* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [Government Operations Committee on October 7, 2026.] [00:00:16] SO THE PUBLIC. MY NAME IS FRED FLICKINGER AS THE CHAIR OF THE CITY OF HOUSTON'S GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE. I CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER AND WOULD LIKE TO WELCOME ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE. UH, COUNCILWOMAN PECK, COUNCILMAN JOAQUIN MARTINEZ, AND COUNCILWOMAN SALLY ALCORN. AND THEN WE HAVE STAFF FROM DISTRICT B, DISTRICT C, DISTRICT F, DISTRICT J, AND THAT'S IT. DISTRICT, UH, DISTRICT K AS WELL. I GUESS I SHOULD HAVE SEEN YOU SITTING NEXT TO ME. SO, UM, COUNCIL MEMBERS AND STAFF, PLEASE HOLD YOUR QUESTIONS UNTIL THE END OF THE PRESENTATIONS. IF THERE ARE ANY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC COMMENT, THERE IS A SIGN-IN SHEET AT THE FRONT TABLE. AND FOR OUR FIRST PRESENTATION, WE HAVE THE DIRECTOR OF HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, RANDY MACKAY, AND SOLID WASTE OFFICER, LARRY HASSAN. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. COUNCIL MEMBERS. UM, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, IT REALLY IS A PLEASURE TO BE HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS SUBJECT TODAY. UM, AND I, I, I SINCERELY MEAN THAT AND I HOPE YOU'LL, UM, FOLLOW THAT SENTIMENT AS WE GO THROUGH AT THE PRESENTATION TODAY. UM, IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA HIGHLIGHT AS WE TALK ABOUT THIS IS WE'VE GOT THREE MAJOR ISSUES WE'LL DISCUSS. FIRST OF ALL, WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT WHERE WE STARTED AND WHERE WE'RE AT, AND THAT'S GONNA INCLUDE A BROAD DISCRETION ABOUT NEW KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND METRICS THAT WE'LL BE USING WITHIN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT INSIDE HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS TO ASSESS OUR RESPONSIVENESS, UH, AND OUR ACCOUNTABILITIES. SECOND, WE'LL TALK ABOUT, UH, STRATEGIES ON ILLEGAL DUMPING, WHICH IS SPECIFIC TO AN AMENDMENT BROUGHT DURING THE BUDGET SESSION, UM, ABOUT $3 MILLION AND HOW WE'LL SPEND THAT. AND THEN FINALLY, WE'LL ALSO TALK ABOUT AN INVESTMENT IN RECYCLING, WHICH WAS THE RESULT OF ANOTHER BUDGET AMENDMENT FROM THE MAYOR PRO TEM. NEXT SLIDE AND NEXT SLIDE AGAIN PLEASE. SO LET'S TALK JUST BRIEFLY, VERY BRIEFLY ABOUT HOW WE GOT HERE. FIRST OF ALL, WE KNEW THAT GOING INTO THIS CURRENT FISCAL YEAR, UH, PREVIOUS TO NOW, SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT STOOD AS ITS OWN SEPARATE DEPARTMENT WITHIN THE CITY OF HOUSTON. IT WAS A GENERAL FUND DEPARTMENT. IT HAD NO DEDICATED FEE OR FUND OR SOURCE OF REVENUE THAT CAME INTO IT BEYOND THINGS LIKE CART LEASE FEES, UM, AND OTHER DI MINIMIS AMOUNTS THAT COULD POSSIBLY SUPPORT PORTIONS OF THE OPERATION AS PART OF THE APPROVAL OF THIS BUDGET. THANKS, THANKFUL TO, UH, EACH OF YOU COUNCIL MEMBERS FOR THAT APPROVAL. SOLID WASTE WAS INTEGRATED INTO HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, AND IT ALSO ESTABLISHED A $5 ADMINISTRATIVE FEE THAT WAS EFFECTIVE AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS FISCAL YEAR. AS WE'VE BEEN GOING THROUGH THIS PROCESS, I'LL HIGHLIGHT TWO THINGS. FIRST OF ALL, THE REAL WORK DIDN'T ACTUALLY START ON JULY 1ST. THERE WAS A LOT OF PRE-WORK THAT HAD STARTED LONG BEFORE THAT, AND IN FACT, MAYOR WHITMEYER HAD ASKED ME AND MEMBERS OF OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM TO ASSIST SOLID WASTE ALL THE WAY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR ON CERTAIN KEY THINGS WHERE THEY WERE LAGGING BEHIND. WE'LL SHOW YOU SOME, UH, METRICS THAT KIND OF HELP INDICATE WHY WE NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT THAT ASSISTANCE AT THE TIME. BUT WE BEGAN REALLY TOWARDS THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR IN ASSISTING TO IMPROVE SOLID WASTE OPERATIONS. HOWEVER, ON JULY 1ST, WHEN THE FISCAL YEAR BEGAN, IS WHEN WE REALLY DUG IN OUR HEELS TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT IT IS THAT NEEDED TO BE TACKLED WITHIN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT TO IMPROVE OPERATIONS. TODAY WE STAND AS ONE PUBLIC WORKS, AND THIS WAS AN IMPORTANT THING TO MAKE CLEAR TO EVERYBODY, NOT JUST TO PUBLIC WORKS PERSONNEL, NOT JUST TO SOLID WASTE PERSONNEL, BUT TO THE PUBLIC AS WELL. WE DIDN'T JUST DROP A DEPARTMENT IN PUBLIC WORKS AND SAY, WE'VE DONE OUR WORK AND GONE AWAY. WE HAVE IMPLEMENTED SOLID WASTE INTO THE PUBLIC WORKS WAY OF DOING WORK, AND THERE'S BEEN SOME MEASURABLE IMPROVEMENTS THAT HAVE COME WITH THAT NEXT SLIDE. PART OF THAT ASSESSMENT INCLUDED US TAKING A LOOK AT IMPORTANT THINGS THAT STARTED WITH PEOPLE. IT INCLUDED EVALUATING PROCESS. IT CERTAINLY REQUIRED US TO TAKE A LOOK AT PERFORMANCE AND HOW WE MEASURED PERFORMANCE TO THAT POINT. AND IT ALSO REQUIRED US TO ESTABLISH ACCOUNTABILITIES. IT'S NOT JUST ENOUGH TO COUNT ALL OF THE BEANS ON THE TABLE. WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHY WE'RE COUNTING THE BEANS, AND WE ALSO NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO PUT THE BEANS THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND MANY MEASURES, AND WE'VE SEEN THIS THROUGHOUT ALL SORTS OF CITY OPERATIONS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, WE'VE COME TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE HAVE NOT DONE A VERY GOOD JOB ON ANY ONE OF THOSE FOUR CATEGORIES. IN MANY INSTANCES, WE HAD NEGLECTED NEEDS OF OUR PERSONNEL. WE HAD IGNORED IMPROVEMENTS TO PROCESS INSTEAD TRYING TO JUST THROW MONEY AT PROBLEMS TO MAKE THEM GO AWAY. WE CERTAINLY HAD [00:05:01] NOT BEEN MEASURING PERFORMANCE IN A REALISTIC WAY THAT WOULD PROVIDE ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESULTS, AND THAT MEANT THAT THERE WAS NO ACCOUNTABILITY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF IT. WHEN WE INTEGRATED SOLID WASTE INTO, INTO HOUSTON PUBLIC WORKS, WE KNEW THAT EVERYTHING NEEDED TO FOCUS AROUND OUR MISSION, WHICH IS SIMPLY PUT TO IMPROVE, TO PROVIDE AND IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR EVERYONE. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I BELIEVE EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND, THAT IF WE ARE NOT FOCUSED ON AN ON PROVIDING AND IMPROVING QUALITY OF LIFE, WE HAVE MISSED THE MARK. AND OF COURSE, IF WE DO THAT, THEN WE ARE ABLE TO ATTAIN THAT VISION, WHICH IS TO BE THE PREMIER PUBLIC WORKS AGENCY IN NORTH AMERICA. MANY OF YOU HAVE HEARD ME TALK AND FRANKLY BRAG ON THE DEPARTMENT. IT IS THE LARGEST PUBLIC WORKS AGENCY, NOT JUST IN TEXAS, NOT JUST IN THE COUNTRY. IT IS THE LARGEST PUBLIC WORKS, SINGLE PUBLIC WORKS AGENCY IN THE WORLD. AND THAT ENCOMPASSES EVERYTHING THAT WE DO. SOMETIMES THE QUESTION IS, IS IT TOO BIG? AND IT'S A FAIR QUESTION, BUT WE'RE DEMONSTRATING THAT THE SIZE ACTUALLY HAS VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THE RESULTS. THE RESULTS DEPEND ON THE WORK WE PUT INTO MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE ON TASK AND ON MISSION. NEXT SLIDE. SO THERE'S A LITTLE GRAPH HERE, A LITTLE, UH, PLOT THAT KIND OF GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF THAT. UH, ON THE LEFT SIDE HERE, YOU SEE AT THE TOP THAT THERE'S A BUNCH OF BLUE DOTS. THOSE BLUE DOTS RECOGNIZE ACTIVITIES THAT NEED TO BE DONE ON A DAILY BASIS, AND THOSE ARE GOOD ACTIVITIES. IN FACT, THE ACTIVITIES INCLUDE EVERYTHING THAT YOU WOULD EXPECT THEM TO INCLUDE, BUT SOMETIMES THOSE ACTIVITIES ARE SO FRAGMENTED AND SO FAR AWAY FROM THE MISSION THAT WE DON'T NECESSARILY UNDERSTAND HOW THEY CORRELATE WITH EACH OTHER. AND THE LACK OF CORRELATION MEANS THAT THE EFFECTIVENESS AND THE RESULTS AREN'T ALSO FOLLOWING. PART OF THAT MEANT THAT WE NEEDED TO REORGANIZE THE WAY WE DID THOSE OPERATIONS. AS I MENTIONED, JUST THROWING MONEY AT THE PROBLEM WAS NOT NECESSARILY A SOLUTION TO IT IN AND OF ITSELF, WE NEEDED TO TACKLE THE OPERATIONAL CHALLENGES THAT EXISTED AS WELL. SO UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF OUR CHIEF SOLID WASTE OFFICER, LARRY S HASSAN, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED FOUR CORE SECTIONS IN WHICH SOLID WA SOLID WASTE OPERATIONS ARE NOW ORGANIZED AND WILL MOVE FORWARD. THAT INCLUDES COLLECTION, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, BUSINESS OPERATIONS, AND PERFORMANCE AND FLEET ASSETS AND FACILITIES. UM, I'LL NOTE THAT FLEET ASSETS AND FACILITIES IS SOMETHING THAT HAS BEEN WOEFULLY NEGLECTED WITHIN SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT FOR A LONG TIME. AND THAT'S NOT A SURPRISE TO ANYONE HERE. UM, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT NEEDED TO HAVE DEDICATED LEADERSHIP AND DEDICATED ATTENTION TO ENSURE THAT ONCE AGAIN, WE STAY ON TASK. IN ADDITION, DURING OUR REORGANIZATION, THERE WERE THREE COMPONENTS THAT TOOK PLACE IN SOLID WASTE THAT HAD BETTER HOMES ELSEWHERE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT. THAT INCLUDED CODE ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE. IT INCLUDED COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING, AND IT INCLUDED FINANCIAL SERVICES. SO THOSE EACH WERE SEPARATED AND REMOVED FROM THE SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DIVISION AND NOW EXIST AS A WHOLE WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT AS WELL. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. SO, PART OF THE ASSESSMENT REQUIRED US TO TAKE A HARD LOOK AT WHAT HAVE WE BEEN DOING TO THIS POINT. UH, IF YOU'LL REMEMBER DURING OUR BUDGET PRESENTATION WORKSHOP, I BEMOANED THE FACT THAT THE KPIS BEING PRESENTED WERE ONES THAT FRANKLY DID NOT REPRESENT ANY ACTUAL RESULTS FOR US. WE WERE COUNTING THE NUMBER OF TONS OF TREE AND YARD WASTE EACH YEAR. WE WERE COUNTING THE NUMBER OF CONTAINERS THAT WERE REPAIRED OR REPLACED, THE AMOUNT OF TONS OF HEAVY TRASH COLLECTED, THE NUMBER OF AVERAGE RECYCLING STOPS TAKING PLACE WEEKLY, AND HOW MANY DROP OFFS WERE TAKING PLACE AT OUR WASTE COLLECTION SITES. WHILE THESE NUMBERS ARE INTERESTING, THEY'RE USUALLY WHAT I PUT INTO THE CATEGORY OF FUND TRIVIA BECAUSE THEY DON'T COUNT THE RESULTS. THEY ONLY MEASURE THE AMOUNT OF ACTIVITY TAKING PLACE. AND SOMETIMES WE GET IMPRESSED BY BIG NUMBERS, BUT BIGGER DOESN'T NECESSARILY MEAN SOMETHING BETTER. IF YOU LOOK AT 19,000 CONTAINERS REPLACED, WHICH WAS THE INITIAL GOAL, I SAY TO MYSELF, ARE WE ASKING QUESTIONS? DO WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OUR CONTAINERS IN THE FIRST PLACE? AND THAT'S THE SORT OF THING THAT WE NEEDED TO TAKE A HARD STEP BACK AND UNDERSTAND WHY ARE WE ASKING OURSELVES THESE QUESTIONS? WHAT IS IT WE'RE TRYING TO MEASURE AND HOW DOES THAT MEASUREMENT HELP US TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE? THERE ALSO WAS NOT A TIMELINESS STANDARD ASSOCIATED WITH THESE THINGS. I WOULD ARGUE THAT ALTHOUGH THERE WERE SLAS THAT EXISTED FOR RESOLVING CERTAIN 3 1 1 TYPES, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT MORE IN A FEW SLIDES. SOME OF THOSE SLAS WERE SO FAR PUSHED OUT THAT THERE FRANKLY WAS NO ACTUAL TIMEFRAME ASSOCIATED WITH IT. AND THE BACKLOG OF 3 1 1 TICKETS THAT EXISTED WOULD SUPPORT THAT ANALYSIS. AND THEN LASTLY, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, NO ONE WAS ACTUALLY REGULARLY CHECKING THESE THINGS. IT WAS REPORTED ONCE A YEAR IN THE BUDGET, AND THERE WAS NO MORE ACCOUNTABILITY BEYOND THAT. NEXT SLIDE. WE HAVE SPENT TIME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS IT THAT'S GOING TO MOVE THE NEEDLE IN SOLID WASTE? AND SO I PRESENT TO YOU HERE EIGHT NEW KPIS THAT WE HAVE BEGUN MEASURING [00:10:01] SINCE THE BEGINNING OF FY 2027. THE FIRST AND LIKELY MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL OF THOSE IS ON TIME PERFORMANCE, BECAUSE THAT'S THE QUESTION THAT MOST PEOPLE WANT TO HAVE THE ANSWER TO IS WHEN WILL MY TRASH BE PICKED UP? OUR TARGET, UH, EVERY YEAR MOVING FORWARD FROM NOW AND MAYBE TILL THE END OF TIME IS 99%. NOW, A HUNDRED PERCENT WILL BE A GREAT NUMBER, BUT THE REALITY IS, IS WE ALSO WANT TO HAVE A, A NUMBER THAT'S MEANINGFUL AND AND ATTAINABLE. UM, IF WE GET TO 100%, THEN WE'LL REEVALUATE WHAT WE NEED TO DO. BUT RIGHT NOW, 99% IS A FAIR NUMBER TO START WITH BECAUSE THAT NEXT RELATES DIRECTLY TO THE FOLLOWING KPI, WHICH IS THE RELIABILITY OF THAT SERVICE. WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS COMING IN TO 3 1 1 FOR EACH 10,000 PICKUPS WE MAKE IS A NUMBER THAT'S MANAGEABLE, THAT ALLOWS US TO RESPOND WHEN THERE IS A PROBLEM AND THERE WILL BE A PROBLEM. SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO ALSO REMEMBER THAT JUST BECAUSE A COMPLAINT HAS COME IN DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE FACT THAT THE CITY DID SOMETHING WRONG. UH, SOMETIMES, AND THIS HAPPENS CERTAINLY IN SOLID WASTE COLLECTION, THE COMPLAINT WILL COME IN THAT YOU DIDN'T STOP AT MY HOUSE WHEN INDEED WE DID. BUT YOUR CAN WASN'T OUT. AND THAT'S WHY THESE ARE FAIR WAYS TO MEASURE WHAT WE'RE DOING AND BE ABLE TO RESOLVE AND TACKLE THOSE CHALLENGES. BUT THEN LEADING RIGHT INTO THAT IS THE NEXT KPI, HOW QUICKLY ARE WE CLOSING THE SERVICE REQUESTS THAT COME OUT OF OUR 3 1 1 COMPLAINTS? AND ALL OF THOSE SHOULD BE COMPLETED WITHIN THEIR SLA 100% EVERY SINGLE MONTH. WE'VE MADE GREAT IMPROVEMENTS THERE. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT AGAIN IN A FEW MOMENTS, BUT THERE'S STILL WORK TO BE DONE. LEG, UH, RELATED DIRECTLY TO THAT THEN IS THE BACKLOG. HOW MANY TICKETS ARE LINGERING EVERY SINGLE MONTH? WE DON'T WANT THERE TO BE ANY TICKETS LINGERING, AND THAT'S WHY 100% IS A FAIR MEASUREMENT THERE. EVERY REQUEST THAT COMES IN EACH MONTH ULTIMATELY SHOULD BE RESOLVED WITHIN THAT SAME MONTH, WHICH WILL SUPPORT THE SLA TARGETS THAT WE'VE ASSIGNED TO IT. AND THEN FINALLY, AN ESCALATION RATE. SOME CASES ARE MORE PARTICULAR AND REQUIRE ADDITIONAL ATTENTION, AND THEY NEED TO BE ESCALATED. THEY'RE GONNA NEED A SUPERVISOR, THEY NEED A MANAGER. THEY MAY NEED A CHIEF SOLID WASTE OFFICER OR A DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR TO INTERVENE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE SOLVE IT. BUT WE DON'T WANT THAT TO BE THE STANDARD. WE WANT THAT TO BE THE EXCEPTION. AND SO LESS THAN 2% IS OUR TARGET THERE. NOW, ON THE OTHER SIDE, WE ALSO HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE OPERATE, THAT WE'RE MEASURING OUR OPERATIONS AS WELL, AND THAT INCLUDES THE AVAILABILITY OF OUR FLEET. THIS IS A TREMENDOUS PAIN POINT WE'LL DISCUSS IN A MOMENT, BUT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT ON A DAILY BASIS, AT LEAST 85% OF OUR FLEET IS AVAILABLE TO ROLL IN THE MORNING. AND WHEN I SAY AVAILABLE, I DON'T JUST MEAN LIKE, HEY, WE PLUGGED THE HOLE THIS MORNING. YOU CAN SEND IT ON THE ROAD. AND IN 10 MILES THE HOSE POPS AGAIN, WHICH IS A LITTLE BIT OF A CHALLENGE WE'RE DEALING WITH. I MEAN, IT IS FULLY OPERATIONAL AND READY TO BE USED THROUGHOUT THE DAY. WE ALSO WANT TO TAKE A LOOK AT OUR ROUTES. THE NUMBER OF MULTIPLE, UH, DRIVERS THAT ARE REQUIRED TO FULFILL A ROUTE THAT TARGET NEEDS TO COME DOWN SIGNIFICANTLY. AND ABOUT A QUARTER IS FAIR BECAUSE WHEN YOU ASSIGN ADDITIONAL DRIVERS TO HELP OUT, THERE COULD BE A MULTITUDE OF REASONS FOR THAT, WHICH COULD BE THAT THERE IS CAPACITY AND AVAILABILITY TO HELP AND MOVE THINGS ALONG FASTER, OR THAT WE NEED TO MAKE UP SOME WORK OR DO SOMETHING ELSE. BUT AT THE POINT WHERE MOST OF OUR ROUTES ARE ASSIGNED MULTIPLE DRIVERS, PERHAPS WE HAVEN'T EFFECTIVELY MADE THE ROUTING IN THE FIRST PLACE. AND SO THIS ENSURES THAT WE ARE FOCUSED ON THE RIGHT THINGS. AND THEN FINALLY, AND THIS IS A KPI FOR THIS YEAR IN PARTICULAR, IT WILL CHANGE TO SOMETHING FOR THE NEXT FISCAL YEAR, BUT WE WANTED TO TARGET A SPECIFIC 10% REDUCTION IN THE AMOUNT OF OVERTIME SPEND. UM, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. NOW I WANNA DEMONSTRATE TO YOU WHERE WE'RE AT RIGHT NOW AND WHERE WE'VE COME. THIS IS ON THE FIRST KPI OF ON-TIME PERFORMANCE. I'M HAPPY TO SAY TODAY, AS OF THE END OF SEPTEMBER AND GOING INTO EVEN THIS WEEK, GARBAGE IS 99% ON TIME. RECYCLING IS 98% ON TIME. WHERE DO WE HAVE WORK TO DO HEAVY TRASH, SIGNIFICANT WORK TO DO IN HEAVY TRASH? AND I WISH I'D INCLUDED ON THIS SLIDE. I HADN'T. BUT AS YOU KNOW, HEAVY TRASH IS A EVERY OTHER MONTH PICKUP. LAST MONTH WAS THE FIRST MONTH IN THE NEW STRUCTURE AND WE HIT 41% AND THAT'S TERRIBLE. BUT THE PREVIOUS MONTH THAT WE DID IT, IT WAS 11%. SO THERE IS SOME IMPROVEMENT, BUT THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR WHAT WE ARE TARGETING. THE TARGET LEVEL FOR EVERY SERVICE HERE IS 99%, AND THAT CERTAINLY INCLUDES HEAVY TRASH. WHEN THE MAYOR ASKED US TO HELP STEP IN, YOU CAN SEE IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR THAT THOSE SERVICE LEVELS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THROUGH COORDINATED EFFORTS AND WORKING TOGETHER AND CHIEF HASSAN'S TEAM AND MAKING SURE THAT WE PUT ALL OF OUR RESOURCES WHERE THEY WOULD MOST BE EFFECTIVE, WE HAVE NOW BEEN ABLE TO STABILIZE RIGHT AT OR VERY CLOSE TO THAT TARGET OF 99%, AND THAT'S WHY WE'LL CONTINUE TO MOVE FORWARD. NEXT SLIDE [00:15:01] ON OUR COLLECTION SERVICE RELIABILITY. THIS IS FOR EVERY 10,000 PICKUPS. HOW MANY ARE REPORTED TO 3 1 1 FOR A MISSED, UH, MISSED SERVICE EACH MONTH? OBVIOUSLY A LOW NUMBER IS GONNA BE BETTER. WE'RE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION IN FY 26 IN THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER, THAT NUMBER WAS 19 THIS YEAR, THAT NUMBER IS 17. RECYCLING'S GONE DOWN EVEN MORE FROM 20 TO 13, BUT THE GOAL IS TO BE BELOW 10. FOR EVERY 10,000 PICKUPS, WE SHOULD HAVE 10 OR FEWER CALLS ABOUT A MISSED SERVICE OR SOMETHING THAT'S NOT GOING RIGHT, AND THAT CORRELATES VERY WELL WITH A 99% UM, SERVICE RATE. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. ON THE OVERTIME SIDE OF THE HOUSE, YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE WAS A BIG, HUGE TREND HERE. AND ONCE AGAIN, I'LL HIGHLIGHT THAT BEGINNING AND ABOUT THE END OF JANUARY TO FEBRUARY ALREADY, YOU CAN SEE THAT WE HAD BEEN CURTAILING THE AMOUNT THAT WENT INTO THAT. AGAIN, JUST THROWING MONEY AT THE PROBLEM DOESN'T NECESSARILY MOVE THINGS IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. THERE NEEDED TO BE SOME ACCOUNTABILITY. NOW, I'LL BE HONEST, I DO NOT KNOW. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF OVERTIME SHOULD BE. THAT IS GONNA TAKE THE REST OF THE FISCAL YEAR FOR US TO UNDERSTAND WHAT DOES THE OPERATION LOOK LIKE? HOW WELL CAN WE ACHIEVE OUR GOALS AND OUR KPIS THAT WE'VE SET OUT HERE. AND IF WE DO SO, WHAT WOULD BE THE APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF OVERTIME? BUT WE KNEW GOING INTO THIS THAT WE WERE SPENDING TOO MUCH. AND SO A TARGET OF 10% IS GREAT. WE HAVE ALREADY IN JUST THE FIRST TWO MONTHS REACHED ALMOST 63% OF WHAT THAT TARGET IS. UM, IT'S ABOUT THE, THE OVERTIME BUDGET FOR THIS YEAR IS JUST UNDER $6 MILLION. SO IN JUST THE FIRST COUPLE OF MONTHS, WE'RE ALREADY TWO THIRDS OF THE WAY THERE. THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE'RE GOING TO STEP OFF THE GAS. WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO PUSH THIS FORWARD SO THAT WE CAN DRIVE REAL SAVINGS. THAT'S ALSO BEEN PART OF THE CONVERSATION AT LARGE THAT WE'VE HAD ABOUT AFFORDABILITY, CERTAINLY WITHIN THE WATER UTILITY. AND I'VE BEEN CONVINCED FROM THE BEGINNING, AND I REMAIN EVEN MORE CONVINCED TODAY, THAT WE KNOW WE CAN DELIVER A BETTER SERVICE FOR LESS THAN IT'S COST US IN THE PAST, WHICH MEANS THAT ULTIMATELY AS SOLID WASTE FEES RAMP UP, THEY WILL BE LESS THAN WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO BE IF WE DIDN'T MAKE CHANGES TO MOVE IT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. NEXT SLIDE. AS FAR AS SERVICE REQUESTS CLOSED WITHIN THE SLA, THIS IS ONE AND THE NEXT SLIDE AS WELL, IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE PARTICULARLY PROUD OF. WE'RE NOT WHERE WE WANT TO BE, WHICH IS TO RESOLVE A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THEM, BUT WE ARE CERTAINLY MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION HERE. SOMETIMES THE PROBLEM WITH 3 1 1 REQUESTS IS THAT WHEN YOU DON'T PAY ATTENTION, YOU DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS YOU'RE LOOKING AT. SO SOMETIMES THERE'S A LOT OF DUPLICATE REQUESTS FOR THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM OR SERVICE. IT DOESN'T TAKE A WHOLE LOT TO HELP SATISFY OUR RESIDENTS THAT THE CITY ACTUALLY IS LISTENING TO THEM AND HANDLING THEIR ISSUES. WE ALSO NEED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THEM WHEN THOSE THINGS ARE DONE AND GET THEIR FEEDBACK AS WELL. IT'S NOT JUST ENOUGH FOR US TO SAY, OH, WE TOOK CARE OF IT. CLOSE THE TICKET OUT AND WALK AWAY. AND WE'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE IN A COUPLE OF SLIDES, BUT THIS IS A MARKET STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AS WE CONTINUE TO TRY AND IMPROVE THE PUBLIC TRUST THAT THIS IS A SERVICE THAT WILL WORK. NEXT SLIDE. THE BACKLOG PREVENTION RATE IS WHAT HELPS YOU UNDERSTAND REALLY WHERE A LOT OF THAT EFFORT'S BEEN FOCUSED. UM, FOR INSTANCE, IN THE MONTH OF, UM, IN FY 26, THERE WERE MORE THAN 38,000 3 1 1 REQUESTS THAT CAME IN. WE'VE NOW CLOSED OUT ABOUT 41,000 3 1 1 REQUESTS. THAT CLEARLY INDICATES IT'S MORE THAN THE TOTAL NUMBER THAT HAD COME IN BEFORE. THAT ALSO MEANS STUFF HAD BEEN LINGERING FOR A REALLY, REALLY LONG TIME. AND THERE'S A MULTITUDE OF REASONS FOR THAT. BUT AGAIN, SOME OF IT JUST CAME DOWN TO WE DIDN'T HAVE OUR EYE ON THE BALL AND WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION, AND YOU CAN SOMETIMES FIND OUT THAT THERE ARE THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO THAT IS MUCH LOWER HANGING FRUIT TO RESOLVE A CONCERN THAN JUST LET IT LINGER OUT THERE IN THE ETHER FOR FOREVER. NEXT SLIDE. AS FAR AS ESCALATIONS ARE CONCERNED, WHEN YOU RESOLVE CUSTOMER'S COMPLAINTS, ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU HAVE FEWER THAT HAVE TO BE RESOLVED BY UPPER MANAGEMENT, AND THAT IS AS SIMPLE AS IT CAN POSSIBLY BE. UH, RIGHT NOW, SO FAR IN THIS FISCAL YEAR, WE'RE AT 1.8%. OUR TARGET IS BELOW TWO. UM, IT'LL EBB AND FLOW AS WE MOVE ALONG. WE HAVE ANOTHER SLIDE IN A LITTLE BIT THAT'LL SHOW YOU THE TOTAL NUMBER OF TICKETS THAT WE'VE RESOLVED IN PARTICULAR MONTHS. BUT THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'RE HAPPY IT'S GONE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO STAY ON THAT NEXT SLIDE. MULTI DRIVER RATE. UM, IT WAS 40% FROM JANUARY TO JUNE WE'RE DOWN TO 35% ON GARBAGE. IT WAS ALMOST 60% FROM JANUARY TO JUNE. IN RECYCLING, WE'RE DOWN TO 40%. THIS HELPS US CONTROL COSTS, ESPECIALLY ON THE OVERTIME SIDE OF THE HOUSE, BECAUSE TYPICALLY MULTI DRIVER ROUTES ARE THE RESULT OF ADDING OVERTIME TO HELP SOLVE OTHER PROBLEMS. SO AGAIN, IF WE'RE 99% [00:20:01] ON TIME AND WE'RE RESOLVING OUR 3 1 1 TICKETS AND OUR ROUTES ARE OPTIMIZED THE WAY THEY OUGHT TO BE, THERE SHOULDN'T BE A LOT OF NEED FOR MULTIPLE DRIVERS ON THE SAME ROUTE. THERE ARE CHALLENGES THERE, THE AVAILABILITY TO DROP OFF, REFUSE AFTER IT'S BEEN COLLECTED, WAITING IN LINES, FOR INSTANCE, THAT CAN CAUSE A, A PARTICULAR DRIVER'S ROUTE TO LINGER LONGER THAN WE'D LIKE TO, WHICH IS WHY THE GOAL ISN'T THAT WE HAVE NO MULTI DRIVER ROUTES, BUT IT'S THAT WE CONTROL IT AND THAT WE'RE MORE EFFECTIVE AS WE DO SO. NEXT SLIDE. AS FAR AS FLEET AVAILABILITY IS CONCERNED, SO FAR IN THIS FISCAL YEAR, WE'RE AT 83%. NOW, WE'LL NOTE THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY A METRIC THAT IS A HUNDRED PERCENT CONTROLLED BY PUBLIC WORKS. UH, WE RELY ON THE FLEET MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT TO ULTIMATELY MANAGE, MAINTAIN, AND REPAIR OUR TRUCKS. HOWEVER, WE CANNOT JUST STEP BACK AND SAY, HERE YOU GO, FLEET, HERE'S THE PROBLEM AND WALK AWAY. AND THAT'S WHY WE OWN THIS KPI AS MUCH AS ANYBODY DOES, BECAUSE THIS IS ALSO A DIRECT INDICATION OF WHETHER OR NOT WE ARE DOING WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO ENSURE THAT ESCALATED ISSUES ARE RESOLVED. IT'S IMPORTANT, AND FLEET WOULD HAVE NO WAY TO KNOW THAT THERE'S A PROBLEM UNLESS WE STAY ON TOP OF THIS METRIC IN PARTICULAR AS WELL. AND AVAILABILITY INCLUDES ALL ASPECTS OF THE TRUCK, IN MY OPINION. UH, THAT INCLUDES MAKING SURE THE AIR CONDITIONING'S WORKING. THAT INCLUDES MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S ENOUGH GAS, THAT THE BRAKES ARE GOOD, THAT THE HOSES WORK FROM THE TOP TO THE BOTTOM OF EVERY SINGLE VEHICLE. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE ENOUGH TO PUT ON THE ROAD EVERY DAY TO DELIVER THE SERVICE THAT WE'VE PROMISED. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. SO LET'S TALK A LITTLE BIT NOW ABOUT 3 1 1 AND OUR SIMPLIFICATION INTO THE SYSTEM. THIS IS A BIG PART OF THE STRATEGY. UM, AS WE BEGAN TACKLING THIS PROBLEM, WHAT WE DISCOVERED WAS THERE WERE 38 DIFFERENT SERVICE REQUESTS TYPES AVAILABLE TO 3 1 1 AGENTS TO ASSIGN A TICKET TO IN SOLID WASTE, WHICH IS, WHICH IS STAGGERING. UM, ALMOST NONSENSICAL SOME OF THOSE SERVICE REQUEST TYPES. AND THE, UM, EXECUTIVE MEMO THAT EACH OF YOU RECEIVED AS WELL, DETAILS, IT'S GOT A CHART OF ALL OF THOSE, BUT SOME OF THEM ARE SO CLOSE TOGETHER THAT YOU WOULDN'T REALLY KNOW WHEN YOU GET A CALL WHETHER OR NOT IT EVEN WENT TO THE RIGHT PLACE. AND THE PROBLEM WITH THAT IS, IS THAT ALSO MEANS THAT MAYBE THE RIGHT PEOPLE AREN'T LOOKING AT THE PROBLEM WHEN IT NEEDS TO BE SOLVED. MAYBE IT'S NOT GETTING ESCALATED THE RIGHT WAY. MAYBE IT DIDN'T EVEN RECEIVE THE CORRECT SLA. SO WE HAVE SIMPLIFIED THIS INTO 12. THIS IS AN ONGOING EFFORT IN CONJUNCTION WITH HITS AND A RA TO IMPROVE THE 3 1 1 SYSTEM WHERE IT RELATES TO SOLID WASTE. IT IS ONGOING RIGHT NOW AS OF TODAY, AND I'M GRATEFUL DIRECTOR BARRY IS HERE, UM, AS PART OF THAT SUPPORT. BUT WE'VE SIMPLIFIED EVERYTHING DOWN TO THESE 12 AND OF THE 12, ONE OF THEM IN FACT IS A NEW REQUEST, WHICH RELATES TO SOLID WASTE BILLING, UM, AS A RESULT OF THE, OF THE NEW BILLING FEE. BUT ALL OF THESE SLAS ARE EXPECTED TO BE RESOLVED IN FOUR TO FIVE DAYS. SOME OF THEM PREVIOUSLY HAD LEAD TIMES OF TWO WEEKS, 30 CALENDAR DAYS, OR EVEN A NEW SERVICER ACCOUNT SHOCKINGLY COULD GO UP TO 66 CALENDAR DAYS. SO HOW LONG SOMEONE'S GARBAGE GONNA SIT OUT THERE BEFORE WE PICK IT UP WHEN THEY'RE A NEW CUSTOMER AND NEW TO OUR CITY? SIMPLY UNACCEPTABLE. BUT FOUR TO FIVE BUSINESS DAYS IS AN ABSOLUTELY GREAT TARGET AND ATTAINABLE TARGET TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PROVIDE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, AND DEPENDABLE SERVICE, AND IMPORTANTLY THAT OUR CUSTOMER'S EXPECTATIONS ARE CLEAR AND ABLE TO BE MET EACH DAY. NEXT SLIDE PLEASE. NOW, AS I MENTIONED, HERE IS A SLIDE THAT TALKS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ACTIVE VERSUS NEW SERVICE REQUESTS. IN, UM, FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR, THE BACKLOG STOOD AT 23,000, MORE THAN 23,000 OPEN REQUESTS THAT WERE OUT THERE. MANY OF THEM DATED BACK A LONG TIME. UH, WE'RE GRATEFUL TO THE TEAM, UH, WHO DILIGENTLY DUG INTO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE AND FOLLOWED THROUGH ON EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT NEEDED TO TAKE PLACE TO RESOLVE IT AND CLOSE IT OUT. IN SOME INSTANCES, IT WAS VERY SIMPLE. IN FACT, IN SOME INSTANCES, THE THE PROBLEM HAD ALREADY BEEN SOLVED AND THE TICKET WAS SIMPLY LINGERING. BUT THAT'S AN OPERATIONAL PROBLEM WITHIN A DEPARTMENT. WE CAN'T ALLOW TO HAPPEN BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT WE ARE NOT FOCUSED ON DOING THE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED TODAY. IF WE CLOSE OUR TICKETS OUT TIMELY AND ACCURATELY AND COMMUNICATE BACK TO THE CUSTOMERS, OBVIOUSLY, UH, WE HAVE AN IMPROVEMENT IN SERVICE TODAY. THERE'S JUST A LITTLE OVER 2,600 IN THAT BACKLOG. WE ARE MARCHING STEADILY TOWARDS ZERO. THAT IS THE GOAL. SO REMEMBER A HUNDRED PERCENT IS THE SLA WE HAVE ESTABLISHED INTERNALLY. THERE WILL BE NO BACKLOG. WE'LL RESOLVE EVERYTHING WITHIN THE SLA NEXT SLIDE. AND FINALLY, HERE'S SOME VERY INTERESTING DATA ABOUT [00:25:01] THE IMPROVEMENTS JUST OVER THIS LAST QUARTER. UM, IN JULY OF 2025, THE SURVEY RESULTS FROM CUSTOMERS STOOD AT ABOUT A 38% SATISFACTION RATE. TODAY, THAT'S AT 70%. NOW, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT NUMBER REALLY OUGHT TO BE. I'LL BE HONEST, IF YOU'RE CALLING BECAUSE YOU'VE GOT A TRASH PROBLEM, YOU'RE GOING TO BE UNHAPPY. AND I DON'T KNOW THAT OUR SOLVING A PROBLEM THAT EXISTED IS GOING TO MAKE SOMEONE HAPPY. BUT I AM VERY SATISFIED THAT IF IN A SHORT ORDER WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO IMPROVE THAT TO 70%, IT MEANS THAT FOLKS ARE RECOGNIZING WE'RE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND THAT THE SERVICE HAS IMPROVED. THE AMOUNT OF MISSED GARBAGE AND RECYCLING IS DOWN BY 28%. 12,400 FEWER MISSED PICKUPS. CONTAINER REPLACEMENTS, WE'RE GETTING THAT OUT. NOW, WITHIN FIVE DAYS, IT WAS TAKING MORE THAN 50 DAYS PREVIOUSLY, AND ESCALATIONS ARE DOWN 83%. IN FY 2026, WE WERE AVERAGING ABOUT 1300 A MONTH. NOW THAT'S DOWN TO 230. WE'RE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND WE'RE VERY HAPPY WITH HOW THAT GOES. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE'RE HAPPY TO REPORT ON THIS PUBLICLY TO LET FOLKS KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS WE'RE DOING, HAVE BEEN DOING AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO. OUR INTENTION IS, AND AGAIN, IN CONJUNCTION WITH HITS, TO MAKE THIS DATA AVAILABLE IN REAL TIME PUBLICLY ONLINE, SO EVERYONE CAN SEE EXACTLY WHERE WE STAND ALL THE TIME. IT SHOULDN'T REQUIRE A COUNCIL PRESENTATION TO LET COUNCIL AND THE PUBLIC KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING. OF COURSE, I MENTIONED DURING THE BUDGET THAT I WOULD COME BACK TO REPORT THESE THINGS TO YOU BECAUSE WE WERE NOT SATISFIED WITH WHERE WE STOOD AT THE TIME. AND SO THAT'S WHY WE'RE HERE TODAY AND I'M GRATEFUL FOR THAT OPPORTUNITY, BUT I AM REALLY HAPPY THAT WE'RE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. NEXT SLIDE. THERE IS WORK TO BE DONE. AND THIS TELLS YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY SOME OF IT DOES TAKE TIME. WE NEED TO DO BETTER WITH EDUCATING RESIDENTS ABOUT THE PROGRAM, HOW IT WORKS, WHERE THEY CAN GO IF SOMETHING DOESN'T QUITE FIT INTO THE NEAT BOX THAT WE'VE SET OUT THERE, THAT'S GONNA REQUIRE US TO COLLABORATE WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS IN THE CITY LIKE THE DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS. WE NEED TO WORK ON EMPLOYEE RETENTION. WE ARE LOSING MORE EXPERIENCED STAFF FAST AND WE'RE ABLE TO REPLACE THEM. IT'S GONNA REQUIRE US TO COLLABORATE WITH HUMAN RESOURCES ON WHAT THEIR STRATEGIES COULD BE TO ALLOW US TO GET FOLKS IN AND NOT JUST BRING 'EM IN, BUT KEEP 'EM IN. WE NEED TO IMPROVE THE DATA CONSISTENCY. ADMITTEDLY, IT HAS BEEN A STRUGGLE THROUGHOUT ALL OF THE YEARS SINCE WE STARTED WORKING WITH SOLID WASTE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE NUMBERS REALLY WERE BECAUSE THEY'RE FRAGMENTED AND OUT THERE HITS IS WORKING WITH US DIRECTLY ON THAT RIGHT NOW, AND THAT'S HOW WE'LL BE ABLE TO MAKE THE INFORMATION PUBLIC. OUR FLEET NEEDS SERIOUS CONSIDERATION. MORE THAN 33% OF OUR AUTOMATIC SIDE LOADERS RIGHT NOW ARE OVER SEVEN YEARS OLD. THE EXPECTED LIFE EXPECTANCY OF AN AUTOMATIC SIDE LOADER IS SEVEN YEARS. SO ALREADY A THIRD OF THAT FLEET IS BEYOND ITS LIFE EXPECTANCY. AND WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS, THAT NUMBER WILL BALLOON TO BETWEEN 50 AND 60%. THAT MEANS THAT IT'LL BE DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN AN 85% READINESS RATE ON A DAILY BASIS. SO INVESTMENTS IN FLEET HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED AS WELL. WE KNOW WE DO, WE WILL TALK A LITTLE BIT AT THE END ABOUT RECYCLING CONTAMINATION, BUT THERE'S CHALLENGES THERE. WE'VE GOTTA, WE'VE GOTTA HAVE A PROACTIVE APPROACH IN HOW WE ADDRESS IT. VACANCY RATES, FILLING KEY LEADERSHIP POSITIONS. SO ACCOUNTABILITIES ARE EFFECTIVE AND TAKING PLACE ON EACH DAY AND REDUCING OVERTIME AS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT. UM, WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE BUILDING THE ARCHITECTURE FOR LONG LASTING RESULTS HERE WITHIN THE DIVISION. THESE AREN'T SIMPLY PLATITUDES. UH, THEY AREN'T GOOD IDEAS. THESE ARE THINGS THAT WE'RE ACTIVELY DOING TODAY AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK TOWARDS. BUT IT IS A MASSIVE OPERATION. AND AS I MENTIONED THIS MORNING IN COUNCIL, THAT ALSO INCLUDES OUR FACILITIES, WHICH NEEDS SIGNIFICANT ATTENTION. OUR EMPLOYEES PROBABLY WOULD STICK AROUND A LITTLE BIT LONGER IF THEY HAD PLACES WHERE THEY WERE PROUD TO WORK ON A DAILY BASIS. WE KNOW THAT. AND SO WE'VE GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE TAKING CARE OF THEM JUST LIKE THEY'RE TAKING CARE OF THE REST OF HOUSTON. NEXT SLIDE. SO AT THE END OF THE FIRST SECTION, I WANNA MOVE NOW TO AN ILLEGAL DUMPING STRATEGY. AND THIS IS DIRECTLY TO ADDRESS THE $3 MILLION BUDGET AMENDMENT FROM COUNCIL MEMBER SALINAS THAT WE WERE RECEIVED AS PART OF FY 2027. NEXT SLIDE. HERE YOU CAN SEE, UH, SERVICE REQUEST PER ZIP CODE. THIS IS FROM MARCH 1ST TO SEPTEMBER 28TH OF THIS YEAR. MORE THAN 8,623 ILLEGAL DUMPING REQUESTS CAME IN. THE TOP 10 ZIP CODES ARE REPRESENTED, UM, ON THE BOTTOM SECTION THERE. BUT THE REALITY IS, WHEN I LOOK AT THAT MAP AND I LOOK AT THE HOTSPOTS, I SEE A PROBLEM EVERYWHERE. NOW, CERTAINLY THERE ARE [00:30:01] ZONES THAT IT'S HEAVIER, BUT THE REALITY IS IT'S EVERYWHERE AND IT NEEDS SOME ATTENTION AT THIS POINT. RIGHT NOW, TODAY, THERE ARE STILL OUTSTANDING ABOUT 165 OF THOSE VIOLATIONS THAT WE ARE TRACKING AND TACKLING. THAT REQUIRES INVESTIGATION SUPPORT AND CLEANUP ACTIVITIES, BUT WE'RE MOVING AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN ON THOSE ACTIVITIES. NEXT SLIDE. THE STRATEGY REVOLVES AROUND A, WE CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE FOUR PART APPROACH. FIRST, IT ALWAYS BEGINS WITH INSPECTION. WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY WHAT IT IS WE'RE TRYING TO SOLVE. A 3 1 1 REQUEST IS NOT GOING TO BE ENOUGH FOR US TO UNDERSTAND THE DEPTH AND BREADTH OF WHATEVER THE CHALLENGE IS AT THAT TIME. SOMEONE'S GONNA HAVE TO PHYSICALLY PUT EYES ON IT AND DOCUMENT WHAT IT NEEDS. WE ALSO HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT IN THIS WHOLE CIRCLE OF THINGS, WE ARE EDUCATING PEOPLE ON THEIR OPTIONS AND WHERE TO GO. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO COLLECT WASTE QUICKLY SO THAT THESE DUMPING SITES DON'T PERSIST. BUT WE ALSO HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS ENFORCEMENT ALONG THE WAY FOR BAD ACTORS, OF WHICH THERE ARE MANY AT THIS POINT. JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, HPD WAS ABLE TO PICK UP SOMEONE FOR DUMPING TIRES, WHICH IS THE NUMBER ONE ILLEGAL DUMPING PROBLEM WE HAVE IN THE CITY. SO AT THIS POINT, WE RECOGNIZE, AND WE KNOW THAT THERE HAS TO BE A FOUR PRONGED COMPLETE APPROACH TO WHAT WE'RE DOING HERE. THREE, $3 MILLION IS NOT INSIGNIFICANT. BUT THE REALITY IS, AND WE ALL KNOW THIS, IT'S NOT ENOUGH, AND WE WILL CONTINUE TO PUT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES TOWARDS THIS PROBLEM, BUT THIS DOES PUT US ON THE RIGHT PATH TO BEING ABLE TO RESPOND QUICKER IN MANY AREAS. NEXT SLIDE. I ALSO HAVE TO POINT OUT HERE THAT THIS IS NOT SIMPLY JUST A PUBLIC WORKS ACTIVITY ALONE. UM, EVEN WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT ITSELF, YOU HAVE FOLKS FROM SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT DIVISION AND THE CODE ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE DIVISION WHO HAVE TO WORK HAND IN HAND IN ORDER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ABLE TO RESPOND TO CHALLENGES. ADDITIONALLY, WE KNOW THAT THERE'S AT LEAST FOLKS FROM THE HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT THAT HAVE TO BE INVOLVED FOR THE ENFORCEMENT SIDE OF THINGS TO ENSURE THAT CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS ARE HANDLED APPROPRIATELY. AND, UH, ILLEGAL DUMPING VIOLATIONS ARE CRIMINAL VIOLATIONS. THERE IS CERTAINLY A CIVIL ELEMENT TO IT, BUT AT ITS CORE, ACCORDING TO THE LAW, YOU HAVE COMMITTED A CRIME IF YOU HAVE DUMPED ILLEGALLY. AND SO WE NEED SUPPORT FROM ALL OF THOSE FOLKS. NEXT SLIDE. SO OF THE $3 MILLION ALLOCATED THIS YEAR, WE ARE GOING TO SPEND IT IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS, FIRST AND SIGNIFICANTLY INTO CAPITAL EQUIPMENT. UH, WE DO NOT IN SOLID WASTE CURRENTLY POSSESS THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT IN MOST INSTANCES TO CLEAR ILLEGAL DUMPING SITES. AND IN FACT, WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT MERGING SOLID WASTE INTO PUBLIC WORKS, PART OF THAT DISCUSSION WAS THE FACT THAT WE ARE ALREADY WORKING TOGETHER ON A LOT OF THINGS WHEN WE NEED TO GO CLEAR A SITE. MOST OFTEN WE'RE PULLING CREWS FROM DITCH REESTABLISHMENT OPERATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION AND DRAINAGE TO PULL A GRAD ALL AND DUMP TRUCKS OUT TO CLEAR OUT SITES AND MAKE THEM CLEAN. A LOT OF TIMES IT IS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF REFUSE. IT'S NOT WHERE WE CAN JUST GO GRAB A COUPLE OF PEOPLE AND THROW STUFF IN THE BACK OF A PICKUP. IT'S SIGNIFICANT. AND SO WE NEED TO HAVE THE RIGHT KIND OF EQUIPMENT. UM, I'LL TELL YOU MORE ABOUT SPECIFICS IN A SECOND, BUT I WANNA GIVE YOU THE OVERVIEW. WE'RE ALSO GOING TO HAVE A CONCERTED INVESTMENT IN CAMERAS AND SIGNAGE. AND THIS IS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH HOUSTON POLICE TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE ABLE TO ENFORCE THINGS AS BEST THEY CAN, BUT ALSO PROVIDE US DATA TO HELP US KNOW WHERE BETTER TO SERVE THE HOTSPOTS THAT WE SEE THROUGHOUT THE CITY. AND FINALLY, WE REALLY DO NEED TO SPEND MONEY ON SOME PUBLIC EDUCATION. PUBLIC EDUCATION LOOKS LIKE MANY DIFFERENT THINGS. IT'S NOT JUST, THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN DUMP YOUR TRASH. IT'S ALSO THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN LET US KNOW WHERE YOU SEE PEOPLE DOING WRONG THINGS. WE HAVE TO HAVE INFORMATION AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN, AND IT HAS TO BE GOOD ACTIONABLE INFORMATION IF WE'RE GOING TO HOLD BAD ACTORS ACCOUNTABLE. NEXT SLIDE. SO FOR CAPITAL EQUIPMENT, WE INTEND TO PURCHASE THREE REAR STEER HYDRAULIC LOADERS. NOW, THESE ARE VEHICLES THAT EFFECTIVELY WORK LIKE A DUMP TRUCK AND A GRADLE ALL IN ONE SO THAT WE'RE ABLE TO GO OUT AND MAKE SURE THAT WE PICK THINGS UP OFF THE GROUND, STICK IT IN, AND GET OUT OF THERE AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN. IT ALLOWS US ALSO TO NOT DEDICATE AS MANY PEOPLE TO A SPECIFIC JOB SITE AT ONCE, WHICH MEANS THAT WE CAN RESPOND TO MORE JOB SITES AT A TIME IN ADDITIONAL. IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE ALSO NEED MORE TRACTOR TRAILERS. THOSE ARE THE BIGGER DUMP TRUCKS THAT YOU SEE THAT LOOKS JUST LIKE AN OPEN 18 WHEELER WHERE WE CAN PUT REFUSE IN AND GET IT TO THE APPROPRIATE SITES. UM, THIS WILL COST ROUGHLY $2.3 MILLION. THAT'S THE BULK OF WHAT WE'VE GOT. BUT IT WILL POSITION US TO HAVE TWO COMPLETE PICKUP TEAMS AND ADDITIONAL CAPACITY FOR MORE LOADERS OUT THERE, WHICH IS AN ALMOST FIVEFOLD INCREASE FROM WHAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO RIGHT NOW IN JUST THE SOLID WASTE DIVISION ITSELF. IT ALSO ALLOWS US TO MAKE [00:35:01] SURE THAT TRANSPORTATION, PERSONNEL AND PUBLIC WORKS ARE STILL ON THEIR TASKS, WHICH IS MAKING SURE THAT WE'RE DOING DIRE ESTABLISHMENT AND OTHER ACTIVITIES WITH THAT EQUIPMENT AS EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY AS POSSIBLE. NEXT SLIDE. AS FOR CAMERAS AND SIGNAGE, IT CONSISTS OF EVERYTHING FROM THE PURCHASE OF CAMERAS AND CAMERA COMPONENTS TO THE MAINTENANCE AND THE CLOUD STORAGE OF THEM. THE ABILITY TO HAVE ADDITIONAL SIGNAGE OUT THERE, WHICH SOMETIMES SERVES AS DETERRENCE FOR PEOPLE KNOWING THAT IF YOU CAN'T SEE A CAMERA, MAYBE YOU SHOULD LOOK HARDER BECAUSE IT'S PROBABLY OUT THERE AND THAT THESE SITES ARE BEING WATCHED. AND FINALLY, IT ALSO ALLOWS FROM SOME OVERTIME INTO THE CODE ENFORCEMENT SECTION OF PUBLIC WORKS TO HELP GO OUT TO THESE HOTSPOTS AND MAKE SURE THAT WE PROVIDE THE RIGHT KIND OF SUPPORT TO HPD AS THEY DO THEIR ENFORCEMENT AS WELL. AND THE NEXT SLIDE, IN TERMS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OUTREACH, THERE'S A NUMBER OF COMPONENTS THAT NEED TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, AND WE'LL USE A VARIETY OF VENDORS, SOME THAT ARE ALREADY ON BOARD WITHIN PUBLIC WORKS CONTRACTS. ADDITIONAL THAT WE WILL BRING ON BOARD TO HELP US WITH THIS. BUT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE SPENDING TIME ON HOTSPOTS, THAT WE'RE OUT IN NEIGHBORHOODS, THAT WE ARE TARGETING SPECIFIC AREAS AS WE SAW ON OUR MAP THAT HAVE BEEN PARTICULAR PROBLEM SPOTS OVER THE YEARS, THAT WE PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES THAT WE'RE TALKING TO CONTRACTORS AND TO BUSINESSES AS WELL. AND ALTHOUGH GENERALLY FOLKS WHO ARE FOLLOWING THE LAW TO DO THEIR BUSINESS, WHICH IS A LOT OF CONTRACTORS AREN'T OUR MAIN OFFENDERS, THEY TOO, THROUGH THE RIGHT EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS, WILL RECOGNIZE WHEN MAYBE SOME OTHER PEOPLE AREN'T AS GOOD AT THAT. AND HELPING THEM HAVE THE RIGHT EDUCATION ON WHAT DO I DO ABOUT THAT AT THE RIGHT TIME HELPS THE CITY AS WELL. WE'LL TALK ABOUT ADDITIONAL PUBLIC RELATIONS, EARNED MEDIA AND OTHER THINGS TO GO ACROSS THE CITY AS WE HELP THE CITY UNDERSTAND THAT THERE IS AN ABSOLUTE CONCERTED EFFORT FOCUSED ON ILLEGAL DUMPING TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO STOP IT BEFORE IT STARTS, BUT WHEN IT HAPPENS, TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE RESPONDED AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE SO THAT OUR NEIGHBORHOODS ARE CLEAN AND SAFE. NEXT SLIDE. EACH OF THESE THINGS HERE COMES WITH A WAY THAT WE'LL ALSO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ACCOUNTABLE FOR IT. FIRST OF ALL, ON THE CAPITAL EQUIPMENT, YOU'LL KNOW WE'RE EFFECTIVE BY THE NUMBER OF IMPROVED, UH, RESPONSES THAT WE HAVE TO DUMP SITES ACROSS THE CITY. ONE OF OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES, AS I SAID, IS SIMPLY HAVING ENOUGH EQUIPMENT TO GET OUT THERE ON TIME. THIS WILL HELP US DO THAT CAMERAS AND SIGNAGE. WE WILL SEE THROUGH ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS, WE'LL SEE THAT THROUGH RECORDS AND OVERTIME HOURS THAT ARE SPENT. WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE NUMBER OF SIGNS AND CAMERAS THAT HAVE BEEN DEPLOYED, ALTHOUGH WE WILL NOT SHARE WHERE THOSE CAMERAS ARE FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. BUT WE'LL TALK ABOUT WHAT WE'VE DONE AND WHERE IT'S GOING THROUGHOUT THE CITY. AND IN PUBLIC EDUCATION AND OUTREACH, THERE'S A LOT OF WAYS TO MEASURE YOUR ENGAGEMENT AND THE RESPONSIVENESS TO IT. WE WILL PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION AS WELL AS WE GO THROUGH THIS ENTIRE JOURNEY. BUT AS I MENTIONED AT THE BEGINNING, 3 MILLION IS NOT ENOUGH. IT IS A GREAT START. WE WILL CONTINUE TO PUT AS MUCH INTO THAT AS WE POSSIBLY CAN, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO GROW THIS PROGRAM AS NECESSARY TO COMBAT THE PROBLEMS. NEXT SLIDE. NOW FOR RECYCLING EDUCATION AND WHAT WE CALL AN INVESTMENT WITHIN IT. NEXT SLIDE. A SEPARATE BUDGET AMENDMENT ALLOCATED $250,000 TO REDUCE RECYCLING CONTAMINATION RATES. JUST LIKE THE ILLEGAL DUMPING PROBLEM, THERE'S A MULTITUDE OF ACTIVITIES THAT NEED TO TAKE PLACE WITHIN THE EDUCATIONAL FRONT. ON THIS SIDE, WE DO NEED TO AUDIT BETTER EXACTLY WHAT'S GOING ON. WE NEED TO TAG CARTS AND MEASURE HOW THINGS ARE GOING. THERE ARE MEDIA CAMPAIGNS THAT OUGHT TO TAKE PLACE, PARTNERSHIPS WITH AGENCIES THAT CAN HELP GET THAT MESSAGING OUT, TARGETED OUTREACH TO AREAS THAT ARE PARTICULARLY PROBLEMATIC. WE CAN START TO SEE A LITTLE BIT ON WHAT'S COMING IN ON SOME OF THE TRUCKS WHERE MAYBE WE'RE HAVING SOME MORE DIFFICULT TIMES IN CERTAIN PARTS OF TOWN. WE NEED TO SPEND SOME TIME INVESTING IN TOOLS EDUCATIONALLY THAT WILL ACTUALLY CHANGE BEHAVIOR. IT'S NOT ENOUGH TO JUST HAND SOMEONE A TRIFOLD FLYER OR EVEN JUST STICK A SIGN UP. WE DO NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DOING WHAT WE CAN TO HELP MEASURE THE WAY THOSE BEHAVIORS HAVE CHANGED. NOW, IT'S BEEN, IT'S BEEN REPORTED THAT OUR CONTAMINATION RATE IS ABOUT 39%. THAT IS VERY HIGH. I DO WANNA CLARIFY THOUGH, THAT THAT IS FOR OUR PURPOSES, AN UNKNOWN NUMBER. IT'S REPORTED ONLY ONE DIRECTIONAL. AND THE CITY ALSO NEEDS TO TAKE SOME ACCOUNTABILITY TO DO SOME OF ITS OWN MEASUREMENT AS WELL, TO MAKE SURE THAT AS A PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR RECYCLING PARTNER, THAT WE REALLY ARE ON THE SAME [00:40:01] PAGE AND HAVE THE RIGHT METRICS. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THAT IS THE RIGHT NUMBER AND IT SHOULD BE MUCH LOWER, BUT WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE PUTTING ALL OF OUR RESOURCES IN PLACES THAT ARE, THAT MAKE THE MOST SENSE, AND THAT WE HAVE ULTIMATE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EXACTLY HOW WE SPEND THAT MONEY AND WHAT THOSE CONTRACTS LOOK LIKE. AND WITH THAT, THAT CONCLUDES MY PREPARED REMARKS. MR. CHAIR COUNCIL MEMBERS, I THANK YOU AND I'M CERTAIN THAT THERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS I'LL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER. YEAH. BEFORE WE GET INTO THAT, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE A COMMENT. UM, I'D GONE THROUGH YOUR PRESENTATION BEFORE AND WAS LOOKING AT A LOT OF THE STATISTICS, AND YOU GUYS HAVE HAD SOME REMARKABLE IMPROVEMENT. UM, LIKE YOU AND I DISCUSSED EARLIER, I I THINK YOU HAD THE BENEFIT OF STARTING OUT FROM A LOW BENCHMARK, BUT NONETHELESS, THE IMPROVEMENT HAS BEEN FANTASTIC. UM, PLEASE KEEP IT GOING. SO WITH THAT, UH, COUNCILWOMAN BECK, OH, I'M SORRY. UM, WE HAD, UH, COUNCILWOMAN SALINAS AND COUNCILMAN RAMIREZ JOIN US. UH, IN THE MEANTIME, THANK YOU CHAIR AND THANK YOU DIRECTOR, UM, FOR ALL THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING ON THIS. WE'VE SEEN, UM, A LOT OF IMPROVEMENTS IN THE SALT WASTE DEPARTMENT. SO THANK YOU FIRST FOR THAT. UM, SEVERAL QUESTIONS. SO FIRST, WHEN IT COMES TO THE KPIS MM-HMM . UM, IS COMMUNICATIONS AT ALL GOING TO BE PART OF A-K-K-P-I IN ANY WAY, SUCH AS, YOU KNOW, IF, UM, THE INFORMATION INPUT INTO HTX CLICKS IS CORRECT? I WOULD SAY THAT HAS BEEN THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE THAT WE'VE HAD WITH THE SALT WASTE DEPARTMENT. THAT PEOPLE KIND OF UNDERSTAND WHEN THINGS ARE LATE, WHEN THERE'S DELAYS, BUT THEY JUST NEED TO KNOW WHAT DAY IS THE TRASH GETTING PICKED UP. AND WE'VE FOUND SO MANY INSTANCES WHERE HT S COLLECTS JUST DOES NOT HAVE THE RIGHT INFORMATION. YEAH. UM, VICE MAYOR PRO TEM, I, I WILL TELL YOU THAT, UM, FIRST OF ALL, THE EIGHT KPIS I PRESENTED, THAT'S NOT ALL WE'RE MEASURING, RIGHT? UH, AND, AND I KNOW, I KNOW, YOU KNOW, THAT, UM, WE HAVE A CONCERTED EFFORT RIGHT NOW WITHIN OUR COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING DIVISION WITHIN PUBLIC WORKS TO REVIEW ALL OF OUR PUBLIC FACING WEBSITES AND MEDIA TO ENSURE IT'S ACCURATE. THERE HAVE BEEN JUST OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS, HEAVY TRASH IS A GREAT EXAMPLE WHERE INFORMATION ON THE WEBSITE DIDN'T MATCH INFORMATION THAT WAS COMMUNICATED TO COUNCIL MEMBERS THAT WAS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WAS COMMUNICATED TO RESIDENTS AT A TOWN HALL AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. THAT'S UNACCEPTABLE TO US. WE WILL BE CLEANING ALL OF THAT UP TO MAKE SURE THAT IT'S ACCURATE. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, AGAIN, A LOT OF THIS TOO IS MAKING SURE THAT WE PUT WHAT WE'RE DOING OUT THERE SO THAT PEOPLE CAN SEE IT. JUST LIKE I'VE, AND I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR THIS FOR YEARS, WE'RE, WE'RE, BELIEVE IT OR NOT, WE'RE GETTING CLOSER. JUST LIKE I'VE BEEN ASKING FOR A DASHBOARD THAT SHOWS PEOPLE WHEN THE GRASS IS GONNA BE CUT IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, RIGHT? UM, I WANT PEOPLE TO BE ABLE TO SEE WHERE WE HAVE BEEN IN OUR SOLID WASTE ROUTES. THERE'S NO REASON WHY YOU CAN'T DO THAT. IF WE CAN TRACK WHERE THE AMAZON DRIVER IS ON A DAILY BASIS TO DROP OFF OUR PACKAGE, WE CAN KNOW WHERE OUR GARBAGE TRUCKS ARE AS WELL. AND SO WE ABSOLUTELY INTEND TO IMPROVE THAT. UM, IT'LL BE A MORE CONCERTED EFFORT THAT ACTUALLY WILL ALSO TAKE PLACE WITH CONVERSATIONS WITH EACH OF THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS. UM, I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT BECAUSE WE NEED SOME SPECIFIC FEEDBACK ABOUT CERTAIN PARTS OF TOWN. IT'S NOT A NECESSARILY A ONE SIZE FITS ALL, BUT WE DO WANNA WORK TOWARDS THAT 80% RULE AND SEE HOW MUCH WE CAN DO. AND THANK YOU FOR THAT. I'VE HAD THAT BUDGET AMENDMENT SEVERAL TIMES TO, YOU KNOW, BE ABLE TO SEE IN REAL TIME WHERE THE TRUCKS ARE. SO THAT WOULD BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. UM, WHEN IT COMES TO OVER TIME, KPI, UM, I, I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY THAT YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE YET BECAUSE WE HAVE ALL THESE CHANGES GOING IN THE DEPARTMENT, BUT ARE YOU FACTORING IN, UM, CONTRACTORS AND WE HAVE TO HIRE OUTSIDE HELP FOR CERTAIN TIMES OF THE YEAR WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE JUST NEED THAT EXTRA HELP, UM, INTO THAT OVERTIME EVALUATION. CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE IS NOT PART OF THE OVERTIME EVALUATION. AND IN FACT, I WOULD, I WOULD SUBMIT TO YOU, UM, THAT'S A LARGE PART OF HOW WE CAUGHT BACK UP ON HEAVY TRASH IN AUGUST WAS THROUGH CONTRACTORS. WE ARE EVALUATING RIGHT NOW WHETHER THE RIGHT SOLUTION IS THAT THAT CERTAIN PART OF TOWN JUST HAVE CONTRACTORS TAKE CARE OF THE HEAVY TRASH. UM, THERE IS PROBABLY A LOT MORE THAT HAS TO GO INTO THE HEAVY TRASH ISSUE THAT RELATES ALSO TO OUR FLEET AND THE MODERNIZATION AND OPTIMIZATION AND UPTIME OF IT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT ON THE ROAD TO HANDLE SOME OF THOSE THINGS. SO OVER TIME, CONTRACTORS ARE SEPARATE, BUT WHERE CONTRACTORS ARE CONCERNED, UM, THAT'S PART OF THE OPERATIONAL BUDGET THAT WAS, WAS SUBMITTED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, SO WE'RE STAYING WITHIN THAT BUDGET AS WELL. THANK YOU. I'LL GET BACK IN THE QUEUE. COUNCILMAN MARTINEZ. THANK YOU, CHAIR. UM, FIRST I JUST DEFINITELY WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE HIGHLIGHT HOW GREAT IT'S BEEN. I WAS AT, UH, NATIONAL NIGHT OUT, UH, LAST NIGHT, LIKE MANY OF MY COLLEAGUES, AND USUALLY THERE'S ALWAYS ISSUES WITH TRASH, ILLEGAL DUMPING AND WHATNOT. UH, THERE WAS HARDLY ANY, IF, IF, IF ANY, UH, CONVERSATIONS ABOUT, UH, SOLID WASTE. SO GOOD JOB TO EVERYBODY, THE WHOLE TEAM. UM, ON THE KPI PART, UM, I DIDN'T, AND I, YOU JUST MENTIONED THAT NOT ALL OF 'EM ARE THERE, BUT THE DIVERSION RATE, ARE WE STILL TRACKING THAT AND [00:45:01] WHAT DOES THAT, OR WHAT DOES THAT FIT INTO THE, WE, WE ARE TRACKING THAT. UM, I CAN'T GIVE YOU A NUMBER RIGHT NOW, BUT IT IS ONE THAT WE DO TRACK. AND I KNOW THAT OUR FOCUS IS PRIMARILY ON TRACKING RESULTS INSTEAD OF ACTIVITY, RIGHT? DIVERSION RATE IS A LITTLE BIT OF ACTIVITY, BUT THERE IS RESULTS THAT GO INTO IT AS WELL AND REFINING EXACTLY HOW THAT'S GONNA GO. YEAH. WELL, WHEN, WHEN WE START TALKING ABOUT JUST HOW MUCH TRASH IS GOING INTO THE LANDFILL, I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER BROADER OR ANOTHER CONVERSATION THAT WE NEED TO ULTIMATELY HAVE BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT THE LANDFILL, THAT'S, IT'S IN DISTRICT B, JUST LITERALLY NORTH OF DISTRICT I, THAT'S GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, UM, SEEING ITS LIFE EXPECTANCY, UH, SHRINK EVEN MORE. UH, BUT IT'S JUST IMPORTANT, UH, AGAIN FOR US TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THAT TO COMMUNICATE ON THE ILLEGAL DUMPING. UM, I THINK FOR THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND THE HORSESHOE, WE KNOW THAT THE COST IS EXPENSIVE, RIGHT? UM, TIRE PICKUP AS WELL. UM, ARE WE, WHAT'S THE CONVERSATION WITH CONSTABLE PRECINCT ONE OFFICE WHO HAS THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL TEAM? UH, WE HAVE CAMERAS ALREADY OUT THERE. WE, I'VE SEEN A LESS, UH, ENGAGEMENT FROM THE, THEIR OFFICE. UM, I THINK, I THINK I KNOW WHERE MOST OF THEM ARE, WHERE WE PLACED 'EM THE LAST TIME. I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE NOW. WE'RE GONNA BUY MORE CAMERAS. CAN WE MAKE SURE THAT WE LEVERAGE THAT PARTNERSHIP, UH, TO CONTINUE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE TRACKING ON THE ENFORCEMENT SIDE? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. SO, AND I'LL SAY, UM, IN THIS PRESENTATION, WE FOCUS HEAVILY ON HPD BECAUSE I'M FOCUSING PRIMARILY REALLY ON INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS WHERE THERE'S MORE CONTROL. HOWEVER, WE KNOW EVEN, UM, YOU KNOW, THE CONSTABLE PRECINCTS ALSO OVERLAP. THAT'S ADDITIONAL RESOURCES THAT WE CAN HAVE, AS WELL AS THE FACT THAT, UH, SOMETIMES WHAT ENDS UP OUT IN THE COUNTY ENDS BACK UP IN THE CITY AS WELL. AND, AND WE'VE GOTTA, IT, IT'S GOTTA BE ALL TOGETHER. UM, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE, UH, WE'RE ENGAGING WITH EVERY CONSTABLE OFFICE. WE ALREADY HAVE A PARTNERSHIP WITH THEM. WE ALREADY HAVE SOME CAMERAS OUT IN THE DISTRICT BECAUSE OF THAT PARTNERSHIP. I THINK IT'S ABOUT SEVEN THAT WE HAVE IN DISTRICT. I I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE LOOP THOSE IN OR BRING THOSE INTO THE FOLD AS WELL. ABSOLUTELY. AND I AGREE, UH, ILLEGAL DUMPING IS QUITE FRANKLY, ALMOST EVERYWHERE. IT'S, IT'S GONNA BE ONE OF OUR PRIORITIES AT THE 13 COUNTY REGION AS WELL. WHAT DO WE DO WITH THAT STUFF? UM, AND THEN, UM, JUST ON THE COMMUNICATION SIDE AS WELL, WE ARE ON A EVERY OTHER MONTH SCHEDULE. UH, WE'VE BEEN HAVING TO DO A LITTLE BIT MORE OF THAT, THAT LEGWORK TO MAKE SURE THAT THE COMMUNITY KNOWS THAT IT'S EVERY OTHER MONTH. UM, I REMIND FOLKS YOU COULD ALREADY DO TREE WASTE AND BULK WASTE ON THE SAME MONTH, SO IT'S NOT MUCH CHANGE, BUT IT DOES ALLOW US TO AT LEAST GIVE A BETTER EXPECTATION OF, OF WHAT THE PICKUP IS. UH, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, UH, WHATEVER MESSAGING GOES OUT, WE CONTINUE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO THAT FOR THE ENTIRE, UH, CITY. AND THEN LASTLY, ON THE FACILITY SIDE, YOU DIDN'T MENTION, AND I'LL JUST WRAP UP WITH THIS ONE. YOU DIDN'T MENTION THE TRANSFER STATIONS. YEAH. UM, HOW MANY TRANSFER STATIONS DO WE HAVE? UM, HOW MANY ARE INOPERABLE OR BARELY WORKING, AND THEN HOW MANY ARE BEING RUN BY THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND HOW CAN WE START LOOPING, MAKING, PUTTING THAT INTO, UM, REVENUE GENERATION SO THAT WAY, UH, WE'RE NOT INCREASING THAT TRASH FEE TO THAT EXPECT WHAT BEEN PUT OUT THERE, RIGHT? YEAH, I, I'M GONNA GIVE YOU A SHORT ANSWER TO THAT, BUT THEN I'LL, I'LL ALSO DIRECT YOU TO THE, UH, EXECUTIVE MEMO THAT ACCOMPANIED THE PRESENTATION. THERE'S SOME TABLES IN THE BACK THAT KIND OF GIVE YOU THAT. WE HAVE SIX TRANSFER STATIONS RIGHT NOW. UM, WE ARE EARNESTLY LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPAND THAT. UM, FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS ACTUALLY A BLESSING OF SOLID WASTE BEING PART OF THE COMBINED UTILITY SYSTEM. THE COMBINED UTILITY SYSTEM HAS A SIGNIFICANT REAL ESTATE PORTFOLIO OF VACANT LAND THAT IT IS DOING NOTHING WITH TODAY, AND FRANKLY HAS NO INTENTION TO DO ANYTHING WITH. THOSE ARE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US NOW AS PART OF THE UTILITY TO MAXIMIZE OUR ROUTES AND OPTIMIZATION. IN FACT, CHIEF HASAN AND I TALKED ABOUT THIS, YOU KNOW, IF WE HAD ONE DOWN ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF TOWN, SOME OF THOSE GUYS MAY NOT EVEN HAVE ENOUGH FOR 40 HOURS A WEEK. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH WORK FOR PEOPLE. IT MEANS WE CAN REPURPOSE 'EM TO DO OTHER STUFF AND GET IT DONE QUICKER, LIKE THE ILLEGAL DUMPING CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE. BUT THEY'RE ALSO SIGNIFICANT REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES FOR US, AND WE KNOW THAT JUST BASED OFF OF THE PARTNERSHIPS WE HAVE WITH A COUPLE OF THEM THAT ARE RUN BY PRIVATE ENTITIES. SO THERE'S A CONCERTED LOOK INTO THAT RIGHT NOW AS WE WORK TO DEVELOP A PLAN AND UNDERSTAND WHERE WE WANT TO GO, HOW WE WANT TO TARGET IT, AND THEN HOW CAN WE DO THIS AGAIN, IF IT'S A REVENUE OPPORTUNITY THAT DRIVES DOWN THE ULTIMATE COST TO HOUSTONIANS FOR THE SERVICE. THAT'S BEEN THE GOAL ALL ALONG FROM DAY ONE. THIS IS AN OPERATION THAT CERTAINLY COULD IN LARGE PART PAY FOR A BIG CHUNK OF ITSELF. WHAT'S, WHAT'S THE AVERAGE REVENUE THAT YOU WOULD GUESSTIMATE PER STATION? WE'LL GET, WE'LL, WE'LL GET THAT TO YOU. UM, I, WE DO HAVE THE EXP EXPENDITURES ON WHAT WE AT, JUST TO THROW IT OUT. SO WE'RE, WE CAN HAVE, BUT, BUT LARRY'S JUST CAME BACK FROM A GREAT CONFERENCE ABOUT THIS, AND THAT'S WHY I CALLED HIM UP. GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE. WE, UH, JUST RECENTLY RETURNED FROM ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, UM, AND SPOKE TO SOME LEADERS IN THAT, UM, IN THAT CITY. AND THEY WERE AVERAGING ABOUT TWO TO $3 MILLION [00:50:02] OF REVENUE BEING GENERATED. TWO, WHAT IS IT AGAIN? TWO TO 3 MILLION. TWO TO 3 MILLION PER STATION BASED ON THIRD PARTY COMPANIES THAT WERE COMING IN PER STATION. PER STATION. AND, AND WE HAVE A LOT MORE TRASH THAN ST. LOUIS . RIGHT? YEAH. TH THANK YOU. AND JUST KIND OF TO ADD ON A LITTLE BIT TO COUNCILMAN'S COMMENTS, UM, WE HAD AN ISSUE HERE A WHILE BACK WHERE SOMEBODY WAS DOING ILLEGAL DUMPING. IN FACT, UH, A CITIZEN GOT BEHIND HIM CALLED THE POLICE, STAYED THERE FOR ABOUT AN HOUR, POLICE NEVER SHOWED UP. UH, AFTER DIGGING INTO THAT, WE FOUND OUT THAT, UH, ILLEGAL DUMPING HAD THE LOWEST PRIORITY. OH YEAH. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS IN PROGRESS. SO WORKED WITH HPD, WE WERE ABLE TO GET THAT CHANGED, WHICH I, I THOUGHT WAS A BIG WIN. UH, AND THEN WE WENT BACK AND FOLLOWED UP TO SEE, OKAY, WHAT ENDED UP HAPPENING WITH THIS CASE? WELL, HPD, UH, HAD THEIR ENVIRONMENTAL PEOPLE GO OUT, INVESTIGATE IT. APPARENTLY THERE WAS ENOUGH EVIDENCE AS TO WHO ACTUALLY DROPPED THE STUFF OFF. THEY WERE ABLE TO FIND OUT WHO IT WAS. UH, THEY, UH, ACTUALLY HAD CHARGES ACCEPTED ON TWO OF THEM. THEY'VE GOT A WARRANT OUT FOR THE REST OF ONE OF 'EM, BUT THEN THE OTHER ONE, AND ALSO BECAUSE OF THE AMOUNT, IT WAS A FELONY, SO IT WENT TO THE DA'S OFFICE. UH, IT WAS NO LONGER IN MUNICIPAL AND WE JUST FOUND OUT THAT, UH, THE DA DROPPED THE CHARGES ON THE OTHER ONE. SO I THINK WE'VE GOTTA DO SOME MORE WORK WITH THE DA'S OFFICE ON THIS AS WELL TO MAKE SURE THEY UNDERSTAND JUST HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS. UH, COUNCILMAN RAMIREZ. THANK YOU, MR. CHAIR. THANK YOU, DIRECTOR. UH, THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF GOOD NEWS IN YOUR PRESENTATION AND HAPPY TO HEAR IT. AND I KNOW, UH, YOU GUYS ARE ALWAYS TRYING TO IMPROVE AND WE APPRECIATE YOU AND THE ENTIRE SOLID WASTE DEPARTMENT. I WANTED TO ASK YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HEAVY TRASH, RIGHT? SO THAT'S ONE AREA YOU'VE IDENTIFIED WHERE WE COULD, UH, IMPROVE ON TIME PERFORMANCE. AUGUST WAS 41% COLLECTED. UM, AND YOU MENTIONED THAT SOME OF THAT WAS PRIVATE, PRIVATE CONTRACTOR. SOME OF IT WAS WAS THE CITY EMPLOYEES. DO YOU HAVE A BREAKDOWN AS AS TO HOW MUCH WAS PRIVATE CONTRACT OR HOW MUCH WAS CITY? OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, NO, I, I CAN GET THAT TO YOU. I WILL TELL YOU THAT, UM, SOMETHING THAT WAS VERY INTERESTING IS, UM, THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE IS A CULTURE CHANGE. UH, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS IN SOLID WASTE FOR A WHILE. GAMES WITH OVERTIME FOR INSTANCE, AND HOW THAT'S GONE. AND, UH, THERE'S A CONTINGENT THAT HAS USED HEAVY TRASH MONTHS AS A LITTLE BIT OF AN OVERTIME GAME. AND IT WAS INTERESTING WHEN WE GOT AS BEHIND AS WE WERE, AND LARRY TOLD ME, HE SAID, WE'RE FIVE DAYS BEHIND RIGHT NOW. THE ISSUE WAS, IS MORE THAN 60% OF OUR STAFF WAS CALLING OUT. I MEAN, WHOLE CREWS JUST CALLING OUT, UM, BY INTRODUCING CONTRACTORS INTO THE EQUATION HERE, IT ELIMINATES THAT PART OF THE DISCUSSION. IT ALSO HELPS US ON THE OVERTIME REDUCTION, KPI THAT, THAT WE'RE SEEKING THERE. AND THAT'S WHY I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF OVERTIME IS SUPPOSED TO BE BECAUSE WE REALLY HAVE TO BASELINE THIS AND UNDERSTAND ARE WE ACTUALLY SPENDING OVERTIME ON OVERTIME RELATED ACTIVITIES OR ARE WE PLAYING SOME GAMES AND WE NEED TO TIGHTEN UP SOME EMPLOYEE RELATIONS ISSUES. AND SO THERE'S A LITTLE LITTLE BIT OF THAT. WE WILL GET YOU THE BREAKDOWN, OF COURSE, ON MM-HMM . ON WHAT THAT WAS CONTRACTOR TO, TO EMPLOYEE. GOT YOU. AND I APPRECIATE THAT. SO, CURIOUS TO KNOW WHETHER, UH, THE EQUIPMENT THAT YOU WOULD USE FOR HEAVY TRASH OPERATION IS THE SAME EQUIPMENT YOU WOULD USE FOR AN ILLEGAL DUMPING CLEANUP, UH, TEAM. SOME OF IT COULD BE SIMILAR. SOME OF IT COULD BE SIMILAR. IT DEPENDS ON EACH PICKUP, RIGHT? UM, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A VARIETY OF THINGS WHERE IF YOU'VE GOT ORDINARY, YOU KNOW, SMALL BAGS OF YARD WASTE OUT THERE, THAT'S GONNA BE VERY DIFFERENT FROM SOMEONE WHO IS THROWING OUT LARGER PIECES OF FURNITURE, FOR INSTANCE. SO IT'LL DEPEND. THAT'S WHY EDUCATION IS A CRITICAL COMPONENT TO WHAT WE'RE ALSO DOING TOO. IT'S NOT JUST ENOUGH FOR US TO SHOW UP AND TAKE EVERYTHING AWAY ALL THE TIME. WE REALLY NEED TO HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT DO WE DO. IF YOU LOOK AT SOME OF OUR SUBURBS AROUND HERE, ALMOST ALL OF WHOM HAVE PRIVATE TRASH SERVICE, THEY DON'T HAVE THESE KINDS OF ISSUES. THEY REPORT IT REALLY CLEARLY TO RESIDENTS EXACTLY WHAT IT IS YOU CAN PUT OUT, WHEN YOU CAN PUT IT OUT, AND THEN THEY HOLD 'EM ACCOUNTABLE FOR IT. AND WHEN YOU CALL IN AND SAY, HEY, YOU DIDN'T PICK UP MY FRIDGE, IT'S, SORRY, CHARLIE, WE DON'T PICK UP FRIDGES. UM, BUT AS A CITY, AND MAYBE THIS IS A PART OF HAVING OFFERED SOLID WASTE SERVICE FOR FREE FOREVER, WE TEND TO HAVE GONE OUT OF OUR WAY TO SOMETIMES SOLVE PROBLEMS THAT WE SHOULDN'T BE SOLVING. MM-HMM . SO I THINK THERE'S AN EDUCATION COMPONENT COUNCIL MEMBER THAT MUST GO INTO THIS. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO NOT JUST CHANGE CULTURE WITHIN OUR EMPLOYEES, BUT WE'VE ALSO GOTTA CHANGE CULTURE WITHIN THE RESIDENTS. THANK YOU. I'LL GO BACK IN THE QUEUE. COUNCILWOMAN SALINAS [00:55:01] DIRECTOR, I JUST WANNA START BY THANKING YOU FOR YOUR, UH, VERY THOROUGH PRESENTATION. AS YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD EXTENSIVE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE BUDGET AMENDMENT, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU FOLLOWING THROUGH ON THE COMMITMENT YOU MADE TO, TO PROVIDE THIS DETAIL INFORMATION. I JUST HAD A FEW QUESTIONS, UM, ABOUT IT. UH, FIRST AND FOREMOST, IF YOU COULD SORT OF HELP US UNDERSTAND HOW YOU ARRIVED AT THIS DIVISION OF THE $3 MILLION. UM, AND I THINK MY PRINCIPLE QUESTION IS OBVIOUSLY THE MOST OF THE MONEY IS GOING TOWARDS EQUIPMENT. UM, I, I CERTAINLY SEE THE ARGUMENTS FOR IT, BUT JUST KIND OF HELP WALK US THROUGH THE PARADE OFOP, THE OPTIONS YOU HAD AND WHY YOU CHOSE THESE. UM, AND WITH REGARDS TO EQUIPMENT, I BELIEVE THE ANSWER IS YES, BUT TO CONFIRM THAT THAT EQUIPMENT WILL BE USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR ILLEGAL DUMPING PICKUP. THANK YOU. YEAH. YOUR, THE ANSWER TO YOUR SECOND QUESTION IS YES. OKAY. THAT IS, THAT IS EXACTLY RIGHT. UM, CAPITAL EQUIPMENT IS ONE OF THOSE, I MEAN, I MENTIONED IT JUST IN THE OVERALL KPI, WE'VE GOTTA HAVE A FLEET THAT'S UP AND RUNNING AND WORKING, BUT WE ALSO GOTTA MAKE SURE WE'VE GOT EQUIPMENT THAT DOES WHAT WE NEED IT TO DO. AND HOLISTICALLY AS A DEPARTMENT, I'VE GOTTA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ALSO KEEPING EVERYBODY ELSE ON TASK ALL THE TIME. THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT WE DIVERT TEAMS FROM TDO TO GO AND SOLVE, UM, SOLID WASTE ISSUES, HOMELESS, ENCAMPMENT, CLEANUPS, YOU NAME IT, GOING ON DOWN THE LIST REALLY DOES START TO ROB US OF THE ACTUAL ACTIVITIES WE'RE DOING OVER THERE. IT ALSO INFLATES THE OVERTIME BUDGET FOR THOSE GROUPS BECAUSE THERE'S NOT A TON OF THOSE DOING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE BY PURCHASING ADDITIONAL CAPITAL EQUIPMENT. IT ALLOWS US ACTUALLY TO HAVE DEDICATED TEAMS USING THIS EQUIPMENT THAT IS SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS PURPOSE TO BE ON TOP OF IT A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE TIME. BUT IF WE DIDN'T HAVE THE EQUIPMENT, YOU DON'T REALLY NEED TO PUT A TEAM TOGETHER. AND SO THAT'S WHY, UH, IN THIS INSTANCE HERE, CERTAINLY FOR THIS YEAR AS WE START OUT, CAPITAL EQUIPMENT IS THE TAIL THAT WAGS THE DOG. AND AS, UM, WE TURN TO THE CAMERAS AND ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT, UM, WOULD YOU BE AMENABLE TO TAKING FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMUNITY BEFORE YOU SELECT A PARTICULAR SITES WHERE CAMERAS WILL BE INSTALLED? I KNOW MYSELF AND I KNOW MANY COUNCIL MEMBERS HAVE BEEN ENGAGING WITH FOLKS THAT HAVE BEEN ON THE FRONT LINES OF THIS FIGHT, AND I THINK THEY WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE HAVING A CHANCE TO WEIGH IN BEFORE THE CITY MAKES FINAL DECISIONS ABOUT WE'RE GONNA PLACE CAMERAS IN THESE NEIGHBORHOODS AND, AND, AND NOT THOSE. YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. AND THAT'S PART OF THE, UM, THIRD RUNG OF THAT SPENDING, WHICH GOES INTO COMMUNITY OUTREACH, EDUCATION AND SO ON AND SO FORTH. WE NEED TO BE IN THE COMMUNITIES GATHERING INFORMATION, FEEDBACK, AND DATA. THERE WILL BE SOME PEOPLE THAT WILL ABSOLUTELY WELCOME CAMERAS AND THERE'LL BE SOME PEOPLE THAT ARE GONNA BE VERY CONCERNED ABOUT IT. UM, I WON'T MAKE PROMISES AS TO WHAT THE DISPOSITIONS ARE BECAUSE WE'LL TRAIN 'EM ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS, BUT WE ABSOLUTELY INTEND TO ENGAGE AS MUCH AS WE CAN WITH THE COMMUNITY. AND DO YOU, UH, HAVE A CURRENT PLAN OR, OR, UH, APPROACH AS TO HOW YOU WILL ENGAGE COMMUNITY FEEDBACK BEFORE YOU PLACE THE CAMERAS? I DON'T, I'M NOT READY TO TALK ABOUT THAT TODAY. MM-HMM . I WILL TELL YOU THAT WON'T BE A EFFORT LED BY US ALONE. SO WE WILL ENGAGE WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS ESPECIALLY, UM, THEY WILL WORK WITH MANY OF THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT THEY ALSO WORK TO DO THAT. WE WILL WORK OBVIOUSLY WITH THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS AS WELL. IT WILL BE A WELL COORDINATED EFFORT, BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU EXACTLY HOW THAT WILL LOOK TODAY. WE'RE HOPING TO KICK OFF MANY OF THOSE EFFORTS PROBABLY IN DECEMBER. OKAY. AND I ASSUME YOU'LL ENGAGE ALL THE OUT LARGE COUNCIL MEMBERS AS WELL, PARTICIPATE IN THAT PROCESS? I'LL GO BACK IN THE QUEUE. COUNCILWOMAN THOMAS' OFFICE. GOOD AFTERNOON DIRECTOR, AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. I'LL TRY AND BE QUICK. UM, HOW MANY OUTSOURCED CONTRACTS HAVE BEEN INITIATED SINCE THE TRANSFER TO, UH, CUS? AND ARE THEY, ARE THOSE CONTRACTORS ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO THE REPORTING METRICS AND OUTCOMES THAT YOU MENTIONED? BECAUSE I KNOW, UM, WITH, I BELIEVE IT WAS COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S QUESTION ABOUT THE HEAVY TRASH BACKLOG THOSE CONTRACTORS HELPED IN THE REDUCTION OF THE BACKLOG. SO THEY, ARE THEY ALSO CONTRIBUTING TO YOUR METRICS THAT YOU'RE REPORTING? YEAH, WE'VE ACTIVATED. YOU GOT IT. GOOD AFTERNOON. YES, MA'AM. WE HAVE HAD TWO CONTRACTORS TO COME IN AND, UH, TWO, TWO CONTRACTORS. YES, MA'AM. ADDITIONAL, ADDITIONAL. AND IS THAT JUST FOR HEAVY TRASH OR IS THAT GARBAGE COLLECTION AS WELL? JUST HEAVY TRASH, MA'AM. UM, ALREADY, UH, HOW MANY SOLID WASTE DIVISION VACANCIES DO WE HAVE TO FILL? UM, AND WHAT IS YOUR TIMELINE TO FILL THOSE POSITIONS? THE TIMELINE IS ALWAYS YESTERDAY. UH, AND, AND I DON'T MEAN TO BE CHEEKY WHEN I SAY THAT. I, I MEAN THAT, AND I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A SOLID WASTE POSITION OR A PUBLIC WORKS POSITION OR ANYTHING. LIKE I WANT TO FILL VACANCIES YESTERDAY. UM, THE NUMBER IS NOT HUGE. IT'S BETWEEN 20 AND 30 RIGHT NOW. UM, MOST OF THAT DEDICATED TO FRONTLINE STAFF, BUT ALSO SOME OF THAT TO EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT. AS WE STOOD UP NEW FOUR OPERATIONAL WORKING GROUPS, UM, WE'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN ONBOARDING A COUPLE OF THOSE PEOPLE RELATIVELY RECENTLY. ONE MORE IN THE PIPELINE. WE'RE MOVING AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN. HR IS, IS WHO WE DEPEND ON TO HELP PUSH THAT PROCESS FORWARD. AND WILL THOSE UPDATES BE SHARED WITH WHATEVER CADENCE YOU ALL WILL BE PRESENTING ON THE PROGRESS OF THIS [01:00:01] INTEGRATION? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. AND AGAIN, I I, I MEAN THIS, WHEN I SAY, AND I'M HOPING BY THE END OF THE YEAR AND, AND WHERE'S KEVIN BACK THERE? HE'S SMILING AT ME. UM, IT'S PROBABLY NOT A GOOD SMILE, BUT WE WANNA HAVE SOMETHING SOONER RATHER THAN LATER THAT IS VERY PUBLICLY FACING ON WHAT WE'RE DOING. NOW, THAT MAY BE A WORK IN PROGRESS, RIGHT? FOR INSTANCE, I MAY BE ABLE TO GET THIS PORTION OF WHAT WE'RE UP TO TODAY, JUST REPORTING ON THE BARE NUMBERS. IT WILL TAKE LONGER TO GET AMAZON TRUCKS ON A MAP. RIGHT. I KNOW THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, KEVIN HASN'T THROWN ANYTHING AT ME YET. BUT, BUT THAT'S THE GOAL. WE WANNA HAVE ALL OF THIS AS UPFRONT AND TRANSPARENT AS POSSIBLE SO THAT FRANKLY, WHEN WE GET TOGETHER FOR A COMMITTEE HEARING LIKE THIS, IT'S MOSTLY JUST TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS. IT'S NOT TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THE FACTS BECAUSE EVERYONE KNOWS THE FACTS. THANK YOU. UM, AND, UH, HAVE THE COLLECTION ROUTES CHANGED AND WHEN WILL THAT UPDATE BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE? YES, MA'AM. UM, WE, WE, WE HAVE A GREAT TEAM IN PUBLIC WORKS THAT SAT DOWN AND WE LOOKED AT EVERY, EVERY ANGLE THAT WE COULD TO OPTIMIZE ROUTES. AND WE RECENTLY FOUND THAT WE HAD MORE DRIVERS ON ROUTES THAT SHOULD BEEN, AND WE ARE MAKING THE NECESSARY CHANGES AS WE SPEAK. IS THERE A TIMELINE ASSOCIATED WITH WHEN THOSE ROUTES WILL BE FINALIZED? ABSOLUTELY. LIKE DIRECT AMERICA, I JUST STATED WE WANTED THEM DONE YESTERDAY, SO WE'RE JUST, IT IS WORK IN PROGRESS. OKAY. THANK YOU. AND, UM, FOR CONTAINER REPLACEMENTS, I RECALL, UM, IN MAY, UM, COUNCIL OFFICES THAT HAVE, UH, CDSF FUNDED HOT TEAMS WERE ASKED TO STOP WITH THE CONTAINER REPLACEMENT OPERATIONS THAT WE WERE DOING. UM, OUR CURRENT BACKLOG IS NOW AROUND 21 FROM SEVERAL HUNDRED BACK IN THE SPRING, UM, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF OUR HOT TEAM. UM, SO WHAT IS THE TIMELINE ASSOCIATED WITH CLEARING OUT THAT CONTAINER REPLACEMENT BACKLOG ENTIRELY? YES, MA'AM. WE ARE GETTING APPROXIMATELY 250 CALLS IN FOR CAN REPLACEMENTS DAILY. UM, BY THE END OF THE WEEK WE'RE ACTUALLY ON TRACK TO CLEAR OUT THE COMPLETE BACKLOG WITHIN THE NEXT TWO TO THREE WEEKS. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN ALCORN. THANK YOU. THANKS FOR A GREAT PRESENTATION. RANDY. THIS IS A, A LOT OF GOOD NEWS. A COUPLE THINGS ON THE, ON THE BULK AND HEAVY TRASH EVERY OTHER MONTH. THOSE ARE JUST EVEN MONTHS, RIGHT? CORRECT. EVEN MONTHS. AND, AND, AND WHY, WHY NOT SPLIT THE CITY AND DO LIKE, YOU KNOW, HALF AND HALF? I, I, I WILL SAY THOSE ARE OPTIONS THAT REMAIN ON THE TABLE RIGHT NOW. OKAY. UM, A BIG PART OF THIS WAS WE NEEDED TO GET FROM 70% ON TIME GARBAGE TO 99% ON TIME GARBAGE. IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT ONE BITE AT A TIME. OKAY. WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO LOOK AT AND FIGURE OUT HOW WE WANNA OPTIMIZE THOSE THINGS. AND WHEN YOU GET DOWN TO IT, DEPENDING ON WHAT OUR COSTS LOOK LIKE WITH CONTRACTORS DOING THIS, WE, I WOULD HOPE WE'LL BE ABLE TO EXPAND HOW OFTEN WE DO THAT. OKAY. UM, I LIVE IN A PART OF HOUSTON WHERE I GET THAT PICKUP EVERY SINGLE WEEK. YEAH. AND SO IT REALLY BOTHERS ME THAT IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON, THAT WE ONLY OFFER IT EVERY OTHER MONTH. RIGHT. AND SO I KNOW IF IT CAN BE DONE, IT CAN BE DONE AND WE NEED TO LOOK AT HOW TO DO IT MM-HMM . BUT THERE WILL BE CHALLENGES WITH THAT. AND A LOT OF IT, I CAN TELL YOU, IT WILL REVOLVE AROUND FLEET. OKAY. AND, UM, I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT COMPOSTING. YOU KNOW, THE, THE IDEA IS TO HAVE LESS TRASH. RIGHT. AND 25% OF OUR MUNICIPAL LANDFILL IS FOOD WASTE. UM, OTHER CITIES ARE FLIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF US IN, IN HAVING DROP OFF SITES, HAVING, UM, CURBSIDE. I KNOW, YOU KNOW, WE'RE JUST TRYING TO GET THE BASICS RIGHT. I'M NOT PUSHING THAT. WE DID, WE HAVE, I THINK FOR A COUPLE YEARS, UM, APPLIED FOR THE USDA COMPOSTING GRANT AND I KNOW WE'RE APPLYING FOR IT AGAIN. UM, AND I HOPE TO GET SOME DROP OFF SPOTS. DO YOU HAVE ANY UPDATES ON WHERE WE ARE IN THE GRANT PROCESS? I, I'LL TELL YOU, MY HOPE IS THAT BY SHOWING IMPROVEMENT IN THE OVERALL SOLID WASTE SERVICE, THAT IT BECOMES A MORE ATTRACTIVE THING. UM, MY PERSONAL OPINION IS, AS I'VE LOOKED AT IT, IS WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU PICK HOUSTON WHEN THEY DON'T EVEN TAKE CARE OF WHAT THEY GOT TO START WITH? WHY WOULD YOU ADD SOMETHING ELSE? I'M HOPING THAT THIS HELPS PUSH US OVER THERE, BUT YOU'RE RIGHT, WE, WE INTEND TO BE AGGRESSIVE AND HAVE SOME ADDITIONAL CONVERSATIONS WITH PEOPLE, IF THAT WILL HELP US TOO. I MEAN, CAN YOU IMAGINE HAVING 25% LESS TRASH? OH, I CAN'T IT, THERE ARE PRIVATE COMPANIES. I'M OUT, I'M NOT, YOU KNOW, REPRESENTING ANY OF 'EM. BUT YOU CAN LOOK ON MY WEBSITE FOR ALL THE PRIVATE COMPANIES THAT WILL COME AND COLLECT YOUR FOOD WASTE ONCE A WEEK IF YOU ARE SO WILLING TO DO YOUR PART FOR OUR EARTH AND OUR LANDFILL AT THIS POINT, SOMEDAY, HOPEFULLY WITH SOME GRANT FUNDING, WE WILL HAVE SOME CITY DROP OFF SPOTS. AS YOU KNOW, WE'VE DONE A COUPLE PILOTS. UH, IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO TURN IT UP IN YOUR BACKYARD. YOU JUST LITERALLY ARE GETTING RID OF YOUR FOOD WASTE DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU GET IF YOU RECYCLE AND IF YOU DIVERT YOUR FOOD