Travis County Commissioners Court
December 7, 2004
Item 19
This morning we did delay until this afternoon one item. Number 19. Which
is to consider and take appropriate action on strategic planning initiative
for fy 05.
>> we have been talking about a two-part initiative, the
first part being Commissioner Sonleitner's idea of giving each manager a listing
of 10 priority projects for '05.
>> I thought that was your great idea.
>> [laughter]
>> well, it was such a great idea I just assumed it was yours.
>> no, sir, it was yours.
>> and -- not only the 10 priority items, but also a couple
of other questions regarding each that I -- hopefully, that I -- that hopefully
will put us in -- in the -- -- and each manager has done such a thing, one
of my e-mails I indicated in my view we probably ought to discuss this today,
have another discussion next week. Commissioner Gomez is not here today, Commissioner
Sonleitner will not be here next week, but at least it will give all of us
an opportunity to review all of the points together. Now, there are five seats
available there, managers. Three more against the wall. I can tell how eager
you all are to go through this exercise with us. Shall we do them in reverse
order of receipt?
>> judge, I知 ready if you would like to go ahead and go
through a few more.
>> [indiscernible] [inaudible - no mic] leech around 2:45.
If possible. Whatever time frame that you are talking about.
>> what kind of conference is that?
>> the [indiscernible] [inaudible - no mic]
>> that's real important.
>> mhmr is doing it.
>> in fact is that on your priority list?
>> it is.
>> okay. I was asking to -- asked to put together the priority
list. I will be through one through 10. The number one as I saw it was the
central booking interlocal agreement to work on the revised agreement with
the city of Austin. It runs out at the end of '05, there's a pressing need
to work with the city to get a revised agreement in place for the beginning
of fy '06. Number 2 is the citizens bond committee. As we are looking to form
that committee, to be a resource for the committee, to help provide them information
and get them up to speak on, especially -- my part of it, the jail construction
project that especially could be on that. So that's my number two. Number
3, jail redesigned planning project, we are working on getting that ticked
off right for you. The court had just approved the money to go ahead and move
forward on that. That is going to be a key part of any potential jail project
because it's really the area where we can make any changes to any of the space
needs, programmatic needs of the jail facility and at a time when we can make
those changes at minimal or no cost. As we get if you are the into the project,
as you know from prior experience, that gets costly. Number 4, to continue
with the jail overcrowding task force and identification implementation of
new initiatives. A couple of things that we have on the plate. One of them
i'll go getting into in a minutes which is the mental health subcommittee.
We are looking at mental health issues. Another one we are going to be working
with its to implement an automatic nation committee, looking at automation
and process improvement recommendations that came out of the analysis. Also
looking at forming another group to look at how we can get more efficient
with our data reporting and use of that information. We have several folks
that provide information to the jotf, we are going to try to find a way to
pool our resources a little bit better. Number 5 is -- is the jftf, criminal
justice legislative agenda. As you know the legislative session is starting
up in January of this coming year. We are going to have to try to stay on
top of those items that the court approved to move forward on, especially
those that the jotf put forward. Also other legislation impacting us from
the current criminal [indiscernible] number 6, also with the jotf, mental
health priorities, a I mentioned we had formed a mental health subcommittee,
we have already been convening, trying to have a priority list of key issues
and key solutions from the programmatic side from the capacity side and also
just better coordination, collaboration among different entities to improve
our services, both from a jail diversion stand point while people in jail
and also as they transation back into the community. Several folks at the
table right now, including mhmr, including several folks from the jotf, also
several officials that participate in that, I think that we have a good cross-section
of representation there. Number 7, the round table. There was just an article
that came out today that talked about there's a shift in -- in I guess position
or thought at the state that we have locked up so many people in prison we
really can't keep going on doing that. They are starting to look at the feasibility
of enhanced treatment options, but also improving services for people reentering
the community so they can, you know, successfully transition and not enter
the prison system again. So that kind of gives you the focus about how important
the subject is. The round table has been doing a great job trying to focus
on these issues, over 200 officials, departments, entities involved in that.
My department has been playing a definite role in that both on the planning
council coordination side and also some of the subcommittee's work, we will
continue to work to help them further their goals. Number 8 is focused [indiscernible]
program. We currently have the focus program construction vocational skills
program that's out at the state jail. We are looking for ways to enhance and
improve that, also build a model for reentry program out at the state jail
to follow our concept for the community justice center, looking at ways to
enhance case management transition plans and also treatment programming for
that program and also in ways that we can even expand that to a wider base
of the population out there. Number 9 the community justice center advisory
committee, looking at ways to work with this committee to first of all recruit
new member that's we need to fill new positions there, also see how we can
work with them to identify key rolls and project -- key roles and projects
for them to undertake, official our initial concept and improve services out
there for offenders reentering the community. Number 10, i've kind of tapped
as a back to basics analysis of the criminal justice system. One of the things
since i've been here at the county that i've noticed is that there are a couple
of key baseline pieces of information that we could use as we do any subsequent
analysis of performance or effectiveness of criminal justice programs. A couple
of those things are baseline recidivism rates. Also trying to get some consistency
in -- when -- in the public or other people in the community ask about what
is the cost per day for incarceration or something, we have a number that
the different entities can agree on within the county, I will look forward
to working with p.b.o., The sheriff's office and others so we can come up
with a number at least we are comfortable reporting experentially. The subject
came up when we were providing information to can for some of their resources,
I hope we can come to some consensus on some of these areas.
>> the jail overcrowding task force has taken up mental health
priorities as I guess a kind of subinitiative.
