* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:01:00] OH, NOW SAN ANTONIO. SAN ANTONIO AND SAN ANTONIO. GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE. WELCOME TO OUR CITY COUNCIL B SESSION. THE TIME IS 2:18 PM ON THE SIXTH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2021. UH, WE WILL GO AHEAD AND START. MADAM CLERK, COULD YOU READ THE ROLE? COUNCIL MEMBER BRAVO HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER ROD MINKE RODRIGUEZ. PRESENT, COUNCIL MEMBER ILLA GRAND. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER CAB HDA. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER ELA. COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY. MISSING. MAYOR. MAYOR BERG. HERE. MAYOR, WE HAVE A QUORUM. ALRIGHT, UH, GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE. WELCOME AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE. LEMME TURN IT OVER TO CITY MANAGER ERIC WALSH TO GET US STARTED. THANK YOU, MAYOR. UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. TODAY'S BRIEFING IS ON THE 2021 [1. Briefing on Charter required redistricting, the 2020 U.S. Census data for San Antonio, and its impact on the boundaries of current council districts. [Andy Segovia, City Attorney]] REDISTRICTING PROCESS, AND WE GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS EVERY 10 YEARS AS A RESULT OF THE US CENSUS. UH, ADDITIONAL BRIEFINGS TO THE COUNCIL WILL FOLLOW AND ANDY AND HIS TEAM WILL WALK THROUGH THE ISSUES AND PROPOSE SCHEDULE, UM, AND THE ISSUES THAT, UM, THAT, UH, WILL BE BEFORE YOU. UH, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO ANDY ILEANA CASTILLO FROM ANDY'S OFFICE WILL BE GIVEN THE PRESENTATION. UH, SO ANDY, THANK YOU ERIC. UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR. GOOD AFTERNOON COUNCIL. UH, AS ERIC MENTIONED, TODAY MARKS THE BEGINNING OF OUR REDISTRICTING EFFORT, AND WE WANNA START BY PROVIDING, UH, THE COUNCIL AN OVERVIEW, A LEVEL SET OF WHY WE NEED TO DO REDISTRICTING AND WHAT THE TIMELINE IS AND WHAT THE PROCESS WILL BE. UM, AND SO WE'LL, UH, GIVE YOU THAT OVERVIEW. OVERVIEW THIS AFTERNOON. UH, ESSENTIALLY REDISTRICTING IS REQUIRED BY THE US CONSTITUTION AND OR CITY CHARTER. AND THE ENTIRE PROCESS IS MEANT SO THAT WE CAN APPROPRIATELY BALANCE, UH, THE POPULATIONS AMONGST THE DISTRICT SO THAT IT MEETS, UH, ESSENTIAL LEGAL REQUIREMENTS, UH, BECAUSE IT'S VERY MUCH A, UH, PROCESS IN WHICH THE END OBJECTIVE IS TO HAVE DISTRICTS THAT PASS LEGAL MUSTER. UH, WE'VE RETAINED TWO LAW FIRMS WITH SIGNIFICANT EXPERTISE IN THE AREA OF REDISTRICTING. UH, FIRST WE HAVE WALSH GALLEGOS, VINNO RUSSO, AND KYLE. UH, WE'VE HIRED THEM, UH, TO HELP US. AND ALSO, UH, UH, THE FIRM THAT HAS HELPED SAN ANTONIO IN PREVIOUS REDISTRICTING EFFORTS. BAFF HEATH, DELGADO ACOSTA, UH, WILL ALSO BE PART OF OUR TEAM. UH, THEY'LL BE WORKING WITH US WITH THE CITY COUNCIL, UH, WITH AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT. AND, UH, ALL WITH THE END OBJECTIVE OF HAVING THE COUNCIL ADOPT A FINAL PLAN THAT WOULD BE APPLICABLE FOR OUR 2023 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. UH, AS ERIC SAID, IANA CASTILLO DAILY WILL BE GIVEN THE PRESENTATION. UH, ILIANA IS ONE OF OUR RISING STARS. I THINK MOST OF YOU REMEMBER. WE DID, UH, TAKE HER FROM THE ARCHDIOCESE WHERE SHE WAS HEAD OF COMPLIANCE AND LEGAL AFFAIRS. AND, UH, YOU CAN'T IMAGINE HOW MUCH PENANCE I'VE HAD TO DO, UH, BECAUSE WE DID THAT. UM, BUT, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL START IT OFF AND THANK YOU IANA, AND GO AHEAD. THANK YOU, ANDY. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYORS AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL. I AM ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY IANA CASTILLO DALY, AS HAS NOW BEEN SAID THREE TIMES. AND I, ALONG WITH THE REST OF OUR LEGAL TEAM, INCLUDING OUTSIDE COUNSEL WHO ANDY INTRODUCED, I'M HERE TO PROVIDE YOU WITH THE FIRST BRIEFING ON [00:05:01] THE 2021 REDISTRICTING PROCESS. KEEPING IN MIND THAT TODAY'S MEET PRESENTATION IS FOR THE BENEFIT OF CITY COUNCIL, BUT ALSO FOR THE PUBLIC. WE'RE GONNA BEGIN BY WALKING YOU THROUGH THE BASICS OF REDISTRICTING, NAMELY WHAT IT IS, NAMELY WHAT IT IS, AND, UH, WHY WE HAVE TO DO IT. THIS WILL INCLUDE A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF SAN ANTONIO'S HISTORY AND REDISTRICTING TO BETTER ILLUSTRATE HOW WE ARRIVED HERE TODAY. NEXT, I'M GONNA ADDRESS THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR THE PROCESS, WHAT WE DID IN 2021, OR SORRY, I APOLOGIZE, 2011, AND WHAT OUR LEGAL TEAM PLANS TO DO TO SUPPORT THE 2021 PROCESS. FINALLY, I'LL INTRODUCE YOU TO MEMBERS OF OUR OUTSIDE COUNCIL WHO'LL SPEAK ABOUT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT AND SHARE WITH YOU THE CITY'S INITIAL ASSESSMENT BASED ON THE 2020 CENSUS. NEXT SLIDE. IT'S SO NICE TO BE ABLE TO SAY THAT OPPOSED TO BEING THE PERSON WHO, OH, I DO HAVE TO STILL DO THE SLIDES. OKAY. REDISTRICTING IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH THE BOUNDARIES OF CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS ARE REDRAWN IN RESPONSE TO CHANGES IN POPULATION. THE US CONSTITUTION REQUIRES, UH, THAT CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS HAVE SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL PROPORTIONS IN THAT POPULATION. IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT EXACTLY EQUAL, UH, POPULATION, UH, PROPORTIONS ARE NOT REQUIRED. GENERALLY, THE SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS WILL MEET THE CONSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENT OF ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE. IF THE POPULATION OF THE LARGEST DISTRICT IS NO MORE THAN 10% GREATER THAN THE POPULATION OF THE SMALLER OR THE SMALLEST, SORRY. THE 2020 CENSUS DATA CONFIRMED THAT SAN ANTONIO'S POPULATION DID IN FACT GROW IN THE LAST DECADE. AND NOW THE POPULATION OF THE LARGEST DISTRICT IS ROUGHLY 34% GREATER THAN THE POPULATION, THE SMALLEST. THEREFORE, WE MUST WITHDRAW THE LINES IN ORDER TO REBALANCE THEM. AND THAT IS ESSENTIALLY REDISTRICTING. PRIOR TO THE CITY COUNCIL'S CURRENT COMPOSITION OF 11 COUNCIL MEMBERS. ONE THAT'S ELECTED AT LARGE, MEANING BY THE WHOLE CITY, THE MAYOR AND 11 THAT, OR SORRY, AND 10 THAT ARE ELECTED FROM SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS, MEANING YOU WERE ELECTED BY THOSE THAT LIVE IN THOSE BOUNDARIES OF THAT DISTRICT. SAN ANTONIO HAD AN AT LARGE CITY COUNCIL, UH, ELECTIONS FOR NINE MEMBERS AND ONE MAYOR. SO FOR THOSE NINE PEOPLE PLUS THE MAYOR, EVERYONE IN THE CITY VOTED FOR THEM. STARTING IN 1972, THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT REQUIRED ALL GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES IN TEXAS, WHICH INC, UH, INCLUDING THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, TO PRE-CLEAR CHANGES TO THE VOTING PROCESS THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. THIS MEANT, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT THE CITY WOULD HAVE TO SUBMIT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, UH, THE NEW DISTRICT BOUNDARIES OR ANNEXATIONS PRIOR TO, UH, IMPLEMENTING THEM FOR DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE APPROVAL IN 1976, AFTER SENDING 23 ANNEXATIONS, THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SUBJECTED TO 13, THEY SAID THAT THEY COULD NOT, THEY COULD NOT CONCLUDE THAT THOSE 13 ANNEXATIONS DID NOT HAVE THE EFFECT OF ABRIDGING THE RIGHT TO VOTE OF EFFECTIVE, AFFECTED MINORITIES, ESSENTIALLY THE AT LARGE VOTING SYSTEM PLUS, UH, THE 13 ANNEXATIONS. AND HOW THEY THEN REDISTRIBUTED THE POPULATION PERCENTAGE OF MEXICAN AMERICANS WAS A PROBLEM, UH, WITH THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ALSO SAID THAT ONE WAY TO REMEDY THE SITUATION WOULD BE TO ADOPT A SYSTEM OF FAIRLY DRAWN SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS. AND SO THE CITY DID THAT. AND IN OCTOBER OF 1976, THE CITY COUNCIL ORDERED A SPECIAL ELECTION TO AMEND THE CITY CHARTER AND PROVIDE FOR 10 CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ELECTED FROM SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS, AND THE MAYOR ELECTED AT LARGE. IN JANUARY OF 1977, THE VOTERS APPROVED THE CITY CHARTER AMENDMENT REPLACING THE 10 MEMBERS AT LARGE COUNCIL. WITH THE CURRENT 11 MEMBER STRUCTURE WE HAVE TODAY, A FEW MONTHS LATER, THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO HELD ITS FIRST MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS UNDER THAT NEW STRUCTURE. AND HERE WE INCLUDED A PHOTO OF THE FIRST CITY COUNCIL ELECTED FROM SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS, WHICH INCLUDES FORMER COUNCILMAN JOE WEBB, WHO WE HONORED LAST WEEK. THE NEXT TWO SLIDES WITH THE NEXT TWO SLIDES, I'LL NOW PIVOT AND HIGHLIGHT, HIGHLIGHT THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS AND CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING. AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED, THE ONE VOTE ONE, ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE REQUIREMENT APPLIES TO CITY COUNCILS AND REQUIRES US TO HAVE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS ELECTED FROM DISTRICTS OF SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL POPULATION. AS A REMINDER, EXACTLY EQUAL POPULATION IS NOT REQUIRED, BUT A TOTAL MAXIMUM DEVIATION OF NO MORE THAN 10% IN TOTAL POPULATION BETWEEN THE MOST POPULATED AND THE LEAST POPULATED DISTRICTS MUST BE OR SHOULD BE ACHIEVED. OUR CITY CHARTER ALSO REQUIRES US TO QUOTE, REEXAMINE THE DISTRICT BOUNDARIES FOLLOWING EACH FEDERAL DECENNIAL CENSUS AND TO QUOTE, REDETERMINE THE BOUNDARIES WHERE APPROPRIATE. WE KNOW FROM THE 2020 CENSUS DATA THAT THE BOUNDARIES WILL NEED TO BE REDETERMINED IN ORDER TO REBALANCE AND CONTINUE TO SATISFY THE SATISFY THE ONE PERSON ONE VOTE REQUIREMENT. IMPORTANTLY, RACE CANNOT BE THE PREDOMINANT FACTOR IN THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS TO THE SUBORDINATION OF TRADITIONAL, [00:10:01] TRADITIONAL DISTRICTING PRINCIPLES. THE POSSIBLE EXCEPTION WOULD BE AS, UH, WHERE IT IS USED AS A NARROWLY TAILORED SOLUTION TO ADDRESS A COMPELLING STATE INTERESTS, SUCH AS THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT, TRADITIONAL DISTRICTING PRINCIPLES AND CRITERIA, UH, IN INCLUDE DRAFTING PLANS OR IN OTHER WORDS. SO PLANS IS ANOTHER WORD FOR MAPS OR BOUNDARIES TO THE EXTENT FEASIBLE THAT ARE OF RELATIVELY EQUAL POPULATION SIZE, THAT HAVE IDENTIFIABLE BOUNDARIES THAT MAINTAIN COMMUNITIES OF INTERESTS AND NEIGHBORHOODS THAT USE WHOLE VOTING PRECINCTS THAT ARE BASED ON EXISTING DISTRICTS THAT ARE COMPACT AND CONTIGUOUS. AND FINALLY, THAT TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY, UH, FACTOR IN RACE, IT'S ONLY, UH, TO COMPLY WITH THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. FINAL PLANS WILL ULTIMATELY BE A BALANCE OF ALL THESE FACTORS FOLLOWING THE APPLICABLE LAW AND AVOIDING FRAGMENTING OR PACKING OF MINORITY VOTERS IN A DISTRICT. IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT CHANGES WILL NOT BE LIMITED TO ONE OR A FEW DISTRICTS BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT TO REALIZE THAT, UH, AN IN, UH, CHANGE IN ONE REALLY IMPACTS THE WHOLE. BEFORE I ADDRESS HOW WE WILL SUPPORT THE COUNCIL IN THE 2021 REDISTRICTING PROCESS, I WANNA PROVIDE SOME HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND COVER THE CITY'S 2011 PROCESS. THE PROCESS BEGAN IN SEPTEMBER OF 2011, MUCH LIKE WE'RE STARTING TODAY WITH A BRIEFING ON THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT AND COVERING THE REDISTRICTING GUIDELINES FOR YOU CITY COUNCIL. THE CITY COUNCIL THEN CONTINUED THEIR DISCUSSION IN AN EXECUTIVE SESSION AND ULTIMATELY CHOSE TO ADOPT A RESOLUTION THAT DEFINED THE REDISTRICTING CRITERIA, THE MEAT OF THE WORK. NAMELY, THE MAP DRAWING BEGAN IN OCTOBER OF 2011 WITH THE CONSULTANT. WHEN THE CONSULTANT PRESENTED INITIAL PLANS TO CITY COUNCIL, THIS WAS THE FIRST DRAFT OF THE NEW BOUNDARIES. THEN BETWEEN OCTOBER OF 2011 AND FEBRUARY OF 2012, THE CONSULTANT MET WITH CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY TO WORK ON THOSE PLANS, TO REVISE THE, UH, AND TO REVISE THEM FINALLY, OR SECOND TO FINALLY JUNE, UH, JUNE THROUGH JUNE, JULY OF 2012, THE CITY CONDUCTED SIX PUBLIC HEARINGS, UH, ON THE PROPOSED PLANS. FINALLY, THE CITY COUNCIL RECEIVED A PRESENTATION OF THE FINAL PLAN AND ADOPTED NEW BOUNDARIES. IN SEPTEMBER OF 2012. THE PARTS OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT, WHICH REQUIRED PRE-CLEARANCE, UH, WERE APPLICABLE AT THE TIME. SO THE PLAN HAD TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE BEFORE IT COULD BE IMPLEMENTED. IT THAT WAS DONE IN OCTOBER, AND IT WAS PRE-CLEARED IN NOVEMBER OF 2012 FOR USE IN THE 2013 MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS. THE 2021 REDISTRICTING PROCESS REALLY BEGAN WHEN THE US CENSUS RELEASED THE DATA TOOLKIT FOR THE 2020 CENSUS. THAT BREAKS DOWN DATA BY THE CENSUS BLOCK LEVEL. THAT DATA IS CATALOGED BY SEX, RACE, ETHNICITY, AND VOTING AGE. THE DATA RELEASED ALLOW THE DATA RELEASE, ALLOWED OUR OUTSIDE COUNSEL TO REEXAMINE OUR DISTRICT BOUNDARIES IN LIGHT OF THE NEW POPULATION NUMBERS AND CREATE THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT, WHICH, UH, WE SHARED IN FULL WITH YOU RECENTLY. AND WE'LL COVER SHORTLY BECAUSE THE REEXAMINATION SHOWS THAT OUR COUNCIL DISTRICTS ARE OUT OF BALANCE. WE MUST NOW BEGIN THE WORK IN DETERMINING THE BOUNDARIES AND PUTTING THEM BACK INTO BALANCE. IN CONTRAST TO THE 2011 PROCESS, THIS CITY COUNCIL WILL UTILIZE AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REDISTRICTING TO DRAFT, REVISE, AND DISCUSS PLANS OPENLY WHILE ENGAGING THE PUBLIC FOR THEIR INPUT. IDEALLY, WE WILL BE PREPARED TO FORM THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE THIS MONTH AND HOPE TO HAVE THE FIRST MEETING THIS FALL. THIS ENABLES US TO BE PREPARED WITH A FINAL PLAN THAT CAN BE ADOPTED BY LATE SUMMER OF 20 20 22 IN TIME FOR THE NEXT MUNICIPAL ELECTION TO BE HELD. THE ONE QUESTION WE'VE RECEIVED ALREADY WITH SOME FREQUENCY IS WHETHER THIS PROCESS WILL INCREASE OR EVEN CONSIDER THE INCREASE IN COUNCIL DISTRICTS. IN SHORT, IT WILL NOT. OUR CITY CHARTER DEFINES THE NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS AS 11 CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR PLACES ONE THROUGH PLACE. 