[00:00:05]
UM, ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE WE GET STARTED? I FEEL LIKE IT'S A TV SHOW, AND I'M THE, AND I'M THE HOST.
COUNSEL, THE NEXT QUESTIONS, BUT THE PHONE NUMBERS, I JUST RECEIVED THEM RIGHT NOW.
NANCY'S GIVING THEM A NUMBER TO CALL IN SO THEY CAN JOIN THE MEETING, SO THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO SPEAK.
UM, UH, DOES EVERYONE, BEFORE WE GET STARTED, DOES EVERYONE HAVE THE MATERIALS THAT WE HAVE, UM, THE PRESENTATION THAT CAME IN ADVANCE FROM DR.
BRIDGER, UH, FROM AMANDA AND DR.
BRIDGER? IF YOU'RE, IF YOU'RE MISSING IT, LET, LET ME KNOW AND WE'LL MAKE SURE TO EMAIL IT TO YOU RIGHT NOW.
UM, THE PRESENTATION, UH, JEFF'S PRESENTATION.
JUSTIN, UH, LAURA'S PRESENTATION.
THEY DON'T HAVE A COPY OF IT YET.
IT'S GOING OUT NOW TO YOU GUYS, AND THEN THE RESOLUTION, THE DRAFT RESOLUTION.
SORRY, YOU GUYS HAVE THAT ONE? YES, MA'AM.
I KNOW I TEXTED IT TO, TO EVERYONE.
I, MARLON IS ON THE WEBEX,
SO, MARLON, IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, UM, THIS WILL BE THE LAST ITEM FOR DISCUSSION.
SO YOU'RE GONNA BE ON FOR A LITTLE WHILE BEFORE YOU, YOU COME, UH, YOU GET TO SPEAK ALRIGHT.
OR BEFORE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THAT.
UNLESS YOU'RE PLANNING TO DO PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANOTHER ITEM, THAT'S FINE TOO.
I THINK WE'RE, ARE WE READY TO
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN HERE.
COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ, PRESENT AND CHAIR COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL HERE.
TINA, WE'VE GOT PERFECT ATTENDANCE, AS I LIKE TO SAY.
THAT'S EVEN BETTER THAN A QUORUM.
UM, GOOD MORNING EVERYONE, AND WELCOME TO OUR FIRST, UM, COMMUNITY HEALTH AND EQUITY COMMITTEE MEETING OF THIS FALL.
UM, AFTER, UH, THE, THE RECESS, I WANT TO, UH, WELCOME BACK ALL THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS, AND, UH, I WANT TO INTRODUCE A NEW COMMITTEE MEMBER THAT WE HAVE, AND THAT'S, UH, COUNCILWOMAN
UM, WHEN I FOUND OUT WE HAD AN OPENING, UH, I, I LOBBIED HER TREMENDOUSLY TO, TO BE ON THIS COMMITTEE BECAUSE IT IS THE EQUITY COMMITTEE, AND SHE'S BEEN A, A CHAMPION FOR THAT.
SO, UH, COUNCILWOMAN, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA SAY, UH, ANYTHING.
JUST THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UH, CHAIR FOR LOBBYING ME AS YOU DID.
AND YES, THIS IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THERE ARE THREADS THROUGH ALL OF THE COMMITTEES AND EVERYTHING WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON SINCE, UH, MARCH, EVEN BEFORE THEN.
SO I THINK THIS IS APPROPRIATE.
[1. 20-4620 Approval of the meeting minutes for the June 16, 2020 Community Health and Equity Committee Meeting.]
UM, THAT SAID, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO ITEM NUMBER ONE, APPROVAL OF THE MEETING MINUTES FOR THE JUNE 16TH, UH, COMMUNITY HEALTH AND EQUITY COMMITTEE MEETING.DO I HAVE A MOTION? MOTION TO APPROVE? DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND.
[Public Comments]
ON TO, UH, DO WE HAVE ANY GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENTS? NOT SPECIFIC TO AN ITEM AT THIS POINT, MADAM CLERK, COUNCILMAN, THE TWO, UM, COMMENTS THAT I HAVE ARE RELATED TO BUDGET, UM, ALL ALLOCATING BUDGET MONEY, AND, UM, I, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WANNA ADDRESS IT NOW OR ON, UH, ANOTHER ITEM.UM, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND TAKE THEM NOW.
MS. CHRISTINA CRUZ RIGHTS THAT SHE'S A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT EIGHT.
SHE'S CALLING ON CITY COUNCIL TO REALLOCATE MONEY FROM THE OVERINFLATED POLICE BUDGET TO HEALTHCARE, HOUSING, AND EDUCATION.
AND THEN THE SECOND AND LAST COMMENT FROM LINDA PEREZ,
[00:05:02]
RIGHTS, I AGREE THAT RACISM IS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS THAT LEAVES MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY.WITH P T S D, I'M CALLING ON CITY COUNCIL TO REALLOCATE MONEY FROM THE OVERINFLATED POLICE BUDGET AND INTO HEALTHCARE, HOUSING AND EDUCATION.
SIGNED, UH, EDUCATOR AND MEMBER OF DISTRICT ONE.
THAT'S ALL I HAVE, MADAM CHAIR.
YOU VERY MUCH, UH, MADAM CLERK.
[2. 20-4486 A briefing on updates to the Health Transition Team Implementation Plan [Colleen M. Bridger, MPH, PhD, Assistant City Manager, Interim Health Director]]
MOVING ON TO ITEM NUMBER TWO, A BRIEFING ON UPDATES TO THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.BRIDGER SENT US, UH, UM, SOME SLIDES IN ADVANCE.
UH, THOSE WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE, UH, OR ONAR.
AS SOON AS WE WRAP UP THIS MEETING.
UM, IT IS A VERY LENGTHY PRESENTATION,
BRIDGER, UM, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO GIVE US MAYBE, UH, JUST A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW, UH, A COUPLE OF MINUTES AND THEN WE CAN JUMP INTO, INTO QUESTIONS TO ENSURE WE HAVE TIME FOR, FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT COME UP? SURE.
THAT WAS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT EVERYBODY HAD REVIEWED THE SLIDES BEFORE TODAY, SO, UM, I AM HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
I MEAN, A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW.
UM, IN THE LAST SIX WEEKS, WE'VE MADE GOOD PROGRESS ON, UM, IMPROVING THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DOING CASE INVESTIGATION.
UM, WE HAVE DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO OUR CASE INVESTIGATORS ARE ABLE TO, UM, CONTACT OVER THE LAST SIX WEEKS.
UM, WE'VE ALSO DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT THEY ARE, UM, FINISHING THEIR INVESTIGATION.
SO, UH, TWO MONTHS AGO, THEY WERE COMPLETING ABOUT SIX CASE INVESTIGATIONS PER DAY.
UM, THEY ARE NOW COMPLETING ABOUT 12 CASE INVESTIGATIONS PER DAY.
UM, WE HAVE CONSOLIDATED EVERYBODY TO THE ALAMO DOME SO THAT THERE'S CONSISTENCY IN INSTRUCTION AND TRAINING AND TECHNOLOGY.
UM, SO THAT AREA IS IMPROVING.
WE ARE TRANSITIONING TO A, UH, STATE SYSTEM, TEXAS HEALTH TRACE, AND WE WILL BE FULLY TRANSITIONED TO THAT SYSTEM, UM, NEXT WEEK.
UH, ANY, ANYTIME YOU TRANSITION FROM ONE SYSTEM TO ANOTHER, IT'S A LITTLE BIT CHALLENGING, BUT WE FELT LIKE THE BENEFITS OUTWEIGHED THE, UM, CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH THAT, THAT THAT ELIMINATES A LOT OF DUPLICATE DATA ENTRY AND, UM, ALLOWS US TO BE IN SYNC WITH THE STATE.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH, UM, THE STATE AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ON TESTING SO THAT WE ARE USING, UM, STATE STAFF AND STATE SUPPLIED TESTS.
SO THAT, UM, IS HELPFUL FOR OUR BUDGET, NOT HAVING TO USE THOSE RESOURCES.
UH, WE HAVE MOVED TO THREE FIXED TESTING SITES.
UM, ONE IS THE DRIVE THROUGH WHERE YOU CAN MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AND BE IN AND OUT IN 10 MINUTES.
THERE WAS A REALLY NICE REGARD REPORT ARTICLE ABOUT THAT.
UH, THE OTHER TWO ARE WALK-UP SITES WHERE YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE AN APPOINTMENT, BUT YOU DO HAVE TO HAVE SYMPTOMS. UM, AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS, UM, A DECREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE SEEKING TESTING.
AND SO WE TALKED ABOUT THIS MORNING, IF THAT'S AN INDICATION OF A DECLINE IN THE NUMBER OF SYMPTOMATIC INDIVIDUALS IN THE COMMUNITY, OR IF WE NEED TO DOUBLE DOWN ON ADVERTISING.
SO WE'RE GONNA DOUBLE DOWN ON ADVERTISING THIS WEEK AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS.
UM, AND THEN OVERALL COMMUNICATIONS.
UM, I BELIEVE MANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD FROM JEFF ABOUT THE, UM, THE MARKETING GROUP THAT WE HAVE HIRED IN ORDER TO DO THE, UM, THE TARGETED EVERGREEN MARKETING ASSOCIATED WITH THE COVID-19 RESPONSE.
SO THAT'S A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW.
UM, AND I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
BRIDGER, WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF FEEDBACK WHEN YOU'RE, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING, SO, UH, WE'RE JUST MAKING SURE EVERYTHING'S MUTED OVER HERE.
UM, WHAT, WHAT WE'LL DO IS, UM, UH, A LOT ABOUT, UH, SEVEN MINUTES TO EACH COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, FOR ANY QUESTIONS.
AND IF WE NEED TO GO BACK, WE CAN DO THAT.
I'M GONNA START, UH, WITH DISTRICT TWO, THEN WE'LL GO, UH, YOU KNOW, THREE FIVE, OH, SORRY, DISTRICT ONE
UM, THE COUNCILMAN, DO YOU HAVE ANY, UM, ANY
[00:10:01]
COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS? UM, NOT, NOT A WHOLE LOT.WELL, UH, JUST REGARDING, UM, THE, THE, THE NUMBERS, UH, THE, THE USE OF, OF, OF TEMPS, I MEAN, WE, I THINK, UH, ERIC BROUGHT IT UP YESTERDAY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE USE TEMPS THAT IT, IT'S, THERE'S USUALLY A LARGER FEE ASSOCIATED WITH, WITH, UM, THE COST OF USING THE TEMP.
BUT, UH, OBVIOUSLY IS, IS THIS PART OF THE PLANNING IN TERMS OF HOW WE SEE, UH, UH, OR PROJECT, THE AMOUNT OF, OF TIME WE, WE SEE, UH, UTILIZING THESE FOLKS IN THIS EFFORT IS, OR DO WE SEE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, A LONG-TERM, UH, EFFORT WHERE WE CAN MAYBE LOOK AT NOT, NOT UTILIZING SO MANY TEMP POSITIONS OR UTILIZING THESE POSITIONS AS JUST TEMPS? OUR LONG-TERM PLAN, AND AGAIN, WE HOPE IT'S NOT SUPER LONG-TERM, WE HOPE THAT THERE WILL BE A VACCINE AND WE WON'T HAVE TO DO, UM, THIS KIND OF CASE INVESTIGATION AND CONTACT TRACING, WHICH IS WHERE THE MAJORITY OF ATTEMPTS ARE BEING USED.
UM, BUT OUR LONG-TERM PLAN IS TO GRADUALLY TRANSITION CASE INVESTIGATION TO THE UT HEALTH EMPLOYEES.
SO WE HAVE A CONTRACT WITH UT HEALTH TO PROVIDE CASE INVESTIGATORS AND SOME CONTACT TRACERS IF NEEDED.
UM, SO WE WILL TRANSITION OUT OUR USE OF TEMP EMPLOYEES AS THE UT HEALTH CONTRACT, UM, COMES ON BOARD AND THEY'RE ABLE TO FULLY HIRE.
UH, RIGHT NOW, I THINK THAT THEY ARE, UM, FUNDED TO HIRE UP TO 200 CASE INVESTIGATORS.
UH, AND THAT SHOULD PROBABLY BE ENOUGH, UM, ESPECIALLY WITH AN ADDITIONAL 175 CASE, UH, CONTACT TRACERS.
SO YES, WE'RE TRANSITIONING AWAY FROM USING TEMPS AND MOVING MORE TOWARDS OUR CONTACT, CONTACT CONTRACT
UM, THAT, THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE CHAIR.
UM, MOVING ON TO, UM, COUNCILWOMAN SULLIVAN.
BRIDGER FOR THAT, UM, BRIEF UPDATE ON WHAT'S ALL HAPPENING.
I KNOW THERE'S BEEN A LOT GOING ON.
UM, SO THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE FOR YOU AT THIS TIME IS PRIOR TO THE TRANSITION TO THE TEXAS HEALTH TRACE, HOW MANY DUPLICATE TESTS ARE DUPLICATE RESULTS? UM, WERE WE AVERAGING, UM, DURING THAT TIMEFRAME, BEFORE THE TRANSITION? BEFORE THE TRANSITION, WE IDENTIFIED, UM, THROUGH OUR ROUTINE PROCESSING, WE ELIMINATED ABOUT 2,500 DUPLICATE RECORDS.
SO FROM MARCH UNTIL, UH, LAST WEEK, WE HAD IDENTIFIED AND REMOVED APPROXIMATELY 2,500 DUPLICATE RECORDS LAST WEEKEND.
SO THE COMPUTER HAD A SCRIPT, IT WAS LOOKING FOR THIS, THAT, AND THE OTHER THING.
WHEN IT FOUND IT PRODUCED A REPORT, WE VERIFIED IT SAID, YES, THESE ARE DUPLICATES.
UM, IN PREPARATION FOR TEXAS HEALTH TRACE, WE LITERALLY DEPLOYED A TEAM OF PEOPLE TO GO THROUGH ALL 41,000 CASES THAT WE HAD IN THE SYSTEM TO LOOK FOR THINGS WE THOUGHT PERHAPS THE COMPUTER WOULDN'T FIND.
AS A RESULT OF THAT, THEY IDENTIFIED A LITTLE OVER 600 ADDITIONAL DUPLICATES THAT WERE ALSO REMOVED.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, ALL IN ALL, GIVEN THE FACT THAT IT'S NOT UNUSUAL FOR US TO RECEIVE TWO, THREE, OR FOUR NOTIFICATIONS OF A POSITIVE TEST RESULT, UM, THAT'S NOT A TERRIBLE DUPLICATION PERCENTAGE.
UM, BUT ALL OF THOSE HAVE BEEN REMOVED AND, UM, TEXAS HEALTH TRACE WILL HELP US AVOID DUPLICATES MOVING FORWARD.
BRIDGER, ON THESE DUPLICATES, DO WE KNOW HOW MANY, UM, WERE ACTUALLY POSITIVE, OR HAS THAT BEEN BROKEN DOWN INTO, UM, IF WE FOLLOWED UP WITH THOSE POSITIVES OR HOW IS THAT WORKING OUT? SO LET ME CLARIFY.
THE, UM, 2,500 DUPLICATE CASES AND THEN THE ADDITIONAL 600 DUPLICATE CASES, THOSE ARE ALL POSITIVES.
IF THEY'RE A CASE, THAT MEANS THAT THEY'RE POSITIVE, UM, BUT TO BE A DUPLICATE MEANS THAT THEY WERE IN OUR SYSTEM TWICE, SO THEY RECEIVED FOLLOW-UP.
UM, IT'S THAT THEIR RECORD WAS IN OUR CASE COUNT MORE THAN ONE TIME.
AND SO WE REMOVED THEM FROM OUR CASE COUNT IN ORDER TO HAVE A CLEANER, MORE ACCURATE, UM, SET OF DATA BEFORE WE TRANSFERRED TO THE NEW SYSTEM.
[00:15:02]
THANK YOU FOR THAT.UM, BECAUSE I KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE ASK, UH, ABOUT THE CASE COUNT AND HOW DOES THAT REALLY, UH, REFLECT IF IT'S ALL POSITIVES OR NOT.
SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR MAKING THAT CLARIFICATION.
UM, AND THEN THE LAST QUESTION THAT I HAVE IS, BECAUSE WE'RE NOW MOVING TO THE ELECTRONIC SYSTEM, HAS THIS SYSTEM ALWAYS BEEN AVAILABLE, OR IS THIS A NEW SYSTEM THAT WAS CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR COVID? THIS IS A NEW SYSTEM CREATED BY THE STATE SPECIFICALLY FOR CODE.
THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS, CHAIR.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, COUNCILWOMAN.
MOVING ON TO COUNCILWOMAN VIAGRA.
UM, LET ME, LET ME PICK UP WHERE COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN, UH, LEFT OFF WHEN YOU WERE TALKING, UH, ABOUT TEXAS HEALTH TRACE, AND THIS IS BY THE STATE.
SO I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF CONFUSION IN A LOT OF CONVERSATION THAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN THE, UH, LAST, UM, MONTH ABOUT, UM, FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION SAYING THAT REPORTING WILL GO TO NO LONGER TO THE C D C.
AND SO I WANT TO KNOW HOW DOES THAT IMPACT US LOCALLY WITH OUR NUMBERS? AND, UH, WELL, THAT'S MY FIRST QUESTION.
HAS THAT STARTED WITH US LOCALLY? AND WILL THAT IM IMPACT OUR NUMBERS, PERIOD.
SO WHO WE REPORT TO DOES NOT AFFECT OUR NUMBERS.
UM, WE CALCULATE ALL OF THAT INFORMATION HERE LOCALLY, AND THEN WE SUBMIT IT TO THE STATE.
THE STATE THEN SUBMITS THAT TO WHOMEVER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SAYS IT SHOULD BE SUBMITTED TO.
SO OUR NUMBERS WILL NOT CHANGE, OUR PROCESS WILL NOT CHANGE.
WE WILL CONTINUE TO REPORT IT UP TO THE STATE, AND THEN THE STATE WILL GET IT TO WHICHEVER AGENCY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DEEMS BEST.
UM, IN THE SLIDE PRESENTATION, YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT THE WALKUPS AND DOUBLING DOWN ON THE ADVERTISING, AND I THINK THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.
AND THE M I H NOW, WE KNOW THAT THEY WERE DOING HOUSE CALLS, UM, WITH SOME SENIORS AND THEY'RE DOING THE, UH, WALK-UP SITES.
SO ARE THEY DOING BOTH? THEY ARE DOING BOTH.
THEY HAVE A MUCH LIGHTER LIFT FOR THE WALK-UP SITES NOW THAT WE ARE USING THE STATE SYSTEM FOR TESTING.
UM, THE STATE SYSTEM FOR TESTING COMES WITH STAFF, AND SO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IS ORGANIZING IT, BUT THEY ARE NOT THE STAFF ACTUALLY CONDUCTING THE TESTING OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO SHOW UP.
SO THAT HAS LIGHTENED THEIR LOAD SIGNIFICANTLY, AND THEY'RE VERY APPRECIATIVE OF THAT.
UM, SO THE M I H DO WE HAVE, I DIDN'T SEE THAT IN THE, MAYBE I JUST DIDN'T SEE IT IN THE NUMBER COUNT OF THE M I H THOSE THAT THEY'RE DOING, HOUSE CALLS.
HOW HAVE THOSE NUMBERS BEEN DOING? HAVE THEY STAYED STEADY? HAVE THEY DECREASED, INCREASED? UM, DO YOU HAVE THAT INFORMATION? I DO NOT HAVE THAT INFORMATION.
I WILL GET THAT TO YOU AS PART OF THE FOLLOW UP.
AND ALSO, IN THAT INFORMATION, IF WE CAN ALSO SEE, UH, MAYBE MAPPED OUT WHERE THE, THE AREAS THAT THEY ARE, UM, GOING TO AS WELL AS, AS THEY'RE DOING THE WORK, UH, AS THE, AS THEY'RE DOING THE HOUSE CALLS.
UM, AND THEN ANOTHER QUESTION AS IT IS, WHAT IS IT, ARE WE IN AUGUST? YES.
WE DO A BIG PUSH FOR OUR FLU SHOTS, ET CETERA.
HOW ARE WE PREPARING FOR THAT IN METRO, UM, HEALTH? SO WE'RE DOING TWO THINGS.
ONE IS OUR REQUESTING, UM, MORE FLU SHOT THAN A TYPICAL YEAR SO THAT WE CAN REALLY DOUBLE DOWN ON, UM, ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO GET THEIR FLU SHOTS.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, ANYWHERE YOU GO, YOU CAN GET YOUR SHOT AT NO COST.
IF YOU HAVE INSURANCE, YOUR INSURANCE WILL BE BILLED.
IF YOU DON'T, WE'LL JUST GIVE IT TO YOU FOR FREE.
UM, AND THEN WE'RE ALSO DOING WHAT THE C D C IS, UM, CALLING A STRIKE TEAM CONCEPT WHERE WE ARE PRACTICING WITH OUR FLU SHOTS, HOW WE WOULD EVENTUALLY DISTRIBUTE C OVID 19 VACCINATIONS.
SO, UM, AGAIN, FOCUSING ON THOSE HIGH RISK INDIVIDUALS, GOING TO THOSE COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS AND DELIVERING FLU SHOTS
[00:20:01]
AS A WAY TO PRACTICE HOW WE WOULD DO THAT WHEN COVID-19 VACCINATION IS AVAILABLE.UM, AND THEN OF COURSE, I'LL JUST, UH, SHARE WITH YOU DR.
BRIDGER, BUT I ALREADY SHARED WITH YOU, UH, THANK YOU FOR THE, UH, INFORMATION AND THE NUMBER OF CASES AS YOU BROKE THEM OUT.
UH, PER COUNCIL DISTRICT, IT WAS ALARMING TO SEE COUNCIL DISTRICT SPECIFICALLY, UM, THREE, FOUR, AND FIVE WITH SUCH A HIGH NUMBER OF CASES AND A HIGH NUMBER OF DEATHS.
UM, I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT AGGREGATED DATA BECAUSE WHAT'S ALSO ALARMING IS WE KNOW THAT ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTHERN SECTOR, THREE AND FOUR, WE DIDN'T HAVE MANY TESTING SITES STILL, BUT WE KNOW THAT WE HAD, UM, AT LEAST IN DISTRICT FIVE AND DISTRICT THREE, SOME CONGREGANT SETTINGS THAT, UM, ATTRIBUTED TO THE HIGH NUMBER OF CASES, UNFORTUNATELY, AND THE HIGH NUMBER OF DEATHS.
UM, SO I DO, I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO, TO SEEING THAT AND SEE WHAT WE CAN DO TO CONTINUE TO GET THE WORD OUT TO OUR COMMUNITY.
