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TECHNOLOGY SERVICES DEPARTMENT.I'D LIKE TO WELCOME HITS DIRECTOR, LISA KENT, AS ALONG WITH WILL BRYANT TO MAKE THE PRESENTATION.
AND WE ARE JOINED THIS AFTERNOON BY MY VICE CHAIR, MARIO CASTILLO, COUNCIL MEMBER TWILA CARTER, VICE MAYOR PROAM.
AMY PECK, COUNCIL MEMBER ABBY CAYMAN.
COUNCIL MEMBER JULIAN RAMIREZ.
SHABA IS ONLINE COUNCIL MEMBER EVAN SHABAZZ IS ONLINE AND, AND STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER POLLARD'S OFFICE ONLINE.
SO WITH THAT, UM, DIRECTOR KAT, THE FLOOR IS YOURS.
THANK YOU CHAIR FOR THAT WARM WELCOME.
UH, I DO WANT TO SAY A HUGE THANK YOU AND SHOUT OUT TO THIS GENTLEMAN SITTING NEXT TO ME HERE, WILL BRYANT, I KNOW THAT YOU ALL KNOW, HE IS DIRECTOR DEBOWSKI CHIEF OF STAFF.
UM, HE HAS BEEN WEARING MULTIPLE HATS, INCLUDING CONTINUING TO BE THE HITS DEPARTMENT, UM, FROM FINANCE DEPARTMENT, FISCAL ADMINISTRATOR.
UM, BUT HE AND HIS TEAM DO A TREMENDOUS JOB.
IT'S A WONDERFUL REPRESENTATION OF SHARED SERVICES MODEL.
UM, WE HAVE A GREAT PARTNERSHIP AND HE AND HIS TEAM, WHICH INCLUDES, UM, HERB GARNER, KER ASKEW, AND YOUR NEWEST TEAM MEMBER, CJ JOHNSON, UH, WHO'S GONNA OFFLOAD A LITTLE BIT OF WILL'S WORKLOAD WITH THE THE HITS DEPARTMENT.
SO, UM, I'M DEEPLY GRATEFUL TO THEM.
I ALSO WILL DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO, IN THE APPENDIX OF OUR PRESENTATION, THE HITS EXECUTIVE TEAM, THEIR PICTURES, THEIR TITLES ARE ALL THERE.
UM, THIS IS THE STRONGEST EXECUTIVE TEAM THAT THE HITS DEPARTMENT HAS EVER HAD.
UM, AND I AM TREMENDOUSLY PROUD OF THE WORK THAT THOSE FOLKS DO.
THEY'RE THE REAL HEROES BEHIND ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU'RE GONNA HEAR ABOUT TODAY.
SO LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
THIS IS JUST THE AGENDA YOU'VE SEEN, I THINK ON EVERYBODY'S PRESENTATION, WHAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT NEXT SLIDE HITS NOW HAS 18 PROGRAMS, UH, AND WITH THE RECENT FULL CONSOLIDATION OF IT, PERSONNEL FROM HPD PARKS AND RECREATION, THE REMAINING CONSOLIDATION OF LEGAL IT, AND A FEW ADDITIONAL, UM, COMPONENTS FROM HPWI.
SO THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE ALIGNMENT OF THOSE 18 PROGRAMS WITH THREE OF MAYOR WHITMEYER STRATEGIC PRIORITIES.
YOU'LL NOTE THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF OUR PROGRAMS SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AT 53%, 36 TO PUBLIC SAFETY AND 11% THAT GOVERN TO GOVERNMENT THAT WORKS.
SO, ONE INTERESTING NOTE, ALTHOUGH THIS IS REFERRING TO 36% OF OUR OPERATING BUDGET SUPPORTING PUBLIC SAFETY, I WILL BE DRAWING YOUR ATTENTION LATER IN THE PRESENTATION TO A COUPLE OF SLIDES IN THE APPENDIX THAT TALK ABOUT THE PERCENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY IN THE CIP.
AND SO, UM, ONE THING THAT YOU HEAR ME TALK ABOUT EVERY YEAR IS THAT THE CITY IS NOT FULLY RECOVERING THE COST OF WHAT IT TAKES TO RUN PUBLIC SAFETY TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS. AND SO WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE LATER.
I KNOW THE MAYOR HAS INDICATED THAT HE IS, UM, FOCUSED ON SHOWING, UH, THE CONSTITUENTS THAT THE CITY IS SERIOUS ABOUT EFFICIENCIES BEFORE HE'S WILLING TO ASK FOR INCREASES IN FEES.
BUT YOU'LL SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THAT CIP BALANCE, THAT THERE ISN'T A WAY FORWARD, UM, FOR MANAGING THOSE TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY WITHOUT SOME ADDITIONAL REVENUE.
THIS SLIDE ILLUSTRATES THE, UM, RECOMMENDATIONS THAT HITS MADE AND THAT THE MAYOR'S ADMINISTRATION ACCEPTED, UM, AS PART OF OUR CONTRIBUTION TO LOWER IT SERVICES COSTS.
SO THAT FIRST LINE ITEM UNDER END USER COMPUTE SERVICES PROGRAM THAT TOTALS THE REDUCTIONS TOTAL $2.1 MILLION.
THIS IS THE PLANNED DOWNGRADE OF 6,000 OF OUR 21,000 MICROSOFT 365 LICENSES CITYWIDE FOR WORKERS WHO DO NOT HAVE A DEDICATED COMPUTING DEVICE FROM THE CITY IN SUPPORT OF THEM DOING THEIR JOBS.
CURRENTLY, ALL CITY EMPLOYEES ARE ASSIGNED THE SAME LICENSE TYPE, WHICH IS A G FIVE LICENSE.
AND WHAT WE ARE PROPOSING IS TO TRANSITION THEM TO WHAT'S CALLED A FRONTLINE WORKER LICENSE.
UM, THAT FRONTLINE WORKER LICENSE IS 66% CHEAPER, UH, TIMES 6,000 LICENSES IS THE $2.1 MILLION
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SAVINGS.UM, THIS ALLOWS US TO PASS THAT SAVINGS ON TO THOSE DEPARTMENTS THAT HAVE A HIGH NUMBER OF FRONTLINE WORKERS WHO WOULD BE ELIGIBLE FOR THIS.
IT DOES AFFORD THEM MOST OF THE SAME FEATURES WITH MICROSOFT 365 WITH SOME LIMITATIONS.
AN EXAMPLE OF THAT WOULD BE THE MAILBOX SIZE IS SMALLER, THE SCREEN SIZE IS A LIMITATION.
UM, IT IS INTENDED FOR WORKERS WHO TYPICALLY USE A MOBILE DEVICE, WHETHER THAT BE A PHONE OR A TABLET, BUT IT DOES ALLOW THEM TO USE LARGER SCREEN SIZES IN KIOSK OR SHARED COMPUTER TYPE ENVIRONMENTS.
UM, JUST YESTERDAY I SENT OUT THE MEMO TO SEVERAL OF MY COUNTERPARTS IN THOSE DEPARTMENTS THAT HAVE LOTS OF FRONTLINE WORKER, UM, UH, CLASSIFICATIONS, AND THAT INCLUDES DEPARTMENTS LIKE GSD PARKS, SOLID WASTE, PUBLIC WORKS, HOUSTON AIRPORT SYSTEM, H-P-D-H-F-D, AND A FEW OTHERS.
THE SECOND LINE, UM, IS ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS REDUCTIONS THAT TOTAL NEARLY 569,000.
THE THE COMPONENTS OF THAT ONE EXAMPLE IS THE ELIMINATION OF TABLEAU LICENSES, WHICH PUBLIC WORKS AND A FEW OTHER DEPARTMENTS UTILIZE.
THEY HAVE SINCE TRANSITIONED TO USING POWER BI, WHICH IS ALREADY INCLUDED IN THE CITY'S M 365 LICENSES.
SO THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF US ELIMINATING SOFTWARE PRODUCTS THAT HAVE DUPLICATIVE FUNCTIONS.
AND THEN FURTHER IN THAT CATEGORY, WE ALSO HAVE REDUCED THE IT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES THAT WE HAVE HISTORICALLY, UM, BUDGETED.
UM, AND THE IMPLICATION OF THAT IS WHEN DEPARTMENTS DURING THE FISCAL YEAR, UM, PRESENT PROJECT IDEAS TO THE MAYOR'S ADMINISTRATION AND THEY SUBMIT A PBJ, THAT JUST MEANS THAT THOSE ADDITIONAL IT PROFESSIONAL SERVICES THAT MIGHT BE NEEDED TO SUPPORT THAT PROJECT WILL HAVE TO BE ASKED FOR AT THAT TIME.
UH, THE THIRD CATEGORY IS TELECOMMUNICATION SUPPORT REDUCTIONS.
THERE'S TWO MAIN CATEGORIES THAT MAKE UP THIS 1.282 MILLION.
UM, FIRST IS WE HAVE DONE, UM, SOME SIGNIFICANT ANALYSIS OF THE CITY'S WIRELESS CONTRACT.
UH, WE'VE IDENTIFIED THREE WAYS THAT WE ARE GOING TO REDUCE THE SPEND UNDER THOSE WIRELESS SERVICES.
UM, WE WILL BE ISSUING TARGET REDUCTION TARGET LETTERS TO THE DEPARTMENTS THAT CONSUME THE SERVICES.
ONE EXAMPLE WE'VE ALREADY IMPLEMENTED IS CORRECTION OF SOME BILLING ERRORS, BUT THE OTHER TWO, UM, ONE EXAMPLE IS 236 DEVICES THAT WERE ASSIGNED TO CITY EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE LEFT THE CITY, BUT THE SERVICE WAS NOT TERMINATED.
AND ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS 1,783 DEVICES THAT HAD ZERO USAGE IN 30 DAYS.
SO OVER THE COURSE OF THAT ENTIRE FISCAL YEAR 26, WE EXPECT THAT THOSE DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR TELECOM COORDINATORS ARE REVIEWING THOSE REPORTS AND MAINTAINING THESE REDUCTIONS ACCORDING TO THE TARGET LETTER.
THE SECOND EXAMPLE UNDER TELECOM IS WE WILL BE ELIMINATING 2095 CISCO.
THINK OF 'EM AS DESKTOP TELEPHONES THAT SITS ON YOUR DESK.
UM, IN, WE ARE GOING TO THE EXTENT THAT OUR CISCO CONTRACT ALLOWS US TO TRUE DOWN, WHICH IS UP TO 20% OF THE CURRENT LICENSE BASE.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE 10,475 LICENSES.
UM, AND WE WILL BE TRUING THAT DOWN BY THE 2095.
I AM AN EXAMPLE OF ONE OF THE GUINEA PIGS.
I WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST IN THE CITY TO MAKE THAT CHANGE.
AND I HAVE BEEN, UM, SUCCESSFULLY AND WITHOUT INCIDENT LIVING WITH MY PHONE CALLS COMING THROUGH TEAMS EITHER TO MY COMPUTER OR TO MY CELL PHONE APP, AND WE DON'T MISS A BEAT.
SO THOSE ARE EXAMPLES OF WHERE WE'RE STREAMLINING COSTS.
UM, FINALLY THE LAST ONE IS JUST REALLY A, A SHARED SACRIFICE.
IT'S NOT A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY, BUT THAT $60,000 WAS WHAT WE HAD BUDGETED IN HITS FOR TRAVEL RELATED TRAINING OR CONFERENCES.
SO WE DID NOT ELIMINATE TRAINING IN THE HITS DEPARTMENT.
THAT IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL FOR TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS TO BE CONTINUOUSLY TRAINING.
BUT WE DID SAY, HEY, WE'RE NOT GONNA GO OUTTA TOWN IN FY 26.
THIS IS A SLIDE YOU'VE SEEN FROM EACH DEPARTMENT.
SO THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ELIGIBLE FOR THE VOLUNTARY MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT OPTION AT 98 DOES INCLUDE NOT ONLY HITS, BUT THOSE ADDITIONAL DEPARTMENTS OF HPD PARKS AND LEGAL, UM, WHO ARE MERGING INTO THE HITS ORGANIZATION AND FY 26.
SO THE COMBINED TOTAL IS 98 24 PEOPLE TOOK THAT.
