[Government Operations Committee on July 21, 2025.]
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WELCOME TO THE JOINT GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND RESILIENCE COMMITTEE MEETING.
I'D LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE MY, UM, CHAIR, TWILA CARTER OF THE RESILIENCE COMMITTEE, INVITE HER TO OFFER ANY OPENING REMARKS.
UM, WE'RE GLAD TO, UH, HOST THIS JOINT COMMITTEE TODAY.
WE HOPE IT'S A REALLY GOOD USE OF EVERYONE'S TIME 'CAUSE WE LIKE TO CONSOLIDATE THIS AND LOOK FORWARD TO ALL THE PRESENTATIONS.
THANK Y'ALL FOR BEING HERE AND ALL YOU DO.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
OBVIOUSLY THIS IS INCREDIBLY TIMELY, BA TIMELY BASED ON WHERE WE ARE, UM, IN THE SEASON, SO WE'RE EXCITED TO HEAR, UH, THE PRESENTATIONS.
I WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE OUR COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT ARE PRESENT.
SO WE HAVE STAFF FROM DISTRICT A CHI AND THEN, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMANS ONLINE, AND SHE ALSO HAS SOMEONE HERE ON STAFF.
AND THEN AT LARGE ONE, WE HAVE A TEAM MEMBER.
AND MY, MY CHAIR HERE, UM, COUNCIL BROOKE CARTER, AND THEN COUNCILOR ELKHORN.
SO TODAY'S MEETING WILL FEATURE TWO PRESENTATIONS, ONE FROM HOUSTON'S INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, AND THEN ALSO THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
AT THIS TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO YIELD TO THE, FOR THE HITS PRESENTATION, PRESENTATION ONE ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEM CONTRACT.
AND THE PRESENTER WILL BE STEVE AND DAVID, WHO IS OUR OPERATIONS OFFICER FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE, AND ALSO SOZA.
SHE'S A DEPUTY CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER AS WELL.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BOTH OF YOU, AND THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE.
GOOD AFTERNOON COUNCIL MEMBERS.
I AM, UH, HAPPY TO BE HERE IN FRONT OF Y'ALL.
UH, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME.
UH, I'M HERE WITH, UH, DEPUTY CIO OF THE IT DEPARTMENT, SUMMER SHALL, UM, AND REALLY EXCITED TO TALK ABOUT, UM, WHAT WE HAVE COMING UP.
UM, WE'RE GONNA BRING IT TO COUNCIL SOON.
THIS IS INTENDED TO TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, SHE'S GONNA WALK YOU THROUGH EXACTLY WHAT THE SAP CONTRACT IS, UM, WHAT WE ARE PLANNING TO DO, WHAT THE NEXT FEW YEARS LOOKS LIKE.
I'M HERE TO HAVE, UH, HERE TO HELP ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS, BUT ALSO TO GIVE SORT OF AN INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, UM, ABOUT THE WAY THAT THE CITY OF HOUSTON COMPORTS ITSELF WITH REGARD TO IT STRATEGY.
UH, SO AS SOME OF Y'ALL MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW, UH, PRIOR TO COMING BACK TO THE CITY OF HOUSTON, I HAD A, UH, SEVEN YEAR STINT IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR, UH, SIX YEAR STINT IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.
AND I WORKED, UH, MOST OF THAT TIME WITH A COMPANY CALLED ACCENTURE.
IT'S THE, UH, WORLD'S LARGEST IT CONSULTING FIRM.
UM, AND WHAT I DID WAS A LOT OF THE WORK THAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO SEE, UH, TRANSITIONING MUNICIPALITIES, COUNTY GOVERNMENTS, STATE GOVERNMENTS FROM ONE SYSTEM TO ANOTHER SYSTEM, WE CALL IT IT IMPLEMENTATION.
UH, MORE IMPORTANTLY, UM, IT TRANSITIONING FROM WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER TIER TWO, TIER THREE, UH, SYSTEMS INTO A TIER ONE SYSTEM.
SAP, FOR EXAMPLE, IS A TIER ONE SYSTEM.
UH, THE HOME BREWED SYSTEMS THAT THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS, UH, OR HAD, UH, PRIOR TO SAP OR ANY OF OUR OTHER SYSTEMS WOULD BE CONSIDERED TIER TWO AND TIER THREE WITH REGARD TO IT STRATEGY, THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS, UH, OVER THE COURSE OF THE, THE PAST FEW DECADES, MADE A COUPLE OF VERY STRATEGIC CHOICES, UM, THAT HAS SET ITSELF UP FOR, UH, SUCCESS MOVING FORWARD IN THE FUTURE.
SO, FOR EXAMPLE, AND WE SORT OF TAKE THIS FOR GRANTED.
WE ARE A MICROSOFT ORGANIZATION.
UM, WE HAVE OUTLOOK, WE HAVE POWERPOINT AND WORD.
WE HAVE ALL OF THE LICENSING INFRASTRUCTURE UNDERNEATH IT.
FOR EXAMPLE, WE ARE WHAT'S CALLED AN E FIVE LICENSE ORGANIZATION.
THAT'S THE BIGGEST AND BEST LICENSE THAT YOU CAN GET.
YOU GET REALLY COOL THINGS LIKE POWER BI BAKED INTO YOUR LICENSE.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHAT IT DID WAS IT CREATED A FOUNDATION FOR WHICH WE COULD GROW.
UM, SO A GREAT EXAMPLE, UH, OF THAT IS THAT OUR THREE ONE ONE PLATFORM, WHILE WE CALL IT CHRIS, THE, UH, CUSTOMER RESPONSE, I CAN'T REMEMBER, UH, IT'S ACTUALLY BUILT ON A PRODUCT CALLED DYNAMICS, WHICH IS MICROSOFT.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF A STRATEGIC INVESTMENT WHERE WE BRING SOMETHING FULL INTO THE MICROSOFT NETWORK.
THE CITY OF HOUSTON ALSO MADE THAT CHOICE.
UM, ABOUT 11 YEARS AGO WITH SAP, WE WENT FROM A TIER TWO SYSTEM, WHICH WAS MORE OF A HOME BREWED, COBBLED TOGETHER PIECES OF THINGS THAT DID HR OVER HERE AND FINANCE OVER THERE, AND BUDGETING OVER THERE AND ALL, AND PAYMENTS AND INVOICES, UH, OVER HERE.
AND SO WE, WE CAME TOGETHER AND MADE THE STRATEGIC CHOICE A LITTLE OVER A DECADE AGO THAT WE WANNA MOVE TO A SYSTEM.
WE CHOSE SAP AND SOME WILL WALK YOU THROUGH SORT OF THE, THE BIG HIGH, UH, BEST AND HIGHEST ABOUT SAP AS A, AS A PRODUCT.
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE MADE A STRATEGIC INVESTMENT IN OURSELF.
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WE HAVE DONE SINCE THEN WAS SLOWLY MOVE AND PIECE OURSELF TOGETHER INTO CREATING A MORE COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THIS PRODUCT, UH, THAT SUPPORTS ALMOST EVERY SINGLE MAJOR CORPORATION IN THE WORLD.UM, AND WHAT WE ARE NOW DOING, WHAT THIS REPRESENTS FOR US IS GOING TO THAT NEXT, THAT NEXT STEP WHERE WE GET OFF OF WHAT'S CALLED ON-PREM, ON-PREMISE, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND GOING FULLY INTO THE CLOUD.
UM, WHICH IS A REALLY, REALLY GOOD THING FOR A LOT OF DIFFERENT REASONS.
UM, IT CREATE, CREATES REDUNDANCY.
IT ALLOWS FOR REMOTE ACCESS, IT ALLOWS FOR A WHOLE BUNCH OF SUPPORT THAT WE WOULDN'T OTHERWISE NOT HAVE.
UM, SO I, I'M PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
UM, THIS IS A, UH, A BIG, BIG STEP, UM, FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON FOR A LOT OF DIFFERENT REASONS, AND YOU'LL SEE HOW PLUGGED INTO SAP WE ARE.
UM, AND THEN ADDITIONALLY, I'M ALSO HERE TO HELP ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THAT Y'ALL MIGHT HAVE ABOUT IMPLEMENTATION ITSELF.
UM, BUT THERE'S A LOT OF STUFF THAT GOES INTO IT THAT MAKES IT, UM, COMPLICATED AND NUANCED AND MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE TO GET IT RIGHT.
UM, SO I'M VERY EXCITED TO BE SITTING NEXT TO SUMMER.
WHAT I'LL SAY AS A POINT OF PERSONAL PRIVILEGE ABOUT SUMMER IS THAT, UM, SHE IS A PERSON, SHE'S ONE OF THOSE BUREAUCRATS THAT YOU DON'T KNOW UNTIL YOU KNOW HER, AND THEN YOU NEVER FORGET HER.
I HAVE BEEN, UH, I'VE WORKED WITH HER PRIOR TO LEAVING THE CITY OF HOUSTON.
I HAVE SAT ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF A NEGOTIATING TABLE AND GOT ABSOLUTELY CLOBBERED BY HER OVER THE HEAD.
UM, AND SO THE THING THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT IS ABOUT THE PEOPLE LIKE SUMMER IN THE IT DEPARTMENT ARE THE ONES THAT HELP SAVE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS BECAUSE A LOT OF THESE COMPANIES, EVERYBODY BAKES IN MARGIN.
THIS IS THE THING SHE CAN'T SAY.
UH, ALL OF THESE COMPANIES BAKE IN MARGIN.
THEY WANT TO TAKE US FOR AS MUCH MONEY AS WE HAVE.
AND SO PEOPLE LIKE SUMMER, PEOPLE LIKE LISA KENT, PEOPLE LIKE JANE WU WHO'S SITTING BACK THERE, THESE ARE ALL THE FOLKS THAT DO THE DUE DILIGENCE THAT SAY, YOUR LICENSING COST IS TOO EXPENSIVE.
BECAUSE I TALKED TO MY FRIENDS IN ATLANTA, I TALKED TO MY FRIENDS IN BOSTON, I TALKED TO MY COUNTERPARTS IN DENVER, AND I KNOW THE PRICES THAT YOU GAVE THEM.
AND YOU CAN'T RAKE US OVER THE COALS LIKE THIS.
AND THIS CONTRACT, WHAT SHE'LL WALK YOU THROUGH IS THERE IS REPRESENTATIVE TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF INVESTMENT THAT, UH, OTHER COMPANIES HAVE MADE INTO US TO ALLOW US TO GET CHEAPER COSTS.
AND NONE OF THAT WOULD'VE OCCURRED WITHOUT SUMMER AND THE TEAM DOING THE WORK THAT THEY'VE BEEN DOING.
SO I'M EXCITED TO PASS IT OVER TO HER, AND I PROMISE Y'ALL SHE'S GONNA BE A BETTER PRESENTER THAN I AM.
DEB, DEBBIE, CHUCK, IF YOU GIVE ME ONE MOMENT, I'D LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE MY CO-CHAIR, COUNCIL MEMBER.
