* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:04] OKAY, EVERYBODY, LET'S GET STARTED. OKAY. COUNCIL MEMBERS, WE'RE GONNA GET STARTED. OKAY. GOOD MORNING. UH, WELCOME EVERYONE TO OUR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING FOR THE MONTH OF APRIL. WE HAVE A LOT TO COVER THIS MORNING, SO LET'S GET STARTED. THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR BEING HERE TODAY. UH, MADAME CLERK, WILL YOU PLEASE CALL ROLE COUNCIL MEMBER MIC RODRIGUEZ. PRESENT, COUNCIL MEMBER VILLA RON HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY. HERE. CHAIR CAB HDA. HERE. CHAIR. WE HAVE A QUORUM. THANK YOU MA'AM. THE FIRST ITEM IN [Approval of Minutes  ] OUR AGENDA IS THE APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM MAR THE MARCH 21ST MEETING. DO I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND FOR APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES? SECOND, SECOND. SECOND WITH A MOTION. AND SECOND, WE WILL NOW VOTE. WE CAN USE OUR COMPUTERS THIS MORNING TO, TO VOTE. PLEASE VOTE. NOPE. NOPE. WE DON'T WANT YOU TO VOTE TODAY. CAN WE DO IT A FASTER WAY? I AYE. AYE, UH, MOTION PASSES. UM, WE'LL NOW BEGIN WITH, UH, [Public Comment  ] PUBLIC COMMENT. A QUICK REMINDER OF COMMENTS OR TWO MINUTES, UNLESS SOMEONE SEES THEIR TIME TO YOU. ANYONE THAT SEEDS THEIR TIME MUST BE LISTED AS A SPEAKER. MADAM CLERK, DO WE HAVE ANY, UH, CITIZENS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK THIS MORNING? YES, WE HAVE A GROUP. OKAY. UH, SAGE. OKAY. DO I HAVE A LIST? IS THE FIRST, CAN YOU SEE IT? I DID. OKAY. THANK YOU. ALRIGHT, WE'LL START, UM, WITH, UH, SAGE, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF SPEAKERS FOR SAGE, AND YOU'LL HAVE, UH, SIX MINUTES TOTAL. OKAY. GOOD MORNING. WE CONSOLIDATED. BUT I'M MICHELLE LALIA HOLLAND, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER FOR SAGE. ALSO JOINED HERE BY OUR C E O ROBERT MELVIN AND OUR CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER MARI, UM, WHO WE'RE ALL HERE TO TALK ABOUT THIS VERY IMPORTANT MEETING THAT YOU'RE HAVING TODAY, SPECIFICALLY YOUR FOCUS ON MENTAL HEALTH, UM, AND HOW YOU'RE WE WILL BE THINKING THROUGH HOW TO ALLOCATE AND ASSIGN AND, AND FOCUS THOSE DOLLARS ON OUR COMMUNITY. UH, SO THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY. SAGE CHAMPIONS INVESTMENTS THAT IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, NEIGHBORHOODS, AND BUSINESSES ON THE EAST SIDE. AS YOU CONSIDER HOW TO FOCUS THE UPPER MENTAL HEALTH DOLLARS. TODAY, I'D LIKE TO SHARE WHAT WE BELIEVE COULD BE A MEANINGFUL AND AND TRANSFORMATIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY. WE KNOW THAT HEALTH DISPARITIES ARE INE EQUITABLY CONCENTRATED ON THE EAST SIDE. OUR COMMUNITY HAS DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF RESIDENTS WHO ARE LIVING IN POVERTY, DIAGNOSED WITH CHRONIC ILLNESSES, INVOLVED IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM, EXPOSED TO CRIME AND VIOLENCE, AND WHO ALSO EXPERIENCE BARRIERS TO HEALTHCARE AND RESOURCES. WE KNOW THAT THESE LEAVE THESE FOLKS WHO ARE LIVING AND BREATHING THESE INEQUITIES, UM, EXPERIENCE A LOT OF STRIFE AND CHALLENGES. AND THIS IS A DIRECT IMPACT ON THEIR MENTAL HEALTH, UM, ACROSS OUR ENTIRE REGION. WE KNOW THAT THESE REALITIES EXISTED PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT COVID FURTHER EXACERBATED THE ADVERSE OUTCOMES ACROSS OUR HOUSEHOLDS AND NEGATIVELY IMPACTED MANY FAMILIES. WE COMMEND THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE FOR PRIORITIZING POLICIES AND STRATEGIES THAT IMPROVE THE SAFETY AND WELLBEING OF CITY RESIDENTS. AND WHILE WE'RE PLEASED WITH THE PILOT TO TEST ALTERNATIVE RESPONSES TO MEN EMERGENCY MENTAL HEALTH CALLS, AND WE'RE GLAD TO HEAR THAT METRO HEALTH WILL BE INCREASING ACCESS TO COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE IMPACTED BY VIOLENCE. WE BELIEVE THAT THERE'S STILL A NEED FOR ADDITIONAL STRATEGIES FOR THOSE RESIDENTS ACROSS ALL AGES AND EXPERIENCES WHO ARE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF THESE INVESTMENTS AND THESE INTERVENTIONS. WITH THIS IN MIND, WE ASK THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING STRATEGIES AND OUTCOMES. FIRST, WE ASK YOU TO IDENTIFY THE EAST SIDE AS A PRIORITY COMMUNITY FOR EQUITABLE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INVESTMENTS. SPECIFICALLY, WE ASK YOU TO PRIORITIZE INTEGRATED COMMUNITY AND SCHOOL-BASED PREVENTION AND TREATMENT STRATEGIES THAT ADDRESS AND REDUCE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DISPARITIES ON THE EAST SIDE. WE ALSO ASK [00:05:01] YOU TO PRIORITIZE STRATEGIES THAT INCREASE ACCESS TO FREE AND OR AFFORDABLE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES, INCLUDING DESTIGMATIZATION SCREENING, CARE COORDINATION AND THERAPIES FOR RESIDENTS OF ALL AGES ON THE EAST SIDE WHO ARE AT RISK OR EXPERIENCING MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE ISSUES. LASTLY, SAGE'S EXPERIENCE SUPPORTING THE EAST POINT PROMISE ZONE EFFORTS HAS TAUGHT US THE POWER OF A COORDINATED AND FOCUSED APPROACH TO ADDRESSING SYSTEMIC AND CHRONIC INEQUITIES. THE EAST SIDE HAS A STRONG NETWORK OF PROVIDERS WHO ARE WILLING TO ROLL UP THEIR SLEEVES TO SUPPORT OUR COMMUNITY. SO OUR LAST REQUEST IS FOR FUNDING TO SAGE TO ESTABLISH A PLACE-BASED, TARGETED AND COORDINATED PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH TO BEHAVIORAL HEALTH PREVENTION AND TREATMENT. ON THE EAST SIDE, THE CITY HAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO USE ARPA DOLLARS TO IMPLEMENT AN APPROACH THAT PROACTIVELY IDENTIFIES, ENGAGES AND SUPPORTS THOSE EXPERIENCING OR AT AT RISK OF EXPERIENCING ADVERSE MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE OUTCOMES. ON THE EAST SIDE, WHEN WE ASK OURSELVES HOW MANY OF OUR RESIDENTS WHO ARE BEING SERVED BY OTHER SYSTEMS, ALSO, HOW MANY OF THOSE FOLKS ALSO HAVE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH NEEDS? WHAT IF OUR DESIRE TO SERVE THEM WAS MORE COORDINATED AND INTEGRATED? WE BELIEVE THAT A TARGETED APPROACH THAT IDENTIFIES AND SUPPORTS THESE RESIDENTS, THESE RESIDENTS WHO ARE AT THE INTERSECTION OF SEVERAL SYSTEMS OF CARE, WHETHER THAT'S PUBLIC HEALTH, PUBLIC SAFETY, FAMILY VIOLENCE, HUMAN SERVICES, EDUCATION, CHILD FAIR, OR EVEN OUR FOOD SECURITY SYSTEM, IS A STRATEGY THAT COULD BE TRANSFORMATIVE. SAGE'S MISSION INCLUDES CONVENING PARTNERS TO PROVIDE INNOVATIVE PROGRESSIVE SOLUTIONS TO EAST SIDE CHALLENGES. SUBSEQUENTLY, SAGE REQUESTS FUNDING TO ORGANIZE THESE COMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY THE HOUSEHOLDS IN NEED BY ANALYZING THE DATA THAT ALLOWS US TO SEE WHO THOSE FAMILIES ARE THAT ARE AT THE INTERSECTIONS OF THESE SYSTEMS. SECOND, TO CREATE A COMMUNITY DRIVEN PLACE-BASED ASSET BUILDING PLAN FOR ACTION THAT GATHERS EAST SIDE SERVING PARTNERS WHO ARE EITHER CONNECTED TO OR A POSITION TO SERVE IDENTIFIED HOUSEHOLDS. BRING THEM TOGETHER TO LOOK AT THE DATA, IDENTIFY STRATEGIES THAT ADDRESS GAPS, AND ALIGN THEIR RESOURCES TO SUPPORT THESE FAMILIES IN OUR COMMUNITY. LASTLY, WE ALSO REQUEST FOR FUNDING TO DEPLOY AND PILOT THOSE STRATEGIES AND EVENTUALLY ALSO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF THAT TARGETED APPROACH, IDEALLY WITH A FOCUS ON PREVENTION AND MITIGATION. WE BELIEVE THIS APPROACH HAS A CHANCE TO IMPACT THE SCALE OF OUR NEED ON THE EAST SIDE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ONE AGENCY DOES NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY TO COMPREHENSIVELY DO THE WORK NECESSARY TO CHANGE THE TRAJECTORY OF OUR NUMBERS. A JOINT ANALYSIS BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING AND MEDICINE DETERMINE THAT $1 INVESTMENT IN PREVENTION AND EARLY INTERVENTION FOR MENTAL ILLNESS AND ADDICTION PROGRAMS YIELDS $2 TO $10 IN SAVINGS IN HEALTH COSTS, CRIMINAL AND JUVENILE JUSTICE COSTS AND LOW PRODUCTIVITY. WE ARE READY TO FACILITATE THIS WORK ON THE EAST SIDE AND AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, WE WELCOME THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS HOW MUCH WE NEED FOR THE BEST AND THE BEST WAY TO INTEGRATE WITH CITY PLANS. WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING THE PRESENTATION AND WORKING WITH YOU LONG TERM. THANK YOU FOR THIS TIME. THANK YOU. MICHELLE. UM, MARIELA UNA. SHE WAS WITH THE BRUCE. OH, SHE WAS. I'M SORRY. SHE WAS WITH SAGE. I'M SO SORRY. I DO. LIZ FRANKLIN MAYBE LATER. GREW UP WITH SAGE. LIZ LEAVE THIS HERE. UM, LIZ, LIZ, LIZ FRANKLIN, AND AMANDA THOMAS, FOLLOWED BY LANDA THOMAS. GOT IT. OKAY. UH, LIZ FRANKLIN. HELLO, MS. FRANKLIN. HI. GO AHEAD. LIZ. FRANKLIN, UH, I'M GONNA TELL YOU THE TRUTH. I WAS GONNA CHEAT. I WAS GONNA GET UP HERE AND GO OFF SCRIPT 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT I DO. BUT I'M NOT GONNA DO THAT TODAY BECAUSE THE PRESENTATION BEFORE ME ALMOST IMPACTS A LOT OF WHAT I NEED TO SAY. SO BASICALLY WHAT I'M GONNA DO IS ASK YOU TO STRONGLY CONSIDER FROM A RESIDENT POINT OF VIEW, A LONG TIME RESIDENT AND IN THE TRENCHES HAVING THE, THE BEAUTY OF HAVING A SAGE IN YOUR COMMUNITY. THEY NEED THE FUNDING. WE HAVE THE DEMONSTRATED NEED. I COULD GO ON ABOUT THE HOMELESS AND OR HOUSELESS AND TRANSIENT POPULATION. AND WE CAN GET TO A POINT WHERE WE ALWAYS SAY, SOMEBODY'S GONNA STOP ME AT 20 MINUTES. I KNOW WE CAN ALWAYS GET TO A POINT THAT WE SAY THERE'S MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, THERE'S DRUG ISSUES, THERE'S THINGS LIKE THAT. I KNOW A FEW OF THOSE, UH, GOOD LOOKING. THEY'RE ALL WELL DRESSED. DID YOU NOTICE THAT THEY'RE ALL WELL, WELL-DRESSED, UM, FOLKS OVER ON SAGE AND I KNOW THEIR COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY. THE THING IS, IS THAT IF YOU WOULD AFFORD THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO [00:10:02] CONTINUE THE FIGHT WITH FUNDING, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OVER THERE TO POPULATIONS THAT PREVIOUSLY HAVE GONE UNTOUCHED WITHOUT CONSISTENCY, A RANDOM DRIVE-BY DOESN'T DO IT. OKAY? WE NEED A CONSISTENT APPROACH. YOU'LL BE JEALOUS WHEN SAGE IS SUCCESSFUL WITH THAT MODEL MODEL AND WE'LL SHOW YOU HOW TO GET IT BECAUSE YOU'LL HAVE APPROVED IT. THE SECOND THING THAT I WANTED TO DO IS THANK CHIEF HOOD, UM, FOR COMING TO DIGNITY HILL TWO WEEKS AGO. MIRACULOUSLY, ALL NINE OF THOSE FIRES THAT WE WERE SCARED TO DEATH OF STOPPED AS SOON AS HE SAID IT OVER THERE. FIRE IS A BIG ISSUE HERE. I KNOW IT'S UP ALL OVER THE PLACE, BUT I DID WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE A SHOUT OUT TO HIM. AND AS ALWAYS, MY FRIEND IN THE TRENCHES AND DOMESTIC TERRORISM, THAT'S WHAT WE SEE STATE CHIEF MCMANUS. SO I'LL SAVE THE REST. THE LAST TIME I CAME TO SEE YOU, MADAM CHAIR, I FRACTURED MY HIP. LET US NOT, THAT WASN'T YOUR FAULT. LET US NOT , LET US NOT HAVE A REPEAT OF THAT. I'M STILL BANGED UP. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. HOPE YOU'RE FEELING BETTER. UM, ANANDA THOMAS, UH, MY NAME IS ANANDA THOMAS AND I'M THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ACT FOR SA. TODAY I'M HERE TO ASK THAT YOU CONSIDER ARPA FUNDING FOR MENTAL HEALTH TO BE ALLOCATED IN SEVERAL WAYS. ONE IS CONSIDERATION FOR OUR M D R TEAM, WHICH I THINK IS BEING RENAMED TO THE SA CORE TEAM IS WHAT I'VE HEARD. UM, SPECIFICALLY, WE'VE BEEN ADVOCATING FOR COMMUNITY BOARD TO SERVE AS OVERSIGHT AND INFORM FURTHER, UH, YOU KNOW, IMPLEMENTATION AND IMPROVEMENTS OF THIS PROGRAM. AND THERE MAY BE COSTS ASSOCIATED TO RECRUITMENT ADVERTISEMENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA, UM, BUT ALSO OTHER COSTS SUCH AS BOARD RETREATS, TRAININGS, SITE VISITS. SO WE SHOULD CONSIDER ARPA FUNDING FOR THAT. FURTHER, FOR THIS TEAM, ARPA FUNDING CAN GO TO THE INITIAL LAUNCH AND GROWTH FOR THIS TEAM. UH, THE ADDITION OF PEER SUPPORT SPECIALIST IS SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE SEEN HAPPEN AT THE COUNTY, UH, SMART TEAM, AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I EXPECT THE CITY WILL BE LOOKING AT AS WELL. SA CLUBHOUSE SPECIFICALLY HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THIS CRISIS TEAM FORMATION SINCE BEFORE ACT FOUR SA WAS FORMED. UM, BOTH ADVOCATING FOR NON-POLICE RESPONSE, UM, BUT ALSO THE INCLUSION OF PEER SUPPORT SPECIALISTS. SO I ASK THAT THEY BE CONSIDERED FOR THIS FUNDING IN THIS, UH, PARTICULAR BUCKET. OTHER CRISIS TEAM COSTS COULD INCLUDE FURTHER EXPANSION OF THE TEAM AS WE FIND THAT WE NEED MORE MOBILE UNITS AND TEAMS TO COVER MORE AREAS AND ANSWER MORE CALLS. ADDITIONAL SPECIALIZED TRAINING FOR DISPATCHERS FOR BOTH 9 1 1 AND 3 1 1. DISPATCH. DENVER STAR HAS CONTINUED TRAINING FOR THEIR CITY'S DISPATCHERS ON ANSWERING AND TRIAGING MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS CALLS. ALSO, THE CONSIDERATION OF COSTS FOR ADDITIONAL SUPPLIES SUCH AS BLANKETS, HYGIENIC KITS, SAFE NEEDLE DISPOSAL, NARCAN, FOOD, MEDICAL SUPPLIES, SENSORY TOYS, AND MORE. WE HAVE SEEN THE NEED FOR THIS AT BEXAR COUNTY SMART TEAM AS WELL AS THE DENVER STAR PROGRAM AND CAN EXPECT THAT THIS MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS TEAM WILL NEED THE SAME. THERE ARE OTHER COSTS THAT MIGHT, WE MIGHT NEED FOR COMMUNITY OUTREACH AS WE REACH OUT THROUGH 3 1 1 WEBSITES, SOCIAL MEDIA, MAIL AND MORE. I ALSO JUST WANNA UPLIFT THAT WE DO NEED TO INVEST IN PROGRAMS LIKE SAGE, BIG MAMAS SAFE HOUSE, UM, ADULT AND TEEN CHALLENGE CENTER OF TEXAS AND SAN ANTONIO RECOVERY CENTER AS WE SEARCH FOR OTHER ALTERNATIVES TO ADDRESSING PUBLIC SAFETY. I'M REALLY GLAD YOU GUYS ARE HERE. THANK YOU, MS. THOMAS. UH, SOPHIA . AH, HI. GO AHEAD. GOOD MORNING. MY NAME IS SOPHIA VEDA. I AM AN ORGANIZER WITH THE TECH ORGANIZING PROJECT, AND I AM HERE TO ASK TO PLEASE CONSIDER CON, UH, PROVIDING SOME OF THE UPPER FUNDS TO CREATE A FUND WITHIN THE CITY TO SUBSIDIZE ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES. WE KNOW RIGHT NOW THE CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES TAKES AROUND THREE TO FOUR MONTHS TO ACTUALLY PROVIDE, UM, MENTAL HEALTHCARE SERVICES TO PATIENTS. A LOT OF TIMES THESE PEOPLE GO UNNOTICED. THERE WAS A MO, A WOMAN THAT I TALKED TO, AND SHE SAID THAT SHE WAS WAITING FOR HER APPOINTMENT ALMOST A YEAR, AND SHE KEPT ON RECEIVING CALLS FROM THE CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES. AFTER A YEAR, THEY STOPPED CONTACTING HER TO CHECK ON HER WELLBEING. I ASK YOU TO PLEASE CONSIDER FORMING A, UM, COMMITTEE TO ENSURE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO ARE [00:15:01] MANAGING THE CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES ARE BEING APPOINTED BY COMMUNITY INSTEAD OF, UH, BY PEOPLE WHO ARE APPOINTED BY US. