN ANTONIO AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY, UM, ABOUT FOOD INSECURITY.
THIS IS ONE OF THE FOOD BANK'S, UM, LARGE DRIVES THAT HAPPENED AT THE ALAMO DOME, UH, RECENTLY, AND THAT CONTINUE TO TAKE PLACE.
SO THE LAST PIECE THAT I WILL TALK ABOUT IS, UH, OUR C R E C PLAN OF ACTION.
AS BARBARA MENTIONED IN HER REMARKS, EQUITY HAS BEEN PART OF OUR THINKING ALL ALONG.
BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL AROUND OCTOBER OF 2020 THAT WE, UH, AS AN, AS A CO AS A DEPARTMENT, UH, WE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF COME UP FOR AIR.
I, I LIKE TO CALL THAT FIRST PHASE OF THE PANDEMIC, THAT SEVEN MONTHS OF THE PANDEMIC, THE DEEP END, BECAUSE WE WERE IN THE DEEP END FOR THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THE PANDEMIC.
AND LITERALLY, UM, WE'RE, I, I FEEL THAT WE WERE ABOUT ABLE TO COME UP FOR AIR IN OCTOBER OF 2020.
AND WHEN WE CAME UP FOR AIR, WE REALIZED THAT WE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, MAKE SOME CHANGES IN OUR RESPONSE.
AND WE WANTED EQUITY TO BE AT THE CENTER.
UM, THE C R C INITIATED A REORGANIZATION AS BARBARA, UM, EXPLAINED.
AND EQUITY IS THE DESTINATION.
SO THE C R C EQUITY PLAN OF ACTION WILL SERVE AS A ROADMAP AND HELP US TO ACHIEVE WHERE WE WANT TO BE.
SO THIS IS THE, THE EQUITY PLAN OF ACTION.
THE OUTLINE, THIS, UH, AND AND I'LL GO THROUGH THE SECTIONS RIGHT HERE BRIEFLY, UM, THAT THERE WILL BE AN EXECUTIVE SURVEY.
THIS IS THE WHAT WILL WE PLAN TO DO, WHAT WILL THIS PLAN DO FOR US, AND WHY DO WE NEED THE ACTION PLAN? WE'LL TALK ABOUT DEFINING THE CURRENT STATE OF EQUITY.
WHAT IS OUR CURRENT SITUATION AND HOW DOES POINT THEN, UH, WE WILL DEFINE OUR EQUITY GOALS.
UH, WHAT DO WE WANT TO IMPROVE, AND TO WHAT LEVEL WILL WE IMPROVE IT? AND THEN WE'LL IDENTIFY OUR CURRENT AND POTENTIAL RESOURCES.
SO WHO ARE OUR CURRENT PARTNERS AND WHAT NEW RELATIONSHIPS MUST WE ESTABLISH? NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
I THINK I JUST LOST MY VISUAL.
CAN YOU ALL, UM, KATHY, WE'RE ALL LOOKING AT SLIDE 15, THE SECOND PART OF THE EQUITY PLAN OF ACTION.
SO MOVING FORWARD, RECOGNIZING OUR CHALLENGES, UH,
[00:30:01]
WHAT OBSTACLES DO WE CURRENTLY FACE, AND WHAT OBSTACLES DO WE ANTICIPATE? THEN WE WANNA ESTABLISH OUR PRIORITIES FOR EQUITY.AND THESE WE HAVE ALREADY THOUGHT ABOUT, UM, AND WE BELIEVE THEM TO BE DATA INCLUSION, ACCESS TO SERVICES, POLICIES, AND COMMUNICATIONS.
UM, THOSE ARE OUR INITIAL PRIORITIES, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO, UM, MAKE SURE THAT THOSE ARE STILL PRIORITIES AND OR IF WE NEED TO ADD MORE, WE WILL EVALUATE OUR PERFORMANCE.
UH, YOU KNOW, HOW WILL WE MEASURE OUR SUCCESS AND HOW WILL WE ADDRESS THE AREAS NEEDING IMPROVEMENT? AND THEN WE WILL O OBVIOUSLY BE PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE.
SO WE WILL BE BUILDING THIS ROADMAP OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
THE EDUCATION WORK GROUP AND THE POLICY WORK GROUP WILL HELP US GUIDE THIS PLAN, AND THEY WILL HELP TO FILL IN THIS PLAN.
UH, REALLY WHAT MUST WE DO TO ENSURE THAT EACH DECISION WITHIN THE C R E C IS GUIDED BY EQUITY? UH, THIS WILL MAKE US BETTER, AND WE FEEL THAT THE PLAN OF ACTION IS A, IS A PROACTIVE STEP TO, UM, GET US TO WHERE WE NEED TO BE.
AND I'M GONNA ASSUME THAT IT'S, IT'S SHOWING ON THE SCREEN.
SO WHAT'S NEXT FOR US? UH, THIS IS WHERE I GET REAL SPECIFIC AND TANGIBLE ABOUT WHAT ARE WE WORKING ON RIGHT NOW AND WHERE ARE WE HEADED? SO WE WILL BE CARRYING OUT THE SECOND C H W SUMMIT.
UH, WE ARE GOING TO BE FACILITATING OUTREACH AND STRATEGIC MESSAGING AROUND THE POLICY PRIORITIES.
WE WILL ENSURE THAT EQUITY IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE C R E C AND THE EQUITY PLAN OF ACTION.
UH, WE WILL BE PREPARED TO INITIATE NEW STRATEGIES AS THE PANDEMIC EVOLVES, AS WE KNOW, UM, EVERY FEW MONTHS, WE HAVE TO MAKE A PIVOT, UM, TO BE RESPONSIVE, UM, TO THE, TO THE PANDEMIC.
AND WE'LL ALSO BE STRATEGIZING FOR SUSTAINABILITY.
SO THAT CONCLUDES OUR PRESENTATION, THE, UH, UPDATE ON THE C R E C.
AND WE ARE HAPPY TO TAKE QUESTIONS.
UM, THERE ARE OTHERS, UH, FROM THE METRO HEALTH TEAM WHO ARE ALSO PREPARED AND READY.
SO, UH, I WILL END THERE AND TURN IT BACK OVER TO YOU, COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL.
UH, WE DEFINITELY HAVE, UH, HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS, BUT I AM GOING TO TRANSITION US INTO, UH, DAN'S PRESENTATION.
UM, AND AS, AS AMANDA'S BRINGING THAT UP, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY A FEW WORDS OF OF INTRODUCTION TO, TO THAT ITEM.
SO WE'VE JUST TALKED ABOUT THE, THE PANDEMIC RESPONSE AND THE COMMUNITY, UH, COALITION, THE RESPONSE, UH, SORRY, THE COVID COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION.
AM I SAYING THAT RIGHT? YEAH, IF YOU ALL THAT'S RIGHT.
[3 21-1840 Update and briefing on the Racism as a Public Health Crisis Resolution, created in collaboration with Metro Health and Council Districts 2 and 7. [David McCary, Assistant City Manager; Zan Gibbs, MPH, Chief Equity Officer, Office of Equity]]
ALL RECALL, DURING, DURING THE PANDEMIC, UH, VERY WELL LAST SUMMER, A COUNCILWOMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN BROUGHT FORWARD, UH, THIS PROPOSAL TO THE COUNCIL.AND, AND OUR COMMITTEE TOOK A LOOK AT IT TO SUBMIT A RESOLUTION ON RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS.
AND A LOT OF WORK WAS DONE ON THAT.
UH, NOT ONLY TO SAY THE WORDS, RACISM IS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS, BUT WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT? SO THIS IS A VERY FIRST PRESENTATION INTO HOW STAFF RECOMMENDS WE BEGIN OR, OR CONTINUE AND FURTHER ADVANCE OUR WORK, UH, TO DISMANTLE, UH, THIS PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS, UH, THAT WE'RE FACING.
SO I THINK IT'S VERY MUCH RELATED TO THE PRESENTATION YOU JUST SAW.
UH, YOU'LL SEE HOW THESE TWO ITEMS INTERACT, AND THEN WE'LL OPEN UP THE FLOOR FOR DISCUSSION THEN.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, AND GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYBODY.
I'M THE CHIEF EQUITY OFFICER FOR THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO'S OFFICE OF EQUITY, AND I'M REALLY EXCITED TO BE HERE TODAY AT THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND EQUITY COMMITTEE COMMITTEE.
SO, AS COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL MENTIONED, WE PASSED A RESOLUTION THIS PAST SUMMER, UM, IDENTIFYING RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS, AND AS A GREAT FOLLOW UP TO KATHY AND BARBARA'S PRESENTATION.
WHAT'S REALLY UNIQUE ABOUT THIS RESOLUTION IS THAT IT, IT DOES OUTLIVE COVID, SO IT'S NOT NECESSARILY COVID SPECIFIC.
IT'S A WAY THAT WE AS A CITY CAN ADDRESS THE ISSUES OF HEALTH DISPARITIES EVEN
[00:35:01]
BEYOND COVID.SO I'M VERY EXCITED TO LET YOU ALL KNOW TODAY WHAT OUR NEXT STEPS ARE IN SORT OF IMPLEMENTING THE ACTIONS IN THIS RESOLUTION.
SO, AS WE ALL KNOW, THERE ARE MANY IMPACTS ON OUR HEALTH THAT ARE CAUSED BY RACISM.
WE THINK THAT SYSTEMIC RACISM TRULY IS A ROOT CAUSE OF HEALTH INEQUITIES.
WE'RE SEEING NATIONALLY, LOTS OF LOCAL, STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENTS PRIORITIZING ANTI-RACIST POLICIES, PRACTICES, PROCEDURES AND RESOLUTIONS, MUCH LIKE THE ONE WE HAVE IN SAN ANTONIO.
WHERE I THINK SAN ANTONIO IS A LITTLE BIT UNIQUE AND FORTUNATE, IS THAT YOU ALSO HAVE AN OFFICE OF EQUITY.
SO WE ARE A TEAM OF FIVE THAT CAN HELP ALL OF THE CITY DEPARTMENTS REALLY ADDRESS THESE HEALTH INEQUITIES AND REALLY ADDRESS RACISM HEAD ON BY HAVING SORT OF AN INTERNAL SERVICE SUPPORTING THE ADVANCEMENT OF EQUITABLE POLICIES AND PRACTICES.
SO, JUST REALLY QUICKLY, SOME BACKGROUND.
THIS RESOLUTION WAS PASSED IN AUGUST OF 2020, AND IT WAS AUTHORED BY MANY INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PARTNERS.
UH, WE OWE A GREAT LEVEL OF GRATITUDE TO EVERYBODY WHO HELPED WRITE IT.
UM, IT'S AN EXCEPTIONAL PIECE OF WORK AND WAS DONE BY BOTH CITY STAFF AS WELL AS COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND, UH, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, DISTRICT TWO, DISTRICT SEVEN, AND THIS COMMITTEE EXPLICITLY.
SO, WHERE WE ARE NOW IS HOW WE ARE GOING TO ADVANCE THE ACTIONS THAT ARE OUTLINED IN THIS RESOLUTION.
SO AT THE END OF THE RESOLUTION, YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE ARE NINE SPECIFIC A ACTIONS THAT NEED TO BE IMPLEMENTED, AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE ACTIONS IS GOING TO BE CO-MANAGED BY THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND METRO HEALTH'S OFFICE OF HEALTH EQUITY, WHICH IS UNDER KATHY'S DIRECTION.
SO THE IMPLEMENTATION MECHANISMS INCLUDE OUR OFFICE OF EQUITY WORK PLAN THREE, DISTINCT DEPARTMENTAL EQUITY ACTION PLANS IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS, THIS COMMUNITY HEALTH AND EQUITY COMMITTEE, AS WELL AS SELECT CITYWIDE EQUITY COMMITTEE MEMBERS FROM OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
SO HOW THAT LOOKS IN THE NUTS AND BOLTS, THERE ARE THREE ACTIONS THAT ARE LISTED HERE ON THE SLIDE THAT ARE GONNA BE MANAGED BY THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND THE OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK.
AND TO PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME EXAMPLES OF SOME SUCCESSES THAT WE'VE HAD TO DATE, I WANTED TO MENTION THAT IN NUMBER TWO ON THIS SLIDE, THE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE PURPOSES OF ERADICATING IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT RACIAL BIAS.
ONE REALLY UNIQUE EXAMPLE THAT I WANTED TO SHARE, BECAUSE YOU'LL BE ABLE TO HEAR MORE ABOUT IT LATER, IS OUR WORK WITH THE SUSTAINABILITY DEPARTMENT ON THE CLIMATE ACTION AND ADAPTATION PLAN.
SO WHAT YOU'LL SEE THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE OF EQUITY TRULY EMBEDDED THROUGHOUT THAT PLAN, AS WELL AS WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPORT A VERY COMPREHENSIVE EQUITY TRAINING PROGRAM OF ALL THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS, REALLY WITH THE INTENTION OF NOT ONLY ADVANCING THEIR EQUITY POLICY KNOWLEDGE, BUT ALSO IMPROVING THEIR ABILITY TO ADDRESS IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT BIAS.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE TO SHARE THAT'S A SUCCESS EXAMPLE TO DATE IS THAT THE OFFICE OF EQUITY HAS WORKED WITH THE HUMAN SERVICES DEPARTMENT TO CON TO SUPPORT THEIR COMMITMENT IN UNDERSTANDING THE IMPACTS OF SYSTEMIC RACISM, AND THEY'RE COMMITTED TO EMBEDDING EQUITY AS A CORE ASPECT OF THEIR FUNDING PROCESS.
SO NEXT MONTH, IN MARCH OF 2021, YOU'RE GONNA SEE THAT D H S WILL RELEASE THEIR FISCAL YEAR 22 AND 23 HUMAN SERVICES CONSOLIDATED FUNDING.
R F P D H SS IS FOCUSING ON PROMOTING EQUITY DRIVEN STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS THAT REDUCE RACIAL AND INCOME INEQUALITIES BY CORRELATING TARGET POPULATIONS THAT ARE ALIGNED WITH THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO'S EQUITY ATLAS.
AND ALSO ALIGNING THE CITY'S GOALS TO ADVANCE RACIAL EQUITY WITH COMMUNITY FUNDER INVESTMENTS TO MAKE A GREATER COLLECTIVE IMPACT.
AND THEN REALLY QUICKLY, JUST A COUPLE MORE EXAMPLES OF SUCCESS.
WE COLLABORATED WITH THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO CREATE AN EQUITY SCORING PROCESS FOR SMALL BUSINESS RELIEF FUNDS, AND WE'RE NOW COLLABORATING WITH THE NEWLY FORMED TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT ON THE CREATION OF A TRANSPORTATION EQUITY SCORECARD FOR SELECT TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.
SO THAT'S JUST A SMALL SAMPLE OF EXAMPLES OF PROGRESS THAT WE'VE MADE SINCE
[00:40:01]
THE PASSING OF THE RESOLUTION IN AUGUST ON THOSE ACTIONS THAT YOU SEE ON THIS SLIDE.SO HERE, WHAT YOU CAN SEE ARE THREE ACTIONS THAT ARE GONNA BE MANAGED BY METRO HEALTH, SPECIFICALLY BY THE OFFICE OF HEALTH EQUITY.