BECAUSE ANOTHER CONCERN THAT I HAVE TO SHARE HERE, BECAUSE I WANT THE COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND, AFTER LAST WEEKEND, AFTER MY SAFETY SUPPLY KIT GIVEAWAY, AS I WAS LEAVING MY FIELD OFFICE, WALMART WAS PACKED FULL OF PEOPLE.
THERE WERE PEOPLE GOING OUT ON A SATURDAY.
AND I JUST, WE NEED TO CONTINUE THE MESSAGING OF MASK UP AND STAY HOME.
AND IF YOU CAN, AND ONLY ONE MEMBER OF THE FAMILY TO STILL GO OUT AND GO GROCERY SHOPPING OR SHOPPING IF THEY NEED TO.
SO I, I DO BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO CONTINUE WITH THE MESSAGING.
COUNCILWOMAN, UH, COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ.
UM, SO I'LL JUST, UH, LET ME START WITH COUNCILWOMAN, UH, LEFT OFF.
ROCHE HAD ASKED FOR A, UM, TO SEPARATE OUT SOME OF THE CONGREGATE SETTINGS.
DID SHE MAKE THAT REQUEST ALREADY? YES.
AND THAT, I THINK IS WHAT COUNCILMAN VIA GRANT WAS REFERENCING, AND WE ARE WORKING ON THAT.
I HOPE TO HAVE THAT NEXT WEEK.
'CAUSE I KNOW IN DISTRICT FIVE, IT'S PRIMARILY JAIL POPULATION, WHICH WAS RECORDED LIKE EARLY ON, LIKE FAIRLY WELL, IT WAS RECORDED, UM, UH, YOU KNOW, IN EARLY IN MARCH AND AND APRIL.
SO, UM, THE OTHER QUESTION, UH, UM, I, I DON'T HAVE TOO MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE, UM, THE TRANSITION.
I KNOW, I MEAN, THAT OBVIOUSLY THE INFORMATION CAN BE CONFUSING, UM, TO PEOPLE THAT ARE TRYING TO KEEP TRACK OF THE DATA, BUT I THINK AS LONG AS WE CONTINUE TO DELIVER THE MESSAGING ON THE MARKETING SIDE, UM, TO REMIND PEOPLE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE'RE IT, WE'RE STILL IN A, IN A CRISIS SITUATION.
SO, UM, UH, THAT, THAT'S ALL THE QUESTIONS I HAVE.
DO YOU WANT ME TO TOUCH ON THE MARKETING STUFF REAL QUICKLY? IF THE CHAIR IS OKAY WITH THAT? YEAH, YEAH.
SO, UM, I, I KNOW, UH, SEVERAL OF YOUR OFFICES HAVE MET WITH THE, UH, TEAM OF, UH, MARKETING FIRMS THAT, UH, THE TEAM THAT WE HIRED, UH, THEY'RE IN THE PROCESS OF DESIGNING A CAMPAIGN FOR US RIGHT NOW THAT WE EXPECT TO BE READY, UH, RELATIVELY SOON.
AND IT, IT, IT VERY MUCH GOES TO WHAT YOU JUST SPOKE TO COUNCILMAN GONZALEZ AND, AND COUNCILMAN GAN THAT, THAT, UH, WE NEED TO CONTINUE THESE BEHAVIORS TO GET BACK TO THE SAN ANTONIO THAT WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE, THAT IF WE DO THIS NOW, WE CAN, WE CAN BE SAN ANTONIO AGAIN LATER.
WE'LL, WE'LL BE PREPARED TO SHARE THAT WITH YOU, UH, ONCE WE'VE GOT A FINAL PRODUCT.
UH, AND THERE'S A, A RELATIVELY HEALTHY, UM, ADVERTISING BUDGET THROUGH THE CARES ACT ALLOCATIONS THAT, UH, THAT WE'LL BE DEPLOYING, UH, GOING FORWARD.
BRIDGER, I, I HAD A FEW QUESTIONS, UM, THAT I WANTED TO, TO RUN BY YOU.
UH, YOU MENTIONED THAT THE STATE IS ASSISTING US WITH STAFF AND THAT THEY'RE SUPPLYING THE TESTS, SOME OF THE TESTS.
I GUESS I'D LIKE TO GET A SENSE OF, UM, WHAT DOES THAT COME TO IN DOLLAR AMOUNTS WITH THEIR, WITH THEIR, THEY'RE ASSISTING US WITH, WHEN WE ORIGINALLY GOT THE FIRST BUDGET FOR, UM, THE IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, I WOULDN'T SAY THAT THERE HAD BEEN MAYBE 28 MILLION SET ASIDE FOR TESTING.
UM, AND, AND THE NUMBER NOW IS 23 MILLION.
CAN, CAN YOU TELL ME HOW THE STATE, IS THE STATE PUTTING IN THAT DIFFERENCE? IS THAT WHAT'S HAPPENING?
[00:25:01]
THAT'S CORRECT.AND AS WE, WHAT THE STATE HASN'T TOLD US IS HOW LONG THEY WILL CONTINUE DOING THIS.
AND SO EVERY MONTH WE WILL REDUCE OUR TESTING LINE ITEM IN THAT BUDGET BY THE APPROPRIATE AMOUNT.
BUT WE WANNA KEEP THE MONEY IN THERE FOR MOVING FORWARD IN CASE TOMORROW THE STATE CALLS AND SAYS, OH, YEAH, WE'RE DONE WITH THAT.
SO, UM, WE JUST, WE WANNA BE PREPARED, BUT ALSO MAKING MONTHLY ADJUSTMENTS TO THAT TESTING LINE ITEM, WHICH IS WHY YOU SAW IT GO DOWN FROM 29 TO 23 NEXT MONTH, IT'LL GO DOWN AS WELL.
IF, UM, THE STATE CONTINUES TO PROVIDE THE, THE TESTS AND THE STAFF, SO ARE THEY PROVIDING THE TESTS AT THE FREE SITES OR, UM, OR EVERYWHERE? HOW, HOW DOES THAT WORK? JUST AT OUR THREE CITY FREE SITES.
AND SO THE COST SAVING, THAT, THAT THE $6 MILLION DIFFERENCE, WAS THAT OVER, THAT'S JUST OVER THE COURSE OF ONE MONTH, THEN APPROXIMATELY? YES.
UM, AND SO WHAT, HOW WAS THAT MONEY REDEPLOYED IN THE, IN THE PLAN? SOME OF IT WENT TO, UM, THE RESEARCH PROJECT.
SOME OF IT WAS, UM, MOVED TO HIRING MORE STAFF TO DO CASE INVESTIGATION AND CONTACT TRACING.
UM, AND SOME OF IT WAS USED FOR THE, UM, ISOLATION CARE FACILITY BECAUSE WE HAD A GREATER THAN ANTICIPATED, UH, REQUEST FOR THOSE ROOMS. OKAY.
UM, COUNCILMAN VINNO BROUGHT UP THE, THE QUESTION ABOUT, UM, TEMP AND, UH, I GUESS, AND, UH, I GUESS OUR, SOME OF OUR CONTACT INVESTIGATORS ARE TEMPS.
UM, WHAT, UH, WHAT KIND OF HOURLY WAGE ARE THEY MAKING RIGHT NOW? UH, DO THEY HAVE BENEFITS OR, OR HOW DOES THAT WORK WITH THEM? THEY DO NOT HAVE BENEFITS, UM, DEPENDING ON WHAT KIND OF CASE INVESTIGATOR THEY ARE, I BELIEVE THEIR WAGES RANGE FROM 15 TO 20 SOME DOLLARS AN HOUR.
UM, AND THEN, UH, I DO WANNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE TEXAS HEALTH TRACE.
SO, UM, MY UNDERSTANDING IS THIS IS A DATABASE THAT WE'RE, UH, UH, TRANSITIONING INTO, AND THAT'S HAPPENING ACROSS THE STATE.
UM, ALL, ARE ALL THE METRO AREAS ALSO TRANSITIONING THEIR DATA INTO THAT? IS THAT A REQUIREMENT? SO THE REQUIREMENT IS THAT WE REPORT OUR INFORMATION TO THE STATE.
THE EASIEST WAY TO DO THAT WITHOUT HAVING TO DO DUPLICATE DATA ENTRY IS TO USE THEIR SYSTEMS. SO IT'S A CASE MANAGEMENT AND DATA ANALYSIS SYSTEM THAT WE'RE USING.
AND, UM, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, CASE INVESTIGATORS AND CONTACT TRACERS, UM, ARE WE TRANSITIONING THAT TO THE STATE OR IS THAT STAYING WITH US? WE ARE NOT TRANSITIONING CASE INVESTIGATION.
SO, AGAIN, JUST TO BE CLEAR, CASE INVESTIGATION IS WHAT WE DO WHEN WE CALL SOMEBODY WHO IS TESTED POSITIVE, AND WE GET ALL OF THEIR INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE THEY WENT, WHO THEY CAME IN CONTACT WITH, THEIR DEMOGRAPHIC IN INFORMATION.
WE GIVE THEM INFORMATION ABOUT, UM, WHEN TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL, UH, WHEN THEY'VE RECOVERED THE IMPORTANCE OF DONATING PLASMA.
SO THAT'S ABOUT A 45 MINUTE INTERVIEW.
UM, THE CONTACT TRACING IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE CALL THE PEOPLE THAT THE CASE HAS COME IN CONTACT WITH.
UM, THAT'S A LOT SHORTER CONVERSATION THAT WE HAVE WITH THOSE INDIVIDUALS.
SO CASE INVESTIGATION, WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO, UM, THROUGH METRO HEALTH STAFF RIGHT NOW, TEMPS, BUT EVENTUALLY THROUGH THE UT SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH CONTRACT, THE CONTACT TRACING.
UM, IF ALL GOES WELL, WE WILL TRANSITION THAT FROM IMOCA TO THE STATE.
UM, THE STATE IS, HAS DESIGNED THEIR TEXAS HEALTH TRACE SYSTEM, UM, TO FACILITATE DOING THAT CONTACT TRACING WORK.
AND SO THAT IS, UM, THE ULTIMATE PLAN.
THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER MONTH.
UM, WHILE WE NEGOTIATE OUR EXPECTATIONS ON HOW QUICKLY THOSE CASES WILL BE, OR THOSE CONTACTS WILL BE REACHED AND, UM, WHAT OUR, WHAT OUR DELIVERABLES ARE, UH, DELIVERABLES.
SO IT'S LIKE A CONTRACT WITH THE, WITH THE STATE? WELL, IT'S, I MEAN, THEY'RE DOING IT AT NO COST, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IF THEY'RE DOING IT FOR US, THEY'RE MEETING OUR EXPECTATIONS.
[00:30:01]
OKAY.UM, I WAS, I WAS READING THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME STORY CAME OUT IN THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE AND OUR LOCAL PAPER, UH, REFERRED TO IT ABOUT SOME ISSUES WITH THE, WITH THE CONTRACTOR THAT, UH, THE STATE HAD HIRED.
UM, COULD YOU SPEAK TO, TO THAT? YEAH.
THE ARTICLE, THE, THAT YOU'RE REFERENCING FROM THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE WAS, UM, RAISED SOME ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONTACT TRACING COMPONENT OF TEXAS HEALTH TRACE.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY WE ARE BEING EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS AND DOCUMENTING EXACTLY WHAT OUR EXPECTATIONS ARE AND MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE A VERY STRONG PLAN.
IF WE GET INTO THIS AND FIND THAT THEY CAN CONTINUE TO HAVE PROBLEMS, THEN WE WILL, WE WILL DO IT OURSELVES.
UM, SO WITH THE GOING BACK TO SCHOOL, THAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, UM, SORRY, NEXT FEW WEEKS OR, OR WHO KNOWS EXACTLY WHEN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN? DO WE HAVE A PLAN B? UH, IN THE EVENT THAT WE START SEEING, UH, A SPIKE IN CASES, UH, IF AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS, UM, SORT OF LIKE WHAT WE HAD AFTER MEMORIAL DAY, A PLAN B FOR WHICH PART OF THE PROBLEM, UM, SO WE HAD A HUGE SPIKE IN CASES RIGHT.
UM, IF WE SEE SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHEN KIDS GO BACK TO SCHOOL, WILL WE BE PREPARED TO DO WHATEVER IT IS WE NEED TO DO IN TERMS OF, UM, CASE INVESTIGATION AND CONTACT TRACING? OH, YES.
WE WILL, WE WILL ABSOLUTELY BE ABLE TO HANDLE THAT.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE AG AND THE GOVERNOR CLARIFIED THAT WE CANNOT CLOSE ALL OF THE ISDS IF WE SEE A SPIKE.
UM, BUT WE CAN DEFINITELY DO OUR CASE INVESTIGATION AND CONTACT TRACING IF WE DO SEE A SPIKE IN CASES AS A RESULT OF SCHOOLS REOPENING.
WU, AS THE HEALTH AUTHORITY IS ISSUING TODAY, UM, GUIDANCE THAT HELPS THE ISDS, UM, QUANTIFY THEIR DECISION MAKING PROCESS AROUND THEIR DECISIONS ABOUT OPENING, UM, OR, YOU KNOW, OPENING IN PERSON OR DOING VIRTUAL ONLINE LEARNING.
UM, SO THAT'LL BE RELEASED TODAY.
SO IT HAS GUIDELINES, IT HAS METRICS THAT WE RECOMMEND THAT THEY FOLLOW, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE ALLOWED TO DO UNDER STATE LAW.
IT ALSO HAS SOME ORDERS IN IT WHERE IT REQUIRES, UM, ISDS TO REPORT INFORMATION, UM, TO THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT TO POST THEIR, UM, INFORMATION ON THEIR WEBSITE ABOUT HOW MANY CASES THAT THEY'VE HAD IN EACH OF THEIR SCHOOLS.
UM, AND, UM, IF WE DO HAVE A PARTICULAR SCHOOL THAT HAS AN OUTBREAK, UM, THEN WE WILL BE ABLE TO CLOSE THAT PARTICULAR SCHOOL, BUT WE ARE NOT ABLE TO CLOSE ENTIRE I SDSS.
UM, SO LET'S SAY FOR INSTANCE, THERE'S A CASE AT A SCHOOL, AND WHEN YOU DO THE FOLLOW UP, THE CASE INVESTIGATION AND THE CONTACT TRACING, WILL THAT BE DONE THE SAME WAY THAT WE'RE DOING IT NOW? OR IS THERE GOING TO BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT BECAUSE, UM, I'VE HEARD SOMEONE REFER TO SCHOOLS AS A CONGREGATE SETTING.
I, I, I MEAN, IT'S NOT EXACTLY THAT, RIGHT? BECAUSE KIDS DON'T LIVE THERE, BUT I, I'M JUST WONDERING HOW THAT WILL PROCEED WHEN THAT HAPPENS.
IT, IT WILL BE LIKE WE CURRENTLY DO.
UM, THE GOOD NEWS IS WE HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE DOING CONTACT TRACING IN SCHOOLS.
OUR TYPICAL PUBLIC HEALTH CONTACT TRACING WORK BEFORE COVID WAS USUALLY AROUND CHILDHOOD, UM, OUTBREAKS OF MEASLES, ET CETERA.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE ACTUALLY, THIS IS MORE IN LINE WITH OUR COMFORT ZONE.
SO WE ARE USED TO WORKING WITH SCHOOLS, UM, INVESTIGATING POTENTIAL EXPOSURES.
SO, UM, THAT IS, THAT, THAT'LL BE SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO PRETTY EASILY.
SO THEN THAT PART WILL NOT GO TO THE STATE WHEN WE TRANSITION.
UM, WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, UM, FOR, UH, FOR ANSWERING THOSE QUESTIONS.
UM, ARE THERE, ARE THERE ANY MORE, UH, QUESTIONS FROM
[00:35:01]
THE COUNCIL MEMBERS? ARE WE READY TO MOVE ON? OKAY.OH, AND, UH, LAST QUESTION ARE, ARE THERE OTHER CITIES THAT ARE GOING TO DO WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH TEXAS HEALTH TRACE THAT ARE THE BIG CITIES ALSO PLANNING TO DO THAT? I, I KNOW THEY HAVEN'T YET, BUT IS THAT THE DIRECTION THAT THEY'RE MOVING IN? OH, THERE ARE A, UH, A NUMBER OF CITIES, I WOULDN'T CALL THEM BIG CITIES.
I THINK EL PASO'S PROBABLY THE LARGEST ONE, UM, THAT ARE USING TEXAS HEALTH TRACE NOW.
UM, THE OTHERS ARE IN THIS TRANSITION PERIOD, LIKE WE ARE, AND WILL EVENTUALLY, I THINK, GO TO THAT.
NOW, HOUSTON MAY NEVER GO TO THAT.
THEY'RE SO LARGE, THEY'VE CREATED THEIR OWN SYSTEM.
UM, BUT I ACTUALLY JUST GOT A TEXT MESSAGE FROM AUSTIN THIS MORNING, UM, SAYING THAT THEY REALLY WANNA EXPEDITE THEIR TRANSITION TO HEALTH, TEXAS HEALTH TRACE AND WHAT HAD BEEN OUR EXPERIENCE.
SO, UM, YEAH, IT'S, IT'S MOVING.
AND, UM, IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS, THEN WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD AND MOVE AND MOVE ON.
I, I HAVE A QUICK QUESTION FOR JEFF MM-HMM.
UM, SO THE MARKETING STRATEGY THAT IS BEING PUT TOGETHER, IS IT BASED ON THAT COMPREHENSIVE REPORT AS WELL? UM, THEY'RE ON PARALLEL TRACKS.
WE DID PRO PRODUCE A COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN.
UM, WHAT THE MARKETING TEAM HAS BEEN DIRECTED TO DO IS FOCUS SPECIFICALLY ON THE, UH, TARGET AUDIENCES THAT ARE IDENTIFIED IN THE HEALTH TRANSITIONS FOR PRIMARILY VULNERABLE AUDIENCES, UH, SPANISH SPEAKERS, LOW INCOME FOLKS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE, L L G B T Q, UM, AND LATELY, UH, YOUNGER, UH, SAN ANTONIANS.
AND SO THEY ARE, THEY ARE DEVELOPING ESSENTIALLY AN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN FOCUSED SPECIFICALLY ON REACHING THOSE TYPES OF FOLKS AND ARE, AND OUR, THOSE SUBSETS OF THE POPULATION AND OUR, UM, ADVERTISING BUY WILL CORRESPOND WITH THAT.
WHAT, WHAT I'VE, WE'VE TOLD THE TEAM IS NOT TO FEEL LIKE THEY NEED TO DEAL WITH THE DAY-TO-DAY ISSUES THAT, THAT COME UP ALL THE TIME.
I MEAN, COLLEEN AND I ARE ON THE PHONE DAILY WITH, YOU KNOW, A NEW ISSUE THAT WE NEED TO COMMUNICATE TO THE PUBLIC.
WE'RE CONTINUING TO DO THOSE SORTS OF THINGS AND USE ALL THE VARIOUS TACTICS THAT WERE LAID OUT IN THAT COMMUNICATIONS PLAN, UH, AS SORT OF OUR DAY-TO-DAY EFFORT.
WHILE THE MARKETING CAMPAIGN, UH, WILL BE MORE EVERGREEN MESSAGING ABOUT THE SAFE TYPES OF BEHAVIORS AND WHY PEOPLE SHOULD BE DOING THEM THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO USE THROUGHOUT THE FALL AND BEYOND, UH, DEPENDING ON WHERE THIS THING GOES.
[3. 20-4619 A briefing with updates on efforts to enhance public participation during the COVID-19 pandemic [Carlos J. Contreras, III; Assistant City Manager, Jeff Coyle, Director, Government and Public Affairs]]
ON TO ITEM THREE, UH, BRIEFING WITH UPDATES ON EFFORTS TO ENHANCE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION DURING THE COVID 19, UH, PANDEMIC.AND, UH, JEFF, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR PREPARING THIS PRESENTATION.
I KNOW WE DIDN'T GIVE YOU MUCH, UH, GUIDANCE ON IT.
UM, THE QUESTION IS REALLY NOW THAT WE'RE IN, UM, UH, THIS SITUATION WITH COVID, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR, UH, OUR REGULAR PUBLIC INPUT PROCESSES AT THE CITY? HOW ARE WE ADAPTING, UH, FOR THOSE AND, UM, SORT OF WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE WE SEEING? SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, FOR PREPARING THIS.
WELL, I'M GLAD TO KNOW THAT WE'RE, WE'RE ON THE SAME PAGE HERE.
THIS, UH, WE, WE, ESSENTIALLY, THIS PRESENTATION IS PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN A POST COVID ENVIRONMENT, MEANING WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW SINCE THE PANDEMIC'S HIT AND WHAT WE MIGHT DO, UH, GOING FORWARD FROM SOME OF THE LESSONS WE'VE LEARNED.
UM, I'M GONNA, UH, HAND IT OFF TO, UH, LAURA MOMENTARILY.
SHE'S DONE THE HARD WORK OF PUTTING THIS PRESENTATION TOGETHER AND, AND, UM, AND, UM, HAS DONE A FABULOUS JOB THROUGHOUT THIS WHOLE PROCESS.
UH, BUT JUST AS AN OVERARCHING MESSAGE, I WANNA SAY THAT WE HAVE LEARNED A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA, IN, THAT WE INTEND TO CARRY FORWARD THAT HAVE IMPROVED OUR PROCESSES, UH, BECAUSE OF THE OBSTACLES WE'VE HAD TO OVERCOME, UM, THAT, THAT WE'RE GONNA ATTEMPT TO CARRY FORWARD.
AND SO, UH, WE REALLY WANT THIS, YOU, YOU ALL HAVE HAD A LOT OF WONDERFUL SUGGESTIONS THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS AND AT EACH COUNCIL MEETING AND SO FORTH.
[00:40:01]
THIS PRESENTATION ISN'T TO SAY WE HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS, IT'S TO SHARE OUR EXPERIENCES AND OUR THOUGHT GOING FORWARD, BUT, UH, WE'RE REALLY HOPING THAT THIS CAN BE A CONVERSATION WITH YOU AND THIS COMMITTEE, UH, TO BE ABLE TO SORT OF IMPLEMENT THE IDEAS AND BUILD ON THE THINGS THAT HAVE, UH, COME OF NECESSITY IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS.UH, SO WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO LAURA.
AND GOOD MORNING, UM, CHAIR AND, AND COUNCIL MEMBERS, IF I COULD GET THE NEXT SLIDE ON HERE.
SO I WANTED TO START OUT THIS PRESENTATION.
UM, COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL, I KNOW YOU'RE VERY FAMILIAR WITH THESE GUIDING PRINCIPLES AS OUR, THE COUNCIL MEMBERS AS WELL.
