* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.
           
          [Economic Development Committee]
          [00:00:12]
THANK YOU, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN FOR BEING HERE. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ IS ALSO IN CHAMBER, AND WE HAVE STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO'S, OFFICE VICE MAYOR, PRO TEM PECK'S OFFICE, AND ALSO STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN'S OFFICE. 
          THIS FLICKINGER AND COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, VICE CHAIR FLICKINGER OFFICE AS WELL. 
          UH, THIS MEETING IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND BEING HELD IN PERSON AND VIRTUALLY I SAID THAT, OH, WE ARE BROADCASTING VIA HTV, UH, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF. 
          IF YOU'LL HOLD YOUR QUESTIONS UNTIL THE END OF THE PRESENTATION. 
          UH, THERE WAS ONE MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC WHO HAS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK TODAY. 
          IF THERE ARE ANY PUBLIC SPEAKERS PRESENT HERE IN CHAMBER WHO WISH TO SIGN UP TO SPEAK, THERE IS A SIGNUP SHEET AT THE FRONT TABLE ON YOUR RIGHT. 
          PUBLIC SPEAKERS WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO SPEAK AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THE PRESENTATIONS AND ANY OTHER, UH, QUESTIONS CAN BE EMAILED TO DISTRICT K@HOUSTONTX.GOV, AND WE CAN FORWARD THE RESPECTIVE DEPARTMENTS FOR THEIR RESPONSES. 
          WE'LL GET STARTED WITH OUR AGENDA FIRST ON THE AGENDA. 
          THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT DIRECTOR JENNIFER CURLEY, IS HERE, AND SHE WILL PRESENT ON THE TAX INCREMENT REINVESTMENT ZONE PROGRAM. 
          ASSISTANT DIRECTOR CURLEY, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE, AND IF YOU ARE READY, WE ARE READY TO HEAR YOUR PRESENTATION. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR PRO TEM, MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL. 
          TODAY'S PRESENTATION TO THE COMMITTEE IS ABOUT PROJECT PLAN AMENDMENTS FOR REINVESTMENT. 
          ZONE NUMBER 17, MEMORIAL CITY ZONE REINVESTMENT, ZONE NUMBER 20, SOUTHWEST HOUSTON ZONE AND REINVESTMENT. 
          ZONE NUMBER 25 M CLARK FORT BEND ZONE T ARE GOVERNED BY CHAPTER THREE 11 OF THE STATE'S TAX CODE. 
          THE CODE, ALSO KNOWN AS THE TAX INCREMENT FINANCING ACT, REFLECTS THE CRITERIA FOR CREATING AND MANAGING TSAS. 
          ANY CONSIDERATION OF A BOUNDARY CHANGE OR A TERM EXTENSION REQUIRES A PROJECT PLAN AMENDMENT. 
          AND CHAPTER THREE 11 CRITERIA AND GUIDANCE COMES INTO PLAY IN AUGUST OF 2023, CITY COUNCIL APPROVED HERS POLICIES THAT PROVIDE FURTHER CRITERIA REGARDING HOW TERM EXTENSIONS AND BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS WOULD BE CONSIDERED. 
          NEXT SLIDE. 
          NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          SO, THE LIFE EXTENSION OF AN EXISTING TURS, AND THIS IS FROM THE CITY ORDINANCE, THE LIFE EXTENSION OF AN EXISTING TURS WILL BE EVALUATED AND CONSIDERED FOR ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SCENARIOS. 
          BE REQUIRED TO SECURE FINANCING FOR AN APPROVED PROJECT TO EXPEDITE CONSTRUCTION, PROVIDE FOR ADDITIONAL TIME TO COMPLETE AN APPROVED PROJECT, GENERATE REVENUE FOR PROJECTS REFLECTED IN A PROJECT PLAN IF SUPPORTED BY A PLANNED NEW INVESTMENT. 
          AND IF THE LIFE EXTENSION LEVERAGES NEW LOCAL STATE FEL, FEDERAL OR PHILANTHROPIC FUNDING BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS ARE CONSIDERED IF THE PROPOSED ANNEXATION WILL FURTHER THE OBJECTIVES OF THE TS PROJECT PLAN AND ATTRACT PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN THE PROPOSED AREA, SUPPORT AN APPLICATION TO STATE OR FEDERAL HOUSING AGENCIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF LOW INCOME HOUSING SUPPORT, AN APPLICATION FOR STATE, FEDERAL, OR PHILANTHROPIC FUNDING FOR TRANSPORTATION, PARKS, OR OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE. 
          NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          SO THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE REFLECTS THE TURS CAPACITY AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS. 
          WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? BECAUSE CHAPTER THREE, 11.006 OF THE TAX CODE PUTS A CAP ON HOW, HOW THE CITY'S, UM, THE AMOUNT OF TAXABLE REAL PROPERTY IN TS IS, AND IT, IT PUTS IT AT A CAP OF 25%. 
          SO WHAT THIS PARTICULAR DOCUMENT IS SHOWING IS WHERE WE CURRENTLY STAND. 
          SO LOOKING READING FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, TAXABLE REAL PROPERTY IN THE TERMS IS 66.7 BILLION. 
          TOTAL REAL PROPERTY IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON IS 2294.5 BILLION PLUS IN THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS, IT'S 5 BILLION. 
          AND SO THE TOTAL TAXABLE REAL PROPERTY IN THE CITY, AS WELL AS THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS IS 299.5 BILLION 
          [00:05:03]
IN TOTAL TAXABLE REAL PROPERTY. 
          SO IN ORDER TO SEE HOW WE FIT INTO THE CAP, IF WE TAKE THE 66.7 BILLION OFTS TAXABLE REAL PROPERTY OVER THE AMOUNT THAT'S OF TOTAL CITY TAXABLE REAL PROPERTY, WE GET A CURRENT RATIO OF 22.25%. 
          SO THAT IS WHERE WE CURRENTLY STAND WITH REGARD TO THE, UM, TOURIST CAPACITY. 
          AND SO WE'LL GO OVER THIS AGAIN. 
          SO ONCE, ONCE I GO THROUGH THE ANNEXATIONS, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THAT SNAPSHOT AGAIN AND SEE WHERE WE ARE IF WE, IF COUNSEL APPROVES THOSE ANNEXATIONS. 
          SO THE NEXT SLIDE REFLECTS THE SUMMARY OF THE ANNEXATIONS THAT WILL BE PRE, UH, THAT I'LL BE PRESENTING TODAY. 
          UM, MEMORIAL CITY IS DOING AN ANNEXATION, BUT IS ALSO DOING A LIFE EXTENSION OF 20 YEARS. 
          UM, SOUTHWEST HOUSTON AND HIRAM CLARK ARE DOING ANNEXATIONS, AND YOU CAN SEE THE, UM, A SUMMARY OF THE PURPOSE OF THOSE ANNEXATIONS AS WELL AS THE VALUE OF THOSE ANNEXATIONS. 
          BUT LET ME GO THROUGH THOSE ITEMS IN DETAIL STARTING ON THE NEXT SLIDE. 
          SO THE MEMORIAL CITY ANNEXATION, THE PURPOSE OF THAT ANNEXATION IS TO IMPROVE INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE TOTAL ZONE AREA. 
          AS YOU ARE AWARE, THERE ARE ONGOING, UM, FLOOD REMEDIATION PROJECTS THAT ARE GOING ON IN TUR 17. 
          THEY HAVE NEVER HAD A LIFE EXTENSION IN ITS ENTIRE HISTORY. 
          THIS WILL BE THE FIRST LIFE EXTENSION THAT THEY WILL RECEIVE. 
          IT'LL BE AN INCREASE OF 20 YEARS TO 2049. 
          I HOPE YOUR SLIDE SAYS 2049. 
          I'M SORRY, 2040. 
          APOLOGIZE. 
          UH, NO. 
          2049. 
          THAT'S RIGHT. 
          SO YOUR TOTAL, UM, EXTENSION WILL BE FROM, FOR 20 YEARS TO 2049. 
          AND THAT WILL BE, THAT EXTENSION IS TO FUND PROJECTS WITHIN THE ZONE. 
          AND SO OF COURSE, THOSE PROJECTS INCLUDE, UM, CONTINUING FLOOD MITIGATION THROUGHOUT THE ZONE, AS WELL AS FUNDING FOR POTENTIAL PUBLIC FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS AS, UM, AS REQUIRED IN THE ZONE. 
          NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          SOT 20. 
          THE PURPOSE OF THE ST STATION IS TO SUPPORT FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION FUNDING FOR THE BISSONNET CORRIDOR, ATTRACT PRIVATE INVESTMENT, AND TO PARTICIPATE IN THE HARRIS COUNTY PRECINCT FOUR'S FINANCED PARK IMPROVEMENTS. 
          THE TAXABLE VALUE THAT WILL BE ANNEXED IS 118 MILLION. 
          THE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS FOR FUTURE REDEVELOPMENT, UH, THE PROJECTS WILL BE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR FUTURE REDEVELOPMENT, SIDEWALK AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS, POTENTIAL FIRE STATION IMPROVEMENTS. 
          THEY'LL HAVE ONE FIRE STATION CURRENTLY WITHIN THEIR BOUNDARY, AND THE ANNEXATION WILL ADD ANOTHER FIRE STATION INTO THEIR BOUNDARY. 
          AND, UM, THE LAST PROJECT WILL BE THE FUTURE OF BAYLEN PARK IMPROVEMENTS. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          SO FOR FOR HIRAM CLARK FORT BEND, THE PURPOSE OF THIS ANNEX STATION IS TO ATTRACT PRIVATE INVESTMENT. 
          THE TAXABLE VALUE TO ME ANNEXED IS 22 MILLION. 
          THE PROJECTS WILL FOCUS ON INFRASTRUCTURE FOR RE FOR FUTURE REDEVELOPMENT, SIDEWALK AND DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENTS. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          SO WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, THE CITY'S T CAPACITY. 
          AND SO ALL OF THESE ANNEXATIONS TOGETHER WILL ADD 142 MILLION IN, UM, TAXABLE VALUE. 
          AND SO THAT'LL CHANGE THE CAPACITY CAP FROM 22.257% TO 22.304%. 
          SO NOT A LOT OF CHANGE IN THE CAPACITY. 
          WE STILL HAVE PLENTY CAPACITY UNDER THE CAP TO DO ANNEXATION. 
          SO WE, WE, UM, SORRY, I LOST MY WORD THERE. 
          UM, WE, WE ARE FULLY, UM, IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE TAX CODE. 
          SO THE NEXT SLIDE KIND OF REPRESENTS WHAT OUR TIMELINE IS. 
          SO WE SET THE DATE FOR THE PUBLIC HEARINGS. 
          WE'RE DOING THE PRESENTATION TODAY IN FRONT OF THE EDC UM, COMMITTEE. 
          UM, WE WILL PUT, UM, NOTICES IN THE PAPER TO ADVERTISE THE ANNEXATIONS PER CHAPTER THREE 11. 
          WE WILL DO A PUBLIC HEARING ON DECEMBER 4TH. 
          AND THIS ITEM, THE PROJECT PLANS WILL BE ON CITY COUNCIL'S AGENDA DECEMBER 11TH, 2024. 
          DID YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I DON'T HAVE ANY, UM, 
          [00:10:01]
ANYONE IN THE QUEUE, BUT I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS. 
          UH, WANTED TO KNOW, DO WE ONLY PUBLISH IN THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE? DO WE DO ANY ADVERTISING OF NOTICES ONLINE OR ANYWHERE ELSE? OR IS IT ONLY DONE IN THE CHRONICLE? THE OFFICIAL NOTICE, THE OFFICIAL NOTICE IS ONLY DONE IN THE CHRONICLE, HOUSTON CHRONICLE. 
          OKAY. 
          AND THEN THE OTHER QUESTION I HAD WAS, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE REACH THAT 25% THRESHOLD? WE WON'T BE ABLE TO ANNEX ANY MORE PROPERTY INTO THE TUS UNLESS SOMEONE COMES, UH, UNLESS THAT'S CORRECT, WE SUNSET A TS OR T CHANGES GOES AWAY OR SOMETHING, THEN WE HAVE THAT ADDITIONAL CAPACITY. 
          THAT'S CORRECT. 
          OKAY. 
          WE HAVE, I WILL TELL YOU, WE HAVE PLENTY, WE HAVE 8 BILLION IN CAPACITY. 
          OH, OKAY. 
          TO ANNEX, BECAUSE I DID THE CALCULATION BEFORE I CAME HERE, IT WAS ABOUT 8 BILLION. 
          ABOUT EIGHT, 8 BILLION. 
          BILLION. 
          YES. 
          WE WOULD HAVE TO ANNEX IT ANOTHER 8 BILLION. 
          SO TO KIND OF GIVE YOU IN, IN CONTEXT, WE WOULD HAVE TO DO THIS ANNEXATION 50 MORE TIMES TO GET THERE. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR HAVING THAT ALREADY PREPARED. 
          UH, COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ, UH, THANK YOU MAYOR PRO TEM. 
          AND JENNIFER, THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. 
          I JUST HAD A FEW QUESTIONS FOR YOU STARTING ON, UH, PAGE FOUR, WHICH IS T'S POLICY SUMMARY LIFE EXTENSIONS. 
          YOUR FIRST BULLET POINT SAYS LIFE EXTENSION WILL BE REQUIRED TO SECURE FINANCING FOR AN APPROVED PROJECT TO EXPEDITE CONSTRUCTION. 
          UM, MY MY UNDERSTANDING, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, IS THAT IF A PARTICULAR TURS SHOULD GO OUT OF BUSINESS, THE CITY WOULD STILL BE ON THE HOOK FOR ALL OF THE LIABILITIES THAT, THAT, UH, THATT HAS. 
          THAT'S CORRECT. 
          YEAH. 
          YES. 
          NOW, WITH THAT SAID, UM, WE DO NOT APPROVE PROJECTS UNLESS THE TS HAS THE FINANCING. 
          SO YOU WON'T SEE US APPROVING LIKE A $30 MILLION PROJECT, AND THE TS ONLY HAS 5 MILLION IN INCREMENT AND IT'S GONNA SUNSET. 
          WE WOULD NOT APPROVE IT. 
          IN OTHER WORDS, THE PROJECTS HAVE TO BE, BE ABLE TO BE REPAID WITH T'S INCREMENT. 
          SO, SO SAY THAT AGAIN. 
          YOU, YOU WOULDN'T, YOU WOULDN'T SEEK A $30 MILLION PROJECT IF YOU ONLY HAD $4 MILLION IN YOUR BUDGET, IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE SAYING? OR SAY THAT AGAIN? OR IN THE INCREMENT PROJECTION. 
          SO WE KNOW ABOUT HOW MUCH INCREMENT WE'RE THEY'RE GONNA GET A YEAR. 
          AND SO WE'RE NOT GOING TO APPROVE PROJECTS THAT ARE GONNA EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF INCREMENT PLUS GRANT THAT THEY'RE GONNA RECEIVE. 
          AND THAT INCLUDES DEBT SERVICE. 
          SO, YOU KNOW, IF THEY ISSUE DEBT, THEY HAVE TO HAVE ENOUGH INCREMENT TO PAY THAT DEBT IN THE FUTURE UNTIL WE LOOK AT THE PROJECT SO THAT IT DOESN'T EXCEED THAT AMOUNT. 
          SO YOU'LL SEE SOMETIMES IN OUR, OUR CORRESPONDENCE THAT THE TS FINANCIAL ADVISOR WILL DO KIND OF AN ASSESSMENT TO THE HOW MUCH INCREMENT THAT THEY WOULD HAVE AVAILABLE FOR DEBT SERVICE TO THE, UM, TERM OF THEIR PARTICULAR TURS MM-HMM . 
          SO WHATEVER DEBT THAT THEY HAVE SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE PAID BACK THROUGH THE INCREMENT THAT IS GENERATED BY THAT TS. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, LET ME ASK YOU SOME SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ABOUT, WELL, LET'S SEE. 
          SLIDE NUMBER SIX, UH, T CAPACITY. 