10 SHALL BE FROM SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS, AND PLACE 11 IS ELECTED AT LARGE. THAT BEING THE MAYOR REVISING THIS LANGUAGE WOULD REQUIRE CHARTER AMENDMENT AND PER STATE STATUTE, WE CANNOT AMEND THE CHARTER MORE FREQUENTLY THAN EVERY TWO YEARS. AS YOU LIKELY RECALL, THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO VOTERS LAST AMENDED THE CITY CHARTER IN MAY TO, UH, AMEND FOR BOND LANGUAGE. IN THE MEANTIME, WE CONTINUE TO BE BOUND BY FEDERAL LAW AND OUR CHART, CURRENT CHARTER LANGUAGE THAT REQUIRES US TO REDISTRICT THOSE 10 COUNCIL, UH, BOUNDARIES, ASSUMING MULTIPLE THINGS OCCUR, THE FIRST BEING THAT, UH, WE GOTTA, UH, WE GOT A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION, UH, TO AMEND SECTION FOUR OF THE CITY CHARTER. AND THEN NEXT, THAT THE VOTERS WERE TO APPROVE THIS AMENDMENT. THEN [00:15:01] THE FIRST POSSIBLE DATE THAT, UH, THE, THE PUBLIC COULD VOTE FOR AN ADDITIONAL NUMBER OF CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WOULD BE MAY OF 2025. NOW THAT WE'VE LAID THE FOUNDATION, I BRING IN, UH, OUR OTHER TEAM MEMBERS, THE MOST IMPORTANT PLAYER, SECOND TO CITY COUNCIL, UH, WHO'S GONNA, ULTIMATELY, WHO WOULD ULTIMATELY ADOPT THE FINAL PLAN WOULD BE THE CITY'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REDISTRICTING. THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE WILL CONSIST OF 11 MEMBERS, TWO AND TWO CO-CHAIRS. EACH MEMBER OF CITY COUNCIL, INCLUDING THE MAYOR, WOULD, UH, NOMINATE OR APPOINT ONE MEMBER, AND THE MAYOR WOULD ALSO APPOINT TWO CO-CHAIRS. ALL COMMITTEE MEETINGS WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC CITY DEPARTMENTS. OUTSIDE COUNCIL AND OUTSIDE COUNCIL WILL SUPPORT THE COMMITTEE AS THEY WORK TO BALANCE PUBLIC INPUT AND THE GUIDELINES AND CRITERIA THAT WE'VE COVERED TO DRAFT PLANS. THE COMMITTEE WILL RECOMMEND A FINAL PLAN TO CITY COUNCIL BY LATE SUMMER OF 2022 TO ALLOW FOR TIME FOR ADOPTION AND EDUCATING THE PUBLIC ABOUT THE NEW BOUNDARIES. IN PREPARATION FOR A 2023 ELECTION, WE'RE PLANNING FOR REGULAR UPDATES TO FULL COUNCIL, AND WE ANTICIPATE PROVIDING A SIMILAR BRIEFING TO THIS, PROBABLY A LITTLE BIT MORE IN DETAILED. DON'T BE JEALOUS, UM, TO THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR. THE CITY DEPARTMENTS THAT SUPPORT THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS INCLUDE GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC AFFAIRS, PLANNING, AND THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, ALONG WITH THE LAW FIRMS OF WALSH GALLEGOS, TREVINO RUSSO, AND KYLE, AND BICKERSTAFF HEATH, DELGADO ACOSTA. THIS IS A TEAM THAT WILL HELP THE COUNCIL'S ADVISORY COMMITTEE REVISE AND ULTIMATELY DRAFT, REVISE, AND ULTIMATE, ULTIMATELY PROPOSE THE PLAN FOR COUNCIL APPROVAL. THE WALSH GALLEGOS TEAM SUPPORTING THIS PROJECT INCLUDES ATTORNEYS BASED IN OR FROM SAN ANTONIO, AND I FEEL COMFORTABLE SPEAKING FOR THEM WHEN I SAY THAT THEY ARE PROUD AND EXCITED TO CONSIDER TO ADD THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO TO A LIST OF CLIENTS THAT INCLUDES MULTIPLE AREAS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS. WHAT WAS MOST IMPRESSIVE ABOUT THIS FIRM WAS NOT SIMPLY THEIR EXPERIENCE IN ASSISTING LOCAL CLIENTS IN THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS, BUT IN THEIR APPRECIATION FOR FACILITATING UNDERSTANDING WITH MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. UH, THEY CAN, FOR EXAMPLE, CRAFT THE LANGUAGE THAT CAN BREAK DOWN THE SOMETIMES COMPLEX, UH, AND CONFUSING TOPIC. THEY ALSO KNOW WHAT IT TAKES TO STAFF THE PUBLIC MEETINGS, AND THAT'S GONNA BE VERY IMPORTANT. DURING THIS PROCESS, OUR OFFICE RETAINED THE BICKER STAFF TEAM TO SUPPORT THE 2011 REDISTRICTING PROCESS. IN ADDITION TO THEIR FIRSTHAND EXPERIENCE SUPPORTING THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO AND REDISTRICTING AND BEXAR COUNTY, THEY HAVE SUPPORTED AND CONTINUE TO SUPPORT NUMEROUS MUNICIPALITIES, BOTH LARGE AND SMALL. THEY ARE A POWERHOUSE OF REDISTRICTING KNOWLEDGE, AND I DO NOT USE THAT LIGHTLY, BUT I FELT THAT WAS APPROPRIATE. IN FACT, IF YOU READ A LAW ARTICLE ON THE TOPIC, IT MAY WELL HAVE BEEN WRITTEN BY SOMEBODY FROM THEIR TEAM. IF YOU ATTEND A TRAINING OR A CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION, IT WAS, UH, FOR THE CITY OR FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS, IT WAS LIKELY GIVEN BY SOMEBODY ON THEIR TEAM. ADDITIONALLY, THEY HAVE AN IN-HOUSE TEAM OF G I S SPECIALISTS WITH DECADES OF EXPERIENCE DOING THE TECHNICAL ANALYZE OR TECHNICAL DRAWING OF THE MAPS AND ANALYZING OF DATA. I'LL NOW TURN IT OVER TO TONY RESENDEZ FROM WALSH GALLEGOS TO ADDRESS THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, HOW WE WILL SUPPORT PUBLIC OUTREACH. THANK YOU, ELIANA. MR. MAYOR, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, THIS IS, UH, REALLY AN HONOR FOR US TO BE A PART OF THIS TEAM. I PERSONALLY WAS BORN AND RAISED IN SAN ANTONIO, GREW UP ON THE SOUTH SIDE, UH, DISTRICT THREE AND FOUR. THAT LINE WOULD SWITCH A LITTLE BIT. I'M A GRADUATE OF MCCULLUM HIGH SCHOOL. MY DAD SERVED ON THE SCHOOL BOARD FOR HARLANDALE FOR MANY YEARS. UH, HAVE FAMILY, FRIENDS, AUNTS, UNCLES, YOU NAME IT, ALL OVER THE CITY. THIS IS A GREAT CITY. I'VE BEEN BACK, UH, IN SAN ANTONIO FOR THE LAST 16 YEARS. I'M A PARTNER IN OUR FIRM, AND WE'RE REALLY HONORED AND, AND EXCITED ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY. I'M GONNA ENTER, UH, LET A COUPLE OF MY PARTNERS COME UP WHO ARE PART OF THE TEAM TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES BRIEFLY, AND THEN I'LL GET INTO WHAT, WHAT WE BELIEVE WE CAN HELP YOU WITH AND HELP THE TEAM WITH REGARDING PUBLIC OUTREACH. SO, REAL QUICK, CHRISTY BADAL. SHE'S MY PARTNER IN, IN AUSTIN. HI THERE. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR COUNCIL MEMBERS. I, UH, AM HAPPY TO JOIN YOU THIS AFTERNOON. HAPPY TO BE PARTNERS WITH TONY IN THIS ENDEAVOR. I AM, UH, AS YOU MENTIONED, A PARTNER IN THE AUSTIN OFFICE. I'M NOT TECHNICALLY A NATIVE OF SAN ANTONIO. I'M AN AIR FORCE BRATT. I THOUGHT I WAS BORN HERE WHEN I WAS VERY SMALL. I WAS IN FACT BORN IN IDAHO. UH, MY PARENTS ARE RETIRED HERE AND LIVE IN, UH, DISTRICT NINE. AND IN FACT, MY DAD IS TODAY RECEIVING HIS TRAINING AS AN ELECTION JUDGE, AND HE'S GONNA BE PERFECT FOR IT. SO I'M VERY EXCITED, UH, AND DELIGHTED TO MEET YOU ALL THIS AFTERNOON. AND NEXT REAL QUICK IS EDDIE HERNANDEZ PEREZ. MR. MAYOR, CITY COUNCIL, UH, THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME. UH, AGAIN, MY NAME'S EDDIE HERNANDEZ PEREZ. I'M A FORMER EDUCATOR. I TAUGHT FOR SAN ANTONIO. I SS D IN DISTRICT FIVE. I'M A DISTRICT ONE [00:20:01] RESIDENT. UH, AND SO I'M JUST VERY EXCITED TO, UH, ASSIST THE COUNCIL AND THE REDISTRICTING ADVISORY COMMITTEE IN THIS HELP. AS AN EDUCATOR AT HEART, I REALLY, UH, UH, LOOK FORWARD TO TRANSLATING THIS COMPLEX TOPIC, HELPING ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY. UH, AND OTHER THAN THAT, TURN IT BACK OVER TO TONY. THANK Y'ALL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY. THANK YOU, EDDIE. THANK YOU, CHRISSY. SO, I, I JUST WANTED TO TAKE THAT OPPORTUNITY SO YOU KIND OF PUT A FACE WITH THE NAME. YOU KNOW, WE, WE ARE FROM SAN ANTONIO. UH, OUR OFFICE IS HERE. WE HAVE 17 LAWYERS TO SUPPORT US. WE HAVE 70 STATEWIDE IF WE NEED IT. WE'VE DONE BEEN DOING REDISTRICTING FOR MANY YEARS. UH, SOME OF THE INITIAL CLIENTS THAT WE HAVE, UH, IN THE LAWSUITS BACK IN THE, IN THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES WITH, WITH LULAC, ACTUALLY EIGHTIES AND NINETIES, OUR DISTRICT HELPED DRAW THOSE LINES. UM, LOCALLY, WE REPRESENT SEVERAL SCHOOL DISTRICT FROM NORTHSIDE, JUDSON HARLANDALE. MOST OF THE DIS DISTRICTS IN BEXAR COUNTY, WE REPRESENT. SO THE REASON THAT'S IMPORTANT IS WE'RE FAMILIAR WITH THE AREA, WE'RE FAMILIAR WITH THE COMMUNITY, AND WE BELIEVE THAT THAT WILL HELP YOU ALL IN COMMUNICATING THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO THE CITY, THE CITIZENS OF THE CITY. UH, I KIND OF GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS STUFF BECAUSE THIS IS REALLY THE, KIND OF THE FOUNDATION OF OUR DEMOCRACY. ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE. THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR CITIZENS, THAT THEIR VOICES ARE HEARD. AND THROUGH WORKING WITH YOUR, YOUR, UH, CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AND THE ADMINISTRATION, WE UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT IT'S FOR YOU ALL TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CITIZENS IN YOUR DISTRICTS, THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS, THAT THEIR VOICES ARE HEARD, THAT THE INFORMATION THEY GET IS ACCURATE, AND THAT WE'RE ABLE TO ASSIST THEM IN UNDERSTANDING THIS. SO YOU'LL SEE ON THE SLIDE, ON THE POWERPOINT THAT THERE'S KIND OF THREE VEHICLES THAT WE'VE KIND OF LOOKED AT. AND, AND THE FIRST ONE IS THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT WE TALKED ABOUT. THE SECOND ONE IS COUNCIL OFFICES, AS YOU ALL, YOU ALL ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THIS, VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THIS. AND THEN REDISTRICTING, UH, WEBSITE THAT YOUR STAFF IS WORKING ON TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S GONNA BE AVAILABLE TO THOSE WHO, UM, YOU KNOW, ARE ONLINE AND, AND GETTING INFORMATION THROUGH THE SOCIAL MEDIA. AS YOU KNOW, THAT'S AN IMPORTANT TOOL. BUT WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT NOT, NOT EVERYONE USES SOCIAL MEDIA OR USES THOSE, THE WEBSITE TO GET INFORMATION. AND THAT'S WHY WE BELIEVE THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE HAVING OPEN WORKING SESSIONS. AND YOU'LL SEE THERE THE SECOND BULLET TO INVITE CITIZENS TO COME TO THESE MEETINGS. AND WE'RE GONNA WORK WITH THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO TALK ABOUT, DO WE WANT TO HAVE, HOW MANY MEETINGS DO WE WANT TO HAVE? WHERE DO WE WANT TO HAVE THEM, UH, USING YOU ALL AS WELL. AND THE, AND THE COMMITTEE PERSON THAT YOU APPOINT TO, TO BE ACTIVE IN INVITING FOLKS AND TALKING TO CITIZENS ABOUT THIS, THIS ISSUE AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS. UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE WORKED WITH CLIENTS WHERE WE'VE COME TO THE MEETING AND THEY'RE ABLE TO SHARE SOME INFORMATION WHERE ON THE, ON THE MAP, IT LOOKS LIKE THE LINE IS ON A CREEK OR A RIVER. BUT OVER TIME, THAT CREEK MAY HAVE, UH, DRIED UP AND THEY COME AND TELL US, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A ROAD AND WE SHOULD MAYBE USE THAT INSTEAD. WELL, HAVING THOSE PEOPLE IN YOUR COMMUNITY, IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOODS PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION TO US CAN BE VERY HELPFUL. WE OFTEN HAVE QUESTIONS FROM CITIZENS, HEY, YOU KNOW, MY STREET, MY COUSIN LIVES ACROSS THE STREET. WE WANNA REPRESENT, YOU KNOW, THE SAME, WE WANT THE SAME PERSON. WELL, THE REALITY IS, SOMETIMES YOU DO HAVE TO DRAW THE LINE SOMEWHERE, AND WE CAN HELP EXPLAIN THAT. WE TRY TO KEEP COMMUNITIES TOGETHER. WE TRY TO KEEP NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER. BUT, UM, AS MENTIONED WHERE YOUR GROWTH IS IN THIS CITY, IT'S, IT'S GONNA BE A DOMINO EFFECT, A RIPPLE EFFECT. WHEN YOU MOVE SOME LINES AND PUTTING POPULATION INTO CERTAIN DISTRICTS, THAT'S GONNA AFFECT EVERYBODY ELSE. SO WE'RE GONNA BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THAT. BUT WE THINK WE BELIEVE AND, AND WE'RE CONFIDENT THAT WE COULD HELP, UM, INFORMING THE COMMUNITY AND, AND STAFF AND YOU ALL WITH THOSE, THOSE LEGAL ISSUES AND CONCEPTS. UM, ALSO COUNCIL OFFICES IN TERMS OF YOU ALL, IF YOU ALL HAVE STANDING EVENTS OR YOU MIGHT HAVE A MEETING WITH YOUR LOCAL, UM, HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION OR YOUR LOCAL GROUP, AND YOU WANT ONE OF THE TEAM MEMBERS TO COME AND TALK TO THEM BRIEFLY OR EXPLAIN OR BE AWARE, WE'RE, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HERE FOR, YOU KNOW, ALONG WITH YOUR, YOUR CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE AND ALONG WITH OUR CO-COUNSEL, UH, BIGGER STAFF. BUT, UM, WE'RE HERE TO HELP AND WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS. UM, AND THEN THE LAST PIECE, THE REDISTRICTING WEBSITE, YOUR, UH, STAFF IS, YOU HAD THE, THE CENSUS WEBSITE, AND I THINK THEY'RE RESTRUCTURING THAT TO BE THE REDISTRICTING WEBSITE. SO CITIZENS CAN AUTOMATICALLY GO AND, AND GET CONNECTED, AND WE'LL HELP PROVIDE THE INFORMATION TO THAT. SO THAT'S JUST A BRIEF, AND YOU'LL SEE THE OTHER BULLET POINTS ON THE, ON THE COMMITTEE AND HOW THAT'S GONNA WORK AND THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WILL BE THERE. BUT THAT'S JUST A BRIEF SUMMARY OF KIND OF WHAT, WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT. UM, WE'LL BE HERE ONCE THE, UH, PRESENTATION'S COMPLETED TO ANSWER ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS OR IF YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS OR IDEAS, WE'RE HERE TO HELP. UM, SO THE NEXT SLIDE, AND I'LL MAKE SURE I GET THIS DONE. ALL RIGHT, UH, OUR CO-COUNSEL FROM BIGGER STAFF, SSID IS GOING TO ADDRESS THIS. SO COME ON UP. SSID. THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR COUNCIL, A PLEASURE TO BE HERE WITH YOU. UH, THE FIRM IS VERY PLEASED TO GET TO ASSIST THE CITY AGAIN WITH ITS REDISTRICTING PROCESS. UH, WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO ANOTHER [00:25:01] SUCCESSFUL, UH, REDISTRICTING CYCLE WITH YOU. UH, I'M GOING TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE TECHNICAL STUFF. YOU'VE ALREADY HEARD THE PUNCHLINE. UH, ANDY AND ILIANA BOTH, UH, EXPLAIN TO YOU THAT, UH, YOUR DISTRICTS WITH ALL THE GROWTH THAT HAS HAPPENED OVER THE DECADE ARE OUT OF POPULATION BALANCE TO A DEGREE THAT UNDER FEDERAL LAW, YOU NEED TO REDISTRICT AND GET 'EM CLOSER TO ACTUAL POPULATION BALANCE. THE CITY GREW ABOUT 8%, A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN THAT. UH, THAT GROWTH WAS NOT UNIFORM. MORE OF THAT GROWTH WAS IN THE OUTSKIRTS. THE DISTRICTS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY AND THE DISTRICTS IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE CITY DID NOT GROW SO MUCH. SO THEY ARE GOING TO BE RELATIVELY SPEAKING, UNDERPOPULATED COMPARED TO WHERE THEY NEED TO BE. AND THE DISTRICTS ON THE OUTSIDE TYPICALLY ARE GOING TO BE OVERPOPULATED COMPARED TO WHERE THEY NEED TO BE. SO, AS ILEANA SAID, UH, WE MAY SEE THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS AFFECT ALL OF THE DISTRICTS TO SOME DEGREE OR ANOTHER. THE 2020 CENSUS REVEALED THE TOTAL POPULATION OF THE CITY, UH, AND WE DEFINE SOMETHING CALLED THE IDEAL DISTRICT. IT'S THE TARGET POPULATION. YOU TAKE THE TOTAL POPULATION OF THE CITY AND DIVIDE BY THE NUMBER OF SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS. 10, UH, AND THAT IS THE SIZED DISTRICT. IT'S THE SIZE OF POPULATION THAT EVERY DISTRICT WOULD BE IF THEY WERE ALL EXACTLY EQUAL. UH, AS ILEANA EXPLAINED, UH, FEDERAL LAW, TYPICALLY IT'S COURT MADE LAW. IT'S NOT IN A STATUTE, UH, TYPICALLY DOES NOT REQUIRE PERFECT EQUALITY. I'LL NOTE, AS AN ASIDE, SINCE THE STATE