Travis County Commissioners Court
January 17, 2012 (Agenda)
Item 1
We have come to my favorite item, number 1, receive employee comments regarding the proposed parking policy including zoned parking.
are we prepared to give a brief overview especially of recommended changes?
>> sydney crosby and daniel bradford from the parking committee.
we have several members from the parking committee here so I would like them to raise their hands.
we don't get to see them very often.
>> [applause] thank you, guys.
>> it's a hard duty.
thank you for doing it.
>> today we're here to receive employee comments on the parking policy that's been proposed as well as zoned parking in general.
and what we have are some recommendations to the court that would streamline those who have specified parking spaces, and the court has not yet taken action on whether we would have assigned or zone parking but part of the discussion today and will be brought back in the few weeks for further discuss and a decision from the court.
but what we do have is several spaces that are to be designated by employee positions, and what we've done is provided for employees a chart at the back of the agenda backup that lists what those changes are specifically.
a summary of those changes would include reducing the number of positions that are reserved so that more employees on the wait list can receive parking spaces.
changing some of the titles in the policy to more updated titles.
and addressing ways to make changes to the policy that more closely align with today's operations rather than those that were originally stated in 1989.
at this time we would probably like to get the employee comments because as I stated the committee is here to get all the employees feedback.
we have launched an email asking employees who cannot make it to today's hearings to still give their feedback by email and that's still going on.
we've also surveyed those at 700 lavaca for their comments on zoned parking specifically, and we will take all of this feedback and review our recommendations and be back to the court in a couple weeks, as I stated, for more action from the court.
>> why don't we cover the steps that you recommend we take after today.
>> well, what we've already had approved from the court is this policy temporarily for 90 days, and what we would ask is after we review the recommendations from employees and come back to you, there may be some adjustments to this current policy.
so, for example, in here we have that the position, specified positions be one position for county executives plus one, for example -- let me see the exact break down.
elected officials would receive two spaces, one for elected official, one for assistant director equivalent.
county executives would receive two, one for county executive, one for the assistant director or equivalent.
courts would receive three spaces, one space each for the judge, court reporter and the bay live or court operations officer.
then in facilities there it's zoned if that is maintained such as 700 lavaca, each elected official will receive one space, the county executive would receive one space and each judge if it applied would receive one space.
at this time there are no judges in the 700 lavaca building except for the county judge but this is speaking to judicial judges and at this time they would not be part of the 700 lavaca garage.
in addition to that we did ask the court to take specific action on a number of positions that did not meet our general criteria that we have set and we established that by taking the county chart that's in the planning and budget office without a budget book.
we took that org chart and drew a line so anyone above that line would be accounted for in this policy and those below the line would be treated as rank and file employees so we would have clear designation as to who has reserved spaces and who does not and that makes it easier to implement the policy what.
we heard initially was employees didn't feel the policy was administered fairly and equitable so in order to add more transparency and give clear guidelines who gets parking and who doesn't we felt that was the fairest way to do that.
there were a few positions that did not fall into that classification, director of domestic relations, the director of pre-trial services, and director of intergovernmental relations that do not neatly fall into that category and we would ask the court to take specific action on those positions when we return.
>> okay.
so for those employees who have -- have had parking for years under the old policy, what happens to them and their slot?
>> we also built into the policy a grandfathering clause which makes sure that any employee who is designated a space at this time regardless how it was given to them, in it was given to a specific employee and not a pool for a department, then that employee would retain their right for -- or privilege for parking.
if that employee leaves, however, the next person filling that position would not be granted that same parking privilege if they do not fall into this policy as one of the specified positions.
>> okay.
legal aid has had two parking spaces for years.
what do we recommend for legal aid?
>> they would be part of this process of employee feedback because at this time it's not recommended that legal aid have those two parking spaces.
>> our contract concessionaire has had five parking spaces for 13 years, they tell me.
what's recommended for those?
>> the policy actually recommends that no parking spaces be granted through contracts and so until the contract would be revised, obviously we would have to honor that because it's part of a contributed clause, but the policy does specifically address parking spaces being granted to vendors and contracts and does not recommend it.
>> okay.
now, an answer I was looking for a few minutes ago based on your backup is that we will take employee input today.
>> yes.
>> and the committee will review that and decide whether to revise the recommended policy.
>> correct.
>> and if so, that will be brought back to the Commissioners court for consideration and action.
>> correct.