          AND ACCORDING TO THIS, THE TOTAL TAXABLE REAL PROPERTY IS JUST UNDER $300 BILLION. 
          DO YOU KNOW IF THAT FIGURE TOTAL TAXABLE REAL PROPERTY INCLUDES, UM, PROPERTIES THAT ARE SUBJECT TO ABATEMENT? LIKE FOR INS? GO AHEAD. 
          I'M SORRY. 
          SO LEMME LET YOU FINISH YOUR QUESTION. 
          I HOPE. 
          NO, I, I WAS GOING SAY, LIKE FOR INSTANCE, ALL THE, THE PFCS WE HAVE IN THE CITY, DOES THAT, DOES THAT, UH, FIGURE JUST UNDER 300 BILLION TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE, UH, THE VALUE OF, UH, THIS PROPERTIES WHERE THE TAXES ARE ABATED AS WELL? OR NOT? IT WOULD INCLUDE ALL OF THE REAL TAXABLE VALUE. 
          I'M NOT SURE HOW THOSE PFCS WORK WITH REGARD TO THE APPRAISAL DISTRICT, WHETHER THEY KIND OF RECLASS THEM. 
          SO FOR EXAMPLE, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU, I KNOW YOU'RE FAMILIAR WITH THE MEDICAL CENTER, UM, A LOT OF THOSE PROPERTIES ARE LIT ARE, IT'S ABOUT 5 BILLION IN PROPERTIES, BUT IT'S LIKE 200, 200 MILLION IN ACTUAL TAXABLE VALUE BECAUSE THE, THE DELTA OR THOSE PROPERTIES ARE NOT TAXABLE. 
          MM-HMM. 
          SO I'M NOT SURE HOW THOSE PFCS WOULD BE CLASSIFIED. 
          I'D HAVE TO KIND OF, TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION PROPERLY, I WOULD HAVE TO LOOK AND SEE HOW, HOW THOSE, THOSE PROPERTIES ARE CLASSED. 
          FAIR ENOUGH. 
          FAIR ENOUGH. 
          UH, SLIDE SEVEN, WHERE YOU GET INTO, UH, THE SPECIFIC TOURS IS IN QUESTION HERE, 17 MEMORIAL CITY, UM, PROJECT DRAINAGE AND DETENTION. 
          ARE THERE 
          [00:15:01]
SPECIFIC PROJECTS THAT WOULD OCCUR IN THE PROPERTY THAT'S GOING TO BE, THAT'S PROPOSED TO BE ANNEXED? SO, UM, THAT'S REALLY FOR EVERY AREA. 
          SO IT'S LIKE EVERY, SO MEMORIAL CITY IS CONSTANTLY LOOKING FOR AREAS THAT HELP THEM WITH DRAINAGE AND DETENTION IN THAT AREA. 
          SO ANY PROPERTY IS SUBJECT TO LOOKING AT ANY TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE CHANGES. 
          UM, THE PARTICULAR SITE THAT IS ANNEXED, IT'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT USES FOR THAT PARTICULAR PROPERTY. 
          MM-HMM . 
          I DON'T WANNA GO INTO THAT FURTHER BECAUSE YOU KNOW WHAT THEY ARE, THERE'S A POSSIBLE, UM, AGREEMENT THERE. 
          AND SO I DON'T WANNA GO THROUGH THAT AGREEMENT. 
          IT'S A, IT'S, IT'S A, IT'S A, UM, REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION. 
          AND SO I DON'T WANNA GO INTO THAT IN DETAIL IN PUBLIC. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, CAN I PRESUME THAT IN EACH OF THESE ANNEXATIONS THERE IS PROPOSED TO BE ADDITIONAL WORK THAT WILL OCCUR IN THOSE AREAS TO BE ANNEXED OR NOT? OH, SO, ABSOLUTELY. 
          SO ANYTIME WE'RE DOING ANNEXATIONS, THERE'S GONNA BE SOME SORT OF PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT THAT'S INVOLVED IN THOSE, THOSE PROPERTY. 
          SO FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU'RE LOOKING AT ANYTHING THAT HAS A PRIVATE INVESTMENT ATTACHED TO IT, THEY'RE GONNA, THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT THEY'LL DO SIDEWALKS, SOME DETENTION WORK, SOME STREET RECONSTRUCTION WORK TO ATTRACT, UM, SOME SORT OF PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN THAT AREA. 
          OR THERE MAY BE A DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WHEREBY THE DEVELOPER WILL DO THE PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT AS PART OF THEIR PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT. 
          MM-HMM . 
          AND, AND YOU MENTIONED ATTRACT PRIVATE INVESTMENT. 
          SO A COUPLE OF THESE, IT SAYS THE PURPOSE IS PART OF THE PURPOSE IS TO ATTRACT PRIVATE INVESTMENT. 
          HOW IS IT DEMONSTRATED THAT, THAT THE PROPOSED PROJECTS WILL ATTRACT PRIVATE INVESTMENT? HOW IS IT DEMONSTRATED? UM, HOW, HOW DO WE, HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THERE'S SORT TARGETED, I'M SORRY. 
          HOW DO WE KNOW THAT? HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE, THERE'S SOME PRIVATE INVESTMENT THAT'S POTENTIALLY INVOLVED, UM, PHONE CALLS TO OUR OFFICE SAYING THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOME INTEREST IN DOING SOME PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA. 
          OKAY. 
          FROM DEVELOPERS OR SO FROM EITHER THERE, IT COULD BE RESIDENTS, IT COULD BE MULTIPLE. 
          SO IT COULD BE, UM, THE COUNCIL DISTRICT OFFICE. 
          IT COULD BE A DEVELOPER IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA. 
          IT COULD BE THE TS ITSELF AND USUALLY EVERYONE'S INVOLVED. 
          SO WE HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS. 
          UM, IF WE COULD HEAR ABOUT IT AND WE VET IT OUT, THEN WE VISIT WITH THE DISTRICT COUNCIL MEMBER. 
          IF THE T HEARS ABOUT IT, THEY LET US KNOW. 
          AND THEN WE ALL VISIT WITH THE DISTRICT COUNCIL MEMBER IN VARIOUS STAGES LETTING THEM KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN THAT PARTICULAR, WHAT THE POTENTIALS ARE IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          I'LL GO BACK IN THE QUEUE. 
          SURE. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER HUFFMAN. 
          THANK YOU SO MUCH. 
          AND SO FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING, THAT'S SET FOR DECEMBER 4TH, THAT'S FOR COMMENT, NOT ONLY ON THE LIFE EXTENSION OF THE T, BUT ALSO ON THE ANNEXATION. 
          IS THAT CORRECT? YES. 
          OKAY. 
          IT'LL COVER BOTH. 
          PERFECT. 
          I'M SORRY I CAME IN A LITTLE LATE. 
          THANK YOU. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN. 
          THANK YOU. 
          CHAIR. 
          ON THE, UM, ON THE MEMORIAL CITY ONE, THE EXTENSION, UM, WILL ENABLE THEM TO, UH, DO MORE BONDS. 
          IT WILL, SO IT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO DO BONDS SO THEY CAN FOCUS MORE ON THE, ON THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THOSE, UM, THE TWO DETENTION BASINS, INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE, UM, IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA. 
          YES. 
          BUT DID YOU, DID YOU NEED, SO YOU NEEDED, YOU NEED THE LIFE EXTENSION TO CARRY OUT THAT DETENTION A AND B, OR IF THERE'S, IF THERE'S ANY TYPE OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS THAT NEED TO BE DONE IN THERE, THEY NEED A CAPACITY IN ORDER TO PAY FOR THOSE INFRASTRUCTURE. 
          AS YOU ARE AWARE, THE, THERE ARE TERM IN 2029, SO IT DOES NOT GIVE THEM ENOUGH, UM, BOND AUTHORITY TO ISSUE ISSUE DEBT TO. 
          SO TO COMPLETE THOSE PROJECTS IN FULL, YOU GOTTA, DO YOU HAVE TO DO THE, OR ANY, OR ANY PROJECTS THAT, OR ANY PROJECTS, ANY PROJECTS THAT THEY PLAN TO DO IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA? ANY STREET PROJECTS, ANY OTHER DETENTION SITES THAT, WHAT WAS THE START DATE OF THE MEMORIAL CITY ONE? YOU KNOW, I DON'T KNOW. 
          I KNOW THAT, I KNOW IT ENDS IN 2029. 
          I'LL HAVE TO LOOK AT UP FOR YOU. 
          OKAY. 
          I MEAN, I CAN LOOK AND, AND, AND THEN THE, UH, ON THE OTHER TWO, THOSE ARE JUST BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENTS TO, TO DRAWING SOME MORE, GET SOME MORE PROJECTS AND DRAWING SOME MORE INVESTMENT. 
          YOU'RE NOT THAT, THAT'S CORRECT. 
          UM, SPECIFICALLY ON THE SOUTHWEST HOUSTON, THE CITY IS GETTING A FEDERAL GRANT TO DO SOME WORK ON THIS AND THAT. 
          YEAH. 
          OKAY. 
          AND SO SOME OF THOSE AREAS THAT THEY, THAT ARE IN A ANNEXATION ARE ADJACENT TO THAT PARTICULAR PROJECT. 
          OKAY. 
          DO WHICH OF THESE, IF ANY, PAY INTO AFFORDABLE HOUSING? SOUTHWEST HOUSTON IS 
          [00:20:01]
GOING TO BE IN AFFORDABLE HOUSING. 
          IT'S NOT GONNA BE PAID IN, BUT IF YOU REMEMBER, OUR COUNCIL HAS APPROVED A AFFORDABLE HOUSING AGREEMENT OR AN ILA WITH HARRIS COUNTY PRECINCT FOUR, THEY'LL BE DOING SOME AFFORDABLE HOUSING WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF PRECINCT FOR AND THE TURS. 
          SO THERE'S POTENTIAL FOR INVESTMENT IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA. 
          OKAY. 
          BUT NONE OF THESE ARE THE ONES THAT PAY IN A THIRD? NO, NONE, NONE OF THESE, UM, NONE OF THESE HAVE, NONE OF THESE ARE PETITION TERMS. NONE OF 'EM ARE PETITIONED. 
          OKAY. 
          NOR DO THEY HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY TO PAY INTO FUND 24 0 9. 
          AND, AND WHAT DOES MEMORIAL CITY PAY INTO MUNICIPAL SERVICE FEES? WHY, WHAT, HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW? THREE. 
          UM, I THINK IT'S 3 MILLION. 
          25,000. 
          OKAY. 
          I THINK THAT'S THE NUMBER. 
          LET ME, AND, AND LET ME LOOK AT IT AND MAKE SURE THAT I'M, HOW, HOW ARE THOSE MUNICIPAL SERVICES FEES CALCULATED? UH, YOU KNOW WHAT? NO, THAT'S FOR, UH, THE FEE I JUST GAVE YOU WAS FOR UPPER KIRBY, THE FEE FOR, UM, MEMORIAL CITY'S 2,000,256. 
          HOW DO YOU HAVE THAT IN YOUR HEAD? UM, BUT, BUT CAN YOU, CAN YOU DESCRIBE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW THOSE ARE CALCULATED? SO WE TAKE A LOOK AT THE GROWTH OF THE ZONE OVER, UM, FROM INCEPTION TO CURRENT, AND THEN WE LOOK AT HOW MUCH IT WOULD'VE GROWN HAD IT NOT BEEN IN THIS. 
          UM, NO, WE, WE LOOK AT HOW MUCH THEY'VE GROWN VERSUS THE, A GROWTH OF 4% YEAR OVER YEAR. 
          AND WE'RE MAKING ASSUMPTION THAT IF YOU'VE GROWN OVER THAT DELTA, THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA APPLY THE, UM, CITY'S M AND O RATE TO. 
          AND SO BASICALLY THAT'S HOW WE'RE GETTING, UM, THE CALCULATION. 
          THAT'S THE ACTUAL PHYSICAL CALCULATION FOR THAT. 
          UM, AND SO I CAN SEND YOU A, AND I CAN SEND EVERYONE LIKE A, IS IT UNIFORM? I MEAN, IS KIND OF THE, BASICALLY YES. 
          IT'S, IT'S UNIFORM ACROSS THE TOURISM. 
          YEAH. 
          THAT, THAT'S THE, THAT'S THE CALCULATION THAT WE LOOKED AT TO, UM, TO APPLY TO EVERYONE BECAUSE IT'S BASED ON THE GROWTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL TUR. 
          AND WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE MAKING AN ASSUMPTION WITH REGARD TO THE GROWTH IN HOW MUCH THE, THE, THE, THE MUNICIPAL SERVICES, THE SERVICES THEY'RE, THEY'RE RECEIVING. 
          SO THE GROWTH, IT IS, IT IS BASED ON THE MUNICIPAL SERVICES, THE RATE TIMES, THE ACTUAL GROWTH, WHAT THEY WOULD'VE DONE AT A 4% GROWTH VERSUS WHAT THEY ACTUALLY DONE IN THE DELTA IS THE, THE AMOUNT THAT WE, AND, AND OUR IS 22, WHATEVER POINT, WHATEVER, IS THAT THE HIGHEST WE'VE EVER BEEN? HAVE WE BEEN HIGHER TOWARDS THE 25% OR ARE WE AT THE HIGHEST? I THINK THAT'S, I'LL HAVE TO LOOK IN, LOOK BACK AT PREVIOUS ANNEXATIONS. 
          IT LOOKS SCARY WHEN YOU LOOK AT IT FROM A PERCENTAGE PERSPECTIVE, BUT WHEN YOU ACTUALLY LOOK AT THE NUMBER, LIKE I SAID, YOU HAVE 8 BILLION IN NO, I UNDERSTAND. 
          BUT I JUST WONDER IF WE'RE, IF WE'VE EVER BEEN HIGHER TOWARDS THE 25%. 
          I THINK WE'VE BEEN IN 24, BUT LET ME VERIFY THAT FOR YOU. 
          'CAUSE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN JUST, UM, A, AN ASSUMPTION WE WERE MAKING IF WE DID ALL THE ANNEXATIONS THAT WERE REQUESTED IN ONE YEAR, A COUPLE ABOUT 2022 IN VERSUS WHAT WE ACTUALLY DID. 
          SO I HAVE TO GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE RECORD ON THAT ONE. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ. 
          THANK YOU MAYOR PRO TEM. 
          UM, SO ONE LAST QUESTION ON 17 TURNS 17 SAYS THE PURPOSES SUPPORT PROJECTS WITH ADDITIONAL FUNDING. 
          DOES THAT MEAN THAT THE FUNDING, UM, THAT WE DERIVE FROM THIS TAX INCREMENT AT PRESENT IS NOT ENOUGH TO COVER THE PROPOSED PROJECTS? THAT'S CORRECT. 
          OKAY. 
          BECAUSE WHAT THEY'LL NEED TO DO, UM, 'CAUSE OF THE, THE INCREASE IN PROJECT COST OVER TIME IS THAT THEY'LL NEED TO TAKE OUT DEBT IN ORDER TO HAVE THOSE PROJECTS CONSTRUCTED. 
          SO THEY'LL NEED THE ADDITIONAL, UM, REVENUE FROM THE 20 YEAR LIFE EXTENSION IN ORDER TO ISSUE DEBT TO PAY FOR THOSE, UH, PLANNED PROJECTS. 
          OR EVEN A COUPLE THAT ARE PROJECTED PROJECTS IN THE FUTURE. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          UH, REGARDS TOTS 20, UH, ONE OF THE PURPOSES LISTED IS SUPPORT PROJECT WITH FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION FUNDING. 
          UH, DOES THAT MEAN THAT, UM, WE ARE BEING REQUIRED TO MATCH, UH, AT A CERTAIN LEVEL IN ORDER TO GET FEDERAL FUNDING FOR TRANSPORTATION? OR WHAT, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN EXACTLY? NOT IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE. 
          SO THIS IS, UM, THE FEDERAL FUNDING THAT THE CITY RECEIVES. 
          SO THE, THE CITY RECEIVED ABOUT 27 MILLION FOR THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT. 
          AND THE ANNEXATION REFLECTS TRACKS THAT ARE ADJACENT TO THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT THAT THEY BELIEVE THAT WILL HELP ATTRACT SOME PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN THE AREA. 
          SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE DOING THE ANNEXATION. 
          HOW DOES THAT RELATE TO THE FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION FUNDING? WELL, THE, THE, 
          [00:25:01]
IT'S JUST A SUPPORTING, YOU KNOW, DOING SUPPORTIVE PROJECTS THAT, THAT BASICALLY SUPPORT THE CI THE CITY THAT RECEIVED THE, THE, UM, TRANSPORTATION FUNDING. 
          SO YOU'RE SAYING IT'S LIKE, UH, THE CITY CAN BUILD A STRONGER CASE FOR THE FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION FUNDING IF WE ADD THESE, UH, PROPERTIES INTO THE TURS? NO, IT'S A SEPARATE IN, IN THAT IT'S SUPPORTING THE CITY, IN THE CITY DOING ITS PROJECT. 
          UM, IT'S NOT DIRECT AS, THIS IS NOT A DIRECT APPLICATION IN THE SENSE THAT THE, THE PARTICIPANT, THE CI THE, THE TURS IS NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE FEDERAL TRANSPORTATION FUNDING DIRECTLY. 
          THEY'RE JUST IN THAT BOUNDARY. 
          THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY, ONCE THAT WORK IS DONE OR COMMENCES, THERE'S GONNA BE SOME PRIVATE, UM, INVESTMENT THAT CAN BE DONE IN THAT PARTICULAR AREA. 
          MM-HMM . 
          AND SO THE TURS IS EXPANDING ITS BOUNDARY SO IT CAN, SO IT CAN, UM, INCITE OR TRACK THAT INVESTMENT. 
          OKAY. 
          MAY, MAYBE WE CAN VISIT OFFLINE ON, ON THAT. 
          OKAY. 
          SURE. 
          YEAH. 
          UM, AND, AND DO, DO YOU ALL DOCUMENT WHEN YOU GET COMMENTS FROM OTHERS INDICATING THAT, UH, UH, DEVELOPMENT WILL OR PROJECTS WILL ATTRACT PRIVATE INVESTMENT? DO YOU GUYS DOCUMENT THAT OR, OH, SO WHEN OTHER, UM, COMPANIES OR, YOU KNOW, COUNCIL OFFICE STATEMENTS FROM, SO WE DO, WE DOCUMENT THAT MM-HMM . 
          I DON'T BELIEVE THAT WE DO. 
          MM-HMM . 
          BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, I DON'T DOCUMENT THEM. 
          SO LET ME, LET ME BE CLEAR. 
          I DON'T DOCUMENT 'EM. 
          'CAUSE US, OR YOU KNOW WHAT, I DON'T DOCUMENT ALL THE COMMENTS, ONLY THE ONES THAT ACTUALLY RESULT IN AN ACTUAL AGREEMENT. 
          SO LET ME SAY IT LIKE THAT. 
          SO USUALLY WHAT HAPPENS IS THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF CONVERSATION, A LOT OF DIFFERENT, UM, POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS THAT WILL COME BY, BUT THEN WE'LL ACTUALLY INK, INK IT INTO AN ACTUAL AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY. 
          SO IF YOU'RE ASKING ME IF I DOCUMENT ALL OF THE ONES THAT JUST KIND OF TALK, NO, NOT REALLY, ALTHOUGH I DON'T REMEMBER SOME OF THEM. 
          BUT IF IT'S AN ACTUAL AGREEMENT IN PLACE, THEN OF COURSE WE'VE GOT THAT DOCUMENT 'CAUSE IT'S ALREADY A, AN APPROVED AGREEMENT. 
          OKAY. 
          I'LL GO BACK IN THE QUEUE IF THERE'S SOMEONE ELSE WAITING, THERE'S NO ONE ELSE IN THE QUEUE, BUT WE DO NEED TO MOVE TO OUR NEXT PRESENTATION. 
          THAT'S WE FINE. 
          FOLLOW UP ON LINE. 
          THANK YOU, SIR. 
          FOLLOW UP WITH HER. 
          THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 
          UM, MS. CURLEY, WE APPRECIATE YOUR PRESENTATION AND ANSWERING OUR QUESTIONS TODAY. 
          NEXT ON OUR AGENDA, THE OFFICE OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY DIRECTOR HORDE AND MGT CONSULTING WILL PRESENT ON THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S DISPARITY STUDY DIRECTOR HORDE AND MGT CONSULTING. 
          THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. 
          UH, IF YOU WOULD INTRODUCE THE MEMBERS OF THE CONSULTING TEAM AND THEN WE ARE READY FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. 
          GOOD AFTERNOON, COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIR PRO TEM, UM, SX TATUM AND COUNCIL MEMBER HUFFMAN RAMIREZ AND ALCORN AND STAFF. 
          UM, TODAY WE ARE GOING TO PRESENT THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S 2020 FOR THREE DISPARITY STUDY. 
          UM, AS YOU ARE AWARE, CHAPTER 15 OF THE ORDINANCE, UH, COMPELS, UH, THE OFFICE OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR CONDUCTING A DISPARITY STUDY, WHICH LOOKS INTO THE DISCRIMINATION AND CONTRACTING BOTH IN THE MARKETPLACE AS WELL AS, UH, WITH CITY CONTRACTING. 
          UM, AND WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO THIS AT IN REGULAR INCREMENTS. 
          AND SO WE HAVE CHARGED MGT CONSULTING WITH DOING THAT. 
          WE, UH, BROUGHT THEM ON BOARD IN 2023. 
          UM, THEY CONDUCTED A VERY THOROUGH STUDY OF THE MARKETPLACE IN OUR AREA, AS WELL AS THE CITY AND OUR SPEND. 
          AND THEY'RE GOING TO PRESENT THAT TO US TODAY. 
          SO WE HAVE, UM, VENETTA MITCHELL, AND K ALICIA MITCHELL FROM MGT CONSULTING. 
          I'D LIKE TO PRESENT THEM AND THEY WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH THE PRESENTATION. 
          THANK YOU VERY MUCH. 
          GOOD AFTERNOON. 
          GOOD AFTERNOON. 
          THANK YOU EVERYONE AS WELL. 
          ALL RIGHT, WELL, GOOD AFTERNOON. 
          IT, IT IS A PLEASURE TO BE BEFORE YOU TODAY TO PRESENT THE FINDINGS OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S 2023 DISPARITY STUDY. 
          AS DIRECTOR HOYTS, UH, STATED, UH, WE HAVE SPENT SOME CONSIDERABLE TIME TOGETHER MAKING SURE THAT WE REVIEW ALL OF THE QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA. 
          AND TODAY WE WILL PRESENT YOU, UH, WITH OUR METHODOLOGIES AS WELL AS OUR FINDINGS. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          SO IN ADDITION TO THE INTRODUCTION, WE WILL, UH, BRIEFLY PROVIDE AN OVERVIEW. 
          WE'LL PROVIDE THE DISPARITY STUDY RESULTS, THE FINDINGS OF, 
          [00:30:01]
UM, UTILIZATION AVAILABILITY, DISPARITY, AND THEN WE'LL, WE'LL DISCUSS SOME OF THE REMEDIES OR RECOMMENDATIONS, UH, THAT WE SUGGEST TO THE CITY BASED ON OUR FINDINGS. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          SO, MGT CONSULTING IS A NATIONAL MANAGEMENT RESEARCH CONSULTING FIRM. 
          UM, ANY ASPECT OF PUBLIC SECTOR, UM, ORGANIZATION OPERATIONS, WE HAVE, UH, CONSULTANTS, HIGHLY TRAINED CONSULTANTS WHO CAN ASSIST THOSE PUBLIC AGENCIES. 
          BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY FOR YOU, THE TEAM THAT CONDUCTED THE DISPARITY STUDY HAS CONDUCTED, UM, MGT HAS CONDUCTED OVER 250 DISPARITY STUDIES NATIONALLY. 
          SO WE BRING A, UH, HOST OF EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE, UH, CONDUCTING THE STATE STUDY, EXCUSE ME, THE CITY STUDY. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          THE THREE PROGRAM OR PROJECT LEADERS, ANDREAS BERNAL IS OUR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT WHO COULD NOT BE HERE TODAY, BUT ANDREAS, UM, ENSURES THAT OUR METHODOLOGY MEETS COURT STANDARDS, UH, INDUSTRY STANDARDS. 
          MYSELF, VENETTA MITCHELL, PROJECT DIRECTOR, AND C ALICIA MITCHELL. 
          AND WE ARE NOT RELATED, JUST HAPPENED TO HAVE THE SAME LAST NAME. 
          UM, KISHA MITCHELL WAS OUR PROJECT MANAGER. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          WE'RE ALSO VERY EXCITED TO, UM, HAVE THREE SUB CONSULTS THAT WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH US AND WAS VERY INSTRUMENTAL IN SUCCESS IN THIS STUDY. 
          UH, JAMES PIERRE, UH, JAMES GOODWILL. 
          PIERRE ALSO ASSISTED US WITH, UH, THE, SOME OF THE ANECDOTAL DATA COLLECTION, AS WELL AS REVIEWING THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK, UH, FOR DISPARITY STUDIES, UH, BASED ON COURT CASES. 
          REUBEN BROWN WITH BWA CONSULTING ASSISTED WITH ANECDOTAL OR QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION, AS WELL AS THE SUBCONTRACTOR DATA COLLECTION. 
          WE CAN TALK MORE ABOUT THAT. 
          AND THEN SUSAN BARHAM WITH SKY BASE SEVEN ASSISTED WITH THE CUSTOM CENSUS SURVEY, AS WELL AS THE VENDOR SURVEY, WHICH IS A QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION ACTIVITY AS WELL. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          SO I WANNA PROVIDE JUST A BRIEF OVERVIEW. 
          UM, DISPARITY STUDIES ARE USED TO DETERMINE WHETHER THERE IS EVIDENCE OF DISCRIMINATION IN A MARKETPLACE IN WHICH A PUBLIC ENTITY DOES ITS BUSINESS, AND THEN IF THAT WOULD PERMIT THE, THE PERMISSION OR PERMIT THE USE OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AND REMEDY ITS EFFECTS. 
          SO THAT'S THE OVERARCHING RESEARCH QUESTION. 
          IS THERE DISCRIMINATION IN A MARKETPLACE IN WHICH AN AGENCY DOES BUSINESS? THE CITY'S DISPARITY STUDY INVOLVED, UH, NOT ONLY COLLECTING, BUT ALSO ANALYZING BOTH QUANTITATIVE, WHICH IS YOUR SPEND, UH, OVER A CERTAIN TIME PERIOD. 
          AND WE'LL TALK MORE ABOUT THAT. 
          BUT WHAT QUANTITATIVE DATA, UH, WE COLLECTED FROM YOU, AS WELL AS QUALITATIVE, WHICH IS YOUR ANECDOTAL AND QUALITATIVE DATA FROM THE BUSINESSES WHO SEEK TO WORK IN THIS MARKETPLACE TO MAKE A DETERMINATION IF THERE'S DISPARITY. 
          SO DISPARITY STUDIES PROVIDE, UM, ACTIONABLE RESULTS, UH, THAT CAN BE USED TO NARROWLY TAILOR THE CITY'S PROGRAM MOVING FORWARD. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          SO, HIGH LEVEL FINDINGS OF OUR STUDY, AND THEN WE'RE THE NEXT FEW SLIDES KHA WILL GO THROUGH WITH YOU TO TALK MORE INTO DETAIL. 
          DISPARITY WAS IDENTIFIED IN THE UTILIZATION OF MINORITY WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES COMPARED TO THE MWBE AVAILABILITY IN THE CITY'S MARKETPLACE. 
          QUALITATIVE OR QUANTITATIVE, EXCUSE ME, QUANTITATIVE, QUALITATIVE, EXCUSE ME, QUALITATIVE ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE DID FIND THAT FIRMS EXPERIENCED DISCRIMINATION, UH, AND BARRIERS TO DOING BUSINESS IN THE HOUSTON MARKETPLACE. 
          AND THEN DISPARITY IN SELF-EMPLOYMENT EARNINGS OF MWBE FIRMS COMPARED TO NON MWBE FIRMS WAS IDENTIFIED IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR ANALYSIS AS WELL. 
          SO THOSE ARE THE, JUST A FEW OF THE OVERARCHING ANALYSIS, UM, THAT WE IDENTIFIED FOR THE STUDY. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO KISHA TO WALK YOU THROUGH, UM, THE RELEVANT GEOGRAPHIC MARKET AREA, WHAT THAT MEANS, AND THEN ALL OF THE, UH, SPECIFIC ANALYSES. 
          THANK YOU, VERNETTA. 
          AND HELLO EVERYONE. 
          SO THE RELEVANT GEOGRAPHICAL MARKET AREA OF A DISPARITY STUDY SEEKS TO FIRST TAKE A LOOK AT, BASED ON YOUR SPENDING, WHERE OUR MAJORITY OF THE FIRMS GEOGRAPHICALLY LOCATED THAT YOU DO BUSINESS WITH. 
          ANOTHER KEY ASPECT OF THAT IS ANALYZING WHAT ARE THE ACTUAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT THE CITY HAS PROCURED DURING THAT STUDY PERIOD. 
          [00:35:01]
AND SO FOR THE STUDY PERIOD THAT WE ANALYZED, IT WAS JULY 1ST, 2017 THROUGH JUNE 30TH, 2022. 
          SO THAT WOULD BE FISCAL YEARS 18 THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 22. 
          AGAIN, WITH UNDERSTANDING WHERE THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF FIRMS ARE LOCATED AND THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT YOU HAVE PROCURED OVER THAT TIME PERIOD. 
          WE FOUND THAT YOUR RELEVANT GEOGRAPHICAL MARKET AREA CONSISTS OF THESE NINE COUNTY COUNTIES SHOWN HERE ON THE SCREEN. 
          SO THAT WOULD BE AUSTIN COUNTY, BRAZORIA COUNTY, CHAMBERS COUNTY, FORT BEND, GALVESTON COUNTY, HARRIS COUNTY, LIBERTY COUNTY, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, AND WALLER COUNTY. 
          AGAIN, THIS IS LOOKING AT WHERE IS THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF MAJORITY OF THE FIRMS THAT YOU HAVE PROCURED THOSE GOODS AND SERVICES FROM. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          AND SO, AS I MENTIONED, WE ANALYZED YOUR SPEND OVER THE COURSE OF FIVE YEARS, AGAIN, FISCAL YEARS 18 THROUGH 22. 
          THROUGH THIS STUDY PERIOD, WE OBSERVED THAT 28%, UM, OF YOUR SPEND HAD BEEN WITH MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES, UM, WHEREAS 71% HAD BEEN WITH UNCLASSIFIED FIRMS. AND WE DEFINE UNCLASSIFIED FIRMS AS THOSE, UM, WHO ARE EITHER NON-MINORITY MALES OR THEIR BUSINESS OWNERSHIP CLASSIFICATION COULD NOT BE CONFIRMED, UH, WITHIN THIS STUDY PERIOD. 
          WE ALSO OBSERVED THAT THE HIGHEST UTILIZATION AMONG MWBE FIRMS, UH, WAS WITH HISPANIC AMERICAN FIRMS, WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR JUST OVER 12.5% OF YOUR TOTAL SPEND DURING THIS TIME PERIOD. 
          WE ALSO OBSERVED THAT YOUR TOTAL SPENDING, UM, WITH NON-MINORITY WOMEN ACCOUNTED FOR JUST OVER 6.2% OF YOUR TOTAL SPEND. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          OVER THE COURSE OF OUR DISPARITY STUDY, WE ANALYZE BOTH YOUR MWBE SPEND AS WELL AS YOUR SPEND ON FEDERALLY FUNDED, UM, PROJECTS. 
          THIS WOULD, UH, PREDOMINANTLY BE WITH THE, UH, AIRPORT SYSTEM. 
