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>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE. THE TIME IS 2:06 P.M. ON MARCH 6TH, 2024. WE'LL CALL OUR B SESSION TO ORDER.
MADAM CLERK, COULD YOU READ THE ROLL. >> CLERK:
[ ITEMS ]
MAYOR, WE HAVE A QUORUM. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: ALL RIGHT.
GOOD AFTERNOON, WE DO HAVE TWO ITEMS, I THINK WE'LL TAKE THEM TOGETHER,
ERIK, AND THEN WE'LL HAVE THE DISCUSSION. >> WALSH: YES, SIR.
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: AND VERY GRATEFUL. THIS IS GOING TO BE A PRETTY HEADY DISCUSSION, I THINK, SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
>> WALSH: THANKS, MAYOR. SO TWO ITEMS TODAY. THE FIRST IS A BRIEFING ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SA TOMORROW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, WHICH WAS ADOPTED BY THE CITY IN 2016. THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT WILL PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECTS, INCLUDING THE -- WHERE WE'RE AT IN TERMS OF THE SUBAREA PLANS AND THE CORRIDOR PLANS.
AND ALSO TOUCH UPON OUR GROWTH POLICY AND ETJ PLANNING.
AND SOME OF THE NEWER INITIATIVES, LIKE THE TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PLAN, SO KIND OF DESIGNED TO BE ALL ENCOMPASSING TO GET THE COUNCIL AN OVERVIEW OF THE ENTIRE EFFORT. AND THEN SECONDLY, WE'LL TRANSITION -- RUDY NINO WILL GIVE THE FIRST PRESENTATION.
THEN WE'LL TRANSITION TO LORI HOUSTON AND MARK ANDERSON AND TRISH DEBERRY TO TALK ABOUT THE SCOPE P PROCESS AND TIMELINE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW UPDATED DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN.
THIS IS IN CONCENTRATION WITH CENTRO AND VISIT SAN ANTONIO.
THE EXISTING STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK WE HAVE IS OVER 10 YEARS OLD AND THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CHANGES SINCE THEN, OBVIOUSLY, SO WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH BOTH OF THOSE PARTNERS TO KIND OF LAY OUT THAT STRATEGIC EFFORT WITHIN OUR PLAN. SO RUDY WILL KICK US OFF, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO LORI, MARK AND TRISH, AND THEN TURN IT BACK OVER TO YOU FOR QUESTIONS.
>> GOOD AFTERNOON, MR. MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL.
THIS FIRST ITEM IS A BRIEFING ON THE STATUS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SA TOMORROW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. ALL RIGHT.
THANK YOU. AS YOU MAY RECALL, THE CITY DEVELOPED THE SA TOMORROW INITIATIVE WHICH WAS COMPRISED OF THREE PLANS, THE PREEMINENT GOAL OF ALL THREE PLANS IS TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY TO ADDRESS THE PROJECTED GROWTH BY THE YEAR 2040. THE COUNCIL ADOPTED THE PLAN. THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN IS THE OVERARCHING LONG-RANGE POLICY PLANNING DOCUMENT THAT GUIDES THE PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE CITY THROUGH THE YEAR 2040. IN THE NEXT FEW SLIDES, I'LL PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT PROJECTS THAT IMPLEMENT THE SA TOMORROW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. THE CITY'S COMPREHENSIVE PLANNING PROGRAM IS THE FRAMEWORK FOR HOW WE PLAN ACROSS THE CITY AND WAS UPDATED WITH ADOPTION OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN IN 2016.
THE PROGRAM OUTLINES SOME OF THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT'S MECHANISMS FOR IMPLEMENTATION THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. THE SUBAREA PLANNING PROCESS INCLUDES THE DEVELOPMENT OF PLANS FOR 13 REGIONAL CENTERS, WHICH WERE EMPLOYMENT CENTERS IDENTIFIED IN THE COMP PLAN, AND 17 COMMUNITY AREAS WITH THE GOAL OF STREAMLINING THE PLANNING PROCESS THROUGHOUT THE CITY AND RESULTING IN A CITYWIDE FUTURE LAND USE MAP, SOMETHING WHICH DOES NOT CURRENTLY EXIST TODAY. THE UPDATED PROGRAM AND SUBAREA PLANNING PROCESS ALLOWS US TO MORE EQUITABLY PLAN ACROSS THE CITY AND ENGAGE MANY FOLKS WHO WERE NOT PREVIOUSLY INVOLVED IN PLANNING OR -- AND THEY TALK TO THE CITY ABOUT THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD. THE DEVELOPMENT OF EACH SUBAREA PLAN INCLUDES A MULTIYEAR COMMUNITY PLANNING PROCESS THAT IS TAILORED TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE SPECIFIC AREA.
TO DATE, NINE SUBAREA PLANS HAVE BEEN ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL AND WE ANTICIPATE THE ADDITION OF NINE ADDITIONAL PLANS BY THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR, MARKING THE THIRD PHASE OF THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
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PHASE 5 WILL BEGIN IN 2026. WE'VE ALREADY BEGUN ON PHASE 4. IN 2014, THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR PLAN WAS ADOPTED TO GUIDE THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE PERRIN BEITEL AND NACOGDOCHES CORRIDORS. A KEY GOAL OF THE PLAN WAS ADOPTION OF THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR TIRZ AND THE GRANT PROGRAM. CURRENTLY WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF DEVELOPING A SET OF GUIDELINES FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT ALONG THE CORRIDOR. OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT YEAR THE DEPARTMENT WILL INITIATE AN UPDATE TO REVITALIZE THIS AREA AND FURTHER IMPLEMENT THE NEWLY ADOPTED REGIONAL CENTER PLAN. PHASE 1 OF THE BANDERA ROAD CORRIDOR PLAN WAS ADOPTED IN OCTOBER OF 2022.IT WILL SUPPLEMENT THET STUDIES CURRENTLY BEING CONDUCTED BY TXDOT.
THE PLAN UPDATED THE CORRIDOR WITH NEW SA TOMORROW FUTURE LAND USE CATEGORIES AS WELL AS RECOMMENDED 12 PRIORITY MULTIMODAL PROJECTS FOR FURTHER STUDY. THE LAND USE PLAN ALSO FOCUSES HIGHER INTENSITY LANE USES AT STWRA TEEJ INC. NODES TO PREPARE FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT THAT IS TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE. PHASE 2 OF THE BANDERA CORRIDOR ROAD IS CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS. THE PLAN EXTENDS FROM LOOP 410 AND GOLIAD ROAD. WE'RE PREPARING A COMMUNITY-WIDE SURVEY FOR BUSINESS AND RESIDENT OWNERS.
AREA. NEXT, I WILL BRIEFLY UPDATE YOU ON THE REZONING EFFORTS -- ZERO IS TO ALIGN THE ZONING WITH THE FUTURE LAND USE MAPS AND THE NEWLY ADOPTED SA TOMORROW PLANS. SINCE YOUR LAST BRIEFING, WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED THE REZONING OF AN ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD AS RECOMMENDED BY THE BANDERA ROAD CORRIDOR PLAN, WE HAVE ALSO UNDERTAKEN A MAJOR REZONING OF PORTIONS OF THE MEDICAL CENTER AREA.
CURRENTLY MANY OF THE MEDICAL AREA ARE GRANDFATHERED ZONINGS.
THE COUNCIL WILL NOW SEE THE FIRST OF THESE PHASES IN MAY OF THIS YEAR.
AS STATED IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, WE'RE ALSO PREPARING TO BEGIN THE ADOPTION PROCESS FOR THE TEXAS A&M AREA REGIONAL CENTER PLAN.
AS PART OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT PLAN, WE'RE ALSO RECOMMENDING A ZONING OVERLAY DISTRICT IN ORDER TO PRESERVE LAND FOR FUTURE JOB GROWTH. ALONG WITH ALL OF THAT WORK, WE REVIEW APPROXIMATELY 200 REZONING CASES A YEAR AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT WHEN A CASE IS SUBMITTED IN AN AREA WHERE AN SA TOMORROW PLAN HAS YET TO BE ADOPTED. A NEW POLICY TOOL THAT THE DEPARTMENT WILL BE PROPOSING IS ALSO A NEW SET OF MIXED USE ZONING DISTRICTS. THESE TYPES OF DISTRICTS ARE RECOMMENDED IN THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND SEVERAL SUBAREA PLANS. THEY'RE INTENDED TO DIRECTLY IMPLEMENT THE NEW MIXED USE LAND USE CATEGORIES THAT WERE ADOPTED IN 2018. IT IS THE HOPE THAT THESE NEW FLEXIBLE TOOLS WILL SEE MORE HOUSING OPTIONS ALONG CORRIDORS AND NODES THAT ARE WALKABLE AND PROVIDE ACCESS TO COMMUNITY AMENITIES AND PUBLIC TRANSIT.
I WOULD LIKE TO ALSO NOW TRANSITION TO THE TOPIC OF TRANSIT.
AS A RESULT OF THE SUBMITTED CCR, THE CITY'S TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT IS LEADING THE EFFORT TO CREATE A TOD PLAN THAT WILL IMPROVE OUR MULTIMODAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM. THE FOCUS OF THIS PLAN WILL BE TO REDUCE BARRIERS TO DEVELOPMENT, INCENTIVIZE AND ENCOURAGING A VARIETY OF HOUSING OPTIONS AND ENSURE MULTIMODAL CONNECTIVITY, SPECIFICALLY TO AND WITHIN STATION AREAS.
THE FIRST STEP WAS THE CREATION OF A TASK FORCE OF REPRESENTATIVES FROM NEIGHBORHOODS ALONG THE VIA RAPID CORRIDORS AS WELL AS EXPERTS IN HOUSING AND TRANSIT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT TO REVIEW THE CURRENT CODE REGULATION OF THE UDC AND RECOMMEND AMENDMENTS PUBLIC INPUT.
THE KICKOFF WAS HELD THIS PAST WEEK WITH THE GOAL OF BRINGING PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE CITY COUNCIL AT THE END OF THE YEAR.
KATHERINE ANDERS IS HERE AND SHE CAN ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TOD WORK AND THE NEXT STEPS. A COMPONENT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN IS ALSO THE CITY'S ANNEXATION POLICY. THE CITY'S PREVIOUS ANNEXATION POLICY WAS UPDATED AS A COMPONENT OF THE SA COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. STATE LAW CHANGED MULTIPLE TIMES SINCE ITS ADOPTION AND THOSE CHANGES MADE OUR POLICY OUTDATED AND REQUIRED A TBRESH LOOK AT THE TOOLS THAT THE CITY HAS FOR ANNEXATION AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT AS WELL AS HOW TO DEPLOY THEM. FOR EACH GROWTH MANAGEMENT TOOL, THE POLICY INCLUDES GUIDANCE FOR HOW DECISIONS RELATING TO GROWTH SHOULD BE CONSIDERED AND WEIGHED AGAINST EACH OTHER.
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ADOPTED IN 2023, THE POLICY IS THE CITY'S FIRST ANNEXATION AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT POLICY. THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT IS NOW BEGINNING A SERIES OF ETJ AREA LAND USE PLANS, THE FIRST PLAN WILL BE THE SOUTH ETJ PLAN WHICH WILL KICK OFF THIS SUMMER.THE MAP ON THE SCREEN REPRESENTS THE DEVELOPMENT AND INTENSITIES OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE ETJ BETWEEN THE YEARS 2016 AND 2022. AND I WILL CONCLUDE THIS PRESENTATION WITH A SLIDE ON THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WORK OF THE DEPARTMENT.
IN THIS PAST FISCAL YEAR, THE DEPARTMENT ENGAGED WITH RES RRNLTS AT OVER 130 OUTREACH EVENTS. YOU CAN SEE WE'VE BEEN OUT IN THE COMMUNITY AT A VARIETY OF COMMUNITY MEETINGS AND FUNCTIONS.
ADDITIONALLY, WE INFORM RESIDENTS ABOUT EVENTS WITH THE GOAL OF REACHING AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE. ALL OF THE OUTREACH THAT THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT CONDUCTS IS, OSK, BILINGUAL AND PLACED ON A VARIETY OF PLATFORMS INCLUDING TWITTER, FACEBOOK, MIB OF THE DIFFERENT PLATFORMS THAT THE DEPARTMENT USES. AND WITH THAT, MR. MAYOR,
THIS CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK
YOU, RUDY. >> HOUSTON: THANK YOU, RUDY, FOR THAT REALLY EXCITING PRESENTATION. AND I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE MORE EXCITING PARTS OF THAT PART -- OF THAT PRESENTATION.
IT'S REALLY HOW WE TAKE THESE PLANS THAT OUR PLANNING DEPARTMENT WORKS ON SO HARD WITH THE COMMUNITY AND REALLY ANIMATE THEM AND BRING THEM TO LIFE AND BRING THEM TO REALITY. AND THAT'S WHY I'M HERE TODAY, ALONGSIDE WITH MY TWO PARTNERS, TRISH DEBERRY WHO'S CEO TO CENTRO AND MARC ANDERSON WHO'S CE OF VISIT SAN ANTONIO.
AS YOU ALL KNOW IF YOU WERE HERE 14 YEARS AGO, WE STARTED ON THIS EFFORT WITH SA 2020, AND THAT WAS REALLY WHEN THE COMMUNITY GOT TOGETHER AND DEVELOPED THE 10 AREAS THAT THEY WANTED THE COMMUNITY TO FOCUS ON. THAT WAS ANYWHERE FROM EDUCATION, LIBRARIES, BUT THEN WITHIN EACH OF THOSE AREAS, DOWNTOWN KEPT COMING UP AS A PRIORITY.
AND SO THE 11TH PRIORITY AREA WAS ADDED, AND THAT WAS DOWNTOWN.
AND WHAT THE COMMUNITY SAID IN 2020 WAS WE NEED TO ACHIEVE GREATER BALANCE IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA, DIVERSIFY PRODUCT TYPES WHEN IT COMES TO HOUSING, SO IT CAN'T BE ALL AFFORDABLE HOUSING, IT NEEDS TO BE MARKET RATE, IT NEEDS TO BE FOR SALE PRODUCT AND RENTAL PRODUCT.
ATTRACT RESIDENTS AND WORKERS. THE COMMUNITY WAS VERY ADAMANT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ARE A TOURIST DOWNTOWN AND THAT'S GREAT, BUT LET'S MAKE THIS FOR EVERYONE. SO LET'S MAKE THIS A PLACE FOR OUR RESIDENTS. LET'S MAKE THIS A PLACE THAT OUR EMPLOYERS WANT TO LIVE, AND THEN WITH THAT, WE'LL CREATE MORE TOURISM, BECAUSE TOURISTS LIKE TO GO WHERE THE RESIDENTS GO. AND THEN WE NEED TO IMPROVE THE LIVING EXPERIENCE IN DOWNTOWN. SO OUT OF THE SA 2020 EFFORT CAME THE DECADE OF DOWNTOWN, WHICH THEN MAYOR JULIAN CASTRO DECLARED OF THE DECADE OF DOWNTOWN AND HE IMMEDIATELY ASKED CENTRO TO DO A DOWNTOWN FRAMEWORK PLAN, A STRATEGIC FRAME BORK PLAN THAT WAS COMMUNITY DRIVEN BASED ON THE INFORMATION WE RECEIVED FROM SA 2020. AND THAT WAS A LONG EFFORT, VERY ROBUST COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS. IT WAS LED BY CENTRO AND FUNDED BY CENTRO. AND IN THAT, THE MAIN RECOMMENDATIONS WERE WE NEED A HOUSING FIRST STRATEGY, AND WE NEED TO CREATE A VIBRANT PLACE IN OUR DOWNTOWN. SO THEN AFTER THAT PLAN WAS REVEALED AND PRESENTED TO COUNCIL, COUNCIL ENDORSED THE PLAN, AND THEN ASKED THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO STAFF, PLEASE CREATE AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN THAT MAKES THIS PLAN A REALITY. AND OUT OF THAT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN CAME SEVERAL IMPLEMENTATION ACTIONS, ONE BEING INCREASE YOUR DOWNTOWN INVESTMENT, CREATE A SET OF AS OF RIGHT INCENTIVES FOR DOWNTOWN HOUSING, AND THEN DO MORE REGULATION AND PLANNING FOR THE DOWNTOWN AREA. AND SPECIFICALLY, MAKE SURE YOUR MANAGEMENT IS ALIGNED BY A VISION. AFTER THOSE TWO DOCUMENTS, WE KNEW THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, AND WE DID A THIRD DOCUMENT, WHICH WAS AN ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DOWNTOWN. AND SO WE ASKED DR. STEVE NE VIN TO PRODUCE AN ECONOMIC IMPACT FOR US TO SHOW OUR POLICYMAKERS, YOU KNOW, WHY DOWNTOWN IS IMPORTANT. LOOK AT HOW MUCH RESIDENTS WE HAVE, HOW MANY EMPLOYEES WE HAVE, HOW MANY MAJOR EMPLOYERS WE HAVE, WHAT IS THE OVERALL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF DOWNTOWN, AND FOR EVERY DOLLAR INVESTED,
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WHAT DO WE GET IN RETURN. AND AT THAT TIME, THE REPORT SHOWED THAT FOR THE REVENUE COMING FROM DOWNTOWN, WHETHER THAT BE PROPERTY TAX REVENUE, SALES TAX REVENUE, HOT TAX, THERE WAS A NET THAT WENT BACK TO THE COMMUNITY TO HELP US PAY FOR STREET MAINTENANCE AND OTHER COMPONENTS DEALING WITH OUR CITY. AND THAT WAS WHAT MADE THIS PLAN SO SUCCESSFUL IS THAT WE HAD THE COMMUNITY VISION, WE HAD A PARTNER WITH CENTRO, WE HAD THE CITY AND THE POLICYMAKERS SAYING WE WANT TO DO THIS, AND THEN WE HAD THE ECONOMICS TO SHOW THAT.AND SO WITH THAT, WE HAD A LOT OF SUCCESSES. SO JUST A FEW OF THEM, THERE WERE A LOT, BUT I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THESE SIX.
ONE IS IN 2012 AND 2017, WE HAD A COMBINED AMOUNT OF 270 MILLION IN BOND FUNDS FOR DOWNTOWN. THAT COULD BE FOR DRAINAGE, THAT COULD BE FOR PUBLIC SPACE, THAT COULD BE FOR STREETS. A LOT OF IT WENT TOWARDS STREETS, AND IT ALSO COULD BE FOR FACILITIES. NOW, BY COMPARISON, IN 2007, THERE WAS 10 MILLION FOR DOWNTOWN STREETS.
AND THAT WAS IT. AND SO WHEN THIS WAS MADE THE DECADE OF DOWNTOWN, WHEN COUNCIL ADOPTED THESE POLICIES, THE DOWNTOWN INVESTMENT DID INCREASE. CITY COUNCIL ALSO ADOPTED THE CENTER CITY HOUSING IMPLEMENTATION POLICY, AND THAT'S WHAT WE CALL THE CCHIP AND THAT COMPRISES AS OF RIGHT INCENTIVES TO HOUSING PROBLEMS THAT MET CERTAIN CONDITIONS. AS A RESULT, WE HAD ABOUT 9,000 HOUSING UNITS ADDED TO THE GREATER DOWNTOWN AREA THROUGHOUT THE DECADE.
WE ALSO ESTABLISHED A PLACE-BASED APPROACH WITH ZONA CULTURAL AND SAN PEDRO CREEK AND HEMISFAIR AND ALAMO. THE STUDY FOCUSED ON IF YOU CAN INCREASE OR PUT AS MANY PROJECTS IN ONE AREA, THEY WILL BUILD OFF EACH OTHER AND AT ONE POINT THEY WILL NO LONGER NEED INCENTIVES, THEY WILL GROW ON THEIR OWN. SO JUST THOSE TWO AREAS COMBINED HAVE ABOUT $2.2 BILLIONS GOING ON IN PROJECTS, THAT INCLUDES ABOUT EIGHT STREET PROJECTS, WE HAVE A COUPLE HOTELS, WE HAVE HOUSING AND, OF COURSE, WE HAVE PUBLIC SPACE. AND THIS IS AFTER SAN PEDRO CREEK WAS DEVELOPED AND THE FIRST FACE OFIAN THAT QUAWN THAT WHEN HEMISFAIR PARK WAS DONE.
IT ALSO SAID WE NEED TO ADOPT DOWNTOWN GUIDELINES.
WE DID ADOPT GUIDELINES, AND THOSE ARE GUIDELINES TO HELP THOSE PROJECTS THAT AREN'T IN A HISTORIC DISTRICT OR AREN'T ELIGIBLE TO BE HISTORIC.
YOU HAD A LOT OF PROJECTS THAT FELL OUT OF THAT CATEGORY, THEY HAD NO GUIDANCE, AND THERE WAS A TOTAL DISCONNECT BETWEEN THE DESIGN FROM URBAN COMMUNITY AND THE DESIGN THAT WAS COMING OUT OF THESE PROJECTS.
AND SO THE DOWNTOWN DESIGN GUIDELINES PROVIDED SOME PARAMETERS AND SOME CONDITIONS THAT MUST BE MET WHEN DEVELOPING DOWNTOWN.
WE ALSO ADOPTED THE HEMISFAIR MASTER PLAN AND THE DOWNTOWN REGIONAL CENTER PLAN THAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT. THE PLAN ALSO RECOMMENDED THAT WE LEVERAGE PUBLIC ASSETS FOR IMPROVEMENT AND OUR REDEVELOPMENT.
THE GREATEST EXAMPLE OF THIS IS HEMISFAIR. CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED A LEASE AGREEMENT WITH HFARK AR THAT PROVIDED ALIGNMENT WITHIN THE PLAN. WE DID THE ALAMO, WE DID A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE GLO. THE CITY OWNS THE PLAZA IN FRONT OF THE ALAMO CHURCH AND LONG BARRACKS, THEY OWN THE FACILITY, WE'VE DONE A PARTNERSHIP FOR MASTER PLANNING AND THAT'S CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
UTSA'S DOWNTOWN EXPANSION, THOSE THREE LOTS THEY'RE BUILDING ON RIGHT NOW, THOSE WERE CITY-OWNED PROPERTY. WE SOLD THOSE PROPERTIES TO THEM AT THE APPRAISED VALUE, AND THEY ARE DEVELOPING THE EXPANSION OF THEIR CAMPUS. CONTINENTAL HOTEL, WHICH IS RIGHT BEHIND US, THAT'S ANOTHER HOUSING PROJECT THAT WAS DONE THROUGH A PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP. WE TOOK A FACILITY WE OWNED, DID AN RFP, AND WHICH HAD A DEVELOPER RESPOND, AND THEY ARE CURRENTLY BUILDING NEW HOUSING THAT WILL BE MIXED INCOME, HISTORIC PRESERVATION.
AND THEN THERE'S SEVERAL OTHER EXAMPLES OF THIS, BUT THE PLAN SPECIFICALLY SPOKE TO YOU HAVE SOME GREAT ASSETS, YOU NEED TO LEVERAGE THAT WITH SOME PARTNERSHIPS. AND THEN FINALLY, REALIGN CCDO TO INCLUDE BOTH DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS TO ENSURE COORDINATION AND I WAS DIRECTOR AT THAT TIME WHEN THIS WAS ADOPTED. AND IN 2012 WHAT WE DID WAS WE DID JOIN BOTH DEPARTMENTS IN THE CENTER CITY DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT AND OUR DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT WAS BASICALLY OMBUDSMAN FOR THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY WEREN'T GETTING STUCK IN OUR DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE DID. NOW, WE ALL KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENED AND, YOU KNOW, ONE THING IS 2020'S COME AND POLICY PRIORITIES AMONG COUNCIL HAVE CHANGED, PRIMARILY THERE WAS A NEED FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
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AND THAT'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN FOCUSING ON. THE DECADE OF DOWNTOWN ENDED, THE STRATEGIC PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ARE BOTH OUTDATED, THEY WERE ADOPTED IN 2012. IT'S 2024, WE HAD THE DOWNTOWN REGIONAL CENTER PLAN GET ADOPTED IN 2019, BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO MENTION ON THIS SLIDE IS THAT COVID HAPPENED. AND COVID COMPLETELY DISRUPTED DEVELOPMENT PATTERNS IN DOWNTOWN. YOU'RE GOING TO SEE A LOT OF CHANGES IN OUR DOWNTOWN, SPECIFICALLY WITH THE OFFICE MARKET.A LOT OF PEOPLE DECIDED THAT THEY DON'T NEED AS BIG OF A FOOTPRINT IN DOWNTOWN, THEY CAN HAVE A HYBRID APPROACH WHERE THEY WORK FROM HOME, AND SOME COMPLETELY DEFT DOWNTOWN, DOWNSIZED OR MOVED TO ANOTHER PART OF DOWNTOWN IN A SMALLER FOOTPRINT. AND AS A RESULT, WE DO HAVE SOME VACANCIES IN OUR CLASS B AND C DOWNTOWN OFFICE MARKET.
ALSO PEOPLE BECAME MORE AWARE OF OUR PUBLIC SPACES AND THEY DEMANDED THAT. AND THAT'S A BIG CHANGE THAT WE'VE SEEN IN SHIFT. AND THEY WANT TO DO MORE THINGS OUTSIDE AND THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO GO OUTSIDE AND WORK. AND SO THOSE ARE TWO MAJOR SHIFTS THAT WE'VE SEEN AS A RESULT OF COVID.
