[1. 20-3136 Briefing and updates on the City's COVID-19 response and preparedness and updates on the COVID-19 Community Action Working Groups.]
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EVERYONE, WELCOME TO OUR CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL SESSION.
THE TIME IS 1:04 PM ON TUESDAY, UM, MAY 12TH, 2020.
WE'LL GO AHEAD AND CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
I'LL HAVE OUR CLERK GO AHEAD AND READ THE ROLL.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN.
GREAT, THANKS AND WELCOME AGAIN EVERYONE.
WE HAVE OUR, UH, DEPARTMENT BRIEFINGS TODAY, SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO CITY MANAGER ERIC WALSH.
GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
UM, SO THIS AFTERNOON WE HAVE ONE ITEM THAT'LL BE PRESENTED BY, UM, UH, DR.
UM, IT, IT'S REALLY OPERATIONALIZING THE HEALTH TRANSITION PLAN, UM, THAT YOU RECEIVED, UH, TWO WEEKS AGO, UM, THAT BOTH DEPARTMENTS AND THE CITY HAVE BEEN WORKING HARD, UH, AND MANY OF THE, UH, ISSUES THAT, OR AREAS THAT, THAT YOU'LL SEE IN THE PRESENTATION TODAY, UM, HAVE ALREADY BEEN, UH, ARE IN THE MIDST OF BEING IMPLEMENTED.
UM, WE, WE, UH, UH, AS I SHARED WITH COUNCIL A WEEK AGO, UH, WE ARE, UH, USING THAT H T T REPORT, UM, AND THE, UM, THE EXPERTS WHO WERE ASKED TO BE, UH, AS PART OF THAT GROUP, AS SORT OF A ROADMAP FOR US LOCALLY AS WE CONTINUE TO DEAL WITH THE, UM, ONGOING ISSUE.
SO WITH THAT, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO, UH, DAWN.
UH, THEN CHIEF HOOD HAS A PIECE THERE IN THE MIDDLE TO TALK ABOUT FIRE ASSETS, AND THEN MARIA VILLAGOMEZ WILL WRAP UP THE LAST SLIDE.
UM, CHIEF COOK AND I, UM, ALONG WITH SO MANY OTHER PEOPLE, HAVE BEEN REALLY WORKING HARD OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS TO IMPLEMENT A LOT OF THE WORK THAT IS HERE.
AND, UM, AND WE'RE REALLY HAPPY TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE OF AN INSIGHT ON THAT.
SO, TO OPERATIONALIZE THE HELP TRANSITION PLAN, IT WAS REALLY EASY, UM, OR BEST TO COMMUNICATE THIS WORK THROUGH THREE BUCKETS, UM, TO REALLY TRY TO GET FOLKS TO UNDERSTAND CLEARLY THE COMPLEXITY AND THE AMOUNT AND THE VOLUME OF WORK THAT WE DO.
AND SO TO OPERATIONALIZE THOSE GUIDANCE, WE PUT TOGETHER THREE BUCKETS, WATCH, EXPAND, AND ASSURE.
MEETING THOSE THREE BUCKETS, UM, WILL ALLOW US TO MEET THE GOALS THAT I WILL LAY OUT FOR YOU IN THE, THE NEXT SEVERAL SLIDES FOR THE WATCH.
THESE ARE THE INDICATORS, THESE ARE THE PROGRESS AND THE WARNING INDICATORS THAT WERE CLEARLY OUTLINED IN THE H T T PLAN EXPAND.
ANOTHER VERY CLEAR, UM, UM, EXPECTATION IS TO EXPAND OR SCALE UP OUR TESTING AND OUR CONTACT TRACING.
AND THEN FINALLY, TO ASSURE ONE OF THE BACKBONES TO PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE AND TO ASSURE IS, UM, IS TO EDUCATE THE PUBLIC AND FORCE THE EMERGENCY ORDERS AND TO ASSURE THAT TESTING AND CONTACT TRACING CAPACITY IS FULLY AVAILABLE.
SO THE VERY FIRST THING THAT WE WANTED TO DO IS THE, ALL THREE OF THOSE THINGS ARE NOT POSSIBLE UNLESS WE HAVE, UM, A COLLABORATIVE GROUP, BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL TO HELP SEE THESE THINGS THROUGH.
THIS IS A GROUP THAT HAS BEEN TOGETHER, UM, SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING OF FEBRUARY, AND THEY HAVE BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN HELPING US GET TO THE POINT OF WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
BUT NOW THAT WE HAVE A CLEAR VISION OF, UH, WATCH, EXPAND, AND ASSURE, WE REALLY WANNA TAKE THE TESTING TASK FORCE TO THE NEXT LEVEL.
AND AS OF TODAY, STARTING TODAY, WE ARE ANNOUNCING THAT THE TESTING TASK FORCE WILL NOW BECOME THE TESTING AND TRACING TASK FORCE.
EACH OF THESE FIVE CIRCLES THAT YOU SEE UNDERNEATH
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THAT REPRESENT WORK GROUPS, AND THESE WILL BE FORMAL WORK GROUPS THAT WILL HELP US ACTUALIZE THE INFORMATION THAT I'M ABOUT TO PRESENT TO YOU.THOSE FIVE WORK GROUPS ENTAIL AN INDICATOR MONITORING WORK GROUP, A TESTING AND LAB REPORTING WORK GROUP, CONTACT TRACING, WORK GROUPS, ENFORCEMENT AND EDUCATION WORK GROUP, AND POLICY AND HEALTH ALERTS WORK GROUP.
THE CORRESPONDING COLORS CERTAINLY ALIGN WITH THE THREE BUCKETS THAT I INTRODUCED THIS PRESENTATION WITH.
AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE MIDDLE, WE ALREADY HAVE COMMITMENTS FROM DR.
BARBARA TAYLOR AND MYSELF TO CHAIR THE TESTING AND TRACING TASK FORCE.
TAYLOR AS A CO-CHAIR WITH ME, IT ALIGNS VERY NICELY, A GREAT BRIDGE AND A TRANSITION WITH THE H T T GROUP, AS WELL AS THE EXISTING WORK THAT HAS ALREADY OCCURRING IN THE E O C AS WELL AS METRO HEALTH.
EACH OF THESE SUBWORK GROUPS WILL BE ALIGNED WITH A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY, A LEADER IN THE COMMUNITY, AS WELL AS THE METRO HEALTH STAFF, TO ASSURE THAT THERE IS COORDINATION AND ALSO COMMUNITY INPUT.
WE'RE VERY PLEASED TO SEE THIS.
WE HAVE BUY-IN FROM OUR TESTING TASK FORCE MEMBERS ALREADY, AND WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO MEET THESE GOALS.
SO, THE INTRODUCTION OF WATCH, WE'RE SO PLEASED TO SHOW YOU THIS, THIS INDICATOR, UM, BOARD, THIS DASHBOARD THAT OUR VERY OWN I T S D AND INNOVATION HAVE WORKED TO HELP ACTUALIZE ONE OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAME OUT OF THE H T T PLAN, PROGRESS INDICATORS AND WARNING INDICATORS.
EACH OF THESE INDICATORS ARE CLEARLY ESTABLISHED IN THE PLAN, AND WE ARE, THIS IS LIVE ALREADY, SO YOU'RE ABLE TO SEE THIS, THE PUBLIC IS ABLE TO SEE IT, AND WE HAVE GOTTEN REALLY GOOD FEEDBACK FROM NOT ONLY OUR H T T MEMBERS, UM, THAT WERE A PART OF THAT GROUP AS WELL AS THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND THE EXPERTS IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO THESE WARNING INDICATORS ARE, UH, I MEAN THE PROGRESS INDICATORS ARE THE 14 DAYS.
THESE ARE ALL THINGS THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE LOOKING AT TOGETHER IN THE PROGRESS INDICATORS.
THIS, AGAIN, WILL BE A PART OF THE WORK GROUP THAT I JUST MENTIONED TO YOU.
SO WE WILL HAVE EXPERTS, NOT JUST METRO HEALTH, BUT WE WILL HAVE OTHER PEOPLE AROUND THE TABLE LOOKING AT THESE INDICATORS AND HELPING US TO DECIDE AND TO MAKE, UM, TO SHARE THE INFORMATION AND TO SHARE OUR INTERPRETATION OF WHAT THE PROGRESS INDICATORS REALLY MEAN.
AND WHETHER THERE IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO CALL LOCAL POLICY MAKERS AND STATE POLICY MAKERS KEEP, YOU KNOW, GET THEIR, UH, HAVE THEM PROVIDE SOME ATTENTION TO SOME OF THESE INDICATORS.
THE WARNING INDICATORS ARE JUST AS THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS THE DOUBLING RATE.
SO WE KNOW THAT RIGHT BEFORE THE, UH, MAYOR AND THE JUDGE'S DECLARATION THAT THE DOUBLING RATE OF POSITIVE CASES WERE EVERY THREE DAYS.
TODAY THEY ARE AT IT IS AT 28.
SO WE ARE NOT SEEING A DOUBLING OF CASES, UM, UH, FOR MORE THAN 28 DAYS.
IT IS GREEN NOW BECAUSE WE ARE IN A SAFE, A SAFE SPACE, IF YOU WILL.
ONCE THAT GREEN STARTS TO GET MIDPOINT AND STARTS TO GO DOWN A LITTLE BIT, THEN WE WILL START TO SEE A YELLOWING OF THAT.
AGAIN, THE TESTING AND TRACING TASK FORCE WORK GROUP, THE INDICATOR WORK GROUP WILL BE MONITORING THESE VERY CLOSELY AND MAKING AND SHARING THE INFORMATION ACCORDINGLY.
SO NOW WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT EXPAND.
SO THAT IS WATCH WAS OUR FIRST BUCKET.
C EXPAND IS OUR SECOND BUCKET, AND THIS IS WHERE MOST OF THE WORK IS OCCURRING.
SO BEFORE WE EXPAND, UM, CONSIDERABLY, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT THAT WE CONTINUE TO ASSESS THE COMMUNITY.
WE'VE HAD THE TESTING, UH, SELF SCREENING SITE UP FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
IT CONTINUES TO BE A VITAL PLAY, A VITAL ROLE, AND SETTING THE TEMPERATURE OF WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITY.
PEOPLE WHO CAN GO TO THIS, TO THIS WEBSITE, LOOK AT THEIR SYMPTOMS, TRY TO GET AN ASSESSMENT, AND THEN THROUGH THAT THEY ARE LINKED TO ONE OF THE CLOSEST, UM, UH, TESTING SITES THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR THEM TO GO TO THAT WILL CONTINUE AND THROUGH.
AND BY MARCH, 2021, METRO HEALTH WILL PROMOTE THE C OVID 19 SCREENING WEBSITE TWICE A WEEK THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA AND ROBOCALL UNTIL MARCH, 2021.
CONTINUING WITH THE ASSESSING OF THE COMMUNITY, WE'RE ALSO DOING A COMMUNITY SURVEY.
METRO HEALTH WILL ADMINISTER A COMMUNITY SURVEY EVERY TWO WEEKS FOR A TOTAL OF THREE MONTHS AND ANALYZE FINDINGS BY AUGUST, 2020.
WE WILL USE SA SPEAKUP AND A VARIETY OF
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CHANNELS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE AN APPROPRIATE REPRESENTATION OF THE SURVEY.THIS SURVEY WILL ALLOW US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND WHO STILL HAS SYMPTOMS, WHO IS GETTING TESTED, WHY AREN'T THEY GETTING TESTED, AND I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT I HAVE BEEN ENGAGING ALL OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS.
TO GIVE YOU A HEADS UP ON THIS SURVEY, I KNOW I HAVE A FEW MORE TO GET TO, BUT CLEARLY THIS IS GONNA BE HAP THIS IS GOING TO BE HAPPENING ON MAY 18TH.
SO TESTING, WE ARE LOOKING TO INCREASE OUR TESTING DAILY CAPACITY TO 3000 A DAY.
WE ARE LOOKING AT ABOUT 1600 TESTS A DAY.
CURRENTLY, THAT'S THE CAPACITY, AND WE'RE LOOKING TO INCREASE THAT TO 3000 TESTS DAILY.
HOW ARE WE GONNA DO THAT? NUMBER ONE, CONDUCT A RANDOMIZED STUDY.
TWO, OFFER UNIVERSAL SCREENING AND TESTING, AND THREE, EXPAND THE TESTING SITE.
SO, LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT STUDY.
SO THE STUDY IS TO, UH, TO CONDUCT A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE PREVALENCE OF THE ASYMPTOMATIC INFECTION.
WE REALLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE RATE OF, UM, OF TRANSMISSION IS CURRENTLY IN OUR COMMUNITY.
THIS STUDY, WHICH IS AN IN COLLABORATION WITH U T S A AS WELL AS U H S AND M I H AND METRO HEALTH, WILL ALLOW US TO DO RANDOMIZED COLLECTIONS OF DOOR-TO-DOOR ASSESSMENT AND TESTING TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE RATE OF TRANSMISSION IS FOR ASYMPTOMATIC POSITIVE.
ANOTHER ONE OF OUR TESTING THAT I MENTIONED WAS CONDUCT UNIVERSAL SCREENING AND TESTING IN CONGREGATE SETTINGS FOR BOTH ASYMPTOMATIC AND IN SYMPTOMATIC INDIVIDUALS.
THIS IS ALREADY OCCURRING, UM, NOT ONLY THROUGH THE LOCAL LEVEL, BUT THIS IS ALSO OCCURRING AT THE STATE LEVEL IN PARTNERSHIP WITH M I H AND H H S C.
AND WE ARE ALSO EXPANDING THE TESTING SITES FOR BOTH SYMPTOMATIC AND ASYMPTOMATIC INDIVIDUALS WITH PRIORITIZED POPULATIONS.
MANY OF YOU KNOW THAT LAST WEEKEND WE STARTED A POPUP SLASH WALKUP, UH, TESTING SITE IN TWO OF OUR NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, WHO HAVE PROVIDER DESERTS.
AND WE'VE SEEN VERY GOOD TURNOUT AND RESULTS OF THOSE PARTICULAR, UM, TESTING SITES, THE EXPANDING OF THE TESTING SITES.
YOU ALSO KNOW THAT WE'VE EXPANDED.
WE HAVE WALMART THAT'S IN OUR COMMUNITY.
WE ALSO HAVE TEXAS MILITARY THAT'S IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND WITH THE GUIDANCE OF THE TESTING AND TRACING TASK FORCE, WE WILL CONTINUE TO SEEK OTHER OPTIONS FOR PEOPLE TO COME INTO OUR COMMUNITY AND SET UP TESTING.
IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT THAT WE TRY TO ASSURE THAT THE TESTS THAT ARE BEING OFFERED IN OUR COMMUNITY ARE VALID TESTS.
THEY'RE SCIENTIFIC BASED AND THEY'RE EVIDENCE-BASED.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT JUST BRINGING TESTS INTO OUR COMMUNITY JUST TO REACH THAT 3000, THAT WE ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THESE ARE THE RIGHT TESTS, THEY'RE THE APPROPRIATE TESTS, AND THEY ARE EFFECTIVE TESTS.
I'M GONNA PASS THIS TO CHIEF HOOD, AND HE IS GOING TO TALK ABOUT HIS RESPONSE EXPANSION.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME? OKAY? SORRY.
SO, GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL.
UM, PART OF OUR RESPONSE WAS THIS MANAGING, UH, P P E.
AS YOU REMEMBER, WHEN WE STARTED, THIS WAS ONE OF OUR MAIN STRATEGIC GOALS TO MANAGE P P E.
AND SO WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED IS THAT, UM, IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS, WE NEED TO HAVE A ROBUST SYSTEM THAT IS GONNA DISTRIBUTE P P E TO, TO OUR CITY, ALL DEPARTMENTS AND, AND HOPEFULLY THROUGHOUT THE REGION.
SO THE GOAL WOULD BE TO CO LOCATE RESOURCES, UH, ASSOCIATED WITH THIS.
AND WE'VE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY LEARN A LOT AS FAR AS WHAT WE NEED.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, WE'D HAVE A DISTRI DIS DISTRIBUTION NETWORK, VEHICLES, EQUIPMENT, FLOOR JACKS, ALL OF THOSE THINGS TO, UH, PROVIDE P P E HAND SANITIZERS, ALL OF THOSE THINGS, UH, THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
ANOTHER THING THAT'S CRITICAL FOR US AS A FIT TESTING FOR RESPIRATORS AND FOR, UH, ANY OF OUR, UH, P P E MASKS THAT COMPLY WITH C D, C AND OSHA REQUIREMENTS.
SO WE'D BE ABLE TO DO THAT THERE WITH OUR AIR MANAGEMENT.
