[00:00:03]
DO YOU NEED ANOTHER MINUTE? OKAY.
DO YOU BELIEVE WE ARE READY? OKAY.
IT IS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19TH, 2021.
[CALL TO ORDER]
I'M ALISON ALTER MAYOR PRO TEM AND CHAIR FOR AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE.AND I WILL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER AT 9 34.
UM, THE MAYOR IS NOT ABLE TO JOIN US THIS MORNING AS HE IS IN WASHINGTON.
TODAY, I AM JOINED ON THE ACTUAL DIOCESE BY COUNCIL MEMBER POOL AND ON THE VIRTUAL DYESS BY COUNCIL MEMBERS, KELLY ANN TOVO.
UM, AS I NOTED ON THE MESSAGE BOARD YESTERDAY, WE WILL TAKE UP EACH ITEM AND ITS AGENDA ORDER, EXCEPT THE DISASTER PREPARED IS AUDIT, WHICH WILL BE TAKEN UP LAST TO ALLOW TIME FOR A ROBUST DISCUSSION.
WE EXPECT TO BEGIN THE DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AUDIT, UM, NO LATER THAN 10 30.
UM, WE HAVE ONE CITIZEN HERE TO SPEAK.
UM, MR. ROBBINS, PLEASE JOIN US AT THAT.
I, FOR SOME REASON, THESE MEETINGS SEEM TO BE OVERLAPPING WITH ANOTHER COMMITMENT I HAVE AS A COUNCIL MEMBER, WHICH IS TO REPRESENT THE CITY COUNCIL ON THE AUDIT.
I MEAN ON THE, UM, AUSTIN POLICE RETIREMENT BOARD.
AND SO I'M GOING TO, UNFORTUNATELY I DIDN'T REALIZE OUR WINTER STORM BRIEFING IS COMING UP LAST.
UM, I'M GOING TO NEED TO LEAVE THIS MEETING IN TIME TO GET TO MY 1130 AUSTIN POLICE RETIREMENT BOARD MEETINGS.
SO I WILL BE, I WILL BE, UM, IN TRANSIT FOR SOME OF THAT TIME.
WHAT TIME DO YOU NEED TO DO ON MY PHONE? WHAT TIME DO YOU NEED TO LEAVE? UM, TO GET THERE ON TIME, I NEED TO LEAVE AT ABOUT 10 OF 11, SO I'LL JUST HAVE TO CONTINUE MY PARTICIPATION IN THE MEETING VIA PHONE, BUT PERHAPS WE CAN, WE CAN LOOK AT THOSE DATES AND SEE IT.
IT DOESN'T ALWAYS COME INSIDE, BUT, UM, INCREASINGLY IT DOES.
I'M NOT SURE IF WE'VE MOVED OUR AUDIT AND FINANCE MEETING WEEKS AND THAT'S CAUSING THE CONFLICT.
BUT, UM, ANYWAY, I'LL ASK MY STAFF TO TALK WITH YOUR STAFF AND WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT, WHAT THE CONFLICT IS, WHETHER IT'S AN ONGOING CONFLICT OR, OR JUST A, UM, SITUATIONAL ONE.
BUT ANYWAY, THAT'S MY SITUATION TODAY IS THAT I'M GOING TO NEED TO BE VIA PHONE FOR, FOR THOSE LAST, FOR THAT LAST BIT OF THE MEETING, WHICH UNFORTUNATELY IS GOING TO BE MOST OF, MOST OF OUR CONVERSATION OF THE WINTER STORM ON HOW WE GET THROUGH RESOLUTION.
I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT WASN'T AWARE OF THAT.
UM, LET ME HEAR WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY HAS TO SAY.
AND I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I NEED TO LEAVE AT ABOUT 1130 TODAY.
I THINK WE'RE, WE'LL BE DONE BY 1130.
UM, THAT'S USUALLY WE DO TWO HOURS.
WE'LL LET YOU KNOW IF WE'RE GOING TO BE GOING, UM, BEYOND THAT, BUT I APPRECIATE KNOWING THAT, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER TOVA LET'S GET STARTED AND SEE HOW OUR TIMING IS AND IF WE CAN MOVE UP THE WINTER STORM A LITTLE BIT, UM, WE WILL, UM, I THINK IT'S POSSIBLE TO GET THROUGH THE OTHER MATERIAL QUICKLY AS WELL.
[Citizen Communication: General]
UM, MR. ROBBINS, THANK YOU.GOOD MORNING COUNCIL DURING THE IT'S OKAY.
MR. ROBBINS, YOU CAN CONTINUE.
PLEASE START THE CLOCK COUNSEL DURING THE WEATHER CATASTROPHE THAT OCCURRED LAST FEBRUARY, MOST, IF NOT ALL RETAIL GAS UTILITIES IN THE STATE DID NOT POSSESS ENOUGH FUEL TO PURCHASE IT.
AND THEY HAD TO PURCHASE IT ON THE STOCK SPOT MARKET.
THE PRICE WAS SO OUTRAGEOUS THAT A COMEDIAN COULD NOT EXAGGERATE IT RATHER THAN CONFRONT THE PREDATORS.
THE LEGISLATURE HAS INSTITUTIONALIZED THE PIRACY IN THE FORM OF QUOTE SECURITIZATION UNQUOTE DEBT.
WHILE THE TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION BEGAN DELIBERATIONS ON THIS LAST JULY, I CAN FIND NO RECORD OF IT EVER COMING BEFORE COUNCIL CURIOUS, I WANTED TO CONFIRM IF THE CITY'S REGULATORY OFFICE HAD INFORMED YOU AFTER ALL COUNCIL IS THE PRIMARY REGULATOR OF GAS UTILITIES IN THE CITY OF WOMENS AND SECURITIZATION WILL RESULT IN AN APPROXIMATE $60 A YEAR INCREASE FOR EACH RESIDENTIAL GAS CUSTOMER IN THE STATE FOR A PERIOD OF ABOUT 10 YEARS.
UH, I SENT THE INFORMATION REQUEST TO THE CITY 29 DAYS AGO.
I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY ANSWERS.
THERE IS A TINY NARRATIVE ABOUT THIS SUBJECT IN TODAY'S BACKUP MATERIAL, BUT IT WOULD NOT SURPRISE ME IF MY INFORMATION REQUEST MOTIVATED THIS SLIVER OF PUBLIC INFORMATION AFTER ALL, IT WOULD BE EMBARRASSING IF I ALERTED THE COUNCIL BEFORE
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STAFF DID MY OWN POINT OF VIEW ON SECURITIZATION IS MIXED.THE GAS COMPANIES DO NOT MAKE A PROFIT ON THIS SECURITIZED DEBT.
ON THE OTHER HAND, THEY WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR PURCHASING ADEQUATE FUEL SUPPLIES ON BEHALF OF THE CUSTOMERS.
SHOULD THE CUSTOMERS PAY PIRATES BECAUSE THE UTILITIES DID NOT DO THEIR JOB.
WILL THIS BE LEVIED AS A FLAT FEE, WHICH WAS HURT THE POOR MORE SEVERELY AND WHY HAVEN'T THESE GAS UTILITIES SUED THE PREDATORS FOR RELIEF? WHAT CONCERNS ME EVEN MORE IS THAT THE TEXAS GAS SERVICE FRANCHISE WILL BE RENEWED IN 2026.
AND NEGOTIATIONS WILL PROBABLY START NEXT YEAR.
THE PAST RECORD, THE PAST RECORD OF THE REGULATORY OFFICE DOES NOT INSPIRE ME.
THAT NEGOTIATIONS WILL GO WELL FOR THE CITY FURTHER.
THERE IS NO COMMISSION THAT WILL REVIEW THIS FRANCHISE.
IN CLOSING, I REMIND YOU OF A COMPLAINT I FILED IN NOVEMBER WITH THE AUDITOR'S OFFICE ABOUT THE REGULATORY OFFICES FAILURES TO PROPERLY ADMINISTER TEXAS GAS SERVICES, CONSERVATION PROGRAMS. I URGE YOU TO LOOK CLOSELY AT IT.
UM, WE'LL BE TAKING UP A BRIEFING ON, UM, THE GAS REGULATORY ITEMS, AND HOPEFULLY OUR STAFF CAN SPEAK TO SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT YOU RAISED, UM, DURING THAT BRIEFING OR IN, IN UP TO THAT, UM, ONE OF THE REASONS WE INVITED THEM TO SPEAK IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAD, UM, GREATER KNOWLEDGE ABOUT, UM, THE REGULATORY PROCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES TO, TO SPLIT IT.
THE FRANCHISE IS COMING UP REAL SOON.
UH, MR. ROBBINS, THANK YOU FOR THIS.
I THINK THIS IS A REAL IMPORTANT ISSUE.
UM, I THINK MANY OF US WISH THE LEGISLATURE HAD DONE MORE TO ADDRESS THIS SITUATION.
UM, NEVERTHELESS, WE ARE WHERE WE ARE AND I LOOK FORWARD TO THE PRESENTATION TODAY.
YOU SAID YOU'VE SUBMITTED A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION FROM OUR CITY.
CAN YOU, CAN YOU JUST IN SORT OF A ONE SENTENCE OR TWO, JUST LET US KNOW WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION YOU WERE REQUESTING SO THAT WHEN WE GET THAT BRIEFING, WE CAN DETERMINE WHETHER, WHETHER IT'S PROVIDED THAT INFORMATION OR NOT.
UM, I KNOW YOU'RE PRESSED FOR TIME.
DO YOU WANT ME TO SUMMARIZE? YEAH.
SO TO SUMMARIZE AND IT'S, I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT, WHAT SORT OF INFORMATION DO YOU REQUEST? OKAY, WELL, I ASKED FIVE DETAILED QUESTIONS, UH, THAT COULD HAVE BEEN QUICKLY DISPATCHED, BUT FOR REASONS UNKNOWN TO ME, THEY WEREN'T, UH, FOUR OF THESE FIVE WERE ABOUT THE, UH, SECURITIZATION AND BASICALLY WHAT INFORMATION HAD BEEN RELAYED TO COUNCIL.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT EVERYBODY IN THE WORLD DOES.
I WANTED TO FIND OUT IF YOU ALL HAD BEEN INFORMED.
I ALSO HAD A QUESTION ON THE CENTER POINT CONSERVATION PROGRAMS THAT WILL COME BEFORE COUNCIL NEXT THURSDAY, AND IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY TO ANSWER, BUT IT STILL HASN'T BEEN.
I CAN GIVE YOU A QUICK ANSWER.
I THINK THAT MY COLLEAGUES MAY BE ABLE TO FILL IN.
I DON'T RECALL HAVING, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, RECEIVING MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT THIS.
I KNOW WHEN I WAS TRYING TO LEARN MORE ABOUT, ABOUT WHAT IT WAS AND, AND, UM, WHAT IMPACT IT WOULD HAVE.
I RELIED PRIMARILY ON SOURCES, YOU KNOW, IN THE, IN THE MEDIA.
UM, AND, AND OTHER PLACES THAT DOESN'T MEAN I DIDN'T OVERLOOK A MEMO, BUT, UM, THAT'S KIND OF MY QUICK ANSWER.
AND IF MY COLLEAGUES REMEMBER RECEIVING INFORMATION, UM, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
CAUSE I'D LIKE TO SEE IT TO THANK YOU, COUNCIL.
UM, SO WE ARE GOING TO, UM, ADJUST A LITTLE BIT TO HELP, UM, COUNSEL MY, OF OUR TOVO WHO LED THE RESOLUTION FOR SOME OF THESE AUDITS BE MORE PRESENT.
UM, SO WE ARE GOING TO DO THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, FOLLOW-UP AUDIT AT THE END OF OUR SESSION, UM, BECAUSE WE CAN ALWAYS PUSH THAT IF WE HAVE TO.
UM, BUT WE WILL GO THROUGH THE OTHER BRIEFINGS UNTIL WE GET TO THE DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AUDIT.
[1. Approve the minutes of the Audit and Finance Committee meeting of December 15, 2021.]
FIRST ITEM OF BUSINESS IS TO APPROVE THE MINUTES.DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES VICE-CHAIR POOL MAKES THE MOTION COUNCIL MEMBER TOVO SECONDS.
ALL THOSE IN FAVOR COUNCIL MEMBER TO HAVE I ASSUME IS VOTING FOR, UM, IS ANONYMOUS ON THE DIAS.
[4. Private Gas Utility Franchising and Rate Regulation.]
THANK YOU.[00:10:01]
UM, IF, UH, RANDELL IS READY, WE WILL MOVE TO ITEM FOUR.I THINK SHE MAY NEED TO BE MOVED OVER SHE'S ON NOW.
UM, SO THIS ITEM IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE COUNCIL WITH AN OVERVIEW OF OUR PRIVATE UTILITY FRANCHISING.
UM, THOSE THAT ARE NOT AUSTIN WATER OR AUSTIN ENERGY, UM, WE HAVE NEW COLLEAGUES ON THE DIOCESE AND THIS TOPIC CAN BE COMPLICATED.
UH, WE THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE A GOOD IDEA FOR A REFRESHER ON HOW RATE REGULATION WORKS.
UH, THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER AND GOOD MORNING COUNCIL, RON HAWKINS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS OFFICE OR WITH THE FINANCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT.
AND I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF THE, UH, FRANCHISING AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF OUR PRIVATE UTILITIES.
IF YOU COULD JUST GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, SO JUST, UH, JUST A KIND OF, WHAT ARE THESE AGREEMENTS, UH, THE FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS, GRANT GRANT, PRIVATE UTILITIES, THE USE OF PUBLIC RIGHTS OF WAY, UH, FOR DISTRIBUTION AND SALE OF NATURAL GAS OR ELECTRICITY IN THE CITY.
UH, THE ORDINANCE THAT ESTABLISHES THE OBLIGATIONS AND RIGHTS RIGHTS OF EACH PARTY, THE TYPES OF AGREEMENTS, UM, THOSE THAT ARE STILL REMAINING UNDER THE MUNICIPAL, UH, ORIGINAL JURISDICTION, UH, INCLUDE, UH, ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION.
WE HAVE FOR A BLUEBONNET ELECTRIC CO-OP ON, EXCUSE ME, WE HAVE THREE, WE HAVE, UH, ONCOR ELECTRIC DELIVERY AND PETRONELLIS ELECTRIC CO-OP AS FAR AS NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION.
AND THIS IS THEY DISTRIBUTE, UH, GAS TO, YOU KNOW, TO, UH, THE PREMISE, UH, TO PROPERTIES, UH, ATMOS ENERGY, UH, WHICH IS A MAKE MINT, TEXAS DIVISION, UH, CENTERPOINT ENERGY, SOUTH, TEXAS DIVISION C ENERGY AND TEXAS GAS SERVICE.
AND I WANTED TO POINT OUT THE, THE, UM, THESE NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTORS THEY'RE THEY, THEY REALLY ARE A SYSTEM-WIDE, UH, THAT'S WHY YOU'VE GOT MED TECH, SOUTH, TEXAS, AND IT'S A REALLY BIG CONSOLIDATION OF CITIES THAT ARE IN THESE, UM, IN THESE, UH, SERVICE AREAS.
AND, UH, THAT HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE RAILROAD COMMISSION FOR, YOU KNOW, FOR MANY YEARS, AS FAR AS JUST MORE OF A SERVICE AREA OF MULTI-JURISDICTION MULTIPLICITIES INSTEAD OF JUST LIKE THE CITY OF AUSTIN OR WESTLAKE HILLS OR, UM, OR BUDA AND HAVING THEIR OWN.
SO, UM, JUST ONE OF THE, KIND OF GIVE YOU THE FRAMEWORK FOR OFTEN WE'RE ASKED LIKE, WELL, WHY IS THE CITY OF AUSTIN, RIGHT PAYERS PAYING FOR X CAPITAL THAT WAS IN THE, UH, CAPITAL INVESTMENTS THAT WAS IN ANOTHER, ANOTHER COMMUNITY IT'S BECAUSE OF THE SYSTEM-WIDE, UM, STRUCTURE.
WE ALSO HAVE, UH, BY THE STATE.
AND THIS WAS, UH, THE LEGISLATURE OVER THE COURSE OF OF YEARS HAS MOVED FROM A MUNICIPAL FRANCHISING FRAMEWORK, UH, WHERE WE CAN NEGOTIATE RURAL, LIKE COMMUNITY BENEFITS AND RATES AND, UM, AND IN KIND CON UH, YOU KNOW, CONTRIBUTIONS.
UM, IT'S MOVED TO THE STATE AND IT BEGAN WITH OUR TELEPHONE PROVIDERS.
UM, I I'LL GO IN A LITTLE MORE DETAIL.
WE'VE GOT CABLE VIDEO SERVICE PROVIDERS, UM, AND THEN THIS STATEWIDE FRAMEWORK ESTABLISHES, UH, A FRANCHISE FEE STRUCTURE.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE WANTING TO JUST TOUCH ON SOME OF THE CITY CHARTER REQUIREMENTS, UM, OF OUR FRANCHISES AND PUBLIC UTILITIES AND, UH, CITY COUNCIL HAS THE POWER TO GRANT RENEW, EXTEND ALL FRANCHISES, UH, USING THE RIGHT OF WAY, INSTALLING THE FACILITIES.
UM, AND ALSO THERE IS, UM, CITY COUNCIL CAN AMEND AND NEGOTIATE AMENDMENT, UH, WITH THE CONSENT OF THE FRANCHISE HOLDER, UH, SOMETIMES, UH, IS NOT AS OFTEN AS IT USED TO BE, UH, COMPANIES LIKE THE CABLE COMPANIES, UM, WOULD TRANSFER THEIR FRANCHISE AGREEMENT FOR EXAMPLE, MANY YEARS AGO, YOU KNOW, WE HAD TIME WARNER CABLE, UM, NOT TOO FAR ALONG AGO, BUT THEN, UM, THEN IT WAS PURCHASED BY CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS.
UM, THESE FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS WOULD COME, WILL COME BEFORE CITY COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL BECAUSE WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT THE, UM, OPERATOR IS, HAS THE FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT AND EXPERIENCE.
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UM, ALSO THE CITY CHARTER REQUIRES, UH, THREE SEPARATE READINGS OF A FRANCHISE AGREEMENT AND THE FIRST READING AND THE THIRD READING, THEY HAVE TO BE NO, UH, NO LESS THAN 30 DAYS APART.AND THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR, UH, INPUT FROM THE PUBLIC, UH, CONTEMPLATES INPUT FROM, YOU KNOW, THE COMMUNITY FOR EACH READING, UM, AND CAREFUL CONSIDERATION BY COUNCIL.
UH, EACH READING, IF THERE ARE THINGS WE NEED TO CONTINUE TO NEGOTIATE FOR, AND THE ORDINANCE DOESN'T BECOME EFFECTIVE UNTIL 60 DAYS FOLLOWING THE FINAL ADOPTION, THE, UM, AND ALSO OUR FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS ARE SUBJECT TO REFERENDUM PROCEDURE UNDER STATE LAWS.
THE TERMS ARE NO MORE THAN 25 YEARS.
UH, THAT'S THE MAX AND ALSO IN OUR FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS, THERE ARE, THERE'S AN INCLUSIVE PROVISION FOR THE RIGHT TO PURCHASE, UH, THE, THE PROPERTY, THE SYSTEM, UH, THE NETWORK.
UM, AND THESE ARE MUNICIPAL FRANCHISES, UH, FOR, UH, AT ANY TIME WITHIN FIVE YEARS OF THE, OF THE EXPIRATION OF THE TERM.
AND EACH OF THE AGREEMENTS HAS A, A METHODOLOGY FOR DETERMINING THE PRICE.
UM, THE CITY GETS AN APPRAISER, THE BASKET OR THE GAS COMPANY, OR THEY'D LIKE TO COME AGAINST AN APPRAISAL.
AND, UH, SO THAT'S, THAT'S, UH, IN THE CITY CHART, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE, UH, REGULATION OF RATES, UM, FROM TIME TO TIME, WE COME BEFORE THE COUNCIL FOR RATE CASES.
AND, UM, THERE'S A PUBLIC HEARING, UH, ON THE, ON THE, UH, PROPOSED RATES AND, UH, AND IT'S ADOPTED BY ORDINANCE.
AND ALSO THERE'S A PROVISION THAT NO FRANCHISE HOLDER SHALL INSTITUTE ANY LEGAL ACTION TO CONTEST OR GO TO LITIGATION.
AND THIS ALSO DOES INCLUDE FAIR.
SO THIS CONTEMPLATES, I THINK, GOD, YOUR TAXI, UM, TAXI CAB, UH, FRANCHISES, UH, THAT'S UH, IF, IF, IF THEY'RE, THEY CAN'T GO FORWARD AND CONTEST WITHOUT HAVING A MOTION FOR REHEARING WITH THE CITY COUNCIL, UM, AND THEY HAVE TO ADDRESS EACH, UH, GROUND OF ITS COMPLAINT AGAINST THE, UH, COUNCIL ADOPTED A CHARGE, AND THEN THE CITY COUNCIL SHALL HAVE ACTED UPON SUCH MOTION.
SO THAT'S A PROVISION IN OUR CITY CHARTER, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION RATES, UM, CITIES HAVING A RE ORIGINAL JURISDICTION OVER THE RATES WITHIN CITY LIMITS.
THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION, A STATE AGENCY, UH, IS, UH, THEY HAVE JURISDICTION OVER THE UNINCORPORATED AREAS.
