NWACA-VicePresident-Letter(2) — original pdf
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Rodriguez, Lisa From: Sent: To: Subject: HPD ICRC Commissioners Monday, August 23, 2021 12:15 PM HPD ICRC Commissionsers DL FW: Rules and procedure for Invited Testimony from Organizations to Independent Redistricting Commission From: Vice President - NWACA < Sent: Monday, August 23, 2021 5:13:48 PM (UTC+00:00) Monrovia, Reykjavik To: Christine Granados < <ICRC.Commissioners@austintexas.gov> Cc: Rodriguez, Lisa <Lisa.Rodriguez@austintexas.gov>; Dugan, Matthew <Matthew.Dugan@austintexas.gov>; >; HPD ICRC Commissioners > Subject: Re: Rules and procedure for Invited Testimony from Organizations to Independent Redistricting Commission *** External Email - Exercise Caution *** Christine and Commissioners, Thank you for the reply. We have diligently passed along and highlighted ICRC's events to our community through our social media pages and newsletters. "We invite all 300 plus Austin neighborhood homeowners association members to speak" Ignoring the "homeowners" qualifier in the above - we have renters who are members and renters make up the majority of this city, I think we can all agree they deserve equal input - will all organizations that request it be afforded a place on the agenda, the same time limit, and presentation ability? "We had specific questions we wanted addressed such as, why Austin neighborhood associations exist, when and how they started, how many people or households are represented in the council, if renters are part of these associations and why is it important to keep these associations together." These specific questions above seem most relevant for an unbiased academic, or a journalist. It's unclear to me what qualifications rate the ANC and their representative as being an expert, and able to provide an unbiased answer to the questions above. Or rather, more so than any other private organization and individuals. Let me be clear, it seems like allowing public comment is not equal to being included as invited testimony and, presumably, a presentation. If public comment is equal to invited testimony, then item 3. New Business, Item C. is unnecessary and should be removed from the agenda, right? On Mon, Aug 23, 2021 at 9:27 AM Christine Granados Hello Reykjavik Monrovia, Thank you for contacting the Independent Citizen Redistricting Commission about being an invited guest at the regular Wednesday meeting. We invite all 300 plus Austin neighborhood homeowners association > wrote: 1 if you would like to inquire about the ANC's stated members to speak at any and all regular meetings and public forums during the public comment portion of the meetings. With the advice of our legal counsel, we invited Justin Irving, the president of the Austin Neighborhood Council to speak to the ICRC to help commissioners understand the role associations play in the political process. We had specific questions we wanted addressed such as, why Austin neighborhood associations exist, when and how they started, how many people or households are represented in the council, if renters are part of these associations and why is it important to keep these associations together. I recommend contacting Irving at responses to our questions. I invite you to come speak at the final virtual public forum before a preliminary map is drawn. The forum is this Friday, Aug. 27 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. via Zoom. Register in advance for this webinar at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN FvRbBtg0QWirQxYWmBuTzA After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Please share this link and meeting time with your entire association or anyone in any district. Below are some more links where you can find more information about redistricting: ICRC's Website: RedistrictAtx.org City of Austin Website (contacts documents, videos and agendas): https://www.austintexas.gov/content/independent-citizens-redistricting-commission Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AustinAuditor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinauditor/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/austinauditor Interactive (most up-to-date information about forums, as the schedule is constantly changing due to the challenges of COVID: https://www.speakupaustin.org/city-of-austin-redistricting Thank you and we hope to see and hear from you at one of these meetings and at future meetings. From: Vice President - NWACA Sent: Friday, August 20, 2021 9:08:12 PM (UTC+00:00) Monrovia, Reykjavik To: HPD ICRC Commissioners <ICRC.Commissioners@austintexas.gov>; Rodriguez, Lisa <Lisa.Rodriguez@austintexas.gov>; Dugan, Matthew <Matthew.Dugan@austintexas.gov> Cc: Subject: Inquiry: Rules and procedure for Invited Testimony from Organizations to Independent Redistricting Commission To the Commission, I see on your posted agenda for August 28th - located here http://www.austintexas.gov/edims/document.cfm?id=366131 - that a private organization has been invited to give testimony under 3. New Business, Item C. I have checked all the emails to our organization and do not recall seeing an invitation for similar invited testimony, or rules being previously communicated. Please let me know if this is an oversight on my part. What are the rules and processes for other private organizations to be allowed to give invited testimony? If all organizations in the City, and relevant State/Federal level advocacy groups, are not allowed to provide invited testimony, under what rules is it fair for a single private organization to provide that testimony? Please let us know what actions we can take so that our organization - and our members - can participate on an equal basis with other private organizations. >; info@nwaca.org <info@nwaca.org> 2 ‐‐ Christine Granados Administrative Manager Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) CAUTION: This email was received at the City of Austin, from an EXTERNAL source. Please use caution when clicking links or opening attachments. If you believe this to be a malicious and/or phishing email, please forward this email to cybersecurity@austintexas.gov. 3