Approved Minutes — original pdf

Approved Minutes

EMMA S. BARRIENTOS MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER SPECIAL CALLED MEETING ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES Thursday, January 7, 2021 The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Advisory Board convened via video conferencing. Board Members in Attendance: David Goujon, Chair Art Navarro, Vice Chair Olga Campos-Benz, Member Gerardo Gandy, Member Diana Gomez, Member Wayne Lopes, Member Ricardo Maga Rojas, Member Claudia Massey, Member Tomas Salas, Member Endi Silva, Member Board Member Absent: Aida Cerda-Prazak, Member Staff in Attendance: Lucas Massie, PARD Division Manager Laura Esparza, PARD Division Manager Liana Kallivoka, PARD Assistant Director Michelle Rojas, ESB-MACC Manager Olivia Tamzarian, ESB-MACC Supervisor CALL TO ORDER: Chair Goujon called the Board Meeting to order at 6:01 pm. CITIZEN COMMUNICATION Christine Sheng from Rogers O’Brien introduced herself and members from her team. She mentioned looking forward to being part of the Phase 2 project and listening to the presentation on the Waterloo Greenway project. PUBLIC INPUT 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (AGENDA ITEM 1) Member Campos-Benz motioned to approve the December 2020 Advisory Board Meeting minutes. Member Lopez Seconded. Vote Passed. (6.0) N/A 2. CHAIR REPORT 1 Chair Goujon provide his report summarizing the upcoming presentations. He mentioned that there would a presentation on the Waterloo Greenway project and encouraged the board to ask questions. He also mentioned that Laura Esparza would be updating the board on the status of the audit findings. He said Christina Bies would also be providing an update on the community engagement process on the Phase 2 plan. 3. PRESENTATIONS (AGENDA ITEM 3) 3a. Chair Goujon presented Melissa Ayala from Waterloo Greenway and Lana Denkeler from Parks and Recreation for the Waterloo Greenway project. Melissa Ayala presented a PowerPoint and provided particular slides regarding the Creek Delta area of the project. Ayala introduced the Waterloo Greenway Project as a conservancy and COA collaboration and creates and maintains urban park system for all. Also, a big part of the project is to restore Waller Creek. The Creek Delta Construction Update, Objective, and Timeline was discussed. Comment was made for coordination with the ESB-MACC Design team in the area of project overlap and possible collaboration with their signage project. Lana Denkler summarized the challenge of restoring the creek delta. The secondary objective is to provide connectivity in this area, south of 4th street to Lady Bird Lake. Board member Silva inquired about how the collaboration between the City of Austin and the Waterloo Greenway project came to be. Denkler clarified there are several City of Austin staff that are part of the project and collaborate with Waterloo Greenway Board member Gandy inquired about the community engagement and how that feedback influenced the final design of the project. Ayala mentioned that several meetings were held on various topics. She also added meetings with MACC staff about future programming and collaborations. Chair Goujon asked about the logistical side of the project and construction access and how the MACC was going to be affected. Denkeler responded that there was a section of the back of the MACC parking lot that was needed for construction access. She added that close coordination with the Phase II team would take place. Goujon inquired about the potential negative impact the use of the parking lot might have on the users of the MACC. Denkler responded that once the contractor was hired, they would be able to discuss what that impact could potentially be. Goujon then asked about the possibility of the MACC to be compensated for providing access. Denkeler clarified coordination with PARD still needs to be worked out. Ayala added that the trail connection from the MACC to the creek trail wasn’t originally part of the project but Waterloo Greenway wanted to proactively add that to their project and also make sure that the Phase 2 components could connect to it. Goujon reiterated that the Phase 2 design team had the capacity to design elements on MACC property and would like to explore ways that the Waterloo Greenway project could potential offset costs of Phase 2. Board member Campos-Benz commended them for their community engagement efforts and inquired about any negative feedback received. Ayala mentioned that the Waterloo Greenway 2 project was proactive about involving their neighbors and continued to build on those relationships. Ayala mentioned that if anyone was interested in an 3b. Laura Esparza presented updates to the Parks and Recreation response to the Cultural Centers Audit. Esparza expressed several items are complete, issues on completing solutions to other items such as Rentals because of pandemic restrictions. Esparza suggested presenting quarterly reports to Board meeting. 