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TIME IS 2:08 PM ON THIS FOURTH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2020.
UH, WELCOME TO OUR CITY COUNCIL FEE SESSION AGENDA.
UH, WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF ITEMS ON OUR AGENDA FOR TODAY.
WE'RE ACTUALLY GONNA TAKE THE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM FIRST.
UM, LET ME TURN IT OVER TO OUR CITY MANAGER, ERIC WAL.
UH, ACTUALLY, FIRST, UH, LET, LET'S DO A ROLL.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN.
COUNCIL COUNCILMAN PERRY HERE.
ALRIGHT, UH, WELCOME TO OUR CITY COUNCIL FEE SESSION AGENDA.
THERE'S TWO ITEMS ON OUR AGENDA.
BEFORE WE GET STARTED, UH, JUST A REMINDER, UH, TO USE THE HAND RAISE BUTTON ON YOUR WEBEX TO QUEUE UP FOR DISCUSSION.
[2. 20-6402 Briefing on the City's Proposed State Legislative Program for the 87th State Legislative Session. [Carlos Contreras, Assistant City Manager; Jeff Coyle, Director, Government & Public Affairs]]
UM, WE'RE GONNA GO AHEAD, UH, LEMME TURN IT OVER TO ERIC WALSH AND WE'LL GET US STARTED TODAY.GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR COUNCIL.
UM, SO OUR FIRST ITEM, UH, THIS AFTERNOON IS, UH, A PRESENTATION ON OUR STATE LEGISLATIVE, UH, PROGRAM.
UM, THE ITEM IS, UH, PARTICULARLY A TIMELY ONE GIVEN LAST NIGHT'S ELECTIONS.
I KNOW IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT WE ARE, WE WILL BE GOING INTO ANOTHER LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
IT FEELS LIKE, UH, THE LAST ONE JUST ENDED.
UM, THERE WERE A LOT OF LEGISLATIVE SEATS, UH, AT THE STATE LEVEL, UH, THAT OBVIOUSLY WILL DETERMINE THE MAKEUP OF THE SAN ANTONIO DELEGATION AND, AND ULTIMATELY WHO, UH, STATEWIDE WHO CONTROLS THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE.
SO, AS PART OF THE BRIEFING ON THE, ON THE STATE PROGRAM, UH, FOR THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION, UH, JEFF COYLE WILL, UH, GIVE US A BRIEF UPDATE ON LAST NIGHT'S RESULTS AND, UH, ANY IMPACTS ON THE LEGISLATIVE LANDSCAPE.
THE 2020 LEGISLATIVE SESSION, UM, IS, UH, I'M SORRY, THE 2021 LEGISLATIVE SESSION IS EXPECTED TO BE A UNIQUE ONE.
UH, DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, UH, THE NORMAL OPERATIONS OF THE INTERIM SESSION HAVE BEEN, UH, GREATLY IMPACTED.
UM, HOUSE AND SENATE COMMITTEES, UH, UP TO THIS POINT, UM, HAVE BEEN REQUESTING WRITTEN INFORMATION.
INSTEAD OF RECEIVING TESTIMONY IN PERSON, THE, UH, LEGISLATIVE SESSION IS EXPECTED TO BE SIMILARLY AFFECTED.
UM, AND WHILE NO, UH, OFFICIAL INFORMATION HAS BEEN RELEASED ABOUT, UM, HOW THEY WILL OPERATE, UH, WE WILL KEEP YOU ALL, UH, UPDATED WITH, UH, WITH ALL OF THIS BACKGROUND, THE, THE G P A STAFF, UH, HAVE WORKED WITH, UH, ALL THE CITY DEPARTMENTS AND CITY LEADERSHIP, AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF OUR LOCAL PARTNERS, MANY OF WHICH, UH, ARE ON THE CALL THIS AFTERNOON, UM, TO LAY OUT OUR PROPOSED PROGRAM.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO JEFF TO KICK US OFF.
ERIC, THANK YOU, UH, MAYOR AND COUNCIL, GOOD AFTERNOON.
I KNOW MANY OF YOU WERE PROBABLY UP LATE LAST NIGHT.
I'M GONNA, UH, SPARE YOU ANY CHUCK TODD IMPERSONATIONS.
WHAT I WANNA SHARE IS SPECIFICALLY WHAT THE IMPLICATIONS ARE TO, TO OUR EFFORTS, UH, TO ADVANCE OUR PROPOSED STATE AND FEDERAL, UH, AGENDA.
UH, SO JUST QUICKLY ON THE ELECTION, UH, RESULTS, NEXT SLIDE.
UH, WE, WE REALLY HAD THREE, UH, RACES, CONTESTED RACES AMONG OUR FEDERAL DELEGATION FOR SAN ANTONIO.
SENATOR JOHN CORNYN, AS YOU ALL KNOW, WELL BY NOW, HAS, UH, HAS BEEN REELECTED OR, OR PROPOSED TO, UH, PROJECTED TO BE REELECTED.
UH, CHIP ROY, UH, IS EXPECTED TO BEAT, UH, A CHALLENGE FROM WENDY DAVIS AND TONY GONZALEZ, UH, IS PROJECTED TO WIN THE SEAT BEING VACATED BY FORMER CONGRESSMAN, UH, WILL HEARD.
WHAT THIS MEANS IS THAT OUR FEDERAL DELEGATION MAINTAINS THE SAME, UH, PARTISAN MAKEUP THAT IT HAD.
THAT'S TWO REPUBLICAN SENATORS, AND OF OUR FIVE HOUSE MEMBERS, THREE DEMOCRATS, UH, CONGRESSMAN CASTRO, QUAR, AND DOGGETT, ALL OF WHOM WON EASILY LAST NIGHT.
AND THEN CONGRESSMAN ROY AND GONZALEZ, THE TWO REPUBLICANS AMONG OUR FIVE HOUSE MEMBERS.
INTERESTINGLY, TO NOTE, DEPENDING ON HOW THINGS SHAKE OUT, IT LOOKS LIKE, ONCE AGAIN, OUR, UH, PARTISAN, UH, PARTISANSHIP WILL ALIGN WITH THE BROADER CHAMBERS, MEANING REPUBLICAN MEMBERS IN A, IN A REPUBLICAN CONTROLLED SENATE, POTENTIALLY, AND A HOUSE, UH, MAJORITY DELEGATION IN A, UH, HOUSE LED, UM, THE DEMOCRAT LED
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HOUSE.SO, TO THAT POINT, UH, I'M SURE YOU'VE ALL SEEN BY NOW, IT APPEARS THAT THE HOUSE, UH, THE DEMOCRATS WILL MAINTAIN THEIR MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, NOT AS MUCH AS EXPECTED, UH, BUT NONETHELESS, A DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE.
THIS REPUBLICAN MAJORITY, AS YOU PROBABLY KNOW, WHAT DEMOCRATS NEEDED TO FLIP THE SENATE, UH, WAS EITHER THREE SEATS AND THE PRESIDENCY, WHICH GIVES THEM THE VICE PRESIDENCY AND THE TIEBREAKER OR FOUR SEATS.
UH, WHEN AN ALABAMA SENATE SEAT FLIPPED, UH, TO REPUBLICAN YESTERDAY, IT BECAME FOUR DEMOCRATIC SEATS NEEDED, UH, AS WELL AS THE PRESIDENCY.
AND SO OF THAT, UH, TO OUR PROJECTED TO HAVE FLIPPED FROM RED TO BLUE, THAT'S, UM, COLORADO AND ARIZONA AND FOUR OTHER RACES ARE YET TO BE DECIDED.
THAT'S NORTH CAROLINA, UH, MAINE, AND TWO IN GEORGIA, BOTH OF WHICH MIGHT, UH, GO TO A RUNOFF.
SO THE, THE MAKEUP OF THE SENATE IS NOT YET DETERMINED, BUT, UH, IT APPEARS TO BE, UH, LEANING IN THE FAVOR OF, UH, MAINTAINING, UH, REPUBLICAN MAJORITY.
ON THE STATE LEVEL, UH, REALLY TWO CHANGES TO OUR, OUR DELEGATION.
NUMBER ONE, UH, ROLAND GUTIERREZ APPEARS TO HAVE WON SENATE DISTRICT 29, UH, UH, DEFEATING PETE FLORES.
AND THEN IN THE SEAT, THE HOUSE SEAT THAT, UH, MR. GUTIERREZ VACATED.
LIZ COMPOST APPEARS TO BE THE WINNER, SO SHE'LL BE A NEW MEMBER OF OUR HOUSE DELEGATION.
OTHER THAN THAT, ALL OF THE REMAINING MEMBERS, UH, ARE THE SAME IN OUR, IN OUR SENATE AND, UH, HOUSE DELEGATIONS.
IN TERMS OF THE BIG PICTURE, UM, WHAT THAT, THAT, UH, ROLAND GUTIERREZ WIN DOES IS TAKE THE SENATE, UH, MAKEUP FROM 19 TO 12 TO 18 TO 13 WITH REPUBLICANS, UH, CONTROLLING THE SENATE.
THAT NUMBER IS ACTUALLY SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE 19 TO 12, UH, GAVE REPUBLICANS THE 60% MAJORITY NEEDED TO BRING ANY BILLS UP WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF THE MINORITY PARTY.
SO NOW, UH, IT'S THE, THE, THE MAJORITY HAS DIPPED BELOW THAT 60%.
WHAT WE WILL LIKELY SEE IS THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR CHANGE THE RULES.
UH, AGAIN, UH, IT USED TO BE A TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY.
HE CHANGED IT TO A 60% MAJORITY, AND HE'S ALREADY SIGNALED THAT HE WOULD LIKELY CHANGE IT TO A SIMPLE MAJORITY, ALLOWING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, UH, TO, TO CONTROL ALL THE LEGISLATION THAT MOVES TO THE SENATE WITHOUT NEEDING, UH, DEMOCRAT SUPPORT IN THE HOUSE.
AS YOU, AS YOU KNOW, UH, DEMOCRATS FULLY EXPECTED TO PICK UP SEATS.
THEY, UH, THEY PICKED UP, THEY FLIPPED 12 SEATS IN 2018 AND NEEDED NINE MORE TO GAIN A, UH, MAJORITY IN THE HOUSE.
UH, THAT, AS YOU'VE ALL SEEN BY NOW, DID NOT HAPPEN.
IT APPEARS TO BE, UH, AN EVEN SPLIT FROM LAST SESSION.
THAT IS ONE SEAT WENT FROM REPUBLICAN TO DEMOCRAT, AND ONE SEAT WENT FROM DEMOCRAT TO REPUBLICAN.
THERE ARE TWO OTHER THAT ARE VERY CLOSE RIGHT NOW THAT MAY RESULT IN, IN RECOUNTS, BUT, UH, THEY BOTH HAVE THE REPUBLICAN INCUMBENT LEADING.
UH, SO, UM, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, JOHN.
AND SO, ALTOGETHER, UM, WE'LL, WE'LL SEE 17 NEW MEMBERS IN THE HOUSE, UH, INCLUDING THE ONE IN OUR DELEGATION AND TWO NEW SENATE MEMBERS, INCLUDING THE ONE IN OUR DELEGATION.
THAT'S ACTUALLY, THOSE ARE ACTUALLY MUCH SMALLER NUMBERS THAN THE LAST TWO OR THREE SESSIONS WHERE WE WERE LOOKING AT, IN SOME CASES, 40 OR MORE NEW MEMBERS, WHICH REQUIRES A SIGNIFICANT EFFORT TO, UH, EDUCATE AND GET TO KNOW NEW MEMBERS AND BUILD RELATIONSHIPS.
IN THIS CASE, THE, UM, THE LEARNING CURVE WILL BE, WILL BE MUCH SMALLER.
WHAT, WHAT WILL BE A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE, OF COURSE, IS, UH, THE SPEAKERSHIP IN THE HOUSE.
UH, WITH, UH, DENNIS BONIN RETIRING, THERE WILL BE A NEW SPEAKER.
UH, BEFORE THE ELECTION, THERE HAD BEEN AS MANY AS EIGHT, NOT AS MANY AS THERE HAD BEEN EIGHT CANDIDATES, FOUR DEMOCRATS AND FOUR REPUBLICANS.
CLEARLY, IT WON'T BE A DEMOCRAT NOW WITH A REPUBLICAN, UH, MAJORITY.
UH, AND IN, JUST IN THE PAST HOUR OR SO, THERE WERE NEWS REPORTS COMING OUT THAT, UH, DAVE PHELAN OF BEAUMONT, UH, CLAIMING AND RELEASING A LIST THAT HE HAD THE VOTES TO BECOME SPEAKER.
I WANNA SAY THAT VERY CAUTIOUSLY, BECAUSE THESE THINGS CHANGE ALL THE TIME, AND THEY ARE, UH, MEMBER TO MEMBER POLITICS.
SO, UH, BUT THAT IS OUT IN THE NEWS PRETTY, PRETTY WIDELY.
UH, OF COURSE, THE SPEAKER PICKS ALL THE COMMITTEE CHAIRS, UH, SO WHOEVER BECOMES SPEAKER, UH, REALLY CONTROLS A LOT OF THE, UH, DYNAMICS AND, AND POWER IN THE HOUSE.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, AS ERIC MENTIONED, THERE'S GREAT UNCERTAINTY AS TO HOW BUSINESS WILL ACTUALLY BE CONDUCTED AT THE CAPITOL, WHETHER WE'RE DOING IT REMOTELY IN PERSON OR SOME COMBINATION.
AND WE'LL KEEP YOU POSTED ON THAT.
UH, NOW LET'S GET TO THE STATE AGENDA.
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UH, SO THIS IS ESSENTIALLY THE GUIDE FOR US AT THE STAFF LEVEL AND OUR HIRED CONSULTANTS TO ADVOCATE ON BEHALF OF OUR COMMUNITY, UH, AT THE LEGISLATURE, AS WELL AS WITH THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AND WITH STATE AGENCIES.UH, SO THE, THE, A LITTLE BIT OF THE TIMELINE ON THE NEAR TERM HORIZON, UH, IS NOVEMBER 9TH.
NEXT WEEK IS WHEN MEMBERS CAN START PRE-FILING BILLS.
SO THE SESSION ITSELF DOESN'T START UNTIL MID-JANUARY, BUT, BUT THE, UH, PROCESS OF PRE-FILING BILLS WILL BEGIN NEXT WEEK.
THE, UH, THE DEADLINE FOR FILING THOSE BILLS IS ABOUT MIDWAY THROUGH THE SESSION AT MARCH 21ST, AND THEN THE SESSION ITSELF ENDS ON MAY 31ST ON SIGN DYE.
AND THEN THERE'S A THREE WEEK PERIOD WHERE THE GOVERNOR CAN SIGN OR VETO BILLS.
UH, AND THAT WRAPS UP THE COMPLETE, UH, LEGISLATIVE PROCESS.
SO, LEADING UP TO TODAY, AS ERIC MENTIONED, WE'VE WORKED WITH, UH, ALL OF THE OTHER CITY DEPARTMENTS, UH, ON SOME OF THEIR NEEDS IN TERMS OF THE STATE LEGISLATURE.
WE'VE, UH, HAD SOME SESSIONS WITH OUR CONSULTANT TEAM TO GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE ISSUES THAT ARE LIKELY TO RISE TO THE TOP.
WE'VE DONE SOME ROUND TABLES WITH OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR TO, TO TRADE, UH, PRIORITIES AND, AND TALK ABOUT WAYS WE CAN WORK TOGETHER.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE'VE DONE A PRELIMINARY BRIEFING WITH THE STATE DELEGATION STAFFS, UH, ON WHAT IS IN THIS PROPOSED AGENDA.
THEY KNOW WELL THAT IT IS ALL CONTINGENT UPON CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL.
AND WHEN ONCE THIS BODY HAS HAS APPROVED AN AGENDA, WE WILL SCHEDULE A FULL DELEGATION BRIEFING WITH THE THE MEMBERS THEMSELVES.
SO, THE STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAM IS, IS REALLY THREE AREAS, OUR PRIORITIES, AND THERE'S A, A LIST OF ABOUT 15 TO 17 OF THEM THIS YEAR, UH, OF SOME GENERAL LANGUAGE ABOUT PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITY'S INTERESTS, GOOD, BAD, AND OTHERWISE.
AND THE PARTNERSHIPS, THE, THE ENTITIES WE WILL WORK WITH, UH, AT THE CAPITAL TO ADVANCE THE NEEDS OF, OF OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, JOHN, IF YOU'LL GO AHEAD, THESE, I'M GONNA WORK THROUGH THESE, UH, PRIORITIES.
THERE'S A LOT OF TEXT ON THE SCREEN, AND THAT'S INTENTIONALLY, UH, I WANTED YOU ALL TO SEE EXACTLY THE LANGUAGE THAT IS IN THE PROGRAM.
UH, AND, AND WE'RE OPEN AND OBVIOUSLY ANXIOUS TO HEAR YOUR FEEDBACK AND INPUT, UH, IF THERE NEED TO BE ADJUSTMENTS MADE.
SO THE FIRST ONE IS TO INCREASE POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY.
AND THOSE TWO WORDS ARE IMPORTANT.
THOSE ARE THE AREAS THAT THESE FOUR BULLETS ARE FOCUSED ON.
ACCOUNTABILITY IN TERMS OF DISCIPLINE FOR OFFICERS ENGAGED IN MISCONDUCT AND TRANSPARENCY TO THE PUBLIC.
THEY SERVE AROUND THOSE THINGS ARE THE FIRST, BASICALLY THREE BULLETS HERE.
THESE WILL BE, UH, FAMILIAR TO YOU.
THE FIRST IS, HAS TO DO WITH, UH, WHAT IS RELEASABLE UNDER, UH, STATE LAW IN TERMS OF DISCIPLINARY RECORDS.
RIGHT NOW, WE ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO RELEASE RECORDS THAT RESULTED IN FINAL DISCIPLINE, WHICH IS DEFINED IN STATE LAW AS A SUSPENSION OF ONE DAY OR MORE.
UH, WE ARE PROPOSING THAT, UH, ALL DISCIPLINARY RECORDS, INCLUDING WHEN OFFICERS ARE COUNSELED OR RECEIVE WRITTEN REPRIMANDS, SHOULD BE PART OF THE, UH, THE PUBLIC, UH, AWARENESS.
UH, SECONDLY IS THE 180 DAYS, UH, RULE THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT A LOT WITH YOU BEFORE.
UH, SPECIFICALLY CHANGING IT FROM THE, THE CHIEF ONLY BEING ABLE TO DISCIPLINE FOR ACTS OF MISCONDUCT THAT HAPPENED 180 DAYS OR LESS, TO BEING ABLE TO DISCIPLINE 180 DAYS FROM THE, FROM DISCOVERING THAT MISCONDUCT.
IN OTHER WORDS, IF THE POLICE CHIEF IS NOT MADE AWARE OF MISCONDUCT, THE CLOCK DOESN'T START TICKING.
IT'S UPON DISCOVERY, UH, THAT THE 180 DAY RULE WE BELIEVE SHOULD APPLY.
UH, THE THIRD BULLET IS, UH, SOME CREATING A LITTLE BIT OF, UH, TIGHTER STANDARDS AROUND ARBITRATION, SPECIFICALLY LIMITING THE ABILITY OF AN ARBITRATOR, UH, TO ONLY FOCUS ON WHETHER OR NOT THE FACTS OF THE MISCONDUCT WERE SUSTAINED ON APPEAL.
NOT WHETHER THE ARBITRATOR AGREES WITH THE LEVEL OF DISCIPLINE AWARDED BY THE CHIEF.
UH, BUT IF THE FACTS ARE, ARE SUSTAINED, UH, THEN THE ARBITRATOR WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO REDUCE A DISCIPLINE THAT HAS BEEN, UH, IMPOSED BY THE POLICE CHIEF.
AND THEN THE FOURTH ITEM, UH, REALLY ISN'T ABOUT MISCONDUCT, BUT IT'S A POSITIVE EFFORT TO TRY TO ENCOURAGE MORE OFFICERS TO COME FROM TO LIVE IN THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH THEY SERVE.
AS YOU KNOW, WE ALREADY HAVE INCENTIVES, UH, FOR OFFICERS TO LIVE IN SAN ANTONIO.
WHAT WE'RE SEEKING HERE IS THE ABILITY TO ADD MORE POINTS TO THE APPLICATIONS, TO, UH, THE POLICE ACADEMY, TO, UH, REWARD THOSE WHO COME FROM SAN ANTONIO AND, AND GIVE THEM A BETTER SHOT AT BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE SAN ANTONIO POLICE FORCE AND, AND SERVING THE COMMUNITY.
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NEXT SLIDE, JOHN.THE SECOND HAS TO DO WITH PUBLIC HEALTH, AN AREA THAT WE HAVE NOT BEEN HEAVILY ENGAGED IN PAST LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS, BUT WE ALL BELIEVE WE NEED TO BE FOR OBVIOUS REASONS.
NOW, UH, THE FIRST ITEM IS A SUPPORT IN STATE FUNDING FOR A WHOLE SERIES OF PROGRAMS THAT METRO HEALTH RECEIVE STATE FUNDING FOR.
THERE IS, RIGHT NOW, BECAUSE OF THE TIGHT STATE BUDGET, A, UH, REQUEST FOR ALL, AN ORDER FOR ALL STATE AGENCIES TO CUT THEIR BUDGETS BY 5%.
UH, WE ARE WORKING WITH A NUMBER OF OTHER ASSOCIATIONS AND CITIES AND GROUPS TO LOBBY AND ADVOCATE THAT, UH, THAT THE TEXAS, UH, STATE HEALTH SERVICES DEPARTMENT SHOULD NOT, UH, FACE THAT 5% CUT IN THE, IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC.
UH, SECONDLY, UH, WE'RE PROPOSING SUPPORT HERE FOR EXPANDING MEDICAID TO COVER THE 1.5 MILLION LOW INCOME TEXANS WHO ARE NOT BEING COVERED.
RIGHT NOW, WE EXPECT A, A SERIOUS DISCUSSION ABOUT THIS AT THE LEGISLATURE, WE'RE SEEING MEMBERS OF BOTH PARTIES EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR DRAWING DOWN THE $5.8 BILLION THAT TEXAS IS MISSING OUT ON IN MEDICAID DOLLARS.
UH, AND, AND GIVEN THE PANDEMIC, WE THINK THE TIMING IS RIGHT TO BE A PART OF THAT CONVERSATION.
UH, WE'RE PROPOSING SUPPORT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SAN ANTONIO STATE HOSPITAL SYSTEM, A HOSPITAL, EXCUSE ME, STATE HOSPITAL ON THE SOUTH SIDE, UH, MENTAL HEALTH HOSPITAL THAT IS, UH, LONG OVERDUE FOR A, FOR A NEW FACILITY.
AND THEN FINALLY, THERE WERE SOME BILLS PASSED LAST SESSION THAT WOULD, UH, ADD TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE TO SOME OF THE STATE'S STRATEGIC, UH, PLANNING AROUND HEALTHCARE.
AND, UH, AND GIVEN THE ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, WE BELIEVE, UH, WE SHOULD SUPPORT THOSE EFFORTS AS WELL.
THIS THIRD, UH, ITEM, ENSURING ACCESS TO INFORMATION, OF COURSE, IS ALL ABOUT CLOSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.
UH, WE WANT TO ENSURE THE AVAILABILITY, THE CONNECTIVITY, AND ALSO THE AFFORDABILITY OF BROADBAND INTERNET SERVICE FOR THOSE 50 OR SO AREAS THAT, UM, CRAIG AND BRIAN DILLARD AND THE REST OF THE TEAM HAVE IDENTIFIED AS, AS NOT HAVING HIGH QUALITY BROADBAND FOR ONE OF THOSE REASONS.
THIS WILL BE A DISCUSSION AS WELL THIS SESSION.
ALTHOUGH RIGHT NOW, THE FOCUS APPEARS TO BE ON RURAL TEXAS, AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE URBAN TEXAS IS NOT MISSED.