AND YOU'VE JUST HEARD SOME GREAT EXAMPLES FROM KATHY AND BARBARA ABOUT HOW THEY'RE EMBEDDING EQUITY IN SOME OF THE WORK AROUND THE C R E C.
AND I WANTED TO JUST SAY REALLY QUICKLY, UM, IN REFERENCE TO NUMBER FIVE HERE, I HAD THE GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO VOLUNTEER AS A, UH, DATA INPUT, UM, PERSON AT THE ALAMO DOME FOR THE VACCINE MASS VACCINATION SITE.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS REALLY GREAT WAS THAT I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENTER THE RACIAL AND ETHNIC DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION OF ALL OF THE PEOPLE THAT CAME THROUGH TO GET THE VACCINES.
SO METROHEALTH IS REALLY WORKING ON IMPROVING THE, THEIR DATA SYSTEMS IN ORDER TO DISAGGREGATE THEIR DATA BY RACE AND ETHNICITY.
KOREAN HAD MENTIONED TO ME THERE THAT THEY HAD STARTED COLLECTING THAT DATA AT THE ALAMO DOME PRIOR TO THE STATE EVEN REQUIRING IT.
AND THIS IS BECAUSE IT IS IN VERY CRITICAL THAT WE GET THE DATA THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS THESE DISPARITIES, AND METROHEALTH RECOGNIZES THAT.
SO HERE ON THIS SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE SOME LONG ONES THAT ARE ACTUALLY THE TWO THAT SIT WITH THE COUNCIL AS WELL AS THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND EQUITY COMMITTEE.
SO WE'VE HAD THE GREAT FORTUNE OF BEING ABLE TO HAVE MEETINGS WITH SELECT COUNCIL MEMBERS TO HELP TALK ABOUT WHAT DO THESE SPECIFIC ACTIONS LOOK LIKE AND HOW ARE THEY GONNA GET MOVED FORWARD OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS.
AND HERE YOU'LL SEE THE LAST ACTION IN THE RESOLUTION IS SPECIFIC TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOUSING SERVICES DEPARTMENT, AS WELL AS THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
AND LUCKILY, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH THOSE TWO DEPARTMENTS IN QUITE DEPTH, IN QUITE A DEPTH OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS TO HELP CREATE EQUITY ACTION PLANS FOR BOTH OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS.
SO THIS ACTION ITEM WILL BE PLACED INTO SPECIFIC STRATEGIES THAT WILL BE IN THEIR ACTION PLANS FORTHCOMING.
SO THAT LEADS ME TO THIS SLIDE.
SO WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE ON PAPER AND ON IMPLEMENTATION OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS? SO WE HAVE A NUMBER OF WORK PLANS WHERE ALL OF THESE ACTION ITEMS WITH THEIR SPECIFIC STRATEGIES LIVE, THAT INCLUDES THE OFFICE OF EQUITY'S WORK PLAN, OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK'S WORK PLAN, THE COMMUNITY HEALTH AND EQUITY WORK PLAN, AS WELL AS THREE DISTINCT EQUITY ACTION PLANS THAT WE ARE FINALIZING THIS MARCH WITH METRO HEALTH NEIGHBORHOOD AND HOUSING SERVICES DEPARTMENT AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, OUR MODEL FOR IMPLEMENTATION REALLY IS A CROSS COLLABORATION MODEL BECAUSE WE DO TRULY BELIEVE THAT TO ACHIEVE HEALTH EQUITY, WE HAVE TO DO IT TOGETHER ACROSS ALL OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
SO HOW WE'RE GONNA REPORT ON PROGRESS WAS OUTLINED IN THE RESOLUTION AS WELL.
AND THERE ARE GONNA BE TWO PRESENTATIONS AT A MINIMUM THAT WOULD BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.
ONE IS GOING TO BE, EQUITY WILL BE PRESENTED IN THE BUDGET PRESENTATIONS THAT HAPPEN IN AUGUST, PARTICULARLY BY METRO HEALTH AND IF THE OFFICE OF EQUITY PRESENTS OURS AS WELL.
AND THEN OUR OFFICE PUBLISHES AN ANNUAL REPORT EVERY YEAR OF OUR SUCCESS STORIES.
SO WE WILL BE COMMITTING TO ANNUAL PRESENTATIONS TO THE COMMUNITY ABOUT OUR REPORTING PROGRESS.
AND WITH THAT, I'M GONNA CONCLUDE SO THAT WE HAVE TIME FOR QUESTIONS FOR BOTH PRESENTATIONS FROM KATHY, BARBARA, AND MYSELF.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, DAN, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, NANCY, IS THERE ANYONE SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT? NO, MA'AM.
UH, SO WE'LL JUST JUMP RIGHT INTO COUNCIL COMMENTS.
FIRST OF ALL, I WANNA THANK, UH, ALL OF YOU FOR WORKING ON THIS PRESENTATION.
I SEE WE HAVE MORE METRO HEALTH STAFF, UH, ON THE CALL, UH, INCLUDING, UH, DR.
CORIAN, UH, REINO, UH, CARLOS IS, IS ON HERE TOO.
UM, I THINK, UH, YOU'VE, YOU'VE TOLD US THE STORY OF HOW THE C R E C EVOLVED FROM WHAT IT WAS ORIGINALLY, WHICH WAS JUST, UH, FOCUSED ON TESTING.
THIS IS THE MOST URGENT NEED, UH, OR WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS THE MOST URGENT NEED, UH, AT THE TIME.
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THEN THE HT T UH, GOT INVOLVED.
COULD YOU EXPLAIN TO US, UM, WE HAVE,
[00:45:01]
WE AS THE COUNCIL HAVE A LOT OF ADVISORY COMMITTEES, AND NORMALLY WE DO THE APPOINTING, UH, TO THEM, AND THEY GIVE US ADVICE.SO THIS IS ACTUALLY A VERY DIFFERENT MODEL FOR US.
SO I, I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL FOR THE COUNCIL MEMBERS TO UNDERSTAND HOW DOES, HOW DOES THIS WORK GROUP RELATE TO THE WORK OF THE COUNCIL? OKAY.
SO, UM, I I THINK THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION, UH, COUNCILWOMAN, AND I THINK THAT, UM, THE C R E C WAS FORMED TO SERVE, UM, AS AN ADVISORY BODY TO METRO HEALTH IN, UM, MANY ASPECTS OF THE RESPONSE.
UM, IT, WE ORIGINALLY RECRUITED, UM, MANY INDIVIDUALS FROM THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY, FROM THE, UM, CLINICAL COMMUNITY, THE LABORATORY COMMUNITY, UM, TO, AND PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERTS TO REALLY HELP US FIGURE OUT, UM, HOW BEST TO RESPOND TO ALL ASPECTS OF THE PANDEMIC.
SO HOW DOES THAT RELATE TO COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THE WORK OF POTENTIALLY THIS COMMITTEE OR, UM, INDIVIDUAL COUNCIL MEMBERS? UH, I, IT'S, IT'S A GREAT QUESTION, AND I THINK, UM, CERTAINLY THE, I THINK YOU ANSWERED IT.
I THINK YOU ANSWERED IT WHEN YOU SAID IT'S ADVISORY.
IS THAT WHAT YOU MEAN? IT'S ADVISORY TO METRO HEALTH.
SO IT'S NOT NECESSARILY ADVISORY TO THE COUNCIL, IT ADVISES METRO HEALTH.
SO I THINK THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE C R E C AND COUNCIL IS THROUGH THIS COMMITTEE.
SO, AND, AND I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE ADVISORS TO US, WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO YOU.
AND I THINK, UM, OFTENTIMES WE LEAN ON THOSE EXPERTS OUT IN THE COMMUNITY.
BARBARA IS A GREAT EXAMPLE, UM, OF A CLINIC, A CLINICAL EXPERT, WHO HAS BEEN, UH, REALLY, REALLY INSTRUMENTAL IN OUR RESPONSE.
UH, SO, YOU KNOW, WE ARE STRONGER BECAUSE OF THEM AND WE CAN RESPOND TO YOU, UM, BECAUSE OF THEIR SUPPORT IN MANY INSTANCES.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? NO, THAT DOES.
AND, UH, JUST TO, TO CLARIFY FOR, FOR, UH, MY, MY COLLEAGUES.
SO THIS GROUP WAS FORMED AND THE MAYOR, UH, APPOINTED ME AND THE JUDGE APPOINTED, UH, COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ IS WHAT WE CALL LIAISONS.
SO THAT MEANS I DON'T NECESSARILY GO IN THERE AND DO THE WORK, BUT I GO IN THERE AND I SAY, WELL, I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBERS WOULD CARE ABOUT THIS OR WOULD CARE ABOUT THAT, AND I'VE BEEN IN DIALOGUE WITH, UH, A NUMBER OF YOU ABOUT, UH, YOUR CONCERNS REGARDING THE COVID RESPONSE.
AND I COMMUNICATE THOSE TO THE GROUP.
AND WHEN THE GROUP IS WORKING ON, ON SOMETHING, WE TRY TO GET THAT INFORMATION OUT TO YOUR, TO YOUR COUNCIL OFFICES.
UH, SO I, I IMAGINE I'LL CONTINUE BEING THE, THE LIAISON UNLESS WE TAKE A DIFFERENT MODEL.
SO I'M, I'M, I'M ALSO HERE TO HEAR YOUR, YOUR INPUT ON, ON HOW THAT COMMUNICATION FLOW CAN BE, UM, CAN SERVE YOU AS, AS COUNCIL MEMBERS.
SO, UM, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, KATHY.
UM, I'M GONNA OPEN IT UP TO, TO QUESTIONS AND, AND COMMENTS.
UH, WE'LL GO IN NUMERICAL ORDER IF THAT'S OKAY.
AND I THINK WE'LL START WITH FIVE MINUTES, AND IF WE HAVE, UH, MORE QUESTIONS AFTER THAT, WE'LL COME BACK AROUND.
SO, UH, COUNCILMAN
UH, THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR PRESENTATIONS.
AND IT WAS ACTUALLY VERY HELPFUL FOR ME.
UM, 'CAUSE I'M STILL, I THINK STILL RELATIVELY NEW TO THIS, UH, THIS CHECK COMMITTEE.
SO GETTING, UH, INFORMATION HERE.
AND I THINK THAT WAS MY NUMBER ONE QUESTION THAT COUNCILMAN BROUGHT UP, UH, WAS YOU KEPT USING THE WORD WE AND US, AND I DIDN'T KNOW WHO THE WE WAS.
I DIDN'T FEEL PART OF YOUR WE THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, WHO IS THE, WE, IT IS YOUR GROUP, THE COALITION THAT IS PUTTING TOGETHER THE POLICY PRIORITY LIST THAT IS PUTTING TOGETHER ALL OF THESE, UM, EDUCATION WORK GROUPS, AND WHEN IT COMES TO THE MEMBERSHIP.
SO, UM, THE MEMBERSHIP SURVEY.
TELL ME HOW MANY MEMBERS DO YOU HAVE?
[00:50:03]
SO WITHIN BOTH OF THE WORK GROUPS RIGHT NOW, THERE ARE A, A LITTLE OVER A HUNDRED MEMBERS REPRESENTED.UH, SO THE SURVEY THAT, THE MEMBERSHIP PROFILE SURVEY THAT WE ADMINISTERED, WE GOT A LITTLE LESS THAN HALF OF OUR RESPONDENT, UH, OF A FULL A HUNDRED PERCENT RESPONSES.
SO WE, WE ENDED UP WITH ABOUT 40% OF OUR MEMBERS RESPONDING.
SO IT'S NOT A COMPLETE PICTURE, BUT IT'S A, IT'S A, IT'S A GOOD START AND I THINK THAT WE WILL PROBABLY DO MORE TO TRY TO GET EVERYBODY TO RESPOND.
BUT ACROSS THOSE TWO WORK GROUPS, IT'S A LITTLE OVER A HUNDRED INDIVIDUALS.
AND HOW WERE THESE MEMBERS BROUGHT INTO THIS COALITION? SO, UH, THEY CAME, THEY HAVE COME IN, UM, AT VARIOUS POINTS ALONG THE WAY.
UM, ORIGINALLY WE PUT OUT A, A CALL TO, UM, ANYONE WHO, YOU KNOW, IN, IN THE EARLY DAYS, IT WAS REALLY ANYONE WHO HAD, UM, ANY EXPERTISE OR INVOLVEMENT IN, UM, COVID TESTING.
SO THAT WAS REALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, WE RECRUITED FOLKS WHO WERE PART OF THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY, CLINICAL COMMUNITY, LABORATORY COMMUNITY AS THE WORK GROUPS EXPANDED AND WE ADDED MORE SUBJECT MATTER.
UM, SO FOR INSTANCE, THERE WAS A WORK GROUP THAT FOCUSED ON CONTACT TRACING, A WORK GROUP THAT FOCUSED ON, UM, POLICY AND HEALTH ALERTS.
UM, THERE WERE, THERE WERE SEVERAL OTHER WORK GROUPS.
AND SO WE WOULD RECRUIT FOLKS THAT WE KNOW IN THE COMMUNITY, UM, ORGANIZATIONS OR INDIVIDUALS THAT COULD BRING SOME EXPERTISE TO, UM, TO US AND, AND, AND WHATEVER PARTICULAR TOPIC, UH, WE WERE CONVENING ON.
SO IT WAS MUCH THE WAY WE RECRUIT, UM, ADVISORY MEMBERS OR WORK GROUP MEMBERS, COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
AND IN OUR WORK IN PUBLIC HEALTH, WE, UM, KIND OF PUT OUT A CALL AND, AND INVITE FOLKS TO COME TO THE TABLE.
AND THAT WAS THE, THE CO-CHAIRS THAT WAS RECRUITING? UH, YE YES.
SO, AND, AND, YOU KNOW, OR DIFFERENT MEMBERS, LEMME CLARIFY.
LIKE, LIKE YOU, UH, LIKE YOU, YOU MENTIONED EARLIER, WHEN I SAY WE, THE WE THAT I'M TALKING ABOUT IS, UM, THE, THE CORE STAFF AT METRO HEALTH WHO HAVE RUN THIS OPERATION OVER THE LAST, UM, SEVERAL MONTHS.
AND ALSO, UM, THE LEADERSHIP WITHIN THE WORK GROUPS, UM, AND ALSO THE STEERING COMMITTEE.
SO, SO IT'S, IT'S, UM, IT'S ALL OF US WHO COLLECTIVELY HAVE BUILT WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT NOW.
UM, I HAVE A MINUTE NOW AND A LESS, SO LET ME GET TO SOME MORE QUESTIONS.
UM, THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES, THE EQUITY GUIDING PRINCIPLES, HOW, HOW IS, OR HOW ARE THEY BEING PUT INTO ACTION OR IMPLEMENTED AT ALL OF THE MASS VACCINATION HUBS? SO, LET ME, LET ME SHARE THIS.
AND COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL, CHAIR SANDOVAL KNOWS THIS MM-HMM.
UM, IT IS MY CONCERN WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT EQUITY GUIDING PRINCIPLES OR HOW YOU ALL CAN HELP INFORM ALL OF OUR OTHER HUB SITES IS, AND I'M GLAD WE'RE DOING THAT.