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, SOPHIA. THAT'S OUR, OUR PUBLIC COMMENT FOR TODAY. AND THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO, WHO CAME TO SPEAK WITH US THIS MORNING. BEFORE WE START WITH OUR AGENDA, I WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE A MEMO SENT OUT LAST NIGHT, UH, REGARDING THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR FEEDBACK ON THE SECO MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM. AND THE MEMO STAFF PROVIDED TWO ALTERNATIVES, UH, ULTIMATELY RECOMMENDING AL ALTERNATIVE A I'D LIKE, WELL, I ACTUALLY, I'LL JUST OPEN THE FLOOR TO MY COLLEAGUES, HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON, ON THAT? AND I WAS JUST BEEN INFORMED THAT WE CANNOT VOTE AND SIGN IN ON THE COMPUTER. SO IF YOU'LL JUST KIND OF FLAG ME THAT YOU WANT TO SPEAK. ALRIGHT. COUNCIL , THANK YOU. NO, I AM NOT FOR ALTERNATIVE A I AM HESITANT ON ALTERNATIVE B. THIS IS CITY FUNDS. I THINK IT NEEDS TO BE, UM, THE CITY NEEDS TO HAVE MORE, UM, INSIGHT AND SAY ON THIS. I'M, I'M, I WILL CONTINUE TO COMMUNICATE THAT THE CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES IS A DOWNSTREAM, PRIMARILY SERVICE ENTITY, AND WE NEED TO FOCUS ON UPSTREAM ISSUES. SO, UM, YEAH, NO TO BOTH. WELL, WE CAN ADJUST BREE, BUT NO TO A THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN ARAN. COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL. THANK YOU CHAIR FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, COMMENT ON THESE. I ALSO DO NOT SUPPORT ALTERNATIVE A. UM, I THINK THAT WOULD BE GREAT, AND I'LL REPEAT WHAT I SAID LAST TIME. UH, ONCE WE'RE READY TO MAKE THIS PROGRAM PERMANENT, I THINK THAT'S AN OPTION WE SHOULD CONSIDER. AGAIN, THIS IS A PILOT PROGRAM. WE ONLY HAVE ONE OPERATING RIGHT NOW. IT IS ONLY, OR WHEN IT STARTS, IT WILL ONLY BE IN A SMALL SUBSECTION. SO, UM, WHAT MY PROPOSAL HAD BEEN WAS AN AD HOC COMMITTEE. ALTERNATIVE B SAYS, NEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE. SO I'M ALSO NOT INTERESTED IN C COMMITTING THE CITY TO A LONG-TERM PERMANENT COMMITTEE FOR THIS, I, I WOULD CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE FOR AN AD HOC COMMITTEE. UH, FOR THIS PARTICULAR, FOR THE FIRST, UM, SA CORE TEAM, I THINK WE COULD INVITE MEMBERS OF THE EXISTING C A C IF THEY, UM, IF WE FOUND A WAY TO, TO BRING THE APPROPRIATE MEMBERS OVER. UH, BUT I, I DO THINK IT SHOULD BE A COMMITTEE STRICTLY FOCUSED ON THE SA CORE PERFORMANCE. THAT WAS, UM, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO. 'CAUSE IT'S A PILOT PROGRAM. SO THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL, COUNCILMAN MCKAY RODRIGUEZ. THANK YOU, CHAIR. UM, I WANT TO ECHO THE SAME CONCERNS. I DON'T, UM, I DISAGREE WITH OPTION A, NOT SUPPORTIVE OF THAT. UM, FOR OPTION B, I'M GOING TO, UM, ONE STATE THAT WHEN, THE REASON I'M INCLINED TO SUPPORT OPTION B IS THAT I WOULD LIKE A DISTRICT TWO REPRESENTATIVE. I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THAT IS SOMETHING THAT'S GUARANTEED AND NOT SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO, UM, TRY TO OVERLY RECRUIT FOR. UM, WE'RE GONNA SEE THAT WITH THE CARB PRESENTATION, IS THAT THERE ARE SOME DISTRICTS THAT DON'T HAVE REPRESENTATION AT ALL, AND I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE DO HAVE THIS, UH, WHEN THIS COMMITTEE IS FORMED, THAT DISTRICT TWO ISN'T ONE OF THOSE DISTRICTS THAT'S LEFT OUT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU COUNCILMAN. COUNCILMAN PERRY? I SUPPORT THE STAFF RECOMMENDATION. I, I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO BE ESTABLISHING ADDITIONAL COMMITTEES. UM, WE'VE GOT, HOW MANY COMMITTEES DO WE HAVE RIGHT NOW OVERALL, MARIA, AND I'M GONNA LOOK AT CITY CLERK THAT IS OVER. WE HAVE, UH, WE HAVE 90 PLUS NINE PLUS 90. DO WE NEED MORE? ARE WE TRYING TO MAKE A HUNDRED COMMITTEES IN THIS CITY OR WHAT? BUT NO, I, I CERTAINLY DON'T SUPPORT ADDITIONAL COMMITTEES. THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN. I, I'M SUPPORTING A STAFF RECOMMENDATION TO TODAY, BUT ACTUALLY FOR THE OPPOSITE REASON, UM, THAT YOU MENTIONED COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL, BECAUSE IT'S A PILOT PROGRAM, I WOULD BE IN FAVOR OF THE OPPOSITE WHEN IT'S A FULL PROGRAM, INCLUDING A FULL, UM, COMMITTEE RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE IT'S A PILOT PROGRAM. I, I, MY CONCERN IS PART OF THE FUNDING. I WOULD RATHER FUNDING GO TOWARDS THE SERVICES THAN FUNDING A COMMITTEE FOR A PILOT PROGRAM. UM, I'M OPEN TO, YOU KNOW, UM, CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THAT, BUT ALSO, UH, A VERY GOOD POINT MADE, I THINK, UM, COUNCILMAN MKI RODRIGUEZ ABOUT THE REPRESENTATION. IF WE DID GO WITH ALTERNATIVE, A, UM, BUT CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, MARIA, THIS COMMITTEE WOULD INTERVIEW AND APPOINT THOSE FOUR MEMBERS. AM I CORRECT OR IS IT, WE INTERVIEW AND TAKE IT TO COUNCIL? IF WE GO WITH ALTERNATIVE A, UH, THIS COMMITTEE COULD NOMINATE UP TO [00:20:01] FOUR INDIVIDUALS, WHICH ARE THE VACANCIES THAT THE, UH, C H C S COMMITTEE CURRENTLY HAS. AND THEN THOSE NOMINATIONS WILL BE CONSIDERED BY THE C H C S BOARD. SO THIS, THIS PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE COULD NOMINATE UP TO FOUR. SO WILL WE GO THROUGH A A, I MEAN, MAYBE WE EACH HAVE, YOU KNOW, TWO MEMBERS. WOULD WE GO THROUGH AN INTERVIEW PROCESS TO COME UP WITH THOSE NOMINATIONS, THOSE FOUR NOMINATIONS? UH, WE COULD, WE COULD DO THAT. YES. I, OKAY. ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR TAKING A MOMENT. I KNOW IT WASN'T, UM, SOMETHING WE PLANNED ON TALKING ABOUT, BUT IT, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT. UM, AND, AND FOR THOSE OF YOU, UM, IF, IF PLEASE, YOU KNOW, REACH OUT TO US AND, AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK IN OUR, UM, TO OUR OFFICES. UH, THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMMENTS ON THE, ON THE MEMO. OUR TASK TODAY IS TO BEGIN A SPECIFIC DISCUSSION WITH A SPECIFIC PURPOSE. WE'RE HERE TO DEVELOP A PLAN FOR THE ALLOCATION OF 26 MILLION IN FEDERAL, FEDERAL ARPA FUNDS DEDICATED TO MENTAL HEALTH. THIS IS, UH, I THINK MENTAL HEALTH IN OUR CITY. OH, I'M SORRY, LEM. I'M GONNA START OVER ON THAT BECAUSE WE HAD ONE PERSON THAT WAS SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT THAT DIDN'T GET TO SPEAK. IT'S, UM, ANGELA WHITE. THERE WAS SOME CONFUSION WITH OUR SAGE GROUP. I DUNNO IF I'VE JUST BEEN RECRUITED, BUT APPARENTLY I WAS ON YOUR LIST, . SO THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN AND HER SAYING SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION THERE AND THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS. UM, MY NAME IS ANGELA WHITE. I AM THE PRESIDENT AND C E O OF CHILD ADVOCATE SAN ANTONIO HERE IN THE CITY. AND AS YOU BEGIN YOUR DISCUSSIONS TODAY, I JUST WANTED TO TAKE A MINUTE TO SPOTLIGHT THE FOSTER CHILDREN THAT WE SERVE. AND ALSO THAT CASTRO IS NOT OFTEN THOUGHT OF IN PREVENTION, BUT WE ARE THE EARLIEST PREVENTION YOU CAN GET. OUR CHILDREN THAT WE SERVE HAVE MODELED BEHAVIOR FROM OUR ADVOCATES TO KNOW THAT WHAT THEY SEE IN THEIR HOUSEHOLDS WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, WITH MENTAL HEALTH THAT OCCURS IS NOT THE WAY IT NEEDS TO BE OR THE WAY IT SHOULD BE. THEIR NORMAL IS NOT WHAT IS NORMAL. AND WHEN THEY COME INTO CASA, WE HELP WITH THAT AND OUR ADVOCATES HELP THEM SEE WHAT NORMAL HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS SHOULD LOOK LIKE. AND THE FACT THAT REACHING OUT FOR HELP TO PEOPLE WITH MENTAL HEALTH CONCERNS IS THERE'S NO SHAME IN THAT. WE'VE ALL NEEDED HELP AND WE HAVE TO MAKE THAT LESS PUNITIVE. SO IF WE CAN TEACH THE CHILDREN WE SERVE THAT VERY EARLY, THEN THE LANDSCAPE COULD POSSIBLY CHANGE. THE REASON I STAND HERE TODAY IS BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING MORE CRITICAL THAN OUR CHILDREN IN THIS CITY. LAST YEAR WE SERVED OVER 1700 CHILDREN AT CASA AND THERE WERE 2,800 CHILDREN ACTUALLY AVAILABLE FOR US TO SERVE LAST YEAR. AND WE COULDN'T DO THAT BECAUSE WE COULDN'T SUPPORT THE ADVOCATES FINANCIALLY. SO THERE IS AN ASK FOR THIS COMMITTEE TO LOOK AT THAT OUR FOSTER CHILDREN, IF THEY ARE NOT CARED FOR, WELL, WE'LL END UP HOMELESS MORE TIMES THAN NOT. WE'LL END UP WITH ADDICTION ISSUES WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. I ABSOLUTELY SUPPORT THE BIG MAMA'S HOUSE THAT I LOVE. UM, SAGE IN THE ROOM, BUT LET US KNOW 'CAUSE CASSA CAN DIRECT PEOPLE TO GO TO THOSE SERVICES. YOU KNOW, THOSE SERVICES HAVE TO BE FINANCIALLY WELL ESTABLISHED. THEY HAVE TO BE AVAILABLE FINANCIALLY AND THEY HAVE TO BE GEOGRAPHICALLY AVAILABLE. AND I THINK ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE CRITICAL. BUT PLEASE, LET'S LOOK AT THE CHILDREN. LET, LET'S STOP THE GENERATIONAL ISSUES. AND WE CAN ONLY DO THAT WHEN WE GET THERE EARLY ENOUGH. AND THAT'S WHAT CASSA DO. WE STAND IN THE STORM WITH THESE CHILDREN AND WE WALK THROUGH THE, THE STORM WITH THEM, AND WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO GET THE SERVICES THEY NEED. SO PLEASE SUPPORT CASSA IN THIS REQUEST. AND MENTAL HEALTH. THERE ARE NO WORDS FOR WHAT I BELIEVE THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT TO BE. SO THANK YOU SAGE, BIG MAMA'S HOUSE, C H C S, ALL THE PEOPLE THAT PLAY INTO THIS. WE NEED YOU AND WE NEED HARPER TO SUPPORT CASA AND WE NEED THIS COMMITTEE TO LOOK AT A HOLISTIC VIEW. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU, ANGIE. UH, I'D BE REMISS IF I JUST DIDN'T VERY BRIEFLY MENTION, UM, THANK YOU TO BOTH SAGE AND CASA FOR BEING HERE TODAY. YOU GUYS DO THE STREET LEVEL WORK EVERY DAY, GETTING OUT IN THOSE COMMUNITIES. SO I JUST WANNA THANK YOU BOTH. VERY STRONG LEADERSHIP, STRONG BOARDS, UM, STRONG WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING OUT IN THE COMMUNITY AND YOU'RE MAKING A DIFFERENCE. SO WE APPRECIATE YOU. UM, SO GOING BACK TO [Briefing and Possible Action on  ] ARPA, AND I APOLOGIZE FOR, FOR MISSING YOU, ANGIE, BUT I APPRECIATE YOU'RE HERE. UM, WE'RE HERE TO DEVELOP A PLAN FOR THE ALLOCATION OF 26 MILLION IN FEDERAL ARPA FUNDS DEDICATED TO MENTAL HEALTH. I WANT TO BE SURE THAT WE ARE CLEAR ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANS. THE FUNDS ARE TO BE USED FOR RESCUE AND RECOVERY FROM THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC ON THE COMMUNITY'S MENTAL HEALTH. I BELIEVE THAT MENTAL HEALTH IN OUR COMMUNITY HAS BEEN FOR A LONG TIME AN URGENT NEED, UM, FOR THE [00:25:01] PANDEMIC. NOW IT'S AN EMERGENT NEED. I THINK IT'S AN EMERGENCY ON A LOT OF LEVELS. SO, UM, I THINK THE PURPOSE OF OUR WORK HERE TODAY IS VERY IMPORTANT AND IT'S TO PROVIDE DIRECTION TO CITY, STAFF, STAFF TO DEVELOP THE RESCUE PLAN. THERE IS THOUGH A GENERAL DIRECTION TO FOLLOW. SECOND, THE, THE PLAN WILL OUTLINE PROGRAMS AND STRATEGIES THAT WILL ADDRESS THOSE IMPACTS. TO PUT IT ANOTHER WAY, WHAT WILL RESCUE LOOK LIKE? THIRD, WE'LL DEFINE THE OUTCOMES AND LAY OUT HOW THESE OUTCOMES WILL BE MEASURED. I THINK MEASUREMENT, UM, DATA IS, IS IMPORTANT IN THIS, IN THIS, UM, IN THIS PLAN. AND FOURTH, WE'LL ESTABLISH A TIMELINE FOR THE RESCUE. THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT THE PANDEMIC'S EFFECT ON MENTAL HEALTH IS A PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERN. PUBLIC SAFETY IS MORE THAN JUST POLICE AND FIRE. IT'S WHAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC NEEDS TO FEEL SAFE AS STEWARDS OF PUBLIC SAFETY. WE CANNOT JUST REACT TO THE CRISIS AT THE TIME. WE NEED TO LOOK AT WHAT CAN BE DONE BEFORE EMERGENCY SERVICES ARE NEEDED AS OUR POLICE AND FIRE ARE TAXED, UM, TO THE MAX. THEY'RE, THEY'RE OUT THERE EVERY DAY ALSO DOING IMPORTANT WORK. AND, UM, THEY'RE OVER. SOMETIMES THE, THE THE NEEDS ARE OVERWHELMING. THE EMERGENCY SERVICE, UH, THEY'RE NEEDED AND THE CARE AND TREATMENT NEEDED AFTER THE EMERGENCY CALL IS PLACED. SO SPECIFICALLY I'M TALKING ABOUT, YES, WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE CRISIS THE DAY OF, BUT WE, I I LIKE TO FOCUS ON PRE-CRISIS. AND THEN OF COURSE, POST-CRISIS. OUR GUIDING PRINCIPLE, OUR GOAL IS TO PLAN A RESCUE AND MAKE THE BEST USE OF FUNDS AVAILABLE TO DO IT. IT HAS TO BE DONE IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS FOR LONG-TERM SUSTAINABILITY THAT LEADS TO NEW OR EXISTING MENTAL HEALTH STRATEGIES AND PROGRAMS. WE NEED TO HAVE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, WHICH WE SEE HERE TODAY IN OUR CONVERSATION. AND WE NEED TO USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO LIFT OUR CONVERSATION ABOVE THE STIGMA THAT IS ASSOCIATED WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS. SO WITH THAT, WE'LL MOVE ON TO ITEM TWO. I JUST WANNA, YOU KNOW, JUST MAKE THE POINT THAT THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT CONVERSATION THAT WE'RE STARTING HERE IN THIS ROOM TODAY. AND I, I TRUST AND BELIEVE THAT AT THE END OF THIS, UH, PROCESS, THAT IT'S GONNA MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE PEOPLE THAT WE REPRESENT COUNCIL MEMBERS, BUT BUT ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY. SO, GO AHEAD, MARIA, THE COMMITTEE. BEFORE I BEGIN MY PRESENTATION, I WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE SOME OF OUR PARTNERS THAT ARE HERE IN THE ROOM. UH, MS. JLA, THE BLANK JAMON. HE IS THE PRESIDENT AND C E O OF THE CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES. UH, MR. DOUG BEACH, HE IS A PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE OF MENTAL ILLNESS, AND HE'S ALSO THE CHAIR OF THE C H C S COMMUNITY ADVISORY, UM, COMMITTEE. UH, MR. MIKE LOCITO WITH BURKE COUNTY. HE IS THE DIRECTOR OF JUDICIAL SUPPORT SERVICES AND ALSO, UH, GILBERT HERNANDEZ IS HERE FROM THE COUNTY. UH, AND WE ALSO HAVE ERIC EPLEY, WHO'S THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTHWEST TEXAS REGIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL. AND THESE ARE OUR PARTNERS THAT WE WORK WITH ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, UM, OUTSIDE THE CITY ORGANIZATION. SO WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO DO IS SOMETHING VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DID AT THE, UH, CHECK COMMITTEE LAST WEEK WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT THE USE OF THE ARPA, UH, FISCAL RECOVERY FUNDS, UH, TO PROVIDE, PROVIDE SOME, SOME BACKGROUND TO THE COMMITTEE ON THE WORK THAT WE'RE ABOUT TO DO TODAY. SO YOU MAY RECALL THAT WHEN THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVED THE SPENDING FRAMEWORK IN FEBRUARY, THERE WERE SEVEN SPENDING CATEGORIES. THERE ARE BEING FURTHER DISCUSSED AT THE COUNCIL, UH, COMMITTEE LEVELS. SO THERE, OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURE COMMITTEE IS LOOKING AT ARTS SENIORS AND NONPROFIT SOCIAL SERVICES. OUR ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, UH, COMMITTEE IS LOOKING AT SMALL BUSINESSES, YOUTH, UH, AND DIGITAL INCLUSION. AND OUR PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE WILL TAKE ON THE DISCUSSION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH. NOW, SOME GENERAL GUIDELINES ABOUT ARPA, AS WE HAVE DISCUSSED WITH THE COUNCIL, THESE FUNDS ARE TAILORED TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THOSE THAT WERE IMPACTED BY THE PANDEMIC, ADDRESSING SOME OF THE LONGSTANDING HEALTH AND ECONOMIC DISPARITIES THAT WE HAVE SUFFERED HERE IN SAN ANTONIO. AND ALSO GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD A STRONG RE RESILIENT AND EQUITABLE RECOVERY, UH, BY MAKING INVESTMENTS THAT SUPPORT LONG-TERM GROWTH AND OPPORTUNITY. UM, ALSO FOR THE, UH, COMMITTEE AND THE PUBLIC INFORMATION, WE HAVE ALIGNED THE SPENDING FRAMEWORK CATEGORIES WITH THE GUIDANCE AND THE ARPA, UM, RULES FROM THE US TREASURY. SO YOU'LL SEE THE SEVEN CATEGORIES THAT I MENTIONED ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE AS APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL. AND ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE IS A SECTION WITHIN THE ARPA GUIDANCE THAT WE CAN BE INFORMED IN TERMS OF WHAT ARE THE RULES THAT WE HAVE TO FOLLOW WHEN WE USE THIS FUNDS. SO FOR PURPOSES OF MENTAL HEALTH THAT ALIGNS [00:30:01] WITHIN THE PUBLIC HEALTH CATEGORY OF THE ARPA, UH, GUIDELINES. SO WHAT WE'RE ASKING THE COMMITTEES TO DO, ALL THREE COMMITTEES THAT ARE DISCUSSING THE SEVEN CATEGORIES THAT I MENTIONED, IS TO PROVIDE POLICY DIRECTION TO THE CITY STAFF, UH, TO DEVELOP A PLAN. AND THIS PLAN AND THE CONVERSATION WE'LL HAVE, UH, TODAY IS TO IDENTIFY THE COVID IMPACT THAT WE'RE TRYING TO RESOLVE FOR THE FUNDING ALLOCATED IN THIS CASE TO MENTAL HEALTH. UM, INCLUDE PROGRAMS AND STRATEGIES THAT WILL BENEFIT COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT WERE AFFECTED BY THE IMPACT IDENTIFIED IN STEP ONE. UH, DEFINING DESIRE EQUITABLE OUTCOMES WITH METRICS TO MEASURE THOSE OUTCOMES DURING THE LIFE OF THE PLAN. AND THEN WE'RE ASKING, UM, ALSO TO PROVIDE A PLAN THAT DOESN'T EXCEED, UH, FOUR YEARS. YOU MAY RECALL THAT THE GUIDANCE FROM THE US TREASURY IS THAT DOLLARS HAVE TO BE COMMITTED BY DECEMBER, 2024 AND FULLY SPENT BY, UH, DECEMBER, 2026. SO WE HAVE CREATED THIS MATRIX THAT WE'RE USING IN ALL THE THREE, UH, CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES TO COMPLETE. AND THIS ARE GONNA BE THE BASIS TO DEVELOP THE PLAN. UM, AND WE'LL GET INTO THE DETAILS OF THIS MATRIX, UM, AS WE CONTINUE THE DISCUSSION WITH, WITH YOU TODAY. BUT YOU'LL SEE THAT THE PLAN COMPONENTS, UH, INCLUDING THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE COVID IMPACT, THE PROGRAM AND STRATEGY STRATEGIES, EQUITABLE OUTCOMES, PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, AND THE DOLLAR AMOUNT ALLOCATED TO TO THAT. SO THAT IS, UH, SOMETHING THAT WE STAFF WILL COMPLETE TO BRING BACK TO THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE AS A DRAFT FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION AND CONTINUE, UH, DIALOGUE. SO IN TERMS OF, UH, THE NEXT STEPS, AND THIS IS WHAT ALL THE COMMITTEES ARE BEING ASKED TO DO, IS THAT WE, UH, BEGIN THE WORK AT THE COMMITTEE LEVEL. THAT WE HAVE A PLAN THAT WE BRING BACK TO THE FULL CITY COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL, UM, DURING THE FALL OF 2022 OR BEFORE, WE DON'T HAVE TO WAIT IF WE'RE COMPLETED, UM, BEFORE THAT. BUT OUR GOAL IS TO HAVE ALL THE PLANS APPROVED BY THE FULL CITY COUNCIL BY THE FALL OF 2022. THEN CITY STAFF WILL BEGIN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THOSE PLANS AND REPORT BACK TO THE SUBCOMMITTEES. AND THEN, OF COURSE, OUR FUNDING NEEDS TO BE, UH, SPENT. AND WE, WE ACTUALLY ADDED HERE THAT DOLLARS SHOULD BE SPENT BY SEPTEMBER, 2026 TO ALLOW CITY STAFF THREE MONTHS TO CLOSE OUT PROJECTS AND DO WHATEVER REALLOCATION WE NEED TO DO AND CLOSE OUT THE PROJECT WITH THE US TREASURY BY DECEMBER, 2026. SO WHAT I'M GONNA DO NEXT IS GET INTO THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH SPECIFICALLY, UM, SO WE CAN BEGIN THE DISCUSSION WITH THE COMMITTEE. AND THE, THIS PRESENTATION WILL JUST GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAMS THAT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO MANAGES. AND, AND WE'RE NOT ALONE IN, IN THE WORK THAT WE DO IN MENTAL HEALTH. WE ARE JUST A PLAYER OF MANY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, UH, ACROSS, ACROSS OUR CITY. BUT TODAY I'M GONNA FOCUS PRIMARILY ON THOSE PROGRAMS THAT ARE FUNDED IN THE CITY'S BUDGET AND THAT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR. SO LET ME START WITH SOME STATISTICS, UM, THAT I, UH, OUR METRO HEALTH DEPARTMENT WAS ABLE TO PROVIDE TO US. AND YOU SEE THE SOURCES AT THE BOTTOM FROM THE US DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AND THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE. SO ONE IN FIVE ADULTS EXPERIENCE MENTAL ILLNESS EACH YEAR. AND THIS ARE NATIONAL STATISTICS. ONE IN 25 ADULTS EXPERIENCE SERIOUS MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESSES EACH YEAR. UH, 50% OF MENTAL ILLNESS BEGINS BY AGE 14 AND 75% BY AGE 24. AND APPROXIMATELY 25% OF PRISONERS IN THE LOCAL JAIL HAVE A MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS. AND ABOUT 20 TO 25% OF THE HOMELESS POPULATION ALSO EXPERIENCE A MENTAL ILLNESS. NOW, THERE HAS BEEN A 51% INCREASE IN SUICIDE ATTEMPTS BY YOUNG PEOPLE DURING THE PANDEMIC. FURTHER INFORMATION THAT WE COMPILE FROM THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES IS THAT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES HAS GROWN SIGNIFICANTLY DURING THE PANDEMIC. AND, AND I INCLUDED A COUPLE OF, UH, UH, DOCUMENTS THAT THE, UH, NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES, UH, PROVIDED, WHICH IS THE STATE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA. AND THIS IS RANKED BY STATE, UH, AND TEXAS IS ONE OF, UH, THOSE STATES THAT HAVE, UM, UH, MORE, MORE CHALLENGES ON MENTAL HEALTH ILLNESS AND ALSO ACCESS TO MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES. AND ALSO THERE'S ANOTHER, UH, PIECE OF RESEARCH, UH, FROM, UH, THE COMMONWEALTH FUND REPORT THAT PROVIDES INFORMATION IN TERMS OF A INCREASE IN DRUG OVERDOSE THAT'S IN THE COUNTRY AND [00:35:01] ALSO BY STATE. NOW HERE LOCALLY, WHAT IS HAPPENING, UH, ON, ON MENTAL HEALTH. AND THIS IS ONE STATISTIC THAT WE CAN SHARE WITH YOU THAT WE, THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO HAVE ACCESS TO, WHICH IS OUR MENTAL HEALTH, UH, CALLS, THOSE CALLS THAT COME TO OUR 9 1 1 SYSTEM. SO YOU'LL SEE THAT IN 2020 WE SAW AN INCREASE OF 12.4% ON MENTAL HEALTH CALLS COMING TO 9 1 1 IN 2021, THAT NUMBER GREW TO 20% COMPARED TO 2020. SO WE HAVE SEEN AN INCREASE, UH, THAT WE WOULD TRANSLATE TO ADDITIONAL REQUESTS FOR SERVICES OF INDIVIDUALS, UM, FACING A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS. AND NOW YOU SEE THE, THE ACTUAL NUMBERS, UM, THAT WE HAVE FOR THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THE CALENDAR YEAR OF 6,910. SO THE TREND CONTINUES TO BE CONSISTENT, UH, RIGHT NOW WITH 2021. SO, UM, AS I MENTIONED, THE THE SPENDING FRAMEWORK THAT THE COUNCIL APPROVED ON FEBRUARY THE THIRD ALLOCATED $26 MILLION TO MENTAL HEALTH. UH, AND THIS FUNDING PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES, UH, AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE COMMITTEE, UM, LEVERAGING RESOURCES BY BLENDING AND BRAIDING VARIOUS SOURCES OF FUNDING BEYOND THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO. AS WE ARE NOT THE ONLY PLAYER IN THE MENTAL HEALTH ARENA, WE HAVE OUR PARTNERS, UH, LIKE THE CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES LIKE, UH, BEAR COUNTY, FOR EXAMPLE. UH, PARTNERSHIPS ARE KEY, UM, AS I MENTIONED, AND COORDINATION IS IMPERATIVE AS INDIVIDUALS FACING MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES, UH, FIND IT DIFFICULT TO IDENTIFY THE SERVICES AND RESOURCES THAT ARE AVAILABLE WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY. AND YOU MAY RECALL, UM, FROM THE PRESENTATION FROM MS. JILLIAN BURLEY AT THE LAST PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, SHE SPOKE ABOUT, UM, SOME OF THOSE CHALLENGES THAT ARE FACED BY OUR COMMUNITY. NOW, IN TERMS OF THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, MENTAL HEALTH IS A PRIORITY. THIS IS EVIDENCED BY THE SA FOUR PLAN THAT WAS, UM, UH, PROVIDED TO THE COUNCIL BY OUR METRO HEALTH DEPARTMENT. AND YOU SEE ONE OF THE PILLARS INCLUDED IN THIS ESSAY FORWARD PLAN IS MENTAL HEALTH. SO LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE INVESTMENTS WITHIN OUR CURRENT FISCAL YEAR 2022 BUDGET. SO WHAT WE HAVE ALLOCATED TO MENTAL HEALTH IS $8.3 MILLION. AND YOU SEE ON THE CHART ON THE, ON THE LEFT, WE HAVE THE GENERAL FUND COMPRISES 3.3 MILLION OF THIS INVESTMENT AND DO, AND WE HAVE FEDERAL GRANTS MAKING UP FOUR AND A HALF MILLION. MOST OF THOSE GRANTS ARE ARPA DOLLARS THAT HAVE BEEN ALLOCATED DIRECTLY TO METRO HEALTH. AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE A PARTNERSHIP WITH STRAC, WHERE THEY PROVIDE FUNDS TO OUR FIRE AND POLICE DEPARTMENT TO ADDRESS, UH, MENTAL HEALTH, UM, UTILIZERS OUT ON THE FIELD. NOW, THE BREAKOUT BY DEPARTMENT, THE WAY YOU WOULD SEE IT IN OUR CITY'S BUDGET, YOU'LL SEE, UH, POLICE WITH 3.2 MILLION METRO HEALTH WITH 2.8 HUMAN SERVICES WITH 1.6 AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WITH $700,000 OF THE 8.3. THIS FOLLOWING CHART, UH, PROVIDES A SUMMARY OF THOSE PROGRAMS THAT ARE FUNDED WITH THE $8.3 MILLION. THAT'S HOW WE ARE USING THOSE DOLLARS. SO YOU'LL SEE THAT THERE IS, THERE IS A COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH, UH, PROGRAM THAT IS PROVIDED BY METRO HEALTH. UH, THERE'S A CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN TRAUMA CARE, ALSO MANAGED BY METRO HEALTH, OUR PROJECT WORTH, UH, TEEN AMBASSADOR PROGRAM, ALSO MANAGED BY METRO HEALTH. THEN OUR ESSAY CORE OR THE MULTI MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM, THIS IS A PROGRAM THAT YOU APPROVE. AND THE FISCAL YEAR 2022 BUDGET, THAT IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN METRO HEALTH FIRE AND POLICE. AND THAT'S $1.7 MILLION. AND THEN WE HAVE A, UM, CONTRACT WITH HEAVEN FOR HOPE AND CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES TO PROVIDE INTEGRATED TREATMENT AT HEAVEN FOR HOPE THAT IS MANAGED BY HUMAN SERVICES. WE ALSO PROVIDE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES, UH, FOR HOMELESS. AND THESE ARE THE OUTREACH WORKERS THAT WE HAVE, OR CLINICIANS I SHOULD SAY, THAT WE HAVE OUT ON THE FIELD. UM, THE HUMAN SERVICES UTILIZES AND GRIEF COUNSELING AS WELL. AND THEN WE HAVE, UH, A PROGRAM FOR INTENSIVE CARE COORDINATION. THIS IS FIRE FIRING POLICE. AND THIS IS A PROGRAM THAT IS FUNDED BY STRAC. AND THEN FINALLY, WE HAVE OUR MENTAL HEALTH UNIT THAT IS A COMBINATION OF, UH, POLICE OFFICERS IN S A P D AND THREE CLINICIANS THAT ARE, UM, FUNDED IN THE HUMAN SERVICES, UH, DEPARTMENT. THAT'S $2.8 MILLION. SO THAT IS JUST TO PROVIDE YOU A LANDSCAPE OF THE SERVICES THAT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO PROVIDES BEFORE WE BEGIN THE DISCUSSION WITH ARPA. SO SOME OF THE PRELIMINARY FEEDBACK THAT, THAT WE, UM, [00:40:01] HEARD FROM, FROM THE COUNCIL WHEN WE HAD THE POLICY DISCUSSION AT THE END OF MARCH WAS SOME LEVEL OF DESIRE TO EXPAND PRE-CRISIS SERVICES, DIRECTING 9 1 1 CALLS TO THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF CARE, ACCESS TO CARE, AND POTENTIALLY ADDITIONAL BEDS. UM, SOMETHING THAT WE HEARD AS WELL IS, UM, ADDRESSING, UH, YOUTH SUICIDE OR, OR PREVENTION OF YOUTH SUICIDE AND ALSO MENTAL HEALTH FOR CHILDREN, ADULTS AND SENIORS AS THEY WERE IMPACTED BY, UH, C OVID 19. THIS AGAIN, JUST SUMMARIZES AGAIN, THE COMPONENTS OF THE PLAN THAT WE ARE GONNA BE DISCUSSING WITH YOU TODAY AND START THE WORK, UH, WITH YOU TODAY. THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE IS JUST FOR DISCUSSION PURPOSES. THIS IS JUST USING SOME OF THE PRELIMINARY FEEDBACK AND IDENTIFYING SOME OF THOSE C OVID 19 IMPACTS AND POTENTIALLY SOME OF THE PROGRAM AND STRATEGIES THAT WE COULD UTILIZE. BUT AGAIN, THIS IS FOR DISCUSSION JUST TO BEGIN THE DISCUSSION WITH THE COUNCIL, AND THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO HEAR TODAY. BUT FOR EXAMPLE, I'M JUST GONNA MENTION, UM, THE FIRST ONE WE HAVE, UM, SEEING ONE OF THE IMPACTS OF C OVID 19 IS AN INCREASE ON 9 1 1 CALLS COMING INTO OUR, UH, 9 1 1 SYSTEM FOR MENTAL HEALTH, UH, ASSISTANCE. SO OUR PROGRAM AND STRATEGY COULD BE DIRECTING SOME OF THOSE CALLS TO THE APPROPRIATE LEVEL OF CARE. UM, AND WE HAVE HEARD A DESIRE, PERHAPS, TO EXPAND THE SA CORE, UH, PROGRAM. WE'VE ALSO HEARD, UM, A, AN OP THAT, THAT WE SHOULD COME UP WITH, WITH A PROGRAM TO PROVIDE AN OPTION, UH, FOR OUR RESIDENTS TO CALL PERHAPS WITHIN THE NINE ONE ONE SYSTEM TO HAVE AN OPTION FOR MENTAL HEALTH OR PERHAPS A, A DIFFERENT NUMBER THAT COULD BE DEDICATED TO MENTAL HEALTH. SO THAT IS JUST A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES. AND THE REST, AGAIN, IS JUST FOR THE DISCUSSION WITH THE COUNCIL TODAY OR WITH THE COMMITTEE TODAY. AND THEN FINALLY, THIS IS A TENTATIVE PRELIMINARY TIMELINE ALSO FOR DISCUSSION WITH COUNCIL TODAY FOR YOUR FEEDBACK. THIS PARTICULAR TIMELINE, UH, BEGINS THE DISCUSSION TODAY, UM, THAT WE GET YOUR POLICY DIRECTION. ONCE WE GET THAT POLICY DIRECTION, AND WE HAVE REPRESENTATIVES FROM OUR METRO HEALTH DEPARTMENT, FIRE, POLICE, AND HUMAN SERVICES, WE'LL COME UP WITH A, A DRAFT, A PLAN THAT WE CAN BRING BACK TO THE COMMITTEE IN MAY FOR YOUR FEEDBACK AND FURTHER REFINEMENT. AND THEN ONCE WE GET THAT FEEDBACK, WE'LL COME BACK AGAIN IN JUNE AND, UH, PRESENT THOSE, UM, PROPOSALS FOR INPUT. AND BASED ON THE FEEDBACK THAT WE GET FROM THE COUNCIL, WE COULD HAVE ANOTHER MEETING WITH THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, UM, IN AUGUST IF NEEDED. UH, AND THEN FINALLY BRING THE PLAN TO THE FULL COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL, EITHER IN AUGUST OR SEPTEMBER, DEPENDING ON THE FEEDBACK. SO THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION, UH, MADAM CHAIR, AND WE'RE HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, UM, AND ASSIST IN FACILITATING THE DISCUSSION FOR PURPOSES OF DEVELOPING THE PLAN. THANK YOU, MARIA. UM, I HAVE A, JUST A COUPLE QUESTIONS FOR, FOR STAFF. YOU, I THINK YOU MENTIONED THERE'S BEEN SOME CONVERSATION ABOUT A SEPARATE NUMBER, UH, TO CALL MAYBE A THREE DIGIT NUMBER TO CALL INSTEAD OF NINE ONE ONE FOR A MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS. UM, CAN YOU ELABORATE A LITTLE MORE ON THAT, WHAT THAT MIGHT BE? OR DO WE HAVE A COST ESTIMATE FOR IT TOO? UM, WE DON'T HAVE A COST ESTIMATE YET. COUNCIL, I MEAN, A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT, UH, WE HAD, UH, PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED WITH THE COUNCIL. ONE IS HAVING AN OPTION WITHIN THE CURRENT 9 1 1 SYSTEM THAT WHEN YOU CALL, IT'S EITHER FIRE POLICE, UM, E M S OR MENTAL HEALTH. UH, WE ALSO HAD A PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION WITH THE CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES TO POTENTIALLY PARTNER WITH THEM AND USE THEIR, UM, CRISIS HEADLINE. UM, THERE WAS ALSO DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT EXPANDING THE CURRENT SUICIDE, UH, PREVENTION HEADLINE, WHICH IS A 9, 8 8 NUMBER TO INCLUDE MENTAL HEALTH. SO THAT COULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY, BUT THOSE DISCUSSIONS, UM, UM, STILL CONTINUE. SO THOSE ARE A FEW OF THE THOUGHTS THAT WE'VE HAD. UM, BUT IF THAT IS THE DESIRE OF, OF THE COMMITTEE, WE CAN, WE CAN, UH, CONTINUE THAT EFFORT TO BRING SOME PROPOSALS BACK. I'D BE INTERESTED IN SEEING THAT. I THINK IT WOULD REQUIRE AN EXTENSIVE EDUCATION CAMPAIGN TO OUR COMMUNITIES TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS THE NUMBER YOU CALL, BUT I THINK ALSO IN CASE PEOPLE DON'T KNOW AND THEY'RE, UH, HAVE A LOVED ONE, MAYBE, MAYBE THAT'S HAVING A MENTAL HEALTH CARE CRISIS, THEY COULD STILL CALL 9 1 1 AND HAVE ACCESS TO THAT, THE MENTAL HEALTH TEAM INSTEAD OF, UM, YOU KNOW, REGULAR 9 1 1 SERVICES. UM, IN TERMS OF IDENTIFYING IMPACTS, DIAGNOSIS IS SUCH A LARGE PART OF HELPING FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS LEARN