UM, JUST AS AN ASIDE NOTE, BEFORE CONSOLIDATION HITS HAD 55
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PEOPLE ON THAT LIST, 19 ACCEPTED, WHICH IS A 34% ACCEPTANCE RATE.SO, UH, VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT IS HURTING THE IT ORGANIZATION.
WE WILL HAVE TO ASK FOR A FEW OF THOSE POSITIONS BACK IN CRITICAL POSITIONS.
PROPOSED DEPARTMENT RESTRUCTURE.
SO IN LINE WITH THE ERNST AND YOUNG EFFICIENCY STUDY, UM, THERE ARE SEVERAL OBSERVATIONS TO MAKE HERE.
NUMBER ONE, THE CURRENT STATE.
THIS SLIDE APPLIES TO HITS ONLY.
SO IT DOES NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THOSE OTHER THREE DEPARTMENTS THAT I MENTIONED.
UH, WE WERE ALREADY AT A 5.53 AVERAGE SPAN OF CONTROL WHERE THE PROPOSED STATE FOR KNOWLEDGE WORKERS IS SIX TO EIGHT.
UM, THAT EQUATES TO 37%, ALTHOUGH I WILL SAY THERE'S AN ASTERISK THERE.
THERE ARE DEFINITELY SOME EXAMPLES WHERE HITS OPERATES IN A HYBRID MODE WITH BOTH EMPLOYEES AND OUTSOURCED CONTRACTORS.
AND SO IN SOME OF THOSE CASES THERE, THE SPAN OF CONTROL IS ACTUALLY MUCH LARGER THAN, UM, ERNST AND YOUNG WAS ABLE TO SEE.
UM, JUST ANOTHER NOTE, IN TERMS OF RECOMMENDED JOB CLASSIFICATIONS, I DO WANNA GIVE A BIG SHOUT OUT TO THE HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT.
THEY PARTNERED WITH ME MORE THAN SEVEN YEARS AGO TO CREATE A, UM, TRACK, UH, A DUAL TRACK FOR IT CLASSIFICATIONS THAT ENABLED US TO SEPARATE PEOPLE MANAGEMENT TRACK FROM TECHNICAL TRACK.
UM, MANY PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES HANDLE IT THAT WAY.
IT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO ADVANCE IN THEIR CAREER PATH, TO TAKE ON MORE COMPLEX THINGS AND SYSTEMS WITHOUT DRIVING THEM TO NECESSARILY MANAGE PEOPLE.
IT PERSONNEL AREN'T ALWAYS THE BEST.
UM, PEOPLE, MANAGERS AND YOU, YOU WANNA BE ABLE TO REWARD PEOPLE WITH DEEP TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE, BUT YOU WANT THEM TO BE ABLE TO MANAGE THE THINGS THAT THEY'RE REALLY GOOD AT.
SO, UM, I THINK IN THE EXAMPLE, WHILE WE DO HAVE A FEW AREAS THAT WE, WE NEED TO CORRECT, SOME OF THEM WERE ANOMALIES THAT, THAT MAKE SENSE WHEN WE HAVE OUTSOURCE SERVICES.
UH, ONE OTHER THING THAT I DO WANNA POINT OUT, I WON'T GO INTO TOO MUCH DETAIL, BUT THE EY STUDY DID ALSO MAKE A FEW OBSERVATIONS.
ONE WAS THAT WHEN THEY COMPARED THE CITY OF HOUSTON IT TO PEER CITIES IN TEXAS, UM, AND, AND OTHER LOCATIONS THAT IN GENERAL BROAD BRUSH STROKES, THEY DID OBSERVE SOME ANOMALIES ON, UM, BEING LESS THAN PEER CITIES ON COMPENSATION.
I WILL SAY, BECAUSE OF THAT PARTNERSHIP WITH HR AND THE WAY THAT WE BENCHMARK AGAINST MERCER, UM, GENERALLY THAT IS NOT A PROBLEM AT THE MID-LEVEL AND BELOW.
WE TYPICALLY ONLY SEE THAT WHEN YOU GET INTO THE MORE SENIOR EXECUTIVE LEVEL ROLES.
UM, AND THAT IS WHERE THERE'S SOME DISPARITY.
THEY ALSO NOTED THAT TOTAL HEADCOUNT FOR IT IN HOUSTON IS LESS THAN THOSE OF OUR PEER CITIES, AND I AM NOT SURPRISED ABOUT THAT EITHER.
THAT IS DEFINITELY SOMETHING THAT, UM, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT CONSOLIDATION AND UM, IT EXPENSES WITHIN THE CITY, WE HAVE BEEN LEAN, UM, LEANER THAN MOST FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
AND THAT'S WHY I MENTIONED THINGS LIKE THE, THE RETIREMENT INCENTIVE.
WE ARE GOING TO NEED TO, UH, WE CAN'T HAVE ALL VACANCIES AND ALL THOSE RIOS STAY AT THAT LEVEL, OR YOU WILL SEE REDUCTIONS IN SERVICE LEVELS.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT THEY OBSERVED IS THAT IT HAS A WIDER THAN BEST PRACTICE SPAN OF CONTROL.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE ARE WORKING ON THE HITS REORGANIZATION PLAN.
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE TAKING A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME TO STUDY IS THE INGESTION OF SOME SIGNIFICANT CONSOLIDATIONS.
THE HPD ORGANIZATION IS GROWING MY DEPARTMENT BY 50% IN TERMS OF THE NUMBER OF PERSONNEL.
SO THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR STREAMLINING.
AND THEN THERE'S SOME CASES WHERE WE REALLY DO NEED SOME OF THOSE POSITIONS TO BE, UM, DEDICATED.
SO THIS IS THE BIG PICTURE, UM, LOOKING BOTH FORWARD TO FY 26 AND BACKWARD AT PAST YEARS.
THE THING THAT JUMPS OUT TO YOU IMMEDIATELY IS THAT 38.8% HIGHER, UM, FROM THE FY 25 CURRENT BUDGET.
UM, I DO WANT TO POINT OUT THAT IS LARGELY DUE TO CONSOLIDATION.
IF YOU COMPARED YEAR OVER YEAR FOR THE HITS WITHOUT CONSOLIDATION, OUR BUDGET INCREASES ONLY 3.4%.
IT WOULD BE GOING FROM 103 MILLION TO 106 MILLION, INCLUDING CONTRACTUAL INCREASES AND, UM, HOPE CONTRACT PERSONNEL INCREASES.
SO THE LARGE JUMP IN OUR PROPOSED FY 26 BUDGET, YOU'RE GOING TO SEE FROM THE CONSOLIDATIONS.
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THIS IS JUST DEPICTING IT ANOTHER WAY, GRAPHICALLY.SO NOW WE'LL TALK ABOUT PERSONNEL VERSUS NON-PERSONNEL.
AS YOU CAN SEE, HITS DEPARTMENT'S BREAKDOWN IS OPPOSITE OF MANY OF THE GENERAL FUND DEPARTMENTS.
OUR PERSONNEL REPRESENT ONLY 32% OF THE BUDGET, WHILE THE SERVICES THAT WE PROVIDE TO CITY DEPARTMENTS REPRESENT 68% OF OUR EXPENSES.
SO AS I MENTIONED, THE PROPOSED FY 26 BUDGET IS 143 MILLION IN CHANGE, 38.8% INCREASE FOR OUTCOME-BASED BUDGETING.
WE HAVE ALLOCATED THAT BUDGET ACROSS THOSE 18 PROGRAMS THAT WE TALKED ABOUT, PLUS ONE ADDITIONAL PROGRAM FOR DEBT SERVICES AND ENTER FUND TRANSFERS.
I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT A FEW OF THE LARGER VARIANCES SO THAT YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY'RE COMING FROM.
THE DECREASE IN $2 MILLION IN THE ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES IS LARGELY JUST AN ACCOUNTING MOVE FROM ADMIN SERVICES DOWN TO THE HPW AND LEGAL SUPPORT PROGRAMS. THE INCREASE OF $2.6 MILLION IN CYBER IS LARGELY DUE TO CONTRACTUAL INCREASES.
UM, WE DID LEVERAGE SOME SAVINGS IN THIS YEAR'S FY 25 BUDGET THAT WERE USED TO PURCHASE SOME NETWORK EQUIPMENT TO IMPROVE OUR NETWORK SECURITY.
THE INCREASE IN 1.3 MILLION IN HFD IS RELATED TO TRANSFERRING VACANT HPD IT POSITIONS TO ALLOCATE THEM TOWARDS HFD.
THIS IS A RIGHT-SIZING EXAMPLE.
YOU HEARD ME EARLIER TALK ABOUT, UM, HISTORICALLY, HPD HAS HAD A VERY LARGE IT ORGANIZATION, UM, AND THE H-F-D-I-T, JUST FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES.
OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS, HPD HAS GONE FROM ROUGHLY 175 PEOPLE TO A HUNDRED FIFTY FIVE, A HUNDRED TWENTY SOMETHING.
UM, WHAT TRANSFERRED TO US FUNDED THIS YEAR WAS 90 POSITIONS FOR HFD.
WHAT I HAVE IN MY ORGANIZATION IS NINE DEDICATED PERSONNEL.
NOW, HFD IS NOT AS LARGE AS HPD, BUT THEY ARE TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITIES FOR HELPING THEM WITH EFFICIENCIES AND IMPROVEMENTS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY.
UH, AND WE NEED PERSONNEL TO DO THAT.
SO YOU'LL SEE ON THE HFD PROGRAM SLIDE THAT THERE'S A SUBSTANTIAL INCREASE IN PERS IT PERSONNEL TO SUPPORT THEM.
THE NEXT ONE DOWN IS 3,340 9,000 FOR LEGAL IT CONSOLIDATION THAT IS LARGELY PERSONNEL.
AND THEN THE WHOPPER THREE $33 MILLION H-P-D-I-T CONSOLIDATION.
FURTHER DOWN INCREASE OF $1.6 MILLION IS FOR HPW IT SUPPORT, WHICH IS A COMBINATION OF, UM, SOME ADDITIONAL IT PERSONNEL TO SUPPORT THE HOUSTON PERMITTING CENTER, AS WELL AS SOME CYBERSECURITY PERSONNEL THAT WILL ROLL UP UNDER DR.
AND SO TO SUMMARIZE, UH, 143 MILLION, 38.8% INCREASE.
BUT AGAIN, IF YOU LOOK AT IT WITHOUT CONSOLIDATION, IT'S A 3.4% INCREASE.
SO AS WE MOVE INTO TALKING ABOUT THE PROGRAMS, I DO WANNA ADDRESS METRICS UPFRONT.
UM, YOU HAVE HEARD FROM MANY DIRECTORS AS WELL AS, UH, I KNOW DIRECTOR DEBOWSKI ADDRESSED IT IN HER CITYWIDE PRESENTATION.
WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE WORKING ON OUR KPIS AND ALIGNING TO THE TURN THE CURVE METHODOLOGY THAT ERNST AND YOUNG BROUGHT TO THE CITY.
MY DEPARTMENT'S WORKSHOP IS LITERALLY NEXT WEEK.
AND SO I'M NOT GONNA GO INTO TOO MUCH DETAIL ON THESE KPIS.
WE DO STILL MEASURE THEM, AND WE DO HAVE EVEN QUITE A FEW MORE METRICS THAT WE MEASURE OPERATIONALLY TO HELP US RUN OUR BUSINESS.
UM, BUT I DO EXPECT THEM TO CHANGE.
SO I'M NOT GONNA DWELL ON THEM TOO MUCH IN THIS CASE.
UM, THERE IS AN EXAMPLE ON THE KPIS WHERE, WHERE PART OF THE TURN THE CURVE METHODOLOGY IS LOOKING FOR US TO FOCUS MORE ON THOSE CITIZEN BASED OUTCOMES.
UM, IN OUR APPENDIX, THERE IS AN EXAMPLE WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF A PROJECT THAT WE DID FOR HFD ON THEIR EMERGENCY ALERTING SYSTEM, THAT IS LITERALLY HELPING THEM IMPROVE THEIR RESPONSE TIMES.
SO WE'LL BE TOOLING OUR KPIS TO HELP DRAW PEOPLE'S ATTENTION TO WHERE TECHNOLOGY IS HELPING THAT END USER OUTCOME.
UM, METRIC, WHEN WE LOOK AT THIS ADMINISTRATIVE, UM, SERVICES PROGRAM, UH, YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S ABOUT THINGS LIKE MANAGING ENTERPRISE TECHNOLOGY CONTRACTS, COUNCIL ACTIONS.