WE'RE, WE'RE KEEPING OUR EQUITY GUIDING PRINCIPLES, BUT THREE OF THE MASS VACCINATION SITES ARE NEAR FOUR 10 NORTH, AND WE HAVE ONE ON THE SOUTHERN SECTOR AND WE HAVE ONE DOWNTOWN.
SO TO CONTINUE TO BEAT THE DRUM AND THE MESSAGING OF VACCINATION SITES NEED TO BE LOCATED IN THE AREA THAT ARE MOST IMPACTED.
IF YOU CAN CONTINUE TO USE YOUR PLATFORM AS YOUR COALITION TO GET THAT WORD THROUGH AND THROUGH TO ALL OF OUR HUB SITES, THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.
AND, UM, A LIST OF MAYBE ALL OF THE MEMBERS AND A LIST OF WHO ARE THE COMMUNITY PARTNERS, UM, ALL OF THE COMMUNITY PARTNERS.
AND, UM, AND I HAD ANOTHER QUESTION, COUNCILWOMAN, AND I'LL CHIME BACK IN 'CAUSE I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO THAT RACISM IN PUBLIC HEALTH PORTION.
THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN, UH, COUNCILMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN.
THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR, AND THANK YOU SO MUCH, KATHLEEN AND Z AND, AND DR.
UM, THE QUESTION THAT I HAVE WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, PAGE NINE ON, UM, LOOKING AT THE SURVEY, THERE'S A SECTION THAT SAYS OTHER, UM, BUT IT'S NOTHING THAT IS SPECIFIED AS WHAT IS THE OTHER, AND WHAT INFORMATION WAS INCLUDED ON THAT OTHER, WHEN IT COMES TO HOW INDIVIDUALS ARE RECEIVING THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE C OVID 19.
SO IF I COULD JUST GET A FOLLOW UP ON WHAT THAT OTHER
[00:55:01]
CATEGORY WAS OR WHAT WAS THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE OTHER CATEGORY.UM, I LIKE TO SEE THAT AS WELL.
UM, AND WHEN IT COMES TO THE EQUITY WITHIN EDUCATION OF THE VACCINE SAFETY AND SITE DISTRIBUTIONS THAT COUNCILWOMAN VERAN WAS TALKING ABOUT, HAS THE OFFICE OF EQUITY OR HAS THE, UM, EQUITY MAP BEING USED TO
THEY DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO MEDICAL, CLINICAL FACILITIES.
UM, AND SO WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT EQUITY WITHIN THE, THE EDUCATION OF THE DISTRIBUTION SITES, UM, I LIKE TO SEE WHAT THE, THE PLAN OF ACTION IS TO TRULY GET THAT INTO COMMUNITIES SUCH AS DISTRICT THREE, DISTRICT TWO, DISTRICT FOUR, WITHIN THE INNER PART OF THE COMMUNITIES, AND NOT JUST ON THE OUTSKIRTS.
UM, AND THEN ALSO AS IT RELATES TO, UM, THE OFFICE OF OF EQUITY WITH Z, HOW ARE WE GOING TO ADDRESS THE DISPARITIES OF HIRING WITHIN OUR CITY OFFICES AND OUR CITY DEPARTMENTS? UM, I LIKE TO SEE WHAT THE PLAN OF ACTION IS FOR THAT.
AND THEN WHEN IT COMES TO NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES AT DHS, AND IT COMES TO EQUITY OF HOUSING VOUCHERS, RENTAL PROPERTY AND RENTAL ASSISTANCE, AND HOW WE ARE ADDRESSING THE EQUITY OF HOMELESSNESS WITHIN THIS CONVERSATION, UM, I'D LIKE TO SEE WHAT THE PLAN IS FOR THAT.
AND THEN FINALLY, UM, WHEN WE COME TO THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND THE MESSAGING AS IT RELATES TO THE MISTRUST OF INDIVIDUALS TAKING VACCINES WITHIN OUR COMMUNITIES, UM, IF WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT THE WORDING THAT WE ARE USING ADDRESSES THOSE, UM, DISPARITIES, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN OR THE BLACK COMMUNITY, UM, I KNOW THAT WE'RE DOING A GOOD JOB WITH THE MYTHS AND THE TRUTHS, BUT THERE'S STILL SOME MISTRUST AMONGST HOW VACCINES ARE BEING GIVEN, WHO THE VACCINES ARE BEING GIVEN TO, HOW THE EQUITY IS NOT THERE WHEN YOU LOOK AT HOW PEOPLE ARE COMING IN FROM OTHER PLACES TO TAKE THE VACCINES.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, UM, THE ISSUE OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE OLDER THAT ARE NOT ACTUALLY GETTING INTO THE DATABASE OF RECEIVING THESE VACCINES.
SO I DIDN'T WANNA HOLD UP TOO MUCH TIME, JUST WANTED TO PUT IT OUT THERE, THE THINGS I'D LIKE TO SEE IN THE PLANS OF ACTION THAT I LIKE TO SEE GOING FORWARD.
UM, Z OR KATHY, WOULD YOU LIKE TO RESPOND TO, TO ANY OF THOSE? SURE.
UM, THANK YOU SO MUCH, COUNCILWOMAN.
UM, SO AS IT RELATES TO DIVERSITY OF THE WORKFORCE AT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, UM, THAT WASN'T SPECIFICALLY INCLUDED IN THE RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS RESOLUTION.
SO THE ACTIONS AREN'T LISTED THERE, BUT THE SOLUTION IS THAT, UH, ONE OF THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH RIGHT NOW TO CREATE A DEPARTMENTAL EQUITY ACTION PLAN BY MARCH IS THE HUMAN RE, UH, HR DEPARTMENT HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.
SO WHAT'S WHAT'S REALLY NICE IS THAT WE ACTUALLY DO HAVE THE, UH, FINAL PROPOSED DRAFT ACTION PLAN COMPLETED.
IT'S GONNA BE PRESENTED TO THE DIRECTOR IN MARCH, AND THAT IS WHERE THERE ARE, UH, COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIES.
THERE'S NINE IN TOTAL WITH DIFFERENT DISTINCT ACTIONS UNDERNEATH EACH ONE AS IT RELATES TO REALLY LOOKING AT AN EQUITABLE HIRING PROCESS, RE REVIEWING POLICIES, CREATING DEMOGRAPHIC DASHBOARDS.
SO ALL OF THAT STUFF HAS BEEN IN THE WORKS FOR A YEAR AND A HALF, AND I'M VERY EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT IT'S IN ITS FINAL PHASE, UM, ABOUT TO LAUNCH.
AND I KNOW THAT YOU ALL WILL BE REALLY EXCITED TO SEE THAT.
UM, FOR D H S, THEY ARE ONE OF OUR PRIMARY, UM, ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE'RE ALSO WORKING WITH ON CREATING AN ACTION PLAN.
SO THE THREE THINGS I NOTED YOU WANTED MORE INFORMATION ABOUT, UH, D H SS RELATED WAS HOUSING VOUCHERS, FOOD DISTRIBUTION, AND HOMELESS SERVICES.
DID I, DID I GET THAT RIGHT TO FOLLOW UP? YEAH.
UM, AND THEN MESSAGING AROUND VACCINES.
UM, I KNOW THAT THE OFFICE OF HEALTH EQUITY HAS BEEN WORKING ON, ON THAT A LITTLE BIT WITH G P A AS WELL, SO I WILL LET KATHY OR CARLOS ANSWER THAT QUESTION ABOUT HESITANCY AND VACCINES.
UM, COUNCILWOMAN TO YOUR QUESTION ABOUT THE LOCATION OF, UH, VACCINE DISTRIBUTION, UM, SITES AND, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE'RE HEADED MOVING FORWARD, UM, I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT, UH, WE ARE THINKING ABOUT THAT.
AND, UM, SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES, UH, HERE WITH ME TODAY HAVE BEEN ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN THINKING ABOUT
[01:00:01]
HOW, WHERE DO WE PLACE, UM, MOBILE VACCINE DISTRIBUTION SITES AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE FOR HOW LONG, UM, HOW DO WE GET FOLKS REGISTERED AT THOSE SITES.UM, THOSE ARE THINGS THAT ARE, ARE CURRENTLY BEING DISCUSSED.
KIAN, UH, OR CARLOS OR ONE OF THE OTHER INDIVIDUALS WHO IS ON THE LINE RIGHT NOW, IF THEY WOULD LIKE TO, TO RESPOND TO THAT QUESTION, BECAUSE THAT IS ABSOLUTELY TOP OF MIND FOR US RIGHT NOW AT METRO HEALTH.
ANY OF MY COLLEAGUES WANNA SHARE? SORRY, I AM AT THE, CAN YOU, CAN YOU GUYS HEAR ME? YEAH, I'M AT THE ALMA DOME AND THE CONNECTION'S GOING IN AND OUT, SO IT'S REALLY BAD.
UM, I CAN JUST BRIEFLY STATE, WE ARE USING THAT COVID INDEX MAP THAT KATHY AND DR.
TAYLOR WERE REFERRING TO EARLIER IN THAT HESITATION.
SO THAT COVID INDEX MAP TAKES INTO ACCOUNT THE EQUITY SCORES, UM, THE COVID 19 MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY SCORES, AND, UM, WE USE THE, UH, CENSUS TRACKS OR THE GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS WITH THE HIGHEST COVID INDEX TO GUIDE OUR, UM, EFFORTS TO SCOUT FOR MOBILE UNIT, UH, SITES.
SO THAT'S ONE WAY WE ARE TRYING TO HAVE AN EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF VACCINES IN OUR, UM, IN OUR, UM, CITY HERE.
UM, AND THEN TO ADDRESS THOSE, UH, DIGITAL DIVIDE ISSUES, WE ARE WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS, AND I THINK KATHY ALLUDED TO THIS ALSO IN HER PRESENTATION.
UM, WE ALLOCATE 900 SLOTS EVERY DAY TO OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS TO ENROLL, UM, UH, RESIDENTS TO OUR ALAMO SITE LOCATION.
AND THIS EFFORT WILL ALSO CONTINUE, UH, FOR OUR MOBILE UNIT EFFORTS AS WELL.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE 400 SLOTS, WHICH IS DEDICATED EVERY DAY TO THE 3 1 1 FOLKS WHO DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO INTERNET TO CALL AND REGISTER AT BOTH ALAMO DOME AS WELL AS A MOBILE UNIT EFFORTS.
AND BY THE WAY, OUR MOBILE UNIT EFFORTS HAVEN'T STARTED YET.
UM, WE ARE PLANNING TO PILOT TEST THAT NEXT WEEK, AND, UM, WE WOULD LIKE TO SCALE UP THOSE EFFORTS AND EVERYTHING IS CONTINGENT UPON THE ALLOCATIONS WE RECEIVE FROM, FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES, AND WE EXPECT THOSE ALLOCATIONS TO SCALE UP AS WELL COME NEXT WEEK.
UH, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO GET AN UPDATE ON THAT VIA EMAIL WHEN YOU DO HAVE YOUR MOBILE SITE, UH, FOR THE PILOT SELECTED? UM, IF YOU, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO GET IT SENT TO THIS COMMITTEE? ABSOLUTELY.
I'M SURE YOU CONSENT TO THE WHOLE COUNCIL, BUT
UH, WE'LL MOVE ON TO COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ.
AND, UM, SO COUNCILWOMAN VRAN ASKED MOST MY QUESTIONS, UH, RELATING SORT OF TO THE COMMITTEE, BUT I DO HAVE A QUESTION REGARDING SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, THAT YOU, YOU MENTIONED, AND NOW I HAVE LOST MY, OH, HERE, IT'S SO POLICY AND ADVOCACY GROUP PRIORITIES, UM, AND THE VERY FIRST, UM, I JUST KIND OF WANTED TO ELABORATE ON SOME OF THIS STUFF, ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES.
SO WHAT, WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THERE? SO I, I'M GONNA INVITE, UM, MY COLLEAGUE SEAN GREEN, WHO HAS BEEN LEADING THAT EFFORT TO JUMP IN, UH, AND, AND RESPOND TO THE QUESTION ABOUT ACCESS TO CARE.
WHAT ARE WE REFERRING TO? SEAN, ARE YOU ON THE LINE? UH, YES I AM.
UM, COUNCILWOMAN, MY NAME IS SEAN GREEN, AND I WAS, UH, PART OF THE COMMITTEE THAT, UH, THE WORK GROUP I SHOULD SAY, THAT CAME UP WITH THOSE PRIORITIES.
THERE WERE A RANGE OF CONCERNS THAT FELL UNDER ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES.
SOME OF THEM WERE COUNTY ITEMS LIKE, UM, LIKE EXPANDING ACCESS TO THE CARELINK PROGRAM.
UH, SOME OF THEM HAD TO DO WITH EXPANSION OF, UH, MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY, WHICH WAS A STATE, UH, LEVEL ITEM.
AND THEN SOME OF THEM, SOME OF THE ITEMS THAT SORT OF FELL UNDER THERE ALSO HAD TO DO WITH MAKING SURE THAT FOLKS HAD OPPORTUNITIES TO LINK TO TESTING AND PREVENTION AND PERHAPS EVEN TO LONG-TERM CARE, UM, HERE LOCALLY.
SO IT WAS KIND OF A RANGE OF THINGS, AND IT'S PART OF A LARGE, A LONGER DOCUMENT THAT I'D BE HAPPY TO, UM, FORWARD TO YOU OFFICE, UH, IF YOU'D LIKE TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT.
[01:05:01]
YOU, UH, FOR THAT EXPLANATION.I MEAN, I WAS ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT LIKE, SO WHAT DID, WHAT DOES SOCIAL SUPPORT MEAN UNDER THAT CATEGORY? THEY DISCUSSED TWO THINGS.
PRIMARILY IT WAS CHILDCARE RESOURCES TO BE A PART OF ANY, UM, JOB TRAINING OR LINKAGE TO EMPLOYMENT EFFORTS.
AND IT WAS ALSO ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, UM, INCLUDING LEGAL SERVICES FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
THOSE WERE THE TWO THINGS THAT FELL INTO THOSE BROAD HEADING.
YEAH, THAT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
BUT IT'S, IT'S NOT NECESSARILY, I WOULDN'T NECESSARILY KNOW BY SAYING SOCIAL SUPPORT THAT THAT'S WHAT YOU MEANT.
SO, UM, I GUESS THERE'S JUST A LONGER DOCUMENT, BUT, UM, ANYWAY, IT, IT'S JUST SOME SORT OF, SOME THOUGHTS I HAVE THAT, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS BECAUSE YOU ALSO HAVE HERE SAFE SPACES FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, WHICH ALSO LIKE, WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THERE? CORRECT.
THERE WAS DISCUSSION ABOUT EXPANDING PEOPLE'S ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE IN EXERCISE SAFELY, BOTH INDOORS, WHICH IMPLIED ACCESS TO, UM, ACCESS TO LIKE VIRTUAL EXERCISE CLASSES, FOR EXAMPLE.
AND THEN OUTDOORS, WHICH HAD MORE TO DO AT THE TIME WITH, UM, OPENING PARK SPACE.