UH, AND WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT WHEN ENTITIES APPLY FOR FEDERAL FUNDING RELATED TO, UH, CLOSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, WE'RE AT A DISADVANTAGE BECAUSE TEXAS DOES NOT HAVE A STATEWIDE BROADBAND PLAN.
THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT IS SCORED AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
AND SO WE'RE PROPOSING SUPPORT FOR A STATEWIDE PLAN TO MAKE US MORE COMPETITIVE FOR FEDERAL DOLLARS.
THIS, UH, UH, CATEGORY OF PRESERVING THE VOICE OF SAN ANTONIO RESIDENTS IS ALL ABOUT SUPPORTING THE CONTINUED ABILITY OF YOU AS THE LOCAL ELECTED BODY TO PASS ORDINANCES THAT MEET THE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY.
NOW, THIS IS ESSENTIALLY OUR LOCAL CONTROL LANGUAGE THAT WE USE WITH EVERY SESSION, UH, AND WE'VE ADDED TO IT, UH, THE ABILITY TO ISSUE ORDERS THAT ADDRESS EMERGENCIES FOR OBVIOUS REASONS, UH, GIVEN WHAT WE'VE BEEN THROUGH OVER THE PAST YEAR.
UH, AND SO THERE WILL BE ANY, ANY NUMBER OF THINGS THAT WILL FALL UNDER THIS CATEGORY.
BUT, BUT ULTIMATELY, THIS IS ABOUT PRESERVING AND PROTECTING THE ABILITY OF SAN ANTONIO TO GOVERN ITSELF AS A COMMUNITY.
UH, WE'VE GOT, UH, THREE ITEMS UNDER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
WE'VE, UH, WORKED WITH THE LOCAL COLLABORATIVE COMMISSION, AS WELL AS THE TEXAS FAMILY VIOLENCE COUNCIL TO ZERO IN ON THESE THREE ITEMS. THE FIRST IS FUNDING FOR A NUMBER OF STATE FUNDED, UH, INTERVENTION AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS. THE SECOND IS CLOSING INFORMATION GAPS AS IT RELATES TO BOND CONDITIONS.
WHEN SOMEONE IS RELEASED ON BOND AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH A FAMILY VIOLENCE OFFENSE, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT KNOWS THAT BY HAVING THAT INFORMATION ENTERED IN DATABASES AND MAKING SURE THAT VICTIMS ARE AWARE OF THE CONDITIONS, UH, OF THE ALLEGED PERPETRATOR.
AND THEN THE THIRD ITEM IS FACILITATING THE SAFE TRANSFER OF FIREARMS FROM THOSE CHARGED WITH FAMILY VIOLENCE.
THERE'S ALREADY A STATE LAW THAT PROHIBITS THEM FROM HAVING FIREARMS, BUT THEY'RE OFTEN ACROSS THE STATE ARE, UH, A, A GAP IN THE ACTUAL SYSTEMS AND PROCESSES TO SEIZE AND COLLECT THOSE FIREARMS FROM PEOPLE CHARGED WITH FAMILY VIOLENCE.
OUR COMMISSION IS WORKING ON THAT LOCALLY, UH, BUT THE STATEWIDE COUNCIL'S GONNA PUSH FOR, UH, SOME STATEWIDE LEGISLATION AND, AND WE THINK THAT WOULD BE GOOD FOR, FOR US IN THE, IN THE WHOLE STATE.
THESE ARE A LOT OF ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE ITEMS. BASICALLY, ANY LEGISLATION THAT WOULD PROMOTE RECOVERY, THAT WOULD PROMOTE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT SKILLS TRAINING, UM, THAT WOULD SUPPORT THE CONTINUED VIABILITY OF OUR COMMUNITY TO COMPETE
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FOR MAJOR EVENTS AND CONVENTIONS, UH, INCLUDING INCENTIVES TO BE ABLE TO, UH, COMPETE FOR, FOR, UH, NEW JOBS.AND FINALLY, OPPOSITION TO ANY LEGISLATION THAT WOULD, UH, HARM THE MAJOR EVENTS REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM.
THAT'S THE FORMER EVENTS TRUST FUND THAT WE RECEIVE FUNDING FROM WHEN WE HOST A MAJOR EVENT, UH, LIKE THE NCAA FINAL FOUR, FOR EXAMPLE.
IT'S ALL BASED ON A REIMBURSEMENT OF THE SALES TAXES COLLECTED, UH, BY VIRTUE OF HOSTING THAT EVENT.
THIS IS OUR EDUCATION, UH, UH, CATEGORY IN, IN THREE AREAS.
NUMBER ONE, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT FUNDING CONTINUES FOR ALL THE PUBLIC EDUCATION, UH, FUNDING THAT WAS GAINED DURING THE LAST SESSION THROUGH H P THREE.
UH, SIMILARLY, I'LL SKIP TO THE THIRD ONE AT THE BOTTOM.
WE WANT TO, UH, OPPOSE ANY REDUCTION IN THAT FUNDING, ESPECIALLY AS IT RELATES TO PRE-K UH, PROGRAMS. THE STATE EXPANDED ITS FUNDING, UH, TO MOVE TO A FULL DAY, UH, FUNDING AND, AND WITH A TIGHT BUDGET, WE WANNA MAKE SURE THEY DON'T GO BACKWARDS IN THAT AREA.
AND THEN THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE IS, UH, REQUESTED FROM OUR HIGHER ED PARTNERS FORMULA FUNDING, UH, AND NON-FORMAL FUNDING, AS WELL AS THE POTENTIAL FOR TUITION REVENUE BONDS FOR UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES TO BUILD CAPITAL PROJECTS ON THEIR CAMPUSES.
EACH, EACH OF WHICH OF OUR PARTNERS HAVE SOME PLANNED.
UM, WE WANNA SUPPORT LEGISLATION THAT, UH, INCREASES THE SUPPLY OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.
THERE WILL BE A NUMBER OF WAYS THIS IS ATTEMPTED, BUT, BUT OBVIOUSLY THIS ALIGNS WITH, UH, WE BELIEVE COUNCIL PRIORITIES, UH, AND, AND THE HOUSING, UH, POLICY FRAMEWORK, WHICH CALLED FOR LEGISLATION THAT ENCOURAGES HOME OWNERSHIP, UH, THROUGH VARIOUS TAX POLICIES TO HELP KEEP PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES AND, UH, AND SUPPORT THOSE, UH, UH, UM, IN TERMS OF BUYING AND BUYING HOMES.
UH, THE, THE NEXT ITEM ON THE RIGHT, THE ELIMINATE BARRIERS FOR THE HOMELESS.
I'M SORRY, JOHN, IF YOU'LL GO BACK ONE SECOND.
THAT'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE ITEM THAT WE TALKED ABOUT DURING THE BUDGET THIS SUMMER.
UM, LAST SESSION, A STATE LAW WAS PASSED THAT ALLOWS US TO WAIVE THE FEES FOR HOMELESS YOUTH OR FOSTER CHILDREN WHO ARE SEEKING A BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
UH, THIS WOULD EXPAND THAT TO ALL HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS AND, AND WE'RE IN THE PROCESS OF, AND OTHERS TO, UH, SHAPE HOW THAT MIGHT LOOK.
THIS FIRST, UH, ITEM HERE ABOUT PRIVACY FOR VULNERABLE RESIDENTS.
UH, MAYOR YOU MAY REMEMBER, CAME UP A YEAR OR SO AGO.
WE RECEIVE A LOT OF OPEN RECORDS REQUESTS AT THE CITY, UH, OFTEN FROM PREDATORY COMPANIES WANTING PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD THEIR UTILITIES CUT OFF OR HAVE RECEIVED UTILITY ASSISTANCE.
UM, WE TYPICALLY DON'T HAVE THAT INFORMATION SAWS AND C P SS DOES, UH, AND SAWS DOES NOT HAVE ANY WAY OF PROTECTING THAT.
THEY'RE REQUIRED TO RELEASE IT, WHICH MEANS THOSE WHO ARE FACING FINANCIAL HARDSHIPS THEN, UH, GET HIT UP BY, BY SOLICITORS, UH, POTENTIALLY TRYING TO GET THEM SELL THEIR HOUSE OR ENTER INTO A, UH, HIGH INTEREST LOAN OR SOMETHING ELSE.
AND SO WE, UH, WE BELIEVE THAT INFORMATION SHOULD BE PROTECTED.
UH, WE BELIEVE SAS IS GONNA BRING THIS FORWARD.
UH, DONOVAN BURTON, MY, UH, COUNTERPART AT SASS IS ON THE CALL HERE AND CAN TALK MORE ABOUT THAT, BUT, UH, WE, WE WANNA EXPRESS SUPPORT FOR THAT.
THE SECOND ITEM HERE IS JUST GENERAL SUPPORT, UH, PROTECTING OUR MUNICIPAL UTILITY MODELS, OPPOSING ANY LEGISLATION THAT HARMS C P S AND SAWS, UH, AND, AND TAKES AWAY ALL THE GREAT BENEFITS WE HAVE FROM A MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITY.
SLIDE SUPPORT FOR MILITARY CITY U S A THROUGH DAG FUNDING, WHICH WE'VE BENEFITED FROM GREATLY HERE.
UH, OPPOSING LEGISLATION THAT HARMS OUR ABILITY TO, UH, PROTECT THE BASES THROUGH SMART DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS AROUND THE INSTALLATIONS.
AND THEN THIS THIRD ITEM IS SOMETHING THAT CAME OUT OF THE MAYOR AND AND GENERAL AYALA'S VISIT TO THE PENTAGON RECENTLY.
AND THAT IS, UH, THE IDEA THAT, UM, BROOKS BROOK ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, B A S C, AND OTHER MILITARY TREATMENT FACILITIES DO NOT GET FULLY REIMBURSED WHEN THEY TREAT CIVILIAN PATIENTS BECAUSE OF, UH, STATE LAW.
AND THERE ARE SOME CHANGES TO EXEMPT THEM FROM STATE LAW THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO RECEIVE FULL REIMBURSEMENT FROM INSURANCE COMPANIES, WHICH WOULD ALLOW THEM TO CONTINUE TO SERVE CIVILIANS AND NOT PUT THEM IN JEOPARDY OF BEING, UH, UH, UH, RELOCATED OR, OR LESS VALUABLE TO THE MILITARY AS A WHOLE.
THE ITEM ON THE LEFT HAS TO DO WITH REDISTRICTING SOMETHING THAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN THIS SESSION, WHETHER IT'S IN THE REGULAR OR A SPECIAL, WE DON'T KNOW.
BUT THIS IS A STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR A DATA-DRIVEN PROCESS THAT ULTIMATELY PROVIDES A FAIR AND EFFECTIVE REPRESENTATION OF OUR COMMUNITY.
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COUNCILMAN VERAN AT THE I G R LEVEL SUGGESTED WE, UH, ADD SOME ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE ABOUT RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY.SO WE'VE ADDED THAT AS ONE OF THE SUGGESTIONS FROM I G R.
AND OF COURSE, REDISTRICTING IS VERY MUCH BASED, UH, AROUND RACIAL AND, AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY, ENSURING FAIR REPRESENTATION FOR EVERYONE.
UH, THE ITEM ON THE RIGHT WAS PROPOSED TO US FROM THE MUNICIPAL COURT.
WE, WE HAVE ONE OF THE ONLY MUNICIPAL COURTS THAT, UM, DOES NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO ELECTRONICALLY RECORD ITS HEARINGS.
WE HAVE TO USE A LIVE COURT REPORTER AND MANY OTHER MUNICIPAL COURTS ACROSS THE STATE CAN CHOOSE, AND WE'D LIKE THAT SAME FLEXIBILITY AND EFFICIENCY AND POTENTIAL COST SAVINGS.
UH, SO WE'RE GONNA PURSUE PROPOSED PURSUING THAT THIS SESSION.
AND I'M GETTING NEAR THE END HERE.
UM, THIS TOP ITEM HAS TO DO WITH PROTECTING PROPS ONE IN SEVEN.
THESE WERE THE TWO VOTER APPROVED REVENUE STREAMS FOR TRANSPORTATION IN RECENT YEARS.
WITH THE TIGHT BUDGET, THERE'S CONCERN THAT SOME OF THOSE REVENUES WILL BE DIVERTED TO HELP CLOSE THE BUDGET.
UM, AND SIMILARLY, UH, PROP ONE RELIES ON GAS TAX FUNDING, UH, WHICH COMES FROM THE RAINY DAY FUND.
AND IF THE RAINY DAY FUND IS RATED FOR, UH, TO CLOSE OTHER BUDGET HOLES, AND IT DROPS THE RAINY DAY FUND BELOW CERTAIN LEVELS, THEN IT CUTS OFF THAT TRANSPORTATION STREAM.
THE REASON WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT IS WE ARE SET AS A COMMUNITY TO BENEFIT TREMENDOUSLY IN THE COMING YEARS FROM THESE, WE HAVE $2.6 BILLION IN LETTINGS JUST NEXT YEAR ALONE.
THAT'S FOR THE I 35 PROJECT FROM THE AT T CENTER ALL THE WAY OUT TO NEW BRAUNFELS.
AND THAT'S FOR, UH, LOOP 1604 AROUND THE I 10 INTERCHANGE.
UH, WE, WE MAY BE BENEFITING MORE THAN, UH, MANY OTHER COMMUNITIES AROUND THE STATE.
AND, AND IF WE WERE TO SEE THOSE REVENUE STREAMS REDUCED, IT WOULD NEGATIVELY HURT US.
VIC BOYER FROM SAMCO IS ON THIS CALL AS WELL.
IF YOU WANNA ASK QUESTIONS AFTER, UH, THE EXPRESSING SUPPORT FOR VISION ZERO, ANY LEGISLATION THAT HELPS ENSURE AND ENHANCE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY AND, UH, AND OTHER SAFETY INITIATIVES.
THE LAST ONE HERE IS FROM THE, UH, UH, FIRE AND POLICE PENSION FUND, WHICH HAS APPROVED A PACKAGE OF LEGISLATIVE FIXES THAT OUR FINANCE DEPARTMENT HAS REVIEWED AND AGREES WE SHOULD SUPPORT.
THEY DO NOT NEGATIVELY IN, UH, IMPACT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE FUND.
UH, THEY'RE MOSTLY CLEANUP LANGUAGE, AND IF YOU REMEMBER, THEY BROUGHT THIS LANGUAGE LAST SESSION AND IT FELL APART, UH, WHEN THERE WERE SOME OTHER UNRELATED, UH, CONTROVERSIES WITH, WITH THE FIRE UNION OVER DEATH BENEFITS.
UM, THEY'VE ESSENTIALLY BROUGHT BACK ALMOST THE ENTIRE SAME PACKAGE OF FIXES.
AND, UH, AND WE BELIEVE IT'LL, UH, BE WELL RECEIVED BY OUR DELEGATION.
AND, AND OUR FINANCE DEPARTMENT, AGAIN, BELIEVES IT WILL BENEFIT THE PER THE, UH, FUND ITSELF.
LAST TWO CATEGORIES ARE, ARE A GENERAL STATEMENT OF PROTECTING COMMUNITY INTERESTS.
THERE WILL BE MANY, MANY BILLS THAT WE HAVE NOT, UH, PREDICTED ON THE FRONT END THAT WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON THE CITY.
AND SO THIS ESSENTIALLY SAYS THAT WE WILL OPPOSE BILLS THAT UNDERMINE OUR ABILITY TO SELF-GOVERN, THAT ANY MANDATE, ANY INCREASED COST TO CITIES, UNFUNDED MANDATES THAT RESULT IN A LOSS OF REVENUE TO THE CITY, UH, OR RESO, REDUCE YOUR, UH, AUTHORITY TO, UH, UH, PASS POLICIES THAT BENEFIT, UH, OUR COMMUNITY, OUR IN THE BEST INTEREST IN HEALTH OF OUR COMMUNITY.
AND THEN WE, WE PLEDGE TO WORK WITH A NUMBER OF OUR LOCAL PARTNERS, UH, PROVIDED THEIR AGENDAS DON'T CONFLICT WITH OURS, WHICH THEY RARELY DO.
UH, WE, THIS IS A STATEMENT OF PARTNERSHIP, UH, AROUND MANY OF OUR, UH, LOCAL PUBLIC ENTITIES AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF PRIVATE SMALL BUSINESSES, EMPLOYERS, NONPROFITS.
UH, WE WORK CLOSELY WITH ALL OF THEM.
IN FACT, MANY OF THEM HAVE NOT APPROVED LEGISLATIVE AGENDAS YET.
SO THIS GIVES US, UH, SOME DIRECTION TO BE ABLE TO, TO SUPPORT THEM AND WORK WITH, WITH THEM WHEN WE CAN BE OF HELP, UH, TO THEM.
AND I BELIEVE THAT WRAPS UP THE PRESENTATION.
UM, HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS AND, UM, THANK YOU FOR THE TIME, ERIC.
UM, AND WE DO HAVE A PACKED AGENDA TODAY, SO I'LL PUT FIVE MINUTES SET FOR, UH, OUR COMMENTS FOR EACH OF THESE ITEMS SINCE WE HAVE MULTIPLE ITEMS. UM, LET ME START, UH, UH, LEMME JUST SAY THANK YOU TO OUR I G R COMMITTEE.
I'VE DONE A GREAT, THEY'VE DONE A GREAT JOB HELPING TO ASSEMBLE THIS AGENDA, UH, PARTICULARLY OUR CHAIR, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER P SO LEMME TURN THE FLOOR OVER TO HIM, UH, AND THEN WE'LL GET OUR DISCUSSION STARTED.
UM, JUST ONE WORD OF, OF CAUTION.
WE, UM, NEED TO BE VERY, UH, COGNIZANT THAT, UH, WHAT HAPPENS IN AUSTIN AND WHAT HAPPENS IN DC IS, IS FLUID AND
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CAN CHANGE VERY QUICKLY.UM, JEFF AND CARLOS AND, AND ERIC AND I HAVE SPOKEN ABOUT THAT, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I, I THINK IS SMART, ERIC, AND I THINK WE SHOULD TAKE YOU UP ON INVITATION, IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'VE GOT A WEEKLY PLACEHOLDER ON THE AGENDA, UH, FOR A SESSION JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN ALL COME TOGETHER AND DISCUSS VERY QUICKLY, ADJUST ADJUSTMENTS THAT MAY NEED TO BE MADE TO THE, UH, LEGISLATIVE AGENDA OR, UM, YOU KNOW, SO WE CAN DISCUSS, YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT ARE, THAT ARE GOING ON DOWN THERE SO THAT WE CAN, UH, REACT QUICKLY.
UH, THE SECOND THING IS, UM, IN, IN ORDER TO GET THIS RIGHT, WE HAVE A TEAM OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ADVOCATES THAT WE'VE HIRED, UM, WHO ARE, WHO REALLY HAVE PROVEN THEMSELVES TO BE EXCELLENT YEAR AFTER YEAR, AFTER YEAR.
REALLY DONE A GOOD JOB OF, OF, UH, TELLING THE SAN ANTONIO STORY UP IN AUSTIN AND, AND IN DC AND, UH, TO THE EXTENT THAT THEY'RE HERE TODAY, I, I, I REALLY APPRECIATE THEM SHOWING UP.
UM, JEFF, I, I, I'VE GOT ONE, UH, SET OF QUESTIONS REGARDING THE POLICE COMPONENT OF THIS.
UM, AND, AND, AND IT'S NOT EVEN A QUESTION FOR YOU, JEFF, IT'S A QUESTION FOR ANDY SVIA.
UM, SO ANDY, WHAT I, WHAT I'D LIKE TO MAKE DRIVE HOME IS THAT EVEN THOUGH THESE POLICE RELATED ITEMS ARE CONTAINED IN, UH, THE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, THAT DOESN'T PRECLUDE US FROM NEGOTIATING, UM, SOMETHING THAT'S MUTUALLY AGREEABLE WITH THE, WITH OLA RIGHT.
IN, IN, IN A FINAL C, B, AND, UH, THANK YOU COUNCILMAN.
THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS IT DOESN'T PRECLUDE US.
BUT ON A, UH, THERE, THERE'S SOME THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE A LEGISLATIVE CHANGE.
AND, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT'S THE ONE OF BEING ABLE TO DISCLOSE, UH, MATTERS THAT ARE LESS THAN, UH, SUSPENSIONS, THAT, THAT WOULD REQUIRE A STATE LAW CHANGE, BUT, UH, THE OTHERS COULD BE HANDLED THROUGH A C B A, SO THAT, BUT IT DOESN'T PRECLUDE US FROM TRYING TO DO THAT THROUGH A C B A.
RIGHT? AND SO WE COULD, UM, UH, SO FOR EXAMPLE, GIVING BONUS POINTS TO NEW OFFICERS WHO LIVE IN CITY LIMITS VERSUS OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS, EVEN IF THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN AT THE LEGISLATURE, THAT COULD BE DONE BY WAY OF NEGOTIATION, RIGHT? CORRECT.
AND THEN, UM, CHANGES TO OUR ARBITRATION AGREEMENT AND THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ARBITRATORS, WHICH IS WHAT I'M MOST FOCUSED ON, IS, IS THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE ARBITRATORS.
UM, THAT, UM, IS ALSO, IF THE, UH, LEGISLATURE DOESN'T TAKE THAT UP, WE COULD WRITE AS SIMPLE OR AS A COMP AS COMPLICATED AN ARBITRATION CLAUSE AS WE WANT IN THAT AGREEMENT, RIGHT? CORRECT.
AND SO, I, I, I GUESS I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE TO PREPARE EVERYBODY FOR A REACTION FROM, YOU KNOW, UH, AND IT SHOULD BE NO SURPRISE, A REACTION FROM
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, I, I SUPPOSE I, I THINK IT'S, I THINK IT'S SAFE TO ASSUME THAT THEY'RE GONNA SAY NONE OF THESE ARE NECESSARY, UH, BECAUSE WE CAN ALL SIT DOWN, SIT AT THE TABLE AND HAMMER THIS OUT.
UM, AND, AND I'D REALLY LIKE TO HEAR FROM MY, FROM MY COLLEAGUES ON COUNCIL ABOUT, YOU KNOW, UM, THEIR THINKING WHEN, WHEN IT COMES TO THIS ONE ITEM, THE POLICE ITEM.
BUT, UM, I, I DO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT ANDY AND, AND ERIC, UM, THAT WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT GOING INTO, UH, THIS LEGISLATION, WE'RE NOT ASKING FOR THEM TO GIVE US A TOOL BY WHICH WE COULD THEN USE AS A, AS A, AS A CLUB, UM, TO EMBARRASS OFFICERS FOR NON-DISCIPLINARY MATTERS, RIGHT? OR TO SOMEHOW, UM, YOU KNOW, TREAT THEM UNFAIRLY AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS NEW FLEXIBILITY THAT WE'RE ASKING FOR THE LEGISLATURE.
UM, THE IDEA HERE IS TO BRING, UM, MORE CLARITY AND MORE FLEXIBILITY, UH, TO DISCIPLINARY, UM, THE DISCIPLINARY PROCESS.
AND SO I, I THINK WE'RE GONNA BE ENCOUNTERED WITH THOSE KINDS OF OBJECTIONS.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE'RE READY FOR THEM.
JEFF, DID YOU HAVE A CHANCE TO TALK TO OLA BEFORE YOU PRESENTED TO US TODAY? I DID.
UM, I, I HAD A PHONE CALL WITH OLAS, UH, GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PERSON, UH, SENT HIM THE LANGUAGE, MADE SURE HE HAD SEEN THESE.
UM, AND MY MESSAGE TO HIM WAS THAT, UH, I THINK WE ALL RECOGNIZE THE COMMUNITY, UH, EXPECTS CHANGE, AND THESE ARE ZEROING IN ON SOME VERY, UH, UH, OBVIOUS PROBLEMS IN THE PAST.
AND THAT OUR HOPE IS THAT ULTIMATELY WE CAN WORK TOGETHER ON THESE THINGS, UH, AND AND AGREE THAT THESE ARE IMPORTANT FIXES THAT, THAT HELP, UM, DEAL WITH MISCONDUCT, UH, WITHOUT NECESSARILY IMPACTING OFFICERS WHO ARE DOING A WONDERFUL
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JOB EVERY DAY AND, AND NOT GETTING IN TROUBLE.THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE MY QUESTIONS, MAYOR.