TO LIVE AND GROW AND CREATE SAFE ENVIRONMENTS FOR THEIR CHILDREN. ONE ORGANIZATION THAT WAS GREATLY IMPACTED BY C OVID 19 IN HELPING PROVIDE DIAGNOSES WAS, UH, TO CHILDREN [00:45:01] AS THE AUTISM NETWORK. I'D LIKE TO SEE THEM GET SOME, SOME HELP. THEY ARE, THEY HAVE AN 18 MONTH BACKLOG, SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC, AND THAT'S JUST TO GET KIDS INTO TESTING. UM, OF COURSE IT'S THE CHILD'S MENTAL HEALTH, BUT ALSO THE MENTAL HEALTH OF THE PARENT THAT'S, UM, SPECIFIC. YOU KNOW, MAYBE WAITING 18 MONTHS JUST TO GET THEIR CHILD IN FOR TESTING. UM, MEANWHILE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY'RE VERY YOUNG, 18 MONTHS IS, UM, HUGE IN TERMS OF CARE AND AND TREATMENT. AND FOR A CHILD WITH AUTISM, THE, THE PROJECTED COST TO HELP THE, TO HELP GET THE AUTISM NETWORK BACK IS, UM, IS 1.34 MILLION OVER, OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS. SO I'D LIKE TO SEE FUNDING FOR THEM. COURSE I WANNA SEE, I'D LIKE TO SEE FUNDING FOR SAGE. UM, I THINK I, I MENTIONED, AND CASA, WHAT I MENTIONED EARLIER, UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE ALREADY OUT THERE DOING THAT STREET LEVEL WORK AND WE, UH, I'M SURE THAT BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC, THEY'RE BEHIND BOTH ORGANIZATIONS AND WOULD LIKE TO SEE THEM GET BACK UP. WELL, NOT JUST UP TO SPEED TO WHERE THEY WERE BEFORE THE PANDEMIC, BUT, YOU KNOW, A JUMPSTART INTO, INTO THE FUTURE OF BOTH, BOTH ORGANIZATIONS. UM, I'VE HAD THE GREAT HONOR AND PRIVILEGE TO, TO KNOW WHAT THEY BOTH DO. AND, UM, CASA ONE OF MY POLICY INITIATIVES HAS BEEN FOR FOSTER CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY, ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT ARE AGING OUT OF THE SYSTEM BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO GO AND THEY HAVE REALLY A LOT OF TIMES NO GUIDANCE. AND SO, UM, LIKE TO SEE THAT, THAT FUNDING FOR THEM, UH, I'D LIKE TO SEE MORE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION AND BREAKING DOWN THE STIGMA THAT'S ASSOCIATED WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS, PEER-TO-PEER CONVERSATION AND WORKING WITH GROUPS, I BELIEVE IS NECESSARY. MARIA. MARIA, DO YOU HAVE ANY GROUPS THAT, UH, THAT CAN BE INVOLVED TO DISCUSS PRE-CRISIS INTERVENTION? UH, YES. AND ACTUALLY, MAYBE IF I CAN ASK, UM, MS. GI BURLEY TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, HE ALLUDED TO THIS IN HE IN HER PRESENTATION AT THE LAST MONTH, UH, WHICH IS A VERSION OF THIS STICK. UM, BUT I'LL LET HER COME UP AND JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THOSE PARTNERS THAT ARE ALREADY ALIGNING TO DISCUSS MENTAL HEALTH. GOOD MORNING. SO AS WE WERE SHARING WITH THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE AT OUR LAST PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN SUBSTANCE USE TREATMENT AS WELL AS MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT. UM, AND WE'RE, WE ARE CALLING OURSELVES THE S A T COALITION TO REDUCE STIGMA, UH, ENHANCE ACCESS TO CARE, AND ENHANCE ACCESS TO TREATMENT. AND WE REALLY BELIEVE, UM, IF WE ARE, UH, WORKING TOGETHER TO UNDERSTAND THE REFERRAL CAPACITY OF ALL OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS, WE CAN BETTER REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF INDIVIDUALS WHO EXPERIENCE CRISIS EPISODES AND HAVE TO BE EITHER ELLIE NAV OR FIND THEMSELVES IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS. SO WE RANGE FROM RISE RECOVERY TO LIFETIME, UH, UH, LIFETIME RECOVERY ALPHA HOME FOR WOMEN. WOMEN'S BEDS IN THIS COMMUNITY ARE VERY, VERY SHORT. WOMEN DON'T HAVE RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR SUBSTANCE USE OR RESIDENTIAL MENTAL HEALTH. UH, THE ECUMENICAL CENTER IS ANOTHER, UM, ORGANIZATION AS WELL AS, UH, WEST CARE. SO WE'RE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF COMING TOGETHER AND SORT OF GOVERNING OURSELVES. UH, WE'VE BEEN VERY ANXIOUS TO LEARN WHAT THE CITY'S, UH, RULES WILL BE, OR PROCESS WILL BE FOR A RPA FUNDING AS WELL AS THE COUNTY. AND WE PLAN TO COME, UH, JOINTLY TO BOTH TO SEEK, UM, SUPPORT FOR PRE-CRISIS AND COMMUNITY SERVICES. TO BE SUCCESSFUL, WE WILL NEED, UM, A CONVENER GROUP. AND WE THINK IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE COMMUNITY AND PRE-CRISIS SERVICES TO BE ALIGNED WITH THOSE SERVICES THAT WE ARE ALREADY NAVIGATING. AND WE HAVE DATA TO SUPPORT RELATED TO CRISIS SERVICES. SO IT'S IMPORTANT FOR BOTH OF THOSE NETWORKS TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER AND UNDERSTAND HOW THE POPULATIONS ARE NAVIGATING IN BOTH POOLS, PRE-CRISIS, AS WELL AS CRISIS SERVICES. THANK YOU. THE PRE-CRISIS, I THINK, IS, UH, REALLY IMPORTANT IN, IN THIS CONVERSATION AND, AND THE WORK YOU'RE DOING. UM, I THINK, UH, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE, MORE, WELL, I THINK MAYBE I'D LEARN LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE S A T COALITION. OKAY. UM, WHO, WHO ALL IS IS IN THIS COALITION? IS IT SO, SO FAR, UH, ECUMENICAL CENTER MM-HMM. , AND YOU'LL HAVE TO, I DON'T HAVE A LIST WITH ME, SO I'M, WE CAN GET IT GOING BY MEMORY. YEAH. BUT ECUMENICAL CENTER RISE RECOVERY LIFETIME RECOVERY, ALPHA HOME. OKAY. ACTUALLY, UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL HAS BEEN AT THE TABLE, THE CENTER FOR HEALTHCARE SERVICES, HAVEN FOR HOPE. UM, A A C N IS A NEW PARTNER AT THE TABLE. OKAY. THAT IS A NETWORK OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS. MM-HMM. , UH, LISC HAS BEEN AT THE TABLE ALSO BECAUSE WE KNOW WE NEED HOUSING. NAMI IS AT THE TABLE. MM-HMM. BECAUSE THEY [00:50:01] WORK A GREAT DEAL WITH FAMILIES AND THEY TRAIN FAMILIES TO SUPPORT THEIR, UM, THEIR CHILDREN OR THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM MENTAL HEALTH. UM, YOU DON'T HAVE TO, I'M, YOU'VE MENTIONED A LOT. I WONDER IF, UH, THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE HERE REPRESENTED HERE TODAY MIGHT, UM, BE ABLE TO BE INVOLVED AS WELL. SURE. WE'RE ALWAYS LOOKING FOR PARTNERS FOR OUTREACH. MM-HMM. OBVIOUSLY OUR FOCUS IS ON TREATMENT MM-HMM. BECAUSE THOSE INDIVIDUALS RECEIVE COUNSELING OR THERAPY OR MEDICATION ASSISTED TREATMENT WITH ALL OF THE ENTITIES THAT I MENTIONED. BUT MORE OUTREACH FOR, REGARDING REDUCTION OF STIGMA, MORE OUTREACH TO EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY ON WHERE TO GO FOR SERVICES BEFORE THEY ARE HAVING A CRISIS EPISODE WOULD CERTAINLY BE A WELCOMED EDITION. I, I, I THINK WE HAVE AN UPHILL BATTLE WHEN IT COMES TO REDUCING STIGMA. WE DO. I I DO. UM, YOU KNOW, MY, UH, MY OTHER JOB IS AS A DISABILITY ATTORNEY, I THINK I SEE THE DIFFERENCE IN JUST THE, YOU KNOW, THE YEARS THAT I'VE BEEN PRACTICING THAT IT'S MORE, UH, AT LEAST IT'S, THERE'S A CONVERSATION ABOUT IT AND IT SEEMS TO BE MORE UNDERSTOOD AND ACCEPTED. UM, BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO. SO IF THERE'S ONE THING WE CAN SAY THAT WAS A POSITIVE OUTCOME OF COVID, IT WAS THE FACT THAT WE'RE ALL TALKING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH. THAT'S TRUE. WHEREAS BEFORE WE WERE NOT. GOOD. GOOD POINT. WELL SAID. UM, OKAY. THANK YOU. UM, DO COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS REACH OUT TO OTHER PEER GROUP CARE GROUPS? COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS WITH OUR, WITH THE CITY? SURE. IS CLAUDE HERE? I DON'T SEE CLAUDE. I'M LOOKING AT, UH, OH, SORRY. JENNIFER HARRIET. OH, YES. GOOD MORNING. COUNCILWOMAN, COULD YOU RESTATE YOUR QUESTION? DO WE, DO COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS WITH THE CITY REACH OUT TO PEER GROUPS AND, AND COMMUNITY? YES. WE WORK WITH A WIDE RANGE OF PARTNERS, AND RIGHT NOW WE'RE ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKER HUB, UM, THAT'S UNDER OUR ACCESS TO CARE, UH, INITIATIVE AND OUR SA FORWARD PRIORITIES. AND THAT, UM, INITIATIVE WILL BRING ALL COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS IN THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO TO WORK TOGETHER ON A VARIETY OF ISSUES. OKAY. THANK YOU. MM-HMM. , OH, JUST, JUST REAL QUICKLY, UM, CAN YOU, I'M SORRY FOR MARIA, CAN YOU GO BACK TO SLIDE THREE? YOU SHOW ALL THE, THE, THE BUCKETS, UM, OF MONEY THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT FOR, FOR ARPA, MAYBE NOT THREE, SORRY. SURE. AS A PREVIOUS PRESENTATION, IF WE CAN GET IT. OH, I'M SORRY. UM, IT WAS THE AMOUNT ALLOCATED FOR EVERY, UH, THERE WE GO. SLIDE TWO, I'M SORRY. UM, SO I, I MAINTAIN, AND I SUBMIT TO YOU ALL THAT, THAT MENTAL HEALTH, THERE'S A COMPONENT OF MENTAL HEALTH IN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE, UM, UH, TOPICS, ITEMS. AND, UH, SO I JUST, YOU KNOW, WANT TO KIND OF KEEP THAT IN MIND AS WE'RE LOOKING AT, UM, OUTSIDE OF THIS COMMITTEE, UH, THE OTHER TWO COMMITTEES THAT, THAT LOOK AT THIS KIND OF KEEPING THAT IN MIND THAT MENTAL HEALTH IS A COMPONENT OF ALL OF THEM. AND TO, TO KEEP IN MIND THAT WE NEED TO, UM, INCLUDE THAT AND THINK ABOUT THAT AS, AS WE'RE ALLOCATING FUNDS IN THE OTHER BUCKETS. THANK YOU. AND I'LL MOVE NOW TO COUNCILMAN MKI RODRIGUEZ. THANK YOU, CHAIR. UM, SO ARPA, I'LL SAY AGAIN, IS MEANT SPECIFICALLY TO SUPPORT AREAS OF TOWN THAT WERE IMPACTED MOST BY C O V I D. UM, IS THERE A WAY TO DETERMINE WHICH APPLICANTS IN WHICH PROGRAM SEEKING FUNDING HAVE, UM, DIRECT IMPACT IN OUR COMMUNITIES LIKE THE EAST SIDE? UM, I THINK THAT'S WORK THAT WE WILL GET TO DO. UM, COUNCILMAN, ONCE THE COMMITTEE IDENTIFIES THE COVID IMPACTS THAT THEY'RE TRYING TO ADDRESS, WE, THE STAFF WILL COME BACK WITH, UH, PROGRAMS AND STRATEGIES, THOSE EQUITABLE OUTCOMES THAT WE MENTIONED AND HOW WE GONNA, UM, PROPOSE TO FOCUS THOSE PROGRAMS. SO WE'LL, WE'LL GET THERE IN TERMS OF, UH, THE PROCESS THAT WE, UH, OUTLINED TODAY. UM, SO IT'S OUR GOAL TO ENSURE THAT THOSE PROGRAMS ARE HELPING THOSE INDIVIDUALS THAT WERE IMPACTED THE MOST AND THIS APPROPRIATE DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED BY C OVID 19. THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THAT. MY, UM, MY EXPECTATION, MY EXPECTATION AND MY ASK IS THAT WE REQUEST IMPACT REPORTS OR TARGETED ZIP CODE EFFORTS, UM, FOR THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING SEEKING FUNDING. UM, I ALSO WANNA STRESS THAT EAST SIDE IS A PRIORITY. UM, DECADES OF TRAUMA FROM UNDER INVESTMENT, GENERATIONAL POVERTY, EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE, UM, ALL RESULT IN NEGATIVE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH OUTCOMES. AND THESE ARPA FUNDS ARE MEANT TO ADDRESS AND RESPOND AND RECOVER FROM THE PANDEMIC, BUT THE EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC COMPOUNDED ON TOP OF AND EXACERBATED THE EXISTING ISSUES BROUGHT ON BY DECISION DECISION MAKERS LONG BEFORE US. SO AS WE PROCEED, I WANT TO BE SURE THAT WE DO OUR PART TO RIGHT MANY OF THOSE WRONGS. UM, THERE'S A FEW CATEGORIES OF MENTAL HEALTH THAT I WOULD LIKE US TO PUT A DISTINCT FOCUS ON IT, IT SOUNDED LIKE THAT'S, WE'RE ON THAT PATH. UM, ONE WILL BE THE MENTAL HEALTH OF STUDENTS. UM, THIS PAST YEAR I WAS TEACHING AND I HAD SIX STUDENTS WHO HAD ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. AND THAT WAS MORE, THAT, THAT WAS MORE THAN ANY OTHER YEAR THAT I HAD TAUGHT. UM, [00:55:01] AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, UM, EXPERIENCED AN ISOLATION. AN ISOLATION THAT, UM, I DON'T THINK NONE OF US HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED AS STUDENTS. AND I'LL GIVE AN, I'LL SAY THIS AS WELL 'CAUSE I, I DON'T KNOW IF I'D BE ABLE TO GO WITHOUT SAYING IT, IS THAT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WAS AN L G B T WAS A MEMBER OF THE L G B T Q COMMUNITY. UM, AND WHEN THEY RETURNED, I WAS THE ONLY CLASS THAT THEY WOULD COME TO. AND I, YOU KNOW, MATH IS NOT INHERENTLY ENGAGING. I DON'T THINK I WAS NECESSARILY THAT GREAT OF A TEACHER, BUT I THINK THAT THAT SAYS TO ME THAT THEY NEED TO SEE SOME SORT OF INCREASED ACCESS, UM, TO AFFIRMATIONAL SUPPORT. AND THAT'S NOT JUST MEMBERS OF THE L G B T Q COMMUNITY, IT'S ALL STUDENTS. BUT I DO WANT TO ADD THAT FOCUS 'CAUSE I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY WILL SAY THAT. UM, THIS PAST SATURDAY, ALSO, THE SAN ANTONIO YOUTH COMMISSION MET AT THE CARVER LIBRARY. AND SO I WENT AND I GOT TO SIT IN ON IT. AND THEY'VE DONE A DEEP DIVE ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IN YOUTH AND HAVE CONDUCTED SURVEYS. UM, AND THEY HAVE IDEAS AND I WAS VERY IMPRESSED BY THEIR FEEDBACK. AND SO I WOULD REALLY REQUEST THAT WE TAKE, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, WE REACH OUT TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION OF THE YOUTH COMMISSION AND ASK FOR THEIR THOUGHTS. I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD BE MAKING DECISIONS ABOUT COMMUNITIES WITHOUT THEIR DIRECT, UH, THEIR DIRECT FEEDBACK. AND YOUNG PEOPLE ARE OFTEN LEFT OUT OF THAT. UM, I'LL ALSO ADD THAT IT'S VERY CLEAR THAT OUR YOUNG PEOPLE ARE DEVELOPING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AT A RAPID RATE. AND SO I WOULD SUPPORT A SCHOOL-BASED STRATEGY, UM, PERHAPS AN EX AN EXPANSION OF OUR MOBILE MENTAL HEALTH UNIT TO REACH YOUNG PEOPLE IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, OR PERHAPS WORK WITH, UM, SCHOOL COUNSELORS WHO ARE STRETCHED THIN DURING THIS PANDEMIC. UM, THE NEXT GROUP WOULD BE VETERANS. UM, I KNOW WE'VE TALKED BEFORE ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH OF VETERANS AND THE EFFECTS OF P T S D AND THE HOMELESSNESS EXPERIENCE BY VETERANS, BUT I'D LIKE TO REQUEST THAT WE ACTIVELY SEEK OUT A PROPOSAL FOR A PLAN TO MEANINGFULLY ADDRESS THIS ISSUE FOR THIS VERY SPECIFIC DEMOGRAPHIC, UM, SENIORS AS WELL. UM, OUR SENIORS EXPERIENCED, AGAIN, A DIFFERENT TYPE OF ISOLATION, ANXIETY, AND DEPRESSION THAT THERE'S NOT AN EXCUSE FOR. AND WHEN I KNOW WHEN WE WERE ALL BLOCK WALKING DURING THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL, WE TALKED WITH SENIORS WHO SAID THAT THEY HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GO TO SENIOR CENTERS, THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO BE WITH THEIR FAMILY. AND SENIORS ARE NOT JUST GOOD FOR WHAT THEY'VE CONTRIBUTED IN THE PAST. THEY'RE NOT JUST GOOD TO TELL STORIES AND TO TEACH LESSONS. THEY DESERVE TO MAKE NEW MEMORIES AND TO, UM, CONTINUE TO LIVE LIFE AND LEARN AND EXPERIENCE JOY AND HAPPINESS. AND SO, UM, DURING THE CHECK MEETING, I MADE THE REQUEST, JUST LIKE THE POINT YOU MADE, UH, YOU MADE SHARE, UM, THAT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE CATEGORIES HAS A MENTAL HEALTH COMPONENT. UM, I WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST THAT WE LEVERAGE SOME FUNDING FROM THE SENIOR CATEGORY, UM, IN WHATEVER WAY POSSIBLE. I'VE ECHOED, UM, GOING A LITTLE AHEAD. I KNOW YOU HAVEN'T SPOKEN YET, BUT I'VE ECHOED MY SUPPORT IN THE PAST FOR COUNCILMAN SANDOVAL'S REQUEST FOR A SECOND PILOT. UM, I MAY DISAGREE WITH HER PREFERRED LOCATION, BUT WE CAN ROCK PAPER SCISSORS FOR IT, UM, OR FOR A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT ALTERNATIVE RESPONSE MODEL TO RUN SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH THE PILOT PROGRAM THAT WE HAVE GOING ON. AND I BELIEVE, AND I'M GONNA CONTINUE TO SAY THAT THE REASON WHY IS THIS WILL HELP EXPEDITE OUR FINDINGS AND GET US MUCH QUICKER TO A MORE