WE WERE, UM, KIND OF IN SHUT DOWN MODE OPENING PARK SPACE, UM, SO THAT FOLKS COULD BEGIN TO ENGAGE IN EXERCISE CLASSES SAFELY IN SOME OF THE PUBLIC SPACES THAT WE HAVE.
WELL THANK YOU FOR, FOR THAT, UH, EXPLANATION.
AND, UM, UH, I THINK THAT THAT'S REALLY ALL I HAVE.
THANK YOU FOR THOSE QUESTIONS.
AND WE'LL, UH, GO OVER TO COUNCILMAN AND THEN BACK TO COUNCILWOMAN VIA AFTER THAT.
UM, THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD QUESTIONS AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATIONS.
UH, I, I JUST, I WANNA HIGHLIGHT, UH, OR CONNECT TWO PARTS OF THE, THE PRESENTATIONS, UH, TOGETHER.
AND THAT HAS TO DO WITH HOUSING SECURITY AND OF COURSE THE, UM, UH, THE RACISM, UH, AS A, AS A HEALTHCARE CRISIS COMPONENT.
UM, ESSENTIALLY WE, THERE'S PLENTY OF DATA THAT THAT IS SHOWING THAT, UH, BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES ARE, ARE FACING, UH, THIS ISSUE, UH, MORE THAN OTHERS, ESPECIALLY THE EVICTION CRISES.
WHAT IS, WHAT IS NOT, WHAT IS NOT DOCUMENTED WELL ENOUGH IS THE, THE IMPACT THAT, THAT, THAT THREAT PUTS OR THAT THAT STRESS PUTS ON, ON, ON, ON, UH, THOSE COMMUNITIES.
UH, AND I WAS JUST READING A, A REPORT HERE THAT, UH, SHOWS HERE THAT EVEN, EVEN IF, IF, IF THERE ISN'T AN EVICTION, JUST THE ONE THAT IS FILED BUT DOESN'T FOLLOW THROUGH, IT, IT SADDLES PEOPLE WITH, WITH REALLY BAD CREDITS AND CREDIT AND, UH, REALLY, UH, MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR, FOR PEOPLE TO FIND, UH, UH, ANOTHER PLACE TO LIVE.
AND, YOU KNOW, UH, WE SAY HOUSING IS HEALTHCARE QUITE A BIT.
UM, AND I JUST WANNA HEAR FROM, FROM THIS GROUP OF HOW WE'RE TYING THOSE TWO COMPONENTS TOGETHER, BECAUSE I SEE THIS AS, AS THE, THE, THE TSUNAMI THAT IS JUST WAITING TO HAPPEN.
AND ONE OF MY BIGGEST CRITICISMS IS, IS THAT WE ARE WAITING TO GET THE HELP TO THEM MAY CLEAR THE DEBT, BUT THE DAMAGE IS DONE WITH, WITH, IN TERMS OF BAD CREDIT AND SOME OF THE TRAUMATIC EFFECTS THAT IT, THAT THE TOLL IT TAKES ON FAMILIES WHO, UH, WERE HAVING TO DO WITHOUT FOOD OR, OR, OR BUDGET A CERTAIN WAY AND, AND THEN JUST FEAR THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE, UH, OUT ON THE STREETS.
AND THEN OF COURSE, IT DOVETAILS, UH, NICELY.
AND I APPRECIATE COUNCILMAN, UH, ANDREW SULLIVAN MAKING THE POINT ABOUT OUR HOMELESS POPULATION AS WELL.
UM, THOSE TWO, UH, ESSENTIALLY THEY, THEY TIE TOGETHER IN, IN SUCH A BIG WAY THAT I, I WANT US TO BE MORE PROACTIVE ABOUT THE,
[01:10:01]
THE, THE KINDS OF RESOURCES THAT WE APPLY IMMEDIATELY.UH, 'CAUSE I, I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE, WE MAY GET TO IT AT SOME POINT, BUT BY THAT TIME, WE'VE ALREADY CREATED, UM, WE'VE ALREADY ALLOWED THE EXPERIENCE, UH, UH, TO, TO HAVE OCCURRED.
ANYONE, UH, KATHY, DO YOU WANNA, UH, START, I THINK SOME OF THOSE THINGS WERE LISTED IN THE C R E C, SO I THINK WHAT YOU, YOU'RE CONNECTING, YOU'RE, YOU'RE TRYING TO MAKE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE, UM, HOUSING CRISIS THAT'S HAPPENING AS A RESULT OF COVID AND, UM, THE RESOLUTION ON RACISM.
I AM, AM I UNDERSTANDING CORRECTLY, COUNCILMAN? UH, AND I THINK THAT OUR, UM, OUR POLICY PRIORITY DOCUMENT, WE'RE GONNA SHARE THAT WITH YOU IN ITS ENTIRETY, BECAUSE IT DOES FLUSH OUT WHAT ASPECTS OF HOUSING ARE WE TALKING ABOUT, UM, THAT, THAT OUR COMMUNITY HAS SAID, UH, NEEDS ATTENTION FROM A POLICY STANDPOINT.
AND I, I'M LOOKING AT, IT'S, IT'S, UH, UH, THE POLICY AND ADVISORY WORK GROUP PRIORITIES AND MM-HMM.
AND, AND THAT'S WHAT I THINK WE NEED TO, YOU KNOW, UNDERSTAND THAT, THAT IT'S NOT, IT, IT, IT IS SOMEWHERE JUST MORE CRITICAL TO ADDRESS RIGHT AWAY AND HOW THEY TIE INTO THE SYSTEMIC, UH, ISSUES THAT EXISTED WELL BEFORE THE PANDEMIC.
BUT CAN, CAN, WE CAN USE THIS AS THAT OPPORTUNITY TO, TO ADDRESS, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT ALLOWING OURSELVES, UH, OR NOT KIDDING OURSELVES, UH, IN TERMS OF, OF THE, UH, ALLOWING THE TIME TO, TO PASS IN WHICH FOLKS ARE STILL ARE EXPERIENCING THE, THE, THE UNCERTAINTY, THE INSECURITY THAT, THAT IS POSED TO THEM.
BECAUSE, BECAUSE THESE PROGRAMS ARE STILL JUST NOT AVAILABLE JUST YET.
AND I, I, I WOULD HOPE THAT THE ADVISORY GROUP CAN, CAN GET TO A RECOMMENDATION AND GET TO ADDRESSING THIS, UH, SOME SOMEHOW, UH, IN, IN, IN A, PRIORITIZING THE TIMELINE, IF THAT MAKES SENSE.
AND I THINK, UH, I'M GONNA, I THINK THAT, UH, I'M NOT LOOKING AT THE LIST OF POLICY PRIORITIES IN ITS ENTIRETY, BUT I IMAGINE THERE ARE ASPECTS THAT ARE, UH, MORE IMMEDIATE AND THERE ARE THINGS THAT ARE MORE LONG TERM.
AND I THINK OUR RECOVERY EFFORT AS A CITY, AS A COMMUNITY, UM, ABSOLUTELY NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO RESPOND NIMBLY TO THOSE MORE URGENT SITUATIONS.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, I'M, I'M NOT, UM, TOO FAMILIAR WITH WHAT, WHAT WITH THE RECOVERY EFFORT, UM, OR HOW THE FUNDING IS BEING UTILIZED.
BUT, UM, THERE MAY BE OTHERS ON THE, ON THE CALL WHO ARE, AND I CAN CERTAINLY FIND OUT AND, AND GET BACK TO YOU.
TAYLOR, YOU DON'T NEED TO RAISE YOUR HAND
I THINK, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS VERY CLEAR THAT YOU ALL WILL SEE WHEN YOU SEE THE LARGER, UH, POLICY DOCUMENT IS THAT THE GROUP DID AN AMAZING JOB OF GETTING PEOPLE IN THE ROOM WHO ARE VERY PASSIONATE.
I THINK THEY REALLY ECHO YOUR CONCERNS, UH, COUNCILMAN VINNO ABOUT THE URGENCY OF SOME OF THESE ISSUES.
AND IT'S TRUE THAT THERE IS A, THERE'S A VERY LONG TIMELINE.
THERE ARE THINGS ON THE PRIORITIES THAT ARE THINGS LIKE MEDICAID AND MEDICAID EXPANSION.
SO THAT IS A LONG TIMELINE REFORM OR ADVOCACY POSITION.
A SHORT, URGENT THING IS SOMETHING LIKE FOOD INSECURITY OR HOUSING INSECURITY.
AND SO I THINK OUR JOB AS THE COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION IS REALLY TO TRY TO PUT THOSE THINGS OUT AND GIVE, GIVE THE COMMUNITY A PLATFORM WHERE THEY CAN HAVE A VOICE ABOUT THESE THINGS.
AND THEN, AS YOU SAID, WORK THROUGH, HOW ARE WE, WHAT ARE THE POLICY STATEMENTS THAT WE COULD MAKE ABOUT THESE? WHAT ARE THE ABSOLUTELY URGENT ISSUES THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN NOW? AND WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT WE REALLY HAVE TO BE PROACTIVE IN THINKING ABOUT WORKING TOWARDS? BECAUSE WE ARE DEALING WITH STRUCTURAL RACISM, WE ARE DEALING WITH THE IMPACT OF REDLINING IN OUR COMMUNITY OVER, YOU KNOW, DECADES.
[01:15:01]
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO CAN'T EAT OR WHO ARE LOSING THEIR HOMES.SO IT'S, IT DOES HAVE TO BE VERY MULTIFOCAL.
UH, AND THEN, UH, COUNCILWOMAN GERRAN HAD SOME FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT TOPIC.
CHAIR, UM, WAS SUZANNE, THANK YOU.
THE RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE, EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
UM, YOU MENTIONED THEN THAT WHEN YOU'RE GONNA REPORT OUT, UM, WHETHER THAT'S IN FEBRUARY OR JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH, AND THEN AT THE ANNUAL BUDGET PRESENTATION, UM, I, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU WOULD BE REPORTING OUT SUCCESS STORIES.
I ALSO WANNA ENCOURAGE US TO ALSO REPORT OUT MAYBE THE THINGS THAT DIDN'T WORK, OR MAYBE THE THINGS THAT HAD UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES WITH OUR POLICIES OR DECISIONS THAT WE MADE.
AND THERE WERE EITHER UNINTENDED CON CONSEQUENCES OR THAT DID NOT WORK OUT, JUST SO WE CAN CONTINUE TO LEARN TOGETHER AS A, AS AN ORGANIZATION AND A COMMUNITY, AND ALSO TELL US WHY THAT REALLY DIDN'T WORK OUT.
AND THEN SECOND, UM, DAVID, IF YOU CAN, AND MAYBE I DON'T REMEMBER THIS, BUT DAVID, IF YOU CAN ANSWER THIS, UM, WE HAVE OUR EDUCATION WORK GROUP IN THE, UM, C R E C, AND WE HAD OUR C OVID 19 MARKETING, UH, ITEMS THAT WE JUST PASSED RECENTLY, LIKE THE DO IT FOR A CAMPAIGN THAT WE HAVE AND HOW WE'RE EXPANDING.
WAS THIS C R E C GROUP EDUCATION WORK GROUP A PART OF HELPING INFORM THAT MARKETING PROGRAM? YES, ABSOLUTELY.
AND ALSO, SO YOU'LL KNOW, THIS IS DAVID, SO YOU'LL KNOW THEY ARE LOOKING TO COME BRING YOU AN UPDATE AS A PART OF G P A.
WOULD LOVE TO COME BACK AND BRING YOU SOME UPDATES ON THAT END ON THE CAMPAIGN.
WE'LL BE WORKING WITH THE CHAIR ON IT.
WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, TO THE TEAM FOR THE PRESENTATIONS AND TO THE COUNCIL MEMBER FOR THE COMMENTS.
UH, WE HAVE SOMEONE, UH, ON MY STAFF AND WHO, WHO KEEPS TRACK OF ALL OF OUR QUESTIONS.
AND SO WE WILL, UH, SEND THEM OUT TO STAFF AND TO THE GROUP.
AND THEN, UH, USUALLY STAFF WILL SEND US BACK THE RESPONSES AND WE'LL SHARE THEM WITH EVERYONE, UH, ONCE THOSE ARE ARE PREPARED.
UH, JUST ONE FINAL QUESTION AT THIS POINT.
IS THERE A, A WEBSITE OR A CENTRAL REPOSITORY FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE C R E C THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS CAN GO TO, OR THE PUBLIC CAN GO LIKE TO SEE WHO IS ON IT? IT, IT, WE DO NOT HAVE A WEB PRESENCE.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, CERTAINLY, UH, WE MAINTAIN, UM, MEMBERSHIP LISTS AND DISTRIBUTION LISTS AND ALL OF THE DOCUMENTS AT METRO HEALTH.
UM, BUT NO, THERE, THERE IS NOT A PLACE ONLINE WHERE THAT STUFF IS POSTED AT THIS POINT.
ARE THERE PLANS TO DO THAT? I THINK WE COULD, YES, WE COULD.
UM, I THINK IT WOULD, MIGHT MAKE SENSE.
UM, I GUESS WE'LL SEE IF IT MAKES SENSE FOR IT TO BE ON THE METRO HEALTH WEBSITE, OR IF IT MAKES SENSE TO BE ON THE C OVID 19 WEBSITE.
UM, MY THOUGHT IS PROBABLY ON THE METRO HEALTH WEBSITE, BUT, UM, BUT EITHER ONE I, I THINK, COULD BE A GOOD LOCATION.
SO YES, I WILL LOOK INTO THAT.
'CAUSE YOU ALL DO A LOT OF WONDERFUL WORK, AND I THINK IT'S, UH, YOU KNOW, ULTIMATE, AT THE END OF THE DAY, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE THESE STORIES TO SHARE.
SO WE DO WANT A CHANNEL, UH, TO, TO SHARE THEM.
AND I THINK, UH, IT'S ALSO GREAT, UH, FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE HOW COLLABORATIVE YOU ARE, UH, WITH, UH, WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS.
SO, WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
THANK YOU, KATHY, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH.
AND IF YOU RECALL, UH, AT OUR LAST COMMITTEE MEETING, WE HAD A WONDERFULLY THOROUGH PRESENTATION ON THE CAP, BUT IT WAS ONLY HALF OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
SO WE SAVED A LITTLE BIT MORE FOR THIS MONTH.
UH, AND THEN, UH, WE HAD A STORM EVENT OCCUR.
AND SO, UH, STAFF SUGGESTED, WELL, WELL STAFF ACQUIESCED
[01:20:01]
THAT MAYBE, UH, THAT MAY BE TODAY'S CONVERSATION.UH, WE, WE COULD COME BACK AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ADAPTATION, WHICH WAS, UH, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE, THE PLAN THAT WE ADOPTED AS COUNCIL MEMBERS.
SO GIVE YOURSELVES CREDIT FOR, UH, THINKING ABOUT THAT EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND THE VULNERABLE POPULATION, THAT THOSE CONCEPTS WERE PART OF THIS HUGE DOCUMENT.
AND NOW WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA GO BACK AND, AND REVISIT THOSE, UH, IN THE CONTEXT OF, OF OUR RECENT WEATHER.
