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[Ad Hoc Committee on Administrative Affairs on September 10, 2024. ]
UH, CALLED THE A HOC COMMITTEE ADMINISTRATIVE FURNITURE ORDER.CAN I GET A MOTION? MOVE TO APPROVE.
UM, AREN'T THERE? LAST TIME WE BROKE, WE GONNA LOOK AT THE, THE BROCHURE, THE, THE PICTURE OF THE BROCHURE.
WE DID HAVE, I BELIEVE THAT, UM, WE HAD SOME, UH, WE PURCHASED SOME PICTURES.
WE OVER 70 PICTURES THAT WE PURCHASED, AND WE HAVE THE DESIGNERS TO LOOK AT WHAT WAS THE BEST PICTURE THAT WE FEEL LIKE PRESENTED THE BROCHURE.
BUT ALSO, I BELIEVE ON THE LAST, UH, UM, COUNCIL AGENDA, UM, UH, MR. REALLY, UH, CHAIRMAN REALLY HAD SOME QUESTION THAT WITH THE LANGUAGE OF THE LANGUAGE OF THE, OF THE BROCHURE, AND YOU DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO, WE DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO ADDRESS THAT.
SO, SO THEREFORE WE, LET'S START ON THAT FIRST.
AND, UH, LET'S GO WITH CHAIRMAN.
UM, DO WE HAVE THE, EVERYBODY GOT THE BROCHURE? COPY OF THE BROCHURE? UM, I HAVE IT FROM LAST TIME.
LAST TIME, BECAUSE THAT HAVE BEEN NOTHING CHANGED SINCE LAST TIME.
CAN I GET A COPY OF THE BROCHURE? NO, LAST TIME, THE BROCHURE, THE LAST ONE.
WELL, I GUESS MY FIRST QUESTION FOR THE CONSULTANT IS, UM, WAS THE LANGUAGE OF THE BROCHURE WRITTEN SPECIFICALLY FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS? MA'AM, THAT WAS A YES.
IT WAS, UM, OKAY, SO I'M, I'M GONNA BE A LITTLE BIT NITPICKY 'CAUSE I THINK THAT THIS MATTERS.
UM, AND ON THE PAGE IT STARTS, THAT'S TITLED, THE COMMUNITY DALLAS, TEXAS IS DESCRIBED AS BEING A METROPOLIS.
AND I'M NOT THINKING THAT'S A VERY COMFORTABLE WORD FOR US.
I MEAN, WE'VE CERTAINLY BEEN CALLED METROPLEX, BUT I, I, I RARELY HEAR US DESCRIBED AS A METROPOLIS.
UM, ON THE SAME PAGE, CEDAR VALLEY CAMPUS FROM DALLAS COLLEGE IS HIGHLIGHTED.
I WAS WONDERING WHY YOU CHOSE TO HIGHLIGHT THAT ONE COLLEGE OF THAT ONE CAMPUS OF DALLAS COLLEGE THAT WAS, UH, PROVIDED TO US BY, UH, EITHER THE MAYOR PRO TIM OR ONE OF THE, THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
WELL, IT SEEMS SORT OF INCONSISTENT TO HAVE JUST THAT ONE CAMPUS HIGHLIGHTED WHEN THERE'S CLEARLY SO MANY.
UM, THERE'S SO MUCH GOOD WORK HAPPENING AT ALL OF THEM, AND I'M NOT SURE THAT, AGAIN, A CITY MANAGER CANDIDATE IS GONNA LOOK AT DALLAS AND SAY, WOW, I'M SUPER INTERESTED IN THIS JOB BECAUSE OF CEDAR VALLEY CAMPUS.
THE WORD VIBRANT SEEMS TO BE USED, UM, MANY, MANY TIMES THROUGHOUT THIS, UM, DOCUMENT, STARTING WITH THE COMMUNITY PAGE.
BUT LIKE ON THE CITY MANAGER SIDE, I BELIEVE IT'S USED MANY TIMES AS WELL AS A REPUTATION, UH, UH, A REPETITION OF THE WORDS LARGE.
SO UNDER THAT CITY MANAGER PAGE, WHICH I BELIEVE IS PAGE FOUR IN THE FIRST PARAGRAPH, LEADS A LARGE AND DIVERSE WORKFORCE.
AND THEN UNDER OPPORTUNITY TO LEAD ONE OF THE LARGEST, AND THEN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH, UNDER THE OPPORTUNITY EXPERIENCE LEADING A LARGE AND COMPLEX.
I, I'M JUST WONDERING THE NEXT PAGE FIVE, UM, THE FIRST SENTENCE TO LEAD A LARGE AND COMPLEX, THEN THERE'S THE WORD VIBRANT AGAIN.
AND I'M JUST WONDERING IF YOU'VE GONE THROUGH AND MAYBE BE EDITED DOWN.
I MEAN, IT, THIS IS A HIGHLY REPETITIOUS DOCUMENT AND IT FEELS CUMBERSOME.
AND, YOU KNOW, I, I HESITATE TO SAY IT THIS WAY, BUT WE ARE A FAIRLY BUREAUCRATIC ORGANIZATION, AND I READ THIS AND I GO, WOW, MAYBE THIS IS ACTUALLY SHOWING HOW REPETITIVE WE CAN BE, BUT I WOULD REALLY LIKE IT TO BE MUCH MORE TARGETED AND SUCCINCT IF POSSIBLE.
UM, THE WORD, AGAIN, THE WORD VIBRANT MANY, MANY TIMES THROUGHOUT THIS.
MY NEXT QUESTION IS ON PAGE THREE, YOU, UM, CHARACTERIZE THE DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT'S SUCCESS IN REDUCING VIOLENT CRIME FOR THE PAST SIX
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YEARS.THAT WOULD BE AN ACCURATE, BUT CERTAINLY, UM, IF YOU COULD PUT THREE YEARS THAT WOULD, UM, REALLY HIGHLIGHT THAT GREAT ACHIEVEMENT.
AND THEN TALKING ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE CITY MANAGER AS IT RELATES TO THE CITY COUNCIL AND MAYOR, I THINK IT'S IN HERE AT LEAST SEVEN TIMES.
SO AGAIN, I JUST FEEL LIKE THIS IS SO DIFFICULT TO READ BECAUSE IT'S SO REPETITIVE.
UM, THE NEXT THING THAT I'D LIKE TO ASK ABOUT IS THE DESIRED SKILLS, TRAITS AND ATTRIBUTES.
WHERE DID YOU GET THAT LIST FROM? WHO CAME UP WITH THAT IS ON PAGE FIVE.
THAT'S, THAT'S BEEN FROM, UH, PROVIDED BY INPUT AND TALKING TO THE MAYOR PRO TEM AND TALKING, HEARING INPUT FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS AND, AND THE MAYOR'S OFFICE.
AND, UM, SO THESE ARE TYPICALLY THE SKILLS THAT ARE DESIRED IN A CITY MANAGER AND, AND, UH, TRAITS AND ATTRIBUTES.
SO YOU'RE JUST SAYING THESE ARE, THESE ARE COMMON ATTRIBUTES THAT YOU'VE THEN APPLIED TO DALLAS, OR THESE WERE THINGS THAT OUR COMMUNITY CAME UP WITH.
THESE ARE THINGS THAT YOU, MUCH OF THIS CAME FROM THE SURVEYS FROM BOTH EMPLOYEES AND THE COMMUNITY AS WELL, SO WE TRIED TO BLEND IT ALL TOGETHER.
UM, I'D LIKE A STATEMENT TO BE INCLUDED IN HERE THAT WE WELCOME NON-TRADITIONAL CANDIDATES.
SO WE VERY OFTEN TALK ABOUT THE, THIS FORM OF GOVERNMENT HAVING A PROFESSIONAL WHO ISN'T POLITICALLY ORIENTED.
BUT I'M VERY OPEN TO HEARING FROM, UH, CANDIDATES WHO HAVE EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, LEADING LARGE ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE HAD SOME INTERSECTION WITH GOVERNMENT.
I, I WILL SAY THAT, UM, I, I FIND THIS A DIFFICULT BROCHURE.
THANK YOU, UH, MR. RIDLEY, CHAIRMAN RIDLEY? YES.
UH, MY COMMENTS WERE, UH, FIRST OF ALL, TO THANK THEM FOR SHORT.
COULD YOU SPEAK UP A LITTLE LOUDER? I BARELY CAN HEAR YOU.
CHAIRMAN, CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YES, SIR, WE COULD.
UH, MY COMMENT WAS GENERALLY THAT I WANTED TO SEE THE BROCHURE SHORTENED, WHICH THEY HAVE DONE.
I THINK IT COULD USE SOME ADDITIONAL SHORTENING, PERHAPS BY ELIMINATING THE DUPLICATIVE, UH, LANGUAGE THAT COUNCILWOMAN MENDELSSOHN JUST SPOKE ABOUT.
UM, BUT I HAVE NO FURTHER SPECIFIC, UH, EDITS TO THE TEXT.
UH, CHAIRMAN STEWART, ANYTHING? I, I THINK WE'VE MADE PROGRESS FROM WHEN IT WAS EIGHT PAGES AND THERE WAS A LOT OF DUPLICATIVE LANGUAGE.
UM, I, I THINK, UM, CHAIRMAN MENDELSSOHN'S COMMENTS ARE GOOD, AND WE NEED TO, THERE'S STILL SOME EDITING THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE, BUT I DO NOT HAVE ANY FURTHER EVIDENCE.
SO, UM, ON, UM, ON LOOKING AT THE DEAL, UH, WE DID, DID WE CAP CAPTURE THE EDITS THAT, UH, CHAIRMAN MENISON WAS REFERRING TO? UH, UH, AND HOW LONG CAN YOU KINDA BLEND THAT IN TODAY? I CAN GET YOU SOMETHING TO REVIEW BY THE END OF THE DAY.
CAN'T DO IT RIGHT NOW, THOUGH.
WE CAN GET YOU SOMETHING BY THE END OF THE DAY, BUT WE CANNOT GET IT TO YOU RIGHT NOW.
I, I KNOW, BUT YOU CAN GET TO THE END OF THE DAY.
SO THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIND.
I'M GONNA GET TO THE END OF THE DAY WOULD BE GREAT.
SO I'M GONNA GIVE IT BACK TO MS. MENISON BY THE END OF THE DAY.
THERE'S ONE OTHER THING I DIDN'T MENTION IS, UM, DALLAS COLON LEADING THE WAY TO GLOBAL PROMINENCE.
LET'S GET, I'M TRYING TO GET ALL THE EDITS DONE FIRST, SO THEREFORE THEY CAN GET THAT DONE.
WE GET IT BACK TO YOU, THEN WE GO TO THE PICTURE.
WELL, SO THIS IS ACTUALLY NOT ABOUT THE PICTURE, IT'S ABOUT THE TEXT UNDERNEATH THE WORD CITY MANAGER.
HOW HAVE WE GOT THAT TAGLINE? OKAY.
WHAT I'M DOING, WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO YOU WANNA DO THAT WITH THE PICTURE? WOULD THAT'D BE FINE WITH THE PICTURE? SO THEREFORE FINE.
SO, SO NOW WE GOT ALL THE EDITS THAT WE ARE REFERRING TO IN THE BROCHURE.
SO NOW LET'S GO TO THE PICTURE CHAIRMAN MENISON.
AND, AND, UH, CAN WE PUT THAT ON THE SCREEN? UH, THE PICTURES.
UH, DO WE HAVE THAT, CHRIS? YES.
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GONNA PUT IT ON RECORD.WELL, I FEEL LIKE YOU'VE PUT ME IN A POSITION TO, UH, BE THE NAYSAYER TODAY.
UM, THESE PICTURES ARE MUCH BETTER.
UM, I DEFINITELY PREFER THE PICTURE WITH THE FLAG OF TEXAS IN THERE.
HOWEVER, I STILL FIND THE PICTURE PROBLEMATIC.
UM, WITH WHICH ONE? WELL, I'LL JUST SAY THE ONE WITH THE PICTURE OF THE FLAG.
I THINK THEY, THEY ARE THE SAME.
THERE'S THREE PICTURES, TWO OF WHICH LOOK THE SAME, OTHER THAN THE TAGLINE SEEMS TO BE IN RED OR GREEN.
RIGHT? BUT THE PHOTO ITSELF SEEMS TO BE THE SAME.
IT'S GOT A REALLY PROMINENT PICTURE OF LOOSE STAT.
UM, IT'S GOT A TRINITY THAT'S GOT BARELY ANY WATER IN IT AND LOOKS KIND OF LIKE A POND OR SOMETHING, AS OPPOSED TO AN IMPORTANT FEATURE OF OUR CITY.
UM, IT'S OBSCURING THE BRIDGE IS OBSCURING PART OF THE DOWNTOWN.
AND I DON'T THINK IT SHOWS THE FULLNESS OF DOWNTOWN.
I DON'T THINK DOWNTOWN IS ONLY REPRESENTATIVE OF DALLAS.
I MEAN, CERTAINLY I AM THE FURTHEST FROM IT.
BUT LIKE, WHEN WE LOOK AT THIS ORIGINAL PHOTO THAT, UM, WAS, I THINK FROM THE SECOND WAVE, YOU CAN SEE THAT FULLNESS OF DALLAS IN IT.
UM, CHAIR, THIS IS THE PICTURE I'M REFERRING TO AS OPPOSED TO THIS, WHICH REALLY ONLY HAS A SMALL PORTION OF THE DOWNTOWN.
AND, YOU KNOW, AGAIN, OUR SKYLINE IS GORGEOUS.
I'M VERY HAPPY FOR THE SKYLINE TO REPRESENT OUR CITY.
AND I, AND I LOVE IT, BUT THIS PHOTO IS NOT INSPIRING OR INVITING.
UH, THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER.
DALLAS IS AN INSPIRING SKYLINE, AND WE SHOULDN'T HAVE A MISS ON OUR SKYLINE.
LIKE, OF ALL THINGS LIKE THAT SHOULD BE SO EASY FOR US.
AND I'M JUST NOT SURE THIS BROCHURE IS REALLY INDICATIVE OF WHAT WE'RE EXPECTING FOR OUR NEXT CITY MANAGER.
I THINK WE'RE LOOKING FOR EXCELLENCE, AND THAT'S NOT REALLY WHAT WE'RE SEEING IN THIS BROCHURE.
UM, CHAIRMAN STEWARD, UM, QUESTION PLEASE.
SO FIRST OF ALL, ON THE NEW PICTURE THAT WE HAVE, I'M ASSUMING THIS IS, THIS HAS TO BE A VIEW FROM THE SOUTH TO THE NORTH, CORRECT? YES.
UHHUH,
SO WE'RE SOUTH OF, OF, UM, DOWNTOWN.
WELL, I THINK WE'RE LOOKING WEST.
YOU'RE LOOKING, YOU WE'RE LOOKING EAST ALMOST.
IT LOOK LIKE IT LOOK LIKE WEST.
IT LOOK LIKE WEST TO EAST, SOUTH, SOUTHEAST TO SOUTHWEST.
BUT THAT'S ON THE WEST SIDE OF, THAT'S ON THE WEST SIDE.
YOU LOOK AT IT, LOOK AT THE PICTURE TOOK FROM THE EAST ON FRONT OF THE EAST SIDE.
SO YOU'RE FROM THE EAST LOOKING WEST BECAUSE YOU'RE FURTHER WEST AND YOU'RE HEADING EAST.