THANK YOU TO JEFF AND HIS TEAM FOR ALL THE HARD WORK AND DESIGNING THIS EVENT.
UM, GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER.
UM, MY, MY QUESTIONS ARE ALONG THE SAME.
I, I WANNA BE CLEAR HOW OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, I'M LOOKING AT THE SECOND BULLET POINT ON SLIDES 12, THAT, THAT'S WHERE I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS.
UM, I, I WONDER, I'M GONNA GET A LITTLE BIT INTO THE WE ABOUT THIS AND, AND TELL ME, YOU KNOW, IF IT'S BEEN, GOT OUT, UH, IN THIS DETAIL.
BUT, UM, I WANNA CLARIFY THE STANDARD, YOU KNOW, WITH THE, UM, UH, LOOKING AT THE SLIDE, THE HUNDRED 80 DAYS, ARE WE, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT, I MEAN, I AGREE IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT THIS IS THE DATE THAT THE CHIEF KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN PARALLELING A LEGAL LEGAL STANDARD, WHICH I THINK IS APPROPRIATE.
UM, BUT ARE WE ADDING IN, LIKE, ARE WE TALKING ABOUT CONSTRUCTIVE KNOWLEDGE AND NOTICE? IS THAT SOMETHING THAT, UM, I, I JUST NEED MORE DETAIL AROUND THAT.
CAN YOU, UH, CAN YOU CLARIFY THAT IF I UNDERSTOOD THE QUESTION CORRECTLY? COUNCILWOMAN, UH, YES.
THIS IS, UM, A SHORTHAND FOR LACK OF A BETTER TERM.
UH, THE ACTUAL PROVISION WOULD HAVE, OR THE LEGISLATIVE PROVISION WOULD HAVE A CONSTRUCTIVE KNOWLEDGE ELEMENT, I'M SURE TO IT THAT WOULD SAY KNOWN OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN.
SO MY QUESTION IS, MY CONCERN IS NOT INCREASING THE, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE GIVE MORE TIME TO, TO, FOR THAT, FOR THAT, THAT STANDARD, THAT LEGAL STANDARD.
BUT, UM, I DO HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT A TIME LIMITATION AFTER THE, THE INFRACTION, RIGHT? UH, IF, IF WE'RE TALKING, SAY FOR EXAMPLE, I'M A, I'M A POLICE OFFICER, AND I, UH, INFLICTED, UM, YOU KNOW, SOME UE PHYSICAL HARM, A PHYSICAL ASSAULT ON A MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY RIGHT? NOW, UH, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, IF THE CHIEF LEARNS THAT THIS ALLEGED IN FACTION AFTER THE HUNDRED 80 DAYS, HE CANNOT IMPOSE A DISCIPLINARY ACTION, CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
IF WE, IF, UM, WE LEARN ABOUT IT AFTER THE 180 DAYS, WE CANNOT TAKE ANY DISCIPLINARY ACTION.
SO, UM, SO I, I I AGREE THAT WE SHOULD INCREASE, UM, THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT THE, THE CHIEF, IT'S NOT ENOUGH TIME, BUT, OR THE CHIEF COULD BE AWARE.
BUT, UM, MY QUESTION IS REGARDING HOW MUCH TIME WOULD SPAN ALMOST LIKE A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, HOW MUCH SPAN AFTER THE ELECTION FRACTION? SO YOU, I, I COMMITTED THIS AS A POLICE OFFICER, I ALLEGEDLY COMMITTED A PHYSICAL ASSAULT, AND THEN 15 YEARS HAS PASSED, AND THEN THE CHIEF LEARNS.
IS THAT, IS THAT INCLUDED WHAT I'M SAYING? IS THERE A LIMITATION IF IT'S MORE, UH, SO IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT YOU'RE ASKING COUNCILWOMAN IS IF A POLICE OFFICER, UH, HAS AN UHIT, AN INFRACTION, AND THEN THE CHIEF DOESN'T LEARN ABOUT IT UNTIL A YEAR LATER, UH, WOULD THAT ALLOW TO BE DISCIPLINED? AND THEN THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION IS YES, UNLESS, AS YOU SAID, THERE'S CONSTRUCTIVE KNOWLEDGE WHERE WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN.
AND WHEN YOU HAVE A PERIOD OF, UH, A LENGTH OF TIME THAT LONG, UH, CERTAINLY THAT, THAT BEGS THE QUESTION OF, OF HOW IS IT THAT WE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT IT? SO I, I UNDERSTAND THAT YEAR, THAT SEEMS REASONABLE, BUT MY EXAMPLE WAS LIKE 15 YEARS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE SPAN OF OH, RIGHT, OFFICER.
BUT IS THERE A LIMITATION SOMEWHERE, UM, AM I SUBJECT TO DISCIPLINARY ACT ACTION AFTER 15 YEARS? AND THEN THE CHIEF IS, IS AWARE OF IT, AND THERE HAS BEEN NO CONSTRUCTION.
SO YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS PRINCIPLE.
AND, AND AGAIN, THAT, UH, I'M SURE AS WE DISCUSSED THIS, UH, WITH OUR DELEGATION AND THAT GET, IF IT DOES GET TAKEN UP BY THE LEGISLATURE, I'M SURE THAT'LL BE A POINT THAT WILL BE DISCUSSED AS WELL.
AND MAYBE IT WILL DEPEND ON THE, UH, ALLEGED INFRACTION AND THE SEVERITY OF INFRACTION OR, UM, YOU KNOW, THE AMOUNT OF YEARS THAT, UM, SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE ARE GONNA TAKE UP, IS THAT CORRECT? WITH THE, WITH THE LEGISL? SO, YES, AGAIN, I UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION IS, IS ARE WE GONNA CONSIDER A SORT OF A, UH, A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS PERIOD, UH, DEPENDING ON WHAT, UH, THE FRACTION IS.
I THINK THAT'S NOT PART OF WHAT OUR, OUR PROPOSAL WOULD BE, BUT I I, I WOULD IMAGINE THAT WOULD COME UP IF THE LEGISLATOR STRONGLY CONSIDERS THIS, THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE, UH,
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AN ELEMENT TO THE ACTUAL LEGISLATION IS MY, IS MY VIEW.COUNCIL MEMBER CAVEO, HDA, COUNCIL MEMBER GRO, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY.
A LOT OF THIS DISCUSSION HAPPENED.
UM, I DID JUST WANNA GIVE A LITTLE BIT OF INSIGHT TO MY COLLEAGUES AS TO, UM, WHY THE STATE HOSPITAL AS WELL, UM, IN, IT IS IN DISTRICT THREE OFF OF SOUTHEAST MILITARY, BUT I WANTED TO SHARE THAT FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
WE'VE HAD SOME SECURITY ISSUES IN THERE AND IT'S NEEDED MAINTENANCE FOR A VERY LONG TIME.
SO THE DOLLARS HAVE BEEN, UM, ALLOCATED IN THE LAST SESSION.
WE'RE HOPING TO BUILD UPON THAT.
SO THAT IS WHY ONE OF THE IMPORTANT THINGS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON.
AND THE NEXT, UH, THANK YOU, JEFF, WE'RE REALLY PUTTING IN THERE JUST TO REITERATE IN THE, UM, THE REDISTRICTING THAT IT IS TO BE A FAIR ACCOUNTING, BUT THAT IT DOES TAKE INTO, UM, RACIAL AND ETHNIC REPRESENTATION.
AND I THINK WE DO NEED TO CALL IT OUT BECAUSE REPRESENTATION DOES MATTER, AND I DON'T THINK IT'S CONTROVERSIAL IF WE CALL IT OUT.
SO I WOULD LIKE MY COLLEAGUES IF THEY WOULD SERIOUSLY CONSIDER THAT AND BE ON BOARD WITH THAT.
AND THEN, UM, YES, I'M GLAD VIC IS ON THE CALL BECAUSE WE CONTINUE TO WORK AND DO WHAT WE CAN DO WITH TDOT AND AT THE STATE LEVEL TO ADVOCATE AS WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, MPOS.
AND I KNOW THAT, UM, THE COUNCILWOMAN, UH, SANDOVAL AND THE M P O HAS WORKED HARD TO LOOK AT EQUITY WHEN IT COMES TO DISTRIBUTION OF POINTS AND FUNDS, WHEN IT, WHEN IT COMES FROM THE STATE, AND HOW WE CAN EVEN LOOK AT THAT IN A BROADER SPECTRUM, UH, WITH OUR STATE DELEGATION, BECAUSE WE DO STILL NEED, UM, DOLLARS FROM THE STATE FOR OUR EAST WEST CONNECTOR, SOUTH OF NEAR NAVISTAR.
UM, AND I KNOW DONOVAN WOULD BE HAPPY TO, TO TALK ABOUT THAT TOO, AND SAWS AND ALL OF THE GREAT WORK THAT WE ALL COLLABORATIVELY NEED TO WORK ON TOGETHER.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS ON, ON THIS.
MAYOR, MAYOR, AND JUST THANK YOU TO, UM, MY COLLEAGUE, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ELIAS AND THE ENTIRE CITY COUNTY, UM, I G R COLLABORATIVE.
UH, I'LL GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER RICHARD GARCIA.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A GOOD COMMITTEE MEETING THE OTHER DAY, BUT, UH, I WANNA GO BACK.
I, UH, SEEMS TO BE A, THE MAIN TOPIC OF DISCUSSION HERE ON THE POLICE, UH, PORTION.
SO IF YOU CAN GO BACK TO SIDE 12, AND, UM, I JUST WANT TO KIND OF PIGGYBACK ON WHAT COUNCILMAN GOLIAS WAS, WAS TALKING ABOUT HERE.
UM, OUT OF, OUT OF THESE, OUT OF THESE, UH, UH, 1, 2, 3, 4 BULLETS HERE, WHICH ONES DO, WHICH ONES WOULD WE NEED TO SEND UP TO THE STATE FOR THEM TO TAKE, UM, TO GIVE US HELP ON THROUGH LEGISLATION, WHICH, WHICH ONES OF THOSE, ALL OF 'EM, ANDY OR LIZ? DO YOU WANNA ANSWER THAT? OR I CAN.
THE, UM, IF, IF THE, UH, IF YOUR QUESTION COUNCILMAN IS, WHICH ONE OF THESE FOUR WE CANNOT NEGOTIATE THROUGH THE C B A, IT'D BE THE FIRST ONE, WHICH WOULD BE THE RELEASE OF ALL DISCIPLINARY RECORDS, OFTEN REFERRED TO AS THE G FILE, THAT ONE, YOU WOULD NEED A DEFINITE LEGISLATIVE CHANGE FOR THE OTHER THREE, WE WOULD, UH, BE, HAVE THE ABILITY, UH, TO NEGOTIATE THAT THROUGH A C B A.
AND I GUESS THEREIN LIES MY REAL QUESTION.
WHY WOULD WE PUT THIS UP TO THE LEGISLATURE IF, UH, IF WE CAN NEGOTIATE THESE OTHER ONES THROUGH THE C B A AGREEMENT, WHICH WE'RE GONNA GET STARTED ON, UH, HERE SOON, UH, TO PUT THINGS ON THE TABLE? I'LL ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
UH, COUNCILMAN THE, THE HEAD OF THE UNION HAS STATED PUBLICLY MORE THAN ONCE, THAT HE'S VERY RELUCTANT TO NEGOTIATE AWAY ANYTHING THAT IS PROVIDED, UH, TO THEM UNDER STATE LAW.
UH, SO IF WE GET THE STATE LAW CHANGE, WE WOULD NOT PUT HIM IN THAT AWKWARD POSITION THEN WHERE YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE NEGOTIATING THINGS THAT ARE PROVIDED UNDER STATE LAW.
I'LL JUST ADD TO THAT, COUNCILMAN, UM, A NUMBER OF OTHER CITIES, UH, SHARE AN INTEREST IN BOTH OF THESE ITEMS. THE, THESE ARE, THESE ARE PROBLEMS ACROSS THE STATE, NOT JUST FOR SAN ANTONIO.
AND SO I THINK THERE'S GOING TO BE A DISCUSSION AT THE
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LEGISLATURE ABOUT, UH, BOTH THAT SECOND AND THIRD BULLET.UM, AND, AND SO IT WOULD MOVE US TO BE A PART OF THAT CONVERSATION, I THINK IS THE OTHER PART OF THE ANSWER.
BUT IF I'M HEARING ANDY RIGHT, UH, THEY'RE NOT, THAT THOSE ARE ALL NEGOTIATED ITEMS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL, NOT UP AT THE STATE.
IT, IT'S IN STATE LAW, BUT THEN IT'S, IT'S, UH, RESTATED IN C B A, CORRECT, ANDY? WELL, UH, UH, IT, OH, AGAIN, UNDER THE C B A, WE CAN NEGOTIATE THESE THREE ITEMS, COUNCILMAN, RIGHT.
BUT I, I, I WASN'T BEING FACETIOUS IN THAT THE, THE UNION HAS TAKEN THE POSITION THAT THEY WILL BE MUCH STRONGER ON THINGS THAT THEY VIEW ARE PROVIDED THEM UNDER STATE LAW.
SO OUR NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE UNION WOULD BE MUCH FACILITATED IF WE DO GE GET THESE CHANGES IN STATE LAW, WHICH AS JEFF IS ALSO, UH, REINFORCED, UH, THEY'RE SUPPORTED BY A LOT OF OTHER LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES.
AND, AND WHEN DID, WHEN DID WE GET THAT FEEDBACK THAT, UM, YOU'RE SAYING THE UNION PRESIDENTS MADE THAT COMMENT? WHEN WAS THAT COMMENT MADE? UH, HE WAS, HE MADE THAT COMMENT MOST RECENTLY AT A, UH, T M L I THINK EVENT, UH, IN WHICH THERE WAS A PANEL.
UM, BUT HE'S MADE THAT COMMENT TO, UH, US, UH, AND TO OTHERS SEVERAL TIMES.
I MEAN, HE HAS, HE'S, UH, I, I DON'T THINK HE'S SHY ABOUT SAYING THAT.
WELL, I, I'M JUST HAVING DIFFICULTY IF, IF, IF WE HAVE THAT ABILITY TO NEGOTIATE HERE LOCALLY, WHY SEND THIS UP AS A STATE INITIATIVE TO, TO GET, TO GET THIS, I GUESS, ADDED INTO THE STATE LEGISLATIVE LANGUAGE? BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY IT, IT, I MEAN, IT'S, IT'S DOWN AT THE LOCAL LEVEL TO BE NEGOTIATED, AND I, I'M JUST, I, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE WOULD BE SENDING SOMETHING UP TO THE STATE THAT WE CAN DO HERE LOCALLY AND HAVE, WHAT WAS THE, WHAT WAS THE COMMENTS BACK FROM JEFF? YOU MENTIONED THAT, UH, YOU DID TALK WITH A UNION REPRESENTATIVE.
WHAT, WHAT, WHAT COMMENTS DID YOU GET BACK FROM HIM? WELL, IT WAS A, IT WAS A, AN INITIAL CONVERSATION BEFORE HE, UH, REVIEWED IT.
BUT, UM, BUT HIS, WE, WHERE WE LEFT THE CONVERSATION WAS WE AGREED TO FOLLOW UP WITH OUR RESPECTIVE LEADERSHIPS AND, AND SET UP A CONVERSATION TO, TO TALK, UH, TO TALK ABOUT IT.
SO, UM, IT, THE, THEY'RE AWARE AS WELL THAT IT'S IN STATE LAW, BUT WOULD ALSO NEED TO BE NEGOTIATED IN C B A.
UH, AND I EXPLAINED THE SAME REASONS TO HIM THAT, THAT ANDY'S GIVEN HERE FOR WHY IT WOULD BE PART OF OUR LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE.
SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH HIM AFTER YOU SENT THE LANGUAGE TO HIM THEN? NO, I HAD, UH, I WALKED, I TOLD HIM, WALKED THROUGH ALL FOUR ITEMS AND SAID, HERE'S WHAT WE'RE PROPOSING IN THIS AGENDA.
HE UNDERSTOOD ALL OF THEM, UH, SAID, LET ME TAKE A LOOK.
WE'LL CIRCLE BACK, YOU KNOW, SOMETIME NEXT WEEK.
AND SO THAT'S WHERE WE LEFT IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY, COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHE GARCIA, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE.
UM, THANK YOU JEFF, UH, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND, UH, I'M EXCITED, UH, ABOUT SOME OF THE, UM, ITEMS THAT WE'RE GOING TO TAKE FORWARD.
I STILL HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF QUESTIONS ON SOME OF THEM, AND I'LL START OFF JUST IN, IN WITH, UH, THE, KIND OF PIGGYBACKING OFF SOME OF MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES' POINTS, AND I THINK THAT THEY'VE ASKED A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE, BUT ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT AS I LISTEN TO MY COLLEAGUES, AND AGAIN, I, I HAVEN'T BEEN HERE FOR LONG, SO FORGIVE ME FOR NOT KNOWING, BUT IS THERE ANY OF THESE BULLET POINTS THAT WE CAN FIX FASTER HERE INSTEAD OF HAVING TO WAIT UNTIL THE STATE LEGISLATIVE SESSION TAKES PLACE, OR, UM, I GUESS HELP ME UNDERSTAND, BECAUSE I SEE TWO BULLET POINTS IN THERE THAT REFERENCE SPECIFICALLY THE POLICE CHIEF, AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO WORK ON FASTER WITHOUT HAVING TO WAIT FOR THE STATE LEVEL.
THE, THE, AND ANDY CAN EXPLAIN MORE DETAIL IF YOU'D LIKE, BUT, UM, THEY, IT WOULD EITHER HAVE TO BE THROUGH LEGISLATION OR THROUGH COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.
UM, ALRIGHT, WELL THEN THAT'S HELPFUL.
AND THEN, UM, I HAVE, I, I'VE, UH, I'VE CONNECTED BEFORE WITH, UM, UM, JIMMY FROM
AND SO I, I GUESS MAYBE OFFLINE, JEFF OR ANDY OR SOMEBODY, IF YOU CAN HELP ME UNDERSTAND, UM, MAYBE THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROCESS.
MAYBE I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND LIKE, UH, WHAT, WHAT HAPPENS, LIKE WHO YOU JUST, JUST OFFLINE MAYBE.
SO I DON'T TAKE ALL OF MY TIME TODAY.
UM, BUT THANK YOU FOR THAT, UH,
[00:50:01]
UH, JEFF, I APPRECIATE THAT.UM, MY OTHER QUESTION IS SOMETHING SIMILAR THAT I ASKED IN I G R YESTERDAY, AND I JUST WANTED MY COUNCIL COLLEAGUES TO, TO LISTEN TO THIS CONVERSATION.
UM, SPECIFICALLY THIS QUESTION, WE HAVE BEEN, UM, BROUGHT BY SEVERAL ORGANIZATIONS, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS FOR, FOR CERTAIN ITEMS. LIKE FOR INSTANCE, ON SITE AND RELEASE, ONE OF THE REPORTS THAT WE'VE CLEARLY, UM, SEEN THE QUARTERLY REPORTS THAT ARE BEING RELEASED.
UM, THEY'RE ASKING ABOUT, UH, ETHNICITY.
I, I THINK IT WOULD BE A, A GOOD, YOU KNOW, THING TO, TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT.
I, I HAD ASKED THAT I G R IF WE WERE ABLE TO ASK THE STATE TO ADD EVEN A SELF IDENTIFIER FOR ETHNICITY ON OUR TEXAS DRIVER'S LICENSE.
AND, UM, I DON'T KNOW THAT I, THAT YOU'VE HAD TIME TO DO THE RESEARCH.
'CAUSE IT WAS JUST, UM, YESTERDAY I THINK THAT WE HAD THE MEETING.
AND SO, BUT I WANTED TO, UM, BRING THAT UP AND, AND SEE IF YOU HAVE HAD A CHANCE TO, UM, MAKE ANY MOVEMENT ON THAT AND SEE IF THERE'S ANYBODY THAT'S, UH, ALREADY BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT OR MAYBE WHY IT HAS OR HASN'T BEEN DONE.
AND JUST TO BE VERY CLEAR FOR EVERYONE, YES.
STATE LAW WOULD DEFINE WHAT IS ON A DRIVER'S LICENSE.
SO ESSENTIALLY WHAT I TOOK FROM YOUR QUESTION IS LEGISLATION THAT WOULD REQUIRE ETHNICITY TO BE ON A TEXAS DRIVER'S LICENSE.
UH, WE'VE NOT FOUND ANY LEGISLATIVE HISTORY AROUND THAT TOPIC AT ALL.
NO, NO PAST EFFORTS, AT LEAST IN RECENT SESSIONS THAT WE COULD FIND.
UM, IF, IF THERE ARE GROUPS WHO ARE PUSHING IT, WE'RE HAPPY TO TALK WITH THEM AND FURTHER EXPLORE.
UM, BUT, BUT OBVIOUSLY THIS WOULD HAVE STATEWIDE IMPLICATIONS AND WITHOUT A BROADER, YOU KNOW, SORT OF COALITION OF INTEREST AROUND THE TOPIC.
UM, WE DIDN'T THINK IT WAS, UH, WE, WE DIDN'T PROPOSE ADDING IT JUST YET.
UM, THERE ARE GONNA BE A LOT OF CONVERSATIONS AROUND POLICE REFORM, NOT JUST THE ITEMS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT.
AND I SUSPECT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BE IN BACK IN FRONT OF COUNSEL REGULARLY, UH, RELAYING TO YOU WHAT'S BEING TALKED ABOUT SO WE CAN GET DIRECTION.
SO IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT COMES UP AS PART OF THAT CONVERSATION, WE'LL HAVE OUR, OUR ANTENNAS UP AND LISTEN FOR IT.
BUT, BUT I HAVEN'T SEEN MUCH AROUND THAT MOVEMENT YET.
AND THEN MY FINAL QUESTION, AND I ENTIRELY FORGOT TO BRING IT UP AT I G R, UM, BUT THE SCHOOL SAFETY BUFFER, UM, THERE'S APPARENTLY A, A, A CERTAIN MILE RADIUS AROUND SCHOOLS, UM, UH, FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.
AND SO I WAS ASKING, I ASKED A A A, I GUESS IT WAS MAYBE ALL, ALMOST A YEAR AND A HALF AGO OR, OR SOMETHING I WAS ASKING ABOUT UNDERSTANDING THAT, BECAUSE I THINK THAT IN AREAS WHERE THERE'S MORE, UM, UH, CRIME, THAT MAYBE WE COULD POTENTIALLY FIGURE OUT HOW TO EXPAND THAT CRIME BUFFER.
UM, BUT I, I FORGOT TO MENTION IT YESTERDAY OR, OR WHATEVER I G R WAS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT THERE AS WELL.
UM, JEFF, THAT I'M GONNA, I, I WOULD LOVE TO FOLLOW UP ON THAT.
AND I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH ABOUT IT OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT WE'RE HAPPY TO LOOK INTO IT.
COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ.
UH, I'D LIKE TO THANK, UH, OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS ON THAT COMMITTEE.
AND JEFF, YOUR DEPARTMENT, I THINK YOU PUT TOGETHER A REALLY SOUND PROGRAM THAT COVERS A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT AND IT THAT PEOPLE TALK ABOUT IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, I REALLY DON'T HAVE MANY OBJECTIONS.
UH, ANY OBJECTIONS, ALTHOUGH I HAVE A, A QUESTION OR TWO.
UM, HOW MANY OF THESE, WHAT 19 OR SO ISSUES WOULD YOU SAY, UH, WE ARE GOING TO TAKE AN OFFENSIVE POSITION ON, AND HOW MANY ARE INTENDED TO BE MORE DEFENSIVE? GREAT QUESTION, COUNCILMAN.
UM, THIS, I, I HAVEN'T COUNTED THEM, UH, GOING DOWN THE LIST.
UH, MOST OF THEM SAY SUPPORT OR OPPOSE THAT, UH, WOULD INDICATE THAT.