[2. 21-1801 A briefing on the implementation of American Cities Climate Challenge (ACCC) Strategies and the 2019 Municipal Building Energy Benchmarking Report and the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Key Climate Ready Strategies Report. [David McCary, Assistant City Manager; Douglas Melnick, Chief Sustainability Officer]]
DID YOU WANNA SAY ANY OPENING REMARKS? UH, NO MA'AM.WE'LL TURN IT ON OVER TO DOUG, OUR CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER.
UM, THANK YOU, UH, MADAM CHAIR AND, AND COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
UH, YOU KNOW, LIKE THE COUNCILMAN SAID, WE, WE PIVOTED, YOU KNOW, THIS IS THIS, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE EXPERIENCED LAST WEEK, UM, UNFORTUNATELY, UM, IS A PATTERN, YOU KNOW, THAT I THINK WE, WE WE'RE GOING TO, TO EXPERIENCE.
AND I, AND I, AND IT'S LIKE, I HATE TO BE THE GUY TO COME IN AFTER THOSE PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS AND SAY, OKAY, CLIMATE CHANGE, YOU KNOW, AND, AND, BUT I THINK IT'S ALL RELATED.
AND THAT'S ALL I KEPT THINKING WHEN, WHEN I WAS HEARING THE PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS.
THERE'S THAT THEME THAT GOES THROUGH AND, AND IT'S, AND IT'S PEOPLE AND, AND IT'S PEOPLE'S ABILITY TO, TO ADAPT AND THRIVE AND, AND, AND BE RESILIENT.
AND I THINK THIS IS JUST ANOTHER LAYER ON IT THAT JUST LOOKING, LOOKING FORWARD.
UM, CAN YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE? SO YOU'VE SEEN THIS SLIDE BEFORE.
UM, NOT GONNA HARP ON IT, MADE THE COMMITMENT, YOU KNOW, PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT.
WE NEED TO, YOU KNOW, REDUCE OUR EMISSIONS.
BUT REALLY WANTED, I WANTED TO POINT OUT LIKE THE ADAPTATION SIDE.
UH, AND, AND THE PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT SAYS, NOT ONLY DO WE NEED TO REDUCE OUR EMISSIONS TO HELP, YOU KNOW, UM, UH, AVERT THE WORST CLIMATE IMPACTS.
IT REALLY TALKS ABOUT ADAPTING OUR COMMUNITIES, PARTICULARLY OUR MOST VULNERABLE RESIDENTS, TO THESE CHANGES.
UM, AND, AND THAT'S WHAT WE SAW LAST WEEK.
AND, AND I'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT IN A FEW SLIDES.
SO WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK? AND, AND YEAH.
AND, YOU KNOW, AND, AND I THINK THERE'S STILL, I'VE BEEN SORT OF LOOKING AT THE, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE DISCUSSIONS THAT ARE GOING ON IN DIFFERENT NETWORKS, YOU KNOW, SOME VERY REPUTABLE CLIMATE SCIENTISTS THAT, THAT, THAT I FOLLOW, HAVE SAID, YES, YOU KNOW, THIS IS AS, AS THE ARCTIC WARM, UM, THE, THE JET STREAM IS GOING, IS GOING TO FLUCTUATE.
UH, AND, AND THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.
WE, WE SAW, YOU KNOW, AN UNPRECEDENTED, UM, DIP OF THESE, THESE ARCTIC TEMPERATURES INTO SAN ANTONIO AND, AND INTO TEXAS.
AND, AND WE, I THINK WE'VE EXPERIENCED THOSE BEFORE, BUT NEVER LIKE THIS, NEVER, NEVER FOR, FOR A WEEK.
AND, UM, I THINK THE THING THAT, THAT WE'RE SEEING PEOPLE DISCUSSING THIS NOW, UH, IN THE COMMUNITY AND, AND ACROSS IN THE STATE, WHILE IT WAS ONCE IN A 100 YEAR STORM, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK, WELL, WE DON'T KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S, I THINK THAT THE FACT IS, IT HAPPENED.
WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO TO PREPARE FOR, FOR THE NEXT TIME? OR WHAT ELSE IS COMING? UM, BUT, UM, IT, IT WAS, IT WAS AN EYE-OPENER FOR, FOR ALL OF US.
SO, YOU KNOW, THE CLIMATE PLAN DID LOOK AT CLIMATE PROJECTIONS, AND YOU, YOU'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE.
IT'S GONNA GET HOTTER, UH, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT GONNA COOL OFF AT NIGHT.
UM, WE'RE GOING TO SEE LESS PRECIPITATION, BUT WHEN WE DO EXPERIENCE, UH, YOU KNOW, WEATHER, IT'S GONNA BE, YOU LEAD TO MORE FLOODING, MORE EXTREME.
WHAT I DIDN'T HAVE ON MY LIST WAS INCREASED COLD WEATHER EVENTS.
LIKE I, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK, AND AGAIN, I THINK THAT SHOWS JUST HOW UNPREDICTABLE THE FUTURE HOLDS.
UM, WE WERE, THAT, THAT WASN'T ON MY BINGO CARD.
AND, AND CLEARLY IT SHOULD BE.
AND, AND SO THAT JUST GETS ME THINKING, WHAT'S NEXT? WHAT AREN'T WE THINKING ABOUT? AND I THINK THAT'S THE SCARY THING ABOUT THIS, IS WE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE JUST DON'T KNOW.
BUT I, I, I THINK WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS AS WE GO, GO FORWARD, WE CAN'T LOOK IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR.
YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO LOOK AT WHERE THE SCIENCE IS LEADING US, UM, IN ORDER TO, TO MAKE CHANGES.
AND THE EXAMPLE I LIKE, LIKE, TO, TO EXPLAIN HOW CITIES CAN USE THIS, AND IT'S RELATIVELY OLD AT THIS POINT, BUT THE CITY OF CHICAGO YEARS AGO WAS, IT WAS VERY MUCH A LEADER ON CLIMATE.
AND THEY, THEY DID AN ANALYSIS TO LOOK AT PRECIPITATION, AND SOME CLIMATE PROJECTIONS SHOWED THAT THEY WERE GONNA SEE A POTENTIAL 10% INCREASE IN PRECIPITATION.
WELL, THE NEXT TIME THEY, YOU KNOW, THEY HAD A PROJECT TO UPGRADE THEIR STORM SYSTEM, THEY RESIZED THOSE PIPES, YOU KNOW, TO TO, TO, UM, UH, PREPARE FOR THOSE INCREASED, UH, EVENTS.
YOU KNOW, THE PROBLEM IS YOU HAVE TO KEEP LOOKING AT THE SCIENCE AND KEEP, KEEP ADJUSTING.
BUT I THINK THAT'S SORT OF WHERE WE ARE NOW.
WHAT DO WE DO GOING FORWARD BASED UPON WHAT'S COMING NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THIS IS SORT OF THE HOT OF IT, HEART OF IT.
AND WE TALKED ABOUT CRIME, UH, EQUITY ALL THROUGHOUT THIS.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO LOOK AT THE DATA.
[01:25:01]
LOOK AT WHERE OUR MOST VULNERABLE POPULATIONS ARE, YOU KNOW, SO WE, YOU KNOW, WE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE USE, UM, THE OFFICE OF EQUITY, CLIMATE EQUITY INDEX.UH, WE USE THE SOCIAL VULNERABILITY INDEX, WHICH, WHICH USES MULTIPLE, UM, UH, INDICATORS SUCH AS ACCESS TO TRANSPORTATION, UM, AGE, HEALTH ISSUES, UM, UH, FOOD INSECURITY TO HELP SORT OF HELP US PINPOINT.
BUT THEN WHEN WE START OVERLAYING DIFFERENT ISSUES, HEAT ISLAND, TREE CANOPY, UH, WE HAVE SOME NEW DATA AROUND ENERGY BURDEN.
UH, YOU KNOW, YOU REALLY CAN START SEEING WHERE OUR, OUR, OUR NEIGHBORHOODS THAT ARE MOST AT RISK.
AND I THINK WE, WE, WE HEARD ABOUT IT IN THAT PREVIOUS PRESENTATIONS, YOU KNOW, IT'S, IT'S OUR, IT'S OUR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR.
UM, IT'S OUR AREAS WITH, WITH HIGH PERCENTAGE OF SENIORS.
AND SO I THINK, YOU KNOW, AS WE GO FORWARD, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO? UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, IN TERMS OF CLIMATE, IN TERMS OF WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE LOOK AT WHAT THE RISK FACTORS ARE, WE KNOW THESE, YOU KNOW, THESE VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES ARE AT RISK DUE TO HEAT, UH, RESPIRATORY ILLNESS, VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES.
THE NEW ONE, I ADDED EXTREME COLD.
UH, AND, AND NOT JUST THE, THE, THE PHYSICAL RISK, BUT WHEN WE START LOOKING AT PEOPLE'S HOUSING, UH, YOU KNOW, OUR, OUR HOMES, PARTICULARLY OUR OLDER HOMES, AREN'T DESIGNED FOR, FOR SUB-ZERO DEGREE WEATHER.
AND, UH, EVEN IF YOUR POWER DIDN'T GO OFF, YOU ARE STILL AT RISK.
UH, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE, WE NEED TO START REALLY LOOKING AT HOW WE PRIORITIZE OUR MOST VULNERABLE.
AND, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I ALSO WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT IS, THIS DOESN'T HIT PEOPLE EQUALLY.
YOU KNOW, I WAS, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS I THINK WE'VE HEARD THROUGH THIS, THIS, THIS STORM EVENT, WAS IT TOUCHED EVERYBODY AND IT DID, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT, IT, IT CUT ACROSS DEMOGRAPHICS, BUT THE ISSUE IS, IF YOU ARE A PERSON OF MEANS, YOU'RE GONNA, YOU'RE GONNA RES YOU'RE GONNA RESPOND QUICKER.
YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S NOT THE SAME.
WHEREAS, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE'S GONNA BE MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY THAT ARE GONNA TAKE MONTHS, IF NOT YEARS, TO, TO BE ABLE TO RECOVER FROM THIS.
AND I, AND I THINK THAT'S SORT OF THE POINT OF CENTERING THE WORK IN EQUITY.
SO YOU, WHAT I WANT TO DISCOVER REALLY BRIEFLY IS, IS, IS, UM, HOW THE PLAN RELATES TO THIS EVENT, UM, AND AS WELL AS FUTURE EVENTS.
AND SO IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
YOU KNOW, THE CHALLENGE THAT WE FACE WITH DEALING WITH CLIMATE, IT, IT, IT REQUIRES TWO THINGS, YOU KNOW, THERE, OUR, OUR OUR, UM, UH, PLANET OPERATES ON A FEEDBACK MECHANISM THAT WE'RE EXPERIENCING RIGHT NOW, YOU KNOW, SO AS, AS GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS, THE PLANET HEATS UP AND WE SEE A, A, A CONTINUED DISRUPTION OF, OF, UM, WEATHER PATTERNS.
SO IF WE DON'T DO ONE, THE OTHER GETS WORSE.
SO I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S THE, THE CHALLENGE THAT WE HAVE HERE.
BUT I WANTED TO FOCUS A LITTLE BIT ON, ON ADAPTATION RIGHT NOW.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE STRATEGIES IN THE PLAN, AND YOU SORT OF TICK OFF THE BOXES THAT YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT WERE IMPORTANT LAST WEEK, CLEARLY INFRASTRUCTURE RESILIENCE IS, IS, WAS IMPORTANT.
PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEMS, I MEAN, WE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE COULDN'T, YOU KNOW, GET VACCINATIONS OR, YOU KNOW, WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HOW PEOPLE WERE, WERE RESPONDING IN, IN TERMS OF BEING ABLE TO BE SAFE DURING THIS CRISIS.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PREPAREDNESS, FOOD SECURITY WAS HUGE.
UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, YOU COULD NOT GET FOOD.
UM, AND, AND AS WE GO FORWARD, HOW DO WE ENSURE DURING THESE EMERGENCIES THAT THOSE, UM, WHETHER IT'S A MORE ROBUST LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM, BECAUSE THERE'S GONNA BE TIMES WHEN THE DISTRIBUTION CHAIN ISN'T GONNA BE THERE, UM, AWARENESS AROUND RESILIENCE, UM, AND COMMUNICATIONS.
I MEAN, THAT'S THE OTHER REAL KEY THING.
AND THEN EQUITY SO THAT, YOU KNOW, OUR, THIS PLAN THAT YOU, YOU ALL, UM, UH, APPROVED HAS A FOUNDATION FOR, FOR HOW WE START ADDRESSING THIS GOING FORWARD.
AND SO, THE OTHER THING BEFORE WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, LITERALLY, LITERALLY LAST WEEK, DURING THE WEEK DURING THE STORM, I, I PULLED OUT THE PLAN.
I WANTED TO SORT OF SEE SPECIFIC STRATEGIES THAT WE REALLY NEED TO SORT OF FOCUS ON, ON THE OTHER END OF THIS.
AND IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
AND SO I LOOKED AT THEM IN SORT OF TWO, TWO BUCKETS.
THE, THE MITIGATION SIDE, YOU KNOW, HOW WE REDUCING EMISSION AND THEN ADAPTATION.
AND SO ON THE MITIGATION SIDE, IT WAS REALLY, I WAS SORT OF LOOKING THROUGH THE LENS OF HOW DO WE REDUCE DEMANDS? I THINK ENERGY DEMANDS, I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ALL GOT A CRASH COURSE IN ENERGY LAST, LAST WEEK, YOU KNOW, WE ALL LEARNED WHAT, UM, SHEDDING LOAD MEANS.
LIKE I WOULD, I, THAT WAS, THAT WAS NEW TO ME.
AND SO WHEN I LOOK AT STRATEGIES THAT COULD HELP REDUCE WHAT WE'RE CONSUMING LOCALLY, YOU KNOW, SO COMMERCIAL, UM, BENCHMARKING REQUIREMENTS THAT BASICALLY REQUIRES BIG PROPERTY OWNERS THAT TRACK THEIR ENERGY USE, UM, LET THE CITY KNOW, AND IT LEADS TO REDUCE CONSUMPTION.
AND SOME CITIES ARE SEEING, YOU KNOW, A REDUCTION OF FIVE TO 6% IN COMMERCIAL ENERGY USE.
[01:30:01]
AND AS I WAS THINKING ABOUT THIS, UM, THAT COULD BE MORE PEOPLE'S HOMES THAT DON'T GO DARK, YOU KNOW? SO I, I, YOU KNOW, SO I THINK STARTING TO THINK THROUGH HOW DO WE REDUCE THAT DEMAND BUILDING, UM, MORE EFFICIENT BUILDINGS NOT ONLY ARE GOING TO REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION, THEY'RE GONNA BE SAFER.UH, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE NOT GONNA LOSE THEIR HEAT, UM, UH, AS QUICKLY AS, AS, UH, UM, YOU KNOW, TRADITIONAL HOUSING, UM, YOU KNOW, ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND FINANCING, UM, SOMETHING LIKE PACE PROPERTY, ASSESS CLEAN ENERGY.
THERE'S TOOLS OUT THERE TO TRY TO IMPROVE OUR BUILDING STOCK, TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION OUR CHANGING CLIMATE AND, AND THE, THE NEEDS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE WITH OUR BUILDINGS GOING FORWARD.
