[0:07] You are watching a meeting of the austin city council
[0:12] with mayor kirk watson, mayor pro, tim
[0:16] cheadle, vela council members natasha harper madison,
[0:21] vanessa fuentes, jose velazquez,
[0:27] ryan alter, crystal lane,
[0:33] mike siegel, paige ellis,
[0:39] zoe cadry, mark uchin,
[0:45] city attorney deborah thomas, city clerk
[0:49] erica brady and city manager tc broad.
[0:59] good morning everybody. It's 10 o'clock in the morning on april 23rd, 2026,
[1:03] and I will call to order this regular meeting of the austin city council.
[1:08] uh, we are, we have a quorum of the city council present and we're meeting in the city council chambers,
[1:12] which are located in city hall at 3 0 1 west second street in austin, texas.
[1:18] uh, members the order of the day will be that in just a second, I'll read some changes and
[1:22] corrections into the record. We will then go to our consent items.
[1:26] uh, there are two items that have been pulled from the consent agenda. Item number six
[1:30] and item number 29. Item number six and item number 29
[1:35] have been pulled from the consent agenda. I will also,
[1:39] by the way, read late back, uh, uh, read make for the, for the record that
[1:43] you have late backup, but I'll do that in just a second. Once we finish the
[1:47] consent speakers, uh, we will then go to, uh, I'll
[1:51] call for a motion and a second on the consent agenda. We will have discussion from the council.
[1:56] we will then either go to the a hs austin housing finance corporation
[2:00] board of directors meeting, where we'll recess the austin city council, and I'll call that board
[2:05] of directors meeting to order, or we will just go to the pooled items. We'll just see how the
[2:09] morning goes. We have a number of non-consent items. Uh, items
[2:13] 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46
[2:18] are, uh, non-consent items. Also items 48 49, 50, 51, 52, 53,
[2:25] and 54 at noon. We will pretty
[2:29] much stop wherever we are and we will take up a time certain, which is our public
[2:34] communications, uh, at, at at noon. We will also recess
[2:38] at around 1230 to 1235 for live music, and
[2:42] I anticipate that recess will go until about one 10 at some
[2:47] point during the course of the day. And with that, without objection, uh, I'll just try
[2:51] to manage when the best time for us to do that. We will go into an executive session
[2:55] and at two o'clock, of course, we have a time certain we will get to that as close to
[2:59] two o'clock as we can, which is our zoning and, and neighborhood planning items.
[3:03] members, for the record, let me state that you have late backup.
[3:08] you have late backup in, uh, that has been posted,
[3:12] and you have it on the agenda. It relates to board
[3:16] and commissions, nominations and waivers. I wanna call that out
[3:20] for the record. In addition, for the record, uh, let me read some changes and
[3:25] corrections. Item number six, uh, you should, should not say district
[3:29] one. It should say district two, item number 41.
[3:33] it should add council member krista lane as one of the sponsors.
[3:38] item number 61 is withdrawn. Item number 62
[3:42] is withdrawn. And members, as I've already noted, items
[3:46] six and 29 have been pulled from the consent agenda.
[3:50] unless there's questions or objection, we will now go to
[3:55] speakers that have signed up on the consent agenda. And, and I don't see any,
[3:59] so any, uh, questions or, uh, or objections.
[4:03] so, um, I do see some speakers, and so we'll go to those speakers.
[4:08] thank you, mayor. We'll begin with in-person speakers on item one, jen
[4:12] robo.
[4:31] good morning, counsel. I'm jen robo, a longtime austin resident.
[4:36] I'm addressing the homeless strategic plan from the council's meeting on march 26th.
[4:40] first, I thank the homeless strategies and operations for their planned
[4:45] cleanups. Taxpayers have asked for this, and it shows that the city
[4:49] is working to maintain public spaces. While I appreciate the city gathering
[4:53] data to assess our strategies, effectiveness, significant gaps
[4:58] remain in data collection and housing options. To truly understand homelessness
[5:02] in austin, we need better information about where our homeless neighbors are coming from,
[5:07] such as did they move here by choice or were they sent by another municipality
[5:12] when they arrived? Did they come for a job or were they already homeless? Have
[5:16] they ever held a job in austin or had their own housing? Here, the
[5:20] data matters to taxpayers who support helping local austin neighbors,
[5:24] but oppose using public resources for homeless migrants, knowing if
[5:28] our policies attract homelessness is essential for public trust and effective solutions.
[5:34] we also face gaps in housing options. Many homeless neighbors refuse shelter,
[5:39] yet our strategy relies almost exclusively on traditional models
[5:43] and fails to offer legal non-traditional alternatives that respect
[5:47] the rights of both the unhoused and housed. Our city code
[5:51] makes it a crime to camp in public areas that are
[5:55] not designated as a camping area by the parks and recreation department.
[6:00] this indicates that park parks and rec has the authority to designate
[6:05] such areas, and austin has nearly 300 acres of undeveloped
[6:09] parkland. Taxpayers do not want encampments in our neighborhoods on streets,
[6:14] along trails, creeks, or swimming holes. However, creating public camping
[6:18] areas outside these zones with clear environmental and public safety guidelines
[6:23] could provide viable options for those who decline shelter. These gaps
[6:27] come from addressing the issue too narrowly and excluding taxpayers as stakeholders.
[6:31] thank you for your time. We will move next
[6:35] to item three, bill bunch. Katie cam,
[6:42] if your name's been called, please come forward if you wish to speak.
[6:47] mr. Bunch is passing on item number three, katie cam,
[6:53] I don't see katie cam on. Perfect.
[6:57] we'll move to hang, hang before we go to item number five. Item number four,
[7:01] members. Uh, item number four is a legal matter with
[7:06] a proposal for a settlement. So I'm going to ask, uh, our law
[7:10] department to come forward and make a brief presentation with regard to item number four.
[7:18] good morning, mr. Mayor. Thank you, uh, mayor pro tem, members of the council.
[7:23] I am assistant city attorney jeremy thompson. I'm here today to recommend, uh,
[7:27] that you approve a settlement payment and a personal injury lawsuit that appears on your
[7:31] agenda is item number four. Item number four, our mijo versus
[7:36] city of austin. We recommend that you prove a payment of $120,000
[7:41] to settle the lawsuit titled gustavo, our mijo v, city of austin,
[7:46] dba austin energy. This lawsuit relates to a january, 2018
[7:51] car accident involving an austin energy vehicle where plaintiff seeks payment
[7:55] for injuries allegedly sustained in the accident. In exchange for the payment,
[8:00] plaintiff will release any and all claims against the city from the accident and will also dismiss
[8:04] his lawsuit filed in the district court of travis county. The austin city
[8:09] attorney's office recommends that you approve payment based upon these terms. I'm
[8:13] available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you members. Does anybody have questions of our legal
[8:17] staff? Thank you very much for the presentation. Uh, I'll turn back to
[8:21] the city clerk to go to item number five on item number five,
[8:25] bill bunch.
[8:30] mr. Bunch is passing on item number five.
[8:35] item number seven, david levesque, hayden
[8:39] bagot. Item signed up on six. Item number six is
[8:43] I indicated earlier, has been pulled from the consent agenda, mr. Bunch.
[8:47] okay, thank you. Thank you. Please state your name and begin speaking.
[8:52] mayor and counsel, thank you for the opportunity to speak. Speak today. My name is hayden
[8:56] bagget and I'm here on behalf of the coalition for clean, affordable, reliable energy
[9:01] or ccare to support the utility scale solar and distributed battery storage
[9:05] contracts, as well as the resolution to expand residential solar and battery access
[9:09] today. Collectively, these items help the utility fulfill
[9:14] its resource generation plan and maintain its renewable energy production
[9:18] as a percentage of load, while also offering financial benefits to customers. Thank
[9:22] you. Thank you. Moving
[9:26] on to item eight. Paul robbins is bobby lavinsky.
[9:31] here, you'll have time donated. It'll
[9:35] be four minutes.
[9:40] counsel, uh,
[9:44] a few days ago you received a letter from me and four other
[9:49] commissioners from the resource management commission asking you
[9:53] to delay item eight on your agenda. This is a
[9:57] contract for electric storage batteries located at individual
[10:02] buildings in the austin area. We have an engaged
[10:06] commission, and I feel sure that we could have gotten at least
[10:10] eight out of our 10 members to sign on to this letter,
[10:15] but I limited it to five members out of concern for
[10:19] quorum rules. I began my involvement
[10:23] in austin's affairs in 1977,
[10:28] opposing the south texas nuclear project. In a five year period,
[10:33] uh, the nuke experienced a 460%
[10:38] overrun. This early experience greatly influenced my
[10:42] skepticism of utility proposals that do not
[10:46] offer enough information to understand them.
[10:52] in 2008, austin energy proposed a
[10:56] biomass powered generator with very little time
[11:00] to evaluate it. Despite warnings about its
[11:04] cost from environmentalists council, approve the contract,
[11:08] and today it is the utility's most expensive
[11:13] source of electricity. The cost was so
[11:17] high that mayor steve adler ran against it in his first campaign.
[11:23] uh, we, the commission are generally enthusiastic
[11:27] about storage batteries and their potential to
[11:32] be coordinated as virtual power plants. And
[11:36] I have heard good things about this specific company. The
[11:40] problem arises because there's no information in
[11:44] the backup material about the contract's cost effectiveness
[11:49] to austin energy's rate payers or participating customers.
[11:54] this is a $41 million contract.
[11:59] uh, where is the cost benefit analysis after
[12:04] the failure of prop q? Every single line item in your
[12:08] budget is under a microscope. There is no time
[12:12] to, this is no time to abandon fiscal caution. The
[12:16] utility has publicly stated its intent to raise
[12:20] rates 5% a year for the next four
[12:24] years. I've worked around energy policy
[12:28] for almost 50 years. I have personally attempted to analyze
[12:33] the sparse amount of data in the backup material, but little
[12:37] information there seems to point to a cost of
[12:41] about 19 cents kilowatt hour contrasted to
[12:45] retail austin energy power of about 11 cents
[12:50] per kilowatt hour in 2025. The contract
[12:55] might still be cost justified. There may be savings from
[12:59] reduced air cot fees or savings from lower peak demand
[13:03] costs, but the utility needs to be transparent and
[13:07] explain what these benefits are. I would not expect
[13:12] more than a month's delay to get more clarity on the numbers.
[13:16] again, this is a $41 million contract and the first
[13:21] of what might be a growing trend. The public needs
[13:25] to know the benefits. I would think you would want to boast about
[13:29] them. Uh, take the time to do this right.
[13:34] again, please get rate payers a cost benefit number.
[13:39] thank you. Continuing on item eight, david
[13:43] lavesque and hayden bagot.
[13:48] if your name's been called, please come forward.
[13:54] I don't, I don't see any movement.
[13:59] we'll move to item 10, jennifer robo and bill bunch.
[14:23] good morning counsel. I'm jen robo longtime austin resident.
[14:27] I'm speaking on item 10, the proposed issuance of bonds for the walnut creek
[14:31] wastewater treatment plant. I support necessary investments in our wastewater
[14:36] infrastructure, however, approving this bond without addressing known
[14:40] upstream contamination in the walnut creek watershed raises serious
[14:44] concerns about fiscal responsibility and long-term risk to taxpayers.
[14:49] my first concern is financial stewardship. The walnut creek plant processes
[14:53] water from a wa watershed contaminated for over 50 years by leachate
[14:58] from the closed travis county landfill. On highway two 90,
[15:02] independent testing has shown elevated levels of lead barium and arsenic
[15:06] well above epa acceptable limits flowing directly toward the plant.
[15:11] unaddressed upstream pollution could dramatically increase future operating
[15:15] costs. Maintenance and treatment challenges all passed on to
[15:19] austin taxpayers. My next concern is regulatory oversight.
[15:24] when residents raised water quality issues, watershed protection
[15:28] staff said they would ask travis county if they wanted the city involved in the stakeholder
[15:32] group. This inverts the relationship. The city of austin
[15:36] is the regulator. Travis county is a defendant in a state environmental enforcement
[15:41] action over the landfill, regulators should not need a polluter's
[15:45] permission to investigate their own watershed. My last concern
[15:49] is accountability. The environmental commission tried to advance a
[15:53] resolution for water quality testing in walnut creek, but city legal
[15:57] intervened to block it. So the city avoids accountability by staying ignorant
[16:01] of the data. The plant expansion may be necessary, but proceeding
[16:06] while actively avoiding upstream accountability turns a needed investment into
[16:10] a far larger liability for austin's future. Thank you for your time
[16:15] mr. Bunch. Thank you mayor. Council members for your service to
[16:20] our community. Uh, bill bunch, executive director will save our springs
[16:24] alliance, uh, speaking again, uh, and urging you to
[16:28] stop or slow down on this massive expansion to
[16:32] the, uh, walnut creek wastewater treatment plant. From 75 million gallons
[16:37] per day capacity to a hundred million gallons of day per day
[16:41] capacity, um, we simply don't have the water
[16:45] to ever need that much capacity, um, to convert
[16:49] into sewage. Uh, we are in a water crisis. Uh, you're
[16:54] also facing severe fiscal restraints as you know it. Uh,
[16:58] and this project just in the last six months, ballooned from
[17:02] a billion dollars to $1.6 billion.
[17:07] now, I appreciate the item before you is a $59 million loan.
[17:11] just a small piece of this. Um, but I urge you to
[17:16] slow down on this. There definitely needs to be some flood management at
[17:20] the site, but we really need to have this wastewater treated
[17:24] upstream, decentralized, where it can be reused
[17:29] on site or close to where it's needed. Simply doing things the
[17:33] same way we've always done 'em, uh, has got to stop.
[17:38] times are have changed. We're in a whole new reality, a whole
[17:42] new water reality and, and technology reality.
[17:46] and also urge you to listen to what ms. Robosho said. You have
[17:50] se have had very serious upstream pollution
[17:54] problems with samsung and others, discharging
[17:58] toxic materials into the wastewater system, doing
[18:03] damage to the functioning of this plant. Um,
[18:07] and if any of all, any of that continues, uh,
[18:12] you're gonna have way more financial problems on your hands.
[18:16] so we really need to scrutinize this project. Thank you.
[18:21] moving to item 30, synovia joseph,
[18:27] ms. Joseph, ms. Joseph,
[18:32] I don't believe she's here. Item 31, bill bunch.
[18:39] mr. Bunch is passing on item 31.
[18:44] item 33, bill bunch.
[19:04] good morning. Uh, bill bunch, executive director save our springs alliance. This
[19:08] item is to approve a service extension request to
[19:12] a 2.85 acre tract, uh, very close to barton creek and
[19:16] the barton creek watershed. Um, your environmental commission
[19:20] recommended against this, your staff had also been
[19:24] recommending against this. Uh, you have a divided vote from your wa
[19:29] uh, water and wastewater commission. Um, it's a fairly small
[19:33] tract, but you are now challenged with the
[19:37] ability to make sure that once they get this water and
[19:41] sewer service, that they don't completely change their plans
[19:46] and overdevelop the tract. Uh, you know about the
[19:50] state law, uh, changes that are in place.
[19:54] and so, uh, would urge you to be extra careful,
[19:58] uh, doing this and to follow your environmental commissioners
[20:04] who did the deep dive on it and recommended against it. Thank you for
[20:08] your consideration. Item 34, carlos leone and
[20:12] bill bunch.
[20:27] so at carlos leon, first and foremost, cios for letting me say why
[20:31] not to do business with ka metro. On item 34, april 17th,
[20:36] guilty blackmail. Obama bus driver 3 2 2 4 7 0
[20:40] intentionally initiated an escalated abusive controlling behavior against
[20:45] me to disrespectfully, tried denying me what's legally mine
[20:49] to accommodate and serve him. Though he must accommodate and serve me because
[20:53] he's a public servant like you per texas. Penal code 1.07
[20:57] a 41 a yesterday guilty older middle eastern obama
[21:01] male driver of bus 2 8 0 6, refuse to board
[21:06] me falsely claiming I was banned. He refused to look at the cat metro
[21:10] letter I had in hand saying I could ride and refused to call
[21:14] radio dispatch to verify him blatantly disregarding truth
[21:19] rules. Protocol chain of command and constitutional
[21:23] law triggered an irate male passenger to attack me
[21:27] with assault by threat and assault by contact, explicitly
[21:32] threatening to smash his metal thermos in hand on my skull,
[21:36] and shoving me off the bus for lawfully standing my ground. These
[21:40] cat metro attacks appear to be continuing retaliation
[21:44] against me for whistle blowing cat metro senior director
[21:49] of public safety and emergency management, darrell jamal's,
[21:53] alleged crimes a pd special investigations unit. Lieutenant
[21:58] breal said, my report is still being reviewed, a prerequisite
[22:02] to launching an official investigation toward criminally prosecuting
[22:07] jamele. Reread my report that I mail emailed all
[22:11] of you february 25th via the city clerk because
[22:15] kat metro, ceo president and dottie watkins
[22:20] hasn't neither stopped this nor fired jamel, she's no
[22:24] better kick corrupt cat metro to the curb. In
[22:28] jesus' name I pray. Amen
[22:32] mr. Bunch. He's passing on that item. Moving to item 35,
[22:37] carlos leon, bill bunch. Join carlos leon,
[22:42] first and foremost s for letting me speak to item 35 issues.
[22:46] your library commission allegedly has not updated you since august, 2023.
[22:52] apls use rules two b three 15, d one and 15
[22:57] d two still have not complied with your superseding rules
[23:01] for public use of city properties or paramount constitutional
[23:06] law. August, 2025, I filed allegations of wrongdoing
[23:10] against hannah terrell with the city auditor to hold her accountable
[23:14] for her alleged criminal behavior and force her to follow city code
[23:19] one dash two to revise a pl rules to comply with your rules in
[23:23] federal law. September, 2025, her boss, assistant
[23:27] city manager, stephanie hayden howard, said she was working on those rules
[23:32] and would update the city auditor once done yet, as of
[23:36] today, nothing's changed worse. Hayden howard allegedly
[23:40] ignored terrell's transgressions to help her boss city
[23:44] manager, broad necks wrongly reward terrell's in subordination
[23:49] by fraudulently promoting terrell to director over true top candidate
[23:53] kathy donlin. Thus expect me to soon file
[23:57] allegations of wrongdoing against hayden, howard, and broad necks
[24:02] with the city auditor to help you take action against them. And
[24:06] terrell, following your february 26th ordinance
[24:10] to safeguard public confidence in city services by
[24:14] identifying and implementing performance enhancements via assessment
[24:19] requiring external independence, accountability, and transparency.
[24:24] if you don't do that, you are just as guilty as them because
[24:28] to him, that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him,
[24:33] it is sin. James four 17 king james.
[24:38] in jesus' name I pray. Amen. Praise god,
[24:42] our true lord. Heck yeah. Moving
[24:46] to item 37, we will now begin with remote speakers.
[24:51] before we do item 37, item 35 is the one that I pointed out. We have
[24:55] additional backup, uh, on item number 35, not just
[24:59] that item that he was talking about, but the other boards and commissions as well. So
[25:03] I'll just point that out to you. I'm sorry, go ahead. 37, beginning
[25:08] with nisha abram.
[25:13] hello city council. My name is nisha abraham. I am a longtime austin
[25:17] member austin constituent and, uh, from district, um, seven.
[25:22] I wanted to call and speak about, um, the safe to call, uh, resolution, and
[25:26] I would just really like to encourage the, the city council to consider passing
[25:30] this resolution. Um, it really affects the fact that we can't call
[25:34] our police officers, uh, our most vulnerable populations
[25:38] like victims of domestic violence, immigrants, um, you know, government go
[25:42] governor abbott is making it impossible for, for us that I include myself in this
[25:47] to get help and safety that we need. Um, I really encourage us not to give in
[25:51] to governor abbott's pressures to cut funding. It's a really low blow to take,
[25:55] um, especially with our most vulnerable populations. Um, and I also wanna mention
[25:59] that this measure has brought a lot of stakeholders and groups together that have a lot of deep knowledge
[26:04] of criminal justice. So we know that this is a vetted measure and that it really makes sense
[26:08] and we need public safety for people who need help, but might be scared to ask.
[26:12] um, I myself have had to call on police officers multiple times in the 20 years that I've lived
[26:16] here in austin, um, and, uh, I've become more and more afraid of calling them,
[26:20] and I think that's a really, you know, problematic time that we live in. So really
[26:25] encouraging city council to go ahead and pass the safe to call resolution and I see the rest
[26:29] of my time. Thank you.
[26:34] continuing with the remote speakers on item 37 j popham.
[26:43] uh, thank you mayor and council for the opportunity to speak on this important issue. Uh, my
[26:47] name is jay popham. I'm a resident of district two and a member of austin democratic
[26:51] socialist of america stepping away from work for a moment to speak in my personal capacity.
[26:56] uh, the fourth amendment protects the right of every person in the united states to be safe from unreasonable search
[27:00] and seizure. It requires that if the federal government wants to take you from your home, they need
[27:04] probable cause in the approval of the judge, the trump administration and its junior partners
[27:09] in our state government have discarded this bedrock requirement of the united states law
[27:13] as part of a spectacle of cruelty that they expect will pay political dividends for them in november and
[27:17] beyond. Make no mistake, what they're proposing is nothing less than
[27:21] a two-tiered race-based system of law enforcement in the state of texas aimed
[27:25] at destroying families and trampling our constitutional rights for one group, judicial
[27:29] oversight, semblance of due process and the chance of legal remedy for the other group, a life
[27:34] in the shadows, constant threat of permanent separation and removal, and the painful calculation of
[27:38] whether to call for help from your city or suffer alone, leaving yourself and your loved
[27:42] ones in danger in the hope of just one more day. We're a country of loss.
[27:46] we aspire to one standard of justice and we will not abandon our neighbors regardless of the state threats.
[27:51] item 37 establishes a stakeholder process to determine how to ensure universal
[27:55] access to city services, including public safety. While preserving our fundamental
[27:59] rights, I like to talk about how socialism is about
[28:03] positive beliefs. Stability is public safety. We will look after one another.
[28:08] we will work together to solve our shared problems. We will not submit to bullies
[28:13] the embattled state government and the disgraced, but not yet discarded. Attorney general ken
[28:17] facts than our bullies desperate for any distraction they can find. From the disastrous state
[28:21] of the national and global economy, the gruesome wars of choice, we have waged and supported
[28:26] and their total submission to the billionaire class in christian nationalism. Cornell laws
[28:30] legal information institute provide us with a timely warning. Today, protection
[28:34] under the fourth amendment can be waived if one voluntarily consents to
[28:38] or does not object to evidence collected during a warrantless search or seizure.
[28:43] I believe they're always trying to find a way in the first and always. Thank you. You give up first. Thank
[28:47] you. Do not give up. Do not consent to this extortion. We'll
[28:51] now move back to in-person speakers on item 37, and we will begin
[28:56] with spanish speakers. Leticia mendez.
[29:01] eva aldo, kayla erve,
[29:08] manuel garcia.
[29:13] soma franco.
[29:38] I'm sorry, but we, we,
[29:42] our rules don't allow if you're, if you're here to mm-hmm .
[30:08] yeah, please explain.
[30:14] thank you.
[30:30] hello, my name is catalina juarez mendez, and I'm here to ask you to
[30:34] vote for item 37.
[30:51] on june 15, we left our home, my husband and I, and we were going
[30:56] to church.
[31:18] so when we were passing a light, we were stopped by a trooper that told us
[31:22] that they needed to check our lights, and they told us that everything was
[31:26] okay, but we needed to go to a gas station that was 10 minutes away.
[31:32] car cannot track her.
[31:47] they told us to go to a gas station because they only needed to check for weapons
[31:51] or drugs and that everything was okay, and then we could leave after that. But
[31:55] when we got to the gas station, we were surrounded by three cars
[31:59] and about six ice agents.
[32:07] we were handcuffed and they were, didn't even make any questions.
[32:23] we were taken to a detention center. I was there, uh, for 10 days.
[32:27] my husband was there for three months and he was then deported to mexico.
[32:47] they also put an electronic bracelet and they said that I couldn't work anymore.
[32:51] then I lost my house. That was my home, my that my home for my children and
[32:55] my grandson and I can't work anymore.
[33:23] so I couldn't work anymore. I couldn't pay for my, my bills. When
[33:27] I went to court, my lawyer couldn't go with me, so that's when I met the advocates
[33:31] from grassroots. They are the only ones that have come with me, and
[33:35] now I am living in a nightmare.
[33:51] this is not only my experience, but the experience of many. So that's why I'm
[33:55] asking you to vote for item 37. Thank you very much.
[34:30] hello, my name is eva aldo, and I've been living in the area of austin
[34:34] for 22 years, and I'm asking here to vote for item 37.
[34:44] .
[34:48] I'm here.
[34:53] I'm here raising my voice for my son because we don't want more families that
[34:57] are separated
[35:06] because if we have a problem at any moment, we shouldn't be fearful to
[35:11] call the police.
[35:16] we are risking to be separated.
[35:30] my family was victim of this law. My son that who lived in austin
[35:34] since he was 1-year-old.
[35:54] my son, since he was living in austin, uh, since he was 1-year-old, he
[35:58] was deported to mexico. Now I'm, uh, I'm asking that
[36:03] they stop, they meet the police with immigration because we
[36:07] don't have, we can't do anything for him. He has a problem
[36:11] of he's in mexico and he has a mental health problem.
[36:25] he's not okay, and he has health problems there. In mexico,
[36:29] we shouldn't be feared to be asking for health.
[36:37] you have the power to change. Austin,
[36:46] please be brave and defendants from governor abbott.
[36:54] once again, I ask you to vote for and thank you very much.
[37:01] kayla.
[37:17] hello, my name is kayla and I've been living in austin for 10 years,
[37:21] and I'm here today to ask you something very important.
[37:32] please vote for item 37. We are a very vulnerable community and
[37:36] we are fearful.
[37:48] the collaboration between the police and immigration is affecting many families,
[37:53] families that are hard workers, families that are honest, families that only want
[37:57] to progress.
[38:11] we live with uncertainty every day and every day we ask ourselves,
[38:16] can we go out to work and come back home with our children? Is who,
[38:23] is it fair to live with this fear?
[38:31] austin is a beautiful city, but it should be safe for everyone.
[38:40] we don't ask him for privileges. We only want to live in peace and with dignity.
[38:55] we only want to work and take care of our families. We're asking you to listen to
[38:59] our voices because you are parents and you have families.
[39:12] please be in our places. You have the power to change this. Please listen
[39:16] to our voices and vote for item 37.
[39:24] okay,
[39:37] leadership.
[39:43] good morning. My name is summa franco and I live in district two. I work with
[39:47] grassroots leadership and I'm asking the city council to please vote for item 37.
[40:00] we all live to this. Uh, we all deserve to live in a place with peace and justice,
[40:05] and that's exactly what we don't have.
[40:18] it's also to know that a city like austin that is so beautiful cannot
[40:22] take care of their residents, and they are all living in fear.
[40:34] we all know how our immigrant community has been suffering of racist attacks
[40:39] that is being, becoming like consequences, like to being in jail and being separated
[40:43] from their families.
[40:52] right now, texas has been becoming like a lab that is
[40:56] only like judging people because they race or color and attacking
[41:00] them
[41:12] with a series of rules and policies that are only attacking and destroying
[41:16] our communities. Like the new rule at the dmv
[41:25] now, they're not allowing that people with legal status, they can renew their stickers,
[41:29] their registrations.
[41:41] this is only increasing the risk that a person is being detained in any street
[41:45] for by the police because the sticker is expired. And this increasing the nightmare
[41:49] for families.
[41:57] abbot, please be brave and defend our community from the attacks
[42:01] from governor abbott.
[42:09] we deserve something better. We deserve something better than this. We need to be
[42:13] safe to be, to call the police without fear.
[42:28] it is time that you take action and you defends. And then please vote for
[42:32] item 37. Thank you for your time.
[42:37] thank you. Has one more if she has time?
[42:42] she, she has 51 seconds. Okay. Can you read that in?
[42:56] my name is res. I've been in a resident in district four for 21 years, and
[43:01] I'm asking you to vote for item 37.
[43:10] I'm afraid to call the police if I have a problem because I'm afraid that they will do
[43:14] something to me instead of helping me
[43:27] every day. I am afraid of going out because I dunno if I'm going, coming back to my house to
[43:32] my children. We deserve something better. Please help us.
[43:41] the time is, thank you.
[43:48] continuing speakers on item 37,
[43:56] rebecca lightsey, catherine garcia, jenny fleming,
[44:01] michael stein. If your name has been called,
[44:05] please state your name and begin speaking.
[44:22] good morning. I'm rebecca lightsey. I'm co-executive director at american gateways.
[44:27] for nearly 40 years, american gateways has been providing critical
[44:31] legal immigration services to our low income, uh, neighbors here in central
[44:35] texas. We wanna thank council member siegel and the, and your colleagues
[44:40] for this proposed resolution, which we strongly support. We would also
[44:44] like to thank the city manager, city manager, bro and his team
[44:49] for his budget transparency and listening to the nonprofit
[44:53] community, including many of us who are impacted by this, this resolution.
[44:58] as you have just heard from kayla and her colleagues, this
[45:02] is an incredibly perilous time for our immigrant community.
[45:08] their stories are heartbreaking and not at all unique.
[45:12] we hear from clients with these experiences virtually
[45:17] every day. As you may know, texas leads the country and the number
[45:21] of ice arrests, one in four ice arrests take place here in texas.
[45:27] our clients have the same fears that you just heard, afraid to go
[45:31] to their cancer treatments, to send their children to school, even to
[45:35] go to church. So we support this resolution to enhance
[45:40] the community's trust in getting the help they need, and we support all the
[45:44] strategies laid out in this resolution. We also
[45:49] commend you for, uh, recognizing the need to include community partners.
[45:53] I know that'll be a tricky piece of it, figuring just, uh, which
[45:58] community partners to include. Um, that said, american gateways would be
[46:02] happy to be involved in this, um, critical process.
[46:06] so thank you for the thoughtfulness of this resolution, um,
[46:11] and for all that the council does. Thank you.
[46:16] hello, council. My name is kat gia. I live in district 10. Um, I
[46:21] have grown up here in austin and I also, uh, volunteer as a community
[46:25] advocate. Um, I'm really pleased to see this item on the agenda and I encourage you
[46:29] to vote in favor of it. Thank you council member siegel, for bringing this forward. Um,
[46:34] this issue of public safety is extremely important to our community, and I
[46:38] think you can see from the people who turned out today and also from the people who could
[46:42] not take time off work, who did not actually feel safe to come here today.
[46:46] this is exactly why it's important that we, uh, move forward with this process
[46:50] and I urge you to approach it with urgency and to
[46:55] help give our community the dignity and respect that we all deserve, um,
[46:59] as, as austinites and also as human beings. And
[47:04] I just wanna share, like myself as a survivor of domestic violence, I
[47:08] know how difficult compounding elements of,
[47:13] uh, of uh, I dunno, uh,
[47:17] , trying to think of the word, but like anything that can be used against
[47:21] you, anything that prevents you from being seen by authorities
[47:25] as someone who is worthy of receiving safety and receiving help in
[47:30] a, in the instance of being the victim of a crime that will be used by
[47:34] your abuser. And they absolutely know that people who have unprotected
[47:38] status are afraid to call and will not be respected when they call.
[47:42] and we've seen a pd officers struggle to judge,
[47:47] uh, appropriately how to prioritize felony
[47:51] investigations over low level misdemeanors and or administrative warrants. Um, and
[47:55] that's something that we really need to change to make sure that our community, uh, equitably can
[47:59] access safety, which will improve safety overall for all of us. Thank you.
[48:05] yes. My name is michael stein. I'm a resident of district seven.
[48:09] um, I can't really add more than what's already been
[48:13] said here. Uh, I support this resolution.
[48:17] thank you. Continue on item 37, francesca leahy,
[48:23] hans maverick, jamie gardner. Trudy
[48:27] smith, please state your name and begin
[48:31] speaking.
[48:47] please begin. Good morning. My name
[48:51] is francesca fraga lehe and I'm a resident of district five, and
[48:55] I am proud of austin for putting this resolution forward. Item 37
[49:00] and grateful to each council member and staff member who were in, was
[49:04] involved in putting this, um, this testament to
[49:08] austin's values together and as the, uh, speaker from the
[49:12] american gateways, um, said to enhance the community's trust in
[49:16] getting the help they need. Last july,
[49:21] the republican controlled congress passed a, the quote,
[49:25] big beautiful bill act, which means that ice's
[49:29] budget has skyrocketed to becoming the highest, highest funded us law enforcement
[49:33] agency with $85 billion now at its disposal.
[49:38] last night, senate republicans passed a blank check of $70 billion to
[49:42] fund ice with zero reforms added. Hopefully it fails in the house
[49:47] a week ago, mayor watson, who made the statement that our a pd officers
[49:52] do not have the capacity and should not be asked to do the other, to do
[49:56] the jobs of other entities. I agree. I do not want
[50:00] my taxpayer dollars to go to fund an already, um,
[50:04] over bloated, uh, highly corrupt and, um,
[50:09] unconstitutional, uh, in immigration enforcement entity
[50:13] at the federal, uh, government. My taxpayer taxpayer
[50:17] dollars are already going to that, and I am infuriated by that fact
[50:21] every day, and I do not want my city municipal,
[50:26] uh, taxpayer dollars to go to further
[50:30] in, uh, to support an, an agency that is
[50:34] causing such great harm to our community. As we've heard today,
[50:38] thank you for putting this resolution forward and please, uh, do everything that we can
[50:43] to ensure that it passes and is, um, uh, fully implemented.
[50:47] thank you, mayor watson. Mayor proto
[50:51] vela council members, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is hans maverick.
[50:56] I'm a resident of council district 10 and I'm a policy and research organizer with grassroots leadership
[51:00] here in austin. I'm here to express my support for item 37,
[51:05] the safe to call resolution. Not long ago, I worked for a nonprofit that helped
[51:09] people resolve outstanding class c tickets and get their driver's licenses reinstated.
[51:14] we called it fighting the criminalization of poverty. What I learned from that experience
[51:18] is that something as simple as a traffic ticket can create a barrier to fully
[51:23] participating in life, accessing housing, employment, childcare, healthcare,
[51:27] et cetera. I observed that class c tickets have a disproportionate impact
[51:31] on low income people, unhoused people, undocumented people, and people of color.
[51:36] also, the systems most cities use to help people resolve their tickets are difficult
[51:40] to understand and navigate what's more people have outstanding
[51:44] class c warrants may hesitate to contact law enforcement if they are the witnesses or
[51:48] victims of crime, particularly if they are undocumented. I worry
[51:52] about my unhoused and undocumented neighbors having access to emergency services.
[51:57] recent state and federal actions have further eroded their trust in
[52:01] law enforcement. I want everyone in austin to feel safe to call when
[52:05] they need help. In light of those concerns, I believe that item 37 is
[52:09] good policy. Engaging the community in effective and compassionate approaches
[52:14] to class c tickets will help rebuild the trust that has been lost.
[52:18] an easy to navigate system for addressing class cs will reduce unnecessary
[52:22] police contact. Please stand up for our community and stand up against
[52:26] right wing bullies. Take measures that reduce racial disparities,
[52:31] protect the rights of immigrants during police encounters, and dismantle the
[52:35] pathways that lead to family destruction. True safety is like
[52:39] true justice. It is only meaningful if it applies to everyone.
[52:43] thank you. Good morning. My name is trudy
[52:48] taylor smith. I'm senior administrator of policy and advocacy at children's defense fund, texas
[52:52] and I live in district 10. Um, we are a nonprofit
[52:56] advocacy organization dedicated to advancing child wellbeing and building community so
[53:00] that young people grow up with dignity, hope, and joy, and we support the safe to call
[53:04] resolution as a necessary first step toward protecting young people in austin from the serious
[53:09] and multifaceted harms that result when a pd goes above and beyond the requirements of the
[53:13] law to collaborate with ice current a pd policy harms
[53:17] children and families in a number of ways, including discouraging immigrant residents from reporting crimes,
[53:21] seeking help to escape violence or abuse or calling emergency services. As
[53:25] others have mentioned, it also increases the risk that children will experience or
[53:29] witness violence and civil rights violations in the course of an immigration arrest.