THOSE THAT ARE OUTSIDE THE CITY LIMITS IN THE COUNTY.
UM, THEY ARE ALSO THE APPELLATE JURISDICTION OVER RATES, AND THEY MAINTAIN CURRENT TARIFFS, TARIFFS, THE RATE TARIFFS, UH, FOR ALL THE ELECTRIC UTILITIES.
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION RATES.
UM, AGAIN, WE DO HAVE ORIGINAL JURISDICTION, THE WHEREVER ROAD COMMISSION, UM, IS THE, UH, THE APPELLATE JURISDICTION OVER RATES IN THE CITY, UH, AND THEY ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PIPELINE SAFETY AND, AND THEY PROMULGATE RULES AND ENFORCE SAFETY RULES.
AND AGAIN, THEY DO MAINTAIN CURRENT TARIFFS FOR ALL GAS DISTRIBUTION UTILITIES.
I ALWAYS WANTED TO NOTE HERE, UM, THAT THE CITY'S RATES ARE PART OF THAT REGIONAL SYSTEM LINE SYSTEM RATE.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, WE DO PARTICIPATE IN RATE CASES WITH MUNICIPAL COALITIONS OF, UH, OF MUNICIPALITIES THAT ARE WITHIN OUR SERVICE AREA.
SINCE IT'S A STATE, IT'S A SYSTEM-WIDE RATE PROCEEDING, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE, AS FAR AS THE RIGHT, MAKING THE, THE STATUTE, UM, UNDER THE TEXAS UTILITIES CODE, THE GAS UTILITY REGULATORY ACT JIRA, UM, THE, IT SETS OUT THE, THE, UH, IT JUST SETS OUT THE PROCESS FOR A FORMAL RATE CASE.
AND A FORMAL RATE CASE IS WHERE A COMPANY COMES IN AND ASKS FOR AN ING.
YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY FILE A, UH, STATEMENT OF INTENT TO INCREASE RATES.
AND, YOU KNOW, THAT, THAT GOES INTO, IT'S A MUCH MORE DETAILED, UH, PROCESS FOR REVIEWING ALL OF THE, THE F THE, THE FINANCIALS.
AND YOU CAN NEGOTIATE, UM, LIKE THE BASE CUSTOMER RATE, UM, IT'S OF THE RATE DESIGN ACROSS DIFFERENT CUSTOMER CLASSES, LIKE RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL.
UM, SO THERE IS A LONGER PROCESS.
AND SO THE, UH, IT, IT, IT IS A LONGER PROCESS.
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FOR FILING IS MADE TO THE DISABILITY.THE, UM, THE COMPANY HAS TO, YOU KNOW, NOTICE, PROVIDE, NOTICE TO RATE PAYERS AND THEY CANNOT PUT IN, UH, THE RATES INTO EFFECT UNTIL 35 DAYS AFTER FILING THIS STATEMENT.
BUT OF COURSE WE DO HAVE, UM, SOME, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE ACTIONS THAT WE CAN TAKE.
AND, UH, WE TYPICALLY, WELL, WE ALWAYS, UH, SUSPEND THE PROPOSED RATE FOR THIS ADDITIONAL 90 DAYS BEYOND THE 35 DAYS EFFECTIVE DATE.
SO IT GIVES US 125 DAYS, UH, FOR A REVIEW OF, YOU KNOW, AND WAITED.
AND THEN WE PARTICIPATE IN A COALITION OF CITIES THAT'S HIRED BY OUTSIDE COUNSEL PROFESSIONAL RATE EXPERTS THAT HAVE, UM, WORKED IN AND REVIEWING THE, THE RIGHT FILING.
AND, AND SO WE TYPICALLY, WELL, WE ALWAYS DO SUSPEND AND THE, UM, THE COMPANY, I MEAN, THE CITY HAS TO ACTUALLY APPROVE OR TAKE ACTION, UM, BEFORE THAT 125 DAYS, OR IS CONSIDERED, UH, IT'LL GO INTO EFFECT AND CONSIDER THAT WE'VE APPROVED IT.
UH, WE, UM, WE CAN DENY A RATE INCREASE, WHICH WE HAVE DONE IN THE PAST.
AND, UH, AND THEN THAT'S, UH, SO THE, THE CURRENT RATES OR THE EXISTING RATES SCHEDULE STAYS INTO EFFECT, AND THE COMPANY WILL APPEAL TO THE RAILROAD COMMISSION, YOU KNOW, OUR ORDINANCE DENYING THE INCREASE, UM, OR THEY, UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE DENY THEY COULD FILE, YOU KNOW, UH, A NEW STATEMENT OF INTENT WITH A DIFFERENT RATE RATE INCREASE, UM, THAT'S ANOTHER OPTION.
AND WE HAVE EXERCISE EXERCISE THAT, UM, WITH, WITH, UM, IN THE PAST, UH, BECAUSE WE WANT TO ENSURE THAT THE, UH, IF WE DENY, THEN IT GOES TO THE RAILROAD COMMISSION AND THAT GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TO, UM, PROVIDE MORE INPUT AND, UM, AND HAVE A DECISION AT THE, YOU KNOW, BY THE RAILROAD COMMISSION.
SO WE DEFINITELY WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT PROCEEDING.
UM, THE CITY MAY GRANT A LOWER THAN REQUESTED RATE INCREASE.
AND AGAIN, THAT REQUIRES THAT IS THE APPEAL PROCESS TO THE RAILROAD COMMISSION.
UM, OR WE CAN EXPRESS, YOU KNOW, JUST APPROVE THE RATE REQUESTED RATE INCREASES, FILED.
AND, UM, I THINK MOST OF YOU NOW ARE FAMILIAR WITH THESE, THE GRIP FILINGS THAT, UH, WE COME TO COUNCIL AND ASK FOR SUSPENSION OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE IS THE GAS, RELIABILITY INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM.
AGAIN, IT'S A SECTION 1 0 4 0.31 OF THE TEXAS UTILITIES CODE AND ALLOWS FOR THE GAS, THE GAS UTILITIES TO RECOVER THE INVESTMENTS CAPITAL, UM, ON AN ANNUAL BASIS ON A COUNTY OR BASIS.
AND THAT'S, THAT IS TO, UH, I THINK THE INTENT, I'M NOT SURE WHY BY THE LEGISLATURE WAS TO ALLOW THE COMPANIES TO RECOVER THEIR COSTS OR MORE FOR CAPITAL AND MAKE INVESTMENTS, UH, IN THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND, UH, THIS ALLOWS A QUICKER RECOVERY FOR THEM RATHER THAN HAVING TO FILE A FULL RATE CASE.
AND, UM, THERE'S LIKE THEY CAN FILE, LIKE FOR THERE'S ABOUT, THEY CAN FILE FOR THESE GRIP FILINGS ANNUALLY, AND THEN THEY HAVE TO FILE A FULL RATE CASE.
AND THEN THAT ALLOWS US TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT THESE ANNUAL ADJUSTMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE.
UM, AND WE ALWAYS COME TO COUNCIL AND ASK FOR SUSPENSION.
UH, I SHOULDN'T SAY ALWAYS, BUT WE, WE, UM, HAVE THE ABILITY TO COME TO COUNCIL FOR SUSPENSION OF THAT, OF THAT, UM, OF THE, OF THE RATE INCREASE FOR THE GRIP, UH, TO ALLOW MORE TIME.
UM, I KNOW ALSO IT IS, I WANTED TO CLARIFY, IT'S NOT YET, IT'S NOT A FULL RATE CASE SUBJECT TO FULL RATE REVIEW, AND, UH, CITIES HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, LITIGATED THIS, THAT WE WANT TO HAVE MORE INPUT AND MORE THAN WHAT THE STATUTE ALLOWS US.
WE THERE'S CERTAIN TERMS AND CONDITIONS OR, OR THE COMPLIANCE OF THE STATUTE IS ALL, WE ACTUALLY HAVE THE ABILITY TO ENSURE.
AND THE TEXAS SUPREME COURT JUST DETERMINED, UH, THAT WE JUST HAVE BASICALLY ADMINISTER OR REVIEW.
AND, UM, AND SO WE DID, YOU KNOW, NOT THAT'S WHAT THE SUPREME COURT DECIDED.
SO WE DO HAVE THE ABILITY TO THESE FULL RATE CASES.
IT'S BEEN BROUGHT UP FROM TIME TO TIME THAT THESE GRIP CHARGES ARE APPLIED TO THE FIXED MONTHLY CHARGE, WHICH THEN, UM, YOU'LL SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S CREEPED UP, UM, THAT'S THE FIXED MONTHLY CHARGE, REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH GAS YOU CONSUME.
UM, BUT THE STATUTE ALLOWS THE COMPANIES TO, UH, RECOVER THOSE COSTS THROUGH THAT FIXED MONTHLY CUSTOMER CHARGE.
[00:25:02]
NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.UH, THE NATURAL GAS, ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS, ALL OF OUR NATIONAL GAS FRANCHISEES ARE REQUIRED TO HAVE AN ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM, UM, IS A PROVISION THAT, UM, HAS BEEN INCLUDED.
AND IT'S IT'S BECAUSE THESE FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS ARE FOR SERVICES THAT ARE PROVIDED BY THE FRANCHISEE NATURAL GAS.
WE WANT TO ENCOURAGE CONSERVATION AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY.
UM, AND THAT HAS BEEN INCLUDED FOR MANY YEARS, UM, IN OUR GAS FRANCHISE AGREEMENTS AND THE, UH, THE GAS COMPANIES, THEY MANAGE THE PROGRAMS AND THE PROGRAMS ARE FUNDED BY THE RATE PAYER.
THERE'S A, UH, A MONTHLY SURCHARGE, UM, AND EACH COMPANY HAS ITS OWN UNIQUE EFFICIENCY OR CONSERVATION PROGRAM, AND THEY HAVE A TARIFF RATE TARIFF THAT IS, UM, ADOPTED BY CITY COUNCIL.
AND, UH, THEY, THE PROGRAM TARIFF IS SUBJECT TO CITY STAFF AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT REVIEW OR CHANGES TO THE PROGRAM.
AND THE CUSTOMER RATED RATE INCREASES JUST ARE, ARE SUBJECT TO CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL.
I DID WANT TO NOTE THAT ANY DECREASE, UM, TO CUSTOMER RATES IS NOT SUBJECT BECAUSE IT'S NOT A RATE.
THAT'S THE, UH, THE, UH, FRAMEWORK FOR OUR NATIONAL GAS, ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
UH, THE STATE ISSUED CERTIFICATES OF FRANCHISE OR OPERATING AUTHORITY, WHICH APPLIES TO THE TELECOM AND VIDEO CABLE, CABLE PROVIDERS AND SMALL CELL PROVIDERS.
UH, WE NO LONGER HAVE A ROLE IN SETTING THE FEES OF THE PROVIDERS.
UM, EACH OF THESE CATEGORIES, IT WAS REMOVED BY LEGISLATIVE ACTION.
AND YOU'LL SEE, BACK IN 93 THAT, UM, THE LEGISLATURE MOVED FROM A FRANCHISING.
UH, I MEAN, WE COULD NEGOTIATE FRANCHISING AND WE HAD A PERCENTAGE OF GROSS REVENUES FOR FRANCHISE AND REVENUE, BUT THE, UM, THERE'S A STATEWIDE, UH, COMPENSATION.
NOW IT'S ON AN ACCESS LINE FEE METHODOLOGY.
AND THE INTENT OF THIS BACK IN THE DAY THAT I UNDERSTAND WAS THAT TO GROW COMPETITION, UM, RATHER THAN JUST HAVING ONE OR TWO COMPANIES.
UM, THAT'S WHAT THE S THE SPIRIT IS OF VISIBLE PREEMPTION IS LOWER RATES FOR CUSTOMERS AND, UH, PROMOTING COMPETITION.
UM, THEN WE WENT TO 2005 AND WE HAVE THE CABLE TV VIDEO PROVIDERS, AND THE RIGHT OF WAY COMPENSATION IS AT, UH, 5% OF CABLE SERVICE, GROSS REVENUES, AND 1% OF GROSS REVENUES FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION AND GOVERNMENT ACCESS CAPITAL EQUIPMENT.
UH, THIS IS THE FUND THAT FUNDS OUR ATX N VIDEO PRODUCTION, UM, AND S AND SOME OF OUR OTHER, UM, ACCESS TELEVISION OPERATORS, UH, THE EQUIPMENT NEEDS.
UH, I DID WANT TO NOTE THAT FOR THIS LEGISLATION PASSED THAT THE EXISTING, UM, CABLE FRANCHISES WERE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.
WE HAD AN AGREEMENT WITH TIME WARNER CABLE, UM, AND THEN THOSE AGREEMENTS, WE CAN NEGOTIATE BENEFITS.
LIKE WE HAD CUSTOMER SERVICE STANDARDS, WE HAD FREE CABLE TV.
THIS IS BACK, UH, YOU KNOW, FREE CABLE TELEVISION, OR, UM, DISCOUNTS.
UH, AND SO, BUT NOW WITH A STATEWIDE SCHEME, UH, WE JUST IT'S SET OUT BY, BY THE, BY THE STATUTE AND THEN A SMALL CELL PERM BURNING, WHICH, UM, MORE RECENTLY, UH, THAT SET THE STATEWIDE RIGHT OF WAY COMPENSATION, UH, AND RENT FOR THE USE OF RIGHT OF WAY AND PERMITTING SHOT CLOCKS.
AND, UH, THIS IS A REMINDER WE DID JOIN A COALITION OF CITIES, UH, LITIGATING, UH, THE, THAT, THAT STATUTE ABOUT THE PREEMPTION OF, UM, ANYWAY, THAT'S STILL ONGOING, UM, AS FAR AS THE LITIGATION.
UM, I DIDN'T WANT AN, UH, YES, AND THE PRESENTATION, UH, THE RECOVERY OF THE GAS SUPPLY COSTS FROM THE WINTER STORM JURY, AND AS MR. ROBBINS, UM, AND COMMENTED, UH, YOU KNOW, THESE, THE GAS UTILITY PROVIDERS, UH, THEY, THEY INCURRED AND SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT COSTS, UM, DURING THE STORM AND THEY PURCHASE THE GAS OUT IN THE SPOT MARKET.
AND IT, WELL, YOU'LL SEE HERE.
I MEAN, THERE WAS LIKE $3.6 BILLION IN COSTS OF THESE COMPANIES ARE REQUESTED FROM THE RAILROAD COMMISSION, UM, AND THE HB 15, 20 ALLOWED PROVIDERS, UH, TO SECURITIZE SET UP, UH, TO SECURITIZE THE COST OF A FINANCIAL INSTRUMENT, WHICH IS, UH,
[00:30:01]
BEING, UM, PROVIDED THROUGH THE TEXAS PUBLIC FINANCE AUTHORITY.UH, THEY ARE WORKING WITH, UM, THROUGHOUT OUR COMMISSION ON COMING UP WITH, UH, THE PROCESS AND ISSUING BONDS FOR RECOVERY, BUT IT WAS IN NOVEMBER THAT THE RAILROAD COMMISSION APPROVED THE TOTAL OF $3.6 MILLION IN COST OF, FOR THESE COMPANIES TO BE ABLE TO SECURITIZE AND PAY THROUGH BONDS, TO BE ISSUED BY THE TEXAS PUBLIC FINANCE AUTHORITY.
UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN DID PARTICIPATE THROUGH THESE COALITIONS THAT I RE REFERRED TO EARLIER.
UM, THERE WAS THE ALLIANCE OF CENTERPOINT MUNICIPALITIES, THE ATMOS, TEXAS MUNICIPALITIES, AND TEXAS GAS SERVICE CENTRAL GULF COAST SERVICE AREA, COALITION OF CITIES.
UM, THERE WAS, UH, BY PARTICIPATING IN THAT PROCEEDING AT THE RAILROAD COMMISSION, THERE WAS SOME REDUCTION IN INTEREST CALCULATIONS, BUT I MEAN, IT'S STILL AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF MONEY, $3.6 MILLION STATEWIDE THAT WILL BE, UM, INCURRED BY OUR RATE PAYERS.
UM, THE, I MEAN, I DID WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THAT THE PARTICIPATION, UH, IN THE PROCEEDING AT THE COMMISSION AT WHICH THE COMMISSION ENDORSED, UH, WASN'T A, AN AGREEMENT TO SEEK THE BEST FINANCING TERM POSSIBLE, CONSISTENT WITH A HIGH BOND RATING UP TO 30 YEARS, AND ALSO CRUCIALLY THE ORDER FROM THE COMMISSION IMPOSING ON THE UTILITIES AND AFFIRMATIVE DUTY TO ATTEMPT TO RECOVER MONIES PAID OUT TO GAS SUPPLIERS THAT PERHAPS SHOULD HAVE NOT BEEN PAID OR, UH, OR SHOULD HAVE BEEN A LOWER AMOUNT.
HOW WILL THIS IMPACT CUSTOMER RATES? AND I WANTED TO NOTE, UM, YEAH, THE $3.6 BILLION, UM, WAS THE TOTAL COST TO BE SECURITIZED AND THROUGH BONDS.
UM, AND THIS INFORMATION CAME, CAME FROM OUR, UM, YOU KNOW, FROM OUR, UH, THE COALITION THAT THE, UH, ATTORNEYS AND CONSULTANTS, AS FAR AS THE ROUNDING OF NUMBERS, THESE ARE NOT CONCRETE, THEY'RE NOT APPROVED, BUT WE DID WANT TO POINT OUT THAT BY SECURITIZING IT OVER A PERIOD OF TIME.
HOPEFULLY, UH, I KNOW PAUL MENTIONED 10 YEARS.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT TERM IS GOING TO BE 10 TO 15 YEARS.
UM, IT DOES REDUCE THE, THE IMPACT, ALTHOUGH IF IT'S $5 A MONTH PER MONTH STATEWIDE FOR A PERIOD OF 10 YEARS, THAT HAS A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT TO A RATE PAYER, ESPECIALLY LOW-INCOME.
UM, BUT IT IS MUCH, UM, I MEAN, AS BETTER THAN, UH, THE COMFORT OF THE GAS COMPANIES BEING ABLE TO RECOVER, UH, THE COSTS THROUGH JUST LIKE WHAT A TYPICAL GAS COST RECOVERY IS, THEY JUST PASS THE COST OF GAS ONTO THE CONSUMER.
UM, WHATEVER THEY PAID IT'S DIRECT.
IT'S NOT LIKE SECURITIZED OR SPREAD OUT OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME.
UM, IT COULD HAVE BEEN LIKE 45 TO $50 PER MONTH.
SO, UM, WE ARE WAITING FOR THE COMMISSION AND, UH, THE TEXAS PUBLIC FINANCE AUTHORITY TO WORK ON THE FINANCING ORDER.
UM, HOPEFULLY THAT WILL BE APPROVED BY MID FEBRUARY AND THEN THE, THE AUTHORITY WILL HAVE TO SELL BONDS.
UM, WE'VE HEARD, UM, THAT IT WILL BE SOMETIME THIS SUMMER.
AND OF COURSE, UM, ONCE THE, YOU KNOW, UNTIL THE BONDS ARE ISSUED, THEN WE WILL NOT KNOW THE MONTHLY AMOUNT OR THE EFFECT OF DATE OF THE CHARGES FOR THE RATE PAYERS, BUT WE WILL CERTAINLY KEEP ONCE WE HAVE MORE INFORMATION.
I MEAN, A LOT OF THE, THIS, THIS PERIOD OF TIME, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF, YOU KNOW, THERE'S ACTIVITY AT THE RAILROAD COMMISSION ON PARTICIPATING AND THE COMPANIES HAVING TO PULL TOGETHER THE INFORMATION FOR THE COMMISSION AS FAR AS WHAT THE GAS COSTS.
AND THERE'S JUST BEEN A S YOU KNOW, UM, I DON'T WANT TO CALL IT DISCOVERY.
THAT'S PROBABLY NOT THE RIGHT TERM, BUT, UM, WE ARE NOW AT THE POINT WHERE WE WILL HAVE, UH, THIS ORDER AND THEN THE BONDS, AND THEN WE WILL KNOW WHAT THE IMPACT IS TO RATE PAYERS AND CERTAINLY KEEP, UM, CITY COUNCIL, UM, APPRISED OF, OF THIS PROCESS.
I THINK THAT ENDS MY PRESENTATION.
WE APPRECIATE YOUR JOINING US ONE REALLY QUICK QUESTION.
AND I'M GOING TO ASK US TO BE REALLY BRIEF WITH OUR QUESTIONS AND INVITE FOLKS TO HAVE, UM, MORE IN-DEPTH CONVERSATIONS WITH YOU ABOUT, ABOUT DETAILS, UM, ON THEIR OWN.
UM, HOW BIG IS THE REGION AND WHAT PORTION OF THAT REGION IS AUSTIN FOR THE GAP? YES.
UM, THE, THE SCENT, THE, THE REGION FOR TEXAS GAS, WHICH IS THE LARGEST PROVIDER, UH, WE HAVE ABOUT IN AUSTIN, ABOUT 90% OF THE GAS CUSTOMERS AND THEIR MARKET AND THE, UH, THE CENTRAL, OUR SERVICE AREA INCLUDES AUSTIN.
[00:35:01]
TO BUDO WESTLAKE, ROLLING HILLS, LULING, LOCKHART.UH, I MEAN, I CAN, UM, IT GOES DOWN TO, UH, THE, THE GOLF COAST.