BUT I WILL SAY GENERALLY THIS IS A MUCH MORE OFFENSIVE AGENDA THAN YEARS PAST.
WE'RE TRYING TO, UH, LINE UP WITH ALLIES, UH, AND PURSUE SOME REALLY BIG THINGS FOR OUR COMMUNITY THAT, THAT WE'VE NOT TRIED IN PAST SESSIONS.
THERE'S A NUANCE TO YOUR QUESTION, I'LL BE VERY QUICK HERE.
BUT, WHICH IS, HOW MANY OF THESE DO WE HAVE TO ACTUALLY FILE THE LANGUAGE, FIND A SPONSOR FOR, WE CALL THOSE INITIATIVES.
AND THERE'S REALLY ONLY A COUPLE, THE MUNICIPAL COURT ONE, MAYBE THE POLICE ONE, UM, BUT, AND THE OTHER ONES JOINING FORCES WITH OTHERS WHO, WHO SHARE THE INTEREST.
WELL, YOU KNOW, I'LL, I'LL SPEAK ON THE, THE POLICE INITIATIVES.
'CAUSE I THINK THOSE ARE IMPORTANT, AND I THINK THOSE ARE BEING VERY STRONGLY DRIVEN BY, UH, YOU KNOW, THE COMMUNITY.
AND BY THAT WHAT I MEAN IS WE'VE HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY PRO AND CON FOR REFORM OR PROTECTION OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR THE LAST YEAR, AND I'M SURE WE'LL CONTINUE TO HEAR THAT.
MY BIGGEST CONCERN IS THAT WE SHOULDN'T HAVE ARBITRATORS OVERTURNING THE IMPORTANT DECISIONS THAT
[00:55:01]
ARE MADE REGARDING, UH, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHO COMMIT OFFENSES, UH, WHO ARE POLICE OFFICERS.AND I PERSONALLY THINK THAT THE BUCK SHOULD STOP WITH THE CITY AND NOT WITH AN ARBITRATOR.
AND THAT THAT COULD BE OR SHOULD BE EITHER THE CHIEF OF POLICE OR IF THERE'S ONE OTHER LEVEL TO GO BEYOND THAT, I THINK IT OUGHT TO BE THE CITY MANAGER.
BUT OTHER THAN THAT, UM, I THINK WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO TAKE STEPS TO LIMIT THE, UH, POWER OF AN ARBITRATOR TO OVERTURN THE KIND OF DISCIPLINE, UH, THAT WE FEEL IS APPROPRIATE, UH, FOR POLICE OFFICERS WHO, UH, YOU KNOW, VIOLATE RULES, POLICIES OF THE LAW.
AND I KNOW IT'S SMALL IN NUMBER, WE HAVE A GREAT POLICE DEPARTMENT, BUT I THINK THE COMMUNITY IS SAYING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
WE HAVE TWO PETITION ISSUES THAT ARE DEVELOPING THAT, UH, ARE REALLY CALLING ON THE CITIZENS OF SAN ANTONIO TO MAKE A DECISION.
DO YOU WANT TO UNDO TO STATE LAWS THAT WE'VE INCORPORATED INTO OUR CITY CHARTER? THAT'S GONNA BE A DECISION NOT MADE BY THE CITY COUNCIL, BUT THAT MAY BE MADE IF IT GOES FORWARD, SUCCESSFULLY BY THE COMMUNITY.
UH, BUT THESE OTHER ISSUES THAT WE'RE TAKING TO AUSTIN AND THESE OTHER ISSUES THAT WE AS COUNCIL HAVE SOME AUTHORITY OVER THAT ARE GONNA BE NEGOTIABLE WITH THE SAN ANTONIO POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION, I THINK ARE CRITICAL FOR US TO LOOK FOR SUPPORT FROM THE STATE IF WE CAN FIND IT, BUT STAND STRONG AS, AS A COUNCIL, AS WE MOVE FORWARD ON THOSE ISSUES.
THE OTHER ISSUES, THOUGH, I THINK ARE VERY GOOD, AND I WAS GLAD TO SEE OUR OUTLINING OF ALL OF THE PARTNERS THAT WE ARE WORKING WITH COLLABORATIVELY TO PROTECT THEIR INTERESTS AND OUR INTERESTS, WHICH REALLY TOGETHER REPRESENT THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO I JUST WANNA SAY AGAIN, GOOD JOB.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER GONZALEZ, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL.
AND SO, UM, I JUST, I HAVE, UH, ONE QUESTION, UH, FOR YOU, JEFF, UM, IN THE PRESENTATION.
UM, SO THE ABILITY FOR US TO, UH, CONTINUE TO WORK VIRTUALLY IS THAT, ISN'T THAT SOMETHING THAT WE WERE GIVEN PERMISSION BY THE STATE FROM THE PANDEMIC? AND IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO ASK FOR? UH, AGAIN, IN, IN THE EVENT THAT WE END UP IN A SCENARIO WE WHERE WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO MEET THIS WAY? RIGHT.
NO, I'D DEFER TO ANDY, BUT THAT WAS, UH, THAT WAS ISSUED OUTSIDE OF STATE LAW, UH, BY EITHER THE GOVERNOR OR THE AG.
DO YOU REMEMBER ANDY? THAT WAS BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND, UH, COUNCILMAN THAT WAS TEMPORARY, ALTHOUGH WE HAVEN'T HEARD, ALTHOUGH WE'VE BEEN, UH, TRYING TO GET AS MUCH INTELLIGENCE AS WE CAN AS WHEN THAT MAY BE LIFTED.
BUT, UH, THAT IS TEMPORARY AND THAT WAS, UH, GRANTED THROUGH THE AGS OFFICE.
AND IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD NEED TO LOBBY FOR IN THE EVENT THAT, UM, UH, THERE IS A, UM, REQUEST TO GO TO ALL IN PERSON MEETINGS? YEAH, IT WOULD BE SOMETHING WE WOULD HAVE TO ACTUALLY CHANGE IN THE OPEN MEETINGS ACT COUNCILWOMAN.
UM, SO PART OF THE LAW OR PART OF SOMETHING THAT WE'D HAVE TO LOBBY FOR, WE JUST WORK IN NOT NECESSARILY A LOBBYING EFFORT, BUT JUST A, UH, EFFORT STRICTLY THROUGH THE OFFICE.
IF, IF WE WANTED A PERMANENT AUTHORITY TO DO IT, WE WOULD NEED TO GO CHANGE THE LAW.
AND YOU CAN ALWAYS PUT CONDITIONS AROUND THAT, LIKE A, A GOVERNOR DECLARED DISASTER OR MAYOR DECLARED DISASTER, BUT, UM, BUT IN TERMS OF TEMPORARILY BEING ABLE TO HAVE THAT AUTHORITY, I THINK ANDY IS RIGHT.
WE CAN, WE CAN SEEK THAT, UH, CONTINUE TO HAVE THAT CONVERSATION WITH THE STATE AND THE AG.
WELL, PERHAPS WE COULD JUST KEEP IT ON OUR AGENDA, UM, IN THE EVENT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE, UH, AS A COMMUNITY DECIDE WE WANNA CONTINUE WITH THIS TYPE OF MEETING.
UM, AND IF THE GOVERNOR DECIDES THAT WE NEED TO MEET IN PERSON AGAIN, I, I'M FINDING THAT, UM, UH, FIRST OF ALL, WE, WE, WE DO GET A LOT OF COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR IT, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE HAVE THE SAME CAPABILITY TO DO THAT IF WE ALL GO BACK TO LIVE MEETINGS, BUT, UM, I'LL JUST, WE'LL LEAVE THAT FOR A, A FUTURE CONVERSATION IF WE NEED TO.
COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREWS SULLIVAN.
CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? YEAH, THANKS.
UH, JEFF, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM AND FOR THE PARTNERS WHO ARE ONLINE.
THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, UH, TODAY.
UM, VERY GLAD TO SEE THE EMPHASIS ON PUBLIC HEALTH.
IT APPEARS TO BE A TOP PRIORITY, UH, THIS TIME AROUND, SO I'M GLAD TO SEE THAT.
CAN YOU TELL ME REGARDING THE MEDICAID EXPANSION, WHICH
[01:00:01]
I, I, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE AS THE TOP ONE OF THE TOP PRIORITIES FOR THE CITY AMONG, OR WHO DO WE ANTICIPATE MAY FILE THAT AND WHO, UH, WHO IS TAKING THE LEAD ON THAT? OF OUR, WE'RE, UH, WE'RE WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE, UH, I BELIEVE THE NAME IS, AND COLLEEN CAN JUMP IN HERE, BUT I BELIEVE THE NAME IS THE BAYER HEALTHCARE COALITION, UM, WHO WE'VE HAD SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH.IN FACT, I THINK I WAS TOLD ON MY CALL WITH THEM THAT THEY'RE EXPECTING DOZENS OF BILLS TO BE FILED.
UH, IT'S ALSO VERY MUCH A BUDGET ITEM, SO IT PROBABLY WILL BE PART OF THE H P ONE BUDGET CONVERSATION.
UM, BUT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE, FROM THE CITY IN SAN ANTONIO ARE GONNA NEED TO GO FIND A SPONSOR AND, AND FILE THAT.
AND WHAT WE'RE ESSENTIALLY, ESSENTIALLY SAYING HERE IS WE WANNA JOIN THE RANKS OF THOSE WHO ARE PUSHING FOR IT.
WE'D BE ADVOCATING TO OUR DELEGATION TO, TO, UH, WORK, UH, WITH OTHERS AND HELP MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
UH, I'M, I'M CURIOUS TO KNOW WHO, WHO OF THE PARTNERS IS ALSO GOING TO BE PUSHING FORWARD WITH US ON THIS? WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR, TO SEND US, UM, BASICALLY, UM, SORT OF A GRID OF THE, OR, OR OUR OWN STAFF CAN FIGURE THAT OUT, BUT BASICALLY DIFFERENT LEGISLATIVE AGENDAS TO SEE WHERE WE OVERLAP WITH DIFFERENT PARTNERS? UM, YES.
WELL, THEY, THEY DON'T ALL HAVE THEIRS DONE YET.
SO WE, WE, WE DO ALL SHARE OUR AGENDAS WHEN WE HAVE THEM.
UM, I, I THINK I HEARD CORRECTLY.
YOU'RE, I, I CAN'T HEAR ON MY END.
I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S JUST ME OR, UM, CAN'T HEAR YOU EITHER.
JEFF, CAN YOU TELL ME ALSO, OR, OR, OR PERHAPS SOMEONE DEPARTMENT CAN TELL ME ABOUT, ACTUALLY, I'LL, I'LL GO BACK TO MEDICARE.
WHERE DO WE THINK THE FUNDING MIGHT COME FROM? AND I'LL TELL YOU WHY I ASK, UM, WHEN WE DO REDUCTION IN FUNDING FOR ONE AREA, BUT WE'RE ASKING FOR MONEY.
AND, UH, UM, I KNOW THAT AS A COUNCIL MEMBER, THAT'S VERY HARD TO HEAR FROM, FROM THE PUBLIC.
SO, UH, WHERE DO YOU THINK THE FUNDING MIGHT COME FROM FOR THE EXPANDED MEDICAID? THE, UH, MY, MY UNDERSTANDING AND CHRISTINE GANAS FROM THE, UH, METHODIST HAS BEEN A, A GOOD TEACHER FOR ME, AN EDUCATOR ON THIS TOPIC.
UM, 90% OF THE FUNDING WOULD COME FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
THE REMAINING 10%, UH, COMES FROM THE PUBLIC HOSPITAL DISTRICTS ACROSS THE STATE UNIVERSITY BEING ONE OF THOSE, UH, THAT, THAT MEETS THAT DEFINITION.
SO HER EXPLANATION TO ME WAS, THERE'S ACTUALLY ZERO COST TO THE STATE BUDGET, UH, AND STATE GOVERNMENT.
UH, IT'S REALLY BEEN A POLITICAL ISSUE, FRANKLY, THAT THE STATE HAS NOT WANTED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EXPANDED MEDICAID UNDER OBAMACARE, BUT MANY OTHER CONSERVATIVE STATES HAVE LONG SINCE COME AROUND TO IT.
AND, AND, UH, AND I, I MEAN THAT, WHEN I SAY THAT, I'VE SEEN MEMBERS FROM BOTH, UH, PARTIES, UH, TALKING ABOUT HOW IT'S TIME TO FINALLY DO THAT.
COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER VINNO.
AND THANK YOU TO THE WHOLE, UM, I G R COMMITTEE AND PUTTING THIS TOGETHER, JEFF, ON SLIDE 19, UNDER THE CITY SUPPORTS, UH, LEGISLATION THAT ENCOURAGES HOME OWNERSHIP THROUGH TARGETED TAX POLICIES.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN, UM, WHAT TAX POLICIES WE'LL REALLY BE LOOKING AT? BECAUSE I KNOW PROPERTY TAX IS STILL ONE OF THE MAIN, UM, DRIVERS AND PLACEMENTS WITHIN OUR CITY AND WITHIN OUR COMMUNITIES, SO I WANTED TO FIND OUT HOW DOES THAT FIT INTO THE SCOPE OF THE IMPROVED THE QUALITY AND EQUITY OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING? ABSOLUTELY.
UM, OF COURSE, NOTHING'S BEEN FILED YET, SO IT COULD TAKE A DIFFERENT FORM.
BUT I THINK THE BEST EXAMPLE IS A BILL THAT WAS FILED BY REPRESENTATIVE DIEGO BERNAL LAST SESSION, THAT, THAT BASICALLY SAID, IF YOU ARE WHAT HE DEFINED AS A LEGACY HOMEOWNER, SOMEBODY WHO'S BEEN IN YOUR HOME FOR MORE THAN 10 YEARS AND HAS SEEN YOUR PROPERTY, UH, TAXES OR PROPERTY VALUES GO UP BY 115% OVER THAT TIME.
I THINK THOSE ARE THE NUMBERS.
UM, THEN YOU WOULD HAVE YOUR, UH, PROPERTY TAXES FROZEN.
UH, SO ESSENTIALLY IT WOULD HELP THOSE WHO ARE SEEING VALUES GO UP DRASTICALLY AROUND THEM THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN.
I I, WE DON'T KNOW REALLY HOW, UH, IT'LL ALL SHAKE OUT, UH,
[01:05:01]
BUT I WILL POINT BACK TO THE HOUSING POLICY FRAMEWORK THAT TALKED ABOUT, TO YOUR POINT, SPECIFICALLY ABOUT PROPERTY TAXES AND THE IDEA OF, OF SUPPORTING POLICIES THAT HELP, UH, KEEP PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES THAT ARE FACING PRESSURES FROM RISING PROPERTY TAXES.AND THEN, I KNOW DURING THE COVID 19 WORKING GROUPS AND WORKING WITH COUNCILMAN TIO, UM, THERE WAS A PUSH FOR THE APPRAISALS AND HOW THE APPRAISALS HAVE LOOKED AT.
UM, IS THAT A PART OF THIS, UM, EQUITY PROCESS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING AFFORD? UH, WE DON'T HAVE IT IN OUR AGENDA.
AS YOU KNOW, APPRAISALS ARE DONE AT THE COUNTY LEVEL BY THE BEAR APPRAISAL DISTRICT, AND THEY'RE GOVERNED BY THE TEXAS COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE AND ALL THE REQUIREMENTS THERE.
SO, UH, WE HAVEN'T PROPOSED ANYTHING IN THIS AGENDA THAT DICTATES WHAT SHOULD CHANGE ABOUT THAT PROCESS.
UM, BUT OBVIOUSLY IT HAS AN, ULTIMATELY HAS AN EFFECT ON THE REVENUES THAT THE CITY GENERATES AND THE TAXES THAT PEOPLE, PEOPLE PAY.
AND IS THERE ANYTHING AROUND THE, UM, SCHOOL BILLING THAT SPEAKS TO RESIDENTS THAT ARE 65 AND OLDER THAT HAVE NO CHILDREN IN SCHOOL THAT ARE PAYING, UM, THE HIGHEST AMOUNT OF THEIR PROPERTY TAXES INTO THE SCHOOL SYSTEM? WELL, UM, OF COURSE, THE REVENUE CAPS FROM LAST SESSION AFFECTED ALL PROPERTY TAXPAYERS ACROSS THE BOARD OF ANY AGE.
UH, LOCALLY, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO, UH, HAVE OUR SENIOR FREEZE, UM, AND OUR SENIOR EXEMPTION.
UH, AND SO WE'VE DONE THAT AT THE LOCAL LEVEL.
BUT THE, THE STATE HAS, UH, IF, IF WHAT YOU'RE ASKING IS, HAS THE STATE DECIDED THAT ONCE YOU NO LONGER HAVE KIDS IN SCHOOL, YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY AS MUCH PROPERTY TAXES.
THERE ISN'T SUCH A STATUTE AT THIS POINT.
AND, AND I DON'T HONESTLY KNOW HOW MUCH OF A PROPERTY TAX CONVERSATION WILL OCCUR THIS SESSION, UH, GIVEN THE BIG BATTLES OF LAST SESSION AND THE PASSAGE OF SB TWO.
AND THEN UNDER THE, UH, POLICING SLIDE, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS ALSO A PUSH TO TALK ABOUT THE IMMUNITY PROCESS, UM, AS, AS WE'RE GOING FORWARD.
UM, IS THAT PART OF THIS CONVERSATION OR IS THAT A FEDERAL CONVERSATION? UH, THE QUALIFIED IMMUNITY, I THINK, IS WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING, PROVING TO.
IT'S NOT, IT'S NOT IN OUR AGENDA.
UM, I DON'T KNOW IF ANDY OR LIZ WANTS TO BETTER ANSWER THAT.
THERE WAS SOME FEDERAL LEGISLATION THAT WE REVIEWED COUNCILWOMAN, UH, EARLY, I MEAN, I SAY EARLIER THIS YEAR.
WE'LL CHECK AND SEE WHERE THAT WAS, BUT THAT WAS PART OF A FEDERAL BILL.
SO, UM, I KNOW THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT ALL OF THE CHANGES IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE, AND JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE DO NOT, UH, FORGET THE PORTIONS THAT WE ARE ALREADY WORKING ON AS WE'RE GOING FORWARD.
BUT THOSE ARE ALL OF MY QUESTIONS.
COUNCIL MEMBER AND ANDREW SULLIVAN, COUNCIL MEMBER TREVINO.
UM, I, I WANNA KIND OF PICK UP A LITTLE BIT ON THE, UH, PROPERTY TAX DISCUSSION.
UH, SINCE I, I DO SIT ON THE, UH, UH, BETTER APPRAISAL BOARD.
UH, WE ARE TALKING ABOUT, UH, SOME, SOME THINGS THAT THE, THAT THE BOARD ITSELF CAN DO, UH, IN THE UPCOMING, UH, FOR THE UPCOMING, UH, APPRAISAL YEAR.
AND SO, UM, WE'LL BE RELEASING SOME INFORMATION VERY SOON THAT, UH, THAT THE BOARD HAS BEEN, UH, CONTEMPLATING AND WORKING ON, ON WHAT WE CAN DO.
AND I THINK, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN WAS, WAS REFERENCING THE LETTER THAT WE, WE WROTE TO THE GOVERNOR ASKING THEM TO ROLL TAXES THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF, OF THE PANDEMIC.
BUT, UH, LUCKILY, I THINK, UH, UH, A LOT OF, A LOT OF THE ISSUES WERE WORKED OUT, AND, UH, WE HOPED TO, TO HAVE SOME, SOME MORE INFORMATION SOON.
BUT SPEAKING OF HOUSING, WHAT I DID NOTICE IS THAT THERE WAS NOT ANY MENTION OF RENTERS, UH, SPECIFICALLY AND, UH, SPECIFICALLY ABOUT EVICTIONS.
AND, UH, WE KNOW THAT EVICTIONS, UM, THEY PERSISTED BEFORE THE PANDEMIC.
BUT, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, AN EVICTION IS, IS, IS, IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT NOW, ESPECIALLY DURING THIS PANDEMIC AND EVICTIONS THAT LIMIT ACCESS TO HOUSING, CREDIT, AND EVEN JOB OPPORTUNITIES.
SO, I WOULD LIKE TO EXPLORE SOME POLICY AT THE STATE LEVEL, WHICH BROADLY REMOVES OR SEALS EVICTIONS, WHICH HAVE TAKEN PLACE DURING THIS PANDEMIC.
THE, UH, $600,000, UH, SAN ANTONIO IS GETTING FROM THE STATE TO ASSIST FAMILIES WITH RENT INCLUDES PROVISIONS, WHICH SEALS THE EVICTION RECORDS.
SO IT DOES, DOES NOT INCLUDE, UM, CONTINUE TO NEGATIVELY, UH, UH, IMPACT THE TENANT.
SO, I MEAN, IS THIS, IS THIS A POLICY THAT WE CAN POTENTIALLY BRACKET TO SAN ANTONIO IF STATEWIDE IMPLEMENTATION DOES NOT, NOT, DOES NOT HAVE SUPPORT, WE CAN ALWAYS SEEK TO BRACKET ANYTHING? UH, UH, CERTAINLY, I, I DON'T, I'M NOT, UH, TOO FAMILIAR.
I'M NOT FAMILIAR ENOUGH TO ANSWER YOUR FIRST QUESTION ABOUT THE STATE POLICY ON IT, BUT WE CAN CERTAINLY LOOK INTO THAT.
[01:10:01]
OKAY.YEAH, SO I MEAN, I THINK THAT THEY, THEY, THEY'VE ALREADY KIND OF SET UP, UH, A FRAMEWORK THAT, AND MAYBE WE CAN LOOK AT THAT, UH, AS A, A POTENTIAL FRAMEWORK FOR, FOR THOSE THAT ARE IMPACTED DURING THIS, THIS, THIS PAN, UH, PANDEMIC.
UH, WE CAN TALK SOME MORE ABOUT THAT.
UM, AND, UM, I ALSO WANT TO, UH, MENTION, UH, SERVICES FOR, FOR HOMELESS AND PREVIOUSLY INCARCERATED FOLKS.
UH, I DO APPRECIATE, UH, YOU MENTIONING THE, UH, UH, INCLUDING, UH, THE, THE ITEM ABOUT BIRTH CERTIFICATES.
YOU KNOW, UM, WE KNOW THAT UNSHELTERED RESIDENTS ARE REALLY NEED, UH, HELP WITH, UH, RECOVERING THEIR ID.
AND SO THAT'S GONNA BE REALLY CRITICAL.
I ALSO KNOW, UH, THAT TINA FLORES IS WORKING VERY HARD TO, UH, HELP GET US MORE INFORMATION ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, THE, SOME OF THE OTHER WORK THAT SHE DOES, LIKE THE PASSPORT, MAYBE A PASSPORT CARD, AND SEE HOW THAT COULD, UH, BE, UM, SOMETHING THAT IS FUNDED, UH, THROUGH STATE POLICY.
UM, SO I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO, UH, EXPLORE STATE LAWS, WHICH FOCUS ON LIFTING UP PREVIOUSLY INCARCERATED FOLKS WHO WANT TO, UH, BE PRODUCTIVE MEMBERS, MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY, AND ARE OFTEN, UM, UH, LEFT OUT OF OPPORTUNITIES, UH, BECAUSE OF THE LAWS THAT ARE IN PLACE, UH, AND OF COURSE, UH, LEAVES 'EM OUT OF, UH, UH, QUALITY HOUSING.
SO, UH, IF WE CAN PURSUE THAT, I WOULD APPRECIATE THAT.
UH, AND REGARDING THE, THE, UH, COMMENTS ON POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY, I AM SUPPORTIVE OF THE POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY GOALS, UH, THAT YOU MENTIONED.
UH, I FEEL THERE ARE SOME INITIATIVES WE CAN ADD, BUT THIS IS A GOOD START.
UH, ONE EXAMPLE IS A POLICY WHICH BEGINS TO DECRIMINALIZE LOW LEVEL OFFENSES.