AND SO NOW, YOU KNOW, THIS IS REALLY THE BEST TIME TO BE UPDATING THIS PLAN, BECAUSE IT'S TWO YEARS AFTER COVID, WE'VE KIND OF SEEN THINGS NORMALIZE A LITTLE BIT, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, I'VE GOT TWO MAJOR LEADERS SITTING BEHIND ME THAT CAME TO THE CITY AND SAID, WE WANT TO PUT MONEY UP AND WE WANT TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN AND WE WANT TO DO IT TOGETHER.
AND BY THE WAY, THE CITY SHOULDN'T BE THE ONES FUNDING THIS.
IT SHOULD BUTS. AND SO YOU'LL SEE IN OUR FUNDING CONTRIBUTION, THIS IS ABOUT A $600,000 PROJECT, AND THE CITY'S ONLY FUNDING $45,000 OF IT. AND THAT IS BECAUSE WE'RE MORE INTERESTED -- WE'RE INTERESTED IN ALL, BUT WE'RE SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON THAT HOUSING PIECE. HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT WE KEEP HOUSING IN BALANCE? HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT WE PROTECT THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN DOWP DOWNTOWN AND ALLOW AFFORDABLE HOUSING CONTINUE TO GROW AND ALSO MARKET RATE. OUR MONEY WILL BE GOING TOWARDS A STUDY TO FEED INTO THE OVERALL STRATEGIC PLAN THAT WILL MAKE SURE THAT OUR POLICY PRIORITIES ARE PROTECTED AND WE CAN CONTINUE TO GROW THAT AFFORDABLE HOUSING. BUT IN BALANCE WITH THE OTHER CATEGORIES OF HOUSING WE NEED. SO I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE ONE OF MY PARTNERS, MARK ANDERSON, WHO'S CEO OF VISIT SAN ANTONIO, WHO'S GOING TO REALLY TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHY NOW WITH THIS UNIQUE LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY WE HAVE AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT NEXT STEPS AND
WHAT WE'LL BE CONSIDERING IN THE FRAMEWORK PLAN. >> THANK YOU, LORI.
HELLO, ESSEEMED COUNCIL. IT'S GREAT TO BE WITH YOU TODAY TO TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN SAN ANTONIO. AND I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE A VIBRANT, BUSY FORWARD-LOOKING DOWNTOWN LIFTS US ALL UP.
AS MANY OF YOU SAW AND EXPERIENCED FIRSTHAND, VISIT SAN ANTONIO HAS SUCCESSFULLY COLLABORATED WITH CITY STAFF, ESPECIALLY LORI AND THE INCREDIBLE SHANNON MILLER AND THEIR TEAMS LEADING THE WAY, AND WITH CENTRO SAN ANTONIO TO PRODUCE EFFECTIVE MARQUEE EVENTS OVER THE PAST 12 MONTHS, INCLUDING IPW 2023, THAT IS STILL BEING CALLED THE BEST IPW IN THE HISTORY OF THAT CONFERENCE, AND OUR LEGACY EVENT WE CREATED LAST DECEMBER, HOLIDAYS ON HOUSTON. THIS UNIFIED LEADERSHIP AND OUR ABILITY TO BREAKDOWN SILOS THROUGHOUT THE CITY HAS HELPED US ACHIEVE GREATNESS. AND THAT GREATNESS WILL CONTINUE.
WITH TRISHA'S NEW LEADERSHIP AND THE PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION WITH CITY STAFF, WE HAVE CRAFTED A PROVEN PARTNERSHIP THAT WILL CONTINUE TO ACCOMPLISH GREAT THINGS FOR SAN ANTONIO.
IN CVENT CONNECT, VISIT SAN ANTONIO HAS PROCURED THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS USER'S CONFERENCE VOTED ON MEETINGS AND CONVENTIONS FOR THE HENRY B. GONZALES CONVENTION CENTER THIS JUNE 2024. THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS 3500 CONFERENCE WILL MEET OUTSIDE OF LAS VEGAS IN 15 YEARS.
MUCH LIKE IPW WAS A GAME-CHANGER FOR BUILDING OUR GLOBAL PRESENCE, IPW WILL BE -- I MEAN, CVENT WILL BE A GAME-CHANGER IN AWARENESS IN SAN ANTONIO FOR MEETING PROFESSIONALS ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
AND WITH US ALL WORKING TOGETHER, WE'LL MAKE THEIR ATTENDEES WANT TO RETURN TIME AND AGAIN TO OUR BEAUTIFUL CITY. ALL OF THESE EVENTS HAVE HAD A UNIFIED FOCUS, INCREASING JOBS FOR SAN ANTONIANS AND INCREASING MUCH-NEEDED TAX REVENUES TO KEEP SAN ANTONIO AUTHENTIC AND GROWING AND EVOLVING AT THE SAME TIME. AS YOU KNOW, WE TAKE OUR MISSION AT VISIT SAN ANTONIO VERY SERIOUSLY, TO BRING THE WORLD TO OUR CITY. AS THE ONLY ORGANIZATION IN SAN ANTONIO THAT IS
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PROACTIVELY MARKETING OUR CITY FOR LEISURE AND MEETINGS AND CONVENTION, WE AT VISIT SAN ANTONIO HAVE BEEN LASER FOCUSED ON THE CONTINUING RECOVERY AND GROWING TOURISM HOSPITALITY TO CREATE POSITIVE ECONOMIC IMPACT FOR THE CITY AND ITS PEOPLE. IN FACT, DUE TO OUR EFFORTS, AND OUR EFFORTS ALTOGETHER, WE GENERATED THE LARGEST ECONOMIC IMPACT IN 2022 THAT OUR CITY HAS EVER SEEN IN THE CONVENTION AND TOURISM SPACE OF $19 BILLION. INCLUDED IN THAT IS A RECORD-BREAKING $262 MILLION IN TAX REVENUE, AND WE ASSISTED IN GENERATING MORE THAN 14,000 TOURISM RELATED JOBS JUST SHY OF PREPANDEMIC LEVELS.THESE HOSPITALITY WORKERS LIVE AND THRIVE ACROSS ALL OF OUR 10 DISTRICTS IN SAN ANTONIO. AND DOWNTOWN SUCCESS IS A CENTERPIECE TO THE PROSPERITY FOR ALL OF SAN ANTONIO. THAT IS WHY IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE SET UP A FORMAL STRATEGIC PLAN FOR THE FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN SAN ANTONIO THAT BENEFITS AND OFFERS VALUE FOR ALL OF US.
AND WHY VISIT SAN ANTONIO HAS COME TO THE TABLE AS A KEY MEMBER OF THIS PROVEN PARTNERSHIP. VISIT SAN ANTONIO'S PROUD TO BE THE DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATION FOR OUR CITY, AND WE ARE THRILLED THAT THE VSA BOARD OF DIRECTORS HAS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED THE FUNDING FOR THIS IMPORTANT PROJECT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COSA AND CENTRO.
OUR PRIMARY JOB IS TO PROMOTE THE EXISTING OFFERS AND ASSET THAT SAN ANTONIO HAS FOR LEISURE AND CONVENTION VISITORS.
WE NEED OUR CITY'S OFFERINGS TO BE FRESH AND AN PEA PEALING TO THE MODERN TRAVELER, WHILE PRESERVE OUR CITY'S DIVERSITY, AUTHENTICITY, HERITAGE AND CULTURE. AND TO ENSURE THAT SAN ANTONIO CONTINUES TO GROW AND DEVELOP SO WE MAY CONTINUE TO GROW OUR VISITOR BASE AND ECONOMIC IMPACT FOR OUR CITY, WE NEED THIS DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN TO COME TO FRUITION. THIS PARTNERSHIP KNOWS THAT WE ALL WANT DATA TO HELP SET THE PATH FORWARD. PART OF THIS DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN SCOPE IS TO GATHER THIS MUCH-NEEDED DATA.
ON THE SCREEN, YOU WILL SEE SOME OF THE IMPORTANT PLANNING DOCUMENTS THAT REFERENCE DOWNTOWN THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN COLLECTED AS WELL AS STUDIES THAT ARE UNDER WAY. THIS WILL BE A RESPONSIBLE PLAN THAT WILL MAKE ALL SAN ANTONIANS PROUD.
THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING US TO PRESENT, AND NOW I WILL TURN IT OVER TO TRISH DEBERRY, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF CENTRO. THANK YOU, EVERYBODY.
>> THANK YOU, MARK. GOOD AFTERNOON. THANK YOU MAYOR NIRENBERG, COUNCIL, CITY MANAGER WALSH FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT TODAY. OBVIOUSLY AT CENTRO SAN ANTONIO, WE ARE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY THAT THE UPDATE PRESENTS.
SUFFICE IT TO SAY, I AM BULLISH ON DOWNTOWN AND THE FUTURE, SO -- BUT BEING A STRATEGIST AT HEART MEANS WE NEED TO HAVE A STRATEGY.
I MEAN, I THINK INSTINCTIVELY, WE CAN THINK WHAT WE THINK DOWNTOWN SHOULD BE, BUT IF WE DON'T HAVE A STRATEGY, I THINK WE'RE ALL SHOOTING FROM THE HIP, SO THAT'S THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PLAN.
THE CONSULTANT TEAM, HRNA, THEY ARE GLOBAL, THEY DO THE WORK IN THIS SPACE ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND THEY ARE VERY WELL RESPECTED ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WHAT YOU SEE IS THE TEAM BEFORE US TODAY.
CANDACE DAMON, WHO IS A DIVA REALLY IN THE URBAN PLANNING SPACE IF YOU HAVE NOT MET HER WHEN SHE COMES TO TOWN AGAIN, PLEASE DO MEET HER.
SHE'S AMAZING. THE GOOD THING ABOUT CANDACE IS, SHE'S BEEN HERE IN SAN ANTONIO BEFORE, SHE WAS A PART OF THE ORIGINAL PLAN, SO SHE BRINGS SOME HISTORY TO THE PROJECTS. BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS WE HAVE SOME YOUNG GUNS AND SOME YOUNGBLOOD ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROJECT AND SO WE HAVE AARON ABLESON OUT OF DALLAS AND THEN WE HAVE ADA PENG WHO'S A ROCK STAR IN THIS SPACE AND SHE'S BASED OW OF LOS ANGELES. WHEN WE LOOK AT THE URBAN CORE AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE THERE, THAT IS WHAT THIS GROUP BRINGS TO THE TABLE.
EQUITABLE AND RESILIENT COMMUNITIES, AND I KNOW THAT'S A PRIORITY WITH THIS COUNCIL, WHICH IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE OVERALL, THAT MEANS QUALITY OF LIFE FOR PEOPLE. SO AS WE LOOK AT THE VALUE OF DOWNTOWN, MARK WENT OVER KIND OF, YOU KNOW, THE STUDIES THAT WE PROVIDED TO HR & A SO THEY CAN PRESENT SOMETHING COMPREHENSIVE, AND THERE'S SOME KNOW-HOW ASSOCIATED IN THE STRATEGY AND THE SCOPE OF WORK. SO ONE OF THOSE WAS THE VALUE OF DOWNTOWN, AND SO WE JUST GOT THAT PROBABLY LAST WEEK. I'M GOING TO HIT SOME HIGHLIGHTS, BUT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE ONE-ON-ONES AND TALK ABOUT THE VALUE OF DOWNTOWN, PROBABLY DELVE A LITTLE BIT DEEPER, BUT YOU ALL SHOULD BE VERY PROUD OF THE FACT THAT DOWNTOWN IS A SIGNIFICANT EMPLOYMENT
[00:30:03]
HUB. APPROXIMATELY 80,000 INDIVIDUALS WHICH SHOWCASES DOWNTOWN'S ROLE AS AN EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY, A MAJOR 'EM PROIMENT OPPORTUNITY. I WAS PROUD WHEN I WENT TO CHICAGO FOR THE ADA CONFERENCE, SAN ANTONIO WAS ONLY SECOND TO NASHVILLE ON THE GREATEST RETURN TO WORK, AND A LOT OF THAT IS BECAUSE OF THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY THAT WE HAVE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO. WAGE GENERATION, WORKERS IN THE DOWNTOWN REGION EARN APPROXIMATELY $5 BILLION IN WAGES.THAT'S NOTHING TO SHAKE A STICK AT. AND THEN WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE OVERALL ECONOMIC IMPACT, DOWNTOWN CONTRIBUTES SUBSTANTIALLY WITH A TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ALMOST $23 BILLION.
WHEN WE LOOK AT DENSITY, PER SQUARE MILE, WE LOOK AT ALMOST $770 MILLION PER SQUARE MILE IN TOTAL WAGES, AND THEN WE LOOK AT TOTAL ECONOMIC IMPACT PER SQUARE MILE, AND THAT'S ALMOST $4 BILLION.
THE MOST IMPORTANT, I GUESS, BULLET POINT, AND IT'S NOT REALLY A BULLET POINT BUT IT'S HIGHLIGHTED HERE, IS WHEN STAND ARIZED PER SQUARE MILE EMERGES AT THE REGIONAL CENTER WITH THE HIGHEST DENTY OF EMPLOYMENT, TOTAL WAGES AND ECONOMIC IMPACT, I WOULD ASK YOU FOR A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THAT, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW IMPORTANT I THINK DOWNTOWN IS, BUT THAT'S SIGNIFICANT, RIGHT? [APPLAUSE]
>> THANK YOU. SO AS WE LOOK AT THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK PLAN MOVING FORWARD, AND LORI'S ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, 12 YEARS IS FAR TOO LONG TO WAIT FOR AN UPDATE, BECAUSE WE HAVE LOTS THAT IS GOING ON IN DOWNTOWN.
WE NEED A UNIFIED VISION. WHAT DO WE WANT TO ACCOMPLISH? HOW DO WE WANT TO GROW? WHAT IS HOUSING? WHAT IS THE MIX ASSOCIATED WITH HOUSING? THE BEAUTY ASSOCIATED WITH THE ORIGINAL PLAN IS IT DID INFORM A HOUSING FIRST STRATEGY.
AND AS LORI UNDERSCORED, WE GOT 10,000 HOUSING UNITS OUT OF THAT, BUT IS IT A HOUSING FIRST STRATEGY ANYMORE? WE NEED TO KNOW THAT.
IF IT IS A HOUSING MIXED STRATEGY OR HOUSING FIRST STRATEGY, WHAT IS THAT MIX OF AFFORDABLE VERSUS MARKET RATE, AND, YES, SOME OF THAT MAY EVEN INCLUDE LUXURY. JOBS, WHAT KIND OF JOBS DO WE WANT TO BE ATTRACTING IN DOWNTOWN? THAT'S VERY SIGNIFICANT. HOSPITAL HALTY, OBVIOUSLY, PLAYS A VERY BIG ROLE, BUT THERE IS OTHER OPPORTUNITY FOR OTHER KINDS OF JOBS IN DOWNTOWN, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU LOOK AT UTSA'S INVESTMENT IN DOWNTOWN SAN ANTONIO, IN THE I.T. SPACE, IN THE A.I. SPACE, WHAT THAT COULD MEAN.
HEMISFAIR AS AN OPPORTUNITY. THERE'S A HUGE, HUGE OPPORTUNITY REGARDING THE AMOUNT OF LAND WE HAVE IN DOWNTOWN.
IT'S VERY DIFFICULT FOR US WHO SEE DOWNTOWN EVERY SINGLE DAY TO BE IN THE WEEDS AND SAY, YEAH, WE THINK WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING, BUT WHEN YOU BRING IN CONSULTANTS 10 YEARS LATER TO TAKE A LOOK AT DOWNTOWN NOW AND THEY'RE LIKE, YOU GUYS SHOULD BE VERY PROUD OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE, AND WHAT YOU'VE ACCOMPLISHED. THEY LOOKED AT THE ALAMO, THEY LOOKED AT HEMISFAIR, THEY LOOKED AT SAN PEDRO CREEK, THEY SAID, YES, THERE'S DEFINITELY MORE OPPORTUNITY HERE, BUT YOU GUYS HAVE DONE A LOT OF REALLY GOOD WORK, SO THAT'S A TESTAMENT TO NOT ONLY PEOPLE THAT ARE SITTING AROUND THIS TABLE TODAY, BUT THE COUNCILS THAT WERE PRIOR TO THIS ONE. FROM A PLANNING STAND POINT, YES, DOWNTOWN DOES REVOLVE AROUND PLANNING AND REALLY HAVING A STRATEGY REGARDING HOW WE GROW INTO THE FUTURE, AND THEN PUBLIC INVESTMENTS, WHAT IS THAT MIX? PUBLIC VERSUS PRIVATE, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE.
WE HOPE ALL OF THOSE THINGS COME OUT OF THE FRAMEWORK PLAN.
AND THEN WHAT ACTIONS DO THE PARTNERS NEED TO TAKE TO MAKE THE PLAN A REALITY? WELL, MAYBE WE DO NEED SOME NEW POLICIES, BUT WE CAN'T OPERATE IN A VACUUM, BUT WE HOPE THAT THE PLAN WILL INFORM THAT. MUCH LIKE LOIRRY TALKED ABOUT THE FACT THAT DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS CAME TOGETHER REGARDING THE CENTER CITY AS A RESULT OF THE ORIGINAL PLAN, MAYBE THERE'S SOME NEW OPPORTUNITIES HERE. FINANCE AND INSENTENCETIVE TOOLS, THERE'S ALWAYS CONVERSATIONS AROUND THAT.
THERE MAY BE SOME OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE HAVE NOT LEVERAGED IN THE PAST THAT WE COULD APPLY TODAY. SO -- AND THEN WE LOOK AT BOND PROGRAMS. I KNOW AS WE'VE HAD ONE-ON-ONES WITH COUNCILPEOPLE, WHAT THEY WANT TO KNOW IS CAN WE USE THIS STRATEGY TO REALLY INFORM THE 2027 BOND PROGRAM AND THE ANSWER IS ABSOLUTELY YES, WE CAN DO THAT. SO MY HOPE IS THAT WHEN WE COME OUT OF THIS, AND I SAY THIS ALL THE TIME, AND I LOVE THE FACT THAT THERE WAS A DECADE OF DOWNTOWN, BECAUSE I'VE BEEN A DOWNTOWNER FOR A VERY, VERY LONG TIME.
BUT THERE WAS ALSO A BLESSING AND A CURSE REGARDING THE DECADE OF DOWNTOWN. WHY? BECAUSE WHEN THE DECADE WAS OVER, IT PUT AN EXPIRATION DATE ON DOWNTOWN INVESTMENT.
SO MY FEELING IS WE NEVER STOP IDEA ATING, INNOVATING AND INVESTING IN DOWNTOWN BECAUSE DOWNTOWN IS EVERYBODY'S DOWNTOWN.
SO WHERE DO WE GO? SO AS WE LOOK AT EXAMPLE GOALS OF WHAT WE WANT TO ACCOMPLISH, INCREASING THE DOWNTOWN HOUSING UNIT MIX TO INCLUDE AFFORDABLE, WORKFORCE AND MARKET-RATE HOUSING, ENHANCING PUBLIC SAFETY.
[00:35:04]
I HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THAT EVERY SINGLE DAY IN DOWNTOWN, WHETHER I'M MEETING WITH THE POLICE CHIEF, WHETHER I'M MEETING WITH DOWNTOWN BIKE PATROL, CENTRO HAS SOME IDEAS ABOUT THAT, AND I THINK BASED UPON WHAT WE ARE ENACTING AT CENTRO AND WHAT THIS STRATEGY WILL INFORM, I THINK WE'RE GOING TO BE IN A VERY GOOD PLACE. IMPROVING DOWNTOWN GATEWAYS AND PUBLIC PARKS. WE HAVE AMAZING PARKS IN DOWNTOWN. SO TRAVIS PARK, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE VERY CLOSE LOCATION TO IT. THE SECOND OLDEST PARK IN THE UNITED STATES AND THERE'S HUGE OPPORTUNITY THERE. WE ALSO HAVE A VARIETY OF POCKET PARKS. WHAT IS THE CONNECTIVITY OPPORTUNITY ASSOCIATED WITH ALL OF THE PARK SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE. AND BY THE WAY, IF I'M AT ST. PAUL SQUARE AND I WANT TO GET TO MARKET SQUARE, WHAT ARE THE MOBILITY OPTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH GETTING ME THERE WHEN IT'S 110° AND THERE'S VERY LITTLE SHADE ON A HEAT ISLAND, WHICH IS DOWNTOWN? SO SPEAKING OF DOWNTOWN TRANSPORTATION MOBILITY OPTIONS AND WHAT THAT MIGHT BE ABLE TO INFORM, WE ARE ABOUT TO EMBARK ON A PILOT PROJECT REGARDING A DOWNTOWN CIRCULATOR. AND SO THIS IS IN COLLABORATION, AND IT WAS REALLY MANDATED -- OR NOT MANDATED, BUT THERE WAS A GREAT NEED ASSOCIATED WITH UTSA INETTE GOING STUDENTS, FACULTY AND STAFF FROM PARKING LOTS INTO THE CLASSROOM. THEY CAME TO CENTRO AND THEY SAID, WE WANT THIS BY JANUARY. SO WE STARTED IMMEDIATELY DOING SOME INVESTIGATING ASSOCIATED WITH THE OPPORTUNITY ASSOCIATED HERE, SO WHAT YOU SEE BEFORE YOU, WHICH WILL LAUNCH IN MARCH LATER THIS MONTH, IS AN E K ECAB, ELECTRONIC GOLF CART, SEAT TS ABOUT FOUR TO SIX PEOPLE, ZERO CARBON FOOTPRINT FREE. WE'RE NOT CHARGING RIDERS, NOT ACCEPTING TIPS. WE WILL HAVE FOUR VEHICLES OPERATING AND THEY WILL BE PERMITTED. WE'LL HAVE TWO THROUGHOUT THE PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS STAFF, WE'LL OPERATE MONDAY TO THURSDAY, 7:30 A.M. TO 10:30 THEN 7:30 A.M. TO 7:00 P.M. ON FRIDAYS. THERE WILL BE A FIXED ROUTE ASSOCIATED WITH THAT DURING PEAK TIMES, MEANING IN THE MORNINGS, THE AFTERNOONS AND AT LUNCHTIME. AND OUR COLLABORATORS ON THERE, HOPEFULLY THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, BECAUSE WE WOULD LIKE TO BE ABLE TO TRANSPORT CITY EMPLOYEES FROM PARKING GARAGES OVER TO CITY HALL, VIA IS IN AS A COLLABORATOR. WE WILL NOT BE PICKING UP THEIR STAFF, BUT THEY WANTED TO BE A PART OF THIS PROJECT BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BE IN AN INNOVATIVE SPACE REGARDING MICROMOBILITY OPTIONS. SOMA YSO WHAT YOU SEE HERE ARE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS, THE DATA. THE FOLKS WE HAVE TAPPED OBVIOUSLY IN THIS PILOT, WE WILL HAVE DASHBOARD DATA LIKE THIS EVERY SINGLE DAY, AND THE BEAUTY ASSOCIATED WITH IT IS IT IS ABOUT ADOPTION RATES, IT IS ABOUT UTILIZATION, IT IS ABOUT DEMOGRAPHICS, IT IS ABOUT PERCEPTIONS, ATTITUDED ASSOCIATED WITH MICROMOBILITY.SO MY HOPE, OBVIOUSLY, AFTER THE SIX MONTHS AND WE'RE ABLE TO COLLECT THIS DATA, THAT IT HELPS OBVIOUSLY SOME PROPRIETORS AND OPERATORS THAT HAVE JUST ENTERED THIS SPACE INTO DOWNTOWN RECENTLY TO DO BIGGER AND BETTER THINGS IN THE FUTURE AND MY HOPE IS WE'LL HAVE A ROBUST OPPORTUNITY IN RFP IN THE FALL OF 2024. BUT VERY EXCITING.
GLAD TO SEE MICROMOBILITY. THE OTHER THING ABOUT THE DATA IS WHEN WE LOOK AT FEDERAL GRANTED ASSOCIATED WITH DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, THEY'RE LOOKING FOR THIS KIND OF DATA FOR US TO BE ABLE TO HOPEFULLY GET SOME GRANTS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT. SO FROM A SCHEDULE STANDPOINT, WE ARE HOPEFUL THAT OBVIOUSLY MARCH THROUGH AUGUST IS WHEN WE'RE GOING TO BE CONDUCTING EXTENSIVE OUTREACH. WE WILL NEED YOUR HELP TO BE ABLE TO INFORM THE OVERALL STRATEGY, MEANING WE WANT FOCUS GROUPS IN YOUR DISTRICTS, WE WANT TO BE DOING A LOT OF ENGAGEMENT, A LOT OF OUTREACH ASSOCIATED WITH THE PLAN, AND WE HOPE TO HAVE PRELIMINARY FINDINGS REGARDING HOUSING STRATEGIES AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CONNECTIVITY, AND PARTNERSHIP STRATEGIES REALLY BY SEPTEMBER WITH THE HOPE TO HAVE A FINAL FINAL REPORT BY NOVEMBER. IT DOESN'T HAPPEN WITHOUT YOU ALL, AND WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE FROM A PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT STAND POINT, WE HAVE SURVEYS, PUBLIC MEETINGS, STAKEHOLDER OUTREACH, COUNCIL DISTRICT FOCUS GROUPS, I'M AN OUTREACH ADVOCACY KIND OF PERSON, SO WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT WE TALK TO EACH OF YOU TO MAKE SURE THERE'S INPUT FROM EACH OF YOUR DISTRICTS. AND THEN FROM AN OVERSIGHT STANDPOINT, PARTNERSHIP TASK FORCE INCLUDING SUBJECT MATTER STAKEHOLDERS AND DOWNTOWN RESIDENTS, GOVERNING BODY BRIEFINGS, WE'LL DO THAT REGULARLY WITH OUR CENTRO BOARD, VISIT SAN ANTONIO -- BODY CONSIDERATION ASSOCIATED WITH WHERE WE LAND.