>> yes, sir. The can he is how do we make sure that we integrate
that work with the work that the two or three other committee that's work
on the civil side, let's say, are doing. That's a good question, judge. I
think part of the answer is that we have -- first of all, there are several
initiatives going on. The round table has a subcommittee working omen tal
health -- men tal issue issues, the mayor's task force is working on issues
and coming up with recommendations that I know going to be released in the
near future. Several folks on the mayor's mental health task force that are
on our subcommittee, we are hoping to use some of the momentum and recommendations
that they have coming out of that committee so we can also use that for our
identification of priorities. And from the round table site as well, I know
it's going to be reaching out to some of the folks from our subcommittee and
the mayor's mental health task force, we are also going to be reaching out
to them as far as identifying a lot of the issues. I think from what I have
seen is a lot of the issues are going to be very overlapping. A lot of the
same key issues. I think there's opportunity here to build momentum and really
get a lot of people on board that we are seeing some of the same issues, what
are some key parts of the solution. The main impetus for having the jotf mental
health subcommittee is to engage some people, especially some of the folks
in mhmr, in our mental health community and the criminal justice system to
work a little more closely together. I think they have been doing a great
job trying to bridge that gap. But especially from our side of things, I think
we wanted to look internally, say as a system are there things that we can
do to improve from our side, also bridge those with other recommendations
that are coming up from some of these other collaborative committees that
are working on it.
>> I saw the headline of the -- of the state story about
rehabilitation, representative allen, but I did not read the whole story.
The body of it they talk about allocating more state resources --
>> there weren't specifics on it. I see Commissioner Sonleitner
shaking her head. There aren't specifics but there was definitely talk that
they were going to be very supportive of any types of reentry or enhanced
treatment initiatives. Again there weren't specifics mentioned, but definitely
talk of being more supportive of those approaches as opposed to building more
prison beds. To give you a key example, the interim report that came out of
the center for criminal justice committee is not recommending prison beds
kind of pricing give very much the current crisis, what they are recommending
is further examination, trying to come up with good recommendations for improved
programs. So I think that speaks volume that there is an ear to -- to these
initiatives.
>> okay. Couple more. Questions and i'll be done. One is
where do we pick up the -- the absence of -- of substance abuse counseling
treatment, et cetera, programs not only it seems throughout the state of Texas.
But even in our community. Is that included in one of these initiatives.
>> yes and probably we can do more of it. It is included
definitely in our work with the -- with the community justice center's advisory
committee, that's a high priority for them to look at, we will be working
to help facilitate that, to help them make sure that their ideas are heard.
So we are working with them closely. With what we are looking at specifically
with the program, including substance abuse treatment as part of the program
out there at the state jail now. So that's on a very, you know, wheels meet
the road programmatic level, from a higher level, the entry round table has
a subcommittee working on those issues, I myself chair the policy and laws
committee of the reentry round table and they as part of their legislative
proposals they are working on things to put in front of the legislature as
far as trying to seek additional resources for treatment. Both for people
out on probation and parole, but, you know, especially, you know, as we see
these people reenter our community. I think the discussion is happening in
a couple of different place, I think that's one of the things that we probably
will have to take on more from the jotf side, too, to see how we can improve
our services as a system.
>> okay. I think those of us in Travis County realized 10
or 12 years ago, when you talk about the need for wrap around services for
ex-offenders, you really start with stable housing and employment. Private
sector in our community employs a great number of people, but the private
sector employs a lot more. So are they -- I mean, is there the consideration
of how to include the private sector? Included in the reentry round table
discussions?
>> yes, as a matter of fact it's funny you bring that up
because I think that's one of the issue that's has been talked about quite
a bit recently with the reentry planning council of which I知 also a member,
how can we do a better job reaching out to the private sector and business
community. I think there's definitely going to be some initiatives to reach
out better, to say that we all kind of have a stake in this. Not just from
the perspective of, you know, trying to find additional employment resources.
But also a stake, you know, how can you play a part in the programming and
making sure that these people are transitioning the way they need to be. I
think that's definitely something on the radar screen for the reentry round
table and we'll be continuing to look at that.
>> anybody else.
>> I have a couple of questions. In your priority initiations
that you have, have there been any as far as bring about active involvement
stead of proactive involvement, a lot of this is reaction, how do we act,
we have to spend on moash after the crime has been committed. We are having
to deal with the jail overcrowding, things like that. Have there been any
attempt to integrate any relationship between proactive prevention type of
mechanisms to ensure that before we get persons that are incarcerated to get
opportunities where they do not have to be incarcerated, working with maybe
like hhs for example on education, which I know is really vital and if you
look at some of the statistics, a person -- of persons that are incarcerated,
there is really short coming as far as economic educational achievement. So
it appears to be that there needs to be an effort in place where we maybe
can be proactive and still -- instead of reactive to ensure that type of population
that has been earmarked in going to incarcerated facilities which does cost
the taxpayers money, what can we do to be proactive to prevent these persons
from ending up in our system, correctional facilities, has there been any
attempt as far as looking at that type of relationships with established groups.
>> you are hitting on a key area, Commissioner. I think,
you know, when you talk about, you know, diverting folks before or preventing
them before they enter our criminal justice system, you know, you are not
just talking about the folks that have never entered our system, but have
been through time and time again. So we are trying a couple of different approaches
to -- for the people, you know, hopefully will never see in the criminal justice
system, keeping them out. One of the things that the jotm mental health subcommittee
and mayor's task force and round table are looking at are jail diversion strategies
for those folks that don't need to be in jail, shouldn't be in jail, where
jail is not the only thing that we do with these people or the best option
to deal with them when officers pick them up off the street. So I think that
is a -- like I mentioned there's some common threads here among all of the
groups, that's one of those areas. The other thing is that I think that the
reentry round table and those initiatives are not just looking at just exclusively
when people are returning, but they are also looking at what programs need
to be in place to make sure they stay successful, improves their chances of
success and prevents them from reentering our system locally. Like I mentioned
when you have the different types of folks that you are talking about, I think
we are talking about prevention and diversion from a couple of different perspectives.
So yeah there are a couple of different initiatives where we are going to
be looking at that. I think from the jotf side as well, we are definitely
looking at way that's we can do a better job to make sure we are diverting
those folks away from jail that don't need to be there.