          AND SO FOR THE DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISED, UH, FIRMS ON FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECTS DURING THE SAME STUDY PERIOD, AGAIN, JULY 1ST, 2017 THROUGH JUNE 30TH, 2022, WE OBSERVED THAT JUST OVER 21% HAD BEEN WITH DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, WHEREAS 78% HAD BEEN WITH NON DBE FIRMS. WE ALSO OBSERVED THAT THE HIGHEST UTILIZATION AMONG DBES, UH, WERE WITH BLACK AMERICAN FIRMS, WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR 15% OF YOUR TOTAL SPEND OF FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECTS, UH, WHEREAS HISPANIC AMERICAN FIRMS ACCOUNTED FOR JUST OVER 5% OF YOUR TOTAL FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECTS. 
          AND FOR CLARIFICATION, THIS PARTICULAR SLIDE FOR DBE, UM, DEALS WITH FEDERALLY FUNDED HIGHWAY PROJECTS, DOT PROJECTS. 
          THE NEXT SLIDE WILL, WILL, UM, SHOW THE ANALYSIS FOR AIRPORTS. 
          OKAY, THANK YOU. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          AND SO, FOR YOUR AIRPORT CONCESSIONS, DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, UM, AGAIN, USING THE SAME STUDY PERIOD, UH, WE FOUND AND OBSERVED THAT WITH YOUR AC CDBE SPEND, UH, A TOTAL OF 28% OR ALMOST 29% OF YOUR TOTAL SPEND, UM, WAS WITH A-C-D-B-E FIRMS, WHEREAS 62% WAS WITH NON A-C-D-B-E FIRMS. AND THE FURTHER SLIDES, UH, TO COME, WE WILL DISCUSS AND BREAK OUT THE ACTUAL AVAILABILITY OF THOSE FIRMS, AND WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT THAT PARTICULARLY MEANS AS WE ALSO BREAK OUT THE PROCUREMENT CATEGORIES THAT WERE ANALYZED FOR EACH OF THESE THREE AREAS. 
          AND, UH, ONE THING TO NOTE IS THAT THE HIGHEST UTILIZATION AMONG ACDBES WAS WITH BLACK AMERICAN FIRMS, WHICH WAS JUST OVER 20%. 
          UM, AND THE NEXT HIGHEST WAS WITH NON-MINORITY, UH, FEMALE FIRMS, WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR EIGHT UH, PERCENT OF YOUR TOTAL SPEND. 
          AND NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          AND SO, A KEY ASPECT OF UNDERSTANDING WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS, UH, EVIDENCE OF DISCRIMINATION, UM, IN CONTRACTS THAT HAVE BEEN PROCURED OVER THE STUDY PERIOD, IS EXAMINING THE AVAILABILITY OF READY, WILLING, AND ABLE FIRMS THAT ARE IN YOUR MARKETPLACE. 
          MORE SPECIFICALLY, YOUR MARKETPLACE WOULD BE, UH, THE RELEVANT GEOGRAPHICAL MARKET AREA THAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT EARLIER. 
          SO THOSE NINE COUNTIES, UH, SPECIFICALLY WE LOOK AT THESE FIRMS, UH, UTILIZING A CUSTOM CENSUS APPROACH, UM, WHICH IS A TRIED AND TRUE METHOD OF UNDERSTANDING BASED ON, UH, VARIOUS, UH, SOURCES OF INFORMATION TO CONFIRM, 
          [00:40:01]
UM, THE RACE, ETHNICITY, AND GENDER, UH, STATUS OF BUSINESS OWNERS, AS WELL AS CONDUCTING, UM, A PHONE CALL SURVEY, UH, REACHING OUT TO FIRMS DIRECTLY TO VERIFY, UH, THEIR BUSINESS OWNERSHIP CLASSIFICATION. 
          AND SO, THROUGH THIS EXTENSIVE PROCESS, WE WERE ABLE TO DETERMINE, UH, THE AVAILABILITY ESTIMATES OF, UH, FIRMS WITHIN YOUR RELEVANT GEOGRAPHICAL MARKET AREA. 
          AND SO WE BREAK OUT YOUR AVAILABILITY BASED ON THE PROCUREMENT CATEGORIES THAT WERE OBSERVED FOR THE STUDY, SPECIFICALLY FOR YOUR MWBE UH, STUDY. 
          WE LOOKED AT CONSTRUCTION, UM, WHICH WOULD BE YOUR CONSTRUCTION RELATED SERVICES, UM, MORE SPECIFICALLY FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, WHICH INCLUDES ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING, AND THOSE TYPES OF SERVICES THAT REQUIRE SPECIALIZED LICENSE OR CERTIFICATION, UH, FOR OTHER SERVICES, WHICH WOULD INCLUDE, UM, NON-PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SUCH AS JANITORIAL OR, OR LANDSCAPING, UM, THAT WOULD CONSIST OF THE OTHER SERVICES CATEGORY. 
          AND THEN GOODS. 
          UM, SO THE ACTUAL COMMODITIES, UM, AND MATERIALS THAT ARE PROCURED. 
          UM, SO WITHIN, AND WE LOOK AT YOUR AVAILABILITY AND PRESENT THE FINDINGS IN AN OVERARCHING, UH, LEVEL, UM, AS WELL AS PRESENTED WITH EACH SPECIFIC CATEGORY THAT WE ANALYZED. 
          SO THE TOTAL AVAILABILITY ESTIMATES FOR ASIAN AMERICAN FIRMS WAS 3.7%, UH, FOR BLACK AMERICAN FIRMS, THAT WAS 7.7% FOR HISPANIC AMERICANS, THAT WAS 13, UH, 0.1%. 
          AND FOR NON-MINORITY WOMEN, UM, THAT WAS 8%. 
          AND I ALSO WANNA ADD HERE THAT, YOU KNOW, AVAILABILITY IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND IN TERMS OF WHAT YOU PROCURE THE GOODS AND SERVICES THAT YOU PROCURE. 
          SO, UM, WHEN WE ARE PREPARING YOUR QUANTITATIVE DATA OR YOUR DATA FOR THAT FIVE YEAR STUDY PERIOD, WE ASSIGN N-A-I-C-S CODES TO EVERY TRANSACTION IN THAT, IN THAT DATA SET THAT TELLS US YOUR PRODUCT MARKET DURING THAT STUDY PERIOD. 
          THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE PURCHASED, THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE PROCURED AND CONTRACTED FOR. 
          WHEN WE GO TO, UM, DUN AND BRADSTREET TO PULL THE LIST OF FIRMS IN YOUR RELEVANT GEOGRAPHIC MARKET AREA, THEY HAVE THOSE SAME N-A-I-C-S CODES AS YOUR UTILIZATION. 
          SO IT'S AN APPLES TO APPLES COMPARISON OF WHAT YOU BUY VERSUS THE FIRMS THAT ARE IN YOUR MARKETPLACE THAT SELL THOSE TYPES OF GOODS AND SERVICES. 
          READY FOR THE NEXT, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          THANK YOU. 
          AND SO FOR YOUR DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE, UH, AVAILABILITY, WE LOOKED AT THREE SPECIFIC PROCUREMENT CATEGORIES, UH, BASED ON YOUR SPEND. 
          AGAIN, THAT WOULD BE CONSTRUCTION, OTHER SERVICES AND GOODS. 
          UH, WITHIN THIS PARTICULAR, UH, STUDY, WE OBSERVED THAT THERE WERE ABOUT ALMOST 10% OF AVAILABILITY FOR NON-MINORITY WOMEN. 
          OVER 25% FOR HISPANIC AMERICAN OWNED FIRMS. UM, ALMOST 9% FOR BLACK AMERICAN FIRMS. AND, UM, 5.7% FOR ASIAN AMERICAN FIRMS. AND AGAIN, THIS IS FOR YOUR FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECTS, TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          FOR THE AIRPORT CONCESSIONS, UH, CATEGORIES. 
          UH, WE LOOKED AT, UH, FOOD AND BEVERAGE, WHICH WOULD CONSIST OF YOUR, YOUR RESTAURANTS. 
          UM, THE MISCELLANEOUS, UH, PROCUREMENT CATEGORY WOULD CONSIST OF BANKING AND CURRENCY EXCHANGES. 
          AND THEN FOR YOUR RETAIL CATEGORY THAT WOULD CONSIST OF YOUR CONVENIENCE STORES. 
          AND SO WITHIN THE AIRPORT SPENDING, UH, OR I'M SORRY, AIRPORT AVAILABILITY ESTIMATE, UM, THERE WERE ABOUT 10%, UH, BEING ASIAN AMERICAN OWNED FIRMS. UH, 22, ALMOST 22.5% FOR BLACK AMERICAN FIRMS. UH, 11% FOR HISPANIC AMERICAN FIRMS, AND ALMOST 11% FOR NON-MINORITY WOMEN FIRMS. AGAIN, THIS IS FOR YOUR AIRPORT CONCESSIONS AVAILABILITY. 
          AND NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          SO ONE OF THE KEY ASPECTS OF, UM, PROVIDING YOUR DISPARITY STUDY RESULTS IS WE ANALYZE YOUR UTILIZATION AND, UH, DIVIDE THAT BY YOUR AVAILABILITY. 
          AND THEN THAT NUMBER IS REFLECTED AS A RATIO. 
          UM, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WITH THE PARTICULAR RATIOS, 80 OR LESS INDICATES THAT THERE IS A DISPARITY OR A SUBSTANTIAL DISPARITY. 
          ANYTHING BETWEEN 80 TO 100 OR LESS THAN 100 INDICATES THAT THERE IS UNDER UTILIZATION. 
          AND 100 INDICATES PARITY ABOVE 100 WOULD INDICATE THERE'S OVER UTILIZATION. 
          SO THAT WOULD 
          [00:45:01]
INDICATE THAT SPENDING HAS BEEN A LOT MORE WITH PARTICULAR, WITH A PARTICULAR GROUP OR CATEGORY THAN WHAT IS AVAILABLE IN THE MARKETPLACE. 
          AND SO WE PRESENT YOUR DISPARITY, STUDYING FINDINGS OR YOUR RESULTS, UH, WITHIN EACH OF THE PROCUREMENT CATEGORIES THAT WE ANALYZE, AND SPECIFICALLY ACROSS THE BUSINESS OWNERSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS THAT WE ANALYZE. 
          AND IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT IN ADDITION TO CONDUCTING OR ANALYZING THE DISPARITY RATIOS, WE ALSO CONDUCT A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS TESTING TO, UM, DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE RESULTS THAT WE SEE ARE STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT. 
          AND SO WHERE YOU SEE, UM, BOLDED AND A ASTERISK NEXT TO THE WORD DISPARITY, THAT INDICATES THAT THAT FINDING IS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT AT A 95% CONFIDENCE INTERVAL, ESSENTIALLY WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT 95% OF THE TIME YOU WOULD EXPECT TO SEE THIS SAME RESULT. 
          UM, AND SO, UH, GOING KIND OF JUST ACROSS THE BOARD HERE, WE DO HAVE A DISPARITY THAT HAS BEEN OBSERVED, UH, MORE SPECIFICALLY ACROSS, UM, ALL OF YOUR MWBE, UH, CATEGORIES IN TOTALITY. 
          AND THEN WE BREAK DOWN SPECIFICALLY WITHIN EACH PROCUREMENT CATEGORY, UM, DISPARITY FOR THOSE BUSINESS OWNERSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS. 
          SO FOR BLACK AMERICAN FIRMS, WE OBSERVED THAT THERE IS DISPARITY ACROSS ALL, UH, PROCUREMENT CATEGORIES, UM, AS WELL AS FOR, UH, NATIVE AMERICAN FIRMS AS WELL. 
          UM, THERE IS DISPARITY FOR ASIAN AMERICAN FIRMS IN EACH CATEGORY WITH THE EXCEPTION OF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. 
          UM, FOR HISPANIC AMERICAN FIRMS, THERE IS DISPARITY ACROSS ALL PROCUREMENT CATEGORIES WITH THE EXCEPTION OF CONSTRUCTION AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. 
          AND THEN FOR NON-MINORITY WOMEN, THERE IS DISPARITY THAT HAS BEEN OBSERVED ACROSS ALL CATEGORIES, UM, EXCEPT FOR GOODS. 
          BUT ONE THING TO NOTE HERE IS THAT IF YOU LOOK AT THE PROGRAM IN TOTALITY, THERE'S DISPARITY FOR ALL GROUPS COLLECTIVELY. 
          OKAY. 
          AND NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          I, OH, I THINK WE WENT BACK THE OTHER DIRECTION. 
          WE WENT BACKWARDS. 
          YEAH. 
          THERE, THERE WE GO. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, AND SO, AGAIN, AS WE, UH, REVIEWED IN YOUR DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE, UH, PROGRAM AS WELL, WE OBSERVED DISPARITY ACROSS THE BOARD, UM, SPECIFICALLY IN TOTALITY WITH THE N-W-D-B-E FIRMS. THERE IS DISPARITY IN EVERY CATEGORY, UM, THAT WAS ANALYZED. 
          AND AGAIN, WE ALSO REFLECT, UH, THE DISPARITY, UM, WITH INDICATING WHETHER OR NOT THERE WAS STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT PARTICULAR FINDING. 
          NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          AND THEN FOR YOUR AIRPORT CONCEPTION, UH, CONCESSIONS, DBE RESULTS, UM, AND TOTALITY, WE OBSERVE THAT THERE IS DISPARITY ACROSS THE BOARD, UM, FOR ALL BUSINESS OWNERSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS. 
          AND AGAIN, FOR EACH, WITHIN EACH PROCUREMENT CATEGORY THAT WAS ANALYZED. 
          AND NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. 
          AND SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEANS IN TERMS OF WHAT'S NEXT? UM, SO BASED ON THE FINDINGS, BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE OF CONDUCTING DISPARITY STUDIES, WE MADE SOME, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS OF REMEDIES TO ADDRESS, UH, THE DISPARITIES IDENTIFIED THROUGHOUT THE STUDY. 
          UH, AND SO THEY'RE HERE, ENHANCED DATA, COLLECTION DATA IS THE FOUNDATION OF THIS, THIS TYPE OF RESEARCH. 
          UM, AND IT WAS ONE OF THE, UM, CHALLENGES I WILL SAY THAT WE HAD IN MAKING SURE. 
          AND WHAT DELAYED THE PROJECT A LITTLE BIT WAS MAKING SURE THAT WE COLLECTED ALL OF THE AVAILABLE DATA. 
          SO ENHANCING THE DATA COLLECTION, UM, IS A REMEDY MOVING FORWARD. 
          IT WILL NOT ONLY ENSURE THAT IN FIVE OR SEVEN YEARS FROM NOW WHEN YOU'RE READY TO DO A STUDY, YOU HAVE ALL OF THAT DATA, HOPEFULLY NOT SPENDING AS MUCH TIME TRYING TO GATHER IT. 
          HOWEVER, MORE IMPORTANTLY, AS YOU'RE ANALYZING AND EVALUATING THE PROGRAM YEAR OVER YEAR, YOU HAVE THAT DATA SO THAT YOU CAN MAKE, UM, VERY GOOD STRATEGIES AND REMEDIES AND RECOMMENDATIONS YEAR OVER YEAR ON HOW TO ADDRESS, UM, ANY GAPS THAT YOU'RE SEEING IN UTILIZATION ADVERTISE FUTURE INFORMAL, UM, PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES. 
          WE HEARD THIS IN THE ANECDOTAL QUALITATIVE DATA COLLECTION THAT THE INFORMAL THOSE THINGS WHERE A INDIVIDUAL BUYERS COULD PICK UP THE PHONE AND GET THREE QUOTES OR THERE'S A, A LESS STRINGENT PROCESS OF, UH, BUYING GOODS 
          [00:50:01]
AND SERVICES THAT FIRMS JUST DID NOT KNOW ABOUT THEM. 
          SO PROVIDING A PROCURE PROCUREMENT FORECAST OF INFORMAL, UH, PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITIES WOULD HELP FIRMS COMPETE FOR THOSE ESTABLISH CONTRACT COMPLIANCE PROCESSES. 
          FOR YOUR I-D-I-Q-I-D-I-Q, UM, PURCHASES WAS ALSO SOMETHING THAT WE HEARD FROM, UM, THE COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF WHAT ARE THEIR BARRIERS TO DOING BUSINESS. 