>> but this is intended to be the final public hearing.
for employees.
>> yes.
>> am I right?
okay.
if I could get y'all just to move down one seat so we can make four available for our employees who have come to give comment.
we invite our employees to come forth now and as one finishes, if you would be kind enough to return to your general seating there and give other employees a chance to come forth, we can move forward efficiently and get as much input as you wish to give.
we will need your full names, although we know all of you very personally.
that's for the million people watching this show will know who you are.
one more person.
one chair available.
miss skinner.
>> I'm vicky skinner from the district attorney's office and appreciate having this opportunity to talk with you about one of the specific items in the parking policy and that's zoned parking.
I'm here to encourage you to retain 11.003 e as it is currently written in the revised policies.
and in that policy, it says that any employee that has a parking space assigned to him or her in any county facility shall retain the privilege of using that space exclusively for the remainder of the person's employment.
we understand that the Commissioners court has adopted zoning parking for the future and for the central campus planning and we support that, but we urge you to phase it in and to allow employees who have earned their reserve parking spot through longevity to keep that and to phase in zoned parking with new facilities and new employees.
it's a common practice in local government particularly to phase in changes in policies, and in a lot of cases what happens is the date the policy is implemented, any employee hired after that date comes under the new policy.
and what I'd like to encourage you to do is grandfather those employees in who currently have reserve parking spaces.
the district attorney's office is not requesting additional specified positions.
we support the committee's recommendation to retain a specified position place for the elected official and the first assistant.
but all other spaces would be earned through seniority.
in the district attorney's office, we don't have the option of having lots of different flexible schedules because our schedules revolve around the court and the schedules are basically 8:00 to 5:00 so we don't have the options of having 6:30, coming to work at 6:30 and having those schedules.
a lot of us park in the san antonio parking garage and we share that garage with a lot of employees from the sheriff's department, and as you know some of those shifts start very early in the morning.
just wanted to close with encouraging you to allow employees who have earned their parking, reserved parking spaces to retain them.
thank you.
>> [applause]
>> [inaudible].
>> if through analysis it was discovered that by going to zoned parking for your employees who have through longevity gotten assigned spaces that there would be more spaces overall available for your employees that are reliable spaces, would you be inclined to go with that policy?
>> I'm still -- this is me speaking personally.
I would still be inclined to allow the employees who earned their reserved parking places by longevity to keep those.
>> even if it means fewer employees have parking?
>> yes.
I also wanted to say all employees in the district attorney's office when they interview are very well aware of what the position is and it will take them a number of years to get parking places.
so people are hired with that understanding.
>> thank you very much.
>> somewhere along the lines it would help to know how many employees are in the category miss skinner just described.
I think it's important to keep track of that.
I have not seen any number per se from staff under the conditions that she just described to us, longevity retainage, things of that nature.
it would be good for me to know how many Travis County employees do we have under that particular scenario.
thank you.
>> we also have a very aging workforce and I think the transition will probably be happening quicker than --
>> it would still be good to know what the real numbers are.
>> do we know what the numbers are?
>> what are the real numbers?
>> just from -- you can get kind of a snapshot.
we don't have a specific number handy.
the only garage that is zoned is 700 lavaca so every other garage is -- is a specified position or a reserved assigned spot.
so I'm guessing that's the vast majority of our parking is under the policy of either specified position or longevity.
>> okay.
>> but just to put that into context --
>> next time you come back to the court, I would like to know exactly how many folks do we have in Travis County that use Travis County parking are described and listed under what miss skinner just brought to the court.
>> yes, we'll do that --
>> it would be good to have that information.
>> we'll give you that number as well as break it down by tenure and longevity.
>> it would be good to know that.
>> another speaking opportunity has become available.
miss blankenship.
>> diane blanken ship, director of hrmd.
I came here to overwhelmingly support the committee and the work they have done as far as revising the policy trying to make it fair to the rank and file and also use our parking as efficiently as possible.
and with respect to all of our longevity people here, I had a space coming in.
I am parking zone now in 700 lavaca.
as my whole crew has moved to 700 lavaca and I had a lot of people very nervous about going to 700 lavaca and going through the zone, going from this assigned parking space to the zone.
they all decided to try it and so far we have not had one issue with somebody finding parking.
as what's happened usually, they find their usual space where they are going to park and park around that area.
they can find their car and I'm probably the worst person about finding my car so they help me out.