[53:34] but beyond that, it exposes families to dangerous detention conditions at
[53:38] the dli detention center outside of san antonio, ice detains families including
[53:42] children in horrific conditions marked by medical neglect, hunger, and
[53:46] inadequate access to clean drinking water and nutritious food, even in cases
[53:50] where children are not detained. Ice arrest arising out of traffic stops
[53:54] wellness checks and 9 1 1 responses. Frequently traumatized children separate them from
[53:58] their families and place children in harm's way. Within the past year, at least three
[54:03] austin children were deported despite holding us citizenship. And in the most recent case,
[54:07] this happened because a pd contacted ice while responding to a 9 1 1 call.
[54:11] at local schools, more children and immigrant families are arriving at school emotionally distraught,
[54:16] over missing relatives coming to school hungry after a family breadwinner has been
[54:20] detained, or they're no longer attending school at all. Shockingly,
[54:24] children in many cases are left without a legal guardian after ice arrests and
[54:28] detains their parents without making any arrangements for their care. Every child
[54:32] deserves to grow up in a caring family and community where they are safe and have access
[54:36] to the resources they need to thrive. With that goal in mind, cdf texas
[54:41] asked the city council to pass this resolution and to continue working to secure
[54:45] the safety and wellbeing of every child in our city. Thank you. Thank you.
[54:54] continue on item 37, kendra bolton,
[54:58] savannah lee, carrie ann smith, brandon pickard,
[55:04] please state your name and begin speaking.
[55:20] good morning, mayor and council members. My name is kendra walton of
[55:24] district five, and I'm here as a representative and board member of toto
[55:29] juntos learning center and strong support of item 37.
[55:33] people in austin should be able to call 9 1 1 without fear
[55:38] and trust that reaching out for help would not put their family at greater
[55:42] risk. At total juntos, we work alongside immigrant
[55:47] families, students, and community members. We hear the fear,
[55:51] we see the hesitation, and know that for many people, calling
[55:56] for help feels dangerous. It feels like one desperate moment
[56:00] could spiral into detention, separation, or other long lasting harm,
[56:05] and that is unacceptable when people are too afraid to call 9 1 1.
[56:10] that does not make our city safer. It makes it more dangerous
[56:14] when victims are too afraid to come forward. Violence continues
[56:18] when witnesses stay silent. Accountability disappears
[56:23] when families decide they are safer. Staying quiet in crisis than the system
[56:27] is failing the very people it is designed to protect and we must
[56:31] build a better system. Item 37 is about
[56:35] community safety and trust. Trust is the foundation of public safety without
[56:39] trust, emergency systems break down. People do not report
[56:43] harm and fear wins. This resolution is about
[56:48] real people and their families, like the speakers that we have heard earlier this morning.
[56:53] every policy choice we make impacts real people. No one should
[56:57] have to stop and think, will calling for help make this
[57:01] situation worse? No one should have to earn the right
[57:06] to be protected in a crisis. I'm asking you to
[57:10] support item 37 as a policy decision and as a statement about who we are
[57:14] as a city. Austin should be a place where people can ask for help
[57:18] without fear, where families are protected in a place where safety includes
[57:22] dignity, fairness, and trust. Thank you very much.
[57:27] good morning, mayor and council. Thank you for having us today. My name is savannah lee. I'm
[57:31] here with equity action and I'm a resident of district one. I'm here in support of item 37
[57:36] because no one in our, in our city should be afraid to call for help. That's
[57:40] not a controversial statement, and I know everyone in this room shares that value. But
[57:44] values only matter when they're reflected in our actions. And in this case, our policies.
[57:48] we can say austin believes in trust, dignity, and compassion. But if survivors, immigrant
[57:52] families and low income residents are still afraid to call 9 1 1, then we've got work
[57:56] to do. As the federal government continues targeting immigrant communities and
[58:00] the state continues enabling that cruelty, it falls to cities like austin to protect our people and
[58:05] lead with humanity. That is what this item begins to do. Survivors of
[58:09] domestic violence, victims of sexual assault, witnesses to crime, immigration, fa or
[58:13] immigrant families, and people living paycheck to paycheck should never have to wonder whether
[58:17] asking for help could lead to their own arrest over an unpaid ticket or some other low level issue.
[58:22] when people are afraid to call for help, violence goes unreported. Abuse escalates and trust
[58:26] in the government breaks down that makes every neighborhood less safe. Public institutions
[58:30] only work when people trust them enough to use them. When those most vulnerable to
[58:35] police contact or ice involvement do not feel safe seeking help, we begin the fairness, legitimacy,
[58:39] and effectiveness of our systems. Item 37 offers a common sense path
[58:43] forward. It brings the community into the policymaking process. Prioritizes survivors
[58:48] increases accountability and helps ensure that asking for help does not become another source
[58:52] of harm. I would add in light of recent news that every good thing
[58:56] we do in this building only stands a chance at making a difference if we refuse
[59:00] to bow to the governor's power grabbing cruelty. The 11 of you are the last elected
[59:05] line of protection for the millions of people in this city. True
[59:09] bravery and leadership means doing the right thing even when it's difficult or
[59:13] frightening. I would ask that you use the power you've been given to prioritize the most vulnerable
[59:17] folks here and stand in the way of the state's latest attempt at forcing, forcing us into their authoritarian
[59:22] ideology. The first way to do that is by supporting this item. Thank you.
[59:30] hello, mayor watson and city council members. My name is carrie ann smith. I'm
[59:34] leader. I'm a leader with vocal texas. I'm here to support item 37.
[59:39] I stand here today with a heavy heart to address a critical and
[59:44] safety justice issue, class c tickets and warrant
[59:48] issues. I support the stockholders procedure
[59:52] process because in austin here alone, over 60,000
[59:57] warrants has been issued. Not in the state of texas, but just here in the city of
[1:00:01] austin. And more concerning 25% of these tickets has
[1:00:05] been issued to black residents. I speak
[1:00:09] from a de personal experience. I too have received multiple tickets
[1:00:14] for sleeping in my vehicle that turned into warrants.
[1:00:18] how do you expect someone to be compliant with these tickets when they do
[1:00:22] not have stable hounds in
[1:00:28] and they don't even really know? These tickets exist multiple tickets,
[1:00:33] and you get repeated offenses for these tickets
[1:00:37] that turns into warrants. This is, this cycle
[1:00:41] is a nuisance. It's no, this cycle is not just a
[1:00:45] nuisance. It's a trap that escalated to tickets, to warrants, to felonies
[1:00:50] and all without offering real services support or
[1:00:54] a pathway outta homelessness. Rather than continue to spend millions
[1:00:59] of dollars on encampment suites tickets and arresting poor people and unhoused
[1:01:03] people, please support this item and so we can work together.
[1:01:07] thank you.
[1:01:14] hello, mayor watson city council. My name is brandon
[1:01:18] pickard, but most of y'all know me. Here is eight track. It's good to be back.
[1:01:23] um, I am here in support of item 37. Uh, for those of
[1:01:27] you that don't know, I am currently homeless out on the streets of austin.
[1:01:32] things get crazy out there very quickly. And at
[1:01:36] the drop of a hat, you could be in trouble. Your friend can be in trouble, someone
[1:01:40] could be hurt, but you got that camping
[1:01:44] warrant. What are you gonna do? You can't call the cops, they're just gonna lock
[1:01:48] you up. And then maybe take your friend to the hospital, maybe
[1:01:54] the, the, this pa oh, I'm so sorry. This paves the way
[1:01:59] to actually start helping people out here. This is a very,
[1:02:03] very good first step. People should not be afraid
[1:02:07] to have to call for an emergency at all. I've met
[1:02:11] so many people where somebody got hurt and then they're like, hey bro, can
[1:02:15] you call 9 1 1? I got that camping warrant, or I got that criminal trespass or blah
[1:02:19] blah blah. And so I'm left there, you know, trying to
[1:02:23] take care of somebody who I don't know until ems gets here. And hopefully
[1:02:27] I don't have to talk to the cops because why are the cops
[1:02:31] showing up when I'm calling for ems?
[1:02:35] they should be not needed at all. I need ems, not
[1:02:40] a pd. So that's probably another conversation
[1:02:44] for another day. But thank you all for listening.
[1:02:48] it's great to be back. Um, I hope to have many
[1:02:52] positive conversations with you in the future and, uh, thank you y'all so much.
[1:02:57] thank you. Continuing on item 37,
[1:03:02] kay graziani, barry jones, tony carter,
[1:03:07] david weinberg. Antonio rena,
[1:03:24] please state your name and begin speaking. Feel free to begin. Good morning.
[1:03:28] good morning, mayor and council. My name is david weinberg, ima district five
[1:03:32] resident. Um, I'm gonna start off with a platitude. Uh, the united states
[1:03:37] is a nation that was built by immigrants.
[1:03:41] um, this idea is very
[1:03:45] true for the texas that we live in today. Immigrants are a
[1:03:49] vital part of the texas economy, many critical pieces
[1:03:53] of it, oil and gas, production, agriculture,
[1:03:58] construction, hospital, hospitality, healthcare.
[1:04:03] we should be embracing these
[1:04:07] populations who are doing so much for our state.
[1:04:12] uh, I kind of miss the republican party of texas, which
[1:04:16] was what is good for business is good for texas.
[1:04:20] um, we should be, I think this item is a no-brainer.
[1:04:25] I thank you for bringing it. Uh, I wish we were not in a position where the
[1:04:29] governor was vilifying and terrorizing these communities,
[1:04:35] um, who put food on our table, who put gas in our gas tank
[1:04:39] who'd care for the elderly who build our houses and hotels.
[1:04:43] um, and I laed
[1:04:47] you for taking this very important step today. Thank you.
[1:04:52] thank you. Members of
[1:04:56] the council. Mayor, thank you for allowing me to testify. My name is jorge reno
[1:05:00] and I'm an organizer at grassroots leadership. I urge you to pass this
[1:05:05] resolution based on my experiences. I was honorably discharged from the army in
[1:05:09] 1976 and returned to beeville. I went to a dancing center, rolled
[1:05:13] through a stop sign, was pulled over by a local policeman and ended up not with a traffic
[1:05:17] ticket, not with a warning, but thrown into the local county jail.
[1:05:21] where I found out later, the arresting officer told folks there to touch me up.
[1:05:26] what resulted was a series of events that still resonate with me today, 27
[1:05:30] years in prison and on parole until I until 2051. We've
[1:05:35] heard someone say that we all make, make mistakes when explaining away a prison
[1:05:39] term. I did not go to prison for a mistake, but because
[1:05:43] I made choices after that first arrest, choices based on rage and an individual in
[1:05:47] a system that thought it was okay to have me brutalized, beaten, and raped for not stopping
[1:05:51] at a stop sign at an arguing with a police officer. There is
[1:05:55] a phenomenon called churn that refers to individuals who cycle through the
[1:05:59] criminal legal system, the majority of them, people of color, most with either
[1:06:04] substance abuse or mental health disorders. The chance of an individual being rearrested
[1:06:08] and going to prison, losing family and employment, and being consigned to a life
[1:06:12] of poverty and despair, go up exponentially after that arrest for wa was yes
[1:06:16] a mistake because once in the system, police and prosecutors and judges look
[1:06:21] at you not as a citizen with your respect and dignity, but as a number, a
[1:06:25] misc to the criminal. Austin has made great strides when
[1:06:29] it comes to offering diversion to individuals, mostly youth who become
[1:06:33] ensnared in a system that offers little but incarceration to those that captures,
[1:06:38] we have a sobering center and a mental health diversion complex on the horizon.
[1:06:42] I ask that you vote yes on item 37 and offer relief in the life of hope
[1:06:46] to at least 60,000 people who have made a mistake and to not let that mistake
[1:06:50] grow into a life of incarceration or regret. Thank you. Thank you.
[1:06:55] yes, sir. Uh, good morning, city council and mayor watson.
[1:06:59] my name is barry jones. I'm a leader at vocal texas. Uh, formerly
[1:07:04] I was unhoused in austin for 10 years. Um,
[1:07:08] I'm here to support item 37. Uh, when I first became homeless, I
[1:07:12] had an old vehicle and I was trying my hardest to get outta my
[1:07:16] situation. I didn't have income, I couldn't pay my vehicle
[1:07:20] insurance, which quickly led to a citation
[1:07:24] and then a warrant and then arrest. And
[1:07:29] so, so I spent 10 days courtesy of the city inside.
[1:07:34] uh, when I got out, I still had to face, uh, coming up
[1:07:38] with the money to, to, uh, get my vehicle back from impoundment, uh,
[1:07:42] which was really difficult. Um, and I just wanna say
[1:07:46] that this system of, of warrant enforcement
[1:07:51] too often turns into a trap for poor people. Uh, if,
[1:07:55] if you're working and you are arrested, the chances are very good that you're
[1:07:59] gonna lose your job. If you lose your job, you're very
[1:08:03] likely to lose your vehicle. Now you are a person without a vehicle, without
[1:08:08] a job, without income who is facing the same situation
[1:08:12] that you got the citation for to begin with, so you can get more citations.
[1:08:17] and this just becomes a downward spiral for too many people.
[1:08:21] and I think that we really need to look at this situation. We need,
[1:08:25] uh, our leaders to step up and, uh, help us move forward
[1:08:30] to solve this situation to together and, and
[1:08:34] put this situation behind us. Thank you very much for your time.
[1:08:42] good morning, counsel. Mayor, my name is kate ani, also with vocal texas.
[1:08:47] um, we are here in support of item 37, as you've heard from some of our members
[1:08:51] already. Um, the criminalization that's happening on the streets of austin
[1:08:55] right now is putting people already vulnerable in more danger.
[1:08:59] um, folks who are poor and can't pay their tickets are, are getting,
[1:09:04] uh, warrants issued by the city. And this is a local policy that we think need to changing.
[1:09:09] um, I have a, um, a story from one of our leaders, tony carter,
[1:09:13] who couldn't be here today that I wanted to read quickly as an example of how
[1:09:17] broken this system is. Um, tony
[1:09:21] got a car, a ticket for flying a sign in december. Um, in
[1:09:25] order to, um, addressed the ticket, he engaged
[1:09:30] with dak case management, um, and he's currently in, in
[1:09:34] their deferment program. But because he, tony hasn't been connected to housing, the waiting lists
[1:09:38] are too long. Every night when he lays his head down, he's at risk of getting
[1:09:42] a camping ticket, which would violate, um, the program through
[1:09:46] dak could revoke his deferral. He'd have to pay a ticket that he can't pay for
[1:09:51] $300 leading to a warrant. Um, we have over 66,000
[1:09:55] warrants for class c um, misdemeanors in this city right now.
[1:09:59] and that's why we are in support of item 37 because we need
[1:10:04] a real robust stakeholder process,
[1:10:09] um, to discuss how we're going to stop criminalizing people who live
[1:10:13] on the streets, um, people with immigration status
[1:10:17] and how we're gonna begin to support our most vulnerable austinites. Many
[1:10:21] of us live here in austin because we stand up to the state
[1:10:25] and we have different values here, and we protect our most vulnerable community members. Right
[1:10:29] now, folks on the streets are being terrorized daily with sweeps
[1:10:34] led by a pd. These are, these individuals are also victims of
[1:10:38] crime and assault and violence, and they are not safe to call the police
[1:10:43] and we need to change that. Thank you. Okay,
[1:10:48] continuing on. Item 37, daniella silva.
[1:10:52] roxanna herndon, allison cole, susanna
[1:10:57] raza, marissa dixon, please
[1:11:01] state your name and begin speaking.
[1:11:12] good morning, mayor. City council members. My name is daniela silva. I'm the austin
[1:11:16] policy coordinator at workers defense action fund, an organization
[1:11:20] representing thousands of working class latina people across the state of texas that fights
[1:11:24] for immigrant and worker justice. I would first like to express deep gratitude to
[1:11:28] the co-sponsors of this item. Council member siegel mayor pro council members
[1:11:33] fuentes and velazquez. Our members in austin work across industries
[1:11:37] and live different lives, but share one thing in common. They want safety for themselves,
[1:11:41] their families, and their communities. Whether someone has been a victim of a hate crime,
[1:11:45] wage theft, or domestic violence workers', defense members wish for a city where they
[1:11:50] can call 9 1 1 for help without worrying if they are going to be discriminated against,
[1:11:54] harassed, or harmed. Because of unrelated civil issues or low level offenses,
[1:11:59] one member sino asks for clarity throughout our police department that if
[1:12:03] any officers considering calling ice, they fully understand how they're supposed
[1:12:07] to act and what is required compared to what is optional. Another member,
[1:12:12] manuel says that our community doesn't feel safe calling the police because
[1:12:16] they may call ice. So if there is an emergency, they don't really know what to do.
[1:12:21] he believes the police are supposed to be here to protect people and wants to be able to
[1:12:25] trust them. Manuel has a question for chief davis. Can
[1:12:29] I trust you? Can I trust that I can call you with any problems I have? Because
[1:12:33] many police are working with ice, so the trust isn't there. Now, by aiming
[1:12:37] to protect victims from unnecessary and unrelated arrests or detentions, the safe to call
[1:12:41] resolution is the first step in reestablishing true trust amongst vulnerable populations.
[1:12:45] by bringing community members with lived experience to the table, to co-create policies
[1:12:50] that support the safety of folks experiencing crisis and tragedy. The current systems
[1:12:54] that exist leave vulnerable people at risk of being punished for the bravery it requires to
[1:12:58] ask for help and for putting faith in institutions that haven't always listened or stood up to them. We
[1:13:02] call on the chief of police, mayor, city council and manager to emulate
[1:13:06] that same bravery by standing firm behind this and all policies created
[1:13:11] to protect all austinites. Anyone can become a victim regardless of age, race,
[1:13:15] nationality, gender, or income. Thank you. Hello,
[1:13:20] my name is roxanna herndon. I'm a austin knight with grassroots
[1:13:24] leadership under the taj advocate for justice. I have
[1:13:28] resigned in austin, texas in district four for 40 plus years living.
[1:13:33] I'm here to ask city council to vote yes for item 37. Class
[1:13:37] c traffic tickets is a hindrance for citizens to be able to commute back
[1:13:41] and forth to work, school, or doctor's appointments. This
[1:13:45] is hurting us by not allowing us to choose to pay for groceries
[1:13:49] or pay for a traffic violation that will prevent us from going back
[1:13:53] to jail. I'm standing up because I'm a mother that is standing in
[1:13:57] those shoes that has class c tickets that is hurting me. I'm
[1:14:02] speaking on this because that I'm facing situations that
[1:14:06] is hurting me from going to work or being arrested when I get
[1:14:10] in my car to drive, to take care of my children and grandchildren for
[1:14:14] safe call resolution to be effective. People living here in austin shouldn't
[1:14:18] be afraid to drive on the road to fear of being arrested, nor make 9 1 1 calls
[1:14:22] for help. And this is being used against us. There
[1:14:26] is, there shouldn't be penalties that hold us back from trying to change for
[1:14:30] the better in our lives. This goes against the amendment for,
[1:14:35] for the amendment for, and this goes against the rights for justice.
[1:14:39] I'm here asking city council again to vote yes to item 37
[1:14:44] to help us to be able to survive and provide for our family. Thank you very
[1:14:48] much for hearing me. Thank you. Yes.
[1:14:52] hi, my name is susanna za. I live in district nine and
[1:14:56] I'm here in support of safe to call item 37. You heard
[1:15:00] lots of personal stories to support and I have nothing to add to that, but what I
[1:15:05] would like to highlight is that a pd keeps
[1:15:09] saying publicly that wants to build trust within the community.
[1:15:14] one great step to do that is to come in here
[1:15:18] and testify in full support of it, because if you have guidelines
[1:15:23] that you can prioritize the safety of the people you're supposed to serve
[1:15:27] and not add them to the prison pipeline,
[1:15:32] that would be the best pr you can ever
[1:15:37] get without any money. It's just like, support this resolution. It will
[1:15:41] make your life easier. People will start going to not be afraid
[1:15:45] of you, and you'll help the community. Please, I, uh, urge everybody
[1:15:50] to support item three, seven. Thank you.
[1:15:57] excuse me. Good morning.
[1:16:01] um, my name is alison cole. I'm a resident of district 10,
[1:16:05] and I am also the vice president of community services at safe
[1:16:10] alliance, which is a nonprofit that serves survivors of abuse with
[1:16:14] things like shelter, housing, advocacy, forensic exams, counseling,
[1:16:18] therapy, legal support. The list goes on. I'm also personally an
[1:16:22] attorney who has spent my career, um, serving survivors of domestic
[1:16:26] violence, interpersonal violence, and what I and my colleagues have observed
[1:16:30] time and time again with the people that we work with is that they do not feel
[1:16:35] safe for so, so many reasons coming forward or seeking emergency
[1:16:39] assistance, even in life-threatening assaults. There are
[1:16:43] so, so many reasons for that. Too many to get into today. However,
[1:16:48] why I personally and safe are so excited about item 37 is that
[1:16:52] this is an opportunity to remove some of those barriers, very real barriers
[1:16:56] to seeking services in a life and death emergency.
[1:17:00] what we know is that abusers are very, very good at weaponizing the systems that
[1:17:04] are meant to protect people against them. And we have clients who are thinking
[1:17:09] twice before calling 9 1 1. They're thinking, who's gonna take care of my kids tomorrow
[1:17:13] if both of their parents are arrested tonight because of that unpaid parking ticket that
[1:17:17] I have? Because of that time, I got camping because my abuser kicked me out and I
[1:17:21] had nowhere to sleep that night. They're worrying, what if it's gonna be my fault
[1:17:25] for calling police because my mixed status family gets torn apart tonight.
[1:17:30] this is a chance to empower a pd to fight crime because
[1:17:34] this is a lot of unreported crime going around, a lot of vulnerable people not being
[1:17:38] protected. This is a chance for a pd to be empowered to prevent
[1:17:43] homicides because survivors of abuse won't have to think twice when
[1:17:47] they are calling for help in life and death situations. So I wanna thank you all for bringing
[1:17:51] this forward. I wanna thank you for considering this because this could be something
[1:17:55] that could make our community so much safer for everyone, and it's
[1:18:00] actually a way that we can fight crime. Thank you.
[1:18:05] continue on item 37, ryan rosser.
[1:18:10] courtney ski salvador espinosa,
[1:18:15] vin robo mira ros,
[1:18:20] please state your name and begin speaking with the speakers. Go ahead
[1:18:24] and come on down if that next group is present.
[1:18:28] alright.
[1:18:45] good morning counsel. I am jen robo, a longtime austin resident.
[1:18:49] while I support the goal of helping victims and witnesses feel safe, calling 9 1 1
[1:18:54] the policies and the safe to call resolution will actually make law enforcement less
[1:18:58] effective and austin less safe for everyone. The resolution
[1:19:02] directs officers not to check for warrants on victims or witnesses during emergency
[1:19:06] calls, to delay arrests on unrelated warrants and to use alternatives
[1:19:10] instead of tickets. These changes may sound compassionate, but they are broad
[1:19:15] and reach far beyond our homeless and immigrant communities. They deliberately
[1:19:19] reduce the chance that people will face real consequences for the crimes that they commit.
[1:19:24] even more concerning stopping officers from checking someone's criminal record during
[1:19:28] a nine one one call puts both officers and the public in greater danger.
[1:19:32] officers may not show up with knowledge that the person that they're dealing with
[1:19:37] has a violent history or an act of warrant that raises the risk of
[1:19:41] sudden violence against the officers or bystanders.
[1:19:45] research and real, real world examples show that when the cost of breaking
[1:19:49] the law goes down, crime goes up, especially property crime, theft
[1:19:54] and disorder. We already have a county da whose policies
[1:19:58] have been widely criticized for dropping or reducing charges and releasing repeat
[1:20:02] offenders. Adding city rules that further limit warrant checks, arrests and
[1:20:06] citations makes the problem worse. This is not victim centered, it's
[1:20:10] criminal centered, and it makes the revolving door problem even bigger.
[1:20:14] this resolution is presented as protecting victims, yet much of the
[1:20:19] language focuses on protecting people with warrants and immigration issues, creating a cascade
[1:20:23] of unintended consequences in trying to help some. It puts
[1:20:27] the safety of law abiding residents and the whole community at risk. If public
[1:20:31] safety is truly the goal, we need accountability for weak prosecution
[1:20:36] policies, not new policies that erode deterrents. Thank you for your time.
[1:20:40] thank you.
[1:20:46] good morning, mayor and council members. My name is courtney siver
[1:20:51] and I'm here today in support of item 37, the safe to call resolution.
[1:20:56] I speak not only as an austin resident of district four of volunteer
[1:21:00] with hands-off central texas, but as a social worker who has worked with
[1:21:04] incarcerated individuals, survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault,
[1:21:09] which I have lived experiences with and immigrant communities
[1:21:13] I have seen firsthand what happens when people are afraid to ask for help.
[1:21:18] fear isolates people, traps them in dangerous situations
[1:21:22] and deepens trauma. When someone calls 9 1 1,
[1:21:26] it is often during the worst moment of their life, they may be fleeing
[1:21:30] abuse, reporting, violence, or trying to protect their children.
[1:21:35] no one in that moment should have to wonder whether reaching out for safety could
[1:21:39] instead lead to arrest or detention over an unrelated matter.
[1:21:44] I have worked with survivors who already carry enormous fear and shame.
[1:21:49] I have worked with immigrants who are terrified of systems because they believe any interaction
[1:21:53] with authorities could tear their families apart. I have worked with
[1:21:58] people who have been incarcerated and know how easily minor illegal issues
[1:22:02] can spiral into life altering consequences. When we
[1:22:06] create barriers to calling for help, we empower those who abuse
[1:22:10] silent survivors and make all of us less safe. Austin
[1:22:14] should not be cooperating with fear-based enforcement practices or
[1:22:18] cowtowing to ice priorities when our responsibility is to protect the
[1:22:22] safety and wellbeing of our local community. Our city's
[1:22:26] emergency response system should be focused on helping people in crisis,
[1:22:31] not creating more trauma. This resolution is about restoring
[1:22:35] trust, protecting vulnerable people, and ensuring that emergency
[1:22:39] services remain emergency services. I urge you to vote yes
[1:22:43] on item 37. Thank you for your time. Thank you.
[1:22:49] also speak, oh, sorry. Go ahead, continue. Oh, thank you.
[1:22:53] uh, good morning, counsel. My name is mayor ros. I also go by gumbo.
[1:22:58] I use they them pronouns. I'm one of the co-chairs of austin, dsa resident of
[1:23:02] district three. I wanna start by thanking council member, single and council
[1:23:06] members, cadre, ententes, and velazquez for introducing this item number 37,
[1:23:10] which I am in support of today. I had the honor to visit minneapolis
[1:23:14] at the end of february, beginning of march for a week of action for people around the
[1:23:18] country to learn about how they resisted ice in their city. And they kept asking
[1:23:22] me what things were like in austin, what things were like in texas, and I
[1:23:26] would describe to them how state troopers were pulling people over and people were being
[1:23:30] deported on the spot. Uh, I've seen them come and go within 15
[1:23:35] minutes, they detained, they arrest, they deport, the car is towed and they're
[1:23:39] gone. Um, and they said, wow, we have it easy up here.
[1:23:43] um, they said that, you know, ice has to, had to move in minneapolis
[1:23:48] like an occupying army because they had no open collaboration
[1:23:52] with local and state police. And so they had to move that way because they knew they were
[1:23:56] under scrutiny. And here ice and cbp are almost
[1:24:01] like a fact of life. They're just around and they just
[1:24:05] show up. We have no way of knowing where they're coming from, where they're going, where they're taking people,
[1:24:09] um, and the fact that they're able to come when 9 1 1
[1:24:14] calls come up. And the fact that a pd is not always able to distinguish
[1:24:18] between an administrative and a judicial warrant only increases that lack of safety.
[1:24:22] so we need to put as many barriers as possible between our public safety
[1:24:27] locally and the forced migration and deportation of people across the country.
[1:24:31] and we also need to break the mold set by am mayor whitmeyer in houston of caving to
[1:24:35] abbott and paxton and their threats against our cities. They wanna take away two
[1:24:40] and a half million dollars and then maybe a couple hundred million more from public safety.
[1:24:44] and that shows that this is not about safety for them. This is about force and threats
[1:24:48] of violence. So please vote yes on item 37 and, uh, f**k ice. Thank
[1:24:52] you.
[1:24:56] continue on item 37, crystal silva, mccormick,
[1:25:00] alvin stewart, chris harris, rye vasquez,
[1:25:05] and ben sotheby. Please state your name and begin speaking.
[1:25:18] good morning. My name's ben sotheby. I'm a resident of district four. Uh, I wanna
[1:25:22] start by thanking the sponsors, uh, of, of this item.
[1:25:26] uh, council members siegel, mayor proam vela, council member fuentes,
[1:25:31] uh, cadre and velasquez. Thank you so much.
[1:25:35] um, we've heard excellent testimony this morning. The overwhelming
[1:25:39] majority, I think all but one we've heard so
[1:25:43] far vastly in favor of this, this is what our community wants.
[1:25:48] their lived experiences are gonna speak louder than anything I can say,
[1:25:52] but there are aspects of this that jump out at me. From a public budgets perspective.
[1:25:58] we see an intention to find efficiency in our systems.
[1:26:03] loads and loads of unresolved class c misdemeanors, bogging down our legal
[1:26:08] system. Uh, don't save us money. You know, I pay
[1:26:12] one tax bill, both city and county on that one thing.
[1:26:16] and some of the most expensive. And the biggest dollar spend that's happening
[1:26:20] on there is chasing after people who have gotten caught
[1:26:24] up with, you know, low level nonviolent crimes that,
[1:26:28] uh, maybe it's camping 'cause they have nowhere to go. We
[1:26:32] know that our, our capacity is, uh, outstripping our supply of, of
[1:26:37] beds to sleep. And it's just stacking and putting these people in
[1:26:41] worse places, you know, sending them to the travis county jail where it's really expensive
[1:26:45] to house and feed and healthcare and all the, all the other things that
[1:26:50] doesn't help my tax bill. So I love that you're looking for strategies to
[1:26:54] make both their outcomes and their lives better, but also
[1:26:58] saving our precious public resources to devote them to things that
[1:27:02] really help people get safe. Safety means my neighbor's needs being
[1:27:06] met. I think about, uh, the hesitancy to call 9 1 1
[1:27:10] when, when my neighbor's, uh, tools got stolen. Right.
[1:27:15] uh, now he can't go work on that construction site delaying the
[1:27:19] providing of housing if I get hit by a car. Thank, sir. I wanna
[1:27:23] make sure that their witnesses call 9 1 1. Thank you.
[1:27:30] good afternoon. My name is alvin stewart. Um, and I'm here to
[1:27:35] vote in favor of item 37. But I wanna begin with a story.
[1:27:40] a mother and a daughter were deported after police were called for a domestic dispute.
[1:27:44] well begin as a call for help turned into a life-changing consequence for an entire
[1:27:48] family. The mother was detained over an administrative
[1:27:52] a warrant, and then the daughter and her were later deported.
[1:27:57] the lowest level of offense should not create the highest level of consequences.
[1:28:02] years ago, a personal story of mine. I was taken
[1:28:06] to jail for a class c misdemeanor. I did not even had, I didn't even know I had.
[1:28:10] it came from a criminal trespassing ticket after officer saw a car I
[1:28:15] used drive past the school that I was expelled from. Even though the car
[1:28:19] was not in my name, I was never aware of that warrant until I was arrested. That experience
[1:28:23] showed me how quickly a minor issue can become
[1:28:27] like something serious. I also want to acknowledge the, the
[1:28:31] hispanic women that came up here earlier. I know some of them personally, and
[1:28:36] that story truly touched my heart. Their experience reflect real people trying
[1:28:40] to build their lives in the city, and they deserve understanding and fairness in how
[1:28:44] our systems impact them. That's why I'm asking this council to support alternatives
[1:28:49] and incarceration for class c misdemeanors to help reduce more than 66,000
[1:28:53] outstanding class c warrants and to vote in favor of I 37.
[1:28:57] I also wanna highlight a serious concern. African americans make up about 8%
[1:29:02] of austin's population, yet account for roughly 25% of warrants
[1:29:06] for these low level offenses. That disparity is significant and
[1:29:10] raises real questions about fairness. But at the same time, I,
[1:29:14] and we respect, support and appreciate our police officers. They do
[1:29:18] a difficult and dangerous job every day, and that service deserves recognition. And
[1:29:22] because we respect that work, we also believe in transparency and accountability
[1:29:26] so our community can understand how our decisions are made to build a stronger trust.
[1:29:31] thank you. Good morning,
[1:29:36] counsel. My name is ra va community advocate, representing myself.
[1:29:40] people should not be scared when they scared that they will be incarcerated
[1:29:44] because they call for help. Our tax dollars go to a system that relies heavily on law
[1:29:48] enforcement as the mechanism to mediate violent offenses. Blue collar crime and mental
[1:29:52] health episodes being caught in your worst day shouldn't result in you being
[1:29:56] booked and processed. The fact in the matter is that the metrics show that incarceration
[1:30:01] statistically skyrockets when factoring in race, disability status,
[1:30:05] or other marginalized groups. Personally, I know that when I
[1:30:09] would be scared to call 9 1 1 if I knew there was a threat, that I would be turned over to a federal force,
[1:30:14] especially if it's an administrative warrant that has no approval from a judge.
[1:30:18] I pride myself in knowing that the city of austin endeavors to rectify these overreaches
[1:30:23] of enforcement that do nothing but harm the greater good of our community.
[1:30:27] changes to systems like this are daunting, I know, but this is a drop in
[1:30:32] the bucket compared to the great good it will do for our austin city.
[1:30:36] this is a meaningful way to ensure the safety of our neighbors.
[1:30:40] greg abbott is not the arbiter of how austin uses its public funds.
[1:30:44] abbot has made it clear if the governor manchin was not located on 11th street, he would not
[1:30:48] live in austin. He's started with our rainbow crosswalks
[1:30:53] and now he threatens our public funds because we dare to show compassion for our fellow
[1:30:58] neighbors. Do not let his empty threats stop you from doing something that will benefit
[1:31:02] our community. Having a task force to reassess that statistics,
[1:31:07] our and backgrounds of arrest, is
[1:31:11] a great idea. I hope that it will lead to a better and more prosperous city
[1:31:15] and more avenues for our neighbors to feel comfortable relying on emergency
[1:31:19] services that they paid for. Vote yes on item 37.
[1:31:24] thank you. Good
[1:31:28] morning, uh, council mayor. Um, my name is chris
[1:31:32] harris. I'm with texas civil rights project. I'm also a resident here in district nine,
[1:31:37] um, here today in support of item 37, uh,
[1:31:41] I want to thank, uh, the sponsor and co-sponsors, uh, council members,
[1:31:45] velazquez, fuentes, vela cadre, and
[1:31:49] sigu, um, for bringing this item.