UM, THESE PRINCIPLES WERE ADOPTED BY YOU AS A COUNCIL TO GUIDE OUR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS.
AND I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT THIS CONTINUES TO GUIDE US THROUGH THE PANDEMIC AND BEYOND.
UM, ESPECIALLY WITH THAT TOP ONE BEING MEANINGFUL.
UM, I THINK WE'VE ALL FOUND THAT DURING THIS PANDEMIC, TRYING TO FIND OPPORTUNITIES TO HAVE MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS WITH PEOPLE IS CRITICAL.
YOU KNOW, WE OFTEN SAY SOCIAL DISTANCING IS PHYSICAL DISTANCING, RIGHT? BUT IT DOESN'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO MEAN A DISCONNECT FROM YOUR FAMILY AND FOR THAT MATTER, YOUR GOVERNMENT.
SO I WANTED TO MAKE IT CLEAR TOO, THAT THESE GUIDING PRINCIPLES ARE REALLY WHAT DRIVE ALL OF THESE VARIOUS TACTICS.
UM, ONTO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO, JUST AN OVERVIEW OF THIS PRESENTATION, AS JEFF MENTIONED, WE'VE, WE'VE IMPLEMENTED A LOT OF CHANGES VERY QUICKLY, IN SOME CASES HAVE EXPEDITED A LOT OF TECHNOLOGIES.
AND SO I WANNA COVER A FEW OF THOSE THINGS AND TALK ABOUT WHAT WE CHANGED AND IMPLEMENTED, WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THOSE THINGS, AND WHAT WE PLAN TO DO GOING FORWARD, OR, UM, IDEAS THAT WE'D LIKE GOING FORWARD.
SO THE FIRST THING I WANTED TO START WITH WAS VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
OF COURSE, JUST LIKE THIS ONE HAPPENING OVER WEBEX, WE'VE MOVED TO A VIRTUAL SETTING FOR MANY OF OUR MEETINGS FOR COUNCIL, FOR CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES, SOME BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, AND RECENTLY FOR VIRTUAL TOWN HALL MEETINGS.
SO, UM, OF COURSE, COUNCILMAN, WE HAD TO GIVE YOU A CAMEO HERE IN YOUR BUDGET MEETING THAT WAS CONDUCTED WITH DISTRICT SIX AND SEVEN.
AND ON THE TOP HERE, YOU'LL SEE TOO A TOWN HALL MEETING THAT WAS PUT TOGETHER WHEN WE, WHICH MARCH SEEMS, I KNOW, LIKE 10 YEARS AGO.
BUT, UM, IN MARCH WHEN THE STAY HOME WORKSAFE ORDERS WERE ISSUED, WE HAD A LOT OF CALLS FOR QUESTIONS, FACEBOOK COMMENTS COMING IN EMAILS.
UM, I KNOW PAULA AT 3 1 1 HAD LINES JUST OVERFLOWING WITH, WITH QUESTIONS.
AND SO WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THIS IS THAT THERE IS A DESIRE TO ASK QUESTIONS AND STILL BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION.
AND, UH, WE WANTED TO STILL PRESENT THAT INFORMATION AND GIVE THEM AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASK THOSE QUESTIONS IN A SETTING THAT WAS CONVENIENT AND SAFE FOR THEM, AND ALSO FOR STAFF TOO, TO BE ABLE TO TURN AROUND AND, AND ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS.
UM, SO I PUT THE FIRST ONE ON HERE, JUST AS AN EXAMPLE.
WHEN WE'RE USUALLY DOING A PUBLIC MEETING, YOU'VE GOTTA BOOK YOUR ROOM, MAKE SURE THERE'S PARKING, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A VIA BUS STOP, UM, MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT YOUR AD SET UP.
MAYBE YOU WANNA BRING SNACKS OUT, YOU'VE GOT A COORDINATE SCHEDULES AND PICK TIMES, ALL OF THAT TO SAY IT, IT TAKES A WHILE TO PUT TOGETHER THOSE MEETINGS.
WHEREAS WITH A VIRTUAL SETTING, IT'S QUICKER TO PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER, WHICH IN THE TIME OF THE PANDEMIC, WHEN INFORMATION CAN CHANGE, UM, WITHIN MINUTES, ESPECIALLY FROM VARYING LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, IT'S HELPFUL TO, TO BE ABLE TO COORDINATE THESE VERY QUICKLY.
UM, AND THAT TOO, IT GIVES RESIDENTS AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN SOME LIVE AND MEANINGFUL DIALOGUES.
AND, AND FINALLY, ON THIS NOTE TOO, TELEVISION STATIONS ARE ALSO ABLE TO STREAM THESE MEETINGS TO INCREASE AWARENESS.
JUST THIS MORNING, UM, KSAT, WHO I THINK IS TUNING IN THIS MORNING, REACHED OUT AND ASKED IF WE'D PUT THIS PARTICULAR MEETING ON WHAT WE CALL OUR LIVE VIEW POLL, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT IN A LITTLE BIT.
BUT THIS ALLOWS THEM TO GET A HIGH QUALITY STREAMING SOURCE WITH AUDIO AND VIDEO OF THE MEETINGS THAT ARE GOING ON, AND INCREASE AND AMPLIFY THAT MESSAGE BY STRINGING IT ON THEIR OWN PLATFORMS. NEXT ONE, OR ACTUALLY, BEFORE WE LEAVE, I COULD JUST INTERJECT, UH, GOING BACK TO THAT SLIDE FOR A SECOND.
UM, THE, UH, I, I'VE TALKED TO WITH OUR D S D PARTNERS, UH, OUR FOLKS AT HISTORIC DESIGN AND REVIEW, THEY FEEL THAT THEY ARE GETTING BETTER PARTICIPATION AS A RESULT OF THE VIRTUAL MEETINGS THAN THEY EVER DID WITH THE IN-PERSON.
AND SO THEY, LIKE US, ARE PLANNING, ARE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO INCORPORATE THIS VIRTUAL ACCESS IN A, IN A POST COVID WORLD.
UM, AND, UH, YOU MENTIONED CAMEOS.
I JUST WANT TO POINT OUT FOR EVERYONE THAT, UH, THAT PHOTO OF ME THERE IN MARCH WAS LITERALLY THE LAST HAIRCUT I'VE HAD.
SO I JUST WANNA POINT OUT THAT THAT WAS, THAT WAS IT, AND IT'S BEEN GROWING EVER SINCE.
GLAD TO HEAR WE'RE, YOU'RE, WE'RE ALL FOLLOWING THE STAY HOME WORK SAFE ORDERS
UM, BUT GOING INTO VIRTUAL MEETINGS TOO, UM, JUST THIS WEEK WE HAD A SCHOOLS TOWN HALL, AND WHAT WE LEARNED FROM THESE MEETINGS IS THAT, IS THAT WE WANNA CONTINUE TO PROVIDE OPTIONS FOR PEOPLE TO
[00:45:01]
COMMUNICATE.SO IT'S NOT JUST A ONE WAY WE'RE AIRING THE MEETING, BUT GIVING THEM OPTIONS TO PARTICIPATE REMOTELY.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE SAW THAT AT YESTERDAY'S COUNCIL MEETING, WHICH WAS THE FIRST TIME WE DID THE PUBLIC COMMENT IN THAT SETTING.
UM, AND WE HEARD THAT PEOPLE WANT SOME MORE REMOTE, REMOTE, TELEPHONIC OR VIDEO OPTIONS SO THEY CAN STILL PARTICIPATE AND BE SEEN ON THOSE MEETINGS.
UM, AND ALSO FROM THE SCHOOL TOWN HALL MEETING, YOU'LL SEE A SCREENSHOT THERE OF SOME OF THE LIVE POLLING THAT WE DID.
UM, AND WITH A TOPIC LIKE THIS THAT WAS SO SENSITIVE WITH REALLY HIGH EMOTIONS AND A LOT OF VERY RANGING FEEDBACK FROM, SOME PEOPLE SAY, OPEN IT ALL THE WAY, SOME KEEP IT CLOSED, UM, PROVIDING THAT TRANSPARENTLY ON SCREEN SHOWED A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT WERE LISTENING AND OUR PANELISTS WERE REACTING LIVE, DR.
WU AND, AND THE OTHERS, AND THE SUPERINTENDENTS WHO WERE THERE, WE ACTUALLY ASKED THEM QUESTIONS, OKAY, THESE ARE THE THINGS YOU'RE SEEING ON THE SCREEN.
WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO THAT AS A STUDENT, AS A PARENT, AS A SUPERINTENDENT, AS OUR MEDICAL DIRECTOR AND HEALTH AUTHORITY? SO I THINK THAT GAVE US A, A GOOD OPPORTUNITY TO, TO SHOW PEOPLE THAT WE'RE NOT JUST TAKING YOUR FEEDBACK, BUT HERE'S HOW WE'RE ACTUALLY USING IT AND HERE'S HOW WE'RE ACTUALLY REACTING TO IT.
UM, BUT THE OTHER THING WE LEARNED, AND COUNCILWOMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN, YOU BROUGHT THIS UP AT COUNCIL YESTERDAY, IS THAT NON-DIGITAL OUTREACH IS CRITICAL TO THESE PARTICIPATION OPTIONS.
SO WHILE YOU CAN STILL WATCH THIS MEETING ON TV OR LISTEN BY A PHONE OPTION, UM, HAVING SOME KIND OF A NON-DIGITAL WAY TO PROVIDE THAT FEEDBACK LIVE OR BE INVOLVED IN THE MEETING IS CRITICAL.
UM, AND THEN I JUST WANTED TO NOTE TOO, THAT, UM, TO JEFF'S POINT ABOUT ENGAGEMENT, WE'VE SEEN A HUGE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT PARTICIPATE IN OUR MEETINGS BECAUSE THE BARRIERS THAT WOULD'VE BEEN CHILDCARE, GETTING TIME OFF FROM WORK, FINDING TRANSPORTATION, OR MAYBE YOU JUST DON'T WANT TO GO TO A PUBLIC MEETING AND, AND WANNA STAY HOME.
UM, ON THE BUDGET TOWN HALLS, WE AVERAGED OUT AT ABOUT 18,845 PARTICIPANTS IN THOSE MEETINGS.
AND I KNOW YOU'VE ALL ATTENDED THOSE S A SPEAK UP COMMUNITY DAYS IN THE PAST, AND IT'S NOWHERE CLOSE TO THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT, THAT WE'D NORMALLY GET AT THESE MEETINGS.
SO, UM, THAT SAID TOO, I WANTED TO POINT OUT A COUPLE OF OTHER, UM, DATES THAT WE HOSTED THE KIDS TOWN HALL THAT THE MAYOR HOSTED THAT ACTUALLY TOOK QUESTIONS FROM, FROM CHILDREN.
MORE THAN 5,000 PEOPLE TUNED IN AND PARTICIPATED ON THAT.
UM, THE SCHOOLS TOWN HALL HAD MORE THAN 6,000 VIEWERS.
WE DID A NEWS CONFERENCE ON DOWNTOWN CLEANUP EFFORTS AFTER THE PROTESTS, UM, BACK IN JUNE, UM, A LITTLE, UH, CLOSE TO 6,000 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED.
AND WITH COUNCIL MEETINGS TOO, WE'VE BEGUN STREAMING THOSE ON FACEBOOK.
AND I WANNA POINT, THESE ARE JUST STATS FOR FACEBOOK, SO THIS IS NOT COUNTING ANYTHING ON T B S A OR THE PHONE OPTIONS.
UM, PRE COVID, WE USED TO AVERAGE ABOUT 1500 VIEWS PER MEETING WITH ABOUT A THOUSAND ENGAGEMENTS, WHICH ARE LIKES, SHARES, COMMENTS, OR EXPANDING THE VIDEO TO SEE MORE DETAILS POST COVID, THAT'S ABOUT 4,000 PER MEETING, WHICH IS A LOT TO, TO GET FOR THOSE MEETINGS THAT ARE SEVERAL HOURS LONG.
SO, OF COURSE, E-COMMERCE IS ANOTHER PLATFORM THAT WAS ROLLED OUT RECENTLY, UM, AND WE'VE TRIED TO MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED.
AND JUST AS WE READ SOME COMMENTS OUT AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS MORNING, UH, MORNING FEEDING IT'S GREATER ENGAGEMENT WITH AGENDA ITEMS AND ENHANCED, ENHANCED ABILITY TO SIGN UP FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, I ALWAYS LIKE TO THINK OF THIS IN, IN A WORLD WHERE YOU CAN BINGE WATCH ANY TV SHOW YOU WANT, SIT IN BED AND ORDER FOOD AND HAVE IT SENT STRAIGHT TO YOUR DOOR, GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE JUST AS ACCESSIBLE.
AND I THINK ECOMM HAS, HAS REALLY OPENED UP THE DOOR FOR THAT NEXT SLIDE.
SO WHAT DID WE LEARN, UM, THAT WE SHOULD STREAMLINE THE VIRTUAL PHONE OPTION? OF COURSE, WITH, WITH YESTERDAY'S MEETING, WE, WE LEARNED THAT, UM, THAT THERE'S ALSO A DESIRE TO PARTICIPATE REMOTELY AND THAT WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO MARKET THIS PROGRAM.
UM, YESTERDAY THE CITY MANAGER SENT OVER SOME MARKETING MATERIALS THAT I HOPE YOU'LL SHARE WITH YOUR CONSTITUENTS AS WELL, UM, THAT HAVE VIDEO TUTORIALS, FLYERS ON HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM AND, UH, GIVE YOU STRAIGHT, UH, DIRECT LINKS TO ACCESS IT AS WELL.
AND JUST NOTING WITH YESTERDAY'S AGENDA, 352 COMMENTS WERE REGISTERED ON THAT AGENDA FOR, FOR VARIOUS ITEMS. AND AGAIN, IF YOU THINK BACK TO YOUR COUNCIL MEETINGS OF HOW MANY PEOPLE WOULD HAVE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK, UM, WE'VE SEEN THIS EXPONENTIAL RISE IN, IN COMMENTS THEN.
WE'LL, LAURA, IF I COULD INTERJECT, I JUST WANNA POINT OUT, UM, UH, NO ONE AT OTHER LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE COMMENT VIRTUALLY DURING A MEETING.
YOU DON'T GET TO CALL INTO THE FLOOR OF THE TEXAS HOUSE OR SENATE AND PROVIDE INPUT.
YOU CERTAINLY DON'T GET TO CALL IN AND LEAVE A COMMENT, UH, FOR ALL THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WHEN THEY'RE DELIBERATING ON SOMETHING.
THIS IS REALLY A NEAT THING THAT PEOPLE CAN, FROM THE COMFORT OF THEIR OWN HOME, PROVIDE INPUT ON AN AGENDA ITEM AND HAVE IT BE PART OF THE MEETING, PART OF THE AGENDA MATERIALS THAT COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE IN FRONT OF THEM.
[00:50:01]
I, I HIGHLIGHTED JUST A LITTLE BIT BEFORE WAS THE LIVE VIDEO FEEDS OF BRIEFINGS, PRESS CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS.AND ESPECIALLY IN A COVID WORLD.
AND FOR THAT MATTER, IN A SOCIAL MEDIA ENVIRONMENT, WHEN YOU GET TWEETS EVERY FEW SECONDS AND MATERIALS MIGHT CHANGE FROM VARYING LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, UM, BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE FASTER ACCESS OF INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC IN A TIME OF CRISIS IS CRITICAL.
UM, AND, AND REALLY THE, THE PUSH THAT YOU AS A COUNCIL, ESPECIALLY COUNCILMAN SANDOVAL THAT YOU MADE TO START STREAMING THESE COMMITTEE MEETINGS, ALLOWED US TO REALLY EXPEDITE THOSE EFFORTS DURING THE PANDEMIC BECAUSE WE ALREADY HAD THE INFRASTRUCTURE IN PLACE TO BE ABLE TO STREAM EVEN MORE EVENTS AND MEETINGS.
UM, AND AGAIN, THAT HIGH QUALITY VIDEO MAKES A REALLY BIG DIFFERENCE.
AND PROVIDING INFORMATION IN AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE AND SPANISH IS ALSO CRITICAL DURING THOSE C OVID 19 UPDATES THAT HAPPEN DAILY.
UM, WE PROVIDE A SPANISH INTERPRETED FEED, AND YOU'LL SEE THAT A SS L PROVIDER RIGHT THERE IN THE WINDOW, UM, SO THAT YOU CAN HAVE THAT SAME INFORMATION IN AN ACCESSIBLE WAY.
AND YOU MIGHT'VE ALSO NOTICED, YEAH, GO AHEAD, JEFF.
UH, CHAIRWOMAN, UM, YOU HAD BROUGHT UP AT ONE PREVIOUS PRE, IN FACT, I THINK IT WAS THIS PRESS CONFERENCE WITH THE HOSPITAL CEOS THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE THE SPANISH, UH, LIVE.
WE DID IT RECORDED LATER AND PUT IT ON THE WEB.
AND MY ANSWER TO YOU AT THE TIME WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, TRADITIONALLY WE'VE LOOKED AT PRESS CONFERENCES AS CONFERENCES FOR THE PRESS AND THAT THEY THEN DISTRIBUTE THAT INFORMATION OUT TO THE PUBLIC, BUT OBVIOUSLY THE PUBLIC HAS BECOME MORE AND MORE RELIANT ON OUR LIVE FEEDS.
UH, AND SO THAT WAS A LEARNING LESSON FOR US THAT, THAT WE, UH, WE WON'T TREAT PRESS CONFERENCES JUST AS OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE MEDIA TO BE THERE, BUT RATHER AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMMUNICATE, UH, TO THE PUBLIC AS WELL.
AND SO THAT WARRANTS THE NEED FOR SPANISH INTERPRETATION, A S L AND THAT SORT OF THING.
SO I THANK YOU FOR, FOR RAISING THAT AND, UH, AND WE TOOK IT TO HEART.
UM, AND TO, TO PROVIDE A ONE MORE ITEM TOO, AND WHAT JEFF SAID IS NOT JUST THE INTERPRETED FEED, BUT ALSO MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE A SPANISH SPEAKER AT EVENTS IS CRITICAL.
UM, WE OFTEN HAVE A SPOKESPERSON OR SOMEONE WHO'S AVAILABLE, UM, TO PROVIDE COMMENT, BUT HAVING SOMEBODY THERE ON SET TOO IS, IS CRITICAL.
UM, BECAUSE WHEN PEOPLE HEAR THE INFORMATION FIRSTHAND FROM A CITY OFFICIAL RATHER THAN AN INTERPRETED FEED, IT'S ALWAYS BETTER.
SO IN ANY CHANCE THAT WE CAN, UM, HAVE A SPANISH SPEAKER, IT'S IMPORTANT.
UM, OF COURSE, WE ASKED OUR MEDIA PARTNERS WHAT THEY LIKED ABOUT THE, THE LIVE VIEW FEED AND, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THAT'S SOMETHING THEY WANT US TO CONTINUE DOING.
AND SO WE'VE EXPANDED THAT SERVICE, UH, TO CONTINUE OFFERING THAT.
AND AGAIN, LIVE VIEW IS WHEN WE TRANSMIT THE FEED TO THE TV STATION SO THAT THEY CAN HAVE THE HIGH QUALITY VERSION OF THE AUDIO AND VIDEO, JUST LIKE THIS MEETING IS BEING STREAMED RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND AGAIN, CONTINUE TO PRI PROVIDE THOSE A S L SERVICES ON SET AS WELL.
UM, ANOTHER BIG CHANGE THAT WE'VE IMPLEMENTED IS BETTER USING PHONE AND TEXT SYSTEMS. YOU KNOW, THE, THE PHONE IS SUCH A PERSONAL DEVICE.
IT'S RIGHT THERE AT THE PALM OF YOUR HAND, AND FOR MOST PEOPLE, IT'S PROBABLY THE FIRST THING YOU REACH IN THE MORNING TO READ THE NEWS, CHECK YOUR TEXTS, OR CHECK SOCIAL MEDIA OR JUST FIND THE LATEST MEME.
BUT THAT'S, THAT'S LIKE THE HEART OF, OF THE ITEMS THAT YOU, YOU CARRY WITH YOU.
AND IF YOU FORGET YOUR PHONE, YOU FEEL PRETTY DISCONNECTED DURING THE DAY.
AND SO WITH THAT, WE'VE, WE'VE TAKEN THAT TO HEART TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE USING OUR TEXT AND PHONE SYSTEMS A LITTLE BIT MORE EFFECTIVELY.
PRIOR TO THE PANDEMIC, WE HAD ABOUT 1400 PEOPLE SUBSCRIBE TO THOSE COAST OF TEXTS THAT YOU HEAR THE MAYOR PLUGGING EVERY NIGHT AT THOSE BRIEFINGS YOU SAW THAT WE'RE ALSO USING IT FOR E-COMMERCE, AND THAT'S GROWN TO MORE THAN 26,000 AND STILL GROWING, I'M SURE.
UM, WHAT WE'VE ALSO FOUND IS THAT THERE ARE WAYS TO USE THAT TEXT SYSTEM TO SOLICIT COMMENTS AND ENGAGEMENTS.
SO DURING OUR VIRTUAL BUDGET MEETINGS, WE ACTUALLY ALLOWED PEOPLE TO TEXT SA SPEAKUP ONE, UM, TO 5,500.
AND THEN THEY CAN SEND US THEIR QUESTIONS THAT WE IN TURN ASK YOU, UM, DURING THOSE MEETINGS, AND IF THEY PROVIDE THEIR COUNCIL DISTRICT AS WELL, WE MAKE SURE TO GET THOSE OVER TO YOU AND ASK THOSE DURING YOUR DISTRICT SPECIFIC MEETINGS.
UM, BUT THE OTHER THING IS MOST SAN ANTONIO DO HAVE ACCESS TO SOME KIND OF A MOBILE DEVICE.
SO THESE PHONE CALLS HELP US BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, AND IF SOMEBODY IS NOT COMFORTABLE WITH TEXTING OR MIGHT NOT HAVE A DATA PLAN ON THEIR PHONE, UM, WE'VE IMPLEMENTED TOO, SOME, SOME ROBOCALLS TO REACH PEOPLE, UM, WITH JUST A PRERECORDED MESSAGE.
AND ON THIS LAST POINT, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO JEFF TO, TO TALK ABOUT HOW THE PHONE OPTION CAN BE USED FOR PUBLIC MEETINGS AS WELL.
COUNCILMAN GONZALEZ IS FAMILIAR WITH THIS.
THERE IS AN APPLICATION FOR A NEW HISTORIC DISTRICT ON THE WEST SIDE.
AND, AND WITH THAT COME REQUIRED PUBLIC MEETINGS, WHICH OF COURSE ARE A CHALLENGE RIGHT NOW, UH, CAN ONLY BE VIRTUAL.