THIS IS FROM THE WEST LOOKING EAST.
SO THINK HERE, YOU'RE AT TRINITY GROVES AND YOU'RE LOOKING ACROSS THE, THE BRIDGE HERE.
IT'S SEEMS TO ME EAST SHOULD BE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF A PAGE.
THAT'D BE ON THE WEST SIDE, A LITTLE LIKE WEST, BUT WE'RE WEST, NOT SOUTH.
I'M JU ANYWAY, I DO WANNA ORIENT IT FOR YOU.
I THINK MY FAVORITE MIGHT STILL BE FROM THE, OUR LAST MEETING.
UM, JUST BECAUSE IT REALLY, I, IT JUST CAPTURES DOWNTOWN SO WELL, SO CRISPLY, THIS IS A LITTLE BIT LESS CRISP AND THE, AND, AND JUST THE, UM, THE ITEMS THAT ARE IN THE PICTURE.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? IT'S JUST FURTHER AWAY, RIGHT? AND JUST MORE BLURRED.
UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S BETTER THAN SOME OF THE ONES THAT WERE, YOU KNOW, THIS AND THIS, BUT I THINK THIS IS STILL MY FAVORITE AND I'LL WORK ON WHICH YOU WANT ME TO.
AND, AND, AND THE KEY IS NUMBER ONE, YOU KNOW, UM, STEWART, YOU KNOW, IF I COMMENT, I DID LIKE THE FIRST ONE BECAUSE I DID PICK THE ONE, THE FIRST ONE THAT WE DID SHOW THE REUNION, WE SHOWED EVERYTHING.
BUT NOW ALL THESE PICTURES CAME FROM THE, THE, THE RECOMMENDATION OF, OF THE BEST PHOTOS IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
AND THEY WENT THROUGH THERE AND WE SAID, WE'RE NOT GONNA GO THROUGH ALL NO PHOTOS, WE'RE GONNA LET THEM DO IT.
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BACK AND SAID, HERE'S WHAT WE THOUGHT WOULD SHOW DALLAS.BUT WE STILL CAN GO BACK TO THE FIRST ONE.
BUT I THINK THAT MY CONCLUSION TODAY IS THAT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH IS, NUMBER ONE, TO GET THE, THE LANGUAGE IN THE BROCHURE.
AND I THINK WE CAN GET THAT DONE BECAUSE EVERYBODY GOT, THEY EDIT.
SO, SO THEREFORE EVERYBODY GOT A CHANCE ON THE EDIT.
AND NOW IF YOU WANT TO LOOK AT, WE CAN GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE FIRST PICTURES THAT WE HAD THE BROCHURE AND, AND SEE THAT THESE PICTURES HERE, BECAUSE WE DID THE SIGNS THAT WE WERE NOT GONNA GO THROUGH 70 PICTURES.
AND, AND COULD YOU TELL ME THE, THE, THE PROCESS AND THE STRUCTURE, HOW Y'ALL CHOSE THESE THREE PICTURES? CAN YOU TELL WHAT, HOW DID Y'ALL WALK THROUGH? WHAT DID Y'ALL DO? WHAT WAS THE PROCESS? YES.
UH, AMERIPRO TIM, WE DID SEE A NUMBER OF OTHER SKYLINE PICTURES.
UH, BUT THIS WAS, THIS PHOTOGRAPHER WAS REFERENCED BY SEVERAL DIFFERENT, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS LA AT THE LAST MEETING.
AND SO WHEN THE, THE CITY WAS ABLE TO ACQUIRE THE RIGHTS TO USE THIS PICTURE, UM, IT IS, IT INCORPORATED, UM, A, A BEAUTIFUL PICTURE OF THE SKYLINE.
UM, IT INCORPORATED, UM, NOT THE FIRST PICTURE, BUT THE SECOND PICTURE SHOW IN THE THIRD PICTURE SHOWS REUNION ARENA, OR, I'M SORRY, REUNION TOWER.
AND WE TRY, WE USED A, A GRAPHIC, UM, DESIGNER, UH, FROM OUR FIRM TO GO THROUGH AND MATCH THE COLOR SCHEMES WITH THE DALLAS CITY LOGO SO THAT THE, THE, THE, THE TAG ON ONE, THE COLOR OF THE, OF THE TAG ON ONE MATCHED AND HIGHLIGHTED THE, THE TEXAS FLAG, UH, AND BROUGHT THAT OUT.
UH, THE OTHER ONE KIND OF HIGHLIGHTED THE, UH, LOGO OF THE CITY OF DALLAS WITH GREEN AND, AND SHOWED WHAT A, WHAT A GREEN CITY IT IS, EVEN THOUGH IT'S, IT'S A VERY LARGE, UH, UH, BUSINESS FOCUSED COMMUNITY.
AND, UH, UH, WITH THE, UH, BRIDGE, UH, THAT'S, THAT'S BEEN REFURBISHED TO THE LEFT BELOW IT, IT SHOWS THE, THE FOCUS ON THE ENVIRONMENT AND, AND RECREATION.
AND, UH, WE JUST THOUGHT THIS WAS A STUNNING REPRESENTATION OF, OF THE COMMUNITY.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, OBVIOUSLY THE, THE FIVE EARLIER PICTURES THAT WE HAD PROVIDED, UH, UH, BELIEVE IN OUR LAST MEETING, THOSE ARE OTHER PICTURES THAT, THAT WE WERE ABLE TO, UH, FIND AND, AND PUT AS A COVER PAGE.
BUT WE THOUGHT THAT THIS KIND OF AGGREGATED THE COMMENTS MADE FROM THE LAST MEETING OF WHAT YOU ALL WERE LOOKING FOR.
UH, GO AHEAD, CHAIRMAN, STU, WE'RE DOING SOME ACTUAL CUTTING AND PASTING.
SO I JUST, WE YOUR MIC ON YES.
FEEDBACK ON THIS LIST USING, WE'RE USING, THIS BORDER IS PLACED OVER THE, THE HIGHWAYS ON THE FIRST PICTURE FROM OUR LAST MEETING PLACED OVER THE BOTTOM, SO THAT YOU GOT THIS.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THAT? OKAY, CHAIR, SHE'S, SHE'S COVERING THE TRANSPARENT, UM, SECTION THAT IS ALL HIGHWAY.
HIGHWAY, RIGHT? WITH THE TRANSLUCENT, WITH THE, WITH THE OPAQUE, UM, BANNER THAT'S ON THESE NEWER ONES.
SO THAT, I THINK, UM, COUNCILOR RIDLEY HAD THE SAME COMMENT LAST TIME THAT THE, THE TRANSPARENT NATURE OF THIS ONE, WHERE IT SHOWED SO MANY HIGHWAYS WAS A LITTLE BIT JARRING, RIGHT? NOT THAT THEY'RE NOT REALLY THERE.
UM, HOWEVER, COVERING THAT WITH THE OPAQUE SECTION THAT COUNCIL MEMBER STEWART JUST PUT IN, SEEMS TO MODIFY THAT PICTURE IN A WAY THAT SEEMS MORE PLEASING.
NOW WE KNOW WHAT WE'LL DO AFTER COUNCIL
WE CAN DO A CUT AND PASTE, YOU KNOW.
UM, I, I, I KNOW IF WE CAN, COULD, COULD WE SHOW THAT?
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OKAY.SO, UH, CHAIRMAN STEWART, UH, RIDLEY, I DON'T KNOW.
YOU CAN SEE THE, THE PICTURES THAT WE HAD, UH, ON THE, THE FIRST FIVE PICTURES.
SO WE TALKING ABOUT THE PICTURE NUMBER BE NUMBER ONE, AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CUTTING AND PASTE THE BORDER TO CUT OUT SOME OF THE HIGHWAYS.
IS THAT WHERE YOU'RE SAYING MR. UH, CHAIRMAN STEWART? YES.
I, I DON'T KNOW HOW I SEE IF HE CAN PUT IN FRONT OF YOU WHILE YOU'RE TALKING.
CAN, CAN WE, I DON'T WANT SEE THAT IF WE TURN IT THAT, I THINK IF SHE TALKS TO CAMERA.
CAN YOU, CAN WE, CAN YOU SEE IT? CHAIRMAN RIDLEY? NO, I, I, I LIKE THE CONCEPT.
I JUST WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE PHOTOS.
YOU NEED TO SEE THE, YEAH, RIGHT.
SHE'S GONNA TAKE A PICTURE AND SEND IT TO YOU.
WE'RE GONNA TAKE A PICTURE AND SEND IT TO YOU.
PAUL, DO YOU GET A COPY OF THE PICTURE YET? YES, I JUST GOT IT.
I HAD NO IDEA I HAD THAT SKILL.
OKAY, WE GOT A CRAFTSMANSHIP THERE.
LET'S, LET'S FINALLY GET WITH THAT.
NOW, AT THE END OF THE DAY, WE SHOULD, OH, UH, MS. MILLS, YOU HAD SOME WORDS WORDSMITH, RIGHT? WELL, I'M NOT SURE THAT I HAVE A SUGGESTION, BUT THE TAGLINE UNDER THERE, DALLAS LEADING THE WAY TO GLOBAL PROMINENCE, I JUST HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYBODY SAY THAT.
UM, SO, SO YOU WANT TO GET A SHOT AT IT? CHANGE THE WORDSMITH.
WHAT DO YOU WANNA SAY? WHAT, WHAT DO YOU THINK? OKAY.
ART, YOU KNOW, Y'ALL'S EXPERTS, SO THE WORD THAT SHE WAS SAYING THAT THE TAGLINE, UH, YOU GOT SOME IDEA DON LEE, THE, THE WAY TO GLOBAL.
SO I THINK THE FIRST FIVE WORDS IS ALL RIGHT, IS THAT LAST WORD.
WELL, CHAIR, I WILL SAY SOMETHING THAT HAS OFTEN BEEN SAID ABOUT DALLAS.
UM, WHICH IS, UM, YOU KNOW, THAT WE WANNA BE A WORLD CLASS CITY.
SOMETIMES PEOPLE KIND OF POKE FUN AT THAT, BUT, UM, I DO BELIEVE THAT'S TRUE.
AND PERHAPS THAT'S PART OF WHAT THE TAGLINE WOULD BE, BECAUSE THAT IS SOMETHING I THINK IF SOMEBODY READ THAT, THEY'D BE LIKE, YEAH, DALLAS SAYS THAT ABOUT ITSELF.
I THINK, YOU KNOW, WE WE'RE, WE ARE ON THE GLOBAL STAGE, BUT I'M, I JUST HAVE NEVER HEARD THE GLOBAL PROMINENCE, UM, PHRASE USED BEFORE.
SO, SO, SO THEREFORE, UM, DO WE AGREE ON THE WORD WE CLASS CITY SHOULD BE IN THERE, BUT HOW DO WE TAG THAT IN? GO AHEAD, SHERMAN STEWART.
ARE WE LEADING THE WAY TO IT OR ARE WE THERE? YEAH,
IS IT NECESSARY TO EVEN HAVE THIS, I MEAN, IS IS THERE A REASON TO HAVE IT? IS IT SOMEHOW BENEFICIAL TO HAVE IT? I WOULD HOPE THAT WHOEVER IS OUR CITY MANAGER WILL WORK WITH US TO HELP DEFINE WHAT A CATCH PHRASE COULD BE, OR, UM, SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE.
I'M NOT SURE THAT IT'S NECESSARY FOR, FOR US TO HAVE TO DEVELOP ONE FOR THE POSITION WHEN WE HAVEN'T DEVELOPED IT FOR THE CITY AS A WHOLE.
SO, SO THEREFORE WE KINDA ELIMINATE THAT.
SHOULD WE EVEN HAVE THAT TAGLINE ON THE FRONT PERIOD? LET'S DISCUSS THAT QUESTION.
COULD WE, WHAT IF WE JUST SAID DALLAS LEADING THE WAY, AND THEN WE DON'T HAVE TO SAY WHERE WE'RE LEADING THE WAY TO NECESSARILY.
WHAT WE GONNA, WE GONNA, UM, ALRIGHT, DO Y'ALL HAVE ANY COMMENT ON THAT?
REALLY? CHAIRMAN REALLY? WHAT ABOUT JUST SAYING DALLAS,
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A WORLD CLASS CITY? SAY IT AGAIN.PAUL, DALLAS COLON, A WORLD CLASS CITY THAT WORKS, THAT'S WORK THAT WORKED FOR THREE OF US.
DO Y'ALL HEAR THAT ART? YES, SIR.
STEWART, ANYTHING ELSE? UM, NO, NOT AT THIS POINT.
SO DO WE A AGREE ON THE COLOR, WHAT YOU PUT IN THERE? SO WE'D STILL KEEP THE SAME COLOR WITH THE BLUE AND THE GREEN, RIGHT? SAME COLOR.
SO WE, WE, WE AGREE ON THE SAME COLOR WITH THAT TAG TO JUST THE LANGUAGE.
WE GOT A BROCHURE DOWN, NOW WE NEED TO GET THE LANGUAGE.
SO WITH THAT, I'M GOING TO LET Y'ALL GO SO I, Y'ALL CAN WORK ON THE LANGUAGE AND GET IT BACK TO US BY THE END OF THE DAY.
UH, YOU, SOMEONE HAD A HAND UP? WANNA SAY SOMETHING? MR. EDWARD, DO YOU HAVE YOUR HANDS UP? NO, SIR.
WE, WE GOOD WITH THAT? SO BY THE END OF THE DAY, YOU'LL GET THAT INFORMATION TO US.
SO WE THROUGH WITH THAT ISSUE, UM, WE HAVE ANOTHER FIVE SIGNAL MEMO.
UH, THE RESOLUTION AMEND THE GOVERNOR USE OF LEGISLATIVE TRAVEL FUND IN ORDER TO BE MORE EFFICIENCY ALLOWED, COMMUNICATED TO TRAVEL TO AUSTIN, WASHINGTON, DC TO SPEAKER ON LEGISLATIVE MATTER.
AND THIS CAME FROM THE FIVE SIX MEMO, UM, MAYOR JOHNSON SENT TO MY COMMITTEE.
AND THE REASON WHY IT IS HERE TODAY, UH, THERE'S A TIMELINE ON THIS FIVE SINGLE MEMO.
WE COULD HEAR IT TODAY, OR THE LAST DAY WE COULD HEAR IT WOULD BE THE 17TH.
SO, SO WE HAD A COMMITTEE MEETING TODAY.
I, I CHOSE TO PUT ON A COMMITTEE MEETING TODAY.
UH, UH, BERT, I'M GOING GET YOU OUT FRONT, BERT BECAUSE, UH, UH, THERE WAS SOME INFORMATION THAT WE NEED TO CLEAR UP AND SOME LANGUAGE AND EVERYTHING.
SO I KNOW COLLEAGUES, UH, UM, UH, UH, CHAIRMAN READILY, DO YOU GET A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THE MEMO? YES, I DID.
AND WHAT IT DOESN'T TELL ME IS WHY WE NEED THIS CHANGE.
SO I'D LIKE STAFF OR SOMEONE TO TELL US WHAT THE CURRENT SYSTEM IS AND HOW THIS IS GOING TO CHANGE IT.
SO WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO, UM, I GUESS BERT, THIS IS YOUR PREVIEW, UH, RIGHT NOW.