[1:31:54] we often talk, especially in, in nonprofit spaces, but also in in go
[1:31:58] government spaces about helping marginalized people. Um,
[1:32:02] and of course that's very important. Rarely do we talk about actually ending
[1:32:06] key vectors of their marginalization. Uh, social, cultural,
[1:32:10] economic isolation, denial of political power, denial of access to
[1:32:15] resources. We have an opportunity through this item and the stakeholder process
[1:32:19] that follows and actually helping people to become less marginalized by,
[1:32:23] by enabling people to access city resources in a way that they have
[1:32:27] currently do not feel safe to do. Uh, and and this is really important
[1:32:31] because while some would argue that marginalizing people over
[1:32:35] their documentation status or committing the lowest level offense in
[1:32:40] our criminal system, that doesn't even carry jail time if found guilty, uh, helps
[1:32:44] make us safer. Uh, but I think all the evidence, all the data and all the testimony
[1:32:48] you've heard here today points a very different story. That when we marginalize people,
[1:32:52] we make us all less safe. I wanna also talk about the
[1:32:57] governor first. The terms of the governor's public safety grants
[1:33:01] violated our initial freedom city policy. Signing that grant to begin with
[1:33:05] was a, a major betrayal of the immigrant community in this city, and whoever's
[1:33:09] responsible for that in this city deserves accountability. Full
[1:33:14] stop. Second, the governor cannot compel this city to violate
[1:33:18] the fourth amendment in, in order to receive grant funds.
[1:33:23] okay, like the, you cannot be compelled to
[1:33:27] violate the fourth amendment in order to receive the grant funds. Please fight
[1:33:31] and please vote for item 37. Thank you. Thank you. We'll now move to
[1:33:35] item 38, beginning with remote speakers. Cassie
[1:33:40] soren.
[1:33:46] uh, good afternoon. My name is cassie soren. I live in
[1:33:50] district six and I work at goof bamo, often also known as gava.
[1:33:55] I'm speaking today on item 38. Um, I have been involved with the dell valley food
[1:33:59] co-op from inception. Having written the original grant proposal in 2022
[1:34:04] for the austin community owned food retail initiative, I began as a project manager
[1:34:08] and now serve on the capital campaign committee to get to this point. Gava
[1:34:12] has facilitated hundreds of hours of extensive community engagement and organizing
[1:34:17] activities. Established a multilingual resident led steering committee
[1:34:21] who developed the co-ops business plan, and we now support the board as
[1:34:25] they oversee this truly community owned asset. For years,
[1:34:30] residents in dell valley have sounded the alarm on their lack of access to fresh,
[1:34:35] affordable food. And this problem exists due to a lack of investment
[1:34:39] in the community, which has left people with limited access to food and
[1:34:43] basic necessities. Uh, now the co-ops board has obtained
[1:34:48] a three year lease for the property in question, and it requires rezoning
[1:34:52] so the community efforts can continue to move forward. The current
[1:34:56] property owner is, is in full support of the co-op, as evidenced by his
[1:35:00] collaboration and recent letter of support for the city's community project funding
[1:35:04] application via representative kassar's office, so the city
[1:35:08] can hopefully buy his land and the co-op can find a permanent home.
[1:35:13] um, I wanna thank council member fuentes for all of your support on this initiative
[1:35:17] over the years, as well as the other co-sponsors today, including
[1:35:21] my council member, council member lane, um, for supporting this critical step
[1:35:25] in the dell valley food co-op initiative. And I urge others to vote yes and
[1:35:29] support food security in dill valley. Thank you.
[1:35:35] continuing with remote speakers on item 38, monica guzman.
[1:35:43] good morning. I'm monica guzman, policy director gaba, go. Austin
[1:35:47] bain speaking on item 38. We thank the food policy board
[1:35:52] for their recommendation for council approval and waiving of related
[1:35:56] fees. We thank council member fuentes for proposing
[1:36:00] this resolution and thanks as well to the co-sponsoring council members
[1:36:05] to initiate the rezoning of the delval food cooperative property.
[1:36:10] historically, food access in del has been an issue for residents,
[1:36:14] residents having to drive long distances to bike groceries. Planning a trip to a grocery store
[1:36:19] isn't easy for working family. I know the challenge personally
[1:36:23] from my lived experiences when I lived in san antonio off loop four
[1:36:27] 10, and for those who know san antonio, that that was way
[1:36:32] out there. The route to a grocery store was loop four 10 to
[1:36:36] us 90 to military drive. That was quite a drive.
[1:36:40] and we also had to plan since we were at, uh, one car household.
[1:36:45] and my then partner had the car most days. So,
[1:36:50] thank you, you know, for all who have supported this work, community driven,
[1:36:54] and we request counsel to approve the draft resolution and waive the rezoning fees
[1:36:59] as re remain recommended by the food policy board. Thank you.
[1:37:04] moving to in-person speakers on item 38, christopher reyes
[1:37:08] and brittany burke, please come
[1:37:12] forward if your name's been called.
[1:37:18] please state your name and begin speaking. ,
[1:37:30] please. Good morning, mayor and council members. My name
[1:37:34] is christopher reyes and I'm the board chair of the dell valley food co-op
[1:37:39] and a resident of district two. I'm here to ask for your support in
[1:37:43] this item to initiate the rezoning of 58 0 7
[1:37:47] ross road, so that dell valley can have a neighborhood grocery store.
[1:37:52] right now, many dell valley residents travel long distances, often
[1:37:56] over an hour just to access fresh, affordable food.
[1:38:00] our co-op was created by community members to change that, to
[1:38:04] bring healthy and affordable groceries closer to home. But what we're
[1:38:09] building is more than a store. We envision that this site is
[1:38:13] a community space, a place where people can gather, learn, and
[1:38:17] connect. In addition to grocery sales, we plan to host events, offer educational
[1:38:22] programming, and create a welcoming third space for residents.
[1:38:26] we're also exploring opportunities like growing produce on site, and supporting local producers
[1:38:30] and craftspeople through weekend markets. This rezoning
[1:38:34] ensures the property can help support these kinds of community centered
[1:38:38] uses. Importantly, we have strong alignment with a property owner.
[1:38:43] our multi-year lease includes a formal recorded purchase option reflecting
[1:38:48] a shared commitment to making this a long, long-term community rooted site.
[1:38:53] I ask you to vote in favor of item 38. This is an opportunity
[1:38:58] to turn a vacant property into something the community truly owns,
[1:39:02] allows for economic opportunity and a place to gather.
[1:39:06] we hope you'll help us make that possible. Thank
[1:39:10] you, council min fuentes, and the other co-sponsors. Thank you.
[1:39:14] yes. Good morning, council and mayor watson. My name is brittany burke
[1:39:19] and I am the director of the dell valley libraries. We have the elroy library
[1:39:23] on eight 12 and the garfield library on 71. We're also building
[1:39:27] a new library at 7 2 2 5 ross road, next to the dell valley health and
[1:39:31] wellness center, and down the street from the proposed side of rezoning. I'm in favor
[1:39:35] of this rezoning because the dell valley community is in dire need of equitable food access.
[1:39:41] I've worked at the library since 2019 and time and time again we
[1:39:45] have heard from patrons about food insecurity. Food access is so central
[1:39:49] to work in dell valley because we do not have a traditional grocery store. With
[1:39:53] this effort to rezone, it will ensure food access for those in de valley. Thank
[1:39:57] you. Thank you.
[1:40:04] moving to item 39, beginning with remote speakers. Monica
[1:40:08] guzman.
[1:40:13] good morning. I'm monica guzman, policy director at gava. Go. Austin. Obamas
[1:40:17] austin. Whoops, speaking on item 39. Thank you, council
[1:40:21] member quez for leading the response to the community driven efforts to protect
[1:40:25] the affordable housing supply in austin. This resolution is not an equity overlay,
[1:40:30] but it takes a step in the right direction. While it does not protect our
[1:40:34] naturally occurring affordable housing from the displacing impact of the city's density
[1:40:38] bones programs, it does provide direction to staff to monitor
[1:40:42] for harm and give commissioners more information to consider before they recommend upzoning
[1:40:47] existing multifamily properties. The strategic housing blueprint 10 year goal
[1:40:51] is to produce 45,000 units for people making less than 60%. Mfi,
[1:40:56] according to the scorecard from 2018 to 2023,
[1:41:00] 10,094 units have produced only 22.4%
[1:41:05] of its goals for units at this level. Yet the past three councils have
[1:41:10] approved upzoning and subsequent demolition of at least 600
[1:41:14] units. Only one of these apartments required one-to-one replacement of affordable
[1:41:18] units lost, which means we're operating in a negative for this goal.
[1:41:23] these are some of the last multi bedroom apartments that rent for under 1500 per month.
[1:41:27] the tenants who live in these properties often don't receive notice of proposed development like
[1:41:31] home owning constituents. They rely on neighbors and allies proactively working to
[1:41:35] ensure that their rights are recognized and have an opportunity to advocate for themselves and
[1:41:39] their neighbors. This policy would provide an opportunity for a review by the community development
[1:41:43] commission, the only commission designated to consider the needs of the working
[1:41:47] poor. Uh, um, more and more of your constituents fall into that category,
[1:41:52] even those who were previously considered middle class. While this policy doesn't
[1:41:56] outright grant protection to our naturally affordable housing or to
[1:42:00] austinite who live there, it provides commissioners and council members a more informed opportunity
[1:42:05] to do so. Please vote yes on item 39 and take a small step toward
[1:42:09] protecting the supply of truly affordable housing in austin. Thank you.
[1:42:15] moving to in-person speakers on item 39, david weinberg.
[1:42:27] good morning, mayor and council. Uh, I am david weinberg.
[1:42:31] I am from district five. I am supporting, uh,
[1:42:35] this item 39. I think it is a
[1:42:40] step in the right direction, uh, to sort of improving,
[1:42:45] uh, the thoughtfulness of process and communication where we have existing
[1:42:49] affordable housing in the city, uh, and making sure
[1:42:54] that the voices of the folks who are living there are being heard. If we are
[1:42:58] considering a rezoning of those properties. I think this council aired when
[1:43:02] it granted a rezoning of akia cliffs. Um, seriously,
[1:43:07] uh, it's not clear to me what exactly is happening with that property today.
[1:43:11] it might be good to get an update on that. Um,
[1:43:15] also, uh, while the resolution is good, it could have,
[1:43:19] um, more teeth. Uh, it, it does not require applicants
[1:43:24] to participate in this discussion with the cdc
[1:43:28] also. It, it says that the process of rezoning cannot be held up,
[1:43:32] uh, with these conversations ongoing with this, uh, with this,
[1:43:36] um, commission. Uh, and I think the last thing I'll say is,
[1:43:41] um, also this, this has more meeting if, when rezoning applications
[1:43:46] find their way to the full council, that they are not taken as state
[1:43:51] a complete, I think darryl slusher and the independent reported that,
[1:43:55] uh, a couple weeks back, y'all voted down two zoning applications,
[1:43:59] uh, on split votes. And as the first time this council has
[1:44:04] done that in a number of years. Uh, so let's be thoughtful and,
[1:44:08] uh, intentional about how we are dealing with, uh, existing
[1:44:12] working class housing, uh, in this city. But this is a step in the right direction. Thank
[1:44:16] you. Speaking on item 41, hayden
[1:44:20] bagot
[1:44:27] bag. I'm good. Moving to item 64,
[1:44:33] speaking remotely is monica guzman
[1:44:40] ipads.
[1:44:45] moving to in-person speakers on item 64, adam greenfield.
[1:44:51] david weinberg, miriam schofield.
[1:45:03] thank you mayor and council member, and especially thank you to council member
[1:45:07] ellis and the co-sponsors for bringing forward this item. Um, transportation
[1:45:11] infrastructure decisions in general are decisions about future development
[1:45:16] and the decision to expand. Uh, urban highway is no more and
[1:45:20] no less than a decision to encourage the people who are utilizing
[1:45:24] the opportunities in the city to live further away from it. Uh, the
[1:45:28] mopac expansion that's being proposed, um, is no exception to this. And the
[1:45:32] project is particularly egregious because of the impacts on
[1:45:36] sco park austin high and barton springs. Um,
[1:45:41] what I really want to emphasize though about this project and
[1:45:45] this resolution is that this is a project by c-t-r-m-a,
[1:45:49] the central texas regional mobility authority and not by tdot. And
[1:45:53] that has two important implications. First, in addition to the
[1:45:57] harms that this, uh, expansion would cause, there's huge opportunity
[1:46:01] cost. C-t-r-m-a has so much flexibility in how they use their
[1:46:06] funds, unlike txdot, and the billion dollars for this project
[1:46:10] could be spent building the transportation system of your dreams. This
[1:46:14] could be spent on regional rail. This could be spent on improving transit infrastructure, on trails,
[1:46:18] and on so much else. Second, this isn't
[1:46:22] being driven by the state. C-t-r-m-a is governed by a seven person
[1:46:27] board. Three of those board members are appointed by travis county.
[1:46:31] uh, this is a project that as the economic and social hub of
[1:46:35] our region, the city should and can have influence over
[1:46:39] the asks in this resolution that the expansion be no more than one lane in each
[1:46:43] direction, and that the environmental issues be seriously considered,
[1:46:47] are reasonable, achievable, ask. This is a fight that, uh, the city can
[1:46:51] win on. So please pass the resolution. Thank you for your interest
[1:46:56] and attention to this matter. And I'd also ask all of you who are interested
[1:47:00] and concerned about this project to not just support the resolution, but also
[1:47:04] continue to engage in other ways. Thank you.
[1:47:10] hello again. David weinberg, uh, district five
[1:47:14] resident, uh, supporting this item. I want to thank you very much,
[1:47:18] uh, for bringing it forward today. Uh, I'll try to be brief. I'll
[1:47:22] try to be quick. Um, I think the idea of doing a
[1:47:27] major highway expansion over
[1:47:31] a river, which we call a number of different lakes, uh,
[1:47:36] through our main metropolitan park,
[1:47:40] where we have, uh, I think four different
[1:47:44] endangered species living there, or in the vicinity of vicinity of this project,
[1:47:49] proposed project that we would not be doing a full environmental
[1:47:53] impact statement does not pass the the smell test.
[1:47:57] uh, so I am, I'm glad that, that y'all are getting on board
[1:48:02] with, with asking for that. I guess also, just before I wrap up
[1:48:06] here, as the parent of a sophomore at, uh,
[1:48:10] austin high school, and as the parent of a, of a, as a rising, uh,
[1:48:14] sixth grader at o henry, I will be one of those people, uh,
[1:48:18] who will have to deal with the, uh, supreme mess,
[1:48:23] uh, that this project appears that is going to impose on our,
[1:48:27] uh, on austin high school here in central austin. Uh, so thank you very much
[1:48:31] for doing this. Uh, I, I know that it is, um,
[1:48:36] uh, something that a lot of folks are looking for leadership
[1:48:40] from y'all to do, and, uh, you're doing the right thing. Thank you.
[1:48:45] continue on item 64, bobby lavinsky, christian may,
[1:48:49] bill bunch is paul robbins and neda
[1:48:53] cholar here. Perfect. Mr. Lavinsky will have six minutes.
[1:48:58] thank you, mayor and council. Um, and a special thank you to council member ellis for
[1:49:02] sponsoring this resolution. Um, council member cadre, council voa, um,
[1:49:06] council member alter and velasquez, thank you for sponsoring this. It's really important
[1:49:10] and I think it's going to help out quite a bit. You may also know that the travis
[1:49:14] county commissioner's court has called for the c-t-r-m-a to
[1:49:18] prepare a full environmental impact statement as well for the mpac expansion project,
[1:49:23] as well as the urban transportation commission. And I understand that the, um, austin
[1:49:27] environmental commission is gonna be, uh, addressing this matter ag on, uh, the
[1:49:32] may 6th agenda. Um, why
[1:49:36] does it matter? This is a, it's, it's being sold as a forward lane expansion. It is
[1:49:40] actually a six to eight lane expansion between, uh, scissor chavez, uh, really anfield
[1:49:44] road down to slaughter, really slaughter creek. Um,
[1:49:48] this is one of the most environmentally sensitive areas of the city, which you're well,
[1:49:52] well aware of. It's the recharge zone. I'm gonna address just some really high
[1:49:57] level stuff, but I would encourage you to reach out. We've got, um, experts that
[1:50:01] are submitting comments as part of the environmental process. So we've had, um, you
[1:50:05] know, doctors that are specialists in their fields addressing, um,
[1:50:09] the in, uh, inadequacy of the environmental assessment
[1:50:13] and the ridiculousness of a fonzi for such a massive highway
[1:50:18] expansion project, um, in our community. Um, just
[1:50:22] to remind you, the I 35 expansion project was also eight miles, and it
[1:50:27] what required an environmental impact statement? Um, air
[1:50:31] quality, uh, as you are aware, is a major concern. This project is not consistent
[1:50:35] with the, uh, the city's goals for reducing,
[1:50:40] uh, greenhouse gases and reducing dependency on single occupancy
[1:50:44] vehicles. Uh, it actually will result in a, uh,
[1:50:48] that should be a 331 million, um, increase in vmt
[1:50:53] annually. Um, and that is an increase, um, of
[1:50:57] a 96 million between the builds and the no build scenario.
[1:51:01] over that same period of time. They are projecting that air quality
[1:51:05] will improve despite that increase in, uh,
[1:51:09] in car emissions. Um, that is not consistent with the recently
[1:51:14] published draft environment, uh, uh, emissions
[1:51:18] reduction plan by campo, uh, which acknowledges that
[1:51:22] the increases in vmt in our community, uh, will outweigh
[1:51:26] any benefits that we're seeing with clean technology. And I think it's highly discredited
[1:51:31] that the state of texas is relying on clean technologies when they're actively suing
[1:51:35] over emission standards federally and, uh, suing to
[1:51:39] prevent the tracking of air quality emissions related to highways.
[1:51:43] um, the current ea only really addresses,
[1:51:47] um, uh, the basic, uh, ones and not
[1:51:51] the ones that matter. It doesn't address pm 2.5, doesn't address pm 10.
[1:51:56] um, and it, uh, doesn't address ozone, uh,
[1:52:00] water quality. Uh, you're hearing a lot about jellyfish. I wanna emphasize that,
[1:52:04] uh, this jellyfish type, uh, filter technology that's being proposed is not
[1:52:09] accepted by the city of austin as an acceptable water quality treatment method over
[1:52:13] the recharge zone. Um, and that's because it has issues
[1:52:17] with the inspection, maintenance, and operations of it over time. It also,
[1:52:21] uh, only, uh, addresses total suspended solids. That's only
[1:52:25] one of the, uh, contaminants that are associated with highways. Uh, it doesn't
[1:52:30] address things like oil and gas and fertilizers and
[1:52:34] all, everything else that's associated with highways. Uh, dr. Lauren ross made a really
[1:52:38] great presentation that I'm probably gonna forward to your office until you have it. Um, that,
[1:52:42] uh, identifies all of the, I think she had 13 other contaminants that
[1:52:46] these, these, uh, stormwater, uh, quality, uh, treatment methods are not addressing.
[1:52:52] uh, and it also doesn't address the construction phase. That
[1:52:56] is really where we're getting a lot of the environmental damage in the, in the threat to barton springs
[1:53:00] to cold springs and the endangered species. There are four endangered species that have been
[1:53:05] identified that will be harmed by this project. That is one of the factors that
[1:53:09] under the old ceq that, uh, would identify that an environmental
[1:53:13] impact statement would be needed. Um, that is the austin blind, the
[1:53:17] barton springs salamanders, as well as two cape craters that are live underneath the
[1:53:21] highway. So this premise that they're expanding inward, um, really
[1:53:26] doesn't support the, the notion that they're actually damaging the habitat for these species
[1:53:30] on top of them. And then upstream, uh, in, in the recharge zone.
[1:53:35] um, what happens with salamanders, with the sedimentation, um, with, with the
[1:53:39] dirt that, so that they take these high pressure drills where they're drilling
[1:53:43] into the karst features, they, that results in
[1:53:47] a bunch of sediment that gets kicked up and it go, it goes into the,
[1:53:51] uh, salamander habitats. It clogs their gills, it destroys their shelter,
[1:53:56] and it destroys their food supplies. So there's a massive harm to the, to the
[1:54:00] species that we're legally required to protect under a habitat conservation
[1:54:04] plan. Um, traffic, this is a really important one.
[1:54:09] um, there was a 2024 update where they adjusted this, this project
[1:54:13] based off the model. Initially they were proposed saying that with the, we do nothing, we're gonna
[1:54:17] have 52 minutes of new delays. That changed
[1:54:21] in 2024 when it updated with the new model down to only 20 minutes.
[1:54:25] so what that means is this build scenario is only giving you a benefit
[1:54:29] of five to six minutes during peak hour if you travel
[1:54:34] the entire eight mile stretch of the highway. That is not
[1:54:38] something that I think this community is asking for. It's just that five to six minute benefit.
[1:54:42] we're asking for better solutions for mobility and to stop living
[1:54:46] our lives on highways. Um, and it also doesn't take into account post
[1:54:50] pandemic trends, emerging technology, or even the current camp model. Thank
[1:54:55] you.
[1:55:00] please go ahead. Uh, good morning council. Uh,
[1:55:04] I'm here to speak, uh, uh, in favor of item 64. Thank you so much
[1:55:08] to all council members who have worked and put this forward, especially council member ellis. Um,
[1:55:12] the city must do everything within, in its power to prevent the widening of mopac. The
[1:55:17] reasons are countless, but I'd like to focus on one, the air pollution that would create and that
[1:55:21] pollution's very humid cost. I don't need to convince you that highway expansions caused more pollution.
[1:55:25] co2 and o2 so 2:00 pm 2.55 10, it all goes up.
[1:55:30] I'd instead like to describe the intersection, uh, as a way of exploring the
[1:55:34] human cost, uh, of mopac and davis lane, uh, which is along the path of the
[1:55:38] proposed expansion. Uh, on the east side of this intersection, within a block is the
[1:55:42] primrose school, a preschool in kindergarten. On the west side is dell
[1:55:46] children's hospital. The, uh, davis lane location just north is
[1:55:50] dick nichols district park, with a lovely play playground. These are places
[1:55:55] where children learn, heal, and play. It shouldn't be
[1:55:59] a place where we allow air pollution to increase their risk of lung and heart disease, especially
[1:56:03] childhood asthma. Uh, and pollution does not just affect children.
[1:56:08] uh, in the middle of these three properties is another business, uh, silverado,
[1:56:12] barton springs memory care community, a nursing home that takes care of people with diseases
[1:56:17] like dementia, alzheimer's, uh, diseases, which are significantly more
[1:56:21] likely to affect those exposed to highway air pollution. Uh,
[1:56:25] my wife has as had, has had asthma since she was a child. Uh, every
[1:56:29] time she struggles to breathe, it breaks my heart. My grandfather died from
[1:56:34] dementia. Watching him waste away broke my heart. We
[1:56:38] should do everything we can to save others from that pain. Thank you,
[1:56:42] sir, can you please state your name? Oh, sorry. Christian may. Thank you
[1:56:48] so much. Good morning, mayor and council. Adam greenfield here with safe streets austin speaking in
[1:56:52] support of agenda item 64. Thank you so much for this resolution.
[1:56:56] uh, to the co-sponsors, council members ellis que alter, kari
[1:57:01] and mayor pro tem vala, uh, thank you for raising your
[1:57:05] concerns about this proposed highway expansion. We
[1:57:09] absolutely concur that we should be prioritizing for this project,
[1:57:14] bike and pedestrian trails along the full extent of the area,
[1:57:18] more crossings and everything we can do for transit we should absolutely
[1:57:23] be doing for this project in this most anti-urban
[1:57:28] of environments, anything we can do to increase transportation
[1:57:32] choice is extremely valuable, uh, to the point made in
[1:57:36] the resolution. We absolutely cannot allow this project to increase vehicle
[1:57:40] miles traveled. We absolutely cannot allow this project
[1:57:46] to undo the progress, the amazing progress that osen is making on
[1:57:50] transportation mode shift. Speaking of shift,
[1:57:54] we are in the middle of a generational shift in how we think about
[1:57:58] and implement transportation infrastructure. We will
[1:58:03] probably have these kinds of projects coming forward for a while around austin.
[1:58:07] and every time council speaks on projects
[1:58:11] like this, you hasten you speed up this badly
[1:58:16] needed and much de not desired generational shift.
[1:58:20] thank you very much for your engagement and leadership on this issue. Thank
[1:58:24] you. Thank you mayor. Council members, bill bunch,
[1:58:28] executive director, save our springs alliance district five. Thank you
[1:58:32] so much, council member ellis and the other co-sponsors for bringing this forward.
[1:58:37] um, especially your very first be it resolved, calling on
[1:58:41] c-t-r-m-a to prepare a full environmental impact statement,
[1:58:46] um, that is required by federal law, our national charter, the
[1:58:50] national environmental policy act. This is earth week. Um, we
[1:58:54] need to adhere to that national environmental charter by doing
[1:58:58] everything we can to live in harmony. There's gonna be
[1:59:02] economic growth. We have to do things smarter with the best social science,
[1:59:07] uh, environmental science and economics at the table. There's
[1:59:12] nothing of that in the ea. This truncated, uh,
[1:59:16] study and proposed conclusion that's absurd,
[1:59:20] that there'll be no significant impacts from this project. Adding
[1:59:25] six to eight lanes of pavement, uh, basically converting
[1:59:29] mopac into a, a, uh, western I 35, um,
[1:59:33] 8.8 miles over the most vulnerable place in the entire
[1:59:37] state of texas. Uh, it's easy to forget that.
[1:59:42] um, there's no other city on the planet that has a natural,
[1:59:46] beautiful, clean, uh, giant spring in the heart of it.
[1:59:50] and our state has told us that this is more vulnerable to
[1:59:55] pollution than any other aquifer in the whole state of texas. There's four
[1:59:59] endangered species, and that they admit this, that will be harmed by this
[2:00:03] project. Two aquatic salamanders at the springs and two cave
[2:00:07] critters. There's caves all up and down underneath this, we,
[2:00:12] we have to protect this one other thing on the construction phase,
[2:00:16] they will be having to shut down the roberta crenshaw bridge, which is our
[2:00:20] hike and bike trail for years. Just think of the harm to the
[2:00:24] recreational benefits of lady bird lake boaters, walk, heart
[2:00:28] walkers, hikers, all of them. Thank you. Thank you.
[2:00:33] we have one remote speaker on item 64. Megan meisenbach.
[2:00:40] hi, this is megan meisenbach. Thank you for letting me speak on item 64.
[2:00:45] I'm in support of it. I think it's, uh, fabulous that
[2:00:49] our council members, ellis and uh, other supporters have
[2:00:53] put this forward. I really can't add much to
[2:00:58] what, uh, the experts have said. I think bill bunch has beautifully
[2:01:02] pointed out what there is to lose with continuing with this
[2:01:07] roadway project, which, uh, we need to keep our air
[2:01:11] quality as, as clean as we can. The water quality,
[2:01:16] the species that are, we are legally must, uh, uh, protect.
[2:01:20] so thank you so much for bringing this up, and I hope you'll give it your full support,
[2:01:25] especially the environmental study. Thank you.
[2:01:29] moving back to in-person speakers on item 64, jordy
[2:01:33] tello, roy whaley and xia joseph.
[2:01:41] if your name's been called, go ahead and come on down.
[2:01:47] mr. Whaley floor is yours.
[2:01:52] howdy, y'all. My name's roy whaley. I am a long time environmental
[2:01:56] activist here in austin, and a longtime political activist also,
[2:02:00] um, and a longtime lover of barton
[2:02:04] springs in zilker park. My first memory of
[2:02:09] the little old western williamson county hill country
[2:02:13] kid of coming in to see my family in austin, was
[2:02:17] going to barton springs. Going to zilker park, zilker park.
[2:02:22] and as a realtor, I get asked this all the time about
[2:02:27] zilker park. The wonderful thing that we have this spring
[2:02:31] and pool in the middle of our city.
[2:02:36] I want to thank all of you that are sponsoring this and
[2:02:40] encouraging those of you that haven't to vote for this.
[2:02:44] and let's get the study done. A, as mr.
[2:02:48] bunch said, we've got four endangered species, we've got
[2:02:52] multiple environmental features, and we're rushing this through as
[2:02:57] if it's a federal issue. And I'm not gonna start it on the
[2:03:01] feds, but all of you please.
[2:03:05] we had a great event last night. We had between 250
[2:03:09] people on a very busy night in austin, texas, where there are
[2:03:13] very many different meetings show up to listen to and
[2:03:17] discuss this. That's great that we had that turnout.
[2:03:22] we need more people coming out commenting on this. So if you would,
[2:03:27] all of you have great outreach, and I'm on most of your newsletters
[2:03:31] and I'm glad because I learned so much from each and every one of you.
[2:03:36] reach out to your constituents at that are part of your newsletters,
[2:03:40] ask them to weigh in on this, ask them to comment on this,
[2:03:45] ask them to ask for a real environmental study.
[2:03:49] not looks good from here. Well, I'm sorry, but you're
[2:03:53] in ontario. Anything might look good from there. Thank you very much. It's good
[2:03:57] to see all of you again. Have a great day. Thank you, sir.
[2:04:02] thank you mayor. Council anovia. Joseph, I just wanted to state my opposition
[2:04:06] to the park and ride that's actually specified. I'm pa
[2:04:10] I'm paid it's lines 1 78 to 180 8 to the city manager.
[2:04:15] I just wanna remind you of a comment made by council member ryan alter on
[2:04:19] april 15th, 2026 at your finance and audit committee meeting
[2:04:23] where he said, quote, so, you know, we can decide to violate
[2:04:28] policies or change the policies to meet where we are. And
[2:04:32] I just want you to recognize respectfully that as it relates to transportation
[2:04:37] in the southwest area, it's 2.9 boardings an hour
[2:04:41] on convict hill. And paige ellis has engaged in willful
[2:04:45] blindness and she refuses to recognize that black people
[2:04:49] are waiting 60 minutes for the bus, 10 times longer than southwest
[2:04:53] in central austin residents. And so at our, what I want you to recognize is
[2:04:57] that it is discriminatory. You've acknowledged it on page one
[2:05:02] of the document at the bottom, it mentions project connect, the november 3rd, 2020
[2:05:07] ad valorem tax increase. I want you to recognize that this was
[2:05:11] late backup mayor. And so respectfully, you have put
[2:05:16] us on a strict diet and you do not allow us to provide our slides.
[2:05:20] so I'm gonna ask you if you're gonna be lenient with the council for you to be
[2:05:24] lenient with us so that we can provide the documentation that supports the
[2:05:28] comments that we make. I do want you to recognize as well, it says to
[2:05:32] cooperate with capitol metro central texas regional
[2:05:36] mobility authority. Mayor, you've seen the slides before. You know that it's
[2:05:40] infrequent, unreliable, disconnected northeast of us, 180 3.
[2:05:45] and so my opposition is to funding anything in southwest
[2:05:49] austin because it was november 7th, 2016 that you
[2:05:54] can find it on page 20 in capital metro's board packet that tells you
[2:05:58] 2.6 boardings an hour. The consultant rush chisholm told capital
[2:06:02] metro that they don't have the ridership there. Thank, thank you
[2:06:06] mayor. That concludes all speakers on the consent agenda. Thank you. Uh, members, you just
[2:06:11] heard that that concludes all the speakers on the consent agenda for
[2:06:15] planning purposes. Let me tell you how I, I see us going forward. Unless there's an objection.
[2:06:19] I think we go ahead and address the consent agenda, get the con,
[2:06:23] uh, pass the consent agenda or, or turn it down, whatever we end up doing here.
[2:06:28] and then we will go then to our 12 o'clock time certain
[2:06:32] on public communication at the conclusion of that. Uh,
[2:06:37] what I will, what I, I wanna suggest we do is recess,
[2:06:42] just for a brief period of time, we will come back and go
[2:06:46] into an executive session at that point. I I, before we go into any other
[2:06:50] items, so let's, let's address the consent agenda. We will
[2:06:54] then have, uh, public communication and uh, then we
[2:06:59] will go in, into the, the executive session. And, and I'm, I'm gonna work
[2:07:03] on something with regard to the music, uh, so that maybe
[2:07:07] what we do is we just go straight into the executive session and we allow the music to be handled in
[2:07:11] another way than what we typically do. Yes. Council member fuentes is the executive
[2:07:15] session item time sensitive because we do have quite a number of people here for item
[2:07:19] six. It is. Okay. Yeah. Council member ellis.
[2:07:24] mayor, I wanted to pull item number 33 off the consent agenda. Agenda. That was gonna be the very next thing I did
[2:07:28] was to ask for that and I knew you were gonna do that. So, uh, for the record, uh,
[2:07:32] the items that are not on the consent agenda are item 6 29
[2:07:37] and 33, item 6 29 and 33.
[2:07:43] is there any other item that anybody wishes to pull from the consent agenda?
[2:07:47] alright, then the chair will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as read,
[2:07:51] uh, made by council member cadre, seconded by council member ellis.
[2:07:55] uh, if anyone wishes to be heard and is part of the discussion on the consent agenda,
[2:08:00] please let me know. All right. Council member alter.
[2:08:04] council member cadry. Council member siegel. Council member ellis. Then council member alter,
[2:08:08] followed by the member pro. Tim, I've got you. If you punch the button, I get
[2:08:12] you. So thank you. Great. Yes. Well, you, I I you have
[2:08:16] not punched the button, but I, I I saw you raise your hand. Perfect. So the order will
[2:08:20] go in is cadre siegel ellis, mayor pro timm
[2:08:25] velazquez andar. He still haven't
[2:08:29] punched it. Well, your name, council member lane, your name's not up there, so
[2:08:33] you told me. Well, I, I, it went off. You, you, if you, if you punch it
[2:08:37] and you punch it a second time, it takes your name off. So punch it once,
[2:08:42] leave it there. Unless you want to be off
[2:08:46] that, that, that helps me keep it through order. Thank you. Alright,
[2:08:51] uh, we'll start over. Councilman codre,
[2:08:55] followed by councilman siegel, then council member ellis. Great. Thank you, mayor. Um,
[2:08:59] I wasn't even trying to be first and I somehow ended up first. Um, before
[2:09:04] I get into my, uh, remarks that I, I do wanna acknowledge that the train derailment
[2:09:08] that happened earlier this morning, uh, in district nine. And, and, you know, thankfully there were no
[2:09:12] casualties, there was no injuries, uh, and really want to thank our first responders,
[2:09:16] uh, for, for being on scene. Uh, I understand it's, it's the process to kind
[2:09:20] of clear it up. We'll be the entirety of, of the day, uh, but very much thankful for,
[2:09:24] for first responders on scene. Um, we just wanna touch on item 37.
[2:09:29] uh, want to thank council member siegel, uh, and his team for their hard work on it.
[2:09:33] um, you know, I, I think the testimony that we heard today, especially from
[2:09:37] the, the speakers who kind of kicked it off, uh, it, it was
[2:09:42] very heartfelt. Um, it was very human. And I think often
[2:09:46] when we bring forward policy, um, I, you
[2:09:50] know, I, I think it's important to always remember that when we bring forward policy, there, there
[2:09:54] are people behind that policy. Uh, there's people, the, the reason why we do what we do is to
[2:09:58] make sure that people are, are taken care of. And it was mentioned by a lot of the speakers on, on how the
[2:10:02] state has, has kind of shirked their responsibilities, uh, and, and, and lead
[2:10:07] with, uh, well, don't lead with empathy. Uh, but it's important for us as a council to, to
[2:10:11] do that. So I'm very thankful that we're able to get the item across the finish line,
[2:10:15] uh, to provide assurance and safety and protections, uh, for our, for our
[2:10:19] most vulnerable communities. Uh, and I, I really am
[2:10:23] encouraged by this, this council, uh, the work that we've done in the past and the work that we'll continue
[2:10:28] to, to do to make sure that, that austin really does work for everyone. And that, you
[2:10:32] know, folks that we're here from today are, are properly taken care of. So I wanna thank council member, uh,
[2:10:36] siegel and his team again, and, and all the folks who, who made the item possible and as well as
[2:10:40] the speakers who came today. Thank you. Council member. Council member siegel, council member ellis mayor,
[2:10:44] pro team. Thank you mayor. Um, we'll briefly just wanna acknowledge some
[2:10:48] great environmental items on the agenda. Um, really awesome
[2:10:52] energy is doing a great job on, on some climate forward items. We have item seven, which
[2:10:56] is eight megawatts of solar power generation, uh, at our
[2:11:01] landfill. Item eight is 40 megawatts of electric power capacity
[2:11:05] from dis, um, distribution scale sale battery
[2:11:09] facility portfolio, basically battery storage across the community that's gonna keep rates down,
[2:11:13] improve reliability. And then we've got item 23, which is, um,
[2:11:17] you know, new solar power, uh, panel facilities on city land,
[2:11:22] uh, 25 megawatts or more. Um, and, and there's another ifc from council
[2:11:26] member alter. So just, you know, even despite all the challenging things happening
[2:11:30] at the state and federal levels on energy policy, uh, I wanna continue to lift up and celebrate
[2:11:34] what austin energy is doing. And I also wanna thank, um, council member ellis for item 64
[2:11:38] to discourage a massive expansion of mopac, which is also a very important,
[2:11:43] um, item 37. I'm honored to be the, the sponsor of the safe to
[2:11:47] call item. And I do wanna thank council member fuentes, council member velazquez,
[2:11:51] council member cadry amer pro tela for your co-sponsorship. The
[2:11:55] resolution covers a lot of ground, but at its core stands for something simple that we
[2:11:59] need to do everything we can to make sure that everybody in austin, including our most vulnerable
[2:12:03] community members, feel safe calling for help in an emergency.