I'd also like to say in regards to zoned parking, we have another lot you are probably not aware of that roner helped me with and this that iswhen we freed up spaces,i have seven spaces for the wellness clinic.
and these employees were scattered over four parking lots and garages and I asked roner to please put all seven spaces in one zone behind the employee wellness clinic.
now my employees instead of having -- they rotate clinics so we always would have at least three spaces not being utilized because they are all over the place and nobody knew where they were.
now we have all those spaces in a block and my employees come and use four of the spaces and we have three spaces now for employees that want to come utilize the wellness clinic without having to reserve those spaces.
zone is efficient.
it allows us to use more spaces can which is going to allow us to have more employees and visitors park.
it's important that our employees that have a space do have a space, but they don't have to have their assigned space.
one of the most inefficient ways we're using the reserved parking right now is when I was at the 1010 lavaca building, I would have somebody, an employee who had somebody parking in their space and they basically had to sit in their car and either wait for the car to get towed or for roger to give them another space so they could park.
I asked my executive assistant once and I said what would you do if we had zoned parking and she's like well, I'd just pull up next to it and come into work.
exactly.
it's more efficient use.
I'm all for having as much parking for employees and the way to do that is zoned parking.
I know it's not popular for the people that waited a long time for their parking spaces, I do understand that, but I kind of like many it to goingeno church I sit in the same place except for christmas and easter.
it's how we go to church, grocery shopping and zoned parking and I think our employees can make the adjustment and it's going to help more people park.
thanks.
>> questions?
>> based on industry standard, what is the percentage utilization for an average parking space for 9:00 to 5:00 or 8:00 to 5:00 employee?
>> actually for government entities it's a little bit less so that 30% we're experiencing is pretty common.
>> so 70% of the time it's the average euthanation.
>> thank you.
two seats have become available.
good morning.
>> I'm kathy jonesy with the mental health public defenders office.
I'm here on jeanette's behalf.
we're trying to fight for our one parking space that we have because our office is located at post road and we have to come down here for court every Tuesday and Thursday, for the most part.
there are some days we are down here Fridays.
Wednesdays it all depends upon what court our client's case is in.
and especially for Tuesday and Thursday, our office represents the most people on the mental health docket.
so we need to be there on time ready to -- ready for the judge to hear our cases or to start the discussion of what we need to do to handle or dispose of our client's case.
and if we're here having to look around for parking space, it's going to delay the docket.
because many times we're at least half the docket is not sometimes three-quarters of the docket and if we're late, then it's going to slow down the judge especially when they have a jury trial going on at the same time.
>> where is that one space located?
>> it's over here in the granger parking spot.
>> how often is there someone parked in it when you get here?
>> here it's -- I mean for our office, it's every Tuesday and Thursday and there are other days like when we have to visit clients at the jail, the downtown jail.
I use it quite often to come down here to get discovery for our clients' cases.
>> is it just one spot?
>> just one spot.
>> if you had one parking card and could park anywhere in a zoned parking, knowing that you would always have a spot.
>> as long as we could guarantee we've got a spot, I think we would be happy with that.
>> thanks.
>> we just don't want to have to be, like here it took me 45 minutes to find a parking space out on the -- on meters because our attorney is using our spot to go to court this morning.
>> thank you, miss jones.
>> good morning, laurie livingston, district court judge in Travis County.
I want to begin and end, I hope I don't forget, but I want to begin by thanking the parking committee.
I know they've worked very hard over a number of years.
they've had a lot of challenges, a lot of positive comments and a lot of not so positive comments, but I think they've handled their assignment with grace and with patience and so I want to start by acknowledging the hard work of the parking committee.
>> [applause]
>> let's give the parking committee a big round of applause now.
>> [applause]
>> okay.
a couple of things.
I promised the parking committee that I would come over to support their notion of zoned parking because I personally think it makes a lot of sense as a group, the judges have not spoken one way or the other on the issue so I'm speaking on behalf of myself and my own thinking about zoning.
one is we ought to be thoughtful about how we implement parking if we go to a zoned system.
if we have a purple zone and blue zone and red zone, that might make more sense than if we had one parking lot that was zoned for everybody.