>> what I would like to see I think is maybe a cooperative
effort on any of the -- an example I mentioned hhs department. I think the
judge mentioned something about the [indiscernible] initiative, thing like
that. But not only that, I知 going to keep harping on this educational thing,
I really am, if you look at the population that's dropping out of school,
out of our schools, right now, those persons are potential -- are potential
candidates for -- for incars rages here in Travis County because of -- incarceration
here in Travis County, because of people getting into trouble, getting into
crime. I知 trying to make sure we keep focused and keep our kids in school.
Not only that, kids become adults and of course we have a continuing recycling
of -- of persons that are in -- in a correctional facilities and so concern
about -- about are we really doing enough educational-wise. To keep these
persons in school and to ensure that we do not have to continue to increase
the population that we are experiencing now. As far as the correctional person
that needs correction in the jail system. So -- so I知 really concerned about
that. I just want to make sure that we are coordinating everything properly,
where we -- where we don't leave it out of the realm of priorities. I hope
you understand where I知 coming from.
>> yeah, no. Absolutely Commissioner. I think that one of
the things early on that I became aware of as well as many of the folks that
work in hhs and other areas that, you know, we're talking about people who
-- there are a lot of things that happened to them before we actually see
them in the criminal justice system, having a great education in ed is one
of those components of it. You want to do as much as possible to create their
chances of success so they don't end up there. I think that's kind of what
you are hinting at. I think there's always room for improvement, we can always
get better trying to coordinate our services. As much as I can play a part
in that I will for this next year and years past that. But I think we have,
you know, we do have collaborative approaches going on. Which are really good
to see. Again I think there's room for growth there. But like, you know, hhs
mentioned is also very -- participating very well in the reentry round tables
while some of our other county departments, so you do have a lot of partnership
there and some of these collaborative approaches that is really neat to see.
A.p.d. Representation on our jotf subcommittee, another key piece trying to
bring in other parts of the fold. I agree this is an area that we definitely
need to take a look at, I think we are starting to make some strides in that
way.
>> thank you.
>> anything else? One final point on this. A few years ago,
we generated zero reports and data in this conveyor. Now we generate quite
a bit -- in this area, now we generate quite a bit. I wonder from time to
time whether the benefits that we receive from this report gathering match
the investment that we have to make to generate them. So my request would
be that over the next two or three months we look at the reports and see how
are using them, see if they really are benefiting us. I don't know that we
are vesting huge resources to get them done, but I know we are vesting some
resources, from time to time I hear of the need for additional fte's in different
areas to do different thing, I find myself more and more wondering, you know,
one or two people who generate this report or that report, is that the best
way for us to use them. If it is, I can live with that. But I think we owe
it to ourselves at least an evaluation of that. Okay? Anything further, mr.
Trimble, before he runs to another criminal justice workshop? That was jail
diversion for mental health clients is where you are headed, right.
>> yes.
>> thank you.
>> appreciate it.
>> thank you,.
>> thank you very much. Alicia, are you still volunteering
to be next?
>> sure.
>> okay. Alicia perez, executive manager for administrative
operations, what you have before you is a list of goals. We did not prioritize
them one to 10 because since we got that message from the judge I wanted to
get some input from you, even though by -- by department they are somewhat
prioritized by -- by what we believe is the importance. The other factor in
difficulty in prioritizing is that some of these are goals that have already
been adopted by the court. Via the project that's have been funded through
-- some of them multiple year budgets, some of them in your fy '05 budget
and we'll go through the fy '06. We broke it down in terms of the departments,
how we would accomplish this, why the goals are important ... The other issue
is that we are a support unit and function for the other departments. So to
the extent that -- that either its, facilities management, human resources,
or records management is needed for the other departments to accomplish their
goals, we want to be ready and attentive to assisting all of the departments
in accomplishing their goals, not only the departments that report directly
to the Commissioners court, but also the -- the other departments that are
outside such as the courts system and the -- and the jail and correctional
system for the county. So I will go ahead around start with number one, maintain
and preserve valuable county real property assets. As the court is aware,
the county owns over 2 million square feet of property. It is by far one of
the most valuable assets that the people of Travis County have. We have in
the last several years developed a life term maintenance and repair schedule
for each of the facilities to properly maintain this investment, we not only
have looked at carpet, the paint, the hvac systems, the roofs, also issues
as mold and developing and work environment that is conducive to project activity
in each of the facilities. Funding should be provided for a current routine
maintenance as well as capital funding to repair major systems. Components
of the real property as they reach the end of their service life. Such as
roofs, chiller systems, boiler and air handlers. The court has indeed put
money into the current f.y. '05 budget as you have in the '04 and 2005 to
keep up a maintenance program for the assets. Number two is construction and
renovation to meet future, public facilities needs and requirements this is
one of those goals that I mentioned that by the actions of the court you have
set some of these items as a priority by funding them, either in previous
years and continuing to fund them this year and next year. New facility construction
and maintenance improvements of existing structures should be implemented
in order to provide properly sized, configured and forly located facilities
to deliver county services to the public. One of the major program that's
the court has -- has embarked on is getting Travis County services to the
community. You have done that by the building of the precinct facility in
precinct 4, in precinct 3 you have expanded your facility in precinct 1 to
include tax services and also meet the needs of that growing community in
Pflugerville in precinct 2 you have provided an expanded clinic services,
again to meet the needs of that community. A wonderful and a large community
center that also serves senior citizens, that was a long-term goal of the
court to get those services and more of those services, especially through
your tax offices into the particular communities that each of you serve, we
continue that -- that buildout, we will -- we will complete the -- the rest
-- the west rural community center in precinct 3, the office building this
summer. We build out the airport boulevard building, which when we started
-- we embark odd that particular endeavor, I think our goal was to make sure
that we had room for growth for the county clerk's office and the tax offices.
When we got on the ground, we had much more participation in visualizing that
area, actually maximumally utilitylize thank building for services. We keep
that building and those offices very busy, that parking lot is full and people
find that office to be more -- much more convenient than coming downtown to
get their voter registration, to get their registration, to pay their tax
bills, marriage licenses, and other county services. Planning and construction,
one of the major projects that we see on the horizon is a planning and construction
of the new civil courts facilities and the new correctional center. The --
the court has directed the bond committee to look at the new correctional
center and you have provided funding for the new -- new civil court center,
both of them, major endeavors, multi-million dollar projects. You have funded
like I said in fy '05 the planning for those -- in fy '04 the planning for
the correctional center, in fy '05 for the new civil courts building and also
for construction of the correctional center. Improve operation and maintenance
and marketability of the exposition center --
>> let me ask.