IS IS YOU THE STAFF PERSON ON THIS MEMO, MR. CHAIR? I DON'T KNOW THAT I'M THE, UH, I, I I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE, THE REASON FOR IT, I WOULD ASK THE AUTHORS, THE, THE, THE COUNCIL MEMBERS.
THE AUTHOR OF THIS MEMO WAS, UH, CHAIRMAN ALABAMA DO AND ALSO, UM, UH, COUNCILWOMAN MENON, I MEAN COUNCIL COUNCILWOMAN BLACKBURN, WHO, UM, WHO SIGNED IT.
AND THERE WAS FIVE SIGNATURE ON THIS MEMO.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, LET ME, UM, ON THE COMMITTEE, SO IT'S KIND OF UNUSUAL SHE'S NOT ON THE COMMITTEE, BUT SHE'S, THIS MEMO IS, IS PRESENT AND SHE ONE OF THE FIVE SIGNATURE WHO PRESENTED THIS TO US.
SO, UH, UH, COUNCILMAN BLACKMAN, I'M GONNA TURN THE MIC OVER TO YOU.
SO YOU EXPLAIN YOUR FIRE MEMO FROM YOUR OTHER FOUR COLLEAGUES.
AND I BELIEVE, UH, MR. BEZEL DOA IS ON HIS WAY.
HE HAD A PRESS CONFERENCE THIS MORNING, SO HE'S ON HIS WAY HERE AND CAN TAKE OVER.
BUT, UM, WHAT WE'VE LAID OUT HERE IS BASICALLY PUTTING INTO WRITING WHAT OUR PRACTICES HAVE BEEN IN THE PAST, AND WE ARE WANTING TO FOLLOW, UH, PROCEDURE AND PROCESS SO THAT IT IS VERY WELL OUTLINED OF HOW THE PROCESS WORKS IN ORDER TO HAVE TRAVEL FUNDS, UM, ALLOCATED FOR A, A COUNCIL PERSON OR STAFF TO REPRESENT THE CITY EITHER IN AUSTIN OR IN DALLAS OR IN, UH, WASHINGTON OR WHEREVER IT MAY BE, BE.
AND AS YOU, SO WHAT, AND MR. RIDLEY, UM, WHAT WE'RE WANTING TO DO IS JUST PUT IT IN WRITING.
UH, IF YOU LOOK AT OUR COUNCIL RULES, WE HAVE A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE HAVE THAT WE DON'T DO AND DO THINGS THAT WE DON'T DO DO.
AND SO IT'S JUST TO GET EVERYTHING IN ORDER.
AND SO THAT THERE IS NO GRAY AREA.
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YOU WILL NOTICE, UM, THE COUNCIL MEMBER CAN USE FUNDS IF IT'S A LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY AND HAS A CITY RELATED LEGISLATIVE PURPOSE, WHICH MEANS IT'S THE CHAIR OR MEMBER OF A COMMITTEE OR IS A REGISTERED IN THE COMM THE COUNCIL MEMBER'S INTEREST IN A SPECIFIC LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY.AND THEN, UH, AND THAT LIST WILL BE MAINTAINED BY THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR OR A DESIGNEE OF THE RESOLUTION.
UH, NUMBER THREE BASICALLY SAYS THAT IF A COUNCIL MEMBER IS MAKING PUBLIC COMMENTS OR TESTIFYING BEFORE A COMMITTEE OR MEETING WITH ANY OFFICIAL, THOSE COMMENTS AND TESTIMONY AND TALKING POINTS MUST BE IN SUPPORT OF A LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY THAT'S ON THE PROGRAM.
AND THOSE COMMENTS MUST BE APPROVED BY THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR OF THEIR DESIGNEE THAT IS IN ORDER.
SO THAT WAY, UH, I THINK SOMETIMES IN THE PAST THERE WERE CONFLICTING, UH, CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN COUNCIL MEMBERS AND COUNCIL, UH, IN, AT AUSTIN.
AND SO IT'S TO BASICALLY ENSURE THAT WE ARE ALL WORKING IN THE SAME, UM, UM, PATH.
ALSO, THE COUNCIL MEMBER MUST NOTIFY THE CHAIR OF THE AD HOC LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE IN WRITING, NOT VERBAL, BUT IN WRITING AT LEAST 12 HOURS TO GO TO AUSTIN OR TO DC.
AND THEY MUST ALLEVIATE THE TRAVEL COSTS FOR A CITY, UH, RELATED PURPOSE.
AND THOSE TRAVEL COSTS MUST BE SUPPORTIVE.
UM, AND AGAIN, ALL SIX ITEMS MUST BE MET.
AND, UM, AND WE'RE HOPING THAT WHEN, UM, YOU DO ARRIVE IN AUSTIN OR DC THAT THERE WILL BE SUPPORT IN THOSE CITIES TO HELP THE COUNCIL MEMBER BECAUSE IN SOMETIMES PAST IT HAD NOT, IT HAD BEEN, UM, MORE DIFFICULT, UH, TO GET THAT, UM, THAT DONE.
UM, AND THEN THOSE, UH, FUNDS MUST BE PUT ON A FORM AND SUBMITTED IN ORDER FOR IT TO BE, UM, REIMBURSED FROM WHATEVER POT OF MONEY AT THE, EITHER A OFFICE HOLDER ACCOUNT OR PERSONAL.
BUT WE FIGURED THAT, UM, IN ORDER TO CREATE A PROCESS THAT IS VERY TRANSPARENT AND VERY, UM, FOLLOWS A VERY PRESCRIPTIVE POINTS, THAT IT KEEPS US ALL IN CHECK.
AND THAT WHAT WILL HELP ALLEVIATE A, A BACK AND FORTH AND ACTUALLY PUT, UM, THINGS IN PLACE THAT HAS PREDICTABILITY, UM, BECAUSE WE ALL WANT WHAT'S BEST FOR OUR CITY.
I THINK THAT'S NO, THAT IS, UH, THAT IS IN NOBODY'S MIND.
BUT I DO THINK THAT PUTTING IT IN PAPER SO THAT WAY THERE IS A PROCESS AND THAT THERE WERE, THERE IS A PROCEDURE AND IT'S VERY BLACK AND WHITE, THEN I THINK IT WOULD HELP, UH, GIVE GUIDANCE TO THESE DISCUSSIONS AS WE MOVE INTO AUSTIN OF WHO GETS TO SPEAK ON WHAT ISSUES AND WHERE.
UM, AND, UM, WITH THAT, I BELIEVE MR. BEZEL DOA, WHO IS THE, UH, MAIN, UM, MAIN PERSON ON THIS, UH, COULD SPEAK AS WELL.
BUT I DO THINK, UH, WE DID TALK TO A FEW PEOPLE.
WE TALKED TO A LOT OF PEOPLE ACTUALLY.
SO, UM, THIS IS SOMETHING, AND THEN WE LOOKED AT WHAT PRACTICES WERE, AND THIS IS KIND OF WHAT WE CAME UP WITH, MR. BA DE MAYOR PROTE.
YOU CAN, UH, TALK ABOUT MAYOR, TALK ABOUT YOUR, UM, UH, YOUR FIVE SIX MEMO, PLEASE.
THANK YOU MAYOR PRO TEM, AND I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BEING THERE.
WE HAD A GROUNDBREAKING, UH, IN THE DISTRICT ALREADY SCHEDULED WITH FOR THIS MEETING WAS SCHEDULED.
SO THANK YOU FOR BREAK, UH, TAKING THIS UP.
UM, UH, JUST AS, AS, UH, MS. BLACKMAN HAS MENTIONED, THIS IS REALLY JUST ABOUT LOOKING AT WHAT WE HAVE EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST AND HOW WE CAN BRING A LITTLE BIT MORE EFFICIENCY.
UM, SOMETHING I'VE LEARNED IN MY TENURE, UH, ON COUNCIL FROM, UH, MAYOR PRO TIM SPECIFICALLY IS, UH, PROCESS AND PROCEDURES MATTER AND PROCESS AND PROCEDURES MATTER FOR MANY REASONS, BUT FOR MOST, I THINK THAT IT, IT PROVIDES FOR EFFICIENCY AND, UH, ULTIMATELY WHAT I, WHAT I EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST WAS, UM, A VERY SUBJECTIVE PROCESS AND A SUBJECTIVE PROCESS THAT RESULTED IN, UH, PUTTING PEOPLE IN POSITIONS THAT THEY DIDN'T NECESSARILY NEED TO BE.
UM, IF WE CAN HAVE AN OBJECTIVE PROCESS THAT ALLOWS FOR, UM, UH, THE, THE EFFICIENCY OF LEGISLATIVE LOBBYING FROM OUR BODY, UH, TO BE IMPLEMENTED, THEN THAT'S ALL THAT THIS IS MEANT TO, UH, PROVIDE.
UM, I, I DON'T HAVE TO BELABOR A LOT OF THE POINTS THAT WERE ALREADY MADE OTHER THAN JUST TO SAY THAT, UH, IN, IN NO WAY DO, UM, POLICY SUGGESTIONS, UH, OR PROPOSALS HAVE TO BE TAKEN IN A CONTENTIOUS MANNER.
AND, AND THE LAST THING THAT I WANT THIS TO BE IS MISCONSTRUED AS SOMETHING THAT WAS PERSONAL OR, UM, OR SOMETHING THAT IS CONTROVERSIAL.
UH, THIS IS ULTIMATELY LOOKING AT, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A VERY, VERY
[00:35:01]
BUSY LEGISLATIVE SESSION HERE IN TEXAS COMING UP.WE ARE, UH, AT A CROSSROADS FEDERALLY, AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT WITH THE NEXT CONGRESSIONAL SESSION.
AND I'D LOVE TO HAVE US, UH, UH, BE A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, EFFICIENT IN HOW WE DELIVER AND HOW WE RESPOND TO THOSE, UH, PARTICULAR LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS.
SO THIS ULTIMATELY WAS TO PROVIDE, UM, MORE, UH, EFFICIENCY AND TO SHORE UP A, UH, PROCESS AND PROCEDURE SO THAT WE, UM, UH, HAVE AN OBJECTIVE WAY TO MOVE FORWARD, UM, IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS.
MR. CHAIR, UM, I, DO I STILL HAVE THE FLOOR? YES, SIR.
UH, CHAIRMAN, MR. ZO, WERE YOU COMPLETE IT? WERE YOU THROUGH? YES, SIR, I AM.
OKAY, GO AHEAD, CHAIRMAN RIDLEY.
UH, AND THANK YOU TO COUNCIL, UH, MEMBERS BLACKMAN AND BASIL DU FOR, UH, SETTING THE BACKGROUND FOR THIS REQUEST.
UM, SINCE THIS IS JUST A MEMORIALIZATION OF CURRENT PRACTICE, UH, I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH IT.
ONE OF THE CONDITIONS WAS THAT THE COMMENTS OF THE COUNCIL MEMBER BE IN SUPPORT OF AN ITEM ON OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, WHICH IS FINE, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SITUATION WHERE SOMETHING IS BEING INTRODUCED OR DISCUSSED TO THE LEGISLATURE THAT IS NOT ON OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA THAT WE OPPOSE, DOES THAT PRECLUDE US FROM TAKING A POSITION ON IT BECAUSE IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE DIDN'T ANTICIPATE WAS GOING TO COME UP AND THAT, AND THAT WE OPPOSE, FOR EXAMPLE, THE STATE'S PREEMPTION OF REGULATION OF THE FUEL SOURCE FOR LAWN AND EQUIPMENT.
WE DIDN'T HAVE A LEGISLATIVE AGENDA ON THAT AND WE OPPOSED THAT.
SO HOW DO WE GET AUTHORIZATION TO TALK ABOUT THAT? BUR YOU PLEASE, BURT, UM, MR. CHAIR? UM, I, I THINK WE WOULD, I THINK THAT IT WOULD PROBABLY REQUIRE PERHAPS A CLAUSE ADDED.
I'M TRYING TO THINK ON THE FLY.
IT, IT WOULD REQUIRE SOME EDITING TO, TO DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO, BUT THAT KIND OF WILL, WILL YOU REPEAT YOURSELF AGAIN, PLEASE? I'M SORRY.
TO PUT THAT KIND OF FLEXIBILITY IN, UH, THAT I, WE WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AT THE LANGUAGE AND BRING IT BACK.
AND YOU GOTTA BRING BACK TO PERHAPS WHAT WE CAN DO IS TO, IN THAT SITUATION, JUST REQUIRE THAT THE, UM, LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS DIRECTOR AUTHORIZE IT.
WOULD THAT BE ACCEPTABLE MR. BEZEL? DO IT? I I DIDN'T HEAR YOUR, UH, YOUR, YOUR SUGGESTION THAT IF THERE IS A LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE THAT IS NOT CONTAINED IN OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, BUT THE CITY WANTS TO OPPOSE, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT, UM, THAT WOULD REQUIRE AUTHORIZATION OF OUR LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR TO ADDRESS AN ISSUE THAT'S NOT ON OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA CHAIR.
UM, I'D JUST LIKE TO ADD THIS THOUGHT IN.
UM, CHAIRMAN RIDLEY, IT IS NOT THE STAFF'S LEGISLATIVE POSITION, IT'S THE COUNCIL'S LEGISLATIVE POSITION, AND THOSE DECISIONS SHOULD BE MADE BY THE ELECTED BODY ABOUT WHERE WE STAND ON AN ISSUE.
UM, CERTAINLY THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN, UM, BILLS THAT HAVE COME UP THAT WE COULDN'T FORESEE OR WE DIDN'T KNOW EXACTLY HOW THEY WOULD TURN OUT OR THAT CHANGE MANY, MANY TIMES, SOMETIMES ON THE FLOOR WITH MINUTES TO SPARE.
UM, SO WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN IS IN COMBINATION WITH THE MAYOR, THE CITY MANAGER, AND THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR, THE WILL OF THE BODY SHOULD BE EXPRESSED.
THE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE TALK A LOT AT THESE MEETINGS.
WE HAVE VERY, VERY LONG COUNCIL MEETINGS.
I THINK IT'S PRETTY CLEAR WHERE THE BODY STANDS ON MANY OF OUR ISSUES.
AND THAT'S NOT TO SAY WHAT ONE PERSON THINKS.
IT'S TO SAY WHAT THE MAJORITY THINKS.
AND I THINK MANY OF US CAN, CAN COUNT A VOTE
SO I, I WOULD, UM, I WOULD HESITATE TO PUT THAT KIND OF AUTHORITY ON A LEGISLATIVE
[00:40:01]
DIRECTOR WHO IS NOT ELECTED BY THE PEOPLE OF DALLAS TO REPRESENT THEIR VIEW AS OPPOSED TO THE BODY WHO SHOULD BE MAKING THOSE DECISIONS.WELL, I, I DON'T, UH, DISAGREE WITH COUNCILWOMAN MENDELSSOHN.
I, I THINK IN PRINCIPLE THAT'S, UH, THE, UH, IDEAL APPROACH, UH, I I WAS JUST TRYING TO ADDRESS A SITUATION WHERE THERE IS A FLUID SITUATION IN THE HOUSE OR SENATE AND WE NEED TO, UM, GET A QUICK RESPONSE.
WHAT I DON'T WANT TO HAPPEN IS BEING HAMSTRUNG, NOT BEING ABLE TO EXPRESS AN OPINION ABOUT SOMETHING SIMPLY BECAUSE IT'S NOT LISTED EXPLICITLY IN THEIR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA.