EFFECTIVE MODEL OF RESPONSE. UM, AND SO I'M GONNA ECHO AGAIN THE NEED AND MY SUPPORT FOR PEER SUPPORT. UH, I'LL CHIME IN THOSE. I CAN KEEP GOING. UH, LET'S DO ANOTHER ROUND. OKAY. THANK YOU. UM, UH, I MAY ASK ACTUALLY REAL QUICKLY, LIZ, I THINK SHE HAD A POINT. THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN. I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY VERY BRIEFLY THAT THE EARLIER DISCUSSION BY COUNCIL RELATED TO THE COMMITTEE COMPOSITION WAS RELATED TO THIS ITEM, ITEM NUMBER TWO. SO JUST FOR CLARIFICATION PURPOSES. OH, OKAY. OKAY. FOR DIRECTION TO STAFF. YES, MA'AM. THANK YOU, LIZ. MM-HMM. . OKAY. COUNCILWOMAN VIE. THANK YOU. UM, I'VE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS CONVERSATION, UH, ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL ILLNESS. SO I DO HAVE SOME, UM, QUESTIONS AND THEN SOME FOLLOW UP THAT I'M GOING TO NEED. ON SLIDE NUMBER THREE, THE IMPACT OF MENTAL HEALTH. I NEED NUMBERS RELATED TO OUR 1.5 MILLION THAT LIVE HERE IN, UH, SAN ANTONIO. SO I NEED TO KNOW WHAT THE 25% OF THE PRISONERS, WHAT THAT ACTUAL NUMBER, THAT ACTUAL NUMBER IS. I'D ALSO LIKE TO GET AGE GROUPS, UH, FOR ALL OF THESE CATEGORIES. UM, AND I, I NEED ACTUAL NUMBERS OF OUR $1.5 MILLION. I THINK THAT'LL HELP ME AS WE GO FORWARD. AND I NEED AGE GROUPS ALSO BECAUSE I THINK THAT'LL HELP AS WE LOOK AT THE SENIOR CATEGORY AND THE YOUTH CATEGORY IN THE OTHER TWO COMMITTEES. UM, THE MOST TROUBLING ON, ON SLIDE NUMBER THREE IS THE SUICIDE ATTEMPTS BY YOUNG PEOPLE DURING THE PANDEMIC. AND WE NEED THAT NUMBER [01:00:01] FOR BEXAR COUNTY IN SAN ANTONIO. THE OTHER THING THAT WASN'T MENTIONED, UM, IS OVERDOSES, BUT I'LL GET TO THAT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE CALLS. UM, SO 47.1 MILLION OF PEOPLE NATIONWIDE ARE, UM, IS THE, IS WHAT WE SEE LIVING WITH A MENTAL HEALTH CONDITION. I THINK THE ISSUE THAT WE HAVE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO IS THAT WHEN WE SAY MENTAL HEALTH, PEOPLE AUTOMATICALLY THINK HOMELESSNESS OR THEY THINK, UM, ADDICTION. AND THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE CASE. SO I'M GLAD ANGELA WAS HERE TO TALK ABOUT THAT. UM, THE CHILDREN AND THE POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS THAT THEY, UH, FEEL. I'M SO GLAD SAGE WAS HERE BECAUSE I THINK THEY'RE TRYING TO ADDRESS THAT WIDER, UM, WIDER KIND OF CONVERSATION, BUT I THINK IT, THIS ISSUE DOES NEED TO STAY IN PUBLIC SAFETY. WE DO NEED TO HAVE THE CONVERSATION HERE BECAUSE BASED ON SLIDE NUMBER FIVE, IT IS OUR POLICE OFFICERS THAT ARE MAKING, THAT ARE RESPONDING TO THESE CALLS. AND WHAT I WOULD LIKE IN TERMS OF THE BREAKDOWN OF THESE CALLS, MY FIRST QUESTION IS, WERE THESE STRICTLY MENTAL HEALTH CALLS WITH NO ELEMENTS OF VIOLENCE OR WEAPONS? COUNCILMAN, WE CAN GIVE YOU A BREAKDOWN. SOME OF THEM DID INVOLVE WEAPONS AND, BUT WE'LL GET YOU A BREAKDOWN. I NEED THAT INFORMATION BECAUSE A MENTAL HEALTH CALL WHERE, UH, MY, MY MOTHER IS SITTING IN THE CORNER CRYING IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM MY MOTHER IS SITTING IN THE CORNER WITH A KNIFE. IT, IT'S A DIFFERENT CALL. AND WE NEED THAT INFORMATION IF WE ARE GOING TO MOVE FORWARD AND WE ARE GOING TO REROUTE THESE CALLS TO OTHER PEOPLE. SO I, I'M GONNA NEED THAT INFORMATION. THE OTHER THING, IN THE SPENDING FRAMEWORK, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LEVERAGING, WE NEED TO START HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND WHAT THEY'RE DOING, BECAUSE I THINK THAT IS GOING TO BE CRITICAL GOAL. UM, I APPRECIATE ALL THE EFFORTS THAT THESE GROUPS HAVE DONE, BUT WE ARE NOT ADDRESSING THE YOUTH. AND IT'S OBVIOUS WITH THIS 51% INCREASE, WE ARE NOT ADDRESSING THE VETERANS BECAUSE THEIR SUICIDE RATE CONTINUES TO GO UP. UH, AND WE NEED TO GET THEM THE HELP THAT THEY NEED. UH, ALSO, SO I, I'M SO THANKFUL THAT, UH, ERIC IS HERE AND I HAVE MET WITH STRAC AND THE WORK THAT THEY CONTINUE TO DO, I THINK WE NEED TO GET BETTER AT, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH, WHAT EXACTLY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT. WE NEED TO START TALKING SPECIFIC, UH, CUTTING DEPRESSION, ANOREXIA. THESE ARE ALSO MENTAL DIS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES THAT ARE, ARE, WE ARE NOT EVEN ADDRESSING AMONG OUR YOUTH. AND THEY'RE STRUGGLING WITH THAT TOO. UM, SO I'M, SO, I'M SO EXCITED THAT THE SAN ANTONIO YOUTH ARE LEADING THE WAY, AND I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE PROGRAMS THAT WE HAVE HERE. BUT I NEED MORE INFORMATION BECAUSE I NEED, I NEED NUMBERS OF, OF POPULATION AND HOW THIS IS IN IMPACTING. AND THE OTHER THING IN TERMS OF MENTAL HEALTH CALLS, IF WE ARE INCLUDING OVERDOSES IN THOSE MENTAL HEALTH CALLS, I WOULD LIKE TO GET THE FOLLOW-UP OF IF THEY GO INTO A DETOX PROGRAM WHERE THEY'RE GOING INTO THE DETOX PROGRAM, BECAUSE THIS GOES BACK TO OUR CONVERSATION ABOUT LOW BARRIER AND HIGH BARRIER, UM, HELP FOR THEM AFTER THE FACT THAT THEY'VE GONE THROUGH REHAB. AND IT GOES BACK. IT, IT'S A WIDER CONVERSATION. THAT'S WHY KICKING IT DOWN TO THE COMMITTEE, I DON'T FEEL THESE ARE CONVERSATIONS WE NEED TO HAVE IN B SESSION. BECAUSE IF WE ARE REALLY GOING TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE, OUR COUNCIL COLLEAGUES NEED TO BE PART OF THIS CONVERSATION. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN GERRAN. COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL. THANK YOU CHAIR. UM, AND I REALLY HAVE ENJOYED HEARING, UM, NOT ENJOYED, BUT IT'S BEEN BECAUSE THIS IS A HARD CONVERSATION, BUT I THINK IT'S BEEN VERY EDUCATIONAL TO HEAR WHAT YOU'VE HAD TO SAY, WHAT OUR SPEAKERS HAVE HAD TO SAY AND, AND THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS. UM, UH, FIRST LET ME START WITH A QUESTION ON YOUR SLIDE THAT HAS TO DO WITH, UM, FOR THE HOW WE'RE GONNA SPEND THE ARPA DOLLARS. AND, UH, YOU'VE GOT A SLIDE THAT SAYS, COUNCIL COMMITTEE PROVIDES POLICY DIRECTION TO CITY STAFF TO DEVELOP A PLAN THAT NUMBER ONE IDENTIFIES A C OVID 19 IMPACT. MM-HMM. . SO, UM, TO ME, A LOT OF THOSE WOULD BE UPSTREAM INTERVENTIONS, LIKE YOU MENTIONED, THE AUTISM, UH, NETWORK, LIKE NOT BEING ABLE TO RAISE THE MONEY OR, OR BEING BACKED UP, RIGHT? BECAUSE [01:05:01] YOU'RE, YOU, YOU WEREN'T ABLE TO MEET IN PERSON OR PEOPLE NOT BEING ABLE TO GET THE TREATMENT THAT THEY NEED BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO MEET IN PERSON. UH, BUT IT SEEMS TO ME, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, THAT THOSE IMPACTS WOULD REALLY BE MORE UPSTREAM AS OPPOSED TO THE CRISIS INTERVENTION. I THINK IT COULD BE BOTH. COUNCILWOMAN, YES, TO YOUR POINT ON MENTAL HEALTH, WE'RE ABLE TO ADDRESS UPSTREAM, WE'LL AVOID THOSE DOWNSTREAM CONSEQUENCES. BUT WE ARE EXPERIENCING AT OUR, WHAT I WOULD CALL OUR WORK ON THE STREETS, LIKE IN THE CASE OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, MORE CALLS RELATED TO MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS. SO THERE, THERE'S A NEED FOR US TO ADDRESS THAT CRISIS SITUATION. BUT TO YOUR POINT, VERY IMPORTANT TO ADDRESS THE UPSTREAM, UM, CAUSES OF, OF THOSE CALLS. SO IT'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO BOTH. UH, TO BE EXACT TO, TO YOUR QUESTION, THE ARPA FUNDS AND THE GUIDELINES ALLOW US TO DO BOTH. OKAY. SO WE COULD ADDRESS THEM WHETHER OR NOT IT IT'S ENTIRELY DUE TO COVID. WE CAN, WE CAN DO BOTH. THEN. UM, THE, THE GUIDANCE, UM, DOES REQUEST THAT WE IDENTIFIED A COVID IMPACT. MM-HMM. , THEY ALSO, UM, INDICATE THAT THERE'S SOME COMPONENTS OF OUR POPULATION THAT HAVE BEEN DISA DISPROPORTIONATELY IMPACTED BY C OVID 19. AND WE CAN MAKE SOME ASSUMPTIONS LIKE CENSUS TRACKS, FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE WERE TO FOCUS ON PROGRAMS IN THOSE, IN THOSE AREAS OF THE CITY. UM, SO I GUESS THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IN SHORT IS WE COULD DO IT BOTH. WE JUST HAVE TO BE SPECIFIC WITHIN THE US TREASURY GUIDANCE. OKAY. THANK YOU. UM, MY, MY FIRST SUGGESTION WOULD BE, UH, TO CONSIDER ESTABLISHING AN ESSAY CORE TEAM IN THE ZIP CODES 7 8 2 2 9 SLASH 2 2 8. AND IN THE ZIP CODE 7 8 2 0 8, THE MEADOWS REPORT THAT WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE CITY ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO NOW, MAYBE, OR A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, IDENTIFIED THREE AREAS. UM, THE FIRST ONE WAS OF COURSE, 7 8 2 0 7, WHICH YOU HAVE, UM, LAUNCHED THIS MONTH. UH, BUT IT DID IDENTIFY THE ADDITIONAL TWO IN PARTICULAR. THE REPORT MENTIONS THAT IN THE 7 8 2 2 9 ZIP CODE, WHICH IS OF COURSE CLOSE TO THE OR INCLUDES THE MEDICAL CENTER HAS A, A REALLY HIGH NUMBER OF EMERGENCY DETENTIONS. UM, SO I, I WOULD LIKE FOR THAT TO BE CONSIDERED. UM, MY, THE TEAM THAT WE HAVE NOW WAS A $1.7 MILLION INVESTMENT. I DON'T KNOW IF ADDITIONAL TEAMS WOULD COST AS MUCH OR IF WE'D GET SOME ECONOMIES OF SCALE, BUT AT $26 MILLION IN ARPA FUNDS, I BELIEVE, UM, WE HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY FINANCIALLY TO ESTABLISH AT LEAST ONE MORE TEAM, IF NOT TWO. UM, I WOULD LIKE TO GO ON TO, UM, UH, TWO OTHER TOPICS. UH, ONE OF THEM IS, UM, THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT, UM, THAT WILL HELP US OVERCOME SOME OF THESE C O V I D IMPACTS AND THAT WERE, UH, LEFT BEHIND, SUCH AS THE AUTISM NETWORK OR CASA, UH, A NUMBER OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE COME FORWARD, AND I'M SURE MANY MORE WILL AS WELL. UH, BUT I DO ALSO WANT TO STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF, UM, HAVING IMMEDIATE MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE WHO, WHO NEED IT. UM, NUMBER ONE IN SCHOOLS. UH, SO EITHER THROUGH THAT MODEL OR, OR ANOTHER MODEL. YOU TALKED ABOUT THE MOBILE MENTAL HEALTH MODEL. UM, WE ALSO HAVE A TEEN SURVEY OUT, SO THAT WILL BE HELPFUL. BUT I, I THINK TALKING TO PEOPLE IS ALSO, UH, VERY HELPFUL. YOU GET INSIGHT THAT YOU DON'T GET FROM A SURVEY. UM, SO I WOULD LIKE US TO EXPLORE, UM, SOME TYPE OF, UM, MODEL FOR, FOR SCHOOLS, UM, IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF TEEN WHO ARE TEENS WHO ARE INCREASING THEIR, UH, THE NUMBERS OF SUICIDE ATTEMPT THAT ARE GOING UP. WE DO KNOW THAT IT'S YOUNG WOMEN THAT, UM, UH, ARE EXPERIENCING A HIGHER, UH, RATE OF ATTEMPTED, UH, SUICIDE IN TERMS OF IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE. MY UNDERSTANDING, UM, YOU KNOW, MS. VEDA WAS HERE FROM, FROM THE COALITION AND MENTIONED HOW IT TOOK SOMEBODY, YOU KNOW, OVER A YEAR TO NOT GET HELP FROM ONE PARTICULAR ORGANIZATION, UH, BECAUSE THEY WERE JUST SO, SO BACKED UP. UM, I'VE HEARD THE SAME THING ABOUT THE VA AND, AND VETERANS, AND I KNOW OF AT LEAST ONE ORGANIZATION THAT IS ATTEMPTING TO, UM, TO PROVIDE THAT SERVICE, BUT THEY'RE A NONPROFIT. UH, THIS IS ALSO, UM, AN UPSTREAM INTERVENTION AND A CRISIS, UH, AVOIDANCE, UH, INTERVENTION THAT I WOULD BE STRONGLY SUPPORTIVE OF. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL, COUNCILMAN. THANK YOU, MA'AM. UM, I'M NOT GONNA GET DOWN INTO THE WEEDS. I WANNA TALK ABOUT OVERALL, UM, ISSUES HERE. AND MARIA, I, NUMBER ONE ON [01:10:01] STATISTICS AND DATA, UH, YOUR SLIDE. AND I AGREE WITH MY COLLEAGUE ABOUT, UH, I FORGET WHICH SLIDE IT IS, THREE, I GUESS, ON THAT OTHER BRIEFING, YOU KNOW, THE NATIONAL STATISTICS. OKAY. GEE, WHIZZ NUMBERS TO ME, I WANNA KNOW WHAT IT IS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO ON ALL THESE NUMBERS, BECAUSE IT MIGHT BE WORSE, IT MIGHT BE BETTER, BUT I THINK WE NEED A BETTER PICTURE OF WHAT'S GOING ON HERE IN SAN ANTONIO, NOT AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL. SO I'D REALLY LIKE TO SEE, UH, DATA FROM SAN ANTONIO, LIKE ON SLIDE NUMBER FIVE. I THINK THAT'S PERFECT, UH, WHERE YOU'RE SHOWING WHAT THE NUMBERS ARE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO. AND, UM, JUST LOOKING AT THIS, YOU KNOW, WE'RE HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR, WE'RE, YOU KNOW, 7,000, YOU KNOW, IF YOU EXTRAPOLATE THAT OUT. UM, NO, WE'RE MORE THAN HALFWAY THROUGH THE YEAR. THIS ARE CALENDAR YEAR, I'M SORRY, COUNCIL. OKAY. OUR FISCAL YEAR. IT'S ONLY THREE MONTHS OF THE CALENDAR YEAR. OKAY. WELL, THAT TELLS A STORY THERE. MM-HMM. , YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE WE GONNA BE AT THE END OF THIS YEAR COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS THREE YEARS? MM-HMM. . SO DATA ON THIS TO ME, IS HOW WE SHOULD BE MAKING THESE RECOMMENDATIONS AND WHERE WE SHOULD BE GOING FORWARD. AND I'M NOT GONNA, I'M NOT GONNA SINGLE OUT ANY ORGANIZATION AT THIS TIME BECAUSE I HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING FROM ANY OF THEM, ANY DATA, ANY METRICS, ANYTHING. AND, AND I'M NOT INTERESTED IN, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY PEOPLE THEY SERVE, THAT KIND OF THING. THIS SHOULD BE OUTCOME BASED METRICS. WHAT'S THE GOALS? WHAT HAVE THEY DONE? AND I WANNA SEE PRIOR YEARS, PREVIOUS YEARS, WHAT THEY'VE DONE, THE OUTCOMES, WHAT WERE THEIR GOALS, WHAT DID THEY ACTUALLY PROVIDE IN THE SERVICES TO, TO FOLKS OUT THERE. SO, YEAH, UM, I, I WANNA SEE THE DATA, AND YOU TALK ABOUT METRICS, UH, SOMEWHAT ON, I FORGET WHICH SLIDE IT IS, BUT TO ME, THAT'S HOW WE SHOULD BE MAKING DECISIONS HERE IS BASED ON THE METRICS, WHAT THEY'VE DONE IN THE PAST, AND WHAT THEIR GOALS ARE FOR THE FUTURE. AND I WANNA CAUTION EVERYBODY, AGAIN, THIS IS ONE TIME MONEY. THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GONNA GET ANOTHER, UH, BUCKET OF MONEY HERE TO DO THESE THINGS PAST THE, WHAT IS IT, FOUR YEARS, UH, AND THAT'S IT. SO WE'VE GOTTA BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT CREATING SERVICES THAT ARE GONNA REQUIRE ADDITIONAL SUPPORT IN THE OUT YEARS. AND, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THE COUNCIL WHO'S GONNA BE HERE AT THAT TIME, THEY WILL MAKE THAT DECISION, OKAY, YEAH, THESE ARE GREAT PROGRAMS. WE'RE GONNA TAKE IT OUT OF OUR GENERAL FUND TO KEEP THESE, KEEP THESE PROGRAMS GOING AT THAT LEVEL. SO WE'VE GOTTA BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT WE DO IN THIS COMMITTEE AND HOW WE SET THE STAGE FOR OUR GENERAL FUND IN THE FUTURE ALSO. SO I'M, I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THAT. UM, METRICS ARE A TOOL FOR MEASUREMENT, WHETHER YOU'RE SUCCESSFUL OR NOT. AND SOMEHOW I THINK WE NEED TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE METRICS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE REQUIRING OF THESE ORGANIZATIONS, WHOEVER THEY ARE, AND SAY, HEY, YOU'RE NOT MEETING YOUR METRICS. WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES? ARE WE GONNA GO BACK AND TAKE MONEY AWAY FROM THAT ORGANIZATION? OR WHAT, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO IF THEY DON'T MEET THEIR METRICS OR THEIR GOALS? SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT HERE. ALSO, THEY SHOULD ALL BE EXCEEDING THEIR GOALS, BUT IF THEY DON'T, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO? WE JUST GONNA SAY, HEY, KEEP ON DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING. WE'RE NOT GETTING THE RESULTS THAT WE REQUIRE, BUT SPEND THE MONEY ANYWAY. SO THAT'S SOMETHING I THINK THAT SHOULD BE PART OF THIS DISCUSSION ALSO, WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES? UM, YEAH, I, I'M NOT SINGLING OUT ANY ORGANIZATION, BECAUSE I DON'T