I can't imagine the judges really wanting to park, you know, on the fifth floor of the san antonio garage to compete with all the employees given the fact they have to come and go at times and make speaking arrangements and so forth.
so I think we should be thoughtful about how we implement the zoned system, but the notion, the concept of zoning I think is worth consideration and I want to support that effort.
while I'm here and have the microphone, let me point out a couple of other things the committee and I don't agree about.
we have staff attorneys, I know we're unique in that regard for judges in Travis County and in other places around the state, but our staff attorneys are essential to us in the work than we do so we want to make a plug for specified spaces for them.
we also have directors of court management on the civil side.
we have a director of court management on the criminal side, and we have a court administrator who handles all of our dockets on the civil side.
those three executive positions do not currently have specified spaces.
they are people with longevity so they will be grandfathered in as I understand it, but those positions are not received.
I cannot imagine hiring somebody at that salary level in the future without being able to provide them a parking space.
now, so a, I want to make a plug for all of those positions.
b, if we go to a smart zoned concept that is correct problem may be solved.
so I will throw those things out.
I don't see them as inconsistent, but they on some level might be competitive depending how you consider the proposals put forth by the parking committee.
thank you very much for the public hearing and for giving everybody in the county an opportunity to provide input on this very, very controversial and important issue.
as I promised I would end where I started which is thank you once again to the parking committee.
>> any questions?
>> judge livingston, in the zoned parking pilot at 700 lavaca, the county executives, the auditor and two Commissioners and the purchasing agent are all in general zones.
and the utilization ranges from I think about 20% to 115%.
I haven't heard of any issues with even that level of employee being in the zone.
>> I don't know what their -- I know they all work very hard, but I don't know that they stay here until 8:00 or 9:00 at night waiting on juries to come back.
I don't want to have to mark to the fifth floor of a dark unlit, unsafe parking garage with no security that late at night.
>> no employee should have to.
>> I agree.
so I'm concerned about with the security issue particularly for judges who seemed to be targets of less savory elements of our society.
>> true, but civil judges have a higher civil concern even that will than the criminal.
>> and there are more of us.
but all the judges I think have a particular security issue.
fortunately for us our criminal judges have a secure parking lot.
the civil do not and that's a real issue.
when I'm talking about smart zoning, colored zones for example like purple or blue or whatever, that would be important to me.
>> it's a good suggestion.
thank you.
>> thank you, judge.
>> thanks very much.
>> thank you, judge.
my name is gary
>> [inaudible], prosecutor with the Travis County district attorney's office.
I started with the district attorney's office in 1990 so I've been a proud county employee going on 22 years now.
when I started and when talking earlier about an aging population, I'm part of that aging population.
when I started here the rule was you got your parking space when it was your time.
I started here without a parking space and eventually I got one on the eighth floor, then moved to the seventh floor and after I've been here ten years I moved to my present spot on the fifth floor and I liked it so much I stayed there even though I've been offered spots in other places.
a young lady earlier said zoned parking is like the rules you follow when you go to church and the grocery store.
not the grocery store I go to.
you don't show up and get to move ahead of everybody who is already in line to check out at the grocery store.
there's no sure way to start a fight with everybody in the grocery store than you to try to jump in line with your large basket of groceries in front of the people who have already been waiting in line patiently.
it's just unfair.
and that's whew this whole thing is about.
nothing against zoned parking, I think zoned park ing is a great idea, but I echo what miss skinner was saying.
if you are going to do that, let's have it grandfathered in.
>> and it is.
realize that, it is grandfathered according to the policy proposal.
>> well, I understood it not to be grandfathered in all the lots and particularly the other lot at the --
>> lavaca.
>> yes.
>> that's the only one that it's not grandfathered under the proposal?
>> well, employees have the option of keeping their assigned space or going to the zoned within a system that the garage is operating under.
>> so it's at the employee's election, can either be grandfathered or go to zone.
>> so I'm not speaking against it, I'm not gaining anything by it because I've parked in a place not even affected by it, I'm saying as a sense of fairness, employees who have been here long term should benefit from getting the parking they deserve from waiting.
that's it.
>> [applause]
>> any questions?
>> good morning, I'm larue woody.
thank you for allowing us to have this opportunity to talk to you all.
talk about aging population,
>> [inaudible] --
>> name please.
>> larue woody, assistant district attorney and I appreciate it.
I just want to clarify that when you are talking about grandfathering in, my understanding the grandfathering in is you have an opportunity to be grandfathered to get a license to hunt for a spot.
>> no, that's not the proposal.
can you reiterate the proposal?