SO WITH THAT, WE'LL OPEN IT UP TO ANY QUESTIONS ANYONE MIGHT HAVE.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: GREAT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION, TRISH, MARK AND RUDY.
I ASKED FOR THIS PRESENTATION TO START WITH SA TOMORROW BECAUSE
[00:40:01]
I FEEL LIKE WE'VE BEEN TALKING AROUND THE EDGES OF THIS FOR A WHILE, WHICH IS HOW CAN WE BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT OUR GROWTH AND POLICY.THINKING BACK ON HOW SA TOMORROW CAME TOGETHER, RECOGNIZING THAT WE WANT TO BE ALL THOSE THINGS THAT YOU TALKED ABOUT, PROSPEROUS, EQUITABLE, THRIVING, SUSTAINABLE, ET CETERA, I ALWAYS THINK OF THE YOGI BEAR SCW QUOTE, IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING, YOU'LL END UP SOMEPLACE ELSE. SO ALL THOSE PLATITUDES ARE GREAT WITH ALL THE, YOU KNOW, VISIONS THAT WE PUT OUT ABOUT THE CITY. WE NEED A PLAN.
HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET THERE. AND SO THE SA TOMORROW EFFORT WAS IN A SENSE TRYING TO PUT OUR VISION INTO A PLAN OF ACTION.
AND I KNOW WE ONLY WENT OVER LAND USE, RUDY, THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, BUT IT ALSO INCLUDED SUSTAINABILITY AND THE MULTIMODAL PLAN.
AND TWO OF THE BIGGEST TAKEAWAYS FOR ME ABOUT THIS ENTIRE PROCESS OF GETTING TO SA TOMORROW, WHICH WE'RE NOW IN, WHAT, PHASE 5 --
>> THIS YEAR WE'LL BE COMPLETING PHASE THREE AND STARTING PHASE 4.
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: OKAY. PHASE 4, WE GET MORE GRANULAR AND MORE GRANULAR. WHEN WE FIRST CAME OUT WITH THE TIMELINE OF, YOU KNOW, GOING FROM THESE BIGGER AREAS DOWN TO THE SMALLER COMMUNITY AND THEN NEIGHBORHOOD PLANS, IT WAS VERY DAUNTING BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, NOBODY WANTED TO BE HERE FOR A DECADE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT LAND USE STRATEGIES, BUT, IN FACT, IT ACTUALLY TAKES THAT LONG TO DO THE PUBLIC OUTREACH AND DETERMINE SOME OF THE POLICIES THAT WE NEED TO EFFECTUATE THAT.
BUT THE POINT WAS ONE OF THE BIG D TAKEAWAYS OF SA TOMORROW IS WE HAVE A DOWNTOWN, WHICH IS AN ECONOMIC CENTER, AND AS TRISH AND MARK EXPLAINED A MAJOR EMPLOYMENT ZONE. AT THE TIME, THERE WAS NO HOUSING, THERE WAS NO HOUSING MARKET. AND SO WE ADOPTED A HOUSING FIRST STRATEGY, DECADE OF DOWNTOWN, TO ACTUALLY ACTUALLY KICK START A MARKET. WE SCALED BACK AND FORMULATED THE STRATEGY BECAUSE WE RECOGNIZED THE HOUSING MARKET HAD STARTED, WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT NOW WHO'S INVITED TO THE PARTY AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT CREATING HOUSING THAT NOBODY IN OUR COMMUNITY CAN ACTUALLY AFFORD TO LIVE IN. SO WE CHANGED THAT STRATEGY.
BUT THE SA TOMORROW PLAN RECOGNIZED THAT NOT ONLY WAS THERE ONE DOWNTOWN, THERE'S ACTUALLY 12 OTHERS, LIVE/WORK/PLAY ZONES IN OUR COMMUNITY LIKE THE MEDICAL CENTER, THE RIM, LA CANTERA, YOU HAVE THE FORUM IN DISTRICT 10, YOU'VE GOT THE FORT SAM AREA. ESSENTIALLY, THERE'S REGIONAL CENTERS ALL AROUND THIS CITY THAT HAVE RETAIL, COMMERCIAL, RBS RESIDENTIAL, A LOT OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITY WITNESS STAND EVE GO T TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GROW THOSE COMPREHENSIVELY. AND TO DO THAT IT'S GOING TO REQUIRE US TO FOCUS COMPREHENSIVELY ON HOW WE CREATE MORE DENSITY IN THE CITY. IT WILL HELP US PAVE THE WAY FOR TRANSPORTATION, WE CONNECT THOSE WITH AN ACTUAL MASS TRANSIT STRATEGY IN THE CITY AND THEN WE HAVE AN ACTUAL COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. SO I JUST WANT TO, I GUESS, NOW TURN TO YOU, , ERIK. WE ARE EMBARKING ON A PROCESS NOW TO COME UP WITH A TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY.
WHERE ARE THOSE UPDATES? MAYBE IT'S YOU, CAT, BUT WHERE ARE THOSE UPDATES, HOW IS THAT PROCESS GOING TO MOVE FORWARD AND WHAT INPUT WILL THE CITY
COUNCIL HAVE ON THAT? >> SO AS RUDY MENTIONED, WE STARTED OUR KICKOFF WITH OUR TASK FORCE LAST WEEK. THE TASK FORCE MISSION IS TO LOOK AT OUR UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE, SPECIFICALLY OUR TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT ZONING DISTRICT AND COME UP WITH SOME AMENDMENTS. THAT ORIGINAL CODE WAS ADOPTED IN 2001 WITH THE ORIGINAL UDC AND SO IT NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT UP TO DATE.
WE'RE GOING TO BE COORDINATING THOSE EFFORTS ALONG WITH THE TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP UNDER THE REMOVING BARRIERS COMMITTEE THAT'S UNDER THE HOUSING COMMISSION. AND THEIR MISSION IS TO LOOK AT THE ENTIRE UDC TO DETERMINE WHERE THOSE BARRIERS TO ALIGNING OUR HOUSING AND TRANSIT, SO THAT WAY AS THEY IDENTIFY UDC BARRIERS, THEN MAYBE PERHAPS OUR TASK FORCE CAN ALSO TACKLE THOSE AND BRING THEM FORWARD AS A PACKAGE TOGETHER. SO THE WORK OF BOTH THE TASK FORCE, AS WELL AS THE TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP WILL BE ALIGNED TOGETHER, BECAUSE WE'LL BE REPORTING BACK TO EACH OTHER, GETTING THAT INPUT FROM EACH OTHER, AND THEN STARTING THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS WHILE THOSE -- WHILE THE WORK IS GOING ON, SO THAT WAY IT'S FULLY TRANSPARENT, WHICH WE THEN WILL ENTER INTO THE -- IN THE SUMMER, COMING FORWARD WITH SOME PROPOSED RECOMMENDATIONS, PROPOSED DOCUMENTS, THAT WILL HAVE A FULLY INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROCESS WITH PUBLIC MEETINGS.
SO THEN WE GET THAT INPUT INCORPORATED, BRING IT BACK TO YOU BY AUGUST.
SO THAT WAY WE CAN GET YOUR INPUT BEFORE WE START THOSE -- THE RECOMMENDED MEN -- GOING FORWARD TO THE RECOMMENDED BODIES AND
[00:45:02]
COMING BACK TO COUNCIL BY THE END OF THE YEAR. THAT'S JUST ONE PIECE OF IT. AT THE SAME TIME, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT -- LOOKING AT A TOD PLAN, LIKE A POLICY FRAMEWORK THAT HAS THOSE IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES THAT COULD INCLUDE THE MARKET RATE ANALYSIS, THE REZONING PLAN, SO THAT WAY IT FITS THOSE STATIONARY TYPOLOGIES AND THEN ALL OF THE REST OF THE NEXT STEPS THAT HOPEFULLY LEAD TOWARDS IDENTIFYING PROPERTIES THAT WE COULD LANDBANK AND EVEN ROLL INTO THE NEXT HOUSING BOND. SO THAT'S THE NEXT COUPLE YEARS THAT WE'LL BE WORKING ON. BUT, AGAIN, THE FIRST STEP IS TO GET TO COUNCIL BY TEN THE END OF THE YEAR WITH THOSE FIRST STEPS.>> WALSH: MAYOR, JUST TWO OTHER PIECES. THE WORK THAT CAT JUST LAID OUT WILL BE MAKING REGULAR PIT STOPS AT PLANNING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BEFORE IT GETS TO THE FINAL COUNCIL.
AND THEN SECONDLY, I'LL REITERATE, I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS LORI OR TRISH SAID, AS THEY WORKED THROUGH THE STRATEGIC PLAN MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE INCORPORATING THAT ASPECT IN THE WORK THAT CAT'S DESCRIBING SO THAT IT IS COMPLEMENTARY, IT TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE WORK EFFORT ON EITHER
END. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: AND THAT'S WHERE I'M GOING WITH THIS, IS THAT I WOULD HATE FOR THE TOD DISCUSSION TO GET SEPARATED AND SILOED AWAY FROM ALL THESE OTHER EFFORTS THAT ARE GOING ON. WHAT I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HAPPEN AFTER THESE UPDATES GO THROUGH PLANNING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, IS THAT WE COME BACK AND BRING IT IN THE LARGER CONTEXT OF SA TOMORROW.
WE HAVEN'T REALLY HAD TOO MANY UPDATES FROM SA TOMORROW, BUT I COULD SEE US GET ON A CADENCE WHERE WE'RE DOING THIS MAYBE TWICE A YEAR JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT THE TOD STRATEGY CONTINUES TO BE ALIGNED WITH WHAT WE'RE DOING IN THE OTHER REGIONAL CENTERS. AND ONE OF THOSE REGENERAL CENTERS, AGAIN, MAYBE THE MOST IMPORTANT ECONOMICALLY BEING
DOWNTOWN. >> IF I COULD ALSO MENTION, TRISH DEBERRY OR CENTRO IS ONE OF THE TASK FORCE MEMBERS FOR REVIEWING THE TOD, SO WE
CAN MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ALIGNED TOGETHER. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: OKAY.
AND THEN THE OTHER EFFORTS RELATED TO SUSTAINABILITY, RESILIENCY ALSO SHOULD BE TIED IN IN THAT WAY AS WELL.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S DRIVING A LOT OF THIS IS HOUSING AFFORDABILITY.
THE OTHER ELEMENT THAT I THINK ABOUT IS, AGAIN, OUR RESILIENCY EFFORT.
SO MAKING SURE THEY'RE ALL WORKING TOGETHER. I DO HAVE A QUESTION OR TWO ABOUT DOWNTOWN, SPECIFICALLY THE CIRCULATOR.
>> OKAY. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: SO THERE'S GOING TO BE FOUR
VEHICLES? >> UH-HUH. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: TWO
OF THEM ARE GOING TO BE DEDICATED TO UTSA? >> TO UTSA, AND THEN IF THE CITY COMES ON BOARD, IT WILL BE UTSA AND THE CITY, AND THEY'LL BE ZERO OPERATING ON WHAT I SAID WAS THAT FIXED ROUTE DURING PEAK TIMES WHICH IS THE MORNING, LUNCHTIME AND THEN AFTER WORK. .
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: AND THEN THE OTHER TWO WOULD ROAM IN THE.
>> IN THE PID BOUNDARIES. YEAH, UNTIL 7:00 IN THE
EVENING. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: I GET THAT AND THE PID BOUNDARIES ARE ESSENTIALLY THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICTS.
HAS THERE BEEN ANY DISCUSSION ABOUT GETTING DATA -- BECAUSE THIS IS A PILOT, WE'RE TRYING TO LEARN FROM IT, GETTING DATA BEYOND THE PID
BOUNDARIES. >> I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO GET DATA BEYOND THE PID BOUNDARIES AND I HAD A VERY HEALTHY AND ROBUST CONVERSATION WITH SOUTH TOWN --
ME ABOUT THAT. >> IT WAS A LOT OF THE BUSINESS OWNERS AND THE RESTAURANTS. IT WAS A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO GET IN FRONT OF THEM REGARDING THE BOUNDARIES OF THE PID BECAUSE I DON'T THINK THEY REALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT EITHER. SO WHAT WE HAVE ASKED FROM SOUTHTOWN IS GIVE US A ROUTE THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT IN SOUTH TOWN. THE PEARL ALSO WANTS A CIRCULATOR.
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: I HOPE EVERYBODY WANTS A CIRCULATOR.
SO KEEP GOING. >> SO THERE'S A ROUTE THERE, OR WHATEVER.
SO THIS IS A MONEY ISSUE. SO ONCE WE HAVE THE ROUTE, WE CAN TALK TO LOCAL PROPRIETORS, WE CAN TALK TO ECAB THAT WE'RE USING AS PART OF THE PILOT OR WHATEVER, BUT TO YOUR POINT, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAT WE CAN COLLECT -- ELECTRONIC GOLF CARTS ARE NOT THE ONLY MICROMOBILITY OPTION WE'RE GOING TO HAVE IN DOWNTOWN. IF YOU GO TO NASHVILLE, RALEIGH DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, YOU'VE GOT PETDY CABS, TRACTOR TRAILER HAULING BACHELORETTES SINGING AND DANCING.
NOT THAT I WANT OUR DOWNTOWN TO BECOME THAT, BUT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF MICROMOBILITIES OPTIONS. AND SO THIS DATA WILL HELP TO INFORM THAT.
BUT, YES, THERE ARE VERY REGULAR CONVERSATIONS BECAUSE I THINK WHAT WE'RE GOING TO FIND IS THE ADOPTABILITY RATE IS OFF THE CHARTS.
LIKE PEOPLE WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM. YEAH, GETTING ON.
SO... >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: YEAH. AND WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE, ONE DAY IN THE FUTURE WE WON'T HAVE BIG, BIG BUSES THAT ARE HALF EMPTY RUNNING DOWN DOWNTOWN STREETS, WE CAN HAVE SMALLER, MORE AGILE
VEHICLES. >> YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT WARMS MY HEART TO HEAR
[00:50:01]
YOU SAY THAT. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: AND THAT'S WHY I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE AS MUCH DATA AS WE CAN POSSIBLY HAVE AND WHILE VIA IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE CONVERSATION GROUP TO EVALUATE THAT
DATA. >> RIGHT. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: SO I WOULD LIKE US TO EXPLORE, WHETHER IT'S THIS PILOT OR AN ADDITION TO THE PILOT, HOW WE CAN LOOK AT SOUTH TOWN, HOW WE CAN LOOK AT THE OTHER AREAS, INCLUDING THE PEARL. YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF AREAS IN TOWN THAT HAVE DISTINCT CONSTITUENCIES, YOU KNOW, MORE EMPLOYMENT, MORE RESIDENTS, WHATS EVER, BUT USING THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO BRIDGE TO THE NEXT CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT TRANSPORTATION SHOULD LOOK LIKE, NOT JUST IN DOWNTOWN, BUT IN THESE REGIONAL CENTERS, BECAUSE THE SAME KIND OF CONVERSATION WE COULD HAVE AT THE MEDICAL CENTER, WHERE YOU HAVE
PATIENTS AND DOCTORS WHO ARE MOVING AROUND. >> RIGHT.
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: YOU KNOW, BROOKS IS ALREADY DOING THEIR OWN STUDIES.
SO THERE'S A LOT -- MY POINT IS ON THE TRANSPORTATION SIDE, WHICH IS PROBABLY -- OTHER THAN HOUSING, THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF THIS, LET'S TRY TO STUDY AS MUCH AS WE CAN AND BEGIN TO INNOVATE AROUND TRANSPORTATION WITHIN ALL THESE REGIONAL CENTERS, THAT WE CAN APPLY THAT
KNOWLEDGE TO THEM. >> I AGREE. THANK YOU.
IT'S A HUGE OPPORTUNITIES. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: OKAY.
GREAT. WE'LL CONTINUE ON WITH COUNCILMEMBER VIAGRAN.
>> VIAGRAN: THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. IT WAS VERY INFORMATIVE. RUDY, I THINK MY QUESTIONS ARE PRIMARILY FOR YOU IN TERMS OF THE SA TOMORROW PLAN.
AND I LIKE THE CONVERSATION WE HAD BEFORE, BUT I DO WANT TO -- IN TERMS OF THE PHASES, MAYBE IF YOU COULD GET US MORE INFORMATION ON THAT MIXED ZONING, BECAUSE I KNOW IN SOME OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS, CHUPEY AND SOUTH TOWN AND THAT AREA, WHEN WE TALK MIXED ZONING, THERE IS LIGHT INDUSTRIAL AND I THINK WE REALLY NEED TO GET THEIR INPUTS IN. THE OTHER THING IS, YOU KNOW, I HEAR ABOUT THE TRANSPORTATION, BUT I REALLY DO THINK WHEN WE LOOK AT THAT SA TOMORROW PLAN, WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THE SOUTHERN SECTOR AND OUR REGIONAL CENTERS AND WHO'S USING WHAT. BECAUSE I KNOW IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR, WE'VE GOT ST. PHILLIP'S COLLEGE, I'VE GOT BROOKS, WE'VE GOT THE TEXAS A&M REGIONAL CENTER, AND THEN WE'VE GOT THE PORT. AND THAT EAST/WEST CONNECTOR, GETTING THEM TOGETHER AND SEEING HOW THAT GROWS IS GOING TO BE KEY ALSO AS WE MOVE FORWARD. SO I GUESS MY QUESTION REALLY IS HOW ARE WE GOING TO ENGAGE THOSE STAKEHOLDERS AND REALLY SEE THAT THESE REGIONAL CENTERS ARE REALLY CONNECTED TOGETHER? BECAUSE THAT -- YOU KNOW, MY RESIDENTS ARE GOING TO ST. PHILLIP'S COLLEGE, MY RESIDENTS WORK AT PORT OR BROOKS, SO HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT
WE GET THEIR INPUT ON THIS? >> THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTION, COUNCILWOMAN. AND PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUBAREA PLANNING PROCESS IS TO ENSURE THAT THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT THAT VIA AND OTHER TRANSPORTATION STAKEHOLDERS ARE PART OF THE PLANNING PROCESS ITSELF, SO THAT THEY HAVE THE POLICY IN PLACE WHEN WE ADOPT THE SUBAREA PLAN, TO TAKE BACK TO THEIR EITHER AGENCIES OR DEPARTMENTS AND START SUBMITTING FOR PROJECTS, ACTUAL PROJECTS THAT CAN BE -- THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED AS THEY RELATE TO TRANSPORTATION. SO WE MEET WITH CAD REGULARLY.
WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT QUITE A WHILE, SPECIFICALLY ON THE SUBAREA PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED, BROOKS HAS BEEN PART OF THAT CONVERSATION, AS WELL AS BANDERA ROD READ SO WE CAN SUBMIT TO TXDOT AND SO FORTH. WE ARE MAKING THOSE CONNECTIONS.
. >> VIAGRAN: THANK YOU. I APPRECIATE THAT.
PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT MY OFFICE CAN DO TO GET THAT MESSAGE OUT ALSO.
AND I THINK THE KIND OF FINAL THING THAT WE WANT IS IN TERMS OF THAT LARGE PARTICIPATION REGARDING THE UDC, I THINK WE REALLY NEED TO PUSH AND GET THAT INFORMATION OUT BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE A LOT OF CONFUSION COMES IN IN TERMS OF WHAT CODE IS. SO IF YOU COULD -- AS SOON AS YOU GET A FRAMEWORK ON HOW WE'RE GOING TO TAKE THAT OUT TO THE PUBLIC, AND IF NECESSARY -- AND WE NEED TO TAKE IT DOWN TO NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION LEVELS, PLEASE, PLEASE LET US KNOW AND HAVE THAT. BUT THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AND THE OVERVIEW. I APPRECIATE THAT. AND I THINK MY LAST COMMENTS ARE FOR THE DOWNTOWN AREA, I AM -- I AM EXTREMELY IMPRESSED THAT WE WANT TO DO THIS STUDY AND I'M EXCITED ABOUT THAT.
[00:55:02]
I REALLY DO THINK, THOUGH, AS WE MOVE FORWARD, WE NEED TO LOOK CRITICALLY AT THE HOUSING AND AT THE JOBS THAT WE'RE OFFERING.YOU KNOW, I WORKED VISIT SAN ANTONIO, I THINK WE HAVE LOTS OF OPPORTUNITY THERE TO GET CONVENTIONS THAT WE HADN'T HAD BEFORE.
AND I DON'T WANT TO MISS THOSE OPPORTUNITIES, BUT, AGAIN, I DON'T WANT OUR -- THERE SHOULD BE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AND I'M GRAD YOU BROUGHT IT UP, LORI, THAT IS WITHIN WALKING DISTANCE OR WITHIN A RIDE FOR THE RESIDENTS AND IS NOT -- AND IT'S NOT COUCH SURFING.
SO IF WE COULD PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRIORITIZE THAT AND GIVE US AN
UPDATE ON THAT, I'D APPRECIATE IT. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER VIAGRAN. COUNCILMEMBER ROCHA
GARCIA? >> GARCIA: THANK YOU, MAYOR.
AND I JUST WANT TO START OFF BY THANKING RUDY AND LORI AND MARK AND TRISH, AND I'LL START OFF WITH MY QUESTIONS TO RUDY. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH.
RUDY, WHILE YOU COME UP THERE, I DO WANT TO ECHO THE MAYOR -- THE CONCERNS WITH THE BUSINESS OWNERS. I'LL CIRCLE BACK TO YOU ALL, WITH SOUTH TOWN BUSINESS OWNERS, AND SO I LOVE THE IDEAS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. BUT RUDY, ON THE TASK FORCE, WE HAVE REPRESENTATION FROM THE SAN ANTONIO HOUSING TRUST.
I HAD ASKED THAT COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO BE ON THAT TASK FORCE, AND I JUST ASKED HER AND SHE HASN'T BEEN CONTACTED. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT SHE WAS GOING TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE ON THE TASK FORCE TO
REPRESENT THE HOUSING TRUST. >> AND IS THAT SPECIFIC
TO THE TOD TASK FORCE? > >> GARCIA: CORRECT.
AND WE CAN CIRCLE BACK LATER, CAT, BUT, YEAH, JUST CHECK ON IT.
I WAS WORRIED -- I WAS ABOUT TO ASK HER HOW THE MEETING WENT.
I WAS LIKE, LET ME ASK HER. >> SURE.
>> GARCIA: SO THANK YOU FOR THAT. AND LIKE THE MAYOR MENTIONED, AND THANK YOU, I APPRECIATE THIS COMES FIRST THROUGH PCDC LIKE ERIK SAID AND THE COMMUNITY PLANS GIVE ME HOPE BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE THERE'S A LOT OF CONNECTING, RIGHT? THERE'S SO MANY NEEDS THAT ARE JUST SIMILAR IN EVERY CORNER OF THE CITY, AND I LOVE THAT PLANS LIKE THIS BRING IT ALL TOGETHER. SO EVERYBODY WANTS SAFE WALKING PATHS AND MORE PARK SPACE AND SHADE, ESPECIALLY DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, RIGHT? AND THEN RESTAURANTS AND STOREFRONTS THAT KIND OF GIVE COLOR TO THEIR COMMERCIAL SPACES. SO I APPRECIATE THAT.
I'VE ALSO BEEN TALKING TO ERIK WALSH AND MARIA VILLAGOMEZ ON HOW TO REDEVELOP THE SOUTHWEST MILITARY CORRIDOR AND SO LOOKING THROUGH IDEAS FOR THAT. WITH THAT, I WAS WONDERING, YOU MENTIONED THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR. AND SO CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT SOME OF THE SUCCESSES AND MAYBE SOME OF THE NOT SO SUCCESS ITEMS FROM NORTHEAST
CORRIDOR THAT YOU CAN JUST SHARE IN GENERAL. >> SURE.
I MEAN, I THINK THAT FROM THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THAT NORTHEAST CORRIDOR PLAN, THERE HAVE BEEN QUITE A FEW REALLY SIGNIFICANT SUCCESSES.
THE FIRST BEING HAVING AN ACTUAL FUNDING MECHANISM IN ORDER TO FUND PROJECTS. SO THERE IS A NORTHEAST CORRIDOR TIRZ THAT CAME OUT OF THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR REVITALIZATION PLAN.
THERE WAS THAT GRANT PROGRAM FOR FACADE IMPROVEMENTS BECAUSE THAT WAS IDENTIFIED BY THE COMMUNITY AS BEING A HIGH PRIORITY, THE IDEA THAT THERE WERE SO MANY SMALL BUSINESSES THAT WERE JUST HAVING DIFFICULTY ACCESSING RESOURCESFUL AND SO OVER THE YEARS SOME OF THE CHALLENGES REALLY HAVE BEEN THAT MATCHING COMPONENT, WHEN IT WAS FIRST ADOPTED, THERE WAS A MATCHING REQUIREMENT OF -- IT WAS WE WOULD FUND A DOLLAR FOR EVERY DOLLAR THAT A BUSINESS OWNER WOULD PUT IT UP TO $50,000.