LEGISLATURE IS DRAWING CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS, THAT THE STANDARD FOR CON CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS IS IN FACT STRICTER, TYPICALLY, COURTS REQUIRE THEM TO BE WITHIN ABOUT 1% OF THE IDEAL SIZE IN THEIR POPULATION. WE HAVE A LITTLE MORE LEEWAY FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. MOST POPULOUS TO LEAST POPULOUS. WE NEED TO BE WITHIN 10%. THE POPULATION IN THE LARGEST DISTRICT, MOST POPULOUS DISTRICT DISTRICT EIGHT, IS 34% PLUS LARGER THAN THE POPULATION IN THE LEAST POPULATED DISTRICT, WHICH IS DISTRICT FIVE. PARDON ME WHILE I GET MY GLASSES. SO THE TOTAL POPULATION OF DISTRICT EIGHT IS 169,000 PEOPLE PLUS. AND THAT IS ABOUT COMPARED TO THE IDEAL DISTRICT, WHICH IS HOW WE DO THE CALCULATION OF THE TOTAL DEVIATION, UH, WE LOOK AT THAT OVERPOPULATION COMPARED TO THE IDEAL DISTRICT SIZE OF 143,378. AND NOTICE, UH, WHEN WE DO THAT, THAT DISTRICT EIGHT IS ABOUT 18.12% OVERPOPULATED COMPARED TO THE IDEAL SIZE. BY THE SAME TOKEN, DISTRICT FIVE, WHICH HAS THE LEAST NUMBER OF PEOPLE ACCORDING TO THE CENSUS AT 119,736, COMPARED TO THE IDEAL SIZE, IS 16 AND A HALF PERCENT TOO SMALL IN POPULATION. YOU TAKE THOSE TWO NUMBERS, ADD 'EM TOGETHER, AND YOU GET THE 30 PLUS PERCENT TOTAL MAXIMUM DEVIATION. THAT TELLS YOU, SINCE IT'S MUCH BIGGER THAN 10%, WE HAVE TO REDISTRICT. THE NEXT SLIDE IS FAMILIAR TO YOU ALL. IT IS PICTURE OF YOUR CURRENT SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS. AND YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THE TWO LEAST POPULATED DISTRICTS, ACCORDING TO THE NEW CENSUS DATA, DISTRICTS ONE AND FIVE ARE IN THE CENTER PART OF THE CITY. AND AS I SAID EARLIER, UH, THEY TYPICALLY, UH, DISTRICTS IN CENTER PARTS OF POPULATED AREAS DON'T GROW AS MUCH IN POPULATION OVER A DECADE AS ONES ON THE PERIPHERY. AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT'S HAPPENED HERE. YOU CAN ALSO SEE, UH, THAT THE PROCESS OF ADDING POPULATION TO DISTRICTS ONE IN FIVE WILL HAVE TO DRAW ON THE POPULATION FROM MANY OF THE ADJACENT DISTRICTS. SO THIS MAP ILLUSTRATES INDIRECTLY THAT ALL THE DISTRICTS ARE LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED TO SOME DEGREE OR ANOTHER. THIS IS THE MEAT. THIS CHART IS THE MEAT OF THE DETERMINATION THAT YOU HAVE TO REDISTRICT. UH, IT SHOWS IN LEFT HAND COLUMN EACH DISTRICT NUMBER. AND THE SECOND COLUMN IS THE TOTAL POPULATION [00:30:01] ACCORDING TO THE NEW CENSUS. THIRD COLUMN IS A REMINDER COLUMN. THAT'S THE IDEAL DISTRICT SIZE, AND THAT'S WHY THAT NUMBER'S THE SAME FOR EVERY ONE OF THE DISTRICTS. AND THE NEXT COLUMN, THE PERCENTAGE COLUMN, SHOWS THE DEVIATION, AGAIN, FROM THE IDEAL SIZE, THE DEPARTURE FROM THE IDEAL SIZE OF EACH OF THOSE DISTRICTS. AND IF YOU LOOK AT DISTRICT FIVE, YOU'LL SEE IT IS THE MOST NEGATIVE, WHICH MEANS IT'S THE MOST UNDERPOPULATED. AND DISTRICT EIGHT. BY THE SAME TOKEN, IS THE MOST POSITIVE, THE LARGEST POSITIVE NUMBER. IT'S THE MOST OVERPOPULATED. AND AGAIN, IT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE TWO NUMBERS THAT DETERMINES THE TOTAL DEVIATION THAT EXISTS TODAY, WHICH IS THE NUMBER IN THE BOTTOM LEFT. SO THIS IS WHAT DRIVES REDISTRICTING, THE NEED TO EQUALIZE APPROXIMATELY THOSE POPULATIONS IN EACH OF THE DISTRICTS. AND THAT WILL BE THE TASK FOR THE COUNCIL AND THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND THE REDISTRICTING TEAM TO ASSIST THEM, UH, IN DEVISING A NEW PLAN, UH, WITH COMMUNITY INPUT. AND, UH, LOTS OF DRAWING SESSIONS, I'M SURE, UH, INPUT FROM, UH, THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE. AND WE WILL, UH, AT THE END OF THE PROCESS, AS ELIANA SAID, PRESENT TO YOU OR THE COMMITTEE WILL PRESENT TO YOU, UH, A PLAN THAT THEY RECOMMEND FOR ADOPTION ELIANA. OKAY. SO THAT REALLY WRAPS EVERYTHING UP AS FAR AS, UM, OUR PRESENTATION. I DO WANNA LEAVE YOU WITH A COUPLE OF NEXT STEPS. 'CAUSE LIKE I MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING, THIS IS OUR FIRST PRESENTATION TO Y'ALL. UH, WE REALLY VIEW THIS AS US, UM, AS A CITY KICKING THIS OFF AND GETTING STARTED, UH, FOR NEXT STEPS, 'CAUSE WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER, UH, WOULD BE THE COUNCIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE. AND I BELIEVE THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, NOT TO PUT HIM ON A WHERE HE IS RIGHT NOW, IS GONNA SEND SOMETHING TO Y'ALL, UH, THIS WEEK, TODAY REGARDING WHO YOUR APPOINTEE WILL BE. I CANNOT STATE ENOUGH THAT WE REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND COMING BACK TO Y'ALL WITH UPDATES. UM, I, I AM TRYING TO TEMPER MY EXCITEMENT AS I AM BEFORE YOU. UM, THEN IN ADDITION TO THAT, AS FAR AS NEXT STEPS, IF THERE ARE COUNCIL EVENTS THAT YOU ALL HAVE IN YOUR DISTRICTS THAT YOU WANT US TO COME AND RELAY THIS INFORMATION PROBABLY IN A MORE PALATABLE WAY, UM, WE'RE HAPPY TO DO THAT, PLEASE JUST REACH OUT AND LET US KNOW. BUT OTHER THAN THAT, THANK YOU SO MUCH AND WE'RE AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, TO OUR LEGAL TEAM, ELIANA, UH, FOR THE PRESENTATION, UM, ALL A VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD, UH, PRESENTATION IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'RE DOING AND WHY WE'RE DOING IT. SO LET ME GET RIGHT INTO COUNCIL QUESTIONS. WE'LL GO FIRST TO COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO. THANK YOU MAYOR, AND THANKS TEAM FOR THE PRESENTATION. UM, AS WE SEE DISTRICT FIVE HAS THE LOWEST POPULATION. SO MY QUESTION IS, HOW ARE WE FACTORING IN THE SA TOMORROW PLAN? UH, THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, I SEE THEY'RE PART OF THE TEAM. UM, BUT HOW IS THAT FACTORING IN WHEN WE'RE WORKING WITH THE SA TOMORROW PLAN TO INCREASE DENSITY, UM, AS WELL AS PROJECTED PROJECTS THAT WE'VE ALREADY APPROVED BUT AREN'T CONSTRUCTED YET? HOW ARE WE FACTORING IN THAT POPULATION? SO, TO THE EXTENT THAT THE ESSAY TOMORROW PLAN HIGHLIGHTS AND CAN DEFINE FOR US COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST, AS WE SAW IN THAT ONE SLIDE, THAT THOSE ARE ALL, UH, PRINCIPLES THAT ARE GROUNDED IN THE LAW, UM, WHICH IS WHY YOU GOT A BUNCH OF TEAM OF, UH, A TEAM OF LAWYERS TALKING TO YOU TODAY. UM, SO TO THE EXTENT THAT THOSE ALIGN AS COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST AND IDENTIFY THOSE FOR US, UM, WE'LL WORK WITH THE COMMITTEE, UM, TO GET THAT INPUT, TO READ IT, TO BE ABLE TO EMBED IT INTO THE, UM, ULTIMATE PLAN THAT WE PRESENT TO YOU. I DO WANNA USE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY, UM, TO JUST SAY THAT, OH, THOSE FACTORS, THERE'S A LOT OF THEM AND WE HAVE TO, UM, CONSIDER ALL OF THEM. SO I'M, I'M FAIRLY CERTAIN THAT THE SA TOMORROW PLAN OVERLAPS WITH A NUMBER OF THOSE PRIORITIES ON THERE. AND I WOULD IMAGINE COUNCILMAN THE SA TOMORROW, UH, WOULD BE SOMETHING THAT WOULD, AS ATLANTA SAID, BE PRESENTED, UH, TO THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE SO THAT THEY CAN, YOU KNOW, HAVE THE APPRECIATION OF WHAT, WHAT THAT PLAN CALLS FOR AS WELL. IN ADDITION TO THAT, UM, I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT THERE'S A TEACHER ON THE TEAM TO FACILITATE THE CONVERSATION WITH COMMUNITY. UM, THAT'S GREAT. UM, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR US TO RECEIVE, UM, THE 2011 DRAFT MAPPING, WHAT THAT LOOKED LIKE, AS WELL AS THE MAP THAT WAS EVENTUALLY APPROVED BY COUNCIL IN 2012? YES. SO COUNCILMAN, UH, THAT ALLOWS ME, SO THE ANSWER IS YES. UH, THAT ALLOWS ME TO DOVETAIL INTO [00:35:01] THE REDISTRICTING WEBSITE. WE'RE UTILIZING A LOT OF BEST PRACTICES IN THE SENSE OF REALLY, I'M GONNA SAY, PUSHING A LOT OF INFORMATION INTO THAT, INTO THAT WEBSITE. I DO NOT WANT THAT TO GIVE YOU THE IMPRESSION THAT WE ARE FOCUSING SOLELY ON THE WEBSITE. I HOPE THIS PRESENTATION ILLUSTRATED THAT WE'RE NOT, THAT WE ARE ACKNOWLEDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE AND WORKING BEYOND THAT. SO ALL OF THOSE THINGS, THAT'S A GREAT IDEA TO PUT ALL OF THAT INFORMATION OUT THERE. NOT JUST WHAT, UH, THE BRIEFING MATERIAL Y'ALL RECEIVE, THE BRIEFING MATERIAL THAT THE COMMITTEE WILL RECEIVE, UH, BUT STUFF FROM 2011 TO, TO GIVE THE PUBLIC THAT PERSPECTIVE. GREAT. AND IN ADDITION TO THAT, IS THERE A RUBRIC, UM, THAT WE CAN LOOK TO, LIKE HOW MANY COUNCIL MEETINGS AROUND REDISTRICTING EACH DISTRICT HAD IN 2011? WHAT WOULD BE THE MODEL FOR US TO REPLICATE IN EACH DISTRICT, IF THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN ALSO LOOK AT? YES. THANK YOU. UM, THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS FOR NOW. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO. UM, AND, UH, JUST, JUST SO I MAKE SURE IT WAS CLEAR, UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL BE APPOINTING, UH, A REPRESENTATIVE, SO THE MEMO WILL GO OUT SEEKING YOUR APPOINTMENTS, UM, FREE EACH OF THE DISTRICT. SO, UH, LET ME GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL. THANK YOU, MAYOR. AND I APOLOGIZE FOR THE KERFUFFLE. YOU HEARD HERE OVER, YOU HEARD FROM OVER HERE EARLIER. WE ARE ALREADY FIGHTING OVER, UH, PARTS OF, PARTS OF THE, THAT DISTRICT THAT HAS, UH, OVER 18% GROWTH IN, IN POPULATION. SO, UM, THAT'S ALL FOR, FOR THE PICKING FOR ALL OF US. THANK YOU, MANNY. UM, UH, A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS. UH, COULD YOU TALK TO ME ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE CRITERIA ON SLIDE SIX, IT SAYS THE PLAN SHOULD, OR, SO A LOT OF THAT IS BASED IN TRADITIONAL REDISTRICTING PRINCIPLES. A LOT OF THAT IS ALSO BASED IN CASE LAW. I'M GOING TO, UM, HAND IT OVER TO SID FALK FROM BICKERSTAFF TO FURTHER EXPLAIN THAT. THANK YOU. AND I ALSO, DO YOU WANNA SAY, I'M SO SORRY FOR SAYING I WAS GONNA LET HIM ANSWER AND THEN CONTINUE TO SPEAK. UM, BUT IN THE REPORT WE PROVIDED Y'ALL, UM, A LOT THAT IT HAS A LOT OF, OF CASE LAW AND BRIEFING MATERIALS. YES. OKAY. IF THAT'S THE CASE, THEN I'LL, I'LL JUST LOOK AT THE, THE REPORT. BUT ONE OF THE OTHER REASONS, UH, I ASK IS, WELL, IT ALWAYS, I'M ALWAYS CURIOUS WHEN IT SAYS SHOULD, RIGHT, ACCORDING TO WHO, UH, BUT I NOTICE IN 2011 THE COUNCIL ADOPTED CRITERIA. SO ARE WE EXPECTING THAT TO BE PART OF THE PROCESS THIS TIME AS WELL? SO THE CRITERIA, THEY CHOSE TO ADOPT IT LAST TIME, THE CRITERIA IS THE CRITERIA. UM, 'CAUSE AS I SAID, IT'S GROUNDED IN AND SO SHOULD, IS REALLY TO GIVE IT SOME FLEXIBILITY BECAUSE IT IS A BALANCING OF ALL OF THE FACTORS. UM, BUT NO FACTOR CAN BE DROPPED OUT. UM, SO IT IS WHAT IT IS REGARDLESS OF ADOPTION. UM, BUT I'LL LET SSID SPEAK TO THAT SINCE HE, UM, WAS ON THE TEAM IN 2011. UM, ILEANA GAVE YOU THE SHORT ANSWER. THE LONGER ANSWER, NOT VERY LONG, I HOPE, UH, IS THAT ALL OF THESE FACTORS ARE THINGS THAT IN COURT CASES, SINCE THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT, UH, WAS PASSED AND PEOPLE STARTED LITIGATING, UH, CASES UNDER IT, THESE ARE FACTORS THAT THE COURTS HAVE, UH, RECOGNIZED, UH, PRETTY CONSISTENTLY AS LEGITIMATE FACTORS. UH, OTHER KINDS OF FACTORS, UH, TOO MUCH USE OF RACE, UH, DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICES AGAINST PROTECTED MINORITY GROUPS, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS THAT HAVEN'T PASSED MUSTER. UH, THE COURTS HAVE TENDED TO MAKE CLEAR THAT IT'S NOT A LEGITIMATE FACTOR. UM, THEY'VE OFTEN COME UP IN THE DEFENSE OF LITIGATION, WELL, WE DID THIS BECAUSE OF THIS CONSIDERATION, AND THE COURT SAYS THAT'S NOT A VALID CONSIDERATION. THIS IS A LIST OF THE PREDOMINANT FACTORS THAT COURTS HAVE RECOGNIZED AS LEGITIMATE. AND AS ILEANA, UH, SAID, IT'S A BALANCING ACT. THE, THE PREDICATE THAT SHE GAVE IN THE PRESENTATION WAS, WE ARE FEASIBLE. THIS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. UH, NO ONE OF THESE HAS PRIORITY OVER THE OTHERS EXCEPT FOR THE DO IT WITH EQUAL POPULATION, BECAUSE THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF THE PROCESS AND FOLLOW THE LAW. SO, SO WHAT I DON'T SEE ON HERE, SO MY FOLLOW UP QUESTION IS GOING TO BE, WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA TO COMPLY WITH THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT? BECAUSE I DON'T SEE THAT IN HERE, BUT I HEARD EARLIER ONE OF OUR ATTORNEYS SAYING, BUT WE MUST ALSO COMPLY WITH THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. SO I DON'T SEE THAT HERE. SO I'M CONFUSED. SO I'M GONNA ASK TWO QUESTIONS IN, ONE IS, HOW DO WE COMPLY WITH THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT? AND NUMBER TWO, IF WE FOLLOW THESE CRITERIA AND WE SEE THAT THERE ARE ADVERSE IMPACTS ON COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, IN TERMS OF REPRESENTATION AT THE BALLOT BOX, HOW DO YOU BEGIN TO, WELL, HOW DO YOU ASSESS IT? [00:40:01] AND THEN HOW DO YOU MITIGATE IT DURING THIS PROCESS? UH, ACTUALLY IN THE LIST OF CRITERIA, UH, WORDED OBSCURELY, UH, BY A CLEVER LAWYER, NO DOUBT, UH, THE LAST CRITERION IS THE PLAN SHOULD NOT FRAGMENT A GEOGRAPHICALLY COMPACT MINORITY COMMUNITY OR PAC MINORITY VOTERS IN THE PRESENCE OF POLARIZED VOTING. SO AS TO CREATE A PROBLEM UNDER SECTION, UNDER THE VOTING RIGHT, THAT'S IN THE REPORT, NOT IN THE SLIDE. AND THAT'S OKAY. UH, THAT'S IN THE REPORT. UM, AND THAT IS THE THING THAT I REFERRED TO EARLIER, IS FOLLOW THE LAW. THERE ARE TWO BITS OF, WELL, THREE IN THE CRITERIA FOLLOWING THE LAW. THAT'S ONE OF THEM. UH, THE SECOND IS THE SHAW VERSUS RENO LINE OF CASES. THAT PUTS A LIMIT ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOU CAN HAVE RACE BE THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR. UM, RACIAL GERRYMANDERING, FOR INSTANCE, THE SUPREME COURT HAS FROWNED ON UNLESS CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES EXIST. OKAY. AND, AND THE OTHER DOMINANT LEGAL PRINCIPLE IS OF COURSE, THE EQUAL POPULATION PART. SO EVERYTHING ELSE IS A BALANCING, UH, WHEN WE SAY KEEP COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST TOGETHER AND NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER, UH, NOT ALWAYS THE SAME THING. UM, THAT'S TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE. SOMETIMES THE COMMUNITY OF INTEREST MAY BE SO LARGE AND SITUATED IN A LOCATION WHERE IN REDRAWING THE LINES TO MAKE EQUAL POPULATION WORK. YOU CAN'T KEEP 'EM HERE. YOU NEED TO. SO IT'S A BALANCING THING. AND THE THE TRUTH IS YOU WON'T REALLY KNOW UNTIL YOU SIT DOWN TO DRAW WHAT KINDS OF PROBLEMS OF EXACTLY THAT SORT YOU'RE GONNA RUN INTO. AND THAT IS WHY THE OUTREACH PART OF THE PROGRAM IS SO IMPORTANT UPFRONT. SO I HAVE A FEW MORE QUESTIONS THAT I WANNA GET THROUGH, UH, BEFORE THE THE TIME OF THAT, BUT THANK YOU FOR POINTING OUT THE, THE REPORT. UM, MY, MY NEXT QUESTION IS, WHAT TYPES OF DISCUSSIONS CAN WE EXPECT THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO HAVE SO THAT IT CAN HELP US SELECT AN APPROPRIATE PERSON TO REPRESENT OUR DISTRICT? THAT'S