[2:12:08] we've had dozens of mu meetings in the last few weeks, uh, with survivor leaders,
[2:12:12] domestic violence and sexual assault service organizations, leaders in the immigration space,
[2:12:17] legal providers, experts, civil rights organizations, and directly impacted people,
[2:12:21] um, who feel unsafe to call the city for
[2:12:26] help due to any number of vulnerabilities including poverty, housing insecurity,
[2:12:30] immigration status, past negative experiences with the criminal legal system and more.
[2:12:34] we know, unfortunately, there have been instances across the country and in our own city where
[2:12:38] victims of sexual assault and domestic violence have called for help and
[2:12:42] have then been threatened with arrest on low level or even non-criminal
[2:12:46] warrants. We know there are over 60,000 warrants for unpaid
[2:12:51] class c citations, which are low level ta uh, traffic offenses
[2:12:55] and other poverty based offenses. We know that people
[2:12:59] with warrants unpaid tickets are not only afraid to call the city for help in emergencies. They're afraid to go
[2:13:03] to court to go vote, to get their id card, apply for needed
[2:13:07] benefits and more. And we know we have to come together as a community and do something about that.
[2:13:12] so this resolution will start a stakeholder process in
[2:13:16] which community experts, city staff, and relevant county officials will come
[2:13:20] together to develop safe to call policies related to at least three different
[2:13:24] but interconnected topics. The first topic is a direct response
[2:13:28] to incidents in which victims have been threatened with arrest or unrelated warrants, even
[2:13:32] during rape examinations. We know that there are already steps being taken
[2:13:36] to address this, and we are very grateful to chief davis and the many experts and service
[2:13:41] providers we've spoken with who've expressed a commitment to a stakeholder process to further
[2:13:45] these efforts. The resolution describes multiple policies and strategies, including
[2:13:49] performing identification checks without running the optional warrant check
[2:13:54] on victims and witnesses, and less required for safety reasons, and also expanding
[2:13:58] alternative reporting paths and ways to access services, including through victim
[2:14:02] services and partnerships with trusted community organizations. The se second
[2:14:06] topic relates to the over 60,000 warrants for unpaid class
[2:14:10] c tickets. We've had conversations with national experts who have successfully redesigned
[2:14:14] court forms and notices with behavioral science principles, which
[2:14:19] result in a decrease in warrants and failure to appear rates. The safe to call
[2:14:23] stakeholder group will also explore ways to reduce arrests on class
[2:14:27] c offenses, including through expanded use of alternative options like the sobering center
[2:14:31] or transport directly to court and set, uh, rather than jail to resolve
[2:14:36] tickets. And then the third topic relates to administrative warrants, which is a
[2:14:40] subject that is heavy on our minds. Earlier this year, a woman called 9 1 1
[2:14:44] to report domestic violence and ended up being removed from the country along with her
[2:14:49] child. We thank and commend chief davis for amending the general orders to
[2:14:53] clarify that detaining somebody b solely based on a non-judicial,
[2:14:57] non-criminal administrative ice warrant, is not permissible under the fourth amendment
[2:15:01] of the us constitution. And we want to make sure that we do everything we can to protect our
[2:15:05] communities and make austin a safe place for everyone. Thanks again to my
[2:15:09] co-sponsors and all the community experts who came forward to help, uh, draft and hone the
[2:15:13] language of this resolution and who are committed to seeing the stakeholder process through. And again,
[2:15:17] thank you to chief davis for coming to the table and committing to an open and
[2:15:22] honest conversation with the community, with the goal of coming together with real concrete
[2:15:26] solutions. I truly believe that if we bring everyone to the table directly impacted
[2:15:30] people, decision makers at the city and the county community partners and service organizations,
[2:15:34] we can make austin a safer city for everyone. Thank you, mayor. Thank you. Council member. Council
[2:15:38] member ellis, followed by the mayor pro tim and council member velasquez. Thank you
[2:15:42] mayor. And I would also like to be added as a co-sponsor on 37. I really appreciate
[2:15:47] the work that you and, um, the other colleagues have done on that. The mother and daughter were
[2:15:51] from district eight, and so it's something that we have definitely felt an impact for in
[2:15:55] southwest austin to make sure that folks are, um, not ending up deported simply
[2:16:00] for calling 9 1 1, um, to make sure that their home and their family is safe.
[2:16:04] without objection, council member ellis will be shown as a co-sponsor of item 37.
[2:16:08] thank you. I would also like to speak briefly to item number 64, which is
[2:16:12] the one you just heard the speakers come and testify about. That is in regard to
[2:16:16] the highway expansion through southwest austin. Um, this
[2:16:20] mopac south expansion covers eight miles and is essentially the entire
[2:16:24] spine of district eight. It, the impacts that this highway expansion
[2:16:29] are going to have, are going to affect almost every neighborhood, every school
[2:16:33] that's close to mopac, endangered species, and, and a number of
[2:16:37] different stakeholder and interest groups along the way. Um, we have found through our conversations,
[2:16:41] a couple of the groups that operate within the footprint of zilker park, um, we're not consulted
[2:16:46] and didn't know what to say about the public comment period and what the impacts
[2:16:50] to their businesses and their events were going to be. Um, so I wanna
[2:16:55] thank c-t-r-m-a for stepping up once we recognize that and offering to have those, uh,
[2:16:59] consultations to make sure that as many constituents have the information that they need
[2:17:03] as humanly possible. Um, this resolution builds on the one that
[2:17:07] we sent to c-t-r-m-a about a year and a half ago at this point, that
[2:17:11] the city council had also supported for us to put in as a recommendation,
[2:17:16] but it not only focuses on, um, expansion for car lanes, but it
[2:17:20] also calls for better bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. Um,
[2:17:24] park and ride conversations about appropriate locations for park and rides that are part of
[2:17:28] the project connect system that voters approved in 2020. And
[2:17:32] a number of other environmentally friendly initiatives like safe street crossings to make
[2:17:37] sure that we don't end up with this further divide through southwest austin.
[2:17:41] um, the city departments do have until may 3rd to contribute
[2:17:46] their comments into the public comment period. So there, I know that there are, those were not ready
[2:17:50] to go. At the same time. This resolution is ready to be considered by the city council,
[2:17:54] but we know that the departments are working very closely, um, to be able to submit those
[2:17:58] comments. Um, there are a number of different structures that contribute to
[2:18:02] the historic nature of zilker park that were left off the list. Um, clarksville
[2:18:07] as a historic neighborhood is not one that, um, is being factored into some of this footprint.
[2:18:12] and I've noticed some language around impacts to endangered species not being considered
[2:18:16] regionally significant, which I find to be interesting because the
[2:18:20] endangered species that our speakers listed previously, they don't have another
[2:18:24] home to go to if their cave is impacted, that species
[2:18:28] may cease to exist entirely, and they are on the federal list of endangered
[2:18:33] species. So this is really, really sensitive. This is something that we cannot get wrong.
[2:18:37] this highway is set to double in size. Um, so I think that the
[2:18:41] finding of no significant impact needs to be looked at again. And so I'm happy that hopefully
[2:18:46] if council approves this, that we will be joining arm in arm with the county who
[2:18:50] has already called for the full environmental impact statement. And I appreciate my co-sponsors,
[2:18:54] mayor proam, vela alter, velasquez, and cadre for
[2:18:58] working on this with us. Um, it's very, very impactful and it's important
[2:19:02] that we get this right. Thank you, council member, uh, mayor proam vela,
[2:19:07] followed by council members velasquez and alter. Thank you mayor. Uh, council member
[2:19:11] siegel highlighted those, uh, critical austin energy items
[2:19:15] that are moving through. Uh, again, a lot of good stuff on this agenda, but
[2:19:20] item seven, eight, and, uh, 23. Uh, just want to reiterate
[2:19:24] the austin energy moving aggressively on, uh, battery storage
[2:19:28] on, uh, solar power. You know, the item number seven with,
[2:19:33] um, solar on the landfill. That's, I think, one of the last
[2:19:37] large scale sites that we're gonna be able to put a, a, a big solar farm on within
[2:19:41] the city of austin. Uh, but item number 23
[2:19:46] with the solar on city facilities, we're, we're looking for any square footage we can to,
[2:19:50] uh, put, uh, solar power on there and, uh, generate additional
[2:19:54] renewal power, uh, strengthen, uh, local generation and, and make austin
[2:19:59] energy a a better, more, uh, reliable system. Great to see these items, uh, on the
[2:20:03] agenda. And I just want to thank, um, our, our director o'reilly
[2:20:07] and all the staff at, uh, austin energy for all their, their hard work on that.
[2:20:12] um, I, I won't, uh, say, uh, much more about item
[2:20:16] 37. Again, I just want to thank council member siegel proud to be a co-sponsor on it, and the testimony
[2:20:20] with, uh, very, uh, compelling, uh, it, it's, uh, heartbreaking, uh,
[2:20:24] out there right now. Uh, what's going on with, uh, the immigration, uh, tactics.
[2:20:28] um, item number 29, uh, it was actually not on the consent
[2:20:32] agenda. I'm gonna hold off on, on that one. Um, item number 31 is a tiny
[2:20:36] little item, but an important one. Uh, it, it will help
[2:20:41] preserve historic properties that makes the process for
[2:20:45] getting, uh, electricity and, and, and other, uh, renovations
[2:20:50] to historic buildings that may, uh, infringe on the city right of way.
[2:20:54] again, these are a hundred year old bid buildings, and, and the right of way has changed on them more than
[2:20:58] they, they've done anything wrong. We had a long grueling process to do this. This
[2:21:02] will simplify it and, and make it better and help preserve historic buildings in austin. A
[2:21:06] goal that I very, very much support. Um, number 64,
[2:21:11] uh, the, uh, resolution on the, the mopac expansion. I would just say
[2:21:15] that, uh, I 35 had to have a full environmental impact
[2:21:19] statement. Project connect, had to have a full environmental impact
[2:21:23] statement. I just don't see why the expansion of mopac
[2:21:27] would not have to have, uh, a full environmental impact statement. I just wanna thank
[2:21:32] council member ellis for, uh, bringing that item. And then, uh, last but
[2:21:36] not least, uh, item 40, the city is
[2:21:40] going to be, uh, sponsoring the dragon vote, uh,
[2:21:44] festival. Uh, and first of all, I want to thank, uh, amy wong
[2:21:48] monk, uh, andrew lee, victoria lee, nat ho,
[2:21:53] uh, and then the, uh, board members, uh, yusak young,
[2:21:57] uh, be bernhardt and jeff manley for,
[2:22:01] uh, being here to, uh, support for all their work in making the dragon
[2:22:05] boat festival. Such a great, uh, success and, and such a great event.
[2:22:10] the festival started in 1999. This is the, I guess, 26th
[2:22:14] year, uh, 26th annual, uh, dragon boat festival for,
[2:22:19] uh, this is also be the first ever city sponsored asian
[2:22:23] american event, which is a long overdue. Uh, and it's a,
[2:22:30] a, a really exciting, uh, time for, for those that that are not
[2:22:34] familiar with, uh, what the dragon boat race is. Uh, it's
[2:22:39] a, uh, a chinese tradition, uh, sporting event
[2:22:43] dating back, um, 2000 years or so. There's a, a boat with
[2:22:47] a, a dragon head on it and a team of paddlers, and they line up and they
[2:22:51] race each other. Uh, it will be this saturday at,
[2:22:55] uh, festival beach, uh, uh, going, uh, all day from about, uh,
[2:23:00] this nine o'clock or so to the end, around three o'clock. Please go and check
[2:23:04] it out. Uh, I, I look forward to continuing to work with, uh, the sponsors
[2:23:08] of the dragon boat festival to highlight it. And, uh, I, I'll just say
[2:23:12] that it would be great to move it to, uh, auditorium shores as well, where I can have even
[2:23:16] more participation and become an even more high profile event.
[2:23:20] I just wanted to, uh, sincerely thank everybody that's been involved in that. We appreciate you and we
[2:23:24] appreciate all y'all do. Thank you. Yeah, thank you mayor pro tim. Some of us
[2:23:29] are old enough to remember 1999 and, um,
[2:23:33] and I'll see you saturday. So, thank you. Uh, council members, velasquez
[2:23:37] altar and lane. Um, uh, thank you mayor. I also want to co-sign what, uh,
[2:23:41] councilman oh, mayor pro te vela said about making sure we bring this to auditorium shores
[2:23:46] next year. Um, uh, uh, colleagues,
[2:23:50] uh, item number 39, uh, ask planning staff to give the community development
[2:23:54] commission our commission that is specifically focused on the needs of our, of
[2:23:58] austin's low-income residents, an opportunity to review zoning cases
[2:24:03] that affect existing multi-family communities. We,
[2:24:07] as ais have aggressively pursued ways to increase affordable housing here
[2:24:11] in austin, and I'm damn proud of that work. We also need to be just as aggressive
[2:24:16] when we're tackling displacement. Um, this will be one
[2:24:20] in many steps that our office has taken and will continue to take to ensure that, that
[2:24:24] we are working to mitigate displacement. I want to thank my co-sponsors,
[2:24:28] mayor watson, mayor pro te, and council member puentes and uchin. Thank you
[2:24:32] to trish link and our law department and also the community development commission for
[2:24:36] their work on this item. And a huge thank you to victoria hall and the d three office for
[2:24:40] all of her work. Thank you. Thank you. Council member, council member
[2:24:44] alter, followed by council member lane and uchin. Thank you very much. Uh,
[2:24:48] just a few quick hits here on, on item five, which is around our city
[2:24:52] designated cultural district. So I appreciate the, the work staff's done and wanted to ask
[2:24:57] if they could include the scoring and impact analysis for the south shore
[2:25:01] cultural district, which is something we've talked about, and I think they can do. So just
[2:25:05] whenever y'all are doing that, if, if you could take a look there. Um, I also want to thank our
[2:25:09] item number nine, kim vardas, who, um, this is
[2:25:13] a pit. It's, it's by d five, but she
[2:25:17] has helped with some of the intricacies here and made this happen. And so
[2:25:22] I just wanna, uh, thank her for her work on that to get us where we are today.
[2:25:26] um, also item number 30, just thank greg, uh, congressman
[2:25:30] kassar's office. Uh, we will always accept money into the
[2:25:34] city, and this is gonna be, uh, money for us to help improve,
[2:25:39] uh, longhorn dam and, and the mobility infrastructure there.
[2:25:43] so that's very exciting as well. Um, certainly wanna touch
[2:25:47] on, we, we had the chance to touch talk yesterday at the climate water environment parks
[2:25:51] committee, but when, when I first came here, we had a discussion
[2:25:56] about how we had all these great, uh, environmental plans,
[2:26:00] but they were just kind of sitting on the shelf, not doing the work that we wanted them to
[2:26:04] do. And through the work of this council, uh, we
[2:26:08] were able to okay, provide direction and, and ultimately, our
[2:26:12] climate action and resilience staff and director bomber, uh,
[2:26:17] under your work, put together an actionable plan of the steps that we
[2:26:21] could take to move us forward to achieve the goals that we had set
[2:26:25] as a community. And today we are ticking off a lot of those.
[2:26:29] uh, one of those was to do the landfill solar project. We're approving that today.
[2:26:34] one of those was to have a virtual power plant, uh, project through austin
[2:26:38] energy's work, uh, with item number eight. We're doing that today.
[2:26:42] another one, put solar on city facilities. That is something that
[2:26:46] I have believed we should have been doing a long time ago, but it's gonna save us money. It's going to
[2:26:51] imp, uh, increase our local generation. And that's on the list. We're doing that today. And
[2:26:55] I really want to thank, uh, all the work that zach, your team has done, and,
[2:26:59] and austin energy, I know has helped as well. We had to, we had to rush
[2:27:03] this one a little bit to, to meet a deadline, and I think we're gonna do it. So
[2:27:07] really kudos to you on that. Um, item 41, something that, that I'm
[2:27:11] bringing forward to increase residential solar, uh, bring more of that to
[2:27:15] our community, uh, in new innovative ways. And I wanna thank my co-sponsors,
[2:27:20] council member fuentes, velasquez siegel and lane on that.
[2:27:24] but within that is also how we can enhance demand response, which is also on our
[2:27:28] list of actionable items. And so we are really moving the ball forward
[2:27:32] today, uh, in terms of getting closer to our environmental goals
[2:27:36] as a city. And last but not least, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank council member ellis for
[2:27:40] all her work on the mopac south, uh, expansion project. Not just this resolution,
[2:27:45] but, uh, you have championed all that needs to be done, uh,
[2:27:49] in order to make that project better and, and, uh, hopefully
[2:27:54] not have an adverse impact on our community like it's currently scheduled to do. So I just appreciate
[2:27:59] your dedication to that. Thanks. Council member, council member lane. Council
[2:28:03] member deon. Thank you, mayor. Um, first, as it relates to item 37,
[2:28:08] I wanna thank council member siegel for his leadership, the co-sponsors who brought
[2:28:12] this forward for us, and absolutely the many community members
[2:28:16] who have spoken about their, the direct impacts of these issues on their lives. You
[2:28:20] should not have to come and tell us about these experiences, and
[2:28:24] I am so grateful that you did. Um, I'd like to be added as a cons co-sponsor
[2:28:29] for item 37. Without objection, council member lang will be added as a co-sponsor
[2:28:33] of item number 37. Thank you. As it relates to item 27,
[2:28:38] which, um, is about the salvation army women and children's shelter,
[2:28:43] I am very pleased that austin is continuing its support of the austin shelter
[2:28:47] for women and children. Shelter for children together with their guardians is a
[2:28:51] critical component of austin's emergency shelter and homeless response programs, the need
[2:28:55] for which has grown dramatically over the last five years. Our existing shelter
[2:29:00] system was designed before families with children faced housing instability
[2:29:04] in the numbers that they now do. Thank you to director gray and the homeless strategy
[2:29:08] and operations team for your continued efforts to ensure adequate shelter for austin's
[2:29:12] children, which includes sustaining this downtown shelter for women and
[2:29:16] children, but also requires first expanding access to family shelter
[2:29:20] outside of central austin and closer to children's home schools
[2:29:25] and neighborhoods. And second, adding a family shelter option that is accessible
[2:29:29] to men caring for children members. I hope to have your support and working with
[2:29:33] director gray as we move through both budget and bond discussions so that austin makes
[2:29:37] progress this year on the critical goal of shelter for children and their
[2:29:41] guardians. While austin's financial realities are tougher than they have ever been,
[2:29:46] austin's children and their guardians cannot continue to wait for us as a council
[2:29:50] and a city to prioritize expanded access to family shelter.
[2:29:55] with respect to item 64, the mopac expansion, I wanna express my
[2:29:59] support encouraging c-t-r-m-a to re reevaluate their draft
[2:30:04] environmental assessment of this expansion. And to find the middle ground on this project.
[2:30:08] widening by two lanes does not align with the city's goals. Environmentally,
[2:30:12] yes, but also with respect to transit and mobility. We must find a way
[2:30:16] to develop responsibly because this is a very sensitive area, surrounded by sensitive populations
[2:30:21] that it is our duty to protect. And so I would also like to be added as a co-sponsor
[2:30:26] on this item. Uh, without objection, councilman lane be shown as a, a
[2:30:30] co-sponsor of item number 64. And finally, on a happier note,
[2:30:34] uh, I am a co-sponsor of item 40, the drag, which relates to the dragon vote
[2:30:39] festival. I wanna thank council member vela for his leadership in mobilizing city
[2:30:43] support for this longstanding tradition in amy mock for her years of dedication to
[2:30:47] austin, ensuring that we celebrate our asian community, both
[2:30:52] near my home in north northwest austin and in the heart of our city this weekend. I
[2:30:56] will see you there. Thank you. Thank you. Council member. Council member uchin.
[2:31:01] thank you, mayor. I wanna just flag a couple of items. First, items seven,
[2:31:05] eight, and 23. Uh, I wanna point out that these items
[2:31:10] are just gonna help austin grow our local energy production to make us more resilient, more
[2:31:14] cost effective, and more environmentally friendly, which are exactly the three priorities
[2:31:18] that austin energy has for us. For item nine, which councilor alter touched
[2:31:22] on the estancia hill country development is a positive
[2:31:26] for the city of austin. It's gonna allow for and support the development of both single
[2:31:30] family homes, as well as other housing types that we commonly encourage.
[2:31:35] and it's gonna allow broader market activity that's going to, I think, encourage,
[2:31:39] uh, vast, uh, and diverse groups of people to settle
[2:31:44] down their residents. They're gonna put down roots there for generations to come.
[2:31:48] item 35, 31, I'm not sure if we brought up yet. Um, I'm voting yes
[2:31:52] in this item to revise our policy for license agreements, a very sexy item
[2:31:57] and the right of way relationships for historic buildings and structures. Uh, the
[2:32:01] exemption here is well taken, but we're only here. The action is
[2:32:05] only really necessary because the cost of the agreements has grown considerably over
[2:32:09] the last decades. Agreements that I think in the first place we're there to simply guarantee
[2:32:14] the city's legal right to access the public infrastructure
[2:32:18] have instead transformed into becoming a revenue generation tool.
[2:32:22] and so we've seen now in several instances where formally insignificant
[2:32:27] fees have become, uh, for some os knights thousands of dollars
[2:32:31] that, uh, essentially become approaching
[2:32:35] a whole yearly tax bill for them. So as we're reviewing the positive impacts
[2:32:39] of the exemption for historic structures, I wanna encourage us as a city to review the
[2:32:44] totality of these contracts to ensure that our calculations are justifiable
[2:32:48] and fair for all. And then finally, for item 64, I wanna
[2:32:52] thank council member ellis for her work on this. I also request to be added
[2:32:56] to a co-sponsor the latest version of this item. And I'm also hopeful going forward
[2:33:01] as a council district that borders on the proposed expansion area
[2:33:05] that I can actively work with my colleagues on solutions here. Without objection, council
[2:33:09] member ducen will be shown as a co-sponsor of item number 64. Thank you, council,
[2:33:13] member members, is there anyone wishing to abstain from
[2:33:17] a vote on the consent agenda? Uh, as the motion second
[2:33:22] came in, anyone wishing to be shown recusing themselves from
[2:33:26] a vote on any item on the consent agenda? Anyone wishing
[2:33:30] to be shown voting no on any item on the consent agenda as it was read?
[2:33:35] hearing none without objection. The consent agenda is adopted with council member harper
[2:33:39] madison, absent members as I indicated. Uh,
[2:33:43] now what we will do is we will go to our public communication
[2:33:48] agenda item, uh, the, for the, just to give a little bit of heads
[2:33:52] up on where we will go. We will do this, uh, then we will
[2:33:56] go into an executive session. Uh, we will have, we will still have live
[2:34:00] music, but I've arranged to have, uh, somebody from acme
[2:34:04] uh, do the introduction of the live music so that we can go continue to do the work of the
[2:34:08] council, uh, in, in executive session when we return
[2:34:13] from the executive session and for the public that's here on other items.
[2:34:17] I don't know how long the executive session's going to take, but it will, it, it, it, um,
[2:34:22] just please pay attention so that you'll be here. What we will do, however, is the
[2:34:26] first item we will take up will be the board of directors meeting of the au austin housing
[2:34:31] finance corporation. And then we will take up immediately following that
[2:34:35] item number six. So with that, uh, I'll turn to the city
[2:34:39] clerk to call for our general public communication.
[2:34:44] thank you, mayor. We'll begin with adrian macias, marianne
[2:34:48] sanchez, valerie menard, pedro hernandez, jr.
[2:34:53] mad gutierrez, please state your name and begin speaking
[2:34:57] folks. Hey, everybody that's, uh, in the council chambers, I would
[2:35:01] please ask that you wait to start your conversations until you get out so
[2:35:05] that we can continue with our work. Thank you very much for that. We appreciate your being here.
[2:35:10] please, uh, whatever order he called your names, but feel free to begin.
[2:35:15] I had a slideshow with my presentation. Thank you.
[2:35:19] good afternoon, mayor and city council members. My name is adrian macias. I am one of the
[2:35:23] youth. Um, I am one of the youth coordinators for poes
[2:35:27] summer youth program, young scholars for justice, or wise j for short.
[2:35:31] I have been a youth coordinator since 2022 when I was invited to help with the scheduling
[2:35:36] and programming for the youth program by pos director susana amanza, who was also
[2:35:40] my grandmother.
[2:35:44] sorry. Before stepping into this leadership program, I was a y street student
[2:35:48] myself. I joined the program in 2016 when I was just 13 years old,
[2:35:52] alongside my two older brothers. At that age, I didn't fully understand the
[2:35:56] importance of the work I was stepping into, but over time, ysj became a
[2:36:00] shape that shaped my perspective, my voice, and my purpose. Through the program, we learned
[2:36:05] about the history of austin, not just the version you find in textbooks, but the lived experiences
[2:36:09] of our communities. We learned about the racism that has deeply, that has
[2:36:13] been deeply rooted in austin's past and how those systems continue, continue to impact
[2:36:17] families. Today we started gentrification and
[2:36:22] how it has displaced generations of people from their neighborhoods. We
[2:36:26] talked about juvenile justice and how young people are affected by inequities in the
[2:36:30] system. We learned about the victories that many community members
[2:36:34] and organizations like pura have fought hard to achieve victories like
[2:36:38] the shutdown of the tank farm, the holly power plant, and the victory against
[2:36:42] peer casting y street didn't just teach me history, it gave
[2:36:47] me the tools to become part of that change. I developed skills in public speaking, leadership
[2:36:51] and community organizing. I learned how to work with others
[2:36:55] and to advocate for my community. These are the skills that I carry with me
[2:36:59] every day and then continue to shape the work that I do. Now as
[2:37:03] a youth coordinator, I have the opportunity and responsibility to give back to the same program
[2:37:08] that helped shape me. I want the next generation to understand not only where they
[2:37:12] come from, but also the power that they have to shape where we are going. Programs
[2:37:16] like yj are important because they invest in young people, not just as students,
[2:37:21] but the fu. But as future leaders, organizers, and decision makers,
[2:37:26] yj summer youth program starts this summer from june 1st through june 25th,
[2:37:30] monday through thursday from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm ages 14 through
[2:37:35] 18 may join, and every week students attend receive
[2:37:39] $160 stipend per week. You can find out more information and fill out an
[2:37:43] application on our website, poe austin.org. On that note,
[2:37:47] we would like to invite everybody to poes 35th anniversary. The anniversary
[2:37:51] will take place at colony godo from six to 9:00 pm we will have
[2:37:55] dinner and dance, and also have an award ceremony honoring those who have earned portes
[2:38:00] social justice leadership award. Thank you for your time.
[2:38:08] I begin, okay, please, yes. Just state your name for the record. Uh, maria sanchez with poed.
[2:38:12] thank you counsel. Centering on clean energy education and advocacy.
[2:38:16] poed solar equity campaign is founded on the energy cost burden, unreliability
[2:38:21] and clean energy and equity that's faced by east austin's low income communities of color.
[2:38:25] energy poverty. Studies conducted across texas have reflected the disparate
[2:38:29] burden that these demographics faced face compounded by
[2:38:34] the climate change and affordability crisis that austinites are enduring in
[2:38:38] tandem with the ever increasing cost of living in austin. Just a few years ago,
[2:38:42] city council district three experienced the highest increase, 23%
[2:38:46] in austin energy rates lived in shared experiences during extreme weather
[2:38:50] events. Highlight the lack of reliability that our energy grid desperately needs.
[2:38:55] solar installation, solar installations, and batteries that produce reliable,
[2:38:59] clean, and affordable energy at all times have the potential to remediate these issues.
[2:39:03] unfortunately, many austinites lack access to solar energy because they're
[2:39:08] renters cannot afford the steep upfront costs, lack awareness,
[2:39:12] sufficient property standards, et cetera. A survey that poder conducted found
[2:39:16] that a combination of these factors inhibit many of our community members from inclusive
[2:39:20] participation. As such, poder host solar workshops throughout east austin
[2:39:24] communities working to raise awareness about the advantages of clean renewable
[2:39:28] energy and connecting them to local solar resources and initiatives.
[2:39:33] we leverage educational tools such as our solar laia, which is characterized
[2:39:37] by solar energy and sustainability related terms. Poed also
[2:39:42] advocates for the advancement of solar at the city and state levels. Locally.
[2:39:46] poed has engaged with allison elementary's, pta, and campus architectural team
[2:39:50] in addition to the cdc and haka to ensure that solar is incorporated into
[2:39:54] the allison elementary and santa rita courts. Redevelopments poed additionally participated
[2:39:59] in the electric utility commission working group for the resource generation and climate
[2:40:03] protection plan. Update submitting recommendations to ensure austin energy
[2:40:07] prioritizes clean energy, community needs and divestment from fossil fuels.
[2:40:12] looking to the future, poed and its partners will continue to champion local
[2:40:16] and statewide coalition efforts toward a clean, affordable energy transition.
[2:40:20] we believe that we must use creative mechanisms to foster greater deployment of solar energy
[2:40:24] projects within our most disadvantaged communities. In austin, low
[2:40:29] income communities of color tend to benefit from reduced energy costs, re
[2:40:33] resiliency, and a healthier environment for the austin community at large, in
[2:40:37] accordance with our city's climate equity goals, we encourage the city of austin and austin energy
[2:40:42] to continue to explore the avenues that could allow solar to be implemented at every opportunity.
[2:40:46] thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you.
[2:40:51] whoever wants to go next. Good.
[2:40:55] a good morning. Oh, afternoon , uh, mayor watson and council members.
[2:40:59] we're here today as you might might, uh, can tell, uh, to celebrate well
[2:41:04] that 31st anniversary to share information with you about, um,
[2:41:08] some of our programs. I have a slide. Could you state your name? I'm sorry. This is
[2:41:12] valerie menard with bo of for
[2:41:16] the colorado river conservancy.
[2:41:23] thank you. So I am the project director for the colorado river conservancy,
[2:41:27] also a project of poed. Uh, the colorado river conservancy was,
[2:41:31] uh, founded in 2020 by, um, daniel yez,
[2:41:35] chris brown, linda guerrero, and susan almanza.
[2:41:40] and as a coalition, it was organized to protect, uh, preserve and restore
[2:41:44] one's most precious natural resources. The wild green stretch of the lower
[2:41:49] colorado river that runs from east austin's longhorn dam to the travis county line.
[2:41:53] um, to preserve the colorado river, um, we bled and crc
[2:41:58] joined the ra's crown volunteer river testing program in 2022.
[2:42:02] testing the river at two locations, the, uh, onlo bridge,
[2:42:06] uh, considered a pristine section of the river and near the dog's
[2:42:11] paw in austin's colony. We also continue to work to minimize the
[2:42:15] impact of impending development along the river. Uh,
[2:42:19] to protect the river, po and sierra sea built a strong partnership with the austin
[2:42:23] watershed protection department. Uh, wpd led by, uh, manager
[2:42:28] jure morale, wpd staff and crc in the
[2:42:32] loop regarding issues of concern. Um, through the partnership with that and
[2:42:36] the crc successful successfully lobbied city council on march 27th, 2025,
[2:42:42] to pass the, uh, wpds colorado river protections ordinance
[2:42:46] that expanded the erosion hazard zone to 200, 200 feet and 2025.
[2:42:51] with that ncoc joined the wpds rain to river community activation
[2:42:55] group to help revise the strategic plan to be more inclusive of underserved
[2:42:59] communities. Uh, to restore the colorado river po and crc
[2:43:03] supported efforts by the wpd to restore the bridge at roy guerero park and
[2:43:08] stabilize areas of the park damaged by erosion completed in 2026. The project
[2:43:12] was cost 28.5 million, is the largest erosion control project in
[2:43:16] austin's history. Our next concern is the, um, pumping station
[2:43:20] that will direct all storm drainage from the expanded ih 35 to
[2:43:24] the montopolis bridge. Um, and so we are ready to
[2:43:28] support the wpde and the city in its efforts to find the 21.65 million
[2:43:34] they'll need to finish in and install a filtering system that will make sure
[2:43:38] the storm drainage water, uh, runoff from the expanded I three five will be clear
[2:43:42] of particulate pollution. Uh, finally, um, our future stewards,
[2:43:46] everything we do will include our ysj, our, our young folks. Uh,
[2:43:50] we include them in the river testing part part. Um, they get to see what we do there,
[2:43:54] but the youth is always gonna be in our minds, um,
[2:43:59] and our future of projects. And very quickly, we have our anniversary. Also wanted to mention we
[2:44:03] have free panels, and the last one is today
[2:44:07] at, uh, roy. Thank you. Can I just mention this? We, we solved it on the
[2:44:11] previous slide, so thank you very much. Yes, thank you,
[2:44:15] please. Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is
[2:44:20] ma gutierrez and I'm one of the youth coordinators at poed young scholars for justice program.
[2:44:25] I've been a part of poed since 2017 as a youth scholar and eventually became a
[2:44:29] youth co coordinator in 2023. After acquiring two associates
[2:44:33] in general, science and biology at a cc poes and scholars for justice
[2:44:37] has taught me many values in my community from organizing to communicating and sculpting
[2:44:41] me and becoming a young leader. I'm proud to share that our program has
[2:44:45] continued to grow with now regular summer ysj at the advanced ysj.
[2:44:49] the advanced ysj program meets biweekly throughout the year outside of the summer session
[2:44:54] and focuses more on in-depth and current issues related to political and social justice.
[2:45:00] students who complete the summer program are invited to continue their involvement throughout advance ysj,
[2:45:04] where they gain more exposure and engagement. Some of the topics and activities
[2:45:08] are at events ysj students have participated in, include youth candidate forums,
[2:45:13] voter registration, discussions on artificial intelligence and data centers,
[2:45:18] and conversations around birthright citizenship and emergency preparedness.
[2:45:23] lastly, I would like to invite you all to ed's 35th anniversary celebration friday
[2:45:27] may 1st from six to 9:00 pm at the k guerrero center.
[2:45:31] during this event, we'll host an award ceremony honoring recipients of the poed social justice
[2:45:36] leadership award. Thank you for your time. Thank you.
[2:45:42] yes. Um, good afternoon
[2:45:46] council members. My name is bianca guerrero and I'm board president of far east austin,
[2:45:50] cdc, and a sustainability analyst and organizer with boded austin.
[2:45:55] um, if I could have the slide go on at the very last 30 seconds, that'd be great.
[2:46:00] um, I'm here to speak for the residents of austin's colony in 7 8 7 2 5,
[2:46:04] a community just outside of the city, but right next to tesla's gigafactory
[2:46:09] and, um, left to deal with the water crisis that should not exist anywhere
[2:46:13] while tesla receives clean water. A clean city of austin water, our neighborhood
[2:46:17] is stuck with a privatized utility monopoly delivering discolored
[2:46:21] foul smelling undrinkable water to a marginalized committee, uh, community.