IT ALSO INCLUDES THINGS LIKE OUR PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUESTS, DOCUMENT RETENTION, DATA PRIVACY, ALSO
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AUDIT COORDINATION AND THINGS OF THAT SORT.MAJOR EXPENSES WITHIN THIS PROGRAM.
19.8, UM, FULL-TIME EQUIVALENTS.
NEARLY HALF OF THE BUDGET FOR ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES IS THE CHARGEBACKS FROM CENTRAL SERVICE REVOLVING FUNDS.
THOSE ARE IMPORTANT, RIGHT? I COULDN'T RUN MY BUSINESS WITHOUT THEM, BUT IT'S IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO SEE THAT THAT MAKES UP PART OF WHAT MY EXPENSE IS.
UM, THERE'S ALSO MANAGEMENT CONSULTING SERVICES.
SO GARTNER IS RIGHT AT ABOUT $300,000.
GARTNER IS AN IT RESEARCH AND ADVISORY SERVICE, UM, AS WELL AS 122,000 FOR LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT CONSULTING.
SO ALL OF YOU KNOW WHAT 3 1 1 IS.
THE GOAL OF THIS PROGRAM IS TO HELP ENSURE THAT THE TECHNOLOGY THAT SUPPORTS NOT ONLY THE A RA 3 1 1, UM, CONTACT CENTER AND PERSONNEL, BUT ALSO THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO LEVERAGE THAT SERVICE.
SO WE HAVE TWO FTES DEDICATED TO THAT PROGRAM.
THE MICROSOFT ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT COMPONENT THAT SUPPORTS THE, UH, MICROSOFT DYNAMICS IS WHAT THE 3 1 1 APPLICATION IS BUILT ON.
THE THREE ONE ONE CALL CENTER COSTS ARE 435,000.
AND THE CITIZEN INTERACTION PORT, WHICH YOU KNOW OF AS CCL, FIX THE MOBILE APP.
COMMUNITY DEVELOP AND REGULATION APPLICATIONS.
UH, UH, A SIMPLER WAY TO SAY THAT IS IT'S PERMITTING AND INSPECTION PROCESSES.
UM, THESE ARE SYSTEMS THAT WE SUPPORT FOR MULTIPLE CITY DEPARTMENTS.
I WILL DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO PAGE 48 IN THE APPENDIX.
UM, FROM HFD AS AN EXAMPLE, THEY BRING IN $11.8 MILLION OF REVENUE FOR COMPLETING 25,000 INSPECTIONS.
OVER 8,000, UH, PERMITS ISSUED A RA BRINGS IN ABOUT $14 MILLION FOR 12,000, UH, ALMOST 13,000 LICENSES ISSUED AND ALMOST 10,000 INSPECTIONS.
AND THEN DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS, UM, ABOUT 19,000 CASES CREATED 40,000 INSPECTIONS.
AND THEN OF COURSE, PUBLIC WORKS BRINGS IN OVER $65 MILLION USING THAT PLATFORM.
THE M FOUR LICENSES FOR THAT PLATFORM COSTS $785,000.
I DO, UH, WANNA MAKE A PITCH FOR THOSE OF YOU IF YOU HAVE NOT YET PARTICIPATED.
UM, IN A BRIEFING THAT DR. MITCHELL AND I HOST WHERE, UM, HE WALKS YOU THROUGH OUR CYBERSECURITY PROGRAM AND A TOUR OF THE SECURITY OPERATIONS CENTER.
IT GIVES YOU A REAL GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE FACE.
UM, THIS PROGRAM IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT WE PROTECT THE CONFIDENTIALITY, THE INTEGRITY, AND THE AVAILABILITY OF EVERY SYSTEM THAT THE CITY SUPPORTS.
UM, WE, THIS PROGRAM IS BUILT ON 5.9 FTES, UH, WHICH WE ARE CONTINUOUSLY EXPANDING.
UM, YOU WILL SEE THAT AS PART OF OUR REORGANIZATION PLAN.
KEY COSTS IN THIS COST CENTER SECURITY ENTERPRISE LICENSE AGREEMENT.
THAT'S $2.8 MILLION PCI MONITORING, WHICH IS THE, THE PAYMENT CARD OR CREDIT CARD PROCESSING.
WE HAVE TO COMPLY WITH REGULATIONS AND DUE AUDITS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
THAT'S 395,000 CYBER THREAT INTELLIGENCE PRODUCT.
THAT'S 495,000 ANTI RANSOMWARE CAPABILITY, $240,000 IN CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS TRAINING, WHICH I'M SURE EACH ONE OF YOU AND YOUR STAFF ALL TOOK AND PASSED.
UH, CYBER AWARENESS TRAINING IS A KEY PART OF OUR CYBERSECURITY HEALTH.
UH, SO THANK YOU FOR DOING THAT.
UM, THIS IS WHAT, UH, THIS IS COMPRISED OF BOTH PHYSICAL DATA CENTER INFRASTRUCTURE AS WELL AS CLOUD SERVICES.
AND IT PROVIDES US THE CAPACITY AND ACCESS TO CONNECT ALL THE CITY FACILITIES TOGETHER AND RUN, UM, THE SYSTEMS THAT DEPARTMENTS USE.
KEY COMPONENTS OF THIS COST, UH, $1.8 MILLION IS AZURE SERVICES.
THAT'S MICROSOFT AZURE CLOUD SERVICES DATA CENTER LEASE, $870,000 MICROSOFT UNIFIED SUPPORT, UH, 980,000.
WE DO HAVE A STAFF ORG FOR SOME SERVER ARCHITECTURE SERVICES.
OUR MICROSOFT SERVER CLOUD ENROLLMENT, UH, WHICH IS A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF LICENSES THAT HELP US MANAGE THOSE DATA CENTER COMPONENTS.
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VIRTUALIZATION LICENSING SOFTWARE, THAT'S 308 AND MAINTENANCE FOR STORAGE MANAGEMENT 72.AND THEN AMAZON WEB HOSTING SERVICES AT 340,000.
SO THIS IS, UM, THE COLLECTION OF SERVICES FOR SUPPORTING END USERS.
IT INCLUDES NOT JUST COMPUTERS, BUT ALSO THOSE MICROSOFT LICENSES WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
UM, WHICH IN FACT IS ONE OF THE MAJOR EXPENSES IN THIS GROUP.
THE MICROSOFT ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT IS $8.5 MILLION.
RICOH MULTIFUNCTION PRINTERS IS $1.7 MILLION.
AND EMAIL ARCHIVING IS 737,000.
ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS PROGRAM.
UM, THESE ARE THE PLATFORMS, UM, AND APPLICATIONS THAT ALLOW US TO HELP ALL OF OUR CUSTOMER DEPARTMENTS, EVEN CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO LEVERAGE ENTERPRISE TOOLS TO ADOPT STANDARD PROCESSES, UM, AND SO FORTH AND SO ON.
SO WE MEASURE, UM, THINGS LIKE HOW MANY OF THESE ENTERPRISE SOFTWARES DO WE SUPPORT, AND, UM, SYSTEM AVAILABILITY AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
WE HAVE 37.4 FTES IN THIS PROGRAM.
THE SAP ANNUAL LICENSING IS $1.8 MILLION GIS ANNUAL LICENSING, 2.5 MILLION TIME AND ATTENDANCE, 1.5 MILLION.
THE, UM, ERP HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT PORTAL, 1.5 MILLION PLANNING DEPARTMENT TRANSFER.
SO THIS IS FOR E-J-I-S-S SERVICES THAT WE PAY TO THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT.
$1.2 MILLION E-SIGNATURE LICENSING, UH, WHICH YOU GUYS ALL USE, UH, AS DOES EVERY DEPARTMENT.
1.2 MILLION, UH, I'M SORRY, THAT'S 1 MILLION.
CONTRACT AND PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT, 792,000 IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT PORTAL, UH, WHICH WE LEVERAGE, BY THE WAY, IT'S NOT JUST TICKETS.
WE LEVERAGE IT TO MANAGE A LOT OF PROCESSES LIKE THE PBJ PROCESS, PROJECT MANAGEMENT, ET CETERA.
THE CITYWIDE PUBLIC INFORMATION, UH, REQUEST PORTAL, 420,000 CITYWIDE TALENT MAN, ALL OF THESE ARE CITYWIDE BY THE WAY, BUT THE TALENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, 222,000 AND THE CONTINGENT WORKFORCE TIME APPROVAL SYSTEM IS 180,000.
SO THIS IS WHERE THE CITY PROCESSES 9 1 1 CALLS AND DISPATCHING MAJOR EXPENSES.
WITH THIS PROGRAM, WE HAVE 13.8 FTES.
THAT'S ACROSS BOTH APPLICATIONS AND INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT FOR THE HECK, UM, MAJOR COSTS.
THE CAD APPLICATION LICENSING AND MAINTENANCE IS $1.1 MILLION ANNUALLY.
UM, HARDWARE MAINTENANCE FOR VARIOUS COMPUTING PRODUCTS IS ONE 45,000.
CAD AND RELATED APPLICATION DATABASE SUPPORT IS 216,000.
AND THEN 9 1 1 VOICE RECORDING, WHICH SPANS BOTH CALLS AND RADIO TRANSMISSIONS.
HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT, WE TALKED ABOUT THIS A LITTLE BIT ALREADY.
YOU'LL SEE WE HAVE GROWN IT TO, UH, IN FY 26 16 FUNDED FTES.
UM, WE SUPPORT HFD RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, UH, AS WELL AS A NUMBER OF OTHER SYSTEMS THAT NEED TO BE MODERNIZED.
THEY HAVE QUITE A BIT OF LEGACY, UM, PROCESSES THAT MUST BE RE-ARCHITECTED.
SO WE'RE STILL LEARNING A LOT ABOUT THE, UM, HPD OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES BUDGET.
UM, BUT KEY COMPONENTS OF IT INCLUDE THE, THE IT PERSONNEL, WHICH YOU CAN SEE THERE IS FUNDED FOR 90.6 FTES, $11.3 MILLION.
THEY DO HAVE A SEPARATE MICROSOFT 365 TENANT, WHICH IS $3.7 MILLION.
WE WILL BE MERGING THAT WITH THE CITYWIDE TENANT IN FY 26.
UM, THE VERIZON WIRELESS COSTS FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT ARE BUDGETED 3 MILLION.
THEY'RE OVERSPENDING THAT BY 2.8 MILLION.
UM, THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS IN FINANCE, THEY HAVE IDENTIFIED A FUNDING SOURCE FOR 2.5 OF THAT.
UM, BUT THAT IS A WIRELESS DEVICES ARE A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF, UH, HPDS PERSONNEL.
I MEAN, UH, TECHNOLOGY BUDGET, RMS $2.4 MILLION.
AND THEN THERE'S AN $8.59 MILLION INSTALLMENT PAYMENT FOR THE RADIO.
SO YOU MAY RECALL IN 2023, WE REPLACED EVERY
[00:30:01]
SINGLE RADIO, BOTH PORTABLE, YOU KNOW, THE HANDHELD RADIOS AS WELL AS VEHICLE MOUNTED RADIOS FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT AND IMPLEMENTED A, UM, NEXT GEN RADIO.WE PAID FOR THOSE RADIOS WITH, UM, $10 MILLION OF ARPA AND $5 MILLION OF CIP.
AND WE ARE NOW MOVING INTO THE INSTALLMENT PHASE WITH OPERATING BUDGET DOLLARS 26 THROUGH 29.
HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS IT SUPPORT.
THIS IS LARGELY PERSONNEL SUPPORTING HOUSTON PERMITTING CENTER AS WELL AS CYBER.
LEGAL IT AGAIN, LARGELY PERSONNEL.
UH, THERE ARE TWO ADDITIONAL PEOPLE WHO WILL BE TRANSITIONING OVER TO THE HITS DEPARTMENT IN FY 26.
ONE IMPORTANT POINT TO NOTE HERE, UM, AND THIS IS ALSO TRUE OF ONE OF THE NEXT, UM, DEPARTMENTS WE'LL TALK ABOUT.
THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT HAD ONE PERSON THAT WE HAD ALREADY CONSOLIDATED TWO ADDITIONAL THAT ARE COMING, BUT THEY REALLY DIDN'T EVER HAVE SUFFICIENT IT APPLICATIONS SUPPORT FOR STRATEGY, PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION.