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DECONTAMINATION EQUIPMENT, UH, SPECIALIZED FOR SANITATION OF VEHICLES, WHICH WE ARE DOING SOME OF THAT NOW.SOME OF YOU REMEMBER, UM, IN PAST BRIEFINGS, WE WERE USING THE, UH, DOWNTOWN Y LOCATION.
SO WE'VE GONE OUT AND PROCURED EQUIPMENT THAT, UH, WOULD ALLOW US TO DO THOSE DECONTAMINATIONS AT THE FIRE STATIONS AT AN OFFICE IN THE BACK OF AN AMBULANCE OR A POLICE CAR.
UH, SO ENHANCING OUR RESPONSE CAPABILITY.
WE ARE ONE OF THE FINEST M S SYSTEMS AND FIRE SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD.
SO HOW DO WE GET BETTER AT, UH, RESPONDING IN A PANDEMIC? SO OUR PLAN IS TO INCREASE MEDICAL RESOURCES FOR METRO HEALTH AND OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT AT THIS TIME.
WE OPERATE WITH A MEDICAL DIRECTOR, DR.
DAVID MONTZ, A DEPUTY MEDICAL DIRECTOR, UH, DR.
WE PLAN TO ADD ANOTHER ASSISTANT MEDICAL DIRECTOR TO FOCUS ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND, AND, AND FOCUS ON INFECTIOUS CONTROL FOR PUBLIC SAFETY, AND ALSO TO PROVIDE A INFECTIOUS CONTROL NURSE.
UH, ONE OF OUR SURGE MANAGEMENT, UM, POLICIES OR, OR THINGS THAT WE WERE DOING EARLY ON WAS TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM GOING TO THE HOSPITAL IF WE COULD DO THAT.
AND SO WE CAN, UH, ENHANCE THAT AVAIL AVAILABILITY TO KEEP PEOPLE AT HOME FOR LONGER PERIODS OF TIME THROUGH TELEMEDICINE.
SO WE WOULD BE ABLE TO BASICALLY TREAT A PERSON AT HOME.
ALSO, ADDING CONTRACTUAL MEDICAL RESOURCES FOR METRO HEALTH.
WE WORK REALLY, REALLY WELL WITH DR.
SO HOW DO WE ENHANCE THOSE RESOURCES? UH, CREATING A TRIAGE FOR MINOR EMERGENCIES OR AN EMERGENCY LINE FOR CITIZENS.
UH, PRE-ARRIVAL TRIAGE, UH, INFORMATION FOR OUR CITIZEN.
THOSE ARE THINGS THAT WE HAVE LEARNED DURING THIS PANDEMIC IS, UH, WHAT INFORMATION DO WE NEED TO GET OUT TO THE CITIZENS? HOW CAN WE SCREEN THESE CALLS BETTER TO SEE IF WE CAN EITHER ELIMINATE A RESPONSE, SAVE A RESOURCE, AND KEEP THAT PERSON HOME SPECIALIZED.
E M SS EQUIPMENT, WE ARE LOOKING AT ALSO, UH, PROVIDING, UH, MORE E M SS EQUIPMENT FOR FIRE UNITS.
OUR E M S UNITS AND OUR M M I H UNITS, UH, TECHNOLOGY HAS GIVEN US THE AVAILABILITY, HAVE PORTABLE, UH, ULTRASOUND MACHINES, WHICH WE ARE USING IN SOME SETTINGS, BUT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE MORE, UH, ULTRASOUNDS OUT THERE WHERE WE CAN GO OUT AND ACTUALLY SCAN A PERSON'S LUNGS.
WE CAN FIGURE OUT WHETHER THERE'S FLUID IN THEIR LUNGS THAT'S GOING TO HELP US IN, UM, DECIDING WHETHER WE NEED TO TREAT THEM OR TRANSPORT THEM.
SO AGAIN, UH, MORE TELEMEDICINE EQUIPMENT AND MORE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR US.
UH, WE HAVE GONE OUT IN, IN, IN CONGREGATE SETTINGS TO JAILS, TO NURSING HOMES, AND, UM, TO HAVE OTHER EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE AS FAR AS, UH, TRAILERS, TENTS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
WE HAVE ASSISTED THE STATE OF TEXAS IN GOING TO BRENHAM, TEXAS, WHICH IS OUT BY COLLEGE STATION.
WE SENT OUR M I H FOLKS OUT THERE TO GO OUT AND SURVEIL AND TEST A NURSING HOME THERE THAT WAS SIMILAR TO SOUTHEAST.
THEY HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WERE SICK.
UH, A LOT OF THINGS GOING ON OUT THERE, AND THEY NEEDED HELP.
THEY DID NOT HAVE THE, UH, OPPORTUNITY OR THE CAPABILITIES TO HAVE AN M I H PROGRAM.
SO AGAIN, HAVING THAT EQUIPMENT THAT WE COULD DEPLOY TO OTHER AREAS OF THE REGION TO PROVIDE TESTING WALKUP SITES, WE WERE WOODLAWN LAKE AND, UH, LAS PALM THIS WEEK.
WE LEARNED SO MUCH IN THAT ONE, UH, OPPORTUNITY TO GO OUT AND TEST FOR A COUPLE DAYS.
WE NEED ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA NEED TO PROVIDE IF WE PLAN TO CONTINUE TO DO THESE TESTINGS.
SO, UH, THAT EQUIPMENT AND THEN SMALL SCALE FOR INDIVIDUAL MOBILE TESTING.
SO, UH, COUNCILMAN GRO, YOU, YOU WERE, UH, PUBLIC SAFETY CHAIR WHEN WE STARTED THE PILOT PROGRAM FOR M I H.
AND, UM, THIS PROGRAM, I, I, I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT IT BECAUSE WE HAVE GONE OUT AND, AND TAKEN CARE OF NEEDS THAT WOULD'VE NEVER BEEN ADDRESSED IF WE DIDN'T HAVE THIS PROGRAM.
SO WHAT WE PLAN TO DO IS TO TRAIN A HUNDRED PERSONNEL IN OUR DEPARTMENT IN THE FUNCTIONS OF, UM, COMMUNITY PARAMEDICINE OR TESTING, GOING OUT DOING SOME OF THESE THINGS THAT WE CAN DO WITH ONE PERSON IN A CAR.
AND SO ADDING POSITIONS FOR M I H FOR CONTACT TEAMS. SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, IF SOMEONE GETS A A A A, A POSITIVE TEST, WE'RE GONNA MAKE CONTACT WITH THEM AND WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE DOING
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OKAY, AND HOPEFULLY KEEP THEM AT HOME, NOT HAVE TO TRANSPORT THEM TO THE HOSPITAL OR CATCH THEM BEFORE THEY GET CRITICALLY ILL AND WE CAN TAKE CARE OF THEM.SO, UM, OUR EXTENDED CARE TEAMS ARE, ARE DOING THAT ON A DAILY BASIS.
AND SO AT THIS TIME, WE HAVE, UM, COMPLETED A WHOPPING 4,110 SWABS SINCE WE STARTED, UH, FEBRUARY 8TH.
OUR HIGHEST TOTAL COUNT ON A DAY WAS 724.
UH, WE'VE DONE 369 RESIDENTIAL TESTS.
SO THERE'S SOMETIMES PEOPLE THAT CANNOT MAKE IT TO GET TESTED FOR WHATEVER REASONS, UH, TRANSPORTATION OR, OR A PHYSICAL IMPEDIMENT.
UH, WE'VE, WE'VE ASSESSED, UH, MULTIPLE PEOPLE AT THE HAVEN FOR HOPE.
WE HAVE ALSO TESTED, UH, 1,120 AT THE JAIL, AND THAT'S A TOTAL OF 319 EMPLOYEES AND 801, UH, INMATES.
SO AGAIN, THIS PROGRAM SPEAKS VOLUMES FOR THE DECISION OF THE CITY SEVERAL YEARS AGO TO, UM, MOVE AWAY FROM A PILOT PROGRAM AND GIVE US THE RESOURCES THAT WE NEED FOR THIS.
SO, I CAN'T THANK MY TEAM ENOUGH.
THEY'RE BUSY OUT THERE RIGHT NOW.
WE WILL BE DOING TESTING, UM, IN DISTRICTS TWO AND THREE THIS WEEK.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SERVICING THE COMMUNITY AND AGAIN, BECOMING THE BEST FIRE DEPARTMENT IN THE NATION AS FAR AS DEALING WITH PANDEMICS.
I CLOSE THIS WITH SAYING WE HAD A, UH, EXERCISE TODAY ON MANAGING A PANDEMIC AND MANAGING A HURRICANE.
SO, UH, SOCIAL DISTANCING IS GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE FOR US AS FAR AS WHAT WE DO IN THE FUTURE IN SHELTERING PEOPLE.
AND, UH, I LEARNED A NEW TERM TODAY IS CALLED A SO TELL.
SO, SO TELL MEANS A SHELTER HOTEL.
SO WE'RE LEARNING TO DEAL WITH HURRICANES AND PANDEMICS AT THE SAME TIME.
SO, AGAIN, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, JOHN.
SO, I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF WORK IN THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN HEALTH AND, UM, SAN ANTONIO, SAN ANTONIO'S FIRE.
IT JUST MAKES A ONE-TWO PUNCH FOR SURE TO HAVE THAT PUBLIC HEALTH PIECE.
AND THEN THE RESPONSE PIECE, THAT CLINICAL RESPONSE PIECE HAS JUST BEEN PHENOMENAL.
SO THE GO NEXT WITH OUR NEXT SET OF EXPANSION GOALS IS CONTACT TRACING.
AGAIN, TESTING AND RESPONSE AND CONTACT TRACING GO HAND IN HAND.
THE METROHEALTH WILL UTILIZE A 70 15 90 RULE TO RECRUIT, TRAIN, AND DEPLOY 175 CASE TRACERS AS NEW, AS NEW POSITIVE CASES INCREASE OVER A PERIOD OF TIME, BEGINNING ON JUNE 1ST, THE 70, 15 AND 90 FORMULA, OR THE RULE THAT WE SAY IS THAT IN THAT 70 NUMBER, THIS IS A WARNING SIGN.
SO BASED ON CURRENT PRODUCTION AND REALLY OPERATING AS A WELL OILED MACHINE WITH OUR EPI, OUR CURRENT EPIDEMIOLOGIST, WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO IN TERMS OF OUR CONTACT TRACING.
WHAT WE ALSO KNOW IS THAT IF WE DO RESTART TO SEE SUSTAINED NEW CASES THAT REACH INTO THAT 70 A DAY RATE, THAT IS A WARNING SIGN FOR US THAT WE ARE GONNA NEED TO START TRAINING ABOUT 15 MORE CASE TRACERS.
ONCE WE GET THERE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE THOSE 15 ON HOLD IN ADDITION TO THE ONES THAT WE ALREADY HAVE IN QUEUE.
SO 15 WILL BE OUR, UM, OUR AREA THAT WE WILL TRAIN.
AND THEN IF WE MEET, UH, IF WE GET TO A 90 POSITIVE CASE RATE IN A DAY, THEN WE KNOW THAT WE ALREADY HAVE 15 THAT ARE READY TO DEPLOY.
SO THE 70, 15 AND 90 ROLL IS THE WAY THAT WE WILL GO, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO USE THAT UNTIL WE MEET THE 1 75.
SO, TO ALSO CONTINUE WITH OUR CONTACT TRACING GOALS, WE WANT TO INNOVATE.
AND SO WE KNOW THAT USING TECHNOLOGY IN ADDITION TO ALL THE OTHER METHODS THAT WE ARE USING TO INCREASE AND EXPAND OUR CONTACT TRACING, THAT WE SHOULD USE TECHNOLOGY TO HELP US DO THAT AS WELL.
SO METRO HEALTH AND I T S D WILL COMPLETE A 30 DAY PILOT WITH AM MOCA MOBILE HEALTH TECHNOLOGY TO MONITOR PATIENTS, POSITIVE PATIENTS AND CONTACT DAILY AND CONTACT THEM DAILY FOR SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS UNTIL JUNE 30TH, 2020.
WE WILL EVALUATE THAT AT THE END OF JUNE TO SEE IF THERE IS SCALABILITY WITHIN OUR ORGANIZATION.
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AND THEN THE THIRD BUCKET THAT WE TALKED ABOUT IS ASSURE, AND THAT, AND THERE'S TWO SECTIONS TO THIS.THE FIRST ONE IS ENFORCEMENT, THE CITY'S DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DEPARTMENT, D S D, AND THE IN METRO HEALTH AS WELL AS CITY CENTER DEVELOPMENT.
AND SS A P D WILL INSPECT 10 BUSINESSES A WEEK AND EDUCATE AND OR ADMINISTER WARNINGS AND CITATIONS FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH DECLARATION BEGINNING JUNE 1ST, 2020.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THIS TEAM HAS BEEN DOING FOR A LONG TIME AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO THAT MOVING FORWARD.
AND THEN YOU CAN'T DO ASSURANCE.
AND AGAIN, THESE ARE JUST AMAZING PIECES OF WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR SEVERAL MONTHS NOW, FOR SEVERAL WEEKS, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT ON AN AS NEEDED BASIS.
COMMUNITY HEALTH AND PREVENTION TEAM.
THIS IS THE GROUP OF A COLLABORATIVE, MULTI-AGENCY INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO, UM, AND COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS THAT ARE GOING INTO THE COMMUNITY AND CANVASSING, UM, SPECIFIC CENSUS TRACKS TO HELP WITH, UM, PREVENTION AND MITIGATION WHERE WE MIGHT SEE HOTSPOTS IN THE COMMUNITY AS WELL AS, UM, A HIGH LEVEL OF EQUITY CONCERNS THAT WE'RE GOING IN AND JUST SWARMING SORT OF THE, THE, THE CENSUS TRACK WITH INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE AND TALKING TO THE BUSINESSES AND, AND, UM, AND REALLY DOING THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
OUR COMMUNITY HOTLINE HAS JUST BEEN AMAZING.
UM, SO METROHEALTH, OUR COMMUNITY HOTLINE WILL ANSWER AND PROVIDE CRITICAL INFORMATION TO OVER 45 RESIDENTS BY DECEMBER 31ST, 2020.
AND THEN WE'LL CONTINUE OUR PROVIDER EDUCATION FOR ASSURANCE, FOR ASSURANCE.
METRO HEALTH'S, UM, HEALTH AUTHORITY WILL PROVIDE 20 TELE-TOWN HALL EDUCATION SESSIONS BY DECEMBER 31ST, 2020.
THE NEXT COUPLE OF SLIDES REALLY JUST KIND OF PULL ALL OF THOSE SMART GOALS THAT I JUST REVIEWED FOR YOU, AS WELL AS THE WORK THAT FIRE WILL BE DOING, AND PULLED IT INTO TWO SPECIFIC CHARTS.
JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF THE TIMELINE, UM, AS I MENTIONED MANY OF THIS WORK AND CITY, UM, CITY MANAGER WALSH MENTIONED A LOT OF THIS WORK HAS ALREADY, UH, STARTED AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO DO THAT MOVING FORWARD.
UM, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PIVOT AND DO, UM, AND START THINGS NEW.
AND ONE IS THAT NEW TESTING AND TRACING TASK FORCE THAT WE'RE SO EXCITED ABOUT, UM, TO REALLY GET THAT ENGAGEMENT OF THE COMMUNITY AND SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A FULL PERSPECTIVE OF, UM, OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING.
AND THIS JUST GOES AGAIN, SHOWS YOU SOME OF THE OTHER WORK THAT, UM, OUTLINED IN A TIMELINE SO THAT YOU CAN SEE HOW WE ARE REALLY MANAGING ALL OF THIS WORK.
AND NOW I'M GONNA PASS IT TO, UH, UH, DEPUTY CITY MANAGER, UH, MARIA GOMEZ.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
THIS IS, UH, MARIA V. GOMEZ, DEPUTY CITY MANAGER.
AND WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO COVER WITH YOU TODAY IS THE PROJECTED COST OF THE WATCH, EXPAND, AND ASSURE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN THAT WAS JUST PRESENTED BY DR.
AS YOU MAY RECALL, LAST WEEK, UH, WE MADE A PRESENTATION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE COMMUNITY ABOUT, UH, FEDERAL GRANTS THAT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO HAS RECEIVED.
AND WE MENTIONED THAT THERE ARE SEVERAL GRANTS.
UH, SOME OF 'EM, UH, EXPIRED AT THE END OF THIS CALENDAR YEAR, DECEMBER 30TH.
THAT IS OUR CORONA RELIEF, UH, FUND OR THE C R F.