SO WHATEVER MECHANISM WE CAN FIND TO OVERCOME THAT POTENTIAL OBSTACLE, UH, IS FINE WITH ME.
CHAIRMAN, REALLY, THAT'S ACTUALLY NOT BEEN A CHALLENGE IN THE PAST.
AND, UM, OUR CHAIRMAN OF THIS COMMITTEE, OF COURSE, UM, HANDLED THOSE SORTS OF URGENT, UM, TOUCH POINTS WITH, WITH LEGISLATORS IN AUSTIN AS THEY CAME UP.
AND THAT HAS BEEN THE CASE, UM, FOR ALL THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIRS OF THE PAST.
SO DO YOU FIND THIS LANGUAGE TO BE AN ENCUMBRANCE OR DO YOU THINK WE CAN WORK WITH IT? UM, WELL, I, I THINK WHEN I GET CALLED ON, I'M HAPPY TO SPEAK TO THAT.
ARE YOU THROUGH CHAIRMAN RIDLEY? YES, I'M DONE.
AS THE NEWBIE HERE, COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN TO ME AND CHAIR ATKINS, I THINK YOU MIGHT BE THE BEST PERSON SINCE YOU WERE CHAIR LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
WHAT, WHAT HAS BEEN THE PRACTICE? IS IT NOT WHAT WE HAVE IN THE 2006? NO, WHAT, WHAT WE HAVE IN 2006 HAD, HAVE, HAVE BEEN THE SAME IN 2006.
UM, AS THE CHAIR OF THE LEGISLATIVE DURHAM, THERE ARE THREE PRONG HOW TO GET SOMETHING DONE.
IT'S THE CHAIRMAN OF THE LEGISLATOR, THE MAYOR OF THE CITY MANAGER.
AND THAT HAS BEEN THE SAME FROM DAY ONE TO, TO GET SOMETHING DONE.
IF YOU ARE ON THE FLOOR IN AUSTIN, TEXAS AND SOMETHING GOTTA GET DONE IMMEDIATELY, THE CHAIRMAN IS ALREADY THERE TO GET SOMETHING DONE WHO WANT TO SPEAK.
UH, THE, THE, THE KEY ISSUE THAT SOMETIME THAT IF YOU IS TRAVELING TO THE LEGISLATIVE, AND WE GOTTA MAKE SURE WHATEVER YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT IS ON THE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA AND TO MAKE SURE THAT BEFORE YOU SPEAK YOU CAN SAY, I WANNA SPEAK ON THE BEHALF OF THE CITY OF DALLAS.
I WANNA SPEAK ON MY OWN BEHALF AS A CITIZEN.
AND THEY GOTTA BE VERY CLEARLY BEFORE YOU GO, BEFORE YOU TRAVEL, THERE SHOULD NEVER BE A CASE THAT YOU ALREADY DOWN THERE THAT YOU CAN CHANGE WHAT YOU'RE GONNA SPEAK ON BEFORE YOU GO.
YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GONNA SPEAK ON WITH THAT.
THE ONLY QUESTION THAT, THAT IS POSED ON THAT, SOMETIME WHEN YOU, UH, LOOKING AT THE CITY MANAGER IN THIS POSITION, DAR THAT WHEN YOU ASK THE CITY MANAGER SAY, WILL YOU APPROVE MY TRAVEL? WHATEVER THE MANAGER SAID, WHY YOU PUT ME HERE? 'CAUSE YOU ARE HER BOSSES AND YOU MIGHT PUT HER IN A PROCURE SITUATION THAT, OH, I'M GONNA OVERRIDE THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR OR WHATEVER.
BUT SINCE THE MAYOR APPOINTED THE CHAIR, SO THEREFORE YOU COULD GO TO THE MAYOR.
SO THAT'S A THREE PRONG REPORT, BUT ALSO MICHAEL OSCAR CONCERN THE DESIGNEE.
AND WHEN YOU GOT A DESIGNEE, THE DESIGNEE IS GONNA BE APPOINTED BY HUBBERT.
WOULD THEY BE APPOINTED BY THE CITY MANAGER IN THE DOCUMENT? OH, HIT YOUR BUTTON.
UM, IN THE DOCUMENT IN FRONT OF US, THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR WOULD APPOINT THEIR DESIGNEE, THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR.
AND SO, NO, I DON'T BELIEVE SO.
SO IT IS WHO APPOINT HER THE WELL, UH, THAT'S THE CITY MANAGER, RIGHT? THAT IS CORRECT.
AND IN THE CASE OF THE STATE, UH, THAT THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR IS, IS CLIFFORD SPARKS.
AND THEN I THINK FOR THE FEDERAL, IT WOULD PROBABLY BE CARRIE, UM, IN THIS SCENARIO, SHE'D BE THE DESIGNEE IF THERE OR RALPH, UH, GARCIA.
SO, SO RALPH IS NOT A DESIGNEE.
RALPH ACTUALLY MAY BE THE DESIGNEE.
I THINK SO, BECAUSE IF CLIFF IS THE DESIGNATED STATE, SO RALPH WOULD BE THE DESIGNEE FOR THE, FOR THE FEDERAL, CORRECT? I, I DON'T THINK SO.
SO LET'S GET, LET'S FIND THAT OUT, BE FOR SURE.
I'M NOT JUST, UM, THIS IS A DESIGNEE WHO'S MAKING A CALL ON SPEAKING ON WHO'S GONNA SPEAK IN, IN, IN A MOMENT IN A, WHEN IT'S FLUID AND WE,
[00:45:01]
OR THIS IS WHAT DECISION IS THE DESIGNEE MAKING? WELL, BUT, BUT I THINK IN THE, IN THE PAST, MS. MILLER IS SOMEONE GONNA SPEAK ON THE LEGISLATIVE ISSUE? THEY HAD TO BE THE EXPERT ON THAT PARTICULAR TOPIC.AND WHAT WE DO IS THE CHAIRMAN WITH CHAD SAID, YOU ARE THE EXPERT ON THE TOPIC.
I WANT SURE YOU TO SPEAK ON THAT TOPIC BECAUSE YOU ARE ON THAT COMMITTEE.
YOU ARE ON THE CHAIR, UH, THIS PART OF THE LEGISLATIVE AGENDA.
AND THEY PUT, SO THE CHAIR OF THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE IS MAKING THAT DECISION.
I WANT X, Y, Z PERSON TO GO TO X, Y, Z PLACE AND SPEAK ON THIS TOPIC.
AND THAT IS WHAT INFORMATION, THAT'S BEEN OUR PRACTICE POINT OF WHAT IS YOUR POINT OF INFORMATION? I WANTED TO JUST PROVIDE CLARIFICATION ON THE CONTEXT OF IT.
THIS, THIS MEMO IS SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THE TRAVEL, UH, THAT IT'S NOT ABOUT THE DESIGNATION.
I, I, IT'S NOT MEANT TO TAKE THAT OUT OF CHAIR.
I, I-I-I-I-I I'M GONNA ACCEPT THIS DIFFERENT BECAUSE THIS IN THE COMMITTEE AND, AND I'M GOING BY WHAT THE, THE MEMO IS SAYING IT DO PUT DESIGNATED IN THERE.
IT IS TALKING ABOUT THE WHOLE PROCESS OF THIS DEAL.
IT'S NOT TALKING ABOUT, IT'S NOT TALKING ABOUT THE PROCESS OF WHO GETS CHOSEN TO SPEAK.
IT'S, IT'S THE, THAT'S, THOSE BOXES ARE CHECKED ON, BUT THE CHAIR OKAY.
IS DESIGNATED US, BUT THIS IS ABOUT THE TRAVEL.
THAT I, I GOT THAT, BUT I DON'T HAVE TO DISAGREE WITH YOU.
I, I, I SEE A CONNECTION THOUGH BETWEEN THE DESIGNEE AND THE PERSON AND THE TRAVEL DECISION, BECAUSE IF YOU'VE APPROVED THE TRAVEL FOR X, Y, Z PERSON TO GO TO X, Y, Z PLACE AND SPEAK ON X, Y, Z TOPIC, THEN THAT IS MAKING THAT AS, AS IF YOU'VE DESIGNATED THAT PERSON.
I MEAN, THOSE, THOSE, UM, QUESTIONS ARE VERY, VERY TIGHT.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU'RE, HOW WE WOULD DISTINGUISH THAT IF THE APPROVAL OF TRAVEL REALLY IS SAYING, THEN YOU ARE THE PERSON THAT IS, WE'RE DESIGNATING TO SPEAK BECAUSE YOU'RE THE EXPERT OR YOU'RE THE CHAIR OF THAT COMMITTEE OR, OR WHATEVER IT IS.
LET US LET HER, WE, WE GOT MS. MILLEN IS ON THE MIC.
UM, THE, THE FIRST THING I'D LIKE TO SAY IS THAT I, I DON'T BELIEVE THAT, UM, WHAT'S BEING PROPOSED IS ACTUALLY A MEMORIALIZATION OF OUR CURRENT PRACTICE.
THIS IS ACTUALLY SOMETHING WILDLY DIFFERENT.
UM, WHAT'S CURRENTLY HAPPENING IS, UM, VERY GUARDED ABOUT WHO HAS BEEN SENT MEANING TO THE POINT THAT CHAIRMAN STEWART WAS MAKING IS THAT THERE WOULD BE AN ISSUE, THE CHAIR, THE MAYOR OR THE CITY MANAGER WOULD ASK X PERSON, WHETHER THAT WAS STAFF OR ELECTED TO GO AND TESTIFY IN FRONT OF A COMMITTEE TO GO OFFER PUBLIC COMMENT IN, IN WHATEVER FORMAT THAT IS TO GO MEET WITH SOMEBODY ABOUT AN ISSUE THAT'S IMPORTANT TO THE CITY.
AND THAT THOSE FUNDS ARE PAID OUT OF A FUND.
THE FUND IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANY COUNCIL MEMBER.
UM, HOWEVER, IF THERE IS A COUNCIL MEMBER THAT WOULD LIKE TO GO DO SUCH THING, THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE, UH, CHAIR OR MAYOR OR CITY MANAGER.
THEY CAN USE THEIR OWN DISTRICT FUNDS TO GO PROVIDE THAT TRAVEL.
WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, WHAT, WHAT IT APPEARS TO ME WITH THIS, UM, RESOLUTION IS THAT WE COULD HAVE AN ISSUE AND WE WOULD HAVE MULTIPLE COUNCIL MEMBERS PERHAPS GO TO TESTIFY ON BEHALF OF THE CITY BECAUSE WE HAD VOTED IN SUPPORT OR OPPOSITION OF AN ITEM.
WE COULD HAVE SIX OR SEVEN COUNCIL MEMBERS GO.
AND EVEN IF THEY WERE ALL SPEAKING IN, IN THIS CASE, I'LL, I'LL TAKE, UM, SUPPORT OF AN ITEM.
THEY ALL WILL HAVE THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL TAKE.
SO WE'RE VERY LUCKY TO HAVE, UM, TALENTED STAFF THAT WILL WRITE TESTIMONY FOR COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I KNOW I'VE NEVER NOT CHANGED IT TO FIT, UM, THE WAY I SPEAK TO FIT SOME ADDITIONAL IDEAS OR RESEARCH THAT I MIGHT BE AWARE OF OR MY OWN EXPERIENCE WITH THAT TOPIC.
AS CHAIRMAN ATKINS SAID THAT GENERALLY THE PERSON WHO WOULD BE SPEAKING ON A TOPIC IS EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE SUBJECT.
UM, HOWEVER, WE'VE ALSO HAD PEOPLE SPEAK ON THINGS BECAUSE OF CONVENIENCE.
MEANING SINCE YOU'RE GONNA BE THERE ANYHOW, THERE HAPPENS TO BE THIS TOPIC.
ARE YOU COMFORTABLE DOING IT EVEN IF IT HASN'T BEEN YOUR EXPERTISE, BUT TO REPRESENT THE CITY? SO BOTH OF THOSE THINGS ARE TRUE.
[00:50:01]
IS AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT SITUATION.SO I'D JUST LIKE TO SEPARATE SOME OF THE COMMENTS MADE THAT PERHAPS THIS RESOLUTION.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, IT DOES NOT MEMORIALIZE WHAT'S HAPPENING.
SECOND, THE IDEA THAT IT WOULD INCREASE EFFICIENCY IS COMPLETELY WRONG,
UM, THERE'S ALREADY A VERY EFFICIENT APPROVAL PROCESS.
IT'S JUST THAT SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE NOT HAPPY THAT THEY ARE NOT NOT GRANTED THAT APPROVAL.
AND I WILL SAY I HAVE BEEN UNHAPPY WITH THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR WHEN I HAVE NOT BEEN GRANTED APPROVAL.
UM, BUT THERE'S NOT REALLY AN EFFICIENCY ISSUE BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT, IT TAKES TIME TO BOOK THE TRAVEL.
WE ALREADY KNOW IN ADVANCE ABOUT THE HEARINGS.
UM, THE LEGISLATIVE TEAM MEETS EVERY FRIDAY TO DISCUSS THE FUTURE WEEK.
AND A LOT OF THINGS, A LOT OF THINGS AREN'T EVEN POSTED TILL LATE ON FRIDAY.
SO THERE'S NOT REALLY AN EFFICIENCY ISSUE.
WHAT THESE LOOSER RESTRICTIONS MEAN THAT ARE BEING PROPOSED IS THAT THERE'S A LOT LESS RIGOROUS OVERSIGHT OF WHAT'S HAPPENING AND THAT THE TRAVEL THAT IS BEING DONE MAY NOT SIGNIFICANTLY BENEFIT THE CITY'S LEGISLATIVE OBJECTIVES.
SO PERHAPS THERE'S COUNCIL MEMBERS WHO WOULD WANNA GO SPEAK ON AN ISSUE THAT WE DO SUPPORT OR OPPOSE.
HOWEVER, IT'S NOT A KEY STRATEGIC PRIORITY, MEANING THE BILL IS PROBABLY NOT GONNA ADVANCE OUT OF COURTESY OR POLITICS.
THERE'LL BE A HEARING, IT'S NOT ACTUALLY WORTHY OF OUR TIME AND DOLLARS TO GO DOWN THERE, UM, AND PUT OUR CHIP IN ON SOMETHING THAT WE KNOW WON'T GO FURTHER AND MAY ACTUALLY HARM OTHER LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS.
SO USING THOSE FUNDS FOR OUR MOST CRITICAL MATTERS, UM, THAT ACTUALLY HAVE A LIKELIHOOD OF IMPACT IS, UM, REALLY WHERE I THINK WE OUGHT TO BE.
WE ALSO WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WHEN WE'RE SENDING SOMEBODY DOWN, WE'RE DOING IT REALLY TO BENEFIT THE CITY AND NOT TO PROMOTE ANYBODY'S PERSONAL AMBITIONS OR PARTISAN INTERESTS, AND THAT WE'RE KEEPING A COHESIVE CITY STRATEGY.
AND I THINK THAT WAS THE INTENTION OF THE ORIGINAL ORDINANCE.
UM, OR I'M SORRY, UH, RESOLUTION THAT YOU PUT THAT TRUST IN THE MAYOR, THE CITY MANAGER AND THAT LEGISLATIVE CHAIR.