          THERE WAS, UH, THERE'S QUITE A BIT OF UTILIZATION OF ID IQS BY THE CITY AND MWBE FIRMS. THERE WAS VERY LITTLE UTILIZATION THERE AS WELL. 
          ADOPT A POLICY, UH, BIDDING EXCLUSIVITY AGREEMENTS BETWEEN PRIMES AND SUBCONTRACTORS. 
          UH, THIS WAS ALSO SOMETHING VERY CONCERNING THAT PRIMES WOULD BASICALLY SAY, IF YOU MR. OR MRS. MWBE FIRM ARE GOING TO BID WITH ME, YOU CAN'T BID WITH ANYONE ELSE. 
          AND THAT RESTRICTS FIRM'S OPPORTUNITY, UM, TO TO BE COMPETITIVE IN THE MARKETPLACE OR TO ADMINISTER THEIR BUSINESS AND RUN THEIR BUSINESS THE WAY THEY NEED TO AS A SMALLER FIRM IF THEY WANT TO BID WITH ALL THE PRIMES THAT ARE BIDDING. 
          'CAUSE YOU DON'T KNOW WHO'S GOING TO WIN A GRADUATION PROGRAM. 
          TO GRADUATE FIRMS WHO HAVE, UM, BEEN SUCCESSFUL, UH, AT, AT IN THIS PROGRAM. 
          THEY'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL. 
          THEY'VE ALWAYS, UH, BEEN ABLE TO WIN CONTRACTS, BUILD AND SCALE THEIR BUSINESS TO THE POINT WHERE THEY'RE BIDDING AS PRIMES. 
          THE PROGRAM IS, UH, HAS BENEFITED THEM. 
          AND SO GRADUATING THEM FROM THE CERTIFICATION, AND I NEED TO BE VERY CLEAR ABOUT THAT 'CAUSE THERE WAS SOME QUESTION ABOUT THAT EARLIER. 
          IT ONLY GRADUATES THEM FROM THE CERTIFICATION, BUT IT DOES NOT TELL THEM THAT THEY CANNOT BID ON PROJECTS FOR THE CITY. 
          YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE CERTIFIED TO BID ON CITY CONTRACTS. 
          CERTIFICATION IS JUST A VERIFICATION THAT THE FIRM IS OWNED AND OPERATED BY MINORITY FIRM. 
          SO THE PURPOSE, UH, AND THE THE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM IS REALLY A SUBCONTRACTING PROGRAM, RIGHT? YOUR MWBE PROGRAM IS REALLY A SUBCONTRACTING PROGRAM. 
          THAT'S WHERE YOU ESTABLISH YOUR GOALS. 
          BUT AS A PRIME, ONCE THE FIRM BEGINS TO GROW THROUGH THE ASSISTANCE OF GOAL SETTING AND FIRMS GROW AND THEY NOW BID AS PRIMES, THE PROGRAM HAS BENEFITED THEM. 
          AND SO, UM, THAT PROCESS OF GRADUATING THEM WILL OPEN THE MARKETPLACE FOR OTHER FIRMS TO NOW ALSO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT AS WELL. 
          EXPAND THE SBE OR THE SMALL BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM. 
          UM, ABSOLUTELY HAVING AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A RACE AND GENDER NEUTRAL AND A RACE AND GENDER BASED PROGRAM RUNNING ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER, UH, THAT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE THAT EVERYONE HAS AN OPPORTUNITY IF THEY'RE SMALL, IF THEY'RE MINORITY, IF THEY'RE A WOMAN, THEY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, TO RECEIVE THE BENEFITS OF GROWING THEIR BUSINESS. 
          SO EXPANDING THAT SBE PROGRAM, EXPAND THE OFFICE OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY. 
          UM, THESE PROGRAMS TAKE A LOT OF WORK FROM OUTREACH COMPLIANCE, UM, DATA COLLECTION, DATA ANALYSIS, MEDIATIONS, ALL OF THOSE THINGS. 
          IT, IT'S A LOT OF WORK, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE A SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM. 
          AND THEN LASTLY, EVERY PROGRAM, EVERY RACE AND GENDER BASED PROGRAM SHOULD HAVE SUNSET PROVISIONS IN WHICH YOU REEVALUATE AND UTILIZE MORE CURRENT DATA TO ANALYZE WHETHER DISCRIMINATION STILL EXISTS IN YOUR MARKETPLACE AND WHETHER DISPARITY IS STILL FOUND. 
          SO THERE IS A SUNSET CLAUSE THAT WE RECOMMEND, I WANNA SAY SIX YEARS FROM NOW. 
          CAN'T REMEMBER THE EXACT DATE. 
          AND NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. 
          AND THAT IS OUR PRESENTATION THIS AFTERNOON. 
          QUESTIONS, TURN IT BACK OVER TO YOU. 
          WE, WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS. 
          WE'LL START WITH COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN. 
          THANK YOU CHAIR. 
          THANKS FOR THE PRESENTATION. 
          I-D-I-Q-I HAVEN'T HEARD OF THAT BEFORE. 
          CAN YOU EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE? Y YES MA'AM. 
          YOUR IDIQS ARE INDEFINITE DELIVERY, INDEFINITE QUANTITY PURCHASES. 
          SO IT IS WHERE THE CITY KNOWS THAT THEY BUY CERTAIN SERVICES ALL THE TIME. 
          SO THEY WOULD HAVE A QUALIFICATION BASED PROCESS FOR SURVEYORS. 
          AND, AND I, AND I CAN'T SAY THIS FOR SURE 'CAUSE I DON'T REMEMBER THE DATA, BUT JUST AS AN EXAMPLE, YOU HAVE SURVEYORS. 
          UM, SO YOU WOULD QUALIFY A POOL OF SURVEYORS, AND WHEN A PROJECT COMES UP, YOU WOULD ASK THEM, GO, GIVE ME A QUOTE FOR THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT. 
          AND IT'S INDEFINITE QUANTITY, INDEFINITE, 
          [00:55:01]
UH, DELIVERY. 
          YOU DON'T KNOW WHEN YOU'RE GOING TO DO IT. 
          OKAY? BUT YOU'RE GOING TO BE ON CALL TO DO THAT, WHAT WE NEED. 
          OKAY. 
          YEAH. 
          NOW I FOLLOW THAT. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, THE DISPARITY CALCULATION, HOW, UM, YOU SAID IT WAS EASILY CALCULABLE. 
          WOULD THERE BE A WAY TO PROVIDE, UM, PROVIDE ME WITH AN ACTUAL CALCULATION ON A, IN A CATEGORY? I MEAN, YOU CAN DO IT OFF YOU, YOU CAN JUST YES, MA'AM. 
          AND I ACTUALLY THINK WE PUT THAT IN THE REPORT AS WELL. 
          IT IS. 
          AND SO THE REPORT GIVES, UH, OKAY. 
          A MUCH MORE DETAILED SO I CAN FIND THAT CALCULATION. 
          EXACTLY, YES MA'AM. 
          IN THE FULL REPORT. 
          OKAY. 
          AND FINALLY, THE, UM, THE, THE, YOU SAID YOU DON'T NEED TO BE CERTIFIED TO BID, SO, BUT A NON-CERTIFIED, DO YOU HAVE TO BE CERTIFIED TO, TO MEET THE GOAL? CORRECT. 
          OKAY. 
          BUT YOU, NOTHING PREVENTS YOU FROM, FROM BIDDING ON A JOB. 
          YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE PART OF OUR, YOU, YOU JUST WOULDN'T BE THE, THE, YOU JUST WOULDN'T BE PART OF THE SUBCONTRACT GOAL, SUBCONTRACTOR GOAL. 
          IF YOU WERE BIDDING ON IT, YOU'D BE THE PRIME, NOT NECESSARILY. 
          YOU CAN BID ON IT AS A SUBCONTRACTOR AS WELL. 
          SO CERTIFICATION IS A VERIFICATION OR VALIDATION PROCESS TO VERIFY THAT A FIRM IS 51% OWNED AND OPERATED. 
          OKAY. 
          IT DOES NOT QUALIFY A FIRM TO SAY THAT YOU'RE QUALIFIED TO INSTALL THIS DAIS, RIGHT? IT, IT DOES NOT SAY ANY OF IT. 
          IT IS A VERIFICATION PROCESS THAT IN, IN AND OF ITSELF DOES NOT PREVENT ANYONE, ANY BUSINESS FROM BIDDING ON AN, AN OPEN OPPORTUNITY. 
          SO WHAT THE CERTIFICATION DOES IS ASSIST, UH, DIRECTOR HOYT'S OFFICE TO ACTUALLY IDENTIFY THOSE FIRMS THAT ARE MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED AND ASSIST THEM WITH HELPING THEM, UH, GROW THEIR BUSINESS. 
          AND THAT IS THROUGH, UM, MULTIPLE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS THAT THEY HOST ALL THE TIME SETTING, UM, CONTRACT GOALS SO THAT THEY HAVE THAT OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE FOR THOSE SUBCONTRACTS WITHOUT THE GOALS. 
          THE QUESTION WOULD BE, AND THE STUDY DID FINE WITHOUT THE OBO PROGRAM THAT THE CITY HAS, WHAT DOES PARTICIPATION AND WHAT DOES THE GROWTH OF MWBE FIRMS LOOK LIKE IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND IT'S, IT IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, THERE WAS DISPARITY ACROSS THE BOARD MM-HMM . 
          IN, IN JUST ABOUT ALL CATEGORIES, MEANING THAT FIRMS ARE NOT, ARE NOT EARNING THE SAME WAGES AND REVENUES FROM THEIR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS NON MWBE FIRMS. SO THE GOALS ARE SET, EXCUSE ME, THE GOALS ARE SET WITHIN THE CONTRACTS SO THAT THOSE IDENTIFIED MWBE FIRMS, THE OBO OFFICE ASSISTS WITH MAKING SURE THAT THEY HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE FOR THOSE CONTRACTS. 
          GOT IT. 
          AND THEN THE PRIME IS TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY MEET THE GOALS TO MEET THE CITY'S REQUIREMENT. 
          AND, AND THIS MIGHT BE IN THE BROADER REPORT, JUST ONE MORE, THE, THE, TO DETERMINE AVAILABILITY OF THE FIRMS MM-HMM . 
          I MEAN, I CAN'T, THAT'S A HARD JOB. 
          I MEAN, HOW DO Y'ALL,  HOW DO Y'ALL DO THAT? I MEAN, IS THAT KIND OF LAID OUT IN THE FULL REPORT TOO? IT, IT, IT IS OUTLINED IN THE FULL REPORT, BUT JUST A SNIPPET VIEW OF IT IS, UM, DUN AND BRADSTREET HAS, UH, TO OUR KNOWLEDGE, THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE BUSINESS DATABASE. 
          OKAY. 
          AVAILABLE. 
          LOOKING AT WHAT YOU BUY BASED ON N-A-I-C-S CODES AND YOUR QUANTITATIVE DATA, WE LOOK FOR THOSE VERY SAME FIRMS. OKAY. 
          USING THOSE N-A-I-C-S CODES. 
          OKAY. 
          IN YOUR NINE COUNTY RELEVANT GEOGRAPHIC. 
          GOT IT. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          MM-HMM . 
          COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ. 
          THANK YOU MAYOR PROTE. 
          AND THANK YOU BOTH FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. 
          SO YOU MENTIONED A REPORT, UM, IS THAT A REPORT AVAILABLE TO US? THE DISPARITY REPORT? YES. 
          UHHUH. 
          . 
          OKAY. 
          IT WILL BE AVAILABLE TODAY. 
          GREAT. 
          SO IF YOU, IF YOU COULD SEND THAT, THAT WOULD BE WONDERFUL. 
          WILL THE REPORT INCLUDE ACTUAL, ACTUAL DATA, UH, FROM WHICH YOU DREW SOME OF THESE CONCLUSIONS? THE RAW DATA, NO, BUT IT WILL GIVE YOU, UH, IT WILL PROVIDE MORE DETAILS OKAY. 
          THAN WE PROVIDED YOU TODAY. 
          GREAT. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          CAN YOU HELP ME UNDERSTAND SLIDE NINE, RELEVANT GEOGRAPHIC MARKET. 
          MM-HMM . 
          HOW DOES, HOW DOES THIS, UH, MARKET THAT YOU'VE CHOSEN, UH, FIGURE INTO YOUR FINDINGS? OR DID YOU USE THE MARKET FOR YEP. 
          WE UTILIZED THE RELEVANT GEOGRAPHIC MARKET AREA FOR YOUR AVAILABILITY AND YOUR QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS. 
          SO THE UTILIZATION IS NOT CONSTRICTED TO THE MARKET AREA BECAUSE YOU CAN BUY FROM ANYWHERE. 
          THE RELEVANT GEOGRAPHIC MARKET HELPS YOU TO UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING IN YOUR SPECIFIC MARKET AREA. 
          MM-HMM . 
          UH, I'M LOOKING AT THIS, A NUMBER OF SURROUNDING COUNTIES AND INCLUDING ONE THAT IS NOT CONTIGUOUS. 
          HOW DOES INCLUDING, FOR INSTANCE, JUST 
          [01:00:01]
AS AN EXAMPLE, AUSTIN COUNTY MM-HMM . 
          IN THE GEOGRAPHIC MARKET, HELP US UNDERSTAND WHETHER THERE'S DISPARITY OR NOT. 
          WHEN WE, WHEN WE ARE, UM, PREPARING YOUR QUANTITATIVE DATA AT, WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT IS WHERE ARE THE FIRMS LOCATED IN WHICH YOU'RE ALREADY SPENDING AT LEAST 75% OF YOUR DOLLARS. 
          THAT GIVES US AN INDICATION WITH, UM, HARRIS COUNTY BEING THE CENTER OF THAT, WHERE YOU'RE LOCATED, WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THAT GEOGRAPHIC REGION. 
          SO YOU ARE SPENDING AT LEAST 75% OF YOUR DOLLARS WITH FIRMS IN THAT REGION TELLING US, OR TELLING AN ADMINISTRATOR THAT MY OUTREACH CAN GO AT LEAST THAT FAR GEOGRAPHICALLY, WHERE THOSE FIRMS, I IDEALLY WOULD COME TO HOUSTON TO DO BUSINESS BECAUSE WE'RE ALREADY SPENDING MONEY WITH THEM. 
          WILL, WILL YOUR REPORT, UH, OUTLINE HOW MUCH WE SPEND, UH, OR PAY FIRMS IN AUSTIN COUNTY, FOR INSTANCE, AS OPPOSED TO YES. 
          TO HARRIS COUNTY? IT WILL. 
          IT WILL, YES, SIR. 
          OKAY. 
          AND WHAT ABOUT, UH, YOU HAVE SOME STATISTICS ON AVAILABILITY AS WELL MM-HMM . 
          AVAILABILITY ESTIMATES. 
          DOES, DOES YOUR REPORT BREAK DOWN AVAILABILITY ESTIMATES BY BY COUNTY AS WELL? IT DOES IN THE APPENDIX. 
          IT, IT WILL OKAY. 
          BY THE FOUR DIGIT N-A-I-C-S CODE TOO. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          'CAUSE THAT WAS, I WOULD PRESUME THE AVAILABILITY STATISTICS, AND I COULD BE WRONG, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, UH, FOR HARRIS COUNTY WOULD BE DIFFERENT THAN IT WOULD FOR LET'S SAY AUSTIN OR BRAZORIA COUNTY. 
          THEY'RE ALL, THEY'RE ALL A LITTLE DIFFERENT MM-HMM . 
          BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF FIRMS THAT WOULD BE IN THOSE LO IN THOSE LOCATIONS. 
          OKAY. 
          I'LL LOOK BACK IN THE QUEUE. 
          GO AHEAD. 
          AND THE QUEUE. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          UM, LET'S SEE HERE. 
          LOOKING AT SLIDE 16 AND 17, YOU HAVE, UH, DISPARITY RESULT CHARTS THAT, UM, I MEAN, BOTH INDICATE A LOT OF DISPARITY, BUT THERE ARE SOME, SOME DIFFERENCES. 
