[00:00:01]
UM, I THINK THIS IS OUR SECOND OFFICIAL MEETING UNDER OUR NEW, UNDER OUR NEW NAME, COMMUNITY HEALTH ENVIRONMENT, AND CULTURE.
FOR ANYBODY WONDERING WHERE THE ARTS ARE, UH, WE ARE SAYING THEY'RE IN CULTURE.
UM, I THINK WE'LL BEGIN WITH THE, UH, WITH THE ROLL CALL.
CHAIR, COUNCIL MEMBER BAR BRAVO HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBER MAGGI RODRIGUEZ.
I'D LIKE TO SAY WE HAVE A HUNDRED PERCENT ATTENDANCE.
UM, REAL QUICK, I DO WANNA INTRODUCE ALSO A COUPLE OF OTHER STAFF MEMBERS WITH US WHO ARE, UH, AS IMPORTANT TO THIS PROCESS AS, UH, AS THE MEMBERS ARE.
MR. DAVID MCCARRY, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, WHO, UH, WILL HELP US HANDLE THE AGENDA AND MOVE THROUGH ITEMS FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO ARE HERE AND OUR CITY ATTORNEY.
COULD YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF AGAIN, PLEASE? MY NAME'S MONICA HERNANDEZ.
THAT'S MONICA HERNANDEZ, OUR, OUR CITY ATTORNEY.
UM, AND OF COURSE, AURORA PERKINS.
UM, BEFORE WE, WE RUN INTO, UH, THE AGENDA, I WANTED TO TAKE A MOMENT TO FOLLOW UP ON A COUPLE OF ITEMS FROM OUR LAST MEETING.
UM, I WANNA THANK COUNCILWOMAN VIA GRANT AND COUNCILMAN MCKEE RODRIGUEZ FOR SERVING ON THE MUNICIPAL GULF ASSOCIATION AD HOC COMMITTEE, UH, IN SELECTING OUR, OUR NEXT ROUND OF, UM, OF BOARD MEMBERS TO THE MUNICIPAL GOLF ASSOCIATION.
UH, IN ADDITION, LAST TIME WE CHARGED A G P A WITH CONVENING AN AD HOC, UH, RESIDENT COMMITTEE ON THE RESIDENT CONNECT PLATFORM.
SO I WANNA THANK ALL OF YOU FOR ALL THE MEMBERS FOR SUBMITTING, UH, A NAME FOR AN INDIVIDUAL AS, AS WELL AS THE MAYOR.
AND I WANNA THANK, UH, G P A FOR, FOR WORKING ON THAT.
I KNOW WE'RE, UH, PUTTING TOGETHER OUR FIRST MEETING.
UM, AND FOR, FOR EVERYBODY'S, UM, INFORMATION, THE, THE MEMBERS, THE RESIDENT MEMBERS ON THAT COMMITTEE WILL BE, UH, CHAIR BIANCA MALDONADO FROM DISTRICT SEVEN.
UH, MR. JORDAN GWE, UH, MAYOR APPOINTEE, MS. CYNTHIA SPIELMAN FROM DISTRICT ONE, MS. THEA
AND, UH, MS. VELMA PENA FROM DISTRICT THREE.
I WAS, I JUST REALIZED I WAS SHORT ONE
UM, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT, WE CAN, UH, TALK WITH G P A AFTERWARDS.
[Approval of Minutes ]
SO WE'LL BEGIN WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES.THERE'S A MOTION AND A SECOND.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? NO.
UH, NEXT, UH, WE'LL TAKE UP THE CONSENT AGENDA.
DO WE HAVE ANY RESIDENTS SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON ITEM FIVE, THE SUSTAINABLE FLEET ACQUISITION AND MANAGEMENT POLICY? THERE IS NOT.
[Consent Agenda ]
THANK YOU.IS THERE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA? MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA.
THE MOTION PASSES UNANIMOUSLY.
WE'RE ON OUR WAY TO A NEW, UH, FLEET POLICY.
[2. The City's COVID19 response and preparedness by Metro Health staff. [Erik Walsh, City Manager; Claude Jacob, Director, Metro Health] ]
THAT, DOUG.ALRIGHT, WE WILL, UH, MOVE ON TO OUR, UH, MONTHLY COVID UPDATE.
WE HAVE MR. CLAUDE JACOB WITH US, UH, WHO WAS VERY BUSY ALL MORNING LONG WITH THE COMMUNITY, UH, RESPONSE CO AND EQUITY COALITION.
AND CLAUDE, I WANNA SAY, I THINK YOU DID A FANTASTIC JOB, UH, MODERATING AND FACILITATING THAT DISCUSSION.
VERY, VERY IMPRESSED WITH THAT.
UM, DO I GET A CLICKER OR RIGHT HERE? OH, GOT IT.
GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE AND ALL.
AND I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU AGAIN TO COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL AND TO ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, UH, DAVID MCC CAREY FOR THIS, UH, INVITATION.
THIS IS MY SECOND VISIT WITH YOU ALL.
THIS IS MY FIRST TIME SEEING YOU ALL.
MANY OF YOU IN PERSON, SO BID YOU GREETINGS FROM THE NATIONAL ACCREDITED METRO HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
UM, WITH THAT, IT'S GONNA BE A QUICK OVERVIEW.
I JUST WANNA SAY THAT THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY NOW AS I WRAP UP MY THIRD MONTH HERE IN SAN ANTONIO AND WITH THE TEAM AT METRO HEALTH.
SO, THIS LOOKS A QUICK UPDATE OF
[00:05:01]
WHERE WE ARE WITH OUR COVID RESPONSE EFFORTS.UH, AND THE PHOTO THAT YOU SEE HERE IS OF OUR COVID MURALS.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF THEM STREWN ABOUT THE CITY.
UH, THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR CAN BE FOUND IN DISTRICT THREE, DISTRICT THREE, AND IS PAINTED BY ANNA HERNANDEZ.
SO, QUICK SNAPSHOT OF WHERE WE ARE IN TERMS OF OUR COVID CASES.
SO THIS GIVES YOU A COMPOSITE.
SO WE, TO DATE, HAVE HAD OVER 306,000 REPORTED CASES TO OUR, UH, DEPARTMENT.
UH, THAT'S THE, AGAIN, THE ALMO DOM TIMES FOUR.
IF YOU'RE WONDERING ABOUT HOW MANY CASES THAT REPRESENTS, SADLY, WE'VE LOST OVER 4,200, UH, RESIDENTS HERE IN THE COUNTY TO THIS VIRUS.
UM, THE POSITIVE NEWS IS THAT OUR SEVEN DAY MOVING AVERAGE HAS IMPROVED OVER THE COURSE OF TIME.
UM, AND JUST TO REMIND YOU OF LAST TIME I VISITED WITH YOU ALL, UM, WHILE WE NOW SHOW A POSITIVITY RATE JUST BELOW 5%, UH, DURING THE SUMMER SURGE, UH, WE WERE, UH, WE TOPPED 20%.
SO WE WERE EXACTLY 22% POSITIVITY RATE.
UM, SO WHILE WE'RE LOOKING AT THE SNAPSHOT HERE IN BEXAR COUNTY, JUST KNOW THAT ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
SO TO DATE, WE'VE HAD OVER 42 MILLION CASES REPORTED.
SADLY, WE'VE HAD OVER 675,000 REPORTED DEATHS HERE IN TEXAS.
UH, WE'VE TALLIED NEARLY 4 MILLION CASES AND OVER 61,000 FATALITIES ATTRIBUTED TO C OVID 19.
SO WE CONTINUE TO STAY ON MESSAGE.
CLEARLY, WE'VE SEEN, UH, AN IMPROVEMENT OVER THE LAST THREE WEEKS.
JUST KNOW THAT FOR SIX STRAIGHT WEEKS RUNNING, WE'VE SEEN THIS DECLINE IN OUR OVERALL POSITIVITY RATE, AND WE CONTINUE TO STAY ON TASK AND ON MESSAGE.
UM, THIS MIGHT BE A LITTLE HARD TO SEE, BUT THERE ARE THREE LINES HERE WITH REGARD TO HOSPITALIZATIONS AND TRENDS.
SO, UH, THE HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS ARE IN THE BLUE LINE, THE DARK BLUE LINE, OUR INTENSIVE CARE ADMISSIONS, THAT UNIT THAT'S IN THE YELLOW LINE, AND THEN THE PATIENTS ON VENTILATORS.
SO, KEEP IN MIND THAT OUR HIGH WATER MARK WAS IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR WHERE WE TALLIED, UH, 1,520 COVID RELATED HOSPITALIZATIONS.
WE'RE SHOWING 846 AS OF THE LATEST REPORT, UH, IN OUR ICUS 300.
AND ON VENTILATORS, WE'RE SHOWING 187 PATIENTS ARE UNVACCINATED PATIENTS JUST KNOW THAT STILL EIGHT OUTTA 10 FOLKS THAT END UP IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT ARE UNVACCINATED.
UH, THAT IS THE SAME NARRATIVE THAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING FROM COAST TO COAST.
UH, IT IS THIS GROUP THAT'S CREATING ADDITIONAL PRESSURES FOR OUR AREA HOSPITALS.
UH, WHILE IT'S GOTTEN A LITTLE BETTER, JUST KNOW THAT THIS IS REALLY THE REASON THAT WE'RE PAYING AND WE'RE REMINDING FOLKS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING VACCINATED SO WE CAN AT LEAST DECOMPRESS THE PRESSURES THAT OUR AREA HOSPITALS ARE EXPERIENCING STILL TO THIS DAY IN TERMS OF OUR OVERALL RISK LEVEL.
SO, FOR THREE WEEKS RUNNING NOW, WE'VE REPORTED OUT THAT WE ARE NOW AT A MODERATE RISK LEVEL.
AGAIN, THE ALGORITHM, WE LOOK AT OUR AVERAGE CASE PER A HUNDRED THOUSAND HERE IN THIS POPULATION.
WE LOOK AT OUR POSITIVITY LEVEL AND WE LOOK AT THE HOSPITAL STRESS SCORES.
UM, SO WITH THAT, OUR RISK LEVEL, UM, UH, UH, WHERE WE WERE THE LAST TIME I WAS HERE, WE WERE AT SEVERE.
UH, SO WE'RE NOW DOWN TO MODERATE, UH, WHICH IS GOOD NEWS.
AND THIS IS LARGELY DRIVEN BY IMPROVEMENTS IN OUR POSITIVITY RATE AND THE, UH, DECLINE IN REPORTED DAILY CASES.
UH, THIS MIGHT BE A LITTLE TOUGH TO SEE, BUT JUST KNOW THAT THIS, UH, PROVIDES AT LEAST, UH, SOME MAP OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF OUR DIFFERENT POP-UP CLINICS AND VACCINATION SITES.
UM, THE MAIN NEWS HERE IS THAT AS OF YESTERDAY, WE'VE MODIFIED THE HOURS OVER AT THE ALAMO DOME.
SO WE WERE ON A, A, A MODIFIED SCHEDULE WHERE, UH, WE WERE THERE FROM, UM, 12 TO FOUR.
WE'RE NOW FROM THERE FROM 12 UNTIL 8:00 PM SO WE'VE DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF HOURS THAT WE'RE THERE STILL THREE DAYS A WEEK, THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS AT THE FIRE DEPARTMENT AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS ON THE GROUND.
UH, AGAIN, WE MAKE THIS INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBSITE, UH, COVID 19 DOT SAN ANTONIO.GOV.
UH, AND THIS GIVES YOU THE SCHEDULE AND THE SITES AND LOCATIONS, AND AGAIN, FREE OF CHARGE.
UM, THIS HEAT MAP, AGAIN, MIGHT BE A LITTLE HARD TO SEE, BUT JUST KNOW THAT, UH, WE'RE SHOWING YOU, UM, THE PERCENT OF ELIGIBLE VACCINATED INDIVIDUALS, AT LEAST OVER THE AGE OF 12, AND THOSE ELIGIBLE, UM, WHO ARE FULLY VACCINATED.
SO THE LEFT SIDE IS ABOUT THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE, THE RIGHT SIDE, THE, THE RED HEAT MAP SHOWS THE, THE HEAT, UM, THOSE WHO ARE FULLY VACCINATED.
SO, AS OF OUR LAST REPORT, WE HAVEN'T RELEASED TODAY'S REPORTS YET, BUT OUR VAC OR THIS WEEK'S REPORT, UH, WE DID REPORT OUT LAST WEEK THAT WE ARE AT 71.3% OF ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS OVER THE AGE OF 12 ARE FULLY VACCINATED HERE IN BEXAR COUNTY.
UH, IN TERMS OF THOSE WHO ARE ELIGIBLE, WHO HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE, WE SHOWED OVER 87% OF THOSE WHO ARE 12 AND OLDER, HAVING RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE.
[00:10:01]
JUST KNOW THAT WHAT WE SEE ON THE MAP, THERE'S BEEN TALK ABOUT THE LIGHTER SHADE AND MAKING SURE THAT WE DO SOME ADDED OUTREACH IN THOSE AREAS THAT HAVE NOT HAD THE SAME UPTAKE IN TERMS OF OUR VACCINATION RATES.SO, JUST KNOW THAT THAT IS ONGOING.
UH, WE APPRECIATE THE COLLABORATIONS NOT JUST WITH OUR CITY PARTNERS, BUT WITH OUR COUNTY LEVEL PARTNERS, JUST SO THAT WE CAN AT LEAST TWEAK THE MESSAGING.
WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE NUANCES FOR HOW WE GET TO CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS, HOW WE GET TO SOME OF THE, UH, UNINCORPORATED PARTS OF THE COUNTY, BUT JUST KNOW THAT THAT IS BY DESIGN THAT WE'RE TRYING TO AT LEAST BECOME EVEN MORE NIMBLE AS WE IMPROVE OUR VACCINATION RATES ON THE GROUND.
UM, THIS BAR GRAPH, UM, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, IT'S REALLY, UH, BROKEN DOWN BY CERTAIN AGES STARTING AT THE AGE OF 12 TO 15, UH, AND WORKING OUR WAY ALL THE WAY ACROSS TO THOSE 65 AND OLDER.
UM, AND WE'RE SHOWING AT LEAST THREE BARS.
WE'RE LOOKING AT THOSE WHO ARE PARTIALLY VACCINATED, THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE, AND THOSE WHO ARE FULLY VACCINATED.
UH, AGAIN, UM, WE'VE BEEN DOING A PRETTY DECENT JOB THE LAST FEW WEEKS, MAKING SURE THAT WE GET SHOTS IN ARMS. UH, IF YOU GO TO THE FAR RIGHT, UM, UH, THE TOTAL, UH, POPULATION THAT IS ELIGIBLE THAT HAS RECEIVED THE VACCINE, AGAIN, 70, OVER 71% FULLY VACCINATED.
UM, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE, THOSE THAT HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE, UH, OVER 87%, UM, THE COMPARISON TO THE TOTAL POPULATION, SO APPLES TO APPLES IN TERMS OF THE TOTAL POPULATION, WE SHOW ABOUT 60% OF THE COUNTY HAS BEEN FULLY, UH, UH, VACCINATED.
AND JUST ABOUT 70% OR 72% THAT HAVE RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE, AGAIN, OF THE TOTAL POPULATION.
KEEP IN MIND THAT ABOUT 16% OF THE POPULATION IS NOT YET ELIGIBLE, ESPECIALLY THAT DEMOGRAPHIC BELOW THE AGE OF 12.
AGAIN, WE ARE IN A WAITING MODE IN TERMS OF THE DELIBERATIONS BETWEEN THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND THE ADVISORY AT THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, THE C D C.
SO, UH, WE'LL HEAR MORE ONCE THE ASIP COMPLETES THEIR DELIBERATIONS TODAY, AND WE'LL SEE IF THERE'S ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE CAN REPORT OUT IN TERMS OF THE STATUS OF GETTING VACCINES SHOTS IN ARMS FOR OUR PEDIATRIC POPULATIONS.
UM, AGAIN, PUSHING OUT OUR MESSAGING AND WE THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR BEING AMBASSADORS ON THE GROUND.
SO THIS IS REALLY, UM, UH, A FEW PICTURES SHOWING SOME OF OUR OUTREACH, UH, EFFORTS.
OUR MEDIA BUYS FOR OUR COVID 19 MARKETING CAMPAIGNS HAVE INCLUDED TELEVISION, RADIO, PRINT, AND SOCIAL MEDIA THAT COVERS, UH, NOT JUST THE CITY, BUT THE SUBURBAN CITIES AND THE UNINCORPORATED AREAS OF BEXAR COUNTY.
UM, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF BILLBOARDS SCATTERED ABOUT, AND, UH, WE KEEP TRACK OF MEDIA IMPRESSIONS.
THIS MIGHT MEAN SOMETHING TO SOME OF THE YOUNGER FOLKS IN THE CROWD, BUT OVER 16 MILLION MEDIA IMPRESSIONS BETWEEN JUNE 1ST AND SEPTEMBER 30TH.
SO IF YOU WANNA PUT THAT ON A T-SHIRT OR BUMPER STICKER, KNOCK YOURSELF OUT.
BUT JUST KNOW THAT THAT'S WHAT WE'RE ALSO KEEPING TRACK OF THE ANALYTICS.
UM, SO, UH, PEPPERING, UH, COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS, KION ZA, LOCAL COMMUNITY NEWSPAPERS, UM, UH, SA CURRENT SOUTH SIDE REPORTER, THE OBSERVER, UM, THE DISPLAY SIGNAGE WE HAVE AT THREE LOCAL MALLS, UH, SOUTH PARK MALL, INGRAM PARK MALL, AND LA RA.
UM, AND WE'VE ALSO NOW APPENDED SOME OF THESE, UH, TO 400 VEHICLE DECALS PLACED ON CITY VEHICLES, UM, AND, UH, METRO HEALTH SOLID WASTE.
AND THANKS IN LARGE PART TO G P A, UH, MORE ABOUT STRATEGIES TO ENCOURAGE, UH, COVID 19 VACCINATIONS.
SO OUR ONSITE VACCINATIONS WE HELD EARLIER THIS SUMMER.
UM, WE HAD, UH, TWO EVENTS WITH THE SPURS, UH, UH, SPORTS ORGANIZATION.
SO BACK ON JULY 10TH AND JULY 17TH, I HAD A CHANCE TO SEE, UH, THE TEAM IN ACTION, I BELIEVE OVER THOSE TWO SATURDAYS, WE GAVE OUT 288, UH, UH, VACCINATIONS, UH, FOR THE 10 GAME, UH, UH, SPURS PACKAGE.
UH, SO GOOD FUN WAS HAD BY ALL.
UM, WE'VE ALSO, UH, GONE TO MISSIONS, BASEBALL GAMES AT THE END OF THE SEASON, UM, ESTIMATING ATTENDANCE OF ABOUT 4,000 PER GAME.
UH, WE DID ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE IN A U T S A HOME OPENER, UH, WHERE WE ESTIMATED THERE WERE ABOUT 10,000 FOLKS.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THAT, UH, WE'VE DONE PLACEMENTS WITH YARD SIDES AND CITY PARKS LIBRARIES, SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS, UH, SPLASH TOWN, AND A NUMBER OF, UH, FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS ON THE GROUND.