>> yeah, it depends on what the -- how the garage is designated.
currently search and rescue is the only garage we have -- 700 lavaca -- those are the only places that are zoned where it is a first come first served kind of thing.
everybody else has assigned parking.
if you have assigned parking and your position moves over to be closer to a garage that is zoned, have you the option to either continue with your assigned space or to give it up and go over and participate in whatever program is being considered in the other garage.
and if -- if the court does not decide to adopt a countywide zoned policy, then everybody who has assigned spots will keep their assigned spots.
>> if the county -- if the court decides to go to a zoned parking, then what?
>> then those people that have assigned spots will keep a spot, they will have access to the garage, but it will be zoned and then it will be depending on -- you will get to park in a certain zone depending whether you fall under the specified positions.
>> but you will not keep your designated exclusive spot.
>> that's correct.
>> but you can, correct?
you can elect to keep your designated spot or move to the zoned garage, right?
>> right.
the only time that would not be the case is if you adopted a countywide zone policy or central campus zoned policy where all garages were zoned.
>> 700 lavaca is unique because we have tenants who are not employees.
in that garage it would make it difficult to grandfather in because to do that would interrupt the business of the tenants who are currently in that garage.
however you, if the county did decide to go countywide with the zone, with the granger garage, you could say all employees who have assigned parking spaces could have floors 4 through 2, for example, and then all new employees going that that garage would have zones on those floors.
you can do zones in a number of ways.
there are no hard and fast rules.
it can be by floor, garage.
there is flexibility in other facilities beside 700 lavaca.
>> my only request would be that those that have put in their time and have had consistent parking be able to retain a spot to be able to park in.
a lot of us leave during the I dan come back and because of shift change perhaps at the sheriff's office, a lot of people come in and are looking for parking.
if I'm competing against somebody coming to work at 3:00 and I get done with my meeting out wherever at 3:30 and I'm having to look for a spot, it gives you pause about, you know, how you are going to spend the rest of your afternoon.
so as long as the people that currently have assigned parking were able to retain those assigned parking spaces, that feels a lot more fair than putting them in the pool with everybody else looking for zoned parking.
>> so is the committee's recommendation zoned parking countywide or just in certain buildings?
>> the committee at the time we brought this particular policy to you made sure that the policy counted for both systems. The court had not made a decision and part of this process is to come back formally and make a recommendation in a couple months.
as we discussed previously we didn't have all the survey results and data from people at 700 lavaca garage to make a formal recommendation on zoned parking.
>> but I would say we've heard similar feedback and people who are at 700 lavaca and now experienced zoned parking are not as opposed to it as when the idea was first introduced.
>> but your recommendation is that for those who have assigned parking today they have assigned parking after adoption of a new policy.
>> absolute.
I think that just seems more fair.
>> larue, would you be amenable to a policy that said everyone who has -- let's take san antonio garage.
if everyone who has an assigned spot in san antonio garage has the option of keeping their assign spot or going to a zoned area in the san antonio garage, would you be amenable to that so that we could gradually over time transition to a zoned program?
>> I think the transition is a prime theory.
I think that would probably work.
it's just what people's expectations are.
and I think that making it based on title or based on position in the office makes it patently unfair for people that have been here for a long time that might not fall above that line that's been drawn.
because I know there's some folks here that I wouldn't be able to do my job without if they didn't -- they weren't able to be here and folks with real longevity and tenure that needs the same kind of consideration that people that fall above that line.
>> and larue, to that point, could I ask the parking committee, although y'all have worked so hard already, if we could when we come back with the 700 lavaca analysis, if we could break it down by average utilization by category of employee, because I suspect actually those we are looking at in keeping the old policy of designated positions would be inefficient because I think the nondesignated positions have a higher utilization for their spaces.
>> any other questions for miss woody?
>> thank you.
>> thank you very much.
>> rhonda salinas and I'm a secretary that has worked in Travis County for 14 years.
almost 15 years.
and to speak to -- to add touj what judge livingston said about she would like their staff attorneys to be appointed a parking space given their position and their -- I guess their responsibilities, but as a secretary I feel that my responsibilities are just as important as their staff attorneys are.
and sometimes I don't leave the office until after dark and I walk out to that parking garage so I don't -- if you are going to do that, we should be considered just as -- we should be considered just as important as her staff attorneys are considered because I think we probably do the same amount of important work that they do.
and --
>> [applause] and I just think that we should adopt a plan that is currently in place and for those new employees that are new hires, I do believe that they are hired with with that knowledge of knowing that parking is not available downtown and they are given -- I know they are given that information up front.
and the zoned parking works just fine for them, but I do believe that those of us who are earned our parking spots should be able to retain that parking spot.