I DO THINK OUR TRAVEL POLICY NEEDS TO HAVE SAFEGUARDS AND APPROVALS SO THAT IT DOES MIS IT PREVENTS MISUSE OR OVERUSE OF TRAVEL FUNDS.
UM, WHICH AGAIN, YOU KNOW, I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO APPROVE THINGS FOR MULTIPLE COUNCIL MEMBERS TO ATTEND THE SAME EVENT.
I, I WILL SAY THAT AS CURRENT LEGISLATIVE CHAIR, I WOULDN'T DO THAT.
I WOULD NEVER SEND MULTIPLE COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THAT TRAVEL, SOMETIMES SOMEBODY WILL FLY IN AN EARLY FLIGHT AND FLY BACK HOME.
OTHER TIMES THERE'S HOTEL STAYS, LOTS OF MEALS THERE, THERE IS AN EXPENSE TO THIS.
THE OTHER THING IS THAT, UM, THE OVEREMPHASIS ON TRAVEL MAY BE PART OF THIS, THIS RESOLUTION, MEANING WE CAN ALSO GET A LOT OF THINGS DONE WITH A PHONE CALL.
WE CAN GET A LOT OF THINGS DONE WITH AN EMAIL.
THERE ARE TIMES WE NEED TO BE THERE IN PERSON AND WE NEED TO FACE TO FACE.
AND IT'S REALLY, AS THINGS ARE SOMETIMES COMING TOGETHER SO THAT YOU CAN HELP BRAINSTORM.
BUT ONCE THERE'S ALREADY A BILL, THEY DON'T NECESSARILY NEED TO SEE US IN PERSON ON EVERY ISSUE.
UM, THE NEXT THING I WANNA BRING UP IS THAT THE CURRENT PROCESS ACTUALLY WORKS.
IT'S NOT AS, UM, LINEAR AND THERE IS DISCRETION AND I UNDERSTAND THAT.
UM, I KNOW THAT IF THERE'S CONCERN FOR THIS COMING SESSION, I HAVE PREVIOUSLY SAID THIS, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THIS AGAIN, IS THAT THERE ARE COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT ARE VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT MANY OF THE SUBJECTS THAT ARE, UM, ON OUR DRAFT PROPOSAL.
AND I EXPECT EVERY ONE OF US THAT IS INTERESTED IN BEING INVOLVED TO BE ABLE TO TRAVEL AND VOICE THEIR, UM, SUPPORT OR OPPOSITION, UM, FOR THE CITY.
AND AS I'VE SAID, MY INTENTION IS TO WORK SPECIFICALLY WITH THE COMMITTEE CHAIRS UNDER WHICH THOSE ITEMS FALL AND ASK THEM WHO ON THE COMMITTEE IS THE MOST QUALIFIED TO DO THIS? AND THEN ASK THAT COUNCIL MEMBER IF THEY'RE WILLING TO TAKE ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING OUR EXPERT, MEANING STAYING UP TO DATE ON ALL THINGS ASSOCIATED WITH WORKING DIRECTLY WITH OUR LEGISLATIVE STAFF SO THAT THEY CAN KEEP YOU UP TO DATE AS BILLS PROGRESS, EVEN THOUGH THEY SEND OUT A WEEKLY UPDATE, BUT SPECIFICALLY SO THAT YOU'RE COMMITTED.
NOW, IT MAY MEAN THAT, AND AND WE ALL KNOW THAT THESE HEARINGS AND AND TESTIFYING
[00:55:01]
HAPPEN DURING CAMPAIGN SEASONS AND SOMETIMES IT'S HARD TO GET COUNCIL MEMBERS TO ACTUALLY GO DOWN BECAUSE THEY'RE ALREADY COMMITTED TO AN EVENT THAT THEY, THAT IS TO BENEFIT THEM.AND THEY WANNA SAY NO, BUT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO ASK YOU TO SAY YES EVERY TIME BECAUSE WE'VE PUT OUR EGGS IN, IN THAT BASKET WITH YOU.
UM, BUT I WOULD SAY THIS PROCESS GENERALLY WORKS WELL.
UM, AND THEN THE LAST THING IS REALLY HOW WE'RE PERCEIVED.
I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY ORGANIZATION THAT HAS THIS FREE FOR ALL OF ANY COUNCIL MEMBER CAN DECIDE TO GO TESTIFY ON ANY ISSUE THAT IS ON OUR PROGRAM.
AND I CAN ONLY IMAGINE WHAT THE ELECTED OFFICIALS IN AUSTIN WILL THINK WHEN WE'VE GOT MULTIPLE PEOPLE.
AND IT'S, I I MEAN I, I'VE ALREADY HAD, UM, OTHER ORGANIZATIONS IN TOWN SAY TO ME, THIS IS THE CRAZIEST THING THEY'VE HEARD OF.
AND THE TRUTH IS, I THINK IT'S COME FORWARD BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE SERVED ON COUNCIL FOR A GOOD AMOUNT OF TIME.
LIKE, WE GET THE PROCESS, WE KNOW HOW TO GET IT DONE.
AND IF WE, INSTEAD OF FRAGMENTING AND MAKING THIS A FREE FOR ALL OF TRAVEL WORK TOGETHER STRATEGICALLY, I THINK WE CAN ACTUALLY GET A LOT DONE.
BUT HAVING, SHIFTING TESTIMONY AND MULTIPLE PEOPLE GOING DOWN, I MEAN, THIS IS JUST COMPLETELY LACKING IN STRATEGY AND IS NOT GOING TO GAIN US THE, THE VICTORIES THAT I THINK ARE POSSIBLE FOR US.
BUT WE, WE WILL BE LOSING THE COHERENT VOICE THAT WE COULD HAVE, UM, BY PURSUING THIS, THIS RESOLUTION.
I THINK WE SHOULD LET THE COUNCIL KNOW THAT WE'VE CONSIDERED THIS THOROUGHLY AND YOU KNOW, I I DON'T SUPPORT IT AT ALL.
I'M GONNA LET THE, THE FILE MEMO SINCE THEY WAS HERE, SO LET, HAS A REBUTTAL SINCE THEY SHOWED UP.
UNDER HERE YOU'RE LYING ON FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME.
UM, AND ACTUALLY I THINK THIS DOES, UH, OPPOSITE, I THINK IT DOES GIVE PREDICTABILITY AND SHOWS THAT THESE ARE THINGS THAT NEED TO HIT IN ORDER.
THEY HAVE TO ALL HAPPEN BEFORE YOU ARE ASSIGNED AND BACK TO, I THINK VERT IT, IT DOESN'T SAY THAT THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR GIVES AUTHORIZES TRAVEL.
ALL IT SAYS IS THAT THEY'RE APPROVING THE, UH, THE, UM, TALKING POINTS AND TESTIMONY BECAUSE THE, THE MEMO, THE, THE RESOLUTION ACTUALLY OUTLINES IF YOU HIT ALL OF THESE THINGS, THEN YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO GO, THAT IS CORRECT IN ITEM NUMBER TWO.
AND ITEM NUMBER NUMBER THREE, THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR OF THEIR DESIGNEE IS REFERENCED WHEN ON KEEPING A LIST.
THE SECOND IS APPROVING THE COMMENTS.
SO I MEAN, WELL THEY'RE APPROVING THAT.
THEY DON'T, WE JUST REGISTER INTEREST.
SO IN OTHER WORDS, IF ALL OF A SUDDEN ONE TOPIC COMES UP, I CAN'T JUST SAY I'M NOW INTERESTED IN GOING NOT UNDER THIS MODEL.
UM, SO I GUESS IT'S NOT THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR WHO IS SAYING IT'S YOUR TURN TO GO OR YOU ARE GOING 'CAUSE THERE IS A PRESCRIPTIVE PROCESS.
EITHER BY BEING ON THE, BECAUSE YOU SAID THAT IT WAS THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR OR SOMEBODY DID, UH, IT'S BEING ON THE COMMITTEE OR UH, BEING ON A LIST THAT IS MAINTAINED BY THE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR OR THEIR DESIGNATION AND IT'S A PRIORITY.
AND I THINK WHAT ON NUMBER THREE YOU COULD SAY POINTS NOT BE IN CONFLICT WITH THE CITY'S LEGISLATIVE PRIORITY VERSUS SUPPORTIVE.
IN OTHER WORDS, YOU CAN SAY, UH, MAINTAIN LOCAL CONTROL AND IF THERE'S A BILL THAT'S ANTI LOCAL CONTROL, WE'RE GOING DOWN THERE IN SUPPORT OF, NO, WE WANNA MAINTAIN LOCAL CONTROL.
DO YOU SEE WHAT I'M SAYING? THAT'S HOW I THINK YOU COULD DO IT IS NOT IN CONFLICT WITH WHAT WE'VE ADOPTED AS A, AS A COUNCIL.
THAT IS CERTAINLY SOMETHING WE CAN PLAY AROUND WITH.
AND CAN SOMEBODY EXPLAIN WHAT THE OVERSIGHT IS TO THIS TRAVEL FUND? I THINK THERE WAS A COMMENT ABOUT OVERSIGHT.
I MEAN, I WOULD THINK THAT IT'S STILL STAFFED AS OVERSIGHT.
I DON'T KNOW IF YOUR OFFICE IS MANAGES WHAT COUNCIL MEMBER'S OFFICE MANAGES THE OVERSIGHT OF THE TRAVEL FUNDS.
I BELIEVE THAT WOULD BE, I WOULD, I DON'T KNOW.
YOU JUST MENTIONED THERE WAS DIRECT OVERSIGHT OF THAT AND I'M TRYING TO GET CLARITY OF WHO ACTUALLY MAINTAINS THE OVERSIGHT OF THIS ITEM.
'CAUSE I DON'T THINK IT'S GONNA CHANGE.
THE OVERSIGHT OF THE FUNDS ARE NOT GONNA CHANGE.
IT'S JUST HOW THEY ARE, UM, ALLOCATED, IF YOU WILL.
GOOD MORNING, I'M CARRIE ROGERS, AND ACCORDING TO WORKDAY, I'M THE DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS FOR THE CITY OF DALLAS.
THE, UH, LEGISLATIVE TRAVEL FUNDS ARE, UM, WITHIN THE OFFICE OF BUDGET MANAGEMENT SERVICES.
AND SO THE WAY THE IS NOW IS IF A COUNCIL MEMBER WERE GONNA TRAVEL,
[01:00:01]
THEY WOULD GET THE APPROVAL OF THE CHAIR AND THEN IT IS THE LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS DIRECTOR IN THIS CASE MYSELF, THAT WOULD SIGN THAT OFFICIAL FORM, THE TRAVEL REQUEST FORM THAT YOU ALL ARE FAMILIAR WITH, UM, THAT WOULD INDICATE WHY YOU WERE GOING DOWN AND ALL THE RELATED EXPENSES FOR THAT TRAVEL.AND SO EITHER EITHER YOU OR THE CHAIR CAN EXPLAIN HOW ARE FOLKS DETERMINED ON, UM, WHO IS GOING DOWN TO SPEAK AND IN THE PAST OR IN THE CURRENT OR IN, IN HOWEVER IT IS? YEAH, I MEAN, I CAN TELL YOU WHAT, UM, THE PRACTICES, IF THERE'S A REQUEST OR A DESIRE FOR THE CITY TO BE REPRESENTED AT A HEARING, UM, WE WOULD TYPICALLY TALK WITH THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR AND SAY, HEY, THIS IS WHO WE'RE RECOMMENDING WHETHER IT'S A STAFF PERSON.
I KNOW LAST YEAR THERE WERE A COUPLE OF HOUSING RELATED BILLS.
SO WE ENDED UP WITH MR. ERICKSON, TH ERICKSON TO GO DOWN THERE.
UM, WE WOULD TYPICALLY START WITH FROM THE COUNCIL MEMBER LEVEL, WHOEVER IS THE CHAIR OF THAT COMMITTEE.
AND SO, UM, IN MR. ATKINS PLACE, AND IF IT WAS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, WE WOULD SUGGEST TO THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR, HEY, I THINK MAYBE WE SHOULD LOOK AT MR. ATKINS GOING DOWN AND TESTIFYING AND MAYBE PERHAPS BRINGING KEVIN SPA TO COME FOR SOME DATA BACKUP SUPPORT, ET CETERA.
SO THERE IS SOME THOUGHT PROCESS, AGAIN, GOING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT OR LEADERSHIP POSITION OVER THAT PARTICULAR TOPIC.
SO THE THOUGHT PROCESS IS PRETTY SUBJECTIVE DONE BY STAFF THAT'S GIVEN A RECOMMENDATION TO THE CHAIR.
I WOULD SAY, YEAH, THAT WE MAKE A RECOMMENDATION ULTIMATELY, OF COURSE IT'S UP TO CITY COUNCIL LEADERSHIP, BUT BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE, YES WE DO OFFER A RECOMMENDATION.
AND IS THERE TIMES WHEN THERE'S NOT A RECOMMENDATION THAT IT'S JUST DONE? UM, THERE ARE TIMES I'M THINKING OF OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD WHERE THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN STAFF OR COUNCIL MEMBERS, UM, IN AUSTIN DOING WORK AND HAVING MEETINGS THAT I WAS NOT AWARE OF OR SIGNED OFF ON SOMETHING SO SURE.
YEAH, THEY MIGHT HAVE DONE A POP IN OR, OR, UM, THE AUSTIN STAFF MAY HAVE INVITED THEM TO COME DOWN AND DO A ONE-ON-ONE, YOU KNOW, ROLL YOUR SLEEVES UP TYPE WORK DISCUSSION WITH A PARTICULAR LEGISLATIVE OFFICE.
BUT WHERE IT COMES ACROSS MY DESK IS, UM, THOSE OFFICIAL TRAVEL REQUESTS TO GO AND SPEAK BEFORE A HEARING OR A SPECIFIC MEETING WITH A MEMBER.
SO I MEAN, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS BECAUSE IT'S EVEN SUBJECTIVE ON YOUR PART.
I MEAN LIKE, UH, UH, WHO, AND SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS SHOW THAT THERE IS SOME OBJECTIVITY AND EVEN YOUR RECOMMENDATION, AND EVEN IF WE WANTED TO AMEND IT, THAT MUST SAY WITH APPROVAL FROM THE CHAIR, I MEAN TO SOME POINT WE MAY HAVE TALKED THAT, BUT WE'VE GOT TO PUT, IF YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT TRANSPARENCY AND OVERSIGHT, THEN LET'S PUT DOWN IT NEEDS TO FOLLOW THESE THINGS ON OUR BEHALF AND THEN IT MOVES HERE.
IF IT CHECKS THESE BOXES, THEN IT QUALIFIES TO EVEN BE CONSIDERED THAT.
AND, AND IT'S ALMOST LIKE, AND WE COULD EVEN ADD ONE PERSON PER COUNCIL TO CAN BE GOING ON THIS IT, BUT WHAT I AM WANTING AND HOPING IS THAT IT'S NOT SO GRAY AND THAT IT'S NOT SO FLUID BECAUSE I WILL TELL YOU, SOMETIMES IT GETS A LITTLE TOUGH AND, UH, WHEN YOU'RE WORKING ON SOMETHING AND YOU DON'T GET INVITED TO GO SPEAK ON IT, IT REALLY DOES KIND OF GET TO YOUR GOOSE.