SO, UM, OUR PAID SOCIAL MEDIA COVERS THE ENTIRE COUNTY, AND AGAIN, OUR PAID SOCIAL MEDIA, UH, AT LEAST.
UH, LOOKING AT THESE IMPRESSIONS, UH, OVER, UH, OVER 18, WE'VE HAD, UH, OVER 16,000 I'LL END BY SAYING THAT.
UM, UH, THIS IS, UH, ONE OF THE EXCITING, UH, CAMPAIGNS THAT WE'LL BE ROLLING OUT BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH.
UH, YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, AND AGAIN, THANKS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, THIS BODY, UM, FOR, UH, APPROVING OUR EXPENDITURE.
WE DO HAVE, UM, UH, FEDERAL FUNDS, UM, FROM THE SENATE FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION.
[00:15:01]
UM, WE ARE OFFERING, WE WILL BE OFFERING A HUNDRED DOLLARS H E B GIFT CARDS STARTING LATER THIS MONTH AS PART OF OUR EFFORTS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY RESIDENTS WHO ARE FULLY VACCINATED AGAINST C OVID 19.UH, PEOPLE ARE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A, A GIFT CARD ONLY IF THEY INITIATE AND COMPLETE THE PRIMARY SERIES OF VACCINE OF C OVID 19.
ON BEHALF OF OUR FANTASTIC TEAM AT THE METRO HEALTH DEPARTMENT, IT'S BEEN A LONG 18 MONTHS FOR FOLKS.
UH, COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL TALKED ABOUT THIS MORNINGS A BRAINSTORMING SESSION.
UH, WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF PARTNERS ON THE GROUND, ESPECIALLY ANCHORED TO THE COMMUNITY RESPONSE AND EQUITY COALITION.
SO A LOT OF THIS FOR US IS TO APPLY LESSONS LEARNED AND FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN PREPARE FOR A POST COVID ERA, BUT REALLY ADDRESSING THE, THE CONSTELLATION OF CONDITIONS THAT IMPACT THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF RESIDENTS.
SO, I'LL STOP THERE AND JUST SAY THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY.
UM, FOR, FOR THE PRESENTATION AND TO ALL OF THE METRO HEALTH TEAM FOR, FOR ALL OF THEIR WORK.
UM, NO, THIS IS NOT MOOD LIGHTING.
WE'RE TRYING TO SEE IF YOU CAN, UH, SEE THE SLIDES BETTER THIS WAY.
UM, SO JUST A COUPLE OF QUICK COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS, AND THEN WE'LL, WE'LL GO AROUND THE, THE TABLE HERE.
UM, ONE HAS TO DO WITH THE, BASICALLY WHEN WE SUED THE STATE AND ISSUED THE MASK, UM, ALLOWED FOR MASK MANDATES IN SCHOOLS, UM, WERE YOU, DO YOU, WERE YOU ABLE TO SEE ANY IMPACT FROM THAT? OKAY.
SO WE CAN ONLY SAY ANECDOTALLY, UM, AGAIN, TO THE I S D AND THE VARIABILITY BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS.
SO, UH, THERE WAS, UM, I'LL JUST USE THE TERM COMPLIANCE AND AIR QUOTES.
UM, IN TERMS OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT MASKING UP.
SO WE HEARD ANECDOTALLY, UH, WE DO REPORT OUT EACH WEEK THE NUMBER OF CASES THAT WE HAVE WITH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS.
SO WE'LL BE RELEASING OUR, OUR WEEKLY REPORT LATER TODAY OR THIS EVENING.
UM, BUT IT'S, IT'S HARD TO SHOW CAUSALITY EXCEPT THAT THE WHOLE RATIONALE WAS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COULD PROTECT THOSE WHO CAN'T PROTECT THEMSELVES.
THAT IS A DEMOGRAPHIC THAT IS NOT YET ELIGIBLE, ESPECIALLY BELOW THE AGE OF 12.
SO WE CONTINUE TO REPORT OUT, UM, AND FOR NOW WE STAY ON MESSAGE MASK UP AND WHERE POSSIBLE, WHERE ELIGIBLE VACS UP.
AND THEN, UM, JUST FOR THE, SORRY.
SO IT HAS BEEN SUGGESTED TO ME THAT IN ADDITION TO THE COMMUNITY OUTREACH WE'RE DOING FOR VACCINATIONS, YOU KNOW, SHOWING UP AT EVENTS AND PLACES THAT IT COULD ALSO HELP US, UH, INCREASE VACCINATION RATES IF WE WERE TO PARTNER WITH EMPLOYERS AND WORK CLOSELY WITH PERHAPS CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE OR EVEN OUR NEW SMALL BUSINESS, UH, ADVISORY COMMITTEE, UH, YOU KNOW, TO SHOW UP ON SITE AND MAYBE HAVE A DAY WHERE ALL THE EMPLOYEES GET, GET VACCINATED, ALL THE ONES THAT AREN'T YET.
SO I'M JUST WONDERING IS, IS THAT, UH, ANYTHING THAT'S IN THE WORKS, UM, AND YOUR, AND YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT, AND IF WE COULD SUPPORT THAT SOMEHOW.
UM, CLEARLY, UH, THE COVID EXPERIENCE, UM, HAS, HAS NOT LEFT ANY STONE UNTURNED, RIGHT? SO EVERY POCKET, EVERY SECTOR HAS BEEN IMPACTED.
TO YOUR QUESTION ABOUT PARTNERSHIPS, I COULDN'T TELL YOU IN DETAIL WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
I DO KNOW WE'VE HAD A NUMBER OF PROVIDERS, A NUMBER OF SECTORS THAT HAVE STEPPED UP, WHETHER IT'S THE MESSAGING OR HELPING US TO COMPLY WITH THE, WITH THE MASK RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, TO YOUR POINT ABOUT SHOTS IN ARMS, DIFFERENT, UH, EMPLOYEES HAVE TRIED TO PUSH THAT.
UH, RIGHT NOW WE'RE RAMPING UP TO GET READY FOR THE ROLLOUT OF OUR FALL FLU CAMPAIGN, SO THAT REQUIRES ANOTHER PIVOT.
UM, SO THEY'RE A VALUABLE, UH, PARTNER AND I SAY THAT IN GENERAL.
UM, BUT I CAN SAY AT LEAST, UH, I'VE BEEN PLEASED BY KNOWING THAT WE HAVE ACCESS, UM, AND WE'RE INVITED.
I DO MAKE THE PITCH, OR I HAVE OUR STAFF MAKE THE PITCH TO TALK ABOUT THE COVID EXPERIENCE AND WHERE WE ARE NOW.
WE APPRECIATE THEIR COLLABORATIONS AND THEIR PARTNERSHIP.
THANK YOU FOR THAT PRESENTATION, CLAUDE.
SO YOU SAID THE END OF THE MONTH, THAT'S NEXT WEEK.
SO DO YOU HAVE AN ACTUAL DATE OF WHEN THIS IS GOING TO ROLL OUT FOR ME? UH, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS LAST SLIDE, THE H E B OR SOMETHING ELSE? YES.
SORRY TO KEEP YOU ALL IN SUSPENSE.
AS YOU KNOW, A LOT OF THIS, THE PLANE IS ON THE RUNWAY.
WE'RE GETTING READY TO TAKE OFF, BUT WE DO WANNA WAIT AND SYNCHRONIZE WITH G P A AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE AS TO WHEN WE'RE READY TO ANNOUNCE.
SO A LOT OF THIS BEHIND THE SCENES, WE HAD TO MAKE SURE WE HAD THE TRAINING FOR STAFF, HAD THE GIFT CARDS IN HAND, HAD THE, UH, SCHEDULE AT LEAST QUEUED UP.
SO WE DON'T HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT DATE AS OF YET, BUT AS SOON AS WE KNOW AND WE CAN LET YOU KNOW, WE'LL MAKE SURE TO PUBLICIZE IT.
SO WE COMMITTED TO HAVE THAT HAPPEN BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH, AND WE'RE IN THAT WINDOW NOW.
SO I'M HEARING THAT I NEED TO GET ON G P A.
[00:20:02]
UH, NO, BECAUSE WHAT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE ROLLED OUT SPECIFICALLY IN DISTRICT THREE, AND I'M SURE MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES WOULD AGREE, IS A BIG PUSH BEFORE THE WEEKEND OF THE EIGHT OR NINTH, BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE MONTH IS HALLOWEEN AND DIA DE LOS MUTOS, AND PEOPLE ARE GONNA GO OUT IN FORCE.SO I WANNA MAKE SURE, AND IF I DO THE TWO WEEKS, LIKE THEY TELL EVERYBODY, WAIT TWO WEEKS BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT, UH, THAT WOULD BE THAT WE, WE, WE'D LIKE, NEED TO GET 'EM VACCINATED BY THE EIGHTH AND THE NINTH.
THAT WAY WE CAN START PROGRAMMING.
UM, WE CAN START LOOKING AT WHAT WE CAN PROGRAM IN OUR, IN OUR AREAS.
UH, AGAIN, YOU'RE ASKING FOR DATE AND TIME AND PLACE, AND I KNOW YOU WANT TO GET YOUR FOLKS TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE SO THEY CAN GET THEIR GIFT CARDS.
BUT JUST, JUST KNOW, TO BE FAIR TO G P A REALLY, WE'RE WORKING HAND IN HAND WITH THE UNITS JUST TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING'S SYNCHRONIZED BEFORE WE CAN ANNOUNCE.
UM, WE ARE IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, SO AS SOON AS WE'RE READY TO HIT SEND OR HIT GO OR PUSH IT OUT THERE, YOU WILL HEAR IT AS WELL.
BECAUSE WHAT I DON'T WANNA SEE IS A SPIKE HAPPEN AFTER IN HALLOWEEN.
THAT'S WHAT I DON'T WANNA SEE.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AND THE UPDATES.
UH, COUNCILWOMAN, UH, CASTILLO, THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS.
UM, WHY DO WE THINK IT'S BEEN DIFFICULT FOR THE 19 TO 39 YEAR OLDS TO GET VACCINATED? WHAT BARRIERS DO WE SEE? UM, GOOD QUESTION.
THIS HAS BEEN A CONUNDRUM FOR SOME TIME NOW, THAT DEMOGRAPHIC TENDS TO FEEL THAT THEY'RE, HOW DO I SAY, UH, SUPERHUMAN.
UM, SO IT'S A MATTER OF COMING AT THAT GROUP A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY.
THAT'S NOT UNCOMMON HERE, BUT WE'VE SEEN THE SLOWEST UPTAKE, AT LEAST FOR THAT GROUP.
UM, BUT JUST KNOW THAT WE ARE PLEASED TO REPORT, AT LEAST FOR THOSE WHO ARE, UM, 18 AND OLD, WE'VE SEEN AT LEAST A 10% IMPROVEMENT SINCE THE LAST TIME I WAS HERE.
SO IT'S A MATTER OF JUST MAKING SURE WE STAY ON MESSAGE, THAT WE CONTINUE TO PUSH THIS OUT.
ONE OF THE CHALLENGES WITH MISINFORMATION IS THAT THE SOCIAL MEDIA SWORD CUTS BOTH WAYS.
AND SO WE'RE, WE'VE BEEN IN THIS TUSSLE TO MAKE SURE THAT FOLKS LISTEN TO US AS A TRUSTED SOURCE, THAT WE WORK WITH AMBASSADORS ON THE GROUND, BUT THAT WE FIND THE BEST CONDUITS TO AT LEAST GET THE MESSAGE TO THAT DEMOGRAPHIC.
AND WE HAVE A GREAT MURAL, UH, OFF OF RAS, THE GET VACCINATED MURAL THAT I SAW POP UP.
I THINK IT'S, IT'S A, UH, GREAT, UM, I THINK IT'S AWESOME THAT YOU'RE REACHING OUT TO FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS.
UM, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER THE SUGGESTION AND MAYBE GOING TO THE BGAS TO OUR FLEA MARKETS, UM, AS WELL AS I KNOW WITHIN 7 8, 2 0 7, UM, WE LOVE OUR HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS.
SO IF WE COULD GET A MOBILE VACCINATION CLINIC, UM, TO THESE FOOTBALL GAMES, SOCCER GAMES, I THINK THAT'S A WAY THAT WE CAN INCREASE VACCINATION RATES, UH, WITHIN THE 7 8 2 0 7 AREA.
UM, AND I'D LIKE TO ECHO, UH, COUNCILWOMAN, UH, SANDOVAL'S, UH, SUGGESTION OF WORKING WITH THE CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE.
UM, I KNOW WITHIN 7, 8, 2, 7 AND DISTRICT FIVE IN PARTICULAR, UH, MANY OF OUR RESIDENTS WORK IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY.
SO, UH, UM, THAT BARRIER, A BARRIER MAY BE, YOU KNOW, JUST THE WORK HOURS OF WORKING IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY, UM, AND MAYBE PARTNERING WITH THE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION TO, TO GET OUR FOLKS VACCINATED, BUT THANK YOU.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS BEFORE WE MOVE ON? COUNCILMAN BRAVO.
UH, I WANTED TO ASK, UM, ON SLIDE SEVEN, THERE'S A COLUMN FOR PARTIALLY VACCINATED AND A COLUMN FOR AT LEAST ONE DOSE.
DID I MISS AN EXPLANATION ON THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE? SO, NO.
SO JUST KNOW THAT, UM, THEY SOUND THE SAME TO ME.
UM, AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE KEEP TRACK OF THOSE WHO ARE FULLY VACCINATED, AND THOSE THAT IN ARMED THE PARTIALLY VACCINATED THERE, THOSE ARE THE FOLKS THAT, UM, HAVE YET TO COMPLETE THEIR VACCINATION SERIES.
UH, WE CONSIDER THEM TO BE LOW HANGING FRUIT TO AT LEAST GET THEM.
THEY'VE AT LEAST INITIATED, UH, THAT'S THE GROUP IN PARTICULAR THAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE INCENTIVIZE FOR, UM, COMPLETING THEIR VACCINATION SERIES, UH, OVER THE COURSE OF THE COMING WEEKS AND MONTHS.
UM, SO IT'S NOT THAT YOU'VE MISSED IT, JUST KNOW THAT THERE ARE THREE VACCINES OUT THERE ON THE MARKET NOW.
TWO OF THEM REQUIRE TWO DOSES.
ONE OF THEM REQUIRES ONE SHOT.
SO THE J AND J IS JUST ONE SHOT, PFIZER.
THERE'S A 21 DAY INTERVAL BETWEEN DOSES AND MODERNA.
SO J AND J IF YOU GET ONE DOSE, YOU SHOULD BE AT LEAST ONE DOSE.
YOU'RE, YOU SHOULD BE IN THAT FULLY VACCINATED CATEGORY, CORRECT? THAT'S RIGHT.
SO IT, IT'S, IT'S, IT'S INTERESTING BECAUSE YOU ARE FULLY VACCINATED IF YOU RECEIVE J AND J, BUT IT'S ALSO THAT YOU RECEIVED AT LEAST ONE DOSE.
SO YOU'RE NOT READY TO, TO ANNOUNCE AN EXACT DATE ON THE A HUNDRED DOLLARS
[00:25:01]
GIFT CARDS.CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT, ABOUT WHAT YOUR ROLLOUT PLAN MIGHT LOOK LIKE ONCE YOU'RE READY TO DO THAT? UH, YES.
SO THESE WILL BE ANCHORED TO POP-UP CLINICS SPONSORED BY METRO HEALTH.
UM, THESE WILL ALSO BE ANCHORED TO OUR POP-UP CLINICS OVER AT THE METRO DOME, UH, ALAMO DOME, METRO DOME, ALAMO DOME.
UM, THE ROLLOUT PLAN IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PUBLICIZE THAT WE ARE FOCUSING ON THE AREAS WHERE WE HAVE NOT SEEN AS MUCH UPTAKE IN TERMS OF OUR VACCINATION RATES, UH, IN PARTICULAR FOCUSING ON THE, THE POCKETS OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE COUNTY, WHERE WE JUST, FOR WHATEVER REASONS, WE JUST HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO, TO GET THERE.
UM, SO WE WILL PUBLICIZE, AND YOU'LL SEE THAT ON THE MAP.
UH, WE DO NOW OFFER FLU VACCINES AT OUR POP-UP CLINIC.
SO PART OF THIS IS TO AT LEAST DOVETAIL THE ROLLOUT OF THIS INCENTIVE PROGRAM BEING VERY CLEAR ABOUT WHO'S ELIGIBLE.
THIS IS ALL ABOUT COMPLETING THEIR VACCINATION SERIES, UH, TO GET THAT SECOND DOSE.
UM, SO THE PLAN WILL BE ROLLED OUT AS SOON AS WE CAN FINALIZE THE DETAILS AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU ALL KNOW, SO YOU CAN PUBLICIZE IT WITHIN YOUR RESPECTIVE DISTRICTS.
SO, UH, A FRIEND OF MINE REACHED OUT TO ME, SHE'S ON IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUGS, AND SHE TELLS ME THAT IF YOU'RE ON CHEMO OR IF YOU'RE ON IMMUNOSUPPRESSIVE DRUGS, THAT, UM, THEY'RE FINDING THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE NOT RESPONDING TO THE VACCINE.
AND SO THEY'RE, THEY'RE TESTING AND THEY'RE NOT SHOWING ANY ANTIBODIES THAT WERE INDUCED BY THE VACCINE, OR HOW WELL ARE YOU ALL FOLLOWING THAT? AND SHE TELLS ME THAT YOU CAN GO, THERE'S A TEXAS CARE STUDY WHERE PEOPLE CAN GET, UH, TESTED FOR FREE TO SEE IF THEY, THEY HAVE ANY ANTIBODIES.
ARE YOU ALL PUSHING THAT INFORMATION OUT AT ALL? YEAH.
SO JUST KNOW THAT A LOT OF THESE CONVERSATIONS ARE HAPPENING BETWEEN RESIDENTS AND THEIR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS, UM, PROVIDERS.
UM, WE DO KNOW BASED ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE C D C, THAT THERE ARE FOLKS WHO ALREADY ARE SHOWING SOME WANING IMMUNITY TIED TO THEIR VACCINES THAT THEY MAY, THEIR SHOTS THAT THEY MAY HAVE RECEIVED.
UM, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S A CONVERSATION THAT RESIDENTS ARE HAVING.
WE DO PACKAGE AND WORK WITH THE NETWORKS OF THE BAYER COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY OR THE AREA HOSPITALS TO PUBLICIZE OR AMPLIFY ANY MESSAGING.
SO IF THERE'S ANYTHING MORE THAT WE SHOULD OFFER TO FOLKS, WE'LL DO THAT.
THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANK YOU, CLAUDE.
UM, MY QUESTION IS ABOUT THE, UM, THE SEVERAL CAMPAIGNS.
SO, UM, IF YOU COULD GO TO SLIDE 11.
UM, ARE WE MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CAMPAIGNS AND THE MESSAGING THAT'S BEING USED? AND IF SO, HOW? YEAH, GOOD QUESTION.
AND I CAN CIRCLE BACK THE TEAM ABOUT OUR ANALYTICS.
I COULD TELL YOU THAT WE'RE PAYING ATTENTION TO THE THINGS WE CAN COUNT, BUT WE'RE ALSO HAVING AD HOC FOCUS GROUPS SO WE CAN FIGURE OUT WHERE WE'RE GETTING THE MOST TRACTION.