AND THEN WE HAVE SOME OTHER HEALTH GRANTS AND PUBLIC SAFETY GRANTS THAT EXPAND THROUGH, UH, MARCH OF 2021.
THE PLAN THAT WAS JUST PRESENTED, UH, IT ACTUALLY EXPANDS THROUGH MARCH OF, UH, 2021.
UH, AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS BECAUSE WE HAVE A FEDERAL FUNDING THAT IS AVAILABLE TO THE CITY, UH, THROUGH THAT PERIOD OF TIME.
SO WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF FINALIZING, UM, THE, THE REPORT, THE ACTUAL REPORT THAT WE ARE GONNA BE PROVIDING TO THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL, UH, THAT EN ENCOMPASSES ALL THE FACES THAT YOU SAW TODAY.
WE ANTICIPATE TO HAVE THAT AVAILABLE TO YOU ALL BY MAY 25TH.
AND THE REASON FOR THIS, UH, DEADLINE IS THAT WE ARE ALSO WORKING IN ALL THE DIFFERENT PHASES OF THE CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND OR THE C R F.
UH, YOU MAY RECALL THAT, THAT WE MENTIONED THE CITY RECEIVED $270 MILLION FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
AND THE PLAN THAT YOU, YOU SEE TODAY IS ELIGIBLE TO BE PAID UNDER THAT GRANT.
BUT WE ALSO HAVE OTHER ASPECTS OF OUR EMERGENCY RESPONSE THAT WE'RE WORKING ON, WHICH IS THE WORK THAT IS BEING DONE BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, UH, THE WORK THAT IS BEING DONE BY, UH, OUR
[00:30:01]
CODE ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT, AND JUST THE, THE CHANGES THAT WE MAY HAVE TO DO AS A RESULT OF COVID 19 TO OUR CITY FACILITIES IN TERMS OF, UH, SANITATION SERVICES, UH, PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT THAT WE HAVE TO, UH, ACQUIRE FOR OUR EMPLOYEES.SO WE'RE FINALIZING THE TOTAL BUDGET.
UH, WE MENTIONED LAST WEEK THAT WE WILL BE PROVIDING A UPDATE TO THE CITY COUNCIL ON MAY THE 20TH.
AND THIS IS, UM, TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON THE WORK THAT WE'RE ALSO DOING FOR, UM, OUR COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF ASSISTANCE TO SMALL BUSINESSES, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, UH, DIGITAL DIVIDE, AND, AND, UH, THE OTHER, UM, ASPECTS OF THE PLAN THAT WE PRESENTED LAST WEEK.
AND THEN WE'LL HAVE A FINAL, UH, PLAN PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL ON JUNE ONE.
SO THIS IS THE REASON WHY A REPORT, UH, FOR THE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN WILL BE, UH, PROVIDED TO YOU.
THE WRITTEN REPORT, UH, WILL BE PROVIDED ON, UH, MAY 25TH.
SO BASED ON THE WORK THAT WE HAVE DONE TODAY WITH, UH, THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IN METRO HEALTH, WE ARE PROJECTING THAT THE COST OF THE PLAN THAT YOU SAW TODAY, UH, BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF MARCH OF 2021, IS APPROXIMATELY $75 MILLION.
UH, THIS INCLUDES, AS, UH, CHIEF HOOD MENTIONED, THE TRAINING OF ABOUT A HUNDRED FIRE PERSONNEL THAT WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE SERVICES, UH, UNDER THIS PANDEMIC IS SPECIFICALLY FOR THE, FOR THE EXPANSION PORTION OF THE PLAN, AS WELL AS, UH, EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES THAT NEEDS TO BE ACQUIRED FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
IT ALSO INCLUDES, UH, CONTRACTUAL SERVICES AND METRO HEALTH WAS REQUIRED TO DO THE CONTACT TRACING, UH, SUPPLIES TO DO THE TESTING AND, UH, AND OTHER EXPENDITURES ASSOCIATED WITH WITH THE PLAN.
SO WHAT WE, UH, NOTE TODAY THAT THIS, THIS PLAN WILL COST ABOUT 75 MILLION, UH, KNOWING THAT THIS IS A DRAFT, AND THAT WE WILL PROVIDE THE CITY COUNCIL WITH A FINAL AMOUNT, UH, BY, BY AT THE BEGINNING OF JUNE WHEN WE PRESENT THE, THE, UH, COMPLETED PLAN FOR THE, FOR THE C R F.
UM, THIS, AGAIN, WILL BE FUNDED THROUGH FEDERAL GRANTS, UH, NOT BY, UH, OPERATING FUNDS OF THE CITY.
SO THIS CONCLUDES JUST MY UPDATE ON THE BUDGET, AND, UH, DR.
EMRICK, UH, CHIEF HOOD AND MYSELF ARE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
AND I, I DO KNOW WE HAVE GORDON ON THE LINE, AND SO I'M GONNA TURN IT BRIEFLY OVER TO GORDON TO GIVE US A, UH, UPDATE ON THE C OVID 19 ACTION WORKING GROUPS.
THANK YOU, MAYOR, AND GOOD AFTERNOON COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UH, AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE FIVE WORKING GROUPS THAT HAVE NOW COMPLETED SIX WEEKS OF WORK TO DATE.
UH, AS EVERYONE KNOWS THROUGH CORRESPONDENCE THAT WAS SENT OUT LAST WEEK IN DISCUSSION THAT OCCURRED AT THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING LAST WEEK, UM, THE, UH, THE LAST, UM, WORKING GROUP MEETINGS WILL BE NEXT WEEK WITH THE CONCLUDING, UH, THE CONCLUSION OF A, UH, REPORT, UH, DUE ON MAY 26TH, UH, THESE WORKING GROUPS, UH, HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE, UH, WHAT THEY WERE SET OUT TO DO AS STRIKE TEAMS TO FOCUS ON THE IMMEDIATE AREAS OF IMPACT, UH, WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, ONCE THAT WAS DONE OR DURING THAT TIME PERIOD.
ALSO, UM, THESE WORKING GROUPS IDENTIFIED RESOURCES THAT WERE NECESSARY.
UH, IN ADDITION, WE, UM, FORMED A WORKING GROUP FOR, UH, PHILANTHROPIC, UH, PURPOSES.
AND THAT PARTICULAR WORKING GROUP WILL CONTINUE.
UH, THEY WISH TO CONTINUE IN OTHER AREAS OF WORKING WITH NONPROFITS AND OTHER AREAS THAT THEY FEEL CAN BE EFFECTIVE DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.
SO THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS THAT, THAT HAVE OCCURRED.
UH, MOST IMPORTANTLY, I THINK, UH, ALL OF US RECOGNIZED THAT, UH, THERE WAS A GREAT COOPERATION BETWEEN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF, UH, ALL 14 ELECTED OFFICIALS AND ALSO WORKING ALONGSIDE, UH, LOCAL LEADERS TO BE ABLE TO ACHIEVE THE WORK THAT THAT HAS, UM, HAPPENED OVER THE PAST SIX WEEKS AND WILL CONCLUDE, UH, NEXT WEEK.
WITH THAT, UH, MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS, I WOULD LIKE TO GO THROUGH EACH, UH, WORKING GROUP AND ASK THAT THE CO-CHAIR, UM, GIVE AN UPDATE TO EACH OF, UH, THEIR FELLOW COUNCIL MEMBERS, STARTING WITH FOOD SECURITY AND SHELTER WORKING GROUP.
UH, IF, UH, COUNCILWOMAN, UH, SULLIVAN, UH, WOULDN'T MIND GIVING A BRIEF, UH, UPDATE.
UM, THANK YOU GORDON, SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ASSIST US IN OUR WORKING GROUPS.
UM, WE CAN HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOU, SO THANK YOU SO MUCH.
UM, THANK YOU TO, UM, ALL OF OUR CITY STAFF WHEN IT COMES TO THE FOOD, SHELTER AND, UM, AND FOOD SECURITY.
UM, WE WERE ABLE TO SEE, UM, THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO TRULY STEP UP AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
UM, THERE WAS A GOAL THAT WE WERE
[00:35:01]
LOOKING TO REACH, AND WE HAVE SURPASSED IT.SO THANK YOU TO THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO FOR MAKING SURE THAT EACH AND EVERY LAST PERSON THAT NEEDS THE FOOD BANK, UM, RECEIVED A MEAL.
AND SO I KNOW THAT OUR COUNCIL COLLEAGUES AS A WHOLE, WE WERE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE FOOD BANK WITH, UH, 55,000, UM, FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE, UH, FUNDS.
AND SO THANK YOU TO THE CITY COLLEAGUES, UM, FOR, FOR SECOND STEPPING UP AND DOING THAT AS WELL.
UH, WE KNOW THAT, UH, THE STATE OF TEXAS ACTUALLY IS GOING TO BE GIVING ABOUT 9 MILLION, UM, IN FUNDING TO THE FOOD BANK, AND THAT IS GONNA HELP THEM TO PROVIDE MEALS AS WE GO FORWARD.
THEY'RE IN A GOOD POSITION RIGHT NOW, BUT THEY'RE NOT SURE EXACTLY WHAT THAT POSITION WILL LOOK LIKE, UM, DEPENDING ON HOW, UH, COVID BEHAVES.
AND SO THEY'RE IN A GOOD POSITION NOW.
THERE IS SOME ADDITIONAL FUNDING COMING FROM THE STATE BASED ON, UH, THE KIDS NOT BEING IN SCHOOL.
AND SO THOSE FUNDS WILL BE ABLE TO BE USED TOWARDS FAMILIES ACTUALLY RECEIVING FOOD AS WELL.
UM, WHEN IT LOOKS AT THE SHELTER SIDE, WE WANNA THANK, UH, SECRETARY CISNEROS AND LAYLA POWELL, UM, FROM LISC.
AND SO WE'VE HAD IDENTIFIED OTHER ADDITIONAL RESOURCES THAT WE CAN LOOK AT, SUCH AS WHAT DO WE HAVE COMING UP IN THE AFFORDABILITY PIPELINE WHEN IT COMES TO DEVELOPMENT THAT'S HAPPENING HERE IN THE CITY, AND HOW DO WE KEEP THOSE ON THE GROUND? WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT NON-TRADITIONAL SOURCES, AND HOW CAN WE TRULY GO ABOUT USING SOME OF THE FEDERAL FUNDS THAT WILL BE COMING IN? UM, HOW DO WE CHANGE THE LANGUAGE TO WHERE WE CAN USE THOSE FUNDS FOR ACQUISITION? AND SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT GOING FORWARD.
AND THEN AS WE GO FORWARD LOOKING AT HOW DOES THE A M I AS WE, WE HAVE THIS INDUSTRY THAT HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED IN SOME INDUSTRIES, HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY WIPED OUT, WHAT IS THE TRUE DEFINITION OF AFFORDABILITY? AND THEY'RE LOOKING AT OUR LAND SPACE AND HOW DO WE USE OUR LAND SPACE TO MAKE MORE AFFORDABLE AND ADAPTABLE HOUSING, WHETHER IT'S THROUGH THE TINY HOMES OR CONTAINER HOMES.
UM, AND THEN AS FAR AS WITH, UM, COUNCILWOMAN VEA HAVADA, SHE WAS, UM, INFLUENTIAL IN MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE STARTING TO LOOK AT OUR FOOD DESERTS AND OUR FOOD SECURITIES, AND THAT WAS THROUGH, UM, THIS PARTICULAR GROUP AS WELL.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF WORK THAT WE STILL HAVE LEFT TO DO AS WE GO BACK INTO OUR, UH, PERSPECTIVE COMMITTEES.
WE'LL BE SEEING A LOT OF HOW WE CAN GO FORWARD, UM, LOOKING AT THE DIFFERENT WAYS THAT WE KEEP PEOPLE WITHIN THE HOMES, WORKING WITH THE LANDLORDS, WORKING WITH THE TENANTS, WORKING WITH EVERYONE THAT IS INVOLVED IS WHERE WE HAVE TO GO WITH THIS WHOLE PROCESS.
AND SO, UM, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU AGAIN TO GORDON AND THANK YOU TO, UM, MY CO-CHAIR, COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ.
UM, HE WAS VERY, UM, INFLUENTIAL AS WELL IN MAKING SURE THAT WE HAD OUR ADVISORY GROUPS TOGETHER.
AND SO WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO PRESENT OUR REPORT.
THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN SULLIVAN.
AND AGAIN, FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK.
I APPRECIATE THE, THE WORK THAT, UH, YOU DID ALONG WITH COMMISSIONER RODRIGUEZ.
I WOULD NOW LIKE TO MOVE TO THE BUSINESS AND EMPLOYMENT WORKING GROUP AND ASK, UH, COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL FOR AN UPDATE, PLEASE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. HARTMAN.
UM, AT OUR LAST MEETING, WE HAD A, UM, A BRIEF UPDATE FROM BOTH CITY AND COUNTY STAFF, AND THE, OUR REGULAR MEETINGS HAVE PROVIDED AN OPPORTUNITY FOR BOTH, UH, THE COMMISSIONERS, THE COUNCIL MEMBERS, AND SOME MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO, UH, DO SOME CROSS POLLINATION, UH, AMONG ALL THOSE ENTITIES AND LEARN, UH, FROM ONE ANOTHER WHAT ACTIVITIES WE'RE CARRYING OUT AND LEVERAGE AND, AND BUILD ON THOSE.
SO I WANNA SAY THAT'S BEEN, UM, ONE OF THE GREAT BENEFITS OF HAVING THIS WORKING GROUP TOGETHER.
AND I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN, UH, HOPEFULLY CONTINUE WITHOUT THE, THE WORKING GROUPS IN THIS FUTURE.
NOW THAT THOSE RELATIONSHIPS ARE, ARE ESTABLISHED.
UM, IN TERMS OF, UM, OF WHAT WE DISCUSSED LAST TIME, UM, MAYOR TREVINO FROM CASTLE HILLS IS TAKING THE LEAD ON A BY LOCAL, UH, INITIATIVE.
AND I THINK I MENTIONED THIS AT A PREVIOUS, UH, FULL A SESSION, IS THAT, UM, WHAT HE'LL BE DOING IS ENCOURAGING, UH, NOT JUST, UM, I THINK LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ARE ALREADY DOING WHAT THEY CAN, BUT ENCOURAGING PRIVATE INDUSTRY, UH, AND PRIVATE BUSINESSES TO PURCHASE LOCALLY WHERE, WHERE POSSIBLE, UM, HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING ON AN OP-ED AND, UH, POSSIBLY, UH, GOING FROM, FROM THERE ON THAT, UM, NEXT WEEK WE'LL ALSO BE CIRCLING BACK WITH, UH, SA WORKS AND WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS A SO THEY CAN TELL US WHERE THEY ARE ON, ON THEIR PROGRESS.
UH, NOW I'D LIKE TO MOVE TO SOCIAL SERVICES WORKING GROUP AND, UH, CO-CHAIR COUNCILMAN, UH, ROBERT VINNO.
[00:40:02]
THANK YOU, GORDON.UH, IN OUR, UH, LATEST UPDATES, UH, WE DID TALK ABOUT, UH, REALLY BEGINNING TO, TO KIND OF WRAP UP SOME OF OUR RECOMMENDATIONS INTO AN OPERATIONAL PLAN DOCUMENT, UH, TO INCLUDE THINGS LIKE, UH, SUPPORT FOR THE RIGHT TO CURE ORDINANCE THAT WE'LL BE VOTING ON LATER THIS WEEK AS A COUNCIL.
UH, EXPANDING THE RIGHT TO COUNCIL, UH, PROGRAM, WHICH IS, UH, A, A PROGRAM THAT WAS PILOTED EARLIER, EARLIER THIS YEAR TO HELP THE, UH, UH, RENTERS IN, UH, VERY DIFFICULT SITUATIONS LIKE EVICTIONS.
AND OF COURSE, UH, THE, THE UNFORTUNATE, UH, PANDEMIC THAT'S CURRENTLY HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
UH, WE WANNA PROVIDE MORE SUPPORT FOR UNDOCUMENTED RESIDENT RESOURCES, AND THAT SUBCOMMITTEE IS FINALIZING THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS TO PRESENT TO THIS LARGER COMMITTEE.
UH, WE DID, UH, SPEAK ON ALSO ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
UH, THE SUBCOMMITTEE IS FINALIZING, UH, THESE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, AS WELL, MAKING SURE THAT, UH, WE'RE INCLUSIVE LGBTQ AND IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES THAT ARE TARGETED.
AND, UH, WE HAD A GREAT BRIEFING ON THAT AS WELL AS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH, UH, MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND CHILD ABUSE, UH, CRITICAL, ESPECIALLY, UH, DURING THIS TIME.