FLICKINGER, WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKE ANY COMMENTS BEFORE WE START? NO, I'M GOOD.
AND ALSO, I WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT COUNCIL MEMBER HUFFMAN IS ONLINE, AND THEN WE DO HAVE, UM, A TEAM MEMBER FROM, UH, UH, MAYOR PRO TEM MC KASICK TATUM'S OFFICE.
OH, WELL TURN THAT ON, WOULD BE HELPFUL.
GOOD AFTERNOON, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND THANK YOU CHIEF STRATEGY AND OPERATIONS OFFICER, UH, DAVID, THAT'S WHAT I'M GONNA CALL HIM.
UM, I AM VERY PRIVILEGED HERE TO BE THIS AFTERNOON TO PRESENT ON BEHALF OF HITS AND ALL OF OUR BUSINESS PARTNERS.
A, UH, COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST TO APPROVE THE NEW SAP PUBLIC SERVICES CONTRACT.
UH, THE PURPOSE OF THIS, UH, UPCOMING COUNCIL ACTION WILL APPROVE A NEW SAP CONTRACT FOR THE ERP SYSTEMS AND RELATED SOLUTIONS, INCLUDING LICENSING AND MAINTENANCE FOR THE FOLLOWING.
OUR CURRENT ON-PREMISE ERP SYSTEM, WHICH IS CALLED ECC, I'LL GIVE SOME MORE DETAILS OF EACH OF THESE PRODUCTS IN THE PRESENTATION.
IT'S A LOT OF JARGON, BUT I'LL EXPLAIN EVERY SINGLE ONE OF 'EM AS WE GO THROUGH.
UH, ALL CURRENT SAP CLOUD SOLUTIONS, SUCCESSFACTORS BENEFIT FOCUS, FIELD GLASS, ARIBA, AND SAP ANALYTICS CLOUD NEXT GENERATION SAP CLOUD, ERP SYSTEM AS FOUR HANA AND SUCCESSFACTORS LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT.
THE NEW CONTRACT AMOUNT IS $20.5 MILLION.
THAT IS INITIAL TERM SPENDING AUTHORITY ONLY.
THE TERM IS, INITIAL TERM IS THREE YEARS PLUS TWO OPTIONAL ONE YEARS.
AND THE MWBE GOAL ON THIS CONTRACT IS 0% BECAUSE IT ONLY CONTAINS NON DIVISIBLE LICENSING ELEMENTS.
UH, PRIMARY DEPARTMENT USERS, EVERYONE AT THE CITY, ALL CITY DEPARTMENTS USE SAP.
YEAH, JUST GIVE US ONE SECOND.
I THINK WE SOME TECHNICAL CHALLENGES HERE.
GIVE US ONE SECOND PRESENTATION.
CAN, CAN YOU SEE THE, BUT IS IT ON Y'ALL SIDE? NO.
[00:10:01]
RIGHT NOW.IF IT'S OKAY, I THINK WE SHOULD PROBABLY CONTINUE.
I THINK WE'RE HAVING SOME TECHNICAL CHALLENGES.
AND THEN, UM, BUT EVERYBODY HAS, SO I'LL JUST GO THROUGH 'CAUSE I THINK EVERYBODY HAS A PAPER COPY.
SO WE ARE GOING TO GO THROUGH, I JUST FINISHED PAGE TWO.
WE'RE GONNA BE ON PAGE THREE RIGHT NOW.
WE'LL CONTINUE WITH PAGE THREE, VENDOR OVERVIEW.
UH, AS STEVEN ALREADY SAID, UH, SAP IS A MAJOR LEADER IN CLOUD ERP SOLUTIONS.
UH, SAP IS A DOMINANT TOP PLAYER IN THE ERP MARKET, RECOGNIZED BY ALL INDUSTRY EXPERTS.
UM, SAP CUSTOMERS GENERATE 84% OF TOTAL GLOBAL COMMERCE.
UM, THE WORLD RUNS ON SAP, THAT'S, I THINK, THEIR TAGLINE THAT THEY LIKE TO SAY
UM, AND NOTABLY ABOUT 15,000 PUBLIC SECTOR CUSTOMERS WORLDWIDE.
SO I THINK THIS JUST DEMONSTRATES, UH, THE RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, AND INNOVATION ON THIS PLATFORM.
SAP IS THE LEADER IN THIS INDUSTRY.
WE'RE GONNA GO TO THE NEXT PAGE, PAGE FOUR.
SO WE ARE GONNA HIGHLIGHT SOME SAP RECENT USAGES.
UH, THE FY 26 BUDGET FOR THE CITY IS 7.3 BILLION.
ALL THAT IS ALL MANAGED WITHIN SAP.
THE TOTAL PAYMENTS PROCESS FOR FY 25 IS 6.6 BILLION.
THAT'S EVERYTHING THAT'S BEEN PAID TO OUR CITY VENDORS.
TOTAL PAYROLL PROCESS IN THE CALENDAR YEAR OF 2024 IS 2.3 BILLION.
THAT'S EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE THAT'S BEEN PAID AT THE CITY IS PROCESSED THROUGH SAP.
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AND RETIREES MANAGED IS APPROXIMATELY 38,000.
SO IT IS A MASSIVE SYSTEM WITH LOTS AND LOTS OF PROCESSING ALL THE TIME.
LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO THIS SLIDE IS ONE THAT I'M QUITE PROUD OF TO MENTION.
UM, THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S ACTUALLY A LEADER IN PUBLIC SECTOR ERP CLOUD TRANSFORMATION.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS THE WHOLE SAP OFFERING, UH, IN THE CLOUD.
AND THE ONES WE HAVE STARTS NEXT TO HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT SPEND, MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM ARE THE ONES THE CITY HAS ALREADY ADOPTED.
UM, ONLY 20% OF PUBLIC SECTOR GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS OUR SIZE HAS STARTED THE CLOUD TRANSFORMATION ERP JOURNEY.
SO OUR TRANSFORMATION INVESTMENTS WE'VE BEEN MADE, WE HAVE MADE IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, HAS POSITIONED US IN THE FOREFRONT OF THIS CLOUD TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY.
I HAVE PEERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY REACHING OUT TO ME, UH, ASKING WHAT OUR PLANS ARE NEXT WITH SAP THAT JUST DEMONSTRATES, UH, HOW FAR WE'VE COME ON THIS PLATFORM AND IN GENERAL CLOUD ERP TRANSFORMATIONS.
WE'RE GONNA GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
HERE'S THE REALLY EXCITING PARTS, RIGHT? SO WE'RE GONNA HIGHLIGHT SOME SUCCESSES THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED IN THE PAST FEW YEARS ON THE SAP, UH, ESPECIALLY AROUND CLOUD TRANSFORMATION.
SO, HITS AND HR IMPLEMENTED SUCCESS FACTORS AND BENEFIT FOCUS, UH, ALSO NOW THEY CALL BENEFIT PLACE SYSTEMS IN EARLY 2023.
THIS IS A PART OF HR ONCE HR ONE'S STRATEGY HRS HR ONE STRATEGY TO TRANSFORM THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE THROUGH TECHNOLOGY.
UM, IN THAT PROCESS, HR WORKED WITH HIS TO REDESIGN VARIOUS HR PROCESSES AND DRASTICALLY IMPROVE THE LOOK AND FEEL OF THE EMPLOYEE PORTAL.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OF, UH, Y'ALL WERE HERE PRIOR TO THAT.
UM, I THINK PRIOR TO HAVING SUCCESS FACTORS, WE HAD A, SOME EMERGENCY CHANGE DURING OPEN ENROLLMENT.
THE SYSTEM WAS SO OLD AND ANTIQUATED, WE HAD TO PULL OUR ONLY DEVELOPER THAT KNEW HOW TO UPDATE THE SYSTEM AWAY FROM VACATION IN DISNEY WITH HIS DAUGHTER, SO WE CAN CHANGE AND UPDATE THE SYSTEM.
SO FAST FORWARD NOW, WE HAVE THE NEW SYSTEM.
UM, IN MAY, JUST AN EXAMPLE, WE HAD TO QUICKLY UPDATE A BUNCH OF, UH, DOCUMENTS FOR THE ENTIRE, UH, EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT PROGRAM.
IT TOOK, YOU KNOW, 20 LESS THAN 20 MINUTES OF TECHNICAL WORK.
SO THAT'S A BIG, BIG, UM, I THINK SENSE OF SECURITY AND PRIDE FOR THE TECHNOLOGY TEAM.
BUT ON THE BUSINESS SIDE, FOR THE HR TEAM, WHO HAS BEEN THE WONDERFUL PARTNER, ONE, THE BIGGEST BENEFIT WE GOT IS THAT RETIREES NOW HAVE ACCESS TO THEIR BENEFITS VIA THE PORTAL.
THE PROCESS USED TO BE WE MAILED 15 TO 20,000 ACTUAL MAILINGS OUT TO OUR RETIREES, AND THEY FILLED OUT THAT BY PAPER AND RETURN ALL THE BENEFITS BY PAPER.
NOW THEY CAN ACCESS ALL THAT ONLINE, SAVING A LOT OF TREES, AND, UM, REDUCING MANUAL EFFORT.
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FOR TREES AND ONE FOR PEOPLE.NEXT, NEXT UP WE'RE GONNA PRESENT SOME HIGHLIGHTS ON THE PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
AND I RECOGNIZE OUR PARTNERS IN FINANCE OVER THERE, REALLY GREAT PARTNERS.
UM, WE, UH, FINANCE SPD AND HITS, UH, WORK COLLABORATIVELY TO IMPLEMENT SAP ARIBA IN LATE 2023.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST BENEFITS OF ARIBA IS AUTOMATING THE INVOICE SUBMISSION PROCESS.
UM, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OF YOU GUYS HAVE GOTTEN COMPLAINTS FROM VENDORS ABOUT
SOMETIMES, YOU KNOW, THINGS GET MIXED UP IN THE SYSTEM AND THEY WILL GO THROUGH FROM PEOPLE TO PEOPLE TO PEOPLE.
WITH SAP, UH, UH, ARIBA COMMERCE AUTOMATION, OUR VENDORS GET TO SUBMIT THEIR INVOICES DIRECTLY INTO THE ARIBA SYSTEM.
THEY ALSO GET ACCESS TO MILLIONS OF OTHER CUSTOMERS THAT'S ON THE SAP BUSINESS NETWORK.
AND, UH, MORE IMPORTANTLY, I THINK, UH, VENDORS GET PAID QUICKER NOW THAT WAY.
SO HOPEFULLY THAT WILL MOTIVATE MORE OF 'EM TO PARTICIPATE.
WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE ERP TRANSFORMATION ROADMAP.
AND THIS IS WHAT STEVEN HAS BEEN REFERRING TO SINCE 2019.
HITS HAS BEEN EXECUTING AGAINST A DEFINED ERP TRANSFORMATION ROADMAP.
UM, ERP SYSTEMS AND IMPLEMENTATIONS ARE LARGE AND COMPLEX.