UM, I SAY THAT BECAUSE ONE OF THE LESSONS TIED TO COVID, ONE OF THE CHALLENGES IS THAT THE NARRATIVE KEEPS CHANGING.
AND WE'VE HAD TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO CUSTOMIZE OUR OUTREACH.
UH, CASE IN POINT, EVEN THE MODALITY OF HOW WE CONNECT OUT IN THE UNINCORPORATED PARTS OF THE COUNTY, WE REALIZE IT'S NOT JUST SOCIAL MEDIA.
IT MAY NOT EVEN BE BILLBOARDS.
IT'S MORE ABOUT CONNECTING TO TRUSTED SOURCES IN COMMUNITY, IN THOSE PARTS OF THE COUNTY.
UM, SO I'LL CIRCLE BACK ABOUT HOW WE'RE CAPTURING, HOW WELL, UM, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT IS, UH, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO LEARN AND TO REFINE OUR MESSAGING TO GET SHOTS IN ARMS. THANK YOU.
AND WITH THE DIFFERENT CAMPAIGNS AND THE DIFFERENT, UH, METHODS WE'RE USING, INCLUDING, UH, THE 100 H E B GIFT CARDS, ARE THERE ANY SUCCESS METRICS OR GOALS IN TERMS OF VACCINATION RATES TIED TO THESE? UH, IT'S A MOVIE.
IT'S A GREAT QUESTION ABOUT TARGETS.
JUST KNOW THAT THIS IS SOMETHING WE DECIDED TO BE INNOVATIVE, UM, BASED ON WHAT WE HAD HEARD, UH, ANECDOTALLY FROM DIFFERENT STATES TRYING TO INCENTIVIZE, WHETHER IT'S A POWERBALL OR GAME TICKETS OR WHATNOT.
WE WERE PLEASED WITH WHAT WE SAW THIS SUMMER.
UH, WE'RE TRYING TO GET AN UP, UH, INCREASED FOOT TRAFFIC, UH, TO OUR AREA POP-UP CLINICS.
UM, SO JUST KNOW THAT WE'LL KEEP TRACK OF HOW WELL WE'RE GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT.
WE ARE ROLLING THIS OUT SYSTEMATICALLY AT OUR, UH, METRO HEALTH, UH, SPONSORED POP-UP CLINICS.
AND I KNOW THAT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER POP-UP CLINICS ACROSS THE CITY.
UM, SO WE WILL REPORT OUT EACH WEEK HOW WELL WE'RE DOING WITH GETTING THESE, UH, SHOTS IN ARM, ESPECIALLY THE ONES TIED TO THE ROLLOUT OF THE INCENTIVE PROGRAM.
AND I, CAN WE GO TO SLIDE THREE REAL QUICK?
THIS WILL BE THE LAST POINT I MAKE, I THINK, OR THE LAST THING I WANNA DRAW OUR ATTENTION TO IS THAT I THINK WE CAN, LOOKING AT THE TRENDS, I THINK WE CAN EXPECT IN ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN MONTHS ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE UPWARD SPIKES.
AND SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, OR MAYBE THIS IS A QUESTION, IS HOW ARE WE WORKING TO ENSURE THAT WE DON'T SEE THAT SPIKE OR TO MITIGATE IT AND TO ANTICIPATE FUTURE EVENTS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE? YEAH.
[00:30:01]
GOOD QUESTION.UM, I HAVE A TON OF THEM APPARENTLY.
I WOULD SAY IN, IN OUR HUMILITY, EVEN THE STORY BEHIND EACH OF THESE THREE SPIKES, THE ENVIRONMENT WAS DIFFERENT FOR EACH OF THOSE, RIGHT? SO THE FIRST ONE, UH, CLEARLY NO VACCINE, RIGHT? THE, THE, THE SECOND ONE WITH THE ROLLOUT AND THE INDOOR TRANSMISSIONS, WE, WE SAW THAT SPIKE, UH, THE WINTER SPIKE, THE WINTER SURGE, THE SUMMER SURGE IS WHAT THE LATEST SPIKE WAS.
AND LITERALLY WE SAW A DOUBLING EFFECT OF THE POSITIVITY RATE.
SO WE'RE APPLYING LESSONS LEARNED.
WE KNOW MORE NOW THAN WE DID WHEN THIS LANDED, UH, MARCH OF 2020.
UM, IT GAVE NEW MEANING TO MARCH MADNESS LAST YEAR.
IT HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH BASKETBALL, HAD EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE ROLLOUT OF THIS PANDEMIC.
WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW, WE'RE LITERALLY AMPLIFYING AND APPLYING THE SCIENCE OF OUR WORK, UM, TO MITIGATE AS MUCH SPREAD AS WE CAN MASK UP VAX UP.
UH, WE KNOW THAT THE PANDEMIC THAT WE'RE SEEING NOW IS AMONGST THE UNVACCINATED.
THAT WAS NOT THE SCENARIO WHEN YOU SAW THE FIRST TWO SPIKES, FOR SURE.
AND I KNOW YOU HAVE A VERY DIFFICULT JOB, AND IT'S, THIS ISN'T THE MOST FUN TOPIC TO TALK ABOUT.
IT'S ONE OF THE MORE SADDENING ONES.
AND SO I APPRECIATE, UM, THAT YOU'VE COME PREPARED AND READY TO DISCUSS AND ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.
UM, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S, EVERY MONTH WE'RE GONNA BE RECEIVING THESE REPORTS.
UM, I GUESS THE QUE I'LL PROBABLY HAVE THE SAME QUESTIONS EVERY TIME, IS THE GOALS, THE TARGETS, UM, AND THE MEASURING OF OUR DIFFERENT CAMPAIGNS AND WHATNOT.
I, I WILL SAY THIS, THAT, UM, ONE OF THE NARRATIVES NATIONALLY IS THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING AGILE IN ADJUSTING TO THIS COVID EXPERIENCE.
FOLKS FORGET THAT 15 OR 16 MONTHS AGO, THE GUIDANCE FROM THE C D C WAS TO LEAVE THE MASKS ALONE, RIGHT? SO, SO IT SPUR, IT SPURRED A LOT OF DEBATE, BUT WE'VE HAD TO ADJUST.
WE NOW KNOW MORE, WE KNOW ABOUT THE SCIENCE OF MASKS, AND WE KNOW ABOUT THE SCIENCE OF THESE TRANSMISSIONS.
SO I SAY THAT TO SAY THAT, UM, APPLYING AS MUCH HUMILITY AS WE CAN, WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE RESPONSIVE TO MAKE SURE THAT RESIDENTS GET THROUGH THIS EXPERIENCE.
AND I THINK JUST A, A FINAL COMMENT ON, ON THE PEAKS AND YOUR, YOUR OMINOUS PREDICTION OVER THERE.
I I, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S A GOOD SIGN OR A BAD SIGN THAT OUR MOST RECENT PEAK WASN'T GREATER THAN THE ONE BEFORE, BECAUSE DELTA VARIANT IS SO MUCH MORE CONTAGIOUS, BUT WE HAD SO MANY PEOPLE VACCINATED.
BUT IT, I THINK IT JUST GOES TO SHOW HOW, HOW BAD, HOW, HOW CONTAGIOUS IT REALLY WAS.
AND THAT'S AN IMPORTANT PIECE.
I'LL JUST UNDERSCORE THAT TO THE FIRST TWO PEAKS.
WE WEREN'T, YOU WEREN'T HEARING ABOUT DELTA.
DELTA, RIGHT? WE, THE ORIGINAL STRAIN, IF ONE HAD IT, ODDS ARE COUPLE OTHER FOLKS WOULD GET IT.
WITH DELTA, IT'S MORE LIKE FIVE OR SIX FOLKS AROUND YOU WOULD GET IT.
IT'S LITERALLY BEEN THE DRIVER, THE ACCELERANT FOR WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND IT'S LITERALLY AMONGST THE UNVACCINATED.
SO ALL THAT TO SAY THAT THERE'S A STORY BEHIND THE GRAPH, BUT JUST KNOW THAT THE CONTEXT OF THE COVID EXPERIENCE IS CHANGING.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CLAUDE.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR, FOR YOUR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS.
AND, UM, IF YOU, IF THE MEMBERS HAVE SPECIFIC THINGS THAT THEY DO WANNA SEE IN THE MONTHLY, UH, REPORT, WOULD THAT BE OKAY IF WE COMMUNICATED THAT TO YOU? OH, FAIR ENOUGH.
I HEARD THE QUESTIONS, SO WE'LL MAKE SURE TO ORGANIZE THE SLIDES, AT LEAST CAPTURE AND ADDRESS SOME OF THE COMMENTS MADE.
BUT IT'S A RE I'M A REPEAT CUSTOMER NOW.
IS THAT WHAT I'M HEARING? OKAY.
OH, I THINK THEY FORGOT TO TELL YOU.
IT'S A COMMUNITY HEALTH COMMITTEE.
[3. The City of San Antonio’s Public Participation and Engagement Plan. [Jeff Coyle, Assistant City Manager; Laura Mayes, Assistant Director, Government, and Public Affairs] ]
ALL RIGHT.WE'LL MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT ITEM, WHICH HAS TO DO WITH THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO'S PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT PLAN.
AND I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS WHO WE'RE TURNING THIS ONE OVER TO, JEFF.
UH, MR. MCCAREY, DID YOU WANNA NO, JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW WE HAVE, UH, BERTHA RODRIGUEZ WITH US TODAY, AND SHE'LL MAKE THE PRESENTATION.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
I WILL ASK CLIFF TO HELP ME JUST UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S THE GREEN BUTTON.
UH, TODAY I'LL BE PROVIDING A BRIEFING ON OUR PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT PLAN WHERE WE ARE, UM, SHARE SOME OF THE LEARNINGS THAT, UH, WE TOOK AWAY FROM AN ASSESSMENT THAT WAS CONDUCTED BY SA 2020.
AND THEN SHARE A STRATEGIC, UH, FRAMEWORK ON THE DIRECTION THAT WE ARE TAKING AROUND THOSE LEARNINGS AND ENSURING THAT WE CAN, UH, STRENGTHEN OUR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION EFFORTS MOVING FORWARD.
AS I MENTIONED, UH, WE ENGAGED SA 2020, OH, SEE, I THOUGHT SOMEBODY WAS MANAGING THE SLIDES FOR ME.
UH, WE ENGAGED SA 2020, UH, LAST FALL.
WE ASKED, UH, OF THEM TO PROVIDE US AN ASSESSMENT OF WHERE WE WERE WITH OUR CURRENT
[00:35:01]
PARTICIPATION, UH, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION EFFORTS.THEY CONDUCTED SEVERAL COMPONENTS TO THIS ASSESSMENT.
THERE WAS AN INTERNAL COMPONENT, UH, REGARDING REVIEW OF, UH, POLICIES, PROCESS PRESENTATIONS, CURRENT ENGAGEMENT, UH, ACTIVITIES THAT WE HAD IN THE MARKET.
UM, THEY ALSO, UH, IMPLEMENTED AN INTERNAL SURVEY AMONG CITY STAFF AND COUNCIL STAFF.
AND THEY ALSO HELD FOCUS GROUPS, UH, FOR FOCUS GROUPS WITH ABOUT 39 COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT ARE, UH, CONSIDERED EXPERTS, UH, IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND WHO HAD EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH THE CITY, UH, ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTS.
UH, FROM THAT, FROM THOSE, UH, THREE LEVELS OF ASSESSMENTS, THE LEARNINGS WERE THAT THERE'S DEFINITELY, UH, STRENGTHS IN WHAT WE WERE DOING, THAT ALSO OPPORTUNITIES AND GAPS THAT EXISTED, UH, IN THE EFFORTS THAT WE WERE, UH, TAKING INTO COMMUNITY.
FROM THAT WE ARE, UH, TAKING, UH, THE LEARNINGS AND DEVELOPING STRATEGIES AND TACTICS, UH, THAT WILL HELP US TO STRENGTHEN OUR COMMUNITY AND, UM, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
SO THAT'S A LITTLE BIT OF BACKGROUND ON, ON, UH, WHERE WE'VE BEEN AND THE LEARNINGS THAT WE'RE USING TO DEVELOP THE STRATEGIC, UH, UM, PLAN THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE, UH, BRINGING TO YOU.
UH, I'M SO USED TO SOMEBODY ELSE MANAGING OUR SLIDES.
UM, SO I'LL COVER THE THREE COMPONENTS BRIEFLY.
I WON'T SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THESE, BUT I DO WANNA SET THE STAGE, UH, SO THAT WE UNDERSTAND WHY WE ARE RECOMMENDING THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK THAT WE ARE, AND TO UNDERSTAND THE LEARNINGS AND HOW WE ARE GOING TO UTILIZE THOSE LEARNINGS.
FROM THE ESSAY 2020 ASSESSMENT THAT WAS CONDUCTED.
AND THE FIRST ONE OF THE INTERNAL ASSESSMENTS, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS WE LEARNED WAS THAT THERE IS, UH, A NEED TO CONTINUOUSLY REINFORCE THAT ENGAGING THE PUBLIC IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY BETWEEN BOTH THE COUNCIL AND THE CITY ORGANIZATION.
AND THAT BECAME, UM, EVIDENT AS THE ASSESSMENT LOOKED AT THE ACTIVITIES THAT WE ARE BEING MANAGED BY BOTH ENTITIES.
AND SO THERE WAS THAT THE NEED, THAT THERE WAS THE NEED TO, UH, ENSURE THAT, THAT BOTH ENTITIES UNDERSTOOD THAT THERE WAS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY AROUND THAT.
UH, BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH ENGAGEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY BOTH ENTITIES WERE, UH, INVOLVED IN.
UH, WE ALSO LEARNED THAT THE CURRENT AD, WHICH IS, UH, PERTAINING TO PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, IS A GOOD STARTING POINT FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
UM, BUT THAT THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO STRENGTHEN THAT, UH, SPECIFICALLY AROUND METRICS.
UH, COUNCILMAN TO YOUR POINT, UM, AROUND UNDERSTANDING WHAT MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT IS.
WHAT DOES, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? UH, SOME OF THE REVIEW OF THE INFORMATION SHOWED THAT THERE ARE DEFINITELY DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDINGS OF WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE.
UH, TO SOME SUCCESS WOULD BE NUMBER OF SEATS, NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN THE SEATS, WHETHER IT'S SOCIAL, UH, CLICKTHROUGHS.
UM, FOR OTHERS IT'S, UM, THE MEDIA REACH AND FREQUENCY.
AND SO THE NEED TO UNDERSTAND FROM THE GET GO, HOW ARE WE GONNA MEASURE SUCCESS? AND, UM, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? AND ALSO UNDERSTANDING THAT FROM THE RESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE, THAT MIGHT LOOK A LITTLE DIFFERENT.
SO A LOT OF GREAT LEARNING AROUND HOW CAN WE STRENGTHEN OUR AD, AND I'LL SHARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF THAT.
UH, WHEN I SHARE THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK, UM, THAT WE WANT TO PUT IN PLACE, UM, WE ALSO LEARNED THAT THERE'S A NEED TO BUILD CAPACITY AROUND HAVING EFFECTIVE, MEANINGFUL PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT CAPACITY ON BOTH SIDES FROM THE COUNCIL SIDE AND FROM THE CITY.
UH, AS AN ORGANIZATION, WE WANNA ENSURE THAT WE HAVE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE SKILLED IN IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION INITIATIVES.
AND SO THAT WAS AN, A GREAT LEARNING FOR US.
WE ALSO LEARNED THAT THERE'S THE NEED FOR SHARED GOALS AND PERFORMANCE METRICS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION.
AGAIN, HOW DO WE CREATE CONSISTENCY AROUND WHAT WE'RE DOING, HOW WE'RE MEASURING IT, AND WHETHER THAT WAS MEANINGFUL ON THE BACKEND FOR US IN TERMS OF, OF ACQUIRING ACTIONABLE AND USABLE DATA SETS TO INFORM OUR DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
AND ON THE RESIDENTS SIDE, HOW WAS THERE, WAS THAT ENGAGEMENT MEANINGFUL TO THEM? DID THEY FEEL LISTENED TO? DID THEY FEEL LIKE WE WERE RESPONDING TO THEIR NEEDS? AND SO, UH, ENSURING THAT ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION WE CAN HAVE THOSE SHARED GOALS AND PERFORMANCE METRICS GOES A LONG WAY IN CREATING MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY.
WE ALSO LEARN THAT THERE'S A NEED TO SUPPORT COORDINATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS AND COUNCIL OFFICES.
UM, A LOT OF TIMES, UM, THE COUNCIL OFFICES ARE IMPLEMENTING, UH, ACTIVITIES THAT PERHAPS DON'T INVOLVE THE CITY, WHICH IS FINE, BUT THEN WE'RE IN COMMUNITY AS WELL AND MAYBE, UH, YOU KNOW, CROSSING EACH OTHER AT THE PATH.
AND SO ENSURING THAT THIS IS A COORDINATED EFFORT AROUND OUR ENGAGEMENTS, AND NOT JUST COORDINATED, BUT HOW DO WE LEVERAGE THAT, RIGHT? HOW DO WE LEVERAGE EXISTING ACTIVITIES THAT
[00:40:01]
PERHAPS, UH, COUNCIL OFFICES HAVE IN THE MARKET? AND WE BRING TO THOSE, UH, INITIATIVES, INFORMATION THAT'S HAPPENING, UH, WITHIN OUR, UH, DEPARTMENTS, AGAIN, LEVERAGING WHAT WE'RE DOING IN COMMUNITIES SO THAT WE'RE NOT, UH, CROSSING EACH OTHER AT THE PATH.AND SO WE'RE NOT CREATING FATIGUE AMOUNT, UM, AMONG OUR RESIDENTS, UH, BY COMING THEM TOO OFTEN WITH SIMILAR THINGS.
UH, AROUND THE INTERNAL SURVEY, AGAIN, IT WAS CONDUCTED AMONG STAFF AND AMONG CITY, AMONG COUNCIL STAFF AND CITY STAFF, WE WERE EXCITED TO KNOW THAT THERE IS DEFINITELY A SHARED KNOWLEDGE ON THE MISSION OF THE CITY'S WORK AND THE ROLE THAT THAT PUBLIC PARTICIPANT PART PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PLAYS IN ACCOMPLISHING THAT MISSION.
SO THE EXCITING PART IS THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO CONVINCE ANYONE THAT PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IS IMPORTANT AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT, THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY, ENSURING THAT THE, THAT WE ARE LEARNING FROM RESIDENTS HOW TO BEST SERVE THEM IS, UH, WAS, UH, AN, A GREAT FINDING.
BUT HOWEVER, WE DID LEARN THAT THERE'S NOT A SHARED LANGUAGE ACROSS, AGAIN, MEANINGFUL PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, AND THAT THERE WAS A LACK OF COORDINATION AMONG THE STRATEGIES OF IMPLEMENTING IN COMMUNITY.
AND THAT WHAT WHAT WAS, UM, UH, GOOD TO TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT IS THAT WE LEARNED THAT FROM THE ASSESSMENT OF OUR INTERNAL POLICIES, PROGRAMS, PO UH, AND, AND, AND INITIATIVES.