AND, AND, UH, WE HAVE ALL THE DIGITAL DIVIDE ISSUES WE JUST TALKED ABOUT.
UH, WHAT H D R C DID, AND WE'RE
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LEARNING FROM THEM IS CREATE ESSENTIALLY A RECORDED HOTLINE THAT THEY PROMOTED TO ALL THE NEIGHBORHOODS WHERE PEOPLE CAN CALL IN.PRESS ONE TO HEAR A, A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF HOW THE HISTORIC, UH, DESIGNATION PROCESS WORK.
PRESS TWO TO HEAR SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.
PRESS THREE TO LEAVE A COMMENT THAT WILL BE, UH, READ, UH, AT THE MEETING.
UH, WE THOUGHT THAT WAS A GREAT USE OF THE TELEPHONE.
WE, WE'D REALLY BEEN USING IT FOR LIVE AND RECORDED, UM, SORT OF INPUT ONLY OR, OR ACCESS ONLY.
AND THE ABILITY TO USE, UH, THAT PHONE TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE INFORMATION, UH, AT SOMEONE'S OWN CONVENIENCE, UH, SEEMS LIKE A GREAT, UH, SOLUTION THAT WE'LL TRY TO IMPLEMENT WITH SOME OTHER PROGRAMS. AND THE, THE LAST THING I'LL MENTION ON PHONES TOO IS COUNCILMAN TREO, YOU OFTEN MENTION COLLABORATION WITH 3 1 1.
AND THEY'VE BEEN SUCH A GREAT PARTNER DURING THIS PANDEMIC TO HAVE THEIR PHONE OPERATORS, UM, GATHERING QUESTIONS FOR US OR COMMENTS DURING THESE LIVE TOWN HALLS, UM, TO TAKE SURVEYS.
I KNOW THAT DURING THE COVID COMMUNITY SURVEY THAT METRO HEALTH RELEASED TO THOSE THREE ONE ONE CALL TAKERS AND HOTLINE OPERATORS WE'RE HELPING PEOPLE TAKE THAT SURVEY.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO STILL PROVIDE THAT ACCESS, UH, VIA PHONE AS WELL.
SO WHAT HAVE WE CHANGED OR, OR WHAT SHOULD WE DO GOING FORWARD? AND WHAT, WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED FROM THIS PROCESS? UM, DEFINITELY THAT WE NEED TO EXPAND OUR ENGAGEMENT OFFER, UH, OPTIONS VIA PHONE AND TEXT, WHETHER THAT'S, UM, DIALING IN, UM, TO PROVIDE A SURVEY RESPONSE OR HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE VIA TEXT, BUT CREATING THOSE INTERACTIVE OPPORTUNITIES RATHER THAN JUST PUSHING OUT INFORMATION.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, DEVELOPING A COMPREHENSIVE PHONE LIST AND A STRATEGY TO ENGAGE WITH THE RESIDENTS WHO PREFER THE PHONE OPTIONS.
YOU KNOW, WE OFTEN COLLECT EMAIL ADDRESSES WHEN WE DO THESE SURVEY EFFORTS, OR PEOPLE SUBSCRIBE TO SOMETHING WITH THEIR EMAIL.
BUT AGAIN, THAT PHONE NUMBER IS SUCH A PERSONAL CONNECTION THAT IF SOMEBODY WANTS THAT LIST, THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH A GOOD OLD FASHIONED PHONE BANK AND CALLING, UM, TO SEE HOW PEOPLE ARE DOING OR WHAT SERVICES ARE AVAILABLE TO THEM.
AND SO I THINK THAT'LL BE A CRITICAL COMPONENT OF OUR RESIDENT ENGAGEMENT PLATFORM GOING FORWARD TOO, IS MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THOSE NON-DIGITAL PHONE OPTIONS TO, TO GET INVOLVED.
AND THIS ONE, I'M GONNA TURN OVER TO JEFF TO TALK ABOUT THE STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT THAT WE'VE DONE DURING THE PANDEMIC.
AND AGAIN, I'LL TRY TO BE QUICK HERE.
UM, WE'VE, WE'VE USED THESE VIRTUAL MEETINGS FOR SOME REAL TARGETED STAKEHOLDER CONVERSATIONS AS WELL, UM, WHICH REINFORCE SOME OF THE THINGS LIKE TRANSPARENCY AND SO FORTH THAT ARE IN THE PRINCIPLES.
UM, SPECIFICALLY EARLY ON, WE HAD MEDIA ASKING FOR, UH, UH, A THOUSAND DIFFERENT DATA POINTS.
UH, EACH REPORTER HAD A DIFFERENT DATA POINT THEY WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT AND QUESTION.
AND SO WE, UH, WE HELD A SURVEY WITH THE MEDIA ASKING THEM TO PRIORITIZE WHICH DATA WAS IMPORTANT TO THEM SO THAT WE WOULDN'T HAVE METRO HEALTH CHASING EVERYTHING, BUT RATHER COMPILING THE STUFF THAT WAS MEANINGFUL.
UH, WE'VE DONE MULTIPLE, UH, MEDIA CONVERSATIONS WITH THE NEWS DIRECTORS AND REPORTERS SINCE WHERE WE'RE ABLE TO ALL GET ON THE PHONE AND, AND LISTEN TO THEIR FEEDBACK AND HELP TRY TO MEET THEIR NEEDS.
WE'VE DONE THE SAME WITH OUR STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE DELEGATIONS.
I CAN TELL YOU IN THE SIX, SEVEN YEARS THAT I'VE BEEN AT THE CITY DOING, UH, GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, WE'VE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO GET THE ENTIRE DELEGATION IN A ROOM AT THE STATE CAPITOL.
OR EVEN WHEN WE GO TO DC WE'VE SET UP VIRTUAL CALLS AND WE HAVE PARTICIPATION FROM NEARLY ALL OF THEM, WHICH HAS JUST BEEN FABULOUS.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER THING THAT I WOULD LIKE US TO CONTINUE TO DO, EVEN WHEN WE GET BACK TO WHATEVER NORMAL IS AT SOME POINT.
UH, IT HAS BEEN REALLY BENEFICIAL TO MAKE IT MORE CONVENIENT AND EASY TO ENGAGE WITH STAKEHOLDERS.
SO SOME OTHER OUTREACH EFFORTS.
UM, I'LL BE QUICK HERE TO JUST SUMMARIZE THESE, UM, ROBOCALLS, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, HAVE BEEN BENEFICIAL DURING THE FIRST STAY HOME WORK SAFE ORDER.
UM, COUNCILWOMAN ROCHA GARCIA, AND AS WELL AS YOURSELF, UM, COUNCILMAN DONAL MENTIONED THOSE MOM AND POP SHOPS THAT MIGHT NOT HAVE THE MEANS TO JOIN A CHAMBER OR THE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION.
UM, WE WERE CONCERNED THAT THEY MIGHT NOT GET THE INFORMATION, AND SO WE DEPLOYED A ROBOCALL TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY WERE INFORMED ABOUT THE CHANGES THAT WERE COMING.
UM, PRINTED COLLATERALS SUCH AS DOOR HANGERS, MAILERS, FLYERS, YARD SIGNS, UM, YOU'VE SEEN THESE OUT, UM, IN THE COMMUNITY AT PARKS TALKING ABOUT SOCIAL DISTANCING AND THEN ALSO JUST VIDEO RECORDED MEETINGS.
SO BEING ABLE TO JUST PROVIDE A VIDEO RECAP OF, OF THE PROJECT AND THEN HAVE A LINK FOR A SURVEY OR, OR A VI A VIDEO MEETING THAT YOU CAN BROADCAST, UM, IS STILL CRITICAL IN THIS TIME.
SO WITH THAT, I'LL JUST WRAP IT UP BY, BY SAYING THAT I THINK THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC HAS EXPEDITED A LOT OF THE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS THAT HELP BRIDGE THE GAP IN ENGAGEMENT AND MAKE IT MORE CONVENIENT AND SAFE FOR PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE, BUT IT'S ALSO MAGNIFIED THE AREAS THAT WE NEED TO DO BETTER, UM, TO MAKE A MORE EQUITABLE CONVERSATION
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AND EXPAND THE WAYS THAT WE GATHER ENGAGEMENT FROM OUR COMMUNITY.SO WITH THAT, UM, I'D LOVE TO TAKE YOUR QUESTIONS AND ALSO YOUR IDEAS FOR WAYS THAT WE CAN EXPAND THESE PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS.
UM, AND BEFORE I END THERE, I REALLY WANTED TO THANK THE TEAM THAT, UM, BEHIND THE SCENES PUTS ALL THIS TOGETHER.
YOU HEAR FROM THEM OFTEN FROM OUR PUBLIC AFFAIRS TEAM, TRACY, CARLOS, ASHLEY, UM, AND EVERYBODY ELSE WHO'S WORKING ON THESE EFFORTS TO COME UP WITH THESE BIG IDEAS AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE OUT THERE IN THE COMMUNITY AND WORKING WITH YOUR OFFICES.
THANK YOU JEFF, FOR ALL YOUR WORK, UH, DURING THIS PANDEMIC AND FOR YOUR PRESENTATION TODAY.
LEMME GO TO COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS, UH, AND WE'RE WITH COUNCILWOMAN.
UH, THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION.
LAURA, YOU HAVE BEEN DOING SUCH A FANTASTIC JOB, SO VERY WELL DONE.
BUT LAURA, YOU'VE DONE A REALLY GREAT JOB,
UM, SO I DO HAVE A QUESTION BECAUSE WE'VE BEEN DOING, WE HAD OUR FIRST, MAYBE THIS IS FOR ANDY OR THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE.
WE'VE HAD OUR FIRST, UM, ALL VIRTUAL COUNCIL MEETING BECAUSE OF COVID.
HOW LONG IS THIS? IS THIS STILL A STATE OR AN AG WAIVER THAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO THIS OR IS NOW THIS EMBEDDED THAT WE CAN CONTINUE THIS EVEN AS WE COME OUT OF THE SPIKE, UM, THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN THIS VIRTUAL, THESE VIRTUAL MEETINGS? UH, GOOD MORNING, COUNCILWOMAN, THIS IS ANDY.
UH, YES, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION BECAUSE WE, UH, ARE THINKING THE SAME THING.
UH, BUT THE, AN, THE SHORT ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS YES, WE'RE STILL OPERATING UNDER A MORATORIUM ON THE, UH, REQUIREMENT UNDER THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT, UH, FOR LIVE MEETINGS.
SO WE'RE STILL OPERATING UNDER THAT.
THE GOOD NEWS IS THERE'S NO SPECIFIC TIMEFRAME IN WHICH THAT'S GOING TO END, BUT, UH, IT'S A MORATORIUM NONETHELESS, SO THAT IT DOES SUGGEST AT LEAST THAT IT, IT IS SOMETHING THAT'LL BE IN PLACE ONLY DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC.
UH, BUT IT'S SOMETHING MAYBE WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT, BECAUSE AS WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, THERE'S SOME CLEAR ADVANTAGES TO HAVING VIRTUAL MEETINGS, MAYBE NOT ALL THE TIME AFTER WE GET TO THIS NEW NORMAL, BUT AT LEAST AS AN OPTION, UH, FOR SOME MEETINGS, BECAUSE IT DOES HAVE OBVIOUSLY SOME BENEFITS IN TERMS OF INCREASED PARTICIPATION.
BUT TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, YES, WE'RE STILL OPERATING UNDER MORATORIUM UNDER THE, UH, STATE OF TEXAS.
AND, UH, WE HAVE NOT GOTTEN ANY SUGGESTION AS TO AN END DATE.
UH, BUT YOU'RE RIGHT, MAYBE WE SHOULD START STINGING, START THINKING STRATEGICALLY AS TO HOW WE MAY MAKE CHANGES TO THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT MEETING TO ALLOW FOR MORE VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
AND THEN JEFF, UH, WITH THE STATE AND SESSION COMING UP IN JANUARY, HAS THERE BEEN CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WITH COMMITTEE MEETINGS OR WHAT HAVE YOU? HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING? UH, IS THERE CONVERSATION ALREADY HAPPENING? UH, THERE IS CONVERSATION.
THERE'S NOTHING DEFINITIVE AT ALL.
BUT IT SOUNDS VERY, VERY LIKELY THAT IT WILL NOT BE A NORMAL LEGISLATIVE SESSION, UH, THAT, THAT A LOT OF IT WILL BE REMOTE.
RIGHT NOW, THE MEMBERS CAN'T EVEN ENTER THE BUILDING.
UH, SO WE'RE EXPECTING A VERY DIFFERENT PROCESS.
AND ACTUALLY WE'RE GONNA TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT WHEN WE MEET AS AN I G R SUBCOMMITTEE.
UH, NEXT WEEK, WE'RE, WE'RE PROPOSING OUR CONSULTANTS, UH, AND WE'RE, AND WE'RE BRINGING TO THAT THE, THE CONCEPT THAT, UM, WE'RE NOT NECESSARILY GONNA BE ABLE TO STOP LEGISLATORS IN HALLWAYS ANYMORE.
WE'RE GONNA RELY EVEN HE MORE HEAVILY ON FOLKS WHO HAVE DIRECT ACCESS TO MEMBERS ALL OVER THE STATE TO BE ABLE TO GET OUR MESSAGES OUT.
SO WE'RE, WE'RE WATCHING IT CLOSELY AS THE SHORT ANSWER, AND IT, IT DEFINITELY LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE SOMETHING UNUSUAL, UH, AS WELL.
AND I THINK I WANTED TO START WITH THAT QUESTION, BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN SO MANY MORE INCREASES IN, UM, ACTIVITY PARTICIPATION AND COMMENTS FROM THE COMMUNITY, BECAUSE THERE'S, EVERYONE HAS A PHONE, AND IF THE ACCESS IS LEAVING A COMMENT, SENDING A MESSAGE, MAKING A PHONE CALL, I THINK THAT IS, THAT IS GREAT.
AND I'M GLAD THAT WE HAVE THAT ACCESS.
SO I WANNA MAKE SURE, EVEN IF WE'RE DOING THIS VIRTUALLY, AND I HOPE IN THE FUTURE WE, IF THE STATE CONTINUES THIS MORATORIUM, THAT HOPEFULLY WE AS EVEN A COUNCIL CAN LEAD AND DEMONSTRATE BY STILL HAVING VIRTUAL MEETINGS IF POSSIBLE, UM, WITH SOME COUNCIL MEMBERS IN CHAMBERS AND SOME NOT, JUST SO WE CAN CONTINUE GOOD, UM, PRACTICES
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AND SOCIAL DISTANCING PRACTICES AS AS WE CONTINUE.UM, OTHER ITEM THAT I WAS THINKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE DO SOME ITEMS YOUTUBE, UM, FACEBOOK LIVE, BUT I DO, WE DO YOUTUBE LIVE, UM, COUNSEL, AND WE'VE NOT EXPERIMENTED WITH YOUTUBE LIVE YET.
UM, WE DO STREAM IT ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE, UM, AS WELL AS THE PHONE OPTION OR THE CABLE CHANNELS.
BUT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE COULD LOOK INTO AS WELL.
I WOULD LIKE TO LOOK AT YOUTUBE LIVE SIMPLY BECAUSE, UM, IT'S EASIER ON YOUR FIRE STICK OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT IF YOU HAVE THAT.
AND ON YOUR PHONE YOU HAVE THE APP, AND YOU DON'T NECESSARILY HAVE TO JOIN FACEBOOK IF YOU WANT TO BOYCOTT FACEBOOK, UM, OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, MY LAST POINT HERE IS, UM, ON ONE OF YOUR SLIDES YOU HAD ABOUT THE PRESS CONFERENCES, ABOUT THE UPDATES.
I JUST WANNA SHARE WITH THIS, UM, REPRESENTATION MATTERS.
AND WITH THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE, LATINOS IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO, WHO YOU HAVE AT PRESS CONFERENCES AND GIVING UPDATES ABSOLUTELY MATTERS.
SO, UM, I WANT TO ENCOURAGE MORE, UH, LATINOS AT THESE UPDATES.
I WANT TO ENCOURAGE MORE WOMEN AND WOMEN OF COLOR AND PEOPLE OF COLOR AT THESE UPDATES.
'CAUSE IT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THAT WHEN SOMEBODY IS GIVING THIS INFORMATION, 'CAUSE I KNOW WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE OF COLOR AND GREAT, UM, LATINAS, ET CETERA IN THE METRO HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
EVERYTHING THAT CAN HELP, UH, GIVE THESE UPDATES BECAUSE REPRESENTATION MATTERS.
COUNCILWOMAN, UH,
UM, THE TEXT MESSAGING AND, AND USING THE PHONE SYSTEM IS TRULY A GREAT WAY, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE THAT ARE IN THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.
SO THANK YOU FOR PUTTING ALL OF THE WORK THAT YOU HAVE PUT INTO THAT.
UM, SO I CAN STOP CONTINUING TO ASK THE QUESTION ABOUT TEXT MESSAGES, UM,
UM, THE QUESTION THAT I DO HAVE AT THIS TIME IS WITH US HAVING SUCH A DIVERSE COMMUNITY, UM, WHAT ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES ARE PROVIDED, OR, UM, CAN SOMEONE FIND IF THEY'RE NON SPANISH SPEAKING OR NON-ENGLISH SPEAKING, BUT OF A DIFFERENT DIALECT? UH, I'LL, I'LL START WITH THAT ONE, COUNCILWOMAN.
UM, THE, UH, WE'RE NOT ENTIRELY WHERE WE NEED TO BE YET, TO BE CANDID WITH YOU.
WE, WE MADE A TRANSITION, IF YOU REMEMBER BACK IN, I WANNA SAY APRIL, UH, CRAIG AND HIS TEAM AT IT, IT MADE, UH, GOOGLE TRANSLATE APPLY TO THE ENTIRE, UH, WEBSITE.
AND SO, UH, I THINK IT'S 109 OR SO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES THAT YOU CAN, THAT YOU CAN USE THAT FUNCTION, FUNCTION TO BE ABLE TO TRANSLATE TO, IT'S NOT PERFECT.
SOMETIMES THE TRANSLATIONS ARE CLUMSY.
UM, THEY'RE, YOU KNOW, IT'S A, IT'S A SORT OF A, A FORMULAIC SYSTEM.
UM, BUT COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL IS BROUGHT UP BEFORE THE SAFE HARBOR LANGUAGES THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED.
THE OTHER LANGUAGES BESIDES SPANISH THAT ARE MOST LIKELY, UH, TO BE NEEDED HERE.
AND THE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IS IN THE PROCESS OF, OF FINALIZING THE LANGUAGE ACCESS PLAN, UM, WHICH MAY HAVE SOME DISCUSSION ABOUT THAT, BUT THAT, THAT'S A NEXT, UH, FRONTIER FOR US THAT WE NEED TO, UH, JUST THE SPANISH, UH, WORK REALLY HAS BEEN THE LAST FEW YEARS.
COUNCILMAN TREVINO, I THINK, WAS THE EARLY CHAMPION OF THAT, BUT THE INTERPRETERS AND THE TRANSLATING OF ALL MATERIALS, UH, HAVE BEEN THE LAST FEW YEARS PROGRESS.
AND, AND I THINK WE NEED TO BUILD ON THAT AND, AND EXPAND TO SOME OF THOSE OTHER SAFE HARBOR LANGUAGES.
THANK YOU SO MUCH, JEFF, FOR THAT.
UM, AND I KNOW COUNCILWOMAN
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I KNOW WHEN IT COMES TO SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING, UM, ARE, ARE THEY FULL-TIME CITY EMPLOYEES OR ARE THEY CONTRACTED? UM, HOW ARE WE GETTING OUR INTERPRETERS? THEY ARE CONTRACTED.
SO WE HAVE TWO DIFFERENT, UH, CONTRACTS.
WE HAVE AN INTERPRETER'S CONTRACT, AND THOSE ARE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT YOU SEE LIVE AT EVERY MEETING IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM INTERPRETING THE DISCUSSION.
UH, IT, IT'S, IT'S LIVE, SO YOU CAN GET IT ON TV THAT WAY YOU CAN GET IT ON THE WEBSITE THAT WAY.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE, YOU KNOW, ARCHIVED MEETINGS THEN THAT ARE IN SPANISH.
UH, A SEPARATE, UH, SET OF CONTRACTS IS FOR OUR TRANSLATION.
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I SHOULD SAY, IS FOR OUR TRANSLATION SERVICES.THAT'S ALL THE WRITTEN MATERIALS.
SO WE HAVE, UH, SERVICE AGREEMENTS THEY HAVE TO MEET WHERE AS SOON AS COUNCIL MATERIALS ARE POSTED, THEY HAVE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF DAYS TO TURN ALL OF THAT AROUND IN SPANISH SO THAT SOMEBODY CAN GET ALL OF THE, UH, UM, COUNCIL AGENDA MATERIALS IN SPANISH.
UM, WE'VE NOT DONE IT IN HOUSE, SO A LOT OF THE DEPARTMENTS DO HAVE SPANISH SPEAKER LIAISONS THAT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN EACH DEPARTMENT.
SO IF MEDIA OR A COMMUNITY MEMBER NEEDS IT, UH, THEY HAVE IT.
BUT, UM, BUT WE'VE BEEN OUTSOURCING THOSE INTERPRETATION AND TRANSLATION SERVICES SO THEY CAN BE SOLELY FOCUSED ON, ON THAT.
AND THIS QUESTION, ANDY, YOU MIGHT HAVE TO JUMP IN HERE ON THIS LAST QUESTION.
UM, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, TRUE TRANSPARENCY, AND EVEN AT THIS PRESENT TIME WITHIN, UH, THE CLIMATE WE'RE IN, WE'RE HEARING ABOUT PETITIONS AND, UH, PEOPLE WANTING TO PUT FORTH PETITIONS.
THE CONVERSATION HAS BEEN ABOUT HOW DOES ONE TRULY, UM, PUT FORTH A PETITION IN THIS CLIMATE OF COVID WITHOUT HAVING THAT PHYSICAL CONTACT.
AND I KNOW WITHIN OUR CITY CHARTER, IT HAS TO BE A PHYSICAL SIGNATURE, BUT IF, UM, THEY'RE LOOKING AT A PLATFORM OR ONLINE PLATFORM OF DIGITAL SIGNATURES, UM, HAS THAT BEEN LOOKED AT WITHIN HOW WE'RE GONNA GO FORWARD, EITHER WITHIN THE CITY, THE STATE, FEDERALLY, UM, WHEN IT COMES TO OBTAINING SIGNATURES WITHIN THIS COVID CLIMATE? UH, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION, COUNCILWOMAN.
AND THE ANSWER IS ACTUALLY NO.