3c. Christina Bies, project coordinator and Justin Schneider, public information specialist presented a summary of the Phase 2 project and also shared the community engagement plan. She also presented Rogers O’Brian as having been awarded the construction contract. Bies provided the building programming timeline and building design timeframe. Schneider presented in more detail the engagement plan and delineated the key stakeholder meetings that would take place in February. He added that four small group meetings would be held with key stakeholders. He also described the Speak Up Austin page that was created as the main way that the general public can continuously engage. Chair Goujon asked when the Community Engagement plan was approved by PARD leadership. Schneider confirmed the plan was approved the same week as this Board Meeting. Goujon expressed concern over the rapid timeline of the community engagements and the large gap between when the contract was awarded to the time when the plan was approved. Schneider stated the engagement process rarely begins before the award of the contract for design. He stated that the community engagement couldn’t begin until the joint venture team was contracted because the City needs to know that the information collected will be used. Board member Tomas Salas expressed that due to the amount of stakeholder some people will not be heard and may be unsatisfied. Schneider explained that because there had been extensive engagement done in 2018 and that funds needed to be maximized for the implementation. Bies added that the Speak Up Austin page was not the only way information could be received. Calling in to 311 is a way that those that don’t have access to the internet can also provide feedback. Board member Massey stated that stakeholders that are considered influencers need to be invited to the engagement process. She also asked how the information was consolidated and how it was presented to the community. Schneider stated “completing the feedback loop” would be done and present a final report that shows the connection from the feedback provided. Board member Gandy expressed the changing landscape in public spaces and expressed the need to have safe public spaces and because so much has changed since 2018 that there are still conversations implemented with the design team about what post pandemic spaces look like. Chair Goujon thanked Bies and Schneider. 4. STAFF BRIEFING 3 Olivia Tamzarian, Culture and Arts Education Supervisor provided updates and highlights from 2020 MACC programs. Chair Goujon thanked Manager Rojas, Supervisor Tamzarian and MACC staff. 5. NEW BUSINESS (AGENDA ITEM 5) 5a. Continuing the discussion on the Community Engagement process for the Phase 2 Renovation and Expansion Capital Improvement Project. Vice Chair Navarro agreed with both Goujon and Salas’ comments and asked clarification on the number of public meetings that were scheduled. He also asked about what was corporate public information office’s role in the project. Schneider explained that Cara Welch and Marion Sanchez was from corporate PIO and would be consulted in the process. Vice Chair Navarro also inquired about conversations he had with Assistant Director, Lucas Massie and with Chair Goujon about a third party consultant for the engagement process. Massie summarized the conversation but stated that the discussion of the outside consultant was not advanced. Chair Goujon shared with the board that he and Vice Chair Navarro had reached out to the Mayor’s office to discuss the engagement process. He reiterated that he wants to ensure transparency in the process and wants to see it improved. He expressed needing to always have a continual loop cycle with information and feedback with the community. Goujon also expressed possible disadvantages of our community with the absence of internet. Board member Diana Gomez stated several people will be left out of the engagements if they are only Zoom focused and suggested other outlets such as Spanish newspapers and television channels. Board Member Wayne Lopes remarked that there are a lot of opportunities that the Board can be involved in reiterating that continuous feedback Board Member Ricardo Maga Rojas asked how trust can be formed with the community and provided possible solutions such as creating a coalition, reaching out to the Latino Quality of Life Commission and possibly create joint resolutions. He also asked about how the Equity office was involved. He supported Member Gomez’ comment of lack of access. He added that there is a need to reach out to those that are often not heard and also include reaching out to other commissions such as the Arts commission and asked who the key communities are that are being targeted, Mexican Americans, Afro-Latinos, and Asian Latinos. Board member Silva mentioned that the MACC staff have done a great job of connecting with the community virtually and suggested tapping in to that knowledge. Member Massey expressed her support for all the points being made. Vice Chair Navarro asked that there needed to be a consensus on the need for a third party consultant. Member Salas mentioned that he was concerned with cost and if it was going to take funds from the project. He also expressed concern with the process of hiring a consultant and the time frame that it takes. He mentioned that the people that he wanted to hear from are actual participants of the ESB-MACC events and programs. 4  Chair Goujon supported Member Salas’ comments and requested that continuous updates be provided. 5b. Chair Goujon summarized that board meetings were currently not live. He expressed concern with transparency and was seeking support in requesting that Advisory Board meetings be broadcast live on ATXN. Chair Goujon made the motion to request from the City Manager’s office that the board meetings be broadcast live on ATXN. Vice Chair Navarro seconds motion. Motion made to request the City Manager that the meetings to held live on ATXN. All members voted, the motion passed (10.0). Member Salas mentioned that member Aida Cerda-Prazak’s term had expired. Chair Goujon clarified that anyone that received the expiration of their term that all they had to do was reapply. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS (AGENDA ITEM 6) For the February regular Advisory Board meeting, Chair Goujon would like to have Bies and Schneider return and also continue the discussion on the Phase 2 engagement. Board member Maga Rojas made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Member Massey seconded. The motion passed (10.0). The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm. 6. 5