AND THEN WE LEARNED THAT FROM THE SURVEYS THAT WE, UM, DID AMONG OUR STAFF.
AND SO THE, THE FINDINGS WERE, WERE, UH, SIMILAR.
AND SO THAT'S ALWAYS GOOD TO KNOW THAT WE'RE NOT FINDING ONE THING ON ONE ASSESSMENT AND, AND, AND ANOTHER ON ANOTHER ASSESSMENT.
SO, UM, WE ALSO TOOK AWAY FROM THE LEARNINGS THAT THERE'S A, A GAP BETWEEN UNDERSTANDING AND OPERATIONALIZING EQUITY.
AND SO STAFF UNDERSTANDS THE NEED TO ENSURE INCLUSIVE PARTICIPATION, BUT THE ACTUAL OPERATIONALIZING IT IN COMMUNITY DOESN'T ALWAYS PLAY OUT.
AND THAT'S, UM, AND, AND FOR US, THAT'S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE BECAUSE WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO ANALYZE DATA IN REAL TIME, AND THEN COURSE CORRECT IF WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE REPRESENTATIVE, UH, PARTICIPATION ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY.
AND SO, UH, WE WANNA BE ABLE TO ENSURE THAT AS THAT THE UNDERSTANDING TRANSLATES INTO ACTUALLY, UH, ENSURE INTO ACTUAL, UH, UH, REPRESENTATIVE, UH, PARTICIPATION ACROSS OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, WE LEARNED THAT THERE WAS THAT, UH, WHEN, WHEN ASKED THE STAFF, UH, RESPONDED TO THE BARRIERS, UH, RELATED TO THE ABILITY TO ENGAGE, UH, OR TO BE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT, THAT THE BARRIERS WERE AROUND TRAINING TIME AND RESOURCES, UH, TRAINING IN THAT THERE WAS A DESIRE TO ENSURE THAT THERE WAS AN ABILITY TO LEARN FROM BEST PRACTICES THAT WERE EITHER, UH, BEING, UH, UH, COMING OUT OF OUR OWN WORK, BUT, OR COMING OUT OF OTHER, OTHER AREAS OF THE COMMUNITY, UH, TIME RELATED TO NOT JUST THE TIME IT TAKES TO IMPLEMENT SOMETHING, BUT THE TIME IT TAKES TO PLAN AND HAVING ENOUGH LEAD TIME TO PLAN EFFECTIVE, UH, ENGAGEMENTS IN OUR COMMUNITY AND RESOURCES CENTERED AROUND TECHNOLOGY PRIMARILY.
UH, WE ALSO IDENTIFIED, AND IT RELATES TO THE OTHER THINGS THAT I'VE MENTIONED HERE, THE NEED FOR, UH, SHARING BEST PRACTICES.
THERE'S AN EAGERNESS TO LEARN FROM THE WORK THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING FROM THOSE DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE DOING IT WELL.
AND WE, WE HAVE EXAMPLES OF THAT, THAT WE'RE PART OF THE ASSESSMENT.
AND SO WE WANNA BE ABLE TO, TO, TO TAKE INFORMATION, SHARE IT, AND ENSURE THAT THERE'S CONSIST CONSISTENCY ACROSS THE DEPARTMENTS AND THE COUNCIL OFFICES, UH, WHEN ENGAGING WITH COMMUNITY AROUND THE FOCUS GROUPS.
THESE WERE THE, THESE WERE THE MOST EXCITING, UH, TO ME.
YOU'RE GONNA SEE THE POLICY AND DATA WONK, UH, SHINE THROUGH, UH, ON THIS ONE FOR ME, BECAUSE I, UH, ACTUALLY GOT A CHANCE TO SIT ON 'EM.
AND IT'S ALWAYS WONDERFUL TO HEAR FROM DIRECTLY FROM OUR RESIDENTS AND UNDERSTAND WHERE THEY'RE COMING FROM, THOUGH WE LEARNED THAT THEY REALLY NEED US TO BE INTENTIONAL AND TRANSPARENT.
AND WHAT THAT TRANSLATED INTO WAS TELL US WHAT OUR ROLE IS.
DON'T LET US, DON'T COME TO US WITHOUT US UNDERSTANDING WHAT OUR ROLE IS.
BECAUSE THE EXPECTATION ON THE BACK END COULD BE A LET DOWN IF WE ARE LOOKING FOR INPUT OR IF WE'RE MAYBE JUST SHARING INFORMATION, OR IF WE'RE CO-CREATING A STRATEGIC HOUSING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
THEY WANNA KNOW THAT, AND THEY WANNA KNOW WHAT THEIR ROLE IS GOING TO BE, AND THEY WANNA BE KEPT IN THE LOOP THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS.
AND THEN THEY WANT US TO CLOSE THE LOOP ON THE BACK END.
THEY WANNA TRULY UNDERSTAND HOW DID MY INPUT IMPACT THE DECISION MAKING THAT YOU, UH, HAD TO DO AROUND THAT PARTICULAR PROJECT INITIATIVE.
UM, AND SO, UH, WE ALSO LEARNED THAT, UM, THEY REALLY ARE PUTTING THE ONUS ON THE CITY IN TERMS OF,
[00:45:01]
UH, CREATING MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES.UM, THEY, THEY WANT TO ENSURE THAT THERE ARE MULTIPLE TOUCHPOINT THAT THEY CAN ENGAGE AT.
AND AT THE, AT THE, AT THE END OF THE DAY, THAT WE'VE DONE ENOUGH TO REDUCE THE BARRIERS FOR PARTICIPATION.
UM, THEY WANT US TO LISTEN, RESPOND, AND BUILD TRUST.
AND WHAT THAT, UH, TRANSLATED INTO WAS, UM, MEET ME WHERE I AM, AND IN MEETING ME WHERE I AM, UNDERSTAND THOSE THINGS THAT KEEP ME FROM PARTICIPATING.
AND IF YOU'RE DOING THAT, THAT MEANS THAT YOU TRULY WANNA LISTEN TO ME, THAT YOU'RE TRULY RESPONDING TO MY NEEDS, AND THEN WE CAN START TO BUILD THE TRUST.
UM, AND SO THE, THOSE WERE IMPORTANT, UM, THINGS FOR US TO BE ABLE TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM THEM.
UM, AND THEY WANT US TO RECOGNIZE THAT THEY HOLD KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WHAT BEST SUITS THEM, WHAT, HOW DO WE, AND HOW, AND HOW WE, AND WHAT WE CREATE AROUND POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AND SERVICES.
THEY WANT TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED AS HAVING SOME LEVEL OF EXPERTISE BECAUSE THEY'RE THE USERS OF THOSE, UM, OF THOSE SERVICES AND PROGRAMS, AND THEY ARE IMPACTED BY THOSE POLICIES THAT WE'RE PUTTING INTO PLACE.
AND LASTLY, FROM THE FOCUS GROUPS, WE LEARNED, UM, THAT THEY WANNA SEE THEIR INPUT REFLECTED IN THE POLICIES.
AND THAT HAS A LOT TO DO WITH SETTING THE EXPECTATION ABOUT WHAT THEIR ROLE IS.
AND IF THEIR ROLE IS TO PROVIDE INPUT, HOW IS THAT BEING REFLECTED IN WHAT WE'RE, WHAT WE'RE MAKING DECISIONS AROUND, OR IF IT WAS JUST AN INFORMATION SHARING, OKAY, I, I, THEY, THEY RESPECT THAT THEY UNDERSTOOD WHAT THEIR ROLE WAS.
SO ON THE BACK END, UM, WHAT THEY SEE REFLECTED IS THE INFORMATION THAT WE SHARED.
UM, SO THO THOSE WERE THE FINDINGS AND THE LEARNINGS, AND I WANTED TO SHARE ON THIS PAGE, UM, I'M A, I'M A QUALITATIVE RESEARCHER BY
SO IT'S ALWAYS FOR ME, ENLIGHTENING TO HEAR THE WORDS OF OUR CONSUM OF, OF, OF THE PEOPLE THAT YOU ARE TESTING.
AND, UM, HERE, WE, WE HAD, UH, FROM OUR CITY STAFF, NEED MY SECOND PARAGRAPH, EYES HERE.
UH, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS SHOULD BE TAILORED TO DIFFERENT CONSTITUENCIES.
EFFORTS THAT WORK IN SOME DISTRICTS ARE NOT EFFECTIVE IN OTHERS.
AND I THINK THAT I'M PREACHING TO THE CHOIR WHEN I MAKE THIS COMMENT, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WE, WE SAW IT COME THROUGH DURING OUR PD SERVICES REVIEW.
WE SAW IT COME THROUGH DURING OUR BUDGET, UM, OUTREACH.
AND SO WE NEED TO TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION AND, AND BE VERY, UH, COGNIZANT OF THE FACT THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENCES AND WE'RE NOT GONNA APPROACH EVERY DISTRICT IN THE SAME WAY, AND WE SHOULDN'T.
UH, UM, AT THE END OF THE DAY, THROUGH THAT APPROACH, DID WE HAVE AN OUTCOME THAT HELPED US TAKE DIRECTION THAT REPRESENTS THE VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY? AND I THINK THAT WAS ALSO, UH, REITERATED WHEN WE DID THE FOCUS GROUPS.
IS IT, I WANNA SEE MYSELF REFLECTED IN THAT.
AND THEN FROM THE CITY STAFF, UH, WE, WE ALSO HAVE THE NEED TO SAY THE VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY IS REFLECTED IN WHAT WE ARE, UH, MOVING FORWARD AROUND POLICIES AND PROGRAMS AND SERVICES.
AND THE LAST ONE COMES FROM FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT WHO SAID, THE QUESTION IS, HOW SERIOUS ARE YOU ABOUT ENGAGING THE PUBLIC? AND WE WANT TO COME TO COMMUNITY AND SHOW THAT WE'RE REALLY SERIOUS AND HOW WE COME TO COMMUNITY COMMUNICATES OUR SERIOUSNESS.
UM, AND SO I'M GONNA MOVE ON TO, UM, SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING.
AND SO EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T HAVE A FORMALIZED STRATEGIC PLAN ABOUT AROUND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, UM, WE HAVE ONGOING WORK THAT IS CONTINUING TO STRENGTHEN OUR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION EFFORTS.
UH, THE FIRST ONE IS AROUND THE AD, WHICH AS YOU HEARD IN THE FINDINGS, THERE WAS A SUGGESTION TO STRENGTHEN THAT.
AND WHAT WE'VE DONE AROUND THAT IS WE'VE, UH, FORMED A WORKING GROUP OF 14 DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE REPRESENTED OF, UH, DIFFERENT LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP AND ARE REPRESENTED OF DIFFERENT, UH, SKILL SETS AROUND ENGAGEMENT, BUT ALSO REPRESENTING DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE GONNA BE NECESSARY TO ENSURE THAT THE STRATEGIC PLAN THAT WE PUT IN PLACE CAN GET IMPLEMENTED, WHETHER IT'S FROM HR OR FROM IT, UM, OR FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF INNOVATION.
WE'RE WANTING TO MAKE SURE THAT THE RIGHT PEOPLE ARE ON THIS WORKING GROUP TO HELP US GET TO THE PLACE WHERE THAT STRATEGIC PLAN IS SOLID, AND IT IS GOING TO ENSURE MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT, UH, IN THE COMMUNITY.
UM, WE'RE, UH, GETTING READY TO LAUNCH THE SA SPEAKUP PORTAL.
YOU GOT A BRIEFING ON THAT LAST WEEK, BUT WE ARE, THAT IS ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE, UM, TOOLS AND RESOURCES THAT EVEN BEFORE WE DID THIS ASSESSMENT, THE COUNCIL APPROVED THE BUDGET TO IMPLEMENT.
AND WE ARE NOW ON THE EXCITING PART OF GETTING READY TO LAUNCH THAT.
SO, UM, WE'RE WORKING HARD TO REMOVE AND REDUCE BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION.
I THINK IF I HAD TO POINT TO AN EXAMPLE OF THAT WOULD BE OUR BUDGET, UH, OUTREACH EFFORTS WHERE WE, WE USED MULTIPLE PLATFORMS TO ENSURE THAT WE WERE ABLE TO GET THE MESSAGE OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
OUR TELEPHONE TOWN HALL IS NO LONGER JUST A TELEPHONE, UH, TOWN HALL.
[00:50:01]
WE ARE COMMUNICATING OUR MESSAGE THROUGH TELEPHONE OUTBOUND CALLS ON LANDLINES AND ON CELL, ON THE CELL PHONES, BUT WE'RE ALSO LIVE STREAMING IT, ONT V S A, WE LIVE STREAM IT ON, ON ON FACEBOOK.AND SO WE'RE TAKING THESE MULTIMODAL APPROACHES TO ENSURE THAT IF INDIVIDUALS CAN'T ATTEND IN PERSON, THERE ARE OTHER OPPORTUNITIES.
AND I, I JUST WANNA, UM, ALSO POINT OUT THAT, UH, THERE WAS EVEN ANOTHER LEVEL, UH, THAT WAS TAKEN IN THAT, UH, DISTRICT FIVE HOSTED A WATCH PARTY.
AND SO WHAT WE HAD STARTED OUT TO DO IS JUST VIRTUAL AND TELEPHONE, UM, TURNED INTO AN IN-PERSON.
AND SO NOW WE'VE LEARNED A NEW BEST PRACTICE, RIGHT? HOW CAN WE INCORPORATE THAT INTO OTHER OUTREACH? SO, UH, WE'RE, AGAIN, IN THIS PROCESS OF ESTABLISHING A A, A FORMALIZED STRATEGIC PLAN.
UH, THE WORK HAS NOT STOPPED AROUND ENGAGEMENT, ENGAGING OUR COMMUNITY AND, AND ENSURING THAT THERE'S MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT.
UH, WE ARE, UM, WE'VE IMPLEMENT, WE, WE'VE ACTUALLY, WE'VE PUT IN PLACE AN EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICE THAT WILL BE, UH, CENTRALIZING ALL OF THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS.
AND SO, AGAIN, UH, PART OF THE LEARNINGS OF WHAT NEEDED TO HAPPEN AROUND CENTRALIZING THE WORK WAS, UM, THE, UM, DECISION FROM THE CITY TO SAY, WE NEED A CENTRAL PLACE AND WE NEED SOMEONE DEDICATED TO THAT.
AND I, AS THE EXTERNAL FELLOWS MANAGER AND THE TEAM THAT'S HERE PRESENT, WILL BE FOCUSED ON THAT.
AND PART OF THAT WILL BE TO HELP OUR, OUR DEPARTMENTS, UM, BUILD CAPACITY.
AND WE'VE BEGUN DOWN THAT PATH AS WELL.
UM, WE HAVE, UH, PROVIDED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AROUND, UM, DEVELOPING CAMPAIGNS.
UH, WE'VE BEEN VERY, VERY ACTIVE IN PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AROUND SURVEY INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT, WHICH IS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT, UH, WE WILL BE WORKING REALLY HARD TO ENSURE THAT AS WE GO OUT AND DO DATA COLLECTION AROUND SURVEYS, UM, THAT THEY ARE AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE, BUT THAT THE ON THE BACK END, THE DATA IS CREDIBLE AND VALID, AND THAT WE CAN BE CONFIDENT IN THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS.
WE'RE, UH, USING THAT DATA FOR.
UM, AND SO AGAIN, THOSE ARE JUST SOME OF THE EXAMPLES OF THE, OF THE ONGOING WORK AROUND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.
UM, AS WE CONTINUE TO LOOK TO FORMALIZE A STRATEGIC PLAN, WHICH IS THE NEXT SLIDE, AND THE INFORMATION I'LL SHARE IS FROM THE LEARNINGS FROM SA 2020.
WHAT WE DID WAS WE WENT IN AND WE LOOKED AT WHAT WAS, WHAT WAS, WHAT WERE THE AREAS THAT WE DEFINITELY WANTED TO FOCUS ON.
AND THE, UH, FOUR AREAS WERE STRENGTHENING THE AD, CENTRALIZING THE ENGAGEMENT, UH, HAVING SHARED RESPONSIBILITY ACROSS THE DEPARTMENTS AND ACROSS THE CITY AND THE COUNCIL OFFICES, AND HAVING ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY TO ENSURE THAT WE WOULD HAVE MEANINGFUL ENGAGEMENT IN THE COMMUNITY.
UM, FROM A STRENGTHENING THE, UH, AD I TOUCHED A LITTLE BIT ON IT ALREADY.
THIS, WE NEED TO DEFINE, UH, WHAT THAT MEANS.
WE NEED TO HAVE METRICS THAT CAN MEASURE IT.
UH, WE NEED TO ENSURE THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS FROM THE BEGINNING AND PRIOR TO IMPLEMENTING AN INITIATIVE, WHAT THOSE MEASUREMENTS OF SUCCESS ARE GONNA BE.
AND THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT SOMETHING, WE WILL BE ABLE TO SAY, THIS IS HOW WE INTENDED TO MEASURE IT, AND THIS IS HOW IT, UH, SUCCEEDED.
AND THEN DO REVIEWS AND ANALYSIS AROUND THOSE, UH, TO CREATE, UM, BEST PRACTICES THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO REPLICATE.
UH, WE'RE GOING TO LOOK TO INNOVATE OUR ESSAY SPEAKUP SURVEYS.
WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF INNOVATION AND UNDER, UH, THE NEWLY CREATED, UH, MASTER RESEARCH PLAN, WE'RE GONNA BE WORKING TO IDENTIFY, UM, STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES AROUND SURVEY INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT.
WE'RE GOING TO ENSURE THAT, UM, EVERY, UH, DEPARTMENT UNDERSTANDS AND HAS RESOURCES TO DEVELOP, UH, CRITERIA AROUND THE DEMOGRAPHICS TO INCLUDE, TO ENSURE INCLUSIVE REPRESENTATION.
UM, SO WE'RE VERY, UH, AGAIN, EXCITED TO BE WORKING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF INNOVATION WHO'S GONNA HELP US TO LOOK AT STRENGTHENING THE CONVENIENCE SURVEY ASPECT OF OUR ESSAY SPEAKUP SURVEYS, BUT ALSO ENSURING CREDIBILITY AND VALIDITY ON THE BACK END.
UM, SPECIFICALLY AROUND DEMOGRAPHICS.
UH, UH, WE'RE GOING TO CENTRALIZE ENGAGEMENT.
AND G P A WILL BE THE CENTRAL HUB OF, OF ENSURING THAT, UH, COMMUNITY, UH, ENGAGEMENT PLANS ARE REVIEWED, STRENGTHENED, IF NEEDED, UM, AND SUPPORTED BY US.
BUT ALSO, IF THERE IS A NEED TO PAUSE AN ENGAGEMENT, UM, THEN WE WILL HAVE THAT ABILITY TO WORK WITH THE DEPARTMENTS TO ENSURE THAT BEFORE THEY GO OUT IN THE COMMUNITY, WE'VE LOOKED AT EVERYTHING THAT NEEDS TO BE LOOKED AT TO ENSURE THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE SUCCESS AROUND THAT EFFORT.