WASTE, YOU REALLY HAVE VERY LITTLE TRASH FOR, FOR THE CITY TO PICK UP. SO I'LL KEEP SAYING IT TILL THE DAY I AM OUTTA HERE. COUNCILMAN PANZELLA'S OFFICE. THANK YOU, CHAIR. THANK YOU DIRECTOR. THIS IS ALL REALLY GREAT NEWS AND I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU SHARING THIS. UM, I HAVE A FEW [01:05:01] QUESTIONS TODAY ON BEHALF OF COUNCIL MEMBER PANZELLA AS IT RELATES TO HEAVY TRASH. AND WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT IT A BIT. WE'VE HAD SEVERAL RESIDENTS REACH OUT, CONFUSED OVER THE PAST MONTH OR SO ABOUT THE CHANGE FROM 12 TIMES A YEAR TO SIX TIMES A YEAR. UM, I'M GLAD TO HEAR IT'S IMPROVING ON TIME PERFORMANCE, BUT THEY'VE BEEN CONFUSED 'CAUSE I THINK A LOT DIDN'T RECEIVE FORMAL NOTICE OF THE CHANGE. WHEN EXACTLY DID THE CHANGE OCCUR? LIKE WAS IT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FISCAL YEAR? WAS IT IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS? AND WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL REASONING BEHIND IT? WAS IT TO JUST IMPROVE THE TIMELINE? WAS IT TO SAVE ON COSTS? LIKE WHAT WAS THE REASONING BEHIND IT? UH, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION. UM, WE TOOK OVER THIS OPERATION ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO. WE WERE APPROXIMATELY THREE MONTHS BEHIND ON YARD WASTE, TREE WASTES, AND BULK TRASH. IT ALL SIMULATED BEHIND US BEING ABLE TO GO AND PICK UP EVERYTHING AT ONE TIME BECAUSE WE WERE ALREADY BEHIND AND WE DIDN'T DO A GREAT JOB AT ADVERTISING THAT THAT WAS GONNA BE THE NEW WAY MOVING FORWARD. BUT WE ACTUALLY BEEN ON THIS PROGRAM FOR ABOUT NINE AND A HALF MONTHS UNTIL WE ACTUALLY JUST GOT CAUGHT UP, UM, A FEW MONTHS AGO. SO THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN BASICALLY A CATCH UP PROGRAM BECAUSE WE'VE NEVER ACTUALLY HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE ON TIME WITHOUT THE HELP OF THE CONTRACTORS. OKAY, GREAT. UM, SIMILARLY WITH YARD WASTE AND LIKE THE TRIMMING, SO THE BIODEGRADABLE BAGS OR THE BINS THAT YOU PUT IT IN, UM, RESIDENTS HAVE EXPRESSED CONFUSION ABOUT THAT SERVICE AS WELL. AND I JUST CHECKED THE WEBSITE HERE WITH MY PERSONAL ADDRESS AND IT DOESN'T REALLY INDICATE YARD WASTE. IT'S RECYCLING TRASH AND THEN HEAVY WASTE. SO ARE THOSE STILL TO BE SEPARATED OUT AND IF SO, WHEN IS THAT SERVICE? IS IT SIX MONTHS? IS IT EVERY OTHER WEEK? MA'AM, IT'S THE SAME EXACT DATE AS YOUR BULK TRASH. WE COLLECT YARD WASTE, ALL OF THAT AT ONE TIME. OKAY, SO LIKE SMALL TRIMMINGS AND GRASS TRIMMINGS? YES MA'AM. ALL OF THAT IS EVERY OTHER MONTH ON EVEN MONTHS. YES MA'AM. OKAY, GOT IT. DID THAT CHANGE AS WELL WHEN THE HEAVY TRASH CHANGED OVER? YES MA'AM. OKAY. UM, SINCE IT'S ALL NOW COLLECTED TOGETHER, SO BULK WASTE LIKE FURNITURE, TIRES, TREE LIMBS, AND NOW YARD WASTE, ARE WE STILL RECYCLING OUR TREE LIMBS AND OUR YARD WASTE? YES. YES, MA'AM. SO WHAT WE HAVE, WE HAVE THE ABILITY NOW TO DISPATCH ONCE THE TRUCKS GO OUT, THEY WILL LET THE DRIVER KNOW WHETHER IT'S BULK WASTE OR IF IT'S TREE WASTE. SO WE HAVE TWO DIFFERENT CREWS TO BE ABLE TO GO PICK UP WHATEVER THE SUPERVISOR THAT WENT OUT AND INSPECTED THE ROUTE BEFORE CAUSED IT BACK IN. SO WE CAN SEND THE APPROPRIATE TRUCK OUT TO COLLECT WHATEVER. IT'S OKAY. SO BASICALLY YOU WOULD IN THEORY HAVE TWO PILES, TREES IN BULK, AND THEN IT WOULD BE TWO SEPARATE TRUCKS PICKING IT UP? ABSOLUTELY. OKAY, GREAT. UM, WE DON'T HAVE ESTIMATES ON THE RECYCLING OF OUR TREE CONTAMINANT, LIKE A CONTAMINATION OF TREE WASTE RECYCLING SPECIFICALLY. DO WE HAVE, LIKE IF IT'S, I KNOW DURING BARREL AND DIRETO IS A HUGE PROBLEM WHERE LIKE PEOPLE'S ROOFS WERE MIXED IN WITH THE TREES THAT THEY HAD IN THEIR YARD. SO DO WE HAVE ANY DATA ON THAT OR IS THAT SOMETHING THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT? NO, MA'AM. CURRENTLY I DON'T HAVE THAT. OKAY. THAT'S OKAY. AND THEN LASTLY ON THE KPI RELATED TO CLOSING SERVICE REQUESTS, I'M GLAD I SEE THAT IT'S DOING WELL. UM, WE DO HAVE A COUPLE OF RESIDENTS THAT HAVE EXPRESSED CONCERNS THAT THREE ONE ONES ARE OFTEN CLOSED OUT WITHOUT ACTUAL COMPLETION. THEY'LL, YOU KNOW, THEY'LL EMAIL OUR OFFICE, UM, ARE Y'ALL CHECKING IF THERE'S ANY DATA ON LIKE HOW FAST SOME CASES ARE BEING CLOSED OUT AND IF THERE'S REASONING BEHIND IT IN CASE THERE'S A MISTAKE. LIKE IF IT'S MISTAKENLY CLOSED OUT TOO QUICKLY AND THEN WE HAVE TO GO BACK AND REASSESS. I'LL TELL YOU THAT WE ARE AUDITING THE RESPONSES THAT WE PUT IN ON A REGULAR BASIS. GREAT. TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE ACTUALLY IS A RESPONSE. UM, I HAVE SAID FROM THE BEGINNING, UH, BECOMING DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT THAT IT IS UNACCEPTABLE THAT WE JUST CLOSE THINGS OUT WITHOUT TELLING PEOPLE WHAT HAPPENED. UM, THAT IS AN ONGOING WORK IN PROGRESS AND WILL BE FOR A LONG TIME, BUT WE DO WANNA STAY ON TOP OF THAT. AWESOME. THANK YOU. THAT'S ALL. THANK YOU. CHAIR COUNCILWOMAN JACKSON'S OFFICE. HELLO. THANK YOU. ACTUALLY, MY, MY QUESTIONS WERE A LOT ABOUT YARD WASTE, YOU KNOW, JUST 'CAUSE I DIDN'T SEE IT MENTIONED. SO IT'S, IT'S TOGETHER. SO WHEN YOU SAY, UH, PERFORMANCE FOR BULK WASTE IS IMPROVING, THAT ALSO MEANS YARD WASTE. CORRECT. OKAY, GREAT. AND THEN THE CAMERAS THAT ARE GONNA BE PART OF THE ILLEGAL DUMPING, WILL THEY BE VISIBLE? UM, MOST LIKELY NOT OBVIOUS. YEAH, I THINK IT'S HELPFUL. LIKE PEOP I, I FOR THERE'S, THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF YEAH, AND I, I KNOW EXACTLY WHERE YOU'RE GOING WITH THAT, I THINK. SORRY, I DON'T MEAN OVER TIME. NO, THAT'S FINE. GO AHEAD. UM, THERE ARE SOME STRATEGIES ON THAT, WHICH INCLUDES A COMBINATION OF SIGNAGE, COMMUNITY IN INVOLVEMENT, UNDERSTANDING, ET CETERA. UM, MOST OF THEM THOUGH PROBABLY WON'T BE VISIBLE TO PREVENT, UM, VANDALISM. UM, ON THE OTHER HAND, IF YOU TARGET THOSE HOTSPOTS AND PEOPLE KNOW THAT THERE ARE CAMERAS SOMEWHERE NEARBY, THEN, BECAUSE THE OTHER THING TOO IS WHEN THEY KNOW EXACTLY WHERE IT'S AT, THEY KNOW WHERE THE BLIND SPOT IS. SO, FINE, I WON'T DUMP OVER HERE, I'LL DUMP BEHIND THE CAMERA. RIGHT. SO WE REALLY DON'T WANT TO GIVE AWAY WHERE THOSE THINGS ARE AND HAVE IT BE SUPER OBVIOUS. I WILL SAY THOUGH, SOMETIMES WE'VE ALSO, UM, EXPERIMENTED WITH SOME DUMMY [01:10:01] CAMERAS WHERE YOU HAVE SOME THAT YOU THINK THAT'S WHERE IT'S AT, BUT THE ACTUAL CAMERAS POINT A DIFFERENT DIRECTION. THAT'S HOW YOU CATCH FOLKS. SO WE'RE GONNA BE REALLY THOROUGH AND COMPREHENSIVE WITH THAT. I, I LIKE THE IDEA OF DECOY CAMERAS. YEAH. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN PECK. THANK YOU CHAIR. UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ELLA'S OFFICE BROUGHT UP ABOUT YARD WASTE. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THAT UP. UM, WE'VE SEEN IN DISTRICT A WHERE THE YARD WASTE IS GETTING COLLECTED IN THE SAME EXACT TRUCK AS HEAVY TRASH AND NOT BEING SEPARATED AND, AND DIVERTING THAT FROM THE LANDFILL. SO SOMETHING THAT WE YEAH. MAYBE SHOULD LOOK AT AGAIN BECAUSE WE HAVE SEEN THE, UM, LIMB WASTE. IF THERE'S A LOT OF IT, YEAH. A SEPARATE TRUCK WILL COME BY AND PICK IT UP, BUT IF IT'S A SMALL AMOUNT OR JUST THE BAGS OF YARD WASTE, YEAH, IT'S GETTING PUT IN THE SAME EXACT TRUCK AS HEAVY TRASH. OKAY. SO WE'VE SEEN A LOT OF THAT. THANK YOU FOR THAT NOTE. UM, YOU TALKED ABOUT ROUTING AND CHANGING THE ROUTES. UM, CAN WE CONFIRM THAT WE FOR SURE ARE USING OUR ELECTRONIC ROUTING SYSTEM THAT WE'VE PAID $4.7 MILLION FOR SINCE 2021? ARE WE ACTUALLY USING THAT SYSTEM NOW? I CAN CONFIRM THAT WE ARE ACTIVELY WORKING TO FULLY UTILIZE THAT SYSTEM. UM, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WE NOTED FROM THE BEGINNING THAT NOT EVERYTHING WAS GOING THROUGH ROUTE WHERE NOT EVERYTHING WAS BEING OPTIMIZED THE WAY IT NEEDED TO BE. SOME FEATURES HAD NOT BEEN ENABLED. UM, WE'RE USING ALL OF THAT ALL THE WAY DOWN TO MAKING SURE WE ALSO USE ALL OF THE CAMERAS. UM, MOST PEOPLE DON'T REALIZE THERE'S ABOUT SEVEN CAMERAS ON EACH OF OUR TRUCKS. IT, IT'S AS AS EFFECTIVE AS A TESLA AND WHAT YOU CAN SEE FROM WHAT THE DRIVER'S DOING AND EVERYBODY ELSE IS DOING AS WELL. IN A COUPLE OF INSTANCES WHERE WE'VE HAD COMPLAINTS OF, OH, UH, YOU MISSED MY TRASH AND THE DRIVER SAID THERE WASN'T ANYTHING OUT, YOU GO BACK AND YOU LOOK AT IT AND YOU HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE. AND SO EVEN SOME OF OUR OWN FOLKS DIDN'T REALLY KNOW THE SCRUTINY AT WHICH WAS GOING ON. UM, BUT WE WANT TO FULLY UTILIZE IT. THERE ARE STILL A NUMBER OF FEATURES WITHIN THERE. WE'RE WORKING WITH HITS ON MAKING SURE THAT WE USE IT TO THE FULLEST BECAUSE IT IS AN EXPENSIVE SYSTEM, BUT IT'S ALSO VERY COMPREHENSIVE AND, AND WILL HELP US SOLVE A LOT OF EFFICIENCY PROBLEMS. WILL YOU BE ASKING FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR ANY OF THE ROUTING SYSTEMS TO FULLY UTILIZE IT? I DON'T ANTICIPATE IT AT THIS POINT, BUT I, I CANNOT SAY FOR SURE. UM, AND THEN MY LAST QUESTION, THE CONTAINER LEASE FUND, IS THERE ANY PROGRESS ON THAT FUND AND, AND UTILIZING IT AS YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THE SUNSET THAT IT WILL BE SUNSET UNLESS WE VOTE TO CONTINUE THAT, THAT FUND NEXT YEAR, WE, WE ARE SPENDING IT DOWN. OKAY. THANK YOU. YES, COUNCILMAN RAMIREZ. THANK YOU, UH, DIRECTOR. A FEW MORE QUESTIONS ON THE SLIDE. UH, DETAILING ILLEGAL DUMPING CAPITAL EQUIPMENT, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, IF WE SPENT 2.2 MILLION TO ADD THREE, UH, HY REAR HYDRAULIC LOADERS, THAT WOULD SUPPORT TWO COMPLETE PICKUP TEAMS AS WELL. IF WE ADDED, UH, FIVE, UM, TRACTOR TRAILERS THAT WOULD SUPPORT TWO COMPLETE TEAMS PLUS ONE ADDITIONAL HAULING UNIT. ARE THESE TEAMS AND THIS HAULING UNIT, ARE THESE NEW OR ARE THESE ALREADY EXISTING? THESE WILL BE NEW TEAMS THAT WE CREATE AS A RESULT OF HAVING EQUIPMENT TO BE ABLE TO RESPOND TO ILLEGAL DUMPING SITES. SO THAT WOULD TRANSLATE INTO HOW MANY NEW FTES? UH, LET'S SEE, ABOUT FIVE PER CREW. SO 10. AND UM, YOU MENTIONED WE ALREADY HAVE 20 TO 30, UH, OPEN POSITIONS, RIGHT? CORRECT. SO, SO THIS WOULD BE, UH, A BIT OF AN OBSTACLE IT WOULD SEEM, AND LET ME ASK YOU, ARE THERE, UH, PRIVATE CONTRACTORS THAT WILL HANDLE THE ILLEGAL DUMPING WORK AS WELL? WE HAVE CALLED ON PRIVATE CONTRACTORS TO HELP IN CERTAIN INSTANCES AND, AND WE WOULD CONTINUE TO DO THAT ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS. I WILL SAY IN TERMS OF FTE AND AVAILABILITY, UM, THE DEPARTMENT CURRENTLY HAS A HOST OF VACANCIES AVAILABLE, INCLUDING A LOT IN THE CUS. WE HAVE BEEN RECLASSIFYING POSITIONS WHERE NECESSARY TO FILL WHAT WE NEED TO DO. THE BEAUTY OF SOLID WASTE BEING PART OF THE CUS MEANS THAT WE'RE REALLY ALL PART OF THE SAME FUNDING STREAM. SO MM-HMM . ADDING 10 ADDITIONAL PEOPLE IN THERE IS NOT A, A CONCERN TO ME THAT WE WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DO IT EXPEDITIOUSLY. ALRIGHT. AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT, UM, OPEN POSITIONS INDICATE, UH, MORE OVERTIME WILL BE NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE WORK? NOT NECESSARILY. MM-HMM . NOT NECESSARILY. IT'S NOT NECESSARILY A, A ONE FOR ONE. IT JUST DEPENDS ON WHAT THE DEMAND IS GOING TO BE AND, AND HOW WE TACKLE IT. AND AGAIN, AS WE CONTINUE TO IMPROVE THE OPERATIONAL DEMAND OF IT, THAT OVERTIME DEMAND WILL GO DOWN WITH IT AS WELL. ALRIGHT. AND LET ME ASK YOU WITH REGARD TO ILLEGAL DUMPING AND PUBLIC EDUCATION AND, AND, AND ALL THAT. DO, DO WE KNOW, UM, I CAN GO BACK IN THE QUEUE OR JUST GO AHEAD AND FINISH. OKAY. DO, DO WE KNOW LIKE WHO IS DOING THE ILLEGAL DUMPING? IS IT FOR INSTANCE, FLY BY NIGHT CONTRACTORS DOING UNPERMITTED WORK? IS IT, YOU KNOW, REPUTABLE CONTRACTORS JUST, UM, LOOKING FOR AN EASY WAY OUT? IS IT, YOU KNOW, PRIVATE CITIZENS JUST DUMPING WHATEVER? [01:15:01] YEAH. UM, THE NUMBER ONE CHALLENGE WE HAVE IS WITH TIRES. SO YOU'VE GOT BUSINESSES OR A FORM OF A BUSINESS AND TIRE DISPOSAL IS, IS ONE OF, IT'S, IT'S OUR NUMBER ONE CHALLENGE. AFTER THAT, YOU START TO GET INTO A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT THINGS. WHEN YOU LOOK AT CONTRACT WASTE, UM, YOU KNOW, GENERALLY THE THOUGHT PROCESS IS IF YOU'RE GONNA SPEND THE TIME TO GO AND GET PERMITS TO DO YOUR STUFF, YOU'RE PROBABLY NOT DUMPING IT OFF IN OTHER PLACES. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT COULDN'T BE A REPUTABLE CONTRACTOR AS MUCH AS IT IS A DI DISREPUTABLE CONTRACTOR. WE, OF COURSE KNOW TOO, AND I HATE TO BRING IT UP, BUT WITH THE ISSUES AROUND IMMIGRATION, THERE ARE SOME FOLKS THAT ARE AFRAID TO GO TO CERTAIN PLACES AND THAT HAPPENS TO BE A GOOD CHUNK OF THAT WORKFORCE OUT THERE. AND SO THEY MAY NOT BE WILLING TO SHOW UP AND SHOW ID AT A CERTAIN PLACE ON WHERE TO WHERE TO DISPOSE THEIR MATERIALS. AND SO I THINK THAT WE HAVE TO SPEND A LITTLE BIT MORE TIME, AND WE WILL KNOW THIS THROUGH SOME TARGETED ENFORCEMENT, UH, BETTER WHO THE, UM, TARGET AUDIENCE IS HERE ON WHERE WE NEED TO STOP THIS. BUT I THINK YOU'RE GONNA FIND IT IN ALMOST EVERY ASPECT OF WHAT WE DO. MM-HMM . OKAY. AND, AND I HOPE THE EDUCATION OUTREACH WILL TARGET THOSE FOLKS WHO ARE ABSOLUTELY, YOU KNOW, CONTRIBUTING AB AB MOST AB AND AGAIN, THAT, THAT EDUCATION HELPS US BECAUSE IF WE CAN HELP PEOPLE FEEL, UM, SAFE AND SECURE ABOUT THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN GO AND DROP OFF YOUR STUFF, YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING. IT, IT WILL HELP IMPROVE THAT AND THEN WE NEED TO IMPROVE THE OPERATIONS TO MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM TO GET IN AND OUT AS WELL. HAVE YOU CONSIDERED HOW MUCH OF IT IS, IS RELATED TO DEPOSIT DEPOSITORIES? EITHER NOT BEING OPEN, IRREGULAR HOURS, NOT LONG, LONG ENOUGH HOURS? WE ARE, WE'RE LOOKING CLOSELY AT THAT. WE KNOW THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO EXPAND THOSE HOURS IN THE DAYS OF OPERATIONS SIGNIFICANTLY TO PROVIDE BETTER AND EASIER ACCESS FOR PEOPLE. ALRIGHT. WHETHER THAT DIRECTLY CONTRIBUTES TO ILLEGAL DUMPING, I COULDN'T SAY, BUT WITHOUT A DOUBT, I'M SURE THERE IS AT LEAST SOME CORRELATION. OKAY. AND LAST TOPIC I'LL ASK YOU ABOUT IS CONTAMINATION RATE ON RECYCLING. HAVE YOU CONSIDERED ADDING THAT AS A KPI? UH, WE ALREADY MEASURED THAT, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS I MENTIONED BEFORE IS RIGHT NOW THE ONLY MEASUREMENT I HAVE IS WHAT SOMEONE'S REPORTING TO ME. UM, WE NEED TO ALSO HAVE A WAY TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THAT'S TRUE. UH, I'M SENSITIVE TO THAT BECAUSE THE ONES REPORTING THAT TO US ARE THE ONES THAT ARE ASKING US FOR MONEY. AND I THINK WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE SOME GOOD CHECKS AND BALANCES ON VERIFYING WHAT THE NUMBERS ARE. AND, AND CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, BUT THE CONTRACT WE HAVE WITH THE RECYCLING COMPANY, DON'T WE ALREADY PAY THEM A CERTAIN AMOUNT PER MONTH, UH, TO GO TO EDUCATION? THERE IS A COMPONENT OF THAT TO IT, YES. MM-HMM . SEEMS LIKE THE INCENTIVE SHOULD BE ON, ON THEM TO, UH, GET THAT CONTINUATION RATE. YEAH, I WOULD, I WOULD, I WOULD ARGUE THAT THE RELATIONSHIP CAN IMPROVE TREMENDOUSLY. TO THAT END, I'M HAVING DISCUSSIONS WITH THEIR LEADERSHIP INCLUDING, UH, LEADERSHIP OUT OF COUNTRY, WHICH IS, I THINK THEY'RE BASED IN SPAIN NOW ON IMPROVING OUR WORKING RELATIONSHIP AND THE CONTRACT AS WELL. ALRIGHT. AND, UH, AND AND RELATED TO THE, UM, WELL, SORT OF RELATED TO THE CONTAMINATION I MENTIONED IN POPOFF THAT I VISITED THE FURNITURE BANK AND AT THE DEPOSIT DEPOSITORIES, UM, THE FURNITURE BANK USED TO HAVE BINS, RIGHT? SO THAT PEOPLE COULD, INSTEAD OF DUMPING THEIR MATTRESSES, OLD MATTRESSES AT THE DEPOSITORY, DUMP THEM IN THE BINS, WHICH WOULD BE TRANSPORTED BACK TO THE FURNITURE BANK WHERE THEY REFURBISH THOSE, THOSE MATTRESSES AND, AND, AND GIVE THEM TO NEEDY HOUSTONIANS OR, OR SELL 'EM. BUT THAT WAS DISCONTINUED A FEW MONTHS AGO. AND, AND I JUST ASK YOU GUYS TO RECONSIDER THAT AND RECONSIDER HAULING THOSE BINS FROM THE DEPOSIT DEPOSITORIES TO THE FURNITURE BANK SO THEY COULD REFURBISH THOSE INSTEAD OF HAVING ALL THOSE MATTRESSES END UP IN A LANDFILL. YEAH, CERTAINLY WE'LL BE, WE'LL BE WILLING TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT. GREAT. THANK YOU. QUICK COMMENT ABOUT THE DEPOSITORY. EVEN IF IT DOESN'T IMPACT THE ILLEGAL DUMPING, THAT IS THE CHEAPEST WAY FOR US TO ACTUALLY GET LARGE WASTE. SO WHATEVER WE CAN DO TO INCREASE THAT WOULD BE GREAT. COUNCILWOMAN SALINAS. THANK YOU. UM, SO ONE OF THE ITEMS THAT YOU MAY, UH, RECALL DIRECTORY TALKED ABOUT IN MAY WAS THE PROPOSED BUDGET ELIMINATED KPIS FOR ILLEGAL DUMPING. AND I WAS VERY GRATEFUL TO YOU, SIR, FOR COMMITTING TO REINSTATING THOSE. I DIDN'T SEE KPIS AS A PART OF THIS PRESENTATION. AND AS YOU MAY KNOW OR RECALL, THE ONES THAT WE PREVIOUSLY USED TO TRACK ARE AVERAGE DAYS TO RESOLVE CASES, ILLEGAL DUMPING CASES INVESTIGATED AND ILLEGAL DUMPING CASES RESOLVED. AND PREVIOUSLY WE WOULD SET TARGETS FOR OURSELVES AND THEN REPORT OUT ACTUALS. YEAH. UM, WHERE DO WE STAND ON KPIS FOR ILLEGAL DUMPING AND WHEN WILL YOU, UH, PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC AND OF COURSE, COUNSEL? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. SO THOSE KPIS WE SUBSUME IN TO THE LARGE 3 1 1, UH, ALL REPORTED INCIDENTS. KPIA HUNDRED PERCENT RESOLVED ON TIME EVERY MONTH WITHIN [01:20:01] FOUR TO FIVE DAYS. UM, ALL CASE TYPES WILL HAVE TO HAVE A RESOLUTION WITHIN THAT PERIOD OF TIME THAT WILL, WILL INCLUDE ILLEGAL DUMPING. UH, AND, AND AGAIN, THAT'S SOMETHING WE WOULD BE HAPPY TO MAKE, UH, READILY AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, BUT WE'VE GOTTA DO A LOT BETTER OF THAT. BUT I GUESS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE HAD TALKED ABOUT IN MAY, CAN, CAN YOU PROVIDE BROKEN OUT, UH, KPI SPECIFIC FOR ILLEGAL DUMPING? AND I THINK IT'D BE VERY HELPFUL TOO TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ARE WE DOING RIGHT NOW BEFORE WE START SPENDING THE $3 MILLION AND THEN AFTER WE SPEND THE MONEY, WHAT IMPACT, IF ANY, SO WE CAN EVALUATE HOW EFFECTIVE THE MONEY IS BEING SPENT? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. WE'LL BE HAPPY, WE'LL BE HAPPY TO DO THAT. I DON'T THINK THAT'S A HEAVY LIFT FOR US. IT'S, IT'S A SUBSET OF THE LARGER DATA AND, AND IF WE, IT'S GOOD TO BREAK IT DOWN THAT WAY, I'M HAPPY TO DO IT. WONDERFUL. IS THAT SOMETHING THAT YOU'LL PROVIDE TO COUNCIL OR JUST IN THE NEXT PRESENTATION? WHAT WOULD BE BEST, SIR? WE'LL BE HAPPY TO FOLLOW UP WITH AN ADDENDUM ON THE COUPLE OF QUESTIONS THAT ARE OUTSTANDING AND WE'LL INCLUDE THAT, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. AND THEN MY, MY LAST SET OF QUESTIONS IS, IS, UH, REGARDING THE, THE, THE DISPOSAL SITES, UM, I COMPLETELY AGREE THE COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER THAT THAT IS A GREAT WAY TO TRY TO COMBAT ILLEGAL DUMPING. WE HEAR AGAIN AND AGAIN IN COMMUNITY, THAT IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST IMPEDIMENTS AND SOMETHING WE'VE BEEN REACHING OUT TO THE SOLID WASTE DIRECTOR ABOUT IS, UH, FOR REASONS I DON'T UNDERSTAND, IT IS HARDER TO DISPOSE OF WASTE LEGALLY IN THE CITY OF HOUSTON THAN IT IS TO VOTE, UM, BECAUSE YOU NEED TO PROVIDE AN ID AND A UTILITY BILL. YEAH. UM, THAT, THAT POLICY JUST DOESN'T SEEM TO MAKE SENSE. YEAH. IT IS FAR MORE ONEROUS AND THE VAST MAJORITY OF OTHER CITIES REQUIRE, WE HAVE ASKED US SOLID A WASTE DEPARTMENT TO BRING THAT BACK TO EITHER BE AN ID OR UTILITY BILL. UM, WE HAVE NOT YET GOTTEN A RESPONSE AND WANTED TO SEE IF YOU COULD PROVIDE AN UPDATE OR PERHAPS A, THE OTHER DIRECTOR COULD PROVIDE AN UPDATE, BUT THAT JUST SEEMS LIKE A REALLY EASY WAY TO MAKE THINGS A BIT EASIER FOR FOLKS WHO WANNA DO IT THE RIGHT WAY. YEAH, I AGREE WITH YOU COMPLETELY. IN FACT, UM, I'LL BE HONEST, I'VE SAID FROM DAY ONE, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE'RE SO RESTRICTIVE ON ALLOWING PEOPLE TO BRING THEIR STUFF TO US. UM, WHEN WE PROVIDING, UH, FREE SERVICE, EVEN AREAS WHERE YOU HAVE TO GO TO OTHER PLACES AND THEY'RE CHARGED BECAUSE IT'S A FACILITY RUN BY AN OUTSIDE ENTITY. UM, WE ARE, WE ARE FIXING THAT. AND THAT GOES DIRECTLY TO MY RESPONSE TO COUNCILLOR RAMIREZ A FEW MINUTES AGO ABOUT HOW WE EVALUATE HOURS OF THE DEPOSITORIES. FIRST WE'VE GOTTA, WE'VE GOTTA HAVE TO FIX SOME OPERATIONS THERE. I WILL TELL YOU, WE HAVE SOME CHALLENGES. WE'VE IDENTIFIED THEM, MOST OF 'EM ARE EMPLOYEE RELATIONS ISSUES, SO I DON'T WANNA GO TOO MUCH INTO THAT RIGHT NOW, BUT AS WE FIX THOSE CHALLENGES, WHAT YOU'LL SEE IS IMPROVED SERVICES AT THE DEPOSIT DEPOSITORIES. I WANT THEM TO BE OPEN LONGER, MORE DAYS, AND I WANT IT TO BE WAY, WAY, WAY EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO COME AND BRING THEIR STUFF TO US. THAT THAT'S FANTASTIC TO HEAR. DO YOU HAVE A TIMELINE BY WHICH COMMUNITY CAN EXPECT THAT POLICY CHANGE? WE'RE WORKING ON IT NOW, AND I'LL, I'LL GET YOU AN UPDATE AS SOON AS WE PUT A TARGET DATE ON THAT, BUT WE ARE MOVING AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN. WELL, THE COMMUNITY WILL BE SUPER EXCITED TO HEAR THAT. APPRECIATED, SIR. ABSOLUTELY. COUNCILMAN MARTINEZ. THANK YOU CHAIR. UM, SO HISTORICALLY I'VE ALWAYS SUBMITTED A COUPLE OF BUDGET AMENDMENTS. THE FIRST ONE WAS THE TRASH FEE. NO NEED TO DO IT THIS YEAR BECAUSE WE HAVE THE ADMINISTRATIVE FEE AND WE'RE ON OUR PATHWAY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT WOULD LOOK LIKE. UH, THE OTHER ONE WAS ON DEMAND, UM, KNOWING THAT WE'VE SOMEWHAT RESTRUCTURED WHAT HEAVY TRASH BULK WAYS AND, AND NOW SEEING THAT THERE'S SOME GOOD RESULTS. UM, DO Y'ALL, DO Y'ALL STILL THINK THAT, THAT THAT MIGHT BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO DO ON DEMAND IF NECESSARY? UM, WE'VE, WE'VE DONE A NON-SCIENTIFIC PART OF THE OFFICE, GOODNESS, ABOUT EIGHT YEARS AGO, AND WE WERE ESTIMATING, UH, ABOUT FOUR TIMES BOTH WAYS. ABOUT TWICE. I MEAN, YEAH, THREEWAYS TWICE, FOUR TIMES BOTH WAYS, WHICH IS SIX TIMES A YEAR, WHICH WE'RE DOING NOW. UM, BUT IF WE'RE DOING, UH, BOTH ON THE SAME, THE SAME MONTH, WE MIGHT EVEN BE ABLE TO DO FOUR TIMES A YEAR, UH, WHERE IT'S ON DEMAND. AGAIN, JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S WAYS WHERE WE COULD BE MORE EFFICIENT. UH, PICKING UP THE OTHER ONE, BECAUSE I SEE ON SLIDE 19 WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE STILL GOT, IS THERE STILL WORK TO GET DONE? UH, THE UNDERINVESTMENT HASS BEEN DECADES. WE KNOW THAT THE HIRING, THE PURCHASING OF VEHICLES, THE OTHER BUDGET AMENDMENT THAT I SUBMITTED WAS A DEVELOPER FEE. SO WE BUILD NEW HOMES TO PUT 'EM ON, ON, UH, ON OUR CUSTOMER LIST, AND WE SHOULD BE CHARGING AT MINIMUM THE, THE COST FOR THE REFUSE CAN. BOTH OF THEM, UM, I THINK COMES OUT TO SOMEWHERE AROUND 50 SOMETHING DOLLARS. IT'S, IT IS LIKE YOU, WHEN YOU GO TO MOVE INTO A NEW APARTMENT OR HOME, YOU PUT YOUR TURN ON YOUR POWER, YOU GOTTA PAY THAT, THAT FEE. ARE THERE ANY OTHER REVENUE GENERATING, UM, OPPORTUNITIES? I KNOW WE'RE ON THE BASICS AS YOU'VE MENTIONED TO COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN, BUT, UM, AS WE'RE MOVING AND MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BRINGING IN REVENUE FOR SOLID WASTE? YEAH. UH, WILL SAY THIS, NO, NOTHING'S BEEN TAKEN OFF THE TABLE AT THIS POINT. SO IN TERMS OF DO WE DO ON DEMAND? IT, IT IS CERTAINLY A POSSIBILITY WE NEEDED TO PROVE THOUGH THAT WE COULD JUST DO THE BASIC STUFF FIRST BEFORE YOU GET INTO A MORE COMPLICATED, UM, OPERATION. RIGHT. UM, BUT NOTHING'S BEEN TAKEN OFF THE TABLE IN TERMS OF REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES. YOU KNOW, YOU'VE MENTIONED A COUPLE OF, UH, THERE, THE TRANSFER STATIONS AND ADDITIONAL TRANSFER STATIONS [01:25:01] AND PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS THAT GO WITH THAT IS WHERE WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA BE ABLE TO MAKE THE MOST, UM, WE'RE VERY EXCITED ABOUT THOSE OPPORTUNITIES, NOT JUST BECAUSE IT COULD BRING AN ADDITIONAL REVENUE, BUT IF WE FIND THE EFFICIENCY IN THAT OPERATION ALONG THE WAY AND WE GET DRIVERS OFF THE STREET FASTER AND ROUTES ARE DONE QUICKER, WE ALSO REDUCE THE OVERALL EXPENSE OF THE PROGRAM ALTOGETHER. AND SO INSTEAD OF TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW ARE WE GONNA FUND $140 MILLION OPERATION, WOULDN'T IT BE BETTER IF WE COULD FUND 110 OR A HUNDRED OR 80? UM, I DON'T KNOW WHERE THOSE NUMBERS WILL LIE. I'LL TELL YOU SO FAR AS WE'RE TRACKING BUDGET AND PERFORMANCE AND WHAT WE'RE DOING, WE ARE CONFIDENT RIGHT NOW THAT THE SAVINGS THIS YEAR ALONE WILL BE SIGNIFICANT. AND THAT GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY RIGHT NOW WHILE WE'RE PLAYING CATCH UP TO THEN REINVEST INTO OTHER HIGH PRIORITY ACTIVITIES TO ALSO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET TO IT IF WE CAN FINALLY GET TO A BASELINE WHERE WE START AT ZERO WITH EVERYTHING. AND IF YOU THINK ABOUT THIS, THE WATER METER IMPROVE, THE WATER BILL IMPROVEMENT PLAN WAS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF IT, RIGHT? WE HAD TO RESET EVERYBODY SO THAT WE COULD GO OUT AND REPLACE INFRASTRUCTURE BEFORE WE COULD SAY WE HAVE CONFIDENCE THAT WATER BILLS ARE ACCURATE. NOW, TWO YEARS LATER, WE'RE FINALLY AT THE POINT WHERE WE'RE SAYING, IF YOU DON'T PAY YOUR BILL, WE'RE GONNA TURN YOU OFF. WE HAVEN'T DONE THAT. AND THE REASON WHY IS BECAUSE THE CITY COULDN'T WITH THE STRAIGHT FACE SAY THAT YOU REALLY OWED WHAT YOU OWED. WE HAVE THE SAME PROBLEMS WHEN IT COMES TO HOW WE COLLECT SOLID WASTE AND WHAT WE NEED TO DO, BUT NO OPTIONS OFF THE TABLE. AND WE'RE GOING TO BE AGGRESSIVE IN HOW WE DO THAT AND HOW WE IMPLEMENT IT BECAUSE IT'S NOT JUST IMPORTANT THAT WE ALSO DO THIS SERVICE AND DO IT RIGHT. IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE MAKE SURE THAT WE KEEP THINGS AFFORDABLE FOR HOUSTONIANS. WITH THAT, I JUST WANT TO ENDORSE THE HOUSTON FURNITURE BANK AS WELL. THEY'RE IN DISTRICT I AND THAT PROGRAM, I KNOW THERE'S, IT'S AN ADDED, UH, ON THE MENU, BUT I THINK IT IT'D BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO REDUCE LANDFILL WASTE AS WELL. THANK, THANK YOU. YOU KNOW, YOUR TRANSFER STATIONS WILL ALSO REDUCE YOUR MILEAGE. THAT'S RIGHT. WHICH WILL EXTEND THE LIFE OF THE VEHICLE A LITTLE BIT AS WELL. ABSOLUTELY. SO, UH, CONSTABLE WOMAN THOMAS'S OFFICE. THANK YOU. UM, WILL THE DEPARTMENT CONTINUE TO PARTNER WITH DISTRICT FUNDED HOT TEAMS ON ILLEGAL DUMPING ACTIVITIES? I KNOW YOU MENTIONED, UM, THAT HOTSPOTS WERE BEING IDENTIFIED, AND ONCE THOSE SPOTS ARE IDENTIFIED, WILL THERE BE ROUTINE LOCATION CHECKS TO SEE IF THE DUMPING HAS REOCCURRED OR HOW WILL THAT FUNCTION? YEAH, I, I WILL SAY THAT WE HAVE NO INTENDED CHANGES TO THAT RELATIONSHIP RIGHT NOW. I THINK THAT AS WE CONTINUE TO IMPROVE OUR LEVEL OF SERVICE, IT MAY CHANGE THAT THE NECESSITY OF THAT IN THE FUTURE SO THAT THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS CAN PUT THEIR MONEY TOWARDS OTHER THINGS THAT ARE, ARE GONNA BE MORE EFFECTIVE. I DON'T KNOW THAT I COULD SAY I CAN'T FORESEE THE FUTURE ON WHAT EXACTLY THAT WILL LOOK LIKE, BUT AS OF TODAY, THAT'S FAR ENOUGH DOWN THE LIST THAT WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT IT. OKAY. AND FOR THESE HOTSPOTS, WILL YOU BE SOLICITING, YOU KNOW, A LIST OF KNOWN LOCATIONS FROM COUNCIL DISTRICT OFFICES? ALWAYS. YEAH. AND, AND, AND THAT'S MY INVITATION TO ALL COUNCIL MEMBERS IF YOU HAVE A SPOT AND, AND YOU DON'T EVEN NEED TO WAIT TO COLLECT THE LIST. RIGHT. UM, UH, GET IT TO ME AND WE'LL HAVE OUR TEAMS ADDRESS IT AS QUICKLY AS THEY CAN. OKAY. AND DOES THE DEPARTMENT CURRENTLY, I KNOW YOU MENTIONED TYING INTO HPDS SURVEILLANCE OPERATION. DOES UM, THE DEPARTMENT CURRENTLY HAVE THEIR OWN SURVEILLANCE? NO. CAMERA, EVERYTHING IS IN COORDINATION WITH HPD. AND DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY CAMERAS YOU CURRENTLY HAVE? UM, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, NO. OKAY. ACROSS THE, THE COUNCIL DISTRICTS? YEAH. I COULDN'T TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, BUT, UM, IN FACT, I'M NOT SURE HPD COULD TELL ME OR WOULD TELL ME, BUT WE'LL FIGURE THAT OUT. OKAY. THANK YOU. I GOT A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS. UH, YOUR MEMO TALKED ABOUT 112 POSITIONS ACROSS THREE DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE INVOLVED IN ILLEGAL DUMPING. UH, ARE ANY OF THOSE ASSIGNED EXCLUSIVELY TO ILLEGAL DUMPING? AND IF THEY ARE, DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY? NO. NONE ARE ASSIGNED EXCLUSIVELY TO ILLEGAL DUMPING. THOSE ARE SHARED SERVICES. AND IS THERE A PLAN TO INCREASE, UH, THE ENFORCEMENT OF HEAVY TRASH VIOLATIONS? WE WOULD LIKE TO, UM, NOW I'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE AND I TALKED ABOUT IT IN THE BUDGET PREVIOUSLY, THE NEED TO GET MORE INSPECTORS AND TO GET THEM GOING. UM, IT'S BEEN A, IT'S BEEN A TREMENDOUS CHALLENGE TO DO THAT. A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, THANK YOU TO COUNCIL, WE APPROVED A CONTRACT THAT ALLOWED US TO AUGMENT THOSE, UH, STAFF POSITIONS TO DO IT. IT WILL ALSO GIVE US THE ABILITY TO THEN ISSUE CITATIONS ON THOSE SORTS OF THINGS. UM, AS IT RELATES TO THE, TO THE CIVIL SIDE, ARE WE GONNA COMMENT, I WANTED TO MAKE, YOU TALKED ABOUT OVERTIME, UM, OVER THE YEARS I'VE MANAGED SOME OPERATIONS THAT HAD DEFICIENCIES THAT CONSISTENTLY HAD OVERTIME OVER PROLONGED PERIODS OF TIME. AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE FOUND WHEN WE ACTUALLY GOT THE OPERATIONS RIGHTED AND WERE ABLE TO ELIMINATE THAT OVER TIME, A LOT OF THE EMPLOYEES HAD ESSENTIALLY SEEN THE OVERTIME AS PART OF THEIR INCOME. CORRECT. AND IT WAS PRETTY TOUGH YEAH. ON THOSE EMPLOYEES. I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S A CHALLENGE YOU'RE GOING TO, I I'M GLAD YOU, I'M GLAD YOU BROUGHT THAT UP. UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE ARE CONDUCTING INTERNALLY RIGHT NOW, AND THAT [01:30:01] WILL REQUIRE A PARTNERSHIP WITH HR IS A REVIEW OF WAGES AND