A HARD QUESTION. DO YOU WANT TO ADDRESS THAT? I, I MAY GET REALLY LAWYERY ON YOU. COUNCILWOMAN, CAN YOU RESTATE THE QUESTION? ? SORRY. NO, NO, NO. UH, SO AS WE THINK ABOUT WHO WE'RE GOING TO APPOINT, CAN YOU GIVE US A FEELING OF WHAT TYPE OF DISCUSSIONS WILL BE HAD BY THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE? OKAY. UH, SO YOU'RE, ARE YOU THINKING OF KIND OF LIKE, SO YOU KNOW WHAT TO CONSIDER AS YOU'RE TRYING TO FIND THE PERSON TO, UH, REPRESENT? YEAH. I MEAN, ARE THEY GONNA BE LOOKING AT MAPS? ARE THERE, IS THERE, THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT IT'S GONNA BE AT. SO THEY ARE GOING TO BE, UH, WHAT, SO IT'S, IT IS THE COMMITTEE, RIGHT? SO THEY WILL BE LISTENING TO COMMUNITY IN, UH, INPUT, RIGHT? THEY MAY EVEN BE RECEIVING, UH, DRAFT MAPS FROM A COMMUNITY MEMBER. THEY'LL BE WORKING WITH THE TEAM, SPECIFICALLY BICKER STAFF'S TEAM TO DO, UH, TO TALK OUT THE MAP DRAWING, NOT TO LITERALLY DO THE DRAWING OF MAPS, RIGHT? UH, BICKER STAFF HAS A TEAM FOR THAT. UM, SO THEY'LL BE LISTENING TO THE PUBLIC, WEIGHING ALL THOSE FACTORS, WORKING WITH THEIR COLLEAGUES ON THE COMMITTEE, UM, TO HAVE THOSE HARD DISCUSSIONS AND, AND BALANCE ALL THOSE THINGS AND WORK WITH US AS THE TEAM. DO YOU ANTICIPATE SUBCOMMITTEES? NOT CURRENTLY, BUT, AND THEN, UH, LAST COUPLE OF QUESTIONS IN TERMS OF KEEPING, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS INTACT, NOT SPLITTING THEM, OR EVEN REUNITING RE REUNITING ONES THAT WERE, UH, SEPARATED LAST TIME AROUND. UM, IS THERE SOMEONE ON OUR TEAM FROM THE CITY WHO IS GONNA KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THAT? OR ARE, WILL OUR APPOINTEE PRETTY MUCH BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT? SO WE, WHAT WE ENVISION AND HOPE IS THAT YOU'LL WORK CLOSELY WITH YOUR APPOINTEE. I I I KNOW Y'ALL ARE BUSY, AND SO THE EXTENT THAT'S FEASIBLE, OH, THIS IS THE WORK. YES, IT IS THE WORK. SO TO, SO THEY, THEY KNOW, I MEAN, THEY ARE SPEAKING FOR D SEVEN, THEY KNOW D SEVEN OR D TWO OR D ONE'S, COMMUNITY INTERESTS. UM, AND SO WE HOPE THAT THEY COME KIND OF WITH THAT INFORMATION. SO THAT PARTICULAR COMMUNITY THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, I, I WOULD HOPE THAT THEY COME IN KNOWING THAT AND ADVOCATING AND, AND UNDERSTANDING THAT IT IS A BALANCE. SORRY. BUT WE WILL COUNCILWOMAN ALSO BE TALKING TO PLANNING, UH, ALL OUR, YOU KNOW, DEPARTMENTS WITHIN THE CITY THAT WE HAVE KNOWLEDGE THAT THAT'LL HELP IN TERMS OF THE COMMITTEE UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES. SO YES, WE'LL GET OTHER DEPARTMENTS INVOLVED AS WELL. OKAY. AND THEN JUST A FINAL, UH, QUESTION. I DO HAVE A FINAL QUESTION. . UM, HOW IS TODAY'S PROCESS DIFFERENT FROM THE ONE 10 YEARS AGO? LIKE, ARE THERE ANY IMPROVEMENTS THAT, THAT YOU THINK WE'VE MADE SINCE LAST TIME OR ANYTHING WE'VE DROPPED? THANK YOU. WE ARE ALL SMARTER THAN WE USED TO BE. I AGREE WHOLEHEARTEDLY. UM, SO THE ONE, AND WHY I WANTED TO ILLUSTRATE IT IN THOSE SLIDES IS THE VERY CLEAR DIFFERENCE IS THE, THE COMMITTEE, THE COMMITTEE DID NOT EXIST LAST TIME. UH, A LOT OF THE WORK, UH, WAS DONE WITH [00:45:01] COUNCIL MEMBERS IN, IN MEETINGS. SO I WOULD, YOU KNOW, I WOULD GO AND MEET WITH COUNCILMAN BRAVO, HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT THOSE LINES. THAT'S, AND INSTEAD THIS IS ALL HAPPENING ON THE OUTSIDE WITH THE COMMITTEE WITH PUBLIC INPUT. IT'S A LOT MORE TRANSPARENTLY THAN, YEAH, I NOTICED A LOT OF EXECUTIVE SESSIONS LAST TIME. . OKAY. THANK YOU. I WAS GONNA SAY, COUNCILWOMAN, THAT'S ONE OF THE IMPROVEMENTS IS FROM WHAT, WHAT, WHAT WE UNDERSTAND THIS DISCUSSION WAS HELD IN EXEC LAST TIME, AND OBVIOUSLY WE'RE HAVING IT OUT IN PUBLIC. SO WE WANT TO CONTINUE THAT IN TERMS OF IMPROVING ON IT IN TERMS OF TRANSPARENCY AND PUBLIC OUTREACH. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL. COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE. THANK YOU, MAYOR. UH, I JUST WANNA SAY ONE THING IS I, I'M REALLY DISAPPOINTED THAT OUR POPULATION IS 1,435,000. I THOUGHT WE HAD 1,000,500 THOUSAND, AND WE'D BE GETTING EVEN MORE THAN THAT. AND I'M WONDERING, DID WE MISS OUR MARK ON, ON THE CENSUS HERE IN, IN THE CITY? WHAT DO YOU THINK, MAYOR? BECAUSE I KNOW WE DID, WE DID A LOT, BUT WE DIDN'T GET A LOT OF STATE HELP OR THINGS LIKE THAT. WELL, I KNOW THERE'S A, THIS IS MAYBE NOT GERMANE TO THE CONVERSATION, ANDY, BUT THERE HAS BEEN A TREMENDOUS UNDER COUNT AMONG, UH, DIFFICULT TO COUNT POPULATIONS IN TEXAS, UH, COMMUNITIES OF COLOR IN PARTICULAR. AND THAT IS SUBJECT TO DEBATE RIGHT NOW. UM, BUT, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THERE IS A METRO UNDER COUNT, NOT ONLY IN OUR CITY, BUT IN, IN MOST OF THE MAJOR METROS IN TEXAS. OKAY. THANK YOU, MAYOR. UM, WELL, IF WE GO ON THE BASIS OF 1,435,000 PEOPLE, AND WE'RE GONNA DIVIDE THAT UP INTO 10 DISTRICTS, AND THE, THE IDEAL NUMBER THAT WAS INDICATED WAS ABOUT 143,300 AND SOMETHING PER DISTRICT. UM, BUT I ALSO HEARD THAT THE STANDARDS ALLOW FOR AS MUCH AS A 10% DEVIANCE. THAT SOUNDS REALLY STRONG. AND I'M WONDERING, ARE WE GOING TO SET SOME KIND OF A TARGET OURSELVES SO THAT WHEN WE LOOK AT 143,500 PEOPLE PER DISTRICT, WHAT IS GONNA BE THE DEVIATION ON THAT? IS, ARE WE GONNA BE SETTLED WITH THREE TO 5%? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT, THAT WE THINK IS GONNA BE MORE REASONABLE? OR MIGHT WE HAVE ONE DISTRICT WITH 10% MORE PEOPLE THAN ANOTHER? UH, COUNCILMAN, IF I MAY, THE, THE, THE STANDARD, A LEGAL STANDARD IS 10%. AND THE WAY I WOULD ANSWER YOUR QUESTION IS, RATHER THAN HAVE A TARGET, OBVIOUSLY WE WANT TO GET AS CLOSE TO THE IDEAL DISTRICT AS WE CAN IN WORDS WE WANT, AS EVEN A NUMBER AS WE CAN. BUT THEN YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER, WE DO WANT TO KEEP NEIGHBORHOODS INTACT. WE WANT TO KEEP NATURAL BOUNDARIES. WE WANNA BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. SO ACTUALLY THAT 10%, UM, GIVES US THE FLEXIBILITY TO CONSIDER THE THINGS THAT WE LISTED OUT AND FACTOR THOSE IN AS WE REDRAW THE DISTRICTS. NOW, WILL WE BE SENDING THIS TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO, UH, LOOK AT, THAT'S THE OTHER IMPROVEMENT. WE DON'T HAVE THE REQUIREMENT ANYMORE THAT WE NEED TO PRE-CLEAR THIS WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, RIGHT? I THOUGHT SO. UM, ONE LAST THING, AND IT'S SOMEWHAT RELATED TO WHAT WE SAID AT THE BEGINNING. IF WE MAKE THIS, UH, THE REDISTRICTING THAT WE SET UP FOR THE NEXT ELECTION, BUT WE DECIDE IN 2023 TO HOLD AN ELECTION FOR 12 DISTRICTS AND WE APPROVE A 12 MEMBER COUNCIL, THEN I PRESUME WE WOULD GO THROUGH THIS WHOLE THING AGAIN AFTER THAT ELECTION IN 2023 TO PREPARE FOR 2025, RIGHT? THAT IS CORRECT. SO THE FIRST POSSIBLE TIME THAT THE VOTERS COULD, UH, VOTE FOR A CHARTER AMENDMENT THAT WOULD UP THE NUMBER OF COUNCIL DISTRICTS IS THE SAME, UH, MUNICIPAL ELECTION AS 2023 WHEN WE HAVE TO HAVE NEW BOUNDARIES. SO YOU'RE CORRECT, IT WOULD BE 2025. OKAY. NO MORE QUESTIONS. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE. COUNCIL MEMBER COWA. HDA. THANK YOU, MAYOR. SORRY. I ENJOYED HEARING THE STORIES FROM THE TEAM, UM, ABOUT THEIR DEEP CONNECTIONS TO OUR, OUR GREAT CITY. I HEARD YOU IDENTIFYING WITH PARTS OF TOWNS, SCHOOL DISTRICTS, COUNCIL DISTRICTS. IT REMINDS ME OF THE ULTIMATE SAN ANTONIO QUESTION, WHERE DID YOU GO TO HIGH SCHOOL? BUT WE ASK THAT AS SAN ANTONIO BECAUSE IT TELLS US A LOT ABOUT YOU. IT TELLS US ABOUT, UM, WHERE YOU COME FROM YOUR, YOUR ORIGIN NEIGHBORHOOD. UM, AND SO IT'S, IT'S, IT'S REALLY SOMETHING THAT I ENJOY ASKING. IT TELLS A LOT ABOUT, UM, THE PERSON. BUT AS WE'VE ALL COME TO KNOW THE VARIOUS PARTS OF, OF OUR DISTRICTS, YOU KNOW, SINCE BEING ELECTED AND A LITTLE MORE THAN WE, THAN WE EVEN THOUGHT WE DID. AND, UM, I REALLY ENJOYED LEARNING ABOUT PEOPLE, THEIR NEIGHBORS, THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS, OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY. SO I WANNA ENSURE THAT WE'RE KEEPING NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER. UH, AS IN MY DISTRICT, YOU KNOW, I I WE HAVE GREAT, VERY OLD NEIGHBORHOODS LIKE LOS LINAS COMMUNITY WORKERS IN THE EDGEWOOD AREA OF DISTRICT SIX. CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT THE CITY'S MAIN GOAL IS, [00:50:01] UH, REGARDING DISTRICT PROPORTIONALITY? I'D LIKE TO KNOW HOW WE ARE GO AHEAD. BY DISTRICT PROPORTIONALITY, YOU MEAN WHEN IT COMES TO THINGS LIKE THAT? I MEAN, MY, MY, MY CONCERN, I MENTIONED MY CONCERN IS KEEPING NEIGHBORHOODS TOGETHER. AND SO, UH, I APPRECIATE THAT THE COMMITTEE WILL DO SOME OF THIS WORK, BUT, UM, A PART OF THE QUESTION IS WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT IS THE CITY GETTING IS GOING TO, IS THE CITY GONNA GIVE TO THE COMMITTEE? RIGHT? UM, BUT, BUT IN REGARDS TO COMMUNITIES OF, OF INTEREST, WHAT, UM, WHAT IS THE, WHAT IS THE GOAL? SO THE GOAL AS, SO AS ANDY MENTIONED, THE GOAL IS ULTIMATELY, OR AS WE'VE ALL MENTIONED, THE GOAL IS ULTIMATELY THAT TO REBALANCE WITHIN THAT 10%, I THINK THEN KEEPING IN THE PRIORITIES, RIGHT? PRIORITIES, ONE OF, ONE OF WHICH IS THOSE COMMUNITIES OF INTEREST IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS. UM, I MEAN, THE HARD FACT IS WE'RE GOING TO, EVERYTHING'S A PRIORITY AND WE'RE GONNA BOUNCE IT ALL. AND, AND, AND IT'S JUST KIND OF GONNA BE WHAT, WHAT IT'S GONNA BE. BUT, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS SAID ABOUT, UH, COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO, ABOUT THE 2020 PLAN AND INFORMING OUR COMMITTEE AND SUPPORTING THEM WITH CITY DEPARTMENTS LIKE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, G P A OURSELVES, UM, IS TO, WE CAN, UH, FOCUS PRESENTATIONS ON THOSE THINGS. SO NOT JUST THE ESSAY TOMORROW, BUT ALSO, UM, YOU KNOW, THE COLLABORATION AMONGST THE COMMITTEES WILL ALLOW THE D SIX APPOINTEE TO SPEAK TO THEIR COMMUNITIES AND ADVOCATE FOR THEM. AND WE CAN ALSO HAVE SOMEONE FROM PLANNING COMMUNITY TO COME AND TALK, UM, AND PROVIDE THE COMMITTEE THAT GUIDANCE ON, ON, ON THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES AND HOW LONG THEY'VE BEEN AND WHERE THEY LIE. DOES THAT KIND OF ANSWER YOUR QUESTION? OR IT IT DOES. I MEAN, IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT A GOOD ANSWER, . NO, I MEAN, IT'S A GOOD ANSWER, BUT IT'S NOT WHAT I REALLY RIGHT, TOTALLY WANNA HEAR. I MEAN, THERE'S, THERE'S HUMAN FACTORS BEYOND MAPS AND STATISTICS AND 10%, AND, UM, THOSE ARE ALL REALLY IMPORTANT. OBVIOUSLY IN THIS PROCESS, WE HAVE TO, UM, LOOK AT THE NUMBERS, WE HAVE TO FOLLOW THE DATA, BUT, UH, THOSE AREN'T WHAT DEFINE COMMUNITIES. I'M, I'M REALLY TALKING MORE ABOUT THE SCHOOLS, THE PLACES WHERE WE WORSHIP, THE WAY THE PARKS THAT WE GO TO TO CELEBRATE OUR, OUR HOLIDAYS, THINGS LIKE THAT. UM, I, I, I WANNA KNOW THAT THOSE SOFT FACTORS ARE BEING CONSIDERED IN, IN THIS. AND, AND SO THE REASON WHY I SAY IT WASN'T A GOOD ANSWER, IT'S SIMPLY BECAUSE THERE IS NO WAY TO SAY THAT, THAT THAT PRIORITY, THAT GUIDEPOST CAN BE THE ULTIMATE GUIDEPOST. UM, IT HAS TO BE WEIGHED WITH PRIORITY, WITH OTHER PRIORITIES. SO WE DO WANT TO, UM, INFORM THE COMMITTEE, AND THAT IS WHY HAVING THE PUBLIC COME IN AND ADVOCATE FOR THOSE PLACE AND EXPLAIN THOSE PLACES, THAT'S IMPORTANT. SO WE KNOW THAT, AND WE DO, AND I THINK THE FACT THAT WE ARE, UH, HIGHLIGHTING A AND EMPHASIZING A TRANSPARENT, UH, PROCESS THAT ENGAGES THE COMMUNITY SHOWS THAT WE, WE DO BELIEVE THOSE TO BE PRIORITIES, BUT THE REALITY IS IT'S GONNA BE A BALANCING ACT OF ALL SORTS OF THINGS. OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. AND, AND AGAIN, THE GOOD NEWS COUNCILMAN, IS THAT'S WHY WE'RE NOT TELLING YOU THAT OUR TARGET IS TO HAVE EQUAL DISTRICTS ACROSS, IS BECAUSE WE DO WANT TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE SOFT ISSUES THAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. OKAY. AND THAT'S WHY WE DO WANT THAT FLEXIBILITY TO DO THAT. OKAY. UM, I'M JUST, I'M CURIOUS THAT, THANK YOU, ANDY. I, I JUST WONDER IF ONE , I'M NOT TRYING TO BLOW EVERYTHING UP HERE, BUT IS ONE PERSON ENOUGH, ONE PERSON PER DISTRICT? I, I MEAN, IT SEEMS LIKE WE HAVE VERY DIVERSE DISTRICTS, UH, IN ALL DEFINITIONS OF THAT WORD. I'M JUST GONNA THROW IT OUT THERE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER KIO, HDA, COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA. THANK YOU MAYOR. AND THANK YOU ELIANA FOR THE PRESENTATION. AND THANK YOU, ANDY, FOR SENDING OUT THE INFORMATION, UM, AHEAD OF TIME. UH, DO YOU ALL BY ANY CHANCE HAVE YOUR INITIAL MAPS THAT YOU ALL SENT US PULLED UP AS A BACKUP DOCUMENT? I HAVE A QUESTION ON ONE OF THE MAPS. UM, CAN YOU USE THE AB? WOULD THAT SURE. SO THAT WORKS. SO WHILE, WHILE WE FIND THAT MAP, UM, I ALSO WANTED TO SEE IF YOU ALL HAVE A SIDE BY SIDE COMPARISON FROM THE LAST, UH, CENSUS AND THIS CENSUS. I DIDN'T SEE THAT IN THE DOCUMENT, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL TO BE ABLE TO REFER TO THAT AS WELL. UM, I SAW THE PROJECTIONS, THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT, BUT I DIDN'T SEE ONE, AND I KNOW MINE, BUT I THINK IT WOULD BE NICE TO HAVE EVERYTHING IN ONE DOCUMENT SO THAT WE, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO COMPARE. UM, AND THEN I KNOW THAT SOME COUNCIL DISTRICTS ARE REALLY CLOSE ALREADY TO THEIR DESIRED LEVEL. UM, SO I, I'M WONDERING HOW THAT PROCESS WILL WORK, UM, IN, I'M ASSUMING IT'S GONNA BE A DOMINO EFFECT, SO EVERYBODY'S GONNA HAVE SOME CHANGES, BUT I'M JUST WONDERING HOW YES, THAT'S THE ONE. SO, UM, CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND? AND SO, SO JUST WALK ME THROUGH THE PROCESS OF THIS INITIAL ASSESSMENT THAT WAS CREATED PER COUNCIL DISTRICT. THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT REPORT WAS CREATED BY BICKER STAFF, SO I'LL HANDED OVER TO S BALK. OKAY, SO YOU ALL HAD ONE PER COUNCIL [00:55:01] DISTRICT. SO HOW DID YOU ALL, WHAT, WHAT CHANGED FROM LAST GO AROUND? HOW DID YOU ALL MAKE THAT INITIAL ASSESSMENT? THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT IS NO MORE THAN TAKING THE NEW POPULATION DATA AND STICKING IT IN ON TOP OF THE EXISTING DISTRICTS TO GIVE YOU A SNAPSHOT OF WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE TODAY. THAT'S THE PROCESS FOR DOING THAT DETERMINATION. UH, ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND, NOT YOU UNDERSTAND, SURE, ONCE IT IS KNOWN, UH, THE DEGREE OF THE DEVIATION, UH, YOU HAVE AN ANSWER FOR WHETHER YOU DO OR DON'T HAVE TO REDISTRICT. WHAT THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT DOES NOT PURPORT TO DO IS DO A DIAGNOSIS OF WHAT'S POSSIBLE. UH, THAT'S THE ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE, RIGHT? UH, AND ULTIMATELY YOUR ROLE IN ADOPTING A FINAL PLAN. AND THE, THE TRUTH IS, THIS IS COMPLICATED ENOUGH THAT UNTIL THE COMMITTEE STARTS TO DRAW, THEY'RE NOT GONNA KNOW WHERE, UH, THEY'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO BALANCE FACTORS LIKE NEIGHBORHOODS, UH, AND OTHER COMMUNITY INTERESTS AGAINST THE NEED TO BALANCE THE POPULATION. OKAY? THAT'S THE DRIVING PIECE. AND THE SECOND PIECE IS DON'T VIOLATE THE OTHER LAW WITHIN THOSE BOUNDS. YOU HAVE A FAIR AMOUNT OF FREEDOM TO MAKE SOFT DECISIONS, UH, ABOUT HOW TO CONFIGURE EACH INDIVIDUAL DISTRICT. AND IT IS POSSIBLE, UH, THAT SOME OF THE DISTRICTS THAT ARE UNDER OR OVERPOPULATED BY ONLY A BIT MAY NOT HAVE TO CHANGE VERY MUCH UNTIL WE SEE WHAT THE PROCESS OF GIVING THE UNDERPOPULATED DISTRICTS ADDITIONAL POPULATION ENTAILS. IN TERMS OF DOING THINGS TO THE POPULOUS DISTRICTS, WE WON'T REALLY KNOW WHICH OF THE DISTRICTS FOR SURE HAVE TO BE AFFECTED. AND THERE'S NOT A SINGLE ANSWER. THERE ARE MULTIPLE ANSWERS. AND IT MAY BE THAT THE COMMITTEE LOOKS AT COMPETING PLANS AND HAS A HARD DECISION ABOUT WHICH ONE TO RECOMMEND ULTIMATELY, AND OKAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THAT ANSWER. I GUESS I MISUNDERSTOOD THE MAPS BECAUSE YOU ALL HAD INDIVIDUAL MAPS OF EVERY COUNCIL DISTRICT, AND I DON'T KNOW IF MY COLLEAGUES GOT A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THEM. THOSE ARE THE EXISTING COUNCILS, SO THOSE ARE THE EXISTING MAPS. IT SAID INITIAL ASSESSMENT, AND I WAS LIKE, WELL, WHAT CHANGED? AND I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT, AND I THOUGHT, WELL, MAYBE THOSE, THE PRINT IS TOO SMALL AND I CAN'T TELL WHAT CHANGED ABOUT MY DISTRICT. SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. UM, I HAD ASKED, UH, THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION. I KNOW THAT KATE TENON AND BRIAN DILLARD WERE WORKING ON SOMETHING, UM, WITH UTSA'S, UH, DEMOGRAPHERS, I THINK ON SPECIFICALLY, UH, MAPS, INTERACTIVE MAPS THAT WOULD KIND OF GIVE US A BETTER PICTURE. SO, SO YOU ALL DIDN'T DO AN INITIAL ASSESSMENT TECHNICALLY OF THE MAP ITSELF, I GUESS IS A QUESTION. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH. I I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT ONE COMMENT IN THE, THE REASON THE INDIVIDUAL MAPS ARE THERE AREN'T TO REMIND YOU WHERE YOU LIVE. OKAY, , UH, THEY ARE, UH, THEY CONTAIN SOME EXTRA DETAIL THAT WASN'T IN THE OVERALL MAP. IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, THERE'S A BUNCH OF, UH, BACKGROUND HAND SCRATCH WITH NUMBERS IN IT. THOSE ARE DEPICTIONS OF WHAT ARE CALLED VOTER TABULATION DISTRICTS, WHICH OUGHT TO BE VERY CLOSE TO, AND IN MANY CASES, IDENTICAL TO THE COUNTY'S ELECTION PRECINCTS. AND THE NUMBERS IN THERE ARE THE IDENTIFIER NUMBERS FOR THAT VOTING TABULATION DISTRICT OR V T D, THAT'S, SO YOU CAN HAVE A LITTLE EYEBALLING OF, IF I HAVE TO LOSE, UH, A CHUNK AND ONE OF THE CRITERIA IS TO USE WHOLE ELECTION PRECINCTS, MAYBE IT'S THIS ONE OR THIS ONE THAT I'M INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT, GAINING, OR LOSING. OKAY. WONDERFUL. THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND THEN WILL COUNCIL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY ALSO TO WEIGH IN, LIKE BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCES OR IS IT THROUGH OUR COMMITTEE APPOINTEES THAT WE WOULD KIND OF TALK TO? UM, WE HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF A LOT OF MAYBE LIKE CLOSED ROADS EXAMPLE THAT YOU ALL WERE SHARING? NO, YES, WE DO, UH, PLAN FOR, UH, DIRECT COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, INFORMATION GATHERING. OKAY. DOES THAT ANSWER? AND THEN MY, MY FINAL QUESTION IS, SO AS WE GO THROUGH THE PROCESS AND MAYBE OUR APPOINTEE, UH, ASKS OUR QUESTIONS AND BRINGS THINGS, UM, TO THE COMMITTEE AFTER THEY MAKE THE RECOMMENDATION, IS COUNCIL STILL ALLOWED TO MAKE CHANGES TO THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS? SO WE'RE, WE'RE FAST FORWARDING TO LATE SUMMER 2022. CORRECT. COMMITTEE'S DONE THEIR WORK, IT COMES UP. SO TECHNICALLY YES. OKAY. BUT OUR EXPECTATION, OUR PLAN IS WE WANT TO ADVISE, UH, UPDATE YOU, WHETHER IT'S EMAILS FROM IANA OR COMING UP HERE AND DOING THIS, THAT, THAT WE'VE WORKED THAT OUT. BUT YES. SO IANA AS AN ATTORNEY, I'LL ASK YOU THE QUESTION. I JUST, I'M SCARED THAT SOMEBODY'S GONNA OFFER AN AMENDMENT UP HERE OF SOME SORT WHEN THIS COMMITTEE HAS DONE SO MUCH WORK. AND THAT'S THE REASON FOR THE QUESTION. I'LL TAKE THAT ONE. COUNCILWOMAN. UH, I, I APPRECIATE THE CONCERN YOU HAVE AND, UH, IT, IT REALLY IS A FACTOR OF, OF PRACTICALITY BECAUSE, UH, UNLIKE OTHER ISSUES THAT ARE PRESENTED BY COUNCIL, [01:00:01] SOMETIMES YOU CAN MAKE AN AMENDMENT RIGHT THAT, UH, DOESN'T AUTOMATICALLY THEN IMPACT EVERYBODY'S DISTRICT. WHEREAS IN THIS EXERCISE, UH, WE'RE TRYING TO MAKE IT AS CLEAR AS WE CAN. THAT REALLY ANY CHANGE THAT IS GONNA BE, UM, ASKED FOR AFTER THE RECOMMENDATIONS WILL CERTAINLY, WE WILL ALMOST GET US BACK TO GROUND ZERO, RIGHT? IT GETS US BACK TO THE BEGINNING, BECAUSE AGAIN, IT NECESSARILY WILL IMPACT ALL THE OTHER DISTRICTS. SO THAT'S WHY WE ARE HOPING THAT WORKING THROUGH THE COMMITTEE, BUT KEEPING THE COUNCIL MEMBERS DIRECTLY INVOLVED AS WELL, WILL HELP ALLEVIATE THAT CONCERN AND I SHARE IT. OKAY. WONDERFUL. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS. THANK YOU EVERYONE. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, COUNCIL MEMBER GRA THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. SO, UH, REDISTRICTING IS AN IMPORTANT TIME HERE IN THE CITY. WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF MOVE THE CITY FORWARD AND LOOK AT THE DIRECTION OF WHAT WE, WHERE WE'RE HEADED. SO I'M, I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS. DISTRICT THREE HAS, UM, HAS SEEN MOVEMENT IN ITS AREA IN THE PAST, UM, LIFETIME RESIDENTS. SO I'VE SEEN IT. SO, UH, I'M REALLY EXCITED THAT THIS TIME AROUND THAT WE ARE GOING TO DO A COMMITTEE. I THINK THAT'S VERY HELPFUL. BUT AS I LOOK AT THE PUBLIC OUTREACH, I THINK THE PUBLIC OUTREACH WHERE WE'RE DOING WITH PUBLIC INPUT IS GOING TO BE KEY. AND I THINK THAT IS HOW WE'RE GOING TO GET MORE VOICES IN. UH, NATURAL BOUNDARIES ARE KEY. AND FOR DISTRICT THREE, BETWEEN DISTRICT FIVE AND TWO, WE HAVE THE HIGHWAYS THAT ARE USED AS A NATURAL BOUNDARY. BUT I THINK WE NEED TO GET THE RESIDENTS INVOLVED, ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR, THEY TEND TO GET A LITTLE TERRITORIAL ABOUT WHAT'S SOUTHEAST SIDE, WHAT'S SOUTH SIDE, WHAT'S WEST SIDE? SO I THINK WE NEED TO TAKE THAT INTO CONSIDERATION WHEN WE'RE HAVING THE CONVERSATIONS. UM, THE OTHER QUESTION I HAVE IS ABOUT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS. HOW ARE WE PLANNING TO, AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THE ANSWERS NOW, BUT HOW ARE WE PLANNING TO, UH, GET THEM INVOLVED? AND IF I HAVE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS IN MY DISTRICT THAT DON'T EXIST ANYMORE, OR THAT ARE LIKE TWO PEOPLE, SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION, AND I'M SURE SOME OF MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES HAVE THE SAME, UH, PREDICAMENT, IS THAT WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION THAT'S COMING IN FOR SOMETHING OR AGAINST SOMETHING THAT WE KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY IN THAT NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION BEFORE WE MAKE ANY PLANS. 'CAUSE I RIVERSIDE, YOU KNOW, RIVERSIDE COULD COME AND SAY, AND THEY HAVE TWO MEMBERS OR, OR IT'S ONE MEMBER RIGHT NOW. SO HOW ARE WE GOING TO KIND OF, UM, MONITOR THAT VOICES? SO IN TERMS OF PUBLIC INPUT AND OUTREACH, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE GETTING THAT INFORMATION OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS AND THE HOAS ALSO. UH, BUT I FEEL CONFIDENT BECAUSE I NEED, IF WE'RE DO DOING BY THE NUMBERS, I NEED TO FIVE, 5,000 PEOPLE SOMEWHERE, . I'M PRETTY CONFIDENT THAT, UM, MY DISTRICT IS, IS GOING TO BE CHANGED VERY LITTLE AND, AND PROBABLY EX EXPAND AT THIS RATE. UM, BUT I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE THAT PUBLIC INPUT AND THAT WE'RE COMMUNICATING WITH EACH OTHER. SO THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AND ONCE YOU HAVE THOSE ANSWERS ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS, SEND THEM MY WAY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER VIRON. COUNCIL MEMBER MCKEE RODRIGUEZ. THANK YOU, MAYOR. UM, SO WHEN I WAS CAMPAIGNING, BECAUSE MY LAST NAME HAS RODRIGUEZ IN IT, UM, THERE WAS A LOT OF FEAR. THEY'RE LIKE, OH MY GOD, THIS GUY WITH ALL THE YARD SIGNS, HE'S, UH, HE'S NOT BLACK AND WE'RE GONNA LOSE THE BLACK, THE BLACK SEAT. UM, AND THEY WERE SUPER EXCITED TO KNOW THAT IT WAS MY HUSBAND'S NAME THAT I HAD TAKEN. SO THAT'S PROGRESS. AND I SAY ALL THAT TO SAY THAT DISTRICT TWO HAS VERY SPECIAL INTEREST IN THE REDISTRICTING PROCESS. UM, AND SO AS IT RELATES TO RACE SPECIFICALLY, AND SO CAN YOU PLEASE DESCRIBE WHAT STATE INTEREST AND RACE CONSIDERATIONS, UH, WILL LOOK LIKE AS IT RELATES TO MAINTAINING A HISTORICALLY BLACK DISTRICT? AS YOU PROBABLY HAVE ALREADY REALIZED, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO SID FALK FROM BICKERSTAFF. I WISH I COULD GIVE YOU A HARD AND FAST ANSWER. UM, YOUR DISTRICT IS FAIRLY CLOSE, AND IN PRINCIPLE, [01:05:01] IT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE NOT TO DO ANYTHING TO IT AT ALL. UH, WE WILL HAVE TO SEE, AS I SAID EARLIER, TO WHAT EXTENT DISTRICTS THAT ARE WITHIN A CLOSER RANGE OF DEVIATION FROM THE IDEAL SIZE, UH, CAN BE LEFT UNAFFECTED. IT JUST DEPENDS ON HOW HARD IT IS TO DO THE OTHER BALANCING. UH, ONE OF THE THINGS WE WILL BE SENSITIVE TO IS NOT UNAVOIDABLY REDUCING THE STRENGTH OF MINORITY GROUP VOTING POWER. AND THAT'S GONNA BE ONE OF THE FACTORS THAT WE LOOK AT IN ALL THE DRAWING. AND, AND I'LL GIVE YOU A A PROBABLY A MORE HARD AND FAST ANSWER, COUNCILMAN . UH, BUT THAT WOULD BE A, A ACTUALLY AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF HOW WE PROBABLY WOULD NOT BE IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. IF WE REDREW YOUR DISTRICT IN SUCH A WAY THAT IT'S SIGNIFICANTLY MINIMIZED THE ABILITY TO HAVE AN AFRICAN AMERICAN IN YOUR SEAT, UH, THAT WOULD BE PROBLEMATIC FROM A COMPLIANCE WITH A VOTING, UH, VOTING RIGHTS ACT. SO, UH, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, YES, THAT'S GONNA BE SOMETHING THAT WE, WE, WE LOOK AT VERY, UH, VERY CLOSELY. THANK YOU. I'D, I'D ALSO WONDER, UM, WOULD THAT BE A CONSIDERATION AND THE POTENTIAL ADDITION OF COUNCIL DISTRICTS IF, UM, SAY RIGHT NOW THE BLACK SEAT, THE HISTORICALLY BLACK SEAT IS ONE OUT OF 10. IF WE WERE TO ADD TWO MORE DISTRICTS THAT DID NOT HAVE A SIGNIFICANT BLACK POPULATION, THEN LIKELY THE HISTORICALLY BLACK SEAT WOULD BE ONE OUT OF 12 OR ONE OUT OF 11. MAY I REAL QUICK? YEAH, SURE. SO, UH, SO I THINK YOU ANSWERED MY QUESTION, BUT I'M GONNA ASK IT ANYWAY TO CLARIFY. YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A SCENARIO WHERE WE HAVE MORE THAN THE CURRENT 10. YES, MA'AM. SO THAT'S HARD. SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE WORK OF A VERY SOON TO EXIST ADVISORY COMMITTEE. THAT ONE WOULD EXIST. , NOW WE'RE TALKING 20, 24 MM-HMM. . UM, BUT THE SAME PRINCIPLES WOULD APPLY. UH, IT WOULD HAVE TO PROBABLY BE A LOT MORE. I MEAN, RIGHT NOW WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME BOUNDARIES, SO WE WOULD BE TALKING ABOUT CERTAIN SECTIONS WITHOUT BOUNDARIES AND CREATING MORE. SO IT'S, IT'S HARD TO ANSWER THAT BECAUSE THAT'S SO, BUT WOULD THIS, BUT THIS COMMITTEE WOULD BE DECIDING WHETHER, COULD POTENTIALLY DECIDE, HEY, WE MAY NEED, WE MAY NEED AN ADDITIONAL COUNCIL DISTRICT. IS THAT A POSSIBILITY? THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT? MM-HMM. , NO. OKAY. ONE FOUR. ONE FOUR. I'M ALSO WONDERING, WILL THERE BE A PROFESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE, UM, SO INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS LIKE MALDEF OR NAACP WHO CAN ENSURE THAT THE VOICE OF WORKING CLASS BLACK AND LATINO VOICES ARE NOT DILUTED AS WELL. WILL THERE BE ANY KIND OF OVERSIGHT IN THAT WAY? THAT I WOULD IMAGINE, COUNCILMAN, THAT WOULD BE PART OF OUR PUBLIC OUTREACH? AND, AND AS WE SAID, IF THERE ARE, UH, ASSOCIATIONS, GROUPS, UH, THAT DO WANNA PROVIDE INPUT, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE OPEN TO THAT IN TERMS OF THE PROFESSIONAL OVERSIGHT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE IN COMPLIANCE AGAIN WITH THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. THAT'S, THAT'S FRANKLY ME AND MY DEPARTMENT, UH, THAT DOES THAT. OOH, Y'ALL ARE BUSY. . UM, AND I CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL TO, UH, TOUCH ON THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE. AND, UM, I THINK, THINK ROJA GARCIA WAS ALSO GETTING TO THE SAME POINT AS WHAT'S GONNA BE THE BALANCE OF WHAT THE COMMITTEE DECIDES, OR WHAT THE COMMITTEE FEELS IS, RIGHT. UM, THE RECOMMENDATION OF CITY STAFF, COMMUNITY FEEDBACK AND COUNCIL DIRECTION AS IT RELATES TO NOT ONLY REDRAWING, BUT THE POSSIBLE ADDITION OF COUNCIL MEMBERS. OKAY. SO I'M GONNA ANSWER THAT IN TWO PARTS. THE FIRST WOULD BE AS IT RELATES TO THE 10 DISTRICT BOUNDARIES. UM, AND IT'S REALLY HARD TO SAY, I THINK SSID SAID IT BEFORE, IT'S HARD TO SAY NOW, BECAUSE THAT HAPPENS AS WE START DOING THE WORK, BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT FACTORS, AND THERE'LL BE VOICES AT THE TABLE. SO, UM, IT'S HARD TO ANSWER IT FOR THE IMMEDIATE 10 DISTRICTS. MM-HMM. , I DO WANNA CLARIFY. SO THE SECOND PART WOULD BE, I HEARD YOUR QUESTION, UH, TALK ABOUT AN ADDITIONAL COUNCIL DISTRICT MM-HMM. , AND I JUST WANTED TO USE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CLARIFY THAT OUR CHARTER HAS TO CHANGE BEFORE THAT CAN HAPPEN. MM-HMM. , UH, THEN THE VOTERS HAVE TO AGREE THAT THAT'S A GOOD IDEA, WHICH WOULD HAPPEN IN 2023, UM, AND THEN 2025 WOULD BE ABLE TO DO IT. ABSOLUTELY. SO, AND THE REASON I'M ASKING ABOUT IT'S BECAUSE IF IT WAS HAPPENING, IF WE WERE TO HAVE AN ELECTION ABOUT IT IN 2023, WE WOULD'VE HAD TO HAVE GOTTEN TO THAT POINT BEFORE THEN. SO SOMETIME IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS, WE WILL BE, I IMAGINE WE WILL BE HAVING CONVERSATIONS LIKE THAT. AND SO THE COMMITTEE IS PLAYING A ROLE IN THAT, CORRECT? OR NO? THE, THE, UH, CHARGE OF THIS COMMITTEE, COUNCILMAN, IS TO SIMPLY LOOK AT REDRAWING THE 10 DISTRICTS. BUT, UH, TO YOUR QUESTION, CONCERNING FUTURE DISTRICTS, I'M SURE THE GOOD NEWS IS IF, IF AND WHEN WE GET, I MEAN, WHEN WE GET THERE TO THAT DISCUSSION, WE WILL HAVE THE BENEFIT OF HAVING THIS COMMITTEE GONE THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF DRAWING THE 10 DISTRICTS. AND OBVIOUSLY WE WOULD NOT, WE WOULD WANT TO TAP INTO THAT KNOWLEDGE, THAT PRACTICE, THAT HISTORY THAT WE WERE