          UM, FOR INSTANCE 16, UM, WHICH IS MWBE. 
          MM-HMM . 
          UM, AND JUST LOOKING AT ONE INTERSECTION HERE, CATEGORY, ALL BLACK AMERICANS SHOWS A DISPARITY. 
          AND, BUT WHEN YOU LOOK AT DBE, UH, IT SHOWS NO DISPARITY. 
          UH, AND THERE ARE A FEW OF THOSE DIFFERENCES, ALTHOUGH, LIKE I SAY MOST OF IT IS, IS, IS CONSISTENT. 
          UH, HOW WOULD YOU, HOW WOULD YOU EXPLAIN THAT DIFFERENCE? SO YOUR DISPARITY IS, FIRST OF ALL, IT'S THE FUNDING SOURCE AND THE NUMBER OF FIRMS, UH, BASED ON YOUR N-A-I-C-S CODES IN THOSE TWO DIFFERENT CATEGORIES. 
          RIGHT? SO YOUR PERCENT, YOUR DISPARITY IS CALCULATED BY THE PERCENTAGE OF UTILIZATION DIVIDED BY PERCENTAGE OF AVAILABILITY. 
          KEEPING IN MIND THAT AVAILABILITY IS CALCULATED BY THE N-A-I-C-S CODE IN THOSE CATEGORIES. 
          SO YOU HAVE MWBE AND THEN YOU HAVE FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECTS, NOT NO CROSSOVER IN THOSE TWO TYPES OF CATEGORIES. 
          AND THEN YOU HAVE TO IDENTIFY THE AVAILABILITY OF FIRMS IN THOSE TWO TYPES OF CATEGORIES. 
          MM-HMM . 
          SO YOUR NUMBERS ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT IN THE TWO. 
          OKAY. 
          UM, AND YOUR LAST SLIDE REMEDIES, UH, ONE OF YOUR BULLET POINTS IS GRADUATION PROGRAM. 
          ARE YOU, DO YOU KNOW IF, IF ANY FIRMS HAVE GRADUATED FROM, UH, ANY OF THESE DESIGNATIONS? UH, I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE A GRADUATION PROGRAM. 
          WE DO. 
          OKAY. 
          SO WE CURRENTLY DO GRADUATE FROM THE PROGRAM. 
          UM, AND FIRMS TYPICALLY COME BACK IN UNDER ANOTHER CODE. 
          UM, SO THEY'LL GRADUATE AND THEY'LL COME BACK IN. 
          UM, BUT WE DO GRADUATE FIRMS. THERE HAVE BEEN A FEW OVER THE YEARS, NOT THAT MANY. 
          UM, BUT THERE WE CAN BEEF UP BY GRADUATION PROGRAMS SO THAT WE ENSURE THAT WE'RE, UM, KEEPING, UM, NEW FIRMS MM-HMM . 
          OKAY. 
          GREAT. 
          AND THANK YOU. 
          THANK YOU FOR THAT. 
          AND, UH, ONE LAST, WELL ACTUALLY A COUPLE. 
          UM, DO YOU COMPARE THE RESULTS OF THE LAST DISPARITY STUDY VERSUS, UH, WHAT YOU FOUND TO SEE? HAS THERE BEEN A CHANGE, HAS THERE BEEN AN IMPROVEMENT OR, UH, LACK OF, OF IMPROVEMENT? UH, WE HAD THAT CONVERSATION. 
          YOUR LAST STUDY'S DATA WAS REALLY OUTDATED, SO IT WAS NOT FAIR TO DO A COMPARISON BECAUSE OUR METHODOLOGIES 
          [01:05:01]
ALSO DID NOT MATCH FROM THE LAST STUDY THAT YOU HAD AND THE CONSULTANT THAT CONDUCTED THAT STUDY. 
          THE METHODOLOGIES ARE NOT ALIGNED TO THE WAY THAT WE CONDUCT OUR STUDIES, SO IT WOULD NOT HAVE REALLY BEEN A FAIR COMPARISON TO SEE IF THERE WAS. 
          OKAY. 
          SO, SO THAT PRIOR STUDY, NOT A FAIR COMPARISON, WAS THERE A DISPARITY STUDY PRIOR TO THAT ONE THAT WAS FAIR? NO, THAT DATA WOULD'VE BEEN OLD AS AS WELL. 
          SO IN YOUR ESTIMATION, WE HAVEN'T HAD A FAIR DISPARITY STUDY UNTIL THIS ONE, OR I CAN'T SAY THAT YOUR LAST ONE WASN'T FAIR. 
          I SAID THE COMPARISON OF THE TWO TYPES OF STUDIES OR THE TWO STUDIES WOULD NOT BE A FAIR COMPARISON BECAUSE OF THE, THE DIFFERENCE IN METHODOLOGY BETWEEN THE TWO CONSULTANTS THAT CONDUCTED THE STUDY AND THE FACT THAT THE DATA WAS OUTDATED IN THE LAST STUDY AS WELL. 
          WELL, HELP ME UNDERSTAND HOW, HOW DO WE DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT WHAT WE'RE DOING IS EFFECTIVE OR NOT, THAT WE'RE MAKING AN IMPACT? GREAT QUESTION. 
          AND ONE OF THE WAYS THAT YOU DO THAT IS, UM, ANALYZING YOUR UTILIZATION YEAR OVER YEAR AND SEEING HOW CLOSE YOU ARE TO ACHIEVING YOUR, YOUR INTERNAL GOALS TO UTILIZATION. 
          HOW MANY FIRMS ARE GRADUATING FROM YOUR, YOUR MWBE PROGRAM BECAUSE THEY, THEIR BUSINESSES HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SCALE AND GROW. 
          UM, AND THE OTHER PIECE IS UNDERSTANDING WHETHER OR NOT YOU HAVE MORE FIRMS THAT ARE ENTERING INTO YOUR MARKET INTERESTED IN DOING BUSINESS WITH YOU. 
          SO THAT IS SOMETHING YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN LOOK AT YEAR OVER YEAR AND SEE IF YOU ARE HAVING INCREASED UTILIZATION NUMBERS WITH US OF SPEND WITH MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED BUSINESSES. 
          OKAY. 
          THANK YOU. 
          LAST QUESTION. 
          UH, HOW DOES HOUSTON COMPARE TO OTHER SIMILAR CITIES, IF YOU KNOW, I CAN'T ANSWER THAT WITHOUT DOING SOME RESEARCH. 
          OKAY. 
          HAVE Y'ALL, HAVE Y'ALL LOOKED AT OTHER CITIES AS WELL, COMPARABLE OR I AM SURE WE HAVE. 
          WE HAVE. 
          UH, I, I REALLY WOULD JUST HAVE TO LOOK MM-HMM . 
          OKAY. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          THANK YOU BOTH. 
          OKAY. 
          YOU'RE WELCOME. 
          SO I DO HAVE A COUPLE OF, UM, QUESTIONS. 
          IS THERE A WAY THAT WE CAN LOOK AT THE TOTAL SPEND OF THE CITY VERSUS THE AMOUNT RECEIVED BY EACH OF THESE GROUPS IN THE CATEGORIES? LIKE, I WANT TO, LIKE A SNAPSHOT PICTURE OF HOW MUCH DID THE CITY OF HOUSTON SPEND AND HOW MUCH MONEY DID THESE GROUPS ACTUALLY MAKE BASED ON THE AMOUNT OF MONEY THAT WE SPENT. 
          MM-HMM . 
          ABSOLUTELY. 
          UH, HAVE THE REPORT OPEN RIGHT HERE. 
          OKAY. 
          SO DO YOU WANT BY JUST OVERALL OR DO YOU ALSO SURE WANT BY THE FOUR CATEGORIES I'D LIKE THE OVERALL AND THEN THE FOUR CATEGORIES. 
          OKAY. 
          ABSOLUTELY. 
          SO FOR ALL PROCUREMENT CATEGORIES, CONSTRUCTION, PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, OTHER SERVICES AND GOODS, THOSE ARE OUR FOUR CATEGORIES. 
          UM, THE CITY OVERALL SPENT $7.7 BILLION, 427 BILLION, UH, EXCUSE ME, MILLION WAS AWARDED TO BLACK AMERICANS OR SPENT WITH BLACK AMERICANS AT 5.55% HISPANIC AMERICANS, 968 MILLION. 
          AND I'M ROUNDING, UM, 968 MILLION AT 12.6% ASIAN AMERICAN FIRMS 270 MILLION, UH, 3.5%. 
          NATIVE AMERICANS 47 MILLION AT 6.61%. 
          NON-MINORITY WOMEN, 479 MILLION AT 6.2%. 
          SO IN TOTAL, YOUR SPEND WITH MWBE FIRMS WAS $2.2 BILLION AT 28.46%. 
          AND IN CON IN CONSTRUCTION, YOUR CONSTRUCTION SPEND WAS 4.3 BILLION, 4.4 BILLION. 
          AND YOUR MWBE SPEND WAS 1.3 BILLION. 
          AT 29% OF YOUR SPEND IN CONSTRUCTION 
          [01:10:01]
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES SPEND WAS 918 MILLION. 
          AND THE MWBE SPEND WAS 307 MILLION OR 33.45%. 
          OTHER SERVICES, YOUR TOTAL SPEND WAS 1 BILLION. 
          YOUR MWBE SPEND WAS 350 MILLION, UM, AT 33%. 
          AND LASTLY, THE GOODS SPEND WAS 1.3 BILLION AND TOTAL MWBE AT 258 THOU, EXCUSE ME, 258 MILLION, WHICH IS 19.5% OF THAT, THAT CATEGORY SPIN. 
          WHAT OTHER, WHAT OTHER, THANK YOU FOR THAT INFORMATION BECAUSE THAT JUST KIND OF SUMMARIZES AND GIVES ME A REALLY GOOD SNAPSHOT OF WHAT WE'VE SPENT. 
          AND ACTUALLY IF, IF, UM, THESE PROGRAMS ARE BEING BENEFICIAL, DO, DOES IT LOOK LIKE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE PARTICIPATING IN OUR PROGRAMS ARE MAKING MONEY IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, BASICALLY IS WHAT IS WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO DO. 
          THEY WANT TO FAIR OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE, THE MONEY THAT IS BEING MADE IN THE, IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON. 
          UM, I HAVE SOME OTHER QUESTIONS. 
          CAN YOU, DO YOU KNOW OF OTHER CITIES SIMILAR TO HOUSTON THAT WE COULD COMPARE, UM, THE PERCENTAGES OF OUR SPEND IN OUR MWBE PROGRAMS? UM, NOT NECESSARILY. 
          UM, I MEAN, AND HOUSTON IS KIND OF AN ANOMALY BECAUSE OF OUR, OUR SIZE, BUT YOU KNOW, ACROSS THE COUNTRY, IF, IF THERE ARE OTHER CITIES THAT ARE, ARE PARTICIPATING IN PROGRAMS LIKE THAT, I'D BE CURIOUS TO SEE, UM, WHAT THEY DO. 
          I KNOW WE LOOKED AT WHAT OTHER CITIES DO AS FAR AS HOW WE CAN MAYBE IMPROVE MM-HMM . 
          UM, BUT I'D BE INTERESTED IN WHAT THEIR SPEND AND WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THEIR MWBE, UM, SPEND IS IN COMPARISON TO OURS AS WELL TO SAY, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE THAT ARE IN THE PROGRAM IN HOUSTON ARE DOING WELL IN COMPARISON TO PEOPLE THAT ARE IN PROGRAMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY OR WE AREN'T DOING AS WELL AS PEOPLE ACROSS THE COUNTRY. 
          ABSOLUTELY. 
          THAT I'D BE CURIOUS TO KNOW THAT. 
          YEAH. 
          AND THEN MY OTHER QUESTION IS, UM, ON THE MWBE DISPARITY RESULTS, WHEN THERE IS, FOR INSTANCE, IN THE CONSTRUCTION CATEGORY, IT SAYS THAT HISPANIC AMERICANS HAVE NO DISPARITY IN CONSTRUCTION AND NO DISPARITY IN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. 
          IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHEN THERE IS A CATEGORY THAT SHOWS NO DISPARITY, WHAT EXACTLY WHAT, WHAT HAPPENS THEN? UM, SO WE, THERE'S A COUPLE STEPS. 
          UM, ONE IS, IS TO REALLY UNDERSTAND HOW OR WHY THERE'S NO DISPARITY. 
          WHAT WE, UH, OBSERVED IS THAT THERE ARE THREE, THREE HISPANIC FIRMS IN CONSTRUCTION THAT DROVE THE NO DISPARITY, UM, CALCULATION. 
          MEANING THAT THEY REPEATEDLY WON CONTRACTS OVER AND OVER, AND THEIR UTILIZATION RATE EXCEEDED THE AVAILABILITY IN THE MARKETPLACE, WHICH, UM, CREATED NO DISPARITY. 
          UH, SO THERE'S A COUPLE THINGS TO LOOK AT IS YOU COULD TAKE THEM OUT OF THE CERTIFICATION PROGRAM OR GRADUATE THEM OR MOVE THEM INTO THE SBE PROGRAM, DEPENDING ON WHATEVER THE THRESHOLD IS FOR THE, THE SIZE STANDARD. 
          AND, AND I DON'T RECALL THE SIZE STANDARD IN THE SBE PROGRAM. 
          SO THERE'S A COUPLE THINGS SO THAT THEY STAY ENGAGED WITH THE PROGRAM, UM, OR CREATE MENTOR PROTEGE WHERE THEY'RE ACTUALLY MENTORING OTHER SB OR OTHER HISPANIC FIRMS OR OTHER MWBE FIRMS ON HOW TO GROW AND SCALE THE WAY THEY HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DO. 
          SO WHEN IT COMES TO, UM, SO THERE YOU CAN, YOU DEFINITELY WOULD WANT TO CONSIDER REMOVING THEM FROM THE RACE AND GENDER BASE COMPONENT OF YOUR CERTIFICATION, BUT I WOULD DEFINITELY, UM, SUGGEST CONSIDERING PUTTING THEM 
          [01:15:01]
OR INCLUDING THEM IN YOUR SBE, DEPENDING ON WHATEVER THAT THRESHOLD IS. 
          AND I, I DON'T RECALL WHAT THAT IS SO THAT THEY DON'T COMPLETELY LOSE THE PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAM. 
          RIGHT. 
          I GUESS, UM, MY QUESTION WOULD BE HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT, I, I UNDERSTAND THAT THE GOAL OF THIS ENTIRE PROGRAM IS SO PEOPLE GRADUATE FROM THIS. 
          THAT'S CORRECT. 
          AND THERE'S NO NEED FOR THIS. 
          THAT'S CORRECT. 
          UM, IF IF EVERYTHING WAS EQUAL AND EVERYBODY HAD A FAIR OPPORTUNITY, WE WOULDN'T HAVE A NEED FOR THIS PROGRAM. 
          CORRECT. 
          UM, SO, BUT WHEN OUR STUDY SHOWS THERE IS NO DISPARITY, HOW DO WE, I GUESS, REALLY GO TO A COMMUNITY THAT IS SHOWING NO DISPARITY AND SAY YOU DON'T HAVE A DISPARITY. 
          AND SO NOW WE ARE GOING TO NOT INCLUDE YOU IN THIS PART, BUT WE WANT YOU TO BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SBA ON THE SURFACE. 
          I'M THINKING THAT GROUP OF BUSINESS OWNERS WOULD STILL BID ON PROJECTS AND STILL GET IT BECAUSE THEY ARE WHAT'S AVAILABLE AND HAVE ACCESS TO THE BUSINESS. 
          BUT I WANNA, I WANNA BE SENSITIVE TO HOW WE COMMUNICATE THAT AND THAT WE ALSO INCLUDE THE STAKEHOLDERS SO THAT WE GET SOME BUY-IN BECAUSE THE NUMBERS ARE THE NUMBERS. 
          MM-HMM . 
          BUT IF PEOPLE FEEL LIKE I AM A, A HISPANIC BUSINESS OR A BLACK BUSINESS, IF IT SHOWS NO DISPARITY, BUT I'M NOT MAKING THE MONEY, WINNING THE BIDS OR MAKING THE MONEY MM-HMM . 