UM, SO IT'S A VERY, VERY WIDE, UH, VERY BIG REGION AND LIKE CENTER POINT ENERGY WE'RE IN SOUTH TEXAS.
I MEAN, AUSTIN, WE'RE JUST A REALLY SMALL, YOU KNOW, A COUPLE THOUSAND CUSTOMERS, A COUPLE THOUSAND RATE PAYERS.
UM, SO IT, IT, IT, IT DOES VARY ACCORDING BY EACH GAS DISTRIBUTION, BUT THEY'RE, THERE'S, THEY'RE TYPICALLY PRETTY LARGE.
THEY ARE LARGE SERVICE AREAS, RIGHT.
THEY'RE LARGE IN AREA, BUT IF WE'RE 90% TEXAS GAS, THEN WE HAVE, YEAH, IT'S NOT SIMPLY THAT WE'RE PART OF A REGIONAL MUNICIPAL PROCESS.
WE ALSO HAVE A LARGER WEIGHT WITHIN THAT.
UM, JUST WANTED TO POINT THAT OUT BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW IF THAT WAS CLEAR, UM, IN THE PRESENTATION COLLEAGUES, DOES ANYONE HAVE A BURNING QUESTION FOR MS. HOPKINS TODAY? UM, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
UM, PEOPLE VERY MAY WELL HAVE QUESTIONS.
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN COVER, UM, EVERYTHING TODAY, UH, APPRECIATE THIS.
AND, UM, FOR STAFF OF OTHER OFFICES, UM, YOU KNOW, PLEASE KEEP THIS INFORMATION, UM, IN MIND AND, AND SHARE WITH YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, SO THAT, UM, WE CAN ALL HAVE THIS KIND OF BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT HOW THE GAS PROCESS WORKS.
UM, IN RESPONSE TO MR. ROBBINS, I WILL SAY THAT I WAS AWARE OF THE SECURITIZATION.
I DON'T KNOW WHETHER IT WAS FROM CITY.
I DON'T REMEMBER IF IT WAS FROM CITY STAFF OR FROM READING ABOUT THE PROCESS OR, OR MEETINGS, UM, WITH, WITH DIFFERENT DIFFERENT FOLKS.
[5. Disparity Study and the Inclusive Procurement Working Group.]
WE WILL NOW MOVE ON TO ITEM FIVE DISPARITY STUDY AND INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP.UM, THIS ITEM IS PART OF THE SM BR DEPARTMENT'S REGULAR REPORT TO THE AUDIT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE ON THEIR WORK.
WE'RE GOING TO HEAR ABOUT THE ONGOING DISPARITY STUDY AND THE INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP.
I'M NOT SURE WHO NEEDS TO BE MOVED OVER.
CAN YOU BRING UP MY PRESENTATION? I THINK THEY'RE WORKING ON IT.
HI, I'M TAMMY AND I AM THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR THE SMALLER MINORITY BUSINESS RESOURCES DEPARTMENT.
I AM STANDING IN TODAY FOR ELWOOD CAPOS, WHO IS THE DIRECTOR FOR SMER TODAY WILL BE GIVEN AN UPDATE ON THE DISPARITY STUDY, AS WELL AS THE INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT WORK AND GROUP ACTIVITIES.
SO JUST A BRIEF OVERVIEW AGAIN, WE WILL GO THROUGH SOME OF THE DISPARITIES STUDY MILESTONES, UM, DISCUSS SOME OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP AND PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME OF THE NEXT STEPS THAT WE ARE TAKING AS A DEPARTMENT, WORKING WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS, UH, IN THOSE, BOTH OF THOSE AREAS.
AND YOU CAN GO ON TO THE NEXT LAB.
SO SOME OF THE MILESTONES, AS YOU MAY RECALL, IN FEBRUARY, WE EMBARKED ON OUR DISPARITY STUDY.
UH, IN 2020, WE, UH, SUBMITTED QUITE A LARGE AMOUNT OF CONTRACT DATA FOR THE CITY PROCUREMENT DATA FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN, TO OUR CONSULTANTS.
WE HAVE EMBARKED ON A ROBUST DISPARITY STUDY, A FOCUS GROUP, QUALITATIVE STUDY AS WELL.
AND WE HAVE BEEN IN BARKING UPON, UH, SEVERAL, UH, OUTREACH EVENTS TO EDUCATE OUR STAKEHOLDERS ABOUT THE PROCESS FOR THE DISPARITY STUDY.
AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT ALSO GET INPUT ABOUT THE PROCUREMENT PROCESSES AS WELL.
UM, AT THIS TIME THE STUDY CONSULTANT DOES HAVE BOTH QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DATA, AND WE ARE JUST ABOUT READY TO HAVE THE DISPARITY STUDY IN HAND.
AND SO, UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO WANT TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION, UH, IS
[00:40:01]
THAT WE DID PLAN FOR ABOUT AN 18 MONTH PROCESS, BUT WE HAVE HAD SOME DELAYS.UM, THOSE DELAYS, UH, ARE CONTRIBUTED TO THE FACT THAT WE DID ASK OUR DISPARITY STUDY CONSULTANT TO GO BACK AND PROVIDE, UH, ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT.
UM, UNLIKE ANY OTHER DISPARITY STUDY THAT WE HAD DONE IN THE CITY, WE HAVE BOTH, UH, EMBARKED ON INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDER GROUPS TO PROVIDE QUALITATIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE MWB PROGRAM AND THOSE EXPERIENCES, UH, AT THE PROCUREMENT, UH, AT THE CONTRACTING NOVEL AT THE ADMINISTRATIVE LEVEL FOR OUR PROGRAM.
IN ADDITION, UM, WE DID HAVE, UH, DOING OUR QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS PERIOD, UH, JUST AS WE WERE ABOUT TO EMBARK ON FOCUS GROUPS AND STRUCTURED IN-PERSON INTERVIEWS, A THING CALLED COVID HAPPENED, AND WE HAD TO PIVOT AND, UH, PLAN FOR THOSE PARTICULAR TYPES OF SESSIONS, FOCUS GROUPS, STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS USING A VIRTUAL FORMAT.
I WAS VERY PROUD OF OUR STAFF AND OUR CONSULTING.
WE WERE ABLE TO REGROUP AND GET THOSE DONE, UH, BUT THAT DID CAUSE SOME, UH, SOME ADDITIONAL TIME MOVING US AWAY FROM THE 18TH, UH, MATH PROCESS CURRENTLY.
UM, AGAIN, WE ARE JUST ABOUT READY TO HAVE THE DISPARITY STUDY IN HAND.
UH, WE ARE AWAITING, UH, TO RECEIVE THAT AND ONCE RECEIVED, UH, OUR INTERNAL EXECUTIVE TEAM WILL BE REVIEWING THAT WITH OUR CONSULTANTS.
UM, ONCE FINALIZED, WE DO PLAN TO BRING THAT, UH, DISPARITY STUDY RESULTS, PERHAPS IN APRIL, 2022, UM, BACK TO COUNCIL, UH, AND HAVE, UH, EMBARK ON, AGAIN, ANOTHER ROBUST STAKEHOLDER BRIEFINGS, UH, AROUND THE CITY TO INCLUDE THE CHAMBERS TO INCLUDE, UH, INTERNAL STAFF, TO INCLUDE OUR MINORITY TRADE ORGANIZATIONS, UH, MINORITY CHAMBERS AND OTHER GROUPS, UH, WHO WE HAVE ENGAGED IN OUR QUALITATIVE, UH, PROCESS.
THE PLAN IS TO HAVE COUNCIL TO BRING BACK RECOMMENDATIONS FOR COUNCIL ADOPTION SOMETIME LATER IN, UH, LATE SUMMER.
UH, AS YOU ALL MAY RECALL, WE DID COME BACK BEFORE YOU AND DECEMBER OF 2021, UH, AND REQUEST AN EXTENSION TO THE PROGRAM ORDINANCE, UM, THAT IS SCHEDULED TO SUNSET IN DECEMBER, 2022.
AND AGAIN, THE PLAN IS TO BE OBVIOUSLY BRING THE PROGRAMS, UM, BRING THE DISPARITY STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS BACK FROM THE DISPARITY STUDY, AS WELL AS THE INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP PRIOR TO THE PROGRAM, SUNSET NEXT LOT PLATES.
SO NEXT I'D LIKE TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THEM.
SO THE PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP, AS YOU ALL MAY RECALL, UM, CITY, UH, CITY COUNCIL DIRECTORS, THE CITY MANAGER, AND WATCH A 20, UH, 2020 TO CREATE AN INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP MADE UP OF, UH, OF INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS, AS WELL AS INTERNAL CITY STAKEHOLDERS, UH, TO DISCUSS ISSUES RELATED TO THE MWB PROGRAM, UH, AND OUR ORDINANCE, AND TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE WAYS IN WHICH THE CITY COULD IMPROVE THE PROGRAM WHILE ALSO MEETING THE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY AND REMAINING WITHIN THE LINGUAL LEGAL BOUNDARIES OF, UH, OF, OF THE SPIRIT OF THE DISPARITY STUDY.
WHAT STAFF HAS DONE IS WE TOOK THAT RESOLUTION AND WE ORGANIZED THE RESOLUTION INTO FOUR SUBJECT, UH, THE CRITICAL SUBJECT AREAS TO INCLUDE CERTIFICATION ISSUES, BEST PRACTICES, COMMUNICATION, AND TRANSPARENCY, TRANSPARENCY ISSUES, AS WELL AS RESOURCES TO M D PEAS AND LOCAL BUSINESSES.
THESE PARTICULAR FOUR SUBJECT AREAS WERE CRITICAL IN GUIDING THE WORK OF THE INCLUSIVE, UH, PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP, AS WELL AS OUR TEAM, OUR DEPARTMENT TEAM, AND LAYING OUT THE FOUNDATION IN WHICH WE WOULD GO ABOUT WORKING WITH THE INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP, AS YOU CAN SEE IN EACH OF THOSE AREAS, TAKING THE RESOLUTION, THAT WAS OUR FOURTH, UH, BY COUNCIL, WE, UH, CAREFULLY LAID OUT ALL OF THE KEY CRITICAL COMPONENTS, UM, THAT, UH, FROM THE RESOLUTION TO TACKLE OUR MEETINGS, UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THE INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT GROUP, WE ARE VERY, HAVE BEEN, UH, VERY EXCITED AND BEEN WORKING VERY HARD WITH OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS.
THIS IS IMPRESSIVE GROUP OF INDUSTRY LEADERS, BOTH INTERNAL AND
[00:45:01]
EXTERNAL.THEY ARE MADE UP OF MEMBERS OF THE CHAMBERS MINORITY CHAMBERS, MINORITY TRADE ORGANIZATIONS, PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT WE WORK WITH AS WELL AS OUR PRIME CONTRACTOR COMMUNITY, OUR SUBCONTRACTING COMMUNITY, AND ALSO OUR INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS DEPARTMENTS THAT WE WORK WITH CAPITAL CONTRACTING PURCHASING AS WELL AS PUBLIC WORKS THAT WE WORK INTENSIVELY WITH ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS.
AND WE HAVE WORKED WITH THIS GROUP SINCE, UM, SINCE OF 2021 AND HAVE HAD A SERIES OF MEETINGS ON WHICH I LAY, I WILL LAY OUT, UH, IN OUR NEXT SLIDES.
SO I TALKED ABOUT A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, THE FOUR SUBJECT AREAS IN WHICH WE, THAT GUIDED OUR METHODOLOGY, OUR MEETING METHODOLOGY, UM, VERY, UH, EARLY ON ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE WANTED TO ASSURE IS THAT WE HAD MEETINGS DESIGNED TO MAXIMIZE INPUT FROM OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
UM, WE, UH, SOUGHT OUT THE ASSISTANCE OF OUR CARPET CORPORATE PIO, AND THEY ASSISTED US WITH DEVELOPING A MEETING, UH, MEETING DESIGNS.
AND ALSO THEY ARE CONTINUOUSLY, UH, ASSISTING US WITH MEETING FACILITATION, UM, IN OUR BI-WEEKLY MEETINGS.
AND AGAIN, I MIGHT ADD THAT INITIALLY WE HAD PLANNED FOR THESE MEETINGS TO BE IN-PERSON MEETINGS, UH, AND THAT WOULD HAVE OFFERED A DIFFERENT, A CERTAIN, A DIFFERENT DYNAMIC IN ENGAGING OUR STAKEHOLDERS AND GETTING INPUT.
AND WHAT WAS IMPORTANT FOR US IS THAT WE DID NOT LET THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT, UM, THIS MAY OUR, UM, TAKE AWAY FROM THE ROBUST INPUT THAT WAS NEEDED AS A PART OF THIS PROCESS.
SO ALTHOUGH THE MEETINGS ARE VIRTUAL, UM, WE DID DO A SERIES OF MEETINGS, ONE TO MAKE SURE OUR AUDIENCE, UH, AND OUR STAKEHOLDERS WERE FAMILIAR WITH THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT.
UH, SO THAT, THAT DID NOT IMPACT, UH, COMMUNICATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS AND FEEDBACK.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A MEETING DESIGN IN WHICH EACH, UH, STAFF, EACH OF THE FOUR SUBJECT AREAS OR PRESENTED BY OUR SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS, UH, WHO PROVIDE US A BRIEFING OF SORTS TO EDUCATE, UM, OUR GROUP, THEIR PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP, ABOUT ALL THE DETAILS OF EACH OF THOSE SUBJECT MATTERS IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'RE ENGAGING, UH, AS A DEPARTMENT AND WHAT OUR ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN IN EACH OF THOSE AREAS, WE THEN FOLLOW UP WITH SEVERAL OPPORTUNITY, UH, MEETINGS, UM, WHERE THE PROCUREMENT GROUP PROVIDES INPUT, UM, AND, AND PROVIDES RECOMMENDATIONS AS QUESTIONS.
AND THEN WE PRESENT TO THEM IN A MEETING FOLLOW UP, UM, WHAT WE HEARD SESSION, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO SHOW AND MAKE SURE WE HAVE CAPTURED THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS, THEIR CONCERNS, THEIR ISSUES, THEIR QUESTIONS, AND BE ABLE TO FOLLOW UP AND PROVIDE DIRECT FOLLOW-UP WITH THEM.
WE THEN HAVE A FORMAL SESSION WITH THEM WHERE THEY ARE ABLE TO, AFTER TAKING IN ALL OF THAT INFORMATION TO COME BACK AND PROVIDE REFERENCES RECOMMENDATIONS ON THOSE, THOSE PARTICULAR TOPICS THAT WE ARE, UM, WE ARE DISCUSSING.
SO AGAIN, OUR, OUR GOAL WAS TO MAXIMIZE EACH OPPORTUNITY, UM, WITH THEM IN OUR MEETING DESIGN, TO PROVIDE THEM THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE US AS MUCH FEEDBACK AS POSSIBLE.
UM, MAKING SURE THAT THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT DID NOT, UH, PROVIDE BARRIERS, UH, TO THEIR INPUT IN THEIR PARTICIPATION.
THIS IS JUST A GENERAL KIND OF OVERVIEW OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING TO INCLUDE THIS FOUR SUBJECT AREAS.
WE HAVE BEEN MOVING, UM, THROUGH OUR MEETINGS VERY WELL.
UM, WORKING WITH THE PROCUREMENT, UH, WORKING GROUP, UH, AGAIN, WE STARTED THE PROCESS WITH A MEET AND GREET IN AUGUST AND OUR FIRST TOPIC, WHICH HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST, UH, MOST ACTIVE TOPICS IS THE AREA OF OUR CERTIFICATION PROGRAM, UM, THAT WE HAVE.
AND SO WE HAVE PRESENTED A SERIES OF PRESENTATIONS ON OUR CERTIFICATION TO INCLUDE OUR CERTIFICATION PROCESS ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.
WE ALSO GAVE THEM A BRIEFING ON OUR NEW SYSTEM, OUR CERTIFICATION COMPLIANCE SYSTEM, UM, THAT, UM, WE HAVE SEEN SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS THAT, UH, WE ARE RECEIVING FROM, UH, INTERESTED, UH, BUSINESS BUSINESSES WHO ARE SEEKING TO BE CERTIFIED.
SO FOR THE FIRST MONTH, UH, AUGUST AND THROUGH SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, YOU SEE A LARGE NUMBER OF MEETINGS, UH, WITH REGARDS TO OUR CERTIFICATION PROCESS, UM, THAT, UM, WE, WE RECEIVED, UH, A LOT OF COMMENTS, FEEDBACK AND RECOMMENDATIONS IN THAT AREA.
[00:50:04]
AS YOU CAN SEE, AS WE MOVED INTO THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER, THE NEXT PROCESS WE DISCUSS, UM, AS DIRECTED BY COUNCIL WERE ISSUES INVOLVING AROUND PAYMENT PROCESSES.UM, WE DID A PRESENTATION, UM, AND DELIVERED A PRESENTATION WORKING WITH INTERNAL STAFF, I FINANCIAL SERVICES DIVISION.
I CONTRACT, UH, COME OUT, UH, CAPITAL CONTRACTING, UH, AS WELL AS PURCHASING TO PROVIDE, EXCUSE ME, MS. SAVANNAH, WOULD YOU MIND JUMPING TO THE DISPARITY STUDY? I THINK WE CAN GET THE DETAILS FROM THE CALENDAR OFF OF HERE.
AND I'M JUST WORRIED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT OUR TIMING THIS MORNING HAS REALLY HELPFUL INFORMATION, BUT, BUT I THINK THE DETAILS ARE ON THE SLIDES.
UM, SO IF YOU WOULDN'T MIND SKIPPING TO THE DISPARITY STUDY, WHICH I THINK IS THE NEXT SLIDE, THAT'D BE GREAT.
AND SO AGAIN, UM, THE TIMELINE FOR UPCOMING, UM, THE UPCOMING PROPOSED MEETINGS, UH, FOR THE, UH, RETIREMENT WORKING GROUP INCLUDES, UM, THE REMAINING TOPICS FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPARENCY AND, UM, BEST PRACTICES, UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS, IF YOU GO BACK TO THE DISPARITY STUDY TIMELINE, UM, AGAIN, UH, WITH REGARDS TO THE DISPARITY STUDY, AND YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UM, WE, UH, AGAIN, HAVE NOT RECEIVED THE DISPARITY STUDY.
WE ARE PLANNING, UH, FOR WHAT MY UNDERSTANDING FROM OUR CONSULTANT IS THAT WE SHOULD HAVE THAT DISPARITY STUDY SOMETIME IN HAND IN FEBRUARY.
AGAIN, AS A REMINDER, WE WILL HAVE AN INTERNAL REVIEW WITH EXECUTIVE STAFF FOR THAT DISPARITY STUDY.
AND THEN, UH, SOMETIME IN THE SPRING OF THIS YEAR, PERHAPS IN APRIL, WE WILL BEGIN A ROBUST PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PERIOD PROVIDING BRIEFINGS TO OUR STAKEHOLDERS.
AND AS YOU CAN SEE, THOSE, THOSE WILL BE THE INDIVIDUALS THAT WE ARE PLANNING TO FOR SURE, UH, SCHEDULE, UH, BRIEFING SESSIONS ABOUT THE FINDINGS OF THE DISPARITY STUDY.
AGAIN, OUR NEXT STEP WILL BE TO, UM, REINFORCE THE RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, AND HAVE THE COUNCIL TO ADOPT THE DISPARITY STUDY LATE, UH, LATE, EARLY SUMMER OF 2022.
AND THEN FINALLY, UH, COUNCIL CONSIDERATION AND ADOPTION OF OUR PROGRAM, UH, IN THE FALL OF 2022.
SO IF YOU HAVE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS, UM, AGAIN, WE WILL CONTINUE WORKING WITH OUR INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP.
THEY WILL BE ALSO SHARING, UH, A REPORT OF THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINDINGS AS WELL WITH COUNCIL.
WE WANT TO EXPRESS OUR APPRECIATION FOR THESE REPORTS AND THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING.
I DID CHECK WITH SEVERAL OF THE FOLKS THAT I'VE TALKED TO IN THE PAST ABOUT THE DISPARITY STUDY, UM, AND THIS PROGRAM AND THE RESPONSE I GOT WAS, WELL, YOU KNOW, WE'RE INVOLVED ON THE TEAM AND, YOU KNOW, WE THINK THERE'S GREAT IDEAS MOVING FORWARD.
SO, UM, CLEARLY YOU ARE DOING A LOT WITH RESPECT TO THE ENGAGEMENT AND WANT TO THANK THE MEMBERS OF THE INCLUSIVE PROCUREMENT WORKING GROUP, UM, FOR HELPING US TO, UH, IMPROVE THIS PROCESS, UM, IS AN AS WELL-INFORMED MANNER AS WE CAN.
UM, SO THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US THIS MORNING.
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS I'M SEEING NONE?
[2. Discussion and possible action on the disaster preparedness audit initially presented on November 10, 2021.]
WELL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.AND WE'LL MOVE ON TO ITEM TWO, UM, WHICH THE, THE FOLLOW-UP TO OUR DISCUSSION OF THE DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AUDIT.
UM, SO WE'RE GOING TO, UM, MOVE NOW TO, UM, THE DISASTER DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, AUDIT, UM, DISCUSSION, AND REALLY THIS IS A DISCUSSION OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS.
UM, BUT THE, THE QUESTIONS, UM, THAT WERE POSED TO STAFF FOLLOW DIRECTLY FROM THE AUDIT.