ABLE TO OBTAIN [01:10:01] FROM THE COMMITTEE DOING THEIR WORK ON DRAWING THE 10. SO, UH, HOPEFULLY THAT SHOWS THAT WE ARE GONNA TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WHAT WE LEARNED DURING THE REDRAWING OF THE 10 AND TAKING A LOOK AT MAYBE DO WE NEED MORE THAN 10? THANK YOU. SO, JUST SO THAT I AM UNDERSTANDING , WE'RE GOING TO BE REDRAWING THE 10 WE'D VOTE ON THAT, AND THEN POTENTIALLY THERE WOULD BE ANOTHER CONVERSATION ABOUT ADDING COUNCIL DISTRICTS, WHICH WOULD REQUIRE AN ELECTION. AND THEN POTENTIALLY IN 2020, BY 2025, WE WOULD'VE HAD NEW DISTRICTS DRAWN. CORRECT. SO E E E ESSENTIALLY WE WOULD HAVE TO, THE EXERCISE WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH NOW FOR THE 10, WHEN WE GET TO, LET'S SAY WE ADD TWO MORE, WE'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE SAME REDRAWING EX OR DRAWING EXERCISE. BUT AGAIN, THE GOOD NEWS IS WE, WE RECENTLY HAVE GONE THROUGH ONE AND WE HOPE TO LEARN FROM THAT SO THAT WHEN WE DO TALK ABOUT ADDING, FOR EXAMPLE, TWO MORE, WE'RE IN A BETTER POSITION. THANK YOU. UM, AND I'M ASKING ALL THESE QUESTIONS BECAUSE MY DISTRICT WILL CARE VERY MUCH. AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW THAT THERE WILL BE THESE MULTIPLE PHASES. MY NEXT QUESTION IS ABOUT THE HARD TO COUNT POPULATIONS. HOW WILL WE BE ACCOUNTING FOR THEM, UM, SUCH AS THE UNDOCUMENTED COMMUNITY? UM, WHAT WILL, WILL THERE BE ANY CONSIDERATION FOR THAT, OR ARE WE IGNORING IT? OR HOW IS THAT GONNA BE ACCOUNTED FOR? I DON'T LIKE THE WORD IGNORING. I MEAN, , I KNOW I DON'T EITHER. UH, THE CENSUS BUREAU HAS A LIMITED PROGRAM, WHICH IT WILL START NEXT YEAR AND LASTS A COUPLE YEARS FOR PEOPLE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT UNDER COUNTS. UH, THE CURRENT VERSION OF THAT PROGRAM IS VERY NARROW. AND THE REAL PUNCHLINE IS THE CORRECTIONS WON'T HAPPEN, EVEN IF THEY WERE BROAD AND HELPFUL WON'T HAPPEN IN TIME TO AFFECT THIS REDISTRICTING. OKAY. IF WE ARE CHALLENGED IN COURT, COURTS ARE VERY, UH, STRICT ABOUT WHAT DATA GETS USED AND IT'S THUS CENSUS DATA. SO THE SHORT ANSWER IS THERE'S NOT A LOT OF CHOICE. THERE'S NOT MUCH WE CAN DO IF WE SUSPECT AN UNDER COUNT. UH, THERE ARE PROCESSES TO RAISE IT WITH THE CENSUS BUREAU, BUT IT'S NOT GONNA HELP US HERE. THANK YOU. AND THEN MY NEXT QUESTION RELATES TO SLIDE 13. UM, AND THIS IS JUST BECAUSE I'M A MATH TEACHER, WHENEVER I'M GIVEN NUMBERS, I DO THE MATH. UM, WHY IS OUR POPULATION 1,434,412? THAT'S ON THE SHEET THAT I WAS GIVEN, BUT THE IDEAL POPULATION FOR EACH DISTRICT IS 143,378 INSTEAD OF BEING DIVIDED BY 10 TO BE 143,441. AND THAT'S MY, LIKE, WHY IS THIS KANSAS, BUT THIS IS NOT OUR KANSAS QUESTION . SO MAY I ASK WHAT YOU'RE CORRECT IN THAT THAT MATH DOES NOT MAKE SENSE? AND I WAS NOT FORMALLY A MATH TEACHER, . UM, BUT SO I WOULD ASK WHERE WHERE ARE YOU SEEING THAT? BECAUSE I, I'M CURIOUS AS TO IF SOMETHING WE NEED TO CORRECT, BUT YOU'RE RIGHT IN THAT SIMPLE DIVISION BY 10, I MEAN, I'M A LAWYER AND I CAN DO THAT. SO, SO IT WAS A PART OF THE EMAIL THAT WE GOT, I THINK IT WAS LAST NIGHT, RIGHT? IT'S SLIDE 15. SLIDE 15, YES. SO IDEAL SIZE AND TOTAL POPULATION THAT LOOKS, I, I APOLOGIZE, THAT'S NOT, SO THE TOTAL POPULATION IS THE 1.4 MILLION AND THE IDEAL SIZE IS HUNDRED 43. IT'S REALLY ONLY A DIFFERENCE OF VERY LITTLE IN EACH DISTRICT, BUT IT IS NOT DIVIDED BY 10. SO IF YOU WERE TO DIVIDE 1,434,412 BY 10, WE SHOULD GET IT. OH, I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN. MM-HMM. . YES. BECAUSE YOU SHOULD JUST BE ABLE, AND I'M TALKING TO A MATH TEACHER, I SHOULD JUST BE ABLE TO MOVE THAT NUMBER OR I SEE IT. JUST WONDER. , THAT WAS IT. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER MCKEE RODRIGUEZ, COUNCIL MEMBER S THANKS. SO I, I'M DOING, UM, THE, WHEN WE DO THIS ALGEBRA, UM, ANDY, JUST TO SIMPLIFY IT TO ALL MY CONSTITUENTS, 'CAUSE I GOTTA GO BACK AND EXPLAIN IT TO THEM NEXT WEEK, THE EXERCISE IS GONNA BE ONE OF EQUILIBRIUM, RIGHT? AND THE FACTORS THAT WE PLUG INTO OUR ALGEBRA IS GONNA BE NUMBER OF PEOPLE, RIGHT? WE'RE GONNA SEEK EQUILIBRIUM AS FAR AS POPULATION, NOT NUMBER OF VOTERS, RIGHT. IT'S JUST NUMBER OF, NUMBER OF PEOPLE. CORRECT. IT'S ONLY THE POPULATION. RIGHT. TWO EQUILIBRIUM. HOWEVER, WE AREN'T GONNA BE CHOPPING UP PRECINCTS, RIGHT? CORRECT. AND THREE, IF THERE ARE HOAS, WE WILL ENDEAVOR IN REACHING THAT EQUILIBRIUM, WE'LL ENDEAVOR TO MAKE SURE THEY HAVE ONE [01:15:01] COUNCIL, DIS ONE COUNCIL MEMBER INSTEAD OF TWO. THAT'S, THAT'S IT. RIGHT? THAT'S THE MATH THAT WE'RE DOING. RUN THAT. THE LAST ONE BY ME AGAIN, COUNCILMAN, I'M SURE THAT I, I SAW IN THERE THAT, YOU KNOW, UH, NEIGHBORHOODS OF INTEREST, RIGHT? RIGHT. THAT WE'RE GONNA TRY TO MAINTAIN THOSE OH, CORRECT. YES. MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF THOSE BORDERS. CORRECT. THAT'S IT. RIGHT? THAT'S, THAT'S THE MATH THAT WE'RE, THAT THESE COMMITTEES ARE GONNA HAVE TO DO. AM I RIGHT? I LIKE IT. OH, SORRY. THAT IS CORRECT. ALONG WITH THE OTHER PRINCIPLES THAT WERE LISTED, THOSE ARE PRINCIPLES, RIGHT? BUT I'M TALKING, I MEAN, I'M TALKING THE MATH ABOUT THE MATH. THE ACTUAL MATH THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO IS THAT THOSE THREE PIECES, EQUILIBRIUM AND POPULATION, MAKING SURE THAT THE, UH, PRECINCTS DON'T GET CHOPPED UP, AND THEN TRYING OUR HARDEST TO MAKE SURE THAT HOAS DON'T GET SPLIT DOWN THE MIDDLE. CORRECT. OKAY. UM, I, I DO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WHEN MY, MY CONSTITUENTS HERE, UM, THAT, BECAUSE I USED TO THINK RIGHT, THAT REDISTRICTING WAS ABOUT OTHER THINGS THAN JUST THOSE THREE ITEMS I JUST LISTED. AND NOW I'M, YOU KNOW, AND, AND NOW I'VE LEARNED, AND I AGREE WITH THAT TODAY, REDISTRICTING IS WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. BUT I HAVE A FEELING THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE OUT THERE WHO THINK THAT REDISTRICTING IS DONE FOR OTHER PURPOSES. RIGHT? SO, UM, EXAMPLES OF WHAT REDISTRICTING SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR. ONE U T SS A IS, UH, FOOTBALL TEAM IS NOW UNDEFEATED, UH, AND THE BEST DAMN FOOTBALL TEAM IN, IN, UH, IN THE COUNTRY, IN MY OPINION. AND I HEARD THAT JOHN COURAGE REALLY LIKES THAT TEAM, AND HE WANTS TO HAVE A FOOTBALL TEAM IN D NINE, RIGHT? UM, THAT'S NOT THE PURPOSE OF REDISTRICTING, RIGHT? UH, IT'S SAFE TO SAY, COUNCILMAN THAT. NO, THAT'S NOT THE PURPOSE OF REDISTRICTING. OKAY. ALL RIGHT. UM, SECOND HYPOTHETICAL. THE MAYOR IS, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO DON'T KNOW, THE MAYOR IS A DISTRICT EIGHT, UH, CONSTITUENT. AND HE'S, UM, HE, HE DRIVES ME CRAZY. AND SO WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO IS FOIST HIM ONTO JOHN COURAGE. CAN I DO THAT? ? ONLY IF YOU DON'T CO CARVE OUT THE CITY ATTORNEY FROM DISTRICT EIGHT. ALSO, COUNCILMAN , BUT YEAH. BUT, BUT I MEAN, I, I'M BEING, I'M BEING FUNNY TO ILLUSTRATE A POINT HERE, RIGHT? BECAUSE, UM, SOME CONSTITUENTS BELIEVE, BECAUSE I USED TO BE ONE OF THOSE RIGHT? WHO BELIEVED THAT REDISTRICTING WAS FOR THE PURPOSE OF, YOU KNOW, CARVING OUT UNDESIRABLE THINGS AND TRYING TO CAPTURE THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, ARE SHINY AND FUN. UM, AND, YOU KNOW, HERE'S ANOTHER ONE. UH, SOMEBODY WOULD REALLY LIKE TO GET OUT OF DISTRICT EIGHT AND BE, YOU KNOW, IN DISTRICT NINE, MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, REALLY, IT'S TRUE. MY MOTHER-IN-LAW THINKS THAT JOHN COURAGE IS A DREAM BOAT. AND SO SHE WOULD LIKE TO BE IN DISTRICT NINE, RIGHT? NOT A GOOD REASON, RIGHT, ANDY? NO, NOT A GOOD REASON. ALL RIGHT. AND, UM, ANOTHER ONE IS, YOU KNOW, I DON'T HAVE A DOG PARK IN DISTRICT EIGHT THAT IS OF THE SIZE AND QUALITY, UM, OF, AND POPULARITY AS JOHN'S, UH, DOG PARK IN HARDBERGER PARK. YOU KNOW, MY, UM, LUSTING AFTER HIS DOG PARK IS NOT, YOU KNOW, UH, A LEGITIMATE REASON. AND ALSO, UM, ONE THAT I THINK IS MOST, THAT COMES UP MOST OFTEN WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CONSPIRACY THEORIES IS, UM, YOU KNOW, MY ARCH NEMESIS HAS BEEN GOING AROUND TELLING EVERYBODY SHE'S GONNA RUN AGAINST ME. LET'S SAY SHE'S NOT. BUT LET'S, LET'S JUST SAY, RIGHT, THAT SHE'S GONNA RUN AGAINST ME THIS NEXT TIME. IT WOULD BE AN ILLEGITIMATE REASON, RIGHT? TO TINKER WITH THE LINES JUST SO THAT I CAN GIFT HER TO DISTRICT NINE, RIGHT. , THAT'S ABSOLUTELY NOT APPROPRIATE. CORRECT, COUNCILMAN? ALL RIGHT, THEN I'M ON BOARD. I, I, I WILL INSTRUCT THE PERSON WHO I APPOINT TO THIS COMMITTEE THAT THEY'RE ONLY GONNA BE WORKING ON THREE THINGS. EQUILIBRIUM BY THE POPULATION, KEEPING PRECINCT, PRECINCTS WHOLE, AND THEN RESPECTING THE GEOGRAPHICAL INTEGRITY OF, OF, UH, OF MY NEIGHBORHOODS. RIGHT? THANK YOU. RIGHT. WELL, AND, AND, AND I, I'M GLAD YOU, UH, UM, CLARIFIED THAT COUNCIL. 'CAUSE THERE'S A LOT THAT FALLS INTO THAT THIRD BUCKET. AND I THINK THAT THOSE WERE SOME OF THE SOFT ISSUES THAT OTHER PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT. WE WANNA MAINTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS, MAINTAIN NATURAL BOUNDARIES, UH, MAINTAIN, UM, UH, CERTAIN AREAS THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, JUST KNOWN AS AREAS. UM, SO ALL THAT FALLS INTO THAT THIRD BUCKET. AND THOSE ARE LEGITIMATE THINGS THAT WE WANT TO ALSO CONSIDER. SO THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY, AGAIN, YOU'RE NOT GONNA END UP WITH EVERY DISTRICT HAVING THE EXACT SAME POPULATION. GREAT. AND I'M, AT THIS POINT, I'M TAKING BIDS ON, UH, WHO WANTS THE MAYOR? I'M, I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU. OKAY, THANKS. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER PALAI. ERIC, I'M GONNA MAKE A SUGGESTION THAT WE HAVE COUNCIL MEMBER PALAIS CO-PRESENT THE NEXT SIX YEAR DEBT FORECAST WITH BEN, UM, FOR THE COUNCIL. I THINK THAT WOULD BE LOADS OF FUN. CONSIDERED DONE. OKAY. WE'LL, WE'LL START, WE'LL START WORKING ON THE PRESENTATION NOW. ALRIGHT. UH, COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO. THANK YOU, MAYOR. UM, MY QUESTION IS, UH, CAN EACH COUNCIL DISTRICT ALSO DESIGNATE, UM, A REDISTRICTING STAFF MEMBER WITH OUR APPOINTEE? AND ALSO, IS THERE GOING TO BE AN ORIENTATION AND A TRAINING? AND WILL COUNCIL BE ABLE TO REVIEW THAT CURRICULUM? [01:20:03] THOSE ARE SOME GENUINELY, EXTREMELY GOOD QUESTIONS. UM, SO I LOVE THE IDEA OF A STAFF MEMBER, UM, SINCE I AM OUR STAFF MEMBER IN CA ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, IF I, YOU KNOW, HAVE SOMEONE THAT WE CAN REACH OUT TO OR FACILITATE SOMETHING WITH, THAT'S IDEAL. WERE YOU ENVISIONING THAT PERSON, UH, COMING TO COMMITTEE MEETINGS OR SIMPLY BEING SOMEBODY, A PIN UH, A POINT PERSON WITHIN THE OUT OFFICES? YES. A A POINT OF CONTRACT TO PROVIDE THAT GUIDANCE ALONG THE PROCESS? THAT WOULD BE, IF Y'ALL COULD DO THAT, THAT WOULD BE FANTASTIC. UM, BUT I DON'T WANNA SIGN YOU UP FOR THAT, BUT Y'ALL HEARD HER IS A GREAT IDEA. UH, REMIND ME THE REST OF YOUR QUESTIONS. SO THEN IF THEY'RE GONNA, UH, RECEIVE AN ORIENTATION MM-HMM. , AND IF Y'ALL WOULD GET COPIES OF THAT INFORMATION AND CURRICULUM. YES. SO THAT WAY WE KNOW, UM, WHAT'S GOING TO BE DISCUSSED DURING THE COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND WHAT'S GOING TO BE THE EXPECTATION OF THAT MEETING AND CONVERSATION. YES, WE'RE GONNA TREAT THIS. SO THIS IS, UH, THIS COMMITTEE WE'RE GONNA TREAT MUCH LIKE OUR OTHER COMMITTEES. THIS IS AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND THAT IS SOMETHING WE TYPICALLY PERFORM FOR OTHER COMMITTEES. AND SO WE WOULD WANT TO DO THE SAME. UM, 'CAUSE SIMPLY THEY HAVE A LOT OF WORK AHEAD OF THEM. UH, SO TO KIND OF LEARN THAT AS WE GO IS, IS NOT IDEAL TO BEING PRODUCTIVE. SO YES AND YES TO YOU RECEIVING THE CURRICULUM. GREAT, THANK YOU. AND I GUESS MORE OF A GENERAL COMMENT IS, UM, DISTRICT FIVE HAS THE LOWEST POPULATION BASED OFF OF THE CENSUS DATA. SO IF WE LOOK TO, UM, OUR BORDER, IT'S 7 8 2 0 7. IF WE LOOK, UH, TO THE EAST, IT'S 7 8 2 0 7. UM, AND WHEN WE LOOK TO THE SOUTH SIDE AND THE FAR WEST SIDE, RIGHT, IT'S, UM, ONE OF OUR POOREST SCHOOL DISTRICTS. SO, UH, I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S STILL A PROCESS THAT NEEDS TO PLAY OUT, BUT HOW DOES THIS RUN PARALLEL WITH BOND PRIORITIES, UM, AND ENSURING THAT WE ARE APPLYING AN EQUITABLE LENS WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, THE DISTRIBUTION AND ALLOCATION OF BOND FUNDING? SO COUNCILWOMAN, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA PROCEED WITH THE CURRENT LINES AS WE GO THROUGH THE BOND PROCESS, AND CERTAINLY AS THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS THROUGH THE SPRING, UM, THERE MAY BE, UM, UM, THERE MAY BE, AND I, I PROBABLY, I, I, I DOUBT THAT THERE WOULD BE AN ISSUE OF OVERLAP POTENTIALLY. UM, BUT, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO PROCEED MY RECOMMENDATION THAT WE, WE PROCEED ON THE BOND PROCESS LIKE WE ARE WITH EXISTING LINES, BECAUSE THOSE ARE THE LINES BY WHICH PEOPLE WILL VOTE NEXT MAY WHEN THE COUNCIL PLACES THIS ITEM ON THE BALLOT. ALRIGHT, THANK YOU. IF I CAN ADD TO THAT, ERIC, UM, ONE, ONE THING, UH, AS ERIC POINTED OUT, WE'RE WE'RE GONNA PROCEED WITH THE CURRENT DISTRICT COUNCILMAN, BUT REMEMBER THE EQUITY ATLAS IN TERMS OF HOW WE, WE LOOKED AT EQUITY FROM A BOND STANDPOINT. THAT'S NOT GONNA CHANGE IN TER IN TERMS OF EVEN IF YOU REDRAW THE DISTRICT. SO WE STILL HAVE THAT ELEMENT AS PART OF THE BOND. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO. COUNCIL MEMBER. BRAVO. THANK YOU. UM, I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR OUR OUTSIDE COUNSEL. UH, I THINK THE PRESENTATION WE GOT WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION, BUT ALSO CAME ACROSS AS A VERY SANITIZED PRESENTATION, I GUESS, OF, UH, WHAT REDISTRICTING IS AND CAN BE. AND A LOT HAS BEEN UNSAID. AND I WANTED TO START BY ASKING HOW DO OUR CITY REDISTRICTING LAWS FOR OUR CITY DIFFER FROM REDISTRICTING LAWS FOR COUNTIES FOR, UM, THE STATE AND FEDERAL, FEDERAL SEATS? I AM NOT SURE THERE'S ANYTHING SANITARY ABOUT REDISTRICTING. THANK YOU. UM, THE SHORT ANSWER IS REDISTRICTING IS DRIVEN SOLELY BY FEDERAL LAW. THE ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE REQUIREMENT IS WHAT DRIVES EVERY KIND OF PUBLIC GOVERNMENT WITH SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS. MM-HMM. TO REDISTRICT OR NOT, UH, I SHOULD SAY, AND PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE SAID BEFORE, IT APPLIES TO LEGISLATIVE BODIES WITH SINGLE MEMBER DISTRICTS. IT WOULD NOT APPLY, FOR INSTANCE, TO THE COUNTY'S JUSTICE PRECINCTS, THE PRECINCTS FROM WHICH, UH, JPS AND CONSTABLES ARE ELECTED BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT LEGISLATORS. UH, IT MAY HAPPEN THAT THE COUNTY USES THE SAME BOUNDARIES. UH, I DON'T THINK IT ACTUALLY DOES. I DON'T THINK THEY'RE COTERMINOUS, BUT THEY COULD, SOME COUNTIES DO THAT. UH, HAVING SAID THAT, FEDERAL LAW DRIVES IT. THERE'S A LOT OF STATE LAW, UH, THAT AFFECTS HOW YOU GO ABOUT DOING IT. MOST OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE TIMING OF CANDIDATES SIGN UP, UH, ELECTION PROCEDURES AND PROCESSES. UM, FOR COUNTIES, UH, IT'S A LITTLE MORE OBVIOUS THAT STATE LAW MAKES A BIG EFFECT. THERE ARE STATE PROVISIONS ABOUT HOW YOU DRAW ELECTION PRECINCTS ONCE YOU HAVE [01:25:02] REDISTRICTED, THE COMMISSIONER PRECINCTS AND SO ON. THERE'S A STATUTE THAT SAYS ELECTION PRECINCTS CAN'T CONTAIN TERRITORY FOR MORE THAN ONE OF, AND THEN THERE'S A LAUNDRY LIST. UH, CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN ONE COMMISSIONER PRECINCT TERRITORY IN A ELECTION PRECINCT CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN ONE. JUSTICE PRECINCT CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT, STATE HOUSE DISTRICT STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION DISTRICT STATE SENATE DISTRICT USED TO SAY CAN'T HAVE MORE THAN ONE SINGLE MEMBER, CITY DISTRICT, UH, FOR CITIES OVER 10,000 IN POPULATION. UH, BUT THEY REMOVED THAT PROVISION. THERE IS A PROVISION THAT SAYS, UH, UNLESS THERE ARE REALLY UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, WHICH IT ENUMERATES THE STATUTE SAYS THAT, UH, ELECTION PRECINCT CAN'T HAVE TERRITORY THAT'S BOTH UNINCORPORATED AND INCORPORATED. UH, SO THERE ARE A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER DISTRICT LINES THAT AFFECT HOW A COUNTY HAS TO DRAW ITS ELECTION PRECINCTS, BUT THEY DON'T AFFECT HOW THE COUNTY DRAWS ANYTHING ELSE. THEY REDRAW THEIR ELECTION PRECINCTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL THE CHANGES THAT THE STATE IS ABOUT TO MAKE IN THEIR LINES. UH, THEY REDRAW THEM TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ANNEXATIONS THAT THE CITY MAKES, THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS MAKE THOSE KINDS OF THINGS. UH, BUT IT'S FEDERAL LAW THAT DRIVES IT ALL. OKAY. I, I APPRECIATE, UM, THE QUESTIONS THAT COUNCILMAN PLYS ASKED FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES. AND I WANTED TO ASK BEFORE YOU GO AWAY, I WANTED TO ASK, HE GAVE, COUNCILMAN PLYS GAVE A LOT OF EXAMPLES OF WHAT OUR CITY ATTORNEY DESCRIBED AS INAPPROPRIATE, UH, REASONS TO REDISTRICT. AND I WANTED TO ASK ARE, DOES THAT PREVENT THEM FROM HAPPENING? UH, CAN YOU THINK OF EXAMPLES? I WON'T ASK YOU TO NAME SPECIFICS, BUT CAN YOU THINK OF EXAMPLES OF WHERE THESE, SOME OF THESE INAPPROPRIATE REASONS FOR NEED REDISTRICTING HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN RECENT HISTORY AND HAVE HELD? THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF REASONS, SPOKEN AND UNSPOKEN, WHY LINES GET SET SOMEWHERE. UH, COURTS DON'T FOR REDISTRICTING PURPOSES, DON'T ADJUDICATE FACTORS OTHER THAN EQUAL POPULATION VOTING RIGHTS ACT AND THOSE OTHER KINDS OF THINGS. THE REASON THE CRITERIA ARE THERE IN PART, IS BECAUSE, UH, IN DEFENDING, FOR INSTANCE, A SECTION TWO LAWSUIT, THE PLAINTIFF MAY SAY, YOU DREW MY DISTRICT AND WEAKENED THE HISPANIC POPULATION IN IT TO UNSUPPORTABLE LOW LEVEL. YOU COULD HAVE DONE SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND THE JURISDICTION WILL SAY, WELL, THE REASON WE ADOPTED THOSE LINES WAS BECAUSE OF X, Y, AND Z CONSIDERATIONS. AND THOSE ARE THE FACTORS THAT COURTS HAVE RECOGNIZED AS AFFIRMATIVE FACTORS. UM, THEY'RE NOT REALLY GOING TO CARE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, WHETHER YOU DRAW YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW OUT OR NOT. UM, BUT THOSE, WHAT I THINK ANDY WAS SAYING IS THAT THOSE FACTORS ARE, AS A PRACTICAL MATTER, INCIDENTAL TO THE FACTORS THAT REALLY DRIVE REDISTRICTING AND THE THINGS YOU'RE TRYING TO BALANCE OVERALL. UM, THERE IS NOT A LAW THAT I'M AWARE OF, OR A COURT CASE THAT I'M AWARE OF THAT SAYS HE CAN'T DRAW HIS MOTHER-IN-LAW OUT OF HIS DISTRICT. OKAY. CAN, CAN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO REDISTRICT ANYTIME THEY WANT? WE WE'RE REQUIRED TO EVERY 10 YEARS. BUT CAN WE, CAN WE REDISTRICT EVERY YEAR IF WE WANT TO? YES, YOU COULD. OKAY. UM, I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE DO, I'M JUST TRYING TO POINT OUT, UM, IT WILL ALLOW ME TO RETIRE A LOT EARLIER, . SURE. UM, ARE, YOU KNOW, I'VE LOOKED AT, UM, IN YOUR SLIDE SIX THAT WE HAD IN HERE, WHICH, UH, SAID THAT DISTRICTS SHOULD BE, UH, CONTIGUOUS AND COMPACT. AND THEN I JUST, I LOOK AT OUR, UH, CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS IN BEXAR COUNTY, AND BEX COUNTY ONLY HAS ONE CONGRESS, ONE CONGRESS MEMBER THAT'S PART OF, PART OF OUR COUNT THAT'S, THAT'S EXCLUSIVE TO OUR COUNTY. AND THEN WE SHARE A MEMBER OF CONGRESS WITH AUSTIN. WE SHARE A MEMBER OF CONGRESS WITH A HILL COUNTRY. WE SHARE A MEMBER OF CONGRESS WITH LAREDO, TEXAS ON THE SOUTHERN BORDER. WE SHARE A MEMBER OF CONGRESS THAT GOES ALL THE WAY OUT IN WEST TEXAS. AND DO YOU CONSIDER THOSE TO BE COMPACT DISTRICTS? THAT'S WHY THERE ARE GUIDELINES, UM, FOR VOTING RIGHTS ACT PURPOSES. THOSE FACTORS ARE MUCH MORE IMPORTANT. UH, THERE'S A LINE OF US SUPREME COURT, THERE'S A SUPREME COURT CASE AND A LINE OF CASES THAT FOLLOW IT CALLED SHAW VERSUS RENO THAT LIMITS THE DEGREE TO WHICH YOU CAN DO RACIAL GERRYMANDERING. IT'S COMPLICATED, AND YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT ALL RIGHT HERE. [01:30:01] UM, THERE IS NO COMPARABLE STANDARD FOR OTHER KINDS OF GERRYMANDERING LIKE POLITICAL GERRYMANDERING. NO, I PERSONALLY WOULDN'T CALL SOME OF THOSE DISTRICTS COMPACT. UM, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY'RE ILLEGAL. WELL, SOMEBODY FINALLY SAID THE WORD GERRYMANDERING, SO I'M GLAD THAT WE, I'M SORRY. I SAID, SOMEBODY FINALLY SAID THE WORD GERRYMANDERING. I'M GLAD WE GOT THAT OUT. I'M BRINGING SOME OF THESE UP ISSUES UP BECAUSE I HONESTLY DON'T BELIEVE THAT ELECTED OFFICIALS SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN DRAWING THEIR OWN DISTRICTS. AND, AND I'LL GIVE YOU ANOTHER EXAMPLE. I LIVE ON THE EDGE OF MY DISTRICT, RIGHT. AND MY DISTRICT'S SUPPOSED TO GROW DISTRICT ONE. IF IT WERE TO SHRINK, THERE'S A POSSIBILITY THAT I WOULD BE REDISTRICTED OUT OUTTA MY OWN DISTRICT. RIGHT? AND I DON'T THINK I SHOULD BE WEIGHING IN ON THAT, THAT DECISION. UM, BUT THERE, FOR MANY REASONS, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT ELECTED OFFICIALS SHOULD BE DRAWING THEIR OWN DISTRICTS. UH, I BELIEVE IT PRESENTS A, A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. AND SO I HOPE THAT ONE, THAT WE CAN BE, PLAY A LIMITED ROLE IN THIS PROCESS. AND I ALSO BELIEVE THAT REDISTRICTING HAS BEEN VERY UGLY AND, UM, POORLY EXECUTED AT THE STATE AND FEDERAL LEVEL. AND I HOPE THAT WE CAN WORK TO, TO E TO EXECUTE A REDISTRICTING PROCESS HERE THAT COULD SERVE AS A MODEL TO OTHERS ON, UM, WHAT MAYBE THE GOLD STANDARD COULD BE OF REDISTRICTING AND, AND WHAT COULD BE FAIR AND TRANSPARENT. AND ANYTHING THAT THAT MOVES US IN THAT DIRECTION, I WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT. THANK YOU. AND THAT'S OUR GOAL. UH, ALSO, COUNCILMAN IS TO BE AS TRANSPARENT AS WE CAN. UH, I WILL SAY THOUGH, THAT UNDER THE CITY CHARTER, IT IS THE CITY COUNCIL THAT HAS THAT OBLIGATION TO REDRAW THE DISTRICT. SO WE WOULD'VE TO CHANGE THE CHARTER TO ACCOMPLISH, UH, WHAT YOU HAD STATED AS YOUR OBJECTIVE IN TERMS OF KEEPING ELECTEDS OUT. UH, WE DO APPRECIATE THOUGH THE FACT THAT IT IS, UM, UM, IT COULD BE, UH, PROBLEMATIC TO HAVE THE VERY ELECTED OFFICIALS WHO ARE IMPACTED BY THE DRAWINGS TO HAVE TO PLAY A ROLE IN THAT. I SEE, I SEE YOUR POINT THERE. BUT AGAIN, THE CITY CHARTER REQUIRES THAT, WHICH IS WHY I THINK THE, THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE WILL PLAY A VERY SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN THAT. AND SINCE THEY'RE NOT ELECTEDS, UH, AND THEY'RE NOT GONNA BE RUNNING FOR COUNSEL, UH, THAT THEY WILL PROVIDE WHAT WE HOPE, UH, AGAIN, WITH COMMUNITY INPUT, UH, WITH INPUT FROM, UH, OUR LEGAL TEAM. THEY'LL PROVIDE SOMETHING THAT THE COUNCIL WILL FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH THAT YES, THIS IS THE APPROPRIATE WAY TO REDRAW. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER BRAVO. AND I'LL ALSO ADD, THIS IS WHY WE CHOSE THE ROUTE OF HAVING AN ADVISORY COMMITTEE RATHER THAN A, A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE COUNCIL DO THE WORK. THE OTHER CHOICE THAT, THAT I WOULD LIKE TO PUT OUT THERE IN THE DECISION OF, UM, ACCEPTING MAPS IS ALSO THAT THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE WILL PRESENT NEW MAPS TO THE COUNCIL. THE COUNCIL THEN HAS THE ABILITY TO MAKE TWEAKS. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT, THAT THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AFTER HEARING FEEDBACK DURING THE PROCESS FROM THE COUNCIL, PRESENTS MAPS THAT ARE EITHER RATIFIED OR, OR REJECTED BY THE COUNCIL, RATHER THAN HAVING ANOTHER PROCESS OVERLAY, UH, THE WORK THAT THE COMMITTEE DOES IN ACHIEVING THOSE MAPS. TO BEGIN WITH FOR CONSIDERATION, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER MCKEE RODRIGUEZ. THANK YOU. I JUST WANT TO ENSURE THAT THE, SO THE MATH THAT I BROUGHT UP AT 15, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IT'S EITHER ACCURATE AND THERE IS SOME SCIENCE BEHIND WHY IT'S WRONG OR THAT IT'S JUST A TYPO AND IT'S GONNA GET FIXED. SLIDE 15, IF THAT HELPS. THE SHORT ANSWER IS ON THIS TEST, I FAILED ARITHMETIC . I DO NOT KNOW WHY THOSE NUMBERS ARE DIFFERENT. THEY SHOULDN'T BE. I DIDN'T CATCH IT. OKAY. UH, I'M SURE THAT WHEN I TALK TO MY TEAM, UH, THERE'LL BE A VERY COMPLICATED SOFTWARE REASON WHY THAT HAPPENED, BECAUSE IT IS ALL GENERATED BY THE SOFTWARE. UH, AND I'M HOPING IT'S NOT A BUG. AND WHEN WE DO FIND OUT, WE'LL LET YOU KNOW. COUNCILMAN, I APPRECIATE THAT VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER MCKEE RODRIGUEZ, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL. UH, THANK YOU, MAYOR. JUST A QUICK COMMENT IN RESPONSE TO, UH, WHAT YOU JUST SAID ABOUT RATIFYING, UH, VERSUS, UM, VERSUS MODIFYING OURSELVES, IF THAT IS THE DIRECTION WE'RE GOING TO GO, I'M WONDERING IF WE SHOULD JUST, UH, MEMORIALIZE THAT, UM, AS A, AS A POLICY OF [01:35:01] OUR COUNCIL OR FOR THIS, THIS CYCLE INSTEAD OF JUST WAITING FOR THE MOMENT TO, TO HAPPEN. BECAUSE I, WITHOUT THAT, I DON'T, MAYBE THIS IS A QUESTION FOR YOU, ANDY. WHAT DOES STOP ME FROM MAKING AN AMENDMENT ON THE DAIS? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION, COUNCILWOMAN. SO I WOULD, I WOULD AGREE WITH YOUR RECOMMENDATION THAT WE SET THE GROUND RULES BEFORE THIS, UH, ADVISORY COMMITTEE REALLY STARTS, YOU KNOW, THEIR WORK, UH, SO THAT THE, ALL THE COUNCIL HAS THE RIGHT EXPECTATION OF HOW THE COUNCIL'S GOING TO, UH, EVALUATE THE RECOMMENDATION. SO I AGREE WITH YOU THAT WE SHOULD SET THE GROUND RULES. ANDY, UH, JUST A POINT OF CLARIFICATION ON THE PROCESS. THERE WILL BE, UH, IS THERE ACTION TAKEN TO, UH, ASSEMBLE THE COMMITTEE OFFICIALLY TO LAUNCH THEM? WE, WE DIDN'T ENVISION OFFICIAL, UH, COUNCIL ACTION MAYOR. OKAY. BUT THAT'S NOT, I MEAN, THAT, THERE'S NOTHING TO PRECLUDE THAT THOUGH. OKAY. OR, OKAY. UM, AT THE VERY LEAST, WHEN WE, UH, LAUNCHED THE, THE MEETING, WHEN THE MEMO IS SENT OUT OFFICIALLY, I GUESS FROM YOUR OFFICE ON, UM, THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMITTEE, UH, AT THAT POINT WE CAN OUTLINE THE, THE GROUND RULES. WE CAN DO THAT. THAT'S ONE WAY TO DO IT. YES, MAYOR. OKAY. UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ELIAS. THANKS O OUTTA CURIOSITY. HAVE WE EVER BEEN SUED, UH, AS A RESULT OF OUR REDISTRICTING DECISIONS? BECAUSE WE'VE ALWAYS DONE SUCH AN EXCELLENT JOB? UH, COUNCILMAN? NO. WE HAVE NOT BEEN SUED FOR. OKAY. ALRIGHT. GOTCHA. AND I'M BEING A LITTLE BIT FACETIOUS, BUT NO, UH, WE HAVE, UH, ALWAYS, UH, LOOKED AT WHAT THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS ARE. UH, AND, AND FORTUNATELY, ALTHOUGH IT'S A VERY DIFFICULT, UH, PROCESS BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY, UH, FACTORS TO CONSIDER, UH, WE HAVE THE, THE CITY HAS DONE HISTORICALLY A PRETTY GOOD JOB IN TERMS OF THEIR REDISTRICTING EFFORTS. OKAY. THANK YOU. AND THEN I, I REMEMBER YEARS AGO, THE SUPREME COURT HAD THAT VOTING RIGHTS DECISION THAT GUTTED THE REQUIREMENT TO RUN, YOU KNOW, UM, CHANGES PA RIGHT. TO RUN CHANGES PAST THE D O J. IS THAT GONNA IMPACT US? I LOOKED TO ANDY 'CAUSE ANDY DIDN'T MENTION IT BEFORE. SO THAT WAS THE PRE-CLEARANCE REQUIREMENT. AND IT CHANGES US JUST IN THE, IN THE SENSE THAT WE DO NOT HAVE TO SUBMIT IT FOR A PRE-APPROVAL. OKAY. ALRIGHT. AND THEN, UM, IT, IT MAY HAVE BEEN MENTIONED BEFORE, AND, AND FORGIVE ME IF IT WAS, I DON'T REMEMBER HOW MANY FOLKS ARE WE PLANNING ON, ON AND PANELING FOR THIS COMMITTEE? 