UH, SO JEFF, I WOULD BE GRATEFUL IF, IF YOU WOULD, UH, YOU AND THE DELEGATION WOULD CONTINUE TO MEET WITH LOCAL COMMUNITY ADVOCATES, UH, RELATED TO POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY POLICIES AT THE STATE LEVEL.
UH, LASTLY, UH, TO MENTION, UH, THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IS, IS THERE ANY FEELING THAT THE STATE MAY EASE THEIR RESTRICTIONS ON MUNICIPALITY, UH, MUNICIPALITIES PROVIDING FREE WIFI, GIVEN THE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC? I'D BE INTERESTED IF WE COULD WORK ON, UH, ON THOSE LAWS OF THIS SESSION.
AND JUST WANNA, AGAIN, THANK ALL THE GREAT WORK, UH, OF, UH, THE I G R COMMITTEE, UH, AND STAFF.
UH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO, UH, A VERY, VERY, UH, ROBUST SESSION, UH, THIS YEAR.
COUNCIL MEMBER, VIN, UH, JEFF AND TEAM.
I THINK THIS IS GONNA BE AN ONGOING CONVERSATION.
AND, UM, JUST WANT TO FLAG, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER PLY, UM, COMMENTS ABOUT PLACING IT ON THE WEEKLY AGENDA FOR A SESSION AS WE, UH, BEGIN TO APPROACH OUR SESSION.
UH, ALLOW US TO CONTINUE TO CHECK IN AS A FULL COUNCIL ON, ON THE WORK THAT WE HAVE, UH, ONGOING.
SO, UH, THANKS VERY MUCH, JEFF.
[1. 20-6413 Briefing on the COVID-19 Response and Recovery and Resiliency Plan. [Maria Villagómez, Deputy City Manager; Ana Bradshaw COVID-19 Financial and Performance Liaison]]
LEMME TURN IT BACK OVER TO, UH, ERIC AND INTRODUCE OUR NEXT ITEM.UH, OUR SECOND ITEM IS, UH, OUR COVID UPDATE.
BRIDGER WILL, UH, I'LL WALK THE COUNCIL WHERE, THROUGH WHERE WE'RE AT RIGHT NOW.
I KNOW EVERYBODY'S KEEPING TRACK OF THE, UH, DAILY EMAILS WE'RE SENDING OUT ON, ON THE PROGRESS AND, AND WARNING INDICATORS.
BRIDGE IS GONNA GIVE EVERYBODY A LITTLE, UH, A HIGH POINT, UH, SUMMARY OF WHERE WE'RE AT.
AND THEN, UH, HONOR BRADSHAW WILL GIVE, UH, THE UPDATE ON THE RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY PROGRAM.
UM, I'VE SHARED WITH SOME OF YOU THAT, UH, AS WE HAVE ADOPTED THIS PROGRAM, UM, IN, IN MAY, UH, I SHARED WITH YOU THAT WE WERE GOING TO HAVE TO CONTINUOUSLY MONITOR THIS AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS.
UM, WE ARE, UH, QUICKLY APPROACHING, UH, DECEMBER 30TH.
AND, UH, WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, SOME RECOMMENDED ADJUSTMENTS IN THE PRESENTATION.
BUT THE GOAL IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE PRESSED THAT MONEY OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY WHERE THE, THE, THE, THE NEED IS THE GREATEST AND, UH, OFFSET OUR ELIGIBLE EXPENSES.
AND, UM, UH, WE WILL CONTINUE TO DO THAT ALL THE WAY UP UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF DECEMBER.
SO IT IS, UH, UM, IT IS A, UH, WE ARE DAILY, ON A DAILY BASIS, IS MONITORING THE EXPENSES WITH ALL THE DEPARTMENTS.
UM, AND, UM, SHE'LL SHARE WITH YOU, UM, THIS MONTH'S REPORT.
UH, OVERALL WE ARE, UH, IN LINE WITH OUR SPENDING AND, UH, WE DO NEED TO MAKE A COUPLE OF ADJUSTMENTS.
SO WITH THAT, I'M GONNA, ANNA WILL START OFF THE PRESENTATION, THEN KICK IT OVER TO COLLEEN, AND THEN WRAP UP ON HER END.
I THINK IT'S THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
SO ERIC'S COVERED WHAT WE'RE GONNA COVER, SO NEXT SLIDE.
ALL RIGHT, SO, UM, JUST A QUICK REVIEW OF THE NUMBERS FROM YESTERDAY AND MONDAY.
SO, WE ARE AT, UM, OVER 66,000 CASES.
OUR SEVEN DAY ROLLING AVERAGE, UM, IS UP TO
[01:15:01]
2 27, UM, WHICH IS HIGHER THAN IT'S BEEN IN MONTHS.UM, WE HAVE CONFIRMED OVER 1200 DEATHS, AND RIGHT NOW WE ESTIMATE THAT THERE ARE 2200 PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY WITH ACTIVE INFECTIONS, AND THAT THERE ARE 62,000 PEOPLE WHO HAVE RECOVERED.
UH, YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THIS SLIDE FROM OUR PROGRESS AND WARNING INDICATOR REPORT EVERY WEEK.
UM, DID WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE FACT THAT WE ARE IN A, UH, TO USE THE CBC'S TERM, A REBOUND PHASE OF THE PANDEMIC.
AND, UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT INDICATED BY THE RED LINE, UM, ON, ON THE BOTTOM OF THIS CHART.
AND IT, IT MEANS THAT WE HAD A REALLY, REALLY NICE DECLINE FOR MONTHS.
UM, AND NOW WE'RE STARTING TO, UM, HAVE AN UPTICK A BIT IN THE NUMBER OF CASES.
I DID WANNA POINT OUT THE AMOUNT OF TESTING THAT WE HAVE GOING ON.
UM, SO FAR, WE'VE OFFERED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS PANDEMIC OVER 140,000 FREE TESTS.
AND, UM, RIGHT NOW WE ESTIMATE THAT THE CITY PROVIDES ABOUT 50% OF THE TESTS.
SO YOU CAN DOUBLE THAT TO COME UP WITH THE NUMBER OF TESTS THAT HAVE BEEN PROVIDED BY BOTH, UM, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PROVIDERS.
UM, OUR NUMBER OF TESTS ARE INCREASING, WHICH IS GOOD.
UM, I KNOW THERE WAS A LITTLE BIT OF CONCERN AT THE, UM, AS WE STARTED COMING OFF OF THE SPIKE IN JULY, WHETHER, UM, THE ABILITY TO TEST WOULD GO AWAY.
AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS THE RELATIVE EASE WITH WHICH PROVIDERS ARE INCREASING THE NUMBER OF TESTS THAT THEY'RE DOING.
UM, FOR THE LAST FEW WEEKS, WE'VE AVERAGED ABOUT 20,000 TESTS A WEEK, UH, AGAIN, WITH THE CITY PROVIDING ABOUT 50% OF THOSE TESTS AT NO COST.
UH, WE TALK A LOT ABOUT THE POSITIVITY RATE.
SO AGAIN, THE, WHEN WE LOOK AT ALL OF THE TESTS, UM, THAT ARE SENT TO US ON A SURVEY THAT WE GET EVERY WEEK FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE LABS WHO PROVIDE TESTING, UM, WHAT PERCENT OF THAT GROUP OF TESTS WAS POSITIVE.
UH, ABOUT A MONTH AGO, WE, WE DIPPED SLIGHTLY BELOW THAT 5% POSITIVITY RATE, WHICH IS WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO GET TO AND STAY TO.
UM, SINCE THEN, UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE SEEN OUR POSITIVITY RATES INCREASE.
UM, MONDAY IT ROSE TO 7.7%, UH, FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES, HOWEVER, THE STATEWIDE POSITIVITY RATE IS 10.5%.
UM, SO WE CONTINUE TO DO BETTER THAN THE STATE, BUT WE ARE CERTAINLY NOT TRENDING IN THE DIRECTION THAT WE WANT THAT SIDE, PLEASE.
UM, A CRITICAL, CRITICALLY IMPORTANT ASPECT OF WHAT WE'RE MONITORING IS HOW ARE THE HOSPITALS DOING? UM, WE ALL REMEMBER THERE WAS A LOT OF STRESS ON THE HOSPITALS BACK IN JULY WHEN WE DID HAVE THAT SPIKE.
UM, SO WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH STR MONITOR THE HEALTH OF OUR HOSPITALS.
UM, RIGHT NOW, YOU CAN SEE THEY JUST NOW INCHED INTO THAT, UM, THAT MIDDLE ZONE OF HIGH STRESS.
UM, AND YET WE STILL HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, 13% BED AVAILABILITY AS OF YESTERDAY'S REPORT, 63% VENTILATOR AVAILABILITY AS OF YESTERDAY'S REPORT, UM, THAT TRANSLATES TO 454 VENTILATORS AND 576 BEDS AVAILABLE.
UM, SO THERE'S STILL, UH, CAPACITY IN OUR HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
UM, SCHOOLS HAVE OPENED, HAVE STARTED BRINGING STUDENTS BACK.
UM, THEY'RE ALL ACROSS THE CONTINUUM, UM, FROM, YOU KNOW, FAIRLY CONSERVATIVE, CONSERVATIVE NUMBERS OF STUDENTS BACK TO, UM, SOME SCHOOLS HAVING BROUGHT NEARLY A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THEIR STUDENTS BACK.
FORTUNATELY, WHAT WE'RE SEEING, HOWEVER, IS, UM, A RELATIVELY LOW NUMBER OF OUTBREAKS IN SCHOOLS.
SO, AGAIN, REMEMBER, UM, FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PURPOSES, AN OUTBREAK IS IF YOU HAVE TWO RELATED INFECTIONS IN A LOCATION.
UM, AND WE HAVE ONLY HAD FIVE OUTBREAKS IN SCHOOLS.
AND OF THOSE FIVE OUTBREAKS, NONE OF THEM HAVE INVOLVED MORE THAN FIVE INDIVIDUALS.
SO THEY'RE NOT, YOU KNOW, GIGANTIC OUTBREAKS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN THE SCHOOLS.
WHEN WE DO SEE OUTBREAKS, USUALLY IT'S TWO OR THREE PEOPLE WHO HAD CLOSE CONTACT WHO, UM, BECOME INFECTED.
[01:20:01]
ARE MONITORING THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO ARE REPORTING, UM, POSITIVE COVID TESTS STAFF.UM, AND THE VAST MAJORITY OF THESE INFECTIONS ARE HAPPENING OUTSIDE THE SCHOOL.
SO THIS, UM, THIS MAP IS HOT OFF THE PRESS.
UM, THIS SHOWS FROM, UM, OCTOBER 18TH THROUGH NOVEMBER 1ST, WHERE THE, UM, AREAS OF THE CITY THAT HAVE THE HIGHEST RATES OF INFECTION PER A HUNDRED THOUSAND POPULATION.
UM, THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR US BECAUSE WE USE THIS, UM, TO DEPLOY EDUCATION, OUTREACH, AND ADDITIONAL TESTING SITES.
SO, THE, THE, THE QUESTION THAT WE GET A LOT, I'M SURE ALL OF YOU HAVE GOTTEN AS WELL, IS, ARE WE ENTERING INTO A SECOND SPIKE? UM, AND HERE'S WHAT WE KNOW.
WE KNOW THAT THE NUMBER OF PATIENTS WITH COVID INFECTIONS IN THE HOSPITAL HAS INCREASED SLIGHTLY.
WE KNOW THAT THE, UH, NUMBER OF AVERAGE CASES HAS INCREASED SLIGHTLY.
WE KNOW THE NUMBER OF NEW ADMISSIONS IS TRENDING UPWARDS, AND WE KNOW THAT OUR POSITIVITY RATE IS INCREASING.
HOWEVER, WE ARE NOT CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING A SPIKE.
WE ARE EXPERIENCING A MODEST AND STEADY UPWARD TREND.
AND I, I, YOU'RE GONNA SAY, WAIT, WE'VE ALREADY SEEN THIS SLIDE.
YES, I, I PUT THIS SLIDE IN HERE TWICE, BECAUSE WHAT HAPPENED IN JULY WAS A SPIKE.
AND I WANT YOU TO SEE VISUALLY WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE COMPARED TO WHERE WE ARE NOW.
UM, WE, WE HAVE ENTERED A PERIOD OF, UM, BASIC FLATNESS.
WE HAVEN'T GONE TO ZERO, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO GET TO.
BUT WE ARE BASICALLY FLAT WITH A LITTLE WAVE UP.
AND WHAT WE DON'T KNOW IS IF THAT LITTLE WAVE IS GOING TO GROW OR WHETHER THAT LITTLE WAVE IS GOING TO PLATEAU, OR HOPEFULLY THAT LITTLE WAVE IS GOING TO GO BACK DOWN AND HEAD TOWARDS ZERO.
WE'RE ALL WORKING REALLY, REALLY HARD TO GET IT BACK DOWN TO THAT ZERO LEVEL.
UM, I DID WANT THE ADDITIONAL TESTING IN HOTSPOT AREAS.
UM, WE HAVE GONE FROM FOUR FREE TESTING LOCATIONS, UM, THAT THE CITY SPONSORS IN COLLABORATION WITH THE STATE.
UM, SO HERE ARE THE ADDITIONAL TESTING SITES.
NEXT WEEK, WE WILL HAVE 16 FREE TESTING SITES AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
UM, ALL OF THE NEW ONES ARE MOBILE, AND SO THEY CAN BE MOVED TO THE HOTSPOTS WHERE THEY'RE NEEDED.
UM, AND SO WHAT YOU HAVE ON YOUR SLIDE IS WHAT WE HAVE FOR THIS WEEK.
UM, I, I CAN ANNOUNCE, I CAN ANNOUNCE THAT STARTING NEXT WEEK, WE WILL DEPLOY ADDITIONAL TESTING TO PITTMAN SULLIVAN PARK, ST.
MARY'S UNIVERSITY, SOUTHWEST STADIUM AT SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL, UM, AND THEN TWO LOCATIONS AT U I W, ONE ON BROADWAY AND ONE AT BROOKS.
UH, SO WE ARE GETTING, UM, A LOT OF REALLY GREAT SUPPORT FROM THE STATE AND DEPLOYING A LOT OF ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS WHERE PEOPLE CAN BE TESTED.
AGAIN, AS A REMINDER, UM, THERE ARE TWO LOCATIONS RIGHT NOW WHERE PEOPLE CAN GET NO COST ASYMPTOMATIC TESTING.
UM, SO THAT'S AT
UM, AS FAR AS OUR CAPACITY TO TEST, WE ARE GREATLY EXCEEDING, UM, THE CAPACITY THAT WE NEED IN ORDER TO TEST EVERYBODY WHO WANTS TO BE TESTED.
THE OTHER THINGS, UM, THAT WE'RE DOING TO TRY TO CONVINCE THAT LITTLE WAVE THAT WE SEE RIGHT NOW, TO GO BACK DOWN, UM, I MENTIONED WE'VE INCREASED THE FREE TESTING SITES, WE'VE INCREASED OUR COMMUNITY HEALTH AND PREVENTION TEAM ACTIVITIES AND HOTSPOTS.
UM, WE'VE GONE FROM INTERACTING WITH ABOUT 500, UM, INDIVIDUALS A WEEK TO 850 INDIVIDUALS A WEEK IN THOSE HOTSPOT AREAS.
UM, WE'RE PROVIDING ADDITIONAL MESSAGING ABOUT THE FACT THAT WE HAVE INCREASING NUMBERS AND WHAT YOU DO TO PREVENT IT, AND WHERE YOU CAN GO TO GET TESTED.
UM, THAT MESSAGING HAS INCREASED 36%, UM, FROM LAST WEEK.
UH, WE ARE INCREASING OUR PROACTIVE ENFORCEMENT OF THE GOVERNOR'S ORDER BY 20%.
UM, AND THEN THE MAYOR HAS DEFERRED OR DELAYED APPROVAL OF ALL NON-EXEMPT OUTDOOR GATHERINGS GREATER THAN 10.
SO WE'RE NOT JUST SITTING BACK WATCHING THE DATA, WE'RE
[01:25:01]
TAKING THESE PROACTIVE STEPS TO TRY TO GET IN FRONT OF THIS LITTLE WAVE AND, UM, HOPEFULLY GET IT SO THAT IT DOESN'T GET ANY BIGGER.WITH THAT, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO ANNA WHO'S GONNA GIVE THE FINANCIAL REPORT.
UM, TODAY I'LL PRESENT THE LATEST FINANCIAL REPORT COVERING REVENUE AND EXPENSES THROUGH THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, ASSOCIATED WITH THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE, THE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, AND THE RECOVERING RESILIENCY PLAN.
I I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT THAT THIS IS AN UNAUDITED FINANCIAL REPORT AND MAY CHANGE, UM, BECAUSE SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH DOING THIS MONTH END CLOSING FOR THIS REPORT, UM, FINANCE IS CLOSING THE NORMAL FISCAL YEAR.
SO THERE MAY BE SLIGHT CHANGES THAT THAT RESULT FROM, FROM THAT ONGOING CLOSING PROCESS.
SO, UH, BEFORE I JUMP INTO THE DETAILS, I WANNA HIGHLIGHT A, A FEW THINGS FROM THE SEPTEMBER REPORT.
OVERALL EXPENSES ARE ON TRACK WITH PLANNED AMOUNTS WITH EXPENSES TOTALING $241.2 MILLION, UH, SINCE MARCH.
THIS IS AN INCREASE OF $61.9 MILLION FROM THE LAST REPORT THAT WAS PRESENTED IN AUGUST.
UH, WE CONTINUE TO SPEND OUR CORONAVIRUS RELEASE FUND DOLLARS AS WE, UH, APPROACH THAT DECEMBER 30TH SPENDING DEADLINE WITH THREE MONTHS REMAINING.
THE CITY HAS SPENT ABOUT 70.2% OF OUR $270 MILLION ALLOCATION.
UM, OVERALL SPENDING IN THE RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY PLAN IS BELOW OUR SPENDING, UH, SPENDING OF PLAN AMOUNTS, WHICH I'LL GO INTO MORE DETAIL LATER.
UM, BUT AT A HIGH LEVEL, THIS IS A COMBINATION OF EXPENSES IN SMALL BUSINESS AND HOUSING SECURITIES THAT ARE ABOVE PLAN AND SPENDING IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND DIGITAL INCLUSION THAT ARE BELOW PLAN.
THIS SLIDE PROVIDES DETAIL ON THE STATUS OF THE BUDGET BY REVENUE SOURCE.
AS I DISCUSSED LAST MONTH, THIS MIGHT BE ONE OF THE ONLY FINANCIAL REPORTS WHERE YOU'LL SEE SPENDING ABOVE PLAN ISN'T NECESSARILY A BAD THING.
AS YOU'LL SEE WITH UH, C R F HERE, WE'RE SPENDING $9.2 MILLION AHEAD OF THE PLAN THROUGH SEPTEMBER.
THIS IS DUE IN LARGE PART TO AN EMPHASIS ON SPENDING THESE FUNDS.
FIRST, DUE TO THE SHORT TIMELINE.
UM, ONE ACTION WE TOOK IN THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER WAS TO REALLOCATE EXPENSES FOR P P E AND ISOLATION HOTELS THAT WE ANTICIPATED FUNDING WITH FEMA TO C R F.
UH, THIS ALLOWS US TO LEVERAGE C R F FOR THESE ELIGIBLE EXPENSES, UM, WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT FEMA CONTINUES TO BE A FUNDING OPTION, UH, FOR THESE TYPES OF EXPENSES, SHOULD CONDITIONS CHANGE.
UM, THE GENERAL FUND VARIANCE IS A RESULT OF A FEW FACTORS, INCLUDING THE REDUCTION OF THE 25% MATCH THAT IS REQUIRED TO UTILIZE FEMA FUNDS.
UH, SO WE WERE ABLE TO, TO RELEASE THAT.
UM, IN ADDITION, THE GENERAL FUND VARIANCE IS A RESULT OF, UM, A, A SLIGHT DELAY IN SPENDING, UM, IN DIGITAL INCLUSION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PILLARS AND THE RECOVERY RESILIENCY PLAN, WHICH, UM, I'LL COVER IN JUST A MOMENT.
AS YOU LOOK AT SPENDING BY PROGRAM, YOU'LL SEE SPENDING ASSOCIATED WITH EMERGENCY RESPONSE CONTINUES TO BE ABOVE PLAN.
SO THIS IS MOSTLY DUE TO THOSE EXPENSES THAT WERE REALLOCATED FROM FEMA, UM, ALONG WITH ONGOING EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH FEDERALLY MANDATED EMPLOYEE LEAVE FOR THOSE IMPACTED BY C OVID 19.
UM, THESE ARE PARTIALLY OFFSET BY, UM, EXPENSES IN POLICE AND FIRE ELIGIBLE PAYROLL THAT WERE SLIGHTLY BELOW OUR PLANNED AMOUNTS.
EXPENSES IN THE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
ON BALANCE, UM, OUR, OUR, OUR BALANCE OF HEALTH EXPENSES BEING, UH, SLIGHTLY ABOVE PLAN, AND THOSE IN FIRE BEING SLIGHTLY BELOW PLANS, UH, THE TREASURY RECENTLY ISSUED UPDATED GUIDANCE REGARDING THE PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT, WHICH RESULTED IN US REEVALUATING SOME PURCHASES, UH, THAT WERE PLANNED IN THE FIRE PORTION.
PATIENT IN THE FIRE PORTION OF THE HEALTH HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, AGAIN, IN THE RECOVERY AND RESILIENCY PLAN, EXPENSES ARE BELOW PLANNED AMOUNT, WHICH IS A COMBINATION OF SMALL BUSINESS AND HOUSING EXPENSE EXPENSES THAT ARE ABOVE PLAN AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND DIGITAL INCLUSION, THAT BELOW PLAN IN DIGITAL INCLUSION.
THIS IS A RESULT OF SOME DELAYS IN PROCUREMENT PROCESSES.
SINCE THE EQUIPMENT WE'RE PURCHASING UNDER THIS PILLAR AREN'T TYPICALLY ITEMS THAT THE CITY WOULD PURCHASE.
SO I THINK, UH, THERE WAS A, A OFFSET IN TIMING THERE.
UM, AND IN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, WHILE WE'VE SEEN ACTIVITY RAMP UP IN THE LAST MONTH, SINCE THIS REPORT IS THROUGH SEPTEMBER, WE EXPECT TO SEE SOME LEVELING OFF THERE IN THE NEXT FINANCIAL REPORT.
NOW, PART OF THE MONTHLY FINANCIAL, UH, REPORTING PROCESS INVOLVES WEEKLY, IF NOT DAILY MONITORING OF ACTIVITY BY PROGRAMS. UM, ANY CHANGES IN TREASURY GUIDANCE, AS WELL AS TRYING TO FORECAST MY WHAT MIGHT BE COMING DOWN THE ROAD.
UH, THIS IS AMPLIFIED BY THE FACT THAT WE HAVE A VERY SHORT TIMEFRAME TO ADJUST OUR PLANS.
[01:30:01]
WE'VE IDENTIFIED FOUR DRIVERS, UH, FOR THE NEED TO MAKE ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUSTMENTS TO REALLOCATE FUNDING.THESE DRIVERS INCLUDE THAT THE STATE CONTINUES TO ALLOCATE FUNDING FOR COMMUNITY TESTING.
UH, WE ANTICIPATE THEY'LL CONTINUE TO FUND THAT THROUGH DECEMBER.
UM, AS I MENTIONED, THE TREASURY ISSUED, UM, GUIDANCE EMPHASIZING THE LEASE OF EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATED WITH, WITH THE COVID 19 EMERGENCY AS OPPOSED TO PERMANENT PURCHASES, WHICH IMPACTS SOME EQUIPMENT PURCHASES THAT WERE INCLUDED IN THE FIRE PORTION OF THE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
SO WE'VE, UM, HAD TO REEVALUATE THOSE PURCHASES, UH, AND AS WE IMPLEMENT OUR RECOVERY RESILIENCY PLAN AND THE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.