UM, I WORKED WITH STAFF, UM, I SHARED WITH THEM SEVERAL QUESTIONS, UM, THAT REALLY FOCUS US ON SORT OF WHY WEREN'T WE PREPARED, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A LOT OF REPORT PAST REPORTS THAT RECOMMENDED VARIOUS THINGS SOMETIMES OVER AND OVER AGAIN, AND THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS WERE NOT IMPLEMENTED.
UM, TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHY THAT IS SO THAT WHEN WE TAKE THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE'VE WORKED SO HARD TO GET FROM THIS REPORT, UH, MOVING FORWARD, WE DON'T SORT OF REPEAT THAT MISTAKE.
UM, AND I'VE WORKED CLOSELY WITH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER TOVO, UM, ON THESE, THESE, THIS APPROACH.
SO THERE'S THE FIRST PART IS SORT OF, YOU KNOW, WHY WEREN'T WE PREPARED IN THE FIRST PLACE IN TERMS OF SOME OF THESE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE PAST, AND THEN REALLY TRYING TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, HOW IS HE SOME RESOURCED, UM, WHAT REQUESTS HAD BEEN MADE IN THE PAST TO STAFF OR TO FIND, PROVIDE RESOURCES TO HE SOME WHAT HAD BEEN GRANTED, WHAT HAD NOT BEEN GRANTED? UM, WE CAN'T EXPECT OUR STAFF TO DO WORK IF THEY DON'T
[00:55:01]
HAVE, UM, THE RESOURCES TO DO IT.UM, AND THEN LOOKING, YOU KNOW, WHAT HAVE, WHAT HAVE WE DONE SINCE THE NOVEMBER REPORTS? THIS IS AN ONGOING PROCESS TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND THAT, UM, WE ARE GOING TO ASK THAT STAFF COME BACK ON A QUARTERLY BASIS TO AUDIT AND FINANCE, TO KEEP US UPDATED ON THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.
UM, BECAUSE GIVEN THE AUDIT THAT WE HAD, THERE'S A REAL CONCERN, UM, THAT I IMAGINED THAT ALL OF US SHARE, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T REPEAT THE MISTAKE OF THE PAST AND THAT THE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAN BE, UM, PUT FORWARD, UM, DO GET IMPLEMENTED.
UM, WE ALSO, YOU KNOW, NEED TO MAKE SURE, UM, THAT WE ARE PRIORITIZING BECAUSE WE NOW PROBABLY HAVE CLOSE TO A THOUSAND DIFFERENT RECOMMENDATIONS RELATED TO DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, UM, BETWEEN DIFFERENT REPORTS AND, AND I, AND I SAY THAT NUMBER LOOSELY, BUT IT IS WELL OVER.
IT IS CERTAINLY WELL OVER 500 AND, AND I COULDN'T COUNT THEM ALL.
SO, UM, WE DO HAVE TO FIGURE OUT THE PRIORITIZATION, WHICH WAS ANOTHER PIECE OF THE PUZZLE.
UM, AND IT IS A ROLE OF THAT AND FINANCE COMMITTEE TO, TO, TO MAKE SURE, UM, THAT WE ARE DOING THIS KIND OF THING AS WELL AS THE WHOLE COUNCIL.
UM, I JUST WANT TO FLAG BEFORE WE OPEN UP FOR THE PRESENTATION FOR ATX N I DON'T KNOW IF SHE'S ON THE LINE YET, BUT A COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS HAD INDICATED THAT SHE WANTED TO JOIN US.
SHE MAY NEED TO BE MOVED OVER.
I DON'T KNOW IF SHE'S, I DON'T KNOW IF SHE'S SURE I ACTUALLY DIDN'T SEEK COUNCIL MEMBER ELLISON YET.
IF YOU CAN LOOK OUT FOR HER, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
UM, AND WE ARE JOINED THIS MORNING BY, UM, MR. ARIANO AND IT LOOKS LIKE ONE, OR T'S ON JESSICA KING, AND I THINK THERE'S SOME OTHER STAFF WHO, WITH THEIR MASKS ON, I CAN'T RECOGNIZE, BUT I'M SURE THEY'LL INTRODUCE THEMSELVES.
UM, MR. ARIANA, DID YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? GO AHEAD, KATHY.
YOUR HAND IS LIKE A WHITE ON YOUR DOOR.
OH, I KNOW I WAS TRYING TO MOVE IT TO A AREA WHERE IT MIGHT POP UP IN BAR, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I JUST, I THANK YOU CHAIR, AND I APPRECIATE THE PRIORITY THAT'S BEING PLACED ON US AND, UH, AND APPRECIATE IT COMING BACK TODAY.
UM, BUT I'D LIKE TO DO OUTSIDE PERHAPS OF THIS CONVERSATION IS THINK ABOUT WHETHER QUARTERLY IS ENOUGH OVERSIGHT AND WHETHER, WHETHER THERE SHOULD BE, UM, PERHAPS A SUBCOMMITTEE OF THE AUDIT AND FINANCE OR SOMETHING, SOME OTHER, UM, GROUPING TO REALLY MONITOR THIS, UH, AS WE MOVE FORWARD, BECAUSE FOR EXAMPLE, WE GOT, UH, AND THEN I ALSO WANTED TO ASK STAFF AT SOME POINT DURING TODAY'S CONVERSATION TO ADDRESS WHETHER OR NOT THEY'VE SET UP A PORTAL, A QUESTION AND ANSWER PORTAL WE RECEIVED, UH, UH, I THINK ABOUT A NINE PAGE MEMO THIS MORNING, WHICH IS SUPER HELPFUL.
IT HAS GREAT INFORMATION IN IT.
UM, ALMOST ALL OF THE PASSAGES LEAD TO ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, UM, FOR ME, AND, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE NEVER ANY REALLY GOOD, WE NEVER REALLY SET ASIDE BLOCKS OF TIME THAT ALLOW FOR THAT LEVEL OF DETAILED QUESTIONS AND A QUESTION AND ANSWER PORTAL IS PROBABLY THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY TO DEAL WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AUDIT ABOUT THE AFTER ACTION REPORT AND ABOUT THE MEMO TODAY.
AND SOME OF THE OTHER COMMUNICATIONS WE'VE GOTTEN.
AND I BELIEVE I'VE ASKED IN A COUPLE OF PUBLIC SETTINGS FOR THAT QUESTION AND ANSWER PORTAL.
SO PERHAPS IT'S BEEN CREATED AND I JUST MISSED WHERE THAT LIVES.
BUT, UM, IF, IF OUR STAFF COULD ADDRESS THAT, I THINK THAT IS IMPORTANT IF IT HASN'T BEEN SET UP YET, I WOULD REGARD THAT AS A VERY, VERY HIGH PRIORITY, IF YOU NEED ME TO DO A RESOLUTION TO DIRECT THAT I'M CERTAINLY HAPPY TO DO SO, BUT AGAIN, I THINK THAT'S, UH, AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO REALLY UNDERSTAND THE SCALE OF, OF SOME OF THE WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE.
I'LL JUST GIVE ONE EXAMPLE IN TODAY'S MEMO, THERE WAS A CONVERSATION ABOUT, ABOUT TRAINING, UH, THIS LINKS TO THE AUDIT, BECAUSE THERE HAVE BEEN PAST RECOMMENDATIONS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING CROSS TRAINING AND HAVING STAFF IN PERHAPS UNRELATED DEPARTMENTS PREPARED TO STEP IN, IN TIMES OF EMERGENCY.
AND I, I WOULD LIKE, I SEE SOME INFORMATION ABOUT TRAINING IN HERE AND IT'S USEFUL INFORMATION, BUT IT'S NOT CLEAR TO ME HOW MUCH OF THAT TRAINING INCLUDES STAFF OUTSIDE OF ORDINARY EMERGENCY OPERATIONS.
THAT'S KIND OF A SIMPLE QUESTION JUST TO BE HANDLED IN A Q AND A, UM, SAME WITH, WITH TIRE CHAINS.
UH, THERE'S A CONVERSE THERE'S, UH, SOME INFORMATION IN HERE ABOUT TIRE CHAINS THAT HAVE BEEN PURCHASED WITH CITY VEHICLES MOVING FORWARD TO HELP US OUR DEPARTMENTS, UM, BE BETTER EQUIPPED IN ICE BRAID INFORMATION.
I'M SUPER HAPPY THAT HAPPENED.
I HAVE NO SENSE OF SCALE FROM THE MEMO OF, OF HOW I SPREAD THAT IS AND, AND HOW THOSE DECISIONS WERE MADE ABOUT HOW MUCH INVESTMENT TO MAKE IN THAT AREA.
THAT WOULD BE A VERY SIMPLE MATTER TO HANDLE AN, A QA.
SO AGAIN, JUST TWO THINGS, TWO MAIN POINTS, ONE, DO WE HAVE A Q AND A PORTAL?
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IF NOT, HOW SOON CAN WE GET ONE AND TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, PERHAPS YOU AND I CAN TALK ABOUT THIS OUTSIDE OF THE MEETING, HOW, WHETHER QUARTERLY IS, IS ENOUGH, UM, IS ENOUGH CONVERSATION ABOUT IT, AND WHETHER, WHETHER, AND HOW TO INVOLVE THE FULL COUNCIL IN SOME OF THOSE UPDATES.BUT RIGHT NOW IT FEELS LIKE WE NEED PRETTY REGULAR, UH, VISITS ON THIS TOPIC.
SO I APPRECIATE THE QUARTERLY MIGHT NEED TO BE MORE OFTEN.
THAT'S JUST SOMETHING I'M MULLING OVER.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER TOVO AND WE'LL LET STAFF BEGIN IN JUST A SECOND.
DID WANT TO ALERT THOSE WHO ARE WATCHING THAT THERE WAS A MEMO RELEASED THIS MORNING? UM, I'VE BEEN RUNNING THE MEETING, SO I HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO, TO, TO READ IT YET.
UM, AND WE WILL ASK THAT THAT MEMO AND THE PRESENTATION, IF THERE IS ONE THAT'S, IF IT'S NOT ALREADY IN THE MEMO THAT BE ATTACHED, AS WELL AS THE ORIGINAL AUDIT, UM, SO FOLKS CAN FOLLOW ALONG AND THEN ALL OF THOSE SHOULD BE PLACED ON THE AFTER ACTION, UM, WEBSITE.
UH, THANK YOU, MAYOR PRO TEM AND COUNCILMEN COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO COME BEFORE YOU TODAY TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE, THEN THANK YOU FOR YOUR OVERARCHING COMMENTS WITH WE'RE PREPARED TO, UH, PROVIDE A PRESENTATION.
IF I COULD ASK IT TO BE, UH, UH, BROUGHT UP THE GOAL OF OUR PRESENTATION IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION REQUESTED STARTING FIRST WITH A BIT OF HISTORY AND CONTEXT, WHICH I THINK WILL BE HELPFUL IN UNDERSTANDING THE WHY, UH, OF, OF, UH, THE INFORMATION, THE, THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY AUDIT COMMITTEE OF, UH, IN TERMS OF THE AUDIT REPORT THAT PROVIDED THAT SOME ITEMS WEREN'T COMPLETED TO THIS DATE, WE BELIEVE THAT THIS, UH, CONTEXT WILL BE HELPFUL IN PROVIDING THAT INSIGHT.
THEN I'LL HAND IT OVER TO, UH, HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR OF JUAN ORTIZ, WHO WILL INTRODUCE HIS TEAM MEMBERS THAT WILL BE COVERING THE REST OF THE PRESENTATION TO ADDRESS YOUR QUESTIONS.
AND IF I COULD GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL BE ADDRESSING, UM, UH, QUESTIONS RELATED TO, UH, DEPARTMENT'S BUDGET REQUESTS, THEIR RESPONSE EFFORTS, OUR TRACKING, TRACKING MECHANISMS, AND HOW WE ARE PRIORITIZING THE RECOMMENDATIONS.
AND FINALLY, AN OVERVIEW OF THE EMERGENCY ALERTING SYSTEM, SPECIFICALLY THE COUNCIL MEMBER, TEBOW'S QUESTION ABOUT THE Q AND A PORTAL.
WE, OUR STAFF IS WORKING ON PROVIDING THAT KIND OF A CAPABILITY MOVING FORWARD.
SO IN TERMS OF CONTEXT, UH, DISASTERS AND EMERGENCY CONDITIONS, SITUATIONS HAVE CHANGED DRAMATICALLY OVER THE PAST 20 YEARS, HISTORICALLY AS A COMMUNITY, WE HAVE FORTUNATELY NOT HAD MANY EMERGENCY EVENTS THAT DIRECTLY IMPACTED OUR COMMUNITY.
AND IN MOST CASES WE'VE BEEN A SANCTUARY FOR PEOPLE EXPERIENCING DISASTERS, SUCH AS HURRICANES, BETWEEN 2003 AND TWO AND 2012.
WE EXPERIENCED ONE LOCAL DISASTER, THE BASK DROUGHT WILDFIRES.
FOR THE MOST PART, WE PROVIDE SHELTER FOR OTHER COMMUNITIES SEEKING SAFETY, UPPER FIVE HURRICANES.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WHILE OUR EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO SHELTERING, UH, OTHER COMMUNITIES STILL REQUIRES A HEAVY LIFT, UH, BY THE SMALL 13 MEMBER HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OR HUSAM TEAM, IT IS DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT THAN IN, DURING A DISASTER IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY.
ALSO, THE DEMANDS FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE ARE QUITE DIFFERENT THESE DAYS BETWEEN 2013.
AND TODAY WE HAVE EXPERIENCED 10 EMERGENCY RESPONSE SITUATIONS, INCLUDING EIGHT LOCAL DISASTERS IN TWO SITUATIONS WHERE WE SHELTERED OTHER COMMUNITIES SEEKING SAFETY FROM HURRICANE HARVEY AND LAURA.
ADDITIONALLY, WITH, UH, WITH THAT 10 YEAR TIMEFRAME ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS, OUR STAFF RESPONDED TO TWO LOCAL DISASTERS WITHIN THE SAME YEAR.
THIS SLIDE PORTRAY IS THE MAJOR EMERGENCY SINCE 2013, SINCE THEN, THERE WERE ONLY THREE YEARS WHEN THERE WASN'T A MAJOR EMERGENCY.
AND IN THE PAST TWO YEARS, WE KNOW WE EXPERIENCED MULTIPLE EMERGENCIES AT THE SAME TIME IN ALL, BUT ONE OF THESE EMERGENCY ACTIVATIONS THAT BEING HURRICANE HARVEY, WE ARE STILL WORKING TO RECOVER COSTS FROM FEMA.
THE LAST 10 YEARS ARE QUITE OPENING MY EYE OPENING IN THE PATH.
WE'VE OFTEN HAD TIME IN BETWEEN EMERGENCY TO PERFORM, UH, AFTER ACTION REPORTS IMPLEMENT AND DOCUMENT APPROPRIATELY.
HOWEVER, OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, WE'VE HAD EMERGENCY AFTER EMERGENCY WITH LITTLE TIME IN BETWEEN TO ASSESS AND IMPLEMENT IMPROVEMENTS.
IN MOST CASES, STAFF COMPLETED AN AFTER-ACTION REPORT ONLY TO TURN AROUND AND FACE ANOTHER DISASTER.
WHAT MAKES THIS MORE CHALLENGING IS THAT STARTING IN 2020? OF COURSE, WE BEGAN EXPERIENCING EMERGENCIES LAYERED ON TOP OF THE OTHER MOST NOTABLY AGAIN, THE PANDEMIC IN 2020 AND 21 THROUGH 20 AND 2021.
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AND EVEN NOW, AS WELL AS HURRICANE LAURA IN 2020 AND THE WINTER STORM, UH, JUST THIS LAST YEAR, PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLANS, STAFFING PLANS, NONPROFIT COORDINATION, AND MANY ADDITIONAL PLANS WERE ORIGINALLY CREATED.HOWEVER, HAD NOT BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE CONSIDERATION OF A GLOBAL PANDEMIC OCCURRING AT THE SAME TIME AS ANY PARTICULAR EMERGENCY.
SO IN RESPONSE TO QUESTIONS ABOUT WHY IMPLEMENTATION FROM PREVIOUS EMERGENCIES HAVE NOT BEEN COMPLETE THIS HORRIBLE HISTORICAL CONTEXT, HOPEFULLY PROVIDES SOME INSIGHT.
ADDITIONALLY, WHILE THE AUDITOR'S REPORT INDICATES THAT MANY AFTER-ACTION REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE NOT BEEN COMPLETED, WE ARE FINDING THAT SOME RECOMMENDATIONS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED, BUT THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTATION TO CLOSE THEM OUT, HAVE NOT BEEN DONE.
WE'VE ENGAGED CONSULTING SERVICES TO HELP US WITH APPROPRIATE DOCUMENTATION AND FOR THE ITEMS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN COMPLETED.
AGAIN, WE ARE UTILIZING CONSULTING SERVICES TO HELP PRIORITIZE THOSE ITEMS, UH, FOR THE FUTURE.
SO IN ADDITION TO THE TEMPO OF THE EMERGENCIES THAT WE SAW IN THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, RESOURCING HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE.
AND IN A MOMENT WE'LL COVER OUR INTERNAL BUDGET DEVELOPMENT, BUT GRANTS THAT ARE PREVIOUSLY FUNDED, STRATEGIC PLANNING, PARTNERSHIPS, AND PERSONNEL DRIED UP IN 2012.
AND CERTAINLY THE CITY'S BUDGET HAS GOTTEN TIGHTER, UH, YEAR AFTER YEAR.
HE, SINCE CA CAPACITY TO PROVIDE THE FULL CYCLE OF PREPAREDNESS RESPONSE, RECOVERY AND MITIGATION HAS DIMINISHED OVER THESE YEARS DUE TO THE LOSS OF GRANT FUNDS AND THE YEARS OF CONSTRAINED BUDGETS, AS WELL AS THE TEMPO OF EMERGENCIES.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE DEMAND HAS GROWN DISASTERS IN THE LAST 10 YEARS HAVE MUCH HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE FREQUENT THAN THEY'VE HAD MORE LOCAL IMPACT COST RECOVERY THROUGH THE PUBLIC ASSISTANCE.
UM, THROUGH FEMA IS COMPLEX AND TAKES MANY YEARS LEAVING THE OPPOSITE TO CONTINUE MANAGING A GROWING NUMBER OF DISASTER RECOVERIES.
THIS COMBINATION OF INCREASED NEEDS AND DIMINISHED CAPACITY LEADS TO A CYCLE THAT PRIORITIZES RESPONSE AND RECOVERY OVER PREPAREDNESS AND MITIGATION.
AND, UM, MAYOR PRETENDED, AS YOU MENTIONED THIS MORNING EARLIER THIS MORNING, I RELEASED THAT MEMO, UH, THAT PROVIDES GREATER DETAIL ON STAFF ACTIONS, ADDRESSING CORRECTIVE ACTIONS, UH, TO, IN RESPONSE TO A WINTER STORM, UM, AFTER ACTION REPORTING.
SO WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO TURN IT OVER TO HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR, JUAN ORTIZ, TO INTRODUCE HIS TEAM WHO WILL BE COVERING THE REST OF OUR PRESENTATION.
GOOD MORNING, MR. ORTIZ, CHILEAN COUNCIL MEMBERS, I THINK SINCE THE CITY MANAGER, MARIANA FOR, UM, FOR THE INFORMATION FIRST-LINE BEGAN, I WANT TO INTRODUCE THE TEAM THOUGH.
WE WILL BE, UH, PRESENTING HERE WITH ME TODAY.
UH, VIRTUALLY WE HAVE A CHIEF FINANCE OFFICER FOR HE, SOME EFL LAWNMOWER AND HERE PRESENT WITH ME AS WELL AS WE'LL HAVE, UH, LINDA LBS ADAMS. AND THAT WE'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THE AFTER ACTION REVIEW PROCESS AND THE DOCUMENTATION AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
AND THEN ALSO WE WILL HAVE BRYCE SPINS OF ANGLE THAT WILL BE, UH, GIVING US AN UPDATE ON THE PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS AND HOW WE MOVE FORWARD AND IN THE COMMUNICATIONS COMPONENTS AS, AS WE IS, WE CONTINUE TO PRESENT.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO, UM, UH, AGAIN, INTRODUCE EVA LONGMORE OR HE SOME FINANCE CHIEF WHO WILL BE SHARING INFORMATION ABOUT OUR BUDGET AND FUTURE BUDGET REQUESTS, EVA.
GOOD MORNING, COUNCIL MEMBERS.
UM, SO INCLUDED IN YOUR BACKUP TODAY, THERE IS A SUMMARY OF HAYSOM'S BUDGET REQUEST, STARTING AS FAR BACK AS 2015.
UM, BUT FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS PRESENTATION, I'LL FOCUS ON OUR MORE RECENT YEARS.
UM, SO IN 2019, UM, WE HAD THE FOLLOWING UNMET NEEDS THAT DID NOT FIT WITHIN COUNCIL PRIORITIES.
IT WAS A DISASTER RESPONSE AND RECOVERY RESOURCES, WAREHOUSE AND SHELTER SPACE, UH, COMMUNITY PREPAREDNESS CAMPAIGN AND CON CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS AND IT DISASTER RECOVERY PROJECT.
IT'S ACTUALLY ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, IN FISCAL YEAR 2020, HE SOME DID RECEIVE ONE FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE FOR CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS.