AND SO THIS IS AN AREA THAT BY CONSOLIDATION HITS, IS GOING TO HAVE TO HELP BUILD UP THAT CAPABILITY TO ENSURE THAT THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT GETS THE OUTCOMES THAT THEY NEED FROM THEIR APPLICATIONS PROJECTS.
UM, SO I KNOW YOU HEARD EARLIER TODAY FROM THE PRESIDING JUDGE.
MUNICIPAL COURTS IS AN AREA, PART OF WHAT WE MEASURE IN THIS PROGRAM IS THE, UM, AVAILABILITY AND OF THE SYSTEMS THAT ENABLE THEM TO PROCESS, UH, CITIZENS FOR CITATIONS, JUDICIAL PROCESSES, CITIZEN INQUIRIES AND PAYMENTS.
THERE IS A CHART, PAGE 47 IN THE APPENDIX THAT GIVES YOU SOME INTERESTING STATS ABOUT WHAT IS PROCESSED THROUGH CS SMARTT, WHICH IS THAT COURT'S, UM, MANAGEMENT SOLUTION.
MCD DOES GENERATE OVER $20 MILLION OF REVENUE ANNUALLY THROUGH CS SMART.
WE HAVE SEVEN FTES, UH, ASSIGNED TO MCD TO SUPPORT THAT ENVIRONMENT.
AND THEN SOME ADDITIONAL COMPONENTS, THESE ARE NOT VERY LARGE, BUT WE SPEND ABOUT 71,000 ON THE PAYMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
64,000 ON HARDWARE MAINTENANCE, 57 ON DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE LICENSING 35,000 ON SCANNING SERVICES FOR DOCUMENT INTAKE, AND 34 ON SYSTEM MAINTENANCE, JOB SCHEDULING.
SO THIS IS THE CITYWIDE NETWORK THAT CONNECTS ALL 350 PLUS FACILITIES TO DATA CENTERS, THE INTERNET, TO UM, THE DATA TO ALL OF THE SERVICES THAT THEY NEED TO OPERATE THEIR BUSINESS.
THERE'S ABOUT 900,000 IN NETWORK, UH, EQUIPMENT WARRANTY AND REPLACEMENT SUPPORT.
THERE'S ABOUT 2.2 MILLION IN NETWORK AND TELECOM SOFTWARE LICENSING ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT, AND THEN ANOTHER 440,000 IN FIREWALL MANAGED SERVICES.
PARKS AND RECREATION IS ONE OF THE ONES THAT I WAS REFERRING TO EARLIER.
UM, THEY HAD TWO FIELD POSITIONS AND TWO VACANT POSITIONS, WHICH WE ARE CONSOLIDATING.
UM, PARKS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF THE DEPARTMENT THAT IS NEEDING ADDITIONAL APPLICATION SUPPORT.
UM, SOME OF THEIR SPECIFIC NEEDS INVOLVE THINGS LIKE BEEFING UP THEIR WORK ORDER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE REPORTING TO HELP THEM MAKE DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS, UH, AS WELL AS PROGRAM REGISTRATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR PROGRAMS AND EVEN CONCESSION AMENITIES TO HELP REALLY RAISE THE BAR ON SOME OF THEIR AREAS WHERE THE CITIZENS WHO INTERACT WITH THEIR SERVICES WOULD BENEFIT FROM AND EVEN GENERATE SOME REVENUE, UM, IN SOME OF THOSE VENUES.
UH, OBVIOUSLY THEIR MISSION IS TO HELP US DELIVER PROJECTS ON SCOPE WITH EXPECTED SCOPE, QUALITY, BUDGET, AND SCHEDULE.
THEY ALSO COMMUNICATE PROJECT PRIORITY AND STATUS.
THEY IDENTIFY RISKS AND ISSUES MITIGATIONS THAT NEED TO OCCUR TO GET THINGS OR KEEP THINGS ON TRACK.
WE HAVE 13.1 FTES AND THEY ALSO SPEND ABOUT 30,000 IN TRAINING.
NEXT SLIDE, PUBLIC SAFETY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS.
UM, THIS IS, I MEAN, THEIR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE HIGH AVAILABILITY RADIO COMMUNICATIONS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS LIKE
[00:35:01]
PUBLIC WORKS AND SOLID WASTE.WE SPEND JUST UNDER 2 MILLION ON TOWER LEASES FOR OUR EQUIPMENT ACROSS THE CITY.
WE HAVE 54 TOWERS CITYWIDE, UM, COVERING THE ENTIRE 655 SQUARE MILES INSURANCE FEES OF 645,000 INTERFUND ELECTRICITY COST.
THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF A PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT ENTITIES.
SO FOR MANY YEARS WE HAVE SHARED OUR RADIO MAINTENANCE FACILITY WITH HARRIS COUNTY AND WE SPLIT THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH MAINTAINING THAT FACILITY.
AND ANOTHER INTERESTING POINT ABOUT OUR RADIO TEAM, THEY ALSO GENERATE REVENUE BY SELLING THEIR SERVICES TO OTHER ENTITIES.
UM, YOU CAN SEE FROM THAT CHART, I THINK RIGHT NOW IN FY 25, WE'RE SELLING TO 37 DIFFERENT AGENCIES.
THEY MIGHT BE SMALLER MUNICIPALITIES, SCHOOLS, EVEN NASA IS ONE OF OUR CUSTOMERS.
SO, UM, THEY GENERATE ROUGHLY $2 MILLION A YEAR IN THOSE SERVICES.
AND THEY ALSO SUPPORT MOST OF OUR MAJOR SPORTING VENUES.
SO WHEN WE HOSTED WORLD SERIES, UM, SUPER BOWL RODEO, THOSE ENTITIES ARE TYPICALLY PAYING SOME OF OUR, UM, PERSONNEL TO SUPPORT RADIO OPERATION DURING THOSE EVENTS.
TELECOMMUNICATION SUPPORT SERVICES.
UM, MISSION IS TO BASICALLY KEEP EVERYBODY CONNECTED AND ALL OF OUR WIRED AND WIRELESS SOLUTIONS, UM, AND CONTACT CENTERS.
UH, WORKING EFFECTIVELY, WE HAVE 9.7 FTES.
WE SPEND ABOUT 7.9 MILLION IN WIRED TELECOMMUNICATION CIRCUITS.
AND THAT'S AN AREA, BY THE WAY, I'M VERY PROUD OF THAT TEAM.
WE'VE BEEN WORKING HARD TO NOT ONLY, UM, REDUCE COSTS IN THIS AREA, BUT DO IT AT THE SAME TIME THAT WE'RE INCREASING THE BANDWIDTH OF THOSE CIRCUITS.
THEY'VE BROUGHT THAT DOWN BY ABOUT $2 MILLION OVER THE LAST TWO OR THREE YEARS.
UM, VERIZON WIRELESS, WE SPEND ABOUT $5.2 MILLION ANNUALLY.
UM, AND THIS DOES EXCLUDE WHICH DEPARTMENTS, UH, AIRPORTS AND POLICE.
POLICE AND AIRPORTS PAY THEIR VERIZON WIRELESS COSTS SEPARATELY.
UH, MANAGED SERVICES FOR OUR TELECOM, UM, NETWORK OPERATION CENTER IS 708,000.
WE SPEND ABOUT 450,000 ON COMMUNICATIONS CABLING AND ABOUT 300,000 ON OUR, UM, HOSTED CONTACT CENTER SUPPORT FOR 3 1 1.
AND, UM, EVERY OTHER, WE HAVE, I THINK OVER 30 CONTACT CENTERS ACROSS THE CITY.
OKAY, SO WE GOT THROUGH ALL THE PROGRAMS. UM, REVENUE, AS I MENTIONED, WE ARE A CENTRAL SERVICE REVOLVING FUND.
A HUNDRED PERCENT OF WHAT WE SPEND IS REVOLVED OUT TO THOSE DEPARTMENTS WHO ARE CONSUMING THE SERVICE.
YOU HEAR ABOUT RESTRICTED ACCOUNTS IN EVERYONE'S, UH, BUDGET PRESENTATIONS.
UH, I DO WANNA POINT OUT THAT WE ARE REVOLVING BACK WHAT THEY ARE CONSUMING SO THEY COULD NOT RUN THEIR BUSINESS WITHOUT THESE EXPENDITURES.
UM, WE ARE TASKED WITH, UH, DOING WHAT WE CAN TO MANAGE THOSE COSTS.
AND I GAVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES IN THE BEGINNING OF WHERE WE'RE BEING, UM, GOOD FISCAL STEWARDS OF THOSE EXPENSES.
ANOTHER THING THAT IS NOTEWORTHY, UH, WHEN WE TALK ABOUT REVENUE, THE VERIZON WIRELESS CONTRACT, UM, YOU'VE SEEN US TALK ABOUT THE REBATES.
THE FY 25 REBATE, UH, FOR THIS CURRENT FISCAL YEAR WAS $1.2 MILLION.
HOWEVER, UH, AGAIN, THE TELECOM TEAM HAS DONE A REMARKABLE JOB IN FY 26.
FIRST YEAR OF OUR NEW CONTRACT, THAT REBATE WILL BE $4 MILLION.
SO A SUBSTANTIAL, UM, HELP ON THAT COST.
AND THEN THE OTHER ONE IS THE ONE I MENTIONED ABOUT RADIO, UH, REVENUE GENERATION $2.3 MILLION, UH, ACROSS 37 REGIONAL PARTNERS THAT WE SELL TO.
THIS IS JUST ANOTHER GRAPHICAL WAY OF LOOKING AT THAT.
WHAT WE SPEND COMES BACK IN REVENUE.
SAME THING SHOWN IN A DIFFERENT CHART.
WHAT WE SPEND COMES BACK IN REVENUE.
REVENUE EQUALS OUR EXPENDITURES.
YOU SEE HOW IT'S BROKEN DOWN AND HOW IT COMES BACK.
SO, UM, I'M EXCITED ABOUT TAKING YOUR QUESTIONS.
I DO WANNA DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO JUST A COUPLE OF THINGS BEFORE WE GET THERE.
UM, I MENTIONED SEVERAL SLIDES IN THE APPENDIX.
[00:40:01]
UH, ONE IS THE HITS DEPARTMENT DEMOGRAPHICS.I AM REALLY PROUD OF THE RICH CULTURE AND DIVERSE GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT MAKE UP YOUR IT PROFESSIONALS FOR THIS CITY.
UM, WE ALSO HAVE SEVERAL PAGES OF FY 25 ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
I'D LOVE FOR YOU TO READ THOSE LATER.
I ALSO WANNA DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO, WE, WE PUBLISH A HITS ACCOMPLISHMENTS REPORT EVERY SUMMER.
UH, WE TAKE, YOU KNOW, A MONTH OR TWO AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE FISCAL YEAR.
YOU CAN SEE THE PRIOR TWO ON OUR WEBPAGE.
AND THEN YOU'LL SEE THE ONE FOR FY 25 LATER THIS SUMMER.
THERE'S ALSO A LOT OF STATS PAGES THAT GIVE YOU A FEEL FOR THE SCALE OF WHAT WE SUPPORT.
UH, YOU CAN LOOK THROUGH THOSE LATER.
AND THEN I WOULD LIKE TO GO TO PAGE 42.
THAT'S THE CIP SLIDE THAT I REFERENCED EARLIER.
SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT THIS DEPICTION, UH, AND YOU SEE THAT I HAVE IT LABELED AS TECHNOLOGICAL DEATH, THAT'S BECAUSE WE HAVE A LOT OF SYSTEMS THAT ARE AGING, UM, THAT ARE NO LONGER SUPPORTED OR THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SUPPORT.
WHAT YOU SEE IN THAT TABLE ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THE PAGE ARE THE ACTUAL REQUESTS THAT CAME IN PER DEPARTMENT FOR THE FY 26 TO 30 CIP PROCESS, WHICH YOU GUYS WILL BE, UH, DELIBERATING ON IN JUNE, I THINK.
SO THE DEMAND FOR WHAT IS NEEDED FOR TECHNOLOGY IN THE CIP IS 169.7 MILLION.
THAT RIGHT HAND CHART SHOWS YOU THE CAPACITY OF WHAT CAN ACTUALLY BE FUNDED.