UH, WE'RE GOING TO DEVELOP, UH, INSTRUMENTS TO REVIEW AND, AND, AND EVALUATE THE INITIATIVES SO THAT WE CAN NOT JUST LEARN FROM THEM AND, YOU KNOW, SAY, WELL, THIS WAS SUCCESSFUL, BUT THEN HOW DO WE REPLICATE THAT,
[00:55:01]
RIGHT? HOW DO WE SCALE SOME OF THE GREAT WORK THAT'S GOING ON WITHIN THE DEPARTMENTS? UM, AND, AND LASTLY ON, ON, UH, CENTRALIZING IT, WE'RE GOING TO DEVELOP AUDITING AND REPORTING TOOLS.WE'RE GOING TO ENSURE THAT THERE'S AN ABILITY FOR, UH, COUNCIL AND E L T TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S COMING DOWN THE PIPE, WHAT'S IN THE PIPE, HOW IT'S DOING, UM, AND WHAT ARE WE DOING TO, UH, IMPROVE THE WORK THAT WE HAVE.
AND ONE OF THE, UH, UH, AREAS THAT WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT IS THAT THIS YEAR, O N B COLLECTED FROM ALL OF THE DEPARTMENTS, UH, THEIR COMMUNITY ENG ENGAGEMENT PLANS FOR 2022.
AND, UM, MY, MYSELF AND MY TEAM WILL BE GOING IN AND SYNTHESIZING THE DATA.
UM, THE LAST COUNT I HAD WAS, THERE ARE 27 DEPARTMENTS THAT WILL BE CONDUCTING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES IN, IN THIS COMING YEAR.
AND WE WANNA ENSURE THAT THERE IS A MASTER PLAN THAT EXISTS SO THAT EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS WHO'S DOING WHAT, HOW ARE THE COUNCIL OFFICES GONNA BE ENGAGED IN THAT PROCESS? HOW, HOW, UH, HIGH, HOW HIGH PROFILE ARE THESE? WE CAN THINK, I CAN THINK OF THREE RIGHT NOW, U D C, REDISTRICTING AND BOND THAT ARE COMING WITHIN THE NEXT THREE MONTHS, WHAT'S ALSO HAPPENING AROUND THAT? AND THEN ENSURE THAT WE HAVE A COLLECTIVE VOICE ABOUT WHY WE'RE COMING TO COMMUNITY AROUND ALL THIS.
BUT, UM, AGAIN, WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT THAT.
AND, AND WE'RE VERY HAPPY THAT, UH, O M B THROUGH THEIR BUDGET PROCESS, COLLECTED THIS FROM EACH OF THE DEPARTMENTS.
AND WE HOPE TO NEXT YEAR, UH, BE PART OF THE COLLECTION AND THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AROUND PUTTING TOGETHER ENGAGEMENT PLANS, UM, SIMILAR TO WHAT THE OFFICE OF EQUITY DOES AROUND THE, THE BUDGET EQUITY TOOLS.
SO WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT, ABOUT THAT.
UM, THE SHARED RESPONSIBILITY, UH, PILLAR WILL BE, WE WANNA ENSURE THAT THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ARE UNDERSTOOD ON BOTH SIDES, THAT THE CITY, UH, DEPARTMENTS CAN COORDINATE STRATEGICALLY WITH THE COUNCIL OFFICES BEFORE GOING INTO THEIR BACKYARD TO IMPLEMENT ACTIVITIES.
AND HA AND AGAIN, LEVERAGING THE KNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE ABOUT YOUR RESIDENTS, WHICH IS, UH, ONE OF THE POINTS HERE ON HOW TO BEST REACH 'EM, UH, AND, AND ENSURE THAT THEY ARE PART OF THE PROCESS AND FEEL LIKE WE ARE ENGAGING THEM IN A MEANINGFUL WAY.
WE WANNA DEFINE THE METRICS FROM, FROM THE BEGINNING.
WE WANNA UNDERSTAND HOW ARE WE GOING TO LOOK AT SUCCESS AROUND THIS? AND, AND SOME INITIATIVES, IT MAY BE DIFFERENT THAN IN OTHERS, BUT AT AS A WHOLE, STRATEGICALLY THAT SHOULD BE WHAT WE'RE DOING, UM, BEFORE WE GET OUT OF THE GATE.
AND CURRENTLY WE DON'T, UM, UH, HAVE THAT GOING IN.
WE DO MEASURE METRICS, OF COURSE, UH, BUT, UH, WE WANNA BE ABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS SUCH AS, UH, COUNCILMAN MCGEE RODRIGUEZ SAID IS, HOW ARE WE MEASURING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THAT? RECOGNIZING COUNCILMAN THAT SOME, UH, UH, METRICS, THE CALL TO ACTION MAY BE DIFFERENT.
AND SO I JUST WANNA THROW THAT IN THERE AS A FORMER AD AGENCY, UH, EXEC, UH,
UH, AND AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE DEFINITELY WANNA ENSURE EQUITABLE PARTICIPATION.
AND, AND THAT'S GONNA BE A RECURRING THEME THROUGH THIS REP, UH, INCLUSIVE REPRESENTATION.
AND HOW DO WE GET TO THAT PLACE, WHETHER IT'S A SURVEY, WHETHER IT'S A MEETING, UH, WHETHER, UH, IT'S QUANTITATIVE OR QUALITATIVE.
UM, AND THEN ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY, I TOUCHED ON, ON, ON SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE FOCUSING ON.
UH, ONE THING THAT I WANNA MENTION IS THE EVALUATING JOB DESCRIPTIONS TO ENSURE THAT THERE ARE, UH, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES RELATED, UH, UH, UH, TO, IN THE WORK THAT IS BEING DONE.
AND, UH, FINALLY JUST TO SAY THAT WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING AT HOW TO ALIGN DEPARTMENT, UH, UH, ASSETS WITH THE WORK THAT WE'RE GONNA BE DOING.
UM, SO, UM, MADAM CHAIR, THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION, AND I'M AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS.
I GO AHEAD AND DO THE LAST SLIDE.
OH, I THINK THAT ONE'S IMPORTANT.
THERE WAS A TIMELINE THAT WE WANTED TO REVIEW, UH, AND LOOK.
SO WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING THE PLAN.
UH, WE'VE ESTE UH, WE'VE ESTABLISHED THE WORKING GROUP.
FIRST CHARGE WILL BE TO, UH, TO WORK ON STRENGTHENING THE AD AND, UH, DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLAN IN DECEMBER WITH THE PLAN IMPLEMENTATION AND ROLLOUT.
NOT A FINAL, BECAUSE THIS IS GONNA BE AN ONGOING IMPROVEMENT PROCESS, UH, WILL BE HAPPENING IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY OF NEXT YEAR.
AND, UH, I HAVE SO MUCH TO SAY ON THIS TOPIC.
I KNOW, AND IT WAS A LOT TO UNPACK
I, I, AND I'M, YEAH, I, I, I SEE COUNCILMAN BRAVO, LIKE, READY TO GO WITH, WITH HIS COMMENTS ON THIS, BUT I'LL, I'LL GO AHEAD AND START AND JUST SET A LITTLE BIT OF, OF CONTEXT.
NUMBER ONE, I, I THINK WE HAVE COME A TREMENDOUSLY LONG WAY, AT LEAST SINCE I STARTED ON COUNCIL, IN TERMS OF OUR THINKING AS AN ORGANIZATION AROUND
[01:00:01]
ENGAGING THE PUBLIC IN OUR DECISION MAKING AND OUR, AND OUR DECISION, OUR POLICY CRAFTING, UH, PROCESSES.SO I, I JUST WANNA CONGRATULATE THE TEAM, UH, FOR, FOR THEIR PROGRESS ON, ON ALL OF THAT.
UM, I, I PUSHED FOR A LOT OF THESE THINGS WHEN I CAME ON, BECAUSE AS AN OUTSIDER, BEFORE I FELT LIKE WE MISSED SOME REALLY GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES OF ENGAGEMENT WHEN WE MADE SOME VERY BIG DECISIONS THAT, THAT, UM, MAYBE WOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN TOO MUCH EFFORT.
SOME OF THEM WOULD HAVE
SO I, I HOPE THAT EVENTUALLY THAT'S WHERE, WHERE WE GET, UM, WITH THIS.
SO I'M, I'M GLAD TO SEE IT PROGRESSING.
I THINK THERE ARE SOME, SOME KEY QUESTIONS WE NEED TO ASK OURSELVES AND THAT WE ALL NEED TO BE ON THE SAME PAGE ON AS AN ORGANIZATION AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
ONE OF THEM IS, AS YOU STATED, THE DEFINITION OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN A, IN A VERY BASIC FORM.
AND YOU'VE, YOU'VE GOT ONE HERE, UH, FROM THE AD, BUT IT SHALL BE, UM, THE AD WILL BE STRENGTHENED.
SO MAYBE WE'LL SEE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ONE.
BUT I'D, I'D ALSO ASK THE TEAM TO GO BACK AND, AND I KNOW YOU'RE GONNA GO BACK AND DO A LOT OF STUFF,
UM, AND I THINK YOU'RE RIGHT, IT'S DIFFERENT DEPENDING WHO YOU ARE.
BUT I THINK WE CAN COME TO A CONSENSUS ABOUT WHAT, WHAT THAT IS.
I, I HAVE SOME IDEAS, YOU KNOW, GOING BEYOND CHECKING THE BOX, MAKING SURE WE HAVE A BETTER PRODUCT AT THE END OF THE DAY, THAT YOU MENTIONED SOME THINGS TOO, THAT PEOPLE FEEL HEARD.
BUT, UM, I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE USING THAT TERM A LOT, AND I'M GLAD WE ARE, WE KNOW WE'RE GOING BEYOND JUST PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, THAT IT HAS TO BE MEANINGFUL, BUT WE ALSO, UH, WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT WORD HAS, YOU KNOW, WEIGHT BEHIND IT.
UM, IN TERMS OF PUTTING A PLAN TOGETHER, I'M REALLY GLAD THAT WE'RE MOVING INTO THAT PHASE.
I THINK I, I TOLD JEFF, I WAS LIKE, WAIT, IF YOU'RE GONNA PUT A PLAN TOGETHER, YOU NEED TO HAVE A BUDGET, YOU NEED TO HAVE A TIMELINE.
YOU NEED TO HAVE STAKEHOLDERS.
UM, SO I, I DO THINK THE, THE TIMELINE LOOKS, UH, QUICK.
UM, SO I'M GLAD THAT WE'RE GOING TO, TO HAVE RESULTS QUICKLY.
I JUST WANT TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE QUALITY, A QUALITY PRODUCT WHEN, WHEN WE MOVE.
SO I, I IMAGINE YOU'LL BE REPORTING BACK TO THIS COMMITTEE AS WE, AS WE PROGRESS.
AND THEN, UM, SECONDLY, WAIT, A SMALL QUESTION.
THE WORKING GROUP, VERY GLAD TO SEE THAT FORMED.
UM, THAT'S SOMETHING I WAS HOPING WOULD, WOULD HAPPEN SO THAT INTERNAL DEPARTMENTS WOULD CROSS COLLABORATE, WOULD SHARE INFORMATION.
HOW DID THOSE MEMBERS COME FORWARD? WAS THAT VOLUNTARY OR, I, I GUESS, HOW DID YOU PICK THOSE 14? SO, WE LOOKED AT SEVERAL FACTORS WHEN IDENTIFYING INDIVIDUALS AND DEPARTMENTS THAT WOULD, UH, BE PART OF THIS VOLUNTARY GROUP.
IT IS ONE OF THOSE ADDITIONAL, UH, DUTIES AS ASSIGNED.
UH, SO WE LOOKED AT THE, UH, INDIVIDUALS SKILL SETS AROUND IMPLEMENTING, UH, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION ACTIVITIES IN THE MARKET, UM, THAT DEPARTMENTS, HOW, WHAT LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT THAT THEY ALREADY HAVE IN THE MARKET, AND, AND, AND HOW EFFECTIVE HAD THEY BEEN.
WE ALSO LOOKED AT DEPARTMENTS, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THAT WE WOULD NEED TO HAVE AS PART OF THE PROCESS IF WE WERE GONNA, UM, DECIDE TO, TO INCLUDE A, A JOB DESCRIPTION THAT HAD PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AS ONE OF ONE OF ITS, UM, SKILL SETS.
WE LOOKED AT, UM, ENSURING THAT WE HAD REPRESENTATION FROM IT, BECAUSE IN OUR, UH, SURVEY TECHNOLOGY AND PLATFORMS AROUND, UM, ENGAGEMENT WERE, UM, SOMETHING THAT CAME UP.
WE LOOKED AT ENSURING THAT WE WOULD HAVE, UH, DEPARTMENTS THAT WOULD HELP US ENSURE THAT WE HAD INCLUSIVE REPRESENTATION.
THE DEPARTMENT OF EQUITY, UM, AND DEPARTMENT OF INNOVATION WAS CLEARLY ONE OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS WHERE WE SAID, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW, HOW CAN WE INNOVATE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING AROUND SURVEYS, AROUND MEASUREMENT, UH, A MEASURING AND METRICS.
SO THOSE WERE SOME OF THE CRITERIA WE USED.
UM, AND, AND WE CAME UP WITH THAT ORIGINAL LIST AND HAD THAT KICKOFF MEETING LAST WEEK WITH THEM.
AND I'M HAPPY TO SHARE THE LIST OF, OF MEMBERS OF, NO, THAT, THAT SOUNDS GREAT.
UM, I, UM, SORRY, I JUST LOST MY TRAIN OF THOUGHT.
I WROTE A KEY WORD HERE AND IT SAYS CIRCLE, AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT I MEANT BY
UM, CIRCLE, CIRCLE, CIRCLE BACK.
UM, ONE THING I WOULD, UM, I WOULD ALSO, UH, RECOMMEND FOR ANYONE DOING THIS WORK ACROSS THE CITY, AND EVEN FOR OUR COUNCIL OFFICES, AND, AND SOMETIMES WE, WE FORGET TO DO THIS OURSELVES, IS THAT AS WE START AN ENGAGEMENT PROCESS, UM, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS I, I THINK WE SHOULD BE DOING IS A STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS SO THAT WE DON'T FORGET WHO'S, WHO'S AFFECTED BY, BY THINGS.
[01:05:01]
A SKILL THAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE OUR, OUR ORGANIZATION, UM, ALSO HAS, OH, I KNOW WHAT IT, WHAT CIRCLE MEANT.SO THERE'S A LOT OF CAPACITY BUILDING IN THE PLAN THAT YOU'VE PRESENTED TO US.
SO IS THIS KIND OF A FIRST PHASE, UH, OR A FIRST ROUNDABOUT TO MAKE SURE WE BUILD UP INTERNAL CAPACITY, AND THEN WE'LL BE FOCUSING ON HOW WE WORK MORE WITH, UM, WITH STAKEHOLDERS ON THE OUTSIDE.
AND I THINK THAT THE, THAT THE DIFFERENT, UH, CATEGORIES THAT WE'LL BE FOCUSED ON IN THE PLAN WILL HAVE, UH, UM, THERE'LL BE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL THINGS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
AND SO, UH, I DON'T FORESEE IT TO BE, OH, WELL, WE'RE GONNA BUILD CAPACITY FIRST, BECAUSE AS I MENTIONED, THERE'S STILL ONGOING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, AND WE'RE TAKING THE LEARNINGS THAT WE'RE APPLYING TO THAT, TO, UH, THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING IN COMMUNITY.
AND SO WE'RE GOING TO BE, YOU KNOW, DOING BOTH.
WE'RE GOING TO BE USING THE LEARNINGS TO IMPLEMENT THE NEXT, UH, CAMPAIGN THAT WE HAVE IN THE MARKET, BUT WE'RE ALSO GOING TO BE ASSISTING OUR STAFF IN, IN INCREASING THAT CAPACITY AS WE GO THROUGH THIS.
SO, UM, IF THAT ADDRESSED YOUR QUESTION, OR SO, SO I THINK IF THAT'S THE, THAT'S THE INTENT OF THE PLAN.
I THINK YOU'VE, I THINK LAUNCHING WITH WHAT YOU HEARD FROM THE FOCUS GROUPS IS EXCELLENT.
UH, BUT I THINK DOING A REALITY CHECK OR SOME SORT OF, UH, PROOF WITH, UH, SOME COMMUNITY MEMBERS, AGAIN, I DON'T KNOW WHO THEY WOULD BE, RIGHT? IF IT'S A SERIES OF FOCUS GROUPS, AGAIN, IF IT'S A COMMITTEE.
UM, BUT IF WE COULD THINK ABOUT THAT AS, AS WELL.
AND I THINK THAT THE, THE 39 MEMBERS THAT WE, UH, TESTED MIGHT BE A GREAT PLACE TO CIRCLE BACK TO AND, AND SEE, YOU KNOW, DID, DID, DID THIS PAN OUT LIKE YOU HAD ANTICIPATED WHERE SOME OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT MIGHT EXIST.
SO DEFINITELY THANK YOU FOR THAT.
UM, THANK YOU FOR LISTENING TO ALL OF THAT.
AND I WILL MOVE ON TO, TO COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND GO, UH, AROUND, IF THAT'S OKAY.
THANK YOU, BERTHA, I CAN TELL THAT YOU, YOU AND YOUR TEAM HAVE PUT A LOT OF WORK AND EFFORT INTO THIS, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
UM, I WANTED TO ASK YOU, SO YOU CONTRACTED WITH S A 2020.
CAN YOU TELL ME WHEN YOU DID THAT AND WHEN THAT WAS COMPLETED? WE CONTRACTED THEM, UH, LAST FALL.
THE WORK STARTED IN SEPTEMBER, AND IT CONCLUDED IN MARCH OF THIS YEAR.
UM, AND THEN CAN YOU TELL ME, LIKE, IS FOR YOUR JOB IT DOES, IS THIS ALL YOU WORK ON OR DO YOU HAVE OTHER THINGS THAT YOU WORK ON AS WELL RIGHT NOW? SO THE FOCUS OF THE EXTERNAL AFFAIRS DIVISION IS TO WORK ON THIS TO ENSURE THAT THIS STRATEGIC PLAN GETS BUILT AND IMPLEMENTED.
I MEAN, AS I MENTIONED RIGHT NOW, UH, PART OF THE CAPACITY BUILDING IS PROVIDING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO DEPARTMENTS AROUND SURVEY INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
WE ALSO ASSIST IN COURT AND WORK, UM, AS A TEAM TO IMPLEMENT ALL OF THE COMMUNITY MEETINGS THAT YOU, UM, SAW RIGHT.
UM, BUT THE FOCUS OF THIS DIVISION WILL BE TO ENSURE THERE'S THAT THERE'S A STRATEGIC APPROACH TO OUR ENGAGEMENT, AND THAT'LL BE THE FOCUS OF MYSELF AND MY TEAM, BUT JEFF SURE.
THANK YOU, BERTHA, FOR LETTING ME STEP IN.
UM, PRIOR TO THE CREATION OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WAS WITHIN OUR PUBLIC AFFAIRS TEAM.
SO THE SAME PEOPLE WHO WERE, UH, WRITING PRESS RELEASES, FIELDING MEDIA INQUIRIES, DOING SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS, ALL THOSE OTHER COMMUNICATIONS WORK, THE IDEA IN CREATING THIS WAS TO PULL PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT OUT OF THAT AND LET IT BE SOLELY FOCUSED ON COMMUNICATING WITH STAKEHOLDERS.