AND SO WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS IF YOU'VE, IF YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE THE PERSON AND YOU KNOW IT, THEN YOU SHOULD BE THERE SPEAKING ON ITS BEHALF BECAUSE YOU HAVE A PASSIONATE VOICE AND YOU BRING THAT TO THE DISCUSSION AND THAT DOES MOVE THE NEEDLE.
I DID WORK IN AUSTIN QUITE A BIT AND I'VE LOBBIED QUITE A BIT.
I KNOW HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS AND, UM, AND SOME I CUT YOU OFF.
YOU CUT YOUR CELL OFF, YOU CUT YOUR CELL OFF, YOU PUT YOUR ON BUTTON CONVICTED.
I DID NOT HAVE THE OPERATING TO CUT NOBODY OFF.
WELL SOMETIMES LET'S GET THIS STRAIGHT.
WE, WE NEED TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF, UH, UNIFORMITY AND, AND LINEAR.
I THINK THAT WAS WHAT THIS, IF IT'S THIS, THEN THIS, THEN THIS.
BECAUSE THEN IT PROTECTS ALL OF US.
SO I THINK WE CAN FIGURE THIS OUT.
YOU ARE THE EXPERT, YOU ARE FOLLOWING THIS ISSUES AND CARRIE AND YOU KNOW, WHO, WHO THE CHAIR OF THE DIFFERENT COMMITTEES ARE AND SHOULD HAVE AN IDEA OF WHO HAS A PASSION, WHO HAS THE EXPERTISE TO, TO, TO GO DOWN AND SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE CITY.
BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THERE IS A ROLE FOR A COUNCIL MEMBER TO PLAY.
AND IT'S THE CLEAR AND OBVIOUS PERSON WOULD BE THE CHAIR OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE FOR LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS BECAUSE WE'RE DECIDING WHICH COUNCIL MEMBER.
[01:05:01]
SO IT SEEMS TO ME ONE OF A PEER OF A COUNCIL MEMBER FROM A, JUST A CHECKS AND BALANCES AND, UH, PERSPECTIVE SHOULD BE INVOLVED IN THAT CONVERSATION, IN THAT DECISION MAKING.AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON.
IF I UNDERSTOOD HOW YOU DESCRIBED IT, YOU WOULD RECOMMEND SOME PEOPLE, YOU WOULD DISCUSS IT WITH THE CHAIR, YOU ALL WOULD THEN APPROACH THE CHAIR OR OTHER PEOPLE WHO YOU THOUGHT WERE INTERESTED.
WHAT I HEAR CHAIR BLACKMAN'S SUGGESTING IS THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT MAKING IT INTO THAT PROCESS.
THEY HAVE THE PASSION, THEY HAVE THE DESIRE, BUT THEY'RE NOT GETTING INTO THAT PROCESS.
UM, AND SO MY QUESTION WOULD BE, UM, IF WE HAD THE LIST BUT STILL HAD THE APPROVAL FROM THE CHAIR OF, UM, LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS, IF SOMEBODY COULD REGISTER THEIR INTEREST, LIKE IT'S MENTIONED IN THIS, HOWEVER, THE, THE FINAL DECISION WOULD STILL COME DOWN TO THE CHAIR OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS.
WOULD THAT HELP IN THAT SITUATION? I THINK I'D HAVE TO, WELL, I'LL JUST SAY THAT'S ALREADY THE INTENTION.
I THINK I'VE MADE THAT PERFECTLY CLEAR THAT ONCE OUR LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM PASSES THAT I WOULD LIKE TO MEET WITH EVERY PERSON TO UNDERSTAND THEIR INTERESTS.
THERE'S PEOPLE WHO DON'T WANT TO TESTIFY.
UM, I, I DIDN'T DO IT, UM, UNTIL LAST SESSION.
UM, I DID GET ASKED TO DO IT ON ONE VERY DIFFICULT ISSUE THAT, UM, I WASN'T WILLING TO DO IT ON.
AND, YOU KNOW, THERE MAY BE ISSUES THAT THE CITY SUPPORTS OR OPPOSES THAT YOU MAY PHILOSOPHICALLY FEEL DIFFERENTLY ABOUT.
YOU WOULDN'T BE THE RIGHT PERSON.
UM, WHEN I WAS, UM, I KNOW I HAD TO ADVOCATE FOR MY DESIRE TO, UM, TESTIFY ON BEHALF OF A PUBLIC SAFETY BILL WITH THE CHAIR.
HE WAS NOT ASKING ME TO GO, AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS WRONGHEADED, AND I LET HIM KNOW.
AND, UM, I THINK CARRIE, YOU OFTEN CALL THESE SPIRITED CONVERSATIONS AND, AND I DID CONVINCE HIM, BUT I DON'T THINK IT SHOULD BE SO HARD.
AND I KNOW THAT THERE'S PEOPLE WHO ARE FRUSTRATED ABOUT THIS.
AND WHILE MAYBE PHILOSOPHICALLY I DON'T AGREE WITH A NUMBER OF COUNCIL MEMBERS ON A NUMBER OF ISSUES, IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT I DON'T VERY MUCH WANT THEM TO GO TESTIFY.
AND I'M NOT SURE HOW ELSE TO MAKE THAT CLEAR.
BUT THIS RESOLUTION, ISN'T IT? AND THIS, THIS RESOLUTION IS ACTUALLY GONNA CAUSE CHAOS, NOT STREAMLINE THINGS, NOT CLARITY.
THIS IS GONNA ALLOW MULTIPLE COUNCIL MEMBERS TO GO FOR ONE HEARING.
THIS IS NOT GONNA BE THE STRATEGIC, UM, SELECTION OF WHO SHOULD BE THERE.
AND, YOU KNOW, COUNCIL MEMBER BLACKMAN, IF YOU'RE ASKING, YOU WOULD BE A GREAT PERSON TO TESTIFY, COUNCIL MEMBER BUA, YOU WOULD BE A GREAT PERSON TO TESTIFY.
THERE'S NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT.
YOU'RE BOTH VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT A NUMBER OF ISSUES.
I KNOW MANY OF WHICH YOU ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT.
I, I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'RE CONCERNED THAT YOU WOULD BE LOCKED OUT.
THAT'S NOT GONNA BE YOUR SITUATION.
I HOPE YOU'LL TAKE ME AT MY WORD ON THAT.
BUT THIS, THIS IS NOT A GOOD POLICY AND I THINK THAT WE ALREADY HAVE A CHALLENGING SESSION AHEAD.
WHILE YOU MAY WANNA HAVE A BLACK AND WHITE POLICY FOR THINGS, CERTAINLY, YOU KNOW, BETTER THAN MOST, EVERYTHING IS GRAY WHEN IT COMES TO LEGISLATIVE.
AND WE HAVE TO, WE HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER AND STRENGTHEN OUR VOICE AND WORK STRATEGICALLY.
SO I ASK YOU TO RECONSIDER MOVING THIS FORWARD.
UM, APOLOGIES FOR MY TARDINESS.
IF THIS QUESTION WAS ALREADY ADDRESSED, UM, HOW LONG HAS THIS CURRENT PROCESS BEEN IN PLACE? I BELIEVE THE ORDINANCE, OR EXCUSE ME, THE RESOLUTION WAS ADOPTED IN 2006.
AND CARRIE, HAS THAT PROCESS BEEN WORKING, UM, IN YOUR OPINION, OR DOES IT NEED TO BE UPDATED? HAVE YOU HAD ANY ISSUES WITH THAT? UM, I DON'T KNOW THAT I COULD ANSWER THAT.
I'M, I'M, I'M TRYING, WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET AT IS WHAT'S BROKEN THAT WE'RE TRYING TO, TO ACHIEVE.
AND MY CONCERN IS IF, IF POTENTIALLY YOU HAVE MULTIPLE COUNCIL MEMBERS GOING WITH OPPOSING VIEWS, WHAT, WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE.
UM, AND THEN I ALSO WANNA GET TO THE FACT, UH, IF THERE IS A COUNCIL
[01:10:01]
MEMBER THAT IS NOT INVITED OR, OR ISN'T PARTICIPATING, ARE THEY ABLE TO GO AND FUND THEIR OWN, UH, TRAVEL FROM THEIR OFFICE, UH, HOLDER'S ACCOUNT? YES, SIR.THEY CAN PAY FOR IT OUT OF THEIR OFFICE HOLDER ACCOUNT.
AND I'LL SAY FROM A STAFF PERSPECTIVE, WE'VE NOT HAD, UM, A CHALLENGE IN IMPLEMENTING, AGAIN, FROM A STAFF PERSPECTIVE.
THANK YOU CHAIRMAN STEWART, AND WHAT'S OUR CHAIRMAN? CAN I, CAN I SPEAK AGAIN? YES.
FIRST WE ON THE COMMITTEE, SO PAULA BLACKBURN WAS REPRESENTING ONE OF THE FIVE SENATOR MEMO, AND SO YOU'RE NOT ON THE COMMITTEE, SO I'LL GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO SPEAK, BUT WE ARE TRYING TO GET OUR COMMITTEE TO SPEAK FIRST SINCE YOU WAS NOT ON EARLY PAULA BLACK WOMAN.
I KNOW SHE'S A LOT OF REPRESENTS TO YEAH, SHE SPENT A WHOLE LOT, SHE SPENT A WHOLE LOT OF TIME SPEAKING ON YOUR BEHALF, BUT, BUT YOU CAN SPEAK.
SO CARRIE, WHAT'S OUR TRAVEL BUDGET? UH, THE, THE TRAVEL BUDGET PROPOSED IN FISCAL YEAR 25 IS $100,000.
UM, DURING THE LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION, THE BUDGET WAS AT $110,000, BUT THEY, UM, SEPARATED OUT, UH, SOME OFFICE LEAVE SPACE THAT THE AUSTIN STAFF USES.
UM, AND DO WE TYPICALLY USE ALL OF THAT BUDGET? ARE WE DOWN TO THE WIRE AND, UM, UH, FOR FISCAL YEAR 23, WE EXPENDED APPROXIMATELY A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS OF THAT 110,000.
UM, ABOUT 86,000 OF THAT WAS CITY COUNCIL MEMBER RELATED, UM, TRAVEL ON LEGISLATIVE MATTERS.
AND DID YOU FIND THERE WERE SOME DIFFICULT DECISIONS TO MAKE WHEN YOU WERE WORKING WITH THE CHAIR? WERE YOU, WAS IT KIND OF DOWN TO WHO WAS GONNA GET TO GO AND WHO WASN'T? AND WAS THIS A STRUGGLE? I MEAN, FOR US IT'S JUST UP TO THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR.
ULTIMATELY, WE'RE GONNA DO WHATEVER THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR IS ADVISING US TO DO.
THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE RESOLUTION.
UM, YOU KNOW, I DO THINK THAT THERE COMES A, YOU KNOW, THERE CHALLENGES AND COUNCIL MEMBERS DO WANNA COME DOWN AND TESTIFY, ET CETERA.
BUT ULTIMATELY, FROM A STAFF PERSPECTIVE, WE CAN ONLY SIGN OFF ON WHAT IS AUTHORIZED BY THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR.
I THINK WHAT I SEE ARE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES IS AN, IS AN ISSUE.
AND THEN REALLY JUST THE STRATEGY AROUND PRIORITIZING WHERE WE'RE GOING TO PUT OUR EMPHASIS, WHAT WE'RE GOING TO ADVOCATE FOR.
AND I, I SEE, I JUST, IT'S HARD TO IMAGINE WHY YOU WOULD TAKE THE CHAIR OF THE LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OUT OF THAT PROCESS.
WHY THEY, THEY SHOULD BE IN MAKING THOSE DECISIONS.
DEPUTY MAYOR PRO, TIM BALES, THANK YOU, CHAIR.
UM, UH, YOU KNOW, IT, IT'S UNFORTUNATE, BUT IT SEEMS THAT, THAT, THAT THIS WAS JUST AS I EXPECTED, TAKEN IT PERSONAL.
AND IT'S NOT MEANT TO BE THAT, I MEAN, THE REALITY IS JUST AS MR. MORENO SAID, IF I WANNA GO DOWN AND TESTIFY, I'LL GO DOWN AND TESTIFY.
I DON I DON'T HAVE TO HAVE APPROVAL FROM SOMEONE.
THE WAY THAT THIS IS WRITTEN DOES NOT ALLOW FOR MULTIPLE PEOPLE TO GO DOWN.
AND IT ALSO DOESN'T ALLOW FOR MULTIPLE, UM, STANCES ON ISSUES.
IN FACT, IT, IT, IT CLEARLY STATES THAT IT HAS TO BE, UM, UH, THE, THE, UM, REMARKS OR COMMENTS THAT ARE WRITTEN BY THE OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS.
I'VE NEVER GONE DOWN THERE AND WENT, UH, ROGUE, IF YOU WILL.
UH, THE REALITY IS JUST AS THE, THE CHAIRWOMAN SAID, UH, THAT SHE'S EVEN EXPERIENCED THIS.
I MEAN, IF, IF, IF WE WANT TO HAVE AMNESIA WHEN WE ACTUALLY HAVE SOLUTIONS IN FRONT OF US, THEN THAT'S FINE.
BUT THE REALITY IS, IS I'VE HEARD THAT THIS HAS BEEN AN ISSUE NOT ONLY FROM OUR CURRENT CHAIR, I'VE HEARD IT FROM FORMER, UH, MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE.
I'VE HEARD IT FROM OUR STATE AND FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE DIRECTORS, UH, UH, OR, OR LOBBYISTS DIRECTORS.
I'VE HEARD IT FROM OUR DIRECTOR.
I'VE, I'VE HEARD THE, UH, UM, CONFLICT AND THE ISSUE FROM OUR CITY MANAGER AND OUR CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE.
SO, BUT IF, IF WE'RE, IF WE'RE GOING TO TIPTOE AROUND IT AND TAKE THIS PERSONAL, THEN I DON'T THINK WE'RE GONNA GET ANYWHERE.
MY, WHAT, WHAT I WAS SUGGESTING WITHIN THIS MEMO IS NOT MEANT TO TAKE ANYTHING AWAY FROM ANYONE, BUT INSTEAD SHORE UP A PROCESS IF THERE ARE SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO MAKE THAT MORE REFINED FROM WHAT'S BEING PROPOSED.
THE REALITY IS, IS THAT JUST AS THINGS WERE MENTIONED EARLIER, IT, WHEN YOU'RE IN SESSION, THINGS ARE VERY FLUID.
THERE ARE A LOT THAT COMES UP.
AND WE HAVE SEEN NOW IN TWO LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS SINCE I'VE BEEN IN OFFICE, THAT THIS HAS ABSOLUTELY COME AN ISSUE.
THIS WAS ALSO AN ISSUE, UH, BUT WE HAD MORE THAN HALF OF OUR COUNCIL THAT WERE NEW AND DIDN'T, DID NOT HAVE THE BANDWIDTH, IF YOU WILL, TO GET INVOLVED IN LEGISLATIVE WHEN, UM, UH, WHEN KLEMEN WAS OUR CHAIR.
BUT THIS IS NOT SOMETHING THAT IS, IS, UH, NEW.
UM, THE REALITY IS, IS I WAS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING THAT IS OBJECTIVE.
IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS ON HOW WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THAT, THAT'S FINE.
I WILL SAY THAT I'VE ALREADY PERSONALLY EXPERIENCED WITH OUR CURRENT CHAIR, UH, A VERY,
[01:15:01]
UH, SUBJECTIVE, UH, RESPONSE IF I WAS ABLE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH HER.UM, AND SO IF WE ARE GONNA HAVE PROCESSES PUT IN PLACE, IT SHOULD BE SOMETHING THAT IS MEANT TO BE EFFICIENT.