IT'S A STARK DIFFERENCE, AND WE WON'T BE ABLE TO CLOSE THAT GAP WITH JUST EFFICIENCIES.
AND SO WE ARE ASKING, UH, BOTH THE ADMINISTRATION AND THE COUNCIL MEMBERS TO TAKE US SERIOUSLY.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT THAT SECOND PAGE, IF WE'LL GO ONE MORE FORWARD, THIS SHOWS THAT SAME AMOUNT ACROSS THE FIVE YEARS.
AND IT SHOWS IN THE FIRST COLUMN OF EACH FISCAL YEAR, IT'S THE, THE REQUESTS OR THE DEMAND.
AND THAT'S ALSO BROKEN DOWN BY PUBLIC SAFETY AND OTHER.
SO YOU SEE THAT THE PUBLIC SAFETY TECHNOLOGY REQUESTS ACROSS THE FIVE YEARS IS 52.9% OF THE ASK.
OKAY? THAT $90 MILLION NEED JUST FOR PUBLIC SAFETY IS ALMOST DOUBLE THE AVAILABLE CAPACITY FOR THE ENTIRE CITY.
THAT'S WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAY WE CAN'T CLOSE THE GAP WITH EFFICIENCY ONLY.
UM, WE NEED THE FEES THAT CITIZENS PAY FOR THE, UM, PUBLIC SAFETY SERVICES TO INCLUDE THE COST OF WHAT IT TAKES TO EQUIP THOSE OFFICERS AND FIREMEN TO DO THEIR JOBS.
ONE OTHER THING, I WANNA PLANT THE SEED ON THAT.
UM, I WILL BE WORKING WITH BOTH OF THE LARGE PUBLIC SAFETY ORGANIZATIONS AND FINANCE AS WE TALK ABOUT NEEDING TO INCREASE OFFICERS AND FIREFIGHTER COUNTS.
SO THOSE NET NEW, UM, PERSONNEL THAT WE'RE BRINGING ON, WE MUST BEGIN TO BUILD THE, THE MENU OF WHAT DOES IT COST TO DO THAT, TO INCLUDE THOSE TECHNOLOGY SERVICES.
UM, TODAY YOU SEE THE RADIO PURCHASE SEPARATE FROM WHAT IS PRESENTED TO YOU AS THIS IS WHAT IT COSTS TO ADD A CADET CLASS.
YOU SEE THAT MICROSOFT LICENSE COST SEPARATELY.
SO WE NEED YOU TO UNDERSTAND, AND FOR US ON THE CITY, YOU KNOW, THE DEPARTMENT SIDES TO PRESENT IT TO YOU IN A WAY WHERE YOU SEE THE TOTAL COST OF WHAT IS THAT CADET CLASS REALLY GONNA BE.
AND THEN THAT HELPS YOU MAKE, UM, GOOD DECISIONS ABOUT HOW DO WE GET THAT MONEY TO PAY FOR THAT CLASS FULLY.
AND WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE FOR ME.
AND WE, WE DEFINITELY NEED TO START LOOKING AT IT LIKE THAT.
AND I KNOW THANK YOU FOR FRAMING IT THAT WAY AND MM-HMM
WE'LL BE ASKING QUESTIONS ALONG THOSE LINES BECAUSE IT'S NOT FAIR TO GET A BUNCH OF PEOPLE IN HERE THAT WE CAN'T SUPPORT WITH TECHNOLOGY, AND THAT IS PRETTY STAGGERING.
UM, YOU WHAT AND I, AND I DON'T THINK OF YOU AS SOMEBODY THAT'S ASKING FOR EVERY PIE IN THE SKY THING.
THESE ARE, THESE ARE ASKS THAT ARE CRITICAL TO THE CITY AND, AND YOU'RE GETTING ABOUT HALF OF THEM.
SO I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR POINTING THAT OUT.
I'LL GO FIRST TO, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN.
THANK YOU, UH, DIRECTOR TO YOU AND THE ENTIRE TEAM.
Y'ALL HELP EVERY SINGLE DEPARTMENT IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON FUNCTION.
UH, AND YOU ARE BEHIND THE SCENES, BUT WITHOUT YOU, NONE OF THAT WORKS.
UH, I'M NOT GOING TO ASK VERY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS RELATED TO CYBERSECURITY AS
[00:45:01]
A REMINDER, UH, WE HAVE TO HAVE MORE CLOSED DOOR CONVERSATIONS AROUND CYBERSECURITY FOR SECURITY REASONS, BUT I DO WANNA RECOGNIZE, UM, CHRIS MITCHELL MM-HMMUH, AND THE TEAM, Y'ALL ARE DOING A LOT WITH VERY LITTLE, BUT IN TERMS OF WHAT WE ARE SAVING POTENTIALLY FROM CYBER THREATS, AGAIN, I, I DON'T KNOW IF WE CAN SHARE THAT NUMBER PUBLICLY OF WHAT WE MAY BE PROTECTING AGAINST, BUT IT'S A BIG NUMBER.
UM, THE WAY I WOULD FRAME THAT IS THAT NO NEWS IS GOOD NEWS.
UM, WE CERTAINLY CAN SHARE MORE WHEN WE DO THOSE BRIEFINGS.
UM, AND AS ELECTED OFFICIALS, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO ASK US QUESTIONS AND TO HEAR, UM, AND SEE REAL WORLD EXAMPLES OF THE THINGS THAT WE FACE.
AND THAT'S HOW WE'RE ABLE TO DO THOSE IN THOSE BRIEFINGS.
RIGHT? SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE COST OF ALL OF THIS AND THE BAKED IN COSTS, AS YOU POINTED OUT APTLY ABOUT HOW EQUIPPING EACH PERSONNEL THAT WE'RE ADDING, UM, TO A DEPARTMENT ON TOP OF THAT IS THE SAVINGS OF DEFENSE, UH, THE REGARDING FTES AND VRI, UH, YOU MENTIONED THAT.
HOW MANY, REMIND ME AGAIN 'CAUSE I KNOW WE WENT THROUGH A LOT.
HOW MANY ACCEPTED THE VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT? 24, I BELIEVE TOTAL OF 24.
THAT INCLUDES BOTH HITS AND, UM, HPD WE DID NOT HAVE ANY FROM LEGAL OR PARKS TAKE THE OPTION.
AND IN ADDITION TO VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT, HAVE THERE BEEN ADDITIONAL CUTS TO PERSONNEL WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT? SO WITHIN EACH OF YOUR BREAKDOWNS, RIGHT, YOU HAVE WHAT THE FY 26 FTE COUNT WILL BE, BUT I CAN'T TELL IF THAT IS A REDUCTION FROM PREVIOUS YEARS.
IT, IT DOES INCLUDE A, A PRETTY HEFTY VACANCY FACTOR.
SO, UH, FOR FY 26, UH, WE WOULD JUST LOOK BEFORE WE DID THE CONSOLIDATION, OUR HEAD COUNT EQUIVALENT, UH, 'CAUSE WE DO THAT VACANCY FACTOR TO BASICALLY BALANCE THE BUDGET, GET WITHIN BUDGET.
SO WE BASICALLY REDUCED OUR BUDGET BY ESSENTIALLY, UH, 24 FTES IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR.
THIS YEAR WE REDUCED THE HEAD COUNT BY, UM, 58.
WHEN I, WHEN I GO BACK AND INCLUDE THE CONSOLIDATE FUNCTIONS, SO TECHNICALLY WE HAVE 370 ROSTER POSITIONS.
UH, BUT WITH THE VACANCY FACTOR AND THE RIO, WE ONLY HAVE A BUDGET OF 311 FTES.
SO IT'S THE 58 PLUS THE 24, CORRECT? CORRECT.
BUT THE 24 IS THE, WHAT WE INCLUDED IN THE BUDGET.
SO WE DO HAVE SOME INDIVIDUALS WHO TOOK THE RIO AFTER WE SUBMITTED BUDGET.
SO, AND TO PRODUCE THE BUDGET, WE ZEROED OUT 24.
AND THERE'S SOME ADDITIONAL THAT'S COMING THAT CAME AFTER THE, UH, WHAT'S THE DATE? APRIL 20TH DEADLINE.
SO JUST BOTTOM LINE, HOW MANY VACANCIES ARE THERE CURRENTLY? AND HOW MANY OF THOSE WOULD YOU PLAN TO BE ABLE TO FILL? THAT'S A DIFFICULT QUESTION BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH A PROCESS OR A NEW C PROCESS BECAUSE WHAT HAPPENED IS WITH THE PROCESS, THERE WERE NON-CRITICAL POSITIONS, THEN THOSE POSITIONS WERE TECHNICALLY ELIMINATED FROM THE BUDGET.
SO WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH A C PROCESS TO GO BACK AND ASK FOR THOSE POSITIONS TO BE FILLED BACK.
SO, BECAUSE AGAIN, MY TIME'S UP, I'LL GO BACK IN THE QUEUE, BUT JUST TO GET AN ANSWER TO THE QUESTION, I I UNDERSTAND WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO A PROCESS TO BASICALLY ADD THEM BACK IN.
BUT AS IT STANDS TODAY, HOW MANY TOTAL VACANCIES AND HOW MANY WERE, AND WERE ALL OF THOSE BASICALLY ELIMINATED.
WE, WE WILL DEFINITELY, UM, COME BACK TO YOU WITH AN EXACT NUMBER.
I CAN GIVE YOU JUST AN APPROXIMATE PLEASE.
UM, FOR PERSPECTIVE, NOT COUNTING CONSOLIDATED, IT'S ALREADY HAD ABOUT ROUGHLY A 20% VACANCY FACTOR PLUS ANOTHER, UM, 19 PERSONNEL, WHICH IS ALMOST THAT SAME AMOUNT.
SO THAT'S A DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE.
THAT'S WHAT I'M GETTING AT, THAT WE CAN'T LOSE THAT 20% PLUS ANOTHER 19.
SO WE CAN GIVE YOU THE EXACT NUMBERS, UM, INCLUDING THE, THE, UM, CONSOLIDATED DEPARTMENTS AS WELL.
BUT IN ORDER TO OPERATE WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, IT, IT'S, I KNOW YOU'RE NOT, I'M PUTTING WORDS IN YOUR MOUTH, IT'S KIND OF LIKE SOUNDING THE ALARM OF THESE, SOME OF THESE POSITIONS WILL NEED TO BE FILLED ABSOLUTELY.
IN ORDER ABSOLUTE TO MAKE UP THE WORK THAT IS VITAL TO THE CITY OPERATIONS AND FUNCTIONING.
AND THAT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS BUDGET IS NOT FULLY FUNDED? NOT FULLY FUNDED.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
UM, AND THANKS FOR BRINGING UP ABOUT THE PUBLIC SAFETY TECHNOLOGY.
IT'S SO CRITICAL AND I THINK SOMETIMES THAT COMPONENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY IS MISSED.
UM, TO THAT END, FOR THE RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR HPDI THINK YOU SAID, DID YOU SAY $2.5 MILLION
[00:50:01]
IS ALLOCATED TOWARDS THAT THIS FISCAL? I I, I THINK IT WAS 2.4 OR 2.5, LIKE I'LL SPLIT BACK QUICKLY.AND SO I KNOW THAT WE'VE ALREADY SPENT SOMEWHERE AROUND $6.5 MILLION ON THE NEW SYSTEM, AND I'M GONNA BE TALKING TO HPD ABOUT THIS AS WELL.
BUT FROM HITS PERSPECTIVE, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WITH THAT TWO AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE IMPLEMENTING THIS NEXT FISCAL YEAR? LIKE THE NEW RECORDS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM? YES.
UM, SO THE 2.4 THAT'S IN THE OPERATING BUDGET RIGHT NOW IS TO CONTINUE OPERATING ON THE EXISTING RMS SYSTEM.
UH, HPD IS ACTIVELY, UM, AND NOW HITS AS ASSISTING, UH, HPD TO IMPLEMENT THE NEW RMS SYSTEM.
UM, THERE WERE SOME, I CAN'T SPEAK RIGHT NOW TO THE FUNDING SOURCES FOR THAT, BUT I CAN SAY THAT HITZ IS ACTIVELY ENGAGED WITH HPD LEADERSHIP, UM, AS WELL AS THE HPD OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY SERVICES TO ENSURE THAT THAT RMS PROJECT IS READY TO GO LIVE AND BE SUCCESSFUL.