HOWEVER, DUE TO THE COVID PANDEMIC, THEY WERE DIVERTED TO FOCUS FULL-TIME ON EMERGENCY RESPONSE IN FYI 21, THERE WAS NO PROCESS TO
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PROVIDE, UH, THOSE UNMET NEEDS.UM, AND IT WAS CERTAINLY A CHALLENGING BUDGET YEAR, UH, FOR THE CITY.
UH, AND THEN SO UPCOMING, UM, WE'RE CURRENTLY ASSESSING NEEDS FOR INCLUSION IN THE FYI 23 BUDGET, OR POSSIBLY AS A MIDYEAR ADDITION IN FYE 22.
AND I'LL TURN ABOUT, THANK YOU, ETHAN.
NOW ALL WE TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, THE HOUSTON RESPONSE OUR FIRST, UH, SINCE 2020, HE SOME HAVE BEEN RESPONDING TO COVID-19, UH, HE, SOME HAS, UH, 13 FULL-TIME FTES, WHICH SPEND APPROXIMATELY 20,000 HOURS RESPONDING TO TWO DISASTERS IN 2020 LEAVING LITTLE TIME FOR PLANNING, DISASTER PREPAREDNESS TRACKING COST RECOVERY, AND FOLLOWING UP ON AFTER ACTIONS, TASKS AS NOTED, THE 13 FTES WITHOUT VACATION OR SICK LEAVE WOULD EQUATE TO AROUND 27,000 HOURS.
SO THE 20,000 HOURS, IT'S APPROXIMATELY 74% OF THE TIME GIVEN THE FACT THAT THE PANDEMIC STARTED IN MARCH 1ST, YOU CAN SEE VERY QUICKLY THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE CAPABILITY OF THE STAFF WITH ADHESIVE IS CONSUMED IN A PRIOR ACTIVITIES THAT WERE CONDUCTED IN THE FIRST QUARTER OR THE FIRST COUPLE OF, UH, TWO, UH, TWO MONTHS OF HALF BY 2020 AS FUSED ME OF CALENDAR YEAR 2020, AS WELL AS THE RESPONSE FOR, UH, FOR, FOR THE, FOR THE REST OF THE YEAR AS AN ORGANIZATION.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE CITY EMPLOYEE EMPLOYEES WHO WORK MORE THAN 1.1 MILLION HOURS, RESPONDING TO COVID-19 AND THE EQUIVALENT TO 530 FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES TO BE CLEARED.
THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE RESPONDING TO HURRICANE LAURA.
HE SOME SUPPORTED MULTIPLE COVID RELATED NEEDS IN CLEANING SIX PROTECTIVE LODGES THAT WERE ESTABLISHED AND SUPPORTED THROUGHOUT THE CITY SEVEN ISOLATION FACILITIES THAT WERE STOOD UP TO TAKE CARE OF, UH, CITIZENS.
THEY NEED TO BE ISOLATED DOING, UH, EXPOSURES TO COVID AS WELL AS BEING POSITIVE, NOT BEING ABLE TO ISOLATE IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT PUBLIC HEALTH NEEDS WERE, UH, WERE BEING TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.
WE ALSO HAD A SUPPORT AND ALTERNATE CARE SITE HOSPITAL AT THE CONVENTION CENTER.
AND ACTUALLY AT THE BEGINNING, AT THE END OF CALENDAR, YEAR 2020, WE WERE MOVING INTO A FULL ACTIVATION OF THAT FACILITY TO SUPPORT THE MEDICAL NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY.
WE ALSO ESTABLISH REGIONAL INPATIENT CENTERS AND WE DISTRIBUTED MORE THAN 25 MILLION ITEMS FROM OUR LOGISTICAL OPERATIONS THAT HAD TO BE EXPANDED AS PART OF THE, OF THE CULVER RESPONSE AND QUICKLY PUT IN PLACE, ESTABLISH POLICIES AND PROCEDURES IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THOSE CRITICAL COMMUNITY NEEDS.
AND ALSO MASS VACCINATION DISTRIBUTION.
UH, AS WE WERE ROLLING OUT, UH, GETTING, UH, TRANSITIONING TO THE EARLY ACTIVITIES OF 2021 NEXT SLIDE AS WINTER STONE UREA APPROACH.
IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THAT WE WERE ENTERING OUR SECOND YEAR IN RESPONDING TO THE PANDEMIC.
THE CITY OF AUSTIN WAS EXPERIENCING ANOTHER SURGE OF COVID-19 CASES THAT NECESSITATED US OPENING A SUPPLEMENTAL HOSPITAL AT THE CONVENTION CENTER.
AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH HAD RECENTLY BEEN IDENTIFIED BY THE STATE AS A HUB DISTRIBUTION POINT FOR VACCINATIONS.
THE VACCINE SCHEDULING SYSTEM HAD JUST LAUNCHED AND ADMITTEDLY EXPERIENCE SOME SERIOUS CHALLENGES THAT PATH TO BE WORKED THROUGH PEOPLE ACROSS AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY, AND EVEN OTHER REGIONS WERE SCHEDULING APPOINTMENTS TO GET THE VACCINE, WHICH WAS IN SHORT SUPPLY, BUT VERY HIGH DEMAND STAFF WERE LEARNING NEW VACCINE ADMINISTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION PROTOCOLS ALONG WITH FINDING WAYS TO MEET STATE DATA ENTRY REQUIREMENTS AND CONTINUE TO SUPPORT COVID-19 TESTING OPERATIONS AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS IN AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY.
NOW I WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT HAVE WE, WHAT ARE WE HAVE WE DONE SINCE WHEN THE STORM URI FIRST, LET ME TELL YOU THAT A LOT OF THESE SUFFERS BEGAN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE STORM MANDATE, WE STARTED UPDATED OUR EMERGENCY PLANS, PROCEDURES, AND PROTOCOLS.
WE ESTABLISHED NEW GUIDELINES FOR THE EMERGENCY OPERATION CENTER AND THESE ACTIVITIES DID NOT WAIT FOR THE AFTER ACTION REPORT OR THE CITY AUDIT TO, TO BE FINALIZE.
UH, SO THESE ARE ACTIVITIES THAT WE INITIATED IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE EVENT AND ARE CONTINUING AS WE
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CONTINUE TO PREPARE COMMUNITY, UH, AND MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE THE SAFEST COMMUNITY IN THE WORLD.UH, WE, WE ARE CONTINUING TO CONDUCT MONTHLY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT MEETINGS WITH OUR SINGLE POINTS OF CONTACTS.
IN FACT, AT THIS POINT IN TIME, RIGHT NOW, THERE IS A MEETING TAKING PLACE FOR THIS MONTH WITH ALL OF THE DEPARTMENTAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, SINGLE POINTS OF CONTACT.
AS WE SPEAK, WE LAUNCHED A NEW EARLIER THIS YEAR, EXCUSE ME, EARLIER THIS FISCAL YEAR ON OCTOBER 1ST, WE LAUNCHED A NEW ALERT SYSTEM FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE HARD OF HEARING DEATH BLIND OR DEAF BLIND.
WE UPDATED OUR COLD WEATHER SHELTER PLAN WHERE PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AND, AND THIS PLAN HAS BEEN ACTIVATED SEVERAL TIMES.
THIS WENT TO WHERE THE SEASON ALREADY WE'VE CONDUCTED, UH, SEMINARS AND A TABLETOP EXERCISE WITH OVER 150 PEOPLE FROM SITTING IN COUNTY AND OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES, INCLUDING PRIVATE SECTOR AS WELL.
WE'D SCHEDULE AN ADDITIONAL TRAINING FOR EXECUTIVES ON RE RESPONDING TO DISASTERS WITH THE NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL.
WE HAVE ACQUIRED LOW-POWER ON RADIO CAPABILITIES TO BROADCAST EMERGENCY MEDS MESSAGES AND SPECIFIC AREAS DOING DISASTERS.
AND WE'VE CONTINUED TO WORK, CONTINUE MAKING PROGRESS TO COMPLETE THE CORRECTIVE ACTIONS FROM WINTER, WINTER STORM AFTER ACTION REPORT, INCLUDING PLACING SUPPLIES AT CITY FACILITIES THAT THAT CAN BE UTILIZED AS SHELTERS IF, IF NEEDED DURING WINTER WEATHER.
AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT GETS ME REALLY EXCITED IS THE, UH, PRE-STAGING OF THESE RESOURCES, SO THAT WE ARE ABLE TO RESPOND VERY QUICKLY IN THE EVENT WHEN EMERGENCY PART OF MAKING CONTINUED PROGRESS ON IMPLEMENTING AFTER ACTION REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS IS TO TRACK AND PRIORITIZE THEM.
NEXT SLIDE WITH JUST OVER 130 RECOMMENDED TASKS, WE KNEW WE NEEDED TO PRIORITIZE AND TRACK PROGRESS OF EACH TASK.
WE DEVELOP AN AFTER ACTION RECOMMENDATION TRACKER, WHICH IS BEING, WHICH IS CURRENTLY BEING TESTED.
EACH RECOMMENDATION UNDERWENT A DETAILED ANALYSIS, INCLUDING BENEFIT OF RISK MITIGATION, CONFIDENCE, AND THE ABILITY TO IMPLEMENT THE RISK MITIGATION SOLUTION, EASE OF MITIGATION SOLUTION, IMPLEMENTATION CAPABILITIES AND TYPES OF RESOURCES REQUIRED, IMPLEMENTATION TIMEFRAME, HOS FUNDING SOURCE, AND PRIORITY FOR IMPLEMENTATION.
IS THAT IMMEDIATE IS A LONGTERM, OR IS IT A FEATURE, A SORT OF FEATURE ITEM NEXT SLIDE OF THE 130 AFTER ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS, 32 RECOMMENDATIONS OR APPROXIMATELY 24% ARE IDENTIFIED AS PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS BECAUSE THEY RATE IT AS BOTH HIGH MITIGATION VALUE, MEANING THAT THE RECOMMENDATION OFFERS A HIGH BENEFIT TO THE CITY FOR THE LOWEST COST AND HAVING LITTLE OR NO DIRECT COSTS AND OR COULD BE FUNDED UNDER EXISTING BUDGET, OR BE PART OF AN EXISTING ONGOING PROGRAM.
THE 32 RECOMMENDATIONS ARE ORGANIZED EITHER BY THREE CAPABILITIES OR IN SEVEN FOCUS AREAS TO PROVIDE A MORE DETAILED EXPLANATION.
I'M GOING TO TURN IT OVER TO LINDA LBS ADAMS, WHERE HAS BEEN HELPING US WITH THIS EFFORT UNDER THANK YOU.
SO WHEN WE LOOK AT THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE 132, THE, THEY ARE DIVIDED AS WELL.
I WAS SAYING, UH, BY CAPABILITY AND ALSO BY FOCUS AREA, THIS, THIS DEALS WITH THE CAPABILITY.
AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CAPABILITY, IF YOU LOOK AT THE LEGEND AT THE BOTTOM, IT TALKS ABOUT LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, PLANNING, AND PREPAREDNESS COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION.
UM, SO WHEN WE PRIORITIZE THOSE, WHEN THOSE WERE PRIORITIZED, NINE OF THOSE DEALT WITH LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN, WHICH IS REPRESENTS 28%, 15 PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS AND EIGHT OF OR COMMUNICATION AND, UM, COORDINATION ON THE NINE THAT DEALT WITH LOGISTICS, SUPPLY CHAINS, THOSE THINGS THAT IS SUCH AS A SYSTEM THAT WOULD ALLOW FOR PRE-STAGING RESOURCES AT A SMALLER, AT SMALLER HUBS IN STRATEGIC AREAS THROUGHOUT THE CITY AND THE COUNTY WITH THE 15, WITH PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS, THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE IDENTIFYING A IDENTIFY AND PARTNER WITH TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES THAT INCREASE IN ASSESSED
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TO LIFE, SUSTAINING SERVICES, SUCH AS BOOP PHARMACY HEALTH AND SUPPORT AND OF COMMUNICATION AND COORDINATION.THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE IDENTIFY ACTIONS TO IMPROVE THE MONITORING AND SOCIAL MEDIA AND RESPOND TO UP TO UNMET NEEDS DURING A DISASTER.
THIS SIDE DEALS WITH THE FOCUS AREAS.
UM, THERE WERE 13 LEADERSHIP AND COORDINATION IN THAT THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE USING AN EQUITY LENS IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF WATER, FOOD, AND WRAPAROUND SERVICES.
FIVE OF THEM DEALT WITH MEDICAL.
THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING LIKE DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A COMMUNICATIONS PLAN FOR MEDICAL SHELTER OPERATION TO RELIEVE STRING ON HOSPITALS AND DIRECT RESIDENTS TO THE APPROPRIATE SHELTER FACILITY.
SEVEN OF THOSE DEALT WITH SHELTERING WOULD AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE TO REVISE THE SHELTER PLAN WITH PRE IDENTIFIED SITES FOR FUTURE DISASTER RESPONSES, AND THREE INVOLVE TRANSPORTATION SUCH AS REEVALUATE IN THE LIST OF PRIORITY ROADWAYS, SIDEWALK, WALTZ, AND OTHER CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE TREATED AND CLEARED AND WINTER WEATHER PLANNING.
AND ONE OF THOSE, UM, DEALS WITH FOOD SUCH AS ESTABLISHING A PROCESS TO BETTER INCORPORATE FOOD ACCESS AND MASS CARE SERVICES FOR THE PUBLIC TO JOIN INFORMATION CENTERS.
SO THIS CURRENT STATUS OF WHERE WE ARE WITH THOSE HUNDRED AND 32 THERE'S FIVE THAT HAVE BEEN COMPLETED TO DEAL WITH COMMUNICATION, ONE PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS, ONE WITH TRANSPORTATION, ONE WITH LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT.
THERE ARE 12 IN PROGRESS AND THERE'S 15 THAT WERE WAITING ON RESPONSE THAT DEALT WITH ANOTHER DEPARTMENT THAT WE HAVE, HAVE, UH, CONTACTED TO ASK FOR AN UPDATE ON WHERE WE ARE WITH THOSE ITEMS. WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT OVER TO BRYCE TO GO OVER THE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEM.
AND I'LL JUST ADD, THIS WAS ANOTHER QUESTION I DIDN'T MENTION EARLIER WAS HE ALSO ASKED ABOUT, UM, THE ALERT SYSTEM AS WE WERE HEARING CONFLICTING INFORMATION FROM OUR COUNTERPARTS AT THE COUNTY, FROM WHAT WE HAD THOUGHT WE HAD HEARD.
SO HE WANTED TO GET AN UPDATE ON THAT.
UH, GOOD MORNING COMMITTEE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT OUR EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS HERE IN THE REGION.
UM, AGAIN, MY NAME IS BRYCE BENCIVENGA, I'M THE COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
UM, I WANT TO TALK ABOUT OUR TWO PRIMARY MEANS OF EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS, BECAUSE I THINK THERE IS SOME CONFUSION AND WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, THE RIGHT SYSTEM FOR THE RIGHT INCIDENT.
UM, SO THE FIRST THING THAT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS, IS OUR INTEGRATED PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEM, WHICH TRADITIONALLY IS USED IN OUR AMBER ALERT TYPE SITUATION.
I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE PUBLIC IS MOST FAMILIAR WITH.
UM, THAT IS A, WHAT IS CALLED A WEAH ALERT, A WA A WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT.
THAT'S WHAT COMES UP AS A, AS A NOTIFICATION ON YOUR PHONE.
AGAIN, MOST OFTEN ATTRIBUTED TO AMBER ALERTS.
I PAUSED, OPENS UP A WHOLE SUITE OF OTHER, UH, ITEMS THAT CAN BE SENT.
SO WE'LL SEE THAT ON THE NEXT SLIDE.
AND THEN THE OTHER ONE IS, IS WARN CENTRAL TEXAS, WHICH WAS OUR REGIONAL NOTIFICATION SYSTEM THAT SENDS PHONE CALLS, TEXT MESSAGES, EMAILS, PAGES.
IF WE STILL HAVE PEOPLE SIGNED UP WITH PAGERS, I, YOU KNOW, OUR EMERGENCY RESPONSE FOLKS DO HAVE THOSE.
UM, SO THOSE ARE SENT VIA OUR WARN CENTRAL TEXAS SYSTEM, WHICH IS ADMINISTERED BY CAP COG, THE CAPITAL AREA COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS HERE LOCALLY FOR A 10 COUNTY REGION.
UM, SO WE'LL GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
UM, SO, UH, A VARIETY OF ORGANIZATIONS CAN COME IN TO I PAUSE, UM, AND, AND PROVIDE MESSAGES, EMERGENCY ALERTS.
SO, UM, ALL OF THESE ARE LISTED THERE ON THE LEFT.
WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO POST INTO I PAUSE, AND THEN IT OPENS UP A SUITE ON THE OTHER END OF OUTPUTS FOR EMERGENCY MESSAGES.
SO WHAT YOU'RE MOST FAMILIAR WITH ON, YOU KNOW, TELEVISION OR RADIO, WHEN YOU GET THAT TONE ON THE, ON THE TELEVISION OR RADIO.
AND IT SAYS, THIS IS A TEST OF THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM.
WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO SEND A MESSAGE THROUGH THAT.
I CIRCLED WE ARE THEIR WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERTS.
AGAIN, WHAT YOU'RE MOST FAMILIAR WITH ON YOUR CELL PHONE DEVICE.
UM, AGAIN, THOSE ARE ONLY SENT TO CELLULAR DEVICES THAT HAVE, UM, THOSE PUSH NOTIFICATION, UH, UH, PUSH NOTIFICATION CAPABILITIES AND ARE OPTED IN.
UM, ANOTHER AVENUE IS FOR, FOR
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WEATHER RADIOS.AND THEN IN OTHER COMMUNITIES, YOU MAY BE FAMILIAR WITH OUTDOOR SIRENS, AND THOSE CAN BE ACTIVATED LIKE WE HAVE IN DALLAS AND FORT WORTH.
WE DO NOT HAVE A SYSTEM LIKE THAT HERE LOCALLY.
UH, THIS IS, UH, AN IMAGE OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO ME WHEN I BEGIN SENDING A WARN CENTRAL TEXAS MESSAGE.
AND I THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE INTERESTING JUST TO SEE THIS KIND OF CONTAGION LOOKING MAP.
EACH DOT THERE IS A, IS A CONTACT IS A HOUSEHOLD THAT WE CAN REACH.
THIS IS ONLY PEOPLE THAT WE'RE REACHING.
UM, RIGHT NOW THIS IS EMAIL IS WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT.
WE HAVE, UH, ALSO ALERTS THAT CAN BE SENT TO EMAIL, TEXT, PHONE.
UM, THIS IS JUST SHOWING EMAIL.
IF IT'S ALL OF THEM ARE ON, IT JUST IS A BLUR OF COLOR.
SO I, I BROUGHT IT DOWN JUST SO YOU COULD SEE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO ME INSIDE THE, THE CITY BOUNDARIES.
AGAIN, ONE CENTRAL TEXAS IS ADMINISTERED ACROSS 10 COUNTIES.
UM, SO YOU SEE THAT THERE ARE CONTACTS OUTSIDE OF OUR CITY OF AUSTIN BOUNDARIES.
UH, FOR ME, I'M ABLE TO SEND, UH, TO A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT MAPS, AND I'M GOING TO EXPLAIN HOW THESE TOOLS ARE DIFFERENT AND WHY WE USE ONE IN ANOTHER SPACE AND, AND ONE, AND MAYBE, OR BOTH DEPENDING ON THE DISASTER.
SO WHAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE IS THIS IS THE CITY OF AUSTIN, UH, BOUNDARIES, AND I CAN SPECIFICALLY TARGET AND MORE IN CENTRAL TEXAS, THE CITY BOUNDARIES, I CAN DO THE COUNTY BOUNDARIES.
I CAN DO AUSTIN ENERGY SERVICE AREA SERVICE AREA.
I CAN GO ALL THE WAY DOWN TO A NEIGHBORHOOD SIZE.
I CAN DO A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT SLICING AND DICING OF THE PEOPLE THAT WE CONTACT THROUGH WARREN CENTRAL, TEXAS.
UM, AND IT ALLOWS FOR SPECIFIC AND TARGETED MESSAGES TO NEIGHBORHOODS THE ENTIRE CITY WITH NO BLEED WHEN WE USE, UM, I PAUSE AND THE WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERTING SYSTEM, YOU DO GET SOME BLEED AND IT CAN GO INTO OUTLYING COUNTIES, OUTLYING AREAS THAT YOU DON'T INTEND THE MESSAGE TO BE SENT IN.
SO OFTEN WHEN WE'RE USING IPODS, I CAN LOOK AT AN AREA LIKE SOUTH AUSTIN AND THEN SEND THAT MESSAGE.
THAT MESSAGE WILL BE RECEIVED BY ANYONE WHO IS TOUCHING A CELL PHONE TOWER IN SOUTH AUSTIN.
SO IF YOU'RE IN SOUTH AUSTIN AT THE TIME, YOU MAY GET THAT NOTIFICATION.
IF I LIVE IN SOUTH AUSTIN AND I'M HERE, I WILL NOT GET THAT NOTIFICATION.
HOWEVER, IF WE'RE SIGNED UP THROUGH WARREN CENTRAL TEXAS, AND WE UTILIZE THAT TOOL THAT WILL ONLY ALERT PEOPLE WHO ARE LOCATED IN SOUTH AUSTIN AND HAVE IDENTIFIED THEIR ADDRESS, EVEN IF THEY'RE OUT OF THE AREA, OUT OF THE CITY, OUT OF THE STATE, THEY WILL STILL GET THAT NOTIFICATION.