WHEN -- I WOULD SAY PROBABLY ABOUT THREE TO FOUR YEARS AGO, WE WORKED WITH THE COUNCIL OFFICE, WITH THE DISTRICTS AND COUNCIL OFFICES AND RECOMMENDED SOME UPDATES TO THAT, BECAUSE I THINK FOLKS WERE HAVING TROUBLE ACCESSING CAPITAL. AND SO WE SAID, HOW ABOUT IF WE SWITCH IT FROM A TWO TO ONE MATCH, AND WE SAW A PRETTY GOOD UPSWING IN THE NUMBER OF PHONINGS FOLKS THAT WERE REQUESTING GRANTS IN ORDER TO IMPROVE THEIR FAW SAWEDS. ANOTHER CHALLENGE RELATED TO THAT PARTICULAR PROGRAM WAS -- I HAVE REALLY OUTDATED SIGNAGE OR IT'S BROKEN. THE LIGHTING SYSTEM'S ON THE OUTSIDE ARE BROKEN. WE NEED TO RESTRIPE OUR PARKING LOTS BECAUSE THEY DON'T MEET CERTAIN CODE REQUIREMENTS BECAUSE THEY WERE DONE SO LONG AGO.
AND SO WE UPDATED THE PROGRAM. WE WERE CONTINUALLY TRYING TO GO THROUGH AN IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM SO THAT WE COULD MAKE IT -- MAKE A PROGRAM THAT WAS BEST FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.
SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE KIND OF GROWING PAINS AND CHALLENGES RELATED TO IT, BUT IT HAS GONE WELL. BUT WE DO THINK IT'S ALSO TIME TO EXPAND THE SCOPE OF THE PROGRAM. AND SO WE'VE BEEN -- YOU KNOW, WE'VE BEEN EVALUATING THIS THING PROBABLY FOR THE LAST YEAR OR SO TO DETERMINE WHAT ARE SOME NEXT STEPS THAT WE CAN TAKE, AND WE'VE BJ WORKING WITH THE COUNCIL OFFICE. AND WE'RE GOING TO PRESENTING SOME IDEAS OVER THE COURSE OF NEXT YEAR AS WE UPDATE THAT PLAN.
>> GARCIA: GOOD. I LOVE THAT. BECAUSE THEN WE COULD
[01:00:02]
LITERALLY TAKE ALL OF THE GOOD AND THE BAD AND APPLY IT WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE SOUTHWEST CORRIDOR AND ITS ALSO ALONG A MILITARY CORRIDOR. SO -- AND THEN MY NEXT QUESTION -- AND SO THANK YOU, BECAUSE I DO THINK THAT BEFORE WE MIGHT NOT HAVE HAD THE RESOURCES OR EVEN THE STAFF TO CARRY THAT OUT, SO I SEE THAT WE'RE EXPANDING, SO I APPRECIATE THAT. ON THE COMPREHENSIVE REZONING, I THINK THAT THAT'S DEFINITELY IMPORTANT AND IT'S EVOLVING.THERE'S ONE CURRENTLY UNDER WAY IN DISTRICT FOUR, BUT IT WAS BY SOUTH SAN HIGH SCHOOL, SO IT'S NOT PART OF THIS PLAN NECESSARILY, BUT I APPRECIATE THEIR EFFORTS ALSO AS THEY'RE THINKING ABOUT HEAVY COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL ZONING. IN THE 2024 KICKOFF -- DISTRICT FIVE AND DISTRICT FOUR SHARE, AND WE ARE CURRENTLY HAVING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT INDUSTRIAL BUSINESS AND SPECIFICALLY IN REGARDS TO WHERE THEY ARE TO RESIDENTIAL HOMES. AND THE BUFFER OR THE CONCEPT, I'LL CALL IT, OF A BUFFER BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS HAS REALLY BECOME CONTROVERSIAL. AND THE EFFECTS ARE JUST ENORMOUS. AND SO AS WE ARE IN SUCH CLOSE PROXIMITY RESIDENTS ARE REALLY CONCERNED AND EVEN OUR NEIGHBORS, RIGHT? AND SO COUNCILMAN CASTILLO AND I SHARE NEIGHBOR DARE AWB WE'LL CALL IT A NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY LIKE NEIGHBORS, THEY ALL TALK TO EACH OTHER, THEY ALL DRIVE PASS THERE. SOME OF THEM HAVE TO DRIVE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER TO GET TO HOME OR WORK, AND SO I'M EXCITED ABOUT THE CCR THAT THE COUNCILWOMAN HAS ON UPDATING CITY CODES SPECIFICALLY FOR AUTO MOWTIVE AND METAL RECYCLING PLANT AND I'M HOPING IT CAN BE HEARD SOON, BUT WE JUST KEEP HEARING THAT IT'S JUST SO DIFFICULT FOR OUR NEIGHBORS TO LIVE THEIR PEACEFUL LIVES. AND THERE'S ALWAYS A WORRY AND EVERY TIME THAT THEY SEE SMOKE, THEY GET WORRIED NATURALLY. AND THEY HAVE FAMILIES THERE.
AND SO, AGAIN, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEE THAT CCR COME FORWARD AND SEE HOW IT'S GOING TO IMPACT THE PLANS. AND THEN ON THE THIRD ARM OF SA TOMORROW, THERE WASN'T TOO MUCH ON THE SUSTAINABILITY PLAN.
I'M HOPING THAT DOUG AND BRIDGET AND YOU CAN WORK WITH MICHAEL SHANNON MAYBE ON A FUTURE ITEM FOR PCDC SPECIFICALLY TO UPDATE OUR GUIDELINES ON THE DEVELOPMENT TO INCREASE OUR SUSTAINABILITY EFFORTS SPECIFICALLY AND THE NATURAL RESOURCES AS IT PERTAIN TO SOIL AND MULCH REQUIREMENTS. I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER TOPIC THAT INTERSECTS AND THAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL TO HUDDLE UP WITH SOONER THAN LATER.
SO THAT'S JUST AN FY I, LIKE WISH LIST OR PARKING LOT ITEM FOR PCDC.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, RUDY. I APPRECIATE YOU. >> YES, MA'AM.
THANK YOU. >> GARCIA: I'M GO ON TO DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN.
SO THE ANSWER IS, YES, LORI, I THINK IT SHOULD STILL CONTINUE TO BE A HOUSING FIRST STRATEGY. I DO THINK THAT WE STILL HAVE A LOT OF THE MISMISSING MIDDLE. AND I APPRECIATE Y'ALL ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DIFFERENT LEVELS. THANK YOU TO MARK AND TO TRISH AND FOR THE ENTIRE TEAM, SHANNON AS WELL, FOR THEIR CONTINUOUS EFFORTS.
WE HAVE SUBURBAN GROWTH THAT WE MIGHT -- SO WE HAD SO MUCH SUBURBAN GROWTH THAT WE DIDN'T INVEST IN DOWNTOWN FOR A LONG TIME, SO I UNDERSTAND WHY MAYOR CASTRO WOULD HAVE FOCUSED ON THE DECADE OF THE DOWNTOWN. I KEEP THINKING ABOUT A DECADE OF NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT I THINK DOWNTOWN IS A NEIGHBORHOOD, RIGHT, SO WE STILL INVEST, LIKE THERE'S -- YOU LIVE HERE, TRISH, RIGHT, AND SO YOU'VE LIVED HERE FOR YEARS. AND SO IT'S NOT JUST FOR OUR TOURIST, IT REALLY IS FOR OUR RESIDENTS. AND WALKING AROUND IS IMPORTANT.
AND I'M PROUD TO SIT ON THE VISIT SAN ANTONIO BOARD, SO I DO UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR OUR CONFERENCE AT 10 DEES TO HAVE RESTAURANTS OR BE ABLE TO BACH UP AND DOWN AND FOR OUR SMALL BUSINESSES TO BE A PART OF IT, BUT I STILL THINK THAT WE HAVE A LOT OF -- A LOT OF WORK SPECIFICALLY IN INVESTMENTS AND PUBLIC INVESTMENTS DOWNTOWN.
AND I APPRECIATE THAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT NEXT BOND PROGRAM AND HOPEFULLY CROSS OUR FINGERS, OUR RESIDENTS GIVE US THAT OPPORTUNITY. IN 2017, WE HAD A LOT OF DOWNTOWN PROJECTS THAT WERE LABELED CITYWIDE AND WE RECEIVED A LOT OF CRITICISM FOR THAT.
AND SO -- ESPECIALLY SOME OF THE ONES THAT WERE DELAYED FOR MULTIPLE TIMES. AND SO THERE WERE ARTICLES THAT WERE PUBLISHED CRITICIZING THE AFFORDABLE, AND SOME OF THE MARKET RATE UNITS, AND I KNOW I HEARD YOU SAY EVEN EARLIER LUXURY UNITS, AND I UNDERSTAND, BUT I WOULD ALSO CAUTION US, RIGHT, THAT WE ARE MAKING SURE THAT WE TAKE CARE OF THOSE THAT NEED THE MOST. THE HOUSING TRUST RESTRUCTURED SINCE THEN, IMPLEMENTED A LOT OF NEW POLICIES BECAUSE THEY RECEIVED SUCH CRITICISM FOR THOSE PROJECTS. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AS WE CRAFT THESE NEW POLICIES AND THE REDEVELOPMENT THAT WE CONSIDER OUR COMMUNITY AT LARGE AND THAT WE COMMUNITY OURSHIP GOALS THAT WE STILL HAVEN'T ATTAINED, RIGHT? AND SO HOW DOWNTOWN CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THAT IS GOING TO BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS FOR ME. SO I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO
[01:05:03]
THAT DOWNTOWN HOUSING STUDY, AND I HOPE THAT IT GETS PRESENTED TO PCDC AS SOON AS IT'S AVAILABLE BECAUSE YOU ALL PROBABLY -- OR IF YOU ALL WEREN'T WATCHING LAST WEEK, WE HAD A PRESENTATION AND 20% AND SO THAT STATISTIC SHOULD BE CONSIDERED WHEN WE'RE DECIDING HOW TO INVEST IN ANY MARKET-RATE HIGH RISES DOWNTOWN OR BEFORE WE INVEST IN ANY MARKET-RATE HIGH-RISES BECAUSE WE NEED TO TAKE CARE OF THE RESIDENTS WHO CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE IN SAN ANTONIO ANYMORE.THOSE ARE ALL MY COMMENTS AND I APPRECIATE YOUR WORK AND I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU ALL.
THANK YOU, MAYOR. >> ABOUT THE TYPE OF HOUSING WE NEED, IT DOESN'T MEAN WE NEED TO INCENT ALL OF THAT HOUSING. WE DO NEED LUXURY HOUSING DOWNTOWN AND THOSE INDIVIDUALS COME WITH DISPOSABLE INCOME. WE DON'T NEED TO INCENT THAT TYPE OF HOUSING.
IT'S ABOUT A HOUSING BALANCE AND WHERE DO WE KEEP THESE PEOPLE COMING IN SAN ANTONIO IN 2040.
SOME NEED AFFORDABLE, SOME NEED MARKET, AND SOME NEED LUXURY. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THE SUBSIDY WILL BE ON THE HOUSING NOT PRODUCED BY THE MARKET. ALL RIGHT.
THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER ROCHA GARCIA. COUNCILMEMBER CASTILLO.
>> CASTILLO: THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU, RUDY FOR THE PRESENTATION AS WELL AS TO YOUR TEAM, ANA AND CHRIS. LUCKILY CHRIS AND CAT WERE AT ONE OF OUR NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION MEETINGS WHERE THEY GAVE AN IN-DEPTH PRESENTATION ON THE SA TOMORROW PLAN AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CONNECTIVITY. SO WE'RE REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THAT.
I WAS FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO PARTICIPATE ON THE WEST SIDE PLAN PRIOR TO BEING IN OFFICE AND COVID HIT SO THINGS FELL APART. IT'S GREAT TO SEE THE PRESENTATION AND THE CONTINUED INITIATIVE OF THE PLANNING TEAM TO ENSURE THIS CONTINUES TO MOVE FORWARD. MY QUESTION IS HOW DO WE ENSURE THAT WE'RE COORDINATING WITH THE COUNTY IN TERMS OF PEDESTRIAN MOBILITY INVESTMENT FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, RIGHT? BECAUSE I KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, IN RELATION TO DOWNTOWN AND THE LINEAR GREENWAYS BUT HOW ARE WE COORDINATING WITH THE COUNTY FOR INFRASTRUCTURE THAT PROTECTS INDIVIDUALS FROM VEHICLES?
>> SURE . I THINK WE CAN DEFINITELY DO A BETTER JOB IN TERMS OF THE DIRECT COLLABORATION WITH THE COUNTY WHEN IT COMES TO THAT SPECIFIC TOPIC.
WE KNOW WE HAVE FOLKS FROM THE COUNTY ON VARIOUS WORKING GROUPS WITHIN OUR -- WITHIN THE SA TOMORROW PLANNING PROCESS. I DON'T KNOW IF THAT SPECIFIC TOPIC HAS BEEN ONE THAT HAS COME
UP BUT WE CAN REACH BACK OUT TO THEM. >> CASTILLO: I THINK IT WOULD BE FAIR TO ENSURE THAT THE COUNTIES ARE LOOPED INTO THESE CONVERSATIONS AS WELL AS PRIORITIZING FUNDING FOR THE INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS FOR PEDESTRIAN AND MOBILITY.
IN REGARDS TO MIXED-USE ZONING, WITH THAT TYPICALLY MEANS PARKING REDUCTIONS.
WE ALWAYS HAVE A GREAT CONVERSATION DEBATE IN SOME OF THE SA TOMORROW PLANNING MEETINGS OF WHAT THAT MEANS. AND MY ZONING DIRECTOR IS GOING TO BE UPSET WITH ME BUT OFTENTIMES THE STRONGEST CHAMPIONS OF REDUCING PARKING HAVE VEHICLES BUT THEY HAVE THE LUXURY OF BUYING A MOTORIZED BICYCLE FOR FUN. WHEREAS MY CONSTITUENTS ARE ALREADY DEPENDENT ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AND THEY USE THOSE PARKING SPOTS FOR FAMILY AND WHEN THEY HAVE EVENTS. ULTIMATELY I DO BELIEVE WE SHOULD BE PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE THAT WE WANT TO LIVE IN NOT NECESSARILY THE CURRENT WORLD WE LIVE IN.
HOWEVER -- RIGHT? I JUST WANT TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE NOT CREATING PARKING PROBLEMS IN OUR COMMUNITIES. FOR EXAMPLE, I HAVE CLAY STREET , IT WAS A HUGE ISSUE.
IT WAS IDZ ZONING. EVERYONE THERE HAD VEHICLES AND IT WAS A PUSH AND PULL WITH HOW NARROW THE STREET WAS. ON THE WEST SIDE, IT'S AN OLDER PART SO NO ZONING CODES WHEN THE STREETS WERE CONSTRUCTED AND THEY'RE NARROW ALLEYS. A CONCERN I HEAR FROM THE COMMUNITY IS HOW ARE WE GOING TO ACCESS OUR HOMES AND WHERE ARE WE GOING TO PUT OUR TRASH CANS.
HOW ARE WE HAVING THOSE CONVERSATIONS WITH COMMUNITY THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE
ACCESS TO THAT SPACE? >> NO. I THINK THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
WE'RE IN THE INFANCY STAGES OF DEVELOPING THOSE MIXED-USE ZONING PROPOSALS.
YES, THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT THE REDUCTION OF PARKING, NOT NECESSARILY THE ELIMINATION OF PARKING REQUIREMENTS. BUT, AGAIN, THOSE ARE STILL -- THERE ARE STILL A LOT OF COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS TO BE HAD.
ONE THING THAT I WOULD REMIND FOLKS IS THAT IT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A ZONING TOOL.
IT'S ONE OF MANY THAT WILL BE IN THE TOOLBOX. IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE BLANKET APPLICATION OF A CERTAIN TYPE OF ZONING DISTRICT. AND IN INSTANCES LIKE YOU WERE SAYING, LIKE CLAY STREET AND STREETS THAT ARE FAIRLY NARROW, A MIXED-USE ZONING DISTRICT PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE APPROPRIATE THERE. I THINK WHEN WE TALK ABOUT MIXED-USE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THOSE AREAS, THE 1950S AND '60S, ORIENTED COMMUNITY
[01:10:06]
CORRIDORS THAT COULD ACCOMMODATE ADDITIONAL HOUSING OPTIONS AS WELL AS SOME OF THE RETAIL THAT ARE IN PLACE NOW. AND SO THOSE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF WHERE IT WOULD BE MOST APPLICABLE BUT IT'S GOING TO BE A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS AND WE'RE NOT INTENDING TO BLANKET APARTICULAR AREA WITH A PARTICULAR ZONING DISTRICT. >> CASTILLO: THANK YOU, RUDY.
I'M GRATEFUL WE'RE HAVING ALL THESE CONVERSATIONS TOGETHER BECAUSE IN TERMS OF TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT THERE'S A WEALTH OF CASE STUDIES AND LITERATURE OF THE WAYS IN WHICH TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT IF IT DOESN'T HAVE AN EQUITY OR HOUSING-FIRST APPROACH CAN FACILITY GENTRIFICATION. DISTRICT 5 HAS THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CONSTITUENTS WHO DO NOT HAVE A VEHICLE. THEY ALREADY RELY ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. HOW OFTEN SOME OF THESE PLANS CAN DISPLACE THEM TO THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE CITY. WHILE WE ARGUE WE'RE INCREASING ACCESSIBILITY, IT ADDS TO THEIR COMMUTE TIME BECAUSE NOW THEY'RE COMMUTING FROM DISTRICT 10 INSTEAD OF DISTRICT 15.
I BELIEVE THE HOUSING COMMISSION WAS BRIEFED ON AUSTIN TRANSIT-ORIENTED EQUITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN BUT I BELIEVE IT HAS TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE SA TOMORROW AND THE DOWNTOWN PLAN THAT WE'RE GOING TO I WANTED TO SHIFT OVER TO THE DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN AND I WOULD ALSO HIGHLIGHT AND I'M PLEASED TO HEAR THAT IT WASN'T NECESSARILY BE MARKET RATE THAT WOULD BE INCENTIVIZED.
LOOKING AT THE CURRENT STRATEGIC HOUSING IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, WE'RE PRETTY WELL AT DEVELOPING MARKET-RATE HOUSING WHEREAS 60% AND BELOW IS WHERE WE'RE STRUGGLING THE MOST AND LEARNING THAT THE OPPORTUNITY HOME WAITING LIST HAS INCREASED TO 110,000 --
>> CASTILLO: DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING? >> I DON'T WANT TO IMPACT YOUR TIME BUT MARKET RATE IS DIFFERENT THAN LUXURY. THERE'S NO NEED TO SUBSIDIZE LUXURY MARKET RATE TO KEEP IT FROM BUYING OUT THE AFFORDABILITY SUPPLY.
SO THOSE WILL BE PROVIDED TO YOU IN FORMS OF NUMBERS AND ECONOMICS BUT IT MAY COME BACK AND SAY YOU NEED A SMALL SUBSIDY FOR MARKET RATE BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT IT'S GOING TO BUY OUT THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING SUPPLY AND EAT UP THAT SUPPLY. SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S NOT COMPLETELY FOCUSED ON AFFORDABILITY. IT'S FOCUSED ON THE ENTIRE
HOUSING MARKET. >> CASTILLO: WE'RE TALKING ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING, MARKET RATE, LUXURY, BUT ALSO THE USE OF PUBLIC HOUSING DOWNTOWN, WHICH WE'RE SEEING DISAPPEAR AND I THINK THERE'S OPPORTUNITY TO THE POINT THAT MONTHLY 1,000 FAMILIES ARE BEING ADDED TO THAT PUBLIC HOUSING WAITING LIST DEMONSTRATES A NEED. I WANT TO THANK MY COLLEAGUE FOR FILING THAT COUNCIL CONSIDERATION REQUEST, HIGHLIGHTING -- LORI KNOWS MORE THAN ALL OF US, HAVEN FOR HOPE MAXED OUT WITH UNHOUSED FAMILIES AND THE GROWING WAITING LIST.
MY CONSTITUENCY HEARING WE WANT TO INVEST IN COSMETIC INVESTMENT DOWNTOWN WHEN THERE'S A NEED FOR MANY OF OUR FAMILIES AND VETERANS TO JUST FIND A PLACE WITH SHELTER IS GOING TO BE A HARD SELL. SO I THINK BY INCLUDING A HOUSING-FIRST STRATEGY, MY CONSTITUENCY WILL BE MORE INCLINED TO BE SUPPORTIVE OF THAT TYPE OF STRATEGY.
ON ANOTHER PIECE REGARDING THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, I WANTED TO THANK MARK AND TRISH FOR THE BRIEFING. I THANKED TRISH FOR REACHING OUT TO ONE OF OUR DISTRICT 5 BUSINESSES. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THAT INITIATIVE.
NO DOUBT THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY AND THE WORKERS ARE THE BACKBONE OF THIS ENTIRE DOWNTOWN ECONOMY AND I'M GRATEFUL TO SEE THAT YOU ALL HAVE HIGHLIGHTED THAT.
IN REGARDS TO THE STAKEHOLDER GROUPS THAT ARE GOING TO TAKE PLACE, I WOULD STRONGLY ENCOURAGE INCLUDING LABOR UNIONS, RIGHT, WHICH WOULD INCLUDE UNITE HERE WHICH REPRESENTS HOSPITALITY WORKERS AS WELL AS THE FOLKS WHO ARE RETROFITTING AND BUILDING THE BUILDINGS THAT HELP CREATE ALL THIS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT DOWNTOWN .
>> THAT'S A GREAT POINT. >> CASTILLO: LASTLY, ENSURING HOW WE CAN MITIGATE JOB DISPLACEMENT. I GAVE THE EXAMPLE, THE BEER GARDEN TO EXPAND THE ALAMODOME.
THERE ARE MANY WAITRESSES, SERVERS, AND BARBACKS DISPLACED FROM THEIR JOBS.
THEY WERE JUST SOL AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE FOLKS WHO DRIVE THIS ECONOMY ARE BEING TAKEN CARE OF AS WE'RE DEVELOPING THESE LARGER-SCOPE PLANS.
>> THANK YOU. >> CASTILLO: THANK Y'ALL. THANK YOU, MAYOR.
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER CASTILLO. COUNCILMEMBER CABELLO HAVRDA.
[01:15:06]
>> HAVRDA: THANK YOU, MAYOR. AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATIONS, RUDY, LORI, TRISH, AND MARC. I'M STARTING WITH THE SECOND PRESENTATION.
WE UNDERSTAND DOWNTOWN SAN ANTONIO IS CENTRAL TO OUR ECONOMY AND IDENTITY AS A CITY.
WE KNOW CITIES ACROSS THE WORLD LOOK TO OUR DOWNTOWN AS AN EXAMPLE HOW TO DO THINGS RIGHT.
WHEN YOU MENTIONED HOW FAR WE HAVE COME FROM THE LAST STUDY, WHICH WAS 2009, MAYBE WE DON'T SEE IT EVERY DAY BUT PEOPLE ARE NOTICING SO I DO APPRECIATE THAT COMMENT.
CONGRATULATIONS ON IT, EVERYBODY. CONGRATULATIONS, EVERYBODY FOR SUCH A GREAT DOWNTOWN. I RAN INTO TRISH DOWNTOWN AND WE WERE WALKING BACK TO CITY HALL, OR WALKING NEAR EACH OTHER AS YOU WERE GOING BACK TO YOUR OFFICE.
AND A CENTRO WORKER CAME UP TO HER AND GAVE HER A HUG. SHE KNEW HER EMPLOYEE.
I HADN'T SEEN THAT BEFORE WITH THE ORGANIZATIONS SO I LOVE THAT YOU KNOW ALL YOUR EMPLOYEES AND THEY KNOW YOU AND IT'S A TESTAMENT TO YOUR LEADERSHIP. APPRECIATE THAT YOU'RE THERE.
YOU MENTIONED THERE'S 12,000 OR SO JOBS PER SQUARE MILE. I MAY HAVE GOT THAT STAT WRONG BUT IN DOWNTOWN SAN ANTONIO. I IMAGINE THAT MANY OF THOSE ARE IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY.
YOU KNOW, I THINK THAT MY DISTRICT IS -- WE CALL IT A COMMUTER DISTRICT.
THEY LIVE IN DISTRICT 6 BUT THEY WORK DOWNTOWN, AT THE PORT, USAA.
OF COURSE WE HAVE A LOT OF ACTIVE VETERANS IN DISTRICT 6. THERE'S ALSO A STATISTIC THAT VIA MENTIONS OFTEN AND I'M GOING TO KIND OF -- IT'S A KIND OF A QUIRKY STAT THAT I JUST WANT TO MENTION. SO I'M GOING TO SAY IT LIKE THIS, AS WE TALK IN POLITICAL CIRCLES. MS. MARTINEZ. SHE USES THE BUS.
SHE RELIES ON VIA. IF FROM HER FIRST STOP TO HER JOB THAT'S 45 MINUTES AWAY, SHE ONLY HAS ACCESS TO 12% OF THE JOBS IN THIS CITY. SO OF COURSE VIA HAS TO BE A BIG PART OF THIS. THAT'S A PRETTY COMPELLING STATISTIC SO EVERY MINUTE YOU ADD KIND OF EXPANDS THAT FOR HER. REALLY, I'M SORRY, THE OPPOSITE.