>> okay.
>> are we fixing to go over all five -- I mean have all five
executive managers go over and read us each one of these lines? I mean is
that --
>> we can -- I知 afraid that --
>> very quickly. -- [speaker interrupted -- multiple voices]
>> we are going to be here until 5:00 or 6:00. I can read
all of this information. This is great information for had he to have. , I
mean, maybe I知 the only one that feels that way.
>> no you are not [laughter]
>> but I am fixing to --
>> no problem. [multiple voices]
>> we can -- we can do it quickly. Okay.
>> respectfully.
>> no problem. Okay.
>> exposition center, that's something that you have asked
us to -- to work on over the last decade. I believe we have done a lot of
ism improvements to the center, we are cognizant that we continue to market,
we have several contracts on the horizon, long-term contracts with the republic
of Texas rally. The national basketball league and other music and sports
venues, our goals are to increase revenues and for the current budget year
we have estimated or projected that our revenues will exceed those of -- of
'05 and we continue, we will continue to do that.
>>
>> [one moment please for change in captioners]
>>
>> our health and wellness program, again, that has been
a five-year initiative. About three years ago we went to a self-funded plan.
We have embarked on a health and wellness program. We have a clinic to roll
out this year. We are very attentive to the cost and report to the court on
a quarterly basis and annual basis on the cost, and also continue to work
with a community made up of employees that brings forth recommendations on
an annual basis on this particular item. Again, 37-million-dollar program
on an annual basis. And that's funded in fy '02. Compensation, that is a goal
of the court, and it program that we started in 1997. And the goal there was
to maintain the competitive nature of the workforce through conducting market
salary surveys. This year the court has charged them to complete both -- to
take on the i.t. Family and look at that, and also complete the peace officer
compensation study. And we will complete that this year and bring recommendations
for the fy '05 budget.
>> I know that a few years back we did approve a three year
classification and compensation strategic plan, and I think we voted basically
to review every county position every third year. I want to make sure the
court is still -- is still support sieve of that, right? I haven't heard any
objections. We were unable to fund that a couple of times.
>> and that's part of our priorities and something that we
will bring to the court to begin another three-year cycle in '06. This year
we're doing i.t. And the peace officers.
>> okay.
>> under i.t., Expand the use of technology to provide public
information. We have heard from several of you, how you want to use technology
to improve efficiency in the workplace and also to provide public information
through our internet, our intranet and our informal projects. Those are projects
that we have undertaken to address that particular goal of the court. And
that includes programs such as a tour of parks and then the expansion of services
like people being able to fill out their applications on the internet. Our
e filing project, which includes a document management system for the district
and county clerk, and the ability in the coming year to have attorneys --
to enable attorneys to be able to file cases online. And we worked with a
committee on those projects and continue to move that particular goal forward.
To continue the upgrade of the Travis County integrated justice system, that
is a five to seven-year program. We're on the last phase of that particular
program. And it was -- the objective was to integrate the offices that deal
with the justice system with the information, so they wouldn't have to enter
it again and also so they could share important information on defendants
and particular crimes, and provide some of that information to the public.
And again, that's a long-term goal. Records management, this year the court
funded a Travis County records center, and we will see the completion of that
in '06. Another project to get information to the public is to convert hard
copy documents, video and microfilm images to digital media, so it can be
viewed via the internet by the public. This will save our citizens a tremendous
amount of time by not having to come downtown and ask for the information
and view it. They can view it from their own homes. It will also save the
need for expanding facilities for files. And we're working on some of that
-- we're working on that project, some of that is currently funded in the
fy '05 budget through the county clerk's office, and we continue to do that
work also in-house through a records management department. The last item
on here is homeland security. That is not necessarily just in my bailey wick,
but i've discussed it with (indiscernible) and the judges have expressed concern
on that issue, and that is an area where I believe it is a priority issue.
We need to continue to work to make sure that all the facilities, the public
and our employees are all aware of the issues and also what they need to do
about homeland security, all the facilities are safe and that they're clear
and comprehensive evacuation plans for each of our facilities.
>> do we have a plan for each building?
>> no, sir. We don't have a plan for each of the buildings.
We have plans for the major buildings and need to continue to develop them
and train employees.
>> it seems to me that the strategy ought to be shared with
employees. What I know of getting out of this building is what I learned in
elementary school, things that you do and do not do, and in case of a fire.
But in those days you were not taught what to do in case of other catastrophic
events, maybe a tornado, and a lot of that depends on the building you were
in. So the two or three lessons I learned there have helped me during subsequent
years, but I知 thinking that in different county facilities, what you should
do may well differ. And, you know, with this homeland security and all these
measures being given higher priority nationwide, it strikes me that we're
really not doing quite enough here. My guess is that the cjc is probably a
lot more problematic than this building, five stories. If you had to jump
off the fifth floor, you could. I wouldn't recommend that on the ninth floor
of the cjc, but I think we ought to look at that. The other question is can
we see that the integration program is substantially completed, do we plan
to do some sort of analysis and determine whether in fact the result that
we got was worth the investment? And we have been working on it for years.
>> yes, sir. The assessment is done not only empirically,
but from the experience that we received, but there are also planned upgrades.
And through the training and the feedback from the departments, we have that
assessment. It's not -- it's a dynamic system, as most technology is, so we
continue to work with it, but with the completion of the facts clearly there
is that shared information.
>> okay. Any other questions now for ms. Perez? Who is next?
We may be about to lose our quorum. I may be the only one left here. [ laughter
] who is next?
>> all right, judge.
>> i'll be next, if that's okay with everybody else.
>> I loved your exclamation points. (indiscernible).
>> as you know in emergency services, it's hard to prioritize
1 through 10 because what you're doing is telling a fire marshal and telling
willie and starflight that one has a priority over the other. You do not.