>> [applause]
>> thank you.
any questions?
yes.
>> hi, my name is robin osborne, I'm from the sheriff's office.
I'm speaking most specifically, 99% towards the san antonio garage where most of the sheriff's office park.
we get here early.
that's because we are the only agency that works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
so -- and thanks to daniel and cindy they've heard us out and I just wanted to speak briefly about with this to the court.
what we currently have 57 spots in the san antonio garage.
20 of those are for marked vehicles which are not on the table is the way I understand it.
we're looking at 37 spots we use specifically for positions.
and the reason I think positions best at the sheriff's office is because we're also the only agency that I know of that you rotate from one facility to another.
one day you may be working downtown and the next day you are working in del valle.
and some of your same rank -- I was going to say tenure, but your same rank or position, title, you are going to switch spots.
so if I currently work downtown, but if I get transferred to del valle, then my spot would go to however specifically takes the data information services in san antonio which is my position.
we do have spots in other garages which we really need to look at those and make sure those are being utilized fairly.
those may be best for zoned parking.
but with the help of the parking committee, we went through these 37 spots and it's why do we need this spot.
is it a safety issue, is it a timing issue, is it a logistical issue.
and really I just wanted mostly to say one size does not fit all especially for the sheriff's office due to uniqueness of our rotating staff and the fact that we do work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
some people start at 2:00 in the afternoon.
>>
>> [inaudible].
>> I'm sorry?
>> you brought up a real good point.
that's what we're looking at here in the whole public process.
hopefully we can come up with a shoe that maybe filts most.
fits most.
but staff -- let me ask this question from staff.
we have different representatives that are speaking, we have the d.a., different judges.
has anyone -- and this particular person is with the sheriff.
have we exhausted extremely the elected officials that have come before you I guess in this whole parking scenario, I haven't seen anything basically from those elected officials which, of course, we can't really dictate to elected officials on a lot of stuff, but some things we are allowed to deal with.
it would be good to know what the position is of the elected officials, sheriff, d.a., judge, on down the line.
on down the line, we have a lot of elected officials.
have we been able to ascertain what their position is on zoned parking versus some of the judicial means, of course,, retainage as far as grandfathering and making sure that those spots are left available to them as they see dictated?
has that been done?
>> what we did do was invite various members to meet with parking company and we had six or seven groups meet with the committee, and when we bring back all of these recommendations to be solidified, we'll make sure you have specifically those comments.
we still encourage who have -- whether it be employees or elected officials to -- to schedule time with the parking committee and actually we were meeting at their availability.
as elected officials Friday at 2:00, as many parking committee members as can meet on Friday have been meeting and we've met with the d.a.'s office, the sheriff's office, miss livingston, family court.
we've met with several different organizations to talk about specifically their needs for parking.
>> okay, but I guess -- this is my question then.
the persons that appear before us today that are in one of those elected officials -- under the jurisdiction of one of the elected officials, what we hear from them is that the voice of the elected official?
is that where the elected official position is?
can we assume that or -- I heard one example, judge livingston.
she spoke as judge livingston.
judge, one elected official.
hearing this lady as far as the sheriff is concerned, but I haven't heard sheriff hamilton say anything.
so am I assuming that what each person that are speaking in behalf -- are they speaking in behalf of their elect officials or do we still have to hear from elected official?
>> I'm speaking on behalf of the sheriff's office.
>> that's what I need to hear.
>> yes, sir.
>>
>> [inaudible] some cases yes, some cases no would be the answer.
>> that's what I need to hear because otherwise I'll interpret this as a person that works under the sheriff but not speaking for the sheriff.
and this is what I'm trying to get to and it would be good if those persons that are here today that are speaking to Commissioners court, if you are speaking in behalf of that elected official, then I think we should know that because it does mean -- mean-may not mean as much, but the elected official kind of dictate things under their shop, per se.
>> Commissioner, I was speaking on behalf of the district attorney rosemary lindburg except for the question that Commissioner Eckhardt asked me.
>> okie-doke.
that's good information for me anyway.
okie-doke, thank you.
>> hi, my name is beverly evans and I've worked for Travis County for around 21 years.
and I am speaking for myself today.