I DON'T THINK THERE'S BEEN ANY MOVEMENT OR INITIATIVE YET TO, UH, MAKE, UH, ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES, UH, SOMETHING THAT CAN BE USED IN TERMS OF PETITIONS, WHETHER THEY BE UNDER THE CITY CHARTER OR UNDER STATE LAW.
UH, BUT MAYBE THAT'S ANOTHER THING WE LOOK AT IN TERMS AS WE TAKE A HOLISTIC LOOK AT, UH, SOME OF OUR STATE LAWS WHEN IT COMES TO OPEN MEETINGS AND, AND PETITIONS RECOGNIZING, YOU KNOW, A LOT WE'VE LEARNED OVER C O D SOME OF THE CHANGES WE CAN MAKE TO MAKE THAT EASIER AND MORE ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE IN THAT, IN THE EL ELECTRONIC WORLD WE LIVE IN, SOMEBODY SHOULD BE ABLE TO, UM, REVIEW A PETITION AND SIGN A PETITION ELECTRONICALLY.
UM, OBVIOUSLY THERE'LL BE SOME PEOPLE WHO FEEL, FEEL THERE MAY BE SOME ISSUES WITH THAT.
BUT MY VIEW IS IF YOU, IF YOU CAN FILL OUT YOUR INCOME TAX AND SUBMIT IT AND FILE IT, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SIGN A PETITION.
SO, UH, THAT'S ANOTHER THING THAT, WE'LL, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THAT AND SEE WORK WITH JEFF'S TEAM AND SEE WHAT CHANGES WE CAN MAKE.
UH, AND WE'LL OBVIOUSLY NEXT TIME WE HAVE A CHARTER REVIEW COMMISSION, UH, FOR THOSE THAT ARE DICTATED BY OUR CITY CHARTER, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THAT AS WELL.
BUT A LOT OF 'EM ARE DICTATED BY STATE LAW AS WELL.
UM, THOSE ARE ALL MY QUESTIONS.
UM, MADAM CHAIR AND THANK YOU, ANDY.
UH, COUNCILMAN
AND THANK YOU ANDY FOR REMINDING ME ABOUT MY TEXAS, UM, I, UM, GREAT PRESENTATION, LAURA AND, AND JEFF.
UM, I, I DO THINK, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, ACKNOWLEDGING, UH, UTILIZING 3 0 1 S A F IS IS, IS REALLY A BIG DEAL.
UH, LET'S, LET'S KEEP FINDING WAYS TO EXPAND, UM, INCREASING WAYS TO, TO, UH, ENGAGE MORE PUBLIC COMMENTS THROUGH THAT APP.
I THINK IT'LL, IT'S A, IT'S KIND OF A TWO-WAY STREET BECAUSE WE'LL BENEFIT FROM THOSE WHO ACTUALLY WILL THEN USE IT FOR, UM, YOU KNOW, COMMUNICATING BACK TO US, UH, A LOT OF THE, THE ISSUES THAT THEY SEE THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY.
AND YOU ALSO MENTIONED, UM, UH, DIRECT MAIL AND PRINT MATERIAL.
SO THAT'S WHAT I WANNA TALK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT.
'CAUSE I, I'M GONNA GO, I'M GONNA GO OLD SCHOOL HERE AND SAY, UH, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE TEND TO TRUST MORE OF THE PRINT AND DIRECT MAIL MORE THAN ANYTHING.
AND YOU KNOW, I SAID IT YESTERDAY AS WELL, THAT, UM, IT SEEMS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, WE HAVE, UM, BILLS THAT GO OUT FROM SAWS AND, AND C P S AND HAVE WE HAD ANY, ANY MOVEMENTS ON THAT? WE'VE REQUESTED THAT TO SEE HOW CAN WE USE THOSE BILLS? HOW CAN OTHER, OTHER, UH, ALREADY EXISTING, UH, DIRECT MAIL THAT EXISTS TO, TO COMMUNICATE WITH, WITH THE PUBLIC? SURE.
COUNCILMAN, WE, UH, WE HAVE USED, UH, UH, BOTH SAWS AND C P S HAVE BEEN GREAT PARTNERS TO US THROUGHOUT THIS.
SO WE DID, UH, IN FACT, I THINK THERE WAS AN IMAGE OF ONE OF THEM IN LAURA'S SLIDES.
UM, WE DID, THEY DID ALLOW US TO PUT INSERTS INTO BILLS THAT WENT OUT, UH, A COUPLE MONTHS AGO IN THE MIDST OF THE PANDEMIC.
UH, I THINK WE'VE JUST DONE IT ONCE, UH, DURING THIS TIME WITH SORT OF THE EVERGREEN MESSAGING AND THE HOTLINE AND WEBSITE INFORMATION, UM, FOR DIRECT MAIL
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PIECES.IT'S THE WAY TO GET TO EVERYBODY.
IT'S AWFULLY EXPENSIVE ALSO, AND I THINK WE'VE ESTIMATED TO GET OUT TO ABOUT 420 SOME HOUSEHOLDS ACROSS THE CITY.
IT'S WHAT, LAURA? $120,000 PER, PER PIECE, APPROXIMATELY MM-HMM.
SO WE, WE, UH, I WISH WE HAD THAT BUDGET IN MY DEPARTMENT TO DO THAT SORT OF THING.
SO WE, WE HAVE TO SORT OF RELY ON THE PARTNERS THAT ARE ALREADY SENDING.
UH, AND I THINK THAT'S ALSO WHERE THE WHOLE DOOR HANGER IDEA GREW OUT OF THE IDEA THAT, UM, SOLID WASTE HAS OFTEN LEFT DOOR HANGERS THROUGH ALL OF ITS WORK UNDER, UNDER DAVID OVER THE YEARS.
UH, WE BORROWED THAT WITH THE METRO HEALTH, UM, UH, COMMUNITY TEAMS THAT WERE OUT, UH, IN DISTRICTS GOING DOOR TO DOOR.
WELL, YOU KNOW, I, I KNOW THAT THERE'S AT LEAST ABOUT 600,000, UM, BILLS THAT GO OUT THROUGH EITHER C P S OR SAUCE.
AND, UH, AGAIN, MY, MY QUESTION IS, IF THOSE ARE GOING OUT ANYWAY, UH, COULDN'T WE SAVE ALL THAT POSTAGE BY SIMPLY INCLUDING AN INSERT IN THOSE BILLS THAT PEOPLE CAN THEN SORT OF RELY ON AS PART OF THEIR INFORMATION, WHETHER IT'S FROM A, A SAW BILL OR, OR A C P S BILL? YES, I THINK, I THINK WE, WE SHOULD, UM, AND WE'LL, WE'LL TALK TO THEM AGAIN, THAT MAY BE A GREAT PLACE FOR US TO, UH, FURTHER THE REACH OF OUR, OF OUR MARKETING CAMPAIGN IS TO SEE WHETHER THEY WOULD INCORPORATE SOME OF THAT CAMPAIGN IMAGERY AND MESSAGING INTO MATERIALS.
SO A SMALL EXAMPLE IS THAT, YOU KNOW, I ASKED THE, THE CHIEF APPRAISER OR THE, THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT, IF, IF THE CITY WOULD, WOULD, COULD BE ALLOWED TO PUT AN INSERT IN THEIR MAILERS.
AND, YOU KNOW, HE, HE SAID, ABSOLUTELY.
I MEAN, THEY, THEY DON'T, THEY DON'T MIND, THEY CAN'T CHANGE BY STATE LAW.
THEY CAN'T CHANGE WHAT THEY PRINT AND, AND WHAT GOES IN THE MAILERS, BUT THEY CAN CERTAINLY ADD, UH, SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T CHANGE THE, THE SIZE OF, OF THE POSTAGE OR WHAT HAVE YOU.
BUT COULD BE, COULD, COULD SOMEHOW BE ATTACHED TO THAT.
SO I THINK IT'S, IT'S ABOUT FINDING SOME OF THOSE PARTNERS THAT ARE ALREADY SENDING OUT MAILERS AND PIGGYBACKING SO THAT WE CAN SAVE SOME MONEY AND, AND JUST FORMULATE THOSE COLLABORATIONS, UH, UH, MANY PEOPLE, UH, YOU KNOW, GET THOSE.
AND IF WE CAN CREATE THAT EXPECTATION, I THINK THAT WOULD BE A HUGE WIN FOR ALL OF US.
WE HAVE NOT THOUGHT, WE HADN'T USED THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT ROUTE BEFORE, SO THAT'S A GREAT IDEA.
AND WE'LL, WE'LL FOLLOW UP AND, AND DROP YOUR NAME
UH, COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ ALSO HAS SOME QUESTIONS.
AND, AND SO I THINK THAT, YEAH, MOST OF MY COLLEAGUES ANSWERED MY QUESTIONS AND
UM, BUT, UH, SO JEFF, WHEN YOU, UM, MENTIONED EARLY ON IN THE PRESENTATION ABOUT THE MARKETING TEAM, UH, I KNOW THAT YOU DID HAVE A CHANCE TO MEET WITH MY STAFF, SO IF I'M, BUT I HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO BE BRIEF.
SO IF, IF, IF YOU COULD, UM, UH, YOU MENTIONED THAT THERE WERE THE HARD TO REACH POPULA, OR NOT NECESSARILY HARD TO REACH POPULATIONS, BUT VERY DISTINCT GROUPS THAT WE KNOW ARE BEING IMPACTED.
AND SO ARE, IS THE MARKETING TEAM CREATING SEPARATE, UM, UM, ADS FOR EACH OF THOSE POPULATIONS, LIKE PERHAPS AN ELDERLY POPULATION OR A YOUNG POPULATION OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT? OR IS IT, UH, SEVERAL DIFFERENT CAMPAIGNS? VERY GOOD QUESTION.
AND SOMETHING WE DISCUSSED AT LENGTH WITH THEM.
UM, ESSENTIALLY WHAT THEY'VE DONE IS CRE, WELL, WE'RE NOT DONE YET.
THEY'RE NOT DONE YET, BUT WHAT THEY ARE CREATING IS AN UMBRELLA THEME FOR THE CAMPAIGN, UM, THAT, THAT THEN HAS SPECIFIC COMPONENTS ON IT THAT TARGET CERTAIN AUDIENCES.
SO THERE'S MESSAGING AND IMAGERY THAT TARGETS, UH, YOUNG FOLKS.
THERE'S, UH, MESSAGING AND IMAGERY THAT, UH, TARGETS THE L G B T Q COMMUNITY, UH, DEFINITELY SPANISH SPEAKERS.
UH, AND THEN THERE IS QUITE A BIT OF OVERLAP IN SOME OF THE TARGET AUDIENCES.
NOT ENTIRELY, UH, BUT SOME OF THEM.
SO, UM, IT, IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT OF BOTH.
IT'S ONE CAMPAIGN WITH SORT OF A, A, A CENTRAL SAN ANTONIO MESSAGE, UH, THAT WILL BE UNVEILING ONCE, ONCE THEY'RE FINISHED WITH IT.
UM, BUT THEN WITH DIFFERENT COMPONENTS AND DIFFERENT MEDIUMS TO REACH THE AUDIENCES THAT WERE IDENTIFIED IN THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM REPORT.
WELL, I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING THAT.
I KNOW MARTHA'S VERY CREATIVE.
UM, AND SO, UM, WE'LL SEE HOW THAT WORKS.
I KNOW, AND, AND SO ARE YOU ALL ABLE TO UTILIZE, UM, UH, DIFFERENT METHODS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH
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PEOPLE? SO, UM, I MEAN, I THINK WE'VE ALL HAD THIS EXPERIENCE.IN FACT, JUST THIS MORNING I WAS LOOKING FOR MORE LUXURIOUS TOWELS, AND SO I GOOGLED THAT.
UM, AND, UM, THEN, YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU GET TO SOME OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA, ALL YOU GET IS A LOT OF ADS FOR TOWELS.
SO ARE WE ABLE TO USE THAT KIND OF INFORMATION, OR IS THAT STRICTLY COMMERCIAL AND WE CAN'T USE IT AS GOVERNMENT? YEAH.
SO THAT'S AD RETARGETING, WHICH HAS DEFINITELY GOTTEN ME INTO BUYING WAY TOO MANY SHOES.
AS YOU MENTIONED, IT JUST FOLLOWS YOU ALONG SO IT FOLLOWS YOUR BEHAVIORS.
UM, BUT YES, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DEPLOY AND HAVE IN THE PAST.
UM, I KNOW WE'VE DONE THAT WITH SOME OF OUR BUDGET CAMPAIGNS.
UM, BUT ESSENTIALLY IT'S, IT'S THOSE WORDS.
SO AS YOU GOOGLE SOMETHING OR VISIT OUR PAGE, AND MAYBE YOU DIDN'T TAKE THE SURVEY, IT'LL FOLLOW YOU TO KIND OF TRY TO GET YOU TO, TO TAKE THAT OR GET THE INFORMATION.
SO YES, THAT'S SOMETHING WE COULD DEPLOY MORE OFTEN TOO.
'CAUSE I, I, I, I, I WASN'T SURE IF THAT WAS SOMETHING GOVERNMENT COULD USE, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE YOU COULD USE THAT TO THEN TARGET, UM, DIFFERENT EVENTS OR ACTIVITY THAT THE CITY'S DOING.
SO, UM, UH, AND ESPECIALLY, UH, PERHAPS BY GETTING THAT INFORMATION, DO YOU KNOW THEIR AGES OR SOMETHING? OR YOU GET MORE SENSE OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC? UM, I MEAN, THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT ANYBODY WHO LOOKS AT MY STUFF KNOWS THAT I HAVE SMALL CHILDREN AT HOME, RIGHT? BECAUSE THAT'S ALL THE, YOUR STUFF YOU'RE LOOKING AT ALL DAY LONG.
SO, UM, I WOULD HOPE THAT, UH, I MEAN, I, I, I WOULD HOPE THAT WE COULD USE THAT IN TARGETING, UH, ESPECIALLY AS WE ARE, UM, WE NOW HAVE SO MUCH INFORMATION TO GIVE OUT.
I I REALLY AM VERY IMPRESSED WITH ALL OF THE FEEDBACK, UH, ALL OF THE, UM, WAYS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO CONNECT WITH PEOPLE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THERE'S STILL NOTHING LIKE OLD FASHIONED FACE-TO-FACE COMMUNICATION.
AND, AND I THINK FOR US AS ELECTEDS, UH, IT, IT HAS BEEN SO VERY DIFFICULT TO COMMUNICATE WITH OUR, OUR CONSTITUENTS.
AND I KNOW THAT, YOU KNOW, THE WAY THAT I WOULD GET ALL THE INTEL, UH, IN MY COMMUNITY, UM, WAS NOT BY HAVING MEETINGS, BUT BY GOING TO THE GROCERY STORE, OR GOING TO THE PARK, OR GOING TO ANY OF THE NUMEROUS EVENTS THAT WE HOST, UM, AS A CITY, UH, OR JUST, YOU KNOW, GOING ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS AS A, AS A CITIZEN.
UM, I THINK AT THIS POINT, PEOPLE RECOGNIZE US AND WE'LL STOP YOU ON THE STREET AND TELL YOU WHAT THEY THINK.
UM, AND THAT'S REALLY, IN MY OPINION, WAS THE BEST WAY TO COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE, UM, BECAUSE THEY'LL TELL YOU, UH, THINGS THAT THEY MAY NOT SAY PUBLICLY IN A MEETING.
UM, SO, UH, I, I'M, I REALLY MISS THAT.
AND, AND WHILE I'M REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THIS MEDIUM TO COMMUNICATE, AND I'M GLAD THAT WE ARE GETTING SO MUCH FEEDBACK, UM, THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, I, OF COURSE, I STILL, STILL, UM, MISS SEEING YOUR FACES
UH, I, I, I REALLY DO MISS YOU GUYS, UH, UM, AND ALL THE, THE PEOPLE THAT ARE TUNING IN.
SO, UM, THANKS FOR, FOR, UH, UH, BEING CREATIVE ABOUT IT.
AND I WOULD JUST, I WOULD HOPE THAT WE COULD SORT OF STRETCH THE LIMITS OF WHAT'S EVEN LIKE LEGALLY ALLOWED TO REALLY TARGET, BECAUSE, UM, AS WE KNOW, UH, THERE IS SO MUCH INFORMATION AND SOMETIMES I, I REALLY JUST TURN IT OFF COMPLETELY, AND I JUST, BECAUSE YOU'RE BOMBARDED WITH INFORMATION AND THEN TRYING TO DETERMINE THE SOURCE AND IF IT'S RELIABLE OR NOT, UM, ALSO EVEN JUST, WE WASTE A LOT OF TIME JUST LOOKING THROUGH HEADLINES TO SEE IF IT'S EVEN SOMETHING THAT YOU WANNA READ, UM, AND THEN, YOU KNOW, HAVE TO, UH, SPEND TIME READING AND GETTING THE INFORMATION.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I APPRECIATE YOU GUYS.
UH, COUNCILWOMAN, I BELIEVE, UH, COUNCILWOMAN, ANDREW SULLIVAN, UH, HAD AN ADDITIONAL COMMENT.
UM, I APOLOGIZE, WANTED TO CHIME BACK IN AND EXCUSE MY, MY ABSENCE.
WE'RE HAVING OUR BACK TO SCHOOL DRIVE THROUGH, AND SO IT'S BUSY OUT THERE.
UM, AND THAT'S A PART OF ACTUALLY GETTING THE WORD OUT TO THE COMMUNITY.
UM, AND SO THE QUESTION THAT I HAVE IN IONS TO, UM, SOMETHING I BROUGHT UP YESTERDAY WITH THE, THE VIDEO RECORDINGS AND, AND SEEING HOW WE COULD HASH OUT A, A PLATFORM, WHETHER IT'S, UM, THROUGH MAYBE A PRE-RECORDED PHONE, EMAIL PORTAL, UM, OR EITHER SETTING UP AN APPOINTMENT TIME WHERE THEY COME IN AND, AND RECORD THEIR MESSAGE AND PUT IT TOGETHER IN A SHORT VIDEO, UM, PRIOR TO US GOING INTO COUNCIL SESSIONS, SO WE CAN HAVE THOSE PUBLIC COMMENTS, UH, BEFORE WE EVEN HAVE THE COUNCIL, UH, SESSIONS, WHERE, UM, SOMETIMES WE HAVE THAT LAG IN COMMUNICATION.
I THINK THAT WOULD BE A, A GREAT CONCEPT TO TRULY LOOK AND INVEST IN, SEE HOW WE COULD MAXIMIZE, UM, THE USE OF OUR
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T V S A, EVEN IF THAT'S, UM, HAVING THAT TO WHERE IT'S PUT ON T V S A, UM, SO PEOPLE KNOW THAT THEIR RECORDED MESSAGES ARE BEING HEARD AND BEING SEEN NOT ONLY BY COUNCIL, BUT BY THE COMMUNITY, THAT AS WELL, UM, THAT'S JUST WHAT I WANT TO CHIME BACK IN ON, MADAM CHAIR.WE, WE ARE GONNA EXPLORE THAT COUNCILWOMAN.
UM, ACTUALLY THE VERY FIRST YEAR OF ESSAY SPEAKUP WAS VERY MUCH ORIENTED AROUND THAT, THAT WE ASKED PEOPLE TO SUBMIT VIDEO COMMENTS ON THE BUDGET.
IT WAS MILDLY SUCCESSFUL, BUT NOT OVERWHELMINGLY SO.
UM, HOWEVER, I THINK THE WORLD HAS CHANGED AS WE'VE JUST SPENT THE LAST HOUR TALKING ABOUT, AND SO MAYBE THE, THE VIDEO COMMENT, IT, IT BECOMES A MUCH MORE APPEALING OPTION FOR FOLKS THAN IT MIGHT'VE BEEN FIVE YEARS AGO.
UH, SO WE'RE GONNA EXPLORE THAT, SEE IF WE CAN BAKE THAT INTO THE VARIOUS OPTIONS THAT PEOPLE CAN USE TO SUBMIT A COMMENT, UH, ON AN AGENDA ITEM, AND WE'LL REPORT BACK TO YOU ON THAT.
BECAUSE I WAS THINKING MAYBE IF IT'S THROUGH A, A TEXT LINK AS WELL, UM, THAT GOES DIRECTLY INTO A FEED, UM, JUST LOOKING AT THE INNOVATIVE AND, AND TECHNOLOGICAL WAYS WE CAN MAXIMIZE, UH, THE NEW AI WORLD.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, JUST A A, A FEW COMMENTS.
UH, FIRST OF ALL, UM, I COMPLETELY SUPPORT WHAT, WHAT EVERYONE HAS SAID, AND I, I ALSO WANNA HIGHLIGHT WHAT COUNCILWOMAN, UH,
AND, UM, UH, I, I DO BELIEVE IT'S IMPORTANT TO ALSO HAVE THAT IN THE NIGHTLY REPORT.
I MEAN, THAT'S WHAT THOUSANDS OF, OF PEOPLE WATCH, AND IT'S GREAT THAT IT'S OFFERED.
UM, I, I THINK IT'S, UH, LAMENTABLE THAT IT TOOK SEVERAL MONTHS INTO THE PANDEMIC BEFORE WE HAD, UM, A LATINA ON THERE.
UH, YOU WOULD THINK THAT THERE'S NO LATINA WORKING IN THE, IN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT.
SO, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH COUNCILWOMAN FOR, FOR BRINGING THAT UP.
UM, THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO MENTION IS I'M, I'M REALLY GLAD TO SEE ALL OF THESE ADVANCEMENTS, UH, LAURA AND JEFF.
AND ONE THING THAT WE WERE GONNA WORK ON BEFORE, UH, BEFORE COVID GOT IN THE WAY, WAS, UM, A GROUP OF MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, RIGHT, THAT COULD ADVISE US ON HOW WE TAKE INPUT, UH, WHICH SOUNDS A LITTLE BIT META, RIGHT? GETTING INPUT ON HOW YOU TAKE INPUT.
UH, BUT I STILL THINK IT'S EXTREMELY VALUABLE.
I KNOW WE STILL HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF MONEY SET ASIDE FOR A FACILITATOR.
I'M WONDERING IF THINGS HAVE KIND OF, UM, ARE THEY STABILIZED ENOUGH THAT WE CAN GET MOVING, UH, ON THAT? YES.
IN FACT, WE ARE, UM, UH, WITHOUT GETTING AHEAD OF THE SELECTION PROCESS, UM, WE SOLICITED, UM, I DON'T REMEMBER THE EXACT NUMBER, FIVE OR SEVEN FACILITATORS IN THE COMMUNITY.
I BELIEVE FIVE LAURA'S MOUTH AND, UM, UH, FIVE.
AND WE'VE GOTTEN PROPOSALS IN FROM THREE OR FOUR OF THEM.