IT LOWERS THAT FOR HER. I'D LIKE TO SEE THE NEEDS OF WORKERS CONTINUE TO BE INCLUDED IN FUTURE CENTRO PLANS WITH THE DATA THAT YOU'RE COLLECTING. HOW THEY GET TO WORK.
ARE THEY USING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION? WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS FOR DOWNTOWN EMPLOYMENT? I MEAN, I THINK THERE'S A WORKER TRANSPORTATION SORT OF INFORMATION GAP. AND I'M SURE IN THIS STUDY WE CAN HOPEFULLY WORK ON THAT.
AND I WOULD URGE US ALL TO FIND A WAY TO FILL THAT GAP. OF COURSE CENTRO HAS MY SUPPORT.
VISIT SAN ANTONIO HAS MY SUPPORT. I BRAG ABOUT DOWNTOWN ALL THE TIME BUT WE CAN ALWAYS MOVE AND DRIVE TO BE BETTER AND I THINK THIS IS WHAT THIS PLAN WILL DO, I'M HOPING. I ACTUALLY DIDN'T HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
I MAY ACTUALLY COME BACK TO A QUESTION FOR LATER. THANK YOU.
>> THANK YOU VERY MUCH. >> HAVRDA: SO GOING BACK TO THE FIRST ITEM, AT THE BASIC LEVEL, ESPECIALLY THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN IS A BLUEPRINT FOR GROWTH.
AND A LARGER SENSE THIS PLAN DOCUMENTS OUR ASPIRATIONS, THE CITY THAT WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS RAPIDLY BUT ALSO MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE SHAPING IT, HOW OUR COMMUNITY WANTS TO SHAPE IT.
THE QUESTIONS WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO ASK OURSELVES IS HOW WE KEEP GETTING BETTER.
HOW DO WE DO OUR BEST WORK. WHAT MORE DO WE HAVE TO OFFER. AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT THE COMMUNITY'S IDEAS AND CONCERNS ARE REFLECTED IN THE PLAN, ESPECIALLY WITH THE TOD DEVELOPMENT, PLANNING WITH VIA. I EXPECT ENGINEERS AND PLANNERS ARE DOING ALL THEIR BEST WORK BUT I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ALSO -- I THINK YOU MENTIONED IN 516 THAT YOU'RE INCLUDING REPRESENTATIVES FROM THE NEIGHBORHOODS, WHICH IS CRUCIAL.
BUT ALSO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE TALKING TO ACTUAL VIA RIDERS. IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN THEY'RE USING VIA. AT TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE WE HAD SOME PEOPLE TALK TO US, MAINLY BECAUSE I THINK THEY WERE WORRIED. THEY HAVE A REGULAR ROUTE THAT THEY USE AND NOT TO GET TOO INTO THE WEEDS ON THAT BUT MAKE SURE WE'RE INCLUDING ACTUAL VIA RIDERS OUT OF NECESSITY AND OF CHOICE IN THOSE PLANS. LAST WEEK I WAS IN LAREDO FOR A CONFERENCE AND TRANSPORTATION MEETING AND SOME OF Y'ALL PROBABLY KNOW THIS, BUT LAREDO IS THE NUMBER ONE PORT IN THE COUNTRY, WHICH IS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT.
WE HEARD SOME STATISTICS. 86% OF ALL PRODUCE IS COMING THROUGH BOTH FAR AND LAREDO THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. IT WAS REALLY INTERESTING TO HEAR.
10,000 TRUCKS ARE TRAVELING NORTH FROM LAREDO AND I-35 EVERY DAY.
AND THEY'RE DOING A LOT OF WORK ALONG THAT ROUTE AND EXPANDING THE BRIDGE TO DO THAT.
AS THEY'RE COMING THROUGH SAN ANTONIO -- IT SEEMS LIKE I'M GETTING OFF TOPIC, I
[01:20:01]
UNDERSTAND -- BUT I THINK WHAT'S HAPPENING AROUND US NEEDS TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS PLAN AS WELL.HOW ARE WE HANDLING THOSE TRUCKS THAT ARE COMING THROUGH SAN ANTONIO? BECAUSE WE'RE COMING STRAIGHT FROM LAREDO TO SAN ANTONIO AND BEYOND ALL THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. SO HOW ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THAT IN THIS COMPREHENSIVE PLAN?
>> SURE. I WILL ACTUALLY ALLOW CAT TO ELABORATE A LITTLE BIT MORE BUT I CAN SAY JUST FROM THE EXPERIENCE THAT WE'VE HAD COLLECTIVELY BETWEEN THE THREE DEPARTMENTS, THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY, THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, AND NOW THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT, THERE'S A LOT OF BACKUP DOCUMENTATION WITHIN THE MULTIMODAL PLAN ABOUT HOW WE ADDRESS FREIGHT AND LARGE TRUCK MOVEMENT IN AND AROUND THE METROPOLITAN AREA OF SAN ANTONIO. AND SO I THINK THAT AS THE PLAN CONTINUES TO GET UPDATED AND IMPLEMENTED, THOSE ITEMS IN PARTICULAR ARE GOING TO BE ADDRESSED QUITE A BIT. CAT, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANTED TO ADD TO THAT?
>> MAKING SURE WE COORDINATE WITH OUR MPO AS WELL BECAUSE THEY ARE LOOKING AT THAT.
>> HAVRDA: THAT'S ME. GOOD. I'M GLAD TO KNOW THAT.
AGAIN, I THINK IT'S JUST IMPORTANT WE HAVE TO FOCUS ON WHAT'S GOING ON HERE BUT EVERYTHING AROUND US IS GROWING AS WELL AND WE HAVE TO TAKE THAT INTO ACCOUNT.
AGAIN, I THINK THIS IS GOING TO BE OUR BEST WORK AND MANY OF THESE PLANS HAVE NEEDED UPDATING FOR A LONG TIME AND WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO DO BETTER FOR OUR COMMUNITY.
TO THE MAYOR'S POINT, THE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT TOD, REGIONAL CENTERS, ALL OF THOSE SHOULD BE HAPPENING SIMULTANEOUSLY, INCLUDING WHAT'S HAPPENING ALONG THE BORDER, ESPECIALLY THROUGH LAREDO AND TRANSPORTATION. AND SO ON THAT SAME NOTE, INCLUDING -- AND THIS IS REALLY FOR I GUESS BOTH ITEMS -- INCLUDING -- WELL, I UNDERSTAND IT'S NOT A SOLID PLAN BUT THERE'S A LOT OF RUMBLINGS AND TALK.
ARE WE TALKING ABOUT A DOWNTOWN SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT AREA? IS THAT PART OF BOTH OF THESE
PLANS? >> THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE THERE'S A LOT OF CHATTER OUT THERE ABOUT THAT. THE ORIGINAL SCOPE DID HAVE A SECTION ASSOCIATED WITH SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS. OBVIOUSLY, THE PRICE OF THE PLAN WENT UP SIGNIFICANTLY BECAUSE THEY WERE PROPOSING AN ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDY ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
NOT KNOWING WHERE THINGS ARE RIGHT NOW REGARDING SPECIFIC LOCATIONS, OTHER PARTNERS WHO I THOUGHT PROBABLY WERE LOOKING AT ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDIES AND CONDUCTING THAT, I KIND OF WANTED TO LEAVE THAT OUT OF THIS FOR RIGHT NOW. UNDERSTANDING MAYBE WHEN WE COME BACK, OBVIOUSLY IN SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER IN THE FALL THERE WILL BE MORE CONCRETE PLANS ABOUT WHAT, IF ANYTHING, MAY HAPPEN. BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO BE EXCESSIVE ABOUT SPENDING MONEY AND PROMOTING SOMETHING THAT WE REALLY DIDN'T HAVE ADOPTED FORMALLY YET. BUT THEY WERE VERY, VERY INTERESTED, OBVIOUSLY, IN THAT TOPIC. YES. BECAUSE THEY SAW A HUGE
OPPORTUNITY FOR DOWNTOWN. >> HAVRDA: THAT MAKES SENSE. NOT KIND OF WASTING THE TIME AND
MONEY ON IT BUT THERE IS ROOM FOR EXPANSION. >> ABSOLUTELY.
>> HAVRDA: THANK YOU SO MUCH. THAT'S ALL. THANK YOU, MAYOR.
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER CABELLO HAVRDA. COUNCILMEMBER ALDERETE GAVITO.
>> GAVITO: THANK YOU, MAYOR. I WAS GOING TO START WITH THE DOWNTOWN PRESENTATION, TRISH, FOR YOU. I WAS SURPRISED TO SEE THE CIRCULATOR SHUTTLE PILOT IN THE PRESENTATION. I DON'T THINK IT WAS SENT IN THE SLIDES ON MONDAY.
AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS WAS A COLLABORATION WITH CENTRO, UTSA, VIA BUT IT WAS ALSO MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE CITY IS CONTRIBUTING $100,000 TO THIS EFFORT, IS THAT RIGHT?
CAN YOU REFRESH MY MEMORY WHEN THAT FUNDING WAS APPROVED? >> WALSH: IT HASN'T BEEN
APPROVED YET. IT'S JUST PROPOSED. >> GAVITO: OKAY.
CITY FUNDING HASN'T BEEN APPROVED. OKAY.
I KNOW, TRISH, THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT I HAD CONCERNS ABOUT PASSING OFF A LOCAL COMPANY FOR THIS AUSTIN-BASED SHUTTLE COMPANY FOR THIS PROGRAM. I KNOW IT'S JUST A PILOT BUT PILOTS GIVE COMPANIES AN ADVANTAGE FOR COMPETING FOR MORE LONG-TERM CONTRACTS.
AND THIS IS HOW WE CONTINUALLY PASS UP ON OUR LOCAL SMALL BUSINESSES AGAIN AND AGAIN.
SO CAN YOU WALK US THROUGH THE THOUGHT PROCESS OF PICKING A NON-LOCAL COMPANY FOR THIS
PROGRAM OVER A LOCAL ONE? >> SO I THINK -- CERTAINLY. WE ARE VERY SUPPORTIVE.
CENTRO IS VERY SUPPORTIVE OF EASY GO AND SA GO BUT THEY ARE VERY, VERY NEW TO THE MARKET, ASSOCIATED WITH THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH DATA COLLECTION. CENTRO PROMOTES AND SUPPORTS BOTH OF THOSE ORGANIZATIONS ON A VERY REGULAR BASIS. I THINK THE BEAUTY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PROGRAM IS THIS SHOULD NOT BE AN EITHER/OR CONVERSATION BUT IT SHOULD BE AN "AND" CONVERSATION. MEANING WE HAVE VERY SPECIFIC BUSINESS OBJECTIVES ASSOCIATED WITH UTSA AND WHAT THEY WANT TO BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH. AND I HAVE TO HAVE THIS DATA.
I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET MY BOARD APPROVAL IF WE WEREN'T GOING TO HAVE CONTINUAL DASHBOARD DATA ASSOCIATED WITH THIS. MY HOPE, OBVIOUSLY ASSOCIATED
[01:25:01]
THIS -- BECAUSE WE'RE NOT OPERATING IN THE EVENINGS. WE'RE ALSO NOT OPERATING ON THE WEEKENDS, WHICH IS WHEN I WOULD THINK IS PROBABLY PRIME TIME FOR THE SMALLER OPERATORS WE HAVE DOWNTOWN. BECAUSE I SPECIFICALLY DID NOT WANT TO BE COMPETING WITH THEM.LIKE I SAID, WE'VE GOT TWO OBJECTIVES HERE AND I THINK THEY BOTH CAN BE MET AND MY HOPE IS AFTER THE SIX MONTHS AND THE DATA COLLECTION WE HAVE, THERE'S A HUGE OPPORTUNITY IN THE SPACE.
OBVIOUSLY FOR EASY GO AND SA GO TO EITHER SCALE THEIR OPERATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE DATA THAT WE'RE ABLE TO GLEAN. OR THAT PERHAPS THEY CAN PARTNER UP ST WE LOOK AT SCALABILITY ASSOCIATED WITH THE FINAL FOUR THAT COMES IN 2025 WHERE YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE
MULTIPLE CARS THAT ARE DEPLOYED TO AN AREA LIKE THAT. >> GAVITO: THAT MAKES SENSE.
IN TERMS OF DATA COLLECTION, CAN YOU WALK ME THROUGH WHAT THAT PROCESS WOULD LOOK LIKE?
>> SO THE DASHBOARD YOU SEE UP HERE IS THE DATA THAT WE'RE GOING TO COLLECT EVERY SINGLE DAY. SO, LIKE I SAID, IT HAS DEMOGRAPHICS.
IT HAS UTILIZATION. IT HAS ADOPTION RATES, ATTITUDES, PERCEPTIONS.
WHAT I LIKED TOO ABOUT THE VENDOR THAT WE CHOSE, OBVIOUSLY, IS THEY'RE PAYING A LIVING WAGE TO THEIR DRIVERS. THEY'RE NOT ACCEPTING ANY TIPS, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT FROM A BUSINESS MODEL STANDPOINT. IF SOMEBODY IS ACCEPTING JUST TIPS ASSOCIATED WITH IT, YOU MAY PASS UP SOMEBODY WHO NEEDS A RIDE BECAUSE YOU DON'T THINK THEY CAN TIP AS MUCH. THAT WEIGHED INTO THE CONVERSATION TOO.
BUT YOU AND I PROBABLY ARE DATA GEEKS WHEN IT COMES TO INFORMING STRATEGY AND SO THE OPPORTUNITY THAT E-CAB PROVIDED, ASSOCIATED WITH A UNIQUE CAPABILITY WAS REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT NOT JUST TO UTSA BUT THE CENTRO. AND I HOPE, OBVIOUSLY, AS FAR AS THE CITY IS CONCERNED.
MY APOLOGIES. I DID NOT MEAN TO GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT THE CITY HAD SIGNED OFF ON ANYTHING. WE HAVE UTSA, CENTRO, AND VIA. YOU GUYS HAVE A VOTE TO TAKE
REGARDING APPROPRIATION OF THAT FUNDING. >> GAVITO: I FEEL PRETTY CONFIDENT THAT A COMPANY IN THE SPACE, A LOCAL COMPANY IN THE SPACE, COULD PROVIDE THAT SAME AMOUNT OF DATA. AND I DO THINK THIS IS WHAT WE WORK WITH OUR LOCAL COMPANIES TO HELP BOOST THEM SO THEY'RE NOT GETTING PASSED OVER. I KNOW IT MAY NOT SEEM LIKE A BIG DEAL BUT TO OUR SMALL BUSINESSES, THIS IS A HUGE DEAL AND I UNDERSTAND IT IS JUST A PILOT BUT YOU HAVE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE WHEN YOU WIN A PILOT AND YOU'VE BEEN DOING IT FOR A WHILE, FOR A LONGER-TERM CONTRACT. WHATEVER COMMITTEE IS GOING TO DISCUSS THIS, WHETHER IT'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WORKFORCE, OR PCDC, I DO THINK WE NEED TO DRILL IN ON WHY, BEFORE THE CITY INVESTS, ON WHY IT CAN'T BE LOCAL.
>> SO I THINK FROM A DATABASE COLLECTION STANDPOINT, THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION, OBVIOUSLY.
BUT WHAT E-CAB OFFERS IS THEY'RE APP BASED. CURRENT OPERATIONS WE DON'T HAVE APPS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT. WE ONLY HAVE WEB ASSOCIATED WITH ONE OF THEM.
THE ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO GATHER THE KIND OF DATA WE NEED DAILY JUST DIDN'T EXIST.
LIKE I SAID, IF WE MOVE FORWARD WITH A MORE -- WHICH MY HOPE IS THAT THIS IS GOING TO GO AND BE VERY POPULAR FROM A MICRO MOBILITY OPTION. AS WE MOVE FORWARD, I THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE A LOCAL COMPONENT ASSOCIATED WITH IT. MY PROBLEM WAS I HAD RESPONSES TO AN INVITATION TO SUBMIT FROM COMPANIES THAT HAD 14 YEARS IN THE SPACE VERSUS SOMEBODY THAT HAD FOUR WEEKS IN THE SPACE. AND SO IT JUST WAS -- AND THE FOLKS THAT WERE LOCAL AND HAD FOUR WEEKS IN THE SPACE WERE $100,000 MORE. SO A LOT OF VARIABLES PLAYED INTO THE DECISION, YES, BUT I JUST WANT TO BE CLEAR. I'M AN ENTREPRENEUR.
OBVIOUSLY I UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF SMALL BUSINESS AND HOW WE COMPETE SO MY HOPE IS THAT WHEN WE HAVE A MORE ROBUST RFP AND WHEN WE HAVE A THREE OR FOUR-YEAR PROGRAM ASSOCIATED WITH WHAT MICRO CIRCULATION LOOKS LIKE DOWNTOWN, WE HAVE HUGE LOCAL PARTICIPATION AND THIS DATA IS GOING TO TEACH THEM WHAT THEY NEED TO DO TO SCALE THEIR PROGRAM.
>> GAVITO: SURE. AND I KNOW THAT YOU DO HAVE A BUSINESS BACKGROUND AND I DON'T NECESSARILY QUESTION THE JUDGMENT OF THE -- I THINK COUNCILMAN COURAGE HAS A CALL. OF THE DECISION.
I DO THINK, EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A PILOT AND WE'RE PASSING UP ON OUR LOCALS, THIS IS JUST HOW THIS HAPPENS OF US PASSING UP ON LOCAL COMPANIES AGAIN AND AGAIN. AGAIN, IN WHATEVER COMMITTEE IT'S DISCUSSED IN. AND WE CAN DISCUSS IT MORE OFFLINE TOO.
I DO HOPE THAT WE TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT IF OUR LOCAL COMPANY CAN PROVIDE THAT DASHBOARD AND MORE,
ALSO PAY A LIVING WAGE AND MORE. >> THEY WOULD BE HUGELY COMPETITIVE.
IN FACT, I'M LEAVING THIS MEETING TO MEET WITH SA GO TO TALK ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY MOVING FORWARD. I'M HAPPY TO MEET WITH YOU AFTER THAT.
>> GAVITO: WITH THE $100,000 FOR THE CITY, WHEN WOULD THAT -- ERIK, WHERE IS THAT GOING TO GO
[01:30:04]
OR GET APPROVED? >> THE PILOT PROGRAM FOR THIS FUNDING IS SCHEDULED FOR MARCH 21ST. WHEN WE COLLECT THE DATA AND READY TO GO FORWARD, WE WILL COME TO THE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE WITH OUR RECOMMENDATIONS MOVING FORWARD.
>> WALSH: THE PROPOSED CONTRIBUTION, WE'RE SCHEDULING THAT FOR THE MARCH 21ST A
SESSION AGENDA. >> GAVITO: THANK YOU. THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD ABOUT DOWNTOWN WAS PARKING. I KNOW THAT WE DISCUSSED THIS TOO.
HOW MANY LOCALS DO NOT FEEL CONNECTED TO THE DOWNTOWN AREA, EVEN THOUGH EVERYTHING THAT, ALL THE COMMENTS WERE SPOT ON. DOWNTOWN IS ALL OF OURS. AND WE DO NEED TO INVEST IN DOWNTOWN. HOWEVER, SO MANY RESIDENTS DO FEEL DISCONNECTED BECAUSE OF PARKING LIMITATIONS. IT'S TOO EXPENSIVE AND I KNOW THAT THE CITY OFFERS LOTS WITH CHEAPER PARKING BUT DO WE HAVE A PLAN ON HOW WE CAN LET OUR RESIDENTS KNOW -- ON HOW THEY CAN ENGAGE WITH THESE DOWNTOWN EVENTS LIKE HOLIDAYS ON HOUSTON AND GET OVER THE PARKING HURDLE?
IT'S A REAL THING. >> OBVIOUSLY THE CITY HAS DONE STUDIES ON PARKING AND MY EXPERIENCE WITH CENTRO HAS BEEN THERE'S PLENTY OF AVAILABLE PARKING.
BUT YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. IT'S EXPENSIVE. MY HOPE IS THIS -- A COUPLE OF THINGS. WITH MORE MICRO MOBILITY OPTIONS IN DOWNTOWN, YOU DON'T HAVE PARKING FOLKS HOLDING PEOPLE HOSTAGE SAYING YOU HAVE TO PARK HERE.
AN THEN WHEN YOU WANT TO GET ACROSS DOWNTOWN YOU HAVE TO LEAVE AND PARK SOMEWHERE ELSE.
THAT'S ANOTHER 20 BUCKS ON TOP OF THAT. MY HOPE IS THAT HAVING THE MICRO MOBILITY OPTIONS TO GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B THAT'S FREE OF CHARGE HELPS DRIVE DOWN THAT COST OF PARKING. THAT IS MY HOPE AND MAYBE SOMETHING LIKE THAT HAPPENS.
I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SEE SURFACE LOTS IN DOWNTOWN. WE HAVE A LOT OF THEM BUT I DON'T HAVE ANY CONTROL OVER SURFACE LOTS. BUT I THINK THE BIGGER QUESTION THAT YOU'RE ASKING IS REALLY -- AND THAT'S CONTINGENT UPON CENTRO AND UPON MY BEING IN THE SEAT IS WE NEED TO DO -- I TOLD YOU THIS. I DON'T THINK CENTRO HAS DONE A VERY GOOD JOB REGARDING OUTREACH TO NEIGHBORHOODS DOWNTOWN. WHETHER IT'S YOUR DISTRICT, WHETHER IT'S COUNCILWOMAN ROCHA GARCIA DISTRICT OR COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO'S DISTRICT, WE NEED TO BE TALKING TO HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION AND TALKING TO SOUTH TOWN AND HARMONY HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION. THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT CENTRO IS SO THE OPPORTUNITY EXISTS TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT QUESTIONS ABOUT PARKING. WHERE DO WE PARK.
WHEN IS FREE PARKING? WHAT ARE YOUR SUGGESTIONS ABOUT HOW WE GET FROM POINT A TO POINT B. ALL THOSE THINGS ARE HUGELY IMPORTANT BUT CENTRO, SHAMEFUL, WE HAVE NOT DONE A GOOD JOB OF THAT. MY HOPE IS THAT YOU WILL SEE US OUT THERE AND I WOULD LOVE TO TALK TO YOUR ASSOCIATION AND YOUR RESIDENTS AT ANY TIME.
DO YOU WANT TO ADD TO THE PARKING? IT'S A CONSTANT QUESTION THAT
COMES UP. >> HOUSTON: WE KNOW WHEN WE GO OUT TO THE DISTRICTS AND HAVE THE FOCUS GROUPS, YOU ALL HELP US FACILITATE. I DON'T COME DOWNTOWN BECAUSE OF PARKING. ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS WILL DO A PARKING PLAN.
THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT COMES OUT OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN AND THAT BECOMES AN IMPLEMENTATION COMPONENT. NOW, WITH REGARDS TO LARGE EVENTS, WE ARE ALL WORKING TOGETHER, WHETHER IT'S SAPD TRAFFIC, JOHN JACKS, AND COMING UP WITH INDIVIDUALIZED PLANS FOR EACH OF THOSE EVENTS ON HOW TO GET TO EVENTS AND WHERE TO PARK. AND WE COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB AT HOLIDAYS AT HOUSTON AND IT WAS TREMENDOUSLY SUCCESSFUL BUT THERE WERE A FEW MISSES AND ONE OF THEM WAS HOW WE CAN ENGAGE BETTER WITH EACH OF THE DISTRICTS.
SO WE ARE WORKING ON THAT PLAN AND THAT WILL INCLUDE A PARKING PLAN FOR EACH COUNCIL DISTRICT
AS WELL. >> GAVITO: PERFECT. SOUNDS GOOD.
THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MAYOR. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK YOU,
COUNCILMEMBER ALDERETE GAVITO. COUNCILMEMBER WHYTE. >> WHYTE: THANKS, MAYOR.
WELL, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PRESENTATION. THIS IS GREAT WORK AND I FEEL REALLY COMFORTABLE WE'RE GETTING EVERYTHING HERE WITH THIS SORT OF DREAM TEAM.
LORI, TRISH, MARC, AND CAT. EVERYBODY'S COVERED A LOT OF THIS AND I JUST WANT TO HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE OF THINGS THAT FOLKS SAID AND ASK A FEW QUESTIONS.
FIRST OF ALL, WITH REGARD TO WHAT THE MAYOR SAID ON COLLECTING THE DATA.
I COMPLETELY AGREE. THAT IS SO IMPORTANT THAT WE REALLY FOCUS ON THAT IN THESE EFFORTS OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS SO THAT IT WILL GIVE US A BETTER ROAD MAP OF WHAT WE NEED TO DO DOWN THE LINE. I APPRECIATE COUNCILWOMAN ALDERETE GAVITO BRINGING UP THE LOCAL ISSUE AND IT SOUNDS LIKE WE SORT OF HAVE AGREEMENT ON THAT.