THINK WE'VE SEEN THE DATA YET TO SUPPORT WHAT ORGANIZATION WE SHOULD BE SUPPORTING BASED ON THE DATA AND METRICS PREVIOUS TO AND WHAT THE GOALS ARE IN THE FUTURE, IF THEY GET, GET MONEY ON FROM ARPA. HOW MANY, HOW MANY ORGANIZATIONS HAVE REQUESTED THAT FALL INTO THIS BUCKET? I WILL HAVE TO FOLLOW UP, COUNCILMAN. THERE'S ABOUT 34 ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE, UH, REQUESTED FUNDING FROM THE CITY FOR ARPA, BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY ARE SPECIFICALLY FOR MENTAL HEALTH. AND, AND THE CONVERSATION TODAY WAS REALLY FOR COUNCIL TO LET US KNOW WHAT YOUR PRIORITIES ARE, AND THEN FOR US TO COME BACK, PERHAPS, UH, PROPOSING A PROCESS BY WHICH AGENCIES COULD APPLY. AND TO YOUR POINT, TO HAVE, UM, [01:15:01] A REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL WITH METRICS AND, AND A PLAN AND, AND, UM, TO ADDRESS SOME, SOME OF THOSE ITEMS THAT YOU HIGHLIGHTED. YEAH, I, I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW. WELL, HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE PUT IN OR ORGANIZATIONS HAVE PUT IN, AND WHAT'S THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT THEY'RE ASKING FOR OR GOING FOR SURE. THAT'S ALL I HAVE. THANK YOU, MA'AM. THANK YOU. COUNCILMAN PERRY. UH, COUNCILMAN MIKA RODRIGUEZ. MAYBE HAVE TWO MINUTES, TWO MORE MINUTES. OH, NO. OKAY. UM, SO ONE, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE NONPROFIT CATEGORY, UM, WITHIN THE CHECK COMMITTEE IS MEANT TO HELP ORGANIZATIONS RECOVER OPERATIONALLY. SO THINK LIKE ADMIN COSTS AND FEES AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE. UM, BUT ARPA FUNDS FROM ANY CATEGORY CAN BE ALLOCATED TO NONPROFITS, UH, FOR PROGRAMMING OR EXPANSION OF SERVICES. UM, THAT'S CORRECT. THAT IS CORRECT. AND, AND I WOULD SAY CHECK HASN'T DECIDED THAT YET. BUT YES, SOME PRELIMINARY CONVERSATIONS. OPERATIONAL SUPPORT WAS ONE OF THOSE PROGRAMS ABSOLUTELY. THAT THEY DISCUSSED. UM, THANK YOU. I WANNA ENSURE THIS OPPORTUNITY IS PROVIDED EXPLICITLY TO THESE ORGANIZATIONS WHO MAY NOT HAVE THE SAME OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH, UM, THE DELEGATE AGENCY FUNDING. UM, FOR EXAMPLE, DURING THE PANDEMIC, SEVERAL ORGANIZATIONS WERE FOUNDED TO, UM, SUPPORT THE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY TO PREVENT CRIME BY ADDRESS, UH, BY ADDRESSING ON THE GROUND, UM, SOME OF OUR MOST DISTINCT NEEDS. FOR EXAMPLE, BIG MAMA SAFE HOUSE. UM, AND WHILE THERE WILL BE A LARGE EFFORT BY MANY OF THE WELL-ESTABLISHED LARGER ORGANIZATIONS TO SECURE FUNDING, I DO WANNA PRIORITIZE THE SMALLER GRASSROOTS ORGANIZATIONS. SO, WHILE I DID HEAR COUNCILMAN PERRY, UM, I HEARD THAT YOU WANNA BE ABLE TO SEE IMPACT FROM PREVIOUS YEARS. UM, I VIEW THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR CAPACITY BUILDING. UM, AND I'LL SAY THAT I ALSO WANT TO EXPLICITLY SUPPORT SAGE. I, THIS IS ONE OF THE BETTER PROPOSALS I'VE SEEN AND, UH, VERY WELL ROUNDED. AND I'M HOPING THAT WE CAN, UH, WORK IF CITY STAFF COULD WORK DIRECTLY WITH, UH, SAGE TO MAYBE PREPARE A FOUR YEAR TIMELINE OR SEE IF THEY ALREADY HAVE ONE. UM, AND THEN YOU ALSO HEARD WHAT COUNCILMAN PERRY WOULD, UH, REQUEST FOR SUPPORT, AND I KNOW YOU GUYS HAVE IT. UM, I ALSO UNDERSTAND THE COUNTY IS THE MENTAL HEALTH AUTHORITY. HAVE WE YET RECEIVED ANY, AND I KNOW WE ASK THIS QUESTION EVERY TIME WE TALK ABOUT ARPA, HAVE WE RECEIVED ANY CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE COUNTY ON HOW THEY PLAN TO ALLOCATE FUNDS AT ALL? OR, UM, IF THEY'LL HAVE A MENTAL HEALTH CATEGORY OR FRAMEWORK OF ANY SORT, OR, I KNOW THERE ARE IN, IN DISCUSSIONS. UM, COUNCILMAN AND, AND ACTUALLY WE HAVE, UM, MIKE LOCITO HERE FROM THE COUNTY. I DON'T KNOW, MIKE, IF YOU WANNA PROVIDE, UH, MORE UPDATED INFORMATION THAN WHAT I HAVE. THANK YOU, MARIA. COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP. MY NAME IS, UH, MIKE LOZITO, AND I AM THE, UH, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICY PLANNING AND PROGRAMS FOR BEXAR COUNTY. AND BASICALLY, ON, ON THAT END OF IT, WHAT WE DO IS, UH, I OVERSEE THE MEDICAL EXAMINER'S OFFICE, CRIME LAB, PRETRIAL SERVICES. I DEAL WITH JAIL POPULATION ISSUES. I HAVE THE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT, AND WE LOOK AT, UM, THE JAIL POPULATION WAS OUR MAIN THING. ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE JAIL, UH, ON THERE WITH OUR FUNDING. AND WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE WAYS, AND ONE OF THE THINGS YOU MENTIONED ON THERE WAS, WHAT ARE THOSE NUMBERS? NATIONALLY, IT'S ONE IN, UH, 25%, BUT IN OUR JAIL, IT'S, UH, ONE THIRD, ONE IN THREE. SO IF YOU LOOK AT NUMBERS ONE IN FIVE AND YOU GO INTO THE JAIL, IT'S ONE IN THREE. THERE ARE OVER 1400 INDIVIDUALS IN THERE WITH, UM, MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. AND IT TENDS TO CONTINUE TO BE THE LARGEST MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY IN BEXAR COUNTY. UH, ASKING ABOUT ARPA FUNDING, UH, THEY HAVE DEDICATED, UH, FUNDS FOR, UM, SPECIFICALLY FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND THE LOOKING AT HOUSING, UH, ALMOST SIMILAR TO THE, THE BUCKETS YOU HAVE. WE HAD A MEETING, UM, OUR LAST COMMISSIONER'S COURT MEETING WHERE THEY DISCUSSED THE DOLLARS AND THE SPENDING OF THOSE DOLLARS AND HOW TO ALLOCATE 'EM. UM, 'CAUSE WE GOT FURTHER GUIDANCE FROM THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT, AND THAT, THAT SEEMS TO BE WHERE THE BIG ISSUE IS WITH A LOT OF GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES, IS WHEN THEY FIRST CAME OUT WITH EVERYTHING, IT WAS 10 PAGES AND, HEY, THIS IS WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO. AND LAST TIME WE GOT 400 AND SOMETHING PAGES OF, YOU CAN'T DO THIS. ONE OF THE THINGS IN THE BEGINNING WAS, UH, SAFE SPACING IN THE JAIL BECAUSE OF, UH, CONFINEMENT. UH, THE, I THINK AT ONE TIME, 30% OF THE PEOPLE WERE TESTING POSITIVE, UH, FOR, FOR COVID, UH, THAT WE'RE IN THE JAIL. SO SAFE SPACING WAS AN ISSUE AND DOING DIVERSION PROGRAMS AND DEPOPULATING WAS A BIG ISSUE. WELL, NOW IT'S LIKE, NO, YOU CAN'T DO THAT. SO THAT WAS A GUIDANCE IN THE BEGINNING AND THE GUIDANCE CHANGED. SO, UH, YOU HAVE TO BE VERY CAREFUL ON THAT. SO, UH, THE ATTORNEYS ARE RIGHT NOW DOING WHAT THEY CALL A RISK ASSESSMENT [01:20:01] OF EACH OF THE PROGRAMS AND, AND WHAT TO FUND. BUT, UM, THEY HAVE FUNDED SOME PROGRAMS. LIKE WE FUNDED 4.1 MILLION TO, UH, LIFETIME RECOVERY FOR EXPANSION CAPACITY FOR BEDS. BEDS ARE, UH, UH, AN ISSUE. UH, THEY JUST FUNDED FROM OUR, UH, OPIOID, UH, LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT FUNDS. 1.5 MILLION WENT TO, UM, CROSS POINTS FOR THE WOMEN'S WELLNESS PROGRAM. SO THAT'S TO EXPAND, UH, FROM 20 BEDS FOR, FOR WOMEN WITH, UH, MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE ISSUES IN THEIR CHILDREN, UH, TO GO TO EXPAND TO 40 BEDS. UM, WE'VE FUNDED, UH, 18 MILLION TO ARPA TO, UH, BRING FROM ARPA FOR THE SMART PROGRAM, WHICH IS OUR CONDER PROGRAM, UH, FOR THE COUNTY TO, UM, BE ABLE TO GO TO 24 7. SO RIGHT NOW, WE'RE COVERING ABOUT 12 HOURS A DAY, UH, PEAK, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE GOING TO 24 7. IT'S BEEN A VERY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM. IT'S, UM, SINCE, SINCE THE INCEPTION, WE'VE HAD NO EXCESSIVE FORCE ISSUES AND NO ARREST, UH, FOR INDIVIDUALS BECAUSE OF BEHAVIOR. UM, SO WE FIND THAT, THAT THAT COMBINATION HAS WORKED OUT WELL FOR US. AND WE'RE FINDING ALSO THAT INDIVIDUALS, THAT WHEN YOU DO THE FOLLOW-UP SERVICES, THAT'S THE KEY. YOU GOTTA HAVE THE FOLLOW-UP SERVICES BECAUSE, UH, THAT'LL CONTINUE THE CALLS FOR THE OFFICER. SO, UM, THAT'S KIND OF WHERE WE'RE AT RIGHT NOW WITH ARPA FUNDING. BUT THOSE ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT WERE ALSO, THE MOBILE WELLNESS PROGRAM WAS FUNDED, I THINK $4 MILLION FOR, FOR CHILDREN. AND WE'RE LOOKING, WE HAVE THE MENTAL HEALTH TASK FORCE WHERE WE, UH, ARE ADDRESSING ISSUES ON THAT END. AND WE'LL BE GLAD TO SEND YOU THAT, UH, TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS TO LOOK AT THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS. AND THAT'S A COLLABORATIVE OUT THERE. AND PRE-CRISIS UPSTREAM IS A CRITICAL PIECE ON IT, EVEN THOUGH IT'S A TASK FORCE FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH. WE'RE FINDING THAT WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE, UM, IF WE CAN GO FURTHER UPSTREAM, IT, IT'S A VALUE. AND, UM, BECAUSE WE DID ONE THING, WE KIND OF DID LOOKED AT WHAT, WHAT ARE OUR MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES? AND WE DID, UH, LIKE A DISNEYLAND MAP SHOWING WHERE THINGS ARE IN THERE. AND WHAT WE FOUND WAS THIS CRISIS WAS THE FIRST STOP IN OUR COMMUNITY. AND THAT IS WRONG. YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE UPSTREAM ENOUGH TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT EVERYBODY HAS EQUITABLE ACCESS. SO ITS STIGMA, ITS ECONOMICS ARE THE KEYS THAT WE SEE. SO IN THE TASK FORCE REPORT, UM, WE ARE GONNA ASK MAYBE IF WE CAN PARTNER ON SOME FUNDING ISSUES THAT WE'RE GONNA DO PRE-CRISIS AND, UH, MENTAL HEALTH, UH, MENTAL HEALTH, URGENT CARE IN, UH, AREAS OF ECONOMIC DISPARITY. UH, AND THE OTHER IS FOR EXPANDED CAPACITY OF, UH, ACUTE BEDS FOR MORE LONG-TERM STAYS. THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANK YOU. UM, I FEEL LIKE WE NEED TO BRING YOU BACK ANOTHER TIME TO DISCUSS THIS MORE, BUT, UM, GO AHEAD. CONSEQUENCES. SORRY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. UM, I'LL END BY SAYING, UH, THIS, I KNOW OFTEN CITY STAFF IS LOOKING FOR CONSENSUS, AND, UM, THERE'S GONNA BE A NUMBER OF ROOMS THAT I'M NOT IN. UM, THERE IS, I'LL SAY ONE MORE TIME. THERE'S A FEW COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO REPRESENT THE WEST SIDE, A FEW COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO REPRESENT THE SOUTH SIDE, A FEW MEMBERS WHO REPRESENT THE NORTH SIDE. I'M THE ONLY COUNCIL PERSON TO REPRESENT THE EAST SIDE. AND SO I WOULD REQUEST THAT MY, UH, THAT MY REQUEST BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY, UM, AS IT RELATES TO USING SAGE AS A CONNECTOR, UM, WITH THIS OPPORTUNITY. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCILMAN COUNCILWOMAN . THANK YOU. UH, I DO REPRESENT THE SOUTHEAST SIDE JALEN. DON'T FORGET . SO I DO HAVE PART OF THE EAST SIDE, UH, I AND ME, THE NORTHEAST SIDE, . OKAY. THAT IS NOT THE EAST SIDE. SO, UM, LET'S, UH, LET'S, I, I WANNA LEAVE YOU WITH SOME THINGS 'CAUSE WE DID THIS BEFORE AT CHECK. UH, IN TERMS OF MENTAL HEALTH, I'D LIKE TO SEE YOUTH AND SENIORS CATEGORIZE SPECIFICALLY WITHIN THIS $26 MILLION BUCKET. I DON'T WANT IT TO ALL BE IN THE CHECK COMMITTEE AND ECONOMIC WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT. I WANT US TO ADDRESS ACCESSIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY, UH, IF THERE'S PROGRAMS THAT DO THAT. AND THEN AS WE LOOK AT NONPROFITS, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE LOOK AT THE REGIONS THAT THEY'RE CENTERED IN. AS MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUE BROUGHT UP, THE, THE ONES IMPACTED THE MOST. IF THEY'RE NOT WORKING IN OUR REGION, HOW DOES THAT HELP US? UM, THEIR FINANCIAL RATING, UM, UH, THEIR, THEIR STAFF, THE LONGEVITY OF THEIR STAFF, OR SOME QUESTIONS I'D LIKE TO KNOW. AND DO THEY HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE? BECAUSE EVEN WE HAVE SOME SMALLER GROUPS THAT HAVE A REALLY GOOD SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE AND ARE GETTING THE MESSAGE OUT THERE AND ENCOURAGING PEOPLE. SO I JUST WANTED TO LEAVE YOU WITH THOSE DIRECTIONS, UH, SO YOU HAD SOMETHING TO GO BACK WITH. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN VARIAN. , COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL. UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CHAIR. UM, I CONCUR WITH THE SUGGESTIONS MADE BY COUNCILWOMAN [01:25:01] VRAN REGARDING YOUTH SENIORS ACCESSIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY. UM, IN RESPONSE TO COUNCILMAN PERRY, UH, REGARDING, UM, METRICS, METRICS, METRICS, UM, I THINK THERE'S A POSSIBILITY THAT WE WOULD ISSUE A CALL FOR PROPOSALS, UM, AS WE ARE DOING IN SOME OF THE OTHER COMMITTEES. BUT I WILL REMIND US THAT WE AWARDED $30 MILLION AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS ARP ROUND WITHOUT MUCH DISCUSSION OF, OF METRICS TO A FEW OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. SO, UM, AT WHICH TIME, I DID ALSO REQUEST THAT WE DO A CALL FOR PROJECTS. BUT, BUT NOW THAT WE'RE GETTING INTO THE , INTO THE CRUMBS, UM, LET'S LOOK AT THE, LET'S LOOK AT THE METRICS. UM, I THINK IT WOULD BEHOOVE US, UH, AS STEWARDS OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO SIT DOWN WITH OUR COUNTY PARTNERS AND FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN LEVERAGE AND SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER'S EFFORTS. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ASKING THAT QUESTION. I THINK WE'D BE, UH, DOING THIS WITH, UM, SORT OF WITH BLINDERS ON IF WE DID NOT DO THAT. SO YOU DO HAVE, UH, YOU MENTIONED A MENTAL HEALTH TASK FORCE. SO I, I'M TRYING TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WOULD BE THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT, WHETHER WE SEND A COUPLE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS TO MEET WITH THEM, OR IF IT'S A COORDINATION THAT OCCURS WITH STAFF. BUT I WOULD, UM, I WOULD WELCOME, UH, STAFF RECOMMENDATION AND COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENT ON THAT. UM, AND LASTLY, I BELIEVE WHEN WE WERE ASSIGNING THE ARPA FUNDS INTO CATEGORIES, UH, WHEN WE AWARDED THOSE $30 MILLION, UM, THERE WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS MOVED OUT OF THE REGULAR BUDGET AND PUT INTO ONE OF THE CATEGORIES, AND I CAN'T REMEMBER IF IT WAS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OR MENTAL HEALTH, BUT IT WAS PULLED OUT OF THE, UM, METRO HEALTH BUDGET. COULD YOU REMIND ME WHAT THAT WAS? IT WAS MENTAL HEALTH. AND IS THERE A POSSIBILITY THAT WE COULD CONSIDER RESTORING THAT? THE ANSWER IS YES, IF THAT IS WHAT THE COMMITTEE, UH, DESIRES TO DO. AND THE MENTAL HEALTH PIECE THAT WAS REMOVED WAS THE CONTINUATION OF THE SA COURT, WHICH IS THE, THE FUNDING FOR FIRE, METRO HEALTH AND POLICE. OKAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU, CHAIR. THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN AS SANDOVAL. AND JUST QUICKLY TO CLOSE, I, I'D LIKE TO SEE, UH, SOME ALLOCATION OF FUNDING ALSO FOR MENTAL HEALTHCARE FOR OUR FIRST RESPONDERS. OUR FIRST RESPONDERS HAVE A VERY, HAVE VERY DANGEROUS AND STRESSFUL JOBS, AND MANY TIMES ARE LEFT TO OFFEND FOR THEMSELVES AS FAR AS MENTAL HEALTH. SO I'D LIKE TO SEE FUNDING FOR THIS GROUP AS WELL. UM, I ALSO WANNA LEND MY SUPPORT TO SOME OF THE COMMENTS THAT MY, UH, COLLEAGUES MADE, UH, PRIORITIZING OUR SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN, SENIORS AND VETERANS. AND, UM, I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO SEE AN ORGANIZA, UH, I'M SORRY, A LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS, UH, WHO REQUESTED AND THEN QUALIFY FOR FUNDING FOR, FROM THE MENTAL HEALTH BUCKET. FINALLY, I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, IN TALKING HERE WITH, UH, MR. LOCITO, UH, SOME COORDINATION