UH, IT'S BUSY WEEK, SO WE HADN'T GOTTEN TO IT YET, BUT IT'S ON OUR PLATE TO REVIEW THOSE AND, UH, AND MAKE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND FOR OUR CONVERSATIONS WITH YOU IN THE PAST, THE IDEA WAS TO HIRE THE FACILITATOR FIRST AND THEN HAVE THE FACILITATOR, UH, BE PART OF, AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW WE ROUND OUT THAT ADVISORY GROUP TO BE, UH, ADEQUATELY REPRESENTATIVE AND, AND, UH, AND HELPFUL TO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH.
SO WE WE'RE WORKING ON THAT, AND WE EXPECT, UH, TO BE, UH, TO HAVE SOMEONE, UH, IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
THAT'S, UH, THAT'S GREAT NEWS.
MAYBE WE CAN BRING THAT AS AN UP, AS AN ITEM, UH, NEXT MONTH TO, TO THE GROUP.
UH, THE, THE OTHER THING I, I WANTED TO SUGGEST IS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD PEOPLE USING THE SYSTEM WITH H DRC ZONING, UH, AND NOW, AND COUNCIL, I'M WONDERING, I'M WONDERING IF IT, IT COULD HELP US TO HAVE A, LIKE A SURVEY OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE USED IT.
UH, JUST SOME BASIC QUESTIONS, UM, MAYBE THERE'S SOME FEEDBACK THEY HAVE THAT CAN HELP US, UH, FINE TUNE THINGS AS WE, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
YEAH, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING WE CAN ABSOLUTELY LOOK AT, IS A CUSTOMER, UH, FEEDBACK SURVEY THAT JUST TO SEE WHAT THEY LIKE, WHAT THEY DON'T LIKE.
THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS FOR NOW.
AND, UH, THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, FOR ALL THE WORK THAT, THAT YOU'VE, UH, THAT YOU'VE DONE.
SO, UH, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO THE, THE NEXT ITEM.
[4. 20-4487 A briefing on a draft resolution declaring racism a public health crisis, created in collaboration with Metro Health and Council District 2 and Council District 7. [David W. McCary, Assistant City Manager, Zan Gibbs, MPH, Chief Equity Officer]]
IS A BRIEFING ON A DRAFT RESOLUTION DECLARING RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS.UM, SO FOR THIS, WE DON'T HAVE A FORMAL, UH, STAFF PRESENTATION, UH, BUT WE DO HAVE, UH, FOUR MEMBERS OF
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THE PUBLIC SIGNED UP FOR COMMENT.SO WHAT, WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS HAVE, UM, COUNCILWOMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN BASICALLY LEAD THE DISCUSSION, UH, GIVE QUOTE THE PRESENTATION, UH, YOU KNOW, SAYING A FEW WORDS.
AND THEN ONCE SHE'S, UH, READY TO OPEN IT FOR DISCUSSION, WE'LL GO AHEAD AND TAKE THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
THEN WE'LL OPEN IT, UH, FOR FULL COUNCIL DIALOGUE, IF THAT'S OKAY WITH EVERYONE.
AND I, I DO WANNA RECOGNIZE, UH, ALL THE COLLABORATORS WHO ARE ON, ACTUALLY, I'LL LEAVE THAT TO THE COUNCILWOMAN.
WHY DON'T WE DO THAT? ALL RIGHT.
AND IF I FORGET ANYONE, PLEASE CHARGE IT TO MY HEAD AND NOT MY HEART.
UM, BECAUSE WE HAD SO MANY INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE THAT TOOK PART IN THIS PROCESS, AND I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU.
UM, WHEN WE WENT INTO THIS CLIMATE OF RACIAL, UM, UNREST, AND WE SAW AN UPRISING OF MANY THAT DECIDED TO HAVE THEIR VOICES HEARD, THE CRY ABOUT RACISM BECAME ANOTHER PART OF OUR DAILY LIVES.
AND SO, LOOKING AT IT AS A TRUE CALLING A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS AS WHAT WE SET OUT TO DO, UM, MANY OTHER CITIES HAVE ALREADY JOINED THIS, UM, DECLARATION AND ARE PUTTING FORTH THE MEASURES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ADDRESS SOME OF THE SYSTEMIC FIBERS OF AMERICA, NOT ONLY IN OUR NATIONAL LEVEL, BUT HERE IN THE LOCAL LEVEL AS WELL.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF SAN ANTONIO, THE HISTORY OF SAN ANTONIO IS BUILT ON MANY FORMS OF RACISM FROM NOT ONLY JUST THE BATTLE OF THE ALAMO, BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THE TRADITIONS THAT HAPPENED WITHIN HEMISPHERE ARENA.
UM, AND AT THAT TIME WHEN MY MOTHER WAS A CHILD AT 13 YEARS OLD, HAVING TO GO INTO AN OPEN PARK WHERE THE WATER FOUNTAINS WERE STILL MORE COLORED AND WHITE, GOING TO THE MAJESTIC THEATER AND KNOWING THAT THERE'S A BACK DOOR AND HOW TO GET INTO IT IS STILL EMBEDDED INTO HER MEMORY BANK.
WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SEGREGATION AND THE FIGHT FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, AND AS THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO PLAYED A MAJOR PART WITH MAKING SURE THAT WE STARTED THE MOVEMENT OF DESEGREGATING LUNCH COUNTERS, AND HOW WE'RE STILL IN THAT CONTINUOUS FIGHT, EVEN FOR THE WOOLWORTH BUILDING AS WE SPEAK NOW, BECAUSE A LOT OF PEOPLE ADDRESS THINGS AS THEY SEE THEM.
UM, SO MISS NETTY HINTON HAS BEEN A VERY VOCAL VOICE WITHIN THE FIGHT TO SECURE THE HISTORY AND HOW WE PRESERVE IT AND MOVE FORTH WITHIN OUR COMMUNITY.
DECLARING RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS IS NOT SAYING THAT WE'RE JUST DECLARING RACISM ON ONE COMMUNITY.
IT IS ACROSS THE BOARD WHETHER IT IS A FAMILY THAT HAS MOVED HERE FOR THE SAFETY OF THEIR CHILDREN, FLEEING FROM THE BORDERS OF MEXICO, WHETHER IT'S A NATIVE AMERICAN WHOSE SOIL, UM, THAT WE STAND ON BECAUSE THEY WERE THE PEOPLE THAT WERE HERE PRIOR TO ANYTHING ORIGINATING HERE IN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
WHETHER IT IS THE BLACK OR AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY, WHICH WE SEE MANY, MANY TIMES PORTRAYED OTHER THAN THE RURAL PEOPLE THAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE STANDING ON THE GROUNDS OF MORTALITY AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE STANDING ON THE GROUNDS OF INCLUSIVENESS.
THAT'S WHAT THIS DECLARATION IS CALLING FOR.
IT'S NOT TO EXCLUDE ONE, BUT TO INCLUDE ALL.
AND SO WE MOVE FORWARD BECAUSE WE KNOW IF A PERSON IS STRESSED, THEIR HEALTH IS GONNA DECLINE.
IF A PERSON DOESN'T HAVE ADEQUATE HOUSING, THEIR HEALTH IS GONNA DECLINE.
IF A PERSON IS NOT GIVEN ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE, HOW CAN WE SPEAK TO TRULY PRESERVING AND UPGRADING LIVES? IF WE'RE NOT SPEAKING TO THE HOLISTIC FEATURES OF A PERSON'S LIFESTYLE? IF WE'RE NOT ADDRESSING FOOD SECURITY IN AREAS THAT ONLY SEE FAST FOOD OR OVERPROCESSED FOOD AND NOT ANY CHOICE OF HEALTHY FOOD, WE ARE NOT SPEAKING TO OUR COMMUNITY.
WE MUST MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ADDRESSING EVERY ASPECT OF WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN WITHIN THE SAN ANTONIO COMMUNITY, WITHIN THE FABRIC AND THE LINING OF OUR COMMUNITIES TO ADDRESS EACH AND EVERY PERSON.
AND THAT'S WHAT THIS DECLARATION WILL DO.
SO THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL, AND YOUR TEAM.
THANK YOU, COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ AND YOUR TEAM.
THANK YOU, UH, COUNCILMAN TREVINO AND YOUR TEAM.
AND THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN BARRON.
I WANNA WANNA THANK Z FROM THE OFFICE OF EQUITY.
I WANNA THANK, UH, MR. MCCAREY, UH, FOR BEING AN ADVOCATE FOR HELPING US AND WALKING US THROUGH THIS PROCESS.
I WANNA THANK SO MANY VOICES OF OUR COMMUNITY THAT HAVE SPOKEN UP TO SAY, THIS IS WHAT TRULY NEEDS TO HAPPEN.
WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THE MONSTER IN THE ROOM.
WE HAVE TO ADDRESS THE DEMON THAT IS BEFORE US, AND WE HAVE TO SLAY A DRAGON BECAUSE WE ARE GOLIATHS IN THIS WAR.
AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING BY DECLARING RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS.
IF I DID FORGET ANYONE, COUNCILWOMAN, PLEASE, UH, HELP ME WITH ADDRESSING THEM, AND I APOLOGIZE, BUT I DO NOT WANNA TAKE UP ANY MORE OF THIS CONVERSATION, AND I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO YOU CHAIR.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, COUNCILWOMAN.
AND YOU'RE GONNA SAY THAT ALL OVER AGAIN.
WHEN WE GET TO THE, UH, ONCE THIS MOVES FORWARD FOR, FOR FULL COUNSEL, HOPEFULLY ADOPTION, UM,
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I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND, UH, CALL ON THE RESIDENTS WHO HAVE SIGNED UP TO SPEAK DURING PUBLIC COMMENT.UH, WE HAVE FOUR PEOPLE SIGNED UP, AND, UH, I BELIEVE, UH, THE CLERK WILL HELP ME.
UH, THE FIRST PERSON ON ON THE LIST I HAVE IS MR. MARLON DAVIS.
UH, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN.
UM, I THANK YOU COUNCILMAN SULLIVAN FOR THAT EARLY MOVING, UH, SPEECH AND INTRODUCTION.
I WANNA SAY HOW THANKFUL I AM TO HEAR THAT THIS IS BEING MADE INTO A RESOLUTION, HOW EXCITED I AM ABOUT THE PROSPECT THAT IT OFFERS.
I THINK RACISM IS A REALLY INTERESTING THING IN THAT IT'S NOT LIKE A TANGIBLE, SORT OF, UH, PROJECT YOU CAN POINT TO AND SOMETHING INSTEAD, LIKE EVERY RISK SUPPLIER.
UM, AND I THINK THAT THAT REALLY IS APPARENT WHEN WE LOOK AT THE HEALTH DISPARITIES ARE, UM, AVAILABLE TO AFRICAN AMERICANS AND LATIN NEXT POPULATION.
THEN, EVEN THOUGH WITH THE CURRENT ITERATION OF THE CORONAVIRUS, I THINK WE SAW REALLY EARLY ON SUPPORT FROM C C ET CETERA, THAT THESE POPULATIONS OF PEOPLE WERE AT A GREATER RISK FOR DEATH AND, UM, INFECTION AS IT PERTAINS TO, UM, COVID.
AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THESE THINGS, YOU KNOW, UM, AND TO THE POINT OF IT BEING A RISK MORE SUPPLIER, IT'S NOT BECAUSE THIS VIRUS HAS LIKE A SPECIAL OR SPECIFIC ATTRACTION TO MELANIN OR ANYTHING.
IT'S BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE, THESE POPULATIONS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE SITUATED, UM, LESS CAPABLE, LESS, UH, FUNDED AREAS.
AND SO I WAS GLAD TO HEAR COUNCILWOMAN SULLIVAN, YOU KNOW, RECANT THE HISTORY OF THIS, BECAUSE WE HAVE TO GROUND OURSELVES IN THAT MOVING FORWARD, JUST BECAUSE RACISM, SINCE RACISM IS THIS NEBULOUS THING, OUR EFFORTS TO CONFRONT IT HAVE TO BE CONCRETE.
AND SO WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE REASON THAT LATINX AND BLACK POPULATIONS IN SAN ANTONIO ARE MORE VULNERABLE IS PRECISELY BECAUSE OF THIS HISTORY OF REDLINING, PRECISELY BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THE PROJECT OF, EVEN THIS YEAR, THE HEALTH EQUITY COMMITTEE IS KIND OF, UM, BEING SPRUNG FORTH FROM THE EQUITY LENS.
AND THAT WAS, UH, COMING ON THE HEELS OF SAN ANTONIO BEING DECLARED, UH, YOU KNOW, THE MOST ECONOMIC SEGREGATED CITY IN THE NATION, HAVING THIS CRISIS OF INEQUALITY, AND THIS BEING A FORMAL MEASURE THAT WE DRAFTED AS A MEANS OF ESTABLISHING SOME KIND OF RESOLUTION TO THAT.
AND SO, I THINK WHAT I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO SEE THE MOST COME FROM THIS IS IN THE SAME WAY THAT THIS IS KIND OF CAUGHT FIVE AND FORMALIZED TO HAVE THAT SAME STANDARD OF APPLICATION OF POLICY AND FUNDING TO, UM, FOLLOW SUIT HERE, SO THAT IT'S NOT JUST A SORT OF LIKE A FIELDED MEASURE OR RALLYING CRY, BUT THAT WE'RE SAYING REAL AND TANGIBLE, UM, STEPS TAKEN TOWARDS RESOLVING WHAT, UM, WHAT, UH, THE RACISMS EFFECTS OF RACISM AND RAVAGING OUR COMMUNITIES.
AND THAT DEFINITELY STARTS AT THE ROOT OF, YOU KNOW, THIS ISSUE OF INEQUALITY AND, AND HOW THAT ALIENATE ALIENATES OUR MOST VULNERABLE AMONG US.
SO FOR ME PERSONALLY, THE, THE FIRST AND EASIEST CONFRONTATION OF THAT IS TO BE, TO BEGIN REAL BUDGET AWAY FROM A PUNITIVE INSTITUTION OF POLICING, UM, AND MORE TOWARDS, UH, DIRECT INVESTMENT IN HEALTHCARE SO THAT WE MOVE AWAY FROM A, UM, A PUBLIC SAFETY MODEL THAT'S ABOUT PUNITIVENESS AND MORE TOWARDS ONE PREVENTION.
UM, THERE'S TONS OF RESEARCH TO SUBSTANTIATE THIS PEOPLE'S POLICY PROJECT IN NEW YORK'S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.
UM, IN COLLABORATION WITH THE, THE LINCOLN POLICY INSTITUTE ACTUALLY PUBLISHED A REALLY STRONG REPORT ABOUT, UM, HOW DECENTRALIZING POLICE BUDGETS AND INVESTING DIRECTLY IN COMMUNITY CAN REALLY GO FOR, ITS A SENSE OF ECONOMIC JUSTICE THAT DOES PREVENT CRIME, AND THAT DOES EMPOWER COMMUNITY.
SO I'M, I'M EXCITED TO HEAR MORE ABOUT THIS.
I'M EXCITED TO BE A PART OF THIS PROJECT, UM, HOWEVER WAY I CAN, AND I REALLY LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING US MOVE FORWARD AND HAVE A, A MEANINGFUL TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. DAVIS.
UH, WE'RE MOVING ON TO MS. CELESTE BROWN.
UH, AS MARLON STATED PRIOR TO MYSELF, UH, THIS IS VERY EXCITING TO HEAR, RIGHT? UH, TO ADDRESS RACISM IN A HOLISTIC WAY AND, AND UNDERSTANDING THAT IT'S EMBEDDED WITHIN EVERY ASPECT OF OUR CITY.
UM, AND ESPECIALLY, LIKE YOU SAID, IT, IT TRULY IS A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS, RIGHT? AND SINCE, SINCE MARCH, UH, AND REALLY FOR, FOR ALL OF OUR LIVES, RIGHT, AS BLACK FOLKS, UM, OR LATINX FOLKS, UM, WE'VE KIND OF BEEN, BEEN BATTLING UP AGAINST, UH, RACISM ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE THAT EXISTS WITHIN OUR SOCIETY, RIGHT? SO WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF, OF TWO PANDEMICS RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS KIND OF LIKE I LIKE TO SAY.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT THIS IS A, A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND BASICALLY CALLING RACISM WHAT IT IS.
UM, BUT I DO THINK, UH, TO, TO THE POINT THAT WAS MADE EARLIER HERE, RIGHT? UNDER THE SAME VEIN OF EQUITY, UM, WE WANNA DO SOMETHING THAT'S A BIT MORE CONCRETE AND A BIT MORE TANGIBLE FOLLOWING THIS.
AND SO THIS IS LIKE A GREAT FIRST STEP ON A MUCH LARGER, LONG-TERM, UH, PROCESS, RIGHT? IN THE SENSE OF ENSURING THAT, UM, WE ARE CREATING EQUITY AND EMBEDDING IT WITHIN EVERYTHING THAT WE DO.
AND AS PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS, I KNOW THAT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT THIS COMMITTEE SPECIFICALLY LOOKS AT.
UM, AND SO WE CAN CALL RACISM A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS, BUT IF OUR BUDGET IS NOT REFLECTIVE
[01:40:01]
OF THAT IN THE SENSE OF, UH, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE FUNDING MORE PROACTIVE MEASURES, THAT WE'RE FUNDING THE NEEDS OF COMMUNITIES, UM, WE'RE ADDRESSING THE THINGS THAT CAUSE OUR COMMUNITIES TO BE RACIALLY PROFILED THAT CAUSE OUR COMMUNITIES TO BE OVER CRIMINALIZED.UM, THAT'S WHAT COMES AFTER THIS, RIGHT? AND SO, UM, I JUST WANTED TO, OF COURSE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND MAKING THIS HAPPEN.
I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN WORKING ON IT FOR A WHILE.
UM, I KNOW I HAD TO GO THROUGH GOVERNANCE AND THEN COME TO Y'ALL, AND THEN OF COURSE, THEN I HAVE TO OFFICIALLY GO TO COUNCIL.
UM, BUT, YOU KNOW, IN JUST KEEPING THE MOMENTUM GOING, I JUST URGE ALL OF YOU, UM, TO REMEMBER THAT AS WE'RE LOOKING AT THINGS THROUGH A LENS OF EQUITY AND TRULY ADDRESSING THE ROOT CAUSES OF RACISM, EXCUSE ME, WE HAVE TO LOOK WITHIN, UH, THE MORALITY OF, OF OUR BUDGET, RIGHT? AS A LIVING AND BREATHING DOCUMENT THAT IS TO BE REFLECTIVE OF THE PRIORITIES OF THE CITY.
UM, AND SO WITH THAT, I, UH, I THANK YOU AGAIN FOR DOING THIS, AND I URGE YOU TO CONTINUE YOUR ADVOCACY IN ADDRESSING RACISM, UH, AT ITS ROOT, AT A SYSTEMIC CAUSE, UM, AND, AND THAT YOU APPLY THE SAME LEVEL OF SCRUTINY TO THE BUDGET.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. BROWN.
UH, NEXT WE HAVE MS. JORDAN PARK.
WE DON'T HAVE A PHONE NUMBER FOR HER AT THE MOMENT, OKAY? IF WE CAN GO BACK TO HER.
UH, CURRENTLY WE, UH, WE'RE GONNA GO BACK TO HER.
WE'RE GETTING HER PHONE NUMBER, AND WE HAVE, UH, MR. FARROW CLARK.
OH, PLEASE GO AHEAD, MR. CLARK.
I WANT TO FIRST THANK CITY, THE COUNCIL FOR HAVING THE CHANCE TO SPEAK BEFORE Y'ALL.
AND I WANT TO RE, I WANNA BACKDOOR WHAT MARLON AND CELESTE BO SAID.
UM, I AM ACTUALLY PRETTY EXCITED THAT THIS IS BEING BROUGHT UP AS A RESOLUTION, UM, BECAUSE I THINK THAT IT'S ABOUT TIME THAT WE STARTED ADDRESSING THIS FOR WHAT IT IS.
IT IS SOMETHING THAT PLAGUED THE BLACK COMMUNITY ON A DAILY BASIS.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET AWAY FROM, AND IT'S ABOUT TIME THAT WE STARTED TAKING SERIOUS AGGRESSIVE MEASURES AS FAR AS HOW WE'RE GOING TO HANDLE IT.
I DO HOPE THAT WE CAN EARN, UM, A SENSE OF EXPEDIENCY WITH THIS.
I HOPE THAT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT GETS BOGGED DOWN INTO COMMISSIONS AND, AND IN THE, YOU KNOW, ROOMS AND TALKS, AND THEN WE'RE NOT ABLE TO HEAR ABOUT THIS AGAIN FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS.
I WOULD HOPE THAT THERE'S SOMETHING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL CAN DO TO TRY TO PUSH THIS FORWARD AND GET THIS RESOLUTION PASSED INTO SOMETHING THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY HOLD AND SOMETHING THAT'S TANGIBLE.
UM, BUT I DO APPRECIATE THE STEP IN THAT DIRECTION BECAUSE I, AS MANY OTHERS WILL AGREE WITH YOU, THAT, UM, IS A PLAGUE.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT PLAGUES THIS CITY, AND IT, NOT ONLY THE CITY, BUT ALSO THIS NATION.
AND IT'S REARED ITS HEAD IN VERY UGLY WAYS.
AND UNTIL WE ARE HONEST ABOUT IT, UNTIL WE ADDRESS IT, AND UNTIL WE COME UP WITH THE MEANS OF HOW WE'RE GOING TO SERIOUSLY DEFEAT IT, THEN WE'RE JUST SPINNING WHEELS.
SO WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SAY IS, I APPRECIATE EVERYBODY HERE, ESPECIALLY JADA, ANDREW SULLIVAN, FOR GETTING THIS DONE.
BUT I WOULD LIKE TO URGE THAT WE REALLY PUT SOME EXPEDIENCE ON ACTUALLY GETTING THIS PASSED, BECAUSE I DO BELIEVE THAT WE'VE BEEN WAITING FOR FAR TOO LONG, AND WE DON'T WANT TO SIT AROUND AND WAIT FOR COMMITTEES AND, AND DIFFERENT PROCESSES THAT MAY TAKE MONTHS AND MONTHS AND MONTHS BEFORE WE ACTUALLY GET ACTION.
I BELIEVE THAT THE TIME TO ACT IS NOW.
AND SO I'M HOPING THAT ALL OF YOU WILL AGREE WITH ME AND WILL DO ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN IN YOUR POWER TO PUSH THIS FORWARD SO THAT WE CAN GET AN IMMEDIATE RESOLUTION TO THE EPIDEMIC THAT IS PLAGUING BLACK AND BROWN AMERICAN IN THIS COUNTRY.
UH, I BELIEVE WE HAVE, OH, SORRY.