THEY REQUIRE MULTI-YEAR, UH, MANY PEOPLE DIFFERENT STACKING OF, YOU KNOW, BUSINESS INITIATIVE AND TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING HAPPENS IN THE TIMING IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, RIGHT? WHAT WE'RE PRESENTING TODAY, IT'S A CONTINUATION OF THAT ROADMAP AND STRATEGY.
SO YOU SEE FROM FY 25 TO FY 29, UM, IT'S REALLY HARD TO READ, BUT YOU'RE GONNA SEE ALL THESE PROJECTS STACKED TOGETHER.
OKAY? TWO, UH, UPCOMING PROJECTS THAT ARE REALLY IMPORTANT TO EVERYONE IS ONCE REPLACING S FOUR HANA, THAT'S OUR WHOLE BACKBONE SYSTEM GOING TO THE CLOUD.
AND SECOND OF ALL IS WE'RE WORKING WITH HR TO REPLACE OUR CURRENT TALENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
SOMETHING WE'RE ALL VERY EXCITED ABOUT.
ALRIGHT, BEFORE WE GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, ONE THING THAT I WANNA HIGHLIGHT ON THIS, I KNOW THAT IT'S A, IT'S A HARD THING TO SEE.
THESE, THESE PARTICULAR GANTTS ARE INTENDED TO BE ON THE 11 BY SEVENTEENS THAT YOU CAN GO INTO.
BUT THE, AT THE VERY TOP, YOU SEE THOSE CLUSTERS AND THEY'RE REPEATING CLUSTERS.
SO WHAT THOSE ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF ARE THE ANNUAL PROCESSES THAT THE CITY OF HOUSTON HAS TO ENGAGE IN.
SO WE'RE TALKING ABOUT YEAR END FISCAL WORK.
WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UM, YOU KNOW, PASSING THE BUDGET.
UH, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DOING ALL OF THE THINGS THAT ARE IMPORTANT THAT UTILIZE THE SAP SYSTEMS. AND WHAT IT'S REPRESENTATIVE OF IS THE VERY DELICATE DANCE OF WORKING ON A SYSTEM WHILE YOU STILL NEED IT TO FUNCTION.
AND SO ALL OF THESE CRITICAL PROCESSES ARE ABUTTED UP AGAINST THE REALITY THAT WE STILL HAVE TO RUN AS A LARGE ORGANIZATION.
THE THING THAT A LOT OF FOLKS SORT OF FORGET, UM, IS THAT WE ARE A $21,008 BILLION, 21,000 EMPLOYEE, UH, $8 BILLION ORGANIZATION.
WE COMPETE WITH, UH, CORPORATIONS ALL OVER THE WORLD WITH REGARD TO OUR SIZE.
AND SO THESE FUNCTIONS, WHILE WE THINK ABOUT 'EM, YOU KNOW, EVERY JUNE AND JULY, WE'RE PASSING OUR BUDGET, WE'RE PASSING OUR CIP THE CORE BUSINESS.
UH, THE CORE BUSINESS ITSELF HAS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE WHEELS STAY ON, RIGHT? AND WHAT THOSE WHEELS REPRESENT ARE OUR VENDORS GETTING PAID.
SO, SMALL BUSINESSES ACROSS HOUSTON, GETTING PAID LARGE BUSINESSES ACROSS HOUSTON, GETTING PAID, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, OUR EMPLOYEES GETTING PAID.
AS YOU SAW WITHIN CALENDAR YEAR 24, 2 $0.3 BILLION OF PAYROLL OCCURRED.
THAT'S PEOPLE, THAT'S FIREFIGHTER, POLICE, PUBLIC WORK, SOLID WASTE, EMPLOYEE PAYCHECKS.
AND SO THESE CYCLES THAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE, ALL OF THIS WORK, THE REASON WHY IMPLEMENTATION WILL TAKE FOUR FISCAL YEARS IS BECAUSE THE WORK, IF WE WERE TO DO ALL OF THE WORK AT THE SAME TIME, WE WOULD CRASH OUR SYSTEM AND NOT BE ABLE TO FUNCTION.
AND SO THERE'S THIS LIKE NEEDLE THREADING THAT OCCURS THAT IT HAS TO DO.
AND SO THESE CONVERSATIONS AREN'T DONE IN ISOLATION.
THEIR PARTNERS ARE WITH HR AND WITH FINANCE, AND WITH ALL OF THE OTHER BIG USERS.
AND WHAT WE DO IS WE SAY, WHAT HAS TO OCCUR AND HOW DO WE MAKE SURE THAT PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION CAN OCCUR IN A WAY THAT DOESN'T CRASH OUR SYSTEMS OR OUR PROCESSES? OKAY.
SO WE HAVE HERE A SUMMARY OF THE CURRENT SAP PRODUCTS THAT WE OWN.
UH, WE HAVE OUR HR SUITE, SUCCESSFACTORS BENEFIT FOCUS.
WE HAVE SAP ANALYTICS FOR REPORTING, ARIBA FOR PROCUREMENT, SAP, FIELD GLASS.
ALL OF OUR CONTINGENT WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT IS WITHIN SAP, FIELD GLASS AND S-A-P-E-C-C, WHICH IS THE CITY'S CORE OPERATIONAL SYSTEM.
EVERYTHING STEVEN TALKED ABOUT, FINANCE, PROCUREMENT, PAYROLL, HCM, ALL THE DATA RESIDES THERE.
A HUGE AMOUNT OF TRANSACTION HAPPENS IN THAT SYSTEM.
HERE'S WHERE WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT, UH, A SUMMARY OF ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS IN THE NEW CONTRACT.
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FIRST UP IS SAPS FOUR HANA.THE SAPS FOUR HANA IS THE NEW CLOUD ERP PLATFORM, WHICH WILL REPLACE WHAT'S ON PREMISE RIGHT NOW FOR ALL OF OUR BACKBONE OPERATIONS.
WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT, WE ARE ADDING ON NEW MODULES TO SAP SUCCESS FACTORS, UH, LEARNING MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT.
JUST TO GIVE EVERYBODY A SCALE, WE HAVE 1200 COURSES OFFERED ON OUR LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM RIGHT NOW.
AND EVERYBODY, THERE IS ABOUT 12,000 EMPLOYEES IN THE CITY THAT RE REQUIRES A HERE PLAN, UH, ACCORDING TO A P THREE DASH 20.
AND THE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND GOAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IS KEY TO SUPPORTING THE COMPLIANCE OF OUR HERE PLANS AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, OUR EMPLOYEES GROWTH AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
RIGHT? AND, AND WE'RE ALL AWFULLY, AWFULLY INTERESTED TO REPLACE THE TALENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND UPGRADE S FOUR HANA BECAUSE BOTH ARE COMING TO END OF LIFE AND END OF SUPPORT IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS.
SO WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE PROJECTED SPENDING AUTHORITY.
UM, FOR FY 26 IS ROUGHLY 5.1 MILLION.
FY 28 IS 9.2 MILLION FOR A TOTAL OF 20.5 MILLION.
LIKE STEVEN MENTIONED, WE'VE GOTTEN, UH, LOTS OF INVESTMENTS AND DISCOUNTS.
THIS IS THE FINAL PRICE DUE TO OUR PARTNERSHIP AND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH VENDORS.
OH, ONE THING I WANTED TO ADD ON THIS SLIDE, AND THIS IS JUST SO YOU CAN SORT OF VISUALIZE WHAT WE DO.
UH, GOING BACK TO THAT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN, AS WE GO MORE INTO THE CLOUD, WE HAVE TO PAY FOR MORE LICENSES TO SIT INSIDE THAT CLOUD BECAUSE WE'RE GETTING RID OF OUR ON-PREMISE INFRASTRUCTURE.
AND SO YOU'LL SEE THE S-A-S-A-P CLOUD SUBSCRIPTIONS, IT INCREMENTALLY INCREASES YEAR OVER FISCAL YEAR.
AND THE IDEA BEHIND THAT IS AS WE BRING MORE OF THE THINGS ONLINE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE MORE USERS SITTING AT THAT, AND WE'LL BE ABLE TO BEGIN RAMPING DOWN ALL OF THE COSTS THAT ARE ASSOCIATED WITH NOT HAVING CLOUD INVOLVED.
ALRIGHT, SO, SO COUNCIL MEMBERS, THIS IS THE LAST SLIDE BEFORE Q AND A.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME TODAY.
THE CRP CONTRACT IS THE NEXT STEP IN THE STRATEGY WE'VE BEEN EXECUTING WITH FOCUS AND DISCIPLINE.
THIS PO PRESENTATION'S NOT JUST ABOUT A SPECIFIC SOFTWARE, IT'S ABOUT DELIVERING ON THE ERP TRANSFORMATION ROADMAP THAT'S ALREADY SHOWING REAL POSITIVE RESULTS LIKE YOU'VE SEEN IN THIS PRESENTATION.
AND THAT'S THANKS TO THE HARD WORK OF HUNDREDS OF CITY EMPLOYEES NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS.
I'VE BEEN THERE WITH THEM NIGHTS AND WEEKENDS ON TOP OF THEIR REGULAR JOBS, RIGHT? SO WE'VE BEEN BUILDING OUR MOMENTUM FROM YEARS OF CAREFUL PLANNING ON HARD WORK.
THIS CONTRACT HELPS US REALIZE THE FULL VALUE OF OUR CURRENT INVESTMENTS AND POSITIONS THE CITY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH AI AND INNOVATION FASTER AND SMARTER.
SO WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK ON DELIVERING BETTER PUBLIC SERVICE FOR HOUSTONIANS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATIONS.
UM, THE INFORMATION THAT IS ON THE CLOUD, WE, WE OWN ALL THAT INFORMATION, RIGHT? YEAH.
WE, WE ABSOLUTELY RETAIN ALL RIGHTS TO OUR DATA.
UM, WE ALSO, UH, THERE ARE A LOT OF REQUIREMENTS THAT GO INTO THE SECURITY OF THAT DATA.
IT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY ORGANIZATIONS LARGELY TEND TO MOVE FROM TIER ONE TO TIER TWO, UH, SOFTWARE VENDORS IS BECAUSE THERE'S A WHOLE BUNCH OF CYBERSECURITY, UH, IMPLEMENTATION THAT GOES ON FOR THE MOST PART.
WHAT OCCURS, YOU CAN EXPECT THAT THE MOST RIGOROUS CYBERSECURITY STANDARDS AS A DEFAULT FOR CONTRACTING OCCUR AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL.
UM, AND ORGANIZATIONS, COMPANIES THAT ARE TIER ONES, SAP, BUT ALSO ALL OF THE OTHER COMPETITORS THAT YOU WOULD SEE, THEY FLOW DOWN THOSE, UH, THOSE REQUIREMENTS INTO THEIR OTHER CLIENTS.
SO WE MIGHT NOT HAVE THE SAME CYBERSECURITY REQUIREMENTS AS LIKE, LET'S SAY, A DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, BUT WE STILL RECEIVE THE BENEFIT OF THOSE.