AND SO THAT'S, THAT'S THE WHOLE INTENT.
BERTA AT THE TIME HAD BEEN HIRED, UH, TEMPORARILY TO LEAD OUR COMPLETE COUNT EFFORTS FOR THE CENSUS, AND SHE DID SUCH AN OUTSTANDING JOB WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS AND WITH PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AROUND THE CENSUS, UH, THAT SHE WAS THE NATURAL FIT TO LEAD THAT TEAM.
AND SO THAT, THAT WAS THE PURPOSE OF IT.
UM, SO I'M LOOKING AT, SO WHEN YOU SAID YOU HAVE A WORKING GROUP, IS THAT INTERNAL? THOSE ARE, IS THAT CITY STAFF THAT 14 PEOPLE? CORRECT.
UM, WHEN I LOOK AT THIS TIMELINE, I SEE IT, IT LOOKS LIKE THE WORKING GROUP MIGHT BE DONE WITH THEIR JOB IN NOVEMBER, AND THEN THE END OF THE PLAN, OR THE IMP IMPLEMENT, THE IMP THE PLAN WILL BE IMPLEMENTED BY FEBRUARY.
AND I'M WONDERING, LIKE, HOW DO WE GET CONTINUOUS FEEDBACK AND INPUT ON HOW THE PLAN IS DOING AND HOW WE CAN IMPROVE? AND SO I REALLY FEEL LIKE, UM, WE NEED SOME KIND OF A CITIZEN COMMISSION THAT COULD BE INVOLVED WHERE THEY DO THE, WHERE THEY MEET ON A REGULAR BASIS AND ARE YOUR WORKING GROUP THAT CAN CONTINUE PRO CONTINUOUSLY PROVIDE
[01:10:01]
INPUT ON HOW WE CAN IMPLEMENT, CONTINUE TO IMPLEMENT THIS PLAN AND IMPROVE THE THAT PLAN.CAN ANYBODY TELL ME HOW WE WOULD GO ABOUT CREATING A COMMISSION OF MEMBERS FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD? I, THAT IS WHAT WE DISCUSSED DURING MY COMMENTS IS HOW WE WOULD, HOW WE WOULD DO THAT.
AND WE CAME UP WITH SEVERAL OPTIONS.
DO YOU WANNA REPEAT THOSE? SO ONE, JUST WANNA ALSO, UH, POINT OUT THAT PROBABLY IMPLEMENTATION WAS NOT THE PROP, THE BEST WORD TO USE.
PROBABLY MORE OF A ROLLOUT, RIGHT? 'CAUSE THIS WON'T BE DONE IN FEBRUARY.
IT'LL BE A ROLLOUT ACROSS THE DEPARTMENT, OF COURSE, UH, UH, WITH THE COUNCIL OFFICE IS ALSO BEING PART OF THAT ROLLOUT.
AND THE, THE HOPE IS THAT THIS WORKING GROUP WOULD NOT DISBAND THAT IT WOULD CONTINUE TO BE, UM, THAT IT WOULD EXIST AND BE CHAMPIONING, UH, THE, THE ONGOING CAPACITY BUILDING OR IDENTIFYING OPPORTUNITIES.
AND, AND, AND TO COUNCIL WOMEN'S POINT THAT THERE WOULD BE A COMPONENT WHERE WE HAD A FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY, PERHAPS GOING BACK TO THOSE ORIGINAL 39 INDIVIDUALS THAT PROVIDED US INPUT ORIGINALLY, UM, UH, IN THE FOCUS GROUPS.
UM, SO AGAIN, THE, THE GOAL IS TO NOT DISBAND THE WORKING GROUP, BUT TO KEEP IT AS PART OF WHAT, WHAT HELPS US AS A DIVISION AND AS AN ORGANIZATION UNDERSTAND HOW DO WE KEEP ENHANCING AND IMPROVING, UH, OUR WORK AROUND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.
AND THANK YOU, UH, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I REALLY ENJOY THIS TOPIC, AND I THINK IT'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN MAYBE IT'S GIVEN CREDIT FOR, UM, BECAUSE OUR LEVEL OF COMMITMENT AND THE VALUE THAT WE PLACE ON PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT CAN BOTH PREVENT DISENFRANCHISEMENT, BUT CAN ALSO LEAD TO IT OR FOSTER IT, UM, IF WE'RE NOT COMMITTED AS WE SHOULD BE.
UM, AND I THINK ABOUT ALL OF THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE LOOK FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, SUCH AS PUBLIC COMMENTS, PUBLIC HEARINGS, SURVEYS, COMMUNITY EVENTS AND INITIATIVES.
UM, AND I'M GLAD THAT YOU TOUCHED ON METRICS, YOU KNEW I WAS GOING THERE.
UM, BECAUSE I THINK, UM, WITH A LOT OF THESE, WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING FOR QUALITATIVE, UH, METRICS.
AND THERE ARE, LIKE, THERE ARE WAYS TO MEASURE, UH, QUALITATIVE DATA AS WELL AS QUANTITATIVE.
UM, BUT I THINK AS A CITY, WE NEED SOME SORT OF ACCOUNTABILITY PIECE WITH IT.
UM, AND EVERY QUESTION THAT WE POSE TO RESIDENTS, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO WITH THAT INFORMATION? HOW ARE WE GONNA ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT IT? AND I SAY ALL THIS TO SAY THAT I THINK ABOUT SURVEYS THAT WE'VE PUT OUT, SUCH AS THE BUDGET SURVEY OR THE POLICE SERVICES REVIEW, UM, WHATEVER THAT SURVEY WAS CALLED.
AND SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE OUR ACTIONS DON'T MATCH THE DATA THAT WE RECEIVE.
AND SO AS STRONG A PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE, IT WON'T BE COMPLETE IF WE'RE NOT IMPLEMENTING IT FAITHFULLY AS A CITY.
UM, I DO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THE SA SPEAKUP SURVEYS.
UM, SO YOU SAID YOU WERE SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THEM AND YOU'RE WORKING WITH THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION.
CAN WE HAVE A SNEAK PEEK OF WHAT WE CAN EXPECT OR WHAT'S EXCITING ABOUT IT? WELL, WHAT'S EXCITING TO ME IS THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO MARRY THE CONVENIENCE, WHAT WE CALL CONVENIENCE.
THEY'RE TYPICALLY REFERRED TO AS CONVENIENCE SURVEY, MEANING ANYONE CAN PARTICIPATE.
THERE'S, AND, AND WE'RE GONNA BE MARRYING THE CONVENIENCE SURVEY ASPECT OF IT WITH THE ABILITY TO ENSURE THE VALIDITY AND THE CREDIT AND, AND, AND THAT IT'S CREDIBLE.
AND, AND, AND IN, IN DOING THAT, WE CAN STRENGTHEN THE INFORMATION WE'RE GETTING.
AND SO AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE ENSURING THAT BEFORE WE GO INTO THE FIELD WITH THE SURVEY, YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR METRICS AROUND DEMOGRAPHICS ARE.
AND CURRENTLY, UH, WE DON'T HAVE THE CAPABILITY.
WE, WE, WE DO IN MARKET ANALYSIS TO COURSE CORRECT, WHERE THERE ARE MAYBE, UH, LOWER REPRESENTATIONS AMONG CERTAIN DEMOGRAPHICS.
BUT HOW DO WE PUT IN OTHER METHODOL UH, COLLECTION METHODS IN PLACE WHEN WE KNOW THAT THAT'S NOT HAPPENING? UH, I'M GONNA GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE.
IF WE, IF WE KNOW THAT THERE'S A DISTRICT THAT HAS A LOW RESPONSE RATE, HOW DO WE THEN IN REAL TIME GO IN AND DO, UH, PHONE BANKING? HOW DO WE DO, UH, STREET TEAMS? HOW DO WE, AND WE, WE'VE DONE THAT IN THE PAST, BUT NOW WITH THE HELP OF U T S A, WE'LL BE ABLE TO FORMALIZE THAT AROUND SOPS AND, AND, AND HAVE RESOURCES FOR DEPARTMENTS TO BE ABLE TO GO TO AND SAY, OH, OKAY, BEFORE I GO OUT WITH THIS SURVEY, HERE'S MY DEMOGRAPHIC CRITERIA BASED ON CENSUS DATA TO ENSURE THAT IT'S REPRESENTATIVE ON THE BACK END.
AND SO THAT'S WHY I'M EXCITED ABOUT IT BECAUSE WE, WE DON'T HAVE THAT FORMALIZED,
[01:15:01]
AND WHEN WE DO, THERE WILL BE CONSISTENCY ACROSS ALL DEPARTMENTS AND ALL SURVEY INSTRUMENTS.AND THEN THERE'S GOING TO BE THE NEED TO IDENTIFY, DO WE NEED A SURVEY, RIGHT? IS THIS A SURVEY OR IS THIS MORE PUBLIC COMMENT? UM, DO WE NEED IT TO GO CITYWIDE OR DO WE NEED IT TO BE FOCUSED ON JUST STAKEHOLDERS, UH, WHO ARE INTERESTED IN, UH, FAIR HOUSING OR TAX CREDITS? UM, OR EVEN, UH, UM, DO WE NEED TO DO INTERCEPTS AS OPPOSED TO A DIGITAL PUSH OUT OF SURVEYS? YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A SURVEY HAPPENING AT LATA WHERE WE'RE ONLY DOING INTERCEPTS THERE, WE'RE ONLY GETTING INFORMATION THERE BECAUSE IT'S FOR WAY FINDING SIGNAGE, RIGHT? MM-HMM.
AND SO THOSE DECISIONS THAT NEED TO GET MADE BEFORE WE GO TO COMMUNITY TO AVOID SURVEY FATIGUE, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, JUST TO GET ACTIONABLE AND USABLE DATA, AND THAT'S WHAT WE ALL WANT, AND ACTIONABLE, USABLE, CREDIBLE DATA.
AND I THINK THAT ON THE, ON THE VALIDITY OF IT IS PROBABLY WHERE, UM, THE, THE WORK WITH U T S A IS GOING TO, IS GONNA BRING A LOT TO THE TABLE.
SO I GOT A LITTLE LIKE WONKY THERE, RIGHT?
IT WAS, IT WAS PASSION AND ENERGY.
SO, UM, DIFFERENT SURVEYS THAT GET PUT OUT BY DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS, UM, ARE THEY VETTED, UH, BY YOU OR BY G P A? THAT'S ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE ROLES THAT, THAT WE'VE TAKEN.
AND YES, SO THEY, THEY ARE COMING THROUGH G P A, THEY'RE, UH, BEING VETTED PRIOR TO BEING PUT IN THE FIELD.
AND, UM, AND, AND SO THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE WE'RE PROVIDING IS TO ENSURE THAT THE, UH, INSTRUMENT, UH, DOESN'T HAVE ANY LEADING QUESTIONS.
THAT IT'S, UH, UH, ENSURING THAT THE SEQUENCE AND THE LOGIC ARE THERE.
THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR.
DID YOU HAVE ONE LAST QUESTION? I JUST WANNA REMIND EVERYONE, WE DO HAVE AN ACTION ITEM AFTER THIS, AND IT'S A VERY EXCITING ONE, SO I KNOW YOU ALL WILL STAY UNTIL WE GET THAT ONE
AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT, UM, THIS DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN PUTTING IN LENDING IN OUR OFFICE, THE PODIUM, THE MICROPHONE, UH, TRANSLATORS FOR ALL OF OUR DISTRICT FIVE EVENTS.
UM, I HAVE A QUESTION SIMILAR TO COUNCILMAN MCKEE RODRIGUEZ.
UM, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, THERE WAS A ESSAY THERE, A RECENTLY A ESSAY SPEAKUP SURVEY THAT CLOSED REGARDING HOUSING TAX CREDITS.
AND WHAT I HEARD FROM MY CONSTITUENCY WAS, YOU KNOW, OH, I DON'T TRUST THE ESSAY SPEAKUP SURVEY.
AND I REALLY VALUE THAT THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIC PLAN FRAMEWORK INCLUDES SHARED RESPONSIBILITY.
AND WITHIN THAT IS LEVERAGING COUNCIL KNOWLEDGE.
UM, BEFORE THE ESSAY SPEAKUP SURVEY WAS PUT OUT, I ASKED IF I COULD PAR PARTICIPATE IN DEVELOPING THE ESSAY SPEAKUP SURVEY.
UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, I HEAR FROM COMMUNITY THAT THE QUESTIONS ARE VERY LEADING.
UM, SO LIKE, MOVING FORWARD, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? ENSURING THAT WE ARE LEVERAGING COUNCIL KNOWLEDGE, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, UM, WITH THE HOUSING TAX CREDIT, IT HOUSING TAX CREDITS CAN BE USED TO PRODUCE BELOW 30% A M I HOUSING.
HOWEVER, THE SURVEY QUESTION DID NOT INCLUDE THAT IT WAS LEADING TO 30% AND ABOVE.
UM, SO WITH THAT, RIGHT, WE'RE NOT GONNA HEAR FROM OUR CONSTITUENCY THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE BELOW 30% BECAUSE IT WASN'T AN OPTION.
UM, SO MOVING FORWARD, HOW CAN WE ENSURE THAT WE ARE LEVERAGING THAT COUNCIL KNOWLEDGE? WILL IT BE, YOU KNOW, SENDING OUT, UM, A EMAIL TO ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS TO READ OFF OF A ESSAY SPEAKUP SURVEY AND SAY, WE CONSENT TO THE FORMAT OF THIS QUESTIONING.
WHAT, WHAT WOULD, WHAT, WHAT DO YOU ENVISION THAT LOOKING LIKE? SO WHAT I ENVISION IS THE ROLE OF U T S A TO ENSURE THAT THAT DOESN'T OCCUR MM-HMM.
AND, AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT IS REQUIRED AROUND SURVEY INSTRUMENT DEVELOPMENT, USING THEIR EXPERTISE TO HELP US DEVELOP THOSE INSTRUMENTS THAT ARE GOING TO BE NON-LEADING, CAPTURE THE CORRECT DATA AND THE RIGHT SEQUENCE OF LOGIC, STATISTICALLY VALID AND, AND, UH, REPRESENTATIVE, RIGHT? UM, SO I, THAT'S WHERE I FEEL WE CAN, UM, LEARN THE MOST ABOUT HOW WE DEVELOP OUR SURVEYS.
UM, AND SO THAT'S WHERE WE ARE.
I, AND WE CAN EXPLORE THIS AND HAVE FURTHER CONVERSATIONS, BUT I REALLY WANT TO LEAN ON THE EXPERTISE OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO DO THIS DAY IN AND DAY OUT.
AND WHERE DO WE ENVISION USING EXISTING PUBLIC SPACES LIKE LIBRARIES TO, UM, TO INCREASE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION REGARDING PUBLIC COMMENT, WHETHER IT'S FOR A SESSION OR PUBLIC COMMENT FOR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, POTENTIALLY USING SPECIFIC LIBRARIES WITHIN EACH OF OUR DISTRICTS AS A HUB FOR OUR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO GIVE PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, 'CAUSE WE KNOW, LIKE PAYING FOR PARKING, WE, WE DON'T DO THAT.
UH, WE'RE NOT GIVING VIA PASSES AT THE MOMENT, NOT YET.
BUT I HOPE THIS COUNCIL COMMITTEE COULD WORK TOWARDS THAT.
UM, SO HOW CAN WE INCREASE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT USING OUR PUBLIC SPACES?
[01:20:02]
YEAH, GREAT QUESTION.UM, LAURA MAYS, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS.
UM, SO WE ARE LOOKING AT WAYS OF LEVERAGING THE NEW ESSAY SPEAKUP PORTAL IN OUR LIBRARIES.
UM, AS IT RELATES TO SIGNING UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, YOU CAN CURRENTLY SIGN UP REMOTELY, BUT TO MAKE IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER FOR FOLKS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO MIGHT BE HESITANT BECAUSE OF TECHNOLOGY, UM, WE ARE EXPLORING WORKING WITH OUR LIBRARIES TO OFFER SOME KIND OF AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE SPEAKING TO HAPPEN THERE REMOTELY VERSUS HAVING TO COME DOWN TO COUNCIL.
UM, TO YOUR QUESTION ABOUT PARKING, WE ARE STUDYING THAT RIGHT NOW AND SEEING IF WE CAN COME UP WITH A PROPOSAL IN TERMS OF PARKING.
UM, WE'VE ALSO WORKED WITH VIA TO SEE WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT GETTING BUS FAIRS LOADED ONTO YOUR VIA APP IF YOU HAVE IT, OR THE CARD IF YOU USE IT.
UM, FOR THOSE WHO SIGN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND PARTICIPATE IN WEDNESDAY EVENING, PUBLIC COMMENT SESSIONS OR A SESSIONS AS WELL.
AND IN DISTRICT FIVE, WE HAVE CONSTITUENTS WHO COME IN REQUESTING THE COUNCIL AGENDA.
I THINK IT'D BE GREAT IF WE COULD, UH, CONTINUE TO PARTNER WITH THE LIBRARIES AND WHERE THEY HAVE THE RESOURCE PODIUM, UH, TO INCLUDE LIKE X AMOUNT OF COPIES OF THAT WEEK'S CITY COUNCIL AGENDA WOULD BE HELPFUL.
THANK YOU, BERTHA, FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
SO WHEN YOU TALK, UM, I LOVE THE QUOTE ABOUT TAYLOR MAKING IT FOR CONSTITUENTS.
I I LIKE THAT THE, WHOEVER THAT CITY STAFF PERSON WAS, KUDOS TO THEM, BUT, UH, 'CAUSE THAT IS TRUE.
UH, SO WHEN YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT WORKING WITH THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION, YOU MEAN WORKING WITH U T S A SPECIFICALLY? UH, WORKING, AND I'LL, UH, MENTION KATE KINISON IS, UH, THE PERSON THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE, WHO IS ALSO PART OF THE WORKING GROUP, BUT WHO WE'RE GOING TO BE WORKING DIRECTLY ON THAT COMPONENT ON THE SURVEY COMPONENT, UM, UNDER THE, UH, MASTER RESEARCH PLAN THAT COUNCIL APPROVED.
SO IT'S THE MASTER RESEARCH PLAN, MA'AM, WHERE THAT'S WHERE OFFICE, CORRECT? MM-HMM.
SO I WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE NOT LEAVING ANYBODY BEHIND ON THIS.
SO THANK YOU FOR CLARIFYING THAT.
UM, THE ONE THING I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE IS WE GAUGE AND YOU KEEP TRACK OF THE FIRST TIME USERS THAT START WHEN THIS GET, WHEN THIS ROLLS OUT, THAT START GETTING ONLINE AND USING THE SURVEYS OR START GETTING ENGAGED WITH THIS PROCESS, BECAUSE I THINK THAT IS GONNA WANT TO BE ONE OF THE MEASURES OF SUCCESS.
SO I'M LOOKING, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT.