[2:46:26] um, that is not sustainable. And it is not just, this is an environmental justice
[2:46:30] issue. Families are paying high monthly bills for water they cannot trust, while
[2:46:34] also absorbing the costs of damaged plumbing water heaters, and,
[2:46:39] um, needing to buy bottled water just to meet the basic needs. For the last
[2:46:43] two years, we've partnered with ut bridges project to sample
[2:46:47] drinking water quality in the neighborhood. And those results are coming soon.
[2:46:51] um, we are not asking you to imagine the problem. We're bringing data and we
[2:46:55] are bringing the lived reality of people who live in this, um,
[2:47:00] live with this every day. I want to thank poed for investing
[2:47:04] time, resources, and care into austin's colony, and for helping this community
[2:47:08] better understand document and fight for the solutions we need
[2:47:13] that support matters. Um, poed is also hosting a free legislative
[2:47:17] workshop to help residents understand how bills move through texas legislature,
[2:47:22] because we need policy change, not more delay. Um, those
[2:47:26] workshops start this weekend and you can find more on poed, uh, website.
[2:47:31] um, and finally, I hope you'll join us on may 1st for our 35th anniversary
[2:47:35] at the conley guerrero senior activity center. We'll have dinner dancing, and a chance
[2:47:39] to reflect on, uh, justice work still ahead. Um, I
[2:47:43] also wanna thank councilwoman vanessa fuentes and state rep lulu
[2:47:47] flores for their state and local town hall that was given at the dell valley opportunity center.
[2:47:52] um, thank you and clean water for all. Thank you.
[2:47:56] yes. Good afternoon, mayor council members. My name is carlos
[2:48:01] pinon and I'm the resilience program coordinator at ed. Though I've worked here full time
[2:48:05] since february, 2023. I actually started as an intern in the winter of 2018 when
[2:48:09] I was a student in environmental science at ut. My experience then was incredibly
[2:48:13] important for my personal and political development. Bold is one of few places in austin that
[2:48:17] understood just how interwoven the struggle for a cleaner, safer, and healthier
[2:48:21] environment is with the struggle against racism, exploitation of working class communities,
[2:48:26] and the legacy of settle colonialism. It was me and just one other student, then
[2:48:30] making maps in arc gis and helping susanna to write reports on how code x would've
[2:48:34] compounded the impacts of gentrification that began here years before I was even born.
[2:48:39] prior to po I spent maybe 95% of my time on campus. And there
[2:48:43] in my program was little mention of environmental justice. It was only through this internship
[2:48:48] that I learned how to be an active participant in the issues affecting the most vulnerable, to
[2:48:52] listen to and build relationships with longtime residents of a place that I didn't grow
[2:48:56] up in. And to understand the responsibility of using my skills and talents to support
[2:49:00] my community. Now things have come full circle in a way. As a part of
[2:49:04] my work, I'm deeply involved with the bridges program, which bianca mentioned. Um, it's a
[2:49:08] collaborative project between poed and the environmental science institute at ut co-created
[2:49:12] with three primary goals. One, to have community members in the eastern crescent
[2:49:17] lead research projects that will ultimately provide, uh, material benefits to their
[2:49:21] neighborhoods through data that supports lived experiences, policy change and skill
[2:49:25] building. Two, to establish a bi-directional learning model and build expertise among
[2:49:29] community members so that they may conduct the research themselves. And three, to go against
[2:49:33] the history of extractive relationships between academia and communities. Originally,
[2:49:38] we were funded by the national science foundation for five years. However, last april, our
[2:49:42] grant was terminated. Shortly after our years long work with austin energy
[2:49:46] to bring residential solar to working class communities and bolster the community. Solar program
[2:49:50] took an incalculable hit when the epa solar for all grants were rescinded.
[2:49:54] poda also submitted a federal grant application for the first time ever, when the epa lesson
[2:49:59] barriers to entry through the grantmakers program so that we could construct a network of
[2:50:03] resilience hubs in mentalis. But that went to, despite our losses,
[2:50:07] we continue to fight and we celebrate next friday, may 1st, we
[2:50:11] invite all to commemorate the depo that was founded 35 years ago. Our gathering
[2:50:15] offers an opportunity for us to reflect on the struggles and victories we've had for over three decades,
[2:50:20] alongside many community members and organizations. We fought fuel storage tanks, power
[2:50:24] plants, garbage truck facilities, upzoning, unaffordable, housing displacement,
[2:50:29] and the destruction of our green spaces. To this day, we still pass on the
[2:50:33] lessons we've learned to the next generation. We work to preserve the colorado river east of 35
[2:50:38] to lower the costs of utility bills and fares to take on private water
[2:50:42] companies and developers who prioritize profit over community needs. We rise up for
[2:50:46] equitable education, economic development, the preservation of working class neighborhoods, built
[2:50:50] over generations, basic human rights and environmental justice. The
[2:50:54] struggle is long and continuous. Thank you. Thank you.
[2:50:59] carolyn rose kennedy silver, white mountain, george reyna.
[2:51:04] if your name's been called, please come forward and if you're already,
[2:51:09] sir, if you'd like to go ahead, please go ahead. Just state your name for the record.
[2:51:13] alright. Okay. Hello. Um,
[2:51:18] hello. My name is george rain. I'm here to talk to city council people in this room, people
[2:51:23] watching and listening wherever you are into the future audiences of the city council meeting
[2:51:27] when they watch or listen to it. Um,
[2:51:31] I was told, I said a lot of ums and ahs. So lemme go ahead and get those out of the way before I
[2:51:36] continue.
[2:51:42] and a few more are gonna slip by. So please bear with me. I'm trying to get better at,
[2:51:46] um, public speaking or speech speaking. Um,
[2:51:50] I'm here to talk about hard red light runners and stop sign pauses.
[2:51:55] hard red light runners are drivers who after the yellow light has turned red, that
[2:51:59] they run it. I understand when the light is yellow trying to make the light,
[2:52:03] or if you have an aggressive driver behind you, you don't want to, you have to gas it 'cause you don't want
[2:52:07] to get hit. Uh, you don't wanna get rear-ended. But now they're eating
[2:52:11] into the time of pedestrians trying to cross the street when they have the right of way.
[2:52:16] and the only time I have the right of way is when, uh, the sign
[2:52:20] says walk. So I'm trying to follow that. Um,
[2:52:26] also stop sign pauses are people that treat a stop sign as a yield sign.
[2:52:31] and I know we can't stop 'em, but at the same time, maybe I'm just talking to
[2:52:35] them like, I understand you're focusing on cars, but you need to take a moment,
[2:52:39] scan the sidewalks for walkers, people on bikes, mopeds scooters,
[2:52:43] e-bikes, et cetera. Um,
[2:52:48] to close. Speaking to the red light runners and the
[2:52:56] the oh the stop sign pauses. Please
[2:53:00] don't eat up my time. Um,
[2:53:04] and if you can make the light, make it, but try not to eat my slice of pie. Leave
[2:53:08] mine alone because, uh, you're eating
[2:53:13] my time crossing the street when I have the right of way. I thank
[2:53:17] you. Thank you. Ms. Kennedy.
[2:53:22] oh, um, carolyn rose kennedy.
[2:53:27] thank y'all for having me
[2:53:32] and thanks for serving all of y'all. I,
[2:53:36] the day I met caesar chavez,
[2:53:41] I was 17, fresh outta high school.
[2:53:46] I planned to volunteer all
[2:53:50] summer. I, excuse me,
[2:53:55] I, I chose caesar chavez and
[2:53:59] his crew to boycott lettuce.
[2:54:04] I told my parents I was going to california.
[2:54:09] I am, I'm third of nine kids.
[2:54:14] dad said, do you need some money? Mom
[2:54:19] cried all night. God bless her.
[2:54:23] I went to california by bus. It took
[2:54:27] me a day and a half to get there.
[2:54:32] I was wearing t-shirt, blue jeans,
[2:54:37] cutoffs, and bare feet.
[2:54:42] I, I looked at him in
[2:54:46] the eyes, cesar chavez, and I said,
[2:54:51] hi, I'm kennedy. I'm
[2:54:55] from texas. He looked at me
[2:55:01] and looked at, looked at my bare feet
[2:55:05] and he said, where's your boots?
[2:55:11] that's all. Amen.
[2:55:15] thank you. Thank you. Yes.
[2:55:21] silver white mountain here. Afternoon, council mayor zenobia
[2:55:25] c joseph tries to get y'all's cooperation through dollar figures.
[2:55:30] I will try to get her point across through a different angle
[2:55:34] and possibly a higher power. Since I feel compelled
[2:55:38] to do this. Our lifespan could be determined by
[2:55:42] disease, accident, suicide, and homicide. Whereas
[2:55:47] maximum lifespan is determined by rate of aging.
[2:55:51] aging rates vary between individuals based on lifespan, genetics,
[2:55:55] and the environment. Here in our city, certain factors greatly contribute
[2:56:00] to a shorter lifespan. There's the air quality issue here in austin because
[2:56:04] of all the pollution from traffic, there's road rates that causes physical
[2:56:08] and mental stress. Also losing time that we are never going to
[2:56:12] get back because it takes longer to get from one place to another. The
[2:56:16] rate of aging is significantly elevated by living in
[2:56:21] austin. So now I'd like to quote denzel washington from
[2:56:25] the movie the equalizer. Do the right
[2:56:29] thing because we all have a limited lifespan and it's getting shorter
[2:56:33] by the minute. Everyone will expire and it won't necessarily
[2:56:38] be at boot hill with your ancestors. Action
[2:56:42] play video.
[2:56:48] there's a trail that leads from dodge up here to boot hill
[2:56:52] that many people travel it by choice because it stops right here.
[2:56:57] most of the men lying here thought they were heading somewhere else,
[2:57:02] but this is where they ended for all their trouble, I know I'm matt dillon,
[2:57:06] us marshall. Part of my job is to steer 'em away from here,
[2:57:10] to keep 'em from a useless, violent end. But
[2:57:14] now, and then there's one who won't listen. And more often than not,
[2:57:18] he's buried out here alone and forgotten.
[2:57:27] I need to pay tribute to my mother. A a half breed, a warrior, a missionary
[2:57:31] who later in life earn her credentials to become a pastor because
[2:57:35] of her. I cannot curse as I had my mouth washed out with soap.
[2:57:40] I need to come clean and confess one of my sins here in front of the public before
[2:57:45] I die. I do not want to be near people with aids. Vanessa
[2:57:49] fuentes. Topic, proclamation dedication on february, 2026.
[2:57:53] 2026 was about aids. The first aids case was
[2:57:57] reported in austin, texas in the summer of 1983. Not much
[2:58:01] was known about aids back then. Over 40 years ago. I was working at the
[2:58:05] texas department of health back in the eighties at a young age,
[2:58:10] even though I was not in direct contact with people that had aids, I quit
[2:58:15] my job. 'cause other people in the office I worked with
[2:58:19] were in direct contact with those patients. I did not
[2:58:23] have empathy back then, and that's contrary to christians. Thank you.
[2:58:27] thank you mayor. That concludes all public communication speakers. Thank
[2:58:31] y'all, um, members that as you've just heard that it concludes all of the people that have signed up
[2:58:35] to speak in our, uh, general public communication. As I've indicated,
[2:58:39] we're now gonna go into an executive session. When we return from the executive session,
[2:58:43] the first item we will take up will be the board of directors meeting of the austin housing
[2:58:48] finance corporation. And then we will take up item number six while we are
[2:58:52] in executive session. Uh, we will continue with our live music
[2:58:56] tradition and we will have a live music. Uh, they will be introdu.
[2:59:00] the the, the music will be introduced by, uh, acme, uh, our,
[2:59:04] our our acme department. So with that being said, uh, the city council
[2:59:08] will now go into a closed executive session to take up two items
[2:59:13] pursuant to section 5 5 1 0 7, 1 of the government code. The city
[2:59:17] council will discuss legal issues related to item 66, discuss
[2:59:21] legal issues related to sb four passed during the 85th texas legislative
[2:59:25] session regarding enforcement by local government entities of state and federal immigration
[2:59:30] laws. This will be a private consultation with legal counsel pursuant to 5 5 1 0 7 1
[2:59:35] of the government code. In addition, pursuant to sections 5 5 1 0 7 1
[2:59:40] and 5 5 1 0 7 2 of the government code, the city council will discuss
[2:59:44] legal issues and real estate matters related to item 67. That
[2:59:48] will be a discussion of legal and relate and real estate matters related to the acquisition by
[2:59:53] imminent domain of a fee. Simple interest in right of way, consisting of approximately
[2:59:57] 0.282 acres, 12,301
[3:00:02] square feet. Located at zero zero mount larson road, austin, texas
[3:00:06] 7 8 7 4 6 for the public use of situating
[3:00:10] a communications tower to provide radio coverage in support of all city and
[3:00:14] county public safety and public service departments and agencies.
[3:00:19] this will be a private consultation with our legal counsel pursuant to 5 5 1 0 7 1
[3:00:24] of the government code. And a discussion of real property matters pursuant to section
[3:00:28] 5 5 1 0 7 2 of the government code. There being
[3:00:32] no objection to us going into an executive session on the items announced. The council will
[3:00:36] now go into executive session at 12:59 pm hold
[3:00:41] apd accountable.
[3:00:45] my name is angela means director of arts culture, music and entertainment.
[3:00:49] and it is a pleasure to be here today to introduce our
[3:00:53] musician of the day for the city of austin. As little j
[3:00:58] from dale. From dale. I knew I was gonna say
[3:01:02] it like we say it in san diego, california. Little j from the
[3:01:06] o hi uhhuh austin, texas.
[3:01:11] all right. And I see his family's here, so I wanna make sure I give y'all a
[3:01:15] shout out. Thank you for being here. This is a big deal. Thank y'all.
[3:01:20] I hope you are proud of him. Lil
[3:01:24] j from the o is a rising reality rap artist from austin,
[3:01:29] texas known for blending raw street perspectives
[3:01:33] with authentic texas storytelling rooted in
[3:01:37] real life experience. His music reflects the realities,
[3:01:41] the res, the resilience, ambition and culture of the city
[3:01:45] that shaped him. Delivering records that resonate across generations
[3:01:49] and communities. His sound captures the grit of
[3:01:54] southern hip hop while remaining accessible, energetic,
[3:01:58] and purpose driven building consistent momentum.
[3:02:02] lil j from the o is a two time official south
[3:02:06] by southwest artists establishing himself as
[3:02:11] a standout presence on one of the world's most influential
[3:02:15] music stages. That is a big deal. He
[3:02:19] has toured across texas, alongside texas legend
[3:02:24] several legends, but chino bling further expanding his reach
[3:02:28] and live performance reputation throughout the region.
[3:02:33] his rise has earned him notable recognition across respected
[3:02:37] platforms, including being labeled next to below by rap
[3:02:41] economics. Top 20 texas latino artists by texas
[3:02:45] buzz and recognized as a top 20 rap artists
[3:02:50] by austin streets tv. These accolades reflect both
[3:02:54] his growing influence and the respect he's earned within texas
[3:02:58] hip hop culture. He has received genuine
[3:03:03] co-signs from iconic artists such as paul wall bby
[3:03:07] and lil kiki, and has established groundwork with artists
[3:03:11] like chino bling, gt garza, slim
[3:03:15] thug, oc chris that mexican ot, the
[3:03:20] baby, and more at his plat. As his platform
[3:03:24] continues to grow, he remains focused on representing austin
[3:03:28] with authenticity while pushing texas hip hop forward on a
[3:03:32] national level. Thank you.
[3:03:37] okay, and I have a proclamation for you and I'm
[3:03:41] gonna read it on behalf of this city council. The mayor and city council,
[3:03:46] be it known that whereas the city of austin, texas is blessed
[3:03:50] with many creative musicians whose talent extends to virtually
[3:03:54] every musical genre. And whereas our music
[3:03:59] scene thrives because austin audiences support good music
[3:04:03] produced by legends, our local favorites and newcomers alike.
[3:04:08] and whereas we are pleased to showcase and support our local artists.
[3:04:13] now, therefore, I angela means
[3:04:18] I am the director of acme of the live music capital of the world
[3:04:22] due hereby proclaim april 23rd, 2026
[3:04:27] as lil j day in austin. Woo.
[3:04:44] thank you.
[3:05:03] I feel like before I get started, I just wanna shout out a few people that played a big role in uh,
[3:05:07] to where I'm at today. And first and foremost, I want to give a shout to jose.
[3:05:12] um, part of the council. He played a big role as far as like getting to
[3:05:16] me where I'm at and achieving this goal. Um, greg,
[3:05:20] uh, shelby, everybody that has played a part to get to where
[3:05:24] I'm at, um, it's crazy how to thank uh, a little get a boy in
[3:05:28] the east side projects can one day, um, have its own day in its own
[3:05:32] city. So, um, it's definitely a huge stepping stone for me. Um,
[3:05:36] this is just the beginning to where I, I see myself, um,
[3:05:40] but thankful for everybody that is here today and anybody that plays
[3:05:45] my music or plays any part of seeing me grow. So
[3:05:49] this is for the city.
[3:05:53] let's go. Let's go n boy. Let's give him a show.
[3:06:00] hey, a, you turn me up on the mic a little bit.
[3:06:05] I want to hear myself a little bit more. Aye hey,
[3:06:09] hey, hey. I'm this hop beat be
[3:06:13] rap. So when it come to this paper I wanted them blues. I ain't taking no dust, no
[3:06:17] handout trying to look like a million. I step in the building, it look like one off a scratch out.
[3:06:22] no, this came for the payment. I put put that in if you played it this man down and
[3:06:26] I'm going way harder than ever expected. They still can't said it but they going respect as far
[3:06:30] as the days that I used be re I put on the beat, now I get straight to re and I today the people,
[3:06:34] they can't even compare. I'm feeling out whoever declared, I always stay ready. No need
[3:06:38] to prepare. They saying this, well I came here declared they taking no days off or behind
[3:06:42] the next part in the middle of summer. They call it the class clown. Now you look like cash
[3:06:47] cow who get some money, need all my, they come in the bun replying the
[3:06:51] pressure for things that I want and don't know how to quit. Mama say don't something. Some things never changed. Never
[3:06:55] changed with the money. I kept it on honey. Huh?
[3:06:59] I kept it on honey. Hey let's go.
[3:07:06] hey, I am that test made mexican, huh? Let's go.
[3:07:13] hey, I ain't finna tell y'all how I got away with this s**t.
[3:07:19] let's go. Hey, hey. I said back then,
[3:07:23] then won. But now popping today, y'all on me nine days going do a show in. Let's
[3:07:27] pull it. Our homie big do I clip these other just small ponies
[3:07:31] down outside. We gripping gray. We chops like paul blend. Don't elevating my name.
[3:07:36] don't hear me up. With no small budget. Gc game. The vbs going
[3:07:40] to bang for me. Section eight. Y'all spoon fed. Can't even see in my lane homie. I been
[3:07:44] doing my thing homie. Chase makes real change homie. I I take you back when. I ain't
[3:07:48] even know I who I was. Y texas talk. Now that texas boy done got a
[3:07:52] buzz. I made a way. That's why they hey, but s**t, you gotta love it. I bet they
[3:07:56] changed they mind when supposed be pulling up his bumper. Kids don't bump your lift because by best
[3:08:00] ain't good. Come around my side of town. You know we on that texas, I said bumper kids
[3:08:05] don't bump lifts because by best ain't go come around my side of town.
[3:08:09] you know he on
[3:08:13] going crazy. Hey, I got one more song
[3:08:17] for you. If you came a long way had to go the hallway,
[3:08:22] this song's dedicated to you. Ah,
[3:08:26] let's go hi to the wrong down the path. I guess I had to learn a hard
[3:08:30] way. Let's go. Hey,
[3:08:35] I done came a long way. I
[3:08:39] to the wrong way down the path. I guess I had to learn a whole way.
[3:08:43] I, I guess I had to learn a hard way. I done came
[3:08:47] a long, long way. I to the wrong way down
[3:08:51] a path. I guess I had to learn a hard way.
[3:08:56] I guess I had to learn a hard way. I done came a long way up out the trenches.
[3:09:00] I had to be the difference. They trying to beat me when I'm down. So I just keep my
[3:09:04] distance. You know, my phone didn't only ring when that's beneficial. I had to
[3:09:10] hard times. Hey, I had my fair share. I had to learn to grow
[3:09:14] from pain that I can't on bel just certain things I would not say. I keep that to myself.
[3:09:19] I add like I don't really know, but I be willing, aware. I'm going for hey,
[3:09:23] for sure for tribulation and trials. Been traumatized by certain things that I done seen
[3:09:27] as a child. A lot that I let go. 'cause if I don't, it just pile lot of
[3:09:32] things went on my mind that outta sky with a smile dedicated to this rep. I put
[3:09:36] my life on the line. No substitution. If I fall, I got my family, my spine
[3:09:40] hardworking, perseverance, they gonna pay over time. My hardworking perseverance.
[3:09:44] they, I done
[3:09:49] I to the wrong way down a path. I guess I had to learn the hard way.
[3:09:53] hey, I guess I had to learn the hard way I done came a
[3:09:57] long, long way. I to the wrong way down
[3:10:01] a path. I guess I had to learn the hard way. Hey,
[3:10:06] I guess I had to learn the hard way. Ain't promised no tomorrow. But one thing for sir,
[3:10:10] but every second I got, I'm chasing there for my purpose. It's when they tell you
[3:10:14] you worthless when you find what your worth is. I'm trying to break this fan cycle. That's good.
[3:10:18] or with curses. I'm not in day with this microphone trying to make it happen. So many
[3:10:23] people done told me y'all wouldn't make a rapping. But now they see me performing. I went
[3:10:27] and make connections. My life was damn. But I went and made a change of direction.
[3:10:31] so much built up deep inside that I could have blown a piston. I guess my love and my loyalty
[3:10:36] was just used against me. Can't jeopardize what I'm working for. I got five pennants.
[3:10:40] so that's my reasons why I get up off my and get it. I know I'm desperate for greatness
[3:10:44] down. Its time for the riches. Now with the scars that I've gained for the
[3:10:48] trenches, I had to give him my all knock straight out the hinges. I'm just a person
[3:10:52] with problems that going vent with these lyrics I done came a long way.
[3:10:58] huh? I took the wrong way down a path. Guess I had to learn a whole
[3:11:02] way. Hey, I guess I had to learn a
[3:11:06] hard way. I done came a long, long way.
[3:11:11] I to the wrong way down a path against. I had to learn the hallway way.
[3:11:15] hey, I guess I had to learn the hallway way I then came a
[3:11:19] long way. Love, man. I love y'all in texas.
[3:11:24] you don't wanna sleep.
[3:11:43] can we take down
[3:12:17] good afternoon everybody. It is 2 59 and we are out of the closed
[3:12:21] session. In the closed session we discussed legal issues and real estate matters related
[3:12:25] to item 66 and 67. Um, members.
[3:12:33] members. Um, without objection, we will recess the meeting
[3:12:37] of the austin city council, um, at 3:00 pm
[3:12:41] there's no objection. So we are in recess and I will now call to order the board
[3:12:45] of directors meeting of the austin housing finance corporation. Um,
[3:12:49] and we have a quorum of the board of directors of the austin housing finance corporation present,
[3:12:54] uh, with, uh, and, and I will turn to
[3:12:58] we're by the way, we're meeting, it's on, uh, april 23rd, 2026 at 3:00 pm
[3:13:03] and we are meeting in city council chambers located in city hall at 3 0 1 west
[3:13:07] second street. And we will recognize our professional staff to talk
[3:13:11] to, uh, the board of directors. Good afternoon y'all. I am
[3:13:15] nicole jocelyn. I'm the housing and community development officer for austin housing.
[3:13:21] I am here to present the agenda for the a hfc board meeting today.
[3:13:25] we have two items on consent. The first item
[3:13:29] is to approve the minutes for the previous board of directors meetings
[3:13:34] for march 12th, march 26th and april 9th.
[3:13:38] item number two is to authorize a amended loan
[3:13:42] agreement with the la vista de lopez lp
[3:13:47] in an amount not to exceed one point, uh, 1 6 0 5
[3:13:52] $5 million for a total loan amount, not to exceed $6,233,365
[3:13:59] for a multifamily rental development known as la vista de lopez, located
[3:14:03] at 8 0 9 east ninth street. This loan is
[3:14:08] utilizing homestead preservation district tax increment reinvestment
[3:14:12] zone funds and it is located in district one. And that is
[3:14:16] all we have on the agenda today. Uh, thank you very much. Uh, clerk, do we have any, uh,
[3:14:20] speakers? Yes, we have one speaker on item
[3:14:24] hfc 0 0 2. Zenobia joseph,
[3:14:39] welcome ms. Joseph. Thank you mayor pro
[3:14:43] tim members, I'm enovia joseph. My comments are specifically
[3:14:47] related to the $1 million request. The actual application
[3:14:51] says project connect and it specifies plaza saltillo fee
[3:14:56] in lie. I just think that this particular project is a
[3:15:00] bit deceptive. If I'm correct, I think it's 10 stories, 27
[3:15:05] units, $20 million total. That's about $734,000
[3:15:10] per unit. If it's only 27 units, maybe the staff can clarify.
[3:15:15] there was a discussion june 10th, 2025 community development
[3:15:20] commission where mandy demille actually mentioned the hud funding about $3 million.
[3:15:25] it is however unclear why we would spend that much money on
[3:15:30] one unit. I just wanna make you aware, this is 27 units for the senior
[3:15:34] citizens and the senior citizens and northeast austin specifically do
[3:15:38] not have transportation on breaker lane. 3 92 is eliminated
[3:15:42] to collinwood. And so my comments are always in the context of
[3:15:46] title six of the civil rights act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination
[3:15:51] based on race, color, or national origin. I would call to your attention that harris branch
[3:15:55] senior living, it's about two miles to walk on dessa to the nearest bus stop.
[3:16:00] and so I am having some difficulty understanding how you could invest $734,000
[3:16:07] in one unit per elder. And it's about a mile
[3:16:11] walk from the wells branch, merrill town as well. And so it's
[3:16:15] an equitable, it's discriminatory, and it also would violate the fair
[3:16:19] housing act in 1968. So if you could just see clarification on the funding
[3:16:23] mechanism. It's started at 16 million. It's only about eight
[3:16:27] affordable units at 30% area median income. And then there
[3:16:32] are 19, uh, total for 50%
[3:16:36] area median income or median family income. It just seems a bit excessive
[3:16:40] and I would ask you to table the item and recognize that it's not cost effective.
[3:16:45] if you have any questions, I'll gladly answer them at this time. Thank you, mr. Joseph. You're welcome.
[3:16:49] no other speakers. That concludes all speakers. Thank you. Then, uh,
[3:16:53] with the, uh, can I-a-f-c-a austin housing
[3:16:57] finance corporation, uh, the consent agenda would include the
[3:17:01] approval of the minutes and approval of item two. Is there a motion? A motion from
[3:17:05] council member alter second from council member of velasquez, uh,
[3:17:10] any, uh, objections then? Without objection, the
[3:17:14] h of the consent agenda is approved.
[3:17:18] going back to then, actually we were,
[3:17:22] yes. Alright. Uh,
[3:17:27] then sorry. Do you have the list of folks who are off the diocese? Uh,
[3:17:31] thank you for the reminder with, uh, council member harper madison,
[3:17:35] uh, uh, absent and, uh, the mayor of the
[3:17:39] diocese and, uh, council member lane off the dais. Let the record reflect
[3:17:44] that, uh, on the consent agenda vote, those three members were, uh, not
[3:17:48] present for the vote. Uh, and with, uh, that vote, then
[3:17:52] we will, uh, adjourn the meeting of the austin housing finance corporation
[3:17:56] and we will, uh, return, uh, to the meeting
[3:18:00] of the austin city council, uh,
[3:18:05] clerk, where are we on the speakers
[3:18:09] when we're done with the consent agenda item? And we're going to item six. Yes,
[3:18:13] sir. Then, uh, we'll go ahead and call up item six, and please call
[3:18:17] any speakers on item six. Thank you. It'll be, uh, we'll start with remote
[3:18:21] speakers. The first one will be ira ner.
[3:18:29] good afternoon, uh, mayor and city council members. Uh,
[3:18:33] my name is ira ner and I'm the ceo of rita development,
[3:18:38] the developer of the proposed coda project. We believe
[3:18:42] this project will be transformational to the dell valley
[3:18:46] and eastern crescent communities. The proposed project will
[3:18:51] create thousands of excellent construction and permanent jobs
[3:18:56] of very significant new tax base and literally billions
[3:19:00] of positive economic impact when built. It will
[3:19:04] also become an anchor and town center for austin's eastern
[3:19:08] crescent and dell valley communities. These are very
[3:19:12] complex public private partnership agreements and will
[3:19:17] need the cooperation and support throughout the city,
[3:19:21] including staff city legal, and of course, you
[3:19:25] council members and the mayor once coming to fruition.
[3:19:30] we see a tremendous future for that region.
[3:19:34] as a result of significant infrastructure
[3:19:39] and follow on projects, we have developed similar projects in
[3:19:43] florida, texas, colorado, and california, and seeing these projects
[3:19:47] literally transform their local communities, we look forward to
[3:19:52] working towards making this vision reality. We thank you
[3:19:56] for your support and are here to answer any questions.
[3:20:00] thank you. Uh, mr. Mr. We'll now move to in-person
[3:20:04] speakers on item six. Susan spataro is sharon
[3:20:08] blythe here. Thank you. Susan. Will have four minutes.
[3:20:12] also, willie gonzalez. Gus trujillo. Marquita
[3:20:17] presley.
[3:20:26] good afternoon counsel. Susan pitaro, district eight. I'm here
[3:20:30] to speak very favorably for this, uh, item.
[3:20:34] I think that I remember back when coda first came, it
[3:20:38] was built in the economic, um, desired development
[3:20:43] zone. And so people were very enthusiastic about getting, you know, some
[3:20:47] real structure out there. It's done a wonderful job of
[3:20:51] growing with the community and providing benefits
[3:20:55] for everyone. And an, an interesting number to have
[3:20:59] is that from, in a, in the period of 2012
[3:21:03] to 2021, angeles angelo did an economic
[3:21:08] analysis of, of coda. And what they know, what they
[3:21:12] concluded is that the economic benefit was a billion dollars
[3:21:16] a year. And that facility has expanded. This is the
[3:21:20] perfect compliment for that. It provides jobs,
[3:21:25] good jobs, it works, can work with the hospitality program
[3:21:29] at dell valley high school. And, you know, I, I watched the
[3:21:33] work session the other day on the budget, and people are concerned about
[3:21:38] not enough economic growth. This is really good economic growth.
[3:21:42] the other thing is that they're worried about, you know, what
[3:21:46] is the future of property taxes? And I get that, but
[3:21:51] one of the things you do then is you focus more on sales taxes. And
[3:21:55] that's what this building does. But they also pay property
[3:21:59] taxes. And I think that's important because many facilities
[3:22:03] out there really don't pay property taxes. Uh, coda pays property taxes
[3:22:07] and, and these people will pay property taxes. They will also generate
[3:22:12] many, many other taxes. The hot tax is something that I kind
[3:22:16] of call a, but for tax, in other words, it,
[3:22:20] if there isn't a hotel, then there is no hot tax. And so there's
[3:22:24] nothing to redistribute. So I think it is extremely important
[3:22:29] that the agreement on hot tax makes a whole lot of
[3:22:33] sense. And that is you build a hotel, it generates hot tax and a whole lot
[3:22:37] of other things. And if in fact, the hot tax is
[3:22:41] not gathered, then they don't get it back. And there's no
[3:22:45] loss to the city of austin whatsoever. So I think this is a, a,
[3:22:49] a really excellent project. Um, my understanding is
[3:22:53] that it has, these projects have succeeded, like the previous gentleman said
[3:22:58] in other areas. So it's not as though it's totally new. It's
[3:23:02] the perfect compliment for coda. Um, so I would
[3:23:06] encourage you to, um, approve this. Uh, one
[3:23:10] more thing I would like to say on this item is it's in the dell valley independent
[3:23:14] school district. Why is that important? Well, the enrollment is a little over,
[3:23:18] uh, 11,000 students, but 92.5%
[3:23:23] come from economically disadvantaged homes. We should be concerned
[3:23:27] about being able to provide assets training
[3:23:32] for that district. And when I've seen projects working
[3:23:36] with that district, they're very successful because the kids there wanna learn,
[3:23:40] the parents want them too. So I think this is a really nice, um,
[3:23:45] blend with with the school district. Um, and one
[3:23:49] more thing is that, you know, I I think
[3:23:53] it's consistent with what we wanna do in this city. All day long I've
[3:23:57] been hearing people not having jobs, not having money. This is jobs, this
[3:24:02] is money, it's good jobs, construction jobs, long time fits
[3:24:06] nicely into the, the, the complex dakota. So thank you very much. I hope
[3:24:10] you will support this
[3:24:14] jania marbury, jen robshaw, bill bunch,
[3:24:19] michael waylan.
[3:24:31] uh, good afternoon, mayor and city council. My name's willie gonzalez.
[3:24:35] I'm the secretary treasurer for local 23. We represent hospitality workers
[3:24:39] here in austin. So we are here in support of item six.
[3:24:44] um, I'd like to speak about this in terms of the workers,
[3:24:49] the people who work in the hospitality industry that are a
[3:24:53] backbone of this city. The people that get up every morning,
[3:24:57] go to work every day, clean those hotel rooms, cook
[3:25:01] the food, serve the drink sometimes to an upset guest and make
[3:25:05] 'em feel better. And then go home to their family. And at the end of the week,
[3:25:10] try and figure out if they have enough money to go out on saturday night and spend some time with their family.
[3:25:16] um, this is about them too. Many of these projects talk
[3:25:20] about the building, the thing, the project, the land. I wanna
[3:25:24] talk about those workers, you know, and, and they're important is they're
[3:25:28] the ones that make the industry succeed and working with
[3:25:33] employers that are willing to do the right thing. Rita,
[3:25:37] we have worked with them in houston and created good jobs
[3:25:41] in that city. This, there is a very good example,
[3:25:45] two hours to the east of here of working with rita, where they created
[3:25:50] good jobs and, and made an impact on people's lives and created
[3:25:54] a good standard for those workers. So we have to look at
[3:25:58] these projects, not just in terms of the economic value as
[3:26:02] they say. They assess how much it brings to the city about what it does for those workers.
[3:26:07] and there's a track record with rita and we are here to talk about it. 'cause we've,
[3:26:11] we've been partners with them on that. Um, so for
[3:26:15] us, and a few months, a few years ago, this council
[3:26:19] said they wanted to take some steps to make sure the airport jobs were
[3:26:23] good jobs. And we did that. And you'll
[3:26:27] hear from some of those people. And that was a decision that was made.
[3:26:32] and so you'll hear from some of those people now. Thank you very much.
[3:26:38] please state your name and begin speaking whoever wants to go next.
[3:26:43] good afternoon, mayor and city council. My name is marquita presley
[3:26:47] and I'm a cashier at areas. Former delaware north concession stands at the
[3:26:51] austin airport. A few years ago, we started organizing at the airport.
[3:26:56] since then, with the help of many of you in particular, city councilor,
[3:27:01] city council, woman, vanessa fuentes, we have really, we
[3:27:05] have really changed the jobs at the airport. These
[3:27:09] are now good jobs with good wages, benefits. In most of all respect,
[3:27:13] I have now been able to move into a bigger place and was able to pay off my
[3:27:17] car early. I no longer have to live. Check
[3:27:21] to check. Many of my coworkers have been impacted as well. Many brought
[3:27:26] their first car and purchased homes for the first time. For this
[3:27:30] reason, I'm excited to support this project. The more we create jobs, so
[3:27:34] good hotel jobs, the more we can raise standards for hotel workers and
[3:27:38] all hospitality workers in this city. Thank you. You thank you.