But this is the best way that I knew how, so I started with number 1, which
is the accreditation of the toxology lab. That was one that started last year.
That was one that was kind of something that we needed to accomplish. It's
going well, but we do have a deadline for this coming September '02 to finish
that out. -- September '05 to finish that out. I put that as number 1 because
of the fact that there is that deadline and also the requirement to get it
done. So that's number 1. Of course, as you know, that's handled through dr.
Buy arrest dough and the forensic office. Number two, corrections radios.
I don't think I need to go through that with you because you just approved
that. But that's the last step of the regional radio project, and of course
that's very important that we go ahead and bring those folks on, so there's
an r.f.p. Process in process now to hopefully get that accomplished. Number
3 is a backup psap. I've spoken thank you about this on several occasions.
Through capco we have been able to get funding through the flexibility rule,
if you remember last year, there was a bill that went forward and the governor
signed it and it's now an official rule that allows us to use the 911 service
revenue for more than just the answering point, but also for other systems
within the 911 system itself, such as radios and cad, etcetera. The backup
is important because of the funding, most the funding we are partnering with
the city of Austin in developing this particular psap, so it's important that
we go ahead and use the money and get it done. So now that we've finished
the major portions of the radio project, it's now ready to move forward with
this. Interlocal agreements, and the main reason is for 911 redundancy. You
want to have something -- we do have a backup site now, but it get to go where
we have a more sophisticated site with the new technology. Interlocal agreements,
I don't think I need to go through that one with you because i've been here
all day talking about that with you, and that is simply keeping up with the
large interlocals that I have in my department, and making sure that they're
monitored and managed and that they're getting what it is that you need and
what the citizens need in regards to services and regards to services. The
esd interlocal, i've kind of set to the side and have separated because it's
something that needs to be developed now that we have e.m.s. Agreement in
place, and that is to where we now go and develop an agreement with the emergency
services districts that are ready for this, they've been ready for it for
the last five years. And now we need to move forward with it. It would allow
us a lot of potential in regards to relationships with not only the county,
but also the city in regards to emergency medical services since they are
first responders. And it will also enable us to do things easier and cleaner
between us, such as inventory, such as exchange of equipment, many, many aspects
of which we feel like will be of great benefit to all parties. Fire code,
that is, of course, one that wife beening with over the last two years. And
you've recently approved a business plan. That really encompasses more than
just the fire code, but I thought that would grab your attention as far as
the fire code. There are about eight initiatives there that we're hopefully
now going to be implementing with you. New helicopters, of course, you've
just recently had that discussion. And now it time since you've approved that
to move forward with the next step and develop an r.f.p. Process. By the way,
a draft has now been sent to purchasing, so we're planning to move forward
on that because we know it is a lengthy approximate process. 6.2 radio upgrades.
That is something of which I haven't spoken to you much about because it's
something that's just internal, but it is something that is a radio operations
improvement. It was given to us at no cost. And it's simply going in and making
the overall infrastructure more secure. One of the things in technology is
that you have the availability of people being able to try to penetrate your
system, and what you want to try to do making sure that that does not happen,
so you need the full protection and as a result you will have upgrades and
changes to the system. That's going right now and hopefully it will be finished
by the end of the year. Emergency services office location, you might be wondering
with all emergency services why are you putting that on the list. And that's
on the list because of the fact that we are in a leased space and we know
that you're going to want is us to move to a location that is not going to
cost lease payments. So this involves several operations within our department,
and that is the fire marshals, which are now looking at another site through
facilities management, as well as my areas that are looking and talking with
the facilities management and potential areas that are here in the downtown
area as well as elsewhere. And so working with mike trimble, because as you
know, mike and I share some staff, so we're looking at trying to keep us together
if possible, but also looking at other options too. So we feel like we need
to go ahead and start working on that now. Facilities has already come over
and spoken with us about options, so we feel like we need to be ready for
'06. The last one is accreditation, that's the one where dr. Bayrado wrote
you a letter indicating that some of the changes that he's looking at is the
review and potential of being accredited office, so I put that on there as
administratively. I知 working with the doctor in conducting that review this
year and coming back to you, the court, will hopefully around budget time
to see where we are with that.
>> between 1 and 10, you said one is the lab and two is the
office?
>> yes, sir.
>> questions, comments? Commissioner Daugherty? Thank you
very much. Now who will be next?
>> I think I gave you the -- (indiscernible) I should be
talking more about the discreet things that have to be done this year which
follow number 10, so it seems like I知 going to -- (indiscernible). I知 not
sure I need to read you a list of things. For the most part this is a budgeting
for these items -- (indiscernible). That's why it's such a priority. There's
a lot of work that can be done in that area. I guess they turned the mic off
on me. But it's a significant business area and it's had traditional funding
by the court. We set a high priority on it for this year, but we're looking
at it and stieding what to do in this area in the future. I've had a lot of
discussion about wanting to do things in this area, and so water quality or
the water detention facilities and that sort of thing, I just don't think
that we clearly have the resources to do it. So that is the only thing that
I would see in terms of direction from the court in regard to doing something
in this area. That we're not doing. And if so, with additional resources we'll
do it.
>> do we think we're complying with the law? No?
>> I think what we have is a mandate to do something. (indiscernible)
-- environmental quality. But there's so much more that we should be doing.
On a regional basis, our storm water watershed, we're looking at maintaining
drainage problems as they occur and particularly within the right-of-way of
the county road system. What I知 asked to do by constituents and whatnot are
far beyond that. So it's just an area that we're prepared to launch with these
additional resources and we cautiously decide that this is an area that we
want to in and we have the resources to do it. On the other hand, we will
be giving a presentation, if not next Tuesday, the following Tuesday, on the
road system and we will have specific recommendations from you at that time
with regard to reallocation of resources. And so we will maintain those goals.
I think we're looking on which direction to go here because we have a couple
of different things, and -- all the things that are on this list to do.
>> i've got two right here, and it's not so much word smithing,
but it's also to continue to stay on message. Related to priority number 1
on the mobility, it isn't just about moving people and goods efficiently.