UM, SO WE HAVE BROUGHT IN LOTS OF ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TO HELP THEM WITH THAT, BUT I CAN, OUTSIDE OF THIS MEETING IF YOU WANT TO, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU ALREADY HAVE PUT THAT IN THE SHAREPOINT LIST FOR THE QUESTIONS, BUT WE CAN ABSOLUTELY GIVE YOU A BRIEFING AND SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE THAT IS.
FUNDING WISE FOR THE PROJECT AND OTHERWISE MM-HMM
UM, AND THEN AS FAR AS CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, SO IN MY OFFICE FOR EXAMPLE, WE PAY FOR A SYSTEM OURSELVES AND I'M SURE OTHER OFFICES MAYBE AT CITY COUNCIL AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS DO AS WELL.
I KNOW THAT WHEN WE WERE FIRST TALKING ABOUT INFORM LIKE MANY, MANY YEARS AGO, THERE WAS SOME TALK ABOUT ADDING, UM, SOME KIND OF CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGEMENT TO THAT FOR CITY COUNCIL AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS.
AND I KNOW THAT'S KIND OF CHANGED OVER THE YEARS THAT, UM, THEY WANT US TO USE THE BACKEND OF 3 1 1 KIND OF AS A MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, BUT NOTHING THAT HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED OVER THE YEARS REALLY FITS WITH THE WORK THAT WE DO AT CITY COUNCIL AND OTHER DEPARTMENTS AS WELL.
SO WHEN LOOKING AT CONSOLIDATING, UM, CONTRACTS AND FUNDS, IS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S BEING LOOKED AT TO SEE HOW MANY DEPARTMENTS ARE USING SOMETHING SIMILAR TO SEE WHERE WE CAN CONSOLIDATE THAT? YES.
AND I WILL USE THE TERM CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT.
SO A CRM, WE DO HAVE A CIP TO ENTERPRISE TO TO IMPLEMENT AN ENTERPRISE CRM.
AND SO WHEN YOU HEAR US TALK ABOUT 3 1 1, WHAT WE'RE REALLY REFERRING TO IS THE CITY HAS ADOPTED MICROSOFT DYNAMICS, UM, WHICH IS A, UH, VERY COMMON AND POPULAR CRM SYSTEM.
IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT HAS TO BE CONFIGURED THE SAME, BUT THERE DOES HAVE TO BE A PROJECT TO TAKE WHATEVER CITY COUNCIL'S REQUIREMENTS ARE AND TO BUILD THAT ON TOP OF THE, THE MICROSOFT DYNAMICS PLATFORM.
UM, I NEED TO FOLLOW UP ON, UM, WE DO HAVE THAT CITYWIDE CIPI CAN'T REMEMBER RIGHT NOW IF THE CRM REMAINED FUNDED OR IF WHEN, REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE LOOKING AT THAT BIG GAP? I DON'T KNOW, UH, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD IF IT'S UNFUNDED OR FUNDED, BUT I'LL GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT ONE.
IT IS A NEED THAT MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS HAVE EXPRESSED.
THANK YOU DIRECTOR TO YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR A VERY THOROUGH PRESENTATION.
A LOT OF THE BUDGET WORKSHOPS WE'VE BEEN THROUGH SO FAR HAVE HIGHLIGHTED EFFICIENCIES FOR THE UPCOMING FISCAL YEAR.
UM, AND I'VE ASKED A LOT OF THE DEPARTMENTS ABOUT, UM, HOW AI IS PLAYING A ROLE IN ANY, UM, EFFICIENCIES MOVING FORWARD.
SO MY QUESTION FOR HITS IS WITH SOME OF THE DEPARTMENTS USING IT IN SMALL CAPACITIES, SOME INTERESTED IN, IN USING IT IN INCAPACITIES, WHAT ROLE DO Y'ALL PLAY IN KIND OF SHEPHERDING THE CITY THROUGH AS WE'RE LOOKING INTO AI TOOLS AND USES? AND DO WE HAVE A, A ROADMAP OR A PLAN TO, TO ROLL SOME THINGS OUT IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR? YES.
SO, UH, IN TERMS OF WHAT WE HAVE PLANNED IN THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR, I'LL SHARE, UM, BRIEFLY IN TERMS OF GENERATIVE AI, OUR MICROSOFT 365, OUR, OUR MICROSOFT ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT, UM, THEY ARE ABOUT TO ROLL OUT WHAT THEY'RE CALLING COPILOT CHAT.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HAS BEEN CHALLENGING, THESE COMPANIES HAVE SPENT A LOT OF MONEY DEVELOPING THESE MODELS AND THE TOOLS.
AND WHEN MICROSOFT FIRST ROLLED OUT COPILOT, WHICH BY THE WAY, THEY ARE EMBEDDING INTO EACH OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCTS WITHIN 365.
[00:55:01]
SO IT'S NOT ONLY LIKE WHAT YOU THINK OF CHAT GPT, IT'S ALSO GOING TO BE EMBEDDED IN WORD AND EXCEL AND POWER BEHIND TEAMS AND ALL THOSE THINGS.WHEN THEY FIRST ROLLED IT OUT, UH, MICROSOFT HAD A VERY HEFTY PRICE TAG FOR THE COPILOT ADD-ON.
UM, THERE WAS ALSO AN ASPECT OF NEEDING TO ENSURE THAT IN AN ENTERPRISE ENVIRONMENT LIKE THIS, THAT OUR USERS ARE NOT INADVERTENTLY PUTTING INFORMATION OUT INTO THE PUBLIC MODELS.
AND SO THANKFULLY MICROSOFT HAS REFINED THEIR, THEIR PRICING MODEL.
SO RATHER THAN IT BEING ALMOST DOUBLE THE COST OF A LICENSE, WHICH YOU CAN IMAGINE WE WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO ROLL OUT CITYWIDE, UM, THEY NOW HAVE A PLAN FOR TWO VERSIONS.
ONE IS CALLED COPILOT CHAT, WHICH IS INCLUDED IN OUR 365 SUBSCRIPTION.
IT IS NOT AVAILABLE UNTIL NEXT MONTH.
IT WAS ORIGINALLY GONNA BE MID-MAY.
UM, LITERALLY JUST YESTERDAY OR THIS MORNING, WE WERE ADVISED THAT THEY HAVE SHIFTED THAT TO JUNE.
BUT WE DO INTEND TO ROLL OUT COPILOT CHAT, WHICH WOULD GIVE A HUNDRED PERCENT OF OUR USER POPULATION ACCESS TO THAT GENERATIVE AI, UM, CAPABILITY.
AND THE SECURITY OF WHAT THEY PUT INTO THE MODEL IS STAYING WITHIN THE ENTERPRISE SYSTEM.
UM, THERE WILL ALSO BE A FEE-BASED VERSION CALLED, UM, JUST M 365 COPILOT.
IT DOES HAVE A PRETTY HEFTY MARKUP.
IT'S A 60% INCREASE ON THE LICENSE COST.
SO THAT NEEDS TO BE FOR A SUBSET OF USERS.
UM, AND IF MAY I RESPOND TO ONE MORE THING? UH, YOU ASKED ABOUT OVERALL ROADMAP AND GOVERNANCE.
UM, HITS IS ABSOLUTELY TASKED FOR IT GOVERNANCE AS A WHOLE.
UM, BY EXECUTIVE ORDER ONE DASH 44.
WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON AN AI GOVERNANCE PROCESS, UM, AND ALSO HOW WE NEED TO RESTRUCTURE WITHIN HITS TO BEGIN TO PROVIDE THAT, UH, MECHANISM FOR DEPARTMENTS TO HAVE SOME REVIEW PROCESS IN THE USE OF AI.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S, IT'S BOTH EXCITING, TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY, BUT ALSO SCARY, UM, THAT MANY THINGS THAT YOU DON'T WANT TO HAPPEN, UM, CAN OCCUR.
SO WE HAVE ALREADY DRAFTED, I BROUGHT IT WITH ME A COPY OF REVISED AI, UM, USER GUIDANCE THAT WE DID A SOFT LAUNCH OF A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO WITH THE CITY'S FEDERATED IT DEPARTMENTS.
AND I'LL BE SENDING IT OUT CITYWIDE.
YOU'LL SEE THAT THIS IS ONE OF A FEW MORE THAT WILL COME AND THOSE NEXT POLICY DOCUMENTS WILL PROVIDE THAT STRUCTURE FOR AI GOVERNANCE.
AND I, I, I'M SORRY I NEGLECTED TO RECOGNIZE WE'VE BEEN JOINED BY COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER, COUNCIL MEMBER HUFFMAN ONLINE COUNCIL MEMBER WILLIE DAVIS AND COUNCIL MEMBER STAFF FROM, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER LETITIA PLUMMER'S, OFFICE COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ.
THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR AND THANK YOU DIRECTOR, UH, FOR YOUR VERY THOROUGH PRESENTATION AND THANK YOU WILL FOR YOUR SUPPORT.
THERE ARE A NUMBER OF AREAS WHERE FTES ARE INCREASING.
UM, AND I KNOW YOU TALKED EXTENSIVELY ABOUT ALL THE CONSOLIDATION THAT'S GOING ON.
VERY EXCITING AND APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS IN THAT TO MAKE THE GOVERNMENT, UH, MORE EFFICIENT.
ARE ALL OF THE INCREASES IN FTES DUE TO THAT CONSOLIDATION OR ARE WE INCORPORATING, UH, NEW FTES BEYOND THAT? ALL, ALL THE INCREASE IN FTES ARE DUE TO THE CONSOLIDATION.
UM, I DO HAVE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT CYBERSECURITY, BUT MAYBE WE CAN JUST TALK ABOUT THOSE OFFLINE.
UH, AND, AND I KNOW, YOU KNOW, AS PART OF THE CONSOLIDATION, YOU HAVE TO EVALUATE, YOU KNOW, THE NEW DEPARTMENTS THAT YOU'RE TAKING ON.
UH, THE THING THAT JUMPED OUT AT ME WAS HPD HAS 90 FOLKS, UH, 90 FTES, UH, OFFERING IT SUPPORT.
DOES THAT SOUND KIND OF HIGH TO YOU OR ANY REACTION TO THAT? YES, SIR.
AND THAT'S 90 FUNDED POSITIONS FUNDED.
THEY ACTUALLY HAD MORE THAN THAT.
THE NUMBER THEY BROUGHT OVER IS 113.
SO MY DEPARTMENT WAS ROUGHLY 211.
CITYWIDE SUPPORT, HPD OFFICE OF TECHNOLOGY WAS 113 POSITIONS, 90 OF THEM FUNDED.
UM, THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS YES, IT DOES SEEM HIGH.
GENERALLY WHEN I LOOK AT CONSOLIDATION ACROSS THE CITY, UM, I HAVE CAUTIONED EVERYBODY THAT WE TYPICALLY HAVE BEEN UNDER-RESOURCED AND THAT CONSOLIDATION CAN HELP US IMPROVE OUTCOMES BY ADOPTING STANDARD PLATFORMS, BEST
[01:00:01]
PRACTICES, ET CETERA.HPD IS ONE OF THE AREAS THAT I DO THINK, UM, AND THIS IS WHY WE'VE ALREADY MADE THE CHANGE OF MOVING NINE OF THEIR VACANT POSITIONS TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, UM, OPERATION, BECAUSE I THINK THAT THERE ARE EFFICIENCY OPPORTUNITIES THERE.
AND LAST TOPIC HERE, UH, I KNOW THAT YEARS AGO WE HITCHED OUR WAGON, SO TO SPEAK TO SAP AND WONDERING IF AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE YOU FORESEE US SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING, UH, MORE OF A CLOUD-BASED SYSTEM? UM, LET ME ANSWER YOUR QUESTION IN TWO WAYS.
FIRST OF ALL, WE DO HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF OUR SAP ENVIRONMENT IS ALREADY IN THE CLOUD.
UM, SO TWO OF OUR MOST RECENT PROJECTS, WHICH WAS, UH, THE PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT SUCCESS FACTORS AND BENEFITS MANAGEMENT BENEFIT FOCUS, THOSE ARE TWO SAP CLOUD-BASED SOLUTIONS, UM, THAT ARE FULLY CLOUD.