ONCE WE CAN GET, YOU KNOW, IN REALLY ANY SITUATION WHERE WE CAN GET OUR LOCAL COMPANY, IF IT'S ON THE SAME PLAYING FIELD AND PROVIDING THE SAME LEVEL OF SERVICE THAT AN OUT OF TOWN
[01:35:07]
COMPANY WOULD BE, WE'LL ALWAYS, HOPEFULLY, ALWAYS LEAN LOCAL. I'M GLAD THAT THE COUNCILWOMAN BROUGHT THAT UP AND WE WERE ABLE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION. COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO TALKED A LOT ABOUT TOD AND I AGREE WITH MUCH OF WHAT SHE SAID, ESPECIALLY REGARDING -- WELL, I GUESS THIS WAS ABOUT MOBILITY AND LOOPING THE COUNTY IN TO MAKE SURE THEY'RE AT THE TABLE WITH THAT. I THINK WE NEED TO COLLABORATE WITH THE COUNTY ON A LOT OF ISSUES MORE THAN WE HAVE BEEN, SO I CERTAINLY HOPE WE CAN DO THAT.OON TOD, WE TALK ABOUT HOUSING AND I THINK LORI WAS TALKING ABOUT DOWNTOWN EARLIER AND WITH RESPECT TO HOUSING BALANCE. AND I WANT TO REITERATE THAT WE'RE GOING TO NEED HOUSING BALANCE ALONG THIS NEW RAPID TRANSIT LINE. SO WHEN WE'RE LOOKING AT TOD, I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT THE HOUSING THAT GOES ALONG THAT LINE SORT OF MATCHES THE AREA THAT WE ARE. SO WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF MARKET-RATE HOUSING ALONG THAT LINE, IN MY OPINION, IF THIS IS GOING TO WORK.
AND ONE OF THE REASONS THAT I GOT INVOLVED AND CO-AUTHORED THAT CCR TO GET THIS MOVING IS I WANT TO SEE THE CITY GET AS BIG A RETURN ON INVESTMENT AS WE CAN GET ON THIS RAPID TRANSIT LINE AND A TOD IS GOING TO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THAT. I LOVE IT, CAT.
YOU'RE GOING TO BE AT THE HELM THERE AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THAT WORK OUT.
LET'S SEE, ON THE DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN, BIG BELIEVER IN LEARNING FROM THE PAST.
AND SO THIS PAST PLAN THAT WE PUT INTO PLACE YEARS AGO. MY QUESTION IS WAS THERE ANY OVG
THAT WE WANTED TO IMPLEMENT THAT WE COULDN'T AND WHY? >> HOUSTON: YOU KNOW, I THINK A LOT OF IT CAME DOWN TO THE WHY WAS ABOUT FUNDING. YOU HAVE A LIMITED SOURCE OF FUNDS. AND SO WHEN IT COMES TO HAVING A VIBRANT PLACE, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE TO DO MORE STREETS. DO MORE SIDEWALKS. DO MORE PARKS.
WE HAVE A LOT OF PUBLIC PARKS IN DOWNTOWN, SPECIFICALLY TRAVIS AND MILAM TO DO WITH FUNDING. IT WAS LESS ABOUT THE PARTNERS COMING TOGETHER.
BUT, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM OUR SUCCESS STORIES, WHEN WE HAVE A PLAN AND PRIORITIZE IT AND WE GET POLICY DIRECTION AND SUPPORT, WE'RE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT THOSE TOP PRIORITIES.
>> WHYTE: YEAH. I THINK OVERALL IT WAS AMAZINGLY SUCCESSFUL AND I APPLAUD EVERYBODY THAT WORKED ON THAT. SO FUNDING, I GUESS OLD FAITHFUL.
THAT'S ALWAYS THE ISSUE. SO MOVING FORWARD AND LOOKING AT WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO NEXT.
DO YOU FEEL LIKE THE FUNDING IS THERE FOR THAT? >> HOUSTON: THERE'S NEVER ENOUGH FUNDING FOR ANY INITIATIVE. SO IT'S JUST ABOUT PRIORITIZING AND GETTING COUNCIL'S INPUT. GETTING COMMUNITY'S INPUT ON WHAT THEY'VE PRIORITIZED.
AND ALSO, THIS IS NEW. WE HAVE VISIT SAN ANTONIO AT THE TABLE WHO TRULY RECOGNIZES THAT, YOU KNOW, TOURISTS LIKE TO GO WHERE RESIDENTS GO. SO BUILD DOWNTOWN AS A NEIGHBORHOOD, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE MORE TOURISTS. AND SO THERE'S ANOTHER FUNDING SOURCE THAT WE CAN TAP INTO AND PARTNER. WE HAVE TRISH, WHO'S COME ALONG WHO WANTS TO BE A PARTNER. MAYBE THERE ARE CERTAIN THINGS THAT CENTRO CAN DO THAT WE DON'T HAVE TO DO. AND THIS STUDY'S GOING TO LOOK AT ALL THOSE THINGS.
THERE MIGHT BE SOME THINGS THAT COULD BE PRIVATELY FUNDED. NOW THAT WE'VE DONE ALL THESE IMPROVEMENTS DOWNTOWN. THE STUDY'S GOING TO LOOK AT THAT AS WELL.
JUST LIKE THE OTHER PLAN THAT IDENTIFIED THE ROLES OF EACH ORGANIZATION AND CENTRO IN THE CITY. NOW WE HAVE DIFFERENT ROLES WE CAN TAKE, BASED ON THE SUCCESSES OF THE PAST TEN YEARS. AND I THINK PARK ACTIVATION AND DOWNTOWN ACTIVATION COULD BE SOME WE DON'T HAVE TO BE AS INVOLVED IN, LIKE A COORDINATING PARTNER.
OR PARK ACTIVATION AND PARK MANAGEMENT. BUT THE STUDY WILL LOOK AT ALL
OF THAT. >> WHYTE: THANK YOU. THE NEXT QUESTION I GUESS COULD EITHER RELATE TO THE DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC OR THE SA TOMORROW PLAN.
[01:40:04]
AND THAT IS WHO BUSINESSES CAN SPECIFICALLY CONTACT AT THE CITY TO GET SOME HELP WITH WHAT'S GOING ON. AND I'LL GIVE SOME EXAMPLES. WE DID A COFFEE EARLIER LAST YEAR, COUNCILWOMAN HAVRDA AND COUNCILWOMAN ALDERETE GAVITO. AND THERE'S CONSTRUCTION GOING ON OUT THERE. THEY WANT TO KNOW HOW LONG IT'S GOING TO LAST.WHAT CAN BE DONE TO HELP THEM IN THEIR BUSINESSES. AND WE HAD NO IDEA WHO IT WAS WITH THE CITY THAT THEY COULD CONTACT THAT COULD SORT OF BE A LIAISON WITH THEM.
BUT, BY THE SAME TOKEN, A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT ISSUE, WE HAD A BUSINESS CONTACT OUR OFFICE JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO FROM SCHERTZ. AND THEY WANTED TO MOVE IN TO DISTRICT 10.
THEY WANTED TO FIND A NEW LOCATION. THEY HAD HEARD ABOUT THE NEW DESIGN STANDARDS AND THINGS WE'RE GOING TO PUT IN PLACE IN THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR AND THEIR WORRY WAS, WELL, WHERE ARE WE GOING TO BE ALLOWED TO GO? WHERE'S GOING TO ALLOW RETAIL? THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHO TO CONTACT WITH THE CITY TO SORT OF BE A LIAISON ON SOME OF THESE ISSUES.
SO, YOU KNOW, OUR OFFICE HAS DESIGNATED A PERSON, PAULINE RUBIO, TO SPECIFICALLY DEAL WITH QUESTIONS LIKE THAT RELATED TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND HELP THE BUSINESSES OUT.
DOES THE CITY HAVE ANYONE THAT AS WE MOVE FORWARD WITH THESE PLANS AND THERE'S CONSTRUCTION ONGOING AND AND, YOU KNOW, NEW DESIGN STANDARDS BEING PUT IN THAT THESE BUSINESSES CAN
CONTACT TO GET INFORMATION ON THIS STUFF? >> WALSH: YEAH, COUNCILMAN.
THAT WAS PART OF LAST WEEK'S B SESSION PRESENTATION. THAT CONSTRUCTION MITIGATION TEAM, THAT OUTREACH TEAM THAT WE CREATED. THOSE ARE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE ON THE GROUND IN EACH OF THE CORRIDORS. AND NOT JUST WHERE WE HAVE CONSTRUCTION BUT THEY'RE THERE IN TERMS OF OUTREACH. AND I KNOW YOU HAD A MEETING THIS WEEK UP ON THE NORTHEAST SIDE. YOU KNOW, THAT'S A SPECIALIZED PROGRAM. BUT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS THE BIG DRIVER BEHIND THAT.
I MEAN, THE MONEY IS BUDGETED IN PLANNING AND IT STARTED THERE BUT I THINK YOU'VE SEEN THAT OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS WE'VE TRANSITIONED MANY OF THOSE RESPONSIBILITIES TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WHERE IT'S RIGHTFULLY -- I THINK WHERE IT RIGHTFULLY BELONGS WITHIN THE
ORGANIZATION. >> WHYTE: YEAH. YOU KNOW, SORT OF ON A RELATED NOTE, WE'VE GOTTEN A LOT OF FEEDBACK FROM FOLKS THAT SOMETIMES THESE PLANS, LIKE THE NORTHEAST CORRIDOR PLAN'S A GOOD EXAMPLE. WE PUT THESE PLANS INTO PLACE BUT THEN, YOU KNOW, THE IMPLEMENTATION IS, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT, RIGHT? AND SOMETIMES WHAT WE PLAN FOR AND THE INPUT WE GET FROM THE COMMUNITY ISN'T WHAT ENDS UP BEING IMPLEMENTED. AND SO IS THERE -- HOW DO WE
COORDINATE BETWEEN THE PLANNING AND THE IMPLEMENTATION? >> WALSH: WELL, I MEAN, YOU'RE
TALKING SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE NORTHEAST? >> WHYTE: SURE.
>> WALSH: I THINK WE'VE BEEN INCONSISTENT. THAT PROGRAM UP THERE -- AND YOU AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT THAT -- THAT PROGRAM UP THERE HAS CHANGED CONSTANTLY AND IT HAS NOT BEEN TIED. AND I THINK, BASED ON OUR CONVERSATIONS SINCE YOU'VE BEEN IN OFFICE, IT SHOULD BE. AND I THINK THERE'S RECOGNITION THAT THAT SHOULD BE TIED TO A GOAL THAT'S ACHIEVABLE AND THAT HAS AN OUTCOME, RATHER THAN A PROCESS THAT GETS ADJUSTED EVERY 18 MONTHS. AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE WOULD ALL BE HARD PRESSED TO GO BACK THE LAST -- THAT MONEY'S PROBABLY BEEN THERE FOR THE LAST SIX OR SEVEN YEARS.
HARD PRESSED TO GO BACK AND SEE WHAT DID IT ACTUALLY ACHIEVE. WHICH WASN'T THE INTENTION OF ANYBODY BUT, YOU KNOW, IT NEEDS TO BE SIMPLE. IT NEEDS TO BE DIRECTED.
IT NEEDS TO BE SPENT ON THINGS THAT ARE ACHIEVABLE WITH DIRECT OUTCOMES AND NOT MONEY THAT IS
SPREAD LIKE PEANUT BUTTER UP AND DOWN THE CORRIDORS. >> WHYTE: YEAH.
AND I JUST, IN CLOSING, WILL SAU HELPING ME WITH THAT AND WORKING WITH -- AND RUDY AS WELL.
WE ALL HAVE SAT DOWN A COUPLE OF TIMES IN THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS AND I REALLY DO FEEL LIKE
NOW IT'S MOVING. SO APPRECIATE THAT. >> WALSH: I'LL ECHO THAT.
I THINK YOUR FOCUS ON INFRASTRUCTURE, LIGHTING, CRIME STATS, VISIBILITY ARE THINGS THAT ARE CLEAR IN TERMS OF ADVISING FOLKS ALONG THE CORRIDOR.
AND IF WE STAY FOCUSED ON THOSE FOUR THINGS, I'M CONFIDENT THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO POINT BACK AND
BE ABLE TO SHOW WHERE THAT MONEY HAS MADE A DIFFERENCE. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK YOU.
THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER WHYTE. COUNCILMEMBER PELAEZ. >> PELAEZ: THANKS.
[01:45:06]
ERIK, I'M SURE YOU REMEMBER WE USED TO HAVE COUNCILWOMAN HAVRDA'S PREDECESSOR WHO WOULD POUND HIS FIST ON THE TABLE AND SAY I'M SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT DOWNTOWN.WE NEED TO HEAR MORE ABOUT OTHER AREAS. I THINK THAT WAS MYONIC IN THAT HE CONSIDERED DOWNTOWN TO BE ANOTHER PART OF THE CITY AND AN ASSET THAT HAS RIPPLE EFFECTS FELT THROUGH OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY . I LOVE THIS CONVERSATION.
I THINK THIS IS A CONVERSATION WE NEEDED TO HAVE MORE OFTEN AND I'M GLAD WE'RE HAVING IT TODAY.
LORI, YOU KNOW, USUALLY I SPEND MOST OF MY TIME PRAISING MIKE SHANNON BUT TODAY I GOT TO TELL YOU I'M VERY, VERY IMPRESSED, REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE QUALITY OF THE PRESENTATIONS AND I KNOW A LOT OF WORK WENT INTO CURATING ALL THE INFORMATION THAT YOU THREW AT US TODAY AND GETTING, YOU KNOW, TRISH AND VISIT SA TO REALLY LASER FOCUS ON THE IMPORTANT POINTS.
I AM LEFT WITH QUESTIONS, HOWEVER. NO CRITICISM.
I LOVE WHAT WE'RE HEARING TODAY BUT I AM LEFT WITH QUESTIONS THAT HAVE TO DO WITH WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE PEOPLE VISITING DOWNTOWN. YOU'VE HEARD ME TALK ABOUT THIS IN THE PAST AND ALEX LOPEZ AND I HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS AT LENGTH.
ERIK, YOU AND I TALKED ABOUT IT THIS MORNING. I'VE GOT A LONG LIST OF QUESTIONS THAT I'VE WRITTEN DOWN. I JUST DON'T KNOW THE ANSWERS.
AN I THINK IT'S FAIR. AFTER VISITORS LEAVE THE CONVENTION CENTER FOR A DAY OF CONVENTIONS, WHERE DO THEY GO? AFTER BARGE RIDERS FINISH THEIR RIDE, WHERE DO THEY GO? AFTER -- DO THEY GO TO ANY OF THE BUSINESSES MENTIONED BY THE TOUR OPERATORS? IF SO, WHICH ONES? WHICH ONES ARE THEY NOT VISITING? WHEN IS THE LAST TIME THAT SPECIFIC VISITOR VISITED US? HOW LONG DOES A VISITOR DWELL AT THE ALAMO? HOW LONG DO THEY LINGER, YOU KNOW, AT ANY OF OUR OTHER ASSETS DOWNTOWN? THAT'S DATA I WISH WE HAD. HOW CAN WE INFLUENCE MORE PEOPLE TO VISIT SOUTH TOWN, RIGHT? HOW CAN WE -- WHY IS IT THAT MORE PEOPLE AREN'T VISITING THE MISSION REACH? HOW DO WE GET THEM TO USE PARTS OF THE RIVER THAT MAYBE AREN'T BEING USED SUFFICIENTLY, RIGHT? HOW MANY TIMES DO VISITORS VISIT THE RIVER WALK DURING THEIR STAY IN SAN ANTONIO? I DON'T KNOW. AND I THINK THESE QUESTIONS ARE FAIR TO ASK BECAUSE I THINK IF I KNEW THE ANSWER TO THOSE QUESTIONS AND IF WE KNEW THE ANSWERS TO THOSE QUESTIONS, MAYBE WE COULD ALL PLAN A STRATEGY USING THAT DATA, RIGHT? NOW, I UNDERSTAND THAT CENTRO USES PLACER AI AND YOU GUYS ARE A CUSTOMER.
THAT'S GREAT BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING WITH THAT DATA.
I HAVE NEVER SEEN IT AND I THINK IT'S TIME WE SEE IT AS CITY COUNCIL.
WHAT ARE YOU GUYS LEARNING? WHAT DATA THAT YOU'RE LEARNING CAN WE THEN APPLY TO THE THINGS WE DO? SO THE WAY THAT OTHER CITIES USE THIS DATA -- IT'S NOT JUST OTHER CITIES, IT'S CONVENTION CENTERS, SHOPPING MALLS, AMUSEMENT PARKS. THIS DATA IS INCREDIBLY VALUABLE. BUT OTHER CITIES THAT ARE USING THIS USE IT TO MANAGE TRAFFIC SIGNALING, CROWD DENSITY, TO FIGURE OUT HOW IS A CROWD FEELING AT ANY PARTICULAR MOMENT? A CROWD THAT BEHAVES ONE WAY VERSUS ANOTHER THEY USE IT FOR OVERCROWDING PREVENTION IN CERTAIN AREAS. THEY USE IT TO PROVIDE OPEN DATA FOR RESEARCHERS AND INNOVATORS. THEY USE IT TO COUNT PEOPLE AND DO OCCUPANCY MONITORING OF CERTAIN AREAS. THEY USE IT FOR LINE MANAGEMENT, QUEUE MANAGEMENT.
THEY TRACK JOURNEY TRACKING FOR TOURISTS WHO ARE USERS OF THAT PARTICULAR AREA.
IT ALSO HELPS REDUCE OVERSIGHT OF CROWDS. THEY USE IT TO DEPLOY LAW ENFORCEMENT. THEY USE IT TO THEN FIGURE OUT HOW YOU CAN TOUCH THOSE PEOPLE AFTER THEY LEAVE AND MAYBE EVEN INVITE THEM BACK. AND THEY USE IT TO FIGURE OUT WHEN THOSE PEOPLE CAME BACK, WHAT THEY LIKED, WHAT THEY DIDN'T LIKE.
I'M NOT SURE WE'RE USING THAT. MAYBE WE ARE BUT CONSIDERING HOW IMPORTANT AN ASSET THIS IS, I THINK IT'S A FAIR QUESTION. BY THE WAY, THE SAME QUESTION APPLIES TO THE MEDICAL CENTER.
IT'S IMPORTANT DATA THAT WOULD THEN INFORM HOW WE DEPLOY SIGNAGE, HOW WE DEPLOY SAPD AND VIA. WHERE WE ARE DEDICATING ALL OF OUR OTHER SERVICES AND ASSETS AND WHICH DIRECTION WE'RE POINTING THEM IN. IF WE ARE USING THIS PLACER AI DATA, THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD ALL BENEFIT FROM LEARNING. AND AT SOME POINT I DO THINK
[01:50:04]
THAT THERE'S A ROLE FOR UTSA TO PLAY, CONSIDERING THEY HAVE A SCHOOL OF DATA ANALYTICS ACROSS THE STREET. AND I'D LIKE TO SEE US REALLY DIVE INTO THAT.NOW I KNOW THAT WE DISSOLVED THE INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE BUT MY REQUEST IS THAT WE BRING THIS TOPIC TO MY COMMITTEE. I SENT A DECK OUT IN SEPTEMBER ASKING FOR THIS VERY THING. I HAVE YET TO SEE IT. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE US PUT SOME INTENTIONALITY BEHIND THAT REQUEST BESIDES ME JUST TALKING ABOUT IT.
I HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT FOR SEVEN YEARS. IF YOU'RE PICKING UP FRUSTRATION IN MY VOICE, I THINK IT'S FAIR FOR ME TO FEEL FRUSTRATED AFTER SEVEN YEARS OF TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING AND HAVE PEOPLE -- I HEARD THE WORD THIS MORNING. I HAVE BEEN GETTING A LOT OF IT WITHOUT MUCH FRUIT PRODUCED FROM TALKING ABOUT IT. SO THE SECOND THING I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS, YOU KNOW, I APPRECIATE THE DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WORRIES ME IS THAT WE'VE GOT LOTS OF STRATEGIC PLANS AND THE MAYOR IS ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT IS IT THE DASHBOARD TO END ALL DASHBOARDS? THE SA TOMORROW, WE HAVE THE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT PLAN, THE SHIP, WE'VE GOT THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN, THE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR HOMELESSNESS, THE SA FORWARD PLAN, THE VIOLENT REDUCTION PLAN AND THAT'S JUST TEN THAT I WROTE DOWN ON A PIECE OF PAPER. THERE'S LOTS MORE PL PLANS .
THANK YOU SO MUCH, COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO, COUNCILWOMAN ROCHA GARCIA, COUNCILWOMAN ALDERETE GAVITO, WE ALL SUBMITTED A CCR PROPOSING A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN THAT BRINGS ALL OF THOSE TOGETHER. AND REALLY STARTS TALKING ABOUT A SAN ANTONIO THAT IS A POST-COVID SAN ANTONIO WITH A NEW KIND OF ECONOMY, WITH NEW KINDS OF WORKERS EXPECTING DIFFERENT KINDS OF THINGS THAT THEY DID WHEN WE FIRST PUT SA TOMORROW TOGETHER.
WHEN WE FIRST PUT SA 2020 TOGETHER. SOMETHING THAT WE CAN THEN USE TO GUIDE US OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS. I KNOW WE GOT A BACKLOG OF CCRS THAT ANDY SEGOVIA IS TRYING TO KNOCK LOOSE BUT THAT'S IN THERE AND I THINK THIS PART OF LEARNING WHAT PEOPLE DO, WHY THEY DO IT, WHERE THEY ARE, WHERE THEY GO, WHERE THEY'RE NOT. THAT'S GOT TO BE A PART OF INFORMING THESE PLANS, ERIK.
I REALLY HAVE NO QUESTIONS, OTHER THAN CONGRATULATE LORI FOR TEEING UP AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION. THAT'S WHERE I AM. THANK YOU, MAYOR.
>> CAN I SAY ONE THING ABOUT THE PLACER AI DATA? WHEN I CAME INTO THIS SEAT, YES, IT'S A VERY EXPENSIVE TOOL, OBVIOUSLY CENTRO PAYS A LOT FOR IT.
BUT WE WEREN'T GETTING DATA OUT IN A VERY REGULAR FASHION. SO I DO HAVE SOMEBODY, A GRADUATE OF U.T., A YOUNG WOMAN WHO IS A CONTENT DATA EXPERT. AND OUR HOPE IS THAT WE HAVE A DATA LETTER THAT GOES OUT DAILY. ANYWAY, I WOULD HOPE THAT MAYBE YOU AND I COULD COME TOGETHER AND TALK ABOUT IT. RETRIEVING THE DATA IS ALL ABOUT SETTING THE GEOGRAPHY AND BOUNDARIES ASSOCIATED WITH IT AND THE KIND OF DATA YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO RETRIEVE.
BUT IF YOU WANT A MONTHLY BRIEFING ASSOCIATED WITH THAT DATA, WE'RE HAPPY TO DO THAT BECAUSE I THINK THERE'S A LOT MORE ROI ASSOCIATED WITH US INVESTING IN IT, MORE PEOPLE
KNOW ABOUT IT. >> PELAEZ: AND I APPRECIATE THAT AND I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT YOU'VE GOT A DATA SCIENTIST WORKING WITH YOU. AND I THINK THAT'S THE RIGHT STEP. BUT I THINK THE DATA BELONGS TO SAN ANTONIO.
EVERYBODY SHOULD KNOW WHAT THE DATA IS SO THAT WE CAN GIVE STUDENTS AT A&M, OUR LADY OF THE LAKE AND UTSA THE OPPORTUNITY TO INNOVATE AROUND THAT DATA. OTHER CITIES DO THAT.
NEW YORK PROVIDES ITS TRAFFIC MOBILITY DATA TO THE PUBLIC AND THEY COME UP WITH SOME SPECTACULAR APPS AND TOOLS TO HELP GUIDE NEW YORKERS AROUND THEIR CITY.
IF THE DATA IS INFORMING YOUR ORGANIZATION, GREAT. AND I WANT YOU TO HAVE MORE DATA AND THE MORE THE BETTER. BUT IF IT'S JUST LIVING IN YOUR ORGANIZATION AND IT'S NOT SERVING TO BENEFIT EVERYBODY ELSE SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A STRONGER, FASTER, MORE INTERESTING, MORE VIBRANT, MORE RESILIENT DOWNTOWN, I THINK THAT'S A MISTAKE.
YOU GET IT? >> YEAH, OF COURSE. >> PELAEZ: THANKS, TRISH.
I APPRECIATE YOU. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER PELAEZ.
COUNCILMEMBER KAUR. >> KAUR: THANK YOU, MAYOR. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THIS PRESENTATION. I FEEL SO EXCITED BECAUSE I DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING FOR DOWNTOWN BECAUSE ALL OF Y'ALL ARE GOING TO DO ALL OF THE WORK NOW.
NO, I REALLY LOVE -- I KNOW. I'M KIDDING. BUT I DO REALLY LOVE HEARING THAT EVERYONE FEELS THAT WAY BECAUSE OFTENTIMES THE DISTRICT 1 REPRESENTATIVE FEELS LIKE THEY ARE THE PERSON VOTING AND ADVOCATING FOR DOWNTOWN BUT IT'S ALL OF US AND DOWNTOWN BELONGS TO ALL OF US. I LOVED HEARING THE CONVERSATION SO FAR.