It's safety. I think if there is an overwhelming theme of what I hear out
in the community, it's not just about get me there as fast as I can get there,
it's get me there as safely as I can get there. So I think the word safety
in there would be very helpful for me. And related to the y. It's not just
about arterial roadways. I want to make sure that we do not forget what is
necessary related to pedestrian and bike accommodations. And I use the word
accommodations because too often people think that means bike lanes. That's
not bike lanes. It's really about accommodations which can be paved shoulders,
but I think that's one of those emerging things out there, especially related
to our farm-to-market road. If we simply make accommodation for the roads
-- for the trucks and cars, we haven't completed our job because there's a
lot out there related to folks who choose to get on a two-wheeled vehicle,
be that a motorcycle or a bike, that paved shoulders are going to be I think
a really big deal.
>> I understand that, but that brings us into a new area.
We do not have currently resources allocated to do that. We do not even have
a policy with regard to pedestrian bicycle lanes. [overlapping speakers].
>> so if in the future, basically pedestrian facilities on
every road, if so, we do not have the resources allocated to do that. So that
is a strategic area and we need to talk about where we get the money to do
that.
>> that's why I知 raising this some terms of a platform for
discussion because there's no better time to talk about it then as we move
ahead and talk about a new bond authorization and is that something that needs
to be rolled into the cost of a project, this would be the appropriate time
to talk about it. But I知 having a real hard time defending ourselves at places
like campo where some of the partners there are being more aggressive about
pedestrian and bike accommodations and in fact campo sets aside 15% of our
monies and yet we don't have any kind of a policy here in Travis County. And
so I知 rising this now as i'd like to discuss that in terms of whether that
ought to be something that gets on the how area, what are we doing about that.
>> and we appreciate that because we had understood this
whole discussion as priorities and getting strategic about how these resources
were used and what are the goals. Again, in this particular area where resources
have not been allocated, ju as they have not been allocated in storm water
management. I think it will also be a request from constituents and the community
for those purposes. We have not gone to these areas and don't have the fund
and frequently -- (indiscernible). So if that is going to be priority, we
need to talk about these things in the context of county resources and focus
-- I mean, that's kind of what this is all about and trying to get some sense
of direction.
>> [inaudible - no mic]. This was intended to be a short
discussion. But it kind of put us on notice as to each manager's areas, what
the priorities are for '05. And some of these are a lot more problematic than
others. Some we're really in the driver's seat on and some we're not. Some
are taking place and we have to react, and at some point a list of recommendations
will be placed before us on which we are expected to act and fund.
>> next week I hope to be able to show a diagram of the resources
that are required to do any one of these. Where we are today and where we
would have to be and how fast we would have to get there in order to accomplish
some of these things -- (indiscernible). And the things we could do without
understanding what it going to take to get there. And a case in point, I guess,
is the parks system. We have started out with the parks every year, and we
think that without a thorough appreciation of the scope of the operation and
maintenance. So the fact that these are wanted by constituents and we're delivering
the capital side and also means ongoing costs. It has to be systematically
with the way the parks are maintained under the long run. So we don't walk
into this completely because -- (indiscernible) -- you're prepared to support
that type of thing year after year from now on. Because it's noit going to
go away. And so part of this trying to decide what the staff is doing perhaps
and what we'll be able to perform to do all the other things.
>> my comment really more is the integration of what we are
doing on the road network with what we are doing on trails, sidewalks and
bikeway. These things don't necessarily have to be at cross purposes. All
you've got -- i'll use this as a perfectly good example. When that roadway
was being planned in terms of preliminary engineering and design, it wasn't
just about the roadway, we were piggybacking with that money that we got for
a separate pot of money related to a trail. And I知 just saying I would like
to see more of an integration of these things as opposed to too often sidewalks
and the directive is an afterthought. And the most inexpensive way to get
some of these things delivered is to do it in the time you are doing a major
reconstruction project. That's the best time to get the right-of-way, that
is the best time to incorporate that within the process, but also where most
of our bond projects seem to be occurring are on the urban fringe, and it
is a place where if it were a rural stretch it would be converted into a more
urban stretch. And while it doesn't make any sense to stick a sidewalk on
every single road that we've got, as these things become urban interfaces,
I think that is something that we need to incorporate. And we have been doing
it, but we don't have a policy to do that. And that's where I知 trying to
raise it to the platform that the best way to talk about that is up front
as opposed to like these are separate side roads of oh, we do the road and
then we have the trail money and it's more of an integration of where are
we trying to get to in terms of connectivity is a word that I use a lot over
at campo, and it is put into the up front planning as opposed to being an
afterthought.
>> and I don't disagree with that comment, the integration.
But there's a lot of things that go into that. Quite frankly, they can work
at cross purposes. Some of the trails that we have put in we have not maintained
because we didn't have the capability to maintain them. So it's not doing
any good to have an infrastructure until unless you can maintain them afterwards.
And you put in a trail only to find a tha a utility comes in and puts in a
sidewalk. So it destroys the function functionalty of what you just did. When
we talk about it, you will have some core policies and what you gain by providing
pedestrian and bicycle facilities, where you want it to go and how you want
it to be maintained subsequently. Of which, you know, we need money as well.
>> strategy and strategic plan, and the city of Austin has
a strategic plan related to their bikes, their trials and sidewalks, etcetera,
and that's the only jurisdiction in campo that does have one. There's no integration
between any plans that may be out there. It really everybody's in their separate
little style and I think we need to be part of the solution here, and again,
I知 raising this as this seems to be the platform for people kind of getting
things out there as opposed to a repetition of what we're already doing and
how to prioritize it.