WE DO ABSOLUTELY HAVE PROJECTS AND AN SAP ROADMAP TO MIGRATE TO S FOUR HANA, WHICH WILL ALSO BE CLOUD.
UM, TODAY WE ARE A HYBRID ENVIRONMENT ACROSS BOTH ON-PREMISE AND CLOUD SOLUTIONS.
UM, SAP IS, UH, A ABSOLUTE FOUNDATIONAL PART OF THE CITY'S FINANCIAL PROCUREMENT, HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, UM, AND PAYROLL FUNCTIONS.
AND AT THIS TIME, WE'VE MADE A LOT OF INVESTMENTS IN THAT SOLUTION.
THEY ARE A TIER ONE PROVIDER AND OUR ROADMAP SHOWS CONTINUED INVESTMENT IN THAT PLATFORM.
SO, SO NO INDICATION THAT WE'LL CHANGE ANYTIME SOON.
YOU SPOKE ABOUT THE NUMBER OF DEVICES WITH ZERO USAGE.
HOW MANY OF THOSE WAS THERE AGAIN, WAS IT 1300 OR 1,700? AND YOU'RE GONNA MAKE ME LOOK BACK FOR THE LAST TWO DIGITS.
IS THAT MONITORED MONTHLY OR, I MEAN IT SEEMS LIKE A REALLY HIGH NUMBER.
UM, WE DO ABSOLUTELY HAVE ACCESS TO THOSE REPORTS THROUGH THE CARRIERS PORTAL.
AND EACH DEPARTMENT HAS, UH, THESE ARE NOT IT PEOPLE, THEY'RE TELECOM COORDINATORS IN EVERY SINGLE DEPARTMENT WHO ARE TASKED TO RUN THOSE REPORTS AND TO HELP MANAGE THOSE.
WHAT WE SEE HAPPENS A LOT IS THAT, UM, JANE DOE HAS A CITY CELL PHONE OR TABLET DEVICE AND JANE DOE LEAVES THE ORGANIZATION AND THE DEPARTMENT WILL TAKE THAT DEVICE AND HOLD ONTO IT FOR THE REPLACEMENT.
AND IF THERE IS NOT A REPLACEMENT, THAT DEVICE IS SITTING THERE UNUSED, BUT IT IS INCURRING THE MONTHLY SERVICE CHARGE ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
SO THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT WE NEED THE COOPERATION OF THE DEPARTMENTS TO LEVERAGE, UM, YOU KNOW, GIVE THE DEVICE BACK, DISABLE IT IF IT'S NOT BEING USED, AND TO LEVERAGE THE REPORTS TO MORE, UM, PROACTIVELY MONITOR USAGE.
AND NOW I, I WILL SAY ALSO COUNCIL MEMBER, THESE REDUCTIONS ARE AN EXAMPLE WHERE I JUST MADE THE DECISION THAT, HEY, THIS CAN'T CONTINUE.
WE ARE GOING TO REDUCE AND I'M GOING TO GIVE THEM A TARGET LETTER.
AND THOSE DEPARTMENTS WILL HAVE TO MANAGE WITHIN THAT TARGET.
UM, YOU TALKED ABOUT CREATING EFFICIENCIES WITHIN HFD AND BEING ABLE TO ACTUALLY IMPROVE RESPONSE TIME.
CAN YOU GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF SURE.
THE, UM, EMERGENCY ALERTING SYSTEM IS A, UM, COMPUTER TOOL THAT IS, UM, RECEIVES THE DISPATCH ALERT.
SO, YOU KNOW, STATION 1, 2, 3, UM, NEEDS TO GO OUT ON A CALL.
AND SO WHAT THAT SYSTEM DOES IS IT TURNS THE LIGHTS ON IN THE STATION, IT AUDIBLY ANNOUNCES THE CALL OVER THE PA SYSTEM TO ALERT THE FIREFIGHTERS THAT, HEY, TIME TO GO.
WE'VE GOT SOMETHING GOING ON HERE.
UM, IT VISUALLY PUTS IT ON A MONITOR SO THAT THEY CAN ALSO READ THAT DISPATCH CALL AND IT OPENS THE BAY DOORS TO PREPARE THEM FOR THE VEHICLES TO LEAVE.
UM, THE, THE FIRE STATION ITSELF, THAT'S NOT A COMPLETELY NEW FUNCTION.
IT IS A MODERNIZED FUNCTION THOUGH, THAT THE OLD ONE WAS A LEGACY SYSTEM THAT LITERALLY, UM, YOU COULD NOT REPAIR ANYMORE.
SO SEVERAL OF THE STATIONS, UH, DID NOT HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONING EMERGENCY ALERTING SYSTEM.
AND SO WE HAVE MODERNIZED THAT.
UM, AND WHAT IT DOES BY TURNING ON ALL THOSE THINGS AND AUTOMATING THE PREPARATION OF THE STATION, IT ALLOWS THE FIREFIGHTERS TO JUST JUMP IN THE TRUCK AND GO.
OH, AND BY THE WAY, I DID DO THE TOUR AND IT IS ENLIGHTENING, SO IF YOU HAVEN'T NEED TO THANK YOU.
MAKES YOU REALLY GRATEFUL FOR THOSE GUYS OVER THERE AND
[01:05:01]
WOMEN.UM, I KNOW COUNCIL MEMBER PECK ALREADY TOUCHED ON RMS, SO I WON'T GO TOO INTO THAT.
JUST THAT IT CONTINUES TO BE A PRIORITY, UH, FOR ME, FOR COUNCIL MEMBER PECK AS CHAIR.
I KNOW THAT THAT TIMELINE HAS BEEN DELAYED, BUT WE'LL, WE'LL SPEAK OFFLINE ABOUT THAT.
UH, SIMILARLY CAD, I KNOW IN THE APPENDIX THERE'S SOME UPDATES WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE INABILITY TO REPAIR THAT LEGACY SYSTEMS ARE SO OLD.
UM, IT'S LIKE WE'RE DUCT TAPING WIRES TOGETHER AT THIS POINT.
WHERE ARE WE WITH OUR COMPUTER AIDED DISPATCH? SO THE CAD RFP IS IN THE CONTRACT NEGOTIATION PHASE.
I DO EXPECT THAT WE, WE ARE WORKING THROUGH WITH SPD AND LEGAL, A SELECTION HAS BEEN MADE, BUT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THAT NEGOTIATION.
UM, I AM PROUD OF THE, WHERE WE APPEAR TO BE ON PRICING FOR THAT SOLUTION.
WE WERE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN WHAT WE WERE FORECASTING.
UH, I DO ANTICIPATE THAT THAT IS GONNA COME BEFORE COUNCIL TO APPROVE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
UM, AND WE WILL BE BEGINNING THAT IMPLEMENTATION CAD IS PROBABLY GONNA BE AN 18 TO 24 MONTH TOTAL IMPLEMENTATION.
AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, IT'S A VERY, VERY IMPORTANT SYSTEM THAT YOU MUST GET.
SO IT WILL NOT BE SOMETHING THAT WE RUSH, AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE CONTINUING TO MAINTAIN THE EXISTING ACADEMY ENVIRONMENT.
AND SAME THING WITH RMS, RIGHT.
WE NEED TO GET IT RIGHT BEFORE WE'RE FULLY ABLE TO ACTIVATE, UH, BECAUSE IT, THAT'S WHAT PUBLIC SAFETY RESPONSE HINGES UPON.
SPEAKING OF CAD, UM, DIRECTOR, I BELIEVE YOU HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE PAST IN, I, I DON'T WANNA SAY NEGOTIATIONS, BUT CONVERSATIONS WITH GREATER HARRIS COUNTY 9 1 1, WHICH IS A SEPARATE REGIONAL ENTITY.
AND MY UNDERSTANDING IS THEY FUND A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY THAN SOME OF OUR OTHER REGIONAL NINE ONE ONES DO, WHERE THEY INTERPRET THEIR RESPONSIBILITY FOR FUNDING FOR RECEIVING THE CALL, NOT THE SYSTEM OF DISPATCH OUT, EVEN THOUGH IT'S ALL TIED TOGETHER.
IS THAT CORRECT? THAT IS CORRECT.
THEY FUND ONLY THE TELEPHONY PORTION.
THEY DO NOT FUND ANY OF THE DATA SYSTEMS THAT WE USE TO LOG THE TICKET AND THEN PASS OFF FOR DISPATCH.
AND I, I WOULD HOPE, AGAIN, AS THE CITY, WE LOOK AT OUR FINANCIAL SITUATION AND WHERE WE SHOULD BE DRAWING FUNDS FROM THAT, THAT IS A SPACE WHERE I HOPE WE CAN BE RENEGOTIATING AND LEVERAGING PARTNERSHIPS FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING.
UH, BECAUSE AGAIN, OTHER REGIONAL 9 1 1 ENTITIES ARE FUNDING MORE OF THAT THAN OURS IS.
UH, AND AGAIN, WE'RE DOING THE NEW CAD, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER EXPENSES.
SO I AGAIN, HOPE WE CAN REVISIT THAT CONVERSATION AND TRY TO GET SOME ADDITIONAL DOLLARS THERE.
UH, I SEE OUR OTHER DIRECTOR IN THE, IN THE BUILDING, AND THIS QUESTION'S ALSO COMING TO YOU, BUT IT'S ALSO A TECH QUESTION.
ENGAGE HOUSTON, UH, IS HITS INVOLVED AT ALL IN GETTING THAT UP AND RUNNING? WHAT'S THE STATUS OF IT? I DIDN'T CATCH THE SYSTEM.
YOU ASKED ABOUT WHAT ENGAGE HOUSTON, WE ARE NOT INVOLVED IN THAT AT THIS POINT.
I, I MIGHT SUGGEST WE LEVERAGE SOME ASSISTANCE FROM HITS, BUT I'LL GO BACK IN QUEUE.
UH, THERE IS A 7.3% INCREASE ON THE ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS.
WHAT'S DRIVING THAT INCREASE? YES, PLEASE.
YEAH, SO THE, THE INCREASE IS LARGELY THE, UH, THE INCREASE RELATED TO, UH, CONTRACT CONTRACTUAL INCREASES FOR ALL OF THOSE E-R-P-S-A-P PRODUCTS.
SO THAT'S MAINLY WHAT THAT COST IS.
SO THAT'S, IT'S MOSTLY TIED TO SAP, WELL, EVERYTHING THAT'S IN, SO YOU HAVE TO THINK IN THIS APPLICATION SERVICES THAT'S ERP, THAT'S, UH, WHAT IS MY, I'LL, I'LL BRING IT BACK UP THE SLIDE FOR THAT APPLICATION SERVICES PROGRAM, WHICH IS SLIDE 17.
IT HAD SAP, BUT ALSO GIS, UM, KRONOS FOR TIME AND ATTENDANCE.
UM, E-SIGNATURE CONTRACT AND PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT, IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUEST PORTAL, TALENT MANAGEMENT, CONTINGENT WORKFORCE.
UM, SO ALL OF THOSE JUST HAVE A, A GRADUAL INCREASE.
IT EQUALS THAT 7% AND, AND, AND YES.
AND THERE ARE SOME, SO IN THE BUDGET PROCESS, WHEN WE SUBMIT BUDGET AND THERE'S CONTRACTUAL INCREASE, WE HAVE TO ALSO INCLUDE THE OA TO SHOW OR DEMONSTRATE THAT THERE IS A CONTRACTUAL INCREASE.
UH, I DO KNOW THAT THERE IS A NEW NEGOTIATION GOING ON THIS YEAR.
[01:10:01]
FALL WITH SAP WE'RE, WE'RE UNDER NEGOTIATION RIGHT NOW.AND SO I THINK IT'S A, IT IS ACCOUNTING FOR ALL THOSE CONTRACTUAL INCREASES THAT'S COMING FORWARD.
HAVE WE DONE, UM, HAS HITS DONE AN APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION, UM, EXERCISE? WE HAVE, WE HAVE NOT DONE A FORMAL ENTERPRISE WIDE RATIONALIZATION LATELY, BUT WE HAVE DONE SOME OF THOSE ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE APPLICATIONS TEAM.
AND WE CAN SHARE SOME OF THAT WITH YOU IF YOU'D LIKE.
UM, AND I'D BE INTERESTED IF THERE, IF THERE IS A SYSTEM WIDE ONE THAT COULD BE DONE OR PLANNED, UM, IF IT HASN'T BEEN DONE YET.