SO WE UTILIZE DIFFERENT TOOLS FOR DIFFERENT EMERGENCIES.
IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT IS IMMEDIATE AND EVERYONE IN THAT AREA NEEDS TO SHELTER IN PLACE, I PAUSE IS A VERY POWERFUL TOOL.
IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A BOIL WATER NOTICE OR SOMETHING THAT AFFECTS A SPECIFIC AREA, UTILIZING IPODS IS NOT VERY HELPFUL BECAUSE YOU'RE GOING TO GET BLEED INTO AREAS THAT ARE NOT IMPACTED.
AND SO MAY NOT BE THE RIGHT TOOL TO UTILIZE WHEN WE SEND THESE EMERGENCY ALERTS.
THE OTHER THING THAT I WANTED TO POINT OUT, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE IS THE NUMBER THAT'S IN, IN, IN THE BOTTOM THERE.
SO, UM, THE THAT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE.
SO, UM, I BLEW IT UP THERE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE, OF THE SLIDE.
UM, IF WE SELECT THE CITY OF AUSTIN IN OUR ONE CENTRAL TEXAS DATABASE, AND WE SEND A MESSAGE TO ALL CONTACT TYPES AND ALL METHODS, PHONE, EMAIL, TEXT MESSAGE, WE'RE CONTACTING 1.2 MILLION INDIVIDUAL CONTACT TYPES.
SO THAT MAY MEAN THAT WE'RE CONTACTING SOMEBODY ON THEIR HOME PHONE AND THEIR CELL PHONE.
UM, SO IT MAY BE THE SAME PERSON.
HOWEVER, IT IS GOING TO SEND A MESSAGE TO 1.2 MILLION UNIQUE DEVICES.
UM, SO THAT MAY BE A HOME PHONE THAT MAY BE AN EMAIL THAT MAY BE A CELLULAR DEVICE, BUT THAT'S THE KIND OF REACH THAT WE HAVE WITH THIS TOOL IN THE AUSTIN AREA.
UM, BUT I WANT TO ALSO SHARE WITH YOU THAT USING THIS TOOL, UM, AS WE HAVE THROUGHOUT COVID-19, AND THEN HAVING A COUPLE DIFFERENT CITYWIDE DISASTERS, WE HAVE LEARNED A LOT OF BEST PRACTICES AROUND WHAT GOES IN TO SENDING A WARRANT CENTRAL TEXAS MESSAGE, AND WHAT GOES INTO SENDING AN I PAUSE MESSAGE.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SOME LIMITATIONS ON THE SOFTWARE THAT WE UTILIZE TO SEND MESSAGES.
UM, AND SO IT REQUIRES THAT WE SEND THE MESSAGE MULTIPLE TIMES IN OUR SYSTEM.
SO IF WE'RE SENDING IT IN ENGLISH, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS A CHARACTER LIMITATION AND WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE AFTER IT GOES OVER THAT CHARACTER LIMIT, IT GOES OFF AND LINKS OFF TO THE FULL MESSAGE, WHICH MAY WORK FOR SMARTPHONE USERS.
BUT FOR THOSE THAT DON'T HAVE SMART ENABLED DEVICES, UM, THAT'S A CHALLENGE.
SO WE TRY TO LIMIT IT ALWAYS TO THAT CHARACTER COUNT WHEN WE SEND IT IN SPANISH, WE ALSO HAVE TO SEND IT SEPARATELY.
UH, THEN WHEN WE DO SEND THE MESSAGE, UM, WE ARE INUNDATED WITH CALLS COMING BACK TOWARDS US.
UM, WE GET THOUSANDS OF CALLS TO 3, 1, 1, WE GET CALLS TO 9 1, 1.
UM, WE GET THOUSANDS, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CALLS BACK TO THE NUMBER THAT
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CALLED THE INDIVIDUAL WHEN WE UTILIZE WARN CENTRAL TEXAS.SO WE HAVE TO SET UP, SET UP A SYSTEM FOR THEM TO RELAY, HAVE THE MESSAGE RELAYED BACK TO THEM AGAIN, WHEN THEY CALL THAT PHONE NUMBER BACK.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE OUR MEDIA PARTNERS WHO RECEIVE CALLS ABOUT THIS SYSTEM.
SO AS WE BEGIN THINKING ABOUT UTILIZING THIS TOOL, UM, WE START WITH, WHAT IS OUR MESSAGE GOING TO BE? AND FOR ME, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT IT'S ACCURATE AND ACTIONABLE UTILIZING THE SYSTEM IS A VERY POWERFUL TOOL.
IT'S ONE THING TO TELL THE PUBLIC THAT SOMETHING IS HAPPENING, BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR AND THAT WE DIRECT THE PUBLIC, WHAT WE WANT THEM TO DO TO STAY SAFE.
SO THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE WE LOOK AT BEFORE WE SEND A MESSAGE.
I ALSO JUST WANTED TO GIVE A, A QUICK UPDATE.
UM, AS WE TALK ABOUT PREPAREDNESS FOR ME, MY RESPONSIBILITY IS, IS NOT JUST NOTIFYING THE PUBLIC ABOUT EMERGENCIES THAT HAPPEN IN THE COMMUNITY.
MY RESPONSIBILITY IS ALSO TO SHARE WITH THE PUBLIC, HOW THEY CAN BE BETTER PREPARED, UH, THEMSELVES AS THE CITY UNDERTAKES A PREPAREDNESS EFFORT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE, UH, UM, ARE, ARE MORE PREPARED FOR THE NEXT DISASTER.
WE ALSO ASKED THE PUBLIC TO DO THE SAME.
SO WE'VE LAUNCHED A NEW WEBSITE, WHICH IS READY, CENTRAL TEXAS.ORG THAT SHOULD HELP FOLKS, UM, GUIDE THEM THROUGH OUR FOUR STEPS OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, WHICH IS FOR US VERY SIMPLE, MAKE A PLAN, BUILD A KIT, KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS AND STAY INFORMED.
SO I DID WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT.
WE ALSO JUST, UH, UH, DEPLOYED OUR, UH, OUR ANNUAL CALENDAR, WHICH WE DO A, UH, AN ART CONTEST, UH, FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS, UM, TO TALK ABOUT DISASTER AND DRAW DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND LEARN ABOUT IT.
AND WE PARTNER WITH LOCAL SCHOOLS TO ENCOURAGE DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AT THE YOUNGEST AGES THAT WE CAN.
UH, AND SO COPIES OF THOSE ARE AT OUR BRANCH LIBRARIES AND REC CENTERS AS WELL.
AT THIS POINT, I'M GOING TO HAND IT BACK TO DIRECTOR ORTIZ TO CONCLUDE OUR PORTION OF THE BRIEFING.
AND THANK YOU, LINDA AND FOR, FOR THE UPDATE.
UH, I WANT TO TAKE THIS MOMENT IN TIME RIGHT NOW TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A, AN EXAMPLE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE DOING.
UM, THE WEATHER FORECAST CALLS FOR POTENTIAL WINTER WEATHER HE MAKES TOMORROW.
UH, SO RIGHT NOW OUR TEAMS ARE, UM, HAVE BEEN MEETING WITH, UH, THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE, HAVING DISCUSSES WE'RE PARTICIPATING IN A STATE CONFERENCE CALL WHERE THEY'RE DISSEMINATING INFORMATION TO OUR DEPARTMENTS, OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, AND WE'RE GETTING INFORMATION OUT INTO THE PUBLIC.
NOW, BEFORE THIS MEETING, THE LAST UPDATE I HAD WAS THAT THE GROUND IS A LITTLE BIT WARMER.
UH, AND THE WINTER IT MAKES WILL COME IN LATE AFTER THE MORNING COMMUTE TOMORROW.
SO IT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL NOT BE A WINTER STORM YURI CONDITIONS, BUT I THINK IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE TAKE TOMORROW AS A, AS A, A CONSIDERATE, A DRILL.
WE SHOULD ALL TAKE THIS POINT IN TIME AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THOSE FOUR STEPS THAT BRYCE HAS TALKED ABOUT.
MAKE A PLAN CHECK, SIT DOWN WITH YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS AND GO OVER YOUR PERSONAL SAFETY PLAN, RIGHT? I, WHILE THERE ARE ANY CHANGES THAT YOU NEED TO MAKE TO THAT PLAN, LOOK AT YOUR, AT YOUR KID.
WHAT ELSE ARE YOU MISSING? THERE'S PLENTY OF SUPPLIES TO THE STORES RIGHT NOW.
THERE'S NOT THAT NO, NO LONG LINES.
SO TAKE THIS MOMENT IN TIME TO GO OUT AND FINISH UP YOUR KID.
IF THAT'S WHAT YOU REQUIRE, GO OUT, DOWNLOAD.
IF WE HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY DOWNLOAD ON YOUR SMART DEVICE.
THE ALREADY CENTRAL TEXAS APP, LOOK AT OUR WINTER WEATHER BROCHURE.
THE ELECTRONIC WE SHOW THAT WE PROVIDED AND LOOK AT THOSE, UH, WINTER WEATHER PREPARATION STEPS.
LOOK AT THE CITY WEBSITE, LOOK AT THE INFORMATION THAT ASA ENERGY HAS PROVIDED THAT AUSTIN WATER UTILITY HAS PROVIDED TO HELP YOU PREPARE YOUR HOME.
IN THE EVENT OF A WINTER WEATHER SITUATION, GO OUTSIDE AND VISIT WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS WHERE IN A MASS LET'S NOT IGNORE THAT.
WE STILL IN A, IN A PANDEMIC ENVIRONMENT, MAYBE GET ON A CONFERENCE CALL WITH THE NEIGHBORS, GO ON GOOGLE MEET OR WHATEVER OTHER SOCIAL, UH, PLATFORM YOU HAVE, BUT ENGAGE WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS TO FIND OUT HOW PREPARED YOU ALL ARE AS AN, AS A, AS A NEIGHBORHOOD.
AND THEN MAKE SURE YOU GO TO VERY CENTRAL TEXAS AND LOOK AT YOUR REGISTRATION.
WE HAVE DONE EFFORTS TO GET THE INFORMATION OUT TO YOU IN AN EMERGENCY, BUT THE BEST UTILIZATION OF ONE CENTRAL TEXAS HAS EVERYBODY WHERE TO GO IN AND CUSTOMIZE AND MAKE USE OF ALL OF THE CAPABILITIES OF WARN CENTRAL TEXAS AND SELECT THE WEATHER ADVISORIES THAT CAN BE SENT TO YOU DIRECTLY FROM ONE CENTRAL TEXAS
[01:35:01]
TO YOUR DEVICES.IF YOU HAVE NOT GONE INTO ONE CENTRAL TEXAS AND COMPLETE THAT REGISTRATION PROCESS, IT WILL BE CHALLENGING FOR US TO BE ABLE TO GET THE WORD OUT TO YOU QUICKLY.
WE WILL STILL GET THE WORD OUT TO YOU.
WE'LL DO THE BEST THAT WE CAN TO DO SO, BUT THE SYSTEM WORKS BEST IS IF NOT ONLY ARE YOU GETTING THE MESSAGE FROM VIA VIA PHONE CALL, BUT ALSO IF WE COMPLETE THE TEXT COMPONENT AND ALSO COMPLETE THE EMAIL COMPONENT, IF YOU ARE ABLE TO DO SO.
SO THIS IS REALLY AN OPPORTUNITY TO PREPARE IT.
I WANT NOT TO LOSE THAT OPPORTUNITY, UH, GIVEN THE, THE FORECAST, BUT WE WILL BE MONITORING THOSE CONDITIONS AND WE'RE GOING TO BE FOLLOWING OUR PLANS ALL IN OUR PROCEDURES TO MAKE SURE THAT WE BUILD THAT MUSCLE MEMORY.
I WANT TO, BEFORE I PASSED THE, THE, THE, THE PRESENTATION TO MR. MARIANO, I WANT TO JUST REMIND FOLKS THAT PREPAREDNESS IS NOT A ONE TIME DEAL PREPAREDNESS AS A YEAR ROUND PROCESS, 365 DAYS A YEAR.
AND I WANT TO ENCOURAGE ALL OF US TO DO THAT.
I WOULD JUST QUICKLY SAY, AND AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO BREAK, UH, THESE PRESENTATIONS AND CERTAINLY WILLING TO COME BACK AT COUNT AT THE COMMITTEE'S REQUEST TO PROVIDE UPDATES.
I DID WANT TO PROVIDE ONE CLARIFICATION WITH REGARD TO THE TRACKING DEVICE, THAT OUR TRACKING SYSTEM THAT WE'RE PUTTING TOGETHER AND THAT IT WILL INCLUDE ALL OF THE AFTER OTHER AFTER ACTION REPORTS, THE AUDIT REPORT, AND SO FORTH.
SO WE CAN HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF ALL OF THESE, UM, ITEMS, CORRECTIVE ACTION RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, GOING INTO THE FUTURE.
AND WITH THAT, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME.
WELL, THAT SYSTEM ALSO INCLUDE THE MANY OTHER AFTER ACTION REPORTS FROM OTHER DISASTERS, NOT JUST FROM THIS ONE.
UM, IT LOOKS LIKE COUNCIL MEMBER TOVO IS NOW ON THE PHONE AND MAY NOT BE ABLE TO ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU DO HAVE QUESTIONS, KATHY, IF YOU WANT TO TEXT ME SO I CAN KNOW TO CALL ON YOU, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
UM, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, I MEAN, IN A VERY NOISY PLACE WITH AMENDMENT, BUT I DO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS WHEN, WHEN IT'S APPROPRIATE.
UM, I THINK MAYBE IT STARTS, IF I COULD GO SECOND, THAT WOULD BE OKAY.
I JUST WAS, I DIDN'T SEE YOU ON THERE, SO THAT'S FINE.
UM, JUST WANT TO POINT OUT THAT, UM, WHAT WAS IN THE PRESENTATION FOLLOWED THROUGH A LOT OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WE HAVE.
THERE MAY BE SOME, SOME PIECES THAT WE WANT TO GO DEEPER IN.
I'M GONNA DEFER TO THE REST OF THE, THE, UM, THE DAYAS FIRST, SINCE I LAID OUT MY QUESTIONS, WHICH WAS WHAT THE PRESENTATION WAS LARGELY, UM, FOCUSED ON.
UM, BUT I WILL HAVE SOME OTHER FELLOW THINGS, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY.
I JUST WANTED TO THANK OUR CITY STAFF FOR THE INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF WORK THAT THEY DID PUTTING INTO THIS EFFORT.
UM, I KNOW THAT ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT COUNCIL MEMBER TOVO HAD ASKED ME TO ASK WAS IF WE COULD GET AN UPDATE ON WHEN THE Q AND A PORTAL WOULD BE COMPLETE, WE'RE HAVING SOMEBODY COME UP RIGHT NOW TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
UM, I NEED TO CHECK IN WITH THE TEAM TO SEE WHERE WE ARE ON THAT.
THERE A VERY SMALL TEAM THAT IS ALSO WORKING IT'S.
IT WOULD BE VERY MUCH AKIN TO THE COVID-19 PORTAL AND OTHER QA PORTALS.
UM, THE LAST I'D SPOKEN WITH THEM, THERE HAD BEEN THE GENERAL, UH, SYSTEM THAT THEY SET UP THAT MAKES IT EASIER TO ESTABLISH ONE.
AND SO I'M HOPEFUL THAT WE CAN GET ONE UP AND RUNNING PRETTY QUICKLY, BUT I WILL WORK TO PROVIDE YOU AN UPDATE BY THE END OF THE DAY TODAY.
UM, I'M NOT SURE THAT GAVE COUNCIL MEMBER TO-GO ENOUGH TIME.
SO I'M GOING TO CALL ON COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS, AND THEN WE'LL GO TO COUNCILMAN MARTIN.
I APPRECIATE YOU INVITING ME AND LETTING ME SIT IN ON YOUR COMMITTEE MEETING.
UM, THERE, THERE IS A LOT OF GOOD WORK GOING INTO THIS, AND I'M ALSO CURIOUS ABOUT THE Q AND A PORTAL AS WELL.
I KNOW WE'VE BEEN ASKING STAFF INTERNALLY ABOUT THINGS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE EXPERIENCED IN SOUTHWEST AUSTIN, BUT I KNOW THERE MAY BE OTHER ASPECTS OF THIS THAT OTHER DISTRICTS EXPERIENCED, AND IT WOULD BE REALLY ADVANTAGEOUS FOR US ALL TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT INFORMATION.
UM, SINCE WE MAY NOT ALL BE ASKING THE SAME QUESTIONS, UM, I ALSO APPRECIATE THE HISTORY OF THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS BECAUSE I KNOW THAT A LOT OF WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH IS, UM, ASSISTING HURRICANE EVACUEES, UM, IN THOSE ACUTE SITUATIONS.
UM, AS WE SPEAK FAST DROP IS EXPERIENCING ANOTHER SPREAD OF WILDFIRE THAT STARTED FROM A CONTROLLED
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BURN.AND SO I KNOW THAT THERE'S FOLKS, UM, HERE LOCALLY TRYING TO ASSIST WITH THAT MEASURE FOR AN EXTINGUISHING NOSE.
UM, BUT IT JUST GOES TO SHOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS FOR US TO BE PREPARED FOR ALL, ALL TYPES OF DISASTERS AT ALL TIMES.
UM, I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT, UM, SOME PORTIONS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT DON'T HAVE A LOT OF REC CENTERS OR COMMUNITY CENTERS.
MY DISTRICT ONLY HAS ONE, UH, AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY THAT THE CONSTITUENTS REALLY LOVE.
AND THEN WE HAVE A COUNTY PRECINCT OFFICE THAT WE UTILIZE OFTEN, BUT THE PORTIONS OF MY COMMUNITY THAT ARE SOUTH OF THERE, UM, WON'T HAVE THE ROADS CLEARED AND, UM, YOU KNOW, MAY MAYBE THE FOLKS THAT RUN OUT OF WATER FIRST AND OUR LAST TO GET IT BACK ON AS WE SAW A YEAR AGO.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HOW TO SPREAD, UM, COMMUNITY RESILIENCY FURTHER.
UM, AND IF THERE'S ANY EXPECTATIONS FOR HOW THAT APPROACH IS BEING TACKLED RIGHT NOW, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ELLISON.
UH, FIRST BEFORE I ANSWER THAT, AS LONG AS YOU KNOW, THAT, UH, UH, WE'VE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH, UH, THE BASTROP COUNTY EMC AND WE HAD THE CONFERENCE CALL WITH THAT WAS THE MASSIVE CONNIE EMC PREVIS COUNTY, EMC, AND MYSELF, TO LOOK AT WHAT, UH, WHAT'S GOING ON IN BASKETBALL COUNTY.
AND, UH, AND SO WHAT, UH, ASSISTANCE THAT MAY REQUIRE FROM US AND, AND WE ARE IN CLOSE CONTACT WITH THEM, UH, AS, AS WELL, UM, SPECIFICALLY TO YOUR QUESTION, WE HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH THE AMERICAN RED CROSS AND THE AUSTIN DISASTER RELIEF NETWORK, UM, THE, UH, THROUGH THE AMERICAN RED CROSS AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY, UH, UH, AND THE AMERICAN RED CROSS AND, AND A GRANT THAT THEY RECEIVED FROM FEMA CONDUCTED A SHELTER ASSESSMENT COUNTY-WIDE, UH, POTENTIAL SHELTER LOCATIONS OF WHICH.
SO WE ALSO IDENTIFIED SOME CITY FACILITIES.
SO STAFF RIGHT NOW, WE, WE PRIORITIZE THOSE CITY OWNED FACILITIES OR WHERE WE CAN PRE-STAGE LOCATIONS AND STAFF IS NOT AS LOOKING AT OTHER FACILITIES, WHETHER THERE BE, UH, OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS, THEY MAY OWN THEM, OUR SCHOOL DISTRICTS OR OTHER LOCATIONS WHERE WE CAN PRE-STAGE ADDITIONAL SHELTER SUPPLIES, UH, IN, IN THOSE AREAS WHERE THEY'RE NOT, WHETHER IT'S NOT A CITY FACILITY CLOSE BY.
SO THE PROCESS WILL BE UTILIZING THAT SHELTER ASSESSMENT CONDUCTED BY THE RED CROSS AND WORKING WITH THE PARTNERS TO SEE WHAT ARE THE BEST LOCATIONS WHERE WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THAT.
UM, AND THIS MAY ALREADY BE ON YOUR RADAR.
BUT I KNOW IN, IN THE WINTER STORM THERE WERE FOLKS WHO STEPPED UP AND SAID, I HAVE, UM, CHURCH SPACE TO OFFER, OR I HAVE, YOU KNOW, A FOUR BY FOUR VEHICLE.
SO I KNOW THAT WAS BEING TRACKED IN LAST FEBRUARY.
AND SO, UM, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO KIND OF POINT OUT IN DAYLIGHT THAT IT MAY BE HELPFUL TO REVISIT THOSE, THOSE OFFERS AGAIN, JUST TO KNOW THAT THERE MAY BE SOME, SOME PLACES THAT COME UP THAT, UM, LIKE IN MY DISTRICT OR CLOSE TO MY DISTRICT IN DISTRICT FIVE SOUTH AUSTIN, OR THERE MAY BE FOLKS CLOSE BETWEEN OUR DISTRICT BOUNDARIES THAT SAY, I HAVE A CHURCH AVAILABLE, OR, UM, THIS SCHOOL IS A GOOD PLACE TO BE ABLE TO DO DISTRIBUTION AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO I'M SURE THAT'S ON YOUR RADAR.