>> joe, is that it? Is that enough interaction for you? [
laughter ]
>> in the interest of time, I don't know if you would necessarily
want me to run through all the list of ideas things that we're going to want
to share with you. I think the most important item for the planning and budget
office is to help identify a few big ideas that will help guide the appropriation
of resources over multiple years. And we get caught and everything is important,
and yet we know that more things are -- some things are more important than
others. And we're going to try to develop through '06 budget guidelines a
set of programmatic criteria that hopefully the court can embrace to keep
the course over a multi-year period of time to make a difference. We want
to review budgets that left some resources on the table and focus attention
on redirection. We want to improve the use of performance measures, review
the financial and budgeted guidelines that were last reviewed in '01. You
may remember in the '90's, we put together something of things we knew to
be true, which was a codification of principals and standards and values that
helped guide resources and that was last approved by the court in twun and
it seems o.o. In '01 and it seems like a reasonable thing to do that, especially
given the notion of a couple of big ideas that might guide us. We definitely
want to finalize the fines and fee study, increase the competency of the staff,
along with some other technical skills. We want to improve the use of the
internet and intranet for budget related forums, develop a new bank contract
and get solid fiscal support to a wide variety of county internal and external
benefits, the jail study, the review of compensation, the legislative agenda
and legislative proposal as well as work with the citizens bond committee
for new bond programs. Each of those has a different set of reasons as to
why they're important, and they can all be accomplished in one form or another.
>> are the two biggest challenges for the budget office on
this list?
>> I would think --
>> if you had to kind of on the spur of the moment give the
two biggest challenges for the budget office.
>> the two biggest challenges are what's most important and
how to measure it.
>> what's the most important for Travis County for the budget
office?
>> what's most important for Travis County? Right behind
that is how to measure it, how to evaluate it, how do you know it's working
and what do you do when it doesn't.
>> and how do you put in place a system to enable you to
answer those questions? Because it seems to me that during every budget process
we ask them.
>> and we do -- we do an okay job of answering it because
the budget itself is a document that establishes what's important, but wait
in which we get there sometimes is arduous, and sometimes we -- we do measure
things and we do do an okay job, but it not as systematic. And systems we
rely on antidotal evidence more than anybody would like, but the pressures
of the moment and the realities of the world in which we live result in those
outcomes.
>> okay. Anything further from the court? Anybody else want
this opportunity to say a few words? Y'all just happy to be sitting back there
and not at the table there, huh? [ laughter ]
>> it will be back on the agenda next week, judge?
>> that was my intention. It doesn't have to be back on.
The question is whether we think there is a follow-up work to be done.
>> I think so.
>> judge, what did you have in mind? After listening to 15
bullets that we now have all shared with you and with this notion of a retreat,
how to integrate a pathway between the things that we always said are important
for '05 and the notion of perhaps developing a synthesis of what has been
talked about as well as clear direction for future years.
>> I had in mind a five or six step process, and today was
number 3. And it basically was that we would dryly listen to a summary of
the 10 points, and if we had questions or comments, we'd ask them. But we
would do it together, the 10 or 11 of us. Now, in work setting context would
have been better, but I don't need to tell you how hard it is to get us at
a work session. So the fall back was an hour, hour and a half, two hours on
a slow Tuesday, which today was based on the last -- based on the agenda that
I saw last week. So this was exactly what I had in mind. And like Commissioner
Daugherty said, though, each of us can read these. I don't know that reading
them gives you the same feel as sort of discussing in court. And I thought
there would be some discussion. Maybe more than we had. But that's why if
we don't -- so I had step 3 myself. But step 4 was us looking at this list
and trying to decide whether we would modify it, whether we would add something
to it, how important these 10 are, whether we agree with these 10, whether
the 10 ought to be reduced to seven or eight. At some point the question is
if these 10 are important, what percent of your total work load do these 10
represent? Now, on the resources, I really had in mind a look at more answers
than I saw. I thought you would say I need another person and a half to get
this done or I need two people in '05 and three more in '06. And how will
-- and then there would be the question, show me the five f.t.e. Benefits,
do you see what I知 saying? Because when you look at these, they really in
my view generate different responses. So I知 not -- some I知 more familiar
with than others. The other thing is I see y'all everyday and I know you're
working, but how much attention these 10 have been getting or will get the
rest of this fiscal year is another matter. I assume that most of y'all are
like me, if I were to put my 10 most important goals down, I could arrive
at work and start on those everyday, but i'd be hit with so many other things
that I really had to react to that if I知 not careful, those 10 get pushed
to the background fairly soon. And even if I was at the top of the list at
the beginning of the day, I couldn't guarantee you -- I can guarantee you
the list would be the same at the end of the day, but I couldn't guarantee
you that's how I would spend my eight or nine hours. I know y'all's days are
just like that.
>> allow me to be so bold as to suggest for what we've just
been discussing is work load planning, but not strategic planning. And that
there's a great hunger to have a great solid dialogue with the court as a
whole on strategic planning.
>> I agree with you, and that's kind of where I was trying
to get is rather than us getting -- campo to me is a list of projects. It
doesn't really say strategically where are we trying to get with transportation
and mobility planning. And where I was trying to get -- this actually was
helpful for me because I was kind of playing with some things here, is that
are there some overriding or overreaching themes for me, and to look at cost
drivers and whether putting all -- more effort into certain areas will create
big results. And I was kind of getting down with what i've seen so far, and
granted, this is not all encompassing for me, but I知 getting down to things
that have to do with sobriety, stability, safety, and statutorily what is
required of Travis County. I can kind of stick things in there, and there
are some things that are going to fall into one of those neat little categories,
and others are just it's a list of the work -- it's part of the work plan
for that department, but it's not necessarily what I would call programmatically
or strategically what needs to to be accomplished.
>> you have just touched on a number of the big ideas that
we would like to discuss with you and discuss publicly in in early January,
if not late December about coming up with programmatic areas where we should
go that do make a difference, that have an impact, like substance abuse, yike
mental health, like workforce development, like reducing inmates and the juvenile
population and also invite proposals from officials that meet certain criteria
that have evaluation components, that have measurement components in them,
that talk about start doing this and start doing that. Thoses of things we
can use the budget process. And that is an opportunity to say no, but it is
an opportunity to say yes.
>> I was going to say just to sum up what everybody has mentioned
and what sherry has got on her list as well, it is the category. Safety, safety
net, that can be the safety of roads, the safety of our criminal justice system.