I THINK IS, IS, IS WOULD BE HELPFUL BETWEEN CITY AND COUNTY. WE ALL SHARE THE VAST MAJORITY OF, OF, UH, CONSTITUENTS WITH THE COUNTY, OF COURSE. SO I'D LIKE TO SEE SOME, SOME COORDINATION. AND THANK YOU. THAT WAS A, A VERY IMPORTANT DISCUSSION, UM, AND I APPRECIATE EVERYBODY'S THOUGHTFULNESS AND, AND, UM, AND COMMENTS. WE'LL MOVE ON TO ITEM THREE. THIS IS A BRIEFING AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON S A F D, UPDATE ON ACTIVITY RELATED TO STRUCTURE, FIRES, BRUSH AND GRASS FIRES, AND THE DEPARTMENT'S WILDLAND FIRE CAPABILITIES. THANK YOU, SIR. GOOD MORNING, MADAM CHAIR SAFETY COMMITTEE. CHIEF, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. UM, IT'S AN HONOR TO BE HERE THIS MORNING. UH, WE'RE GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT FIRES TODAY. AND SO BEFORE I START, I WANNA THANK THE, UH, MEN AND WOMEN THAT ARE OUT THERE, UH, IN THE AUDIENCE THAT ARE DOING THE HARD WORK EVERY DAY. THANK YOU FOR WHAT YOU DO. SO WE'RE IN ALL HAZARDS DEPARTMENT. WE'RE GONNA CONCENTRATE ON FIRE SUPPRESSION AND WILD LAND TODAY. AND BEFORE I START, THIS PRESENTATION HAS BEEN UPDATED SINCE WE HAD ANOTHER FIRE FATALITY YESTERDAY, AND COUNCILMAN VIE GRAND'S, UH, DISTRICT AND ANOTHER, UM, SERIOUS FIRE INJURY. SO THIS, UM, PRESENTATION HAS BEEN UPDATED FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU. SO IF YOU LOOK, UH, 21, WE WERE ALMOST HALF A MILLION UNIT RESPONSES. UM, CHANCES ARE, WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO TOP THAT THIS YEAR. BUT AGAIN, OUR MAIN CONCERN IS THE, UH, UPTICK IN FIRES. SO IF YOU LOOK AT UNIT RESPONSES FOR THE CITY, UM, SINCE 2014, THAT NUMBER CONTINUES TO GROW. UM, YOU SEE THE LINE [01:30:01] IN RED IS FOR FIRE UNIT RESPONSES. UM, AND THAT IS UP 56% AT THIS TIME. E M S UNIT RESPONSES ARE UP ABOUT 25%, BUT WITH OUR E M S TRANSPORTS, THEY'RE BASICALLY FLAT, UH, ABOUT 1.7% INCREASE LAST YEAR. SO OUR TRANSPORTATIONS ARE FLAT, BUT THE RESPONSES FOR THE SYSTEM ARE EXTREMELY HIGH AT THIS TIME. SO IF WE LOOK AT WORKING STRUCTURE FIRES AND WE LOOK AT, UM, IN 20, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE FIRST TWO QUARTERS. AND SO IF WE LOOK AT 20, WE HAD 208 FOR THE SAME TIME. UM, AND THEN IF WE'RE LOOKING AT 20, AND THAT IS INCLUDING, UM, OUR SNOWSTORM URI, WHICH WE KNOW WE HAD A LOT OF FIRES DURING THAT TIME. AGAIN, IT WAS UP. BUT THEN IF WE LOOK AT THE 323 THAT WE HAVE HAD, UM, THIS YEAR, YEAR'S A 27% INCREASE IN FIRE, AND, UH, WE'RE A MICROCOSM OF WHAT'S GOING ON NATIONALLY, NATIONALLY, THERE ARE MORE STRUCTURE FIRES. SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT IS CHALLENGING, CHALLENGING US, ESPECIALLY COMING RIGHT OFF THE HEELS OF COVID. SO IT'S, IT'S BEEN A CHALLENGE FOR US. UH, IF YOU LOOK AT THE DISTRICTS, AND SO WE PRESENTED IN D TWO A COUPLE WEEKS AGO IN, UH, COUNCIL MC MCKEES, UH, DISTRICT. IF YOU LOOK AT D TWO, UM, THE, YOU KNOW, THERE WAS THOUGHT OF A SERIAL ARSONIST OUT THERE. WE'RE NOT SEEING THAT. WE'RE NOT SEEING ANY TYPE OF SERIAL ARSONIST IN THIS CITY. AND IF YOU LOOK AT D TWO'S FIRES, THEY ARE A CONCERN, OBVIOUSLY, AS ALL OF THESE ARE, BUT THEY'RE RELATIVELY FLAT. WE HAD A SAME BRIEFING WITH D FIVE THE OTHER DAY, AND YOU CAN SEE THE AMOUNT OF FIRES THAT, UM, THAT THEY'RE EXPERIENCING. AND THESE ARE WORKING FIRES. SO OUR NUMBERS ARE UP, AND, YOU KNOW, WHO KNOWS WHAT IT'S GONNA LOOK LIKE AT THE END OF THE YEAR. AND SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE PRESENTING AND ASKING FOR HELP, UH, FROM EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU. SO AS WE GO INTO WHAT'S CAUSING THESE FIRES, UH, I REALLY WANT TO GO INTO BASICALLY THE DEFINITIONS. AND SO SOMETIMES YOU'LL HEAR US ON THE NEWS AND WE'RE GONNA SAY IT'S UNDETERMINED. ABSOLUTELY IT IS, BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES OUR EVIDENCE IS BURNED UP, THERE'S NOTHING LEFT, OR, UH, THERE'S AN INVESTIGATION THAT IS ONGOING AND, UH, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FINAL OUTCOME IS. THAT OUTCOME MAY TAKE A LONG, LONG TIME FOR US TO COME TO A CONCLUSION. SO THAT'S UNDETERMINED. UM, AND WE'RE GONNA SEE A LOT OF FIRES. I'M GONNA SHOW YOU A BREAKDOWN IN A SECOND IN CINDY AREA. THAT'S WHEN THIS PERSON INTENTIONALLY CAUSES A FIRE. THEY KNOW WHEN THEY, WHAT THEY'RE DOING, THEY KNOW THE ACTION. AND SO THEY ARE, ARE DELIBERATELY BURNING PROPERTY, NATURAL, UH, STORMS, LIGHTNING POWER LINES DOWN, FLOODS, ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT ARE, ARE NON-HUMAN CAUSE WOULD BE NATURAL WIND. UM, AND SO THEN ACCIDENTAL. WE HAD A GENTLEMAN YESTERDAY WORKING ON HIS, UH, MOTORCYCLE, HAD SOME TYPE OF COMBUSTION EPISODE IN HIS GARAGE, UM, LITERALLY DESTROYED HIS HOUSE, GAVE HIM, UM, PROBABLY 50% BURNS ON HIS BODY AND HAD AN EXPOSURE TO ANOTHER HOME THAT WAS ACCIDENTAL. AND SO THESE THINGS HAPPEN EVERY SINGLE DAY WHERE THERE'S NO INTENT IF THEY'RE UNAWARE OF WHAT'S GOING ON, AND IT IS JUST AN ACCIDENT, WHOOPS, TOO FAR. SO IF WE LOOK AT THE 323 FIRES THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED SINCE IN THESE TWO QUARTERS, 45% OF THEM REMAIN UNDETERMINED, 40% WE KNOW ARE ACCIDENTAL. THE 11%, THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE INCENDIARY. CHANCES ARE WE ARE LOOKING AT A PERSON, PERSONS, WE JUST DON'T KNOW WHO DID IT. AND SO THERE, THERE, AND THEN THE 4% ARE NATURAL. IF YOU LOOK AT THE DOTS, THE DOTS REPRESENT THE WORKING FIRES. AND YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, EVERYWHERE IN THIS CITY HAS BEEN, UM, HIT WITH STRUCTURE FIRES. AND SO, UH, THE FIRES THAT WE'VE SEEN IN 20, UM, AS FAR AS VACANT STRUCTURES, WE HAVE A LOT OF VACANT STRUCTURES. SO WE HAD 42, UH, PERCENT OF THOSE FIRES, UH, OCCURRED IN VACANT STRUCTURES IN 20, UH, 21 IS 38%. AND THEN, UH, THIS YEAR FOR THE FIRST TWO QUARTERS, WE'RE LOOKING ABOUT A 41%. UM, OF OUR FIRES ARE IN VACANT STRUCTURES. VACANT STRUCTURES ARE A CHALLENGE FOR US. WE HAVE SEEN AROUND THE NATION FIREFIGHTERS DIE IN VACANT BUILDINGS. UM, IT IS MY BELIEF, AND WE PRACTICE EVERY SINGLE DAY THAT WE WILL NEVER LOSE A FIREFIGHTER IN A VACANT BUILDING. THERE'S NO BUILDING IN THIS CITY WORTH LOSING A FIREFIGHTER OVER. AND SO WE ARE WORKING WITH A D S D TO IDENTIFY BUILDINGS. AND SO, UH, WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IS THE INSIDE OF THE FRIEDRICH BUILDING. AND, UH, WHEN WE HAD THE, UH, LONE STAR FIRE, PROBABLY A YEAR AGO OR SO, I HAD A CHANCE TO GO IN THAT BUILDING. A LOT OF ART IN THERE. UH, PEOPLE LIVE THERE, PEOPLE COOK [01:35:01] THERE. UM, AND SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THESE BUILDINGS ARE TRIAGED BY A SIGN, WHICH YOU'RE SEEING THIS TWO BY TWO PLACARD. THERE'S ABOUT 20 BUILDINGS THAT WE HAVE IDENTIFIED WORKING WITH THE D S D, AND THE LIST IS FLUID. SOME OF THEM ARE DEMOLISHED, SOME OF THEM ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION. BUT THE ONES THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT ARE THE, THE MEGA STRUCTURES, THE FRIEDRICHS, THE LONE STARS, THOSE BIG BUILDINGS THAT HARBOR PEOPLE. AND THEY POSE A CHALLENGE FOR OUR FIREFIGHTERS WHEN THEY PULL UP. SO WE WANT THEM TO KNOW WHEN THEY PULL UP BY CAD INFORMATION THEY'RE GONNA RECEIVE. AND ALSO THIS PLACARD THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS IS A DANGEROUS STRUCTURE. CERTAIN POLICIES, PROCEDURES, AND TACTICS ARE GOING TO BE EMPLOYED ON A BUILDING SUCH AS THIS. UH, AND AGAIN, WE WANNA MAKE SURE OUR FIREFIGHTERS ARE SAFE. OBVIOUSLY, IF THERE'S SOMEONE THAT NEEDS TO BE RESCUED IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS, WE WILL GO IN AND RESCUE THEM. BUT, UH, WITH EXTREME CARE, UNDERSTANDING THE RISK. SO THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH FIRE PREVENTION AND THE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES. SO FIRE FATALITIES, WE HAD ANOTHER ONE YESTERDAY. AND, UH, WE ARE LOOKING AT OUR, OUR, WE'RE LOOKING AT FISCAL YEAR AS FAR AS 11, BUT WE'VE HAD EIGHT THIS YEAR. AND SO SOME OF THE DYNAMICS THAT, UH, WE SEE THE AGES CLOSE TO 70 YEARS OLD, THE CAUSE AT THIS TIME, WE HAVE SEVEN OF THOSE THAT ARE UNDETERMINED AND FOUR ACCIDENTAL. UM, ONLY THREE OUT OF THE 11 OF THESE FATAL FIRES HAD SMOKE DETECTORS. SO WE KNOW WE CAN DO A BETTER JOB OF THAT AGE OF STRUCTURES. THE HOUSE THAT WE HAD CAUGHT FIRE YESTERDAY, IT WAS A WINDY DAY, ABOUT 24 MILE AN HOUR WIND GUST. THE HOUSE WAS GUTTED. UH, IT WAS PROBABLY A SEVEN OR EIGHT ROOM HOUSE. THERE'S ONLY ONE ROOM THAT WAS INTACT BECAUSE OF THE WIND. WE'RE VERY FORTUNATE TO, UH, GET ON THE OTHER SIDE AND PROTECT THE EXPOSURE, BUT VERY OLD HOUSES. AND SO WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF THESE OLDER STRUCTURES THAT, THAT ARE, ARE THE COMMON DENOMINATOR WITH SOME OF THESE FIRES HOARDING. AND WE TALKED ABOUT BEHAVIORAL ISSUES, AND I HEARD SOMEONE MENTION ALL THESE DIFFERENT THINGS. HOARDING IS A BEHAVIORAL ISSUE FOR SOME PEOPLE. AND SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CONTINUE TO NEED TO GET OUR ARMS WRAPPED AROUND BECAUSE, UH, THREE OF OUR VICTIMS, UH, THEY LIVED IN HOARDING ENVIRONMENTS. AND FOR US THAT WORK IN E M S AND ON THE FIRE SIDE AND PD, THERE'S SO MANY TIMES WE GO IN SOMEONE'S RESIDENCE AND WE CANNOT GET IN, WE CANNOT GET OUT. THE GARAGES ARE STORAGE ROOMS. THE BEDROOMS ARE STORAGE ROOMS. UH, AND, AND AGAIN, IT, IT INCREASES THE FIRE LOAD AND THE ESCAP ABILITY OF THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE THERE. AND IT MAKES US HARDER FOR US TO GET IN AND MAKE AN OFFENSIVE ATTACK. SO HOARDING HAS BEEN PRESENT. SO WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW IS WE ARE WORKING WITH, UH, AS FAR AS THE PREVENTION EDUCATION EFFORTS. AND SO WE'RE TARGETING THOSE COMMUNITIES, THOSE SENIOR CITIZENS, UM, AND MAKING SURE THAT THEY HAVE SMOKE DETECTORS. AND YOU CAN GET A SMOKE DETECTOR THROUGH TWO THROUGH 2 1 1. WE WILL GIVE YOU ONE. WE HAVE SMOKE DETECTORS ON OUR FIRE TRUCKS IF WE GET DONE WITH A HEART ATTACK OR A STROKE, IF, IF, WHEN THAT AMBULANCE ROLLS OFF, IF WE CHECK. AND WE'RE GONNA PUT A SMOKE DETECTOR IN IF THEY NEED ONE. SO THE OTHER EDUCATIONAL COMPONENTS THAT WE NEED IS A CAMPAIGN FOR SENIORS. ALL OF US GREW UP IN AN AREA WHERE IT WAS STOP, DROP, AND ROLL FOR PEOPLE 70, 80 YEARS OLD. UM, IF THEY GET BURNED IN THE KITCHEN, WHAT ARE THEY GONNA DO? THEY'RE GONNA PUT SALT ON IT. I MEAN, THEY'RE GONNA PUT SALT ON THE FIRE. THEY'RE GONNA PUT BUTTER ON THE BURN. THAT'S WHAT MY GRANDMOTHER DID. WE SEE THAT, UH, WE HAVE SEEN SENIORS OVER THE YEARS THAT HAVE TRIED TO DUMP FLOUR ON A FIRE THAT IS BURNING IN THEIR KITCHEN. SO HOW DO WE WORK WITH YOUR CONSTITUENTS? HOW DO WE WORK WITH YOUR, UH, COUNCIL AIDES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN MAKE OUR, OUR CONSTITUENTS SAFER? SO SOME OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE DIED BECAUSE OF SPACE HEATERS. THESE THINGS ARE ALL PREVENTABLE. SO WHAT WE, UM, ARE DOING RIGHT NOW, GOING THE WRONG WAY. WHOA, I WENT WAY FAR. OKAY. SO WHAT WE ARE DOING RIGHT NOW IS WORKING WITH YOUR DISTRICTS AND PROVIDING INFORMATION WITH THEM, WORKING WITH YOUR COUNCIL AIDES. UM, SO YOU CAN HELP US. WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT IN A SECOND. BRUSH FIRES. EVERYBODY DRIES DOWN. 16 0 4, 2 81 4 10. WHAT DO YOU SEE? BIG PATCHES OF BURNED GRASS. AND AGAIN, UM, NON-COMPLIANT SMOKERS. PEOPLE THROWING STUFF OUT. UM, ALL OF THESE THINGS HAVE CAUSED AN INCREASE ON, ON BRUSH FIRES FOR US. AND SO, AGAIN, THOSE, UM, BRUSH FIRES TAKE AWAY FROM OUR ABILITY TO GO ON HEART ATTACKS, CAR ACCIDENTS, THINGS LIKE THAT. SO WE'RE AVERAGING RIGHT NOW, SEVEN, UH, BRUSH OR GRASS FIRES EVERY SINGLE DAY. AND SOME OF THEM HAVE BEEN VERY HIGH PROFILE. [01:40:01] AND SO THAT IS UP 36%. THIS IS, UH, LABOR INTENSIVE WORK. SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE GRASS FIRES BY DISTRICT COUNCIL, DISTRICT FOUR, UH, WAY UP THERE. AND SO SOME OF THESE FIRES THAT YOU SEE IN SOME OF THESE DISTRICTS, THEY'RE GRASS FIRES. UM, AND WE GO PUT THEM OUT RELATIVELY QUICK, BUT WE COULD HAVE SOMETHING UP IN STONE OAK, D NINE, D 10, UM, THAT'S GONNA TAKE US A LONG TIME TO PUT OUT. AND THAT WAS ILLUSTRATED BY THE DAYS THAT WE WERE ON THE FIRE UP AT CAMP BULLETS. SO AGAIN, THESE NUMBERS CONTINUE TO GROW. VERY DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR FIREFIGHTERS. SO, WILD LAND. SO WE ARE LOOKING AT, UH, PROBABLY THE WORST FIRE SEASON ON RECORD SINCE 2011. WEATHER HAS CHANGED. WEATHER IS MORE VIOLENT. UH, WE WENT STRAIGHT OUT OF A WINTER STORM AND WE'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING A DROUGHT, SO WE HAVEN'T HAD A GREENUP PERIOD. EVERYTHING IS DRY. UM, THERE'S DOESN'T SEEM LIKE A DAY THAT THERE HAS NOT BEEN A RED FLAG WARNING WHEN YOU HEAR THE WEATHERMAN TALK ABOUT A RED FLAG WARNING. SO THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE CONTINUE TO LOOK AT. OUR WILDLAND RESOURCES ARE TRAINED, UM, SPECIFICALLY TO GO OUT IN A WILDLAND ENVIRONMENT, A VERY AUSTERE ENVIRONMENT, VERY DANGEROUS. THIS ENVIRONMENT. I'D RATHER RUN INTO A BURNING BUILDING THAN WORK ON SOME OF THESE FIRES, BECAUSE WE CANNOT CONTROL THE WEATHER. SOMETIMES THE FIRES GET SO LARGE, THEY CONTROL THE WEATHER. SO OUR MEMBERS OF OUR WILDLAND TEAM ARE TRAINED SPECIFICALLY TO GO OUT ON DEPLOYMENTS, UM, TO BE RED CARD, UH, CERTIFIED. SO WE HAVE 13 BRUSH TRUCKS, UM, FOUR WATER TENDERS AND TWO ATVS. WE ALSO USE PDS HELICOPTER DURING THE DAYTIME IF WE CAN DO WATER DROPS. THE CHALLENGES AGAIN THAT WE HAVE, THERE ARE NO HYDRANTS IN THESE ENVIRONMENTS. A LOT OF TIMES THERE'S NO ROADS. UH, AND SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO GO OFF ROAD WITH FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES AND USE AIR OPERATIONS TO KNOCK SOME OF THESE FIRES DOWN. UH, ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT'S BEEN A CHALLENGE FOR US IS STAFFING. DURING THE, UH, FIESTA AT THE HEIGHT OF FIESTA, WE HAD CAMP BULLETS GO OFF. SO SOMETIMES IT IS A CHALLENGE. AND SO A LOT OF TIMES STATE RESOURCES ARE CALLED IN BECAUSE SOME OF THE METROPOLITAN OR BIGGER DEPARTMENTS CANNOT HANDLE WHAT'S GOING ON NATIONALLY. AND WE SEE THAT. SO DEPLOYMENT VERSUS MUTUAL AID. UH, COUNCILMAN VIA GRANT, YOU ASKED ME AT, UM, BUDGET GOAL SETTING LAST WEEK. WE TALKED ABOUT THIS, THIS SLIDE IS SPECIFICALLY FOR YOU, BUT IT'S SO PERTINENT TO EVERYTHING THAT WE DO BECAUSE SINCE THEN, UM, WE'VE HAD MORE FIRES. AND SO, UH, AGAIN, MUTUAL AID. UM, WE LIVE IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, OUR RESOURCES IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO. BUT IF SOMEONE CALLS US, ONE OF OUR NEIGHBORS, WE ARE GOING TO GO AND WE'RE GOING TO PROTECT THEIR PROPERTIES AND TRY TO TAKE THESE WILDFIRES, UH, AWAY FROM THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO. SO IF THEY CALL US AND WE HAVE THE AVAILABILITY AND THE RESPONSES, WE'RE GONNA GO. THE THING ABOUT SOME OF THESE MUTUAL AID FIRES THAT WE'VE SEEN RECENTLY IS THAT WE CAN GO WRAP OUR ARMS AROUND IT AND, AND CONTAIN IT. BUT THEN IT'S SO LABOR INTENSIVE TO GET THE MOP UP DONE, TO GO IN AND KNOCK THESE FIRES DOWN. SO RECENTLY WE'VE HAD THE DOSS GOAT FIRE, WHICH IS IN MEDINA COUNTY. THAT FIRE BURNED FOR SEVERAL DAYS. AND AGAIN, UM, WE'RE PUTTING PEOPLE OUT THERE IN A, IN A VERY, UM, TOUGH ENVIRONMENT. THE CAMP BULLS