AND THEN THERE'S THINGS LIKE, YOU KNOW, TRUTH IN ADVERTISING.
UH, YOU KNOW, IF I'M BUYING A, A BUYING A BUILDING OR RENTING, RENTING A AN APARTMENT, IT'D BE GREAT TO KNOW HOW EFFICIENT THAT BUILDING IS, UM, BECAUSE IT'S GONNA, IT'S POTENTIALLY GONNA HAVE AN IMPACT ON ME AND MY FAMILY OR MY BUSINESS IN THE FUTURE.
AND THEN WHEN WE START LOOKING AT RATES, THAT REALLY GETS TO THE HEART OF HOW DO WE STRUCTURE THIS REVAMPED, UM, ENERGY AND, AND WATER SYSTEM.
THERE'S A LOT ON THE ADAPTATION SIDE.
I WON'T GO THROUGH ALL OF THEM, BUT UTILITY PREPAREDNESS, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT WATER AND, AND, AND, UM, ENERGY IS, IS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIKE, LOOKING AT ALL OUR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FROM TRANSPORTATION TO TELECOM, UM, MAKING SURE THAT OUR MOST VULNERABLE RESIDENTS HAVE ACCESS TO RETROFIT, UM, UH, RESOURCES SO THEY CAN START GETTING THEIR HOMES TO WHERE THEY NEED TO BE.
UM, AND THEN LOOKING AT OUR BUILDING CODES.
HOW ARE WE BUILDING BUILDINGS GOING FORWARD? YOU KNOW, I, I HAVE EXTERNAL WATER PIPES, THEY FROZE AND BROKE.
MAYBE THAT'S NOT THE BEST THING GOING, GOING FORWARD.
AND THEN WE WANT TO ASSESS THE COST OF EVENTS LIKE THIS, BECAUSE WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO SAY, LOOK, IF WE DON'T TAKE ACTION, 'CAUSE EVERYTHING'S GONNA HAVE A COST ASSOCIATED WITH IT, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE, THE COST OF NOT TAKING ACTION ARE GOING TO BE.
AND THEN FINALLY, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE SAW IS, IS JUST WHEN AN EVENT, LIKE, LIKE THIS HAPPENS, HOW ARE WE PROVIDING SHELTER? HOW ARE WE MAKING SURE PEOPLE ARE BEING TAKEN CARE OF? AND, AND THE PLAN DOES CALL FOR THINGS LIKE RESILIENCE HUBS, WHICH ARE NEIGHBORHOOD, NEIGHBORHOOD BASED CENTERS ALREADY IN PLACE.
UM, THAT, AND AGAIN, I LEARNED SOMETHING NEW.
THEY SHOULD BE ON A CRITICAL CIRCUIT.
THEY, THEY SHOULD HAVE, THEY SHOULD HAVE, THEY SHOULD BE THERE AND READY FOR PEOPLE TO, TO GO TO.
UM, AND, AND TYPICALLY THESE HAVE SOLAR, THEY'VE GOT BATTERY STORAGE, BUT AS WE LEARNED IN THIS LAST EVENT, THAT'S NOT ENOUGH.
WHEN YOU START LOOKING AT A MULTI-DAY, UM, UH, OUTAGE, WE NEED TO BE THINKING AHEAD.
UM, IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND SO I JUST WANNA TOUCH REALLY BRIEFLY ON SORT OF WHAT'S NEXT.
WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE WE ALREADY DOING THAT SORT OF FALLS UNDER THIS SORT OF ADAPTATION, UM, UMBRELLA.
AND IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, THESE ARE SOME THINGS THAT ALREADY WE'RE WORKING ON, YOU KNOW, FROM THE IDEA OF REDUCING OUR ORGANIZATION'S EMISSIONS THAT ARE SORT OF DRIVING CLIMATE CHANGE.
WE CONTINUE TO WORK WITH C P S TO, UM, FIGURE OUT HOW DO WE PROCURE RENEWABLES FOR OUR OWN OPERATIONS.
UH, WE'RE ALSO DEVELOPING A MUNICIPAL ENERGY POLICY THAT ONE MAKES SURE THERE'S, WE DOCUMENT HOW WE MANAGE OUR BUILDINGS, AND WE USE OUR BUILDINGS, UM, IN TERMS OF, UM, MAKING SURE THEY'RE, UH, BEING OPERATED EFFICIENTLY.
BUT THERE'S A NEW SECTION THAT'S GONNA GO IN THERE, AND THAT'S AROUND SORT OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE.
YOU KNOW, WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS, WE KNOW HOW TURN OFF ALL THE LIGHTS, TURN OFF ALL THE UNNECESSARY, UM, SYSTEMS TO, TO REDUCE THAT, THAT THAT LOAD.
UM, SO THAT, THAT'S, UH, SOMETHING THAT WE'LL BE WORKING ON.
UM, YOU KNOW, ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE.
UM, UH, THE VEHICLE FLEET ACQUISITION POLICY IS BASICALLY GETTING MORE EFFICIENT VEHICLES ON OUR, ON OUR, UH, IN OUR FLEET.
AND I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT EV AND SOLAR READINESS.
THOSE ARE POLICIES THAT BASICALLY REQUIRE NEW CONSTRUCTION TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO INCORPORATE AT HOME EV CHARGING OR SOLAR, UM, PANELS.
AND THEY TYPICALLY, IT'S JUST SOME CONDUIT AND THERE'S SOME COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
BUT FROM THE RESILIENCE PERSPECTIVE, UM, HAVING SOLAR ON YOUR HOME COULD POTENTIALLY PROVIDE YOU WITH POWER, UH, DURING CRITICAL OUTAGES, UH, HAVING, UM, EVS OR LITTLE MINI BATTERIES, UH, THAT YOU COULD POSSIBLY, UM, ACCESS, UM, DURING OUTAGES.
SO I THINK IT NEEDS, IT NEEDS DISCUSSIONS WITH C P S.
I MEAN, THERE'S LOTS OF COMPLEXITIES AROUND THAT, BUT STARTING TO THINK ABOUT RESILIENCE GOING FORWARD AND, AND EVEN CREATING A SYSTEM OF SORT OF LIKE A NEIGHBORHOOD RESILIENCE, YOU MINI GRID THAT CAN, CAN RUN INDEPENDENTLY OF, UM, UH, THE, THE, THE BROADER C P S NETWORK.
SO I REALLY THINK WE NEED TO THINK GOING FORWARD, WHERE ARE THOSE VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES AND HOW DO WE START BUILDING, UM, RESILIENCE INTO THEM? AND THEN ON THE DIRECT ADAPTATION SIDE, UH, WE'LL BE WORKING WITH U T S A ON A A, A HEAT
[01:35:01]
VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT TOOL, UM, WHERE BASICALLY IT'S GONNA ALLOW US HOPEFULLY GO DOWN TO THE CENSUS BLOCK LEVEL, LOOKING AT EXTREME HEAT SO WE CAN, AGAIN, START TRYING TO PRIORITIZE WHERE WE NEED TO MAKE INTERVENTIONS.WE'RE LOOKING AT A, A COOL PAVE PI PAVEMENT PILOT PROJECTS, UH, CITIES LIKE LA AND, AND, UM, PHOENIX ARE WAY AHEAD OF US.
BUT WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH PUBLIC WORKS TO FIGURE OUT WHERE, YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE GOOD PLACES TO USE THIS PAVEMENT, WHICH CAN REFLECT, UM, THE SUNLIGHT.
AND TYPICALLY, TYPICALLY YOU'LL SEE A REDUCTION IN PAVEMENT TEMPERATURES FROM, YOU KNOW, ANYWHERE FROM EIGHT TO 12 DEGREES.
SO WE REALLY WANNA START EXPLORING THAT.
AND FINALLY, I THINK ONE OF THE MOST TIMELY THINGS WE'VE BEEN DISCUSSING WITH SANDIA NATIONAL LAB, UM, ON A GRID RESILIENCE PROJECT, THIS WAS WAY, YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT THEM WITH, WITH, UH, ABOUT THIS FOR MONTHS.
AND WHAT THEY'RE INTERESTED IN DOING IS, YOU KNOW, WORKING WITH VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES, DOING SOME SURVEYING AND FINDING OUT WHAT DO THESE NEIGHBORS NEIGHBORHOODS AND THESE COMMUNITY MEMBERS NEED WHEN SOMETHING LIKE LAST WEEK HAPPENS, IT JUST HAPPENS TO, TO LINE UP.
AND THEN HOW DO WE USE THAT INFORMATION TO START DESIGNING A NODE OR, OR A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN GO FOR SERVICES? SO THAT'S AN EVOLVING CONVERSATION THAT WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVE.
AND IF WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I'M JUST ABOUT DONE, UM, IMMEDIATE NEXT STEPS.
UH, OUR NEXT QUARTERLY ADVISORY COMMITTEE WITH OUR, UH, WITH OUR, UH, CLIMATE ADVISORY COMMITTEES, UH, ARE NEXT WEEK.
THIS IS GONNA BE THE POINT OF DISCUSSION.
UH, WE WANT TO TALK WITH THEM.
WE, WE WANT TO, UM, GET EVERYBODY'S PERSPECTIVE ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK AS IT'S FRESH.
AND WE WANT TO BASICALLY GO THROUGH A SORT OF A SIMILAR PROCESS THAT WE JUST WENT WITH YOU.
WHAT ARE THE STRATEGIES AND THE PLAN? HOW DO WE START PRIORITIZING THOSE? WHERE WHERE DO WE START FIRST IN ORDER TO BRING BACK TO, TO DAVID, THE CITY MANAGER AND COUNCIL, RECOMMENDED NEXT STEPS.
AND THEN WE REALLY DO WANNA LEAN ON, ON TEXAS CREATIVE, YOU KNOW, AS WE, AS WE START DEVELOPING THIS COMMUNICATIONS AND A GREAT ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY, HOW DO WE BASICALLY REFLECT UPON WHAT HAPPENED? HOW DO WE CAPTURE THE STORIES AND THE COMMUNITY SO WE CAN LEARN FROM THEM AND, AND BEGIN THAT, THAT COMPREHENSIVE CONVERSATION WITH THE COMMUNITY AS WE START BUILDING BACK FROM THIS AND, AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BETTER PREPARED NEXT TIME.
AND THEN THE LAST SLIDE I HAVE, PLEASE, IS, IS JUST AGAIN, THINKING ABOUT THIS PLAN, AS YOU KNOW, IT'S, UM, YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
YOU KNOW, THIS, THIS PLAN DIRECTLY SUPPORTS RECOVERY, RECOVERING RESILIENCE.
UH, IT'S ABOUT HEALTH, IT'S ABOUT OVERALL RESILIENCE, AND IT'S ABOUT ECONOMIC GROWTH.
YOU KNOW, I THINK IF I'M STARTING TO SEE ARTICLES NOW, YOU KNOW, I'M SURE YOU'VE SEEN THEM, IS OUR BUSINESS IS GONNA LEAVE TEXAS BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED.
AND, AND THE THING IS, WE NEED TO GET AHEAD OF THIS.
YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO SHOW THAT WE'RE PREPARED FOR WHAT USED TO BE JUST WE'D STAYS DECADES AWAY, BUT IT'S NOT, IT, IT'S HERE NOW.
AND SO I THINK THE SOONER THAT WE BEGIN HAVING THESE HARD CONVERSATIONS AND, AND, AND MOVING FORWARD, UH, IT'LL BE BETTER, UM, FOR, FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT AND, AND, UH, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, DOUG, UH, FOR BEING SO FLEXIBLE WITH WHAT WE SPOKE ABOUT TODAY AND FOR BRINGING THE MOST SALIENT POINTS OF THAT PLAN, UH, FORWARD.
ULTIMATELY, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE WERE A LOT OF QUESTIONS WHEN WE ADOPTED THE PLAN.
LIKE, WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? IF CHINA DOESN'T DO IT, IF BRAZIL DOESN'T DO IT, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT DOES IT MATTER IF, IF WE ACT? BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE WANT TO PROTECT OUR, OUR PEOPLE AND OUR PLACES THAT, THAT WE LOVE.
SO SOME OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH, WITH KEEPING POLLUTION LEVELS LOWER, AND THE OTHER PART HAS TO DO WITH BEING PREPARED FOR WHAT MAY COME.
UM, SO I'M GOING TO, UH, GO AHEAD AND, AND MOVE INTO COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS.
AND I WILL START WITH, UH, I BELIEVE COUNCILMAN GONZALEZ, DID YOU HAVE YOUR HAND RAISED? I CAN'T TELL IF IT'S FROM BEFORE OR FROM THIS TIME.
UH, YOU KNOW, IT WAS ACTUALLY FROM BEFORE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA GO AHEAD AND LEMME GO SINCE I'VE GOT THIS.
UH, THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION, DEB, AND, AND, UH, IT IS WRITTEN, SO, UM, YEAH, I THINK IT'S STILL SO FRESH ON EVERYBODY'S MIND.
AND, AND SO LET, LEMME JUST ASK YOU ABOUT THE, UM, THE, THE POTENTIAL SHELTERS BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, THIS ONE WAS, I MEAN, I THINK OBVIOUS BECAUSE IT, AT SOME POINT WE WERE NOTIFIED BY C P X, OR, AND I DON'T KNOW HOW WIDESPREAD THE COMMUNICATION WAS, BUT THAT, YOU KNOW, IF YOUR POWER WAS OFF, IT WASN'T GONNA COME BACK ON.
UM, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT THOUGHT, OKAY, WELL, YOU KNOW, IT'LL BE ON LIKE SHORTLY, BUT, YOU KNOW, AT SOME POINT THEY SAID, IF YOU'RE OFF NOW, YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE ON FOR ANOTHER POTENTIAL 48 HOURS.
UM, BY THEN WE HAD ALREADY SET UP A WARMING STATION AND EVERYTHING.
SO I, I, I GUESS THERE HAVE BEEN OTHER TIMES, UM, WHERE WE HAD
[01:40:01]
SMALLER SCALE EVENTS.UM, AND, AND I'LL JUST GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF, OF, UM, YOU KNOW, ONE TIME IN, IN THE HEAT WAVE, UM, I HAD ONLY ONE PART OF MY DISTRICT, UH, IT INCLUDED MAYBE, I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE 30 HOMES, SORT OF THE SMALL AREA, UM, THAT DIDN'T HAVE POWER.
AND SO I WAS WORKING WITH THE CITY TO RELOCATE THOSE PEOPLE INTO HOTEL.
UM, BUT MOST OF THE PEOPLE DIDN'T WANNA GO, THAT, THAT'S A WHOLE NOTHER ISSUE.
BUT I GUESS WHEN WOULD IT BE DETERMINED THAT THE SCALE IS SUCH THAT WE NEED TO SET UP A CENTER? I MEAN, ALL THOSE WOULD BE DETERMINED, UH, BECAUSE I, I I, I, I'M, I FEEL LIKE, YOU KNOW, IS IT NECESSARY TO DO, FOR EXAMPLE, A CITYWIDE RESPONSE IF NOT EVERYBODY IS HAVING A, AN OUTAGE? YEAH.
I'M, I GUESS WOULD BE, YOU KNOW, DETERMINED.
