PSC Minutes for January 6, 2020 — original pdf
Approved Minutes
` Kathleen Hausenfluck Selena Alvarenga Meghan Hollis PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Monday, January 6, 2020 The Public Safety Commission convened a meeting Monday, January 6, 2020 at City Hall 301 W. 2nd Street in Austin, Texas. Commissioner Daniela Nunez called the Board Meeting to order at 4:00p.m. Board Members in Attendance: Daniela Nunez Rebeca Bernhardt Preston Tyree Board Members Absent: Ed Scruggs Rebecca Webber Rebecca Gonzales Chris Harris Staff in Attendance: Todd Smith. Assistant Chief, Austin Police Department Robert Vires, Chief of Staff, Austin Fire Department Jasper Brown, Chief of Staff, Austin Travis County Emergency Services Citizen Communications Carlos León, Citizen – commented about being signed up to speak on item #6 , Future Agenda Items and not being called by Commissioner Webber at last month’s PSC meeting (December 2, 2019). He reminded the board about Constitutional Law, City Code, State Law and Freedom of Speech Julianna Gonzales, with SAFE Alliance – provided a monthly report to the board and invited board members to email her with additional requests for data that may not be included in the monthly report. She received a couple of questions from board members Nunez, Hollis and Tyree. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Commissioner Nunez called for approval of the minutes; and Mr. Carlos León spoke to the importance of having PSC draft minutes posted 72hrs prior to the meeting on the website for more transparency. He requested the minutes be amended before vote for approval. He pointed out in the December minutes he was misquoted and 1 never said he was banned from riding Capital Metro. What he said at the December 2, 2019 meeting was: “Cap Metro has illegally tried changing my name so they can illegally and wrongfully ban me from speaking at their board meetings at their headquarters”. He demanded the minutes be amended/corrected before voting on the minutes. Commissioner Alvarenga motioned to approve the minutes with amendments to Citizens Communications listed by Carlos León. Commissioner Nunez seconded and the vote was unanimous. 2. Building Materials Safety/Environmental Issue Speakers were Kurt Stogdill, Austin Energy and Paul Robbins, Citizen Commissioner Tyree introduced the item and shared his interest in Green Building and discussing how we could make it better. Kurt spoke to the building codes and how his department looks to go beyond the codes to build better buildings. His department works with Development Services Department on the development of the green energy codes that builders need to pay attention to when building new structures. Heidi Casper with Austin Energy was asked to speak on toxic materials that are currently being banned from building materials, and the environmental impact. Mr. Robbins mentioned he had a presentation to share but would need more time than what was allocated for him to present today. Commissioners had a brief discussion and answer period. Mr. Robbins responded he had a 17-18 minute presentation for today and Commissioner Nunez suggested this item be brought back for the board to hear Mr. Robbins’ complete presentation later. 3. Update on APD Wellness Program sponsored by Commissioners Webber and Scruggs Speaker: Rick Randall, Wellness Bureau Director, Austin Police Department Rick Randall shared an overview with the PSC board some of the work being done by the Wellness Bureau Task Force at APD. The results from the survey are in and they are responding to APD areas needing to be addressed based on data they have received. He mentioned the police suicides and the national epidemic it has become. APD has just completed suicide training for all our officers and what they could/should look for when they see possible signs of suicide. APD is currently doing resiliency training during the first two weeks of Cadet Training. The training really helps with teaching them how to better deal with stressful incidents. The Commissioners followed up with extensive questions and answer period, a copy of the APD Officer Safety, Wellness, and Perceptions of the Department and Community Survey was provided prior to the presentation to all PSC board members. 4. Update on Gun Violence – was not provided due to Commissioner Scruggs absence 2 -Carlos León- requested an investigation into collusion between COA Commission for Women, HR Department and Law Department violating City and State Law when citizens are speaking during Citizen Communication -Commissioner Hollis requested an item on what Public Safety Departments are working on to build community trust -Commissioner Tyree requested Green Building item in March 2020 and invite Mr. Paul Robbins to present or bring a handout. -Commissioner Hausenfluck – requested that Public Safety Department Quarterly updates return as an agenda item on a regular schedule -Commissioner Hollis – Request SAFE Alliance to present on where their services are being used/requested most. 6. Future Agenda Items Adjourn – Commissioner Hollis motioned to adjourn at 6pm 3