UM, SO ONE OF MY OTHER QUESTION IS, UM, HOW DO YOU, HOW DO YOU PLAN TO, WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT ALIGNING WITH DEPARTMENTS, DO YOU HAVE A STANDARD PROCEDURE THAT YOU'RE GONNA GO WITH THEM IN TERMS OF, UH, WORKING WITH THEM ABOUT THEIR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT? 'CAUSE UH, AND I HAVEN'T BEEN HERE FOR VERY LONG, BUT SOME DEPARTMENTS, WHEN THEY ENGAGE WITH PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, THEY ARE ON TRACK, THEY'VE GOT IT, OTHERS NEED HELP.
SO, UH, IN ALIGNMENT, I, HOW, HOW'S THAT GONNA WORK? SO THE, THE GOAL IS YES, TO HAVE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
AND THE GOAL IS FOR THOSE DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE ROCKING AND ROLLING OUT THERE, THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE BEING LEFT TO DO WHAT THEY DO, UH, WELL ALREADY.
AND FOR THOSE DEPARTMENTS THAT NEED, UH, CAPACITY BUILDING, THEN THE USE OF STANDARD OPERATE OPERATING PROCEDURES IS ONE TOOL.
BUT THEN THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE THAT WILL COME FROM OUR DIVISION IS THE OTHER.
NO, NO, THAT, THAT, THAT'S WHAT I, I, I WANNA HEAR.
AS, AS WE, AND I'LL, AND I'LL USE THE EXAMPLE OF THE VACCINATIONS.
SO WE GET, WE GO TO A SESSION, THEY TELL US H E B GIFT CARDS ARE COMING OUT WITH VACCINATIONS.
WE GET A REPORT TODAY, IT'S THE END OF THE MONTH.
WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS THAT WE HAVE A TIMELINE OF, FROM THE ANNOUNCEMENT A WEEK DATE, AND THEN WE'LL BE ABLE TO TAKE IT FOR OUT TO THE PUBLIC.
UH, BECAUSE WHAT I DON'T WANNA HEAR IS MONDAY MORNING I HEAR THE NEWS ANNOUNCING THAT THIS IS UNVEILED STARTING TODAY AT SOME SESSION.
SO I, I WANT THAT TRANSPARENCY TO CONTINUE AS WE GET PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT, AND WE ROLL THINGS OUT THAT IT'S DONE IN A TIMELY MANNER.
SO IF, IF WE KNOW WE'RE GONNA DO THESE PUBLIC MEETINGS, IF YOU CAN LET US KNOW AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, OR GIVE US, LIKE, IT'LL BE ONE WEEK, IT'LL BE NO MORE THAN TWO WEEKS SO THAT WE KNOW WE CAN BE ASKING FOR IT TO PUSH THAT OUT TO OUR RESIDENTS, THAT WOULD BE, I'D BE VERY APPRECIATIVE OF THAT, UH, BECAUSE I DO WANNA SEE THE BEST PRACTICES.
AND I, I DO WANT US SIMILAR TO COUNCILMAN CASTILLO, LEVERAGE THE DISTRICT KNOWLEDGE THAT WE HAVE ABOUT OUR DISTRICTS AND OUR RESIDENTS.
AND I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SEE WHEN YOU DO THESE PUBLIC
[01:25:01]
PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT, WHAT, WHAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE IF THEY NEED THAT TWO MINUTE TIMER, IF THEY GET ONE QUESTION AT A TIME, IF THEY COME WITH A LIST OF QUESTIONS, BECAUSE I'VE HAD PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ENGAGEMENT AND MAYBE HAD ONE UNRULY PERSON, WHICH TURNED OFF THE REST OF MY NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION PRESIDENTS.NOW THEY DON'T WANNA COME TO EVENTS AND, AND THEN THEY DON'T FEEL LIKE THEY'RE BEING HEARD BECAUSE THE PERSON THAT WAS YELLING THE LOUDEST GOT ALL THE ATTENTION.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO ALSO LOOK AT THAT WHEN WE DO, UH, WHEN WE DO ENGAGEMENT.
AND I, BUT I APPLAUD YOU 'CAUSE WE HAD, I THINK, AN EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL TOWN HALL, UM, IN DISTRICT THREE FOR THE BUDGET, AND I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT CONTINUE.
UH, BERTA, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY CLOSING COMMENTS, BUT I THINK THIS WAS A REALLY RICH DISCUSSION AND THERE ARE SO MANY THINGS THAT I THINK WERE LEFT UNSAID THAT, THAT WE WANNA CONTINUE THIS, THIS DIALOGUE.
SO IF THERE'S ANYTHING YOU WANNA CLOSE OUT WITH NO, JUST THANK YOU AND, AND WE'LL, AND, AND WE WELCOME YOUR INPUT AND YOUR FEEDBACK.
THIS IS A FLUID PROCESS AS STRATEGIC PLANNING GOES, AND YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH IT.
UM, AND SO, UH, I, I AM APPRECIATIVE OF THE INPUT AND, AND, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SHARING WHERE WE GO FROM HERE WITH ALL OF YOU.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME, MADAM CHAIR COMMITTEE, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
AND TO ALL THE TEAM, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR VERY, VERY HARD WORK.
[4. Alameda Theater Funding Agreement Update. [Lori Houston, Assistant City Manager; John Jacks, Director, Center City Development & Operations] ]
LAST ITEM, UM, THIS IS ABOUT THE ALAMEDA THEATER, I'M SORRY, ALAMEDA THEATER.AND WHILE YOU'RE PULLING UP YOUR PRESENTATION, I WILL SAY I DO REMEMBER GOING THERE AS A CHILD.
HI, GOOD AFTERNOON, CHAIRWOMAN COMMITTEE.
UM, VERONICA GARCIA, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR SENATE CITY DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT.
I AM HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE REVITALIZATION OF THE ALAM OF THE THEATER.
IT'S A PROJECT THAT'S NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON IT FOR SEVERAL YEARS, BUT HAS A VERY, VERY RICH HISTORY THAT I'M SURE SOME OF YOU ARE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH, LIKE, LIKE THE CHAIRWOMAN HERE.
UM, THE ALAMEDA WAS COMPLETED BACK IN 1949 AS, AND IT WAS AT THE TIME THE LARGEST THEATER IN THE UNITED STATES DEDICATED A SPANISH LANGUAGE ENTERTAINMENT.
IT FEATURED ALL THE GREAT LEGENDS OF MEXICAN FILM AND SONG, AND IT ALSO FEATURED MANY INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS.
SO IT WAS REALLY A REAL TREASURE FOR THE COMMUNITY.
UM, IT WAS VIBRANT FOR, FOR, FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
BUT THEN IN THE LATE EIGHTIES, UM, IT CLOSED DOWN AND THE CITY ACQUIRED THE PROPERTY BACK IN 1994.
THERE HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS OVER THE PAST DECADES TO REVITALIZE THE THEATER.
WHAT I'M GONNA SHARE WITH YOU TODAY IS OUR THIRD AND HOPEFULLY FINAL ATTEMPT TO GET THIS THEATER BACK UP TO ITS FORMER GLORY DAYS.
UM, THIS CONCEPT TO COMPLETE THIS REVITALIZATION CAME OUT OF A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO, AND LA FAMILIA CORTEZ.
ALL OF THE ENTITIES CAME TOGETHER BACK IN, UH, 2017 AND HIRED A CONSULTANT.
HE'S RUN THE KENNEDY CENTER AND DONE LOTS OF HISTORIC THEATERS.
AND HE WORKED WITH A COMMUNITY AND PUT TOGETHER A CONCEPT PLAN OF WHAT IS THE BEST USE? HOW DO WE GET THIS THEATER BACK UP TO WHAT IT, WHAT IT WAS.
AND THE CONCEPT PLAN THAT WAS DEVELOPED, UM, CREATED A TWO-PART VISION.
THE FIRST WAS TO BRING THE TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO HEADQUARTERS TO THE NEWLY CONSTRUCTED BACKSTAGE OF THE THEATER.
AND, AND THAT PROJECT IS, IS HAS BEEN COMPLETED.
THE SECOND VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE REVITALIZATION WAS TO RESTORE THE HISTORIC THEATER AND BRING IT BACK AS A LIVE PERFORMING ART CENTER ONCE AGAIN, FEATURING THE AMERICAN LATINO MULTICULTURAL STORY.
THIS NEW ALAMEDA IS ENVISIONED TO FILL THE GAP IN SAN ANTONIO WITH NEW PROGRAMS DESIGNED FOR ALL AGES AND BACKGROUNDS.
AND AT THE HEART OF THE PLAN WAS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKING OVER THE THEATER, MANAGING THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT, AND THEN OPERATING THE THEATER.
ONCE IT IS OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY, AT THE SAME TIME, THEY ARE CHARGED WITH ENSURING THAT THE PRIDE OF THE THEATER IS KEPT AND THE CULTURAL STORY IS TOLD.
SO TO GO BACK TO 2017, WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS PLAN, CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, RECOGNIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING STARTED RIGHT AWAY.
AND THEY APPROVED A MASTER LEASE WITH THE CONSERVANCY, THE NONPROFIT CONSERVANCY, SO THAT THEY WOULD HAVE, UM, OVERSIGHT OF THE THEATER.
UM, AT THE TIME, THEY ALSO APPROVED $9 MILLION IN A FUNDING AGREEMENT.
TO GO TOWARDS THE START OF THIS VISION, I WILL SAY THAT BEXAR COUNTY HAS BEEN OUR PARTNER ALL ALONG THE WAY.
THEY MATCHED THE CITY'S CONTRIBUTION IN FULL WITH THEIR OWN $9 MILLION.
AND BOTH THE CITY AND THE COUNTY CONTRIBUTED SOME INITIAL OPERATING DOLLARS SO THAT THE CONSERVANCY WOULD HAVE FUNDS TO IMMEDIATELY
[01:30:01]
START THE DESIGN OF THE THEATER PROJECT AS THE, UH, TEXAS PUBLIC, OH, TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO ALSO CONTRIBUTED $5 MILLION TOWARDS THEIR HEADQUARTER PROJECT.AND THEY ALSO DID, UH, DO A CAPITAL CAMPAIGN TO RAISE ADDITIONAL PRIVATE FUNDS TO COMPLETE THAT PROJECT.
AS THE CONSTRUCTION FOR TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO STARTED AND THE THEATER ITSELF BROKE GROUND, UM, ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL DOLLARS WERE NEEDED.
THE THEATER IS OWNED BY THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, AND IT SITS ON AN OLD COAL GASIFICATION PLANT.
SO WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES AT THE SITE, AND WE ARE ENROLLED IN THE TEXAS VOLUNTARY T C E Q VOLUNTARY CLEANUP PROGRAM.
SO THAT MEANS THAT WE HAVE SEVERAL STATE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS THAT WE HAVE TO MEET.
WE HAVE TO HAVE ONGOING MONITORING WHENEVER THERE'S CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT THE SITE.
AND ALSO, JUST AS IMPORTANTLY, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE WORKERS THAT ARE ON SITE ARE PROPERLY PROTECTED AND WE'RE REPORTING BACK TO THE STATE ALL ALONG THE WAY.
SO WHAT THAT MEANT TO OUR NONPROFIT PARTNERS AS THEY BEGAN THESE CONSTRUCTION EFFORTS IS THEY INCURRED ADDITIONAL COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH REMOVING CONTAMINATED SOIL, UH, MONITORING THE SITE DURING ALL THEIR CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY.
AND SO THE CITY, UM, CONTRIBUTED ADDITIONAL DOLLARS TO TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO AND THE CONSERVANCY TO HELP WITH THE COST OF THESE ENVIRON ADDITIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL, UM, REMEDIATION AND MONITORING EFFORTS.
IN 2019, THE CITY AND THE COUNTY ALSO CONTRIBUTED ADDITIONAL OPERATIONAL SUPPORT TO THE CONSERVANCY.
THIS WAS MEANT TO GET THEM THROUGH THE FINAL CONSTRUCTION PHASE AND TO HELP THEM HIRE FULL-TIME STAFF TO GET THE THEATER OPEN AND READY.
UM, THEY ONLY USED A PORTION OF THOSE OPERATING DOLLARS, SO THEY STILL HAVE SOME OF THOSE FUNDS AVAILABLE TO THEM TODAY.
AND I WILL TALK ABOUT, UH, THE NEED TO CONTINUE THEM MORE TIME TO USE THOSE FUNDS.
IF YOU'VE WALKED BY THE SITE OR WALKED DOWN COMMERCE STREET OR HOUSTON STREET, YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THAT THE TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO PROJECT IS COMPLETE.
THIS IS A WONDERFUL PICTURE BECAUSE IT REALLY SHOWS HOW CONNECTED THE TWO PROJECTS, THEY'RE LITERALLY CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER.
TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO, UM, OCCUPIES ABOUT 35,000 SQUARE FEET OF THE TOTAL 80,000 SQUARE FOOT FACILITY, AND IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO ALL OF THE PARTNERS INVOLVED THAT THE THEATER PROJECT IS SEEN TO FRUITION.
THIS IMAGE SHOWS HOW, UM, BOTH PROJECTS ALSO SIT ALONG THE BANKS OF SAN PEDRO CREEK, WHICH IS ANOTHER PROJECT THAT IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION THAT IS IN PHASE 1.2 RIGHT NOW.
AND THE, UH, PLAZA THAT IS ADJACENT TO THE SITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
AND THERE'S JUST THESE BEAUTIFUL PLANS TO HAVE THE WHOLE SITE REDONE, UM, AND MEANT TO ACTIVATE TO BE AN OTHER OUTDOOR ACTIVATION SPACE FOR THE THEATER.
THE, UH, TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO SITE FEATURES GROUND FLOOR WINDOWS.
IT'S A PRODUCT, IT'S AN, IT'S A PRODUCTION STUDIO.
SINCE DAY ONE, THEY'VE BEEN HAVING LIVE BROADCASTS FROM THE SITE, AND THEY HAVE THEIR OWN BLACK BOX THEATER INSIDE THEIR SPACE TO ALSO HOST SMALLER WORKSHOPS OR DISCUSSIONS.
THE T P R PROJECT ALONE REPRESENTS A COMBINED INVESTMENT OF ABOUT $14 MILLION BETWEEN THE CITY, THE COUNTY, THE TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO, AND THEIR PRIVATE CONTRIBUTIONS.
WHAT ARE WE DOING WITH THE THEATER ITSELF? WE HAVE, UM, DEVELOPED THESE PLANS WE'RE DEVELOPED BY, UM, OVERLAND PARTNERS, WHICH IS A LOCAL ARCHITECT, AND O T J ARCHITECTS, O T J, IS A LEADER IN THEATER RESTORATION AND RENOVATION AROUND THE WORLD.
THEY'VE WORKED ON OVER 100 THEATER AND PERFORMING ARTS PROJECTS, INCLUDING PRESERVATION OF THE HOWARD THEATER IN WASHINGTON DC AND CINCINNATI'S MUSIC HALL.
THESE PLANS WERE DEVELOPED WITH LOTS OF STAKEHOLDER INPUT, AND I'LL GO INTO THAT AS WELL.
AND, UM, THE PLAN IS TO FULLY RESTORE THE ALAMEDA THEATER, REOPEN IT AGAIN AS A PERFORMING ARTS FACILITY, SO IT CAN ONCE AGAIN BE THE LARGEST THEATER IN OUR COUNTRY.
WITH A FOCUS ON LATINO PERFORMING ARTS.
THE NEW VENUE WILL FEATURE A SEATING FOR A VARIETY OF PERFORMANCES UP TO ABOUT 1300 PEOPLE.
AND THE INTERIOR SPACES THAT ARE PLANNED INCLUDE AN EXPANDED LOBBY, NEW BACKSTAGE AREAS RESTORATION OF THE INTERIOR BLACKLIGHT MURALS, WHICH ARE HISTORIC, A NEW UPSTAIRS LOUNGE AREA, AN ADJACENT CAFE SPACE, AND ALL THE AMENITIES TO ACCOMMODATE TODAY'S MODERN AUDIENCES.
THIS IS AN IMAGE OF THE FULLY RESTORED AND EXPANDED LOBBY, WHICH WE'RE JUST SHOWING THAT WE'RE GOING TO BRING BACK THE GLAMOR OF THE, OF THE ALAMEDA AND PROVIDE ACCESSIBILITY TO EVERYONE.
THIS PLAN SHOWS HOW WE PLAN TO REDO THE AUDIENCE CHAMBER.
UH, THEY CREATED A THRUST STAGE, WHICH PROJECTS ABOUT 13 FEET BEYOND THE STAGE APRON INTO THE HOUSE, WHICH ENABLES PERFORMERS TO HAVE A MORE DIRECT CONNECTION WITH THE AUDIENCE.
[01:35:02]
WHAT WE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY AND ONGOING STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUE WAS THAT THE VENUE SHOULD BE FLEXIBLE.AND THIS IMAGE SHOWS JUST THAT WE'VE TAKEN THE SLOPE FLOOR AND WE'VE TIERED IT.
SO YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S REORGANIZED TO HOLD THEATER SEATS, OR IT CAN ALSO HOLD EVENT TABLES AND CHAIRS.
AND SO THIS MEANS, UM, IT HAS MAXIMUM FLEXIBILITY AND CAN ACCOMMODATE A WIDE VARIETY OF PERFORMANCES AND AUDIENCES.
THE BALCONY IS ALSO PLANNED TO BE FULLY RESTORED.
UH, WE'VE ADJUSTED THE SEATING, THE TIER AND THE BALCONY AS WELL.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT WE HAVE A STANDING ROOM FOR STANDING AUDIENCES AT THE VERY TOP.
THE LOWER TIERS HAVE BEEN ADJUSTED TO ACCOMMODATE A MORE INTIMATE BOOTH CABARET SEATING, AND THEN THE LOWER BALCONY HAS SPACE FOR TRADITIONAL THEATER SEATING.
THIS SHOWS THE TYPE OF PROGRAMMING THAT'S EXPECTED AT THE ALAMEDA.
WHAT WE HEARD FROM THE ONGOING DIALOGUE WAS THAT THE ALAMEDA CON SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE A BEACON FOR THE ARTS.
IT SHOULD CONTINUE TO SHOW AND BE A LEGACY FOR OUR LATINO CULTURE.
WE SHOULD HONOR AND RESPECT REALLY CAPTURING THE HISTORY AND FOCUS ON WHAT FUTURE GENERATIONS WANNA SEE AT THIS THEATER.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WE WERE ASKED TO HAVE ONGOING COMMUNITY COLLABORATION.
THAT MEANS THAT THE, UH, COM, THE THEATER ITSELF WILL NOT CUR, WILL NOT CREATE NEW PERFORMANCES.
INSTEAD, IT WILL CURATE THE BEST PERFORMANCES.
PARTNERING WITH LOCAL ENTITIES IN OUR CITY WHO DO THIS, LIKE THE GUADALUPE CULTURAL ARTS, UH, LIKE URBAN 15, BRING THEIR PERFORMANCES TO THE THEATER, AS WELL AS BRING IN AUDIENCES FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY.
UM, BRINGING THE BEST TO SHOWCASE IN OUR CITY.
THE PROGRESS SO FAR HAS BEEN, HAS BEEN VERY POSITIVE.
PHASE ONE WAS COMPLETED THIS PAST SPRING.
IT INCLUDED ALL OF THE CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL WORK THAT WAS NEEDED AND CONNECTING TO UTILITIES.