AND, UH, CONNECTIVITY COMMITTEE DISCUSSED A LOT ABOUT THE DIGITAL DIVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WILL BE, UH, IDENTIFIED AS A HIGH NEED FOR THE CITY AND THE COUNTY FOR INVESTMENTS.
UH, THAT'LL BE PART OF IT AS WELL.
UM, WE DID DISCUSS ASSET FUNDING, UH, YOU DISCUSSING THE SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM AND CROSS SECTOR OPPORTUNITIES THAT INCLUDE THE BLEND OF GOVERNMENT, NONPROFIT, AND PRIVATE SECTOR STRATEGIES.
UM, EDUCATION IS A KEY COMPONENT TO WHAT WE'RE DOING AS WELL.
UM, COUNCIL COURAGE HAS BEEN, UH, WORKING A LOT TO HELP FINALIZE SOME OF THAT.
THAT INCLUDES A LOT OF THE, THE ISSUES OF THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, AS WELL AS, UH, HELPING TO IDENTIFY, UH, FOR SCHOOL, SCHOOL-AGED CHILDREN, AS WELL AS ADULTS.
UH, WHAT ARE THE NEEDS, UH, AND WHAT ARE THE AREAS THAT CAN ALSO HELP SUPPORT THINGS LIKE, UH, THE CONTINUED WORK ON HEALTHCARE, UH, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND MASS MANUFACTURING.
UM, AND WE, OF COURSE, WE CAN'T FORGET SENIOR SERVICES.
WE'VE GOT AN UPDATE, UH, MAKING SURE ONCE AGAIN THAT, UH, SENIOR SERVICES, WHILE OUR SENIOR CENTERS ARE, ARE SHUT DOWN, UH, THAT WE'RE PROVIDING, UH, MEALS AND IDENTIFYING, UH, CLEAR, UH, VOLUNTEER AND ADDITIONAL FUNDING SUPPORT FOR, FOR THESE AREAS, UH, TO HELP PROVIDE FOOD DELIVERIES IN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, WE'VE ALSO INCLUDED THINGS LIKE ADULT LITERACY AND HAD THE FREED TEXAS AND PROJECT QUEST JOIN THE MEETING TO DISCUSS SOME OF THE LARGER IDENTIFY NEEDS IN THE COMMUNITY.
UH, ADULT LITERACY AND EDUCATION SERVICES WERE IDENTIFIED AS HIGH NEEDS, INCLUDING, UH, RESOURCES FOR FORMERLY INCARCERATED INDIVIDUALS, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, RESOURCES, CONNECTIVITY, AND DIGITAL SERVICE, AND WRAPAROUND SERVICES.
UH, SO OUR OPERATIONAL PLAN WILL BE DRAFTED, UH, AND IS BEING DEVELOPED CURRENTLY, WILL BE EMAILED TO ALL COMMITTEE MEMBERS HERE VERY SOON.
PLAN IS INTENDED TO CAPTURE THE IDEAS IN THAT HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEES FOR RECOMMENDATIONS.
THANK YOU, COUNCILMAN TREVINO.
I WOULD NOW LIKE TO, UH, MOVE TO THE FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT ADVOCACY WORKING GROUP, UH, THAT WAS CO-CHAIRED BY COUNCILMAN EZ AND COUNCIL I AND COMMISSIONER KEVIN WOLF.
UH, IF THE COUNCILMAN GIVE US AN UPDATE, PLEASE.
UM, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THE MAIN GOAL, UH, FOR THIS, UM, WORKING GROUP IS TO ADVOCATE FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, FLEXIBILITY TO COVER, UM, YOU KNOW, LOSSES AND, UH, COVER COSTS, COVER COSTS, UM, INCURRED BECAUSE OF THIS, UH, IN THIS CRISIS, UM, WE'VE IDENTIFIED, UM, A LOT OF GRANTS.
AND SO LAST WEEK WE, UH, WE MET AND DISCUSSED ABOUT THE F C C MONEY.
UH, THAT'S A $13 BILLION FOR SCHOOLS AND $3 BILLION IN GRANT, UH, BLOCK GRANTS, UH, TO STATES FOR BROADBAND CON, UH, CONNECTIVITY AND DEVICES TO SUPPORT DISTANCE LEARNING.
UM, H H SS UH, SET ASIDE $250 MILLION FOR HEADSTART.
UM, WE ALSO DRAFTED, CIRCULATED, AND GOT, UH, A SUPPORT LETTER FROM CITY AND COUNTY LEADERS, INCLUDING, UH, CEOS OF LOCALS COMP LOCAL COMPANIES, UH, SENDING THAT UP TO DC UH, TO THE DECISION MAKERS UP THERE, ADVOCATING FOR FLEXIBILITY AND SPENDING, PARTICULARLY IN HELPING US, UH, BRING HOME FUNDS TO MAKE UP FOR REVENUE LOSSES.
UM, WE, UH, INCLUDED ON, IN THAT LIST OF FOLKS WHO WROTE, YOU KNOW, LETTERS, UH, U SS A, A, VALERO, RACKSPACE, LANDRY, UH, THE N R P GROUP SPURS, UH, TEXAS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY FOUNDATION, I B C H E B, WALMART, TOYOTA, AND, UH, THE SAN ANTONIO CHAMBER AND THE NORTH CHAMBER.
UH, THIS WEEK WE'VE IDENTIFIED SOME GRANTS AND, UH, SALLY
[00:45:01]
BATO, UH, LEAPS BUILDINGS BY SINGLE BOUNDS, BECAUSE SHE'S A SUPERHERO, AND SHE'S BEEN, UH, TRACKING THIS AND WORKING ON THIS, UH, NONSTOP.UH, PARTICULARLY THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, UH, E D A GRANT, UM, A CONSTRUCTION GRANT AND NON-CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES BETWEEN A HUNDRED THOUSAND TO $30 MILLION IN FUNDS, UM, PER APPLICATION.
AND, UH, THE QUALIFIED PROPOSALS WILL NEED TO BE TIED INTO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TO, UH, TO ATTRACT FURTHER PRIVATE, UH, INVESTMENT IN DISTRESSED AREAS.
UH, SHE'S BEEN CHASING, UH, GRANTS AND, UH, FOR MUSEUMS AND LIBRARY SERVICES.
UM, THERE'S AN AWARD RANGE FOR GRANTS, SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 25,000 AND $500,000.
UH, THAT'S GONNA TARGET DIGITAL NETWORK AND DIGITAL INCLUSION.
UM, AND THEN THERE'S A DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT, UH, DISTRIBUTED BY FEMA, UH, FOR EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE WHEN IT COMES TO UTILITIES, RENT, FOOD, UM, AND BAYER COUNTY WOULD GET 884,000 OF THAT.
UM, AND TRADITIONALLY, THE UNITED WAY BOARD, UH, MANAGES THESE FUNDS, BUT WE'RE TRYING TO VERIFY, UM, YOU KNOW, WHETHER OR NOT THAT'S GONNA CONTINUE TO BE THE CASE.
UM, AND WE'RE, UH, WE CONTINUE TO ADVOCATE FOR THE FOOD BANK, UH, IN DC.
BUT, UM, ANYWAY, YOU CAN SEE THAT, UH, THE TEAM IS DOING QUITE A BIT.
AND AGAIN, DID I MENTION THAT SALLY BASTO IS, IS A SUPERHERO? UM, THAT'S IT.
ALRIGHT,
UM, LET ME JUST STATE ALSO THAT, UH, I HAVE BEEN VERY PLEASED IN, IN WORKING WITH EVERY COUNCIL MEMBER, NOT JUST TO CO-CHAIRS, BUT EVERY COUNCIL MEMBER HAS PLAYED A ROLE, UH, AND CORRESPONDENCE AND, AND HARD WORK, UH, ON THESE DIFFERENT, UH, ACTION WORKING GROUPS.
I ALSO WANT TO THANK THE CITY MANAGER AND WORKING GROUP MANAGERS, MELODY, ALEX, JESSICA, AND, AND SALLY.
AND, AND BEING ABLE TO ENSURE THAT, UM, THESE STRIKE TEAMS, UH, MOVED AGGRESSIVELY.
AND WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT ALL THE THINGS THAT HAD BEEN TALKED ABOUT HERE AND OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS HAPPENED ALL OVER JUST THE PAST SIX WEEKS, I HAVE TO SAY THAT I THINK THERE WAS A MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENT AND THE GOALS THAT WERE SET OUT IN, UH, BEING ABLE TO ACHIEVE, UH, UH, AS THEY WERE SET OUT BY THE, THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE HAVE BEEN THE CHIEF.
SO, WITH THAT, UH, MAYOR, UH, THAT CONCLUDES OUR REPORT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, GORDON, UH, FOR THE REPORT AND TO MY COLLEAGUES, UH, ON, ON THE COMMITTEES AND THE CHAIRS.
UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT AS WELL.
AND WE'VE BEEN READING THROUGH THE WEEKLY REPORTS, AND IT SOUNDS, UM, OR IT LOOKS LIKE THERE'S BEEN SOME GREAT WORK THAT'S BEEN CONDUCTED ON, ON SOME OF THESE URGENT NEEDS THAT I THINK ARE GONNA ALSO FEED RIGHT INTO THE RESTARTED WORK OF THE COMMITTEES, UH, THE, THE STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE COUNCIL THAT WILL BEGIN, UH, BY AND LARGE, UH, STARTING JUNE 1ST, UH, AS YOU STATED, GORDON, WE'RE GONNA PLAN ON HAVING A MEETING TO DO THE FINAL REPORT OUT OF THE WORKING GROUPS AND THE FINAL WEEK OF, OF MAY.
UH, SO EVERYONE CAN PUT THAT ON THEIR CALENDAR.
WHAT WE WILL TRY TO DO IS HAVE A JOINT CITY COUNTY, UH, SESSION AGAIN, SO WE CAN DO A FINAL DELIVERY OF THOSE WORKING GROUP REPORTS.
UM, ALSO THANK YOU, UH, TO MARIA AND TO CHIEF AND DR.
EMERICK FOR YOUR REPORTS AS WELL.
WE'RE GONNA KNOW, WE'RE GONNA NOW GO INTO COUNCIL DISCUSSION AS WE HAVE BEEN ON THESE, UH, MEETINGS.
WE'LL BE SEVEN MINUTES, UH, FOR EACH, UH, MEMBER.
WE'LL GO THROUGH, UH, IN ORDER.
SO WE'LL START WITH COUNCIL MEMBER TREVINO TO BEGIN THE COUNCIL DISCUSSION, UM, ON THE ITEMS TODAY.
UH, AGAIN, I JUST ACTUALLY WANNA JUST USE THIS.
THANK, UH, MY WORK GROUP MEMBERS, UH, COUNCILMAN COURAGE ON THE SOCIAL SERVICES WORK GROUP, UH, HAS SENT QUITE A BIT TO, UH, HELP, UH, ADVOCATE FOR EDUCATIONAL, UH, ISSUES AND, UH, THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.
UH, SO THAT HAS BEEN, UH, SOMETHING THAT WE'RE, UH, VERY, VERY FOCUSED ON AND, UH, CERTAINLY APPRECIATE HIS, OUR WORK AS WELL AS OTHER COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
UH, WE THINK JESSICA DELINO IS ALSO A SUPERHERO, BY THE WAY.
SO, UH, LET'S NOT FORGET GREAT STAFF THAT DOES EXIST.
UH, YOU KNOW, I I REALLY JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT, UM, AS WE TRANSITION INTO, UH, THESE NEXT STEPS, UH, ESSENTIALLY THE, THIS, THE, THE BUDGET DOLLARS THAT I SAW, THE $75 MILLION, UH, THAT, THAT REALLY, UH, LOOKS LIKE A VERY BIG NUMBER.
UH, MARIA, YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY SAID THIS, BUT MAYBE YOU CAN EXPLAIN AGAIN, I THINK MOST OF THIS IS, IS REALLY FEDERALLY, UH, SUPPORTED OR FUNDED.
CAN YOU, CAN YOU SPEAK TO, UH, YOU KNOW, HOW WE'RE GONNA GET TO THAT $75 MILLION AS WE'RE CONSTANTLY, UH, LOOKING FOR
[00:50:01]
MORE AND MORE MONEY TO HELP SUPPORT, UH, THE MOST VULNERABLE IN OUR COMMUNITY? HOW, HOW ARE WE ABLE TO, TO GET THAT $75 MILLION WITHOUT IT IMPACTING US? UH, TOO, TOO BAD.SO, UH, THIS APPROXIMATELY $75 MILLION IS COMING FROM, UH, FEDERAL GRANTS, UH, SPECIFICALLY THE CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND OR THE C R F.
THIS IS THE FUND WHERE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ALLOCATED $270 MILLION TO THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
SO THE VAST MAJORITY WILL BE PAID FROM, FROM THAT, UM, ALLOCATION AS WELL AS THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT RECEIVED, UM, SOME GRANTS THAT EXPIRE, UH, IN MARCH OF 2021.
SO THE C R F EXPIRES AT THE END OF DECEMBER OF, UH, 2020.
SO THE MAJORITY OF THE FUNDS, AGAIN, WILL BE PAID FROM THAT ALLOCATION AND THEN TO GET US THROUGH MARCH.
UM, THEN WE'LL USE THE ABOUT THREE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS THAT WE GOT, UM, FROM THE STATE, UH, HEALTH, UH, SERVICES AGENCY TO PAY FOR, FOR THOSE SERVICES.
DO WE ANTICIPATE, UH, HAVING TO COME BACK FOR, FOR MORE DOLLARS, UM, ON THIS PLAN AT THIS POINT, COUNCILMAN, WHAT WE, UH, ARE GONNA DO, THIS IS A PRELIMINARY BUDGET.
UH, WE, UM, TOLD THE CITY COUNCIL THAT WE WILL PROVIDE OUR FINAL PLAN FOR THE C R F FOR THE CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND ON JUNE THE THIRD.
SO AT THAT TIME, WE'LL COME BACK WITH A FINAL BUDGET FOR THIS, UH, PORTION OF THE CITY'S RESPONSE, AS WELL AS OTHER, UM, DEPARTMENTAL RESPONSES AND THE COMMUNITY PLAN AS WELL.
I THINK, UH, THAT'S WHERE THE, THE RUBBER HITS THE, THE ROAD AND, UH, YOU KNOW, LOOK FORWARD TO THAT CONVERSATION.
WILL, WILL WE GET MAYBE SOME INDIVIDUAL BRIEFINGS, UH, BEFORE THAT MEETING TO, TO DISCUSS? UH, THAT IS A VERY, VERY COMPLEX, UH, ISSUE IN TERMS OF HOW, HOW WE, UH, DESIGNATE WHERE, WHERE OUR PRIORITIES ARE IN TERMS OF THAT, THE MONEY AND WHAT WE FUND.
UH, WILL WE GET MAYBE AN INDIVIDUAL PHONE CALL, UH, TO, TO TALK ABOUT IT? UH, COUNCILMAN BEFORE JUNE THE THIRD? WE ARE PLANNING TO, UH, PROVIDE ALL THE ENTIRE COUNCIL A BRIEFING ON THE 20TH OF MAY.
SO THAT'LL BE OUR FIRST, UM, UM, BRIEFING ON WHAT WE'RE PLANNING TO DO TO GET YOUR INPUT AND YOUR FEEDBACK BEFORE WE PROVIDE WITH A FINAL RECOMMENDATION ON JUNE THE THIRD.
UM, SO SHOULD THE COUNCIL DESIRE AFTER THE 20TH THAT WE DO, UM, AN ADDITIONAL BRIEFING, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO DO THAT.
I WAS JUST GONNA ADD COUNCILMAN, WE ALSO HAVE IN BETWEEN THERE AFTER THE 20TH, WE HAVE, UH, MAY 28TH, UH, AS AN ADDITIONAL DATE, UH, BEFORE THAT FIRST WEEK IN JUNE TO CONTINUE TO, TO HAVE THAT DIALOGUE, UH, SO THAT WE CAN FINALIZE THE PLAN.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN.
I HAVE A, A QUESTION WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, YOUTH AND THOSE THAT ARE WITHIN, UM, CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES ARE GOING THROUGH, UM, CHILD ABUSE AND EVEN THOSE THAT ARE PART OF THE HOMELESS YOUTH POPULATION, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE NOT SEEN IN, IN WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING TO, UH, HELP WITH COVID IS WE HAVEN'T SEEN THAT TALKED ABOUT.
UM, AND SO I'M NOT SURE WHAT WE'RE DOING FOR THOSE THAT, UM, ARE WITHIN THE SYSTEM BUT CAN'T GET TESTED, UM, OR ARE IN THE SYSTEM, BUT THEY DON'T HAVE A PLACE TO SHELTER IN PLACE OR GO FOR QUARANTINE OR TREATMENT.