AND THEN THE INFORMATION WHEN WE, WHEN WE TRANSFER THE INFORMATION FROM ONE TO THE OTHER, WE DON'T LOSE ANYTHING.
ALL OF IT TRANSFERS IN PROPERLY.
SO SAP WOULD BE EXPECTED TO, UH, RESPECT THEIR OWN DATA, UH, AS THEY MOVE IT FROM AN ON-PREM SYSTEM TO A CLOUD SYSTEM MORE, I GUESS MORE TO THE POINT.
UM, WHEN WE ORIGINALLY MOVED OVER TO SAP, UH, WE PROBABLY HAD, I, THIS IS A, A LONG, LONG TIME AGO FROM MY MEMORY, BUT
SO THIS IS TAKING OUR CURRENT DATA FORMAT AND MOVING IT INTO THE SAP STANDARD FORMAT.
THAT SAP STANDARD FORMAT IS STANDARD AND UBIQUITOUS FOR ANY SAP PRODUCT.
SO THEIR DATA SPEAKS TO THEIR DATA.
AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION, UM, IS, I KNOW YOU SPOKE OF THE ARIBA SYSTEM MM-HMM
IS THAT JUST THE MANAGEMENT? IS THAT JUST THE PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT SIDE? OR IS THAT ALSO BEING USED ON THE, FOR THE BIDDING SIDE? 'CAUSE I THOUGHT THAT WE HAD CHANGED ON THE PROCUREMENT SIDE.
YEAH, SO, UM, WE HAVE JET OVER HERE WHO KNOWS THAT DEARLY, BUT
[00:25:01]
I CAN, UM, LET ME SEE IF I CAN ANSWER THAT AND JED CAN ADD ON IF IT NEED TO BE.SO WE HAVE A PUBLIC PORTAL CALLED BEACON.
THAT'S WHERE THE VENDOR SUBMITS THEIR BID.
IT GETS INTO ARIBA ONCE YOU BECOME A SUPPLIER.
WHAT THAT SETUP ACTUALLY ALLOWS US TO DO IS YOU ARE ONLY REGISTERED IN THE SYSTEM IF YOU ACTUALLY HAVE WORK WITHIN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, BUT IF YOU DON'T HAVE WORK WITHIN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, YOU CAN STAY ON THE BEACON PORTAL SIDE.
SO IT ACTUALLY ALLOWS FLEXIBILITY ON BOTH SIDES.
BUT THE BACKEND PROCESSING OF SUPPLIER LIFECYCLE MANAGEMENT, INVOICE AUTOMATION, ALL OF THAT STILL IS WITHIN THE REBA.
AND THEN, AND I'M ASSUMING THE BEACON SYSTEM DOESN'T HAVE THAT CAPABILITY.
IS THAT WHERE WE'RE USING TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS? YEAH, IT, I'M NOT SURE, I CAN'T SPEAK ON BEHALF OF BEACON, NOT AN EXPERT THERE, BUT OUR ARIBA SYSTEM IS TIED INTO SAP, SO IT'LL DIRECTLY GO INTO VENDOR MANAGEMENT, PAYMENT PROCESSING, WHICH ALL OF THAT IS IN SAP.
UM, STEVEN AND SUMMER, THANK Y'ALL FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AND SUMMER, THANK YOU FOR THE MEETING WE HAD A FEW WEEKS AGO WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO ASK QUESTIONS OF YOURSELF AND DIRECTOR.
SO STEVEN, YOU MENTIONED THAT, UH, WE WILL SEE EVENTUALLY RAMPING DOWN, UH, UH, COST SAVINGS RAMPING DOWN THE ON-PREMISES, RIGHT? SO WHEN DO YOU THINK WE'LL SEE THAT AND WHAT DO YOU THINK THE COST SAVINGS WILL BE? SO, LEMME SEE HOW I WANT TO ANSWER THIS.
THIS FEELS ALMOST LIKE A LAWYER QUESTION.
UM, WHAT WE WILL SEE IS WE WILL SEE, HOW DO I WANNA PHRASE THIS? WHEN YOU MOVE OFF PREM, YOU REDUCE THE ABILITY, YOU, YOU REDUCE RISK.
UM, MOVING INTO THE CLOUD IS, IS MORE OF A, UH, A RISK MITIGATION TECHNIQUE THAN ANYTHING.
UH, WE WILL LOSE OUR ON-PREMISE, UH, EXPENSES.
WE'LL PROBABLY SEE THOSE IN THE OUT YEARS BEYOND THE THREE YEARS.
THIS CONTRACT IS A THREE PLUS ONE PLUS ONE.
UM, AND WE'LL MOST LIKELY SEE THAT COST REDUCTION IN THE PLUS ONES.
UH, WHAT WE WILL BEGIN TO SEE IS A DECREASE, AN INCREASE IN RELIABILITY.
UM, BUT ALSO THE, AND THIS IS WHERE THE NEGOTIATION, TOUGH NEGOTIATION COMES IN.
AND I'M GONNA SAY AS MUCH AS I THINK I CAN SAY WITHOUT, UH, GETTING SUMMER OR ME INTO TROUBLE
AND YOU, YOU PAY FOR SEATS AT THE TABLE.
UM, AND THERE ARE VARYING TYPES OF SEATS AT THE TABLE.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, IN MICROSOFT WORLD, YOU CAN HAVE A FULL TILT EMPLOYEE OR YOU COULD HAVE SORT OF LIKE A PARTIAL EMPLOYEE.
JUST HAVING AN EMAIL ADDRESS DOESN'T MEAN YOU GET THE FULL E FIVE LICENSE, UM, WHICH INCLUDES POWER BI AND ALL THESE OTHER THINGS.
UM, AND SO THERE ARE, THERE'S ACTUALLY A CONVERSATION WE'RE HAVING WHERE NOW WHERE WE HAVE SOME FOLKS THAT ARE MOVING OUT OF A DEPARTMENT, DON'T NEED THE FULL, UH, THE FULL LICENSE.
UM, SO CAN WE KEEP JUST AN EMAIL ADDRESS AND HAVE A REDUCED COST AND LICENSE? THAT'S WHERE THE NEGOTIATION SIDE OF IT BECOMES VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE WE, THE, THE VENDORS, AND THIS IS, I'M, I'M GONNA SPEAK A LITTLE TO THE COTTAGE INDUSTRY HERE.
UM, A COMPANY LIKE SAP ISN'T THE ONLY PERSON THAT WOULD SELL AN SAP LICENSE.
MICROSOFT ISN'T THE ONLY PERSON THAT YOU CAN BUY A A MICROSOFT LICENSE FROM.
THERE ARE TONS OF VENDORS OUT THERE.
ONE, FOR EXAMPLE, UM, IS CALLED SHI, YOU CAN GO TO THEM AND YOU CAN BUY YOUR LICENSES FROM THEM FOR IT.
AND SO COST SAVINGS TEND TO COME IN THE OUT YOUR NEGOTIATION CAPABILITIES OF THE ORGANIZATION ITSELF.
AND SO IT'S BEING ABLE TO REALIZE DISCOUNTS AND MAKE A, A STRONG BUSINESS ARGUMENT AS TO WHY YOU WANNA BECOME A PARTNER.
AND A LOT OF TIMES YOU GET TRADE OFFS.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN I WORKED IN MY PRIVATE SECTOR LIFE, WE WOULD GIVE DISCOUNTED, UH, LICENSING IF, IF A CLIENT WOULD BECOME WHAT WE WOULD CONSIDER A DIAMOND TIER CLIENT.
SO THIS WOULD BE SOMEONE LIKE SUMMER OR SOMEONE LIKE, UH, DIRECTOR KENT TO GO DO A TESTIMONIAL OR HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ANOTHER, UH, MAJOR CITY THAT MAYBE WE WERE LOOKING TO GET INTO BUSINESS WITH AND SAY THEY'VE BEEN STEVE AND DAVID HAS BEEN AN EXCELLENT PARTNER, UH, TO THE CITY OF HOUSTON AND WE SUPPORT HIS, HIS BUSINESS.
AND YOU, YOU DO THAT TYPE OF STUFF.
THAT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT HOUSTON TENDS TO LIKE TO DO, BUT THOSE ARE SOME OF THE NEGOTIATING TECHNIQUES THAT WE CAN HAVE.
SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION DIRECTLY, AND MAYBE STOP FILIBUSTERING MYSELF,
UM, BUT MOVING INTO THE CLOUD DOES INCUR A NEW COST, WHICH IS PAYING FOR MORE LICENSES FOR THE ON CLOUD YEAH.
AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THIS IS NOT UNIQUE TO, UH, SAP.
IT WOULD, UH, I'D HAVE THIS QUESTION REGARDLESS OF WHO THE ERP VENDOR WAS, BUT, UH, WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE INTERNET'S DOWN? OKAY.
SO THERE ARE, AND THIS IS, THIS IS A NOT UNIQUE TO ALL OF OUR SAAS SYSTEMS, OKAY? OUR CLOUD SYSTEM, WHICH I THINK WE HAVE MULTIPLE SYSTEMS ON THE CLOUD NOW, SERVICENOW, UH, WHICH YOU ALL
[00:30:01]
SUBMIT, HELP DESK TICKETS, SUCCESS FACTORS, AND BENEFIT FOCUS, YOU KNOW, WE, THOSE ARE ON, SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE INTERNET IS DOWN IS THAT WE HAVE TO GO INTO BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLANNING, OFFLINE MODE.SOME VENDORS OFFER AN OFFLINE MODE WHERE YOU CAN CONDUCT BASIC FUNCTIONALITY AND SOME VENDORS WHERE YOU JUST HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, DO A MANUAL PROCESS AND WORK AROUND UNTIL THAT COMES BACK UP.
THAT IS NOT A UNIQUE, THAT'S AN ISSUE THAT I THINK THE WHOLE ENTIRE IT INDUSTRY IS WORKING ON FIGURING OUT.
BUT WHAT I HAVE, WHAT I WILL SAY IS, UM, HAVING USED SUCCESS FACTORS IN ARIBA, THE STABILITY HAS BEEN VERY, VERY, VERY HIGH IN THE PAST TWO OR THREE YEARS.
WE PROBABLY HAD ONE NOTICEABLE, UH, SUCCESS FACTOR TO OUTAGE.
I, I JUST HOPE WE MAINTAIN THE CAPABILITY TO GO BACK TO INSULIN PAPER IF WE NEED TO.
SO, SO I'LL, I'LL SPEAK A I'M GONNA ALSO SPEAK A LITTLE BIT TO THAT AS WELL.
SO THE, WHEN WE MEASURE, WHEN WE MEASURE PRODUCTIVITY OF A, OF A PIECE OF SOFTWARE, WHAT WE MEASURE IT IN IS INCREMENTS OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 99% UPTIME AND 100% UPTIME, RIGHT? SO THE, THE, THE PERFORMANCE ITSELF IS ALWAYS VERY, VERY HIGH.