CONDITIONS THERE. UM, BECAUSE THE INTENTION WOULD NOT BE TO TAKE AWAY OVERTIME AND THEN TAKE AWAY PEOPLE'S ABILITY TO HAVE A GOOD LIVING. BUT I BELIEVE YOU'RE RIGHT. A LOT OF THE, AND I CALLED 'EM GAMES EARLIER AND, AND THEY ARE GAMES BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY'RE IMPLEMENTED, BUT A LOT OF THE OVERTIME GAMES THAT ARE PLAYED ARE BECAUSE PEOPLE KNOW THEY MUST DEPEND ON THAT OVERTIME INCOME TO DO THINGS. OUR JOB IS TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE COMPENSATING PEOPLE APPROPRIATELY. WELL, AND YOU KNOW, EVEN IF EVERYTHING'S ALL, ALL EXACTLY THE WAY IT SHOULD BE, AND HE'S WORKING AN EXTRA 10 HOURS A WEEK BECAUSE YOU NEED HIM TO WORK 10 HOURS A WEEK, HE DOES THAT OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. THAT'S HIS PAYCHECK, AND HE KIND OF THINKS THAT'S WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE. YEAH. AND IT, IT'S PRETTY TOUGH TO, TO DO WHAT YOU'RE DOING. SO YEAH, WE, WE ARE SENSITIVE TO THAT. AND I'LL TELL YOU ONE OF THE THINGS THAT REALLY KICKED OFF THAT DISCUSSION IN EVALUATING THOSE WAGES WAS THE FACT THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, OUR POLICY IN THE CITY IS THAT EVERYONE WHO WORKS AN ADDITIONAL JOB OUTSIDE OF YOUR CITY JOB REQUIRES PERMISSION FROM THEIR DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR. YEAH. UM, I HAVE NOT DELEGATED THAT TO ANYBODY ON MY STAFF. I STILL SIGNED EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE PERSONALLY. PART OF THAT IS I WANTED TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. I'M VERY ALARMED BY THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES WHO AREN'T WORKING JUST ONE OR TWO EXTRA JOBS, BUT SOME THREE AND FOUR. UM, AND I LOOK AT THAT IN TERMS OF WHERE ARE WE FAILING THEM FOR THE SERVICE THAT THEY'RE PROVIDING BACK TO THE PUBLIC. SO WE'RE VERY SENSITIVE TO THAT RIGHT NOW. WE'RE, WE'RE DOING THE BEST ANALYSIS WE CAN TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN HELP GET THAT RIGHT SIZE. IT WILL TAKE PARTNERSHIP WITH HR TO GET IT IMPLEMENTED, BUT IT WILL BE DONE AS QUICKLY AS WE CAN. OKAY. WELL, TERRIFIC. AND I WANNA THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENTATION. I GOT, UH, WE GOT LARRY'S COMING UP NEXT. UH, OR DID I MISS SOMETHING? UH, I'M SORRY, JESSE BOUNDS. UM, BUT BEFORE YOU GO, UH, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE EVERYBODY KNOWS JUST HOW GOOD THESE NUMBERS ARE. I MEAN, IN FACT, YOU TALKED ABOUT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION HERE, GOING UP FROM 38 TO 70% AN APPROVAL OF 32%, THAT'S ACTUALLY 32 ON A BASIS OF 38. THAT IS ALMOST A HUNDRED PERCENT IMPROVEMENT IN CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. UH, AND I THINK ULTIMATELY THAT'S, THAT'S THE METRIC THAT, THAT REALLY COUNTS. SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH. YOU KNOW, GLAD TO SEE IT. THANK YOU. THANK YOU ALL. SO, UH, DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION, JESSE BOUNDS. OKAY. I WILL WAIT UNTIL IT, UH, COMES UP HERE, THE PRESENTATION. I THINK WE HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE. EXCELLENT. YEAH. THANK YOU SO MUCH. UH, CHAIR FLICKINGER COUNCIL MEMBERS, UH, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE HOW, UH, THE CITY IS IMPROVING GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS THROUGH OUR TURN THE CURVE PROGRAM. UH, TURN THE CURVE GREW OUT OF THE ERNST AND YOUNG EFFICIENCY STUDY, WHICH IDENTIFIED AMONG OTHER THINGS THE NEED FOR STRONGER KPIS, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, A SYSTEMATIC WAY TO TURN THOSE KPIS TO BROKE FORM DECISIONS AND DRIVE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT. UH, ACROSS THE CITY. HOUSTON CONTINUES TO GROW RAPIDLY AND THE COST OF DELIVERING ESSENTIAL SERVICES IS ALSO RISING. AND LIKE MANY CITY CITIES, WE'RE NAVIGATING THESE, UH, SERIOUS ECONOMIC HEADWINDS AND THE NEEDS CONTINUE TO OUTPACE OUR LIMITED RESOURCES. BUT UNDER THE MAYOR'S, LEADERSHIP DEPARTMENTS ARE ADAPTING, INNOVATING, AND SIMPLY PUT DOING MORE WITH LESS. AND THIS PROGRAM CREATES THE STRUCTURE, THE ARCHITECTURE THAT DIRECTOR MEKA JUST REFERENCED, UH, THAT WE NEED TO KE UH, KEEP THAT MOMENTUM GOING AND ENSURE IMPROVEMENTS TRANSLATE TO REAL MEASURABLE RESULTS. OVER THE PAST YEAR, DEPARTMENTS HAVE DONE THE HARD WORK OF REFINING THEIR, THEIR KPIS. SO EACH PROGRAM, NOW, IF YOU WOULD, UH, CHANGE THE SLIDE, PLEASE. SO EACH PROGRAM NOW TELLS A COMPLETE PERFORMANCE STORY. SO WE ASK DEPARTMENTS TO TELL US IN THREE, THREE SIMPLE QUESTIONS, HOW MUCH THEY DO, HOW WELL THEY DO IT, AND IS ANYONE BETTER OFF THE OUTCOMES? YOU KNOW, TRADITIONALLY WE'VE BEEN FOCUSING ON THOSE OUTPUTS. UH, WE TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, MEASURING THE NUMBER OF, OF, UH, TREE, UH, YOU KNOW, WASTE TONS THAT GO TO THE LANDFILLS, BUT THERE'S MORE OF A COMPLETE STORY THAT SHOULD BE TOLD. AND, UH, IT INVOLVES EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS, MEASURES HOW WELL WE'RE DOING IT, AND ALSO THE OUTCOME. UH, IS ANYONE BETTER OFF FROM US, US DOING THIS? SO NOW WITH TURN THE CURVE, WE'RE MOVING FROM DATA TO ACTION USING A PROVEN METHOD CALLED RESULTS BASED ACCOUNTABILITY. NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. [01:35:01] UH, DEPARTMENTS ARE GOING THROUGH A STRUCTURED STEP-BY-STEP PERFORMANCE REVIEW PROCESS. SO WE START WITH THE DATA ANALYZING HOW DEPARTMENTS ARE PERFORMING AND THE FACTORS DRIVING PERFORMANCE. WE IDENTIFY PARTNERS AND SOLUTIONS AND IN EACH WORKSHOP WITH A CLEAR SET OF ACTIONS TO, UH, TURN THE PERFORMANCE CURVE. EACH QUARTER WE RECONVENE WITH DEPARTMENTS TO REVIEW UPDATED PERFORMANCE DATA, DOUBLE DOWN ON WHAT'S WORKING OR ADJUST WHAT'S NOT, AND REFINE ACTION PLANS TO CONTINUE MOVING THE NEEDLE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN AROUND FOR CITY HALL FOR A WHILE AND CAN TELL YOU WITH CONFIDENCE THAT WE HAVE BETTER DATA NOW THAN WE'VE EVER HAD. BETTER TOOLS LIKE AI TO DR. DRIVE, BETTER ANALYSIS AND PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENTS, AND, UH, WORKFORCE THAT IS GROWING INCREASINGLY MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT, AND THEIR EVERYDAY WORK GIVING MORE VALUE TO THE HOUSTON TAXPAYER. AND I, I JUST WANTED TO TAKE THIS MOMENT TO THANK ALL OF OUR EMPLOYEES FOR THE HARD WORK THEY'RE PUTTING IN TO MAKE THIS CITY A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE AND WORK. SO I'M GONNA TURN IT OVER TO THE MAN LEADING THIS, UH, PROGRAM ON OUR, IN OUR OFFICE. UH, AJ SOURCE, UH, HE'S OUR PROGRAM MANAGER FOR TURN THE CURB AND GONNA WALK THROUGH SOME OF THE EARLY RESULTS. THANK YOU JESSE, AND GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYBODY. UH, I'M GONNA BE SPEAKING TO WHERE WE ARE NOW AND WHERE WE'RE HEADED. SO THE MAYOR FORMERLY LAUNCHED THE PROGRAM IN JUNE WITH THE FIRST ROUND OF DEPARTMENTS SELECTING THEIR MOST CRITICAL KPIS TO TAKE THROUGH THE PROCESS. AND SO FAR, UH, WE'VE CONDUCTED JUST SHY OF 70 TURN THE CURVE SESSIONS ACROSS THE CITY. AND THIS INCLUDES THE PILOT LAST YEAR, UH, THAT WAS A PART OF THE LAUNCH IN, UH, INTEGRATING EYS ENGAGEMENT TO DATE, UH, SIX DEPARTMENTS TO INCLUDE A RA FIRE DEPARTMENT FLEET. LIBRARIES HEALTH AND MUNICIPAL COURTS HAVE COMPLETED INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS FOR ALL THEIR SELECTED KPIS. NINE MORE DEPARTMENTS ARE CURRENTLY IN THAT PROCESS AS WELL. SO TO TRACK THIS PROGRESS, WE'VE DEPLOYED AN INTERNAL SCORECARD SYSTEM THAT CAPTURES KPIS AND ALL OF THE ACTIONS DEPARTMENTS ARE TAKING TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE. DEPARTMENTS WILL REVIEW THEIR CRITICAL KPIS THROUGH THE TURN CURVE PROCESS, PROCESS, EXCUSE ME, EACH QUARTER TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR ACTIONS ARE AFFECTING TREND LINES AND TO THEN ULTIMATELY BE ABLE TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS, UM, AS NEEDED TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE. TO SUPPORT THIS WORK, EACH DEPARTMENT HAS ASSIGNED A TURN CURVE COACH AND ANALYST THAT WE OBVIOUSLY CO-CREATE WITH AND, UH, WHO ARE HELPING TRAIN TO HELP EVENTUALLY DRIVE THE PERFORMANCE GOING FORWARD. AS MENTIONED, WE'RE WORKING ACROSS DEPARTMENTS TO STRENGTHEN SERVICE DELIVERY. SO EXAMPLES OF THAT H PART IS WORKING TO REDUCE MOTORCYCLES. GSD IS IMPROVING RESPONSE TIMES AND FACILITIES. HR IS, YOU KNOW, LOWERING WORKERS' COMPENSATION CLAIMS. HPW OBVIOUSLY AS DIRECTOR MAC I JUST MENTIONED, UH, IS, UH, AIMING TO CUT WATER LEAKAGE AS WELL. UH, WE'RE WE'RE EVEN LOOKING INTO AREAS AS CRITICAL AS CARDIAC ARREST RESPONSE. UM, DR. SCHULTZ AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT TEAM ARE ANALYZING PERFORMANCE DATA TO INCREASE SUCCESSFUL RESUSCITATIONS. SO IN THIS WIDE ARRAY OF DIFFERENT KPIS, THE GOAL IS ULTIMATELY THE SAME. UH, WE'RE USING DATA AS OUR COMPASS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT DRIVES OUTCOMES AND TO ULTIMATELY MAKE TARGETED IMPROVEMENTS TO DELIVER REAL MEASURABLE RESULTS. ALTHOUGH WE'RE ONLY ONE QUARTER IN AT THIS POINT, WE'RE ALREADY SHOWING SOME EARLY WINS. THE HELP DEPARTMENT IS IMPROVING REST RESTAURANT INSPECTION COMPLIANCE RATES BY ANALYZING INSPECTOR PERFORMANCE IN NEW WAYS. THEY'RE DOING SO BY IDENTIFYING TRAINING AND MENTORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES WITH NEWER STAFF. AND BY WORKING MORE CLOSELY WITH THE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION, JUDGE SANTOS AND HER TEAM OF MUNICIPAL COURTS ARE IMPROVING THE WAY WE, THEY NOTIFY PEOPLE WITH OUTSTANDING WARRANTS. YOU KNOW, THIS IS AIMED AT INCREASING COMPLIANCE RATES AND MAKING THE EXPERIENCE EASIER FOR CUSTOMERS TO PAY BY PHONE. UM, THE HOUSTON PERMANENT CENTER REDUCED CYCLE TIMES FOR RESIDENTIAL PERMITTING REQUESTS BY 25% FROM LAST YEAR. UH, THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT REDUCED THEIR REVIEW TURNAROUND TIME FROM 14 DAYS TO LESS THAN THREE DAYS, UH, PER CYCLE, AND HAS RECENTLY HIT A STREAK OF ZERO DAY TURNAROUNDS FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY. UH, AND LASTLY, THREE ONE ONE CALL WAIT TIMES HAVE DECREASED BY 68% YEAR OVER YEAR. AND THIS IS DRIVEN IN LARGELY IN PART BY THE LEADERSHIP AND THEIR CHAMPIONING OF A MINDSET SHIFT. UH, THIS IS AIMED AT DRIVING, UH, BETTER ADHERENCE WITH AGENTS. UH, SMARTER STAFFING HAS BEEN EMPLOYED DURING PEAK PERIODS AND THE REDUCED, EXCUSE ME, CALL VOLUMES RESULTING FROM SOLID WASTE SERVICE RELIABILITY IMPROVEMENTS, WHICH, UH, HBW JUST SPOKE ABOUT. WHILE WE'RE STILL GETTING THIS PROGRAM OFF THE GROUND, OUR HOPE IS TO CONTINUE TO SHARE THESE SUCCESS STORIES COMING OUTTA THIS PROGRAM WITH THE COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON A REGULAR BASIS. AND WITH THAT, I'LL TURN IT BACK OVER TO JESSE. [01:40:52] UH, WITH THAT WE'VE GOT A COUPLE PEOPLE IN THE QUEUE. IF WE COULD KEEP EVERYBODY TO ONE TURN IN THE QUEUE, IT'S RUN A LITTLE LATE ALREADY. COUNCILMAN MARTINEZ. WELL, THIS IS A, SUCH A GREAT COMMITTEE, MAN. UM, SO FOR THE BOTH OF YOU ALL, UH, THANK Y'ALL FOR SHARING THIS. I DEFINITELY WANNA DIG A BIT MORE DEEPER INTO IT. UH, WE DON'T HAVE TO DO IT HERE, UH, 'CAUSE WE ARE RUNNING LATE, BUT, UM, YOU KNOW, I GUESS MY QUESTION IS, UM, HOW DID Y'ALL IDENTIFY THE FIRST SIX DEPARTMENTS, UH, TO GO THROUGH ON SLIDE FIVE? AND THEN WHAT ARE THE OTHER NINE DEPARTMENTS? UM, I HAVE A PARTICULARLY, UH, STRONG EMPHASIS ON PARKS RIGHT NOW, UM, FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT FOLKS KNOW THAT, UM, PRIORITY FOR ME IS MOWING DEL LITTERING AND MAINTAINING THE PARKS. IF YOU DON'T DO THAT, THEN ALL THE OTHER STUFF THAT HAPPENS AT THE PARKS, PROGRAMMING AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS, UM, SENIOR PROGRAM, ALL OF THAT IS ALMOST FOR NOTHING IF YOU HAVE A PARK THAT IS NOT MOWED, MAINTAINING, YOU KNOW, AND DELET. UH, SO, UM, AGAIN, WHY THE FIRST SIX? WHAT ARE THE, THE NEXT LINE? AND THEN SPECIFICALLY WITH THE PARKS, HOW CAN WE REALLY DRILL DOWN ON THEIR KPIS? YEAH, ABSOLUTELY. YEAH. SO, UH, THERE'S A COUPLE OF THINGS, CONSIDERATIONS THAT DEPARTMENTS FIRST, UH, A LOT OF IT ARE AROUND OUR CAPACITY ISSUES. YOU KNOW, AJ'S A A, A MAN OF ONE, UH, THAT IS FACILITATING, HE HAS FACILITATED 70 SESSIONS OVER THE PAST, UH, QUARTER. SO IT'S JUST A LOT OF OF WORK. AND THESE ARE REALLY INTENSIVE WORKSHOPS WHERE WE'RE DIVING INTO THE LEADS OF DATA AND, UH, HELPING THE DEPARTMENTS, UH, YOU KNOW, IDENTIFY PROCESSING, THAT TYPE OF THING. UH, WE HAVE HAD SESSIONS WITH PARKS. UH, THEY'RE, THEY'RE PART OF LINE ALSO. UH, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF IT ALSO IS MAKING SURE THAT THEIR KPIS ARE, ARE READY, THAT THEY'RE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE DATA THAT THEY'RE, AND, UH, THAT THEY'RE GOOD KPIS THAT WE COULD RUN, TURN THE CURVE PROCESS ON. AND SO WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING WITH ALL THOSE DEPARTMENTS TO MAKE SURE THAT THAT'S, THAT'S THE CASE BEFORE WE START PROCESS FOR A LOT OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS. WE HAVEN'T. GOOD. CAN Y'ALL SHARE THOSE NINE, UH, THROUGH EMAIL OR WHATEVER? WHAT ARE THOSE OTHER NINE? YEAH. PERFECT. THANK YOU. COUNCILWOMAN ALCO. THANK YOU JESSE AND AJ. GREAT WORK. YOU GUYS ARE BEHIND THE SCENES DOING ALL THIS STUFF. I HAVE BEEN A LONG, UH, CRITIC OF OUR KPIS IN THE BUDGET. EVEN WROTE A BIG OLD MEMO IN FEBRUARY OF 24 BEFORE WE HAD FANCY CONSULTANTS GOING THROUGH EACH DEPARTMENT AND HOW THE KPIS EITHER MADE SENSE OR COULD BE IMPROVED. AND, AND, UM, I JUST REALLY LOVE TO SEE THIS 'CAUSE THIS IS SOMETHING AS LEADERS WE CAN REALLY LOOK AT. WE CAN GO TO THE OPEN, UH, DATA SOURCE AND SEE HOW WE'RE DOING. WE'RE NOT, DATA'S THE NAME OF THE GAME THESE DAYS AND I'M GLAD THAT YOU GUYS ARE DOING THIS WORK IT, AND I'M GLAD YOU'RE HAVING A A PLATFORM TO TALK ABOUT IT BECAUSE, UH, WE KNOW THAT, THAT THAT WORK IS SO IMPORTANT AND REALLY HELPS US DECIDE WHAT TO KEEP FUNDING AND HOW TO KEEP FUNDING IT AND WHERE WE NEED TO FOCUS RESOURCES. SO I'M JUST SAYING JOB WELL DONE. YOU KNOW, I'VE SPENT, UH, 27 YEARS IN A WORLD WITH CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT WHERE YOU ARE CONSTANTLY DOING THE WORKSHOPS AND COMING UP WITH THE, THE GOALS AND THE METRICS AND ALL THAT. AND I REALLY LIKE WHAT I'M SEEING HERE. I THINK YOU GUYS ARE, ARE RIGHT ON TARGET AND I THINK WE'RE GONNA DO A LOT OF GREAT BENEFITS OUT OF THAT. UM, WE'VE ONE PUBLIC COMMENT. SPEAKER LETITIA GRANT, AND I GUESS SHE'S VIRTUAL PRESS SIX ISSUES OFF IF YOU'RE ON, IF YOU CAN PRESS STAR SIX. OKAY. I GUESS THAT'S IT. QUESTIONS CAN ANY, UH, MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC OKAY. UM, BEFORE WE ADJOURN, THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MEETING WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH [01:45:01] AT 2:00 PM IF THERE NO OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONED, THE MEETING IS ADJOURNED. THANK YOU. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.