YEAH, I MEAN WE DEFINITELY, WHAT I MEAN WHEN I SAY WE HAVEN'T DONE IT FORMALLY, WE HAVEN'T ENGAGED A CONSULTANT TO SAY, HEY, LET'S GO DO A CITYWIDE APPLICATION RATIONALIZATION.
UM, WHICH CANDIDLY WOULD BE VERY LARGE.
UM, MANY DEPARTMENTS HAVE APPLICATIONS THAT THEY MANAGE AS WELL.
SO, YOU KNOW, I'D LIKE TO TALK WITH YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE SCALE OR SCOPE, UM, BUT CERTAINLY WITHIN HITS AND THEIR ENTERPRISE APPLICATIONS TEAM, WE HAVE DONE THAT AND WE CAN SHARE THAT.
COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN, SUPER QUICK.
UM, I'VE BEEN ASKING AT ONE, YOU TALKED ABOUT DIGITALIZATION PROCESSES.
IS THERE ANY PLANNED THAT WE KNOW OF, UH, AS IT PERTAINS TO THE CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE TO DIGITALIZE A LOT OF THOSE RECORDS THAT ARE STILL THERE? OH, I HAVE BEEN WANTING TO DO THAT FOR A LONG TIME.
UM, BUT I WILL SAY THERE ARE LOTS OF EXISTING TOOLS.
UM, IT, IT MAY BE VERY LOW HANGING FRUIT TO DO THAT.
I'D BE INTERESTED AND WE CAN SUBMIT A QUESTION WHAT THE, UH, ESTIMATED COST OF THAT WOULD BE.
AGAIN, THOSE LOW HANGING FRUIT, THOSE ARCHIVES THAT ARE ALL THOSE DOCUMENTS THAT ARE JUST SITTING THERE MM-HMM.
TO BE DIGITALIZED AND, AND A RA, UM, AND HITS PARTNERED TOGETHER.
I'M GONNA SAY IT WAS A COUPLE YEARS AGO.
UM, AND WE DID DO SOME FACILITATION OF JUST SCANNING SOME OF THOSE LEGACY DOCUMENTS.
UM, THAT'S REALLY WHERE THE BULK OF SOME OF THE ENERGY WILL BE.
IS JUST GETTING THAT, I MEAN, CAN WE GET SOME INTERNS,
UM, I'VE BEEN ASKING EVERY DEPARTMENT THIS IS, IT RELATES TO TARIFFS, BUT IN YOUR CASE, THE RISING COST OF TECHNOLOGY, HAS THAT BEEN INCLUDED IN THE PROJECTIONS OR IS THERE ANY IMPACT, UH, CURRENTLY AS IT PERTAINS TO, UH, TECHNOLOGICAL COSTS OR INSTABILITY IN THE MARKET? YES.
UM, THERE MANY OF THE TECH MANUFACTURERS, UM, ARE GOING TO BE AFFECTED BY TARIFFS AND IT WILL ULTIMATELY FLOW DOWN IN TERMS OF COST INCREASES.
AND HAVE WE, IS THERE A WAY TO CAPTURE SOME OF THAT COST OR THE PROJECTIONS OF THAT? OR IS THAT INCLUDED IN THIS BUDGET? NO, AT THE TIME, SO WITH US BEING A REVOLVING FUND, OUR BUDGET IS BUILT LIKE AT THE END OF JANUARY, BEGINNING OF FEBRUARY.
SO WE WOULD RIGHTSIZE IT, UH, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
AND THAT GENERAL APPROPRIATION, IF WE CAN SEE WHAT THAT IMPACT IS FROM WHAT WE BUDGETED TO SEE WHAT THAT ACTUAL COST IS AND HIS CAN TELL US IF IT WAS RELATED TO MAYBE A TARIFF FOR THE, FOR, FOR BEYOND WHAT WE SAW, UH, OR BUDGETED FOR THIS EXERCISE.
AND, UH, ALSO PERTAINING TO FEDERAL FUNDING, FEDERAL GRANTS, WHETHER IT'S IN CYBERSECURITY DIVISION, BUT DOES THE, THIS DEPARTMENT RELY ON FEDERAL FUNDING, UH, FOR A PART OF ITS OPERATIONS OR PERSONNEL? NONE FOR PERSONNEL WITH THE EXCEPTION OF, UM, THERE ARE, THERE WERE A FEW OF MY PEOPLE IN THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT WHO WERE FUNDED BY THE GRANTS THAT THEY LOST, UM, WHICH HAS CREATED A LAYOFF SCENARIO.
UM, NONE OF MY PERSONNEL ARE DIRECTLY GRANT FUNDED.
WE DO HAVE VIDEO VIDEO NETWORK.
FOR, FOR, UM, PUBLIC SAFETY VIDEO.
WE DO GET GRANT FUNDING THROUGH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY.
WE ALSO GET U OSSI FUNDING FOR SOME OF THE RADIO, UM, SYSTEM CHARGES.
BUT CANDIDLY, WE NEED A LOT MORE.
IT'S NOT A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF, OF OUR BUDGET.
WE'LL SUBMIT A QUESTION UNLESS YOU HAVE IT OFF HAND AS TO HOW MUCH IT IS MM-HMM
AND WHETHER OR NOT, UH, WE ARE AT RISK OF LOSING THAT SEGMENT OF FUNDING SO THAT WE CAN ACCOUNT FOR THAT.
WELL, I WAS DONE, BUT COUNCIL MEMBER CAME AND REMINDED ME OF SOMETHING.
SO CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORTING TOOL.
I UNDERSTAND SOMETHING IS IN THE WORKS TO UPGRADE THE, UH, PRODUCT THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE, WHICH A LOT OF US JUST ABSOLUTELY HATE.
[01:15:01]
TELL US ABOUT THAT? YES.UM, IT IS ABSOLUTELY A FUNDED PROJECT.
WE ARE AS EXCITED AS YOU ARE ABOUT IT ROLLING OUT, UM, YOU ARE TESTING MY MEMORY ON WHICH PLATFORM IT IS.
I WANNA SAY IT'S PART OF THE GRANICUS PLATFORM, BUT I WILL CORRECT THAT IF I'M MISREMEMBERING IT.
IT IS AN OFF THE SHELF, UM, CLOUD HOSTED TOOL THAT WE ARE SIMPLY GOING TO TRANSITION TO IN VERSE, UM, IN INSTEAD OF THE HOMEGROWN APPLICATION THAT YOU'VE BEEN USING.
I DON'T REMEMBER, BUT I WILL GET IT TO YOU.
SO THAT REMINDED ME, IN ADDITION, FROM AN ACCOUNTABILITY PERSPECTIVE, DOES THAT ALSO INCLUDE UPGRADES FOR THE, UM, THE LIST OF BLACKOUT, UH, PEOPLE DOING BUSINESS AT THE CITY WHO MAY BE IN CONTRACTS WITH THE CITY THAT YOU CANNOT NECESSARILY, UH, RAISE DOLLARS FROM AT THE MOMENT? SO WHOEVER'S IN BLACKOUT, THOSE, THOSE LISTS THAT ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE ARE SIGNIFICANTLY OUTDATED, UM, AND NOT UP TO DATE.
IS THAT BEING INCLUDED IN THAT? I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT.
UM, AND LASTLY, THE, SOME DEPARTMENTS ARE IMPACTED MORE BY A NATURAL DISASTER.
UM, AND EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS, UH, WITH ALL OF THE FEDERALLY DECLARED NATURAL DISASTERS THAT WE HAVE HAD THE PAST EIGHT TO 10 YEARS, DOES HIT SPECIFICALLY INCUR COSTS AS A, UM, FUNCTION OF THOSE DISASTERS? OH, ABSOLUTELY.
AND ARE THOSE GENERALLY REIMBURSABLE? UH, BY, FROM FEDERAL FUNDING? USUALLY.
UM, WE, WE HAVE SITUATIONS WHERE, THINK ABOUT RADIO TOWERS.
UM, AND REMEMBER IN THE DIRETO ITSELF, I DON'T RECALL THAT IT WAS EXTENSIVE, BUT THERE WERE MAYBE SOME EXAMPLES, BUT HURRICANES, WE HAVE ANTENNAS OR EQUIPMENT TOWERS, THINGS THAT ARE SOMETIMES DAMAGED.
WE'VE HAD FLOODING THAT HAS DAMAGED NETWORK EQUIPMENT, UM, THINGS OF THAT SORT.
AND WE DO GENERALLY GET REIMBURSED FOR THOSE.
SO WE'RE NOW SEEING A PATTERN WHERE REIMBURSEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE NECESSARILY BECAUSE FEMA'S NOT ACTUALLY DECLARING SOMETHING, A FEDERAL DISASTER.
UH, ONE I'D LIKE IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND THE AVERAGE COSTS PER DISASTER OF WHAT WE HAVE INCURRED OF THE DEPARTMENT.
AND I'M ASSUMING WE HAVE NOT ACCOUNTED FOR UPFRONT, UPFRONT COSTS TO MITIGATE, UH, SHOULD THE, AND WHEN THE NEXT NATURAL DISASTER HITS.
WE DON'T HAVE A SET ASIDE FUND WITHIN THE DIVISION RIGHT.
TO FRONT THOSE COSTS IF WE AREN'T GETTING REIMBURSEMENT.
WE DO NOT BUDGET IN ADVANCE FOR REPLACEMENT DUE TO NATURAL DISASTER.
AND WE WILL GET YOU THE NUMBERS.
I WILL TELL YOU, I DON'T WANNA DOWNPLAY IT, BUT I WILL SAY WHEN YOU COMPARE HITS EXPENSES IN THIS CATEGORY TO WHAT YOU SEE, SAY FROM PUBLIC WORKS OR SOLID WASTE, IT'S GONNA PALE IN COMPARISON.
YOU KNOW, IT'S IMPORTANT, BUT IT'S NOT NEARLY THE MAGNITUDE THAT THEY SEE.
UM, WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR, ALL THE WORK THAT YOU AND YOUR WHOLE TEAM DOES AND GREAT PRESENTATION.
AND WE ARE GONNA MOVE ON TO PUBLIC SPEAKERS.
WE HAVE NOBODY SIGNED UP AHEAD OF TIME, BUT JACK VALINSKI IS GONNA COME UP TO THE, TO THE PODIUM.
VERY QUICKLY, UM, I WASN'T GONNA SPEAK, BUT IMAO DID DEVELOP A SYSTEM WITH 3 1 1 TO DO CONSTITUENT LOGGING AND IT WAS A SYSTEM SET UP SO THAT IT WAS INTERNAL, BUT THEN, BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES IN YOUR OFFICES YOU GET PART OF 3 1, 1 GETS A, GETS A CASE, THEY GET EVERYTHING IN THERE AND THEY SEND IT ON COUNCIL OFFICES AND, AND ANYBODY WHO DOES CONSTITUENT SERVICES, YOU GET PART OF THE INFORMATION.
THE SYSTEM WAS SET UP IN 3 1 1, IT WAS A SUBSET.
IT TOOK ME TWO YEARS TO WORK WITH 3 1 1.
BUT IT'S A SYSTEM THAT LOGS IN IT.
IT'S NOT AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, BUT YOU PUT ALL THE INFORMATION IN IT AND IF YOU NEED TO, YOU CAN SEND IT ON TO THE DEPARTMENT OR YOU CAN KEEP IT THERE.
IF IT LIKE GOES TO A, A, A STATE OR A COUNTY PROBLEM, YOU STILL HAVE THAT INFORMATION, YOU STILL HAVE IT DOCUMENTED.
AND THE 3 1 1 SYSTEM, ALTHOUGH WE HAD A BUNCH OF PROBLEMS WITH THE APP FOR LIKE A YEAR AND A HALF, IS A GREAT SYSTEM.
SOMETIMES THOUGH PEOPLE DON'T PUT ENOUGH INFORMATION INTO IT.
[01:20:02]
JACK, WHEN YOU LEFT THE CITY, I BET THE WHOLE 3 1 1 SYSTEM WENT DOWN.A JILLIAN, UM, GOD, WE NEEDED YOU OUT THERE MAKING THOSE THREE.
OKAY GUYS, WE WILL, UM, TAKE A BRIEF PAUSE AND UH, FINISH UP THE DAY WITH HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS.
YOU WANNA TAKE A LOOK AT THIS QUESTION?