[3:27:43] and congratulations. Thank you. That's good. Good
[3:27:47] afternoon, mayor and city council. My name is, uh, gus trujillo.
[3:27:52] I work at the hilton austin airport. I'm a supervisor and I have worked at
[3:27:56] this hotel for over three years now. Uh, prior to working at the hilton,
[3:28:00] I worked with a property management company downtown. At that job, I was
[3:28:04] overworked and I was still not making enough income. As a result,
[3:28:09] I had to be a lyft driver on the weekends. It was difficult with, it was difficult
[3:28:13] because I was living paycheck to paycheck despite working every day without a day off.
[3:28:18] shortly after I began working at the hilton, we organized our union.
[3:28:22] we were able to win good raises and improve our benefits.
[3:28:26] that has allowed me to le lead a better life. Uh, I can now afford
[3:28:31] to pay my bills with one job, and I'm able to take vacations and have
[3:28:35] a balanced life. The other important thing we won was respect.
[3:28:39] with the union, we are able to speak up and sit down with management
[3:28:44] and work through issues. I'm excited to support this hotel development
[3:28:48] because the more good hotel jobs we create, the more we will raise
[3:28:52] the standard for all hotel hotel workers across austin. Thank you.
[3:28:57] thank you. Please.
[3:29:04] hello, my name is jania marre, and I'm an organizer
[3:29:08] with unite here in houston, texas. But before becoming
[3:29:12] an organizer, I was a housekeeper at the marriott marquee
[3:29:17] in san francisco. And those were good jobs,
[3:29:21] but when I moved to texas, it was, I was shocked to see the difference.
[3:29:27] um, but luckily I got a job at houston marriott marquee,
[3:29:32] and which, you know, it is owned by rita. That hotel
[3:29:36] became a industry leader and worker standards
[3:29:41] from wages to benefits. Also,
[3:29:45] workload was changed when issues came up.
[3:29:50] we were able to sit with management and work it out with local management,
[3:29:54] um, in a respectful atmosphere.
[3:29:59] that hotel also helped raise standards and
[3:30:04] jobs in the area. As someone who's worked
[3:30:08] for rita before, I can testify
[3:30:12] firsthand
[3:30:17] that the commitment to treating and creating good jobs for
[3:30:21] the workers in the community. Thank you. Thank you.
[3:30:26] continue on item six, enovia, joseph,
[3:30:32] katie, cam,
[3:30:44] mr. Bunch. Thank you mayor. Uh, council member bill bunch,
[3:30:49] speaking as individual, uh, resident of district five. Um,
[3:30:53] this item is proposing to authorize your staff
[3:30:57] to negotiate and execute in the back room, a business expansion
[3:31:02] program for this giant, uh, ultra luxury resort
[3:31:06] hotel out at the, uh, f1 racetrack that's being
[3:31:10] proposed. It's a 30 year agreement. Your back, uh, does not even
[3:31:14] tell you how much projected money you're gonna give
[3:31:18] away. 75% of the hotel
[3:31:22] tax will be rebated to the owner operator.
[3:31:27] um, who is, uh, this, uh, gaylord
[3:31:32] rita global multi-billion dollar resort
[3:31:36] developer. Um, this is not an agreement for workers.
[3:31:41] this is a giant corporate welfare blank check
[3:31:45] for, we don't even know how much money. Would one of you please ask
[3:31:50] how much money it is projected to be.
[3:31:54] and if you really want to help these workers, I don't think there's an agreement in place.
[3:31:58] your backup says that it's gonna save 25, they're gonna pay a little bit over market
[3:32:02] rates, maybe even 25%. It's just a suggestion, though.
[3:32:07] you should put this on hold until you see the agreement that locks in
[3:32:11] what it is given to the workers, what is promised to the workers and in writing.
[3:32:16] and then see if that's actually a substantial fraction of this
[3:32:20] corporate welfare. I also wanna make a point of order and ask mayor if
[3:32:24] I might have, uh, four more minutes, because you're combining three
[3:32:28] different items here. And as you know, all of you know
[3:32:33] now we get two minutes per item. This
[3:32:37] is authorizing your staff to cut a deal in the back room.
[3:32:42] it's then waiving and erasing two important
[3:32:47] ordinances for transparency and public hearings and public
[3:32:51] notice. Thank you mr. Bunch. Do I get my four minutes more?
[3:32:55] it's certainly implicit in my thanks. Was that you? You don't, okay. I just
[3:32:59] wanted that on the record. Well, I, I'm, appreciate that. Yep,
[3:33:04] go ahead katie. Kim, and I think I have four minutes from two minutes
[3:33:08] donated. Is, uh, betsy greenberg here? Perfect. Yes she is. Yes. Katie cam will
[3:33:12] have four minutes. Okay. Thank you. Hello, I'm katie cam, resident of district nine.
[3:33:17] I've spoken before about my concerns with how the hotel occupancy tax hot revenue is
[3:33:21] used for this item. The plan is to return most of the city's hot revenue that the hotel
[3:33:25] generates directly back to the hotel in exchange for agreements made between the city and hotel.
[3:33:30] I understand the good intentions of creating an agreement that brings benefits to the community. However,
[3:33:35] economic impacts and benefits need to be questioned and viewed from a wider perspective that
[3:33:39] considers the costs, especially opportunity costs. In other words, what is
[3:33:43] the detrimental cost to the community of giving the hot revenue to the hotel? First,
[3:33:47] this will result in loss of funding for other valued programs. Using the texas open
[3:33:51] data portal, we can retrieve the local hot revenue reported by the city
[3:33:56] to the texas comptroller. The texas tax code allows for up to 15%
[3:34:00] of the hot revenue for cultural arts and 15% for historic preservation.
[3:34:05] however, according to the data, the city of austin reported to the texas comptroller. The
[3:34:09] city of austin has not been spending up to 15% of the hot revenue for cultural
[3:34:13] arts and historic preservation. The last time those categories received 15%
[3:34:18] each was in 2019. Since then, the percentage has dropped to 13%
[3:34:22] in 2020, 12% in 2021, and 11.7%
[3:34:26] since 2022. According to a pie chart online,
[3:34:30] with the source listed as austin convention center, I'll hold it
[3:34:34] up here. If the multi-billion dollar convention center is built, then the percentage of hot revenue
[3:34:38] that will go to cultural arts and historic preservation drops to 9.5%
[3:34:43] each. Even though texas law allows for 15% each,
[3:34:47] this is concerning and will hurt the cultural arts that contribute to a vibrant cultural
[3:34:51] and tourism economy. In addition, I've spoken about how we can better support
[3:34:55] musicians, artists, and other creatives in austin through the texas tax code section 3 51
[3:35:00] provisions that allow for use of hot revenue without a percent limit.
[3:35:04] for instance, the city can use the revenue to promote the creative works. In events of austin
[3:35:08] residents, the city can hire local artists, musicians, and other creatives to serve as ambassadors
[3:35:13] to encourage more people to visit austin. Second, subsidizing
[3:35:17] a hotel by returning hot revenue sets a precedent. This opens the door for
[3:35:21] other hotels to ask for hot revenue, further eroding away the revenue available to support
[3:35:25] their creatives in historic and cultural venues in austin. This
[3:35:29] hotel would be built without this plan to give them hot revenue. Using hot revenue
[3:35:33] to subsidize corporate events and multinational corporate entities is not the highest
[3:35:38] and best use of this revenue. With that said, if city council decides
[3:35:42] to proceed with this proposal to provide hot revenue directly back to the hotel,
[3:35:47] I ask for the following conditions. One require, as bill bunch
[3:35:51] said before, the final agreement is made that the agreement with the labor union is finalized
[3:35:55] and signed to protect the workers and require the hotel to honor that portion of
[3:35:59] the deal. Two require that the final labor union agreement
[3:36:04] inc. Includes support not only for livable wages, health benefits and pension,
[3:36:09] but also for financial support of educational and creative pursuits.
[3:36:13] what is the quality of those 900 full-time jobs for career and personal development?
[3:36:18] perhaps they don't want to be working in hotel, they have bigger dreams and visions.
[3:36:23] so let's have a policy to help austin res residents reach their full
[3:36:27] potential. In this case, in the agreement, every employee in those 900 full-time
[3:36:31] jobs should have access to funding to pursue an education or even perhaps dreams
[3:36:35] of being an artist, musician, actor, or become a contributor to austin's creative economy.
[3:36:40] thanks,
[3:36:44] michael. Waylon on, uh, behalf of rita coda hotel, llc.
[3:36:49] um, like the others before me, I wanna start by thanking council member
[3:36:53] fuentes for leading on this item and for helping to craft a project and
[3:36:57] a partnership that is truly dell valley strong. As you've
[3:37:01] heard me say already, this agreement will bring a transformative project
[3:37:06] to dell valley creating a long awaited economic anchor for the eastern
[3:37:10] crescent. The agreement structure that we're seeking
[3:37:14] would ensure there are no upfront dollars coming from the city.
[3:37:19] absolutely none. Rita takes on the full $985 million
[3:37:23] financing, construction and operations risk. All the risk,
[3:37:29] any rebate would be completely performance based and would be
[3:37:33] tied directly to the actual hotel occupancy tax receipts
[3:37:37] that are remitted by the hotel to the city. If the
[3:37:41] hotel is not built, there would be no hotel occupancy tax.
[3:37:45] if the hotel generates no hotel occupancy tax
[3:37:50] revenue, there would be no rebate available to
[3:37:54] rita. The economic impact of this project is immense.
[3:37:59] it's projected to generate over $10 billion in overall economic benefit
[3:38:03] to the community over the next 30 years, including over $600 million
[3:38:08] in total property taxes to the city, county, dell valley
[3:38:12] independent school district, a cc, and central health.
[3:38:17] as you well know by now, this agreement will ultimately deliver
[3:38:21] hundreds of permanent union jobs at the hotel. And we are grateful,
[3:38:25] very grateful to unite here for their partnership and their support
[3:38:29] of this item. Also, as always, I'm available to answer any
[3:38:34] questions that you might have about, uh, the project and
[3:38:38] where we're headed. Thank you very much. Thank you,
[3:38:43] ms. Joseph. Thank you mayor council. I'm enovia joseph, I'm
[3:38:47] just going to read into the record as I did on tuesday during the work session. My opposition,
[3:38:52] it is the language as mr. Bunch mentioned earlier, where you are approving
[3:38:56] an ordinance waiving the staff presentation, public announcement, and portal setup
[3:39:00] and public hearing requirement. But in backup, if you look at f on
[3:39:05] page one of two, it specifies pursuant to the chapter three
[3:39:09] 80 policy, the city manager conducted a review of the business expansion
[3:39:13] program, including extensive public outreach and input and
[3:39:17] offered revisions to improve the effectiveness of the program. If you look at
[3:39:21] the past three 80 agreements, specifically samsung and apple, I want
[3:39:26] you to recognize that we've heard these lofty promises before. I
[3:39:30] want you to understand that there's a 425 acre development east village across
[3:39:34] from samsung, and you have refused to invest in any transit. There
[3:39:38] are over 2000 units within two miles of samsung. And I want you to
[3:39:43] recognize it's a one to five mile walk to affordable housing. The nearest bus
[3:39:47] stop, 3 92 is approximately three miles. So what I
[3:39:51] want you to recognize, mayor, is that this is fraud. Fraud
[3:39:55] is trying to get something of value through willful misrepresentation. On one hand,
[3:39:59] you say that you want public input on the other, you say that you don't. I want you
[3:40:03] to recognize that you added part three to the 200, the 2024
[3:40:08] ordinance, and specifically it's adding austin transit partnership.
[3:40:12] as you're aware, the light rail will never go to northeast austin
[3:40:17] in perpetuity. It stops at crestview station. And as it relates
[3:40:21] to the part three, it specifies that, uh, the city manager
[3:40:25] can promulgate rules. But I want you to recognize that you refuse to comply with
[3:40:29] your publicly promulgated rules, regulations, and procedures. If you have any
[3:40:33] questions, mayor, I'll gladly answer them at this time. But it is a lofty goal to say
[3:40:37] that transit will be a part of this project because you've not demonstrated
[3:40:42] a willingness to commit to getting low income residents to the job.
[3:40:46] thank you, justice. Thank you, mayor. That concludes all speakers on item
[3:40:50] six. Thank you. Um, member members, those are all the speakers
[3:40:54] on item number six. Let me ask if anybody has any questions of staff
[3:40:58] before we go forward. But in that case then, uh, I'll
[3:41:02] entertain a motion with regard to item number six. Council member fuentes, you're
[3:41:06] recognized I move to. Okay. Um, council member fuentes moves
[3:41:11] approval of item number six. It's seconded by council member velazquez.
[3:41:15] um, I'm gonna recognize council member fuentes. Thank you colleagues. I know we had
[3:41:19] a discussion about this item on tuesday at the work session. Uh, just wanted to
[3:41:23] continue with the conversation. First, give my wholehearted things to everyone that showed up to
[3:41:28] support this item. Special thank you to unite here. Also, wanna thank the dell
[3:41:32] valley community coalition. Their letter of support is in the backup, as well as
[3:41:36] the southeast neighborhood contact team is also supporting the item as
[3:41:40] it relates to the pud, which we'll discuss later today. But I just wanted to demonstrate
[3:41:44] the strong community support that we have for this economic
[3:41:48] anchor that that is proposed for a city partnership in southeast austin.
[3:41:53] and when I think about the needs of the dell valley community and what our dell
[3:41:57] valley community deserves, it's exactly this. It's jobs that are
[3:42:01] stable, jobs that are close to home. It's parks where our kids can play.
[3:42:05] it's a kind of real investment that other parts of austin has seen for decades
[3:42:10] and yet hasn't. We haven't materialized that in our dell valley community. And so that's why
[3:42:14] there is such strong support for this type of proposal because it really is first
[3:42:18] of its kind and will be transformative. We're talking about 900
[3:42:22] jobs that pay livable wages that come with benefits and pension.
[3:42:27] we're also talking about upfront guarantees with this partnership. And that
[3:42:31] includes two full-sized developed public soccer fields,
[3:42:35] nearly 12 acres of parkland and space for a potential recreation
[3:42:39] center. We also fought to secure a $1.5 million
[3:42:44] contribution to the affordable housing trust fund. And that goes towards exactly the
[3:42:48] families that need it the most. And with this type of proposal, we are
[3:42:52] ensuring a new and steady stream of revenue for our struggling schools in de valley,
[3:42:56] isd and for city services in which our families depend upon.
[3:43:01] and one thing that I didn't mention on tuesday is that there's also a local discount program
[3:43:05] for dell valley residents that they also can enjoy and participate
[3:43:09] in activities at the resort. So there's a lot of good community benefits
[3:43:14] baked into this proposal, and I'm excited to see the momentum move forward,
[3:43:18] uh, with your consideration. And what is special about this type of project
[3:43:22] is that all of these guarantees are made up front before a single guest
[3:43:27] ever checks in and without spending a single penny from our general fund.
[3:43:31] and so this project specifically leverages funding from hotel taxes. Um,
[3:43:36] I know we'll talk a little bit more about that further. Uh, but with that, I just wanted to signal my
[3:43:40] strong support for this partnership and appreciate your consideration. Thank
[3:43:44] you. Further discussion, council member alter. Thank you very much. And I just
[3:43:48] want to, I guess third, uh, what council member fuentes
[3:43:52] has mentioned, you know, this is going to be a transformative project
[3:43:57] for an area that has been under invested for too long and
[3:44:01] bring really high quality, high paying jobs to that
[3:44:05] area. Um, that being said, and we had the opportunity
[3:44:09] on tuesday to talk about some of the, the nuances
[3:44:13] of how this is going to work mechanically, this is the first time we've done a three 80
[3:44:17] with hotel occupancy tax, and there are just some subtle
[3:44:22] questions in there as it relates to unintended consequences. We wanna
[3:44:26] make sure it doesn't impact, uh, adversely, um, some
[3:44:30] other things that we're doing as a city. And so I do have a motion that
[3:44:34] I've shared, and this is to continue to move forward with this, uh,
[3:44:38] to authorize negotiation, but not yet execution. So we will
[3:44:43] get those terms sorted out, have then the final agreement,
[3:44:47] come back to the council, but just so we can be sure that we have all those details
[3:44:52] ironed out. Uh, and I am with this, you know, very committed
[3:44:56] to seeing this deal moved forward. I just wanna make sure that, like I said, some
[3:45:00] of those nuances that we haven't, 'cause we haven't done this before, that we get it
[3:45:04] all, uh, properly,
[3:45:08] uh, established. So I, I will be making that motion at the appropriate
[3:45:12] time, but just wanna highlight that. Uh, why don't we do, why don't we do that
[3:45:16] if there's sir, turn it off. Alright. Um,
[3:45:22] members, unless there's objection, what I, what I would do is
[3:45:26] recognize council member alter's motion to amend. We can
[3:45:30] have a discussion on the motion to amend, and then we will come, of
[3:45:34] course, vote on that, and then come back to the main motion, uh, if regard
[3:45:39] whether it passes or doesn't pass the motion to amend. And then we'll have further discussion.
[3:45:43] is that appropriate for everybody? Alright. Council member
[3:45:47] alter moves. Amendment of item number six.
[3:45:51] you have that in front of you. He has described that, uh, he moves to
[3:45:56] amend. It's, it's alter council member. Alter number one. Uh, is there
[3:46:00] a second? Second by council member uchin discussion on the motion
[3:46:04] to amend. Yes. Council member fuentes. Thank you. You know, I just,
[3:46:08] colleagues of my office has been involved with the proposal,
[3:46:13] um, for many months now. And I just wanna lay out my priorities for consideration
[3:46:17] as this amendment is considered by the diocese. And my priorities
[3:46:21] for this partnership have been three things. One, to bring significant
[3:46:26] economic development to dell valley in the greater southeast austin region. Two,
[3:46:30] bringing high paying high quality jobs to the people of austin, especially
[3:46:35] for our dell valley community. And three, to ensure that we bring in additional revenue
[3:46:39] to support cultural arts and our local arts and music
[3:46:43] community, all of which stand to benefit from the additional hotel taxes
[3:46:47] generated from this proposal. Thank you.
[3:46:52] um, yes. And by the way, a number of people have signed up.
[3:46:56] I'm, I don't know. So I, I'll just call names because I worry I, some people may
[3:47:00] have signed up thinking they were gonna speak on the main motion. Yeah. And, and, and that, so I'll, I'll, I'll
[3:47:04] try to organize that. Council member lane, this is on the motion to amend
[3:47:08] mm-hmm . I have a question for mr. Waylon as I understand the implications of
[3:47:12] this motion, mr. Waylon,
[3:47:23] your name. So I understand the desire to balance,
[3:47:28] um, caution and
[3:47:32] execution of an agreement. Um, it seems to me
[3:47:36] when I read the amendment that what this does is
[3:47:41] remove the clarity that your client would otherwise have as to whether the
[3:47:45] council is in agreement with these terms. Can you speak
[3:47:49] to that a little bit? Perhaps? I certainly wouldn't wanna vote based on a misunderstanding. No. Uh,
[3:47:53] michael whalen on behalf of, uh, rita, uh, coda hotel. So just
[3:47:57] so there is clarity on that point, uh,
[3:48:02] mr. Mier has made it clear to me that he can't have the civil engineers and
[3:48:06] the architects really begin until there is an agreement in place.
[3:48:11] um, I mean, that's, that's the bottom line for him. So,
[3:48:16] uh, the lack of clarity won't help until there is clarity, as you just
[3:48:20] noted. And that clarity will come with an agreement. And if that agreement needs
[3:48:24] to come back, uh, that's the will of the council. We
[3:48:28] understand, I mean, we're gonna abide by the will of the council, obviously, but as
[3:48:32] a private citizen, mr. Miter isn't gonna invest the, uh,
[3:48:36] extraordinary dollars until he's got a, an agreement that's
[3:48:40] clear. And more importantly, that, uh, isn't subject
[3:48:45] year to year to, uh, uh, uh, appropriations
[3:48:49] from a council 10 years from now, or 15 years from now. There's gonna need to be clarity, just
[3:48:53] like you have with your bonds and any bonds that you issue. There just needs
[3:48:58] to be clarity in the agreement that there's a stream of payment that, uh, the
[3:49:02] financial, the capital markets are gonna expect, uh, when he seeks the
[3:49:06] size loan that he's seeking. Thank you, sir.
[3:49:10] it is not done till it's done and until it's signed on the dotted line,
[3:49:14] we haven't signaled our actual commitment in the way that is needed. So this would effectively
[3:49:20] serve as a postponement of that commitment? It does, it is definitely
[3:49:24] a postponement of that commitment. And, and he'll, uh, if that's the will of
[3:49:28] the council, obviously, uh, mr. Mitch's gonna abide by that will, and it just
[3:49:33] postpones, uh, opening, you know, he's hoping to have it open by, uh,
[3:49:37] uh, 2030 october, 2030 for the, uh, formula one race. Then,
[3:49:42] uh, that's actually, it seems very long way, but his building
[3:49:47] permit alone will be thousands of pages long. I mean, it's a very large project, obviously,
[3:49:51] with a conference center out there. So I, I myself
[3:49:55] have clarity on where I stand in relation to this agreement. Um, so I
[3:49:59] would, I will be opposing this motion to amend. Um, and
[3:50:03] I'll also simply share that, you know, part of what I, I ran on
[3:50:08] was, um, actually, I'm gonna stop right there.
[3:50:13] y'all know where I stand. I'll pass it off to others. Thank you. Thank you. Council member.
[3:50:18] um, councilman roller, if I might ask you a question,
[3:50:24] and, and you may have said it earlier, but I want, I, I just wanna make sure I have clarity,
[3:50:28] the reason to not all have an execution of
[3:50:33] the item. Uh, now, uh,
[3:50:37] describe what, why we, we wouldn't want to do that right now. Yeah,
[3:50:41] so there are some open questions as
[3:50:45] it relates to hotel occupancy taxes and use of those taxes as it
[3:50:50] implicates the city's own bond issuances.
[3:50:54] uh, you know, these bonds are used for the convention center,
[3:50:58] and because we don't have resolution on
[3:51:02] what those impacts would be it, without
[3:51:07] knowing the specified terms of the deal, and then how those terms
[3:51:12] impact our operations as a city,
[3:51:17] we could inadvertently be authorizing something that the council
[3:51:21] doesn't know what the impact's gonna be to other very important
[3:51:26] city assets and, and revenue generation. So what this is doing
[3:51:30] is saying, we're going to go do that negotiation and,
[3:51:34] and then have the clarity of what are all the impacts of this deal?
[3:51:39] come back to the council and then we can weigh those, uh, things. And
[3:51:43] my, is my sincere hope, and I'm gonna be the first one, uh, on the call
[3:51:47] with our lawyers to, to get it right so that if they'll take call, right, we can deliver
[3:51:51] all this , um, and, and
[3:51:55] make those terms work out. This is not intended to delay, to kill this is
[3:52:00] get it right. So that, 'cause what could happen is we do what we do
[3:52:04] today. We send staff to go negotiate,
[3:52:09] and there is an inability to meet the terms
[3:52:13] of the other side, and that's it. We have no, that, that's the end
[3:52:18] of the conversation for the council. And this allows for us to be able
[3:52:22] to have that input and, and get a deal done
[3:52:26] to make this, this ultimately happen. So this is meant to, to
[3:52:30] get us to the finish line, not to take us anywhere backwards. Okay. Thank you for that clarification.
[3:52:34] I'll, I'll say from my perspective, um, on, on
[3:52:39] this, and the, the main motion is that as,
[3:52:43] as I saw, uh, the various iterations of how
[3:52:47] we get to this, one of the things that concerned me was the impact
[3:52:51] that it would have, uh, with the, the hotel occupancy
[3:52:55] tax, the impact it might have on the convention center.
[3:53:00] and we have a whole lot going on with our convention center. And it,
[3:53:04] I don't want, I want this deal to go through, uh, for all the good reasons
[3:53:08] that we're talking about, but I wanna make sure we're not in an effort to get
[3:53:12] that deal to go through, uh, and in our, in our eagerness
[3:53:17] to do that, doing damage to something we don't know about. And
[3:53:21] so I'll support the motion to amend for the reason of it, making sure
[3:53:25] that we get to, we, we do it in the right way. We cross t's
[3:53:29] and dot I's, um, I think that, you know, my hat's off to council
[3:53:33] member fuentes for, uh, bringing this forward and to,
[3:53:38] I think it's a, well, it's, as I say, I'm supportive. I just wanna
[3:53:42] make sure we cross t's and dot I's any further discussion
[3:53:46] on the motion to amend. Alright. The vote will be on the
[3:53:50] motion to amend all those in favor of the motion to amend.
[3:53:54] raise your hand.
[3:53:58] alright. It, uh, passes unanimously with, um, council member
[3:54:03] harper madison being absent, members that will take us back to the main
[3:54:07] motion as amended. So this is item number six as
[3:54:11] amended. Uh, mayor pro. Tim, you're recognized. Uh, thank you, mar,
[3:54:15] I actually, mr. Waylon, uh, could come back down for just a couple of
[3:54:20] questions.
[3:54:30] uh, yes, sir, mr. Win. Um, we've, uh, talked a a little bit
[3:54:34] about this, uh, off the da, but I wanted to make sure
[3:54:39] that our local artists are gonna be a
[3:54:43] priority when we talk about the, uh, you know, prints and
[3:54:48] paintings that are gonna be at the hotel, any sculptures, any artistic features, and, uh,
[3:54:52] and all of that. Uh, and, and I was just, uh, wondering if you could, uh, uh, address
[3:54:56] that. Yes. Uh, michael whalen on behalf of, uh, rita, and apologies, uh,
[3:55:00] mr. Mitter was cut off as soon as he was speaking. Um, but he and I have talked
[3:55:04] about this. They typically have, well, they not typically, they
[3:55:09] absolutely have an art budget as part of the project as it's getting built. That's number one.
[3:55:13] and they typically have a preference to use local artists in
[3:55:17] order to ensure that the look and feel of the hotel and the
[3:55:21] grounds blend with the local flavor. They're not interested in,
[3:55:25] uh, having flavor that looks like orlando or flavor. That
[3:55:29] looks like, uh, uh, uh, houston, where their houston product. 'cause
[3:55:33] when they built the houston marriott, they did the same thing. They use local talent,
[3:55:38] local artists to help, uh, fill the project,
[3:55:42] uh, the rooms and other aspects of, uh, the hotel. Same thing
[3:55:46] happened in chula vista. They used california artists, uh, for much of the
[3:55:50] public areas so that it, it's just, uh, it makes common sense and
[3:55:54] they're committed to doing that. Absolutely. Very important. Well, uh, uh,
[3:55:58] I, I appreciate that. And, uh, I know when we were talking about this, you
[3:56:03] know, we, we kind of went back and forth on what is a local artist. I mean, I, I, I don't
[3:56:07] think it would be right to limit it to just city of austin, even though ultimately this is our project.
[3:56:11] I don't even think it'd be right to limit it to travis county because I mean, there's a lot of local artists that
[3:56:15] have moved out to bastrop and lockhart and, you know, uh, uh, I mean,
[3:56:19] you know, farther than that even they, they still kind of are austin artists and
[3:56:23] consider austin home. But for whatever reason, they've, uh, moved, uh, kind of out of the, the core,
[3:56:28] uh, urban, uh, area. Uh, so again, I, I don't have
[3:56:32] an amendment to that effect to say, but, uh, I just wanted,
[3:56:37] you know, you to represent and, and on behalf of, of mr. Misner
[3:56:41] to represent, uh, that, that there will be that, uh,
[3:56:45] emphasis on using, uh, local artists for the project. Yeah, I, I mean, I think the proof's
[3:56:49] in the pudding. I think you've heard from unite here, the proofs in the pudding with rita and their track
[3:56:54] record. I think if you look at any of their lobbies or any of their, uh, facilities
[3:56:58] or rooms, you'll see the proofs in the pudding in terms of using, uh, local artists that
[3:57:02] can bring that flavor. Great. And I just wanted to also say that publicly for
[3:57:06] staff, I know we're still negotiating this agreement, and like I said, I, I don't wanna amend
[3:57:11] it because I, I'm, I don't have that language. I, I, I'm not sure what I would put in there,
[3:57:15] but I just wanted to make sure and, and, uh, and, and just offer direction
[3:57:19] to, uh, staff to make sure that we are supporting our local artists
[3:57:23] as a part of the agreement. Uh, and then finally, I just wanted to say thank you to all the folks from,
[3:57:28] uh, unite 23, uh, and appreciate y'all being here. And I'm sorry that
[3:57:32] this has gone so long. It's been a, a full day for council, but I, I just,
[3:57:36] I really appreciate you getting here and, and still being here. And, uh,
[3:57:40] it's been a, a long day. But, uh, again, thank y'all so much. Yeah. Council
[3:57:45] member ry, um, I'll make my comments as short and sweet as I can.
[3:57:49] um, I just want to congratulate district two and, uh, council
[3:57:53] mayor fuentes on her leadership around this. I, I think it's really important. You know, I, I represent
[3:57:57] a district that I think, you know, has a lot of, uh, opportunity
[3:58:01] and, and an abundance of, of resources at times. And folks unfortunately on the east side don't
[3:58:05] always have that. So I think this is a, a game changer, uh, for the region, um, council
[3:58:10] fund that's already highlighted all the great stuff it's gonna do. So I'm really excited to see it, it come to,
[3:58:14] to district two. Uh, and then also wanna, um, thank
[3:58:18] unite here 23 for, for being here as long as y'all have. I appreciate the pizza slice,
[3:58:23] uh, that I, I snuck in before executive session. Uh, but, but truthfully, I,
[3:58:27] I appreciate everyone, um, you know, having worked with unite here folks, uh,
[3:58:32] for years and just the work that y'all do, uh, you know,
[3:58:36] jobs of, of dignity and, and so much importance. Uh, so I really do want to just say
[3:58:40] thank y'all for, for everything y'all do and, and really excited what this means for, for
[3:58:45] district two, what it means for workers and what it means for our city. Thank
[3:58:49] you. Council member. Council member uchin. Thank you, mayor.
[3:58:54] I just wanted to flag a couple of things. Um, first, like everybody,
[3:58:58] a, a real huge appreciation for all the stakeholders, councilor fuentes,
[3:59:03] uh, all our work here. Uh, we included in backup today
[3:59:07] a letter from the southeast neighborhood plan contact team that highlights two opportunities that
[3:59:11] I haven't heard a lot of discussion around. So just wanna highlight them. One is to address
[3:59:16] what appears to be a known water quality issue in the area, and two,
[3:59:20] is to potentially create some pathways for community youth to
[3:59:24] access assets and vocational programs. And so I'm just hopeful
[3:59:28] that going forward we can be thoughtful about incorporating some of these opportunities in the agreements.
[3:59:32] thanks. Thank you. Council member, uh, I'll recognize,
[3:59:37] uh, council member fuentes to close on the motion to
[3:59:41] approve item number six as amended. Thank you. Thank you. Council
[3:59:45] member uchin for highlighting the southeast neighborhoods contact teams, um,
[3:59:50] support letter. I just wanted to flag that there is a commitment to work with the
[3:59:54] dell valley isd for internship pathways, uh, through their career and technical institute.
[3:59:58] and certainly having a hospitality base, uh, is exciting and something that
[4:00:02] is part of the commitments being made moving forward. Also, the water quality
[4:00:07] issue that is highlighted for dell valley is an austin colony, which is a complicated
[4:00:11] part of the dell valley community, uh, largely residing in the etj.
[4:00:16] uh, and so certainly part of, as you all know, dell is a huge part
[4:00:20] of austin and crosses three different council districts and is partly in the county.
[4:00:25] um, but that's what makes this proposal so exciting and such a milestone
[4:00:29] in our commitment and really having a first of its kind type
[4:00:33] of city partnership in the area. I had the opportunity to have
[4:00:37] a, a town hall with state representative lulu flores, uh, last weekend in dell
[4:00:42] valley. And when we talked about this proposal specifically, the community applauded
[4:00:46] about the partnership. They really are appreciative and see the potential
[4:00:50] that we have here, um, with this type of partnership. So I have a lot of hope
[4:00:55] and faith and what this means for our southeast austin community. And just wanna
[4:00:59] share my appreciation for everyone who has shared their support along the way
[4:01:03] and, and grateful for this council's consideration. Thank you. Thank
[4:01:07] you. Council member. Uh, there being no further discussion. Do you?
[4:01:14] I had my hand raised, but it went down. Okay. I'd
[4:01:18] love to say something. That's okay. After this is over, let's come over here and I'll show you how this works. .
[4:01:22] I'll pushed it, I'm telling you. Um, okay. Thank you so much. Um,
[4:01:27] I, I, I, I also wanted to note how much it meant means to me to hear
[4:01:31] from the members of our unite here, um, union
[4:01:35] and so many community members. Um, thank you to council member vela for
[4:01:39] covering the last few of my concerns there is the, the artistic and
[4:01:43] creative community is certainly of strong importance to me and, and council member
[4:01:48] fuentes for her leadership. The last thing that I really would like to
[4:01:52] touch on is thinking our economic development staff who've been working around the clock on
[4:01:56] not just this agreement, yes, this agreement and others that are so
[4:02:00] critical to our city's ability to rise to the challenge of our current financial realities
[4:02:06] combined with the pressing community needs that we know we have with both
[4:02:10] thoughtfulness and speed. And thank you for allowing me to ask the questions
[4:02:14] I have. Um, and I appreciate your thoughtfulness so
[4:02:18] that we don't need to waiver from our shareholder values even as speed signals
[4:02:23] to all that. Austin is in fact open for business that will help us weather the current financial
[4:02:27] storm. I'm really pleased to join you all in supporting this agreement.
[4:02:32] thank you there being no further discussion on item number six as amended,
[4:02:37] uh, without objection. Item number six as amended
[4:02:41] is approved with, uh, council member harper madison, off the dive. Congratulations
[4:02:45] everybody. Congratulations y'all. And thank you for what you do.
[4:02:53] members that will take us to item number 29,
[4:02:57] item number 29, which was pulled from the consent agenda. And I will
[4:03:01] turn to the city clerk to start calling on speakers for item number 29.
[4:03:06] thank you, mayor. For item 29, we have catherine garcia,
[4:03:11] hans maverick, bill bunch, chris harris,
[4:03:20] ben sotheby, please state your name and begin speaking.
[4:03:25] mr. Your name's been called. Please come forward.
[4:03:29] please go ahead. Afternoon, mayor watson, am mayor. Hey,
[4:03:33] one second everybody, everybody that's leaving the, uh, council chambers,
[4:03:37] thank you for being here. We appreciate it, but if we could have you hold your conversations
[4:03:41] until you get outside. Thank you.
[4:03:46] uh, mayor watson, mayor proto vela council members, thank you for the opportunity
[4:03:50] to testify today about item, uh, 29, the trust act.
[4:03:55] my name is hans maverick and I'm a resident of council district 10. I'm also
[4:03:59] a policy and research organizer for grassroots leadership here in austin.
[4:04:03] uh, here's the thing. The last several years have seen an alarming growth in for-profit
[4:04:08] mass surveillance systems. The companies that develop these technologies only
[4:04:12] care about the money they can make from people from brokering people's data,
[4:04:17] not people's civil and human rights. Despite res repeated
[4:04:21] assurances to the contrary, many systems have been found to have back
[4:04:25] doors that allow unauthorized access to the data they collect, as
[4:04:29] if the authorized access wasn't bad enough.