IT SHOULD BE SOMETHING THAT IS NOT PUTTING OUR STAFF IN, UH, UM, UH, TIGHT SPOTS OR PREDICAMENTS TO HAVE TO MAKE DECISIONS.
IT SHOULD BE SOMETHING THAT IS EXTREMELY OBJECTIVE WITH A CHECKLIST ON WHO IS GOING TO.
THE REALITY IS JUST AS I MENTIONED, JUST AS IT ALREADY HAS BEEN MENTIONED, IF, IF I WANT TO GO DOWN AND TESTIFY, I'M NOT ASKING FOR PERMISSION TO GO DOWN AND TESTIFY THAT WE ALREADY HAVE AVENUES AS COUNCIL MEMBERS TO DO THAT.
I'M ASKING FOR THE PROCESS THAT IS PUT IN PLACE.
NOW, THAT IS EXTREMELY SUBJECTIVE.
THAT IS NOT 100% HONORED BECAUSE WE DO HAVE THE MAYOR OR THE CITY MANAGER, BOTH WHOM WILL TELL YOU THEY ARE NOT GOING TO GET INVOLVED BECAUSE OF THE POLITICS AND THE NATURE OF WHEREVER WE ARE AT THAT PARTICULAR TIME.
SO THE REALITY IS, IS IT IT THAT, THAT THERE IS A PROBLEM THAT EXISTS, THERE IS SOMETHING BROKEN AND, AND AN OPPORTUNITY TO FIX IT.
THIS MAY NOT BE THE EXACT FIX.
AND I'M COMPLETELY OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE, THAT WOULD ACCOMPLISH IT BETTER.
HOWEVER, TO SAY THAT THERE'S NOTHING BROKE, UH, AND NOTHING THAT NEEDS TO FIX IS JUST INACCURATE.
AND, AND IN FACT, I'VE HEARD OPPOSITE FROM SEVERAL PEOPLE THAT I'VE HEARD TODAY SAY THAT THERE IS NOT AN ISSUE.
SO, UM, THE REALITY IS, IS THIS IS GONNA COME TO FULL COUNSEL, AND I LOOK, UH, FORWARD TO HEARING FROM OUR OTHER MEMBERS, YOU KNOW, TO WEIGH IN ON THIS.
AND AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS ON WHAT WE COULD DO THAT IS NOT OUTLINED HERE, WHAT I REALLY TRIED TO DO IS SIT DOWN WITH SOME OBJECTIVE, UH, INDIVIDUALS AND, AND FIGURE OUT HOW THIS, UH, CHECKLIST COULD BE CREATED THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING DICTATED BY ME.
THAT WAS NOT SOMETHING THAT WOULD SHOW ANY SORT OF BIAS.
IF, IF, IF THAT WAS NOT ACCOMPLISHED AND WHAT YOU'RE ABLE TO READ IN FRONT OF YOU WITH THE MEMO, THEN, THEN, UH, LET'S, LET'S GET TO THE TABLE.
LET'S, LET'S WORK ON LANGUAGE THAT WOULD ACCOMPLISH THAT.
BUT JUST, JUST TO, UH, YOU KNOW, GO BACK TO STATUS QUO.
AND JUST TO SAY, AND, AND ACT AS IF THERE ISN'T AN ISSUE IS, IS JUST NOT ACCURATE.
AND IT, IT, IT'S, IT HONESTLY SPEAKS VOLUMES OF HOW, IN FACT, THIS PROCESS IS FLAWED BECAUSE WE CAN'T EVEN GET SOMEWHERE TO FINE TUNE THE LANGUAGE.
UM, CAN MS. MENISON, SINCE I'M NOT, I MEAN MS. ROGERS, SINCE SHE'S THERE, UM, I'M KIND OF A LITTLE CONFUSED.
UM, I MEAN, I'M GOING BACK WHEN I WAS A CHAIRMAN AND, AND, AND I KNOW WE TALKING ABOUT DIFFERENT CHAIRMAN HAD DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE OF GOING IN.
UM, AND, UM, I DON'T BELIEVE, I NEVER TURNED ONE DOWN FOR TRAVEL.
UM, I BELIEVE THAT SOMEONE WITH AN EXPERT IN TRAVELING OR SOMEONE HAD THE, THE KNOWLEDGE, YOU KNOW, OF THE COUNCIL MEMBER, WE TRAVEL.
HAVE WE EVER JUST TURNED DOWN A COUNCIL MEMBER FROM TRAVELING, UH, TO SPEAK BEFORE THE LEGISLATOR? YES, YOU DID.
HOLD YOU VA VA I YOU OUTTA ORDER BAD ON TITLE MISS
LET HER, I MEAN, MS. ROGER, MS. ROGER, GO AHEAD, PLEASE.
I WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE RECORDS, BUT I BELIEVE YES, THERE WAS ONE INSTANCE, UM, ON, I BELIEVE IT WAS IN OPIOID, FENTANYL RELATED LEGISLATION.
AND ULTIMATELY IT WAS DETERMINED BY THE CHAIR AT THE TIME, UM, THAT COUNCILWOMAN BLACKMAN WOULD BE THE LEAD PERSON ON THAT PARTICULAR LEGISLATION TO, UM, SO THAT THERE WEREN'T, YOU KNOW, TWO PERSONS GOING DOWN TO TESTIFY ON A PARTICULAR ISSUE.
BUT I BELIEVE ON THE FENTANYL DEAL, WE DID LET, UH, UH, DEPUTY
I RE I RECALL, I RECALL, I RECALL I, I APPROVE BOTH OF 'EM TO SPEAK ON FENTANYL.
SO I DID NOT, I I KNOW I DID BECAUSE I REMEMBER THAT ISSUE THAT CAME UP BECAUSE THEY BOTH WERE THE EXPERT ON FENTANYL, AND WE SAID BOTH COULD SPEAK THAT.
THE REASON WHY I'M TRYING TO BRING THIS UP THAT I DON'T, I, YOU KNOW, UH, I HEARD DEPUTY BROWN, UH,
I KNOW SOMETIMES WHEN YOU AT THE STATE CAPITOL AND SOMEBODY WANNA SPEAK ON, BE AN EXPERT, SPEAK ON, YOU GOTTA HAVE SOMEONE THERE AND SAY, HEY, THIS IS AN EXPERT.
AND WE RELIED ON CLIFF AND SAY, ARE YOU THE EXPERT? THEY GET THIS PERSON TO GET THERE, BUT THERE'S A PROCESS IN PLACE.
BUT I WANNA BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL WHEN WE START CHANGING THE PROCESS AND PROCEDURE.
ARE WE CHANGING BECAUSE OF PERSONALITY ISSUE? ARE WE CHANGING FOR THE BEST OF THE CITY?
[01:20:01]
UH, WITH THAT, MS. MENON, YOU SAY YOU HAVE YOUR HANDS UP.JUST, UM, I WILL SAY SINCE I'VE BEEN CHAIR, I HAVE, UM, HAD A REQUEST FROM COUNCIL MEMBER BASA TO, UM, TRAVEL TO SPEAK ON A TOPIC THAT WAS NOT ON OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA THAT I SAID NO TO.
AND I'VE HAD A REQUEST FROM MULTIPLE COUNCIL MEMBERS TO ALL TRAVEL TOGETHER TO A CONFERENCE THAT I SAID NO TO.
UM, THE CONFERENCE WAS MUCH MORE IN KEEPING WITH TML AND NLC, WHICH ARE OUTLINED AS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR LEGISLATIVE TRAVEL.
UM, SO IT ALSO DID NOT SEEM APPROPRIATE IF THE POINT OF THIS, UH, RESOLUTION IS TO ACTUALLY JUST HAVE SOMETHING IN WRITING, I'M CERTAINLY WILLING TO PUT DOWN IN WRITING THE WAY I SEE IT IF SOMEONE LIKED TO BRING THAT FORWARD.
HOWEVER, I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO POINT OUT THAT THERE WAS JUST A COMMENT MADE.
NOBODY CAME TO SPEAK TO ME ABOUT THIS.
SO, UM, THERE HAVE BEEN A COUPLE STATEMENTS THAT MULTIPLE PEOPLE WERE SPOKEN TO INPUT FROM MANY PEOPLE, NONE OF THEM WERE ME.
I BELIEVE YOU MENTIONED TO ME, NONE OF THEM WERE YOU.
AND, UH, WE ARE THE ONLY TWO PEOPLE WHO SERVE ON THE COUNCIL AT THIS TIME THAT HAVE BEEN OR ARE THE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR.
SO IT'S UNFORTUNATE THAT THE COLLABORATION THAT IS SPOKEN OF IS ACTUALLY NOT WHAT'S HAPPENING.
AND AGAIN, UNDERSCORES THE POINT ABOUT HAVING A UNIFIED MESSAGE AND A STRATEGY AS OPPOSED TO PEOPLE JUST DOING ONE-OFF THINGS OR DOING SORT OF ROGUE THINGS THAT HARM OUR CITY.
AND SO IF THE REQUEST IS TO JUST PUT IN WRITING WHAT THE INTENTION IS ON TRAVEL, THAT'S CERTAINLY FAIR.
THAT INTENTION WOULD INCLUDE, WHICH I DON'T SEE IN THIS LIST, THAT ONLY ONE COUNCIL MEMBER WOULD BE ELIGIBLE TO TESTIFY OR ATTEND FOR THAT KIND OF TESTIMONY.
UM, THERE, THERE'S A NUMBER OF OTHER THINGS THAT HAD I BEEN ASKED, I WOULD'VE INCLUDED.
UM, AND I FEEL DIFFERENTLY ABOUT SOME OF THOSE THINGS WHEN IT'S, FOR INSTANCE, COUNCIL MEMBER MORENO AND I, ON FRIDAY AT THE INVITATION OF SENATOR PARKER WERE AT A ROUND TABLE.
HE SPECIFICALLY INVITED TWO PEOPLE.
IT WAS ABOUT HOMELESSNESS, OF WHICH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER RENO IS THE CHAIR, I CHAIR THE, THE DALLAS AREA PARTNERSHIP AND LEGISLATIVE.
SO IT SEEMED APPROPRIATE FOR BOTH OF US TO BE THERE.
SO AGAIN, THERE'S ALWAYS A GRAY AREA AND WHAT'S APPROPRIATE AND WHAT'S THEN SUPPORTIVE OF OUR PARTNERS AND, UM, ALLIES WHO ARE HELPING US GET LEGISLATION THROUGH.
AND SO EVEN PUTTING IT IN WRITING IS DIFFICULT.
AND I THINK THAT'S WHY IT'S BEEN WRITTEN THE WAY IT HAS AND IT'S FUNCTIONED THE WAY IT HAS, THE WAY COUNCIL MEMBER KLEIMAN WAS LEGISLATIVE CHAIR, IT WAS A VERY DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENT THAN WHAT WE'RE GOING INTO FOR THIS SESSION.
AND THERE'S NOBODY WHO WORKS AT CITY HALL WHO DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THOSE POLITICS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU CAN'T APPLY SOMETHING FROM 10 PLUS YEARS AGO TO TODAY WITHOUT IT HAVING THAT GRAY AREA BECAUSE IT'S ALWAYS EVOLVING.
AND WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT'S GONNA BE, UM, COME JANUARY.
I THINK WE'LL KNOW MORE IN NOVEMBER, BUT THERE'S EVER MOVING ITEMS. AND YOU KNOW, EVEN IN THE LAST WEEK, AS I'VE MET WITH MANY, MANY LEGISLATORS, UM, THEY NEED US TO BE FLEXIBLE AND THEY NEED US TO BE NIMBLE, AND THEY NEED US TO BE ABLE TO REACT ON THE THINGS THAT, THINGS THAT WE CAN'T INFLUENCE.
DID YOU CUT ME OFF? NO,
SO I, I I JUST WANNA SAY THAT THERE IS A FLEXIBILITY NEEDED.
THERE IS THAT GRAY SPACE NEEDED SO THAT WE CAN REACT AS APPROPRIATE.
TIM
I, I JUST WILL, UM, UH, JUST, YOU KNOW, END WITH IT, THAT THE, I ACTUALLY HAD AN OPINION SPEAKING FROM NOT ONLY, UM, LEGISLATIVE, UH, I MEAN, UH, OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS, BUT ALSO OUR CITY ATTORNEYS, THAT THE TIME I WAS DE DENIED WAS IN FACT A PART OF OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA, NOT THE ONE THAT'S CURRENT.
I MEAN THE ONE THAT WE'RE CURRENTLY UNDER, NOT THAT WE, UH, UH, HAS UNDER OUR CURRENT CHAIR THAT HAS YET TO BE VOTED ON BY THE COUNCIL.
UH, IN ADDITION TO THAT, WHEN I WAS DENIED, UM, I I, I WAS ACTUALLY NOT EVEN CONSIDERED.
AND I FOUND OUT THAT OUR STAFF, UM, JESSICA GALLISHAW WAS ASKED, UM, FOR EVICTIONS.
AND IT WAS, UH, TO, TO DIRECTLY PREEMPT THE EVICTION ORDINANCE THAT I WAS THE AUTHOR OF.
UM, AND THERE WAS NOT COUNSEL REPRESENTATION.
THAT WAS ONE, THAT WAS THE ONE THAT I WAS REFERRING TO, NOT WHAT WAS MENTIONED, UM, JUST AS WHAT WAS, WHAT WAS MENTIONED WITH OPIOID.
IF I FELT THE NEED TO GO DOWN AFTER IT WAS ONE
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COUNCIL MEMBER WHO WAS CHOSEN, I PAID FOR THAT WITH MY OWN OFFICE.I WENT DOWN ON MY OWN AND JUST STILL, UH, STUCK WITH THE SCRIPT AND WORKED WITH OGA TO GET THAT, BUT I WAS NOT APPROVED FROM THIS PROCESS.
UM, THE, THE REALITY IS, IS JUST AS YOU, YOU MENTIONED MS. MENDELSSOHN, THAT THERE, THERE IS GRAY AREA, UM, THAT IS AFFORDED, BUT IT IS AFFORDED IN A SUBJECTIVE MANNER.
AND ALL I'M ASKING THAT IS THAT WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO STAY FLUID AND WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE FLEXIBLE.
UH, I JUST WOULD HOPE THAT THAT ISN'T, UM, UH, DONE.
SO IN, IN A SUBJECTIVE NATURE, I DID SPEAK WITH YOU ACTUALLY BEFORE ANY OF YOUR WORK STARTED, UM, AS CHAIR TO AS LEGISLATIVE.
AND I SAT YOU DOWN AND TOLD YOU THAT THERE WERE THINGS THAT I WANTED TO SEE DIFFERENT, AND YOU ASSURED ME THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT UNDER YOU.
I MY RESPONSE TO THAT WAS THAT THIS IS NOT PERSONAL AND THIS IS NOT WHAT I EXPECT TO BE FROM YOU.
SO YOU, YOU KNEW FROM DAY ONE, BUT YOU TOLD ME YOU HAD NO DESIRE TO GET INTO, UM, UH, THIS RESOLUTION.
SO TO SAY THAT YOU WERE NOT APPROACHED OR THAT, THAT YOU DID NOT KNOW ABOUT, THIS IS ALSO INACCURATE.