>> thank you.
>> I know what it -- I know what it takes to look for parking because I waited four and a half years for my parking place.
and it was a long time.
so I understand that.
but I also watched as y'all built buildings annual there was no parking added such as the cjc.
and I even brought it up to the committee at that time and nothing was done.
I feel like if we went to zoned parking the people who have had a parking place for this many years would be wronged because we waited our time.
and I feel badly that the new employees would have to wait, but I don't feel like taking away something that you gave someone as a benefit should be taken away.
and as far as reserve spaces, I don't feel like any one position is any better than anyone else's position.
>> would you be -- would you be all right with a policy whereby if you have an assigned space currently you get to keep it, but you also have to option to go to the zoned space in the same garage and new employees get the option to go to the zoned space?
>> I wouldn't have a problem with that.
>> thanks.
>> you would or would not?
>> I would not have a problem as long as we were guaranteed our space.
>> time is moving on.
three seats available.
let take advantage of this opportunity.
this court is very attentive today which is kind of unusual for us.
>> [laughter] catch us while you can.
yes, ma'am.
>> my name is ellen haulburg director of victim services at the Travis County district attorney's office.
and I really appreciate having this forum for us to see how we feel.
I think many people are just shy, but they are not here because they don't believe that the parking places that we worked for -- it took me four and a half years too, and I'm somebody that goes in and out during the day.
I'm not typically gone long but to think I couldn't come back and have a parking place that I would have to look for them, I just -- I can't imagine having to do that.
I've heard all of you talk about the fact that it could be that zoned parking won't be like that and you'll always have something available somewhere.
I just don't know.
I'm of the aging population.
hopefully I won't be here too many more years, but I would really beg you please do not take our parking places away from us.
please do grandfather us in.
and I can also speak as somebody who has been in the system for a lot of years that I have never ever when I interview people for positions, you know, counselors, I've never had anyone turn one down because they didn't have parking.
they just made it work which is what we did in all the years that we waited.
so I can speak that also that no one person is more important than the other.
I think it is about how long you've been here and how long that you had to wait and everybody seems to understand it.
we don't have trouble getting prosecutors who make a lot of money even though there's no parking place and the reason is is Travis County is wonderful place to work.
and so I would just ask you to treat employees who have been around a long time and waited a long time for our parking place, just to treat them with respect for what they went through and to honor those parking places.
thank you.
>> thank you.
>> [applause] good morning.
>> I'm deborah, social services manager at the jail, that's the counseling supervisor.
sounds like a party planner or something.
>> [laughter] and I'm speaking on behalf of the counselors that work at the jail that would be nine counselors and myself.
and I would like to just reiterate that I agree with the san antonio garage not being a one size fits all situation.
and I would like for safety issues to be taken into consideration.
the counselors work -- we work from 6:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night and many, many times the counselors are there until 12:30, 1:00 at night, and we've had many situations where they are working up to the street, toward lamar in the dark, getting out with the inmates that are just released and many times inmates are not happy with counselors so it's not a safe situation.
we would like to -- and none of these counselors would have the privilege of longevity because they started at their employment, all counselors start at the jail downtown and then move out to del valle.
so those would never be tenured if we were under that situation.
the.
>> any questions?
what was your last name?
>> mackelfish.
>> I had the same experience as a protective order attorney and was walking by individuals who were respondents in protective orders, parked way over by wherever.
usually by the elementary school.
when it was free, which it's not anymore.
>> that's correct.
thank you.
>> we are getting to the final call for additional comments.
if you would like to give comments during this public hearing.
this may well be your final opportunity today.
>> unless it's through email.
emails will continue.
>> now, just to clarify, we're not recommending taking the county judge's parking space, are we?
>> [laughter] well, thank you all very much for coming.
>> thank you all.
>> but I would ask that the committee does an analysis by level of employment in the 700 lavaca garage because the only garage for which we have with the data to do the study.
but for right now based on the pilot, we're seeing a 70% utilization, and just a rough back of the envelope calculation, the designated spots have about a 60% utilization ranging from 16% to 115% utilization.
it varies widely in those designated spots, those designated positions.
>> if you are too shy to give comments in person today, do feel free to email us or phone and leave a telephone message.
thank you all very much.
we know you have critical duties and responsibilities waiting for you.
thanks for coming by.
>> thanks for your comments.
thanks for coming down.
appreciate it.
thank you.
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.
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