AND WE'VE FOUND THAT OUR ORIGINALLY, OUR ORIGINAL PLAN DOESN'T NECESSARILY ALIGN WITH WHAT WE'RE EXPERIENCING, SO WE NEED TO LOOK TO SEE HOW WE CAN ADJUST TO MAKE SURE WE ARE MEETING THOSE OBJECTIVES, GIVEN ALL OF THE VARIABLES AT PLAY.
UM, AND IN ADDITION, WE'VE REALIZED SOME INTEREST INCOME GENERATED BY THE PROCEEDS FROM C R F.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE'RE LOOKING TO REINVEST IN BACK INTO THE PLAN.
SO BASED ON THESE DRIVERS, UM, I'VE RECOMMENDED SOME CHANGES TO OUR PLANS.
FROM THE FUNDING SOURCE PERSPECTIVE, WE WILL INCREASE THE C R F BUDGET TO INCLUDE THE $918,000 IN INTEREST INCOME.
WE'VE, UH, PROJECTED SO FAR, UM, FROM, OH, SORRY.
UM, I'M ALSO RECOMMENDING AN INCREASE IN THE ALLOCATION OF THE EMERGENCY RESPONSE FOR FIRE PAYROLL.
SO CURRENTLY THE PLAN INCLUDES FUNDING THROUGH AROUND THIS WEEK, UM, TO HAVE THE FUNDING, SO TO CONTINUE TO MAKE IT AVAILABLE.
UH, WE'RE RECOMMENDING AN ADJUSTMENT FOR THE, THROUGH THE, THAT WOULD CARRY US THROUGH THE END OF DECEMBER.
SO THAT AMOUNTS TO $26.6 MILLION.
UM, HOWEVER I MENTIONED THAT NOW, UH, BECAUSE THAT GENERATES CAPACITY IN THE GENERAL FUND IN ORDER TO REINVEST BACK INTO THE, THE PLANS.
SO THIS ALL, IN ALL TOTALS ABOUT $27.5 MILLION THAT IS AVAILABLE TO ADJUST WITHIN, UM, THE SPENDING SIDE.
SO THIS SLIDE OUTLINES THE EXPENSE, UH, SIDE OF THE RECOMMENDED ADJUSTMENTS.
UM, WITHIN THE HOUSING SECURITY PILLAR, WE WILL MAINTAIN CURRENT FUNDING LEVELS EXCEPT FOR $1.5 MILLION THAT WAS ALLOCATED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ONLINE, UH, RESIDENT FOR, UH, RESIDENT REFERRAL PLATFORM.
SO WE'RE STILL DOING THIS PROJECT.
IT'S THE PRO THE PLATFORM WILL BE IMPLEMENTED NOW THROUGH A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE KOVSKI FOUNDATION AND THE UNITED WAY OF SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY AT NO COST TO THE CITY.
THIS WILL ALLOW CITY DEPARTMENTS TO REFER RESIDENTS SEEKING ASSISTANCE TO MORE THAN 70 NON-PAR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE COMMUNITY.
UM, THE HOUSING HOUSING PILLAR IS ALSO FURTHER ADJUSTED BY REDUCING ABOUT $186,000 FOR UNUSED ALLOCATION FOR TEMPORARY HOUSING FOR THOSE IMPACTED BY C OVID 19.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, THE NET REDUCTION TO THE FIRE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN IS ABOUT $822,000.
THIS COUPLED WITH THE ADJUSTMENT TO THE HOUSING SECURITY PILLAR, UM, OF ABOUT $1.6 MILLION.
AND THE INTEREST EARNINGS OF $918,000 ALLOWS FOR A RECOMMENDED INCREASE OF $3.5 MILLION TO THE SMALL BUSINESS PILLAR.
AND YOU'LL SEE THAT IN THE REALLOCATION ADJUSTMENT COLUMN.
UM, NOW I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO ALEX LOPEZ, OUR DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TO GO OVER THE RECOMMENDATION FOR SPENDING THE 3.5 MILLION TO BE ADDED TO SMALL BUSINESS.
THANK YOU, ANNA, AND GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
WE'VE COORDINATED WITH OUR PARTNERS AT THIS FUND AND HAVE DETERMINED THAT APPROXIMATELY A HUNDRED TO 120 ADDITIONAL MICRO BUSINESSES COULD ACTUALLY BE SERVED WITH THE ADDITIONAL THREE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS.
UM, WE'D RECOMMEND SIMPLY CONTINUING TO FUND BUSINESSES THAT ORIGINALLY APPLIED THROUGH OUR GRANT PROGRAM BASED ON THE SCORES AND THE RANKINGS THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE.
UM, BECAUSE OF THIS, WE'RE ABLE TO REVIEW THE NEXT SET OF BUSINESSES THAT COULD BE SERVED.
AND SO WE KNOW THAT APPROXIMATELY 67% OF THEM ARE OWNED BY WOMEN.
85% ARE OWNED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR, AND WE ALSO KNOW THAT ABOUT 29% OF THEM ARE BARS AND RESTAURANTS.
UM, ANOTHER, THE BENEFIT OF USING THE EXISTING APPLICATION PROCESS IS THAT WE COULD, UM, GET THESE FUNDS OUT FAIRLY QUICKLY.
UM, OUR GOAL WOULD BE TO GET 'EM OUT IN NOVEMBER AND HOPEFULLY BEFORE THANKSGIVING.
AND AS FAR AS WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED WITH THE ORIGINAL FUNDING, UM, WE'VE AWARDED OVER A THOUSAND GRANTS.
$20.6 MILLION HAVE GONE TO MICRO
[01:35:01]
BUSINESSES, AND JUST OVER 2 MILLION HAS GONE TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.UM, NEARLY $12 MILLION HAVE GONE TO WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES, AND 16.6 MILLION WENT OUT TO BUSINESSES OWNED BY PEOPLE OF COLOR.
UM, BARS AND RESTAURANTS HAVE ALSO RECEIVED JUST UNDER $5 MILLION, BUT THAT FIGURE WAS ACTUALLY FROM OCTOBER 21ST, WAS THE LAST TIME WE DID THIS, THIS LEVEL OF BREAKDOWN OF THE DATA.
SO IT'S VERY LIKELY THAT, THAT BY TODAY, WE, WE HAVE CROSSED THE $5 MILLION MARK, UM, AND WE HAVE $2.1 MILLION LEFT TO AWARD, AND WE'RE PROJECTING THAT THAT WILL BE ABLE TO SERVE AN ADDITIONAL 80 TO 90 BUSINESSES.
UM, AND, AND THE FUND IS STILL CRANKING AWAY AT THESE APPLICATIONS AND GETTING THESE MONEY OUT TO THESE BUSINESSES.
BUT WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO ANNA.
UM, BEFORE I CLOSE WITH NEXT STEPS, UM, I DID WANNA MENTION THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE UPDATING OUR, UM, ACTIVITY DASHBOARD WITH THIS FINANCIAL INFORMATION.
UM, AND SINCE NOW THAT WE'RE IN OCTOBER, WE'RE GOING TO UPDATE THE PERFORMANCE SIDE TO REFLECT OUR PERFORMANCE RESULTS THROUGH THE MONTH OF OCTOBER.
UM, SO THAT WILL BE UP SHORTLY.
UH, BUT JUST TO HIGHLIGHT A FEW OF OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS, UH, THROUGH THE MONTH OF OCTOBER.
SO WE HAVE ASSISTED OVER 20,000 RESIDENTS.
THAT'S LED BY, UM, THOSE ACCESSING OUR ASSISTANCE THROUGH THE EMERGENCY HOUSING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
IN ADDITION, UM, OVER 9,000 BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN ASSISTED, UM, THUS FAR.
AND, UM, ONE OTHER THING TO HIGHLIGHT IS, UM, THERE ARE NOW 761 RESIDENTS ENROLLED IN THE TRAIN FOR JOBS PROGRAM, AND THAT IS ABOVE THE TARGETED AMOUNT FOR, UM, FOR THROUGH THE MONTH OF OCTOBER.
SO THESE ARE ALL, UH, METRICS THAT WILL BE UPDATED ON OUR DASHBOARD.
UH, SO, UH, CLOSING WITH, WITH SOME NEXT STEPS.
SO WE WILL BE PRESENTING THE NEXT FINANCIAL REPORT IN DECEMBER.
AGAIN, THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THERE ISN'T, UM, TONS OF MONITORING GOING ON IN THE BACKGROUND AND, UH, FORMULATING POTENTIAL ADJUSTMENTS, UM, THAT'S GOING TO CONTINUE TO GO ON.
WE ANTICIPATE, UM, REALLY LEADING UP TO THAT DECEMBER 30TH C R F DEADLINE.
UM, AND THE OTHER THING TO NOTE ON HERE IS THAT OUR NEXT AND, AND WILL MOST LIKELY BE THE, THE CLOSING UPDATE REPORT TO THE O I G FOR OUR, UH, EXPENSES WITH CORONAVIRUS RELIEF FUNDS ARE DUE, IS DUE TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON JANUARY 11TH.
UM, MAYOR, THIS CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
UM, SEVERAL OF THE PILLAR OWNERS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE LINE AS WELL AS MYSELF TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO THE STATE MANAGER.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, ANA AND DR.
UM, ERIC, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU HAD SOMETHING TO ADD BEFORE WE START OUR DISCUSSION.
MAYOR, I WAS JUST GONNA, UH, ADD ONE THING THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ANA HAD ON OUR LAST SLIDE WAS, UH, BEGINNING DECEMBER, WE'LL HAVE, WE'RE PLANNING ON A, ANOTHER, ANOTHER SIMILAR REPORT, BUT, UH, BUT, BUT WE SHOULD BE PREPARED TO POTENTIALLY HAVE TWO DISCUSSIONS IN DECEMBER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, UH, HAVE, UH, UH, EVERYTHING TUCKED AWAY BY THE END OF THE MONTH.
SO JUST, IT IS, UH, SOMETHING THAT WE'RE ALL FOCUSED ON.
AND, AND WE MAY, WE MAY ACTUALLY HAVE TO HAVE TWO IN DECEMBER, BUT THAT'S, UH, WE'LL KEEP EVERYBODY UPDATED.
UM, WELL, LET ME JUST START, UM, FIRST BY COMMENDING OUR ENTIRE CITY TEAM, UM, ON A FANTASTIC JOB THAT'S BEEN MANY, MANY MONTHS IN THE MAKING.
UH, WE CIRCLED THE WAGONS, IF YOU'LL ALLOW ME TO USE THAT PHRASE, UH, WHEN THIS PANDEMIC BEGAN, AND WE ALL DEDICATED OURSELVES TO SOME IMPORTANT PRINCIPLES.
UH, FIRST AND FOREMOST BEING NO ONE IN THIS PANDEMIC WHO'S BEEN AFFECTED SHOULD, SHOULD, UM, LOSE THE SAFE ROOF OVER THEIR HEADS BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC, AND PEOPLE SHOULD ALSO BE ABLE TO EAT.
UM, THAT WAS SORT OF THE, THAT HAD TO BE THE PRIORITY.
UH, WE BUILT OUR PILLARS USING OUR OWN FUNDS AND THE GENERAL FUND, AS WELL AS THE CARES ACT, UH, TO ENSURE THAT WE WERE TAKING CARE OF THE HEALTH PRIORITIES FIRST, UH, THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS.
AND ALSO TO DO THE THINGS THAT WE KNEW WERE GOING TO BE NEEDED DURING THE PANDEMIC, INCLUDING ENSURING PEOPLE HAD ACCESS TO THE INTERNET FOR SCHOOL, FOR WORK, UM, AND THAT PEOPLE HAD A SAFE PATH BACK TO WORK.
UM, WHICH SPEAKS TO ALL THE PILLARS THAT WE'VE JUST DISCUSSED.
THE OTHER ONE BEING, OF COURSE, THAT WE HELP OUR SMALL BUSINESSES IN NEED.
UH, AND I, AGAIN, COMMEND THE WORK THAT THE, UM, ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE HAS DONE, UH, PARTICULARLY IN THAT PILLAR.
AND I'LL JUST FOCUS MY, MY LAST COMMENT ON THAT.
THANK YOU TO, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, VERAN.
UM, I AM IN FULL AGREEMENT WITH THE, UH,
[01:40:01]
AUGMENTED BUDGET FOR SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS.WHAT I WOULD ASK AS FOR US TO, TO CONSIDER FOCUSING THOSE DOLLARS ON, UH, AN INDUSTRY I THINK HAS BEEN INCREDIBLY HARD HIT, UM, WHICH IS OUR FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY, OUR RESTAURANTS, PARTICULARLY OUR LOCAL INDEPENDENT OPERATORS.
UM, IF COUNCIL MEMBER GRO COULD, COULD SPEAK TO THAT A LITTLE BIT, UH, IN THE SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS, UH, IN PARTICULAR, AGAIN, I THANK THE, UH, COMMITTEE FOR WORKING ON THAT, UH, AND PRESENTING US THIS WITH, WITH THIS OPTION.
SO, UM, LET ME TURN IT OVER NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER GRO.
UH, THANK YOU TO MY COLLEAGUES AND, UH, A GUEST TO THE CITY MANAGER AND ANNA AND EVERYONE FOR ALL OF THE WORK SPECIFICALLY ON, ON LOOKING AT THIS, UH, SEPTEMBER FINANCIALS, BECAUSE I KNOW WE'RE GONNA HAVE A LOT TO REPORT IN OCTOBER.
UH, THERE'S A LOT THAT I WOULD LOVE ALEX TO HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PRESENT ABOUT OUR, UH, TRAIN FOR JOBS SA PROGRAM.
UH, BUT THAT'LL BE DOWN THE LINE.
UM, YOU KNOW, I KNOW MANY OF US IN, I AM IN AGREEMENT WITH THE DESIGNATION OF THE 3.5 FOR, UH, THE SMALL BUSINESS AND THE GRANTS 'CAUSE IT WILL BE ABLE TO GET US OUT OF OUR HANDS QUICKER AND INTO THE HANDS OF INDIVIDUALS WHO NEED IT.
AND OF COURSE, THE DOLLARS THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT DESIGNATING FOR EMERGENCY HOUSING OR HOUSING SECURITY, I THINK THAT'S, UH, SIGNIFICANT.
UM, ON THE SLIDE NUMBER 22, YOU TALKED, UH, ABOUT, UM, THE 3.5 MILLION IN SUPPORT TO GO TO APPROXIMATELY 102, A HUNDRED ADDITIONAL MICRO BUSINESSES.
BUT OF THAT 67% OR THAT 85% THAT YOU, YOU, UH, TALK ABOUT, ALEX, DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY OF THOSE WOULD BE IN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY? SO I DON'T HAVE THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE BREAKDOWN, UM, BY THAT ARE ALSO OWNED BY WOMEN OR PEOPLE OF COLOR.
BUT WE KNOW THAT, UH, IF WE JUST GO DOWN THE LIST OF THE REMAINING BUSINESSES BASED ON THEIR RANK, UM, IT'S, IT'S 29%, UH, OR OF THOSE 100 TO 120 THAT, THAT ARE BARS AND RESTAURANTS.
I DON'T, I JUST DON'T KNOW THE SUBSET OF THE TWO.
SO LOOKING AT, UH, SLIDE NUMBER 23.
SO RIGHT NOW WE STILL HAVE 2.1 MILLION THAT IS ALREADY EARMARKED FOR THESE APPROXIMATELY 80 TO 90 ADDITIONAL GRANTS.
IS THAT, AM I READING THAT CORRECTLY? YES.
THAT THOSE 80 TO 90 ARE IN ADDITION TO THE 100 OR 120 THAT WOULD BE AVAILABLE, CORRECT? SURE.
RIGHT NOW, BUT RIGHT NOW WE HAVE IN THE HOPPER 2.1 FOR 80 TO 90 ADDITIONAL GRANTS.
UM, I AM, AND SO MY THOUGHT, MAYOR, IS THAT WE COULD, UM, MAYBE DESIGNATE SOME OF THIS 3.5 TO GO TO THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE AND RESTAURANT INDUSTRY.
I'M SORRY, DID I SAY 2.5? I MEANT 3.5, UM, TO GO TO FOOD AND BEVERAGE BECAUSE, UM, WITH THOSE THAT ARE ALREADY HERE IN THE PROCESS IN OUR, IN OUR MICRO-GRANT PROCESS, SIMPLY BECAUSE WE HAVE THE SYSTEM SET UP, IT IS THERE, THEY ARE PART OF THE PROCESS.
AND, UM, IT, WE CAN GET THE, THE AMOUNTS, UM, OUT OF THE DOOR QUICKER, MAYBE $3 MILLION OF FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE AND RESTAURANT.
AND THEN THE ADDITI ADD THE ADDITIONAL, UM, 500,000 TO THAT, UH, 2.1 THAT'S THERE.
SO WE WOULD HAVE 2.6 FOR THE OTHER, FOR THE REMAINING, IF WE CAN LOOK AT THAT.
UM, THERE, AND, AND FOR MY COLLEAGUES TO HAVE A CONVERSATION, UH, ABOUT THAT, JUST LIKE WE HAD, UH, CARVE OUTS FOR NON-PROFITS, JUST LIKE WE HAD CARVE OUTS FOR ART, THIS COULD BE THE REMAINING REMAINING THREE TO GO TO THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE AND RESTAURANT.
UM, SO THAT'S ONE THING THAT I, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MY, MY COLLEAGUES DISCUSS.
UM, ANOTHER QUICK, UH, QUESTION.
I, ERIC, THIS IS FOR YOU, UM, BECAUSE OF THIS UPTICK OR REBOUND THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, ARE YOU GOING TO BE MAKING OTHER CALLS WHEN IT COMES TO, UH, REOPEN? AND MAYBE YOU HAVE, AND I JUST HAVEN'T READ THE ATTACHMENTS OF THE EMAILS, ERIC, OF OPENING OF SENIOR CENTERS AND WHAT WE'LL BE DOING, UM, WITH THAT TO, TO KIND OF SAFEGUARD US.
AND THEN ALSO IF SOMEBODY CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT WERE THE FIRE PORTIONS THAT ARE NOT BEING,
[01:45:01]
UM, ADDRESSED, BECAUSE I AM CONCERNED ABOUT OPENING THE SENIOR CENTER.SO THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS THAT I PUT FORTH.
AND IF YOU CAN ANSWER THEM, ERIC.
SO, UH, WE ARE PROCEEDING WITH OUR RETURN TO WORK PLAN.
THE ONE ADJUSTMENT THAT WE'VE MADE, UM, AND I GOT AN UPDATE FROM THE GROUP, IS THAT WE ARE PUSHING, UM, THE OPENING OF SENIOR CENTERS TO MID-JANUARY.
UM, EVERYTHING ELSE IS PROCEEDING, BUT, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK DR.
BRIDGER AND MEL AND, AND DAVID MCCARRY AND HIS GROUP HAVE LOOKED AT IS THAT, UM, WE FELT MORE COMFORTABLE AND THOUGHT IT WAS SAFER AND A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, UH, IT WAS BETTER FOR US FROM A COMMUNITY STANDPOINT TO DELAY THE OPENING OF THOSE SENIOR CENTERS UNTIL, UH, I THINK IT WAS JANUARY 18TH OR 19TH.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE STAND RIGHT NOW.
WE'LL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THAT AND MAKE A, MAKE, UH, MAKE ADJUSTMENTS.
AND THEN LET ME ASK MARIA TO ASK, ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOUT THE FIRE EQUIPMENT.
GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
UM, COUNCILMAN, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, UM, SOME OF THE ITEMS THAT WE WERE NOT ABLE TO ACQUIRE FOR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT INCLUDED SOME PORTABLE VENTILATORS.
HOWEVER, WE WERE ABLE TO ACCOMMODATE THAT WITHIN OUR GENERAL FUND.
THERE'S SOME ACCESSORIES THAT WE STILL NEED TO PURCHASE THAT WE ARE CONSIDERING, UM, TO SEE THERE'S SOME OPTIONS, OPTIONS FOR US TO DO IT WITHIN OUR CURRENT FUNDING.
AND AT THE C R F, UH, WE HAD ALSO INCLUDED IN OUR BUDGET TO PURCHASE A FORKLIFT, UH, FOR INVENTORY MANAGEMENT AS WE HAVE PURCHASED, UH, PREDICTIVE EQUIPMENT, UH, FOR ALL OF OUR CITY EMPLOYEES.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS GOING TO DO THE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT FOR THE CITY.
UM, AND FINALLY WE HAD ALSO, UM, INCLUDED IN THE BUDGET SOME COVER PARKING STRUCTURES FOR THE EQUIPMENT THAT WAS PURCHASED, UH, EARLIER FOR, UH, TESTING SPECIFICALLY TRUCKS AND TRAILERS AS OUR FIREFIGHTERS ARE GOING TO DIFFERENT, UH, SITES TO PROVIDE THE TESTING.
SO THOSE ARE THE THREE CATEGORIES THAT WE'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO PURCHASE THROUGH THE C R F, BUT AS I MENTIONED, WE'RE LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN OUR CITY FUNDS, UH, TO BE ABLE TO, UH, PRIORITIZE THOSE PURCHASES.
AND, UM, I KNOW FOR THE CHIEF, THE PRIORITY ARE THE ACCESSORIES FOR THOSE PORTABLE VENTILATORS THAT WE ALREADY PURCHASED.
COUNCIL MEMBER VRAN GONNA DO, COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHE GARCIA, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER VINNO.
UM, AND THANK YOU TO, UH, ANNA AND DR.
BRIDGER AND ALEX FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I WANNA START OFF BY JUST SAYING THAT I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER, UM, WITH A 77% APPROVAL RATE OF PROP B, UM, BECAUSE WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO DO A WHOLE LOT MORE NOW.
SO, ALEX, I'M EXCITED ABOUT YOUR TEAM.
I KNOW THEY'RE GONNA HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO, BUT I'M SUPER HAPPY, UH, ABOUT THE COMMUNITY COMING TOGETHER, REALLY WANTING TO HELP EACH OTHER OUT.
I ALSO WANNA MENTION THAT, UM, YEAH, WE'RE STILL GOING THROUGH THIS COVID THING.
WE DON'T KNOW A A WHOLE LOT ABOUT IT.
WHAT I DO KNOW, WHAT I HAVE SEEN, AND I'VE ASKED THIS BEFORE, IS IF THERE IS A PLAN TO FOCUS ON THE AGE GROUP THAT'S MOSTLY GETTING COVID NOW, RIGHT NOW, WHICH IS A 26 TO 44 AGE GROUP.
AND SO, UM, WHAT I DID IS I CALLED UP A FELLOW LONGHORN OF MINE, WHO YOU ALL KNOW, UH, ANO, AND I ASKED IF WE COULD CONSIDER WORKING ON AN APP SO THAT WE COULD, UM, TARGET THIS SPECIFIC POPULATION AND, UM, MAYBE USE IT RIGHT NOW FOR TESTING SO THAT THEY COULD KNOW WHERE THE TESTING LOCATIONS ARE, ET CETERA.
UM, MAYBE THEY CAN SHARE CONTACTS EASIER OR, OR GENERATE, UM, AUTOMATIC MESSAGES TO THEIR CONTACTS IF THEY DO, YOU KNOW, BECOME COVID POSITIVE.
UM, JUST LANGUAGE THAT WE COULD USE, ANYTHING THAT WE CAN HELP THIS POPULATION WITH.
AND, UM, I'M SUPER EXCITED BECAUSE EARLIER TODAY, AND WE'VE BEEN MEETING ALSO, UH, BRIAN DILLARD HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE OFFICE OF INNOVATION, BUT BETHEL, UM, EARLIER SAID THAT THEY'RE GONNA DO THIS PRO BONO FOR US.
AND SO I AM JUST JAZZED, UH, BECAUSE WELL, UM, ONE, THEY'RE DOING A PRO BONO, BUT TWO, BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO ALL PITCH IN TOGETHER.
AND SO EVERYBODY'S DOING THEIR PART TO DO SOMETHING THAT THEY'RE REALLY GOOD AT, TO REALLY, UH, HELP THE COMMUNITY.