FIRE WHEN, AGAIN, SEVERAL DAYS HAD A LOT OF AIRCRAFT, UH, DEALING WITH THAT ENVIRONMENT THERE. AND A DEPLOYMENT, IF YOU LOOK AT THE TWO TOP PICTURES OR ALL THE PICTURES, THOSE ARE BIG TREES, AND THOSE ARE TREES IN CALIFORNIA. AND SO OUR WILD LAND, UM, TEAM HAS BEEN DEPLOYED THROUGHOUT THIS NATION. WHEN WE GO OUT ON A DEPLOYMENT, IT'S A 14 DAY DEPLOYMENT. AND SO WE ARE, UM, COMPLETELY COVERED, UH, PORTAL TO PORTAL, UH, BY EITHER THE STATE OR THE FEDS ON A DEPLOYMENT, DEPENDING ON WHO CALLS. THE CHALLENGE AROUND THE NATION THOUGH, IS A LOT OF THE FEDERAL ASSETS, BECAUSE OF THE FIRES, DO NOT HAVE THE STAFFING OR CAPABILITIES. SO, UH, MORE WORK IS GOING OUT TO THE MUNICIPALITIES. UH, UNFORTUNATELY THOUGH, FOR US, SOMETIMES STAFFING IS A CHALLENGE BECAUSE FOR US TO SEND FIREFIGHTERS FOR 14 DAYS IN A COVID ENVIRONMENT, IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. SO WE HAVE TO REALLY MEASURE WHAT'S, WHAT'S DEPLOYABLE AND WHAT WE DO ON A MUTUAL AID CALL. SO THESE ARE THE FIRST TWO QUARTERS. THE FIRE SEASON REALLY STARTS OUT WEST, UH, IN THE SUMMERTIME. SO, UH, WE'RE GONNA SEE WHAT HAPPENS BECAUSE THIS IS A MICROCOSM OF WHAT'S GOING ON AROUND THE COUNTRY. SO SCAN, WE GOT FLYERS AVAILABLE, AND WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE 'EM AT YOUR DISTRICT OFFICES, THAT WE HAVE THEM [01:45:01] AT EVERY SENIOR CENTER, UH, TO GIVE INFORMATION. AND WE'RE USING THESE AS DOOR HANGERS TO GO OUT AND CANVAS SOME AREAS. AS FAR AS, UH, THE CHALLENGES THAT WE SEE, AND WE'RE ASKING AND ENCOURAGING EACH OF YOU TO, TO HELP US SMOKE DETECTORS, IF YOU NEED A SMOKE DETECTOR 2 1 1, UM, THEY CAN GET YOU A SMOKE DETECTOR. SO, UH, YOU KNOW, SMOKE DETECTOR AWARENESS, SMOKE DETECTORS, SAVE LIVES, CLEAR PATH. IF YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST TWO PICTURES, A PICTURE UP IN THE CORNER, AND THEN THE PICTURE ABOVE THE CLEAR PATH, THIS IS A HOME OF A FATAL FIRE. THERE'S NO WAY THAT ANYONE WOULD BE ABLE TO GET OUT OF THOSE WINDOWS THAT YOU SEE. YOU SEE THE FUEL LOAD. AND SO IF WE CAN HELP OUR CONSTITUENTS, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY CLEAR PATH TO, TO GIVE THEM WAYS TO ELIMINATE SOME OF THE CLUTTER OR LOOK AT THE BEHAVIORAL ISSUES THAT ARE CAUSING THEM TO, TO STORE THAT MUCH STUFF. SO HOW DO WE CLEAR A PATH ACTION PLAN? WHERE DO I GO WHEN I GET OUT OF THE HOUSE? AND SO HAVE A PLAN WITH YOUR FAMILY. HAVE A PLAN WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS. IF MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE, WE'RE MEETING ACROSS THE STREET AT THE MAILBOX, WE'RE MEETING AT THE TREE ACROSS THE STREET, UH, WE'RE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE. AND ONCE YOU GET OUT, YOU DO NOT GO BACK IN. IF YOUR FAMILY IS OUT, YOU DO NOT GO BACK IN TO SAVE YOUR FISH, YOUR CAT, TO GET YOUR PHONE, TO GET YOUR PURSE. BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES YOU SEE PEOPLE THAT DIE IN FIRES, THEY'VE ALREADY GOTTEN OUT SAFELY, AND THEN THEY'LL RUN BACK IN. SO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A ACTION PLAN. AND THEN NEIGHBORS KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS. IF YOU GOT SOMEBODY LIVING NEXT DOOR TO YOU, THEY'RE ELDERLY, CHECK ON THEM. IF, IF YOU ARE LIVING IN NEIGHBORHOOD AND, AND THEY HAVE MOBILITY ISSUES, CHECK ON THEM. BECAUSE A LOT OF THESE FIRES THAT HAPPEN, PEOPLE ARE ELDERLY, THEY HAVE MOBILITY ISSUES, AND THEY DON'T HAVE ANYBODY CHECKING UP ON 'EM. SO THESE ARE BEING BROUGHT OUT TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOUR DISTRICTS TO HELP YOU OUT. AND, UM, DO I HAVE MY NEW FIREFIGHTER HERE YET? YES, SIR. LET'S BRING HIM IN. SO, IN CLOSING, I'VE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE, BUT WE HAVE A NEW TOOL THAT WE'RE USING FOR OUR ARSON DIVISION. AND SO WE'RE GONNA BRING HIM IN AND, UH, INTRODUCE YOU TO OUR, OUR NEWEST FIREFIGHTER. WHAT'S HIS NAME? I'M NOT TELLING YOU HIS NAME UNTIL YOU SEE HIM. HE'S BEAUTIFUL. WHAT? YEAH, IT'S A SECRET. IT IS A SECRET. IT IS A SECRET. YOU'RE GONNA LOVE HIM. I LOVE HIM PUTTING HIS GEAR. HE'S PUTTING ON HIS GEAR. YEAH, HE'S PUTTING ON HIS GEAR. HE'S BEEN IN THE READY FOR LIKE, WHAT, TWO HOURS? WELL, NO, HE'S, HE'S SPECIAL. SO WE COULDN'T HAVE HIM JUST SITTING AROUND WAITING. SO WE HAD TO MAKE SURE HE WAS READY AT THE END OF THE PRESENTATION STEPS. RIGHT? IT'LL BE WORTH IT. WELL, HE BETTER BE WELL DRESSED. HE'LL BE, YOU KNOW WHAT, I'M GONNA BRING HIM OVER HERE AND HAVE HIM RIGHT BY YOU. THAT'S A GOOD IDEA. YEAH. OKAY. SHOULD WE GO AHEAD AND START WITH, DO YOU THINK IT MIGHT BE A LITTLE BIT NO, HE'S, HE'S RIGHT. YOU KNOW, I GOT MOBILITY ISSUES. YEAH, HE'S RIGHT. HE'S RIGHT HERE. OKAY, SO EVERYBODY, THIS IS OUR NEW ACCELERANT CANINE DOG. THIS IS BRUNO. AND UH, BRUNO IS, UH, TWO YEARS OLD. WE JUST GOT ROMEO BRING, CAN YOU BRING HIM UP HERE SO EVERYBODY CAN SEE HIM? HE IS TWO YEARS OLD AND, UH, THIS IS ONE OF OUR ARSON, UH, INVESTIGATORS, UH, AARON ROMEO. AND SO HE IS TWO YEARS OLD. HE'S GONNA FILL OUT A LITTLE BIT, BUT THIS IS A ACCELERANT DOG. HE IS GOING TO BE REPLACING, UM, OUR CURRENT, UM, ACCELERANT DOG. HI, PRECIOUS. HOW ARE YOU? HOW CONFUSED YOU CALL HIM BY THE WRONG NAME. UH, HE'S PRECIOUS TO ME. SO ANYWAY, SO THIS IS ANOTHER TOOL FOR US. THIS CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION, MADAM CHAIR, AND WE WILL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION. THANK YOU, CHIEF. UH, I JUST WANNA TALK ABOUT BRUNO, EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT BRUNO, RIGHT? . UM, I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS. UH, I WANNA HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH BRUNO LATER ABOUT HIS VERY IMPORTANT WORK. UM, AND I ACTUALLY, I THINK YOU ANSWERED MOST OF MY QUESTIONS. I WANTED TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT CAMP BULLIS AND, UM, UH, IF THESE, A LOT OF THESE FIRES WERE TARGETED. AND I THINK YOU ANSWERED A LOT OF IT. SO I JUST WANNA THANK YOU, OF COURSE, FOR THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING. I WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU OUT TO MY DISTRICT. I'M SURE, UM, EVERY COUNCIL MEMBER WOULD LIKE TO SEE. I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT YOU GO OUT AND TALK SPECIFICALLY ABOUT FIRE PREVENTION, AND THERE'S PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY AND MEETINGS THAT WE HAVE WHERE WE CAN INVITE YOU AND TALK TO OUR RESIDENTS, UM, SPECIFICALLY OUR SENIORS, OUR SENIOR CENTERS. UH, I ALSO DIDN'T REALIZE THAT YOU GAVE AWAY, UM, SMOKE DETECTORS. YES, MA'AM. I THINK THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT. SO I'D LIKE TO INVITE YOU OUT TO ABSOLUTELY DISTRICTLY. JUST LET US KNOW. AND [01:50:01] SO YOU HAVE, ONE OF MY DEPUTIES IS A LIAISON WITH YOUR COUNCIL. IF YOU WANT US TO COME OUT OR IF THERE'S CHURCHES OR GROUPS, WE WILL SHOW UP AND WE WILL COME OUT BECAUSE AGAIN, UM, THIS POPULATION SHOULD NOT BE DYING IN THIS CITY. SO WE NEED TO DO EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN TO PROTECT THEM. SO THANK YOU. GREAT. THANK YOU CHIEF AND COUNCILWOMAN . THANK YOU, CHIEF. UM, I DID WANT TO THANK YOU FOR, AND YOUR, UM, THE FIREFIGHTERS FOR THEIR EFFORTS IN DISTRICT THREE. THEY ALWAYS DO AN INCREDIBLE JOB. BUT I DID GO OUT TO BOTH OF THE SITES, UM, AND WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT THE 70 PLUS YEAR OLD HOMES, THAT WAS, I THINK BOTH OF THESE SITUATIONS HERE, THE ROOF WERE GONE. I KNOW, UM, THERE WAS ISSUES BECAUSE THE ROOF FELL AND WE WERE AFRAID THAT THE FIRE ON FLORES WAS GOING TO SPREAD. AND ALL THOSE HOMES ARE OLD, BUT YOU, YOUR, YOUR, YOUR TEAM TOOK CARE OF IT. AND I, I'M VERY APPRECIATIVE OF THAT. IT, IT WAS TRAGIC THAT WE LOST A LIFE, BUT I JUST THINK WE NEED TO, AS A COUNCIL, MAYBE PUSH A LITTLE MORE ON THE, THIS, THE SCAN. UM, AND JUST MAKE SURE HOW, UM, IMPORTANT IT IS AND HOW IT CAN HAPPEN, UM, WITHOUT YOU EVEN KNOWING THE DAYCARE. IT WAS A DAYCARE AND FORTUNATELY NO ONE WAS THERE, BUT, UH, AND IT CHILDREN WERE NOT THERE 'CAUSE IT WAS GOOD FRIDAY, AND SO NOBODY WAS IN THE LO LOCATION. BUT THE WAY IT'S SPREAD AND TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT CLUTTER AND THAT HOARDING ISN'T HAPPENING IN HOMES, UM, IT IT'S, IT'S JUST SO IMPORTANT. AND I THINK WE NEED TO, AS A COUNCIL, KIND OF DESIGNATE A WEEK OR PUSH SOMETHING THAT WE, WE, WE KEEP IT TOP OF MIND, ESPECIALLY AS WE GO INTO THE SUMMER AND PEOPLE START USING THEIR ACSS AND, AND, AND PLUGIN FANS TO TRY AND KEEP COOL. SO, BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS. UM, THEY WERE GREATLY APPRECIATED. UM, AND I, I JUST, UH, I KNOW, I'M GLAD EVERYBODY CAME OUT SAFE, UH, UH, FROM THE DEPARTMENT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MA'AM. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN VIE AND COUNCILMAN M RODRIGUEZ. THANK YOU CHAIR. AND THANK YOU CHIEF. UM, I'LL START OFF WITH A VERY, WITH A PUBLIC AND FOR THE RECORD. THANK YOU. UM, THANK YOU, UH, CHIEF, BOTH CHIEFS, UH, WE BROUGHT OUT A WHOLE TEAM INCLUDING, UH, MARIANNE, ERIC WHO CAME OUT, UM, TO THE DIG WITTY HILL MEETING. UM, I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE, ALL OF THAT EMPHASIS. UM, EVEN RECOGNIZING, UM, THAT YOU'VE STATED THAT, UM, FIRES ARE FAIRLY CONSISTENT. D TWO, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE ALWAYS TAKE THE ISSUE SERIOUSLY AND WE PROVIDE AS MUCH INFORMATION AS POSSIBLE. UM, AND SO I THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT. UM, SOMETIMES, UM, IN OUR COMMU, SOMETIMES JUST IN GENERAL, UH, DUE TO THE NATURE OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND VIDEOS AND FOOTAGE AND TV SHOWS AND MOVIES AND REALITY SHOWS, WE BECOME DESENSITIZED TO THINGS LIKE HOARDING AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AND VIOLENCE AND FIRE AND DEATH. AND SO I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T DO THAT. WE DON'T, UM, BECOME DESENSITIZED. THAT BEING STATED, UM, WHILE THE NUMBER OF FIRES IN DISTRICT TWO AND ALSO USE DISTRICT TWO AS AN EXAMPLE, UM, MAY BE CONSISTENT. I WOULD, AND THE GROWTH MAY BE CONSISTENT ACROSS THE BOARD. THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING NECESSARILY AT ALL. NOT NECESSARILY NOT AT ALL. UM, AND SO I'D REALLY LIKE TO SEE, UM, BASED ON THE TRENDS, AND YOU'VE IDENTIFIED SEVERAL TRENDS HERE BASED ON THE TRENDS, UM, WHAT KIND OF POLICY OR BUDGETING RECOMMENDATIONS YOU WOULD MAKE IN ORDER TO PREVENT FIRES AND IN ORDER TO SUPPORT OUR RESIDENTS AND MAKE SURE THE RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE. UM, I'LL ALSO, A MOMENT OF VULNERABILITY. UM, WE DID A SPACE HEATER GIVEAWAY ON NEW YEAR'S DAY. AND WHILE I AND MANY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS MAY HAVE BEST OF INTENT, I WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY SICK IF I FOUND OUT THAT A RESIDENT, OH MY GOD, I WOULD BE SICK IF I FOUND OUT THAT SOMETHING HAPPENED, UH, BECAUSE OF THAT. SO WHAT CAN WE DO, UM, WHEN WE WANT TO PROVIDE, UH, SUPPORT IN A WAY LIKE THAT TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE SAFE? OBVIOUSLY GOING THROUGH THE WARN, GOING THROUGH THE WARNINGS, UM, SAYING, PLEASE FOLLOW THESE. WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO? 'CAUSE THAT NEED IS THERE. YOU, YOU KNOW, AND DELIVERING A, UM, A A A 20 INCH BOX FAN IN THE SUMMERTIME IS A LOT DIFFERENT THAN GIVING A SPACE HEATER OUT. IT'S LITERALLY COULD BE GIVING CAN OF GASOLINE TO SOMEBODY. SO NOT KNOWING WHAT KIND OF ENVIRONMENT THEY'RE GONNA PUT THAT SPACE HEATER IN, UM, I'D ALMOST CAUTION THAT IN THE FUTURE, AND MAYBE WE SIT DOWN AND KIND OF THINK OF WAYS THAT WE COULD SAFEGUARD A GIVEAWAY AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE GIVING TO A PERSON THAT IS NOT A HOARDER OR, YOU KNOW, I JUST, THAT'S A HUGE RISK. SO I THINK BY WINTERTIME, [01:55:01] MAYBE WE COULD HAVE SOME CONVERSATIONS TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE COULD BETTER DO THAT IN THE FUTURE. BUT AGAIN, IT IS ABOUT EDUCATION AND, UM, FIRE PREVENTION MONTH IS OCTOBER, BUT EVERY SINGLE DAY IS FIRE PREVENTION IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO. AND FOR YOU AND YOUR CONSTITUENTS IS EVERY SINGLE DAY. SO WE JUST WANNA REMIND PEOPLE EVERY DAY, EVERY DAY THAT IT'S WINDY, SOMETHING'S GONNA BURN UP. EVERY DAY THAT IT'S COLD, SOMETHING'S GONNA BURN UP. AND, AND SOMETIMES PEOPLE DIE. ABSOLUTELY. I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT, AND I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION WITH YOU SOONER. AROUND THE SUMMERTIME IS WHEN WE, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK I SHOULD BE PREPARING FOR THE COLD MONTHS AND JUST THE NATURE OF HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE IN MY DISTRICT. PEOPLE ARE GONNA BE COLD AND I WANNA SUPPORT THEM IN SOME WAY. AND SO, UM, IF WE CAN DISCUSS THAT AT SOME POINT, I WOULD LOVE TO. AND, AND COUNCILMAN, SO PART OF THE THING THAT WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING FOR IS ENHANCEMENTS IN THE FUTURE, IS TO HAVE MORE RESOURCES THAT CAN DIRECTLY TIE INTO YOUR DISTRICT. UM, EVERY DISTRICT IS DIFFERENT. THE RESOURCES THAT WE PROVIDE ARE THE SAME, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE TAILOR WHAT THE CHALLENGES ARE FOR EACH OF YOUR DISTRICTS IN THE FUTURE. AND WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING FOR SOME BUDGETARY ENHANCEMENTS, YOU KNOW, DOWN THE ROAD. WELL, IT'S THE SEASON FOR BUDGET ENHANCEMENTS, SO I APPRECIATE THAT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. COUNCILMAN MCKEE RODRIGUEZ. UM, ANY FURTHER COUNCIL COMMENT? OKAY, THANK YOU. WE, UH, WE DON'T HAVE TIME TODAY TO DO THE CARB. UM, WILL YOU EXPLAIN REAL QUICKLY, MARIA, WHAT WE'RE, WE'RE DOING? UH, SURE. COUNCILWOMAN, SO WE HAVE, UH, TOTAL OF NINE APPOINTMENTS THAT WE NEED TO BRING TO CITY COUNCIL FOR, UM, APPROVAL. UH, I WOULD, UM, SUGGEST THIS ITEM WAS JUST FOR A BRIEFING. UM, WE HAD DELAYED IT TWICE ALREADY, AND WE NEED TO MAKE THOSE APPOINTMENTS THAT WE TAKE IT TO THE FULL CITY COUNCIL FOR CONSIDERATION. AND I'M AVAILABLE TO ADDRESS ANY QUESTIONS FROM ANY OF THE MEMBERS IF THERE'S ANY PRIOR TO THAT. OKAY. THANK YOU, MARIA. UH, I THINK THIS WAS A VERY PRODUCTIVE MEETING. THE, UH, AND I'M SORRY WE KEEP PUSHING THE CAR, BUT, UH, THIS COMMITTEE ALWAYS HAS A VERY URGENT AND, UM, UH, PRESSING NEED FOR CERTAIN ITEMS. BUT, UM, GRATEFUL FOR TODAY'S, UH, PRODUCTIVE MEETING SPECIFICALLY AROUND OUR ARPA MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING. AND THANK YOU FOR EVERYBODY THAT CAME OUT AND, AND TALKED ABOUT IT. UM, I THINK IT'S JUST IMPORTANT WORK ON CREATING A TRANSFORMATIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR HOW WE VIEW MENTAL HEALTH. WE HEARD ABOUT FIRES AND WAYS TO, OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT IS WORKING TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY AND, AND, UM, OF COURSE, HOPEFULLY, WE'LL, WE, WE'LL GO, WE'LL HEAR CAR AT, AT THE FULL COUNCIL. SO THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL THE IMPORTANT, THE IMPORTANT WORK THAT, THAT EVERYBODY HERE IS DOING. AND I LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THIS WORK WITH ALL OF YOU. OUR MEETING IS ADJOURNED. THANK YOU. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.