UM, THAT IS ONE OF THE SCENARIOS THAT HAS COME UP DURING, UM, THE WORKING GROUPS THAT WERE PUT TOGETHER.
AND I WANTED TO FIND OUT, UM, BECAUSE THERE IS A STATE MANDATE ON, ON CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, WHAT IS THE STATE DOING TO ASSIST US WITH MAKING SURE THAT THAT POPULATION, UM, IS TESTED PROPERLY? UM, AND, AND THEN WHERE CAN WE GO FROM THERE? HI, COUNCILWOMAN.
YES, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE RIGHT.
THAT IS NOT A, AN EXPLICIT, UM, CALL OUT IN EITHER THE STATE PLAN NOR THE LOCAL PLAN.
UH, LET ME GO BACK TO MY TEAM AS WELL AS WITH CHIEF AND, UM, IT'S POSSIBLE THAT WE ARE TESTING ALREADY THAT GROUP AND IT'S JUST NOT SHOWING UP IN THE POSITIVES THAT COME THROUGH.
UM, BUT LET ME GO BACK AND SEE WHAT I CAN FIND OUT.
I'D ALSO LIKE TO TALK WITH MY COLLEAGUE, MEL WOOSLEY,
[00:55:01]
AND SEE IF THERE'S SOMETHING, UM, THAT I'M JUST NOT AWARE OF.SO I WILL WRITE THAT DOWN AND I WILL GET BACK WITH YOU.
UM, CHIEF, WHEN IT COMES TO THE TESTING THAT YOU'LL BE DOING WITHIN, UH, DISTRICT TWO AND DISTRICT THREE, CAN YOU GIVE THE COMMUNITY A LITTLE BIT MORE INFORMATION ON WHERE YOU'LL BE LOCATED OR HOW YOU'LL BE GOING ABOUT, UM, CONDUCTING THOSE TESTS OR HOW SOMEONE CAN GET, UM, REGISTERED TO DO SO? YES, MA'AM.
SO, UM, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH YOUR OFFICE AND, UH, D THREE ON, UM, HELPING US FIGURE OUT A LOCATION TO FACILITATE THIS.
AND SO WE'D LIKE THE COUNCIL'S INVOLVEMENT, UH, AS FAR AS GIVING US OPTIONS OF WHAT MAY WORK BEST IN YOUR DISTRICT, YOU KNOW, THAT WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GOING TO BE RUNNING UP AGAINST, WE'RE GONNA PROBABLY HAVE TO MOVE THIS INTO AN INTERIOR BUILDING HALLWAY, SOMETHING LIKE THAT.
UH, IT WAS EXTREMELY HOT THE OTHER DAY WHEN WE STARTED ALL THREE DAYS.
UH, WE'RE GONNA HAVE WEATHER THIS WEEK, SO WE'RE GONNA TRY TO COORDINATE WITH YOU AS FAR AS YOU GIVING US RECOMMENDATIONS.
WE WILL THEN SEND A TEAM OUT, AND I KNOW WE HAVE A TEAM GOING OUT TO, UH, BELLA AUSTIN TODAY AND ANOTHER LOCATION.
THEN WE'LL GO OUT AND DO A SITE VISIT TO SEE IF THAT'S GONNA WORK FOR US, BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA WANT TO BRING IN TABLES, AWNINGS, UH, WATER, ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE SET UP AND SUPPORT, UH, AND, AND PROBABLY DO 150 TESTS PER DAY, UH, AT, AT, AT, AT A LOCATION.
AND SO WE'VE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH YOU, WE'RE OUT THERE RIGHT NOW, AND D THREE THE SAME THING.
WE'LL HAVE THAT INFORMATION UP AS SOON AS WE CAN SO YOU CAN LET YOUR CONSTITUENTS KNOW.
UM, THAT WAS ONE OF THE QUESTIONS BECAUSE WE PUT UP ALL OF THE INFORMATION, BUT NO ONE, UM, WAS ABLE TO GET IN AND SEE EXACTLY WHERE THE, THE NEXT POPUPS WERE GONNA BE.
AND SO WE'LL GET THAT INFORMATION TO THE COMMUNITY AS SOON AS, UM, AS SOON AS YOU HAVE IT.
UM, WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR CONSTITUENTS THAT ARE WATCHING AND THOSE THAT ARE WITHIN THE AREA KNOW THAT THEY CAN ACTUALLY GET TESTED.
SO THANK YOU MAYOR, AND THANK YOU CHIEF.
THANK YOU, UH, TO ALL THE CITY STAFF.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN, WHO, WE'LL GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER GRA.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRESENTATIONS.
UH, MARIA TO THE M I H YOU SAID THAT THAT WOULD BE COVERED AS PART OF THIS 75 MILLION, CORRECT? YES, MA'AM.
SO HOW LONG ARE WE ANTICIPATING THESE ADDITIONAL POSITIONS TO STAY INTO THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR AND FOR HOW LONG INTO THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR? UH, I CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
SO WHAT THE PLAN IS, YOU SEE THAT WE ARE GOING TO TRAIN ADDITIONAL, UM, FIRE STAFF.
SO WE'RE GONNA TAKE PEOPLE THAT ARE RIDING ON A FIRETRUCK TODAY AND GIVE THEM THE ADDITIONAL TRAINING.
UH, WHAT WE HAVE HAD TO DO WITH THIS PANDEMIC OUTBREAK, UM, THIS TIME AROUND, I'VE TAKE TAKEN PEOPLE FROM FIRE PREVENTION.
INSPECTIONS HAVE BEEN DOWN, WE'VE TAKEN PEOPLE FROM ARSON, ARSON CASES HAVE BEEN DOWN, AND THEY'RE PARAMEDICS.
SO WE'VE TAKE TAKEN THEM, UTILIZED THEM TO WORK IN M I H.
THE PLAN IS TO HAVE A ROBUST, UH, CADRE OF PEOPLE THAT THE NEXT PANDEMIC HITS, WE'LL HAVE THEM AVAILABLE AND WE WILL PAY THEM OFF OF OVERTIME WITH THIS FUNDING VERSUS ADDING POSITIONS, WE JUST COULD BE ADDING EXPERTISE.
SO WE'RE GOING TO HAVE BASICALLY CROSS TRAINING AND PREPAREDNESS FOR THE NEXT OUTBREAK THAT HAPPENED? YES, MA'AM.
EMMERICH, I'M GLAD WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH OPERATIONALIZING THE H T T RECOMMENDATIONS AND LOOKING AT THE RATE OF TRANSMISSION.
THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME, UM, FIGURE OUT WHAT ALL OF THESE THINGS, UH, THESE TERMS AND EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, IT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, UH, FOR THE SAFETY OF ALL OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND IT'S IMPORTANT FOR US TO UNDERSTAND IT AS WE COMMUNICATE IT TO OUR RESIDENTS AS WELL.
I WANNA TALK ABOUT NURSING HOMES RIGHT NOW THOUGH.
UM, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS JUST A, UH, A PRESS RELEASE THAT CAME OUT REGARDING THE DATA ON C OVID 19 CASES IN NURSING HOMES.
AND TO YOUR POINT ABOUT ASYMPTOMATIC, I'M LOOKING AT THE DATA THAT YOU HAVE FOR RIO ADMISSION TRAILS THAT A TOTAL OF NINE HAVE TESTED, UH, POSITIVE, BUT ONLY ONE WAS SYMPTOMATIC POSITIVE, AND EIGHT WERE ASYMPTOMATIC POSITIVE.
SO, AND ACCORDING TO THE GOVERNOR'S, UM, ACTIONS, NOW THEY ARE TESTING EVERYONE IS THAT'S CORRECT.
AND THAT HAS ALREADY STARTED ON OUR SIDE.
UM, I'M, I'M JUMPING IN ON THAT ALSO.
[01:00:01]
WE HAVE TESTED, WE HAVE GONE TO 15 NURSING HOMES ALREADY.AND SO WE STARTED OFF WITH, AGAIN, SOUTHEAST THAT WE HAD THE ISSUES AT.
AND THEN WE HAD GONE TO A PLAN WHERE WE WERE GOING IN LOOKING FOR SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS. IF THERE WAS ONE PERSON THAT WAS POSITIVE, WHETHER IT WAS A EMPLOYEE OR SOME A STAFF, UH, WHETHER STAFFER OR SOMEONE THAT LIVED THERE, WE WOULD TEST THE WHOLE FACILITY.
SO WE HAVE BEEN DOING THAT ALREADY.
WE'VE HAD REALLY GOOD SURVEILLANCE ON THEM ALREADY.
WE'LL CONTINUE TO GO OUT AND WORK AT A PLAN TO TEST EACH AND EVERY NURSING HOME.
UH, BEAR IN MIND, OUR SURVEILLANCE IS REALLY GOOD AS FAR AS, UH, MONITORING ANY INCREASE OF 9 1 1 CALLS FROM ANY NURSING HOME.
WE COULD TELL YOU EXACTLY HOW MANY NURSING HOME TRANSPORTS WE HAVE IN A DAY OR RESPONSES.
SO THAT IS ANOTHER WAY TO MAKE SURE THAT SURVEILLANCE IS THERE.
IF WE GET AN INCREASE IN CALLS FROM A NURSING HOME, THEN WE'RE GONNA GO MAKE THAT A PRIORITY.
BUT THE PLAN IS TO HAVE THE RESOURCES TO GO OUT AND HAVE SURVEILLANCE ON A REGULAR BASIS, UH, FROM NOW ON TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE, UM, THOSE HOTSPOTS THAT WE SEE IN NURSING HOMES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, THAT WE MANAGE THOSE BECAUSE THAT IS GROUND ZERO FOR THIS VIRUS OR THIS PANDEMIC IS NURSING HOMES.
BUT I THINK TO YOUR POINT, DR.
EMERETT, AND YOU DON'T NEED TO RESPOND TO THIS, UM, TO THE POINT OF CONGREGANT, UM, TESTING CONGREGANT COMMUNITIES BECAUSE WE ARE SEEING THAT SOME OF THE DATA THAT YOU'VE ALREADY PROVIDED, IT'S MORE ASYMPTOMATIC POSITIVES THAT ARE SHARING AND SPREADING THE C OVID 19 THAT WE HAVE TO BE, UM, CONCERNED ABOUT OR JUST ALERT ABOUT, AND HOW THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY NEEDS TO BE ALERT ABOUT THAT.
BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THEY MAY BE OUT AND ABOUT, THEY STILL MAY BE ASYMPTOMATIC AND THEY DO NOT KNOW THAT YET.
BUT TO ANOTHER, UH, POINT WHEN WE'RE DEALING WITH MAYBE INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE GOING TO THEIR DOCTORS, THEY'RE DOING TELEHEALTH AND THEIR DOCTORS SAY, WELL, UM, DO YOU HAVE THIS? DO YOU HAVE THAT? AND THEY SAY NO.
AND THEN THE DOCTOR TELLS THEM TO STAY HOME AND THEN THEY GET WORSE AND WORSE.
ONLY ANECDOTALLY I KNOW THIS, UM, A PRIEST FROM A CERTAIN PARISH, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED.
HE PASSED AWAY, BUT HE WAS NEVER ABLE TO GO INTO THE HOSPITAL, UM, BECAUSE OF GETTING TESTED.
SO HE WASN'T, THEY WEREN'T, UM, SURE WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
SO WHAT ARE, ARE, ARE PRIVATE PROVIDERS STILL ONLY DOING SYMPTOMATIC TESTING, OR ARE THEY DOING ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING? YEAH.
SO WE PUT OUT THE PRESS RELEASE AND THE HEALTH ADVISORY, AND THAT'S OUR ROLE AS THE HEALTH AUTHORITY IS TO PUT OUT THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS OF WHAT THE TESTING CRITERIA CAN BE.
UM, AND SO WE CAN PUT THAT OUT, WHICH WE DID, WHICH BASICALLY STATES THAT WE ARE NOW, ANYONE CAN GET TESTED WHETHER YOU'RE SYMPTOMATIC OR NOT.
NOW, ALL OF THAT IS ALSO BASED ON SUPPLY.
SO WE HAVE THAT CAVEAT IN OUR HEALTH ADVISORY.
SO, SO PRIVATE PHYSICIANS NOW ARE OKAY WITH TESTING ANYONE WHO ASKS FOR A TEST SYMPTOMATIC OR NONSYMPTOMATIC, BUT ALSO KNOW THAT IF THEY DO NOT HAVE THE SUPPLY, LET'S SAY THAT PROVI PRIVATE PROVIDER ONLY HAS 2020 TESTS ON HAND, UM, BUT THEY'RE GETTING A DEMAND FROM THE ASYMPTOMATIC, THEN THEY DO HAVE THE, THE AUTHORITY, IF YOU WILL, THE DECISION TO SAY, UM, WE DON'T HAVE THE SUPPLIES, SO WE'RE GOING TO SAVE OUR TESTS FOR THOSE THAT ARE AT MOST RISK.
SO, AND SO THE INDIVIDUALS, THE INDIVIDUALS CAN ALSO GO TO A ANOTHER SITE TO DO IT IF THEY NEED TO? YES, THEY CAN.
THEY CAN BE AN ADVOCATE FOR THEIR THEMSELVES AND THEIR OWN HEALTH.
AND THAT JUST GOES TO SHOW HOW INDIVIDUALS NEED TO BE THEIR OWN BEST ADVOCATE WHEN IT COMES TO HEALTHCARE AND TAKING CARE OF THEMSELVES.
UM, THANK YOU FOR CONTINUING TO WORK WITH ME IN MY OFFICE TO IDENTIFY A LOCATION IN DISTRICT THREE FOR TESTING.
I THINK IT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE THAT.
UM, THANK YOU MAYOR, UH, FOR CONTINUING TO DO THAT TRANSITION FROM OUR WORKING GROUPS INTO OUR COUNCIL COMMITTEES.
I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO CARRYING ON THE WORK THAT MANY OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE ALREADY WORKED THROUGH AND ON, AND I THINK IT WAS AN ABSOLUTE, UM, UH, GREAT SIGN TO HAVE YOU, GORDON, UH, BE OUR CHAIR AS YOU, UM, SERVED AS AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER FOR ALL OF US.
SO THANK YOU, GORDON, FOR YOUR WORK AND FOR ALL OF CITY STAFF'S WORK.
COUNCIL MEMBER VIRON, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, ROCHE GARCIA,
[01:05:04]
COUNCIL MEMBER.SO I WANTED TO FIRST START OFF BY, UH, THANKING DR.
EMRICH BECAUSE SHE ADDED, UM, ROBOCALLS FOR THE RESIDENTS.
AND SO I APPRECIATE THAT BECAUSE A LOT OF, UM, FOLKS IN SOME OF THE AREAS DON'T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS, SO THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT.
I LOOK FORWARD TO ALSO SEEING WHERE THE ESSAYS SPEAK UP.
UM, SURVEYS GOING TO BE DISTRIBUTED BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THERE'S A LOT OF AREAS, UM, OR, OR PLACES THAT WE MAY HAVE USED BEFORE THAT WILL NOT BE USED, UM, FOR THE TIME BEING BECAUSE OF SOCIAL DISTANCING, ET CETERA.
SO, UM, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO MAYBE CONNECTING WITH YOU A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT JUST THE PLAN FOR, UM, REACHING THOSE AUDIENCES.
I KNOW YOU MENTIONED IT, UM, BUT IT'S GONNA BE EVEN, UM, EVEN MORE TOUGH NOW TO TRY TO GET TO THOSE, UH, FOLKS.
UM, SO I LOOK FORWARD TO THAT.
UM, ALSO, I, UM, YOU KNOW, I JUST, I, I NOTICED THAT UNLESS I GO TO THE WEBSITE, I, I NEVER GOT THE REPORT.
THE, UM, I MEAN, I, I GET THE FEDERAL AND STATE REPORT, UH, BUT NONE OF THE OTHER REPORTS.
AND SO, UM, I WAS HAVING A CONVERSATION, I THINK IT WAS YESTERDAY, DURING OUR STATE AND FEDERAL ADVOCACY, AND SOMEBODY MENTIONED THAT THE, UH, COMMITTEES WERE GONNA STOP MEETING, AND I WAS LIKE, I DIDN'T GET THAT MEMO, AND IT MADE ME REALIZE THAT I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ANY REPORTS.
I DON'T KNOW WHOSE LIST I'M OFF OF, BUT I'M OFF OF SOMEONE'S LIST.
UM, AND MAYBE IT'S, UH, MY NAME WAS MISSPELLED.