UM, HOWEVER, THE THING THAT'S IMPORTANT, AND THIS IS I THINK TO YOUR QUESTION AS WELL, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE ITSELF, RIGHT? SOFTWARE SYSTEMS ARE ONE THING.
LOSING THE INTERNET IS IT MEANS A DIFFERENT THING.
SO WE HAVE, UH, REDUNDANCIES ALL ACROSS THE CITY FOR OUR, OUR BUILDINGS, UH, FOR OUR INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO FOR EXAMPLE, THERE ARE MULTIPLE FIBER LINES COMING INTO THE DOWNTOWN FOOTPRINT.
UM, AND WE, WE FOUND SOME WEAKNESSES, UM, SINCE WE HAVE COME INTO OFFICE, I MEAN, I DON'T KNOW IF YOU REMEMBER THIS, BUT AFTER DERECHO WAS IT, UM, WHAT WE FOUND WAS THAT, UH, THERE WERE TWO FIBER LINES THAT WAS, ONE WAS A BACKUP TO THE OTHER THAT WERE ON THE SAME TELEPHONE POLES STRINGING ACROSS, UH, STRINGING ACROSS THE LIGHT RAIL.
UH, THERE WERE DOWN LIGHT RAIL, RAN OVER IT AND WE LOST BOTH OF OUR, OUR, OUR PRIMARY AND OUR BACKUP, UH, FIBER LINE INTO DOWNTOWN.
AND WE'VE GONE AND DONE AN ASSESSMENT.
AND THE IT DEPARTMENT HAS DONE A WONDERFUL JOB OF BEING ABLE TO IDENTIFY AND NAIL DOWN THOSE, UM, THE WAY IN WHICH WE CAN ENSURE UPTIME ON INTERNET AND ENHANCED UP TIME ON THE INTERNET.
ADDITIONALLY, WE HAVE THINGS LIKE HOTSPOTS, UH, WHERE WE WILL PAIR LAPTOPS TO DEDICATED INTERNET SERVICES, UM, TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THOSE THINGS.
WE ALSO CREATE, AND THIS IS THE CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLANS, IT'S ACTUALLY QUITE, UH, BENEFICIAL THAT BRIAN'S RIGHT THERE
'CAUSE HE'S PART OF THE, THE CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS.
WE WILL SEND, FOR EXAMPLE, DURING A HURRICANE, IF WE HAVE ENOUGH TIME, WE'LL SEND OUR THREE ONE ONE CALL TAKERS LIKE TO AUSTIN SO WE CAN CONTINUE TO OPERATE 3 1 1 REMOTELY.
IT'S THE REASON WHY ON GOING TO THE CLOUD FROM ON PREMISE IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS BECAUSE JUST BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE HAVE INTERNET HERE DOESN'T MEAN WE DON'T HAVE INTERNET SOMEWHERE ELSE.
AND WE CAN SEND PEOPLE AWAY AND CREATE THAT BACKUP IN REDUNDANCY IN EMERGENCY TIMES.
THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION.
AT THIS TIME OUR NEXT PRESENTATION WILL BE ON HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS.
BRIAN MASON, DIRECTOR OF CITY OF HOUSTON, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
BRIAN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE AND WE'RE EAGER TO HEAR YOUR PRESENTATION.
I CAN'T SEE WITH MY GOOD EYES.
UM, SO GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYBODY.
WE'LL DO A QUICK, UH, DISCUSSION.
THANK YOU ON HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS.
SO THE QUICK THINGS WE'LL TALK ABOUT, WE'LL GO THROUGH THE TIMELINES BRIEFLY.
UM, WE'LL DO, UH, SOME, SOME OF THE EOC PROCESSES WE WORK ON.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE FOUR PRINCIPLES OF PREPAREDNESS AND THEN WE'LL HAVE SOME TIME FOR SOME Q AND A AT THE END.
SO I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING, UH, SO WHEN YOU GUYS HEAR US, A LOT OF TIMES WHEN WE TALK ABOUT HURRICANE PREP, WE'LL SAY H MINUS 96 HOURS OR H MINUS 24 HOURS.
SO WHAT THAT MEANS FOR US IS THAT IS THE TIME OF WHEN TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ARE GONNA START TO ARRIVE AT THE COAST.
SO IF WE SAY IT'S MINUS 72 HOURS, IT'S NOT WHEN THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE'S GONNA MAKE LANDFALL, THAT'S WHEN WE'RE GONNA START TO RECEIVE TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS ON THE COAST.
THE REASON WE USE THAT AS OUR ACTION LEVEL IS WHEN WINDS BECOME TOO HIGH, WE NO LONGER CONTINUE OUR NORMAL CITY SERVICES.
SO THAT'S KIND OF OUR BENCHMARK WHERE WE WORK EVERYTHING BACK FROM THERE.
ONE IMPORTANT THING TO MENTION TO EVERYBODY IS, UM, NOT ALL STORMS ARE THE SAME.
SO A LOT OF PEOPLE WANNA FOCUS ON IS IT A CAT TWO, IS IT A CAT FOUR, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S ITS WIND SPEED, ALL THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.
SO I CAN GIVE YOU GUYS AN EXAMPLE.
WE HAD A CAT THREE HURRICANE, HURRICANE ALICIA, THE LAST CATEGORY THREE TO HIT HOUSTON THAT HAD A STORM SURGE OF EIGHT TO 12 FEET.
WE HAD HURRICANE IKE THAT HIT THE GALVESTON UH, AREA.
THAT WAS A CATEGORY TWO AND WE HAD A STORM SURGE OF 16 TO 18 FEET.
SO MY POINT IS TYING CATEGORY SPEED FOR HURRICANE INTO ALL THE OTHER THINGS THAT MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE STORM IS NOT THE BEST WAY WE LOOK AT EVERYTHING INDIVIDUALLY.
[00:35:02]
UM, SO WHAT WE TRY TO SAY IN THE RESPONSE WORLD, WE TRY TO SAY WE RUN FROM THE STORM SURGE AND WE HIDE FROM THE WIND.SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT EVACUATIONS IN A FEW MINUTES, WE'LL TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING STARTING ON THE COAST AND MOVING ITS WAY INLAND.
I THINK AN IMPORTANT THING FOR EVERYONE TO LOOK AT.
YOU'RE NOT BE ABLE TO, YOU KNOW, TO GATHER ALL THE INFORMATION ON IT.
I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WE ALWAYS ASSUME WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE MINUS ONE 20, THE MINUS 44 THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE FIVE OR SIX DAYS OF THE STORM COMING TO GIVE US SOME NOTIFICATION.
SO IN HOUSTON, WE'VE HAD A TOTAL OF 67 STORMS HIT WITHIN 60 NAUTICAL MILES OF HOUSTON.
SO SOMETHING THAT WOULD'VE IMPACTED HOUSTON.
OF THOSE 67 STORMS, ONLY EIGHT OR 12% OF THEM WOULD'VE GIVEN US THAT MINUS 1 44 HOUR OR LONGER.
NOTICE MOST OF OUR STORMS FORM QUICKLY OFF IN THE GULF OF MEXICO OR UH, BAY CAMPECHE AND THEY SPIN UP REAL QUICK AND WE GET HIT IN 48 TO 72 HOURS.
SO AS WE WALK THROUGH THE TIMELINE, THERE'S SOME THINGS WHERE IF WE HAVE THE FULL 144 HOURS, WE CAN DO A LOT OF THINGS PLANNING.
THERE MAY BE SOME TIMES DEPENDING ON THE STORM, LIKE BARREL.
LAST YEAR IT WAS A LAST MINUTE KIND OF SHIFT IN DIRECTION AND YOU KNOW, WE HAD ABOUT 48 HOURS TO GET READY.
SO I'LL WALK THROUGH JUST A COUPLE QUICK EXAMPLES JUST TO GIVE YOU GUYS SOME ILLUSTRATIONS.
SO THE BIG STORM OF THE HURRICANE OF 1900, THAT WAS ONE OF THE ONES WE WOULD'VE HAD PLENTY OF TIME BEFORE THE STORM HIT US.
ALICIA, IN 1983, THIS IS THE ONE, IT FORMED ABOUT 72 HOURS, UH, FROM THE TIME IT MADE LANDFALL AND HIT US AS A CATEGORY THREE, IT STARTED TO FORM.
SO EVEN AS YOU HEAR WHAT'S GOING ON, UH, THE STORM THAT HAPPENED LAST WEEK AND THE STORM THAT'S POTENTIALLY HAPPENING THIS WEEK, THERE'LL BE KIND OF A AREA THAT THEY'LL BE MONITORING.
BUT UNTIL THAT DEPRESSION OR THAT STORM STARTS TO FORM, THEY REALLY CAN'T HAVE A GOOD TRACK.
SO REALLY, YOU KNOW, SIMILAR TO WHAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW, THEY'RE MONITORING SOMETHING.
BUT UNTIL THAT TRACK REALLY FORMS, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T REALLY KNOW HOW LONG IT'S GONNA BE BEFORE IT HITS US.
UM, SO ALICIA WAS ONE OF THE THINGS MINUS 72 HOURS.
SOME OF THESE OTHER ONES ARE PRETTY QUICK.
UM, THERE'S A STORM I GUESS OF 1932 IT LOOKS LIKE.
UM, THIS ONE WAS 60 HOURS TILL IT MADE LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY FOUR AND IMPACTED HOUSTON.
UH, IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS ABOUT 54 HOURS BEFORE IT HIT US AS A CAT.
I THINK IT'S UMBERTO IS THE NEXT ONE.
YEAH, UMBERTO IS ONE OF THE ONES IT FIRED UP REAL QUICK.
32 HOURS FROM THE TIME THAT FORM MAY LANDFALL INTO LOUISIANA AS A CATEGORY ONE HURRICANE.
SO REALLY THE WHOLE GIST OF THIS IS JUST TO GIVE YOU GUYS SOME EXAMPLES ON WE HAVE MAY HAVE A VERY COMPRESSED TIMELINE, UH, DEPENDING ON HOW THE STORM FORMS AND HOW IT MOVES HERE.
BARRELL ONCE AGAIN, UM, EVERYBODY TOLD US FOR DAYS AND DAYS IT WAS GONNA STAY DOWN IN MEXICO AND IT LO AND BEHOLD IT WENT RIGHT OVER TOP OF US.
SO, UM, THERE IS SOME UNCERTAINTY WITH THE FORECASTS.
UH, JUST THE OVERARCHING SUMMARY IS THEY'RE SAYING THIS IS GONNA BE AN ABA ABOVE AVERAGE HURRICANE SEASON, SO IT SHOULD BE BUSY.
UM, BUT JUST REMEMBER IT ONLY TAKES ONE FOR IT TO BE A BAD STORM FOR US, RIGHT? SO WE COULD HAVE FIVE STORMS ALL YEAR AND IF WE GET ONE OF THOSE FIVE STORMS, IT'S A REAL BAD YEAR FOR US.
SO BEFORE THE STORM, WE COMPRESSED A BUNCH OF THINGS.