[4:04:33] we already know that employees of companies like flock have used their access to
[4:04:37] these tools in ways that range from merely disturbing to downright
[4:04:41] illegal. I worked for more than 20 years in the tech sector,
[4:04:46] so I'm aware that these systems are never perfectly safe. Human
[4:04:50] error, greed and racial bias com compromise their integrity
[4:04:54] all too often. Because of that, I hope that this ordinance will give
[4:04:58] austinites insight into and control over the decisions the city makes
[4:05:03] about surveillance technology. In particular, the requirement
[4:05:07] of a privacy impact assessment means that the council and the community
[4:05:11] can make informed decisions about whether to adopt a given type
[4:05:15] of surveillance technology. I want to shout out, uh, mayor proam
[4:05:19] vela and council member siegel and their respective staffs for all their
[4:05:23] hard work on this ordinance, especially for keeping community stakeholders
[4:05:28] like us in the loop. Mayor tr pro tem velas motions
[4:05:32] to reduce the exigent circumstances period to 60 days
[4:05:36] and increase the lead time to review contracts to four weeks are welcome and necessary
[4:05:41] improvements. I believe this ordinance strikes the proper balance between
[4:05:45] safety in our public spaces and respect for austin residents. I
[4:05:49] urge you to vote yes on the item. Thank you, mr. Sobe. Good afternoon.
[4:05:54] I'm ben sobe, resident of d four, and I'm here to deliver testimony on behalf of
[4:05:58] the no aprs coalition in support of the final trust
[4:06:02] ordinance language. On today's agenda as item 29, our coalition
[4:06:06] of over 35 organizations has watched council grapple
[4:06:10] with a number of challenging decisions over the last year regarding whether to use
[4:06:14] technology that compromises the civil liberties of austinites in the
[4:06:18] name of public safety. These choices are difficult because council is tasked
[4:06:22] with keeping our city safe. But navigating proposals that
[4:06:26] involve surveillance often requires you all to learn about very new technologies quickly
[4:06:31] enough to make policy decisions that impact millions of people.
[4:06:35] we trust and support the trust act because we want to lend our support
[4:06:39] to you as you navigate those decisions. And we believe the
[4:06:43] amended ordinance language meaningfully expands our opportunity to do so by
[4:06:47] ensuring we can lend our expertise with respect to surveillance, use contract
[4:06:52] analysis and impacts on privacy. We believe trust is an important step in
[4:06:56] the right direction, but we want to emphasize that implementing this policy
[4:07:01] to the collective benefit of austinites requires vigilance from us and from
[4:07:05] you all. Unethical companies like flock have found ways to circumvent
[4:07:09] ordinances like trust in other cities. Moreover, we have to be ready
[4:07:13] to respond to companies and technologies that haven't even been created yet.
[4:07:17] even with trust, the necessity of learning, researching, and vetting remains
[4:07:22] crucially. Trust offers us a longer window to analyze
[4:07:26] and share insights with your offices. Avoiding last minute mobilizations
[4:07:31] of community that is already deeply engrossed in def defending democracy.
[4:07:36] and at capacity working to block the authoritarian consolidation of power taking
[4:07:40] place in our community and in our country. We hope to offer material
[4:07:44] relevant perspectives that will meaningfully support you and making decisions that serve our community.
[4:07:49] in exchange, we trust that you will listen and engage with the concerns we raise.
[4:07:53] we wanna express our gratitude to council member vela and council member siegel's offices
[4:07:57] for working to draft that continue on item 29, daniela silva,
[4:08:02] kard, writeoff mckenzie ryan.
[4:08:07] justin wash, nick cavalero.
[4:08:13] good afternoon, mayor and council. My name is daniella silva. I'm
[4:08:17] a resident of district three here on my personal capacity to speak in
[4:08:21] support of the trust act. Um, thank you council members for,
[4:08:25] um, bringing this forward on the agenda. I know it's taken a lot of hard work and has been
[4:08:29] very wonky work, um, getting this all together. There's a common joke
[4:08:34] that congress could be sent to its knees simply by asking the members to reformat
[4:08:38] a word document into pdf. While reductive, it does point to
[4:08:42] a larger concern. Technology is evolving faster than our government has been able to
[4:08:46] keep up with. You have the power to be more intentional with technology
[4:08:51] adoption to protect austin residents from extractive and exploitative
[4:08:56] companies who sell their harmful mass surveillance tech under the guise of keeping people
[4:09:00] safe. But we have seen time and time and time again
[4:09:05] that these technologies have often been abused and safeguards ignored when
[4:09:09] adopted in cities across the country. The trust act is a step
[4:09:13] in the right direction, allowing our elected officials and the public to
[4:09:17] better understand the technologies we are spending our tax dollars on and implementing
[4:09:21] into the daily lives of millions of people without their consent.
[4:09:26] we know what keeps people safe. Investments in housing, healthcare,
[4:09:30] public education, parks, restorative justice practices, and
[4:09:34] the arts, not unbridled and unaccountable ai fueled
[4:09:38] mass surveillance technologies that only see bodies but not humans.
[4:09:42] please pass the trust act to begin to build our trust in you, that
[4:09:46] you'll prioritize our rights to privacy and spend our tax dollars
[4:09:50] on technologies that help and not harm us. Thank you.
[4:09:55] thank you. Please, please begin. Hi,
[4:09:59] my name is mckenzie ryan. Uh, certainly not as exciting a name as anita
[4:10:03] bong hit, but nevertheless, I'm a digital rights attorney and a
[4:10:08] resident of district nine. I'm speaking in support of the trust act today. I
[4:10:12] wanna start by saying how much I respect the difficulty of the decisions this council faces.
[4:10:16] you are regularly asked to evaluate really complex and fast moving technologies
[4:10:20] and make policies that affect more than a million people. That's no small thing.
[4:10:25] the fact that you're meeting that challenge directly with the ordinance speaks well to this body.
[4:10:29] uh, the surveillance landscape shifts faster than any policy can possibly keep up with.
[4:10:33] in 2016, I was a computer science major using a research grant to do work with my vision lab
[4:10:37] for amazon's image recognition tool recognition, supposedly to help workers locate
[4:10:41] packages that within a year was taken for mass
[4:10:46] surveillance. Um, in just a few months time, ring quietly partnered with over
[4:10:50] 1300 agencies to share user's data without their knowledge. That's how
[4:10:54] fast the landscape shifts. Not in decades, not in years, but in months and often in
[4:10:58] secret. This surveillance fight requires vigilance from all of us.
[4:11:02] you should honestly expect surveillance companies to violate this ordinance and for them to try
[4:11:06] and work it in their favor in any way possible. They spend a lot of time and money doing that
[4:11:10] exact same thing across the us constantly, and we should be ready to meet that challenge when
[4:11:15] it arises. But this ordinance is a very good step in the right direction and provides
[4:11:19] some pretty good safeguards against that. Surveillance technology is extraordinary,
[4:11:23] difficult to understand in full the systems, the contracts, the downstream consequences.
[4:11:27] I don't expect any single council member to have all the answers because no one possibly can.
[4:11:32] that's exactly why something like the trust act matters. It creates a window for informed community
[4:11:36] voices to bring their expertise and experiences before decisions are made, and gives council time to
[4:11:40] review the contracts and consequences for these powerful tools so that what none of
[4:11:44] us know in full doesn't end up hurting all of us. I'm grateful to mayor
[4:11:48] pro tem vela and council member siegel for their leadership and strengthening this ordinance. Genuinely,
[4:11:53] this council has shown that it takes civil liberty seriously, and I look forward to continue working
[4:11:57] alongside you to keep austin free and privacy respective. Thank
[4:12:01] you. Yes.
[4:12:06] hi. And I am nick cavalero and I'm not
[4:12:11] nos tonight. I've driven here from houston four times so far to either
[4:12:15] speak out against invasive surveillance cameras or give my support for legislation
[4:12:19] that restricts such camera systems flock. Cameras are
[4:12:24] already in use in houston, used and are being misused. This
[4:12:28] proposed privacy impact assessment will at the very least, help bring
[4:12:32] light civil rights violations that will otherwise be ignored.
[4:12:36] thank you. Thank you.
[4:12:40] that concludes all speakers on item 29 members. That concludes all the speakers
[4:12:44] on item number 29. I'll entertain a motion. Uh, the
[4:12:48] mayor pro tem moves approval of item number 29. It's seconded by council member
[4:12:52] cadre. Um, before we go to discussion members,
[4:12:57] we have, uh, as I understand it, three proposed
[4:13:01] amendments. Uh, the first amendment is by the mayor pro tem,
[4:13:05] and then we have two proposed amendments by council member uchin. I'm gonna recognize
[4:13:09] the mayor pro tem on his proposed amendment. You have it in front of you as
[4:13:14] item number 29, april 23rd, 2026 mpt velas
[4:13:18] motion sheet one mayor pro tem. You're recognized. Thank you, mayor.
[4:13:22] uh, the one of the, the speakers mentioned it, but we're, uh,
[4:13:26] increasing the time required to lay out the, the privacy
[4:13:30] impact assessment from two weeks, uh, to four weeks.
[4:13:35] uh, and then with regard to the city manager's
[4:13:39] ability to adopt and use, uh, technologies and exigent
[4:13:43] circumstances, we're, uh, reducing that, uh, timeframe from a 120,
[4:13:49] uh, days to, to 60 days. Uh, and in a,
[4:13:53] in a handful of different sections, uh, to again, to, to tighten up the requirements
[4:13:57] to make sure that we're, uh, getting information quickly,
[4:14:01] uh, and that the public is getting that same information quickly so we can all kinda make our assessments
[4:14:05] of whether the, the, the technology is good and whether the the benefits
[4:14:09] outweigh the the costs members. Uh, mayor pro tem vela moves
[4:14:13] to amend item number 29 with vela, uh, amendment number
[4:14:17] one. As he's indicated, it makes six different changes
[4:14:22] all related to the two issues he's described. The motion to, uh,
[4:14:26] amend by a council by member pro 10 vela is seconded by council member siegel,
[4:14:30] is there discussion on the motion to amend vela number one
[4:14:34] to item number 29? Hearing none without objection.
[4:14:39] uh, vela amendment number one to item number 29 is adopted
[4:14:44] with, uh, council member harper madison, absent that will take
[4:14:48] us now to council member uchin proposed amendment number
[4:14:52] one. Uh, it is labeled cm uchin amendment number one
[4:14:56] on item 29. It is to amend the draft ordinance to
[4:15:00] add a section 2 19 10 f.
[4:15:04] council member uchin, you're recognized on uchin proposed amendment number one
[4:15:08] to, to item 29. Thank you, mayor. Um,
[4:15:13] I want to say a few comments, uh, just leading up to that. Um,
[4:15:17] essentially this amendment is going to add some
[4:15:21] additional language, uh, to subsection f
[4:15:25] requiring additional reporting regarding this ordinance and its effect to the public, uh,
[4:15:30] to public safety. So the amendment, or, uh,
[4:15:34] sorry, the, the item actually has reporting in it, but it's regarding violation of civil liberties,
[4:15:38] of misuse, of technology, of review, of other policies related to surveillance technology.
[4:15:43] and that's, I'm happy that's in there. That's all vital.
[4:15:48] what isn't included is whether the ordinance itself is slowing
[4:15:52] down our adoption of reasonable technologies or preventing advances
[4:15:56] in public safety to some unintended degree. And without
[4:16:01] this amendment will only be reviewing what was permitted.
[4:16:05] so I want us to know what was, what was the opportunity cost here for the city?
[4:16:10] and, uh, and the specific concern, I think is just looking at other cities and how
[4:16:14] they've adopted similar policies and recognizing that in some cases
[4:16:18] it, you know, that has substantially delayed, uh, not even adopting, but even
[4:16:22] just piloting technologies that might be useful, that may have taken many years
[4:16:27] just to get to that stage. So I think it'd be valuable for us to know that.
[4:16:31] I wanna further add, um, you know, I came this week
[4:16:36] with every intention of supporting this
[4:16:40] item. And, and I agree with my colleagues that, and, and often
[4:16:44] frankly, it really the speakers that this is needed for our city.
[4:16:48] uh, however, we've had recent outreach from various stakeholders that have given me
[4:16:53] some pause on it. And that's one reason I want this amendment. And frankly,
[4:16:57] I wish we had more time to discuss some of the details of this,
[4:17:01] and I'm calling. You know, I'm, I'm, I'm very aware that for many of you, this is the first time you're hearing this.
[4:17:05] in the future, I'd really like to be able to bring these issues to light in
[4:17:09] discussions earlier. Part of what the challenge is, is I'm precluded from
[4:17:14] discussing them with the authors by, uh, you know, open meetings act and sub quorum
[4:17:18] policy. So while I'm broadly supportive of the policy,
[4:17:23] um, that's gonna allow the city to employ technological
[4:17:27] solutions for public safety interests, I worry that as it's currently
[4:17:31] designed, it's gonna have some unintended consequences that may stymie our ability to adopt basic
[4:17:36] technology for everyday quality of life issues that we deal with.
[4:17:41] the current assessment process for minimal risk to civil liberties
[4:17:45] appears in some cases overly broad. Um,
[4:17:49] and that determines that any technology,
[4:17:54] in essence may have greater than minimal risk that we're
[4:17:58] talking about here. And I have a couple of examples to, to step through.
[4:18:02] the presence of any one factor will weigh strongly against
[4:18:07] this idea of minimal risk determination that's outlined in the
[4:18:11] ordinance. Among those factors is whether
[4:18:15] someone could associate anonymous data with quote a group.
[4:18:19] and although not an attorney, logically, if any set of
[4:18:23] data exists, by definition, that is a group
[4:18:28] that alone could weigh strongly against the adoption of technology by city staff without
[4:18:32] council approval. There are additional issues, however, pedantic
[4:18:36] they may seem with grammar that we could be wise to resolve
[4:18:40] before trying to implement this policy from a
[4:18:44] privacy assessment algorithm. If the electronic device quote
[4:18:49] can collect sensitive data, personal, uh, personnel information without
[4:18:53] a warrant or quote, if technology allows for the
[4:18:57] creation of data records that shall weigh strongly against a termination of
[4:19:01] the technology is minimal risk. So can allow,
[4:19:06] opens the doors for virtually anything you can think of.
[4:19:10] and I can't think of many technologies that don't meet this threshold. Any database the
[4:19:14] city has is collecting data and creating records,
[4:19:18] and that could be captured in this process. One last example,
[4:19:23] I'll move on. It shall weigh strongly against a minimal risk
[4:19:27] assessment if a technology collects data that is disproportionately
[4:19:31] associated with a particular demographic. I have to admit, I have no idea what
[4:19:35] limiting principles would prevent this from applying to literally any data at all.
[4:19:41] so I'm hoping that registered or, or made sense, but there's
[4:19:46] language in here, and even per mayor pro tems
[4:19:50] motion, we've been tinkering with this up until today. So,
[4:19:55] uh, if we can't get this amendment passed, what I would then ask
[4:19:59] is us to really consider postponing for two weeks. And
[4:20:04] I wanna do that to make sure the language reflects both the community's needs and
[4:20:08] the city's needs, because this is gonna be in place and working for us for years,
[4:20:12] if not decades. And part of this, because the language has,
[4:20:16] as I said, been tinkered with, and I think we need to strive to get it right,
[4:20:21] this is gonna guide technology across many different departments.
[4:20:26] we've seen the other cities like seattle struggle with unintended consequences of their comparable
[4:20:30] policies. In some cases, we're seeing cities not even though, as
[4:20:35] I said, pilot or understand whether there's an appropriate use that meets
[4:20:39] the needs to adopt or purchase. And finally, the last thing
[4:20:43] I'll say is we are already having to make tough budget choices and think
[4:20:47] through those decisions, what to fund, what to scale back, recognizing
[4:20:51] that we can't have at all. And that precarious balance
[4:20:56] is also true for safety and our safety decisions. And we'll be short hundreds of
[4:21:00] officers for several years. We, but at the same time, everybody here wants
[4:21:04] more responsiveness. Uh, we want less crime.
[4:21:08] and public safety professionals are gonna tell you the number one way to economically address
[4:21:13] that gap is through smart, safe use of technology. So I'm just asking
[4:21:17] y'all to take a little, either take a little longer to get this right or to consider the,
[4:21:21] uh, consider this amendment, which just adds some additional reporting for us to,
[4:21:25] to work on. Uh, so with that, I, uh,
[4:21:29] uh, move for adoption council member uchin a moves approval of
[4:21:34] uchin amendment number one to item 29. Is there a second? Council member? Ellis,
[4:21:38] you're seconding the motion. It is seconded by council member ellis. Additional
[4:21:42] discussion, mayor pro tim. Uh, and this is a discussion
[4:21:47] on uchin proposed amendment number one to item 29. Uh,
[4:21:51] a couple of, uh, of, of quick, uh, thoughts. Uh, we've
[4:21:55] worked very closely with city staff to try to
[4:22:00] minimize the administrative burden while trying to maximize, uh,
[4:22:05] information, uh, available, uh, to the public. And again,
[4:22:09] this item doesn't put the thumb and say, we are going to use this
[4:22:13] technology and we're not going to use this technology. It just creates a framework
[4:22:18] by which to analyze the types of surveillance technologies,
[4:22:22] uh, that we do use. Uh, I don't have a problem
[4:22:26] in principle for a review
[4:22:30] from staff a year after this comes out, uh, to say,
[4:22:35] hey, what kind of, 'cause the way I read it, uh, council member uchin, is that,
[4:22:39] you know, is this too hard to implement? Is this causing too much of an administrative
[4:22:43] burden or is this causing us problems in the pro pro procurement process?
[4:22:47] my concern, honestly, I would, I would be supportive of
[4:22:51] the amendment if it was direction and, and not in the actual kind
[4:22:55] of court, 'cause you're here, we're amending the ordinance. Whereas I think direction
[4:23:00] to, uh, have staff come back and, uh, report back after
[4:23:04] a year of the trust act pending would be, uh, a more palatable, lemme lemme
[4:23:08] just say, uh, that way, instead of putting it permanently in the ordinance, that I would, I would just offer
[4:23:12] that as an amendment to the amendment. Could, could we make it direction instead
[4:23:17] of, uh, instead of, uh, an an actual amendment to the ordinance?
[4:23:22] I appreciate that suggestion. Can you help me understand the distinction between those
[4:23:26] two options and what that looks like? Practically speaking, I just wanna also clarify really quickly to your point.
[4:23:31] um, I think it, to me, it's less about the administrative burden
[4:23:36] and instead capturing to understand if we are experiencing similar
[4:23:40] challenges that I know you're well aware of that other cities have faced when implementing similar
[4:23:45] policies regarding, uh, not the civil liberty side, but the technology
[4:23:49] side. Are we, we being overly broad as per the examples that I listed
[4:23:53] in our dragnet for capturing and reviewing technology that's in the city that may have
[4:23:57] nothing to do with surveillance? Well, I would, this is a, a one time review. It's
[4:24:02] not kind of an ongoing review that we're, I mean, it's basically divided into two parts.
[4:24:06] one is existing technologies of which the city manager has, uh, oh
[4:24:10] lord, I believe a year to return or, uh, uh, close to, uh,
[4:24:14] a year to return with saying, hey, these are the existing types of surveillance technologies we use.
[4:24:18] this is some basic information about them. And then for new technologies,
[4:24:23] as we adopt them, again, just to take an example, the parks cameras,
[4:24:27] there would be a before, again, four weeks before, uh,
[4:24:32] it comes to council for, uh, the, the public where the, uh, privacy impact
[4:24:36] assessment would be out there. So we could understand what data is being collected,
[4:24:41] who is, uh, has access to it, how long are we keeping the data, you know,
[4:24:45] those kinds of just relevant questions. And, and I put that out there, and I appreciate your comments on the
[4:24:49] administrative burden because, for example, with the parks, uh, cameras item, again, not
[4:24:53] to beat that, uh, uh, to death, but that, that's come forward a handful of times now. And, and
[4:24:57] we didn't have the, the kind of the answers to some of the questions that we needed. This
[4:25:01] is designed to, to make the, the discussion and debate and, you know,
[4:25:05] adoption or rejection of those technologies more streamlined so we're not having to kind
[4:25:09] of debate the same thing, uh, uh, again, and, and, and again. So,
[4:25:13] uh, in, in a certain sense, even though we're creating kind of
[4:25:18] a, a workflow around the adoption of these technologies,
[4:25:22] I think ultimately it will reduce administrative burden in the sense that we're not
[4:25:26] kind of having the same argument again and again and again, that that's the
[4:25:30] goal of the, uh, uh, of the, the ordinance. So,
[4:25:34] and again, we do, we're asking the city manager to come back with that report on
[4:25:38] the existing technologies. Uh, again, I don't mind adding,
[4:25:43] uh, your amendment kind of to that report to say that
[4:25:47] are there are, are we tripping ourselves up in any ways or, you know, are there procurement concerns
[4:25:52] and all of that? Like, I, I would just like it more as it's kind of a standalone report as
[4:25:56] opposed, again, it's just kind of, it's a cleaner, I think, and better way to, uh, approach
[4:26:00] what is ultimately a one time, like, it's, it's you're saying, hey, we want to, to
[4:26:04] take a look at this. Uh, and I'm, I'm fine with that. I, I, I think direction
[4:26:08] would probably be just a, a cleaner and better way to, to make it. So I would offer that as amendment
[4:26:12] to the amendment. Mayor, I'm sorry, I don't have a, a document in front of me. I know you liked that, but
[4:26:19] typically we wanna have a document. But let me, let me, um, I,
[4:26:23] I'll, I'll, I'll try to provide a little help here. Um, what I would do is
[4:26:27] I would take, for those that wanna follow along here, I would take, uh, uchin
[4:26:31] amendment number one, strike the words additionally, one year after the
[4:26:35] effective date of this ordinance and begin it. The city manager is directed to
[4:26:39] work in coordination with austin technology services to conduct a review
[4:26:43] of any procurement. Take that down to the third line from the bottom,
[4:26:48] and then add at the, at the end of the sentence, that is
[4:26:52] start, it doesn't start there, but it, it's completed. Uh, on that third line from
[4:26:56] the bottom, this review should be conducted one year after the effective
[4:27:00] date of this ordinance. And the findings of this review shall be provided as the public
[4:27:04] safety committee. Uh, that would be what I would offer as direction
[4:27:09] as opposed to an amendment of the ordinance. Uh,
[4:27:13] yes. Council member walter, just for clarity, are we striking the add to
[4:27:17] 19 dash 10 f? Yes, of course. Thank you. Um, good
[4:27:22] catch. So let me read this into the record and then I'll see
[4:27:26] if, uh, there's a second to the motion to, if the vela motion
[4:27:30] to amend is, instead of it reading, I move
[4:27:34] to amend the draft ordinance to add 2 19 10
[4:27:40] f it would read as direction to the city manager.
[4:27:45] the city manager is directed to work in coordination with austin technology
[4:27:49] services to conduct a review of any procurement, possible procurement or pilot
[4:27:53] program of surveillance technology affected by this ordinance. The
[4:27:57] review should assess impediments to technological advancement that may affect the
[4:28:02] city's ability to serve the public. It will also determine if there are more effective
[4:28:06] ways to use the technology and determine if it could improve efficiencies for other departments.
[4:28:11] this review should be conducted one year after the effective date of
[4:28:15] this ordinance, and the findings of this review shall be provided to the public safety
[4:28:19] committee within 60 days following the one year anniversary of
[4:28:23] the effective date. Is that your motion, mayor pro tem? I
[4:28:27] I will second your motion. Mayor . Um,
[4:28:32] all right. Um, the motion, uh, I guess it's
[4:28:36] now wa I don't know how that happened, but, uh, yeah, I do, uh, became watson's
[4:28:40] motion to amend the uchin amendment number one. Is there discussion
[4:28:44] on that? Motion to amend hearing none without objection, watson.
[4:28:48] motion to amend uchin amendment number one is adopted with council member harper madison,
[4:28:53] absent. Um, so item number 29 is now
[4:28:57] there has been amended, uh, by the vela amendment number one,
[4:29:01] and then there is direction to the city manager. Uh, well, we gotta go back to the,
[4:29:05] to, to, uh, I'm sorry. We gotta go back to the motion to amend by council
[4:29:10] member uchin, which has now been amended to be direction to the city manager. Do you wanna
[4:29:14] close? I'll just say very briefly, I appreciate
[4:29:18] your, uh, accommodation on that and would look forward to the results.
[4:29:22] and I think this addresses a lot of the concerns. I do think there's some language that still probably could
[4:29:26] be cleaned up, but hopefully that can, that conversation
[4:29:30] if need be, will happen in a year from now when we gather some additional information. Fair enough.
[4:29:35] uh, members, the vote is on uchin amendment number one to item number
[4:29:39] 29 as it has been amended. Is there any further discussion? Hearing
[4:29:43] none without objection. Uh, uchin amendment number one as amended
[4:29:48] is adopted with council member harper madison being absent. That will now take
[4:29:52] us to uchin proposed amendment number two to item number 29.
[4:29:56] I'll go ahead and that. Alright, uh, council member uchin is pulling down,
[4:30:00] uh, the, uh, motion to his, his second proposed motion to amend.
[4:30:05] so members, that now takes us back to the main motion on item number 29.
[4:30:09] item number 29, as amended. Council member siegel,
[4:30:14] just brief comment before we go. What are you commenting on, on the
[4:30:19] base motion? I guess, let me get, let me get it out there as a, as a base motion. Wonderful.
[4:30:23] I'll recognize you right off the bat. Thank you, sir. Um, uh,
[4:30:27] the discussion now is on the main motion, which is,
[4:30:31] uh, the motion to motion to adopt item number 29 as
[4:30:35] it has been amended by the vela motion number one
[4:30:40] and uchin motion to amend number one as it
[4:30:44] was amended. Council member siegel, you are happily recognized. Thank you, mayor, but, uh, mayor
[4:30:48] pro tem, did you wanna go first? No. No. Okay. Thanks sir. Well, I just wanna say thank you, uh,
[4:30:52] to mayor pro tem for your really important leadership on this and, and also the work of
[4:30:56] your staff. The trust act is a critical procedural reform
[4:31:01] that will provide public transparency and opportunities for discussion before the
[4:31:05] city acquires new surveillance technology. And we've seen the need for the trust act
[4:31:09] in prior votes where, uh, something was brought to us under the auspices,
[4:31:13] for example, of license plate readers or park cameras, and we didn't have all the
[4:31:17] information about the artificial intelligence backend and who could get access to that data.
[4:31:22] and so this item, this trust act, really is gonna bring our procurement process
[4:31:26] into the information age. It's a recognition that artificial intelligence and big
[4:31:30] data present profound risks to our fundamental right to privacy and to our
[4:31:34] civil liberties. Um, and I'm really thankful that the city is now becoming a
[4:31:39] national leader in protecting our community from unwarranted surveillance and corporate
[4:31:43] driven violations of privacy. Thank you, mayor. Thank you council mayor, any
[4:31:47] further discussion? Mayor porter, I'll recognize you to close. Thank you, uh, very much.
[4:31:51] uh, very excited to, uh, get this done. And I really want to thank
[4:31:55] the, uh, stakeholders that we worked with, uh, very, uh, closely.
[4:32:00] uh, grassroots leadership comes to montey hans out there, uh, uh, texas civil
[4:32:04] rights project. There are too many, uh, to mention, but it was a, a really good collaborative
[4:32:08] process to get here. Uh, I think this is, uh, a big step
[4:32:12] forward, uh, and we, if we're gonna have good debates on
[4:32:16] the diets, we need to have good information. We can't be guessing at things. We can't be
[4:32:21] dealing with misinformation. We, you know, having that, uh, privacy impact assessment
[4:32:25] in hand to refer to when we're debating, uh, the adoption of,
[4:32:29] uh, surveillance technology, I think will really help center and ground our debates
[4:32:33] in a, a more kind of factual and realistic and kind of weighing the cost against the
[4:32:38] benefits. So, uh, very, uh, happy to, to see this, uh, move forward and, and
[4:32:42] I think it will be a, a big step, uh, and a big change and, and serve as
[4:32:46] a model hopefully for, um, for other cities. Uh, I just wanna
[4:32:50] thank, um, uh, ko and, uh, from my office and, uh, emily
[4:32:54] garrick from, uh, council member siegel's office, who have put in a lot of time
[4:32:59] on this, uh, ordinance over the last, uh, six, eight months. Uh,
[4:33:03] and, uh, it's a, it's a good document. Uh, I have to thank, uh, uh, deputy,
[4:33:07] uh, city manager, john fortune, uh, the, the, the police department, the different
[4:33:11] departments that have also kind of taken a look and given us guidance. We didn't want to
[4:33:15] put something out there that was gonna, you know, make people just kind of go crazy and pull
[4:33:20] out their hair about how difficult it is. We've talked to other cities where that was, uh,
[4:33:24] that, that did, uh, cause major problems and, and gum up the work. That's
[4:33:28] not what we're trying to do. And I just, I really appreciate their, uh, their, their thoughts and their guidance. And
[4:33:32] with that, uh, close, thank you very much, mayor proti. Um, alright,
[4:33:36] members there being no further discussion on, uh, this item on
[4:33:41] item number 29 as amended, uh, without objection.
[4:33:45] item number 29 is adopted as amended, uh, with
[4:33:49] council member harper madison. Uh, absent, thank you. That will now take
[4:33:53] us to item number 33. Uh, I'll turn
[4:33:57] to the city clerk for comments, uh, by people. Well, I know we already had that,
[4:34:01] we had that during the consent agenda. This item was pulled after we heard
[4:34:05] the comments on the consent agenda, so I'll recognize council member ellis on item number 33.
[4:34:10] we did, and I apologize if this is out of order, but I believe the applicant's, my
[4:34:14] mic is way too loud. Um, I believe the applicant's representative is here
[4:34:18] but had not signed up to speak. I don't know if it would be out of order to let them it be, do a brief
[4:34:22] presentation. No, it would be out of order for them to, uh, to, to be able to speak
[4:34:27] if they didn't sign up to speak. Okay, well, I've got a couple of the folks here. I know the
[4:34:31] director of austin water is here, and I think our director of watershed protection.
[4:34:35] oh, we've got liz. Okay. Our environmental officer is here. Um,
[4:34:39] I just wanted to daylight this because I know a lot of folks had kind of asked me where I was at with
[4:34:43] this wastewater service extension request. Um,
[4:34:48] these are getting trickier and trickier as our city grows and
[4:34:52] shrinks and we have properties released themselves from the extraterritorial
[4:34:56] jurisdiction. Um, this particular case had the environmental
[4:35:00] environmental commission unanimously vote to deny
[4:35:04] the service extension request. This was one that had come to us about a
[4:35:09] year and a half ago, but the timeline had expired. And so as this conversation
[4:35:13] progresses around where do we offer our utility services and what
[4:35:17] are some of the other environmental protection rules that different tracks of
[4:35:22] land do and don't abide by, I just wanted to
[4:35:26] flag, I am starting to lean on the denial of the service extension request simply
[4:35:30] because the environmental commission had denied it and
[4:35:34] the watershed protection staff had denied it. Um, but I
[4:35:38] would like to flag for us as colleagues, um, that this conversation
[4:35:42] around the service extension request in the drinking water protection zone continues to
[4:35:46] get stickier and stickier as the years go by. And I know that former
[4:35:50] council member and mayor pro tem leslie poole had started to open up this
[4:35:54] conversation around when and how do these come to council
[4:35:59] and when do they get administratively approved. And so right now it is split
[4:36:03] kind of west austin versus central and east austin. It's the drinking water
[4:36:07] protection zone. And then the other side is the desired development zone that
[4:36:12] was set a number of years ago. And I'm finding that these are getting more complicated as
[4:36:16] they come to us, and not every council office has to deal with them, but I did
[4:36:20] want to just flag for staff that I think we need to open that conversation
[4:36:24] back up and figure out a smoother way to, uh, better right
[4:36:28] size our utilities and make sure that we are getting as, as many environmental
[4:36:33] protections as we possibly can out of these service extension requests.
[4:36:37] so I know this had already been postponed once or twice, um, but I'm
[4:36:41] having a hard time continuing to extend wastewater service into an
[4:36:45] area that is getting less environmental protection as the years go by and
[4:36:49] also has more demand on our wastewater utilities. Um, so I'm,
[4:36:53] I've struggled with this. I'm sorry for keeping folks here all day to be able to talk about this one particular
[4:36:58] item. Um, but I'm gonna move denial of the service extension request.
[4:37:02] members, uh, council member ellis has moved denial of item number
[4:37:06] 33. It is seconded by council member alter, uh, discussion
[4:37:11] with regard to item number 33. Hearing none without
[4:37:15] objection. Uh, the motion by council member ellis to deny item number 33
[4:37:20] is passed, uh, with council member harper madison off the daes.
[4:37:25] alright, members that will now take us to, um, other
[4:37:29] non-consent items. Uh, the first ones we'll take up will be items 42, 43, 44, 45,
[4:37:35] and 46. Uh, those are items that are related to
[4:37:39] imminent domain, and I will turn to the city clerk, uh,
[4:37:44] for calling out the names of the people who have signed up
[4:37:48] to speak on item 42. We
[4:37:52] have no speakers on item 42.
[4:38:02] all right, uh, members what I'm gonna do is, is I'm gonna put those together as a
[4:38:06] packet after we've heard the speakers on all of them and just take them as one motion unless
[4:38:10] there's an objection. Alright, item number 43 is also an imminent
[4:38:14] domain item, and I'll ask if there are there any speakers on item 43, no speakers
[4:38:19] on item 43, uh, item number call up item number 44,
[4:38:23] no speakers on item 44. Um, item number 45,
[4:38:28] no speakers on item 45. Item number 46, no
[4:38:32] speakers on 46 members. Uh, those are all of the imminent domain items.
[4:38:36] so I will entertain a motion that with respect to items 42, 43, 44, 45,
[4:38:41] and 46 being non-consent condemnation items,
[4:38:46] the motion is to the effect that the city council of austin authorizes
[4:38:51] the use of the power of imminent domain to acquire the property set forth
[4:38:55] and described in the agenda for the current meeting for the public uses that are described
[4:38:59] therein. Council member velasquez moves approval of that motion.
[4:39:03] is there a second? Seconded by council member siegel. Discussion,
[4:39:07] hearing none without objection. Items 42, 43, 44, 45,
[4:39:12] and 46 are adopted members that will take us to the public
[4:39:16] hearings. The first one will be item number
[4:39:20] 48. Uh, this is I've indicated as a public hearing. So without
[4:39:24] objection, we'll open the public hearing on item number 48. The public hearing is now opened
[4:39:28] and I will turn to the city clerk, no speakers on item 48.
[4:39:33] members. There are no speakers. On item number 48, I'll entertain a motion to approve the ordinance
[4:39:37] in item number 48. It's made by council member cadre, seconded by the mayor pro tim. Discussion,
[4:39:41] hearing none without objection, item number 48 is adopted with council member harper madison.
[4:39:46] absent that will take us to item number 49, which is also a public hearing without
[4:39:50] objection. We'll open the public hearing on item number 49, and I'll turn to the, the
[4:39:54] public hearing is now open and I'll turn to the city clerk speaking on
[4:39:58] item 49. Bill bunch. Mr. Bunch, do you wish to be heard?
[4:40:07] all right, all we have to go on is you signed up.
[4:40:17] all right. Uh, those are all the speakers on item number 40, the public hearing on item number 49.
[4:40:22] so without objection, we will close the public hearing on item number 49. The public hearing is
[4:40:26] now closed. Is there a motion to approve the ordinance?
[4:40:30] motion made by council member velasquez is seconded by council member siegel
[4:40:34] with, uh, uh, any discussion? Hearing none without objection, item number
[4:40:39] 49 is approved with council member harper madison, absent. Item number 50
[4:40:43] is also a public hearing. Without objection, we will open the public hearing on item number 50. The
[4:40:47] public hearing is now open. I'll turn to the city clerk
[4:40:51] speaking on item 50. Bill bunch. Mr. Bunch, do you wanna speak on 50? No. Thank
[4:40:55] you. Mr. Bunch is not speaking on 50, that's the only speaker signed up on item number 50.