SO, UM, WITH THAT SAID, I ALSO ASKED ABOUT POSSIBLY CREATING A SILVER TEAM.
UM, AND MARIA WAS LOOKING AT CREATING A SILVER TEAM, AND I WAS TRYING TO, UH, BASE IT OFF OF THE BLUE TEAM CONCEPT WHERE WE HAVE, UH, FIRE THAT'S GOING TO CITY, CITY EMPLOYEES AND TESTING THEM.
I'M CONCERNED ABOUT OUR ELDERS WHO MAYBE CAN'T LEAVE THE HOME, DON'T HAVE ACCESS TO VEHICLES, OR ARE JUST NOT ABLE PHYSICALLY TO, TO LEAVE THE HOME.
WE KNOW THEIR CARE CARE CARETAKERS ARE COMING IN AND OUT.
AND, UM, I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO A, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER IN PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, WASHINGTON, WHO LOST SIX FAMILY MEMBERS TO COVID.
[01:50:01]
WAS SO SAD, UM, THAT, THAT THE STORY THAT SHE WAS TELLING, BECAUSE ALL OF HER FAMILY MEMBERS THAT WERE LOST TO COVID, UM, THEY HAD STAYED HOME.SO IT, SO ANYWAY, SO SHE, UM, WAS REALLY WORRIED A, UH, YOU KNOW, A ABOUT, UM, ABOUT THAT.
AND IT MADE ME START THINKING A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT MAYBE COMING UP WITH, LIKE I SAID, THE SILVER TEAM AND JUST REALLY TAKING, UM, AN EXTRA STEP AND PROTECTING OUR SENIORS AS WELL.
SO THOSE ARE THE TWO AGE GROUPS THAT I'M REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT.
I'M ALSO WONDERING ABOUT PLASMA, AND I KNOW WE'VE MENTIONED IT BEFORE.
UM, I, UH, I, I, I KNOW THAT IT, THAT, YOU KNOW, IN, IN SOME CASES IT'S, IT'S DEFINITELY WORKING.
I DON'T UNDERSTAND TOO MUCH ABOUT IT, BUT I STILL THINK THAT WE NEED TO FOCUS ON THAT BECAUSE IF WE DO HAVE ANOTHER, UM, SPIKE OR WHATEVER THE C D C IS CALLING IT, THAT MAYBE WE SHOULD BE WORKING ON THAT.
I DON'T KNOW IF THE SOUTH TEXAS BLOOD AND TISSUE BANK IS SELLING IT TO OTHER COMMUNITIES AS WELL.
I KNOW ABSO IS GOING THROUGH A LITTLE BIT OF A HIT RIGHT NOW.
UM, BUT I'M, I'M JUST THROWING AT ALL OF THESE THINGS BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF COMMUNITY PARTNERS THAT ARE WILLING TO DO WHAT THEY'RE REALLY GOOD AT, AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT'S MAKING OUR COMMUNITY, UM, WORK, UH, WORK, WORK SO WELL AGAINST THIS VIRUS.
SO I JUST WANTED TO TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SAY THAT THANK YOU, YES, TO ALL THE STAFF THAT'S WORKING, BUT ALSO TO OUR NONPROFIT PARTNERS THAT ARE WORKING.
UM, WE, UH, I'M EXCITED ABOUT THE ADDITIONAL SITES.
I SAW ONE AT OUR LADY OF THE LAKE, UM, WHICH BY THE WAY, I, I GOT AN EMAIL ABOUT MY CAPACITY AT, AT THE LAKE SAYING THAT IT'S FOR ASYMPTOMATIC AS WELL.
BRIDGER, I DON'T THINK THAT WAS LISTED AS AN ASYMPTOMATIC ONE, SO MAYBE WE COULD CHECK ON THAT.
I'M GLAD THAT SOUTHWEST I S D, UM, HAS STEPPED UP AND THAT THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE ONE AT, UH, SOUTHWEST STADIUMS ALSO IN D FOUR.
UM, I AM VERY, VERY HAPPY ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADD SOME ADDITIONAL FUNDS TO THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE, SO I'M IN SUPPORT OF THAT.
I'M ALSO WONDERING WHERE CATERING COMPANIES, UM, MIGHT BE, UH, AS A PART OF THIS, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT CATERING IS NOT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
AND THEN ANOTHER QUESTION THAT I HAVE, ALEX, AND YOU CAN TELL ME MAYBE OFFLINE, I KNOW WE WERE TRYING TO GET LIFT FUND TO HAVE ALL OF THE SMALL BUSINESSES THAT RECEIVED GRANTS CONTACTED BEFORE THE END OF LAST WEEK.
I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHERE WE ARE ON THAT, BUT IF YOU COULD HELP ME, UH, WITH THE ANSWER TO THAT, THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL.
BRIDGER WONDERING HOW WE ARE ON COVID KITS AND HAVE THEY HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED, UM, ALL OF THEM JUST YET.
I KNOW WE'RE FOCUSING ON SPECIFIC AREAS.
AND THEN I DO WANNA SAY THANK YOU TO, UH, LAURIE, UH, HOUSTON AND, AND VERONICA SOTO WITH THE, UM, E H AP PROGRAM, BECAUSE NOW YOU'RE ADDING COLLEGE STUDENTS TO IT, OBVIOUSLY A VERY NEAR AND DEAR, UM, PART TO ME.
UM, BUT ALSO FOR ALL THE WORK YOU'RE DOING.
UH, AND THE EXAMPLE THAT I GAVE IN PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, UM, MY, UH, OUR, OUR COLLEAGUE UP THERE, THEY ONLY HAD FOUR.
UM, THIS IS IT, I'LL, I'LL CLOSE UP.
THEY ONLY HAD FOUR, UH, FAMILIES THAT RECEIVED EMERGENCY HOUSING ASSISTANCE.
AND SO IT WAS, IT WAS RIDICULOUS.
AND SO, AND THE MAYOR KINDLY VOLUNTEERED TO, UM, IF SHE WANTED TO TALK TO SOME OF OUR STAFF OR IDEAS, UM, TO HAVE OUR STAFF REACH OUT.
SO LORI, AND, UH, I MIGHT BE REACHING OUT AND CONNECTING YOU WITH THEM.
THOSE ARE ALL MY COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS.
I'M SURE PEOPLE WILL FOLLOW UP WITH ME LATER.
COUNCIL MEMBER ROCHA GARCIA, AND YEAH, ERIC, I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT TO YOU, BUT, UH, WE'LL, WE'LL GET TO THE NUMBER.
ALRIGHT, UH, WE'LL GO NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER VINNO, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL.
AND, UH, THANKS FOR THAT PRESENTATION TO EVERYONE.
UH, I, I, I JUST WANNA START OFF WITH THAT BY STATING THAT I DON'T SUPPORT REDUCING FUNDING IN OUR HOUSING SECURITY PILLAR.
IT IS, UH, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PILLARS, UH, THAT WE HAVE.
AND, UM, WE'LL, WE'LL KEEP PUSHING FOR MORE FUNDING IN THAT I'M ALSO, UM, NOT SUPPORTIVE OF, OF HOW WE'RE STILL EXCLUDING FAMILIES, UH, IN THE 80% TO A HUNDRED PERCENT A M I RANGE.
AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO, TO ASK THAT.
UH, I DO THANK STAFF FOR PROPOSING A, A CHANGE TO THE EMERGENCY HOUSING, UH, ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, WHICH WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR, FOR LOCAL COLLEGE STUDENTS TO RECEIVE HOUSING ASSISTANCE.
UH, I WOULD LIKE, UH, FOR THE RIGHT TO COUNCIL GROUP TO WORK WITH THE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TO DEVELOP A PIPELINE FOR LEGAL SERVICES TO ASSIST COLLEGE STUDENTS WITH NAVIGATING THEIR LEASE.
UM, OF COURSE, LEGAL EVICTIONS WILL RESUME JANUARY 1ST, 2021, AND SAAS HAS STATED THEY WILL BEGIN DISCONNECTIONS IN THE SECOND QUARTER.
UH, I BELIEVE THAT WE AS A CITY MUST ADDRESS THESE ISSUES IN THEIR ENTIRETY TODAY, OR WE RISK KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE ROAD AND POTENTIALLY, UH, INCURRING MORE CASES AS WELL AS COSTS.
UH, RECENT REPORTS SHOW THAT C P S ENERGY AND SAWS ARE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS BEHIND C P S, UH, ENERGY IS EVEN CONSIDERING A, A RATE INCREASE.
UH, I WOULD ASK THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, WE, WE LOOK FOR WAYS TO, TO, UH, TO SEE IF WE CAN WORK WITH SAWS AND C P S TO
[01:55:01]
ENSURE THAT WE ARE NOT PASSING THIS COST OF THIS PANDEMIC BACK ONTO THE RESIDENTS IN 2021.UM, REGARDING THE SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT, UH, I, I, I WANT TO TOUCH ON THE SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS THAT WERE PROVIDED.
MY UNDERSTANDING, UH, IS THAT THE CITY USED THE EQUITY ATLAS TO DETERMINE WHICH BUSINESSES RECEIVED GRANTS.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I, THIS IS A BIG QUESTION HERE IS THAT, IS THE EQUITY ATLAS THE BEST TOOL TO DETERMINE, UH, WHICH SMALL BUSINESS RECEIVED GRANTS? UH, BY THAT I MEAN THAT THE EQUITY ATLAS, UH, USES A COMBINATION OF RACE, INCOME, AND LANGUAGE DATA FOR A GIVEN TRACK OR NEIGHBORHOOD.
SO HOW DOES THIS SPEAK TO THE ACTUAL BUSINESS OR BUSINESS OWNER, WHOEVER WANTS TO TAKE THAT? AND I, AGAIN, I I DID, I DID GET TO SPEAK WITH, UH, UH, UM, CARLOS AND ALEX ABOUT THIS, INCLUDING SELENA PENA, UH, ABOUT A VERY SPECIFIC BUSINESS THAT IS, IS, IS UNIQUELY POSITIONED, UH, GEOGRAPHICALLY THAT, UH, AGAIN, IF, IF WE LOOK AT THIS EQUITY ATLAS, UH, I, I THINK, UH, MANY HAVE, HAVE EXPRESSED THAT IT'S A, IT'S A, IT'S A TOOL THAT DOESN'T NECESSARILY ADDRESS, UH, A LOT OF THE, THE BUSINESS CONCERNS OR NEEDS.
ALEX, DID YOU WANNA TAKE THAT ONE? THIS IS DAVID MCCARRY, UH, FOR YOUR, UH, LEMME JUST, YES, IF I CAN JUST KIND OF SET, SET THAT UP, COUNCILMAN.
UM, UH, YOU KNOW, AS YOU KNOW, THE CITY COUNCIL HAS ADOPTED EQUITY IN ALL OF THE CITY DELIVERY OF SERVICES.
AND, UH, THE UTILIZATION OF THIS PARTICULAR TOOL WAS THE ONE THAT WE DISCUSSED AT LENGTH WITH CITY COUNCIL, UH, ABOUT, UH, MANY PORTIONS OF THE RECOVERY RESILIENCY PLAN.
AND, AND WE DID HAVE A LOT OF CONVERSATION AT THE, UH, AT THE E W D C ABOUT THIS PARTICULAR, UH, TOOL THAT WAS UTILIZED.
IT DOES FOCUS ON THE BUSINESS OWNER IN THE SENSE THAT IT TALKS ABOUT WHERE THE INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS IS LOCATED, AND IT DOES LOOK AT THE GENDER AND RACIAL, UM, UM, MAKEUP OF THE BUSINESS OWNER.
IT PROVIDES POINTS TO THAT AS WELL, RIGHT? BUT, BUT, BUT WHEN WE DISCUSSED IT, WE, WE, WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT THIS IS REALLY NOT A TOOL THAT EXAMINES SORT OF THE, THE COM THE, ALL THE NUANCES AND COMPLEXITY OF, OF EACH INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS.
SO, UH, I ONLY GOT A MINUTE LEFT, SO I APOLOGIZE, BUT I'LL, I'LL, I THINK WE CAN, UH, KIND OF JUST BOOKMARK THERE, BOOKMARK THAT, UH, SO THAT WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT SOME MORE.
AGAIN, I JUST WANT US TO, TO, TO HIGHLIGHT THAT, UH, THERE ARE A LOT OF BUSINESSES THAT I'M HEARING FROM, UH, THAT, THAT REALLY NEED, UH, US TO, TO, TO REEXAMINE THAT TOOL.
UM, AND I AM SUPPORTIVE OF THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE ALLOCATION, OF COURSE.
AGAIN, THE C C R, UH, SPECIFICALLY OUTLINED SUPPORT FOR FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRIES.
UH, IT DID ASK FOR, FOR MONIES THAT TO COME OUT OF UNSPENT DOLLARS IN, IN OUR WORKFORCE, IN, IN OUR, UH, PILLARS THAT INCLUDE WORKFORCE, THE WORKFORCE PILLAR.
UM, AGAIN, WHICH IS WHY I'M NOT SUPPORTIVE OF MO REMOVING FUNDS FROM OUR HOUSING, UH, PILLAR BECAUSE WE KNOW, UH, AGAIN, THERE'S MORE, THERE'S MANY PEOPLE IN NEED AND THAT IS BEING UTILIZED.
LASTLY, I'M JUST GONNA PLUG A, A SIMPLE THING WE'RE GIVING AWAY.
WE HAD OUR FIESTA METAL THIS YEAR.
UH, IT, IT LOOKS LIKE THAT GUY, WE'RE GIVING IT AWAY FOR ALL THOSE THAT ARE, THAT, THAT, THAT WOULD COME IN AND GIVE US A, UH, DONATE A HOMELESS KIT FOR, FOR THOSE INDIVIDUALS, UH, UH, THAT, THAT, UH, ARE BEING TOUCHED BY OUR HOMELESS OUTREACH SPECIALISTS, UH, THAT INCLUDE THINGS LIKE SOCKS AND, AND, AND HYGIENE, UH, UM, UH, MATERIALS.
UH, YOU KNOW, THIS IS, UH, YOU KNOW, A, A A, AN OPPORTUNITY TO KIND OF STILL SHARE OUR METALS.
UH, MAYBE IT'S A WAY TO KIND OF, UH, FURTHER EXPAND THE REACH OF OUR OUTREACH SPECIALISTS AS WE'RE TRYING TO HELP THE HOMELESS OUT THERE.
AND LET, AND LET ME CORRECT THE INFORMATION.
UM, ON C P S AND SAWS, THERE HAS BEEN NO, UH, DECLARATION OR INTENT, UM, TO RESUME DISCONNECTS AT ANY GIVEN TIME.
UH, THOSE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HOW THAT WILL RESUME AND WHEN, UH, WILL, WILL HAPPEN WITH CITY STAFF.
UH, AND THAT'S NOT SCHEDULED UNTIL THE NEW YEAR TO BEGIN TO, TO ESTIMATE WHEN THOSE CAN COME BACK.
BUT THERE IS NO SCHEDULED, UH, RESUMPTION, UH, OF DISCONNECTS FROM EITHER UTILITY AT THIS POINT.
WE'LL, GOING NOW TO COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER
JUST WANTED TO LET COUNCILMAN TREVINO KNOW.
WE'LL CIRCLE BACK AROUND WITH YOU BOTH ALEX, MYSELF, AND Z.
UH, IF YOU DON'T MIND, WE'LL FOLLOW UP ON THAT.
[02:00:03]
OKAY.CAN YOU HEAR ME OKAY? CAN YOU HEAR ME? ALRIGHT? THANK YOU.
UM, I APOLOGIZE I'VE HAD SOME TECHNICAL PROBLEMS TODAY.
UH, SO, UH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH ALL OF YOU FOR, FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO BE, UH, MINDFUL ABOUT THE INCREASES IN CASES WE'VE HAD.
I'M REALLY GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU DON'T ANTICIPATE WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A SPIKE, LIKE THE ONES, THE ONE THAT WE DID IN, IN JULY, UH, WHEN WE, YOU KNOW, CLOSE TO OVERWHELMED OUR, WHAT WE DID OVERWHELM OUR HOSPITAL SYSTEM.
I, BUT I THINK WE, UM, I'M GONNA BE MINDFUL ABOUT JUST MAKING, UH, SH MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE STILL CAUTIOUS AND ON OUR GUARD.
I'VE SEEN THAT AT ANY TIME WE, WE GIVE A LITTLE BIT SAYING, OH, IT'S NOT, YOU KNOW, DON'T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT IT.
PEOPLE TEND TO TAKE THAT VERY, VERY FAR, UM, JUST BECAUSE WE'RE ALSO TIRED OF, YOU KNOW, ALL THE PRECAUTIONS WE HAVE TO TAKE RIGHT NOW.
SO, UM, I, I DO THINK, UH, THE STUDY INCLINE IS SOMETHING WE HAVE TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO, BECAUSE I THINK WE'VE GONE FROM, YOU KNOW, A HUNDRED CASES A DAY TO ABOUT 300 CASES A DAY FAIR FAIRLY QUICKLY.
AND I, I WILL NEVER FORGET WHEN WE WERE WALKING OUT OF OUR, UH, BUDGET RETREAT IN, I GUESS IT WAS MAY OR JUNE, WHEN, UH, WE HEARD THAT THERE WERE 300 NEW CASES THAT DAY, AND WE THOUGHT IT WAS THE BIGGEST NUMBER WE WOULD EVER SEE.
UM, THE, UM, I DID WANNA ASK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, THE BUDGET, UH, ANNA, OR, I'M NOT SURE IF THIS WAS ANNA OR DR.
BRIDGER, BUT I SEE THERE'S A, A REDUCTION OF 11.4 IN THE HEALTH RESPONSE ON ONE OF THE SLIDES.
AND CAN YOU TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY THAT CHANGE IS THERE? I THINK IT'S BECAUSE THE STATE IS PICKING UP SOME OF THE COSTS, BUT COULD YOU CLARIFY? YES, MA'AM.
UM, THE REDUCTION THAT'S SHOWN, UM, AND I BELIEVE, UM, THE REDUCTION THAT'S SHOWN IS FOR THE HEALTH AND PATIENT PLAN AS A WHOLE.
SO THAT INCLUDES A REDUCTION, UM, ACCOUNTING FOR THE, THE EQUIPMENT PURCHASES THAT WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE MAKING.
UH, IN ADDITION, IT IS $6.4 MILLION FROM THE HEALTH PORTION OF THE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN THAT, UM, ACCOUNTS FOR THE TESTING THAT THE STATE HAS BEEN PAYING.
SO WE HAD ORIGINALLY IN THE PLAN ALLOCATED FUNDING FOR TESTING, HOWEVER THE STATE'S BEEN PAYING FOR IT.
SO WE ARE REDUCING THAT AMOUNT.
UM, AND VIA, UH, ADDING TO THE ELIGIBLE FIRE PAYROLL ARE ALLOWED TO THEN REINVEST $6.4 MILLION OF GENERAL FUND DOLLARS INTO THE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, UM, TO MAKE THAT UP AS WELL, UM, AS MAKING THE FIRE PIECE HOLE AS WELL.
SO, UM, THE NET OF IT IS, IS THERE ARE GENERAL FUND DOLLARS IN THERE TO SUSTAIN THE HEALTH EFFORT EFFORT GOING INTO 2021.
SO WITH THAT, WE ANTICIPATE, UM, AT, AT OUR CURRENT RATE OF SPEND BEING ABLE TO, UH, FUND THE HEALTH IMPLEMENTATION PLAN THROUGH THE END OF FISCAL YEAR 2021, SO SEPTEMBER, 2021.
AND THAT'S GREAT NEWS, AND THAT GIVES ME A LOT OF, UH, PEACE OF MIND THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO COVER THE PROGRAM THROUGH THE FISCAL YEAR.
UM, I, I WANTED TO KNOW, SEEING THAT WE DO HAVE AN INCREASE IN, IN CASES AND, AND LISTENING TO COUNCILMAN DR.
GARCIA MADE ME WONDER IF IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE, PROVIDED WE HAVE THE CAPACITY TO DO SO, TO GET THE EBI REPORT MORE REGULARLY.
I KNOW WE'VE MOVED TO ONCE A MONTH, AND I'M JUST WONDERING IF IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO DO THAT, UH, PERHAPS TWICE A MONTH OR SOMETHING.
UH, SOMETHING TO, TO THINK ABOUT.
AND THEN, UM, TWO MORE QUESTIONS THAT I'M GONNA TRY TO GET OUT IN 30 SECONDS.
A PIECE IS, HAVE WE CONSIDERED POSSIBLY DOING SOME OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES WITH OUR SENIORS AT THE SENIOR CENTERS, UH, BEFORE WE CAN REOPEN THEM? I KNOW NOT ALL OF THE LOCATIONS LEND THEMSELVES TO THAT, BUT I'LL TELL YOU, I WENT TO A FAN GIVEAWAY AT ONE OF OUR, UH, SMALL SENIOR CENTERS.
IT'S NOT A CITY RUN ONE, IT'S A SALVATION ARMY SENIOR CENTER IN DISTRICT SEVEN.
AND JUST HAVING PEOPLE LINE UP OUTSIDE FOR THEIR FOOD PICKUP OR OTHER EVENTS WAS STILL, I, I THINK, A, A VERY, UM, IT WAS A POSITIVE, UH, INTERACTION EVENT.
YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE WAS SOCIAL DISTANCE MAINTAINED AND MASKS WORN, BUT I THINK THE SENIORS ARE STILL VERY HAPPY TO BE AROUND ONE ANOTHER TO JUST A SUGGESTION.
AND THEN, UH, LASTLY, YOU KNOW, WHEN PEOPLE
[02:05:01]
ASK FOR FUNDING REGARDING, UH, THEIR HOUSING ASSISTANCE, WE, WE ALSO TRY TO GIVE THEM SOME FINANCIAL ADVICE.SO I'M WONDERING IF WE'RE DOING SOMETHING SIMILAR, MAYBE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH C P S AND SAS ON, YOU KNOW, IS THERE PERHAPS A WATER LEAK IN A HOME, OR IS THERE A WAY TO USE ENERGY MORE EFFICIENTLY? BECAUSE THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CAN HELP PEOPLE FOR THE LONG TERM IN THEIR HOMES, NOT JUST, UH, NOT JUST RIGHT NOW.
SO ANY, ANYWAY, I'D LIKE TO PROPOSE THAT.
COUNCIL MEMBER SANDOVAL, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER
I, I THINK WE SHOULD BE BOLD AND, UM, UH, IN OUR EFFORTS TO HELP OUT THE, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, WITH REGARDS TO ALL THE THINGS WE'RE PROPOSING, I DON'T SEE WHY WE CAN'T, YOU KNOW, GIVE PREFERENCE TO RESTAURANT, UH, INDUSTRY OWNERS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, YOU KNOW, THE OWNERS OF THESE RESTAURANTS, YOU KNOW, COULD EASILY PUT US IN TOUCH WITH THE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE JUST BARELY HOLDING ON OR FACING EVICTION OR, UH, YOU KNOW, LATE ON THEIR RENT OR WHO NEED HELP PAYING THEIR SAW OR, UH, C P S BILL.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY'VE GOT THAT LIST MORE READILY AVAILABLE THAN WE EVER WILL.
UH, I THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, RECRUITING THAT INDUSTRY TO HELP US IDENTIFY THE PEOPLE MOST NEED MAKES SENSE, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU CONSIDER THAT THOSE EMPLOYEES, UM, YOU KNOW, MAKE UP MORE THAN 10% OF OUR, UH, EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
UH, AND, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY ALL GOT THEIR P P P LOANS, UM, AND STILL FOUR IN 10 RESTAURANTS CLOSED AND STILL, UM, TWO OUT OF THREE RESTAURANT JOBS WERE LOST.
AND SO, UM, THEY'RE, THESE FOLKS ARE HURTING, UH, A LOT.
THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS WHOLE COUNCIL GET, YOU KNOW, TALKS ABOUT THIS INDUSTRY.
UM, AND, YOU KNOW, I'LL, I'LL REMIND YOU, WE, WE SPEND MORE TIME TALKING AND DEBATING ABOUT ARTISTS AND ART ORGANIZATIONS THAN WE DID ABOUT THIS INDUSTRY, WHICH IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF OUR CITY.