UM, WE HAVE ABOUT A 13 OR 14 PAGE HURRICANE TIMELINE THAT'S BROKEN OUT BY MINUS, YOU KNOW, 1 44 MINUS ONE 20.
UM, WHERE WE MAY HAVE 15 TO 20 THINGS WE'RE DOING AT THAT DAY.
WE'RE NOT GIVING YOU GUYS NEAR THIS LEVEL OF DETAIL.
UM, BUT THERE'S A VERY DETAILED, UH, KIND OF SCRIPT THAT WE HAVE AND WE FOLLOW WHEN A STORM'S COMING.
SO REALLY BEFORE THE STORM'S COMING, KIND OF THAT MINUS 48 HOURS AND AND TIME LEANING BEFORE, WE'RE REALLY DOING A LOT OF THINGS TO MONITOR AND PREPARE.
BUT THINGS THAT DO HAVE SOME MINIMAL FINANCIAL IMPACT, UH, THERE'S A LOT OF UNCERTAINTY ON HURRICANES AT MINUS 96 OR MINUS, YOU KNOW, 120 HOURS.
SO WE WOULDN'T WANNA STOP A LOT OF ESSENTIAL CITY SERVICES GETTING PREPARED FOR A HURRICANE AND THEN THE STORM END ENDS UP MISSING US.
UH, SO WE USUALLY START DOING OPERATIONAL IMPACT THINGS ABOUT MINUS 48 OR MINUS 72 HOURS.
UM, OF COURSE WE WOULD BE DOING A LOT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IF YOU GOT GUYS ARE HERE FOR THE PRESENTATION.
EARLIER I TALKED ABOUT WE WOULD DO ALERT HOUSTON MESSAGING TO LET PEOPLE KNOW, UM, GIVE THEM SOME HEIGHTENED AWARENESS.
UM, WE WOULD START TO COORDINATE WITH ALL OF MY COUNTERPARTS ACROSS THE REGION, SO ACROSS THE, YOU KNOW, 13 COUNTY AREA.
AND WE WOULD START TO TALK ABOUT EVACUATIONS.
ARE WE GONNA DO EVACUATIONS? OBVIOUSLY GALVESTON ISLAND SHOULD BE FIRST.
WE SHOULDN'T HAVE PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, IN DOWNTOWN HOUSTON WORRY ABOUT EVACUATING TILL WE GET PEOPLE OFF, UH, THE COAST, UH, ON GALVESTON ISLAND.
SO WE REALLY FOCUS WITH OUR COUNTERPARTS ACROSS THE REGION TO KIND OF SEE WHAT THEIR ELECTED OFFICIALS ARE THINKING ABOUT PULLING THE TRIGGER FOR A MANDATORY EVACUATION VERSUS JUST A VOLUNTARY EVACUATION.
[00:40:01]
SCHEDULE ALL THAT TIMING TO WHERE WE CAN GET THE PEOPLE FROM COASTAL TO A TO B2C OFF THE COAST IN THAT ORDER.UM, AT THAT TIME TOO, WE'RE ALSO DOING A LOT OF FACILITY PREPAREDNESS, SECURING ITEMS, STOCKING UP ON FUEL CHEMICALS, CONVERTING EQUIPMENT, UM, AT MINUS 72 TO 48 HOURS, SOMEWHERE IN THAT BALLPARK, WE ACTUALLY CUT OUR, UH, TIER ONE EMPLOYEES THAT ARE GONNA RIDE OUT THE STORM.
THEY GET TO GO HOME AND TAKE CARE OF THEIR FAMILY, GET THEIR HOUSE SQUARED AWAY, AND THEN IT USUALLY MINUS 24, WE FLIP FLOP THE PEOPLE THAT WERE STAYING AND HOLDING DOWN THE FORT.
NOW THEY'RE RELEASED TO GO HOME, TAKE CARE OF THEIR FAMILY, AND THEN ALL THOSE RIDE OUT FOLKS ARE COMING IN FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE TO RIDE OUT THE STORM.
UH, SOME OF OUR EQUIPMENT GETS PREPARED, UH, JUST USE PUBLIC WORKS FOR EXAMPLE.
THEY MAY HAVE EQUIPMENT THAT'S USED TO CLEAN OUT, UH, DITCHES.
THEY MAY TAKE OFF THAT CLEAN OUT BUCKET AND PUT ON SOME GRAPPLERS TO BE ABLE TO PICK UP SOME HEAVY TREES AND DO DEBRIS.
SO WE START TO DO THAT TYPE OF, ONCE AGAIN, THINGS THAT HAVE A FINANCIAL IMPACT AND AN AND A COST TO OUR DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS.
UM, WE'LL START TO DO THOSE ABOUT MINUS 48 HOURS.
UH, AS WE GET A LITTLE BIT CLOSER, UM, YOU KNOW, REALLY WHEN IT COMES TO EVACUATIONS, KEEP IN MIND WE HAVE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MANDATORY EVACUATION VERSUS A VOLUNTARY EVACUATION.
SO VOLUNTARY IS WE JUST OBVIOUSLY RECOMMEND YOU PROBABLY LEAVE THAT AREA MANDATORY WOULD BE WE HIGHLY, HIGHLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO PLEASE LEAVE THAT AREA.
UM, IF WE DO A MANDATORY EVACUATIONS, THERE'S OTHER THINGS WE NEED TO DO.
WE NEED TO SET UP AN EVACUATION HUB, WE NEED TO PROVIDE BUSES.
THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER SERVICES WE NEED TO, UH, PROVIDE IF THE MAYOR AND THE JUDGE DECIDE TO MAKE A MANDATORY EVACUATION.
IF IT'S A VOLUNTARY EVACUATION, WE MAY SET UP SOME INTERIM SHELTERS OR SOME OTHER THINGS TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO SOME OF OUR VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES, BUT WE WOULDN'T NECESSARILY STAND UP A BIG EVACUATION HUB TO TRANSPORT PEOPLE TO DALLAS OR HOUSTON OR ANOTHER AREA.
UM, WE'RE DOING THE FINAL POSITIONING A LOT OF OUR COMMODITIES.
SO SOME EXAMPLES FOR YOU GUYS IS, UM, FOR A LOT OF OUR, UH, PLACES OF REFUGE OR OUR POTENTIAL POD OR POINTS OF DISTRIBUTION LOCATIONS, AT THIS MINUS 48 TO MINUS 24 HOURS, WE BE STARTING TO STAGE SOME RESOURCES.
SO MOVING SOME FORKLIFTS AND SOME OTHER THINGS TO THOSE AREAS TO WHERE WE CAN GET READY TO RAMP UP AND SUPPORT THE RESIDENTS AFTER THE STORM PASSES.
I THINK THE IMPORTANT THING FOR EVERYBODY IS WHEN WE HIT 50 MILES PER HOUR OF SUSTAINED WINDS, THAT'S WHEN USUALLY ALL CITY SERVICES STOP INCLUDING 9 1 1 CALLS.
SO THAT'S USUALLY UP TO THE DISCRETION OF THE POLICE CHIEF AND THE FIRE CHIEF.
THEY WILL MAKE THAT DECISION IN COORDINATION WITH THEIR TEAMS, BUT THE BENCHMARK WE HAVE IS ONCE AGAIN, 50 MILES AN HOUR OF SUSTAINED WINDS UNTIL IT BECOMES SAFE FOR OUR FIRST RESPONDERS TO GO BACK OUT THERE.
UM, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A LIMITED RESPONSE TO 9 1 1 CALLS.
SO DURING THE STORM, WHAT ARE WE DOING IN THE EOC? WE'RE MONITORING 9 1 1 CALLS, UH, 2 1 1 CALLS, 3 1 1 CALLS.
WE'RE GETTING FIELD ASSESSMENTS, WE'RE GETTING UPDATES ON OUR CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE FIELD, OUR WATER PLANTS, OUR WASTEWATER PLANTS, A LOT OF OUR FACILITIES WE'RE TRYING TO FIGURING OUT KIND OF HOW BAD IS BAD, WHAT'S GOING ON.
WE WOULD START TO DO SOME INITIAL COORDINATING ON SHELTERS.
ONCE AGAIN, BASED ON THAT DATA, IF I HAVE A LOT OF CALLS FOR 9 1 1 FOR WATER RESCUES IN A CERTAIN AREA, OBVIOUSLY WE KNOW THAT AREA WAS SEVERELY IMPACTED.
WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA BE SETTING UP AN INTERIM SHELTER FIRST IN WHAT THOSE HARD IMPACT AREAS VERSUS IN OTHER LOCATIONS ACROSS THE CITY.
WE'RE ALSO COORDINATING WITH OUR, UH, COUNTY, UM, OTHER LOCAL, OUR COUNTY, OUR REGIONAL, OUR STATE AND FEDERAL PARTNERS.
AND THEN WE'D BE PUSHING OUT CONSTANT INFORMATION, WHETHER IT'S ON SOCIAL MEDIA, PRESS CONFERENCES, UM, MEDIA INTERVIEWS, UH, GOING, A LOT OF STUFF WOULD BE GOING THROUGH OUR JOINT INFORMATION CENTER, UM, WHICH WE WOULD HAVE A, A REP FROM ALL THE DIFFERENT CITY DEPARTMENTS WOULD BE IN THERE AND WE'D BE MAKING SURE WE HAD A UNIFIED JOINT MESSAGE GOING OUT TO THE PUBLIC.
UM, ONGOING RAPID NEEDS ASSESSMENTS IS WHAT WE START TO DO.
WE START TO FIGURE OUT HOW BAD IS BAD, WE START TO ASSESS, UM, NOT ONLY CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, BUT ONCE AGAIN 9 1 1 3, 1 1 CALLS, FIELD ASSESSMENTS.
UM, SO AS WE START MOVING INTO RECOVERY, RIGHT, SO WE USUALLY, UM, A LOT OF TIMES WE TEND TO FOCUS ON RESPONSE WHEN IT COMES TO AN INCIDENT.
MY BIG REQUEST TO ALL OF YOU IF YOU COULD IS REALLY GET YOUR CONSTITUENTS TO REALLY THINK ABOUT THE PREPAREDNESS SIDE.
A LOT OF TIMES, YOU KNOW, WE KIND OF SKIP OVER PREPAREDNESS AND GO STRAIGHT TO RESPONSE AND THINK ABOUT RECOVERY.
BUT IF WE DO GOOD MITIGATION UPFRONT AND IF WE'RE ALL PREPARED, UM, IT'LL MAKE THAT RESPONSE A LOT BETTER.
SO, AND THE RECOVERY A LOT SMOOTHER.
SO AS WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THE INCIDENT, YOU KNOW, WE STAY IN THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WORLD, YOU START THINKING ABOUT DEMOBILIZING THE SECOND YOU MOBILIZE, YOU START TO HAVE YOUR DEMO PLAN.
SO WE WOULD BE START TO DEVELOP, YOU KNOW, HOW'S IT GONNA LOOK LIKE AS WE START TO RAMP DOWN OUT OF THE RESPONSE INTO MORE OF THE LONG-TERM RECOVERY PHASE, UM, OF THE EVENT.