[4:40:59] so without objection, we'll close the public hearing on item number 50, the public hearing
[4:41:03] is now closed. I'll entertain a motion to approve the ordinance in item
[4:41:07] number 50. Is there a motion? Motion is made by the mayor pro tem. Seconded by council member
[4:41:12] siegel. Uh, is there any discussion? Hearing none without objection. Item number 50
[4:41:16] is adopted. That'll take us to item number 51, which is also a public hearing
[4:41:20] item. Uh, without objection, we'll open the public hearing on item number 51, and the
[4:41:24] public hearing is now open. And I'll turn to the city clerk, no speakers
[4:41:28] on item 51. Members. There are no speakers on item number 51. So without objection, we'll close the
[4:41:33] public hearing on item number 51. The public hearing is now closed. I'll entertain a
[4:41:37] motion with regard to the ordinance, uh, in item number 51.
[4:41:41] is there a motion council member coder removes approval of the ordinance. It is seconded by the mayor pro tim,
[4:41:46] is there a discussion on item number 51? Without objection. Item number
[4:41:50] 51 is approved with council member harper madison off
[4:41:54] the daes members. That will now take us to item number 52.
[4:42:03] item number 52 is also a public hearing. We'll open the public hearing on item without objection. We'll
[4:42:07] open the public hearing on item number 52. The public hearing is now open and I'll turn to
[4:42:11] the city clerk's office. Thank you, mayor. We'll begin with remote speakers.
[4:42:16] kevin koch on item 52,
[4:42:21] mayor council members, my name is kevin cook. I speak only for myself and on behalf
[4:42:25] of any commission, association or body, I appreciate your taking a new
[4:42:29] tack on this very complex subject regarding the directors stated on the message board,
[4:42:34] the suggested directors presume a need to make it easier to relocate billboards.
[4:42:38] please consider directing staff to first define the public need for flexibility and
[4:42:42] relocation or any ordinance change at all, and communicate that justification
[4:42:47] publicly before proposing any changes. At this point, we have questions as to how this need was
[4:42:51] identified to begin with. Since the account of billboards impacted by project connect wasn't
[4:42:56] even yet available for planning commission, I appreciate the stated goal of removing billboards
[4:43:00] from residential areas and scenic areas, but consider as we successfully created denser and more
[4:43:04] interconnected city, there is not a good place for billboards anywhere. If the directive is
[4:43:08] to find easier ways to relocate. We need to know exactly where and why the
[4:43:12] potential impacts of any change need to be clear and publicly communicated. I ask that
[4:43:16] the 40 year goal of ultimately eliminating billboards from the city be considered a starting point for any
[4:43:21] analysis. Please do not dismantle any part of that, including the 25 year moratorium
[4:43:25] on the one-time only relocations that are currently allowed. And I suggest staff start
[4:43:29] from an understanding of the issues around all the billboards that have already been relocated. There are 25
[4:43:33] year terms coming up very soon. I ask that interested citizens be involved in the
[4:43:37] process such as scenic austin and the cherrywood neighborhood association, at least on par
[4:43:41] with business interests. Most importantly, I ask the city allow all billboards condemned
[4:43:46] by the state along I 35 to be permanently removed by the state. This is a
[4:43:50] state issue on state land. We should not be facilitating retention of any billboards condemned by the
[4:43:54] state or their relocation back onto city land. Finally, please consider billboard
[4:43:58] companies are not like housing developers, restaurants, music venues, health providers, offices or
[4:44:02] industries offering a significant number of jobs or retail establishments serving public
[4:44:07] needs. They offer only visual pollution and light pollution driver distraction. And
[4:44:11] as noted earlier on the message board, they complicate housing development and lower property values,
[4:44:15] which is why we wanted them gone for decades. That should remain our ultimate goal, like
[4:44:19] our pure cities across the state. Texas is a big state with plenty of room for billboards.
[4:44:23] we don't need them in the city of austin. Thank, thank you very much.
[4:44:29] next speaking remotely on item 52 is robert schmidt.
[4:44:36] yes, hello, my name is bob schmidt. Um, I've lived in austin since 1986.
[4:44:41] that's 40 years. And over this time I always thought and
[4:44:45] believed and assumed that the austin city council, which is a council for a progressive
[4:44:49] city, is different than that that's going on in washington dc and
[4:44:53] in the texas legislature. And that you all actually represent
[4:44:57] citizens and real people and not just money. Special interest.
[4:45:02] honestly, that's why I'm so disappointed that with this item 52 and
[4:45:06] mayor pro tems vela, um, his initiative involving billboards
[4:45:10] only the billboards company's interests were being represented. The
[4:45:14] mayor pro tem and his office met privately for months with billboard company lobbyists
[4:45:19] and no other stakeholders. The lobbyists also met privately with members of the
[4:45:23] planning commission. There's an article that was published in the statesman that details
[4:45:27] some of this special interest involvement. The first proposal that was put
[4:45:31] out on this literally called for amending the code to allow billboards
[4:45:36] to be zero feet from residential property. Only by luck
[4:45:40] did somebody from our neighborhood spot this on the planning commission agenda. And because
[4:45:44] we testified against it, the proposal was changed to be a little better, 150
[4:45:48] feet or basically a half a block from residence instead of the 500 feet
[4:45:53] that's been in place since the 1980s. We pushed back several times
[4:45:57] now and honestly spent countless hours fighting this. And we understand it's
[4:46:01] to be indefinitely postponed, and we are truly grateful for this. If
[4:46:05] this issue comes back, we hope this time the interest of regular citizens
[4:46:09] who don't want a billboard moved in their backyard are brought into the discussion and
[4:46:13] take into account. Um, I'm concerned that this item will somehow pop back up on the
[4:46:17] agenda. And regular people like us who don't check these agendas
[4:46:22] of planning commission to see council are just gonna miss it. I believe that that was the
[4:46:26] hope of the billboard lobbyists and perhaps the mayor pro tem when this item was first
[4:46:30] brought up. We ask that that not happen this time. I thank the mayor
[4:46:34] pro tem for changing course on this, and I ask you and that the city staff
[4:46:38] include and notify groups like the chair. Thank you very much. Association. Other
[4:46:44] moving to in-person speakers on item 52, maria rosa
[4:46:48] morales, betsy greenberg and bill bunch.
[4:47:09] bill bunch, uh, district five executive director save our springs alliance.
[4:47:13] uh, definitely hope that, uh, you'll listen to all that you've heard from the
[4:47:17] previous speakers. It all sounds really very reasonable to me. I haven't followed
[4:47:21] the details on that this so far. Uh, I admit completely.
[4:47:26] um, but we're just inundated with commercial messages everywhere.
[4:47:31] we do not need to be accommodating billboards anymore than,
[4:47:35] uh, we're required to by state law. Uh,
[4:47:40] so please take your time. Uh, if anything, go and
[4:47:44] take action to reduce billboard clutters in our in our city.
[4:47:48] thank you. That concludes all speakers on item 52 members.
[4:47:53] um, those are all the speakers on item number 52. So without objection,
[4:47:57] we'll close the public hearing on item number 52, the public hearing is now closed.
[4:48:01] that will take us to the ordinance. Uh, captain mayor peram, you're
[4:48:05] recognized for a motion on item number 52. Uh, thank you, mayor.
[4:48:09] uh, I have a, a motion, it was, uh, posted on the message board
[4:48:14] a few days ago, I believe. And, and, uh, council member ellis made a, I
[4:48:19] think a very, a good suggestion. And that's, uh, a reflected in in my motion.
[4:48:23] uh, I just wanted a little bit of background on this. I know it's, uh, been a long day,
[4:48:27] but 20 years ago, a little bit, maybe more
[4:48:31] than 20 years ago, uh, actually billboards, new billboards were
[4:48:36] banned in the eighties. Uh, the, uh, ordinance
[4:48:40] that, uh, essentially tried
[4:48:44] to push for their removal was passed about 20, 21
[4:48:49] years ago. Uh, there are more billboards today in the city
[4:48:53] of austin than there were when the ordinance was, uh, originally passed.
[4:48:58] and I think that the, uh, number of billboards that have been, uh, removed,
[4:49:02] I could probably count them on, on, on both hands. Uh, so the reality
[4:49:06] is that we're, we're not in a good status quo.
[4:49:11] uh, the, a lot of billboards that were put up
[4:49:15] were in different areas that were in different parts of the city that had different goals. I
[4:49:19] think about manor, uh, road, uh, I think about the old,
[4:49:24] uh, airport where there are so many billboards, uh, right around
[4:49:28] that area because that's used to be where the airport was. Uh,
[4:49:32] and they really don't even serve much of a purpose anymore, but
[4:49:37] they linger there and they will linger there indefinitely, kind of in
[4:49:41] the heart of the neighborhoods and in, in the middle of the city. Um,
[4:49:45] the, the goal of the original, um, item was relatively
[4:49:49] modest, uh, to, uh, reduce, uh,
[4:49:53] any costs for when we have to remove a billboard because of
[4:49:58] eminent, uh, domain. I don't wanna be spending money, uh, city money
[4:50:02] on buying out, uh, billboards when we have a road project or,
[4:50:06] uh, as project, uh, connect, uh, bills out. Uh, but ultimately
[4:50:11] I think we need to look again at how we
[4:50:15] are handling billboards in austin and, uh, take
[4:50:19] some kind of, right now we just use a stick approach and we've kind of tried to just force
[4:50:24] them out and that has not been successful. They are grandfathered
[4:50:28] in. They can stay where they are for, you know, decades, uh, if they want.
[4:50:32] very few of them have been removed. Uh, so I, I don't
[4:50:36] consider the that 2000 and I believe a 2006, 2004,
[4:50:41] uh, ordinance to have been successful. Um, other cities
[4:50:45] have been able to provide some kind of combination of, of
[4:50:49] carrots and sticks, uh, to be able to get to a better
[4:50:54] place. Uh, we have not done that. And with
[4:50:58] this direction, uh, uh, I want to open the door to that as
[4:51:02] a, a possibility. Uh, it's a, a very short, uh,
[4:51:07] direction and, and I would move to postpone that indefinitely and then provide direction
[4:51:11] to the city manager to go out and kind of, uh, talk to all the stakeholders
[4:51:16] and see where we can get on, uh, this, uh, very kind of tricky
[4:51:20] and, and, uh, difficult, uh, item.
[4:51:24] um, and one of the things, this is not in the, the motion itself, but you
[4:51:28] know, it's kind of the, the elephant in the room is, uh, digital billboards.
[4:51:32] uh, I know a lot of people, you know, fiercely dislike, dig digital
[4:51:37] billboards. I, I, I don't see a
[4:51:41] huge difference between a regular billboard and a, and a digital billboard. And to
[4:51:45] the extent that there's some kind of, uh, negotiation that
[4:51:49] can happen to reduce a overall number of billboards, if we allow
[4:51:53] a certain number of, of billboards, for example, a long, major highways to
[4:51:57] do, again, I, I, I don't know where that will take us, but I do think that
[4:52:02] it's important that we open the door to some kind of discussion
[4:52:06] and negotiation that could potentially get us to a place
[4:52:10] where we are, uh, in a win-win situation where we're pulling
[4:52:14] a lot of, uh, the billboards that are lingering in our residential neighborhoods out,
[4:52:18] uh, and, uh, and, and, and leaving the ones that are more kind of along
[4:52:23] highways, again, in line with the 2006 ordinance. But unless we do
[4:52:27] something, the status quo is not gonna change. And that's more than anything the
[4:52:31] point that I was, uh, trying to make. So with that, I would, uh, move passage of my,
[4:52:36] uh, direction members. You have been provided a copy of item number 52,
[4:52:40] uh, mayor pro tim velas, motion sheet one, version two.
[4:52:45] uh, he moves approval of that motion. It is seconded by council member
[4:52:49] velasquez. Is there any discussion? Yes, council member
[4:52:54] uchin. Uh, just really a question for, uh, mayor per tem,
[4:52:59] we've been struggling with this also in terms of how to find what the right balance
[4:53:04] is. And you've heard frustration from speakers today about what that might be.
[4:53:09] and trying to think about this in a way that's perhaps more, I don't
[4:53:13] wanna say sophisticated, but maybe more granular than the city was currently
[4:53:17] thinking with just a blanket one 50 feet from dwellings, and even if
[4:53:21] that's the right or wrong distance, but thinking about, you know, which side of a
[4:53:26] corridor, for instance, might a site be, might, might a site be sign beyond and, and,
[4:53:30] you know, does it need different, uh, measurements based on that corridor?
[4:53:34] which side it's right? Um, is there a distinction, say between taller,
[4:53:39] multifamily and single family? I, is the intent
[4:53:43] behind what you've got here, the, in the, the investigation, the
[4:53:47] direction to staff to go help explore those options and come back with
[4:53:52] a better sense of what we could be voting on, whether it's height or
[4:53:56] distance or whatever the circumstances are, knowing that we need to identify some locations,
[4:54:01] uh, to potentially prevent some other scenarios from coming to coming to light.
[4:54:06] I, I would say, in answer to your question, customer reduce all of the above. I,
[4:54:10] I, I'm not trying to say, you know, just this or just that. Just go
[4:54:14] see what would potentially work, what would be acceptable
[4:54:18] to the different, uh, stakeholders, again, whichever side that
[4:54:22] they're on. Uh, and see if there's a better path forward.
[4:54:26] uh, I don't want to be prescriptive and say, you know, list a, a bunch of
[4:54:30] items that they should. That's why it's, it's a, it's, it's very broad language to give staff
[4:54:35] the ability to go out there and, and take a look at it. And, and again, just to be frank,
[4:54:39] if there's not the desire, and if, if no one wants to change it and we just wanna stick
[4:54:43] with the status quo, so be it. Uh, but I just wanted to open that
[4:54:47] up as an opportunity. If folks can come together and we can get, uh, to a
[4:54:52] place where, uh, uh, stakeholders, various stakeholders are happy and we move
[4:54:56] forward, great. If not, then so be it. We'll just stick with the status quo.
[4:55:00] uh, my concern is that I think we know what the status quo is gonna be. Actually, I don't,
[4:55:04] what is, is the status quo the one 50 feet proposal? What is the status quo? No,
[4:55:08] I mean, the status quo is that the billboards are where they are
[4:55:12] and they're not gonna move from where they are because there is no incentive
[4:55:16] for them to move. They're kind of really dug in and, you know, just
[4:55:21] extending leases and just kind of really just trying to, to stay. Our,
[4:55:25] our ordinance, uh, is designed where once it moves,
[4:55:29] you can move the billboard once, and then it starts this kind of 25 year
[4:55:33] clock where, uh, purportedly at the end of the 25 year clock,
[4:55:37] the billboard is then supposed to, uh, end. Uh,
[4:55:42] I don't think that's gonna happen. I mean, just to be perfectly, uh, blunt, I,
[4:55:46] I, I think that, again, I'm speaking for myself here, not on behalf of law. I think that's a taking.
[4:55:50] and if we want to, at the end of that 25 year period, remove that billboard, we're
[4:55:55] gonna have to buy that billboard. And, and that's a, just a concern. I don't think
[4:55:59] that the, the current status quo is, uh, is going
[4:56:03] to change. I would just put it that way. Uh, and, and that's my concern
[4:56:07] is that we're just gonna kind of, no one wants to mess with it. And so we're just gonna continue with, uh,
[4:56:11] with everything in the same place, uh, indefinitely. And, and I don't think that's
[4:56:15] what anybody wants, honestly. Alright, so you're thinking more broadly than even just getting
[4:56:19] back information about the condemnation process. You're thinking
[4:56:23] about all billboards and what happens there? Am I dancing a line
[4:56:28] here? This would be broad direction to staff to go out there and again,
[4:56:32] see what's possible. Okay. Alright. Thank you for clarifying that.
[4:56:36] thank you. Um, members, the motion has been made and seconded. It's the, it's,
[4:56:40] uh, the mayor pro tim's motion. Uh, is there any further discussion?
[4:56:46] hearing none without objection. Uh, item number 53
[4:56:51] as, uh, sorry, 52. Item number 52, as motion
[4:56:55] was made by mayor pro, tim vela is adopted with council member harper madison
[4:56:59] being absent.
[4:57:06] um, that'll take us item number 53 is also, which is also a public
[4:57:10] hearing. Uh, without objection, we'll open the public hearing on item number 53. The public hearing
[4:57:14] is now open and I'll recognize, uh, the city clerk's office,
[4:57:18] no speakers on item 50. There are no speakers on item number 53. So without objection, the public
[4:57:23] hearing will be closed. The public hearing is now closed and
[4:57:28] there is no motion to be made
[4:57:36] on this item. Item number 54, uh,
[4:57:41] is a public hearing without objection, we will open the public hearing on item number 54.
[4:57:45] the public hearing is now open and I'll turn to the city clerk. We
[4:57:49] have one, uh, speaker for item 54, ali tharp.
[4:57:59] that concludes all speakers, maam. Alright, there are no other further speakers on item number 54.
[4:58:03] so without objection, we will close the public hearing on item number 54. The public
[4:58:07] hearing is now closed members. This was to conduct a public hearing in accordance
[4:58:11] with four,
[4:58:16] um, with texas park send wildlife code. Um,
[4:58:20] I will now entertain a motion with regard to the resolution on item number 54.
[4:58:25] is there a motion? Motion is made by council member alter. It
[4:58:29] is seconded by council member uchin. Uh, is there any discussion
[4:58:34] on item number 54? Hearing none the motion
[4:58:38] without objection. The motion is adopted with council member harper madison being
[4:58:42] absent.
[4:58:48] members that will take us to our 4 46
[4:58:53] and 34 second time certain zoning items.
[4:59:01] and ms. Harden has been waiting patiently, knowing
[4:59:05] full well that at some point we would get to ask her
[4:59:09] questions. It's all yours, ms. Hardin ? Absolutely. Thank you mayor
[4:59:13] and counsel. I'm joy hardin with austin planning. Your zoning and neighborhood
[4:59:17] plan amendment agenda begins with item 55 in pa 20 25 0 0 2 6
[4:59:24] 0.02. This item is offered for consent on all three readings.
[4:59:28] the related rezoning item is 56 c 4 20 25 0 0 9 9.
[4:59:34] again, this item's offered for consent on all three readings with the following motion, which
[4:59:39] reads, remove research services from the list of prohibited uses
[4:59:43] in part two a of the draft ordinance. And with that, again, this
[4:59:47] items offered for consent on all three readings. Item 57 is c 8 14 20 18 0 1 2 2 0 3.
[4:59:56] this item is offered for consent first reading only.
[5:00:00] uh, this item has two staff motion sheets that includes language
[5:00:04] to be added to the ordinance when this item returns. May 21st
[5:00:08] for second and third reading consideration. These motion sheets are in your backup
[5:00:13] and the language reflects ongoing discussions with the applicant concerning
[5:00:17] parkland and cocktail lounge use. Again, this item is offered for
[5:00:22] first reading only and will return for second and third reading
[5:00:26] consideration on march. March may 21st.
[5:00:30] um, may 21st. Um, and consent. First reading. Thank you. Item 58
[5:00:34] c 14, 20 25, 1 21. This item is offered as an
[5:00:39] applicant postponement to your may 21st council meeting. Item 59
[5:00:43] is c 8 4 2 8 8 7 2.
[5:00:49] this item is offered for staff postponement to your may 7th
[5:00:53] council meeting. And lastly, item 60 c 1 4 20 25 0 0 8 0.
[5:00:59] this item is offered for a neighborhood postponement to your may 21st
[5:01:03] council meeting. This concludes the reading of the zoning and neighborhood plan amendment portion of
[5:01:08] your agenda. And as always, this is at your discretion. Thank you. Thank you ms. Harden. First
[5:01:12] of all, does any, any, any council members have any questions of ms. Harden? I wanna
[5:01:16] make sure I understand something. On item number 57.
[5:01:22] the staff have two proposed motions and you read both of those,
[5:01:26] uh, they're in your back, I understand. Yeah. So they're in the backup. Two
[5:01:30] different motions. Yes. Two different motions. One deals with the cocktail lounge use and
[5:01:34] one deals with, uh, parkland. I wanna make sure that everybody understands that. And council
[5:01:38] member fuentes, it's my understanding you also have a proposed direction to
[5:01:43] staff, is that correct? So what I'm gonna do, unless there's objection is I'm gonna
[5:01:47] ask that we take up item number 57 off the consent agenda, just
[5:01:51] so that there's no lack of clarity with regard to that. And we make sure that council member
[5:01:55] fuentes has the opportunity to provide the direction that she wants to provide on that.
[5:01:59] is there any objection to that? Alright, then the consent agenda that I'll entertain a motion
[5:02:03] on will be the following item number 55, all three readings. Item 56,
[5:02:08] all three readings subject to the motion sheet that was read by ms.
[5:02:12] harden. Uh, item number 58, a postponement to
[5:02:16] may 21st. Item number 59, a postponement
[5:02:21] to may 7th. And item number 60, a postponement to may 21st.
[5:02:26] uh, that is the consent agenda. Is there a motion on the consent agenda?
[5:02:31] uh, motion is made by council member walter, second by council member lane, and I'll turn to
[5:02:35] the city clerk and see if we have people signed up to speak on those items. Thank you, mayor.
[5:02:39] item 59, bill bunch. And malcolm yates,
[5:02:44] what? Postpone with nine. Um,
[5:02:48] not clear on that. Are you wa I, I I can't hear you. Did you say you're waiving or what are you?
[5:02:52] I just said support to postpone. Oh, okay. Well, um, alright.
[5:03:00] we don't have a postponement for 59. We do, we do on 59
[5:03:04] staff postponement to, uh, to may 7th. Oh,
[5:03:08] perfect. It looks to me like there were some changes
[5:03:12] made today, so that's why you may not have that in your notes on item
[5:03:16] 60. David ruddick,
[5:03:21] mr. Ruddick, david ruddick doesn't appear to be here. That
[5:03:25] concludes all speakers on the consent. Thank you very much. Members. That concludes all the speakers
[5:03:29] on the consent agenda as it was read. Is there any discussion on the consent agenda
[5:03:34] as it was read? Yes. Council member 59 and
[5:03:38] 65 said 59 is a postponement to may 7th
[5:03:42] and 60 is a postponement to may 21st. Thank you.
[5:03:46] any further discussion? Hearing none without objection. The consent agenda is adopted
[5:03:50] with council member harper madison. Absent that will take us back to item number
[5:03:54] 57, uh, members. I'll entertain a motion on item number 57,
[5:03:59] uh, which includes the motion sheets
[5:04:03] that were read by ms. Harden. The two items that I, I asked her about just a
[5:04:07] minute ago. And then I'm gonna recognize council member fuentes for direction
[5:04:11] to staff motions made by council member velasquez. It's seconded by council member
[5:04:16] alter to approve. By the way, this will be, uh, on,
[5:04:20] uh, this is on first reading only, second and third reading. It will
[5:04:24] come back for second and third reading on may 7th. Council member fuentes, you're
[5:04:28] recognized. Thank you colleagues. I move to, this is a motion sheet
[5:04:32] that's in your backup for reference. Um, the city manager is directed to collaborate
[5:04:36] with the property owner, cap metro and travis county on the future expansion of
[5:04:40] public transportation services to the pud, including identifying
[5:04:45] a location on the property for a future bus stop.
[5:04:49] members, council member, sorry. Council member fuentes moves to
[5:04:53] amend item number 57 to add the direction that she just
[5:04:57] read into the record. It is seconded by council member siegel. Is there discussion on
[5:05:01] the, uh, fuentes motion to amend item number 57?
[5:05:06] hearing none without objection. The motion to amend is adopted.
[5:05:10] that will now take us back to the main motion. Before I call for the main motion,
[5:05:14] I want clarity on when this comes back for second and third reading.
[5:05:18] yes, this item will be returning at your may 21st
[5:05:23] council meeting. Okay, very good. Uh, may 21st for people that are interested in that, it will come
[5:05:27] back on may 21st. Alright, with that being said, uh,
[5:05:32] we go back, we now, I, I guess what we need, we, we have
[5:05:36] a motion and now we have a motion to amend item number 57.
[5:05:40] so we will go back to the main motion as amended on item number 57.
[5:05:45] is there discussion on item number 57 as amended? I'm signed up to
[5:05:49] speak on this. Uh, mayor. Yeah. Okay.
[5:05:53] well then come on down. We've been waiting for you. Nobody called me,
[5:05:57] I don't think. Mayor, we pulled that off
[5:06:01] consent, so I didn't call speakers for that. I, I'm teasing. I was teasing mr. Bunch. He, he doesn't take the
[5:06:05] joke very well, but I was teasing him
[5:06:10] and mayor, I had, uh, I I'm fine. We, we we're getting ready to call speaker.
[5:06:14] so, uh, you're right, mr. Bunch is right. I, I jumped the gun.
[5:06:20] thank you mayor. Council members bill bunch, executive director, uh,
[5:06:24] district five, uh, I first, I have a whole raft of points of order here.
[5:06:28] um, you can't do first reading when on of an ordinance, when there is no such
[5:06:32] ordinance. You can't amend an ordinance when there's no such ordinance, uh, that
[5:06:36] you're violating the city charter. Uh, there's no ordinance in the backup.
[5:06:41] I don't know what you're talking about. Uh, secondly, um,
[5:06:45] you have all the posting violations of the texas open meetings act that
[5:06:49] we still have on litigation, uh, with the states of hud.
[5:06:53] uh, you put this as zoning. There's all kinds of things in here that
[5:06:58] are, uh, have nothing to do with zoning. Uh, I don't know why you
[5:07:02] would continue to do this. Uh, the, the posted notice says we're
[5:07:06] mending from pud to pud, which tells people nothing.
[5:07:11] unlike our traditional zoning categories, we say sf one to
[5:07:15] multifamily, you know, mf people understand that
[5:07:20] pud to pud amendment basically tells the reader
[5:07:24] who's not an expert, he's not y'all, that there's no change at all.
[5:07:29] um, there's dozens of items in here. You can't do this.
[5:07:34] I'll say it again and only give somebody two minutes. That's completely
[5:07:39] unreasonable given the complexity. But it's also illegal because there's a whole lot more
[5:07:43] than one item. Uh, the summary of what you're talking about
[5:07:48] that just gives us an outline is, uh, amendments
[5:07:52] to a putt ordinance that are not just a to z, but they're a to
[5:07:56] z plus. A to double a to double I.
[5:08:01] and some of these are horrible. You're losing 79 acres, 78
[5:08:05] acres of open space. You're saying we're gonna put a, a golf course in
[5:08:09] the critical water quality zone with all the fertilizers, pesticides,
[5:08:14] herbicides. Um, that's nasty. Um,
[5:08:18] you're talking about getting rid of a commitment to build, uh, two.
[5:08:23] so, uh, fields, thank you mr. For the public. You're cutting me off at
[5:08:27] two minutes. Yes, sir. Okay, thank you. Can
[5:08:31] I have someone donating two minutes? Well, did they sign up to speak sharon blythe?
[5:08:35] yeah, you'll have four minutes. You'll have four minutes, yeah. Okay. Thank you very much.
[5:08:39] uh, I very much approved this and thank you, uh, uh,
[5:08:43] council member fuentes for bringing this forward. This fits very nicely
[5:08:48] with trying to do as much economically and what we can
[5:08:53] out there in that district. When I was reading the backup, I have to agree
[5:08:58] a lot of it I didn't understand. So as I started looking at it, I said, you know, really,
[5:09:02] what is code? What, what are we looking at here? And so
[5:09:06] I thought I'd point some of these things out to, during the covid
[5:09:11] crisis, uh, they were shut down. You said the council
[5:09:15] shut them down. Like they shut every other business down. And
[5:09:20] all of a sudden, unfortunately, this was when f1 was coming
[5:09:24] and they were in a serious situation. They had to lay off people because unlike
[5:09:28] the government, if you don't have money coming in, you can't pay your people. But you know what they
[5:09:33] did in, in covid, despite the serious layoffs
[5:09:37] and the financial problems, coda donated 2 million
[5:09:42] meals to the food bank. 2 million meals.
[5:09:46] how many people did not starve? Because what
[5:09:50] coda did then, of course, there was a pro problem of how are we getting these
[5:09:55] people shots? And coda had the first
[5:09:59] drive through shot and it, and that, that went on and on.
[5:10:03] and so they came to the community even though
[5:10:07] they were hurting with everything else, goodwill
[5:10:12] was getting things and they couldn't store them during this area. Coda said,
[5:10:16] bring them up to us. You can bring your trucks here and you can and
[5:10:20] store them here during weather crises. And there's a lot
[5:10:24] out in that part of town. Coda always has been open
[5:10:29] for the governments to come in and use their facility as
[5:10:33] a staging area. They're more than just trees
[5:10:37] and things like that. This is a major impact, not only
[5:10:41] on the money. I mean, we know how, how important f1 is,
[5:10:45] and we know what they bring in, but there's a lot more out there.
[5:10:50] another thing I would like to point out, and that is when the police
[5:10:54] were on their knees, when we were defunding police, and you know, I hated that, um,
[5:10:59] the a pa decided that they would have a picnic, a morale picnic for
[5:11:03] their people. And someone called me up and said, would you mind calling coda and see if they
[5:11:07] donate $500? And I did that. And you know what? The answer is $500.
[5:11:12] they can come out here. We will host them. They came out to coda.
[5:11:16] they've been doing that for, for I think it's four years. Um, that children
[5:11:20] of police and the police free hot dog for each kid a a
[5:11:24] drink, they could ride free on the little rides. And
[5:11:28] one of the people said to me, they invited me and I was happy to go. And she said, they're
[5:11:33] treating us so well here. And it kind of made me feel bad that
[5:11:37] people think that they shouldn't treat our our police very well.
[5:11:42] the other thing is, when jorge past one of our police officers
[5:11:46] was tragically killed police all over the state of texas
[5:11:50] wanted to come to the funeral, and coda opened their door. And that's
[5:11:54] where it was. And even more touching to me was, and I
[5:11:58] think bobby paid this for himself, this huge flag on the back of the, of
[5:12:03] the amphitheater, the american flag. And when you looked up there and
[5:12:07] you saw that officer, he gave his life and that flag, that's
[5:12:11] the kind of organization that coda is. And they have done
[5:12:16] countless things for the dell valley district. So I just wanted you to look
[5:12:20] at that. Is this, it's more than just numbers. It's what are
[5:12:24] they doing for our community? And, and this, we, we are blessed
[5:12:28] to have this. And you combine this with this new hotel convention
[5:12:32] center. I mean, it's a win for everything. And I thank you so much for bringing
[5:12:37] it forward. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Starro. Switching to
[5:12:41] remote speaker luke charlton.
[5:12:48] thank you. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, uh, council member fuentes and, and other council
[5:12:52] members, um, for taking this up. And, and also all the hard work you've
[5:12:56] put in today. Know it's been a long day for everybody. So I'll make it short and sweet. Um,
[5:13:01] speaking in, uh, favor of item 57,
[5:13:05] my name is luke charlton. I'm the chief operating officer of rita development.
[5:13:09] we are proposing to build the hotel, um, on the coda
[5:13:14] premises and, and in favor of this pod because we believe it clarified
[5:13:19] a lot of, um, unclear drafting in the original pod. And this
[5:13:23] amendment is necessary for us to be able to construct the improvements.
[5:13:27] thank you all for your time. Thank you. Moving
[5:13:31] back to in-person speakers, willie gonzalez. Gus trujillo,
[5:13:37] marquita presley. Jania marbury,
[5:13:41] michael waylan, daniella silva.
[5:13:51] good afternoon, mayor and council. My name is daniella silva. I'm a resident of district three
[5:13:55] and here in my personal capacity for the record, I am a union member
[5:14:00] of n-o-l-s-w-u-a-w, local 2320, an active participant
[5:14:04] of the central labor council through my day job. And I'm generally a massive supporter of
[5:14:08] unions and union jobs. What really keeps me up at night is that capitalism,
[5:14:12] billionaires and lawmakers have created a false dichotomy making us feel like we
[5:14:16] either prioritize union jobs or prioritize our collective
[5:14:21] future by protecting the environment. Since this pud was approved back in 2023,
[5:14:25] amendments have been made and each one was used by developers to make incremental requests
[5:14:29] as a tactical way to get away with devastating changes. What was originally
[5:14:34] a project with land set aside for affordable housing, soccer fields and parkland has morphed
[5:14:38] into a luxury resort for out of town visitors, a 1000 room luxury hotel,
[5:14:42] helipad convention center practice race trek golf course in the critical water quality
[5:14:46] zone, two buildings in the floodplain swimming pools illuminated signage at
[5:14:50] night and no noise barrier. To protect the nearby community from the additional racetrack.
[5:14:55] there are at least six other golf courses within 10 miles of this project. Do
[5:14:59] we really need another one in town? Built in a critical water quality zone, that means it's
[5:15:03] positioned right next to a creek and all the pollutants will leach into it. What is
[5:15:07] being offered in exchange for all of this destruction is just 0.87 acres
[5:15:12] of wetland mitigation. Think about 0.87 acres on a
[5:15:16] thousand acre lot. It's a pitance. We are on the cusp of stage four critical drought.
[5:15:20] for the first time in recorded history, corpus christi is running out of water. Texas
[5:15:24] is at the forefront of data center colonization. We must protect what little
[5:15:28] water we have and using it on golf courses and luxury hotels for out of town. Ultra
[5:15:33] wealthy is not it. No amount of hotel occupancy tax funds will help solve
[5:15:37] our water crisis. I understand the amount of money and jobs this project will bring into
[5:15:41] the city, and both of which are deeply needed in today's economy. But selling off
[5:15:45] tomorrow in order to pay for today is the extractive and scarcity mindset that billionaires who control
[5:15:49] our economy have conditioned most of us to make decisions through. Please
[5:15:53] consider taking the time between now and may to think about these ecological
[5:15:57] ecological devastations. Thank you. That concludes all speakers on item 57 members.
[5:16:02] that concludes all the speakers on item number 57. Um,
[5:16:06] you for the motion is to approve item number 57 on first reading
[5:16:10] only. It will come back on second and third reading on may 21st. It
[5:16:14] is as it was amended with the direction, uh, with what was read
[5:16:19] by ms. Harden and the direction in the motion to amend by
[5:16:23] council member fuentes. Is there any discussion? Yes. Council
[5:16:27] member fuentes. Thank you and colleague. Just wanna again, emphasize this is on first
[5:16:31] reading only. The ordinance is in the backup starts on page, uh, 62,
[5:16:37] uh, of the staff report. Uh, this has been a very long process
[5:16:41] to amend the putt has gone through several, uh, zoning and planning
[5:16:45] commissions, environmental commission and uh, and parks
[5:16:49] and rec board as well. And through that work and through the recommendations and the
[5:16:53] feedback from our volunteer commissioners and through the work of our
[5:16:58] district two office, um, the way the p stands before us is in a really strong
[5:17:02] place. And so I think there've been a lot of efforts to ensure that the community gets the
[5:17:06] benefits that our dell valley community deserves. And certainly there have been
[5:17:10] a lot of modification and improvements to the original proposal. So I just wanna highlight that
[5:17:15] and flag that my motion that I added to it really hones in on the transportation
[5:17:19] piece. Uh, circuited america's cap metro are all in agreement
[5:17:23] that we need to get a bus stop out at coda, especially with us having
[5:17:27] this type of activity in the area where we're gonna have 900 people
[5:17:31] in and out, uh, of the hotel activity. So we wanna make sure that we get that long
[5:17:36] awaited bus stop. And so I'm really pleased to offer that motion to ensure that conversations
[5:17:40] move forward and that we're able to improve public transportation access. Thank
[5:17:44] you. Thank you. Any further discussion on item number 57
[5:17:48] as amended without objection? Item number 57 as amended is adopted
[5:17:53] on first reading only with council member harper madison, absent
[5:17:57] members. That concludes all of the items that have been posted on the agenda for the austin
[5:18:01] city council on this april 23rd, 2026 regular meeting. So
[5:18:05] without objection, the austin city council is now adjourned at 5:05 pm
[5:18:10] thanks everybody.