I MISSPELLED IT WITH AN A, SO, UH, UH, I MEAN, WITH AN N UH, UH, ONE N F Y I.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, UM, IN CASE I NEED TO BE ON THAT LIST.
UM, AND THEN ALSO I WANTED TO SAY, UM, I SEE THE LEGEND OAKS WEST, THAT'S IN DISTRICT FOUR, THAT'S ONE OF THE NURSING HOMES THAT'S ON OUR RADAR.
UM, AND SPECIFICALLY, UH, LOOKING AT THEIR SIX FOLKS WHO ARE POSITIVE, UM, THERE'S TWO STAFF MEMBERS THAT ARE POSITIVE, BUT I KNOW THAT THEIR RESULTS, OR THEY WERE JUST TESTED FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.
DO WE, ARE WE STILL PENDING SOME RESULTS? IS THAT THE INITIAL ROUND OF RESULTS, DR.
SO THERE MAY BE, UM, I'LL HAVE TO CHECK TO SEE THE, UM, THE NUMBER OF TESTS THAT ACTUALLY OCCURRED, AND THEN JUST DO MY MATH.
UM, BUT WE KNOW THAT, YES, UM, THERE'S USUALLY A LAG IN, UM, IN THE RESULTS THAT COME BACK TO US, SO I'LL CHECK THAT OUT FOR YOU.
AND THEN WE ALSO, UM, SUBMITTED THREE LOCATIONS FOR, UM, TESTING IN DISTRICT FOUR.
SO I LOOK FORWARD TO SEE, UM, WHEN THOSE WILL BE COMING.
UM, AND ONE OF THE QUESTIONS RELATED TO THAT IS, DO I, I'M ASSUMING, BUT I'VE NEVER ASKED IT FORMALLY, IS THERE SPANISH SPEAKERS AT THESE TESTING SITES THAT WE'RE PROVIDING? OKAY, SO IT'S BILINGUAL.
THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS, MAYOR.
COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ.
AND, UM, EVERYONE, I'M SORRY, MY, I'LL JUST TURN OFF MY CAMERA.
UM, UH, MY, UM, I, I GUESS, UH, I, I JUST HAVE A QUESTION FOR, UM, FOR MARIA REGARDING THE 75 MILLION.
UM, IS I, IS THAT A SHORT TERM REQUIREMENT? IT, IT SEEMS TO ME LIKE WE'RE GONNA BE DOING TESTING AND CONTRACT TRACING, YOU KNOW, FOR YEARS TO COME.
UH, COUNCILWOMAN, IT IS A SHORT TERM.
UH, THE PLAN THAT YOU SAW TODAY GOES THROUGH MARCH, 2021.
UH, AND AFTER THAT, I GUESS WE'LL BE DETERMINED, UM, THAT I, I THINK IS THAT, IS THAT THE CASE? WE'LL SEE HOW THINGS EVOLVE AT THAT TIME.
UH, YES, COUNCILWOMAN, I ANTICIPATE THAT WE ARE GONNA BE PROVIDING UPDATES TO THE COUNCIL AS PART OF OUR B SESSIONS, TO LET YOU KNOW HOW THE PLAN IS, UM, THE RESULTS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR PLAN, AND MAKING ADJUSTMENTS AS, AS WE GO THROUGH THIS, UM, PANDEMIC RESPONSE AND THEN PROVIDING RECOMMENDATIONS TO WHAT HAPPENS WITH, WITH THIS PROGRAM AFTER MARCH, UH, 2021 FUNDING EXPIRES.
YOU KNOW, COUNCILWOMAN, I THINK, I THINK TO YOUR POINT, AND I THINK THERE'S PROBABLY, CONGRESS IS DEBATING THAT THIS WEEK ON, UH, FUTURE ALLOCATIONS POTENTIALLY TO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, YOUR, YOUR POINT IS, IS IT'S NOT ALL GONNA GO AWAY, OR WE, WE DON'T THINK IT'S GONNA ALL GO AWAY AFTER MARCH, 2021 AND WHAT HAPPENS GOING FORWARD, BECAUSE THERE'LL STILL BE AN EXPECTATION, UH, AND A NECESSARY, UH,
[01:10:01]
EXPENSE FOR P P E TRAINING, TESTING, CONTACT TRACING.AND, AND I THINK THAT'S PART OF THE, THE, SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT COUNCIL IMPLY HAS TALKED ABOUT IS THAT THE, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AT, OR AT THE VERY LEAST, THE STATE WILL NEED TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE SOME DIRECTION AND POTENTIALLY FUNDING, UH, FOR THOSE, UH, THOSE TOPICS.
AND I GUESS, AND, AND EVEN EXPANDING ON THAT A LITTLE BIT, THAT, THAT COMES FROM THE 270 MILLION OR THAT'S A SEPARATE, UM, SORT OF POT OF MONEY THAT CAME EARLY ON.
MAJORITY COUNCILWOMAN IS COMING FROM THE TWO 70.
UH, THERE'S ABOUT $3 MILLION, UH, IN GRANTS THAT THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT RECEIVED, UM, BETWEEN FEBRUARY AND MARCH.
AND THAT FUNDING WILL BE UTILIZED FROM JANUARY THROUGH MARCH, 2021.
EMERY, UH, YOU MENTIONED, UM, I GUESS THAT ANYBODY THAT GOES TO THEIR REGULAR PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR SHOULD GET A TEST OR WILL GET A TEST OR, UM, BUT THAT'S ON THE PRIVATE SIDE, THAT THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH OUR, WHAT, WHAT THE CITY DOES.
BUT WILL IT CONTINUE TO BE REPORTED? YES.
SO, SO NOT ALL PROVIDERS ARE TESTING.
THEY'RE NOT EVERYONE IS PROVIDING A TEST.
SO THOSE, UM, AND WE WANNA ENCOURAGE MORE, YOU KNOW, SO THAT'S ALSO PART OF OUR, OUR OUTREACH EFFORT IS TO CONTACT PROVIDER OFFICES AND ASK THEM IF THEY ARE TESTING AND IF THEY'RE NOT, WE WANNA KNOW WHAT THE BARRIER IS AND SEE IF WE CAN HELP THEM GET ONLINE.
UM, SO WE NEED, WE NEED EVERYONE'S HELP FOR US TO INCREASE THAT TESTING IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UH, WELL, THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE, UH, RIGHT NOW FOR, FOR YOU ALL.
AND, UM, THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR, UH, THE WORK AND WE JUST, UH, LOOK FORWARD TO, UM, UH, WORKING TOGETHER.
UM, AND I THINK, UH, ERIC, IN A MOMENT WE'LL JUMP IN WITH A LITTLE BIT OF CLARIFICATION ON, ON THAT 75 MILLION WAS ON THE SLIDE, BUT WE'LL GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER, DR.
EMRICH, WILL YOU REVIEW HOW METRO HEALTH IS ADMINISTERING THE COMMUNITY SERVING? YES, MA'AM.
WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GIVE TO YOU YET, SO APOLOGIZE FOR THAT.
IS THAT ON MY END? IF, UM, SOMEBODY'S GOT THEIR SPEAKER ON, IF YOU CAN JUST TURN IT DOWN.
SO WE WILL BE ADMINISTERING THE SURVEY IN A, A VARIETY OF, UM, METHODOLOGIES.
SO THE SURVEY WILL BE, UM, A SURVEY MONKEY, UM, SO IT WILL BE ADMINISTERED FOR TWO WEEKS AND THEN OFF FOR TWO WEEKS, TWO WEEKS ON OFF FOR TWO WEEKS, AND THEN ONE MORE ON FOR TWO WEEKS AND OFF FOR TWO WEEKS.
WE'LL DO THAT FOR A PERIOD OF THREE MONTHS.
WE ARE USING A MULTI-STRATEGY TO ASSURE THAT WE HAVE REPRESENTATION AND ACCESS TO THE SURVEY ACROSS THE BOARD.
SO WITH THE SURVEY, UM, AGAIN, IT'LL BE SURVEYMONKEY, SO WE'LL HAVE IT ON OUR WEBSITE.
WE'LL HAVE IT, UM, UM, THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA.
WE'D LIKE TO ASK YOU TO HELP US PUSH THIS OUT THROUGH YOUR DISTRIBUTION LIST AS WELL.
WE WILL HAVE OUR HOTLINE, UM, WE'LL BE AVAILABLE TO TAKE PHONE CALLS AND ASK PEOPLE TO CALL OUR HOTLINE, AND WE WILL HELP FILL OUT THE SURVEY ON THEIR BEHALF THROUGH THE PHONE.
WE ALSO HAVE THAT TEAM THAT I REFERENCED.
YOU SHOULD TOSS TO COUNCILMAN, UM, DR.
ER, I THINK YOU MUTED YOUR, YOUR PHONE ABOUT HALFWAY THROUGH THERE.
SO, ARE YOU THERE? WE'RE HEAR YOU NOW.
MY, MY INTERNET WENT DOWN AT MY HOUSE.
UM, SO WE WILL ALSO HAVE, UM, SO SURVEYMONKEY, WE WILL DO ISSUE, WILL ASK YOU TO HELP US PUSH THAT, THAT SURVEY OUT TO EVERYONE IN YOUR CONSTITUENCY.
[01:15:01]
OUR HOTLINE NUMBER WILL BE USED SO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE INTERNET CAN CALL OUR HOTLINE, AND WE WILL, UM, FILL THAT SURVEY OUT FOR THEM AS WELL.WE HAVE THAT GROUP THAT DOES THE CANVASSING OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY.
THEY WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH IPADS AND THEY WILL BE ABLE TO SELF, UM, YOU KNOW, COMPLETE THE SURVEY FOR FOLKS THAT THEY ARE ENGAGING THERE.
THEN WE WILL ALSO HAVE THE ROBOCALLS.
SO ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO COME BACK TO OUR HOTLINE AND CALL OUR HOTLINE AND, UM, AND GET THE SURVEYS FILLED OUT THAT WAY.
FROM A MARKETING PERSPECTIVE, WE ARE LOOKING TO, YOU KNOW, PUSH THINGS OUT TO LOCAL NEWSPAPERS.
UM, AND AGAIN, USING YOUR DATABASE AND YOUR DISTRIBUTION LISTS AND YOUR SUPPORT WILL REALLY BE HELPFUL AS WELL.
OF COURSE, I'M HAPPY TO DO MY PART.
UH, THAT'S WHAT I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT, OF COURSE, WAS DISSEMINATING THE SURVEY TO THOSE, UH, WITHOUT THE INTERNET.
SO I'M GLAD TO HEAR YOU HAVE A, A MULTI-PRONG APPROACH.
I ASSUME THAT YOU HAVE THAT IN SPANISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES AS WELL.
AND WE'LL BE MEETING WITH THE PERSON WHO'S HELPING US FOR MEETING WITH THEM ON THURSDAY TO FINALIZE EVERYTHING.
CHIEF HOOD, I, I KNOW THAT OUR FIRE STATIONS, OUR FIREFIGHTERS ARE WORKING HARD AND MAXIMIZING, UH, THE RESOURCES THAT THEY HAVE.
I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT TO DO SO, YOU HAD TO REALLOCATE SOME OF THE RESOURCES, AND SINCE WE'RE SEEING SOME OF THE PRESSURE POINTS GETTING HIT HARDER THAN OTHERS THROUGHOUT OUR CITY, HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT HOW TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THOSE STATIONS THAT ARE HARDER HIT AFTER WE RETURN TO, YOU KNOW, QUOTE NORMAL, WHATEVER THAT WILL BE? UH, YES, MA'AM.
YOU KNOW WHAT? WITH, WITH THE SLOWDOWN RIGHT NOW, A LOT OF OUR, UM, OUR COSTS HAVE DROPPED PROBABLY TWO TO 300 EVERY SINGLE DAY.
WHAT WE ARE DOING NOW IS WE'RE KIND OF GOING BACK TO NORMAL A LITTLE BIT, BECAUSE YOU REMEMBER WE HAD A, UH, UH, COVID SPIKE AT STATION 14.
WE SHUT EVERYTHING DOWN AS FAR AS VACATIONS, AS FAR AS PEOPLE CHANGING SHIFTS, TRADING TIME, ANY OF THOSE THINGS.
AND SO WE'RE GOING TO SLOWLY START GOING BACK TO NORMAL AND MAKING SURE THAT, AGAIN, WE'RE HITTING THESE HOT SPOTS, THESE NURSING HOMES, THESE CONGREGATE SETTINGS, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THE P P E.
SO, UM, OUR, OUR BIGGEST ISSUE RIGHT NOW IS JUST WE'RE DEALING WITH THE UNKNOWNS JUST LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE, AND TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR FOLKS ARE PROTECTED, MAKE SURE THAT OUR FAMILIES ARE PROTECTED WHEN WE GO HOME TO THEM.
WE'RE GONNA SURVIVE C OVID 19, AND WE'RE GONNA BE VERY PROFICIENT AT OUR RESPONSE WITH THIS.
SO WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL TRAINING TO GET A, A ROBUST AMOUNT OF RESOURCE AND A WAREHOUSE AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
SO WE'LL BE EVEN BETTER PREPARED FOR THE NEXT OUTBREAK WHENEVER THAT COMES.
COUNCIL MEMBER, COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL.
I'M TRYING, UH, USING THE LANDLINE, SO YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO HEAR ME BETTER, UH, THIS TIME THAN, THAN LAST.
AND IF YOU GUYS HAVEN'T TRIED IT, I, I RECOMMEND IT.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, UH, THE PRESENTATION TODAY, CHIEF AND, UH, DAWN.
UM, I HAVE, UH, I HAVE SOME, SOME QUESTIONS AND WE PROBABLY WON'T GET THROUGH ALL THE ANSWERS IN THE SEVEN MINUTES.
OF COURSE, I'LL BE REQUESTING A, A FOLLOW UP.
UM, SO NUMBER ONE, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME PLAN.
UH, I'VE HEARD, UH, SOMETHING ABOUT THE END OF MAY, AND THEN I KNOW THAT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO, UH, WORK ON A PLAN AND REGARDING THE HEALTH RESPONSE AND THAT WE WERE ORIGINALLY ANTICIPATING THAT TODAY.
UM, SO ERIC, IS THAT THE SAME PLAN THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT? OR, OR ARE THERE TWO PLANS? UH, NO MA'AM.
UH, THIS IS THE, THIS IS THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FROM THE H T T.
UH, WE, WHAT WE HAVE FOLDED INTO IT IS, UH, AS MARIA OUTLINED, UH, WE HAVE FOLDED INTO IT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE, THE EXPENSE ASSOCIATED WITH IT, UH, THROUGH THE VARIETY OF, UH, FEDERAL FUNDING THAT, UH, MARIA OUTLINED LAST WEEK, UH, AT COUNCIL.
AND, UM, CAN YOU TELL ME, SO WE'RE NOT EXPECTING TO SEE A DRAFT UNTIL WHEN, UH, THERE'S A DRAFT DOCUMENT RIGHT NOW THAT IS, UH, UNDERWAY.
UM, AND, UM, UM, WE WILL, UH, WE'RE TARGETING TO PUSH THAT OUT ON MONDAY, MAY 25TH, I BELIEVE IS THE DATE.
UM, AND, AND, UM, BUT, BUT I THINK THE MEAT OF IT, I THINK WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS, IS WHAT DAWN, UH,
[01:20:01]
POINTED OUT DURING THE PRESENTATION IS THAT MUCH OF THE IMPLEMENTATION, UM, UH, QUICKLY AS, AS, UM, THE H T T REPORT WAS, WAS COMPLETED AND PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL IMPLEMENTATION BEGAN RIGHT AWAY.I MEAN, YOU, YOU, I'M SURE MOST OF YOU HAVE NOTICED THAT WE HAVE PLACED THE PROGRESS AND WARNING INDICATORS ON OUR WEBSITE AND STARTED REPORTING ON THOSE.
UM, AND, AND WE'RE USING, WE USE THAT H T T REPORT AS SORT OF OUR ROADMAP FOR OUR GAME PLAN FOR THE NEXT, UH, FOR THE NEXT, UH, FORESEEABLE FUTURE.
UM, SO THE, THE BALANCE HERE, COUNCILWOMAN HAS BEEN TO NOT ONLY IMPLEMENT, BUT ALSO DOCUMENT WHAT WE'RE DOING SO THAT IT'S AVAILABLE TO OUR STAKEHOLDERS, OTHER CITIES, UH, THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL, THE PUBLIC, UM, SO THAT, THAT IT'S WRITTEN DOWN.
I AGREE THE DOCUMENTATION'S CRITICALLY IMPORTANT.
I THINK THAT'S A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WE'VE HAD UP UNTIL NOW IS, UM, UH, RELATES TO, TO THAT.
IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, IF IT'S AT ALL POSSIBLE TO RELEASE THE PARTS THAT DON'T HAVE TO DO WITH THE FUNDING, WHICH IS WHAT YOU'RE WAITING FOR, IF THE OTHER PARTS ARE READY, UH, FOR A DRAFT REVIEW, I WOULD, UH, APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO UNDERSTAND THAT AND REVIEW THAT MYSELF.
UM, I'D LIKE A, UM, AT YOUR EARLIEST CONVENIENCE, UM, A REPORT OR A SUMMARY ON THE OUTBREAK AT THE SAN ANTONIO BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOSPITAL.
UH, IT WAS REPORTED THAT THERE WERE A FEW CASES, BUT SINCE THEN, UH, WE'VE HEARD CONCERNS ABOUT, UH, P P E BEING AVAILABLE.
SO IF SOMEONE COULD PLEASE SEND ME, UM, THE TESTING, THE CASES, THE TIMELINE, UH, THE STATUS OF THE CONTACT TRACING, UH, P P E AND, UH, WHETHER, UH, ANY OF THE WORKERS WERE ALSO EMPLOYED AT OTHER LOCATIONS, UM, I APPRECIATE IT.
COUNCILWOMAN, I'LL JUMP IN ON THE P P E ISSUE.
WE, UH, WE FOLLOW THAT UP WITH THEM OVER THE WEEKEND, AND, UM, THERE WAS NO, THERE WAS NO, UH, ISSUE OF P P E FROM THE STAFF.
WE WENT AHEAD AND, UH, GAVE THEM A DELIVERY ON MONDAY.
UM, AS WITH ALL OUR NURSING HOMES, NOW, WE, WE ARE GETTING ENOUGH P P E TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY ARE SUPPLIED, SO THERE WAS NO ISSUE THERE, AND WE FOLLOWED THAT UP ON MONDAY.
UM, REGARDING THE, UH, TESTING AND TRACING TASK FORCE, I'M GLAD THAT THERE'LL BE, UH, THESE DIFFERENT FOCUS AREAS.
I THINK WE NEED ALL OF THOSE TO KEEP MOVING ON THE RESPONSE.
UH, SINCE THE CHARGE HAS CHANGED A LITTLE BIT, UM, I IMAGINE YOU'LL PROBABLY BE CHANGING THE COMPOSITION OF THAT GROUP OR UPDATING IT, SO IT WOULD APPRECIATE, UH, AN UPDATED ROSTER WHEN THAT'S, UH, WHEN THAT'S AVAILABLE.
UM, ALSO, UH, IN THE, IN THE PAST THERE WAS A DISCUSSION ABOUT EVALUATING RAPID TESTING, AND YOU TOLD US LAST THURSDAY THAT WASN'T, UM, THAT YOU'D BEEN SIDETRACKED BY THE, UH, ANTIBODY TESTING, BUT, UH, WE STILL HAVEN'T HEARD BACK ON RAPID TESTING.
SO MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT YOU'RE, YOU'RE JUST SIMPLY NOT GONNA DO THAT.
IS THAT RIGHT? NO, THAT'S NOT TRUE.
COUNSEL, I ACTUALLY, I SPOKE TO YOUR OFFICE THE OTHER DAY AS PART OF MY OUTREACH.
SO, UM, I DID, SO IT WILL BE, SO WHAT I MM-HMM.
SO THAT'S UNDERWAY THEN, THE EVALUATION OF THE RAPID TESTING.
LET ME, LET ME CLARIFY TO SAY THAT WHEN I SUBMITTED THAT, UM, I MISSPOKE, UM, I ASKED AROUND OF WHETHER THE TESTING TASK FORCE OR METROHEALTH WAS DOING AN EVALUATION ON RAPID TESTING.
AND WHAT I WAS TOLD WAS THAT WE COMMITTED TO DO AN EVALUATION OF ANTIBODY TESTING.
AND SO THAT IS WHAT WE SUBMITTED.
UM, I WILL CERTAINLY TALK TO THE TESTING TASK FORCE'S POLICY SUBCOMMITTEE AND ASK IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO TAKE ON.
BUT IF I STATED THAT WE WERE DOING AN EVALUATION OF RAPID TESTING, THEN I MISSPOKE.
WE WERE ALWAYS DOING ANTIBODY TESTING, WHICH IS WHAT WE DELIVERED.
YEAH, IT WAS A FEW WEEKS, UH, BEFORE, UH, THE PRESENTATION, IT WAS BEFORE THE ANTIBODY TESTING CAME OUT, THAT, THAT, I MUST, MAYBE I MISUNDERSTOOD, BUT I THOUGHT THAT COMMITMENT HAD BEEN MADE AT THAT TIME.
UM, AND THEN I SAW THE PRESS RELEASE ABOUT ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING, ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL FOR US TO GET AN UNDERSTANDING, UM, OF WHAT SORT OF PREVALENCE, UH, THE VIRUS HAS OUT THERE, AND ALSO FOR PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.
BUT I WILL TELL YOU THAT I WAS VERY SURPRISED TO SEE THAT BECAUSE WHEN I READ THE H T T REPORT, UM, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF PRIORITY POPULATIONS FOR TESTING, WHETHER ASYMPTOMATIC OR SYMPTOMATIC.
[01:25:01]
UM, UP UNTIL NOW, UM, I DON'T KNOW IF ALL THOSE OTHER, UH, PRIORITY POPULATIONS HAVE BEEN TESTED.I DON'T HAVE, UM, A, YOU KNOW, WE GET SORT OF PIECEMEAL UPDATES EVERY DAY.
THAT'S WHY, THAT'S WHY I LOVE SEEING THE PLAN.
SO IN TERMS OF ALL OF THE OTHER, UM, TESTING THAT WAS RECOMMENDED BY THE H T T I'D, I'D LIKE TO KNOW IF THOSE WERE ALREADY COMPLETE.
AND THEN THEIR RECOMMENDATION FOR ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING, UH, WAS, UH, I THINK TARGETED POPULATION.
SO THE, THE PRESS RELEASE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT THAT.
AND, UM, SO I STAND A LITTLE BIT MORE IF ALL THOSE OTHER, UH, TARGET POPULATIONS HAVE BEEN, HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY TESTED YET.
OH, INCLUDING TARGET, OH, DON'T COME
COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, WE'RE NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER LIAS.
EMMERICH, I, UM, I'M GONNA TELL YOU, I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT A TEST LOOKS LIKE OR HOW A TEST IS CONDUCTED.
UH, AND MY UNDERSTANDING FROM LISTENING TO THIS CONVERSATION THEN IS THAT THERE'S A VARIETY OF, OF TESTS AND FLAVORS OF TESTS BEING ADMINISTERED.
CAN YOU JUST WALK US THROUGH, YOU KNOW, THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE, UM, YOU KNOW, IS IT STILL STICKING UP Q-TIP OF PEOPLE'S NOSE OR WHAT IS IT THAT IS? YES, SIR.
THAT IS WHAT WE, UM, THAT IS THE PREDOMINANT TEST THAT IS OCCURRING IN OUR COMMUNITY AND ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.
THAT IS THE P C R TEST, AND THAT IS THE TEST THAT IS DESIGNED TO DIAGNOSE IF SOMEONE HAS C OVID 19, AND WHAT YOU HAVE A VARIETY OF WHAT YOU, AND SO THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT COMPONENT.
UNDERNEATH THAT, UNDERNEATH THAT BUCKET, THERE ARE A VARIETY OF, OF TESTS.
YOU HEAR AS WHAT COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL WAS TALKING ABOUT, THE RAPID TESTS.
AND THESE ARE, UM, TESTS THAT CAN BE DONE VERY, VERY QUICKLY.
UM, BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE, UM, VERY SPECIFIC MACHINES AND, UH, LAB TO DO THAT.
UM, SO THE, THE NASAL SWAB IS THE GOLD STANDARD, AND THAT IS WHAT'S BEING USED GENERALLY ACROSS THE TOWN.
UM, WHAT IS THE RAPID, I'M SORRY, I INTERRUPTED, GO AHEAD.
UH, WHAT, WHAT IS THE RAPID TEST THEN? WHAT IS THAT THE SAME THING? IS IT A NA NASAL SWAB? YEAH, SO IT'S THAT, AND THEN IT'S JUST A PART, IT'S A DIFFERENT, SO IT'S A SPECIAL SWAB AND, UM, THE TRANSPORT MEDIA, AND THEN YOU HAVE TO HAVE A SPECIAL MACHINE THAT ACTUALLY CAN COOK THE TEST VERY QUICKLY.
SO OFTENTIMES YOU HAVE HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS, LARGE HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS THAT CAN AFFORD THAT TYPE OF EQUIPMENT, UM, THAT CAN PUT THOSE THINGS IN THERE SO THAT WHEN THEY HAVE PEOPLE COMING IN EITHER TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM OR FOLKS WHO ARE TRYING TO DO PRE-OPS, UM, KNOW BEFORE THEY GET SURGERY, THEN, YOU KNOW, THOSE TYPES OF RAPID TESTS ARE VERY CRITICAL SO THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, THEY CAN GO ON WITH DOING THEIR REGULAR WORK AT THE HOSPITAL.
SO, UM, YEAH, SO THAT, THAT'S THE RAPID TEST.
AND SO THAT'S THE PIECE THAT I, UM, THAT COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL IS ASKING FOR US TO DO AN EVALUATION ON.
AND THEN THE ANTIBODY TEST, WHAT, WHAT IS, WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE? MM-HMM.
WELL, THAT'S VERY CONTROVERSIAL.
AND SO THE ANTIBODY TEST IS NOT A DIAGNOSTIC TEST.
THE ANTIBODY TEST IS EXACTLY WHAT THE NAME SAYS IT IS, ALLEGEDLY, AND I SAY ALLEGEDLY, IT IS PROPOSED TO ACTUALLY GET, UM, TO MEASURE WHETHER YOU HAVE ANTIBODIES IN YOUR BLOOD SYSTEM.
SO IT'S A, IT'S A FINGER PRICK THAT YOU DO.
AND IT IS TO MEASURE IF YOU HAVE BEEN, UM, MAYBE YOU'VE BEEN, UM, DI NOT DIABETES, MAYBE YOU'VE HAD COVID 19, AND YOU'VE CREATED ANTIBODIES.
AND SO WHAT WE DO KNOW ABOUT THAT, AND METRO HEALTH HAS PLACED A VERY STRONG HEALTH ADVISORY ON THAT.
AND FACT, WE ALSO WORKED WITH, UM, ANDY TO HAVE THAT AS A PART OF THE LAST, THE LATEST DECLARATION THAT THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE PUT IN, UM, PROVIDING WARNINGS ABOUT ANTIBODY TESTING.
UM, THERE ARE SEVERAL ANTIBODY TESTS THAT HAVE BEEN AUTHORIZED, NOT NECESSARILY APPROVED, BUT THEY'VE BEEN GIVEN EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION TO BE USED.
UM, BUT THEY ARE HIGHLY, UH, UNRELIABLE.
AND, UM, AND SO OUR DECLARATION IS ASKING FOR THOSE BUSINESSES OUT IN THE COMMUNITY WHO ARE OFFERING ANTIBODY TESTING AS WELL AS CHARGING FOR THEM TO ACTUALLY STOP, UM, BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT EFFECTIVE, UM, FOR, FOR WHAT THEY'RE BEING USED FOR.
[01:30:01]
SO THE REASON I'M ASKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT THESE TESTS INVOLVE, UH, FROM THE PATIENT SIDE IS THAT, YOU KNOW, I'VE HAD A NUMBER OF PEOPLE COME TO ME AND SAY, WELL, I DON'T WANNA GET TESTED 'CAUSE IT'S SCARY.I HEAR THAT THE TEST IS, UM, MM-HMM.
AND SO, TO WHAT EXTENT DOES OUR PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS AND OUR PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN INCLUDE SOME SIMPLE MESSAGING? LIKE, IT'S NOT SCARY, IT'S REALLY SIMPLE.
UM, IT'S JUST A SWAB IN THE NOSE.
UM, YOU KNOW, AND ANYWAY, THAT'S MY QUESTION.
NO, I THINK THAT THAT'S A REALLY GREAT POINT.
I DON'T THINK THAT, UM, THERE HAS BEEN ANY LIKE, VIDEOS ON WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE OR ANYTHING.
UM, NO, I THINK THAT YOU RAISED A REALLY GOOD POINT TO TRY TO DEMYSTIFY THE TEST A LITTLE BIT PER, PERHAPS THAT'S A BARRIER TO SOME OF THE TESTING, BUT I THINK YOU RAISED A GOOD POINT.
SO, UM, WHAT I, WHAT MY COMMITMENT TO YOU THEN IS, IS I'M GONNA RAISE THAT GOOD POINT NEXT WEEK, UH, AND SEE IF BETWEEN NOW AND NEXT WEEK WE'VE DONE ANYTHING AS FAR AS BAKING INTO THE PLAN, THE DEMYSTIFICATION OF THE TESTS.
UH, 'CAUSE I THINK THAT WE NEED TO TALK TO PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE.
AND THERE'S A LOT OF FOLKS, IF I'M HEARING IT, THEN MAYBE MY OTHER COUNCIL COLLEAGUES ARE HEARING IT TOO.
AND THAT IS, THERE'S A LOT OF FOLKS OUT THERE THAT JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND REALLY WHAT IT IS.
UM, AND INCLUDING ME, I, I LEARNED A LOT TODAY.
AND SO THANKS DOC, I APPRECIATE THE ANSWERS.
COUNCIL MEMBER ELIAS, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, COURAGE.
LET ME, YEAH, WE CAN HEAR YOU NOW, COUNCIL MEMBER.
ANYWAY, UM, I HAVE, UH, TWO OR THREE THINGS I'D LIKE TO ASK.
AND I, I SUPPOSE, UM, WELL, I'LL JUST LET WHOEVER THINKS THEY, THEY NEED TO ASK IT, UH, OR ANSWER IT, WE'RE LOOKING AT IN THE PRESENTATION, TRYING TO GET TO 1500 OR 3000 TESTS PER DAY, UH, AND HOW MANY DAYS IS IT'S TAKING TO GET RESULTS.
IF WE'RE DOING, LET'S SAY 3000 TESTS A DAY, ARE WE GONNA GET 3000 RESULTS IN 24 TO 48 HOURS? ANYONE? SO THEY'LL COME, YEAH.
HEY, I, SORRY, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YEAH, YEAH.
UM, SO THOSE TESTS ARE BEING DONE AT A VARIETY OF LOCATIONS AND BY VARIETY OF PEOPLE.
SO IF WE LOOK AT WALMART NOW, WALMART HAS THEIR OWN LAB THAT THEY ARE ISSUING, ISSUING THOSE TESTS THROUGH, AND WE'LL GET THOSE RESULTS IN A PERIOD OF TIME.
UM, TEXAS MILITARY HAS THEIR, THEIR OWN LAB, AND SO WE'LL GET, YOU KNOW, THOSE TESTS THAT WILL COME AT A VARIETY OF TIME, SO WE WON'T GET 'EM ALL AT ONE TIME.
THEY'LL BE STAGGERED BECAUSE THE LABS ARE DIFFERENT.
AND, UM, THE TESTING PROCESS IS A BIT DIFFERENT FOR EACH.
WHAT I CAN ALSO SAY IS THAT, UM, WE WILL ALWAYS NEGATIVE, UH, POSITIVE RESULTS ALWAYS COME BACK FIRST, AND THEY COME BACK FIRST AND THEY COME BACK PRETTY FAST.
IT'S THE NEGATIVE RESULTS THAT USUALLY WILL TAKE A LONG TIME, IF AT ALL.
SOMETIMES WE DON'T GET THE NEGATIVE TEST.
SOMETIMES WE DO, BUT THE POSITIVE TESTS COME BACK PRETTY QUICKLY.
UM, BUT AGAIN, THEY'RE STAGGERED BASED ON, UM, THE LABS THAT ARE PROCESSING THE TEST.
AND WE ARE NOT QUITE AT 3000 YET.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT'LL BE A PART OF OUR CAPACITY PLAN.
NOW, IF I'M TESTED ON MONDAY, AND IT COMES BACK NEGATIVE FROM THE LAB ON THURSDAY OR OR WEDNESDAY, YOU CAN STILL TIE IT TO THE TESTING DAY ON MONDAY.
YOU CAN SAY, X AMOUNT OF PEOPLE TESTED ON MONDAY WERE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE, RIGHT? SO THAT WE CAN HAVE A TRAIL TO FOLLOW, TO SEE DAILY IF WE'RE FINDING MORE AND MORE, NOT JUST A BIG LUMP FOUR DAYS LATER, THAT SHOWS A WHOLE BUNCH OF NEGATIVES OF POSITIVES.