ONE OF THOSE THINGS WOULD BE COORDINATING WITH FEMA TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE UH, UH, FRCS OR THE UM, UH, RESPONSE CENTER SET UP IN THE AREAS
[00:45:01]
FACS FRCS OUT IN THE AREAS.WE MAKE SURE WE GET THOSE SETS UP.
SO JUST, UM, A LOT OF YOU GUYS CAME THERE FOR OUR TOUR RECENTLY.
UM, I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING WE DO INSIDE THE EOC IS WE TRY TO MANAGE A COORDINATED RESPONSE WITH COMMON OPERATING PICTURE FOR ALL OF OUR DECISION MAKERS.
SO WE TAKE, THERE'S A TON OF INFORMATION THAT COMES OUT THERE ON A DAILY BASIS.
YOU KNOW, JUST USE YOU GUYS AS INDIVIDUALS.
HOW MANY WEATHER ALERTS OR HOW MANY THINGS DO YOU SEE ON WEATHER? WELL, IT MAY NOT BE SOMETHING THAT ELEVATES TO TURNING THAT INTO USEFUL INTELLIGENCE.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ALL THE TIME IN HOUSTON FOR US TO GET TWO INCHES AN HOUR OF RAIN IN HOUSTON, THAT'S A TYPICAL TUESDAY, RIGHT? FOR ANOTHER COMMUNITY THAT MAY BE SOMETHING VERY SIGNIFICANT.
SO I THINK ONE OF OUR BIG ROLES THAT WE DO IN THE EOC IS WE TAKE ALL THAT INFORMATION AND HOW DO I TURN THAT INTO USEFUL INTELLIGENCE FOR OUR DECISION MAKERS TO MAKE DECISIONS.
I THINK THE BIG THING FOR YOU GUYS IS THE FOUR PRINCIPLES OF PREPAREDNESS.
SO MAKE A PLAN, STAY INFORMED, BUILD A KID AND GET CONNECTED.
I'LL BLOW THROUGH SOME OF THIS STUFF QUICKLY WHEN I TALK ABOUT MAKE A PLAN.
UM, OBVIOUSLY KNOW IF YOU'RE IN EVACUATION ZONE, UM, KNOW HOW YOU'RE GOING TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR LOVED ONES.
IF FOR SOME REASON TECHNOLOGY'S NOT AVAILABLE, UM, I'LL USE MYSELF AS AN EXAMPLE.
IF YOU TAKE TWO 90 UP AND YOU MAKE A LEFT, UM, ON MAKE THAT TURN IN BRENHAM, THERE'S AN EXXON GAS STATION OFF TO LEFT HAND SIDE FOR MY FAMILY.
IF WE GET SEPARATED AND OUR CELL PHONES DON'T WORK, WE KNOW WE MEET AT THAT LOCATION AT 8:00 PM OR 8:00 AM AND WE CAN GET OUR FAMILY BACK TOGETHER.
SO SOMETHING JUST AS SIMPLE AS THAT IS MAKING SURE YOU HAVE A PLAN THAT IF THIS DOESN'T WORK, HOW AM I GONNA BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF MY LOVED ONES AND UM, MY COMMUNITY.
MAKE SURE YOU PRACTICE THE PLAN.
UM, LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE PLANS AND A LOT OF THINGS DOWN, BUT IF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO DO IN THAT PLAN, UM, PROBABLY NOT A VERY GOOD USEFUL PLAN.
KNOW YOUR ZONES, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A ROUTE.
UM, YOUR BEST ROUTE MAY NOT BE THE INTERSTATE, RIGHT? YOU KNOW, YOUR BEST ROUTE MAY BE ABLE TO TAKE A STATE HIGHWAY OR A BACK ROAD TO GET OFF.
SO PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU, UM, KNOW IF YOU'RE IN A ZONE, YOU HAVE A ROUTE, YOU HAVE A GO BIG, UH, GO BAG READY.
UM, WE ALWAYS SAY IN THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WORLD, DON'T LET YOUR GAS TANK GO BELOW HALF FULL.
WE ALWAYS TRY TO KEEP KEEP 'EM FULL.
'CAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MAY NEED TO, YOU KNOW, UH, UH, DRIVE SOMEWHERE A LONG DISTANCE WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO GET GAS.
UM, OVER ON THE RIGHT HAND SIDE AND WE'LL MAKE SURE YOU GUYS GET ALL THE SLIDES.
IT HAS ALL THE SPECIFIC ZIP CODES.
AND SO IN CITY OF HOUSTON WE HAVE FIVE ZIP CODES THAT ARE IN ZONE B, WHICH IS THE GREEN, WHICH IS OUR CLOSEST AREA TO EVACUATE.
SO IF THE MAYOR MADE THE DETERMINATION TO DO A MANDATORY EVACUATION FOR ZONE B FOR CITY OF HOUSTON, WE WOULD NOTIFY THOSE FIVE ZONES THAT YOU'VE BEEN ASKED FOR.
IF YOU REMEMBER FROM OUR PRESENTATION EARLIER THIS MORNING, THAT WOULD PROBABLY MORE OF AN I PAUSE OR AN A WE A MESSAGE SAYING MANDATORY EVACUATION HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE AREA.
WE'D PROBABLY PUSH IT OUT THAT WAY.
IF IT WAS A VOLUNTARY EVACUATION OR HEY, THERE'S A STORM IN THE GULF, WE WOULD DO THAT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.
MAYBE ALERT HOUSTON, BUT IT WOULD NOT ELEVATE TO THAT.
YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR ALERT HOUSTON.
IF YOU JUST TEXT ALERT HOUSTON TO TRIPLE EIGHT, TRIPLE SEVEN.
SO ALERT HOUSTON TO 8 8 8 7 7 7.
UM, OUR BIG THING FOR EVERYBODY IS WHEN YOU STAY INFORMED, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU'RE STAYING INFORMED FROM CREDIBLE RESOURCES.
UM, THERE ARE LOTS OF PEOPLE THAT CAN GIVE YOU WEATHER REPORTS ONLINE.
WE ONLY MAKE DECISIONS WHEN IT COMES TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OR HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT 'CAUSE WE KNOW WE'RE GETTING CREDIBLE INFORMATION THAT'S COMING, UM, THAT'S BEING SHARED WITH US.
SO PLEASE, I KNOW THERE'S BIG IN BIG SOCIAL INFLUENCERS OUT THERE THAT PEOPLE FOLLOW, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THEY'RE THE BEST PEOPLE TO FOLLOW DURING AN EMERGENCY.
UM, I WOULD SAY FOR A KIT, DON'T BE OVERWHELMED WITH BUILDING A KIT.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO OUT AND SPEND $250 THIS WEEKEND TO GO BUY A BUNCH OF STUFF FOR A KIT.
YOU CAN BUY AN EXTRA THING EVERY TIME YOU GO TO THE GROCERY STORE.
AN EXTRA PACKAGE OF BATTERIES, AN EXTRA JAR OF PEANUT BUTTER, AN EXTRA CASE OF WATER.
THERE'S LITTLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SLOWLY BUT SURELY BUILD UP A PRETTY GOOD, UH, BIG KIT.
UM, AT A MINIMUM WE WANT YOU TO HAVE FOOD AND WATER AND MEDICATION FOR A MINIMUM OF THREE DAYS, PREFERABLY SEVEN DAYS.
SO IF I HAVE A FAMILY OF FOUR FOR SEVEN DAYS, I WOULD NEED 28 GALLONS OF WATER.
DOES THAT MEAN I NEED TO GO OUT AND BUY 28 CASES OF WATER? AN EASY THING YOU CAN DO IS FILL UP YOUR BATHTUB BEFORE THE STORM COMES AND NOW YOU PROBABLY HAVE 30 OR 35 GALLONS OF WATER SITTING IN YOUR BATHTUB THAT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO USE.
SO THERE'S LOTS OF WAYS TO BE PREPARED WITHOUT HAVING TO GO OUT AND SPEND A LOT OF MONEY.
[00:50:01]
SLIDE.I THINK PROBABLY ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IS MAKE SURE YOU GET CONNECTED.
UM, WE KNOW IN THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT WORLD THAT UH, COMMUNITIES THAT ARE REAL COMMUNITIES, THEY, THEY'RE MORE RESILIENT.
THEY RESPOND BETTER, THEY RECOVER BETTER.
THE THE FIRST PERSON THAT'S GONNA HELP YOU OUT DURING AN EMERGENCY IS GONNA BE YOUR NEIGHBOR, RIGHT? THEY'RE RIGHT NEXT DOOR, RIGHT? SO GET TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOR.
UM, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THOSE GOOD CONNECTIONS.
WE ALL HAVE, YOU KNOW, AN ELDERLY PERSON DOWN THE STREET WE GO CHECK ON, RIGHT? WE DO THOSE THINGS.
SO MY, MY ADVICE AND REALLY MY, MY ENCOURAGEMENT TO EVERYBODY IS PLEASE MAKE SURE AS A COMMUNITY GET TO GO YOUR GET TO KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS AND MAKE SURE THAT YOU GUYS ARE THERE HELPING EACH OTHER, UM, DURING AN INCIDENT.
RESOURCES, UM, I SHOWED THIS EARLIER, BUT THIS IS JUST A QUICK QR CODE THAT TAKES US TO ALL SORTS OF RESOURCES WE HAVE.
UM, ONCE AGAIN, OUR WEBSITE AND OUR DISASTER PREPAREDNESS GUIDE ARE PRE PRINTED IN SIX DIFFERENT LANGUAGES.
SO WHATEVER, UM, IS BEST FOR THE RESIDENTS, THEY'RE ABLE TO GET THAT.
WE'RE LOOKING AT DOING ABOUT ANOTHER SIX OR SEVEN LANGUAGES TO EXPAND THAT 'CAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A DIVERSE COMMUNITY HERE.
UM, SO IT IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE LOOKING INTO DOING AS WELL.
UM, I DO WANNA ACKNOWLEDGE COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS HAS JOINED US AND ALSO, UM, A STAFF MEMBER FROM COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON'S OFFICE.
AND WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF COUNCIL MEMBERS IN QUEUE.
UH, COUNCIL MEMBER CAYMAN IS ONLINE.
THANK YOU, UH, TO BOTH OF OUR CHAIRS AND, UH, YOU KNOW, DIRECTOR, WE GET YOU TWICE IN ONE DAY.
UM, AS IT RELATES TO EVACUATIONS, AND YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY COVERED THIS PARTICULAR COMPONENT, BUT I GO BACK TO THINKING ABOUT RITA AND, UH, RESIDENTS STUCK ON, UM, THE HIGHWAYS RUNNING OUT OF GAS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
WHAT BECAME SO UNSAFE ABOUT THAT WAS THE EVACUATION, NOT THE STORM ITSELF.