COUNCILMAN, I MIGHT PUNT TO DAVID SINCE DAVID WAS CRITICALLY INVOLVED IN ALL OF THAT.
UM, SO I, I MIGHT, IF YOU DON'T MIND, DAVID, PUT YOU ON THE SIDE.
I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'LL NEED TO DO IS TO FIRST GO BACK AND MAYBE GO THROUGH A TABLETOP EXERCISE, MAYBE EVEN GO BACK AND LOOK AT ALL OF OUR RESOURCES.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID DETERMINE WAS THAT WE LATER ON GOT CALLS FROM AREAS THAT WANTED TO STAND UP WARMING STATIONS THAT SAID, I NEVER LOST, UH, ANY ELECTRICITY.
SO WE TOOK NOTE OF THOSE LOCATIONS IN HOPES THAT MAYBE AS WE WORK WITH C P S ENERGY TO TRY TO IDENTIFY THOSE LOCATIONS.
SO WHEN WE HAVE OUR SENIOR CENTERS, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT PROHIBIT US FOR STARTING THOSE UP IS WE WEREN'T CERTAIN, BECAUSE SOME OF 'EM WERE ALREADY CUT OFF AND ALREADY HAD LOST ELECTRICITY.
AND THAT'S PROBABLY MORE DEVASTATING TO HAVE SOMEONE THAT YOU BRING IN FROM YOUR HOME AND THEN PUT 'EM IN A WARMING STATION THAT GETS SHUT DOWN.
SO IN WORKING WITH 3 1 1 WORKING WITH VIA, WORKING WITH C P S ENERGY SOLVES AS WE EXECUTED OUR E L C PLAN, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WILL BE LOOKING AT IS HOW DO WE BRING EVERYBODY TOGETHER FROM THE SMALLEST COMPANIES TO THE LARGEST COMPANIES SO THAT WE CAN SEE WHAT ARE THE RESOURCES, EITHER FROM MEDICAL, ALL THE WAY TO THE WATER BOTTLES THAT ARE BEING INSTILLED, DISPERSED.
SO WE HAVE TO REALLY THINK ABOUT A TABLETOP EXERCISE SO THAT WE CAN BE BETTER PREPARED, UH, FOR NEXT TIME.
THIS IS, IT WAS MORE DEVASTATING THAN EVER BEFORE, BUT YOUR POINT'S WELL TAKEN.
YEAH, I THINK, AND NOW I REMEMBER IT WAS, IT WAS WHEN THERE WAS A TORNADO, UH, AND IT ONLY HIT LIKE TWO DISTRICTS AND IT HIT REAL HARD IN DISTRICT ONE, AND THEN LIKE TWO PLACES IN MY DISTRICT.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT THE SCENARIO WAS.
YEAH, THAT WAS IN 2017 YELLOW MICROBURST.
UM, SO ANYWAY, I GUESS THAT THAT, I MEAN, UM, BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO ME LIKE THAT WOULD BE PRETTY EASY TO DO, BUT YOU KNOW, IT'S EASY TO STAND UP BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW THAT THERE WERE PLACES THAT DIDN'T LOSE POWER.
SO IT WOULD BE, AND, AND PROBABLY LIKELY WILL NOT IN THE FUTURE EVENTS.
UM, SO THAT WE GET THOSE LIKE REALLY SQUARED AWAY FAIRLY QUICKLY.
I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE COULD DO IMMEDIATELY.
UM, AND, AND OF COURSE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE WATER DISTRIBUTION SITE, UM, SEEMS TO ME LIKE THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE FAIRLY EASY TO STAND UP, UM, UH, UH, QUICKLY IN THE EVENT THAT WE NEEDED IT.
EVEN JUST AT THE FIRE STATIONS.
I MEAN, WE SET UP 10 OF 'EM ALL OVER THE DISTRICT, ALL OVER THE CITY, UH, UM, AND MAYBE, AND MAYBE MORE.
BUT ANYWAY, I JUST, I, I, I DO FEEL LIKE, UM, I LIKE THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, AS YOU KNOW, SORT OF, WE MORE MOVE FORWARD TO RESILIENCY BECAUSE I THINK SOME OF THESE WE KNOW ARE GOING TO, UM, BE HARDER TO ESTABLISH THAN OTHERS, I GUESS IS WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY.
AND, AND BEING ABLE TO HAVE A TABLETOP AND SAY IN THE NEXT, UH, EVENT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA SET UP THESE 10 SITES, OR WE CAN EVEN SET 'EM UP MORE LIKE, ON QUARTILES OR, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING LIKE THAT IS A MUCH EASIER THING TO BE DETERMINE, UM, TODAY THAN IT IS TO ACTUALLY ADDRESS THE, THE WHOLE BIG PICTURE OF CLIMATE.
THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN, UH, COUNCILWOMAN
AND THANK YOU FOR THOSE, UM, IN, HEY, DOUG, I CAN ONLY IMAGINE THAT YOU PROBABLY HAD YOUR FLASHLIGHT AND THE ADAPTATION PLAN OUT AND GOING THROUGH ALL OF IT THAT ENTIRE TIME.
UM, BUT I AM, I'M ENCOURAGED TO SEE THAT, YOU
[01:45:01]
KNOW, WE AS A COUNCIL, EVEN IF WE FORGOT, WE'VE ALREADY BEEN THINKING ABOUT THIS AND MAYBE WE DIDN'T, LIKE YOU SAID, WE DIDN'T ANTICIPATE THIS TO BE SO QUICKLY.SO I HAVE A COUPLE OF COMMENTS AND THEN I'M GONNA WANT TO CIRCLE BACK WITH YOU FOR MORE CLARIFICATION AND THEN, UM, HAVE SOME, SOME QUESTIONS.
UH, FIRST IS ON THE OFF OFFLINE, I WANNA GET WITH YOU ABOUT SLIDE NUMBER FIVE WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THE LOWEST TREE CANOPY IN THE CITY.
UM, AND THERE'S AN AREA THAT IS HIGHLIGHTED IN BRIGHT RED WITH THE LOWEST TREE CANOPY, UM, SOUTH OF FOUR 10 AND DISTRICT THREE, BUT ALSO SOUTH OF FOUR 10.
AND DISTRICT THREE IS NOT MUCH DEVELOPMENT AND THERE'S NO TREE CANOPY BECAUSE OF THE BRUSH AND THE, UM, BRUSH LAND THAT'S OUT THERE TOO.
SO HOW DO WE, UM, WORK WITH THAT AND HOW DO WE HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT THAT? BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT THAT.
UM, OFFLINE, UM, IN YOUR ADAPTATION PLAN, YOU TALKED, THERE WAS ONE THAT SAYS A ONE UTILITY PREPAREDNESS.
WE KNOW WE HAVE TO DO SO MUCH MORE ON THAT, INCLUDING MYSELF, I HAVE TO WEATHERIZE ALL OF MY PIPES 1000%, UM, EVEN MORE SO.
'CAUSE SOME OF THOSE PIPES ARE WRAPPED AND STUFF THAT, WHO KNOWS HOW LONG THEY'VE BEEN THERE.
UM, AND, BUT I AM CURIOUS BECAUSE A 44 SAID PRIORITIZATION OF VULNERABLE RESIDENTS.
SO SHOULD THE PRIORITIZATION OF VULNERABLE RESIDENTS REALLY BE NUMBERED 44 OR SHOULD WE MOVE THAT EVEN FARTHER UP? YEAH, AND, AND I THINK THAT'S, AS YOU KNOW, SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS BRINGING EQUITY AND VULNERABLE RESIDENTS TO THE TOP MEANS A LOT.
AND SO I THINK THE WAY, THE WAY, YOU KNOW, THE PLAN ENDED UP BEING BROKEN OUT INTO DIFFERENT SECTIONS.
AND THE LAST SECTION WAS BASICALLY SORT OF THAT EQUITY SECTION.
AND SO LOOKING BACK AT IT, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST SECTION.
SO ACTUALLY WHEN WE TYPICALLY PRESENT NOW, WE, WE LEAD WITH EQUITY AT THE TOP.
'CAUSE I THINK THAT WE WANNA MAKE IT CLEAR, BUT, BUT I, I THINK YOUR POINT'S WELL TAKEN.
YOU KNOW, IT, IT SHOULDN'T BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LIST.
AND I KNOW WHAT WE NEED TO DO ALREADY IS WE ARE GOING TO NEED TO PREPARE FOR, UM, WHEN THE HEAT STARTS STRIKING US IN JUNE, JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, JUST LIKE WE'VE HAD COOLING STATIONS IN THE PAST FOR, UM, THE SUMMER WITH OUR SENIORS.
WE'RE GOING TO NEED TO HAVE THAT EVEN MORE SO, UM, MOVING FORWARD, UM, AND BE PREPARED WITH OUR, OUR UTILITIES TOO.
I WOULD MUCH RATHER CALL THEM RESILIENCY HUBS THAN JUST WARMING CENTERS BECAUSE WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE THERE WILL BE ABLE TO GET THEIR, UM, DEVICES CHARGED.
WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET FOOD, WE'LL BE ABLE TO GET WARM AND THAT COMFORT THAT THEY, THAT THEY NEED.
UM, AND WE DO NEED TO IDENTIFY THESE AMENITY, MAYBE AMENITY CENTERS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD SO WE CAN SEE HOW WE CAN STAND THESE UP.
AND TO YOUR POINT AS WELL, LET'S START IDENTIFYING ALL OF THESE.
WE HAVE SO MANY CONTRACTORS THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, BEAR COUNTY.
LET'S START ALREADY IDENTIFYING WHO THEY ARE, THAT WE CAN ACTIVATE THEM, UM, PUT ALL OF THEIR GENERATORS IN WAREHOUSES WHERE WE CAN ACTUALLY TAKE THEM OUT AND THEY'RE NOT FROZEN, UH, STUCK, UM, TO USE THAT.
AND NUMBER ONE, I ALSO BELIEVE IS MULTI-AGENCY OR MULTI-ORGAN ORGANIZATION.
COMMUNICATION IS KEY AND CRISIS COMMUNICATION IS KEY.
THAT NEEDS TO BE, UM, HAS TO BE PRIORITY AS WE'RE DEALING WITH OUR, OUR ADAPTATION PLAN.
UM, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY MORE MINUTES I HAVE.
COUNCIL CHAIR, UM, 30 SECONDS.
I THINK I'VE GOTTEN TO ALL OF THEM.
AND YES, I DO AGREE THAT WE NEED TO START HAVING THAT CONVERSATION ABOUT OUR OWNER OCCUPIED REHAB AND HOW RETROFITTING CAN ALSO FIT INTO THAT CONVERSATION, MAYBE EVEN WITH OUR BOND COMING UP, UM, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE BOND DOLLARS WITH THE HOUSING BONDS.
UM, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT'S GOING TO BE ONGOING AND ABSOLUTELY WITH ECONOMIC GROWTH.
I MEAN, THEY COME HERE BECAUSE WE'VE, WE'VE SHARED THE STATE OF TEXAS TOLD THAT OUR ENERGY IS RELIABLE AND STABLE.
THAT IS ANOTHER, A NEW CONVERSATION PIECE THAT THE STATE IS GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE.
AND, UM, UH, I THINK THAT IS, I THINK THAT'S IT RIGHT NOW, BUT THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UM, OH, AND LAST THING, COUNCILMAN
[01:50:01]
AND COUNCIL COLLEAGUES, I THINK, DOUG, WE SAW THAT COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY IS PUTTING FORWARD AN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, THINK HE WANTS TO PUT TOGETHER AN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ACTION PLAN.I THINK WE HAVE OUR ADAPTATION PLAN HERE THAT WE CAN, UM, MOVE FORWARD WITH.
UH, I'LL KEEP MOVING ON DOWN, UH, DISTRICT TWO AND THEN COUNCILWOMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN.
AND THEN WE'LL, UH, CLOSE IT OUT WITH COUNCILMAN, UH, TREVINO, WHO WILL GET THE FINAL WORDS.
UM, JUST TO, TO KIND OF CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION OF WHERE WE HAVE BEEN IN THIS LAST WEEK, WHERE WE ARE TODAY, AND HOW WE'RE GOING FORWARD.
UM, WE KNOW WE CANNOT REVERSE THE HANDS OF TIME, BUT WHAT TIME HAS SHOWN US IS THAT WE ARE NOT WHERE WE NEED TO BE.
UM, WITHIN THE DISTRICT TWO AREA, WE HAVE OVER 70,000 HOMES THAT WERE BUILT BEFORE THE FIRST FREEZE EVEN HAPPENED IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT RETROFITTING AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, WEATHERIZATION, ONE THING I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US DO WITHIN THE CLIMATE ACTION AND ADAPTATION PLAN IS TALK ABOUT WHAT MATERIALS ARE BEST SUITABLE FOR ACTUALLY GOING IN AND WEATHERIZATION OF THE PIPES WITHIN THE OLDER HOMES, AND WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE AND WHAT DOES THAT COST TO THAT, AND HOW DO WE PUT IT INTO A FUNDING PLAN WITHIN THE CITY TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN IF IT'S UNDER THE HOMEOWNER OCCUPIED REHAB, IF IT'S UNDER THE RENTAL PROPERTY, IF IT'S IN THE, UH, CHANGES OF THE EIGHT 11 THAT YOU HAVE ON HERE ON RESILIENCE AND BUILDING CODES AND PROGRAMS. ONE THING THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES ON IS WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE WHEN WE HAVE DEVELOPMENT THAT IS COMING IN OF NEW AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS, AND HOW DO WE INCLUDE, ESPECIALLY WITH OUR SENIORS BACKUP GENERATORS THAT ARE ALREADY BUILT INTO THE SCHEMATIC OF THESE BUILDINGS.
AND SO I LIKE TO SEE WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? WHAT DOES THAT FEASIBILITY AND HOW DO WE WORK WITH OUR DEVELOPERS TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN AS WE'RE GOING FORWARD? AND THEN WE SAW THE APARTMENT FIRE, WHICH WAS VERY DEVASTATING TO WATCH AS WE WERE ALREADY GOING THROUGH ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS THAT, UM, ON TOP OF COVID.
AND SO WHAT I WANNA ASK IS, AS WE'RE GOING FORWARD, ARE WE WORKING WITH OUR FIREFIGHTERS? ARE WE WORKING WITH SAPD TO TALK ABOUT THE WEATHERIZATION OF THEIR TIRES AND, AND BETTER EQUIPMENT THAT IS ABLE TO HANDLE THAT? UM, WHETHER IT'S ANTI FREEZING FIRE HYDRANTS, UM, OR, UH, ANTI FREEZING SPRINKLER SYSTEMS. WHAT IS THAT PLAN TO PUT, UH, PUT IN PLACE TO TRULY HAVE A CONVERSATION THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT BEING VERY RESILIENT? DOES THAT MEAN THAT WE BRING IN OTHERS FROM PLACES THAT HAVE DEALT WITH THIS KIND OF WEATHER PRIOR TO US AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY'RE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION TO KEEP US AS A CITY GOING FORWARD? UM, AND THEN AS WE'RE WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT, UM, THE GENERATIONS OF, OF JUST DILAPIDATION OF ROOFS, WE HAVE CHURCHES THAT HAVE LOST THEIR ROOFING, UM, BASED ON THE HEAVINESS OF THE ICE AND THE SNOW THAT FAILED THAT THEY WERE NOT, UH, SUSTAINABLE FOR.