ALRIGHT, IF WE, IF SHE CALLS IN LATER, THEN, UH, WE CAN, UH, GIVE HER THE FLOOR AT THAT TIME.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC, UH, FOR THEIR, UM, MOTIVATING WORDS AND, UH, REMINDING US PART OF THE WORK THAT WE'RE HERE TO DO AS, AS COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, I ALSO WANNA THANK, UM, UH, CARLOS RODRIGUEZ.
WE DIDN'T MENTION HIM, UH, FROM THE METRO HEALTH, UH, EQUITY, UH, OFFICE.
UH, CARLOS WAS WITH ME ON THE FIRST TOWN HALL I DID FOR C OVID 19.
UH, WE DID A BY, WE DID ONE IN ENGLISH AND ONE IN SPANISH.
UM, BACK WHEN WE DIDN'T, UH, STAY TOO FAR AWAY FROM EACH OTHER.
REMEMBER, WE WERE IN THE SAME ROOM.
UH, BUT THANK YOU, CARLOS, FOR, FOR YOUR INPUT INTO THIS AND, AND VAN AS WELL.
I'M GOING TO MOVE ON TO COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS, UH, THERE, THEY'RE ALL SIGNED UP TO SPEAK.
SO, UH, I'LL START WITH, UH, COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ.
UM, SO THANK YOU CHAIR, AND, UM, THANK YOU COUNCILWOMAN, UH, ANDREW SULLIVAN FOR THE, UM, RESOLUTION.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, OVER THE YEARS,
[01:45:01]
UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE THAT MANY OF US HAVE BEEN TRYING TO ADDRESS.UH, YOU KNOW, WHEN I WROTE THE EQUITY BUDGET IN 2017, UM, THE REASON THAT I USED P C I SCORES SORT OF STREET MAINTENANCE, UM, WAS BECAUSE IT WAS A NUMBER THAT PEOPLE COULDN'T ARGUE.
THERE WAS NO A PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT P C I SCORES.
SO, UM, IT WAS AN EASY PLACE TO START, UH, BUT NOW HAD MANY OTHERS.
ADDITIONAL STUDIES SHOW THAT, UH, I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH EQUITY IN THIS COMMUNITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE ALSO, THAT A WOMEN REPORT AND WE KNOW WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE, UM, FOR WOMEN IN THIS COMMUNITY.
AND WE ALSO, UM, I, WHEN I REQUESTED THE POVERTY REPORT, A COUPLE OF, WELL, NOW PRE COVID, UM, I SO CALLED POVERTY A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS, UM, AND IT DIDN'T GET ANY TRACTION.
SO HAVE THE, UM, THE MOMENTUM ON THE COUNCIL, UH, AND THE DESIRE AND THE COMMUNITY TO START TACKLING THESE ISSUES THAT HAVE PLAGUED US FOR A LONG TIME, UM, EQUITY AND SEXISM AND RACISM AND POVERTY, UM, THAT HAVE CREATED THIS CITY, UH, INTO WHAT WITH WHAT IT IS TODAY.
AND, AND I THINK COVID JUST EXAS EXASPERATED IT BY, UM, HAVING SO MANY PEOPLE DIE, ESPECIALLY AS IT RELATES TO HEALTH.
SO, UM, SURE EVERYBODY CAN HEAR.
I DON'T HAVE A BABYSITTER TODAY, SO I, I, I, AND I HAD SO MUCH TO, TO TALK ABOUT, UM, REGARDING THIS TOPIC, BUT I ALSO HAVE SOME CONCERNS ABOUT, UM, THE IMMEDIACY OF IT.
UH, DO YOU MIND COMING BACK TO ME IN JUST A MINUTE, COUNSEL? UH, SEE IF I CAN GET, UM, A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK FROM, FROM THESE.
UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, AND I AGREE WITH WHAT, WHAT COUNCIL, UH, MEMBER GONZALEZ WAS SAYING.
SO, UH, KUDOS TO HER FOR, FOR ALWAYS BRINGING THE, THE ISSUE OF EQUITY TO OUR CITY.
UM, I WANNA THANK COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, ANDREW SULLIVAN FOR HER LEADERSHIP AND COURAGE ON THIS ISSUE.
UM, THE FIRST STEP IN ELIMINATING RACISM IS ACKNOWLEDGING THAT IT EXISTS AS WELL AS THE HARM IT CAUSES OUR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, COLOR, ESPECIALLY OUR AFRICAN AMERICAN RESIDENTS.
UH, BECAUSE SYSTEMIC RACISM IS, IS COVERT AND HIDES IN PLAIN SIGHT WITHIN ARCHAIC LAWS.
WE MUST TAKE THIS DECLARATION AND WORK HAND IN HAND WITH THE COMMUNITY TO STRENGTHEN OUR LOCAL HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE, PUBLIC SAFETY POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.
UH, THERE'S A LOT OF HEALING THAT NEEDS TO TAKE PLACE AND A LOT OF TRUST THAT NEEDS TO BE BUILT.
UH, SO THIS IS THE FIRST KEY STEP, I THINK, AND, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SUPPORTING THIS RESOLUTION AT A SESSION.
UH, AND I WANT TO JUST GIVE A SMALL EXAMPLE.
'CAUSE WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS.
AND YOU CAN SEE, I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU DO HAVE A COUNCIL THAT IS, THAT IS, UH, SUPPORTIVE AND HAVE FOUND WAYS TO, TO HELP ADDRESS SYSTEMIC ISSUES.
SO ONE THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH RIGHT NOW IS THE IMPACT OF EVICTION ON FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS IS EVEN GREATER, RIGHT? UH, SO WE KNOW THAT, UH, EVICTION IS LINKED TO NUMEROUS POOR HEALTH OUTCOMES, INCLUDING, UH, DEPRESSION, SUICIDE, AND ANXIETY AMONG OTHERS.
IN ADDITION, EVICTION IS LINKED WITH RESPIRATORY DISEASE, WHICH COULD, UH, INCREASE THE RISK OF COMPLICATIONS IF COVID IS CONTRACTED, AS WELL AS MORTALITY RISK DURING C OVID 19 EVICTION MAKES IT MORE EXPENSIVE AND MORE DIFFICULT FOR TENANTS WHO HAVE BEEN EVICTED TO RENT SAFE AND DECENT HOUSING APPLY FOR CREDIT, BORROW MONEY, OR PURCHASE A HOME.
INSTABILITY LIKE EVICTION IS PARTICULARLY DAMAGING TO CHILDREN WHO SUFFER IN WAYS THAT IMPACT THEIR EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND WELLBEING FOR YEARS, THE PUBLIC COST OF EVICTIONS ARE FAR REACHING.
AND, UH, WE, WE, WE'VE GOT SOME STATS HERE.
STUDIES FROM THE CITIES, FROM CITIES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY HAVE SHOWN THAT PEOPLE OF COLOR, PARTICULARLY BLACK AND LATINX PEOPLE, CONSTITUTE APPROXIMATELY 80%.
THAT'S RIGHT, 80% OF PEOPLE FACING EVICTION.
UH, ALSO THE CENSUS BUREAU WEEK 12 HOUSING PULSE SURVEY INDICATES THAT NEARLY HALF OF BLACK AND HISPANIC RENTERS HAVE SLIGHT OR NO CONFIDENCE IN THEIR ABILITY TO PAY NEXT MONTH'S RENT ON TIME.
MOREOVER, 27% OF BLACK RENTERS AND 25% OF HISPANIC RENTERS REPORT BEING UNABLE TO PAY RENT LAST MONTH.
BUT THESE ARE JUST SOME, SOME BASIC EXAMPLES OF, OF HOW IT'S ALL CONNECTED AND WHY I WOULD S WILL SUPPORT THIS RESOLUTION THAT, THAT, UH, THAT WAS BROUGHT
[01:50:01]
FORTH BY MY COLLEAGUE.THANK YOU AGAIN, COUNCIL MEMBER JADA, UH, ANDREW SULLIVAN, FOR WHAT YOU'RE DOING.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS IS, THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A LOT OF WORK THAT I THINK THAT, UH, THE COMMUNITY, UH, THE WORLD IS, IS HOPING THAT WE ADDRESS, UH, ONCE AND FOR ALL.
UM, I'M GONNA MOVE ON TO, UH, COUNCILWOMAN VRAN, UNLESS COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ, YOU LET US KNOW WHEN YOU'RE, WHEN YOU'RE READY.
I, I, YOU KNOW WHAT, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL, I'LL TRY AND, UH, AND JUST SORT OF WRAP UP MY, MY COMMENTS.
UM, THERE, THERE WAS A CALLER, UM, UH, I, I THINK IT'S FOR CLARK THAT MENTIONED THE URGENCY.
UM, AND SO I DO HAVE THAT CONCERN WITH URGENCY AS WELL.
UM, AND THAT WAS, YOU KNOW, IN OUR BUDGET PRESENTATION YESTERDAY, WE TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, TRYING TO REDIRECT FUNDS FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO OTHER ORGANIZATIONS THAT COULD HELP, ESPECIALLY RELATED TO HOMELESSNESS AND VIOLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
AND OF COURSE, THERE'S THE ISSUE OF HOW QUICKLY THOSE ORGANIZATIONS CAN ALSO RAMP UP TO SERVE LIKE THE TREMENDOUS NEED OF ADDICTIONS AND HOMELESSNESS AND, AND ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
SO, UM, WHILE I, I, I FEEL AN URGENCY, I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT IT'S GONNA TAKE TIME, UM, TO FIRST OF ALL CHANGE THE CULTURE, UH, AND CHANGE THE, THE, UM, UM, THE EXPECTATION, UH, OF THE COMMUNITY BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WHEN WE CALLED HAVE CALLED 9 1 1 ABOUT ISSUES, PEOPLE EXPECTED A FAST RESPONSE.
AND SO WE KNOW THAT DEALING WITH ISSUES IS NOT GONNA BE A FAST RESPONSE.
UM, SO I JUST, I, I, I FEEL URGENCY TO, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT WE NEED TIME TO, TO, TO GET THESE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS RAISE UP TO DO THE WORK.
UM, I'M GONNA MOVE ON TO COUNCILWOMAN VIGA.
WE CAN'T HEAR YOU YET, COUNCILWOMAN.
IT'S BECAUSE I DIDN'T UNMUTE MY PHONE.
I WANNA THANK, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, ANDREW SULLIVAN FOR YOUR WORK AND BRINGING THIS FORWARD.
IT'S ABSOLUTELY, UM, UH, ESSENTIAL THAT WE HAVE THIS CONVERSATION.
AND I DO, UH, WANT TO THANK COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, OR CHAIR SANDOVAL FOR THE VERY EXCITING AND WONDERFUL FACEBOOK CONVERSATION, UH, THAT, THAT YOU HAD ABOUT PUBLIC HEALTH AND RACISM, UH, RACISM AS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE.
SO I THINK I NEED SOME, UH, LEVEL SETTING FOR MYSELF AS WE ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS RESOLUTION, BECAUSE IT WAS HEARD AT GOVERNANCE IN JUNE AND AT THE END OF JUNE, AND THEN, UM, YOU ALL, A GROUP OF PEOPLE WORKED ON IT.
SO, UM, SO IF YOU COULD TALK TO ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE CHANGES THAT WERE MADE, THE, THE CHANGES FROM, BECAUSE LOOKING AT THE FIRST ORIGINAL RESOLUTION, AND IT WAS DIFFERENT FROM THIS ONE AND WHY THE CHANGES AND WHAT WERE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CHANGES, BUT, UM, I'LL GIVE THAT TO YOU, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN, IF YOU COULD.
BUT BEFORE THAT, I ALSO WANT TO LEVEL SET AND GROUND OURSELVES WITH KNOWING THAT RACE IS NOT BASED ON BIOLOGY.
RACE IS AN IDEA THAT WE ASCRIBED TO BIOLOGY.
SO IT'S AN ILLUSION OF POWER THAT'S JUST A, A LEVEL SETTING THAT WE ALL THINK NEED TO, NOT JUST ME AND US, BUT EVERYBODY NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND.
IT'S KIND OF LIKE THE EARTH IS NOT FLAT KIND OF THINKING THAT WE NEED TO, TO DO SO.
UM, SO THE CHANGES FROM THE FIRST RESOLUTION INTO THIS ONE COUNCIL MEMBER, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE JOURNEY THAT GOT IT TO THIS POINT? YES, MA'AM.
UM, DEFINITELY WITH THE CHANGES, WE STARTED OFF WITH A GENERIC PLATFORM OF WHAT WOULD A RESOLUTION LOOK LIKE, SO A SKELETON STRUCTURE, UM, HOW WE CAN GO FORWARD.
AND WE USED A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES OUT OF DALLAS AND THEN A COUPLE EXAMPLES THAT WERE, THAT CAME OUT OF, UH, MINNEAPOLIS AS WELL.
AND SO WE DECIDED THAT WE NEEDED A, A LARGER STRUCTURE BECAUSE FOR ME, IT DIDN'T SPEAK, UM, TO THE WHOLE, UH, DEFINITION OF, OF WHAT RACISM IS.
IT WASN'T INCLUSIVE OF, OF ALL OF THOSE ASPECTS.
SO, UM, VAN WAS ABLE TO GET A HOLD OF IT.
[01:55:01]
WENT THROUGH THE EQUITY REPORT AND, UM, I BELIEVE CARLOS, AND THERE WERE SEVERAL PEOPLE THAT DECIDED TO LOOK AT THE REPORTS THAT COUNCILWOMAN GONZALEZ HAD ACTUALLY BROUGHT FORTH.UM, SO THE PROPERTY REPORT, THE STATUS OF WOMAN REPORT, UM, THE EQUITY JUSTICE REPORT, LOOKING AT THE EQUITY MATRIX, UM, AND INCLUDING THAT INTO THE PROCESS.
AND THEN WITH MR. MCCAREY, UM, IT WENT TO A PROCESS OF HOW DO WE LOOK AT THIS WITHIN OUR CITY STRUCTURE, UM, AND WHAT IS MISSING FROM THAT ASPECT.
UM, WORKING WITH COUNCILWOMAN SANDOVAL AND HAVING THAT FACE, UH, THAT FACEBOOK TOWN HALL TRULY SPOKE TO SOME OTHER THINGS THAT WE WERE NOT ADDRESSING.
AND THEN WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE ISSUE ACROSS THE BOARD, LIKE YOU SAID, IT'S NOT JUST THE SKIN THAT WE'RE IN, BUT IT'S ACROSS THE BOARD AND MAKING SURE THAT THAT WAS ALL INCLUSIVE.
WE DIDN'T WANT ANYONE FEELING LIKE IT WAS JUST DIRECTED TOWARDS ONE, UH, INDIVIDUAL, ONE PEOPLE, UM, TO TRULY SPEAK TO THE ASPECT OF THE UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT WHO IS HERE WORKING.
WE GIVE YOU A SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER YOU CAN PAY INTO YOUR TAXES, BUT YOU'RE STILL NOT, UM, ABLE TO GET EVEN, UM, THE ASPECT OF CARES DOLLARS THROUGH OUR HOUSING ASSISTANCE.
SO THAT IS A FORM OF, OF DISCONNECT WITHIN HOW WE'RE LOOKING AT A PEOPLE, NOT JUST AT A A, A SKIN OR A RACE AS A WHOLE, BUT TRULY SPEAKING TO THE ASPECT OF AN INDIVIDUAL.
IT'S A HUMANITARIAN STANDPOINT.
AND WITH ALL OF THAT BEING IN THE PROCESS AND THEN LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY AND HOW THE COMMUNITY IS FEELING ABOUT US NOT STEPPING UP TO TRULY SAY THERE IS A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM, NOT ONLY IN OUR POLICE DEPARTMENT, NOT ONLY IN OUR GOVERNMENT COATING, BUT IN THE FABRIC AND FIBER IN WHICH WE LIVE.
AND SO WITH ALL OF THOSE ASPECTS IN, IN MIND, IN HEART, AND THROUGH THE WRITINGS AND COLLABORATIONS AND BACK, UM, TO, TO FEEDBACK AND THEN BRING IT BACK AND THEN MAKE THESE CHANGES, WE WERE ABLE TO COME UP WITH THE RESOLUTION THAT WE HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU.
UM, ANYONE ELSE WANT TO ADD THAT? BECAUSE I SAW ON THE ORIGINAL DRAFT YOU DID HAVE A DEFINITION IN THERE AS, AS PUBLIC, UH, REGARDING PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE DEFINITION OF PUBLIC HEALTH.
AND I THINK AS WE'RE SETTING THE, THE CONVERSATION THAT THE FIRST LINE TALKS ABOUT THE OFFICE OF EQUITY AND, UM, I MEAN, FIRST AND FOREMOST, YOU ALL KNOW THIS.
I MEAN, I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT DISMANTLING SYSTEMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL RACISM AND SEXISM FOR A VERY LONG TIME, UH, BECAUSE IT'S JUST PART OF THE HISTORY OF MY FAMILY, MY PEOPLE, THE AREA THAT WE HAVE TO DISMANTLE IT.
AND THAT'S, UM, AND COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, ANDREW SULLIVAN, YOUR WORDS ARE VERY INCLUSIVE.
AND, UM, WHAT YOU WERE SHARING HOW YOU SAID YOU WANT TO NOT EXCLUDE, BUT INCLUDE ALL, I THINK THAT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
AND, UH, I'M GLAD THAT WE HAVE THAT BECAUSE THE LAST THING WE WANT TO DO IS, UM, CREATE ANY, WELL, ANYWAY, THAT'S WHAT WE WANT TO DO.
NOT TO EXCLUDE, BUT TO INCLUDE.
AND BECAUSE MANY, UNFORTUNATELY, ALTHOUGH LATINOS HAVE BEEN A MAJORITY ARE ARE, AND HAVE BEEN THE MAJORITY OF, UH, SAN ANTONIO, WE'VE, LATINOS, LATINX, HAVE NEVER CARRIED A POSITION OF A TRUE, A GOVERNMENT POWER, ET CETERA.
I MEAN, WE STILL, ANYHOW, UM, I WON'T GET OFF, I WON'T GO INTO ANY TANGENTS.
SO I THINK THAT'S IMPORTANT AS WE DRAFT THIS, THIS RESOLUTION THAT THE RESOLUTION IDENTIFIES THAT FOR, UM, OUR AFRICAN AMERICAN, UH, BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND OUR LATINX, UM, COMMUNITY HERE.
UM, SO MOVING DOWN IN THE RESOLUTION, IT'S, IT'S VERY LONG.
AND, UH, TELL ME WHY, I MEAN, I KNOW WE WANNA CAPTURE A LOT OF ITEMS, AND I'M STILL TALKING ABOUT THE WHEREAS PORTION, I'M NOT GOING INTO THE NOW, THEREFORE PORTION, BUT TELL ME MORE ABOUT THE WHY IT IS THE, THE WANT TO PUT ALL OF THAT INFORMATION.
I KNOW IT'S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO TELL OUR STORY AND WE NEED TO TELL OUR STORY, BUT TELL ME, UM, WHY WANTING TO PUT ALL OF THOSE ELEMENTS IN HERE.
UM, WE HAVE A GENERATION NOW THAT'S WITHIN SAN ANTONIO THAT DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE TRUE HISTORY OF HOW WE GOT HERE.
UM, AND SO THE STORY HAS TO BE IN FULL DETAIL.
IF YOU ONLY TELL HALF THE STORY, THEN YOU'RE ONLY GONNA GET HALF THE RESULT.
UM, SO THAT'S WHY WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PUT THE WHOLE STORY, UM, NOT JUST FROM THE HISTORY OF, OF HOW IT BEGAN, BUT HOW WE STARTED TO MAKE STRIDES AND ADDRESSING EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THESE ISSUES, UM, THROUGH THE OFFICE OF EQUITY, THROUGH THE POVERTY REPORT.
[02:00:01]
IT THROUGH A HOUSING PERSPECTIVE, HOW DOES THAT LOOK? BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT WITHIN THIS PROCESS, UM, WITHOUT HOUSING, WE DO HAVE A HEALTH CRISIS THAT IT'S GONNA BECOME EVEN MORE, UM, INSURMOUNTABLE IF WE DON'T TACKLE IT.SO WE HAD TO PUT THAT IN THERE.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE, WHEREAS, UM, WHEN IT COMES TO NOT ONLY AFRICAN AMERICANS, BUT NATIVES IN THE LATE MIX AND HOW THEY'VE BEEN EXCLUDED FROM THE CONVERSATION OF GOVERNMENT.
AND HOW DOES THAT LOOK WHEN YOU GO BACK TO THE HISTORY OF THE FOUNDATION OF TEXAS WITH THE TEXAS BLACK CODES AND HOW DOES THAT LOOK? IT SPEAKS TO CONTRACTING.
SO THAT SPEAKS TO THE CITY GOVERNMENT.
THAT SPEAKS TO HOW WE LOOK AT EQUITY WHEN WE'RE PUTTING OUT BIDS FOR THESE CONTRACTS.
SO IF WE DON'T HAVE ALL OF THE PIECES OF THE PUZZLE WITHIN THIS RESOLUTION, THEN WE'RE NOT ADDRESSING AND WE'RE NOT TACKLING EXACTLY EVERY ENTITY IN EVERY, UM, SYSTEMIC PROBLEM.
AND SO WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE THAT COME BEHIND US, UM, UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY AND THEY UNDERSTAND WHERE WE'RE COMING FROM, AND THEY UNDERSTAND WHERE WE'RE TRYING AND INITIATING THE PROCESS TO GO.
SO THAT'S WHY THE WHERE PORTION IS SO LONG, BECAUSE IF YOU EXCLUDE ONE PIECE, THEN WE'RE MISSING A PIECE OF THE PUZZLE PUZZLE.
AND SO IT'S, IT'S GONNA BE A LONG RESOLUTION BECAUSE IT'S A LONG HISTORY OF THE PROBLEM THAT WE'RE IN.
AND CAN YOU SHARE WITH ME WHY YOU ALL CHOSE, UM, TO PUT FORWARD AND, AND I WOULD LOVE TO, BECAUSE IN ONE OF THE, WHEREAS WE TALK ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BLACK, AFRICAN AMERICAN AND OTHER PEOPLE OF COLOR, NOT ONLY IN THEIR LIFETIMES, UM, SHARE WITH ME, UH, WITH, WITH THE SPECIFIC CALLING OUT OF THAT.
AND IT CAN BE YOU COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN OR, OR ZEN OR CHAIR OR WHOMEVER.
AND THE AGREEMENT AND THE AGREEMENT TO ALL OF THAT AS WELL AND WHY THE AGREEMENT CAME TO THAT.
UM, SO I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE, UM, Z ACTUALLY, UM, TAKE A PART BECAUSE SHE WAS ALSO A GREAT PART IN THIS.
AND THEN AFTER ZAN, IF, IF MR. MCCAREY, UH, WOULD LIKE TO, TO ANSWER, UH, THAT QUESTION AS WELL, PLEASE.