13 ALTOGETHER. COUNCILMAN? YEAH. I I, I WOULD SUGGEST TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT, BUT THESE DISTRICTS HAVE BECOME SO POPULOUS, RIGHT? AND, YOU KNOW, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, MY DISTRICT, THE WESTERN EDGE OF MY DISTRICT AND THE EASTERN EDGE OF MY DISTRICT ARE SO DIFFERENT, RIGHT? UM, IN TERMS OF, UH, CHARACTER OF, OF THESE AND THEIR INTERESTS, I, I'M WONDERING WHETHER OR NOT WE'RE IMPANDING TOO FEW, UH, PEOPLE AND THAT MAYBE IT, IT MIGHT BE SMARTER FOR US TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF MORE INPUT FROM CONSTITUENTS THAN, THAN LESS, ESPECIALLY IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE ONLY DO EVERY 10 YEARS. SO, UM, IT'S NOT FOR ME TO DECIDE, BUT IT'S A, IT'S A SUGGESTION I PUT OUT THERE FOR, FOR THE MAYOR AND FOR YOU TO, FOR YOU TO DISCUSS. UM, AND, AND I, I GET THE, I GET WHY WE'RE DOING THIS COMMITTEE, RIGHT? AND THAT IS WE'RE DOING IT VOLUNTARILY OUT OF, OUT OF, UH, AN ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION SO THAT NOBODY CAN THEN SAY WE WEREN'T BEING TRANSPARENT ABOUT IT. RIGHT? BUT, UM, AND BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO, IT'S THE RIGHT THING FOR THE, THE NEIGHBORHOODS TO BE ABLE TO INPUT AND TO PARTICIPATE IN THE PROCESS. BUT WE'RE NOT OBLIGATED TO PUT A COMMITTEE TOGETHER. WE'RE GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND OUR OBLIGATION. RIGHT. THAT'S A GOOD POINT, COUNCILMAN. IN FACT, THERE ARE SOME CITIES THAT ARE GOING THROUGH REDISTRICTING. THEY DON'T HAVE A COMMITTEE. UH, IT IS, UH, NOT REQUIRED. IT'S SOMETHING THAT, YOU'RE RIGHT, IT IS SOMETHING THAT, UH, MANY CITIES DO TAKE ON AND ONE WE'RE RECOMMENDING BECAUSE IT DOES ADD A LEVEL OF TRANSPARENCY AND A LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT THAT YOU WOULD NOT HAVE OTHERWISE. WE DIDN'T HAVE A COMMITTEE. OKAY. AND THEN IN, IN A PRIOR ITERATION OF MY, OF, AT THE BEGINNING OF MY LEGAL CAREER, I WAS REPRESENTING HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION. I HAD ABOUT 175 HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS ON MY DOCKET AT ANY GIVEN TIME. AND, UH, I REMEMBER FOUR, FIVE CITY COUNCILS AGO, I GOT A CALL FROM TWO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, NORTHSIDE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS, ASKING ME TO IDENTIFY SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS WHO LIVED IN CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS. UM, THEY WANTED EXACT ADDRESSES SO THAT THEY CAN CARVE THOSE PEOPLE OUT SO THAT THEY COULDN'T RUN AGAINST THEM. UM, AND IT WAS REALLY JUST THE HEIGHT OF CYNICISM AND UGLINESS AND, UM, AND LET NOBODY TELL YOU THAT THAT GARBAGE DIDN'T HAPPEN AND DOESN'T HAPPEN IN CITIES WHEN WE WERE DISTRICTING. AND, UM, YOU KNOW, MY HOPE IS THAT WE DON'T ENGAGE IN THAT HERE. AND I'M, YOU KNOW, I, I TRUST MY COUNCIL MEMBERS NOT TO DO THAT, BUT IT HAS HAPPENED, WHICH IS WHY I WAS ASKING. THANKS. [01:40:02] UM, ANDY, MAYBE IT'S WORTH ALSO, OR MAYBE ILEANA GOING BACK OVER AGAIN, IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT THE COMMITTEE. THE COMMITTEE'S GONNA GO THROUGH A PROCESS AND THAT PROCESS ISN'T, IS FULLY, UM, UM, ENGAGED WITH COMMUNITY THROUGHOUT. COULD YOU GO OVER THAT AGAIN? SO WE'RE NOT TOO FIXED ON JUST THE COMMITTEE ITSELF, BUT WHAT PROCESS THEY'RE GONNA ACTUALLY GO THROUGH IN TERMS OF ENGAGING ALL THE DIFFERENT AREAS IN EACH OF THE DISTRICTS? SO I BELIEVE WAS THAT SLIDE 10 MAYOR? SO THAT ONE, SO THIS ONE SPEAKS SPECIFICALLY TO THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, AND I KNOW YOU WERE TRYING TO GET TO A BROADER SENSE OF WHAT THEY'RE DOING. AND SO THEY'RE A VEHICLE, UH, FOR THAT COMMUNITY INPUT. SO WE WOULD START, WE'RE TREATING THEM LIKE, UH, ANY OTHER COMMITTEE WILL, WE WILL TO, UH, COUNCILMAN CASTILLO'S POINT ORIENTATE THEM BECAUSE THEY WILL BE ENGAGING WITH THE PUBLIC FOR THAT INPUT. THEY'LL BE WORKING AND DOING MAP DRAWING REPEATEDLY. UM, WERE THERE OTHER PARTS? YEAH, I, I GUESS MY, MY, MY QUESTION JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE CLEAR ON WHAT THEY'LL BE DOING. IT'S NOT 13 MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WE APPOINT THAT ARE GONNA BE LOCKED INTO A ROOM FOR A YEAR COMING UP WITH MAPS. THEIR YEAR IS GONNA BE SPENT OUT IN NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS AND TOWN HALLS AND VARIOUS PUBLIC HEARINGS TO GET THE INPUT OF NOT JUST, YOU KNOW, THREE MEMBERS PER DISTRICT, OR 10 MEMBERS PER DISTRICT, BUT HUNDREDS OF MEMBERS OF EVERY DISTRICT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE YEAR. YES, MAYOR RODRIGUEZ, UH, EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MANAGER. UH, THE GOAL IS TO USE THESE COMMITTEES, UH, TO HOST THE WORKSHOPS, BUT THAT THOSE WORKSHOPS WOULD BE ATTENDED BY THE RESIDENTS AT LARGE. UH, WE WILL WORK WITH THE COMMITTEE TO IDENTIFY HOW MANY WORKSHOPS WE HAVE. I'M TERMING THEM WORKSHOPS, BUT INPUT SESSIONS, IF YOU WILL. UH, WE'LL ALSO USE THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS AS ANOTHER BUILT IN OPPORTUNITY TO HOST MEETINGS. WE WILL COME TO YOU IF YOU SAY YOU HAVE SET UP 10 H O A MEETINGS IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS, AND YOU WANT US TO GO TO EVERY ONE OF THOSE, THEN YES, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO BE PART OF THAT CONVERSATION AND PROVIDE, UH, INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROCESS, BUT ALSO USE THAT OPPORTUNITY TO SAY, OH, AND BY THE WAY, UH, NEXT WEEK WE WILL HAVE AN OPEN COMMUNITY, UH, SESSION WHERE WE WILL LOOK AT MAPS. WE WILL GET DOWN INTO THE WEEDS AS TO, UH, AS WAS SAID, TO REDRAW AND LOOK AT LINES. BUT THIS WHOLE TIME, WHAT WE WILL DO IS USE THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE AS A PLACE WHERE WE GET RESIDENTS TO COME AND PARTICIPATE IN THAT PROCESS. SO DEFINITELY IT WILL NOT BE 13 MEMBERS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS LOOKING AT THESE MAPS WITH THE LEGAL STAFF. SO HOPE THAT ADDRESSES YOUR QUESTION. OKAY. AND, UM, AGAIN, JUST IN THE PROCESS OF DETERMINING WHAT'S THE, WHAT'S THE RIGHT SIZE FOR FOLKS TO REALLY DELIBERATE, UM, YOU KNOW, CONSIDER THAT AS OPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT SEQUESTERING 13 FOLKS, UH, FOR A YEAR. SO LET ME, UH, CONTINUE THE DISCUSSION WITH COUNCIL MEMBER VIA GRANT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. UH, SO THIS DISCUSSION WITH THE COMMITTEE, I THINK IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE GET AN IDEA OF HOW MUCH, 'CAUSE THESE ARE CITIZEN VOLUNTEERS, THAT WE GET AN IDEA OF HOW MUCH TIME THIS IS GOING TO TAKE FOR THEM, UH, BECAUSE THEN I UNDERSTAND SOME OF MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES ARE SAYING THAT, OH, WE WOULD LIKE MORE, UH, PEOPLE INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS. THE OTHER THING I THINK WE NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AT, AND IT, I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S GONNA BE POPULAR WITH MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES, BUT I THINK WE NEED TO CONVENE OUR L G C BECAUSE IF, AS COUNCILMAN CASTILLO SAID, WE NEED TO GET A STAFF MEMBER TO GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS, THEN WE MAY NEED TO LOOK AT THAT IN TERMS OF OUR STAFFING AND RESPONSIBILITIES. IF WE'RE PUTTING A STAFF MEMBER THERE ALSO, BECAUSE WE GET THE WRONG COMMITTEE MEMBER, IT'S GONNA END UP COMING ON TO OUR STAFF TO DO THIS WORK ALSO. SO, UM, YEAH, IF WE COULD GET AN IDEA OF, OF WHAT THE, UH, THE COMMIT THE TIME COMMITMENT WOULD BE. I, I KNOW THE NUMBER OF NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS AND HOAS I HAVE IN MY DISTRICT, BUT I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE WHAT IT'S LIKE IN EIGHT, NINE, AND 10. SO, UM, IF WE COULD JUST GET THAT, I'D APPRECIATE IT. AND, UH, BUT AGAIN, YOU KNOW, UH, THANK YOU ANDY FOR CLARIFYING. WE WERE ELECTED BY OUR CONSTITUENTS, UH, AND I KNOW MINE IN PARTICULAR TO KEEP MY DISTRICT INTACT. SO THAT'S WHAT I'M GONNA WORK TOWARDS. BUT WE, WE ALL HAVE SOME, SOME CONVERSATIONS TO BE HAD. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER GRO, COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE. THANK YOU, MAYOR. I THINK THIS HAS BEEN A VERY USEFUL CONVERSATION. AND, UH, THE MORE I THINK ABOUT THIS, THE MORE, I, I ALSO FAVOR MAYBE HAVING MORE THAN ONE PERSON, UH, FROM OUR DISTRICTS INVOLVED IN THIS. YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'VE BEEN ASKED TO GIVE THE CITY THE NAMES OF 15 PEOPLE FROM OUR COUNCIL DISTRICTS WHO ARE GONNA WORK ON BONDS. NOT [01:45:01] ONE PERSON, NOT FIVE PEOPLE, BUT THREE PEOPLE FOR EVERY ONE OF THOSE BOND PROGRAMS. AND SO, YOU KNOW, THAT'S AN IMPORTANT DECISION WE'RE GONNA BE MAKING. BUT CERTAINLY SETTING OUT NEW BOUNDARIES FOR ALL OF OUR COUNCIL DISTRICTS IS AS EQUALLY IMPORTANT. AND YET WE'RE SAYING, WELL, WE JUST NEED TO SEND ONE PERSON THERE. SO, YOU KNOW, I'M HEARING MORE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS FEEL LIKE WE NEED MORE PEOPLE REPRESENTING OUR DISTRICT IN THIS CONVERSATION. I LOOK AT MY DISTRICT AND I'VE GOT 2 81 COMING UP AND DOWN THE MIDDLE OF THE DISTRICT AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON THE EAST SIDE OF 2 81, ALTHOUGH THEY'RE GREAT PEOPLE, GREAT CITIZENS, ARE NOT EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON THE WEST SIDE OF 2 81. AND THE SAME THING, I'VE GOT 35, I MEAN, UH, 1604 RUNNING THROUGH MY DISTRICT, AND THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON THE NORTH SIDE OF 1604 ARE NOT THE SAME AS THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE SOUTH SIDE OF 1604. UH, AND I'M NOT SAYING I NEED FOUR PEOPLE, BUT I THINK I'M SAYING THAT, UH, IT WOULD BE BETTER REPRESENTATIVE, UH, OF MY DISTRICT, UH, THAT I COULD HAVE AT LEAST A COUPLE OF PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND THE DIVERSITY, UH, AND, AND THE DIFFERENT CHALLENGES AND, UH, THINGS IN, IN OUR DISTRICT TO BE ON THAT COMMITTEE. IF YOU DON'T WANT ME THERE SAYING WHAT SHOULD BE DONE, LET ME HAVE MORE THAN ONE OTHER PERSON WHO CAN HELP SHARE THAT RESPONSIBILITY TO, UH, GO AHEAD AND SAY HOW WE SHOULD REDRAW OUR LINES. SO MAYOR, I KNOW IT'S ADDITIONAL WORK, I KNOW IT'S ADDITIONAL PEOPLE, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A, A SMARTER WAY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS RIGHT NOW. SO THANKS FOR BRINGING THOSE POINTS UP, EVERYBODY. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE. COUNCIL MEMBER KEO. HDA. THANK YOU, MAYOR. IT, IT SOUNDS LIKE MY, UM, IDEA GOT A LITTLE BIT OF TRACTION HERE, BUT I, I I I DO, I AM WONDERING WHOSE UM, DECISION IS IT TO, TO INCLUDE MORE OR LESS PEOPLE ON THE COMMITTEE? IS IT, IS IT SOMETHING THAT'S LIKE THE TYPICAL, YOU GET DIRECTION FROM FULL COUNCIL OR, UM, LIKE WHAT PROCESS DO WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH IF WE WANTED TO ADD ONE, ONE MORE EACH? WELL, CERTAINLY WE, UH, COUNCILMAN WE GOT SOME DIRECTION FROM THAT TODAY. IT WOULD BE A DISCUSSION, UH, UH, PROBABLY WITH MY OFFICE, ERIC AND THE MAYOR. OH, OKAY. TO SEE HOW WE DO THAT. OKAY. AND, UM, I MEAN, I THINK I JUST, I MADE THE POINT EARLIER, BUT I, I WANNA JUST MAKE SURE I RESTATE THAT. IT'S, IT'S REALLY A LOT OF THE DIVERSITY, UM, IN OUR, IN OUR DISTRICTS AND, UM, AND THEN ALSO THE AMOUNT OF WORK THAT THEY'RE GONNA BE ASKED TO DO. I MEAN, MAYBE EVEN JUST, YOU KNOW, DIVISION OF, OF LABOR A LITTLE BIT, RIGHT. UM, BUT, OKAY. AND THEN, UM, I ALSO HAVE A QUESTION IS AT THESE, AT THE COMMITTEE MEETINGS, IS THERE, IS THERE GONNA BE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT? YES. COUNCILWOMAN. OKAY. THAT'S A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF IT. OKAY. WILL THEY BE, UM, HAVE, IS IT THE SAME PROCESS AS SIGNING UP FOR COUNCIL? YES. OKAY. TREATING IT MUCH LIKE, UH, ANY OTHER COMMITTEE. OKAY. THANK YOU. THAT'S ALL. THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER KEO HDA. ALRIGHT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER RO GARCIA. THANK YOU. JUST A QUICK QUESTION. I NOTICED IN THE PRESENTATION THAT ONLY 200 PEOPLE HAD SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT THE LAST GO AROUND, AND THAT CONCERNED ME, RIGHT? BECAUSE THIS IS A HUGE UNDER UNDERTAKING. AND SO HOW WILL WE MAKE SURE THAT OTHER FOLKS ARE INVOLVED AS THE MEETINGS MOVE? ARE THEY GONNA BE MOVED AROUND, UM, FROM DISTRICT TO DISTRICT? IS HELP ME UNDERSTAND THAT PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS? SO I THINK WE TOUCHED UPON THAT, UH, NU NUM MEMBERS OF THE TEAM DID, AND THAT'S WHY WE ARE REACHING OUT TO Y'ALL AS FAR AS PLEASE HELP US, YOU KNOW, WE WANT TO STAFF THINGS FOR Y'ALL, UH, TO GET PEOPLE IN. AND, AND, AND WE SAID THIS BEFORE, UH, WHEN WE WERE GETTING READY TO COME UP HERE, IS THAT'S OUR HOPE. WE WANT MORE THAN IF WE HAVE MORE, IF WE HAVE 200 PEOPLE, THAT'S NOT GOOD. WE WANT MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE TO, FROM THE PUBLIC TO ENGAGE IN THIS PROCESS. SO THAT'S THE REASON FOR, UH, THE, THE WEBSITE, SOCIAL MEDIA, BUT ALSO HELPING US SPREAD THE WORD, UM, AMONGST Y'ALL'S, UH, CONNECTIONS AND HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS AND WHATNOT. SO THAT WAY WE CAN, WE CAN GET PEOPLE OUT THERE TO COM ADD AND COUNCILWOMAN. I THINK WE HAVE A LOT OF GREAT LEARNINGS FROM WHAT WE ALL JUST EXPERIENCED THROUGH THE PD SERVICES MEETINGS, THROUGH THE BUDGET MEETINGS. I THINK THAT WE CAN REPLICATE SOME OF THE LEARNINGS AROUND THAT IN TERMS OF DRAWING IN OUR RESIDENTS USING TOWN HALL MEETINGS, UH, WHICH WERE VERY SUCCESSFUL AND, AND DREW QUITE A NUMBER OF, OF RESIDENTS WHO PARTICIPATED. UM, SO THE GOAL IS TO USE THE BEST PRACTICES AND THE LEARNINGS WE'VE HAD FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS THAT WE'VE SEEN. UM, GREAT ATTENDANCE. THANK YOU BERTHA. AND YOU, YOU JUST REMINDED ME SOMETHING THAT, UM, [01:50:01] A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO WE HAD AN ALL SPANISH BUDGET MEETING AND I HAD LIKE 1200 PARTICIPANTS AND I THINK THAT WE NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST ONE SPANISH, UH, MEETING REGARDING, UH, REDISTRICTING. YES, I WOULD AGREE. UH, DURING THE PD SERVICES, WE HAD AN ALL, UH, SPANISH MEETING AS WELL AND IT WAS VERY WELL PARTICIPATED. SO WE WILL DEFINITELY LOOK TO INCLUDE THAT IN OUR STRATEGIES AND IN ENSURING AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE GOAL FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION WILL BE, UH, TO LOWER THE BARRIERS FOR PARTICIPATION. AND THAT LANGUAGE IS TOTALLY, UH, GOING TO BE ON OUR RADAR. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, COUNCIL MEMBER BRAVO. THANK YOU. I JUST WANTED TO CHIME BACK IN ONE FOR ONE MINUTE TO VOICE MY SUPPORT FOR INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE COUNCIL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON REDISTRICTING AND FOR, UH, A MEETING VERY SOON OF THE L G C. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER BRAVO. UM, ALRIGHT. THIS HAS BEEN A, A, A GOOD DISCUSSION AND I THINK WE'VE GOT SOME GOOD INPUT, UH, BEFORE WE FINALLY CALL, UH, FOR THE APPOINTMENT. SO, UM, BE ON THE LOOKOUT, UH, FOR THAT MEMORANDUM SO WE CAN GET THE PROCESS UNDERWAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, FOR THIS AND ILEANA GREAT JOB ON YOUR FIRST PRESENTATION. WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU THROUGH THIS. UM, THE TIME IS NOW [EXECUTIVE SESSION] 4:07 PM ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6TH, 2021. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO WILL NOW MEET IN EXECUTIVE SESSION TO CONSULT WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.071 DELIBERATE TO DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING ITEMS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT NEGOTIATIONS PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.087 PURCHASE EXCHANGE LEASE FOR VALUE OF REAL PROPERTY PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.072 LEGAL ISSUES RELATED TO THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO ETHICS CODE AND MUNICIPAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE CODE PURSUANT TO TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 5 5 1 0.071 AND CONSULTATION WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY FOR LEGAL ISSUES OR ADVICE RELATED TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING LITIGATION INVOLVING CITY C OVID 19 PREPAREDNESS AND HOUSING PROGRAMS UNDER SECTION 5 5 1 0.071. GOOD EVENING EVERYONE. TIME IS 5:09 PM ON THE SIXTH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2021. CITY COUNCIL HAS RECONVENED FROM ITS EXECUTIVE SESSION. NO OFFICIAL ACTION WAS TAKEN. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.