BUT IT'S A TWO STEP PROCESS FOR THAT.
SO THE FIRST ONE IS, IS THAT, UM, YOU CAN LOOK AT THE DAY THAT WE GET THE LAB RESULTS BACK ONCE WE GET THOSE LAB REASONS.
SO THAT'S A DATE, THAT'S A DATE AND TIME.
ONCE WE ALSO GET THE LAB RESULTS BACK, WE, IF IT'S POSITIVE, WE START A CONTACT INVESTIGATION.
AND IT'S AT THAT TIME WHEN WE DO OUR CONTACT INVESTIGATION, WE ASKED THEM ON WHAT DAY DID YOUR ONSET OF ILLNESS START? AND THEN WE GO BACK AND CHANGE THAT
[01:35:01]
TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY CAPTURING IT FROM AN EPIDEMIOLOGY PERSPECTIVE, THAT WE ARE CAPTURING THE DATA FROM ONSET OF ILLNESS.THAT'S OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.
AND SO THAT'S THE DATE THAT WE TRACK.
NOW, HOW DOES THAT WORK WITH ASYMPTOMATIC PEOPLE WHO CAN SAY, WELL, I DON'T KNOW WHEN I GOT IT.
YEAH, SO THAT'S A, IT'S A GREAT QUESTION.
AND SO OUR PROCESS IS A BIT DIFFERENT.
UM, IN FACT, WHEN WE GET THE LAB RESULTS BACK, OUR LAB RESULTS DON'T SAY ASYMPTOMATIC OR SYMPTOMATIC.
IT'S DURING THE CONTACT INVESTIGATION THAT WE ACTUALLY LEARN AT THAT TIME, WHETHER THEY ARE SYMPTOMATIC OR ASYMPTOMATIC.
AND AT WHICH TIME WHEN WE DO THE INVESTIGATION, THEN WE, UM, THEN WE START THE INVESTIGATION WITH THE ASYMPTOMATIC IS A, IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.
WE THEN ASK THEM TO ISOLATE THEMSELVES FROM LARGE GATHERINGS FOR 10 DAYS.
UM, AND THEN THE SYMPTOMATIC ARE THE ONES THAT WE DO THE CONTACT TRACING, UM, FOR THEIR CLOSE CONTACTS.
SO IT'S A BIT DIFFERENT THAN, UM, NOT A WHOLE LOT, BUT IT'S A BIT DIFFERENT ONCE WE IDENTIFY WHETHER THEY'RE SYMPTOMATIC OR NOT.
UM, ANOTHER QUESTION, MAYBE CHIEF WOOD CAN ANSWER THIS TO WHICH ORGANIZATIONS CAN MASKS AND P P E BE SHARED? I HEARD YOU MENTION NURSING HOMES, BUT IF THERE ARE OTHERS THAT SAY THEY HAVE NEEDS, WHO ELSE COULD GET THAT? UM, DO YOU HAVE A EXAMPLE OF SOMEONE ELSE THAT NEEDS PPE? WELL, YEAH.
UH, A SENIOR RETIREMENT CENTER WHERE IT'S NOT A NURSING HOME, BUT IT'S ASSISTED LIVING, FOR EXAMPLE.
YOU KNOW WHAT, IF, UH, IF YOU GET, WE CAN GET TOGETHER AFTERWARDS AND, UH, FIGURE OUT WHERE THAT IS, WE'LL TRY TO HELP YOU OUT.
AGAIN, THE, THE, THE HOSPITALS GET IT FIRST HOSPITALS WITH, UH, COVID PATIENTS GET IT SECOND, FIRST RESPONDERS ARE NEXT ON THE LIST IN NURSING HOMES THAT ARE COVID, UM, HAVE COVID PATIENTS, THEN NURSING HOMES.
SO WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN GET YOU WHATEVER YOU NEED.
I'LL, I'LL, UH, GET WITH YOU AFTERWARDS.
YEAH, WE, WE TRY TO FOLLOW ALONG WITH ANYTHING THAT HAS SENIORS IN OUR COMMUNITY, AND THERE'S A LOT OF RETIREMENT CENTERS THAT HAVE ASSISTED LIVING AND, AND INDEPENDENT LIVING.
BUT THE PEOPLE WHO WORK THERE, UH, DON'T ALWAYS HAVE ALL THE MASKS OR THE P P E IF THEY'RE WORKING WITH PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY KIND OF ILL IN THEIR CENTER.
AND IT MAY NOT BE COVID, IT MAY JUST BE SOMETHING ELSE.
AND WE HAVE HAD REQUESTS IN THE PAST FOR HELP.
I THINK A COUPLE OF THEM HAVE WORKED THEIR WAY THROUGH, BUT THEY WERE REFERRED TO, UH, THE C OVID 19 GROUP.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I, I DON'T THINK THEY GOT ANYTHING A FEW WEEKS AGO WHEN THEY WERE ASKING.
SO I HOPE THAT THOSE KIND OF ORGANIZATIONS, UH, CAN COUNT ON GETTING THAT KIND OF SUPPORT NOW SINCE WE'VE GOT, UH, A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN WE HAD A FEW WEEKS AGO.
YOU KNOW WHAT, UM, I'LL REACH OUT TO YOU, BUT THEN AGAIN, I WOULD HAVE THEM GO BACK AND, UM, GO REACH TO THOSE CHANNELS AGAIN TO SEE IF THAT WORKS.
BUT IF YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC HOME, UM, I'LL FOLLOW UP WITH YOU AND SEE IF WE CAN GET THEM WHAT THEY NEED.
UH, ONE OTHER THING I WANTED TO MENTION WAS, I UNDERSTAND THAT WE SAID METRO HEALTH CENTER CITY DEVELOPMENT, SS A P D AND D S D CODE COMPLIANCE.
WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING SURE THAT BUSINESSES WERE COMPLYING, UH, WITH ALL OF THE RESTRICTIONS THAT ARE IN PLACE RIGHT NOW.
AND I THINK IT WAS MENTIONED THAT 10 BUSINESSES PER WEEK WE'RE GOING TO BE, UH, VISITED.
IS THAT 10 PER WEEK OR 10 PER DAY? I WASN'T QUITE SURE.
AND IS THAT BY EACH INDIVIDUAL GROUP OR BY THE FOUR OF THEM TOGETHER ONLY COVERING 10? YES, THAT WILL BE 10 PER WEEK.
UM, AND THEY WORK TOGETHER TO DETERMINE, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE THEY'RE GOING TO BE GOING AND WHAT IS IT THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE ASSESSING.
SO THEY WOULD BE IN COUPLES AND JOINTS AND PAIRS RATHER, UM, WHEN THEY DO THAT.
AND IT'S A REALLY GREAT COMPLIMENT BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, METROHEALTH IS ALREADY DOING A LOT OF THAT RESTAURANT INSPECTION ALREADY THROUGH, UM, OUR REGULAR WORK.
SO AT OFTENTIMES IT'S A MATTER OF SEEING THINGS THROUGH SOME OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE ALREADY DOING.
AND THEN IF YOU SEE SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T COMPLY, THEN WE WOULD WORK WITH OUR PARTNERS TO SEND SOMEBODY ELSE BACK OUT.
WELL, I REALIZE MY TIME'S UP, BUT I, IT'S ALMOST LAUGHABLE THAT WE'RE SAYING 10 PER WEEK WHEN THERE'S HUNDREDS OF BUSINESSES REOPENING RIGHT NOW.
AND, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE THEY FOLLOW THOSE GUIDELINES I THINK IS CRITICAL.
[01:40:01]
COUPLE OF QUESTIONS, MARIA.IF WE COULD GO BACK TO THAT SLIDE ON THE 75 MILLION.
UM, WHEN WILL WE SEE THE DETAILS OF THAT 75 MILLION AND, AND WHAT, WHAT THE, UH, REQUIREMENT IS AND WHAT, HOW THAT 75 MILLION IS BEING BUILT? UH, COUNCILMAN.
SO WE PLAN TO GIVE, UH, THE FULL COUNCIL AN UPDATE ON THE CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUND, THE C R F, ON, UH, THE 20TH OF MAY.
AND THEN THE FINAL HEALTH REPORT THAT WE'RE IN THAT WILL INCORPORATE THE, THE BUDGET, UH, IN MUCH MORE DETAIL, UH, WILL BE PRE, UH, PROVIDED TO THE COUNCIL ON THE 25TH OF MAY.
AND THEN THE, THE TOTAL PLAN FOR, FOR THE C R F, UH, WILL BE PRESENTED TO THE COUNCIL ON JUNE THE THIRD.
AS YOU MAY RECALL, THE C R F HAS A COMMUNITY COMPONENT AND IT ALSO HAS A CITY RESPONSE COMPONENT.
SO THERE'S, THERE'S MORE TO THE CITY RESPONSE THAN, THAN WHAT YOU'RE SEEING TODAY.
SO THOSE ARE THE THREE STEPS THAT WE ARE GONNA HAVE.
AND THEN THE FINAL, UM, UH, BUDGET, IF YOU WILL, FOR CITY COUNCIL, UM, CONSIDERATION IS ON THE, ON THE THIRD, UM, FOR THE COMMUNITY COMPONENT.
WELL, UH, I'M TALKING ABOUT THAT 270 MILLION THAT WE, WE'VE ALREADY RECEIVED HERE AT THE CITY.
I, I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT, UH, Y'ALL WOULD HAVE A PLAN PUT TOGETHER TO COME TO US ON WHAT YOUR PROPOSAL IS FOR THAT 270 MILLION.
ARE YOU SAYING THAT THAT'S GONNA BE INCORPORATED INTO OUR NORMAL BUDGET DISCUSSIONS? I, I THOUGHT THAT WAS GONNA HAPPEN MUCH, MUCH EARLIER THAN THE BUDGET DISCUSSIONS.
IT'LL BE, UH, MUCH SOONER THAN THE BUDGET DISCUSSION.
SO AGAIN, ON MAY THE 20TH, WE'LL BE HAVING A, UM, CONVERSATION WITH THE COUNCIL TO PROVIDE YOU AN UPDATE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLAN TO USE THE 270 MILLION, AND THEN WE'LL COME BACK TO THE COUNCIL ON JUNE THE THIRD, THE THIRD, UM, FOR THE, FOR THE FINAL, UM, PLAN.
UM, YEAH, I WAS KIND OF HOPING THAT WE WOULD GET THAT, UH, A LITTLE BIT SOONER THAN A WEEK BEFORE DISCUSSIONS, BUT, UH, THAT'S OKAY.
UM, WE'LL, WE'LL GET THROUGH THIS.
I, UM, AND THAT 75 MILLION THAT'S LISTED THERE, THAT YOU'RE SAYING THAT IS A PART OF THAT 270, 200 70 MILLION, THAT'S A BIG CHUNK OF THE 270 MILLION GOING FOR THIS, UH, FUTURE, FUTURE PLANNING EFFORTS.
I, I, I GUESS I'M GETTING INTO THE DETAILS ALREADY.
I, I, I, I'M INTERESTED IN SEEING HOW THAT $75 MILLION WAS BUILT AND WHAT, WHERE, WHERE ARE YOU RECOMMENDING THAT THAT COME OUT OF AS FAR AS A TOTAL AMOUNT? YEAH, COUNCILMAN, LET ME, LET ME JUMP IN.
'CAUSE I THINK, YOU KNOW, PART OF, PART OF THE REASON THE, OF LAST WEEK'S PRESENTATION WAS TO SET THE STAGE FOR THE PROCESS TO COME TO COUNCIL A COUPLE OF TIMES, UM, FOR, UM, NOT ONLY THE, THE CORONA RELIEF FUNDS, BUT ALSO THE OTHER FEDERAL GRANTS THAT WERE STILL WAITING FOR DOLLAR ALLOCATIONS, UH, FOR, AND, AND THE ELIGIBLE USES OF THOSE FUNDS ARE TO OFFSET NOT ONLY EXPENSES THAT WE'VE INCURRED, BUT ALSO EXPECTED EXPENSES FROM THIS, FROM MARCH 1ST THROUGH THE END OF THE, UH, CALENDAR YEAR WITH THE C R F FUNDS FOR UP TO MARCH OF NEXT YEAR WITH SOME OF OTHER FEDERAL GRANTS, ANY DOLLAR THAT WE DON'T, UH, USE, UM, UM, FOR CITY EXPENSE.
AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO FUND OURSELVES LOCALLY.
SO THE SECOND CATEGORY THAT MARIA TALKED ABOUT LAST WEEK WERE THE, UM, THE OTHER COMMUNITY RECOVERY ISSUES, UM, THAT, UH, SUCH AS POTENTIALLY JOB TRAINING, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, SMALL BUSINESS HOUSING AND RENTAL ASSISTANCE AND, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE, DIGITAL DIVIDE.
UM, THE SCHEDULE WE LAID OUT LAST WEEK WAS THAT WE WERE GONNA COME TO COUNCIL IN A B SESSION NEXT WEEK.
TO GET SOME MORE FEEDBACK FROM COUNCIL.
I THINK WE GOT GOOD FEEDBACK LAST WEEK ON WHAT THE PRIORITY SHOULD BE.
WE'RE GONNA BE COMING TO COUNCIL NEXT WEEK ON THE 20TH FOR ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK FROM COUNCIL THE FOLLOWING WEEK AFTER THAT MAY 28TH, WE HAVE OUR MIDYEAR BUDGET PRESENTATION IN WHICH WE'LL INCORPORATE A GENERAL PLAN FOR ALL OF THIS.
UM, WITH, WITH AN ANTICIPATED ADOPTION DATE OF THE COUNCIL THE FIRST WEEK IN JUNE.
YOU KNOW, A LOT THERE, THERE, THERE ARE, WE'RE DOING ALL OF THESE THINGS, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALL SET UP FOR, UH, COMMUNITY RECOVERY, BUT ALSO ANY EXPENSE THE CITY'S GOT GOING FORWARD, WE'RE TAKING IT OUT OF THOSE FUNDS.
'CAUSE IF WE DON'T TAKE IT OUT OF
[01:45:01]
THOSE FUNDS, WE'RE GONNA BE TAKING 'EM OUT OF OUR OWN GENERAL FUND BUDGET, WHICH, WHICH WAS PART OF LAST WEEK'S CONVERSATION.I'M ANTICIPATING TO BE CHALLENGING NEXT YEAR.
AND WE'LL MAKE SURE WE, WE DO, I THINK COUNCILMAN TREVINO MADE AN EXCELLENT POINT EARLIER THERE.
AND SO WE'VE GOT, WE'VE GOT, UH, BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT THREE WEEKS, THIS TOPIC WILL BE DISCUSSED AND WE'RE AVAILABLE IN BETWEEN TO, TO PROVIDE SOME BRIEFINGS TO THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, YOU KNOW, SOME HEADS UP BEFORE THE ACTUAL B SESSIONS WHERE THIS, WHERE YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS ARE GONNA BE PROVIDED SO THAT WE CAN, UM, BE PREPARED, LET'S SAY FOR, FOR THOSE MEETINGS.
UM, ANYTHING WE CAN GET BEFOREHAND WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
ALL RIGHT, SIR, THAT'S, THAT'S ALL THE COMMENTS I HAVE.
AND, UH, AGAIN, THANK YOU TO, UH, MARIA AND, AND DAWN AND CHIEF AS WELL AS GORDON FOR THE UPDATES.
UM, THAT IS ALL OF OUR COUNCIL DISCUSSION.
WE DO HAVE OUR THURSDAY A SESSION, UM, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYBODY THERE.
UH, SO AT THAT POINT, UH, OR AT THIS POINT IT IS, UM, 2:50 PM YEAH, GO AHEAD.
CAN I, CAN I JUST ADD ONE THING? I WANTED TO POINT SOMETHING OUT FOR COUNCIL THAT IT'LL BE IN THE END OF DAY REPORT, BUT, UH, WE DID GET, UH, THE FLIGHT PATH FOR THE THUNDERBIRDS TOMORROW.
WE'LL, WE'LL INCLUDE IT IN THE END OF DAY REPORT TO COUNCIL.
UH, IT STARTS AT ONE 20 TOMORROW AFTERNOON FOR A TOTAL OF ABOUT 35 MINUTES, AND THE FLIGHT PATH HAS BEEN RELEASED.
WE'LL PUSH THAT OUT TO COUNCIL, UH, TODAY.
THE TIME IS, UH, 2:51 PM ON THIS, UH, TUESDAY, MAY 12TH.
UH, THE SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING IS NOW ADJOURNED.