I'LL START OFF WITH THE SA TOMORROW PLAN. WE'RE REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE
[01:55:03]
WORK THAT'S HAPPENING. I KNOW THERE'S TWO NEIGHBORHOODS IN DISTRICT 1 COMING UP, NEAR NORTH AND NEAR CENTRAL, AND WE HAVE A LOT OF RESIDENTS EAGER TO PARTICIPATE AND WE WILL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH YOU TO FIGURE OUT EVERYTHING WE CAN DO TO GET MORE VOICES AND MORE DIVERSE VOICES AT THE TABLE. I THINK FOR BOTH THE PLANNING THAT YOU ALL ARE DOING AND THE THING YOU HAVE HEARD ME SAY IS HOW CAN WE MAKE SURE THAT THE PEOPLE THAT ARE REPRESENTING AND PRESENTING THEIR VOICES, REPRESENT THE DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES WE DO HAVE WITHIN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS. AND SO HOWEVER WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THAT, WE'D LOVE TO DO THAT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK. I HAVE A QUESTION ON THE MIXED-USE ZONING DISTRICTS. I THINK THAT'S SLIDE 13 OR 14. EXPRESS A LOT OF SUPPORT FOR THIS. IT COULD BE REALLY GREAT FOR OUR CITY.IT WOULD IMPROVE WALKABILITY, MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, FOLKS WOULD KNOW EXACTLY WHAT KIND OF BUSINESSES AND THINGS LIKE THAT THEY COULD HAVE IN A MIXED-USE DISTRICT.
I REMEMBER THAT THE MAYOR'S HOUSING POLICY TASK FORCE HAD RECOMMENDED DOING ACTUALLY A FORM-BASED CODE FOR THIS. AND I NOTICED THAT YOU'RE NOW NOT DOING THAT.
YOU'RE GOING THROUGH THE CONVENTIONAL ZONING DISTRICT. CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT
ABOUT WHY THAT DECISION WAS MADE? >> SURE.
AS WE BEGAN THE MIXED-USE ZONING DISTRICT PROCESS, BETWEEN FEEDBACK THAT WE RECEIVED FROM ACTUAL NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS THROUGH THE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS AND THEN FROM SOME FOLKS WHO ARE BUSINESS OWNERS AND THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY, THE CONCEPT OF A FORM-BASED CODE REALLY WASN'T SOMETHING THAT FOLKS THOUGHT WAS EASY AND FLEXIBLE AND PROVIDED THEM WITH A SIMPLE, YOU KNOW, PALETTE OF OPTIONS AND CHOICES FOR THEM TO CHOOSE FROM.
THEY THOUGHT IT WAS A DIFFICULT CONCEPT, PARTICULARLY SMALL BUSINESSES, TO BE ABLE TO UTILIZE. THEY FELT THAT A CONVENTIONAL ZONING DISTRICT THAT LAID OUT GUIDELINES LIKE THE IDZ, LIKE THE MIXED INDUSTRIAL-TYPE THAT WE HAVE WOULD BE PREFERABLE.
THIS PROCESS IS STILL IN ITS INFANCY AND WE'RE STILL WORKING ON IT.
HAVING SAID THAT, THERE ARE ELEMENTS OF A FORM WITHIN THE MIXED-USE DISTRICT, IT'S JUST NOT A WHOLE FORM-BASED CODE. TAKING THE PROCESS OF DOING A WHOLE FORM-BASED CODE CAN BE A
DAUNTING TASK FOR A PARTICULAR AREA. >> KAUR: AND IT'S NEW FOR A COMMUNITY. FOR ALL THE PEOPLE USED TO WAY WE DO THINGS, THEY WOULD HAVE TO RELEARN A DIFFERENT PROCESS. AT THE SAME TIME, I THINK IT WOULD BE REALLY GREAT IN TERMS OF HOW WE WOULD WANT OUR CITY TO LOOK IN THE FUTURE. DO WE WANT -- AND MY STAFF CAME UP WITH THIS. DO WE WANT A CITY THAT LOOKS X OR LIKE PARIS? AND I THINK MAKING SURE THAT AESTHETICS AND KNOWING WHAT WE WANT AS REQUIREMENTS AND HAVING PEOPLE DEVELOP THAT AND THE FORMS OF THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
I WOULD ADVOCATE FOR A PILOT OR SOME WAY THAT WE COULD TEST MAYBE IN A SMALL AREA.
I'M NOT SURE WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE. BUT JUST FOR YOU ALL TO THINK ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD LOOK LIKE TO ACTUALLY DO SOME MORE THINKING AROUND A FORM-BASED CODE.
>> ALSO BEEN AROUND THE DIGITAL VISUALIZATION OF WHAT THESE DISTRICTS COULD LOOK LIKE, SO THAT THE COUNCIL CAN SEE THAT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A MIXED-USE -- OF AN URBAN MIXED-USE DISTRICT, WHAT COULD IT LOOK LIKE IN A PARTICULAR AREA VERSUS ANOTHER CONVENTIONAL ZONING DISTRICT THAT ONLY ALLOWS COMMERCIAL USE. IT'S SOMETHING WE CAN LOOK AT --
>> KAUR: THAT WOULD BE REALLY GREAT TO SEE. ALSO, I GUESS WE CAN DO THAT WITH THE
ALREADY IN THE BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR. >> WE HAVE A VERY INNOVATIVE STAFF MEMBER ON THE LEFT THERE THAT ACTUALLY USED HIS OWN PERSONAL VR EQUIPMENT FOR SOME OF THE WORK WE HAD DONE AT AN ENGAGEMENT EVENT. IT IS GREAT AND WE'RE INVESTING
FOR SOME WITHIN OUR DEPARTMENT. >> KAUR: THAT'S REALLY COOL TO SEE.
I WOULD LOVE TO SEE HOW THAT PROGRESSES AND WHAT FEEDBACK WE GET FROM THE COMMUNITY.
LOOK LIKE. >> KAUR: THAT'S AWESOME. COOL.
AND THEN, THANK YOU SO MUCH. AND THEN A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR YOU, CAT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PUTTING THIS TOGETHER. YOU KNOW I'VE BEEN SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS WORK. THANK YOU FOR THE DIVERSE STAKEHOLDER GROUP THAT YOU PUT TOGETHER. WE'VE GOT REPRESENTATIVES FROM ALL OF THE RESIDENTS IN AND AROUND SAN PEDRO, SO REALLY APPRECIATE THAT. SHOUT OUT TO ALL THE NEIGHBORHOODS FOR COMING UP WITH GREAT NAMES. I THINK, ONE, THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THE WORK AROUND THE BUS LINE IS GOING TO MAKE US MORE FOCUSED MORE ON MOBILITY. SO DEVELOPMENT AROUND PUBLIC TRANSIT.
THE THING THAT I'VE KIND OF SHARED WITH YOU AND I WANT TO REECHO IS THAT MAKING SURE ALL OF THE RESIDENTS THAT ARE LIVING AROUND AREN'T NEGATIVELY IMPACTED BUT POSITIVELY IMPACTED. I KNOW THIS IS DOWN THE LINE INTO IMPLEMENTATION, BUT MAKING
[02:00:06]
SURE WE'RE THINKING ABOUT HOW CAN WE HELP THOSE RESIDENTS CURRENTLY LIVING THERE, WHETHER IT'S THROUGH DOWN PAYMENT SUPPORT FOR ADUS, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE BENEFITS ANDNOT JUST THE NEW DEVELOPMENT. >> YES. WE TALKED ABOUT WHEN WE LOOKED AT RESEARCHING WHAT GOOD INCENTIVE PACKAGES ARE IN ORDER TO PRIME AND PUMP UP THE PROPERTIES ALONG THAT ROUTE BUT ALSO EXPLORING THOSE THAT ARE ADJACENT TO THOSE CORRIDORS.
WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE SO THAT WAY THEY ALSO FEEL INVESTED IN THIS. >> KAUR: I LOVE THAT.
THANK YOU SO MUCH. ALL RIGHT. SO MOVING OVER TO DOWNTOWN.
EXCITED TO SEE THIS PLAN COME INTO PLACE. I KNOW WE TALKED JUST A FEW DAYS AGO AND WE AGREED -- I ECHO EVERYTHING EVERYBODY SAYS. THE DECADE OF DOWNTOWN, THAT TERM IS GOING TO CONTINUE. EVERY DECADE CAN BE DECADE OF DOWNTOWN.
I SPECIFICALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE THINGS WE HAVE SEEN THAT HAVE BEEN REALLY BIG SUCCESSES. I FEEL LIKE HPARC AND THE WORK AROUND THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EFFORT THERE WAS REALLY IMPACTFUL THIS IF WE COULD REPLICATE THAT IN THE WORK WE COULD DO IN THE FUTURE I THINK IS REALLY IMPORTANT. I KNOW, EVEN AS SOMEONE WHO WASN'T RAISED HERE, WE ALWAYS HAD FOLKS THAT COME IN AND WE APPRECIATE THE TALENT AND THE EXPERTISE THEY BRING BUT WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WHEN THOSE CONSULTANTS COME IN THAT THEY'RE HEARING THEIR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN THAT INCLUSION IS IMPORTANT.
ALL OF US CAN SAY YES WE SUPPORT DOWNTOWN BUT IF OUR RESIDENTS DON'T BELIEVE THAT, LIKE COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO SAID, IF OUR RESIDENTS DON'T BELIEVE THAT THIS DOWNTOWN WAS BUILT FOR THEM THEN THOSE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT WE ALL REPRESENT. WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PLAN IS SUPER INCLUSIVE OF ALL OF OUR COMMUNITIES.
I KNOW YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO MAKE THAT A PRIORITY. I ALSO WAS SUPER EXCITED TO SEE THE TIMELINE ON THAT. IT'S VERY RARE THAT WE GET A PLAN STARTED AND ENGAGED AND COMPLETED IN SIX MONTHS. WE'RE EXCITED TO SEE THE QUICK TURNAROUND TIME ON THAT.
AND THEN JUST ALSO WANTED TO SAY THAT I KNOW OUR DOWNTOWN RESIDENTS ARE ALSO SUPER EXCITED TO SEE THE COMPLETION OF BROADWAY, TO SEE THE COMPLETION OF ZONAL CULTURAL.
THE ALAMO AND SAAACAM MUSEUM. THOSE ARE HIGHLIGHTS COMING UP THAT I'M SURE THEY'LL TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION. I ALSO WANT TO SUPPORT THE COMMENTS MADE AROUND THE HOUSING STRATEGY. THE LAST THING I WANTED -- OH, I ALSO WANT TO THANK VISIT SA AND CENTRO FOR PUTTING MOST OF THE CAPITAL INTO THIS PROJECT. I THINK US AS A CITY ARE GETTING A STEAL OUT OF THIS IN TERMS OF THE AMOUNT OF CAPITAL THAT WE'RE INVESTING INTO THE PLAN, SO THANK YOU FOR INVESTING SO MANY OF THOSE FUNDS. THE LAST THING I DO WANT TO ECHO IS I WANT TO ECHO COUNCILWOMAN ALDERETE GAVITO'S POINTS ABOUT THE LOCAL SUPPORT FOR THE E-CABS. WE HEARD YOU AND WE UNDERSTAND IN THIS CASE THAT THE EXPERIENCE MAY HAVE TRUMPED THE LOCAL. ONE OF THE THINGS WE HAVE ALL BEEN TALKING ABOUT FOR THE LAST FEW MONTHS IS HOW DO WE MAKE SURE OUR SMALL, MINORITY LOCAL BUSINESSES GET THE CONTRACTS.
SO FOR US IT WOULD BE GREAT WHEN THE RFP COMES OUT IF WE COULD SEE THOSE POINTS AND MAYBE IF WE COULD SEE THE POINTS THE WAY THAT THE CITY -- OR USE THE CITY AS AN EXAMPLE.
I KNOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO FOLLOW THE SAME POINT STRUCTURES THAT WE DO BUT IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THAT COULD BE USED AS AN EXAMPLE OR MODELED SO WE COULD PROVIDE FEEDBACK.
AND MAYBE EVEN SOME KIND OF MENTORSHIP PROGRAM OR SOMETHING WHERE THE EXISTING ORGANIZATION IN AUSTIN, THAT THEY HAVE SO MANY YEARS, THERE'S A PORTION OF WHERE THEY CAN PROVIDE INPUT OR FEEDBACK TO OUR LOCAL BUSINESS SO OUR LOCAL BUSINESS CAN BE THE ONE THAT GETS THE BENEFIT FOR THAT. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR WORK AN
THANK YOU TO ALL MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES FOR SUPPORT. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK YOU,
COUNCILMEMBER KAUR. COUNCILMEMBER MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ. >> MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ: THANK YOU.
I SHOULD NEVER CHIME IN THIS LATE AGAIN. I'LL START OFF ON THE TOPIC OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING. WE'RE HAVING QUITE A FEW DISCUSSIONS AT ONE TIME AND SPECIFICALLY I WANT TO FOCUS ON 60% AMI AND BELOW, BECAUSE IT IS NOT HAPPENING ON ITS OWN.
WE'VE ALREADY EXPERIENCED THAT, FELT THAT. MARKET RATE CAN AND IS HAPPENING ON ITS OWN. EVEN THOUGH I'M SURE THAT DEVELOPERS AND THE LIKE WOULD INCENTIVIZE MARKET RATE AND I'M SURE WE'LL FIND COMPELLING ARGUMENTS AS TO WHY, OUR LIMITED FUNDS, OF WHICH THERE ARE NEVER ENOUGH, AS WAS SAID. THOSE SHOULD PRIORITIZE AFFORDABILITY. I THINK THAT'S WHERE THE CONVERSATION'S GOING AND I THINK IT'S WHERE IT SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE. I'LL MOVE TO SA TOMORROW AND I'M FOCUS THERE FOR A LITTLE BIT. BECAUSE THE CREATION OF EACH REGIONAL PLAN TAKES A GREAT DEAL OF TIME AND RESOURCES. I FEEL LIKE THERE'S A MEETING EVERY TWO DAYS ON EVERY SINGLE
[02:05:02]
PLAN. AND THAT FEELS LIKE THE LEVEL OF WORK THAT'S BEING PUT IN.AND THE HOPE IS THAT THESE PLANS GUIDE OUR DECISION MAKING AND ALSO CREATE THE BLUEPRINT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND REVITALIZATION. AND BECAUSE THE COMMUNITY IS SO ENGAGED, THEY BELIEVE THE PLAN THAT THEY BOUGHT INTO IS WHAT WILL BE DEVELOPED AND WHAT THAT'S LED TO AND THE SORT OF FEELING OF RESENTMENT TOWARDS THE CITY THAT MY RESIDENTS FEEL, BECAUSE THIS ISN'T THE FIRST PLAN THAT THEY'VE BEEN BROUGHT IN AND ENGAGED ON.
THEY HAVE BEEN TOLD BEFORE, OH, THIS AREA WOULD BE GREAT FOR A HOSPITAL.
THIS AREA WOULD BE GREAT FOR A RETAIL, YOU KNOW, A RETAIL CENTER.
THIS WOULD BE GREAT FOR RESTAURANTS. AND WHAT'S HAPPENED TIME AND TIME AGAIN IS THAT'S NOT THE WAY IT PLAYS OUT AND YOU CAN'T FORCE DEVELOPERS.
YOU CAN'T FORCE INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT, ESPECIALLY OF THIS TYPE, BY PEOPLE WHO DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY THAT THEY'RE BEING IN. AND THAT'S BEEN THE EXPERIENCE OF MY RESIDENTS. SO AND ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT I FEEL LIKE I'VE SEEN IS THAT EVERY SINGLE TIME SOMEONE COMES WITH A DEVELOPMENT THAT REQUIRES A PLAN AMENDMENT, IT IS APPROVED. WE APPROVE THE AMENDMENT TO THAT PLAN.
SO HOW MUCH TIME AND RESOURCES ARE WE GOING TO PUT INTO PLANNING THAT WE'RE JUST GOING TO CHANGE A FEW WEEKS FROM THEN AND WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO CHANGE UNTIL IT NO LONGER RESEMBLES THAT IDEALISTIC DOCUMENT. AND SO YOU MIGHT NOT HAVE THIS NUMBER. THIS IS A QUESTION FOR YOU. HOW MANY AMENDMENTS ARE REQUESTED EACH YEAR AND HOW MANY GET APPROVED VERSUS REJECTED EVERY YEAR? AND I WOULD ALSO LOVE THOSE NUMBERS FOR OVER THE LIFE OF SA TOMORROW.
>> COUNCILMAN, YOU'RE CORRECT. WE DO NOT HAVE THOSE NUMBERS WITH US BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY GET
THOSE TO YOU. THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM. >> MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ: I WOULD LOVE THAT IN A MEMO. WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GET THAT?
>> VERY SOON. YEAH. WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITH YOU.
>> MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ: I'M GOING TO TRUST THAT. EVERYONE IS LOOKING FOR THIS
ANSWER. >> IT WOULD REQUIRE A MULTIDEPARTMENT APPROACH.
WE HAVE TO WORK WITH DSD. >> MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ: AND THE REASON I ASK THAT IS I FEEL THE EFFORT WE PUT INTO THE PLAN AND THE TIME AND THE FEEDBACK INVESTED FROM THE COMMUNITY EFFECTIVELY GETS UNDERMINED WHEN WE REQUEST IT AS A DEVELOPER. WE AS A COUNCIL SHOULD PROBABLY EVALUATE OUR DECISION-MAKING PROCESS AND HOW FREQUENTLY ARE WE MAKING CHANGES TO THESE PLANS AND I'M WONDERING WHAT OPPORTUNITIES THERE ARE FOR PROACTIVITY IN THE PLAN.
FOR EXAMPLE, COULD WE LEVERAGE THE SA TOMORROW PLAN TO GET FUNDING TO PROVIDE INCENTIVES TO ATTRACT THE KIND OF DEVELOPMENT THAT WE WANT, ESPECIALLY IN AREAS THAT HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED
DEVELOPMENT OUTSIDE OF WAREHOUSES, FOR EXAMPLE? >> UNDERSTOOD.
I MEAN, I THINK THAT THE PLAN CAN MAKE A RECOMMENDATION THAT THE COUNCIL CAN EXPLORE RELATED TO INCENTIVES AND TYPES BUT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT THE PLAN NECESSARILY VERY DIRECTLY
IMPACTS. >> MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ: I GUESS THE QUESTION IS CAN WE LEVERAGE THE PLAN FOR GRANT OPPORTUNITIES AND OTHER FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES THAT MIGHT INCENTIVIZE OR MIGHT
FURTHER ENCOURAGE THE TYPE OF DEVELOPMENT THAT WE WANT TO SEE? >> ABSOLUTELY.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS IN A PLAN THAT RECOMMENDS GOING AFTER GRANT FUNDS FOR PARTICULAR
TYPES OF IMPLEMENTATION. ABSOLUTELY. >> MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ: SOUNDS GOOD. THAT'S ALL MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU. I'M GOING TO MOVE ON TO THE DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN. YOU KNOW, THE DOWNTOWN AREA IMPACTS THE AREA NEAR DISTRICT 2 AND THE INNER EAST SIDE BY ITS PROXIMITY AND MANY OF OUR RESIDENTS WORK IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY. AND I FEEL LIKE -- AND IT'S NOT EVEN JUST A FEELING.
DOWNTOWN HAS TO PROVIDE SOMETHING FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS IN ORDER FOR IT TO THRIVE.
AND SO AT EVERY TURN OF THE PLANNING PROCESS, WE SHOULD HAVE A MEASURE FOR HOW ACCESSIBLE A DEVELOPMENT OR AN EVENT IS FOR THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. AND I'M WONDERING IF THIS COULD
BE ONE OF THE PILLARS OF THE PLAN. >> SURE.
I THINK ACCESSIBILITY SHOULD BE A PART OF ANY PLAN. SO, YEAH, WE CAN DEFINITELY TALK TO CONSULTANTS ABOUT WHETHER IT'S AN EVENT LIKE HOLIDAYS ON HOUSTON AND HOW SUCCESSFUL THAT WAS TO THE COMMUNITIES AROUND DOWNTOWN. I SAY ALL THE TIME, ALL ROADS LEAD INTO DOWNTOWN. THAT INCLUDES EVERY DISTRICT AROUND THIS TABLE.
>> MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ: SURE. AND I'M WONDERING AS WELL WHAT OPPORTUNITIES THERE ARE FOR THE PLAN TO CONSIDER, YOU KNOW, ALREADY DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS. AND SO I'M WONDERING WHAT OPPORTUNITY THERE IS FOR THIS
PLAN TO SORT OF COMMUNICATE THAT GOAL. >> WELL, I THINK THERE'S HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO COMMUNICATE THAT GOAL. YOU KNOW, COUNCILMAN, WE HAVE HAD CONVERSATIONS INTERNALLY JUST AMONG THE STAFF ABOUT HOW WE CAN CREATE SOME KIND OF A DISCOUNT CARD THAT WE COULD APPLY TO RESTAURANTS. THAT WE COULD APPLY TO PARKING, PERHAPS, IF WE COULD GET SOME OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR PARKING ON BOARD WITH THAT.
[02:10:01]
SO THAT IT'S NOT JUST FOR MEMBERSHIP AND THOSE RESIDENTS OF DOWNTOWN, BUT CONSTITUENTS LIKE YOURS TOO. BECAUSE I THINK, TO YOUR POINT, IT WOULD MAKE DOWNTOWN LOOK MOREATTRACTIVE, AFFORDABLE, AND ACCESSIBLE. >> MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ: OKAY.
I GUESS I'LL JUST UNDERSCORE THE POINT THAT DOWNTOWN IS FOR ALL OF US.
WE'RE ALL SAYING THAT WE ALL CARE VERY GREATLY ABOUT DOWNTOWN AND HAVING AN AMAZING DOWNTOWN AND A THRIVING DOWNTOWN IS GOING TO BE IMPORTANT FOR MANY OF OUR OTHER GOALS OUTSIDE OF JUST DEVELOPMENT. BUT FOR MANY, THE FUN PARTS OF DOWNTOWN AND THE THINGS THAT MAKE DOWNTOWN LIVELY, AGAIN, AREN'T NECESSARILY -- THE FEELING IS THEY'RE NOT MEANT FOR MY RESIDENTS AND SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT MESSAGE REALLY, REALLY RESONATES TO ALL WHO ARE INVOLVED IN THE PLAN. I KNOW THAT EVERYBODY INVOLVED IN THE PLAN IS NOT NECESSARILY GOING TO HAVE A CONNECTION TO SAN ANTONIO. I'M ALSO WONDERING -- AND THIS CAN BE A LITTLE BIT MORE SPECIFIC. I WONDER HOW WE CAN USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO BUILD ON THE BLACK HISTORY OF SAN ANTONIO AND MAKING IT A CENTERPIECE OF ATTRACTING BOTH BLACK TOURISTS AND LOCAL RESIDENTS DOWNTOWN . THIS IS A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY AND LGBTQ COMMUNITY AND MANY MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES.
YOU LOOK UP IS SAN ANTONIO SAFE FOR BLACK PEOPLE AND IF I GOOGLE THAT RIGHT NOW THERE'S SORT OF A MIXED BAG. THERE'S SOME UGLY ARTICLES IN THERE.
THERE'S SOME FUN THINGS AND THEN THERE'S PLACES, LIKE I THINK SAAACAM POPS UP.
BUT OVERALL I DON'T KNOW THAT SAN ANTONIO, IF I WAS LIVING SOMEWHERE ELSE AND I LOOKED UP IS SAN ANTONIO A GOOD PLACE FOR BLACK FOLK, WOULD IT BE SOMEWHERE THAT I ULTIMATELY CHOOSE TO VACATION OR VISIT. I THINK THAT NEEDS TO BE A PART OF ALL PLANNING MOVING FORWARD, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF MARKETING AND IN TERMS OF THE TYPES OF BUSINESSES AND ATTRACTIONS THAT WE ARE CELEBRATING AND MARKETING. FOR EXAMPLE, WE HAVE THE SAAACAM MUSEUM BUT WE CAN'T MAKE THAT THE ONLY BLACK-CENTRIC COMMUNITY AND SO I'M WONDERING HOW WE CAN BUILD ON THIS GEM SO WE CAN BE A CITY THAT PRIORITIZES BLACK-CENTRIC CULTURE.
>> TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS. WE'VE WORKED REALLY HARD TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERY MARKETING PLATFORM, WHETHER IT BE DIGITAL, PRINT, TV, OR SOCIAL INCLUDES EVERY FACE AND EVERY VOICE IN SAN ANTONIO. AND I THINK WE'VE SUCCEEDED WITH THAT.
I THINK WE COULD DO MORE AND WE ARE DOING MORE. WE'RE ACTUALLY GOING THROUGH A MASSIVE FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION NEXT WEEK AND WE JUST APPROVED SOME OF THE TALENT.
AND I THINK YOU'RE GOING TO BE VERY HAPPY WITH THE SHOWCASE OF SAN ANTONIANS THAT WILL BE PART OF OUR NEW MARKETING CAMPAIGN. WE ALSO WORK CLOSELY WITH SAAACAM AND BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL AS WELL AS SOME OF THE OTHER AFRICAN AMERICAN LEADERS IN SAN ANTONIO TO EITHER SHOWCASE THE TALENT OR THE INITIATIVES THAT ARE HAPPENING AT OUR CITY TO ENSURE THAT NOT ONLY RESIDENTS BUT VISITORS COMING FROM DOMESTICALLY BUT ALSO INTERNATIONALLY KNOW ABOUT OUR EFFORTS. ONE OF THE MOST RECENT EXAMPLES, WHICH YOU THANKFULLY SIGNED ON TO AND WAS OUR DIVERSITY INITIATIVE, WHICH IS PART OF OUR WEBSITE MEETING PROFESSIONALS TO TALK ABOUT THAT SAN ANTONIO IS A PLACE THAT WELCOMES ALL AND INCLUSION IN THIS CITY IN WELCOMING MEETING PLANNERS, CONVENTIONS -- OH, SORRY.
>> MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ: I ONLY HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME LEFT AND I WANT TO MAKE SURE -- I'LL END THAT POINT BY SAYING I'M A PART OF GROUP CHATS AND GROUPS WITH BLACK FOLK ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, SPECIFICALLY YOUNG BLACK PEOPLE. AND ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT WE'RE ALWAYS ASKING, IF WE'RE VISITING A DIFFERENT CITY IS WHERE ARE THE BLACK SPOTS.
I THINK THAT'S AN ANSWER OR THAT'S A QUESTION THAT YOU CAN ANSWER AND A QUESTION THAT WHEN PEOPLE SEARCH UP SAN ANTONIO, SHOULD BE EASY TO FIND. REGARDING THE SHUTTLE PILOT, I UNDERSTAND IF A LOCAL BUSINESS CAN'T PROVIDE THE SERVICE, WE CAN'T GIVE THEM THE CONTRACT.
I THINK THAT'S CLEAR BUT THAT DOESN'T ABSOLVE US OF THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT WE HAVE TO PREPARE OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES FOR THESE OPPORTUNITIES. AND I HATE A PLANNING DISCUSSION CENTERING OUR CONTRIBUTION TO A THRIVING AUSTIN. I KNOW NONE OF US WANT THAT TO BE THE CENTER OF A DISCUSSION OR THE CENTER OF AN ARGUMENT. BUT, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB OF PREPARING OUR BUSINESSES FOR THESE TYPES OF OPPORTUNITIES.
THANK YOU. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ.
>> WALSH: SO ONE THING THAT I THOUGHT MAYBE IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO SHARE WITH COUNCILWOMAN KAUR AND COUNCILMAN WHYTE AND COUNCILWOMAN ALDERETE GAVITO.
TO THE QUESTION THAT THE COUNCILMAN HAD ABOUT DO THE REGIONAL CENTERS PUT US IN A POSITION WHERE WE COULD BETTER LEVERAGE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES. THE LAST TIME THE COUNCIL WENT
[02:15:06]
THROUGH THE DETERMINATION OF PROJECTS FOR THE 2022 BOND PROGRAM, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER WE HAD A CATEGORY OF INFRASTRUCTURE OR BOND PROJECTS WITHIN THE REGIONAL PLANS.AND IT WAS THE FIRST TIME THE CITY HAS EVER DONE IT BECAUSE BRIDGETT, RUDY, AND THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT HAD ESTABLISHED THOSE REGIONAL CENTERS. I DO THINK THAT THAT IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY, AS THESE PLANS GET DEVELOPED, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE INVESTING IN LINE WITH THE APPROVED PLANS THAT COUNCIL APPROVES. AND SETTING ASIDE OR PROPOSING THAT WE SET ASIDE, FOR THE VOTERS TO CONSIDER, INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS TO BE ABLE TO IMPLEMENT THOSE REGIONAL PLANS. SO ALTHOUGH THAT WAS A CONVERSATION IN ITS INFANCY IN LATE 2021, YOU SAW THE SCHEDULE THAT RUDY PROVIDED.
WE WILL ALMOST BE DONE WITH ALL OF THE REGIONAL PLANS. AND SO AS WE GET CLOSER TO 2026, THAT CERTAINLY IS SOMETHING THAT'S ANOTHER GUIDING TOOL FOR THE COUNCIL TO BE ABLE TO ADHERE OR CONSIDER CONSISTENT INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT CONSISTENT WITH WHAT THE PUBLIC OR WHAT THE COMMUNITY HAS ASKED FOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THOSE REGIONAL PLANS.
JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT CONTEXT FOR THE NEWER COUNCIL MEMBERS.
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: ALSO, THIS INTERNAL SCORING MATRIX THAT WE USED FOR EVALUATING BOND PROPOSALS INCLUDED PLANNING DOCUMENTS BUT ALSO THINGS LIKE THE CAAP.
AS THOSE PLANS MATURE, ALL SHOULD INCLUDE LEVERAGING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLANS IN
PLACE. COUNCILMAN COURAGE. >> COURAGE: I WOULD LIKE TO COMPLIMENT CAT, RUDY, MARK, AND TRISH FOR THE WORK THEY PUT INTO THIS PRESENTATION .
YOU KNOW, I WAS THINKING BACK, I STARTED IN COUNCIL IN 2017 WITH MANNY.
THE MAYOR IS THE ONLY ONE WHO WAS AROUND WHEN THIS PLAN WAS DRAFTED AS A COUNCILMEMBER.
SO YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, I KNOW. BUT, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS A BIG STEP BUT NOW WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NINE YEARS AGO OR EIGHT YEARS AGO OR SEVEN BEFORE WE STARTED DOING THIS. AND IT'S BEEN TAKING A LONG TIME.
WE'RE NOW LOOKING AT PHASE 4. WE STILL HAVE PHASE 5. LET'S GO BACK TO PHASE 1.
YOU KNOW, PHASE 1 HIT UTSA AND THE MEDICAL CENTER AND DOWNTOWN AND BROOKS AS SOME OF THE FIRST PHASE 1S. WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN SIX OR SEVEN YEARS SINCE WE DID THAT WORK? YOU KNOW, WE HAD THE PANDEMIC. NOW PEOPLE ARE WORKING REMOTELY.
THEY'RE NOT GOING TO THESE PLACES THE WAY THEY WERE. THEY MAY STILL BE EMPLOYED BUT ARE THEY THERE SHOPPING AT THE STORES, GOING TO THE RESTAURANTS, PARKING, OR WHATEVER? WE'VE MOVED UTSA DOWNTOWN SO WE'VE GOT NEW BUILDINGS DOWNTOWN. BUT WE'VE GOT BUSINESSES THAT HAVE CLOSED DOWNTOWN AND IN MANY OTHER AREAS. INTEREST RATES ARE SO HIGH IT'S HARD TO DEVELOP NOW.
AT THE SAME TIME, OFFICE BUILDINGS ARE BEING REPURPOSED. WE'RE HEARING SOME OF THEM ARE GOING TO BE CLOSED AND CONVERTED TO MAYBE LIVING QUARTERS. AND THEN WE'VE HAD A FLURRY OF STRS SPRINGING UP. 5,000 OF THEM ESTIMATED IN THE CITY.
THAT MEANS 5,000 HOMES THAT AREN'T AVAILABLE FOR OUR NEIGHBORS TO LIVE IN.
AND THEN WE'VE GOT CONSTRUCTION COSTS AND THEN WE'VE GOT THE BROADWAY PLAN, WHICH WAS SUCH A BIG PART OF EARLY DOWNTOWN PLANNING. ALL OF THESE THINGS HAVE CHANGED SO MUCH AND WE'RE STILL TWO, THREE, FOUR YEARS AWAY FROM FINISHING EVERYTHING.
I THINK WE NEED TO EXPEDITE THE LAST FOUR -- PHASE 4 AND PHASE 5.
WE NEED TO GET THOSE PLANS DONE BUT MORE THAN THAT WE NEED TO IMPLEMENT THE PLANS.
WE NEED TO PUT THEM IN PLACE, EDUCATE THE PUBLIC, AND EDUCATE THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND REDISTRICTING BOARD ABOUT THIS. BECAUSE I SERVED ON A PLANNING COMMISSION, YOU KNOW, FOR TWO YEARS. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT FRUSTRATED ME SO MUCH WAS THAT THE CITY STAFF WOULD MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON THE PLANS THAT WERE APPROVED AS PART OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN, BUT THE DEVELOPERS WOULD COME OUT AND SAY WE WANT TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT ON THAT PIECE OF LAND. AND THE COMMISSION WOULD SAY, OKAY.
SO, YEAH, WE HAVE A PLAN THAT THE CITIZENS HAD INPUT ON BUT THE COMMISSION WAS SAYING, WELL, BUT THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD USE OF THAT LAND. SO I THINK WE NEED TO IMPLEMENT THESE PLANS AND WE NEED TO EDUCATE THE POPULATION AND WE NEED TO GET BETTER COOPERATION
[02:20:03]
WHEN IT COMES TO GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT FROM THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY SO THAT WE'RE NOT IGNORING THOSE SPECIFICATIONS WE BUILT INTO THESE PLANS. BUT, ON THE OTHER HAND, SINCE SO MANY THINGS HAVE CHANGED, MAYBE WE NEED TO REVISIT SOME OF THESE A LITTLE BIT MORE TO FIND OUT WHAT IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE BECAUSE OF THE CHANGING CONDITIONS.YOU >> COURAGE: I JUST THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT AND I THIS IT'S WHAT I'M HEARING FROM SOME OF THE REST OF YOU. I THOUGHT THERE WERE REALLY GOOD OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS FROM COUNCILMEMBERS ON DOWNTOWN STRATEGIC PLAN AND THE SA TOMORROW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN. BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS LET'S IMPLEMENT ALL OF THESE PLANS, WHETHER IT'S, YOU KNOW, THE BIKE PLAN OR THE DOWNTOWN PLAN OR SO MANY OTHERS.
HAVING ALL THESE PLANS AND PUTTING THEM UP THERE SO YOU CAN SEE THEM IS ONE THING, BUT PUTTING THEM IN PLACE, JUST LIKE THE CORRIDOR PLANS, IT JUST NEEDS TO GET DONE. I'M GOING TO ASK A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS, MAYBE SOMEBODY FROM CENTRO CAN HELP ME. WHEN IT COMES FROM THE CENTRO ERIDE YOU'RE SETTING UP THAT'S KIND OF LIKE A FREE CAB, SO TO SPEAK, IF THAT'S A FAIR COMPARISON, HOW DO YOU HAIL SOMETHING LIKE THAT? CAB, JUST ORDINARILY, JUST LIKE, HEY, I NEED A RIDE, OR YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE APP. THEY HAVE AN APP WHICH IS HOW WE'RE GOING TO GET
THE DATA THAT WE GET ON A DAILY BASIS. >> COURAGE: OKAY.
>> SO YOU CAN EITHER USE TECHNOLOGY OR WAVE YOUR HAND AND THEY'LL PICK YOU
UP. >> COURAGE: NOW, I KNOW IT WILL HOLD MAYBE UP TO SIX PEOPLE. WHAT HAPPENS IF TWO ARE ON THERE AND THEY WANT TO GET SOME PLACE, IS THAT PLACE GOING TO STOP FOR ANOTHER PERSON ON THE
WAY? >> IT COULD. >> YEAH, THEY'RE DOING TEST DRIVING AND TEST ROUTES RIGHT NOW. THAT'S THE BEAUTY ABOUT A
PILOT, WE'RE GOING TO LEARN A LOT. >> COURAGE: WELL, AND I LIKED WHAT SOMEBODY ELSE HAD SUGGESTED, I THINK IT WAS MANNY, WHAT ABOUT GETTING DATA FROM THE PRIVATE COMPANIES THAT ARE OUT THERE THAT WE CAN INCORPORATE INTO AN OVERALL LOOK AT THE OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE TRANSPORTATION DOWNTOWN. MAYBE WE CAN COME TO AN UNDERSTANDING THAT THEY CAN SHARE THAT DATA THAT WE CAN USE ALONG WITH THE DATA YOU'RE GOING TO GENERATE FROM WHAT WE DO TO GET A WIDER LOOK AT ALL OF THAT.
>> YEAH. >> COURAGE: SO I'D HOPE THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN DO. NOW, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT AND WE TALKED ABOUT VIA AND ERT LINE, THE EAST/WEST, NORTH/SOUTH AS BEING PRIME AREAS FOR TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT, AND ONE OF THE POINTS THAT WAS BROUGHT UP WAS ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING. IT'S NOT JUST MARKET RATE HOUSING, WE NEED AFFORDABLE HOUSING. WE NEED AFFORDABLE HOUSING AS HAS BEEN SAID BELOW 60%. WE NEED TO INSEPTEMBER VIZE THAT.
I THINK COUNCILWOMAN CASTILLO BROUGHT UP A GOOD POINT, THERE'S A 100,000 PEOPLE WAITING FOR A VOUCHER FOR A PLACE TO LIVE IN THIS CITY.
ONE OF THE PROBLEMS I'VE HEARD IS THAT A LOT OF PRIVATE PROPERTY OWNERS DON'T WANT TO WAIT 30, 60 OR 90 DAYS TO GET THEIR FIRST CHECK FOR SOMEBODY MOVING IN AND NOT KNOWING IF THEY'RE GOING TO GET IT OR WHEN THEY'RE GOING TO GET IT, AND NOT KNOWING THAT MUCH ABOUT THE TENANT MOVING IN TO WHERE THEY MIGHT BE LIVING THERE TWO OR THREE MONTHS WITHOUT ANY RENT.
AND IF THERE'S A PROBLEM, ALSO THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TAKES TO RESOLVE THOSE PROBLEMS THROUGH OPPORTUNITY HOMES, THEY'RE VERY TROUBLESOME. YOU KNOW, I -- A CITY DOING AN UP-FRONT UNDERWRITING FOR PEOPLE WITH A VOUCHER, INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR HUD, TWO OR THREE MONTHS DOWN THE LINE OR LONGER, THE CITY PUT UP MONEY THAT WOULD BE REIMBURSED BY THE HOUSING AUTHORITY WHEN THEIR MONEY COMES IN. AND THAT WAY A PROPERTY OWNER GETS A TENANT IN THERE IN TWO WEEKS OR 30 DAYS OR -- NOT 60 OR 90 DAYS, IT WILL PROBABLY BE A LOT MORE INVITING FOR PROPERTY OWNERS TO SAY, YEAH, I'D LOVE TO HAVE VOUCHERS IN MY PROPERTY. SO AS WE LOOK AT DOING THAT TRANSIT-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT, LET'S LOOK AT WAYS THE CITY CAN PARTNER TO MOVE PEOPLE INTO AFFORDABLE UNITS ALONG THOSE AREAS. I WANTED TO ASK, TOO, AND TRISH, MAYBE YOU CAN TELL ME, WHAT KIND OF THOUGHT HAVE THERE BEEN ABOUT HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGES AND THE WAY THEY PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION DOWNTOWN?
>> THERE'S PROBABLY A REASON WHY WE DIDN'T INCLUDE THAT AS PART OF THE PLAN, BECAUSE IT'S A VERY CONTROVERSIAL TOUCHY SUBJECT, I HAVEN'T WEIGHED INTO IT YET. I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN UP BY COUNCIL LIKELY BEFORE CENTRO TAKES A POSITION, BUT, YOU KNOW, IT'S A MIXED BAG, JOHN. FROM A TOURISM STAND POINT, THERE ARE TOURISTS
[02:25:02]
THAT LOVE THE HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGES AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, I HAVE TOURED ACTUALLY THE FACILITIES AND THEY TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OF THE HORSES, THERE'S A LOT OF LOVE AND NURTURING ASSOCIATED WITH THAT, BUT SOMETIMES IT CLOGS UP DOWNTOWN, RIGHT? AND SO THERE'S THAT ASPECT ASSOCIATED WITH IT, TOO, SO CLEARLY THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT I THINK WILL COME BEFORE COUNCIL OR BEFORE A COMMITTEE, AND WE'LL CROSS THAT BRIDGE WHEN WE COME TO IT, BUT IT IS A MICROMOBILITY OPTION INDOWNTOWN CURRENTLY. >> COURAGE: I THINK IT WOULD BE USEFUL FOR US AS COUNCIL TO GET CENTRO'S INPUT ON THIS FROM THEIR BUSINESS PERSPECTIVE.
ANOTHER THING I MENTIONED TO YOU, WH LIGHTING UP DOWNTOWN AND THE DARK AREAS, WHAT ABOUT THAT AS SOMETHING CENTRO CAN GET BEHIND?
>> I THINK WE'VE ALREADY GOTTEN BEHIND IT. YOU KNOW, FOR 15 YEARS, YOU AND I TALKED ABOUT THE FACT THAT I SAW AN OPPORTUNITY TO LIGHT UP HOUSTON STREET. IN MY GRADE, THE RIVERWALK LIGHTING EXPERIENCES DURING THE HOLIDAYS UP THE STREET LEVEL.
SO WITH THE HELP OF VSA AND THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO WE BURST AN IDEA THAT HAD BEEN PERCOLATING A WHOLE TIME AND ESCALATED.
I THINK WE WERE SUCCESSFUL BEYOND OUR WILDEST DREAMS BUT WHAT IT SHOWED COUNCILMAN IS WHEN YOU CAN LIGHT UP A CORRIDOR IN DOWNTOWN, WHAT IT MEANS NOT JUST TO BRING PEOPLE DOWNTOWN FOR A TRULY URBAN EXPERIENCE AND TO BE I BELIEVE A TO COME DOWN AND FEEL SAFE, BECAUSE CERTAINLY LIGHTING CONTRIBUTES TO SAFETY. I WOULD TELL YOU ALSO THAT AS A MICRO PROJECT, PEE HAVE PEACOCK. THEY WERE DESPERATE TO LIGHT UP THAT ALLEYWAY THERE. WE HAD SOME MONIES LEFT OVER FROM A GRANT. THERE, AGAIN, IT'S A STAKEHOLDER AND INVESTOR DOWNTOWN THAT HAD BEEN TRYING TO GET SOMETHING ACCOMPLISHED FOR PROBABLY THREE YEARS. WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT, GOT A BUDGET ASSOCIATED WITH IT, AND THEY COULDN'T BE HAPPIER ABOUT THAT, SO WE NEED TO DO
MORE OF THAT. >> COURAGE: LAST THING I'D JUST LIKE TO ASK, WHAT ABOUT CONNECTING DOWNTOWN TO BRACKENRIDGE PARK?
>> I THINK THERE'S A HUGE OPPORTUNITY THERE. YEAH.
I THINK PART OF THE FRAMEWORK PLAN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS GOING TO BE VERY FOCUSED ON CONNECTIVITY. SO WHEN WE LOOK AT CONNECTIVITY, WHETHER IT'S FROM ST. PAUL SQUARE DOWN TO MARKET SQUARE OR WHETHER IT'S FROM SOUTHTOWN TO THE PEARL OR WHETHER A PARK OF BRACKENRIDGE PARK AND THE CULTURAL CORRIDOR, WE DEFINITELY THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE, A, BETTER WAYFINDING, B, BETTER BRANDING FROM A DISTRICTING STANDPOINT. BOTH OF THOSE THINGS, WAYFINDING AND DISTRICT
BRANDING WILL LEAD TO BETTER ACTIVITY. >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: THANK YOU, COUNCILMEMBER COURAGE? ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION ON THESE ITEMS? I'LL JUST MAKE A COUPLE OF CLOSING COMMENTS.
SINCE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT SA TOMORROW, I DO WANT TO GIVE CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE AND THANK BOTH DARRELL BIRD AND DR. ELNACOT, WHO ALONG WITH ME WERE CHAIRS OF THE SA TOMORROW PROCESS, WHICH WAS A VERY DAUNTING ONE. I SEE BRIDGET BACK, ALONG WITH ROUTEDDY, THEY, TOO, WERE THERE AT THE ORIGIN OF ALL OF THIS AND DESERVE A LOT OF CREDIT.
THE THING I WANTED TO EMPHASIZE, THOUGH, THERE ARE A LOT OF PLANS IN THE CITY. AND THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A LOT OF PLANS IN THE CITY. I THINK WHAT WE NEED TO BE CLEAR IS THAT THERE ARE PLANS THAT SIT ON THE SHELF AND COLLECT DUST AND THERE ARE ONES THAT WE ACTUALLY IMPLEMENT. AND WHAT I'VE BEEN GRATEFUL FOR ON SA TOMORROW IS THAT WE'VE ACTUALLY BEEN UTILIZING THEM, TO THE EXTENT THAT WE'RE BEING CONSISTENT, THAT'S UP FOR DEBATE, BUT I WILL SAY THAT SA TOMORROW AS A PLAN TO BRING ALL THESE OTHER EFFORTS TOGETHER WAS INTENDED TO BE A LIVING DOCUMENT TO ACCOMMODATE THE FUTURE.
YOU KNOW, OUR GOAL TO HAVE A THRIVING, EQUITABLE, PROSPEROUS COMMUNITY, A RESILIENT COMMUNITY, HASN'T CHANGED.
WHAT WE DO TO GET THERE MAY CHANGE. WHAT PEOPLE'S EXPECTATIONS ARE ABOUT A PARTICULAR PIECE OF PROPERTY MAY CHANGE.
IN THOSE CASES, WE NEED TO PIVOT AND WE NEED TO ADJUST, WE NEED TO LIVE UP TO THE EXPECTATIONS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WE'RE BEING RESPONSIVE TO, BUT SA TOMORROW ITSELF IS A LIVING, BREATHING DOCUMENT.
AND WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO COME BACK TO IT, WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO UPDATE IT AS WE GET FURTHER ALONG THE TIMELINE.
IT HAS TAKEN A TON OF TIME. IT'S TAKEN LITERALLY A DECADE TO GET WHERE WE ARE NOW, BUT WE'VE GOTTEN FURTHER AND FURTHER, MORE GRANULAR INTO THE PLANS THAT ARE ACTUALLY DEALING WITH LAND USE.
AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO COME BACK TO IT, BECAUSE I'M SURE THAT SOME USES WILL CHANGE. BUT I DON'T WANT ANYBODY TO LEAVE THIS DISCUSSION THINKING THAT SA TOMORROW, WE'RE CLOSING THE BOOK AND WE'RE GOING TO MOVE ON TO SOMETHING ELSE. IF WE'RE DOING OUR JOBS RIGHT, WE'RE GOING TO IMPLEMENT IT, MEANING THAT WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO LOOK AT IT, CONTINUE TO EVALUATE IT, AND WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO ADD TO IT. SO -- AT ANY RATE, THIS HAS BEEN A REALLY GREAT DISCUSSION. ERIK, I HOPE WE CAN DO THIS MORE OFTEN.
[02:30:02]
YOU'RE LAUGHING, I SEE -- >> WALSH: I DIDN'T LAUGH. I JUST SMILED. YOU'RE SMILING.
I'LL TAKE THAT AS MILD AMUSEMENT, BUT MAYBE SOME AGREEMENT, BECAUSE WHAT I WANT TO -- WHAT I WANT TO EMPHASIZE IS THAT ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, IF WE'RE NOT CHECKING OURSELVES AGAINST THE PLANS WE'VE
PUT IN PLACE, THEN WE ARE MISSING THE MARK. >> WALSH: YEAH.
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: AND I THINK MORE OF THESE DISCUSSIONS WITH COUNCIL TOGETHER ON WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACHIEVE IS IMPORTANT.
>> WALSH: I COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE. AND IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE WE'VE HAD AN UPDATE BECAUSE WE'VE -- WE'VE FOCUSED ON OTHER THINGS, BUT IT IS -- IT IS DIRECTLY TIED INTO A LOT OF WHAT WE DO.
AND I THINK THE INFORMATION THAT COUNCILMAN MCKEE-RODRIGUEZ IS ASKING FOR ABOUT PLAN AMENDMENTS WILL TELL A STORY.
AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE EXERCISE THAT YOU ALL WILL GO THROUGH IN 2026 WILL BE INFORMED BY THAT, AND IF YOU WANT TO DO IT EVERY SPRING AND EVERY FALL, I THINK IT'S IN LINE -- THAT'S A GOOD IDEA.
>> WALSH: OKAY. THEN THAT'S WHAT WE'LL DO.
BECAUSE I THINK IT'S IN LINE WITH A LOT OF WHAT WE'RE DOING.
MAYOR, I WANTED TO THANK, YOU KNOW, BRIDGET'S BACK AFTER A LITTLE OVER A ONE-YEAR TOUR OF DUTY ON A LOANED EXECUTIVE STATUS, AND SHE DID AN AWESOME JOB. AND I'M GLAD TO HAVE HER BACK, BUT RUDY AND THE TEAM KEPT EVERYTHING MOVING. AND I WANT TO THANK RUDY AND HIS LEADERSHIP DURING THAT YEAR, AND THE ENTIRE TEAM AND WELCOME BRIDGET BACK AND BOTH OF THEM HAVE DONE A GREAT JOB OVER THE LAST YEAR.
[APPLAUSE] >> MAYOR NIRENBERG: GOOD JOB, GUYS.
AND I'LL ALSO SAY THAT POINT TAKEN VERY WELL ABOUT THE USE OF DATA AND THE ACCESSIBILITY OF DATA. THE MORE DATA THAT WE ARE ABLE TO GET THAT'S USEFUL DATA CAN ALSO INFORM HOW WE SHAPE THIS PLAN.
WE'LL CHANGE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO LIKELY.
SO THAT'S IT. BEFORE I ADJOURN I WAS INFORMED THAT ANDY SEGOVIA'S BIRTHDAY'S TODAY. SO ANDY, IF WE'RE NOT OUT OF LINE, IF THIS IS GERMANE, CAN WE GO AHEAD AND SING YOU --
>> SEGOVIA: IT'S NOT POSTED, MAYOR, BUT I THINK IT WILL BE OKAY.
>> MAYOR NIRENBERG: NO DISCUSSION, LET'S JUST SING.
I WILL SAY, MAYOR, IT'S MY MEDICARE ELIGIBILITY BIRTHDAY, AND YOU WOULD NEED AT LEAST THREE B SESSIONS TO EXPLAIN ALL THE DIFFERENT CHOICES.
THANKS, ANDY. ALL RIGHT. NO EXEC TODAY.
WE HAVE A 5:00 P.M. PUBLIC COMMENT, 4:39 P.M. ON MARCH 6TH, AND WE ARE ADJOURNED. THANKS
* This transcript was compiled from uncorrected Closed Captioning.