WHILE HOUSTON STREET HAS BEEN CLOSED FOR THE SAN PEDRO CREEK PROJECT, A LOT OF THE CONCRETE WORK HAS BEEN DONE.
UM, IT'S REALLY ALL OF THE INFRASTRUCTURE WORK THAT'S NEEDED OF THE, UM, PHASE TWO IS INCLUDES ALL THE FUN STUFF, THE FINISHES, THE THEATER SEATING, EVERYTHING THAT'S GONNA MAKE THIS A VIBRANT THEATER FUNCTIONING.
THE, UH, CONSERVANCY HAD PLANNED TO DO A FUNDRAISING EFFORT TO FINISH UP PHASE TWO, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THAT WAS DELAYED BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC.
THEY HAD FORMED A VERY STRONG FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE, AND THEY WERE ALL SET, READY TO GO.
WE HELPED THEM PRINT THEM AND EVERYTHING, AND IT WAS ALL READY TO KICK OFF IN MARCH OF 2020.
UNFORTUNATELY, AS OUR HEALTH DIRECTOR SHARED, THAT WAS THE TIME THAT COVID HIT OUR COMMUNITY.
AND, UH, WE'VE BEEN ON A ROLLER COASTER RIDE EVER SINCE.
AND THE CONSERVANCY RECOGNIZED THAT IT WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAT CHARITABLE GIVING EFFORTS BE FOCUSED ON HELPING PANDEMIC RELATED EFFORTS.
SO, UM, WHAT THAT MEANT FOR THE ALMA THE THEATER PROJECT WAS THAT THE FINAL PHASE WAS PAUSED BECAUSE FUNDS, UM, WERE NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO COMPLETE THAT PROJECT.
UM, THE, THE CONSERVANCY DOES HAVE THE OPERATIONAL FUNDS THAT WERE MADE AVAILABLE, UM, IN, IN TRYING TO BE FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE.
DURING THAT TIME, THEY DELAYED HIRING ANY FULL-TIME STAFF.
THEY, UH, REALLY JUST KEPT THOSE OPERATIONAL DOLLARS UNSPENT SO THAT THEY WOULD CONTINUE TO BE AVAILABLE WHEN THE TIME WAS RIGHT TO RESTART THE PROJECT.
IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD A TOUR OR SEEN IT RECENTLY, I INVITE YOU TO JOIN ME.
IT WON'T TAKE LONG, ABOUT 30 MINUTES, AND I THINK IT'S TIME WELL SPENT.
I WAS, UH, VERY HONORED TO BE ABLE TO TAKE COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL AND HER PARENTS THROUGH THE THEATER, AND I'VE TAKEN A COUPLE OF YOUR OTHER COUNCIL COLLEAGUES ON A TOUR AS WELL.
SO, UM, UH, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU'D LIKE TO SEE IT.
BUT UNTIL WE DO THAT, I HAVE SOME IMAGES TO SHOW YOU.
YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE PHASE ONE WORK THAT HAS BEEN DONE.
UM, BEFORE THE WORK WAS DONE, YOU COULD SEE THERE WAS A FAUX WALL KIND OF ERECTED.
THERE WAS SOME COMMUNITY EVENTS THAT WERE HOSTED, BUT NOW THAT THRUST STAGE THAT WAS ENVISIONED HAS ALREADY BEEN CONSTRUCTED.
THE AUDIENCE CHAMBER, WHICH WAS JUST SLOPED BEFORE, HAS BEEN TIERED.
SO ALL THAT CONCRETE WORK IS DONE.
IT'S A D A ACCESSIBLE, AND, UM, ALL OF THE PLUMBING WORK HAS BEEN DONE TO HOST THE, THE BACK OF HOUSE AND THE BARS AND THE CAFE SPACE THAT'S PLANNED.
THIS IS ANOTHER IMAGE OF THE AUDIENCE CHAIR WHERE YOU CAN SEE ALL OF THAT TIERED SEATING HAS BEEN, UM, HAS BEEN INSTALLED ALREADY.
AND THEN THE BALCONY ALSO HAS HAD A LOT OF WORK DONE TO ADJUST THE TIERS SO THAT IT CAN ACCOMMODATE OUR MODERN AUDIENCES AND ALL OF THOSE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FLEXIBLE SEATING THAT'S ENVISIONED.
THE PROJECT FROM START TO FINISH.
SO ARCHITECTURAL FEES ALL THE WAY TO A FULLY FINISHED THEATER.
UH, THAT PROJECT BUDGET TODAY SITS AT $37 MILLION.
THE, UH, $10 MILLION HAS BEEN SPENT TO GET
[01:40:01]
US THROUGH THIS FIRST PHASE THAT HAS COME FROM THE CITY AND COUNTY CONTRIBUTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ALREADY PROVIDED TO THE PROJECT.AND THE, UM, PROJECT ALSO HAS ACCESS TO STATE AND FEDERAL TAX CREDITS.
SO THESE TAX CREDITS HAVE BEEN APPLIED FOR, BECAUSE IT IS HISTORIC, UH, RESTORATION PROJECT, UH, THEY'VE RECEIVED CONCEPTUAL APPROVAL.
SO ALL THAT WAITS TO ACCESS THOSE FUNDS IS TO ACTUALLY COMPLETE THE PROJECT AS PLANNED.
SO THAT MEANS THE GAP NEEDED TO FINISH THE PROJECT IS $14 MILLION.
THIS REQUEST FOR FUNDING WAS MADE TO THE HOUSTON STREET TOURS LAST MONTH, AND THE BOARD DID APPROVE AN ADDITIONAL $7 MILLION TO HELP GO TOWARDS A SECOND AND FINAL PHASE OF THE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT.
I AM VERY HAPPY TO SAY THAT BEXAR COUNTY HAS ALSO AGREED TO COMMIT THE OTHER ADDITIONAL $7 MILLION, WHICH PROVIDES THE FULL FUNDING NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE FINAL PHASE OF CONSTRUCTION FOR THE THEATER.
BEXAR COUNTY, UH, COMMISSIONER'S COURT WILL CONSIDER THEIR CONTRIBUTION NEXT MONTH.
AND IF, UH, IF, IF THIS COMMITTEE AGREES, WE WILL BE ASKING CITY COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE TS CONTRIBUTION NEXT MONTH.
UH, CITY STAFF ALSO WENT BEFORE THE TOURS BOARD AND ASKED FOR AN ADDITIONAL $400,000 THAT GOES TO STAY WITH THE CITY.
IT WON'T GO TO THE CONSERVANCY, BUT IT'LL SAY WITH CITY STAFF.
IT'LL BE MANAGED BY OUR PUBLIC WORKS ENVIRONMENTAL DIVISION TO HELP THE CITY COMPLETE OUR ONGOING REMO MONITORING COSTS AT THE SITE.
SO THE CONSERVANCY IS COVERING THE COSTS FOR THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL, UH, PROJECT MONITORING ALL THE SOIL THEY HAVE TO HAUL OFF.
THEY'RE COVERING THAT THROUGH THEIR THEATER BUDGET, BUT WE, THE CITY HAVE OUR OWN COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH MONITORING, UM, ALL AROUND THE THEATER PROJECTS.
THIS IS IN THE STREET AND THE RIGHT OF WAY, AND THAT'S WHAT THAT $400,000 IS GOING, STAYING WITH THE CITY TO MEET OUR OBLIGATIONS AS OWNERS OF THE SITE.
WE ALSO ASK THE BOARD TO AMEND OUR EXISTING AGREEMENT WITH THE CONSERVANCY.
IT'S NOT ADDITIONAL OPERATIONAL FUNDS, BUT IT IS ALLOWING THEM ADDITIONAL TIME TO SPEND THE DOLLARS THAT WE'RE ALREADY COMMITTED.
SO, BRIEF OVERVIEW, THIS GOES BACK, THIS MOST RECENT EFFORT GOES BACK TO 2017.
THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUE.
I WILL HIGHLIGHT, UH, SOME, A COUPLE OF ADDITIONAL POINTS THAT WE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY.
WHEN WE DID A LOT OF PUBLIC OUTREACH AT THE BEGINNING, WE HEARD, UM, FROM, FROM THE COMMUNITY THAT THEY WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT THE THEATER WAS ACCESSIBLE TO AUDIENCES, THAT THERE WAS ONGOING COLLABORATION WITH OUR LOCAL ARTS ENTITIES, THAT THEY WERE NOT LEFT OUT OF THE EQUATION.
SO THAT CONTINUES TO BE PART OF THE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE, UM, PERFORMANCES THAT WILL BE THERE.
AND THAT THE SPEAR, THE THEATER HAS A YOUTHFUL VOICE OR PLANS TO HAVE ONGOING EDUCATION AT THE THEATER TO HELP HOST, UM, OUR LOCAL SCHOOL CHILDREN SO THAT THEY TOO CAN SEE SOME OF THE EXCITING WORK THAT'S BEING DONE THERE AND THE PERFORMANCES AND MEET SOME OF THE ARTISTS.
SO ALL THAT, UM, WAS BASED ON WHAT WE HEARD.
AND SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE PLANS.
THE, UM, AS I MENTIONED, CONSTRUCTION FOR PHASE ONE FINISH THIS PAST SPRING.
AND IF THE ADDITIONAL FUNDS ARE APPROVED FOR THE PROJECT, THE CONSERVANCY WILL BE ABLE TO START CONSTRUCTION ON PHASE TWO, UM, THIS NEXT SPRING OF 2022.
AND HOPEFULLY WE CAN ALL CELEBRATE THE GRAND OPENING OF THE THEATER IN LATE 2023.
THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
UH, VERONICA, I THINK WE'RE GONNA DO A SPEED ROUND OF OKAY.
UM, BECAUSE WE MIGHT LOSE COUNCILWOMAN VERAN FIR, FIRST OF ALL, MY POSITION IS IT'S ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL TO SEE THIS PROJECT TO COMPLETION.
WE CAN'T, UH, WE CAN'T FAIL AGAIN ON IT, AND I THINK IT'LL BE BEAUTIFUL ONCE WHAT'S IN, ONCE IT'S COMPLETED.
UM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT OF ALL THE MEXICAN AMERICAN SERVING THEATERS IN THE SAN SAN ANTONIO AREA, THIS IS THE ONLY ONE THAT SURVIVED THE URBAN RENEWAL OF THE, I GUESS IT WAS THE FIFTIES AND SIXTIES MM-HMM.
SO I THINK WE WANT TO ALSO, UM, MAKE A NOD TO THAT IN, IN WHATEVER WE SEE AT, AT THE THEATER.
AND, UH, SO I HAVE A, A COUPLE OF, UM, OF QUESTIONS FOR YOU AND YOU CAN TAKE THEM NOW OR AS YOU'RE TAKING EVERYBODY'S QUESTIONS.
UM, ONE OF THEM IS, CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT OUR ROLE WILL BE IN MANAGING THE OPERATION OF THE THEATER ONCE IT'S UP? WHO WOULD BE APPOINTED FROM THE CITY TO THAT CONSERVANCY? SURE.
AND, UH, SECONDLY, AND I, AND I POSE THIS ONE TO YOU BY EMAIL, IS IT'S A BEAUTIFUL PROJECT, BUT WE KNOW THAT ONCE UH, THEATERS HAVE SHOWS GOING, UH, NOT EVERYONE HAS THE ACCESS TO SEE THEM.
RIGHT? THEY'RE, UM, THEY, THEY CAN PRICE SOME PEOPLE OUT.
SOME PEOPLE CAN'T EVEN AFFORD JUST LIKE THE TICKETMASTER FEES TO, TO BUY THE TICKET.
UM, SO GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF PUBLIC FUNDING THAT'S GOING INTO THIS, FOR ME, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE HAVE A VENUE THAT'S ACCESSIBLE BY ALL INCOME LEVELS IN OUR, IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, UH, I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT PROPOSAL OF HOW WE CAN DO THAT
[01:45:01]
BEFORE WE COMMIT ALL THESE DOLLARS, UH, WHEN THIS GOES TO, TO FULL COUNCIL.SO I'LL POSE THAT, UH, AT THIS POINT.
UH, SO THE CURRENT BOARD OF THE ALAM, MAA THEATER CONSERVANCY HAS FOUR PEOPLE ON IT.
SO THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO IS REPRESENTED BY LORI HOUSTON.
SO IF YOU SEE HER, TELL HER GREAT JOB.
'CAUSE SHE'S WORKED VERY, VERY HARD TO GET US TO THIS POINT.
UM, THE SECOND, UH, MEMBER OF THE BOARD IS FROM BEXAR COUNTY.
HE REPRESENTS THE COUNTY MANAGER'S OFFICE.
UH, JOYCE SLOCUM FROM IS THE C E O OF TEXAS PUBLIC RADIO.
AND THEN PETE CORTEZ FROM LA FAMILIA CORTEZ IS ON THE BOARD.
SO THE CON CITY WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE A BOARD REPRESENTATIVE, UM, THROUGHOUT THE CONSERVANCY.
IT IS IN THE BYLAWS, AND WE WILL, UH, WE WILL NOT BE OPERATING THE THEATER THAT IS THE ROLE OF THE CONSERVANCY, BUT WE WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE THAT VOICE IN MAKING SURE THAT THAT ACCESSIBILITY CONTINUES, THAT THE TICKET PRICES ARE WELL THOUGHT OUT.
THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE HEARD OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN FROM THE COMMUNITY, BOTH ON, UM, PERFORMING ARTS GROUPS, BEING ABLE TO PERFORM THERE, MAKING SURE THAT THEY ACCESSIBLE TO THEM AND THAT IT'S AFFORDABLE TO RENT THE THEATER.
AND THEN ON THE, ALSO ON THE, UH, FINAL PATRON SO THAT IT'S ACCESSIBLE FOR THEM, THE TICKET PRICING.
SO WE'LL WORK CLOSELY WITH THEM ON WHAT THEIR OPERATIONAL BUDGET LOOKS LIKE GOING FORWARD.
WE KNOW TICKET PRICES REVENUE IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP THEM SUSTAINABLE SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO KEEP RELYING ON PUBLIC FUNDS.
BUT WE'VE HEARD VERY LOUD AND CLEAR THAT MAKING SURE THOSE TICKET PRICES OR THEIR PERFORMANCES OR SOME SORT OF FUND OR METHOD.
UM, AND THERE'S LOTS OF IDEAS ON NATIONALLY ON HOW WE CAN DO THAT, BUT WE'LL HAVE THAT CONVERSATION.
SO IS THAT SOMETHING WE CAN SEE BEFORE WE VOTE ON THE ITEM AT COUNCIL? UH, I WILL BE HAPPY TO POSE THAT TO THE BOARD AND SEE WHAT WRITTEN COMMITMENT WE CAN GET BEFORE IT GOES TO COUNCIL.
I'LL HAND IT OVER TO COUNCILWOMAN
I, I WANNA MAKE A MOTION THAT WE MOVE THIS TO FULL COUNCIL WITH THE STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS FOR AN ADDITIONAL 7 MILLION IN THE HOUSTON STREET TURF FUNDS, AND ALSO THE RECOMMENDATION WITH THE 400,000 IN FUNDING FOR THE REMEDIATION AND MONITORING.
SO I, I DO, I WANT TO SEE THIS FORWARD AND I MAKE THAT MOTION.
AND I AGREE WITH COUNCILMAN SANDOVAL.
UH, VERONICA, YOU KNOW, MY CONCERNS AND MY QUESTIONS AND WE TALKED YESTERDAY AND GETTING THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS INVOLVED AND MAKING SURE THEY'RE PART OF THIS PROCESS.
RODRIGUEZ, WOULD YOU MIND GOING TO SLIDE 11 FOR ME? OR ACTUALLY SLIDE NINE WOULD PROBABLY BE BETTER.
SO IN THINKING ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY, I'M STRUGGLING TO SEE, UM, WHEELCHAIR ACCESS AND SURE.
I DON'T, CAN YOU PLEASE WALK ME THROUGH THAT ON THE, ON THE GROUND, I WISH I HAD A LITTLE POINTER, BUT ON THE GROUND FLOOR, UH, ON THE VERY BOTTOM, UH, YOU COULD SEE THERE'S LIKE THIS LITTLE PATH AND IT GOES AROUND THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT MM-HMM.
AND THERE'S THE, THE SAME KIND OF RAMP ALL THE WAY AROUND THE OTHER SIDE.
AND THE BALCONY ALSO HAS THE SAME KIND OF RAMP ON EITHER SIDE SO THAT YOU CAN, YOU CAN ACCOMMODATE IT.
SO WOULD PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS BE SITTING IN THOSE PATHS, OR HOW, WHERE WOULD THOSE SEATINGS, WHERE THE SEATING BE? I CAN GET CLARIFICATION ON WHERE THE ACTUAL SEATING FOR THOSE, UH, FOR THOSE PATRONS ARE.
UM, BUT WE DID MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE ABLE TO TRAVERSE, YOU KNOW, WHEREVER THE SEAT MAY BE.
THEY ARE, HAVE ACCESSIBILITY THROUGH THAT ENTIRE BOTTOM FLOOR AND THE BALCONY AS WELL.
UM, I DO WANT TO ECHO THE SENTIMENTS OF CHAIR AND COUNCILMAN VIDEO GROUND ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY IN TERMS OF COST.
UM, I CHAIR THE INNER CITY TOURS AND ME AND MY TEAM HAVE HAD A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS ABOUT TOURS AS A TOOL FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, AND WE'VE ALSO HAD CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HOW IT HAS BEEN USED AS A TOOL FOR, UH, EXPLOITATION AND GENTRIFICATION.
AND SO, UM, WE'RE VERY MINDFUL OF PROJECTS THAT COME TOTS AND I, I THINK I TOLD YOU GUYS THIS, BUT I THINK THIS IS AN EXCELLENT USE OF T FUNDING AND I AM SUPER SUPPORTIVE OF THIS PROJECT AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT IT.
AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
I THINK GIVING THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THE STRUCTURE, UM, HAS THERE BEEN ANY CONVERSATIONS ABOUT PARTNERSHIPS WITH AMERICAN AMERICAN, UH, INSTITUTE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, UM, FOR POTENTIAL PANELS AT A LOW COST OR ANY CONVERSATIONS? UH, WE'VE NOT HAD THOSE CONVERSATIONS, BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY HAVE AN OUTREACH.
UM, I KNOW THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT PARTNERSHIPS AND ONE ON FROM EXPANDING THE BOARD, BUT TWO,
[01:50:01]
ABOUT, UH, WHAT COULD BE FEATURED WITHIN THE LOBBY, WITHIN THE SPACE.HOW DO WE TELL ALL THE STORIES? SO I THINK THAT'S A YEP, THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD CERTAINLY EXPLORE.
AND WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS A COMMITMENT OF, ONCE THIS OPENS, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THE USHERS AND MAINTENANCE WORKERS ARE PAID A LIVABLE WAGE OF A MINIMUM OF $15.
UM, THAT COMMITMENT IN EXCHANGE FOR THIS AMOUNT OF PUBLIC MONEY, AND FOR THE A HUNDRED, THE $400,000 THAT YOU'RE GOING TO BE ASKING FOR IN TOURIST FUNDING.
AND THEY DID APPROVE IT AT THEIR AUG AUGUST 28TH MEETING FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATIONS.
WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND.
UM, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND, DID YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS, COUNCILMAN? OKAY.