Item 1. ESB-MACC_Minutes_2.5.25_Draft — original pdf

Backup

EMMA S. BARRIENROS MEXICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER REGULAR MEETING MINUTES WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2025 The Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center convened in a Regular meeting on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, at City Hall – Board and Commissions Room located at 301 West Second Street in Austin, Texas 78701. (Some members of the ESB-MACC Advisory Board participated via videoconference.) Chair Navarro called the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center Meeting to order at 6:02pm. Board Members in Attendance: Board Members Absent: Angelica Navarro, Chair Gerardo Gandy, Member Lillian “Lily” Zamarripa-Saenz, Vice Chair Raul “Roy” Reyna, Member Hilario “Larry” Amaro, Member Noemi Castro, Member John Estrada, Member Mónica Siañez, Member Board Members in Attendance Remotely: Cynthia “Cy” Herrera, Member Anthony Martinez, Member (Arrived at 6:15pm/Left at 7:12pm) Staff in Attendance: Marjorie Flanagan, PARD Division Manager of Museums and Cultural Programs Michelle Rojas, ESB-MACC Culture and Arts Education Manager Marie Ortiz, ESB-MACC Culture and Arts Education Supervisor Tina Davila, ESB-MACC Administrative Specialist PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Chair Navarro took a moment to introduce commissioner Mónica Siañez and asked her to share a little about herself and why she joined the ESB-MACC Advisory board. Member Siañez let the board know she was an assistant professor for the University of Texas at Austin Public Health Program. She mentioned the work she did in public health was about empowering and encouraging students to get involved with their communities. Taking that into account, she shared that she had only lived in Austin for 5 years and hadn’t had a chance to get involved with her local community, so she felt it was important for her to be involved in some capacity and decided to join the board. 1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. The minutes from the Regular meeting of January 8, 2025, were approved on Member Castro’s motion. Vice Chair Zamarripa-Saenz seconded. Unanimous vote (7.0). Motion passed. Members Gandy, Martinez, and Reyna absent. STAFF BRIEFINGS 2. Staff briefing on staffing updates, December and January programs, marketing and outreach efforts, and updates on signature event planning. Michelle Rojas, ESB-MACC Culture and Arts Education Manager provided an update on the Holistic Wellness programs Will Clinic event that was held at Hardie Alcozer Law Firm where the goal was to help community members create basic wills, ensuring their wishes were legally documented and their families are protected. The program was created to help individuals gain peace of mind about their estate planning. Rojas stated it was important for her to point out the event specifically because of all the news coming in that affects the immigrant population, especially the ones the MACC serves. She wanted to make a statement about the availability of the programs the MACC has that can help bring the community together while uplifting culture and community. Olivia Tamzarian, ESB-MACC Culture and Arts Education Marketing & Outreach Representative provided updates on their Holistic Wellness Programs, Education, Academia Cuauhtli, Caminos Teen Leadership programming, and current and upcoming marketing and outreach events. Tamzarian reminded the board of their signature events and asked if anyone had ideas of speakers or workshop leaders for their La Mujer event to contact the MACC’s event coordinator (Estrella deLeon). (Please see the Board and Commissions Website for backup material.) In conclusion of the staff briefing, Rojas announced that she would like to introduce Jesús Aguirre, New Director of Parks and Recreation Department (PARD). Director Aguirre stated that before coming on to PARD he worked for Waterloo Greenway Conservancy and was somewhat familiar with the MACC. He came to Austin from Seattle where he served as the Director of Parks and Recreation and mentioned that he also served as the Director of Parks and Recreation for Washington DC. He went on to say that he had a long career in public education where he was a middle school science teacher and worked all the way up to the state education office. He expressed that he was excited about all the great things happening in Austin and looked forward to continuing to learn more about the MACC’s construction project and all the programming that will continue. DISCUSSION ITEMS 3. Update on Phase 2 Construction Project. Michelle Rojas, ESB-MACC Culture and Arts Education Manager provided a brief overview of the current project timeline, announcements, scheduled milestones, as well as photos showing the construction progress. Rojas also shared a few dates that the board could attend a site tour, those dates being Tuesday, February 18th at 3pm, Wednesday, March 26th at 12pm, or Wednesday, March 26th at 4pm. She asked that the board let her know which date(s) they would be able to attend via email and noted that whichever had the majority would be the date that the site visit would take place. (Please see the Board and Commissions Website for backup material.) 4. Presentation from Cassie Smith on Ethnographic dissertation, working group background and current status. Cassie Smith, Member of the Ethnographic Research Working Group, PhD student at the University of New Mexico, and ESB-MACC Education Instructor provided a presentation on her dissertation research outlining the movement to build the MACC, contemporary programming, and shared that she had 2 completed 38 interviews that would be donated to the Austin History Center. In addition to her dissertation there will be a documentary film on the MACC. (Please see the Board and Commissions Website for backup material.) DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 5. Creation of Music Hub Working Group. It was discussed that the goal of the working group would be to advise MACC staff as needed, the purpose would be to provide future funding and include programming to buildout the hub. It was also indicated that once the working group started having more conversations, then they could better define the purpose, intended impact and expected outcomes for programming. - Member Herrera motioned to create a working group to explore music hub programming. Member Amaro seconded. Unanimous vote (7.0). Motion passed. Members Gandy, Martinez, and Reyna absent. WORKING GROUP UPDATES 6. Update from Budget Working Group Vice Chair Zamarripa-Saenz informed the board of their priorities for the FY26 budget. First Priority: Get with the Planning and Development team to get a cost estimate for each of the 16 items that were value engineered and incorporate them back into the MACC’s budget. Second Priority: Request support for additional staff to ensure the MACC would have adequate staff for their programming when the MACC reopened. Third Priority: Allow public comment for any request during the ESB-MACC March Advisory board meeting. - Vice Chair Zamarripa-Saenz also mentioned that she was currently working on a letter as well as a recommendation for the board to send individually to their Council Members and planned to share a solid draft of the recommendation at their March board meeting. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Approve a final recommendation and letter to City Council on FY26 Budget (Sponsors: Navarro, Zamarripa-Saenz) ADJOURNMENT Member Castro motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:33pm. Vice Chair Zamarripa-Saenz seconded. Unanimous vote (7.0). Motion passed. Members Gandy, Martinez, and Reyna absent. 3