AND, AND IT'S DISINGENUOUS AT BEST BECAUSE I CAME TO YOU ACTUALLY BEFORE ANY WORK STARTED BECAUSE I WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT WAS NOT TAKEN PERSONAL AND THAT YOU KNEW THAT THIS WAS SOMETHING I WAS LOOKING TO DO REGARDLESS OF WHO WAS APPOINTED TO THIS POSITION.
UM, SO AGAIN, I, UH, I, I, I AM, I'M, I'M ONLY LOOKING FOR SOLUTION.
AND IF THERE IS A SOLUTION THAT IS NOT OUTLINED IN WHAT HAS BEEN PRESENTED IN THE FIVE SIGNATURE MEMO, I'M COMPLETELY OPEN.
UM, WHAT, WHAT I, WHAT I AM GOING TO ADAMANTLY OPPOSE IS THAT THERE'S NOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT CURRENT PROCESS.
I'VE HEARD IT FROM EVERY SINGLE PERSON INVOLVED.
AND I, I UNDERSTAND THE PREDICAMENT AND THE SPOT THAT WE'RE PUTTING PEOPLE, UH, IN, IN SAYING THINGS ON RECORD WHO ANSWER TO ALL OF US.
BUT I ENCOURAGE MEMBERS TO GO HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE NECESSARY STAKEHOLDERS AND TO HEAR FOR YOURSELF, UM, SOME OF THE ISSUES THAT HAVE OCCURRED OVER THE PAST.
'CAUSE IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THOSE ARE GONNA BE BROUGHT TO LIGHT HERE ON RECORD.
UM, BUT NEAR HERE, NOR HERE, NOR THERE, THE, THE END RESULT IS, IS HOPEFULLY SOMETHING THAT WE CAN, UM, UH, SHORE UP SOME LANGUAGE, PROVIDE MORE EFFICIENCY AND, UM, MOVE FORWARD WITH A LEGIT PROCESS AND PROCEDURE THAT IS, UM, IS, IS OBJECTIVE AND IS, UH, MORE EFFICIENT AND WILL ALLOW FOR US TO, UH, HAVE BETTER SUCCESS IN, UH, THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
UM, I, I TOO HEAR FROM, UH, OUR DELEGATES ON A REGULAR BASIS.
I'VE HEARD, UH, MANY THINGS THAT IN, IN MY OPINION, WOULD CONTRADICT EVEN SOME OF THE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN SAID THAT OUR DELEGATES HAVE ASKED FOR.
I'VE BEEN PERSONALLY ASKED TO COME DOWN AND TESTIFY IN SPECIFIC COMMITTEES.
IN THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES, I THINK THAT THERE IS GOING TO NEED TO BE, UM, SOME FLUID, AGAIN, I HAVE AN AVENUE TO DO THAT THROUGH MY OFFICE.
ALL I'M TRYING TO TO TO SEE IS THAT THE PROCESS IN WHICH WE ARE, UH, BEING A DESIGNEE FOR, UH, UH, OR A SURROGATE, IF YOU WILL, FOR OUR LEGISLATIVE AGENDA AND REPRESENTING THE CITY AS A WHOLE AND NOT IN OUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, UM, WITH OUR POSITIONS, UH, THAT THERE BE SOMETHING THAT IS MORE EFFICIENT, MORE STREAMLINED, AND MORE OBJECTIVE AND FAIR.
UM, UH, CARRIE, UH, BUR, UH, SECTION FOUR, AND I'M LOOKING AT SECTION FOUR TO THE, TO THE USE OF LEGISLATIVE TRAVEL FUND.
COUNCIL MEMBER MUST FOUND A REQUIRING DOCUMENT, INVOICE A STATEMENT ON FORM PROVIDED BY THE CITY LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR OR DESIGNEE, EITHER BEFORE TRAVEL TO, OR WITHIN ONE WEEK AFTER RETURN FROM AUSTIN OR WASHINGTON C DC.
BUT YOU STRIKE OUT THAT THESE FUNDS SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR TRAVEL TO THE ANTI MUSLIM LEAGUE OR THE NATIONAL LEAGUE, UH, OR THE US COUNTRY OF MAR MARINERS OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE CITY THAT WAS TRACKING OUT.
SO IS THAT PART OF THIS, UM, RESOLUTION? I DIDN'T WORK ON THIS RESOLUTION, SO I'M NOT SURE WHY THAT WAS.
WELL, WELL IT IS HERE, BUR, THIS IS WHAT I GOT.
IT'S, IT WAS SIGNED WITH THE FIVE SIGNAL MEMO.
SO I WOULD SAY THAT I THINK INITIALLY IT WAS THOUGHT THAT THIS WOULDN'T APPLY TO THOSE, BUT I DO KNOW THAT AT THE NATIONAL LEGAL BUR, CAN YOU BE CLOSER TO THE MIC? SORRY, MAN.
COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES DOES HAVE A DAY ON THE HILL.
I THINK THAT MIGHT ACTUALLY FALL WITHIN THIS, UM, WHERE YOU GO AND SPEAK IN FRONT OF, UH, UH, OFFICIALS.
I WOULD, I WOULD WANNA TALK TO THE, THE AUTHORS ON THIS, BUT WHY? YEAH.
BUT YOU ALSO HAD A US CONFERENCE OF MAYORS TOO IN THE TML.
EACH OF THESE GROUPS HAVE, UH, LEGISLATIVE SUBCOMMITTEES, IF YOU WILL.
I KNOW, UH, TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE HAS AN ANNUAL LEGISLATIVE POLICY SUMMIT THAT'S PART OF PREPARING THEIR LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM.
SO I'M THINKING MAYBE THAT'S IT.
[01:30:01]
HAS A LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE CALLED THE FAIR SUBCOMMITTEE.UM, AND SO IT COULD BE PERHAPS IF ONE OF, UH, OUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS WERE APPOINTED TO ONE OF THOSE COMMITTEES THAT THEN THEY COULD USE LEGISLATIVE TRAVEL FUNDS TO TRAVEL FOR PURPOSES OF THOSE MEETINGS.
SO ORIGINALLY THAT YOU COULD, YOU COULD NOT USE FUNDS TO, TO TRAVEL THESE.
YEAH, MY UNDERSTANDING IS IT WAS IN THE, IT IS IN THE ORIGINAL, UM, RESOLUTION UNDER WHICH WE OPERATE TODAY BECAUSE TML AND NLC BOTH HAVE ANNUAL CONFERENCES AND THE EXPECTATION IS ALWAYS THAT THOSE ARE FUNDED OUT OF OFFICE HOLDER ACCOUNTS.
FOR YOU, YOU KNOW, EQUITY PURPOSES.
I ACTUALLY WANTED TO SPEAK ABOUT THAT SPECIFICALLY.
UM, WHEN I SERVED ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE WOMEN IN MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT, WHICH IS PART OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES, I, UM, USED MY OFFICE HOLDER ACCOUNTS FOR ALL THAT CONFERENCE REGISTRATION, TRAVEL, HOTEL EXPENSES, AS WELL AS MEALS WHILE I WAS THERE.
UM, THEY WERE NOT EVER PART OF THE LEGISLATIVE BUDGET.
AND I AM CONCERNED THAT THERE WOULD BE ANY ATTEMPT TO USE, UM, THE LIMITED FUNDS, A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS, UM, THAT'S ALLOCATED FOR LEGISLATIVE TRAVEL, FOR CONFERENCES AT ALL.
UM, WHETHER THAT'S SERVING AS A BOARD MEMBER, WHETHER THAT'S SERVING AS A DELEGATE, UM, AND EVEN ATTENDING THE, UM, CONGRESSIONAL CONFERENCE FOR NLC, WHICH IS IN DC AND WE CERTAINLY DO HAVE AN ADVOCACY DAY, UM, THAT'S NOT APPROPRIATE FOR THIS A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.
AND, YOU KNOW, WE'VE NOT JUST BEEN GIVEN, UM, AS IN PRIOR YEARS, $25,000 FOR EACH COUNCIL MEMBER TO USE TO COVER THOSE KINDS OF EXPENSES.
WE'VE NOW BEEN GIVEN THE FULL RANGE OF OUR BUDGET THAT INCLUDES STAFF SO THAT WE CAN MANAGE IT AS WE SEE FIT.
UM, AND YOU KNOW, I I CERTAINLY HOPE THAT MY COLLEAGUES ARE PUTTING THEIR TRAVEL EXPECTATIONS IN THERE.
SO HAD I STILL BEEN ON THE WI IMAGE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, I WOULD HAVE INCLUDED THAT AS PART OF MY BUDGET, UM, EXPECTING TO ATTEND, YOU KNOW, THE VARIOUS BOARD MEETINGS.
SO I, I'M CONCERNED THAT THAT HAS, UM, BEEN STRICKEN OUT.
AND NO, UM, I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I GO ON RECORD.
UH, I JUST, UH, TALKED TO MY LIVE IS DOWN THERE WITH CLIFFORD, UM, AND, AND CHAIRMAN DEPRO
I DID GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO TRAVEL TO SPEAK ON FENTANYL.
I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UH, AS A CHAIR AND
UM, UH, QUESTION, UH, DEPRO BALLOT, DO WHAT IS REALLY YOUR INTENT, UH, THAT YOU WANT TO TRY TO ACCOMPLISH? ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE PROCESS IS NOT FAIR, UH, UM, A D IS A, A ISSUE OR WHATEVER? I WANNA KNOW WHAT IS YOUR INTENT? AND SO I'M GIVE YOU A CHANCE TO CLARIFY WHAT IS THE INITIAL INTENT.
ARE YOU SAYING THAT THE MAYOR, THE LEGISLATOR CHAIRMAN AT THE CITY OF MANOR SHOULD NOT BE, SHOULD BE STRICKEN FROM THIS? UH, AND, AND THEN THAT WAY I CAN UNDERSTAND THAT BECAUSE YOU PUT IN OUR, UH, SECTION SIX, THE TRAVEL COSTS MUST BE REASONABLE.
YOU SCRATCH OUT FORM MUST BE USED TO PURSUE ITEM ON DALLAS CITY COUNCIL APPROVED FEDERAL STATE LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM, A MODEL SET FORTH IN WRITTEN REQUEST FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY, THE CITY MANAGER, CHAIR, LEGISLATIVE, A HOC COMMITTEE, UH, DE MAYOR.
THEN ON SECTION THREE, YOU SCRATCH OUT, PRIOR APPROVAL WILL BE OBTAINED FOR THE USE OF CHARTER REFORM, THE LEGISLATOR AD HOC COMMITTEE, A TIME PERMIT, OR BY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING, THREE INDIVIDUAL, THE CHAIR, THE LEGISLATIVE AD HOC COMMITTEE, THE MARYLAND CITY MANAGER.
SO I JUST WANT TO TRY TO FIND OUT WHAT IS YOUR INTENT, THE PROCESS, WHAT YOU, WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH? I, I'VE ALREADY EXPLAINED WHAT I'VE TRIED TO ACCOMPLISH.
I'M TRYING TO MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT AND LESS SUBJECTIVE.
AND SO IF YOU HAVE SUGGESTIONS ON HOW WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THAT AND IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE WHAT IT IS IN FRONT OF YOU, I'M OPEN TO THEM, BUT I'M PRETTY CLEAR ON MY INTENT.
THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIND OUT.
ANYONE ELSE HAD ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? WELL, I, I HAVE A QUESTION FOR, UM, MAYOR PROM, UH, I'M SORRY, DEPUTY MAYOR PROM, BASIL DUA.
SO IF THAT IS YOUR GOAL TO MAKE THIS EFFICIENT AND LESS OBJECTIVE, WOULD YOU, UM, AGREE TO REMOVING YOUR REQUEST FOR THIS ITEM? AND, UM, ALLOW ME TO WRITE UP WHAT I HAVE ALREADY SHARED WITH YOU, SIMILAR TO WHAT I ASKED FOR YOU TO DO ABOUT A YEAR AGO, IS WHAT YOU'RE ASKING ME? IS THAT WHAT YOU, WHAT I'M HEARING? I DON'T RE BECAUSE I DON'T RECALL THAT REQUEST FROM A YEAR AGO.
THE RESPONSE THAT I GOT, THE RESPONSE THAT I GOT
[01:35:01]
FROM YOU WAS THAT IT WASN'T NECESSARY AND YOU WEREN'T INTERESTED.AND SO I IF, IF YOU NOW FEEL, YOU KNOW, UM, OBLIGED TO, TO SIT DOWN AND, AND, AND FIGURE OUT WHAT WE COULD DO, THAT WAS MY, MY ORIGINAL ASK.
AND I WOULD ABSOLUTELY STILL BE WILLING TO DO THAT.
AND I APPRECIATE YOU COMING AROUND TO THAT SUGGESTION.
WOULD SO WOULD THAT BE A YES? YOU'RE GONNA WITHDRAW THIS? WELL, WE HAVE A PROCESS IN PLACE AND SO THIS WILL BE SEEN BY THE FULL COUNCIL.
WE WILL SEE WHAT WE CAN GET DONE BEFORE IT COMES TO FULL COUNCIL TO SEE IF IT NEEDS TO BE WITHDRAWN AS IN THE, A FULL COUNCIL ITEM.
IS THERE A DATE FOR THIS ON A COUNCIL AGENDA? YES.
UH, IT HAD TO BE HERE, I THINK THE 29TH OF SEPTEMBER.
SEPTEMBER 25TH, BECAUSE THAT'S THE 30 DAYS.
SO, UH, I, I GUESS WHAT I'M HEARING, UH, DEB MERRI VALLEY DO AND CHAIRMAN SEN, THAT IS A PROCESS THAT WE CAN WORK OUT SOME, UM, UM, SOLUTION WHATEVER, THAT WE CAN WITHDRAW THIS, WE CAN GET THIS DONE.
SO I DO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU SAID, DEPUTY MAYOR PRO OOD THAT IN THE PAST THAT, UH, I DON'T KNOW WHEN SHE WAS, UH, MS. MENS WAS A CHAIR BEFORE THE CHAIR.
SO THEREFORE, IF Y'ALL BOTH WANT TO TALK AND TRY TO WORK SOMETHING OUT BEFORE THE 25TH, YOU KNOW, WE OPEN.
BUT IN THE MEANTIME, I KNOW WE GOTTA SEND THIS FORWARD TO THE FULL COUNCIL.
CHAIRMAN, MENON YOU LIKE, I'M SORRY, I JUST, UH, DEPUTY APPROACH HIM
I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ENTERTAIN THIS, UH, CONVERSATION AND, AND I APPRECIATE YOU CHAIRMAN MENDELSSOHN FOR, UH, YOUR WILLINGNESS TO WORK ON, UH, FIGURING OUT HOW WE COULD JUST MAKE IT MORE EFFICIENT.
SO WITH THAT, I WOULD LIKE TO, UM, RECOMMEND, I WOULD LIKE TO PUT FORWARD A MOTION SAYING THAT THIS COMMITTEE DOES NOT RECOMMEND, UM, THE RESOLUTION AS PRESENTED.
ANYTHING ELSE? ANYBODY WANNA DISCUSS? VOTE? NO.
ANYBODY? ANYTHING ELSE? ANYTHING ELSE? OKAY.
IT IS 1145 THAT I CALLED AD HOC, COMMITTED TO BE ADJOURNED.