          THEN THE DATA AND WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING AT MY BUSINESS DON'T COINCIDE. 
          MM-HMM . 
          HOW DO YOU RECONCILE THAT? THE OTHER THING TO THINK ABOUT AS WELL IS, AS WE MENTIONED, THREE BUSINESSES, UM, OF ALL THE FIRMS THAT WE IDENTIFIED, HISPANIC OWNED FIRMS, THREE BUSINESSES ARE DRIVING THE NO DISPARITY. 
          SO YOU STILL HAVE A LOT OF BUSINESSES THAT ARE HISPANIC OWNED WHO, UM, ARE NOT, UH, POTENTIALLY WINNING CONTRACTS OR AT LEAST WINNING SMALL AMOUNTS OF CONTRACTS. 
          THEIR CONTRACT AMOUNTS OF VALUES ARE VERY SMALL. 
          SO WHEN WE LOOK AT DISPARITY IN TOTALITY, THERE'S DISPARITY FOR THE PROGRAM OVERALL MM-HMM . 
          AND SO ONE OF THE ASPECTS COULD BE TO GRADUATE THE THREE FROM THE PROGRAM SO THAT YOU HAVE THE OTHER HISPANIC AMERICAN COMPANIES IN CONSTRUCTION CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD AND TRY TO, YOU KNOW, WIN SOME OF THOSE CONTRACTS OR AT LEAST BID AND COMPETE. 
          UM, OR YOU CAN ALL, LIKE I SAID ALSO IS CONTINUE TO KIND OF TRANSITION THE HISPANIC AMERICAN FIRMS FROM THE RACE AND GENDER CONSCIOUS SIDE OF THE PROGRAM TO YOUR RACE AND GENDER NEUTRAL SIDE OF THE PROGRAM SO THAT THEY STILL IN THAT ARENA HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE FOR, FOR GOALS TO MEET THOSE. 
          SO IF THOSE THREE COMPANIES WERE REMOVED FROM THE DATA, IT WOULD MOST LIKELY STILL SHOW DISPARITY. 
          WE DID NOT DO THAT BECAUSE WE WOULD NOT DO THAT. 
          I MEAN, THE DATA, IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH DOING THAT? OH, OH YEAH. 
          ABSOLUTELY. 
          OKAY. 
          , NEVERMIND. 
          NO, THAT'S OKAY. 
          . 
          THAT, THAT, THAT IS, THAT IS QUITE OKAY. 
          I, I MEAN, BECAUSE THAT IS DATA THAT WAS ALREADY MONIES OR THAT WERE ALREADY SPENT, RIGHT. 
          WITH THOSE COMPANIES, IT IS PART OF YOUR DATA. 
          UM, SO WE CAN'T, SO IF WE GRADUATE THOSE THREE COMPANIES MM-HMM . 
          WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T GRADUATE THOSE THREE COMPANIES. 
          BUT THEN HA ALLOW THE OTHER, UM, ORGANIZATIONS TO SHOW A DISPARITY IN CONSTRUCTION IN HISPANIC AMERICANS IS NO GRADUATING THEM, DOESN'T CHANGE THE DATA, GRADUATING THEM ONLY NARROWLY TAILORS YOUR PROGRAM TO WHERE THERE'S NO DISPARITY. 
          BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW, HOW TO WORK WITH THE OTHER HISPANIC COMPANIES TO CONTINUE TO DO BUSINESS WITH YOU. 
          SO GRADUATION, SO MOVING THEM TO SBE WOULD ALLOW US, WELL WOULD ALLOW COMPANIES TO STILL PARTICIPATE, BUT THEY WOULD STILL BE ABLE TO BID IT, JUST EVERYONE WOULD BE ABLE TO BID MM-HMM . 
          THAT'S RIGHT. 
          THAT'S RIGHT. 
          BUT IT DOESN'T COMPLETELY MOVE THE GROUP FROM, UM, THE ASSISTANCE THAT THE PROGRAM PROVIDES. 
          OKAY. 
          SO FOR EXAMPLE, UM, UM, AND JUST THE THOUGHT OF WHAT I'VE SEEN BEFORE, THE SBE PROGRAM, BECAUSE IT IS RACE AND GENDER NEUTRAL, THERE'S A LOT MORE FLEXIBILITY, UM, TO HAVE TARGETED SOLICITATIONS OR PROCUREMENTS FOR SBE. 
          AND SO WHERE WE TALKED ABOUT, UM, THE INFORMAL, UH, FORECAST, THE INFORMAL PROCUREMENT FORECAST, IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH SBE FIRMS IN A PARTICULAR CATEGORY FOR A SOLICITATION THAT IS INFORMAL, YOU COULD TARGET 
          [01:20:01]
THAT INFORMAL SOLICITATION JUST FOR SPEES MM-HMM . 
          BECAUSE IT'S RACE AND GENDER NEUTRAL. 
          AND AS LONG AS ANY BUSINESS MEETS THE CRITERIA OF THE SBE COMPONENT, THEN ANYONE WITHIN THAT SIZE STANDARD CAN COMPETE FOR THAT INFORMAL SOLICITATION. 
          SO IF YOUR HISPANIC AMERICAN FIRMS ARE IN YOUR SBE PROGRAM, THEY ARE STILL GIVEN THAT OPPORTUNITY TO COMPETE AND THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO COMPETE WITH JUST THOSE OTHER FIRMS THAT ARE SBE FOR THAT SOLICITATION. 
          OKAY. 
          AND SO THE DISPARITY STUDY DOESN'T JUST CONSIDER HISPANIC FIRMS THAT ARE CON ARE CERTIFIED, IT TAKES INTO CONSIDERATION ALL OF THE FIRMS, THE ONES THAT WE WERE ABLE TO IDENTIFY. 
          YES. 
          SO WE LOOKED AT CERTIFICATION DATABASES. 
          UM, WE ALSO, IN OUR, WHEN WE ARE CONDUCTING OR ESTIMATING THE AVAILABILITY CALCULATIONS, WE DO WHAT WE CALL A MISCLASSIFICATION SURVEY OF DUN AND BRADSTREET. 
          DUN AND BRADSTREET DOES NOT DO A VERY GOOD JOB OF IDENTIFYING THE SPECIFIC BUSINESS OWNERSHIP CLASSIFICATION. 
          SO WE SURVEY THOSE FIRMS IN DUN AND BRADSTREET AND ASK THEM TO TELL US THEIR SPECIFIC BUSINESS OWNERSHIP. 
          SO WE UTILIZE THE CITY'S CERTIFICATION DATABASE FIRST AS OUR FIRST MEASURE OF UPDATING RACE, ETHNICITY, AND GENDER IN YOUR UTILIZATION DATA, UM, AND YOUR AVAILABILITY. 
          THEN WE LOOK AT THE CUSTOM CENSUS SURVEY BASED ON WHAT INDIVIDUALS ARE SELF PROCLAIMING AS THEIR RACE, ETHNICITY, AND GENDER. 
          'CAUSE WE KNOW THEY'RE AN M OR W BECAUSE THAT'S IN DUN AND BRADSTREET. 
          IT JUST DOESN'T GIVE US THE SPECIFIC CATEGORIES. 
          AND THEN WE ALSO UTILIZE OTHER SOURCES SUCH AS TX DOTS, DBE CERTIFICATION, THE A-C-D-B-E CERTIFICATION AND OTHER SOURCES TO IDENTIFY, UM, THE SPECIFIC BUSINESS OWNERSHIP CLASSIFICATION. 
          SO THERE ARE SOME FIRMS IN THERE. 
          THE LONG-WINDED ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS THERE ARE SOME FIRMS IN THERE THAT ARE CERTIFIED BASED ON THE CERTIFICATION RECORDS THAT WE HAVE AND SOME THAT ARE SELF-IDENTIFIED BASED ON DUN AND BRADSTREET IN THE SURVEYS THAT WE HAVE DONE, BECAUSE THEY HAVE SELF-IDENTIFIED AS SUCH. 
          THANK YOU. 
          THAT CLEARS THAT UP. 
          AND THEN MY OTHER QUESTION IS, UH, THE NON-MINORITY WOMEN SHOW NO DISPARITY ON GOODS. 
          IS THERE A SIMILAR SITUATION LIKE THE CONSTRUCTION WHERE THERE ARE THREE COMPANIES? ARE, THERE ARE CERTAIN NUMBER OF COMPANIES THAT ARE CREATING THE, THE, THE NONS DISPARITY? I BELIEVE THERE WERE FIVE, FOUR OR FIVE. 
          THERE WERE THREE. 
          THREE? MM-HMM . 
          THANK YOU. 
          YES. 
          THERE WERE THREE, UM, NON-MINORITY WOMAN-OWNED FIRMS THAT ACCOUNTED FOR ABOUT FOURTH OF THE CITY SPEND IN GOOD. 
          ABOUT A FOURTH, YES. 
          MM-HMM . 
          AND THEN, UH, THE SAME QUESTION FOR THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FOR ASIAN AMERICANS. 
          WERE THERE A CERTAIN NUMBER OF COMPANIES THAT WE SHOW ARE, I GUESS WOULD BE GETTING THE LION SHARE OF THE WINNING OF THOSE BIDS THAT ARE CREATING NO DISPARITY? 'CAUSE I'M INTERESTED NOW IN KNOWING, UH, THE PERCENTAGE OF ASIAN AMERICAN COMPANIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO DO PROFESSIONAL SERVICES VERSUS THE NUMBER THAT ARE WINNING THE BIDS. 
          SO I THINK WE CAN ANSWER YOUR FIRST QUESTION WITH NUMBER FIRMS. ARE YOU STILL ON THAT PAGE? HOLD ON, I CAN GO BACK TO IT. 
          OH, NO, I FOUND IT. 
          SORRY. 
          THERE WERE, UM, THREE THAT SEEMS TO BE OUR MAGIC NUMBER. 
          . 
          IT, IT, THE, THE NUMBER OF FIRMS THAT DROVE DISPARITY IN THE CATEGORIES WERE BETWEEN THREE AND FIVE. 
          OKAY. 
          OF, OF, OF EACH OF THOSE. 
          SO WE HAVE THE DATA THAT SHOWS THE TOTAL NUMBER OF FIRMS THAT ARE POSSIBLE FIRMS THAT COULD WIN THOSE BIDS VERSUS THE THREE TO FIVE THAT CONTINUE TO WIN THE BIDS. 
          THAT'S, UH, THAT'S IN YOUR AVAILABILITY. 
          OKAY. 
          AND FOR ASIAN AMERICAN AVAILABILITY IN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IS 5.89%. 
          OKAY. 
          BUT IF YOU RECALL WHAT YOUR SPEND IS FOR, UH, ASIAN AMERICANS IN PROFESSIONAL SER WELL, I DIDN'T GIVE YOU THAT BREAKDOWN. 
          YOU GAVE US THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AT 918 MILLION AND 307 MILLION WAS THE SPEND FOR MWBE, BUT IT WASN'T BROKEN DOWN BY THE, AND SO FOR ASIAN AMERICANS IN THE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CATEGORY, THEY ACCOUNTED FOR ABOUT 12% OF TOTAL SPEND. 
          MM-HMM . 
          SO 12% OF THE 918 MILLION YES. 
          OR 12% OF THE 33.45 
          [01:25:02]
OF THE 918 MILLION OF THE NINE POINT. 
          OKAY. 
          SO I, I THINK I'M NOT ALONE BY SAYING THAT I REALLY WANT TO, UH, DIG INTO THE, THE RAW DATA ABSOLUTELY. 
          TO, TO GET A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF ARE WE CLOSE TO GRADUATING PEOPLE, UM, FROM, YOU KNOW, THE PROGRAM, IS THE PROGRAM DOING WHAT THE INTENTION OF THE PROGRAM IS TO DO, UM, AND DO WE NEED TO MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS SO THAT, UM, PEOPLE FEEL LIKE THEY ARE BIDDING AND HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN THOSE BIDS IF THEY AREN'T THE THREE TO FIVE COMPANIES THAT, UM, WE FIND OURSELVES LOOKING AT THAT ARE CREATING THE NO DISPARITY IN PARTICULAR CATEGORIES. 
          SO I THINK THERE ARE QUITE A FEW QUESTIONS THAT, UM, WE, WE MAY HAVE, UH, AFTER KIND OF GETTING A, WRAPPING OUR ARMS DIGGING AROUND ALL THIS INFORMATION MM-HMM . 
          MM-HMM . 
          UM, COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ IS BACK IN THE QUEUE. 
          DO YOU HAVE A FEW MORE QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR. 
          SO IF I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, IF WE WERE TO GRADUATE 3, 4, 5 HISPANIC FIRMS, THAT WOULD MEAN THAT THEY WOULD FALL INTO THE NOW BE CONSIDERED UNDER THE UNCLASSIFIED CATEGORY. 
          IS THAT RIGHT? NO, THEY'RE STILL, NO, THEY'RE STILL HISPANIC OWNED FIRMS. THEY JUST WOULD NOT COUNT TOWARDS YOUR GOALS BECAUSE YOUR GOALS ARE BASED ON CERTIFIED FIRMS. OKAY. 
          SO THEY WOULDN'T COUNT TOWARDS THE MWBE TARGETS MM-HMM . 
          CORRECT. 
          SO ESSENTIALLY THEY'D BE, IT'S AS IF THEY WERE UNCLASSIFIED, NOT REALLY . 
          SO IN, IN EFFECT, ISN'T THAT WHAT YOU'RE DOING? IF, IF YOU'RE NOT COUNTING THEM TOWARDS THE MWBE UH, TARGETS, YOU'RE NOT COUNTING THEM TOWARD YOUR SPECIFIC MWBE GOALS, BUT YOU DO WANT TO REPORT THAT YOU STILL HAVE SPEND WITH MWBE FIRMS. SO THE CERTIFICATION COMPONENT JUST EXCLUDES THEM FROM BEING ABLE TO COUNT TOWARD YOUR GOALS, BUT IT DOESN'T EXCLUDE YOU FROM BEING ABLE TO SAY, WE'VE SPENT X NUMBER OF DOLLARS WITH MWBE FIRMS. MM-HMM . 
          SO WHAT, ESSENTIALLY, WHAT COULD HAPPEN, LET ME JUST JUMP IN ON THAT. 
          SURE, SURE. 
          'CAUSE I WANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT IS YOU COULD USE THAT COMPANY AND THEN YOU WOULD USE ANOTHER HISPANIC OWNED COMPANY THAT WOULD COUNT TOWARDS THE GOAL. 
          CORRECT. 
          A PRIME WOULD. 
          YES. 
          AND THEN THAT CREATES MORE OPPORTUNITY IN THAT WHICH, BECAUSE YOU MOVED THE ONE THAT WAS KIND OF IN THE ROTATION OUT OF THE ACTUAL CERTIFICATION THAT GOES TOWARDS THE GOAL. 
          CORRECT. 
          SO NOW ANOTHER COMPANY WHO TRADITIONALLY HAS NOT BEEN WINNING THE BIDS, WOULD HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE USED AS PART OF THE GOAL, THE GOALS. 
          CORRECT. 
          I GOT IT. 
          CORRECT. 
          IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IF, IF YOU DID THAT, IF YOU GRADUATED FIRMS, BUT THEY DIDN'T COUNT TOWARDS THE TARGET, YOU'D OPEN YOURSELF UP TO THE CHARGE THAT, WELL, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE REALLY AFTER HERE? IT SEEMS LIKE WE'LL NEVER REACH THESE, THESE, THESE GOALS OF, OF THE PROGRAM IF WE'RE ALWAYS GONNA BE GRADUATING FIRMS AND SAYING, WELL, YOU NO LONGER COUNT TOWARDS THE MWBE TARGETS. 
          SO ABSENCE DISCRIMINATION IN YOUR MARKETPLACE, ONCE A FIRM GRADUATES, THERE SHOULD BE NO NEED TO GO BACK TO THE PROGRAM BECAUSE YOU'RE PRIME AND YOU'RE ABLE TO COMPETE AT THAT LEVEL. 