UM, THIS IS DAN GIBBS, CHIEF EQUITY OFFICER.
UM, FIRST AND FOREMOST, I JUST WANNA SAY THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR WORKING ON THIS AND ENTERTAINING THIS AND, UH, ALLOWING US TO ALL BE A PART OF THIS COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO GET TO THIS DRAFT.
UM, WE, UM, WANTED TO BE REALLY INCLUSIVE, AND SO ONE OF THE REASONS IT IS PRETTY LONG IS THAT WE ACTUALLY ALSO INCLUDED A DRAFT THAT SOME COMMUNITY MEMBERS HAD WRITTEN.
SO THERE WERE SOME INDIVIDUALS WHO HAD SUPPORTED THE HEALTH TRANSITION TEAM AS WELL AS THE PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE WHO HAD WRITTEN A VERY LENGTHY VERSION THAT WAS OVER SIX PAGES LONG, UH, THAT WE ALSO RECEIVED MANY WEEKS AGO IN TANDEM WITH THE ONE FROM COUNCILWOMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN.
SO THE FIRST PASS WAS TO TAKE A, TAKE A LOOK AT THE GREAT WORK THAT HAD HAPPENED IN BOTH.
SO WE MERGED EVERYTHING TOGETHER, AND OUR FIRST VERSION OF THIS WAS ALMOST SEVEN PAGES LONG, BECAUSE WE REALLY WANTED TO, YOU KNOW, INCORPORATE EVERYONE'S VOICES AND MAKE SURE THAT PARTICULARLY ALL PEOPLE OF COLOR WERE REALLY IDENTIFIED IN THIS RESOLUTION.
AND THAT WE REALLY SPOKE TO ALL OF THE DIFFERENT DISPARITIES THAT WERE EXPERIENCED.
AND WE ALSO SAW THIS AS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, ANDREW SULLIVAN'S POINT TO REALLY HONOR SOME OF THE, THE HISTORIC POLICIES SPECIFIC TO SAN ANTONIO THAT HAVE CAUSED THESE DISPARATE OUTCOMES.
SO WE DID WANNA MENTION THOSE, AND WE JUST INCLUDED A COUPLE.
ANDREW SULLIVAN MENTIONED A FEW MORE, UH, SUCH AS THE WATER FOUNTAIN IN THE MAJESTIC THEATER.
THERE'S MANY EXAMPLES WITHIN SAN ANTONIO.
BUT WE FELT LIKE CALLING OUT THAT HISTORY THAT SORT OF HELPED OUTLINE WHERE WE WERE TODAY WAS, WAS RELEVANT.
AND, UM, I THINK IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR ME TO CALL OUT THE FACT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I AGREE COUNCILWOMAN
UH, AND I STILL WANTED TO NOTE THAT THERE, THERE ARE SOME COMMITMENTS WITHIN THE CITY AS IT RELATES TO OPERATIONALIZING SOME OF THIS WORK, AND THAT THE, THE GOVERNMENT HAS MADE A COMMITMENT TO FUNDING AN OFFICE OF EQUITY AND AN OFFICE OF HEALTH EQUITY.
AND, AND HAVING THAT IN A RESOLUTION, I FELT WAS PRETTY STRONG AND HELPED INDICATE THAT THE CITY WASN'T GONNA JUST PASS A RESOLUTION THAT DIDN'T HAVE ACTION, BUT THAT WE WERE COMMITTING FINANCIALLY TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF RACIAL JUSTICE WITHIN THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
A NUMBER OF WAYS, RIGHT? THROUGH COUNCIL ACTION, AS WELL AS THROUGH CITY DEPARTMENT ACTION.
SO THAT TO ME SEEMED, UH, WHY IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO PUT THOSE, THOSE IN THERE.
UM, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, IT TOOK, IT TOOK A LOT TO GET DOWN TO THIS, UM, ALMOST FOUR PAGES.
UH, WE TRIED OUR BEST TO REMOVE ALL REDUNDANCIES, BUT MAINTAIN THE, THE SPIRIT AND THE INTENT OF THE, THE ORIGINAL CONTEXT SO THAT WE COULD COME UP WITH SOMETHING THAT WE FELT VERY
[02:05:01]
PROUD OF, AND THAT WE FELT WAS REALLY STRONG REFLECTIVE OF THE COMMITMENTS IN SAN ANTONIO.AND, AND, UH, IN REVIEWING ALL OF THE OTHER RESOLUTIONS THAT WE SAW, I THINK ANDREW SULLIVAN AGREES THAT OUR, OURS IS MAYBE A LOT STRONGER, I THINK, THAN SOME OF THE OTHER CITIES THAT WE'VE SEEN.
SO WE INTENTIONALLY WANTED THAT TO HAPPEN AS WELL.
SO THAT INCLUDED SOME NEXT STEPS, SOME CONCRETE COMMITMENTS, AND SOME HONORING OF SORT OF THE OPERATIONALIZING OF EQUITY WITHIN GOVERNMENT.
I WOULD LIKE TO ADD TO WHAT Z IS SAYING.
THIS IS MCCAREY IS, THIS IS A REFLECTION OF WHAT HAPPENS WHEN EVERYBODY COMES TOGETHER.
WHEN I FIRST SAW, UH, THE DRAFT CARLOS AND Z AND WORKING TOGETHER AND Y'ALL TAKING THOSE DOCUMENTS, I TOO THOUGHT ORIGINALLY, I SAY, WOW, THREE, THREE PAGES.
IT SHOULD AT LEAST BE NO MORE THAN THAT.
AND AS YOU READ IT, AND AS YOU SEE, UH, IT'S A REFLECTION OF EVERYBODY'S INPUT, BUT NORMAL CONDITIONS, IT WOULD BE LESS THAN THREE, UH, COUNCILWOMAN GRO.
SO I UNDERSTAND IT, BUT THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE EVERYONE'S INPUT IN A POSITIVE WAY.
OH, I WAS GONNA THANK MR. MCCAREY.
UM, SO I WAS JUST DOING A TIME CHECK.
SO WE'RE AT 1210 AND WE HAVE MS. JORDAN PARKS ON THE LINE.
SO I'M GONNA LET COUNCILWOMAN
UM, ANOTHER QUESTION, OR SOME MORE COMMENTS THAT I HAVE IS, UM, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT THE HISTORY AND WHAT I DID NOT SEE IN THE HISTORY, AND I KNOW IT'S MY FAMILY'S HISTORY.
IT, WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, I DON'T KNOW WHICH, WHEREAS IT WAS, I THINK IT WAS, MAYBE YOU DID HAVE IT, BUT YOU TOOK IT OUT.
BUT THEN I WOULD ASK THAT YOU CONTINUE TO, UH, PUT THAT BACK IN, UH, WHEN YOU'RE TALK, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SAN ANTONIO'S COMMITTEE EXPERIENCE, THE HISTORICAL STRUCTURE OF INSTITUTIONAL, INTERPERSONAL, UM, THE RACIST PRACTICES AND THE, UM, SO INCLUDING SLAVERY, JIM CROW, SEGREGATION, REDLINING.
I THINK ONE OF THE, THE THINGS THAT OUR, OUR COMMUNITY, I KNOW MY FAMILY IN PARTICULAR WAS, UM, LYNCHING TOO LYNCHING AT THE HANDS OF THE TEXAS RANGERS.
AND, UH, I THINK THAT WAS, IT'S SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, MEXICAN AMERICANS, LATINX IN THIS COMMUNITY HAVE ALSO ALSO EXPERIENCED.
AND TO COUNCIL MEMBER TREVINO'S, UH, POINT, THERE IS A NEED FOR A HEALING AND A RECONCILIATION.
AND BEFORE I GET INTO THE ACTION OR OPERATIONAL PORTION OF IT, I DO WANNA JUST SET ASIDE A PAUSE AND THANK, UM, THANK CENTRO SAN ANTONIO FOR DOING THE, UM, VERSES ON THE GROUND ON THE STREET OF VOCAB.
UM, ANDREA SIMPSON, UH, THERE AT TRAVIS PARK, SPECIFICALLY THAT PARK AROUND THAT AREA WHERE WE HAD LYNCHINGS, WHERE WE TOOK DOWN THAT STATUE, AND HOW THAT DID SEEM LIKE A, A HEALING BALM OF SORTS OVER THAT AREA.
AND I CAN HOPE THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO WORK ON THAT.
UM, SO THAT'S JUST AN ADDED THING.
UM, MOVING DOWN TO SECTION, UM, LET ME TALK ABOUT SECTION.
SO ALL THAT TO SAY, IF WE COULD PUT SOMEWHERE IN THE HISTORY OF, OF THAT, THAT IMPACT OF, OF WHAT HAPPENED TO BOTH THE MEXICAN AMERICAN, LATINX COMMUNITY AND AFRICAN AMERICANS FROM, UH, WHEN IT COMES TO LYNCHINGS AND THE TEXAS RANGERS, I THINK THAT'S SOMETHING IMPORTANT FOR US TO NOT SHY AWAY FROM.
YOU CAN'T, YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM THAT.
UH, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, IT WAS PART OF WHAT HAPPENED.
UH, AND THEN, SO PAGE, I DON'T KNOW, I THINK IT'S FOUR, SECTION FOUR WE HAVE THAT THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO WILL ADDITIONALLY COMMIT TO ADVANCING RACIAL EQUITY EFFORTS BY REVIEWING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE PURPOSES OF CRA ERADICATING IMPLICIT AND EXPLICIT RACIAL BIAS AND PROMOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES THAT ADVANCE RACIAL EQUITY.
I THINK WE, UM, IF WHEN WE OPERATIONALIZE THAT, I THINK, I DON'T KNOW IF WE NEED TO EXPLICITLY CALL IT OUT HERE, BUT IT SHOULD BE, UM, IT SHOULD GO TO OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS AS WELL.
UM, OUR MEMBERS OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, WHETHER IT BE SAS BOARD,
[02:10:01]
WHETHER IT BE ZONING BOARDS, UM, JUST THROWING THINGS OUT THERE.UM, I THINK WE NEED TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S PART OF THE OPERA, OPERA OPERA ANYWAY, OPERATIONALIZATION OF IT.
UM, AND I THINK ONE OF THE OTHER ITEMS TOO IS WE NEED TO HAVE A COMMITMENT ON HERE.
'CAUSE WE TALK ABOUT IN SECTION TWO, SUPPORTS COMMUNITY-BASED GROUPS AND INITIATIVES TO PROMOTE RACIAL EQUITY TO FIND INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN HERE.
I THINK WE ALSO NEED TO TALK ABOUT THE EDUCATION OF IT AND THE SHARING OF THE STORY OF SAN ANTONIO, UH, TO CONTINUE THAT, THAT WOULD BE PART OF OUR COMMITMENT AND OUR, UM, OUR WORK HERE.
UH, THOSE ARE SOME ACTIONS THAT I HOPE THAT WE CAN DISCUSS AS WE CONTINUE TO, UH, FINE TUNE THIS RESOLUTION.
BUT I LOVE WHERE WE'RE HEADING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
AND YES, IT IS A PUBLIC HEALTH, UM, ISSUE.
DISTRICT THREE HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST AREAS OF DIABETES.
WE KNOW, UH, THAT WE'RE CONTINUING TO WORK ON IT, BUT WE ALSO KNOW THAT WE HAVE MAJOR FOOD DESERTS IN THE COMMUNITY TOO THAT WE NEED TO ADDRESS, AND WE CAN DO THIS TOGETHER.
UH, I'M GOING TO, UM, GO TO THE PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, MS. JORDAN PARK IS NOW ON THE LINE.
I'M CURRENTLY BEING STALKED BY MY TWO YEAR OLD, UM,
I WOULD LIKE TO START BY SAYING, AS FAR AS THIS, UM, AS FAR AS THIS GOES, I WOULD LIKE TO, TO ENCOURAGE EVERYONE ON THE LINE TO, UM, NOT ONLY BE A PART OF DEMANDING THE SOLUTION, I DO BELIEVE THAT, UH, HISTORY IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO KNOW IT, BUT I ALSO THINK THAT IT IS NOT GOING TO BE ENOUGH TO JUST, UM, UM, REQUEST THIS.
I DON'T THINK THERE'S GOING TO BE ENOUGH TO JUST DEMAND IT.
I THINK THAT IT IS, UM, IMPORTANT FOR US TO GET COMMITMENTS FROM EVERYONE ON THE LINE TO ACTUALLY INITIATE AND PUSH THIS FORWARD AS FAR AS BEING A PART OF THE SOLUTION.
WE DID NOT BREAK THE SYSTEM OURSELVES.
BUT BEING THE GENERATION AND, WELL, NOT THE GENERATION, BUT BEING THE, UM, UM, COMMUNITY THAT IS MARGINALIZED, BEING THE COMMUNITY THAT IS OPPRESSING THE COMMUNITY THAT IS CURRENTLY AT RISK AND BEING ABUSED, I DON'T THINK THAT WE ARE IN TOO MUCH OF A POSITION TO NEGOTIATE AS FAR AS, UM, ASKING TO BE PROTECTED AND THEN STEPPING BACK AND WAITING TO SEE THE PROTECTION.
I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL HAVE TO NOT ONLY REQUEST THE PROTECTION, BUT TO ALSO BE THE PROTECTION, BUT TO ALSO BE OUT HERE EDUCATING OURSELVES TO ALSO, UM, UM, BE HERE PUSHING FORTH, UH, NOT ONLY THE DEMANDS AND WHAT IT IS THAT WE ARE ASKING FOR, BUT BEING AN ACTIVE PART OF SHOWING OUR COMMUNITY WHAT THE WORLD LOOKS LIKE WHEN OUR COMMUNITY HAS EQUITY, WHEN OUR COMMUNITY ALL FEELS SAFE, WHEN OUR CHILDREN ALL GET A GREAT EDUCATION.
AND WHEN OUR CHILDREN ALL HAVE THOSE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES, WE'RE NOT JUST TELLING THEM THAT THEY CAN BE ANYTHING, BUT WE ARE SHOWING THEM WHAT ANYTHING LOOKS LIKE.
UM, SO I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT I VOCALIZED THAT AS WELL.
UM, I'M SUPER EXCITED TO WORK ALONGSIDE, UM, ALL OF THE PEOPLE ON THE LINE, UH, WORKING TOWARDS THIS CHANGE.
AS FAR AS THE, UM, ACTUAL RESOLUTIONS GO, I DO BELIEVE THAT THESE ARE, UM, A GREAT START.
I WILL SAY THAT I DO, I DO, UM, APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT I FEEL LIKE WE ARE CURRENTLY BEING HEARD BECAUSE SOME OF THESE, UM, OOH, I DON'T KNOW HOW TO WORD THAT.
I FEEL LIKE A LOT OF THE RESOLUTIONS IN THE PAST THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT FROM PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF THE COMMUNITY THAT IS AFFECTED.
THEREFORE, YOU COULD TELL BY LOOKING AT THE RESOLUTIONS, WHICH WOULD WORK AND WHICH WOULD NOT, SIMPLY BY, BY LIVING FROM THIS COMMUNITY AND BEING A MEMBER OF IT, WAKING UP EVERY THREE BLACK AND THEN SEEING SOME OF THESE RESOLUTIONS, IT'S LIKE, THAT'S NOT WHAT WE ASKED FOR.
THAT'S NOT WHAT WE NEED AND IT'S NOT GONNA SAVE MY LIFE.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO APPRECIATE, I WOULD LIKE TO VOCALIZE MY APPRECIATION FOR A RESOLUTION THAT I CAN LOOK AT AND SAY, YES, THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT IT IS THAT I ASKED FOR.
YES, THAT WHAT THAT WILL BENEFIT MY CHILDREN.
AND YES, I CAN GO BACK TO THE COMMUNITY WITH SOMETHING TANGIBLE THAT SAYS, HEY, THIS IS WHAT'S BEING PROPOSED TO US AND THIS IS WHAT, YOU KNOW, STANDING UP AND SPEAKING OUT IS GOING TO ACCOMPLISH FOR US.
JOIN US IN, IN LEADING THIS AND MARCHING FORWARD.
SO I, UM, I JUST WANTED TO VOCALIZE THAT AND SAY, UM, THAT ON THE RECORD FOR YOU GUYS, I'M SUPER EXCITED TO, UM, I'M SUPER EXCITED TO BE A PART OF THIS.
I'M SUPER EXCITED TO WORK ALONGSIDE YOU GUYS, AND I'M SUPER EXCITED TO THINK EXACTLY WHAT THE FINALIZED VERSION OF THIS IS GOING TO BE, BECAUSE I CAN SAY
[02:15:01]
THAT WE ARE AT LEAST GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, UM, WITH THIS START.SO THANK YOU GUYS FOR INCLUDING ME AND THANK YOU GUYS FOR, UM, BEING A PART OF THE CHANGE THAT WE ARE TRYING TO SEE.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MS. PARKS.
UH, I'M GONNA TURN IT BACK TO COUNCILWOMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN.
I HAVE, UM, THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR.
AT THIS TIME, I'D LIKE TO MOTION THAT WE MOVE THIS FORWARD TO FULL COUNCIL WITH THE ADDITIONS, UM, THAT COUNCILWOMAN VANDER GUNN, UH, MADE IN REFERENCE TO, UH, DECLARING LYNCHINGS, UM, THROUGH THIS, UM, PORTION OF THE, WHEREAS WHEN IT RELATES TO THE HISTORY OF SAN ANTONIO AND ALSO, UM, INCLUDING THIS WITHIN OUR BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS, AND ALSO THE COMMITMENT TO EDUCATION AND SHARING OF THE SAN ANTONIO ANTONIO'S STORY.
UM, I MOTION TO, TO MOVE THERE TO FULL COUNSEL WITH THOSE, UH, FEEDBACK.
COUNCILWOMAN, YOU HAD A VIA BROWN, YOU HAD AN ADDITIONAL ASK ON THAT.
NO, I'M JUST, UH, NO, UM, JUST AS WE CONTINUE TO ON SECTION ONE, UM, I THINK IT'S, AS WE TALK ABOUT IN SUPPORT OF THIS COUNCIL, WILL INCREASE ADVOCACY FOR CITY EFFORTS.
UM, PART OF THAT CITY EFFORT IS ALSO ADVOCATING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE AT THE STATE AND THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO BE AWARE OF THAT AS WE PLAN OUR STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE AGENDAS AND WHAT WE WILL ADVOCATE FOR THAT.
IT WOULD BE AN UMBRELLA, UM, SOMETHING THAT GUIDES US DURING THOSE, UH, CONVERSATIONS TOO.
WELL, I KNEW I WAS DOING THE RIGHT THING WHEN I ASKED YOU TO BE ON THIS COMMITTEE.
SO THIS RESOLUTION IS GOING TO BE MUCH STRONGER WHEN WE TAKE IT TO VOTE.
COUNSEL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR VERY THOROUGH, THOROUGH COMMENTS.
UH, COUNCILWOMAN, I KNOW THIS IS A VERY PASSIONATE ISSUE FOR YOU AND, AND FOR MANY OF US.
SO, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE REALLY GLAD TO HAVE YOU ON THIS COMMITTEE.
SO, UM, UH, COUNCILWOMAN ANDREW SULLIVAN, DID YOU WANT TO AMEND YOUR MOTION BASED ON THE ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK? UM, I, I STAND TO AMEND BASED ON THE ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK FROM COUNCILWOMAN
WE ADD IN THE EDUCATION COMPONENT TO, UH, THE SAN ANTONIO STORY, AND WE ADD IN THE COMMISSION AND BOARDS AS WE MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS RESOLUTION.
AND I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO CONTINUOUSLY WORKING WITH MS. JORDAN, WITH PHARAOH, WITH CELESTE, WITH MARLON.
UM, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE FROM THE COMMUNITY AS WE MOVE FORWARD WITH MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE THE ACTION BEHIND THE RESOLUTION.
UM, WE HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND ON THE FLOOR.
I'LL GO AHEAD AND TAKE A VOTE.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
IF ANYONE IS OPPOSED FOR THE RECORD? NO.
FOR THE RECORD, WE'RE UNANIMOUS.
UM, AND THIS WILL MOVE FORWARD FOR CONSIDERATION BY FULL COUNSEL.
UM, ANDY, UH, WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE TO GET A, A DATE FOR WHAT? THAT WILL BE ON THE AGENDA FOR FULL COUNSEL? I, UH, WE, YES, WE CAN GET, UH, THE COMMITTEE A DATE HERE, UH, PRETTY QUICKLY.
WE'LL JUST HAVE TO WORK WITH THE, UH, WITH ERIC AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, BUT WE'LL GET IT ON AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN.
I THINK IT'S CRITICAL TO ADOPT BEFORE, UH, THE BUDGET.
SO, UM, COUNCILWOMAN
UM, I WAS JUST CURIOUS, UM, CAN WE HAVE THIS A PART OF OUR CONVERSATION WHEN WE HAVE THE METRO HEALTH OR THE PUBLIC HEALTH, UM, WORK SESSION, BUDGET WORK SESSION? ANDY, CAN WE DO THAT OR NOT? JUST AS A, AS A, HEY, GET READY.
UM, I MEAN, JUST IF IT'S, BUT I'M NOT SURE IF IT'S BEFORE THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING OR WHAT, BUT ANYHOW, I DON'T KNOW WHEN PUBLIC HEALTH IS OR METRO HEALTH IS, IS SCHEDULED.
SO THAT'S JUST A, A THOUGHT WE'LL TAKE A, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THAT BUDGET CALENDAR, COUNCILWOMAN, AND IF IT DOES, UH, IF WE ARE ABLE TO PUT THAT IN BEFORE THE, UH, BUDGET ADOPTION.
'CAUSE I, I UNDERSTAND UH, THE COMMITTEE WANTS IT BEFORE THE COUNCIL, BEFORE THEY ADOPT THE BUDGET.
UM, THEN WE'LL WE WILL TRY TO WORK THAT IN.
UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH EVERYBODY, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AS WE WENT OVER, OVER TIME.
I THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA HAVE ENOUGH TIME WITH TWO HOURS, BUT OH, COUNCILWOMAN SULLIVAN, ARE YOU SAYING SOMETHING?
[02:20:01]
YES.I JUST WANNA TAKE A MOMENT AND, AND TRULY STOP AND SAY THANK YOU TO DR.
BRIDGER AND THE METRO HEALTH TEAM ALSO FOR, UH, THEIR, UH, FEEDBACK AND THEIR INCLUSION INTO THIS RESOLUTION.
SO I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE SAID THAT BEFORE WE, UH, CLOSE.
UH, THANK YOU TO ALL THE STAFF THAT WORKED ON THIS, UH, MR. MCC VAN, UH, CARLOS AND EVERYONE IN IN METRO HEALTH.