IF I COULD ALSO MAKE ONE MORE NOTE OF, UH, AUSTIN DISASTER RELIEF NETWORK IS ACTUALLY HELPING US COMMUNICATE WITH THOSE, UH, CHARTS OF FACILITIES, UH, TO HELP US IDENTIFY POTENTIAL LOCATIONS, UH, AND SEEING WHETHER THEY ALREADY HAVE THE SHELTER SUPPLIES OR WHETHER THEY NEED HELP SUPPLIES, UH, AND TRY TO EXTEND THE LEVEL OF, OF, OF, UH, SUPPORT THEY REQUIRE IN ORDER TO CARRY THAT OUT.
WHAT IF YOU HAVE SPECIFIC AREAS THAT, UH, THE ARE AWARE OF, OF LET ME REACH OUT TO YOU AFTER THIS MEETING, AND WE CAN SEE HOW, UH, UM, I'M ALWAYS TRYING TO FIND OTHER LOCATIONS WHERE WE CAN DO THIS.
I'VE, I'VE GOT A SHORT LIST I CAN SEND TO YOU RIGHT AWAY.
UM, AND I DO APPRECIATE THAT WE DID HAVE THE DISASTER RELIEF NETWORK PARTNER WITH A CHURCH IN MY COMMUNITY, UM, TO PROVIDE SHOWER AND LAUNDRY SERVICES.
SO AUSTIN WATER STEPPED UP AND WAS ABLE TO AT LEAST MAKE SURE THAT WAS POSSIBLE.
SO I VERY MUCH APPRECIATE THAT.
I THINK I'M OUT OF QUESTIONS AND HOPEFULLY THAT GAVE COUNCIL MEMBER TOBO ENOUGH TIME TO GET TO A QUIETER PLACE.
I HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY 90 QUESTIONS.
I'M GOING TO LIMIT IT TO JUST A COUPLE HERE TODAY.
THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER KELLY FOR ASKING YOURS, UH, FOR ASKING MINE AS, UM, FOR ME, I REALLY APPRECIATE IT.
I WOULD LIKE TO REQUEST IT AND THANK YOU, UM, DIRECTOR KING FOR COMMITTING TO GETTING US AN ANSWER BY THE END OF THE DAY, I WOULD REQUEST THAT THE PORTAL BE ONE THAT THE PUBLIC CAN SEE TOO, IN THE SAME WAY THAT OUR COUNCIL AGENDA QUESTIONS ARE, YOU KNOW, THIS WORK HAS TO HAPPEN ALONGSIDE OUR COMMUNITY.
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YOU KNOW, JUST AS WE SAW THE COMMUNITY'S REALLY CRITICAL ROLE IN HELPING US RESPOND TO A WINTER STORM WHERE WE REALLY NEED, WE NEED THEIR HELP IN UNDERSTANDING AND WORKING THROUGH THIS INFORMATION AS WELL.SO I WOULD STRONGLY ASK, UM, AND AGAIN, IF IT NEEDS TO BE, IF IT, IF THIS IS TOO DIRECTIVE AND IT NEEDS TO BE AN IFC, I WILL, BUT I WOULD ASK THAT THAT PORTAL BE VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DO FOR OUR ART COUNCIL AGENDA, SO THAT WE CAN SEE NOT JUST OUR COLLEAGUES QUESTIONS, BUT THAT THE PUBLIC CAN ALSO SEE THE QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES TO.
SO THEY HAVE THAT INFORMATION AND CAN HELP US GENERATE, YOU KNOW, ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS AS APPROPRIATE.
UM, SECONDLY, I WANTED TO JUST SAY, UH, DIRECTOR ARCHIE IS IN YOUR RESPONSE TO US NOW, TO MY COLLEAGUE, YOU TALKED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF IDENTIFYING BOTH OF YOU COUNCIL MEMBER ELLIS AT DIRECTOR OF T'S.
I THINK YOU'VE HIGHLIGHTED THE IMPORTANCE OF REALLY WORKING IN, UM, IN OUR PLANNING UPFRONT THOSE FACILITIES WITHIN DIFFERENT AREAS THAT MAY NOT BE SILLY, THE CITY FACILITIES, BUT CONSIDERING, YOU KNOW, HOW TO SHORE THEM UP AND HOW TO MAKE THAT PART OF OUR NETWORK EMPHASIS EXACTLY THE WORK, UM, THAT WAS DIRECTED IN THE RESOLUTION THAT I BROUGHT FORWARD ON RESILIENCE HUBS.
AND I KNOW THAT WORK IS GOING ON.
I WANT TO BE SURE THAT WHAT YOU DESCRIBED IS, IS HAPPENING ALONGSIDE THE WORK THAT OUR SUSTAINABILITY OFFICE IS DOING WITH REGARD TO RESILIENCE HUBS.
UM, IF WE HAVE TIME, YOU WANT TO RESPOND TO THAT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT, BUT AT THE MOMENT, I'LL JUST LEAVE IT AT, AT THAT POINT THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT HE SAYS THAT ACCORDING THE WORK OF THE RESILIENCE HELPS, BUT AGAIN, I WANT US, I WANT IT TO ALL BE UNDER THE SAME UMBRELLA.
UM, IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S READY TO RESPOND TO THAT IF YOU'D LIKE HIM TO OKAY.
AS LONG AS I CAN KIND OF GET TO MY TWO MAIN QUESTIONS AFTER THAT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
UH, COUNCILMAN OCTOBER, UH, REALLY A GOOD QUESTION.
UM, UH, IN, IN, WE ARE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH THE RESILIENCY HUB WHERE A MEMBER OF THAT EFFORT.
UH, AND SO WHILE THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SHELTER AND A RESILIENT GAB, OUR OFFICE IS WORKING IN HAND-IN-HAND WITH THE OFFICE OF SUSTAINABILITY TO ENSURE THAT WE SHARE INFORMATION AND LEVERAGE THOSE EFFORTS.
AND WE COMPLETELY SUPPORT THE RESILIENCY HELP EFFORTS, UH, AND, AND AS WELL AS WE'RE READY TO SUPPORT SHELTER OPERATIONS OF NEEDED.
WHAT WE HAVE VERGED AND, AND I KNOW WHEN OUR FIRST MEMO CAME BACK ABOUT RESILIENCE HUBS, IT WAS A VERY DIFFERENT KIND OF MODEL.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD VARIOUS COMMITTEE MEETINGS AND I KNOW MY STAFF AND I HAVE HAD CONVERSATIONS WITH THE CITY STAFF WORKING ON THIS, OR LEADING THE EFFORT TO REALLY MAKE SURE THAT OUR RESILIENCE HUB WORK IS NOT JUST DEALING WITH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF, UM, THE CADILLAC MODEL OF RESILIENCE HUBS, BECAUSE WE COULD PROBABLY JUST AFFORD A COUPLE OF THOSE, BUT THAT RESILIENCE HUB IS ALSO EMBRACING WITHIN ITS NETWORK.
JUST WHAT YOU'RE DESCRIBING, THOSE CHURCHES OR COMMUNITY FACILITIES THAT ARE, ARE READY TO STEP FORWARD AND BE WARMING CENTERS OR SHELTERS, OR OTHER KINDS OF FACILITIES IN A TIME OF CRISIS, BUT ALSO SERVE AS A COMMUNITY GATHERING SPOT AT OTHER TIMES AS WELL, IF THEY'RE NOT ALREADY SERVING THAT FUNCTION.
SO I JUST WANT TO BE CAREFUL, UM, AS WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS, TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE'RE NOT JUST THINKING ABOUT THOSE, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT CAME FORWARD AS A DEFINITION OF RESILIENCE HAVE IN THAT FIRST MEMO, BECAUSE IT'S REALLY EVOLVED A GREAT DEAL.
UM, WE'VE ALSO ENCOURAGED THE STAFF AND HAVE HAVE, UM, AND I BELIEVE THIS IS A DIRECTION THAT THEY MAY BE GOING.
IT'S UNCLEAR WHETHER THERE NEEDS TO BE ANOTHER ISC TO DIRECT THIS WORK, BUT TO REALLY HELP CREATE KIND OF RESILIENCE HUB IN A BOX MATERIALS SO THAT, UH, DIFFERENT COMMUNITY GROUPS CAN KIND OF TAKE THE LEAD ON IDENTIFYING FACILITIES, WORKING IN COORDINATION WITH CITY STAFF, BUT ALSO SETTING UP THOSE PLACES.
I DON'T WANT TO GET TOO DOWN IN THE WEEDS ON THAT BECAUSE THAT'S NOT OUR PURPOSE HERE TODAY, BUT IT KIND OF LEADS INTO ONE OF MY MAIN QUESTIONS HERE TODAY.
UM, BEFORE I GET TO THAT, I DO WANT TO SAY GABA, UM, HAD A REALLY GOOD CONVERSATION LAST NIGHT ABOUT RESILIENCE HUB AND THE WAY IN WHICH THEY ARE REALLY HELPING SUPPORT, UM, A SYSTEM THAT INCLUDES BLOCK CAPTAINS.
AND IT'S A VERY WELL ORGANIZED, COORDINATED SYSTEM.
THE QUESTION CAME UP AND THIS LEADS TO SOMETHING YOU SAID DIRECT ORTIZ ABOUT WHETHER THE CITY COULD HELP SUPPLY, UM, EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS KITS.
AND YOU MENTIONED EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS KITS HERE TODAY.
UM, MY STAFF HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH OUR CITY STAFF TO SEE WHETHER WE CAN DISTRIBUTE SOME OF THOSE FREE.
AND I KNOW THAT QUESTION HAS GONE OUT AMONG THE STAFF A FEW WEEKS AGO, AND WE'RE WAITING FOR THAT BACK.
BUT, YOU KNOW, AS WE'RE CONTINUING TO ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO, TO, UM, PURCHASE THE ITEMS THEY NEED FOR AN EMERGENCY KIT, I ALSO WANT TO UPDATE UNDERSTANDING THAT FOR SOME FAMILIES, YOU KNOW, THAT WOULD COMPETE WITH THEIR WEEKLY FOOD BUDGET.
[01:50:01]
UM, HAVING THOSE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS KITS, UM, POTENTIALLY FREE, WE'VE ALSO ASKED THEM TO CONSIDER WHETHER THE CITY'S PURCHASING ABILITIES, UH, BOTH PURCHASING ABILITIES WOULD ALLOW US TO SECURE, UM, SUPPLIES, SOME OF THOSE SUPPLIES SO CHEAPLY THAT WE COULD ALSO OFFER THEM TO PEOPLE WHO COULD AFFORD TO PAY FOR SOME KIND OF FEE SO THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD PURCHASE, YOU COULD PURCHASE AN EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS KIT FROM THE CITY, POTENTIALLY AT A DISCOUNT FROM WHAT YOU MIGHT BUY ON YOUR OWN, AS WELL AS MAKING SOME FREE TO FAMILIES WHO, WHO NEED THAT ADDITIONAL SUPPORT.MY LAST QUESTION, WHICH IS RELATED TO THE TOPICS I JUST ADDRESSED THEIR AUDIT, UM, AND VARIOUS OTHER AUDITS IN THE PAST, TALKED ABOUT THE NEED FOR ADDITIONAL STAFF TRAINING ACROSS DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS, AND ALSO MORE COORDINATION WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS.
THERE HAVE BEEN REFERENCES HERE TODAY TO TRAINING.
IF YOU COULD FOLLOW UP ON WHAT TRAINING IS BEING PROVIDED TO STAFF AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS OR WHAT THE PLANS ARE FOR THAT.
AND WHAT, HOW ARE YOU, UM, COORDINATING WHAT IS, WHAT ARE THE PLANS MOVING FORWARD, POTENTIALLY A DIRECTOR ACHIEVES.
THIS IS A QUESTION FOR YOU ON HOW YOU'RE GOING TO COORDINATE WITH DIFFERENT COMMUNITY GROUPS.
IS THAT, HAVE YOU TASKED SOME OF YOUR STAFF MEMBERS WITH THAT ROLE? UM, YOU'VE MENTIONED THE RED CROSS AND AUSTIN DISASTER RELIEF NETWORK, BUT, YOU KNOW, WE HAD SO MANY SMALLER GROUPS AND I THINK, AGAIN AND AGAIN, UM, WHAT I HEARD FROM THE COMMUNITY TASK FORCE AND OTHERS IS THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE, THERE WAS A NEED FOR, UM, COORDINATION WITHIN THE EOC WITH THOSE SMALLER COMMUNITY GROUPS.
SO IF YOU COULD ADDRESS THAT QUESTION, PLEASE.
UM, WE'RE WORKING, UH, IN A COUPLE OF DIFFERENT AREAS.
ONE IS TO ENSURE THAT WE HAVE A CONSISTENT PUBLIC INDICATION MESSAGE, AND THAT'S WHAT THE ALREADY CENTRAL TEXAS, UH, CAMPAIGN IS GOING TO BE ABOUT.
WE'RE GOING TO BE FORMING AN ADVISORY GROUP THAT WILL INCLUDE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY TO HELP US THROUGH AND SHOW THAT WE HAVE A WAY OF DISSEMINATE THAT INFORMATION AND LOOKING AT HOW ON, WHAT IS THAT MESSAGE THAT WE WILL ALL WANT TO DISTRIBUTE CONSISTENTLY.
WE'RE WORKING SPECIFICALLY VERY CLOSELY WITH GABA, AND WE WANT TO USE THAT AS A PILOT PROJECT THAT CAN BE REPLICATED WITH OTHER, UH, OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS AND OTHER ASSOCIATIONS THAT WE IDENTIFY AS MOVE FORWARD.
IT ALL IS REALLY GOING TO COME TOGETHER AS WE DO THESE INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS WITH COMMUNITIES, UH, GROUPS AS WELL, AN OUR RESILIENCY HUB EFFORTS, BECAUSE THERE'S ALSO GOING TO BE A PREPAREDNESS COMPONENT, BUT THEN RESILIENCY HUB.
AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE NOT DUPLICATING THOSE EFFORTS, BUT, UH, MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE LEVERAGING THOSE AS MOVE FORWARD.
UH, WE FOCUS ON THOSE AGENCIES THAT, UM, HAVE WORKED IN THE DISASTER SPACE, UH, IN PRIOR YEARS.
AND WE WANTED TO KIND OF GET A BETTER IDEA OF WHAT THEIR CAPABILITIES ARE AND SEEING WHAT WE CAN, UH, WHAT THEY CAN LEVERAGE THIS FROM A PREPAREDNESS STANDPOINT, BECAUSE WE HAVE THOSE COLLABORATIONS ALREADY ESTABLISHED, BUT WE ARE ALSO OPEN AND WE'RE SEEKING WAYS OF HOW WE CAN ESTABLISH A PROCESS TO IDENTIFY THE OTHER COMMUNITY GROUPS, UH, AND, AND INVITE THEM TO A, A PROCESS WHERE WE CAN ALL WORK TOGETHER.
UH, HAD A MEETING YESTERDAY WITH THE TEXAS DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT THAT, THAT THERE ARE, ARE, ARE OFFERING ASSISTANCE ON HOW WE CAN COLLABORATE AND LOOK AT ESTABLISHING A COMMUNITY, A LOCAL COALITION OF COMMUNITY AGENCIES THAT FOCUS ON DISASTER IN RECOVERY EFFORTS FROM DISASTERS.
AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT WORKS THAT ARE THERE THAT IS ON THE WAIT RUN.
NOW I CAN SUMMARIZE IT IN THIS.
WE ARE GOING TO BE S UH, ESTABLISHING A PROCESS THAT ALLOWS FOR A COMMUNITY TO GOOSE, TO ENGAGE, UH, IN, IN DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND RECOVERY.
AND, AND, AND, AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO, TO TRY TO CREATE THAT CLEVELAND HOUSE, OUR INFORMATION, THIS PLATFORM WILL ALLOW US TO KIND OF COORDINATE WITH ALL THE DIFFERENT COMMUNITY GROUPS.
WE ARE TAKING OUR CERT PROGRAM AND TRYING TO MARRY IT, OR TIE IT WITH A NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS.
WE WANT TO HAVE THOSE COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS AT THE LOCAL GRASSROOTS EFFORTS, BECAUSE IN A DISASTER IS THOSE LOCAL NEIGHBORHOODS AT THE BETTER REPAIR THAT THEY ARE, THEN THE BETTER PREPARED THAT OUR COMMUNITY IS GOING TO BE.
THE MORE RESILIENT THE ENTIRE CITY WILL BE AS FAR AS TA UH, TRAIN, UH, THE PART OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING TRAINING THAT WE'RE CONDUCTING FOR STAFF, UH, WE HAVE, UH, COMMUNICATED WITH THE DEPARTMENTS, THE REQUIRED TRAINING THAT IS REQUIRED AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL THAT CONSISTS THE INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TRAINING FOR COORDINATION, RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY, THE INDEPENDENT STUDY COURSES, BUT EACH DEPARTMENT HAS IDENTIFIED SPECIFIC TRAINING THAT THEY REQUIRE OR THEIR PERSONNEL IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT THOSE EMERGENCY ACTIONS AND EMERGENCY ACTIVITIES
[01:55:01]
IN THE EVENT OF A WINTER STORM OR ANY OTHER FRUITS OF DISASTER.UM, I CAN MAYBE PROVIDE YOU SOME INFORMATION OF EXAMPLES OF WHAT THOSE DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTAL TRAINING EFFORTS THAT ARE, THAT HAVE BEEN TAKEN.
UM, BUT IN ESSENCE, IF THERE ARE AGENCIES OUT THERE THAT WANT TO BE, UH, THE ONE TO STEP FORWARD AND ENGAGE, I WOULD, THERE'S THREE BASIC COURSES THAT ARE, I WOULD RECOMMEND, AND YOU CAN GO TO THE FEMA INDEPENDENT STUDY COURSE, UH, AND LOOK FOR AN INDEPENDENT STUDY COURSE OF 100, 200 AND 700.
THOSE ARE THE THREE BASIC COURSES THAT WE WOULD WANT THEM TO COMPLETE SO THAT WE CAN ENSURE THAT WE'RE ALL SPEAKING OFF THE SAME SHEET OF MUSIC, A COMMON LANGUAGE, AND BE ABLE TO ENSURE THAT WE CAN MARRY UP TOGETHER, MAKE THOSE CONNECTIONS AND BE ABLE TO, UH, COLLABORATE AS OUR COMMUNITY MOVES FORWARD AFTER WINTER STORM YEAR.
UM, OTHER THAN CINEMA MANAGER, RIANO, UH, WE'VE ALSO CONDUCTED A SERIES OF TABLETOP EXERCISES.
WE DID S WHAT THE WEATHER SEMINAR IN NOVEMBER, WE FOLLOW IT UP WITH A, A COMMUNITY TABLETOP EXERCISE IN DECEMBER THAT CONSISTENT OF CITY COUNTY DEPARTMENTS, SOME OF OUR COMMUNITY PARTNERS, SOME OF OUR PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERS, EVEN, UM, LIKE ATV AND, UH, AND SAMSUNG AND OTHER MAJOR CORPORATIONS TO TALK ABOUT WINTER WEATHER RESPONSE ACTIVITIES.
UH, AND WE'VE ALSO ARE WORKING WITH A NAVAL POSTGRADUATE TO LOOK AT, UH, UH, PUTTING A, THE, THE, THEIR EXECUTIVE LEVEL SEMINAR FOCUSING ON, UH, ON, UH, ON A HAZARD WITH CASCADING IMPACTS.
UH, AND SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ALL THOSE FEDERAL PROGRAMS THAT CAN HELP US HELP OUR COMMUNITIES.
OUR CITY COUNTY GOVERNMENTS GET ORGANIZED, BUT AS WELL AS WE NEED TO BE CONDUCTING OTHER DEPARTMENTAL TABLETOP EXERCISES, WHICH ARE GOING ON, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE, PUBLIC WORKS CONDUCTED A TABLETOP EXERCISE ON HOW THEY CAN PRIORITIZE AND ENGAGE IN SANDY AND OPERATIONS DURING THE WINTER WEATHER.
AND THERE'S LOTS OF OTHER DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES THAT DEPARTMENTS ARE DOING AS THEY GOT THE MESSAGE.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PREPARED.
WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING THAT.
AND I'M ALSO HEARING REPORTS OF DIFFERENT SCHOOL DISTRICTS DOING THE SAME THING, BRINGING THEIR FOLKS TOGETHER, HAVING A DISCUSSION ABOUT PREPAREDNESS ABOUT HOW THEY WILL RESPOND AS WELL AS HOSPITALS AND SO FORTH.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT LEVELS OF ACTIVITY, PROBABLY MORE THAN I'M ACTUALLY FULLY AWARE OF.
UH, BUT IT'S, IT IS ACTIVITY THAT IS GOING TO HELP OUR COMMUNITY ENSURE THAT WE'RE PREPARED IN THE FUTURE.
THANK YOU, MR. ORTIZ, I'LL FAULT DIRECTOR.
ARCHIE'S, I'LL FOLLOW UP IN THE QUESTION AND ANSWER PORTAL, UM, JUST TO GET CLARITY ON IT'S GREAT IDEA TO HAVE CERT WORK THROUGH NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATIONS.