Stability can also be the stability of traibility in terms of the government,
the stability of our things related to homeland security. There's so many
ways that you can get things to fit into categories, but if there's one thing
that just is overriding for me is we spend so much money because of the lack
of sobriety in too many folks' lives.
>> we do what we've done in past, which is to give us 20
or 30 things that are all important, because that's what happened. And that
is what is causing some of the troubles we've got in terms of strategic planning.
Because you can put everything under one bucket and then the whole bucket
is important. You can't make distinctions. I will be lobbying, and until you
tell me to stop it, I will continue to lobby to come up with some major directions.
>> when you and I chatted about the last four, right?
>> yes.
>> I am not left with a real good feeling about strategic
planning that you and Commissioner Sonleitner are. This is after having suffered
through a decade of them.
>> if the process is cumbersome, it doesn't have to be.
>> when I talk with others, I think they'd like to see some
goals, objectives, projects. That's why I asked for the 10. I didn't ask for
the department's strategic plan. I would have been able to read that. R. If
you do it like the books say. But on these priorities, and it seems to me
this is exactly what I was looking for. And we've got those in an hour and
a half of court time norks the a day or day and a half. These are a lot more
beneficial to me than the strategic planning session we had last year in my
view. But I have committed to suffer through another day or day and a half
of strategic planning if the majority of this court wants to do it. So in
the end, though, at the end of the year when we have looked at the expenditures,
we have to ask the question, so what's the public benefit of the expenditures?
And I don't know about the strategic plan and dusting it off and answer the
question. Maybe that starts the answer, and it certainly can serve as a guide
for us. But at some point I think you've got to look at specific goals, specific
projects. So I think intentionally a lot more mundane than the session that
y'all were thinking about for early January. So I got what I was looking for.
This is just step 3. There are two or three other steps that whether the court
does it or not, seems to me that I should see through. And so what I need
you to tell me to do is whether I should follow through on the fiscal strategy
and have this back on the court's agenda next week. If it's just taking time,
we don't need to. I can do what I need to without agendaizing it and be a
lot more efficient because it's just one person. That is not the same as the
Commissioners court doing it. That is just the county judge doing it.
>> judge?
>> yes, sir.
>> would it fall into the realm of possibility -- I guess
i've not made a comment per se except earlier with a particular presentation.
The other presentations i've kind of listened to, and I know that there are
some things that we're looking at -- an example, they brought up about the
marketability of the expo center because there are some things that we're
looking at for that that need to be fleshed out a little more. Joe gieselman
of course you've mentioned his six points and priority, but within that an
example -- for example, priority 2, we're talking about the closure of the
landfills in northeast Travis County, relocation, that is something that we've
wrestled with for a while. And I know that we are looking -- are leaning in
that direction to do that. So there are things that are listed in that. However,
there are also things that have not been mentioned, and I think that I brought
that up maybe last week or the week before, n and that was during the flooding
that we had in walnut creek where it is an issue of safety. Funding to participate,
looking at the army corps of engineers participating, the city of Austin,
along with Travis County to see what we can do to address the flooding situation
on walnut creek. In my opinion that's priority because of the impact that
it's having on a community, that portion of Travis County. Of course, we've
also looked at the situations that impact precinct 4 with the buyout of homes
and things of that nature, including Commissioner Daugherty's precinct with
flooding. I didn't want to lose the flavor -- and I don't think we are, but
I just want to make sure that if there need to be modification, things that
individually we think should be addressed if those opportunities are still
there. I知 not saying what we're doing is closing the door or anything, I
just want to make sure as we go and develop these things how can we still
keep the door open. That's my question. How can we keep the door still open
to those things that we feel are important to the constituents of the precinct
that really have echoed their concern about these problems?
>> I think the list that we saw clearly represent at least
40 to 50 major programs. And they really are vastly different. But we will
be called upon to make decisions about each of them. And the budget money
or budget more money. There are specific projects that are not list odd here
that will require time and resources, and a lot of it depends on the actions
of others, kind of like the landfills. Those really could require a whole
lot of time from Travis County depending on what happens over the next 60
to 180 days. And so I kind of understand them not being on this list here,
but they're in the back of my mind because we've had them on the agenda so
many times over the last few years and I know they're coming back in the next
60 to 90 days. That was the deal. These were supposed to be the 10 priority
programs by the managers. And so my thinking was that the Commissioners court
may well want to vote and add or delete. And my thinking was that to do that,
first we would have to know about these and become a lot more familiar with
them. Then the question was if I had one or two, whether in my mind the one
and two are more important than the 10. Do you see what I知 saying? So I would
chat with the manager and at some point try to put it on the agenda so a majority
of the court would be able to respond to it. The other thing is I thought
that we should try to get this done in December because we had lost a quarter
of the year, if you go fiscal year. And beginning January we've got nine months
left of the 12 month fiscal year. So that's three-quarters of it. Plus I thought
we could do this fairly quickly. But in answer to your question, if I were
a manager and I put down, it would represent 25% of my work load or 75%. And
my question would be do you have enough projects? There's another short list.
If there are other projects more important than these, we ought to call it
to the manager's attention, but the give and take of a work session or another
voting session where a majority of the court spiz to the manager. At the same
time, I thought if one of us had a list that had one or two items on it that
should not be there and we voice that concern, then we at least reserve the
right to vote on it, whether it ought to say that -- of course, we should
get the manager's input first too. At some point I think the managers believe
they're priority items because the court, based on comments made, have sort
of intimated, right, priority status. That's kind of clear from the list.
And my guess is y'all wouldn't care a whole lot if we said take this off and
put this one on, my guess is it would be six of one, half dozen of another
for the managers. So that would be the steps, four, five and six would be,
to pursue this.
>> all right.
>> the other thing is I think we want Commissioner Gomez
present if we do that, so we would have a full compliment of court members.
>> okay, that's fine.
>> all these generate comments from the court. Let's keep
moving. Let's adjourn.
>> second.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Wednesday, October 26, 2005 2:19 PM