UH, SO WE HAVE, UH, AN OPPORTUNITY HERE, UH, TO SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, RESTAURANTS ACTUALLY GET PREFERENCE, UH, ON THESE GRANTS.
AND THAT, UM, I, I WOULD SAY THROW AS MUCH AS WE POSSIBLY CAN TOWARDS THIS INDUSTRY AS OPPOSED TO JUST CARVING OUT A, A SMALL AMOUNT.
AND SO, UH, I'D BE IN FAVOR OF DOING THAT.
THEN THERE'S OTHER THINGS THAT WE CAN DO ALSO IS, YOU KNOW, WHEN IT COMES TO JEFF COYLE, IF YOU ON THE LINE, I MEAN, WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, YOU KNOW, ADVOCACY IN DC, THE NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION, THE TEXAS RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION, HAVE A PRETTY ROBUST ADVOCACY PROGRAM, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, WE COULD HELP SUPPORT, RIGHT? AND SO, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE BEEN WORKING REALLY HARD ON MAKING ALL THEIR P P P LOAN EXPENSES TAX DEDUCTIBLE UNDER THIS SMALL BUSINESS EXPENSE PROTECTION ACT.
AND, UM, THEY'RE LOOKING TO, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, STRENGTHEN THE, UM, LONG-TERM LOAN PROGRAM THAT'S OUT THERE, OR AN ECONOMIC INJURY DISASTER LOAN PROGRAM, OR EVEN GETTING PAYROLL TAX RELIEF FOR THE RESTAURANT AND BAR WORKERS.
SO, UM, THERE'S, THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES THERE.
AND I'D LIKE TO SIT DOWN WITH YOU AND CARLOS LATER AND SEE IF, YOU KNOW, THERE WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO ADJUST OUR FEDERAL ADVOCACY EFFORTS TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE TELLING THE SAN ANTONIO RESTAURANT STORY UP THERE AS WELL.
AND THEN LASTLY, THERE'S THINGS THAT WE CAN DO HERE, ASIDE FROM E EARMARKING, THESE SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS, AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN PARTNER UP WITH FOOD AND BEVERAGE TO PROVIDE THAT FOOD, UH, FROM, UH, YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, THAT WE NEED TO SEND OUT TO SENIORS AND VULNERABLE KIDS AND FAMILIES.
UM, THEY'VE GOT THE KITCHENS AND THEY CERTAINLY KNOW HOW TO DO IT QUICKLY.
AND I THINK THAT WE NEED TO MORE CREATIVELY RELY ON THEM TO, UM, TO HELP US SOLVE A PROBLEM.
THE OTHER THING TOO IS, YOU KNOW, WE COULD EXPEDITE APPROVAL FOR ALL THEIR PERMITS, UH, FOR ZONING CHANGES, PUBLIC PARKING SPACES FOR, YOU KNOW, CHANGES REGARDING RULES FOR CURBSIDE POLICIES, UH, THE OUTDOOR DINING, UH, YOU KNOW, PERMITS AND, UH, WHATEVER OTHER PERMITS AND, YOU KNOW, REGULATIONS OUT THERE.
AND WE COULD GIVE PREFERENCE TO THESE RESTAURANTS.
UM, WE COULD ALSO FIGURE OUT A WAY TO INCENTIVIZE 'EM TO BUY SUPPLIES AND FOOD FROM LOCAL VENDORS.
UM, THAT'S SOMETHING WITHIN OUR ABILITY TO DO.
AND SO, UM, I, I'M, UM, I, I, I, I GUESS THE TAKEAWAY FROM, FROM THIS ERIC AND AND STAFF IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THE BOLDER, THE BETTER.
UH, THIS INDUSTRY IS AN INDUSTRY THAT'S BEEN OVERLOOKED BY ALMOST EVERY CITY IN THE UNITED STATES, AND THEY'RE FINALLY COMING UP AND SAYING, LOOK, UH, YOU KNOW, WE NEED YOUR HELP MORE THAN ANYBODY ELSE RIGHT NOW.
AND SO, UM, I I, I DO THINK THAT THE RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, THOUGH, NEEDS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THAT THESE RESTAURANT WORKERS ARE, UM, ARE HURTING AND THEY'RE ELIGIBLE.
AND MAYBE IF WE JUST FRONT LOAD THEM INTO, INTO CONSIDERATION, UM, YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO MAKE
[02:10:01]
A DENT IN, IN, UH, IN THE, IN THE WAY THAT THEY FACE THOSE CHALLENGES.SO, MAYOR, THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS.
THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER WISE, COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE.
UM, THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE TEAM, UM, THAT'S WORKING ON, ON THE RESILIENCY PART OF, OF BUILDING OUR CITY BACK TOGETHER.
BRIDGER, WHEN IT COMES TO THE DOCUMENTING OF OUR CASES, ARE WE DOCUMENTING COVID AND FLU COMBINATION CASES, OR ARE WE STILL SEPARATING THE TWO? WE ARE NOT DOCUMENTING THAT, AND MOSTLY THAT'S BECAUSE IF THAT'S HAPPENED, IT'S BEEN AN EXTREMELY RARE EVENT.
AND AT THIS TIME, UM, WE DON'T HAVE ANY OF THE NUMBERS TO SEE HOW SMALL OR, UM, IF IT'S IN A CONCENTRATED AREA THAT WE'RE SEEING THIS, WE DON'T HAVE ANY OF THAT INFORMATION AT ALL.
FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE BOTH FLU AND COVID AT THE SAME TIME.
I MEAN, IT'S LIKE, I COULD COUNT IT ON ONE HAND.
UM, SO IT'S, IT'S NOT A, IT'S NOT SEEMING TO HAPPEN RIGHT NOW.
AS LONG AS WE KNOW THAT IT'S NOT NEEDED AT THIS TIME, BUT WE'RE KEEPING AN EYE ON IT, CORRECT? YES.
UM, AND THEN ON THE, UM, CONVERSATION OF THE SMALL BUSINESSES AND THE RESTAURANTS AND BARS, WHEN IT COMES TO THOSE WHO ARE CONTRACTORS OR THOSE WHO ARE SELF-EMPLOYED, UM, SUCH AS HAIRDRESSERS AND BARBERS, WHERE DO THEY FALL WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THESE SMALL BUSINESS, UM, GRANTS? SO COUNCIL MEMBER, THIS IS ALEX, AND WE ACTUALLY HAD A CATEGORY IN, UM, IN THE PROGRAM FOR INDIVIDUALS THAT WERE SELF-EMPLOYED.
DO WE HAVE THOSE NUMBERS, ALEX? OF HOW MANY BUSINESSES IN THAT CATEGORY WERE FUNDED? I DON'T HAVE THAT NUMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT WE DO HAVE IT.
AND THEN I'M STILL CONCERNED BECAUSE I'M NOT SEEING A FOCUS ON ASSISTING THE COMMUNITY WITH MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
ARE THOSE THAT HAVE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OR NOT UNDERSTANDING OR ABLE TO UNDERSTAND, UH, THE INFORMATION AND HOW IT'S DISSEMINATED AND HOW IT'S PUT OUT AND HOW TO FOLLOW THE DATA.
AND SO I'M WONDERING, UM, WITHIN OUR RESILIENCY WHERE MENTAL HEALTH IS, IS FALLING OR HOW WE'RE ADDRESSING THOSE ISSUES.
SO I'LL, I'LL, UM, CLAIM THE MANTLE OF MENTAL HEALTH, UM, FOR RIGHT NOW.
UM, AND I, I CAN TELL YOU THAT THERE'S A LOT OF, THERE ARE A LOT OF GROUPS WORKING ON MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES AND HOW TO TIE TOGETHER THE SYSTEM THAT WE HAVE, WHICH IS STRONGER TODAY THAN IT WAS EVEN TWO YEARS AGO.
UM, BUT THERE'S STILL A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF WORK THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
UM, AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION, UM, AS IT RELATES TO MENTAL HEALTH IS IF WE CAN JUST FIND OUT, I'LL GET A REPORT OR, OR HAVE A BRIEFING ON WHAT AGENCIES ARE DOING AND HOW WE CAN ACTUALLY, UM, CONNECT THE PIECES FOR THOSE WHO, UM, FAMILIES WHO ARE DEALING WITH SOMEONE THAT HAS A MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE ARE HELPING THEM UNDERSTAND WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO THEM, ESPECIALLY FOR OUR YOUTH THAT ARE IN SCHOOL.
AND HAVING THE HARD TIME TO, UM, REALLY UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NOT BEING IN SCHOOL, BEING HOME, AND THEN ALL OF THE STRESS OF EVEN HAVING FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAVE PASSED BECAUSE OF C OVID 19.
UM, I LIKE TO SEE HOW WE CAN GET A BRIEFING ON WHAT IS BEING DONE OR WHAT OTHER STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY, WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, NOT ONLY PLASMA, UM, BUT BONE, UH, MARROW COLLECTION FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LEUKEMIA, UM, AND THOSE WHO ARE SUFFERING TO, UM, NEED BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS AND, AND WHERE WE ARE AS IT RELATES TO COVID.
AND IF WE'VE SEEN ANY OF THOSE WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM THOSE CONDITIONS, NOT BEING ABLE TO RECEIVE EITHER BONE MARROW OR ARE RECEIVING, UM, BLOOD TRANSPLANTS BECAUSE OUR BLOOD SUPPLY IS SO LOW, UM, I LIKE TO SEE HOW WE'RE ACCOMMODATING THOSE FAMILIES.
I WAS JUST GONNA JUMP IN VERY QUICKLY AND LET YOU KNOW THE NUMBER AS FAR AS THE, UH, SELF-EMPLOYED, THE BUSINESSES THAT, THAT CATEGORIZE
[02:15:01]
HIMSELF AS SELF-EMPLOYED, IT'S 306 OF THE 1011.SO FAR, 306 OF THEM WERE CLASSIFIED AS SELF-EMPLOYED.
UM, THOSE ARE ALL THE QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS THAT I HAVE.
COUNCIL MEMBER ANDREW SULLIVAN, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER COURAGE, FOLLOWED BY COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY.
UH, I, I, I'M REALLY GLAD TO SEE THIS REPORT.
I THINK IT'S WHAT WE'VE BEEN ASKING FOR.
IT'S WHAT WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT AND ANALYZE EVERY FEW MONTHS TO, TO MEASURE OUR PROGRESS.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF, UH, GOOD USEFUL UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION HERE.
SO I APPRECIATE ALL THE WORK THE STAFF PUT TOGETHER, UH, IN PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
I GUESS I HAVE A QUESTION FOR COLLEEN, THOUGH, AS WE'RE LOOKING AT THE, THE HEALTH INDICATORS, UH, THAT WE'VE SEEN RECENTLY, YOU KNOW, AT WHAT NUMBERS SHOULD WE BECOME REALLY WORRIED ABOUT, WORRIED THE DIRECTION THAT WE'RE GOING IN SINCE WE'RE NOW UP, UH, IN OUR, UH, POSITIVITY RATE, ABOUT 50% OF WHAT IT WAS A FEW WEEKS AGO? YEAH.
UM, I, I CAN'T GIVE YOU A DEFINITIVE ANSWER.
WHAT I CAN TELL YOU IS THAT WE WON'T LOOK AT JUST ONE NUMBER.
UM, WE'VE BEEN, I THINK, REALLY GOOD ABOUT LOOKING AT A COMBINATION OF THINGS TO INCLUDE WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE HOSPITAL, RIGHT? AS FAR AS OUR POSITIVITY RATE GOES AND WHAT'S HAPPENING AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF NEW CASES.
AND SO WHEN ALL THREE OF THOSE HIT A CRITICAL LEVEL, AND YOU'RE GONNA SAY, YES, WHAT IS THAT CRITICAL LEVEL? AND I DON'T KNOW RIGHT NOW, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS DAILY.
WE'RE LOOKING TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND TO THE STATE GOVERNMENT TO SEE IF THEY HAVE ANY GUIDANCE FOR US.
UM, BUT RIGHT NOW WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS A LOT OF, UM, SOME GO UP AND SOME GO DOWN, SOME GO UP AND SOME GO DOWN.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, TODAY'S, UH, CASE NUMBER, UM, MUCH LOWER THAN YESTERDAY.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE STRUGGLING WITH HOW, HOW DO WE DO THIS? AND, AND I THINK WHAT THE OTHER THING THAT'S IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT IS, UM, IT'S NOT JUST DAY BY DAY.
WE HAVE TO LOOK AT IT WEEK BY WEEK.
UM, AND WHAT WE SEE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT CHART THAT I SHOWED YOU IS THAT OVER THE LAST FOUR WEEKS, THERE'VE BEEN SOME INCREASES, BUT OVERALL, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE PICTURE, IT IS STILL RELATIVELY STABLE.
UM, AND SO THAT'S WHAT, THAT'S, THOSE ARE ALL OF THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WE'RE HAVING AND TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IS THERE A BETTER WAY AND ARE THERE BETTER INDICATORS AND ALL OF THAT.
I THINK YOU'RE MUTED, COUNCILMAN.
WHAT CONCERNED ME WAS IT DIDN'T HAVE MUCH OF THE LAST TWO WEEKS, AT LEAST THE LAST 10 DAYS, WE'VE SEEN SOME REALLY DRAMATIC NUMBERS.
AND SO I, I UNDERSTAND THAT Y'ALL ARE LOOKING AT IT ALMOST DAILY, AND THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD TO KNOW.
UM, BUT, UH, WHAT I'VE SEEN THAT WORRIES ME IS I'VE GONE INTO ABOUT THREE DIFFERENT RESTAURANTS IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS, AND, UH, AT LEAST ONE OF THESE RESTAURANTS SHOCKED ME AT HOW FULL IT WAS.
AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GO LOOK FOR SOMETHING THAT SAYS WHAT THE TOTAL NUMBER SHOULD BE AND ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
BUT, UH, I THINK SOME OF THE RESTAURANTS ARE, ARE NOT BEING CAREFUL IN, IN HOW THEY'RE FOLLOWING THE GUIDELINES.
THE OTHER THING I WANTED TO, UH, TALK ABOUT WAS BUSINESSES.
AND, UM, I HOPE THAT I CAN GET SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUSINESSES THAT HAVE BEEN GETTING HELP.
HOW MANY OF THEM ARE IN BUSINESS AND THEY GOT ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL SITUA, UH, SUPPORT TO CONTINUE HOW MANY OF THEM WERE CLOSED AND WERE GETTING ADDITIONAL SUPPORT TO REOPEN.
AND I THINK THAT, AND, AND ALONG WITH THAT, HOW MANY JOBS HAVE BEEN SAVED OR CREATED BY REOPENING OR CONTINUING TO SUPPORT BUSINESSES THAT WERE OPEN.
AND I THINK THAT'S A GOOD WAY OF EXPLAINING TO THE COMMUNITY THE IMPORTANCE OF WHAT WE'RE DOING IN HELPING SMALL BUSINESSES.
WE CAN SAY WE HELPED 9,000 BUSINESSES, BUT IF WE CAN ALSO SAY WE HELPED 90,000 PEOPLE GO BACK TO WORK, THAT MAKES A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE TO US.
SO I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT INFORMATION DEVELOPED AND, AND PUT OUT TO US AS WELL AS, UH, AND I, I REALIZE WE USING CERTAIN INDICES TO TARGET THESE BUSINESSES, BUT, YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE THEY AROUND THE CITY? I THINK WE NEED TO SEE A LITTLE MORE OF TOO.
[02:20:01]
BIT ON WHAT, UH, MY COLLEAGUE COUNCILMAN PLY SAID EARLY, EARLIER ABOUT, YOU KNOW, UH, ABOUT DISCUSSING THIS.I, I THINK I'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT SINCE THE VERY BEGINNING, AND, UM, SHIFTING MORE FUNDS TOWARDS THAT AREA.
I KNOW WE DID A, A SMALL PORTION, BUT WE RAN OUTTA MONEY RIGHT AWAY.
YOU KNOW, WE HAD OVER A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF REQUIREMENTS AND ONLY HAD, UH, ONLY PUT 25 MILLION TO IT.
SO I, I'M JUST GLAD THAT WE'RE PUTTING SOME MORE TOWARDS IT.
AND I REALLY WANNA, UM, TASK THE STAFF TO CONTINUE TO LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES LIKE THIS TO FIND ADDITIONAL FUNDS TOWARDS THIS, BECAUSE, UH, LOOKING, LOOKING IT UP, I FOUND AN ARTICLE THAT, UH, 34% OF OUR SMALL BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN CLOSED.
AND THAT, THAT IS HORRIBLE FOR OUR CITY HERE AND FOR THE EMPLOYEES THAT USED TO WORK AT THOSE PLACES.
AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT IT'S THE HIGHEST PERCENTAGE HERE IN TEXAS AND ONE OF THE HIGHEST IN THE US.
SO THAT'S NOT A, THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BE TAKING LIGHTLY AND BE PROUD OF.
WE NEED TO SEE ABOUT GETTING MORE HELP OUT THERE FOR, FOR THESE BUSINESSES.
UM, YOU KNOW, I I, I HOPE IT'S NOT TOO LATE.
UH, WELL, AND I, I KNOW IT'S TOO LATE BECAUSE WE'VE ALREADY HAD THIS NUMBER OF BUSINESSES CLOSE.
SO, UH, I WANTED TO SEE US CONTINUE TO FIND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES OUT THERE THAT WE CAN PUT TOWARDS THESE, THESE SMALL BUSINESSES, BECAUSE IT IS A BACKBONE OF OUR CITY, AND WE DID NOT, IN MY OPINION, ALLOCATE ENOUGH FOR OUR SMALL BUSINESSES TO HELP THEM OUT.
UM, I, I, AND AGAIN, I JUST CHALLENGE THE STAFF TO KEEP LOOKING AND LET'S FIND SOME MORE RESOURCES FOR OUR BUSINESSES OUT THERE TO KEEP OPEN AND TO KEEP THEIR EMPLOYEES EMPLOYED.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER PERRY, UH, THAT'S EVERYTHING, UH, ON THEIR AGENDA TODAY.
UH, ERIC, DO YOU WANNA WRAP US UP? I, I DO.
UM, AND, AND, UH, I WANNA THANK THE COUNCIL FOR THEIR INPUT.
I, I KNOW THIS IS, UM, THAT THESE MONTHLY REPORTS ARE IMPORTANT, AND THERE'S A, CERTAINLY A LOT OF NEED.
I DID WANT TO, TO SHARE WITH THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL, AND WE WILL BY EMAIL.
BUT, UM, WHILE WE WERE IN THIS MEETING, UM, BOOTY'S ISSUED A, UH, CREDIT POSITIVE REPORT ON THE CITY OF SAN ANTONIO.
UM, REALLY BASED ON, ON, ON TWO THINGS, UH, ONE, UH, REAFFIRMING.
AND, AND THIS WAS PART OF OUR RATING REVIEWS OVER THE LAST SUMMER, WHICH MOVED US FROM NEGATIVE.
ALL MUNICIPALITIES WERE NEGATIVE.
WE GOT MOVED OUT OF NEGATIVE AND TO STABLE.
PART OF THAT WAS OUR FINANCIAL PLAN THAT WE LAID OUT, UH, DURING THE SUMMER.
UM, AND MOODY'S, UH, RECOGNIZED THAT, UM, IN MAY THE CITY DEMONSTRATED, AND I'M READING FROM THE REPORT, THE CITY DEMONSTRATED STRONG GOVERNANCE BY ANNOUNCING AN INITIAL INVESTMENT OF $191 MILLION AS PART OF A COMMUNITY RESILIENCE AND RECOVERY PLAN DATE.
SMALL BUSINESSES FUND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, INCREASE ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY AND IMPROVE HOUSING SECURITY.
AND THEN ADDITIONALLY, THEY RECOGNIZED AND ARE POINTING OUT, UH, THE PASSAGE OF, UH, THE PROPOSITION LAST NIGHT AS, UM, A, UH, A CREDIT POSITIVE FOR OUR COMMUNITY, UM, THAT, UH, WILL FUND EDUCATION AND JOB TRAINING AND CONTINUE TO, UH, SET US ON A PATH FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS HERE IN THE, UH, IN THE CITY.
SO THIS IS BREAKING NEWS I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU.
WE'LL GET IT OUT TO YOU, BUT, UH, I WANTED TO THANK YOU, UH, MAYOR AND COUNCIL FOR, UM, YOUR COMMITMENT, UM, UH, OVER THE LAST SEVEN MONTHS.
AND CERTAINLY I WANT TO THANK THE STAFF BECAUSE, UH, I THINK, UH, WHEN THINGS LIKE THIS HAPPEN, UM, IT'S, UH, IT'S IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE 'EM NOW.
WE'VE JUST GOTTA GET THE WORK DONE.
BUT, UH, AND EVERY DAY WE'VE GOTTA PROVE THAT.
BUT, UH, THANK YOU, UH, MAYOR COUNCIL FOR YOUR, UH, SUPPORT AS WE'VE GONE THROUGH THIS.
THANK YOU, ERIC, UH, FOR SHARING THAT.
UM, AND I WANT, I WANNA ADD ONE MORE.
AND THAT IS TO THE, THE RESIDENTS OF SAN ANTONIO OBVIOUSLY FACTORED INTO THAT.
UM, REPORT IS THE VOTE OF CONFIDENCE THAT THE COMMUNITY GAVE, UH, OUR CITY AND OUR NEIGHBORS LAST NIGHT, UM, UH, PROVED POSITIVE THAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE'VE BEEN HEARING FROM OUR PEERS IS THAT SAN ANTONIO HAS BECOME A MODEL WITH REGARD TO HOW WE'RE HANDLING, UH, AND MANAGING THROUGH THE CRISIS, UH, BOTH IN TERMS OF A HEALTH STANDPOINT, BUT ALSO, UH, THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY, UM, THAT WE HOPE WILL, UH, START UP ACROSS THE COUNTRY, BUT ALSO HERE IN SAN ANTONIO.
SO A TESTAMENT TO ALL THE WORK EVERYONE HAS PUT IN,
[02:25:01]
AND THEN OF COURSE, THE, THE AFFIRMED VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FROM THE PUBLIC LAST NIGHT.SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH, EVERYBODY THAT'S ON THIS CALL.
I DO WANT TO SINGLE OUT ONE PERSON, UH, WHO HAS BEEN VOLUNTEERING, UH, ALL OVER THE PLACE FOR OUR CITY, UH, HAS DONE AN EXCEPTIONAL JOB WITH THE CENSUS, AND NOW IS WORKING THROUGH OUR SMALL BUSINESS GRANT PROGRAM WITH THE LIFT FUND.
UH, SELENA PENA IS ON THE LINE HERE, HASN'T SAID ANYTHING, BUT SELENA, DO YOU WANNA, BUT SO DO YOU WANNA MAKE ANY COMMENTS BEFORE WE WRAP UP TODAY? UM, THANK YOU, MAYOR.
LAST NIGHT WAS AN AMAZING TESTIMONY TO OUR LOCAL EFFORTS, SO CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU ALL AND TO THE PEOPLE OF SAN ANTONIO.
AND CENSUS IS DONE, UM, ON TO REDISTRICTING.
WE ARE GONNA MOVE OUR EXECUTIVE SESSION, UH, TO TOMORROW, UH, AFTER OUR A SESSION.
UH, SO WE'LL GO AHEAD AND, AND, AND, UM, RECESS THE MEETING.
UM, AND WE DON'T FORGET, WE DO HAVE A CITIZENS TO BE HEARD AT FIVE O'CLOCK.
SO EXECUTIVE SESSION ITEMS THAT WERE POSTED FOR TODAY WILL BE CARRIED OVER UNTIL TOMORROW, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH, AND WILL BE CONSIDERED AT ANY TIME DURING TOMORROW'S CITY COUNCIL MEETING.
THE TIME IS NOW 4:34 PM ON THIS FOURTH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2020, AND TODAY'S MEETING IS NOW IN RECESS.