I THINK THAT IS ONE OF THE WAYS, ONE OF THE STRATEGIES THAT WAS USED IN THE PAST WHEN CERT WAS A LITTLE MORE POPULAR AMONG, AMONG OUR COMMUNITY.
LET US KNOW AS COUNCIL MEMBERS, HOW WE CAN HELP PROMOTE THAT WORD AND, UM, YOU KNOW, HELP YOU GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT THAT.
UM, I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN, IN SOME MORE DETAILS ABOUT TIMEFRAME AND WHEN SOME OF THESE THINGS ARE, ARE ROLLING OUT.
DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? UM, SO THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
UM, AS WE'RE SITTING HERE, THERE'S A SOUTHEAST AND BASTROP, UM, THAT'S BURNING, UM, UNFORTUNATELY COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED, UM, AS FAR AS WE KNEW AT THIS POINT IN TIME.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M CONCERNED ABOUT IS THAT WE'RE FIGHTING THE LAST WAR, WHICH WAS WHAT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY WITH WINTER STORM URI.
AND WHEREAS BEFORE WE WERE NOT SUPER FOCUSED ON COLD WEATHER NOW, WE'RE, HYPER-FOCUSED ON COLD WEATHER AND THERE WERE A LOT OF OTHER, UM, DISASTERS, UM, THE 132 RECOMMENDATIONS.
CLEARLY THERE ARE MANY OF THOSE THAT EXTEND OVER TO OTHER DISASTERS, UM, BUT IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY AS A CITY TO BE ABLE TO BE ABLE TO PIVOT AND TO PREPARE.
UM, SO HELP ME UNDERSTAND HOW THIS WORK WOULD HELP IN THESE OTHER DISASTER SITUATIONS AND WHAT WE ARE DOING.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE OTHER REPORTS THAT HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS THAT ARE FROM OTHER THINGS I'M OBVIOUSLY PARTICULARLY FOCUSED AND CONCERNED ABOUT WILDFIRE, AS YOU KNOW, UM, THIS IS GOING TO BE A REALLY RISKY YEAR.
IF WE DON'T GET WATER, IT'S GOING TO BE A POTENTIALLY RISKY MONTH IN JANUARY OF ALL MONTHS.
UM, YOU KNOW, NOT THE SUMMER, JANUARY, FEBRUARY, IF WE DON'T GET, UM, PRECIPITATION FOR WILDFIRE HERE IN AUSTIN.
SO CAN YOU SPEAK TO THAT SORT OF HOW THIS WORK IS
[02:00:01]
FITTING INTO THE BROADER PREPAREDNESS, NOT JUST PREPAREDNESS FOR COLD WEATHER? UH, TH THAT IS A REALLY, REALLY GOOD QUESTION.UM, UH, UM, DISASTERS ARE HAZARDS ARE YEAR ROUND.
UH, THE POTENTIAL OF A DISASTER, UH, CAN HAPPEN ANYTIME TIME OF THE YEAR.
UM, IN FACT, UM, WE WERE WORKING, WE ARE WORKING WITH A NEIGHBOR POSTGRADUATE, AND WE W WE HAD SCHEDULED, UH, A EXECUTIVE LEVEL EXECUTIVE LEVEL SEMINAR, UH, ON A COMPLEX RESPONSE TO A DISASTER INVOLVING WALL AND A FIRE CASCADED INTO OTHER DISASTERS, UH, IMPACTING POWER, IMPACTING WATER UTILITIES AND TRANSPORTATION.
UNFORTUNATELY, THAT WAS RESCHEDULED DUE TO THE, UH, UM, UH, THE AMR CRON, UH, IMPACT IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, THE INSTRUCTORS GOT SICK AND THEY COULD NOT COME IN TO, UH, TO CONDUCT THE COURSE.
WE ARE GOING TO RESCHEDULE THAT, UH, HERE REAL SOON, BUT I, I, I USE AS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT, WE CANNOT FOCUS ON JUST ONE HAZARD, UM, IN THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT BUSINESS.
WE L WE TALK ABOUT THAT FROM A ALL HAZARDS APPROACH.
AS WE PREPARE FOR WINTER STORM, THERE ARE SOME OF THOSE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE TRANSFERABLE TO OTHER TYPES OF RESPONSE, LIKE WILD LAND FIRE, OR EVEN HELPING US PREPARE FOR OUR, UH, HURRICANE SEASON OR A FLOODING SITUATION.
AND SO, UH, WE, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT AS WE GET ENGAGED AND WE PREPARE, AND WE CONDUCT TRAINING AND EXERCISES AND DRILLS, WE ARE ALSO KEEPING IN MIND HOW THOSE ARE GOING TO BE TRANSFERABLE TO THAT ALL HELPS US APPROACH THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, MAKING SURE THAT THAT COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES AND, AND, AND PLANS CAN BE SUCCESSFUL AND NOT JUST A WINTER STORM, BUT ALSO AVAILABLE TO US AND HELPFUL IN A FLOODING SITUATION AND A WILDLAND FIRE, UH, ANY TYPE OF EVENT, UM, THAT IS HOW WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT.
UM, IT IS NOT THE SEXY PART OF, OF THE PREPAREDNESS EFFORTS, BUT THE MORE WE CAN ENGAGE IN THESE TYPES OF ACTIVITIES, THE BETTER COMMUNITY MUSCLE MEMORY WE'RE GOING TO GENERATE THAT WILL HELP NOT ONLY OUR FIRST RESPONDERS AND OUR OTHER CRITICAL CITY AND COUNTY EMPLOYEES, BUT ALSO OUR COMMUNITY BE ABLE TO APPLY THE RIGHT TYPE OF ACTION DEPENDING OF WHAT DISASTER IS GOING TO IS TAKING PLACE.
IF WE FOCUS ON THOSE FROM A COMMUNITY STANDPOINT, AND WE FOCUS ON THOSE FOUR PREPAREDNESS MESSAGES OF BUILDING A KIT, EXCUSE ME, MAKE A PLAN, BUILD THE KID, UM, UM, KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR AND, UM, UH, AND, AND GETTING INFORMED.
THOSE CAN BE TRACEABLE TO REALLY ANY KIND OF A HAZARD, UH, THAT WHATEVER COMES IN OUR FUTURE, THE MAIN THING TO DO IS TO ENGAGE AND START THAT PROCESS AND NOT STOP IT.
I THINK, UM, I'D LOVE TO TALK WITH YOU MORE ABOUT THAT EXERCISE.
UM, THE FIRES THAT RECENTLY HAPPENED NEAR THE BOULDER AREA WITHIN THREE HOURS, A THOUSAND HOMES WERE BURNED.
UM, AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE MARSHALL FIRE IS A KEY EXAMPLE OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED IN WEST AUSTIN, IN SOUTH AUSTIN.
AND, UM, SO NONE OF WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, DOESN'T A SITUATION THAT HAPPENS THAT QUICKLY.
UM, AND, AND SO I THINK WE HAVE FURTHER WORK TO DO, THAT'S NOT REALLY COVERED BY THIS.
AND, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY WE CAME, WE INVITED YOU TO TALK ABOUT THE AFTER ACTION, BUT, BUT THE POINT OF THE QUESTIONS AND, UM, THE FRAMING OF HOW WE DID IT IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PREPARED FOR WHATEVER THE DISASTERS ARE, YOU KNOW, MAKING SURE WE UNDERSTAND WHY WE HAVEN'T NECESSARILY BEEN ABLE TO ACT ON ALL THE RECOMMENDATIONS WE'VE HAD IN THE PAST, UM, WHAT OUR PLANS TO IMPLEMENT THOSE IN THE FUTURE, WHAT ARE THE RESOURCES YOU NEED? UM, AND WE HAVE THIS BACKUP THAT YOU GAVE US ON THAT I WANNA, I WANNA DIVE INTO THAT MORE.
UM, I HAVEN'T READ THAT YET, SO I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT HERE.
UM, BUT I DO WANT TO, UM, ON THE BUDGET PART POINT OUT TO MR. ARIANO, YOU KNOW, IT IN THERE, WELL, THIS DIDN'T FIT WITH COUNCIL'S PRIORITIES.
I NEVER KNEW THAT HASTE, HE, SOME WAS ASKING FOR THOSE THINGS, WE DON'T ACTUALLY SEE YOUR UNMET NEED REQUESTS.
AND SO HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THAT'S NOT A PRIORITY OF COUNCIL WHEN I DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT YOU'VE REQUESTED THAT, UM, AND IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, YOU KNOW, WITH CERTAIN DEPARTMENT,
[02:05:02]
I DON'T THINK YOU CAN GUESS WHAT OUR PRIORITIES WOULD BE OVER THOSE.IF WE DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT WE'RE NOT PREPARED BECAUSE WE'RE NOT DOING X, UM, YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT HAVE MADE CHOICES OF DOING THAT OVER SOMETHING ELSE.
IF WE HAD KNOWN, YOU KNOW, THAT CHOICE WAS EVEN EVEN AN OPTION.
AND SO I THINK WE NEED TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BUDGET PROCESS AND SORT OF, UM, WHEN WE HAVE THOSE UNMET NEEDS AND THEN TO SAY, WELL, WE DIDN'T EVEN DO AN UNMET NEED PROCESS IN FISCAL YEAR 22, 20 OR 21, THEN HOW IN THE WORLD WOULD WE KNOW WHAT YOU NEED TO, TO BE ABLE TO BE PREPARED? UM, YOU KNOW, KEEPING 13 PEOPLE WHILE YOU'RE DOING COVID AND WE STILL HAVE THESE OTHER DISASTERS.
AND OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE MANY, MANY OTHER DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE ENGAGED.
IT IT'S HARD, IT'S HARD TO FATHOM.
SO I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE A FURTHER CONVERSATION ABOUT THAT PROCESS.
UM, AND, AND MR. REINER, IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK TO THAT, UM, THANK YOU, MAYOR, PRETEND FOR THAT, FOR THOSE COMMENTS.
AND CLEARLY WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO MEET, UH, COUNCIL'S GOALS AND INTENSE AND, AND PROVIDE YOU THE INFORMATION THAT'S IMPORTANT.
AND, AND CLEARLY I THINK PREPAREDNESS DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IS GOING TO BE HIGH ON THE LIST, JUST LIKE HOLDING ASSISTS, UH, TO GET A LITTLE CLOSER.
AND SO AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR THOSE REMARKS AND CLEARLY FOR ME, AND I THINK THE REST OF THE EXECUTIVE TEAM, WE UNDERSTAND THAT DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IS GOING TO BE HIGH ON THE LIST OF PRIORITIES FOR COUNSEL'S ATTENTION IN THIS COMING, UH, FYI 23 BUDGET DEVELOPMENT, AS WELL AS POTENTIALLY FOR US TO EXPLORE WHETHER THERE ARE MID YEAR BUDGET AMENDMENTS THAT WE MIGHT PROPOSE.
AND AGAIN, THE, THE BUDGET TEAM AS ALWAYS, WE TRY TO, OR THEY TRY TO, I'VE NOT BEEN PERSONALLY INVOLVED IN THOSE GO TO EACH OF THE COUNCIL OFFICE TO UNDERSTAND YOUR PRIORITIES.
AND CERTAINLY WE AS DIRECTORS AND, AND THE EXECUTIVE TEAM TRIED TO MARRY UP WHAT WE SEE AS, AS NEEDS AND SO FORTH.
SO DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IS CLEARLY ON THE TOP OF MY MIND AND WILL BE ON THE TOP OF THE PROCESS, UH, GOING FORWARD .
UM, AND SINCE YOU MENTIONED THE POTENTIAL FOR A MID-YEAR BUDGET, I WILL JUST, AGAIN, UNDERSCORE WHAT I'VE SAID BEFORE THAT I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD BE WAITING FOR THE FISCAL YEAR 23 PROCESS.
IF WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE GIVEN THAT WE HAVE ALL THE REPORTS AND WE CAN PRIORITIZE AND INVEST IN THE RIGHT PLACES, UM, AND GIVEN HOW CHALLENGING IT IS TO HIRE RIGHT NOW, I THINK THAT WE SHOULD BE MOVING FORWARD, UM, WITH MID-YEAR BUDGET AMENDMENTS, IF WE CAN IDENTIFY CLEARLY WHAT THOSE INVESTMENTS NEED TO BE, AND WE DON'T HAVE THOSE RESOURCES ALREADY COMING IN FROM OTHER OTHER SOURCES.
UM, I THINK ONE OF THE, YOU MENTIONED ON SLIDE 10, THERE WAS THE, THE LIST WITH THE PRIORITIES AND, AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF.
WOMEN WOULD BE ABLE TO SEE THAT.
UM, CAN YOU READ THE QUESTION A LITTLE? I'M SURE THEY UNDERSTOOD IT.
THE, THE, THE PRIORITIZATION THAT, UH, LINDA WENT THROUGH, UM, WHEN CAN WE LIKE ACTUALLY SEE THAT PRIORITIZATION AND HOW THAT WAS FOCUSED? IT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE TO, UM, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE AN INTERNAL PORTAL AND AN EXTERNAL FACING PORTAL.
THE INTERNAL PORTAL IS THE ONE THAT'S BEEN WORKED ON RIGHT NOW, WHICH HAS THE MOST OF THE DETAIL, AND THAT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE.
UM, WE ACTUALLY HAD A MEETING.
NEXT ONE WAS SAYING, THERE'S A SPOCK MEETING TODAY TO INTRODUCE IT.
AND WE'RE GONNA S WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO TEST IT OUT WITHIN THE NEXT, UH, COUPLE OF WEEKS THAT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE.
AND THEN THE EXTERNAL ONE WON'T TAKE, IT'LL BE LESS TIME THAN THAT, WHERE IT CAN BE AVAILABLE SO THAT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE THE RECOMMENDATIONS ALONG WITH, UH, WITH THE DESCRIPTIONS.
SO WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH IT SHOULD BE AVAILABLE.
AND I APPRECIATE YOU FOCUSING ON THE ONES THAT WOULD HAVE THE BIG IMPACT THAT DIDN'T COST A LOT OF MONEY, BUT I'M WILLING TO SPEND MONEY ON STUFF IF THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE A HIGH IMPACT.
AND SO I ALSO WANT TO SEE, YOU KNOW, I WANT TO SEE THOSE, THOSE THINGS.
WE CAN'T EXPECT TO BE READY FOR THESE DISASTERS IF WE'RE NOT MAKING THE INVESTMENTS THAT WE NEED.
UM, MY LAST QUESTION IS WITH RESPECT TO COUNCIL MEMBER TRAINING, UM, WE'VE BEEN ASKING FOR COUNCIL MEMBER TRAINING FOR A LONG TIME.
UM, WHAT IS THE PLAN FOR GETTING US COUNCIL MEMBER TRAINING? I AM STARTING MY SIXTH YEAR AND I'VE NEVER BEEN OFFERED A SINGLE WIT OF EMERGENCY TRAINING.
UH, I BELIEVE WE'RE SCHEDULED AT THE, AT YOUR COUNCIL WORK SESSION ON THE 15TH, UH, TO, TO CONDUCT THAT TRAINING.
IT'S JUST GREAT LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.
UM, SO CUSTOMER POOL, DID YOU HAVE ANYTHING RUN IT UP? OKAY.
UM, IF THERE ARE NO OTHER QUESTIONS I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE.
UH, WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING THE CONVERSATIONS IF WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT ANYTHING THAT WAS PRESENTED TO US ON THE DIOCESE
[02:10:01]
GETS POSTED IN THE BACKUPS.SO OUR COLLEAGUES AND THE PUBLIC CAN SEE THAT AND AS APPROPRIATE ON THE AFTER ACTION PAGE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT.
UM, AND WE'LL BE IN TOUCH ABOUT THE APPROPRIATE CADENCE, UM, FOR COMING BACK TO SPEAK WITH US.
AND I THINK I SEE COUNCIL MEMBER TO-DO'S HAND UP TOO.
UM, I JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE INVITATION TO JOIN YOUR COMMITTEE.
UM, I WAS ABLE TO LISTEN IN ON THE DISPARITY STUDY.
UM, EVEN THOUGH I WASN'T LOGGED INTO THE MEETING, I WATCHED IT ON ATX N AND I VERY MUCH LOOK FORWARD TO THE FURTHER INFORMATION THAT WILL BE COMING OUT ABOUT THAT REPORTING.
THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER LS FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND LODGING THAT PROCESS COUNCIL MEMBER TOPO SUPER QUICKLY.
I JUST WANTED TO FOLLOW UP ON A POINT THAT YOU RAISED COUNCIL MEMBER ALTER, UM, REGARDING UNMET NEEDS.
SO THERE, THERE USED TO BE A DOCUMENT THAT WE WOULD ENTER PRESENTATION THAT WE WOULD RECEIVE AS PART OF THE BUDGET CALLED HORIZON DOCUMENT.
AND THEN I THINK OVER THE TIME IT CHANGED TO AN UNMET NEED DOCUMENTS.
AND I, I BELIEVE AS SOME OF THE BUDGET FORMAT HAS CHANGED, IT'S, THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY INCLUDED AS PART OF THE BUDGET.
AND I THINK THAT'S PART OF WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE.
SO I WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST GLOBALLY, UH, YOU KNOW, A GLOBAL CHANGE THERE.
I, I, UM, I THINK THAT'S AN, A VERY IMPORTANT, I THINK IT HELPS US DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU SUGGESTED REALLY UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, IF A DEPARTMENT IS COMING FORWARD AND SAYING THEY DON'T HAVE THE PR, THEY DON'T HAVE THE RESOURCES THAT HELPS US REALLY UNDERSTAND AND MEASURE IT AGAINST OUR OTHER ARTICULATED PRIORITIES SO THAT WE CAN BE SURE THAT THEIR CITY MANAGER CAN BE SURE THAT, THAT, UM, THE PRIORITIES THEY ARE, YOU KNOW, THAT WE'RE, THAT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD AND FUNDING THE THINGS AREAS OF OUR BUDGET THAT NEED ATTENTION.
UM, AND AS PRIORITIES SHIFT THAT OUR BUDGET IS ALIGNED WITH THAT.
SO CITY MANAGER OR ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, ARIANO, I WOULD ASK THAT YOU CARRY THAT SUGGESTION BACK TO OUR MANAGER AND THAT IF THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE CONVERSATION, THAT WE SCHEDULED TIME AT A WORK SESSION FOR IT, BUT I BELIEVE THAT THAT'S A REALLY CRITICAL PART OF OUR BUDGET, AND I'D LIKE TO SEE IT RETURN.
AND I WILL JUST KNOW THAT I HAD ASKED THE OTTERS OF US TO BE PREPARED, YOU KNOW, TO SPEAK IF THEY HAD OTHER THINGS.
I THINK WE COVERED A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT YOU HAD AT LEAST, UM, RAISED WITH ME.
AND IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK AT A FUTURE, UM, AUDIT AND FINANCE MEETING, IF THERE'S ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, I FEEL LIKE WE COVERED THE TOPICS THAT YOU RAISED, UM, AS TO WHY THINGS MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN BEEN DONE.
SO, SO I THINK WE'LL, WE'LL, WE'LL SAVE THE TIME THERE.
UM, WE DON'T HAVE TO TAKE ANY ACTION ON THIS ITEM, THE OTHER ITEMS THAT ARE ON THE AGENDA.
UM, I THINK WE WILL, IF THERE'S NOT OBJECTION, WE WILL POSTPONE, UM, THE WORKFORCE.
UM, SORRY, I WANT TO GET MY NUMBERS RIGHT HERE.
WE WILL, UM, POSTPONE ITEM THREE TO, UM, HOPEFULLY OUR NEXT MEETING WHEN WE HAVE SOME OTHER FOLLOW-UP AUDITS, THAT'LL BE COMING BACK.
[6. Identify items to be discussed at future meetings.]
HAVE OUR, I CAN FIND MY NOTES ON IT.WE HAVE OUR UPCOMING MEETINGS, UM, AND WE ARE ANTICIPATING A DISCUSSION OF THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROCESS AND THE BONDING, UM, AT A FUTURE MEETING, UM, THERE WILL BE A TRAFFIC SAFETY FOLLOW-UP AUDIT, UM, JOINT SUSTAINABILITY HAS BYLAWS.
UM, THERE'S A STREET CUTS FOLLOW UP AUDIT, UM, AND THEN THERE'S GOING TO BE AN EMS BRIEFING ON, UM, THE BUDGET RIDER.
UM, WE'LL LOOK INTO WHETHER WE NEED TO EXTEND THAT MEETING TO BE BEYOND THE TWO HOURS.
UM, JUST TO GIVE US A LITTLE BIT MORE BREATHING ROOM.
I THINK TODAY WAS A REALLY IMPORTANT DISCUSSION.
UM, MS. STOKES, DO YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING? YOU COVERED EVERYTHING.
I WAS GOING TO ADD A COUPLE OF THOSE AND YOU'VE ALREADY CAPTURED THEM.
I JUST THINK IT'S HELPFUL FOR PEOPLE TO KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING.
THANK YOU FOLKS FOR STAYING A LITTLE BIT EXTRA TODAY.
I THINK THIS IS A IMPORTANT CONVERSATION.
IT REALLY MATTERS TO THE PUBLIC THAT, UM, WE CONTINUE TO BE PUSHING FORWARD.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I WILL ADJOURN THIS MEETING.
IT IS 1148 AND THE AUDIT FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING IS ADJOURNED.