NOW WE ALSO HAVE THE ADDED COMPONENT OF, UM, ELECTRIC VEHICLES RIGHT, WHICH DON'T TAKE TRADITIONAL GAS, SO YOU CAN'T STORE AN EXTRA GAS CAN IN YOUR CAR NECESSARILY.
UM, DO WE HAVE PLANS IN PLACE TO ASSIST, UH, DRIVERS WHO MAY RUN OUT OF GAS OR DO WE WORK WITH EV CHARGING COMPANIES TO STAND UP POTENTIALLY, UH, ALONG THE EVACUATION ROUTES, UM, MOBILE CHARGERS, HAS ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEEN PLANNED OR DISCUSSED? NOPE.
SO I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HIT ON IT, UH, UPFRONT COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, WAS MAKING SURE PEOPLE ARE SEQUENCED IN THEIR EVACUATION.
IF YOU LIVE IN CONROE OR KATY, YOU PROBABLY DON'T NEED TO EVACUATE.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE GET PEOPLE OFF ON THE COAST FIRST.
SO I THINK A LOT OF THAT MESSAGING'S GONNA BE VERY IMPORTANT.
ONCE AGAIN, RUNNING FROM THE STORM SURGE AND HIDING FROM THE WIND.
UH, THE SECOND PART, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER CAME IN.
UM, SO TXDOT DOES HAVE A PRETTY ROBUST PLAN AND DPS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE FUEL TANKERS ALONG, UM, YOU KNOW, SUPPORT WITH EV CHARGERS.
YOU KNOW, I, I THINK A LOT OF THE EV VEHICLES IS GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY A CHALLENGE.
BACK DURING RITA, WE DIDN'T HAVE THE SAME NUMBER OF EVS THAT WE HAVE NOW, AND I THINK LAST I HEARD, WE WERE LIKE 26 OR 27,000 EVS IN HARRIS COUNTY ALONE.
UM, SO THAT COULD BE POTENTIAL CHALLENGES ON THE ROADWAY.
UH, BUT WE DON'T START CONTRAFLOW UNTIL WE ARE OUTSIDE THE METRO AREA, BY THE WAY.
SO WE DON'T DO ANY CONTRAFLOW UNTIL WE GET WEST OF SHORE AREA OUT BY SEALY AND FULCHER.
AND WE DON'T DO ANY CONTRAFLOW UNTIL WE ARE NORTH OF HUNT, NORTH OF CONROE, ALMOST TO HUNTSVILLE.
SO THAT'S WHEN THE CONTRAFLOW WOULD START.
CONTRAFLOW IS A DECISION THAT'S MADE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LOCALS, BUT IT'S ALSO MADE BY THE STATE BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO SUPPORT THAT ENDEAVOR FROM DPS OFFICERS TO PROVIDING RESOURCES ALONG.
SO YES MA'AM, THEY HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT.
THERE ARE PLANS IN PLACE, BUT FORTUNATELY WE HAVEN'T HAD TO EVACUATE SINCE RITA.
SO, UM, THOSE PLANS HAVEN'T BEEN REAL WORLD TESTED.
AND, UH, I DISCUSSED THIS EARLIER THIS MORNING, BUT BECAUSE I GET YOU FOR A SECOND TIME AND THERE'S NEW, UH, COLLEAGUES HERE ALONGSIDE ME, I DO WANNA CONTINUE TO RAISE THE CONCERN ABOUT, UM, POST-DISASTER COMMUNICATIONS RIGHT WHEN THE CELL TOWERS ARE DONE.
AND I LOVE WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT WE HAVE A DESIGNATED PLACE WHERE OUR FAMILY GOES, BUT HOW WE AS A CITY COMMUNICATE, UM, WHEN THERE IS NO WIFI WHEN RESIDENTS DON'T HAVE CELL SERVICE, UH, CONTINUES TO GIVE ME A LOT OF HEARTBURN.
UM, AND AGAIN, I WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH YOU ON THAT, BUT I DO WANNA ELEVATE, UM, THOSE CHALLENGES BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A SOLUTION FOR THAT YET.
AND I THINK IT REALLY CAN, UM, POTENTIALLY COME INTO PLAY IN A BIG WAY, UH, WITH LIFE SAFETY NEEDS.
SO AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION.
[00:55:01]
THANK YOU.UH, I WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE COUNCILLOR THOMAS.
UM, GOOD TO MEET YOU, DIRECTOR.
UM, YOUR OFFICE HOSTED A BRIEFING FOR ALL COUNCIL OFFICES NOT TOO LONG AGO.
UM, IN MY ABSENCE, I KNOW IT WAS SHARED THAT Y'ALL HAVE IDENTIFIED LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT EVERY DISTRICT AND I KNOW THE CHINESE COMMUNITY CENTER WAS SLATED IN DISTRICT F, HOWEVER, LOGISTICALLY IT'S VERY DIFFICULT OFF THE BELTWAY IN TERMS OF ACCESS.
WE, UH, PARKING'S A CHALLENGE AND SO I JUST WOULD LIKE TO, UM, SUBMIT SOME ALTERNATIVE LOCATIONS, PLEASE FOR DISTRIBUTION THAT WE KNOW CAN HAVE CAPACITY MOVING PEOPLE IN AND OUT.
UM, SO WE CAN RESPOND TO THAT.
BUT I THINK THIS IS HELPFUL AND I WAS MAKING A NOTE TO TELL MY DADDY WE NEED TO HAVE A FAMILY PLAN YEAH.
ON, ON WHERE TO MEET BECAUSE YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
UH, POWER COULD GO OUT AND WE HAVEN'T THOUGHT THAT FAR.
WE DO, YOU KNOW, RESPONSE AND RECOVERY VERY WELL, BUT I THINK THAT'S, UM, VERY HELPFUL INFORMATION.
UM, AND ALL OF THE DIGITAL INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE HAS BEEN EXTREMELY HELPFUL.
WE'VE BEEN SHARING THAT ON THE NEWSLETTER.
THEY'VE BEEN SHARING THAT THANK YOU WITH MOSQUE AND TEMPLES ALL THROUGHOUT ON THE WEST SIDE.
SO WE JUST APPRECIATE, UH, THE DILIGENCE, UH, OF MAKING SURE THAT THIS INFORMATION'S ON THE STREET IN AND OUTTA SEASON OF, OF A HURRICANE OR ANY TYPE OF, UH, WEATHER, UH, UH, CHALLENGE.
SO I APPRECIATE YES, THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR.
SO IF, IF YOU COULD MA'AM, IF YOU COULD JUST EMAIL US, UH, THE LIST OF THOSE LOCATIONS AND THAT WE WANT US TO EVALUATE.
SO FOR ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS AGAIN, YES.
A LOT OF PEOPLE GAVE US LISTS OF POTENTIAL, UM, AREAS OF REFUGE OR PODS OR, UH, PLACES.
SO IF YOU GUYS HAVE MORE, PLEASE SEND 'EM TO US.
WE GO THROUGH A VERY, YOU CAN EMAIL 'EM TO ME.
UM, WE GO THROUGH A VERY DETAILED PROCESS WHERE WE HAVE PUBLIC WORKS, EVALUATE TRAFFIC, POLICE EVALUATE SECURITY.
WE DO A LOT OF THAT EVALUATION UPFRONT.
IS THE PARKING LOT BIG ENOUGH? ARE THE ROADS SUPPORT THE TRAFFIC? WE TRY TO DO A LOT OF THAT UPFRONT TO WHERE WE'RE NOT SCRAMBLING LAST MINUTE.
UM, ARE WE USING DIGITAL, DIGITAL BOARDS? WHICH DIGITAL BOARDS? WHICH ONES? JUST THE ONES ON THE FREEWAYS AND OUR, THE, SO YEAH, SO THOSE ARE ACTUALLY, THOSE ARE TEXTILE BOARDS.
UM, DMS SIGNS, THEY, THEY USE THEM TO OBVIOUSLY, UM, UH, COMMUNICATE MOBILITY CHALLENGES.
SO IF WE WERE GONNA DO AN EVACUATION OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT, THOSE TYPES OF MESSAGES WOULD BE ABLE TO BE PUT ON THOSE BOARDS.
UM, BUT JUST A GENERAL THING, LIKE IF WE WERE GONNA DO A POD AT 1 2, 3 MAIN STREET, YOU KNOW, TO HAND OUT ICE AND WATER, WE WOULDN'T PUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT ON THOSE BOARDS.
THOSE BOARDS ARE MEANT JUST FOR KIND OF MOBILITY STUFF.
SO, SO YOU'LL SEE LIKE SPECIAL EVENTS, LIKE IF THEY, THEY'LL SAY NRG EVENT, TAKE WHATEVER EXIT MM-HMM
THAT'S 'CAUSE IT'S A MOBILITY RELATED THING.
AND THEN, UM, I THINK ONE THING WE SAW, UM, IN THIS LAST COUPLE OF FLOODS IN THE HILL COUNTRY IS JUST THE RISING WATER OF BAYOU AND CREEKS, ET CETERA.
DO Y'ALL MONITOR THOSE AS WELL? YES MA'AM.
AND THEN WE'RE, WE'RE A LOT DIFFERENT THAN THE HILL COUNTRY.
I MEAN OBVIOUSLY I'M NOT COMPARING.
UM, BUT YEAH, SO, UH, HARRIS COUNTY FLOOD CONTROL DISTRICT HAS A WIDE VARIETY OF SENSORS ALL OUT IN THE BAYOU AS INDIVIDUALS.
IF YOU LIVE BY A BAYOU, YOU CAN SIGN UP FOR A SPECIFIC SENSOR TO WHERE IF IT GETS TOO HIGH, YOU'LL GET NOTIFIED ON YOUR PHONE THAT THAT SENSOR YOU SIGNED UP FOR HAS NOW BEEN ELEVATED.
THEY GIVE YOU A LOT OF GOOD HISTORICAL INFORMATION ON THE BOTTOM THAT WILL TELL YOU PREVIOUS CRESTS FROM, YOU KNOW, UH, HARVEY OR, OR WHATEVER STORM.
BECAUSE THAT WOULD GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF, YOU KNOW, WERE YOU IMPACTED DURING THAT EVENT VERSUS THIS EVENT.
SO THERE'S ALL SORTS OF INFORMATION AND DATA OUT THERE ON FLOOD CONTROL.
WE DEFINITELY HAVE TO SHARE THAT.
ANYONE ELSE? I GET THIS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COME THE SECOND TIME?
ALRIGHT, WELL THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATIONS.
UM, I DON'T BELIEVE WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS TODAY.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE FOR A PUBLIC COMMENT? OKAY.
WELL THAT BEING SAID, UM, THIS CONCLUDES TODAY'S JOINT GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AND RESILIENCE COMMITTEE MEETING.
THE NEXT GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING WILL BE SCHEDULED ON THURSDAY, AUGUST THE 21ST, 2025.
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR JOINING US TODAY, AND THE NEXT RESILIENCE COMMITTEE MEETING WILL BE MONDAY, AUGUST 25TH AT 10:00 AM THANK YOU.