          AND THERE SHOULD BE NO REASON THAT YOU DON'T WIN CONTRACTS UNLESS SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG. 
          UM, SO THE, THE PROGRAMS ARE DESIGNED TO PROVIDE THOSE OPPORTUNITIES TO COMPETE AND TO, THE OBJECTIVE IS TO SCALE BUSINESSES TO THE POINT WHERE THEY DON'T NEED THE PROGRAM'S ASSISTANCE AND CONTINUE. 
          SO IF YOU HAVE FIRMS AND JUST SAY THE THREE, IF YOU HAVE THOSE THREE FIRMS THAT ARE CONSISTENTLY WINNING PRIME CONTRACTS OVER AND OVER AND OVER, THEY DON'T NEED THE ASSISTANCE OF THE PROGRAM ANYMORE BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE GOALS ON YOUR PRIME PROJECTS ANYWAY. 
          YOUR GOALS ARE, ARE AT THE SUBCONTRACTOR LEVEL. 
          AND SO WHEN YOU GRADUATE THEM FROM THE GOAL SETTING, THEY'RE ALREADY COMPETING AS PRIMES. 
          SO THEY DON'T NEED TO BE DOWN HERE. 
          ALSO COMPETING AGAINST OTHER HISPANIC OWNED COMPANIES IN THE SUBCONTRACTING AREA. 
          HMM. 
          OKAY. 
          ALRIGHT. 
          I AGREE WITH, UH, MAYOR PRO TEM. 
          IT, THESE RESULTS DO RAISE SOME QUESTIONS. 
          IT DOES, UH, REQUIRE FURTHER DISCUSSION, BUT THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK. 
          QUITE WELCOME. 
          [01:30:01]
IF NO OTHER QUESTIONS WE, DID ANYBODY ONLINE HAVE A QUESTION? DID WE CHECK? WE DID HAVE ONE PERSON SIGNED UP FOR PUBLIC SPEAKER. 
          IS DOMINIC MAZO HERE? YOU HERE? OH, HEY DOMINIQUE. 
          HOW ARE YOU? UH, MY ALL HOW ARE IN AIR? WHY, WHY DON'T YOU JUST, UM, HOP RIGHT THERE IN, IN ARTURO MICHELLE'S SEAT AND A ASK YOU A QUESTION, AND THEN THAT WAY THE CONSULTANTS CAN STAY HERE IN CASE WE, THEY NEED TO ANSWER JUST RIGHT THERE IN, UM, THE CITY ATTORNEY'S SEAT. 
          SO WE CAN HEAR YOU ON THE MICROPHONE, PLEASE. 
          SURE. 
          THERE YOU GO. 
          NUMBER ONE, I THINK MY COMMENTS ARE ABOUT THE TURD. 
          NUMBER ONE. 
          YOU KNOW, IT'S THIS MORNING AT THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING, I WAS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THE INFORMATION PACKET FOR THE VARIOUS HISTORICAL BUILDINGS MM-HMM . 
          WHERE YOU CAN GET TO IT, I THINK, TOO, I THINK THIS MIGHT BE A GOOD THING, BUT THIS COMMITTEE FOR THOSE, THAT PUBLIC HEARING ON THE 11TH OF DECEMBER MM-HMM . 
          IS HAVING A PUB LIKE THAT PUB, THOSE, THOSE THINGS, THOSE THAT IS A POWERPOINT, BE SO THAT PEOPLE, IF YOU'RE COMING IN AND THEY SPEAK, AT LEAST YOU GOT SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION. 
          I THINK THAT'S A GOOD THING. 
          BUT I HAVE A CONCERN ABOUT THE CHURCH THEMSELVES AND HOW THEY'RE CONSTRUCTED. 
          WHEN THESE TURDS WERE FIRST DESIGNED, THEY WERE DESIGNED FOR PLACES LIKE RURAL AREAS. 
          AND I, I'M NOT GONNA PICK ON THIS AREA, BUT I'M GONNA USE IT AS AN EXAMPLE. 
          AKER HOME THAT, SUPPOSE AKER HOMES WANTED TO DO REVAMP WEST MONTGOMERY ROAD. 
          MM-HMM . 
          YOU KNOW, THEY COULD SET THE TURDS ONCE THAT BOND WAS PAID OFF, THE TURDS DISSOLVED. 
          AND I, I'M, I'M CONCERNED TOO ABOUT THE WAY THESE TURDS ARE POSITIONED IN THE CITY. 
          AGAIN, VERY FEW OF DE TURDS CROSS AREAS WHERE THERE IS ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE NO MATTER WHAT ETHNICITY IS IN THE GROUP. 
          AGAIN, WE GOT OUR TURD, THE, THE UPTOWN TURD REDOING MEMORIAL PARK, BUT WHO'S HELPING SYLVESTER PARK AT ACRES HOME? MM-HMM . 
          I THINK THAT THAT IS A DIVERSITY WE HAVE TO LOOK AT. 
          SECOND OF ALL, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT EXPANDING YOUR CHURCH. 
          DO THE PEOPLE IN THE EXPANDED AREA HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE ON THIS? AND I THINK, AND I'M GONNA USE UPTOWN EXAMPLE, THE UPTOWN BRT LINE THAT WAS PUT IN BY UPTOWN, NOT METRO, THE PRIVATE CONTRACTOR WAS THE UPTOWN MANAGEMENT DISTRICT. 
          RIGHT. 
          MY THING IS, IF METRO HAD TO DO THAT, THEY HAVE TO GO IN FRONT OF THE VOTERS BECAUSE OF THE CITY CHARTER. 
          RIGHT. 
          AND I THINK SOME OF THE ISSUES WE'RE HAVING WITH DURHAM SHEPHERDS MOCK AND ALL, AND SO ON AND SO FORTH, IF THESE PLANS ARE SO GOOD, THE PEOPLE ARE THE CITY, MAYBE MAYBE SOME OF THESE MAJOR PROJECTS INSTEAD OF JUST THE, I'M NOT KNOCKING THE HORSESHOE HERE, BUT MAYBE THE HORSESHOE NEEDS TO SAY THIS STUFF HAS TO GO TO THE VOTERS. 
          MM-HMM . 
          BECAUSE WE OWN, YOU KNOW, SHEPHERD DURHAM OR MONTROSE. 
          THAT'S NOT JUST THEIR AREA. 
          WE AS A CITY OWNED THOSE STREETS AS A CORPORATION, AS A CORPORATE ENTITY. 
          AND I THINK THIS GROUP NEEDS TO MAYBE LOOK AT THE POP AND MAYBE WITH THE PROP BAY GROUP LOOK AT, IF A CHURCH IS DOING SO MUCH REPAIR WORK OR ON CITY RIGHT OF WAY, IT GOES TO THE VOTERS TO, AND LIKE I SAID, THE UPTOWN THING, WHY DOES UPTOWN BE ABLE TO PUT IN A TRANSIT PROJECT AND METRO HAS TO GO TO THE VOTERS? SO MR. MR. MAZA, I THINK THERE'S A REAL DISPARITY AND REAL INJUSTICE HERE. 
          I AGREE. 
          AND THEN TOO, THIS MONEY THAT STAYS IN THE CHURCH, THAT'S MONEY THAT COULD GO TO AREAS LIKE GERS HOME OR SUNNYSIDE OR THE CITY AGAINST. 
          SO LET ME, LET ME, LET ME SAY A COUPLE THINGS. 
          I, I FEEL YOUR FRUSTRATION, I, AND I UNDERSTAND YOUR SENTIMENT. 
          UM, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF TURS IN DISTRICT K. 
          WE NEED THOSE TURS IN DISTRICT A. 
          UM, BUT FOR THOSE TURS IN MY DISTRICT, UM, I WOULDN'T HAVE ANY CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS HAPPENING IN, IN THE DISTRICT. 
          AND SO WHAT AREA TOWN DO YOU COVER, MA'AM? SOUTHWEST HOUSTON DISTRICT A. 
          OKAY. 
          SO I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IN THEORY, BUT THERE ARE TURS AROUND THE CITY THAT ARE DOING EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. 
          THEY DON'T GET THE AIR TIME AND THE TV TIME. 
          THOSE ARE KIND OF WHAT WE CALL BABY TURS BECAUSE THEY ARE NEWLY FORMED TURS. 
          SO THEY AREN'T AS ESTABLISHED AS SOME OF THE BIGGER TURS THAT ARE DOING SOME OF THE BIGGER PROJECTS. 
          SO I WANT US TO JUST KIND OF BE CAREFUL AND NOT BROAD BRUSH, UM, THE TURS BECAUSE THERE ARE SOME, SOME TURS OUT THERE THAT ARE DOING THE WORK. 
          EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE SAYING. 
          EXACTLY. 
          THAT'S THOSE CHURCH. 
          I DON'T HAVE A 
          [01:35:01]
PROBLEM WITH IT. 
          OKAY. 
          SO NOW WE WE CLEAR ON THAT. 
          YES. 
          AND THE OTHER THING, YOU IN SOUTHWEST HOUSTON, I'VE SEEN THAT AREA GO FROM WHEN THE SOUTHWEST FREEWAY WAS FIRST BUILT. 
          YOU HAD CHURCH TOWN AND NOW OVER 60 YEARS TIME. 
          COME ON. 
          NOW. 
          WE MAKING BIG, BIG, I UNDERSTAND THAT. 
          BIG STRIDES OUT THERE NOW. 
          WE WORKING HARD. 
          SO  NO, NO, NO. 
          THAT MA'AM. 
          THOSE TYPE OF CARDS I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH. 
          OKAY. 
          AND THE OTHER THING YOU SUGGESTED ABOUT HAVING THE, UM, THE FLYERS, THE, THE PRO THE PACKETS AVAILABLE, WE, WE, WE CAN DO THAT WHEN WE HAVE THE HEARING. 
          WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE PACKETS. 
          CAN YOU PUT A NOTE TO DO THAT? WE'LL MAKE SURE, SO IF PEOPLE COME WHEN WE HAVE THE PUBLIC HEARING THAT THERE IS A PACKET AVAILABLE. 
          THANK YOU FOR MAKING THAT SUGGEST SUGGESTION. 
          I CAN YOU, I CAN LOOK. 
          YES SIR. 
          WE'LL MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ONE. 
          WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE HAVE 'EM THERE. 
          THAT'S A GREAT SUGGESTION. 
          THANK YOU FOR INCLUDING THAT. 
          WE APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE. 
          THANK YOU FOR PUTTING UP WITH ME TWICE TODAY. 
          NO, NO PROBLEM AT ALL. 
          THE PEOPLE ARE THE CITY. 
          OH, ONE OTHER THING. 
          I'M GONNA GO, I'M GONNA ADD ON TO IT. 
          I THINK THAT I, NO, I THINK THAT, I THINK THAT SHOULD BE CHANGE IN THE CITY COUNCIL, UH, UH, THE STATE CHURCH. 
          I THINK AT THE GATHERING OF A MEETING AND BEGINNING AND THE END BOTH FOR CITY COUNCIL AND THE COMMUNITIES. 
          EVERYBODY SHOULD SAY THAT. 
          SO YOU, EVERYBODY KNOWS WHO'S IN CHARGE. 
          I APPRECIATE THAT. 
          YOU, YOU ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. 
          WE LOOK AT IT EVERY DAY AND I, AND WE, AND WE WANT PEOPLE TO ENGAGE AND WE WANNA MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE TO ENGAGE. 
          SO I APPRECIATE YOU BEING HERE. 
          UM, AND ANYTHING ELSE WE CAN DO, IF YOU HAVE OTHER SUGGESTIONS, LET US KNOW. 
          I HAVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER, YOU PROBABLY, I KNOW, I KNOW YOU DO. 
          WILL YOU MIND TURNING THAT MICROPHONE OFF FOR ME? NO, THANK YOU. 
          YEAH, I DO. 
          OKAY. 
          COUNSEL, IF THERE ARE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS, UH, OR COMMENTS, WE DO WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THIS INFORMATION. 
          I DO ANTICIPATE THAT WE WILL ENGAGE AGAIN. 
          UM, DIRECTOR HOR, DO YOU WANT ME TO JUST KIND OF GO OVER THE TIMELINE OR YOU WANT TO GO OVER THE TIMELINE FOR WHAT WE WILL DO WITH THE DISPARITY? HAS THAT BEEN APPROVED? MM-HMM . 
          YES MA'AM. 
          . 
          SO WE HAVE SET UP, UH, AM I ON? OKAY. 
          WE'VE SET UP A PORTAL, UM, THAT IS, UM, YOU CAN GO FROM OUR, YOU CAN GO FROM OUR, UM, WEBPAGE TO YOU CLICK ON DISPARITY STUDY. 
          WE HAVE A PORTAL AVAILABLE. 
          AND THAT PORTAL, UM, HAS THE STUDY THERE IN PDF FORMAT. 
          SO IT HAS AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, KIND OF LIKE THIS PRESENTATION. 
          AND THEN IT HAS THE DETAILED REPORT WHERE ALL THE DATA THAT THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU ALL WERE ASKING HAS THE DATA IN THERE, THE SPEND, THE AMOUNTS, THE PERCENTAGES FOR ALL CATEGORIES, ALL SPEND. 
          AND THAT'S ABOUT A HOW MANY PAGES? FIVE. 
          ABOUT 500 PAGES. 
          BUT FEEL FREE. 
          BUT THE, THE ENTIRE REPORT IS ON THAT PORTAL. 
          THAT PORTAL ALSO HAS AN OPPORTUNITY. 
          WILL YOU GET ON THAT OTHER MIC? I DON'T KNOW WHY THAT THE MIC SOUNDS LIKE, WILL YOU? NO. 
          WILL YOU TALK ON THIS MIC ON THIS ONE? YEAH. 
          IS THAT BETTER? YES. 
          YEAH, JUST TURN THAT ONE OFF. 
          THE PORTAL ALSO HAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR COMMENTS. 
          SO IT WILL BE OPEN FOR COMMENT UNTIL DECEMBER 31ST. 
          AND WHITE PAPERS CAN BE SUBMITTED THERE, COMMENTS CAN BE SUBMITTED THERE AS WELL. 
          IN ADDITION, WE WILL HOLD A VIRTUAL TOWN HALL MEETING ON DECEMBER THE 10TH, UM, AT 11:00 AM AND WE WILL SEND OUT INFORMATION ON THAT. 
          AND I ALSO SEND EACH OF YOU A COPY OF THE, UM, OF THE REPORT IN PDF FORMAT. 
          UM, ONCE WE HAVE COMMENTS BACK, UM, MGT AND OBO ALONG WITH OUR ADVISORY COUNCIL AND INPUT FROM COUNCIL. 
          UM, AND THIS COMMITTEE WILL GO THROUGH THOSE, UM, RESPONSES AND WE WILL COME BACK WITH RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, FOR THE REPORT TO BE ACCEPTED BY FEBRUARY, UM, OF 2025. 
          THAT'S OUR GOAL. 
          WELL, THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL OF THE DILIGENCE AND THE HARD WORK THAT YOU'VE PUT INTO THIS. 
          UM, OUR GOAL AS, UM, COUNCIL IN THE CITY IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE A VALUE PROPOSITION FOR OUR BUSINESS OWNERS AND THAT IS THAT THEY CAN AFFORD TO LIVE IN OUR CITY, WORK IN OUR CITY, AND PROVIDE FOR THEIR FAMILIES AND HAVE A GOOD QUALITY OF LIFE. 
          SO WE APPRECIATE ALL THAT YOU'VE DONE. 
          UM, WE ANTICIPATE THAT WE WILL CONTINUE THIS DIALOGUE UNTIL WE GET TO THE APPROVAL IN, IN FEBRUARY. 
          UM, SO AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE. 
          BEFORE WE ADJOURN, I'D LIKE TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT THE NEXT SCHEDULED ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING IS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER THE 18TH AT 2:00 PM AND IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN RECEIVING ANY INFORMATION FROM THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT THE DISTRICT, A OFFICE AT DISTRICT A@HOUSTONTX.GOV. 
          THE TIME IS 3 39 AND WE ARE NOW ADJOURNED. 
          THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION TODAY.
* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.