SO WHAT ROOFING IS GOING TO BE SUSTAINABLE? NOT ONLY THAT WE KNOW NOW WE'RE IN A HEAT, UM, SITUATION, BUT AS WE'RE GOING FORWARD TO LOOK AT THE COLD VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT TOOL, WE HAVE TO START LOOKING AT THAT NOW.
UM, AND NOT JUST THE, THE HEAT.
UM, SO THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT I REALLY HAVE
I KNOW IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A PLETHORA OF THINGS, BUT THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE SAW, UM, EVEN WITH OUR DRAINAGE AS WE'RE STARTING TO, TO DEFAULT AND THROW OUT AND THOUGHT OUT, HOW ARE WE GONNA SPEAK TO, UM, HANDLING ALL OF THE RUNOFF OF THE WATER THAT WE'RE HAVING? ARE WE GONNA HAVE, UM, OUR SOIL? IS IT, IS IT ABSORBABLE ENOUGH TO, TO CATCH ALL OF THE, THE WATER THAT WE HAVE COMING IN? SO, UM, DOUG, I KNOW THAT'S A LOT.
UM, NO, I, AND, AND, AND WHAT I'LL SAY IS, AND THEN I'LL TURN OVER TO DAVID.
I THINK, I THINK DAVID'S TABLE DO TOP EXERCISE IS LIKE THE PERFECT ANALOGY.
WE, WE NEED TO SIT DOWN, WE NEED TO GET EVERYBODY, UM, AROUND THE TABLE, INTERNAL, UM, STAKEHOLDERS AS WELL AS PARTNERS AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS.
AND WE NEED TO RUN THROUGH THOSE SCENARIOS.
AND, AND WE, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THOSE ANSWERS COULD BE.
AND THEN WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT, WELL, WHAT DIDN'T HAPPEN THAT COULD HAVE, COULD HAPPEN.
SO I THINK IT, I THINK WE NEED TO START THAT PROCESS AGAIN.
IT'S, IT'S THAT ANALOGY OF WE CAN'T JUST LOOK BACK IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR.
WE GOTTA LOOK FORWARD AND, AND SEE WHAT, WHAT THE SOLUTION IS.
BUT DAVID, ANY ANY THOUGHTS? YEAH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I WOULD ALSO, UH, REMIND EVERYBODY ON IS PART OF THE PLAN, UH, REACHES OUT TO THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS THAT THEY'RE A PART OF THIS PLAN.
IT'S NOT IN A VACUUM BY ANY, UH, SENSE OF THE WORD.
SO WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'LL BE ABLE TO, WITH TWO THINGS, THE WAY THE PLAN'S WRITTEN, TALK WITH THOSE DEPARTMENTS, VISIT WITH THEM, SEE WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND WHAT WE CAN DO
[01:55:01]
TO MAKE CERTAIN THAT THEY'RE BETTER PREPARED.THE TABLETOP EXERCISE ALLOWS US TO EXPAND OUR, OUR REACH TO TALK TO BOTH PUBLIC, PRIVATE, THOSE THAT ARE INTERNAL, EXTERNAL, THE REALLY LOOK AT ALL RESOURCES THAT ARE THERE.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ROOFTOPS, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THOSE.
THERE ARE CERTAIN DATED INFORMATION THAT I KNOW D S D, UH, WE WOULD LOVE TO DO FOLLOW UPS WITH, SO THAT WE CAN MAKE CERTAIN WHAT IS THE PLAN? HOW WOULD YOU APPROACH A HOME THAT'S A HUNDRED YEARS OLD VERSUS A HOME THAT'S 10 YEARS OLD THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN MORE UPDATED, UH, APPLIANCES, MORE UPDATED, UH, STRUCTURE, UH, DURING THE PLAN PREPAREDNESS PART OF IT.
SO WE'VE GOT TO REALLY LOOK AT IT AND MAKE CERTAIN THAT WE KEEP THAT EQUITY LENS IN FRONT OF US AS WE GO IN TO ADDRESS, BECAUSE WE SAW WHAT THE NEED WAS AND HAS BEEN WITH COVID, RIGHT? BUT NOW WITH THIS ADDED STORM EVENT, WE SEE THERE ARE EVEN GREATER NEEDS THAT STILL NEED TO BE ADDRESSED.
SO WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO TAKING THAT STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION TO ADDRESS ALL OF THOSE NEEDS.
UM, I STILL HAVE A FEW MORE MADAM CHAIR, BUT I'LL CHIME BACK IN.
I DON'T WANNA HOLD UP ANYMORE, UH, UH, COUNCILMAN'S TIME.
UH, WE'LL MOVE ON TO COUNCILMAN TRI.
UM, AND I, I, YOU KNOW, I, I APPRECIATE THE COMMENTS ABOUT ROOFS.
UM, AND, AND IF I COULD, UH, I REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST MET COUNCILWOMAN SANDAL, UH, IF YOU RECALL, WE TALKED ABOUT ROOFS AND, UM, OUR, OUR FIRST CONVERSATION, I WAS EXPLAINING THE IN ONE ROOF PROGRAM, AND SHE'S LIKE, LET'S GO.
AND SO THAT IS, YOU KNOW, THAT IS, UH, MY FIRST, UH, QUESTION.
UH, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE GOING THROUGH THIS, UH, DOUG, AND, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, DAVID, WE, I WANT Y'ALL TO, TO EXAMINE THE PERMITTING PROCESS AT AT D S D RIGHT NOW.
WHEN YOU GO THROUGH, GET A PERMIT, YOU FILE, YOU HAVE TO FILE DIFFERENT PAPERWORK, BUT YOU ALSO DO KIND OF AN ENERGY CHECKLIST.
AND AS LONG AS YOU MEET THAT ENERGY CHECKLIST, YOU'RE FINE.
THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS IT DOES, IT JUST DOESN'T ACCOUNT FOR THE FACT THAT PEOPLE ARE BUILDING MORE AND MORE REALLY, REALLY DARK BLACK ROOFS THAT JUST EAT UP THE SUN AND THE HEAT, AND THEY CREATE ALL THIS WASTE.
UM, AND SO I WANT Y'ALL TO EXPLORE HOW WE CAN, UH, FIND A WAY TO EITHER INCENTIVIZE HIGH REFLECT, WE, WE LOST YOU.
WE CAN'T HEAR YOU, COUNCILWOMAN, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU.
CAN YOU ALL HEAR HIM? IT'S TRUEMAN.
WOULD YOU MIND REPEATING THAT? STARTING AT THE POINT FROM, UH, CAN YOU INCENTIVIZE REFLECTIVE GROUPS? WE LOST YOUR SOUND.
IF YOU WANNA TURN OFF YOUR VIDEO OR, OR CALL IN.
I THINK, UH, WE'RE HAVING A LAG ON YOUR END.
SO FIND A WAY TO INCENTIVIZE THESE HIGH REFLECTANCE ROOFS AND OR BAN THESE DARK ROOFS THAT, THAT REALLY EAT UP A LOT OF THE ENERGY.
UH, AND TO COUNCILMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN'S POINT ABOUT, UH, AGING SYSTEMS IN, IN A BUILDING THEY AGE FASTER WHEN HEAT IS APPLIED.
SO THEREFORE, UH, YOU'RE GONNA FIND MORE DAMAGED ROOFS, UH, ON, ON, ON BUILDINGS THAT HAVE DARK ROOFS.
THAT'S WHY MOST NEW BUILDINGS, MOST COMMERCIAL NEW BUILDINGS HAVE WHITE ROOFS.
THEY, THEY, THEY WILL, THEY WILL MAKE THE PRODUCT LAST LONGER BECAUSE THERE'S LESS HEAT.
UM, I DON'T SUPPORT THE HIGH REFLECTANCE OR WHITE ROADS.
UH, UH, THEY, IT, IT DOESN'T WORK.
UH, I THINK WE NEED TO PUT OUR MONEY AND OUR INVESTMENT ON BUILDINGS, ON HOUSES AND COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS.
SO I WOULD RATHER EXPLORE THAT.
PLUS WE REALLY NEED TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT WE EXPAND OUR TREE CANOPY.
UH, I NOTICED ON THE TREE CANOPY, UH, SLIDE THAT IT, IT DEMONSTRATED, UH, A LOT OF AREAS, UH, SORT OF LEFT OUT A LOT OF AREAS LIKE DOWNTOWN, DOWNTOWN NEEDS A LOT OF TREES.
[02:00:01]
AT THE HOUSTON STREET TOURIST, WE APPROVE $750,000 FOR SHADE STRUCTURES THAT WILL BE APPEARING OVER THE NEXT YEAR OVER DOWNTOWN TO DEMONSTRATE HOW WE COULD DO MORE SHADE TREES, UH, MORE, UH, ARCHITECTURAL CANOPIES, AND THEY COULD BE DEPLOYED ALL OVER THE CITY.SO WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO PLANT MORE AND MORE TREES, TREE CANOPIES THAT CAN GROW OVER A STREET, UH, ARE MORE EFFECTIVE THAN, THAN HIGH REFLECTANCE ROADS.
AND, YOU KNOW, HOPE THAT WE CAN PUT OUR FOCUS ON, ON THE BUILDINGS THEMSELVES.
THE
UH, I WOULD LIKE TO SIT DOWN AND KIND OF, UH, WORK WITH YOU GUYS ON, ON, YOU KNOW, SOME OF THESE OTHER THINGS, UH, THAT WERE, THAT WERE BROUGHT UP.
LIKE HOW DO WE, UH, MAKE OUR PLUMBING, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE MORE RESILIENT? UH, YOU, YOU FIND THAT THERE'S ALL THE, A LOT OF OLDER AREAS THAT DO NEED, UH, TO HAVE AN UPGRADE ON, ON THOSE SYSTEMS. AND THOSE UPGRADES, USUALLY, UH, WHEN THEY'RE DONE, UH, WITHOUT THE HELP AND SUPPORT OF, OF, OR GUIDANCE OF PLUMBERS, ARE USUALLY DONE PRETTY POORLY.
AND IT, IT, AND THAT IS THE REASON THAT YOU'RE FINDING A LOT OF THESE, THESE PIPES THAT, THAT HAVE BUSTED ALL OVER THE CITY.
SO WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE, UM, OVER REGULATION.
THANK YOU AND COUNCILMAN WE'LL, UM, WE, DAVID AND I WOULD LOVE TO FOLLOW UP WITH YOU, UH, AND SORT OF DIVE DEEPER INTO THE, INTO THOSE CONCEPTS.
JUST TO THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN.
UM, AND I'LL, I'LL MOVE ON TO, UH, COUNCILMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN FOR A SECOND ROUND, I THINK THEN WE'LL WRAP IT UP.
BUT, UM, I THINK WE SHOULD TALK ABOUT THE U D C UPDATES AND WHERE SOME OF ALL OF THESE, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS LAND IN THAT PROCESS.
IT'S JUST ONE QUICK, UM, ADDITION TO, TO ALL OF THE LISTS I GAVE YOU ALREADY.
UM, WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, DEVELOPING A, A STRATEGIC PLAN WITH SAUCE ABOUT SETTING UP COMMUNITY DRIVEN WATER TANKS, UM, ONE THING THAT WE FOUND OUT IS THAT WE HAVE A COMPANY HERE IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO THAT HAVE THE UP TO A 10,000 GALLON TANK.
UM, AND THESE TANKS CAN BE SET UP WITHIN COMMUNITIES LOOKING AT OUR COMMUNITY PARKS, LOOKING AT OUR COMMUNITY RECREATION CENTERS.
AND WE CAN USE THESE TANKS AS BACKUP WATER SYSTEMS. UM, IF IN CASE WE DO SEE OURSELVES IN A SITUATION AS THIS, BUT NOT ALSO DURING THE WINTER MONTH, BUT DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, THESE CAN BE AREAS THAT, UM, ARE OUR PEOPLE THAT ARE GOING OUT TO THE PARKS CAN USE, EVEN WITH THE SITUATION WITH OUR HOMELESS BEING OUT INTO THE ELEMENTS, THEY HAVE A SOURCE TO WHERE THEY CAN CONTINUOUSLY GET WATER.
I THINK THAT WE NEED TO INVEST INTO OUR COMMUNITIES, UM, WITH USING RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE RIGHT HERE ON THE GROUND IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
WE KNOW THAT A LOT OF PLACES, SUCH AS CORPUS CHRISTI WAS COMING IN, GETTING THESE WATER TANKS TO TAKE BACK TO USE AT THEIR HOSPITAL SYSTEMS. WE HAVE THINGS RIGHT NOW ON THE GROUND THAT WE CAN USE TO START TALKING ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY.
AND I THINK THAT THIS IS A CONVERSATION THAT WE NEED TO START HAVING WITH SAUCE AS WELL.
UM, THOSE ARE MY LAST AND FINAL COMMENTS, MADAM CHAIR.
SO, I, I THINK SOME OF THE TAKEAWAYS THAT, THAT WE HEARD FROM OUR, OUR DIALOGUE AROUND THIS WAS, UM, AND I, I JUST WANNA SPEND A COUPLE OF MINUTES WRAPPING THIS UP.
WAS THE POSSIBILITY OF STAFF DOING A TABLETOP EXERCISE TO REVISIT WHAT, WHAT, UM, HOW THE EVENTS UNFOLDED OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS.
I MEAN, I'M SORRY, OVER THE LAST WEEK.
AND, UH, MR. MCCAREY, I THINK WE COULD TIE THAT INTO THE WORK OF, UH, THE MAYOR'S, UH, SELECT COMMITTEE ON, ON REVIEWING THE, THE WORK.
SO LET'S TALK OFFLINE ABOUT PERHAPS HOW THOSE TWO CAN ALIGN.
UM, AND THEN ANOTHER, ANOTHER THEME WAS THE PRIORITIZATION OF VULNERABLE RESIDENTS, WHETHER IT'S THROUGH RESILIENCY HUBS OR IN OUR EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS THAT SOMEHOW THAT REALLY NEEDS TO RISE, UH, TO THE TOP.
AND THEN AS WE MOVE FORWARD, UH, WE ALSO, UM, HEARD SOME VERY SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS FROM COUNCILMAN TREVINO ABOUT, UM, ABOUT OUR PERMITTING A PROCESS AND EVEN OUR, OUR DEVELOPMENT CODE.
SO I THINK, UH, THAT WOULD BE A GREAT CONVERSATION TO HAVE, UH, DOWN THE LINE AS, AS WELL.
SO I, I THINK THAT'S WHAT I HEARD.
UH, MR. MCCA, IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D LIKE TO ADD TO THAT? NO, I THINK THAT'S EXACTLY, AND, UH, WE'LL STILL TALK A LITTLE MORE ABOUT MAYBE
[02:05:01]
THE U D C CODE, UH, VISITING WITH THEM AS WELL.SO EVERYTHING YOU MENTIONED, THANK YOU.
WELL, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, EVERYBODY.
AND, UH, THANK YOU TO THE TEAM FOR, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, ALL RIGHT, WELL, WE'LL SEE YOU AT OUR, THANK YOU SO MUCH AT OUR NEXT MEETING.